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
- 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
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
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
Nintendo and Best Buy team up to bring wireless hot spots and exclusive content
Nintendo and Best Buy seem to be continuing their partnership for 3DS marketing, as consumers will be able to use select Best Buy locations as hot spots for their 3DS starting June 7. In addition to providing a wireless connection, Best Buy will also play host to exclusive content available for Nintendo’s newest handheld. Such content will include gaming extras, movie trailers, and access to the new SpotPass feature.
“We want our customers to fully tap into the potential of their Nintendo 3DS device, so we’re pleased to offer free access to special Wi-Fi and SpotPass content in-store,” said Best Buy Senior VP of Entertainment Chris Homeister. “As a retail partner for SpotPass, this is another way that we’re delivering best-in-class gaming experiences at our stores across the country.”
June 7 is also the first day of E3. So who knows what surprises Nintendo will have planned for this event.
Best Buy has gone pretty hard to be your favorite game retailer over the last few years, especially since releasing their @Gamer magazine which you can read about in our feature about the state of print game magazines.
First Dead Island gameplay trailer brings beauty to the undead
There’s been a couple games this generation that render gorgeous island/tropical settings, and you can now add Dead Island to that list. In an emotional portrayal of a paradise lost, Deep Silver and Techland give us the first sneak peak of gameplay in their upcoming survival horror title.
Dead Island will be available for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dead Island
Duke Nukem Forever demo coming June 3 for First Access Club members
If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy of Duke Nukem Forever yet, you should get on it soon. Gearbox and 2K Games have announced the demo for the highly anticipated return of the Duke will be coming June 3 for First Access Club members. You can join this exclusive circle by pre-ordering DNF or by buying the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition.
Duke Nukem Forever releases for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on June 14.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Duke Nukem Forever
Raiden is a mental patient in Mortal Kombat: Legacy episode 6
Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat: Rebirth told a distinctly Earthbound version of the Mortal Kombat story. With the NetherRealm-backed Mortal Kombat: Legacy, the director hasn’t strayed very far from the established canon of the franchise. But with Legacy‘s sixth episode, “Raiden,” Tancharoen is definitely going in a new direction.
Taking a cue from 12 Monkeys, Legacy‘s Raiden teleported to Earth and was immediately imprisoned in a mental hospital due to his “delusions.” He eventually gets the Sarah Connor treatment from a rather brutal doctor.
Tancharoen was so worried about fan reaction to this episode that it opens with a disclaimer:
The following episode represents my different take on the Mortal Kombat universe.
I think it combines the perfect amount of gritty realism mixed with a hint of mysticism.
I hope you guys enjoy it.
– Kevin Tancharoen
After last week’s rather lackluster Kitana/Mileena episode, I thought this new take on Raiden was a rather awesome change.
Posted in Etcetera, News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Legacy
Sony announces free games and more in “Welcome Back” appreciation program
Sony promised that when the PlayStation Network services were restored, they’d be offering us some free goodies as part of a “Welcome Back” initiative to make up for the time lost on our online games. Now, the PSN is back, and they’ve detailed the free games, subscriptions, and other content we’ll be enjoying.
First up, PlayStation 3 users will be able to select two PS3 titles from the following list:
Dead Nation, InFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD, and Wipeout HD + Fury. PlayStation Portable users can grab two from LittleBigPlanet (PSP), ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force, and Killzone Liberation.
A host of other perks will be available as well. Sony will select a weekend when a selection of “On Us” movie rentals can be downloaded, PlayStation Plus subscribers get two additional months of the service free, non-Plus subscribers get a free 30 day trial, over 100 free items will be available in PlayStation Home, and Qriocity users get a free thirty days.
I gotta say that’s a nice mix of media… except on the PS3 side. Most of those games have already been offered as either free downloads or discounted items on the PlayStation Plus program. And it’d be hard to imagine a hardcore PlayStation fan who doesn’t own InFamous, LBP, Stardust, and Dead Nation. I would have much preferred a flat $20 credit to get whatever we want. Lord knows the PSOne Classics and Japanese Imports I want would never be offered on a Welcome Back list. Right now, it seems like PlayStation’s biggest supporters are getting rewarded the least for their loyalty.
Posted in News
Tagged ApocalyPS3 2011, PS3, PSP
Amazon confirms Modern Warfare 3 release date
Amazon sent out an email early this morning to all their frequent video game buyers to announce that tomorrow, Wednesday, May 18, the Amazon Gold Box deals will feature nothing but games. We’ll have more details on the sale for you tomorrow, but the much more interesting thing about the email is the little stripe advertising Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at the bottom.
The advertisment uses the exact same font for the 11.08.11 date as the leaked promotional poster from yesterday. So unless Amazon stole the font from a fake promotional poster, it was provided by Activision and is the official release date.
Or, as the awesome Auric Goldfinger would say: “Once is happenstance [the original Kotaku rumor]. Twice is coincidence [the poster]. The third time it’s enemy action [the Amazon ad].” Activision just performed enemy action on a November 8th release date and told other game publishers to back off unless they want their new releases to get steamrolled by the Modern Warfare machine.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Darkspore PS3, 360 versions hinted at by resume
Mike Perry, executive producer at Maxis, recently told GameRant that Darkspore could be coming to consoles if the demand was high enough. Apparently, it’s been in the cards for a while, as a developer resume spills the beans on a PS3 and Xbox 360 port.
Jordan Patz’ resume (now changed), claimed he “worked with Maxis to modify Darkspore for release on Xbox/PS3.” EA has given its predictable “no comment,” but expect more information to surface soon.
I gotta say, it’s become pretty commonplace now for unannounced titles to blow their cover from developer resumes. Don’t the publishers put something in these peoples’ contracts about this stuff?
PSN still not available in Japan
While most of the world logs back onto the PlayStation Network, the gamers of Japan are still left in the dark. The problem no longer deals with hackers, but rather the government, which refuses to let Sony continue online game services until Sony provides more information on the measures it’s taking to prevent another attack.
Kazushige Nobutani, director of the Media and Content Industry department at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, told Dow Jones Newswires, “We met with Sony on May 6 and 13, and basically we want two things from them.”
“The first is preventative measures. As of May 13, Sony was incomplete in exercising measures that they said they will do on the May 1 press conference.” The second answer they need is how Sony plans to win back consumer confidence. “There were similar cases in the past that were caused by other firms, and we are asking Sony whether their measures are good enough when compared to countermeasures taken in the past.”
Sony began restoring the PSN on Saturday after last month’s hacking nightmare that compromised the personal information of 100 million users.
Posted in News
Tagged ApocalyPS3 2011, PS3, PSP