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
It’s not TV, it’s homoerotic Nintendo characters on HBO’s Last Week Tonight
“Virtual, eventual, equality. That’s the dream!”
As you may know, two weeks ago Nintendo upset everyone with their omission of a same-sex relationship option in the upcoming North American/European release of Tomodachi Life, a Sims-ian life simulator. Not a simian life simulator — this isn’t Planet of the Apes. But there’s a game idea, Nintendo. Trademark!
Anyway, last week on Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, America’s favorite chimney sweep, the delightful Brit Mr. Oliver, discussed this story on his program. With Nintendo’s promise of future inclusion despite their massive oversight that gay people exist, watch as beloved Nintendo characters like Mario, Link, and Zelda celebrate the announcement in this clip.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver airs on Sunday nights at 11:00 PM on HBO (but not tonight, he’s on vacation #FortnightOfIgnorance).
Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, News
Tagged Tomodachi Life
Nintendo Download: Street Fighter Alpha 2, Mega Man V, Swords & Soliders, more
Welcome to your weekly Nintendo Download report. This week, Nintendo has added four games to the Wii U eShop, three to the 3DS eShop, and one to the DSiWare Shop. Here we go…
The Wii U eShop is now home to Swords & Soldiers, a side-scrolling RTS; Squids Odyssey, a squiddy RPG; and Fit Music, a dancing/exercise game; and Street Fighter Alpha 2, a classic 2D fighter originally released for the Super NES.
Over on the 3DS eShop, Nintendo has added Mega Man V, the last Mega Man game released for the Game Boy; Turtle Tale, a turtley 2D platformer; and Alien On the Run, an overhead-style puzzle platformer.
Finally, Nintendo has added Lost Treasures of Alexandria to the DSiWare Shop. The game is, as you’d expect, a match-3 puzzler.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
TitanFall stomps the competition yet again as the best-selling game of April 2014
After selling 925,000 copies in March, TitanFall continued to roll over the competition at retail as the NPD Group crowned it the best-selling game of April 2014 as well.
The remainder of the top ten was made up almost entirely of games released last Fall including Call of Duty: Ghosts (#2), NBA 2K14 (#3), and Lego The Hobbit (#5). Amazingly, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition continues to hang out in the top five, landing at #4 for the month of April. That ranking may improve next month now that the retail version of Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition is available. And speaking of things that are amazing, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the only other April release to crack the top ten (it was #8).
Finally, according to Joystiq, Sony’s PlayStation 4 can lay claim to the next-generation consoles sales title for another month. That makes four in a row for the PS4.
The complete top ten list for April 2014 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Lego The Hobbit, Minecraft, NBA 2K14, NPD, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Lego Movie, TitanFall
Nintendo Download: Wii Party U, Scram Kitty, Moon Chronicles, more
This week’s Nintendo Download wants you to Scram! No! Wait! Come back! I’m just talking about Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails, an overhead shooter from Dakko Dakko, that is now available to download through the Wii U eShop.
It’s joined this week by a trio of puzzle games as Wii Party U (a minigame collection that was originally released for the Wii U last year), Color Zen (a shape-based puzzler), and Adventures of Lolo (a great “move the blocks” puzzler from the NES era) are now also available from Nintendo’s digital storefront.
3DS owners will be able to download four new games today. The four games include Renegade Kid’s Moon Chronicles, a first person shooter that is a remake of the cult favorite DS game Moon; Mega Man IV, a Virtual Console re-release of the Game Boy platformer; Arc Style: Baseball 3D, a simplistic baseball game from Arc System Works; and Candy Match 3, a match-3 puzzler (just how many of these does the 3DS have?).
More information on all of these titles (as well as Deep Sea Creatures on the DSiWare Shop) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Moon Chronicles, Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails, Wii Party U
See 20 seconds of Pokemon: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire in this trailer
I’ve spent the last 15 minutes somehow trying to equate Pokemon trainers with mothers and it’s just not working out. It always ends up sounding creepy or weird. So anyway… here’s a short sneak peek of 3D versions of Groudon and Kyogre in Pokemon: Omega Ruby and Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire. Enjoy!
Pokemon: Omega Ruby and Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire will be released for the 3DS in November.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby
Nintendo apologizes for lack of same-sex relationship option in Tomodachi Life
Nintendo got into some trouble with the gaming community this week when it was revealed that Tomodachi Life, their upcoming life simulator, doesn’t include an option for same-sex relationships. After fans tried to organize a protest campaign, Nintendo told the Associated Press that Tomodachi Life wasn’t designed as “social commentary” and that the game “[represents] a playful alternate world rather than a real-life simulation.”
Late last night, Nintendo formally apologized and admitted that the game’s code can’t be changed with a post-release patch to allow same-sex relationships. The company has also pledged that any future Tomodachi Life game will be designed from the ground up to be more inclusive. Nintendo’s full statement can be seen here:
We apologize for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to change this game’s design, and such a significant development change can’t be accomplished with a post-ship patch. At Nintendo, dedication has always meant going beyond the games to promote a sense of community, and to share a spirit of fun and joy. We are committed to advancing our longtime company values of fun and entertainment for everyone. We pledge that if we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players.
Tomodachi Life will be released for the 3DS on June 6.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Tomodachi Life
Here’s Why Nintendo Should Get Into the Movie Business
Nintendo is doomed! Doooooooommmmmmmed!
What? No. This is not going to be that kind of editorial. Per their latest financial report, Nintendo is sitting on a warchest of $10,997,600,854. Even though the company posted a major operating loss in their most recent financial quarter, they could still keep the lights on for 24 years just by dipping into their piggy bank. And while they might be conservative, they’re not as conservative as people like to think. Nintendo’s video game business was just an offshoot of their attempt to manufacture toys in the late 70s, which came after they tried operating a taxi service and running a hotel. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Mega Man II, Mega Man III, Wario Land 4, more
“Mega May” continues with the release of Mega Man II and Mega Man III on the 3DS eShop. Both games were originally released for the Game Boy in 1992 and were partially based on Mega Man II, III, and IV for the NES. In other retro gaming news… Wario Land 4, the first (and only) game in the series to be released for the Game Boy Advance, has been added to the Wii U eShop.
If you’re looking for something original, the 3DS eShop is now home to two brand new RPGs. Grinsia is a retro-inspired dungeon crawler and The Denpa Men 3: The Rise of Digitoll is an RPG with augmented reality elements. Also available this week on the 3DS is Parking Star 3D, a parking lot sim.
Three new games were also added to the DSiWare Shop today. Jewel Match and Jewel Quest IV: Heritage are both puzzle games of the “match-3” variety and Sokomania 2: Cool Job is an overhead maze puzzler that stars a deranged-looking warehouse foreman.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)