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 will be released for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One on April 23
NetherRealm Studios has worked on a pretty steady schedule since the release of Mortal Kombat in 2011. Thankfully, they’re not breaking the pattern in 2019.
Last night at the Game Awards, the developer confirmed that Mortal Kombat 11 will be released for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One on April 23. The launch will be preceded by a “Community Reveal Event” on January 17, and fans who pre-order the game will receive a bonus fighter (Shao Kahn) and access to Mortal Kombat 11’s upcoming Beta.
NetherRealm will also meld the Character Variations mechanic from Mortal Kombat X with Injustice 2‘s Gear System to allow players to create Custom Character Variations in Mortal Kombat 11:
The all new Custom Character Variations give you unprecedented control to customize the fighters and make them your own. The new graphics engine showcasing every skull-shattering, eye-popping moment, brings you so close to the fight you can feel it. And featuring a roster of new and returning Klassic Fighters, Mortal Kombat’s best in class cinematic story mode continues the epic saga over 25 years in the making.
The goretastic first trailer for Mortal Kombat 11 has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Game Awards 2018, Mortal Kombat 11
Sony Santa Monica’s God of War wins “Game of the Year” at 2018 Game Awards
In what is surely to be the first of many accolades, Sony Santa Monica’s God of War won “Game of the Year” at the 2018 Game Awards. Kratos’s latest adventure also picked up statuettes for “Best Game Direction” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
But the biggest winner of the night was Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2, which picked up four wins last night. The publisher’s “Cowboy Game” collected some shiny hardware for “Best Narrative,” “Best Score/Music,” “Best Audio Design,” and “Best Performance” (for Roger Clark’s work as Arthur Morgan).
The all-mighty Fortnite picked up two awards, “Best Ongoing Game” and “Best Multiplayer,” but the most surprising news of the night might be that Insomniac’s Spider-Man was completely shut out. Best of luck next time to the ol’ webhead.
More than a dozen different games went home as winners at the 2018 Game Awards, and you can find them all after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, Celeste, Dead Cells, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Florence, Fortnite, Forza Horizon 4, Game Awards 2018, God of War 4, Into the Breach, Monster Hunter: World, Overcooked 2, Overwatch, Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of Obra Dinn, The Messenger
Gone Home will be added to the iOS App Store on December 11
Annapurna Interactive and The Fullbright Company have announced that Gone Home will be available to download for iOS devices through the iOS App Store beginning on December 11.
June 7th, 1995. 1:15 AM
You arrive home after a year abroad. You expect your family to greet you, but the house is empty. Something’s not right. Where is everyone? And what’s happened here? Unravel the mystery for yourself in Gone Home, a story exploration game from The Fullbright Company.
Gone Home is an interactive exploration simulator. Interrogate every detail of a seemingly normal house to discover the story of the people who live there. Open any drawer and door. Pick up objects and examine them to discover clues. Uncover the events of one family’s lives by investigating what they’ve left behind.
The award-winning narrative adventure will be priced at $4.99 on Apple’s platform, and Gone Home’s new iOS-centric trailer has been embedded above.
Below will be released for PC and Xbox One on December 14
Capybara Games originally announced Below, a procedurally-generated “roguelike-like” RPG, shortly before the launch of the Xbox One. Below was expected to be released within the then-upcoming console’s first year, but somewhere along the way, the developer hit a snag and indefinitely postponed the game.
All that trouble looks to be in the past, as the developer revealed that Below will finally be released for the Xbox One and the PC on December 14.
Test your adventurer mettle against The Isle’s procedural subterranean labyrinths. Explore a large, interconnected underworld crawling with cunning creatures, deadly traps, and a mysterious shadowy presence. Survive the perils of The Depths and unearth what lies below… or die trying. Below embraces exploration and discovery – illuminate the path ahead, find hidden passages and unravel the deepest mysteries hidden in the darkness your own way.
To commemorate the occasion, Capybara has unveiled a new trailer for Below, and it’s been embedded above.
