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
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s ridiculous pre-order program has been canceled
Remember that rather baffling “Augment Your Pre-Order” program that Square Enix announced for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided a month ago? Well, you can forget it now. The publisher has seen the error of their ways and canceled the whole thing.
In addition to a wide variety of in-game items, Square Enix also offered to release the game four days early if enough players pledged to pre-order the game. With the cancellation of the “Augment Your Pre-Order” program, this offer is now off the table too. In an attempt to apologize for their blunder, Square Enix has decided to give all the “Day One” content to anyone who pre-orders the game. Writing on the official Deus Ex website, a spokesman for Eidos Montreal described the reason behind this decision:
We quickly noticed that this approach created even more frustration than before, resulting in a resounding amount of negative feedback.
We’ve spent a lot of time reading through all of your comments, working to understand how we can try to make things right for you.After much thought and reflection, we decided to close down the program and make of the incentive content available to anyone who pre-orders Deus Ex: Mandkind Divided or purchases a Day 1 Edition of the game. Additionally, the release date will no longer be changed in accordance with pre-order numbers, and everyone will gain access to the game on February 23, 2016.
But don’t forget, a Collector’s Edition featuring a 48-page Titan Art Book, a nine-inch Adam Jensen figurine, and a limited edition Steelbook case is still available for pre-order. Sadly, we’re not getting that for free.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Charisma makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L. in newest Fallout 4 educational video from Bethesda
“Following total atomic annihilation, the rebuilding of this great nation of ours may fall to you. Study these materials carefully to ensure your survival and to discover what makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L.”
Believe it or not, but the newest entry in Bethesda’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. series of educational videos for Fallout 4 proves that the spirit of Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli is alive in the Wasteland. In Charisma, players are encouraged to get others on their side with a very Fonzie-esque double thumbs up and an “Ayyy!” Naturally, it works. But it makes you wonder, are there jukeboxes to slap into shape in the future?
Astute Vault-Tec students will also learn that Charisma is great for making friends… even with that mutant bear that wants to eat your face off. Make sure he gets plenty of exercise, Vault Boy!
Fallout 4 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 10.
Activision and Treyarch deliver a Story Trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Gun to my head, I’m not sure I could tell you how the technologically enhanced soldiers of last year’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare differ from the ones found in this year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III. But Activision and Treyarch want to explain it to us with the release of this brand new Story Trailer for the game.
The nearly three-minute video gives us a taste of Treyarch’s vision of 2065, along with a villainous enemy that is performing human experimentation on unwilling test subjects and a squad of augmented soldiers that is losing their grip on reality. Oh, and a sorrowful Christopher Meloni shows up for some too.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III will be released on November 6, but you might not have heard that the story campaign will only be available on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, Journey, Mega Man Legends, more added to PS Store
Prepare to fly high in this week’s PlayStation Store update.
Activision has brought back Tony Hawk for the 13th time in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5. While some players would quibble with the numbering system employed by Activision, both the publisher and Tony Hawk himself have said that the new game is meant to be a throwback to the franchise’s late 90s roots.
Of course, you don’t need a skateboard to fly high… you could just be a seven-footer who has some skill with a basketball. Both 2K Games and EA Sports are back with new basketball simulations this week as NBA 2K16 (PS4, PS3) and NBA Live 16 (PS4) are now available to download. 2K16 wants to capture what it really feels like to be an NBA player with a Career Mode written and directed by Spike Lee. Meanwhile, Live 16 wants to capture what it really feels like to be an NBA player by offering an upgraded player customization engine.
Also, players will explore the highest reaches of critical acclaim with two games that have found new homes this week. Journey: Collector’s Edition brings the wordless adventure experience from thatgamecompany to the PS4 for the first time, while Mega Man Legends is a PSone Classic that’s finally available to download through the PlayStation Store. Mega Man Legends is such a “get” for the PlayStation Store that even its publisher, Capcom, thought it would never be re-released. But they appear to have settled whatever contracts needed to be settled and we can all play Mega Man’s first 3D outing once more.
Finally this week, if you own a PS Vita, I hope you feel like dancing, as Atlus has released Persona 4: Dancing All Night for Sony’s handheld. I’m also being told that the publisher expects you to boogie, so there’s that too.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) is available after the break. And, as always, a complete 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 Journey, NBA 2K16, NBA Live 16, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5
Harmonix adds two U2 songs to Rock Band 4 with more coming as DLC
Even though Harmonix recently revealed the final update to Rock Band 4‘s tracklist, it looks like they’re stepping back onto the stage for one last encore.
Yesterday, the developer confirmed that two songs from U2 will also be included on the game disc. The world’s biggest rock band, which has never been featured in a rhythm game before, will bring “I Will Follow” (from Boy) and “Cedarwood Road” (from Songs of Innocence) to Rock Band 4. Harmonix also announced that additional tracks from U2 will be available to download through the Rock Band Music Store after the game’s launch.
Rock Band 4 will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on October 6.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Ubisoft has unveiled the full tracklist from Just Dance 2016
With Just Dance 2016‘s launch date rapidly approaching, Ubisoft has unveiled the game’s complete tracklist. The soundtrack to this year’s game will include 42 soungs and you’ll have plenty to dance about if you’re a fan of Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and many others.
“Each year we strive to provide our fans and their families with a better tracklist and interactive game features than the year before, and Just Dance 2016 is a true testament to that,” said Geoffroy Sardin, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Ubisoft EMEA. “Now that next-gen players can use their smartphones to play the game with the Just Dance Controller App, more people than ever before can dance to songs from the artists they know and love.”
Just Dance 2016’s complete tracklist can be found after the break. And don’t forget, the game will be released for the PS4, Wii U, Xbox One, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360 on October 20. (more…)
WB Games plans to release expansion sets for Lego Dimensions until “at least” 2018
Lego Dimensions is available on store shelves today, but WB Games has huge plans to keep the game fresh over the next few years. In fact, a developer at TT Games recently told Eurogamer that the publisher is working on an expansion schedule that will stretch out to 2018… at least:
“We have a three year plan at the moment and we’ve got no intention of stopping there,” associate producer Mark Warburton told Eurogamer during an interview conducted at EGX.
“We’ve created the technology to the degree that we’re happy it meets our needs for the future. We’ve created the toy pad so that it shouldn’t need to be updated. And we can just create new level and character packs to keep expanding that.”
In the more immediate term, WB Games will release dozens of Lego Dimensions expansion packs during the remainder of this year and into 2016. A number of them, collectively known as Wave 1, are available on store shelves right now. Wave 2 will be out in December, with the third, fourth, and fifth Waves following in, respectively, January, March, and May of 2016. That is a lot of Legos.
Great Scott! Heavy! Zoinks! Timey-Wimey! D’oh! Spared No Expense! And Such…
Second Transformers: Devastation behind-the-scenes video shows off more gameplay
Developers from Activision and Platinum Games recently released another behind-the-scenes trailer for Transformers: Devastation. This time, they’ve decided to show us even more footage from the game’s bot-filled brawls, in addition to discussing the story, the multiple difficulty levels (the toughest of which is known as “Prime”), and the Challenge Mode.
Transformers: Devastation will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 6.