Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books Gets a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Author: John Scalzo
Halo 6 will be known as Halo Infinite… and it’s coming to the Xbox One and PC
It’s been three long years since Microsoft released Halo 5: Guardians, so now was the perfect time for the consolemaker to open their Xbox E3 Briefing with a very generalized look at the next game in the series.
Halo Infinite will be the sixth game in the series to star the Master Chief, though Microsoft isn’t quite ready to talk about it just yet. Instead, they unveiled a “Game Engine Demonstration” for 343 Industries’s new Slipspace Engine, which will be used to power the franchise’s creation for the forseeable future.
While there’s a chance that none of what we see will make its way into the final game, the Xbox Wire wants us to focus on what the Slipspace Engine is capable of:
Of course, fans around the world will break down every single frame of the engine demo for more clues on what Halo Infinite could entail. We caught a couple of hidden Easter eggs – can you? 343 Industries stated that the game, art, and tech elements are still in progress and many of the assets and designs will certainly evolve between now and the release of the game; what fans should take away from the engine demo is the promise of the Slipspace Engine and its capabilities in powering “Halo Infinite” and how the story will center on the Master Chief.
Halo Infinite doesn’t currently have a release date, but Microsoft did say that it’s in development for both the Xbox One and the PC.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2018, Halo Infinite
Koei Tecmo will release Dead Or Alive 6 in Early 2019
IGN has the scoop that Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja are returning to the ring in 2019 with Dead Or Alive 6.
Described as “cool and mature” by Director Yohei Shimbori, the new Dead Or Alive is ditching the oversexed costumes from previous entries for a more realistic look. And this push for realism can definitely be seen in the E3 Trailer, which gives fans a quick glimpse at several characters who will return for the sixth installment, including Kasumi, Ryu Hayabusa, Hayate, Helena, Jann Lee, and Zack.
Shimbori also revealed that Dead Or Alive 6 will feature a new Special Button (which offers up instant combos) and a super meter known as the Break Gauge (a first for the franchise):
[W]hen we started using the new Special button (R1 on a PS4 controller, RB on an Xbox One controller), which Shimbori calls the “rescue button for beginners”, Dead or Alive 6 started to feel like a different beast.
Simply mashing the Special button allows players to execute a Fatal Rush, which is a powerful combo attack. A series of up to four neatly animated punches and kicks make even a first-time player look like an expert. The Break Gauge – the first super meter ever for the series – gets charged with every attack landed or taken, and by blocking. Once it is full, players can perform either the Break Blow, which is a flashy and highly destructive special attack, or the Break Hold, a useful counter attack that deals low damage but works against high, low and mid attacks. Both are executed with the Special button; for Break Blow you simultaneously press forward, and backward if you want to perform the Break Hold. That’s really all there is to it!
Dead Or Alive 6 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Early 2019. And Koei Tecmo has promised to reveal more information about the game on June 11th… which is only a day away.
Square Enix will release Kingdom Hearts III on January 29, 2019
Even though they’ve got a big E3 Press Conference coming up tomorrow, Square Enix went ahead and announced late last night that Kingdom Hearts III will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on January 29, 2019:
KINGDOM HEARTS III will be releasing on Xbox One and Playstation 4 on January 29, 2019! #KingdomHearts #KH3 pic.twitter.com/vpcpxbkreX
— Kingdom Hearts (@KINGDOMHEARTS) June 10, 2018
While it’s great news that we finally know exactly when Kingdom Hearts III will launch, it does mean that the game will miss Square Enix’s promised “2018” release date (which they’ve mentioned many, many, many times in the past). In a followup tweet, Director Tetsuya Nomura apologized for the delay: “I’m sorry that we’re asking for a little more time than initially planned.”
Nomura also said that Square Enix plans to unveil multiple new trailers for Kingdom Hearts III over the next week. So be on the lookout for those.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2018, Kingdom Hearts III
NBA Live 19 will tip off on September 7
With the Golden State Warriors claiming another title last night, most basketball fans have probably shifted their focus to wondering where Lebron James will end up next season. But that didn’t stop EA Sports from announcing that they’re bringing back the NBA Live franchise this Fall.
NBA Live 19 will once again center around “The One,” which asks players to “forge their own path as one of the best high school players in the nation chasing the dream to become an all-time basketball icon.” EA Sports will also add Real Player Motion tech to the game, which should produce “smoother gameplay” for players:
NBA Live 19 will bring numerous new features and enhancements to the hardwood, building on last year’s strong foundation. Players will be invited to take their game around the world, facing opponents on new courts in Paris, Brazil, and the Philippines, with each court and tournament offering unique rules and challenges specific to those courts.
NBA Live 19 also marks the introduction of Real Player Motion (RPM) Tech into the franchise, introducing thousands of new animations and smoother gameplay than ever before. The game offers more choices for clothes, shoes and gear, and a new progression-system modeled after some of the sport’s greatest icons.
NBA Live 19 will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on September 7, but all fans will be able to try out a free demo on both platforms beginning on August 24.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2018, NBA Live 19
Madden NFL 19’s E3 Trailer confirms the franchise is coming back to PC on August 10
It’s been more than a decade since EA Sports released a game in the Madden franchise for the PC. But that all changes this year, as the publisher revealed today that Madden NFL 19 will be available for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC this August.
The E3 Trailer embedded above, which was created using “Game Engine Footage,” gives us our first look at the new Real Player Motion system. The Real Player Motion system is “designed to deliver hyper-realistic animations with a higher level of gameplay,” and according to EA Sports, these “elevated animations” add more control to ball carrying.
In addition to on-field improvements, Madden NFL 19 will expand on Madden NFL 18‘s Story Mode in “Longshot Homecoming,” which continues the story of Devin (JR Lemon) and Colt (Scott Porter).
And speaking of longshots, EA Sports must have a lot of faith in the Cleveland Browns this year, because the trailer ends with a shot of rookie QB Baker Mayfield breaking a tackle and tossing a really long pass for a game-winning touchdown.
Hey, it could happen.
EA just surprise-released Unravel 2 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One
More than two years ago, Electronic Arts quietly admitted that Coldwood had begun development on Unravel 2. Earlier today, the publisher fully unveiled the game during their E3-opening EA Play event… and announced that it’s now available to download for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
The sequel continues Yarny’s emotional journey, but this time around, Coldwood upped the ante by adding a drop-in/drop-out cooperative mode to the puzzle-platformer:
Unravel Two features an evocative story filled with energy, intrigue, and inspiration, as well as ominous threats. Players can customize their own Yarnys by helping others in Unravel Two, as they jump, slide, swing and run along their adventure with two Yarnys side-by-side or joined together, always.
The two Yarnys will need to support one another as they work through tricky trials and traverse between beautiful natural landscapes and intricate urban environments, with the surroundings blossoming into new life as they embark on an adventure together.
The engaging and lighthearted story of Unravel Two demonstrates the power of positivity in the face of uncertainty.
A trailer for Unravel 2 has been embedded above.
Respawn’s Star Wars game is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and it’ll be out next Fall
Electronic Arts unofficially kicked off this year’s E3 Expo with their annual EA Play event earlier today, and one of the topics they briefly touched on was Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars game.
While we didn’t get a glimpse of the game in action, we did learn that it’ll be called Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. As you might expect from a Star Wars game with that title, it takes place in the aftermath of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and features a Padawan trying to survive the Jedi Purge:
From Respawn Entertainment comes a brand-new action adventure game which tells an original Star Wars story around a surviving Padawan set shortly after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is currently scheduled to launch in Fall 2019.
Posted in News
Tagged E3 2018, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
EA Sports’s Stanley Cup prediction is wrong once again as Capitals win their first title
While you can usually take EA Sports’s Super Bowl prediction to the bank, their prognosticating powers for ice hockey have never been as solid. And 2018 is no exception.
The publisher used NHL 18 to simulate this year’s NHL Playoffs, and they zeroed in on a Stanley Cup matchup between the Boston Bruins and the Winnipeg Jets. Though the Jets managed to make it to the Western Conference Finals, the Bruins were knocked out in the second round.
So instead, this year’s Stanley Cup Finals belonged to the Vegas Golden Knights (an expansion team that never existed before last Fall) and the Washington Capitals. And last night, the Capitals hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
Better luck next year, EA Sports.