Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- The Game Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Racks Up Nine Wins, Including “Game of the Year”, at the 2025 Game 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
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD rolls into stores on October 29
Sega has announced that Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD will be released for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on October 29 (a PC release through Steam will follow later this Winter).
Originally released for the Wii in 2006, this new version of the game features improved graphics and optimized controls (but no motion controls, not even on the Switch):
About Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD revitalizes this classic title with updated graphics (480p > 1080p at 60fps) and optimized controls for each platform. Motion controls from the original Banana Blitz have been removed in favor of tightened analog controls, making it a breeze to jump in and start rolling through the game’s 100 levels.Features
- Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz is Back in HD – Originally released on the Wii in 2006, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD reinvigorates the original game with 100 single-player stages, 10 multi-player mini-games, revamped control schemes, updated graphics, and more.
- Online Leaderboards – A first for the series, players can now compete with others around the world through online leaderboards for single-player Time Attack and the all-new Mini-Game Decathalon Score Attack modes.
- No Monkey Business – Play Your Way: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. With uniquely optimized control schemes for each platform, everyone from first-time rollers to world-record holders can jump right in to the fun.
Sega also uploaded a brand new Gameplay Trailer for Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD today, and it’s been embedded above.
Supergiant launches “The Big Bad Update” for Hades
Supergiant Games continues to tinker away at Hades, their roguelike dungeon crawler that was originally released in December, and the developer recently dropped the game’s sixth major update… “The Big Bad Update.”
“The Big Bad Update” finally adds a final boss to the game, as well new enemies, new story events, new environments, and new powerups. Here’s a look at all the highlights from “The Big Bad Update” as found on Supergiant’s official website:
Highlights From Hades’s “The Big Bad Update”
- Temple of Styx: An all-new, labyrinthine biome awaits at the very edge of the Underworld.
- Final Battle: There is no escape from the Underworld; at least not without a fight.
- Sinister New Foes: Beware of Gigantic Vermin, Satyr Cultists, and more; plus deadly new traps!
- Wrath Rework: Now you can call upon divine aid from Olympus much more often during battle.
- Pool of Purging: Rid yourself of the occasional unwanted Boon, in exchange for some coin.
- New Boons & ‘Duo’ Boons: The Olympians have a slew of powerful, new blessings on offer.
- New Story Events: More of the Underworld Prince’s story unfolds if you can reach the Temple.
- New Music: Not one but two blood-boiling new tracks to accompany the new setting.
Hades is now available in Early Access for the PC exclusively through the Epic Games Store.
Sega will bring “An All-New AAA Game” to Gamescom 2019
As usual, Sega will have a large presence at this year’s Gamescom convention in Germany, and that includes the promise of the public debut for an “All-New AAA Game.”
As far as announced titles go, Sega will also bring the console edition of Two Point Hospital to Gamescom, alongside a demo for Catherine: Full Body, and a massive Sega Genesis Mini installation:
Sega/Atlus will showcase the beautifully remastered update of the cult classic RPG/puzzle game, Catherine: Full Body (Launches 3 September 2019). Players will get the chance to try the demo which contains cutscenes that provide context to the title’s complex and nuanced narrative. Plus, there will be a playable segment from early in the game, which showcases several gameplay features; such as a variety of puzzles, character interaction/development and more.
Sharing the spotlight is the critically acclaimed Two Point Hospital on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, developed by Two Point Studios. It’s the ultimate management sim where you play the role of hospital administrator who must build, cure, and improve in an ever-changing and atypical healthcare environment. Visitors to the stand will be the first in the world to experience Two Point Hospital on consoles by completing the first chapter.
Are you ready for a blast from the past? The long-awaited Sega Genesis Mini, coming to stores [19 September 2019 in North America], will be available to visitors of the stand and all 42 games will be playable using a GIANT, fully functioning Sega Genesis controller! The nostalgic console includes some of the most popular games released by Sega including the much-loved Sonic The Hedgehog and the iconic Streets of Rage series. Other glorious titles included in the Sega Genesis Mini include Darius, Road Rash II, Virtua Fighter 2, Ghouls and Ghosts, Strider, Kid Chameleon, and many more.
The 2019 edition of Gamescom will open its doors on Tuesday, August 20, and run through Saturday, August 24.
Grandia HD Collection will be available for Switch on August 16
GungHo Online Entertainment America has announced that the Grandia HD Collection will be available to download for the Switch beginning on August 16.
The compilation will contain a pair of games that, according to GungHo, “changed the landscape of RPGs forever.” Grandia was originally released for the PlayStation all the way back in 1999. A sequel, Grandia II, followed in 2000 when it made its debut on the Dreamcast.
The Grandia HD Collection re-release will give gamers the chance to replay the first two games in the series with enhanced graphics, as well as Japanese and English audio options.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Grandia, Grandia II
The King of Fighters XV officially announced at Evo 2019
The video is only a few seconds long, but SNK confirmed this weekend at Evo 2019 that The King of Fighters XV is officially in the works. That said, it is a nice looking logo.
We don’t know when it’ll be released or what platforms it’s in development for, but we’ll surely learn more about the sequel soon. The last game in the series, The King of Fighters XIV, was originally released for the PS4 in 2016 before making its PC debut a year later.
Posted in News
Ghostbusters Remastered crosses the streams when it launches on October 4
After initially announcing it back in May, Saber Interactive has now shared the final release date for Ghostbusters Remastered with IGN. According to the developer, the game will be available for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on October 4.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game was originally released in 2009 serves as something of an unofficial third entry in the film series because it was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (it also features vocal appearances from original busters Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson).
Because of that pedigree, there are plenty of callbacks to Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, including a massive boss battle against the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, which you can get a glimpse of in the new trailer embedded above.
Gameplay Trailer for Nightwolf’s Mortal Kombat 11 debut (on August 13) is here
Mortal Kombat fans are decidedly mixed on most of the new fighters that were introduced in Mortal Kombat 3. But Nightwolf has managed to become something of a fan favorite over the years, and according to NetherRealm Studios, his addition to Mortal Kombat 11 is right around the corner.
The developer dropped a new Gameplay Trailer for the Matoka warrior today, and it gives players a closer look at his arsenal of weaponry, as well as his mastery of lightning and a trio of spirit animals:
Born as Grey Cloud, Nightwolf is a proud and fierce warrior dedicated to the cause of good and chosen by the Great Spirit to become the Matoka tribe’s champion and protector.
Kombat Pack owners on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One will be able to download Nightwolf beginning on August 13. All other Mortal Kombat 11 players will get their chance to select the fighter a week later as a standalone purchase for $5.99.
EA still plans to release Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 3 and a new Need For Speed game later this year
Back in February of this year, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson said that the publisher planned to launch Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 3 and a new Need For Speed game in 2019. And with Summer rapidly coming to an end, the executive made an appearance at Electronic Arts’s quarterly financial presentation yesterday to reconfirm that both games are still on track.
According to Wilson, the currently-untitled Need For Speed game will definitely make its public debut at next month’s Gamescom convention in Germany, and Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 3 shouldn’t be too far behind:
We’ll take the wraps off our new Need For Speed game heading into Gamescom in a few weeks. We have a Plants Vs Zombies shooter title coming to console and PC later this year.
Gamescom will throw open its doors on August 20, so we’ll likely learn more about Need For Speed 2019 and Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 3 then.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Gamescom 2019, Need For Speed 2019, Plants Vs Zombies 2019