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
Nintendo Download: Xeodrifter, Badland: Game of the Year Edition, more
Nintendo update the Nintendo eShop today with a trio of new games for the Wii U and another three for the 3DS. Though one can be played on both systems with a single purchase.
Yes, Nintendo is offering another Cross-Buy promotion with Rengeade Kid’s Xeodrifter. The Metroidvania-style Wii U game will offer players “mystery and adventure” as they “blast through alien landscapes, seek out valuable secrets, and defeat ancient guardians.” As a Cross-Buy title, purchasing Xeodrifter on the Wii U will also make the game available to download on the 3DS, and vice versa.
Also available this week is Badland: Game of the Year Edition, a high definition upgrade of the popular mobile game. The Game of the Year Edition of the side-scroller comes with “more than 15 hours of single-player levels” and a four-player local multiplayer mode.
More information on these titles, and a small handful of additional Wii U and 3DS games, can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Xeodrifter
Blizzard will announce sixth World of Warcraft expansion at Gamescom 2015
Blizzard has announced they will reveal the sixth expansion to World of Warcraft at this year’s Gamescom expo.
According to a post on Battle.net, the expansion will makes it worldwide debut as part of a presentation will take place on Thursday, August 6 at 12:00 PM (Eastern Time). If you’re not going to be in Cologne, Germany next week for the expo, don’t worry, Blizzard plans to livestream the entire event at BlizzGC.com.
Blizzard will host a second presentation during Gamescom on Sunday, August 9 at 11:00 AM (Eastern Time). This “World of Warcraft developer chat” will reveal more information about the MMO’s next expansion.
If you do find yourself in Cologne, Germany next week, Blizzard will have a booth at Gamescom in Hall 7.1 and they’re encouraging all their fans to stop by.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Gamescom 2015, World of Warcraft
Comcept signs publishing deal with Fuze as Red Ash Kickstarter campaign struggles
With just three days to go, Comcept’s Kickstarter campaign for Red Ash: The Indelible Legend is struggling. The developer has only reached 60% of their $800,000 goal and things look bleak. However, a new development deal with Fuze Entertainment, a publisher based out of China, will allow Comcept to complete the game. Not only that, but the deal allows the team to also bring the game to the PS4 and Xbox One, in addition to the PC.
According to an update posted to the Kickstarter campaign, all money pledged towards Red Ash will go towards the development of additional content. While reaching their Kickstarter goal is far from a certainty, Comcept also said they will retain all franchise rights to Red Ash.
Comcept has also decided to go on the offensive and give their fans a small taste of Red Ash with a short mock-up demo. Instructions on how to download (and play) the demo can be found in a recent Kickstarter update.
Red Ash was pitched as a spiritual successor to Mega Man Legends by Comcept’s Keiji Inafune, and I’m sure fans are excited that the game is now assured to be completed.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Red Ash: The Indelible Legend
ZombiU drops the “U” and will be available to download on PC, PS4, Xbox One on August 18
Ubisoft has announced that ZombiU, one of the best games available during the Wii U’s launch window, will be available to download on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One beginning August 18. While it’s the same ZombiU that Wii U players fell in love with, the game’s new destinations have necessitated a name change to Zombi.
After being one of the Wii U flagship titles in 2012, Zombi returns to challenge gamers on multiple new platforms to find out how long they can survive in the dilapidated, infected London. For the second time in history, a great plague has shrouded the city in a fog of death and thousands have died, or worse, been infected by a sickness more gruesome than death. Once again, this fear-fueled first-person shooter invites all players to dive into the horror, chaos and tension found in the best of the genre.
Zombi’s permadeath mechanic will once again force players to think strategically to survive (or to risk it all to regain their loot if they don’t). The “bug-out bag,” which was only accessible through the Wii U GamePad, will also be back in some form. Probably through a pause screen that doesn’t pause the action or a second screen app.
London Bridge is falling down…
Xbox Store Today: King’s Quest Chapter 1, Life Is Strange Episode 4, more
Four new games were added to the Xbox Games Store today. Without further adieu, here we go…
- King’s Quest: A Knight to Remember (Xbox 360, Xbox One) kicks off The Odd Gentlemen’s reboot of the classic adventure game. Return to the middle ages as King Graham reminisces on his journey from a young teen to the most powerful man in all the land.
- Meanwhile, Life Is Strange: Dark Room (Xbox 360, Xbox One) is nearing its end as Chloe finds out exactly why time travel is a bad idea. And not just because of all the runaway open-air manure trucks.
- World of Tanks: Xbox One Edition will, not surprisingly, bring the World of Tanks franchise to the Xbox One for the first time. Players will be able to pilot a wide variety of mid-century tanks and battle both Xbox One and Xbox 360 players in this free-to-play game.
- Finally, Squid Hero For Kinect (Xbox One) asks players to smash ice with motion controls.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged King's Quest, Life Is Strange
Players will be able to unlock Premium Show DLC in Guitar Hero Live by completing songs
Like Street Fighter V and it’s two-tiered “Fight Money/Zenny” system, Activision is also planning to give players the opportunity to unlock paid DLC in Guitar Hero Live with in-game currency.
Players will be able to purchase Hero Cash, which can be exchanged for “Premium Shows” in Guitar Hero Live’s GHTV mode. But if you’d prefer to skip all that and just buy the DLC content with cold hard cash, that’s an option too. Activision’s Matt Clark drummed up a rundown of the system at the Activision Games Blog:
When a new Premium Show launches on the GHTV service, players will have the ability to unlock it by completing a set challenge. To gain access, you’ll have to complete songs and hit a certain star level—Guitar Hero’s system for measuring your performance. So, if you do a great job playing a particular song, you’ll gain admission to new Premium Content, such as live concert videos and more. But if you want to save time and get instantaneous access, you can also unlock Premium Content immediately with a simple purchase via Hero Cash. Premium Content also offers unique prizes, like Note Highways, player cards, and more.
Guitar Hero Live will be available for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices on October 20.
Japanese Super Mario Maker gameplay trailer gives us a look at Amiibo guest characters
Nintendo uploaded a new Japanese gameplay trailer for Super Mario Maker this morning. While several sections seem rather familiar, the majority of the video looks brand new.
The gameplay trailer, and Nintendo Japan’s newly-opened Super Mario Maker website, also includes a brief look at some of the game’s Amiibo-powered guest characters. Link, Wii Fit Trainer, and Bowser get a few fleeting moments to shine in the trailer and five more guest characters (Isabelle, Kirby, Marth, Peach, and Yoshi) made their debut on the website. But believe it or not, Nintendo plans to include support for 99 guest characters, available instantly via a tap of the corresponding Amiibo or unlockable in the game through the 100 Mario Challenge mode.
Even if the trailer isn’t entirely original (or in English), if you’re meticulously counting down the days until the Super Mario Maker’s September 11th launch like I am, it’s definitely a good way to spend part of your morning.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
PS Store Today: N++, King’s Quest Chapter 1, Life Is Strange Episode 4, more
Sony’s PSN Play 2015 promotion continues this week with the release of N++ (PS4), a minimalist side-scroller where players take control of a gold-seeking ninja. Leap wide chasms, avoid obstacles, and watch out for those rockets! N++ is packed with hundreds of hand-crafted levels and an extensive level editor to create and share even more.
Also available this week is new entries in a pair of episodic adventure games. Life Is Strange: Dark Room (PS3, PS4) is the fourth episode in Dontnod’s apocalyptic tale and Max finally gets an eyeful of just how dangerous time travel can be. But danger is the name of the game in King’s Quest: A Knight to Remember (PS3, PS4), the first episode in The Odd Gentlemen’s reboot of the classic adventure series. Though I doubt a game described as “whimsical” and “charming” by its developers deals with the end of the world.
But speaking of the end of the world, another group of teenagers will have to stop a monstrous evil, actually named “The End,” from destroying the world in Atlus’s Lost Dimension. The twist this time is that the 11 kids at the center of the story are psychics and at least one is a traitor. You’d think a group of psychics wouldn’t have a problem with that kind of treachery…
Finally this week, we end with another dash of “whimsical” and “charming” with Legend of Kay Anniversary (PS3, PS4). A remaster of a ten-year-old PS2 game starring a feline samuari, Legend of Kay Anniversary is nothing if not adorable.
More information on all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. And 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, Vita
Tagged King's Quest, Legend of Kay Anniversary, Life Is Strange, N++