Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books Gets 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
- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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
Gearbox officially unveils Borderlands 3 at PAX East 2019
It was a big day for Borderlands fans as Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford unveiled Borderlands 3 for the first time on stage at PAX East 2019. The four-minute trailer is surprisingly light on details, but we do know that the game will include “one billion guns” (including a “Gun With Legs”), and players will be able to interact with both new and returning characters.
A further look at Borderlands 3 is planned for April 3, and though we don’t officially know which platforms its in development for at Gearbox, a PC, PS4, and Xbox One launch seems likely.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Borderlands 3, PAX East 2019
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition coming to PC, PS4, Xbox One on April 3
Gearbox Software is teaming up with Blind Squirrel Games to bring Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition to the PC, PS4, Xbox One this Spring. “The Original Looter Shooter” will come packed with all four downloadable expansions and an “Ultra High Definition” visual upgrade that supports 4K resolutions and HDR lighting.
Fans old and new will also be able to try out an arsenal of new weapons in the Game of the Year Edition, as well as new Character Heads, a new Minimap option, and the introduction of Gold Chests and four-player splitscreen co-op:
Discover the co-op shooter-looter that started it all! With new weapons, visual upgrades, character heads, gold chests and keys, plus all 4 add-on packs, you can enjoy all of the content from one of the Most Acclaimed Games of its era, now in one sweet and deliciously modern package!
Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition will be released on April 3.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Borderlands, PAX East 2019
Yacht Club Games will publish Mekaskull’s Cyber Shadow
In addition to their role as the steward of the Shovel Knight franchise, Yacht Club Games has previously worked as a publisher to help bring two games in the Azure Striker Gunvolt series to retail shelves. Earlier today, the developer confirmed they’re getting back into the publishing game to assist Aarne “Mekaskull” Hunziker with the release of Cyber Shadow.
The developer describes Cyber Shadow as an “NES-style game that had the level design principles of Mario, the skills and action of Ninja Gaiden, the enemy designs of Contra, and the dark visual aesthetic of Batman.” The team at Yacht Club Games was drawn to these retro-inspired qualities, and they all certainly shine through in the game’s Announcement Trailer, which has been embedded above.
Cyber Shadow has been in development for more than two years, and will offer players a new take on the “Ninja Action” genre:
Description
In Cyber Shadow the world has been taken over by synthetic lifeforms. A desperate plea for help sets Shadow on a journey to uncover what set the world on the path to perpetual ruin. Slash through techno hordes, leap past traps, and nimbly navigate the ruins of Mekacity. Only you can unlock the secrets to your clan’s ancient powers in Cyber Shadow – a quintessential take on the ninja action genre.Features
- Dash, slice, and leap through masterfully designed levels filled with sharply honed ninja platforming action.
- Authentic 8-bit presentation with hand-crafted sprites, a detailed pixel aesthetic, and perfect controls. Modern touches like fluid animation, multi-layered parallax backgrounds, and evolved game design.
- Take down more than a dozen apocalyptic bosses, from enormous war machines to your synthetic clan rivals.
- Relive the authenticity of classic 8-bit challenge or experience it for the first time… with an added convenience or two.
- Rescue your clan to unlock permanent Ninjutsu skills and abilities, combining them seamlessly as only the warrior of legend could.
- Search for secrets as you explore the ruined world. Return to your old haunts to find supplies, items and upgrades.
- Experience the gripping story, told both in-game and through animated cinematic story scenes between the action. Who can be trusted? How far will Shadow go to protect his clan and the one he loves?
- Pulse-pounding soundtrack by Enrique Martin, produced by Jake Kaufman.
Cyber Shadow is currently in development for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. A release date wasn’t announced, but Yacht Club and “Mekaskull” will bring a demo of the game to this weekend’s PAX East convention for fans to try out.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Cyber Shadow, PAX East 2019
12 finalists announced for World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019
The World Video Game Hall of Fame, which is overseen by The Strong Museum of Play, has announced the finalists for this year’s crop of inductees. We’ll have to wait until May to find out which games make the final cut, but we now know that a dozen classic titles will be in the running for the Class of 2019.
This year’s finalists include several games that are taking one more shot at immortality, including Midway’s Mortal Kombat, Cyan Worlds’s Myst, Microsoft’s Windows Solitaire, and Valve’s Half-Life. All four have a strong claim to “Hall of Fame” status, as Myst helped popularize CD-ROMs, Half-Life pushed narrative games to new heights, Mortal Kombat’s controversial violence is still discussed today, and Windows Solitaire may just be the most-played game ever.
But they’ll have to compete against a slate of other titles that includes King’s Candy Crush, Atari’s Centipede, William Crowther’s Colossal Cave Adventure, Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution, Sega’s NBA 2K, Sid Meier’s Civilization, and Nintendo’s Super Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Gaming fans from around the globe will be able to influence which games will be eligible for induction this year through the Player’s Choice Ballot, which will be open from March 21st through the 28th. The remaining ballots will come from the Hall of Fame’s International Selection Advisory Committee, which is comprised of journalists and scholars who are “familiar with the history of video games.”
The World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 will announced on May 2, but you can learn more about this year’s finalists after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS2, Retro
Tagged Centipede, Half-Life, Super Mario Kart, World Video Game Hall of Fame
God of War wins “Game of the Year” at 2019 GDC Awards
Red Dead Redemption 2 may have received the most nominations, but Sony Santa Monica’s God of War walked away with “Game of the Year” at the 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards. But while these two juggernauts battled it out across a half-dozen categories, a parade of independent developers were the big winners of the night.
