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
Xbox Store Today: Happy Dungeons, Telltale’s Batman Episode 1, Dead Island: Retro Revenge, more
It’s time to get happy… today’s Xbox Games Store update is now available.
And speaking of happiness, Toylogic is back with Happy Dungeons (Xbox One), a free-to-play sequel to Happy Wars. This time, the multiplayer action RPG takes the battle deep underground with a “witty, upbeat storyline that’s never short of a surprise.”
But if you feel that happiness is overrated, let Telltale help you challenge your angst with Batman: The Telltale Series. Episode 1: Realm of Shadows is now available to download for the Xbox One, and players will be able to take control of both Batman and Bruce Wayne as they try to clean up the streets of Gotham.
Deep Silver’s Dead Island: Retro Revenge is also available as a standalone download for the Xbox One. Previously exclusive to the Dead Island Definitive Collection, Retro Revenge is a side-scrolling beat ’em up through a zombie-infested California.
Finally this week, Introversion’s slammer simulator, Prison Architect, makes a break for the Xbox 360.
You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: The Telltale Series, Prison Architect
Almost every issue of Nintendo Power is now available as a free download at Internet Archive
UPDATE: All issues of Nintendo Power have been removed from the Internet Archive.
Do you consider yourself something of an amateur video game historian? Then good news… nearly every issue of Nintendo Power is now available to download (for free) through the Internet Archive. As of today, the site has digitized more than 100 issues of Nintendo Power, which covers more than half of the magazine’s complete 24-year run. So that means there’s still a few holes, but every issue from Nintendo’s NES-Super NES-Nintendo 64 heyday is just a click away.
This isn’t the first time that the Internet Archive has come to the aid of retro-minded gamers. The site also serves as a repository for playable versions of classic Atari 2600, MS-DOS, and Windows 3.1 games.
So what are you waiting for? Head over to the Internet Archive and get reading. Me, I’m going to catch up on old Howard & Nester strips.
Playdead’s Inside will be released for PS4 on August 23
Sony and Playdead have confirmed that Inside, Playdead’s moody and atmospheric puzzle platformer, will be released for the PS4 on August 23.
Inside has been showered with critical praise since its release in late June, and you can see all the perfect scores in a new trailer for the game embedded above.
Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 1, Abzu, Ape Escape 2, more added to PS Store
Sony’s “PlayStation Store Play” promotion continues this week with the release of Abzu, a game from Journey Art Director Matt Nava that encourages players to explore “a vibrant hidden world bursting with color and life” as they dive deeper into the ocean.
Elsewhere on the PlayStation Store, Telltale will launch the first episode of Batman: The Telltale Series this week for the PS4. The opening chapter of this Gotham City story is titled “Realm of Shadows,” and it’ll examine the lives of both Batman and Bruce Wayne in his quest to protect the innocent and punish the guilty.
Finally this week, Sony will expand their line of PS2-On-PS4 offerings with Ape Escape 2, a forgotten classic from the PS2’s early days.
More information on all of these games (and a few more new releases) can be found after the break. And a complete list of this week’s new add-ons and discounts is available at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Batman: The Telltale Series
Just Dance 2017 demo now available; Songs from DNCE, Silento, Shakira added to the game
Ubisoft will release Just Dance 2017 this October, but fans interested in a playable demo featuring Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” can download one for the PS4, Xbox One, or Wii U beginning today.
In addition to a new song from “The Biebs,” Ubisoft announced three more songs that’ll be included on Just Dance 2017’s soundtrack:
- DNCE – “Cake By The Ocean”
- Silento – “Watch Me (Whip/ Nae Nae)”
- Shakira (featuring Wyclef Jean) – “Hips Don’t Lie”
Just Dance 2017 will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii, and Wii U this October. The game will also be released for Nintendo’s NX console next year.
Ubisoft has multiple games in development for Nintendo’s NX
Ubisoft is often referred to as a “megapublisher” by its fans because they typically release dozens of games a year across every conceivable platform. And it’s beginning to look like Nintendo’s NX won’t be an exception.
During this year’s E3 Expo, Ubisoft announced that Just Dance 2017 would be released for the NX next year. Yesterday, Alain Corre, the Executive Director of Ubisoft’s EMEA Division, revealed to GamesIndustry.biz that the company actually has multiple NX titles in development:
“We announced that we’re developing Just Dance for NX and we have other surprises that we will announce later, but we also believe Nintendo has the power to reinvent the way families are playing,” Corre tells me. “Nintendo is a fantastic powerhouse of brands that are really cherished by a lot of fans and families… I am still impressed by the reoccurrence of success and appetite even today for the Nintendo franchises on the current system.”
Ubisoft currently plans to release two games for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One next year… medieval free-for-all For Honor, and the cartel-busting Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands. But as of today, it’s unknown if either of these games is also in development for the NX, which will launch in March 2017.
And then there’s always the possibility that Ubisoft has something completely unique in store for the NX.
Aside from a handful of game announcements, Nintendo’s NX is still shrouded in mystery (though that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill). Besides Just Dance 2017, Nintendo will release The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for their new console in 2017, while Sega plans to publish Project Sonic sometime next Fall.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Just Dance 2017
NY governor bans registered sex offenders from playing Pokemon Go
Local governments and police departments are very concerned with Pokemon Go. After police departments in several neighboring states issued guidelines to help ensure players catch ’em all safely, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the New York State Department of Corrections to ban all registered sex offenders from playing Pokemon Go and similar games.
“Protecting New York’s children is priority number one and, as technology evolves, we must ensure these advances don’t become new avenues for dangerous predators to prey on new victims,” Governor Cuomo said. “These actions will provide safeguards for the players of these augmented reality games and help take one more tool away from those seeking to do harm to our children.”
Cuomo, and other state legislators, were most concerned about Pokemon Go’s unfortunately-named “Lure” module:
Additionally, a feature of the game, where, for a small fee, a “lure” can be purchased to intentionally encourage traffic to a particular location, also appears to have the potential to be abused by predators.
This recommendation by Governor Cuomo most likely will lead to similar announcements by other local and state governments, and more information about the specifics of New York State’s plan can be found at NY.gov.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Pokemon Go
Outlast II will now “scare the crap out of you” in Early 2017
Red Barrels had planned to release their survival horror sequel, Outlast II, by the end of the year. Unfortunately, the developer recently hit a snag and has decided to push the game’s release back to Early 2017. Writing on Facebook, a member of the development team said this delay is to make sure they can create the best game possible:
We had to make a difficult decision recently. After weighing our options we’ve decided to postpone Outlast 2’s release until Q1 of 2017.
We want you to know that we listen to your feedback, we see your excitement and we know you care about our work. Our mission as an indie studio is to deliver to you the best, most terrifying, most fulfilling experiences possible. That’s why we’re taking just a little bit more time to make sure our vision for Outlast 2 is in no way compromised and is the experience you deserve.
While this news is surely disappointing, Red Barrels ended their announcement in the best possible way… by promising that Outlast II will “scare the crap out of you” when it’s finally released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.