Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 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
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- 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)
Most Recent: News
Lego Marvel Super Heroes assembles on every platform this Fall
The team-up you thought you’d never see! Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (a sister-company to DC Comics) and Marvel have announced that Lego Marvel Super Heroes will be released this Fall for the 3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
Like the other games in the “Lego _____” series, Lego Marvel Super Heroes will be developed by TT Games and include a huge number of characters from the source material. According to the publisher, more than 100 Marvel characters will appear in the game, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Wolverine, Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Deadpool, Loki and Galactus. And, as you might have guessed, the game’s story will ask players to save the Earth from Loki’s tricks and the hunger of Galactus.
“We’re very excited to bring a myriad of classic Marvel characters to life in Lego form for some fun, family-friendly gameplay in Lego Marvel Super Heroes,” said Tom Stone, the Managing Director at TT Games. “Players will brave the ultimate mission to save the world as they explore famous landmarks in Lego New York and take the adventure beyond Earth to iconic locations in the Marvel Universe.”
I bet The Hulk can do some excellent smashing when the entire world is made of Legos.
Telltale has sold 8.5 million episodes of The Walking Dead
Unsurprisingly, The Walking Dead has done very well for Telltale Games. The company has sold 8.5 million episodes of the adventure game, according to an interview with Telltale CEO Dan Connors in The Wall Street Journal. This number is across iOS (iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch), PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Connors said that about a quarter of these sales are on iOS, which makes it “the fastest growth for The Walking Dead among platforms, underscoring how important mobile devices are becoming in the eyes of game publishers,” in the words of WSJ writer Matthew Lynley.
Touted as the Game of the Year for 2012 by multiple media outlets (and included in “The Apocalypse List” of our Golden Pixel Awards), The Walking Dead has been Telltale’s biggest success to date. I’m not sure if this in any way signifies that iOS devices have “come of age as true gaming platforms,” as Lynley suggests, but it’s certainly a big step for the tiny machines.
Be sure to hit up the Wall Street Journal for the full interview with Connors.
MLB 13: The Show cover athlete vote begins
Great news, baseball fans! Well, PlayStation baseball fans, at least. Sony announced the launch of the “Major League Baseball (MLB)13 Cover Showdown” yesterday, in which fans will vote for which baseball star will grace the cover of the upcoming MLB 13 The Show. Voting will run from January 7 until January 11 at mlb.mlb.com/covervote, through which you can Facebook or Tweet your choice. You can also vote straight from Twitter with the players’ hashtag. Here is the list of players you can vote for:
- Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Brewers – five-time All-Star, 2007 National League Rookie of the Year, and 2011 National League Most Valuable Player award winner) – #MLB13Braun
- Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers – seven-time All-Star, 2012 American League Most Valuable Player award winner, and the first Triple Crown Award winner since 1967) – #MLB13Cabrera
- Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals – All-Star and 2012 National League Rookie of the Year award winner) – #MLB13Harper
- Matt Kemp (Los Angeles Dodgers – two-time All-Star) #MLB13Kemp
- Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates – two-time All-Star) – #MLB13Cutch
- Buster Posey (San Francisco Giants – 2012 World Series Champion, one-time All-Star, 2012 National League Most Valuable Player award winner, and 2010 National League Rookie of the Year award winner) – #MLB13Buster
- CC Sabathia (New York Yankees – six-time All-Star as well as the 2007 American League Cy Young award winner) – #MLB13CC
Fans can vote once a day for their favorite player. The player with the most votes will get his mug on the cover of MLB 13 The Show, which will be available on PlayStation 3 and the Vita. New features will include Playoff Mode, which will somehow recreate the “excitement and tension of October baseball.” Hmm. Unless they can make my living room fall-crisp, and include a rally hat with each game, I’m skeptical at best. There will also be a new Beginner Mode to help new players, and a streamlined Play Now Mode which promises “faster and simpler games.”
Who’s ready for some baseball?!?!?
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged MLB 13: The Show
Bane, Lex Luthor added to Injustice: Gods Among Us
Netherrealm has added two new heavies to the Injustice: Gods Among Us roster: Lex Luthor (in his power suit) and Bane. The news comes courtesy of a tweet from Netherrealm’s supreme leader, Ed Boon:
Uh oh.. looks like the cats out of the bag. New INJUSTICE characters! @brizzy_bear @noobde not bad, not bad at all. twitter.com/Brizzy_Bear/st…
— Ed Boon (@noobde) January 8, 2013
Luthor looks very similar to his Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe incarnation while Bane will be taking his cues from the comics and not his recent appearance in The Dark Knight Rises. This includes the use of his Venom steroid as well as the luchadore mask.
