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
Diablo III promises to be a whole new game on the PS4
Blizzard has said all along that they didn’t want the console version of Diablo III to be some slapped together cash grab and their appearance on the most recent episode of “Conversations With Creators” reinforces that notion. Production Director John Hight, Lead Console Designer Josh Mosqueira, and Senior System Designer Jason Bender each took turns talking about how Diablo III benefits from the PS4 and why it was the perfect choice for Blizzard’s first console game in decades.
According to Mosqueira, Blizzard wanted to create an “intimate connection between the player and the character” with Diablo III on the PS4 and, to the end, the developer believes “the Controller is king” in this new version. He concludes by saying, “What we didn’t want to do is simplify the experience. […] What we wanted to do is streamline the experience.”
Lofty goals are great, but direct examples are better and John Hight confirmed that the PS4’s touchpad will be used for inventory management: “One of the things we’re excited about the controller is the touchpad. We think the touchpad’s gonna give a lot of opportunity to make that interface easier.”
I’m still not sure how that little touchpad will work with a DualShock 4 in my hand, but Blizzard’s “Conversations With Creators” episode is definitely worth a watch.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Diablo III
The Wonderful 101 will be released on September 15
During this morning’s Nintendo Direct presentation, the publisher announced that Platinum Games’ superheroic Wii U title, The Wonderful 101, will be released on September 15. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata didn’t have anything else to say about the game today, but he did promise that we’d learn more about The Wonderful 101 after this year’s E3 Expo.
Platinum Games is also hard at work on another Wii U exclusive, Bayonetta 2. It wasn’t mentioned during today’s Nintendo Direct presentation.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged The Wonderful 101
XBLA Today: Hunter’s Trophy 2: America
Are you looking for a new hunting game for your Xbox 360? How about Hunter’s Trophy 2: America, which is available today on the Xbox Live Arcade. Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), Hunter’s Trophy 2 even includes the option to play as a hunting dog:
Experience all the excitement of the hunt in America! From brown bear to elk, track 25 different preys in this hunting simulation set in the most beautiful countryside of the USA. Complete 30 hunting plans, play as your hunting dog during tracking phases and take on a friend in Ball-Trap mode!
Serious question, was there ever a Hunter’s Trophy 1?
Nintendo announces Mario & Sonic at 2014 Winter Olympics
Mario and Sonic are going to go for the gold once more as Nintendo and Sega announced Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games this morning. The Wii U game will pit Mario and Sonic and all their friends against each other in a wide variety of events such as curling, skiing, figure skating pairs, and snowboard slopestyle. Like the Mario & Sonic titles released for the Wii, Mario & Sonic 2014 will include “Dream Events” that take regular Olympic sports and add a Mario/Sonic twist to them.
Interestingly, Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will make use of both of the Wii U’s input methods. Some events will require the Wii U GamePad while others will require a Wii RemotePlus. But some, such as the skiing/shooting hybrid known as the biathlon, will require both controllers.
A release date for Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will be announced “at a later date,” but I imagine it’ll be in stores well before the first medals are awarded in February.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games
New Super Luigi U coming to Wii U eShop on June 20 and store shelves on August 25
New Super Luigi U began life as a downloadable expansion to New Super Mario Bros. U when it was announced back in February. The DLC was all set to transform 82 courses from NSMBU into new levels that played to Luigi’s strengths. The downloadable version is still in development (and will still require a copy of NSMBU), but Nintendo announced this morning (during their latest Nintendo Direct presentation) that New Super Luigi U will also be released as a standalone game.
New Super Luigi U will be added to the Wii U eShop on June 20 and Nintendo has priced the expansion at $19.99. But, if you’d prefer to wait for the disc-based standalone version, it’ll be available in stores on August 25 with a $29.99 price.
Both versions will include Nabbit as a new kind of playable character. The crazy rabbit can’t power up, but he also won’t take damage when he touches enemies. Interesting.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged New Super Luigi U, New Super Mario Bros. U
Sonic: Lost World announced as Wii U and 3DS exclusive
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata used this morning’s Nintendo Direct presentation to announce final release dates for a ton of upcoming Wii U and 3DS games. But Iwata also revealed a handful of new games, including the next Sonic the Hedgehog title, which will be released exclusively on Nintendeo platforms.
Right now, all we about Sonic: Lost World is that it’s “a new action-adventure platforming game” in the long-running series and that more information will be revealed just before the start of this year’s E3 Expo. The game is actually the first piece of a new partnership between Sega and Nintendo that will see the next three games in the Sonic series released exclusively on Nintendo platforms.
“The onetime rivalry between Mario and Sonic has grown into a friendship that has never been closer,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “These announcements in conjunction with Sega demonstrate the commitment we have to bringing great games to the Wii U platform, and set the stage for our upcoming announcements at E3.”
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2013, Sonic: Lost World
Injustice: Gods Among Us is the best-selling game of April 2013
According to The NPD Group’s accounting of the best-selling games from April 2013, NetherRealm Studios’ Injustice: Gods Among Us delivered a superhero-sized punch to the competition last month. The Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U fighter zoomed into the top spot, ahead of another April release, Deep Silver’s Dead Island: Riptide. Other new releases were mostly shut out of the top ten, but Defiance, an MMO shooter based on the Syfy show of the same name, managed to make it to the fifth spot.
Bioshock Infinite continues to sell strong, rounding out the top three, and a pair of 3DS-exclusive games scared up spots in the top ten: Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (#6) and Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins (#9).
The full top ten list for April 2013 can be found right here:
1. Injustice: Gods Among Us (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U)
2. Dead Island: Riptide (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
3. Bioshock Infinite (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
5. Defiance (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
6. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
7. NBA 2K13 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC)
8. Skylanders Giants (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii U)
9. Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins (3DS)
10. MLB 13: The Show (PS3, Vita)
Watch this new CoD: Black Ops II “Mob of the Dead” trailer, DLC available today on PC, PS3
As promised, Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s Uprising Map Pack is now available for the PC and PS3. The pack has been priced at $14.99, but owners of the DLC Season Pass can get it for free. The Uprising Map Pack includes a cinematic new Zombies scenario, “Mob of the Dead,” as well as four new multiplayer maps:
- “Magma” is a modern Japanese village with volcanic eruptions carving multiple paths throughout the town.
- “Encore” takes place in the aftermath of a deserted London music festival and leaves numerous opportunities for run-and-gun, close quarters combat.
- “Vertigo” is a futuristic high rise in India housing a high-tech lab featuring dizzying vistas and multi-tiered pathways.
- “Studio” is a Hollywood movie back lot with a variety of cinematic themes that range from Sci-Fi to the Old West. It’s also a contemporary remake of “Firing Range,” a fan-favorite multiplayer map from Call of Duty: Black Ops.
You can check out a brand new and never-before-seen “Mob of the Dead” trailer above.
Posted in News, PC, PS3
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops II