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
New Releases: MGS5: Ground Zeroes, InFamous: Second Son, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, More
TitanFall made a huge splash last week, but a new set of publishers are ready to compete for your gaming dollar this week with a new set of games. Are you ready? Here we go…
Konami and Kojima Productions will release Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes for next-generation consoles (PS4 and Xbox One) and current-generation consoles (PS3 and Xbox 360) this week. The game will serve as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which does not currently have a release date, and will serve as an introduction to the franchise’s brand new open world mechanics.
Also available this week is the next major PS4 exclsuive from Sony, InFamous: Second Son. With Second Son, the InFamous series gains a new protagonist and a new city to wreak havoc in. And speaking of havoc, Tecmo Koei will release Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, a wild collaboration between Team Ninja, Spark Unlimited, and Keiji Inafune’s Comcept, for the PS3 and Xbox 360 this week.
Finally, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster will bring the beloved pair of games to the PS3 and Vita this week. It will be joined the week’s lone Wii U release, the kart racing game Hello Kitty Kruisers.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, InFamous: Second Son, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z
A new trailer explores the combat and narrative of Hyper Light Drifter
A new trailer for Hyper Light Drifter has been posted to the PlayStation Blog along with more details about the game’s combat system and narrative style.
On the topic of combat, developer Alex Preston had this to say about how enemies will attack The Drifter:
Creating intelligent and tactical scenarios with enemies is key, rather than stacking cannon fodder that waits gleefully in line to get their heads chopped off. Some enemies dodge projectiles, others deflect attacks, some (the poison wolves) attack you and vulnerable enemies as a pack. We even have enemies that command weaker types in order to gain an advantage. Each encounter should feel different, and remain challenging.
And for the narrative, Preston will attempt to tell the story of Hyper Light Drifter using no dialogue:
We are wary of endless blocks of text, poorly designed UI, and explicit handholding, which can often dilute a great experience. These leave a player frustrated, or worse, disinterested. Instead, we want players to uncover the rich mythology along with the Drifter in a more organic way, with a narrative that’s not explicit. We chose to recognize that players are smart.
Dialogue and quests are presented in storyboardlike sequences, which convey a specific mood without the use of text or voiceovers. This also allows us to keep the game as visually lush as possible and break past language barriers.
If you’re interested in one of the most interesting Kickstarter success stories of 2013, the remainder of the PlayStation Blog post is a recommended read. Hyper Light Drifter will be available for PC platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) by the end of the year with PS4, Vita, Wii U, and Ouya versions coming later.
Creative Assembly makes the Alien scary again in Alien: Isolation
In a new developer diary, Al Hope, the Creative Director at Creative Assembly, details his team’s goal for your extraterrestrial adversary in Alien: Isolation: “We wanted to make the Alien scary again.” Hope will attempt to make good on his promise by creating a Xenomorph that is unpredictable and very scary. Gary Napper, one of the game’s designers, laid it all out for us:
“Depending on how cautious players are, we’ve seen encounters in Alien: Isolation last over 30 minutes in some cases. And this just can’t be done with scripted behavior. As soon as the player can predict a pattern in the Alien, it stops being scary. It doesn’t follow any prescribed path or set of behaviors that are telling it to do specific things. It’s just reacting to the player’s presence and the choices that the player makes.”
We’ve heard these kinds of promises before in relation to a game based on the Alien films. But the atmosphere and mood that Hope, Napper, and the rest of the Creative Assembly team have packed into this video’s few minutes is incredible. They deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Alien: Isolation will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One towards the end of the year.
Crazy Taxi: City Rush will collect fares on mobile platforms this year
Sega’s unforgettable Crazy Taxi franchise will return later this year… but not in the way you’d expect. Hardlight Studios, Sega’s premier mobile development team, has joined forces with Kenji Kanno, the developer of the original Crazy Taxi arcade cabinet, to create Crazy Taxi: City Rush, a new entry in the series developed exclusively for iOS and Android devices.
“I’m very excited to finally be able to share with you the first news of Crazy Taxi: City Rush,” Kanno said. “We are delivering a truly fun game that captures everything our fans love about the original and infusing it with several new features to create an even more fantastic and memorable experience.”
