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
Black Tusk’s Studio Manager says Gears of War 4 needs to get back to franchise’s roots
Rod Fergusson, the Studio Manager at Gears of War 4 developer Black Tusk Studios, wants to reintroduce the Gears of War franchise to its roots. The developer relayed fears that the franchise has lost its way to Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s Xbox Division, who in turn discussed the future of the series with IGN on their Podcast Unlocked podcast:
The Head of Xbox told IGN that, in discussions with Rod Fergusson, who’s in charge of Gears of War at Black Tusk Studios, he’s talked about Gears of War becoming “a parody of itself” over time. “Not for any horrible reasons,” but because managing success over time is challenging.
Spencer and Fergusson have also discussed “getting back to something,” he continued. “I think [about] the story and the setting and what they’re going through as a band. Gears of War, the name really meant something to what that game was about. We need to get back to that.” He also reiterated that the next Gears of War is not a reboot.
If anyone understands the soul of the Gears of War franchise, its Fergusson. Before leaving Irrational late last year, the developer was employed by Epic and contributed to the first three Gears of War games.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Gears of War 4
Xbox Store Today: Shadow Warrior, Voice Commander
Did you know that Microsoft runs an internal group for “hackers, makers, artists, tinkerers, musicians, and inventors” known as the Microsoft Garage? And that this “community” of interns and employees has been given free reign to turn their “wild ideas” into workable applications?
If you own an Xbox One, you definitely know all about Microsoft Garage now. Several members of the development team got together to produce Voice Commander, a group game that combines real-time strategy with overhead shooting as eight players man controllers while the rest of the crowd controls the action with voice commands. Best of all, it’s free to download.
Also available for the Xbox One today is Shadow Warrior, Flying Wild Hog’s reboot of 3D Realms’ wild first person shooter of the same name. Lo Wang is back and he’s going to use “a masterful combination of gun, blade, magic and wit” to combat a demonic invasion.
More information about both games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Shadow Warrior
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round will be released in February 2015
Koei Tecmo has announced that the third, and final, re-release of Dead or Alive 5 will be released in February. Dead or Alive 5: Last Round will be available on February 17 for the PS4 and Xbox One (as a digital download and a retail disc) and the PS3 and Xbox 360 (as a digital download only).
Last Round will also be available on the PS4 and Xbox One as a free-to-play version known as the “Core Fighters” edition. “Core Fighters” on the PS4 will launch with four fighters freely unlocked (Ayane, Hayate, Kasumi, and Ryu Hayabusa) with additional fighters, modes, and other features available as paid add-ons. The Xbox One edition will be expandable in the same way, but first players must purchase an extended character pack (including Hitomi, Tina, Jann Lee, and Bass) priced at $4.99.
For those looking to pre-purchase the entire game, Koei Tecmo will offer three pre-order packs through GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy. GameStop will offer buyers the “Ninja Costume Pack” (for Ayane, Hayabusa, Hayate, and Kasumi) and the “Aloha Costume Pack” (for Ayane, Hitomi, Kasumi, and Mila). Amazon will give purchasers access to the “Showstopper Costume Pack” (for Christie, Helena, Lisa, and Tina) while Best Buy will offer the “Beach Party Costume Pack” (for Kokoro, Leifang, Momiji, and Rachel).
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round will be priced at $29.99 on the PS3 and Xbox 360 and $39.99 on the PS4 and Xbox One.
Outlast 2 announced by Red Barrels
Speaking to Bloody Disgusting, Red Barrels co-founder Philippe Morin confirmed that the development company is hard at work on Outlast 2.
Outlast 2 won’t return to the Mount Massive Asylum featured in Outlast, nor will it bring back that game’s star, Miles Upshur. Instead, Morin confirmed it will have “different characters and a different setting,” though it will be set in the same universe:
The game will be a survival horror experience and it will take place in the same universe as Outlast, but it will have different characters and a different setting. We might go back to Mount Massive Asylum one day, but for now we have new ideas and themes we’d like to explore and we think we’re cooking up something special.
It’s currently unknown what platforms it’ll be available for or when it’ll be released, but Morin says it might be a while: “We’re still a small indie studio (12 people), so we’ll need a little bit of time to ship our next game, but hopefully it will be worth it.”
