Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- 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
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
Call of Duty: Ghosts Nemesis Map Pack now available on Xbox Live
Activision and Infinity Ward added the fourth, and final, map pack for Call of Duty: Ghosts to the Xbox Live Store today. Once again, the Nemesis Map Pack will add four new maps to Ghosts’ multiplayer mode as well as a new chapter in the cooperative Extinction Mode.
The four maps depict a variety of locales including the abandoned mine in “Goldrush,” the submarine base in “Subzero,” the Chinese village in “Dynasty,” and the futuristic arena of “Showtime.” “Showtime” is actually a reimagined version of “Shipment,” one of the most popular maps from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The Extinction Mode will also come to an end with “Exodus,” which features a “harrowing escape” from an alien invasion.
Like the other Call of Duty: Ghosts Map Packs, the Nemesis Map Pack will be priced at $14.99. It is also included in the Season Pass, if you’re so inclined to obtain all four Map Packs at a discounted price.
After its period of Xbox exclusivity ends (in roughly a month), the Nemesis Map Pack will be made available for the PC, PS3, PS4 too. (more…)
New Releases: Ultra Street Fighter IV, Sacred 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
It’s name isn’t quite as ridiculous as Super Duper Street Fighter IV, but Capcom will release Ultra Street Fighter IV this week. The publisher claims that PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 game will be the final Street Fighter IV update, but you can never can tell with Capcom.
Also this week, Deep Silver will release the action RPG Sacred 3 for the PS3 and and Xbox 360. In a surprising reversal from the usual “delay delay delay” that most game publishers specialize in, the release of Sacred 3 was actually pushed up multiple times. You gotta hand it to Deep Silver, they seem to have their stuff together.
Finally this week, the video game adaptation of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie will be released exclusively for the 3DS by Activision. The trailers for the new movie frighten and confuse me and I don’t think I even knew this game existed until last week sometime. But if the movie somehow turns out to be a shell of a surprise, we can all go back and check out the tie-in game.
“You’ve Been Chosen” again to watch BioWare’s latest teaser trailer entitled “Spark”
BioWare is continuing their “You’ve Been Chosen” series of teasers, ahead of a planned Gamescom 2014 reveal, with “Spark.”
The “Spark” trailer centers around a disturbed teen drawing circles in a diner while his phone keeps ringing. After the teen silences his phone for a third time, lightning begins raining down inside the diner. Finally, a hooded figure looks in on the teen and a tagline, “Do You Know They Are Watching,” flashes across the screen.
What does it all mean? I’m still leaning towards demons. BioWare will unveil exactly what we’ve been chosen for during this year’s Gamescom convention on Wednesday, August 13.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Gamescom 2014, Shadow Realms
Microsoft has “big surprises” planned for Gamescom 2014
Microsoft has big plans for this year’s Gamescom convention. The Xbox behemoth has a slew of presentations planned including a major Xbox Briefing on Tuesday, August 12 at 8:00 AM (Eastern Time). A teaser video above gives us a taste of what we can expect to see including Evolve, Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Sunset Overdrive, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Forza Horizon 2, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Project Spark. The video also promises that we will get to see some “big surprises” at the show, one of which is surely Remedy’s Quantum Break.
What else will Microsoft unveil at Gamescom? You’ll have to tune in to see for yourself, but you’ve got plenty of options. The consolemaker will livestream their briefing through your Xbox console and Xbox.com and daily highlights will also appear on YouTube.
Gamescom 2014 officially kicks off on August 13.
Indie Megabooth is bringing 36 games to Gamescom 2014
The Indie Megabooth is going international as the game showcase has announced that they plan to bring 36 indie games to this year’s Gamescom convention, which will take place from August 13-17 in Cologne, Germany.
The Gamescom installation will include indie favorites such as Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, Below, Broforce!, Dragon Fin Soup, and Super Time Force Ultra as well as a variety of newcomers with a “particularly exciting European flavor.” If you’re attending this year’s Gamescom, here’s what you can expect to find in the Indie Megabooth (which will be in Hall 10.1):
- Affordable Space Adventures (Knapnok)
- Alpha Muse (Current Circus)
- Armello (League of Geeks)
- Back to Bed (Bedtime Digital Games)
- Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians (Threaks)
- Below (Capy)
- Broforce! (Free Lives)
- Chroma Squad (Behold Studios)
- Cosmonautica (Chasing Carrots)
- Desktop Dungeons (QCF Design)
- Dex (Dreadlocks Ltd)
- Dragon Fin Soup (Grimm Bros)
- Dungeon of the Endless (Amplitude Studios)
- Endless Legend (Amplitude Studios)
- Fearless Fantasy (Enter Skies)
- Forced 2: The Rush! (Beta Dwarf)
- Gang Beasts (Boneloaf)
- Inside My Radio (Seaven Studio)
- Machineers (Lohika)
- Out There: Omega Edition (Mi-Clos)
- Renowned Explorers: International Society (Abbey Games)
- Rive (Two Tribes)
- Robocraft (Freejam)
- Shadowrun Online (Cliffhanger Productions)
- SpeedRunners (Double Dutch)
- Super Time Force Ultra (Capy)
- Swords & Soldiers II (Ronimo Games)
- Tengami (Nyamyam)
- The Next Penelope (Aurelien Regard Games)
- The Talos Principle (Croteam)
- TRI (Rat King)
- Tristoy (Uniworlds Game Studios)
- Typoman (Headup Games)
- Unclaimed World (Refactored Games)
- Wander (Wander MMO)
- Wayward Souls (Rocketcat)
- Where is My Heart? (Schulenberg Software UG)
You can head over to the official Indie Megabooth site for more details on all of these games as well as a booth map. And if you can’t make it to Gamescom, don’t forget, the Indie Megabooth selections for PAX Prime 2014 will be announced very soon.
Kickstart This! The Common Creative Wealth Edition
For all the sports fans out there who are saddened by the end of the World Cup and Wimbledon, fear not! The Commonwealth Games have kicked off in my backyard in the Scottish city of Glasgow. The royal baton ran right by my house last week, and it was great to see so many people out in the typically wet Glaswegian weather, clapping and cheering the baton bearers on.
Of course, this is what we do with Kickstart This! We pick out projects that we want to see succeed, and cheer them on along with all of our readers around the world. It’s humbling to think that somehow our words have managed to bring just enough extra donations to make the difference between a game being released and a development team drowning their sorrows in a stale pint of beer.
So which games do we have the need to see succeed in this edition? First off is the cartoony tower defense game Fire With Fire, followed by comical point-and-click adventure Kaptain Brawe 2: A Space Travesty. After that, we jump into 2D foodie platformer Bacon Man, cutesy platformer Snot, and, last but not least, Subject 13, a new 3D adventure thriller from Flashback creator Paul Cuisset.
On your mark, get set, go! (more…)
F1 2014 will be released on October 21; F1 2015 in the works for next-gen consoles
Codemasters has announced that F1 2014 will take the checkered flag on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on October 21. F1 2014 will be the final Formula 1 sim for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and Codemasters wants to ensure its their best version yet:
F1 2014 will incorporate this season’s seismic rule changes – the most significant in the sport’s 60 year history – including new aerodynamic regulations and turbocharged power units. All but two teams have changed their driver line-ups and new circuits have been added to the roster. Players will experience how 2014’s radically different new cars feel to drive as the season’s cars, circuits and teams are authentically represented.
Codemasters will also add a new difficulty-scaling system to F1 2014 to make it more accessible for new players and more difficult for experts:
A new driver evaluation system quickly identifies player ability and tunes game settings to an appropriate level, whilst re-graded difficulty settings enable players to compete at incrementally higher levels as they become more experienced. Experienced gamers, who enjoy a more serious simulation of the demands placed upon Formula One drivers, can customise their settings to provide a true challenge.
The developer also revealed that they’ll make the next-generation leap beginning next year with the currently untitled F1 2015, which will be available sometime next Spring for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Codemasters plans to release regular digital updates as the season progresses to keep the game updated, “enabling players to compete against the drivers and teams they watch week in and week out.”
Deep Silver acquires rights to Homefront: The Revolution from Crytek
Crytek’s money problems just will not go away. Last month, rumors began to swirl that the high-profile developer wasn’t paying their employees and had canceled several major projects. Today, Deep Silver announced that they have acquired all rights to Homefront: The Revolution. The deal also includes 2011’s Homefront, which Crytek obtained at the THQ bankruptcy auction.
The story behind Homefront: The Revolution is one of the more complicated tales in the entire industry. THQ originally announced the shooter sequel a few months after the successful launch of the original Homefront. Crytek was on board as the developer from the beginning and they assigned the game to their Crytek UK team. Then came THQ’s bankruptcy woes and everyone stayed quiet on the Homefront until this year’s E3 Expo, when Homefront: The Revolution was officially unveiled.
Due to Crytek’s inexperience in the self-publishing arena, they recruited Deep Silver to distribute the game and stand in as something like a co-publisher. So this acquisition likely won’t disrupt development too much. However, the game is moving from Crytek UK to Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Both studios are located in Nottingham, so I’m curious to know how many former Crytek UK employees have jumped ship to Deep Silver’s new endeavor.
Hopefully, Homefront: The Revolution is still on track for a 2015 release.
UPDATE: Crytek has confirmed that all members of the Homefront team will transfer to Deep Silver Dambuster.