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
Evolve, Borderlands 2 Vita playable at PAX East 2014
2K Games has announced (via the 2K Blog) that they will have two games playable on the PAX East show floor during next week’s convention. But gamers who attend either of the company’s panels might be in for an additional surprise.
Evolve, the multiplayer shooter from Turtle Rock Studios, will be the centerpiece of 2K’s PAX East presence. Players will be able to control the game’s four alien hunters as well as the alien itself as they battle for supremacy in the jungle. Congoers will also be able to get their hands on the Vita version of Gearbox’s Borderlands 2, which should be available sometime this Spring.
And speaking of Gearbox, as expected, developers from the company will host their annual Sunday morning panel at PAX East. Much discussion of Borderlands 2 will ensue along with “a few more surprises.” Hmm, I wonder if Gearbox plans to announce a new game during their panel? After all, we know they have multiple games in development.
However, we definitely don’t have to wonder what will happen at the Firaxis panel, which will be held on Saturday. 2K has assured us that the developer behind the acclaimed Civilization series and XCOM: Enemy Unknown will give the attended audience “a glimpse into the latest projects of the studio.”
Over 100 games will be included in the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2014
Over the years, the Indie Megabooth has become one of the busiest spots at PAX East and PAX Prime and the 2014 East show is no exception. Organizers behind the Indie Megabooth have announced that 76 games will be permanently installed in the booth with another 28 titles rotating in-and-out of a special “Minibooth” within the Indie Megabooth over the course of the convention’s three days. For the first time, tabletop games will get a chance to shine in the Indie Megabooth. Sponsored by Cards Against Humanity, this selection of tabletop games includes bluffing game These French Fries Are Terrible Hot Dogs, party game Funemployed, and six others.
Other highlights in this year’s Megabooth include Duet, a hypnotic mobile puzzler; Delver’s Drop, everyone’s favorite indie answer to the Zelda franchise; Hyper Light Drifter, everyone’s other favorite indie answer to the Zelda franchise; Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Answer, a sequel to the ultraviolent overhead shooter; and Secret Ponchos, an arena shooter that was one of our favorite games from PAX East 2013. Of course, with 104 total titles, this list of highlights is just scratching the surface of what’s available within the Indie Megabooth.
A complete list of titles that will be playable within the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2014 can be found after the break. And more information about all of them is available at the organization’s official website. (more…)
One Release Date to Rule Them All… Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is out October 7
As someone who knows little-to-nothing about The Lord of the Rings, beyond faint memories of the books as an eight-year-old, I still think Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor looks pretty sweet. Warner Bros. Games just sent over a new “Story Trailer,” along with a whole bucketful of information about the upcoming third-person action-adventure.
WB Games has confirmed that the Monolith Productions- developed game will be released on October 7 and players who pre-order Shadow of Mordor will get access to the “Dark Ranger Exclusive Bonus Pack.” The pack will provide exclusive content and challenges for early adopters including:
- Dark Ranger Character Skin – Begin your own quest for vengeance with a new Dark Ranger character skin that embodies Talion’s darker side.
- “Test of Power” Challenge Mode – Face Sauron’s Captains and defeat them to earn powerful Runes and gain a head start in the game
- Access to Exclusive Leaderboards for “Test of Power” Challenge Mode – Test your speed, skill and strategy and measure yourself against your friends on the leaderboards in this challenge mode
And in case you haven’t upgraded to a next-generation console yet, don’t worry, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
PS Store Today: MLB 14: The Show, Mercenary Kings, Batman Blackgate, more
It’s another big week for the PlayStation Store as Sony has added almost ten games to their digital storefront.
PlayStation 4 owners will want to check out Mercenary Kings. The 2D shooter has been described as Borderlands meets Metal Slug and it has been inducted into the Instant Game Collection for PlayStation Plus subscribers. If you’re not a Plus subscriber, Mercenary Kings will set you back $19.99.
Over on the PS3, WB Games has re-released the formerly Vita-exclusive Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate as a “Deluxe Edition” on the PS3. The Batman side-scroller will be joined by another game that makes use of the 2D plane, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, the latest fighter from Arc System Works. And just in time for Opening Day, PS3 owners will also be able to download MLB 14: The Show today. MLB 14 is also available for the Vita, but it isn’t a Cross-Buy title. Speaking of the Vita, action RPG Ragnarok Odyssey Ace was added to the PS Store by XSEED. Like MLB 14, a PS3 version is also available.
