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
Xbox Store Today: Halo 5: Guardians, WWE 2K16, Divinity: Original Sin, more
Xbox One owners get ready… Halo 5: Guardians is finally here. According to Microsoft, “the Master Chief is missing and his loyalty questioned” in “the most dramatic Halo story to date.” The consolemaker has always tried to position Halo as a Star Wars for a new generation, but they also worked with a cadre of professional gamers to get the multiplayer portion just right. Will it all work out? We’ll have to find the Master Chief and ask him.
Also available this week is WWE 2K16, the latest professional wrestling sim from 2K Games. Featuring the biggest roster in the franchise’s history, WWE 2K16 for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 will also star “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and include an expanded and enhanced Create-A-Wrestler mode.
Speaking of expanded and enhanced things, Larian Studios will release Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition for the Xbox One. The classic-style RPG now includes splitscreen cooperative play and a brand new user interface. Oh, and there’s also new quests, combat styles, locations, and story sections. And speaking of the word “story,” Telltale Games continues Minecraft: Story Mode this week with Episode 2: Assembly Required for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
More information about all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Divinity: Original Sin, Halo 5: Guardians, Minecraft: Story Mode, WWE 2K16
Today’s Rock Band 4 DLC Update goes back to the 80s with Depche Mode, INXS, Naked Eyes
Harmonix has served up a new trailer featuring this week’s additions to the Rock Band Music Store, which are now available to download for Rock Band 4. Let’s head back to the 1980s with today’s trio of new songs:
- Depeche Mode – “People Are People”
- INXS – “What You Need”
- Naked Eyes – “Always Something There To Remind Me”
As usual, each track can be purchased for $1.99 apiece.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Rock Band 4
Fun With Numbers… Darth Vader Forced Choked 1.4 million Rebels in the Star Wars: Battlefront beta
When your boss can choke people with his mind, it’s a little odd to just shrug it off as his “sad devotion to that ancient Jedi religion.” But maybe that’s just Darth Vader’s managerial style? Rather than write up a bad performance review for his many underlings, he just pulls out the old Force Choke and promotes the next guy in line.
As we learned from the recently completed Star Wars: Battlefront beta (and The Empire Strikes Back, come to think of it), that’s exactly how things work in the Empire. According to a new infographic released by Electronic Arts, players took control of Darth Vader 5,938,148 times during the beta and performed 1,379,319 Force Choke Kills on unsuspecting Rebels.
Over 9.5 million participants logged more than 1.6 billion minutes of playtime during the beta. For those scoring at home, that’s enough time to watch the Original Trilogy 4.2 million times. You can have even more fun with numbers by viewing the full infographic after the break.
Star Wars: Battlefront will be released on November 17 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront
Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s launch trailer asks us to “Paint It Black”
Activision and Treyarch have more or less adopted “Paint It Black” as the official theme song of the Black Ops series. So it’s not a surprise to hear the Rolling Stones classic blasting in the background of the Call of Duty: Black Ops III launch trailer. The quick cuts and big action setpieces are worthy of any Summer blockbuster and it should keep fans of the franchise happy for another year.
While you can watch the launch trailer now, we’re still two weeks away from Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s actual release. Players will be able to get their hands on the game on November 6 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It’ll also be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, however, last-gen players will have to make due with only competitive multiplayer and the “Shadows of Evil” Zombies Mode.
New Releases: Halo 5: Guardians, WWE 2K16, Minecraft: Story Mode, More
After last week’s soft launch, Microsoft is finally ready to unleash the highly-anticipated Halo 5: Guardians onto the Xbox One audience. Microsoft has been building towards the return of the Master Chief ever since the platform’s launch back in 2013. Will it live up to the hype? I don’t know, but it’ll certainly move a few Xbox One bundles this holiday season.
For players looking for an edge in Halo 5 (or any action-heavy Xbox One game), Microsoft will also release the Xbox One Elite Controller this week. Featuring a slew of swappable components and the powerful Xbox Accessories app to help customize the controller, Microsoft is hoping to establish the Elite Controller as the input option of choice for hardcore gamers.
