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: Tank! Tank! Tank! Free-To-Play, Mega Man, Pac-Man, more
The Wii U’s Virtual Console expands by two today as Nintendo has added the NES games Mega Man and Pac-Man to their next-generation gaming time machine. The 3DS Virtual Console also expands today thanks to the addition of Balloon Fight.
Another re-release makes the Wii U eShop a more interesting place today: the free-to-play version of Namco Bandai’s Tank! Tank! Tank! The game was originally released as a disc-based game in November. The new free-to-play version will offer the “base game” as a free download with the remainder of the modes and missions available as ten separate pieces of downloadable content.
If you’d prefer something new from your Wii U shopping experience, Neko Entertainment has published the puzzle platformer Kung Fu Rabbit on the Wii U eShop.
More information on all of these games, and other new releases this week, can be found after the break. (more…)
WB Games announces Lego Marvel Super Heroes pre-order bonuses
In addition to releasing the neat teaser trailer above, WB Games has revealed the pre-order bonuses for Lego Marvel Super Heroes. As of right now, there are three retailer-exclusive pre-order bonuses and you can check them out right here:
Walmart: Receive an ultra exclusive Iron Patriot mini-fig when the game releases.
GameStop: Receive a Spider-Man keychain when you pre-order any version of Lego Marvel Super Heroes (available when the game releases). PowerUp Rewards members also receive an exclusive DLC pack containing “extra characters (including Spider-Man Symbiote, Hawkeye, Thanos, and much more), vehicles, and races!” (PS3 and Xbox 360 only).
Amazon: Receive a $10 Games Credit, automatically applied to your Amazon account.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes will be available for the 3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360 this Fall.
Scribblenauts: DC Superheroes rumored to be in development at 5th Cell
IGN is reporting that Sribblenauts Unlimited developer 5th Cell is hard at work on the next game in the series, a Scribblenauts game set in the DC Comics Universe!
According to their tipster, the game is currently being developed under the working title “Scribblenauts Unmasked” for the 3DS, PC, and Wii U. IGN’s source states that publisher WB Games wants to announce it at this year’s E3 Expo, but “the title, content, and main character may change before it is announced.” Of course, since no one knew Scribblenauts Unmasked even existed until a day or so ago, making changes to what is more or less a prototype shouldn’t raise any alarm bells (or Bat Signals).
The tipster described a few of the puzzles, which give off a Scribblenauts feel while still clearly taking place in the DC Universe:
One source describes a linear level beginning in the sewers beneath Wayne Manor where a hungry Killer Croc won’t let Max proceed. When a hamburger isn’t enough, a dynamite sandwich sends Croc into a rage leading to his arrest. Robin keeps the situation under control, allowing Max to make his way inside Wayne Manor (where Batman has been manipulated by The Joker) before discovering Batgirl’s capture in the Batcave.
In another situation, Max encounters two police officers, and must decipher which one is legit and which is actually Clayface. An X-ray exposes the villain, and when handcuffs fail to stop the sludge-monster, a freeze-gun does the trick.
If Scribblenauts Unmasked is for real, now we really can ask, “Where does he get all those wonderful toys?”
Nintendo Download: Rayman Legends Challenges App, Mega Man IV, More
Rayman Legends may have been delayed until August to put it on the PS3 and Xbox 360, but Ubisoft has made good on their promise and added the Wii U-exclusive Rayman Legends Challenges App to the Wii U eShop. It’s a free download that includes access to four of the game’s levels: Land of the Livid Dead, Neverending Pit, Infinite Tower, and the GamePad-controlled Murfy’s Dungeon. If that weren’t enough, weekly online challenges are also included in the Challenges App.
Also available this week, on the 3DS eShop, is Mega Man IV, the Blue Bomber’s 1992 NES adventure.
Hit the jump for more details on both of these titles as well as three other new games released as part of this week’s Nintendo Download. (more…)
Nintendo won’t hold a traditional E3 Press Conference this year
The times they are a-changin’. Commentators have questioned the “need” for E3 as game makers and game players have grown more connected thanks to the Internet. Nintendo, owing to the existence of their already ridiculously popular Nintendo Direct presentations, has slammed one more nail into the idea of E3 as we know it by deciding to not hold a traditional E3 Press Conference this year.
