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
Diddy Kong swings into Super Smash Bros. 4
Great news for fans of Diddy Kong – he’ll be joining the cast of Super Smash Bros. 4! According to this post in the Miiverse, the announcement was made to celebrate the release of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. They have also “increased Diddy Kong’s flexibility this time… [this is] how far his punches stretch during his strong side attack.”
Check out the Diddy Kong page for more images. Super Smash Bros. 4 is due out sometime this year for the 3DS and Wii U.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
Nintendo Download: Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, Weapon Shop De Omasse, more
Even though Sochi is in the middle of a heatwave, this week’s Nintendo Download is packed with ice and snow.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Wii U leads this week’s new releases. The most famous gorilla in gaming has escaped the jungle and will be climbing snow-capped mountains in his latest adventure. And the entire Kong family (including Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky) is along for the ride.
Also available for the Wii U this week is a true NES classic, Ice Hockey. The American women may have missed out on the Gold Medal game in this year’s Winter Olympics, but it’s always a good time for Ice Hockey.
Over on the 3DS eShop, four new games are now available to download this week. Level-5’s Weapon Shop De Omasse, the last game in the “Guild01” collection to make it to America, leads the way. If taking on the responsibilities of a rhythmic weaponsmith doesn’t appeal to you, this week’s new releases also include Kung Fu Rabbit (a side-scrolling platformer), Quell Reflect (a puzzle game), and Sky Kid (another NES classic).
More details on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Weapon Shop De Omasse
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark will be released this Summer
The continuity snarl that is the Transformers franchise makes the last half-century of Marvel and DC storytelling look neat and ordered by comparison. The series is rife with alternate universes and the executives in charge of this narrative morass have attempted to merge, split, and remerge the storyline since the 1980s.
The latest attempt at building an all-purpose Transformers universe is Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, the latest game adaptation of the long-running series from Activision. According to GameSpot, Rise of the Dark Spark will merge High Moon’s War For Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron continuity with Michael Bay’s Transformers films to tie-in with this Summer’s Age of Extinction. Sadly, High Moon won’t be developing the game. Instead, Activision has enlisted Edge of Reality to create the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One game. WayForward Technologies will develop a handheld version of the game for the 3DS.
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark will be released this Summer to coincide with the theatrical opening of Transformers: Age of Extinction.
New Releases: Donkey Kong Country: Tropcial Freeze, EDF 2025, NASCAR 14, More
While Mario and Sonic have already conquered the Winter Olympics, Nintendo is ready to send another one of its beloved characters out into the snow. The normally jungle-bound Donkey Kong will get to play in the powder this week with the release of Donkey Kong Country: Tropcial Freeze for the Wii U. Better pack your mittens, big guy.
A jungle of a different kind will need to be saved in D3 Publisher’s Earth Defense Force 2025. The big bugs are back and the Earth Defense Force must once again band together to save the urban jungle that is Tokyo. You can get it on the PS3 or the Xbox 360.
This week’s final new release is NASCAR 14 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360. The franchise has switched publishers from Activision to Deep Silver, but developer Eutechnyx is once again responsible for development on the racing simulation.
Finally, a pair of ports have found new homes this week. Ubisoft’s highly acclaimed Rayman Legends makes a next-generation leap to the PS4 and Xbox One. Meanwhile, WB’s Lego Marvel Super Heroes downgrades to the DS. Games for everybody!
Posted in DS, News, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Earth Defense Force 2025, NASCAR 14, Rayman Legends
Nintendo will add GBA games to Wii U Virtual Console in April
With the Super Game Boy, Nintendo pioneered the concept of playing handheld games on a home console. Beginning in April, they’ll take the Super Game Boy concept to the next level.
During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation, President Satoru Iwata confirmed that the first Game Boy Advance games will be added to the Virtual Console section of the Wii U eShop. April’s first wave of titles will include “fan favorites” such as Metroid Fusion, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3. More Game Boy Advance games will be added to the Wii U eShop every month thereafter.
So what’s on your Game Boy Advance-on-Wii U wish list?
Gonna Fly Now! Little Mac joins Super Smash Bros. 4
After taking out Mike Tyson, putting Mr. Dream to sleep, bashing Nick Bruiser, and saying night-night to Mr. Sandman, Little Mac has made quite the name for himself in the World Video Boxing Association. Naturally, he needs a new challenge, so he’s gonna fly now to Super Smash Bros. 4 for the 3DS and Wii U.
Super Smash Bros. 4 still doesn’t have a release date, but with the inclusion of Little Mac (and Mega Man), it now has my pre-order money.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
CoD: Ghosts is the best-selling game of the month for the third straight month
The results are in and, according to The NPD Group, Call of Duty: Ghosts is once again the best-selling game of the preceding four weeks. After reigning supreme during November and December, the military shooter has emerged victorious against a particularly weak January release slate.
In fact, the only other new release in this month’s top ten is the “Definitive Edition” of Tomb Raider, which, along with sales of the “Game of the Year Edition” on the PS3/Xbox 360, helped Lara Croft’s latest adventure take the #10 spot.
Post-Christmas gift cards likely played a role in determining January’s biggest moneymakers as many of 2013’s biggest games staked out the remaining eight spots. NBA 2K14, lead by a strong performance on the PS4, landed at #2 and Battlefield 4, despite its continued online woes, was the #3 best-selling game of the month. And what about the next-generation consoles? Well, the NPD revealed that the PS4 is currently the #1 next-generation console in the US with the Xbox One close behind.
A complete look at last month’s top ten best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, FIFA 14, Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Madden NFL 25, Minecraft, NBA 2K14, NPD, Tomb Raider
The Koopalings join Mario Kart 8 as Nintendo announces May 30 release date
Mario Kart 8 will add hover-karts and anti-gravity tracks to the Mario Kart formula, but it’ll also include something else never-before-seen in the series before: All seven Koopalings.
That’s right… Iggy, Larry, Lemmy, Ludwig, Morton, Roy, and Wendy will all join the race alongside their papa, Bowser. Their inclusion balloons the game’s cast to 24 characters, one of the largest ever in the series. And there’s no indication that Nintendo is done adding characters before Mario Kart 8’s release.
Oh, and speaking of Mario Kart 8’s release date, Nintendo also announced that the game will be available in stores and on the Wii U eShop on May 30.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8