Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- 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
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC 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)
Author: John Scalzo
Monster World takes over this week’s Nintendo Download
Sega’s Monster World franchise takes over this week’s Nintendo Download as two games from the series (that were originally released on the Genesis) were added to the Virtual Console today. For Monster World IV, this is the first time it’s been available outside Japan.
Also in this week’s update there’s a DSiWare shooter and yet another rendition of Sudoku for the 3DS:
Sudoku by Nikoli (3DS eShop) – Enjoy 50 high-quality sudoku puzzles created by Nikoli, who gave the world-famous puzzle its name.
Paul’s Shooting Adventure 2 (DSiWare) – The player controls Paul and his brother, twins of a super hero family who were born with innate super powers. The two brothers have the ability to take flight and attack with powerful projectile energy.
Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Wii Virtual Console) – The once-beautiful kingdom of Wonder Land has been thrown into chaos by a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon called MEKA dragon. The dragon and his monstrous henchmen conquer the peaceful world, turning it into Monster Land.
Monster World IV (Wii Virtual Console) – For the first time outside of Japan, experience the final chapter in the classic Monster World series! One day, a young, green-haired girl names Asha, hears spirits calling out for help. Upon hearing the spirits, she leaves her village and sets forth on a grand adventure into Monster World.
Slow down time and watch the Max Payne 3 launch trailer
It has been nine long years since Max Payne last graced our game consoles and PC monitors. That’s nearly two lifetimes in the video game world. But all that changes next week when Rockstar releases Max Payne 3 on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Yup, Max is back, and he’s got the launch trailer to prove it.
So check out the trailer above and if you’re holding out for the PC version, remember that it launches on May 29.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Max Payne 3
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria on track for 2012 release
During Activision’s latest quarterly financial report, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime revealed that World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is on track for a 2012 release. The expansion was previously given a “when it’s done” release window by the company.
After talking a bit about the expansion’s beta test and the steady subscriber numbers of WoW, Morhaime casually mentioned that Mists of Pandaria will be out by the end of the year:
At the end of Q1, global subscribership for World of Warcraft remained at 10.2 million. Maintaining our subscriber levels puts us in a great position as we drive toward the launch of Mists of Pandaria later this year. We opened the beta in late March and have rapidly expanded testing through a good portion of our community, including the 1.2 million players who signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass.
Two Blizzard games in one year? That’s madness! But in case you were wondering, Morhaime didn’t have anything to say about StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm other than that the development team is still working on it.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged World of Warcraft
Hitman: Absolution targets November 20 release; Sniper Challenge officially announced
Square Enix has unleashed a double tap of Hitman: Absolution information today. First, they’ve tagged the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 game with a November 20 release date, putting Agent 47’s next mission at the tail-end of the Fall gaming frenzy.
But to assuage fans for that far-off release date, they’ve also officially announced Hitman: Sniper Challenge. The GameStop pre-order incentive was leaked a few days ago, so most of the details are already out there. But we now know that the fabulous prizes gamers will be competing for include in-game perks for Absolution such as “Controlled Breathing” and “Extended Clip.”
Oh, and a trip to Denmark to meet the team at IO Interactive (and have their likeness digitized into the next Hitman game) will be awarded to the top sniper. In-game unlockables are cool and all, but that’s a prize.
The Hitman: Sniper Challenge will be available to download on May 15 for anyone who pre-orders the PS3 or Xbox 360 version of Hitman: Absoluton from GameStop. PC players will be able to download it from Steam on August 1.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Hitman: Absolution
Nintendo will chop the price of DSi and DSi XL on May 20
In case you’re looking to buy another DS system, then Nintendo has a deal for you. They’re slashing the price of both models, the DSi and the DSi XL, on May 20.
A DSi is priced at $129.99 today, but starting May 20, potential purchasers will be able to walk into a store and plunk down just $99 for the handheld. This is traditionally known as the pricing “sweet spot” for game systems. At $99, it becomes less of an investment and more of an impulse buy. It’s also proof that the DSi won’t be around much longer as Nintendo is making the jump into completely supporting the 3DS.
However, if you prefer the bigger size of the DSi XL, that will still require $129.99 to purchase on May 20. But that’s still a huge discount from the previous retail price of $169.99 (coincidentally, the same price as a 3DS).
Even with the 3DS taking store shelves away from the DS family, Nintendo still has a few DS games planned for release this year including Pokemon Conquest and Pokemon Black 2/White 2.
Play as Stan Lee with Amazing Spider-Man pre-order bonus
Stan “The Man” Lee is about to star in his greatest cameo to date… as a playable character in The Amazing Spider-Man. Players who pre-order the PS3 or Xbox 360 version of the game from Amazon will receive a code to unlock the “Stan Lee Adventure Pack.”
The “Stan Lee Adventure Pack” will send the comic creator webslinging across Manhattan, searching for the lost pages from his latest script. Lee will provide some of his trademark witticisms (“Excelsior!” and such) to make the bonus level even more authentic (Stan Lee has spider-powers, right?).
GameStop has also announced a pre-order offer of their own for The Amazing Spider-Man, a special missions starring The Rhino. “The Rhino Challenge” stars the hulking villain and asks players to rampage through New York trying to cause as much damage as possible. Like the Stan Lee Adventure Pack, the Rhino Challenge is also limited to pre-orderers of the PS3 and Xbox 360 version.
Sadly for GameStop, I think I know which mission gamers will be much more interested in and it ain’t The Rhino Challenge.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged The Amazing Spider-Man
Celebrate Wolfenstein 3D’s 20th anniversary by playing it in a browser
Can you believe it’s been 20 years since Wolfenstein 3D introduced the world to mecha Hitler the first person shooter? Bethesda and id Software can, as today they’ve launched a free-to-play browsed-based version of the game for your enjoyment. Wolfenstein 3D: The Browser Game can be played at Bethesda’s Wolfenstein page or at the Wolfenstein Facebook page.
If you’d prefer to do your Nazi-killin’ on the go, Bethesda has also slashed the price on the iOS version of Wolfenstein 3D. It’s now available as a FREE download from the iTunes App Store for a limited time.
Finally, we’ve got a special edition of the Bethesda Podcast after the break with Wolfenstein creator John Carmack. He shares his insights into the creation and the development of the game while playing a few levels of his first industry-changing game. (more…)
Win Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (and more cool stuff) with Raptr Rewards
Raptr, the online network that tracks what you (and your friends) play, recently launched the beta version of their Raptr Rewards program.
Now, playing games and unlocking Achievements/Trophies in your favorite will also unlock prizes and discounts through the Rewards program. Previously, Raptr gave away Diablo III and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier beta codes, as well as discounts on Logitech gear and add-on packs for the free-to-play games Pandora Saga and Blacklight: Rertibution. But the Raptr Rewards program will have its big coming out party tomorrow, May 10, when the company plans to give away 2,500 copies of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition.
The requirements to unlock the reward haven’t been revealed yet, but Raptr representatives believe the offer is “going to go quickly,” so I’d sign up for Raptr Rewards today (unless you already have). And if Minecraft isn’t your thing, Raptr has also revealed that they’ll be giving away 350,000 other prizes throughout the month of May.