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: Elder Scrolls Online, Lego Jurassic World, Operation Abyss, More
While Bethesda is getting ready to deliver one of the biggest E3 Press Conferences of the year next week, they still found the time to bring The Elder Scrolls Online to the PS4 and Xbox One this Tuesday. The MMO has ditched its subscription model and only requires a one-time purchase to experience everything it has to offer. So if you’ve ever wanted to “battle, craft, fish, steal, siege, or explore” in an Elder Scrolls game with other people, now’s your chance.
Also available this week is Lego Jurassic World, an adaptation of the four Jurassic Park films with Lego characters filling in for Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Pratt, and Bryce Dallas Howard. Players can escape the dinos this week on practically every current platform including the 3DS, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Must go faster… Must go faster… Must go faster…
The PS Vita will receive two more new games this week in the form of Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy and Terraria. Operation Abyss is a dungeon crawler from NIS America that includes high school students, demonic monsters, an eerie alternate reality underneath Tokyo, and killer robots. That doesn’t exactly make it unique among JRPGs, but hey, killer robots! And Terraria is the sandbox game that lets you dig, fight, and build in a charming side-scroller that everyone already seems to love.
Finally this week, Nvidia will release their Nvidia Shield Pro microconsole. If the idea of an Android-powered console that can also stream PC games to your TV is your idea of a good time, the Nvidia Shield Pro is apparently the best way to do that.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Lego Jurassic World, Operation Abyss: New Tokyo Legacy, Terraria, The Elder Scrolls Online
Blizzard introduces us to Tracer, Reaper, Symmetra, Torbjorn in new Overwatch gameplay trailers
Blizzard is back with another batch of gameplay trailers highlighting four more characters from their upcoming hero-based shooter, Overwatch. Embedded above is a gameplay trailer for Tracer, a teleporting adventurer who zips across the arena with deadly speed. If you recall, Tracer was the star of the ridiculously entertaining cinematic trailer Blizzard used to reveal the game to the world. If Tracer is not to your liking, three more gameplay trailers can be found after the break featuring Reaper (a mysterious mercenary), Symmetra (an “architech” who can bend reality to her will), and Torbjorn (an eccentric weapons designer).
A closed beta test for Overwatch will be available sometime this year. You can sing-up for a chance at a spot in the beta at Battle.net. (more…)
XCOM 2 “had to be PC exclusive” but may come to PS4, Xbox One in the future
2K Games and Firaxis surprised a lot of people earlier this week when they announced that XCOM 2 would be released exclusively for the PC this November. Even though its predecessor, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, received a simultaneous PC/PS3/Xbox 360 release, developers at Firaxis told IGN the sequel had to be PC exclusive.
“When we looked at what we wanted to do with the sequel, we had all these very, very ambitious goals,” said Creative Director Jake Solomon.
Solomon, and Lead Producer Garth DeAngelis, also said that XCOM 2’s heavy focus on “high-fidelity characters and environments, better-looking destruction, physically based rendering and, […] procedurally generated maps” required staying close to home. And for Firaxis, the PC is home. This allowed the team to optimize the control scheme for keyboard-and-mouse as well as add more detailed tactical information to the on-screen action.
Finally, Solomon confirmed that XCOM 2 may come to the PS4 and Xbox One sometime in the future (“We’re certainly not opposed to that”), but he went on to say, “I can assure [you] that’s something we’re not even discussing yet.”
Xbox Store Today: SteamWorld Dig, The Swapper
Two side-scrollers that have been pinballing from platform-to-platform for years will make their way to the Xbox One via the Xbox Games Store today.
SteamWorld Dig was originally released for the 3DS in August 2013 before appearing on the PC (December 2013), PS4/Vita (March 2014), and Wii U (August 2014). The game is a “Metroidvania” that follows a steampunk robot on his trek into the center of an alien planet in search of jewels and gems. But there’s more than just pretty rocks underneath the dirt…
The Swapper stretches even further back, originally appearing on the PC in May 2013 before jumping to all three PlayStation platforms in August 2014 and the Wii U in November 2014. The puzzle platformer follows a mysterious character who uses an experimental cloning device to explore “the furthest reaches of space.”
