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: Nicole Kline
Nostalgia Goes A Long Way at Art of Video Games Exhibit
The Smithsonian American Art Museum was full of a new kind of art this weekend: “The Art of Video Games,” their newest exhibit. While many joked about the absence of Roger Ebert, mostly there was an atmosphere of awe and reverence. It was a relief to see this much-contested medium celebrated instead of seeing it as the dispute of some controversial legislature. To many gamers present that weekend, the nostalgia felt a lot like our childhoods: it felt like home.
The exhibit was developed by guest curator and longtime gamer Chris Melissinos, who worked hard for nearly three years on it. The exhibit begins with an introduction from Melissinos, who talks about his introduction to – and romance with – video games. A room to the side has dozens of televisions, showing games in different countries throughout history. Continuing into the exhibit is a montage of some of the industry’s greatest creations: from Marble Madness to Heavy Rain, Pitfall to Shadow of the Colossus. I let the images wash over me, remembering the countless hours I spent as a child on Marble Madness alone. (more…)
Daily Scoop: March 21, 2012 – Another Wednesday
Ah, Wednesday – also known in some circles as “hump day.” How we appreciate the way that you lead us into the weekend so elegantly. Keep up the good work!
What’s going on today besides Dungeons and Dragons Encounters? I’m glad you asked! Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games today is Sega’s Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics for the Wii. It’s $32.99 today down from $49.95, so if this is a title you wanted, now’s your chance! Amazon’s also having an Xbox 360 Gearfest, in which you can save 30% on select Xbox 360 accessories. And if you buy a 320GB PS3, you can get a game free! The games are MLB 12 The Show, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Twisted Metal, and the XL edition of Gran Turismo 5. Scoop ’em up!
Again, no game-related shirts today, but I really like this Calvin ‘n Hobbes/Spider-man mashup… (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, Wii
GameFest: Pioneers of the Gaming Industry Talk, We Listen
GameFest, a three-day festival to commemorate the opening of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s “Art of Video Games” exhibit, was held last weekend. The exhibit itself will run from March 16th to September 30th, 2012, with a ten-city tour planned for 2012-2013. But all weekend long, excited participants were able to play games, go to talks by important members of the industry, and attend performances of video game-inspired music. It was inspirational, memorable, and most importantly, a complete blast. (more…)
Daily Scoop: March 20, 2012 – Whew!!
It has been quite a busy few days for me, dear friends! I went to Game Fest this weekend at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It was an amazing little festival to kick off their newest exhibit, “The Art of Video Games.” It was a weekend full of Pac-Man cookies, celebrity sightings, and video games. I couldn’t have asked for more! Keep checking back here for my articles about the event.
Also, I’ve got a bunch of deals for you today! Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games today is Ubisoft’s The Black Eyed Peas Experience. It’s $29.40 on the Wii and $30.02 on the Xbox 360. They’re also running an awesome deal to buy Final Fantasy XIII-2, get Final Fantasy XIII free! Seriously hop on that. If you’ve already got the first game, they’ve also got the Collector’s Edition of the sequel for $59.99 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
That’s not all. There’s also the Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition on sale for $29.99 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This includes the original game, plus Undead Nightmare, as well as all the other DLC available for the game. This is a must-buy if you don’t already have this game! And last up is $50 off the Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Value Bundle, bringing it down to $249.99. This is a pretty good deal for the 250 GBs of space, plus two games, a controller, a headset, and three months of Xbox Live. Considering that Star Wars one I want is nearly twice the price, this one is awfully tempting…
No game-related shirts today, but there’s a repeat up that I promised myself I would buy if I ever saw it again… (more…)
Daily Scoop: March 15, 2012 – The Ides of March!
Ah, the Ides of March! An ominous day, as always. But tomorrow is sure to be awesome, as it is the first day of Game Fest down in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian American Art Museum! It launches a six and a half month celebration of video games as art. And what better way to do that than to talk about games like Journey and have a conversation with Hideo Kojima? I’ll be there, following him around and trying to get my picture taken with him. It’ll be E3 2010 all over again!
I’ve got a lot of deals for you today! Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games today is Nintendo’s Tetris: Axis. It’s $14.73 today, and is available on the Nintendo 3DS. Amazon’s also got some other pretty great deals going on as well, including a free copy of Mass Effect 3 when you buy an Xbox 360 Console, a free copy of Uncharted 3 when you buy a PlayStation 3, and a 50% off sale on Gears of War 3, bringing it to $29.99.
EA is also having a pretty wicked sale – buy a copy of Mass Effect 3, get Arkham City for $10. It’s like they want you to buy video games.
And I’ve got another day of three t-shirts for you! Hit the jump for the details. (more…)
Silent Hill: The Terror Engine Review: An Academic View of Survival Horror
Silent Hill: The Terror Engine is an academic text about the Silent Hill franchise that touches many aspects of that series as well as those of other frightening game franchises. It also goes into horror films and their influence on the survival horror genre of gaming. The author, Bernard Perron, also refers to many texts and articles, drawing from a huge reservoir of data on the horror genre across all media. But it’s more than just a dry academic text – it’s obvious that he is a fan of not just the series but also gaming in general. His voice is a critical one that comes from a place of dedication, passion, and affection. But is this enough to make the book one that is palatable to the non-academic reader? (more…)
Journey Review: A Trip You’ll Want to Take
Thatgamecompany’s latest creation, Journey, is more like a work of art than a video game. In fact, I’d go so far as to venture that this game is going to revive the whole “video games as art” argument all over again. Journey brings to life the story of a lone traveler, trekking across the desert to the source of a fallen star at the apex of a mountain. The trip is a spiritual one, something of a pilgrimage, and the symbiotic relationship the main character has with the fabric creatures creates a unique experience that is startlingly emotional for such a short game. (more…)
Daily Scoop: March 8, 2012 – You say it’s your birthday?
It’s my birthday too, yeah! And so far it’s an awesome one! It started out at midnight, when my amazing boyfriend gave me a copy of the dice-building game, Quarriors!! I tore it open and nearly spilled 130 dice everywhere. And today has continued to be awesome – even the weather is beautiful! Tonight, the Alex Mack Daddies are in the skee ball playoffs – so wish us luck!
Anyway, to the deals! Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games today is Aksys’ Fate/Extra Limited Edition. This PSP game is just $29.99 today, and boasts “extensive replay value” with “multiple story paths, each with their own unique dialog trees and character interactions that lead to different endings.” Righteous!
And on this auspicious day, we’ve got not one, not two, but THREE gaming shirts for you! (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PSP