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)
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CoD Advanced Warfare special editions keep it simple with DLC bonuses

After including underwater cameras and remote control drones in previous special, Activision is keeping the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare special editions simple. Instead of some big toy that you’ll play with once, the publisher is packing both packages with a ton of downloadable goodies.
First up is the Atlas Pro Edition, which is priced at $79.99. In addition to the game, it’ll include the following digital items:
- “Atlas Gorge” Bonus Multiplayer Map – “Atlas Gorge” re-envisions the fan-favorite Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map, “Pipeline,” re-imagined for the new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare exoskeleton abilities. The Atlas Corporation has commandeered the world’s largest power source, the Three Gorges Dam in central China, creating a gripping setting for a multiplayer battle. Combatants will navigate the shadows and control a map-based turret scorestreak that overlooks the dam and helps to keep enemies at bay, all while leveraging new abilities and tactics enabled by exoskeleton technology, such as vertical combat, new sightlines, and strategic vantage points.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Weapons – The Bal-27 AE Assault Rifle and the Atlas 45 AE Pistol. Trick out your loadout with these two sleek weapons fitted with an Atlas Corporation theme to match your other custom content.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Atlas Exoskeleton – Strike fear into competition with your PMC-issued, white, red & black custom Atlas exoskeleton, and ensure opponents remember who took them out.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Atlas Helmet – A state-of-the-art custom Atlas helmet.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Atlas Player Card – Leave your mark on any killcam with an Atlas player card, featuring both a custom Atlas calling card and custom Atlas emblem.
- Atlas Digital Content Pack: Bonus Supply Drops – Supply Drops are part of the revolutionary changes in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that Sledgehammer Games is bringing to Call of Duty multiplayer. You’ll be well-prepared for battle as soon as you boot up with five bonus supply drops, which unlock a variety of game-changing, in-game content from player customization gear to weapons.
- Single Player Exoskeleton Upgrade Token – Over the course of Campaign mode, players unlock exoskeleton perks and abilities that help tackle various obstacles and challenges. This token provides an extra upgrade for your exoskeleton, so you’re already at an advantage when jumping into the Campaign.
- Official Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Soundtrack – Digital copy of the in-game score, featuring main title & themes by legendary composer, Harry Gregson-Williams as well as original music by Audiomachine.
The Atlas Pro Edition will also include a Welcome to Atlas: Advanced Soldier Manual which features “original concept artwork” from the game as well as “historical and tactical information that will bolster every soldier’s potential for success in the field.” Finally, it all comes packed in a collectible SteelBook case. If you upgrade to the Atlas Limited Edition (which is priced at $119.99), you’ll receive all that plus the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass.
The Atlas Pro Edition, the Atlas Limited Edition, and the standard edition of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will all launch on November 4 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
EA Access offers subscription service for EA games on Xbox One
You’re already signed up for Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus. Now, get ready to open up your wallet for EA Access.
EA Access is a subscription service that will offer access to some of Electronic Art’s previously released titles as digital downloads. Currently, the service is exclusive to the Xbox One and will be available for $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year.
So what do you get for your money? First and foremost, you get access to “The Vault,” a revolving selection of EA titles that can be downloaded from Xbox Live. During this Summer’s EA Access beta period, The Vault will contain Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, and Peggle 2. According to the fine print, EA Access subscribers will lose all access to their EA Access games if the subscription lapses and once a game is removed from The Vault, it is no longer playable by EA Access subscribers.
In addition to titles in The Vault, EA Access members will be able to download demo versions of upcoming EA titles five days before the general public. These “Play First” titles include Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, FIFA 15, NBA Live 15, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Finally, subscribers will receive 10% off all EA digital content in the Xbox Live Games Store. That includes all full game downloads and add-on content.
If you’re interested in signing up for EA Access, head over to EA.com/eaaccess now.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, FIFA 14, FIFA 15, Madden NFL 15, Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 15, NHL 15, Peggle 2
Daily Scoop: July 29, 2014 – Grumpy Cat
As I may have mentioned here before, some friends and I get together on Mondays to watch the Bachelor series. Last night, on the season finale, the producers brought out Grumpy Cat to mock the main character’s hilarious frown face. I totally lost it! And I actually think Grumpy Cat should have a game made about her. Someone needs to get on that!
So what games are on sale today? I’m glad you asked. At the Humble Store, there’s plenty of great stuff on sale. You can get Kingdom Rush for $2.49, Murdered: Soul Suspect for $14.99, and Three Fourths Home for $2.99, among others. Over at Steam, the Midweek Madness deal is Age of Empires II HD for $4.99, and the Daily Deal is The Fall for $4.99. Scoop ’em up!
Some great shirts today:
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare “Story” trailer needs more Spacey
This “Campaign Story” trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare lays out all the little details the fuel the game’s narrative… There’s a terrible terrorist attack. A private military contractor named Atlas leads the rebuilding effort and wins government contracts all over the world. And then Kevin Spacey goes mad with power. But I was promised a madder Spacey. A Spacey that chews the digital scenery with reckless abandon. Maybe even Keyser Soze in space!
But we don’t get any of that. There’s very little Spacey in this trailer. I have to admit, I feel a little like Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park. Tapping the screen and hoping a Spaceysaurus jumps out and has a nice lunch with his lawyer.
Still, the trailer is pretty impressive. There’s jet packs and mech-suited soldiers and walking tanks and a surveillance bug that is literally a tiny flying bug with a camera mounted to its face. And the trailer ends with a promise that the “Multiplayer Reveal” will be available on August 11. That’s nice to know.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will launch (with more Spacey) on November 4 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Tetsuya Nomura-designed Batman figure was originally created for a canceled game
Square Enix launched their Play Arts Kai line of figures a few years ago, creating figures for famous franchises such as Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, and Halo. Recently, they’ve delved into creating DC Comics Variant figures such as this awesome Batman design that debuted at this past weekend’s San Diego Comic Con. This version of the Caped Crusader looks to be influenced by the futuristic stylings of Batman Beyond, but it also features a more heavily armored look as well as a cape that closely resembles bat wings.
It was also originally designed by Tetsuya Nomura (the Director behind the Kingdom Hearts series and the upcoming Final Fantasy XV) for use in a now-canceled Batman game.
Siliconera caught up with the prolific producer to ask him about the history of the figure and the game it was originally connected to. It turns out that the game was in development more than a decade ago, and never moved past the concept stage. It was actually canceled before development began on Kingdom Hearts, and Nomura revealed that this Batman design influenced the look of the armor in the first Square Enix/Disney crossover. Beyond that, he’s not allowed to say much about the project, though he did confirm that he’s working on a way to publish the “backstory” of this Batman variant.
So we’ve got a PS2-era Batman game with a funky art style that would have been overseen by Tetsuya Nomura. I am truly sorry I never got to see the finished product and I doubt I’m alone.
Posted in Etcetera, News
Tagged Comic-Con 2014
Beatbuddy swims onto iOS devices in September
Threaks has announced that Beatbuddy, their musical underseas action-adventure game, will soon make the jump from PCs to mobile devices. Beginning in September, the game will be available to download for the iPad and iPhone.
Beatbuddy’s controls have been completely redesigned to work with touchscreen devices, but the graphics and music (composed by such luminaries as Austin Wintory, Parov Stelar, and Sabrepulse) are being brought over exactly as they were on the PC. And speaking of music, the game’s great soundtrack will be available to purchase through iTunes as well as through an in-app store.
Threaks plans to support the iOS version of Beatbuddy with new songs that will be released monthly. Best of all, this DLC will be free.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians
PAX Prime 2014 PAX 10 selections announced
PAX Prime 2014 is exactly a month away, so now’s the perfect time to announce the PAX 10, a hand-picked group of indie games that the Penny Arcade (and over 50 judges) choose to highlight at the big show.
Duet, a great iOS game where players have to navigate two dots through an obstacle course, and Framed, an interactive comic where players rearrange the panels to rearrange the story, are both holdovers from this Spring’s PAX East Indie Showcase. Other PAX 10 selections include:
- Duet (Developed by Kumobius)
- Flickers (Developed by DigiPen’s Neat Snake)
- Framed (Developed by LoveShack Entertainment)
- Life Goes On (Developed by Infinite Monkeys Entertainment)
- Mushroom 11 (Developed by Untame)
- Nova-111 (Developed by Funktronic Labs)
- Poof vs The Cursed Kitty (Developed by Arkedo Studio/Neko Entertainment)
- Skullduggery! (Developed by ClutchPlay Games)
- Stikbold! (Developed by Reign Bros)
- The Counting Kingdom (Developed by Little Worlds Interactive)
Head over to the official PAX Site for a more detailed description of each title. And be sure to check out every PAX 10 selection on the show floor at this year’s PAX Prime convention.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC
Tagged PAX Prime 2014
Shovel Knight Review: An Ace (of Spades) Retro-Styled Platformer

Even though we’re in the middle of a second golden age of side-scrolling platformers, very few of them attempt to recreate what was so great about the graphical look of games in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Most of them (Mega Man 9 and 10, Contra ReBirth, Gradius ReBirth) just serve as distant sequels to some NES favorites. So it’s amazing that something like Shovel Knight, a wholly original game from Yacht Club Games, was able to perfectly capture the mood of late 80s game design. It feels more like a lost cartridge rediscovered in the modern day as opposed to a modern game created with modern gamers in mind. Yacht Club’s Sean Velasco told us last year that the company’s goal is to create “really awesome retro/modern fusion games.” I’m glad they got the chance and I’m not sure I’d want it any other way. (more…)







