Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
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- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- 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)
Most Recent: News
Vertex Pop announces next game as Graceful Explosion Machine sells 50,000 copies on the Switch
Most people who purchased a Switch at launch filled their days and nights with non-stop Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sessions. But Switch owners who delved deeper into the eShop in those early days managed to find dozens of other interesting titles.
For a lot of people, Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine was at the top of that list.
The colorful side-scrolling shooter made its Switch debut on April 6, and it went on to sell 50,000 copies in its first year of availability on Nintendo’s newest console (as revealed by a new post on the developer’s official website). But why stop there? Vertex Pop is celebrating Graceful Explosion Machine’s first anniversary with a 50% off discount on the Switch eShop (and Steam) this week only. In case you were wondering, sales figures for the game on the PC and PS4 weren’t disclosed.
Vertex Pop also revealed that their next game will be released for the Switch in 2019. Fans of Graceful Explosion Machine should especially look forward to the mystery title, as the developer added, “it’s an action game” and “it’s colourful.”
Posted in News, PC, Switch
Tagged Graceful Explosion Machine
Bethesda will bring “a big mix of stuff” to E3 2018
Bethesda held their first E3 Press Conference in 2015, and they managed to instantly win over the crowd by showcasing the first teaser trailer for Doom. In the years since, the publisher has doubled down on this strategy, and continued to focus on spectacular sequels and expansions to their biggest franchises.
And it sounds like 2018 won’t be any different.
DualShockers tracked down Bethesda’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, Pete Hines, at PAX East 2018, and asked him what we can expect from the company’s E3 showcase. As in years past, Hines promised that fans will see “a big mix of stuff” that won’t be limited to one kind of game or genre:
[W]e have a lot of new stuff to talk about at E3. Whether or not folks realize it, this is the hell on Earth time for us with E3. We are in the midst of so much planning and work for all of that content but I’m really excited.
I think we have a lot of stuff that folks are going to like. To my earlier comment, it’s going to be a big mix of stuff that’s all over the place. It’s not going to be like all [one] kind of game or genre. It’s going to be a lot of stuff in a lot of different areas and hopefully, there’s something in there for everybody.
Bethesda always has a lot of irons in the fire, but aside from the constant drumbeat of The Elder Scrolls VI (and the two “big and crazy” projects that will precede it), we don’t have any idea what the publisher is working on.
I guess we’ll all find out together during Bethesda’s E3 Showcase, which will be held on June 10 at 9:30 PM (Eastern Time).
Hellblade, Owlboy, Ys Origin, more added to Xbox Store
Several critically-acclaimed games have a new home on the Xbox One thanks to today’s Xbox Games Store update.
Ninja Theory will bring Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, their “Indie AAA” action game, to the Xbox One today. It’ll share space on the digital storefront with D-Pad Studio’s side-scrolling adventure, Owlboy, and Nihon Falcom’s RPG prequel, Ys Origin.
Also available to download today is Iron Galaxy’s ogre-hunting game, Extinction, and Freejam’s multiplayer robot battler, Robocraft Infinity.
You can learn more about these games, and the rest of today’s additions to the Xbox Games Store, after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Owlboy
Winnipeg Jets will triumph over the Boston Bruins in NHL 18’s Stanley Cup prediction
Real life rarely plays along with EA Sports’s annual Stanley Cup prediction, but that hasn’t stopped the publisher from trying once more with NHL 18. This year, the hockey simulation has predicted the Winnipeg Jets will hoist the Stanley Cup after toppling the Boston Bruins in the NHL Finals.
It would be an historic win for the Winnipeg Jets, as no Canadian franchise has won the Stanley Cup in more than two decades. A few other interesting tidbits from NHL 18’s Stanley Cup simulation can be found at the game’s official website:
Patrik Laine took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after recording 15 goals and 24 points along route to the Jets’ Stanley Cup victory. Laine, along with Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, and captain Blake Wheeler were four of the top scorers throughout the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs. Mathieu Perreault was the unsung hero for the Jets after he recorded 15 points and was a catalyst on the Jets’ power play.
