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
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- 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: Articles
Snowcastle will launch Earthlock: Festival of Magic on Xbox One for free through Games With Gold and PC on September 1
Snowcastle Games has announced that their turn-based RPG, Earthlock: Festival of Magic, will be available to download for the PC and Xbox One on September 1. But best of all, Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to get the game for free next month through the Games With Gold program.
If you’re unfamiliar with Earthlock: Festival of Magic, head to Xbox Wire to learn more about the game’s Norse inspirations:
This westernized turn-based RPG, which in subtle ways reveals its Scandinavian origin, starts as a simple quest, but develops into a deeper journey. Play as Amon and join several unlikely heroes to save Umbra, a beautiful but harsh world that mysteriously stopped spinning thousands of cycles ago. Mix up your strategy to beat your enemies by crafting ammo and materials, harvesting elemental plants, and customizing your characters’ talent tree.
Earthlock: Festival of Magic is also in development for the PS4 and Wii U, and will likely be released for both platforms sometime this Fall.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Earthlock: Festival of Magic, Gamescom 2016
Nintendo wants the NX to appeal to “people who like games” and “moms”
It sounds like Nintendo has plans to stray from their “Blue Ocean Strategy” for the Nintendo NX. According to Shinya Takahashi, Nintendo’s General Manager of Entertainment Planning and Development, the consolemaker is working on a platform that’ll appeal to a wide range of audiences including “people who like games” and “moms.”
This insight into Nintendo’s corporate strategy was revealed by Takahashi during an interview with Nikkei Trendy (and helpfully translated by Nintendo Everything):
“I can’t talk about this in detail yet, but we are aiming so that neither people who like games nor moms dislike it. I think that I want to release a game device that both customers who have much experience in gaming and customers who haven’t played much can enjoy greatly.”
Later in the interview, Takahashi also said that Nintendo is better tuned in to the needs of their staff, and hopes to avoid the drought of new games that plagued the Wii U’s first year:
“We are paying attention to that. Having said that, it isn’t about drastically increasing the amount of development staff. To be specific, software development teams and teams that create the development environment are thinking about the NX lineup together.”
“For example, a software development team may have a request ‘if we had this library, then development would progress quickly’. Teams creating the development environment respond to that by considering ‘if we prepare an environment like this, then development will go smoothly,’ and they actually discuss with development teams and hear their opinions and prioritize those things. We have built a stronger cooperative relationship compared to what is was before and are making efforts so that software can be developed smoothly.”
The Nintendo NX will be released in March 2017, and many people expect Nintendo to fully unveil the console sometime in the next few months.
The making of Tetris will be chronicled in a new graphic novel this October
Most people know that Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris while working for the Soviet government in the early 80s, but the story will be retold this October in a brand new graphic novel by Box Brown.
Tetris: The Games People Play will be published by the Macmillan imprint First Second, and it’ll reveal the story behind the game’s creation and the subsequent legal battle over distribution rights to the puzzle game outside the USSR:
Alexey Pajitnov had big ideas about games. In 1984, he created Tetris in his spare time while developing software for the Soviet government. Once Tetris emerged from behind the Iron Curtain, it was an instant hit. Nintendo, Atari, Sega—game developers big and small all wanted Tetris. A bidding war was sparked, followed by clandestine trips to Moscow, backroom deals, innumerable miscommunications, and outright theft.
New York Times–bestselling author Box Brown untangles this complex history and delves deep into the role games play in art, culture, and commerce. For the first time and in unparalleled detail, Tetris: The Games People Play tells the true story of the world’s most popular video game.
Brown has experience with finding larger-than-life figures from pop culture and adapting their lives into graphic novels. The writer and artist was previously responsible for Andre the Giant: Life and Legend, a well-received graphic novel that was originally published in 2014.
Meanwhile, Pajitnov seems to a popular biography subject these days. Director Brett Ratner announced plans to develop a film based on the developer’s life last year, and Interestingly enough, the untitled film will also feature an emphasis on the court case surrounding Tetris.
Tetris: The Games People Play will be available on store shelves on October 11.
Mario helped Japanese PM Shinzo Abe make it to the Olympics Closing Ceremony on time
The 2016 Summer Olympics came to an end last night with the Closing Ceremonies. Team USA won 121 total medals, including six more for Michael Phelps, one for “mugging victim” Ryan Lochte, and Gold for both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams. But now the eyes of the world turn to Tokyo as they prepare for the 2020 Games, and naturally, Mario was on hand to help them out.
