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
- 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)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: News
Nintendo Download: Legend of Mystical Ninja, Baseball Simulator 1000, Flying Dragon, more
Nintendo is mining its past for this week’s Nintendo eShop update.
Wii U owners are now able to download a pair of titles from the NES era… Baseball Simulator 1000 and Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll. Baseball Simulator 1000 was one of the games to add a dash of wackiness to America’s pastime with “Ultra Plays” that changed the sport in interesting ways (Disappearing pitches! Exploding balls!). And Flying Dragon: The Secret Scroll is a side-scrolling brawler where players will use “six different types of fighting techniques” to save the world.
Over on the 3DS eShop, the well-liked Legend of the Mystical Ninja is now available to download if you own a New 3DS handheld. Originally released for the Super NES in 1992, it was the first game in the Goemon series to receive a North American launch.
You can learn more about all three games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)
Pokemon Go is now available for mobile devices
Pokemon Go, the Pokemon Company’s augmented reality game that places Pokemon in real world locales, is now available to download for iOS and Android devices.
In Pokemon Go, players around the globe will explore their surroundings to find and catch wild Pokemon hiding in their midst. Some wild Pokemon appear in their native environments—for example, Water-type Pokemon may appear near lakes and oceans. Once players have encountered a Pokemon, they can catch it by using their smartphone’s touchscreen to throw a Poke Ball. Poke Balls and other special items can be found at PokeStops located at interesting places, such as public art installations, historical markers, and monuments.
If you’re still not quite sure how Pokemon Go works, a brand new Launch Trailer has been embedded above. And if you need even more information, Nintendo’s Treehouse team provided a very extensive demonstration of the game during this year’s E3 Expo, which is available after the break. (more…)
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Pokemon Go
Turtle Rock announces “vigorous overhaul” for Evolve as it goes free-to-play on PC
Even though it sold several million copies, Evolve more or less disappeared from the public eye after its release in early 2015. A confusing (and pricey) DLC structure seems to have pushed away almost everyone that was enamored by the game after its 2014 debut at PAX East, or its subsequent pre-release showings at E3 or Gamescom.
But Turtle Rock wants to revitalize their 4v1 shooter, and they’re going to start by making Evolve a free-to-play game on the PC beginning tomorrow, July 7. In addition to rebalancing the Hunter classes and making improvements to the maps, Turtle Rock wrote on their Community Forum that they plan to use this “Beta” relaunch as a testing ground for weekly updates to Evolve:
Here’s how it’s going to work: We’re going to make Evolve free on PC as a Beta starting on July 7. This is going to allow us to hit our new server infrastructure really hard and we need your help testing. Stuff could break, and that’s our hope, because that will give us time to improve things as we go. We’ll parse out major Beta revisions, updates and features over a period of weeks and months — a plan we’re going to continually communicate here. This allows us to test new features and major changes to make our game more accessible and ever closer to the joy we saw when we first showed our baby to the world. Just as importantly, this Beta plan gives us the flexibility and time we need to keep fixing bugs and making Evolve more stable.
Players who purchased Evolve before it went free-to-play will be given “Founder” status and periodically receive “gifts, rewards, and special access” from Turtle Rock. And according to another post by Turtle Rock, the free-to-play “Beta” will start on the PC, but the goal is to bring to the PS4 and Xbox One as well.
Turtle Rock will host a huge livestream detailing the changes coming to Evolve on Twitch tomorrow at noon (Eastern Time).
Splatoon’s Callie and Marie will join Super Mario Maker on July 8
Callie and Marie, Splatoon‘s Squid Sisters, have one other stop before that game’s final Splatfest on July 22. This Friday, July 8, players will be able to unlock Costumes for Callie and Marie by playing through a new Event Course in Super Mario Maker.
A trailer starring the Sisters has been embedded above.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
Atlus will release Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse on September 20
Atlus has announced that Shin Megam Tensei IV: Apocalypse will be released for the 3DS on September 20. The publisher also released a brand new trailer focusing on the cast, and it’s been embedded above…
With Tokyo being ground zero for scheming gods and monstrous demons, only the strongest and craftiest can survive in the former metropolis turned literal hell on earth. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse has a varied cast of characters that players need to utilize properly in order to endure the harsh realities — mostly the very high possibility of death around every corner — of post-apocalyptic life.
Shin Megam Tensei IV: Apocalypse will overlap with the storyline from Shin Megam Tensei IV, and players will meet many of the same characters. But it’s also a unique adventure all its own, and includes many new features for players to discover…
- Divine Intrigue – Choose between peace or anarchy while being a pawn in the gods’ chess game.
- Combat Partners – Hunting demons is dangerous, so count on some backup! Alongside the standard three demons, players will be able to rely on one of seven partners to help win battles.
- Oodles of Demons – Be on your guard because Tokyo is infested with a series record 450+ demons to fight, fuse, or recruit.
- Revamped Demon Fusion – Demons will have affinities for certain skills, so players can better plan the outcome of fusions.
- Classic SMT Combat – Prospective Hunters will exploit weaknesses, boost attributes, and unlock skill bonuses with the returning Press Turn and Smirking systems.
Atlus will also release Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse in Europe, but a final release date will be announced at a later time.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 will be released on September 13
In a short press release, Konami has announced that Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 will be released on September 13. The game will be available for the PS4 and Xbox One ($59.99), as well as the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 ($39.99).
Konami has mostly retreated from PC and console development in recent years, and Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 is currently the only game they have scheduled for release in 2016.
The Banner Saga 2, The Warriors, Energy Hook, more added to PS Store
It’s another eclectic day for the PlayStation Store as Rockstar asks if The Warriors can come out to plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay on the PS4…
Originally released for the PS2 in 2005, The Warriors is a critically-acclaimed adaptation of the cult favorite film. At the time, The Warriors was praised for Rockstar’s attention to detail and how well it managed to recreate the film’s grimy 70s aesthetic. The jump to the PS4 retains everything that made everyone love the PS2 game and adds 1080p graphics, Trophies, and Remote Play support.
Also available this week is The Banner Saga 2, the second game in Stoic’s RPG retelling of an epic Norse adventure. This time, players will continue their “emotional journey” across a breaking world as they make “bold” leadership decisions to help their Viking clan survive.
Finally this week, Energy Hook swings onto the PS4 from the creator of Spider-Man 2‘s beloved webslinging engine. But instead of superheroics, Energy Hook asks players to compete in a futuristic sport where they need to chain together “sequences of tricks, wall-runs, and stylish moves for massive scores.”
You can learn more about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. And, as always, you can find a complete rundown of this week’s new add-ons and discounts (including Sony’s Mid-Year Sale) at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS4, Vita
Tagged Energy Hook, The Banner Saga 2
Zelda: Breath of the Wild named E3 2016’s “Best of Show” by Game Critics Awards
The Game Critics Awards has handed out their annual “Best of E3” honors for this year’s show, and unsurprisingly, Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was named “Best of Show.” The massive open-air game also took home awards for “Best Console Game” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
Even though Battlefield 1 secured the most nominations, only one other game was able to collect more than a single award, and that was Civilization VI, which was named “Best PC Game” and “Best Strategy Game.” This year’s “Special Commendation for Graphics” went to Sony’s God of War reboot.
All told, 13 games (and the PlayStation VR headset, which won for “Best Hardware”) were honored this year by the Game Critics Awards. The full list of winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham VR, Battlefield 1, Civilization VI, E3 2016, Final Fantasy XV, Forza Horizon 3, God of War 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Injustice 2, Inside, Skylanders Imaginators, Steep, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, TitanFall 2