Mountains’s Florence captured two awards, “Best Mobile Game” and “Best Debut.” The black-and-white world of Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn won “Best Narrative” while the wild colors of Nomada Studio’s Gris won “Best Visual Art.” Meanwhile, Subset’s Into the Breach won for “Best Design,” Matt Makes Games’s Celeste claimed “Best Audio,” and Beat Games’s Beat Saber took home “Best VR/AR Game.”
Red Dead Redemption 2 did manage to capture one prize at the 2019 GDC Awards. Rockstar Games can claim to have the “Best Technology.”
The complete list of winners from this year’s Game Developers Choice Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged GDC 2019, God of War 4
Cuphead is coming to the Nintendo Switch on April 18
Nintendo uploaded their first Nindies Showcase of 2019 earlier today and they kicked things off with an absolutely huge announcement. Studio MDHR will bring their side-scrolling platformer, Cuphead, to the Switch on April 18. Featuring gameplay that pays homage to the Contra franchise, as well as a hand-drawn animation style inspired by cartoons from the 1930s, and a jazzy original soundtrack, Cuphead was originally released to great acclaim in 2017:
Cuphead, the all-cartoon Magical Wondergame, is coming to Nintendo Switch! Play as Cuphead or Mugman (in single player or local co-op) as you traverse strange worlds, acquire new weapons, learn powerful super moves, and discover hidden secrets while you try to pay your debt back to the devil!
Cuphead’s Switch debut was partly made possible with an assist from Microsoft, and the they confirmed on the Xbox Wire that a variety of Xbox Live features will soon be accessible on the Switch through Studio MDHR’s ultra-hard shooter:
We are partnering with Studio MDHR to investigate bringing Xbox Live features beyond Xbox and PC to Nintendo Switch. Yes, this means that fans will now have the opportunity to experience Studio MDHR’s award-winning debut game on Nintendo Switch with Xbox Live! We’ll be working with Studio MDHR to implement Xbox Live features into Cuphead on the Nintendo Switch in the coming months. Given the early stage of our work with Studio MDHR, the Xbox Live features will appear in a post-launch update to Cuphead on Nintendo Switch. We’d like to thank Studio MDHR and Nintendo for their help in this investigation!
In addition to bringing the game to Nintendo’s newest console, Studio MDHR is also hard at work on The Delicious Last Course, a new expansion for Cuphead that’ll launch for the PC and Xbox One (and presumably, the Switch) later this year.
Google’s game streaming service will be known as Google Stadia
While Google tried to play it off as a big secret, the search giant finally unveiled their long-awaited game streaming service today at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Officially known as Google Stadia, the service won’t require a console of any kind, and will instead offer game streaming through a large number of devices, including laptops, desktops, Chromecast dongles, and select phones and tablets.
According to Stadia’s official website, Google is promising the service will offer 4K resolution gaming with no lag, provided your Internet connection is powerful enough. Stadia will also hook up with the YouTube Gaming livestreaming platform, and players will theoretically be able to jump from watching a stream right into playing that same game “in seconds”:
- Game where you want, when you want – Play across multiple devices, including laptops, desktops, and select phones and tablets. (High speed internet connection required)
- New ways to play through YouTube and beyond – Go from watching a video to playing a game in seconds, with even more innovative experiences to come for select games.
- Up to 4K HDR at 60 FPS – Enjoy gaming the way you love, with beautiful HDR graphics and smooth frame rates. (4K HDR at 60 FPS are dependent on your bandwidth. Gameplay experience may vary based on quality of internet connection.)
- Play instantly – No updates, no downloads. Jump right into the game.
- Always getting better – Stadia’s cloud based infrastructure evolves to meet the demands of players, developers, and YouTube creators.
On the surface, Google Stadia will offer a lot of the same features as Sony’s PlayStation Now streaming service, but it’ll have its own unique set of bells and whistles to make it stand out.
Google Stadia will be controllable with compatible third-party controllers on a PC, but players will also have the option of using the official Stadia Controller. Closely resembling a standard Xbox One controller, Google’s gadget will include an Instant Capture button for streaming to YouTube, a Google Assistant button powered by a built-in microphone, and a direct wi-fi connection to whatever device you’re using.
But what games will you be able to play on Google Stadia? That’s a bit of a question mark. So far, only Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and id Software’s Doom Eternal are confirmed to be coming to the platform. Additional games, which will be exclusive to the platform, will be produced by the company’s new Stadia Games & Entertainment division, which will be lead by Jade Raymond.
It’s currently unknown if Google will sell individual games through Stadia or offer a monthly subscription to access the service’s entire library or some combination of both. But we do know that it’s currently scheduled to launch sometime in 2019.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Doom Eternal, GDC 2019
Activision and Tencent will launch free-to-play Call of Duty Mobile this Summer
Way back in 2017, Activision announced that Candy Crush developer King was hard on a new game in the Call of Duty franchise for mobile platforms. We still don’t know when we’ll learn more about that game, but late last night the publisher revealed an entirely different Call of Duty mobile experience from Tencent’s Timi studio.
Call of Duty Mobile is currently in development for Android and iOS devices, and will be available to download throughout the world as a free-to-play Public Beta this Summer:
In Call of Duty: Mobile, players will experience the fluid, first-person combat of Call of Duty, fighting head-to-head in fan-favorite modes such as Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy and Free-For-All, in iconic maps from the series such as Nuketown, Crash, Hijacked and more. Along the way, players will earn and unlock classic Call of Duty characters, weapons, scorestreaks and other gear to equip and customize their loadouts as they battle to be among the best in the world.
Fans can pre-register to receive updates about Call of Duty Mobile’s progress at the game’s official website, and Activision has promised that “more modes of play” will be announced soon.
The Announcement Trailer for Call of Duty Mobile has been embedded above.