Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- 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
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: Xbox One
Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 1: Realm of Shadows Review: Create Your Own Legend of the Dark Knight
Sometimes, it’s a boring night at the opera, but most often, the story begins with a small boy asking his parents to make an early exit from a screening of The Mark of Zorro. And like every other second from that night, the masked vigilante on the silver screen makes an impression on young Bruce Wayne. It’s this story that Telltale Games has decided to retell with Batman: The Telltale Series. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: Awesomenauts Assemble, Star Trek Online, Oceanhorn, more
Space… The Final Frontier… These are the Voyages of the Xbox Games Store Update…
Star Trek Online warps onto the Xbox One today, and the free-to-play MMO will include “over 125 episodes through multiple story arcs, featuring content in both space and ground.” And like any good Captain, players will also be able to “explore strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilizations.”
Also available for the Xbox One today is Awesomenauts Assemble!, a side-scrolling Action Platformer/MOBA from Romino Games. Players can compete in 3v3 battles both online and locally as they “bring together the most elite mercenaries from across the universe to do battle!”
Finally this week, Xbox One owners will get the chance to take a trip back in time to experience the action RPG stylings of Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas. Set within the “ancient kingdom of Arcadia,” players will “fight monsters, learn to use magic, and discover ancient treasures” in order to complete their quest.
More information on all three of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Awesomenauts, Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas
Telltale will release final episode in Minecraft: Story Mode series on September 13
All things must end… and that includes Minecraft: Story Mode, which Telltale expanded with three additional “Adventure Pass” stories this Summer. Today, the developer revealed that the series finale, Episode 8: A Journey’s End?, will be available to download for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile devices on September 13:
In Episode 8: A Journey’s End?, with Harper leading them to the world of the Old Builders, Jesse and crew finally have their chance to return home… but it won’t be easy, and the stakes are high. You’ll need to take on opponents in a series of gladiatorial games to win your freedom, save your friends, and maybe, just maybe, make it back to your own world!
Minecraft: Story Mode – Episode 8: A Journey’s End? will go out with a bang thanks to appearances from Jim Cummings (Darkwing Duck) and Kari Wahlgren (Rick and Morty).
ReCore’s Launch Trailer reveals a bit more about Joule’s journey through Far Eden
Microsoft will release ReCore next week, but first, a new Launch Trailer for the game will give fans a deeper glimpse into the world of Far Eden. A collaboration between Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune and Armature Studio, here’s what Senior Creative Director Joseph Staten had to say about ReCore on the Xbox Wire:
Survival starts in the core, and today Microsoft Studios unveiled a new look into ReCore’s adventure-filled world, Far Eden, and its heroine, Joule Adams. Narrated by Joule’s father, Dr. Thomas Adams, the video takes a deeper look at Joule’s journey, revealing new gameplay and characters from ReCore’s cinematic story as well as the qualities Joule inherited from her father; qualities that will help her and her Corebot companions to bring new life and hope to Far Eden.
In addition to being one of the first big games of the Fall, ReCore is also the first Xbox Play Anywhere title, and it’ll be available for the PC and Xbox One on September 13.
Batman: Return to Arkham gets new release date and a Side-By-Side Comparison Trailer
WB Games has announced that Batman: Return to Arkham, the PS4 and Xbox One re-release of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, will be released on October 18. The compilation was previously scheduled to launch this Summer, but it was pushed back so developer Virtuos could have enough time to “deliver a polished Batman Arkham game experience.”
To show fans just how far the porting process to Unreal Engine 4 has come, WB Games also unveiled a new Side-By-Side Comparison Trailer today to showcase Return to Arkham’s “improved graphics, upgraded models, environments, lighting, effects, and shaders.” Arkham Asylum and Arkham City were originally developed using Unreal Engine 3, and the generational leap seems very apparent in the video embedded above.
Priced at $49.99, Batman: Return to Arkham will also include all previously-released downloadable content for both games.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City
NY Court dismisses Lindsay Lohan’s lawsuit against Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto V
Hey, remember when Lindsay Lohan filed a lawsuit against Rockstar Games for using her image without permission in Grand Theft Auto V? I’m going to be honest with you, I completely forgot it was still an open case. Apparently, the gears of justice grind slowly, but last week, the Supreme Court of New York County dismissed Lohan’s case.
According to the Court Report, Lohan’s claim was dismissed because Rockstar did not use her name or likeness in Grand Theft Auto V. While Lohan believes that Rockstar stole her “signature style” for the bikini model featured in most of the game’s advertisements, the Court ruled otherwise.
However, the Court also said that even if Rockstar had based the character on Lohan, her claim would still be dismissed because Rockstar’s authorship of Grand Theft Auto V is protected under the First Amendment as “a work of fiction and satire.”
The Court also dismissed a similar lawsuit from Karen Gravano last week. Gravano, the daughter of famed mafia underboss Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, claimed that Rockstar illegally based the character of Andrea Bottino on her. While both women share a past entwined with the Sicilian Mafia and reality TV, like Lohan’s suit, the Court ruled that even if Rockstar had based the character on Gravano, they were protected by the First Amendment.
While this sounds like a pretty definitive end to two rather frivolous lawsuits, this might not be over for Rockstar. Both Lohan and Gravano have the ability to appeal the ruling and will likely do so.
Run the Jewels debuts “Panther Like A Panther” in Gears of War 4’s Horde 3.0 trailer
Horde Mode took the world by storm in 2009 after its debut in Gears of War 2, and The Coalition has big plans for the evolution of the co-operative survival mode in Gears of War 4. Officially known as Horde 3.0, the developer wants to give players the chance to deploy unique classes and buildable fortifications as they fight for survival against “50 Waves of Chaos.”
Here’s what they had to say about Horde 3.0 on the Xbox Wire:
In addition to ferocious new classes of enemies like the Swarm and the DeeBees, Horde 3.0 also introduces new innovations like a class-based system that lets you choose from five variations in roles – Soldier, Sniper, Scout, Heavy and Engineer – to play to your strengths and encourage teamwork. In addition, the new “Fabricator” is a deployable base of operations that allows players to build their defenses anywhere on the map and execute their defensive strategy with precision.
The Horde 3.0 trailer is also notable for its soundtrack, which features the debut of “Panther Like A Panther,” the first track from Run the Jewels’s upcoming album, Run the Jewels 3. The duo’s collaboration with The Coalition won’t end there either. Both Killer Mike and El-P will be available as playable characters in all of Gears of War 4’s multiplayer modes.
If you’re in Seattle for this weekend’s PAX West expo, you can try out Gears of War 4 (and Horde 3.0) at the Microsoft booth right now. The rest of us will have to wait until October 11, which is when Gears of War 4 will be available in stores for the PC and Xbox One.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Gears of War 4, PAX West 2016
New Retail Releases: Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet, Just Sing, More
Welcome to the first week of September, the unofficial start of the “Fall Gaming Avalanche.” I guess most publishers didn’t get the memo, because only a handful of new titles will be available on store shelves this week…
Players interested in obscure Japanese RPGs will finally get the chance to play The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II on the PS3 and Vita this week. Published by XSEED and developed by Falcom, Trails of Cold Steel II is a tactical turn-based title where the fate of the kingdom is at stake and only a plucky band of outsiders can save the day.
And speaking of obscure Japanese oddities, NIS America will release Touhou Genso Rondo: Bullet Ballet for the PS4 this week. The “bullet hell” shooter includes a Story Mode for one or two players, an online Battle Mode, and a punishing Boss Rush Mode.
If all this fighting has you depressed, you can always turn that frown upside down and sing your heart out with Ubisoft’s Just Sing, a singing-only spinoff from their Just Dance series. Bop along to Britney Spears, Sia, Justin Bieber, and more on the PS4 or Xbox One.
Finally this week, Bethesda will launch The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Edition for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The popular MMORPG still doesn’t require a monthly subscription, but it now comes bundled with all four downloadable expansions: Imperial City, Orsinium, Thieves Guild, and Dark Brotherhood.
We’ll be back later this week with a look at the new additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop. In the meantime, have a good Labor Day!