Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- 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
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
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: Vita
MotorStorm RC shrinks down for PSN, Vita release in 2012
Evolution Studios’ MotorStorm series has been a big hit with PlayStation 3 and PSP owners since the original MotorStorm was released back in 2006. And each entry in the series has been bigger than the last. But with the next MotorStorm game, the developers plan to go small. The team at Evolution looked to the recent Scrap Metal and, of course, R.C. Pro Am, and found the inspiration for MotorStorm RC, a tiny top-down take on the racing franchise.
The best part? MotorStorm RC will be available as a PlayStation Network and Vita download, and if you buy one, you get both!
According to Sony, MotorStorm RC will recereate “visually stunning renditions of all four MotorStorm worlds (and eight of their vehicle classes).” The game will also include 16 tracks, online play, and four-player local splitscreen.
MotorStorm RC is currently scheduled to be released sometime in the Spring, “on or closely after [the] Vita launch.”
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged MotorStorm RC
Sony’s UMD Passport program allows users to play PSP games on Vita
Sony realizes those tiny, tiny discs you have that you use in your PSP shouldn’t become obsolete when the Vita comes out. The company has announced a “UMD Passport” service in Japan, which basically allows PSP owners to play their PSP games on their Vita… for a nominal fee.
A similar system was considered when the PSP Go was released, but now it appears that players will be able to swap their UMD discs for digital downloads. The system works when a user downloads an app to their PSP called “UMD Registration Application.” Then, they put a UMD into the system, it will connect to the PSN, allowing them to purchase the game for what Sony says is “a reasonable price.” Then, when the Vita launches in Japan on the 17th of December, the PSP games can be transferred over to Sony’s newest handheld.
Currently, there are a whole slew of companies offering their games up for transfer (currently 200 titles from 40 publishers) with transfer prices ranging from 100 yen ($1.29) to 2400 yen ($31.00). Some of the titles confirmed to be available for transfer are Persona 3 Portable (for 1500 yen), Guilty Gear: Judgement (for 500 yen) and Gran Turismo (for 1300 yen).
[Source: Kotaku]
MLB 12: The Show announced for PS3, Vita with Adrian Gonzalez on the cover
2K Sports took their licks with a Major League Baseball 2K12 announcement earlier this week and now Sony gets their turn at the plate with a MLB 12: The Show announcement. The consolemaker’s annual baseball franchise will be coming to the PS3 and Vita on March 6, 2012.
MLB 12: The Show for the PS3 will feature Move functionality as well as a 3D display option. The Vita version will sport “all of the core gameplay features found in the PS3 version providing a big league experience that players can take with them on road, anytime, anywhere.” Boston Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez will appear on the cover of both versions.
“I feel very humbled to be chosen for the cover of MLB 12 The Show,” said Gonzalez. “I think most sports fans would agree it’s a dream come true to be immortalized as the cover athlete for a video game so I jumped at the chance to work with a leading franchise like The Show. It’s truly a great honor.”
Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins was the most recent cover athlete for the series, appearing on the box of both MLB 11: The Show and MLB 10: The Show.
Posted in News, PS3, Vita
Tagged MLB 12: The Show
Konami releasing 3 Silent Hill games in first 3 months of 2012
The Wintertime is already cold and dark and a little scary, but Konami plans to make it downright terrifying next year. Over the first three months of 2012, the publisher plans to release three new games in the Silent Hill series.
Konami plans to ease us into their Silent Hill marathon with the release of the Silent Hill HD Collection on January 24. The PS3/Xbox 360 package collects Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 together and gives them an HD makeover for the first time.
In February, the terror goes portable as Silent Hill: Book of Memories comes to the Vita. Sony’s next handheld is scheduled for a February 22 launch in the US, so consider this one a launch title.
Finally, the Vatra Games-developed Silent Hill: Downpour will be released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in March.
And they say Christmas Halloween comes but once a year.
Posted in News, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360
Tagged Silent Hill HD Collection, Silent Hill: Book of Memories, Silent Hill: Downpour
Get PS Vita a week early with First Edition bundle
You know how everytime a new system launches, some analyst spouts off about how Nintendo or Microsoft or Sony could have set the price so much higher because early adopters will pay it? Well, Sony has decided to test this theory with the PlayStation Vita.
The Vita First Edition bundle will be released on February 15, 2012, a week earlier than the Vita’s official launch date, and is now available for pre-order in the US and Canada. To get their new Sony handheld a week early, gamers will be charged a $50 premium over the standard packages, though the First Edition bundle will include a bunch of goodies not found in the regular Vita box:
Vita 3G + Wi-Fi First Edition Bundle (US Only): Includes a Vita 3G + Wi-Fi system, a limited edition case, 4GB PS Vita Memory Card, and Little Deviants game. Priced at $349.99 (MSRP).
Vita Wi-Fi First Edition Bundle (Canada Only): Includes a Vita Wi-Fi system, a limited edition case, 4GB PS Vita Memory Card, and Little Deviants game. Priced at $299.99 (MSRP).
I’m just surprised Apple didn’t think of it first.
Posted in News, Vita
Tagged Little Deviants
When I think about you, I Touch My Katamari
No, Internet. I’m not trying to get fresh with you. I’m just making a little joke about the title of the latest game in the Katamari series. It’ll be a Vita launch title (YAY!) and it’s called Touch My Katamari. That part is not a joke.
Namco Bandai announced their Vita launch titles, each of which will be ready the same day the Vita launches – February 22, 2012. The three games are Touch My Katamari, Ridge Racer, and Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen.
Here’s what Namco Bandai had to say about Touch My Katamari:
In Touch My Katamari, the ever-growing ball of bits and bobs is controlled by touching the screen or using both analog control sticks to roll it in any direction. A completely new Katamari gameplay feature allows players to use the rear touch panel of the PlayStation Vita system to stretch the ball either horizontally or vertically to pick up more objects at once or squeeze through a narrow gap. With many more details yet to be revealed, the Prince is already limbering up in the wings to bring a dose of irresistible Katamari oddness to the PS Vita.
Carlson Choi, Vice President of Marketing at Namco Bandai Games America, also refers to the new Katamari title as “irreverent.” I am shaking with anticipation right now. Hit the jump for the full descriptions of Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiidge Racer and Shinobido 2: Revenge of Zen. (more…)
Posted in News, Vita
Tagged Touch My Katamari
PS Vita penciled in for a February 22, 2012 launch
Sometimes, it’s nice to be right. Sony President & CEO Jack Tretton used the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco to announce the North American, Latin American, and European release date of their Vita handheld. While the venue of the announcement doesn’t make much sense to me either, we now know that the Vita will be available in stores on February 22, 2012.
The Vita will be available in two different versions, a Wi-Fi only edition (priced at $249.99) and a Wi-Fi/3G version (priced at $299.99). They weren’t ready to talk specific launch titles, but they did let us know that there are over 100 Vita games in development including Sound Shapes, Resistance: Burning Skies, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Capcom’s Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Vita, and Activision’s Call of Duty Vita.
Whew.
Capcom accidentally reveals Vita will launch in US before March 6
So we know that the PlayStation Vita won’t be released in North America and Europe until the early part of 2012. But it looks like the launch window has been narrowed down considerably by Capcom.
The publisher announced earlier today that Street Fighter X Tekken would be available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Vita on March 6, 2012. That means Capcom is the only publisher to put a specific date on one of their Vita launch titles. And it’s right in the middle of that juicy “Early 2012” window that Sony has talked about for the Vita’s launch. Of course, it’s also possible that Street Fighter X Tekken isn’t a launch day title and the handheld will actually be available before March 6.
As of right now, this is all basically speculation. But I think it’s pretty solid evidence that the Vita will launch in February (or maybe even January) instead of a Spring release in March or April.
Posted in News, Vita
Tagged Street Fighter X Tekken