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
Rock Band 4 will support older Rock Band and Guitar Hero instruments
When Harmonix announced Rock Band 4, they promised that it would be a “back to basics” experience that gamers with a closetful of plastic instruments would instantly recognize. Thankfully, the developer is making sure those instruments will work with their new rhythm game.
Speaking to Business Insider, Harmonix’s Daniel Sussman said that Rock Band 4 will support as many legacy instruments as possible: “We’re planning to support everything that we can: That includes all of the old Rock Band controllers, and all the old Guitar Hero controllers.”
Sussman further explained that Harmonix is doing this out of respect for the original investment players made in these instruments five years ago:
“Our position is really all about respect for our consumers and for the money that they have spent to get into the game space in the first place. They spend a fortune on games: on consoles, on hardware, and we’re sensitive to that. We play those games too. We buy all the same stuff. A world where you need to have three different guitars and two drum sets and all this stuff is…we don’t want to support that world.”
Guitar Hero Live will use a new six-button guitar controller that departs significantly in style from the instruments that came before. If possible, Sussman and his team plan to support it in Rock Band 4 too.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Halo: Spartan Strike was quietly released today for Windows 8, iOS devices
After discovering a variety of major bugs in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Microsoft and 343 Industries pushed the release of Halo: Spartan Strike, a twin-stick spinoff, from December 2014 to “early 2015.” Today, the game was quietly released for the PC (via Steam), Windows 8 tablets and PCs, iOS devices (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad), and Windows Phone 8. Halo: Saprtan Assault, which was originally released in 2013, also makes its iOS debut today as part of the Halo: Spartan Bundle.
Developed by Vanguard Games, Xbox Wire says Spartan Strike takes place during Halo 2 and serves as a training ground for Spartan soldiers:
Halo: Spartan Strike tells a compelling new story in the Halo universe set during the events of Halo 2 on New Mombasa in 2552. As a Spartan supersoldier in a classified ONI simulation, delve into 30 challenging missions while leading UNSC troops through cities and jungles with an all new arsenal of weapons, abilities and vehicles.
Players who advance through Halo: Spartan Strike’s Achievements will be able to unlock an exclusive Emblem, Nameplate, and Avatar in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. So I guess it’s got that going for it.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo: Spartan Strike
Battlefield Hardline pulls off a heist to become best-selling game of March 2015
Hey, have you heard of this Bloodborne game? I hear its pretty popular and that Sony’s got a bonafide hit on their hands. It even sold more than a million copies. For all the acclaim Bloodborne has received and all the copies it surely has sold, the game was topped in last month’s NPD rankings by Battlefield Hardline. Developed by Visceral Games, Battlefield Hardline is a cops-and-robbers spin on the Battlefield series and it, not Bloodborne, managed to become the best-selling game of March 2015.
That said, nearly every game of note managed to crash the top ten last month including Mario Party 10 (#4), MLB 15: The Show (#6), Borderlands: The Handsome Collection (#9), and Final Fantasy Type-0 HD (#10). Nintendo’s Code Name: STEAM was the only other March release that seemed like it might have enough juice to reach the top ten, but it was pushed out by Grand Theft Auto V (#3), Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (#5), and other returning heavy hitters.
The NPD Group (via Game Informer) used this new release drought to explain why March 2015’s game sales were down 6% from the same month a year ago. NPD’s Liam Callahan was also quick to point out that March 2014 saw the release of two very well-received games in TitanFall and InFamous: Second Son. Callahan also confirmed that the PS4 outsold the Xbox One for another month.
March 2015’s top ten best-selling titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Star Wars: Battlefront Stormtrooper teaser art points towards November 17 launch too
If Electronic Arts hadn’t already leaked the November 17 release date of Star Wars: Battlefront with their source code snafu, this might have been quite the scoop. Still, it’s pretty interesting that the Stormtrooper featured in the publisher’s recent teaser image is absolutely covered in 11s and 17s.
