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
New Releases: Street Fighter V, Fire Emblem Fates, Project X Zone 2, More
This week’s new release report has “Made in Japan” written all over it.
After upgrading and enhancing Street Fighter IV nearly half-a-dozen times, Capcom is finally ready to move on to Street Fighter V this week. The PC and PS4 fighting game will include 16 characters, and the publisher plans to add new characters to the roster every few months as downloadable content. Fans have been waiting for this one for a while, but I’m very interested to see how the Street Fighter franchise will change without the promise of a “Super” or “Ultra” expansion in the future.
Nintendo brings back another long-awaited sequel this week with the release Fire Emblem Fates on the 3DS. To give players a choice in how the story proceeds, the massive game was actually split into two parts, Birthright and Conquest, so players lead a rebellion or smash it. A third path, pitting both sides against an even greater evil, will be available as a downloadable expansion later this Spring. A beautifully-rendered New 3DS XL: Fire Emblem Fates Edition can also be picked up on store shelves, but it won’t include a copy of either Fire Emblem Fates game.
Speaking of complex strategy games on the 3DS, Fire Emblem Fates will get some competition this week from Project X Zone 2, Monolith Soft’s ridiculous quad-company crossover. Beloved characters from games published by Capcom, Bandai Namco, Sega, and Nintendo are joining forces to battle a dimension-hopping foe.
Finally this week, Nintendo will re-release Bayonetta 2 in a single-disc version that drops the Bayonetta bonus disc. If you’ve been waiting to pick up one of the best action games the Wii U has to offer, now’s your chance.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4, Wii U
Tagged Bayonetta 2, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright/Conquest, Project X Zone 2, Street Fighter V
Xbox Store Today: Q*Bert Rebooted, In Space We Brawl, D/Generation HD
We’ve got three new additions to the Xbox Games Store to talk about today, and all of them have a decidedly old school vibe.
Q*Bert Rebooted: The Xbox One @!#?@! Edition (Xbox One) is a “re-imagined” version of the classic arcade game, but players are still expected to flip the board to a single color by hopping from cube to cube. This Xbox One-exclusive edition will include “enhanced gameplay,” five new playable characters, and a soundtrack from EDM artist EnV.
In Space We Brawl: Full Arsenal Edition (Xbox One) isn’t based on an older title, but it is a multiplayer twin-stick shooter where players battle it out with their friends to see who can be the last one standing. Offering more than 240 spaceship combinations, players will be able to customize their on-screen avatar to their hearts content.
Finally this week, D/Generation HD (Xbox One) is a remake of Robert Cook’s isometric puzzle game from 1991. Dipping heavily into the cyberpunk canon, players will control a “jetpack courier” as he attempts to bring down an evil corporation and escape with his life.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Q*Bert Rebooted
Splatoon’s first global Splatfest will pit Pokemon Blue fans against Pokemon Red fans
Get ready! Splatoon‘s next Splatfest is going global to celebrate Pokemon’s 20th anniversary.
For the first time ever, players in North America, Europe, and Japan will be asked to make the same choice before the Splatfest begins. And it’s one that will certainly resonate with a big portion of the game-playing public… do you prefer Pokemon Blue or Pokemon Red? Players can pledge their loyalty to either game in Inkopolis Plaza right now, with the Splatfest scheduled to begin on Saturday, February 20, at 1:00 AM (Eastern Time). Like the other Splatfests, the contest will be open for 24 hours and conclude on Sunday, February 21, at 1:00 AM (Eastern Time).
Players will get matched with other players from their region, and a winner will be chosen for each region. So what are you waiting for? Go splat ’em all!
Microsoft wants to make PC/Xbox One Cross-Buy a “platform feature”
Yesterday, Microsoft kicked off their own Cross-Buy program with the announcement that Quantum Break will receive a simultaneous launch on the Xbox One and PC on April 5. Xbox One owners who pre-order the game will receive a free copy of the Windows 10 version, and both games will include Cross-Save support, so progress you make on one platform will carry over to the other. Though I guess I should break in here and point out that not everyone is happy about this news.
Hopefully, those Xbox fans will come around as it looks like Microsoft has no plans to make Quantum Break’s Cross-Buy promotion a one-off. Posting on Twitter, the Head of Microsoft’s Xbox Division, Phil Spencer, has confirmed that Cross-Buy will be a “platform feature” for the PC and Xbox One going forward because he sees it as being “good for gamers”:
@Nahkapukki @MSFTY @Nicodemus9 @DCNationSlade We'll make it a platform feature. We think it's good for gamers.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 11, 2016
Microsoft has a large number of PC and Xbox One games in the works for 2016 including Halo Wars 2, Killer Instinct Season 3, ReCore, and Sea of Thieves, so I wouldn’t be surprised if any or all of them are announced as Cross-Buy titles in the near future.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Quantum Break
Call of Duty: Black Ops III marches to the top of January 2016’s list of best-selling games
The NPD Group recently delivered their monthly report on the state of retail video game sales, and the market research firm once again crowned Call of Duty: Black Ops III as the best-selling game of the month. The military shooter’s January 2016 victory is its third straight, but the industry as a whole is in a bit of a slump due to last month’s lack of new releases.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, retail sales for new games totaled $212.7 million last month, down from $235.6 million in 2015. The NPD Group speculated that the lack of a highly-anticipated new title like Techland’s Dying Light might be the cause for the dip, which makes sense when you realize that only one new release, Lego Avengers, was able to crack the top ten. Across the entire industry, US consumers spent $605.2 million on games, consoles, and accessories in January 2016, which was slightly down from January 2015’s total of $627.6 million.
Grand Theft Auto V, Fallout 4, Minecraft, and a few others continue to tally impressive sales. And you can find them all in the full top ten list of January 2016’s best-selling games, which is available after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Fallout 4, FIFA 16, Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Avengers, Madden NFL 16, Minecraft, NBA 2K16, NPD, Star Wars: Battlefront, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
Activision confirms Skylanders 6, new Call of Duty from Infinity Ward, Destiny expansion in 2016; Destiny 2 coming in 2017
Activision revealed a first look at their 2016 release slate during today’s quarterly financial report… and you’ll never believe what they announced. Nah, I’m just kidding, even an amateur prognosticator could figure out what Activision has in store for this year.
First up, the publisher confirmed that Infinity Ward will develop the next entry in the Call of Duty franchise, which will be released this Fall. The developer’s most recent game was 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts, and right now it’s unknown if they’ll continue with that story or move in a different direction. But we do the currently untitled Call of Duty 2016 will be Infinity Ward’s first in Activision’s new three-developer cycle for the series.
Activision is also aiming to launch the sixth entry in the Skylanders series in Fall 2016. Skylanders 6 is in development at Toys For Bob and will be released alongside Skylanders Academy, a new television series based on the franchise.
Bungie’s Destiny will receive more content in 2016, but don’t expect a full-fledged sequel just yet. Another “large” expansion to the original game will be released this year, and the famed developer announced they’ll launch Destiny 2 in 2017.
Finally, Blizzard got a chance to discuss their plans for 2016, but the developer just reiterated a release schedule that we’ve known for a while. Overwatch, their upcoming hero shooter, is on track for a Spring 2016 release on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. And World of Warcraft: Legion, the sixth expansion to the world’s favorite MMO, will be released this Summer, just after the June premiere of the Warcraft movie.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Destiny, Destiny 2, Overwatch, Skylanders Imaginators, World of Warcraft
Ubisoft will release Watch Dogs 2, For Honor, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and South Park: The Fractured But Whole before March 31, 2017
Ubisoft may have put the kibosh on a new Assassin’s Creed game for 2016, but they have big plans for the rest of their portfolio in the near-term, including an official announcement for Watch Dogs 2. Ubisoft has been teasing a sequel to their techno-thriller for quite some time, so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that it’s taking over the release window for Assassin’s Creed (at least temporarily).
However, the further adventures of Aiden Pearce won’t be the only game that Ubisoft will release throughout their 2016-2017 fiscal year. The company also plans to launch For Honor, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, and a new “high-potential AAA brand” between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.
Ubisoft plans to reveal more information about their upcoming slate of games sometime in the next two weeks.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged For Honor, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Watch Dogs 2
Nintendo Download: Oddworld New N Tasty, Big Brain Academy, Polarium Advance, more
Nintendo is bringing some old favorites to the Wii U eShop this week, with one developer upscaling a PlayStation-era classic and Nintendo themselves adding three new titles to the Virtual Console.
Oddworld Inhabitants has been hard at work on Oddworld: New N Tasty since it made its PS4 debut in 2014. Since then, the Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee remake has launched on the PC, Xbox One, PS3, Vita, and now the Wii U. Retaining all the wacky charm of the original release, Oddworld: New N Tasty will give a new generation of gamers the chance to experience the cutting edge of 1997 game design as filtered through a 21st century production.
Nintendo will also add three titles to the Wii U’s Virtual Console this week including Big Brain Academy, a collection of brain training mind games originally released for the DS; Kuru Kuru Kururin, a maze puzzler originally released for the GBA (and available in America for the first time); and Polarium Advance, a tile-flipping puzzler also originally released for the GBA.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)