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
Weekly Warp-Up: Doom! Doom! Doom!
No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…
Whatever your feelings are about the game’s rather generic boxart, I’m just happy id Software’s Doom finally has an official release date. The first person shooter will be available on May 13 in a standard edition and a spiffy Collector’s Edition, and you can see it in action in a brand new Campaign Trailer. Conan O’Brien also got to spend a little time with Doom during his latest Clueless Gamer segment, where he was joined by Von Miller, Josh Norman, and Marshawn Lynch.
On the subject of Super Bowl 50, EA Sports and Madden NFL 16 are predicting that the Panthers will beat Broncos in the final seconds of the Big Game today.
And speaking of big games, the Warp Zoned staff got together this week to talk about What We Played in January 2016 and The Games of February 2016. Hope you enjoy them.
More news from the past seven days can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Unravel, Assassin’s Creed Chronicles, Dying Light: The Following, More
Cute dolls, colorful assassins, and parkouring zombies highlight this week’s new release roundup.
After making a huge splash at last year’s E3 Expo, EA is ready to unleash Yarny on the world in Coldwood’s Unravel (PC, PS4, Xbox One). Using a combination of puzzle-solving and platforming, Yarny will navigate the harsh world (especially for a four-inch high yarn doll) to find out who’s on the other end of his string.
Another colorful platforming adventure will make its way onto store shelves this week as Ubisoft will bundle together all three Assassin’s Creed Chronicles games into a single collection. Players will be able to do battle with the Templars in three never-before-seen locales and time periods: China, India, and Russia.
Bandai Namco has a colorful new game of their own ready for release this week as Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, the latest game based on the pretty popular anime, will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Deep Silver will re-release Dying Light this week in a special Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition (PS4, Xbox One), which includes the original game and all four expansions (“Be the Zombie,” “Ultimate Survivor Bundle,” “The Bozak Horde,” and “The Following”).
Finally, Microsoft will launch their Xbox One 500GB “Name Your Game” Bundle, which lets prospective players choose from Forza Motorsport 6, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and Rare Replay when they purchase an Xbox One system.
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
New trailer shows off the enhancements added to Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
Nintendo isn’t just slapping a new coat of paint on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and calling it a day, the consolemaker also plans to add a number of new features to the upcoming remake.
Because Twilight Princess is getting a Wii-to-Wii U upgrade, the biggest addition to Twilight Princess HD is obviously Wii U GamePad support. Players will now be able to use the touchscreen to access their inventory and a map, as well as hop into the game’s Miiverse Community to use any Miiverse Stamps they find. If you prefer, the GamePad’s second screen can alternately be used for Off-TV Play.
Other changes will make the game both easier and harder. A new Ghost Lantern item was added to help make the search for Poes a little easier, while Hero Mode will (optionally) make things considerably tougher for Link. But Hero Mode will do more than just make the game a little harder:
Hero Mode, a challenging new mode, can also be selected when starting a new game. In this mode, Link will take double the normal damage and there are no heart drops. In addition, if Link finds Rupees in a treasure chest while his wallet is already full, Rupees will no longer be returned to that chest. Players are also less likely to reach the limit of their wallets, as they have been modified to hold more Rupees.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD will be released for the Wii U on March 4. And don’t forget, Nintendo previously showcased the Cave of Shadows challenge mode they’re adding to the game.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Xbox Store Today: Marvel Puzzle Quest, Dad Beat Dads, Krinkle Krusher, more
It’s time to dig into another Friday update for the Xbox Games Store. These four games are now available to download for the Xbox One today:
- Marvel Puzzle Quest brings the superhero-starring match-3/RPG hybrid to the Xbox One for the first time.
- Dad Beat Dads is a four-player brawler that asks if your Dad can beat up somebody else’s Dad. Oh, and the winner gets to claim the loser’s kids.
- Krinkle Krusher is a castle defense game where players have to blast away at giant walking mouths known as Krinkles.
- Bike Mayhem 2 is a side-scrolling stunt game on two wheels. Radical!
More information on all of these games, direct from Microsoft, can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Marvel Puzzle Quest
Conan O’Brien meets his Doom with Von Miller, Josh Norman, and Marshawn Lynch
Last year, Conan O’Brien celebrated football’s beautiful brutality with a “Clueless Gamer” segment focusing on Mortal Kombat X. The ultraviolent fighting game was the perfect backdrop for Conan to trade jokes with Rob Gronkowski and Marshawn Lynch… and to gasp in horror at D’Vorah getting punched in her lady-nuts.
Lynch returns for this year’s pre-Super Bowl shenanigans, which once again resurrects a gory franchise from the early 90s. Conan and Lynch sat down with Von Miller of the Denver Broncos and Josh Norman of the Carolina Panthers to play id Software’s upcoming Doom reboot… and it went about as well as you’d expect. Let’s just say there was a chainsaw involved.
While both players seemed to do pretty well against Doom’s demons, Norman outlasted Miller in the game’s final level, which might mean a Panthers victory this Sunday. If nothing else, it backs up Madden NFL 16‘s prediction of a Panthers win in Super Bowl 50.
Doom will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 13. In what is surely a coincidence, and not at all a crass attempt at cross-promotion, id Software also unveiled a new Campaign Trailer for the game yesterday.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)
Rumor: Mother 3 (AKA EarthBound 2) will finally be released in US and Europe this year
Hold on to your hats, Eurogamer has some good news for fans of the EarthBound franchise. According to Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips, Nintendo will likely release Mother 3 (also known as EarthBound 2) in the US and Europe later this year.
Phillips originally began chasing the Mother 3 rumors on Twitter and Reddit, but Eurogamer’s own sources within Nintendo eventually vouched for their accuracy. According to these insiders, Nintendo wants to release Mother 3 on the Wii U’s Virtual Console in North America and Europe to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its launch on the Game Boy Advance in Japan.
Momentum for a Mother 3 release in the West has been building since Nintendo added EarthBound Beginnings to the Wii U’s Virtual Console last June, ending its 26 years of Japanese exclusivity. While I’m hopeful that Nintendo may finally make Mother 3 available for English-speaking fans, it’s important to remember that this is still just a rumor.
DICE announces a Closed Beta for Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst and reintroduces us to Faith in new trailer
EA and DICE are back with a new trailer for Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, which attempts to reintroduce the gaming public to a “Runner” named Faith and the technologically-advanced city of Glass:
Faith Connors is a self-assured thrill-seeker and one of the best Runners in the city of Glass. But Faith’s carefree days are numbered. As she crosses paths with the evil Gabriel Kruger and the city’s oppressive Conglomerate, Faith finds herself running for something far more important. Playing Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, you’ll experience a rich storyline with a heroine-to-be fighting for both the city and herself. Use the fluid movement and your combat skills to be the Catalyst of change.
The publisher and developer have also announced that Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst will receive a Closed Beta sometime in the near future on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. You can sign up for a chance to be a part of the beta at the game’s official website.
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst will be released on May 24.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Mirror's Edge: Catalyst
Embrace your Doom on May 13; New Campaign Trailer and Collector’s Edition revealed as well
Bethesda has announced that Doom, the next entry in the pioneering first person shooter series, will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 13. In addition to a solid release date, developer id Software has also unveiled a brand new Campaign Trailer for the game and an absolutely demonic Collector’s Edition.
Priced at $119.99, Doom’s Collector’s Edition will include a statue of The Revenant that stands 12″ tall and includes an LED-lit base. Created by the expert model makers at TriForce, the statue’s design is based on The Revenant’s actual in-game 3D files. The Collector’s Edition will also include the Demon Multiplayer Pack, “a unique demon armor set with three skin variations, six metallic paint colors and three id logo patterns that can be applied to weapons and armor.” Players who pre-order the standard edition will also receive the Demon Multiplayer Pack.
You can take a closer look at the Collector’s Edition after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)