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
Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection coming to PS4 this October with Uncharted 4 beta access
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End won’t be released until next year, but Sony is hoping that gamers will want to replay Nathan Drake’s many adventures on the PS4 this Fall in Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection. Scheduled for release on October 9, The Nathan Drake Collection will bring Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception together in a single package.
The compilation will be developed by Bluepoint Games, who previously worked on the God of War Collection and The Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection for Sony. For The Nathan Drake Collection, the developer will sharpen the graphics to 1080p/60FPS levels and add in better lighting, textures, and models. Bluepoint will add other improvements to all three games including a Photo Mode and new Trophies.
Players who pre-order Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection will receive a pack of “iconic” Nathan Drake character skins and a pair of in-game guns: the Golden AK-47 and the Golden 92FS. Pre-purchasing a digital download through the PlayStation Store will add a PS4 Dynamic Theme to your goodie bag.
On top of that, everyone who purchases Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection will also receive access to the Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta. Sony plans to reveal more details about the beta, including when it’ll take place, at a later date.
World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 is Tetris, Super Mario Bros, Pong, Doom, WoW, Pac-Man
The World Video Game Hall of Fame, which is administered by the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and The Strong in Rochester, New York, has announced its inaugural list of inductees. Drum roll, please.
The 2015 Class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame includes…
- Doom, id Software’s pioneering first person shooter.
- Pac-Man, the dot-eating, ghost-chasing hero of every 80s arcade.
- Pong, one of video gaming’s earliest arcade hits.
- Super Mario Bros., the side-scroller that put the NES on the map and made Mario a household name.
- Tetris, the falling block puzzler that’s surely invaded your dreams at least once.
- World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s MMO made the genre what it is today and is still going strong after a decade.
While all of the games are at least ten years old, it’s amazing how important they still are to video gaming’s current climate. Bethesda will pull the curtain back on the next game in the Doom series at this year’s E3 Expo. Pac-Man recently celebrated his 35th anniversary and will star in a new mobile game this Summer. Super Mario Bros. is also celebrating a big anniversary this year and will influence this September’s Mario Maker. The Tetris Company, and Alexey Pajitnov, continues to license new version of Tetris and the latest, Tetris Ultimate, was released last year. Finally, Blizzard released World of Warcraft’s fifth expansion, Warlords of Draenor, in November and a sixth is already in the works.
These six games represent gaming at its greatest and are excellent choices for the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class. As part of their selection, the inductees will be on permanent view (and in playable form) at The Strong’s “eGameRevolution” exhibit.
Nine other finalists were considered for inclusion by the international committee including Angry Birds, FIFA International Soccer, The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, The Oregon Trail, Pokemon Red/Blue, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until all of them are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. But if you want to campaign for your favorite game, nominees for the Class of 2016 are currently being accept at the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s website.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Retro, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Doom (1993), Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, World of Warcraft, World Video Game Hall of Fame
EA’s NHL 15 playoff prediction gets both teams wrong
The Stanley Cup Finals began last night, and neither team from the NHL 15 playoff prediction is playing for the most famous trophy in sports. In EA’s simulation, the Anaheim Ducks faced off against the New York Rangers, with the Ducks eventually winning it all in seven games.
Unfortunately, the action on the ice didn’t play along, though EA Sports should get a little credit for being close. In reality, both the Ducks and the Rangers battled through most of the playoffs and were only eliminated once they reached the Conference Finals. Regardless of how close the NHL 15 prediction was, the real Stanley Cup Finals will be decided in a seven-game series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Chicago Blackhawks. And after last night’s 2-1 victory, the Blackhawks currently enjoy a 1-0 lead in the series.
For fans that are already thinking about next year, EA Sports will release two NHL games this September. NHL 16 will appear on the PS4 and Xbox One while NHL: Legacy Edition, a roster update to NHL 15, will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
“What’s next for Gears of War” will debut at E3 2015 as Black Tusk Studios changes its name to The Coalition
Black Tusk Studios is no more. From this day forward, the studio will be known as The Coalition (an allusion to the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) from Gears of War lore). The name change is designed to better convey The Coalition’s dedication to the Gears of War franchise, much like the public links the Halo series with 343 Industries and Turn 10 with the Forza franchise. The Studio Head of The Coalition, Rod Fergusson, further explained the reasons behind the name change in the video above. He also introduced the developer’s new logo.
