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
DICE announces a Closed Beta for Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst and reintroduces us to Faith in new trailer
EA and DICE are back with a new trailer for Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, which attempts to reintroduce the gaming public to a “Runner” named Faith and the technologically-advanced city of Glass:
Faith Connors is a self-assured thrill-seeker and one of the best Runners in the city of Glass. But Faith’s carefree days are numbered. As she crosses paths with the evil Gabriel Kruger and the city’s oppressive Conglomerate, Faith finds herself running for something far more important. Playing Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst, you’ll experience a rich storyline with a heroine-to-be fighting for both the city and herself. Use the fluid movement and your combat skills to be the Catalyst of change.
The publisher and developer have also announced that Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst will receive a Closed Beta sometime in the near future on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. You can sign up for a chance to be a part of the beta at the game’s official website.
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst will be released on May 24.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Mirror's Edge: Catalyst
Embrace your Doom on May 13; New Campaign Trailer and Collector’s Edition revealed as well
Bethesda has announced that Doom, the next entry in the pioneering first person shooter series, will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 13. In addition to a solid release date, developer id Software has also unveiled a brand new Campaign Trailer for the game and an absolutely demonic Collector’s Edition.
Priced at $119.99, Doom’s Collector’s Edition will include a statue of The Revenant that stands 12″ tall and includes an LED-lit base. Created by the expert model makers at TriForce, the statue’s design is based on The Revenant’s actual in-game 3D files. The Collector’s Edition will also include the Demon Multiplayer Pack, “a unique demon armor set with three skin variations, six metallic paint colors and three id logo patterns that can be applied to weapons and armor.” Players who pre-order the standard edition will also receive the Demon Multiplayer Pack.
You can take a closer look at the Collector’s Edition after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)
The Witness sells over 100,000 copies; Xbox One version is “under serious consideration”
The Witness was released for the PC and PS4 last week to near universal acclaim, and today developer Jonathan Blow is ready to share some sales figures.
According to a new post on the official website for The Witness (which is titled “Fun Sales Fakts,” by the way), Blow has revealed that the game sold over 100,000 copies in its first week of availability. He also said The Witness has accumulated more than $5 million in gross revenue, which means the total number of copies sold (at $40 per copy) is probably closer to 125,000. Blow added that these numbers absolutely blow away the sales figures for Braid‘s entire first year:
This is a good chunk more revenue in one week than Braid made in its entire first year, from August 2008-September 2009. (Braid initially launched on XBLA in August 2008, and it came to Steam in April 2009). Braid was considered a hit independent game at the time.
However, the “Fun Sales Fakts” news post wasn’t all business for Blow. The developer used the final paragraph to hint at a bright future for The Witness, writing, “After this, in the near future, we will start investigating the bringing the game to other platforms. Under serious consideration are: iOS, Android, Xbox One, OS X.”
This is great news, but it’s not entirely unexpected. Blow has been talking about a mobile version of The Witness since 2013 and the ESRB outed a possible Xbox One port last month.
First CoD: Black Ops III DLC, Awakening, is now available to download for PS4
Your wait for more Call of Duty: Black Ops III content is over as Activision and Treyarch have announced the Awakening DLC Pack is now available to download for the PS4. The Awakening DLC Pack is part of Black Ops III’s Season Pass (priced at $49.99) and it’s also available to download individually (priced at $15).
As usual, players who partake in Call of Duty’s DLC offerings will receive access to four new multiplayer maps, along with a new level for Zombies Mode:
- Skyjacked: High above urban Zurich, Skyjacked is a modernized version of the popular Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer map Hijacked. Utilizing the new core movement system featured in Black Ops III, this map gives players new ways to explore the environment, while still retaining the same fast and frenetic gameplay players love.
- Splash: Dive into battle in this abandoned water park, featuring a vibrant and colorful environment, including waterslides, a wrecked pirate ship and a lazy river. Splash encourages an open flow of combat with opportunities for underwater gameplay.
- Gauntlet: Delivering three unique environments within one action-packed map, Gauntlet showcases Treyarch’s classic three-lane map structure, transporting players into battle through a sprawling jungle, sub-zero arctic zone and rainy urban cityscape.
- Rise: A versatile multiplayer map, Rise is set in the snowy outskirts of Zurich in the middle of an ongoing construction site for a massive subterranean Coalescence research campus. With multiple engagement areas throughout this larger map, each section caters to different styles of gameplay.
