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
- Inside the ‘Dragon Age’ Debacle That Gutted EA’s BioWare Studio – Bloomberg (2025)
- 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)
Warp Zoned Archives
Monthly Archives: March 2016
Resident Evil Reflections: 20 Years With Capcom’s Frightening Franchise
March 22, 2016 marked a true milestone. For it was 20 years ago this week that a groundbreaking video game franchise was born. A game that not only became an instant classic, but also helped create an entirely new genre, spawned several sequels and spinoffs, and launched a successful series of movies. That game was Resident Evil.
Few games have had the long lasting appeal that Capcom’s survival horror series provides, and despite a few bumps in the road, the Resident Evil series is still widely popular after all these years. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: Stranger of Sword City, TrackMania Turbo, Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo
A trio of new Xbox One games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store.
NIS America will bring Stranger of Sword City to the Xbox One this week, and I believe it’s the first first-person dungeon-crawler for the console. And in another possible first, players will be able to choose between two different art styles: the beautiful and fantastical style of Yoko Tsukamoto, or the cute character graphicse of Oxijiyen.
Also available this week is a pair of racing titles, which will offer two vastly different experiences of their own. Ubisoft’s TrackMania Turbo is a wild and crazy “fantasy racer” that includes 200 “outlandish” tracks spread across five unique worlds. Meanwhile, Milestone’s Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo is a racer that’s grounded in the mud and mess of rally racing.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Day of the Tentacle Remastered, TrackMania Turbo, Manhunt, more added to PS Store
Sony’s Launch Party promotion continues this week with the addition of Day of the Tentacle Remastered (PS4 + PS Vita Cross-Buy) to the PlayStation Store. Tim Schafer’s famed point-and-click adventure has been lovingly remade by his new studio, Double Fine Productions, and they even documented the process in the behind-the-scenes video embedded above.
This week, PlayStation 4 owners will also get the chance to try out a number of other games including a pair of racing games that run the gamut from the high tech “fantasy racing” of Ubisoft’s TrackMania Turbo to the down and dirty rally racing of Milestone’s Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo. Making the jump from mobile to consoles is Camouflaj’s exploration of surveillance culture, Republique, which is now available for the PS4. And Smite has exited its beta phase and the MOBA is now available as a free-to-play download.
Possibly the world’s only first-person cat simulator, Catlateral Damage, has also been released for the PS4. And it’s join by a trio of PS2-On-PS4 titles including the bloody and controversial Manhunt, and the just plain controversial Bully. Okage: Shadow King, a cult favorite PS2 release, rounds out the trio.
Finally this week, XCOM: Enemy Unknown Plus, 2K’s blockbuster strategy game, made a surprise debut on the Vita.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And, as always, a rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Catlateral Damage, Smite, XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Daily Scoop: March 23, 2016 – New Humble Mobile bundle
I have spent a lot of time trying to get into Final Fantasy Explorers, but it’s just not grabbing me so far. I’m hoping that once I get through some more of these beginning quests, it’ll get more interesting. In the meantime, I’m eying my copy of Fire Emblem: Birthright and wondering if I made the right choice on which one to start first!
If you’re into mobile games, Humble has a new mobile bundle available right now, the Humble Mobile Bundle 17. Pay $1 or more to get Prune, Framed, and Battlestation: Harbinger. Beat the average to unlock Frozen Synapse Prime, Lara Croft GO, and Sorcery! 3. Pay $6 or more to unlock Grim Fandango Remastered and Desktop Dungeon.
The Midweek Madness at Steam is a Batman vs Superman sale. Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition is $7.99, Lego Batman is $5, and Gotham City Impostors is free to play, among others. The Daily Deal is Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad with Rising Storm, which is on sale for $4.99.
There are some great t-shirts today. Hit the jump to see them all! (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop, News
New gameplay trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes us back to a galaxy far, far away
WB Games released a new gameplay trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens this morning, and it gives us our first look at the game’s Multi-Builds system, as well as the new cover mechanic for blaster battles, and a flying Millennium Falcon.
The trailer also delves into some of the Expanded Universe content that Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will add to the film’s story including the tale of how Han and Chewie captured the Rathtars, new adventures with Poe Dameron, and the backstory of Lor San Tekka (AKA The Old Man Who Gives Poe the Map and Then Dies).
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on June 28 for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Minecraft: Story Mode’s final chapter will be available next week; 3 bonus episodes will launch later this year
Telltale Games has announced that Minecraft: Story Mode‘s tale will come to an end next week with “Order Up,” the game’s fifth and final episode… though fans should get ready for more adventures with Jesse and friends. Later this year, the developer plans to launch a three-episode miniseries following the further Adventures of the New Order of the Stone. Unlike the standalone The Walking Dead: Michonne, these bonus episodes will be released as add-on content for Story Mode.
But first, let’s look at the upcoming finale:
In the upcoming Episode 5, on a tip from Ivor, Jesse and friends head to an abandoned temple holding mysterious treasures. Ambushed by former Ocelot Aiden and his crew, our heroes find themselves in an entirely new world: Sky City! As they explore, the Order finds that resources are at a premium, and nothing but ‘The Void’ exists below the known world. When Aiden convinces Sky City’s ruler that the New Order of the Stone are up to no good, you’ll need to make some tough choices to clear your name, and keep Aiden from destroying an innocent world.
Minecraft: Story Mode – Order Up will be available to download for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on March 29. Unfortunately, a release date for the episode’s Wii U launch wasn’t announced.
Sega will release Yakuza Zero in Early 2017
Prepare to rejoin the Yakuza in 2017, as Sega has announced that Yakuza Zero will be released for the PS4 early next year.
Set in Tokyo in 1988, Yakuza Zero goes back to the beginning of the story and reveals how Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima became, respectively, the Dragon and the Mad Dog. In addition to brawling in the street, players will be able to wine and dine a bevy of beautiful women while also showing off their best disco moves.
You can find a new trailer for Yakuza Zero embedded above.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Yakuza Zero
Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s “Nuk3town” map is now free for everybody
A lot of Call of Duty: Black Ops fans will be happy to tell you that “Nuketown” is one of the best multiplayer maps the series has to offer. So it made perfect sense when Activision announced they were going to remake it (as “Nuk3town”) for Call of Duty: Black Ops III and release it as a pre-order bonus.
But Activision wants everyone to get a chance to play a round or two in “Nuk3town,” so they’ve announced (via the Activision Games Blog) that the map is now free to download on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
The publisher also revealed that all players will also receive access to the Nuk3town Personalization Pack, which includes a Nuk3town-themed Weapon Camo, three Nuk3town-themed Weapon Reticles, and a Nuk3town-themed Calling Card.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III