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
Xbox Store Today: Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones
I think puns that follow the “Game of [Something That Rhymes With Thrones]” pattern have kinda run their course, but don’t tell that to Curve Digital. Their latest puzzle platformer, Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones, is now available for the Xbox One through the Xbox Games Store. Of course, the title is not altogether misleading. It is a game and you do play as a clone who is attempting to escape a “sinister testing facility.”
More information on Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones, straight from the publisher, can be found right here:
Xbox One Games
Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones ($14.99)
Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones is a puzzle platformer where you play the role of a clone escaping a sinister and high-tech testing facility. Stealth Inc. 2 tests both your brain and your reflexes over 60 varied levels linked together by a sprawling and detailed overworld.
Insert Quarter: Axiom Verge’s Creator Talks About the Journey From Idea to Finished Game
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Axiom Verge is Tom Happ’s baby. The developer is the Programmer/Artist/Designer/Composer on the title and he essentially put the whole thing together by himself over the last five years. Happ’s persistence paid off as the PS4 launch earlier this week was met with enthusiastic reviews (including our own) and great sales. But what was the journey from scrap of an idea to finished game like? Happ wrote about this recently on the PlayStation Blog:
I didn’t start off with Axiom Verge fully designed in my head. It really more started off as an exercise in game design. I wanted to deconstruct my favorite games from my youth and see what would happen if I took the best elements of each and put them together. The Yo-Yo weapon of Rygar and the grapple hook of Bionic Commando in the setting of Blaster Master and Shatterhand. What would fit together? What wouldn’t work?
The full article is available for your perusal at the PlayStation Blog.
Posted in Insert Quarter, PC, PS4, Vita
Tagged Axiom Verge
Nintendo is holding a fan vote to add new characters to Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U
Who do you want to see added to Super Smash Bros. For 3DS and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U? No, really, Nintendo wants to know and they plan to take a few of these fan suggestions and actually put those characters into the game.
While announcing the upcoming inclusion of Mewtwo and Lucas to the latest Smash Bros. games, Nintendo also revealed the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot. Fans are encouraged to suggest a character, list the game they’re best known for, and write up to 500 words about why you think they belong in Smash. Nintendo will continue accepting suggestions until October 3, so it might be a while before we find out who made the cut.
At least one developer has decided to use this opportunity to get one of their characters into Smash Bros. Yacht Club Games has launched the #ShovelKnightForSmash campaign on Twitter to gather votes for Shovel Knight. I don’t know if it’ll work, but they can definitely count on my vote.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Mewtwo joins Smash Bros Wii U/3DS on April 28; Mother 3’s Lucas to follow in June
Nintendo has announced that Mewtwo will be available to download as a bonus fighter in Super Smash Bros. For 3DS and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U on April 28. Players who registered both Smash Bros. games through Club Nintendo will receive the 150th Pokemon for free. The rest of us will be able to add him to either version of the game for $3.99. A 4.99 3DS/Wii U bundle pack will also be available.
Nintendo has a second downloadable character planned for release June. Lucas, from Mother 3/Earthbound 2, will be available to download on the 3DS and Wii U. Lucas previously appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl alongside Earthbound star Ness. Pricing has yet to be announced, but a Lucas trailer is available after the break.
As with any Mother 3/Earthbound 2-related announcement, it’s important to note that this does not mean Nintendo plans to finally bring the oft-requested RPG to America. But it won’t hurt if we all cross our fingers… one of these days, it might just work. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Nintendo Download: Super Mario 64 + Yoshi’s Island DS on Wii U, Story of Seasons, more
Nintendo 64 and DS games have been added to the Wii U eShop… and it’s about time!
Announced yesterday as part of Nintendo’s latest Nintendo Direct presentation, Super Mario 64 and Yoshi’s Island DS are both now available to download on the Wii U. And if you’re going to start offering games from a new platform on the Virtual Console, it’s definitely a good idea to start with a pair of critically-acclaimed titles such as these.
