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)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (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)
Most Recent: Articles
Sonic entering his 20s
On June 23 of this year, Sega will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of its flagship franchise, Sonic The Hedgehog. The little blue guy first emerged on the Genesis/Mega Drive on June 23, 1991, a date which may be as important to the console wars as 1933 is to World War II historians. The series has since gone on to sell over 70 million copies worldwide, making Sonic one of the most iconic mascots in gaming. Throughout the year, Sega will be revealing details about events around the world to celebrate this milestone.
As with many gamers, the Sonic franchise evokes mixed emotions from me. Fans have been demanding a retreat from 3D style games for over a decade, and this year’s answer to them has received a divided reception. For more on that, be sure to check out Ryan Littlefield’s upcoming article here on Warp Zoned.
Posted in News
Tagged Sonic the Hedgehog
Tee it up at The Masters with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
EA Sports wants players to prepare to chase the most coveted prize in golf, The Green Jacket, as they’ve announced a special Masters edition of Tiger Woods PGA Tour is in the works.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters recreates the famed Augusta National Golf Club in a project that’s been three years in the making at EA Tiburon. Players will be able to tee it up at the virtual Augusta on March 29, a week before the pros tackle the real Augusta.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 will be available in two versions: a PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 standard edition and a PS3-exclusive Collector’s Edition that will include five additional courses. Both PS3 releases will also include PlayStation Move support.
For The Masters, EA Sports utilized a new laser scanning technology at Augusta National Golf Club to scan every hole featured in the game. According to the developer, this will ensure that “every tree, every azalea and every undulation in every green was recreated down to the smallest detail.”
Other new features players can look for when the game releases on March 29 are “Masters Moments” (Play through memorable Masters moments), “Tiger at the Masters” (see if your score can measure up to Tiger’s best performances) and an all-new Career Mode.
Posted in News
Tagged PS3, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, Wii, Xbox 360
Halo: Cryptum on bookstore shelves today
More than half a dozen novels have fleshed out the expanded universe of the Halo franchise since the first game in the series was released in 2001. Today, 343 Industries delves even deeper into the pre-history of Halo with the release of the first part of The Forerunner Saga.
Written by acclaimed science fiction author Greg Bear, Halo: Cryptum travels more than 100,000 years into the past:
Eons ago, the galaxy was home to many species, but chief among them were the Forerunners, who exceeded all others in both technology and knowledge. They ruled peacefully, but countered opposition with quick and brutal effectiveness. They were of the Mantle, the next stage of life in the Universe’s Living Time.
And then they vanished.
This is their story.
If you want a small taste of the story before you take a trip down to your local bookstore (or library), Tor and the Halo Waypoint have the first two chapters available for viewing.
Chapter One can be found at Tor.com while HaloWaypoint.com has Chapter Two.
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX Review: Power Pellets Are An Addicting Drug
The original Pac-Man Championship Edition was a textbook example in how best to do a reboot of a classic franchise. It was respectful of its heritage without feeling old-fashioned. But it was also a completely fresh take on Pac-Man that made maze running feel brand new and was more addictive than ever. The sequel, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, takes everything you loved about its predecessor and cranks it up to 11. There are more mazes, more modes, more ghosts and an even more addictive hook in the form of Leaderboards that are an ever-present part of the game. (more…)
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Pac-Man Championship Edition DX, PS3, Xbox 360
MicroBot coming to PlayStation Store tomorrow after last week’s XBLA launch
After quietly adding it to the Xbox Live Arcade last Wednesday, Electronic Arts has revealed that MicroBot, their “cure for the common arcade shooter” will be available on the PlayStation Store starting tomorrow, January 4. Developed by Naked Sky Entertainment, the PSN version of MicroBot will be priced at $10, which is equal to the 800 Microsoft Points the XBLA version is going for.
Players (either alone or as a two-player team) will dive inside the human body in MicroBot as they “travel through the bloodstream, bones, lungs and brain” to battle “malicious enemies.”
“When we set out to create MicroBot, we wanted to ensure it provided a unique gameplay experience setting it apart from other offerings in the digital download marketplace. By taking players inside a place they have rarely visited before – the human body – and giving gamers endless customization options, we made a game that lives up to that vision and, most importantly, provides an addictive gameplay experience for anyone who plays games on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network,” said Jason Haber of Electronic Arts.
You can add MicroBot to your Xbox Live Download Queue right now.
Operation Hastings unlocked for BFBC2 Vietnam on consoles
Last year’s Battlefield 1943 saw a unique kind of community challenge where the final map in the DLC game would unlock on each console version once its community achieved 43 million kills. EA and DICE implemented a similar challenge for Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam, but while PC players racked up the requisite 69 million support actions in no time, console players have had the competition ended early. To celebrate the new year, Operation Hastings is now unlocked for the 360 and PS3, before either community got a chance to do it themselves.
It makes you wonder if there’s simply a more “lone wolf” mentality when it comes to shooters on consoles, but in any case you can expect our own review of Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam on Warp Zoned shortly.
Posted in News
Tagged Battlefield: Bad Company 2, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Johnny Cash rings in 2011 with Rock Band 3
The newly independent Harmonix has revealed that an eight-pack of Johnny Cash songs will lead off the Rock Band Store’s 2011 offerings.
The Man in Black has been a fixture over at that other music franchise for the last few years, but PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 Rock Band 3 owners will be able to download the following Cash classics on January 4 as part of the Johnny Cash Track Pack 01:
- “Cry, Cry, Cry”
- “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town”
- “Five Feet High and Rising”
- “Folsom Prison Blues”
- “I Got Stripes”
- “I Walk the Line” (Pro Guitar/Bass Available)
- “Tennessee Flat Top Box” (Pro Guitar/Bass Available)
- “The Ballad of Ira Hayes”
As usual, individual songs can be downloaded for $1.99/200 Wii Points/160 Microsoft Points each while the Pro Guitar/Bass upgrades can be purchased for a dollar more. All of the songs will also be available as a track pack, which will be priced at $13.49/1350 Wii Points/1,080 Microsoft Points.
If those prices sound a bit steep to you, Harmonix also plans to launch the Rock Band Free Pack 01 on the PS3 and Xbox 360 this week as well. As the name implies, the developer will dish up nine songs for free, all of which previously appeared as hidden tracks on Rock Band or Rock Band 2:
- Abnormality – “Visions”
- Anarchy Club – “Get Clean”
- Bang Camaro – “Night Lies”
- Breaking Wheel – “Shoulder to the Plow”
- Libyans – “Welcome to the Neighborhood”
- The Main Drag – “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter”
- Speck – “Conventional Lover”
- The Sterns – “Supreme Girl”
- That Handsome Devil – “Rob the Prez-O-Dent”
Posted in News
Tagged PS3, Rock Band 3, Wii, Xbox 360
The Brothers Mario battle Bowser in a gangland tale
Created by the geniuses at CountryClubPictures, The Brothers Mario is a machinima that recasts the Super Mario Brothers’ battle against Bowser as a gangland tale between the mafia and Bowser’s “Koopa Troopa Gang.” It was originally posted on YouTube almost three weeks ago, so you may have seen it already, but if not, it’s a great way to spend a few minutes on a lazy New Year’s Day.
The constant barrage of characters and references is amazing including “Bullet Bill” as an assassin and the “Hammer Brothers” as crazed enforcers (causing Luigi to quip “Never bring a hammer to a gun fight!”). There’s also “real world” versions of Toad and Yoshi along the Koopa Troopas as a literal paratrooper force…
I could go on, but listing all the references to Mario games and the crime film canon would just ruin the surprise. Watch it and be entertained.