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: Articles
The New Conservatism of Nintendo
Nintendo has never been known for having a liberal attitude. Even with a diverse range of characters, the publisher has fallen back on reimagining their various iconic characters (such as Mario, Link, and Samus) through the decades. When the company was still battling with rival Sega, it was Nintendo that took the moral high ground, often censoring blood or religious imagery from games on their systems, most famously in the original Mortal Kombat, where blood was replaced with sweat and the finishing moves were toned down. In recent years, Nintendo has even throttled back the power of its consoles (compare the Wii and Wii U with the PS3/Xbox 360 and PS4/Xbox One) versus competing systems. However, with the end of this year’s E3 Expo came a decisive contrast in how gamers and journalists alike perceived Nintendo, and that for better or worse, the company has entered a new era of conservatism. (more…)
TitanFall, Destiny, Watch Dogs lead all nominees in Best of E3 2013 awards
The 30 publications that form the Game Critics Awards judging panel have announced this year’s nominees for the Best of E3 2013. This year, Respawn’s TitanFall lead the way with six nominations. Bungie’s Destiny and Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs were close behind with five nominations apiece.
All three games were selected to be part of the “Best in Show” alongside new hardware from Sony (the PlayStation 4) and Oculus VR (the Oculus Rift HD). That has to sting for Microsoft and the continued debacle that is their Xbox One announcement. Though the Xbox One did get a nod in the “Best Hardware” category. I have a feeling it’s not going to win.
A complete list of all the nominees can be found after the break. The winners will be announced on July 2. (more…)
XBLA Today: Spartacus Legends, Magic 2014, Boxing Fight
Three new titles have been added to the Xbox Live Arcade today…
Spartacus Legends is a free-to-play fighter based on the popular Starz series:
Developed in collaboration with the critically acclaimed television series from Starz, Spartacus Legends invites you to experience raw, visceral combat using multiple fighting styles and thousands of different weapon combinations. Follow your gladiator’s journey through multiple arenas and watch as they strive to reach legendary fame, or meet death at the hands of another. Compete with friends online and see if you have what it takes to kill them all.
Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers, priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), is the latest video game adaptation of the popular collectible card game:
Ignite your spark with Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers! With over 12 million fans, discover what makes Magic: The Gathering the world’s premier trading card game. Become a Planeswalker and travel the planes of existence unleashing a torrent of spells and creatures to devastate your opponents.
And finally, Boxing Fight is the latest game in the “Kinect Sports Gems” series and offers gamers a bite-sized boxing game for 240 Microsoft Points ($3).
Posted in News, Xbox 360
Tagged Spartacus Legends
DualShock 4 is bigger than you think (and bigger than the Xbox One controller)
The DualShock has been Sony’s go-to controller design (with slight variations) for three generations now. The fourth DualShock, which will be packaged with the PS4 this Fall, makes a few major changes to the formula and fixes a complaint gamers have had about Sony’s controllers for almost 20 years.
Sony’s DualShock controllers have always been on the small side, but the DualShock 4 remedies that problem with a wider profile and longer handles. It acutally looks comfortable to hold for extended periods of time and, as you can see in this side-by-side photo from GameChup, is actually larger than the Xbox One controller.
As someone who spents years trying to find a third-party PS2 controller that didn’t cramp my hands, this is excellent news.
PSN Today: Deadpool, Hotline Miami, Magic 2014, More
Two very different agents of chaos highlight today’s PlayStation Store update.
Deadpool, Marvel’s fourth wall-breaking assassin-for-hire, has been given the big budget PS3 game treatment by High Moon and Activision. Meanwhile, the pixelated 2D mayhem of Hotline Miami comes to the PS3 and Vita as a Cross-Buy title. A wide variety of other titles are available this week including:
- Magic 2014: Duels of the Planeswalkers (PS3), the latest adaptation of the collectible card game.
- Ride to Hell Retribution (PS3), an action game starring some angry bikers.
- Spartacus Legends (PS3), a free-to-play fighter based on the popular Starz show.
- Muramasa Rebirth (Vita), an action RPG originally released for the Wii that’s been rebuilt for Sony’s handheld.
More information on all of these games (and a few others) can be found after the break. And a full list of this week’s new game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged Deadpool, Hotline Miami, Ride to Hell: Retribution, Spartacus Legends
Zeboyd’s next game is an RPG titled Cosmic Star Heroine
After recently completing the concluding chapter in Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness saga, Zeboyd Games is ready to announce the next game featuring their signature brand of pixelated RPGs: Cosmic Star Heroine.
Here’s a quick plot summary of the turn-based RPG:
Alyssa L’Salle is one of the galactic government’s top agents and always manages to save the day! But when she accidentally uncovers a dark conspiracy, her own government outs her as a legendary spy and the people’s champion! Sure, now she has hordes of adoring fans but every villainous organization she’s ever crossed in her career knows who she is and is out for her blood! Can she save the day once more while she faces her greatest challenge… Everyone!?
In case you were worried that Zeboyd has gone serious, they assured that Cosmic Star Heroine is “Not a parody but will still have plenty of humor.” More information is available at their official website.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Cosmic Star Heroine
Daily Scoop: June 25, 2013 – Gold Box Event
Daily Scoop? More like a Weekly Scoop at this point, am I right? I’ve been trying so hard to keep up with everything, but this move has totally wiped me out. Now that it’s officially over (just need to drop the old keys off to the former landlord!), I can start getting back into some semblance of a normal life. I can start doing things like going to board game night on Tuesdays… well, except not today, because the new Borderlands 2 DLC, Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, is out today. Woo!! I can’t wait to get home and start playing!
I’m happy to report that there’s a video game Gold Box Event happening over at Amazon right now! The Deal of the Day is the PS3 320GB Uncharted 3 Bundle for just $250, which is a great price. The rest of the deals are:
I’ve got a few sweet t-shirts for you today as well: (more…)
Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News
Ready At Dawn reveals more details about The Order: 1886
The Order: 1886 made a big splash when it debuted at Sony’s E3 2013 Press Conference. But while the cinematic trailer was absolutely epic, we were left to speculate exactly what kind of game The Order: 1886 would be. Thankfully, a PlayStation Blog EU interview with Ready At Dawn’s Ru Weerasuriya has shed some (lamp)light on the steampunk game.
PS Blog: So, exactly what kind of game is The Order: 1886?
Ru Weerasuriya: The Order is a third person action adventure with shooting mechanics. It’s very much story-based – it’s a linear story-based game. We’re trying to tell a story. It’s what we call a “filmic experience.”
The whole interview is definitely worth a read and, I can’t stress this enough, you really need to watch the trailer again.
Posted in News, PS4
Tagged The Order: 1886