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
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!
CoD: Infinite Warfare Multiplayer Trailer is here… along with the announcement of a PS4 beta and an exclusive PlayStation VR mission
The first Multiplayer Trailer for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare puts its focus on the many different Combat Rigs that players can wear into battle. From the “Mid-Range Assault” classification of the Warfighter Rig to the “Assassin” capabilities of the FTL Rig, these suits will give players plenty of options in Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer mode. Though players could also decide to dress down and go full-robot with the Synaptic Rig.
In addition to unveiling the first Multiplayer Trailer, Activision also confirmed that a beta test for Infinity Warfare will begin on October 14 for PS4 players who pre-ordered the game. An Xbox One beta test will be held at a later date.
Finally, Activision revealed that PS4 players will also get the chance to try out “Jackal Assault,” a special mission exclusively available for the PlayStation VR that “immerses fans in the cockpit and puts them in control of a Jackal, the personal fighter jet in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.”
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is in development at Infinity Ward and will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 4.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Activision unveils first Multiplayer Trailer for CoD: Modern Warfare Remastered; All 16 multiplayer maps to be available by end of year
Publishers and developers from all over the world took over Seattle this weekend to party it up at PAX West, one of the biggest gaming conventions on the calendar. Rather than join them, Activision set up their own gaming convention in Los Angeles to celebrate the past, present, and future of the Call of Duty franchise.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered hits all three rather nicely, and Activision used this weekend’s Call of Duty XP event to unveil the game’s first Multiplayer Trailer, which has been embedded above. Ten multiplayer maps from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered will be included in the game when it launches this Fall, and Activision has also promised that the remaining six maps will be made available (at no additional cost) by the end of the year.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered will be available for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 4, but you can only get it if you purchase the Digital Deluxe Edition or Legacy Edition of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Watch Jason Voorhees get 13 kills in Friday the 13th: The Game’s PAX West 2016 trailer
Triskaidekaphobiacs beware… Gun Media and Illfonic are back with a brand new trailer for Friday the 13th: The Game, which was unveiled yesterday at PAX West. Jason Voorhees doesn’t waste any time during the three-minute clip, as the slasher legend manages to deliver an impressive 13 kills during its running time. And yes, that means he averaged a kill roughly every 13 seconds.
All of Jason’s kills in Friday the 13th: The Game were designed by Tom Savini, the same special effects wizard who supplied the gory makeup for Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. If it’s possible, his work on Friday the 13th: The Game looks to be even more brutal and splatter-tastic than the original films. Needless to say, if you’ve got an aversion to blood and gore, I would recommend you NOT watch this trailer.
Friday the 13th: The Game is expected to be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this October.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Friday the 13th, PAX West 2016
Firewatch will be available for the Xbox One on September 21
Ever since its release for the PC and PS4 back in February, people have been talking about Firewatch, a narrative-driven adventure from developer Campo Santo. Yesterday, Microsoft announced that Firewatch will make its way to the Xbox One on September 21, while also giving Campo Santo’s Sean Vanaman a chance to convince Xbox fans to to see what all the fuss is about on the Xbox Wire:
“What is Firewatch?” A great question that’s been asked many times over by folks that have come before. As I intimated above, Firewatch is a first person mystery set in the woods of Wyoming. You play as a man named Henry and you’ve escaped your messy life for some peaceful time alone in the woods. Except you’re not alone: you’re in constant contact with a woman named Delilah who works in a nearby tower and your time quickly stops being peaceful. I won’t spoil anything more than that but I’ll add that the group to came together to make Firewatch worked on games like the Bioshock series, Mark of the Ninja, Brutal Legend, and The Walking Dead Season One (if you’re mad about how that series ended, you can fill my personal emails with your complaints). Now, if the test-tube baby of all of those games sounds exciting to you, we think you’ll like Firewatch.
Campo Santo will expand Firewatch for its Xbox One debut, and the developer has revealed plans to include an optional “Firewatch Audio Tour” in the game that turns it into “turns it into one part Director’s Commentary, one part Game Dev Workshop, and wraps that all around a scavenger hunt.” A new Free Roam Mode will also let players discover additional secrets out in the woods.
You can learn even more about Firewatch from the brand new Announcement Trailer embedded above.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Firewatch, PAX West 2016
Classic Duke Nukem returns in Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour
Forget Captain America, Duke Nukem is the real “Man Out of Time.” Even though nineties nostalgia has seeped into every corner of our culture, Duke has felt like a relic from a bygone era for years now…
So it makes perfect sense that Gearbox has decided to bring him back for Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour.
Originally released in 1996, Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour will bring the classic shooter to the PS4 and Xbox One for the first time (a PC release is also planned). More than a simple remake, Gearbox plans to update Duke Nukem 3D’s visuals with True3D Rendering Mode, which will deliver the game “rendered at high fidelity and [a] blistering frame rate.” However, fans will also be able to toggle between the updated visuals and the original images with the press of a button.
Do you want some more? 20th Anniversary World Tour will also include eight all-new levels created by the original designers of Duke Nukem 3D, Allen Blum III and Richard “Levelord” Gray. This new episode will be accompanied by new music from original composer Lee Jackson, and additional vocal work from Duke himself, Jon St. John. The developers will also provide behind-the-scenes commentary that’ll be accessible in-game.
The second season of Ash vs Evil Dead will air on Starz this Fall, so at the very least, the developers will have a familiar place to “borrow” Duke’s new one-liners from.
“When I first moved out to Texas to join the Duke Nukem 3D development team in the mid-nineties, I could not possibly predict that we were all going to be part of the emergence of the 3D first-person video game genre that would ultimately impact the entire video game industry,” said Randy Pitchford, the President of Gearbox Software. “Making it possible for Allen, Richard, Lee, and Jon to all come back together 20 years later to bring a whole new episode to the classic game is just one of those rare and incredible things that I hope will bring joy and happiness to hardcore video game fans new and old.”
Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour will be priced at $19.99, and it’ll be available on October 11.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Duke Nukem 3D, PAX West 2016
The Walking Dead Season 3 gets a new name and a November launch date
Developers from Telltale Games have always said they never liked referring to the third game in their Walking Dead series as The Walking Dead Season 3. Today, during a PAX West panel hosted by the publisher, the game’s official title was finally revealed…
So say hello to The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.
“This third new season will serve as both a continuation of what’s come before in our story, as well as an all-new beginning set nearly four years after the outbreak events of Season One,” said Kevin Bruner, the CEO of Telltale Games. “As a harrowing and horrific drama, A New Frontier will explore beyond what it means to survive in a world ravaged by the undead, and will see our characters confronting the new rules of order and justice in a land being brutally reclaimed and rediscovered by what’s left of humanity itself.”
“When we began this series, we explored what it meant to protect a character like Clementine at all costs,” said Kevin Boyle, an Executive Producer on the Walking Dead series. “Years later, meeting her for the first time, Javier will begin to unravel the mystery of who Clementine has become, as her story intersects with his – both of them still driven by the things they value most long after society’s collapse.”
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier’s first episode will be available this November for consoles, mobile devices, and the PC. Like other recent Telltale titles, a Season Pass Disc will also be available that includes the first episodes and gives players downloadable access to each subsequent episode as they’re released.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged PAX West 2016, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier
Xbox Store Today: Earthlock Festival of Magic, Assetto Corsa, The Final Station, more
It’s time for another end-of-the-week update to the Xbox Games Store, and here’s what Microsoft has in store for you…
We start things off with Earthlock: Festival of Magic, a turn-based fantasy RPG for the Xbox One with a Norwegian influence. If that sounds like an interesting combination to you, then you’ll be pleased to learn that Earthlock is also one of this month’s Games With Gold freebies, and you’ll Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to pick up for free all this month.
Also available to download today is Assetto Corsa, a racing sim from Kunos for the Xbox One. Keepnig with our international theme, Assetto Corsa has an Italian flavor and features over 90 dream cars, “all rendered to an obsessive level of detail, each with bespoke handling and performance modelling taken from manufacturer’s real-life data and telemetry.”
Finally this week, The Final Station turns onto the Xbox One track from Russia, and it brings with it a train full of refugees trying to survive in a zombie-infested world.
More info on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Earthlock: Festival of Magic