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
Activision reconfirms Destiny 2 will launch in 2017
Bungie has produced four expansions for Destiny since its launch in 2014, and after re-releasing all the add-ons as part of Destiny: The Collection in September, the developer has now set their sights on the future and Destiny 2. Publisher Activision is also ready to start talking about the second game in the shooter series, and it came up several times during yesterday’s quarterly financial report.
COO Thomas Tippl started things off with confirmation that Destiny 2 will indeed be released sometime in 2017: “Activision and our talented partners at Bungie are hard at work on a sequel to Destiny which should energize both Destiny’s passionate fan base and bring millions of new fans to the franchise next year.”
Later, CFO Dennis Durkin added that Activision expects the sequel to broaden the appeal of Destiny even further: “We’re on track and really excited about what we think is going to be an awesome sequel for Destiny in 2017. No announcements today on timing just yet. But what I will say is, that sequel is designed to both excite our highly-engaged current players, but also to broaden the appeal even further, bringing in new fans and bringing back lapsed fans, as well. So that’s our primary focus right now.”
Activision and Bungie are keeping a tight hold on information related to Destiny 2, so it’s unknown exactly what gameplay changes might “broaden the appeal” of the franchise. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about the sequel soon.
39 games will receive PS4 Pro enhancements at launch… with more to come by end of 2016 and beyond
The PlayStation 4 Pro will make its retail debut on November 10, and Sony is gearing up for the launch by producing “PS4 Pro Enhancement” patches for some of the console’s biggest hits. Thanks to a boosted CPU and GPU, the souped-up system will optimize supported games with “resolutions up to 4K, HDR imaging technology, and faster, more stable frame rates.”
According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, PS4 fans who purchase the new console will be able to download PS4 Pro Enhancement patches for 39 games next Thursday, with many more lined up for release in 2017. Here’s the complete list of games the PS4 Pro will provide an extra boost to on November 10:
PS4 Games Getting a PS4 Pro Enhancement Patch at Launch
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By the end of the year, PS4 Pro Enhancement patches will also be available for Watch Dogs 2, Killing Floor 2, Final Fantasy XV, and The Last Guardian.
And beginning in 2017, all first-party games produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (Gravity Rush 2, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Days Gone, Gran Turismo Sport, and more) will be optimized for the PS4 Pro, along with third-party titles such as Nioh, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and For Honor.
Nintendo Download: Mario Party Star Rush, Mario Hoops 3-On-3, DK Jungle Beat, more
The spotlight is on Nintendo’s old workhorses, Mario and Donkey Kong, in this week’s Nintendo Download.
Mario, and all his Mushroom Kingdom pals, will have a starring role in Mario Party: Star Rush, which will be availale to download through the 3DS eShop beginning tomorrow. In a first for the long-running series, each players will be able to roll the dice and take their turn at the same time.
Jumping over to the Wii U, Mario fans are also able to download Mario Hoops 3-On-3 today. Originally released for the DS in 2006, Mario Hoops 3-On-3 was developed by Square Enix and includes cameos from your favorite Final Fantasy characters. Also available to download on the Wii U today is Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, a bongo-banging rhythm game that was originally released for the Wii in 2005.
More information about all three of these games (and the rest of this week’s new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Mario Party: Star Rush
Capcom wants their Switch games to be unique and not ports of PS4/Xbox One titles
While we don’t yet know the hardware specifications of the Nintendo Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild makes a compelling case for the computing power it must have under the hood. And with the strong possibility that NBA 2K17 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition will also be available for Nintendo’s next console, we know it should be able to go toe-to-toe with anything the PS4 and Xbox One offer. But some publishers aren’t interested in that.
Capcom CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto recently discussed the company’s Switch plans during a quarterly financial report to investors last week. While the executive believes that multiplatform ports are possible on the Switch, he wants Capcom to focus on “something that will differ from PlayStation 4 and Xbox One titles.”
Here’s what Tsujimoto had to say about the Switch (thanks to WCCF Tech for the translation assist):
During the latest financial briefing, Capcom’s CEO Kenzo Tsujimoto has touched upon the company’s Nintendo Switch support. During the Q&A session, Tsujimoto stated that multiplatform development will be possible for the new Nintendo console, but that’s not what Capcom would like to do, as they seek to offer something that will differ from PlayStation 4 and Xbox One titles. Tsujimoto also added that the company is currently in an internal review phase regarding content and features that might be offered in Switch titles, so there are no additional details on the matter as of now.
