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
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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”
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- 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)
Most Recent: Articles
Rebooted Mortal Kombat movie to star a supermarket ninja
Director Kevin Tancharoen is still hard at work on his rebooted Mortal Kombat movie. And an exclusive report on Bloody Disgusting may have revealed the film’s rather unlikely new plot direction.
According to the report, the Mortal Kombat: Rebirth and Mortal Kombat: Legacy creator will ground his new movie in reality by following “[an] unlucky supermarket employee who discovers that he has out of this world powers and must decide between good and evil.” But don’t expect this character to be a hero as “the evil side has helped him discover his true potential and who he really is.”
For the life of me, I can’t make myself fit any of the existing Mortal Kombat characters into that narrative. Not Liu Kang, not Scorpion, not Sonya, not Johnny Cage… not even Stryker. However, I was instantly reminded of Ash’s final film appearance in Army of Darkness.
Shop Flawlessly… Shop S-Mart?
Microsoft announces Surface, a Windows 8-powered tablet
Microsoft’s big announcement yesterday was the unveiling of Surface, a new line of tablets that will be powered by Windows 8 (and its mobile variant, Windows RT).
Currently, two models have been announced: Surface for Windows RT will feature an ARM processor designed with Microsoft’s new “Metro” interface in mind while Surface for Windows 8 Pro will ship with a full version of Windows 8. Each Surface tablet includes a 10.6″ screen and a 3mm magnetic touch cover that doubles as a keyboard.
The Surface for Windows RT tablet will be available this Fall, alongside the release of the Windows 8 operating system. The Surface for Windows 8 Pro tablet release will follow about 90 days later. Pricing wasn’t announced, however Microsoft did say the Surface tablets would be comparable in price to an Intel Ultrabook ($800-$1,500).
A complete list of Surface specs can be found after the break. (more…)
Sega pushes Anarchy Reigns into 2013
It looks gamers in North America and Europe will have to wait a bit longer to play Anarchy Reigns. Sega has announced (via Twitter) that the release of the multiplayer brawler has been delayed. The Platinum Games-developed title will now be released in early 2013:
@cjopant The release of Anarchy Reigns has been re-evaluated. We now expect to launch in Europe and America in Q1 of 2013.
— SEGA (@SEGA) June 18, 2012
Sega still plans to release Anarchy Reigns in Japan on July 5 as scheduled.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Anarchy Reigns
Blizzard wants to remind us that StarCraft: Ghost is “on hold,” not “cancelled”
As Blizzard continues to toil away on an “unannounced” console version of Diablo III, it’s important to remember that the RPG isn’t the company’s first foray into console development.
Way back in 2002, Blizzard announced StarCraft: Ghost for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Ghost would have eschewed the birds-eye view of StarCraft for a more personal view of the battle as a psychic warrior named Nova. However, players would never get the chance to play this stealth action title as Blizzard put it on “indefinite hold” in 2006. In the years since, the company has always been quick to point out that the game hasn’t been cancelled.
Fast forward to today, and a Kotaku interview with StarCraft II Lead Designer Dustin Browder. When asked about Ghost, Browder confirmed that no one at Blizzard is talking about it, but he assures us that could change in the future:
“There are no plan. I’m not saying we won’t ever, but I’ll tell you what I do know: There are no meetings going on. There is no team. No one talks about doing it.
It doesn’t mean that in two years from now, we won’t have those meetings, the team won’t be formed, but there is literally nothing happening around that game right now that would indicate that there’s any likelihood that it will happen.”
So there you have it, StarCraft: Ghost is still comatose, but not dead. Thanks for the update, Blizzard!
Daily Scoop: June 18, 2012 – Another Monday
Here we are, yet another Monday. Do they ever stop coming? I would love to declare a ceasefire in my war against it, but it’s just so despicable most weeks. Can’t we ever just start the week on a Wednesday? It would be so much more pleasant!
