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
World of Warcraft: Battle For Azeroth expansion announced… WoW Classic Server announced
Blizzard is hosting their annual BlizzCon convention this weekend, and the developer is shining a big spotlight on World of Warcraft. The long-running MMORPG is on the verge of its 13th anniversary, and Blizzard used the occasion to announce the game’s next expansion, as well as plans to launch “Classic” servers sometime in the near future.
You can read all about both stories after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC
Tagged World of Warcraft
EA officially unveils February 2 release date and first trailer for EA Sports UFC 3
EA Sports fully unveiled EA Sports UFC 3 today after first teasing the game back in February. Conor McGregor will once again appear on the game’s cover, and it’ll be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on February 2.
“Two belts, two covers… EA Sports got it right again,” McGregor said. “It’s an honor to be on the cover and I can’t wait to play the game.”
For their third mixed martial arts game, EA Sports will revamp the franchise’s animations and deliver a brand new Career Mode:
Real Player Motion (RPM) Tech is a revolutionary new EA Sports animation technology that sets a new bar for motion and responsiveness in the best-looking – and now the best-feeling – EA Sports UFC game ever. With over 5,000 new animations captured and rebuilt from the ground up, players can now move, strike, and create seamless combinations in-game with the world’s best mixed martial arts athletes. Every punch, kick, block, and counter has been recaptured and rebuilt on cutting-edge animation tech to look and feel life-like and responsive, delivering the most strategic, competitive fighting experience in franchise history.
EA Sports UFC 3 also introduces the new G.O.A.T. Career Mode where – for the first time – the choices made throughout your career impact your path to greatness. Outside of fights, players will make promotional choices to build hype, gain fans, earn more cash through big contracts and capture the world’s attention. A new in-game social media system allows players to create heated rivalries with other UFC athletes, providing the freedom to take on any type of persona, between cool-headed contender or infamous trash-talker.
EA Sports UFC 3 will also include a new set of multiplayer modes, with an emphasis on getting players into a match quickly:
Those looking for a quick social experience can jump into Stand & Bang mode, Submission Showdown mode, or opt to customize their match with unlimited stamina or extra strike damage in Fight Now Custom. The all-new Tournament Mode offers ultimate bragging rights as players attempt to take on as many opponents as possible in bracket-style elimination rounds with continuous damage and fatigue.
Fans who opt to purchase the Champions Edition of EA Sports UFC 3 will be able to start playing three days early (on January 30), and also receive 20 Premium Packs in Ultimate Team and choose an unlockable champion in Ultimate Team (Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, Conor McGregor, Demetrious Johnson, or Joanna Jedrzejczyk).
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged EA Sports UFC 3
Blizzard adding new character Moira and “Blizzard World” map to Overwatch
Blizzard blew the ceiling off BlizzCon today with the unveiling of another new character for Overwatch… a cybernetically-enhanced sinister scientist known as Moira. According to the game’s official website, Moira is a “Support Plus” character who will be able to provide healing and deliver damage in the middle of a fight:
Role: Support Plus
Moira’s biotic abilities enable her to contribute healing or damage in any crisis. While Biotic Grasp gives Moira short-range options, her Biotic Orbs contribute longer-range, hands-off damage and healing; she can also Fade to escape groups or remain close to allies in need of support. Once she’s charged Coalescence, Moira can save multiple allies from elimination at once or finish off weakened enemies.Ability: Biotic Grasp
Using her left hand, Moira expends biotic energy to heal allies in front of her. Her right hand fires a long-range beam weapon that saps enemies’ health, healing Moira and replenishing her biotic energy.Ability: Biotic Orb
Moira launches a rebounding biotic sphere; she can choose between a regeneration effect that heals the allies it passes through, or a decay effect that deals damage to enemies.Ability: Fade
Moira quickly teleports a short distance.Ability: Coalescence
Moira channels a long-range beam that both heals allies and bypasses barriers to damage her enemies.
In addition to a new character, Blizzard is also planning to add a new map to Overwatch in the near future. “Blizzard World” is a theme park built around Blizzard’s award-winning stable and players will soon be able to battle it amongst the attractions including the Hearthstone Tavern, the Heroes Arcade, Flight to Duskwood, and more.
You can get a closer look at Moira and “Blizzard World” after the break. (more…)
Call of Duty: WWII, Mutant Football League, King of Fighters 97, more added to Xbox Store
We’re going back to the past (yet again) in today’s Xbox Games Store update.
Leading the way is Activision’s Call of Duty: WWII, the first game in the franchise to explore the European Theater since 2008’s Call of Duty: World At War. Digital Dreams Entertainment has resurrected the Mutant Football League franchise, which is now available to download for the Xbox One through the Game Preview program. And Hamster Corporation has re-released SNK’s The King of Fighters 97.
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 Call of Duty: WWII, Mutant Football League
The Video Game Canon – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look at the creation of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and the massive growth of the Call of Duty franchise. Here’s a teaser…
General William Tecumseh Sherman famously declared that “War is Hell” in a speech in 1880, though I think it’s safe to assume that more people are familiar with the anti-war protestations of a certain green Muppet from 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back. While this sentiment has existed in the public consciousness for hundreds of years, the basic structure of a game as a confrontation that pits the player against the CPU (or another player) makes armed conflict an ideal setting.
War might be Hell, but it has also been very good for Activision’s bottom line thanks to the Call of Duty franchise.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Posted in Features, PC, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Video Game Canon, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Rive: Ultimate Edition will be released for the Switch on November 17… Owlboy will come to consoles on February 13
If you’re a fan of side-scrolling platformers, you’ll be delighted to know that Rive and Owlboy will soon make their way to new platforms.
You can learn more about the new destinations for both games after the break. (more…)
Sonic Forces, Super Beat Sports, Perception, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week
Switch owners GOTTA GO FAST next week, and that’s because Sega will bring Sonic Forces to the console on Tuesday, November 7. Joining it on the Nintendo eShop the same day will be the slightly slower-paced (but no less exciting) Farming Simulator: Nintendo Switch Edition.
If you’re looking to download something today, Harmonix has launched their sports-themed rhythm game, today Super Beat Sports, and Deep End Games has brought their ghostly adventure game, Perception, to the Switch.
You can learn more about all of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop (including a few 3DS and Wii U games) after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged 3DS, Perception, Sonic Forces, Super Beat Sports, Switch, Wii U
Guardians of the Galaxy Episode 5 coming next week… The Walking Dead Collection will be available on December 5
Telltale Games has announced a lot of exciting news for the fans, including a release date for Guardians of the Galaxy‘s final episode and a massive compilation of every chapter in The Walking Dead saga.
You can learn more about both games after the break. (more…)