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
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End leads the way at 2016 Game Awards with eight nominations
We’re rapidly approaching the end of the year, and that means the 2016 Game Awards are right around the corner. The Game Awards will once again be produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, who will honor this year’s best games and look to the future with a number of huge World Premieres, including the first gameplay footage from BioWare’s Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Before we blast off to a far away galaxy, let’s stop and recognize Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which received eight nominations this year from the Game Awards Advisory Board. In addition to “Game of the Year,” Nathan Drake’s final adventure is also up for “Best Game Direction,” “Best Art Direction,” “Best Narrative,” and “Best Action/Adventure Game,” along with a “Best Performance” nomination for all three of the game’s main performers.
Uncharted 4 will compete with some of 2016’s biggest titles for “Game of the Year” at the 2016 Game Awards including Doom, Inside, Overwatch, and Titanfall 2.
“The Game Awards is all about celebrating the state of video game art,” said Keighley. “In just a few short weeks we will recognize the most outstanding games of 2016 in unexpected ways, and preview the most anticipated games of 2017 and beyond with the longest, most in-depth world premieres we’ve ever attempted… including surprises and new game announcements.”
The Game Awards will be held on December 1 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time), and fans can watch the show through their favorite video streaming service or at TheGameAwards.com. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Doom (2016), Game Awards 2016, Inside, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Overwatch, TitanFall 2, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Nintendo is taking a Legend of Zelda Escape Room on tour in 2017
It looks like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won’t be the only new Hyrulian adventure that Nintendo has planned for 2017. The consolemaker has teamed up with Scrap, the winner of USA Today’s “Best Escape Room of 2016” award, to create a Zelda-themed live puzzle experience known as Defenders of the Triforce:
While the words “escape room” might come to mind when describing this new experience, Defenders of the Triforce is so much more than that. Instead of escaping from a locked room, participants work in teams of six to solve a mystery in a huge area, all within a set time limit. The experience will let guests interact with classic items and characters seen in The Legend of Zelda series like the Goron, Zora, and Kokiri tribes. Discovered items can be used to solve puzzles and move forward into other areas, just like in The Legend of Zelda games.
The Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour is currently scheduled to hit eight cities next year, and tickets can be purchased at ScrapZelda.com:
Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour
- San Francisco: January 31 – February 5
- Los Angeles: February 10-12
- San Diego: February 24-25
- Seattle: TBA
- Phoenix: TBA
- Houston: TBA
- Chicago: TBA
- New York: TBA
Hopefully, more dates will be added to the Defenders of the Triforce Puzzle Tour soon.
Posted in Etcetera, News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Watch Dogs 2, Killing Floor 2, Assassin’s Creed: Ezio Collection, more added to PS Store
Three very different action games lead the way as part of this week’s PlayStation Store update.
Like its predecessor, Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs 2 is an urban adventure for the PS4 where “hacktivists” attempt to disrupt the corrupt ctOS system while also fighting against a larger conspiracy. This time, the action shifts to San Francisco, and players follow “brilliant young hacker” Marcus Holloway in his quest to stop the unnecessary surveillance.
Ubisoft will also launch another set of open world games for the PS4 this week, but their setting is worlds away from San Francisco’s technological utopia. In Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection, players will get the chance to explore Renaissance-era Italy as they replay Assassin’s Creed II, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations . Available for first time on the PS4, the trilogy features enhanced graphics and redone textures to create a more realistic open world.
Finally this week, Tripwire Interactive will unleash Killing Floor 2, their zombie-blasting first person shooter, on the PS4 on Friday. Picking up right where the first game left off, the sequel descends into continental Europe as players attempt to clear “zed-laden hot zones.”
A full rundown of this week’s additions to the PlayStation Store can be found after the break. And you can find information about all of this week’s new add-ons and discounts at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Watch Dogs 2
Nintendo sold 262,961 NES Classic Edition consoles in Japan last week
It’s no secret that Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition is currently quite difficult to find on store shelves. Naturally, the unfulfilled demand has sent people scrambling to eBay, where buyers are paying exorbitant amounts of money to obtain the nostalgia-fueled microconsole.
Nintendo has promised to replenish the retail stock as soon as they can, but in the meantime, a new report from Famitsu has given us an idea of just how many NES Classic Edition consoles are out there. According to the gaming magazine, Nintendo sold 262,961 consoles in Japan during its launch period of November 10th through the 13th. The microconsole is known as the Famicom Classic Edition in Japan, and features slightly different styling from its American and European counterparts.