More information about both games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged SteamWorld Dig, The Swapper
Lucas will be available to download in Super Smash Bros. For Wii U/3DS on June 14
Nintendo has updated the official Smash Bros. site with the news that Lucas will be available to download on June 14. Players can gain access to the Mother 3/Earthbound 2 star on both the 3DS and Wii U for $4.99. However, obtaining the character on just one platform will only set you back $3.99.
Nintendo will also release their Splatoon-inspired Smash Bros. costumes on June 14. The “Inkling Outfit” costume for Mii Fighters of the Gunner type will be able to be purchased for use on both platforms for $1.15. A single-platform option is also available for 75 cents. An “Inkling Squid Hat” for all Mii Fighter types will be available for $1.15 (both platforms)/$0.75 (single platform) as well.
Don’t forget, Nintendo wants to add a ton of downloadable characters to Super Smash Bros. For 3DS and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U. The publisher even opened an online poll to collect character suggestions from fans.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Limbo developer Playdead delays Inside, their Xbox One-exclusive platformer
Playdead, the developer behind the highly acclaimed Limbo, has begun informing media outlets their next title, Inside, has been delayed. Originally set for an early 2015 launch exclusively on the Xbox One, Inside has been pushed back to “get it right”:
“After 5 years in development, we, more than anyone, are looking forward to the release. We are so close, but getting it right has taken a little more time than we anticipated. When we know more about the release timing, we will let you know.”
Development on Inside, a moody side-scrolling platformer, began just after Limbo was released for the Xbox 360 in July 2010. It made its public debut at last year’s E3 Expo as part of Microsoft’s presentation, but this is the first time we’ve heard about it since. With this year’s E3 Expo rapidly approaching, perhaps we’ll get our next look at the game in a little more than a week.
[Source: Polygon]
Spike Lee will write and direct MyCareer mode in NBA 2K16
A few months ago, the rumor mill said that famed filmmaker Spike Lee would take the reins of NBA 2K16‘s MyCareer mode. Yesterday, 2K Games confirmed that Lee will indeed be writing and directing the game’s story. Lee spoke to USA Today about his first video game project and explained what he hopes to bring to MyCareer:
“We follow a kid through the trials and tribulations of being a top high school player and the decisions he has to make,” Lee tells USA Today. He says that although he managed to master the intricacies of a 12-day motion-capture shoot at 2K Games’ Bay Area studios, his video game skills leave a lot to be desired.
2K’s Ryan Peters told the newspaper that Lee shot about 90 minutes of “cinematic narrative,” which will be incorporated into the 12-hour MyCareer mode. Peters said, “We just told Spike, ‘You transform the narrative, and we’ll change that into digital polygons.’ And he did that, bringing a protagonist and antagonist to the story.”
2K Games also revealed that NBA 2K16 will have three separate covers when it hits store shelves this Fall. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, James Harden of the Houston Rockets, and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans will all be the face of NBA 2K16. However, only Curry is playing in the NBA Finals, and with the Warriors up 1-0, he could claim his first NBA Championship ring by the end of next week.
If so, that’ll look mighty nice on his NBA 2K16 cover, which will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 29. Though players who pre-order will receive it four days earlier, on September 25, so they can take part in 2K’s “Tip-Off Weekend.”
Mighty No. 9 gets Cross-Buy on PS4; Retro Hero Mode, Collector’s Edition, on all platforms
Mighty No. 9 is just three months away, and new publisher Deep Silver is gearing up to offer gamers plenty of extras if they buy in near the September 15 launch date.
First up, the Collector’s Edition will come packaged with a 6.5 inch, individually-numbered statue of Beck. The $59.99 box (available only for the PS4 and Xbox One) will also include the Retro Hero DLC Pack and special foil packaging featuring a facsimile signature of creator Keiji Inafune. The Retro Hero DLC, a special difficulty mode that offers one-hit death and a retro-inspired look for Beck, will also be part of the Launch Edition, which will be available digitally and on store shelves.
Mighty No. 9 will be available on a wide variety of platforms this September including the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. However, if you purchase the game on the PS4, you’ll also receive a downloadable copy of the game for the PS3 and Vita through Sony’s Cross-Buy program. Mighty No. 9’s Vita launch will take place sometime after the PC/console release. The game is also in development for the 3DS.
Finally, Deep Silver and Comcept have released a brand new trailer for Mighty No. 9 featuring the game’s many bosses.