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
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- 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
Bethesda will kick off E3 2015 with a Doom 4 gameplay reveal
Bethesda first pulled back the curtain on Doom 4 (I know, I know, it’s technically just Doom) at last year’s QuakeCon expo. The publisher has famously kept the footage under wraps, but the audience in Austin went wild for what they saw.
Today, Bethesda confirmed the latest sequel in id Software’s seminal shooter series will be on display for a much wider audience at this year’s E3 Expo. The “Doom Worldwide Gameplay Reveal” will take place during Bethesda’s first-ever E3 Press Conference on Sunday June 14 at 10:00 PM (Eastern Time).
A release date for Doom has yet to be announced, though we know the game is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Players who pre-ordered Wolfenstein: The New Order before its launch last year will receive exclusive access to a closed beta for the game. However, the start date of the beta is also a mystery.
First Wii U trailer for The 90s Arcade Racer drifts into view
The 90s are alive on the Wii U. Developer Antonis “Pelikan13” Pelekanos and publisher Nicalis have released a new Wii U gameplay trailer for The 90s Arcade Racer, giving us a new look at the Daytona USA-inspired title. In addition to the de rigueur jungle course, the game will also include a track modeled after a slot car set. Pay attention to the background as the car whizzes around the very 90s bedroom for a host of Easter eggs including a television with an NES underneath it.
The trailer closes with a glimpse at Pop Dat!, a minigame embedded in The 90s Arcade Racer. Players will control a gun-toting mouse who has to shoot down a series of balloons. Yup, that’s pretty 90s.
The 90s Arcade Racer is also in development for mobile devices (iOS and Android) and PC platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux), and should be available sometime this year.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, Wii U
Tagged 90s Super GP
Telltale will release Game of Thrones Episode 4: Sons of Winter “soon”
Telltale Games began teasing the fourth episode of their Game of Thrones adaptation on Twitter last night. One tweet promised the game’s next episode, Sons of Winter, would be released “soon” for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices:
.@GameOfThrones: A @TelltaleGames Series – Ep 4 of 6: Sons of Winter – Download It Soon on Consoles, PC, Mac & Mobile pic.twitter.com/jM05RI5ntC
— Telltale Games (@telltalegames) May 17, 2015
Telltale followed up the tease with a stream of new screenshots featuring Daenerys, Beskha, a meeting between House Forrester and House Whitehill, a Wildling with a spear, and Gared Tuttle talking to Frostfinger.
As is Telltale’s MO, a trailer for Game of Thrones: Sons of Winter should appear sometime this week alongside an official release date.
New Releases: The Witcher 3, Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario, Farming Simulator 15, More
A quartet of new games will be available on store shelves this week including one of the year’s biggest new releases.
CD Projekt’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a massive, sprawling RPG that ends Geralt of Rivia’s story in the biggest way possible. If you haven’t seen of the trailers or gameplay walkthroughs (Conan O’Brien’s “Clueless Gamer” segment is particularly enlightening), you should fix that right now before The Witcher 3 launches on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on Tuesday.
Also available on Tuesday are a pair of games that are nothing like The Witcher 3 and nothing like each other. First up is Farming Simulator 15, which is now available for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One after a PC launch last year. Farming Simulator 15 does just what it says on the box and gives players a simulation of what it’s like to be a farmer. This Tuesday’s other new release release, HyperDimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed for the Vita, doesn’t simulate anything approaching reality. Instead, it’s a beat ’em up that takes place within an anime-influenced recreation of the video game industry.
Finally, on Friday, Nintendo will bring the popular match-3/RPG hybridization Puzzle & Dragons to the 3DS for the first time. Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition is actually two separate takes on the concept, one of which stars Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom.
That’s it for this week’s retail release report, but check back all week for details on all the new additions to the digital storefronts.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Farming Simulator 15, Puzzle & Dragons Z, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Play as Jason in Mortal Kombat X for free this weekend
Mortal Kombat X will get to try Jason Voorhees out for free this weekend in one of the game’s Living Towers.
Voorhees, the classic slasher from the Friday the 13th films, joined the other kombatants in NetherRealm’s latest last week as part of the Kombat Pack expansion. He’s the first of four characters who will be added to the game this year, he’ll eventually share the stage with The Predator, Mortal Kombat 4‘s Tanya, and the never-before-playable Tremor.
All three of Jason’s variations will be accessible in the Living Tower’s six fights, which will be available until Monday.
Prepare your PC for Oculus Rift with the VR rig’s recommended system specifications
Is your PC ready for the Oculus Rift? The consumer version of the virtual reality headset will be available in stores in early 2016, so to prepare gamers, the hardware manufacturer has published (on their official blog) the system specifications needed to get “the full Rift experience”:
- Nvidia GTX 970 / AMD 290 (Equivalent or Greater)
- Intel i5-4590 Processor (Equivalent or Greater)
- Compatible HDMI 1.3 Video Output
- 8GB+ RAM
- 2x USB 3.0 Ports
- Windows 7 SP1 or Newer
According to Oculus, the system specifications will “stay constant over the lifetime of the Rift,” which is good to hear, as this hardware configuration is rather pricey at the moment.
Atman Binstock, the Rift’s Technical Director, went into more detail on why these exact specifications were chosen in a separate blog post. He also has some bad news for laptop users who were hoping to power the Rift with their portable PC: “Almost no current laptops have the GPU performance for the recommended spec, though upcoming mobile GPUs may be able to support this level of performance.”
I’m still not sure virtual reality will change gaming the way the folks at Oculus believe it will, but this is definitely an exciting time to be a gamer.
Flawless Retaility! Mortal Kombat X tops April 2015’s list of best-selling games
Mortal Kombat X killed the competition last month as it’s been crowned the top-selling game of April 2015 by The NPD Group. Aside from NetherRealm’s latest and Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin at #8, the tracking firm’s report showed a top ten that was comprised solely of returning titles including Grand Theft Auto V at #2, Battlefield Hardline at #3, MLB 15: The Show at #4, and the well-loved Minecraft at #5.
Overall, it was a good month for the game industry as total sales rose 3% over April 2014. It’s a small gain, but it’s a gain nonetheless.
“Overall sales across hardware, new physical software, and accessories in April 2015 grew by 3% over April 2014 due to the strength of new physical software sales, which offset losses from hardware and accessories,” The NPD Group’s Liam Callahan told GamesIndustry.biz.
April 2015’s top ten best-selling titles (which also includes CoD: Advanced Warfare, NBA 2K15, the fourth Super Smash Bros. game, and a remastered Borderlands collection) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield Hardline, Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Dark Souls II, Grand Theft Auto V, Minecraft, MLB 15: The Show, Mortal Kombat X, NBA 2K15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege will swarm store shelves on October 13
Amidst all the delays, we’re starting to get a few real release dates for this Fall’s biggest games including confirmation of an October 13 launch for Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege.
Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, Rainbox Six: Siege is a team-based shooter that’ll be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One:
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is inspired by real world counter-terrorist organizations, and puts players in the middle of lethal close-quarters confrontations. For the first time in a Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six game, players will choose from a variety of unique Counter Terrorist Operators and engage in intense sieges, a new style of assault where enemies have the means to transform their environments into modern strongholds while Rainbow Six teams lead the assault to breach the enemy’s position.
We’ll likely learn more about Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege during this year’s E3 Expo, which is roughly a month away.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege