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
The Order: 1886, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, Hand of Fate, more added to PS Store
The Order: 1886, Ready At Dawn’s cinematic take on a centuries old battle between steampunk assassins and a pack of werewolves will finally make its PlayStation Store debut this Friday, February 20. Even with the explosive popularity of the steampunk subgenre in recent years, the PS4 game definitely has a unique look and might be one to check out.
Several other PS4 games were added to the PlayStation Store yesterday including Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, an enhanced re-release of the popular fighting game; Hand of Fate, an action RPG/deckbuilding game; and Trivial Pursuit Live!, a game show-like reimagining of the popular board game (it’s also available on the PS3).
On the Cross-Buy front, Q*Bert Rebooted brings the original arcade game and a “rebooted” sequel with hexagonal platforms to the PS3, PS4, and Vita.
More information on all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. And a complete rundown of this week’s new game add-ons and discounts can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita
Tagged Dead or Alive 5, Q*Bert Rebooted, The Order: 1886
Strong Museum of Play establishes World Video Game Hall of Fame, now accepting nominations for inaugural class
The International Center for the History of Electronic Games, which is part of The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY, will continue its efforts to curate and chronicle gaming’s rich history with the creation of the World Video Game Hall of Fame.
So what games will be the Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson, and Walter Johnson of the World Video Game Hall of Fame? The Strong is currently seeking nominations at the Hall’s website and will continue to accept ballots until March 31. Nominations can come from any branch of video games (arcade, console, computer, handheld, or mobile) and should meet the following criteria:
- Icon Status: The game is widely recognized and remembered.
- Longevity: The game is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over time.
- Geographical Reach: The game meets the above criteria across international boundaries.
- Influence: The game has exerted significant influence on the design and development of other games, on other forms of entertainment, or on popular culture and society in general. A game may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.
“There is no other video game award and recognition program such as this, which focuses solely on individual game titles across platforms and their impact over time and across international borders,” said G. Rollie Adams, President and CEO of The Strong.
An initial shortlist of nominees will be chosen by an internal advisory committee and the Hall’s inaugural class will be selected by an international selection committee made up of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society. The Class of 2015, which will likely include four-to-six titles, will be announced this June.
“Through The Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games (ICHEG), the museum preserves and interprets a growing collection of more than 55,000 video games and related artifacts, plus an extensive array of personal papers and corporate records that document the history of video games,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, the Director of ICHEG. “These unparalleled resources uniquely qualify The Strong to create a World Video Game Hall of Fame that identifies and celebrates the most important games of all time.”
Posted in News
Tagged World Video Game Hall of Fame
Eiji Aonuma discusses The Legend of Zelda Wii U’s open world
Eiji Aonuma, the Producer of the Legend of Zelda franchise at Nintendo, recently sat down with Gamereactor to discuss The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D. Naturally, the conversation drifted to the next entry in the series, the currently untitled The Legend of Zelda Wii U. When asked about the size of the game’s open world, Aonuma said he has built the game’s to be “as large as can be realized [on the Wii U]”:
“A huge, seamlessly unfolding world is something that can’t be achieved if the hardware isn’t advanced enough,” he responded when asked how the studio was transitioning to the new world teased in last year’s demo. “Ever since we made the very first generation of Legend of Zelda games though, we’ve had as large a world as can be realised with the hardware, so you could say it was inevitable that we’ve now done the same with the new Wii U title.”
But Aonuma did express confusion at journalists who have been saying that the Zelda franchise has “finally” gone open world. In his mind, the Zelda games have always operated within an open world:
“When I first showed off the new Zelda game on the Wii U, it seemed everyone was very excited and started proclaiming that a Zelda game had at last become open world! Zelda games have always allowed you to roam and explore a huge world. What’s changed now is that the hardware has progressed to the point that you can now explore this vast world seamlessly; the underpinning of the game hasn’t changed.”
I’ve got to admit, I agree with Aonuma here. In The Legend of Zelda on the NES, players could explore the entire map and tackle the dungeons in any order they chose. That is the very definition of an open world game. The same idea powers The Legend of Zelda Wii U, but as the developer said, it will be quite a bit bigger because of the increased processing muscle of the Wii U.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
You know why Nordic Games is here… to confirm Darksiders II: Definitive Edition
A listing for a PS4 re-release of Darksiders II (as Darksiders II: Definitive Edition) appeared on Amazon over the weekend before it was pulled down a few hours later. Game Informer decided to go straight to the source and contacted publisher Nordic Games to inquire about the status of this previously unannounced game. Rather than rattle off the industry standard reply (“No comment”), Nordic Games announced that Darksiders II: Definitive Edition is definitely in development for the PS4 (and probably the Xbox One as well, though that remains unconfirmed) in a rather humorous way.
“Thanks a lot for touching base with us here at NG,” the company responded. “Whilst the authenticity of said listing is unquestionable, I am afraid I cannot comment on further details other than in the poetic words of Marshawn Lynch.”
Marshawn Lynch famously used his time at the Super Bowl XLIX Media Day to reply “I’m just here so I won’t get fined” and “You know why I’m here” to every question he was asked. By referencing the Seahawks running back, Nordic was cheekily saying that they’re not going to reveal any other details about Darksiders II: Definitive Edition for the time being.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged Darksiders II
Sony abandons The Last Guardian trademark… again
Believe it or not, Team Ico’s The Last Guardian has been in development for almost eight years now. The PS3 was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed young platform when the game first entered production. But with that console’s end-of-life rapidly approaching, fans have long speculated (with an assist from Sony) that when the game is released, it’ll be for the PS4. However, there’s always the possibility that the game will be canceled outright, which is what makes today’s news so worrying.
In an update to The Last Guardian’s trademark status, the US Patent and Trademark Office has confirmed that the game’s trademark has been “abandoned” by Sony. Now, on the surface, this doesn’t mean much. Sony could have decided to change the game’s title (because, let’s face it, the “Last Guardian” name carries a lot of baggage) or the rumored PS3-to-PS4 conversion is taking longer than they thought and somebody forgot to file the proper paperwork. So this could be nothing. OR IT COULD BE EVERYTHING!
For now, I’m siding with nothing. Sony contacted GameSpot this morning and said that the trademark abandonment was an “administrative error” (so, the paperwork thing). It’s possible this is just marketing speak and Sony is too embarrassed to admit the game has been canceled (though, officially, they say it’s still in development), but remember that the publisher abandoned The Last Guardian’s trademark once before before reclaiming it a few days later.
Either way, it got us talking about The Last Guardian again, so… yay?
Posted in News, PS3, PS4
Tagged The Last Guardian
Level-5’s Yo-Kai Watch is officially coming to America
Make no mistake, Pokemon is still a major force in Japan and the latest games in the series, Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire and Pokemon: Omega Ruby, have sold millions of copies. But over the last few years, the franchise has had to compete with Yo-Kai Watch, an extremely popular 3DS game developed by Level-5. An ongoing manga series began in 2013 and an anime series launched last year. A 3DS sequel, Yo-Kai Watch 2, was released last year.
Recently, Hasbro has announced that they plan to bring the entire Yo-Kai Watch franchise to America (and Europe and Australia). It’s unknown when the games or the anime will make their way across the Pacific, but Hasbro said that they plan to introduce a new Yo-Kai Watch toy line in 2016, so we could be in for a long wait. In the meantime, this is what all the fuss is about:
With an imaginative plot, great characters, comedy and adventure, Yo-Kai Watch has become one of the most popular franchises of all time in Japan. The story centers around a young boy who gets a special watch empowering him to discover and summon mysterious Yo-Kai that help him solve problems in his daily life usually caused by other trouble-making Yo-Kai.
Yeah, definitely sounds a bit like Pokemon. To date, the Yo-Kai Watch games have sold more than 6.5 million copies in Japan. Will the franchise experience a similar sales surge when its released in America? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Yo-Kai Watch
The Behemoth will have a demo of “Game 4” at PAX East 2015
The Behemoth has announced that their upcoming strategy RPG, the tentatively titled “Game 4,” will be playable on the PAX East 2015 show floor. Game 4 appears to be an amalgamation of everything that The Behemoth is known for including a hand-drawn art style, wild narration, and an even wilder sense of humor. For a better sense of what to expect, I recommend viewing this Game 4 gameplay trailer from PAX Prime 2014.
The developer will also have a huge amount of new merchandise available for purchase at their PAX East booth and you can peruse their wares before your trip to Boston by visiting their News Blog.
This year’s PAX East convention will be held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center beginning March 6 and running through March 8.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged PAX East 2015, Pit People
Mass Effect 4’s single-player campaign will be “MASSIVE”
A few days ago, BioWare Montreal uploaded a job listing looking for an Online Producer to guide the development pf Mass Effect 4‘s online multiplayer. While multiplayer is nothing new for the Mass Effect series (Mass Effect 3 featured a cooperative multiplayer mode), many fans began to worry it would be detrimental to the single-player storyline of the next entry in the franchise.
Thankfully, Chris Wynn, the game’s Senior Development Director, has popped up to calm everyone down. He also wants the world to know that Mass Effect 4’s campaign will be “MASSIVE” (yes, he used caps lock):
If anyone is concerned that online will take away from single player, I assure you that SP will be MASSIVE in the next Mass Effect.
— Chris Wynn (@The1Wynn) February 12, 2015
Presumably, Mass Effect 4 will be officially unveiled later this year. But until then, mini-updates from the developers (like this one) are all we have to go on.
Posted in News
Tagged Mass Effect: Andromeda