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
Bandai Namco’s Amusement division unveils first Time Crisis 5 “Dual Pedal” trailer
Who says the arcade is dead? Definitely not the organizers of the European Amusement and Gaming Expo, which was held in London last week. Bandai Namco was there and they presented Time Crisis 5 and its Dual Pedal system for the first time. The latest game in the light gun series is currently in development and will be available internationally soon. A console release has yet to be announced, but hopefully we’ll get lucky.
This newly released trailer showcases many of Time Crisis 5’s new features. The game’s Dual Pedal system allows players to sneak around to the left or the right to get a better shot at the terrorists attempting to pump them full of lead. In another first for the series, the Weapon Toggle button on the light gun will let players switch between four different weapons. Time Crisis 5 will include three stages, which will expand to six once development on the “True Mastermind Edition” is complete. For now, players will be able to blast their way through a tropical resort, sit in the gunner’s seat of a helicopter, and take part in a high speed motorcycle chase.
Time Crisis 5 should be available at an arcade near you (if there is an arcade near you) sometime this Spring.
Posted in News
Sid Meier’s Starships promises turn-based space combat on PC and iPad
Sid Meier and his team at Firaxis Games have announced that they’re going back into space with Starships, a turn-based strategy game in development for the PC (Windows and Mac) and iPad. But we won’t have to wait too long to try it out as the game will be released sometime in “early 2015.”
“When designing Starships, I was intrigued by the idea of exploring the next chapter in the story of Civilization: Beyond Earth. What happens after we colonize our new home and eventually build starships to take to the stars? What has become of our long-lost brothers and sisters from the planet Earth?” said Sid Meier, Drector of Creative Development at Firaxis Games. “My goal was to create an experience that focuses on starship design and combat within a universe filled with interstellar adventure, diplomacy, and exploration.”
If you ever wanted to channel your inner Admiral Kirk, Firaxis has revealed that Starships will include a series of turn-based space battles and players will be required to manage an entire armada of starships:
Sid Meier’s Starships challenges players to build a planetary federation by exploring the galaxy, expanding its influence and domain, researching futuristic technologies and engaging in deep, turn-based tactical space combat with an armada of uniquely customizable starships. Each new campaign will feature its own distinctive galactic strategy map of worlds with dynamically generated tactical combat missions that will enhance the game’s replay value.
Finally, Starships will connect with Civilization: Beyond Earth in some way and players who own both games will discover some form of “cross-connectivity” between the two games that will “enhance and expand the depth of both game experiences.”
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged Civilization: Beyond Earth
DMi acquires NASCAR license; NASCAR 15 and NASCAR 16 announced
The NASCAR license has changed hands several times over the last decade, and now it looks like it’s pulling into a new garage for 2015 and 2016. After being parked at Eutechnyx since 2010, the next NASCAR game will be produced by DMi Games. DMi was founded by Ed Martin, who was formerly employed at Eutechnyx and Papyrus (another former NASCAR developer).
As part of the announcement on their official website, DMi has confirmed that they are hard at work on NASCAR 16 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. This is just the first of many projects from the developer, which also has “several new games” in the works.
But what if you want to play a new NASCAR game this year? Good news, DMi also announced that NASCAR 15, developed by Eutechnyx, will launch for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 this Spring. NASCAR 15 is being referred to as a “season update” and will be released exclusively as a digital download.
It’s currently unknown if DMi will work with an outside publisher to release their NASCAR games. Eutechnyx partnered with Activision for NASCAR 2011, NASCAR: Inside Line, and NASCAR 2013 before signing a deal with Deep Silver to publish NASCAR 14.
Amplitude has been delayed, will now take the stage this Summer
Harmonix turned to Kickstarter last year to seek funding for a PS4/PS3 reboot of Amplitude. They reached their goal, and then some, thanks to backing and support from some of the industry’s biggest names. But now it looks like the game won’t make it’s planned March 2015 launch.
