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
Fallout 4 wins “Game of the Year” at 2016 DICE Awards
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences held their annual DICE Awards ceremony last night, and Bethesda’s Fallout 4 emerged from The Vault to take home “Game of the Year” honors. The expansive open world RPG also won in two other categories, “Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year” and “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction.” However, it wasn’t a sweep for the post-apocalyptic adventure.
A trio of other games took home three awards last night including Moon Studios’s Ori and the Blind Forest (“Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition,” “Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction”), Psyonix’s Rocket League (“Sports Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay,” and the “DICE Spirit Award”), and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (“Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” and “Outstanding Technical Achievement”).
While the ceremony featured plenty of revelry and merriment, last night’s DICE Awards were also a bittersweet affair as Satoru Iwata was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for his distinguished business leadership of Nintendo. And Hideo Kojima, who recently parted ways with Konami after more than three decades with the company, was named to the AIAS’s Hall of Fame.
A complete list of this year’s winners (which also includes Super Mario Maker, Mortal Kombat X, Star Wars: Battlefront, and many more) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Fallout 4, Forza Motorsport 6, Helldivers, Heroes of the Storm, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Mortal Kombat X, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Star Wars: Battlefront, Super Mario Maker, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CoD: Black Ops III Awakening Pack will be available for PC, Xbox One on March 3
Activision and Treyarch have announced (via Twitter) that PC and Xbox One owners will be able to download the Awakening Pack, the first expansion for Call of Duty: Black Ops III, on Thursday, March 3.
The Awakening Pack will include four new multiplayer maps (“Skyjacked,” “Splash,” “Gauntlet,” and “Rise”), as well as a brand new entry in the ongoing Zombies saga (“Der Eisendrache”). Players will be able to purchase the Awakening Pack as part of Black Ops III’s Season Pass (priced at $49.99) or as a standalone download (priced at $15).
The expansion has been available to download for the PS4 since February 2.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Tales From the Borderlands will get a retail disc release on April 26
Telltale and Gearbox have announced that all five episodes of Tales From the Borderlands will receive a retail disc release this Spring:
For those of you who’ve yet to play the critically acclaimed Tales from the Borderlands – you’re in luck! Gearbox Software, Telltale Games, 2K, and The Hyperion Corporation are bringing the whole game – all five glorious episodes – to a shiny disc format you can buy in stores!
Play across Pandora in the aftermath of Borderlands 2 as corporate-climbing Rhys – who dreams of becoming the next Handsome Jack or as Fiona, a small time grifter going after the big score.
Tales From the Borderlands will be available in stores for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 26.
Hyper Light Drifter release date will be revealed next month; Wii U launch might not happen
The latest Kickstarter update for Hyper Light Drifter has delivered some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that a release date for Hyper Light Drifter will be announced next month. The developer, Heart Machine, previously said the overhead action RPG would be available for the PC in Spring 2016, with a console release to follow sometime after that. Unfortunately, that leads us directly into the bad news…
Hyper Light Drifter is still on track for a PS4, Vita, and Xbox One launch sometime this year, but the Wii U port is in “limbo” as of today. Heart Machine’s game is built using the GameMaker engine, which was expected to be compatible with the Wii U when development on Hyper Light Drifter began, but a contractual dispute between Nintendo and the people behind GameMaker have put that assumption in jeopardy. An agreement between the two sides is still a possibility, so the Wii U launch might happen without a hitch.
Heart Machine is also looking at other options to bring the game to Wii U owners if the situation can’t be resolved. So literally anything could happen with the port and “limbo” is probably the best way to describe it.
If a Wii U release for Hyper Light Drifter isn’t possible this year, Heart Machine will offer Kickstarter backers the opportunity to receive the game on a different platform.
Xbox Store Today: Rocket League, Layers of Fear, Pixel Piracy, more
If you ever wanted to combine rocket-powered cars and “The Beautiful Game,” then you’re in luck, Rocket League is now available to download for the Xbox One through the Xbox Games Store. Psyonix’s soccer sim will also feature a variety of Xbox One-exclusive content including cars patterned after the Warthog from Halo and the Armadillo from Gears of War.
Also available this week is Layers of Fear (Xbox One), a first-person “psychedelic” horror game that asks players to delve into the mind of an insane painter. I guess my question is, how is that different from any other painter? (Ba-Dum Tish).
Finally, Pixel Piracy will give players the chance to explore a retro-themed open world pirate sim, and Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae is yet another game where Japanese schoolgirls do battle with swords. Both games are available for Xbox One.
More information on all four titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Rocket League
Bethesda announces first wave of downloadable content for Fallout 4
Fallout 4 is already in the conversation whenever people discuss the biggest games of all time. But it’s about to get a whole lot bigger. Early today, Bethesda revealed the first three add-ons for the game with a post on their official website.
The three add-ons will be part of the Fallout 4 Season Pass and include a robot-building scenario, an expanded set of design options, and a full-fledged expansion that takes place off the coast of Maine. But according to Bethesda, these add-ons are just the beginning. The publisher has decided to extend their DLC plans for Fallout 4 and will eventually release $60 of post-launch content. This means that the price of the Season Pass will rise to $49.99 on March 1, though everyone who previously purchased it at $29.99 will still receive all the same content. And anyone who picks up the Season Pass before March 1 will still be able to grab it for $29.99.
Bethesda also announced plans to beta test each of these add-ons before they’re released, and if you’re interested, you should head over to Bethesda.net right now to sign up for a chance to receive beta access.
So what will Fallout 4’s first three add-ons include? You can read more about Automatron (available in March), Wasteland Workshop (available in April), and Far Harbor (available in May) after the break. (more…)
BioWare Austin is now hiring for an original new game
After the unceremonious cancellation of Shadow Realms a year ago, BioWare Austin was a studio without a major project to call their own. But after providing development support for Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda, it looks like they’re ready to strike out on their own again.
According to a number of new job listings on BioWare’s Careers page, the Austin team is currently recruiting developers to assist in the creation of a brand new intellectual property. While the game is still mostly shrouded in mystery, a few kernels of information are hidden in each job listing.
For example, we know the game will feature a heavy emphasis on online play as BioWare is seeking a Lead Server Software Engineer with expertise in implementing “significant online elements” on the PC and consoles. We’ve also learned that “the former Mass Effect team” will lead development on this new title, thanks to a job listing for a Senior Software Engineer.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more about BioWare’s next project soon.
Harmonix adds songs from Five Finger Death Punch, Motorhead, Royal Blood to Rock Band 4 Music Store
More heavy metal is coming to the Rock Band 4 Music Store. Harmonix has announced that new songs from Five Finger Death Punch (“Got Your Six”), Motorhead (“Thunder & Lightning”), and Royal Blood (“Figure It Out”) are now available to download for the PS4 and Xbox One.
The developer is also offering a quick primer, and the preview video embedded above, for fans who might be unfamiliar with these three bands:
Heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch joins the Rock Band Music Library with the title track from their latest album Got Your Six. The legendary Motorhead returns to Rock Band DLC this week with “Thunder & Lightning.” We’re honored to add a track from the last album recorded by the band with band founder and metal legend Lemmy Kilmister. Finally, British rockers Royal Blood come to Rock Band for the first time with “Figure It Out” from their self-titled debut album.
All three songs are now available to download from the Rock Band 4 Music Store for $1.99 apiece.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4