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
New Releases: Borderlands 2 Vita Bundle, Bound By Flame, MLB 14: The Show PS4, More
This week’s new release report once again focuses on games that have found new homes. Games like…
- Borderlands 2. Gearbox’s insane shooter is now available on the Vita thanks to the Borderlands 2 Vita Bundle. A standalone version of the Vita port will be available next week.
- God of War Collection. The God of War and God of War II compilation has also been shrunk down to Vita size.
- MLB 14: The Show. Sony’s baseball simulation has made the next-generation leap to the PS4.
But there’s still a trio of NEW new releases this week as well. Bound By Flame, a medieval action RPG from Spiders Studio will be released this week for the PC, PS3, PS4, and Xbox 360. It will be joined by Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure, the first new Tex Murphy game in over 15 years, and Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi, a visual novel-style RPG for the PS3.
Naturally, a bunch of new games will be added to the PlayStation Store, Nintendo eShop, Xbox Live Store, and Steam throughout the week. We’ll talk more about those games soon.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged Borderlands 2, Bound by Flame, God of War Collection, MLB 14: The Show
Techland’s Hellraid delayed to 2015 as development moves to next-gen consoles
Hellraid will miss another release date as developer Techland has confirmed the “first person slasher” won’t be released this year as originally planned. But the team, who also created Dead Island and Call of Juarez, has a good excuse: Hellraid is making the jump to next-generation consoles. Originally set for a PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 release, Hellraid is now in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
The horsepower of the next-generation systems will allow Techland to add a variety of under-the-hood additions to Hellraid including “a physics-based lighting system, more detailed locations and character models, complex animations, advanced particle effects, and state-of-the-art AI systems.” While players will be unable to see these enhancements, they will directly affect the game’s combat system, which is also undergoing an upgrade. According to the developer, combat in Hellraid will feature a “class-free” skills system for endless customization, multiple different weapon types, magical spells, and “diverse fighting styles.” A crafting component will add even more weapons to the player’s arsenal.
Finally, Techland will use the additional development to implement three different gameplay modes in Hellraid. A standard Story Campaign, playable by up to four players, will be the main draw. But the game will also include a score-based Mission Mode and a wave-based survival challenge known as Arena Mode.
The full version of Hellraid will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2015 but an Early Access edition will be available through Steam this Fall.
Activision unveils Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare trailer a bit early after leak
Activision was all set to unveil Call of Duty 2014 on Sunday, May 4. But late last night, the trailer found its way onto the Internet (specifically, Destructoid), so Activision sped up their timetable.
The next Call of Duty game will be titled Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and it will star Kevin Spacey as a private military contractor who is attempting to take over the world. To do that, Spacey’s character has outfitted his troops with power armor, cloaking devices, Spider-Man-esque climbing gloves, hoverbikes, portable bulletproof walls, and other futuristic weaponry.
Activision trademarked the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare name in 2010 (along with Future Warfare and Space Warfare), so it good to see them finally doing something with it. The game is in development at Sledgehammer Games and will be released on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One (with possibly more platforms to come) on November 4.
Call of Duty 2014 to focus on private military contractors; full reveal set for Sunday
Activision has confirmed that the next Call of Duty game, the Sledgehammer-developed Call of Duty 2014, will be fully unveiled on Sunday, May 4. Aside from a single image, the game has been kept heavily under wraps. But a teaser video posted to the franchise’s official YouTube channel has confirmed that Call of Duty 2014 will focus on a private military corporation (PMC) takeover of the United States.
To promote the reveal, Activision has partnered with Vice to produce a mini-expose on PMCs, which is embedded above. The video takes a very dim view of PMCs, so it will be interesting to see how the game’s story will handle PMCs and the soldiers that work for them.
Call of Duty 2014 will be released this November and is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The game is also likely in development for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U as well, but we won’t know for sure until Sunday.
BattleBlock Theater gets Steam release date, free to Beta testers
That’s right – the Behemoth’s BattleBlock Theater is finally coming to a platform I can play it on! It will be releasing for Steam on May 15th, with a price tag of $14.99. They’ve even made some improvements (it’s unknown if these improvements will come to the XBLA edition):
Cats are fatter, weapons can be immediately switched, Steam Trading, Steam Trading Cards, alterations of the “better” variety exist for sure.
Cats are fatter??? Sign me UP. What’s even better is that anyone who beta tested the Steam version gets the game for free! That’s right: the Behemoth is bequeathing you a copy of the game for being so helpful. How awesome is that?
So mark your calendar now – you can get BattleBlock Theater on May 15th for $14.99 for Linux and Windows PC. Rejoice!
Posted in News, PC
Tagged BattleBlock Theater
Intake Review: The Only Time I’ll Tell You to Take Some Pills
PC and mobile gaming are crowded spaces, and they just gets moreso by the day. It’s not hard to find great games – and it’s not even hard to find cheap, great games. But what’s truly amazing is the fact that indie studio Cipher Prime consistently makes games that are both inexpensive and mind-blowingly good. Their latest creation, Intake, just shows how far they’ve come, and promises even more for the future. This intense game was released for the PC last year and is now available on the iPad as of today, and each one has its own appeal and level of addictiveness and fun. (more…)
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes flies high this Fall
It’s official, the next addition to the Disney Infinity franchise will feature Marvel characters.
Thanks to yesterday’s big announcement, we now know that Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Fall. A special edition of the game will also be available for iOS devices. Figures depicting Iron Man, Thor, and Black Widow will be included with the PC/console Starter Pack, with a promise of many more to come. From the game’s debut trailer we know that the rest of The Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Nick Fury) will be part of the game’s initial lineup as well as Loki, MODOK, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, The Green Goblin, and Spider-Man. In all, Disney plans to release 20 figures in the first wave after the game’s launch.
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will be backwards compatible with all characters and power discs previously available for Disney Infinity. But Marvel Super Heroes (which Disney is calling the “2.0 Edition”) will also include a brand new storyline (penned by comics legend Brian Michael Bendis) and an easier-to-use Toy Box mode. Best of all, the new locations in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will be much larger than those found in the first Disney Infinity because now characters can fly.
Kickstart This! The Gruesome Chocolate Death Edition
By the time you read this, I will be dead. It will have been a gruesome death, as I am buried under an avalanche of Easter eggs. Death by chocolate, if you will. Like Christ, it will take me three days to rise again, carrying the weight of my guilt in my stomach. So before I get so fat that I can’t reach my keyboard, let us turn our attention to the games and projects you could help fund in April and May.
This month, we have the mesmerising and beautiful adventure puzzler Source, 2D hedonistic shooter Shots in the Dark, isometric RPG detective thriller Pixel Noir, sci-fi planet conquering RTS Hextraction, a returning Kickstarter project in the Lovecraftian 2D adventure game Mark of the Old Ones, and last but not least, sci-fi noir adventure Last Life.
Nom, nom, nom… (more…)