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)
Author: John Scalzo
Confirmed: Wii U, new Vita games to appear at CES 2012
CNET has begun their Consumer Electronics Show coverage with a report detailing two supposed (and very surprising) game-related additions to the show floor.
According to CNET, CES 2012 (which will be held in Las Vegas from January 10-13) will include an appearance by the Wii U and multiple “new” Vita games.
Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment have typically shied away from attending CES, and a quick check of the Exhibitor Directory came up empty for both consolemakers. So it seems unlikely they’ll make an appearance at this year’s show as well.
I’d love to learn more about the Wii U in a few weeks, but it looks like this news is still a rumor for now.
UPDATE: Speaking to Joystiq, Nintendo confirmed that the Wii U will appear at CES 2012 in a special showing hosted by CES management:
Nintendo of America, working with the 2012 International CES management, will offer demos of the upcoming Wii U console to members of the media who did not see the system at the 2011 E3 Expo. Nintendo will not have a booth at CES, nor does it plan to include any games, experiences or information beyond what was available at the 2011 E3 Expo.
Dance for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars
OK, we don’t know for sure that you’ll be dancing for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars, but the recently released ESRB Rating Summary confirms that the game will include a “dancing mini-game” with “revealing outfits.” Sure sounds like the Jabba’s Palace scene from Return of the Jedi to me:
In the dancing mini-game, some female characters perform suggestive moves (e.g., gyrating their hips/buttocks) and wear revealing outfits (partially exposed cleavage/buttocks).
So allow me to amend the headline to say “Dance for Jabba in Kinect Star Wars while your character wears Leia’s gold bikini!” (OK, we don’t know that either, but I know you’re all thinking it).
Yeah, this is going to be the greatest Star Wars game ever.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Kinect Star Wars
Weekly Warp-Up: March of the GOTYs
No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…
Get Warp Zoned!
As the year slowly winds to a close, everyone is picking their games of the year and Time Magazine is no different. The venerable newsmag always has a few surprises in their year-end top ten, but not this year. Sticking to safe subjects, they awarded spots to Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City and other games that’ll grace countless GOTY lists this month. And their number one pick went to Minecraft, which I have a feeling will be this year’s big winner.
But why limit the conversation to just this year’s best games? Rockstar is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III with a new mobile release and the answer to one of the franchise’s greatest mysteries: is Claude a mute?
Hit the jump for the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up. (more…)
Posted in News
Rockstar answers your questions: Is GTA3’s Claude a mute?
In honor of Grand Theft Auto III‘s release on iOS and Android devices, Rockstar has decided to answer your burning questions about one of the most famous video games ever. They even revealed the origins of Claude’s lack of vocality.
Turn back now if you don’t want to know THE TRUTH…
Rockstar says:
It may now seem obvious that people should all talk in games, but this was not necessarily the case in 2001, certainly not in an open world game. We were making up a lot of procedures as we went along, and we decided that the NPCs (Non Playable Characters) should talk and we would have to figure out how to make them talk (using motion captured cutscenes, something that had never really been done before, at least not on the scale we were doing it). So we decided that the game’s protagonist would not talk, partly to aid people identifying with him, but mostly because we had so many other problems to solve and this did not seem like a major issue. […] Oh and in San Andreas, CJ calls Claude a mute because he does not talk and CJ finds this unnerving.
So there you have it. Claude isn’t a mute, he’s just the original Johnny Tightlips.
Rockstar also confirmed that the three GTA “eras” are completely separate universes and will never cross over. So if you’re hoping to see Claude again, you can forget it:
[T]he “universes” are the worlds interpreted at different definitions, 2d, 3d and high definition, so we felt brands and radio / back ground characters would exist in both, but 3 dimensional characters would not. This is the logic (as far as it could be considered logical) behind it – so no, we don’t believe any GTA3 characters could exist in the GTA4 universe.
But following Rockstar’s logic, this means that Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V will take place in the same “universe.” So who knows, we might get to see Niko one more time.
Posted in News
Tagged Grand Theft Auto III, Mobile, PS2
Ninja Gaiden 3 slices its way into stores on March 20
Ryu Hayabusa returns to slice and dice more demons this Spring as Tecmo Keoi has announced a release date for Ninja Gaiden 3. Ninja Gaiden 3 is the first game in the series not developed by former Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki as well as the first to be released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 at the same time.
And while we’re on this “firsts” theme, Ninja Gaiden 3 will also include the first time the public gets a chance to play Dead or Alive 5. Players who pre-order the game from GameStop will receive a DoA5 demo featuring Ryu Hayabusa and Hitomi. Meanwhile, those who place their pre-order through Amazon will receive a different demo, which features Ayane and Hayate. But if you buy the Ninja Gaiden 3 Collector’s Edition (available exclusively at GameStop), your demo will include all four characters.
The Collector’s Edition will take a $99.99 slice out of your wallet, but it includes a copy of the game, the DoA5 demo and a “Ninja Gaiden 3 ‘Unmask’ game art book, soundtrack CD, and a unique ‘Duel of the Masked’ figure.”
Ninja Gaiden 3 is also in development for the Wii U and will be available at the console’s launch, which is currently scheduled to take place sometime in 2012.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dead or Alive 5, Ninja Gaiden 3
New Releases: Star Wars The Old Republic
This is the news post where we’d normally list all of this week’s new releases. However, there’s only new release to talk about, so for this week, this is the news post where we talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic.
The Old Republic is the second attempt at a Star Wars MMORPG and it combines the talents of BioWare, LucasArts, and Electronic Arts while making liberal use of the Knights of the Old Republic setting last seen in the much-maligned Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.
BioWare promised to have the game out before the end of the year and they made good on their pledge as The Old Republic will be the final game released before the calendar turns over to January.
So enjoy the rest of your 2011 folks! We’ll be back with another New Releases report in 2012!
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Star Wars: The Old Republic
Risen 2: Dark Waters sets sail on April 24
Deep Silver has announced that Risen 2: Dark Waters, a pirate-themed RPG from developer Piranha Bytes, will be released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on April 24, 2012. You can also check out the newly-released box art to your left.
And if the name Risen 2: Dark Waters has left you scratching your head in confusion, here’s an official description from Deep Silver:
“Piranha Bytes combines Risen’s authentic role-playing gameplay with a fresh setting, new content, further-developed technology and multiple, thematically varied islands. With its highly interactive game world and dynamic day/night rotation – influencing countless aspects of the world – Risen 2 allows players to plunge into one of the most intense role-playing worlds ever created.”
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Risen 2: Dark Waters
Anarchy Reigns moves the fight to July 2012
Sega has announced that Anarchy Reigns, the next game from new Metal Gear Rising developer Platinum Games, has been delayed again. The brawler, which was originally tagged with a Fall 2011 release date, will now be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in July 2012.
But it sounds like the cause of the delay is to make the game bigger and anarchy-er:
“Anarchy Reigns brings a new take to the brawler genre and we have decided to take a little more time to deliver the full knockout punch. I can’t reveal much now, but it has something to do with scale. Let’s just say traditional one-on-one or two versus two fighters will be a thing of the past…,” said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega West.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Anarchy Reigns