PC/Xbox One owners will be able to compete in a Beta for Chainsawesome’s Aftercharge from December 14-16
Chainsawesome Games has announced plans to host one last Beta Weekend for Aftercharge, their upcoming 3v3 shooter, from December 14th through the 16th. Interested players who own a PC or an Xbox One can sign up for an invitation right now at AfterchargeKeys.com.
In case you’re unfamiliar with Aftercharge, the developer has temporarily taken over the Xbox Wire to explain their “invisible robots versus invincible guards” game:
Coordinating Distractions on Offense
Aftercharge is not asymmetrical in team size but it is in gameplay. The team on offense is made of invisible robots. They are trying to sneak up to the objectives called extractors and destroy them while the enemies are trying to find them. As the attackers, you are playing with distractions. One robot can strike an extractor at one end of the map to draw attention while the two others wait for the defender to leave their spot to destroy far away extractors unchallenged.Keeping Focus on Defense
On defense, since your enemies are invisible most of the time, you need to be always on alert and a react quickly. All three members of your team can’t be flocking to every objective point on each alert. That would be the best way to hear extractors blowing up in your back all game long. If you and your teammates are not calling shots like “I saw one going through that tunnel,” “I’m pushing this dead robot to you, cover me,” or “He’s coming right behind you,” you will get played by the attackers and ultimately loose.
Aftercharge will be released for the PC and Xbox One in January 2019 (and Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to download it for free).
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Aftercharge
New Retail Releases: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Just Cause 4, PUBG PS4, More
The Nintendo Switch’s first year was jam-packed with dozens of new games, but Nintendo may have saved the biggest for the last few weeks of its second. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be available on store shelves this week, and it’ll include every character from the previous four games, as well as newcomers Incineroar, Simon Belmont, the Inklings, and Ridley.
The Smash Bros. series is known for its over-the-top action, as is Square Enix’s Just Cause franchise, which will also receive a new entry this week. Just Cause 4 (PS4 and Xbox One) will take the fearless Rico Rodriguez to the fictional country of Solis, a land of “conflict, oppression, and extreme weather conditions.” Just Cause 4 will also be available to download for the PC. Speaking of high-flying adventurers, you’ll also find the PS4 debut of PUBG Corporation’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on store shelves this week. The battle royale shooter comes complete with all three maps currently available for the PC and Xbox One, as well as a few PS4-exclusive cosmetic items.
However, this week’s biggest new release will require a trip down to GameStop, and that’s because Bandai Namco is re-releasing Katamari Damacy for the Switch (with a visual upgrade) as Katamari Damacy Reroll.
Elsewhere on the New Releases shelf, you’ll find a pair of PS4 rhythm games from Atlus (Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing In Starlight), a retail re-release for Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (PS4 and Xbox One), and the Switch debut of Sega’s massive Sega Genesis Classics compilation.
Finally this week, Sony will break into the microconsole business with the PlayStation Classic. Containing two replica PlayStation controllers and 20 games (including Final Fantasy VII, Twisted Metal, Grand Theft Auto, and more), the microconsole is HDMI-ready and priced at $100.
A complete look at the rest of this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Firewatch will be available for the Switch on December 17
Campo Santo, which was recently purchased by Valve, has confirmed that their first game, Firewatch, will make its way to the Switch later this month. According to a new tweet, the narrative adventure will be available to download through the Nintendo eShop on December 17:
Firewatch is coming to Nintendo Switch on December 17th! We'll be in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Japan eShops. pic.twitter.com/BJvPnTd4KU
— Campo Santo (@camposanto) December 1, 2018
Firewatch for the Switch will be priced at $19.99, and it’ll include the main game, Free Roam Mode, and Audio Tour Mode.
Codemasters will bring Grid: Autosport to the Switch in 2019
Codemasters originally released Grid: Autosport for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 back in 2014, and yesterday they confirmed that the racing simulation will also make its way to the Switch sometime next year:
Grid: Autosport challenges players to become pro-racers, mastering motorsport’s most exciting cars on the world’s most thrilling circuits, from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the city streets of Barcelona. With customisable difficulty and a range of driving disciplines, GRID Autosport delivers an irresistible mix of realistic handling and high-speed thrills.
A new trailer for Grid: Autosport’s Switch announcement has been embedded above.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Grid: Autosport