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: PS3
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows add-on will be available this Spring
Now that we know when it’ll launch on the PS3, PS4, and Vita, Yacht Club Games has announced that Shovel Knight‘s first expansion, Plague of Shadows, will be available this Spring. Plague of Shadows will be a free update when its released and it’ll place the spotlight on the diminutive Plague Knight as he searches for the Ultimate Potion:
You play as Plague Knight, the villainous master of alchemy, in a quest all his own. Using his maniacal scientific mind, Plague Knight is seeking to concoct Serum Supernus, the Ultimate Potion. However, to retrieve these ingredients, he must extract them from his former allies… the villainous knights of the Order of No Quarter! World class platforming, music, storytelling, and art all return in Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows; an explosive quest with a new play style, new story, new bosses, and more!
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows will make its public debut at this weekend’s PAX East expo. If you’re heading out to the Boston convention, the expansion will be playable on the show floor at Yacht Club’s booth, where they’ll also be selling a never-before-seen Shovel Knight plush toy with a magnetized shovel.
Plague of Shadows is the first of three planned expansions for Shovel Knight on the 3DS, PC, Wii U, and PlayStation platforms. Eventually, those who dispense shovel justice will also be able to play as the swanky King Knight and the wealthy Mole Knight.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U
Tagged PAX East 2015, Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows
Harmonix adds Team Play to Amplitude and shows off first gameplay trailer
Harmonix will bring a playable demo of their “recharged” Amplitude reboot to the PAX East expo this weekend. And if you’re one of the lucky few in attendance, you’ll be able to give the game’s new Team Play mode a try. Ryan Lesser, Amplitude’s Creative Lead, debuted the feature on the PlayStation Blog and tried to convey how the mode works in their musical shooter:
Team play is something we’d never done in Amplitude before, and allowing players to team up 2v2 or even 3v1 sounded like an amazing way to even the playing field without disrupting the current design. We decided to give it a shot, and after some iteration and tweaking, we are proud to say that it’s already super fun.
In addition to introducing Team Play, Harmonix also revealed the first gameplay trailer for Amplitude, which will be released for the PS3 and PS4 sometime this year.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4
Tagged Amplitude, PAX East 2015
A mobile version of Mortal Kombat X is also in development
In years past, NetherRealm’s mobile team has produced a scaled down version of Injustice: Gods Among Us, as well as fighting game spinoffs of Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Origins. Earlier this year, they turned WWE wrestlers into superheroes and supervillains for the similarly styled WWE Immortals. Today, the developer has confirmed that Mortal Kombat X will get the same treatment this April.
Like their previous efforts, the mobile version of Mortal Kombat X will be a free-to-play fighting/card-battler hybrid. Fatalities will definitely make the cut in the mobile version, as will X-Rays and the “iconic visceral combat” the franchise is known for. Mortal Kombat X on mobile will link up with the PC/console edition and players will be able to unlock content within each version by completing tasks and Achievements/Trophies in the other.
“NetherRealm Studios has created a Mortal Kombat X mobile experience that allows more players than ever before to play this over-the-top fighting game through their ever-present smartphones, tablets or other devices,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “What’s more, we’ve expanded the unique cross-connectivity feature that links the mobile and console versions of Mortal Kombat X, delivering unique rewards to all players for simply playing the mobile game.”
Mortal Kombat X will be available in April for all iOS (iPhone, iPad, iOS Touch) and Android devices.
Insert Quarter: The PlayStation’s Face Buttons Explained At Last
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Have you ever wondered why PlayStation controllers use X-Circle-Square-Triangle for the face buttons instead of the more traditional B-A-Y-X that Nintendo has employed since the Super NES days or the mirrored A-B-X-Y that Microsoft overlaid on the Xbox controllers? It’s OK, it’s kept me up at night too. Why? Why? Why?
Thankfully, Kill Screen’s David Shimomura went looking for an answer and he found one by talking to Teiyu Goto, the developer who originally designed the PlayStation controller for Sony back in the mid 90s. Goto revealed that he named the face buttons what he did in a nod to symbolism and semiotics. However, American and European players didn’t have the same connection to Goto’s symbols as a Japanese player would and it caused all sorts of friction within Sony:
Goto wanted to be memorable but he also wanted to make sense, at least in his own mind. “I gave each symbol a meaning and a color,” he states in the same interview. “The triangle refers to viewpoint; I had it represent one’s head or direction and made it green. Square refers to a piece of paper; I had it represent menus or documents and made it pink.” So far so good, sort of. The triangle is reminiscent of an arrow or a direction. It has directionality to it and, even though it’s equilateral, it must point somewhere. The square is a little looser but the connection between a page and the square are strong, at least for Goto. One can construe it as a box and use it for inventory or some other kind of menus. But then things got weird.
The full article is available for your perusal at Kill Screen.
Sony’s Spring Fever 2015 includes Hotline Miami 2, Shovel Knight, Titan Souls, five more
This Winter has been absolutely brutal for people all across the United States, but Sony wants to remind us that Spring is almost here with their announcement of a double-size Spring Fever promotion. Beginning March 3 (take that, Punxsutawney Phil!), the promotion will run for eight weeks and include some of the most anticipated PlayStation Store releases across the PS3, PS4, and Vita.
