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
Nintendo will unveil launch date, games lineup, and price for Switch on January 12
We got our first look at Nintendo’s Switch last week, but most facets of the hybrid console/handheld, which is scheduled to launch in March 2017, are still shrouded in a thick fog of mysteriousness. At the time, the consolemaker said we’d have to wait until Early 2017 to learn more details about the launch lineup and system specs, but late last night they put an exact date on the Switch’s full unveiling… so mark your calendars.
On January 12, Nintendo will host the “Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017,” a livestream dedicated to revealing “the launch date and pricing for Nintendo Switch, as well as a look at the lineup of games currently in development.” The exact time of the livestream will be announced soon.
Nintendo also confirmed that a series of public demos for the Switch will take place sometime between January 12 and its March launch in the US and Europe. We don’t know where or when these demo events will take place yet, but more details will be announced at a later date.
It’s happening, people! This is not a drill!
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Nintendo Switch Presentation
Xbox Store Today: Just Dance 2017, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Batman Episode 3, more
While this week’s biggest new releases will be available on Friday, the digital shelves of the Xbox Games Store are still overflowing with new titles.
That list includes Just Dance 2017, the latest entry in Ubisoft’s ultra-popular dancing series, for the Xbox One. This time around, players will be able to dance along with more than 40 songs from artists like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Queen, and more.
And speaking of long-running franchises, Bandai Namco will add Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 to the Xbox Games Store for the Xbox One. Players will develop their own warrior, and battle enemies to “restore the original story of the Dragon Ball series.”
Finally, a pair of episodic games will receive new chapters this week on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Batman: The Telltale Series will reach the halfway point with Episode 3: New World Order. And The Odd Gentlemen will bring the King’s Quest reboot to a close with Chapter 5: The Good Knight.
More details on this trio of games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: The Telltale Series, Just Dance 2017, King's Quest
Turtle Rock is no longer involved in the development of Evolve
This Summer, Turtle Rock announced the PC version of Evolve would undergo a major metamorphosis to become Evolve: Stage 2. The struggling shooter became a free-to-play game overnight, and Turtle Rock continued to tweak the game while seeking feedback from the growing community.
Unfortunately, the developer has confirmed that 2K Games has decided not to renew their contract, and the future of Evolve now rests in the publisher’s hands. Writing on their Community Forum, Turtle Rock Co-Founder Chris “MacMan” Ashton had this to say:
Seems like the greater things you aspire to, the more time it takes. We had huge aspirations for Evolve, and while we got to spend five and a half awesome years on planet Shear with a ragtag group of Planet Tamers and fearsome Monsters, it still doesn’t feel like enough – we were hungry for more but unfortunately today is the last day that Turtle Rock Studios can work on Evolve.
While the split appears to be amicable (2K will continue to support Evolve’s servers “for the foreseeable future”), Community Manager Shane “Shaners” Meyer said that Turtle Rock “wanted to continue working on the project.”
To say goodbye to “their baby,” Turtle Rock plans to host a special livestream tomorrow, October 27, at 3:00 PM (Eastern Time) on Twitch.
Catch ’em all in Pokemon Go’s Halloween Event now until November 1
With Halloween right around the corner, Niantic has launched the first in-game event for Pokemon Go. From now until November 1, players will have a better chance of finding a scary-looking Pokemon with “increased global encounters” for Drowzee, Gastly, Gengar, Golbat, Haunter, Hypno, and Zubat.
And it wouldn’t be Halloween without candy, so there’ll be plenty of opportunities to receive more Pokemon Candy during the event. All Trainers will earn twice the normal amount of Pokemon Candy, six pieces, for every Pokemon caught during the event. The Professor will also give Trainers two Candies (instead of one) for every Pokemon transferred to him. Players will also receive increased Buddy Pokemon Candy rewards over the next seven days as well.
“It’s been incredible watching people explore their neighborhoods and catch wild Pokemon all summer,” said Tatsuo Nomura, the Senior Product Manager at Niantic. “We would like to Trick-Or-Treat in our own special way by giving Trainers the chance to catch more Pokemon and earn extra Candy this Halloween.”
Niantic also released a new trailer for the Halloween Event, which has been embedded above.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Pokemon Go
Titanfall 2, World of Final Fantasy, Skyrim Special Edition, more added to PS Store
The PlayStation Store is about to get a little more epic this week as a handful of big games are now available to download on the PS4, PS3, and PS Vita.
First up, the Titanfall franchise will make its PS4 debut this week with the launch of Titanfall 2. The second collaboration between EA and Respawn will add new Titans, new weapons, new multiplayer options, and an expansive new single-player campaign to the series.
