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: Fallout Shelter, 8Days, Adventure Pop, more
Today’s Xbox Games Store update is brought to you by dangerous dystopias…
While some players venture out into the irradiated aboveground to battle Deathclaws and Ghouls, others are content to spend their time in the Fallout universe managing their own Vault. If that sounds appealing, then you’ll be happy to know that Fallout Shelter is now available as a free download for the Xbox One. Vault-Tec will provide players with their own state-of-the-art Vault, but it’ll take a good manager to survive underneath The Wasteland.
Also available to download for the Xbox One today is 8Days, a retro-themed twin-stick shooter that takes place in a dystopian future of corrupt mercenaries and even more corrupt mass media.
Finally today, players looking for their next bubble shooter obsession will be able to download Adventure Pop, which is also now available for the Xbox One. It might not be a dystopia per se, but their are pirates and puzzles galore.
You can learn more about all of today’s additions to the Xbox Games Store after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Fallout Shelter
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.
Rockstar has shipped more than 75 million copies of GTA5 (and sold most of them)
Even though its been available for more than three years, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V is still selling like… [insert your own joke about prostitutes here].
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick delivered the good news during the company’s quarterly financial report yesterday, where he shared that the publisher has shipped more than 75 million copies of the game. It’s unknown exactly how many copies have been sold through to consumers, but it seems likely that fans have scooped up most of them, especially since The NPD Group certified that Grand Theft Auto V was the sixth-best-selling game of 2016.
In other Grand Theft Auto V news, Zelnick confirmed that Rockstar will continue to support the game’s “Grand Theft Auto Online” mode with additional content in 2017.
Double Fine releases new behind-the-scenes video for Psychonauts 2 as Starbreeze signs on as the publisher
Double Fine Productions has announced they’ll be teaming up with Starbreeze Studios to publish Psychonauts 2. In their role as publisher, Starbreeze Studios will provide additional financial support for Psychonauts 2, alongside the the funds already contributed by backers and investors on Fig, and Double Fine themselves.
To go along with this announcement, Tim Schafer and Project Lead Zak McClendon gave fans a look at an art test for “The Quarry,” an outdoorsy area that’ll serve as the headquarters for the Psychonauts in the game. Because Psychonauts 2 is still in pre-production, the exact layout and construction of “The Quarry” that you see in the video won’t be included in the final game. But this behind-the-scenes video should provide fans with a general idea of the direction the developer wants to take.
An even more in-depth progress report on Psychonauts 2 is currently available in the latest Fig update:
As we went through early discussions about what was important to Psychonauts, we kept coming back to the idea of open exploration and the cycle of curiosity and discovery that people loved in Whispering Rock — the childlike feeling of going off the beaten path and discovering hidden places for the first time. We knew that we wouldn’t be able to fully capture this with just the Psychonauts Headquarters, so we decided to expand our main hub to include a lot of surrounding wilderness full of mysterious new locations and, well, you’ll see later.
The Psychonauts HQ is now going to be nestled in a secret location meant to evoke the lush, damp forests of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the high-tech spy HQ, you’ll be able to freely explore areas outside the base as well.
Psychonauts 2 is in development for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and is expected to be released in Summer 2018.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Psychonauts 2
Gears of War 4 February Update introduces new maps and much more
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and as a result, Gears of War 4 players will be treated to a slew of updates including new maps, Valentine’s Day-themed events, and general game improvements.
The Gears of War 4 Valentine’s Day event officially begins this Friday, February 10, and will last for over a week. The event will include Torque Bow Tag “with a cupid-style twist,” a new collectible Craftable Character, new Gear Packs, and daily bounties with a Valentine’s Day theme.
Also included in the February update are two new maps that veteran Gears of War fans are sure to appreciate! The first new map on the list is “Impact Dark,” an intense new spin on the original “Impact” map. “Impact Dark” takes close combat to thrilling new levels, putting heavy emphasis on visual impairment by implementing a permanently smoke-covered battlefield! Snipers, Torque/EMBAR, and Incendiaries are gone, now replaced with Boltoks, Dropshot, and Overkill respectively, forcing players to stay alert and take risks in order to stay in the game.
The second map provided in the update is “War Machine,” which veteran Gears of War players may remember for its desolate and decrepit atmosphere. The new take on the “War Machine” map brings players to a gorgeous and lively COG settlement in the once abandoned train station. However, aside from the new aesthetic, everything else about the map remains the same. Season Pass holders will be glad to know that they can play both maps today in the Developer Playlist.
The Coalition highlighted a few additional gameplay improvements from the February Update on the game’s official website:
- Added a small delay before being able to fire when Wall Cancelling (now balanced with Wall Bounce firing delay)
- New Guardian Spawn System: Players will now spawn closer to the Leader
- Added IFF Lights onto Dizzy to bring visual readability of his model in-line with all other characters
- Torque Bow now rotates with Sniper every round on Blood Drive
- Resolved an issue that could cause the Kestral to be stuck out of sight on Blood Drive
- Resolved minor geometry on Blood Drive that could block bullets
- Improved messaging for Core/Competitive rejoin when trying to rejoin after rejoin window ends
- Incendiary grenades now kill Down But Not Out players with Execution Rules On
- Previous map high score will now display on end of round scoreboards in Horde
- The Trick Shot ribbon is now correctly awarded in Horde
- The Sniper Strike Horde Skill card no longer counts towards Headshot Bounties
Gears of War 4 is available to purchase now for the PC and Xbox One, and you can get a closer look at both new maps after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Gears of War 4
The Halo Wars 2 Launch Trailer is like every alien invasion movie rolled into one
Developers at 343 Industries love to refer to the Halo franchise as a Star Wars saga for a new generation. I’m not sure if the Master Chief and Cortana will ever be as well known as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, the development certainly knows how to put together a thrilling sci-fi action sequence. Case in point… the new Halo Wars 2 launch trailer.
If you’re not a scholar of Halo lore, don’t worry, Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb offered up a few more details about the trailer, and the real time strategy game’s many feature, on his eponymous blog:
After experiencing a pyrrhic victory following the events of the first Halo Wars, Captain Cutter and the brave crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire wake up after 28 years of cryosleep to discover themselves orbiting a familiar Forerunner construct; Halo 3 fans, you know what it is. After receiving a distress signal and sending down some Spartans to investigate, the crew meets Atriox – an incredibly dangerous Brute who is as intelligent as he is strong. He poses a grave threat to humanity, and it’s up to you to stop him and his Banished.
In addition to the robust campaign, Halo Wars 2 is packed with a full suite of multiplayer modes that are suited to players of all skill levels and familiarity with real time strategy (RTS). Build your base, assemble your army and battle for control of the map in Domination, test your strategies solo or with a friend against AI in Skirmish, fight to hold more bases than your opponent in a timed Strongholds match, duke it out until you’re the last one standing in Deathmatch, or jump straight into the action with the all-new deck building multiplayer experience, Blitz.
Halo Wars 2 will be available for the PC and Xbox One on February 21. As an Xbox Play Anywhere title, players who opt for the digital edition of the game will receive access to it on both platforms for no extra charge.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Halo Wars 2
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.
Tom Brady made Madden NFL 17’s Super Bowl LI prediction come true in spectacular fashion
After falling behind 21-3, things were looking grim for the New England Patriots last night in Super Bowl LI. However, you can’t count out quarterback Tom Brady, who rallied his team and tied the game 28-28 at the end of regulation. For the first time in history, the winner of the Super Bowl would be decided in sudden-death.
The annual Super Bowl prediction from EA Sports didn’t account for this unprecedented event, but when James White scored a touchdown for the Patriots early in overtime, the Madden NFL 17 simulation was proven correct once more. The final score wasn’t exactly the same (EA predicted a 27-24 win for New England) and Julian Edelman didn’t make a game-winning catch (though his receiving skills did help the Patriots send the game to overtime), but EA Sports correctly surmised that Brady would earn MVP honors for the fourth time.
With yet another correct prediction, Madden’s Super Bowl simulation has correctly picked the Super Bowl winner in ten out of the last 14 years.