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
Nintendo Download: Batman Blackgate, Metroid Fusion, Advance Wars, more
Everyone’s favorite handheld, the Game Boy Advance, returns in a big way this week courtesy of the Nintendo Download. Metroid Fusion (the last Metroid side-scroller), Advance Wars (one of the greatest strategy games of all time), and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (a pretty great RPG) are now purchasable through the Wii U eShop… and more 3DS games are on the way all month. Wii U owners will also have a chance to download Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition, a high definition re-release of the Arkham Origins spinoff, and Evofish, an evolutionary fish sim.
Over on the 3DS, Nintendo has added their Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, their free-to-play baseball-themed minigame collection, to the eShop along with a pair of Mystery Case Files hidden object games.
More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
New Mario Kart 8 trailer showcases the beautiful return of Rainbow Road 64
Mario Kart 64‘s version of Rainbow Road is one of my all-time favorite tracks from any Mario Kart game. And it’s making a return in next month’s Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U as one of the game’s “remixed” tracks. In addition to Rainbow Road 64, Nintendo announced that Toad’s Turnpike from Mario Kart 64 will also be added to the sequel, alongside Moo Moo Meadows from Mario Kart Wii and Donut Plains from Super Mario Kart.
Mario Kart 8 will be more than just old courses with a new coat of paint, as Nintendo also revealed two new items, three new characters, and the brand new “Spin Boost” special move. According to Nintendo, the Spin Boost gives players an advantage when racing upside down or on walls: “Players can bump into other racers or certain track obstacles to get a speed boost, fundamentally redefining the way that players compete.”
As they put the “Spin Boost” to work, players will also be able to use two new items. The Piranha Plant “attaches to the front of the player’s kart and chomps at other characters, banana peels on the track or even shells thrown by other characters.” And the Boomerang Flower “allows players to strike multiple opponents with a single toss” of the Boomerang. In another, totally unrelated, first for the series, Mario Kart 8 will feature music recorded by live performers on some courses.
Finally, Nintendo has confirmed that three more racers will join the fray: Metal Mario, Latiku (who’s going to wave the checkered flag when he’s racing?), and Shy Guy.
Mario Kart 8 will be available exclusively for the Wii U on May 30.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8
Over 100 games will be included in the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2014
Over the years, the Indie Megabooth has become one of the busiest spots at PAX East and PAX Prime and the 2014 East show is no exception. Organizers behind the Indie Megabooth have announced that 76 games will be permanently installed in the booth with another 28 titles rotating in-and-out of a special “Minibooth” within the Indie Megabooth over the course of the convention’s three days. For the first time, tabletop games will get a chance to shine in the Indie Megabooth. Sponsored by Cards Against Humanity, this selection of tabletop games includes bluffing game These French Fries Are Terrible Hot Dogs, party game Funemployed, and six others.
Other highlights in this year’s Megabooth include Duet, a hypnotic mobile puzzler; Delver’s Drop, everyone’s favorite indie answer to the Zelda franchise; Hyper Light Drifter, everyone’s other favorite indie answer to the Zelda franchise; Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Answer, a sequel to the ultraviolent overhead shooter; and Secret Ponchos, an arena shooter that was one of our favorite games from PAX East 2013. Of course, with 104 total titles, this list of highlights is just scratching the surface of what’s available within the Indie Megabooth.
A complete list of titles that will be playable within the Indie Megabooth at PAX East 2014 can be found after the break. And more information about all of them is available at the organization’s official website. (more…)
Batman: Arkham Origins Review: Arkham Awful
After the previous two installments in the Batman: Arkham franchise were critically lauded, the pressure was on new studio Warner Bros. Montreal to make a third title that hit the highs of Asylum and City and closed out the generation with an awesome action-adventure extravaganza. However, the pressure must have been too much for them to bear. What was actually released, in the form of Batman: Arkham Origins, was a twisted, soulless mess that feels like little more than a shameless cash-in. (more…)
Kickstart This! The Guinness Aftermath Edition
While most of Ireland went about their business as usual on March 17th, many parts of the world decided to paint themselves green and drink several pints of the black stuff to commemorate the man who drove the snakes from the Emerald Isle. It doesn’t matter that these people are not really Irish, that St. Patrick probably didn’t drive out the snakes (as there were no snakes to begin with), or that the saint’s real colour is blue. The true meaning of St. Paddy’s Day is less about the man and his legend, and more about the celebration and enjoyment of life.
So, with our Guinness hangovers having well and truly dissipated for another year, let us turn our attentions to the viper pit that is Kickstarter, plucking some worthy cobras and prize-winning pythons from the wriggling mess. Hot on the heels of Goat Simulator‘s launch comes a campaign for Bear Simulator. Next is pixel exploration adventure Spirit, followed by 2D point-and-click game Dead Synchronicity. Things get very serious in 2D interactive novel The Seed, before we enter the fantasy realm of Chaos Reborn. Last, but not least, is the beautiful and ambitious turn-based RPG Earthlock: Festival of Magic.
Remember, a snake is for life, not just for St. Paddy’s Day. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Dr. Mario, Clu Clu Land, more
A few months after adding Dr. Luigi to the Wii U eShop, Nintendo has gone and ahead and made the NES original, Dr. Mario, available to download as well. Another NES puzzler, Clu Clu Land is now available to download from the 3DS eShop.
Four other games will make their way to the Nintendo eShop this week including My Style Studio: Hair Salon (Wii U), a hair styling sim; Skater Cat (3DS), a platformer where you control a skateboarding cat; Airport Hero Hawaii (3DS), an air traffic control sim; and I Am In the Movie (DSi), a video editing application.
More information on all of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Disney has added Lightsabers to Disney Infinity
Almost from the day it was announced, fans have been begging Disney Interactive to add Star Wars characters to Disney Infinity. While we’re not there quite yet, the publisher has revealed that a Lightsaber, an elegant weapon for a more civilized age, can be found in the game. The specific steps you need to take to unlock the Lightsaber can be found at the Disney Infinity Wiki.
So if you’ve ever wanted to watch Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Jessie from Toy Story, Mr. Incredible, Dash, and Elastigirl from The Incredibles, The Lone Ranger, Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc., Rapunzel, Jack Skellington, Wreck-It Ralph, Jack Sparrow, Elsa from Frozen, and several others wield a Lightsaber, I recommend checking out the trailer above.
As for actual Star Wars characters, we’ll probably have to wait for Disney Infinity 2.
Nintendo to add Super Mario Bros. 3, GBA classics to Virtual Console in April
Super Mario Bros. 3, one of the greatest games of all time, will soon be available to download through the Virtual Console on the Wii U and 3DS. It’ll be released next month alongside the first Game Boy Advance games to be added to the Wii U eShop.
Advance Wars, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Metroid Fusion will kick things off on April 3. They will be joined on the Wii U eShop by a least one new GBA game every week for the entire month. Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! will follow on April 10, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity and Golden Sun can be downloaded beginning April 17, and Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3 completes the first wave of GBA on Wii U games on April 24.
Like all Virtual Console titles on the Wii U, each game will include Off-TV Play and a Restore Point feature to save your progress. Miiverse functionality will also be included.
More details and pricing information for all of these titles can be found after the break. Yes, even for Super Mario Bros. 3. Though, if you need more information on Super Mario Bros. 3, I want to see the rock you’ve been living under, it must be impressive. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Bros. 3