The most obvious “11” is the lighting shadow on the Stormtrooper’s shoulder pad. But there’s another “11” at the very top of his helmet and quite a number of other paired slashes that could be 11s if you stare at them long enough.
As for 17s, I found three, and there might be more. The most obvious is the pair of 17s found on the helmet, which I’ve circled in red. But there’s also a very well hidden “17” scored into his shoulder pad right next to the “11.”
Is it possible I’m seeing things? Absolutely. But DICE Community Manager Vincent Vukovic told fans on Twitter to “dig deeper” as the image was specifically created for this reveal. If you’re going to go to all that trouble, why not hide some cool stuff in there? You can find the unaltered image after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars: Battlefront will launch on November 17 as new images tease tomorrow’s trailer
EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront reveal will begin tomorrow at 1:30 PM (Eastern Time), but a sneak preview of the game’s official website has confirmed its November 17 release date. It’s since been deleted, but earlier today the site’s source code included a hidden bit of text that read: “The latest news and updates for Star Wars Battlefront. Available November 17, 2015 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.”
The site also includes a nice look at the Stormtrooper teaser image the publisher was slowly revealing through their Instagram account earlier this week.
Finally, a short teaser video for Star Wars: Battlefront was appended to the end of the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer (pay attention to the leftmost box). It’s small and short, but it’s our first glimpse of the game in action.
If for some reason you have yet to watch the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer (you’re being held captive by a pasty dictator aboard his space station, for example), I’ve helpfully embedded it after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront
Madden NFL 16 will be released on August 25
We don’t know who will grace Madden NFL 16‘s cover yet, but we do when it’ll be released. EA Sports has announced, via the publisher’s “The Beat” blog, that the game will be released in its typical end-of-Summer spot on August 25. No platforms were confirmed, but a PS4/Xbox One launch is a surety and a PS3/Xbox 360 release seems likely.
EA also promised that more information on Madden NFL 16 will be unveiled in May.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Madden NFL 16
Nintendo Download: Donkey Kong 64, Battleground Z, Ultimate Angler, more
Are you a fan of Nintendo’s StreetPass Mii Plaza on the 3DS? If so, you’ll definitely want to pay attention to today’s Nintendo Download because the publisher has added two brand new StreetPass Mii Plaza titles to the 3DS eShop.
StreetPass Mii Plaza: Battleground Z asks 3DS users to join up with their friends to battle the zombie menace by gathering weapons and taking the fight to the Zeds. Meanwhile, StreetPass Mii Plaza: Ultimate Angler is a relaxing fishing trip with friends at the StreetPass Islands. 3DS owners might also be interested in A-Train 3D: City Simulator, a train management sim from Natsume and Artdink.
Over on the Wii U eShop, Donkey Kong 64 becomes the second Nintendo 64 game available to download through the Virtual Console.
More information on all of these games (and a few new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Project CARS will launch on May 6 with support for 12K monitors
After several delays, Slightly Mad Studios and Bandai Namco have announced Project CARS will definitely be released this May. PC gamers will be able to download it through Steam on May 6. If you plan on picking it up for a console, be advised that PS4 and Xbox One owners will have to wait until May 12. Finally, Project CARS will be released (for all platforms) in European countries on May 7 and a day later, May 8, throughout the UK.
To celebrate the good news, Slightly Mad has put the pedal to the metal on a brand new trailer, which has been embedded above. They’ve also updated the game’s Official FAQ with confirmation that the PC release will support 12K monitor (a 11520×2160 resolution).
How ridiculous is that? Very, actually, because 12K display technology don’t yet exist. The resolution is currently only available by jury-rigging three 4K monitors together and powering it with a PC that has four GeForce Titan graphics cards stuffed into it. The future is now and Slightly Mad is in the driver’s seat.
On a lower resolution note, a Wii U edition of Project CARS remains in development and Slightly Mad still plans to release it sometime before the end of the year.