Anyway, onto the deals! Amazon’s got a few up its sleeve today:
- Just Dance and Just Dance 2 for $13.99 on the Wii
- Final Fantasy XIII-2 for $19.99 on PlayStation 3 and $24.99 on Xbox 360
- HORI PlayStation 3 Final Fantasy XIII-2 Face Plate for $13.99
- Nyko Charge Base 360 S for Xbox 360 for $17.99
- Black Nyko Charge Station for Wii for $14.99
- Nyko Core Controller for PS3 for $13.99
- Black Nyko Charge Station Quad for Wii for $24.99
Also, if you buy Max Payne 3 right now, you get Max Payne Mobile and Max Payne 2 for free. Whew. That’s a lot of deals!
Just one gaming t-shirt for you today: (more…)
Weekly Warp-Up: Dad’s Day 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…
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! Did you get anything cool from Warp Zoned’s Summer 2012 Geek Gift Guide? I hope you did. Also, I want to give a special thanks to my dad. When I was a little kid, he probably bought that Atari 2600 that I thought was mine for himself. But I don’t think he had any idea that playing Pole Position with him would change my life so completely. I miss you.
Since the 2012 E3 Expo was held from June 5-7, this week has little in the way of big news. But there are a lot of rumors floating around. For exmaple, for the next 3DS Zelda game, legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto wants to create a Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask remake or a remake of/sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (he isn’t sure which). I’d go with the second one.
Another rumored game I wouldn’t say no to is a Retro Studios-developed Star Fox title for the Wii U. The leaked images are likely fake, but we can dream can’t we?
Finally, an internal memo from Microsoft (that may or may not be real) has been leaked detailing the Xbox 720‘s 2013 release. If true, it’ll include a built-in DVR, native 3D support, a Blu-ray drive, and hardware-based backwards compatibility for all Xbox 360 games.
Hit the jump to view more of this post-E3 edition of the Weekly Warp-Up. (more…)
Posted in News
Rumor: Internal Xbox 720 memo outs 2013 release, Kinect V2, AR glasses, cloud gaming
UPDATE: The memo has been removed from Scribd at the request of Microsoft’s lawyers. While this move certainly lends credence to the “It’ real!” theory, it also makes perfect sense for Microsoft to remove a fake as well.
A 56-page memo that is purported to be an internal memo detailing their plans for the next Xbox has surfaced on Scribd. The document is pretty consistent with previous reports about what the Xbox 720 will contain. There’s just one problem, the document continuously refers to the system as the “Xbox 720,” which Microsoft executives have gone out of their way to avoid using.
Does that mean its fake? Not necessarily. But here’s what it claims:
- The Xbox 720 will launch in 2013 at $299. The system itself will be “six times” more powerful than the current Xbox 360 and include a Blu-ray drive, native 3D support, a built-in DVR, and hardware-based backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games.
- The system will also be bundled with a more advanced version of the Kinect sensor (Kinect V2).
- The console will also feature tablet-enhanced gaming, which echoes their E3 announcement of Xbox SmartGlass.
- “Fortaleza” augmented reality glasses will be available in 2014.
- And Cloud-based gaming on “any screen” will be available in 2015.
As I said, it’s not necessarily fake. And the extensive focus on Kinect titles over all else is a pretty good indicator that it’s real. But it’s also old (2011 is considered the future throughout the memo) and who knows if it’s anything more than a bored intern’s busywork.
E3 2013 will be very interesting, that’s all we really know for sure.
New Releases: Pokemon Conquest, Lego Batman 2, Brave, More
This week’s new releases are for the kids as Pokemon Conquest (that wild Pokemon/Nobunaga’s Ambition crossover on the DS), Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360), and the game adaptation of Pixar’s Brave (DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) will all be available in stores this Tuesday.
Also available this week is the Kinect-powered Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor and an all new Civ V expansion, Civilization V: Gods and Kings.
Hit the jump for a complete look at this week’s new releases. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Brave, Lego Batman 2, Pokemon Conquest, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor