Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Author: John Scalzo
Perception Hands-On Preview: Not Just Another Haunted Mansion
When your resume includes critically-acclaimed classics like BioShock and Dead Space, it’s hard for a fledgling studio’s debut title to stand on its own. Unfortunately, those are the high standards The Deep End Games, a studio that counts developers from both Irrational Games and Visceral Games, is being held to. Thankfully, their first offering, Perception, has a unique visual design and an irresistible narrative hook to pull potential players in. (more…)
Posted in PC, Previews, Top Story
Tagged PAX East 2016, Perception
Gearbox adds Alani to Battleborn as a free download for all players; Pendles revealed
Battleborn got a little bit bigger today as Gearbox has made Alani, the game’s 26th playable character, available to download by all players. Alani’s attacks are water-focused, but the character’s main ability is healing:
Alani: Skills Overview
- Torrent: Through years of training in Ket, her order’s martial art, Alani has honed her ability to control water, hurling water bolts to damage enemies.
- Wellspring: Channeling her focus and strength, Alani heals herself for a small amount or envelopes an ally in water to heal them.
- Riptide: Alani sends forth a wave of water that deals damage to enemies, pushes them away, and leaves a trail hastening allies’ movement speed.
- Geyser: Calling upon the power of the oceans, a groundswell erupts, knocking enemies into the air, damaging and binding them.
- Emergence: Alani summons a water dragon that deals damage to everything caught in its wake.
- Osmosis (Passive): Alani’s healing abilities swell and recede like the tide. Successfully landing hits with Torrent grants up to three stacks to temporarily increase the healing power of Wellspring.
Gearbox has also given players a sneak peek at Battleborn’s 27th character, Pendles, on the Battleborn Blog. Pendles is a giant lizard with an even bigger scythe, and he’s not afraid to use it:
Hailing from the water world of Akopos, and pals with Alani, Pendles is a cold-blooded killer. No, literally. This anthropomorphized reptile will ssssneak up on you, poison you, perforate you with dual kamas then – poof – disappear without leaving a trace. Oh, yeah, and he wears a dope pair of sneakers. Get it? “Ssssneaky”?!? Wears sneakers?!? (Fine… fine.) This Rogue’s rogue may be a cold-blooded assassin-for-hire, but Ghalt felt was safer to have him on the team, than not.
And don’t forget… Alani, Pendles, and all of Battleborn’s post-launch characters will be available to download for free.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Battleborn
Resident Evil 5 will be released for PS4, Xbox One on June 28; Retail version coming July 12
Capcom has announced Resident Evil 5 will rise again on the PS4 and Xbox One this June. The co-op survival horror/shooter will be available to download through the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store on June 28. The game will also be released as a retail disc on July 12.
Like most other new-generation re-releases, Resident Evil 5’s rebirth on the PS4 and Xbox One will include all the previously-released downloadable content, including both story expansions (“Lost in Nightmares” and “Desperate Escape“) and the wave-based onslaught of No Mercy Mode. Every piece of content from the Mercenaries Mode will also be included in the brand new The Mercenaries United Mode.
Capcom has big plans for the Resident Evil franchise in 2016 and will also release team-based shooter Umbrella Corps on June 21 and Resident Evil 4 this Fall.
Get the chance to play as Goldberg if you pre-order WWE 2K17
He might not be as well-remembered as The Ultimate Warrior, Sting, or The Terminator, but players who pre-order WWE 2K17 will get the chance to play as Bill Goldberg this October.
“After 12 years away from the business, I’m incredibly honored to work with WWE and 2K while following in the footsteps of such greats as Ultimate Warrior, Sting and Arnold Schwarzenegger,” said Goldberg. “My son was a big part of this coming together, and I can’t wait for him to see his dad kicking ass in a WWE ring through the magic of video games. I encountered the likes of The Rock, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, and Ric Flair during my WWE career, and now through WWE 2K17, I’ll be taking on the biggest and baddest Superstars of today – showing them once and for all that I am still ‘Da Man!’”
Goldberg was a star in both the WCW and WWE, so players who pre-order WWE 2K17 will be able to play as either of the wrestler’s personas. The pre-order bonus package will also include two arenas… WCW Monday Nitro and Halloween Havoc.
Once again developed collaboratively by Yuke’s and Visual Concepts, WWE 2K17 will be released for the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360 this October.
Sony has sold more than 40 million PS4 consoles as of May 2016
Executives at Sony Interactive Entertainment have a big reason to celebrate this Memorial Day. And no, it’s not because Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro are throwing the biggest pool party/BBQ you’ve ever seen.
In reality, the consolemaker has announced that more than 40 million PS4 consoles have been sold to consumers as of May 22, 2016. That means that an average of 43,478 PS4s were purchased each and every day since the system went on sale on November 15, 2013.
“We are truly grateful for the enormous support from our fans and partners across the globe, which helped us achieve this significant milestone in such a short span of time,” said Andrew House, the President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment. “We will strive to deliver even more exciting gaming experiences to our users, further driving the momentum and accelerating the expansion of the PS4 platform and its business this fiscal year by offering an unparalleled lineup of games, bringing our virtual reality system, PlayStation VR, to market, and providing groundbreaking features and network services.”
Sony also revealed that more than 270.9 million PS4 games have been sold since the system’s debut (nearly 300,000 a day, in case you were curious), and that The Last Guardian is still on schedule to launch in 2016.
Presumably, a final release date for The Last Guardian will be announced at this year’s E3 Expo.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged The Last Guardian
Capcom reveals a bit more about Ibuki’s fighting style in Street Fighter V
This weekend, Capcom unveiled the first trailer for Street Fighter V‘s next downloadable character, the female ninja (or kunoichi) Ibuki. Now, the publisher has revealed a few more details about her latest incarnation at the Capcom-Unity blog:
Character Overview
Ibuki has always been a very mobile character with various target combos, but she now has even more ways to mix-up the opponent with the ability to glide through the air and toss out ninja bombs, making it very difficult to predict where she will land and where her next attack will come from.Kunais have also been a cornerstone of her playstyle, but now players will have to be much more strategic in their use as she can only stock five at a time before she has to quickly obtain another set. That said, their utility is just as powerful as ever as she can send her entire stock flying at the opponent for serious damage.
V-Skill: Tenrai
Ibuki builds up energy and blasts it from her palm towards the opponent. The blast range is dependent on how long Tenrai is charged for.V-Trigger: Isshaku Horokudama
Ibuki digs into her bag of ninja tools and throws a bomb at the opponent. Depending on which direction is held upon activation, the bomb can either go off quickly, after a slight delay or after a longer delay. Ibuki is extremely crafty and impatient, however, so there might be other ways to trigger the explosion.Critical Art: Kachofugetsu
The pinnacle of Ibuki’s ninjutsu training! Ibuki launches the opponent into the air, quickly following after them. She then performs a series of ninjutsu seals, culminating in a large scale blast to the opponent’s skull.
Ibuki will likely be available to download sometime in June, alongside a brand new stage (“Estate at Noon”) and Street Fighter V’s Story Expansion.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Street Fighter V
Street Fighter V: Ibuki Reveal Trailer released by Capcom
Capcom is ready to reveal the next addition to Street Fighter V‘s cadre of combatants… the ninja Ibuki.
Initially making her debut in Street Fighter III (and later appearing in Street Fighter X Tekken and Super Street Fighter IV), Ibuki is a schoolgirl who also has access to throwing knives, bombs, and a cape for limited gliding.
We don’t yet know when Capcom will make Ibuki available to download, but you can watch her deliver a beating to Guile in the Reveal Trailer embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Street Fighter V
“We Are Ghosts” trailer reintroduces us to the stars of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
You might not remember, but Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands made its debut a little over a year ago at E3 2015. With the 2016 edition of gaming’s premiere showcase just a few weeks away, Ubisoft has decided to reintroduce the world to the next game in the Ghost Recon franchise with a new trailer, “We Are Ghosts.”
The publisher has promised to reveal more information about Wildlands at this year’s E3 Expo, though a post on the UbiBlog sheds a little light on the Bolivian locales that players will visit as they work to take down the fictional Santa Blanca drug cartel:
From deserts and mountains to salt flats and jungle, each of these ecosystems presents different challenges that ultimately affect the way you might approach a mission. For example, the thick vegetation of the jungle will conceal your approach to a target, making it possible to sneak up and get the jump on them. Conversely, traversing arid mountains can leave you vulnerable to enemy attack, so an aerial insertion might be the best way to approach the situation. It’s not just Bolivia’s terrain that provokes strategic thinking. Different weather conditions like rain or fog can affect your visibility, potentially making it harder to spot enemies from a distance. In any case, the development team’s priority at Ubisoft Paris has been to make sure that the in-game Bolivia properly reflects the real-world Bolivia’s most extreme conditions.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is expected to be released in late 2016/early 2017 and is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Though most of the game is still shrouded in mystery, Ubisoft did reveal a few details about its special editions.
All players who pre-order Ghost Recon: Wildlands will receive “The Peruvian Connection,” a bonus mission that “puts the Ghosts in the mountains of Bolivia to take on not only the Santa Blanca, but also their Peruvian counterparts.” The Deluxe Edition will add a variety of in-game items, such as the Huntsman Rifle and Motorbike, three Emblems, three Weapon Camo Skins, three Character Customization Items, and an XP Booster. Meanwhile, the Gold Edition bumps up the Deluxe Edition with a Season Pass for post-launch access to two major Expansions, Equipment Packs, and exclusive vehicles and weapons. Finally, the Collector’s Edition will feature a Santa Muerte figurine and posters designed by illustrator Ken Taylor.
For a deeper dive into the world of Wildlands, a “Pop-Up Video” version of the “We Are Ghosts” trailer, offering additional information on Bolivia and the Ghosts, can be found after the break. (more…)