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
NY Court dismisses Lindsay Lohan’s lawsuit against Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto V
Hey, remember when Lindsay Lohan filed a lawsuit against Rockstar Games for using her image without permission in Grand Theft Auto V? I’m going to be honest with you, I completely forgot it was still an open case. Apparently, the gears of justice grind slowly, but last week, the Supreme Court of New York County dismissed Lohan’s case.
According to the Court Report, Lohan’s claim was dismissed because Rockstar did not use her name or likeness in Grand Theft Auto V. While Lohan believes that Rockstar stole her “signature style” for the bikini model featured in most of the game’s advertisements, the Court ruled otherwise.
However, the Court also said that even if Rockstar had based the character on Lohan, her claim would still be dismissed because Rockstar’s authorship of Grand Theft Auto V is protected under the First Amendment as “a work of fiction and satire.”
The Court also dismissed a similar lawsuit from Karen Gravano last week. Gravano, the daughter of famed mafia underboss Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, claimed that Rockstar illegally based the character of Andrea Bottino on her. While both women share a past entwined with the Sicilian Mafia and reality TV, like Lohan’s suit, the Court ruled that even if Rockstar had based the character on Gravano, they were protected by the First Amendment.
While this sounds like a pretty definitive end to two rather frivolous lawsuits, this might not be over for Rockstar. Both Lohan and Gravano have the ability to appeal the ruling and will likely do so.
Mortal Kombat XL will be available for PC on October 4
WB Games and NetherRealm Studios have announced that Mortal Kombat XL (and Kombat Pack 2) will be released for the PC on October 4.
Available for the PS4 and Xbox One since March, Mortal Kombat XL expands Mortal Kombat X with four new characters (The Xenomorph from Alien, Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tri-Borg, and Bo Rai Cho), the Apocalypse Skin Pack, and all the previously released downloadable content that was part of the first Kombat Pack.
Like Mortal Kombat X’s original release, Mortal Kombat XL and the Kombat Pack 2 content will be ported to the PC by Qloc.
NetherRealm also plans to issue a free update for Mortal Kombat X on October 4, which will give players access to “all of the latest balance updates as well as the enhanced online experience, that was available in the recent beta test for the game.”
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Mortal Kombat X
Bplus announces Tank It! for Nintendo’s NX and the PC
Even though we are roughly six months away from the launch of the NX, Nintendo has confirmed exactly two pieces of information about their next console… 1) It exists, and 2) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be released sometime next year.
Thankfully, third partiy publishers are going ahead and announcing their NX projects anyway. Case in point, Austrian developer Bplus recently announced that they’ll bring their next game, Tank It!, to the NX in 2017. Described as a “war simulation game” with an “anti-war” message, Bplus also plans to release Tank It! for the PC in 2016:
Tank it! is a realistic and bloody war simulation game designed to show how brutal and dangerous war really is… that it is no good… that countless civilians are killed as collateral damage.
In Tank it! you command a drone to remotely control a heavy tank. You receive the mission to travel to remote villages, find and destroy the target military camps and eliminate all terrorists. But as in real life, there are many civilians in the villages, as well. The terrorists and civilians alike are at the player’s mercy. It is up to the player alone to decide how to handle this mission.
Bplus has previously developed a number of games for Nintendo’s eShop service including Bit Boy!! (2009) and Bit Boy!! Arcade (2014).
Run the Jewels debuts “Panther Like A Panther” in Gears of War 4’s Horde 3.0 trailer
Horde Mode took the world by storm in 2009 after its debut in Gears of War 2, and The Coalition has big plans for the evolution of the co-operative survival mode in Gears of War 4. Officially known as Horde 3.0, the developer wants to give players the chance to deploy unique classes and buildable fortifications as they fight for survival against “50 Waves of Chaos.”
Here’s what they had to say about Horde 3.0 on the Xbox Wire:
In addition to ferocious new classes of enemies like the Swarm and the DeeBees, Horde 3.0 also introduces new innovations like a class-based system that lets you choose from five variations in roles – Soldier, Sniper, Scout, Heavy and Engineer – to play to your strengths and encourage teamwork. In addition, the new “Fabricator” is a deployable base of operations that allows players to build their defenses anywhere on the map and execute their defensive strategy with precision.
The Horde 3.0 trailer is also notable for its soundtrack, which features the debut of “Panther Like A Panther,” the first track from Run the Jewels’s upcoming album, Run the Jewels 3. The duo’s collaboration with The Coalition won’t end there either. Both Killer Mike and El-P will be available as playable characters in all of Gears of War 4’s multiplayer modes.
If you’re in Seattle for this weekend’s PAX West expo, you can try out Gears of War 4 (and Horde 3.0) at the Microsoft booth right now. The rest of us will have to wait until October 11, which is when Gears of War 4 will be available in stores for the PC and Xbox One.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Gears of War 4, PAX West 2016
New Retail Releases: Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet, Just Sing, More
Welcome to the first week of September, the unofficial start of the “Fall Gaming Avalanche.” I guess most publishers didn’t get the memo, because only a handful of new titles will be available on store shelves this week…
Players interested in obscure Japanese RPGs will finally get the chance to play The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II on the PS3 and Vita this week. Published by XSEED and developed by Falcom, Trails of Cold Steel II is a tactical turn-based title where the fate of the kingdom is at stake and only a plucky band of outsiders can save the day.
And speaking of obscure Japanese oddities, NIS America will release Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet for the PS4 this week. The “bullet hell” shooter includes a Story Mode for one or two players, an online Battle Mode, and a punishing Boss Rush Mode.
If all this fighting has you depressed, you can always turn that frown upside down and sing your heart out with Ubisoft’s Just Sing, a singing-only spinoff from their Just Dance series. Bop along to Britney Spears, Sia, Justin Bieber, and more on the PS4 or Xbox One.
Finally this week, Bethesda will launch The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Edition for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The popular MMORPG still doesn’t require a monthly subscription, but it now comes bundled with all four downloadable expansions: Imperial City, Orsinium, Thieves Guild, and Dark Brotherhood.
We’ll be back later this week with a look at the new additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop. In the meantime, have a good Labor Day!
CoD: Infinite Warfare Multiplayer Trailer is here… along with the announcement of a PS4 beta and an exclusive PlayStation VR mission
The first Multiplayer Trailer for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare puts its focus on the many different Combat Rigs that players can wear into battle. From the “Mid-Range Assault” classification of the Warfighter Rig to the “Assassin” capabilities of the FTL Rig, these suits will give players plenty of options in Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer mode. Though players could also decide to dress down and go full-robot with the Synaptic Rig.
In addition to unveiling the first Multiplayer Trailer, Activision also confirmed that a beta test for Infinity Warfare will begin on October 14 for PS4 players who pre-ordered the game. An Xbox One beta test will be held at a later date.
Finally, Activision revealed that PS4 players will also get the chance to try out “Jackal Assault,” a special mission exclusively available for the PlayStation VR that “immerses fans in the cockpit and puts them in control of a Jackal, the personal fighter jet in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.”
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is in development at Infinity Ward and will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 4.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Activision unveils first Multiplayer Trailer for CoD: Modern Warfare Remastered; All 16 multiplayer maps to be available by end of year
Publishers and developers from all over the world took over Seattle this weekend to party it up at PAX West, one of the biggest gaming conventions on the calendar. Rather than join them, Activision set up their own gaming convention in Los Angeles to celebrate the past, present, and future of the Call of Duty franchise.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered hits all three rather nicely, and Activision used this weekend’s Call of Duty XP event to unveil the game’s first Multiplayer Trailer, which has been embedded above. Ten multiplayer maps from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered will be included in the game when it launches this Fall, and Activision has also promised that the remaining six maps will be made available (at no additional cost) by the end of the year.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 4, but you can only get it if you purchase the Digital Deluxe Edition or Legacy Edition of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Watch Jason Voorhees get 13 kills in Friday the 13th: The Game’s PAX West 2016 trailer
Triskaidekaphobiacs beware… Gun Media and Illfonic are back with a brand new trailer for Friday the 13th: The Game, which was unveiled yesterday at PAX West. Jason Voorhees doesn’t waste any time during the three-minute clip, as the slasher legend manages to deliver an impressive 13 kills during its running time. And yes, that means he averaged a kill roughly every 13 seconds.
All of Jason’s kills in Friday the 13th: The Game were designed by Tom Savini, the same special effects wizard who supplied the gory makeup for Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. If it’s possible, his work on Friday the 13th: The Game looks to be even more brutal and splatter-tastic than the original films. Needless to say, if you’ve got an aversion to blood and gore, I would recommend you NOT watch this trailer.
Friday the 13th: The Game is expected to be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this October.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Friday the 13th, PAX West 2016