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
Nintendo Download: Super Mario Maker, Tecmo Bowl, Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX, more
You couldn’t design a better Nintendo Download this week if you tried. But then, any designers in the audience will be quite busy beginning tomorrow when Super Mario Maker is added to the Wii U eShop. More than a mere Mario level editor, Super Mario Maker will include dozens of pre-built courses and the option to download an unlimited number of levels from the Wii U community. Also, you can use an Amiibo figure to drop Link (and many other characters) into a Mario game for the first time.
The Wii U eShop received a bounty of new releases this week in addition to Super Mario Maker. For starters, Tecmo’s famous football sim for the NES, Tecmo Bowl, is now available through the Virtual Console. Seems appropriate on Kickoff Thursday. Also available to download today are a pair of puzzling adventures including steampunk caper The Swindle and the first-person environmental brain-twister QUBE: Director’s Cut.
Finally this week, Sega will bring Japan’s most famous blue-haired idol, Hatsune Miku, to the 3DS in the rhythm action game Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX.
More information on all of these titles (and a few others) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
Pokemon Go will let you catch Pokemon in the real world on mobile devices in 2016
The Pokemon Company has released several Pokemon games on mobile devices in the recent past. But today’s announcement of Pokemon Go marks the first time that Nintendo is involved in the creation of a mobile Pokemon game… which is fitting as it might be the biggest one yet.
Pokemon Go will be available for iDevices (through the iOS App Store) and Android devices (through Google Play) beginning in 2016. Similar to a digital version of geocaching, Pokemon Go will use GPS positioning to give players directions to Pokemon they can find “in the wild,” along with other players they can trade with or battle.
Development on Pokemon Go is being lead by Niantic, a team that is actually very familiar with the intersection of mobile gaming and augmented reality. They’re probably best known for Ingress, a mobile game that uses the backdrop an alien invasion to bring players together out in the world.
Pokemon Go will be a free-to-play title, but The Pokemon Company and Nintendo will also sell an optional bauble known as the Pokemon Go Plus that can act as the player’s Pokeball. After linking with the game, it will flash and beep when Pokemon are nearby and players can use the device to catch ’em all with the press of a button. And in addition to the involvement of Niantic and Nintendo, Junichi Masuda, Game Director of the Pokemon franchise at Game Freak, will also assist in the development of Pokemon Go to ensure that it’s the best Pokemon experience possible.
“Pokemon Go is a wonderful combination of Niantic’s real world gaming platform and one of the most beloved franchises in popular culture,” said John Hanke, CEO of Niantic. “Our partnership with The Pokemon Company and Nintendo is an exciting step forward in real-world gaming and using technology to help players discover the world and people around them.”
I have a feeling this super effective team just might be able to create a game that’ll become very popular with the convention crowd.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Pokemon Go
Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows will infect all platforms on September 17
Yacht Club Games has announced that Shovel Knight‘s Plague of Shadows expansion will be available to download on all platforms and in all regions on September 17. The free update will completely transform the game, allowing players to take control of the villainous Plague Knight as he does battle with his fellow knights of The Order of No Quarter.
However, this challenge is only for expert players as the Plague of Shadows campaign will remain locked unless you’ve beaten the game as Shovel Knight.
Unlike some cinematic knights, prospective Plague of Shadows players won’t need to choose wisely as Shovel Knight is currently available for the PC, 3DS, Wii U, PS3, PS4, Vita, and Xbox One. Yacht Club will continue to expand the world of Shovel Knight in the future as campaigns centered around King Knight and Specter Knight are in the works. In the nearer future, a Shovel Knight Amiibo figure, which will unlock a Co-Op Campaign on the 3DS and Wii U, will be released sometime this Fall.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows
Apple will release the gaming-capable All-New Apple TV in late October
Even though a tidal wave of Android-powered microconsoles have been released over the years, Apple was content to let the Apple TV stream pictures and video. That all changes this Fall with the release of the “All-New Apple TV,” which will be available in late October in 32GB ($149) and 64GB ($199) models.
The All-New Apple TV will be powered by tvOS, a new operating system that’ll let developers create games and apps specifically designed for a bigger screen. Every All-New Apple TV will come packaged with Siri Remote, a remote that includes a glass touch surface that will handle “both small, accurate movements as well as big, sweeping ones.” Users will be able to speak to the Siri Remote for searching and motion controls (including a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope) will also be included in the controller’s bag of tricks.
While the All-New Apple TV will make use of iOS gaming technologies like Metal and Game Center, Apple was mum on the microconsole’s compatibility with MFi Game Controllers. However, the All-New Apple TV’s powerful A8 chip means that, from a technical standpoint, it should certainly be able to handle console-quality games. And it’s definitely getting those games as Apple TV versions of Rayman Adventures, Disney Infinity: Star Wars, Shadowmatic, Crossy Road, and Guitar Hero Live were all announced during today’s event.
Posted in Mobile, News
Tagged Disney Infinity: Star Wars, Guitar Hero Live
Guitar Hero Live goes to 110 as Activision adds ten more songs to the game
After a few weeks of radio silence, Activision announced today that ten more songs will be added to Guitar Hero Live‘s gargantuan setlist. Once again, the selections run the gamut from radio friendly pop (Passenger’s “Let Her Go”) to indie favorites (Haim, Wavves) to the hard stuff (Lamb of God’s “Ghost Walking”). If you’re looking for all ten new tracks, they can be found right here:
- 36 Crazyfists – “Also Am I”
- Gerard Way – “No Shows”
- Haim – “The Wire”
- Lamb of God – “Ghost Walking”
- Orianthi – “According to You”
- Passenger – “Let Her Go”
- Pearl Jam – “Sirens”
- Surfer Blood – “Demon Dance”
- Tonight Alive – “The Ocean”
- Wavves – “Demon to Lean On”
Guitar Hero Live will be released for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and mobile platforms on October 20.
Xbox Store Today: Castle Crashers Remastered, Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime, ClusterPuck 99, more
Prepare to dive deep into a trio of new side-scrollers in this week’s Xbox Games Store update. Though one of the games should be very familiar to Xbox 360 owners.
This week, Castle Crashers jumps to the Xbox One in an enhanced Remastered edition. The Behemoth’s widely acclaimed hack and slash now features “hi-res visuals like nothing you’ve ever seen before” running at 60 frames per second. A number of other tweaks have also been made to the game and a new minigame (“Back Off Barbarian”) has been added. But thankfully, the Remastered edition includes all the same co-op opportunities (for up to four players) and its even available for free (until September 20) to owners of the Xbox 360 edition.
Also available for the Xbox One this week is Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime, a two-player “couch co-op action space shooter.” A single-player option is available, but developer Asteroid Base designed the game with co-op in mind, saying, “Only through teamwork can you triumph over the evil forces of Anti-Love, rescue kidnapped space-bunnies, and avoid a vacuumy demise.”
This week’s third side-scroller is Aritana and the Harpy’s Feather, a colorful puzzle platformer for the Xbox One based on “the switching of postures.” According to the developer, “You must choose between these postures to overcome obstacles and fight the Spirits of the Forest in a fast, intuitive, and fun gameplay.”
Finally this week, ClusterPuck 99 is a wild hockey-like game for the Xbox One designed for eight players. Developer PHL Collective says that its “intense local multiplayer” is “built for parties.”
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Castle Crashers, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
PS Store Today: Tearaway Unfolded, Rugby World Cup 2015, Beyond Eyes, more
It’s a short week for Sony’s PlayStation Store as only a handful of titles were added to the online storefront today. However, one of this week’s new games is Tearaway Unfolded, Media Molecule’s PS4 adaptation (definitely don’t call it a port) of their handheld platformer. Tearaway didn’t find much of an audience on the Vita, but Media Molecule was quite proud of it. Hopefully, they find more success on the PS4.
A number of other titles are also available to download through the PlayStation Store this week:
- Rugby World Cup 2015 (PS4, PS3, Vita) is the latest Rugby simulation from HB Studios and Bigben Interactive.
- Beyond Eyes (PS4) asks players to help a blind girl journey through the world in search of her pet cat.
- Hyper Void (PS4 + PS3 Cross-Buy) is a wild space shooter.
- And Ascendant (PS4) is… believe it or not… a roguelike beat ’em up.
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 is available at the PlayStation Blog. (more…)
Wii U + Mario Kart 8 + Mario Kart 8 DLC Bundle races into stores today
Nintendo is upgrading their Mario Kart 8 Wii U Bundle by adding both of the game’s downloadable expansions. The Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8 Pack was released in 2014 to tremendous acclaim, while the Animal Crossing X Mario Kart 8 Pack crossed the finished line earlier this year to similar accolades. If you haven’t already, there’s really never been a better time than now to jump into the driver’s seat of Mario Kart 8.
The new Wii U + Mario Kart 8 Bundle will be available on store shelves beginning today. Priced at $299.99, the package will include a pre-installed version of Mario Kart 8 as well as a Nintendo eShop Download Card for the two DLC packs.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8