Helldivers, a top-down shooter for the PS3, PS4, and Vita, will kick things off on Tuesday and the whole thing will wrap up on April 21 with Shovel Knight‘s PS3/PS4/Vita debut. In between, gamers will get a chance to test out six more great titles (and PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive a 10% discount on each game during its launch week):
- 3/3 – Helldivers (PS4/PS3/PS Vita Cross-Buy)
- 3/10 – Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (PS4/PS3/PS Vita Cross-Buy)
- 3/17 – Jamestown Plus (PS4)
- 3/24 – Metal Slug 3 (PS4/PS3/PS Vita Cross-Buy)
- 3/31 – Axiom Verge (PS4)
- 4/7 – Bastion (PS4)
- 4/14 – Titan Souls (PS4/PS Vita Cross-Buy)
- 4/21 – Shovel Knight (PS4/PS3/PS Vita Cross-Buy)
Bastion and Axiom Verge will also launch for the PS Vita at some future date. As with the other Spring Fever releases, both will be Cross-Buy compatible.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Axiom Verge, Bastion, Helldivers, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, Jamestown, Shovel Knight, Titan Souls
Mortal Kombat X adds Mileena and three entirely original characters in new Story Trailer
The Mortal Kombat franchise has always included an extensive backstory that chronicles a mythology involving hundreds of characters and stretching back several millennia. This April’s Mortal Kombat X will push the plot 25 years into the future as Mileena attempts to control Outworld in the aftermath of Shao Kahn’s defeat.
Previously, NetherRealm Studios said that this flash-forward would involve the offspring of several Mortal Kombat favorites including Cassie Cage, the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. In this new “Story Trailer,” we’ve learned that Cassie will lead a new generation of heroes against the forces of evil. This new generation, who will be mentored by the older generation, includes Jacqueline Briggs (the daughter of Jax), Takashi Takeda (the son of Kenshi), and Kung Jin (a descendant of Kung Lao). With the story in place, as you might have guessed, Mileena has also been confirmed as a playable character.
I’d definitely recommend watching the trailer more than once as its chock-full of little details like blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos from Sindel, Rain, and Shinnok as well as an unmasked (and human) Scorpion. At this time, it’s unknown if any of these kombatants will be added to Mortal Kombat X as playable characters.
Yesterday, NetherRealm released a separate Mortal Kombat X trailer confirming Brutalities, so be sure to check that out as well.
NetherRealm is adding “more than 100” Brutalities to Mortal Kombat X
As part of today’s “Kombat Kast,” NetherRealm Studios has confirmed that Mortal Kombat X will feature the return of Brutalities, the ultra-bloody finishers that were first included in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. However, unlike the extra-long mega-combos of old, these Brutalities more closely resemble the classic Fatalities found in the first three Mortal Kombat games. More than 100 Brutalities will be included in Mortal Kombat X, so expect each character to have at least two-to-three different ways to dispatch their opponent.
If you’re interested in learning how Brutalities work in Mortal Kombat X, I recommend watching the “Kombat Kast” above. But if you’d rather skip straight to the blood and guts, GameSpot has taken every Brutality shown during the “Kombat Kast” and re-edited them into a concise three-minute trailer.
Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14. And expect the next character reveal, which might be Johnny Cage, to happen tomorrow.
CoD: Advanced Warfare Havoc Pack is now available for PC, PS3, PS4
Activision has announced that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s first downloadable expansion, the Havoc Pack, is now available for the PC, PS3, and PS4. The Havoc Pack will include the first episode in “Exo Zombies,” Advanced Warfare’s co-op mode featuring Atlas employees versus an undead horde, as well as four competitive multiplayer maps:
Core: Deploy to the Gobi desert where the ravaged ruins of a nuclear fusion plant set the stage for a high-octane warzone. Take down enemies through the wreckage in long-range combat or get up-close and personal in the tunnels surrounding the central turbine. Activate decontamination drones using the map-based scorestreak to help clean out the competition.
Urban: Prepare yourself for brutal, high-speed combat in Dallas Ward 3, a future mega structure, funneling players into a close-quarters free-for-all. This modular compound’s verticality unleashes the exoskeleton’s capabilities. Stay focused during the timed event as blast doors alter the map’s flow and sightlines.
Sideshow: In the shadow of Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, this abandoned inn’s open layout amplifies its creep factor. Blast your way through the clown inn with close-quarters battles or use long-range site-lines from the mining facilities and natural terrain. Use the map-based scorestreak to activate the lights, music, and magic of the clown marquee and rain down a barrage of rainbow smoke-trailed cannonballs.
Drift: An idyllic ski resort high in the Rocky Mountains is transformed into a festive high-altitude playground, perfect for an all-out firefight. Make your way to the highly contested over watch in the glass observation deck or take a ride on the carousel to deliver 360 degrees of carnage. Players can use the map-altering timed event to their advantage as an avalanche of snow and debris disorients players, intensifying the battle.
The Havoc Pack is available to download as part of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Season Pass. It can also be purchased a la carte for $14.99.
UPDATE: In a post on their Facebook page, Sledgehammer Games has confirmed that the PC release of the Havoc Pack has been delayed until March 3 due to an “unexpected issue.”
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare