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
Weekly Warp-Up: Summer Heat 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…
The thermometer is making the idea of sitting inside all Summer with a stack of video games sound mighty appealing. And here’s what was hot at Warp Zoned this week.
We talked to Walt Williams, the Lead Writer of Spec Ops: The Line, about his controversial new military shooter. Williams has a lot to say about the nature of war, what that should mean for video games, and why the city of Dubai’s very existence is a puzzle to him.
But the Summer heat has just started and as the first month of the season comes to a close we took a look back at What We Played in June 2012. If your idea of hot is the new Pokemon game, by all means, read on.
More hot stories can be found after the jump thanks to this edition of the Weekly Warp-Up. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Test Drive Ferrari, Secret World, More
After a fairly packed May and a decent June, it looks like game publishers plan to turn the new release spigot way down in July.
There’s just a handful of new releases this week, with Square Enix’s Theatrhythm Final Fantasy for the 3DS leading the pack. If you ever thought a rhythm game and a dungeon crawling RPG couldn’t coexist, you’d be wrong.
Also available this week is the latest entry in the Test Drive franchise. Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends for the PS3 and Xbox 360 will eschew the open world racing of the Unlimited series for a more self-contained collection of single tracks and fast cars. A downloadable PC version will also be available this week.
Funcom’s long-in-development MMO The Secret World (PC) will also make it into stores this week. If you need a little more modern day in your MMOs, it might be one to check out.
Finally, a trio of bargain-priced PC titles round out the week: Snark Busters 3 Pack, Natural Threat: Ominous Shores, and Vampire Saga: Break Out.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends, The Secret World, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
XBLA Today: Mini Ninjas Adventures
Mini Ninjas was developed by IO Interactive (yes, the same guys getting heat for Hitman: Absolution‘s “sexy assassin nuns” trailer) as a game to play with their kids. The little martial artists were a big hit with gamers and they make their return today in an extra-special Friday Xbox Live Arcade update.
Mini Ninjas Adventures is a Kinect-powered game that’s available to download for 800 Microsoft Points ($10):
Calling all ninjas! Get ready to swipe, kick and battle your way through 21 levels of intense ninja action as you help Hiro rescue his master and fellow ninjas from the clutches of the evil Samurai Warlord. Be prepared to face a multitude of enemies that will push your skills to the limit and test your ingenuity. So pack your ninja stars, sword and more and get ready for adventure…a Mini Ninjas Adventure.
Someone recreated the “Truck Ambush” trailer for The Last of Us in LittleBigPlanet 2
One of the big things that Naughty Dog has done with The Last of Us so far is emphasize the brutal nature of the world that Joel and Ellie live in. So what better way to find the humor in apocalyptic fungus than by recreating the especially violent “Truck Ambush” trailer in LittleBigPlanet 2?
There are some days when I just love the Internet.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged LittleBigPlanet 2, The Last of Us
007 Legends to include On Her Majesty’s Secret Service mission
Man, Activision is really stretching the definition of “classic” Bond movies, aren’t they?
Yesterday, the publisher announced the second movie-based mission for 007 Legends: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The film was George Lazenby’s only outing as Bond and the first not to star Sean Connery. It is also a huge point of contention among fans, as some consider it the best movie in the series while others think its the worst.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service joins the previously announced Moonraker as mission locations in 007 Legends. Three more films will eventually be added to the game. Activision also plans to add a sixth mission, based on the upcoming Skyfall, to the game as a free download. Originally, the Skyfall mission was going to be included on the disc, so I’m very curious as to the reason for this change.
007 Legends will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on October 16.
[Source: IGN]
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged 007 Legends
Mercury Steam wants to reboot Contra series
Mercury Steam has done a pretty stellar job of jumpstarting the Castlevania franchise. Especially after the success of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and the E3 2012 announcement of Lords of Shadow 2 and a 3DS spinoff. But the company has an even more ambitious plan for their future…
They want to reboot the Contra franchise.
That might prove difficult as Konami already announced a reboot of the series at E3 2011. And the franchise has received two reboots already: the grim and gritty Contra: Shattered Soldier in 2002 and the back-to-basics Contra 4 in 2007.
But Dave Cox, Head of Development at Konami Europe, thinks it can be done. He recently spoke to VG247 and said, “I know there’s going to be pressure on us to do another Castlevania game, but I don’t want to rise to that pressure. I want to do something else. I love Contra. I’d love to do Contra. At Mercury Steam we’ve got an original idea that I think is really awesome. We’d love to bring that idea to market and I’m hoping that the success of Lords of Shadow 2 will allow us to do that.”
Hopefully this means Konami will announce more about the next Contra game soon.
Posted in News
Tagged Contra Reboot
Activision shuts down Prototype developer Radical Entertainment
Radical Entertainment, the developer behind the Prototype series, The Simpsons: Hit & Run, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, and other titles, has been shut down by Activision. Though a few employees will remain in Activision’s employ to support “existing projects.” The publisher cited poor sales of Prototype 2 and an inability to sell the Canadian developer as the reason for the closure:
“Although we made a substantial investment in the Prototype IP, it did not find a broad commercial audience. Radical is a very talented team of developers, however, we have explored various options for the studio, including a potential sale of the business, and have made a difficult conclusion through the consultation process that the only remaining option is a significant reduction in staff. As such, some employees will remain working for Radical Entertainment supporting other existing Activision Publishing projects, but the studio will cease development of its own games going forward.”
The Vancouver game development scene is one of the most active in the world, so we at Warp Zoned wish all the former Radical devs luck in the future.
[Source: G4 TV]
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Prototype 2
Expendables 2 tie-in game coming to PC, PSN, XBLA this Summer
The Expendables 2 is getting an action-packed tie-in game this Summer from Ubisoft, and it’s nothing like the Contra-inspired Facebook game the first movie received back in 2010.
The Expendables 2 game is, instead, a top-down, downloadable shooter designed for the PC, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade. One-to-four players (locally and online) will be able to control Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) or Yin Yang (Jet Li) as they attempt to rescue a kidnapped billionaire. Of course, “all hell breaks loose,” and The Expendables are forced to shoot their way through the Somalian desert and the Burmese jungle in a story that leads right into the movie sequel.
The Expendables 2 will be available to download this Summer, probably around the movie’s August 17 opening.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged The Expendables 2