Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- 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
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Most Recent: PC
What Remains of Edith Finch wins “Best Game” at 2018 BAFTA Games Awards; Hellblade wins practically everything else
Giant Sparrow’s mystery adventure, What Remains of Edith Finch, won “Best Game” at the 2018 BAFTA Games Awards… but Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice stole the show. Ninja Theory’s action-adventure took home top honors in five categories during tonight’s ceremony, and their haul included awards for “Artistic Achievement,” “Audio Achievement,” “Best British Game,” “Game Beyond Entertainment,” and “Performer” (which was given to Melina Juergens for her vocal work as Senua).
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which swept its way to multiple victories at The Game Awards, the GDC Awards, the DICE Awards, and the SXSW Gaming Awards, was limited to a single victory at the BAFTAs for “Game Innovation.” However, Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey had a good night, winning for “Game Design” and “Family.”
The complete list of winners from the 2018 BAFTA Games Awards can be found after the break. (more…)
Vertex Pop announces next game as Graceful Explosion Machine sells 50,000 copies on the Switch
Most people who purchased a Switch at launch filled their days and nights with non-stop Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sessions. But Switch owners who delved deeper into the eShop in those early days managed to find dozens of other interesting titles.
For a lot of people, Vertex Pop’s Graceful Explosion Machine was at the top of that list.
The colorful side-scrolling shooter made its Switch debut on April 6, and it went on to sell 50,000 copies in its first year of availability on Nintendo’s newest console (as revealed by a new post on the developer’s official website). But why stop there? Vertex Pop is celebrating Graceful Explosion Machine’s first anniversary with a 50% off discount on the Switch eShop (and Steam) this week only. In case you were wondering, sales figures for the game on the PC and PS4 weren’t disclosed.
Vertex Pop also revealed that their next game will be released for the Switch in 2019. Fans of Graceful Explosion Machine should especially look forward to the mystery title, as the developer added, “it’s an action game” and “it’s colourful.”
Posted in News, PC, Switch
Tagged Graceful Explosion Machine
Klei launches Closed Beta for Hot Lava
Klei Entertainment has launched a Closed Beta for Hot Lava, their acrobatic first-person platformer that was absolutely inspired by the game we all played as kids. But rather than ask players to imagine the floor is covered in molten magma, Klei’s Hot Lava makes that scenario very literal across locales like a suburban house, a high school, and (what looks like) the bowels of Hell.
Players can sign up for Hot Lava’s Closed Beta at beta.PlayHotLava.com, and those selected to participate will receive instant access to the playtest until April 17. You can also find more information about the Closed Beta on the game’s Steam page:
These last few months our team has been busily working away in our secret volcano lair in preparation to unleash Hot Lava to the public. While, the official launch is still a ways off, we’re happy to announce that we’ll be rolling out our first stress test on April 10th through the 17th.
Players who signed up on the initial beta registration will have first priority in order according to when they signed up. The first wave of participants will be admitted on April 3rd. About 2,000 players will be allowed in. Future, larger waves of Beta players will follow in additional beta phases.
As of now, Hot Lava doesn’t have an announced release date, and its launch is “still a ways off.”
Mega Man X Legacy Collection and Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2 will be released on July 24
As expected, Capcom will split the eight games from the Mega Man X franchise across two “Legacy Collections” for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. But don’t worry, both bundles will be available on the same date.
Earlier today, the publisher confirmed that Mega Man X Legacy Collection (with X, X2, X3, and X4) and Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 (with X5, X6, X7, and X8) will be available to download (for $19.99 apiece) beginning on July 24. A special Retail Edition bundle containing both Legacy Collections (priced at $39.99) will also be available for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
According to the Capcom-Unity blog, each Mega Man X Legacy Collection will also feature a Musuem Mode packed with bonus content including galleries for concept art, trailers, and tie-in products. A music library and The Day of Σ prequel film will also be included:
Included with both collections is The Day of Σ, a video originally included with Maverick Hunter X that explores the origins of series antagonist Sigma and the rise of Mavericks while shedding additional light on the events leading up to Mega Man X. You’ll also be able to check out vintage trailers for every Mega man X game, a museum full of art, and view a variety of goodies including toys, trading cards, music collection packages, keychains, and plenty more featuring the cast of characters from the Mega Man X games over the years.
Players will also get to compete in the X Challenge, a new mode that pits X against two Mavericks at the same time:
X Challenge! Have you ever laid awake in bed dreaming of what it’s like to fight both Chill Penguin and Frost Walrus at the same time? You won’t have to wonder much longer, as this brand new mode for Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 and 2 will pit you against pairs of classic Mavericks. Take three weapons with you into battle, or defy the odds with a buster only run! Even the most die-hard X fans will have their skills put to the test, and even the least threatening Mavericks can surprise you when they’re teamed up together. Are you an S-Class Maverick hunter? With additional leaderboard support, you’ll be able to compare your best time and see how you stack up!
