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
Space Invaders: The Board Game is looking for funding on Kickstarter
Taito’s Space Invaders celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018, and now the classic arcade cabinet is being adapted into a board game by 612 Entertainment.
The developers behind Space Invaders: The Board Game are seeking $45,000 from backers on Kickstarter to produce several special editions of the game. A Limited Edition with basic components can be pre-ordered for $30 (or $20 through the “Early Bird” tier), while a Deluxe Edition with premium components can be supported for $55. As of this writing, more than $14,000 has already been pledged towards the game’s funding goal.
Just like the revolutionary video game, Space Invaders: The Board Game asks players to move their cannons across the board while blasting away at the Space Invaders at the top of the playing field. Players will also be able to collect Energy Cards and Action Cards to augment their alien-killing arsenal, and research new technologies in search of the elusive High Score:
Space Invaders: The Board Game combines today’s popular deck-building genre with a more traditional strategy board game by allowing 2-4 players to collect Space Invaders cards and add them to their hands, while moving across the board and shooting enemies with their laser cannons. The game’s visual presentation and atmosphere are as close to the original arcade game as possible, creating a brilliant retro gaming experience.
The Kickstarter campaign for Space Invaders: The Board Game will come to an end on June 15, and 612 Entertainment hopes to make it available to backers by the end of the year, before launching a Retail Edition in 2020.
Posted in News, Retro
Tagged Space Invaders, Tabletop Games
Blizzard will open the doors to World of Warcraft Classic on August 27
World of Warcraft is set to celebrate its 15th anniversary later this year, and Blizzard plans to kick off the festivities with the launch of World of Warcraft Classic, which will be available for free to all subscribers, on August 27.
This authentic re-creation takes players back to the beginnings of Blizzard Entertainment’s groundbreaking massively multiplayer online role-playing game, a time when Onyxia spread terror from her lair in Duskwallow Marsh, Leeroy Jenkins became a sensation after some ill-advised heroics in Upper Blackrock Spire, and only the bravest or most foolhardy quested alone in Stranglethorn Vale.
With World of Warcraft Classic, Blizzard has rebuilt the original WoW in its most polished and complete state—as it was at the time of the “Drums of War” update (patch 1.12.0), originally released August 22, 2006.
“Building and launching World of Warcraft back in 2004 was immensely challenging,” said J. Allen Brack, the President of Blizzard Entertainment. “A tornado literally tore the roof off one of the game’s data centers during the early days of testing—but Blizzard was fortunate to have hundreds, and then thousands, and then millions of people around the world cheering our developers on.”
Current World of Warcraft subscribers will get the chance to test out World of Warcraft Classic a few months early beginning tomorrow. According to Blizzard, a Closed Beta will begin on May 15th, and it’ll be followed by a series of stress tests over the Summer.
In addition to the impending launch of World of Warcraft Classic, Blizzard is also getting ready to release a special 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition for the MMORPG that’ll come packed with a “treasure trove of collectibles and in-game bonus items”:
This treasure trove of collectibles and in-game bonus items comes with 30 days of game time for World of Warcraft and includes an imposing statue of Ragnaros the Firelord that stands over 10 inches tall; a pin depicting the head of Onyxia, Broodmother of the Black Dragonflight; a mousepad adorned with a map of Azeroth; a set of fine art prints that illustrate Azeroth’s storied past; and a pair of mounts… the Alabaster Stormtalon, and the Alabaster Thunderwing… in honor of the moment WoW players first took to the skies.
The World of Warcraft 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition will be available on October 8, and it’ll be priced at $99.99.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged World of Warcraft
Take-Two executives discuss big sales for GTA5 and Red Dead 2 while looking ahead to 2019 lineup
Take-Two Interactive delivered another celebratory quarterly financial report last night as the publisher’s latest releases have proven very popular with players.
Leading the charge is Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2. More than 24 million copies of the game have been shipped to stores since its launch last October. Take-Two executives also revealed that they’ve shipped more than nine million copies of NBA 2K19 in a similar timeframe.
