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
Kane “Jason Voorhees” Hodder will portray the killer in Summer Camp
Kane Hodder wasn’t the first stuntman to play Jason Voorhees, nor was he the most recent. But he has donned the iconic hockey mask more times than anyone else, and many fans consider him the definitive Jason. So, naturally, he was one of the first people approached by Gun Media when they were looking for an actor to portray the killer in Summer Camp, their video game homage to the Friday the 13th film series.
Hodder will be joined by other icons from the Friday the 13th franchise including Tom Savini and Harry Manfredini. Savini will bring his skills as the Special Effects Supervisor on Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter to his role as a consultant to the development team. Manfredini, who created the “Ch Ch, Ch, Chhh, Ah, Ah, Ah, Ahhh” sound effect, will score the game’s soundtrack.
Summer Camp is currently without a release date, but it’ll be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One when it’s ready.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Friday the 13th
Kickstart This! Elventales, Threshold, Maestros of the Anthymn
After an extended Christmas break, Kickstart This! is back with a vengeance, sifting through the crowdfunding projects of early 2015 to find those few that stand out from the digital masses. And even better, Kickstarter has now dropped Amazon payments in favour of payment system Stripe, which means not only is it easier for developers to set up payments, but there are also fewer steps for players to make them. Everyone wins.
This week there is top-down RPG Elventales: A Path Foreseen, beautiful hand-painted 2D platformer Threshold, and finally, episodic fantasy adventure tale Maestros of the Anthymn.
Let the adventure begin! (more…)
CoD: Advanced Warfare Havoc Pack will be released for PC, PS3, PS4 on February 26
Activision has announced that the Havoc DLC Pack will be released for PC, PS3, and PS4 owners of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on February 26. The Havoc DLC Pack will include four new competitive maps as well as the first episode of the cooperative Exo Zombies mode. In case you missed it, here’s what you can expect from Havoc’s four competitive maps:
Core: Deploy to the Gobi desert where the ravaged ruins of a nuclear fusion plant set the stage for a high-octane warzone. Take down enemies through the wreckage in long-range combat or get up-close and personal in the tunnels surrounding the central turbine. Activate decontamination drones using the map-based scorestreak to help clean out the competition.
Urban: Prepare yourself for brutal, high-speed combat in Dallas Ward 3, a future mega structure, funneling players into a close-quarters free-for-all. This modular compound’s verticality unleashes the exoskeleton’s capabilities. Stay focused during the timed event as blast doors alter the map’s flow and sightlines.
Sideshow: In the shadow of Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, this abandoned inn’s open layout amplifies its creep factor. Blast your way through the clown inn with close-quarters battles or use long-range site-lines from the mining facilities and natural terrain. Use the map-based scorestreak to activate the lights, music, and magic of the clown marquee and rain down a barrage of rainbow smoke-trailed cannonballs.
Drift: An idyllic ski resort high in the Rocky Mountains is transformed into a festive high-altitude playground, perfect for an all-out firefight. Make your way to the highly contested over watch in the glass observation deck or take a ride on the carousel to deliver 360 degrees of carnage. Players can use the map-altering timed event to their advantage as an avalanche of snow and debris disorients players, intensifying the battle.
The Havoc DLC Pack will be priced at $14.99 on the PC, PS3, and PS4. It’s also part of the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass, which will include access to all four DLC Packs for $49.99.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
2K Tidbits: Borderlands 3 only on PS4/Xbox One, GTA5 ships 45 million, Battleborn still on track for late 2015/early 2016 launch
Take-Two Interactive held their quarterly financial presentation yesterday and it looks the publisher is in a better position than ever before. In addition to reporting “strong financial results” for the quarter, Take-Two raised their yearly fiscal forecast due to the pending release of Evolve, Grand Theft Auto V on the PC, and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection.
Speaking of Grand Theft Auto V, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick announced that the company has shipped more than 45 million copies of the game to stores since its release last year, including more than ten million copies of the remastered PS4/Xbox One edition.
Zelnick didn’t discuss Rockstar’s future during the presentation or the question-and-answer period that followed, but he did say that Take-Two doesn’t believe in annualizing their big franchises. Specifically, he said, “[W]e think big tentpole releases should not be annualized except for sports titles because we think it’s valuable to build anticipation and because it takes some time to make the highest quality products in the business.”
To that end, Take-Two’s President, Karl Slatoff, reconfirmed that Borderlands 3 is in development at Gearbox. According to Slatoff, the game currently has no release date and it is being developed “specifically for next-gen consoles.” With the PS4 and Xbox One launching in 2013, this probably shouldn’t come as too much of a shock.
However, one thing we do know about Gearbox is that their team-based shooter, Battleborn, is still on track for a “Fiscal 2016” release. That means it’ll launch sometime between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016… but it’s safe to assume that a late 2015/early 2016 release is much more likely.
