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: Batman: Arkham Origins, Assassin’s Creed IV, a whole lot more
It’s a big week for Nintendo’s eShop. It’s like a stealthy intruder who sneaks up on you unsuspectingly, except instead of a blade to the throat or a judo chop to the back of the head, this ninja/assassin delivers a giant pile of new games into your arms. So let’s get to it…
The ninjas are covered by Batman: Arkham Origins (Wii U) and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (3DS). Both games chronicle the rise of The Dark Knight (albeit in different stories) and they’ll both be available to download tomorrow. Arkham Origins also features plenty of assassins, but Edward Kenway, The Assassin, will leap onto the Wii U this week. While Ubisoft has no plans to bring the game’s DLC expansions to the system, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will be downloadable through your Wii U on Tuesday, October 29.
Also available on the 29th is Sonic’s first Wii U adventure, Sonic: Lost World The blue hedgehog’s latest game will also spin dash its way to the 3DS on the same day.
Finally, if you’re looking to download something today, Capcom has released the fifth game in the Phoenix Wright series, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies. It’s not available in stores and is only available through the 3DS eShop.
More information on all of these games (and many others) is available after the break. (more…)
Batman: Arkham Origins is out tomorrow… here’s the launch trailer and a gameplay video
Batman: Arkham Origins is all set to launch for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 tomorrow. So right on schedule, WB Games Montreal has released a beautiful launch trailer that focuses on The Batman’s Christmas Eve battle with Black Mask. Not content with releasing a two-minute teaser of the game, the developer has also tapped Senior Producer Ben Mattes and Gameplay Director Michael McIntyre to provide commentary on a 17-minute walkthrough video, which is available after the break. (more…)
Another Super Mario 3D World trailer makes my day
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but Nintendo’s trailers for Super Mario 3D World are just so soothing. Maybe it’s long running times. Or maybe it’s the announcer who sounds like he was teleported in from a 1960s educational show for children. Whatever the reason, this new trailer for Super Mario 3D World has “it” in spades.
Super Mario 3D World will be available exclusively for the Wii U on November 22.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario 3D World
New Releases: Batman: Arkham Origins, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Rocksmith 2014, More
It’s a Marvel versus DC face-off this week as Batman: Arkham Origins (PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) and Lego Marvel Super Heroes (3DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360) are both scheduled for release. A handheld companion game to Arkham Origins, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (3DS, Vita) will also swing into stores this week.
The remainder of this week’s new releases include a grab bag of stuff such as…
- Rocksmith 2014 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) – Ubisoft’s next guitar game.
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut (PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360) – An updated version of Square Enix’s 2011 FPS, now available for the Wii U for the first time.
- The Sims 3: Into the Future (PC) – The last Sims 3 expansion before The Sims 4 is released in 2014.
- Hometown Story (3DS) – A new life sim from the creators of the Harvest Moon series.
Even more new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Batman: Arkham Origins, Lego Marvel Super Heroes
Batman begins in Batman: Arkham Origins’ TV commercial
Warner Bros. Games is really sticking with the “origins” theme for Batman: Arkham Origins. The publisher recently unveiled the game’s TV spot and it depicts a young Bruce Wayne witnessing the murder of his parents before zipping ahead to the present. But the journey is half the story and we also see the stone-faced boy and determined martial artist he would be before settling on the man… The Batman… he would become.
The commercial will begin airing on broadcast channels beginning today. Batman: Arkham Origins will be released for the PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 on October 25.
UPDATE: This impressive commercial was created by Blur Studio and was directed by Tim Miller, who has been tapped by Fox to direct the Deadpool movie.
Someone leaked GameStop’s Black Friday 2013 ad
Someone from GottaDeals.com has obtained a copy of GameStop’s 12-page Black Friday 2013 circular and it’s certainly worth a look. There’s nothing that absolutely screams, “MUST BUY,” but there is plenty of smaller deals and at least something to appeal to everyone.
If you’re looking for system bundles, both the PS3 and Xbox 360 will have $199.99 packages available. The Xbox 360 250GB Bundle will include Halo 4 + Tomb Raider while the PS3 250GB Bundle will include Batman: Arkham Origins + The Last of Us. Nintendo is also getting in on the act with a Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 3DS XL Bundle. Priced at $219.99, it includes a gold system and the game.
Some of the best “Friday Only” deals include Beyond: Two Souls ($39.99), The Last of Us ($39.99), Battlefield 4 ($29.99), Call of Duty: Ghosts ($49.99), and Just Dance 2014 ($19.99). A few “All Weekend” deals are pretty great as well: Diablo III ($39.99), WWE 2K14 ($39.99), Dishonored: Game of the Year Edition ($24.99), and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist ($24.99).
There’s a possibility that the ad (and the sales within) could change between now and Black Friday, November 29, as Watch Dogs and DriveClub, both of which were delayed into 2014 this week, were included in the PS4 section.
GTA5 steals our hearts (and money) as the best-selling game of September 2013
Rockstar Games was on a quest for booty last month as Grand Theft Auto V was declared the best-selling game of the month by The NPD Group (via Joystiq). Not only did GTA5 sell a ridiculous amount of copies, but the title actually raised the fortunes of the entire video game industry. In September 2012, the game industry recorded $848 million in retail sales. Last month? $1.07 billion. Whoa.
The rest of the top ten includes a mixture of new releases and August holdovers. NBA 2K14 (#3), Diablo III (#4), FIFA 14 (#5), Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix (#6), and NHL 14 (#8) represent the new releases while Madden NFL 25 (#2), Disney Infinity (#7), and Saints Row IV (#10) all remained on the list from August. The retail version of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (at #9) was the only game with a pre-August release date to crack the top ten.
If you’d prefer your monthly NPD report in list format, we’ve got that too:
Bestselling Games in September 2013
1. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360, PS3)
2. Madden NFL 25 (Xbox 360, PS3)
3. NBA 2K14 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
4. Diablo III (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
5. FIFA 14 (Xbox 360, PS3, Vita)
6. Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix (PS3)
7. Disney Infinity (Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Wii U, 3DS)
8. NHL 14 (Xbox 360, PS3)
9. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (Xbox 360)
10. Saints Row IV (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Diablo III, Disney Infinity, FIFA 14, Grand Theft Auto V, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMix, Madden NFL 25, Minecraft, NBA 2K14, NHL 14, NPD, Saints Row IV
6 Reasons I’m Not Looking Forward to Batman: Arkham Origins
Warner Bros. Games Montreal’s Batman: Arkham Origins hits stores next week, and despite wave after wave of screenshots and info on the villains of the project, it has not managed to raise my excitement above lukewarm. I’m a self-confessed Batman fan and I adored the previous two entries (Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, despite the latter’s Day One DLC debacle), yet the prospect of purchasing the third entry has left me feeling numb
“But this is The Batman!” I hear my inner geek scream.
“So was Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin,” replies the pessimistic part of my brain.
In an attempt to reconcile these loyal feelings of fandom with my lackluster enthusiasm for the game, I decided to dissect exactly why Origins is not pushing my buttons. (more…)