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
Nintendo Download: Pokemon Battle Trozei, Pure Chess, more
It’s Thursday, so that means we’re in store for another update to the Nintendo eShop.
The 3DS leads the way this week with Pokemon Battle Trozei, a strategic puzzle game that includes more than 700 Pokemon. Also available to download on the 3DS this week is Pure Chess, a chess sim, and Yumi’s Odd Odyssey, a puzzle platformer that stars a daredevil fisherwoman.
Over on the Wii U, there’s an HD version of Pure Chess, as well as the Hello Kitty Kruisers kart racer and one of the earliest NES games, Volleyball.
More information about all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
New Releases: MGS5: Ground Zeroes, InFamous: Second Son, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, More
TitanFall made a huge splash last week, but a new set of publishers are ready to compete for your gaming dollar this week with a new set of games. Are you ready? Here we go…
Konami and Kojima Productions will release Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes for next-generation consoles (PS4 and Xbox One) and current-generation consoles (PS3 and Xbox 360) this week. The game will serve as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which does not currently have a release date, and will serve as an introduction to the franchise’s brand new open world mechanics.
Also available this week is the next major PS4 exclsuive from Sony, InFamous: Second Son. With Second Son, the InFamous series gains a new protagonist and a new city to wreak havoc in. And speaking of havoc, Tecmo Koei will release Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, a wild collaboration between Team Ninja, Spark Unlimited, and Keiji Inafune’s Comcept, for the PS3 and Xbox 360 this week.
Finally, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster will bring the beloved pair of games to the PS3 and Vita this week. It will be joined the week’s lone Wii U release, the kart racing game Hello Kitty Kruisers.
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, InFamous: Second Son, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z
A new trailer explores the combat and narrative of Hyper Light Drifter
A new trailer for Hyper Light Drifter has been posted to the PlayStation Blog along with more details about the game’s combat system and narrative style.
On the topic of combat, developer Alex Preston had this to say about how enemies will attack The Drifter:
Creating intelligent and tactical scenarios with enemies is key, rather than stacking cannon fodder that waits gleefully in line to get their heads chopped off. Some enemies dodge projectiles, others deflect attacks, some (the poison wolves) attack you and vulnerable enemies as a pack. We even have enemies that command weaker types in order to gain an advantage. Each encounter should feel different, and remain challenging.
And for the narrative, Preston will attempt to tell the story of Hyper Light Drifter using no dialogue:
We are wary of endless blocks of text, poorly designed UI, and explicit handholding, which can often dilute a great experience. These leave a player frustrated, or worse, disinterested. Instead, we want players to uncover the rich mythology along with the Drifter in a more organic way, with a narrative that’s not explicit. We chose to recognize that players are smart.
Dialogue and quests are presented in storyboardlike sequences, which convey a specific mood without the use of text or voiceovers. This also allows us to keep the game as visually lush as possible and break past language barriers.
If you’re interested in one of the most interesting Kickstarter success stories of 2013, the remainder of the PlayStation Blog post is a recommended read. Hyper Light Drifter will be available for PC platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux) by the end of the year with PS4, Vita, Wii U, and Ouya versions coming later.
Call of Duty: Ghosts is the best-selling game of February 2014
Call of Duty: Ghosts was the best-selling game of the month in November, December, and January. Today, the NPD Group released their list of the best-selling games in February and, once again, Ghosts has taken the top spot. Ghosts has had an impressive run, but I have a strong feeling that major new releases like TitanFall and Dark Souls II will prevent Infinity Ward’s military shooter from winning one for the thumb next month.
Amongst new releases, the game adaptation of The Lego Movie and a trio of games from Square Enix (the Thief reboot, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, and Bravely Default) all broke into the top ten. Amazingly, the boxed version of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is still hanging on at #9.
The battle of the next-generation consoles continues to be almost a wash as the PS4 slightly squeaked ahead of the Xbox One in February. According to Microsoft, 258,000 Xbox One systems were sold during the month with the NPD Group reporting that Sony sold 10% more PS4 systems. Due to the Xbox One’s premium price tag, it technically brought in more sales dollars in February. As I said, the whole thing is almost a wash.
A complete look at last month’s top ten best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)
Nintendo Download: Yoshi’s New Island, Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, Galaga, more
Sony continues to have problems with this week’s PlayStation Store update, but Nintendo has unveiled this week’s Nintendo Download right on time. This week’s new additions include…
- Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels – The formerly Japan-only Super Mario sequel is now available on the Wii U eShop.
- Galaga – One of the most popular games to riff on the Space Invaders formula is now available on the 3DS eShop.
- Yoshi’s New Island – At the stroke of midnight, players will get to help Yoshi keep Baby Mario safe once again on the 3DS eShop.
More information on all of these games, as well as a few others, can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Yoshi's New Island
Shovel Knight digs into a slight delay and will miss March 31 release date
There’s no joy in Shovelville, for Yacht Club Games has delayed Shovel Knight. Originally scheduled to be released on March 31, the developer has confirmed (via Kickstarter) that a slight delay has befallen the game. Don’t worry, it’s just a few weeks:
So, we hemmed and hawed, and made a Super Important Executive Decision. This update is to let everyone know that Shovel Knight will be missing March 31 by a few weeks to make sure it’s a world class experience, and can release on all platforms simultaneously. This isn’t a major delay, or a long one; it’s simply a stretch of time to get everything polished and aligned. While major development is quickly drawing to a close, there are still some external factors, like submission preparation, which need a little bit more breathing room before the game goes live.
In order to ensure a simultaneous release on the 3DS, Wii U, and PC, Yacht Club has decided to hold off on a new release date announcement until once they get a certification go-ahead from both Nintendo and Valve.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, Wii U
Tagged Shovel Knight
Nintendo Download: NES Open Golf, Blok Drop U, more
Nintendo continues to populate the Virtual Console in this week’s Nintendo Download. NES Open Tournament Golf, one of the first “Mario Sports” games, will be available to download through the Wii U and Adventure Island II, one of the NES’s great platformers, is now available for the 3DS.
In original games this week, the Wii U will receive Blok Drop U, a bite-sized puzzle game that is played directly on the Wii U GamePad.
And there’s two new games over on the 3DS eShop. The Mysterious Cities of Gold: Secret Paths is an adventure game based on the 1980s anime and Vacation Adventures: Park Ranger is a hidden object game that tasks the player with finding items in a park.
More details on all of these titles can be found after the break. (more…)
Watch Dogs will have its release day on May 27
After a false start last Fall, Ubisoft has announced that Watch Dogs will finally be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on May 27. A Wii U release will follow at “a later date.”
To celebrate the release date news, Ubisoft has released a new “Story Trailer” for Watch Dogs that delves deeper into why main character Aiden Pearce is using his hacking skills to take down Chicago’s organized crime syndiate.