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
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness trailer recaps the series (in Japanese)
Yesterday, Square Enix released the first Japanese trailer for Tri-Ace’s Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. Most of the trailer is in Japanese and serves as a refresher course on the franchise, focusing on the events of the previous four games. But we did learn that the fifth Star Ocean game takes place several hundred years after Star Ocean: The Second Story and several hundred before Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. So that’s something, I guess.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is in development for the PS3 and PS4. An official release date hasn’t been announced, nor has Square Enix said if the game will be available in North America.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4
Tagged Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
PS Store Today: Mortal Kombat X, Titan Souls, We Are Doomed, more
After an almost excruciating four-year wait, NetherRealm Studios has finally released Mortal Kombat X for the PS4. The game’s story picks up right where 2011’s Mortal Kombat left off, and players will be able to take it 25 years into the future with new kombatants, new Fatalities, and the all-new weekly Faction War. Say it with me… It Has Begun!
This week’s Spring Fever entry is Titan Souls, a mash-up of the top-down gameplay made famous by The Legend of Zelda and the boss-heavy theatrics of Shadow of the Colossus. Titan Souls can be downloaded as a PS4/PS Vita Cross-Buy title. Also available this week is We Are Doomed, a mesmerizing twin-stick shooter for the PS4 from Vertex Pop.
While all these games might tickle your nostalgia bone, for something truly classic, I suggest this week’s addition to the PS2 Classics storefront: Gradius V. Developed by Treasure, it is one of the finest side-scrolling shooters ever commissioned and deserves a place in your PS3 library. Though you will have to wait three days, as its scheduled to be released on April 17.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. A 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 Mortal Kombat X, Titan Souls, We Are Doomed
Take a gander at the new Guitar Hero Live controller
I guess this morning’s announcement of Guitar Hero Live was just the opening act as Activision has now given us an even better look at the game’s brand new guitar controller.
Owing to the more realistic tone and first-person viewpoint, Guitar Hero Live’s guitar controller will use a simple two-tone color scheme. The new button setup will be included on the neck while the familiar Strum Bar and Whammy Bar will be part of the body. A Hero Power button will activate one of several Hero Powers, though a simple tilt of the guitar will also do that. Finally, GHTV button will launch GHTV Mode. More images can be found at the official Guitar Hero website.
Guitar Hero Live will be released for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U this Fall.
Sega adds to 3D Classics line with Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes
Sega has announced they’ll be expanding their 3D Classics line this Fall with the release of three new titles. All three games will be priced at $5.99 apiece (€4.99 in Europe and £4.49 in the UK).
3D Streets of Rage 2 will lead things off in July, followed by 3D Gunstar Heroes in August, and 3D Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in September. Like the previous games in the series, all three will come equipped with “stunning 3D visuals [that have been] optimized for the 3DS.” Brand new modes and features will also be included in each title.
Two other 3D Classics will close out the most recent wave of releases including this Thursday’s 3D Fantasy Zone II and May 14’s 3D Thunder Blade.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2
Bloodborne, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Cities: Skylines all sell one million copies
While the weather outside was frightful, gamers across the globe responded by purchasing a trio of games in droves this Winter. In fact, each game has sold more than one million copies worldwide.
Sony Computer Entertainment announced that Bloodborne has sold more than one million copies worldwide since its March 24. According to the PlayStation Blog, From Software is also hard at work on patch 1.03 to “to reduce certain load times” and add in a few “performance optimizations.” They’ll also remove that bug that makes the game easier after you’ve been playing for more than 12 hours.
According to Capcom, they’ve shipped one million copies of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate to stores across Europe and North America, so they haven’t crossed the seven figure sales figure just yet. But the publisher still plans to celebrate by releasing a free Monster Hunter theme for the 3DS in May.
Finally, Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order have sold one million copies of their city-builder, Cities: Skylines, since March 10. The game has been heartily embraced by sim fans who felt letdown by SimCity, but it looks like its begun to reach gamers of all stripes. I think this Facebook post (which includes a cameo appearance from Dr. Evil) says it all.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4
Tagged Bloodborne, Cities: Skylines, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Join the Pony Express in today’s playable Google Doodle
Thanks to its ubiquity in pop culture, the Pony Express looms large over the landscape of the American West. And yet, the mail delivery service was only in operation for a scant 18 months.
