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
XBL Store Today: The Wolf Among Us Episode 5
It’s all been building up to this. The season finale of Telltale’s adaptation of Fables, The Wolf Among Us, is now available to download from the Xbox Live Game Store. Episode 5 is entitled Cry Wolf and, just like all of the previous entries in the episodic season, it can be download individually (for $4.99) or as part of the Season Pass (for $19.99).
The Wolf Among Us Episode 5: Cry Wolf ($4.99)
The final episode of a five-part game series based on the award-winning Fables comic book series by Bill Willingham (published by DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint).
The series has been incredibly well received and I’m sure Telltale is working on The Wolf Among Us Season 2 as we speak.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged The Wolf Among Us
Deep Silver is asking fans to create the Dead Island 2 Collector’s Edition
The last time Deep Silver created a Collector’s Edition for a Dead Island game, they came up with Dead Island: Riptide‘s infamous “Zombie Bait Edition.” The centerpiece of that package was a bikini-clad bloody torso statue that sent the Internet into an uproar. So the publisher is turning to the public for help in designing the Dead Island 2 Collector’s Edition.
A new survey posted by Deep Silver asks their fans to rate 28 different items on a scale of one to five. The options include the expected (character figurines, art book), the unexpected (zombie arm back scratcher, beer cooler case), and the downright bizarre (zombie Oscar statuette, a real zombie). Voting is open now and closes on Monday, July 14 at midnight. So if you want to vote, you better hurry.
Dead Island 2 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Spring 2015.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Dead Island 2
Respawn announces second TitanFall DLC pack: Frontier’s Edge
Before it launched, Respawn revealed that TitanFall would be followed by three DLC map packs. The first, Expedition, was released in May. And now we know the name of the second: Frontier’s Edge.
Like Expedition, Frontier’s Edge will include will include three new maps. The three maps will be known as “Dig Site” (an “isolated mining outpost”), “Haven” (an “exclusive beach resort”), and “Export” (a “mining hub on the side of a mountain”). If you purchased the TitanFall Season Pass, you’ll be able to download the Frontier’s Edge DLC for free. It will also be available individually at a price of $9.99.
The one thing that Respawn didn’t announce for Frontier’s Edge is a release date. It’ll be available eventually, that’s all we know at this point.
Gearbox announces MOBA-like “hero-shooter” Battleborn
In Borderlands, Gearbox created a unique first person shooter that fused frantic gunplay with RPG-style leveling and loot drops. Now, they’re going to flip the FPS script once more with the MOBA-inspired Battleborn, which is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game will likely be released sometime in 2015, but an early 2016 release is also a possibility.
Battleborn takes place in the “the distant future of an imaginative science-fantasy universe” and features a slew of heroes (including a nymph-like creature, a dandy robot wearing a bowler hat, a musclebound Rambo-type, a pretty pink princess, and a swordsman wielding dual Lightsabers laser swords) battling cooperatively through a story-driven campaign and competitively in traditional multiplayer deathmatches.
“If Borderlands 2 is a shooter-looter, Battleborn is a hero-shooter,” said Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software. “As a genre-fused, hobby-grade, co-operative and competitive FPS exploding with eye-popping style and an imaginative universe, Battleborn is the most ambitious video game that Gearbox has ever created.”
Um… sure. It looks like 2015 is going to be a very confusing time for gamers as now we’ve got Bloodborne, Battleborn, and BattleCry all scheduled for release within the same year. I’m sure some publisher will announce “Blood Cry” any day now.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Battleborn
PS Store Today: The Wolf Among Us Episode 5, One Piece Unlimited World Red, more
It’s another grab bag of games in this week’s PlayStation Store update. Leading the charge is Cry Wolf, the fifth, and final, episode of Telltale Games’ The Wolf Among Us for the PS3. Also available this week is…
- Anime adaptation One Piece Unlimited World Red (PS3)
- Cycling simulation Le Tour de France: Season 2014 (PS3)
- Re-released platformer Another World: 20th Anniversary Edition (PS3, PS4, Vita Cross-Buy)
- Cheesy puzzle adventure MouseCraft (PS3, PS4, Vita Cross-Buy)
- And the adventure game Sacra Terra: Kiss of Death (PS3)
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. And a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged The Wolf Among Us
Destiny beta begins July 17; Collector’s Editions, Expansion Pass announced
After teasing gamers with a Destiny alpha last month, Bungie is gearing up for the game’s official beta test, which we now know will begin on July 17 for PS4 and PS3 owners. Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners will be able to join the beta beginning on July 23 (after it temporarily shuts down on July 21 and 22 for maintenance) and the test will come to an end for everyone on July 27. The beta will be open to everyone who has pre-ordered Destiny at “select retailers,” so if you want to play, you’ve got to pre-pay.
As befitting every major game release nowadays, Destiny will also receive a pair of special editions and an Expansion Pass. The standard edition is still available, but if you’d prefer to obtain the Limited Edition ($99.99), you’ll receive the following:
- Limited edition SteelBook Case and Game Disc
- Guardian Folio:
- Arms & Armament Field Guide
- Postcards from the Golden Age
- Antique Star Chart
- Collector’s Edition Digital Content Pack:
- Unique Ghost Casing
- Exclusive Player Emblem
- Exclusive Player Ship Variant
- Destiny Expansion Pass – Expands the Destiny adventure post-launch with the following two expansions, which will include brand new story missions, cooperative activities and competitive multiplayer arenas, and a wealth of all new weapons, armor and gear to earn:
- Expansion I: The Dark Below – Set deep beneath the surface of the Moon, fans will discover an ancient tomb that has been unsealed, and a dark god who has risen an evil army in the depths of the Hellmouth, the home of the Hive enemy race
- Expansion II: House of Wolves – details will be revealed later
- PlayStation platforms will also include additional exclusive content for Expansion I and II and will remain exclusive until at least Fall of 2015
Not bad, not bad. But the Ghost Edition is where the real cool stuff is. It’s priced a bit higher ($149.99), but it’ll include everything from the Limited Edition and:
- Ghost Replica, featuring motion-activated lights and voice recordings from award-winning actor Peter Dinklage, voice of the Ghost character, the player’s personal companion in the game
- Golden Age Relics, which include a Photo, Patch, Sticker and two Chrome slides of the Traveler
- Letter of Introduction
Finally, a Digital Guardian Edition will be released that packages together a digital download of he game and the Expansion Pass. Purchasing them together will net players a $5 discount. And if you’d prefer to buy the game and worry about the Expansion Pass later, it’ll be available separately for $34.99 (and each expansion is $19.99 if purchased individually).
Destiny will be available on September 9. But in the meantime, be sure to watch the brand new beta trailer above and hit the jump for a sneak peek at the Ghost Edition. (more…)
Ken Levine opens up about the (probably) canceled BioShock Vita
Ken Levine announced BioShock Vita to great fanfare at E3 2011 and then… nothing. The game was indefinitely delayed back in 2012, and the massive downsizing of Irrational Games put the final nail in the game’s coffin earlier this year. Yesterday, the acclaimed developer took to Twitter to lament the passing of BioShock Vita, which would have taken the form of a turn-based tactical game in the mold of Final Fantasy Tactics:
on the Vita game: 2k and sony couldn't put a deal together when I last checked. They seemed way more optimistic about this back in 2011.
— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014
RT @chaddukes: @IGLevine what you had in mind for that game? –I was thinking a Final Fantasy Tactics style thing set in pre-fall Rapture.
— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014
something that would work well on the vita and not be a compromise in any way. also, as some know, i'm a turn based whore.
— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014
Wish I could do it myself, but lawyers and all that. I still love my vita.
— Ken Levine (@IGLevine) July 8, 2014
While a BioShock game may eventually come to the Vita, but Ken Levine definitely won’t be at the helm. Learning about games that will never be is always tough, but BioShock Vita sounds like it could have been very interesting and not the portable port of BioShock Infinite that many were expecting.
Posted in News, Vita
Tagged BioShock Vita
GameStop has begun working with publishers to obtain “exclusive” content
According to a report on GamesBeat, GameStop has begun working with developers and publishers to encourage the creation of exclusive content they can share with their customers.
“We are working with our [development] partners to build in a longer lead time,” GameStop public-relations spokesperson Jackie Smith told GamesBeat. “And we are working with them to get both physical and digital exclusives for our customers.”
GameStop’s publisher push is still in the early stages, so it’s currently unknown what kinds of exclusive content they’ll be able to acquire. But the retailer has made similar moves in the past, so we do have some idea of the kinds of content they’re looking for. On the digital side of things, the game store offered a “Hitman Sniper Challenge” digital download as a pre-order bonus for Hitman: Absolution in 2012. During the same year, GameStop became the exclusive retailer of Nintendo’s Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii.
Who knows, maybe the company is working out an exclusivity agreement for Xenoblade Chronicles X, the Wii U sorta-sequel that was recently announced during this year’s E3 Expo.
Posted in News