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
Star Wars: Battlefront is crowned Best of Gamescom at Gamescom 2015
Heeding the words of Yoda (“Do… or do not. There is no try.”), Electronic Arts and DICE pulled out all the stops to win to five awards for Star Wars: Battlefront at Gamescom 2015, including the coveted “Best of Gamescom” title. The game also took home “Best Console Game – PS4,” “Best PC Games,” “Best Online Multiplayer Game,” and the “Most Wanted Consumer Award.” Strangely, Germany’s Digital Gaming Culture Foundation (Stiftung Digitale Spielekultur) didn’t even nominate it in the “Best Console Game – Xbox One” category.
Other multi-award winners at the 2015 Gamescom Awards include Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (“Best Console Game – Xbox One” and “Best Action Game”), FM6 (“Best Racing Game” and “Best Simulation Game”), and Super Mario Maker (“Best Console Game – Wii U” and “Best Social / Casual / Online Game”).
Not to be forgotten, the HTC Vive virtual reality headset, produced in conjunction with Valve, won for “Best Hardware / Peripheral.”
The full list of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
New Final Fantasy XV trailer is all about fathers and sons… and a 2016 release date is teased
Square Enix released a new trailer for Final Fantasy XV at the 2015 Gamescom expo that is all about fathers and sons. Specifically, about the “strong bond” that exists between King Regis and his son, the Crown Prince Noctis. It is Noctis who ventures out into the world with his comrades after the Niflheim army attacks his homeland of Lucis. Can he save the world? Probably, as this trailer tells us, he is the chosen one after all.
I gotta say, I really enjoy the traffic jam with its bizarre mix of coupes from the 1930s sitting alongside modern supercars, all being directed by knights in full plate armor carrying machine guns.
If you were hoping that Square Enix would announce a release date for Final Fantasy XV, you’re unfortunately out of luck. But GameSpot did have a sitdown with Director Hajime Tabata during the show, who said that the game won’t be released this year, but “It’s going to be before [2017].” So if it’s not out this year and 2017 is too late, that means we’ll probably be playing Final Fantasy XV sometime in 2016.
However, Tabata also said an official release date announcement would likely take place during this year’s PAX Prime expo.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy XV, Gamescom 2015, PAX Prime 2015
Bandai Namco has released a gameplay trailer for Dark Souls III
The Dark Souls franchise will make its PS4 and Xbox One debut early next year (or rather, the first original entry in the series will) and now we’ve gotten our first look at it as Bandai Namco released the first gameplay trailer for Dark Souls III during this week’s Gamescom expo.
If you prefer your action games to be gothic and gruesome, Dark Souls III is the game for you:
Dark Souls III continues to push the boundaries with the latest, ambitious chapter in the critically-acclaimed and genre-defining series. As fires fade and only embers remain, journey once more into a world filled with more daunting and colossal enemies and environments. Players will be immersed into a world of epic atmosphere and darkness through faster gameplay and amplified combat intensity. New to the series are the Battle Arts attacks as each weapon will be equipped with its own unique Battle Art to deliver powerful attacks that will break through enemy defenses.
Dark Souls III will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in early 2016.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Dark Souls III, Gamescom 2015
First Unravel gameplay trailer revealed at Gamescom 2015
EA’s Unravel (and its protagonist, Yarny) made a big splash at this year’s E3 Expo. The publisher brought the character back for another round of press appearances at the Gamescom expo, giving us a first look at some gameplay video in the process.
The trailer showcases a level known as “The Sea” and Yarny has to figure out how to navigate the shoreline without being washed away by the tide. The physics-based platforming is excellent and Yarny’s world is somehow ridiculously detailed and heavily stylized all at the time. A single strand of thread, the character’s very literal lifeline, dangles behind him at all times.
It’s easy to see why EA’s executives believe the game charmed everyone at E3. Unravel is in development at Coldwood and will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, possibly as early as next year.
Ubisoft adds lip-syncing Showtime Mode and nine new tracks to Just Dance 2016
Ubisoft wants players to share their dancing with the world after they play Just Dance 2016. The new Showtime Mode will let players record themselves lip-syncing along to their favorites songs. After the song is over, Just Dance 2016 will create a shareable video for the world.
