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
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.
Kickstart This! Anniversary Interview: Bendik Stang of Snowcastle Games Takes A Turn to Talk About Earthlock: Festival of Magic
Earthlock: Festival of Magic was one of those rare Kickstarter projects that immediately grabbed our attention with its strong, colourful art direction, firm sense of genre, and polished gameplay. Its ambition was only matched by the passion of small Norwegian outfit Snowcastle Games, who, with only a couple of games under its belt, sought $150,000 to make a huge RPG for both PC gamers as well as the new generation of consoles. Originally featured in March 2014’s Guinness Aftermath Edition of Kickstart This!, Earthlock: Festival of Magic is expected to be released for the PC, PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One later this year.
We caught up with Bendik Stang, Snowcastle’s Game Director, earlier this year to talk about the team’s progress from campaign to nearly-finished product, as well as their experience at the 2015 Game Developers Conference. He even shared two brand new pieces of concept art with us… (more…)
Posted in Features, Interviews, PC, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Earthlock: Festival of Magic
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will be available on February 23, 2015… or 4 days earlier if enough people pre-order it
In some alternate universe, the “Can’t Kill Progress” pre-reveal for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided kept gamers riveted to their screens as we learned more about Adam Jensen’s next mission. Sadly, in our reality, “Can’t Kill Progress” was a sleepy bust that plodded along for three days, eventually culminating in the re-unveiling of a game that Square Enix first announced more than a year before.
But to be fair, the game’s debut trailer was pretty fantastic.
Instead of learning their lesson, Square Enix has decided to double down on this sort of ridiculousness with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s just-announced “Augment Your Pre-Order” campaign. The game will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on February 23, 2015, and players who decide to pre-order it will be able to customize their “Day One Edition” by choosing bonus items from a quintet of tiers. However, each tier will remain locked until a pre-determined number of players put down money to pre-order the game. But if enough players buy in to Square Enix’s scheme and unlock all five tiers, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will be released four days early on February 19.
The public will also have the option to bypass all this nonsense by pre-ordering the Collector’s Edition, which includes every piece of “Day One” content, a 48-page Titan Art Book, a nine-inch Adam Jensen figurine, and a limited edition Steelbook case.
If you are interested in pre-ordering Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and you want to know more about how the tiers work, we’ve got more information for you about the scheme after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, PAX Prime 2015
Mighty No. 9 Trial Version will be released on… you guessed it… September 15
While delays are rather common in the game industry, Mighty No. 9‘s release date change earlier this month carried with it a considerable amount of controversy as the game’s Kickstarter backers were literally the last people to be told about it. However, a small part of the game will be available on September 15 as originally planned.
Comcept has used the game’s latest Kickstarter update to announce that a Trial Version of Mighty No. 9 will be released for backers through Steam. The Trial Version will be available for about a month and include access to four stages (the Opening Stage, Mighty No. 1, Mighty No. 3 Stage, and Mighty No. 5). Each of these stages are considered to be in a “complete state” by Comcept, so this Trial Version is likely to be a very similar experience to the final game.
In addition to the four stages, the Trial Version will include every cutscene from the first half of the game, so players will even be able to follow along with the story. A number of sound options (including the Retro Soundtrack) and six Challenge Mode stages will also be included.
Sadly, it looks like the Trial Version of Mighty No. 9 will not be released on any console, which surely has to be a blow to players who don’t own a gaming PC. They’ll have to wait until early 2016, when Mighty No. 9 is expected to be released for the PC, as well as the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, 3DS, and Vita.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Mighty No. 9, PAX Prime 2015
2K Games abducts XCOM 2 and changes its release date to February 5, 2016
Firaxis Games began teasing a project known only as “Advent,” later revealed to be XCOM 2, this past May. A month later, Firaxis released the sequel’s first trailer and announced a November release date. That quick turnaround appears to be too quick as the developer has now announced (via the game’s official website) that XCOM 2 will now be available on February 5, 2016:
We want to give you an update on the release date for XCOM 2. We’ve set a high bar for the sequel and the entire team has been working hard to make sure we deliver a great follow-up to Enemy Unknown. We just need a little more time to make it the best possible game.
With XCOM 2, we want to have more depth, more replayability, and more investment in your soldiers and this extension will give us the time we need to deliver on our promise to you.
After announcing XCOM 2, Firaxis told IGN they want the game to push the limits of the PC platform and that their goals are “ambitious.” This commitment to quality is great to hear, but its also likely the cause of the delay.
New Releases: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Mad Max, More
This week truly marks the end of an era as Konami plans to release Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. While neither side has officially commented on the matter, this will likely be the last Metal Gear game produced by Hideo Kojima before he leaves the company. His series of political actioners has certainly left a lasting impression with gamers, and even if the franchise continues, he will be missed.
If this news make you angry, perhaps you can turn to Mad Max for advice on how to react. Developed by Avalanche and set to be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, the open roads of the game’s open world seem perfect for Max. And if you can’t get enough of George Miller’s post-apocalyptic hero, don’t forget that Mad Max: Fury Road is available on Blu-ray this week too.
Finally this week, a pair of games are being re-released in new retail editions for the PS4 and Xbox One. Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4: Complete Edition includes the original game and all of its Season Pass content, while Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons brings Starbreeze’s small adventure to retails shelves for the first time.
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Pulling Back the Curtain: The Importance of the Double Fine Adventure Documentary
Recently, 2 Player Productions wrapped production on Double Fine Adventure, a documentary series that followed the development of Broken Age. It was revolutionary in the gaming scene, being the only documentary to ever follow a studio developing a game from its conceptualization through its release and aftermath. Before it, the average game player had only ever seen brief snippets of development from single-person games or small indie teams. Double Fine was the first developer to pull back that curtain on game development, a feat arguably more important than its rocketing of Kickstarter into the mainstream, and unquestionably having a bigger impact on the industry and the community than Broken Age itself. If we’re being honest, Double Fine completely mismanaged their Kickstarter funds, and Broken Age isn’t great. But by “showing how the sausage gets made,” as studio founder Tim Schafer put it, Double Fine made their campaign more than worth it, and left a long-lasting contribution to the industry.
Until DFA came out, game development was a mystical secret that no one outside the industry could begin to comprehend. So much of it was mysterious that many who wanted to be in the industry viewed it with rose-tinted glasses: a dream job where they could play all day. All we knew about game development beforehand were the two extremes. There were the developers that talked in interviews about how great it was, coming to work and hanging out with cool people, getting to create great games that everybody loves. We also read the headlines about developers losing their jobs, and studios being shut down. That or it was about developers going mad in “crunch time” having to work 80 hour weeks. In fact, Double Fine gives us a good example with the Tim Schafter episode of G4’s Icons, when he took us briefly behind the scenes of production on Psychonauts.
We never knew what it was really like, not until Double Fine showed us. (more…)