Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Author: John Scalzo
Sleeping Dogs gets second expansion this holiday season
Square Enix has announced that “Zodiac Tournament,” the second Sleeping Dogs expansion pack, will be available before the end of the year.
The titular tournament revolves around a fight club operating on a secret island off the coast of Hong Kong. Naturally, Wei Shen is pulled into the tournament and must fight for his life against the best-of-the-best of this blood sport.
Square Enix has a full slate of Sleeping Dogs DLC scheduled for the coming weeks, including plans to make the pre-order bonus content available to all on November 14 (as the “Dragon Master Pack”), as well as new costumes and fight styles.
Read all about them after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Sleeping Dogs
PlayStation Plus comes to Vita on November 19 with 2.00 system update
Vita owners will finally get the chance to make use of Sony’s PlayStation Plus program on November 19. The premium service will be expanded to include the handheld as part of the Vita’s next system update (2.00).
As previously announced, the popular “Instant Game Collection” will come to the Vita in a big way with six games available for download in the first month. The initial “Instant Game Collection” includes Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Jet Set Radio HD, Wipeout 2048, Gravity Rush, and Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack!, as well as the PSP title Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.
Even with the inclusion of Vita games to the “Instant Game Collection,” a PlayStation Plus subscription remains $17.99 for the three-month plan and $49.99 for a year.
Besides the addition of PlayStation Plus, additional functionality will be added to the Vita in the 2.00 update:
- Email: Check read and send email directly from PS Vita
- Content Management: Wirelessly transfer content between PS Vita and PC in addition to browsing folders on PS3/PC and copying them to PS Vita
- PSone Classics: Now assign controller buttons to touchscreen, rear touch pad and buttons with select games on the PS Vita system
- PSone Classics: Custom screen mode option for flexible screen size adjustment
- Web Browser: Enhanced performance of the web browser along with improved support of HTML 5 and JavaScript
- Web Browser: Ability to “Tweet” web page addresses
Posted in News, Vita
Tagged Gravity Rush, Jet Set Radio, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, WipEout 2048
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm to be released on March 12; Collector’s Edition announced
A few days after confirming that StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm wouldn’t be released in 2012, Blizzard has announced that the expansion will make its way into stores on March 12, 2013.
As is customary with Blizzard releases, Heart of the Swarm will be available in three different packages next year. The standard edition will be priced at $39.99, the Digital Deluxe version will carry a $20 premium at $59.99, and the Collector’s Edition will be the most expensive at $79.99. Starting today, players can pre-order the game now from StarCraft2.com as either a DVD-ROM or a digital download.
Hit the jump for a sneak peek at the contents of the game’s Digital Deluxe version and Collector’s Edition. (more…)
Posted in News, PC
Tagged StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
DMC: Devil May Cry getting Vergil-focused DLC chapter
DMC: Devil May Cry, Ninja Theory’s reboot of the Devil May Cry franchise, is still on track for a January 15, 2013 release on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Today, Capcom announced that players who pre-order the game from GameStop (USA) or EB Games (Canada) will be able to download an additional bonus chapter, featuring Dante’s brother Vergil, for free.
“Vergil’s Downfall” will be available shortly after the game’s release and will contain “hours of new gameplay, new enemies, and weapons and combos that are unique to Vergil.”
If you’d prefer not to pre-order the game but still want to slice and dice demons as Vergil, you’ll be able to. “Vergil’s Downfall” will be offered as a separate download for $8.99 (720 Microsoft Points).
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged DMC: Devil May Cry
Black Friday Game Deals 2012: Target
It’s time to start planning your holiday shopping strategy as all the major retailers have begun to release their Black Friday ads.
Target will open its doors on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, at 9 PM. Once inside, you’ll be treated to discounts on every console and handheld that’s not named the Wii U (I expect these discounts to be pop up at a lot of stores) as well as free gift cards with the purchase of Assassin’s Creed III, Halo 4, and Forza Horizon.
Target’s ad only listed a portion of the games they’ll have on sale as the retailer promised “more titles” would be discounted to $10, $15, $25, or $35 in addition to the ones shown.
But hit the break for a complete list of all the games we know for sure will be on sale on Black Friday. (more…)
Weekly Warp-Up: Pinballing Through the Week
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…
We sat down with Rob Mann, the Community Manager at FarSight Studios, this week and got him to open up about the company’s multiplatform hit, The Pinball Arcade.
The golden age of pinball might be over, but that hasn’t stopped FarSight from creating epic simulations of some of the greatest tables ever built. Mann talked about the company’s next DLC pack (which includes a table based on Star Trek: The Next Generation) as well as troubles with the 3DS version and a progress report on the Wii U version. If you love pinball, this interview is for you.
Hit the break for the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up, which is pinball free. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: CoD Black Ops II, Lego Lord of the Rings, Paper Mario Sticker Star, More
It’s the second week of November and that means that Activision is finally ready to release Call of Duty: Black Ops II for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. A Vita-exclusive spinoff, Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, will also be available in stores this week.
If the future warfare of the biggest first person shooter series on the planet doesn’t sway you, there are plenty of other family-friendly options this week including Lego Lord of the Rings (PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360), Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS), Scribblenauts Unlimited (3DS), and Wonderbook: Book of Spells (PS3).
And if you’re looking for something as far removed from Call of Duty as possible, might I suggest the Midway Arcade Origins compilation for the PS3 and Xbox 360. It contains over 30 games, including classics such as Rampage, Joust, and Smash TV, which was cruelly pulled from the Xbox Live Arcade a few years back and is now available on HD systems once again.
Even more new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
GTA5 has three playable characters, bigger than San Andreas, RDR, GTA4 combined
It looks like the rumors are true. Game Informer‘s cover story is now live for digital subscribers and we’ve learned that Grand Theft Auto V will include three playable characters that players can switch between at any time.
Michael is a retired bank robber who has gotten back into the game to prop up his upper middle class lifestyle. On the opposite side, Trevor is a low-life criminal who lives in a “desert ghetto.” The third character, Franklin, is a young guy who works as a repo man, using his job to steal from the citizens of Los Santos. Each character will have different strengths and skills and when you’re not using them, they’ll go on with their lives.
They will live these lives in a world that is said to be bigger than Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas combined. In addition to the streets and alleyways of Los Santos, GTA5 will also include underwater locations and a bevy of activities (yoga, triathlon, jet-skiing, BASE jumping, tennis, and golf). Finally, like Red Dead Redemption, hitchhikers will offer you missions if you pick them up.
Grand Theft Auto V will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in Spring 2013. A new trailer will be released next week.
[Source: G4TV]
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V