Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- 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”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
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: Xbox 360
Step into the safe of Boxman in this Evil Within: The Executioner gameplay trailer
Whether you call him The Keeper or Boxman, the hulking brute with the safe on his head will be the “hero” of The Evil Within‘s third, and final, downloadable expansion. The Evil Within: The Executioner will also shift things around in another memorable way as players will be forced to play the game from a first-person perspective.
Can you handle the terror? Load up the gameplay trailer embedded above to find out. And remember that The Executioner add-on will be available to download next Tuesday, May 26, for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Players who own The Evil Within’s Season Pass will get it for free while everyone else will have to pony up $4.99.
Great Scott! This new Lego Dimensions trailer stars Back to the Future’s Doc Brown
Don’t be a butthead, watch this new Lego Dimensions trailer right now! Christopher Lloyd, old Doc Brown himself, headlines the video as we get a closer look at some of the game’s Back to the Future-inspired locales. A few of Batman’s greatest foes also show up to cause some mayhem (Bane and Two-Face) and get some laughs (The Joker and Harley Quinn).
Will we need roads where we’re going? Doc Brown doesn’t know, but he does know that WB Games also announced the following minifigure expansions for Lego Dimensions, which will join the previously confirmed Portal 2, Simpsons, and Doctor Who sets:
- DC Comics Team Pack: The Joker and Harley Quinn
- DC Comics Fun Pack: Superman
- DC Comics Fun Pack: Aquaman
- DC Comics Fun Pack: Bane
- Back to the Future Fun Pack: Doc Brown
- Lego Ninjago Fun Pack: Sensei Wu
- Lego Ninjago Fun Pack: Lloyd
We don’t know exactly when each pack will make its way onto store shelves (as early as this Fall or as late as the first half of 2016), but we do that Lego Dimensions will be released for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 27.
Xbox Store Today: The Witcher 3, Farming Simultaor 15, Life Is Strange: Episode 3, more
Do you love the great outdoors, but also prefer to experience it through a video game console? Then today’s Xbox Games Store update is absolutely for you.
Players who love to hunt will be able to hunt the monsters that plague the Northern Kingdoms in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The massive open-world RPG, which is now available to download on the Xbox One, marks the end of Geralt of Rivia’s adventures. But it looks like CD Projekt’s most famous character (who’s origins are actually found in a Polish novel) will ride off into the sunset in a blaze of glory.
However, if your outdoorsiness trends towards farming, you might want to look into Farming Simulator 15, which is now available to download for the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Farming Simulator 15 promises a simulation of every part of a farm including “harvesting, animal husbandry (cows, chicken, and sheep), sales of fresh products,” and more.
Stepping away from the outdoors theme is Life Is Strange: Chaos Theory, the third episode in Dontnod’s episodic adventure series. Set within the walls of the mysterious Blackwell Academy, the Xbox One/Xbox 360 game still offers plenty of opportunity to explore the strange time travel abilities of main character Max.
Finally this week, Adult Swim Games has added the competitive platformer Mega Coin Squad to the Xbox Games Store. Mega Coin Squad is available for the Xbox One and it promises “fast, frantic, and tactical” action while asking players to collect coins like they’ve never collected coins before.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Farming Simulator 15, Life Is Strange, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Activision cranks up the hard rock for second batch of Guitar Hero Live tracks
Last week, Activision unveiled the first 24 songs that’ll make up the final tracklist for Guitar Hero Live. The tracks covered a wide range of musical styles including blues (Gary Clark Jr.), pop (Ed Sheeran), pop punk (Fall Out Boy, Green Day, My Chemical Romance), alternative (The Killers), and even some techno (Skrillex).
But for this week’s “Tracklist Tuesday,” Activision wanted to go a little harder with ten selections from the hard rock and heavy metal acts that’ll be included on Guitar Hero Live’s soundtrack:
- Bring Me the Horizon – “Shadow Moses”
- Deftones – “Diamond Eyes”
- Killswitch Engage – “In Due Time”
- Marilyn Manson – “Disposable Teens”
- Marmozets – “Move Shake Hide”
- Mastodon – “High Road”
- Of Mice & Men – “Bones Exposed”
- Royal Blood – “Little Monster”
- Trivium – “Strife”
- Vista Chino – “Sweet Remain”
Most of these bands are unknown to me, but I think I was most surprised to learn that Marilyn Manson is still a thing. Guitar Hero Live will be released this Fall for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U.
Take-Two CEO doesn’t know anything about GTA5 story expansion
Way back in December 2013, Rockstar Games announced that at least one “Story Mode Update” would be released for Grand Theft Auto V. The developer said they had “big plans” on how to expand the story, with the first expansion scheduled to launch in 2014.
Unless your name is Rip Van Winkle, you’re probably quite aware that we’re now in 2015 and no story expansions to Grand Theft Auto V have ever materialized. Instead, Rockstar has focused on the PS4/Xbox One port of Grand Theft Auto V, as well as GTA Online enhancements like Heists Mode. To further rub salt into the wound, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said he didn’t know anything about the expansion during yesterday’s investor Q&A:
Doug Creutz: When you had originally launched GTA5, I believe that you had said that there was going to be some story-based DLC content shipping eventually and obviously where your past game launch. Is that still something that you have planned? And I’m sure you’re not going to talk about timing but is there still something that’s in the pipeline for you guys, eventually? Thank you.
Strauss Zelnick: No, we haven’t discussed any story-based downloadable content. We did talk about the Heists and they’ve been released.
Doug Creutz: But I am correct in remembering that you had talked about that around the launch of the game?
Strauss Zelnick: We have different recollections.
Sadly for Zelnick, Take-Two executives also mentioned the work being done on GTA5’s story expansion so he owes Mr. Creutz an apology this morning. So what happened between then and now? Speaking to GameSpot, a Take-Two spokesman said that Zelnick “misspoke” and that “we leave it to Rockstar Games to share information about their games when they’re ready.”
While Take-Two has always deferred to Rockstar to make announcements on their own time, it’s troubling that the CEO of the company doesn’t remember a fairly major announcement concerning his most important product. It’s possible the Grand Theft Auto V story expansion is dead, but it’s just as possible Rockstar is working on it in secret. However, after the success of GTA Online, I think the latter scenario is unlikely.
2K has NBA 2K16, WWE 2K16, Battleborn, and a “new triple-A title” on tap for 2015
Take-Two Intereactive CEO Strauss Zelnick announced a trio of new titles during the company’s quarterly financial report yesterday. But two we already knew about and the third will remain under wraps until this year’s E3 Expo.
First, Zelnick confirmed that both of 2K’s annual franchises would receive new entries in 2015. WWE 2K16 will be released for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 27 while NBA 2K16 will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile platforms sometime in the Fall, though NBA 2K titles typically launch in early October.
The CEO also revealed the company will release a “new triple-A title” during their current fiscal year:
Throughout the coming year, we will continue to execute our proven strategy of launching a select array of the highest-quality titles, led by new annual releases of NBA 2K and WWE 2K; Battleborn, a groundbreaking new intellectual property from Gearbox Software; and a soon-to-be announced new triple-A title from 2K.
This unannounced game is likely in development at Hangar 13, Take-Two’s newest internal studio. Rumor has it that Hangar 13 is working on Mafia III, but we won’t find out for sure until next month. And we may not get to play it until early next year as Take-Two’s fiscal year officially ends on March 31, 2016.
Finally, Zelnick confirmed that Gearbox’s latest, Battleborn, will also be released during the current fiscal year. More details on the colorful (and character-ful) shooter will be revealed ahead of the E3 Expo and during the show itself.
So your big takeaway from this announcement should be that Take-Two Intereactive is going to have a big presence at the 2015 E3 Expo.
UPDATE: 2K Games has confirmed that their “new triple-A title” is actually XCOM 2, which is currently in development at Firaxis.
Telltale will release Game of Thrones Episode 4: Sons of Winter “soon”
Telltale Games began teasing the fourth episode of their Game of Thrones adaptation on Twitter last night. One tweet promised the game’s next episode, Sons of Winter, would be released “soon” for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices:
.@GameOfThrones: A @TelltaleGames Series – Ep 4 of 6: Sons of Winter – Download It Soon on Consoles, PC, Mac & Mobile pic.twitter.com/jM05RI5ntC
— Telltale Games (@telltalegames) May 17, 2015
Telltale followed up the tease with a stream of new screenshots featuring Daenerys, Beskha, a meeting between House Forrester and House Whitehill, a Wildling with a spear, and Gared Tuttle talking to Frostfinger.
As is Telltale’s MO, a trailer for Game of Thrones: Sons of Winter should appear sometime this week alongside an official release date.
New Releases: The Witcher 3, Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario, Farming Simulator 15, More
A quartet of new games will be available on store shelves this week including one of the year’s biggest new releases.
CD Projekt’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a massive, sprawling RPG that ends Geralt of Rivia’s story in the biggest way possible. If you haven’t seen of the trailers or gameplay walkthroughs (Conan O’Brien’s “Clueless Gamer” segment is particularly enlightening), you should fix that right now before The Witcher 3 launches on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on Tuesday.
Also available on Tuesday are a pair of games that are nothing like The Witcher 3 and nothing like each other. First up is Farming Simulator 15, which is now available for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One after a PC launch last year. Farming Simulator 15 does just what it says on the box and gives players a simulation of what it’s like to be a farmer. This Tuesday’s other new release release, HyperDimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed for the Vita, doesn’t simulate anything approaching reality. Instead, it’s a beat ’em up that takes place within an anime-influenced recreation of the video game industry.
Finally, on Friday, Nintendo will bring the popular match-3/RPG hybridization Puzzle & Dragons to the 3DS for the first time. Puzzle & Dragons Z + Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition is actually two separate takes on the concept, one of which stars Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom.
That’s it for this week’s retail release report, but check back all week for details on all the new additions to the digital storefronts.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Farming Simulator 15, Puzzle & Dragons Z, Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt