Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- The Game Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Racks Up Nine Wins, Including “Game of the Year”, at the 2025 Game Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
All Articles: PC
Supergiant’s Transistor will be released on May 20
Supergiant Games has announced that Transistor, their followup to Bastion, will be released for the PC and PS4 on May 20. The developer has also announced that the science fiction-styled action RPG will carry a price of $19.99.
Supergiant plans to bring a “near-final build” of Transistor to this weekend’s PAX East convention and you can check a trio of new screenshots from this version of the game at their official website.
Posted in News
Tagged PC, PS4, Transistor
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel officially announced
The rumors are true! 2K Games, Gearbox Software, and 2K Australia have announced that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is officially in development. As expected, it will be released this Fall for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
The moon… jetpacks… Handsome Jack before his rise to power… everything that was hinted at in Monday’s leak is now official:
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is the newest entry in the critically acclaimed Borderlands franchise that is currently being co-developed by Gearbox Software and 2K Australia. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel continues the franchise’s tradition of industry-leading co-op, allowing up to four players to experience all-new low-gravity, shoot ‘n’ loot gameplay on Pandora’s moon. Featuring four new playable character classes armed with powerful laser and icy Cryo weapons, players will battle against an array of new enemies. Taking place in-between the events of Borderlands and Borderlands 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel showcases Handsome Jack’s transformation into the ruthless tyrant fans loved to hate in Borderlands 2.
In bridging Borderlands and Borderlands 2, The Pre-Sequel will reintroduce players to four characters they’ve already met, but who are playable for the first time:
- Athena, the Gladiator: Uses her Kinetic Aspis, which is a shield that can absorb incoming damage, then convert it back into energy to use against enemies. Athena made her debut in “The Secret Armory of General Knoxx” DLC for the first Borderlands game.
- Wilhelm, the Enforcer: Wilhelm was previously seen in Borderlands 2 as one of the first deadly bosses in the game.
- Nisha, the Lawbringer: The sheriff of Lynchwood from Borderlands 2, Nisha will be dealing out her own brand of justice, which we’ll discuss further in the coming months.
- Claptrap, the Fragtrap: Wait – Claptrap? The goofy robot companion from Borderlands 2, now playable for the first time? Fragtrap is his character class? Well, you can play him too!
Be sure to check out the trailer above for a first look at Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. And if you’re attending this weekend’s PAX East convention, 2K Games plans to showcase the game at their booth all throughout the entire show.
Posted in News
Tagged Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
New Wolfenstein: New Order trailer leaves us with “Nowhere to Run”
Bethesda has released a new trailer for the MachineGames-developed Wolfenstein: The New Order, which includes a short glimpse at some gameplay as well as another pass through the game’s Nazi-dominated timeline (soccer’s flopping problem has apparently been solved). And a little gunplay starts at about 1:56, giving us a look at some of B.J. Blazkowicz’s new weaponry. I spy a plasma cannon, a pair of dual-wielded machine guns, and a shotgun with a cutting torch attached to the front (perfect for punching out a makeshift murder hole).
Wolfenstein: The New Order will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 20. The game will also be playable at this weekend’s PAX East convention. And don’t forget, if you pre-order The New Order, you’ll receive guaranteed access to the Doom 4 beta.
Posted in News
Tagged PC, PS3, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Xbox 360
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel URL discovered; game rumored to be in development at 2K Aus
Back in February, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford told Polygon that Borderlands 3 is definitely not in development at the developer. But that doesn’t preclude a different team from working on a sorta-sequel.
British retailer GamePointsNow has revealed that they somehow learned that Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, a new game that takes place between the first and second games, is in development for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 at 2K Australia:
Set on the moon of Elpis and Hyperions ominous H shaped moon base, the game sees Handsome Jack in the days when he was just a humble programmer called John, hunting a powerful alien artefact (what else!!). Players will be able to select one of Jack/Johns four lieutenants to play as in Athena The Gladiator, Wilhelm The Enforcer, Nisha The Lawbringer and Fragtrap, a militarised claptrap.
Since Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel takes place on a moon, the lower gravity and lack of oxygen will effect combat in a big way. Players will be required to keep track of how much oxygen they have left (Doom 3 featured a similar mechanic) and enemies can be instantly incapacitated if they’re deprived of their air supply. The reduced gravity also opens up the game to jetpacks and encourages players to blast their foes into the stratosphere with a well-placed grenade. And what would a new Borderlands game be without a few new weapons? This set of Vault Hunters will be outfitted with Moonraker-like lasers (naturally) and a “Cryo” freeze ray.
GamePointsNow was unable to narrow down a release date for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, but they guessed that a Fall launch seems most reasonable as the game is said to be in development for previous-generation consoles. And with Gearbox more-than-likely set to announce a new game at PAX East 2014, I’m pretty confident the Pre-Sequel is a real thing.
