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
- 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
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
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 Retail Releases: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna, Scribblenauts Mega Pack, Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk, More
Even though we’re still only in September, the avalanche of new games continues this week. But it looks like we’ll get a bit of a breather over the next seven days…
Leading the way forward (and backward, technically) is Nintendo’s Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country. Taking place 500 years in the past, this standalone adventure for the Switch serves as a prequel to the consolemaker’s massive action RPG, and asks players to guide a group of legendary warriors on a journey through the tragic history that doomed a kingdom.
If you’re looking for something a little lighter this week, WB Games is serving up another entry in the Scribblenauts series, and will re-release Scribblenauts Unlimited and Scribblenauts Unmasked for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One as part of the Scribblenauts Mega Pack.
NIS America is delving deep into the darkest dungeons once again with the release of Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk, a turn-based RPG for the PS4 and Switch. The game will also be available to download for the PC.
And finally this week, Stoic Studio will package together the three games in the Banner Saga series for the Switch as The Banner Saga Trilogy.
A complete list of this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Hollow Knight will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One on September 25
Team Cherry has announced (via their official website) that Hollow Knight will be available to download for the PS4 and Xbox One beginning on September 25.
The new Voidheart Edition will include the original game, as well as the four downloadable expansions previously released for the PC and Switch:
The original award winning action-adventure. Journey through vast lands. Defeat over 150 deadly foes, including over 40 epic bosses. Power-up with startling new skills and abilities.
4 giant Content Packs, built in at launch, expanding the game with all new quests, terrifying boss fights and striking new abilities. Hours of additional content, additional challenges and additional bugs (the insect kind!). That’s Hidden Dreams, The Grimm Troupe, Lifeblood, and the colossal Godmaster.
A physical version of Hollow Knight will be published by Skybound Games, and that should be available on store shelves early next year.
Posted in News, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged Hollow Knight
Bandai Namco will release Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition on January 11, 2019
Bandai Namco has announced that Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition will be available in stores on January 11, 2019. The re-release is currently in development for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, and will include “upscaled screen resolution as well as characters, events, and additional content never released outside of Japan.”
The publisher also plans to release a special Anniversary Bundle of the game (packed with exclusive collectibles featuring Yuri Lowell, Patty Fleur, Flynn Scifo, and Repede) through the Bandai Namco Official Store for the PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
Tales of Vesperia was originally released exclusively for the Xbox 360 back in 2008, and the RPG will be celebrating its 11th anniversary next year.
New Retail Releases: Shadow of the Tomb Raider, NBA 2K19, NHL 19, More
Lara Croft returns this week, and PS4 and Xbox One owners will be able to pick up the Limited Steelbook Edition or Croft Steelbook Edition of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The finale to the “Origin Trilogy” will also be available to download for the PC.
Sports fans will also get the chance to dig into a few new titles this week, as 2K Sports will launch NBA 2K19 for the PC (download only) PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. The publisher also teamed up with Microsoft to give prospective Xbox One purchasers the chance to jump right in with the Xbox One S 1TB Console + NBA 2K19 Bundle or the Xbox One X 1TB Console + NBA 2K19 Bundle. And don’t worry, EA Sports won’t be giving sports fans the cold shoulder, and that’s because NHL 19 will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Switch owners will be able to put their crafting skills to the test this week with the release of Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit, the third Labo set from the consolemaker. This time around, players will be able to build a vehicle that transforms between a Car, a Submarine, and a Plane with the included key.
And if you still purchase your PC games on DVD, THQ Nordic will reissue several games previously published by Microsoft this week, including ReCore: Definitive Edition, Super Lucky’s Tale, Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection, and a few others.
A full rundown of this week’s new retail release can be found after the break.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Tagged NBA 2K19, NHL 19, Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit, ReCore, Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout Mode will include zombies, vehicles, and 80 players
With the beta test for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4‘s Blackout Mode set to begin next week, Activision has reached out to Game Informer to share a few details about their take on the battle royale genre.
According to the magazine, Blackout Mode will support 80 players during the beta and at launch, though developers from Treyarch said that number could change in the future: “So we’re starting with 80 players, but we’ve gone higher than that. Whenever we launch a game as a beta or whatever, that’s the beginning of something. We’re going to actively be participating in the community and taking feedback, making changes and adapting, evolving the game as feedback rolls in. So there’s a lot that can go on that can happen beyond that first impact of the game going out there.”
The publisher and developer also shared a brief glimpse at the first set of vehicles that players will be able to commandeer in Blackout. A Cargo Truck (which holds five players) and an ATV (which holds two) will be the ground options, but four players will also be able to travel by sea in a Zodiac Inflatable Boat, while five can take to the air in a Little Bird Helicopter.
Finally, Activision confirmed that zombies will play a big role in Blackout, though we won’t know exactly how they work until the beta begins.
But speaking of the Blackout Mode beta, the publisher revealed the schedule for the upcoming online test on the game’s official website:
PlayStation 4 (Private Beta)
START: Monday, September 10 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
END: Monday, September 17 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)Xbox One (Private Beta)
START: Friday, September 14 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
END: Monday, September 17 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)PC (Private Beta)
START: Friday, September 14 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
END: Saturday, September 15 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)PC (Open Beta)
START: Saturday, September 15 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
END: Monday, September 17 at 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on October 12.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
Casual Bit Games shares a new trailer from Battle Princess Madelyn’s Arcade Mode
Casual Bit Games delivered the “August 2018 Development Update” for Battle Princess Madelyn to Kickstarter backers over the weekend, and they also gave fans their first look at the game’s Arcade Mode:
There are seven levels in arcade mode, and 11 boss fights – two of them being end-of-the-game gauntlet fights. These levels come at you like you would expect – relentlessly but in a fair sorta way. They’re definitely not a walk in the park, but those o you who have good reflexes will find themselves right at home with this more demanding version of the gameplay.
The levels are a mash-up of the three main stages in story mode. We’ve picked our favorite levels and turned them into the levels contained within this mode. In Arcade Mode there are less hidden items and no puzzles to get around, so it’s straight up Ghouls ‘n Ghosts style action, presented in our own way.
The bosses have been tweaked to be harder, but with less hit points in order to balance out the play time in these levels. Enemies have been tuned differently to be a little more spot-on with their abilities compared to how they behave in Story Mode.
Battle Princess Madelyn doesn’t have a final release date just yet, but the game will be available for the PC, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Vita, and Xbox One.
The Games of September 2018
It’s Labor Day here in the US, but we’re busy working hard to catalog all of September’s biggest upcoming game releases. And there are a lot of them.
Like everyone else, the Warp Zoned staff is very much looking forward to Sony and Insomniac’s new take on Spider-Man. But we’re also excited to get our hands on Square Enix’s massive new RPG, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age; Team17’s alien adventure, Planet Alpha; Crystal Dynamics’s “Young Lara Croft” finale, Shadow of the Tomb Raider; and Nintendo’s standalone RPG expansion, Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country.
You can find out why each of these games has us so excited after the break. (more…)
New Retail Releases: Spider-Man, Dragon Quest XI, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, More
Summer is (unofficially) over and we’ve reached the fine month of September. But this calendar flip is also wrapped up in the very official start to the “Holiday Shopping Season” and game publishers have begun stocking store shelves with a bumper crop of new games this week. Ready? Because here we go…
Sony and Insomniac Games are starting things off in a big way with the long-anticipated release of Spider-Man. The PS4-exclusive aims to take the wallcrawler’s video game adventures in a new direction, and Sony is giving non-PS4 owners an easy in with the Limited Edition Spider-Man PS4 Pro 1TB bundle.
Another staltwart video game franchise will get a new lease on life this week, as Square Enix is gearing up to launch Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age for the PS4 (and digitally for the PC). The massive turn-based RPG will include (as always) dozens of hours of gameplay and artwork by Akira Toriyama.
Over on the Xbox One, Microsoft has teamed up with PUBG Corp to launch the “Full Product Release Edition” of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Unlike the earlier retail package for the battle royale game, this version includes a fully-updated copy of the game on a disc.
This Fall’s NBA season won’t tip off until the end of October, but 2K Games and EA Sports don’t want to wait. Both publishers will release their new basketball simulations, NBA 2K19: 20th Anniversary Edition for the PC (download-only), PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and NBA Live 19 for the PS4 and Xbox One, later this week.
A decidedly different kind of competition will take place in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, but the one-on-one fighting game will launch for the Switch this week (and on the PS4 as a PS Store-exclusive). And Bungie will crank up the action in Destiny 2 with the game’s first major expansion for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, Destiny 2: Forsaken.
Finally this week, a slew of other titles will also be added to store shelves, including Hinterland’s The Long Dark (PS4, Xbox One), 704 Games’s NASCAR Heat 3 (PS4, Xbox One), Konami’s Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – Mars (PS4), Monomi Park’s Slime Rancher (PS4, Xbox One), and Nicalis’s Blade Strangers (PS4, Switch). NASCAR Heat 3 and Blade Strangers will both also be available to download for the PC.
A full rundown of this week’s new retail release can be found after the break.