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 Download: Dr. Luigi, Super Punch-Out!!, Pokemon Bank, more
UPDATE: Nintendo has delayed the release of Pokemon Bank due to the eShop’s continued connectivity problems.
ORIGINAL STORY: Nintendo’s online marketplace is currently experiencing technical difficulties due to all of the people who found Wii Us and 3DSs under the tree yesterday. But that hasn’t stopped The Big N from updating their eShops.
Tuesday, December 31 will close out the “Year of Luigi” in style as Nintendo plans to add Dr. Luigi to the Wii U eShop before the calendar turns. But if you’re looking for something to download today, might I suggest two Virtual Console release: Super Punch-Out!! (Wii U) and Mario Tennis (3DS).
And if you’re a big Pokemon player, you might want to keep an eye out for Pokemon Bank, which will be added to the 3DS eShop tomorrow, December 27. The app allows Pokemon X/Y players to store/manage their captured Pokemon online. A $4.99 annual subscription cost will accompany the Bank, but Nintendo is offering a free trial until January 31.
You can find more details on all of these games and the rest of today’s eShop offerings after the break. (more…)
WB Games has a big announcement planned for the Batman: Arkham series on December 31
WB Games recently added an image to the official Facebook page for the Batman: Arkham series to tease a major announcement that’ll take place on December 31, 2013. The image is very light on details as only the words “Save the Date” and the actual date itself (“12.31.2013”) adorn the art deco-like design.
Could it be more downloadable content for Batman: Arkam Origins? Maybe. Could it be an announcement of Batman: Arkham 4? Sure, why not? After all, Rocksteady has been extremely quiet for a very long time. They have to be working on something.
But I guess we’ll add find out what this “major announcement” is next week.
Posted in News
Tales From the Borderlands is the result of a booze-fueled dare
Did you ever wonder what made Gearbox Software and Telltale Games want to merge the run-and-gun gameplay of the Borderlands franchise with Telltale’s brand of episodic adventure games for Tales From the Borderlands? Apparently alcohol, and lots of it, had something to do with it.
Speaking to Polygon, Telltale’s Steve Allison revealed that initial discussions for the collaboration occured over several rounds of tequila backstage at the 2012 Spike TV Video Game Awards:
“We were backstage at the [2012] Spike VGAs,” Allison told Polygon. “And Gearbox was sitting at table one and we were sitting at table two — we were there for The Walking Dead. We got to talking a little bit, and I don’t remember when it the night it became, ‘we should do this thing,” but it happened over a few cocktails.”
“We could have easily left it and chalked it up to too much tequila, but we followed up when we got home,” he said. “And they remembered the conversation.”
The rest of the interview is well worth a read as Allison also discusses Telltale’s Game of Thrones adaptation and how the team plans to tackle four projects at the same time.
Posted in News
Tagged Tales From the Borderlands
Check out this new Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix trailer
Square Enix has released a new trailer showcasing some of the high points from their upcoming compilation Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix.
Scheduled for release in 2014, exclusively for the PS3, the 2.5 ReMix will include the “Final Mix” editions of Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. These special versions of the games were previously only available in Japan, so even if you’ve played through the entire Kingdom Hearts series, there’ll be something new to see in the 2.5 ReMix. Remastered high definition cinematics from Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded will also be included in the compilation.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix
Zen Pinball 2 for PS4 added to PS Store
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, but do you recall that Zen Pinball 2 is now available on the PlayStation Store?
The PS3 pinball simulation is now available to download for the PS4. If you’ve never played it before, there are plenty of additional tables to add to the free game. But if you’ve already got a complete collection of PS3 tables, they can now be imported into the PS4 version:
Zen Pinball 2 (Free)
All of your favorite pinball tables are now available on the PlayStation 4 system! Download the free Zen Pinball 2 platform and access the best pinball library available. The fantasy-themed “Sorcerer’s Lair” table is available for free play for all players!
That’s it for yesterday’s update, but be sure to visit the PlayStation Blog for a rundown this week’s new game add-ons.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Zen Pinball 2
Namco Bandai has released the first Tales of Zestiria trailer
It’s in Japanese, but here’s the first trailer for Tales of Zestiria, which should make its PS3 debut (in all regions) in 2015.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Tales of Zestiria
XBL Store Today: Halo: Spartan Assault
Christmas has come a bit early! Halo: Spartan Assault was previously penciled in for a December 24 launch, but Microsoft has decided to push its release up a day and the title is now available to download from the Xbox One Game Store for $14.99. It’s everything you love about Halo, now in a nifty top-down view:
Halo: Spartan Assault is a fast paced top-down shooter set during the timeline between “Halo 3” and “Halo 4,” progress your Spartan career as you engage in over 30 exciting Campaign missions using many of favorite Halo weapons, vehicles and armor abilities. Team-up on Xbox Live and fight with a friend against waves of the nightmarish Flood in the all-new online co-op multiplayer mode.
Halo: Spartan Assault is also in development for the Xbox 360 and will be released for that platform in 2014.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Halo: Spartan Assault
Nordic Games will release MX vs ATV: Supercross in 2014
Nordic Games has finally begun to do something with all those franchises they acquired from THQ. The Austrian publisher has announced that they will release MX vs ATV: Supercross in the first half of 2014 for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The game will be developed by a dedicated team made up of many former members of original MX vs ATV developer Rainbow Studios/THQ Digital Phoenix.
Ken George, the Executive Producer of MX vs ATV Supercross, is thrilled about his lead role in resurrecting the series: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with Nordic Games because they appreciate the team’s passion and dedication to bring the feel of real motocross racing to MX vs ATV fans. Not just the adrenaline rush, but the whole experience from top to bottom. A lot of the original team members have been aching to continue their passion: building the most authentic off-road racing games possible. The hiatus is over, and the team is back to work on MX vs ATV with great new things to come.”
George’s team will also oversee the online maintenance of MX vs ATV Alive and MX vs ATV Reflex and plan to restore online play soon.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged MX vs ATV: Supercross