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
- 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”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: PC
New Retail Releases: Rocket League, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII, Carmageddon: Max Damage
Just three new releases will be available on store shelves this week, so let’s get right to it…
First up is Rocket League: Collector’s Edition, a special retail edition of the popular “soccer with cars” simulation for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The Collector’s Edition will include a variety of bonus content (Chaos Run DLC Pack, Supersonic DLC Pack, Revenge of the Battle-Cars DLC Pack, and four new Vehicles), as well as an all-new Season Mode. And if you’re looking for a new multiplayer game, don’t forget, Rocket League offers local splitscreen play for up to four players and online play for up to eight.
Also available this week is Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII for the PS4. The long-running strategy series has enthralled fans since 1985 and the latest entry will include a Campaign Mode where players follow the events of the novel, and a Hero Mode where players will be able to create their own destiny with more than 700 historical characters.
Finally this week, Carmageddon: Max Damage is a new entry in the car combat franchise for the PS4 and Xbox One, but it’ll update the extreme vehicular violence of the 1997 original (and its 1998 sequel) for the 21st century.
We’ll be back later this week with a look at the latest digital releases for the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rocket League
Slayer Shock is a procedurally-generated homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer
There have been several games based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer over the years, but none since 2009’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sacrifice, and even that one never made its way to North America. Enter Slayer Shock, a first-person RPG from David Pittman and Minor Key Games that follows a teenage vampire hunter and her friends.
Heavily inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Slayer Shock features procedurally-generated missions and campaigns that mirror Buffy‘s mix of episodes and season-long “Big Bads.” Pittman and his team are now seeking votes on Steam Greenlight, where they’ve posted a pretty through walkthrough video and a few more details about the game:
Operating from your headquarters at a college coffee shop, you take missions to patrol the streets, rescue captive humans, and weaken the undead threat. A team of fellow vampire slayers assists you from HQ, providing new weapons, skills, and research.
With a format that lovingly recalls scripted television (missions are “episodes”, each campaign is a “season”), Slayer Shock blends immersive first-person action, lightweight strategy, and procedural narrative into a uniquely thrilling experience.
If that weren’t enough, Pittman also wrote on his development blog that Slayer Shock is using “the exaggerated characters and angles” from professional wrestling to help create the game’s narrative arcs.
Slayer Shock will be released for the PC this Fall.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Slayer Shock
Now Blizzard is hiring a Game Director for their “Unannounced Diablo Project”
Blizzard first mentioned their “Unannounced Diablo Project” back in August in an employment listing for an Art Director.
Today, the developer is once again looking for applicants to join its ranks. More specifically, they want to hire a Game Director for a project that is starting to look more and more like Diablo 4. Blizzard is seeking candidates who are “knowledgeable and passionate about Diablo games” for the position, and they want a person who will “lead the Diablo series into the future.”
Further fueling the Diablo 4 fire is a separate job opening for a Senior Character Artist that refers to the project as “[Blizzard’s] next hit game.”
Blizzard is a developer who works on their own schedule, so it might be quite a while before we see anything connected to Diablo 4. But there’s always this November’s BlizzCon to look forward to.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Diablo 4, Diablo III
Shenmue III is “coming together” on the first anniversary of its Kickstarter campaign
The Kickstarter campaign for Shenmue III was one of a kind. And I mean that literally, as it eventually became the most-funded video game project of all time after 69,320 backers pledged $6,333,295 towards the development of the sequel.
That was a year ago, and now Yu Suzuki has offered an update on Shenmue III in a new video he recently posted to Kickstarter.
According to the developer, Ys Net started building a prototype of the game in January, and “battles and facial expressions are coming together.” Suzuki also confirmed that backer surveys are “still a ways off.” It’s not much, but it’s good to know that progress is being made.
Shenmue III is expected to be released for the PC and PS4 in December 2017.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Shenmue III
Energy Hook will swing onto the PC and PS4 next week
Jamie Fristrom, the “Chief Scientist” at Happion Laboratories, has announced that Energy Hook will be released for the PC and PS4 on July 5.
Fristrom was responsible for the swinging mechanic from 2004’s Spider-Man 2, and he’s expanded on that mode of transportation for his latest project. Writing on the PlayStation Blog yesterday, the developer described Energy Hook as “the extreme sport of the future” and compares its trick system to Tony Hawk Pro Skater:
Energy Hook is the extreme sport of the future. You swing from a grapple beam, run on walls, jump and boost with your jetpack, and do flips and poses midair, all to earn style points. Chain your tricks to get multipliers for massive scores.
There are also race challenges where you’ll swing through the levels as quickly as possible. Doing tricks earns you boost and keeps you in the air longer; use this to your advantage and get the best time possible!
Like the early Tony Hawk games there’s no story — it’s all about the gameplay!
If you don’t want to wait, Energy Hook is also now available on Steam through their Early Access program.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Energy Hook
BioShock: The Collection will be released for PC, PS4, Xbox One on September 13
I can’t remember the first time I heard a rumor that 2K was looking to remaster the BioShock series for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One… but it was definitely a long time ago. Well, the time for rumors has ended, and 2K has chosen to officially re-release the acclaimed trilogy for the PC and new-generation consoles, as BioShock: The Collection, on September 13.
Development on BioShock: The Collection will be handled by Blind Squirrel Games, and the compilation will package BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite together for the first time. Not only will each game in The Collection feature remastered graphics, but it’ll also include every piece of single-player DLC for all three titles and a brand new video series, Director’s Commentary: Imagining BioShock, with new insights from Director Ken Levine and Lead Artist Shawn Robertson.
Here’s a rundown of everything BioShock: The Collection will contain:
BioShock
- Museum of Orphaned Concepts: Walk through a Rapture-inspired virtual museum that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at discarded concepts that never made it into the original game.
- Challenge Rooms: Outside the story of BioShock, tackle puzzles, splicers and Big Daddies. And Achievements, of course.
BioShock 2
- Minerva’s Den: A self-contained BioShock story, presenting a side of Rapture you’ve never seen before. Use expanded combat abilities with the experimental Ion Laser and chaotic Gravity Well Plasmid, unique to Minerva’s Den, as you face off against the Lancer Big Daddy.
- Protector Trials: Take control of an Alpha Series Big Daddy woken out of hibernation just before the events of BioShock 2.
BioShock Infinite
- Burial at Sea – Episode 1 + 2 Add-On Packs: This major two-part DLC pack completes the BioShock trilogy by taking the series back to where it all began. Return to Rapture just before the events of the original BioShock!
- Clash in the Clouds Add-On Pack: Face 60 waves of challenges across four additional maps for leaderboard glory and unlock areas to explore in The Columbian Archaeological Society hub museum.
- Columbia’s Finest Pack: Combines the contents of the Industrial Revolution Pack and the Upgrade Pack and includes 500 Silver Eagles, five Lock Picks, six unique Gear items, and two weapon upgrades: Comstock’s China Broom Shotgun and Comstock’s Eagle Eye Sniper Rifle.
Unfortunately, there’s one thing the compilation is leaving out… the multiplayer options from BioShock 2 won’t be included in BioShock: The Collection.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged BioShock, BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite
Get a sneak peek at Street Fighter V’s Story Mode DLC before it launches tomorrow
Street Fighter V‘s Story Mode DLC, “A Shadow Falls,” will be available as a free download beginning tomorrow, July 1. But first, Capcom wants to give fans a sneak peek at the cinematic campaign with a brand new Launch Trailer.
As you might expect from Street Fighter, the plotting and dialogue are a bit on the goofy side, but it’s always entertaining to see the game’s colorful characters mixing it up like this. Taking place between Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter III, “A Shadow Falls” will check in with the 16 characters from the main game and all six downloadable characters.
And speaking of downloadable characters, don’t forget, Ibuki and Balrog will both be added to the game tomorrow. Players who previously purchased the Season Pass can download them for free, while the rest of us will be able to buy them for $5.99 apiece. Street Fighter V’s in-game Fight Money currency can also be used to unlock the fighters, but remember that you’ll need 100,000 Credits per character.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Street Fighter V
It’s In Your Blood: A History of Horror Games (Part Three)
If you’re anything like me, you like to be scared. Horror movies accomplish this nicely from time to time, but for a truly memorable experience, horror games are unmatched. They drop you into terrifying situations, leaving you no choice but to wade through unforgiving environments and do battle with grotesque creatures… but when did this genre begin? How did it evolve? If you find yourself asking these questions, take a seat. Welcome to our domain!
We recently covered the birth of horror games, and then waxed poetic about the genre’s evolution. This time around, you’ll be reading about a far more stable period for this type of game. As certain horror titles began to stand out from the crowd, developers and publishers quickly took notice. This leads us directly into… (more…)
Posted in Features, PC, Retro, Top Story
Tagged Resident Evil 2