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
TrU or False: Retro Studios developing Star Fox United for Wii U
Over the weekend a rumour spread like wildfire across the internet, that Retro Studios, the geniuses behind the Metroid Prime trilogy, were making a new entry into Nintendo’s furry Star Fox universe, entitled Star Fox United.
It started on the 4Chan imageboards, where several dubious screenshots were posted, along with a retro-looking logo. The story was first picked up by Go Nintendo and others quickly followed suit.
However, the images disappeared almost as soon as they arrived, like a giant explosion in the vacuum of space. Most seem to believe it was a hoax, but there is a little part of me praying this is true. I would love a Nintendo version of Mass Effect, mixing flying missions with third or first-person shooter quests. I can imagine seeing the HD detail of Fox’s fur blowing in the kickback from his gun.
For the moment though, it looks to be a dream upon the stars.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Star Fox Zero
ZombiU puts the “survival” back in survival horror
While Nintendo affixed a “U” on the end of all their Wii U games, Ubisoft’s ZombiU has to take the prize for the most ridiculous reference to Nintendo’s next console. Say it real fast. Sounds kind of like Zom-Wii U doesn’t it?
Wacky title aside, ZombiU also looks to put the “survival” back in the survival horror genre. Using the Wii U GamePad, every time a player looks into their bag or attempts to access an in-game computer, the camera will shift to the tablet controller, ensuring players split their attention between both screens to live.
I’ve got to admit, that’s a pretty great use of the Wii U GamePad. If you missed the E3 trailer above, be sure to give it a watch now.
Miyamoto: Zelda for Wii U is in R&D stage
Last year’s Wii U reveal included a tech demo of Link battling a giant spider in jawdropping high definition. This year, the plucky elf in the green tunic was no where to be seen.
So where was he? Entertainment Weekly pried the answer out of Shigeru Miyamoto yesterday during the closing moments of E3 2012:
EW: So you’re sort of in the R&D stage [for the next Legend of Zelda game]?
Miyamoto: Yeah. With the last game, Skyward Sword, that was a game where you had motion control to use your weapons and a lot of different items, and I thought that was a lot of fun, but there were some people who weren’t able to do that or didn’t like it as much and stopped playing partway through it. So we’re in the phase where we’re looking back at what’s worked very well and what has been missing and how can we evolve it further.
According to Miyamoto, this “research and development stage” involves a lot of experiments at Nintendo including “What is the most important element of Zelda if we were to try to make a Zelda game that a lot of people can play?”
When they figure that out, Miyamoto said, is when Nintendo will announce the next Legend of Zelda game.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo: “People are going to be pleasantly surprised” at Wii U launch price
Reggie Fils-Aime, the President of Nintendo of America, sat down with IGN during this year’s E3 Expo to talk about where the company plans to go in 2012. One of the major themes of this talk was the Wii U launch price. While Fils-Aime wouldn’t commit to a specific dollar amount, he does believe that gamers will be “pleasantly surprised” when they hear the final number:
Nintendo believes in being a mass market product. So unlike our competitors, when they’ve launched historical systems, to maybe start at a really high price and work their way down. We don’t believe in that. We want to launch at a price that’s going to represent an ongoing, great value.
You look at the Wii, we stayed at $250 for a really long time. So we’re going to give that same thought to the Wii U. How do we launch at a value that we’re going to be able to sustain for a long time? And I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised, if you will, at how we’re managing the value equation.
So it’s going to be low, but not too low. Gotcha.
The Avengers: Battle For Earth trailer hulks its way online
With the 2012 E3 Expo over, the arguments over which of the Big Three “won” E3 have just begun. But no one can deny that from all the developers, it was Ubisoft who stole the show with the likes of Assassin’s Creed III and the surprising ZombiU for Nintendo’s new console. However, the company also showed a trailer for its upcoming Marvel Comics title, The Avengers: Battle For Earth.
The ambitious title is a beat ‘em up utilizing motion controls, and is being designed to be played with either the Wii U or the Xbox 360’s Kinect sensor. There will be initially be twenty playable characters, which will not be limited to those who appear in the film, as the game is instead based on Marvel’s 2008 comic book event Secret Invasion, which saw the shape-shifting Skrulls infiltrating superhero teams from the entire Marvel universe. While Brian Michael Bendis, the writer of that story arc, is not involved, the great and often hilarious Peter David, writer of the Multiple-Man led “X-Factor” comic, is working with Ubisoft on the storyline.
Since it is not attached to the movie, fan favourites such as Spider-Man and Wolverine will be involved in the action. My fingers are crossed that Wade Wilson, the Merc with a Mouth known as Deadpool, will make a wise-cracking appearance. While the full roster has still to be revealed, the E3 demo showed off the ability to tag up to two other players in, allowing the initial character to regenerate some health.
It is not known how the Wii U version will differ from the Xbox 360 game, or how it will utilize the new Wii U GamePad, but it’ll be available this Fall.
Posted in News, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged E3 2012, The Avengers: Battle For Earth
Scribblenauts Unlimited coming to 3DS, PC, Wii U
Warner Bros. and 5th Cell are expanding Maxwell’s horizons yet again, bringing him to the 3DS, PC, and Wii U with Scribblenauts Unlimited this holiday season. We’ll finally be learning more about Maxwell’s background as well – not only do we get to find out how he got his magical notepad, but we’ll also get the skinny on his parents and twin sister, Lily.
The PC and Wii U versions will also include an Object Editor, allowing players to make and share creations online. All objects – shared and summoned in the game – can be stored in your “magic backpack.” Jeremiah Slaczka, C.E.O. and Creative Director of 5th Cell, said, “With new gameplay modes and features, Scribblenauts Unlimited sets no limits on how players can use their imagination. The game breaks the franchise’s previously set boundaries and allows for unlimited creativity.”
This sounds promising. Even though I never finished the first one, I’m ready to put my Maxwell hat back on and jump into another creative adventure with him.
Injustice ditches block button, adds Clash System
I think NetherRealm’s Injustice: Gods Among Us announcement was met with a worldwide chorus of, “It looks like Mortal Kombat with DC characters.” But there’s apparently more going on here under the hood.
For one thing, the game has jettisoned the block button, which was a staple of the Mortal Kombat series. Instead, Injustice will use Street Fighter-style blocking (pressing Back on the control pad).
Injustice will also use something called the Clash System, a chatty combo breaker system that attempts to emulate the verbal tet-a-tet often found in comic book fights.
“Once you go into this Clash thing, from a purely aesthetic standpoint, the characters will interact with each other. Batman will say specific stuff to Superman and vice-versa, different things than he would say to one of the other characters,” Lead Designer John Edwards said.
After they exchange a little smack talk, both characters will enter a “betting” phase, where they wager all or part of their super meter. The bets are kept secret (Edwards didn’t say how), and the higher bet wins the Clash.
“So if the defender wins the Clash, then he gets back all the health from that combo that he would have lost,” Edwards said. “If the attacker wins, [the defender] takes that damage plus a little bit more.”
It sounds a bit confusing, but hopefully it’ll all make sense when we see it in action ahead of Injustice’s 2013 release on the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U.
[Source: Joystiq]
Lego City: Undercover trailer makes it look like GTA for kids
When I was watching the Lego City: Undercover trailer yesterday during Nintendo’s E3 2012 Press Conference, it felt very familiar to me. Obviously, the formula that developer TT Games refined with Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Batman, and Lego Harry Potter was self-evident. But there was something else…
Today it hit me. Lego City: Undercover is basically “Grand Theft Auto: Legoland” and that is quick possibly the coolest realization ever. Watch the trailer above and judge for yourself.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, Lego City Undercover