Never one to let a meaningful anniversary pass by, today’s Google Doodle celebrates the company’s first successful delivery, which occurred 155 years ago today. Best of all, the Pony Express Doodle is a playable side-scrolling game that tasks riders with delivering 100 pieces of mail along a three-town route. But be on the lookout for cacti, avalanches, and bandits as you complete your rounds:
The notion of triumph through adversity is so inspirational. So when William H.Russell, Alexander Majors & William B Waddell founded the Pony Express on April 3rd, 1860, they set in motion a wonderful yet daunting method of communication. What a concept–riders with letters on horseback racing from California to Missouri and vice versa to deliver mail on time! True to their word, the first mail arrived on April 14th. The Pony Express felt like a great game concept to us at Google. We’ve made time-based games in the past so our new idea was simple. Collect letters, avoid obstacles and aim for the ultimate 100 letter delivery! We know everyone is busy these days but the Pony Express needs YOU. And ultimately, whatever happens in life, what’s more important than earning trust and respect from a horse?
It’s a pretty great timewaster and I know I’m going to spend all day trying to top my high score of 59.
Guitar Hero Live brings back franchise as a first-person live-action experience this Fall
Back in February, unnamed insiders said that Activision would relaunch the Guitar Hero franchise this year with “more realistic” graphics. That report has turned out to be accurate… but in the absolute strangest way possible. The next game in the series, Guitar Hero Live, will launch this Fall as a first-person, live-action experience that attempts to put players on stage for real. Shred that perfect solo and the crowd will cheer wildly for you. But if you screw up, you’ll be begging for the fenced-in stage from The Blues Brothers. That’s if your bandmates don’t kill you first.
Guitar Hero Live will also include a constantly changing catalog of songs in GHTV Mode, which overlays a note track on top of hundreds of different music videos. You can get a glimpse at how both modes will work by viewing the game’s debut trailer, which has been embedded above.
Unfortunately, your old guitars will no longer work in Guitar Hero Live. Activision is throwing out the old design and creating a new design featuring two rows of three buttons each. According to Activision, “beginners can feel like a rock star by mastering play with just the bottom three buttons.” Meanwhile, veterans will take on the new challenge of “creating complex chord-like shapes and finger combinations.”
Guitar Hero Live’s tracklist is still being finalized, but a wide variety of bands and singers will make the cut including The Black Keys, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Gary Clark, Jr., Green Day, Ed Sheeran, The War on Drugs, The Killers, Skrillex, The Rolling Stones, The Lumineers, Carrie Underwood, and Pierce the Veil and Blitz Kids. More will be announced as we get closer to launch.
Guitar Hero Live is in development for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U at FreeStyleGames, the same team behind DJ Hero and DJ Hero 2. Somehow, Guitar Hero Live will also be playable on mobile devices and tablets, but details on that version of the game will be announced at a later date.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness announced by Square Enix
Square Enix is officially bringing back the Star Ocean series as Famitsu (via Kotaku) has revealed Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is in development for the PS3 and PS4. Tri-Ace, who has been behind every Star Ocean game, will also be in the developer’s chair for Integrity and Faithlessness. An American release has yet to be announced, but I think it’s only a matter of time.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is the fifth game in the series, but it’ll actually take place between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. A Square Enix countdown site for the game is expected to expire tomorrow, but for now, we have an English translation of the prologue:
Do the depths of space forbid peace for mankind…
Centuries after leaving Earth, after a multitude of trials, with the creation and spread of the Galactic Federation, humanity was on the verge of unified order and peace.
But the embers of conflict have begun to burn again.
Over 6,000 light years from Earth, on the unsettled planet, Faicreed.
Just as so many times before, the waves of history begin from a remote planet.
Before today’s announcement, the Star Ocean series had laid dormant since 2009, which is when Star Ocean: The Last Hope was released for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4
Tagged Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness