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: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, De Blob 2, Battle Academy
Today’s Xbox Games Store update adds three new releases to Microsoft’s digital storefront and they are…
- Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Director’s Cut (Xbox One), an updated version of the side-scrolling platformer that was originally released for the PC in 2012 and on the Xbox 360 last year.
- Battle Academy (Xbox 360), a turn-based strategy game set within the European Theatre of World War II.
- De Blob 2 (Xbox 360), a colorful platformer originally published by THQ in 2011 is now available to download.
More details about all three games can be found below.
Xbox One Games
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Director’s Cut ($14.99)
Dash through tricky levels and transform the whole world at will in this fast-paced award-winning platformer. Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Director’s Cut combines graphics that pack a visual punch and tight controls with the challenge of retro era platforming. Fluidly morph between two dynamically different dream worlds to solve puzzles and combat grueling enemies and bosses.Xbox 360 Games
De Blob 2 ($19.99)
Blob’s origins are mysterious, but he rolled up at the right place and the right time to be the hero that the Color Underground was looking for. Music surrounds him and color energy flows through him; with his touch Blob can literally make the world a better place. Blob represents individuality and determination. Blob is good hearted but lazy. He is often late, but he always comes through.Battle Academy ($29.99)
The only true World War II turn-based strategy game playable on a console. Battle Academy is a real classic. Approachable, absorbing and with a unique visual approach, it’s a game that pulls you in with its intuitive design and its compelling gameplay. Firepower is only one of the key elements that will allow you to succeed: keeping the morale of your men high, planning on cunning tactics and a fine balance in the use of infantry and armoured units are also vital to win. You will select and take the lead of a number of units across a huge variety of campaigns and nearly 100 scenarios! The countless number of missions ranges from the invasion of France all the way to the what-if Sealion campaign where the German troops try the invasion of England.
Tetris Ultimate will be released on the PS4, Xbox One next week
Ubisoft has announced that Tetris Ultimate will make its new-generation debut next week. The latest game in the long-running game franchise will be available to download for the PS4 on December 16 while Xbox One owners will get a chance to purchase it a day later on December 17.
According to the UbiBlog, Tetris Ultimate will include a “multiplayer” option to play against AI opponents based on the play styles of your friends. These bots can be dropped into any of the game’s six gameplay modes:
- Marathon – Complete level 15 and rack up as many points as you can.
- Endless – Keep clearing lines until your stamina runs out.
- Ultra – Race to score as many points possible before time runs out in this three-minute challenge.
- Sprint – Clear 40 lines as quickly as you can.
- Battle – Go head-to-head to knock out your challengers.
- Battle Ultimate – Be the last person playing after using crazy power-ups!
- Go on the offensive with “Carousel” and make your opponent’s Matrix shift to the left after each move, or trigger “Let It Rain” and dump blocks down on top of them. “Buzz Saw” helps you advance by clearing away a number of your lines, especially useful when you’re in a spot of trouble.
Tetris Ultimate is also in development for the PC and Vita. Hopefully, release dates for the game on those two platforms will be announced soon.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Tetris Ultimate
The greatest trick CoD: Advanced Warfare ever pulled was being Nov 2014’s best-selling game
Activision’s Call of Duty franchise continues its reign atop the video game world by capturing the top spot in The NPD Group’s survey of November 2014’s best-selling games. It managed to hold off a strong challenge from Grand Theft Auto V, which received a huge boost from its new-generation re-release.
Nintendo had a very good month as Super Smash Bros. For Wii U and Super Smash Bros. For 3DS managed to sneak into the top three thanks to their combined might (The NPD Group considers them one game for the purposes of the monthly list). Further down the list, Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire shot to #5 while Pokemon: Omega Ruby owned the #7 spot (for some reason, the latest Pokemon release is considered two separate games by The NPD Group).
Ubisoft also had multiple games in the top ten, including Far Cry 4 at #6. Assassin’s Creed: Unity entered the list at #9, and while that’s an impressive achievement, it’s well below the top-three ranking attained by both Assassin’s Creed III and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag during their respective debut months.
Finally, Microsoft has plenty to crow about tonight as they’ve revealed to IGN that that the Xbox One outsold the PS4 for the first time.
The full top ten for November 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed: Unity, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Far Cry 4, Grand Theft Auto V, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Madden NFL 15, NBA 2K15, NPD, Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
IDARB will be released for Xbox One in February… but you can win it early
IDARB, Other Ocean’s eight-player basketball/hockey hybrid, will be released for the Xbox One in February 2015. The retro-inspired game will be available for free through Microsoft’s Games With Gold program, but dedicated fans might be able to score a copy two months early.
Other Ocean plans to give away download codes for the game through their Twitter account, on IDARB.com, and through live video streams on their Twitch channel. Major Nelson will also have some codes to give out during tomorrow’s “Free Code Friday” event on his blog.
