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
MX Vs ATV: All Out will be released on March 27
THQ Nordic unveiled the final release date and a new trailer for MX Vs ATV: All Out earlier today. The off-road racing game is in development at Rainbow Studios, and it’ll be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on March 27:
MX Vs ATV: All Out is the complete off-road racing and lifestyle experience! Find your Rider Style at your own private compound, Free Ride across massive environments, and compete in the best series events! All the bikes, ATVs, tracks, gear, music, riders, personalities, and even UTVs are packed in!
MX Vs ATV: All Out is now available for pre-ordering on all platforms and the new trailer has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged MX Vs ATV: All Out
Latest Monster Hunter: World trailer introduces Elder Dragons and teases Spring 2018 update
Capcom will unleash Monster Hunter: World on unsuspecting PS4 and Xbox One owners on January 26, but first they wanted to share some details about the game’s biggest threats… the Elder Dragons. The beastly creatures will play a central role in Monster Hunter: World’s story, and a new post on the Capcom-Unity blog shared a few more details:
[T]he New World is filled with a vast roster of unique monsters for you to hunt and craft gear from. Today weve revealed a new monster called Dodogama, a crystal-eating wyvern that can coat its favorite snack with a unique saliva that turns them into explosive projectiles, as well as returning fan-favorites from a calamitous category of monsters: the Elder Dragons!
The main plot of Monster Hunter: World centers around uncovering the mysterious migration patterns of Elder Dragons, dubbed the Elder Crossing, and has you chasing the trails of the colossal Zorah Magdaros.
Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that the end of the trailer includes a quick glimpse at Monster Hunter: World’s first free update. Featuring “everyones favorite raging pickle brute wyvern,” Deviljho, the update will be available to download in the Spring.
Capcom also confirmed that PS4 owners will get the chance to participate in the final Beta Test for Monster Hunter: World beginning on January 18. The Beta Test will include new quests, and will conclude on January 21.
In addition to the imminent PS4 and Xbox One launch, Monster Hunter: World is also in development for the PC. That version of the game will be released this Fall.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Monster Hunter: World
Mutant Football League’s “Full Version” will launch for the PS4 and Xbox One on January 19
Digital Dreams has announced that the “Full Version” of Mutant Football League will soon be available for the PS4 and Xbox One. According to the game’s official Twitter account, it’ll make its PS4 and Xbox One debut on January 19, though Xbox One owners are able to download a work-in-progress version of the game right now thanks to the Xbox Game Preview program:
#HappyNewYear to all our patient Fanatics! #TheMFL will be coming to #PlayStation4 & #XboxOne on Friday, JANUARY 19! (Just in time for the Conference Championships) #MarkYourCalendars #PS4 #XboxOneS #PSN #XboxLive pic.twitter.com/F23I6Qfwtk
— MutantFootballLeague (@MutantFootball) January 2, 2018
If Mutant Football League sounds familiar, it should. The game is a spiritual successor to 1993’s Mutant League Football, and both were created and designed by developer Michael Mendheim.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Mutant Football League
Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn lead all nominees at 2018 GDC Awards
The organizers of the Game Developers Conference have announced the nominees for this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards.
Nintendo and Sony have a lot to celebrate this year as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Horizon: Zero Dawn tied for the most nominations, with six apiece. Both games are in the running for “Game of the Year,” and both were also nominated in the “Best Audio,” “Best Design,” “Best Technology,” and “Best Visual Art” categories. Breath of the Wild tacked on one more nominations for the “Innovation Award,” while Horizon nabbed a nomination for “Best Narrative.”
Both games should probably be considered the frontrunners for the “Game of the Year” award, but they’ll also have to compete with PUBG Corporation’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Platinum Games’s Nier: Automata, and Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey for the coveted honor.
Outside of the “Game of the Year” competition, Studio MDHR’s Cuphead captured three nominations for “Best Audio,” “Best Debut,” and “Best Visual Art.”
The 2018 GDC Awards ceremony will take place on on Wednesday, March 21, at 6:30 PM (Pacific Time). The full list of nominees, and all the Honorable Mentions, can be found after the break. (more…)
NetherRealm conjures up the first trailer for The Enchantress in Injustice 2
NetherRealm Studios is ready to unveil The Enchantress… the next character coming to Injustice 2. The Enchantress made her big screen debut in 2016 as part of David Ayers’s Suicide Squad, and the supervillain’s demonic essence is front and center in the new trailer embedded above:
The all-too ordinary life of June Moone ended the day she was possessed by the Enchantress, a demonic sorceress with aspirations of world domination. Today, she fights for her very soul, struggling to harness the Enchantress’ magic for good. If she fails, the Enchantress will consume her – and our world won’t be far behind.
