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
Xbox Store Today: CoD Infinite Warfare, Atari Flashback Classics Vol 1 & Vol 2, Gas Guzzlers Extreme
We’re going back to the past and forward to the future (while also going back to the past) in today’s Xbox Games Store update.
Infinity Ward is taking the Call of Duty franchise into a far-flung future with sci-fi-style weaponry, cyborgs, and space battles in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for the Xbox One. But if you’re someone who’s looking for something a little more familiar, the developer has also worked hard to produce Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, a bonus game included in Infinite Warfare’s pricey Legacy Edition.
If you’d rather go further back, Atari has released two new collections of Atari 2600 classics for the Xbox One… Atari Flashback Classics Volume 1 and Atari Flashback Classics Volume 2. Both packages include 50 different titles, with Combat, Centipede, Swordquest, and Star Raiders included in Volume 1, and Asteroids, Haunted House, Adventure, and Major Havoc in Volume 2.
Finally this week, Gas Guzzlers Extreme is now available for the Xbox One and it features the type of car combat that was all the rage back in the late 90s. Oh, and there’s also zombies for some reason.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Blizzard introduces Sombra to Overwatch in a new animated short
Blizzard has been dropping hints about Sombra, Overwatch‘s newest Hero, for months. Today, the character made her debut at BlizzCon in a brand new animated short.
One of the world’s most notorious hackers, Sombra uses information to manipulate those in power.
Long before she took up the alias “Sombra,” XXXXXX was among the thousands of children who were left orphaned in the aftermath of the Omnic Crisis. With much of her country’s infrastructure destroyed, she survived by utilizing her natural gifts with hacking and computers.
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She later reemerged as Sombra, upgraded and determined to find out the truth behind the conspiracy she had uncovered. Sombra launched an even more audacious string of hacks, and her exploits earned her no shortage of admirers, including Talon. She joined the organization’s ranks and is believed to have contributed to its massive cyberattacks against corporations with strong ties to their governments. These efforts incited a popular revolution in Mexico against LumériCo and breached the security of Volskaya Industries, the manufacturing arm of Russia’s anti-omnic defense.
Like the title of her animated short, Sombra is someone who’s skilled at “Infiltration” and manipulating technology for her own gains. The Offense character can get close to her enemies with “Thermoptic Camo” to go invisible for short periods of time and she can escape with her “Translocator,” a beacon Sombra can instantly return to as long as it’s active. Once she’s in, her “Hack” ability can stop opponents from using their abilities, while her “EMP” disables barriers and shields in the blast radius.
Sombra will be available to download for PC players using the Overwatch Public Test Region next week, and she’ll be accessible by all sometime in the near future. In the meantime, you can learn more about Sombra on PlayOverwatch.com.
Supergiant will release Bastion for Xbox One on December 12
Supergiant Games burst onto the scene in a huge way with the release of their debut game, Bastion, in 2011. The Action RPG combined Zelda-like gameplay mechanics with a revolutionary audio presentation that also included an ever-present narrator. Today, the developer announced that Bastion will be released for the Xbox One on December 12.
Instead of going the Backwards Compatibility route, Supergiant teamed up with BlitWorks to rebuild Bastion from the ground up for the Xbox One. This new version of the game will be displayed in full 1080p and come packaged with the Stranger’s Dream expansion. An entirely new set of Achievements will also be included. Best of all, everyone who owns the Xbox 360 version of Bastion will be able to upgrade to the Xbox One version for free until January 1, 2017 (new players will pay $14.99).
Finally, Supergiant had a message for their fans in a new blog post on their website: “We remain ever grateful to all of you out there who love and remember Bastion, because it’s thanks to you that we get to stick together as a team and keep making games day to day.”
Activision reconfirms Destiny 2 will launch in 2017
Bungie has produced four expansions for Destiny since its launch in 2014, and after re-releasing all the add-ons as part of Destiny: The Collection in September, the developer has now set their sights on the future and Destiny 2. Publisher Activision is also ready to start talking about the second game in the shooter series, and it came up several times during yesterday’s quarterly financial report.
COO Thomas Tippl started things off with confirmation that Destiny 2 will indeed be released sometime in 2017: “Activision and our talented partners at Bungie are hard at work on a sequel to Destiny which should energize both Destiny’s passionate fan base and bring millions of new fans to the franchise next year.”
Later, CFO Dennis Durkin added that Activision expects the sequel to broaden the appeal of Destiny even further: “We’re on track and really excited about what we think is going to be an awesome sequel for Destiny in 2017. No announcements today on timing just yet. But what I will say is, that sequel is designed to both excite our highly-engaged current players, but also to broaden the appeal even further, bringing in new fans and bringing back lapsed fans, as well. So that’s our primary focus right now.”
Activision and Bungie are keeping a tight hold on information related to Destiny 2, so it’s unknown exactly what gameplay changes might “broaden the appeal” of the franchise. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about the sequel soon.
39 games will receive PS4 Pro enhancements at launch… with more to come by end of 2016 and beyond
The PlayStation 4 Pro will make its retail debut on November 10, and Sony is gearing up for the launch by producing “PS4 Pro Enhancement” patches for some of the console’s biggest hits. Thanks to a boosted CPU and GPU, the souped-up system will optimize supported games with “resolutions up to 4K, HDR imaging technology, and faster, more stable frame rates.”
According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, PS4 fans who purchase the new console will be able to download PS4 Pro Enhancement patches for 39 games next Thursday, with many more lined up for release in 2017. Here’s the complete list of games the PS4 Pro will provide an extra boost to on November 10:
PS4 Games Getting a PS4 Pro Enhancement Patch at Launch
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By the end of the year, PS4 Pro Enhancement patches will also be available for Watch Dogs 2, Killing Floor 2, Final Fantasy XV, and The Last Guardian.
And beginning in 2017, all first-party games produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (Gravity Rush 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Days Gone, Gran Turismo Sport, and more) will be optimized for the PS4 Pro, along with third-party titles such as Nioh, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and For Honor.
Nintendo Download: Mario Party Star Rush, Mario Hoops 3-On-3, DK Jungle Beat, more
The spotlight is on Nintendo’s old workhorses, Mario and Donkey Kong, in this week’s Nintendo Download.
Mario, and all his Mushroom Kingdom pals, will have a starring role in Mario Party: Star Rush, which will be availale to download through the 3DS eShop beginning tomorrow. In a first for the long-running series, each players will be able to roll the dice and take their turn at the same time.
Jumping over to the Wii U, Mario fans are also able to download Mario Hoops 3-On-3 today. Originally released for the DS in 2006, Mario Hoops 3-On-3 was developed by Square Enix and includes cameos from your favorite Final Fantasy characters. Also available to download on the Wii U today is Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, a bongo-banging rhythm game that was originally released for the Wii in 2005.
More information about all three of these games (and the rest of this week’s new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Mario Party: Star Rush
Capcom wants their Switch games to be unique and not ports of PS4/Xbox One titles
While we don’t yet know the hardware specifications of the Nintendo Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild makes a compelling case for the computing power it must have under the hood. And with the strong possibility that NBA 2K17 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition will also be available for Nintendo’s next console, we know it should be able to go toe-to-toe with anything the PS4 and Xbox One offer. But some publishers aren’t interested in that.
Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto recently discussed the company’s Switch plans during a quarterly financial report to investors last week. While the executive believes that multiplatform ports are possible on the Switch, he wants Capcom to focus on “something that will differ from PlayStation 4 and Xbox One titles.”
Here’s what Tsujimoto had to say about the Switch (thanks to WCCF Tech for the translation assist):
During the latest financial briefing, Capcom’s CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto has touched upon the company’s Nintendo Switch support. During the Q&A session, Tsujimoto stated that multiplatform development will be possible for the new Nintendo console, but that’s not what Capcom would like to do, as they seek to offer something that will differ from PlayStation 4 and Xbox One titles. Tsujimoto also added that the company is currently in an internal review phase regarding content and features that might be offered in Switch titles, so there are no additional details on the matter as of now.
Capcom released a number of unique games built exclusively for the Wii including Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure, Tatsunoko Vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. However, their recent projects with Nintendo have mostly been confined to the 3DS. Hopefully we’ll learn more about what Capcom has in store for the Switch when Nintendo fully unveils their next console on January 12.
UPDATE: Capcom has added an official English translation of the Q&A session to their Investor Relations page:
Q: What is Capcom’s stance with regards to developing for the Nintendo Switch?
A: It is excellent to have the market invigorated with new hardware launches. As a software publisher, we endeavor to develop games that offer enjoyment best suited to each piece of hardware’s features and target users. Following first party, in order to introduce our own content we are currently moving forward with internal planning and analysis as a partner company.
Q: Is it possible to develop multiplatform titles on the Nintendo Switch?
A: We are currently carrying out research with regards to multiplatform implementation of software for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on to the Nintendo Switch and thus are unable to comment at this moment. However, we do feel that there are differences in the desired direction and the play-style of the Nintendo Switch and those of the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. At Capcom, we determine which platform to release a title for after considering the features of both our software and the hardware in question, believing we must bring the enjoyment of our games to their maximum potential.
Dragon Quest VIII will be released for the 3DS on January 20
Nintendo and Square Enix have announced that Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King will released for the 3DS on January 20, 2017. The epic RPG was originally released for the PS2 back in 2005, but the handheld re-release will add two new playable characters, more side quests, new story content, and a new alternative ending:
The story begins when a jester, Dhoulmagus, comes to Castle Trodain and steals the King’s sceptre. He then uses its power to turn his majesty into a troll, the Princess into a horse and the castle inhabitants into plants. The only one left unscathed from this attack is a castle guard who escaped the curse and must now step up to save the kingdom he’s sworn to protect. Only by traveling the lands, recruiting allies and following the trail of destruction that Dhoulmagus leaves in his wake will The Hero be able to retrieve the sceptre in order to restore Trodain back to its former glory.
For players who do most of their 3DS gaming on the go, this new version of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King will also add a Quick Save function and a Speed Up mode for battles.
To go along with the release date news, Nintendo and Square Enix also released a new trailer for the game, and it’s been embedded above.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King