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
Atlus is free to develop new games in “dormant” Sega franchises after merger
Sega and Atlus officially merged back in September and according to Naoya Tsurumi, Sega Sammy’s Chief Operating Officer, the melding of the two companies has gone swimmingly.
Speaking to Famitsu Magazine (via Siliconera), Tsurumi stated that Atlus will continue to exist as a separate publishing label and that the developers under the Atlus brand will operate independently of Sega, just as they do now. Tsurumi also revealed that Atlus has been given access to Sega’s “dormant” franchises and is free to use them to build new games if they so choose:
Famitsu: It must be reassuring to have added a group capable of making great RPG titles.
Tsurumi: While we have no intention of forcing this, we’d definitely love to have them utilize any of Sega’s dormant IPs.
Tsurumi didn’t specify which franchises he considered “dormant,” but this might be good news for fans of long-forgetten franchises like Space Channel 5, Shenmue, Jet Set Radio (all three of which last saw new entries in 2002), and many others.
Posted in News
MGS5: The Phantom Pain will be released after gamers adopt next-gen systems in big numbers
It’s hard to believe, but Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was only officially announced a little over a year ago. However, the notoriously chatty Hideo Kojima has been talking about the game for years, so it feels like its release should be just around the corner. That’s apparently not the case.
While it’s true that the game’s prologue, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes will be released next Spring, Kojima has revealed (to Famitsu, via Kotaku) that The Phantom Pain is actually much further away. Kojima was cornered by the weekly Japanese gaming magazine at this month’s PS4 launch event in New York City and told them, “It looks like we’ll be able to release The Phantom Pain around the time that the PlayStation 4 becomes widely [adopted].”
So how wide is “widely adopted”? 10 million consoles? 20 million? Who knows? And don’t forget, The Phantom Pain is also in development for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PS3. Presumably their userbases should be involved in this calculation as well.
This statement really is classic Kojima. He dropped a huge bombshell without actually saying anything specific. Bravo.
Nintendo Download: Sega 3D Classics, Contra III, Ninja Gaiden III, more
Nintendo rests for no holiday and this week’s Nintendo Download gives us plenty to be thankful. Especially if you’re a fan of retro games.
The Wii U eShop is now home to Contra III: The Alien Wars, the NES update to everyone’s favorite side-scrolling shooter. And over on the 3DS eShop, gamers on the go can now download Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom, my favorite of the NES Ninja Gaidens. 3DS owners will also be able to download the first of Sega’s 3D Classics today as 3D Space Harrier and 3D Super Hang-On are both now available through the eShop.
Also available this week is Nintendo’s interactive Lourve app, Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre, Young Justice: Legacy, and a few more games you can read about after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre, Young Justice: Legacy
Shovel Knight will break ground in 2014
I am very thankful for Shovel Knight, the upcoming NES-styled platformer from Yacht Club Games. You might even say (bad pun incoming) that I dug the time I got to spend with the game at this year’s PAX East expo. But sadly, it looks like the game’s release (on the PC, Wii U, and 3DS) has been pushed into 2014.
Yacht Club’s Sean Velasco has informed us that Shovel Knight will definitely be released in 2014. While he couldn’t pinpoint an exact release date, the development team is hoping to release their first game in the Winter months.
Winter… snow… Shovel Knight. It all makes perfect sense to me.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, Wii U
Tagged Shovel Knight
XBL Store Today: Need For Speed: Rivals, Adventure Time 2
There’s no new additions to the Xbox Live Arcade today. Nor is there any new Xbox One games. But two new games have been added to the Xbox 360 Games On Demand storefront. And they are…
Need For Speed: Rivals ($59.99)
Welcome to Redview County, where a street-racing rivalry between cops and racers never stops as both sides compete in an all-out war featuring the fastest cars, mods and technology in a gritty open road environment. Play as either a cop or racer, where each side of the law has its own set of high stakes challenges, rewards and consequences. Risk everything in the ultimate high stakes rivalry.
Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW! ($39.99)
Princess Bubblegum summons Finn and Jake to investigate a rash of thefts and kidnappings that have plagued the Candy Kingdom. She thinks the cause lies within her Secret Royal Dungeon, where only the nastiest monsters and criminals are locked up. If they’ve found a way to escape, the Land of Ooo will be in danger! Show creator Pendleton Ward teams up again with developer WayForward in an all-new action game! Select from fan favorite characters from the show, including Finn, Jake, and many more, and team up with your friends in four-player co-operative multiplayer as the Adventure Time world comes to life through beautiful pixel animations, and voiceover from the original cast.
Nintendo’s interactive Louvre musuem guide is coming to 3DS eShop
Nintendo has announced that the interactive museum guide they created for The Louvre (and which was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto himself) will soon be added to the 3DS eShop. The downloadable app, known as Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre, will be released on December 2 with a $19.99 price tag.
The Louvre app includes “more than 600 images of artwork from the famed French museum” as well as 400 3D pictures of famous sculptures. Each images can be zoomed in so users can closely examine works of art that are actually located thousands of miles away. More than 30 hours of commentary will complement the images for a complete learning experience.
An “artwork slide show,” which isn’t available through the 3DS app provided at The Louvre, has been added to the 3DS eShop version. And as the museum’s exhibits change, Nintendo plans to make updates to Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre app available to the app’s users.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Nintendo 3DS Guide: Louvre
PS Store Today: Ys Vita, MGS: VR Missions, Painkiller PS3, more
Here’s your PlayStation Store update for today. We got some Painkiller: Hell & Damnation and some Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory on the PS3 as well as the Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions expansion in the PSone Classics section. Vita owners will even get a chance to play Ys: Memories of Celceta.
There’s more information on all of this week’s releases down below and a list of this week’s new game add-ons at the PlayStation Blog…
PS3 Games
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory ($39.99)
Join Neptune as she is thrust out of the peaceful Gamindustri she loves to be lazy in and finds herself in an alternate dimension—the Gamindustri of the 80′s! Fast-paced combat, several dozen dungeons to explore, and improved battle mechanics, oh my! Complete unique Challenges to boost stats, or call on Scouts to seek out new dungeons for you! Help Neptune get home in this over-the-top comedy RPG!
Painkiller: Hell & Damnation ($29.99)
Heaven’s Hitman is back… With a Vengeance! Demonic powers are manifesting, fighting over the fates of imprisoned souls caught in Purgatory. Once again, Daniel Garner, the Curse of Darkness and the Toy of Light, has to fight his way past hordes of demons. Can he stop the powerful creatures that stand in his way?
Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers ($59.99)
The ultimate Saint Seiya fighting game! Battle your way through 3 famous Chapters (Sanctuary, Poseidon and Hades) with over 50 playable fighters. Discover the most complete Saints experience with character customization, new battle systems and 3 online modes to fight against players all over the world. Save Athena, Save the World!
Super Motherload ($14.99)
Set on Mars in an alternate Cold-War era, Super Motherload is a 1 to 4-player couch co-op digging adventure with branching storyline choices, a fully voiced cast of Soviet and American characters, and a procedurally-generated world that changes each time you play. (Includes PS4 Version Download)
PS3 – PSone Classics
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions ($5.99)
Metal Gear Solid is one of the most successful, and maybe one of the best, PlayStation games ever. These virtual reality missions expand on the training of the special forces unit your character in MGS came from.
Oddworld: Abe Boxx ($9.99)
Hey, remember that quirky demo that came with your original PlayStation®, something about an alien escaping a factory? Did you never get the chance to finish that tough-as-nails game or its sequel? Now’s your chance to play Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee and continue the story in Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus.
Run, jump and possess your way across seven levels of legendary platforming action in the first Oddworld game, freeing 99 of your fellow Mudokons. Then join Abe again in taking down SoulStorm Brewery across eight even bigger levels, and free another 300 Mudokons from a life of gruelling “employment”.
PS Vita Games
Ys: Memories of Celceta ($39.99)
World-famous adventurer Adol Christin awakens in the land of Celceta, remembering only his own name. Eager to unravel the mystery of his past and the cause of his predicament, he sets off to map the uncharted wilderness that claimed his memories in this latest action RPG offering from Nihon Falcom. Join Adol as he traverses the largest overworld in the series with many new friends at his side!
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, Painkiller Hell & Damnation
Microsoft publishes 2013 Black Friday/Cyber Monday XBL Game Store deals
The deals are upon us and Microsoft has gotten in on the act with their annual Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal-travaganza on the Xbox Live Game Store. You can find the complete list of deals at Major Nelson’s blog, but here’s a few highlights:
The “Week-long Offers” begin today and include big discounts on downloadable versions of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (67% off), The Cave (75% off), Wolfenstein 3D (75% off), Tomb Raider (50% off), and Motocross Madness (75% off). All “Week-long Offers” are good until December 2.
Black Friday deals are limited to November 29 only, but if you’re looking for a Spider-Man game, you can pick up the following four at 67% off: Edge of Time, Friend or Foe, Shattered Dimensions, and Web of Shadows. Another comic book adaptation from Activision, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, will also have its price slashed by 67% on Friday.
Finally, Microsoft’s Cyber Monday deals will only be offered on December 2, but if you can keep your wallet full until next Monday, you can grab a few bonafide classics for 75% off including Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Red Dead Redemption, The Witcher 2, Dark Souls, and L.A. Noire. The ridiculously good BattleBlock Theater will also get a price cut (sadly, just 67% off) on December 2.
Once again, be sure to head over to Major Nelson’s blog for the complete list of Black Friday/Cyber Monday discounts on the XBL Game Store.