Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Author: John Scalzo
Nintendo sold $300 million worth of Wii U hardware in 2012
What do you do when you want to brag about the sales of your latest system, but it sold less than your previous system? First, you stop talking about unit sales of your previous system and, second, you start touting the total amount of money your new system made.
Watch closely…
Nintendo has announced that the two Wii U hardware bundles have generated $300 million in sales during the last two months of 2012. The company’s newest system is now in the hands of nearly 890,000 gamers in the US.
Nintendo also wants you to know that the Wii only managed to generate $270 million in sales during its first 41 days on sale. So you see, the Wii U is clearly more popular! But wait… the Wii’s lower price means that Nintendo actually sold over a million Wii systems in 2006. Or over 100,000 more than the Wii U at the same point in its lifecycle. Whoops.
It’s still way too early to declare the Wii U a failure (or a success), but these kinds of half-truths when it comes to sales numbers never end well.
Oh well, at least New Super Mario Bros. U is a huge hit with over 580,000 copies sold.
Posted in News
Tagged New Super Mario Bros. U, Wii, Wii U
CoD Black Ops II was the best-selling game of December 2012
For the second straight month, Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II stands tall as the best-selling game of the month, per The NPD Group’s December 2012 report.
The first person shooter fended off a bevy of sequels including the rest of the top five: Just Dance 4, Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed III, and Madden NFL 13. In fact, not a single non-sequel cracked the top ten last month.
Once again, The NPD Group is reporting (via Game Informer) that game sales and console sales are down relative to 2011 (which was itself down from 2010). Of course, the NPD Group’s inability to track sales of downloadable games makes this statistic less than helpful.
The full top ten from last month can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Assassin's Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Far Cry 3, FIFA Soccer 13, Halo 4, Just Dance 4, Madden NFL 13, NBA 2K13, New Super Mario Bros. 2, NPD, Skylanders Giants
Capcom Vancouver’s next game won’t have any zombies in it
Capcom Vancouver (formerly Blue Castle Games) has produced four games in the Dead Rising 2 saga since 2010 (Dead Rising 2, Off the Record, Case Zero, and Case West). But, believe it or not, their next game won’t have anything to do with the undead.
The developer announced the game on their official website this morning, but it’s still tightly under wraps. We don’t know the name or even what platforms its in development for. All we know for sure is that Capcom Vancouver is working on a brand new title (not part of any of the publisher’s existing franchises) they consider “Capcom’s next big game.”
If you think you’ve got what it takes, Capcom Vancouver wants to fill out their team with multiple new employees. So head over to their website and apply now.
Posted in News
Nintendo Download: ZombiU demo, NBA 2K13 demo, more
Nintendo continues to play catchup to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace when it comes to offering downloadable demos. But today’s Wii U eShop update adds two new try-before-you-buy titles to the service: Ubisoft’s ZombiU and 2K’s NBA 2K13.
This is great for Wii U owners as you really have to try ZombiU’s unique mix of GamePad inventory management and first person shooting for yourself.
You can see what else is available as part of this week’s Nintendo Download (on the 3DS, DS, and Wii) after the break. (more…)
Omerta: City of Gangsters announced for Mac; PC, Xbox 360 versions set for February 12
Kalypso Media and Haemimont Games have announced that Omerta: City of Gangsters will be available for the PC and Xbox 360 on February 12. I’m sure the publisher plans to make your local game store an offer it can’t refuse to carry it.
The two companies have also confirmed that the turn-based strategy game will be available for the Mac (on the Apple Mac Store and the Steam Mac Store) sometime in early 2013.
Finally, a new gameplay trailer is available for your viewing pleasure. Unless you’ve been prohibited from watching it.
Posted in News, PC, Xbox 360
Tagged Omerta: City of Gangsters
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct coming to Wii U too; March release confirmed
Glenn Gamble, a Producer at Terminal Reality, has revealed that The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, Activision’s first person shooter based on the popular AMC show, will be available for the Wii U in addition to the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
So what will the Wii U version bring to Survival Instinct? A more streamlined inventory system, according to Gamble:
“We didn’t want to change the game, because the game had already been established, so we tried to say, ‘What can we augment with the Wii U version?’ That’s where it’s basically a more elegant inventory management system. With the Wii U you have access to your backpack at all times, so you can tap what weapons you want, you can drop stuff. It’s a lot more streamlined.”
Finally, Gamble confirmed that the game will be released in Europe on March 29, just two days before the third season finale. Because of the close tie-in with the TV show, a North American release date is likely to be very similar.
UPDATE: As expected, Activision has announced The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct will be released in North America on March 26.
[Source: Digital Spy]
Telltale will offer free Walking Dead downloads to gamers affected by Xbox 360 bug
Telltale’s The Walking Dead was initially released in five acclaimed episodes over the Spring, Summer and Fall of 2012. In December, Telltale collected the game’s chapters into a “complete season” compilation on the PS3 and Xbox 360. But some Xbox 360 owners have been unable to play the game as intended as the disc version has suffered slowness and freezing.
Through their internal testing, Telltale has discovered that the glitch is only present for owners of the 4GB Xbox 360 that do not have a hard drive installed. The easiest fix is to simply buy a hard drive. But for those Walking Dead owners who’d prefer not to do that, Telltale is offering an alternate solution.
An announcement on the developer’s official forum has revealed that players who have been affected by the freezing glitch can request a free download of all five episodes of the XBLA edition of The Walking Dead.
It’s a nice gesture, but all five episodes of The Walking Dead add up to 2.85GB, a massive chunk of a 4GB Xbox 360’s internal storage space.
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged The Walking Dead
2K Games pulls off the hidden ball trick by announcing Major League Baseball 2K13
Like a pitcher with a perfect pickoff move, 2K Sports waited until the last possible second to announce Major League Baseball 2K13. But that’s just what they’ve done, confirming that a new deal with the MLB and the Player’s Association will allow MLB 2K13 to be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 5, 2013. David Price, the American League Cy Young Award-winning pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, has been selected to appear on the cover.
“We’d like to thank our league partners for their support in helping us reach an agreement to bring back Major League Baseball 2K,” said Jason Argent, Vice President of Marketing for 2K Sports.
2K will also bring back their popular (but controversial) Perfect Game Challenge. For 2013, the publisher plans to introduce a new format for the contest, which they’ll announce at a later date.
But, following up on the pickoff metaphor, it remains to be seen if this latest iteration in the simulation series will be a precision strike or an errant throw that sails wildly off the mark.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Major League Baseball 2K13