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
Rumor: A new Guitar Hero game will be released this Fall for PS4, Xbox One
Last week, an anonymous source revealed to Bloomberg that Harmonix is looking to revive the Rock Band franchise. Right on cue, another round of rumors have revealed that Activision might bring back the Guitar Hero franchise as well.
Two separate sources recently spoke to Kotaku UK and both are saying the same thing: Guitar Hero 7 (or whatever it ends up being called) is in development for a Fall release on the PS4 and Xbox One. Though before that happens, Activision plans to publicly unveil the game during the 2015 E3 Expo alongside “new guitar peripherals” and a “more realistic” graphical style.
Kotaku UK’s sources also said that Guitar Hero 7 is in development at a west coast studio, which rules out the New York-based Vicarious Visions, the previous home of the franchise. However, Infinity Ward, which absorbed Guitar Hero III developer Neversoft in 2014, is located in California. Interesting… very interesting.
Activision would not confirm the rumors, but they did tell Kotaku UK: “We don’t comment on rumor or speculation, but have previously said, that as one of the most beloved entertainment franchises, we would only bring Guitar Hero back if we developed the right innovations to usher the franchise into the new generation of gaming.”
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2015, Guitar Hero Live
Lionsgate will collaborate with Telltale on game/TV crossover for their original IP
Telltale Games has continued their collaborative ways by announcing a new partnership with Lionsgate. Under the terms of the deal, Lionsgate will make a “significant investment” in Telltale, giving both companies the opportunity to collaborate on future games, television shows, and films.
A major part of this agreement involves Telltale’s mysterious “original IP,” which was first announced more than a month ago. Telltale will continue its work on the game while Lionsgate will explore the possibility of adapting the game into a television series.
Telltale CEO Kevin Bruner said: “Lionsgate has a great track record in developing and marketing feature films as well as platform-defining premium scripted television. This partnership will accelerate Telltale’s ability to create not only original games, but episodic television series based on our game properties – an area at the cutting edge of industry growth.”
On the other side of the coin, this deal also gives Telltale the chance to adapt some of Liongate’s film and television properties into games. No one said the words “Twilight: A Telltale Game Series” or “The Hunger Games: A Telltale Game Series,” but you know that executives from both companies are thinking about them.
“Telltale is one of the premier storytellers in the gaming world today,” said Lionsgate Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer. “Their leadership in narrative-driven episodic games, together with our investment and the potential opportunities created by our premium content expertise, will continue to strengthen their ability to offer exciting new avenues of storytelling to their next generation audiences across a broad range of platforms.”
Whatever happens, Telltale’s “original IP” is probably still quite a ways off as the developer currently has a lot on their plate including Game of Thrones, Tales From the Borderlands, Minecraft: Story Mode, and The Walking Dead: Season 3.
Posted in News
GTA5 PC release slips again as Rockstar synchronizes a March 10 launch for Heists
Just when you thought Grand Theft Auto V was ready to come out for the PC… Rockstar pulls it back in.
Today, the publisher announced that Grand Theft Auto V’s PC edition will miss its previously announced March 24 release date and will launch on April 14 instead. According to Rockstar, the delay is due to the fact that “a bit more time is needed to ensure that the game is as polished as possible, and to make certain that both Heists and the GTA Online experience are ready to roll out on day one for PC.”
But speaking of Heists, Rockstar has also announced that the Heat-inspired multiplayer mode will be ready to go for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on March 10. You can steal a glance at some new screenshots from GTA5’s Heists mode at the Rockstar Newswire.
The ESRB has slapped Batman: Arkham Knight with a Mature rating
IGN is reporting that Rocksteady Studios has informed them that Batman: Arkham Knight has received a Mature rating from the ESRB. I wonder if this means he’ll tell someone that he’s “the goddamn Batman.”
Arkham Knight’s Director, Sefton Hill, told IGN that he was surprised by the ESRB’s ruling, especially after a Teen rating was granted to both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. Hill added that the team never specifically added content to the game in an effort to earn a Mature rating, but that he’s aware of how it may hurt the game at retail:
“I’m not blind to the fact that [the M rating] does mean some fans will miss out… I don’t want to be oblivious to that fact. It would have been wrong to water down the game and deliver a story we didn’t believe in to keep the game ‘mass market’ or enable it for more people. We feel that’s the wrong way to go about it. We said we love the story and we don’t want to jepoardize that.”
