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
Crytek plans to release first Homefront 2 details soon; release date delay likely
Crytek’s purchase of the Homefront franchise hasn’t impacted the development of Homefront 2. In fact, Crytek UK General Manager Nick Button-Brown confirmed (in an interview with VG247) that executives within the company want to unveil a more revealing look at Homefront 2 sooner rather than later. But, Button-Brown also confirmed that the title might be delayed due to Crytek’s desire to create the best game possible:
“Crytek’s focus is fairly similar to THQ’s -namely to make the best game possible. So this will not have too much impact on the development itself. However, we might change the release date that we haven’t announced, and move this to another release date we won’t announce yet either.”
THQ originally revealed Homefront 2’s existence (and Crytek’s involvement with the sequel) back in September 2011. At that point, the game had a late 2013/early 2014 release date. But due to THQ’s financial problems and the title’s eventual acquisition by Crytek, it’s now best to think of Homefront 2 as a “when it’s done” game.
Microsoft: Halo 5 is currently “technologically agnostic”
Frank O’Connor, the Franchise Development Director at 343 Industries, recently sat down with The Seattle Times to discuss next week’s launch of Halo 4. Towards, the end of the interview, the conversation naturally turned to Halo 5. O’Connor was not shy about revealing that development on the game has already begun, but he was less clear on if it’s coming to the Xbox 360 or the (still unannounced) Xbox 720.
Seattle Times: You’re presumably working on the next version — “Halo 5” or whatever it’s going to be called will be the anchor tenant on the next version of the Xbox, right?
O’Connor: We’ve done as much prototyping and storytelling [on] the future arc of the universe as we have on technology. So we’re definitely working on the future but in some ways it’s technologically agnostic at this point.
Halo 5’s existence was first revealed at E3 2011, when O’Connor himself announced that Halo 4 would mark the “dawn of a new trilogy for the Xbox 360.” If Halo 5’s status is truly “technologically agnostic,” it might actually be in development for both the Xbox 360 and Microsoft’s next generation system. A dual Xbox 360/Xbox 720 release wouldn’t be the craziest idea ever and actually makes a lot of sense from a business standpoint.
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Halo 5: Guardians
Agni’s Philosophy might be a real next-gen game, will reappear next June
Square Enix debuted Agni’s Philosophy, a technical demo showcasing the power of their next-gen Luminous Engine, at E3 2012. The mini-movie was heavily based on themes found in the Final Fantasy series and was a glorious display of graphical power. Go on, watch it again, I’ll wait.
Ready? Good. Usually, these tech demos from Square Enix don’t amount to anything. Just think back to the HD rendition of Final Fantasy VII‘s introduction they presented at E3 2005. But comments from Julien Merceron, Square Enix’s Worldwide Technology Director, point to a better future for Agni’s Philosophy.
He told French site Final Fantasy Dream: “So, around June of next year, there will indeed be something different around Agni’s Philosophy, which will perhaps be presented on different platforms than those which have been used before. I cannot tell you more, but I can tell you that it will not run on PC only.”
Wow. So, Agni’s Philosophy might be a real game and it’ll make a return appearance next June. It’s possibly in development for more than the PC and on platforms we haven’t seen before. Which means it’s very possible Merceron is referring to the Wii U, PS4/Orbis, and Xbox 720. I’ll say it again, wow.
Or it could be nothing, like all of Square Enix’s other tech demos.
Harmonix is gearing up for a next-gen “combat game”
Harmonix, a company best known for its musical franchises, such as Rock Band and Dance Central, is apparently moving in a brand new direction for its next title. A job advertisement on Gamasutra shows the company is actively seeking a “Combat Designer to create real-time, single-player combat experiences for a brand new IP on next-generation hardware.”
The ad is also seeking someone who can create “robust combat AI systems for minor and major combat encounters,” which certainly sounds a world away from the musical titles that have made the company’s name. Although never fear, Harmonix still needs to butter their bread and is rumored to be working on a pair of as-yet-untitled music projects for both the 3DS and PS Vita.
