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
- 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)
- ‘I Could Make “Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game” and Maybe It Would Eventually Get Taken Down’ – Devs Reveal Why the Consoles Are Drowning in ‘Eslop’ – IGN (2025)
Warp Zoned Archives
Monthly Archives: October 2018
Bot Gaiden Is A Side-Scrolling Platformer With Style: An Interview With Doug Pohl of SwordSwipe Studios
MetroidVanias rose to fame in the 80s and 90s thanks to the popularity of the Metroid and Castlevania franchises, but the genre went dormant in the 2000s as developers pushed pixels aside for polygons and aspired to create sprawling 3D worlds. After being rediscovered and remixed by the indie community, the MetroidVania is finally having its moment here in 2018.
But what if you’re looking for something else from a side-scroller? What if you want the fast action and self-contained levels that characterized the Ninja Gaiden and Contra franchises? Enter SwordSwipe Studios, and their upcoming game, Bot Gaiden.
The gameplay style and artistic inspirations for Bot Gaiden came to us straight from the 80s, but unlike most side-scrollers now on the market, SwordSwipe’s platformer doesn’t look like it came from the 80s. We sat down with Doug Pohl, one of the developer’s co-founders, to find out exactly how he’s bringing back the fast action and precision platforming of those classics in a new package. (more…)
The Game Console is a new book that’ll look at the “grisly innards” of your favorite consoles
No Starch Press has announced that they will publish The Game Console, a new book that promises to depict “A Photographic History from Atari to Xbox,” on November 6.
Authored by Evan Amos, and featuring an extensive collection of full-color photos and notes about 86 different consoles, The Game Console might just be the most complete catalog of game consoles ever published:
The Game Console is a tour through the evolution of video game hardware, with gorgeous full-color photos of 86 consoles and their grisly innards. You’ll start your journey with legendary consoles like the Magnavox Odyssey, Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Commodore 64. The visual nostalgia trip continues with systems from the 1990s and 2000s, ending with modern consoles like the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Wii U.
Throughout the book, you’ll also discover many consoles you never knew existed, and get a rare peek at the hardware inside some of history’s most iconic video game systems.
You can find a few preview images from The Game Console at No Starch’s official website, and they do look absolutely amazing.
The Heist is Spider-Man’s first expansion… and it’ll be available next week
Insomniac’s Spider-Man has been flying high since its launch last month, and now the developer has announced that the game’s first post-release chapter will be available to download beginning next week.
Scheduled to be released on October 23, The Heist will feature an appearance from the Black Cat, the criminal alter-ego of Felicia Hardy. According to the PlayStation Blog, our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will team up with the Black Cat as the pair get sucked into a brand new storyline that also ties in to the next two DLC chapters:
As you play Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Heist, you’ll encounter the beginning of a new, interconnected story taking place over the three chapters of Marvel’s Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps. A robbery at an art museum entangles Spider-Man and MJ with an old flame from Peter Parker’s past, Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat. Beyond new story missions, there’s a whole new faction of enemies, new crimes, new challenges, new trophies, and of course, three brand new suits.
The Heist will be available to download as part of The City That Never Sleeps bundle (which contains all three DLC expansions) for $24.99, though it’ll also be available as a standalone download for $9.99. Players who purchase The Heist will also be able to unlock three new suits for Spider-Man, including the never-before-seen Resilient Suit (created by artist Gabriele Dell’Otto), as well as the Scarlet Spider II suit, and the Spider UK suit.
And in case you missed it, a short Teaser Trailer for The Heist can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Spider-Man
New Retail Releases: Starlink: Battle For Atlas, Soul Calibur VI, Lego DC Super-Villains, More
Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 is finally moseying up to its release date, so game publishers are rushing to launch their latest projects ahead of the Wild West prequel. And that means several big releases will make their way onto store shelves this week, including new games from Ubisoft, Bandai Namco, WB Games, and 2K Games.
Ubisoft will attempt to revive the toys-to-life genre with Starlink: Battle For Atlas for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Players can customize the space shooter by purchasing additional Starship Packs and Weapon Packs, and Switch owners will even be able to pilot an Arwing from Star Fox right out of the box.
Several other long-running franchises will also receive new entries this week, including Bandai Namco’s one-on-one fighter Soul Calibur VI (PS4, Xbox One, and download-only on the PC) and WB Games’s family-friendly action title Lego DC Super-Villains (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and download-only on the PC). Saber Interactive is also charging the hoop for their second arcade-style basketball game, teaming up with 2K Games for NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and download-only on the PC).
Finally this week, Dark Souls Remastered will finally make its way to the Switch, and Bandai Namco will also bundle together all three games in the Dark Souls Trilogy for the PS4 and Xbox One. For Honor: Marching Fire Edition from Ubisoft will also bundle together the original game and a big batch of new content for the PS4 and Xbox One.
You can learn more about the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Dark Souls III, For Honor, NBA Playgrounds 2, Owlboy, Soul Calibur VI, Starlink: Battle For Atlas
Borderlands 2 VR is coming to the PS4 on December 14
Gearbox Software struck gold with the Borderlands franchise, and while we’re still waiting patiently for Borderlands 3, the developer has been busy pumping out spinoffs and remakes at a pretty steady clip. And now it looks like PS4 owners will be able to get their hands on yet another re-release this Fall with the upcoming launch of Borderlands 2 VR.
