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 Releases: Oculus Rift, MLB The Show 16, Resident Evil 6, More
While the Samsung Gear VR has been available for a few months now, the real virtual reality revolution begins this week with the launch of the Oculus Rift. Unfortunately, the headset itself is currently sold out at all retail outlets, but you can definitely peruse the 30 titles in the launch lineup while you wait for stocks to replenish.
Baeball fans still have to have to wait a week for Opening Day, but Sony wants us all to “Play Ball!” this week with the release of MLB The Show 16 on the PS4 and PS3. As usual, the sports sim will receive a number of new features this year including a revamped Franchise Mode. Players will also be able to go on a quest for popularity in Conquest Mode and compete in online tournaments with Battle Royale Mode.
Capcom continues their Resident Evil anniversary celebration this week with a PS4 and Xbox One re-release of Resident Evil 6. Resident Evil 6’s intersecting storyline will be augmented with all it’s previously-released DLC including Siege Mode, Predator Mode, Survivor Mode, Onslaught Mode, and The Mercenaries maps.
The Resident Evil storyline is certainly a roller coaster ride, so watch as I use that to segue into this week’s Early Access release of Atari’s RollerCoaster Tycoon World.
And finally this week, a pair of RPGs will be available for PlayStation players. Nights of Azure is an RPG for the PS4 from developer Gust and the one of the creators of Fatal Frame, Trillion: God of Destruction is an RPG for the Vita about destroying a god with 1,000,000,000,000 hit points.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox One
Tagged MLB The Show 16, Resident Evil 6
Latest Doom trailer introduces the Prowler demon and the BFG
Bethesda has teleported another trailer for Doom onto the Internet, and this time they’ve given us a closer look at the demons and weaponry that populate the game’s multiplayer mode.
Players who received an invite to the Alpha Test got a chance to play with the multiplayer’s Demon Rune mechanic, but this new trailer reintroduces us to the Baron of Hell (who bits the head off another players) and a new monster known as a Prowler. The Prowler leaps like a gazelle, runs like a cheetah, and may just have limited flight capabilities… uh, like a bird.
Thankfully, players will have an entire arsenal at their disposal to stop these (temporary) denizens of Hell. The Gauss Cannon can see through walls before firing a tremendously powerful cartridge, while the Chainsaw and BFG need no introduction to fans of the franchise. However, for the newbies in the audience, BFG stands for “Big F-in Gun” and it delivers on the promise of every syllable in that name.
Doom will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 13.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)
Batman Is Forever: 4 Ways to Bring Back the Arkham Series
Rocksteady sent us all on a wild ride back when Batman: Arkham Asylum first launched, finally giving the world a chance to properly squeeze on that rubber cowl and proclaim, “I’m Batman!” Two sequels (and a WB Games Montreal-helmed prequel and an Armature-developed side-scrolling spinoff) later, the future of the series is still very much up in the air now that its original developer has stepped away… or have they? Regardless, it seems likely that someone will continue the legacy of the Bat, but what direction could the series possibly take? Well… I’m glad you asked, hypothetical Internet stranger! (more…)
The Banner Saga 2 will be released for PC on April 19; PS4, Xbox One release coming this Summer
Stoic Studio has announced that The Banner Saga 2, their Viking-flavored strategy RPG sequel, will be released for the PC on April 19. And though it’s a bit at odds with the game’s Scandinavian setting, PS4 and Xbox One owners will get a chance to download it this Summer.
To celebrate the game’s release, Stoic is bringing the party to next month’s PAX East expo, where they’ll have a demo of the game available at the Versus Evil booth (#10081). A panel focusing on the development process (with Art Director Arnie Jorgensen, Technical Director John Watson, Writer Drew McGee, Tech Designer Matt Rhoades, and Composer Austin Wintory) will also be held on Saturday, April 23.
A pre-order option for The Banner Saga 2 is now available on Steam, and you’ll get a 10% discount if you buy it before April 19.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged PAX East 2016, The Banner Saga 2
Nordic Games plans to release four massive RPGs in the next two years
Nordic Games has updated their release calendar for the next two years and it includes a quartet of new RPGs in addition to a few games we already knew about (The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 for mobile/Wii U, Battle Worlds: Kronos for PC/PS4/Xbox One, MX vs ATV Supercross Encore for Xbox One, and Aquanox Deep Descent for PC/PS4/Xbox One).
The publisher is referring to their upcoming RPG slate as the “Big Four” and it includes a mix of sequels and original properties. This year, Nordic will release multi-generational saga The Guild 3 and RTS/RPG hybrid Spellforce 3 exclusively for the PC. And next year, they plan to launch the action RPG ELEX and the traditional JRPG-styled Battle Chasers: Nightwar for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
More information about Nordic’s “Big Four” can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Battle Chasers: Nightwar, ELEX, SpellForce 3
Battleborn’s Open Beta will launch on April 8 (for PS4) and April 13 (for PC, Xbox One)
Gearbox Software will fill the badass-sized hole in our hearts this May with their next project, Battleborn. But first, the developer has unveiled a brand new Story Trailer to fill fans in on the backstory of their new universe. They’ve also announced that an Open Beta is on the way for PC, PS4, and Xbox One owners.
Beginning on April 8, PS4 players will gain access to the Open Beta, which will include a ton of content: two Story Mode episodes, two Competitive Multiplayer Modes (Incursion and Meltdown), and 25 playable heroes that you unlock as you progress. PC and Xbox One owners will be able to join the Open Beta a week later, on April 13. Players on all platforms will be able to download the Open Beta on April 6, and it’ll shut down for everybody on April 18.
Gearbox helpfully put together a huge Open Beta FAQ at Battleborn.com.
Battleborn will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 3.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Battleborn
Resident Evil Reflections: 20 Years With Capcom’s Frightening Franchise
March 22, 2016 marked a true milestone. For it was 20 years ago this week that a groundbreaking video game franchise was born. A game that not only became an instant classic, but also helped create an entirely new genre, spawned several sequels and spinoffs, and launched a successful series of movies. That game was Resident Evil.
Few games have had the long lasting appeal that Capcom’s survival horror series provides, and despite a few bumps in the road, the Resident Evil series is still widely popular after all these years. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: Stranger of Sword City, TrackMania Turbo, Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo
A trio of new Xbox One games are now available to download through the Xbox Games Store.
NIS America will bring Stranger of Sword City to the Xbox One this week, and I believe it’s the first first-person dungeon-crawler for the console. And in another possible first, players will be able to choose between two different art styles: the beautiful and fantastical style of Yoko Tsukamoto, or the cute character graphicse of Oxijiyen.
Also available this week is a pair of racing titles, which will offer two vastly different experiences of their own. Ubisoft’s TrackMania Turbo is a wild and crazy “fantasy racer” that includes 200 “outlandish” tracks spread across five unique worlds. Meanwhile, Milestone’s Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo is a racer that’s grounded in the mud and mess of rally racing.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)