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
- 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
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
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: PS4
First CoD: Black Ops III DLC, Awakening, is now available to download for PS4
Your wait for more Call of Duty: Black Ops III content is over as Activision and Treyarch have announced the Awakening DLC Pack is now available to download for the PS4. The Awakening DLC Pack is part of Black Ops III’s Season Pass (priced at $49.99) and it’s also available to download individually (priced at $15).
As usual, players who partake in Call of Duty’s DLC offerings will receive access to four new multiplayer maps, along with a new level for Zombies Mode:
- Skyjacked: High above urban Zurich, Skyjacked is a modernized version of the popular Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer map Hijacked. Utilizing the new core movement system featured in Black Ops III, this map gives players new ways to explore the environment, while still retaining the same fast and frenetic gameplay players love.
- Splash: Dive into battle in this abandoned water park, featuring a vibrant and colorful environment, including waterslides, a wrecked pirate ship and a lazy river. Splash encourages an open flow of combat with opportunities for underwater gameplay.
- Gauntlet: Delivering three unique environments within one action-packed map, Gauntlet showcases Treyarch’s classic three-lane map structure, transporting players into battle through a sprawling jungle, sub-zero arctic zone and rainy urban cityscape.
- Rise: A versatile multiplayer map, Rise is set in the snowy outskirts of Zurich in the middle of an ongoing construction site for a massive subterranean Coalescence research campus. With multiple engagement areas throughout this larger map, each section caters to different styles of gameplay.
Awakening also introduces the first chapter of Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s Zombies DLC adventure with “Der Eisendrache” picking up where “The Giant” left off. Set in a chilling medieval Austrian castle during World War II, players will embark on an epic four-part journey with the Origin characters Richtofen, Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey, spanning the DLC season. The ancient site on which the castle sits was the scene of unspeakable horror where massive deposits of Element 115 have recently been discovered. Players will discover a variety of exciting plot twists and surprises as they survive waves of the undead.
The Awakening DLC Pack will be available exclusively for PS4 players for at least the next 30 days, so PC and Xbox One owners likely won’t get a crack at the new maps until March. But for now, you can check out a video preview of each new multiplayer map after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Final Fantasy XV gets a new gameplay trailer… and a release date will be revealed on March 30
Square Enix has already confirmed that Final Fantasy XV will definitely be released sometime in 2016. But you can’t just announce the release date for a game that’s been in the works for the better part of a decade, you have to make it an event. And that’s just what Square Enix plans to do with “Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV,” a live presentation that promises to uncover everything about the game (including the release date) on March 30.
“Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV” will be hosted by Kinda Funny‘s Greg Miller and Tim Gettys, and fans can reserve a ticket for the event at FinalFantasyXV.com/uncovered beginning February 5. However, Final Fantasy fans who aren’t located in the Los Angeles area will still be able to watch the presentation via YouTube or Twitch.
The whet our appetites until the big arrives, Square Enix released a brand new gameplay trailer for Final Fantasy XV as part of the most recent Active Time Report with Director Hajime Tabata. Viewers will get a look at Noctis and his team infiltrating a Niflheim Base to battle with a bunch of soldiers and a towering Magitek walking tank.
The complete January 2016 episode of Square Enix’s Active Time Report has been embedded after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy XV
WB Games and TT Games will release Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens on June 28
WB Games has announced the Lego Star Wars series will make its triumphant return this Summer with the release of Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens on June 28. The game will include a Lego-ized retelling of the latest entry in the Star Wars saga, while also offering levels built around the events that happened after the end of Return of the Jedi.
The Lego Star Wars series has sold 33 million copies since making its debut on the PS2 in 2005, but developer TT Games still has new ideas in store for The Force Awakens. These new features will include “intense Blaster Battles,” aerial dogfights (in outer space and ground-based arenas), and the “Multi-Build” system, which will allow players to choose from multiple building options to advance in the game.
Players will get the chance to visit Jakku and Starkiller Base in Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as well as take control of Resistance and First Order fighters like Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, BB-8, Kylo Ren, General Hux, and Captain Phasma. Finally, PS4 and PS3 players will receive bonus content for the game including a Droid Character Pack and Phantom Limb Level Pack. More details on those add-ons will be announced at a later date.
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will, not surprisingly, be released for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
“Get Lucky” today with a trio of new songs on the Rock Band 4 Music Store
I won’t be able to hear Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” ever again without first thinking of Stephen Colbert and his celebrity-packed dance party set to the song. And can you blame me? When you watch Jeff Bridges boogie down the stairs, or Henry Kissinger get testy in his office, or Bryan Cranston put on a disco roller skating showcase, it tends to stick with you. So that’s why I’m thrilled that Harmonix has added “Get Lucky” to the Rock Band 4 Music Store this week… though sadly it won’t include any celebrity cameos.
Two additional songs are available to download today: Kelly Clarkson’s “Heartbeat Song” and Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” All three tracks can be purchased for $1.99 apiece.
Harmonix also revealed ten artists who will contribute songs to the Rock Band 4 Music Store in February including Bruno Mars, Five Finger Death Punch, Generation X, J. Geils Band, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Masaya Matsuura, Motorhead, Orleans, Royal Blood, and Zac Brown Band.