Borderlands 2 VR is being designed as a single-player experience, but the developer are planning to add a number of new features to the game beyond support for the PlayStation VR headset, including a new slow-mo ability that gives players time to “set up their next attack”:
Features
Virtually Step onto Pandora: Step into the boots of a treasure-seeking Vault Hunter armed with 87 bazillion possible guns on a quest to line your pockets with loot and free Pandora from Handsome Jack’s clutches. Blast bandits with real-world aiming, punch bullymongs in the mouth, find the perfect gun inside a life-sized treasure chest and inspect it from every angle. Catch-a-Ride and race across Pandora in first-person view and experience the thrill of a psycho running toward you with grenade in-hand yelling, “Boom time!”Virtually Slow Time: Borderlands 2 VR includes new features unique to the VR experience to empower Vault Hunters in their fight against Handsome Jack. With Bad Ass Mega Fun Time (aka BAMF Time), players can use this new slow-mo ability to literally slow the speed of the game temporarily to set up their next attack. In addition, with the option to Teleport, players can glide across Pandora as gracefully as Claptrap (if he had grace).
Become a Virtual Vault Hunter: Take on the role of one of four playable classes – Siren, Commando, Gunzerker and Assassin – each with unique combat styles and updated skills that leverage the new VR functionality, including the new BAMF Time ability. Whether crushing enemies with Maya’s Siren powers, calling in Sabre Turret reinforcements as Axton, feeling the heft of dual-wielded machine guns as Salvador, or the satisfying swing of Zer0’s sword in an enemy’s back, Borderlands 2 VR immerses players like never before.
Experience Virtual Improvements: For the first time ever, players can experience the sublime exhilaration of driving around the Borderlands in first-person perspective – accelerating and steering with the joystick and aiming the vehicle’s weapons with their headset. With the use of the motion controllers and headset, players can interact with the menu systems in a new and intuitive way for the platform, easily navigating through the menus by pointing, clicking, dragging and dropping. Players will also have the choice of preferred movement styles. Whether that’s the VR popular pointed-teleportation, or the classic direct movement style with joysticks – your experience should feel good for VR and true to form of classic Borderlands.
Get Virtually Rich: Borderlands VR brings shoot-and-loot mechanics to VR with bazillions of procedurally-generated guns and gear, each with their own capabilities and modifiers. Procedurally-generated shields, grenades, relics, class mods and more round out your Vault Hunter’s arsenal for maximum power and mayhem.
The first trailer for Borderlands 2 VR has been embedded above, and the game will be released exclusively for the PS4 on December 14.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Borderlands 2
New Retail Releases: CoD Black Ops 4, WWE 2K19, The World Ends With You Final Remix, More
It’s the second week of October and the New Retail Releases continue to pile up to avoid Rockstar’s upcoming juggernaut…
The Call of Duty franchise ditches its single-player campaign this week with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. With an earlier release date than ever before, and a new focus on its Blackout battle royale experience, Call of Duty fans will definitely be wading into uncharted waters with Black Ops 4.
After its Deluxe Edition launch late last week, 2K Games will roll out the Standard Edition of WWE 2K19 this week for the PS4 and Xbox One (the game will also be available to download for the PC). Players will be able to take control of AJ Styles and dozens of other wrestlers thanks to the biggest roster ever in a WWE game.
Players looking to dive back in to some classics will yesteryear will get their chance on Nintendo platforms this week. Square Enix will revive a beloved RPG originally released for the DS as The World Ends With You: Final Remix for the Nintendo Switch this week. Nintendo themselves will shrink down one of the GameCube’s most surprising launch titles, Luigi’s Mansion, for the 3DS. And NIS America will continue to pump out Disgaea remasters with the release of Disgaea 1 Complete for the PS4 and Switch.
Finally this week, Microsoft will bundle Minecraft into a pair of new packages for those who have yet to purchase it on the Xbox One. Both the Starter Collection and the Master Collection will include the main game, and a unique selection of downloadable content.
A complete list of this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Vita, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Luigi's Mansion, Minecraft, The World Ends With You, WWE 2K19
Skybound Games reaches deal with Telltale to complete The Walking Dead: The Final Season
We still don’t know what will happen to the hundreds of employees that Telltale Games unceremoniously let go as part of their “majority studio closure” on September 21, but thanks to an agreement with an outside developer, it looks like development on The Walking Dead: The Final Season will be completed.
Skybound Games, the video game division of The Walking Dead author Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment, announced that they’ve reached a deal with Telltale to finish the final two episodes of The Final Season:
We’re SO happy to announce that we’ve reached a deal with @telltalegames that will allow Skybound to continue #TheWalkingDead: The Final Season! Let’s wrap up Clem’s story right! More details to come soon. pic.twitter.com/ShyREw65iq
— Skybound Games (@skyboundgames) October 7, 2018
According to Variety, Skybound plans to rehire “members of the original Telltale team to finish the story,” but nothing is official as of yet. More details about Skybound’s involvement with The Walking Dead: The Final Season will be announced at a later date.
Square Enix will bundle together the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise in Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far
After years of teasing, Kingdom Hearts III will finally make its way to the PS4 and Xbox One next year. But if you need a refresher on the franchise’s complicated storyline, you’ll want to be on the lookout for Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far, an upcoming compilation that bundles together all nine games from the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
As an all-encompassing record of the franchise, The Story So Far will include…
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix
- Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts: ReChain of Memories
- Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (Cinematics Only)
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix
- Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep – Final Mix
- Kingdom Hearts: ReCoded (Cinematics Only)
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8: Final Chapter Prologue
- Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance
- Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage
- Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover (Cinematics Only)
Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far will be released exclusively for the PS4 on October 30, and if you’re a Kingdom Hearts fan who has some catching up to do, it’s wallet-friendly price of $39.99 will surely be very enticing.