Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get 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
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
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario Golf: World Tour coming to 3DS this Summer
Nintendo has just finishing delivering their latest Nintendo Direct address to fans and Nintendo President Satoru Iwata opened things up by declaring that 2013 will be “The Year of Luigi.”
In addition to showing some new gameplay footage from Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Mr. Iwata announced two new games that star “Mario’s twin brother.” Did we know they were twins? I don’t think we knew that… Anyway, Nintendo revealed they’ll be bringing Mario & Luigi: Dream Team and Mario Golf: World Tour to the 3DS this Summer.
As you might have guessed, Dream Team takes place in Luigi’s dreams and players will actually get to wake him by pulling on his mustache with the touchscreen. The latest Mario Golf game will once again be developed by Camelot and will include multiple courses set in and around the Mushroom Kingdom.
Doesn’t Mr. Iwata look great in a Luigi hat?
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario Golf: World Tour
Jamie Fristrom’s Swingin’ Career, From Spider-Man to Energy Hook: An Interview
Jamie Fristrom is a name that you might not be familiar with, but you’ve certainly experienced his work. In 1996, Fristrom became part of the original team at Treyarch and had a hand in many of their earliest hits. But his biggest claim to fame is the creation of the webslinging engine found in Spider-Man 2 (and used in nearly every Spider-Man game since). In that dark period between GoldenEye 007 and Batman: Arkham Asylum, Fristrom’s work on Spider-Man 2 proved that licensed games could still be fun.
After his days at Treyarch ended, he went the indie route and created the acclaimed XBLA game Schizoid and founded his own one-man-studio, Happion Labs. His first game under the Happion Labs banner will be Energy Hook, a game that attempts to recapture the fun we all found in aimlessly webslinging around Manhattan.
Fristrom is readying a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the game, which will likely launch in a few weeks. In the meantime, I had a chance to talk to him about his career so far and where he plans to take it with Energy Hook. (more…)
Posted in Features, Interviews, PC, PS2, Top Story, Xbox 360
Tagged Energy Hook
EA plans to release 10-15 next-gen games during console transition period
Blake Jorgensen, the Chief Financial Officer at Electronic Arts, told the crowd at this year’s Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference that EA plans to have 10-15 next-generation games ready to go during the PS3-Xbox 360/PS4-Xbox 720 “transition period.”
But don’t worry, if you don’t plan on purchasing a next-generation console (for whatever reason), Jorgensen confirmed that the majority of EA’s output would be available on “generation-three” consoles (that’s the PS3 and Xbox 360) because they’re a slave to the sports schedules:
“An important thing to remember is that next-gen consoles will most likely not be backwards compatible,” [Jorgensen] explained. “And if you [play] multiplayer on a game, you’ll most likely not be able to play with someone on a different generation. And so if you’re a FIFA player, and the soccer season’s starting in August, and all your friends are playing FIFA, you’re going to want to be on the same box that they’re on.”
Further details of these 10-15 titles were unavailable, but we know for a fact that EA internal studios DICE and Criterion are hard at work on next-generation games.
[Source: Polygon]
GameStop says 60% of customers will skip next-gen consoles that block used games
Rob Lloyd, GameStop’s Chief Financial Officer, has some strong for any consolemaker considering a used game lockout system for their next-generation console.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Lloyd told the assembled crowd that the retailer recently conducted a poll of their customers and found that 60% would refuse to purchase a console that disallowed used games. Someone who says that consumers demand to be able to play used games, who also happens to be the CFO of GameStop, can be considered a bit of a biased source. But something tells me their research doesn’t stray too far from reality.
“Consumers want the ability to play pre-owned games, they want portability in their games; they want to play physical games. And to not have those things would be a substantial reason for them not to purchase a new console,” Lloyd said.
He was also quoted as saying, “Sony has said publicly that they don’t intend to block used games on its next console.” That’s news to me, but I’d like to believe it’s true.
Hopefully we’ll find out next Wednesday.
[Source: VG247]
XBLA Today: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Decade Duels Plus
Another Yu-Gi-Oh! game has made its way to the Xbox Live Arcade as Konami released Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Decade Duels Plus today. The game has been priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10) and additional card packs are available to download for 160 Microsoft Points ($2) apiece.
Here’s what Yu-Gi-Oh! fans can expect from Decade Duels Plus:
Based on the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s animated TV series Includes the latest cards from the official Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Trading Card Game Complete against the most popular Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s characters during the finals Battle through Single player or compete in 4 player tag duels with text and voice chat ability.
Includes 3 Modes of Play:
Rank Match – Compete against Yu-Gi-Oh! fans of the same rank and ability.
Quick Match – Jump right into the action and compete against any Yu-Gi-Oh! fan.
Custom Match – Battle your friends and completely customize the rules of play
Deadpool breaks the fourth wall this Summer
According to an ad found in at least one of last week’s new comic books, High Moon’s Deadpool game will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 this Summer. Previously, publisher Activision would only say that the game was coming in 2013.
Consider this news tentative for now as Activision has made no official announcements about Deadpool’s release date and the online retailers of the world (including GameStop and Amazon) have yet to update the game’s listing.
[Source: Deadpool Bugle]
Skyrim: Dragonborn, Persona 4: Arena, Twisted Metal, TM Black, more added to PS Store
Welcome to your weekly update of the PlayStation Store. This week…
- Bethesda has finally added the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim expansion, Dragonborn, to the store.
- Atlus has added the Persona fighting game spinoff, Persona 4: Arena.
- Konami has added another Yu-Gi-Oh! game, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Decade Duels Plus.
- The top-down shooter Alien Breed is available as a PSN/Vita Cross-Buy game.
- Twisted Metal (PSone) and Twisted Metal: Black (PS2) have been added to the Classics section.
A few other games were also added to the PlayStation Store this week and you can read all about them after the break. A full list of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged Persona 4: Arena, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
CoD: Black Ops II Revolution map pack coming to PC, PS3 on February 28
The first Call of Duty: Black Ops II map pack, Revolution, was added to the Xbox Live Marketplace on January 29. As expected, Activision has confirmed that the DLC will be made available for PC and PS3 players a month later.
The Revolution pack will be added to the PlayStation Store and PC download services on February 28. Activision didn’t announce a price, but it’s a safe assumption it’ll carry the same $15 pricetag as the Xbox 360 version.
The Revolution pack adds four new multiplayer maps (“Grind,” “Hydro,” “Downhill,” and “Mirage”), a new Zombies map (“Die Rise”), and a new Zombies gametype (“Turned”) where players can play as the shambling undead.
A Wii U release date for Revolution was not announced, but the DLC is expected to be made available for Nintendo’s newest systems soon.
Posted in News, PC, PS3
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops II