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
CoD: Ghosts Multiplayer Reveal: First trailer includes Eminem’s “Survival”
Activision just dropped a ton of Call of Duty: Ghosts news onto the Internet. So let’s take it one step at a time.
First up is the first trailer for the game’s multiplayer mode. The trailer features plenty of footage from Call of Duty’s multiplayer mode as well a brand new Eminem song, “Survival.” More importantly, it’s our first look at some of the Create-A-Soldier options (now you can play as a woman), dynamic map events (that bus got blown up real good), and some of the new weaponry.
In addition to its inclusion in the trailer above and Call of Duty: Ghosts, Eminem’s “Survival” will be included on his upcoming eighth album. The title, first single, and release date of the album will be announced soon.
“Hacking Is Your Weapon” in this new Watch Dogs gameplay video
Ever since it was announced at E3 2012, Ubisoft has been touting the “hack anything” gameplay mechanic found in Watch Dogs. A newly released gameplay trailer, “Hacking Is Your Weapon,” finally gives us a better look at how exactly it’ll work.
Watch Dogs will be available for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on November 19. PS4 and Xbox One editions will also be released before the end of the year.
Batman: Arkham Origins Collector’s Edition revealed
The Joker gets the last laugh in the Batman: Arkham Origins Collector’s Edition. The centerpiece of the package is a massive (nine inches high, almost 12 inches deep, and 13 inches wide) statue depicting The Clown Prince of Crime in his lair as he keeps track of the game’s many assassins, the Batman, and his favorite cartoons on an array of TVs.
The Collector’s Edition will also include the following bonus items:
- Assassin’s Intel Dossier: Including files on the 8 assassins, as well as Black Mask’s contract
- 1st Appearance Batman Skin: Look just like Batman did during his first appearance in Detective Comics #27, released in 1939.
- Deathstroke Challenge Pack: Unlock the ability to play as one of the world’s deadliest assassins! Usable throughout all the Arkham Origins Challenge maps. Also includes two bonus challenge maps and two bonus Deathstroke Skins.
- Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics: This new feature-length documentary from Warner Bros Home Entertainment focuses on DC Comics’ most terrifying villains. Legendary actor Christopher Lee narrates the film.
- 80-page, full-color hardcover art book
- Two key pieces of evidence taken directly from the Gotham City Police Department Crime Lab
- Batman Wanted Poster
- Batwing Prototype Schematic
- Anarky logo stencil
- Glow-In-The-Dark map of Gotham City
- Wayne Family Photo
- Knightfall Pack (PS3 Exclusive)
The Batman: Arkham Origins Collector’s Edition has been priced at $119.99 and will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 (apologies to PC and Wii U players) on October 25.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Batman: Arkham Origins
DuckTales Remastered, Payday 2, Mars: War Logs, more added to PS Store
Life is like a hurricane in this week’s PlayStation Store update… WayForward’s DuckTales Remastered is now available to download. If the remade and redesigned further adventures of Scrooge McDuck don’t interest you (and if not, are you sure you have a soul?), there’s also the absolutely insane heist simulator, Payday 2. Also available this for the PS3 is the action RPG, Mars: War Logs, and the helicopter shooter, Thunder Wolves. Keep an eye out for the latter game as it stars “elite helicopter pilots who fight evil and defend law and order.” Yeah.
Over on the PS Vita side of the Store, four new games are now available: A Vita version of Fruit Ninja, an updated version of the Breakout-like BreakQuest: Extra Evolution, the miitary strategy game A-Men, and the augmented reality puzzler Open Me!.
You can find more information about all of these games 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, Vita
Tagged DuckTales Remastered, Payday 2
Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 Review: This is the End
Five years, four episodes, and two developers later, the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness saga has finally come to an end. Zeboyd Games picked up where Hothead Games left off after Episode Two, creating Episode Three in a very different, retro-y style. Zeboyd has since completed development of Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 earlier this Summer. Though similar to the retro stylings of Episode Three, Episode Four throws a few new tricks at us, including monster training and a massively overhauled game world. Are these changes the end of the world as we know it? Or do Tycho and Gabe and Moira and the gelatinous goo that is Jim feel fine about the Underhell? (more…)
Posted in PC, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360
Tagged Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4
Nvidia claims Grand Theft Auto V will get a PC release this Fall
Nvidia held their quarterly financial call last week and the video card maker has confidently predicted that Grand Theft Auto V will be available for the PC this Fall. Chris Evenden, the company’s Senior Director of Investor Relations, delivered the news during his opening remarks:
[G]amers are preparing their systems for a strong roster of games coming this fall, including blockbuster franchises, such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Grand Theft Auto V, and Assassin’s Creed IV.
It’s possible Evenden was mistaken about the timing, but Rockstar certainly has plans to bring Grand Theft Auto V to the PC, even though nothing’s been announced. And lumping it in with two officially announced games, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, lends a bit more credence to the statement.
Every previously released GTA game has eventually found its way to the PC, but there’s typically been a six to eight month lag time. With Grand Theft Auto V set to hit the PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 17, a “Fall” release for the PC version would be a fantastically fast turnaround.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V
Look at that… the Xbox One DOES NOT require Kinect to function
After all their talk about integral the new Kinect sensor was to the Xbox One, Microsoft’s “Hard Hittin'” Marc Whitten has confirmed that the system does not require the peripheral to work. The good news was revealed during an “Ask Microsoft Anything” session with IGN users today.
Whitten said, “[L]ike online, the console will still function if Kinect isn’t plugged in, although you won’t be able to use any feature or experience that explicitly uses the sensor.” Naturally, this bombshell required some clarification and Whitten complied: “You have the ability to completely turn the sensor off in your settings. When in this mode, the sensor is not collecting any information. Any functionality that relies on voice, video, gesture or more won’t work. We still support using it for IR blasting in this mode. You can turn the sensor back on at any time through settings, and if you enter into a required Kinect experience (like Kinect Sports Rivals for instance), you’ll get a message asking if you want to turn the sensor back on in order to continue.”
So now we’re left with the $499 question… did the Xbox One EVER require the Kinect sensor to function? (Probably not). Is this just more Microsoft backtracking in the face of consumer complaints? (Most likely). Were they scared of the proposed We Are Watching You Act? (Maybe, but I doubt it). Are there now plans to sell the Xbox One console without the Kinect sensor?
I hope the answer to that last one is “Yes.” What do you say, Mr. Whitten?
Get a closer look at the Xbox One controller with Major Nelson
Microsoft’s Major Nelson continues his “unboxing” of the Xbox One console with an “insider’s look” at the next generation consoles’ controller. He’s joined by Zulfi Alam, the General Manager of the Xbox Accessories Group, to get a developer’s eye view of the new D-Pad, the triggers, the face buttons, the force feedback motors, the “screwless” design, and the controller’s new wireless/wired design.
It’s definitely worth a watch, if only for the ridiculous green light that makes Major Nelson resemble The Joker.