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
New Retail Releases: PlayStation VR, Gears of War 4, Dragon Quest Builders, More
The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive launched the “Great VR Arms Race” a few months ago, but virtual reality enthusiasts will get a much more affordable option this week with Sony’s release of PlayStation VR.
More than two dozen games will launch alongside the PS4’s VR headset, and there looks to be a little something for everybody including the superheroics of Batman: Arkham VR, the high octane racing of Driveclub VR, the robotic combat of RIGS Mechanized Combat League, and the gory stealth of Until Dawn: Rush of Blood. Square Enix will also bring Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration Edition to the PS4 this week, and the game’s PS4 debut will receive “Blood Ties,” a unique VR-compatible chapter.
Rather than shy away from Sony’s juggernaut, Microsoft is charging into the fray head-on with the launch of the “Standard Edition” of Gears of War 4 for the PC and Xbox One. While this version of the game doesn’t include the Season Pass, it does feature the same action-packed co-op campaign for JD Fenix and friends.
Square Enix will deliver a game that’s a bit more colorful than Gears of War 4… but no less post-apocalyptic… to store shelves this week with the PS4 launch of Dragon Quest Builders. Players will return to the time of the original Dragon Warrior and rebuild Alefgard (using a Minecraft-like crafting system) after the destruction caused by the Dragonlord’s monstrous allies.
Rather than dwelling on the cage match between Sony and Microsoft, we could turn our attention to WWE 2K17, which will be available this week for the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360. 2K’s latest wrestling sim stars Brock Lesnar, and it features a major focus on the popular NXT promotion.
Finally this week, Konami will package Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain together on the PS4 and Xbox One in Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience.
A full look at all of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Bloodstained’s Wii U release may move to the Nintendo NX
The release date for Koji “Iga” Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was recently pushed back to 2018, and now it looks like the planned Wii U version of the game might be in trouble. Speaking to IGN, Igarashi said that his team may want to move on to the new hardware found in the Nintendo NX:
“Yeah, it’s a very complicated problem,” Iga said. “The reality is this: As timelines move on, certain pieces of hardware become irrelevant. Sometimes new pieces of hardware come out that make you think about what is the right strategy. And as a creator, usually you want to make stuff for the new hardware. That’s the reality.”
“Unfortunately, some of those don’t make as much sense anymore as they did before, and that’s also reality. So you’re in a very difficult position, and at the end of the day, if you’re going to go in one certain direction, you want to make sure that you have support from them,” he explained.
“But so far we’ve, I think, been incredibly transparent through all the things that have happened with our backers, and they have been very supportive. So I’m hoping that if there is going to be a difficult decision some day, and we don’t know, that we’re able to have that conversation. If they say they don’t get it, well that’s where we’re at. And if they say they do get it, well then, we’ll be able to do things that are maybe more interesting. We’ll see.”
Moving Bloodstained, a side-scrolling “MetroidVania” developed by one of the great masters of the genre, to the Nintendo NX makes sense from a lot of angles. Looking at the technical side of the equation, the game is being built with Unreal Engine 4, which is not designed to work with the Wii U. Porting house Armature Studio said they can make it happen, but it would be tricky even if the Wii U was in the prime of its life.
But that leads us to a secondary question about Bloodstained’s recent delay. If the NX launches in March 2017 as announced, then the Wii U will have been dead for more than a year by the time Bloodstained is ready for release. And the console is already struggling now, in 2016, as it nears the end of its life cycle. From a financial perspective, it just makes sense to release Bloodstained on the NX instead of the Wii U.
But as Igarashi said, “we’ll see” what happens.
Posted in News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Xbox Store Today: Gears of War 4 Ultimate Edition, Mafia III, Rogue Stormers, more
Happy Friday everyone! Four new games were added to the Xbox Games Store today, and the quartet includes one particular title that Xbox fans have been waiting for for a long time.
Gears of War 4: Ultimate Edition is the first new game in the Gears of War franchise completely under Microsoft’s control and it is now available to download for the Xbox One. Taking place a generation after the war with the Locust, players will follow JD Fenix and his friends as the battle “a monstrous new enemy.” In addition to Gears of War 4, the Ultimate Edition will include the game’s Season Pass and other downloadable content. And everyone who downloads the game through the Xbox Games Store will also receive access to the game on Windows 10 PCs.
Monsters also exist in the world of Mafia III, and while they don’t have fangs or tentacles, they’re no less dangerous. Developed by Hangar 13 and published by 2K Games, Mafia III is an Xbox One that stars Lincoln Clay, an orphan and Vietnam veteran who battles the organized crime families of New Bordeaux (a stand-in for New Orleans) in the late 60s.
Clay and his crew often employ a heavy arsenal of guns, just as the stars of Rogue Stormers do. Available to download now for the Xbox One, Rogue Stormers is a steampunk-styled side-scrolling shooter with roguelike elements from Black Forest Games, as players try to vanquish “the ultimate evil threatening Ravensdale.”
Finally this week, One Hundred Ways is puzzling game for the Xbox One where players have to guide a ball to its goal.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Gears of War 4, Mafia III, Rogue Stormers
The Super Mario Bros. “Any Percentage” tug-of-war continues with new record of 4:56.878
Like Michael Jordan returning to the basketball court after trying his hand at baseball, “Darbian” has returned to the realm of competitive Super Mario Bros. speedrunning. On Wednesday, “Darbian” completed the game in a time of just four minutes and 56.878 seconds to set a new “Any Percentage” world record for the beloved side-scroller.
No one really knows just how low the Super Mario Bros. speedrun record can go, so it’s possible that “Darbian” won’t remain the champion for long. Especially since the previous world record, a 4:57.194 run by “Kosmic,” stood for just two days.
Posted in News, Retro
Tagged Super Mario Bros.
Turn-based strategy Dungeon of Zaar is now on Kickstarter for the PC and Nintendo NX
The Nintendo NX is coming to Kickstarter! Don’t get too excited, the consolemaker isn’t funding the creation of their mystery console on the crowdfunding site. But a young development team has given prospective backers the option to select an NX copy of their upcoming project, Dungeon of Zaar.
Dungeon of Zaar is a turn-based strategy game in development at Kurb, a development studio located in France. Looking to Final Fantasy Tactics, Advance Wars, and Pokemon for inspiration, Dungeon of Zaar will feature 5v5 battles that focus on lightning fast decision-making to win the day. Multiple multiplayer options are also set to make the game stand out from the traditional solo-only genre.
Kurb is seeking €25,000 ($27,828) to help fund Dungeon of Zaar’s creation through Kickstarter, and they hope to release the game on the PC in Summer 2017. The Nintendo NX launch for Dungeon of Zaar is planned for a few months after that. Their pitch video, which explains quite a bit more about their dreams for the game, is embedded above.
Oculus Touch motion controller will be available on December 6 for $199
Oculus has announced that the Oculus Touch motion controller will be available on December 6. Pre-orders for the Oculus Rift accessory will open on October 10, and you should probably start saving now, because the controller will be priced at $199.
While the Oculus Touch turned out to be pretty pricey, the box will include more than just the motion controller. Players will also receive an additional Sensor and two games… VR Sports Challenge and The Unspoken. VR Sports Challenge will be developed by Sanzaru, and it’ll include VR recreations of baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Meanwhile, Insomniac’s The Unspoken is a magic dueling game where players will wave their hands around to perform arcane spells and summon unfathomable monstrosities in one-on-one battles.
Players interested in pairing the Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch with a “Full Room” experience will have the chance to purchase a third Oculus Sensor, which will also be available on December 6 for $79.
The Oculus Touch will support 35 games at launch, and you can get a quick glimpse at a lot of them in a new trailer that was released by Oculus earlier today.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged The Unspoken
Salvation DLC Pack is now available for Call of Duty: Black Ops III on PC and Xbox One
Call of Duty: Black Ops III‘s fourth, and final, downloadable expansion is now available to download on the PC and Xbox One. The Salvation DLC Pack includes four additional multiplayer maps and “Revelations,” the final episode of Treyarch’s Zombies Saga:
Multiplayer Maps
- Citadel: Once home to a powerful medieval army, this ancient castle now sits broken and abandoned. Tight corners force close-quarters engagements, while the moat and drawbridge allows for unique player movement opportunities in this mid-sized map. The last trespassers didn’t make it out alive – maybe you’ll have a better shot.
- Micro: What’s better than a BBQ on a hot summer day? A miniaturized war zone that takes place on a well-stocked family picnic table, that’s what! Navigate this bite-size battlefield for a larger-than-life experience.
- Outlaw: Gear up for a showdown in Outlaw; a western-style re-imagining of the fan favorite map Standoff from Call of Duty: Black Ops II. This rough-and-tough medium-sized map brings classic engagements, flanking routes and strategic positions for long and medium ranged combat.
- Rupture: The Call of Duty: World at War classic Outskirts is re-imagined as a high-tech facility, designed by a futuristic society desperate to repair the Earth’s atmosphere.
In “Revelations,” we meet up with the Origins characters after they’ve taken an epic journey through space and time – all of their struggles lead to this very moment. In this, the final chapter of the Zombies experience, Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai finally come face to face with the mysterious Doctor Monty in The House. Confronted by an ancient evil, our heroes must fight the zombie horde once more in the final battle to save their immortal souls.
The Salvation DLC Pack is available as a free download for owners of the Black Ops III Season Pass, but it’s also be available as a standalone download for $15.
The next game in the franchise, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 4. Fans who pre-order the Legacy Edition or Digital Legacy Edition will also receive a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Sony delays Gravity Rush 2 release until January 20, 2017
Sony has announced that Gravity Rush 2 will float away from its previously-announced release date of December 2. In an update posted to the PlayStation Blog, Game Director Keiichiro Toyama has confirmed the game will now launch on January 20, 2017.
Toyama apologized to fans and promised that this extra month-and-a-half of development would give his team enough time to produce “a title we are very proud of”:
Gravity Rush 2 is the conclusion of Kat’s journey, so we want players to have enough time to dive deep into her story. In addition, as a lot of work went into online features that allow for asynchronous player interaction, we want as many people as possible playing the title at the same time. Thus, after careful deliberation, we have decided to change the release date.
I would like to apologize to all those players anxiously awaiting Gravity Rush 2. After four years of development making a title we are very proud of, we want to release it at the very best time.
In an additional apology to fans, Toyama announced that a post-launch downloadable expansion that was originally going to be sold as “premium DLC” will now be free of charge.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Gravity Rush 2