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
Nintendo Download: The Bridge, LBX Little Battlers Experience, 3D Gunstar Heroes, more
It’s a big day for the Nintendo eShop as the publisher’s tiniest new heroes will make their digital debut.
LBX: Little Battlers Experience, a 3DS game developed by Level-5, follows a group of kids who pit “customizable palm-sized robots” against each other in a small-scale war. The 3DS is now also home to 3D Gunstar Heroes, a 3D-enabled version of Treasure’s famed side-scrolling shooter.
If you’d prefer to do your gaming on the Wii U, a number of new titles were released for Nintendo’s living room console today including The Bridge, a puzzle platformer inspired by M.C. Escher; Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising, a Virtual Console re-release of the strategy favorite; and Woah Dave!, a crazy platformer from the makers of the Bit.Trip series.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged The Bridge
Nintendo’s 2DS handheld will be permanently discounted to $99.99 on August 30
Nintendo has announced that their 2DS handheld will receive a price drop very soon. Currently available at a retail price of $129.99, the portable system will be permanently discounted to $99.99 on August 30. Even at this lower price, every 2DS box will still contain a download code for Mario Kart 7.
“At a suggested retail price of $99.99, [the] 2DS is an even more attractive introductory option for first-time gamers,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing. “The new lower-priced hardware combined with the strong lineup of new games launching this year and arguably the best library of games in this generation makes it a great time to be a Nintendo fan.”
While Nintendo doesn’t talk about the 2DS much, it is an interesting alternative in their handheld lineup. It doesn’t have the clamshell design or 3D display options of the 3DS, but the 2DS is compatible with nearly every 3DS game.
This price drop is Nintendo’s first salvo in a major Fall push, which includes a ton of semi-large 3DS releases (which are all playable on the 2DS) including Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, and Yo-Kai Watch.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Mario Kart 7
Ubisoft will bring AC: Syndicate, The Division, For Honor, Rainbow Six: Siege to PAX 2015
As always, Ubisoft will have a commanding presence at this year’s PAX Prime expo. The publisher will ask players to take command of four demos on the show floor including Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, For Honor, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege, and Tom Clancy’s The Division.
More details on all four demos, courtesy of the UbiBlog, can be found right here:
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
Head back to 19th century London during the Industrial Revolution, and explore the city as Master Assassin Evie Frye. Make your way through the Tower of London and forge your own path in a nonlinear Blackbox mission. Get the Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Rooks Initiation Kit by pre-ordering the game at booth #1040.For Honor
Carve a bloody path across the battlefield in For Honor, the epic melee combat game revealed at this year’s E3. Check out booth #1040 to get your hands on the valiant Legion knights and face off against other worthy foes in the 4v4 Dominion mode. While you’re at the booth, take a picture in the faction gear of your choice (Knight, Viking, or Samurai) and pre-order a copy of the game to get a PAX exclusive shirt featuring one of the factions. Attendees will also be able to check out the skinned For Honor consoles.Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
The next leg of the Siege Games kicks off at booth #632. Come play Rainbow Six Siege for the chance to join us at the star-studded Siege Day launch event. Those who stop by the booth will receive the limited edition Rainbow Six Pinny Arcade pins.Tom Clancy’s The Division
Try your luck in The Division’s Dark Zone at booth #612. Form a group and see if you can extract the legendary loot before another team takes you down. Pre-order The Division at booth #1040 for an exclusive t-shirt.
PAX Prime is less than two weeks away and will be held on August 28-August 31 in Seattle, Washington. I hope you’ve already got your tickets because they’re currently all sold out.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, For Honor, PAX Prime 2015, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege, Tom Clancy's The Division
Xbox Store Today: Zombi, Smite, Tales From the Borderlands: Episode 4, Velocity 2X, more
Microsoft’s Summer Spotlight continues to chug along with five new games, though many of them will look familiar to at least a few of you in the audience.
First up is Zombi, Ubisoft’s Xbox One adaptation of the Wii U launch title ZombiU. With the shift to Microsoft’s console, inventory management through the Wii U GamePad has obviously been removed, but the publisher has attempted to keep the first-person survival game as authentic to the original as possible. Also available this week is Smite, a free-to-play MOBA which has been available in beta for the Xbox One for some time. As the first MOBA on the Xbox One, players will compete in five-on-five battles between a “diverse cast of deities.”
Rounding this week’s new releases are a pair of side-scrollers. Velocity 2X is a sci-fi-styled action game that includes aliens and teleporters and laser pistols… not necessarily in that order. Meanwhile, Giana Sisters: Dream Runners is a speedrunning side-scroller for one-to-four players.
