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
Captain Falcon, Lucina, Robin, Female Robin join the Super Smash Bros. 4 roster
Nintendo has announced that a few characters you may not be familiar with will be joining Super Smash Bros. For 3DS and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U.
Captain Falcon (of F-Zero fame) has appeared in all three previous Smash Bros. games, so his inclusion in Smash 4 shouldn’t be much of a surprise. But new to the fighting franchise are three other characters revealed today: Lucina, Robin, and Female Robin. Lucina and Robin were two of the main characters in the recently released Fire Emblem: Awakening. Female Robin, as you may have guessed, is just a gender-swapped version of Robin. All three are quick sword fighters, with the Robins also having the ability to rain lightning bolts down upon their opponents.
There’s still three months to go before Super Smash Bros. For 3DS launches on October 3, so there’s plenty of time for Nintendo to announce additional playable characters for the next Smash game.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Skyward Sword’s Fi joins Hyrule Warriors in this new trailer
What do you do when you’ve created trailers specifically tailored around all the currently announced characters in your game? You announce more characters! And that’s just what Koei Tecmo Japan did when they revealed that Fi, the sword spirit from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, will be a playable character in Hyrule Warriors.
In a unique twist, Fi doesn’t use a sword in her fighting style. Instead, because she’s the physical personification of a magical sword, the character uses melee attacks to weaken the enemy mob before. Of course, in the end, she transforms into a sword and smashes down on the battlefield to take out those that remain. It’s pretty impressive.
Hyrule Warriors will be available for the Wii U on September 26. A part of me hopes the next character trailer will introduce everyone’s favorite cave-dwelling Old Man: “It’s dangerous to go alone… except for me!”
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Hyrule Warriors
Wii U version of Project CARS skids into 2015
Lee Kirton, Bandai Namco UK’S Marketing and PR Director, has confirmed that the Wii U version of Slightly Mad’s Project CARS will miss its originally planned November release date. The racing simulation will now be available for Nintendo’s console sometime in 2015:
To confirm .@WMDCars #projectcars will release November on #ps4 #xboxone #pc and #WiiU is coming 2015
— Lee Kirton (@Leearigold) July 11, 2014
While this is disappointing news for Wii U owners, Project CARS on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One will be released this November as previously announced.
Nintendo Download: One Piece Unlimited World Red, Bases Loaded, more
Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjack, I don’t care if I ever get back. So let’s root root root for Bases Loaded, for it’s… One! Two! Three! Strikes, you’re out, at the old ballgame.
Yes, Bases Loaded, one of the greatest baseball sims to ever grace the NES, is now available to download through the 3DS and Wii U. Sadly, Nintendo still hasn’t figured out the whole Cross-Buy thing, but Bases Loaded is so good that you should buy it on both platforms so you always have it with you.
Also available this week is One Piece Unlimited World Red, a game adaptation of the popular manga/anime. It can also be downloaded for the 3DS and Wii U. While the handheld version of the game is also available on store shelves, if you’re looking to pick it up on Nintendo’s home console, you might be interested to know that it’s a Wii U eShop exclusive.
More information on both of these games (and a trio of additional new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Is Destiny fated to appear on Wii U? Nintendo fans want to believe so
With the Destiny hyperdrive roaring towards its September release date, Activision and Bungie have been revealing lots of information recently. The beta test for both of Sony’s PlayStation systems will arrive on July 17, while Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners will have to wait one full week more to get their hands on the sci-fi FPS. Beta access is only available via pre-order, and will end on all systems on the 27th.
The obvious omission from the list (aside from the PC) is Nintendo’s Wii U, which has been shunned by many developers entirely. A motivated group of fans known as “The Guardians” have hijacked Change.org and launched a petition to bring Destiny to the Wii U. The group hopes that if enough Wii U owners sign up, Activision and Bungie will take note, and hopefully adapt the game for the console. Given that the game is coming to previous generation consoles, and the Wii U has seen a sales spurt thanks to Mario Kart 8, their list of excuses seems to be narrowing. That said, any work to port the game would mean it’s release would most likely be a year after the game goes on sale for every other platform on September 9. Still, there can be little harm in Nintendo fans vocally encouraging third party developers to take note of their growing presence.
After all, it worked for Operation Rainfall.
Independent retailers now able to sell Nintendo eShop codes in UK
While Nintendo has often been criticised for its late arrival to online gaming and downloadable content, the company’s eShop for Wii U has become a thriving hub for gamers, filled with spectacular titles and exclusives. However, Nintendo’s store prices for games also available in physical disc form are hardly competitive with “High Street” shops or online retailers. The only store selling eShop download codes is GAME, which has an exclusive deal with Nintendo in the UK for the sale of cards and codes online.
However, this deal does not cover smaller, independent gaming boutiques, and as a result, they will be able to begin selling eShop cards and codes in the middle of July, thanks to distributor DLCSoft. The company believes that this will allow retailers “to establish their stores as a true digital destination on the High Street.” This seems like a win-win for the market and consumers. Not only will this help these smaller businesses compete with larger retailers, but it also means that gamers could find eShop codes at competitively reduced prices.
While the UK is a small but significant market for Nintendo, other European businesses may be watching with interest to see how well the eShop cards sell. If DLCSoft is correct in its analysis, it could lead to the scheme expanding to other countries.
[Source: MCV]
Midna stars in the last Hyrule Warriors character trailer
Hyrule Warriors will include six playable characters when it’s released this September and Koei Tecmo Japan has released five character-specific trailers thus far. Today, they unveiled the final trailer, which stars Midna of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Midna can ride a wolf and use its powerful jaws to bite through the hordes of enemies in Hyrule Warriors. And if she’s feeling bored, she can scoop up the wolf and throw it into a group of monsters. The Twili will also be able to grow a “hair hand” and use it to smack around her enemies.
Hyrule Warriors will be released exclusively for the Wii U on September 26.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Hyrule Warriors
Mighty No. 9 animated adaptation in the works
I don’t how this will impact the planned live-action adaptation, but Comcept and Digital Frontier have announced they’ve begun work on an animated adaptation of Mighty No. 9.
The project is still in the early stages, but Digital Frontier wants to create an “action-packed comedy aimed at kids 6-11” that they hope will appeal to adults as well. If the teaser video above is any indication, I think they’ve got a shot at doing just that. Produced for this weekend’s Anime Expo in Los Angeles, the video is a neat little taste of things to come. However, according to an FAQ posted on the official Mighty No. 9 site, no one has officially signed on to the animated adaptation as of yet. Digital Frontier is still looking for writers, a director, and voice actors. Because of this, we don’t know when Mighty No. 9: The Animated Series will make its television debut.
But hopefully the announcer sticks around, he’s pretty awesome.