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
Weekly Warp-Up: Hall of Fame Nomination Edition
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…
Every January, baseball fans slap their foreheads in amazement at the absolutely terrible job that the Baseball Writers Association of America does in selecting the annual crop of Hall of Fame inductees. This June, video game fans will get to experience this same frustration firsthand when the first inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame are announced.
But June is a long time away, instead we should sit back and read Nicole Kline’s account of her IndieCade East 2015 trip in Nicole’s IndieCade East 2015 Diary. And if you’re a fan of indie games, Andrew Rainnie has published his Kickstart This! column.
You can find more news from this week after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Dragon Ball Xenoverse, DW8: Empires, Homeworld Remastered, More
The final week of new releases in February includes a few familiar faces and a few that are… let’s go with less familiar.
Dragon Ball Z is definitely in the very familiar category as the popular anime series has spawned at least two dozen games over the last 20 years. Dragon Ball Xenoverse, the latest game in the series, will be released this week for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. And speaking of long-running franchises, Koei Tecmo will release Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires for the PS4 and Xbox One this week as well.
But the most familiar face might be one that we haven’t seen in a very long time as Gearbox Software is gearing up to release Homeworld Remastered Collection on the PC this week. A compilation containing revamped versions of Homeworld and Homeworld 2, the Collection will also include the original versions of both games in all their turn-of-the-millennium glory.
Finally this week, Maximum Games and HB Studios will bring Rugby 15 to the PS3, PS4, and Xbox One this week. Rugby 15 is the first rugby title to be released in North America in four years and will feature a variety of officially licensed leagues including Aviva Premiership Rugby, Pro 12, Top 14, and Pro D2.
The full list of this week’s new retail releases (including games on the PC, PS3, and Vita) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, Homeworld, Homeworld 2
Iron Galaxy reveals Killer Instinct’s “War Golem,” Aganos, in a new trailer
We knew that Killer Instinct‘s next downloadable character had been nicknamed “Golem” by the development team at Iron Galaxy. And now we know why… “Golem” is actually a massive rock warrior known as Aganos. Aganos is the largest character to ever be included in Killer Instinct and he delivers a ridiculous amount of punishment to what looks like the game’s entire roster in the trailer above. You can also get a more in-depth look at the rocky fighter by viewing Iron Galaxy’s recent developer stream.
But I’d recommend sticking with this trailer all the way until the very end. If you do, you’ll get a fleeting glimpse at Killer Instinct’s next character, a Japanese ghost girl that bears more than a passing resemblance to Samara from The Ring.
Aganos will be available to download by Ultra Edition owners on February 27 while Combo Breaker Edition owners will have to wait until March 5.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Killer Instinct
Pokken Tournament, the Pokemon fighting game, has a new trailer
Pokken Tournament, the Tekken-like Pokemon fighting game from Bandai Namco, will be available in Japanese arcades this Summer. We still don’t know if the game will ever be released in America or if a Wii U port is in the planning stages (though I’m pretty confident both will happen at some point), but the publisher has recently released a new Japanese-language trailer.
Watch Pikachu and the rest of his Pokemon pals battle it out in the game’s arenas and bask in the knowledge that Nintendo still has a few unannounced Wii U games planned for release this year. Yup, I would be utterly shocked if Pokken Tournament isn’t released for the Wii U this year or sometime in 2016.
Posted in News
Tagged Pokken Tournament
Xbox Store Today: Roundabout, IHF Handball Challenge 14
I don’t even know how to compare the two games being added to the Xbox Games Store today.
First up is Roundabout, a top-down limousine sim that’s set in the 70s and also includes live-action interludes of the passengers in the interior of the limousine. And did I mention the limousine is constantly spinning and that you have to gently nudge it around obstacles like a puzzle game? Because it is and you do. Roundabout is now available to download on the Xbox One.
Also available to download today is IHF Handball Challenge 14, which might be the first officially licensed professional handball game ever released in America. Handball is incredibly popular in Europe, but in America its typically relegated to that sport you play in gym class after basketball but before floor hockey. But if you’ve ever had aspirations of becoming a professional handball player, IHF Handball Challenge 14 is now available to download on the Xbox 360.
More details on both games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Roundabout
Bloodborne’s story trailer reveals a horde of beasts literally born from blood
From Software’s Bloodborne has been in the spotlight recently as the latest game featured in IGN’s IGN First showcase. This extensive look at Bloodborne’s development included a gameplay video showing the first 18 minutes of the game and now a peek at the story. Writing on the PlayStation Blog, SCE Japan Studio’s Masaaki Yamagiwa talked a bit about the source of the rampaging monster hordes and the unreliable reality that you’ll find yourself in:
When we revealed the first 18 minutes of the game a few weeks ago, I introduced how the game starts with the player arriving in Yharnam and receiving a blood transfusion from a strange doctor, which ends up clouding his memory. Is this all a dream? A nightmare? Where did all of the beasts come from? And what secrets does this Yharnam blood hold? Check out the trailer for just a small taste of the mysteries and horrors waiting for you in Bloodborne.
Are you coming down with a fever? The only cure is more Bloodborne, which will be available exclusively for the PS4 on March 24.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Bloodborne
Nintendo Download: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Pokemon Shuffle, more
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse brings its claymation-styled side-scrolling to the Wii U eShop this week… tomorrow to be exact. The pink puffball (Can clay be puffy? Probably a question for another time…) is joined by Axelay, a Super NES shooter that is now available through the Wii U’s Virtual Console service.
Over on the 3DS eShop, the free-to-play puzzler Pokemon Shuffle is available today along with the Flappy Bird homage Flap Flap and a pair of RPGs: Excave and Adventure Bar Story (and yes, it’s about saving a local bar from a greedy businessman).
Finally, the DSiWare Shop makes a return with a brand new pair of match-3 puzzlers: Fishdom and 4 Elements,
More details on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Rumor: Harmonix is working on Rock Band 4 for PS4/Xbox One
Bloomberg‘s Danielle Burger is reporting that “a person familiar with the plan” has revealed to her that Rock Band 4 is in development for the PS4 and Xbox One at Harmonix.
This insider chose not to divulge any additional information about the project to Burger, but even though this is all we have to go on, Rock Band’s PS4/Xbox One debut feels less like a rumor and more like an inevitability. Harmonix dropped the curtain on the franchise in 2012 with Rock Band Blitz, but they’ve always seemed interested in a reunion tour on the new-gen consoles.
In recent weeks, Harmonix has even begun releasing new DLC tracks for Blitz and Rock Band 3. A trio of songs were added to the Rock Band Music Store last month and two more, Tenacious D’s “Rize Of The Fenix” and Weezer’s “Back To The Shack,” have been available since Tuesday.
You know, both of those songs seem to hint at a rebirth of sorts, don’t they? Maybe this is Harmonix’s take on the musical tradition of backmasking.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 3, Rock Band 4, Rock Band Blitz