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
Destiny: The Taken King, NHL 16, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, more added to PS Store
Are you ready to take on the Taken King? Destiny‘s “Year One” is almost at the end, but there’s still one more major expansion on the way. Destiny: The Taken King will ask players on the PS4 and PS3 to do battle with the army of Oryx, The Taken King, who is looking to avenge the death of his son Crota.
Also available on the PlayStation Store this week are a pair of sports titles that are sure to get the Fall/Winter athletes out there excited. Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 was released this week for the PS4 and PS3, and it includes “new and improved features” for its 20th year on the pitch. However, if you prefer your sports surfaces to be a bit colder, EA Sports will also release NHL 16 (PS4) and NHL: Legacy Edition (PS3) this week for hockey fans.
You can learn more about all three of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. And don’t forget to check out the PlayStation Blog for a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts. (more…)
WB Games spared no expense when hiring the voice cast for Lego Dimensions
If Richard Attenborough were still alive, I think WB Games would have hired him to gleefully exclaim that the publisher spared no expense when assembling the voice cast for Lego Dimensions. Unfortunately, the great actor passed away last year. But just try to picture the giant sacks of money it must have required to secure the services of this talented ensemble anyway…
Michael J. Fox (as Marty McFly) and Christopher Lloyd (as Doc Brown) will reprise their roles from the Back to the Future trilogy. Several actors from another 1980s favorite, Ghostbusters, will also get a chance to cross the streams and interact with the rest of the cast. And speaking of g-g-ghosts, Matthew Lillard (as Shaggy) will ride with Scooby-Doo in the Mystery Machine.
Chris Pratt will pull double duty in the game as Emmet from The Lego Movie and Owen Grady from Jurassic World. He’ll be joined by Elizabeth Banks (as Wyldstyle), Alison Brie (as Unikitty), and Charlie Day (as Benny) from The Lego Movie, but don’t think his Jurassic World co-stars turned down this chance. Bryce Dallas Howard (as Claire Dearing), Irrfan Khan (as Simon Masrani), Nick Robinson (as Zach, one of the kids), and Ty Simpkins (as Gray, the other kid) will fight dinosaurs one more time.
“Who” else could be joining the game? How about Peter Capaldi (as the Twelfth Doctor), Jenna Coleman (as Clara Oswald), and Michelle Gomez (as Missy) from Doctor Who… Best of all, they’re not coming alone. Every actor who has played the Doctor (including David Tenant, Matt Smith, Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, and William Hartnell) will lend his voice (or archival audio for the deceased actors) to Lego Dimensions.
The DC Universe will be represented by Troy Baker (as Batman), Tara Strong (as Harley Quinn), Laura Bailey (as Wonder Woman), and Travis Willingham (as Superman). Meanwhile, WB Games has recruited two members of the Fellowship from The Lord of the Rings: Tom Kane (as Gandalf) and Sean Astin (as Samwise Gamgee). Several cast members from The Simpsons will also drop by as part of the game’s trip to Springfield.
Lego Dimensions includes a lot of portals, so Stephen Merchant (as Wheatley), Ellen McLain (as GLaDOS), and J.K. Simmons (as Cave Johnson) from Portal 2 should fit right in. Nolan North is also around (in a currently unknown role) because you can’t assemble a video game voice cast in 2015 without including Nolan North. I think it’s a union rule or something…
Finally, two original characters, Joel McHale (as your robotic guide, X-PO) and Gary Oldman (as the villainous Lord Vortech), will help propel the plot of Lego Dimensions forward.
Lego Dimensions will be released for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 27.
Kickstart This! Anniversary Interview: Chewing the Fat With Bacon Man Director Neal Laurenza
It is perhaps somewhat ironic that Bacon Man appeared in July 2014’s Common Creative Wealth Edition of Kickstart This! While athletes from around the world competed in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the developers at Skymap Games were hard at work campaigning for their project, which stars an anthropomorphized version of the fatty foodstuff in a surreal Earthworm Jim-style platformer. The game achieved its funding target of $20,000 (with an extra $1,280 to spare), and is expected to be released for the PC and Xbox One before the end of the year.
Neal Laurenza, Managing Director at Skymap, recently sat down with us to share a slab of bacon and to discuss Bacon Man. While we pondered if the breakfast staple proves the existence of God, we also talked about the game’s Kickstarter campaign, how bad emails can do good things, and other sizzling topics. (more…)
Daily Scoop: September 15, 2015 – Some cool shirts today
In my free time – that is to say, the time I should spend sleeping – I’ve been trying to catch up on some of the latest in hot games. Armello is up there, as is Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, as well as Xeodrifter. What new games are you playing these days?
Over at Humble, there’s the brand new Humble Total War Bundle. Pay what you want for Medieval II: Total War Collection, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Shogun: Total War Collection, a beta access key for Total War: Arena, Total War Battles: Kingdom, the soundtrack for Total War: Rome, the Exclusive Total War: Warhammer Illustrated Campaign Map, and the Total War eBooks.
That’s not all! Beat the average to unlock
The Midweek Madness at Steam is 80% off the Amnesia and Penumbra franchises. You can also play Amnesia: The Dark Descent for free until Wednesday morning at 10am PST. The Daily Deal is Magicka 2. Get the game for $10.04 or buy the Deluxe Edition for $16.74. You can also get a four pack for $33.49, or upgrade your current game to deluxe for $6.70.