Finally, Slatoff revealed that the publisher has numerous unannounced games in development. More details about those games will be released over the course of the year.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Battleborn, Borderlands 3, Grand Theft Auto V
Lego Jurassic World teaser trailer promises June 2015 release date
WB Games has unveiled a teaser trailer for Lego Jurassic World and it includes everything you could ever want from the intersection of Legos and dinosaurs. There’s a recreation of the famous water glass scene, funny dinosaurs, and a short-armed Tyrannosaurus gag. We’ve also learned that players will be able to play as a Lego dinosaur to (presumably) terrorize patrons of the park.
“As ardent fans of Universal’s Jurassic Park films, we are thrilled with the opportunity to finally bring Lego dinosaurs to life for the first time in a videogame in Lego Jurassic World,” said Tom Stone, the Managing Director at TT Games. “Imagine playing as the ominous Lego T. Rex, roaming the grounds of Isla Nublar, smashing Lego bricks and battling with other dinosaurs… this game is bound to bring out the kid in all of us.”
Lego Jurassic World will be released this June for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Mortal Kombat X is getting four different special editions and Kombat Pack Season Pass
Fatality (On Your Wallet)!
WB Games and NetherRealm Studios have announced that four different special editions of Mortal Kombat X will be released this April, though there’s a lot of overlap between each package. But first, the publisher and developer also confirmed that Mortal Kombat X will receive a Season Pass known as the “Kombat Pack,” which will include access to four add-on characters. It’s unknown if any new characters will make the cut, but both “Klassic Kombatants” and “Iconic Guest Characters” will be part of the Kombat Pack.
With that out of the way, here’s what each Mortal Kombat X special edition will include:
Kollector’s Edition By Coarse (PS4, Xbox One)
- Price: $149.99
- Exclusive Scorpion Figurine and Certificate of Authenticity.
- Gold Scorpion Skin, inspired by the Coarse figurine
- The Kombat Pack
Kollector’s Edition Imported From Europe (PS4, Xbox One)
- Price: $179.99, available for pre-order exclusively on Amazon.com
- Scorpion Statue
- Exclusive Steel Pack and Steel Card
- Mortal Kombat X: Blood Ties Volume 1 Comic Book
- Gold Scorpion Skin
- The Kombat Pack
Limited Edition (PS4, Xbox One)
- Price: $99.99, available for pre-order exclusively at GameStop
- Cold War Scorpion Skin, this skin design is a collaboration between NetherRealm Studios and a fan artist from the MKKollective.com.
- The Kombat Pack
Premium Edition (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Price: $89.99, available only as a digital download
- The Kombat Pack
Presumably, the Kombat Pack will be available to everyone after the game is released, though no announcement has been made at this time. And don’t forget, everyone who pre-orders the game will receive an additional playable character: Goro.
Mortal Kombat X will be released on April 14.
Here’s the launch trailer for Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords… because it launches today
The second episode of Telltale’s Game of Thrones adaptation, Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords, is all set to be released this week on the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile platforms. So naturally, Telltale has released a brand new launch trailer for the game. In case you need to be caught up, here’s what players can expect from The Lost Lords:
House Forrester is in disarray. Their liege lord and his heir are dead, and Ironrath is occupied by Whitehill soldiers. The survival of the family depends upon those who are left.
Placed at King’s Landing, the epicenter of intrigue, Mira Forrester must weigh her loyalty to Margaery Tyrell against the needs of her family, while choosing how to play the political games of Tyrion Lannister. One misstep could spell doom for Mira and her entire family. To the far north, Gared Tuttle finds that the wall and its crows hold little love for a squire from the Wolfswood, but finds kinship in the bastard son of Ned Stark.
Gared must prove worthy of becoming a ranger in order to carry out the mission given him; one that is vital to the future of those he serves. To the east, Asher Forrester, the exiled son, is called back to Westeros to aid his family, but how can one man help when the Boltons rule the north with an iron fist? Meanwhile, an unexpected source of hope returns to the Forresters, but Ironrath is no place for the weak.
Telltale has planned a staggered release schedule for Game of Thrones: The Lost Lords. PC, PS3, and PS4 players will be able to play it beginning today while Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners will have to wait until tomorrow. Finally, Android and iOS will get a crack at The Lost Lords on Thursday.
Sony sells SOE to investment firm; New company hints at Xbox development
Columbus Nova, an investment management firm, has announced that they’ve acquired Sony Online Entertainment lock, stock, and barrel. The deal includes all of SOE’s development studios as well as the rights to their entire game portfolio including EverQuest, EverQuest II, PlanetSide 2, DC Universe Online, H1Z1, Landmark, and the upcoming EverQuest Next.
A new name comes with the new owners and SOE will be known as Daybreak Game Company from now on. A non-Sony owner also means that some of SOE’s biggest titles will make their way to the Xbox One and mobile platforms in the not-so-distant future.
“We are excited to join Columbus Nova’s impressive roster of companies. They have a proven track record in similar and related industries and we are eager to move forward to see how we can push the boundaries of online gaming,” said John Smedley, the President of Daybreak Game Company. “We will continue to focus on delivering exceptional games to players around the world, as well as bringing our portfolio to new platforms, fully embracing the multiplatform world in which we all live.”
According a post on the SOE Community Forum, it will “business as usual” for SOE as they transition to their new life under Daybreak Game Company. So things shouldn’t change too much for current players in the near-term.