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
Watch the complete NGP reveal press conference
Did you miss your chance to attend the PlayStation Meeting 2011 last week? What’s that? It took place in Tokyo and the guest list was very limited so we all missed it? Right… I knew that.
Thankfully, Sony has uploaded a video of the entire thing onto YouTube in six parts. So while the details of the event have been reported on ad nauseum since Thursday, we can all finally watch it for ourselves.
New Releases: Rock Band Country Track Pack 2, More
I hope you’re still busy with Dead Space 2 as this week’s batch of new releases is nearly non-existent. Harmonix plans to bring the Rock Band Country Track Pack 2 to the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360… and that’s about it.
Oh, a Mr. Bean game is coming to the DS and Wii this week. I guess that’s something. Although it doesn’t appear in the release lists for every game retailer, so call ahead before searching for it at the mall.
The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found below.
DS
PC
PlayStation 3
Wii
- Jewel Quest Trilogy
- Mr. Bean’s Wacky World
- Rock Band Country Track Pack 2
- The Ultimate Battle of the Sexes
Xbox 360
Mega Man Gigamix Vol. 1 manga coming to North America 5/4/2011
Hitoshi Ariga, whose last Mega Man manga just released in English after ten years, will be returning to the universe of the blue bomber to bring an all new series. Published by Udon, the first volume of the all new Mega Man Gigamix will see North American shelves on May 4, 2011, promising to be “the greatest Mega Man story ever!” The full series will feature every robot master and nearly every character from the original eight Mega Man games, coming in at over 600 pages total. The first volume features Mega Man heading out into space and facing the robot masters from Mega Man 3.
I’ve always been a huge fan of the lore behind the Mega Man games, especially in the more story-driven series like Mega Man X and Legends. You can find more information on the upcoming Mega Man Gigamix on Udon’s blog.
Pokemon Global Link accompanying Black and White versions this Spring
Score one for region-free gaming, and cloud computing while we’re at it. Some time after Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version release in North America on March 6, 2011 for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo will launch their Pokemon Global Link website. This service allows players to sync their game progress to their Pokemon Trainer Club accounts and access web-only content and communication. Users can communicate with other trainers, meet new Pokemon, and climb the Worldwide Battle Ratings. Included from the start is Pokemon Dream World, where after you tuck your Pokemon into bed by syncing to the service, you can actually enter your pocket monster’s dream, customizing their home and befriending other Pokemon in minigames. Items and Pokemon you find in the dream world can then be transferred back into your game. The Global Battle Union will also be available, allowing players to see how they compare against trainers from around the world, as well as receive invitations to live tournaments as part of the Pokemon Video Game Championship series, even making their way to Pokemon World Championship in San Diego, California this August. A Pokemon Global Trading Station will also come to the service later this year.
While the DS hardware itself is for the most part region-free, not all games from different regions can communicate with each other. This provides a great solution to internationalize the latest entry in the series and bring players from all over the world together. With all of those features, the Global Link seems like a nice set of tools to strengthen the community in a way it previously couldn’t be.
Posted in DS, News
Tagged Pokemon Black/White, Pokemon Global Link
Conduit 2 delayed, multiplayer modes detailed
High Voltage Software’s Conduit 2 has been hit with another delay, pushing the Wii title’s release to April 19. This is Conduit 2’s third delay as it was originally slated for a Fall 2010 release before being pushed back to February 15th and then March 22nd.
The team at High Voltage has pinned this latest delay on the development issues as they want to “continue to balance and enhance the game’s multiplayer,” which they call one of the game’s key features.
To make up for this sad news, the team has released some new details on all 14 multiplayer gametypes:
- Deathmatch: First player to the kill limit in the time allowed wins!
- Team Deathmatch: First team to the kill limit in the time allowed wins!
- Capture the Flag (CTF): Each team tries to capture the ASE (flag) of the other. First team to the capture limit in the time allowed wins!
- Single Flag CTF: Teams fight over a single centrally-located ASE (flag). First team to the capture limit wins!
- Free for All CTF: Get to the flag and then carry it back to a random goal location. First to the scoring limit wins!
- ASE Ball: Longest time holding the ASE wins!
- Bounty Hunter: Kill your assigned target for points or kill those hunting you for fun. But beware; killing someone who doesn’t fill those roles will cost you points!
- Shared Stock: Teammates share a pool of lives while trying to get the highest kill count possible.
- Killing Override: First team to the kill or capture limit wins!
- VIP: Fight to kill the randomly selected VIP on the opposing team. First team to the point limit wins!
- ASE Basketball: Each team tries to capture a centrally-located ASE and then carry it into the enemy base. Toss or carry the ASE through the goal to score. First team to the point limit wins!
- Balloon Battle: Lose balloons with every death. Gain balloons with kills. With no balloon, become a mini bomb! Last player alive wins!
- Annexation: Teams fight for control over capture points. These totems award points over time. First team to the point limit wins!
- Power Surge: Teams must defend their own generator while destroying the enemy’s when its shield is down. First team to destroy the generator or the team with the more intact generator wins!
Kirby returns to the Wii, DS in 2011
Kirby’s Epic Yarn was one of 2010’s biggest surprises. Gamers everywhere loved the patchwork look of the game which had many of them in stitches (pun intended!).
But after a Nitendo investor’s briefing, it appears the company is wasting no time bringing the little puffball back. HAL Laboratory is developing a currently untitled Kirby Adventure game for the Wii that gives Kirby a variety of different hats. A trailer showcasing the side-scrolling gameplay is available at Nintendo Japan’s website, but it’s also available in a larger format on YouTube, which you can watch right here:
As you can see from the trailer, each of the hats gives Kirby a new power including Link’s Cap (which allows Kirby to swing a sword), a flame cap (that calls a dragon) and a cowboy hat (that gives him a lasso).
The trailer is very similar to one that Nintendo released years ago for an untitled Kirby title for the GameCube. Perhaps this game is that game reincarnated?
And on a final Kirby-related note, Nintendo included a new Kirby game for the DS in their quarterly list of upcoming titles, but no other details were revealed.
Posted in News
Tagged DS, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Wii
SO ready for SOCOM 4; release date announced
The good folks at Zipper Interactive have finally come clean in announcing SOCOM 4‘s release date, after a long wait following the third game (but with the Zipper-less SOCOM: Confrontation and MAG in between). Really? It was released way back in the PS2 days? Well, now the wait is over. SOCOM 4 will be available in the US on April 19th.
It’s been a LONG time since I’ve personally played SOCOM, and I’m unexpectedly excited to get back in on the action. Hopefully everyone else will remember the SOCOM series for the awesomeness that it was, especially after seeing this multiplayer footage:
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged SOCOM 4: US Navy SEALs
Sony Computer Entertainment introduces ‘PlayStation Suite’ on Android
Last night was a pretty insane time for gaming as Sony unveiled the next-generation successor to the PSP, codenamed NGP. But before Kaz Hirai got into details of their powerful new handheld, PlayStation Suite for Android smartphones and tablets was announced. This is a content delivery service in which devices running Android 2.3 or higher will be able to experience “PlayStation quality” titles. To maintain the good will of the brand, the “PlayStation Certified” program will provide development support and licensing. The service is set to launch within the calendar year, and although no formal lineup has been announced, PlayStation oldies like Cool Boarders 2 and Medieval were spotted at the conference last night. It looks like PlayStation-style buttons appear on the touch screen and players control the games that way.
Despite the ever-increasing relevance of Apple and its iOS in the gaming industry, many have complained about the lack of depth thus far seen on smartphones. Hopefully this service will bring more substance to the market. In addition, SCE’s own touch device, the NGP, will also support PlayStation Suite titles. So you can have PlayStation Suite on your PlayStation… sweet!