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
Comcept officially announces Mega Man Legends successor Red Ash (and an anime too)
After teasing it a few days ago, Keiji Inafune and his team at Comcept officially announced a spiritual successor to Mega Man Legends at the Anime Expo today.
Unlike a traditional Mega Man game, Mega Man Legends melded third-person shooting with RPG conventions while still referencing Mega Man’s rich history. The third-person shooter/RPG hybrid Red Ash: The Indelible Legend will do something similar by serving as a spiritual cousin to Inafune’s upcoming Mighty No. 9. Like Mighty No. 9, Red Ash will also star two teenagers named Beck and Call with a penchant for robotics and adventure. But that’s where the similarities end…
Danger looms over hundreds of thousands who make the city of Great Slope their home. The Mobile Citadel “KalKanon” is currently on a crash course with this city. At this rate, a major disaster is all but unavoidable.
Gecko Company, one of the organizations central to Great Slope, has prepared a massive electromagnetic cannon christened “The Peacemaker” to combat this catastrophe. They announced their plan to destroy the massive Fortress-City before it reaches the settlement. Great Slope quickly switches from a city enveloped in panic, to one ready to sit back and enjoy the fireworks of the special, once-in-a-lifetime Burning Cannon Festival. However, not everyone welcomes this announcement; particularly the young owner of the Bones Company, Call C. Bones. All Delvers have heard the famous folktale… that inside the belly of KalKanon rests the Legendary Legacy…
Of course, she sends the request for this crazy job to her favorite stooges: partners Beck and Tyger.
Comcept also launched a Kickstarter campaign today to help fund the development of Red Ash. The developer is seeking $800,000 and hopes to have the completed game ready for release on the PC by July 2017. However, a series of stretch goals would expand the size and scope of the game considerably (the first, at $1.3 million, will nearly double it). There’s no gameplay footage yet, but a wide variety of great-looking concept art is available on the campaign page.
A separate Kickstarter campaign has also been launched for a companion anime film, Red Ash: Magicicada, to be produced by Studio 4°C. This campaign is seeking a more modest $150,000, of which $13,000 has already been pledged. The anime won’t be a direct adaptation of the game and will instead explore “unique worlds and stories” with the same characters.
A console release for Red Ash: The Indelible Legend is a possibility, but it may not happen for a while. Writing in the campaign’s FAQ, Inafune and Comcept wrote they “want to first focus on making as good of [a] game as we can.”
Posted in Etcetera, News, PC
Tagged Red Ash: The Indelible Legend
Shenmue III Kickstarter campaign adds Physical Copy tier for PS4 version
Yu Suzuki and the team behind the Shenmue III Kickstarter campaign have announced that backers interested in a physical copy of the game for the PS4 can now obtain one if they pledge $60 or more. The news came down thanks to yesterday’s campaign update:
This is one of the most requested items on the list, and we are very happy to be able to include the Shenmue 3 PS4 Kickstarter Backer’s Edition as a Reward. If you are a Shenmue fan and PS4 gamer, this is the reward to have to commemorate the occasion!
Shenmue III’s Kickstarter campaign has been a huge success so far. As of this writing, the PC and PS4 game is 210% funded for a total of $4.2 million. Nearly two weeks remain on the campaign clock, so there’s a very real chance that Bloodstained‘s recent record-setting performance won’t stand for very long.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Shenmue III
Indiependence Day non-sale asks gamers to pay full price for indie games
It’s no secret that independent developers often have to struggle to make ends meat, especially in this world of deep discount Steam sales and bundles (both Humble and not). Cue the “Indiependence Day” movement. Today, a number of indie developers have banded together to not put their games on sale. Instead, they’re asking gamers to pay full price on this 4th of July (and to spread the word with the #IndiependenceDay hashtag):
We encourage fans of indie games to support their favorite developers by buying their games at full price. If you bought a game on sale and wound up really loving it, perhaps buy a copy at full price and gift it to a friend. Or pick up that game that’s been on your wishlist for a long time. (Steam’s new refund policy makes that a lot less risky!) Whatever your platform of choice, we’d love your support.
Dozens of games are included in the Indiependence Day including a few Warp Zoned favorites, such as Tom Happ’s side-scrolling Axiom Verge, Dejobaan’s wordy adventure Elegy For A Dead World, and Vertex Pop’s twin-stick shooter We Are Doomed.
