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
“Core” Pokemon RPG from Game Freak is coming to the Switch in 2018 (or later)
The Pokemon Company’s CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, confirmed that Game Freak was hard at work on a new Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch all the way back in September. Today, the executive further revealed that the untitled game will be a “Core RPG Pokemon Title.”
Previously, “Core” Pokemon titles (such as 2010’s Pokemon Black and White or last year’s Pokemon Sun and Moon) were only made available for Nintendo’s handheld systems. But it looks like the optional portability of the Switch has finally swayed Game Freak over to Nintendo’s newest “home” console.
We don’t know when Game Freak’s “Core” Pokemon game will make its Switch debut (or if it’s the oft-rumored Pokemon Stars), but Ishihara did say that it’s at least a year away and won’t be available until 2018 at the earliest.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged E3 2017, Pokemon Switch
Rocket League is coming to the Nintendo Switch this Fall
Nintendo and Psyonix have announced that Rocket League will be coming to the Nintendo Switch this Fall. The developer’s wild rendition of “soccer… but with cars” will be released for the Switch with exclusive Customization Items and Battle-Cars, and cross-network against players on other platforms.
Winner or nominee of more than 150 “Game of the Year” awards, Rocket League is a high-powered hybrid of arcade soccer and driving with rewarding physics-based gameplay. Take to the pitch for a fully-featured offline season mode, multiple game types, casual and competitive online matches, and special “Mutators” that let you change the rules entirely. Express yourself with one of the deepest customization systems around and battle opponents on other platforms with groundbreaking cross-network play!
I demand a Mario Kart-themed Battle-Car, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged E3 2017, Rocket League
Nintendo officially announces Metroid Prime 4 for the Switch
It’s just a short teaser trailer, but Nintendo confirmed this morning that Metroid Prime 4 is currently in development the Nintendo Switch. There’s no release date, and we don’t even know which development team is working on it.
Hopefully, the answers to those questions are “soon” and “Retro Studios,” but an official announcement for Samus Aran’s next adventure is a good start.
UPDATE: Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinen told IGN that Retro Studios is not working on Metroid Prime 4. He said the game is under the direction of a “talented new development team,” though production will once again be overseen by Producer Kensuke Tanabe.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged E3 2017, Metroid Prime 4
Capcom will also release Monster Hunter: World for the PC and Xbox One
Capcom unveiled Monster Hunter: World during Sony’s E3 Press Conference last night. But this morning, the publisher confirmed the game will also be available for the PC and Xbox One.
Monster Hunter: World will include a familiar progression system built around acquiring skills and loot, along with the franchise’s “robust” crafting system. Players will also be able to jump online and battle the game’s huge beasts with up to three other players in cooperative play:
Monster Hunter: World delivers a seamless gameplay experience allowing players to move freely across map areas that comprise the living ecosystems and dynamically transition from day to night. The landscape and its diverse inhabitants play a critical role in each quest as players strategically use the surrounding environment including terrain, vegetation and wildlife to their advantage in battle or become hindered by the hazards they present. Hunters must use their cunning and abilities to track and maneuver their targets throughout the intense, evolving battles.
With flexible online multiplayer options and an accessible quest structure, players can tackle challenges alone or join up to three other hunters online for cooperative play. For the first time in the Monster Hunter series, players from Japan and the west can play together online, providing an expanded base of cooperative hunting companions. With the new online drop-in functionality, solo players can hail for assistance from the worldwide group during quests when their opponents are too daunting to take on single-handedly.
Monster Hunter: World will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One in Early 2018, though PS4 players will receive some additional (and exclusive) game content. A PC launch will follow at a later date.
NBA 2K17 simulation scores as Warriors win NBA Finals… but Predators trash NHL 17 prediction with loss
It didn’t take seven games, but NBA 2K17‘s playoff simulation became a reality last night, and the Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship.
It was a high-scoring series, and the Warriors closed it out in Game 5 with a 129-120 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two teams have been trading championships over the last three years, with the Warriors winning it all in 2015, and Cleveland claiming victory last year. The difference this time appeared to be Kevin Durant, who signed with the Warriors in the offseason. Durant averaged 35.2 points per game in the series, and was named the Finals MVP.
Elsewhere in the sports world, EA’s NHL 17 simulation didn’t work out as well. As predicted, the Nashville Predators reached the Stanley Cup Finals, but they lost the series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Both franchises will get another chance this September with the upcoming release of NBA 2K18 and NHL 18.
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom will be released on November 10
Bandai Namco has announced that Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom will be released for the PC and PS4 on November 10.
In case you missed it before, Revenant Kingdom is a sequel to Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, which was released for the PS3 in 2013. The franchise is a collaboration between Level-5’s game design expertise and the artwork of Studio Ghibli artist Yoshiyuki Momose:
Explore a beautifully crafted world and experience a gripping story in an all-new RPG adventure. Famed Japanese developer, LEVEL-5, reunites with former Studio Ghibli artist, Yoshiyuki Momose, for character design, and Joe Hisaishi for music composition in the production of the next Ni No Kuni tale.
In the world of Studio Ghibli artist, Yoshiyuki Momose, players enter the kingdom of Ding Dong Dell, where cats, mice, and humans once lived in harmony. After a treacherous coup, Evan, the boy king of Ding Dong Dell is banished from his kingdom. Studio Ghibli artist, Yoshiyuki Momose recounts the story of this deposed king and his journey to build his own kingdom and unite the entire world.
Here’s hoping Bandai Namco reveals a new trailer for Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom during this week’s E3 Expo.
UPDATE: And here it is. You can find Revenant Kingdom’s E3 2017 trailer after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged E3 2017, Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is even crazier than we all thought it would be
I’m not sure what was weirder, seeing Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot brandishing guns on stage at Ubisoft’s E3 Press Conference, or seeing Mario wield the same futuristic weaponry in the trailer for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle.
While I chew over that question, let’s look at what we finally know for sure about the worst-kept-secret in all of gaming. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a turn-based tactical RPG that takes place on the battlefields of the Mushroom Kingdom. Players will attempt to outflank the enemy and deliver a victorious blast using advanced “combat tactics” and a “cover system”:
Mario and his friends will use hundreds of never-before-seen weapons to strategically take out enemies in true Rabbids style – with the occasional well-timed misfire. Players will use turn-based combat to strategically move their heroes across the battlefield to gain higher ground, utilize the pipe system and destructible environments, and receive a friendly boost from their teammates to get into their optimal firing position. Utilizing combat tactics and the cover system, players will explore the four unique worlds with their team of heroes defeating foes, gathering collectibles and solving puzzles along their quest.
In the main campaign for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, players will form a team of three unique characters, customizing their abilities via each character’s dedicated skill tree to form the perfect trio. In the game’s additional co-op challenges, players team up with a friend in local multiplayer, where they’ll play three levels of difficulty, taking on adversaries as a team. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle will take advantage of the ability of Nintendo Switch to be played anywhere, anytime and is fully functioning on the go for both solo and co-op players.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle will be available exclusively for the Switch on August 29. Players will be able to pick up the game-only Standard Edition, or opt for the more opulent Collector’s Edition, which will include the game, a Rabbid Mario figurine by Ubicollectibles, a set of collector cards, and a soundtrack CD. And everyone who pre-orders the game will receive a code to download an exclusive set of eight in-game weapons with unique stats.
Finally, Ubisoft also released a behind-the-scenes video with the developers of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and you can find it after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged E3 2017, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Ubisoft arrr-nnounced Skull and Bones at E3 2017 with two trailers
Travel back with me to the year 2013, and Ubisoft’s launch of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. The then-newest game in the franchise featured a very popular pirate theme, and many fans asked Ubisoft to produce a full game about buccaneers sailing the seven seas.
Today, at the 2017 E3 Expo, they delivered with a debut Cinematic Trailer (with a very serious cover of Seal’s “Crazy”) for Skull and Bones. Developed by Ubisoft Singapore, players will go on a quest for booty in Skull and Bones, as well as engage in naval combat with other pirate ships during the “Golden Age of Piracy”:
It is the Golden Age of Piracy. Renegade captains command the most powerful weapons on Earth: warships. You are a pirate captain who has refused the king’s pardon and sailed from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, an untamed frontier full of lavish riches. However, these waters are also a battleground where far-reaching colonial empires, powerful trading corporations, and ruthless pirate gangs clash. In order to survive, you will have to build a lethal fleet, prey upon lucrative trade routes, and ally with other pirates in your endless struggle for supremacy.
Skull and Bones Features
- Dominate a Dangerous Open Ocean: A shared open world that reacts as you plunder rich trade routes
- Customize Your Pirate Experience: Choose your captain, recruit your crew and build deadly ships
- Naval Combat Redefined: Use your weapons, spyglass and even the wind to stalk and destroy your prey
- Play Solo or Co-Op: Raid the Hunting Grounds alone or group with other players to hunt larger prey
- Explosive Multiplayer: Enter the Disputed Waters and fight for supremacy in a variety of game modes
Skull and Bones will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Fall 2018, but Ubisoft is currently accepting applications for an upcoming Closed Beta at the game’s official website. Also, be sure to check out an additional Gameplay Trailer after the break. (more…)