As of this writing (10:00 AM Eastern Time), the ESRB has yet to make the Batman: Arkham Knight’s “Rating Summary” available to the public.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight
PAX East 2015 Indie Megabooth lineup has been announced
The people behind the Indie Megabooth have announced this year’s PAX East 2015 lineup, which includes 79 games from 76 developers. The mazelike network of booths and carpet will feature a variety of eclectic games including previous PAXpocalypse selections such as Broforce (East 2014), Catlateral Damage (East 2014), Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Prime 2013), Tumblestone (East 2014), and We Are Doomed (Prime 2013).
Trailers for every game are viewable at the Indie Megabooth official site and after taking in the short teasers, I’m sure a few other games will catch your fancy. I know I’m already planning to line up for Black Ice, a neon-coated beat ’em up/first person shooter; One More Line, a mobile game that feels like a Spider-Man simulator; and Titan Souls, a “Zeldalike” from Acidnerve.
In the interests of journalistic integrity, I’d also like to mention that Warp Zoned’s own Nicole Kline and Anthony Amato have earned a spot in this year’s Indie Megabooth Tabletop Area with their game, Resistor. I know I’m biased, but you should check it out.
You should also check out the complete list of games you’ll find within the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2015, which is available after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Broforce, Catlateral Damage, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, PAX East 2015, Tabletop Games, Tumblestone, We Are Doomed
Monsters have a slight edge in Evolve after the first week (and other stats)
Turtle Rock and 2K Games launched Evolve on February 10 and they’ve been busy collecting statistics on all the Monster versus Hunter action since then. Through February 18, nearly six million rounds pf Evolve have been played with the Monster emerging victorious 51.9% of the time. While the Monsters have a slight advantage in total victories, a 52-48 ratio proves that Evolve is an incredibly well-balanced game.
All told, those six million matches tallied 58,461,472 total minutes of playtime with the shortest round lasting a Tyson-esque 60 seconds. The longest round clocked in at 43 minutes with the average sitting at nine minutes and 43 seconds.
Turtle Rock has produced a beautiful infographic depicting these stats and more (including the most popular Hunters and Evolve’s Twitch popularity). You can find it after the break. (more…)
Axiom Verge will be released for PS4 on March 31
Tom Happ, the sole Programmer, Artist, Designer, and Composer at Thomas Happ Games, has announced that Axiom Verge will be released for the PS4 on March 31.
If you’re unfamiliar with Axiom Verge, Happ wants you to know that it takes after a variety of classic side-scrollers like “Super Metroid, Contra, Blaster Master, and others.” You can definitely see the influence that Metroid had on Axiom Verge’s development in the new screenshots available at the PlayStation Blog. Happ also uses the PlayStation Blog platform to delve into more detail on some of the powerups and weapons featured in the game.
Axiom Verge is also in development for the Vita, but the handheld version needs a bit more time to cook. Don’t worry though, everyone who purchases the PS4 version will receive a free copy of the Vita version when its ready thanks to Sony’s Cross-Buy program.
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Axiom Verge
FutureGrind will bring Uniracers-like rail racing to PC, PS4 in 2016
Does anybody out there remember Uniracers? Back in the 16-bit days, it was a Super NES game that gave players control of an out-of-control unicycle as it tore down a coaster-like track. Milkbag’s FutureGrind adds a second wheel, but the concept looks to be about the same… and there’s no one rider!
In FutureGrind, players will take control of a motorcycle with one red wheel and one blue wheel. This is very important, as developer Owen Gross notes on the PlayStation Blog: “Your blue wheel can touch blue rails, your red wheel can touch red rails, but touch the wrong rail and you’ll cause a short circuit. Watch out, short circuiting leads to, well, a bit of a mess.” Beyond survival, players will be expected to perform a series of tricks, flips, and grinds to progress in FutureGrind.
FutureGrind will be released for the PC and PS4 in early 2016.