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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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- Video Game Research Library
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- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
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Most Recent: News
Learn more about Overwatch’s Sombra with an Origin Story video and gameplay trailer
If you’re like most Overwatch players, I’m guessing you’ve been waiting patiently for Sombra’s debut for a few months now. But after all of Blizzard’s teasing, the developer finally pulled the curtain back on the character during this weekend’s BlizzCon.
An elite hacker with combat skills to match, we got our first look at Sombra in “Infiltration,” a brand new animated short from Blizzrd. But did you know the developer also uploaded a brand new “Origin Story” video and gameplay trailer for everyone’s new favorite character? Both videos can be found after the break.
Sombra herself will be available to download for PC players using the Overwatch Public Test Region next week, and she’ll be accessible by all players sometime in the near future. (more…)
Diablo III will get retro Diablo dungeon next month and Necromancer class later in 2017
Diablo III is getting nostalgic in 2017.
The original Diablo was released on December 31, 2016, and Blizzard is celebrating the groundbreaking game’s 20th anniversary with The Darkening of Tristram, a retro-styled dungeon that’ll be available to download as a free update for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in January. According to the BlizzCon news feed, the update’s many “retro touches” will include “special graphics filters” and “eight-direction character movement”:
Celebrate 20 years of Diablo by traveling back into the depths of the Cathedral where it all began in this upcoming Diablo III: Reaper of Souls content update. Get ready to explore a monster-filled dungeon 16 levels deep, and come face to face with the four main bosses from the original game—all with retro touches like special graphics filters and eight-direction character movement.
Blizzard will also bring back a little piece of Diablo II in 2017 with the reintroduction of the Necromancer class. The Necromancer will be part of the Rise of the Necromancer Pack, which will also include “an in-game pet, two additional character slots, two additional stash tabs (on PC), a portrait frame, pennant, banner, and banner sigil.” There’s a new trailer starring the Necromancer embedded above and a pretty extensive FAQ over at Battle.net:
The Necromancer will be the next fully-playable class introduced to Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. As a master of the dark arts, you draw your magic from the power of death itself, and command mighty armies of risen warriors! Oh, and you can make corpses explode. There are definitely exploding corpses.
I guess all that Diablo IV talk was a little premature.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Diablo III
Ubisoft CEO teases Switch development and promises “at least one game that will definitely surprise you”
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is very excited for the Nintendo Switch. In addition to reconfirming that Just Dance 2017 will be available for Nintendo’s next console, Guillemot also said the publisher has “at least one game that will definitely surprise you” in a recent Facebook post:
With the Switch’s unique capacities and design, Nintendo could again redefine the way we play games! The Switch is accessible at its core and will give people the freedom and the pleasure to share more experiences and play anywhere at anytime. The Ubisoft teams developing games for the Switch are inspired by these new possibilities, and I’m really happy that we’re able to continue doing great things with Nintendo. In addition to Just Dance 2017, I think there’s at least one game that will definitely surprise you!
Is Guillemot referring to Beyond Good & Evil 2? Who knows… but I can’t wait to see what surprises Ubisoft has in store for the Switch on January 12.
Weekly Warp-Up: Halloween, Horror, and the Games of November…
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…
Hope you had a great Halloween on Monday, we celebrated the holiday with Part Five of It’s In Your Blood: A History of Horror Games.
Elsewhere on Warp Zoned this week, the staff got together to discuss What We Played in October 2016 and The Games of November 2016.
And in Nintendo Switch news this week, Nintendo said the new console won’t be a replacement for the 3DS. And Capcom said they want their Switch games to be unique and not ports of existing PS4 or Xbox One titles.
More news from the rest of the week can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Retail Releases: PlayStation 4 Pro, NES Classic Edition, Dishonored 2, More
Are you in the market for a new console this week… well good news, you’ve got three new options to choose from.
Sony is kicking things off with the launch of the PS4 Pro, their hyper-powered new PS4 that promises to deliver “resolutions up to 4K, HDR imaging technology, and faster, more stable frame rates.” For games to get the most out of the PS4 Pro, they’ll need a special “Enhancement” patch, and so far, the patches for 39 games will be ready this week, with more to come by the end of the year.
While Sony’s PS4 Pro is the biggest and beefiest new console launch this week, the smallest might possibly be even larger (metaphorically speaking). The NES Classic Edition shrinks Nintendo’s beloved NES console down into an HDMI-powered nostalgia machine that’s packed with 30 of the greatest games of all time. If you just want to relive your childhood, or maybe introduce a new generation of kids to games like Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy, then you should hunt down an NES Classic Edition this week.
Last, but not least, the Retro-Bit Generations will stuff more than 90 games into its retro-styled chassis including a huge number of 8-bit and 16-bit classics from Capcom, Data East, Jaleco, and Irem.
If you’re looking for new games, you’ll also find a handful of new titles on store shelves this week, including Dishonored 2 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Players will be able to control both Corvo and Emily Kaldwin as they attempt to once again return Emily to her rightful place on the throne.
Finally this week, a pair of new PlayStation VR titles will be available for the PS4… Robinson: The Journey, an exploration adventure, and Eagle Flight, a flight simulation.
A complete look at this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: CoD Infinite Warfare, Atari Flashback Classics Vol 1 & Vol 2, Gas Guzzlers Extreme
We’re going back to the past and forward to the future (while also going back to the past) in today’s Xbox Games Store update.
Infinity Ward is taking the Call of Duty franchise into a far-flung future with sci-fi-style weaponry, cyborgs, and space battles in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for the Xbox One. But if you’re someone who’s looking for something a little more familiar, the developer has also worked hard to produce Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, a bonus game included in Infinite Warfare’s pricey Legacy Edition.
If you’d rather go further back, Atari has released two new collections of Atari 2600 classics for the Xbox One… Atari Flashback Classics Volume 1 and Atari Flashback Classics Volume 2. Both packages include 50 different titles, with Combat, Centipede, Swordquest, and Star Raiders included in Volume 1, and Asteroids, Haunted House, Adventure, and Major Havoc in Volume 2.
Finally this week, Gas Guzzlers Extreme is now available for the Xbox One and it features the type of car combat that was all the rage back in the late 90s. Oh, and there’s also zombies for some reason.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Blizzard introduces Sombra to Overwatch in a new animated short
Blizzard has been dropping hints about Sombra, Overwatch‘s newest Hero, for months. Today, the character made her debut at BlizzCon in a brand new animated short.
One of the world’s most notorious hackers, Sombra uses information to manipulate those in power.
Long before she took up the alias “Sombra,” XXXXXX was among the thousands of children who were left orphaned in the aftermath of the Omnic Crisis. With much of her country’s infrastructure destroyed, she survived by utilizing her natural gifts with hacking and computers.
[…]
She later reemerged as Sombra, upgraded and determined to find out the truth behind the conspiracy she had uncovered. Sombra launched an even more audacious string of hacks, and her exploits earned her no shortage of admirers, including Talon. She joined the organization’s ranks and is believed to have contributed to its massive cyberattacks against corporations with strong ties to their governments. These efforts incited a popular revolution in Mexico against LumériCo and breached the security of Volskaya Industries, the manufacturing arm of Russia’s anti-omnic defense.
Like the title of her animated short, Sombra is someone who’s skilled at “Infiltration” and manipulating technology for her own gains. The Offense character can get close to her enemies with “Thermoptic Camo” to go invisible for short periods of time and she can escape with her “Translocator,” a beacon Sombra can instantly return to as long as it’s active. Once she’s in, her “Hack” ability can stop opponents from using their abilities, while her “EMP” disables barriers and shields in the blast radius.
Sombra will be available to download for PC players using the Overwatch Public Test Region next week, and she’ll be accessible by all sometime in the near future. In the meantime, you can learn more about Sombra on PlayOverwatch.com.
Supergiant will release Bastion for Xbox One on December 12
Supergiant Games burst onto the scene in a huge way with the release of their debut game, Bastion, in 2011. The Action RPG combined Zelda-like gameplay mechanics with a revolutionary audio presentation that also included an ever-present narrator. Today, the developer announced that Bastion will be released for the Xbox One on December 12.
Instead of going the Backwards Compatibility route, Supergiant teamed up with BlitWorks to rebuild Bastion from the ground up for the Xbox One. This new version of the game will be displayed in full 1080p and come packaged with the Stranger’s Dream expansion. An entirely new set of Achievements will also be included. Best of all, everyone who owns the Xbox 360 version of Bastion will be able to upgrade to the Xbox One version for free until January 1, 2017 (new players will pay $14.99).
Finally, Supergiant had a message for their fans in a new blog post on their website: “We remain ever grateful to all of you out there who love and remember Bastion, because it’s thanks to you that we get to stick together as a team and keep making games day to day.”