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
Far Cry 5, MX Vs ATV: All Out, Tera, more added to Xbox Store
A handful of new Xbox One games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store…
Far Cry is a franchise with a cult devotion, so it seems natural that Ubisoft dropped an actual doomsday cult into Far Cry 5. In the game, players will venture towards the fictional Hope County in Montana to fight it out with the Eden’s Gate cult and their bizarre leader, Joseph Seed.
Also available to download today is MX Vs ATV: All Out, another off-road racing sim from THQ Nordic; Tera, a free-to-play MMO from Bluehole; and the Game Preview release of PixArk, a voxelized sandbox adventure based on Ark: Survival Evolved.
Finally, Telltale will finish up Batman: The Enemy Within with the release of Episode 5: Same Stitch.
You can learn more about all of these games after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Far Cry 5, MX Vs ATV: All Out
WB Games officially announces Lego The Incredibles
After a leak earlier this month, it looks like WB Games and TT Games are ready to officially announce Lego The Incredibles.
The action-adventure game will include scenes from both The Incredibles and the upcoming Incredibles 2, and according to WB Games, “players [will] work together by combining the Parr family’s abilities and unique powers to conquer crime and family life.” Like all Lego games, Lego The Incredible will also include drop-in/drop-out multiplayer for up to two players.
“The Incredibles franchise, full of super-powered characters, adventures and teamwork, combined with all of the humor, puzzle-solving elements and unexpected surprises of LEGO games makes for the perfect combination for players,” said Tom Stone, the Managing Director of TT Games. “With Lego The Incredibles, fans can experience the non-stop action from both movies while fighting crime together as a super hero family.”
Lego The Incredibles will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on June 15 (the same day the movie opens in theaters). The “Announce Trailer” has been embedded above.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age will be released in North America for PC and PS4 on September 4
Dragon Quest fans have been patiently waiting for any information about the North American launch of the eleventh game in the series since its release in Japan last year. This morning, Square Enix finally gave us an official release date to add to our calendars.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age will be released for the PC and PS4 on September 4. Sadly, the 3DS version of the game won’t be released in North America, and the Switch version still has a long way to go. The publisher clarified the business reasons behind this decision in a statement made to IGN:
In a statement, Square Enix told IGN: “Our aim with Dragon Quest XI and the Dragon Quest brand is to grow the audience in the West. From a business point of view, it made strategic sense to release the 3DS version in Japan in 2017. For the West in 2018, it made the most sense to focus on the PlayStation 4 and PC (Steam) platforms.”
As for the Switch version, things are slightly less clear. “We are also developing the Switch version for Europe and North America,” reads Square Enix’s statement, “but development is expected to take a long time from a technological standpoint as well, so we still have a long way to go until its release”.
But on a happier note, we received a new gameplay trailer this morning (which has been embedded above), and the Dragon Quest franchise’s creative team (Series Creator Yuji Horii, Character Designer Akira Toriyama, and Composer Koichi Sugiyama) all returned for Dragon Quest XI. And Square Enix also confirmed the turn-based RPG will include several new features exclusive to North America/Europe:
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age – North American Features
- English Voiceover
- Draconian Quest – A hard mode that offers additional challenges for more experienced players.
- Overhauled Menus & UI – With graphical enhancements and more intuitive navigation.
- Camera Mode – Allowing players to take in views of the beautiful landscape, character renders and ferocious monsters in detail.
- A New Dash Function and many other system enhancements such as improved character and camera movement
Finally, you can get a look at the Opening Movie for Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, which can be found after the break. (more…)
MLB The Show 18, Far Cry 5, The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2, more coming to PS Store this week
A fairly decent-sized batch of new games will be available to download through the PlayStation Store this week.
With Opening Day less than 24 hours away, Sony has launched MLB The Show 18 exclusively for the PS4. Developer Sony San Diego has added a huge number of new Legends to the the baseball sim, as well as an expanded Road to the Show mode, and a revamped Hitting Engine. There aren’t any Major League teams in Montana, and that’s probably just as well, because PS4 players will also be able to win back the fictional Hope County from a doomsday cult in Ubisoft’s Far Cry 5 this week.
JRPG fans will find multiple new games on the PlayStation Store this week including The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 from NIS America and Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings (the finale of the Mysterious saga) from Bandai Namco. Things with wheels are also represented in this week’s update thanks to the launch of THQ Nordic’s MX Vs ATV: All Out and Atari’s RollerCoaster Tycoon: Joyride. And I’m not sure if it has wheels, but Llamasoft brings the tube shooter back to the PS4 in Tempest 4000.
Finally, Telltale will bring Batman: The Enemy Within to a close with Episode 5: Same Stitch.
You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store after the break. (more…)
World Video Game Hall of Fame announces finalists for Class of 2018
Curators at the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and the Strong Museum have announced the finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018. Eight games will get their first chance to be inducted into gaming’s inner circle, including Asteroids, Call of Duty, Dance Dance Revolution, Half-Life, King’s Quest, Metroid, Ms. Pac-Man, and Spacewar!.
Two other games, Final Fantasy VII and Tomb Raider, were previously in the finalist pool for the Class of 2017. They’ll get another chance this year alongside John Madden Football and Minecraft, which were previously on the ballot in 2016.
The World Video Game Hall of Fame will announce the inductees for the Class of 2018 on Thursday, May 3, at 10:30 AM. But this year, fans will get a vote in the first-ever Player’s Choice ballot. According to the rules, “the three games that receive the most public votes will form one “Player’s Choice” ballot, which will join the 27 other ballots submitted by members of the International Selection Advisory Committee, a supporting group composed of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society.” Fans can make their voice heard through the Player’s Choice ballot once a day until April 4th. So vote early and vote often!
And if, for some reason, you’re unfamiliar with this year’s finalists, the World Video Game Hall of Fame has put together a helpful cheat sheet that can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Retro, Switch, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy VII, Minecraft, Ms. Pac-Man, Tomb Raider (1996), World Video Game Hall of Fame
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will be released for the Xbox One on April 11
Ninja Theory has announced that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will be released for the Xbox One on April 11. The developer also shared a bit about the game’s enhanced graphics options on the Xbox Wire blog:
Xbox fans have waited patiently for us to bring Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice to their console’s library and we can’t wait to see what you think. Hellblade supports HDR and the game is enhanced for Xbox One X, with players having the choice of three enhanced modes to select from: Enhanced Visuals mode offers extra FX and visual quality throughout the experience, High Framerate mode runs the game at 60fps, and High-Resolution mode runs the game with dynamic resolutions up to 4K.
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is now available to pre-order through the Xbox Games Store.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
New Retail Releases: Far Cry 5, MLB The Show 18, The Alliance Alive, More
A nonet of new releases will be available to purchase from your favorite gaming establishment this week…
Ubisoft is leading the way this week with the launch of Far Cry 5, the latest game in their open-world shooter franchise. This time, players will have to infiltrate a doomsday cult and rescue the citizens of Hope County, Montana from the violent followers of “The Father.” As you might expect, Far Cry 5 will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Far Cry 5 includes a nice variety of vehicles, and racing fans will get to explore an even bigger garage in THQ Nordic’s MX Vs ATV: All Out for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. MX Vs ATV: All Out will include several different race types (Supercross, Nationals, Opencross, Waypoint, Tag, and more), as well as stunt tracks, and online multiplayer.
Baseball fans will also get the chance to play ball this week with Sony’s annual entry in the MLB The Show series, MLB The Show 18, for the PS4.
If you’re looking for something a little off the beaten path, a big batch of JRPGs will also make their way to North America this week. Atlus will launch The Alliance Alive for the 3DS; Koei Tecmo’s Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings closes out the “Mysterious” saga on the PS4 and Switch; NIS America will release The Witch and the Hundred Knight 2 for the PS4; and Aksys will pull double duty with Code Realize: Bouquet of Flowers for the PS4 and Code Realize: Future Blessings for the Vita.
Finally this week, WB Games and NetherRealm Studios will launch the Injustice 2: Legendary Edition for the PS4 and Xbox One. The Legendary Edition will package together the original game, as well as every extra character from the Fighter Packs, and exclusive new content.
That’s it for this week’s New Retail Releases report, but we’ll be back in a few days with a look at all the upcoming additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
A Way Out, Western Press, Waku Waku 7 added to Xbox Store
A trio of new games are now available to download for the Xbox One today…
The jailhouse drama of Hazelight’s A Way Out leads the way in today’s Xbox Games Store update. Two players will take control of Leo and Vincent, a pair of cons that form an uneasy truce as they work to break out of prison and regain their freedom. Best of all, only one copy of A Way Out is required to play the game cooperatively online. Using the “Friends Pass” feature, players can share the game with their friends to help make their great escape.
Also available to download today is Western Press, a 1v1 dueling game that asks players to press a random string of ten buttons the fastest, and Waku Waku 7, a fighting game that was originally released for the NeoGeo in 1996.
You can learn more about all of these games after the break. (more…)