Should this news get you excited for Injustice’s April release? Of course!
Posted in News, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Injustice: Gods Among Us
Pokemon X and Y getting worldwide release on 3DS this October
There’s been a pattern with the development of Pokemon games and it has stayed consistent since the series debuted back in 1996. Japan would always get the game first and the rest of the world would get it a few months (or even years) later. But for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, Nintendo decided it was time for a change. For the first “main series” Pokemon games on the 3DS, Nintendo has announced that they’ll be released simultaneously across the world in October.
Once again developed by Game Freak, Pokemon X and Y takes place in a 3D world and introduces three new starter Pokemon to the franchise: Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie. These three Pokemon (as well as preliminary gameplay footage) can be seen in the trailer above.
“We brought Pokemon into an entirely new dimension and we’re incredibly excited to bring Pokemon X and Pokemon Y to fans,” said Junichi Masuda, video game director at Game Freak. “The stunning visuals, a completely redesigned environment, game scenario, music, and communication features will bring smiles to the faces of video game players around the world.”
Pokemon X and Y will also be the launching for a new animated series, a new edition of Pokemon TCG, and new toys.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Pokemon X/Y
THQ’s franchises will be sold individually in an auction on January 22
THQ’s bankruptcy saga continued with another hearing today to determine whether the publisher would be forced to sell its franchises individually or in one big chunk. Sadly, the ruling appears to spell the end of THQ as we know it.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath ruled in favor of the complainants and decreed that THQ must sell off its assets on an individual “title-by-title” basis to maximize the value creditors will receive for them. Potential suitors (including WB Games, EA, and possibly Ubisoft) will have a chance to bid on the company’s pieces and parts during an auction scheduled for January 22.
Even after their sale of the UFC license to EA last year, THQ still owns a variety of major game franchises including Saints Row, Darksiders, Homefront, and the WWE Wrestling license.
[Source: Distressed Debt Investing’s Twitter (via Polygon)]
Posted in News
Nvidia reveals Project SHIELD, a Tegra 4/Android-powered portable
Another day, another announcement of an Android-powered console. Except this one has a bit of a higher profile than all the rest.
A day ahead of the opening of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, Nvidia has announced Project SHIELD, an Android-based portable device that includes a built-in “console-grade” controller. Project SHIELD is powered by Nvidia’s new Tegra 4 processor and features a 5-inch multitouch display that outputs at 720p. The clamshell design of the controller/screen combo allows the device to be closed when not in use.
In addition to running Android-based games downloaded from the Google Play store, the SHIELD can stream full-sized games from a Windows PC, including those available from Steam. A built-in HDMI port can also be connected to shift the display to an HDTV.
“Project SHIELD was created by Nvidia engineers who love to game and imagined a new way to play,” said Jen-Hsun Huang, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Nvidia. “We were inspired by a vision that the rise of mobile and cloud technologies will free us from our boxes, letting us game anywhere, on any screen. We imagined a device that would do for games what the iPod and Kindle have done for music and books, letting us play in a cool new way. We hope other gamers love SHIELD as much as we do.”
A release date and price for Project SHIELD were not announced by Nvidia.
PlayStation 2 manufacturing ceases worldwide
It’s official: Sony has ceased the manufacture of new PlayStation 2 consoles for all territories. After 12 years, over 150 million consoles sold, and 10,828 games released (counting re-releases and international versions), the PS2 has earned a well-deserved place among the greatest game systems of all time.
The PlayStation 2 dominated the sixth generation of consoles, ultimately selling more than twice as many systems as the GameCube, Xbox, and Dreamcast combined. The console’s reach will surely extend far into the future, as dozens of PS2 games are regularly featured on lists of the best games of all time including Grand Theft Auto III, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
According to the latest industry rumors, Sony plans to announce the PlayStation 4 at this year’s E3 Expo. But for now, let’s remember the PlayStation 2’s amazing run. It’s likely the last time a console will dominate its competition like the PS2 did ever again.
[Source: The Guardian]