And speaking of the Gears of War franchise, over on the Xbox Wire, Microsoft has promised that “what’s next for Gears of War” will be revealed on Monday, June 15 during their E3 2015 “Xbox Daily” show at 7:00 PM (Eastern Time). We don’t know if they’ll be announcing the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition or Gears of War 4, but fans of the franchise are surely excited all the same.
The Coalition is actually the second name change for the former “AAAA” developer. Before it took on the Black Tusk moniker in 2012, the studio was known as Microsoft Vancouver. They’ve yet to release a game under any name, but it’s only a matter of time now.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2015, Gears of War, Gears of War 4
Xbox Store Today: Sparkle Unleashed
Just a single new release has been added to the Xbox Games Store today and its Sparkle Unleashed, an orb-matching puzzler that is very similar to PopCap’s Zuma. The Xbox One game was developed by 10tons, and more information about it can be found right here:
Xbox One Games
Sparkle Unleashed ($7.99)
A secluded world of mystery has succumbed to an ominous darkness. You must travel through the fallen lands, light magical braziers and banish the darkness once and for all. The full version of this match-three marble shooter includes 108 levels, survival mode and multiple difficulty settings.
Skylanders SuperChargers adds vehicles to the series this September
Activision has announced Skylanders SuperChargers, the fifth game in the franchise, will be available this September. As rumored earlier this year, SuperChargers will add land, sea, and air vehicles, more than 15 in all, to the Skylanders experience.
Developed by Vicarious Visions, Skylanders SuperChargers will be available on September 20 for the iPad, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. A “unique Skylanders SuperChargers experience” will also be released for the 3DS and Wii on the same day.
Activision will bring Skylanders SuperChargers to this year’s E3 Expo and the publisher plans to reveal quite a bit more about the game during the big show. For now, an extensive “Everything You Need to Know” guide for the game is available after the break and at the Activision Games Blog. (more…)
Fallout 4 officially announced for PC, PS4, Xbox One
As expected, in the aftermath of Bethesda’s countdown, we now have confirmation that Fallout 4 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. There’s no release date yet, but we did get a pretty great teaser trailer, which you can view above.
In addition to the trailer, Bethesda has opened a teaser site for the game at Fallout4.com. It’s pretty bare for the moment, but I assume it’ll begin filling up once the 2015 E3 Expo opens. And speaking of E3, Bethesda plans to showcase a “World Premiere” gameplay demostration of Fallout 4 during their E3 Press Conference on Sunday, June 14. Fans can watch the entire presentation (which will also include a Doom 4 gameplay demo) at Twitch or YouTube.
“We know what this game means to everyone,” said Todd Howard, Fallout 4’s Director. “The time and technology have allowed us to be more ambitious than ever. We’ve never been more excited about a game, and we can’t wait to share it.”
Weezer, Queen, Alice in Chains, more join Guitar Hero Live in latest tracklist update
Oh no! What do we do? I don’t care what they say about us anyway, so here’s another ten tracks from this Fall’s Guitar Hero Live:
- Alice in Chains – “Stone”
- Angus & Julia Stone – “A Heartbreak”
- Bullet For My Valentine – “Temper Temper”
- Catfish and the Bottlemen – “Kathleen”
- Deap Vally – “Lies”
- Neon Trees – “Everybody Talks”
- New Politics – “Harlem”
- Queen – “Tie Your Mother Down”
- Wolfmother – “Sundial”
- Weezer – “Buddy Holly”
90s favorites Weezer and Alice in Chains join 21st century rockers like Neon Trees, Wolfmother, Bullet For My Valentine, and New Politics in this update. Going a little further back, Queen is also on hand with one of their lesser known songs, “Tie Your Mother Down.” With this update, 54 songs have been confirmed for inclusion on the Guitar Hero Live disc and “hundreds” of additional songs will be available through the game’s GHTV Mode.
Guitar Hero Live, and its brand-new six-button controller, will be available for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Fall.