Rounding out this week’s new releases is Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha Vs The Soulless Army, a PS2 Classic from Atlus’ long-running RPG series, and Jimmie Johnson’s Anything With An Engine, a kart racer starring NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson.
More details on all of these titles can be found after the break. And a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, MLB 14: The Show, Ragnarok Odyssey Ace
Metro Redux will bring the shooter series to next-gen consoles
Over the weekend, a rumor started making the rounds that 4A Games’ Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light would be released for next-generation consoles in a bundle known as Metro Redux. Rather than deny everything and hope the rumors go away, 4A Games and Metro’s publisher, Deep Silver, confirmed that the next-gen remake is officially in the works:
We could issue a ‘We do not comment on rumour and speculation’ statement and pretend this never happened. They’re pretty boring to read. They’re also pretty boring to write.
So we’re going to comment on rumour and speculation instead.
Is Metro Redux real?
Yes. We never made any secret of 4A’s desire to bring Metro to the latest generation of console hardware.
After admitting that the compilation is coming, 4A Games and Deep Silver asked gamers to forget everything they may have seen this weekend as the leak was based on “hypothetical ideas and place holder material” that don’t represent the current state of Metro Redux. Instead, they’re asking gamers to wait patiently until this year’s E3 Expo, where they plan to officially announce the next-gen remake in suitably splashy fashion.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2014, Metro Redux
CoD: Ghosts Devastation Pack gameplay trailer confirms the Predator
Activision and Infinity Ward have released a brand new gameplay trailer for Call of Duty: Ghosts‘ Devastation Map Pack, which will be available to download for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One on Thursday, April 3. The trailer gives us a more in-depth look at the add-ons four maps (“Ruins,” “Behemoth,” “Collision,” and “Unearthed”), as well as Extinction Mode’s second episode, “Mayday.”
However, most importantly, the trailer confirms that the Predator will play some part in the “Ruins” map. It’s unknown if the Predator is a playable character the way Michael Myers was in the Ghosts’ first DLC pack or an invisible assassin, but he’s definitely there. All the Predator action (all one second of it), begins at 2:23 in the video above.
PC, PS3, and PS4 players will likely receive access to the Devastation Map Pack in early May. You can expect Activision to announce the release date for those platforms soon.
Switchblade Monkeys delays the showdown between Secret Ponchos and the PS4
Sony recently revealed the April additions to the Instant Game Collection for PlayStation Plus subscribers and, sadly, Secret Ponchos wasn’t among them. We reached out to developer Switchblade Monkeys via Twitter and they confirmed the old west arena shooter won’t be released for the PS4 next month as originally planned:
@CaptWarpZoned @SwitchbladeMkys John you are correct! Hangin there SP will come to beta testing to make sure its rock solid b4 release
— Switchblade Monkeys (@SwitchbladeMkys) March 29, 2014
A new release date wasn’t announced, though as you can see, a beta for the game will be available soon. However, we’re definitely sure that the next time we’ll be able to get our hands on Secret Ponchos is at this year’s PAX East expo (April 11 through April 13). Switchblade Monkeys previously announced the game will be playable on the show floor.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Secret Ponchos
Wolfenstein: The New Order will have a Nazi-Pop soundtrack of 1960s-style songs
Bethesda and MachineGames are definitely going the extra mile to ensure that Wolfenstein: The New Order‘s alternate timeline is as authentic. And naturally, a 1960 where the Nazis won World War II is going to be a very different place. For the game’s E3 2013 trailer, they mocked up images of German soldiers walking across Abbey Road and an astronaut giving the “Sieg Hiel!” to a Nazi flag on the moon. The pop music landscape is going to look completely different, but thankfully, they’ve got that covered too.
Instead of just ignoring the American Bandstand set entirely, MachineGames has commissioned a complete 1960s-style pop soundtrack (“We conquered the world, we conquered the moon, and we conquered rock and roll!”) for Wolfenstein: The New Order.
The song snippets found in the Neumond Recordings “commercial” above are great, but Bethesda has gone one better and created a website that includes full versions of eight songs. The Beatles are represented with “Mond, Mond, Ja, Ja” (a parody of “She Loves You”) and The Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville” has been repurposed as “Zug Nach Hamburg.” But my favorite might be “Weltraum Surfen,” which is clearly a superior version of The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ Safari.”
Wolfenstein: The New Order will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 20. And don’t forget, if you pre-order now, you’ll be guaranteed access to the Doom 4 beta.