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: PS3
New Releases: Gran Turismo 6
Just one new game will be driving its way towards a retail release this week: Gran Turismo 6.
The Polyphony Digital-developed racer will likely be the last game in the famed franchise to be released for the PS3. Kazunori Yamauchi, Polyphony’s CEO and the main driving force behind the series, recently revealed that Gran Turismo 7 is in development for the PS4. Instead of creating a brand new game from scratch, Yamauchi stated that Gran Turismo 7 would likely be a souped-up version of Gran Turismo 6 and could be out as early as next year.
Something to think about as you contemplate a Gran Turismo 6 purchase later this week when its released on December 6.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Gran Turismo 6
MGS5: The Phantom Pain will be released after gamers adopt next-gen systems in big numbers
It’s hard to believe, but Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was only officially announced a little over a year ago. However, the notoriously chatty Hideo Kojima has been talking about the game for years, so it feels like its release should be just around the corner. That’s apparently not the case.
While it’s true that the game’s prologue, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will be released next Spring, Kojima has revealed (to Famitsu, via Kotaku) that The Phantom Pain is actually much further away. Kojima was cornered by the weekly Japanese gaming magazine at this month’s PS4 launch event in New York City and told them, “It looks like we’ll be able to release The Phantom Pain around the time that the PlayStation 4 becomes widely [adopted].”
So how wide is “widely adopted”? 10 million consoles? 20 million? Who knows? And don’t forget, The Phantom Pain is also in development for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PS3. Presumably their userbases should be involved in this calculation as well.
This statement really is classic Kojima. He dropped a huge bombshell without actually saying anything specific. Bravo.
PS Store Today: Ys Vita, MGS: VR Missions, Painkiller PS3, more
Here’s your PlayStation Store update for today. We got some Painkiller: Hell & Damnation and some Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory on the PS3 as well as the Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions expansion in the PSone Classics section. Vita owners will even get a chance to play Ys: Memories of Celceta.
There’s more information on all of this week’s releases down below and a list of this week’s new game add-ons at the PlayStation Blog…
PS3 Games
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory ($39.99)
Join Neptune as she is thrust out of the peaceful Gamindustri she loves to be lazy in and finds herself in an alternate dimension—the Gamindustri of the 80′s! Fast-paced combat, several dozen dungeons to explore, and improved battle mechanics, oh my! Complete unique Challenges to boost stats, or call on Scouts to seek out new dungeons for you! Help Neptune get home in this over-the-top comedy RPG!
Painkiller: Hell & Damnation ($29.99)
Heaven’s Hitman is back… With a Vengeance! Demonic powers are manifesting, fighting over the fates of imprisoned souls caught in Purgatory. Once again, Daniel Garner, the Curse of Darkness and the Toy of Light, has to fight his way past hordes of demons. Can he stop the powerful creatures that stand in his way?
Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers ($59.99)
The ultimate Saint Seiya fighting game! Battle your way through 3 famous Chapters (Sanctuary, Poseidon and Hades) with over 50 playable fighters. Discover the most complete Saints experience with character customization, new battle systems and 3 online modes to fight against players all over the world. Save Athena, Save the World!
Super Motherload ($14.99)
Set on Mars in an alternate Cold-War era, Super Motherload is a 1 to 4-player couch co-op digging adventure with branching storyline choices, a fully voiced cast of Soviet and American characters, and a procedurally-generated world that changes each time you play. (Includes PS4 Version Download)
PS3 – PSone Classics
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions ($5.99)
Metal Gear Solid is one of the most successful, and maybe one of the best, PlayStation games ever. These virtual reality missions expand on the training of the special forces unit your character in MGS came from.
Oddworld: Abe Boxx ($9.99)
Hey, remember that quirky demo that came with your original PlayStation®, something about an alien escaping a factory? Did you never get the chance to finish that tough-as-nails game or its sequel? Now’s your chance to play Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee and continue the story in Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus.
Run, jump and possess your way across seven levels of legendary platforming action in the first Oddworld game, freeing 99 of your fellow Mudokons. Then join Abe again in taking down SoulStorm Brewery across eight even bigger levels, and free another 300 Mudokons from a life of gruelling “employment”.
PS Vita Games
Ys: Memories of Celceta ($39.99)
World-famous adventurer Adol Christin awakens in the land of Celceta, remembering only his own name. Eager to unravel the mystery of his past and the cause of his predicament, he sets off to map the uncharted wilderness that claimed his memories in this latest action RPG offering from Nihon Falcom. Join Adol as he traverses the largest overworld in the series with many new friends at his side!
