Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Meet the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: Quake, GoldenEye 007, Defender, and Tamagotchi
- The BAFTA Games Awards Polled the Public and Shenmue is “The Most Influential Video Game of All Time”
- 2024 GOTY Scoreboard: Astro Bot, Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, More
- The Strong Museum of Play Acquires Prototypes and Development Documents from Volition’s 30-Year History
- Minecraft’s Volume Alpha Soundtrack Has Been Added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)
- 22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive – The Verge (2025)
- The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich – The AV Club (2025)
- Breakout, Ripoff, Genre: How Fiction Outgrows Originality – Uncanny Magazine (2025)
- ‘I Could Make “Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game” and Maybe It Would Eventually Get Taken Down’ – Devs Reveal Why the Consoles Are Drowning in ‘Eslop’ – IGN (2025)
Most Recent: 3DS
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia and three other games added to Nintendo eShop
It’s a slow week for the Nintendo eShop as just four games were added to the digital storefront today…
The biggest name in the bunch is Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, which was originally released for the DS in 2008, and is now available to download for the Wii U through its Virtual Console service. Also new to the Wii U eShop this week are Dragon Skills, a retro-style game inspired by Arkanoid and Snake, and Overworld Defender Remix, an arcade shooter with music by the Italian chiptune artist Buskerdroid.
Over on the 3DS eShop, players will be able to get into the Olympic spirit with Stickman Super Athletics, a mini-game compilation starring a group of Stickmen. A free demo for Nintendo’s Style Savvy: Fashion Forward is also available to download now.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Kirby Mass Attack, Kirby’s Dream Course, more
Kirby is sucking up the entire Nintendo eShop this week with the launch of three classic Kirby games and a free demo for Kirby: Planet Robobot.
Let’s start on the Wii U, where Kirby’s Epic Yarn is now available to download. Kirby’s Epic Yarn was originally released for the Wii in 2010 and was Nintendo’s first attempt at creating a game entirely out of yarn and cloth. Wii U owners will also have the chance to download Kirby: Mass Attack this week, which was originally released for the DS in 2010. In Mass Attack, players will gather together a mob of Kirbys to solve the game’s many puzzles.
Over on the 3DS, Kirby fans will travel even further back in time if they download Kirby’s Dream Course this week. Originally released for the Super NES all the way back in 1995, Kirby’s Dream Course is the closest thing we’ll probably ever get to a Kirby golf game.
More information on all of these games (and a few other non-Kirby new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Kirby: Mass Attack, Kirby's Epic Yarn
Overwatch climbs to the top of the NPD’s list of best-selling games for June 2016
June is typically a slow period for new game releases, but The NPD Group’s look at last month’s best-selling games proves just how slow it was. According to tracking firm, consumer spending on games was down 20% from last year, when Batman: Arkham Knight launched to strong reviews and even stronger sales.
To make matters worse, the only new release to crack the top ten were Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (#3) and Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst (#5). But that means the path to the top of the list was clear for Overwatch, which rode a wave of support from fans to become June 2016’s best-selling game. Grand Theft Auto V (#2) and Doom (#4) rounded out the top five.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom in June, as NPD Analyst Liam Callahan told GamesIndustry.biz: “After 32 months since the launches of the PS4 and Xbox One, the combined cumulative hardware sales for these two consoles exceed the sales of [the PS3 and Xbox 360] by 40% at the same point in their lifecycles.”
However, the biggest news this month might be the new way that the NPD reports their monthly sales data. Provided a publisher supplies the numbers, the company has agreed to begin integrating digital sales into their monthly tally. Most publishers have already signed on, though Bethesda, Sony, and Mojang remain holdouts, and Blizzard has decided not to share sales data from Battle.net.
A complete look at last months top ten best-selling titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Destiny, Doom (2016), Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Minecraft, Mirror's Edge: Catalyst, NBA 2K16, NPD, Overwatch, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Nintendo Download: Pokemon Ranger, Buddy and Me, Wind-Up Knight 2, more
It’s time to recatch another classic Pokemon game as Nintendo has added Pokemon Ranger to the Wii U eShop this week. Originally released for the DS in 2006, Pokemon Ranger is an action RPG where players work as a… Pokemon Ranger… and attempt to preserve nature and protect Pokemon in the wild.
Also available to download on the Wii U eShop this week is Buddy and Me: Dream Edition, a side-scrolling platformer where players become a young boy and race through the forest with their “magical flying companion” named Buddy.
Over on the 3DS, a different kind of side-scroller asks players to take control of the Wind-Up Knight in Wind-Up Knight 2. Players who download Wind-Up Knight 2 will unload the springy Sir Sprint and help guide him as he “rockets through the kingdom dodging traps, pits and mythical creatures.”
More details about all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Live-action Pokemon movie starring “Detective Pikachu” officially announced
Remember all those rumors about a “bidding war” between movie studios over a live-action Pokemon movie? Turns out, it really happened, and Legendary Entertainment has emerged as the winner.
We’ll probably never know if Pokemon Go‘s phenomenal success had any influence on their desire to create a Pokemon movie, but Legendary has announced plans to produce a live-action movie based on Great Detective Pikachu, a game where a (very talkative) Pikachu in a deerstalker cap helps a young boy solve crimes. Even stranger, Great Detective Pikachu is currently only available in Japan, and many Pokemon fans don’t even know it exists. However, after this announcement (which was first reported by Deadline), I have a feeling that’ll change very soon.
With Comic-Con just hours away, you’d think Legendary would have to more to say about their ambitions for the first live-action Pokemon film. Unfortunately, besides confirming that Universal will distribute the movie outside of Japan and that production might begin next year, we don’t know anything else about it.
If nothing else, I guess it’s time to revive that “Danny DeVito as Pikachu” petition.
Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, News
Tagged Detective Pikachu
Nintendo Download: Tumblestone, Monster Hunter Generations, four Virtual Console games, more
It’s another big week for the Nintendo eShop, especially if you’re a fan of nearly-forgotten platformers from the 90s.
However, this week’s spotlight title is most definitely Monster Hunter Generations, the latest game in the long-running series from Capcom. Set to be released for the 3DS tomorrow, Monster Hunter Generations is being touted as the “most customizable” game in the Monster Hunter franchise, offering players the chance to use “four unique Hunting Styles and special Hunter Arts abilities.”
Jumping over to Nintendo’s home console, Wii U owners will be able to download Tumblestone, a modern match-3 puzzler that also serves as an homage to the multiplayer puzzlers that were all the rage back in the 90s. And speaking of the 90s, a trio of new Virtual Console releases (Bonk’s Adventure, New Adventure Island, and R-Type) will let Wii U owners relive some of the less-remembered (but no less classic) corners of that decade.
Finally this week, we jump back to the 3DS for another Virtual Console classic from the 90s, Final Fight. Capcom’s brawler helped define the genre, and many still look to it as a highlight of the punching and kicking oeuvre.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Monster Hunter Generations, Tumblestone
Nintendo is bringing 15 games to Comic-Con 2016… but not Zelda: Breath of the Wild
I’ve got bad news for anyone hoping to try out The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con… Nintendo won’t have the highly-anticipated game available at their Play Nintendo Family Lounge at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina next door.
However, the consolemaker will have 15 other demos on hand, including five 3DS titles (Monster Hunter Generations, Metroid Prime: Federation Force, Style Savvy: Fashion Forward, Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, and Yo-Kai Watch 2) that won’t be released until later this year:
3DS
- Monster Hunter Generations (Available July 15)
- Metroid Prime: Federation Force (Available August 19)
- Style Savvy: Fashion Forward (Available August 19)
- Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (Available September 27)
- Yo-Kai Watch 2 (Available September 30)
- Yo-Kai Watch
- Yoshi’s New Island
- Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
- Kirby: Planet Robobot
- Mario Kart 7
- Pokemon Omega Ruby / Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
- New Super Mario Bros. 2
Wii U
- Splatoon
- Mario Kart 8
- Pokken Tournament
The Play Nintendo Family Lounge will also be home to tournaments, Pokemon meetups, a Yo-Kai Watch voice actor panel, and much more. The full list of events can be found after the break, and don’t forget that the Play Nintendo Family Lounge is free and open to the public from July 21 through July 24. (more…)
New Retail Releases: Ghostbusters, Song of the Deep, Monster Hunter Generations, More
I ain’t afraid of no monsters! And it’s a good thing too, because Capcom will launch the latest game in the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Generations, for the 3DS this week. Players will be able to go on hundreds of quests as they hunt a new crop of monstrous bosses by themselves or in a group with up to three friends in co-op multiplayer mode.
Monsters of the ocean haunt Insomniac’s side-scrolling Song of the Deep, a new “MetroidVania” available this week for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. As the first game published by GameStop’s GameTrust label, Song of the Deep will introduce players to Merryn, a young girl who goes under the sea to rescue her missing father.
Ghosts and zombies are monsters too, and I’m not afraid of them either… Activision will release Ghostbusters, a tie-in to the upcoming movie starring Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, for the PS4 and Xbox One. And Capcom will re-release Resident Evil 5 for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Finally this week, Sega will launch 7th Dragon III: Code VFD, the first game in the RPG franchise to be released outside of Japan, for the 3DS.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Ghostbusters (2016), Monster Hunter Generations, Resident Evil 5, Song of the Deep