Capcom released a number of unique games built exclusively for the Wii including Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure, Tatsunoko Vs Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. However, their recent projects with Nintendo have mostly been confined to the 3DS. Hopefully we’ll learn more about what Capcom has in store for the Switch when Nintendo fully unveils their next console on January 12.
UPDATE: Capcom has added an official English translation of the Q&A session to their Investor Relations page:
Q: What is Capcom’s stance with regards to developing for the Nintendo Switch?
A: It is excellent to have the market invigorated with new hardware launches. As a software publisher, we endeavor to develop games that offer enjoyment best suited to each piece of hardware’s features and target users. Following first party, in order to introduce our own content we are currently moving forward with internal planning and analysis as a partner company.
Q: Is it possible to develop multiplatform titles on the Nintendo Switch?
A: We are currently carrying out research with regards to multiplatform implementation of software for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on to the Nintendo Switch and thus are unable to comment at this moment. However, we do feel that there are differences in the desired direction and the play-style of the Nintendo Switch and those of the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. At Capcom, we determine which platform to release a title for after considering the features of both our software and the hardware in question, believing we must bring the enjoyment of our games to their maximum potential.
Dragon Quest VIII will be released for the 3DS on January 20
Nintendo and Square Enix have announced that Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King will released for the 3DS on January 20, 2017. The epic RPG was originally released for the PS2 back in 2005, but the handheld re-release will add two new playable characters, more side quests, new story content, and a new alternative ending:
The story begins when a jester, Dhoulmagus, comes to Castle Trodain and steals the King’s sceptre. He then uses its power to turn his majesty into a troll, the Princess into a horse and the castle inhabitants into plants. The only one left unscathed from this attack is a castle guard who escaped the curse and must now step up to save the kingdom he’s sworn to protect. Only by traveling the lands, recruiting allies and following the trail of destruction that Dhoulmagus leaves in his wake will The Hero be able to retrieve the sceptre in order to restore Trodain back to its former glory.
For players who do most of their 3DS gaming on the go, this new version of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King will also add a Quick Save function and a Speed Up mode for battles.
To go along with the release date news, Nintendo and Square Enix also released a new trailer for the game, and it’s been embedded above.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Xbox Store Today: Super Dungeon Bros, Earth’s Dawn, Bullet Soul: Infinite Burst
It’s November… and that means that Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to pick up a handful of new games through the Games With Gold program.
This month’s Xbox One selection is Super Dungeon Bros, and its also newly available to download this week from the Xbox Games Store. Players will take control of the Super Dungeon Bros (Axl, Lars, Freddie, and Ozzie) in this co-op “dungeon brawler” as they battle the evil undead in search of epic loot. Also available to download today on the Xbox One is Earth’s Dawn, a side-scrolling brawler where players take on the alien invasion force in a game with a “hard-edged manga aesthetic.”
If you’re a fan 2D action, over on the Xbox 360 side of the Xbox Games Store, players will be able to download the vertically-scrolling shooter Bullet Soul: Infinite Burst.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
EA reiterates that Star Wars: Battlefront 2 will be released in Fall 2017
This past Summer, executives from EA confirmed that Star Wars: Battlefront 2 would be released sometime in 2017. Yesterday, during a quarterly financial report to investors, Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen confirmed the game will be available in Fall 2017.
“So we have talked obviously about the next Battlefront coming a year from now, and we’re working very hard on making sure that is an extremely deep and engaging offering,” Jorgensen said.
EA actually has multiple Star Wars games in development, and the publisher plans to release a new Star Wars game every year for at least the next three years.
Visceral Games will launch their Star Wars game in 2018, and it is widely believed to star Han Solo. And Repawn is working on a third-person Star Wars adventure that will feature Lightsaber duels in some capacity. It doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’ll likely launch in 2019.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront II
CoD: Infinite Warfare, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Destroy All Humans, more added to PS Store
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare will report for PS4 duty on the PlayStation Store this Friday. Activision and Infinity Ward tapped Game of Thrones actor Kit Harrington to portray “The Face of the Enemy” in their interstellar war, and don’t that the Legacy Edition will also include a copy of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.
Also available to download this week is BlazBlue: Central Fiction, the latest 2D fighter from Arc System Works. This time around, 35 characters will battle it out on the PS4 and PS3.
Finally this week, THQ Nordic will bring back the Destroy All Humans! series with a PS2-On-PS4 re-release of the first game in the series, Destroy All Humans!
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And don’t forget that a full list of this week’s new add-ons and discounts is available at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4
Tagged Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Destroy All Humans