Injustice 2 players who own the Ultimate Edition or Fighter Pack #3 will be able to download The Enchantress on January 9. She’ll be available as a standalone download through the PlayStation Store, Steam, and the Xbox Games Store on January 16.
In the meantime, Injustice 2 fans can head over to NetherRealm’s Twitch channel to view a lengthy (and Enchantress-centric) new Watchtower stream.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Injustice 2
Nintendo sold 4.8 million Switch consoles in US in 2017… a record-setting start for a console
The Nintendo Switch continued its record-breaking streak today.
Nintendo has announced that 4.8 million Switch consoles were sold in the United States in 2017, making it the fastest-selling console of all time. The previous record holder, the Wii, sold four million consoles in the US during its first ten month on sale in 2006-2007.
“Fans across the country have experienced the joy of playing their favorite games at home or on the go,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s President and COO. “Now that many more people have received Nintendo Switch systems for the holidays, we look forward to bringing them fun new surprises in 2018 and beyond.”
As part of the announcement, the consolemaker also revealed a few impressive sales figures for a handful of first-party games. Super Mario Odyssey was the Switch’s best-selling game during its first calendar year, and more than 60% of Switch owners in the US purchased the game (which translates to about 2.9 million copies). It was followed closely by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild, which is owned by 55% of Switch owners (totaling 2.6 million copies). In third place, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was purchased by 50% of Switch owners (for sales of 2.4 million copies) and Splatoon 2 inked an ownership agreement with 20% of Switch owners (totaling almost a million copies in sales).
Finally, Nintendo confirmed that Switch owners can look forward to new games from EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Capcom, Sega, Take Two, and Bethesda in 2018. This is interesting as EA, Activision, and Take Two have yet to announce any further games for the Switch. So I guess we can look forward to announcements from all three companies in the very near future.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Mario Kart 8, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Messenger is a retro side-scroller inspired by Ninja Gaiden… and it’ll be out this year
After viewing the Teaser Trailer for The Messenger, it’s easy to see the influence that Ninja Gaiden had on the debut game from Sabotage Studio.
But Ryu Hayabusa’s 8-bit adventures weren’t the only inspiration for the Quebec-based team. The Messenger will also include special portals that propel players to a 16-bit future that’s arranged as a more open MetroidVania-style world:
As a demon army besieges his village, a young ninja ventures through a cursed world, to deliver a scroll paramount to his clan’s survival.
Leveraging player expectations as a core design ingredient, The Messenger is first presented as an 8-bit action platformer with a simple story only to turn into an epic time travelling tale, eventually revealing itself as a 16-bit Metroidvania packed with replay value and deadpan humor.
If you’d like to learn more about The Messenger, the game’s Creative Director, Thierry Boulanger, and Executive Producer, Martin Brouard, recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Polygon. The pair discussed their efforts to bring The Messenger to life, as well as a desire to make the game appealing to both newcomers and speedrunners:
“That’s what we’re targeting here. Taking these memories and making them something polished in terms of gameplay and controls. It’s hard to go back to Ninja Gaiden after the playing The Messenger, in my opinion.”
“Not revealing everything is important to us, because there still need to be surprises, but people need to know this isn’t just some clone. We’ve put a lot of love and craft into it, and we need to make sure people get their hands on it.”
The Messenger will be available for the PC and consoles sometime this year.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged The Messenger
Kirby: Battle Royale demo, Stikbold Deluxe, King of the Monsters, more added to Nintendo eShop
Nintendo is ringing in 2018 with a quartet of new additions to the Nintendo eShop, as well as a downloadable demo for Kirby: Battle Royale on the 3DS.
Beginning today, Switch owners will be able to purchase Grand Prix Rock ‘N Racing, an overhead racing game; Pic-A-Pix Deluxe, a “picture crossword” game; Stikbold! Deluxe, a dodge ball adventure with a 70s twist; and King of the Monsters, a classic fighting game from the NeoGeo’s heyday.
You can learn more about all of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop after the break. (more…)