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
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- 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)
Most Recent: Xbox One
Xbox Store Today: Tekken 7, SpeedRunners, The Culling, Metal Slug 2
It’s the first Friday in June, and four new Xbox One games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store, including a new Games With Gold freebie…
But first, let’s talk about Tekken 7. Bandai Namco’s multi-generational saga of corporate intrigue and demonic possession comes to an end in this latest entry, and players will get to experience all the “attitude, competitiveness, and showmanship rooted in its arcade DNA.”
Also available to download today is SpeedRunners, a multiplayer platforming race from DoubleDutch Games. SpeedRunners is a free download this month through Microsoft’s Games With Gold program, and players will be able to blast away at the competition with grappling hooks, power-ups, and interactive environments in hopes of winning its side-scrolling race. Multiplayer competition is also at the heart of The Culling, an arena combat game from Xaviant Games.
Finally today, Hamster Corporation will bring the popular NeoGeo shooter Metal Slug 2 to the Xbox One.
You can learn more about all of these games after the break. (more…)
EA taps into Fast and the Furious’s DNA for this November’s Need For Speed Payback
No one said the word “Family,” but I felt a very distinct Fast and the Furious vibe during the first trailer for EA’s Need For Speed Payback. The racing game’s debut trailer has been embedded above, but we’ll learn more about it at this year’s E3 Expo.
Players will be in pursuit of the “perfect ride” in Need For Speed Payback, and their search will take them through “intense heist missions, high stakes car battles, epic cop pursuits, and jaw dropping set pieces” as they customize and race a whole fleet of vehicles:
Set in the underworld of Fortune Valley, players will drive as three distinct characters reunited by a quest for vengeance against The House, a nefarious cartel that rules the city’s casinos, criminals, and cops. They will take on a variety of challenges and events as Tyler, the Racer; Mac, the Showman; and Jess, the Wheelman to earn the respect of the underground. Featuring the deepest customization from the series, players can truly craft a personalized and unique ride, or spend hours finding and tuning an abandoned derelict into a supercar. They can then push their cars to the limit and raise the stakes by betting on their own performance, where they can either multiply their winnings or risk losing it all.
Players who pre-order Need For Speed Payback will also receive the Platinum Car Pack, a downloadable content pack that contains five bonus vehicles (2008 Nissan 350Z, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro SS, 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, 2016 Ford F-150 Raptor, and 2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport).
Need For Speed Payback is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One at Ghost Games, and it’ll be released on November 10. But fans who opt for the Deluxe Edition (which also includes the Platinum Car Pack, exclusive customization items, in-game discounts, Rep bonuses, and more) will be able to play it three days early.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War delayed by WB Games; October 10 is the new release date
In a post on the game’s official forums earlier today, Monolith Community Manager Andy Salisbury revealed that Middle-Earth: Shadow of War has officially been delayed. Originally scheduled to launch on August 22, the development team has decided to push back the game’s release to ensure they can deliver “the highest quality experience”:
Salisbury also confirmed that publisher WB Games will have Middle-Earth: Shadow of War on display at this year’s E3 Expo, and you can read his full statement right here:
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War will now launch worldwide on Oct. 10, 2017**.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War expands gameplay in every dimension, including the massive open world, the story, the RPG systems, and personal player stories of the Nemesis System. As with Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Monolith is committed to delivering the highest quality experience. In order to do this, we have made the difficult decision to move our launch date to ensure that Middle-Earth: Shadow of War will deliver on that promise.
We understand that it might be disappointing to have to wait a little longer for the release and are sorry for the delay, but we are working hard to make an amazing game. We’re excited to show more at E3.
– The Middle-Earth: Shadow of War Team
**Some territories such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan will have a different release date.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War will now be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 10.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
Kyrie Irving will be the cover athlete of NBA 2K18’s Standard Edition
e very interesting. To add a little more spice to the proceedings, 2K Games announced today that Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving will be the cover athlete for the Standard Edition of NBA 2K18. Shaquille O’Neal was previously announced as the cover athlete for the game’s Legend Edition.
“It is well known that I’m an avid player of this series and I am honored to be the cover athlete of NBA 2K18,” said Irving. “It’s surreal to be featured on the cover and I can’t wait to dominate on the virtual court with all of my fans this Fall.”
