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
Sega reveals Sonic Boom: New game, TV show, and toy line coming soon
Sonic: Lost World didn’t set the world on fire when it was released for the 3DS and Wii U last year. But Sega still has at least one more game to release as part of their exclusivity agreement with Nintendo and so they’ve wasted no time in announcing that Sonic Boom will be available for the handheld and home console later this year.
Sonic Boom isn’t just a game. It is also going to be a television series (airing this Fall on Cartoon Network) and a toy line (including plush, action figures, and RC vehicles all created by Tomy). Oh, and it’s not being developed by Sonic Team. Instead, Sega has handed development duties for Sonic Boom to Big Red Button Entertainment (Wii U) and Sanzaru Games (3DS), two American developers. Though Sonic Team will supervise their progress.
Sega was also quick to point out that the Americanized makeover received by Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose will represent a “new branch” of the Sonic series. So if Sonic Boom is a bust, you can bet that Sega will hit the big red reset button and restore Sonic the Hedgehog’s classic look in his next game.
Sega will surely reveal more details about Sonic Boom soon, but until then, check out the first screenshots and some concept art at the Sega Blog.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Sonic Boom
New Mighty No. 9 gameplay video released and a live-action adaptation is in development
Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man and the development lead behind next year’s Mighty No. 9, is on a mighty roll. After raking in a ridiculous pile of money with one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns ever, Inafune and his design teams at Comcept and Inti Creates have released a steady flow of Mighty No. 9 details. Now, they’ve released another gameplay video, with Inafune himself holding the controller.
It’s a very brief look at the game, but the developer closes out the clip with a hearty shout of “I’m extremely satisfied!” How can you not love Inafune’s energy?
In other Mighty No. 9 news, Contradiction Films’ Tim Carter recently sat down with EP Daily and revealed that his company has been contracted to produce a live-action adaptation of the game.
“We are at the very beginning stages of creative development on a digital series for Might No. 9. We are building the story right now,” Carter said. “I was a little apprehensive about it at first until I got his notes, and thought ‘Dude, you should be working at Pixar!’ It’s so good. We’re really, really excited about it.”
It’s currently unknown how the Mighty No. 9 adaptation will be released, but Contradiction Films is best known as the producers behind 2011’s excellent Mortal Kombat: Legacy webseries. So perhaps Mighty No. 9 will receive similar treatment.
Skylanders 4 is in development and set for release this year
Activision is incredibly proud of the financial success of the Skylanders series. Since its debut in 2011, the publisher has released three titles in the franchise (Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders: Swap Force) and it appears a fourth is on the way. Toys For Bob, the developer behind Spyro’s Adventure and Giants, will take the reins on the currently untitled Skylanders 4 after allowing Vicarious Visions to handle Swap Force.
This news comes courtesy of a recently released infographic by Activision (click it to see a larger version), which also touts the franchise’s massive revenue stream of more than $2 billion. A release date for Skylanders 4 (or any other information, for that matter) is currently unknown, but an October release seems likely.
Also, allow me to also speculate that Skylanders 4 will likely appear on every platform imaginable including the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Weekly Warp-Up: Release Date Update 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…
The NFL’s “Big Game,” the Super Bowl, took place exactly one week ago. EA predicted that the Broncos would win in a snowy overtime thriller, but that is not what happened… at all… not even a little bit. The real life result was almost as terrifying as that Breaking Madden video that’s been making the rounds. EA’s prediction is usually pretty spot on, but maybe we should ask Jon Bois to do it next year.
In non-football news, there were plenty of new release dates announced this week including the news that Master Reboot would be coming to the PS3 this month, Plague Inc: Evolved is coming to Steam on February 20, Hyper Light Drifter will be out by the end of the year, Murdered: Soul Suspect will be released in June, The 90s Arcade Racer is gearing up for a Summe release, Drakengard 3 will be released on May 20, and TitanFall for the Xbox 360 will be released on March 25 (the PC and Xbox One editions are still on track for March 11).
Whew. This week, the Warp Zoned staff also looked back to What We Played in January 2014 and looked forward at The Games of February 2014.
Also, we consulted our crystal ball and found 10 Actors We Think Could Play Nathan Drake in the Uncharted Movie.
