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
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Most Recent: PC
Sega will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at Sonic Mania and Project Sonic at SXSW 2017
Sega has been unusually quiet about the future of Sonic the Hedgehog since announcing Sonic Mania and Project Sonic at Comic-Con 2016. That’ll all change next month, when the publisher hosts “Gotta Go Fast: The Official Panel of Sonic the Hedgehog” at South by Southwest 2017 on Thursday, March 16.
Takashi Iizuka, the Head of Sonic Team, Aaron Webber, Sonic’s Community Manager, and Roger Craig Smith and Mike Pollock, the voice actors behind Sonic and Dr. Eggman, will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at both games, along with unveiling a few “other surprises”:
Dive into the world of Sonic the Hedgehog in this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at both Sonic Mania and the upcoming Sonic 2017! With presenters from Sega and Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka, this panel will answer questions about both games, showcase a new reveal for each title, and will discuss Sonic’s resurgence in the world of gaming since the reveal of both games. Of course, with Sonic involved, who knows what other surprises might be in store?
Sonic Mania is a side-scrolling platformer that’s an homage to Sonic’s past, and it’ll be available this Spring. Project Sonic is a new 3D game that’ll launch this Fall, and it features many of the same time-bending shenanigans as Sonic Generations. Both games are currently in the works for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Sonic Forces, Sonic Mania
Focus Home Interactive will release Call of Cthulhu and Vampyr in Fall 2017
Previously penciled in for “TBA 2017” release dates, Focus Home Interactive updated their official website over the weekend and confirmed that Call of Cthulhu and Vampyr will both launch in Fall 2017.
Call of Cthulhu, based on the tabletop RPG of the same name from Chaosium, is an adventure game from Cyanide Studio. Players will guide a detective in his search for a missing woman on a mysterious island, but things aren’t what they seem, and one of Lovecraft’s most famous creations, Cthulhu, lurks in the shadows.
Vampyr is in development at Dontnod, and is an action RPG set against the backdrop of a Spanish Flu outbreak in London in the early 20th century. As Dr. Jonathan Reid, players will be tested by their vampiric bloodlust, and characters they choose to feed on will “impact in a meaningful way the world that surrounds you.”
Call of Cthulhu and Vampyr are both currently in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
New Retail Releases: For Honor, Sniper Elite 4, Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition, More
Five new games will be available on store shelves this week, and three of them will ask players to study the art of war…
The combat-heavy For Honor certainly fits the theme, and Ubisoft’s action game will pit some of history’s strongest warriors against each other. Coming to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this week, For Honor asks players to choose their Faction (Knights, Vikings, or Samurai) and take them into battle in a single-player Campaign and an online Multiplayer Mode.
Another historical skirmish will be waged on the PS4 and Xbox One this week in Sniper Elite 4. Once again developed by Rebellion, Sniper Elite 4 transports players back to World War II and provides them with a series of missions for the Allies on the Italian front. The Day One Edition will also give early adopters the chance to kill Hitler in the “Target: Fuhrer” bonus mission.
It’s unlikely that future conflicts will play out like they do in science fiction, but Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition will give fans of the franchise a chance to try out 21st century tactics against Atriox and his Banished followers. The real time strategy game will be available for the Xbox One and as an Windows 10 Digital Code (which also includes an Xbox One download thanks to the Xbox Play Anywhere program), and the Ultimate Edition will be bundled with the Season Pass and a digital copy of Halo Wars: Definitive Edition.
And speaking of bundles, an Xbox One S 1TB + Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition Bundle will also launch this week, alongside a brand new Xbox One S 500GB + Forza Horizon 3 Bundle.
A different kind of war will take place on the racetracks of Ride 2, which will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this week. The hyperrealistic motorcycle racing sim will include more than 230 licensed bikes, as well as 1,200 real-world parts, 800 accessories, and over 30 tracks.
Finally, a special Retail Edition of Earthlock: Festvial of Magic will be released for the PS4. Currently available to download from the PlayStation Store, Earthlock is a turn-based RPG that features a very retro sensibility.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Earthlock: Festival of Magic, For Honor, Halo Wars, Halo Wars 2, Sniper Elite 4
The Deep End’s Perception is officially coming to the Xbox One too
After previously revealing that Perception, a survival horror game starring a young woman named Cassie, would be released for the PC and PS4, developer The Deep End Games has now confirmed it’ll also be available for the Xbox One.
If you’re unfamiliar with Perception, The Deep End has released a new trailer, as well as posted a detailed description about the game to the Xbox Wire:
Perception is a narrative-based first-person horror game where you play as Cassie, a blind woman whose nightmares about a haunted mansion have plagued her for months. She finally decides to go to the mansion to solve the mystery, but there’s more to this estate than she ever dreamed. She must use her wits, her smartphone, and her echolocation abilities to unravel the tortured history of the place and escape with her life.
Sound is a major element to playing Perception. Every sound becomes a visual cue for the player, whether it be a hissing pipe or an alarm clock going off at an inopportune time — the more sound you make while exploring Echo Bluff, the greater your chance of grabbing the attention of the malevolent force inside the house.
As you continue to play, you’ll travel back through the decades and see the house’s many iterations, along with the generations tormented by the forces at play. As Cassie solves each mystery, the house dwindles slowly toward its original form, to the beginning of its horrors.