Lending further truth to the rumor is a Whois lookup for BorderlandsThePreSequel.com. The highly unusual domain was registered on March 24, just in time for this weekend’s PAX East convention.
Posted in News
Tagged Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, PAX East 2014, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
4/1: Blizzard is NOT working on Happy Reaper, Blizzard Outcasts, StarCraft II: Herald of Stars
Blizzard has got a trio of April Fool’s Day pranks for your perusal.
Flappy Bird was a pretty big target this year and Blizzard used the prankster’s holiday as an excuse to create Happy Reaper, a Flappy Bird-like game starring the “Reaper of Souls” from Diablo III. You can read all about it at Blizzard’s blog, as well as try out “an exclusive first look” of Happy Reaper at the game’s official website.
Moving on, Blizzard also wanted to share their not-in-development new fighting game, Blizzard Outcasts: Vengeance of the Vanquished:
They’ve felt the cold steel of your blade so often, the pain it brings has become a comfort to them. They’ve watched their masterful schemes brought to ruin time and time again, and yet “surrender” remains the one line they refuse to cross. The luck they’ve had would make any good man bad, but still they keep going, unwavering, undeterred. They’re not your traditional heroes. They are survivors. They are fighters. They are Outcasts!
You can read all about the Outcasts at Blizzard’s blog and the official website (which is stocked with imaginary “screenshots” and “features”). A “teaser trailer” is also available above.
Finally, Blizzard announced (not really) the third, and final, entry in the StarCraft II saga, StarCraft II: Herald of the Stars. The absolutely insane announcement on Blizzard’s blog is full of choice nuggets like “Herald of the Stars […] can be played backwards, forwards, with any mission in any order, or not played at all, while still delivering the exact same life-affirming storyline” and “A dance editor? Yes. Sure! A dance editor!”
Now I really want to play a Blizzard-themed dance game.
Microsoft @ PAX East 2014: Project Spark, TitanFall, Super Time Force, more
Microsoft plans to have a huge presence at this year’s PAX East convention, but temper your expectations, as most of the games they’re bringing to the show are already available to all.
The centerpiece of the Xbox booth will be this Spring’s biggest game, TitanFall. It will be joined by cartoony shooter Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare (originally released in February), game creator Project Spark (which is currently available in open beta), and a quartet of launch games (Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, and Killer Instinct). Early April releases Kinect Sports Rivals and Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut will also be playable at the Microsoft booth.
As of right now, the only unreleased game Microsoft plans to show in its PAX East booth is Super Time Force. This leads me to guess that Super Time Force is probably going to be added to the Xbox Live Store pretty soon. Just a hunch.
More details on Microsoft’s PAX East 2014 plans for all of these titles are available after the break. You can also read all about the panels the consolemaker will be hosting, including a Project Spark panel, a TitanFall panel, and a live recording of Major Nelson’s podcast. (more…)
Tetropolis is a literal puzzle platformer that will be playable at PAX East 2014
A few weeks ago, I mused on the characters that inhabit our favorite puzzle games, including the belief of many Tetris players that the piece randomizer secretly has feelings. Apparently, the developers at NextGen Pants operate on the same wavelength as they’ve revealed Tetropolis, a literal “puzzle” platformer that stars a sentient Tetris piece rebelling against the piece randomizer:
Tetropolis is a nonlinear puzzle platformer set in a world obsessed with falling block puzzles. In the city of Tetropolis, thousands of game pieces are manufactured every minute in order to meet the demands of “the game.” You play as a squareshaped tetromino that has failed the quality check and has been discarded for not being perfect. Unlike other discarded pieces, you obtain the ability to change into different shapes, each one possessing its own unique ability that you can use to traverse the world.
In addition to Tetris (even the rooms themselves can be realigned like Tetris pieces), Tetropolis has taken plenty of inspiration from the “Metroidvania” genre of side-scrolling exploration games. Using your ability to change into different Tetris pieces, your Tetris piece will battle enemies, solve puzzles, obtain new abilities, and advance through the world.
Tetropolis sounds like my dream come true and it’ll be playable at the Indie Minibooth during this year’s PAX East expo on Sunday, April 13.
Posted in News
Tagged PAX East 2014, PC, Refactor
Alien: Isolation will be released on October 7
Several developers from Creative Assembly are currently on stage at the EGX Rezzed expo to give the gathered crowd a look at Alien: Isolation. In addition to showcasing their latest game, the developer has revealed that Alien: Isolation will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 7.
Alien: Isolation will be published by Sega and will star Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s character Ellen Ripley. Unlike most games based on the Alien saga, Alien: Isolation will skip the shooting and attempt to recreate the absolute terror of the original 1979 film. As such, the game will only include a single Xenomorph, which Creative Assembly wants to ensure is “scary.”