The Winnipeg Jets Stanley Cup victory made them the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup since 1993, ending a 25 year Stanley Cup drought in Canada.
NHL 18 is currently available for the PS4 and Xbox One, and the Stanley Cup playoffs begin tonight with three first round matchups.
Klei launches Closed Beta for Hot Lava
Klei Entertainment has launched a Closed Beta for Hot Lava, their acrobatic first-person platformer that was absolutely inspired by the game we all played as kids. But rather than ask players to imagine the floor is covered in molten magma, Klei’s Hot Lava makes that scenario very literal across locales like a suburban house, a high school, and (what looks like) the bowels of Hell.
Players can sign up for Hot Lava’s Closed Beta at beta.PlayHotLava.com, and those selected to participate will receive instant access to the playtest until April 17. You can also find more information about the Closed Beta on the game’s Steam page:
These last few months our team has been busily working away in our secret volcano lair in preparation to unleash Hot Lava to the public. While, the official launch is still a ways off, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be rolling out our first stress test on April 10th through the 17th.
Players who signed up on the initial beta registration will have first priority in order according to when they signed up. The first wave of participants will be admitted on April 3rd. About 2,000 players will be allowed in. Future, larger waves of Beta players will follow in additional beta phases.
As of now, Hot Lava doesn’t have an announced release date, and its launch is “still a ways off.”
Owlboy, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, Super Daryl Deluxe, more coming to PS Store this week
A handful of side-scrollers, a dimension-hopping VR adventure, and a game where you hunt giant ogres that look a little like Shrek top this week’s PlayStation Store update.
Owlboy was in development at D-Pad Studio for almost ten years before its PC debut in 2016, and now it’s coming to the PS4. Another colorful side-scroller, Super Daryl Deluxe, a hand-drawn beat ’em up/RPGvania, is also now available to download for Sony’s home console.
If you’re looking to give your PlayStation VR headset a workout this week, Owlchemy Labs will release Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality for the PS4.
And finally, Iron Galaxy (the creators of the Killer Instinct reboot) will bring their ogre-hunting adventure game, Extinction, to the PS4.
You can learn more about the rest of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Owlboy, Super Daryl Deluxe
GameStop CEO predicts “strong” 2018 for the Switch because “many” unannounced games will be released this year
GameStop’s CEO, Mike Mauler, had some nice words for the Nintendo Switch (and it’s fans) during the Q&A portion of the retailer’s most recent quarterly report.
When asked if the console’s momentum will continue into 2018, Mauler predicted that the Nintendo Switch should have a great year thanks to a “very, very strong” slate of upcoming games, “many of which haven’t been announced yet”:
So, last year was a tremendous year for their software as well as hardware, between Zelda and Mario Odyssey and all the games that they had, it really drove a lot of hardware sales as well as software. I think, this year, when we look at the slate of titles… many of which haven’t been announced yet… this year looks also very, very strong. So, I think, at least for 2018, we’ll continue to see the strong software slate drive additional install based on the hardware and increase attach rate.
It’s hard to guess which games Mauler could be referring to, because Nintendo’s star-studded lineup already includes Super Smash Bros. Switch, Fire Emblem Switch, Pokemon Switch, Yoshi, and two Nintendo Labo kits. Presumably we’ll find out more about Nintendo’s 2018 plans during the E3 Expo in June.
Yoko Taro wants to create a third game in the Nier universe
Square Enix celebrated the first anniversary of Nier: Automata‘s launch over the weekend by hosting the rather appropriately-named Nier: Automata – One Year Anniversary Celebration panel at PAX East. But Game Director Yoko Taro took it a step further and confirmed that he would like to release a third game in the Nier franchise.
Speaking to the crowd during a Q&A session, Taro said, “I do think that we might actually be able to open another door in the Nier universe.” However, he also tempered expectations by adding, “I don’t know how long it might take, but I do want you guys to look forward to that.”
Seven years passed between the original Nier and the release of Automata, so we might be in for a long wait. In the meantime, you can watch a replay of the panel on the “PAX2” Twitch channel.
Posted in News
Tagged PAX East 2018