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
Gamers bought 1 million PS4 consoles on first day of sales
Sony has announced that one million PlayStation 4 consoles were sold during the next-generation system’s first day of availability in the United States and Canada.
“PS4 was designed with an unwavering commitment to gamers, and we are thrilled that consumer reaction has been so phenomenal,” said Andrew House, the President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment. “Sales remain very strong in North America, and we expect continued enthusiasm as we launch the PlayStation 4 in Europe and Latin America on November 29. We are extremely grateful for the passion of PlayStation fans and thank them for their continued support.”
According to Ars Technica, the sales numbers for the PS4 compare favorably to previous console launches. Last year, Nintendo managed to sell 400,000 Wii U consoles during its first week of release. While that count is less than half of Sony’s (and took six additional days), Nintendo considered it a sellout. Going back to the previous generation, Microsoft moved 326,000 Xbox 360 consoles in the two weeks after its North American launch in 2005, while Sony sold 197,000 PS3 consoles in the same two-week post-launch window in the US and Canada.
So I guess one million consoles in a single day is actually quite the accomplishment. Congratulations are in order to Sony.
Weekly Warp-Up: Xbox One Countdown 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 PS4 is now available in stores, so today marks the start of the five day countdown to the launch of the Xbox One. But first, Sony dumped a ton of PS4 announcements on us including Uncharted 4, TowerFall Ascension, and a release date for InFamous: Second Son.
Microsoft countered by confirming that, beginning next year, free Xbox One games will be included as part of the Xbox Live Games With Gold promotion.
More news from the week that was can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Xbox One, Super Mario 3D World, Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, More
Are you ready for “Part Two” of this year’s next-generation console extravaganza? After months of hype, Microsoft is ready to deliver the Xbox One to store shelves this week. If you haven’t already ordered one, it’s unlikely you’ll find the system in stores, but it’s always worth a shot. However, there will be plenty of Xbox One game available, including:
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
- Angry Birds Star Wars
- Battlefield 4
- Call of Duty: Ghosts
- Dead Rising 3
- FIFA 14
- Fighter Within
- Forza Motorsport 5
- Just Dance 2014
- Lego Marvel Super Heroes
- Madden NFL 25
- NBA 2K14
- NBA Live 14
- Need For Speed: Rivals
- Ryse: Son of Rome
- Skylanders Swap Force
- Zumba Fitness: World Party
If you’re not quite ready to hop on the Xbox One bandwagon, there are plenty of brand new current-generation games out this week including:
- Mario’s most recent Wii U adventure… Super Mario 3D World
- Link’s latest 3DS quest… The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
- A tropical Mario Party… Mario Party: Island Tour
- Media Molecule’s origami Vita platformer… Tearaway
- The further adventures of Jake and Finn… Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW!
- And finally, the return of Zoo Tycoon (now for the Xbox 360).
The complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Minecraft: Skyrim Edition will be available on XBL Store next week
Microsoft has announced that the “Skyrim Edition” content for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will be available for download beginning next week. The pack (which includes 40 new skins, a Skyrim-themed world, and a Skyrim-themed soundtrack) has been priced at $3.99/€3.79/£2.69 when it’s released on November 20.
So brighten up your Saturday with the new trailer for the Skyrim/Minecraft mash-up, which has been embedded above.
December 7’s VGX Awards will replace the Spike TV Video Game Awards
The Spike TV Video Game Awards are dead! But the long-running awards show isn’t going away. Instead, it’s been renamed the “VGX Awards.” Oh good, many gamers worried that the awards show had an image problem before, adding an unneeded “X” to the name is obviously a step in the right direction.
Dodgy name change aside, the new VGX Awards might actually be moving in the right direction. The dance party atmosphere has been replaced by an “intimate studio setting” and a Hollywood host was passed over in favor of Geoff Keighley of GameTrailers TV. But like in years past, the show will include World Premiere game trailers, “extended demos of the next generation of games, and interactive one-on-one interviews.”
This year’s nominees will be revealed at a later date, but viewer voting for the “Most Anticipated Game” award is now open. Your five choices are Destiny, South Park: The Stick of Truth, TitanFall, Watch Dogs, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The 2013 VGX Awards will be broadcast on Spike TV on Saturday, December 7 at 6:00 PM. The show will also be livestreamed on VGXLive.com, Spike.com, GameTrailers.com, Twitch, Hulu, Yahoo Screen, ComedyCentral.com MTV.com, MTV2.com, BET.com, and through apps available on the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, and iOS/Android devices.
Ultra Street Fighter IV will be released in May or June next year
Capcom is still keeping quiet on when Ultra Street Fighter IV will be released, but they’ve narrowed the window somewhat.
According to a post on the Capcom-Unity blog, the publisher has revealed that the arcade edition of Ultra Street Fighter IV will be available in April 2014. The PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 edition will be released shortly after that, but “before EVO [2014].” Since the 2014 Evolution World Finals are set to begin on July 11, we can assume that the home release of Ultra Street Fighter IV will be available sometime in May or June.
For more Ultra Street Fighter IV news, head over to Capcom-Unity for an updated look at the game’s new characters: Elena, Rolento, Hugo, and Poison.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Street Fighter IV
XBL Store Today: Contrast, Zumba Fitness: World Party, Ben 10 Omniverse 2
Three games were added to the Xbox Live Game Store today: A jazzy vaudeville/film noir-inspired puzzle platformer, an exercise game, and the latest game based on the Cartoon Network series Ben 10 Omniverse. More details on all three games can be found right here:
Contrast ($14.99)
Contrast is a platform/puzzle game where you can move between a fantastic 3D world and a mysterious shadowy universe in 2D. You play Dawn, the imaginary friend of a young girl named Didi. Together, they will delve into a dreamlike and surreal 1920s world, inspired by the performance art world of vaudeville and film noir, and cradled by a jazzy atmosphere.
Zumba Fitness: World Party ($39.99)
Take your work out to Brazil, Hawaii and beyond in this vibrant fitness journey packed with exotic rhythms and rich culture from around the world. Expand your horizons with 40+ high-energy routines, over 30 calorie-burning dance styles, and a red hot soundtrack featuring Lady Gaga, Pitbull, Daddy Yankee and more. Work your body as you set fitness goals, earn motivating rewards and dance with friends alongside your favorite celebrity Zumba instructors in the new World Tour mode. Transform your at home work out into a rockin’ global fitness-party with Zumba Fitness: World Party!
Ben 10 Omniverse 2 ($39.99)
Ben 10 Omniverse 2 has everything fans love about the hit series: Aliens, Action, and an all-new Adventure! The fastest Ben 10 game ever puts Ben in a race against the clock to make every alien transformation count in his battle against the all-new Incursean invaders. Set off on an all-new adventure with Ben as he infiltrates Incursean battleships to save the resistance fighters. Face off against new enemies featuring authentic voices in an all-new story written by the writers of the actual Ben 10 Omniverse TV series. All-new free-running chase and brawl sequences and fast paced alien switching action make this the most intense Ben 10 game yet!
The Last of Us: Left Behind expansion will let you play as Ellie
Even though the PS4 has ushered in the next generation of gaming, Sony isn’t done with the PS3 just yet. During yesterday’s PS4 launch event, Naughty Dog gave us our first glimpse at “Left Behind,” the first single-player expansion for The Last of Us.
The Last of Us: Left Behind will give players something they’ve been asking for ever since The Last of Us was released to rave reviews this Summer: The chance to control Ellie. Ashley Johnson will return to reprise her role as Joel’s sidekick, but Joel is nowhere to be seen. Instead, “Left Behind” takes place before Ellie met Joel, when she was enrolled at a military boarding school in the Boston quarantine zone. It’s there that she meets Riley (first chronicled in the comic tie-in The Last of Us: American Dream), a “mentor” and friend who will accompany her in “Left Behind.”
The Last of Us: Left Behind is currently scheduled for an early 2014 and will be available for $14.99. Unless you purchased the Last of Us Season Pass, then it’s free.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged The Last of Us, The Last of Us: Left Behind