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
BioWare might bring the Mass Effect Trilogy to PS4, Xbox One
Aaron Flynn, the General Manager of BioWare Montreal, recently took to Twitter to confirm that the developer has thought about bringing the Mass Effect trilogy to the PS4 and/or the Xbox One:
@shinobi602 @YanickRRoy We have discussed that internally. If we can put solid plans together we'll share. Great to hear you're keen
— Aaryn Flynn (@AarynFlynn) March 2, 2014
The Mass Effect trilogy has spread far and wide in recent years, so it’s a bit hard to remember that the game was originally an Xbox 360 exclusive published by Microsoft. But after EA’s purchase of BioWare, the franchise expanded to the PC, PS3, and the Wii U. So a PS4 or Xbox One port wouldn’t be entirely unprecedented. Developers talk about remakes and re-releases all the time. Especially when new consoles become available. But the timing of Flynn’s reply is especially interesting. The original question was asked on December 9, which was 82 days ago. What reason would Flynn have for answering that question now? Especially when all eyes are currently focused on the officially announced Mass Effect 4.
But to paraphrase someone who probably paraphrased Freud, sometimes a tweet is just a tweet.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3
Rocksteady returns with Batman: Arkham Knight for the PC, PS4, Xbox One
Rocksteady Studios has finally emerged from the shadows and shone a spotlight on their next title… Batman: Arkham Knight. The next chapter in the Arkham saga will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One sometime this year. But before that, it will grace the April 2014 cover of Game Informer. The magazine has also provided a look at an an extended four-minute trailer that will give gamers a taste of Rocksteady’s next-gen ambitions. The trailer can be found after the break.
As The Joker died at the end of Batman: Arkham City, the Caped Crusader will require a new set of foes to tangle with. In Arkham Knight, Batman will apprehend Scarecrow, The Penguin, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, and many others. And after a jump to next-generation consoles, the area that Batman will be patrolling has increased quite a bit. In fact, Gotham City has expanded so much that Batman will be able to drive the Batmobile through the streets in pursuit of the city’s criminal element.
Finally, Rocksteady has confirmed that they will not develop any Batman: Arkham games after the release of Batman: Arkham Knight. So I expect fans to start clamoring for a Batman Beyond adaptation any day now. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight
Peggle 2 comes to Xbox 360 on May 7; Duel Mode DLC available for Xbox One now
A few days after PopCap confirmed that Peggle 2 is in development for other consoles, the game’s publisher, Electronic Arts, announced that an Xbox 360 version of the game will be released on May 7. Peggle 2 for the Xbox 360 will come complete with Duel Mode, a versus mode where two players can pit their peg-busting skills against each other in a head-to-head battle, either locally or online.
Peggle 2 was originally released as an Xbox One exclusive in December and if you own the next-generation version of the game, you can try out Duel Mode today. The versus mode is now available as a free download for all Peggle 2 owners. If you’re unfamiliar with Peggle 2, allow me to let PopCap try to convince you to try it: “Just as in the classic original, Peggle 2 combines elements of pinball, pachinko and billiards and adds liberal doses of whimsy, fun, excitement and challenge – not to mention rainbows and a fifth of Beethoven.”
Also, there are magic unicorns and sentient pumpkins. What’s not to love?
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 game will be available on April 29
Activision has announced that the game adaptation of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be released for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 29… three days before the movie of the same name opens in theaters.
But if you’d prefer to look super-stylish as you punch burglars and bad guys in the face, you may want to consider pre-ordering the game on the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, or Xbox One. Activision has partnered with GameStop (and GAME in the UK) to offer the Web Threads Suit Pack to pre-purchasers. The Web Threads Suit Pack includes four special suits for Spider-Man, each of which bestows a bonus on his face-punching abilities. The four suits included in the pack are:
- The cutting-edge, red and gold “Iron Spider Suit”
- The stellar, blue and white “Cosmic Spider-Man Suit”
- The all-consuming Venom-like “Black Suit”
- The pulp-style “Spider-Man Noir Suit”
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the beginning of an entire “Spider-Universe” of movies from Sony Pictures, so perhaps we’ll see all those suits on the big screen someday.
PS4 pushes past 6 million consoles sold after Japanese launch
The PlayStation 4’s Japanese launch was held on February 22. I don’t know what took so long, but Sony has finally released their next-generation console in their home country. Naturally, the Japanese people love the PS4, so Sony has some new sales figures to share. According to Sony, as of March 2, they have sold more than six million PS4 systems across the world. This includes all of the systems sold since the Japanese launch (where it sold 370,000) as well as the number of consoles sold since the PS4 launch in North America, Europe, and the remainder of Asia in November.
“I am absolutely delighted that PS4 is off to such a great start in Japan,” said Andrew House, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment. “The responses we have received for the PS4 system’s integrated social capabilities have been phenomenal, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that gamers are utilizing these unique features to engage, share, play and connect with users around the world. SCE will continue to expand the world of PlayStation by growing its library of breakthrough games and bringing more innovative features and services only possible on PS4.”
Additionally, PS4 owners have streamed more than 3.6 million live broadcasts through Twitch and Ustream since the system’s launch.
Microsoft hasn’t shared sales figures for the Xbox One since early January, when the next-generation system crossed the three million mark.
Luftrausers flies onto PC, PS3, Vita on March 18
Luftrausers, Vlambeer’s side-scrolling dogfighting simulation, finally has a release date. The game, from the creators of the beloved Ridiculous Fishing, will be released for all three PC platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux), the PS3, and the Vita on March 18.
Luftrausers will be priced at $9.99 on all platforms with a special Air Raid Pack also available for PC purchasers. If you opt for the Air Raid Pack, you’ll receive one free download of Luftrausers and 100 giftable Steam keys. Purchasing 101 copies would normally set you back $1,008.99, but the Air Raid Pack will be available for the low, low price of $749.99.
If you’ve got enough fans interested in Luftrausers, it’s actually a pretty good deal.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Vita
Tagged Luftrausers
What? Interceptor Entertainment buys 3D Realms while lawsuit with Gearbox continues
Say what you will about 3D Realms, but you have to admit, a news story about them is never boring.
The company is currently embroiled in a lawsuit With Gearbox Software over the rights to the Duke Nukem franchise. Specifically, whether or not it was legal for 3D Realms to license the franchise rights to Interceptor Entertainment to produce Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction, an action RPG rumored to be in development for the PC and PS4. Now comes the news that Interceptor’s parent company, SDN Invest, has purchased 3D Realms.
“3D Realms has always been a defining part the PC games industry.” said Frederik Schreiber, CEO of Interceptor Entertainment. “Getting 3D Realms under our wings is a huge step for us and we are extremely excited about the acquisition.”
The question is, what exactly did Interceptor/SDN Invest buy? Over the years, 3D Realms has sold off the majority of their properties including the aforementioned Duke Nukem, Prey (now owned by Bethesda), and Rise of the Triad (now owned by Apogee Software). 3D Realms does still own the distribution rights to many of their past successes including Duke Nukem 3D, the Commander Keen series, and Shadow Warrior, which was rebooted last year by Flying Wild Hog. Beyond that, there’s not much value in the 3D Realms name.
But then, Atari survived for years as a name that various publishers used to prop up their video game divisions, so you never know.
PopCap forms “HD Team” to bring Peggle 2 and an original game to consoles
The “HD Team” within PopCap Games that produced the recently released Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare will continue their work in the console realm.
“PopCap is now structured in the way we have standard PopCap mobile development and then PopCap HD, which is entirely focused on bringing games to PC and console,” Gary Clay, PopCap’s Marketing Manager said.
The team definitely has their plate full. In the near term, they plan to create new content for Garden Warfare, with the first update available in March. They are also working on an update to Peggle 2 as well as porting the game to additional consoles besides the Xbox One. Finally, PopCap HD is also developing an original console game unrelated to any previous PopCap property.
Looks like my dream of a Heavy Weapon sequel has been dashed once more.
[Source: Digital Spy]