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
Gears of War 4 will chainsaw its way into our homes on October 11
Microsoft and The Coalition have announced that Gears of War 4 will be released exclusively for the Xbox One on October 11. Set 25 years after the events of Gears of War 3, the fourth game in the series will star Marcus’s son, JD Fenix, and a new generation of Gears, as they battle “a fearsome new threat.”
The Coalition has several Gears 4 events planned for the next few weeks that should help fans get excited for the reemergence of the franchise. A countdown clock on the game’s official website is currently ticking away and will expire on April 10 at 9:10 PM (Eastern Time). What will we learn later this week? Your guess is as good as mine.
However, we do know that the Gears of War 4 beta will kick off on April 18. Players who previously purchased the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on the Xbox One or PC will be able to join up for two weeks of intense multiplayer testing. The beta will expand to include all Xbox Live Gold subscribers on April 25.
And don’t forget, Microsoft will bring a playable demo of Gears 4 (and “some special surprises”) to this year’s PAX East convention, which opens April 22.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Gears of War 4
Xbox Store Today: Quantum Break, Dirt Rally, Steredenn
Time travel is a dirty business, but somebody’s got to do it.
Remedy’s Quantum Break is now available to download for the Xbox One through the Xbox Games Store and for Windows 10 PCs through the Windows 10 Store. Players will control Jack Joyce and the very fabric of reality is at stake in his time-hopping adventure. Remedy will also propel the story forward through several live-action interludes that makes Quantum Break a “fast-paced fusion between game and show.”
Also available this week is Dirt Rally (Xbox One), the latest off-road rally racer from Codemasters. Available for the PC since December, Dirt Rally has been honed by the “Dirt Community” with more than 80 million miles of feedback. Finally, the retro-styled side-scrolling shooter Steredenn will also be available for the Xbox One.
More information on all three of these titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Dirt Rally, Quantum Break
Tumblestone will be playable at PAX East 2016 and it’ll be released this Summer
Tumblestone is a massive match-3 puzzler from The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild that continues to get more massive with each passing day. Set to launch this Summer, Tumblestone will include a 40-hour Story Mode, an endless Arcade Mode, and over 1,000 completely unique Quests. The game will also be playable at this year’s PAX East convention, which kicks off April 22, in the Indie Megabooth area.
Naturally, such a massive game will launch on a truly massive number of platforms. Tumblestone will be released for the PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, and the PC (Windows, Mac, and Linux) through Steam. It’ll also be available for mobile devices (Android, iOS, and Windows) and microconsoles like the Amazon Fire TV and the Ouya. A Facebook app is also in the works.
And with a little prodding, I’m sure we could get The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild to develop a version of Tumblestone for your toaster.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged PAX East 2016, Tumblestone
Doom’s Open Beta will be held next week; Post-Launch DLC plans announcd
After a successful Closed Beta, Bethesda and id Software are ready to open up Doom to a wider audience. Beginning Friday, April 15, an Open Beta for the shooter sequel will be available for everyone who owns a PC, PS4, or Xbox One. Players will get three days to test out the Open Beta, which will include two maps (“Heatwave” and “Infernal”) and two game modes (Team Deathmatch and Warpath).
Bethesda also announced their plan for Doom’s post-launch downloadable content. In addition to bonus content for the SnapMap creation tool and additional multiplayer modes, the publisher will release three multiplayer map packs for Doom. The three packs will be priced at $14.99 apiece, and the first will launch this Summer. According to Bethesda, each pack will include a number of new maps, Hack Modules, playable demons, weapons and more, but if you want more specifics, the first pack will include three new maps, a new weapon, a new playable demon, a new armor set, a new piece of equipment, new Hack Modules and Taunts, and new customization colors and Patterns. A Season Pass, which includes access to all three packs, will also be available for $39.99.
Doom will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 13. And definitely be sure to check out the Open Beta, we absolutely loved this past weekend’s Closed Beta.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)
Enter the Gungeon, Mega Man Legends 2, Dirt Rally, more added to PS Store
Sony’s Launch Party promotion continues to disco deep into the night as Enter the Gungeon is now available to download for the PS4 through the PlayStation Store. The twin-stick shooter takes place in the legendary Gungeon (that’s Gun Dungeon for those who are blind to puns) and asks Gungeoneers to search the many hallways and catacombs for “a gun that can kill the past.” I have no idea what that means, but the animated Launch Trailer (embedded above) is a hoot.
Speaking of the past, Capcom will reach back into days gone by this week to release Mega Man Legends 2 on the PS3. The PSone Classic is the final game in the Legends series and a cult following has developed around the title over the years. If you’ve spent the last 15 years wondering what all the fuss is about… now’s your chance.
And in keeping with the indie theme of the Launch Party promotion, a quartet of popular indies are also available to download this week. This list includes Armature’s 10v10 multiplayer shooters, Dead Star (PS4); Quicktequila’s speedy and colorful shooter, Lovely Planet (PS4); Harmonix’s rhythm shooter, Amplitude (PS3); and Lab Zero’s cartoony fighter, Skullgirls 2nd Encore (Vita).
Finally this week, Codemasters will bring Dirt Rally to the PS4, while Ubisoft will launch the complete Assassin’s Creed Chronicles trilogy on the Vita.
More information about all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. And, as always, this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Amplitude, Dirt Rally, Enter the Gungeon, Skullgirls
Creepy new Outlast II trailer hints at PAX East 2016 reveal
Red Barrels recently released a creepy new trailer for Outlast II that gives a strong hint as to when we’ll learn more about the game.
Similar to the satanic backmasking panic of the 70s and 80s, a secret message is hidden within the trailer’s rhythmic chanting when played backwards. However, in this case, the secret message is actually a fiery sermon delivered by a preacher. Helpfully decoded by YouTube user Ege Dora Kulaç (and embedded after the break), the message also hints at a special PAX East 2016 reveal for Outlast II:
Children! You lovers of God and defenders of his paradise. All our years of suffering come together now in this glorious day of peace. Peace!
Even in the corrupt and filthy tongue of the Romans in The Puritan City on the fourth month and 22nd day in the 16th year of the third millennium our reckoning begins. The spider-eyed lamb waits at the harlot’s breast hungry for this world. Ready or not, the good earth thirsts for blood and we, like the angels, must show no mercy. God loves you.
The reference to April 22 (the first day of PAX East) is clear enough, but the inclusion of “The Puritan City” (an old nickname for Boston) certainly seals the deal. And in case you were curious, here’s the full text of the Bible verse cited in the trailer’s title:
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones.
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
I don’t know what any of it means, but it certainly is spooky. Outlast II is expected to be released this Fall for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One (more…)
Watch every Fatality from all ten Mortal Kombat games right here
What are you doing for the next two hours? Wait, don’t answer that yet. First, I want to draw your attention to the video embedded above, which features a replay of every Fatality ever performed in a Mortal Kombat game.
Compiled by YouTube user IZUNIY, the video includes hundreds of blood-soaked finishers, like Sub-Zero’s controversial “Spine Rip” from 1992’s Mortal Kombat, from the very beginning. From there, we jump through the many sequels, and all the Stage Fatalities, Animalities, Friendships, and Brutalities that were added to the franchise over the years. The compilation even includes the much gorier Fatalities from the four newest kombatants from the Mortal Kombat XL re-release.
So I ask again, what are you doing for the next two hours?
Posted in News, PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, Retro, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection, Mortal Kombat X
Pre-production on The Last of Us 2 will begin after release of Uncharted 4 DLC
It’s no secret that Naughty Dog wants to make a sequel to The Last of Us, but development on The Last of Us 2 was put on the back burner as the studio completed their next adventure with Nathan Drake. But now that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is finished, Naughty Dog is ready to start pre-production work on a sequel to Joel and Ellie’s cross-country trek. But first, the team will have to complete work on Uncharted 4’s single-player downloadable content.
Naughty Dog’s Creative Director, Neil Druckmann, told GamesRadar about the studio’s current timetable earlier today:
“Before my partner, Bruce [Straley] and I, my directing partner, came on to Uncharted 4 we were working on prototypes for different ideas within The Last of Us universe,” says Druckmann. He also teases that “without going into specific genres [there were] ideas outside the The Last of Us,” as well.
However, according to Druckmann, “all those things were left on hold when we had to come onto Uncharted 4 to direct the project.” Which obviously leaves the question: when will he and Bruce get back to thinking about clickers? “Our next focus is the single player [Uncharted 4] DLC and then, once we have enough resources, resurrect all those prototypes; see where we’re at, see where the teams at, what they’re excited for and go from there.”
Because of the nature of prototypes, it’s important to remember that Druckmann and his team might never give the green light to The Last of Us 2. And as he eludes to above, the developer could move on to a brand new intellectual property after the completion of Uncharted 4’s DLC. Whatever happens, I’m sure we’re all eager to find out what Naughty Dog is up to next.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged The Last of Us Part II, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End