Just a few t-shirts today! (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop
Umbrella Corps, a team-based shooter set in the Resident Evil universe, unveiled at TGS
Capcom has announced plans to expand the Resident Evil universe once more with Umbrella Corps, a team-based shooter in development for the PC and PS4. Announced today at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show, Umbrella Corps features “quick, intense matches” that take place within arenas that resemble historic Resident Evil locales. Though Resident Evil lore says the titular corporation was brought down years ago, its villainous spirit lives on in a gladiatorial series of shootouts between rival mercenary squads:
Umbrella Corporation, a ruthless international pharmaceutical company, had been known for its genetic experiments and biological weaponry that led to worldwide devastation including the infamous Raccoon City incident . Although the organization was brought down in 2003, its legacy of bio-terrorism continued. In the present day, corporations with nebulous interests in bio-weaponry have hired squads of special forces for experimental battles in restricted virus-infected areas against other mercenaries.
Umbrella Corps will feature high-intensity team-based matches where players can compete online in a variety of unique close quarter battle modes. Each adrenaline-fueled match will be short and brutal and is designed for quick and engaging play. The game will feature an analog aim and cover system, allowing for more precise control when firing from cover.
The game will feature a variety of game modes, including One Life Match. In One Life Match, players will be tasked with obliterating the other team without having the ability to respawn. Matches are further complicated by the shuffling undead hordes that populate each map. Players can take out these ghouls, or they can use them strategically against the opposing team. But when you add zombies to the mix, you need the right tools to dispatch them and Umbrella Corps delivers with the Brainer (a powerful melee axe which goes straight into the skull), the Tactical Shield (an arm-mounted guard allowing players to utilize a zombie as cover), Terrain Spikes (boot-mounted spikes for trampling the enemy), and the Zombie Jammer (a device which repels zombies only when active).
Umbrella Corps will be released as a budget-priced ($29.99) digital download for the PC and PS4 in early 2016. Its debut trailer has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged TGS 2015, Umbrella Corps
Daily Scoop: September 14, 2015 – I’m back!
Hello, everyone! I know I’ve been gone a while – I was out of town for a bit last week. The end of the week I was in Boston for Boston FIG! I had a great time playing tons of games, hanging out with friends, and meeting some wonderful people. It was a blast, and I highly recommend going!
Anyway, let’s talk about deals! There’s a brand new Weekly Bundle over at Humble, and this one’s called Super Slam Showdown! Pay what you want for Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds, Stardust Vanguards, and No Time to Explain Remastered. Beat the average to unlock Divekick and Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball. Of course, I’m going to suggest you pay $7 or more to unlock the very top tier, which is Sportsfriends! Do it – you won’t regret it! And after you’ve played it a bunch, unlock the secret games. Oh, yes.
There are 144 new Weeklong Deals at Steam! Get Deadfall Adventures for $3.99, Heroes of a Broken Land for $7.49, Retro-Pixel Castles for $4.99, and Toki Tori for just $0.24, among many others. Today’s Daily Deal is the Metal Slug Triple Pack. For $7.99, you can get Metal Slug, Metal Slug 3, and Metal Slug X.
But what you missed the most, I’m sure, was my daily t-shirt roundup. Hit the jump to check them out! (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop
Prepare for Fallout 4 with a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. instructional video series… S is for Strength
“Following total atomic annihilation, the rebuilding of this great nation of ours may fall to you. Study these materials carefully to ensure your survival and to discover what makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L.”
Bethesda has always made great use of the Fallout franchise’s retro-futuristic aesthetic, and the first entry in a new series of 1950s-inspired educational videos for Fallout 4 is just the latest bit of proof. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. series serves as a handy tutorial to give players all the skills they’ll need to survive in The Wasteland. These attributes (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) will play an important part in the game… especially if you don’t want to be killed horribly by a marauding mutant or deranged survivor.
Proudly produced by Vault-Tec (the in-universe company that created Fallout’s many Vaults), the video for “Strength” has been embedded above. Fallout 4 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 10.
Follow Harmonix down to see the final batch of Rock Band 4 tracks (featuring Gin Blossoms, R.E.M., Mumford & Sons, more)
Harmonix has announced the final batch of songs for Rock Band 4, and it should make fans of 80s alternative (R.E.M.), 90s alternative (Gin Blossoms), and 2010s alternative (Mumford & Sons) very happy:
- Brad Paisley (Featuring Keith Urban) – “Start A Band”
- Brandi Carlile – “Mainstream Kid”
- Dark Wheels – “V-Bomb”
- Gary Clark Jr. – “Ain’t Messin ‘Round”
- Gin Blossoms – “Follow You Down”
- Grouplove – “Tongue Tied”
- Imagine Dragons – “I Bet My Life”
- Jeff Allen (Featuring Noelle LeBlanc and Naoko Takamoto) – “Recession”
- Johnny Blazes and the Pretty Boys – “Cold Clear Light”
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – “That Smell”
- Mumford & Sons – “The Wolf”
- R.E.M. – “The One I Love”
- The Warning – “Free Falling”
The fan-favorite music franchise will be resurrected for the PS4 and Xbox One on October 6 with 63 songs on the disc and thousands more available through the Rock Band Store. The remainder of Rock Band 4’s on-disc setlist is available after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4