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
Jason Voorhees will join Mortal Kombat X as part of Kombat Pack Season Pass
Happy Friday the 13th everybody! In what is practically the definition of “good timing,” NetherRealm Studios has announced that Jason Voorhees will join Mortal Kombat X as the game’s first downloadable character, though Jason won’t the first horror icon to perform a Fatality in the Mortal Kombat franchise. His Freddy vs Jason sparring partner got there first as a DLC character for 2011’s Mortal Kombat.
Jason will be available to download after the game’s release as part of the Kombat Pack Season Pass, which will include four add-on characters. The machete-wielding maniac will be joined by a second guest character (fingers crossed for Freddy’s return or possibly the Predator) and two “Klassic Kombatants.” Players who pre-order the game will also be able to play as Goro. Presumably, all the characters from the Kombat Pack and Goro will be available to download individually as well.
Players who purchase the Kombat Pack will also receive access to the Samurai Pack, which will add special skins for Kenshi (“Ronin”), Shinnok (“Samurai”), and Kitana (“Jingu”) to the game. Wait, Kenshi and Shinnok? I guess this means Kenshi and Shinnok will both be playable characters even though they’ve yet to be officially announced by NetherRealm.
In other Mortal Kombat news, VideoGamer.com received word from WB Games that the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions of Mortal Kombat X have been delayed. The High Voltage-developed previous-generation port will now launch in the Summer. But don’t worry, the PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions will be released as scheduled on April 14.
Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D shoots the moon as the top-selling game in February 2015
This just in… people really love the New 3DS XL. According to Nintendo, the consolemaker sold almost twice as many 3DS handhelds last month than in February of 2014. Though I guess that was probably going to be a given as people love every Nintendo handheld.
More surprising is the fact that people really love The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D. Long thought of as the black sheep of the Zelda franchise, it took the top spot in the NPD Group’s recounting of the best-selling games from February 2015. The handheld’s other major launch title, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, checked in at #10. When you add in digital sales, the game sold more than 290,000 copies in February, making it the best debut for any game in the entire series.
Majora’s Mask 3D beat out February’s other big release, Evolve, which managed to shoot its way to the #2 spot. Other new releases appearing in the February top ten include Dragon Ball Xenoverse (#7) and The Order: 1886 (#9), which only had a few days to rack up sales due to its February 20 release date.
The remainder of the top ten includes plenty of holdovers from January including the former #1, Dying Light. Techland’s zombie game drops to #3 and it’s followed by Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (#4), Grand Theft Auto V (#5), and NBA 2K15 (#6). Another strong showing by Minecraft keeps it in the top ten for another month, this time at #8.
Overall, Game Informer is reporting that sales of hardware, software, and accessories all saw major improvement last month versus February 2014. And while Nintendo may have dominated with the New 3DS XL, Sony has once again claimed the top-selling console with the PS4.
If you’d prefer to read the full top ten from February 2015 in list form, you can find it after the break. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Code Name: STEAM, 3D Out Run, F-Zero: GP Legend, more
Nintendo’s alien-busting team led by Abraham Lincoln himself, Code Name: STEAM, will be available for the 3DS tomorrow. The colorful strategy game is a bit of a departure for Nintendo, but we should probably be used to that by now. Since the 3DS launched in 2011, the publisher has often zigged when everyone else thought they would zag.
One of their earlier sharp turns, F-Zero: GP Legend, is now available to download through the Wii U eShop. The final game in the F-Zero series was originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004 alongside a companion anime series. The Wii U eShop is also home to Trine: Enchanted Edition this week. Trine 2 is already available for the Wii U, but its predecessor is also considered a classic by the puzzle platformer crowd.
And speaking of classics, another classic racing game will be available on the 3DS eShop this week as Sega has recreated and re-released the 80s arcade staple Out Run as 3D Out Run.
More information on all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Code Name: STEAM
Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade make it a family affair in Mortal Kombat X
After a few days of teasing (and more than a few leaks from journalists who got to play the game at the Game Developers Conference), NetherRealm has officially announced that Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade will be joining Mortal Kombat X as playable characters. Somebody cue up “We Are Family” because the duo will also team up with the previously announced Cassie Cage, their daughter.
Other new faces to appear in “The Cage Family” trailer include Kenshi and Shinnok.
NetherRealm has yet to confirm if either character will be playable in Mortal Kombat X, but according to IGN, both Shinnok and Jax were featured in the Story Mode chapter they were able to play at GDC. It’s unlikely that NetherRealm would add both characters to the game as opponents and not also let us play as them.
Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14.
Respawn CEO confirms TitanFall 2 is in development
Even though TitanFall 2 remains officially unannounced, executives from Electronic Arts love talking about it. Last May, the publisher revealed that it had signed a contract with Respawn Entertainment for a TitanFall sequel. And just last month, the company’s CEO all but confirmed the game during a technology conference. But it sounds like Respawn CEO Vince Zampella has had enough of all this pussyfooting around.
Speaking to IGN, Zampella ripped off the band-aid and officially announced TitanFall 2. Not only that, he also confirmed that it is coming to “multiple platforms” so a PS4 version is definitely in the cards:
“I guess EA announced a sequel, so I could play coy and pretend I don’t know anything about it, or… yeah. So we’re working on a sequel. No official name yet, but we’re working on that. That’s the main focus but we’re starting up a second team and doing some smaller stuff too. Small, exploratory, taking it slow! It’ll be multiplatform.”
Zampella wasn’t ready to talk specifics about TitanFall 2 yet, but he did tell IGN that he admires Turtle Rock’s expansion plan for Evolve. Perhaps we’ll see a similar system (new characters will cost money, but maps will be free) implemented in TitanFall 2. And speaking of DLC expansions, to say thanks for all the support they’ve received, Respawn has made all of TitanFall’s DLC free to download. Zampella penned a short letter thanking fans that you can read at TitanFall’s official website.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged TitanFall 2
The Revolution Will Be Delayed… Homefront: The Revolution will now be released in 2016
We haven’t heard much about Homefront: The Revolution since Deep Silver acquired the shooter sequel last year. And it looks like there’s a good reason for that as the publisher announced today that the game will now be released sometime in 2016. The move is being made so that Deep Silver Dambuster, which is comprised mostly of developers from Crytek UK, has enough time to make Homefront: The Revolution a game worth playing.
“Dambuster Studios are an extraordinarily talented group,” said Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, the CEO of Deep Silver. “We are giving the team every opportunity to turn Homefront: The Revolution into a best-selling title, and have set a 2016 release date to provide them the time they need to achieve this. You can expect to hear more about the game later this year.”
Game Director Hasit Zala added: “The team here believes we are working on something truly special.”
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Homefront: The Revolution
Sega and Game Freak team up to bring Tembo the Badass Elephant to PC, PS4, Xbox One
Game Freak, the development team behind the Pokemon franchise, has teamed up with Sega to release Tembo the Badass Elephant on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The star of the downloadable title, Tembo, definitely lives up to his billing. He’s a massive “commando elephant” that is aided by his small bird friend Piccolo. The two have joined forces to combat PHANTOM, an organization bent on destroying Shell City.
I swear, not one word of that was a joke. Here it is straight from Sega:
Shell City is plunged into a state of emergency after coming under attack from the devastating forces of PHANTOM, led by a mysterious masked commander. Terrifying war machines, emblazoned with skulls, tear through the city leaving a trail of destruction in their wake! As the National Army struggle to contain PHANTOM, General Krenman sees the mammoth task at hand and calls upon the only thing that stands between Shell City’s obliteration and its salvation; the peanut chompin’, villain stompin’, PHANTOM romping Badass Elephantidae… Tembo the Badass Elephant!
Tembo will include 17 side-scrolling levels and a butt stompin’ elephant when it launches this Summer.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Tembo the Badass Elephant
Here’s the PAX East 2015 teaser for Boss Key’s Project BlueStreak
As promised, Cliff Bleszinski brought an early look at his next game, Project BlueStreak, to PAX East 2015 this past weekend. The former Gears of War helmer showed about a minute’s worth of footage of a work-in-progress multipayer map that includes a futuristic space station and a tranquil Japanese garden. Bleszinski, and the rest of the development team at Boss Key Productions, also confirmed that Project BlueStreak will be created using Unreal Engine 4, marking something of a homecoming for the developer.
“We considered several options regarding what technology we’d use to build Project BlueStreak. Ultimately, we found ourselves coming full circle to my friends at Epic Games and the elegant solution for rapid and quality game development that is Unreal Engine 4,” Bleszinski said. “We look forward to making a top-tier product through this partnership.”
While it’s a bit hard to tell from the teaser trailer above, Project BlueStreak will be a free-to-play arena shooter for the PC that takes place in a “recovered apocalyptic sci-fi setting.” Hopefully, Bleszinski will explain what that means soon.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged LawBreakers, PAX East 2015