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
Halo “Reclaimer Trilogy” is now considered a “Saga” by Microsoft
During PAX Prime 2011, Creative Director Josh Holmes referred to Halo 4 as the start of the “Reclaimer Trilogy,” mapping out the Master Chief’s future in the then-upcoming game and two further adventures: Halo 5 (due in 2014 for the Xbox One and officially known as “The Next Halo Game”) and Halo 6. According to a Microsoft representative (speaking to GameSpot), “trilogy” is no longer the correct word for the next two games in the Halo franchise:
“While we originally said trilogy, we’ve actually expanded this to more of a saga, so we don’t want to limit the Reclaimer story within a trilogy.”
Will the “Reclaimer Saga” include more than three AAA console shooters? Or is Microsoft counting things like the recently announced Halo: Spartan Assault for mobile devices as part of the saga? The Microsoft representative didn’t clarify, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about Halo 5 (and Halo: The Television Series, which may also be part of the saga) in the coming months.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Halo 5: Guardians
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z announced
Are you ready for another Dragon Ball Z game? Well, good news! Namco Bandai plans to release Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Vita soon.
Are you a team player with the crazy skills and cool composure needed to triumph in massive cooperative battles? If this sounds like you, then Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z has just what you need, with revolutionary team battling for up to 4 players together in cooperative play against a host of fearsome opponents or in a giant 8-player battle royale. Found his weak point? Push your advantage and take him down together in a flurry of fur!
Namco Bandai didn’t announce how soon “soon” is, but I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z will probably be available by the end of the year.
Posted in News, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z
NBA Live 14 will be exclusive to PS4, Xbox One
Executive Producer Sean O’Brien wants you to know that NBA Live 14 will be different. Different from the two previous games in the series that were canceled due to quality issues. And different from 2K’s NBA 2K series.
How different will it be? NBA Live 14 won’t be released for the PS3 or Xbox 360 and will instead be exclusive to next-generation platforms, specifically the PS4 and Xbox One.
“There has been a lot of talk the last few years about how great NBA Live was going to be. The “talking” is over. The vision is a simple one: To create a great basketball game exclusively for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4,” O’Brien said.
You can read the rest of his manifesto at EASports.com.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged NBA Live 14
Here’s an Injustice: Gods Among Us gameplay trailer starring General Zod
Kneel before… you know what, you don’t need to kneel, just watch the first gameplay trailer of General Zod in Injustice: Gods Among Us. The Kryptonian criminal will be available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store on July 2 for $5 (400 Microsoft Points).
Also available next month is a new Superman skin based on Henry Cavill’s portrayal of the Man of Steel in… well, Man of Steel. The skin will also be downloadable from the XBLM and the PS Store and it’ll set you back $1 (or 80 Microsoft Points).
There’s still no word on if NetherRealm Studios plans to release the Superman skin based on The Flaming C to the public. Here it is on Conan in case you missed it the first time around.
Posted in News, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Injustice: Gods Among Us
Miyamoto has “no good ideas” for a new F-Zero game
Nintendo trotted out new entries in a ton of your favorite franchises at this year’s E3 Expo. But one oft-neglected series didn’t make an appearance at the big show and likely won’t for a long time: F-Zero. Speaking to IGN, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that the company currently has no idea where to take the series:
“I certainly understand that people want a new F-Zero game,” Miyamoto said. “I think where I struggle is that I don’t really have a good idea for what’s new that we could bring to F-Zero that would really turn it into a great game again. Certainly I can see how people looking at Mario Kart 8 could see, through the anti-gravity, a connection to F-Zero. But I don’t know, at this point, what direction we could go in with a new F-Zero.”
F-Zero GX, released for the GameCube in 2003, was the last F-Zero game released for a Nintendo console. A Game Boy Advance game, F-Zero: GP Legend, was released in 2004.
Thief is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 too… again
Even the development of Thief has been sneaky. Originally announced in 2009 as “Thief 4” for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, Eidos Montreal began to take their time with the sequel, and it was revealed earlier this year that work on the game had moved to the PS4 and Xbox One. But now, Eidos Montreal Community Manager Adam Badke and Senior Producer Stephane Roy have confirmed that Thief will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
The news comes via the latest episode of the EM Community video series and Roy talked a bit about the cross-generation challenges of Thief’s development: “No doubt we have to change it a little bit. The next-gen is just much more powerful. So we have to adapt our strategy of how to make it happen on current-gen.”
But these challenges won’t change the release date for the PS3/Xbox 360 version as the game will be released for all platforms (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One) simultaneously. And the PS3/Xbox 360 version won’t be an outside port either as Eidos Montreal is keeping development in house.
Thief will sneak into stores sometime in 2014.
Nintendo Download: New Super Luigi U today… Project X Zone, Game & Wario next week
Mario’s brother gets the spotlight in this week’s Nintendo Download as New Super Luigi U is now available. You must own New Super Mario Bros. U to play it, but as you can above, a standalone disc-based version will be released in August if you just want Luigi. Also available today is Bugs vs. Tanks!, the latest 3DS game from Level-5’s “Guild-02” collection. It was developed with the assistance of Kenji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man. And speaking of Mega Man, Mega Man VI was added to the 3DS eShop today.
Other new releases today include:
- Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop)
- Wrecking Crew (Wii U eShop)
- Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (3DS eShop)
- Farming Simulator 3D (3DS eShop)
- Defenders of Oasis (3DS eShop)
- Sonic Blast (3DS eShop)
- Tails Adventure (3DS eShop)
- Rhythm Core Alpha 2 (DSiWare)
A few other high-profile games will be added to Nintendo’s download services before next week’s update including the minigame compilation Game & Wario (Wii U); the Namco Bandai/Sega/Capcom crossover Project X Zone (3DS); and the latest Lego game, Lego Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey (3DS).
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Game & Wario, New Super Luigi U, Project X Zone
Microsoft puts an end to used game restrictions and online check-in with Xbox One
And all is right with the world.
Microsoft’s Don Mattrick has confirmed (via Xbox.com) that the next-generation console’s game registration scheme, used game restrictions, and online check-in requirements are dead. Game discs can be borrowed, rented, or sold between friends or businesses, just as they are today. The system will still require an Internet connection during the initial setup period (which includes a day one patch to enable the offline mode), but the “once-a-day check-in” is no more.
This reversal comes after gamers, the media, and the US government reacted in horror to many of the Xbox One’s online policies in the days leading up to the 2013 E3 Expo. Marc Whitten, the Vice President of Xbox Live, spoke to Kotaku an hour ago and elaborated on what some of these changes mean. With the game registration scheme gone, gamers will have to keep the disc in the Xbox One’s tray to play a game. Disc-based games will also no longer be added to your “cloud library,” but digitally downloaded games can still be downloaded to any Xbox One system that your Live account is logged-in on. This new DRM policy also means that the coolest Xbox One feature, family game sharing, is gone. Or rather, it won’t be available “at launch,” according to Whitten.
Mattrick’s full statement is available after the break. Oh, and it’s nice to be right.