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
Register for the Pit People Closed Beta at PAX East 2016
Just as they do every year, The Behemoth plans to set up shop at the 2016 PAX East expo to show off their latest projects. This year’s show kicks off on April 22, and the developer has announced plans to bring their upcoming turn-based strategy game, Pit People, to Boston.
In addition to hosting a playable demo of the game’s Co-Op Mode for the heaving crowds, The Behemoth will also give attendees the chance to sign up for the Closed Beta, which is expected to begin this Summer on the Xbox One (and later on Steam). If you’re unable to attend PAX East, the developer plans to open registration up to the rest of the world sometime after the convention is over.
We still don’t know when Pit People will be released for the PC and Xbox One, but Microsoft thinks it’ll be available sometime this year.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged PAX East 2016, Pit People
Xbox Store Today: Letter Quest Remastered, Tron Run/r, Stikbold!, more
Travel through the decades with five new Xbox One games now available to download through the Xbox Games Store…
Let’s start in the 2010s, with a pair of titles that don’t have any connection to a previous decade. Letter Quest: Grimm’s Journey Remastered is an RPG where you create words to cast spells, use items, and deliver dictionary-sized attacks to an opposing force of monsters. Meanwhile, Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek is a hidden object game about a missing girl and g-g-g-ghosts!
After that, we can skip back to the 80s for Tron Run/r, an “endless runner” reinvention of the radical sci-fi film. And if we hustle back another decade, we’ll find the inspiration for Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure, a 70s-themed dodge ball game featuring funk and disco and mustaches!
Finally, Xbox One owners can 23-skidoo their way to the 1930s to try out Blues and Bullets: Episode 2, an adventure game starring ex-Untouchable Eliot Ness.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Fallout 4 wins “Best Game” at 2016 BAFTA Games Awards
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held their annual Games Awards ceremony last night, and Bethesda’s Fallout 4 looted the trophy for “Best Game.” Surprisingly, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Fallout 4’s main rival throughout the 2015/2016 awards season, came away empty-handed.
The same doesn’t need to be said for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Her Story, and Rocket League, each of which won three awards last night.
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’s accolades all revolved around its excellent use of sound as the post-apocalyptic title won for “Audio Achievement,” “Music,” and “Best Performance” (which went to Merle Dandridge). Rocket League’s universal appeal informed its three award including “Family Game,” “Multiplayer,” and “Sport.” Finally, Her Story’s unique storytelling structure lead to wins in the “Best Debut,” “Game Innovation,” and “Mobile & Handheld” categories.
Other winners during last night’s ceremony include Ori and the Blind Forest, Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Until Dawn, Prison Architect, and Life Is Strange.
Congratulations to all the winners, which you can find after the break. (more…)
Second Overwatch short features a very Batman-like Tracer/Widowmaker rooftop fight
Blizzard has released the second animated short based of their upcoming shooter Overwatch, and it should give everyone watching a Batman: The Animated Series flashback.
Fan favorite Tracer and deadly assassin Widowmaker dash through London in a rooftop fight that stands with the best the Caped Crusader had to offer in the mid 90s. Also, there’s a Robot Pope who preaches peace and love (and possibly love) between humans and machines. Be sure to check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
Blizzard plans to release two more Overwatch animated shorts before the game’s May 24 launch on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. And don’t forget the Open Beta kicks off on May 3.
Developers of Friday the 13th will let us peer under Jason’s hockey mask at PAX East 2016
It looks like we’re going to get our first extensive look at Gun Media’s Friday the 13th game on a Friday… Friday, April 22, to be exact.
These secrets will be revealed during a PAX East panel for the game, “Friday the 13th: The Game – Pushing the Boundaries of Horror,” which will take place on the expo’s first day at 8:30 PM. Developers from Gun Media and Illfonic will be joined by former X-Play host Adam Sessler as they deliver their vision for the future of survival horror to the public:
Friday the 13th: The Game – Pushing the Boundaries of Horror
How do you shake up the horror genre while staying true to source material? Join Friday the 13th: The Game Co-Creators Ronnie Hobbs and Wes Keltner, Head Consultant Adam Sessler, Executive Director Randy Greenback, and Illfonic CEO Chuck Brungardt as they discuss how Friday the 13th: The Game plans to push the video game horror genre in new directions.
According to the game’s Twitter feed, codes for the upcoming beta test will also be given out during the panel.
And in other Friday the 13th news, it looks like the developers have partnered with the Friday The 13th Props Museum to ensure that Friday the 13th: The Game features a “screen accurate” depiction of Jason’s iconic hockey mask.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Friday the 13th, PAX East 2016
Fallout 4: Wasteland Workshop will be available next week
Bethesda has said they will release Fallout 4‘s next add-on, Wasteland Workshop, on April 12. The PC, PS4, and Xbox One download will be part of the Fallout 4 Season Pass, but all players can pick it up as a standalone download for $4.99.
Wasteland Workshop will add a number of new design options (nixie tube lighting, letter kits, taxidermy, and more) to the game, along with a series of creature cages that can be used to capture anything from a tiny kitty cat to a raging Deathclaw. Players will be able to tame these fearsome beasts (I’m referring, of course, to the cat) or force them to fight in your own version of Thunderdome.
A new trailer for Wasteland Workshop has been embedded above.
Gears of War 4 will chainsaw its way into our homes on October 11
Microsoft and The Coalition have announced that Gears of War 4 will be released exclusively for the Xbox One on October 11. Set 25 years after the events of Gears of War 3, the fourth game in the series will star Marcus’s son, JD Fenix, and a new generation of Gears, as they battle “a fearsome new threat.”
The Coalition has several Gears 4 events planned for the next few weeks that should help fans get excited for the reemergence of the franchise. A countdown clock on the game’s official website is currently ticking away and will expire on April 10 at 9:10 PM (Eastern Time). What will we learn later this week? Your guess is as good as mine.
However, we do know that the Gears of War 4 beta will kick off on April 18. Players who previously purchased the Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on the Xbox One or PC will be able to join up for two weeks of intense multiplayer testing. The beta will expand to include all Xbox Live Gold subscribers on April 25.
And don’t forget, Microsoft will bring a playable demo of Gears 4 (and “some special surprises”) to this year’s PAX East convention, which opens April 22.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Gears of War 4
Xbox Store Today: Quantum Break, Dirt Rally, Steredenn
Time travel is a dirty business, but somebody’s got to do it.
Remedy’s Quantum Break is now available to download for the Xbox One through the Xbox Games Store and for Windows 10 PCs through the Windows 10 Store. Players will control Jack Joyce and the very fabric of reality is at stake in his time-hopping adventure. Remedy will also propel the story forward through several live-action interludes that makes Quantum Break a “fast-paced fusion between game and show.”
Also available this week is Dirt Rally (Xbox One), the latest off-road rally racer from Codemasters. Available for the PC since December, Dirt Rally has been honed by the “Dirt Community” with more than 80 million miles of feedback. Finally, the retro-styled side-scrolling shooter Steredenn will also be available for the Xbox One.
More information on all three of these titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Dirt Rally, Quantum Break