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
Nintendo to add Super Mario Bros. 3, GBA classics to Virtual Console in April
Super Mario Bros. 3, one of the greatest games of all time, will soon be available to download through the Virtual Console on the Wii U and 3DS. It’ll be released next month alongside the first Game Boy Advance games to be added to the Wii U eShop.
Advance Wars, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Metroid Fusion will kick things off on April 3. They will be joined on the Wii U eShop by a least one new GBA game every week for the entire month. Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! will follow on April 10, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Golden Sun can be downloaded beginning April 17, and Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3 completes the first wave of GBA on Wii U games on April 24.
Like all Virtual Console titles on the Wii U, each game will include Off-TV Play and a Restore Point feature to save your progress. Miiverse functionality will also be included.
More details and pricing information for all of these titles can be found after the break. Yes, even for Super Mario Bros. 3. Though, if you need more information on Super Mario Bros. 3, I want to see the rock you’ve been living under, it must be impressive. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Bros. 3
Alien: Isolation release date to be announced this weekend
Creative Assembly has confirmed they will announce the official release date for Alien: Isolation this weekend, during Eurogamer’s EGX Rezzed convention. The developers plan to bring 60 demo stations for the game to the Birmingham, UK show, so if you’re in the neighborhood, and you’re confident you won’t wet yourself, you might want to check it out.
Developers from Creative Assembly will also host two separate panels on the game’s development on Saturday, March 29. Creative Lead Al Hope will lead a discussion on “Fear and Horror in Games” at 1:00 PM (Greenwich Time). At 3:00 PM, several other members of the development will host an Alien: Isolation-specific panel that will reveal more details about the game’s creation. A (hopefully) spirited Q&A session will follow.
Alien: Isolation is in development for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It should be out by the end of the year and we’ll know exactly when by Monday morning.
Oculus VR acquired by Facebook for $2 billion
When the consumer version of the Oculus Rift ships sometime in the near future, it’ll come complete with a big Facebook logo as Mark Zuckerberg’s technology empire has purchased Oculus VR for $2 billion. Somewhere, Jesse Eisenberg is jumping for joy as his future portrayal of Lex Luthor just got a lot more credible.
I kid, I kid, but Zuckerberg plans to expand the Rift’s focus beyond games to also include “communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas.”
“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” Zuckerberg said. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”
Speaking to Polygon, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey said that the deal will enable the company to procure better components at a keeper price and, ultimately, deliver a better version of the Rift: “There are things that piles of cash and having a $100 billion plus company behind you can do that you can’t do on your own. Overall, it’s going to be a better product at a lower price.”
However, not everyone is happy with the news. Markus “Notch” Persson revealed that he was in talks with Oculus to develop a version of Minecraft for the virtual reality headset. But he later tweeted that that deal is now dead because he finds Facebook “creepy.” An expansion on his thought process can be found on his official website.
So what’s next for Oculus? According to a Reddit post by Luckey, “We can make huge investments in content.”
Fez, Deception IV, The Witch and the Hundred Knight, more added to PS Store
One of the greatest puzzle platformers of the previous generation, Fez, is now available to download from the PlayStation Store. And it doesn’t even matter which PlayStation platform you own. Fez has been released as a Cross-Buy title on the PS3, PS4, and Vita, so you can play it wherever you are. Several other multiplatform releases are available this week, but sadly, they’re not Cross-Buy purchases.
Tecmo Koei will bring the hack and slash gameplay of Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends back to the PS3 and Vita. For its PS4 release, the standalone expansion will be bundled with the original Dynasty Warriors 8 as Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends – Complete Edition. The publisher will also release the latest game in their popular trap-setting series, Deception IV: Blood Ties, for the PS3 and Vita this week. In non-multiplatform release news, NIS America also added The Witch and The Hundred Knight to the PlayStation Store yesterday.
Finally, a new Call of Duty: Ghosts bundle that include the original game and the Onslaught Map Pack is available to download on both the PS3 and PS4.
More information about all of these games (as well as a few others) can be found after the break. And a full rundown of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Call of Duty: Ghosts, Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends, Fez, The Witch and the Hundred Knight
Ubisoft bringing Watch Dogs, The Crew, Child of Light, Trials Fusion, more to PAX East 2014
Several big name publishers won’t be in attendance at this year’s PAX East convention, but you definitely shouldn’t count Ubisoft among their number. The French publishing powerhouse will have a massive booth featuring eight different games at this year’s show:
- Watch Dogs – Con-goers will be able to view a before-seen demo of the game as well as participate in an “eye-opening Watch Dogs experience that lets fans see themselves through the lens of a hacker and get a look at how they could potentially be targeted.”