THQ begins work on four unannounced projects
Amidst all the doom and gloom of yesterday’s quarterly financial presentation, THQ President Jason Rubin announced that the company has started production on four new games in the last two months, spread out across its internal development studios. These will all be “triple A” titles, and will likely be released for the next generation of consoles, and, of course, the PC.
Rubin said, “THQ has talented studios, strong intellectual property, and is now nimble enough to navigate the complexities and take advantage of a marketplace in transition. Beyond our announced titles, in the last 60 days all four of our internal studios began working on new titles that represent the type of product that we believe will make THQ successful in the future.”
This announcement came about during the same presentation where Rubin announced that THQ canceled development on Insane, the first game in the Guillermo Del Toro horror trilogy.
So what games are they working on? Well, they’re unannounced, but hopefully they’ve already started turning Saints Row: The Third – Enter the Dominatrix into Saints Row 4.
[Source: Computer and Video Games]
Paul McCartney writing music for Bungie’s next game
Earlier this year, Sir Paul McCartney revealed that he was composing music for an unnamed developer. After everyone got over the shock of a former Beatle working on a video game, we all kind of put it out of our minds. There were actual games to be played after all.
But over the weekend, McCartney dropped a bomb. The unnamed developer that he’s working with is actually Bungie. That’s right, Bungie, the creators of the Halo series:
“I’m really excited to be working on writing music with @bungie, the studio that made Halo.” – Paul twitter.com/PaulMcCartney/…
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) July 7, 2012
While the game he’s composing went unmentioned, we can assume that it has something to do with Destiny, Bungie’s sci-fi shooter for the Xbox 360, PS3 and next-generation systems. I guess we don’t know that for sure, but something tells me Paul McCartney didn’t just drop by the Bungie offices to hang out.
Rumor: Internal Xbox 720 memo outs 2013 release, Kinect V2, AR glasses, cloud gaming
UPDATE: The memo has been removed from Scribd at the request of Microsoft’s lawyers. While this move certainly lends credence to the “It’ real!” theory, it also makes perfect sense for Microsoft to remove a fake as well.
A 56-page memo that is purported to be an internal memo detailing their plans for the next Xbox has surfaced on Scribd. The document is pretty consistent with previous reports about what the Xbox 720 will contain. There’s just one problem, the document continuously refers to the system as the “Xbox 720,” which Microsoft executives have gone out of their way to avoid using.
Does that mean its fake? Not necessarily. But here’s what it claims:
- The Xbox 720 will launch in 2013 at $299. The system itself will be “six times” more powerful than the current Xbox 360 and include a Blu-ray drive, native 3D support, a built-in DVR, and hardware-based backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games.
- The system will also be bundled with a more advanced version of the Kinect sensor (Kinect V2).
- The console will also feature tablet-enhanced gaming, which echoes their E3 announcement of Xbox SmartGlass.
- “Fortaleza” augmented reality glasses will be available in 2014.
- And Cloud-based gaming on “any screen” will be available in 2015.
As I said, it’s not necessarily fake. And the extensive focus on Kinect titles over all else is a pretty good indicator that it’s real. But it’s also old (2011 is considered the future throughout the memo) and who knows if it’s anything more than a bored intern’s busywork.
E3 2013 will be very interesting, that’s all we really know for sure.
Agni’s Philosophy gives a glimpse at what Square Enix can do on next-gen systems
Agni’s Philosophy is not a game. Instead, it’s a mini-movie, produced by Square Enix, depicting what is possible on next-generation consoles and PCs. Like the Final Fantasy VII technical demo they created to showcase the PS3’s processing power, Agni’s Philosophy was designed to give gamers their first taste of the Luminous Engine, Square Enix’s multiplatform game creation tool.
Agni’s Philosophy includes many of the hallmarks of the Final Fantasy series inclduing a plucky young protagonist, Summons, crystals, and an ancient order that protects them. New to the series is an almost post-apocalyptic look to the world including modern trucks and terrorists wielding AK-47s.
There’s little chance that Agni’s Philosophy will enter full production for the PS4, Xbox 720 or Wii U (in fact, Square Enix’s history with tech demos almost assures it won’t), but it’s also a stunning piece of video with some nifty smoke, fire, and water effects.