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
Madden NFL 18’s Super Bowl LII simulation predicts the Patriots will win
Super Bowl LII is less than a week away, and EA Sports is back with its latest prediction for the “Big Game.”
According to the publisher’s Madden NFL 18 simulation, the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia will battle back-and-forth for control of the game. After a trio of touchdown passes from Tom Brady to Rob Gronkowski, Brandin Cooks, and Danny Amendola, the Patriots will head into the final minutes with a 24-20 lead. It looks like the “Golden Boy” will easily collect his sixth Super Bowl ring (and yet another MVP award), but not before a last-minute challenge from the Eagles:
This being the 4th quarter of the NFL’s biggest game, of course it’s Tom Brady’s time to shine. The soon-to-be MVP threw yet another touchdown pass to Danny Amendola, to put the Patriots back on top. After forcing an Eagles punt, the Pats were on their way to a grind-out-the-clock win when the fates intervened, and Eagles safety Malcom Jennings forced a strip fumble of New England running back Dion Lewis.
Capitalizing on the momentum the Eagles marched upfield, using masterful clock management to put themselves in position to dethrone the Patriots in dramatic fashion. As time expired Foles lofted a desperate pass to Jeffery, hoping the veteran could use his size and physicality to come down with the ball and send the city of Philadelphia into euphoria. However, Patriots defensive back Stefon Gilmore had other plans, and rose as the hero of the moment, knocking the ball away and sealing the Patriots sixth championship.
If this result seems familiar, it should. EA Sports’s Super Bowl LI simulation predicted similar heroics from Tom Brady last year, along with a Patriots victory, and an MVP award. In real life, the quarterback did not disappoint, securing the win for his team and the MVP award for himself.
Will this year’s Super Bowl prediction be as accurate? We’ll have to wait and see, so be sure to tune in to Super Bowl LII this Sunday, February 4, at 6:30 PM (Eastern Time).
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Madden NFL 18
Square Enix is thinking about bringing Secret of Mana remake to Switch and Secret of Mana Collection to US
Square Enix will release Secret of Mana for the PC, PS4, and Vita in a few weeks, but the developer might also bring the RPG remake to the Switch in the near future. Producer Masaru Oyamada recently sat down with IGN, and he confirmed the publisher has heard that fans want Secret of Mana on the Switch:
“When we originally started to develop this title, the Switch wasn’t announced at that time, and so we started developing for the PlayStation platforms,” Oyamada explained. “With that said, after announcing this, there has been quite a bit of demand for the Switch version. So, we are taking in that feedback, and if there is large demand for it we’d like to see what we can potentially do. But no plans as of yet.”
Oyamada was also asked about the possibility of a North American launch for the Secret of Mana Collection, which was released last year for the Switch in Japan. The Collection includes the original Secret of Mana, as well as Final Fantasy Adventure and Secret of Mana 2 (originally released in Japan as Seiken Densetsu 3). According to the developer, it would be difficult, but it’s something Square Enix is “continuously thinking about”:
When asked if about the possibility of Seiken Densetsu 3 getting localized for the west, Oyamada replied, “Of course, with the demand for Seiken Densetsu 3 we do want to kind of consider it.” However, if the studio were to take on such a task, there’d be some hurdles to overcome when localizing a game that was originally released in 1995 for the Super Famicom.
“Looking at the classic version obviously we don’t have the same development environment, so it may be a little bit difficult to consider bringing [a localized version] over in the current condition,” Oyamada said. “We do want to kind of figure out if we can figure out a resolution. That’s something we’re continuously thinking about, but nothing we can say for sure.”
The Secret of Mana remake will be released on February 15.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Secret of Mana
New Retail Releases: Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, EA Sports UFC 3, Railway Empire
Let’s get ready to rumble! Three new games will be available on retail shelves this week and they all involve a bit of rumbling.
First up is Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, a team-based brawler for the PS4 from Square Enix and Team Ninja. A spinoff/sequel to 2008’s Dissidia and 2011’s Dissidia 012, this new entry will bring together more than 20 classic Final Fantasy characters in 3v3 arena battles.
The MMA octagon is also something of an arena, and EA Sports is returning to the cage with EA Sports UFC 3, a new fighting sim for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. In addition to a revamped graphical presentation, EA Sports UFC 3 will feature a brand new Career Mode and Ultimate Team Mode.
Finally this week, a different kind of rumbling will be at the center of Railway Empire. Players will need to take control of a fleet of trains and lay a rail network that connects the coasts on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
That’s it for this week’s New Retail Releases report, but we’ll be back later this week with a look at all the new additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, EA Sports UFC 3
Celeste, Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Monster Hunter: World, more added to Xbox Store
Microsoft is closing out the week with a big Xbox Games Store update and the launch of four new Xbox One games…
First up is Celeste, the new side-scrolling platformer from Matt Thorson. Unlike the multiplayer antics of his first game, TowerFall, Thorson has asked players to complete the jumps necessary to climb Celeste Mountain in his “super-tight, hand-crafted platformer.”
Also available to download today is Dragon Ball Fighter Z, a 2D fighting game set within the Dragon Ball universe. Developed by Arc System Works, Dragon Ball Fighter Z includes dozens of characters and an anime-like graphical style.
Massive battles are also at the center of Monster Hunter: World, which is also available to download today courtesy of Capcom. Players will be able to explore a brand new world by themselves or with up to three friends and fight it out with a diverse set of giant beasts.
Finally this week, Awesome Industries will launch the budget-priced Drift Zone, a racing game that’s all about drifting.
You can learn more about all of today’s additions to the Xbox Games Store after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Celeste, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Monster Hunter: World
Tribute Games is bringing Flinthook to the Nintendo Switch
Another amazing indie is making its way to the Nintendo Switch. Tribute Games has announced they plan to release Flinthook, their roguelike platformer that stars a space pirate with a grappling hook, will “soon” be available for Nintendo’s newest console.
Tribute Games put together a new trailer for the announcement, and Limited Run Games has confirmed (via Twitter) they’ll release a special retail edition of Flinthook.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more about Flinthook’s Switch debut in the very near future.
Get your first look at the new multiplayer maps from CoD: WWII’s Resistance DLC Pack
Call of Duty: WWII players on the PS4 will be able to download the game’s first expansion, the Resistance DLC Pack, beginning next week. And yesterday, Activision and Sony unveiled a new trailer showcasing the add-on’s three new multiplayer maps at the PlayStation Blog.
Here’s a few details on what to expect from the Resistance DLC Pack when it launches on January 30:
Anthropoid – Based in Prague, Czechoslovakia, this map is inspired by Operation Anthropoid – the famous assassination attempt on a high-ranking German officer during World War II. This map features a center lane divided by a river, with long-flanking paths that can be used by snipers for ranged attacks.
Call of Duty: WWII – The ResistanceOccupation – In this remake of a classic Call of Duty map, players battle through the streets and shops of German-occupied Paris during WWII. Long side streets encourage mid-range combat, with nearby homes and storefronts lending defensive positions for ambush and recovery.
Valkyrie – Located in the Masurian Woods, East Prussia, this map was inspired by The Wolf’s Lair – Hitler’s Eastern-front headquarters during Operation Barbarossa – the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. This is a medium-sized map with gameplay focused around a dangerous center lane covered by multiple overwatch positions and mounted machine guns.
Call of Duty: WWII’s Resistance DLC Pack is also in the works for PC and Xbox One players, and it should be available to download sometime in late February/early March.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: WWII
Celeste, Pokemon Crystal, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week
Nintendo fans will need to climb the mountain to be the very best in this week’s Nintendo eShop update.
First up is Celeste, a side-scrolling platformer for the Switch from Matt Thorson, the creator of TowerFall. Players will take control of Madeline and help her climb Celeste Mountain by completing “hundreds of hand-crafted challenges” and bouncing back from death after death after death.
Over on the 3DS side of the eShop, Nintendo will make Pokemon Crystal available to download for their handheld beginning tomorrow. Pokemon Crystal was originally released in 2001 as a companion game to Pokemon Gold/Silver. This 3DS re-release includes local multiplayer and support for the Pokemon Bank app.
You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Switch
Tagged Celeste, Pokemon Gold/Silver
EA might have delayed Anthem into 2019 as Dragon Age 4 begins development
According to a new report in Kotaku, BioWare is currently going through a bit of a rough patch, and it looks like both Anthem and Dragon Age 4 have been affected.
Speaking to several people “familiar with the project,” Kotaku’s Jason Schreier has learned that EA has pulled the entire BioWare team onto Anthem (minus the small teams maintaining Star Wars: The Old Republic and doing pre-production work on Dragon Age 4). But even with this increased amount of manpower, Schreier’s sources say that Anthem will most likely be delayed to Early 2019:
Anthem, which was announced at E3 2017, is now scheduled for release in early 2019, according to three people familiar with the project. The “fall 2018” window mentioned during that E3 announcement was “never realistic,” one source said. Exact dates remain in flux—and Anthem’s developers must also plan for a beta release, an EA Access launch, and an ongoing schedule of patches and updates—but it appears unlikely to developers that publisher EA will allow BioWare to delay the game any further than March 2019, when the company’s 2019 fiscal year comes to an end.
As for Dragon Age 4, a small part of BioWare has begun to work on the game, and the team is currently looking to add “live” elements to the game that’ll keep players coming back after they complete the main story:
The day following the publication of this article, BioWare studio head Casey Hudson confirmed that the next Dragon Age will indeed be a live game. “Reading lots of feedback regarding Dragon Age, and I think you’ll be relieved to see what the team is working on,” he wrote on Twitter. “Story & character focused. Too early to talk details, but when we talk about ‘live’ it just means designing a game for continued storytelling after the main story.”
While Anthem’s likely delay and Dragon Age 4’s “live” makeover were the big scoops to come out of Schreier’s sources, his report also includes several gritty details about the day-to-day environment at BioWare and how many of the developers feel about the company’s direction.