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)
All Articles: PC
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.”
If it bleeds… Call of Duty: Ghosts Devastation Pack will feature the Predator
“You are one ugly mother…”
After resurrecting Michael Myers for the Onslaught Map Pack, Infinity Ward has revealed plans to bring a second horror icon to Call of Duty: Ghosts through the magic of downloadable content. A short teaser video posted to the official Call of Duty Instagram account gave us the briefest of glimpses of the Predator prowling the “Ruins” map from the upcoming Devastation Pack. And to make sure we know they’re serious, the developer even tagged the video with the film’s most famous quote: “If it bleeds…”
The teaser video has been embedded after the break, but don’t expect Arnold Schwarzenegger to save you this time. The Devastation Map Pack will be available to download for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 on April 3. The pack is expected to be released for the PC, PS3, and PS4 in early May. (more…)
Oculus VR acquired by Facebook for $2 billion
When the consumer version of the Oculus Rift ships sometime in the near future, it’ll come complete with a big Facebook logo as Mark Zuckerberg’s technology empire has purchased Oculus VR for $2 billion. Somewhere, Jesse Eisenberg is jumping for joy as his future portrayal of Lex Luthor just got a lot more credible.
I kid, I kid, but Zuckerberg plans to expand the Rift’s focus beyond games to also include “communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas.”
“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” Zuckerberg said. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”
Speaking to Polygon, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey said that the deal will enable the company to procure better components at a keeper price and, ultimately, deliver a better version of the Rift: “There are things that piles of cash and having a $100 billion plus company behind you can do that you can’t do on your own. Overall, it’s going to be a better product at a lower price.”
However, not everyone is happy with the news. Markus “Notch” Persson revealed that he was in talks with Oculus to develop a version of Minecraft for the virtual reality headset. But he later tweeted that that deal is now dead because he finds Facebook “creepy.” An expansion on his thought process can be found on his official website.
So what’s next for Oculus? According to a Reddit post by Luckey, “We can make huge investments in content.”
Robotoki will use CryEngine to develop Human Element for PC, PS4, Xbox One
Robotoki and Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward’s former Community Manager, are hard at work on Human Element, their first game. Yesterday, Bowling confirmed that Human Element will be developed using Crytek’s CryEngine as well revealed the game’s launch plans.
Human Element is currently in development for the PC and will be released in November 2015 (so says Bowling via Twitter). In addition to the PC version, the game is in the works for next-generation consoles (specifically the PS4 and Xbox One), but it is unknown when the console edition will be available. A mobile spinoff of the open world game where players are tasked with rebuilding the world 35 years after a zombie uprising is also in development.
“The ambitious narrative and gameplay of Human Element required an innovative set of features in order to achieve our vision.” said Bowling. “CryEngine is the perfect fit for us because it delivers so many powerful features straight out of the box such as the physical based shading system and the infinite terrain from segmented worlds to create a massive open world experience but still allow the visual fidelity and detail our players expect from a first person experience from our team.”
Bowling also confirmed (again via Twitter) that a Human Element prequel originally in development for the Ouya has been canceled.
Batman: Arkham Origins will include hardcore “I Am the Night” Mode
Warner Bros. Montreal is definitely taking the “Origins” part of Batman: Arkham Origins seriously. Speaking to Eurogamer at this weekend’s Eurogamer Expo, Producer Guillaume Voghel confirmed that the “Initiation” DLC pack will send Bruce Wayne to Asia as part of his ninja training with the martial arts master Kirigi. The DLC will be the first time any part of the Arkham games take place outside Gotham City.
“It’s when he learned to be a ninja and learned those techniques. He goes to a monastery – custom content was created for the DLC. You’ll be in Asia in the monastery. The team did a great job on that, it looks really good,” said Voghel.
Voghel also talked a bit about the game’s “I Am the Night” Mode, an extremely hardcore test of Batman’s heroic abilities that opens up after players complete the main game and the New Game Plus campaign. In “I Am the Night,” players will have to complete the game’s entire 12-hour campaign using a single life.
You can find out if you’re up to the challenge when Batman: Arkham Origins is released for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on October 25.