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
RBI Baseball 16 will head for home this Spring
MLB Advanced Media is stepping up to the plate once again with the announcement that RBI Baseball 16 will be available this Spring. This year’s RBI Baseball 16 cover athlete will be Mookie Lynn Betts, an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox… and possibly the only “MLB” in Major League Baseball history. For their third trip to the plate, MLBAM has promised to include a number of new features in their retro-styled baseball sim including a “rebuilt defensive artificial intelligence system” and more realism on the field than ever before:
RBI Baseball 16 Features
- Defense: A redeveloped defensive AI will introduce new fielding capabilities including dives, wall catches, fake throws and more. This system will give users more control than ever before in making defensive plays.
- Baserunning: Built in part from MLBAM’s award-winning tracking technology, Statcast, baserunners’ abilities will be driven by on-field metrics from the 2015 MLB season.
- Batting: An improved batting engine will feature variable perfect timing. For the best outcome, swing earlier on inside pitches and later on outside pitches.
- Pitching: With a reworked pitching strategy AI, pitchers will play to their individual strengths. For example, a pitcher who features a wide range of velocity will mix speeds more often.
- Season Sim: During season mode play, sim a game or multiple games to quickly advance through the season and into the Postseason – should the team win its division or earn a Wild Card spot.
- Lineup: Modify a team’s lineup pre-game or in-game, including substitution strategies such as double switches. Lineups can be set from a franchise’s 40-man roster or the game’s classic 16-player rosters.
- Graphics: All 30 MLB ballparks will feature a new lighting system based on actual geographic locations, field views and additional hi-resolution realistic design elements.
RBI Baseball 16 is currently in development for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices (iOS and Android).
New CoD: Black Ops III Awakening Pack trailer introduces us to “Der Eisendrache”
Activision will release Call of Duty: Black Ops III‘s Awakening DLC Pack on February 2 (for PS4 owners), but first they want to introduce would-be players to the newest Zombies Mode map: “Der Eisendrache.” German for “The Iron Dragon,” players will definitely have to deal with some kind of fire breathing monstrosity as they move further into the deadly castle:
Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s epic Zombies DLC season begins here. In “Der Eisendrache”, Origins characters Richtofen, Nikolai, Takeo, and Dempsey embark on a suicide mission to an enemy research facility built upon an archaic site of unspeakable horror. Massive deposits of Element 115 have recently been discovered, delivering inspired new gameplay and — in Zombies tradition — a variety of plot twists and surprises to discover at every turn.
The Awakening DLC Pack will be exclusive to the PS4 for 30 days and should appear on the PC and Xbox One sometime in March.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt nabs eight nominations at 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards
South by Southwest Gaming recently announced the nominees for this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, not surprisingly, has captured the most accolades. CD Projekt’s sprawling RPG is up for eight awards, including “Game of the Year.” It was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Art,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Visual Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” “Excellence in Musical Score,” and “Most Enduring Character.”
Competing against Geralt of Rivia for “Game of the Year” is a familiar-looking quartet of games including Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Undertale. Bloodborne was actually a close second to The Witcher 3 with seven nominations.
Who wins at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards will be determined in part by a public vote that will hosted by IGN from Monday, February 1 through Friday, February 12. The winners will be announced on Saturday, March 19 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) and you can watch it live on Twitch.
The complete list of this year’s nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Her Story, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Splatoon, Star Wars: Battlefront, Superhot, Tabletop Games, The Order: 1886, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Activision officially announces Platinum-developed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan
The development of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan has been leakier than a busted sewer pipe as most gamers first heard about it late last year. But now Activision is finally ready to deliver an official announcement for the tie-in game, which is indeed being developed by PlatinumGames:
Players will protect The Big Apple from aliens, mutants and the Foot Clan in a single-player campaign or partner with up to three friends in four-player online co-op. But be prepared – defeating Bebop, Rocksteady, Shredder and other iconic bosses won’t be easy.
PlatinumGames’ flair for stylish visuals and fluid combat are on full display in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. Fast-paced, team-based brawling will challenge gamers of all skill levels. Each Turtle has a distinctive combat play style and can be customized with a unique set of Ninjutsu moves, combat items and special bonuses.
Activision and Platinum last teamed up for 2015’s Transformer Devastation, and they plan to use a similar cel-shaded art style for Mutants in Manhattan. The game’s overall design has been heavily inspired by Dan Duncan’s artwork for the currently ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic from IDW, with writer Tom Waltz providing the story.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Summer.
Mighty No. 9 delayed for a third time… will now be released in Spring 2016
There is no joy in Mudville… Mighty Keiji has delayed again.
Keiji Inafune and his team at have Comcept have informed Kickstarter backers that Mighty No. 9 has been delayed again. The platformer won’t be able to meet its planned release date of February 9 and will instead now launch sometime in the Spring. Once again citing bugs in the network code as the reason for the delay, all the developer could do was apologize:
The reason for the delay is rooted in bugs inside the network modes, and specifically problems with matchmaking. There are two large reasons for this problem, one of them being the large number of platforms supported (the solution for each platform is slightly different) and the other stems from the fact that the engine we are using is no longer being updated which means adjustments for matchmaking and online code are being made manually (actually reprogramming parts of the engine by the dev team themselves).
Unfortunately, this is all a result of miscalculations on the part of us, the development staff. As a result, our fans who have been looking forward to Mighty No. 9 have been forced to wait for over half a year longer than expected, and for that we are sincerely sorry. I want to take this chance to apologize personally, and on the behalf of the development staff.
Inafune added that the development team “has been working on these issues non-stop without break” and that “the end is in sight.” If that’s true, Mighty No. 9 will finally be released for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Spring.
See Tri-Borg’s variations (including Cyber Sub-Zero) in the latest MKX Kombat Kast
The second season of ESL Pro League competition for Mortal Kombat X came to a close yesterday with Dominique “SonicFox” Mclean tasting victory, and more importantly, retaining his championship belt. But in between matches, NetherRealm’s Tyler Lansdown and Derek Kirtzic held a special Kombat Kast (beginning at 7:17:00 in the video embedded above) to introduce viewers to Tri-Borg.
Tri-Borg is an amalgam of Sektor, Cyrax, and Smoke, so it’s not surprising that the kombatant splits neatly into “Sektor,” “Cyrax,” and “Smoke” variations. And don’t worry, it loks like players who honed their skills with these characters in 2011’s Mortal Kombat will feel right at home with Tri-Borg. Sektor returns with his missiles, Tele-Punch, and a brand new air dash. Cyrax gets his bombs, a teleport, the Buzz Saw, and the awesome Energy Net. And Smoke wafts into view with his trusty Trident Spear, Smoke Bombs, teleport, Smoke Away/Smoke Towards, and invisibility.
Best of all, these practice fights all take place in “The Pit,” giving viewers a closer look at the rebirth of the famed MK arena. Actually… I was wrong… the best part of the Kombat Kast is the reveal that Tri-Borg will include a special fourth variation based on “Cyber Sub-Zero.” Lansdown only teased the cold steel of Cyber Sub-Zero for a few seconds, but it was enough to make the crowd go bonkers.
Tri-Borg will be available as part of Mortal Kombat X’s Kombat Pack 2, which will be available to download for the PS4 and Xbox One on March 1. And if you’re new to the game, the character will also star in Mortal Kombat XL, a retail re-release that’ll include the 2015 game and every downloadable character and costume.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Mortal Kombat X
New Releases: Final Fantasy Explorers, Lego Avengers, Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC
This might get said every January, but January 2016 was an abnormally slow period for new game releases. The first month of the year closes out with the launch of a trio new games and a promise of much more to come in the remaining eleven frames:
- Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS) is a multiplayer action RPG from Square Enix that resurrects “legendary” Final Fantasy characters to battle with a horde of monsters guarding a cache of crystals. Yup, sounds like a Final Fantasy game.
- Lego Avengers (3DS, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One) is the latest Lego-ization of some pop culture favorite by the geniuses at TT Games. This time, they’ve set their sights on the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe and created a brick-filled adaptation of The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3, and Thor: The Dark World.
- Finally, Square Enix comes back around again to bring Lara Croft’s latest adventure, Rise of the Tomb Raider, to the PC.
As always, we’ll be back later this week to shine the spotlight on the latest digital releases available through the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy Explorers, Lego Avengers, Rise of the Tomb Raider
Starbreeze delays release of Overkill’s The Walking Dead from TBA 2016 to Q3/Q4 2017
The new year has claimed its first victim as Starbreeze has decided to delay the launch of Overkill’s The Walking Dead, a Payday-esque shooter based on the popular comic series. Originally set to be completed sometime this year, the game will now be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One during the second half of 2017.
According to Starbreeze, a recent investment agreement with Korean developer Smilegate is the cause for the delay. Smilegate will offer Starbreeze a portal into the Asian games market, and the developer has decided to hold back the release of Overkill’s The Walking Dead for a year so they can expand the scope of the game.
In return, Starbreeze will produce a “premium co-op first person shooter” based on Smilegate’s CrossFire, a free-to-play shooter described as “one of the top grossing online games worldwide.” This new version of CrossFire will be exclusive to the PC and is being designed to appeal to a Western audience.
I’ve got to admit, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of CrossFire.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Overkill's The Walking Dead