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
Sega reveals Sonic Boom: New game, TV show, and toy line coming soon
Sonic: Lost World didn’t set the world on fire when it was released for the 3DS and Wii U last year. But Sega still has at least one more game to release as part of their exclusivity agreement with Nintendo and so they’ve wasted no time in announcing that Sonic Boom will be available for the handheld and home console later this year.
Sonic Boom isn’t just a game. It is also going to be a television series (airing this Fall on Cartoon Network) and a toy line (including plush, action figures, and RC vehicles all created by Tomy). Oh, and it’s not being developed by Sonic Team. Instead, Sega has handed development duties for Sonic Boom to Big Red Button Entertainment (Wii U) and Sanzaru Games (3DS), two American developers. Though Sonic Team will supervise their progress.
Sega was also quick to point out that the Americanized makeover received by Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose will represent a “new branch” of the Sonic series. So if Sonic Boom is a bust, you can bet that Sega will hit the big red reset button and restore Sonic the Hedgehog’s classic look in his next game.
Sega will surely reveal more details about Sonic Boom soon, but until then, check out the first screenshots and some concept art at the Sega Blog.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Sonic Boom
New Mighty No. 9 gameplay video released and a live-action adaptation is in development
Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man and the development lead behind next year’s Mighty No. 9, is on a mighty roll. After raking in a ridiculous pile of money with one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns ever, Inafune and his design teams at Comcept and Inti Creates have released a steady flow of Mighty No. 9 details. Now, they’ve released another gameplay video, with Inafune himself holding the controller.
It’s a very brief look at the game, but the developer closes out the clip with a hearty shout of “I’m extremely satisfied!” How can you not love Inafune’s energy?
In other Mighty No. 9 news, Contradiction Films’ Tim Carter recently sat down with EP Daily and revealed that his company has been contracted to produce a live-action adaptation of the game.
“We are at the very beginning stages of creative development on a digital series for Might No. 9. We are building the story right now,” Carter said. “I was a little apprehensive about it at first until I got his notes, and thought ‘Dude, you should be working at Pixar!’ It’s so good. We’re really, really excited about it.”
It’s currently unknown how the Mighty No. 9 adaptation will be released, but Contradiction Films is best known as the producers behind 2011’s excellent Mortal Kombat: Legacy webseries. So perhaps Mighty No. 9 will receive similar treatment.
Skylanders 4 is in development and set for release this year
Activision is incredibly proud of the financial success of the Skylanders series. Since its debut in 2011, the publisher has released three titles in the franchise (Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders: Swap Force) and it appears a fourth is on the way. Toys For Bob, the developer behind Spyro’s Adventure and Giants, will take the reins on the currently untitled Skylanders 4 after allowing Vicarious Visions to handle Swap Force.
This news comes courtesy of a recently released infographic by Activision (click it to see a larger version), which also touts the franchise’s massive revenue stream of more than $2 billion. A release date for Skylanders 4 (or any other information, for that matter) is currently unknown, but an October release seems likely.
Also, allow me to also speculate that Skylanders 4 will likely appear on every platform imaginable including the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Weekly Warp-Up: Release Date Update Edition
No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…
The NFL’s “Big Game,” the Super Bowl, took place exactly one week ago. EA predicted that the Broncos would win in a snowy overtime thriller, but that is not what happened… at all… not even a little bit. The real life result was almost as terrifying as that Breaking Madden video that’s been making the rounds. EA’s prediction is usually pretty spot on, but maybe we should ask Jon Bois to do it next year.
In non-football news, there were plenty of new release dates announced this week including the news that Master Reboot would be coming to the PS3 this month, Plague Inc: Evolved is coming to Steam on February 20, Hyper Light Drifter will be out by the end of the year, Murdered: Soul Suspect will be released in June, The 90s Arcade Racer is gearing up for a Summe release, Drakengard 3 will be released on May 20, and TitanFall for the Xbox 360 will be released on March 25 (the PC and Xbox One editions are still on track for March 11).
