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
Weekly Warp-Up: PAX East 2016 Aftermath
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…
The eyes of the gaming world were pointed at Boston last weekend for the annual PAX East convention. And with another knockout show, publisher and developers did not disappoint. Over the weekend, we saw Mira take a bite out of Killer Instinct Season 3, Jason deliver the coup de grace in Friday the 13th: The Game, and Deathstate begin its journey towards a PS4 and Xbox One launch.
Our PAX East 2016 coverage also included a Hands-On Preview of the bouncy Cuphead and a rundown of our favorite games from the show floor with The PAXpocalypse List.
But the biggest news from the week may be that Nintendo will launch their mysterious NX console in March 2017. Not only that, but The Legend of Zelda Wii U will also receive a simultaneous release on the new console.
PAX East is always a good time, but you can find more news from the rest of the week after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Retail Releases: Battleborn
Year after year, the month of May is usually flooded with big new releases, but the taps might be running a little dry in 2016. Sure, there are several intriguing new titles scheduled for the next four weeks, but that is probably all we’re getting.
Which brings us to Gearbox’s Battleborn, the sole new release that’ll be available on store shelves this week. Taking a break from the Borderlands universe, Gearbox developed Battleborn as a “Hero Shooter,” and they plan to offer players the chance to choose from dozens of heroes in both single-player and multiplayer modes. Also, expect to hear the word “Badass” quite a bit.
Battleborn will be available in stores this week on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
We’ll be back later in the week with an update on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Battleborn
Activision begins teasing Call of Duty 2016 with a new video
There have been so many Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare leaks over the past few days that it’s hard to keep them all straight. But it looks like Activision is finally getting ready to reveal the game that’s still officially known as “Call of Duty 2016.”
A new video, titled “Know Your Enemy,” was uploaded to Call of Duty’s YouTube account just an hour ago. In it, a man delivers this monologue while images of the “Ghost” balaclava from Modern Warfare 2 occasionally interrupts the feed:
“Make no mistake, we will rip you from the history books. Every last trace of you, gone. You will know loss. We will be the architects of your pain. We will build monuments to your destruction. The whole world will bear witness to this: our ascension. We will blot out the skies, we will bury you in darkness. Know this, and know us. We are your enemy. We are the Settlement Defense Front.”
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare will be announced sometime soon, and it’ll be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this November.
UPDATE: A second teaser trailer, available after the break, has been released by Activision. In the video, a Lieutenant Reyes hacks the feed and tells viewers to visit M.me/CODMessenger for more information, because it’s “the only secure comms channel.” (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Xbox Store Today: DC Universe Online, Paranautical Activity, JumpJet Rex
Three new Xbox One games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store, and they’re all pretty different…
DC Universe Online is a free-to-play MMO set within the DC Universe. Available on the PC and PS3/PS4 for a few years, players will choose a Hero or Villain in DC Universe Online and fight alongside (or against) some of the biggest names in comics.
Paranautical Activity is a first person shooter that combines the classic style of Doom and Quake with the roguelike randomness of The Binding of Isaac and Spelunky. Players of Paranautical Activity will get to experience “procedurally generated levels, impossibly fast gameplay, hidden levels, […] ridiculous bosses, and a kick ass Dubstep soundtrack.”
Finally, JumpJet Rex straps jump boots on a T-Rex and asks him to go nuts in a side-scrolling platformer. OK, I get it, but shouldn’t a T-Rex opt for cybernetic arm enhancements? His legs are probably already pretty powerful, but T-Rex arms will always be pretty useless. Perhaps I’ve put too much thought into this…
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged DC Universe Online
John Romero hacked together another Doom map in his spare time
John Romero is at it again. The Doom co-creator recently returned to one of his earliest successes with “Phobos Mission Control,” a brand new WAD for Doom that replaces the “Command Control” map (E1M4). Available to download now through Romero’s Dropbox account, here’s what the developer had to say about the new map:
With the Toxin Refinery in the rear-view, you make your way to Phobos Mission Control where the computers crunching the data from the Phobos Anomaly are located. You need to use them to gain access to the Phobos Lab, but remember hearing that the computers were tied into all areas of the installation and that you never knew when the environment around you would change. You need to keep your eyes alert to all movement – this place is not what it seems…
According to Romero, “Phobos Mission Control” isn’t as hard as his previous new map, “Tech Gone Bad,” and was created as another warm-up for the newly announced Blackroom. However, the developer “paused” Blackroom’s Kickstarter campaign earlier today to create a playable demo of the game for potential backers.
If you want to see “Phobos Mission Control” in action, check out a gameplay wakthrough embedded after the break from YouTube user “Doom Video Vault.” (more…)
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Doom (1993)
Koei Tecmo is developing at least one game for Nintendo’s NX
News about Nintendo’s upcoming NX platform is still pretty hard to come by, but Koei Tecmo has revealed the consolemaker won’t be going it alone. The Japanese publisher confirmed the NX will be one of the platforms they plan to support in the future within the pages of their most recent Financial Report.
Obviously, it’s still too early to speculate about specific game announcements, but Koei Tecmo and Nintendo have worked closely in recent years on Hyrule Warriors for the Wii U, as well as Hyrule Warriors Legends and Yo-Kai Watch: Three Kingdoms for the 3DS.
Nintendo’s NX platform will launch in March 2017, and an NX edition of The Legend of Zelda Wii U is widely expected to be available as part of its launch lineup.
John Romero “pauses” Blackroom Kickstarter campaign to produce a gameplay demo for potential backers
Even though the Kickstarter campaign for John Romero’s Blackroom was going pretty well, the Doom developer has decided to suspend it for now to work on a gameplay demo for potential backers. Here’s what Romero had to say about pressing Blackroom’s “PAUSE” button:
The team is at work on a demo which demonstrates the kind of gameplay, look and innovative, cool features that make Blackroom truly unique — the things we’ve waited years to put into an FPS and which make us incredibly excited about this game.
There’s a hitch here, a hitch that’s making us do something that’s right for the game, the team, and the community: we’re pressing “PAUSE” on the fundraising campaign for Blackroom to complete this gameplay demo. Simply put, this will take more time than the Kickstarter has left, so we’ve decided to suspend the campaign and launch a new one when the gameplay demo is ready. We believe, however, it is the right choice. We know you do, too. Thanks to your feedback, we know we should have included it at launch.
Romero’s original goal for Blackroom was $700,000, and at the time of its cancellation, backers had pledged $131,052 towards the project. According to Kicktraq, Blackroom was on pace to reach its goal before the cancellation, so Romero, and the rest of Night Work Games, probably do want to do right by their fans.
Nintendo Download: Xenoblade Chronicles, Mini Mario & Friends, Sega 3D Classics, more
It’s a big day for the Nintendo eShop and it’s an especially big day for Wii U owners who may have missed out on Xenoblade Chronicles. Originally released as a GameStop exclusive for the Wii in 2012, Xenoblade Chronicles is a JRPG from Monolith Soft that features mechs, mystical weapons, and malevolent gods… basically everything you could ever want from a JRPG. People went so crazy for Xenoblade Chronicles that a group of dedicated fans even embarked on a multi-year campaign to get Nintendo to release it in North America. Which of course lead directly to last year’s launch of Xenoblade Chronicles X.
But if you’re not in the market for a sprawling JRPG today, Nintendo has a few other games ready for release. First up is Mini Mario & Friends: Amiibo Challenge, a free-to-play title now available for the Wii U and the 3DS. As the latest entry in the popular Mario vs Donkey Kong series players will have to tap any Amiibo figure they own to get the Minis marching… and some even have special powers. And speaking of free-to-play games, Bandai Namco is ready to release the full version of Lost Reavers (Wii U), their four-player cooperative treasure hunter.
Finally this week, Sega will bundle together nine games from their “3D Classics” line in the Sega 3D Classics Collection. Just some of the Genesis and Master System favorites included in the package are Sonic The Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Galaxy Force II, Thunder Blade, Fantasy Zone II, Fantasy Zone II W, Power Drift, Puyo Puyo 2, and Maze Walker.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Xenoblade Chronicles