But the most surprising reveal from yesterday’s report might be the news that Take-Two shipped more than ten million copies of Grand Theft Auto V during the quarter, bringing its lifetime total to 110 million copies after six years on the market.
While the company was happy with their retail performance in 2018, they’re also looking ahead to 2019 with gusto.
According to CEO Strauss Zelnick, 2K Games has already committed to launching NBA 2K20 and WWE 2K20 this Fall:
Also this Fall, 2K will launch new installments of our highly successful annual sports franchises with the releases of NBA 2K20 and WWE 2K20. As always, the development teams behind these games are hard at work to deliver our trademark array of exciting new features and innovations that keep players coming back year after year. 2K will have more to share about these titles in the coming months.
Zelnick later confirmed that Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds and Patrice Desilets’s Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One sometime this year through their Private Division label:
Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the Outer Worlds marks the reunion of Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, the original creators of Fallout, who are introducing an entirely new single player sci-fi RPG experience. The Outer Worlds will be showcased behind closed doors at E3 to select media and influencers, and more details about the game will be revealed over time. Last month, Private Division hosted press events for Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, where attendees got to play the game and meet its creators at Panache Digital Games, including the studio’s co-founder, Patrice Desilets, who was the original creative director of Assassin’s Creed.
More information about Take-Two Interactive’s full lineup for 2019 (including the previously-announced Borderlands 3) will be announced at this year’s E3 Expo in June.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, Borderlands 3, E3 2019, Grand Theft Auto V, NBA 2K19, NBA 2K20, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Outer Worlds
New Retail Releases: Rage 2, A Plague Tale, More
It’s time once again for a look at this week’s new retail releases.
Bethesda and id Software, along with an assist from Avalanche Studios, are bringing back the Rage universe this week with the release of Rage 2 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Rage 2 retains the original game’s Mad Max-inspired Wasteland, but adds in a dash of over-the-top zaniness and and a colorful new graphical palette.
Also set to launch this week is A Plague Tale: Innocence, a harrowing look back at the plague-ravaged French countryside of 1349. Taking control of a young woman who must protect a brother she barely knows, players will need to avoid the Inquisition and an army of deadly rats. A Plague Tale: Innocence will be available on retail shelves for the PS4 and Xbox One, while PC players will be able to download it through their favorite digital storefront.
Finally this week, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered gives fans of the franchise a chance to relive the second entry’s World War II setting. This Remastered version of the game (for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One) will include updated graphics, new playable characters from Rebellion’s Zombie Army Trilogy, and all previously-released downloadable content. Sniper Elite V2 Remastered will be available as a digital download on the PC.
You can find the rest of this week’s retail releases after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged A Plague Tale: Innocence, Rage 2, Sniper Elite V2
Big Block DLC adds a single-player Practice Mode and Marathon to Tetris 99; 3rd Maximus Cup scheduled for May 17-20
Nintendo has pushed out a big new update for Tetris 99 that finally gives players the option to play offline… but it’ll add a cost to the otherwise free-to-play game.
The Big Block DLC Pass has been priced at $9.99, and it includes a single-player Marathon Mode, as well as a CPU Battle Mode that gives players the chance to practice against the computer before venturing online against live competition. The Pass will also include access to a mysterious third mode that will be released sometime before the end of the year.
Tetris 99’s signature online battle royale will remain free-to-play with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
Nintendo also announced that Tetris 99’s third Maximus Cup will kick off on Friday, May 17. The competition will begin at 3:00 AM (Eastern Time) and continue until Monday, May 20, at 3:00 AM (Eastern Time). The third Maximus Cup will be another “Point Stacking Challenge,” and the consolemaker will award points to players who finish a match anywhere in the Top 80:
Points Table for Tetris 99 3rd Maximus Cup
1st Place: 100
2nd Place: 50
3rd Place: 30
4th-10th Place: 20
11th–30th Place: 10
31st–50th Place: 5
51st–80th Place: 2
In celebration of Tetris‘s 35th anniversary, players who collect at least 100 points will unlock a Theme that reskins Tetris 99 to more closely resemble the original Game Boy game.
Multiplayer-focused Predator: Hunting Grounds will come to the PS4 in 2020
The Predator will stalk its prey on game consoles once again in 2020 as Sony Interactive Entertainment and Illfonic have confirmed that Predator: Hunting Grounds is in the works the PS4. The two companies also announced that if it bleeds, we can kill it.
Predator: Hunting Grounds will be a multiplayer-focused asymmetrical contest where some players will take control of a group of commandos while another will strap on the infrared visor (and other assorted high-tech gadgets) of The Predator. The game was first unveiled today during Sony’s State of Play broadcast and the announcement was recapped on the PlayStation Blog:
One group of players will control members of an elite Fireteam who pack state-of-the-art conventional firepower, from shotguns and SMGs to sniper rifles and more.
Meanwhile, one player will control the Predator: a stealthy, acrobatic killing machine bristling with exotic alien technology such as the infamous Plasmacaster.
As the Fireteam attempt to carry out paramilitary missions – annihilating bad guys and recovering important items – the Predator will be closing in, using its advanced vision mode to track and ambush its prey.
Illfonic will work closely with 20th Century Fox to create an authentic Predator experience, but the team has also been empowered to “create something new for fans, while expanding the lore of The Predator.”
Predator: Hunting Grounds is still pretty early in development, but a teaser trailer has been embedded above.
Here’s a new look at Final Fantasy VII Remake ahead of a larger reveal in June 2019
Final Fantasy fans have been salivating for any scrap of information about Final Fantasy VII Remake ever since Square Enix announced it all the way back at E3 2015. But the publisher has been fairly quiet about its progress after confirming later that same year that “dramatic changes” would be be coming to the game’s combat and that it was being designed as a “multi-part series.”
That all changed today during the latest State of Play broadcast from the PlayStation Blog. A short teaser trailer for Final Fantasy VII Remake was the highlight of the show, and Square Enix’s Yoshinori Kitase even promised that we would see more of the game in June:
We hope you enjoyed the footage shown during State of Play. It was quite short, but hopefully you enjoyed seeing Cloud and Aerith brought back to life with such realistic graphics.
And oh my god! Did you notice [Sephiroth] was there too…?
This year’s E3 Expo will be held from June 11th through the 13th, so that seems like the most logical place for the publisher to unveil their next Final Fantasy VII Remake tease. Square Enix has said that the game will arrive on the PS4 “first,” and will presumably land on other platforms sometime later.
Of course, when Final Fantasy VII Remake will be released for the PS4 is still anybody’s guess.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged E3 2019, Final Fantasy VII
Nightdive’s Blood re-release is now available for the PC through Steam, GOG, Humble Store, and Discord
There were a lot of strange shooters released throughout the 1990s in the wake of Doom, but Monolith Productions’s Blood definitely qualifies as one of the strangest. Originally released in 1997, the game allowed players to take control of an undead gunslinger who does battle with an army of demons and monsters. And at one point, he even takes down the decaying denizens of Hell with a voodoo doll.
Today, publisher Atari and developer Nightdive Studios brought Blood back with an updated re-release for the PC known as Blood: Fresh Supply…
Originally released in 1997, Blood is a First-Person Shooter that helped redefine the genre and introduced many elements now accepted as commonplace. In the original and the updated Blood: Fresh Supply, players jump into the boots of undead gunslinger Caleb as he seeks revenge against the dark god Chernobog. Caleb’s arsenal features a mix of standard and occult weaponry, which he uses to devastating and gore-filled effect. In the game, players visit a terrifying world populated by hordes of bloodthirsty fiends – including cultists, gargoyles, zombies, hellhounds, and an unholy host of other terrors.
The Fresh Supply re-release includes the original game, as well as both expansions (Cryptic Passage and The Plasma Pak), and it’s now available to download through Steam, GOG, the Humble Store, and Discord. Fans will be able to play through the game once more with enhanced visuals (including support for 4K monitors), controller support, completely rewritten netcode for up to eight players, and a new 3D View option.
Blood: Fresh Supply is priced at $9.99 and its Launch Trailer has been embedded above.