Finally this week, Telltale will release the fourth episode of Tales From the Borderlands, which takes our heroes to the moon.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo announces Yo-Kai Watch will be released on November 6
Nintendo has announced that Level-5’s Yo-Kai Watch will be released for the 3DS on November 6. The game, which is a certified phenomenon in Japan, follows a group of children who find and befriend invisible spirits known as Yo-Kai thanks to a special watch:
But what is a Yo-Kai anyway? Is it a spirit? A monster? A ghost? Nope – a Yo-kai is … well, it’s just a Yo-Kai! You might not see them because they’re invisible, but they’re all around you every day. And they’re often mischievous, mysterious pranksters who like to make trouble for you. Lose your homework, can’t keep a secret or find yourself running late to everything? Yo-Kai probably made you do it. The Yo-Kai are based on common concerns kids have. By confronting those concerns, kids can learn to overcome them.
Even more Yo-Kai Watch madness will travel across the Pacific by the end of the year including the manga series (Volume 1 will be available from Viz Media on November 3) and the anime series (which will air on Disney XD this Fall). Hasbro also plans to produce a series of Yo-Kai Watch toys, which will be released throughout 2016.
And after that, we can probably look forward to even more Yo-Kai Watch games.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Yo-Kai Watch
Freedom Planet won’t be released for the Wii U this week
Freedom Planet, a Sonic-like side-scroller from Galaxy Trail, was originally scheduled to be released on the Wii U eShop this week. But a game-breaking bug has forced the developer to postpone Freedom Planet’s Wii U debut. The game’s Director, Stephen DiDuro, explained the problem in a post on the company’s official forum:
We received some sad news today: Our patch for the Wii U version of Freedom Planet didn’t fix all of the freezing issues. In light of this, we are cancelling our launch for the time being. We’re only going to announce a release date after the game is fixed and free of all issues not present in the PC version.
I understand that some fans out there were already upset at the last delay and that further delays would be the last straw, and to them I can only say that I’m sorry. I do not intend to deliver anything less than a 100% faithful and clean port, regardless of how long it takes.
Hopefully, a new release date for Freedom Planet is announced soon.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Freedom Planet
Zombi, Volume, The Bridge, Resident Evil Revelations 2 Vita, more added to PS Store
Zombies are overtaking the PlayStation Store! It’s unlikely this is a stealth tie-in with the premiere of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, but three new Zed-themed games are now available through the online storefront:
- Zombi was one of the Wii U’s most-acclaimed launch titles in 2012 (where it was known as ZombiU) and its now available on the PS4 thanks to Ubisoft. Inventory management with the Wii U GamePad is obviously a thing of the past, but Ubisoft still won’t let players pause the action when they’re rummaging around in their ruck sacks.
- Curses N Chaos is also available for the PS4 (and the Vita as a Cross-Buy title), but its quite a different type of zombie game. As a side-scrolling arena fighter, players are forced to battle it out with all manner of ghouls (including the walking undead) as an evil Wizard King cackles over his evilness.
- Finally, Resident Evil Revelations 2 makes the jump to the Vita by giving up its episodic release schedule. The game’s structure still includes distinct chapters, but players will have to pay for the whole thing up front if they want to partake in the further adventures of Claire Redfield.
Also available this week is Volume (PS4), Mike Bithell’s stealthy follow-up to Thomas Was Alone; The Bridge (PS4/PS3/Vita Cross-Buy), a side-scrolling puzzle platformer inspired by M.C. Escher; and Dungeon Travelers 2: The Royal Library & The Monster Seal, a first-person turn-based RPG for the Vita. And if you’re into episodic gaming, Telltale’s Tales From the Borderlands: Escape Plan Bravo brings the series closer to its conclusion on the PS3 and PS4.
More information on all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. And a complete list of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Resident Evil Revelations 2, Tales From the Borderlands, The Bridge, ZombiU
Splatoon’s next Splatfest (on August 29) will determine the fate of the universe by pitting the Autobots against the Decepticons
The ultimate battle for the soul of Cybertron will be settled on the Splatoon battlefield next week as the fourth North American Splatfest will pit fans of the Autobots against minions of the Decepticons. As Optimus Prime said to Megatron in Transformers: The Movie, “One shall stand, and one shall fall.”
The Splatfest will take place on Saturday, August 29 and last the typical 24 hours, running from midnight to midnight all day long. Players are encouraged to choose their side now for the Transformers-themed event, and once you pick your side, you’ll receive one of the snazzy t-shirts shown above. It’s a shame we’ll have to give it back!
And don’t forget, if you haven’t played Splatoon yet, there’s a Global Testfire demo this weekend that’ll be available to everyone.