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
Black Friday 2015 Video Game Deals: Best Buy
Black Friday is coming, is your wish list (and your wallet) ready? Here’s what you can expect to find at one retailer on November 27th…
The blue shirts of Best Buy have published their annual Black Friday circular, giving us a look at some of this holiday season’s best gaming deals. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Forza Motorsport 6, and Need For Speed have popped up in multiple ads and their $34.99 price at Best Buy is a decent discount.
However, the retailer’s absolute best deals are a pair of Xbox One system bundles. An Xbox One 500 GB packed with The Lego Movie Videogame and a Samsung 40″ LED TV will be available for $499.98 as a Friday morning “Doorbuster.” But if you miss out on that, Best Buy is also offering an Xbox One 1 TB with Rise of the Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, and two Wireless Controllers for $349.99. Both of these bundles are fantastic deals.
Best Buy will open their doors for Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, at 5:00 PM. You can view their full ad at BestBuy.com or check out all the game deals after the break. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: Rise of the Tomb Raider, Fallout 4, more
2013’s Tomb Raider was a huge undertaking for Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics, but the reboot breathed new life into the franchise, making a sequel practically mandatory. Rather than break the bank a second time, Square Enix partnered with Microsoft to help produce the game, making Rise of the Tomb Raider temporarily exclusive on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. In Lara Croft’s latest adventure, which is available to download through the Xbox Games Store for both platforms beginning today, the first lady of archaeology explores ancient tombs in search of the secret to immortality. I don’t know if she’s successful or not, but Lara will always live forever in my eyes.
Also available this week for the Xbox One is Fallout 4… just a little game from Bethesda… you may have heard of it. Taking place in and around Boston, Fallout 4 follows the sole survivor of Vault 111 as he (or, for the first time, she) attempts to survive in the post-apocalyptic Wasteland.
More details about both of these games, along with the free-to-play “Puzzle RPG” Gems of War and the Jackbox Party Pack party game compilation, can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider
EA will release EA Sports UFC 2 for PS4, Xbox One in Spring 2016
Electronic Arts is stepping back into the Octagon next Spring with the release of EA Sports UFC 2 for the PS4 and Xbox One. The publisher’s second attempt at a mixed martial arts simulation will be revealed in full on Friday, but a newly released “Vision Trailer” hints at their expectations for the game.
Narrated by Creative Director Brian Hayes, the video says that EA “made it a priority to sharpen our fundamentals” before work began on UFC 2. The development has employed this back to basics approach in the hopes of creating “the smoothest, most responsive set of movements in an MMA game” with “thousands of new animations.”
EA Sports UFC 2 will also include “a host of new online and offline experiences,” which we’ll likely learn about on Friday.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged EA Sports UFC 2
Fallout 4 Review: There’s Just Something S.P.E.C.I.A.L. About It
Let’s not mince words, Fallout 4 is clearly the most anticipated title of 2015 for most gamers. Fans of Fallout are furiously intense about the game, though I was never one of those people. But I found myself carried along by the hype and excited to play the latest in the series. While I have to admit I haven’t finished it yet – mostly because who has that kind of time in their lives – I am immersed in this world, and find myself constantly checking the clock while I’m playing because it keeps lulling me into that false sense of “you won’t stay up until 1:00 AM.”
Spoiler alert… I haven’t gone to bed before 1:00 AM since I received it. (more…)
Black Friday 2015 Video Game Deals: Target
Black Friday is coming, is your wish list (and your wallet) ready? Here’s what you can expect to find at one retailer on November 27th…
Target is offering deep discounts on games in the “toys-to-life” genre like Skylanders SuperChargers, Disney Infinity: Star Wars, and Lego Dimensions this holiday season. They also plan to mark down big new titles like Guitar Hero Live, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. Finally, if you’re in the market for a Wii U, the retailer will have a great bundle that includes digital download codes for Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U.
Target will open their doors for Black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, at 6:00 PM. You can view their full ad at BlackFriday.com or check out all the game deals after the break. (more…)
Harmonix spins up some hard rock from Linkin Park, Audioslave, Godsmack for today’s Rock Band 4 DLC Update
Harmonix is taking a trip to the 2000s with this week’s Rock Band 4 DLC Update. A trio of hard rock songs from the first half of the decade are now available to download through the Rock Band Music Store including “Like A Stone,” which appeared on Audioslave’s debut album; “Awake,” the title track from Godsmack’s second album; and “Lying From You,” a song from Linkin Park’s album Meteora.
All three songs can be previewed in the trailer embedded above, and they can be purchased for $1.99 apiece.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Xbox One Backwards Compatibility for Xbox 360 games begins November 12; Here’s the full list of supported titles
Microsoft surprised everyone this past Summer when they announced that the Xbox One would soon offer Backwards Compatibility for Xbox 360 games. Today, they announced that Backwards Compatibility support will be available on November 12 as part of the New Xbox One Experience update.
Gamers who play Xbox 360 games through their Xbox One will have access to many of the new-gen system’s many features including Screenshot Capture, Game DVR, and streaming through Twitch. Microsoft’s Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb and Richard Irving discuss exactly how these features will work in the video embedded above.
Backwards Compatibility support for 104 Xbox 360 titles will be available on November 12, though most of them are Xbox Live Arcade games. However, Microsoft plans regularly update the Backwards Compatibility list and plans to add support for Halo: Reach, Halo Wars, Call of Duty: Black Ops, BioShock, BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite, and Skate 3 soon.
The full list of titles with Backwards Compatibility support on November 12 can be found after the break. (more…)
Everybody get ready… Overwatch is coming to PC, PS4, Xbox One in Spring 2016
Before this weekend, everyone assumed that Blizzard’s Overwatch would be available exclusively for the PC sometime this year as a free-to-play game. But all of that changed during the developer’s annual BlizzCon convention. As part of the weekend’s festivities, Blizzard announced that Overwatch will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Spring 2016 in a full-priced “Origins Edition.” A 6v6 “hero shooter,” Overwatch will come packed with 21 heroes, including three that were announced at BlizzCon:
- Genji, a cybernetic ninja, is an expert assassin capable of extraordinary feats of agility, including reflecting enemy attacks with his blade.
- D.Va is a former pro-gaming superstar who pilots an experimental military mech in defense of her home country.
- Mei travels the globe applying her scientific expertise to protect the natural world; in battle, her arsenal of climate-manipulating technology has the power to put the opposition on ice.
“We’re building Overwatch to be the first-person shooter we’ve always wanted to play, with a vibrant world, awesome heroes, and an emphasis on tightly focused cooperative gameplay,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re excited to welcome console and PC gamers to the fight for the future, and we can’t wait to see all the incredible things teams are able to accomplish on the battlefield this upcoming spring.”
Players who pre-order Overwatch will receive five alternate character skins: Blackwatch Reyes (Reaper), Strike-Commander Morrison (Soldier: 76), Overgrown Bastion, Security Chief Pharah, and Slipstream Tracer. A Collector’s Edition (Retail Price: $129.99), which will contain the pre-order skins, a full-color art book, the Overwatch soundtrack, and a statue of Soldier: 76, will also be available.
Blizzard released a handful of new Overwatch trailers this weekend, including the brand new gameplay trailer embedded above. You can also check out overview trailers for Genji, D.Va, and Mei, along with a closer look at the pre-order skins.