While this report doesn’t provide worldwide sales numbers for the NES Classic Edition, we can use a little educated guesswork to get a rough estimate. Assuming a roughly equal shipment between all three territories, it’s likely that Nintendo has already sold more than 750,000 NES Classic Edition consoles. And if Nintendo shipped more consoles to North America and Europe, its possible that total worldwide sales for the NES Classic Edition have already topped one million consoles.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild might not be a launch title for Nintendo Switch
Officially, Nintendo will launch The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sometime in 2017, though many fans are hoping it’ll be released in March as part of the Switch’s launch lineup. Unfortunately, if you believe a new rumor from “Emily Rogers,” it’s much more likely the game will available in Summer 2017.
Breath of the Wild is shaping up to be a big game, and according to Rogers’s sources, it’s taking Nintendo much longer to localize it than they originally planned. Because of this scheduling snafu, the sources say Nintendo will need an addition four-to-six months to test Breath of the Wild for bugs, which would push its launch to next Summer:
That brings us to the month of November. More sources have now come forward and corroborated my information. They’ve told me that localization for Breath of the Wild might not be finished until the end of December. After localization is completed, this game will require between (at least) four-to-six months of testing. As I mentioned earlier, this is one of Nintendo’s largest and most ambitious games ever. The amount of testing required for a huge open-world game like this is enormous. Nintendo’s intention is to have the game as bug free as possible.
Eurogamer corroborated this proposed production schedule with their own internal sources, so it’s looking more and more likely that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won’t be ready in time for the Switch’s launch window.
Posted in News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Super Mario Run will be available for all iOS devices on December 15
Nintendo fans are waiting patiently to learn more about the Nintendo Switch, which will be available sometime in March. But today, the consolemaker gave fans an update on their other highly-anticipated upcoming project… Super Mario Run.
Nintendo announced this morning that Super Mario Run will be available to download from the iOS App Store on December 15. The game will be playable on all iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices running iOS 8.0 (or later), and players who want to try before they buy can access a free-to-play demo as well. Players looking to get the complete Super Mario Run experience (the main game, the Toad Rally battle mode, and Kingdom Builder) will be able to purchase it for $9.99.
“The wait is almost over for a Super Mario game that can be played on mobile devices,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Developed under the direction of Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, Super Mario Run brings a new take on the series’ beloved action-platforming gameplay to iPhone and iPad for the first time.”
Super Mario Run will also be released for Android devices sometime in 2017.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Super Mario Run
New Pokemon Sun/Moon trailer introduces fans to more new Pokemon, Ultra Beasts, Z-Moves
You’ll be able to catch Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon at your local game retailer this Friday, but in the meantime, The Pokemon Company has released one last trailer to showcase some of the game’s new features.
First up is a pair of new Pokemon, Ground–Steel types known as Alolan Diglett and Alolan Dugtrio. The trailer also gives us a look at two of the game’s Ultra Beasts (UB-05 Glutton and UB-03 Lighting). Finally, the powerful Z-Moves from the game’s three Starter Pokemon (Decidueye’s Sinister Arrow Raid, Incineroar’s Malicious Moonsault, and Primarina’s Oceanic Operetta) are also on display in the trailer.
The last trailer for Pokemon Sun and Moon has been embedded above, and more information on the new Pokemon, Ultra Beasts, and Z-Moves can be found after the break. Both games will be available to purchase, exclusively for the 3DS, beginning this Friday, November 18. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Pokemon Sun/Moon
Black Friday Game Deals 2016: Toys R Us
It’s possible that Toys R Us leaked the final retail price of the Nintendo Switch this morning, and now we’ve also got our hands on the retailer’s Black Friday deals for this year.
Toys R Us will open at 5:00 PM on Thanksgiving Day, and if you’re looking for bargains on games and accessories for “Toys-To-Life” franchises like Lego Dimensions, Skylanders, and Disney Infinity, they’re definitely the place to go. All three Disney Infinity Starter Packs are just $9.99, and the figures will be available in a “Buy 1 Get 3 Free” deal. There’s also a 50% discount on all Team Packs and Level Packs for Lego Dimensions, as well as a $50 price reduction on the Starter Pack itself.
Toys R Us is slashing prices on a lot of this year’s biggest games for Black Friday including a $20 discount for BioShock: The Collection, Dark Souls III, Doom, Fallout 4, Just Dance 2017, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mafia III, Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience, Mortal Kombat XL, Pro Evolution Soccer 2017, ReCore, Super Mario Maker, Titanfall 2, and XCOM 2. And shoppers will get $25 off Destiny: The Collection, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Edition, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition, Far Cry: Primal, Gears of War 4, Grand Theft Auto V, Guitar Hero Live, NBA 2K17, Overwatch, and more.
Like most other retailers this year, Toys R Us will also be selling PS4 Slim and Xbox One S system bundles for $250.
The complete list of Toys R Us’s Black Friday Game Deals for this year can be found after the break. (more…)