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
Detective Pikachu will be released for the 3DS on February 3… but only in Japan
Nintendo has revealed that Detective Pikachu, an adventure game where the world’s most famous Pokemon wears a deerstalker hat and gives eloquent speeches with commanding authority, will be released for the 3DS on February 3… in Japan. A North American release date for Detective Pikachu has yet to be announced, but only a handful of Pokemon have ever failed to make the trip across the Pacific, so I assume it’s only a matter of time.
Though first announced in 2013, a good portion of Detective Pikachu’s background is still a mystery (heh). We know it’s an adventure game of some kind and that a teenage boy serves as Detective Pikachu’s Watson… and that’s about it. The important question of just how Detective Pikachu can talk goes unanswered.
Hopefully, we’ll learn the solution to that question soon.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Detective Pikachu
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt nabs eight nominations at 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards
South by Southwest Gaming recently announced the nominees for this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, not surprisingly, has captured the most accolades. CD Projekt’s sprawling RPG is up for eight awards, including “Game of the Year.” It was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Art,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Visual Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” “Excellence in Musical Score,” and “Most Enduring Character.”
Competing against Geralt of Rivia for “Game of the Year” is a familiar-looking quartet of games including Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Undertale. Bloodborne was actually a close second to The Witcher 3 with seven nominations.
Who wins at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards will be determined in part by a public vote that will hosted by IGN from Monday, February 1 through Friday, February 12. The winners will be announced on Saturday, March 19 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) and you can watch it live on Twitch.
The complete list of this year’s nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Her Story, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Splatoon, Star Wars: Battlefront, Superhot, Tabletop Games, The Order: 1886, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Mighty No. 9 delayed for a third time… will now be released in Spring 2016
There is no joy in Mudville… Mighty Keiji has delayed again.
Keiji Inafune and his team at have Comcept have informed Kickstarter backers that Mighty No. 9 has been delayed again. The platformer won’t be able to meet its planned release date of February 9 and will instead now launch sometime in the Spring. Once again citing bugs in the network code as the reason for the delay, all the developer could do was apologize:
The reason for the delay is rooted in bugs inside the network modes, and specifically problems with matchmaking. There are two large reasons for this problem, one of them being the large number of platforms supported (the solution for each platform is slightly different) and the other stems from the fact that the engine we are using is no longer being updated which means adjustments for matchmaking and online code are being made manually (actually reprogramming parts of the engine by the dev team themselves).
Unfortunately, this is all a result of miscalculations on the part of us, the development staff. As a result, our fans who have been looking forward to Mighty No. 9 have been forced to wait for over half a year longer than expected, and for that we are sincerely sorry. I want to take this chance to apologize personally, and on the behalf of the development staff.
Inafune added that the development team “has been working on these issues non-stop without break” and that “the end is in sight.” If that’s true, Mighty No. 9 will finally be released for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Spring.
New Releases: Final Fantasy Explorers, Lego Avengers, Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC
This might get said every January, but January 2016 was an abnormally slow period for new game releases. The first month of the year closes out with the launch of a trio new games and a promise of much more to come in the remaining eleven frames:
- Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS) is a multiplayer action RPG from Square Enix that resurrects “legendary” Final Fantasy characters to battle with a horde of monsters guarding a cache of crystals. Yup, sounds like a Final Fantasy game.
- Lego Avengers (3DS, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One) is the latest Lego-ization of some pop culture favorite by the geniuses at TT Games. This time, they’ve set their sights on the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe and created a brick-filled adaptation of The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3, and Thor: The Dark World.
- Finally, Square Enix comes back around again to bring Lara Croft’s latest adventure, Rise of the Tomb Raider, to the PC.
As always, we’ll be back later this week to shine the spotlight on the latest digital releases available through the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy Explorers, Lego Avengers, Rise of the Tomb Raider
Every new character from Hyrule Warriors Legends can be added to the Wii U original
GameXplain has good news for everyone who is thinking about buying Hyrule Warriors Legends for the 3DS… you’ll also receive a code to import all five new characters into the Wii U original. It’s unknown if Nintendo will offer the characters as DLC for Wii U owners who don’t want to purchase Hyrule Warriors Legends, but my gut tells me they will.
The GameXplain folks also created the video embedded above, which includes almost an hour of action starring Linkle, Skull Kid, Toon Link, Tetra, and the King of Hyrule in the Japanese version of Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U.
Hyrule Warriors Legends is currently available for the 3DS in Japan, with a North American/European launch planned for March 25.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Hyrule Warriors
Sega will release Sega 3D Classics Collection for 3DS on April 26
Sega announced yesterday that they’re bringing more 3D Classics to the 3DS in a special compilation of games previously released for the Master System, Genesis, and arcade. The Sega 3D Classics Collection will try to give players exactly what it says on the tin by including four games not currently available through the 3DS eShop (and two that have never been released outside of Japan), along with five other titles:
- Altered Beast – A beat ’em up set in ancient Greece.
- Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa – A classic psychedelic scrolling shooter. (NOT AVAILABLE ON 3DS eSHOP)
- Fantasy Zone II W – Fantasy Zone II W is basically an updated version of the game above.
- Galaxy Force II – Save the galaxy in this space-themed 3D shoot ’em up.
- Maze Walker – A 3D mystery adventure. (NOT AVAILABLE ON 3DS eSHOP)
- Power Drift – A high octane sprite-based circuit racer. (FIRST TIME AVAILABLE IN US)
- Puyo Puyo 2 – A head-to-head competitive puzzle game. (FIRST TIME AVAILABLE IN US)
- Sonic The Hedgehog – Control the iconic character in the classic fast-paced platformer.
- Thunder Blade – Helicopters, guns, missiles and explosions. What more do you need?
The Sega 3D Classics Collection will be released exclusively for the 3DS on April 26.
Nintendo Download: Minecraft: Story Mode, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, SMB3 GBA, more
It’s going to be a busy busy time for Nintendo fans this weekend as the latest Nintendo Download includes a pair of hotly-anticipated new titles and a different pair of reborn classics.
Let’s start with the new, as Telltale brings their episodic magic to a Nintendo console for the first time in a long time with the release of Minecraft: Story Mode. The first episode, The Order of the Stone, is now available to download through the Wii U eShop and Wii U owners will finally get their chance to craft a new adventure with Jesse and his friends while also possibly saving the world. Also available this week is Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, the latest Mario RPG from Nintendo. Paper Jam will merge “two classic gaming universes” when its added to the 3DS eShop tomorrow.
However, if you’re looking for a game that has received a seal of approval from the gaming public, you can always turn to this week’s Virtual Console re-releases. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 and Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaros’ Treasure are both available to download for the Wii U today, bringing an enhanced version of Mario’s greatest adventure (along with the hard-to-find e-Reader-exclusive levels) and a pirate tale from Capcom to the Wii U for the first time.
More information about all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Minecraft: Story Mode, Super Mario Bros. 3
Dragon Quest VII will get a new script and is “basically a brand new game” on 3DS
Nintendo recently held an RPG Showcase event in San Francisco and GameXplain was there to sweep up all the dirt on the consolemaker’s next batch of RPGs. That includes Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, which will be released for the 3DS this Summer.
Originally released in 2001 for the original PlayStation (as Dragon Warrior VII, by the way), Fragments of the Forgotten Past will feature a more modern visual style, a brand new English translation, and no more random encounters (enemies are visible on the World Map). According to GameXplain (via Twitter), Nintendo bragged that it’s “basically a brand new game.”
A second tweet confirmed the game will also have a Story Summary feature, so that players can keep the sprawling story straight, and a StreetPass feature that’ll unlock additional Tablets.
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King is also scheduled for a 3DS re-release this year and should be out sometime in the Fall.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past