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: Halo 5: Guardians, WWE 2K16, Divinity: Original Sin, more
Xbox One owners get ready… Halo 5: Guardians is finally here. According to Microsoft, “the Master Chief is missing and his loyalty questioned” in “the most dramatic Halo story to date.” The consolemaker has always tried to position Halo as a Star Wars for a new generation, but they also worked with a cadre of professional gamers to get the multiplayer portion just right. Will it all work out? We’ll have to find the Master Chief and ask him.
Also available this week is WWE 2K16, the latest professional wrestling sim from 2K Games. Featuring the biggest roster in the franchise’s history, WWE 2K16 for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 will also star “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and include an expanded and enhanced Create-A-Wrestler mode.
Speaking of expanded and enhanced things, Larian Studios will release Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition for the Xbox One. The classic-style RPG now includes splitscreen cooperative play and a brand new user interface. Oh, and there’s also new quests, combat styles, locations, and story sections. And speaking of the word “story,” Telltale Games continues Minecraft: Story Mode this week with Episode 2: Assembly Required for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
More information about all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Divinity: Original Sin, Halo 5: Guardians, Minecraft: Story Mode, WWE 2K16
No Man’s Sky will be released in June 2016
Hello Games’s Sean Murray wouldn’t tell Stephen Colbert the release date for No Man’s Sky, but the developer was more than willing to share the news with the audience at Paris Games Week. Sadly, the space exploration game won’t make it out by the end of 2015 as originally planned. Instead, No Man’s Sky will be released for the PC and PS4 in June 2016.
Writing on the PlayStation Blog Europe, Murray said that this delay will allow the team to add even more features to the game, including ones that haven’t been revealed yet: “Every hour of every day between now and then allows us to add more features, polish and diversity to our universe. Some of those features are things we haven’t shown anyone yet, but are our most requested.”
A new trailer for No Man’s Sky, which gives us a look at the game’s combat options, was also released as part of the Paris Games Week presentation. Believe it or not, but that’s Rutger Hauer providing the voiceover.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged No Man's Sky
DriveClub Bikes, WWE 2K16, Divinity: Original Sin, more added to PS Store
With Halo 5: Guardians ready to launch for the Xbox One this week and a bevy of Paris Games Week announcements to digest, Sony wisely kept this week’s PlayStation Store update to the bare minimum. However, they did surprise-release DriveClub Bikes (PS4), a standalone expansion to Evolution’s racer that features a full Tour Campaign, a Challenge Mode, multiplayer, and a ton of customization options.
If you drop all the motorcycle gear, you’re left with two men in speedos, which is a perfect segue into the news that 2K Games will bring WWE 2K16 to the PS3 and PS4 this week. Their latest wrasslin’ title includes the franchise’s biggest roster to date and an expanded Create-A-Wrestler mode.
No speedos can be found in Telltale’s Minecraft: Story Mode, which is quickly expanding this week with the release of Episode 2: Assembly Required on the PS3 and PS4.
Finally this week, a pair of re-releases will make fans of RPGs very happy. Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition makes its console debut this week as Larian Studios brings an expanded and enhanced version of their RPG to the PS4. Slightly more familiar to PS4 owners might be this Friday’s PS4 release of Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition, which includes the apocalyptic action RPG sequel (originally released for the PS3 in 2012) and all its downloadable content.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) is available found after the break. And, as always, a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, PSP, Vita
Tagged Darksiders II, Divinity: Original Sin, Minecraft: Story Mode, WWE 2K16
Dhalsim joins Street Fighter V, which will officially launch on February 16, 2016
Dhalsim was my guy back in the Street Fighter II days, so it’s great to see that Capcom has added the yoga master to next year’s Street Fighter V. The publisher also announced that we can stop saying “next year” and instead use the much more accurate “February 16,” which is when Street Fighter V will be available for the PC and PS4.
If you’re stretching yourself in knots to learn more about Dhalsim, don’t worry, the Capcom-Unityy blog recently put together this complete report about the character’s stylish new moves:
About Dhalsim
Debuting in Street Fighter II, Dhalsim’s yoga fighting style means that using his long range limbs and slow projectiles will frustrate even the most aggressive of his World Warrior opponents. Although he’s a pacifist, Dhalsim is always saving others whether it’s helping to raise money for the poor or destroying dams that are keeping water from reaching his village.V-Skill: Yoga Float
Upon activation Dhalsim hops into the air and floats for a few seconds. During this time, all airborne attacks and specials are accessible. This can also be activated in the air.V-Trigger: Yoga Burner
Dhalsim shoots out a stream of flames that stays on the screen on the floor for an extended period of time. If the opponent stands in the flames, they will slowly lose life in the form of recoverable damage. Once they step out of the flames, their life will begin to recover.
Besides revealing a release date and Dhalsim, Capcom also confirmed that six downloadable characters will be available for Street Fighter V by the end of next year. A new character will appear roughly every two months and all of them will be obtainable for free with Fight Money, Street Fighter V’s in-game currency. Players will be able to earn Fight Money by completing daily challenges (land X number of Hadokens, land X number of anti-air attacks, etc) or by leveling up characters. Of course, new characters can also be purchased with real money too.
Capcom will include 16 characters in Street Fighter V when it’s released early next year, so expect to learn more about the final one in the very near future.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Street Fighter V
Quantic Dream’s “Kara” tech demo is officially in development for the PS4 as Detroit
Do you remember Kara, the amazing tech demo released by Quantic Dream in 2012? At the time, the developer was adamant in their assertion that Kara wouldn’t be their next project. And they kept their word, releasing Beyond: Two Souls for the PS3 in 2013. However, it looks like Kara’s story isn’t finished, as the android will star in Quantic Dream’s first game for the PS4, Detroit.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, developer David Cage talked a bit about Detroit, which will feature Kara’s awakening as a new kind of artificial intelligence and what ramifications that might have for humanity:
[W]e imagined our world in a near future where androids like Kara would look, speak, and move like real human beings. We wondered how we — humans — would react if we were confronted with a new form of intelligence, how androids conceived as machines would be perceived if they started to have emotions.
We didn’t want to do another story on AI (there are already so many great ones), we wanted to talk about what it means to be human and what it would be like to be in the shoes of an android discovering our world and their own emotions…
Detroit is currently without a release date, but its debut trailer has been embedded above. Take my advice, drop everything you’re doing and watch it right now.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Detroit: Become Human
Today’s Rock Band 4 DLC Update goes back to the 80s with Depche Mode, INXS, Naked Eyes
Harmonix has served up a new trailer featuring this week’s additions to the Rock Band Music Store, which are now available to download for Rock Band 4. Let’s head back to the 1980s with today’s trio of new songs:
- Depeche Mode – “People Are People”
- INXS – “What You Need”
- Naked Eyes – “Always Something There To Remind Me”
As usual, each track can be purchased for $1.99 apiece.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Fun With Numbers… Darth Vader Forced Choked 1.4 million Rebels in the Star Wars: Battlefront beta
When your boss can choke people with his mind, it’s a little odd to just shrug it off as his “sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion.” But maybe that’s just Darth Vader’s managerial style? Rather than write up a bad performance review for his many underlings, he just pulls out the old Force Choke and promotes the next guy in line.
As we learned from the recently completed Star Wars: Battlefront beta (and The Empire Strikes Back, come to think of it), that’s exactly how things work in the Empire. According to a new infographic released by Electronic Arts, players took control of Darth Vader 5,938,148 times during the beta and performed 1,379,319 Force Choke Kills on unsuspecting Rebels.
Over 9.5 million participants logged more than 1.6 billion minutes of playtime during the beta. For those scoring at home, that’s enough time to watch the Original Trilogy 4.2 million times. You can have even more fun with numbers by viewing the full infographic after the break.
Star Wars: Battlefront will be released on November 17 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront
The Legend of Zelda Wii U will feature “twist” on open world gameplay
It’s looking more and more likely that The Legend of Zelda Wii U will be the last major title released for the console when it launches sometime next year. With the NX seemingly right around the corner, Producer Eiji Aonuma is hoping that the promise of an open world will make fans flock to Link’s latest Hyrulian adventure. But Aonuma has something else up his sleeve as the developer recently told IGN that Zelda Wii U will feature a “twist” on traditional open world gaming:
“We actually had some feedback from Skyward Sword, where people were saying, ‘This is not exactly the Zelda game I was looking for, I was looking for a bigger open world.'” Aonuma told IGN. “Unfortunately, I can’t go into details but I’m hoping to put a surprise, or kind of a twist, on my view of an open world game. I hope that you’ll look forward to it.”
Nintendo has always been a very secretive company, so it’ll probably be a long time before we find out what this “twist” is. However, Aonuma is also looking to plan something big for the franchise’s 30th anniversary, and we might hear about it sooner rather than later. Speaking to Famitsu (translated by Nintendo Everything), Aonuma said:
“This year we wanted a Majora’s Mask concert, so it is not impossible that there may be a 30th anniversary concert next year. However, as we are trying to complete the new Zelda as fast as possible, that is all that is on our minds. That being said, we hope something will take form for the 30th anniversary. It is especially important to a producer of the series, so I hope to give something everyone can look forward to next year.”
Rumor has it another HD remake is in the works (current scuttlebutt points to a remake of Twilight Princess), but all we really know for sure is that The Legend of Zelda Wii U will be released for the Wii U sometime next year… though Nintendo is not a company known for forgetting important anniversaries.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild