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
Overwatch, TMNT Mutants in Manhattan, Downwell, more added to PS Store
This week’s PlayStation Store update is all about heroes of different shapes and sizes. And no where is that more apparent than Overwatch, which is officially reporting for duty. Blizzard’s “Hero Shooter” is now available to download on the PS4, and players will be able to choose from nearly two different dozen heroes as they battle it out with others online.
Also available to download this week is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, a new beat ’em up starring the heroes in a half-shell. Developed for both the PS4 and PS3 by Platinum Games, Mutants in Manhattan features a cel-shaded art style based on the TMNT comics and an original story by Tom Waltz.
Finally this week, Downwell drops its hero down a well (because, of course it does)… I guess it’s a good thing you’re packing downward-firing Gunboots. Originally released for mobile devices, Downwell can be purchased as a Cross-Buy title for the PS Vita and PS4.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And a complete rundown of this week’s discounts and brand new game add-ons is available at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Umbrella Corps adds two RE2-themed maps and an Upgrade Pack full of famous faces
Capcom’s “full-scale offensive” for the Resident Evil franchise is in full swing, and the publisher is widely expected to announce Resident Evil 7 during this year’s E3 Expo (if not sooner). But Capcom is also hard at work on Umbrella Corps, a team-based shooter set within the Resident Evil universe, and it’ll be available to download for the PC and PS4 on June 21.
Today, the Capcom-Unity blog gave us got our first look at two new maps from Umbrella Corps that are based on some rather recognizable places from Resident Evil 2: the streets of Raccoon City and the Police Department.
The first new battlefield revealed is the Raccoon City map, which recreates the hazardous city streets first seen in RE 2 and RE 3. Overturned vehicles, walls of flame, and the shambling undead are scattered around the streets. Mercenaries can also venture down into the sewers below Raccoon City, shooting it out in the same narrow passages where infected rats once spread the T-Virus.
Speaking of Raccoon City’s Police Department, the headquarters’ main hall plays host to one of the most open maps in Umbrella Corps. The ruinous RPD building interior is reimagined as a patchwork refuge, with metal sheeting and scaffolding connecting the first and second floors. Mercenaries can even take cover beneath the ornate statue which held a key item in RE 2. Don’t get too nostalgic exploring the crumbling hall, however, because players are extremely exposed to enemy fire in this map.
And if you think these famous locales won’t be the same without Albert Wesker, Leon S. Kennedy, or Chris Redfield, don’t worry, Capcom feels the same way. That’s why the publisher will also release the Upgrade Pack, which includes masks for each of those characters, as well as Barry Burton, Jake Muller, and HUNK. The Upgrade Pack (which will be available as a $14.99 add-on or as part of a $39.99 Deluxe Edition bundle) will also include additional weapons, patches, custom colors, and emotes.
Finally, Capcom announced that everyone who pre-orders Umbrella Corps will receive access to the Fashion Victim Pack, which will add a few garish color options for your mercenary. Good thing zombies only see in BRAINNNNNSSSSSSSSS.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Umbrella Corps
Spider-Man joins Lego Avengers today as part of free Spider-Man Character Pack
Spider-Man officially joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this month’s Captain America: Civil War, and now the webhead is heading to Lego Avengers as part of the Spider-Man Character Pack. Available as a free download for Lego Avengers owners on the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, the Spider-Man Character Pack will actually include six different webslinging characters:
Spider-Man Character Pack
- Spider-Man (Captain America: Civil War)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
- Spider-Man (Mile Morales)
- Spider-Girl
- Iron Spider
- Scarlet Spider
You can also check out the Spider-Man Character Pack trailer embedded above to see Spider-Man (and friends) do whatever a spider can.
Skylanders BattleCast has officially launched for mobile devices
It looks like Activision is launching more than one big game today, as the megapublisher has announced that Skylanders BattleCast is now available to download for iOS and Android devices.