A complete list of participating developers can be found after the break. (more…)
Telltale reveals first trailer, story details, voice cast for Minecraft: Story Mode
As promised, Telltale Games unwrapped our first look at Minecraft: Story Mode during this year’s Minecon expo. The episodic series (which will be spread out over five episodes) nails the look and feel of Minecraft with the added bonus of Patton Oswalt as the main character:
You’ll control protagonist Jesse throughout the season, as portrayed by actor Patton Oswalt. Jesse and his group of friends revere the legendary Order of the Stone; four adventurers who slayed an Ender Dragon. The Order are the very best at what they do: Warrior, Redstone Engineer, Griefer, and Architect. While at EnderCon, Jesse and his friends discover that something is wrong… something dreadful. Terror is unleashed, and they must set out on a journey to find The Order of the Stone if they are to save their world from oblivion.
An all-star cast of vocal talent will join Oswalt on his Minecraft adventure including Brian Posehn, Ashley Johnson, Scott Porter, Martha Plimpton, Dave Fennoy, Corey Feldman, Billy West, and Paul Reubens. You can hear a few of them in the game’s debut trailer, which has been embedded above.
Minecraft: Story Mode will be released this Fall for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices (iOS and Android).
Rumor: Nintendo’s NX system could be released as early as July 2016
In March, Nintendo announced that information on their next hardware platform, currently codenamed NX, would be revealed in 2016. Since then, everyone has been trying to get the notoriously tight-lipped company to open up about the system. Even President Satoru Iwata isn’t immune, as he had to remind shareholders that he wouldn’t be discussing the NX multiple times during the company’s recent annual meeting.
Yesterday, DigiTimes went one better and revealed that Nintendo has asked their manufacturing partners to begin production on a pilot run of NX components beginning this October, “at the latest.” The outlet’s source believes that final orders will be placed early next year with mass production of the system set to begin by May or June. The source added that a July 2016 launch for the NX “may” be possible.
DigiTimes believes that Nintendo wants to ship 20 million NX systems in its first year of a availability, which would be more than any previous home console. This number seems like a rather high estimate as the Wii U has yet to reach that number after three years on the market.
The schedule sounds a bit insane to me (The Legend of Zelda Wii U might not even be out by July 2016), but if it is true, I trust that Nintendo knows what they’re doing.
Donkey Kong and Bowser take center stage in this Skylanders SuperChargers trailer
Activision has released a new trailer for Skylanders SuperChargers that focuses on the game’s Nintendo-exclusive guest stars… “Turbo Charge Donkey Kong” and “Hammer Slam Bowser.”
Naturally, both characters will only be playable in Skylanders SuperChargers for the Wii U, Wii, and 3DS. However, that won’t stop Activision from releasing a Skylanders figure for both characters, which will be available exclusively in the game’s 3DS and Wii U Starter Packs. Bowser will be packaged with the 3DS version, while Donkey Kong will share a barrel with the Wii U version. Each figure will also include Amiibo functionality, as Nintendo has endorsed both figures (a switch on the bottom toggles the figure between Skylanders and Amiibo).
Skylanders SuperChargers will be released on September 20, and it’ll also be available for the iPad, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Skylanders SuperChargers, Skylanders SuperChargers Racing
WB Games is preparing to release Batgirl DLC for Batman: Arkham Knight on July 14
While the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight continues to be plagued by glitches and other assorted problems, WB Games is pressing ahead with the game’s DLC schedule and plans to release the Batgirl: A Matter of Family expansion in a few weeks:
Set prior to the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batgirl: A Matter of Family will allow players to take on the role of Batgirl for the first time in the Batman: Arkham franchise. This exciting story add-on features an all-new location with multiple missions, side quests and secrets; a new hacking feature to progress through the world and solve puzzles; and Dual Play functionality with Robin for dynamic take-down maneuvers.
Owners of Arkham Knight’s Season Pass will receive access to Batgirl: A Matter of Family on July 14. However, if you’d prefer to purchase the expansion on its own (for $6.99), you’ll have to wait until July 21. Naturally, the expansion will only be released for the PS4 and Xbox One as the PC version remains unavailable for purchase.
Batgirl: A Matter of Family was developed by WB Montreal, the same team behind Batman: Arkham Origins. This likely explains the speedy turnaround, and WB Games promised that all subsequent DLC additions to Arkham Knight will be developed by Rocksteady Studios.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight
The Games of July 2015
You can almost hear the tumbleweeds going by out there! There’s so little coming out in the month of July, which is for the best, as that Steam sale, and this great succession of amazing Wii U games, have really made us all broke. So let’s talk about what we think has potential coming out this July! (more…)