Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books Gets 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
- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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
Weekly Warp-Up: End of 2014 Edition
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…
Christmas is over and the end of 2014 is in sight. For a lot of people, that means new games. And in his recent review of review of Hyrule Warriors, Warp Zoned’s Allen Jenkins suggests that the Zelda spinoff should be one of them.
But if you weren’t up to playing games, did you know that the controversial Seth Rogen/James Franco flick The Interview is now available to download through Xbox Live and other streaming services. Well, it is.
What else happened this week? Not much, but you can read all about it after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Insert Quarter: 2014’s Interesting Achievements and Trophies
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
I’m not going to lie, I love Achievements/Trophies. It just makes me giddy to hear that little ding after I’ve completed some endeavor. Especially if it’s a difficult one. Game Informer’s Kyle Hilliard feels the same way and he compiled a list of ten games released this year that include great Achievements/Trophies. He and I also agree that the weird ones are the best:
I fall into the love camp, and these are some of my favorites from 2014. The achievements and trophies I find most interesting aren’t the ones that mark your progress in a storyline or reward you for attaining a certain number of headshots. I like the ones that force you to think outside of the normal functions of the game or reward you for doing something weird.
The full article is available for your perusal at Game Informer.
Here’s an eerie new trailer for The Order: 1886 set to “Silent Night”
Nothing says “Merry Christmas” likes shooting some werewolves. At least, that’s the thought process behind this new trailer for The Order: 1886, which was first unveiled on Christmas Eve. Watch as the titular demon hunters traipse through Victorian London battling werewolves while a very melancholy version of “Silent Night” plays in the background.
The Order: 1886 will be released exclusively for the PS4 on February 20, but the game’s developers plan to make that wait go by a bit faster with a special Countdown Contest. Ready At Dawn and Sony Santa Monica will hand out a special item related to The Order every 18 hours, 8 minutes, and 6 seconds from now until the game’s launch. You can grab a cool pin, statue, or mustache comb (that’s right, a mustache comb) emblazoned with characters and images from The Order. Other prizes will surely be announced in the coming days, but the only way you can win is to enter at PlayStation.com.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged The Order: 1886
Bandai Namco will release Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 in 2015
After 700 volumes, the final entry in the Naruto manga series was released last month. While the comic adventures of the ninja and his friends may be over, Bandai Namco still plans to release new Naruto games. And they’ve just announced that Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2015.
You can get a small taste of Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 in the trailer above or you can hit the jump to view an interview Bandai Namco conducted with CyberConnect2’s Hiroshi Matsuyama, the Director of the game series. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Nintendo Download: Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, Duck Hunt, Super Mario World, more
Exactly 26 years ago, I unwrapped an NES “Action Set” complete with the original Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. This Christmas, Nintendo wants to recreate one of my earliest childhood memories by adding Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, a Game Boy Color port of the original Super Mario adventure, to the 3DS eShop and Duck Hunt to the Wii U eShop. Someone tell the Duck Hunt Dog that I will have the last laugh this year…
Two other Nintendo classics are now available to download today, both on the Wii U eShop. Mario Party Advance was the first Mario Party to be released for a Nintendo handheld. And Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 brought Super Mario World, possibly the greatest Super Mario game ever, to the Game Boy Advance when it was originally released.
Also available this week is the Wii U debut of WayForward’s strong>Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. Already available for the 3DS, Wii U owners can now take control of the feisty genie in her latest side-scrolling adventure.
More information on all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Duck Hunt, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Super Mario Bros.
The Interview is now available to watch via Xbox Live and other streaming services
The movie that Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s Supreme Leader, doesn’t want you too see can now be viewed on your Xbox 360 or Xbox One. The Interview, which will open in theaters tomorrow thanks to a successful petition from a group of independent theater owners, is now available to watch through the Xbox Video service for $5.99 (to rent) or $14.99 (to buy). The film can also be viewed for the same price at other streaming services such as YouTube, Google Play, and SeeTheInterview.com (which is hosted by Sony Pictures).
Oddly, the film is not available through the PlayStation Store, which is owned and operated by Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony’s video game division. Apple has also come out and said the film will not be available through iTunes, though that may change in the future.
The Interview was at the center of the recent Sony hacking scandal, which the FBI believes was prompted by the North Korean government’s dislike of Kim Jong Un’s portrayal in the movie. Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, the movie stars Rogen and James Franco as two journalists who are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the dictator.
Rogen said on Twitter that “The people have spoken!” and “Freedom has prevailed!”
Resogun PS3/Vita, Switch Galaxy Ultra, Trine: Enchanted Edition, more added to PS Store
The final PlayStation Store update of the year has been posted and here’s what gamers can now purchase on their PlayStation systems in these pre-Christmas hours:
- Resogun – The space shooter comes to the PS3 and Vita for the first time. Best of all, they’re both Cross-Buy compatible with the PS4 version.
- Trine: Enchanted Edition – An enhanced edition of the puzzle platformer is now available on the PS4.
- Switch Galaxy Ultra – This colorful space racer is a Cross-Buy title on the PS4 and Vita.
More information on all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. And, as always, a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Shovel Knight becomes a Knightrider in Road Redemption
This morning you got to see the whimsical side of Shovel Knight in the fan-made Shovel Knight Holiday Special. But the character also carries around a giant shovel and he can dole out a few good whacks when need be. So this is the perfect time for the wandering knight to mount a motorcycle and deliver some “Shovel Justice” on the open road in Dark Seas Games’ Road Redemption.
Dark Seas had this to say about Shovel Knight in the latest Kickstarter update:
It’s really a great game. It’s the kind of game that actually lives up to the rose-tinted memories we have of playing NES, which, of course, means it’s actually far better than those games ever were. I’ll take Shovel Knight over Megaman any day. Blasphemy? Prove me wrong Capcom. Prove me wrong.
The Road Rash-inspired Road Redemption is currently available through Steam Early Access and will be released for the Wii U and Xbox 360 next Summer.