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, Painkiller Hell & Damnation
Persona 5 will arrive on PS3 in Winter 2014 (in Japan)
Our long wait is both over and just beginning… Atlus has announced that Persona 5 will be released in Japan next Winter exclusively for the PS3. The US release date is currently unknown, but will surely be announced soon.
Aside from the short teaser trailer above, Atlus is being very quiet about Persona 5. We know that it will be directed by Katsura Hashino with art direction by Shigenori Soejima and a soundtrack composed by Shoji Meguro, but that’s about it.
Lego The Hobbit announced for Spring 2014 release
You didn’t think WB Games and TT Games were going to stop making Lego games did you? The publisher and developer announced the latest Lego adaptation, Lego The Hobbit, today. Based on the first two movies in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, the game will is in development for the 3DS, PC (and Mac), PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
In Lego The Hobbit, players will go on a quest with Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey, Thorin Oakenshield, and many others as they travel to the Dwarven Kingdom of Erebor. Those many others will include all of the Dwarves (Thorin, Fíli, Kíli, Óin, Glóin, Dwalin, Balin Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori), each of which has their own special ability.
“We are thrilled to depict the characters and environments of Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth in Lego form with the Lego The Hobbit video game,” said Tom Stone, Managing Director, TT Games. “Our family-friendly take on these thrilling adventures will have kids and parents playing and laughing together as they build and explore in Lego Middle-Earth.”
Lego The Hobbit will be released Spring 2014, probably just in time for Blu-ray/DVD release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
New Releases: Ys: Memories of Celceta, Painkiller: Hell & Damnation, Air Conflicts: Vietnam
The new consoles have launched and the Fall gaming avalanche is over, but here’s a quartet of new games that publishers are pushing out in the days before Black Friday:
- The long-running Ys series gets a new entry as XSEED plans to release Ys: Memories of Celceta for the Vita.
- Demonic first person shooter Painkiller: Hell & Damnation comes to the PS3 courtesy of Nordic Games.
And Air Conflicts: Vietnam will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 by Kalypso Media.
See you next week!
Posted in News, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged Painkiller Hell & Damnation
John Carmack leaves id Software
The “Master of Doom” himself, John Carmack, has left id Software. Studio Director Tim Willits announced that Carmack and the studio he helped found in 1991 have parted ways. In a statement to GamesIndustry International, Willits revealed that the split was due to Carmack’s desire to expand his duties as Oculus VR’s Chief Technology Officer:
“John Carmack, who has become interested in focusing on things other than game development at id, has resigned from the studio. John’s work on id Tech 5 and the technology for the current development work at id is complete, and his departure will not affect any current projects. We are fortunate to have a brilliant group of programmers at id who worked with John and will carry on id’s tradition of making great games with cutting-edge technology. As colleagues of John for many years, we wish him well.”
Carmack’s tenure at id (alongside co-founders John Romero, Tom Hall, and Adrian Carmack [curiously, no relation]) was chronicled in the amazing book Masters of Doom. 2010’s Rage will be the final id Software title to carry Carmack’s stamp. It is widely assumed the developer is currently working on Doom 4, but Quake V may also be in the works.
Kickstart This! The Pre-Christmas Whopper Edition
It’s that time of year again…. When everyone gets anxious about having enough money to afford Christmas presents and keep the heating on… When Z-list celebrities are invited to flick a switch and cast sparkly lights on towns and cities across the globe… When pine trees shudder in fear and reindeer wonder why there are hundreds of cameras pointing at them. But it need not be so glum and terrifying. In the run-up to what has become a period of immense profit for companies, yet an unnecessary burden on the growing number of Scrooges in the world (myself included), it is important to keep everything in check, and offer help to those who need it. Buy gloves for the homeless. Invite your lonely neighbour around for a cup of egg nog or mulled wine. And if you are still in the spirit to bring good tidings, check out the latest Kickstarter game campaigns that need your support.
We have a whopping seven projects to share this month, including the super cute P.A.W.S. – Prime Alien Watch Squad, oddball survival game Dyscourse, the eccentric steampunk detective adventure The Dead Flowers Case, and 2D turn based monster shooter MODUS. Halfway through, things get a little more intense with a throwback to 80s action films in Bullet Bros, tactical FPS assassin title Lonewolf, and finally, the beautifully rendered isometric sci-fi adventure Stasis.
Let’s jingle those bells. (more…)