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
Danica Patrick joins Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed; Wii U version announced
Horny teens and auto nuts everywhere can now celebrate the announcement that NASCAR racing hottie Danica Patrick will be a playable character in Sega’s Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed. To promote the game, the driver and model will be racing a “No. 7 Sonic the Hedgehog Chevrolet” in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge on November 3 at the Texas Motor Speedway. Danica herself was bursting with enthusiasm when asked about her being turned into a video game character:
“It’s a very exciting experience since I’ll be sharing the screen with such an iconic character. I cannot wait for gamers to jump into my customized, transformable vehicles and give Sonic a run for his rings this holiday season!”
The sequel to Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing will see the players take to the land, sea and air, similar to the N64’s underappreciated Diddy Kong Racing. Here, however, the vehicles will transform during the race in a triathlon fashion.
Sonic, Danica and the other All Stars will be appearing on the Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, PS Vita, and PC this winter. The sequel will also race onto the Wii U this winter as well.
Nintendo @ E3 12: Scribblenauts Unlimited announced for Wii U
WB Games wasn’t finished with their presentation, announcing Scribblenauts Unlimited, “the definitive Scribblenauts experience”
Developed by 5th Cell, the game promises players will “explore like never before” and create any object they can think of. The game will feature high definition graphics and also includes a new multiplayer mode and “the secret behind Maxwell’s magical notebook.”
Scribblenauts Unlimited will also be available for the 3DS.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, Scribblenauts Unlimited
Lord of the Rings is next franchise to get Lego treatment
After Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Harry Potter and Lego Batman, the Lego Group, along with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and TT Games, have announced the rather clumsily worded Lego The Lord of the Rings.
Surely they should have taken the definitive article out of the title? Regardless, the new game will encompass all three films from the trilogy, and will be released for all current consoles, including the 3DS, PS Vita, DS, PC, Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. In a break from the traditional “Lego Something” format, the game will also feature voiced dialogue.
Tom Stone, Managing Director at TT Games, expressed the company’s enthusiasm for the game: “We are huge aficionados of The Lord of the Rings franchise and are incredibly excited to put our special Lego family-friendly touch on this classic fantasy adventure. We’ve taken what fans are familiar with and love about The Lord of the Rings films and combined it with the playful Lego style, which makes the story and gameplay accessible to gamers of all ages.”
Perhaps it is just me, but it is hard to get excited about yet another Lego transformation of a licensed film series. What’s next? Lego Fast and the Furious? Or maybe a move into TV with Lego Game of Thrones and Lego Sex and the City? The toy brick company has a number of original franchises, such as the Lego Hero Factory or Bionicle, the latter made into a mediocre game by Argonaut and EA and therefore in need of a decent reboot. I find I am much more excited by the upcoming Lego City Stories for Wii U.
Nevertheless, cutesy brick versions of Gandalf, Frodo and Legolas will be winging their way to you in the Fall.
Wii U gets its own social network, Miiverse
I know that everybody loved Friend Codes, but Nintendo plans to do away with the matchmaking service when the Wii U launches later this year. Instead, the console will come pre-bundled with the Nintendo Network, which will be home to a Wii U-centric social network known as Miiverse (or “Mii Universe,” if you prefer).
When players enter the Miiverse, they’ll be transported to a bustling city of Miis that are congregating around the most popular apps and games the Wii U has to offer (even games you don’t own). In addition to learning that Super Mario Bros. Wii U is very popular, the Miiverse will also blast the player with status updates from “friends, people playing the same games as you, and people who speak the same language as you.”
For a more personal connection, the Miiverse also offers video chat (courtesy of the Wii U GamePad’s front-facing camera), messaging (including handwritten messages scrawled on the GamePad’s touchscreen), and game-specific message boards.
These in-game messages will also bleed over into the games themselves, as all Wii U games will have the ability to connect to the Miiverse. During the Pre-E3 Nintendo Direct presentation, company President Satoru Iwata showed how gamers can converse and commiserate within Super Mario Bros. Wii U.
The Miiverse will also be accesible from other devices including the 3DS, the PC, and mobile devices. However, this feature of the social network won’t be available when the Wii U launches this Fall.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, New Super Mario Bros. U
New Releases: Inversion, Madagascar 3, Pikmin 2, More
With E3 less than 48 hours away, it’s understandable if this week’s new releases haven’t registered with you yet. And game publishers are doing their best to keep most new releases away from store shelves while the industry indulges in a little spectacle over “what’s next.” But a few big titles will soon land on store shelves:
For example, there’s Namco Bandai’s gravity-defying shooter Inversion for the PS3 and Xbox 360. A PC version will materialize later this year.
There’s also a new version of Pikmin 2 for the Wii complete with Wii Remote/Nunchuk controls.
Finally, a tie-in game based on Madagascar 3 will stampede onto five platforms (3DS, DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) and Katy Perry continues her transformation into a video game character with The Sims 3: Katy Perry Sweet Treats on the PC.
Nintendo Download: Rayman, 99 Seconds, more
Here are four new games that have been added to the various Nintendo download services today:
Rayman (3DS eShop) – This classic, award-winning platformer is the first game in the Rayman series – now available on 3DS. Explore six unique worlds and play through more than 70 levels of platforming madness.
Kakuro by Nikoli (3DS eShop) – With the Nikoli puzzle series, you can enjoy high-quality “Kakuro” puzzles, created by Nikoli, who gave the world-famous puzzle its name.
99 Seconds (DSiWare) – 99 Seconds is a fun, retro-style video game in which you can modify time to avoid all kinds of danger. Dodge enemies and use SlowDown to slow, stop and even go back in time.
Metal Slug 3 (Wii Virtual Console) – Marco and Tarma are back to blast their way through another action-packed adventure, picking up various weapons along the way. The Slugs are also back and more colorful than ever, with Slugmariners, Drill Slugs and Elephant Slugs joining the original Metal Slugs and Slugnoids.
Square Enix’s E3 2012 lineup features Tomb Raider, Hitman, Sleeping Dogs, a lot more
Square Enix is using this year’s E3 Expo to show off all the shiny new toys it acquired from Eidos and Activision over the last few years.
Those toys include the rebooted Tomb Raider; Hitman: Absolution, Agent 47’s next mission; and Sleeping Dogs, the Activision open-world game that was previously known as True Crime: Hong Kong.
Also on hand will be a slew of handheld titles (correction… 3DS titles) including Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Heroes of Ruin, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. A new Final Fantasy game for iOS and Android, Final Fantasy Dimensions, will also make its debut at this year’s big show.
Finally, the publisher plans to showcase Quantum Conundrum, one of my favorite games from PAX East.
Hit the jump for Square Enix’s complete E3 lineup. (more…)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate outed by Nintendo Power
After last month’s tease, Nintendo Power has finally revealed their exclusive first look at the new entry into the Castlevania franchise. With an overly long subtitle, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate is a sequel to the 2010 reboot of the franchise that launched on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Best of all, Mirror of Fate is being developed by the same studio, Spanish-based Mercury Steam.
Little else is known thus far, although it has been revealed that the main protagonist is not Gabriel Belmont from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, but rather a veritable Belmont Bunch. Mirror of Fate will feature four protagonists including Simon Belmont, the original vampire killer, and Trevor Belmont, who first appeared in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse on the NES. The remaining two characters have yet to be revealed.
As the original Belmont, we all know Simon’s story. Wielding the “Vampire Killer” whip, he stormed Castlevania and whupped Dracula. But he was not alone. In the NES timeline, Trevor was the first Belmont to defeat Dracula. However, as this new entry is set in the reimagined universe, it remains to be seen how Simon or Trevor will fit into the new history.
In addition to the return of the Belmonts, Mirror of Fate will be a return to the “Metroidvania” style of play the franchise made famous. The game will focus more on exploration than combat with a 2.5D view throughout most of the game. But there will be plenty of fighting as Trevor will wield the Combat Cross and various magical spells while Simon cracks his whip and brings back other NES items like throwing axes and holy water.
Given the end scenes of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, it would be a safe bet that they’ll be meeting Gabriel soon enough. More information will undoubtedly be revealed at Konami’s pre-E3 event tomorrow.
[Source: Nintendo Power via Go Nintendo, About]
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate, E3 2012