Showtime Mode will only be available on the PS4 (a PlayStation Camera is required), the Xbox One (a Kinect is required), and the Wii U (a Wii U GamePad is required, but that’s standard equipment for Wii U owners):
The new Showtime mode will allow players to unleash their inner star by creating unique music videos of themselves performing. Players lip-sync and perform along to hit songs in the game and the video footage is then turned into a fun shareable music video. The music videos pull in both creative visual elements and pop cultural references— each song will have a distinctive and visually original atmosphere.
Ubisoft also announced nine new tracks for Just Dance 2016 during this week’s Gamescom expo:
- Angry Birds – “Balkan Blast Remix”
- AronChupa – “I’m An Albatraoz”
- Britney Spears – “Circus”
- Ellie Goulding – “Lights”
- Iggy Azalea (Featuring Charli XCX) – “Fancy”
- The Lemon Cubes – “Boys (Summertime Love)”
- Pitbull (Featuring Chris Brown) – “Fun”
- Prince Royce – “Stuck On A Feeling”
- Shakira (Featuring El Cata) – “Rabiosa”
Just Dance 2016 will be released for the PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 20.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Gamescom 2015, Just Dance 2016
Battleborn will be released on February 9, 2016
2K Games and Gearbox Software have announced that Battleborn will be released on February 9, 2016. Gearbox’s “hero shooter” will include 25 “Badasses” when it releases early next year and a new trailer released for the 2015 Gamescom expo introduces us to four of them. Say hello to Ambra, Reyna, Mellka, and Benedict:
- Ambra: Born into an ancient order of priestesses responsible for discovering a way to prolong life indefinitely, Ambra was betrayed by her leader and her faction, the Jennerit Empire, and now fights alongside the Battleborn. She is a specialist hero, dealing damage up close through her melee attacks and powerful abilities, while healing her allies in the process.
- Mellka: A stealthy assassin, Mellka lost her parents at a young age before eventually earning her place among the Eldrid’s black op’s and intelligence bureau. Her life has been defined by a series of staggering losses, but her response to these losses was never despair – it was fury. She strikes quickly, disorienting foes with her nerve gas machine pistol and bio-glaive melee attacks.
- Reyna: Known by her followers as “The Valkyrie,” Reyna was born aboard the Rogue faction’s ailing junk heap of a flagship and is a native to the last star system. Reyna has fought tirelessly for the freedom of her space pirate comrades, finding her calling as their inspirational leader. She dishes damage with her laser pistol and uses her command glove to support her teammates.
- Benedict: August Benedict Jr. is one of several surviving races of bird-like “Aviant” refugees. He swore allegiance to the Peacekeepers where he’s gained considerable notoriety for being a self-centered jerk that’s capable of astounding destruction with his rocket launcher. Double jumping, rocket jumping, and flying – Benedict’s good at all of them and he lets his teammates know it.
An open beta for Battleborn will be held sometime before the game ships to stores this February. But 2K Games isn’t ready to talk about the public test just yet and will announce more details about it at a later date.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Battleborn, Gamescom 2015
Comcept confirms Mighty No. 9 delay and pencils in new release date of “Early 2016”
Comcept has announced Mighty No. 9 will miss its originally scheduled September 15 release date, confirming two previous reports (1, 2) that the game had been delayed. Offering an apology in an update to the game’s Kickstarter page, the developer said that Mighty No. 9 will now be released in “Q1 2016.”
Comcept’s representatives also elaborated on the reasons behind the delay:
Of course, it is important to explain why exactly the game is being delayed. As we have communicated in the updates to our backers, all of the core content for the game is developed and in a complete state. However, there are still bugs and issues pertaining to the online features that are included in the game. These bugs and issues have a direct affect on enjoyment of the game, so a decision was made to work these issues out before release.
Currently, [C]omcept and their partners are working at full capacity to resolve these issues and fix any remaining bugs.
Due to the change in release date, Kickstarter backers should expect to receive another platform survey closer to the final release date. Currently in development for the 3DS, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, Comcept has said they will announce a “solid” release date for Mighty No. 9 when they can.