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
Bloodborne, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, Cities: Skylines all sell one million copies
While the weather outside was frightful, gamers across the globe responded by purchasing a trio of games in droves this Winter. In fact, each game has sold more than one million copies worldwide.
Sony Computer Entertainment announced that Bloodborne has sold more than one million copies worldwide since its March 24. According to the PlayStation Blog, From Software is also hard at work on patch 1.03 to “to reduce certain load times” and add in a few “performance optimizations.” They’ll also remove that bug that makes the game easier after you’ve been playing for more than 12 hours.
According to Capcom, they’ve shipped one million copies of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate to stores across Europe and North America, so they haven’t crossed the seven figure sales figure just yet. But the publisher still plans to celebrate by releasing a free Monster Hunter theme for the 3DS in May.
Finally, Paradox Interactive and Colossal Order have sold one million copies of their city-builder, Cities: Skylines, since March 10. The game has been heartily embraced by sim fans who felt letdown by SimCity, but it looks like its begun to reach gamers of all stripes. I think this Facebook post (which includes a cameo appearance from Dr. Evil) says it all.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4
Tagged Bloodborne, Cities: Skylines, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
Guitar Hero Live brings back franchise as a first-person live-action experience this Fall
Back in February, unnamed insiders said that Activision would relaunch the Guitar Hero franchise this year with “more realistic” graphics. That report has turned out to be accurate… but in the absolute strangest way possible. The next game in the series, Guitar Hero Live, will launch this Fall as a first-person, live-action experience that attempts to put players on stage for real. Shred that perfect solo and the crowd will cheer wildly for you. But if you screw up, you’ll be begging for the fenced-in stage from The Blues Brothers. That’s if your bandmates don’t kill you first.
Guitar Hero Live will also include a constantly changing catalog of songs in GHTV Mode, which overlays a note track on top of hundreds of different music videos. You can get a glimpse at how both modes will work by viewing the game’s debut trailer, which has been embedded above.
Unfortunately, your old guitars will no longer work in Guitar Hero Live. Activision is throwing out the old design and creating a new design featuring two rows of three buttons each. According to Activision, “beginners can feel like a rock star by mastering play with just the bottom three buttons.” Meanwhile, veterans will take on the new challenge of “creating complex chord-like shapes and finger combinations.”
Guitar Hero Live’s tracklist is still being finalized, but a wide variety of bands and singers will make the cut including The Black Keys, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Gary Clark, Jr., Green Day, Ed Sheeran, The War on Drugs, The Killers, Skrillex, The Rolling Stones, The Lumineers, Carrie Underwood, and Pierce the Veil and Blitz Kids. More will be announced as we get closer to launch.
Guitar Hero Live is in development for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U at FreeStyleGames, the same team behind DJ Hero and DJ Hero 2. Somehow, Guitar Hero Live will also be playable on mobile devices and tablets, but details on that version of the game will be announced at a later date.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness announced by Square Enix
Square Enix is officially bringing back the Star Ocean series as Famitsu (via Kotaku) has revealed Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is in development for the PS3 and PS4. Tri-Ace, who has been behind every Star Ocean game, will also be in the developer’s chair for Integrity and Faithlessness. An American release has yet to be announced, but I think it’s only a matter of time.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is the fifth game in the series, but it’ll actually take place between Star Ocean: The Second Story and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. A Square Enix countdown site for the game is expected to expire tomorrow, but for now, we have an English translation of the prologue:
Do the depths of space forbid peace for mankind…
Centuries after leaving Earth, after a multitude of trials, with the creation and spread of the Galactic Federation, humanity was on the verge of unified order and peace.
But the embers of conflict have begun to burn again.
Over 6,000 light years from Earth, on the unsettled planet, Faicreed.
Just as so many times before, the waves of history begin from a remote planet.
Before today’s announcement, the Star Ocean series had laid dormant since 2009, which is when Star Ocean: The Last Hope was released for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4
Tagged Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
Which Faction will you side with in Mortal Kombat X?
The launch of Mortal Kombat X is just one day away on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Though if you’re planning to camp out at one of the many midnight launch parties, you could be playing it in as little as eight hours.
One of the first things you’ll do after loading up Mortal Kombat X for the first time is pledge your allegiance to one of the game’s five Factions. The Black Dragon, Lin Kuei, Special Force, White Lotus Society, and Brotherhood of Shadow are all fighting for new recruits and each has produced a Recruitment Video to help swell their numbers.
Which Faction will you join? You can preview all the Recruitment Videos after the break. And pay special attention to the Brotherhood of Shadow clip, which features cameos from Zombie Stryker, Zombie Sindel, and Zombie Kabal. (more…)
Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves will be available on May 19
Activision and Bungie have announced the second major expansion for Destiny, House of Wolves, will launch on May 19 for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. To get gamers in the proper mood, the two companies have released the cinematic prologue, which has been embedded above. What else can players expect from House of Wolves? Well…
Expand your Destiny adventure with House of Wolves. Only the bravest Guardians will hunt down the rising Fallen threat and lay claim to the mysterious treasures of The Reef.
House of Wolves is being promoted as the “final” expansion to Destiny, but Activision executives confirmed that a “major content release” (rumored to be titled “Comet“) which will further expand the original game has been scheduled for release this Fall. Presumably, Destiny 2 will be released sometime after that, possibly as early as next year.
Saint Seiya: Soldiers’ Soul will be released for PC, PS3, PS4 in Fall 2015
About two months ago, Bandai Namco filed a trademark application for “Soldiers’ Soul,” which many people assumed would be related to From Software’s “Souls” series in some way. I guess the joke’s on all of us as the publisher announced the title actually belongs to Saint Seiya: Soldiers’ Soul, a new game adaptation of the popular manga and anime.
In this brand new anime and game, the legendary Gold Saints are back from the dead with their new God Cloths! The fabled fight against Hades was not the end of everything for Athena’s heroes: blessed by heavenly powers, Seiya and his friends still have to accomplish something bigger!
Soldiers’ Soul will be the second Saint Seiya game to be released in North America, following the release of Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers in 2013. The game is in development at Dimps (for the PC, PS3, and PS4), and should be be released sometime this Fall.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4
Tagged Saint Seiya: Soldiers' Soul
Activision is going to announce Guitar Hero 7 tomorrow… but don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret
This morning, Activision released a teaser trailer touting an April 14 announcement of a “Mystery Game.” Could it be more Destiny? Or an official unveiling of Skylanders 5? Maybe the Call of Duty: Black Ops III reveal got pushed up two weeks? I should probably just watch the trailer…
Let’s see what we’ve got. There’s a kid with a guitar… and a band about to go on stage… and a cheering crowd. There’s also a tagline: “It’s About To Get Real.” Hmm, it’s a toughie, but I think I’ve got it… Activision is bringing back Crash Bandicoot! Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound right. Meh, it’s probably just a tease for Guitar Hero 7.
It’s not like there were a bunch of rumors back in February that said the franchise would return this Fall with a “more realistic” graphical style. Oh wait, there were. OK, it’s probably Guitar Hero 7.
I’ll keep waiting for you, Crash.
New Releases: Mortal Kombat X, Grand Theft Auto V for PC
Just two new games are set to be available on retail store shelves this week… but they’re two of the biggest games of the Spring.
First up, NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The sequel will slingshot the franchise’s storyline 25 years into the future and introduce a whole new generation of kombatants to the world. The last game in the series, Mortal Kombat, was released four ago, which is the biggest Mortal Kombat drought since the five-year gap between Mortal Kombat 4 and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
Also available this week, after several delays, is Grand Theft Auto V‘s PC launch. Rockstar’s game of cops and robbers was originally released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013 while an upgraded edition for the PS4 and Xbox One launched last year. The PC version (which requires seven discs) promises to be the most expansive version yet.
That’s it for the retail release report, but a handful of new games will also be available through Steam, the PlayStation Store, the Xbox Games Store, and the Nintendo eShop this week.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V, Mortal Kombat X