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
Take a gander at the new Guitar Hero Live controller
I guess this morning’s announcement of Guitar Hero Live was just the opening act as Activision has now given us an even better look at the game’s brand new guitar controller.
Owing to the more realistic tone and first-person viewpoint, Guitar Hero Live’s guitar controller will use a simple two-tone color scheme. The new button setup will be included on the neck while the familiar Strum Bar and Whammy Bar will be part of the body. A Hero Power button will activate one of several Hero Powers, though a simple tilt of the guitar will also do that. Finally, GHTV button will launch GHTV Mode. More images can be found at the official Guitar Hero website.
Guitar Hero Live will be released for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U this Fall.
Guitar Hero Live brings back franchise as a first-person live-action experience this Fall
Back in February, unnamed insiders said that Activision would relaunch the Guitar Hero franchise this year with “more realistic” graphics. That report has turned out to be accurate… but in the absolute strangest way possible. The next game in the series, Guitar Hero Live, will launch this Fall as a first-person, live-action experience that attempts to put players on stage for real. Shred that perfect solo and the crowd will cheer wildly for you. But if you screw up, you’ll be begging for the fenced-in stage from The Blues Brothers. That’s if your bandmates don’t kill you first.
Guitar Hero Live will also include a constantly changing catalog of songs in GHTV Mode, which overlays a note track on top of hundreds of different music videos. You can get a glimpse at how both modes will work by viewing the game’s debut trailer, which has been embedded above.
Unfortunately, your old guitars will no longer work in Guitar Hero Live. Activision is throwing out the old design and creating a new design featuring two rows of three buttons each. According to Activision, “beginners can feel like a rock star by mastering play with just the bottom three buttons.” Meanwhile, veterans will take on the new challenge of “creating complex chord-like shapes and finger combinations.”
Guitar Hero Live’s tracklist is still being finalized, but a wide variety of bands and singers will make the cut including The Black Keys, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Gary Clark, Jr., Green Day, Ed Sheeran, The War on Drugs, The Killers, Skrillex, The Rolling Stones, The Lumineers, Carrie Underwood, and Pierce the Veil and Blitz Kids. More will be announced as we get closer to launch.
Guitar Hero Live is in development for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U at FreeStyleGames, the same team behind DJ Hero and DJ Hero 2. Somehow, Guitar Hero Live will also be playable on mobile devices and tablets, but details on that version of the game will be announced at a later date.
Knight Squad Hands-On Preview: (Gauntlet + Bomberman) x Knights = Awesome
Cramming eight people around the television set in my living room for a night of gaming seems like the worst idea of all time. For one, I’ve only got enough couch space for about four-and-a-half people, so an unlucky few would be regulated to the floor. I guess they could ask my beast of a dog to share her floor pillow, but she’s a drooler and a licker. That’s bad, though most of my sympathies would lie with the poor sucker who has to wedge himself in the fireplace. But you know what, having a full complement of players for Knight Squad might make it worth it. (more…)
Posted in PC, Previews, Top Story, Xbox One
Tagged Knight Squad, PAX East 2015
Which Faction will you side with in Mortal Kombat X?
The launch of Mortal Kombat X is just one day away on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Though if you’re planning to camp out at one of the many midnight launch parties, you could be playing it in as little as eight hours.
One of the first things you’ll do after loading up Mortal Kombat X for the first time is pledge your allegiance to one of the game’s five Factions. The Black Dragon, Lin Kuei, Special Force, White Lotus Society, and Brotherhood of Shadow are all fighting for new recruits and each has produced a Recruitment Video to help swell their numbers.
Which Faction will you join? You can preview all the Recruitment Videos after the break. And pay special attention to the Brotherhood of Shadow clip, which features cameos from Zombie Stryker, Zombie Sindel, and Zombie Kabal. (more…)
Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves will be available on May 19
Activision and Bungie have announced the second major expansion for Destiny, House of Wolves, will launch on May 19 for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. To get gamers in the proper mood, the two companies have released the cinematic prologue, which has been embedded above. What else can players expect from House of Wolves? Well…
Expand your Destiny adventure with House of Wolves. Only the bravest Guardians will hunt down the rising Fallen threat and lay claim to the mysterious treasures of The Reef.
House of Wolves is being promoted as the “final” expansion to Destiny, but Activision executives confirmed that a “major content release” (rumored to be titled “Comet“) which will further expand the original game has been scheduled for release this Fall. Presumably, Destiny 2 will be released sometime after that, possibly as early as next year.
Activision is going to announce Guitar Hero 7 tomorrow… but don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret
This morning, Activision released a teaser trailer touting an April 14 announcement of a “Mystery Game.” Could it be more Destiny? Or an official unveiling of Skylanders 5? Maybe the Call of Duty: Black Ops III reveal got pushed up two weeks? I should probably just watch the trailer…
Let’s see what we’ve got. There’s a kid with a guitar… and a band about to go on stage… and a cheering crowd. There’s also a tagline: “It’s About To Get Real.” Hmm, it’s a toughie, but I think I’ve got it… Activision is bringing back Crash Bandicoot! Wait a minute, that doesn’t sound right. Meh, it’s probably just a tease for Guitar Hero 7.
It’s not like there were a bunch of rumors back in February that said the franchise would return this Fall with a “more realistic” graphical style. Oh wait, there were. OK, it’s probably Guitar Hero 7.
I’ll keep waiting for you, Crash.
New Releases: Mortal Kombat X, Grand Theft Auto V for PC
Just two new games are set to be available on retail store shelves this week… but they’re two of the biggest games of the Spring.
First up, NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The sequel will slingshot the franchise’s storyline 25 years into the future and introduce a whole new generation of kombatants to the world. The last game in the series, Mortal Kombat, was released four ago, which is the biggest Mortal Kombat drought since the five-year gap between Mortal Kombat 4 and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
Also available this week, after several delays, is Grand Theft Auto V‘s PC launch. Rockstar’s game of cops and robbers was originally released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013 while an upgraded edition for the PS4 and Xbox One launched last year. The PC version (which requires seven discs) promises to be the most expansive version yet.
That’s it for the retail release report, but a handful of new games will also be available through Steam, the PlayStation Store, the Xbox Games Store, and the Nintendo eShop this week.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V, Mortal Kombat X
Insert Quarter: The Demise of Darkside Games and Phantom Dust 2
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Microsoft’s announcement of a sequel to Phantom Dust during last year’s E3 Expo surprised a lot of people. And no one was more surprised than the developers at Darkside Games. There was just one problem… they were the ones making the game! But being blindsided by a trailer they had nothing to do with was just the start of their problems. The developers also received constant demands from Microsoft to make major changes to the game and disagreements over money and credit ultimately lead to the cancellation of the game.
Darkside was forced to close their doors after Microsoft canceled Phantom Dust 2, and Kotaku’s Jason Schreier tracked down several of the developers to learn more about what happened:
Though you may never have heard of Darkside Games, you’ve probably heard of the games they’ve helped develop—the Florida-based studio has contributed to Gears of War: Judgment, Spec Ops: The Line, Sunset Overdrive, and various Borderlands games, handling all sorts of art, DLC, and other features. Darkside, like many other small studios, was firmly rooted in the unglamorous world of outsourcing, helping make other companies’ games rather than creating their own. When Phantom Dust came along, Darkside employees say they were ecstatic—finally, they could prove that they were capable of making their own game, too. Finally, they’d reached the next level.
The full article is available for your perusal at the Kotaku.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Phantom Dust 2