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
Walmart-exclusive Star Wars: Battlefront Deluxe Edition comes with a mini fridge depicting Han Solo frozen in Carbonite
“They’ve encased him in Carbonite. He should be quite well protected. If he survived the freezing process, that is.”
Star Wars: Battlefront is exactly two months away, and I’m sure that more than a few people will spend a number of all-nighters partaking in its multiplayer battles. But how are you planning to stay alert after Darth Vader cuts you down with his Lightsaber at three in the morning? Are you going to march down to your kitchen for a store brand cola like some scruffy-looking nerf herder? Or are you going to reach over and pull out a genuine can of Coca-Cola from this beautiful Han Solo Mini Fridge? Don’t you love it? What am I saying… I know you love it.
The Mini Fridge will be available at Walmart exclusively as part of their Star Wars: Battlefront Deluxe Edition for the PS4 or Xbox One. It’s priced at $129.98 and can hold six cans of soda. For some reason, the Mini Fridge also includes a warming function… so insert your own “I’ll bet Han wishes his Carbonite fridge had a warming function” joke right here.
Star Wars: Battlefront is in development at DICE LA and it’ll be released on November 17. And if the game doesn’t interest you for some reason, but you’re now in the market for a “Han Solo Frozen in Carbonite” fridge, ThinkGeek currently offers one with an 18-can capacity for $149.99.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront
Dark Souls III will be released in April 2016
Bandai Namco and From Software have narrowed down that “Early 2016” release window for Dark Souls III… but it might not be as early as you’d hoped.
As part of this year’s Tokyo Game Show, the publisher and developer announced that Dark Souls III will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in North America in April 2016. They also confirmed that the game will have a “deeper sense of role-playing” than previous games in the series:
Dark Souls III pushes a deeper sense of role-playing than previous iterations of the series with key additions that provide players with a set of tools and in-game options to customize their gameplay experience. Skills, a new addition to the Dark Souls combat mechanics, adds attack modifiers to each weapon type, allowing players an increased tactical advantage in combat. Increase an axe’s attack power with War Cry or break an enemy’s guard with a quick upward swing from Ready Stance. The choice of if and when players use these added abilities is up to them. Players will also be able to equip their character with a wide variety of armor sets, medieval weaponry, as well as come across powerful sorceries and miracles as they develop their own personal style of play.
From Software must really love the Springtime as the developer will launch a major new title during the season for the third year in a row after this year’s Bloodborne and last year’s Dark Souls II.
P (for Perception) is the second video in Fallout 4’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. series
“Following total atomic annihilation, the rebuilding of this great nation of ours may fall to you. Study these materials carefully to ensure your survival and to discover what makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L.”
Fallout 4 is just around the corner and Bethesda Softworks wants to continue their education of prospective vault dwellers with the second entry in their S.P.E.C.I.A.L. video series… Perception. By focusing on the importance of Perception, players will be able to master the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS), which helps them analyze their opponents and pinpoint areas of weakness. It’s a powerful tool, but like the announcer man says, don’t get too cocky!
Fallout 4 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 10.
Xbox Store Today: Forza Motorsport 6, Destiny: The Taken King, NHL 16, more
Microsoft has been dominating the automotive simulation scene for the last few years, and that streak looks to continue this week with the release of Forza Motorsport 6 for the Xbox One. This new entry in the franchise includes over 450 Forzavista cars with “working cockpits and full damage.” Even if you limited yourself to eating, sleeping, and playing Forza 6, it would still take you a long, long time to see everything the game has to offer.
Also available to download this week through the Xbox Games Store is Destiny: The Taken King, the final chapter in Destiny’s “Year One” storyline. Players who have defeated Crota will now find themselves face-to-face with Oryx, his very mad dad, and a rampaging army of alien zombies. Yikes. Destiny: The Taken King is now available to download on the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
Finally this week, sports gamers will get a double dose of new sports simulations with EA Sports’s NHL 16 (Xbox One) and Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (Xbox One, Xbox 360). Whether you prefer the pitch or the ice, there’s something new for you this week.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Forza Motorsport 6, NHL 16, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016
Gather round the campfire on October 13 for the release of Minecraft: Story Mode Episode 1
Telltale Games has announces that Minecraft: Story Mode, their episodic adventuring adaptation of Mojang’s Minecraft, will kick off on October 13 with the release of Episode 1 (The Order of the Stone) for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and iOS/Android mobile devices. A special Season Pass Disc will also be available on October 27, which will include the first episode on the disc and online access to subsequent episodes as they’re released.
“Developed in partnership with our friends at Mojang, this all-ages adventure series kicks off a thrilling story full of many elements essential to the world of Minecraft, combined with Telltale’s trademark choice-based gameplay,” said Kevin Bruner, the CEO and co-founder of Telltale Games. “There are plenty of exciting details we’ve been keeping under wraps, and we’re thrilled that players will soon be starting their own adventure through the Nether to the Farlands and beyond with Jesse and The Order of the Stone.”
In other exciting news, Minecraft: Story Mode will also be available for the Wii U and Vita at some future date. This is the first time a Telltale adventure game, or any version of Minecraft, will appear on the Wii U… and just in time for the console’s likely replacement by the NX next year.
WB Games spared no expense when hiring the voice cast for Lego Dimensions
If Richard Attenborough were still alive, I think WB Games would have hired him to gleefully exclaim that the publisher spared no expense when assembling the voice cast for Lego Dimensions. Unfortunately, the great actor passed away last year. But just try to picture the giant sacks of money it must have required to secure the services of this talented ensemble anyway…
Michael J. Fox (as Marty McFly) and Christopher Lloyd (as Doc Brown) will reprise their roles from the Back to the Future trilogy. Several actors from another 1980s favorite, Ghostbusters, will also get a chance to cross the streams and interact with the rest of the cast. And speaking of g-g-ghosts, Matthew Lillard (as Shaggy) will ride with Scooby-Doo in the Mystery Machine.
Chris Pratt will pull double duty in the game as Emmet from The Lego Movie and Owen Grady from Jurassic World. He’ll be joined by Elizabeth Banks (as Wyldstyle), Alison Brie (as Unikitty), and Charlie Day (as Benny) from The Lego Movie, but don’t think his Jurassic World co-stars turned down this chance. Bryce Dallas Howard (as Claire Dearing), Irrfan Khan (as Simon Masrani), Nick Robinson (as Zach, one of the kids), and Ty Simpkins (as Gray, the other kid) will fight dinosaurs one more time.
“Who” else could be joining the game? How about Peter Capaldi (as the Twelfth Doctor), Jenna Coleman (as Clara Oswald), and Michelle Gomez (as Missy) from Doctor Who… Best of all, they’re not coming alone. Every actor who has played the Doctor (including David Tenant, Matt Smith, Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton, and William Hartnell) will lend his voice (or archival audio for the deceased actors) to Lego Dimensions.
The DC Universe will be represented by Troy Baker (as Batman), Tara Strong (as Harley Quinn), Laura Bailey (as Wonder Woman), and Travis Willingham (as Superman). Meanwhile, WB Games has recruited two members of the Fellowship from The Lord of the Rings: Tom Kane (as Gandalf) and Sean Astin (as Samwise Gamgee). Several cast members from The Simpsons will also drop by as part of the game’s trip to Springfield.
Lego Dimensions includes a lot of portals, so Stephen Merchant (as Wheatley), Ellen McLain (as GLaDOS), and J.K. Simmons (as Cave Johnson) from Portal 2 should fit right in. Nolan North is also around (in a currently unknown role) because you can’t assemble a video game voice cast in 2015 without including Nolan North. I think it’s a union rule or something…
Finally, two original characters, Joel McHale (as your robotic guide, X-PO) and Gary Oldman (as the villainous Lord Vortech), will help propel the plot of Lego Dimensions forward.
Lego Dimensions will be released for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 27.
Kickstart This! Anniversary Interview: Chewing the Fat With Bacon Man Director Neal Laurenza
It is perhaps somewhat ironic that Bacon Man appeared in July 2014’s Common Creative Wealth Edition of Kickstart This! While athletes from around the world competed in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the developers at Skymap Games were hard at work campaigning for their project, which stars an anthropomorphized version of the fatty foodstuff in a surreal Earthworm Jim-style platformer. The game achieved its funding target of $20,000 (with an extra $1,280 to spare), and is expected to be released for the PC and Xbox One before the end of the year.
Neal Laurenza, Managing Director at Skymap, recently sat down with us to share a slab of bacon and to discuss Bacon Man. While we pondered if the breakfast staple proves the existence of God, we also talked about the game’s Kickstarter campaign, how bad emails can do good things, and other sizzling topics. (more…)
Prepare for Fallout 4 with a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. instructional video series… S is for Strength
“Following total atomic annihilation, the rebuilding of this great nation of ours may fall to you. Study these materials carefully to ensure your survival and to discover what makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L.”
Bethesda has always made great use of the Fallout franchise’s retro-futuristic aesthetic, and the first entry in a new series of 1950s-inspired educational videos for Fallout 4 is just the latest bit of proof. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. series serves as a handy tutorial to give players all the skills they’ll need to survive in The Wasteland. These attributes (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) will play an important part in the game… especially if you don’t want to be killed horribly by a marauding mutant or deranged survivor.
Proudly produced by Vault-Tec (the in-universe company that created Fallout’s many Vaults), the video for “Strength” has been embedded above. Fallout 4 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 10.