Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Jordan Minor’s “Boss Fight Books: Super Mario Galaxy” is Now Available for Pre-Order
- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Most Recent: PS3
Vesperia Community Manager retracts statement that Microsoft “paid for exclusivity”
Despite having a PS3 version in Japan, many fans have wondered why Tales of Vesperia is still Xbox 360-only in Europe and North America. Namco Bandai Community Manager Charlotte Toci explained on her Facebook page back in April, “Microsoft paid for the exclusivity, the same way as Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3. It’s just one way the business works, sadly.” It would appear someone got upset about this, as Toci has issued the following apology:
A few months ago I replied to a fan who asked me why Tales of Vesperia wasn’t localized in Europe on my Facebook page. I replied that it was because of a Microsoft exclusivity, thinking that that was the reason why, even though I didn’t have any official information on that.
I was wrong to do so, and sadly my reply was relayed on many websites, thus sharing a false information to fans around the web.
I would like to send my sincere apologies to all the Tales Series fans I have wrongly informed, and Microsoft & Namco Bandai for any damage that might have been caused with this.
I know hindsight is 20/20, but it seems to me Namco Bandai could have saved a lot of trouble if they just released their games on the platforms they actually belong on in the first place.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Tales of Vesperia
NPD report shows Xbox 360 leading online gaming
A new NPD report looks at the many different trends in gaming, from motion control to 3D. One of the most interesting areas, however, is online-enabled games. In this category, the Xbox 360 is seen selling more than double the amount of online-enabled games as the PlayStation 3, and considerably more than that of the Wii, from 2006 to 2010. Microsoft’s newest console also garners most of the sales for online digital points cards, selling almost four times as many as the PS3 did in 2010.
For a full breakdown of the stats and more information on how motion control and 3D have done, head over to Gamasutra.
Kenshi brings his telekinesis to Mortal Kombat
We knew Kenshi would be joining the Kombatants in the latest, and potentially greatest, iteration of Mortal Kombat, we just didn’t know how beast he would be. Despite not being in the original trilogy, Kenshi can still hang with the rest of them, as he does some pretty unpleasant things to Johnny Cage in the video above.
You can pick him up July 5 on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store for $4.99.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mortal Kombat
Team Bondi’s horror story in making L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire turned out to be a pretty great game. But in the seven years it took to bring it to market, not all of the team members had such a great time working on it. In addition to a website detailing the real credits of L.A. Noire, a feature has popped up from IGN revealing some of the horror stories many former developers shared about working on the project.
The piece is a strong indictment of Studio Founder, Writer, and Director Brendan McNamara, as sources claimed working 100+ hour work weeks with “the angriest person” they’ve ever met. IGN also gave McNamara a good amount of space to respond, with him explaining, “you’re competing against the best people in the world at what they do, and you just have to be prepared to do what you have to do to compete against those people.”
While you can’t argue with the results of McNamara’s style, one would certainly hope these harsh revelations would cease before the game industry becomes a less attractive job market.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged L.A. Noire
Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta details revealed, available 6/28 2PM Pacific
We’ve been dying to get more information on the upcoming multiplayer beta for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and now they’re in. Taking up about 1.7 GB of hard drive space, the beta will last about three weeks, with stereoscopic 3D support and splitscreen co-op. PlayStation Plus subscribers and InFamous 2 owners will be able to download it tomorrow at around 2 PM Pacific time (5 o’clock for us east coasters) with more details on when others may be able to download it incoming.
Head over to Naughty Dog’s site for more details.
Posted in News, PS3
Tagged Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies go “In the Jungle” in Annihilation DLC
“Call of the Dead” from the Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation DLC was a hard act to follow for Treyarch. Instead of trying to up the star-studded cast of its previous effort, they decided to just bring you more interesting Zombies settings with new gameplay mechanics. Ride on a rail or down an aqueduct while you cut down the endless horde of the undead with all new weapons. Annihilation will cost you $15 and arrives on Xbox Live tomorrow with a future date for PC and PS3.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops
New Releases: Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3, RE Mercenaries 3D, Street Fighter IV Arcade, More
The month of June comes to an end with a bunch of new sequels and a new fitness game that will turn your mom into an ultimate fighter. Take that Wii Fit! But I’m sure you want specifics, so here we go:
- Capcom is bringing an expanded version of popular Mercenaries minigame to the 3DS in Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D.
- The publisher is also expanding the latest Street Fighter game again with Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (PS3, Xbox 360).
- Namco Bandai and Tecmo Koei merged two of their favorite franchises a third time in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 (PS3, Xbox 360).
- Nintendo brings the popular Mystery Case Files series to the console world for the first time in Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident (Wii).
- And finally, THQ wants to turn your exercise regiment into an extreme sport with UFC Personal Trainer (PS3, Xbox 360).
Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Street Fighter IV
Dirt 3 Review: Can You Class Up Dirty?
Codemasters has spent this entire hardware cycle delivering consistently excellent racing games – with their biggest success being the Dirt franchise. An “evolution” of the old Colin McRae Rally games, the original Dirt offered not just traditional rally racing, but numerous other disciplines of off-road racing. 2009’s Dirt 2 continued this movement away from what made the CMR games so popular… and added an unfortunate “extreme” element that was insanely out of place. The result is a series that’s commended for solid racing action, but frequently criticized for its abandonment of “serious” off-road racing. The result of these complaints is Dirt 3, which can best be explained as a “happy medium” between the seriousness of Dirt and the insanity of Dirt 2. In short, if Dirt 2’s craziness was a serious turn-off, Dirt 3 is a heartfelt apology. (more…)