An extensive new trailer focusing on all these features has been embedded above.
Viz Media will release Nier: Automata novel adaptations in North America
Viz Media has announced plans to bring Square Enix’s novel adaptations of Nier: Automata to North America for the first time.
Both novels were written by Jun Eishima, and were based on Game Director Yoko Taro’s original story for the game. Nier: Automata: Long Story Short (Volume 1) will be published this Fall and Nier: Automata: Short Story Long (Volume 2) will be available in Spring 2019:
When alien forces invade with an army of Machines, the remnants of humanity must depend on Androids of their own design – the placid 2B and the excitable 9S – to survive.
The publisher will reveal more details about both novels at a later date.
Posted in Etcetera, News, PC, PS4
Tagged Nier: Automata
Strogg and Peeker will be added to Quake Champions later this month
Over the weekend at PAX East, Bethesda confirmed that Strogg and Peeker will be added to Quake Champions later this month. Strogg is best known as the primary antagonist from Quake II and Quake 4. His diabolical personality will return in Quake Champions, and he’ll be joined on the battlefield by his constant companion, Peeker the Drone…
Strogg (Undying Infiltrator)
Half military-grade metal, half decaying flesh, and 100% ready to rage, the primary enemy from both Quake II and Quake 4 is back as Strogg fights to be freed from the Dreamlands and reestablish contact with his ruthless warlord Makron. Players will also be able to take control of Strogg’s sidekick Peeker, an airborne AI drone that shoots explosives. Enemy kills are turned into a nutritional paste called Stroylent that provides 25HP, but players need to act fast – other Stroggs can steal your Stroylent.
Strogg will be part of Quake Champions’s “April Update,” which will be available to download on April 26. It’ll also include a brand new map, “Awoken,” which Bethesda describes as a “misty labyrinth of tropical ruins.”
Posted in News, PC
Tagged PAX East 2018, Quake Champions
Boss Key brings the battle royale back to the 80s in Radical Heights… which launches on Steam Early Access tomorrow
Cliff Bleszinski’s Boss Key Productions has decided to move on from LawBreakers, their entry in the burgeoning “Hero Shooter” genre, and will now compete with the big boys of the “Battle Royale” genre. But instead of dropping dozens of players on an island, the combat in Radical Heights takes place inside a sealed dome that should be familiar to fans of The Running Man.
The 80s-themed glitz and glamour of the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic (along with Midway’s Smash TV) is a clear inspiration for Radical Heights, and players will need to safely navigate the game’s neon-tinged environments if they want to survive. Thankfully, “Cash is King” inside the dome, and players will be able to spend their greenbacks on new weapons, “righteous” threads, or a BMX bike…
Welcome to RADICAL HEIGHTS, a free *X-TREME Early Access* BATTLE ROYALE shooter. Partake in high-stakes battle royale gunplay in a sunny SoCal dome as contestants drive-by on BMX bikes or stalk other contestants from the shadows in search for weapons and prizes… but also CASH that you can bank – win or lose! Whether you spend that cash on righteous customization in your personal prize room or pull it from an ATM to purchase weapons early in the next game — building a wealth of cash is as important as taking down the competition in this irreverent 80s-themed action game show where everyone wants to be rich and famous!
Radical Heights is a free-to-play game, and it’ll be available to download beginning tomorrow through Steam’s Early Access program. A Founder’s Pack with “exclusive items and bonuses” will also be available to purchase for $14.99.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Radical Heights
New Retail Releases: Extinction
Another week… another new retail release that’s launching all by its lonesome.
This time, Iron Galaxy (the developers behind the Killer Instinct reboot) will bring Extinction to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Published by Maximum Games, Extinction follows a soldier that might protect his kingdom from a rampaging horde of ogres:
Legend calls them the Ravenii, encroaching armies of bloodthirsty monsters standing 150 feet tall that once threatened to destroy humankind. Now the threat has returned, and only those trained in the ways of the ancient order stand a chance at defeating the ogres. You are one of the world’s last sentinels, a soldier named Avil equipped with the skills to battle the endless wave of Ravenii. Fight massive brutes and their minions across a sprawling countryside, defending cities and rescuing innocent villagers torn from their homes. This is no longer a war. It is an annihilation. And you are all that stands between humanity and extinction.
That’s all for now, but we’ll be back in a few days with a look at all the upcoming additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.