- The Crew – Ubisoft’s upcoming driving game will be playable on the show floor as “players will be able to the own the road in a massive, open-world re-creation of the United States that is brimming with exciting challenges.”
- Trials Fusion – Scheduled for release on April 16, attendees will get their first chance to play the first next-generation game in the Trials series. In addition to the hands-on demo, professional BMX riders will perform stunts in Ubisoft’s in-booth skate park.
- Child of Light – Players will be able to take control of the game’s main character, Aurora, in a new hands-on demo: “Players will use an active turn-based fight system to uncover mythical dragons and other enchanting creatures, as well as explore the gorgeous watercolor-painted 2D environments in a poetic journey inspired by fairy tales.”
Ubisoft also plans to showcase a playable demo for an unannounced downloadable title as well as a trio of free-to-play titles: online shooter Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Phantoms, hack and slash The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, and collectible card game Might & Magic: Duel of Champions.
PAX East 2014 is less than three weeks away and it’ll be held in Boston, Massachusetts from April 11-13.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Child of Light, PAX East 2014, The Crew, Trials Fusion, Watch Dogs
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea – Episode Two is now available to download
“Burial at Sea – Episode Two,” the final expansion to BioShock Infinite (and the final game produced by Irrational Games), is now available to download for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The expansion gives players the chance to play as Elizabeth for the first time as they explore Rapture in a film noir-style story.
“I think the work the team did on this final chapter speaks for itself,” said Ken Levine, Creative Director of Irrational Games. “We built something that is larger in scope and length, and at the same time put the player in Elizabeth’s shoes. This required overhauling the experience to make the player see the world and approach problems as Elizabeth would: leveraging stealth, mechanical insight, new weapons and tactics. The inclusion of a separate 1998 Mode demands the player complete the experience without any lethal action. BioShock fans are going to plotz.”
I gotta say, I love Levine’s use of the word “plotz.” “Burial at Sea – Episode Two” can be downloaded as part of the BioShock Infinite Season Pass or it can be purchased separately for $14.99.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged BioShock Infinite
Microsoft will announce an Xbox One exclusive from an “awesome” Japanese studio soon
Microsoft plans to add another exclusive to the Xbox One’s lineup and it looks like it’ll come from an “awesome” Japanese developer.
Famitsu (translated by Dualshockers) caught up with Phil Spencer during last week’s Game Developers Conference and he revealed that Microsoft plans to announce a new Xbox One exclusive very soon:
“I’m very excited about the announcement of the release window in Japan. An unique exclusive title for Xbox One is going to be released by an awesome Japanese studio.”
What studio is behind this game and whether or not it will even be released in North America is still unconfirmed, but Spencer did say that Microsoft had a big announcement planned for this year’s Tokyo Game Show:
“I’m looking forward to go to Tokyo Game Show this year, and I want to show everyone something never seen before. Stay tuned!”
Microsoft is no stranger to publishing Japanese-developed games as Capcom (Dead Rising 3), Groundlings (Crimson Dragon), and Access Games (D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die) have all released or will release exclusive Xbox One titles.
Lego Ninjago: Nindroids coming to 3DS, Vita this Summer
Lego’s popular Ninjago line will receive a second video game adaptation this Summer when WB Games brings Lego Ninjago: Nindroids to the 3DS and Vita.
Developed by Hellbent Games (in partnership with TT Games), Nindroids will include 30 levels of action and puzzle-based gameplay adapted from events in the Lego Ninjago Rebooted animated show. Players will train in the art of special moves and combo attacks to become a “Spinjitsu Master” as they defend New Ninjago City:
Lego Ninjago: Nindroids players will face their greatest challenge as they work to protect New Ninjago City from the Overlord’s Nindroid army. Infiltrate Borg Tower, fly the Kai Fighter and face off against the evil Tech Wu. Take to the streets in Cole’s Earth Mech and Jay’s Thunder Raider, defend the skies in Zane’s Ninjacopter, escape Pythor on Lloyd’s Golden Cycle, and enter the Digiverse for an epic final battle. Story mode features additional favorite characters like Nya, Sensei Garmadon, Samurai X, and PIXAL.
WB Games also announced that Lego Battles: Ninjago, which was released exclusively for the DS in 2011, has sold two million copies to date.
Posted in 3DS, News, Vita
Tagged Lego Ninjago: Nindroids