More N64 and DS games will follow in the future with WarioWare: Touched! penciled in for April 9 and Donkey Kong 64 for April 16.
But if you’re looking for new releases on the 3DS available this week, there’s a few of those too. First up is Story of Seasons, the next official game in the Harvest Moon series from Marvelous. If you’re wondering about the name change, it’s because the separation of developer Marvelous and former publisher Natsume. Natsume owns the “Harvest Moon” trademark and they weren’t willing to sell it to the developer or new publisher XSEED. Also available is BoxBoy!, a black-and-white puzzle platformer from the creators of the Kirby franchise.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged 3DS, Story of Seasons, Super Mario 64, Wii U
Quantum Break’s release date time skips into 2016
Thanks to the timestream shenanigans of Quantum Break‘s story, a jokey headline just seems to write itself now that the game has been delayed. Or maybe it was delivered subconsciously from my future self to my present self. Either way, the game will miss its planned 2015 release date and will now be released sometime next year. Speaking to Xbox Wire, Remedy’s Sam Lake confirmed the delay is due to a desire to “polish and fine tune” the game.
“We’re really proud to be part of the incredible Xbox One line-up,” said Lake. “We thank our fans for their patience, and want them to know that the team is taking advantage of this opportunity to polish and fine tune the game to create the kind of standout entertainment experience they’ve come to expect from us.”
The Xbox One title joins a number of other recent high profile delays. Last week, Nintendo pushed The Legend of Zelda Wii U into 2016 and Sony did the same for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End a few weeks before that.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Quantum Break
Say hello to the Briggs family in this new Mortal Kombat X trailer
A few weeks ago, NetherRealm Studios invited us to a Cage Family Reunion. Today, the latest Mortal Kombat X trailer wants to reintroduce fans to “The Briggs Family.”
“The Briggs Family” trailer gives us our first proper look at Jax, and the Special Forces agent appears to have shaken his zombie problem. The trailer also seems to confirm that Jax will get to deliver some payback to Ermac (the demon who took his arms) and Quan Chi (the sorcerer who zombified him). Jax’s daughter, Jacqueline Briggs, also plays a small part in the trailer, but it didn’t look like anything we haven’t seen before.
Mortal Kombat X will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in less than two weeks time on April 14. NetherRealm will also release a PS3/Xbox 360 edition of the game this Summer.
Splatoon gets May 29 release date, Amiibo support, and two new gameplay modes
With few other releases planned for the first half of 2015, Nintendo has been pushing Splatoon hard. It was the centerpiece of their PAX East 2015 booth and a slew of new trailers have explored nearly every corner of the game. But the publisher is still putting out new information, so there must be a few nooks and crannies that have yet to be uncovered.
The latest trailer shines a spotlight on three never-before-seen maps: “Walleye Warehouse,” “Saltspray Rig,” and “Blackbelly Skatepark.” Each of the levels offers new locations for the Inklings to battle it out, but it’s likely that Nintendo’s other Splatoon announcements will overshadow these arenas.
Yesterday, Nintendo also revealed two new gameplay modes for the game: Ranked Battle and Battle Dojo. Ranked Battle is a much more intense online multiplayer mode while Battle Dojo is a local 1-on-1 match where the player who pops the most balloons wins. Like Hyrule Warriors, the 1-on-1 mode will require one player to use the television and the other to use the Wii U GamePad.
Finally, Nintendo announced that three Splatoon Amiibo figures (Inkling Boy, Inking Girl, and Inkling Squid) will be available alongside the game’s launch. The Inkling Squid will only be available in a special three-pack, but the Inkling Boy and Inking Girl will also be sold individually. Tapping these Amiibo to the GamePad will unlock special missions that contain Amiibo-exclusive weapons and gear for your in-game characters.
Splatoon, and the Splatoon Amiibo figures, will be released for the Wii U on May 29.