Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Meet the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: Quake, GoldenEye 007, Defender, and Tamagotchi
- The BAFTA Games Awards Polled the Public and Shenmue is “The Most Influential Video Game of All Time”
- 2024 GOTY Scoreboard: Astro Bot, Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, More
- The Strong Museum of Play Acquires Prototypes and Development Documents from Volition’s 30-Year History
- Minecraft’s Volume Alpha Soundtrack Has Been Added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Fight Club, The Game David Fincher Didn’t Want You To Play – Time Extension (2025)
- It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)
- 22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive – The Verge (2025)
- The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich – The AV Club (2025)
- Breakout, Ripoff, Genre: How Fiction Outgrows Originality – Uncanny Magazine (2025)
Monthly Archives: June 2015
Visceral’s Star Wars game is “along the same lines” as Star Wars 1313
Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilms cruelly cut down Star Wars 1313, a mature-themed action-adventure game slated to star Boba Fett, before it had a chance to shine. But its possible the spirit of that game will live on in Visceral’s upcoming Star Wars game.
The man of many voices, Nolan North, attended MetroCon in Tampa, Floria two weeks ago and spilled a few details about the game. One of his panels (which was recorded and uploaded to YouTube) quickly veered into questions about Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and any story changes that may have occurred after Creative Director Amy Hennig left to join Visceral. North couldn’t go into details about that, but he did talk up Hennig’s contribution to her new home:
“If you’re a big fan of Amy Hennig and her style of story, she’s gone to EA and is going to reboot a brand new Star Wars franchise in the style of Uncharted. I happen to know a lot about it and it’s going to be awesome.”
Star Wars 1313 was famously reminiscent of the Uncharted franchise and an audience member even asked, “Is it Star Wars 1313?” North chuckled and replied, “it’s different,” but added, “it’s along the same lines.”
Visceral has yet to officially discuss their Star Wars game, but we know it’ll be an open-world title and will likely star Han Solo. Han Solo may not be a ruthless bounty hunter, but he was a scoundrel and a smuggler in his younger days, and a game starring the character could definitely be considered “along the same lines” as Star Wars 1313.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Visceral
Ubisoft CEO says its “too early” to talk about Beyond Good & Evil 2
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is one of the more outspoken executives in the entire video game industry, which is why The Guardian tracked him down at the 2015 E3 Expo to ask about Beyond Good & Evil 2.
Beyond Good & Evil was released in 2003 to widespread critical acclaim and the support of a fervent fan following. In 2008, a sequel was revealed during Ubisoft’s then-annual Ubidays show, but development updates have been slow to materialize since then. Fans got their hopes up in 2011 when Ubisoft released Beyond Good & Evil HD for the PS3 and Xbox 360, but four long years passed before they got their next glimpse at the game, when developer Michel Ancel showed a piece of concept art featuring series protagonist Jade.
Upholding this tradition, Guillemot was enigmatic with The Guardian, but also encouraging. According to the CEO, the game (which he never refers to by name) is still in development, but it’s too early to talk about:
However, the Guardian met Yves Guillemot, who co-founded Ubisoft in 1986, at the E3 expo in Los Angeles, and asked directly whether Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in development. He replied: “I can’t say the name, but there is a team working with Michel Ancel on a project that is… very interesting.”
When pressed on the connection between this new project and Beyond Good and Evil, Guillemot said: “It’s a game I’m sure you will like very much, and we can’t say more.”
Ancel previously told reporters that development began on Beyond Good & Evil 2 in 2007, so if Guillemot is telling the truth, our decade-long wait may be just the beginning.
Come to the Dark Side… and sign up for a Star Wars: Battlefront alpha test on the PC
Electronic Arts has announced they will host a closed alpha test for the PC version of Star Wars: Battlefront beginning on July 2. Applications are currently being accepted at the game’s official website through tomorrow, June 30. The publisher plans to randomly select a group of testers from the applicant pool. Maybe you can use The Force to improve your odds.
Star Wars: Battlefront will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 17.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront
Beamdog’s Baldur’s Gate Interquel will be unveiled on July 9
Beamdog is currently counting down to something on the official Baldur’s Gate website… whatever could it be? Oh right, it’s probably that Baldur’s Gate Interquel (codenamed Adventure Y) they announced back in January. As long as the countdown clock is accurate, the game’s unveiling will take place on July 9 at 10:00 PM (Eastern Time).
The Baldur’s Gate Interquel is an original game that will bridge the gap between Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition. At the very least, Beamdog is expected to announce a release date for the untitled game.
Beamdog also has a second secret project in the works. Adventure Z (AKA Project: Beartrap AKA Project: Sharktrap) will be revealed in full later this Summer.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Baldur's Gate
Weekly Warp-Up: End of June 2015 Edition
No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…
With this year’s E3 Expo now just a memory, we move on to the great Summer drought that takes over the video game industry every year. For further proof, just look at all the hoopla that surrounded the news that Nintendo once asked Criterion to make an F-Zero game for the Wii U. Obviously, the game never happened, but the very act of asking (all the way back in 2011, I might add) made it a big deal in these post-E3 days.
Of course, the week’s actual biggest story is that WB Games has suspended future sales of Batman: Arkham Knight‘s PC version because of a ridiculous series of performance issues and graphical glitches.
But if you miss the E3 Expo, our own Andrew Rainnie opines that a part of him Wishes Sony Had Let The Last Guardian Fade Away.
You can find a few more news stories from the week that was after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: J-Stars Victory Vs+, BlazBlue Chronophantasma, GTA San Andreas, More
Remember a year ago when Rockstar inexplicably added an Xbox 360 edition of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to the Xbox Games Store to celebrate its tenth anniversary? Now the publisher has decided to inexplicably publish a retail disc version… and it’s coming out this week! It’s been a slow Summer season, so sure, why not?
Also available this week are a trio of Japanese imports…
- J-Stars Victory Vs+ (PS3, PS4), a crossover fighting game that features characters from Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, One Piece, and more.
- BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend (PS3, PS4, Xbox One), the latest update to the popular fighting game (and first on current-generation consoles) from Arc System Works.
- HyperDimension Neptunia ReBirth 3: V Generation (Vita), a handheld port of Idea Factory’s third JRPG parody of the video game industry.
If none of these games interests you, remember that the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop will receive a few new titles this week as well.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, J-Stars Victory Vs+
Disgaea 5 will be released for the PS4 on October 6; Launch Day Edition detailed
NIS America has announced that Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance will be released exclusively for the PS4 on October 6. The strategy RPG series will be going in a darker direction for its PS4 debut, but the same type of quirky characters will remain. Writing on the PlayStation Blog, NIS’s Jordan Vincent had this to say:
The series is known for its unique cast of characters, which are always beautifully illustrated by Takehito Harada, and its over-the-top and hilarious stories and dialogue written by Sohei Niikawa. Disgaea 5 doesn’t disappoint in the jokes or art department, but it does take things in a new, darker direction. With a story centered on taking revenge on a powerful new Demon Emperor named Void Dark, this title follows our dark, self-assured hero, Killia, and his Overlord allies on their dark and dangerous path to vengeance.
Vincent also came bearing gifts, including a brand new story trailer, which has been embedded above. He also discussed some of the game’s many new features, including a main storyline that will last 45 hours and two new attack types. Alliance Attacks will “combine the strengths of specific members of the game’s main cast of characters when they have built up a strong enough bond with one another,” while the Revenge System will allow players to take revenge on enemies that beat up their buddies.
Finally, Vincent included a sneak peek at the Launch Day Edition, which will include the game, a reversible cover, a 32-page art book, and a soundtrack CD, all housed in a collectible box.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance
The Predator goes hunting against Mortal Kombat X’s kombatants this July
NetherRealm’s Creative Director, Ed Boon, has made Mortal Kombat fans very happy by confirming konfirming that The Predator will be available as a playable character sometime in July:
Recreate the Predator Movie (Komplete with Carl Weathers Jax) in Mortal Kombat X. Koming Soon….. pic.twitter.com/RnraAaafis
— Ed Boon (@noobde) June 24, 2015
NetherRealm is producing Mortal Kombat X’s add-on content at a pretty quick clip as the Predator is the third playable character to be added to the game since its April 14 release. Jason Voorhees teleported into the game shortly after launch, while Tanya made her playable debut a few weeks ago. Tremor, the final playable character and one of the few good things to come out of Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, will likely be released sometime in August.
Unlike the famous film series, this Predator won’t be hunting alone. He’ll be released alongside the Predator/Prey Pack, which will include new character skins for Johnny Cage (Commando), Scorpion (Infrared), and Jax (Carl Weathers as Dillon).
Remember, if it bleeds, we can kill it.