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
ICHEG adds largest collection of Japanese games in the world to its archive
The International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG), which is located in Rochester, NY, has accepted another large donation to increase the size of their already massive archive of games and related items. Andre and Sylvio Hodos, who reside in France, contacted the museum’s curators and offered them a collection of over 7,000 Japanese games that span 22 plaforms. With this acquisition, the ICHEG believes they now own the largest collection of Japanese video games in the world.
Spanning the 1980s and 1990s, the collection covers a crucial period when Japanese video game designers were pioneering many of the most important technologies and styles of play that influenced game design and spurred interest in Japanese culture globally.
The collection is comprised of nearly 7,000 Japanese video games spanning 22 systems, and includes home consoles, handhelds, peripherals, and accessories manufactured by Sega, Nintendo, NEC, and Pioneer. The items, many of which are rare, are in mint or very good condition and include all relevant packaging and instructions.
Like the remainder of the ICHEG’s collection (which now numbers more than 50,000 pieces), the Hodos’ donation will be used by curators for future museum exhibits and the games will be made available to researchers who request to play them.
Injustice Ultimate Edition coming to PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, PC, Vita on November 12
ORIGINAL STORY: Injustice: Gods Among Us has been quite the success for NetherRealm Studios. The Mortal Kombat makers branched out (slightly) and produced a memorable fighting game featuring many of our favorite characters (and Aquaman) from DC Comics lore. So what can they do for an encore? I don’t know, but we’ll all find out together sometime this week. Ed Boon, the developer’s founder and current Creative Director, tweeted the following news last night:
Big INJUSTICE news next week? Perhaps.
— Ed Boon (@noobde) October 6, 2013
So what’s the big news? A PS4/Xbox One/Vita port is a possibility. As is another downloadable character or a “Game of the Year” edition containing all of the previously released DLC. But as I said, we’ll add find out together soon.
UPDATE: Seconds after this story was posted, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment confirmed that an “Ultimate Edition” of Injustice: Gods Among Us will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 12. It will include all six DLC characters as well as additional character skins and S.T.A.R. Labs missions. The game is also coming to the Vita (thanks to Armature Studios), the PC (thanks to High Voltage), and the PS4 (thanks to NetherRealm themselves). Touch controls will be added to the Vita/PS4 versions and a soundtrack will be included with all editions of the game.
Weekly Warp-Up: Calm Before the Pokemon 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…
Nintendo will release two of the biggest games of 2013 this week: Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. But before the pocket monsters invade the 3DS for the first time in a “main series” Pokemon game, the publisher some of their plans for the rest of 2013… and beyond. For example, they’ve confirmed that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will now be released in February 2014. And they’ve also added Toon Link and Sonic the Hedgehog to Super Smash Bros. 4.
By the way, Beyond: Two Souls will also be released next week and we went hands-on with Quantic Dream’s next title. You might say it’s beyond awesome (so far).
In non-new release news (sort of), the staff of Warp Zoned took at look back at What We Played in September 2013 and selected our Games of October 2013.
You can find more news from the week that was after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Shovel Knight trailer heralds Winter 2013 release
Yacht Club Games has released a new trailer for Shovel Knight, their upcoming side-scrolling action title that features a level select style similar to Mega Man. The trailer is very similar to the game’s reveal trailer, which was released a few months ago, but I’m happy whenever we get new Shovel Knight information.
The developer has also confirmed that the game’s official release date is “Winter 2013” and a pre-order page for the PC/Steam version is now available at their official website. The game will also be released for the 3DS and Wii U but, obviously, you can’t pre-order it yet.
And if you’re at this year’s IndieCade, which concludes today, be on the lookout for Shovel Knight at the Nintendo booth.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, Wii U
Tagged Shovel Knight
New Releases: Beyond: Two Souls, Pokemon X/Y, Just Dance 2014, More
All you Pokemaniacs can rejoice, for it is time. Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, the first “main series” Pokemon games for the 3DS, will be released this week.
If you’d prefer something a little more out there (and you own a PS3), there’s Quantic Dream’s latest action/adventure game, Beyond: Two Souls. The supernatural Saga of Jodie (played by Ellen Page) and her doctor (played by Willem Dafoe) is sure to feature plenty of the developer’s signature weirdness and grandeur.
And if you want to go REALLY out there, NIS America will release Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness for the PS3. The latest game in the insane strategy RPG franchise is a direct sequel to the to the first game in the series, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, which should please its many fans.
This week’s last “new” releases is Ubisoft’s Just Dance 2014. The dancing franchise will boogie its way (again) onto the PS3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360 this week. PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game are set to be released in November.
Finally, a trio of re-releases should keep budget hunters happy as 2K Games/Gearbox will release Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition, Bethesda/Arkane will release Dishonored: Game of the Year Edition, and Capcom will release the Capcom Essentials collection (which contains Dead Rising 2, Devil May Cry 4, Mega Man 10, Resident Evil 6, and Super Street Fighter IV).
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Beyond: Two Souls, Borderlands 2, Disgaea Dimension 2, Dishonored, Just Dance 2014, Pokemon X/Y
Valve reveals the hardware specs of the Steam Machines beta units
Valve has released the hardware specifications of the SteamOS-powered Steam Machines beta units they’re working on. The prototype box is meant to replicate a high-end desktop, though Valve’s Greg Coomer has reassured fans that Steam Machines “designed to cost less, or to be tiny, or super quiet” will also exist. But here’s what you’ll find under the hood of the prototype box, which will also be fully customizable by the user.
Steam Machines Prototype Specifications
GPU: NVidia Titan OR GeForce GTX780 OR GeForce GTX760 OR GeForce GTX660
CPU: Intel i7-4770 OR Intel i5-4570 OR Intel i3
RAM: 16GB DDR3-1600 (CPU), 3GB DDR5 (GPU)
Storage: 1TB/8GB Hybrid SSHD
Power Supply: Internal 450w 80Plus Gold
Dimensions: Approx. 12 x 12.4 x 2.9
And don’t forget, Valve plans to enlist 300 beta testers to put the Steam Machines prototype through its paces. If you want to qualify to join their ranks, there’s still time.
Treasure wants to bring Ikaruga to Steam
There is a fairly large contingent of gamers who believe that Treasure’s Ikaruga is the greatest vertically-scrolling shooter of all time. Currently available only through the Xbox Live Arcade (though originally released for the GameCube), Ikaruga might be available on Steam in the very near future.
The PC version of Ikaruga is in development at Treasure and will be based on the XBLA version. Because the company has yet to publish a game through Steam, Ikaruga’s Steam Edition will have to go through the Greenlight process. But the “Yes” votes are already pouring in because it’s the greatest vertically-scrolling shooter of all time (obviously, I’m part of that large contingent).
Learn more about “Squads” in this Call of Duty: Ghosts trailer
Activision has released a new trailer detailing the “Squads” feature of Call of Duty: Ghosts‘ multiplayer. Check it out:
Squads introduces a whole new level of competition to Call of Duty: Ghosts. Combining the unrivaled Multiplayer experience with cutting edge AI, Squads lets you play a variety of new game modes with your customized squad-mates. Play solo against another player and their squad, or cooperatively with friends, competing versus an AI-controlled squad. Best of all, the XP earned in Squads is directly connected to your Multiplayer progress!
Call of Duty: Ghosts will be released for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on November 15. A PS4 edition will follow on November 15 and an Xbox One version will be available on November 22.