Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Silent Hill, Dragon Quest, Skyrim, and More Announced as Finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
- 2025 GOTY Scoreboard: In Progress
- The Game Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Racks Up Nine Wins, Including “Game of the Year”, at the 2025 Game Awards
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: Wii U
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
Ubisoft bringing Watch Dogs, The Crew, Child of Light, Trials Fusion, more to PAX East 2014
Several big name publishers won’t be in attendance at this year’s PAX East convention, but you definitely shouldn’t count Ubisoft among their number. The French publishing powerhouse will have a massive booth featuring eight different games at this year’s show:
- Watch Dogs – Con-goers will be able to view a before-seen demo of the game as well as participate in an “eye-opening Watch Dogs experience that lets fans see themselves through the lens of a hacker and get a look at how they could potentially be targeted.”
- The Crew – Ubisoft’s upcoming driving game will be playable on the show floor as “players will be able to the own the road in a massive, open-world re-creation of the United States that is brimming with exciting challenges.”
- Trials Fusion – Scheduled for release on April 16, attendees will get their first chance to play the first next-generation game in the Trials series. In addition to the hands-on demo, professional BMX riders will perform stunts in Ubisoft’s in-booth skate park.
- Child of Light – Players will be able to take control of the game’s main character, Aurora, in a new hands-on demo: “Players will use an active turn-based fight system to uncover mythical dragons and other enchanting creatures, as well as explore the gorgeous watercolor-painted 2D environments in a poetic journey inspired by fairy tales.”
Ubisoft also plans to showcase a playable demo for an unannounced downloadable title as well as a trio of free-to-play titles: online shooter Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Phantoms, hack and slash The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, and collectible card game Might & Magic: Duel of Champions.
PAX East 2014 is less than three weeks away and it’ll be held in Boston, Massachusetts from April 11-13.
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Child of Light, PAX East 2014, The Crew, Trials Fusion, Watch Dogs
New Releases: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, Deception IV, Witch and Hundred Knight, More
Are you ready to dive back into Sanctuary to do battle with pure evil? If not, you better get ready as Blizzard will release Diablo III: Reaper of Souls for the PC this week. A PS4 version is also in the works and will be available later this year. But if you’re a PlayStation gamer who wants a new dungeon-crawler now, NIS America plans to release The Witch and the Hundred Knight for the PS3 this week.
If dungeon-crawling RPGs aren’t you thing, this week also sees the release of BlazBlue: Chronophantasma (PS3), the latest fighting game from Arc System Works, and Deception IV: Blood Ties, the latest game in the cultish trap-filled strategy series.
And if you’re looking for more games, a few more new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, The Witch and the Hundred Knight
Mighty No. 9’s GDC 2014 trailer is mega-tastic
I’ve got good news! Especially if you were 10 years old in 1990… Keiji Inafune and Comcept have unveiled another trailer for Mighty No. 9 during their Game Developers Conference presentation!
After Inafune left Capcom, the publisher left Mega Man, his best-known creation, to flounder amid a sea of cancellations and cameos. But the developer has distilled the essence of Mega Man into Mighty No. 9 and produced a game that is looking less “homage” and more “unauthorized sequel” every time we see it. And that’s a good thing. He even patterned Mighty No. 9’s boss robots on the Robot Masters from the original Mega Man. My inner 10-year-old gives this trailer seven thumbs up.
Inafune funded the side-scrolling shooter last year through a mega-successful Kickstarter campaign that ensured the game will be released for nearly every platform imaginable: 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.