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
- 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
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- 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
Get to know the fighters from Arms in two new trailers
Arms was one of the more bizarre titles to be unveiled during Nintendo’s Switch Presentation last month. The game, which might be best described as Punch-Out‘s even more outlandish cousin, stars a gaggle of colorful characters who fight each other using their super-stretchy arms.
Over the weekend, Nintendo Japan released a pair of new trailers for Arms that attempt to explain a little bit more about the game’s wacky world. The narration is completely in Japanese, but the trailer embedded above will introduce viewers to Spring Man, Ribbon Girl, Ninjara, Master Mummy, and Mechanica. Each has their own special abilities, but they should look familiar to fighting game fans (Spring Man is average… Ribbon Girl is fast… Ninjara can teleport… Master Mummy is slow but strong… Mechanica has electrical powers… etc).
The second trailer, available after the break, is a primer on the game’s fighting mechanics. Again, it’s all in Japanese, but it’s easy enough to suss out when the narrator is talking about weak punches, strong punches, blocking, and a wide variety of customizable boxing gloves.
The Nintendo Switch will be available in stores beginning on March 3, and Arms is expected to launch sometime this Spring. (more…)
Weekly Warp-Up: The Public Can Buy Tickets to E3 2017 Beginning Tomorrow…
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…
It was going to happen eventually, but this week, the Entertainment Software Association finally announced that the E3 Expo will be open to the public this year. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, February 13, in very limited quantities.
We don’t know what games will be available to try out at this year’s E3 Expo, but we did get the chance to play Freedom Planet 2, GalaxyTrail’s retro homage to Sonic the Hedgehog, earlier this week. This early demo is shaping up well, and it’ll be out sometime this Summer.
Elsewhere on Warp Zoned this week, we reviewed a pair of recent games… the puzzle platforming of Metrico+ and the survival horror of Amnesia Collection.
Finally, our examination of “The Scientifically Proven Best Video Games of All Time” continues with a look at the gonzo marketing and unique art style found in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island.
More news from this week can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Retail Releases: For Honor, Sniper Elite 4, Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition, More
Five new games will be available on store shelves this week, and three of them will ask players to study the art of war…
The combat-heavy For Honor certainly fits the theme, and Ubisoft’s action game will pit some of history’s strongest warriors against each other. Coming to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this week, For Honor asks players to choose their Faction (Knights, Vikings, or Samurai) and take them into battle in a single-player Campaign and an online Multiplayer Mode.
Another historical skirmish will be waged on the PS4 and Xbox One this week in Sniper Elite 4. Once again developed by Rebellion, Sniper Elite 4 transports players back to World War II and provides them with a series of missions for the Allies on the Italian front. The Day One Edition will also give early adopters the chance to kill Hitler in the “Target: Fuhrer” bonus mission.
It’s unlikely that future conflicts will play out like they do in science fiction, but Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition will give fans of the franchise a chance to try out 21st century tactics against Atriox and his Banished followers. The real time strategy game will be available for the Xbox One and as an Windows 10 Digital Code (which also includes an Xbox One download thanks to the Xbox Play Anywhere program), and the Ultimate Edition will be bundled with the Season Pass and a digital copy of Halo Wars: Definitive Edition.
And speaking of bundles, an Xbox One S 1TB + Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition Bundle will also launch this week, alongside a brand new Xbox One S 500GB + Forza Horizon 3 Bundle.
A different kind of war will take place on the racetracks of Ride 2, which will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this week. The hyperrealistic motorcycle racing sim will include more than 230 licensed bikes, as well as 1,200 real-world parts, 800 accessories, and over 30 tracks.
Finally, a special Retail Edition of Earthlock: Festvial of Magic will be released for the PS4. Currently available to download from the PlayStation Store, Earthlock is a turn-based RPG that features a very retro sensibility.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Earthlock: Festival of Magic, For Honor, Halo Wars, Halo Wars 2, Sniper Elite 4
Switch owners will get to test out Splatoon 2 in a Global Testfire on March 24-26; Local Multiplayer and Spectator Mode also confirmed
Nintendo successfully sold the original Splatoon to unsure Wii U owners with a series of Global Testfires that allowed players to try out the multiplayer shooter before it launched. This was new territory for Nintendo, though other publishers have been using open betas to build hype for years.
But it looks like the consolemaker had a good experience with their Global Testfire gambit, because they’re bring it back for Splatoon 2. Beginning March 24, Switch owners will be able to download a special demo version of the game that’ll include four different main weapons: the new Splat Dualies, as well as remixed versions of the Splat Roller and Splat Charger.
Splatoon 2’s Global Testfire will be available for six hour-long blocks during the demo period:
Global Testfire Starting Times (Eastern Time)
- Friday, March 24: 3:00 PM and 11:00 PM
- Saturday, March 25: 7:00 AM, 3:00 PM, and 11:00 PM
- Sunday, March 26: 7:00 AM
Nintendo also announced that the final version of Splatoon 2 will include a local multiplayer mode, known as LAN Play because each player will need their own Switch console, for up to eight players. And two additional non-players will be able to watch all the action unfold from multiple camera angles (including overhead) in a special Private Battle Spectator View.
Finally, the consolemaker confirmed that Amiibo figures from the original Splatoon series will be compatible with Splatoon 2.
Splatoon 2 will be released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch sometime this Summer. A new trailer advertising the Global Testfire can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Splatoon 2
The Deep End’s Perception is officially coming to the Xbox One too
After previously revealing that Perception, a survival horror game starring a young woman named Cassie, would be released for the PC and PS4, developer The Deep End Games has now confirmed it’ll also be available for the Xbox One.
If you’re unfamiliar with Perception, The Deep End has released a new trailer, as well as posted a detailed description about the game to the Xbox Wire:
Perception is a narrative-based first-person horror game where you play as Cassie, a blind woman whose nightmares about a haunted mansion have plagued her for months. She finally decides to go to the mansion to solve the mystery, but there’s more to this estate than she ever dreamed. She must use her wits, her smartphone, and her echolocation abilities to unravel the tortured history of the place and escape with her life.
Sound is a major element to playing Perception. Every sound becomes a visual cue for the player, whether it be a hissing pipe or an alarm clock going off at an inopportune time — the more sound you make while exploring Echo Bluff, the greater your chance of grabbing the attention of the malevolent force inside the house.
As you continue to play, you’ll travel back through the decades and see the house’s many iterations, along with the generations tormented by the forces at play. As Cassie solves each mystery, the house dwindles slowly toward its original form, to the beginning of its horrors.
Perception doesn’t currently have an official release date, but there’s a possibility it could launch sometime in 2017.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Perception
Indie Megabooth will host 12 games in their GDC 2017 Showcase
The Indie Megabooth will once again offer a small chunk of real estate at the Game Developers Conference to up-and-coming developers this year. Their GDC 2017 Showcase will feature 12 games that are sometimes goofy (Keyboard Sports), sometimes terrifying (Perception), and sometimes without explanation.
The full lineup includes:
Indie Megabooth’s GDC 2017 Showcase
- _Transfer
- A Duel Hand Disaster: Trackher
- Cosmic Express
- I, Hope
- Keyboard Sports
- Lightfield
- Monster Prom
- Perception
- Post Human WAR
- Rogue Process
- Snake Pass
- Super Slime Arena
The Indie Megabooth will set up shop in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center on the third floor of West Hall, and more information about every game featured in the Showcase can be found on their official website.
The 2017 Game Developers Conference will begin on February 27.
Call of Duty 2017 is going “back to its roots” and CoD: Infinite Warfare is officially a retail disappointment
It’s official… Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has been a disappointment for Activision. During a quarterly financial presentation yesterday, executives from the publisher confirmed that sales of the sequel “underperformed our expectations.”
COO Thomas Tippl speculated that the sci-fi trappings of Infinite Warfare’s plot might have been responsible for the sales downturn, saying, “It’s clear that for a portion of our audience, the space setting just didn’t resonate.”
However, Activision’s senior staff are very excited for Call of Duty 2017, which is currently in development at Sledgehammer Games. Tippl confirmed the game will launch this Fall, and said it’ll feature “traditional combat” that takes the franchise “back to its roots”:
In 2017, Activision will take Call of Duty back to its roots, and traditional combat will once again take center stage. This is what our dedicated community of Call of Duty players and Sledgehammer Games, who has been developing this year’s title, are the most excited about.
During the Q&A portion of the presentation, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg added that Call of Duty 2017, which is known as “Lethal Combat” internally, will offer a better balance of traditional elements and new innovations than Infinite Warfare did:
I’ve said many times before, with any longstanding franchise like Call of Duty, there’s a balancing act we need to strike between staying true to the things that people love about the franchise and also the need to never become complacent and to keep pushing for innovations to keep the franchise fresh and vital.
Last year I don’t think we got that balance right. Infinite Warfare had a ton of great gameplay innovations that many of our fans appreciated and loved, but it also had a setting that didn’t appeal to all of our fans. The good news is, is that I’m excited to say that in 2017 we think we have this balance in perfect harmony with a game that our teams are incredibly passionate about, with a lot of great innovations, but that also has the traditional combat that we know our fans are going to love.
Barring some catastrophic change in Activision’s operational style, Call of Duty 2017 will likely be released this November.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: WWII
Xbox Store Today: Crypt of the NecroDancer, Uncanny Valley, Spheroids
Three retro-styled games are now available to download as part of today’s Xbox Games Store update…
First up is Crypt of the NecroDancer, a roguelike rhythm game for the Xbox One from Brace Yourself Games. Players will delve deep into a monster-filled dungeon and hopefully hit their musical cues to “deliver beatdowns to the beat.”
Also available to download for the Xbox One today is Uncanny Valley, a side-scrolling survival horror game where there’s an abandoned factory to explore and puzzles to solve.
Finally today, Spheroids is a side-scrolling platformer for the Xbox One where “a jumpy Canadian boy” named Lucas has to save the world from interdimensional aliens.
More information on all three games can be found after the break. (more…)