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
Rocket League will receive a huge “Neo Tokyo” update on June 20
Psyonix has announced that Rocket League‘s “biggest update ever” will be available on June 20. The “Neo Tokyo” update will include a brand new arena inspired by the cyberpunk fiction that first gained prominence in the 1980s, new items, an item Trade-In system, and new Trophies/Achievements.
Here’s a full rundown of everything that’s featured in the “Neo Tokyo” update:
Rocket League’s “Neo Tokyo” Update
- The beginning of Season 3 for Competitive Playlists, which resets all skill ratings and rewards last season’s players with exclusive Rocket Boosts that reflect their final rank.
- An Expanded Item Drop System that adds…
- More than 20 Rare and Very Rare Item types for online, post-game drops.
- An easy-to-use Trade In System that allows players to exchange multiple Items of one rarity type for an even rarer one.
- New Painted Items that offer different color variations on existing Garage favorites like Toppers and Wheels.
- Special Certified Items that track specific in-game stats and increase in prestige the higher those stats go.
- New Quick-Chat Customization options that expand player choices for fast, in-game communication.
- New Post-Game Celebrations that spotlight the winning team and allow them to jump, spin, and boost their car to show off their accomplishments.
- “Pillars,” a new experimental Arena that separates the field into three lanes via two massive walls in the middle of the stadium.
- A new, in-game “Showroom” that allows players to view and purchase all previously-released and future premium DLC.
- Eight New Trophies and Achievements on all three platforms.
Psyonix also plans to continue the “Neo Tokyo” theme with “Esper” and “Masamune,” a downloadable pair of futuristic vehicles with an anime flair. Both cars will be available first in the retail-only Rocket League: Collector’s Edition, which will be released on July 5. Current Rocket League owners will be able to pick up both cars for $1.99 apiece beginning on July 18.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rocket League
New Titanfall 2 trailer confirms October 28 release date and single-player campaign
EA has uploaded the first trailer for Titanfall 2 just hours before the start of their E3 Press Conference. The two-minute video confirms that Titanfall 2 will indeed include a dedicated single-player campaign, which will focus on the “unique bond between man and machine”:
Pilot and Titan unite as never before in Respawn Entertainment’s highly anticipated Titanfall 2. Featuring a crafted single player campaign that explores the unique bond between man and machine, players will step on to The Frontier as a Militia rifleman with aspirations of becoming a Pilot. Stranded behind IMC enemy lines, and against overwhelming odds, you must team up with a veteran Vanguard-class Titan and uphold a mission you were never meant to carry out.
Titanfall 2 will launch for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 28, and we’ll get a second look at it this afternoon when developer Respawn Entertainment turns the focus towards the game’s multiplayer modes during EA’s E3 Press Conference, which begins at 4:00 PM (Eastern Time).
Telltale announces the cast for their Batman game and unveils four new screenshots
The first two games in the Arkham saga will get a second life on the PS4 and Xbox One this Summer as part of the Return to Arkham collection, which will debut on store shelves just ahead of the first episode in Telltale’s upcoming Batman series. While we know all about the Arkham games, Telltale has decided to unveil their Batman project during this week’s E3 Expo.
But first, the developer wants to introduce us to the game’s voice cast, which includes Troy Baker as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Travis Willingham as Harvey Dent, Erin Yvette as Vicki Vale, Enn Reitel as Alfred Pennyworth, Murphy Guyer as Lieutenant James Gordon, Richard McGonagle as Carmine Falcone, and Laura Bailey as Catwoman/Selina Kyle.
“We’ve been hard at work at Telltale creating an all-new iteration of the iconic Batman story that puts players in the suit of billionaire Bruce Wayne, just as much as it will put them behind the mask, deciding how to carefully navigate a complex drama, rich with action, crime, corruption, and villainy lurking around every corner of Gotham City,” said Kevin Bruner, the Co-Founder and CEO of Telltale Games. “The complex life and fractured psyche of Bruce Wayne has lent itself to becoming a bold evolution of the signature Telltale role-playing experience, and we couldn’t be more excited as we prepare to debut the series to players across the world this summer.”
Five episodes in Batman: The Telltale Series will be produced, and the first will be released for the PC, consoles, and mobile devices this Summer. You can also spy a look at Batman’s comic-influenced art style after the break in the first four screenshots from the game. (more…)
New Retail Releases: Minecraft Wii U Edition, Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition
E3 week is almost upon us, and you know what that means…
Since most game publishers won’t release new games during E3 week, those that followed the tradition have ensured today’s “New Retail Releases” report will be quite short. But Microsoft decided to buck the trend, and will release a pair of games this week that were previously available only as digital downloads.
First up, the consolemaker’s Mojang division will release Minecraft: Wii U Edition for the… wait for it… Wii U. Minecraft’s Wii U Edition is the same virtual playground that we all know and love, but it’ll include the Super Mario Mash-up Pack expansion, which adds Mario-themed characters, textures, and music to the game.
Also available this week is Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition, an enhanced and expanded version of the well-received “MetroidVania” for the PC and Xbox One. Players will still be able to guide young Ori through the forest of Nibel, but the Definitive Edition will add new areas, new abilities, more story sequences, and multiple difficulty modes to the game.
