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
Continue Countdown #3 – CoD Advanced Warfare, MS @ E3 2014, Mario Kart 8, More
The film industry uses the opening of blockbuster season to signify the start of Summer. Meanwhile, the video game industry sets its seasonal clock by Activision and the announcement of the next Call of Duty game. This year’s entry stars Kevin Spacey and the staff of Warp Zoned took the time to debate his inclusion in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in the latest episode of “Continue Countdown.”
After that, the trio of Editor-In-Chief John Scalzo, Staff Writer Mike Ryan, and special guest Adam Woolcott talked about the expunging of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and the unearthing of Atari’s E.T. landfill. Next, they examined Microsoft’s Xbox Originals film production plan and their possible E3 2014 announcements before turning to Nintendo and Fatal Frame 5‘s Japanese exclusivity, Mario Kart 8‘s free game deal, and Super Smash Bros. 4‘s Best Buy debut. Finally, we say goodbye to Bob “Mario Mario” Hoskins.
9 Topics… 30 Minutes… And Go!
Posted in Etcetera, PC, Podcast, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, E3 2014, Fatal Frame 5, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Hyrule Warriors will be released in Japan this Summer and in US by year’s end
Even though the trailer embedded above is the only glimpse of Hyrule Warriors we’ve gotten since the game’s December announcement, Tecmo Koei and Nintendo have revealed that the game will be released very soon.
During a financial briefing (via Siliconera) yesterday, Tecmo Koei revealed the Omega Force-developed game is set for a Summer 2014 release in Japan. Nintendo held their own financial briefing yesterday and they confirmed that Hyrule Warriors would be released in the US before the end of the year.
So we don’t know anything new about Hyrule Warriors today that we didn’t already know five months ago, but at least it’s still on track for a 2014 release.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Hyrule Warriors
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark will transform into a released game on June 24
Activision will release Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark on June 24, three days ahead of the fourth film adaptation, Transformers: Age of Extinction. Rise of the Dark Spark won’t be a traditional tie-in game and will instead merge the movieverse with the High Moon-developed War For Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron games.
Even though Rise of the Dark Spark is just seven weeks away, we still don’t know much about it. But that hasn’t stopped GameStop from beginning to take pre-orders for the game. If you pre-purchase Rise of the Dark Spark, the game retailer will grant you access to the Weathered Warrior Pack, which includes two characters (Skywarp and Thundercracker) and two weapons (the Glass Gas Cannon and the Electro Bolter) for use in the game’s Campaign and Escalation Mode.
The Weathered Warrior Pack will be included with pre-orders of the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One editions of Rise of the Dark Spark. The game will also be available on June 24 for the Wii U and 3DS.
Nintendo Download: Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Mario Golf 3DS, Mega Man Xtreme, more
It’s a big week for the Nintendo as Mega Man makes May mega and two major 3DS games get added to the service.
Capcom is promoting the month of May as “Mega May” as they plan to add five Game Boy titles starring the Blue Bomber to the 3DS eShop. The first game out of the gate is Mega Man Xtreme, the first Game Boy Color game to star the character. But if you’re looking for something new for your 3DS, today also marks the release of Picross E4, the latest game in Nintendo’s puzzle series. Kirby: Triple Deluxe and Mario Golf: World Tour, the first game in both franchises to make it to the 3DS, will both be available tomorrow. Over on the Wii U, Stick It To the Man, a puzzle platformer, is available to download today.
More details on all of these games (as well as a few more 3DS and Wii U releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Kirby: Triple Deluxe, Mario Golf: World Tour
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes flies high this Fall
It’s official, the next addition to the Disney Infinity franchise will feature Marvel characters.
Thanks to yesterday’s big announcement, we now know that Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Fall. A special edition of the game will also be available for iOS devices. Figures depicting Iron Man, Thor, and Black Widow will be included with the PC/console Starter Pack, with a promise of many more to come. From the game’s debut trailer we know that the rest of The Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk, and Nick Fury) will be part of the game’s initial lineup as well as Loki, MODOK, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, The Green Goblin, and Spider-Man. In all, Disney plans to release 20 figures in the first wave after the game’s launch.
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will be backwards compatible with all characters and power discs previously available for Disney Infinity. But Marvel Super Heroes (which Disney is calling the “2.0 Edition”) will also include a brand new storyline (penned by comics legend Brian Michael Bendis) and an easier-to-use Toy Box mode. Best of all, the new locations in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes will be much larger than those found in the first Disney Infinity because now characters can fly.
Mario Kart 8 Wii U Bundle and free game offer announced
Nintendo really wants to make it worth your while to purchase Mario Kart 8. If you already own a Wii U and you purchase the next kart racer starring Mario and all his friends, you’ll be entitled to a free download of one of four Wii U games: New Super Mario Bros. U, Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD or Wii Party U.
However, if you don’t own a Wii U, starting May 30, you can purchase one as part of a Mario Kart 8 Bundle (priced at $329.99) that includes the console, the game, a Wii Wheel, and a Mario Red Wii Remote Plus. A free download of New Super Mario Bros. U, Pikmin 3, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD or Wii Party U is also included with the console bundle.
If you still need convincing, Nintendo hopes a closer look at the game will make you push that pre-order button. The publisher has posted video walkthroughs of all 32 tracks (and all eight Battle Arenas) on Mario Kart 8’s official website.
This is all on top of the news that the game will be adding two more characters (Pink Gold Peach and Baby Rosalina) and several new items. The Super Horn pushes away nearby drivers and any projectiles sent flying your way (including the dreaded Blue Shell) while the Crazy Eight is “a swirl of eight different items that lucky players can use one by one.”
You can check out the newly announced drivers and items in the trailer above. And don’t forget, Mario Kart 8 will be available exclusively for the Wii U on May 30.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8
Play Super Smash Bros. 4 at Best Buy during E3 2014
It looks like Nintendo’s low-key E3 showing was a hit last year as the consolemaker plans to expand on the festivities for this year’s Expo… while still remaining low-key.
Instead of a Nintendo Direct video presentation, this year, Nintendo plans to offer a “Nintendo Digital Event” on Tuesday, June 10 at 12:00 PM (Eastern). Nintendo is calling the Digital Event “a new kind of video program that will reveal and provide further detail about the gaming experiences on the way for Nintendo platforms in 2014 and beyond.” So basically, it’s exactly like a Nintendo Direct video, only bigger.
Nintendo will also add a second video program to their slate of E3 programming, “Nintendo Treehouse: Live @ E3.” The Treehouse team is the company’s main product development team and they will provide “in-depth game demos live and unscripted from Nintendo’s booth” throughout the entire E3 Expo.
Finally, Nintendo will install a playable demo of one of this year’s biggest games in Best Buy stores across the country. I speak, of course, about Super Smash Bros. 4 for the Wii U. A list of participating Best Buy stores will be viewable via e3.Nintendo.com very soon.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2014, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Kickstart This! The Gruesome Chocolate Death Edition
By the time you read this, I will be dead. It will have been a gruesome death, as I am buried under an avalanche of Easter eggs. Death by chocolate, if you will. Like Christ, it will take me three days to rise again, carrying the weight of my guilt in my stomach. So before I get so fat that I can’t reach my keyboard, let us turn our attention to the games and projects you could help fund in April and May.
This month, we have the mesmerising and beautiful adventure puzzler Source, 2D hedonistic shooter Shots in the Dark, isometric RPG detective thriller Pixel Noir, sci-fi planet conquering RTS Hextraction, a returning Kickstarter project in the Lovecraftian 2D adventure game Mark of the Old Ones, and last but not least, sci-fi noir adventure Last Life.
Nom, nom, nom… (more…)