Instead, the House of Mario will host a series of mini-meetings during E3 week, including a huge Nintendo Direct presentation that will be focused on their software lineup for the U.S. market. Smaller events for distributors and the press will also be held.
Nintendo has already confirmed that a handful of major Wii U and 3DS will be on display at this year’s E3 Expo including the next 3D Mario game, Mario Kart Wii U, Super Smash Bros. 4, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2.
Star Wars, Marvel characters may be added to Disney Infinity in the future
“Series 1” of Disney Infinity is very focused focus on the studio’s animated efforts. Most of the figures announced so far have been pulled from the worlds of Toy Story, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, and Cars. But the Skylanders-like game also has a “real world” side represented by characters from Pirates of the Caribbean. And much like Jack Sparrow’s search for rum, many Disney fans have asked of Infinity… “Where’s Marvel and Star Wars?”
According a GamesIndustry International interview with Bill Roper, General Manager at Disney Interactive, there’s a chance that the Marvel universe and a galaxy far, far away could find their way into Infinity:
“”I think the beauty of something like Infinity is that it’s a platform that we’re building. So we don’t try to be coy about it – we’ve done a lot of work about identifying the properties that we felt would really make the platform sing at launch, but I never discount any possibilities with the vast array of characters and worlds that we can tap into across the company,” Roper said. He later singled out Star Wars as a possibility: “[The Star Wars acquisition] was definitely exciting when that [news] came down from within the company. We love the potential for Infinity – we always joke, well, ‘the possibilities are infinite’.”
While that’s far from confirmation, the Disney brass are clearly thinking about it. And with the extensive film schedule the company has planned for the Star Wars saga and the Avengers: Phase Two initiative, I think it makes perfect business sense to add characters from Marvel and Star Wars to Infinity sometime down the road (perhaps Summer 2015… when both The Avengers 2 and Star Wars: Episode VII hit theaters).
The Disney Infinity “Starter Pack” will be available for the 3DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on August 18.
Nordic Games wins big at THQ auction: Darksiders, Red Faction, MX vs ATV, more
An unlikely winner has emerged in the second round of the THQ sweepstakes: Nordic Games. The small publisher, located in Austria, bid $4.9 million to obtain the majority of THQ’s remaining properties including Darksiders, Red Faction, MX vs ATV, Destroy all Humans!, Summoner, Titan Quest, Frontlines, Juiced, Full Spectrum Warrior, and over 150 other titles. A full list of Nordic’s acquisitions will be unveiled soon, probably sometime after the purchase hearing current set for May 13.
But now the question becomes, what happens next? What does Nordic Games, best known for publishing the Painkiller series, plan to do with all of these properties? According to Lars Wingefors, Nordic’s CEO, the company plans to embark on an in-depth analysis of each property and will eventually move forward with sequels to many of them.
“First and foremost we are very happy about this deal which also turns over a new leaf for the entire Nordic Games Group. In the long term, we either want to cooperate with the original creators or best possible developers in order to work on sequels or additional content for these titles,” Wingefors said.
To that end, Nordic Games has set up a special section in their official forums to solicit fan feedback on how to proceed with their new toys.
The first half of the THQ auction was held in January, with Deep Silver, Ubisoft, Crytek, Take-Two Interactive, and Sega participating.
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Darksiders, Darksiders II, Destroy All Humans, MX vs ATV Alive, Red Faction: Armageddon
New Releases: Lego City Undercover 3DS, Dead Island: Riptide, Star Trek, More
April is almost over and there’s plenty of new games scheduled to be released this week, including…
Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins, a 3DS prequel to Lego City Undercover that’s available in stores and the 3DS eShop today.
Available Tuesday is Deep Silver’s latest tale of zombies in paradise, Dead Island: Riptide (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). Also available is Star Trek (PC, PS3, Xbox 360), Namco Bandai’s video game prequel to next month’s Star Trek Into Darkness, and Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (PS3, Xbox 360), Capcom’s standalone expansion to last year’s Dragon’s Dogma.
Finally, this week sees the release of Puzzler World 2013, a 3DS puzzle game collection; Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, a PC side-scroller; and StarDrive, a new 4X strategy game for the PC.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Dead Island: Riptide, Dragon's Dogma, Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins, Star Trek