Whew. This week, the Warp Zoned staff also looked back to What We Played in January 2014 and looked forward at The Games of February 2014.
Also, we consulted our crystal ball and found 10 Actors We Think Could Play Nathan Drake in the Uncharted Movie.
You can find more news from last week after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, 2K/Bethesda Compilations, More
Lightning returns this week in the accurately named Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. The Square Enix-published RPG will be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Also this week, the oft-neglected Vita will receive a pair of new games this week: the action-adventure Toukiden: The Age of Demons and the uterrly bizarre DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc.
And for some reason, 2K Games and Bethesda are joining forces to release an Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim + BioShock Infinite Bundle for the Xbox 360 and an The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim + BioShock Infinite + BioShock Bundle for the PS3. The publishers will also pair up to release a Borderlands 2 + Dishonored Bundle for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Why not, right?
Finally, Ubisoft will released a Far Cry Compilation for the PS3. The bundle includes Far Cry 2, Far Cry 3, and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
Posted in News, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
TitanFall’s Xbox 360 release has been delayed two weeks
Those hoping to get their hands on TitanFall without having to purchase a new console will have to be a bit more patient than their next-gen peers. It was reconfirmed yesterday that TitanFall, developed by Respawn Entertainment, will hit the Xbox One and PC on March 11 in North America (March 13 in Europe). The Xbox 360 version, however, is being developed by a different studio, Bluepoint Games, and it has been given a shipping date of March 25 in North America (March 28 in Europe) so that the team can “put the finishing touches on the current-gen version of the game.”
As exciting as it is to hear that TitanFall is so close to release, it’s a bit of a shady business to have two different release dates. It harkens back to the release of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, where the game was released later for the previous generation console as well. Understandably, the Wii version of Twilight Princess vastly outsold its GameCube counterpart. Regardless of the reasoning, it’s sure to be exciting for Xbox 360 owners that they’ll be able to get their hands on TitanFall at all.
Naughty Dog considering The Last of Us 2 or a new IP
There’s always something going on at Naughty Dog. Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of The Last of Us, told Eurogamer that the Dogs are considering a sequel to that game or creating a new property as their next project.
“We just wrapped up Left Behind, and Bruce Straley, the game director, and I have been doing this for over four years now. So it’s just time for a break, and to recharge the batteries… We have started brainstorming some stuff. To be honest, some of them are sequel ideas, and some of them are brand new IP – we’ve spent the last few weeks brainstorming new IP. So we have to get some good steps and see… It’s kind of like how we approached Left Behind. Can we tell people a story that’s really worth telling, and that’s not repeating itself? And if we can’t, where can we get inspired – what is something that’s really going to challenge us, and push storytelling in this medium forward?”
The Last of Us: Left Behind, which comes out next week, is the game’s first – and the only – single-player DLC. This prequel will give us more insight into Ellie’s past, focusing on a friendship she had before she met Joel.
I can’t imagine a sequel to The Last of Us, but there have been plenty of times I couldn’t imagine a sequel and I was blown away (Dead Space 2, anyone?). I’m looking forward to seeing what the Dogs have planned for us.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged The Last of Us, The Last of Us Part II
Daily Scoop: February 7, 2014 – It’s Friday!
I’m not sure if you noticed, but hey! It’s Friday! I don’t know about you, but this has been the longest week ever. I’m excited for the weekend!!
There are plenty of good deals going around today! First up is the Daily Deal at Steam, which is Outlast for $9.99. It’s not quite as good a deal as free on the PSN with Plus, but it’s still a great deal!
There’s also a brand new Humble Weekly Bundle featuring Double Fine! Pay what you want for Psychonauts, Costume Quest, and Stacking! Pay $6 or more for Brutal Legend, and pay $16.74 or more and get early access to Spacebase DF-9.
But wait – there’s more! There are some new deals over at the Humble Store as well, including Jazz Punk for $11.99, Space Hulk for $19.99, and SPAZ for $2.49. Plenty of games to scoop up today!
Hit the jump for some t-shirts to put on your bod! Or, you know, wherever. (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News