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
Crytek USA will release Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age as free-to-play title this Fall
Looks like we finally know what Crytek USA (the studio formerly known as Vigil Games) is up to. Crytek announced this morning that their Austin-based subsidiary is developing Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, a free-to-play third-person action game about demon hunters in the late 1800s. Hmm…
Comparisons to Ready At Dawn’s The Order: 1886 aside, Hunt seems to take most of its inspiration from Valve’s Left 4 Dead series as four players will be able to team up to cooperatively challenge the assorted monsters at the center of Hunt. Crytek USA plans to heavily focus on this type of close collaboration between players, especially in the “grueling” boss fights that will pop up at unexpected times. And speaking of the unexpected, a special content generation system will randomize the environments and enemy sets that players will encounter in Hunt, so no two games will be the same.
Crytek USA’s CEO, David Adams, said: “Players will be counting their bullets and crying out for help as they delve deeper into the shadowy world we’ve created. From the outset of the development process, we’ve poured our imaginations into the game so that everyone who plays Hunt will discover a challenging experience that feels fresh, captivating and rich in possibilities.”
Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age will be available as a closed beta this Fall for the PC and consoles. But we won’t have to wait that long to get our next taste of the game. Crytek plans to unveil a gameplay trailer during next week’s E3 Expo.
Prepare yourself… Batman: Arkham Knight release delayed to 2015
Here we go again. WB Games and Rocksteady Studios have confirmed that Batman: Arkham Knight won’t be released this Fall as previously planned. Instead, Rocksteady’s final Batman game will be released sometime in 2015 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Even with the delay, WB Games plans to heavily promote Batman: Arkham Knight during next week’s E3 Expo. Specifically, the publisher will give the world a glimpse of Batmobile Battle Mode for the first time. With the flick of a switch, Batman can transform his Batmobile from a sleek roadster into a fully-armored battle tank. Armed to the teeth with lasers, missiles, and incendiary rounds, the Batmobile’s Battle Mode will be able to take on anything The Riddler can think up. You can get a preview of the Batmobile in Battle Mode in the teaser trailer embedded above.
And don’t worry, even in Battle Mode, Batman will uphold his “no killing” pledge.
New Mortal Kombat X details: Persistent online battle, “multiple character variations,” more
Now that we’ve all had a chance to digest the debut trailer for Mortal Kombat X, WB Games has revealed a few more details about the game in their official announcement. For starters, they’ve confirmed the game will be released in 2015 for the new-generation consoles (PS4 and Xbox One) as well as the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
But the big news is that this addition to the Mortal Kombat franchise will make the battle for Earthrealm truly global for the first time. According to the announcement, Mortal Kombat X will “[launch] players into a persistent online contest where every fight matters in a global battle for supremacy.” Mortal Kombat X will also give players the option to select from multiple variations of each character in this battle. Each character variation will practice a different fighting style, requiring unique strategies from the player. Presumably, the variations will also be clad in different costumes as well.
Finally, the developers at NetherRealm Studios have promised that Mortal Kombat X will include many fan-favorite characters (such as Scorpion and Sub-Zero) as well as new fighters that “tie the tale together.”
“Mortal Kombat has always been about over-the-top, visceral fighting and with Mortal Kombat X we wanted to utilise the power of new-gen consoles to give players our most intense game yet,” said Ed Boon, the Creative Director at NetherRealm Studios. “The team has worked hard to make sure Mortal Kombat X delivers everything fans expect along with new characters, new game modes and an all new graphics engine.”
Mortal Kombat X will make its first public appearance at next week’s E3 Expo.
Homefront: The Revolution will rise up in 2015
Philadelphia was at the center of the first American Revolution and, according to the storyline for Crytek’s upcoming Homefront: The Revolution, it will also be right in the thick of the second. Co-published by Crytek and Deep Silver, The Revolution is a sequel to Homefront, which was originally released by THQ in 2011. Crytek acquired the franchise in 2013 when THQ was forced to auction off their assets after a well-publicized bankruptcy. Crytek has assigned their UK team (formerly Free Radical Design) to the task of developing Homefront: The Revolution.
The second Homefront game has actually changed quite a bit since we first heard about it in late 2011. The original plan was to move the action to Europe, but an open-world Philadelphia (which can be explored as part of a single-player campaign or in a four-play co-op mode) will serve as the setting instead:
Catastrophic events have brought the United States to its knees and enabled the Korean People’s Army forces to impose a brutal military occupation. Trapped in this American nightmare, Philadelphia has become a police state, where surveillance drones and armored patrols keep her once-proud citizens at heel, crushing any dissent with totalitarian force.
To overcome their oppressors, players will have to engage in guerrilla warfare and use ambush, infiltration and hit and run tactics in thrilling un-scripted firefights. At every turn they’ll find a sprawling open-world city, in which recruiting fellow revolutionaries and building improvised homebrew weapons are just two of the keys to creating a powerful resistance force.
Homefront: The Revolution is currently set for a release sometime in 2015 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Crytek and Deep Silver plan to unveil the first gameplay trailer of the game during this year’s E3 Expo.
New Releases: Tomodachi Life, Murdered: Soul Suspect, WildStar, More
The new releases have begun to dry up as we roll towards the Summer and (in eight days time) the 2014 E3 Expo. Thankfully, Nintendo, Square Enix, NCSoft, and NIS America are here to give us a quartet of new games this week.
Nintendo’s 3DS life simulator, Tomodachi Life, will be available on June 6. Whether you’ve followed the debate over the game’s exclusion of same-sex relationships or not, Tomodachi Life looks like a skewed take on Nintendo’s already-established Animal Crossing franchise. Plus, it features Shaquille O’Neal as himself. If you’re looking for something a little less lighthearted, Square Enix and Airtight Games will release Murdered: Soul Suspect on Tuesday for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game follows Ronan O’Connor, a detective who has been murdered by The Bell Killer. As a ghost, Ronan has to deal with demonic spectres and solve the mystery of his own death. So like Ghost, but with less Whoopi Goldberg (Unless…).
Also available this week is WildStar, a new MMO from NCSoft that eschews the dark and gritty aesthetic of most MMOs and replaces it with colorful locales and anthropomorphized animals. And speaking of colorful, NIS America will release Hyperdimension Neptunia Producing Perfection, a diva simulator for the Vita.
Finally, Microsoft will roll out the $399 Kinect-less Xbox One this week. So if you’ve been thinking about adding a new-generation console to your entertainment center, perhaps now is the time.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Hyperdimension Neptunia Producing Perfection, Murdered: Soul Suspect, Tomodachi Life, Wildstar
Steam Machines/Steam Controller release delayed to 2015
Earlier this week, Valve announced that their living room initiative, Steam Machines, and the accompanying Steam Controller won’t be ready until 2015:
We’re now using wireless prototype controllers to conduct live playtests, with everyone from industry professionals to die-hard gamers to casual gamers. It’s generating a ton of useful feedback, and it means we’ll be able to make the controller a lot better. Of course, it’s also keeping us pretty busy making all those improvements. Realistically, we’re now looking at a release window of 2015, not 2014.
Their reason is, of course, something that everyone is interested in, and that is making sure that we get an amazing experience with the Machines and the crazy new Steam Controller. PC fans want this more than anything, and while this is disappointing news, we’re ready to wait the extra time to make sure it’s awesome. And knowing Valve, it will be.
If you want to get more involved in the process, check out the Steam Community discussion group, where your voice will be heard.
1001 Spikes will be released for 3DS, PC, PS4, Vita, and Wii U next week
1001 Spikes, another one of those insanely unforgivable platforming games, will be released on June 3 for 3DS, PC, PS4, Vita, and Wii U. Fans of similarly difficult Spelunky will be excited to be able to die in new and different ways!
That’s not all. Nicalis has announced that the PSN version will feature Cross-Buy, so that players will pay $14.99 to get both versions of the game. If you already own Nicalis’ Cave Story or NightSky on Steam or the 3DS, the company is offering a $5 loyalty discount as well.
1001 Spikes will have both single-player and multiplayer modes, and the multiplayer modes will include both co-op and versus. It’s also got unlockable guest characters, an awesome chiptune soundtrack, multiple possible endings, and plenty of levels to curse through.
1001 Spikes will be released for 3DS, PC, PS4, Vita, and Wii U on June 3. Hit the jump for the full press release. (more…)
Hitman 6 won’t be at E3 2014… so have some concept art instead
IO Interactive updated their blog to let their fans know that they would not be bringing the latest in the Hitman franchise to E3:
First up, we’ve seen a lot of people talking about what we might be bringing to E3 this year. We know the worst thing is to hope for something that doesn’t turn up; so we wanted to let you know that our next Hitman is going to be under wraps for a bit longer. We’re focusing all of our time and efforts into creating the best possible Hitman game. That’s our number one priority and we don’t want to divert valuable resources to show something before it’s ready.
To make up for it, though, they’ve shared some absolutely gorgeous concept art, which you can see above (and can see in full resolution after the jump). In the meantime, those of you who need your Hitman fix can pick up Hitman Go, which you can play, well, on the go. (more…)