In City Rush, players will swipe to change lanes in an all-new city setting. Our first introduction to the game, courtesy of a handful of screenshots, can be viewed at the Sega Blog:
Crazy Taxi: City Rush will launch with a wide variety of adrenaline-fueled missions, wild challenges – and unique areas to unlock, explore, and master as you progress through the campaign. Customize your cab to increase its power and visual appeal with a wide variety of over-the-top upgrades. Take your friends for a ride and blaze a trail through the city, sidewalks, and alleyways for special rewards.
Sega has “soft launched” Crazy Taxi: City Rush in several regions across the globe as a free-to-play title with a worldwide launch scheduled for later this year. In the meantime, Sega is giving players a free ride in the original Crazy Taxi. For a limited time, The game is available as a free download on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.
MLB 14: The Show gets called up to PS4 on May 6
Sony previously announced that the PS3 and Vita versions of MLB 14: The Show would step into the batter’s box on April 1. Now, the publisher has confirmed (via Facebook) that the PS4 edition of the game will be released on May 6.
MLB 14: The Show will feature several improvements over the PS3 and Vita versions of the game including full use of the PS4’s “Share Button.” The next-generation baseball sim will also feature a “graphical leap” over the PS3 version thanks to the PS4’s increased horsepower and an enhanced “beard rendering engine” to ensure that everyone’s facial hair is up to snuff.
Personally, I’d love to see a player like Brian Wilson do something absolutely insane with his beard just to test Sony’s new system.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged MLB 14: The Show
Secret Ponchos will sneak into PAX East 2014 in playable form
The developers at Switchblade Monkeys certainly had a busy 2013. In March, they debuted their first game, Secret Ponchos, at PAX East 2013. After a huge reaction from the crowd of con-goers, the team signed up with Sony and agreed to showcase the game at E3 2013 as a PS4-exclusive. And with its April release date looming, the developer has just revealed that first we’ll all get a chance to try it out again at PAX East 2014:
We've been working like mad, getting the game rebuilt in PhyreEngine for PS4! Get your hands on the new SP debut PAX East! Its been worth it
— Switchblade Monkeys (@SwitchbladeMkys) March 14, 2014
PAX East 2014 will be held in Boston beginning on April 11. If you plan to attend, I hope you’ve got your tickets. The popular Spring event is already sold out.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged PAX East 2014, Secret Ponchos
Call of Duty: Ghosts is the best-selling game of February 2014
Call of Duty: Ghosts was the best-selling game of the month in November, December, and January. Today, the NPD Group released their list of the best-selling games in February and, once again, Ghosts has taken the top spot. Ghosts has had an impressive run, but I have a strong feeling that major new releases like TitanFall and Dark Souls II will prevent Infinity Ward’s military shooter from winning one for the thumb next month.
Amongst new releases, the game adaptation of The Lego Movie and a trio of games from Square Enix (the Thief reboot, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and Bravely Default) all broke into the top ten. Amazingly, the boxed version of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is still hanging on at #9.
The battle of the next-generation consoles continues to be almost a wash as the PS4 slightly squeaked ahead of the Xbox One in February. According to Microsoft, 258,000 Xbox One systems were sold during the month with the NPD Group reporting that Sony sold 10% more PS4 systems. Due to the Xbox One’s premium price tag, it technically brought in more sales dollars in February. As I said, the whole thing is almost a wash.
A complete look at last month’s top ten best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)
PS Store Today: TowerFall Ascension, Dark Souls II, more
After a two-day delay, this week’s update to the PlayStation Store is now live and ready to receive your gaming dollars. This week, PS4 owners will be able to experience the multiplayer archery brawler TowerFall Ascension.
On the PS3, players will be able to jump back into the brutal Dark Souls universe with Dark Souls II. The liquid simulation game Vessel and the RPG Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky are also available to download. Finally, Vita owners will be able to download the pirate-themed tower defense game Fort Defense North Menace.
More information on all of these titles 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 Dark Souls II, TowerFall Ascension