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
New Retail Releases: Star Fox Zero, Lichdom Battlemage, Zombie Vikings, More
Team Star Fox flies again with this week’s release of Star Fox Zero on the Wii U. In addition to piloting an Arwing, a Landmaster Tank, and two new vehicles (the Walker and the helicopter-like Gyrowing), players will also receive a copy of Star Fox Guard, a tower defense take on the series using the Wii U GamePad.
Also available on store shelves this week is Lichdom: Battlemage, a magical first-person game for the PS4 and Xbox One. Instead of firing shotguns and flinging grenades, players will employ elemental magic to take down their enemies and save the kingdom.
Speaking of saving the kingdom, Aksys will release Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei, a strategy RPG, for the 3DS. Players will use their tactical knowledge to explore three different branching story paths, leading to glorious victory or traitorous treason.
Finally this week, Rising Star Games will release Zombie Vikings, a multiplayer brawler, for the PS4.
We’ll be back throughout the week with a look at the newest additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Wii U eShop.
Posted in 3DS, News, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Lichdom: Battlemage, Star Fox Zero
Rumor: The Pokemon Company is holding a “secret auction” for the rights to a live-action movie
Hold on to your Pokeballs, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, The Pokemon Company is currently holding a “top-secret auction” for the rights to create a live-action film based on the beloved game series.
As of now, the bidders are said to include Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, and Legendary Entertainment, with a source saying that Legendary, which will release Warcraft this Summer, is the current frontrunner. However, Warner Bros. is also heavily involved in the competition as they released the animated Pokemon: The First Movie way back in 1999.
All three companies declined The Hollywood Reporter’s request for comment, but I’m sure we can all guess what Pikachu would have to say about this news.
Shovel Knight has sold over one million copies; Specter Knight and King Knight expansions will be finished by the end of the year
Yacht Club Games is in a rather celebratory mood this morning as they’ve announced that Shovel Knight has now sold more than one million copies. According to a blog post on their official site, the current number is actually over 1.2 million copies, with 200,000 sales coming from the game’s recently released retail edition.
For statistics nerds, this blog post is a treasure trove of information including a sales breakdown for each platform, region, and retailer, as well as sections for Steam User Stats, the Plague of Shadows expansion, and the Amiibo figure.
And speaking of expansions, Yacht Club has pledged that development work on the Specter Knight and King Knight expansions will be completed by the end of the year. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll launch by the end of the year, but they’re much closer to release than they were yesterday.
The developers at Yacht Club condensed a lot of this information into a great infographic, which you can find right here.
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
Nintendo Download: Bravely Second, Another Round of SNES Classics on 3DS, more
It’s a big day for the Nintendo eShop as more than a dozen new titles are now available to download through the digital storefront on the 3DS and Wii U.
Leading the way is tomorrow’s release of Bravely Second: End Layer, an RPG sequel from Square Enix that continues the story they began to tell in Bravely Default. Designed as a throwback to the turn-based RPGs of old, Bravely Second asks 3DS owners to rescue Agnes Oblige and save the kingdom of Luxendarc.
Speaking of throwbacks, Nintendo is flooding their Virtual Console service with new releases this week. The 3DS eShop is now home to a trio of certifiable Super NES classics… The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. Meanwhile, Wii U owners can now download Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!, a DS game that took the world by storm back in 2006.
Finally this week, Bandai Namco’s Lost Reavers, a free-to-play co-op game for up to four players, is now available in a “Beta Test Version.” Wii U owners can put it to the test now ahead of its full release on April 28.
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 Bravely Second: End Layer
New Releases: Dark Souls III, Bravely Second, Ratchet & Clank
Just three new games will be available on store shelves this week… but they’re three of this Spring’s biggest.
Leading the way, of course, is Bandai Namco’s Dark Souls III. Available this week for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One, developer From Software and Director Hidetaka Miyazaki are back to tell another story in their crumbling, yet strasngely beautiful, world. Players who purchase the “Day One Edition” will get a head start on the uber-difficult game thanks to the included Prima Starter Guide and soundtrack CD.
Gamers on the go will get the chance to try out a very different RPG this week, as Square Enix will team up with Nintendo to release Bravely Second: End Layer for the 3DS. This turn-based sequel will explore more of Luxendarc as players attempt to rescue Agnes Oblige from the evil Kaiser Oblivion.
Finally this week, Sony and Insomniac Games will bring back Ratchet & Clank in a reimagining of the duo’s original adventure. These reimagined elements (including new characters, new bosses, and new weapons) will also be on display later this month when an animated adaptation of Ratchet & Clank warps its way into theaters.
We’ll be back soon with a closer look at all of this week’s downloadable titles for the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Bravely Second: End Layer, Dark Souls III, Ratchet & Clank
Insert Quarter: What Does the Return of Nintendo’s Red Logo Mean?
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
During the Wii’s heyday, Nintendo dropped the iconic red coloring from their logo and switched to a sleek silver shade. Combined with the smooth white of the Wii chassis, the rebranding gave Nintendo an air of cool that is typically reserved for the design-obsessed Apple. But after a while, many fans began to feel that draining the color out of the logo drained some of the fun out of Nintendo.
Nintendo Enthusiast’s A.K. Rahming is one of those fans and he argues that Nintendo’s red resurrection might be a signal that the company is getting ready to bring back that fun-loving spirit with the upcoming launch of the NX:
Nintendo is known for dropping major surprises, but the company’s latest surprise has a lot of folks in the gaming community quite pleased. Nintendo of America has recently done a full re-branding of their logo back to the classic red and white. The whole company transformed to the minimalist gray-white color scheme with the dawn of the Wii and DS era, and this branding went on to continue for the current Wii U and 3DS era (albeit with a little hint of color provided from the logos of both systems).
The full article is available for your perusal at Nintendo Enthusiast.
Nintendo Download: Game & Watch Gallery 4, Super Robo Mouse, Epic Dumpster Bear, more
Fans of weird and wacky games will likely find something of interest in the quintet of new titles that’s now available to download through the Nintendo eShop…
First up is Game & Watch Gallery 4, a minigame collection that attempts to recreate several of Nintendo’s Game & Watch handheld devices. Originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2002, Game & Watch Gallery 4 is now available to download for the Wii U. It includes both the original minigames, as well as “Modern” versions starring Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and others.
Also available for the Wii U this week is Super Robo Mouse, an overhead game where you navigate a robotic mouse through a maze; Epic Dumpster Bear, a platformer where you control a “dumpster bear” who is very angry about humans messing with his forest; and Mojikara: A Clever Emoji Match Game, a puzzler about matching emojis.
Owners of the 3DS handheld will be able to download a single new game this week, Doll Fashion Atelier. It’s a dollmaker game where players can choose from five different doll types (Pretty, Gothic, Victorian, Princess, or Antique) and customize them to their heart’s content.
More information about all of these slightly-left-of-center games can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Lovely Planet, Mario Super Sluggers, Pokken Tournament demo, more
After launching Miitomo, the Nintendo Account service, and the My Nintendo rewards program, this week’s Nintendo Download is a bit on the slim side. But 3DS and Wii U owners will be able to browse a completely revamped Nintendo eShop through Nintendo.com starting this week, so I guess that’s something.
Leading things off this week is Lovely Planet, a speedrunning first person shooter for the Wii U that takes place in a colorful world that bears a slight resemblence to the Katamari Damacy franchise. Developed by QuickTequila, Lovely Planet may look cute and cuddly, but it’s said to include a “brutal” interior that players may be surprised to discover.
Also available this week, just in time for Opening Day, is Mario Super Sluggers. Originally released for the Wii back in 2008, Wii U owners will be able to download it now and play the grand old game with Mario and all his friends.
Finally this week, Wii U owners who haven’t tried Pokken Tournament yet can grab a downloadable demo of the game from the Wii U eShop.
A few other games were added to the Nintendo eShop this week and a complete look at all of them can be found after the break. (more…)