You can find more news from last week after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, 2K/Bethesda Compilations, More
Lightning returns this week in the accurately named Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The Square Enix-published RPG will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Also this week, the oft-neglected Vita will receive a pair of new games this week: the action-adventure Toukiden: The Age of Demons and the uterrly bizarre DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
And for some reason, 2K Games and Bethesda are joining forces to release an Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim + BioShock Infinite Bundle for the Xbox 360 and an The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim + BioShock Infinite + BioShock Bundle for the PS3. The publishers will also pair up to release a Borderlands 2 + Dishonored Bundle for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Why not, right?
Finally, Ubisoft will released a Far Cry Compilation for the PS3. The bundle includes Far Cry 2, Far Cry 3, and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
Posted in News, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us wins ten statues at 2014 DICE Awards
When Santa Claus asks if you’ve been naughty or nice, if you’re a game developer, you might want to answer “naughty.” During last night’s DICE Awards in Las Vegas, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us took home the top prize in ten categories (out of 13 possible nominations). The only other game to win multiple awards was BioShock Infinite, which took home two (Action Game of the Year and Oustanding Achievement in Original Music Composition).
With such a big haul, The Last of Us naturally took home Game of the Year honors. The game also won Adventure Game of the Year, Oustanding Achievement in Game Direction, Oustanding Achievement in Story, Oustanding Achievement in Animation, Oustanding Achievement in Art Direction, Oustanding Achievement in Visual Engineering, Oustanding Achievement in Sound Design, Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, and Outstanding Character Performance (for Ashley Johnson’s portrayal of Ellie).
A few other games did manage to wrestle a few awards away from Naughty Dog, but that’s mostly because The Last of Us didn’t qualify for every category. For example, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons won Downloadable Game of the Year, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds won Handheld Game of the Year, and Plants vs Zombies 2 won Casual Game of the Year.
The complete list of winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged BioShock Infinite, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Diablo III, FIFA 14, Forza Motorsport 5, Grand Theft Auto V, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Plants vs Zombies 2, Super Mario 3D World, The Last of Us, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, World of Tanks, XCOM: Enemy Within
Sledgehammer Games developing Call of Duty 2014 as franchise adds third team
For 2006’s Call of Duty 3, Activision handed the Call of Duty series off to Treyarch to complete a new game in the series while original developer Infinity Ward completed work on Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Since then, the two developers have worked in tandem to release a new Call of Duty game every year, with Treyarch taking the “even” years and Infinity Ward releasing their title during the “odd” years.
But yesterday, during their quarterly financial report, Activision announced they will add a third team to the mix to give each developer three years to create a new Call of Duty.
Sledgehammer Games assisted Infinity Ward on 2011’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and they will use that experience as the lead developer on the still-shrouded-in-mystery Call of Duty 2014. According to Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg, the publisher moved the Call of Duty series to a three-year development cycle to give each team more time to produce a great game: “This will give our designers more time to envision and to innovate for each title.” Hirshberg added that he believes “the 2014 game is going to be one of if not the best Call of Duty game ever.”
No other details were revealed about Call of Duty 2014, but Activision usually makes a formal announcement of the latest Call of Duty title in May ahead of the E3 Expo.
Posted in News
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Nintendo Download: Bravely Default, Retro City Rampage, The Lego Movie, More
Welcome to another edition of the Nintendo Download. This week, 3DS owners will be treated to Retro City Rampage: DX, an enhanced and updated version of the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii game that most of us refer to as “8-bit Grand Theft Auto.” Also available today are a pair of Wii U titles: Percy’s Predicament, a family-friendly platformer, and Ninja Gaiden, one of the greatest ninja games to ever grace the NES.
Tomorrow, Nintendo and Square Enix will add Bravely Default, an RPG in the style of classic Final Fantasy titles, to the 3DS eShop and WB Games will do the same for The Lego Movie, a Lego-style game based on the movie of the same name. The Lego Movie will also be available on the Wii U eShop.
Finally, One Piece: Romance Dawn, an RPG based on the popular anime, will be available through the 3DS eShop on Tuesday, February 11.
More details on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Bravely Default: Where the Fairy Flies, Retro City Rampage, The Lego Movie