Perception doesn’t currently have an official release date, but there’s a possibility it could launch sometime in 2017.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Perception
Indie Megabooth will host 12 games in their GDC 2017 Showcase
The Indie Megabooth will once again offer a small chunk of real estate at the Game Developers Conference to up-and-coming developers this year. Their GDC 2017 Showcase will feature 12 games that are sometimes goofy (Keyboard Sports), sometimes terrifying (Perception), and sometimes without explanation.
The full lineup includes:
Indie Megabooth’s GDC 2017 Showcase
- _Transfer
- A Duel Hand Disaster: Trackher
- Cosmic Express
- I, Hope
- Keyboard Sports
- Lightfield
- Monster Prom
- Perception
- Post Human WAR
- Rogue Process
- Snake Pass
- Super Slime Arena
The Indie Megabooth will set up shop in San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center on the third floor of West Hall, and more information about every game featured in the Showcase can be found on their official website.
The 2017 Game Developers Conference will begin on February 27.
Call of Duty 2017 is going “back to its roots” and CoD: Infinite Warfare is officially a retail disappointment
It’s official… Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has been a disappointment for Activision. During a quarterly financial presentation yesterday, executives from the publisher confirmed that sales of the sequel “underperformed our expectations.”
COO Thomas Tippl speculated that the sci-fi trappings of Infinite Warfare’s plot might have been responsible for the sales downturn, saying, “It’s clear that for a portion of our audience, the space setting just didn’t resonate.”
However, Activision’s senior staff are very excited for Call of Duty 2017, which is currently in development at Sledgehammer Games. Tippl confirmed the game will launch this Fall, and said it’ll feature “traditional combat” that takes the franchise “back to its roots”:
In 2017, Activision will take Call of Duty back to its roots, and traditional combat will once again take center stage. This is what our dedicated community of Call of Duty players and Sledgehammer Games, who has been developing this year’s title, are the most excited about.
During the Q&A portion of the presentation, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg added that Call of Duty 2017, which is known as “Lethal Combat” internally, will offer a better balance of traditional elements and new innovations than Infinite Warfare did:
I’ve said many times before, with any longstanding franchise like Call of Duty, there’s a balancing act we need to strike between staying true to the things that people love about the franchise and also the need to never become complacent and to keep pushing for innovations to keep the franchise fresh and vital.
Last year I don’t think we got that balance right. Infinite Warfare had a ton of great gameplay innovations that many of our fans appreciated and loved, but it also had a setting that didn’t appeal to all of our fans. The good news is, is that I’m excited to say that in 2017 we think we have this balance in perfect harmony with a game that our teams are incredibly passionate about, with a lot of great innovations, but that also has the traditional combat that we know our fans are going to love.
Barring some catastrophic change in Activision’s operational style, Call of Duty 2017 will likely be released this November.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: WWII
Episode 3 from The Walking Dead: A New Frontier will be released in March; Season Pass Disc coming February 28
Telltale Games has announced that The Walking Dead: A New Frontier‘s third episode, Above the Law, will be available to download for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices beginning next month. According to the developer, they’ll unveil more details about the upcoming expansion to the story “in the coming weeks.”
In other Walking Dead: A New Frontier news, Telltale also confirmed that the Season Pass Disc will be available in stores on February 28. The Season Pass Disc will contain the season’s first two episodes, Ties That Bind Part I and Ties That Bind Part II, and include access to all subsequent episodes as they’re released.
A new trailer advertising The Walking Dead: A New Frontier’s Season Pass Disc has been embedded above.
The icy Kolin will be second character available as part of Street Fighter V’s Season Pass 2
As promised, Capcom has announced the next character that’ll be available to download as part of Street Fighter V‘s Season Pass 2. Kolin, a “Phantasm of Snow and Ice,” first appeared in Street Fighter III as a background character, and fans will be able to select her as a playable character for the first time on February 28.
In addition to the trailer embedded above, the publisher also shared a few details about Kolin’s arctic abilities on the Capcom-Unity blog:
Character Overview
Kolin excels in the Russian martial art of Systema, utilizing the opponent’s momentum against them and executing various slash-like attacks and knife hand strikes. Gill has bestowed upon her the power of ice, allowing her to augment her fight style with frigid blasts and deadly icicles. She is often heard speaking condescendingly towards her opponents, knowing they don’t stand a chance before her, let alone Gill.V-Skill: Inside Slash
Kolin’s unique counter allows her to deflect and automatically punish incoming moves with ease.V-Trigger: Diamond Dust
With a full V-Meter, Kolin can slam the ground twice with her foot, each time shooting out a path of sharp icicles across the floor. In addition to damage and stun, this move freezes the opponent’s stun gauge. While in this special state, the stun gauge will not deplete and if Kolin is successful in stunning the opponent, they will be frozen in place.Critical Art: Frost Tower
Kolin dashes forward with a slice of her hand. If the attack connects, she’ll continue summoning large icicles from the ground, throwing the opponent into the air and shattering the ice to drop them to the ground.
In addition to Kolin’s debut, Capcom also confirmed today that Street Fighter V’s third new character of 2017 will be unveiled in April.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Street Fighter V