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
Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2 includes Leatherface, Xenomorph, Tri-Borg, Bo Rai Cho
NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat X is going to get even crazier in 2016 (and stepping ever closer to Ed Boon’s proposed slasher movie fighting game).
After this year’s Kombat Pack added Jason Voorhees and The Predator to the game, next year’s Kombat Pack 2 is going to double down on horror icons. The new downloadable expansion will see the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Alien‘s Xenomorph burst into the Mortal Kombat arena. Interestingly, the Xenomorph in Kombat Pack 2 will use Baraka as its host, so the Tarkatan’s arm blades made it through the metamorphosis. I’ll give you a moment to get giddy at the possibilities of an Alien with Baraka’s arm blades.
Also included in Kombat Pack 2 will be classic Mortal Kombat characters Bo Rai Cho, the “master of the drunken fist,” and the cyborgs, (Cyrax, Sektor, and Robot Smoke), who have merged together to form Tri-Borg.
All four characters from Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2 are expected to be released early next year.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Game Awards 2015, Mortal Kombat X
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins Game of the Year at 2015 Game Awards
After racking up more nominations than any other title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt easily waltzed away with the “Game of the Year” prize at the 2015 Game Awards. Held last night in Los Angeles, the game also secured the “Best Role Playing Game” statue during the awards show, as well as “Developer of the Year” honors for CD Projekt Red.
While The Witcher 3 is known for its size, two smaller games also managed to win multiple awards last night. Sam Barlow’s Her Story took home the Game Award for “Best Narrative” and “Best Performance” for actress Viva Seifert. Meanwhile, Rocket League reached its goal by winning for both “Best Independent Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game.”
Nintendo had a good Game Awards as Splatoon took home a pair of awards for its unique take on the multiplayer shooter (specifically, “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Shooter”). Nintendo also won “Best Family Game” for Super Mario Maker.
Many other titles took home a trophy last night including Mortal Kombat X (“Best Fighting Game”), Life Is Strange (“Games For Change Award”), Ori and the Blind Forest (“Best Art Direction”), and Lara Croft Go (“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”). And Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won “Best Action/Adventure Game” and “Best Score/Soundtrack,” though host Geoff Keighley explained that he wasn’t able to accept either award as Konami had barred him from the event.
While that turn of events was a bit shocking (and frankly, rather petty), the biggest surprise may have been that Bethesda’s Fallout 4 was completely shut out at the 2015 Game Awards.
A complete rundown of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Harmonix will release Amplitude for PS4 on January 5
Harmonix has announced that Amplitude will be available to download for the PS4 on January 5. But wait, it gets better! If you backed the game’s Kickstarter campaign at the $40 tier (or above), you’ll receive your download code for Amplitude on December 23, two weeks earlier than everyone else. A new trailer has been embedded above too.
In addition to unveiling a release date, Harmonix has also revealed Amplitude’s complete soundtrack, which includes music from Darren Korb (Bastion, Transistor), C418 (Minecraft), Danny B (Crypt of the Necrodancer), Jim Guthrie (Below), and game development studios Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank) and Lab Zero (Skullgirls). The complete soundtrack has been posted after the break.
If you’re in San Francisco for the PlayStation Experience this weekend, you’ll be able to get your hands on Amplitude at Harmonix’s booth. You’ll receive an exclusive dynamic theme for your PS4 and an Amplitude trading card. Finally, no mention was made of the PS3 version of the game, but its expected to be available soon. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4
Tagged Amplitude, PlayStation Experience 2015
Rive pushed back to 2016 by Two Tribes
Netherlands-based Two Tribes has announced that their side-scrolling shooter, Rive, will miss its planned 2015 release date. Instead, the game will launch sometime in 2016 for the PC, PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One. Designer Collin Van Ginkel gave a very direct explanation for the delay on the company’s website: “The reason why we’re moving it to 2016 is simple… we’re not done yet.”
Ginkel added:
Since moving to a three man team early last year we had to rediscover how to handle things with less man-power. This means a lot of tasks have to be handled sequentially, instead of spread throughout the team. If we need a new trailer, the level designs stall for two weeks. If we decide to attend PAX or EGX with a booth, the entire project is paused for several weeks. It’s frustrating, especially since it means we can’t let you play the final game yet, but it’s our current reality and we are adamant to make Rive the absolute best game we’ve ever created.
Two Tribes has also released a trio of new screenshots for Rive. You can find them at their website.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege, Just Cause 3, GTA San Andreas, more added to PS Store
We’re getting closer to the end of the year, but there’s still plenty of life left in Sony’s weekly PlayStation Store updates.
Ubisoft leads off this week with the release of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege for the PS4. The counter-terrorism shooter is the first new entry in the series in seven years and promises a new 5v5 “Fortify Versus Defend” mechanic that focuses on environmental destruction (or protection if you’re the defending team).
Speaking of destruction, Just Cause 3 is also available for the PS4 from Square Enix and Avalanche Studios this week. Players will once again step into Rico Rodriguez’s wingsuit as he flings himself off cliffs in search of another dictator on another island paradise. And don’t forget your grapple gun!
Rockstar makes a surprise appearance on the PlayStation Store this week with a PS3 re-release for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This re-release is no doubt similar to the Xbox-to-Xbox 360 upgrade the game received last year.
Finally this week, The Legend of Kage is now available to download on the PS4 as part of the Arcade Archives series. Kage is one of the best side-scrollers from the 80s, so don’t let it sneak up on you!
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Just Cause 3, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
SteamWorld Heist will be released for 3DS on December 10; Other platforms to follow in 2016
Image & Form has announced that SteamWorld Heist, their turn-based space adventure starring sentient robots, will be released for the 3DS on December 10. SteamWorld Heist will be regularly priced at $19.99, but Image & Form is slashing the price by $3 (to $16.99) for its first three weeks of availability. The developer also revealed that a brand new trailer for the game will be available just ahead of the launch date, on December 8.
SteamWorld Heist will also be released for the PC, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One, and mobile devices sometime in 2016.
Beck, Cold War Kids, X Ambassadors, more go “Off the Charts” in today’s Rock Band 4 update
Harmonix is scouring the Alternative Rock chart for today’s Rock Band 4 DLC Update. New songs from Beck, Cold War Kids, X Ambassadors, Borns, and Catfish and The Bottlemen are all now available to download from the Rock Band Music Store:
- Beck – “Dreams”
- Borns – “Electric Love”
- Catfish and The Bottlemen – “Cocoon”
- Cold War Kids – “First”
- X Ambassadors – “Renegades”
These songs can be acquired for $1.99 apiece or bundled together for $8.49 as part of the Off the Charts 01 Pack. A video preview of all five tracks has been embedded above.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
This Mighty No. 9 “Features Trailer” is mighty retro
Because Mighty No. 9 is developer Keiji Inafune’s loving homage to the Mega Man series, it features many hallmarks of the wildly popular franchise. You want a side-scrolling platformer? You got it. You want a robotic main character who can absorb abilities from enemy robots? Yup, that’s here too. So it should come as no surprise that the announcer in this “Features Trailer” is bombastic and a little ridiculous… just like he would have been in the carefree 90s.
So learn a little more about Mighty No. 9’s Boss Rush Mode, Challenge Mode, Online Challenge Mode (Competitive and Co-Op), and One-Hit Death Maniac Mode, and get yourself ready for the game’s release on February 9, 2016.