Also available this week is World of Final Fantasy, Square Enix’s reimagining of the Final Fantasy franchise for younger players. Designed using the “chibi” art style, World of Final Fantasy will merge together many of the greatest heroes and villains from the franchise’s lengthy history in an RPG that’s now available to download for the PS4 and PS Vita.
And speaking of epic RPGs, Bethesda will bring The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition to the PS4 this week. In addition to the main game and all its expansion, the Skyrim Special Edition will include support for mods and additional technical wizardry that adds “remastered art and effects, volumetric god rays, dynamic depth of field, screen-space reflections, and more” to the game.
PS4 and PS3 owners will also be able to launch into some epic dance moves with the release of Just Dance 2017.
Finally, a pair of episodic games will receive new chapters this week on the PS4 and PS3. Batman: The Telltale Series will reach the halfway point with Episode 3: New World Order. And The Odd Gentlemen will bring the King’s Quest reboot to a close with Chapter 5: The Good Knight.
More information on all of these games (and a big batch of other new releases) can be found after the break. And, as always, the PlayStation Blog has a complete rundown of this week’s new add-ons and discounts. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Batman: The Telltale Series, Just Dance 2017, King's Quest, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, TitanFall 2, World of Final Fantasy
Square Enix is “committed” to bringing more Dragon Quest games to the US and UK
Dragon Quest Builders was released for the PS4 and Vita a few weeks ago, and Square Enix’s Noriyoshi Fujimoto recently sat down with MCV to discuss the game’s development.
Naturally, the conversation eventually shifted to questions about the future of the Dragon Quest franchise in Western locales like the US and UK. While Fujimoto couldn’t make any specific announcements, he did confirm that Square Enix is “committed” to launching more Dragon Quest games outside of Japan:
MCV: How do you think Dragon Quest Builders will affect the series’ Western performance going forwards?
Fujimoto: 2016 marks the 30th anniversary of Dragon Quest series. It’s not as well known in the West as we would like but it really plays an epoch making role in the console gaming history. If gamers were to “discover” Dragon Quest now, they may be surprised to the sheer breadth of the universe, in terms of variety and depth. But they would also have instant access to something that has taken us 30 years to build. Dragon Quest Builders is definitely a great way of getting the feel of Dragon Quest while having great fun right from the start.
We’re committed to bringing more Dragon Quest titles in the West as we believe it truly has potential to succeed even better. So watch this space.
Square Enix plans to make good on their promise soon, as they’ll partner with Nintendo to release Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on the 3DS sometime next year.
The publisher will also launch Dragon Quest XI: In Search of the Departed Time on the 3DS, PS4, and Switch in Japan next Spring, but it’s currently unknown if a Western translation is in the cards.
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Dragon Quest Builders
Take on Medal Challenges in this new Super Mario Maker For 3DS trailer
Nintendo is creating 100 new pre-built Courses for Super Mario Maker For Nintendo 3DS, and the consolemaker will also add a series of “Medal Challenges” to the game when it launches on December 2. If this recent trailer is any indication, the demanding new mode definitely won’t be for the faint of heart.
For example, in Course 1-3, players will have to defeat only Piranha Plants to win the Medal. That doesn’t sound so hard, but then Nintendo ramps up the difficulty considerably in Course 3-1 (“Reach the goal without releasing Right on the Control Pad”) and Course 5-2 (“Reach the goal without pressing the jump button”). But even those like a piece of cake when compared to the Medal requirement for Course 9-2… “Lure all flying Boos to the goal.”
Hopefully Nintendo will also bring these new courses (and the Medal Challenges mode) to the Wii U version of Super Mario Maker, but no official announcement has been made as of yet.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Super Mario Maker
Meet the Children of Arkham in a trailer for Episode 3 of Batman: The Telltale Series
Batman: The Telltale Series continues to roll on with today’s release of the next episode in the series, New World Order. In a new trailer for Episode 3, we’ve learned that the aftermath of the attack by the Children of Arkham has left Gotham City, and The Batman, shaken to the core. Meanwhile, Harvey Dent is going through his own identity crisis:
In Episode 3, Penguin’s brutal attack broadcast on live TV has left Gotham City reeling. As Bruce and Batman, you’ll dig deeper into the web of intrigue surrounding the newly revealed Children of Arkham. Meanwhile, behind closed doors, the mysterious Selina Kyle reveals more of herself to Bruce. And in the aftermath of the attack, Bruce’s friend and Gotham’s new mayor, Harvey Dent, is a deeply changed man. Who can be trusted when the future of Bruce Wayne – and the Batman – could be determined by the flip of a coin?
Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 3: New World Order is now available to download for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It’ll also be released for the PS3, Xbox 360, and mobile devices at a later date.