Awakening also introduces the first chapter of Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s Zombies DLC adventure with “Der Eisendrache” picking up where “The Giant” left off. Set in a chilling medieval Austrian castle during World War II, players will embark on an epic four-part journey with the Origin characters Richtofen, Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey, spanning the DLC season. The ancient site on which the castle sits was the scene of unspeakable horror where massive deposits of Element 115 have recently been discovered. Players will discover a variety of exciting plot twists and surprises as they survive waves of the undead.
The Awakening DLC Pack will be available exclusively for PS4 players for at least the next 30 days, so PC and Xbox One owners likely won’t get a crack at the new maps until March. But for now, you can check out a video preview of each new multiplayer map after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
WB Games and TT Games will release Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens on June 28
WB Games has announced the Lego Star Wars series will make its triumphant return this Summer with the release of Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens on June 28. The game will include a Lego-ized retelling of the latest entry in the Star Wars saga, while also offering levels built around the events that happened after the end of Return of the Jedi.
The Lego Star Wars series has sold 33 million copies since making its debut on the PS2 in 2005, but developer TT Games still has new ideas in store for The Force Awakens. These new features will include “intense Blaster Battles,” aerial dogfights (in outer space and ground-based arenas), and the “Multi-Build” system, which will allow players to choose from multiple building options to advance in the game.
Players will get the chance to visit Jakku and Starkiller Base in Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as take control of Resistance and First Order fighters like Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, BB-8, Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Captain Phasma. Finally, PS4 and PS3 players will receive bonus content for the game including a Droid Character Pack and Phantom Limb Level Pack. More details on those add-ons will be announced at a later date.
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will, not surprisingly, be released for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Nominate your favorite game for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016
The International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) at The Strong Museum is once again seeking nominations for its World Video Game Hall of Fame. The Class of 2016 will be announced on May 5, but the museum will solicit suggestions from the general public until February 29. Anyone interested in nominating their favorite game should visit the Hall of Fame’s website, and they should also keep the selection criteria in mind:
- Icon Status: The game is widely recognized and remembered.
- Longevity: The game is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over time.
- Geographical Reach: The game meets the above criteria across international boundaries.
- Influence: The game has exerted significant influence on the design and development of other games, on other forms of entertainment, or on popular culture and society in general. A game may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.
Six games were selected for induction in 2015 (Doom, Pac-Man, Pong, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and World of Warcraft), and a similar number of titles will likely make the cut in May. That means nine games from last year’s shortlist failed to be inducted (Angry Birds, FIFA International Soccer, The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, The Oregon Trail, Pokemon Red/Blue, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders), but they’ll likely be at the top of the suggestion pool again this year.
This year’s finalists will be chosen by an internal advisory committee from the ICHEG, and will be revealed to the public on March 29. The new class of inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame will be selected by an international selection committee made up of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society.
Superhot will be released for PC on February 25 and Xbox One in March
The Superhot Team has announced that their upcoming first person shooter, also known as Superhot, will be released for the PC on February 25. An Xbox One release will follow in March. Said to “[blur] the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem” by the developer, Superhot is a time-bending FPS where time moves only when the player moves.
To celebrate Superhot’s impending launch, the Superhot Team recently released a brand new gameplay trailer, which has been embedded above.
Superhot is up for several awards at this year’s Independent Games Festival Awards including the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize” and “Excellence In Design.” So it might be known as “the award-winning Superhot” in the not-too-distant future.
Here’s our first look at Kim Wu and The Arbiter in Killer Instinct Season 3
In a fighting game that already features a living skeleton, a dinosaur/human hybrid, and multiple deranged cyborgs, a spunky teenager might have a hard time standing out. But then, Kim Wu isn’t just any spunky teenager. As she says in this brand new Killer Instinct trailer, she’s got “a friggin’ dragon” on her side.
In addition to Kim Wu’s debut, Killer Instinct fans are also now able to peruse the patch notes for the upcoming Season 3 update. Both Kim Wu and the Season 3 update should be available to download in March.
Finally, Iron Galaxy teased one more Season 3 character last night… and it’s The Arbiter from the Halo universe. You can see a teaser starring the crossover character after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Killer Instinct