In a great little video to symbolize the Olympic handover, Japanese athletes perform alongside the country’s greatest cultural exports… Hello Kitty, Pac-Man, and Mario. Mario even lent a warp pipe and his signature hat hat to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe so he could make it to the Closing Ceremony on time. Cutting to live events in the stadium, Abe even emerged from a massive green wipe wearing Mario’s coveralls.
You can watch the full video at NBCOlympics.com and I’m sure Nintendo and Sega are already thinking about the Nintendo NX launch of Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in four years.
Posted in Etcetera, News, Retro
Tagged Super Mario Bros.
Watch a hamster run through Level 1-1 from Super Mario Bros.
ハムケツ動画のノーカット版(35秒)に、BGMをつけてみました=^･ω･^= pic.twitter.com/ocyqGUTVxg
— ゆたこ (@yutako55) August 19, 2016
Prepare yourself… Here’s a video of a hamster running through Level 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. Created by Twitter user Yutako55, the video even includes the appropriate music and sound effects. Though be sure to turn your speakers up really loud so you can hear them over your squeals of delight.
Happy Sunday!
Posted in Etcetera, News, Retro
Tagged Super Mario Bros.
Weekly Warp-Up: Gamescom 2016 In Review…
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…
This year’s Gamescom expo was a relatively low-key event, though Konami managed to surprise everyone by announcing Metal Gear Survive, the first game in the Metal Gear franchise without Hideo Kojima’s involvement. Though we still know very little about it, fans don’t seem pleased that Konami decided to add interdimensional zombies to a franchise best known for its deeply philosophical themes.
Less surprising was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s coronation as the “Best of Gamescom.” After it’s massive unveiling at E3, Nintendo’s upcoming adventure game continues to overshadow every other game currently in development.
Elsewhere on Warp Zoned this week, we took a look at Dangerous Golf, the first game from the ex-Burnout devs at Three Fields Entertainment.
You can find more news from Gamescom after the break including updates on Injustice 2, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and Mass Effect. (more…)
Posted in News
New Retail Releases: Madden NFL 17, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, King of Fighters XIV, More
It’s FOOTBALL time ladies and gentlemen, which means it’s also time for EA Sports to release the next yearly installment in the Madden NFL franchise. Madden NFL 17 will be released for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Tuesday, and Rob Gronkowski will adorn on the cover. This year, the development team at Tiburon focused on improving Madden’s famed Franchise Mode, so the hardcore statheads should be very happy.
EA also teamed up with Microsoft to offer an Xbox One S + Madden NFL 17 Bundle for fans looking to upgrade their Xbox One console. And if you’re not a sports fan, Microsoft will also launch an Xbox One S + Halo Collection Bundle this week.
Over in a completely separate corner of your local game store is this week’s other big launch… Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Square Enix and Eidos Montreal will release the next chapter in their futuristic story of technologically-augmented humans (and the people who hate them) for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Finally this week, SNK and Atlus will team up to bring The King of Fighters XIV to the PS4. The King of Fighters series gets a graphical overhaul in this 14th installment (not counting spinoffs), with 50 fighters set to battle it out in one of the franchise’s biggest games ever.
Don’t forget to check back later this week to learn all about the latest additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Madden NFL 17, The King of Fighters XIV
Channel your inner Magneto in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s Magnesis Trial
After giving fans a brief glimpse at a crumbling Temple of Time in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo returns with another short video showcasing one of the game’s Shrines.
Players who visit Shrine Oman Au (Fun Fact: “Oman Au” is an anagram of “Aonuma,” as in Zelda Producer Eiji Aonuma) will be able to take part in the Magnesis Trial. As its name implies, the Magnesis Trial will give Link the power to manipulate metal objects like chests and doors with his hands… just like a certain Marvel supervillain. Completing the Trial will add the Magnesis ability to Link’s inventory, so he’ll be able to channel his inner Magneto throughout the rest of Hyrule as well:
Shrine Oman Au introduces the Magnesis ability in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.https://t.co/Gon92lqtWH
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 18, 2016
According to Nintendo, more than 100 Shrines will be scattered across the Hyrulian landscape. Each Shrine will reward players with Spirit Orbs that can be traded for various items, as well as Runes (like the Magnesis Rune) that grant players powerful abilities.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be released for the Wii U and NX sometime in 2017.
Posted in News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild