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
Weekly Warp-Up: No Snow Bowl 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…
Super Bowl Ex-Ell-Vee-Eye-Eye-Eye begins in a few hours and it looks like all the gloom and doom a few weeks ago about fans freezing to death in their seats was a little overblown. The current weather forecast calls for a high of around 50 and a little bit of rain. It’s definitely a far cry from the blizzard Bowl that EA Sports and Madden NFL 25 predicted, so perhaps the Seahawks can defy the simulation and pull out a win.
But the biggest spectacle in sports has got nothing on the news that Microsoft has obtained the rights to the Gears of War franchise from Epic Games. They’ve entrusted the future of the franchise to Black Tusk Studios, though this deal may have killed their in-development “AAAA game.”
And speaking of business deals… Nintendo has a plan! It involves releasing Mario Kart 8 in May, DS games on the Wii U’s Virtual Console, and more third party licensing deals like Hyrule Warriors. That… that actually sounds a lot like their old plan.
But you can read all the rest of the new news after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Bravely Default, Fable Anniversary, The Lego Movie, More
This week’s New Releases Report kicks off with the long-awaited 3DS RPG Bravely Default. If you like your RPGs Japanese and old school, you’ll want to give Bravely Default a look. And in fact, the game is a semi-sequel to another throwback RPG, Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light. And speaking of throwback RPGs, Microsoft plans to release Fable Anniversary, their Xbox 360 remake of Fable and Fable: The Lost Chapters, this week.
Also available this week is the “Videogame” adaptation of The Lego Movie. You can hear a Lego version of Chris Pratt say “awesome” a lot on the 3DS, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Finally, a trio of PC simulation games will soon be available for your purchasing pleasure including Civilization V: The Complete Edition, Airport Simulator 2014, and Professional Farmer 2014.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bravely Default: Where the Fairy Flies, Fable Anniversary, The Lego Movie
Releasing’s as easy as breathing… Rambo: The Game to be released in EU in February
He’s no tourist and Reef Entertainment has announced that John Rambo will make his grand return to video games next month. Rambo: The Video Game will be released throughout Europe on February 21 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The game will be released in North America sometime in March (Amazon says March 25).
Rambo: The Video Game will follow everyone’s favorite one man army as he tears his way through a game adaptation of First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Rambo III. To create the most authentic Rambo experience possible, Reef has packed Rambo: The Video Game with voice clips featuring Sylvester Stallone as Rambo and the late Richard Crenna as Colonel Trautman from all three films. The publisher will also include musical selections from each movie’s soundtrack in the game.
If you live in Europe, you can pre-order Rambo: The Video Game now. In addition to the game, you’ll receive two three-inch Rambo action figures based on the character’s appearance in First Blood and Rambo: First Blood Part II.
Nothing is over! But sadly, this news article is.
Pac-Man Museum will gobble up all your free time on February 25
The Pac is back next month as Bandai Namco plans to bring Pac-Man Museum to the PlayStation Store (PS3) on February 25 and the Xbox Live Arcade and Steam on February 26. Sadly, the previously announced 3DS and Wii U versions of Pac-Man Museum have been canceled.
Pac-Man Museum compiles eight Pac-Man games into a single downloadable package. The collection includes 1980’s Pac-Man, 1982’s Super Pac-Man, 1983’s Pac & Pal, the side-scrolling Pac-Land, the isometric Pac-Mania, the puzzling Pac-Attack, 2007’s excellent Pac-Man: Championship Edition, the previously iOS-exclusive Pac-Man Remix, and the formerly arcade-only Pac-Man Battle Royale
Players who purchase Pac-Man Museum on any platform by March 31 will also receive Ms. Pac-Man for free. Beginning April 1, it will revert to the $4.99 price it currently carries on the PSN and XBLA.
A price for Pac-Man Museum has yet to be announced by Bandai Namco.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Pac-Man Museum
XBL Store Today: Halo: Spartan Assault for Xbox 360
Microsoft previously said that Halo: Spartan Assault would be available to download from the Xbox Live Arcade sometime in January. Making it in just under the wire, the top-down shooter was added to the XBL Game Store today to fulfill Microsoft’s promise.
If you haven’t played Halo: Spartan Assault on a Windows 8 device or the Xbox One, here’s what you can expect:
Halo: Spartan Assault ($14.99)
Halo: Spartan Assault is a fast paced top-down shooter set during the timeline between “Halo 3” and “Halo 4,” progress your Spartan career as you engage in over 30 exciting Campaign missions using many of favorite Halo weapons, vehicles and armor abilities. Team-up on Xbox Live and fight with a friend against waves of the nightmarish Flood in the all-new online co-op multiplayer mode. Earn achievements, complete weekly Assault Ops and compete for the top scores in the leaderboards.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Halo: Spartan Assault
Discless, 1TB, and White Xbox One consoles rumored
Microsoft has some big plans for the Xbox One in 2014… but I’m not sure anyone expected the rumors that flew out of Big Redmond today. According to The Verge, Microsoft plans to launch at least three new versions of their next-generation console this year.
First up, a TitanFall-themed Xbox One console will be released sometime this year, presumably in the Spring to tie into the game’s March launch. And speaking of March, an Xbox One update will be available that month that is expected to fix a variety of the system’s social functions.
More new system designs will follow in the Fall including a white version of the console in October (which is said to launch alongside Insomniac’s cartoonish shooter, Sunset Overdrive) and a massive 1TB version in November.
Finally, Microsoft’s biggest Xbox One move may not make into stores, but it is incredibly interesting. One of Verge’s sources has confirmed that Microsoft is testing a version of the Xbox One without a disc drive. There’s a very strong possibility the discless console will never be released to the public, but if it is, it will go a long way towards fulfilling the all-digital future that Microsoft promised us when the Xbox One was first revealed ahead of E3 2013.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Sunset Overdrive, TitanFall
LocoCycle wheelies onto XBLA and PC on February 14
The reviews were unkind to Twisted Pixel’s LocoCycle when it launched for the Xbox One in November. But perhaps time, and a jump to the Xbox Live Arcade and PC, will encourage gamers to revisit the story of a sentient battle motorcycle named I.R.I.S., her Mexican mechanic, and the evil government agents that are after both of them. I guess we’ll find out for sure when LocoCycle is released on the XBLA and Steam platforms on February 14.
To celebrate this news, Twisted Pixel has decided to give away a custom Xbox 360 console that refer to as “Knight Ridery.” Full details (and a picture of one of the coolest 360s I’ve ever seen) about the contest are available at PlayXBLA Blog, but it looks like you’ll have to purchase LocoCycle sometime between February 14 and February 28 to enter.
To that end, Twisted Pixel has also announced that LocoCycle will be priced at $9.99 on the Xbox Live Arcade and Steam.
Nintendo Download: Zelda: Link to the Past, Mario Bros., Wii Fit U, more
Another pair of classic titles are now available to download thanks to this week’s Nintendo Download. The Wii U eShop is now home to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past while the 3DS eShop has been invaded by the crabs from the original and non-super Mario Bros.
If you’re looking for something original, a trio of new games have also been added to the 3DS eShop…
- Castle Clout 3D is a physics-based smasher that’s reminiscent of Angry Birds.
- Arc Style: Solitaire is a solitaire compilation from the people who make the Guilty Gear series of fighting games.
- Touch Battle Tank 3D 2 is an overhead shooter featuring… you guessed it… tanks.
Finally, tomorrow is the last day to download the free 30-day trial of Wii Fit U. Beginning February 1, the exercise program will revert to its regular $29.99 price on the Wii U eShop.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)