If you prefer your battle royales to be a bit more Earth-based, you might be interested to know that 2K Games will release WWE 2K16 for the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360 this week. Starring “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the latest WWE game includes the biggest roster of wrestlers ever, as well as a redesigned Create-A-Wrestler mode.
Rounding out this week’s new releases is a trio of re-releases including the debut of Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition on the PS4 and Xbox One. It’s joined by the coming apocalypse of Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition (PS4, Xbox One) and the dirt track racing of MX vs ATV: Supercross Encore (PC, PS4).
Finally this week, Telltale Games is offering a “Season Pass Disc” for Minecraft: Story Mode on the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360. Players who purchase the Season Pass will receive the first episode of the game on the disc, along with downloadable access to all subsequent episodes as they’re released.
A full list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Darksiders II, Halo 5: Guardians, Minecraft: Story Mode, WWE 2K16
Xbox Store Today: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Layers of Fear (Preview), Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations
We’re going back in time with today’s Xbox Games Store update as Ubisoft added Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (Xbox One) to the online storefront earlier today. Syndicate brings the long-running Assassin’s Creed series to Victorian England, and drops players into the heart of the Industrial Revolution. Living on the streets of London, players will follow Jacob and Evie Frye as they build their underworld organization and take on the evil Templars.
Xbox One owners can also take a trip to the future today as Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations is also available for the Xbox One. Based on the colorful cartoon currently airing on the Cartoon Network, Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations employs the titular duo as private detectives in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo. According to the publisher, “strange stuff is happening,” but strange stuff should be pretty familiar to regular viewers of Adventure Time.
Finally this week, Xbox One owners will be able to explore the haunted house at the center of Layers of Fear. Currently available through the Game Preview program, Layers of Fear stars a “madness-engulfed insane painter” as he searches for items of significance to him.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations, Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
Get a sneak peek at the Doom closed alpha test with this new gameplay trailer
Bethesda and id Software will host the Doom closed alpha test this weekend. For those lucky few who got in, you’ll get a chance to bust some heads in 6v6 Deathmatch battles on the “Heatwave” map. The rest of us will have to make do with a brand new gameplay trailer that Bethesda released late last night.
Players will descend on what is essentially a big foundry and blow it (and each other) to pieces with Rocket Launchers, Plasma Rifles, Super Shotguns, Repeaters, Vortex Rifles, and Static Cannons. Players will also have to contend with the Revenant, a demon with a jetpack and twin Rocket Launchers. I have to admit, it looks pretty epic.
More details about the closed alpha test are available at Doom’s official website. If you didn’t get in this time, it looks like Bethesda plans to hold at least one more alpha test before the game’s beta period, which will be open to everyone who pre-ordered Wolfenstein: The New Order.
And don’t forget, Doom (it’s so hard not to call it Doom 4) will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in Spring 2016.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016)
Bugs in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 have caused Activision to delay PS3/Xbox 360 version
Gamers have been loudly complaining about the many bugs and glitches that have plagued Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 since its PS4 and Xbox One launch on September 29. Publisher Activision and developer Robomodo have been working hard on a patch for the game, but it appears to be taking longer than they thought.
Because of the added resources needed to fix the game, the launch of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 on the PS3 and Xbox 360 has officially been delayed. Originally scheduled to be available in stores on November 10, Activision attempted to explain the reasoning behind the delay in a statement released to Eurogamer:
We are working closely with our developers to address the issues identified by our community. Our development resources are fully focused on fixes and content updates for PS4 and Xbox One, so we have decided to delay the release of THPS5 on PS3 and X360. We will update the community when we have more specific information about a release date for PS3 and Xbox 360.
While the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 is still in the works, I won’t be surprised if it suffers the same fate (a quiet cancellation) as the last-gen version of Mortal Kombat X.