Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books Gets a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Most Recent: Switch
No new Skylanders game in 2017, but multiple “Adventure Packs” coming
As part of their quarterly financial report yesterday, Activision executives confirmed that a new game in the Skylanders franchise won’t be released in 2017. However, fans should still expect plenty of new content to appear this year.
First and foremost, Skylanders Imaginators will make its Nintendo Switch debut on March 3. The “toys-to-life” franchise has been one of the few third party bright spots on the Wii U, so it’s good to see Activision continuing the tradition on the Switch. And with Imaginators in the spotlight for another year, COO Thomas Tippl confirmed that Activision plans to launch “multiple Adventure Packs, new characters, and new in-game content” for it throughout the year.
Tippl revealed that Netflix’s Skylanders Academy has also been well-received by fans. A second season will premiere on the streaming service sometime this year, and a third is already in the works.
Finally, Activision is working on a new mobile game set in the Skylanders universe, but that’s all we know at this point.
Enroll in Switch 101 and learn the basics of the console with this new video from Nintendo
Is there someone in your life who wants to learn more about the Nintendo Switch? If so, then you should definitely direct them towards this new Hardware Overview video from Nintendo.
Even if you consider yourself a Switch expert, the video offers a nice refresher on exactly what the console’s capable of. Topics discussed include the console’s three output styles (TV Mode, Handheld Mode, and Tabletop Mode), as well as local multiplayer options, wi-fi connectivity, and the ins-and-outs of both Joy-Con controllers.
The Nintendo Switch will launch on March 3… which is just 22 days from today.
Microids will release Syberia 3 on April 25 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Mac
Spring is looking rather chilly and it has nothing to do with global warming! Today, Microids dropped a few juicy details, and a new trailer, about the latest entry in the Syberia series, Syberia 3.
First and foremost, fans of the series will be ecstatic to know that Syberia 3 has an official release date of April 20 in Europe, and April 25 in North America. Even better, Syberia 3 will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and even Mac… which is notorious for not having enough games. Syberia 3 will be fully dubbed in five languages; French, English, German, Polish, and Russian. It will also support subtitles for the aforementioned languages plus Spanish, Italian, Korean, Dutch, Czech, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese. Talk about accessible.
So what is Syberia 3 about? I’m glad that you asked. According to Microids…
The story begins when Kate is found left for dead on a shore by the Youkol tribe, a nomadic people caring for their snow ostriches during migration. Trapped, prisoners in the city of Valsembor, they will have to find together a way to continue their journey in a chase against their enemies and unexpected challenges. While at the same time, Kate’s past is catching up with her…
To go along with its interesting premise, Microids also found a composer for Syberia 3 that’s likely to produce an amazing soundtrack. Inon Zur, credited for composing the amazing soundtracks for Fallout 4, Dragon Age: Origins, Prince of Persia, and Syberia 2, has also composed the soundtrack for Syberia 3.
Fans have been waiting for Syberia 3 since Microids first announced it all the way back in 2009, so this is great news. However, if you were hoping to learn when Syberia 3 would make its Switch debut, you’ll have to keep waiting. A release date for the game on Nintendo’s upcoming console has yet to be announced.
Puyo Puyo Tetris will be released for Nintendo Switch and PS4 on April 25
After revealing the game last month during Nintendo’s Switch Presentation, Sega has announced that Puyo Puyo Tetris will be released for Nintendo’s next console and the PS4 on April 25. To go along with this good news, the publisher also released a new trailer highlighting the puzzle mashup’s many multiplayer modes:
Puyo Puyo Tetris Multiplayer Modes
- Versus – Players compete head-to-head in either Puyo Puyo or Tetris to fight in the puzzle fight of their life.
- Swap – Players’ abilities are put to the ultimate test when they compete on both Puyo Puyo and Tetris boards, which switch back and forth at set intervals.
- Fusion – A true hybrid game where players compete with Puyos and Tetriminos together on the same board, requiring deft, on-the-fly thinking to become victorious.
- Big Bang – It’s a race to the finish as players compete against each other to clear unique challenge boards as quickly as possible to win.
- Party – Players compete on Puyo or Tetris boards, but the puzzles feature special items that when activated either help players or harm their opponents.
Puyo Puyo Tetris will be released for the Switch as a digital download through the Nintendo eShop ($29.99) and in a special retail edition containing Puyo Puyo and Tetris-themed keychains ($39.99). Unfortunately, PS4 owners won’t be able to purchase it digitally through the PlayStation Store, and will have to settle for a limited retail edition with no keychains ($29.99).
Posted in News, PS4, Switch
Tagged Puyo Puyo Tetris
FIFA 18 will be “custom built” for Nintendo Switch by EA Canda
Representatives from Electronic Arts took the stage during Nintendo’s Switch Presentation last month to confirm that the FIFA franchise would make its debut on the company’s next console sometime this year.
