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
New CoD: Black Ops III trailer gives us a glimpse at the beta test
Activision gave us a sneak peek at what the Call of Duty: Black Ops III beta will contain in a new trailer released this afternoon.
Beta participants can expect to test out at least seven multiplayer modes, at least three maps, eight Multiplayer Specialists, and weapon customization with the game’s “Paintshop” tool.
Do you want to be part of the beta? First thing you have to do is pre-order a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops III on the PC, PS4, or Xbox One. Then you’ll get an invite to join the beta on August 19 (PS4) or August 26 (PC and Xbox One).
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is in development at Treyarch and will be released on November 6.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
PS Plus subscribers who pre-order Rock Band 4 will receive bonus pack containing 10 songs
Rock Band 4 is less than two months away, and PS4 owners are now able to pre-order the game through the PlayStation Store. Harmonix also announced that all PlayStation Plus subscribers who pre-order the game will receive a special bonus pack at launch containing ten songs:
- All That Remains – “Divide”
- Blitz Kids – “Run For Cover”
- Bring Me The Horizon – “Throne”
- Dead Sara – “Mona Lisa”
- Duran Duran – “The Reflex”
- Janis Joplin – “Move Over”
- Of Mice & Men – “Would You Still Be There”
- Oh Honey – “Sugar, You”
- Pantera – “Cowboys From Hell” (Live from Monsters In Moscow Festival)
- Seasick Steve – “Summertime Boy”
PlayStation Plus members will also immediately be able to download an exclusive Rock Band 4 theme with their pre-order.
Rock Band 4 will be available for the PS4 (and the Xbox One) on October 6. It’ll be compatible with most wireless music game controllers and microphones, as well as the vast majority of previously-purchased music from the Rock Band Store.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Rock Band 4
Grand Theft Auto V has sold 54 million copies; Single-Player DLC is still MIA
Take-Two Interactive didn’t have much to talk about during their quarterly financial report yesterday. Because XCOM 2, Battleborn, and Mafia III are still many months away, company executives mostly used the presentation to boast about the continued success of Grand Theft Auto V.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the game has sold more than 54 million copies since it was released in 2013. That number includes GTA5’s initial launch on the PS3 and Xbox 360, as well as its subsequent release on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It’s quite an impressive achievement for everyone involved, which is probably why Zelnick didn’t sound very appreciative when an analyst tried to compare Mafia III to a Rockstar-developed project during the Q&A portion of the presentation:
Mafia III is a completely different experience. I wouldn’t compare it to anything else out there. The reveal was great, but it stands alone. And no, we don’t use any other game in the same sentence as Grand Theft Auto. It is the industry’s standard bearer. It’s not up for comparison. So no, I think, it’s flattering to even think that may be the case, but it’s not.
I love Zelnick’s “take no prisoners” attitude and the defense of his developers, but there was also some bad news for GTA fans during the presentation as well. Karl Slatoff, the President of Take-Two Interactive, confirmed the publisher has no information to share about a single-player expansion for Grand Theft Auto V, telling one analyst, “[W]e really don’t have anything to say about that today.”
It’ll be a “very long time” before Bethesda announces The Elder Scrolls VI
With Fallout 4 scheduled for release this Fall, and an inevitable set of expansions sure to follow, Bethesda Game Studios is unlikely to have much time to think about the next entry in the Elder Scrolls series. In fact, Bethesda’s Pete Hines told DualShockers during this year’s Gamescom expo that it will probably be a “very long time” before we hear anything about The Elder Scrolls VI.
Bethesda’s Vice President of Marketing told the publication that Bethesda Game Studios is 100% focused on Fallout 4, and that the team isn’t large enough to handle multi-game development. And even then, it’s always possible that the next from Bethesda Game Studios won’t be a sequel to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Of course, fans can still get their Elder Scrolls fix with The Elder Scrolls Online, an MMO that was developed by ZeniMax Online Studios. ESO’s first expansion, Imperial City, should be available in the next few weeks.
Posted in News
Tagged Gamescom 2015, The Elder Scrolls 6
Blizzard is hiring for an “Unannounced Diablo Project”
Despite some fan backlash at launch, Blizzard must be very pleased with the success of Diablo III. During their most recent financial report, it was revealed that the game has sold 30 million copies across the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Now it looks like Blizzard is gearing up to release a new entry in the series as an opening for an Art Director who will work on an “Unannounced Diablo Project” was recently posted on Blizzard’s Careers page.
Aside from asking that candidates possess a “deep understanding of the Diablo franchise,” there’s not much information in the listing. At this point, we dont even know if the project is Diablo IV or just a new expansion for Diablo III. And knowing Blizzard, it may be a while before we find out.
However, BlizzCon 2015 is just three months away (November 6-7 in Anaheim, California) and we may learn more about this mystery project then.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Diablo 4, Diablo III
Batterystaple will release the beta build of 20XX on September 15
Mighty No. 9 might have been officially delayed last week, but it looks like a game inspired by the Mega Man franchise will be released next month. Batterystaple Games has announced the “beta build” of 20XX, their procedurally-generated platformer that’s heavily inspired by Mega Man X, will be available on September 15.
The “beta build” of 20XX will still be part of Steam’s Early Access program and the “full release” of the game will come at a later date. However, Batterystaple considers the beta release a “major development milestone” and all of the game’s planned features, “more or less,” will be included in the beta release.
We loved 20XX at this year’s PAX East expo and can’t wait to get our hands on the beta.
Avoid the “Kill Screen” in the first gameplay trailer for Pac-Man 256
Pac-Man‘s infamous “Kill Screen,” an ominous black cloud of symbols and numbers, has become sentient in Pac-Man 256. But gaming’s most famous yellow circle has an escape plan. Pac-Man 256 is actually an “endless runner” developed by Hipster Whale, the same team that released Crossy Road for mobile devices last year.
Hipster Whale was in attendance at this weekend’s Gamescom expo, where they showed off the first gameplay trailer for Pac-Man 256. It features the same isometric style as Crossy Road with plenty of Pac-Man touches and a number of new Ghosts.
Pac-Man 256 will be available for mobile devices this Summer.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Gamescom 2015, Pac-Man 256
HBO’s Westworld looks to Red Dead Redemption and BioShock for inspiration
While many people only know Jonathan Nolan as Christopher Nolan’s less-famous brother, the younger Nolan has his own rather impressive career in Hollywood. In addition to co-writing The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, The Prestige, and Interstellar, he is also the creator of Person of Interest and the driving force behind HBO’s Westworld reboot. Originally released in 1973 (and parodied hilariously in the “Itchy & Scratchy Land” episode of The Simpsons), Westworld takes place within the walls of a futuristic amusement park where the life-like robots eventually run amok.
Before you ask, yes, the original movie was written and directed by Michael Crichton.
But in turning the story into a television show, Nolan wants to go beyond Crichton’s original concept and he’s looking to video games for his inspiration. Naturally, Rockstar’s classic western, Red Dead Redemption, is at the top of the list. However, Nolan told Esquire‘s Matt Patches that the underwater world of Irrational’s BioShock also informed his latest creation.
Finally, Nolan cited an “interactive play,” Sleep No More, as a third inspiration. A similar interactive theatre experience, Tamara, directly inspired Tom Zito to develop Night Trap, and other full motion video games, in the mid-90s.
HBO’s Westworld reboot will premiere sometime next year and will star Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, and Jeffrey Wright. The first teaser trailer, which was released yesterday, has been embedded above.