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: Switch
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn will be released this Spring
The crowdfunding campaign for Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn first appeared on Indiegogo way back in 2014, but developer Saber Interactive has announced that it’ll finally be ready to launch for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One this Spring. Not only that, but the development team also announced a partnership with Wired Productions to bring Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn to retail stores, and they unveiled a new trailer that’s been embedded above.
Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn is an intense, action-packed beat ‘em up which sees players take on the role of the unstoppable Shaquille O’Neal as he fights his way through the hordes of Hell and Hollywood. Master devastating combos, battle outlandish celebrity bosses and take on all comers with an array of weapons, including katanas, shuriken, and baseball bats. Channel Shaq’s alter egos, Big Daddy O and Big Diesel, in epic battles in the successor to the worst game ever on a mission to restore Shaq’s legacy.
Switch owners who purchased Saber’s last game, NBA Playgrounds, prior to June 10, 2017 will receive a free copy of Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn after it launches.
THQ Nordic will bring De Blob and De Blob 2 to the Switch this year
THQ Nordic launched a remastered re-release of De Blob for the PS4 and Xbox One towards the end of last year, and it’ll be followed by a De Blob 2 re-release on both platforms later this month. But yesterday, the publisher confirmed that De Blob, and its sequel, will also be available for the Nintendo Switch sometime in 2018.
De Blob was originally released for the Wii all the way back in 2008, and it was followed by De Blob 2 in 2011. Like Nintendo’s Splatoon, both games feature a big splash of color as the titular hero must bring color back to a monochromatic world:
De Blob
The evil I.N.K.T. Corporation has declared “Color is a Crime!” and leeched Chroma City of all its beauty and interest. The race to rescue Chroma City has just begun, and only De Blob can save the world from a black-and-white future with his unique abilities to color the world back to life.De Blob 2
Comrade Black is back and so is his war on Color. There will be no stopping him or his brainwashing new cult from taking over Prisma City-that is, until De Blob comes back to re-ignite color revolution!De Blob 2 is a platformer which utilizes unique painting functionality as the main game mechanic along with classic platforming actions and low gravity space. Set a few years after the events of the first De Blob game, action in De Blob 2 revolves around another attempt to wipe all colorful individuality from Prisma City and its residents. It’s up to the player to join the Color Underground and bring color back to the world. Features include: multiplayer support, 12 new single player levels, new power-ups and epic boss battles.
Hopefully we’ll learn more about De Blob and De Blob 2’s Switch debut soon.
THQ Nordic acquires Deep Silver’s publishing operation and internal studios
How’s this for a twist? THQ Nordic has announced plans to purchase the publishing operation and internal studios connected to Koch Media (the parent company of Deep Silver) for $150 million.
If you’ll recall, Deep Silver purchased the Volition (and their Saints Row franchise), as well the publishing rights to the Metro series, from the THQ bankruptcy auction in 2013. At the same time, Crytek outbid Deep Silver for Dambuster Studios (and the rights to the Homefront franchise), but both would be acquired by Deep Silver a year later during Crytek’s own bankruptcy scare.
Meanwhile, Nordic Games scooped up THQ’s remaining assets during a second auction that Spring. They’ve since rebranded as THQ Nordic, and begun reintroducing the company’s franchises on new-generation hardware. By purchasing Deep Silver, they’ve moved nearly all of THQ’s former franchises back under the same roof.
According to the announcement, Deep Silver had five announced games in development at the time of the acquisition (the recently-launched Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Codemasters’s Onrush, 4A Games’s Metro Exodus, Yu Suzuki’s Shenmue III, and Sumo Digital’s Dead Island 2), in addition to nine unannounced games. As of now, THQ Nordic will assume management on all of these titles, though Deep Silver will continue to operate as a separate publishing label.
In addition to Deep Silver’s publishing contracts, THQ Nordic will also acquire their internal studios. That includes Volition and Dambuster Studios, as well as mobile developer Fishlabs.
Splatoon 2: Starter Edition will be available on March 16; Pearl/Marina Amiibo Pack coming later this year
Nintendo will soon add a new arena (the basketball-themed “Goby Arena”) and weapon set (the “Dark Tetra Dualies”) to Splatoon 2. But the consolemaker also doesn’t want to leave behind new players who are interested in exploring the multiplayer thrills of Inkopolis Square, and they’ve got a plan.
The Splatoon 2 Starter Edition bundle will be available on March 16, and it’ll include the full game, a 100-page Strategy Guide to help new players learn the tips and tricks they’ll need to survive, and two sheets of Splatoon stickers. Best of all, this package will be priced at $59.99, or the same price as the standalone game.
Nintendo also announced that an Amiibo 2-Pack featuring Pearl and Marina will be available on store shelves “later this year.” The 2-Pack will be priced at $24.99, and you can get a closer look at the figures in the trailer embedded above. You can also head over to Twitter to view new screenshots of “Goby Arena” and the “Dark Tetra Dualies.”
Finally, Splatoon 2’s next Splatfest will take place this Saturday, February 17, and it’s asking players to choose between “Love” and “Money.”
Wow. That’s a big choice for a colorful shooter that’s normally fun for the whole family.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Splatoon 2
New Retail Releases: Bayonetta 2, Dynasty Warriors 9, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, More
The Umbra Witch flies again as Platinum Games and Nintendo will bring Bayonetta 2 to the Switch this week. The package will also include a download code for the original Bayonetta.
Also available on store shelves this week will be a pair of games that explore warfare in the olden days… Dynasty Warriors 9 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Both games will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Players looking for a more modern take on warfare might want to pick up Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege – Advanced Edition for the PS4 and Xbox One. The re-release will include “rare bonus content” and 600 in-game Credits.
Finally this week, Ubisoft will re-release South Park: The Stick of Truth for the PS4 and Xbox One with a graphical upgrade.
A complete look at all of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
Owlboy, Dragon Quest Builders, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, more coming to Nintendo eShop this week
It’s Thursday, and Nintendo has offered up yet another hefty eShop update for the Switch.
This coming Tuesday, February 13, Switch owners will be able to download Owlboy, a side-scrolling platformer from D-Pad Studio. The Longest Five Minutes, a new RPG from NIS America, will also be available on the same day.
Both of those games rely on retro aesthetics to pull in players, and Square Enix will use a similar trick in its next game for the Switch. Dragon Quest Builders, a Minecraft-like experience based on the first game in the RPG series, will be available to download for the Switch beginning tomorrow. In addition to the main game, Dragon Quest Builders on the Switch will also include a variety of exclusive content.
Finally, 3DS owners will be able to download Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology early next week. Atlus originally released Radiant Historia for the DS in 2011, and Perfect Chronology is a re-release that includes new story content, upgraded graphics, and “new ways to experience the adventure.”
You can learn more about all of this week’s additions to the Nintendo eShop after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged Dragon Quest Builders, Owlboy, Radiant Historia
Pillars of Eternity II will come to consoles this Fall
Game Informer is reporting that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will be released for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One this Fall.
Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is an isometric RPG that’s currently in development at Obsidian, and it’ll make its PC debut this Spring. The console port will be published by Versus Evil and is believed to be in development at Red Cerberus.
Obsidian has yet to comment on Pillars of Eternity II’s console port, but Versus Evil’s Steve Escalante confirmed the news on Twitter.
Atooi will bring Xeodrifter to the Switch next week
Atooi has announced that their retro-styled “MetroidVania,” Xeodrifter, will be available to download for the Nintendo Switch beginning next week. According to the new trailer embedded above, Xeodrifter will make its eShop debut on February 15.
Xeodrifter is the story of an interstellar drifter traveling the stars on a simple mission of exploration. We join our nomad as he embarks on the investigation of a small cluster of four planets in the omega sector, after a collision with a rogue asteroid damaged his warp core.
Blast your way through alien landscapes, seek out valuable secrets, and defeat ancient guardians to unlock powers from a legendary supreme culture in this exciting journey of mystery and adventure.
Jools Watsham, Atooi’s President, previously said that his development team would release “at least” three games on the Switch in 2018. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about the other two soon.
Posted in News, Switch
Tagged Xeodrifter