UPDATE: VG247 is reporting that whenever Outlast 2 is released, it’ll be released simultaneously for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Sunset Overdrive launches next week… so here’s a launch trailer
Insomniac’s Sunset Overdrive launches next week, so now is the perfect time to sit back and enjoy the game’s launch trailer. The trailer hits a lot of the same beats as previous Sunset Overdrive trailers, but this one features projectile puking and a smug jackass getting punched in the face by a mutant. So give it a watch.
Sunset Overdrive will be available exclusively for the Xbox One next week on October 28. A special Sunset Overdrive system bundle (with a spiffy-looking white Xbox One) will also be available on the same day.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Sunset Overdrive
Warner Bros. is creating a Mortal Kombat X tie-in web series
It’s unlikely we’ll ever get to see Mortal Kombat: Legacy III now that Kevin Tancharoen has departed the web series that became an Internet sensation after the director publicly released a proof-of-concept short by accident. But Warner Bros. is picking up the slack with the creation of a new Direct-To-Internet production house, Blue Ribbon Content.
Blue Ribbon’s first project will be a live-action web series that ties in to the story of the upcoming Mortal Kombat X. Like the game, it will pick up after the events of 2011’s Mortal Kombat and “[showcase] some of the franchise’s most storied characters, [as well as] introducing a new generation of fighters.” As of now, Warner Bros. isn’t ready to reveal who they have in mind for the cast or the director’s chair.
Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on April 14, 2015. Presumably, this new web series will be released in a similar timeframe.
Posted in Etcetera, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat: Legacy
Kickstart This! Elegy For A Rough Year Edition
Analysts from ICO Partners recently reported that donations to video game projects on Kickstarter have seen a dramatic decline. They estimate that by the end of 2014, $27 million will have been pledged, compared to $58 million at the end of the previous year. A 50% reduction makes for grim reading if you are a game developer looking to launch a project, though it should be noted that 2014 is lacking in many of the big name campaigns that were launched in 2013.
Perhaps the bubble has already burst, or perhaps people have become pickier about which projects they participate in, disenfranchised by the multitude of disreputable characters who have tried time and again to launch projects with no aim of actually keeping their promises. As Evil As A Hobby discovered during their broad analysis back in January 2014, only one in three game projects launched between 2009 and 2012 delivered a finished product and accompanying rewards.
As I was finishing up this month’s edition of Kickstart This!, Boston-based Dejobaan Games reached their funding goal for Elegy For A Dead World, “a game about writing fiction,” according to the official description. It is awe-inspiring in its art design, offering a uniquely free reign in crafting the story of the game itself. Thankfully, there are more projects worthy of bringing to your attention. And that’s the point. There will always be great games begging to be made. If there is less money out there, it means less great games, but perhaps it will also add some quality control to a system untamed by accountability.
Unfortunately, the game’s deadline did not meet my own (although I did go on Twitter and rave about it). Thankfully, there are more projects worthy of bringing to your attention. And that’s the point. There will always be great games begging to be made. If there is less money out there, it means less great games, but perhaps it will also add some quality control to a system untamed by accountability.
We kick things off with side-scrolling puzzle shooter Red Cobra, survival adventure Impact Winter, and sci-fi survival horror Extract 237. After that, there is mech vombat MOBA Voxelfield, and last, but not least, The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça and Pizza Boy.
Yes, that last one is real. (more…)
Xbox Store Today: Fantasia: Music Evolved, The Legend of Korra, Just Dance 2015, more
There’s all kinds of fighting available in this week’s Xbox Games Store update. Today’s releases include kung fu fighting, dance fighting, and zombie dance fighting. OK, there’s no zombie dance fighting in The Walking Dead Season 2, but here’s what you can find on the Xbox Games Store as of today:
- Fantasia: Music Evolved (Xbox One, Xbox 360) – Harmonix is back with a new Kinect-powered musical adventure… and this one is based on Disney’s Fantasia.
- The Legend of Korra (Xbox One, Xbox 360) – Activision and Platinum Games have teamed up to release the first game based on the popular animated series.
- Just Dance 2015 (Xbox One, Xbox 360) – Ubisoft’s popular dancing franchise is back for another encore. Now with even more Ariana Grande.
- The Walking Dead Season 2 (Xbox One) – The second season of Telltale’s post-apocalyptic saga makes the leap to the Xbox One.
- F1 2014 (Xbox 360) – Codemasters is back with another Formula One simulation.
More information about all of these games (and many more) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Fantasia: Music Evolved, Just Dance 2015, The Legend of Korra