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
Hyper Light Drifter release date will be revealed next month; Wii U launch might not happen
The latest Kickstarter update for Hyper Light Drifter has delivered some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that a release date for Hyper Light Drifter will be announced next month. The developer, Heart Machine, previously said the overhead action RPG would be available for the PC in Spring 2016, with a console release to follow sometime after that. Unfortunately, that leads us directly into the bad news…
Hyper Light Drifter is still on track for a PS4, Vita, and Xbox One launch sometime this year, but the Wii U port is in “limbo” as of today. Heart Machine’s game is built using the GameMaker engine, which was expected to be compatible with the Wii U when development on Hyper Light Drifter began, but a contractual dispute between Nintendo and the people behind GameMaker have put that assumption in jeopardy. An agreement between the two sides is still a possibility, so the Wii U launch might happen without a hitch.
Heart Machine is also looking at other options to bring the game to Wii U owners if the situation can’t be resolved. So literally anything could happen with the port and “limbo” is probably the best way to describe it.
If a Wii U release for Hyper Light Drifter isn’t possible this year, Heart Machine will offer Kickstarter backers the opportunity to receive the game on a different platform.
Xbox Store Today: Rocket League, Layers of Fear, Pixel Piracy, more
If you ever wanted to combine rocket-powered cars and “The Beautiful Game,” then you’re in luck, Rocket League is now available to download for the Xbox One through the Xbox Games Store. Psyonix’s soccer sim will also feature a variety of Xbox One-exclusive content including cars patterned after the Warthog from Halo and the Armadillo from Gears of War.
Also available this week is Layers of Fear (Xbox One), a first-person “psychedelic” horror game that asks players to delve into the mind of an insane painter. I guess my question is, how is that different from any other painter? (Ba-Dum Tish).
Finally, Pixel Piracy will give players the chance to explore a retro-themed open world pirate sim, and Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae is yet another game where Japanese schoolgirls do battle with swords. Both games are available for Xbox One.
More information on all four titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Rocket League
WWE 2K16 will suplex the PC on March 11
The tag team of 2K Games and Visual Concepts have announced that WWE 2K16 will be released for the PC (through Steam) on March 11… just ahead of WrestleMania 32, which will be held on April 3 in Arlington, Texas.
WWE 2K16 on Steam will include everything players on the PS4 and Xbox One received last Fall, as well as the Terminator pre-order bonus and the rest of the game’s previously released downloadable expansions:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator: Play as two playable versions of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator: T-800 from The Terminator and T-800 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- MyPlayer KickStart: Players will gain instant access to boost created Superstar ratings and attributes in the game’s MyCareer mode.
- Accelerator: Players will gain instant access to all unlockable content available in the game.
- New Moves Pack: More than 30 new moves, including the Corner Enzuigiri (made popular by WWE Diva Nikki Bella), Avalanche Ram (made popular by WWE Diva Paige), Sidewinder Suplex (made popular by WWE and NXT Superstar Kevin Owens).
- Legends Pack: Big Boss Man, Dusty Rhodes, Lita, Mr. Perfect, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Trish Stratus.
- 2015 Hall of Fame Showcase:
- “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs Jake “The Snake” Roberts
- Rikishi vs The Rock
- Alundra Blayze vs Paige
- Larry Zbyszko/Arn Anderson vs Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat/Dustin Rhodes
- Tatsumi Fujinami vs Ric Flair
- The Bushwhackers vs The Natural Disasters
- The Outsiders vs Harlem Heat
- Future Stars Pack: Samoa Joe, Diego, Fernando, Blake, and Murphy
Players who pre-order WWE 2K16 through Steam before March 11 will receive a 10% discount.
Hitman Go: Definitive Edition will target a PC, PS4, Vita release next week
Square Enix has announced that Hitman Go will be released soon on the PC, PS4, and Vita in a special Definitive Edition. The turn-based strategy game will feature updated visuals, as well as all of the previously released downloadable content including the Paris Opera (from Hitman: Blood Money and the St. Petersburg Stakeout (from Hitman 2: Silent Assassin).
The Hitman Go: Definitive Edition will include Cross-Buy and Cross-Save support on the PS4 and Vita, while Steam users will have access to Trading Cards, Emojis, Wallpapers, Cloud Saves, and Steam Achievements. Both versions of the game will be priced at $7.99 and a launch trailer has been embedded above.
Hitman Go: Definitive Edition will be released on February 23.
ET Armies is an old-school FPS that was developed in Iran… and it’s out on March 3
Did you know that Iran has a thriving game development scene? It’s true, and now that international sanctions against the country have been lifted, players around the world will get the chance to play some of these titles. We won’t even have to wait very long, as Raspina Studio plans to release ET Armies through Steam on March 3.
ET Armies is described as an “old-school” shooter by Raspina, and players will have to fight back against an alien invasion on a dystopian Earth:
ET Armies is an action-packed, fast-paced, science-fiction first person shooter. The game takes place in a future where Earth has been reduced to ashes; It is now home to a new nation that hungers only for war. Prepare yourself to rise and defend against the invasion of the Forsaken.
ET Armies has been priced at $14.99, and you can view the launch trailer above.
Street Fighter V, Layers of Fear, Tron Run/r, more added to PS Store
Ready? Fight! Street Fighter V has finally been released for the PS4 and it’s now available to download through the PlayStation Store. The one-on-one fighter will include 16 characters at launch, and Capcom has laid out an ambitious schedule of downloadable content that includes additional World Warriors, a cinematic Story Mode, and a ton of new costumes. Players will even be able to unlock of these downloadable characters for free with in-game currency earned during the regular course of play.
If fighting games aren’t your thing, there’s a few other games to download from the PlayStation Store this week including Layers of Fear (PS4), a psychological horror game about a tragic past and an unfinished painting; Tron Run/r (PS4), an endless runner set with Disney’s Tron universe; and The Escapists: The Walking Dead (PS4), a retro-styled survival sim that takes place in the Walking Dead universe.
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 new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Street Fighter V, The Escapists: The Walking Dead
Bethesda announces first wave of downloadable content for Fallout 4
Fallout 4 is already in the conversation whenever people discuss the biggest games of all time. But it’s about to get a whole lot bigger. Early today, Bethesda revealed the first three add-ons for the game with a post on their official website.
The three add-ons will be part of the Fallout 4 Season Pass and include a robot-building scenario, an expanded set of design options, and a full-fledged expansion that takes place off the coast of Maine. But according to Bethesda, these add-ons are just the beginning. The publisher has decided to extend their DLC plans for Fallout 4 and will eventually release $60 of post-launch content. This means that the price of the Season Pass will rise to $49.99 on March 1, though everyone who previously purchased it at $29.99 will still receive all the same content. And anyone who picks up the Season Pass before March 1 will still be able to grab it for $29.99.
Bethesda also announced plans to beta test each of these add-ons before they’re released, and if you’re interested, you should head over to Bethesda.net right now to sign up for a chance to receive beta access.
So what will Fallout 4’s first three add-ons include? You can read more about Automatron (available in March), Wasteland Workshop (available in April), and Far Harbor (available in May) after the break. (more…)
BioWare Austin is now hiring for an original new game
After the unceremonious cancellation of Shadow Realms a year ago, BioWare Austin was a studio without a major project to call their own. But after providing development support for Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda, it looks like they’re ready to strike out on their own again.
According to a number of new job listings on BioWare’s Careers page, the Austin team is currently recruiting developers to assist in the creation of a brand new intellectual property. While the game is still mostly shrouded in mystery, a few kernels of information are hidden in each job listing.
For example, we know the game will feature a heavy emphasis on online play as BioWare is seeking a Lead Server Software Engineer with expertise in implementing “significant online elements” on the PC and consoles. We’ve also learned that “the former Mass Effect team” will lead development on this new title, thanks to a job listing for a Senior Software Engineer.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more about BioWare’s next project soon.