Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- 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
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
Game of Thrones: Iron From Ice is coming next week
We knew that the first episode from Telltale Games’ Game of Thrones adaptation was coming soon, but now we know that “soon” is actually next week. More specifically, Game of Thrones: Iron From Ice will be available on December 2 (PC, PS3, and PS4), December 3 (Xbox 360 and Xbox One), and December 4 depending upon your platform of choice:
#GameOfThrones A @TelltaleGames Series Ep 1 #IronFromIce
12/2 PC/Mac; PS4 SCEA
12/3 Xbox One & 360; PS4 SCEE
12/4 iOS pic.twitter.com/dpIwlib6nl
— Telltale Games (@telltalegames) November 27, 2014
While sooner is always better, I’m sure there was a very vocal contingent of people within Telltale who were tempted to launch the first episode on December 21 just so they could appropriate the “Winter Is Coming” tagline.
After you’re done groaning, you can also check out the game’s debut trailer, which has been embedded above.
Insert Quarter: Remembering the Best Instruction Booklets Ever
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Creating a beautiful and engaging instruction booklet has become a lost art in today’s go-go world of downloadable games and extensive in-game tutorials. Some, like Yacht Club Games and their awesome booklet for Shovel Knight, are attempting to keep the practice alive. But it seems like a foregone conclusion that the instruction booklet will have breathed its last in the not-too-distant future.
Thankfully, Jason Dafnis of Game Informer took some time out of his day to honor ten of his favorite instruction booklets, manuals, and strategy guides:
Let me spin you a yarn. Times were, you’d open that brand-new cardboard (or plastic) box and there, nestled right next to your cartridge (or disc), would be a booklet. Yes, a booklet – paper pages stapled together that told you how to play the game (and sometimes more). Remember those?
Now the left (or right) side of your game case sits bare or thinly veiled with tie-in ads or DLC codes. Those clippies that once held your booklet are all but obsolete. Booklets might not be completely extinct, but they are on the way out. Here are ten of our favorites in no particular order.
The full article is available at Game Informer.
The Exo Zombies invade in first Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare DLC pack
Last year, Call of Duty: Ghosts included a new episode of “Extinction,” a multi-part mutant-hunting co-op experience, in each one of the its downloadable expansion packs. Beginning next year, Activision and Sledgehammer Games will attempt this strategy all over again with the new “Exo Zombies” co-op mode planned for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
The first “Exo Zombies” episode will be released as part of the Havoc Map Pack, with a new episode scheduled to be included in all four packs. Advanced Warfare includes a brief tease for “Exo Zombies,” but you can check out the newly released trailer above if you’ve yet to unlock it.
The Havoc Map Pack will be available to download through the Xbox Games Store for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 in January. If history is any guide, PC and PlayStation playerts will have to wait about a month to try it out.
PS Store Today: Geometry Wars 3, Tales From the Borderlands, Speakeasy, more
Most of this Fall’s biggest games have been released over the last few weeks, so today’s PlayStation Store update is home to just a handful of new games. But a few of them are definitely big in their own right.
For example, Sierra and Lucid Games have joined forces to bring Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions to the PS3 and PS4. The twin-stick shooter sequel adds three-dimensional levels, drones partners, and several new game modes. Also available this week for the PS3 and PS4 is Zer0 Sum, the first episode of Telltale’s Tales From the Borderlands episodic series.
A complete look at all of this week’s new releases (including the 1920s-styled fighter Speakeasy and the PS4 launch of Thomas Was Alone) 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 Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions, Tales From the Borderlands
Dark Souls II plus all DLC will be released for PS4, Xbox One in 2015
When Bandai Namco and From Software released Dark Souls II last year, some fans were disappointed that the game wasn’t also released for the PS4 and Xbox One. But good things come to those who wait as the publisher has announced that a special edition of the game, known as Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, will be released for new-gen consoles and DirectX 11 PCs on April 7, 2015.
Bandai Namco will pack every piece of Dark Souls II content into the Scholar of the First Sin edition including the original game and all three DLC expansions (Crown of the Sunken King, Crown of the Old Iron King, and Crown of the Ivory King). An array of new content will also be produced for Scholar of the First Sin including “an expanded story featuring additional in-game events and NPC character along with new deadlier enemies and gameplay improvements.” Naturally, Bandai Namco plans to improve the graphics in Scholar of the First Sin.
Finally, Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin will also be released on the PS3, Xbox 360, and DirectX 9 PCs with a slew of improvements. These improvements (which will also be available to current owners of the game as an update) will include “an additional NPC to seek out along the treacherous quest through Drangleic as well as expanded story, in-game events, improved balance, and online matchmaking functionality.”
Turtle Rock: Evolve’s DLC maps will be free
Turtle Rock’s Creative Director, Phil Robb, recently sat down with IGN and confirmed that all post-release maps for Evolve will be free. The consumer-friendly move is an attempt by Turtle Rock to keep the Evolve community from splitting into multiple different factions:
“First thing we [Evolve’s creative leads] said was we can’t break the community up, so all of our maps will be free. We never want anyone to get booted off of a server because they haven’t bought something.”
Robb also revealed that Evolve will receive paid DLC in the forms of additional Hunters and Monsters. However, players will still be able to join games featuring downloadable Hunters or Monsters regardless of whether or not they’ve purchased them:
“We’ll have characters and monsters, and even if you don’t buy them, if your buddy wants to buy the DLC, that’s cool, and your game will be enhanced through his purchase,” Robb said. “So, you won’t be able to play as those characters, but you will certainly be able to play with those characters.”
Evolve will likely be one of 2015’s earliest hits when it’s released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on February 10.
Batman infiltrates Ace Chemicals in latest Arkham Knight trailer
Batman has a bad history with Ace Chemicals. It was there that an unnamed criminal known as The Red Hook fell into a vat of chemicals and emerged as The Dark Knight’s nemesis, The Joker. Harvey Dent suffered a similar disfiguring accident in Batman: The Animated Series, permanently damaging his psyche and transforming him into Two-Face.
With such a haunted history, you’d think supervillains would stop attempting to rob and/or take over the plant. But you’d be wrong as Scarecrow and the mysterious Arkham Knight make the factory a target in the latest trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight. The trailer includes a look at the Batmobile in action and new takedown maneuver, the “Fear Takedown.” WB Games also plans to release an extended version of the trailer (three-and-a-half minutes is clearly not enough) on December 1 through the game’s official website.
Batman: Arkham Knight will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on June 2.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight
Check out the prologue from Destiny’s “The Dark Below” expansion
Bungie plans to release Destiny‘s first expansion, The Dark Below, on December 9. But if you want a sneak peek at the shooter’s first major addition, you should check out the Prologue video above. In The Dark Below, you’ll Crota and the Hive army in a variety of missions on the moon. The expansion will also include new gear and a level cap increase:
Expand your Destiny adventure with a wealth of weapons, armor, and gear earned in new story quests and missions, three new competitive multiplayer arenas, and a new Strike and Raid. Beneath the surface of the Moon, a long-forgotten enemy stirs. Survive the true depths of the Hellmouth, and stop its dark army from invading Earth.
The Dark Below will be available as part of Destiny’s Season Pass or as an individual download.