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Shadow of Mordor wins eight awards at 2015 DICE Awards but not Game of the Year
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor won eight awards during last night’s DICE Awards ceremony (out of nine nominations), but it was unable to snag the big prize. Instead, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences chose to award “Game of the Year” to BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition.
But don’t feel too bad for Monolith Productions and their romp through the Lord of the Rings universe. Shadow of Mordor’s eight wins included “Adventure Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Innovation in Gaming,” “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” “Outstanding Achievement in Character,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” and “Outstanding Technical Achievement.”
The third game in the Dragon Age series was only able to walk away with a single other award: “Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year.”
Bungie’s Destiny (which took home four awards) and Blizzard’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (“Mobile Game of the Year” and “Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year”) were the only other multi-award winners last night. Though Nintendo’s pair of Smash Bros. games were awarded “Handheld Game of the Year” (Super Smash Bros. For 3DS) and “Fighting Game of the Year” (Super Smash Bros. For Wii U).
The complete list of winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Mario Maker may be delayed as Wii U reaches 9.2 million in sales
Nintendo updated investors on the Wii U’s life-to-date sales performance yesterday and, as of December 31, 2014, 9.2 million Wii U consoles have been sold. This is well behind the sales curve of the Wii, which had sold close to 45 million consoles during this point in its life cycle.
In other bad news, it looks like Mario Maker, a game that lets players create their own Mario courses inspired by Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U, has been delayed. Originally pegged for a “1st Half of 2015” release, the game is now listed in Nintendo’s release calendar as “TBA 2015.”
However, it’s not all bad news. The company posted a 59.5 billion yen ($504 million) profit for their fiscal year to date and a number of games are selling really well including Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby (a lifetime total of 9.35 million copies sold), Super Smash Bros. For 3DS (6.19 million copies sold), Mario Kart 8 (4.77 million copies sold), and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U (3.39 million copies sold).
CoD: Advanced Warfare goes 2-for-2 as the best-selling game of December 2014
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is on a roll. After being named the best-selling game for all of last year, the NPD Group also confirmed that it was the best-selling game of December as well. Activision’s latest military shooter also took the top spot in November, during its first month of release.
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, December’s sales chart was dominated by big-name franchises including Grand Theft Auto V (#2), Madden NFL 15 (#3), Super Smash Bros. For Wii U / Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Minecraft (#6).. really, just the entire top ten.
On the hardware side of things, the Xbox One once again was the best-selling console, besting the PS4 for a second month in a row. The console’s $50 price cut is really working for Microsoft and the company has decided to reinstate the discount beginning today, possibly on a permanent basis.
The full top ten for December 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, Far Cry 4, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Just Dance 2015, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the best-selling game of 2014
The NPD Group has finished calculating the 2014 game sales in the United States and they’re ready to declare a winner. In 2014, gamers bought more copies of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare than any other game. The franchise actually bookended both ends of the list as Call of Duty: Ghosts tabulated enough 2014 sales to check in at #10. In between those two extremes, the list actually features plenty of familiar faces.
Last year’s best-selling game, Grand Theft Auto V, managed to heist the #4 spot thanks to good sales in the early half of the year and a PS4/Xbox One re-release in the Fall. Sports games occupied three spots in the top ten as Madden NFL 15 (#2), NBA 2K15 (#7), and FIFA 15 (#9) were all popular with players.
Gamers voted with their wallets and both of 2014’s budding megafranchises-in-the-making cracked the top ten. Destiny came in at #3 while Watch Dogs had to settle for the #8 spot.
All told, game software sales were down 13% in 2014 to $5.3 billion. That’s still an impressive chunk of change, but players are increasingly moving over to digital storefronts for the majority of their game purchases. The complete top ten from 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Destiny, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Madden NFL 15, Minecraft, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, Watch Dogs
Nintendo announces more Amiibos including Wave 4 (with Pac-Man!) and Super Mario series
Are you ready for even more Amiibo figures? While I’ll probably never get my hands on a Little Mac, Nintendo has gone ahead and announced a fourth wave of the popular toys as well as a special Super Mario series.