Secrecy is nothing new for EA or Nintendo, but earlier this week, EA’s Peter Moore told Gamereactor that the FIFA team at EA Canada is hard at work on a “custom-built” version of FIFA 18, which should launch this Fall alongside the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game:
“Well, as we have said, we are custom-building a FIFA version for the Nintendo Switch,” Moore said of the game. “It will be FIFA 18, and it will obviously be later this year when FIFA 18 comes out.”
We also asked whether FIFA for Nintendo Switch would be a slimmed down version of the game we’re getting on PS4 and Xbox One, closer to the old-gen versions still being made for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Moore answered: “What you have will be a custom built version for the Nintendo Switch from the FIFA development team in Vancouver.”
The annual launch of the FIFA franchise typically takes place in late September, so prospective Switch owners should expect to see it on store shelves around then.
Freedom Planet 2 Hands-On Preview: Not Your Parent’s Platformer
Over the last few days, I’ve had the pleasure of playing around with a demo for Freedom Planet 2, which is in development at GalaxyTrail. The demo itself isn’t that long (one stage with a boss battle), however, the game is just that damn fun that I kept coming back to it, trying to beat my time and experimenting with the four characters in an effort to determine whose move set best fit my play style.
Before playing the Freedom Planet 2 demo, I had never heard of GalaxyTrail or the original Freedom Planet game. Though fascinated by indie developers and the masterpieces that they create, I often shy away from playing them, instead opting for AAA titles. Freedom Planet 2 makes me regret that decision.
It’s hard to gather much from a demo that can be finished in a little over two minutes, however, I have drawn the conclusion that Freedom Planet 2 is definitely not your parent’s platformer. What do I mean by that? Despite its obvious similarities to Sonic the Hedgehog, Freedom Planet 2 sets itself apart from traditional platforming games while still holding on to the charming components that define the genre. (more…)
Posted in PC, Previews, Switch, Top Story
Tagged Freedom Planet 2, PAX South 2017
Side-scrolling shooter Graceful Explosion Machine is also in development for the Switch
I guess we missed this one a few weeks ago, but Vertex Pop has announced that Graceful Explosion Machine, their colorful side-scrolling shooter that earned a spot on our Best of PAX East 2016 list, is also in development for the Nintendo Switch.
Promising four unique weapons and a bevy of bad guys to blast, Graceful Explosion Machine will also be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Spring 2017. A brand new trailer has been embedded above.
SAG-AFTRA voice actor union holds another rally in Los Angeles as strike continues
With the continuing strike between the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and a cabal of 11 video game companies locked in a stalemate, the union held a rally in Los Angeles to help support the striking voice actors.
The strike, which has been active since October 21, is an ongoing dispute about working conditions and salary for motion capture and voice artists when working on video games. However, there has been little movement in negotiations on the matter, according to SAG-AFTRA’s Chief Contracts Officer, Ray Rodriguez, who said the purpose of the rally was “to get people refocused that the strike is happening.”
In addition to demanding better safety conditions for its members, SAG-AFTRA is seeking additional bonus payments for actors that work on a game that sells well. The union has suggested an extra payment for games selling two million copies, with additional bonuses up to eight million copies sold.
However, lawyers for the 11 companies, which include Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take Two Interactive, Insomniac Games, Warner Bros., and Disney, do not see room for compromise. Scott Witlin, their Chief Negotiator, released a statement saying, “We remain disappointed that SAG-AFTRA leadership remains focused on outmoded ideas about how compensation is structured rather than the real dollars and cents that the video game companies put on the table.”
The contingent of companies, who have seen their premises picketed over the last few months, have proposed an immediate 9% wage increase, instead of a 3% annual increase for the next three years, which is what SAG-AFTRA is asking for on top of the bonus. The video game companies are also offering additional payments, which could be as high as $950 per game, dependent on the length of time an actor works on a specific title.
SAG-AFTRA Interactive Negotiating Committee Chair Keythe Farley said, “I can’t believe we’re still fighting for this contract two years later. I thought we’d be done by lunch on day one. I figured we were all eager to update the substandard, 20-year-old contract that we’ve been operating under and start fresh with a modern, industry-standard agreement that protects, and fairly compensates, performers working on today’s video games. The one thing that keeps me going is our members’ dedication and commitment to a fair contract. It’s the same dedication they bring to their performances, so I guess it’s no surprise, really.”
The SAG-AFTRA rally, which began at SAG-AFTRA Plaza and stretched to the nearby La Brea Tar Pits, attracted 500 union members and was joined by the aptly named David Ryu, an LA City Councilman. He offered strong words of support for the crowd, saying video game companies “need to pay their fair share” and telling the SAG-AFTRA protesters “you should not give in.”