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: January 2016
Capcom slaps a May 2016 release date on Umbrella Corps and unveils a new trailer
Capcom’s Umbrella Corps, a team-based shooter in the Resident Evil universe, finally has a release date. The publisher plans to release the game as a digital download for the PC and PS4 sometime this May.
As part of the announcement, Capcom also unveiled a new Umbrella Corps trailer, giving fans a look at “The Village,” another one of the game’s arenas. “The Village” is based on the unnamed township that Leon Kennedy stumbles across early in Resident Evil 4… and it’s no less terrifying now. The trailer also includes an early peak at “The Experiment,” a single-player Horde Mode that’ll feature more than 20 missions with varying objectives. “The Experiment” will bring players back to “The Village,” but they’ll also be asked to survive in a research facility based on the Tricell Headquarters from Resident Evil 5. The Tricell Headquarters map will also be available for multiplayer matches.
More maps and modes from Umbrella Corps will be announced at a later date.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Umbrella Corps
Detective Pikachu will be released for the 3DS on February 3… but only in Japan
Nintendo has revealed that Detective Pikachu, an adventure game where the world’s most famous Pokemon wears a deerstalker hat and gives eloquent speeches with commanding authority, will be released for the 3DS on February 3… in Japan. A North American release date for Detective Pikachu has yet to be announced, but only a handful of Pokemon have ever failed to make the trip across the Pacific, so I assume it’s only a matter of time.
Though first announced in 2013, a good portion of Detective Pikachu’s background is still a mystery (heh). We know it’s an adventure game of some kind and that a teenage boy serves as Detective Pikachu’s Watson… and that’s about it. The important question of just how Detective Pikachu can talk goes unanswered.
Hopefully, we’ll learn the solution to that question soon.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Detective Pikachu
The Witness, Lego Avengers, This War of Mine: The Little Ones, more added to PS Store
Jonathan Blow’s The Witness aims to bring back the exploration genre on the PlayStation Store this week. The PS4 game is now available to download and its Myst-like qualities are readily apparent. Once you add in the whole “you’re alone on a deserted island and there are puzzles everywhere” thing, it almost starts looking like a stealth sequel.
Also available this week is Lego Avengers (PS3, PS4, Vita), the 18th Lego adaptation from TT Games. This time, the British developer has mined the Marvel Cinematic Universe to create a game that links together Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Finally this week, a trio of other titles will be added to the PlayStation Store including This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4), a war game that focuses on the civilian experience; Saturday Morning RPG (PS4 + Vita Cross-Buy), a dual homage to JRPGs and Saturday morning cartoons of the 80s; and Gemini: Heroes Reborn (PS4), a first-person adventure in a superpowered world.
More details on all of these games can be found after the break, and a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Lego Avengers, The Witness
New CoD: Black Ops III Awakening Pack trailer introduces us to “Der Eisendrache”
Activision will release Call of Duty: Black Ops III‘s Awakening DLC Pack on February 2 (for PS4 owners), but first they want to introduce would-be players to the newest Zombies Mode map: “Der Eisendrache.” German for “The Iron Dragon,” players will definitely have to deal with some kind of fire breathing monstrosity as they move further into the deadly castle:
Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s epic Zombies DLC season begins here. In “Der Eisendrache”, Origins characters Richtofen, Nikolai, Takeo, and Dempsey embark on a suicide mission to an enemy research facility built upon an archaic site of unspeakable horror. Massive deposits of Element 115 have recently been discovered, delivering inspired new gameplay and — in Zombies tradition — a variety of plot twists and surprises to discover at every turn.
The Awakening DLC Pack will be exclusive to the PS4 for 30 days and should appear on the PC and Xbox One sometime in March.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Daily Scoop: January 26, 2016 – Fez on sale!
I dove back into Borderlands 2 last night – during a half-time break of the Blood Bowl board game – and boy did it make me nostalgic for Pandora! I was helping a friend get the Platinum trophy by dumping a billion bullets into Terramorphous. It was a great time!
Speaking of alien planets, if you get in on the Humble Monthly right now, you get Alien: Isolation for free. Humble Monthly is $12 a month and delivers you a bundle the first Friday of every month!
The Midweek Madness at Steam is early access to Black Mesa, which you can get for $9.99. Today’s Daily Deal is one of my all-time favorites, Fez! Grab it right now for just $1.99.
Just a handful of t-shirts today! (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt nabs eight nominations at 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards
South by Southwest Gaming recently announced the nominees for this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, not surprisingly, has captured the most accolades. CD Projekt’s sprawling RPG is up for eight awards, including “Game of the Year.” It was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Art,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Visual Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” “Excellence in Musical Score,” and “Most Enduring Character.”
Competing against Geralt of Rivia for “Game of the Year” is a familiar-looking quartet of games including Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Undertale. Bloodborne was actually a close second to The Witcher 3 with seven nominations.
Who wins at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards will be determined in part by a public vote that will hosted by IGN from Monday, February 1 through Friday, February 12. The winners will be announced on Saturday, March 19 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) and you can watch it live on Twitch.
The complete list of this year’s nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Her Story, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Splatoon, Star Wars: Battlefront, Superhot, Tabletop Games, The Order: 1886, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Activision officially announces Platinum-developed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan
The development of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan has been leakier than a busted sewer pipe as most gamers first heard about it late last year. But now Activision is finally ready to deliver an official announcement for the tie-in game, which is indeed being developed by PlatinumGames:
Players will protect The Big Apple from aliens, mutants and the Foot Clan in a single-player campaign or partner with up to three friends in four-player online co-op. But be prepared – defeating Bebop, Rocksteady, Shredder and other iconic bosses won’t be easy.
PlatinumGames’ flair for stylish visuals and fluid combat are on full display in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. Fast-paced, team-based brawling will challenge gamers of all skill levels. Each Turtle has a distinctive combat play style and can be customized with a unique set of Ninjutsu moves, combat items and special bonuses.
Activision and Platinum last teamed up for 2015’s Transformer Devastation, and they plan to use a similar cel-shaded art style for Mutants in Manhattan. The game’s overall design has been heavily inspired by Dan Duncan’s artwork for the currently ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic from IDW, with writer Tom Waltz providing the story.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Summer.
TimeFrame Review: Blurring the Lines Between Art and Game
TimeFrame is a bit like Myst in that they are both calm and exploratory. It is the kind of game you can play to relax and unwind and continue to feel that way when you stop playing. Instead of a game where one might seek catharsis through lots of action, TimeFrame sets you on a thoughtful journey through a doomed society, as you’re given ten minutes to explore the last ten seconds of a world. It’s simple in its presentation, but TimeFrame features a lot of little details that make every ten-minute playthrough worthwhile. (more…)