Skylanders BattleCast is a free-to-play collectible card game where players will be able to build their decks by purchasing 8-card Booster Packs and 22-card Battle Packs. But in a twist, players will be able to buy these packs either digitally or as actual physical cards that can be scanned into the game:
In Skylanders BattleCast, players simply download the game from their mobile app store and can begin their quest to become the ultimate BattleCaster. To enhance gameplay, players can purchase Booster Packs and Battle Packs from local retailers or digitally from the game. The special card packs bring Skylanders BattleCast cards to life in a magical way as players scan their physical cards with their mobile devices to watch cards spring to life through augmented reality. Amplifying the experience, the game also allows players to add cards to an in-game digital spell book. By collecting more cards, players will have more pieces to customize their deck for battle!
Designed by “a team of experts across video game design, physical card game design, pro card players, and top card artists,” Skylanders BattleCast has a little something for everyone, including online PvP play and a large single-player campaign. And now that it’s officially launched, that single-player campaign also includes a new realm (Kaos Island) and a big new boss fight with Kaos.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Skylanders BattleCast
Pac-Man 256 will have co-op multiplayer when it comes to PC, PS4, Xbox One next month
Pac-Man 256, an endless maze runner released last year for mobile devices, is chomping its way towards the PC, PS4, and Xbox One next month.
In Pac-Man 256, players dash through a neverending maze level as they avoid ghosts, chomp pellets, and stay one step ahead of the dreaded “Level 256” glitch. But Pac-Man won’t need to do it alone anymore, because developer Hipster Whale is adding four-player simultaneous co-op to the PC/console version of Pac-Man 256. In addition to the main game, a collection of bonus themes will also be included in the game’s $4.99 purchase price.
Pac-Man 256 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on June 21.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Pac-Man 256
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End sells 2.7 million copies in its first week
Back in March, Sony delayed Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End one final time to ensure they’d have enough copies of the game available for its worldwide launch. After today’s announcement, it’s clear the consolemaker needed as many copies as they could manufacture.
According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, more than 2.7 million copies of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End were sold during the game’s first week of availability. That number includes retail copies of the game on Blu-ray disc, as well as digital copies through the PlayStation Store. As you might have guessed, these monumental figures made Uncharted 4 the fastest-selling PS4 first party title in North America.
Naughty Dog hasn’t announced their next project yet, but there’s a very real possibility that it could be The Last of Us 2.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Neon Deity’s Bruis’n Cruisers channels Bump N Jump in first trailer
Bump N Jump is a lesser-known name from the annals of NES history. But the overhead driving game’s combination of bopping and hopping has made it one to remember for a small cult of fans.
This cult appeal meant that a followup to Bump N Jump was never produced. But the team behind the gonzo goldfish shooter Shutshimi, Neon Deity, clearly has a fondness for it. Just take a gander at the first trailer for their next project, the equally rhyme-y Bruis’n Cruisers.
Like Bump N Jump, Bruis’n Cruisers is an overhead racer where players will have to bash the opposing cars if they want to stay on the highway. And don’t think the developer forgot the jumping… each course is also littered with ramps that supply some serious hangtime. The eight-year-old within me is practically vibrating with excitement.
Bruis’n Cruisers is currently very early in development, but more will be revealed soon.
Soldier 76 stars in the final Overwatch animated short
Our long wait is almost over, Overwatch will be available beginning tomorrow for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. But Blizzard has one last animated short to debut before the game’s launch: Soldier 76.
In a previous life, Soldier 76 was known as John Morrison, the leader of Overwatch. He lead his team to victory in the Omnic Wars, a clash between robots and humans that took place well before the events of the game. Now, he’s a disgraced former agent, who still takes to the streets to dispense his own brand of law and order. Yes, you can take your pick… Solider 76 is Batman or The Punisher or Travis Bickle or Judge Dredd or any other one man army. But as the title of this short implies, he is also a “Hero.”
Blizzard has built quite a universe for Overwatch, and I’m genuinely sad that “Hero” is the final animated short (for now, at least). If you missed any of the others (“Recall,” “Alive,” and “Dragons“), I recommend you remedy that immediately.