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
PS Store Today: Alien: Isolation, NBA 2K15, DriveClub, Vib-Ribbon, more
The Fall gaming avalanche comes to the PlayStation Store this week. Some of the biggest games of the season are now available to download on the PS3, PS4, and Vita as well as a bona-fide classic, and a handful of smaller titles as well.
A trio of AAA release are now available as of today. Alien: Isolation (PS3, PS4) is Sega and Creative Assembly’s attempt to bring the “haunted house in space” atmosphere of 1979’s Alien to the video game realm. It’s joined by DriveClub, Evolution’s ambitious PS4 racer, and NBA 2K15 (PS3, PS4), the latest game in 2K’s long-running sports simulation series.
Even though all these new titles are now available to download, today’s real surprise if the release of Vib-Ribbon, a PSone Classic that was originally only available in Japan and Europe. Vib-Ribbon is a rhythm game from the creator of PaRappa the Rapper that uses a unique line-drawing art style. It has appeared on multiple “Best of” lists and is considered by many to be one of the best games never to come to America. Thankfully, that changes today.
Finally this week, a few indie games that are definitely worth a look have popped up on the PlayStation Store. Dust: An Elysian Tail, a side-scrolling action-RPG that was originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2012, is now available on the PS4. Dust’s hand-drawn artwork would serve as a nice complement to Spelunky, which has also been released for the PS4 today. Divekick, a rather unique fighting game (“First You Dive, Then You Kick!”), rounds out this week’s batch of indie PS4 ports.
A complete look at all of this week’s new releases (including a few additional titles) can be found after the break. And a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Alien: Isolation, Divekick, DriveClub, Dust: An Elysian Tail, NBA 2K15
Hear yourself scream after watching the Alien: Isolation launch trailer
Today is a great day for space exploration, both real and fictional. In the real world, NASA is exploring the use of stasis tubes (better known as “torpor”) for a possible manned mission to Mars. And in the fictional realm, Sega has released the launch trailer for Alien: Isolation, their deep space survival horror game that is in stores tomorrow.
Developed by Creative Assembly, Alien: Isolation uses the same “lo-fi sci-fi” aesthetic seen in 1979’s Alien and sticks to a single Xenomorph instead of the hordes of alien monsters typically found in games based on the 1986 sequel, Aliens.
Alien: Isolation will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The first run of copies have been given a “Nostromo Edition” tag and will include a bonus mission that will allow players to take control Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and other characters from the original film.
The Crew’s release date skids onto December 2
Ubisoft has announced that The Crew, their open-world racer for the PC, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, will now be released on December 2. Previously scheduled for a November 11 launch, the publisher pushed the game back so they could conduct another closed beta sometime in November. This will be the fourth closed beta for The Crew after two separate tests on the PC and another exclusively for PS4/Xbox One players.
“We received a lot of valuable information from the recent PC and console betas,” Creative Director Julian Gerighty told Ubisoft’s UbiBlog. “We are now scrutinizing all of the player feedback so we can ensure that The Crew delivers the seamless open-world experience that meets everyone’s high expectations.”
According to Gerighty, feedback from the betas has resulted in several substantial changes to the game including “the option to fully remove the HUD so players can enjoy the scenery as they roam freely through a massive re-creation of the United States, to fine-tuning the collisions to be even more realistic and adding in new visual effects.” The Ubisoft Reflections developer has also tweaked police AI and improved the game’s voice chat after the first three rounds of player feedback.
There’s also a good chance that Ubisoft moved The Crew to ensure the game wasn’t overshadowed by the November 11 launch of Assassin’s Creed: Rogue and Assassin’s Creed: Unity, the company’s flagship titles for the Fall.
New Releases: Alien: Isolation, NBA 2K15, DriveClub, More
After a relatively quiet September, the Fall gaming rush has begun to kick into high gear now that we’ve reached October.
Sega plans to take another crack at the Alien universe with the Creative Assembly-developed survival horror game Alien: Isolation (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One). Players will attempt to help Amanda Ripley search for her missing mother while she’s stalked by a singular Xenomorph. After nearly a dozen games starring the Colonial Marines, it’s definitely a new take (on an old idea) for the franchise.
Also new this week is…
- NBA 2K15 (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One), 2K’s latest basketball sim.
- DriveClub (PS4), Evolution’s long-in-development racing game.
- Skylanders: Trap Team (3DS, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One), the latest toy/game hybrid from Activision.
- Project Spark (Xbox One), Microsoft’s game-building game.
Finally, Microsoft is reliving the Xbox One launch with newly expanded and updated versions of Dead Rising 3: Apocalypse Edition, Forza Motorsport 5: Game of the Year Edition, and Ryse: Son of Rome – Legendary Edition.
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Alien: Isolation, DriveClub, NBA 2K15, Project Spark, Skylanders: Trap Team
Insert Quarter: “Playing A Game” Versus “Grinding Through Content”
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
In this installment, Kotaku’s Yannick LeJacq examines the difference between “playing a game” and “grinding through content” added by the developer to increase the hours required to reach the end in games like Dying Light and The Sims 4.
Earlier this week, Techland announced that its new zombie-killing adventure Dying Light will have “50+ hours of gameplay.” Some might considering this good news. I don’t—at least at face value.
Why? Because 50 hours is a long [*******] time to spend in any video game, and I don’t trust Techland enough as a developer to believe they know how to guide me through such a slog gracefully. I took me roughly half that time to play their last zombie game, Dead Island Riptide. I loved the first few hours, and couldn’t stand the rest.
You can read the rest at Kotaku.
Posted in Insert Quarter, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Dying Light, The Sims 4
EGX 2014 Report: Assassin’s Creed Unity, Arkham Knight, The Order 1886, and More
EGX London, formerly known as the Eurogamer Expo, finally gives UK players a chance to their hand at unreleased games after all the other big Summer shows: E3, PAX Prime, Gamescom, and TGS. It sits at the right time of year too! I always tend to get a bit down on games over the Summer when my consoles sit mostly unused.After playing a dozen of the biggest games scheduled to release over the next nine months, I’m excited to finally charge a DualShock 4 again.On top of that, talking to so many gamers in one place really gives you a nice vertical slice of where the industry sits at the moment. But first… the games! (more…)
Skullgirls Encore pushed back to early 2015 on PS4, Vita
Lab Zero Games has announced (via the PlayStation Blog) that the PS4/Vita launch of Skullgirls Encore, which was expected to be released by the end of this year, has been pushed back to early 2015. Lab Zero’s Peter Bartholow said that the reason for the delay is to pack as much new content into the port as possible: “[W]e’ve expanded the scope of the port and are adding new features with the aim of making it a better upgrade for fans and a better value for everyone.”
Lab Zero has posted a few work-in-progress screenshots of the PS4 version on their official website.
But, if you already own the PS3 version of Skullgirls Encore, Lab Zero does have a surprise for you… the third DLC character, Eliza, is now available. Eliza is an Egyptian “diva” who “constantly [shape-shifts] into a variety of Egyptian mythological symbols and cultural icons.” Lab Zero considers her Story Mode especially deep and promises that it will shed a lot of light on the lore and inner workings of the Skullgirls universe.
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Skullgirls
Quan Chi will bring his sorcerer’s ways to Mortal Kombat X
After playing a huge role in 2011’s Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm has confirmed that the evil sorcerer Quan Chi will once again play a big part in Mortal Kombat X. Described by Executive Producer Shaun Himmerick as a “trickster,” Quan Chi’s three variations will rely heavily on his magical abilities.
The “Sorcerer” variation includes a series of projectile attacks as well as buff spells that strengthen his other attacks. The “Warlock” variations allows Quan Chi to create Dark Portals that allow him to toss characters around the screen in ways that are similar to Scorpion’s Teleport and Rain’s Roundhouse Kick. Finally, the “Summoner” variation will also be projectile-based, but the projectile is actually a demon that Quan Chi summons and controls.
Also, be sure to stick around for a quick look at one of Quan Chi’s Fatalities, it’s pretty great. Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14.