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
Xbox Store Today: 6180 The Moon, Starpoint Gemini 2, Line of Defense Tactics
Today’s additions to the Xbox Games Store are a science-fictiony bunch, so let’s fire up the warp drive and have a look:
- 6180: The Moon (Xbox One) is a minimalist platformer that links the top and bottom of the screen so the ceiling is also the floor and the floor is also the ceiling.
- Starpoint Gemini 2 (Xbox One) is a tactical space combat simulator that includes more than 50 factions and a galaxyful of adventure.
- Line of Defense Tactics (Xbox One) is a top-down shooter where players control a team of Galactic Command marines on a variety of interstellar missions.
More information on all of these titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Minecraft: Story Mode’s fourth episode will be released on December 22
Get ready to put some cookies and milk, Telltale Games has announced they’ll be dropping down your chimney to deliver the fourth episode of Minecraft: Story Mode for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices on December 22 (Vita and Wii U versions are also in the works). If you’ve been playing along with the first three episodes, here’s what shenanigans you can expect to get up to in A Block and a Hard Place:
In Episode Four, with the fearsome Wither Storm more dangerous than ever, Jesse, Reuben, and the crew discover there is one thing that can destroy the command block at the heart of the monster – but they’ll need to brave the perils of the Farlands to find it. As uneasy allies and ailing friends threaten to tear the group apart, can they defeat the Wither Storm in their final battle? And what sacrifices must be made to succeed? Find out in Episode Four’s epic “Wither Storm Finale” that will turn the page on one chapter, before adventures may begin anew…
According to Telltale, Minecraft: Story Mode’s fifth episode will be released sometime in early 2016.
CoD: Black Ops III, Fallout 4, SW: Battlefront lead November 2015’s best-selling games
Not surprisingly, a trio of shooters took the top three spots in the NPD Group’s recounting of November 2015’s best-selling games.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III scored another big win for Activision (and the Black Ops sub-series) with its claim on the top spot. It was followed by Fallout 4 at #2 and Star Wars: Battlefront at #3. With shooters holding on to the top of the list, sports games looked in for the next four places… Madden NFL 16 (#4), NBA 2K16 (#5), FIFA 16 (#6), and Need For Speed (#7). What? I’m sure someone, somewhere, thinks of illegal street racing as a sport.
The final three spots in the NPD’s November 2015 list include repeat appearances from Halo 5: Guardians (#8) and Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (#9), along with a strong Black Firday-assisted performance from Just Dance 2016 (#10).
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, NPD’s Liam Callahan confirmed that the PS4 and Xbox One are having a monster Fall: “After 25 months, the combined sales for the PS4 and the Xbox One are 47% higher than the combined sales for 25 months of PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware sales.”
You can find the NPD’s November 2015 top ten in handy list format after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Fallout 4, FIFA 16, Halo 5: Guardians, Just Dance 2016, Madden NFL 16, NBA 2K16, Need For Speed, NPD, Star Wars: Battlefront
Square Enix: Final Fantasy VII Remake will “go beyond” original game
Square Enix has been building towards Final Fantasy VII Remake for a long time now, and Producer Yoshinori Kitase has always said that any do-over of the groundbreaking RPG would require a significant amount of time and effort. Kitase chose to expand upon these thoughts today in a post on the Square Enix Blog, stating that a multi-part release is required for the Remake to “go beyond” the original game:
With Final Fantasy VII Remake, we have the opportunity to go beyond the story, world and experience of Final Fantasy VII in ways we’ve always dreamed of – from the depths of Midgar to the skies above the Planet. The multi-part format enables us to expand the original story and turn it into an epic experience for fans and new gamers alike.
Kitase added that, instead of adding content, cuts to the Remake would have been necessary if it were released in a single package:
We’ve seen everyone’s comments and reactions to the news that Final Fantasy VII Remake will be a multi-part series and many have speculated correctly as to the reason why we have made this decision. If we were to try to fit everything from the original into one remake instalment, we would have to cut various parts and create a condensed version of Final Fantasy VII. We knew none of you would have wanted that.