A video preview of today’s new songs has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Nominate your favorite game for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016
The International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG) at The Strong Museum is once again seeking nominations for its World Video Game Hall of Fame. The Class of 2016 will be announced on May 5, but the museum will solicit suggestions from the general public until February 29. Anyone interested in nominating their favorite game should visit the Hall of Fame’s website, and they should also keep the selection criteria in mind:
- Icon Status: The game is widely recognized and remembered.
- Longevity: The game is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over time.
- Geographical Reach: The game meets the above criteria across international boundaries.
- Influence: The game has exerted significant influence on the design and development of other games, on other forms of entertainment, or on popular culture and society in general. A game may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.
Six games were selected for induction in 2015 (Doom, Pac-Man, Pong, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, and World of Warcraft), and a similar number of titles will likely make the cut in May. That means nine games from last year’s shortlist failed to be inducted (Angry Birds, FIFA International Soccer, The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, The Oregon Trail, Pokemon Red/Blue, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders), but they’ll likely be at the top of the suggestion pool again this year.
This year’s finalists will be chosen by an internal advisory committee from the ICHEG, and will be revealed to the public on March 29. The new class of inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame will be selected by an international selection committee made up of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society.
Madden NFL 16 predicts Panthers will beat Broncos in final seconds of Super Bowl 50
Gamblers everywhere surely appreciated Madden NFL 15‘s on-point prognosticating as EA’s annual Super Bowl prediction completely nailed the winner, final score, and Super Bowl MVP last year (Patriots, 28-24, and Tom Brady). With this year’s “Big Game” less than a week away, EA is ready to deliver their prediction for Super Bowl 50.
Using Madden NFL 16, EA has declared this year’s game will go down to the final seconds with the Carolina Panthers getting the W in the end. According to the simulation, Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos will fall behind 17-0 at the half, but the quarterback will orchestrate a masterful comeback and put his team on top 20-17 in the fourth quarter. However, if real life matches Madden, Cam Newton will drive down the field and scramble in with the winning score (and a 24-20 victory) as time expires. Newton’s heroics, along with another touchdown in the air and 216 passing yards, will win the Panthers quarterback the MVP award.
Other highlights from EA’s Super Bowl 50 prediction include touchdowns for Greg Olsen, Jonathan Stewart, Demaryius Thomas (who added 98 receiving yards), and Emanuel Sanders. Defense should also keep the game close with interceptions from Carolina’s Josh Norman and Denver’s Aqib Talib.
While EA’s Madden Super Bowl Prediction has picked the winner in nine of the last 12 Super Bowls, they’re not always on the mark. Peyton Manning’s last Super Bowl appearance, Super Bowl XLVIII, was supposed to be a big win for the veteran quarterback. Instead, the Seattle Seahawks stomped the Denver Broncos 43 to 8.
Keep that in mind before you place your bets.
New Releases: XCOM 2, Gravity Rush Remastered, Megadimension Neptunia VII, More
Are you ready to save the world soldier? This week’s new release report kicks off with XCOM 2, a PC-exclusive sequel to 2012’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Things didn’t go so well for humanity after the end of that game and the aliens took over everything. So it’s up to you, and a merry band of rebels, to ignite a worldwide revolution and take back the Earth. Dismissed!
Also available this week is Gravity Rush Remastered, a PS4 remake of a Vita adventure first released in 2012. Players will take control of Kat, a woman who can manipulate gravity, to save the world from an invading force.
The remainder of this week’s new releases feature a quintet of titles that is each more Japanese than the last…
For example, did you know that Idea Factory has produced six games in their Hyperdimension Neptunia series? The seventh game in the series, Megadimension Neptunia VII, will be released for the PS4 this week. The RPG franchise will actually be making the jump to the PS4 for the first time, and players will be asked to save “Gamindustri” once again.
Nitroplus is a popular producer of visual novels in Japan, and the company recently teamed up with developer Examu and publisher Marvelous to bring their many characters together in a fighting game known as Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel. It’ll be released for the PS4 this week.
Similar to the Go-Bots/Transformers split, the Digimon series has always existed as a budget-priced alternative to Pokemon, but the venerable franchise keeps trucking along and that includes the latest entry, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. Available next week for the PS4, players attempt to take down a band of hackers in cyberspace with the help of their Digimon companions.
Speaking of popular anime franchises, Bandai Namco will release Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 for the PC this week. The latest game starring the foxy ninja (and I mean that literally, the main character is part fox) will also be available for the PS4 and Xbox One next week.
Finally this week, Bandai Namco will also release Tales of Symphonia for the PC. Originally released for the GameCube in 2003, Symphonia will be one of the first games in the Tales series to make its PC debut.
Posted in News, PC, PS4
Tagged Gravity Rush, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Tales of Symphonia, XCOM 2
Kickstart This! Consortium: The Tower, Dragon of Legends, Wandersong
Hello, readers, and welcome back! Let’s blast off in a big way with the first Kickstart This! of 2016. Although January is typically the month people are digging behind the sofa cushions for any spare change, now that payday has passed, a number of smart game developers and studios have recently launched campaigns. By sheer coincidence, all of our choices in this edition come from Canada. First up, we have what is deemed “an immersive sci-fi simulation” with Consortium: The Tower from Interdimensional Games Inc. Next, there’s the Celtic-and-Norse-themed action RPG Dragon of Legends by Thrive Games. Last but not least, there’s whimsical side-scrolling musical adventure Wandersong.
Oh, Canada… (more…)