If IDARB is new to you, here’s what you can expect when it comes to the Xbox One this February:
IDARB is a competitive game for up to eight players that combines classic 2D platformer mechanics with hockey and basketball rules. Players can draw their own characters in a charming 8-bit pixel style, build their own teams, compose their own fight songs, and compete with other players either in the same room or over the internet.
In a nod to real arena sports, IDARB is the first video game where fans spectating a session can disrupt the players, in real time, using either Twitch or Twitter. Spectators can turn the ball into a bomb, spawn fireworks, fill the screen with water, and more.
Don’t forget to check out the game’s “Release Date Trailer” above. It very lovingly spoofs the recently released Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser.
Xbox Store Today: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Juju
Lara Croft will make her debut as an Xbox-exclusive character in next year’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, but first she’ll star in Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (Xbox One), which is available on the Xbox Games Store today. A sequel to 2010’s Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Lara’s second isometric multiplayer puzzler ups the number of players to four and features a whole new cast of characters in a brand new tomb. Also available today is Juju, a colorful side-scrolling platformer for the Xbox 360.
More details about both games can be found below:
Xbox One Games
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris ($19.99)
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. This all-new adventure takes place in the Temple of Osiris, hidden deep in the deserts of Egypt. Lara Croft arrives at the temple, hoping to be the first inside, but rival treasure hunter Carter Bell has beaten her to the entrance. They each seek the Staff of Osiris, but they discover more than they bargained for. Upon entering the tomb, Carter removes the mythical Staff from its resting place and inadvertently triggers a trap cursing them both and unleashing the evil god Set. But the staff also awakens the gods Horus and Isis, the son and wife of Osiris. Now free from their ancient prison, they join forces with Lara and Carter in order to resurrect Osiris, the only god capable of removing the curse.Xbox 360 Games
Juju ($14.99)
Journey with the shaman panda, Juju, and his lizard sidekick, Peyo, as they embark upon a dangerous and mystical journey to save Juju’s father and the world from an ancient evil. Run, bounce, chant, and battle humongous bosses with a friendor family member in this beautifully animated, lighthearted adventure.
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
Sega adds Nightmare and Novice difficulty levels to Alien: Isolation
Creative Assembly has said time and again that the guiding design principle behind Alien: Isolation is that the Xenomorph should be thought of as an unstoppable force of nature that cannot be killed. Instead, the developer went back to the roots of the film franchise and encouraged players to evade the star beast and pray they remain undetected.
But things are about to get much easier for all the Alien: Isolation players out there as Sega and Creative Assembly have made a new “Novice” difficulty level available as part of the game’s latest update. But what if you’re part of the vocal contingent that wants the Xenomorph to be more diabolical and even harder to hide from? You might be interested in the brand new “Nightmare” difficulty level that makes things considerably tougher:
One of the most requested features from fans, Nightmare Mode ramps up the difficulty to a frightening level. Gamers with a strong disposition are challenged to venture into Sevastopol Station with a broken motion tracker featuring a distorted display and unreliable information. Resources are limited, androids and survivors are more deadly and the map systems have gone offline. The Alien AI has been upgraded, ramping up its aggression to punishing levels. It’s more adaptive, learning players’ tactics faster, has heightened senses and will give players no ‘second chance’ encounters. Nightmare Mode is the ultimate Alien experience.
The “Novice” and “Nightmare” difficulty levels are part of a free update that is available today for Alien: Isolation on every platform (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One).
Watch the music video for Paul McCartney’s Destiny song right here
Paul McCartney’s involvement was one of the first things we officially learned about Bungie’s Destiny. Since then, those that have played the game have discovered that the ex-Beatle is responsible for the game’s main theme, “Hope For the Future.”
Yesterday, Sir Paul released a music video of the song for everyone to enjoy and it’s… well… let’s just say Obi-Wan Kenobi would be proud.
The video drops McCartney onto the surface of Mars and Venus while characters from the game sit back and listen to his performance. There’s no lighters, but then, there’s no McCartney either. He appears in the video as a hologram that looks an awful lot like Alec Guinness in Star Wars.
The timing couldn’t have been better as Destiny’s first expansion, The Dark Below, is available to download today.
CD Projekt moves The Witcher 3’s release to May 19, 2015
According to CD Projekt, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the “most important” game they’ve ever created. Naturally, such a complicated endeavor can quickly spin out of control, requiring additional effort to get all the pieces in place. And it looks like that’s exactly what happened to Geralt’s latest adventure.
After previously pushing the game’s release from “Late 2014” to February 24, 2015, the developer has announced plans to delay The Witcher 3 yet again. The game will now be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 19, 2015.
In a statement to fans, CD Pojekt’s board offered an apology for the delay and said, “We set the release date too hastily.” You can find the full statement after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt