Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Author: John Scalzo
EA will reboot Need For Speed franchise this Fall on PC, PS4, Xbox One
EA has announced that the Need For Speed franchise will most definitely return this Fall. Specifically in the form of a “full reboot” that will simply be known as Need For Speed. Developed by the same team who produced Need For Speed Rivals, Sweden-based Ghost Games, Need For Speed will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
According to the developer, Need For Speed will include “deep customization, authentic urban car culture, a nocturnal open world, and an immersive narrative that pulls you through the game.” A teaser trailer is available for your perusal above with a more in-depth trailer scheduled to debut during EA’s E3 Press Conference on June 15.
In addition to Ghost Games, EA has also recruited the team from Speedhunters, the publisher’s “car culture community,” to assist with the development of Need For Speed. EA hopes that this collaboration will result in an even more authentic racing game:
Need For Speed will deliver an experience that’s grounded in authentic car culture by diving into the rich world of past, present and emergent trends of the urban car scene. This collaboration with Speedhunters in the research and development of the game means the level of detail and real-world authenticity will envelop gamers in an exciting world to discover and enjoy in a way that only Need for Speed can deliver.
Finally, Executive Producer Marcus Nilsson reassured fans that Ghost Games wants to bring the series back in a big way: “Need For Speed is one of the most iconic names in gaming, and we’re returning it to greatness in this reboot.”
Techland puts development of Hellraid on hold
They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. But the road to Hellraid is apparently paved with Stop signs as Techland announced (on the game’s official website) that the first-person slasher has been put on hold.
First announced in 2012 as Project Hell, Hellraid was originally scheduled to be released in Fall 2013 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The co-op arena brawler was then pushed back to 2014 so Techland could add a single-player story mode and fix the game’s magic system. But as the 2014 launch date loomed, Techland delayed it one more time and shifted the game’s destination to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It looks like even a jump to current-generation consoles couldn’t save it:
In the recent months we conducted an internal analysis and came to the conclusion that Hellraid, in its current shape and form, is not meeting our own expectations for this project. Therefore, we decided the best course of action would be to send it back to the drawing board and invent our dark fantasy title anew.
While Techland didn’t officially cancel Hellraid, the developer plans to continue to expand their first-person zombie survival game, Dying Light, while they figure out what to do with it.
Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon will be released this Winter
It looks like Nintendo has another Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game in development as the publisher announced a Winter 2015 release for Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon today. Coming exclusively to the 3DS, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon will include all the randomized dungeons you can handle:
Players can look forward to even greater, randomly created dungeons that change each time they enter. In Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, players will battle alongside Legendary and Mythical Pokemon to save the world in a sweeping tale of adventure and mystery.
More details about Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon will be announced soon.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon
Rocksteady wants us to “Be the Batman” in live-action trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight
- A firefighter running into a burning building.
- A group of passengers confronting a bully on the train.
- A basketball player basketballs with a broken finger.
- A kid who decides to single-handedly fight off a gang of muggers.
These are the “Everyday Heroes” that Rocksteady Studios has decided to honor in their live-action “Be the Batman” trailer/commercial. You apparently don’t need billions of dollars and an arsenal of high-tech toys to fight crime or make the world a better place, you just need Batman’s selflessness, determination, and courage.
On the other hand… the basketball player is an athlete and while “playing through the pain” might make him heroic to his teammates, he’s not exactly making the world a better place or promising to hit two home runs for a dying kid like Babe Ruth did. And the poor mugging victim in the alley is going to get himself killed as the only guy who walks away from a three-on-one fight is The Batman.
Batman: Arkham Knight will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on June 23, which is just a little over a month away from today.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight
From Software is working on an expansion for Bloodborne
Bloodborne is one of the best reasons to own a PS4 right now. But if you were thinking of trading it in, you might want to wait, as the President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida, has confirmed an expansion is on the way:
So I have been asked by many people if we are making DLC for Bloodborne. I can say… An expansion is coming. More info later this year. :D
— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) May 21, 2015
Aside from a promise of “more info later this year,” we don’t know anything else about Bloodborne’s planned expansion. Presumably it’ll be released sometime this year, but we don’t know that for sure either. I guess we’ll just have to wait for that additional information before getting too excited.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Bloodborne
Step into the safe of Boxman in this Evil Within: The Executioner gameplay trailer
Whether you call him The Keeper or Boxman, the hulking brute with the safe on his head will be the “hero” of The Evil Within‘s third, and final, downloadable expansion. The Evil Within: The Executioner will also shift things around in another memorable way as players will be forced to play the game from a first-person perspective.
Can you handle the terror? Load up the gameplay trailer embedded above to find out. And remember that The Executioner add-on will be available to download next Tuesday, May 26, for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Players who own The Evil Within’s Season Pass will get it for free while everyone else will have to pony up $4.99.
Great Scott! This new Lego Dimensions trailer stars Back to the Future’s Doc Brown
Don’t be a butthead, watch this new Lego Dimensions trailer right now! Christopher Lloyd, old Doc Brown himself, headlines the video as we get a closer look at some of the game’s Back to the Future-inspired locales. A few of Batman’s greatest foes also show up to cause some mayhem (Bane and Two-Face) and get some laughs (The Joker and Harley Quinn).
Will we need roads where we’re going? Doc Brown doesn’t know, but he does know that WB Games also announced the following minifigure expansions for Lego Dimensions, which will join the previously confirmed Portal 2, Simpsons, and Doctor Who sets:
- DC Comics Team Pack: The Joker and Harley Quinn
- DC Comics Fun Pack: Superman
- DC Comics Fun Pack: Aquaman
- DC Comics Fun Pack: Bane
- Back to the Future Fun Pack: Doc Brown
- Lego Ninjago Fun Pack: Sensei Wu
- Lego Ninjago Fun Pack: Lloyd
We don’t know exactly when each pack will make its way onto store shelves (as early as this Fall or as late as the first half of 2016), but we do that Lego Dimensions will be released for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 27.
Xbox Store Today: The Witcher 3, Farming Simultaor 15, Life Is Strange: Episode 3, more
Do you love the great outdoors, but also prefer to experience it through a video game console? Then today’s Xbox Games Store update is absolutely for you.
Players who love to hunt will be able to hunt the monsters that plague the Northern Kingdoms in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The massive open-world RPG, which is now available to download on the Xbox One, marks the end of Geralt of Rivia’s adventures. But it looks like CD Projekt’s most famous character (who’s origins are actually found in a Polish novel) will ride off into the sunset in a blaze of glory.
However, if your outdoorsiness trends towards farming, you might want to look into Farming Simulator 15, which is now available to download for the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Farming Simulator 15 promises a simulation of every part of a farm including “harvesting, animal husbandry (cows, chicken, and sheep), sales of fresh products,” and more.
Stepping away from the outdoors theme is Life Is Strange: Chaos Theory, the third episode in Dontnod’s episodic adventure series. Set within the walls of the mysterious Blackwell Academy, the Xbox One/Xbox 360 game still offers plenty of opportunity to explore the strange time travel abilities of main character Max.
Finally this week, Adult Swim Games has added the competitive platformer Mega Coin Squad to the Xbox Games Store. Mega Coin Squad is available for the Xbox One and it promises “fast, frantic, and tactical” action while asking players to collect coins like they’ve never collected coins before.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Farming Simulator 15, Life Is Strange, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt