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 @ E3 12: Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition announced
Reggie has ceded the stage to WB Games and Rocksteady Studios to announced Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition.
The game will include new Wii U GamePad-exclusive features (specifically relating to Batman’s Utility Belt such as Batbombs and a remote control Batarang) and special “Armored” suits for Batman and Catwoman.
The Armored suits will tie in to B.A.T. Mode, a Dark Knight-take on rage mode.
Basically, Batman Beyond: The Game is a reality.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Batman: Arkham City, E3 2012
Nintendo @ E3 12: New Super Mario Bros. U announced
We already got a small taste of it during Sunday’s Nintendo Direct presentation, but Reggie Fils-Aime just officially announced New Super Mario Bros. U.
The side-scrolling platformer will be heavily integrated with the Miiverse social network and include four-player play.
The graphics are gorgeous and show Mario running and jumping through a vibrant Mushroom Kingdom full of baby Yoshis, Koopa Troopas, Goombas, and underwater swimming. The video also showed Mario’s new wingsuit.
Reggie also confirmed that the player with the Wii U GamePad will be able to drop blocks along the map to help the other players advance.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, New Super Mario Bros. U
Nintendo @ E3 12: Wii U will support two GamePads
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime just announced that some games on the Wii U will support two Wii U GamePads.
However, this week at E3, the company plans to focus on “single-GamePad experiences.”
Nintendo @ E3 12: Pikmin 3 shown for the first time
Pikmin 3 was first announced several years ago for the Wii. But Shigeru Miyamoto wasn’t able to create the game he wanted with that hardware. But, he says, with the higher resolution available on the Wii U, he can.
New Pikmin types including “Rock Pikmin,” which can be used to break hard objects.
Basic controls with Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk. Playing with the Wii U GamePad adds an interactive map to the tablet controller’s touchscreen for quick movement.
Pikmin 3 will offer the ability to control four leaders, but “Captain Olimar is not among them. Why is a secret.”
Ubisoft @ E3 12: Assassin’s Creed III is a revolution
Ah, the moment everyone was waiting for: a beautiful trailer for Assassin’s Creed III. The assassin ran through the camp, took a horse, rode it into the middle of battle, then single-handedly (and with much finesse) took out a bunch of British soldiers. He took out his quarry – viciously, as always – bringing a smile to Washington’s face.
Francois Pelland, producer, came onstage after the trailer to give a live demo. Running through the New England woods in winter, climbing and leaping from tree to tree – the gracefulness translates beautifully here. But the first battle was against wolves, who come after you when you kill a deer. Not very exciting, but certainly successful in immersing you in this time period new to the franchise. When the player returns to the camp, it’s clear that he was on a fetch quest, and that there are a plethora of these available.
And then came the real combat, which was as amazing as can be expected. After stringing one soldier up, he grabbed another and used him as a shield against the enemies’ bullets, then danced among the rest with his axe. The assassination goes off beautifully, with the same familiar gameplay and cinematics we’ve all grown to love.
Pelland explained afterwards that the true enemy in this game – and in all games in this franchise – have always been the Templar. Don’t get caught up in seeing the British as the enemy, but rather keep the real focus in mind. And don’t be afraid to kill whatever gets in your way – whether it has two legs or four.
Ubisoft @ E3 12: Rayman Legends gets demoed on the Wii U
Michael Micholic was onstage at Ubisoft’s press conference to talk about Rayman Legends. But he did more than talk about it – he gave a live demo on the Wii U. While the game itself looks pretty adorable on its own, I couldn’t help but stare at the controller every single chance I could. The controllers were wired, but Micholic assured us they were early controllers and that the final models would “of course” be wireless.
And then, suddenly, the game turned into a platforming pseudo-rhythm game. I hope I wasn’t the only one who thought that was rad. I’m not really sure what to make of all of these bells and whistles, but I’m actually interested in the Wii U for the first time… ever.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, Rayman Legends
Wii U gets its own social network, Miiverse
I know that everybody loved Friend Codes, but Nintendo plans to do away with the matchmaking service when the Wii U launches later this year. Instead, the console will come pre-bundled with the Nintendo Network, which will be home to a Wii U-centric social network known as Miiverse (or “Mii Universe,” if you prefer).
When players enter the Miiverse, they’ll be transported to a bustling city of Miis that are congregating around the most popular apps and games the Wii U has to offer (even games you don’t own). In addition to learning that Super Mario Bros. Wii U is very popular, the Miiverse will also blast the player with status updates from “friends, people playing the same games as you, and people who speak the same language as you.”
For a more personal connection, the Miiverse also offers video chat (courtesy of the Wii U GamePad’s front-facing camera), messaging (including handwritten messages scrawled on the GamePad’s touchscreen), and game-specific message boards.
These in-game messages will also bleed over into the games themselves, as all Wii U games will have the ability to connect to the Miiverse. During the Pre-E3 Nintendo Direct presentation, company President Satoru Iwata showed how gamers can converse and commiserate within Super Mario Bros. Wii U.
The Miiverse will also be accesible from other devices including the 3DS, the PC, and mobile devices. However, this feature of the social network won’t be available when the Wii U launches this Fall.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, New Super Mario Bros. U
These are the first screenshots of Super Mario Bros. Wii U
Tonight’s Pre-E3 edition of Nintendo Direct revealed some interesting new details about the Wii U GamePad and Pro Controller, but the most interesting thing that company President Satoru Iwata showed off was unveiled with no fanfare at all.
During the latter portion of the presentation, Iwata unveiled the Miiverse social networking component that is included with every Wii U console. He also said that the service can connect gamers as they’re playing Wii U games and demonstrated this connection with 16 seconds of footage from Super Mario Bros. Wii U.
The game is officially untitled and Iwata never confirmed the video came from the next Mario game. But we know the game in development, we know it’ll make its debut at E3 2012, and we know that this new footage is different from last year’s New Super Mario Bros. Mii tech demo.
You can see a few screenshots we pulled from the video, or watch the entire presentation yourself, after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2012, New Super Mario Bros. U