Wave 4 will be available sometime this Spring and will be comprised of six figures (Robin, Lucina, Pac-Man, Wario, Ness, and Charizard). Meanwhile, the special Super Mario series will launch on March 20 and include new figures for Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser. The series will also include Toad, who will be making his Amiibo debut.
All of these Amiibo figures will be compatible with Super Smash Bros. For Wii U and some will work with other Wii U games such as Mario Party 10 and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Party 10, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Warp Zoned’s 2014 Golden Pixel Awards: Honoring Our Favorite Games
With the PS4 and Xbox One entering their first full year on store shelves, 2014 turned out to be a bit of a transition year. A lot of games were delayed into 2015 and a few others were delayed even further. With the other two consolemakers taking a step back in 2014, it was Nintendo’s time to shine and the wizards behind the Wii U responded with nearly a dozen major titles. But that doesn’t mean the PS4 and the Xbox One (or the PS3 and Xbox 360, for that matter) went hungry in 2014.
There were plenty of great games to go around last year and you can read all about them as we hand out our annual Golden Pixel Awards… (more…)
Posted in Etcetera, Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Destiny, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Earth Defense Force 2025, Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, Goat Simulator, Hyrule Warriors, InFamous: Second Son, LittleBigPlanet 3, Mario Kart 8, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Monument Valley, Shovel Knight, Silent Hills, Sleeping Dogs, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, Threes, Transistor, Wolfenstein: The New Order
The greatest trick CoD: Advanced Warfare ever pulled was being Nov 2014’s best-selling game
Activision’s Call of Duty franchise continues its reign atop the video game world by capturing the top spot in The NPD Group’s survey of November 2014’s best-selling games. It managed to hold off a strong challenge from Grand Theft Auto V, which received a huge boost from its new-generation re-release.
Nintendo had a very good month as Super Smash Bros. For Wii U and Super Smash Bros. For 3DS managed to sneak into the top three thanks to their combined might (The NPD Group considers them one game for the purposes of the monthly list). Further down the list, Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire shot to #5 while Pokemon: Omega Ruby owned the #7 spot (for some reason, the latest Pokemon release is considered two separate games by The NPD Group).
Ubisoft also had multiple games in the top ten, including Far Cry 4 at #6. Assassin’s Creed: Unity entered the list at #9, and while that’s an impressive achievement, it’s well below the top-three ranking attained by both Assassin’s Creed III and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag during their respective debut months.
Finally, Microsoft has plenty to crow about tonight as they’ve revealed to IGN that that the Xbox One outsold the PS4 for the first time.
The full top ten for November 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed: Unity, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Far Cry 4, Grand Theft Auto V, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Madden NFL 15, NBA 2K15, NPD, Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Dragon Age: Inquisition wins Game of the Year at 2014 Game Awards
The inaugural Game Awards was held last night in Las Vegas. In between all the major announcements for future releases, Geoff Keighley and crew managed to hand out awards in 16 categories honoring 11 of 2014’s best games.
BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition took home “Game of the Year” honors as well as “Best Role Playing Game.” Three other games took home two awards including Mario Kart 8 (“Best Family Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game”), Valiant Hearts: The Great War (“Best Narrative” and “Games For Change”), and Destiny (“Best Score/Soundtrack” and “Best Online Experience”).
In addition to Mario Kart 8’s two wins, Nintendo also collected the “Developer of the Year” award and “Best Fighting Game” for Super Smash Bros. For Wii U. The consolemaker’s four wins were matched by Ubisoft who matched Valiant Hearts’ two awards with wins in “Best Shooter” (Far Cry 4) and “Best Performance” (Trey Parker as Various Voices in South Park: The Stick of Truth).
Other winners include Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (“Best Action/Adventure”), Shovel Knight (“Best Independent Game”), Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (“Best Mobile/Handheld”), and Grand Theft Auto V (“Best Remaster”).
The full list of winners in a handy list format (including all the viewer-voted categories) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Far Cry 4, Game Awards 2014, Grand Theft Auto V, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Mario Kart 8, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Shovel Knight, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Valiant Hearts: The Great War