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
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, Sega fighters added to PS Store
We’ve got a slightly subdued PlayStation Store update this week as only seven games were added to the service.
Leading things off is the latest Ratchet & Clank game, Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault. You know, I think using a double entendre as the title of a platformer that is basically for kids will never get old.
Also available this week is a trio Sega-published fighting games from the 1990s. All three games were developed by the company’s AM2 internal studio and they all should conjure up some good memories: Fighting Vipers, Sonic the Fighters, and Virtua Fighter 2.
Rounding out this week’s new releases is Men In Black: Alien Crisis (just in time for Men In Black 3‘s Blu-ray/DVD debut), Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, and the PSP game Phineas and Ferb Across the 2nd Dimension.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. And a complete list of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PSP, Vita
Tagged Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, Fighting Vipers, Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, Sonic the Fighters, Virtua Fighter 2
Dishonored: Dunwall City Trials DLC scheduled for December 11
Bethesda has announced that the first Dishonored DLC, the “Dunwall City Trials,” will be released on December 11. The new content will be available on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 for $4.99 (or 400 Microsoft Points).
“Dunwall City Trials” will add 10 challenge maps to the game “that will test your combat, stealth and mobility skills.” Players will be asked to “fight off waves of tallboys, guards, weepers and thugs, [and] take out targets in a non-stop run of drop assassinations.”
“Dunwall City Trials” will also add a new batch of Achievements/Trophies for your collecting pleasure and the first screenshots of the add-on can be found at the Bethesda Blog.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dishonored
Nintendo launching Wii Mini in Canada on December 7
It looks like Nintendo isn’t done launching new consoles. After the Wii U’s release on November 18 (and the upcoming European launch on November 30), Nintendo plans to release the Wii Mini exclusively in Canada for $99.99 on December 7.
So what exactly is the Wii Mini? It’s a Wii system in a smaller form factor featuring a matte black finish with a red border. The included Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk also feature bright red plastic.
The catch is that the Wii Mini is a Wii-only system. That means no GameCube support and no Internet capabilities either. That’s not ideal for a serious gamer, but it looks so snazzy!
Nintendo adding classic Mario levels to New Super Mario Bros. 2
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has unveiled the latest New Super Mario Bros. 2 downloadable content in Nintendo of Japan’s latest Nintendo Direct video. Available now in Japan, the “Golden Classic Course Pack” includes remade levels from Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. (1-1, the underground-based 1-2, and the Bowser Castle of 1-4) and Super Mario Bros. 3 (1-1 and 1-5) for the game’s Coin Rush mode.
Nintendo of America followed up this announcement with one of their own, confirming that the “Gold Classics Pack” is now available to download in North America for free. After February 1, 2013, the pack will be priced at $2.50.
Be sure to check out the sneak peek of the DLC in the video above.
Posted in News
Tagged 3DS, New Super Mario Bros. 2
Nintendo sells 400,000 Wii U consoles in first week
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has confirmed to the CNET that the Wii U launch was a sellout. According to Fils-Aime, more than 400,000 Wii U consoles have been sold since the system launched on November 18.
“Wii U is essentially sold out of retail and we are doing our best to continually replenish stock,” Fils-Aime said. “Retailers are also doing their best to get the product to store shelves. But as soon as product hits retail, they’re selling out immediately.”
For comparison’s sake, Nintendo managed to sell 300,000 Wii consoles in the same timespan. Not bad for a six-year-old system that has lived in the shadow of the PS3 and Xbox 360 for years.
Just Stop! Consoles Are NOT Headed For a Crash
When the Internet decides to collectively believe something that’s just not true, we have to cry out… Just Stop! This is what’s making a Warp Zoned editor rip his computer from the wall in frustration today…
Over the last few weeks, you’ve probably seen more than a few articles bemoaning the financial health of the retail games sector. Analysts and journalists have been carrying on about how this is the end of the line. That even with a generational jump looming, the gaming community has abandoned disc-based games for their iGadgets and their free-to-play Facebook counterparts.
No! Just Stop! YOU. ARE. WRONG. (more…)
Atari founder is baffled by Wii U, says console era is over
I think Nolan Bushnell needs a Chuck E Cheese pizza and a good long nap. During a recent chat with The New York Times, the Atari founder took a few swipes at Nintendo’s latest console, the Wii U, and console gaming in general.
Bushnell told the newspaper, “I actually am baffled by [the Wii U]. I don’t think it’s going to be a big success.”
But he saved his harshest criticisms for the console industry in general saying, “These things will continue to sputter along, but I really don’t think they’ll be of major import ever again. It feels like the end of an era to me.”
A part of me wonders if Mr. Bushnell is aware that console gaming is still a $20 billion a year industry? But at least he’s more informed than the author of the article. After leaving the Atari founder, he spends several thousand words on a eulogy for Nintendo because of the popularity of phone/tablet apps.
Sigh.
MLB 13: The Show launches on March 5; fans will choose cover athlete
The season may have just ended a few weeks ago, but are you ready to play ball in 2013? Sony hopes so as the publisher announced today that MLB 13: The Show will be released for the PS3 and Vita on March 5, 2013.
In previous years, the franchise has employed David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, David Wright, Ryan Howard, Joe Mauer, and Adrian Gonzalez as cover athletes. For MLB 13, Sony has decided to pull an EA and use a “Cover Campaign” to decide the game’s spokesman. The voting will begin shortly after January 1st.
Sony and their San Diego Studio plan to add a bunch of new features to MLB 13: The Show as well as revamp some old favorites. Here’s what they’re willing to share so far:
Nothing compares to Postseason baseball. That’s why The Show offers an All-New Playoff Mode, which includes an in-stadium atmosphere that replicates the excitement and tension of October baseball. The experience is unrivalled by anything The Show has ever exhibited.
Other new features include a completely new beginner mode and instructional enhancements that make The Show the best pick-up and play baseball experience available. In addition, the improved Play Now mode streamlines gameplay, for faster and simpler games. San Diego Studios has also revamped The Show’s Franchise and Road To The Show modes with expanded options and new gameplay experiences.
Remember, it’s only 77 days until pitchers and catchers report.
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged MLB 13: The Show