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
New Batman: Arkham Knight gameplay trailer goes to war
Back in March, WB Games and Rocksteady Studios released “Officer Down,” an extended gameplay trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight that focused on the Caped Crusader’s hunt for Scarecrow’s safe house. That chase continues in a new gameplay trailer released today, and embedded above, titled “Time to Go to War.”
It’s another exciting Bat-adventure that manages to throw in a ridiculous Batmobile versus tank battalion scene and a snarky Poison Ivy. Snarky villains are the best.
In other Bat-news, Sony has released a new trailer detailing some of Arkham Knight’s exclusive PS4 content including Adam West’s Batman suit, his Batmobile, a Justice League 3000 suit, and the trippy Scarecrow Nightmare Missions. The PS4-exclusive content will remain exclusive until sometime this Fall and you can find the trailer after the break.
But Batman: Arkham Knight will be released for everyone, including PC, PS4, and Xbox One players, on June 23. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight
FIFA 16 will include women’s national teams for the first time
The start of the Women’s World Cup is just a few days away, and EA Sports has used this opportunity to announce that women’s national teams will be added to the FIFA franchise for the first time in FIFA 16. FIFA 16 will launch on September 22 with 12 women’s national teams: USA, Germany, France, Sweden, England, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Spain, China, Italy, and Mexico.
“I honestly can’t believe all of the science and technology behind the game itself, let alone getting us into the motion capture suits and eventually into the game,” said Abby Wambach of the United States Women’s National Team. “We’re all excited to see ourselves in the game, but even more excited to see the reaction from all of the fans.”
Wambach’s motion capture session was shared by fellow Team USA players Sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe as they helped EA Sports create “realistic animations and attributes” for the female players. Developers from EA Canada even traveled to tournaments around the world to capture facial features and hairstyles from all the included players. More details on the process, including an interview with Alex Morgan, can be found at the official FIFA 16 website.
FIFA 16 will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One when it launches on September 22.
Smash Derby will mix Smash TV with a destruction derby sometime this year
Smash TV was a one-of-a-kind game that… wait a minute, that’s not right, let me start over…
Smash TV ripped off The Running Man and married its futuristic game show setting with the twin-stick shooting of Robotron 2084. It was a massive hit and fans have patiently been waiting for a followup for the last 25 years. Smash Derby is not that game, but its definitely embodies Smash TV’s spirit of artistic borrowing.
Developed by Fenix Fire, Smash Derby is a futuristic game show overseen by a smarmy host who is always surrounded by a gaggle of giggling babes. However, it differs from Smash TV in that all the contestants are cocooned in hovercars. Rather than blast each other with laser pistols, the contestants have to smash in to one another like cars in a destruction derby… a “Smash Derby,” if you will. A wide range of Defense Units (mines, turrets, and lasers) can also be equipped to put a hurt on the other players in competitive and cooperative multiplayer, deathmatch and team-based modes. The game will also include single-player Arcade, Survival, and Strategy modes.
Fenix Fire hopes to release Smash Derby, which is in development for the PS4, Vita, and Xbox One, before the end of the year.
Killer Instinct Season 2 ends with release of Aria on 5/29 (Ultra) or 6/4 (Combo Breaker)
Throughout the majority of the Killer Instinct saga, the UltraTech Corporation has been portrayed as your typical evil conglomerate. But UltraTech’s leader, Aria, paints a different portrait of the company as she monologues at the start of this new trailer. She doesn’t want to destroy humanity, but rather, help it prepare for the mystical, technological, and otherworldly dangers that are encroaching on planet Earth.
However, I’m not sure I put much stock in the ravings of a cyborg who is able to transform her body into different configurations thanks to a pair of floating drones that can be swapped in and out at will.
Aria is the final downloadable character Iron Galaxy will release as part of Killer Instinct’s Season 2 and Ultra Edition owners will be able to download her this Friday, May 29. If you plan to purchase the character as a standalone download, or you own the Combo Breaker Pack, Aria can be yours on June 4.
