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
Challenge The Stig’s Digital Cousin in Forza Motorsport 5
Fans of the BBC import Top Gear know all about The Stig. The mysterious character in the white racing suit never blinks, is wanted by the CIA, and yadda yadda yadda. He is probably better known than the show’s hosts (Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May) and he sets near-impossible lap times on the program’s Test Track. And if you purchase Forza Motorsport 5 for the Xbox One, you’ll be able to challenge his “Digital Cousin” to a race.
Forza Motorsport 5 and the Xbox One will launch on November 22. The Stig is waiting.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Forza Motorsport 5
Assassin’s Creed IV: Freedom Cry expansion announced; DLC not setting sail for Wii U
Despite the recent sales surge and more positive outlook of Nintendo’s home console thanks to the likes of Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101 and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Ubisoft has confirmed that Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will not receive any post-release downloadable content on the Wii U.
The company has revealed there will be a number of post-launch releases for all other versions (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One), including multiplayer characters and customisable items. Not only that, but the publisher is working on a massive expansion to the single-player campaign that takes the story in a new direction. Entitled Freedom Cry, it focuses on Adewale, a former slave serving as a crew member under Edward Kenway on his ship, the Jackdaw. Freedom Cry will allow players to control Adewale as he gathers his own crew with the goal of freeing the slaves from the Dominican Republic port of Saint Dominique as it further pushes the Assassin’s Creed series forward in dealing with major historical events and themes in human history that others shy away from. The trailer for Freedom Cry, which mixes real footage and gameplay, can be viewed above.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be released for current-gen consoles on October 29 with next-generation and PC editions of the game available in November.
[Source: Venture Beat]
Learn more about “Squads” in this Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer
Activision has released a new trailer detailing the “Squads” feature of Call of Duty: Ghosts‘ multiplayer. Check it out:
Squads introduces a whole new level of competition to Call of Duty: Ghosts. Combining the unrivaled Multiplayer experience with cutting edge AI, Squads lets you play a variety of new game modes with your customized squad-mates. Play solo against another player and their squad, or cooperatively with friends, competing versus an AI-controlled squad. Best of all, the XP earned in Squads is directly connected to your Multiplayer progress!
Call of Duty: Ghosts will be released for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on November 15. A PS4 edition will follow on November 15 and an Xbox One version will be available on November 22.
Bungie will release Destiny in Spring 2014; early 2014 beta planned
It is your destiny to watch this brand new Destiny trailer, dubbed “The Moon,” and to learn that Bungie plans to release their ambitious new shooter in Spring 2014 for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
But first, the developer plans to hold a beta test in the first few months of 2014 for the game’s online features and (almost) everyone who pre-orders is invited. The beta will be available on all platforms, but you have to pre-order the game from a participating set of retailers (Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, or Walmart) to receive your access code.
Harold Ryan, Bungie’s President, is very excited about the beta’s possibilities: “From day one Destiny has been an incredibly bold vision that Activision shares with Bungie. Destiny is a massive universe that is populated by the players, and for that reason we need fans to get their hands on the game, fans all around the world. We can’t wait!”
Even though the beta was announced yesterday, everyone who has already pre-ordered Destiny from the list of approved retailers will receive beta access.
First PS4/Xbox One trailer for Madden NFL 25 showcases “10X the Detail”
EA Sports wants you to know that Madden NFL 25 on the PS4 and Xbox One is pretty. In fact, it’s so pretty because of the “Next Definition Visuals,” “High Fidelity Animations,” “10X the Detail,” and “4X the Texture Resolution” that are apparently impossible on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
See it for yourself by watching the trailer above and be sure to visit EA Sports’ “Next Generation of Presentation site” if you’re interested in learning more behind-the-scenes secrets and looking at a few more very pretty screenshots of Madden NFL 25.
Posted in News, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Madden NFL 25
Mighty No. 9 is coming to PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, Vita too
With a little over ten hours left in their Kickstarter campaign, Keiji Inafune and his team at Comcept have announced several huge developments for Mighty No. 9. The total pledge amount currently sits at $3.4 million, which means that a PS4 and Xbox One version of the game is a go. And rather than waste any time, they’ve gone ahead and unlocked the 3DS/Vita stretch goal as well. So for those scoring at home, Mighty No. 9 will be released for the PC (Windows, Mac, Linux), PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and Vita sometime in 2015. That’s amazing.
But rather than rest on his laurels, Inafune has revealed new stretch goals. If Mighty No. 9 reaches $3.8 million, the team will add an optional retro-style chiptune soundtrack to the game’s Settings menu. Finally, if the campaign reaches $4 million, Mighty No. 9 will include an Online Battle Race Mode.
What does that mean? Well… “You and a friend compete online, racing to the end of slightly customized versions of single-player stages. You can see your rival as a “ghost” image in your game, but you can’t affect each other… save for the enemies you defeat being sent over to impede your opponent’s progress!”
Wow. Time to up my pledge again.
Comcept reveals Mighty No. 9 test video as Kickstarter campaign nears end
Keiji Inafune’s Kickstarter campaign for his spiritual successor to Mega Man, Mighty No. 9, has a little more than one day left on the clock. The campaign is more than 300% funded, but Inafune and his team still have a few surprises in store for us.
First, he posted the “Test Video” that you can view above. The short video clip showcases Mighty No. 9 walking, jumping, and shooting thanks to the game’s newly chosen development environment, the Unreal Engine. Inafune was quick to stress that the video is a very early taste of what Mighty No. 9 could look like and it will have no bearing on the final game. That said, it looks awesome and I’ve replayed the 13-second clip over and over again.
Inafune also revealed that Takashi Tateishi, the composer behind Mega Man II‘s memorable tunes, will be lending his musical talents to Mighty No. 9.
Finally, Mighty No. 9 is ridiculously close to reaching the PS4/Xbox One stretch goal. Less than $200,000 separates Inafune’s passion project from a next-generation console debut. Be sure to check back tomorrow to find out if Mighty No. 9 it makes it. And, of course, you can always bump up your pledge to help the game reach its goal. You’ve already donated, right?
Microsoft reveals first details of Xbox One exclusive D4 at TGS 2013
The Tokyo Game Show might just be a memory now, but did you know Microsoft used the Japanese games showcase to introduce Swery65’s episodic Xbox One game, D4, to the world? Briefly glimpsed at this year’s E3 Expo, Microsoft revealed that its full title will be D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die and that the game will make extensive use of the Kinect sensor.
Microsoft’s Xbox Wire went straight to Swery65 to learn more about the enigmatic game:
Can you tell us a bit more about the story and core gameplay mechanics?
Swery65: The main character of the story is David Young, a private detective. Two years ago, someone killed his wife. He lost his memories of the incident, but in exchange, he received the ability to travel into the past. He uses this ability to crack cases to lead him closer to the truth about his wife’s death, and if possible, to find a way to save her life.
As I said, you’ll definitely want to hop over to the Xbox Wire if you want to learn how D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die uses the Kinect sensor.