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
- 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
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
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: Wii U
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Review: Any Good? Arrr!
The Assassin’s Creed franchise stumbled a bit with Assassin’s Creed III and Revelations. Thankfully, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is a return to form for the series. It is a swashbuckling, rum-drinking, sword-slashing good time that works on many levels. However, it’s also very scatterbrained in that half of the game works while the other half doesn’t. The water combat is great, while the undersea portions aren’t. Some story missions are really awesome, while some are tedium defined. And the plot itself is compelling, except when it isn’t. Yet, somehow, Ubisoft has managed to pull it all together to make a really enjoyable title. (more…)
Sheik, Ruto, and Darunia star in the latest Hyrule Warriors trailers
Koei Tecmo Japan has unveiled three more character trailers for Hyrule Warriors and, this time, Shiek, Ruto, and Darunia take center stage.
Sheik is Zelda’s alter ego from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and cuts through a group of Stalfos with ninja-like precision. She also uses a mystical harp to lay waste to the horde with her musical talents.
Two more Ocarina of Time alums star in the other two trailers, which are both available after the break. Ruto is the Princess of the Zoras and, as you’d expect, she uses a lot of water-based attacks during her time in the spotlight. Darunia’s trailer features the Goron King going to town on a group of enemies with a massive hammer.
Hyrule Warriors will be available exclusively for the Wii U on September 26. But if you can’t wait that long, Nintendo will highlight Hyrule Warriors during their next Nintendo Direct broadcast, which is scheduled for Monday, August 4 at 11:00 PM (Eastern). (more…)
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Hyrule Warriors
Nintendo Download: Mega Man Battle Network, Lego Ninjago: Nindroids, more
After busting up the 3DS eShop during “Mega May,” Capcom’s longtime mascot will take a swipe at the Wii U in August. Every week, a classic Mega Man game will be added to the Wii U eShop. Best of all, they’re kicking things off today, on what is technically the last day of July, with Mega Man Battle Network. Battle Network Mega Man’s first foray into RPGs and it launched an entire series of games as well as multiple spinoffs. Perhaps we’ll see some of them again over the next few weeks.
A different kind of robot warrior stars in this week’s major 3DS release, Lego Ninjago: Nindroids. The latest Lego game from WB Games and TT Games, it’s based on the television show of the same name and transports the Lego Ninjago ninjas into a sci-fi setting.
Other games added to the eShop today include….
- XType Plus (Wii U), a vertically-scrolling shooter.
- Frederic: Resurrection of Music (Wii U), a piano-playing game of “musical duels.”
- IQ Test (Wii U), a puzzling game to challenge your intellect.
- Tangram Attack (Wii U), a Tangram-type puzzler.
- Steel Empire (3DS), a portable remake of the Genesis/GBA shooter.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Lego Ninjago: Nindroids
Kickstart This! The Common Creative Wealth Edition
For all the sports fans out there who are saddened by the end of the World Cup and Wimbledon, fear not! The Commonwealth Games have kicked off in my backyard in the Scottish city of Glasgow. The royal baton ran right by my house last week, and it was great to see so many people out in the typically wet Glaswegian weather, clapping and cheering the baton bearers on.
Of course, this is what we do with Kickstart This! We pick out projects that we want to see succeed, and cheer them on along with all of our readers around the world. It’s humbling to think that somehow our words have managed to bring just enough extra donations to make the difference between a game being released and a development team drowning their sorrows in a stale pint of beer.
So which games do we have the need to see succeed in this edition? First off is the cartoony tower defense game Fire With Fire, followed by comical point-and-click adventure Kaptain Brawe 2: A Space Travesty. After that, we jump into 2D foodie platformer Bacon Man, cutesy platformer Snot, and, last but not least, Subject 13, a new 3D adventure thriller from Flashback creator Paul Cuisset.
On your mark, get set, go! (more…)
Almost 3 million copies of Mario Kart 8 sold, but Wii U continues to struggle
Mario Kart 8 is an unqualified hit. Nintendo has announced that the latest entry in the kart-racing franchise has sold more than 2.82 million copies since its release in May. Even more astonishing is the fact that it accounts for 64% of all Wii U game sales in the April-June quarter. To make that number even more ridiculous, remember that Mario Kart 8 was released towards the end of May, so it’s only been available for a little more than a month.
While it’s good news for kart-racing fans everywhere, it’s bad news for everybody else. With Mario Kart 8 sucking up all the attention these past few weeks, every other Wii U game in existence could only account for 1.57 copies sold in the past three months.
Nintendo isn’t faring much better on the hardware front. The Wii U checked off about 510,000 console sales in the April-June quarter, bringing the worldwide total to 6.68 million. That’s not bad, but it’s still well behind the PS4 (and Nintendo’s expectations).
Perhaps a packed Fall, which begins with Hyrule Warriors on September 26, will turn things around.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8
Shovel Knight Review: An Ace (of Spades) Retro-Styled Platformer
Even though we’re in the middle of a second golden age of side-scrolling platformers, very few of them attempt to recreate what was so great about the graphical look of games in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Most of them (Mega Man 9 and 10, Contra ReBirth, Gradius ReBirth) just serve as distant sequels to some NES favorites. So it’s amazing that something like Shovel Knight, a wholly original game from Yacht Club Games, was able to perfectly capture the mood of late 80s game design. It feels more like a lost cartridge rediscovered in the modern day as opposed to a modern game created with modern gamers in mind. Yacht Club’s Sean Velasco told us last year that the company’s goal is to create “really awesome retro/modern fusion games.” I’m glad they got the chance and I’m not sure I’d want it any other way. (more…)
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will launch on September 23
Disney Interactive has confirmed that your wallet will need avenging after Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes launches on September 23. Priced at $74.99, the Starter Pack, which includes three figures (Iron Man, Thor, and Black Widow), the base, two Toy Box discs, and an Avengers playset piece, will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Everyone who pre-orders Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes from “top retailers” will also receive a bonus figure for free.
If you’re looking for a more complete Marvel Super Heroes experience, Disney also plans to release a Collector’s Edition of the game exclusively for Sony platforms. It’s unknown how much the PS3 or PS4 package will cost, but it will include everything from the Starter Pack, three additional figures (Hulk, Captain America, and Hawkeye), and a light-up Frost Giant display stand for all of your Avengers figures.
HULK IMPRESSED!
New Releases: Wii Sports Club
You might have noticed a lack of new retail releases this week. And that’s because Nintendo decided to release Wii Sports Club today. Nintendo is notorious for releasing games outside of the traditional Tuesday morning slot, but they can get away with that, because they’re Nintendo. Wii Sports Club brings together all five Wii Sports titles while adding high definition graphics and opening up the competition to online multiplayer.
Baseball… Bowling… Boxing… Golf… Tennis… what’s your game?
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Wii Sports Club