Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books Gets 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
- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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
Mortal Kombat 11 goes green as Jade is revealed as the next playable character by NetherRealm Studios
Jade is one of the Mortal Kombat franchise’s most popular characters, but she did not emerge from 2011’s Mortal Kombat unscathed. The Outworld spy was murdered by Sindel and eventually resurrected by Quan Chi as one of his “Revenants.” Though she still wields her bo staff, this is the version of Jade that’ll return in Mortal Kombat 11. A new trailer reintroducing Jade into the Mortal Kombat universe has been embedded above:
Now resurrected by an evil sorcerer, she serves the Netherrealm as an undead Revenant. Death hasn’t slowed Jade down, though. She still thrashes her enemies with her bo staff, razorrang, and patronizing put-downs.
Mortal Kombat 11 will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on April 23.
Sony Santa Monica’s God of War wins “Game of the Year” at 2019 DICE Awards
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 2019 DICE Awards last night… and Sony Santa Monica’s God of War almost had a clean sweep.
The action-adventure game was competing in an astounding 11 categories, but even more astounding is that it claimed victory in nine of them, including “Game of the Year” and “Adventure Game of the Year.” God of War also picked up “Outstanding Achievements” in “Game Design,” “Game Direction,” “Original Music Composition” “Sound Design,” “Story,” and “Art Direction,” and Kratos himself won “Outstanding Achievement in Character.”
A few other games managed to snag some trophies (mostly in categories God of War wasn’t competing in), and that list included games such as Matt Makes Games’s Celeste (“Action Game of the Year” and “Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game”), Mountains’s Florence (“Portable Game of the Year”), and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (“Fighting Game of the Year”). Not surprisingly, Fortnite won “Online Game of the Year.”
You can find the full list of winners at the 2019 DICE Awards after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Florence, Fortnite, Forza Horizon 4, God of War 4, Into the Breach, Mario Tennis Aces, Monster Hunter: World, Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Unravel 2
Super Mario Maker 2 slides onto the Switch in June 2019
Because the Wii U was a bit of a flop, Nintendo has been filling out the Switch’s library with a steady stream of re-releases that fans may have missed the first time around. This strategy has given new life to underappreciated masterworks such as Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Hyrule Warriors, and many others.
But sometimes, the consolemaker goes the sequel route and takes the bones of a great game (Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U instantly spring to mind) and creates a full-fledged sequel.
While many Switch owners were expecting to receive a Super Mario Maker re-release at some point this year, Nintendo swerved and announced Super Mario Maker 2 earlier today during their latest Nintendo Direct presentation. The sequel will add a number of new building tools (including slopes), and the Announcement Trailer promises that course creators will be able to unleash even more complicated levels on the world:
In this new game, a sequel to the original Wii U game, players can create the Super Mario courses of their dreams, with access to even more tools, items, and features, including the new ability to create slopes for the first time.
Super Mario Maker 2 will be released for the Switch this June.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Super Mario Maker 2
Nintendo will bring The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening to the Switch in 2019
Much like Link’s imprisonment on Koholint Island in The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, the first sequel to A Link to the Past has been trapped on handheld devices for the last 25 years. But that all changes in 2019 as Nintendo has announced plans to bring Link’s Awakening to the Switch later this year.
Rebuilt with a 3D graphics engine by Nintendo (though retaining it’s traditional 2D perspective), the new Link’s Awakening pops with color as the Hero of Hyrule tries to wake the mysterious Wind Fish and escape the island:
Originally released for the Game Boy system more than 25 years ago, one of the most beloved games in the Legend of Zelda series returns. In this modern re-imagining, players once again return to the mysterious island of Koholint to guide Link on a perilous adventure.
An Announcement Trailer for the Switch debut of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening has been embedded above, and it might just be the clearest signal yet that Nintendo is finally ready to move on from the 3DS.
Tetris 99 turns the puzzle game into a battle royale on the Switch… and it’s out now
Nintendo absolutely blew up the battle royale genre with today’s announcement of Tetris 99.
The consolemaker teamed up with The Tetris Company to create a massive 99-player version of the classic puzzle game, and it’s available to download now as a free-to-play title for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
Tetris 99 is rather bare bones at the moment, but Nintendo has plans to support the game down the road with a series of upcoming online events and other updates.
Jumpgrid Review – Pac-Man + Super Hexagon = An Addicting Action Puzzler
All the way back in 1980, Pac-Man took the world by storm with its grid-based gameplay around dodging ghosts and munching dots. A little over 20 years later, Terry Cavanagh helped kickstart the fledgling mobile game boom with Super Hexagon, his geometrically-based keepaway game.
And now here we are in 2019, and Australian developer Ian MacLarty has combined the two into a wonderful little gem known as Jumpgrid. (more…)
Celeste, God of War, Spider-Man, Red Dead 2, Smash Ultimate will compete for “Video Game of the Year” at 2019 SXSW Gaming Awards
The SXSW Gaming Advisory Board has sifted through all of 2018’s biggest games and announced the nominees for this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards.
As you might have expected, Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, and Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 claimed the most nominations. Each of the three games will compete in a total of nine categories, and all three are in the running for “Video Game of the Year.” Matt Thorson’s brutal platformer, Celeste, and Nintendo’s crossover fighter, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, were also nominated for the big prize.
The public will get the chance to vote for the winners in all categories at this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards, and the final winner in each category will be determined by a weighted total between public and advisory board votes. Voting is open now at SXSW Gaming’s official website, and will close on Sunday, February 17 at midnight (Eastern Time).
The SXSW Gaming Awards will be given out on March 16 and you can find the full list of nominees in all categories after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Celeste, Detroit: Become Human, Fortnite, God of War 4, No Man's Sky, Octopath Traveler, Red Dead Redemption 2, Spider-Man, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Tabletop Games, Tetris Effect
New Retail Releases: Crackdown 3, Far Cry: New Dawn, Metro Exodus, More
It’s time once again for some big new sequels as a few of gaming’s biggest franchises will receive new installments this week.
After several very long years in development, Microsoft will bring Crackdown 3 to the Xbox One this week (and it’ll also be available to download for Windows 10 PCs). Players will take control of Commander Jaxon, a superpowered Agent played by Terry Crews, and blast their way through a futuristic city to stop a ruthless criminal empire. There’s also the option to compete in Wrecking Zone, a multiplayer mode that asks teams of Agents to tear down the opposing team’s stronghold as fast as they can.
PS4 and Xbox One owners will also find a strange new future in Ubisoft’s Far Cry: New Dawn. Set within a post-apocalyptic world based on Far Cry 5’s Hoep County, New Dawn will pit players against highwaymen and their ruthless leaders, The Twins. Far Cry: New Dawn will also be available to download for the PC.
Yet another dystopian future is on display in 4A Games’s Metro Exodus for the PS4 and Xbox One this week. The third entry in the series based on Dmitry Glukhovsky’s novels will further explore the Russian Federation during the aftermath of a nuclear war. An Xbox One X 1TB + Metro Exodus Bundle will also be available on store shelves, and the game can also be purchased for the PC exclusively through the Epic Games Store.
Finally this week, Bandai Namco will release Jump Force, an anime-inspired crossover fighting game for the PS4 and Xbox One (and downloadable for the PC), and NIS America will release the adventure platformer The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince for the PS4 and Switch.
The full list of this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Switch, Vita, Xbox One
Tagged Crackdown 3, Metro Exodus, The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince