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
Duke Nukem gets a sex change for Interceptor’s Bombshell
February’s non-announcement of Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction, a top-down action RPG for the PC and PS4, was one of the strangest things I ever saw (or rather, didn’t see). After very publicly selling the rights to the character to Gearbox in 2010, 3D Realms launched a teaser site and countdown for a brand new Duke Nukem game. Understandably, Gearbox sued 3D Realms over this rather blatant breach of contract. The countdown was put on hold and the lawsuit pushed Interceptor Entertainment’s parent company to purchase 3D Realms (Interceptor was previously teased as the developer behind Mass Destruction).
So here we are today staring down at an official announcement for Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. Except it’s not a Duke Nukem game anymore. Say hello to Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, the star of Bombshell and a take-no-guff intergalactic bounty hunter. She’s on a mission to save the President from an apocalyptic alien threat in a top-down action RPG for the PC and PS4.
The game’s debut trailer is above and you can practically see the seams where Duke was removed and “Bombshell” was pasted in. A news ticker even includes a dig at Duke’s penchant for chewing bubblegum and kicking ass (“Kick-Ass BubbleGum sales plummet as only customer has ‘too much ass to kick.'”). But she’s got a Skrillex-style haircut and a bionic arm, so she’s clearly an entirely new character.
Bombshell will be on display at this year’s E3 Expo and 3D Realms and Interceptor plan to release it in early 2015.
Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! Review: I Don’t Know Why I Bothered
I had a lot of fun with 2012’s Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage!? on the 3DS. It was a cute little game that was a lot like Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, except with Adventure Time characters instead. WayForward returned with another game based in the Land of Ooo, Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW!, last year. The game, the first for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360, is an overhead dungeon-crawler that lets you play as several different characters instead of just Finn and Jake. I was super excited to play as Lumpy Space Princess because, well, she’s LSP, and she’s the best. But even being able to play as my favorite character didn’t make the game any better. (more…)
TitanFall: Expedition DLC gets new gameplay trailer
Expedition, the first downloadable expansion for TitanFall, will be available on Thursday, May 15 for the PC and Xbox One and in June for the Xbox 360. But if you’d like to get a sneak peek at the game’s three new maps (“Swampland,” “Runoff,” and “War Games”), you should check out the brand new gameplay trailer above.
Enjoy!
Toddler-Horror game Among the Sleep coming to PS4
Today, we learned that the unique horror game Among the Sleep is coming to the PlayStation 4 thanks to an announcement on the PlayStation Blog.
Described as “Toddler-Horror” by developer Krillbite Studio, Among the Sleep lets you play as a two-year-old with a wild imagination and a limited range of movement. With only a teddy bear for companionship, you explore your home after dark trying to make sense of the world and what is terrifying you. Best of all, the game will include support for Sony’s Project Morpheus headset.
Ole Andreas Jordet, Krillbite’s CEO, said the game will be coming to the PC and PS4 soon. But if you can’t wait you can try the demo on PC platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) or you can watch the latest gameplay trailer.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Among the Sleep
10 Actors (and Actresses) We Think Could Play Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect Movie
BioWare’s Mass Effect series has proven so difficult to bring to the big screen that, according to Screen Rant, it turned screenwriter Mark Protosevich from ever attempting to tackle a video game adaptation again. Legendary Pictures producer Avi Arad has hinted the film could still be five years away. His boss, Legendary CEO Thomas Tull, explained to Ain’t It Cool last summer, “If you’ve played it and you know the universe, you know it is not uncomplicated. To try to hone that, to bring that down to a place that will translate into screen storytelling… we’re pretty close, closer than we’ve ever been. We’re committed to it, but it has to be great or we’re not going to do it. We’re treading on sacred ground. We’re not going to be the guys to screw up Commander Shepard.”
Yet, who could the filmmakers cast in such a highly respected role? They’ll need someone with Shepard’s rugged gravitas. Someone who can carry the weight of the world upon their shoulders. Someone who can sleep with half the universe.
