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: Madden NFL 25, Final Fantasy XIV, Lost Planet 3, More
Are you ready for some football? EA Sports’ annual gridiron game, Madden NFL 25, is in stores for the PS3 and Xbox 360 this week. A next generation version for the PS4 and Xbox One will be available in November.
“Made in Japan” is the theme for the rest of this week’s releases as Square Enix will bring their rebuilt MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn to the PC and, for the first time, the PS3. The psychotically-minded Suda 51 also has a new game this week as XSEED Games will publish his Killer Is Dead for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Finally, Capcom is bringing back the Lost Planet series in Lost Planet 3 for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
More new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360
Tagged Lost Planet 3, Madden NFL 25
The ESRB says Grand Theft Auto V is really naughty
Oh. My. God. The ESRB has released the “Rating Summary” for Grand Theft Auto V and it’s… it’s a little crazy.
Naturally, the game has been rated Mature for “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs and Alcohol.” But its the ESRB’s in-depth analysis of the game’s content that really drives home just how insane GTA5 is. The game will include copious amounts of nudity (including naked cultists), enough swearing to make the Goodfellas blush, a little drug use, enough violence to make Quentin Tarantino blush, and… just for fun… some necrophilia.
You can read the whole sordid thing after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V, PS3, Xbox 360
Star Wars: Force Collection card game coming to iOS, Android on September 4
I have good news if you can’t bear to wait until 2015 to get your hands on Star Wars: Battlefront: Konami is working on a new Star Wars and will release it on September 4. Wait a minute… let me check a calendar… why, that’s just two weeks away! How is this possible?
It’s possible because Konami is planning to release Star Wars: Force Collection, a collectible card game for iOS and Android devices, on September 4. The game will be available as a free download and will include over 230 cards based on characters and vehicles from all six Star Wars films. Using their cards, players will spend their time “completing quests, fighting battles, and collecting powerful cards and upgrades.”
“Stating the obvious, Star Wars is an enormously successful franchise, and we saw great potential in the story to delight fans around the world with a deep game experience on mobile devices,” said Tomoyuki Tsuboi, President of Konami Digital Entertainment. “Konami’s proven capabilities in mobile game development and publishing, particularly in the card battle genre, are the perfect fit for Star Wars, and we’re very pleased to bring this new experience to players around the globe.”
Still, free is free.
Sony Japan’s Rain will be released on October 1
Sony has announced that Rain, their stylish puzzle platformer in development at Sony Japan, will be released on October 1. In North America, the game will be priced at $14.99.
In addition to the release date news, Sony has released a new Developer Diary for Rain focusing on composer Yugo Kanno and vocalist Connie Talbot.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Gamescom 2013, Rain
Say hello to the villains of Lego Marvel Super Heroes in a new trailer
In honor of this year’s Gamescom expo, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released a new trailer for Lego Marvel Super Heroes. In addition to confirming the game will also appear on the PS4 and Xbox One this Fall, the developers at TT Games have given us our first look at some of the game’s many villains. They include (deep breath)…
Dr. Doom, Doctor Octopus, Magneto, Sandman, Arnim Zola, Green Goblin, Sabretooth, Abomination, Loki, Mystique, and Galactus. There’s also blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpses of the heroic Cyclops, Storm, and the Silver Surfer.
But unless I missed him, I’m still holding out for Lego Blade. Though I love that we’re getting Lego Punisher, even if he wasn’t in this trailer.
InFamous: Second Son set to be released in February 2014
February 2014 is starting to get crowded. Speaking to Polygon, a Sucker Punch spokesperson has revealed that InFamous: Second Son will be released for the PS4 sometime in the second month of 2014.
Second Son is the first game in the series to be released after the death of original protagonist Cole McGrath in InFamous 2. Sucker Punch has created a new main character, Delsin Rowe, to star in the sequel.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Gamescom 2013, InFamous: Second Son
Nintendo Download: Street Fighter II trilogy, Zero Escape, Ninja Gaiden II, more
A triple dose of Street Fighter leads the charge in this week’s Nintendo Download. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, and Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting are all available to download now from the Wii U eShop. Best of all, it’s possible to get all three games for a nice discount. If you buy one, at the regular price of $7.99, you’ll be able to score the other two for 50% until August 29.
Also available today is a pair of spectacular titles for the 3DS. The acclaimed visual novel Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward and the NES classic Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos can now be downloaded through Nintendo’s handheld.
Several other new games are also now available through the 3DS eShop. Read all about them after the break. (more…)
Nintendo is bringing 25 playable games to PAX Prime 2013
The games industry is squarely focused on Gamescom this week, but don’t forget that PAX Prime is just around the corner. Nintendo surely hasn’t forgotten, as the consolemaker has announced they will be bringing a huge slate of playable games to the Washington State Convention Center next week.
All of Nintendo’s major releases this Fall (including Pokemon X/Y, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and many more) will be playable on the show floor. Third party games from Yacht Club (Shovel Knight), Sega (Sonic: Lost World), WayForward (Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse), and Vblank (Retro City Rampage, which is coming to the 3DS). Fans can even get their hands on Bayonetta 2, which won’t be released for the Wii U until next year.
But the real star of Seattle will be The Wonderful 101. Nintendo plans to devote an entire panel, “Inside The Wonderful 101 with Hideki Kamiya,” to the game. They also plan to sell 101 copies of the game to fans each day of the show… two weeks before its September 15 release date.
PAX Prime 2013 takes place August 30 through September 2. The full list of playable games Nintendo will showcase at the show can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged PAX Prime 2013, The Wonderful 101