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
Activision reveals Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 soundtrack
As with the recent musical offerings from Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band 4, the majority of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5‘s soundtrack looks fairly unfamiliar to me. I think I recognize maybe three or four of these bands… which is made much more difficult when none of them are Rage Against the Machine or The Ramones. But if you love Cloud Nothings, Connie Price and the Keystones, New Politics, and The Schitzophonics, there’s probably something for you to enjoy on the soundtrack.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on September 29 with the PS3 and Xbox 360 version scheduled to follow on November 10. The full soundtrack is available after the break. (more…)
Weekly Warp-Up: Summer Dead Zone 2015 Edition
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…
With the E3 Expo and Gamescom in the rearview mirror, it’s time to enter that dead zone where there’s very little news coming down the pike and even fewer new games ahead of the Fall rush. But a few things of note did happen this week.
For example, Our own Josh Griffiths helped produce an English adaptation of the Metal Gear Solid audio drama that was first released in 1998 in Japan. Also this week, Blizzard confirmed that they are hiring for an “Unannounced Diablo Project.” And Jonathan Nolan said that his HBO-bound Westworld remake looked to Red Dead Redemption and BioShock for inspiration. There’s even the rather scandalous news that a video of Fallout 4‘s Gamescom demo is now viewable on Pornhub.
The lengths some fans will go to. Thankfully, it’s easy to find the rest of this week’s important news. It’s available after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: LBX Little Battlers Experience, Dungeon Travelers 2, Madden 16 Bundle, More
Just three new releases will be available on store shelves this week before we ask if you’re ready for some football.
This week’s biggest new game is also, in many ways, its smallest. LBX: Little Battlers Experience was developed by Level-5 and will be published by Nintendo for the 3DS. Based on the popular manga and anime series also created by Level-5, LBX: Little Battlers Experience follows a group of kids who create tiny palm-sized robots that do battle in slightly less-tiny arenas.
Also available this week is Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal, a turn-based RPG for the Vita from Atlus. Taking place entirely in a first-person view, players will delve deep into a series of dungeons to battle “monster girls.” Meanwhile, Helldivers: Super Earth Ultimate Edition is a disc-based release of the popular PS4 twin-stick shooter. The “Super Earth Ultimate Edition” will include download codes for the PS3 and Vita versions of the game as well as all 11 expansion packs, the Bonus Weapons pack, and other extra content.
Finally, the Xbox One-exclusive Madden NFL 16 1TB System Bundle will give brand new Xbox One owners the chance to play EA’s yearly football simulation a week earlier than everybody else and a year-long subscription to EA Access. I suppose current Xbox One owners could also partake in this deal, but they’d have to purchase a second Xbox One system to do it…
Actually, I think Microsoft would be completely OK with that.
Posted in 3DS, News, PS4, Vita, Xbox One
Tagged Helldivers, Madden NFL 16
Treyarch wants to show you that CoD: Black Ops III is all about momentum in new trailer
It’s time to start running!
Treyarch has a released a new video tutorial for Call of Duty: Black Ops III that delves deep into the game’s movement system. Developers David Vonderhaar and Dan Bunting talk about unlimited sprinting, thrust jumping, and wall running as they discuss the ways that momentum can be used to your advantage in the game.
Are you ready to try it out yourself? You won’t have to wait long. The Call of Duty: Black Ops III beta test begins next week for players who’ve pre-ordered the game on the PS4. And don’t forget, the game will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on November 6.
Xbox Store Today: The Bridge, Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings, Commander Cherry’s Puzzled Journey
“M.C. Escher meets Isaac Newton” is how developer The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild describes their puzzle platformer The Bridge. After debuting on the PC in 2013, the game eventually worked its way over to the Xbox 360 later that year. Now, its available for the Xbox One (through the Xbox Games Store) and its sure to please fans of puzzle platformers everywhere.
Also available today is Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings, a comical baseball sim that actually offers “a deep baseball simulation with accurate physics and comprehensive statistics tracking.”
Finally, Commander Cherry’s Puzzled Journey is a Kinect-powered puzzle platformer that asks players to contort their bodies to create platforms for the titular Commander Cherry.
More information about all of these games is available after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Super Mega Baseball, The Bridge
Nintendo will add “Rainmaker” to Splatoon’s Ranked Battle Mode on August 14
Splatoon is getting a “Capture the Flag” mode as Nintendo has announced that the “Rainmaker” match type will be available to play in Ranked Battle Mode beginning tomorrow night (August 14) at 10:00 PM (Eastern Time). Writing on the Squid Research Lab blog, here’s what Nintendo had to say about the new mode:
Introducing…. Rainmaker! In Rainmaker, both teams compete to snag the, uhhh, Rainmaker. Once you’ve got it, the goal is to carry it into the other team’s base!
How’s it work, you ask? As soon as the battle begins, grab onto that Rainmaker! It’s guarded by a shield, though, so you’ll need to bust it out first. Once you snag it, head for the other team’s base. And be quick about it!
If you run out of time or get splatted, the Rainmaker will be dropped and its shield will also reactivate. The Rainmaker is crazy heavy, so you can’t Super Jump while carrying it. Hopefully your teammates will watch your back!
The Rainmaker doesn’t just sit there and look pretty. It can also shoot ink like an Inkzooka and has an extra-powerful charge shot too. It’s also booby-trapped, so if you don’t make it to the other team’s base in time, it’ll blow up in your face.
A batch of new screenshots from the Rainmaker match type are also available at the Squid Research Lab blog.
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Charts… Lego Jurassic World is best-selling game of July ’15
July is not typically a very strong month for new game releases, and only a single new title was able to crack the NPD Group’s recounting of the ten best-selling games of the month. But it was Lego Jurassic World, a June release, that sits at the top of the sales food chain this month.
Debuting at #3 in the NPD’s June report, Lego Jurassic World likely got a boost from the tremendous box office support for the film. After nearly nine weeks in theaters, the film has earned more than $636 million. Only Titanic ($658 million) and Avatar ($760 million) have made more money at the domestic box office.
While it’s unlikely that Lego Jurassic World will reach those heights, the game is another hit for WB Games, which had yet another big month in July. Batman: Arkham Knight (#2) and Mortal Kombat X (#8) once again both landed in the top ten.
The only new release to break into the top ten last month was EA’s Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. Before McIlroy, Tiger Woods had been PGA Tour’s pitchman for more than 15 years. As great as Tiger used to be, it looks like EA doesn’t need him to sell their golf game.
Finally this month, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that overall sales of all game-related items (hardware, software, and accessories) is roughly even with July 2014. Both July 2014 and July 2015 produced around $184 million in total sales.
The complete top ten for July 2015 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, FIFA 15, Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Jurassic World, Minecraft, Mortal Kombat X, NPD, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, The Elder Scrolls Online
Energy Hook is now available through Steam Early Access
Do you ever wish Spider-Man had a jetpack and competed in a futuristic sport based entirely around webswinging? Jamie Fristrom of Happion Labs has had that dream, and he’s using it as the basis of his next game, Energy Hook. However, Fristrom has a little more experience with this idea than most, as he was the original designer behind the webswinging mechanic in 2004’s Spider-Man 2.
After a variety of delays, we won’t have to wait much longer to play it as the developer announced that Energy Hook will be available through Steam Early Access beginning today.
Happion Labs expects to keep Energy Hook in Early Access for about four months and is also developing a version of the game for the PS4 and Vita. Presumably, we’ll learn more about Energy Hook’s full version (and its console launch) at a later date.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Vita
Tagged Energy Hook