While we wait ever-so-patiently for Legendary to pull its metaphorical finger out of its alien orifice, we thought we would scour the galaxy for an actor worthy of donning the N7 Armour. But just imagine for a moment that some bright producer within Legendary had an idea, an idea that blossomed into something unprecedented in the history of film: they film the same film twice. One version would include a male lead, while the other would place a woman (popularly known as “FemShep”) in charge of the Normandy. I’m not talking about a sci-fi version of Sliding Doors here. I want them to actually release two versions of the same film, and the audience can choose which gender of Shepard they wish to watch, just as they do in the game. How many fans would go see both?
This, I’m afraid, is likely the only way we will ever see a cinematic version of FemShep. Yet, if the producers set the casting directors to task in finding the right actress for the role, who would they choose? Bearing in mind that the character’s appearance is fully customisable, it could really be anyone, but taking the game’s FemShep alternate cover as a template, let’s also have a look and see which starlet could save the galaxy.
So here we go, two Sheps (and two films) for the price of one. (more…)
Wolfenstein: The New Order will take 20 hours to complete and include an “alternate timeline”
Jens Matthies, the Creative Director of Wolfenstein: The New Order at MachineGames, opened himself up to the world this morning as part of an Ask Me Anything on Reddit. The developer refused to answer multiple questions asking if Mecha Hitler will be part of the game, but he did have several very interesting things to say.
On the subject of the campaign’s length, Matthies said that the game is about 20 hours long “if you collect everything and explore everywhere.” But the developer also revealed that the “vibe of the story” can go in radically different directions depending upon a choice the player is forced to make early in the game. Matthies didn’t want to spoil it, but if you’re interested in knowing, please highlight the black bars below:
During the 1946 prologue, B.J. Blazkowicz and his squad (Scottish commanding officer Fergus and a young private named Wyatt) are captured by General Deathshead. Offering a devil’s bargain, The General tells Blazkowicz that he must choose whether Fergus or Wyatt will die, which will allow the other to live. Attempting to defy Deathshead results in the execution of both prisoners while Blazkowicz is brutally beaten to death (which you experience through a first person view). As Blazkowicz, you MUST choose which character is murdered by Deathshead. It’s an absolutely horrifying moment in game that is already pretty horriffic.
Matthies said that the team considers each playthrough from this moment as an “alternate timeline” but it does more than just change the closing cinematic. In addition to the “vibe,” it “affects the tone of the whole game a little bit” and “alters the gameplay somewhat.” Of course, if Wolfenstein: The New Order does well, Matthies and his team will have to choose one ending as the official one as he also said, “We would love to do a sequel and we have lots of ideas.”
Ideas like… Mecha Hitler? Wolfenstein: The New Order will released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 20.
The Walking Dead Season 2: Episode 3 will be available next week
Thanks to the trailer embedded above, Telltale Games has announced the third episode of The Walking Dead Season 2, “In Harm’s Way,” will be available to download next week…
- Tuesday, May 13: PC (Steam, Telltale Store, Other Download Platforms) and PS3 (US Only)
- Wednesday, May 14: PS3 (Europe Only), Xbox 360
- Thursday, May 15: iOS App Store
As with previous episodes in the series, “In Harm’s Way” will be available download individually for $4.99 or as part of the $19.99 Season Pass. According to Telltale, release dates for “In Harm’s Way” on additional platforms (including the Vita) will be announced at a later date.
Continue Countdown #3 – CoD Advanced Warfare, MS @ E3 2014, Mario Kart 8, More
The film industry uses the opening of blockbuster season to signify the start of Summer. Meanwhile, the video game industry sets its seasonal clock by Activision and the announcement of the next Call of Duty game. This year’s entry stars Kevin Spacey and the staff of Warp Zoned took the time to debate his inclusion in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in the latest episode of “Continue Countdown.”
After that, the trio of Editor-In-Chief John Scalzo, Staff Writer Mike Ryan, and special guest Adam Woolcott talked about the expunging of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and the unearthing of Atari’s E.T. landfill. Next, they examined Microsoft’s Xbox Originals film production plan and their possible E3 2014 announcements before turning to Nintendo and Fatal Frame 5‘s Japanese exclusivity, Mario Kart 8‘s free game deal, and Super Smash Bros. 4‘s Best Buy debut. Finally, we say goodbye to Bob “Mario Mario” Hoskins.
9 Topics… 30 Minutes… And Go!
Posted in Etcetera, PC, Podcast, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, E3 2014, Fatal Frame 5, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U