The Final Fantasy Remake is currently in development for the PS4, though it’ll be released on Sony’s system “first,” so expect to eventually make its way to the PC and/or Xbox One.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Final Fantasy VII, PlayStation Experience 2015
Lichdom: Battlemage will be released for PS4, Xbox One on March 22
Maximum Games and Xaviant have announced their magic-based first person shooter, Lichdom: Battlemage, will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on March 22, 2016. Now available for the PC through Steam, Lichdom drops the cool downs and mana bars to foster a more action-packed atmosphere:
Lichdom: Battlemage centers on the concept of unbridled power and magic with absolutely no mana bars and zero cool downs. When the wicked overlord known as Shax rips your closest loved one from the world, you set out on a journey to hunt him down. Before you embark on your quest for vengeance, a wizard grants you unlimited magical powers and designates you “Dragon,” the most powerful battlemage on earth.
“The game is classic in its storytelling, yet completely unique in its gameplay,” said Christina Seelye, CEO of Maximum Games. “Like most magic games, there are definite RPG elements, but the game is pure action – through and through.”
The publisher and developer have also released a new trailer for Lichdom: Battlemage to accompany their announcement. You can find it embedded above.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Lichdom: Battlemage
Nintendo Download: SteamWorld Heist, FAST Racing Neo, Terraria 3DS, more
While Microsoft and Sony have been ramping down their digital releases over the last few weeks, Nintendo is going all out with this week’s Nintendo Download. Ready… Set… Go…
- FAST Racing Neo (Wii U) is Shin’en Multimedia’s homage to the futuristic racing found in Nintendo’s famed F-Zero franchise. Players will be able to tear through 16 tracks at 60 frames per second in three “high-octane competitions.”
- SteamWorld Heist (3DS) is a side-scrolling strategy game from Image & Form starring the adventurous race of robots from their well-liked SteamWorld Dig.
- Terraria (3DS) is Re-Logic’s famed exploration/building game, available for the 3DS for the first time.
- Devil’s Third (Wii U) is an action game from Tomonobu Itagaki that stars Ivan, “a brutal ex-mercenary” who specializes in “an east-meets-west blend of ninja-style melee combat and modern gunplay.”
More information about all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Devil's Third, FAST Racing Neo, SteamWorld Heist, Terraria
Bravely Second will be released in Europe on February 26
Nintendo UK has announced that Bravely Second: End Layer, Square Enix’s sequel to Bravely Default, will be released across Europe on February 26, 2016.
Return to Luxendarc for new adventures in Bravely Second: End Layer on Nintendo #3DS, coming to Europe on 26/02/2016 pic.twitter.com/rLVf3HKtP3
— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) December 10, 2015
This tweet from Nintendo UK has also given gamers their first look at Bravely Second’s Deluxe Collector’s Edition, which will include a soundtrack CD, an Agnes figurine, and a 250-page art book. It’s unknown if the 3DS RPG will receive this kind of special treatment when it reaches North American shores, but hopefully it will when its released over here sometime in early 2016.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Bravely Second: End Layer
Lucasfilm “definitely” wants to continue Star Wars 1313 in some way
The Dark Side of Disney’s acquistion of Lucasfilm was surely the swift cancellation of Star Wars 1313 (though the dissolution of the Expanded Universe was a close second). But the future of Lucasfilm, as foreseen by Kathleen Kennedy, might include Star Wars 1313 after all. Speaking to Slashfilm, the producer revealed that Lucasfilm would like to further develop the Star Wars 1313 concept:
Kennedy: [R]eading through the material that he developed is something we very much would like to explore. And there was 1313 the game, where there was…
Slashfilm: The concept art for that looked amazing!
Kennedy: Unbelievable. So our attitude is, we don’t want to throw any of that stuff away. It’s gold. And it’s something we’re spending a lot of time looking at, pouring through, discussing, and we may very well develop those things further. We definitely want to.
Initially revealed at E3 2012, Star Wars 1313 would have starred a young Boba Fett in a Mature-rated action-adventure game set within the bowels of Coruscant’s underworld district. Star Wars: Underworld, a proposed television series also previously in the works at Lucasfilm, would have covered a lot of the same ground. Obviously, this isn’t confirmation that Star Wars 1313 is back in development (it’s certainly possible the concept could be recycled for a future standalone film), but it is a promising sign… and that’s good enough for right now.
Disney partnered with Electronic Arts on a multi-year exclusive licensing agreement to produce Star Wars games in 2013. Last month’s Star Wars: Battlefront was the first game to come out of this alliance, though several more, including an untitled game at Visceral and Star Wars: Battlefront 2 are in various stages of development.
Posted in News
Tagged Star Wars 1313