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
Bethesda’s The Evil Within will miss its planned August release
After a slightly underwhelming PAX East 2014 presentation, Bethesda wants to give Shinji Mikami and his team at Tango Gameworks a bit more time to work on The Evil Within. The game, which was previously scheduled to launch on August 26, will now be released on October 21. The significance of moving into the middle of the Halloween season wasn’t lost on Bethesda’s marketing department either. They’ve released a new trailer, “Terrified,” which shows actual playtesters reacting to the game’s horrors.
“Nooooooooooooooo!”
Bethesda has also announced that everyone who pre-orders The Evil Within will receive access to the Fighting Chance Pack, a package of in-game items that will help Detective Castellanos better survive his fight with the undead. The Fighting Chance Pack will include:
- Medical Kit – A vital health enhancement to enable Sebastian to fight on.
- Green Gel – Used to upgrade Sebastian’s attributes.
- Double Barrel Shotgun – A larger and more formidable shotgun than the regular shotgun, it’s useful for tight situations with multiple encroaching enemies.
- Incendiary Agony Bolt – Capable of showering nearby enemies with damaging fire sparks.
- Poison Agony Bolt – Will draw enemies towards it and poison them, allowing Sebastian time for a quick escape.
The Evil Within is in development for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One… so it should be available for your platform of choice this October (sorry Wii U owners).
Sony has pushed the release of The Order: 1886 into 2015
Sony has been positioning Ready At Dawn’s The Order: 1886 as this Fall’s major PS4 exclusive. But after today’s delay, it looks like the consolemaker will have to put together a new battle plan. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Ready At Dawn’s Creative Director, Ru Weerasuriya, confirmed that The Order: 1886’s release has been pushed back to early 2015.
We’ll get our next big taste of The Order: 1886 as this year’s E3 Expo, but until then, Weerasuriya and some of the other developers got together to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the game’s world in a new developer diary. “Fusing History & Mythology” examines how the Ready At Dawn team has reshaped Victorian London into a retro-futuristic city with advanced weaponry, magic, zeppelins, and werewolf-like creatures known as Half-Breeds. But I think the most interesting thing is how much of the time and the town that went unchanged.
Ready At Dawn also recently released a new gameplay video of The Order: 1886 showcasing Galahad’s Thermite rifle and the “heightened state” and focused abilities of the game’s Blacksight mechanic.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged E3 2014, The Order: 1886
Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will get Halo Edition add-on tomorrow
Microsoft officially announced a Halo Edition add-on pack for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition a little more than a week ago. Now, the consolemaker has confirmed that the add-on will be available to download beginning tomorrow, May 28.
According to Xbox Wire, the Halo Edition will include a plethora of Halo-themed content such as “a Halo texture set, themed menus and user interface, craftable items, 31 music tracks [from the] franchise, [and] 40 pixel-perfect character skins depicting beloved Halo characters.” To give you a leg up on your crafting, the add-on will also include several pre-made maps from Halo’s history including “Silent Cartographer,” “Sandtrap,” “Valhalla,” “Blackout,” “Guardian,” and “Blood Gulch.”
The Halo Edition Mash-Up Pack has been priced at $3.99.
Super Smash Bros. 4 will be playable at more than 100 Best Buy stores next month
As promised, Nintendo has announced further details about the Super Smash Bros. 4 “Smashfest” that will be coming to Best Buy stores across the country next month. More than 100 Best Buy stores will play host to the same Super Smash Bros. 4 demo stations that Nintendo is bringing to this year’s E3 Expo on Wednesday, June 11 (from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM) and Saturday, June 14 (from noon to 5:00 PM). A complete list of every participating store can be found on Best Buy’s website.
In addition to the demo stations, Best Buy also wants to sell you a copy of Super Smash Bros. 4. So the first 70 people who pre-order the game at each store will receive a “rare collectible Super Smash Bros. gold coin.” Each pre-ordered copy of Super Smash Bros. 4 will also include a $5 My Best Buy Rewards Zone gift certificate.
Super Smash Bros. 4 will be available for the 3DS sometime this Summer with the Wii U edition scheduled to launch by the end of the year.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2014, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Lego Batman 3 blasts off into outer space this Fall
First, Lego Batman skulked about the streets of Gotham, protecting the city from his cunning and cagey Rogues Gallery. In Lego Batman 2, the Dark Knight teamed up with the Justice League to put a stop to a global threat from Lex Luthor. Now, in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, the superheroes will have to team up with the supervillains to stop an intergalactic goon:
In Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, the Caped Crusader joins forces with the super heroes of the DC Comics Universe and blasts off to outer space to stop the evil Brainiac from destroying Earth. Using the power of the Lantern Rings, Brainiac shrinks worlds to add to his twisted collection of miniature cities from across the universe. Now the greatest super heroes and the most cunning villains must unite and journey to different Lantern Worlds to collect the Lantern Rings and stop Brainiac before it’s too late.
Once again developed by TT Games, Lego Batman 3 will include more than 150 playable characters when it’s released for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Fall.
Counter-Strike creator teases Half-Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 3
Half-Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 3 rumors? By golly, this year’s E3 Expo must be right around the corner.
Minh “Gooseman” Le, the creator of Counter-Strike, recently sat down for an interview with goRGNtv (via NowGamer). In the course of the hour-long interview, Le dropped a pair of bombshells without even realizing it. First, the developer revealed that on a recent visit to Valve, he got a glimpse of some Half-Life 3 concept art:
“I guess I could say that I did see something that could be in the Half-Life universe. I mean it wouldn’t surprise anyone if I said yeah they’re working on it. To go out on a limb, I would say I did see some Half-Life 3 concept art.”
Le brushed the revelation off as “old news” and it’s hard to argue with him. We all know Valve is working on another game in the Half-Life franchise, but until we hear it direct from Gabe Newell, it may as well be as good as vaporware. Much more interesting was Le’s thoughts on Left 4 Dead 3, which remains officially unannounced even though it has appeared on several development documents that were purported to come from within Valve:
“It wouldn’t be any news if I said ‘yes, I saw it’ and it looks great,” said Minh. “I was really excited when I saw that, like ‘wow, this looks great’.”
So Half-Life 3 and Left 4 Dead 3 are in the works. Probably. And we’ll get to hear about them eventually. Maybe. I’m betting an E3 announcement is likely out of the question.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Half-Life 3
Meet Drift in this Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark gameplay trailer
I’m not sure how much gameplay is actually in this “Gameplay Trailer,” nor am I sure how Activision plans to merge the Transformers movieverse with the Fall of Cybertron/War For Cybertron games… but here’s a new trailer for Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark that shows both sets of bots in action. I do know that the new trailer showcases the samurai-like Drift, a Decepticon who now sides with the Autobots, for the first time.
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark will be released on June 24 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. A companion game for the 3DS, in development at WayForward Technologies, will arrive in stores on the same day.
Weekly Warp-Up: Two Weeks to E3 2014 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…
The 2014 E3 Expo is approaching, so it’s rather fitting that most of this week’s big news concerns bigger news we’ll be told about at the video game industry’s biggest showcase. For example, did you hear that Take-Two will release Evolve on October 21? Or that Metro Redux will be available this Summer? We will no doubt learn more about both games at the E3 Expo, as both will be on display during the big show. As will at least five titles from Ubisoft (Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Far Cry 4, The Crew, and more).
Even this week’s episode of Continue Countdown couldn’t get away from the E3 talk. If you’re interested in listening to the Warp Zoned staff debate Microsoft’s plans for the Xbox One (including Halo 5 and Sunset Overdrive), then this is the show for you.
More news from this past week can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News