Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Meet the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: Quake, GoldenEye 007, Defender, and Tamagotchi
- The BAFTA Games Awards Polled the Public and Shenmue is “The Most Influential Video Game of All Time”
- 2024 GOTY Scoreboard: Astro Bot, Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, More
- The Strong Museum of Play Acquires Prototypes and Development Documents from Volition’s 30-Year History
- Minecraft’s Volume Alpha Soundtrack Has Been Added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)
- 22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive – The Verge (2025)
- The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich – The AV Club (2025)
- Breakout, Ripoff, Genre: How Fiction Outgrows Originality – Uncanny Magazine (2025)
- ‘I Could Make “Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game” and Maybe It Would Eventually Get Taken Down’ – Devs Reveal Why the Consoles Are Drowning in ‘Eslop’ – IGN (2025)
Most Recent: Vita
Hype Fatigue: Why I’m Exhausted With Viral Marketing, Elaborate Advertising Campaigns, and Countdowns
The machinations of video game marketers absolutely baffle me. Obviously, “video game marketing” is an incredibly broad term that encompasses hundreds of different campaigns a year, all run by different people, and all carried out with different expectations. Whipsawing between a seemingly neverending series of hype events and viral campaigns has started to make my head spin. Following hashtags and decoding secret messages has become de rigueur if you want to come up with all the latest game news. Last week, three publishers launched three very different viral campaigns that made me long for the days of the simple press release/trailer combo platter. But maybe they aren’t to blame, as video game marketing has been growing increasingly insane for years now. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, Opinions, PC, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Friday the 13th, Joe Montana Football 16, Lego Dimensions, Star Wars: Battlefront
PS Store Today: Mortal Kombat X, Titan Souls, We Are Doomed, more
After an almost excruciating four-year wait, NetherRealm Studios has finally released Mortal Kombat X for the PS4. The game’s story picks up right where 2011’s Mortal Kombat left off, and players will be able to take it 25 years into the future with new kombatants, new Fatalities, and the all-new weekly Faction War. Say it with me… It Has Begun!
This week’s Spring Fever entry is Titan Souls, a mash-up of the top-down gameplay made famous by The Legend of Zelda and the boss-heavy theatrics of Shadow of the Colossus. Titan Souls can be downloaded as a PS4/PS Vita Cross-Buy title. Also available this week is We Are Doomed, a mesmerizing twin-stick shooter for the PS4 from Vertex Pop.
While all these games might tickle your nostalgia bone, for something truly classic, I suggest this week’s addition to the PS2 Classics storefront: Gradius V. Developed by Treasure, it is one of the finest side-scrolling shooters ever commissioned and deserves a place in your PS3 library. Though you will have to wait three days, as its scheduled to be released on April 17.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. A 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 Mortal Kombat X, Titan Souls, We Are Doomed
Resident Evil Revelations 2 will be released for Vita this Summer
If I’m being completely honest… I completely forgot that Resident Evil Revelations 2 was in development for the Vita. But my faulty memory hasn’t stopped progress on the portable port, and now Capcom is ready to share that the game will be available as a PlayStation Store download sometime this Summer.
Speaking to the PlayStation Blog, Sony’s Gio Corsi said that RE Revelations 2 on the Vita will include all four episodes and all downloadable content. Single-player Raid Mode will definitely be available at launch, but online and wireless play might have to be patched in later. The Vita version will also receive an exclusive “gyroscopic targeting” option.
Corsi closed by saying that we should hear about a final release date “soon.”
Posted in News, Vita
Tagged Resident Evil Revelations 2
Insert Quarter: Should Mega Man Make a Comeback? Maybe We Don’t Need Him…
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
With Shovel Knight, 20XX, and the upcoming Mighty No. 9 giving the gaming populace their fill of homages/spiritual successors to Mega Man, some people have started to wonder if a new game starring the original Blue Bomber is even necessary. GameRadar’s David Roberts is one of those people.
According to Roberts, Capcom is so handcuffed by the Mega Man formula that we might just be better off with the imitators. I’m not sure I agree, but he makes an interesting case:
It’s been nearly five years since Capcom released the last official Mega Man game. Mega Man 10 was just like all the other Mega Man games (Mega Mans?) that came before it; crunchy 8-bit graphics, a series of themed robot bosses, and soul-crushing difficulty. Since then, Capcom has released a fan-made Street Fighter/Mega Man crossover and let the Blue Bomber fight against a stable of Nintendo characters in Super Smash Bros. That’s all Mega Man has to show for the last five years; everything else has been cancelled. And you know what? Maybe that’s for the best.
The full article is available for your perusal at the GamesRadar.
PS Store Today: Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, Bastion, Tower of Guns, more
A handful of new releases were added to the PlayStation Store today including this week’s Spring Fever selection, Bastion. Originally released for the Xbox 360 and PC in 2011, Bastion is the first game from Supergiant Games, the creators of last year’s well-liked Transistor. If you like your isometric action RPGs with a side on in-game narration, Bastion is one to look out for. Other new releases this week include…
- Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (PS4, PS3) – A re-release of Dark Souls II that includes all three DLC expansions, new story bits, and enhanced graphics.
- Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones (PS4/PS3/Vita Cross-Buy) – A puzzle platformer sequel from Curve Studios.
- Tower of Guns (PS4/PS3 Cross-Buy) – A “bullet hell” first person shooter.
More information on all of these titles (and a few others) can be found after the break. And a complete rundown of this week’s new add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Insert Quarter: Axiom Verge’s Creator Talks About the Journey From Idea to Finished Game
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Axiom Verge is Tom Happ’s baby. The developer is the Programmer/Artist/Designer/Composer on the title and he essentially put the whole thing together by himself over the last five years. Happ’s persistence paid off as the PS4 launch earlier this week was met with enthusiastic reviews (including our own) and great sales. But what was the journey from scrap of an idea to finished game like? Happ wrote about this recently on the PlayStation Blog:
I didn’t start off with Axiom Verge fully designed in my head. It really more started off as an exercise in game design. I wanted to deconstruct my favorite games from my youth and see what would happen if I took the best elements of each and put them together. The Yo-Yo weapon of Rygar and the grapple hook of Bionic Commando in the setting of Blaster Master and Shatterhand. What would fit together? What wouldn’t work?
The full article is available for your perusal at the PlayStation Blog.
Posted in Insert Quarter, PC, PS4, Vita
Tagged Axiom Verge
PS Store Today: Axiom Verge, MLB 15: The Show, RBI Baseball 15, more
It’s another big week for the PlayStation Store as Sony’s Spring Fever promotion continues to roll on with Axiom Verge, a “Metroidvania” that was created by a single developer (Tom Happ) over the course of the last five years.
The side-scrolling adventure game is joined this week by a pair of baseball games: Sony’s more modern MLB 15: The Show (PS4, PS4, Vita) and MLB Advanced Media’s retro-styled RBI Baseball 15 (PS4).
Also available today is Toukiden: Kiwami, a new monster-hunting game for the PS4 and Vita. It’s developed by Omega Force (the Dynasty Warriors people) and it’s published by Koei Tecmo. Toukiden: Kiwami is actually an enhanced re-release of Toukiden: The Age of Demons, which was released for the Vita last year.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. And, as always, a complete 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 Axiom Verge, MLB 15: The Show, RBI Baseball 2015, Toukiden: Kiwami
Project Root flies onto PS4, Vita, Xbox One on April 28
OPQAM has announced their overhead shooter, Project Root, will be released for the PS4, Xbox One, and Vita on April 28. If you’re a PlayStation gamer, you’ll be able to pick it up on both the PS4 and Vita with one purchase through Sony’s Cross-Buy program.
In Project Root, gamers will take on the role of rebel ace Lance Rockport who pilots the advanced F-72 Zonda hover fighter against the ruthless Prometheus Corporation. Taking place across eight different, huge and open levels, Project Root has players taking on enemies both in the air and on the ground, progressing with upgrades in firepower, armor and maneuverability. Gamers will utilize special weapon drops during battle, constantly evade a hell-storm of bullets and other projectiles, engage in frenetic boss battles, and strike at the root of the evil Prometheus Corporation bent on world domination.
Pablo Testa, the Technical Director at OPQAM, is ready to bring the formerly PC-exclusive game to console players: “We are extremely proud of our first game, and think that SHMUP fans, and anyone who enjoys a fast-paced and action-packed videogame, will have a lot of fun with Project Root.”
Posted in News, PS4, Vita, Xbox One
Tagged Project Root