That’s it for now, but we’ll be back soon with a round-up of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Dontnod gives Vampyr the E3 2016 trailer treatment
Life Is Strange wasn’t Dontnod Entertainment’s first game, but the apocalyptic adventure game put the developer on the map in a big way last year, and fans are eager to learn more about what the studio is up to next. With E3 in the air, the developer has decided that this year’s Expo is the perfect opportunity to give us another look at their followup, the action RPG Vampyr.
Vampyr takes place in London, at the height of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Players will take control of Dr. Jonathan Reid, a recently-turned vampire who fights between his pledge to heal the sick, and his uncontrollable thirst for blood. But unfortunately for us, the good doctor isn’t able to keep his hunger at bay forever, and the question of “Should I kill?” quickly morphs into the much different question, “Who should I kill?” According to Dontnod, the choices players make in who lives and who dies will ultimately cause “deadly ramifications” for the city around them.
Vampyr will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2017.
Kit Harrington will play “The Face of the Enemy” in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Everyone seems to love the absolutely-most-definitely-not-dead Jon Snow on Game of Thrones. Kit Harrington doesn’t have many other credits to his name, but that’s about to change, as the actor has signed on to portray “The Face of the Enemy” in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
“Kit is an amazing talent, and the consummate pro,” said Taylor Kurosaki, the Narrative Director at Infinity Ward. “Our story is about an epic showdown of opposing forces, and Kit immersed himself into the role and truly became the embodiment of the enemy, the Settlement Defense Front. We can’t wait for fans to see Kit play an entirely different kind of character.”
Harrington’s motion-capture performance was actually directed by Guy Ritchie, who previously recruited his Sherlock Holmes buddy, Robert Downey Jr., for Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s live-action trailer.
“Guy Ritchie is a friend of the franchise, so it was great to have him back to work with us, assisting in bringing Kit Harington’s character to life in Infinite Warfare,” added Infinity Ward’s Studio Head, Dave Stohl. “It meant a lot to us to develop the role into everything it could be. We’re excited about the performance Kit delivered and can’t wait to get it out to the public. We’re committed to delivering a compelling story with rich character depth, and this was a special opportunity to add to our fantastic cast.”
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is scheduled for a November 4th release on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. We’ll get a closer look at the game during next week’s E3 Expo, probably during Sony’s E3 Press Conference on Monday.
Call of Cthulhu’s E3 2016 trailer is appropriately grim and foreboding
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” – H.P. Lovecraft
This E3 2016 trailer for Cyanide’s Call of Cthulhu adaptation opens with a quote from Lovecraft himself, and it couldn’t be more appropriate for the creepy atmosphere that follows. Based partly on Chaosium’s RPG of the same name, Call of Cthulhu will follow Edward Pierce to Darkwater Island as he investigates the death of Sarah Hawkins:
Call of Cthulhu will offer an RPG-Investigation title, packed with psychological horror and stealth mechanics. Cyanide Studio brings to life a disturbing world that players will have to explore and investigate while Cthulhu, the Great Dreamer, prepares its awakening. Today’s E3 Trailer offers but a glimpse at all that awaits you.
Insanity and the Cthulhu Mythos have long been entwined – as your investigation brings you closer to Cthulhu’s sphere of influence, madness will progressively engulf your senses, leaving you to increasingly question what is real and what is illusory. They say that madness is the only way that can bring you to the truth and you will have to balance your sanity against your determination to discover it!
Focus Home Interactive will publish Call of Cthulhu for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2017… which is also the 100th anniversary of the completion of Lovecraft’s first short stories, The Tomb and Dagon.
Star Wars: Battlefront Season Pass owners will get Bespin expansion on June 21
Strike up the “Star Wars Main Theme,” EA and DICE have announced that Star Wars: Battlefront‘s Bespin expansion will be available to download (for Season Pass owners) on June 21. All other Star Wars: Battlefront owners will be able to access the DLC two weeks later, on July 5.
Along with a release date, EA and DICE also revealed a bit more about the expansion’s new heroes, weapons, and vehicles on the game’s official website:
Join legendary smuggler Lando Calrissian and cold-blooded bounty hunter Dengar in the Cloud City of Bespin. Take to the skies in the new Cloud Car vehicle and journey through Cloud City and the Administrator’s Palace. The Bespin digital expansion will feature two new blasters to add to your arsenal. No matter your preference of short or long range combat, there will be something new to try out in Cloud City. Hunt enemies within the Bioniip Laboratories or carbon-freezing chambers with the new X-8 Night Sniper and EE-4 blasters.
Lando and Dengar both feature new traits that will give them unique gameplay abilities. Dengar is a villain that thrives on being in a fight. He wields the DLT-19, which makes him the first Hero with a heavy blaster so far. Lando is very skilled with a blaster too, but his greatest talent comes from knowing the odds and using tricks against his enemies.
EA and DICE will release more Star Wars: Battlefront content over the next year including two additional expansions. The Death Star expansion will arrive this Fall, and an untitled expansion will follow in Early 2017.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront