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
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows will infect all platforms on September 17
Yacht Club Games has announced that Shovel Knight‘s Plague of Shadows expansion will be available to download on all platforms and in all regions on September 17. The free update will completely transform the game, allowing players to take control of the villainous Plague Knight as he does battle with his fellow knights of The Order of No Quarter.
However, this challenge is only for expert players as the Plague of Shadows campaign will remain locked unless you’ve beaten the game as Shovel Knight.
Unlike some cinematic knights, prospective Plague of Shadows players won’t need to choose wisely as Shovel Knight is currently available for the PC, 3DS, Wii U, PS3, PS4, Vita, and Xbox One. Yacht Club will continue to expand the world of Shovel Knight in the future as campaigns centered around King Knight and Specter Knight are in the works. In the nearer future, a Shovel Knight Amiibo figure, which will unlock a Co-Op Campaign on the 3DS and Wii U, will be released sometime this Fall.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows
Video Game Release Calendar Changelog: September 2015 Update
Don’t Forget! This is just a changelog of recently announced release dates. Warp Zoned’s complete Video Game Release Calendar includes every title we could find that’s scheduled for release in 2015, 2016, 2017, or beyond.
We have officially turned the calendar over to September and that means the Fall gaming rush is right around the corner. Thankfully, that means a number of publishers have nailed down final release dates for many of their major releases. Nintendo has been especially busy filling in their monthly planner, announcing release dates for Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water (October 22), The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (October 23), Yo-Kai Watch (November 6), Star Fox Zero (November 20), and Devil’s Third (December 11).
Looking beyond the end of the year, 2016’s Winter/Spring period is also filling up fast including a launch date for Lego Avengers in January (January 26) and a bevy of titles in February (XCOM 2 on February 5, Battleborn on February 9, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided on February 23). A few weeks later, Nathan Drake makes his PS4 debut in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End on March 18. Microsoft has also staked a Spring claim with the release of Quantum Break on April 5.
Finally, we circle back around to Nintendo with the announcement of an official launch window (“Spring 2016”) for the Wii U version of Pokken Tournament. We all knew it was happening, so I’m not sure what took them so long.
Even more new release dates from this edition of the Video Game Release Calendar Changelog can be found after the break. (more…)
CoD: Advanced Warfare’s Reckoning Pack is now available on the PC, PS3, PS4
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare owners on the PC, PS3, and PS4 will finally get their chance to try out the game’s final downloadable expansion as the Reckoning Pack is now available on non-Xbox platforms. With the Reckoning Pack, Activision and Sledgehammer Games added four more competitive multiplayer maps to Advanced Warfare:
- Overload: Enjoy the grand view of downtown New Baghdad from this exotic compound, complete with fountains, gardens and decorative plasma lamps. The map’s multiple levels and long perimeter site-lines highlight medium to long-range combat, and firing a shot at the lamps will send enemies flying in a burst of energy.
- Quarantine: Following a deadly viral outbreak, the island has been converted into a biological testing center. This medium sized map’s tight corners dial up the speed and open areas combine to allow for any style of gameplay. Activate the map-based scorestreak to unleash a devastating ship-fired missile strike.
- Fracture: Discover what secrets are locked in the ice in this arctic excavation site. Take refuge behind wind turbines and heavy equipment through large combat areas cradled on the shelf of a glacier. Stay alert as the timed event cracks the ice sheet, sending one lane sinking to the depths.
- Swarm: Reconstruction is underway in Seoul, South Korea, congesting narrow corridors of this small to medium sized map with vehicles and equipment. Take position in war-scarred storefronts that provide plenty of cover over the streets or flank the enemy through close quarter interiors in the center of the map.
The Reckoning Pack also includes “Descent,” the final chapter in the Exo Zombies co-op campaign. John Malkovich’s Oz has risen from the dead to do battle with Bill Paxton, Bruce Campbell, Rose McGowan, and Jon Bernthal as they escape from the Atlas aircraft carrier.
This is the last time PlayStation players will be forced to wait for their Call of Duty add-ons. Beginning this Fall, PS4 and PS3 players will receive access to every downloadable expansion for Call of Duty: Black Ops III a month earlier than their Xbox counterparts.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Xbox Store Today: Evolve Free Weekend, Rugby World Cup 2015, Super Toy Cars, more
Evolve didn’t quite land with the blockbuster boom that Turtle Rock had hoped for, but it has sold almost three million copies and a lot of people seem to enjoy it. Publisher 2K Games is hoping to increase that number this weekend with a special “Free Weekend” promotion for the game, which kicks off today at 3:00 PM (Eastern Time), on the Xbox One and PC. Best of all, players will get the chance to battle alien monsters for an extra day as the promotion doesn’t end until Tuesday, September 8 at 3:00 AM.
If you enjoy your time with Evolve, you might also like to know that it’ll receive a temporary price drop next week as part of Microsoft’s Deals With Gold.
Elsewhere on the Xbox Games Store today, owners of Microsoft’s consoles will get the chance to dive into a scrum in Rugby World Cup 2015 on the Xbox One or Xbox 360. Also available on the Xbox 360 is an overhead shooter from Moss known as strong>Caladrius.
And if you’re looking for Xbox One exclusives, today marks the release of Super Toy Cars, a “tabletop arcade combat racing game” featuring penny racers; Broken Sword 5: The Serpent’s Curse, a murder mystery set within a Paris gallery; Quest of Dungeons, a procedurally-generated turn-based roguelike; and Nightmares From the Deep: The Cursed Heart, a “classic adventure game” about undying love.
More information about all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
“Interim” patch for PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight is now available
As promised, WB Games has finally released an “interim” patch for the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight. Additional work still needs to be done to get the game up to snuff, but the patch provides major fixes and improvements to the game:
- Reduced frame rate hitches
- Optimizations for system memory and VRAM usage
- Improved performance on all GPUs (requires the latest drivers)
- More Comprehensive In-Game Settings
- Fixed low resolution texture bugs
- Fixed hitches when running on mechanical hard drives (HDD)
More patches for Batman: Arkham Knight are still in the works at developer Rocksteady. The team posted their current to-do list for the next patch, which hopefully should be available soon:
- Adding support for SLI and Crossfire
- Adding support for the latest DLC and Season Pass content
- Adding support for additional updates such as Photo Mode
- Continued improvements and bug fixing for a Windows 7-specific memory issue that occurs on configurations with 8GB of system RAM and some Nvidia GPUs during extended game play
- Continued improvements for Windows 10-specific issues on systems with some AMD GPUs
WB Games suspended sales of Arkham Knight’s PC edition just a few days after the game’s June 23 launch. As of today, the game still isn’t available for purchase through Steam or other digital storefronts. Hopefully, this latest patch works the way its supposed to and that changes in the very near future.
[Source: WB Games Community Forums]
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight
NetherRealm will add four new characters to Mortal Kombat X in 2016
Creative Director Ed Boon, and the rest of NetherRealm Studios, have been teasing a second Kombat Pack of downloadable characters for a while now. And after filling our Summer with Jason Voorhees, Tanya, The Predator, and Tremor, they’re finally making good on their promise.
Officially announced today, though still shrouded in shadow, the second Kombat Pack will include four new characters, a number of new costumes for existing characters, and a new Arena. The content will be released in the first half of 2016, though publisher WB Games didn’t say if it would appear all at once or over the course of a few months. We’ve got plenty of time to play “Guess the Silhouette” thanks to the teaser image above, but the one on the left is clearly a ninja (Rain? Smoke?) and I’d wager my soul that the one on the right is Baraka.
Mortal Kombat X was released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One back in April. Believe it or not, it’s currently the best-selling game of the year, and I’m pretty sure that WB Games is assuming some new blood will keep it selling right into 2016.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Mortal Kombat X
Transformers: Devastation gets pre-order bonuses, new trailer, Peter Cullen BTS video
As Summer transforms into Fall, Activision has released a ton of new information and gameplay footage about Transformers: Devastation, the Platinum-developed brawler that’ll be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 6.
Let’s start with a pair of pre-order bonus packs, which the publisher announced recently. All players who pre-order the game will receive a trio of Character Skins (Nemesis Prime, Red Alert, and Goldfire) alongside several side several powerful weapons:
- Dark Star Sabre: A fearsome sword which radiates waves of dark energy with every swing.
- Photon Disruptor: A cannon for huge damage at short range.
- Golden Hunter: Twin blaster pistols, which causes enemies to drop credits when attacked.
I have no idea if these weapons are on display in Devastation’s latest gameplay trailer, but it has been embedded above for your viewing pleasure… especially if you’re interested in the combo-heavy combat that Platinum is preparing for the game. Finally, a behind-the-scenes interview with Peter Cullen (the one-and-only voice of Optimus Prime) is available after the break. Only an unfeeling Decepticon can ignore the pride he feels for the character, even after portraying him for three decades. (more…)
Extreme Exorcism busts its way to release on September 23
Ripstone Publishing and Golden Ruby Games have announced that Extreme Exorcism will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One on September 23.
The retro-styled side-scroller follows ghostbuster Mae Barrons as she ventures into a haunted house to clean up a band of offending spirits. Armed only with her unique expertise (and a huge arsenal of guns), Mae will have to dodge ghosts that mimic her own movements from the previous round. According to the developer, “players are their own worst enemy and the longer they survive, the more chaotic the game becomes.”
In addition to Extreme Exorcism’s single-player Story Mode, the game will include a Challenge Mode with 50 challenge and local multiplayer (both Co-Op and Deathmatch) for up to four players. The game’s latest trailer has been embedded above.