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
Telltale will release Game of Thrones Episode 4: Sons of Winter “soon”
Telltale Games began teasing the fourth episode of their Game of Thrones adaptation on Twitter last night. One tweet promised the game’s next episode, Sons of Winter, would be released “soon” for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices:
.@GameOfThrones: A @TelltaleGames Series – Ep 4 of 6: Sons of Winter – Download It Soon on Consoles, PC, Mac & Mobile pic.twitter.com/jM05RI5ntC
— Telltale Games (@telltalegames) May 17, 2015
Telltale followed up the tease with a stream of new screenshots featuring Daenerys, Beskha, a meeting between House Forrester and House Whitehill, a Wildling with a spear, and Gared Tuttle talking to Frostfinger.
As is Telltale’s MO, a trailer for Game of Thrones: Sons of Winter should appear sometime this week alongside an official release date.
Harmonix has revealed the first six songs from Rock Band 4
Activision kicked off the second great rhythm game war earlier this week by unveiling two dozen songs from Guitar Hero Live. But this weekend, Harmonix responded by opening up to IGN about the first six songs that will be included in Rock Band 4:
- Avenged Sevenfold – “Hail to the King”
- Fleetwood Mac – “You Make Loving Fun”
- Jack White – “Lazaretto”
- The Killers – “Somebody Told Me”
- Spin Doctors – “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”
- The Who – “The Seeker”
Looks like The Killers aren’t committing to either game (“When We Were Young” will appear in Guitar Hero Live), but I think I’m most surprised to see the Spin Doctors in Rock Band 4’s soundtrack. They’re a bit of a punchline now, but people forget that Pocket Full of Kryptonite sold five million copies in 1991.
What other wacky and weird forgotten bands will make the cut in Rock Band 4? Your guess is as good as mine, but we’ll get to hear the whole soundtrack when the game is released sometime this Fall for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Weekly Warp-Up: Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is a Go
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…
After all the teasing and the rumors, it looks like Microsoft’s Gears of War remake finally got the green light this week. First, it was outed, along with a Dishonored remake by the Brazilian Advisory Rating Board. Then, a leaked video of the Gears of War remake lent further confirmation to the rumor. Though is it really fair to still call it a rumor? Microsoft responded to the leaked videos in such a harsh way, that their legitimacy has been all but confirmed. So we’re just waiting patiently for the official announcement now.
And speaking of waiting patiently, Nintendo’s Splatoon Global Testfire has us more excited for the game than ever, especially after a glowing preview from Staff Writer Mike Ryan. In case you missed it, Nintendo will host a second Global Testfire on May 23. Also this week, we review the PS3/PS4/Vita/Xbox One version of Shovel Knight and we’re still digging it.
Looking more news? Groaning at that pun? You can do both after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: The Witcher 3, Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario, Farming Simulator 15, More
A quartet of new games will be available on store shelves this week including one of the year’s biggest new releases.
CD Projekt’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a massive, sprawling RPG that ends Geralt of Rivia’s story in the biggest way possible. If you haven’t seen of the trailers or gameplay walkthroughs (Conan O’Brien’s “Clueless Gamer” segment is particularly enlightening), you should fix that right now before The Witcher 3 launches on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on Tuesday.
Also available on Tuesday are a pair of games that are nothing like The Witcher 3 and nothing like each other. First up is Farming Simulator 15, which is now available for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One after a PC launch last year. Farming Simulator 15 does just what it says on the box and gives players a simulation of what it’s like to be a farmer. This Tuesday’s other new release release, HyperDimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed for the Vita, doesn’t simulate anything approaching reality. Instead, it’s a beat ’em up that takes place within an anime-influenced recreation of the video game industry.
Finally, on Friday, Nintendo will bring the popular match-3/RPG hybridization Puzzle & Dragons to the 3DS for the first time. Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition is actually two separate takes on the concept, one of which stars Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom.
That’s it for this week’s retail release report, but check back all week for details on all the new additions to the digital storefronts.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Farming Simulator 15, Puzzle & Dragons Z, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition will be released for PS4, Xbox One in Fall 2015
Larian Studios is partnering with publisher Focus Home Interactive to bring Divinity: Original Sin to the PS4 and Xbox One in a special “Enhanced Edition” this Fall. The RPG will receive a “full makeover” for its console debut:
A new intuitive user-interface tailored for controllers and couch friendly dynamic split-screen, with full voiced and remastered AAA dialogues featuring Alix Wilton Regan and Alec Newman, as well as hours of new content; quests, combat-styles, locations, changes to the crafting system and a reworked storyline breathing new life into the already expansive world of Rivellon.
What else can console players expect from Divinity: Original Sin? Larian had this to say…
- Become part of a reactive, living and open world. Explore diverse environments, find myriad creatures and tons of desirable items.
- Experience gripping, party and turn-based combat. Manipulate the environment and use skill & spell combos.
- Play in co-op multiplayer online or in local split-screen and engage in co-op dialogues. Shape your relationships with your partner that will influence the game.
- Unravel a deep and epic story, set in the early days of Rivellon. Taking place well before Divine Divinity and Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga, Divinity: Original Sin presents you with a familiar world in another era.
- Classless system lets you shape your character any way you want. Endless item interaction and combinations take things to another level of freedom.
Larian and Focus Home have promised we’ll learn even more about Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition during next month’s E3 Expo.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Divinity: Original Sin, E3 2015
Play as Jason in Mortal Kombat X for free this weekend
Mortal Kombat X will get to try Jason Voorhees out for free this weekend in one of the game’s Living Towers.
Voorhees, the classic slasher from the Friday the 13th films, joined the other kombatants in NetherRealm’s latest last week as part of the Kombat Pack expansion. He’s the first of four characters who will be added to the game this year, he’ll eventually share the stage with The Predator, Mortal Kombat 4‘s Tanya, and the never-before-playable Tremor.
All three of Jason’s variations will be accessible in the Living Tower’s six fights, which will be available until Monday.
Prepare your PC for Oculus Rift with the VR rig’s recommended system specifications
Is your PC ready for the Oculus Rift? The consumer version of the virtual reality headset will be available in stores in early 2016, so to prepare gamers, the hardware manufacturer has published (on their official blog) the system specifications needed to get “the full Rift experience”:
- Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD 290 (Equivalent or Greater)
- Intel i5-4590 Processor (Equivalent or Greater)
- Compatible HDMI 1.3 Video Output
- 8GB+ RAM
- 2x USB 3.0 Ports
- Windows 7 SP1 or Newer
According to Oculus, the system specifications will “stay constant over the lifetime of the Rift,” which is good to hear, as this hardware configuration is rather pricey at the moment.
Atman Binstock, the Rift’s Technical Director, went into more detail on why these exact specifications were chosen in a separate blog post. He also has some bad news for laptop users who were hoping to power the Rift with their portable PC: “Almost no current laptops have the GPU performance for the recommended spec, though upcoming mobile GPUs may be able to support this level of performance.”
I’m still not sure virtual reality will change gaming the way the folks at Oculus believe it will, but this is definitely an exciting time to be a gamer.
Xbox Store Today: Nero, Toro
Two games that sound similar in name, but couldn’t be more different in execution, were added to the Xbox Games Store today.
Nero is a first-person exploration game where the player has to solve puzzles in a magical world. Developed by Storm in a Teacup, the Xbox One game asks players to “explore and experience emotions and feelings that are uncommon in video games.”
Also available for the Xbox One today is Toro, a title that developer Recotechnology claims is the world’s first “bullfighting simulator game.” I don’t know if they’re telling the truth, but it definitely a locale that you rarely see in games.
More information about both titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News