In an update to their Kickstarter page, the developer has revealed that they’ve hit a bit of a snag developing for the PS4 and have the game’s release back to sometime this Summer:
This is our first time working on PlayStation 4, and it’s been a big learning experience for the team. We’ve put a lot of work into our proprietary engine to support some of the new, awesome content we’re bringing to the reboot. These factors combined have bumped production out a few additional months.
[…]
With Amplitude and our promise of open development, you’ve given us the opportunity to create the game we want to make and, more importantly, make the game that you want. In order to meet that goal, we don’t want to cut any corners, and we want to stay true to our vision and deliver the best Amplitude experience possible.
Harmonix has also confirmed that Amplitude will make a playable appearance at this year’s PAX East convention, so if you weren’t able to make it last month’s PlayStation Experience, you’ll get another chance to play it this March… but not the full game, that won’t be out until this Summer.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4
Tagged Amplitude, PAX East 2015
This Saints Row IV: Re-Elected + Gat Out of Hell infomercial doubles as a launch trailer
Deep Silver and Volition will release a special “Re-Elected” version of Saints Row IV for the PS4 and Xbox One this week alongside the Gat Out of Hell expansion. Saints Row IV: Re-Elected aims to be the ultimate Saints Row IV package and will include every piece of downloadable content released for the game. And if you’re a PC, PS3, or Xbox 360 owner, don’t worry, Gat Out of Hell will be available as a standalone download/retail release on those platforms.
But don’t let simple facts sell you on this game, let Deep Silver’s infomercial-style launch trailer (and an accompanying toll-free number… 1-866-573-6626) do it for:
Fly like a majestic hell angel. Hang out with historical figures like Vlad the Impaler, Blackbeard the pirate, and fictional ones like William Shakespeare from all those movies about poems and love! Use dozens upon dozens of Hell-related weaponry, neat-o super powers, and brutal takedowns inspired by real martial art moves.
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected and Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell will be available this Tuesday, January 20.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Saints Row IV, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell
Weekly Warp-Up: 2014 Games of the Year Edition
No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…
2015 is still moving at a snail’s pace, so now’s the perfect time to reveal the winners of Warp Zoned’s 2014 Golden Pixel Awards. All of our favorite (and not so favorite) games of the year are available for your perusal, so go peruse!
In other Game of the Year news, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor collected the most nominations for the GDC Awards and the DICE Awards. Also, the nominees for the 2015 Writers Guild Awards have been announced.
Finally this week, Senior Editor Nicole Kline sat down with Ascension: Deckbuilding Game and wrote up a review. While the core Ascension action is still good, this adaptation is not.
More news from Warp Zoned’s week that was can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell, Grey Goo, More
O when the Saints go marching in
When the Saints go marching in
O Lord I want to be in that number
When the Saints go marching in
The Third Street Saints are back and on the PS4 and Xbox One for the first time this week in Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, an expanded and enhanced version of the PS3/Xbox 360 hit from 2013. Re-Elected includes all of the downloadable content produced by Volition for Saints Row IV as well as Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell, a standalone expansion where players are asked to “shoot The Devil in the face.” Gat Out of Hell will also be available on its own for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Also available this week is Grey Goo, a real-time strategy game for the PC from Petroglyph Games, and Motorcycle Club, a budget racer for the PS3 and PS4.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Saints Row IV, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell
Resident Evil Revelations 2 has been pushed back a week to February 24
It looks like the episodic release schedule that Capcom announced for Resident Evil Revelations 2 has hit a snag. The first episode was originally scheduled to launch on February 17, but the publisher has been forced to delay it by a week to “fine-tune the final product.” This means that every episode in the game’s weekly schedule will also suffer a one-week delay:
- Episode 1: February 24 (PS3, PS4), February 25 (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Episode 2: March 3 (PS3, PS4), March 4 (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Episode 3: March 10 (PS3, PS4), March 11 (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Episode 4: March 17 (PS3, PS4), March 18 (PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
As you might have guessed, this means that the retail disc version has also been delayed by a week. It’ll be available in stores for all five platforms (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One) on March 17.
To make the wait feel a little bit shorter, Capcom has released a pair of videos showcasing some new enemies that will appear in Resident Evil Revelations 2 through the Capcom-Unity blog.