It’s unknown if Iron Galaxy will continue Killer Instinct’s seasonal structure with a third series, but the 2015 E3 Expo is just a few weeks away and Microsoft’s Fall lineup could always use another knockout title.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Killer Instinct
We Are Doomed Review: A Dreamy Twin-Stick Shooter You Shouldn’t Miss
If you love twin-stick shooters, then this is a great time to be playing video games. After reaching perfection with the release of Smash TV in the early 90s, the genre faded away for more than a decade before Bizarre Creations brought it back with Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. Since then, a ridiculous number of twin-stick shooters have been produced, and the control scheme has even been co-opted by a growing number of roguelikes. Basically, you can’t swing a dead hedgehog at a game convention without hitting a developer showing off their new twin-stick title.
Into this crowded fray comes We Are Doomed, the first PC/console game from Vertex Pop. (more…)
Mortal Kombat X DLC Update: Tanya will be available on June 2 for Kombat Pass owners
NetherRealm’s Creative Director, Ed Boon, has announced that Tanya will be available to download on June 2 if you possess the Kombat Pass. Everyone else will be able to obtain the klassic kharacter on June 9:
MK4's Tanya makes her return to Mortal Kombat X on Tuesday June 2nd for owners of the Kombat Pack. On sale June 9th! pic.twitter.com/22XZC97RGC
— Ed Boon (@noobde) May 27, 2015
Like Jason, Tanya will be released alongside a new costume pack for Kano, Sonya, and Liu Kang. Kombat Pass owners will receive Klassic Pack #1 for free, but other players will be able to purchase it separately for $3.99 or in a bundle with Tanya for $7.99. Tanya by herself will also be available for $4.99.
Xbox Store Today: Game of Thrones: Sons of Winter, Rogue Legacy
Are you ready to get medieval on today’s Xbox Games Store update? I hope so as this week’s new releases are heavy on the swordplay…
Telltale’s six-part Game of Thrones adaptation continues this week with the fourth episode, Sons of Winter. House Forrester is still in dire straits as Rodrik, Gared, Mira, and Asher plot their next move on the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
Also available this week is Rogue Legacy, a side-scrolling action platformer for the Xbox One where you play as a “bald ninja dwarf” that is succeeded by his children, each with a unique trait, every time he dies. Cellar Door Games refers to it as a “rogue-lite” and the mechanics should be very familiar to anyone who prefers to play “rogue-likes”
More information on both of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Game of Thrones: A Telltale Series
First trailer for Battlefield Hardline: Criminal Activity expansion released
A terrorist crime ring is set to invade Battlefield Hardline in its first expansion, Criminal Activity. Visceral briefed players on what to expect in Criminal Activity on Battlefield’s official website:
Small crews of well-trained, aggressive criminals have been using force of arms to terrorize the citizenry and are in direct conflict with the police in many cases. Public property damages and insurance claims have skyrocketed, not to mention the impact on the police force.
Detectives have uncovered evidence of a secret crime ring that could be behind all of this activity. They’re not sure why anyone would coordinate these goals – in a number of cases, the take seems to be smaller than the risk. But, orders have come down the chain to find out what’s going on and put a stop to it. Will you help the police?
Criminal Activity’s centerpiece is four new maps, which are detailed in the trailer embedded above. These new locales include “Code Blue,” a swanky nightclub; “The Beat,” the streets in and around a chop shop; “Black Friday,” a busy shopping mall; and “Backwoods,” which is pretty self-explanatory.
Other additions to the game bound for Criminal Activity include the new “Bounty Hunter” game mode, two new rides, two new ammunition types, three new weapons, a new gadget, a nailgun battlepickup, and six new masks (two animal and four police headgear options).
Criminal Activity will be available sometime in June for the owners of Battlefield Hardline’s Premium Edition. Everyone else will be given the option to purchase the expansion two weeks after that.