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
- 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
Max Brooks’s Minecraft: The Island novel is now available at bookstores everywhere
Mojang teamed up with Max Brooks (the author of World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide) to create the first official tie-in novel based on Minecraft. Titled Minecraft: The Island, the book is targeted at a younger audience and it’s available on store shelves today.
When writing Minecraft: The Island, Brooks found inspiration in classics like Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe to tell his own tale of survival and mystery:
Washed up on a beach, the lone castaway looks around the shore. Where am I? Who am I? And why is everything made of blocks? But there isn’t much time to soak up the sun. It’s getting dark, and there’s a strange new world to explore!
The top priority is finding food. The next is not becoming food. Because there are others out there on the island… like the horde of zombies that appear after night falls. Crafting a way out of this mess is a challenge like no other. Who could build a home while running from exploding creepers, armed skeletons, and an unstoppable tide of hot lava? Especially with no help except for a few makeshift tools and sage advice from an unlikely friend: a cow.
In this world, the rules don’t always make sense, but courage and creativity go a long way. There are forests to explore, hidden underground tunnels to loot, and undead mobs to defeat. Only then will the secrets of the island be revealed.
You can read the first chapter right now at the novel’s official website.
Final Fight’s Abigail will be Street Fighter V’s next downloadable character
Capcom has revealed that Abigail, the final boss from 1989’s Final Fight, will be the next downloadable character for Street Fighter V. The hulking leader of the Mad Gear Gang isn’t the first character from the Final Fight franchise to make the jump to the Street Fighter universe… Cody, Guy, Sodom, Rolento, and Maki all previously appeared in the Street Fighter Alpha series.
As always, the Capcom-Unity blog has a detailed breakdown of Abigail’s moveset:
Character Overview
Making his way from Final Fight to Street Fighter V, Abigail was one of the top ranking members of the Mad Gear Gang. His territory is the Bay Area of Metro City, a location he terrorizes with his gargantuan size, and at eight feet tall, he makes the Red Cyclone look like a spinning top. The tires around Abigail’s monstrous biceps make is clear what he’s been up to when he isn’t cracking skulls. This mountain of a man is a complete (mad) gear head that loves to make car noises almost as much as he loves driving them.V-Skill: Hungabee
Abigail thrusts his sizeable belly forwards (either high or low) countering the opponent’s attack and setting himself up for a combo opportunity.V-Trigger: Max Power
After popping his two-bar V-Trigger, Abigail can charge up his four different heavy punches for one hit of armour and extended juggles. A full charge will break the opponent’s guard.Critical Art: Abigail Special
Abigail slams his opponent with a downward open-palm strike that puts them into a daze. He then hoists them into the air, pummels them like a makeshift speedbag before launching a savage hook that shatters the screen.
Abigail will be available to download next week, July 25, as part of Street Fighter V’s Season 2 Character Pass. The first trailer for Abigail has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Street Fighter V
Tekken 7 will add Fatal Fury’s Geese Howard as a downloadable character this Winter
The fighters from Bandai Namco’s Tekken 7 will soon be able to do battle with another crossover character, as the publisher announced that Geese Howard will be added to the game this Winter.
Geese Howard made his debut in 1991’s Fatal Fury as the final boss, and would go on to appear in more than a dozen games in the combined Fatal Fury/Art of Fighting/King of Fighters series including Fatal Fury Special, Art of Fighting 2, and the recently released King of Fighters XIV.
Tekken 7 is currently available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and you can get a glimpse Geese Howard in his Tekken guise in the trailer embedded above.
See the developers of Star Wars: Battlefront II discuss the game’s story at D23 Expo 2017
Star Wars is front and center at this year’s D23 Expo, and while Disney probably won’t release the next trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we did get a new look at Star Wars: Battlefront II. Developers from DICE, Criterion, and Motive, along with the game’s cast, got together to take fans “Behind the Story” in a new video:
Star Wars: Battlefront II is bringing an all new hero into the fold with the introduction of Iden Versio, Commander of the Imperial special forces team known as the Inferno Squad. Fans were treated to an appearance by the game’s lead actress Janina Gavankar, who plays Iden, and a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, Steve Blank. In addition to discussing the single-player campaign that tells a story from the unique perspective of the empire, Janina and Steve introduced a new behind-the-scenes look at the development of this original Star Wars story featured in the game.
Star Wars: Battlefront II will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 17.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront II
Thunder Lotus Games will unleash Sundered on July 28
Thunder Lotus Games has announced that PC and PS4 owners will get the chance to experience the Lovecraftian stylings of Sundered.
Featuring hand-drawn artwork similar to the developer’s first game, Jotun, Sundered is a Metroid-Vania that features procedurally-generated areas and a choice-based upgrade system (dubbed “Resist Or Embrace” by the developer) that can radically alter your abilities.
You can get a look at both halves of Sundered in the Launch Trailer embedded above.
Nidhogg II will slash its way onto the PC and PS4 on August 15
Messhof has confirmed that their sword-fighting sequel, Nidhogg II, will be released for the PC and PS4 on August 15.
In addition to its deep fencing mechanics, the original Nidhogg was well known for its ultra-simple graphics. The developer decided to go in a different direction for the sequel, and Creative Director Mark Essen explained the reasoning behind this change for the PlayStation Blog today:
We were proud of the original Nidhogg’s visual style, but that’s not to say we weren’t a bit surprised by how well the chunky, featureless pixels were received. We were pushing the limits of old-school aesthetics, after all. What many people didn’t realize was that Nidhogg’s style actually grew out of practicality more than some daring vision.
When Kristy and I started thinking about Nidhogg 2, we looked back at our general to-do list from the original game. As always, there were a lot of items that had drifted from “Gotta hav this,” to “Wanna do this if we have time,” and on to “Can’t really do this, but man it would be cool.” Of everything on that list, a new animation process sat at the top.
I had been experimenting with 2D bone animation programs, which allow you to independently animate separate body parts instead of redrawing entire character sprites. This makes it infinitely easier to combine things like fencing footwork, various upper-body stances, and weapon types. Plus, it means you can swap out the sprites without breaking the animation.
It seemed silly to use all this potential on pixelated stick figures. So, instead of minimalism, why not try out some maximalism? Animated faces, sweet outfits and hairstyles, bustling environments – the doors had swung wide and Nidhogg 2’s visual style was born.
Nidhogg II will offer several ways to play when it launches next month including single-player, two-player versus, and eight-player tournaments. Full character customization, ten stages, four swords, and ten different customizable rules will also be available.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Nidhogg II
Tooth and Tail will be released for PC, PS4 on September 12
Pocketwatch Games has announced that Tooth and Tail, their real-time strategy game designed specifically for controllers, will be available for the PC and PS4 on September 12.
Tooth and Tail features a society of anthropomorphic animals that regularly compete in “The Harvest,” a competition to decide who will be the ruling class… and who will be dinner. The game’s tiny characters are perfectly proportioned for the bite-sized nature of each procedurally-generated map, and each match can be completed in under 15 minutes. Creative Director Andy Schatz recently stopped by the PlayStation Blog to talk more about the game’s extensive Story Mode, as well as local and online multiplayer options for up to four players:
Explore the Warrens as the flagbearers of the four factions: the Longcoats, the Commonfolk, the KSR, and the Civilized. Each character’s campaign contains unique rules, settings, and strategies. And with procedurally generated maps, the Story Mode is endlessly replayable.
After you’ve gotten your feet wet in Story Mode (or sunk many hours into all four characters’ arcs), maybe you’ll have an appetite for multiplayer. Tooth and Tail’s multiplayer has been tested with a three-year long private alpha, which has spawned a fan-run tournament scene, called Clash of Comrades. We patch the game frequently with balance changes and new features, and we plan to do so after launch as well.
A new trailer for Tooth and Tail has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Tooth and Tail
The most popular game show in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is “German… Or Else!”
Bethesda and MachineGames helped build the alternate universe of Wolfenstein: The New Order through an awesome collection of supplemental material including its Nazi Pop soundtrack and chilling “newsreel” footage of a Swastika on the Moon.
Though B.J. Blazkowicz survived to star in this Fall’s sequel, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, things still aren’t looking great for the citizens of the United States. The Nazis control everything… even the airwaves. And this short clip from German… Or Else, the most popular game show in the game’s universe, is absolutely terrifying:
It’s not enough for the Nazis to simply subjugate the planet. That’s why they are even imposing their will on pop culture, taking what would have been iconic American TV shows and producing them with a uniquely German attitude. Watch an episode of German… Or Else! right now to get a feel for life under Nazi tyranny in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
Yikes. This is actually the second entry in a series of videos created by Bethesda and MachineGames depicting the German takeover of American television. You can find the Lassie-inspired adventures of Liesel, a massive robotic attack dog, after the break.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 27. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus