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
Hyper Light Drifter will come to the Switch this Summer
Nintendo unveiled a bunch of new “Nindies” during their Nindies Showcase presentation earlier this afternoon… but they’re still not done. The consolemaker just confirmed that Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter will be available for the Switch this Summer:
Journey through a beautiful, vast world riddled with dangers when #HyperLightDrifter launches on #NintendoSwitch #eShop this summer! #Nindies pic.twitter.com/8tUu8Q4RVo
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 20, 2018
Hyper Light Drifter is a retro-styled Action RPG that was originally released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2016. A Wii U version was planned, but was canceled later that year after the developer had problems producing a presentable port.
Now here we are in 2018, and it looks like Nintendo fans will finally get a chance to play the game in just a few short months.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Hyper Light Drifter
New update adds Brigitte to Overwatch’s roster on PC, PS4, and Xbox One
After a few weeks of testing, Blizzard has added Brigitte to Overwatch‘s Character Select Screen on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The complete list of updates included in this patch can be found at the game’s Community Forum, and a new trailer for the melee mechanic has been embedded above:
An engineer with peerless armor-constructing abilities, Brigitte Lindholm is a valiant squire who fights on the front line to protect her allies.
Brigitte’s armor engineering capabilities make her a stalwart support hero, capable of holding her ground in combat while also providing healing and armor for her allies. Her primary weapon is her heavy-hitting Rocket Flail that she swings in a wide arc in front of her to smash multiple enemies at once. Whip Shot enables Brigitte to fling her flail forward, striking enemies at a distance and knocking them backward. With each blow, Brigitte’s passive ability, Inspire, heals nearby allies over time.
Brigitte’s Barrier Shield deploys a frontal energy barrier that can absorb a limited amount of damage and protect any allies directly behind her. Once her Barrier Shield is deployed, she can use Shield Bash to lunge forward and stun the first enemy in her path. Drawing on her engineering prowess, Brigitte can create Repair Packs to instantly heal wounded allies or provide armor to teammates at maximum health. When Brigitte is at her strongest, she can activate her ultimate ability, Rally—a galvanizing call to arms that generates a substantial amount of armor for nearby allies and increases Brigitte’s movement speed so she can lead them into battle.
According to Blizzard, Brigitte will be available in Competitive Play starting with Season 10.
The Messenger is also coming to the Nintendo Switch this Summer
The highlight of today’s Nindies Showcase has to be the confirmation that The Messenger will be coming to the Switch this Summer. Set to be published by Devolver Digital, and in the works at Montreal’s Sabotage Studio, The Messenger is a side-scroller that mixes 8-bit platforming with 16-bit MetroidVania-style adventuring:
The Messenger allows players to transform the game from an 8-bit platformer into a gloriously rendered 16-bit time-traveling adventure. Players will find upgrades, new abilities, hidden levels and great speed-running opportunities as they journey through a cursed land.
The Messenger will be playable at this year’s PAX East convention (April 5-8) in the Indie Megabooth. A new teaser trailer for the game has also been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, Switch
Tagged PAX East 2018, The Messenger
Gorogoa will “soon” be available to download for the PS4 and Xbox One
Jason Roberts has announced that his visual puzzler, Gorogoa, will “soon” be available to download for the PS4. The developer marked the occasion with an extended essay on “The Power of The Frame” at the PlayStation Blog:
With the notable exception of VR, almost everything we consume is inside a frame, whether that frame is the edge of the TV screen, or the monitor, or the phone, or the movie screen. And we’re generally trained to forget about the frame and what’s outside of it. We want to forget ourselves, the room we’re in, the sorry old world we’re in. The disappearance of the frame is a big part of what we mean by “immersion.” We aim for total suspension of disbelief. Total projection of the mind through the frame.
And if you’re waiting for me to denounce this way of relating to media, I’m not going to! Why would I? It works just fine. But I also think that creatively, the space outside that frame is a huge unexplored frontier–as strange as that might sound at first.
Gorogoa opens with a small framed image of a cityscape, in the middle of an otherwise empty screen. The obvious decision to leave empty space makes the frame visible, and that was done for a reason. The frame itself is part of the message. I find this mysteriously compelling. And I want to poke into that mystery a little.
We don’t have an exact release date for Gorogoa’s PS4 debut other than “soon,” but the developer’s essay is certainly interesting, and I’m sure it’ll keep a lot of people occupied until the game is ready.
UPDATE: Publisher Annapurna Interactive has confirmed that Gorogoa will also “soon” be available to download for the Xbox One as well.
Just Shapes and Beats will come to the Switch as a timed exclusive this Summer
Nintendo’s 2018 Nindies Showcase just came to an end, and we’ve learned that Just Shapes and Beats, a “musical bullet hell” from Berzerk Studio will be available for the Switch as a timed exclusive this Summer. The game includes single-player, local multiplayer, and online multiplayer modes, as well as a soundtrack composed by 20 chiptune artists.
You can find the short Nindies Showcase trailer for Just Shapes and Beats after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Just Shapes and Beats
Atari’s “Ataribox” microconsole will be known as the Atari VCS
Yesterday, Atari confirmed that its “Ataribox” microconsole will officially be known as the Atari VCS. The name is meant to stir up fond memories of Atari’s first console, the Atari 2600 Video Computer System, but even with its name out in the wild, the microconsole is still shrouded in mystery.
We know the Atari VCS will come packed with classic Atari games, but the company is also planning to make newer games available for the microconsole through an Internet connection. These games are said to be “designed for today’s living room,” but as of now, we have no idea what the Atari VCS’s game lineup (retro or modern) will actually look like.
That said, Atari did give us a sneak peek at the VCS’s wood-paneled console design, as well as prototypes for its Classic Joystick and Modern Controller:
Inspired by the iconic silhouette of the original Atari 2600 Video Computer System, the new Atari VCS has already generated considerable excitement within the gaming community. Its skillful blend of modern lines and reverential details, combined with contemporary content technology and new innovation, has evoked positive reactions from Atari fans both new and old. The Atari VCS will of course serve up lots of classic content, but it is so much more than a “retro-box.” It is a completely new Atari connected device designed for today’s living room.
The Atari VCS will be available for hands-on testing (by appointment only) during this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, so hopefully we’ll learn more about it soon.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile is now available to download on iOS, Android devices
After a few months of testing, Tencent and PUBG Corporation have announced that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile is now available as a free download for iOS and Android devices in many regions around the world (including the United States and Canada).
PUBG Mobile is a faithful adaptation of the PC version for mobile devices that will change the way people perceive and think about mobile gaming. The developers are set on satisfying the high expectations of players and influencers who have been looking forward to the game coming to the world’s most accessible platform.
“We are very excited to launch PUBG Mobile on iOS and Android internationally,” said Chen Jerry, the Corporate Vice President of Tencent. “We are working hard to create an authentic PUBG mobile experience that players new and old will love. A lot of went into controls and optimization to give players a smooth and intuitive experience.”
Tencent and PUBG Corporation will make PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Mobile available to download in more regions at a later date.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Lego The Incredibles game teased by Lego
It looks like Lego The Incredibles will be coming to the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One later this year.
The news comes via Lego fansite The Brick Fan, who spotted an advertisement for the game on the back of the instruction booklet included with an upcoming Lego set based on The Incredibles 2.
It’s unknown if Lego The Incredibles will pull its story solely from the upcoming sequel or both movies in the series, but we do know that TT Games has once again been tapped to develop the Lego-ized adaptation.
I’d guess an official announcement from WB Games will be happening soon.