Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books Gets a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- 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)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Most Recent: 3DS
Nintendo Download: Kokuga, Sonic 2, Sonic Labyrinth, more
Ikaruga and Gradius V fans take note, Hiroshi Iuchi’s next game as Director, Kokuga, is now available to download from the 3DS eShop. Kokuga is a top-down shooter (naturally) that also throws in a card-based powerup system.
Also available this week on the 3DS eShop are a trio of Game Gear titles (Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic Labyrinth, Crystal Warriors), one of the first NES games ever (Spelunker), an “action-biker” game (Urban Trial Freestyle), a bite-sized version of rhythm game Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove (Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove Mini), and a futuristic racer from Majesco (Crash City Mayhem, which will be availably July 2).
Finally, the Super NES game Vegas Stakes, which was originally released in 1993, has been added to the Wii U eShop. OK, but it seems like an odd choice for one of the first SNES games to be added to the Wii U Virtual Console.
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…)
New Releases: Ouya, Deadpool, Company of Heroes 2, More
Finally, some variety in the new release schedule!
In fact, there’s so much variety available this week that we’re getting a new console: the Android-powered, Kickster-funded Ouya Console. If you’d prefer to stick with games on platforms you already own, this week also sees the release of the first game starring the “Merc With the Mouth,” Deadpool (PC, PS3, Xbox 360).
A trio of niche titles round out this week’s major new releases including the Sega-published PC strategy game Company of Heroes 2 (it used to be part of THQ’s stable), minigame collection Game & Wario (Wii U), and the insane crossover Project X Zone (3DS).
More new release can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Company of Heroes 2, Deadpool, Game & Wario, Project X Zone
Miyamoto has “no good ideas” for a new F-Zero game
Nintendo trotted out new entries in a ton of your favorite franchises at this year’s E3 Expo. But one oft-neglected series didn’t make an appearance at the big show and likely won’t for a long time: F-Zero. Speaking to IGN, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that the company currently has no idea where to take the series:
“I certainly understand that people want a new F-Zero game,” Miyamoto said. “I think where I struggle is that I don’t really have a good idea for what’s new that we could bring to F-Zero that would really turn it into a great game again. Certainly I can see how people looking at Mario Kart 8 could see, through the anti-gravity, a connection to F-Zero. But I don’t know, at this point, what direction we could go in with a new F-Zero.”
F-Zero GX, released for the GameCube in 2003, was the last F-Zero game released for a Nintendo console. A Game Boy Advance game, F-Zero: GP Legend, was released in 2004.
Nintendo Download: New Super Luigi U today… Project X Zone, Game & Wario next week
Mario’s brother gets the spotlight in this week’s Nintendo Download as New Super Luigi U is now available. You must own New Super Mario Bros. U to play it, but as you can above, a standalone disc-based version will be released in August if you just want Luigi. Also available today is Bugs vs. Tanks!, the latest 3DS game from Level-5’s “Guild-02” collection. It was developed with the assistance of Kenji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man. And speaking of Mega Man, Mega Man VI was added to the 3DS eShop today.
Other new releases today include:
- Mario Bros. (Wii U eShop)
- Wrecking Crew (Wii U eShop)
- Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (3DS eShop)
- Farming Simulator 3D (3DS eShop)
- Defenders of Oasis (3DS eShop)
- Sonic Blast (3DS eShop)
- Tails Adventure (3DS eShop)
- Rhythm Core Alpha 2 (DSiWare)
A few other high-profile games will be added to Nintendo’s download services before next week’s update including the minigame compilation Game & Wario (Wii U); the Namco Bandai/Sega/Capcom crossover Project X Zone (3DS); and the latest Lego game, Lego Legends of Chima: Laval’s Journey (3DS).
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Game & Wario, New Super Luigi U, Project X Zone
Injustice: Gods Among Us scores another sales knockout in the May 2013 NPD report
Yup, you can definitely tell we’re in a console transition period. Just a single new release was able to crack the list of the top ten best-selling games of May 2013.
Deep Silver’s Metro: Last Light was that game and the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 shooter was able to claim the sixth spot for the mutants of post-apocalyptic Russia. A pair of sorta-new releases helped push the profile of two titles that were originally released in years past. The 3DS version of Donkey Kong Country Returns lifted the game to #3 and the Wii U re-release of Lego Batman 2 helped the Brick Knight squeeze into the #10 slot.
According to Game Informer, sales of retail games are down 31% from May 2012 and retail sales are going to continue to drop as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony move towards an all-digital future. Althugh, to be fair, May 2012 did include the release of Diablo III, which sold a ton of copies at retail.
The NPD Group’s complete report on the top ten best-selling games from May 2013 can be found after the break. (more…)
Zelda: Link to the Past 2 is now A Link Between Worlds, will be released in November
Nintendo’s 3DS sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past will officially be known as The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Bask in the 1992-ness of the E3 2013 trailer above while you try to figure out where A Link Between Worlds belongs in the great Zelda timeline.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds will be released in November.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged E3 2013, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds