Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get 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
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
Little Nightmares will be released for PC, PS4, Xbox One on April 28
Bandai Namco and Tarsier Studios have announced that Little Nightmares will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on April 28.
Little Nightmares was first revealed by Bandai Namco back in August during the Gamescom expo. The spooky little adventure stars Six, “a helpless little girl dressed in a yellow raincoat on a mission to escape from The Maw”:
Little Nightmares presents a grim shadow-filled adventure through an interactive storyline, outstanding sound design, and a unique art-style that is sure to deliver eerie chills and goosebumps. Players will discover that Little Nightmares blurs the lines between dreams and nightmares as they explore The Maw in an effort to escape its nightmarish confines. Gruesome enemies and environments can be found at every turn on this strange vessel; the fate of Six lies in the skillful hands of hands of players.
Little Nightmares was initially designed as a digital title, but Bandai Namco also plans to release a special retail-only Six Edition for the game. Available from your favorite retailer for $34.99, the “themed cage box” will include a 4″ tall Six figurine, the original game soundtrack, a sticker board, and an exclusive poster.
Bandai Namco also released a new trailer for Little Nightmares to go along with the release date announcement, and it’s been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Little Nightmares
Xbox Store Today: Power Rangers Mega Battle, Siegecraft Commander, RWBY: Grimm Eclipse
Travel back to the 90s with today’s Xbox Games Store update, as Bandai Namco has launched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle for the Xbox One. Based on the first season of the long-running kids show, Mega Battle is a side-scrolling beat ’em up with an art style that wouldn’t look out of place on the Super NES or the Genesis.
Also available to download on the Xbox One today is RWBY: Grimm Eclipse, which is based on Rooster Teeth’s RWBY. Players will be able to go behind the storyline of the show and explore new location, meet new Grimm types, and battle a brand new villain.
Finally today, Blowfish Studios will add Siegecraft Commander to the Xbox Games Store for the Xbox One. Offering both real-time and turn-based strategy gameplay, players will need to build a strong base of operations in Siegecraft Commander in single-player and multiplayer modes.
You can find more details about today’s additions to the Xbox Games Store after the break. (more…)
Gravity Rush 2, Power Rangers: Mega Battle, Flame in the Flood, more added to PS Store
Go Go Power Rangers…
Sony has pushed out this week’s PlayStation Store update, and leading the charge is Bandai Namco’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle, a side-scrolling beat ’em up fort he PS4 that’s based on the first season of the show.
Also available to download today is The Flame in the Flood, a roguelike survival game for the PS4. Developed by The Molasses Flood, players will help a girl and her dog fight to survive as they travel on foot and by raft down a procedurally-generated river.
Finally, Sony Japan Studio’s Gravity Rush 2 will be available to download for the PS4 beginning on Friday. The gravity-defying action game is a direct continuation to the story from the first game, as Kat is still searching for her identity and still fighting to protect the very fabric of the universe.
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Gravity Rush 2
Gabe Newell’s Reddit AMA: Valve is working on multiple single-player games and a new game in Half-Life/Portal universe
Gabe Newell, the famed CEO of Valve, answered a ton of questions during a Reddit AMA yesterday. While the developer didn’t want to talk about Half-Life 2: Episode 3/Half-Life 3 (“The number 3 must not be said,” he replied), he was very forthcoming about some of Valve’s other projects.
Newell was a big fan of short answers during his AMA, replying with “Yep” and “Yes” to the questions, “Any chance of a new IP that takes place in the half-life/portal universe?” and “Is Valve still working on any fully-fledged single player games?” Obviously, he didn’t reveal any specific details about these games (or how they connect to the existing Half-Life and Portal universe), but he did confirm that the Half-Life and Portal film adaptations from J.J. Abrams are still in the works.
However, Newell was a bit more verbose with his reply to a fan asking about the future of the Left 4 Dead franchise. The developer said that new technology often drives Valve’s projects and that a team interested in “shared narratives” would be one he’d steer towards a third Left 4 Dead game:
Products are usually the result of an intersection of technology that we think has traction, a group of people who want to work on that, and one of the game properties that feels like a natural playground for that set of technology and design challenges.
When we decided we needed to work on markets, free to play, and user generated content, Team Fortress seemed like the right place to do that. That work ended up informing everything we did in the multiplayer space.
Left 4 Dead is a good place for creating shared narratives.
But if you’ll notice, he never actually said “Yes” or “No” to the question of whether Left 4 Dead 3 is in development.
Newell gave many other interesting answers during his Reddit AMA, and if you’ve got the time, it’s worth it to read through the whole thread. You might even want to do it twice. But I wouldn’t recommend a third time.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Half-Life 3
Hitman’s “101” trailer gives players an overview of the game ahead of First Season retail release
Square Enix will bundle the locations and episodic content from Hitman‘s first season onto a disc in a brand new retail release later this month. However, if you skipped Agent 47’s adventures in 2016, you might be unaware of some of the finer points of how to be an assassin. Thankfully, this “Hitman 101” gameplay trailer should provide you with the beginnings of a proper education.
The appropriately-named Hitman: The Complete First Season will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One on January 31.
NIS America will release Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls for PS4 on June 27
NIS America has announced that Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, an action-adventure spinoff that’s set between Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair will be released for the PS4 on June 27.
Originally released for the Vita in 2015, Danganronpa Another Episode stars Komaru Naegi, the sister of Trigger Happy Havoc’s protagonist, Makoto Naegi:
Komaru Naegi, little sister to Makoto Naegi, has been imprisoned inside a mysterious apartment for over a year. One day, she is rescued by Byakuya Togami of Future Foundation, but the rescue is derailed by a sudden attack of hundreds of Monokumas. Komaru soon discovers that the city has been taken over by a group of children calling themselves the Warriors of Hope. Their leader, Monaca, declares that the city will be the site of a “children’s paradise,” and to accomplish this, all the adults will be exterminated. Komaru teams up with Toko Fukawa to try to survive the rampaging Monokumas, escape the crafty Monokuma Kids, and uncover the secrets of the city.
In addition to Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, NIS America has big plans for the Danganronpa franchise on the PS4 this year. Danganronpa 1-2 Reload, a compilation of the first two games in the series, will be released for the PS4 on March 14. And both titles will be followed by Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, which should be available before the end of the year.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
Deep End Games announces that Perception is also in development for PS4
The Deep End Games has announced they’ve partnered with Feardemic, an independent publisher of “unique psychological horror games,” to bring Perception to the PS4. Originally unveiled as a PC exclusive a few years ago, Perception is the story of Cassie, a blind who ventures into a haunted mansion after restless spirits invade her dreams.
If you’re unfamiliar with Perception, Deep End’s Creative Director, Bill Gardner, penned a quick primer about Perception for readers of the PlayStation Blog:
After months of research, she discovers an abandoned mansion in Gloucester, MA. Once there, Cassie finds that Echo Bluff is worse than her nightmares. A ghostly Presence has tormented its inhabitants over generations, and it now hunts Cassie. She must solve the estate’s mysteries or become one of its victims.
Cassie finds her way by tapping her cane and can “see” via echolocation. She needs to avoid detection and uses ambient sounds of the house to help her navigate or uses objects to create distractions. Every sound creates a visual. But there is a cost…sound will attract your enemies and reveal your location.
But you’ll also need to match wits with the Presence, a mysterious force that haunts the mansion. When playing, you must carefully weigh the risk of making too much noise against the possibility of being discovered. Once spotted, your only hope is to run, hide, and pray that it doesn’t find you. Cassie can also use the ambient sounds of the house to her advantage, by throwing objects like alarm clocks to create “sound bombs” that can distract her enemies.
The Deep End Games will debut a brand new trailer for Perception during this year’s New York Game Awards, which will be held on January 19 in Manhattan. However, it might be a while before we get the chance to play it. Perception doesn’t currently have a release date.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Perception
Injustice 2 Story Trailer introduces Brainiac, Darkseid, Robin, Poison Ivy, and Bane
The reign of Superman’s Regime is over, but a villainous presence is still lurking in the shadows of the Injustice universe, as WB Games and NetherRealm Studios released a brand new Story Trailer for Injustice 2:
Injustice 2 is NetherRealm Studios’ super-powered sequel to the hit game Injustice: Gods Among Us that allows players to build and power up the ultimate version of their favorite DC characters. Featuring a massive selection of DC Super Heroes and Super-Villains, Injustice 2 continues the epic cinematic story introduced in Injustice: Gods Among Us as Batman and his allies work towards putting the pieces of society back together while struggling against those who want to restore Superman’s regime. In the midst of the chaos, a new threat appears that will put Earth’s existence at risk.
In addition to appearances by Batman, Superman, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman, the trailer also includes a glimpse at new fighters Bane, Poison Ivy, Brainiac, Damian Wayne’s Robin, and Darkseid (who’ll be available as a pre-order bonus). And while we didn’t get a look at any of them in action, NetherRealm has promised to reveal gameplay from a “new character” on their Twitch channel on Tuesday, January 24.
Finally, NetherRealm announced that Injustice 2 will be available in a trio of different editions. The Standard Edition ($59.99) will include the 30 characters available as part of the main game, along with Darkseid, for those who purchase Injustice 2 early. But players looking to expand their game will be able to purchase the Digital Deluxe Edition (Price TBA), which includes access to three post-launch DLC characters, or the Ultimate Edition (Price TBA), which will add nine DLC characters to the game.
Injustice 2 will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on May 16.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Injustice 2