“It’s obvious that Kyrie isn’t disappearing from the spotlight anytime soon, so we’re thrilled to have him as our cover athlete, alongside Shaq for the NBA 2K18 Legend Edition,” said Alfie Brody, the Vice President of Marketing for NBA 2K. “He’s a more-than-worthy recipient of this honor, and joins so many other greats who were cover athletes before him.”
The NBA 2K18 Standard Edition will come packed with a variety of in-game content including 5,000 Virtual Currency, 10 Weekly MyTeam Packs, a Kyrie Outfit Pack, and more. Players who pre-order the game will also receive the game four days early thanks to 2K’s “Early Tip-Off Access” program.
NBA 2K18 will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 19.
Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini Golf will be released on June 20
Capcom and Microsoft have announced that Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini Golf will be available tow download for the PC and Xbox One on June 20. The Dead Rising 4 expansion will transform the town of Willamette into a golf course, and players will dodge zombies as they shoot for a hole in one.
The Capcom Unity blog has more information:
With oversized golf balls and customizable clubs, players will drive long and hard down the fairways of Willamette in search of the perfect putt. Grab your golf loving friends for four-player co-op or go solo on the zombie infested course. But watch your score – you definitely don’t want to bogey on this course!
Super Ultra Dead Rising 4 Mini Golf is part of Dead Rising 4’s Season Pass, but Dead Rising 4 owners can also purchase it as a standalone download for $9.99.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Dead Rising 4
Square Enix partners with People Can Fly on a brand new game for PC and consoles
Square Enix and People Can Fly have announced that they’ve entered into a collaborative partnership to work together on a brand new “high-end original title” for the PC and consoles. No other details were revealed about the game (we don’t even know which consoles it might appear on), but Square Enix confirmed that it won’t be included in their E3 2017 lineup.
Even though it’s still got quite a ways to go, executives at both companies are excited about the partnership:
“We’re massively excited to be working with the talented team at People Can Fly in Warsaw, a studio filled with people who really know their craft,” said Lee Singleton, the Head of Studio at Square Enix London Studios. “We’re building a game we all want to play which will be the perfect addition to our portfolio.”
“It’s an exciting time,” said Sebastian Wojciechowski, the Studio Head at People Can Fly. “We’ve got a great and experienced team in place, and it’s incredible to be working with Square Enix, a world-class publisher who shares our passion and excitement for the project.”
People Can Fly is based in Warsaw, Poland, and they’re currently hiring new developers to help work on this collaborative project with Square Enix. If you’re interested in applying, you can visit their Career page for more information.
Xbox Store Today: The Walking Dead A New Frontier Episode 5, Tokyo 42, Victor Vran, more
Nine new Xbox One games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store, but we’re shining a spotlight on three of them…
Telltale Games has finished up another season of their epic Walking Dead adaptations with The Walking Dead: A New Frontier – Episode 5: From the Gallows. Javier and Clementine are in trouble again, and players will have to decide who to trust and who to protect (Clementine… the correct answer to both questions is Clementine).
Also available to download today is Tokyo 42, a “hyper-stylish” isometric open-world shooter from Mode 7 Games. Set in a micro-sized and “ultra-colorful” version of Tokyo, players will blast their way through a strange story of assassins, espionage, and intrigue.
Finally today, Haemimont Games will bring Victor Vran to the Xbox One. The Diablo-like overhead action RPG was originally released for the PC in 2015, and players will be able unleash hell on a horde of demons with “a monumental arsenal of powerful weapons, game-changing outfits, wicked demon powers, and fate-binding destiny cards.”
More information on all of these games (and six other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
Another retailer is listing a standalone release for CoD: Modern Warfare Remastered
A few weeks ago, a landing page for a standalone re-release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered popped up on GameFly. Modern Warfare Remastered is currently available as bonus content for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare‘s Legacy Edition, and Activision has previously said it wouldn’t be sold on its own.
And yet, according to Charlie Intel, a listing for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered was added to Amazon Japan yesterday. The retailer quickly corrected their mistake and deleted the listing, but it featured the same June 20 (for PS4) and July 20 (for Xbox One) release dates as GameFly did.
Activision has also made Modern Warfare Remastered available for the PC through Infinite Warfare’s Legacy Edition, and a standalone launch through digital storefronts on the PC, such as Steam and GOG, is probably also in the works for July 20.
If Activision is going to release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered as a standalone game (and it’s looking increasingly likely that they are), the publisher is probably planning a “surprise” announcement for this year’s E3 Expo. But they’d better hurry up, because June 20 is just three weeks away.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare