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 Call of Duty: Black Ops III DLC teaser focuses on Nikolai Belinski and Zombies Mode
Treyarch has released a new teaser trailer for the Awakening DLC Pack, the first expansion in development for Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The teaser is more specifically focused on “Der Eisendrachen,” the next entry in the franchise’s Zombies saga. Starring a very weary Nikolai Belinski, the teaser asks players to take a seat at his campfire and contemplate his many regrets, his belief in destiny, and his hope for the future.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s Awakening DLC Pack will be available to download for the PS4 sometime in February. PC and Xbox One owners will get a chance to purchase it a month later.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Sefton Hill hints that Rocksteady might have at least one more Batman game in their future
Rocksteady recently released a new episode in their Arkham Insider video series ahead of next week’s launch of the Season of Infamy expansion for Batman: Arkham Knight. In addition to giving players a sneak peek at a quartet of returning rogues (Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze, Mad Hatter, and Ra’s al Ghul), Brand Marketing Producer Dax Ginn also sat down with Game Director Sefton Hill to discuss the studio’s work on the Arkham series as a whole. But their pleasant chat may have inadvertently lead to a hint about the franchise’s future at Rocksteady:
Ginn: Sefton, for you, it must be a very emotional time. because this isn’t just the end of Batman: Arkham Knight, it’s sort of the end of Rockteady’s time with the Arkham trilogy. What’s going on in your head at the moment?
Hill: It’s been a very emotional and exciting journey for us. I’ve always said it’s a tremendous privilege and honor to be the custodians of the Batman universe and to live this for nearly ten years To be thinking about the big guy and all the adventures and coming out with new and exciting things we can do in that world. That huge period of time has been amazing, energizing, emotional… it’s been incredible. I really hope the fans are happy with the work we’ve done… that we’ve been able to let people become the Batman and really enjoy his world for such a long period of time.
Ginn: So Sefton, are you saying categorically that this is the end of the road for Rocksteady and Batman?
With a hopeful lilt in his voice, Hill began to reply, “Well…,” before being cut off by a supposed camera malfunction.
Ever since Arkham Knight’s initial announcement, representatives from Rocksteady have always asserted that it would be their final Batman game. While Hill’s “Well…” isn’t proof the studio will stay tuned to that “Same Bat-Channel” on future projects, it is certainly an interesting statement to make.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Batman: Arkham VR
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is now available for iOS devices
Rockstar continues to muscle into Apple’s turf with today’s announcement that Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is now available to download through the iOS App Store. Liberty City Stories, which was originally released for the PSP in 2005, actually serves as a prequel to Grand Theft Auto III and gives players the chance to visit many of the same haunts:
In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, former trusted wise guy for the Leone crime family, Toni Cipriani, returns home after spending time in hiding for killing a made man. Now, the streets of Liberty City are in turmoil, as warring families vie for control and the town begins to self-destruct under waves of political corruption, organized crime, drug trafficking and union strikes. Deranged hit men, morally depraved tycoons, cynical politicians and even his own mother stand in the way, as Toni tries to bring the city under Leone family control.
With the move to iDevices, Rockstar has added a number of new features and enhancements to the game. Priced at $6.99, the latest version of Liberty City Stories will treat players to “real-time lighting and shadows, upgraded textures and art, greater draw distance, performance enhancements for touch-based gaming, cross-platform cloud saves, support for Apple’s 3D Touch and more.” Players who purchase the game on the iOS App Store will also be able to unlock an “I Heart LC” t-shirt for their GTA Online character in Grand Theft Auto V on the PC, PS4, or Xbox One.
According to Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories will soon be available to download for Android devices through Google Play and the Amazon Appstore. A new trailer for the game can be found after the break. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: Tony Hawk 5 for Xbox 360, Ark: Survival Evolved, King’s Quest Ep 2, more
After getting delayed earlier this Fall, Activision’s Xbox 360 rendition of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 is finally ready for release. The game, which resurrects the classic Pro Skater style of play for a new generation, is available to download now through the Xbox Games Store.
Also available this week is a Game Preview of Ark: Survival Evolved, Studio Wildcard’s survival game that includes more than 60 types of dinosaurs (right now) and two-player splitscreen support (eventually). The full game will be available sometime in June 2016, but if the idea of taming a herd of dinosaurs to protect your base from a different herd of dinosaurs appeals to you, you can purchase it now. A free demo is also available.
Finally this week, The Odd Gentlemen will release King’s Quest: Rubble Without A Cause, the second episode in their King’s Quest reboot, for the Xbox One and Xbox 360. Young King Graham will have to battle a gaggle of goblins if he wants to rescue his people and save his kingdom.
More information about all of these games (and another new release or two) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Ark: Survival Evolved, King's Quest, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5
Harmonix adds new songs from The Weeknd, Elle King, Fall Out Boy, more to Rock Band 4 Music Store today
Harmonix is bringing more of 2015’s most popular musicians to Rock Band 4 with another “Off the Charts” song pack. Elle King, Fall Out Boy, Shawn Mendes, Walk The Moon, and The Weeknd will all appear in the Off the Charts 02 Pack, and you can preview each song in the trailer embedded above. And speaking of songs, here’s a list of exactly what the Off the Charts 02 Pack will contain:
- Elle King – “Ex’s & Oh’s”
- Fall Out Boy – “Irresistible”
- Shawn Mendes – “Stitches”
- Walk The Moon – “Different Colors”
- The Weeknd – “Can’t Feel My Face”
The Off the Charts 02 Pack has been priced at $8.49, a 15% discount versus buying each song individually for $1.99 apiece.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Unravel will yarn bomb your heart on February 9, 2016
Watch Yarny save a baby bird!
Watch Yarny use a crane to smash through a stone wall!
Watch Yarny ride a bicycle like a pro!
The latest trailer for Coldwood’s Unravel is packed with adorable imagery starring gaming’s newest star, Yarny. But it’s the final title card that’ll likely garner the most excitement from gamers, and that’s because it includes Unravel’s official release date: February 9, 2016. But in case you’ve missed all the Unravel excitement, here’s how Coldwood is trying to sell their game to the public:
Unravel is a game all about overcoming obstacles, both big and small. Using Yarny’s small thread and big heart, players will traverse through the breath-taking, lush environments of Northern Scandinavia in this unique physics-based puzzle platformer. Some challenges are simple, like using Yarny’s thread to swing across a gap, or rappel down a tree. But others are more complex, and players will need to use Yarny’s thread in clever and creative ways to find the path forward. Whatever the case, no feat is too big for Yarny. Along the way, unlock a heartfelt story about love and longing, and the ties that bind, with Yarny as the red thread that runs through it all.
“Gaming is a powerful platform, able to inspire players and touch their hearts. With Unravel, we’re hoping to do just that,” says Martin Sahlin, Creative Director at Coldwood. “Yarny’s quest is to mend broken bonds and the yarn represents the love and connection between people. Along the way, we’ll test your cleverness with environment-based puzzles inspired by our home in Northern Sweden.”
Unravel will be priced at $19.99 when it’s released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One next year.
Lionhead has pushed the Fable Legends open beta back to Spring 2016
Microsoft first announced Fable Legends all the way back in 2013. The 4v1 adventure has been slowly creeping towards completion ever since and the publisher’s current plan was to release an open beta for the game before the end of the year. However, development difficulties have forced a change to that plan as it looks like the Fable Legends open beta will now be released in Spring 2016.
Creative Director David Eckelberry explained some of the challenges his team has faced in a post on the game’s official website:
Fable Legends is coming together well and it’s a lot of fun. But we think that we can make it even better. So we’ve decided to extend our closed beta to continue to listen to feedback from our players and add features and polish that will make a real difference. This means Fable Legends won’t release into open beta this holiday as previously announced. We realise this may be disappointing for those of you not currently playing, so we wanted to tell you why.
To be honest, we didn’t anticipate just how big Fable Legends is becoming. It’s simply the most ambitious game we’ve ever created at Lionhead. We’ve built a unique and innovative multiplayer experience combining RPG and RTS gameplay which allows you to play, and use your gear seamlessly, across Xbox One and Windows 10. On top of this, we’ve built a beautiful new world full of grand stories and adventures. And it’s taking more time than we thought.
Fable fans interested in joining the closed beta on the PC or Xbox One can submit an application at FableLegends.com. According to Eckelberry, more than 100,000 new invitations will be sent out over the next few weeks.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox One
Tagged Fable Legends
Xbox Store Today: 6180 The Moon, Starpoint Gemini 2, Line of Defense Tactics
Today’s additions to the Xbox Games Store are a science-fictiony bunch, so let’s fire up the warp drive and have a look:
- 6180: The Moon (Xbox One) is a minimalist platformer that links the top and bottom of the screen so the ceiling is also the floor and the floor is also the ceiling.
- Starpoint Gemini 2 (Xbox One) is a tactical space combat simulator that includes more than 50 factions and a galaxyful of adventure.
- Line of Defense Tactics (Xbox One) is a top-down shooter where players control a team of Galactic Command marines on a variety of interstellar missions.
More information on all of these titles can be found after the break. (more…)