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
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is the first Wii U launch title
The Wii U is still shrouded in mystery, but the first launch title has been announced and it’s not what you’d expect.
Instead of an announcement from Nintendo concerning the latest adventure starring Mario or Link or even Samus Aran, the announcement of the first Wii U launch title has come from Tecmo Koei. During a financial presentation, the publisher revealed that Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge will be available at the Wii U’s launch (whenever that is). Nintendo plans to “re-introduce” the Wii U to the public at E3 2012, so a Fall release is likely.
Ninja Gaiden 3 is also in development for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and will be released on those two platforms in early 2012.
[Source: Andriasang]
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Ninja Gaiden 3
THQ taps Crytek to develop Homefront 2
Executives at THQ haven’t been shy about declaring Homefront the start of a new series, even before it was released. Today, the publisher made good on their promises by announcing that Homefront 2 is in development at Crytek (Crysis, FarCry).
“We see Homefront as a really strong universe that has a lot of potential and that has been expertly created and marketed by THQ,” said Cevat Yerli, Founder, CEO and President of Crytek. “We believe that bringing our level of quality, creativity and production values to the next Homefront title creates an opportunity for both THQ and Crytek to deliver a truly blockbuster game. It’s really important to us that THQ has the faith in giving us a lot of creative freedom over one of its most important properties to allow us to bring the Homefront world to life in a new and innovative way.”
Original developer Kaos Studios was shut down by THQ earlier this year, prompting the Crytek shift. As development of the series moves to Europe, so does the storyline. It’s just a tease so far, but here’s all we know about the plot of Homefront 2:
“[T]he splintered nations of Europe struggle to maintain peace at home, as the global economy continues its downward spiral, and civil order disintegrates. The world is teetering on the brink of ruin…”
According to THQ, Homefront 2 (which is just a working title) will be available on the PC and consoles during their 2014 fiscal year. For those without a THQ financial calendar handy, that means the game will be released between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014. So it’s very likely the “consoles” THQ is referring to are the Wii U, PS4 and Xbox 720.
See the Dragon Quest X debut trailer and two gameplay videos
UPDATE: The trailer has been pulled from YouTube by Square Enix.
I’m still reeling from last night’s reveal that Dragon Quest X will be an “online RPG” for the Wii and Wii U. Up is down! Black is white! Cats and dogs… you get the idea.
But for those of you who missed the live stream, some enterprising YouTubers have uploaded the game’s debut trailer and a pair of gameplay demos. You can check out the trailer above and the gameplay videos after the break, but hurry, Square Enix doesn’t like it when their trailers appear on YouTube unless they put them there. (more…)
Posted in News, Wii, Wii U
Tagged Dragon Quest X
Dragon Quest X revealed for Wii and Wii U
The future of the Dragon Quest series has been unveiled by Square Enix and Nintendo at a special media event in Japan that just ended. The two titans of the Japanese gaming scene have taken the wraps off of Dragon Quest X while also talking about the Dragon Quest Collection, a compilation of the first three games in the series (and their Super NES remakes), which will be released for the Wii in Japan on September 15. An American release is unlikely, but we can hope.
Dragon Quest X is being described as an “online RPG” similar to Dragon Quest IX. Players will be able to team up for multiplayer adventuring, but a strong single-player game will also be included. The game is being developed internally at Square Enix with Producer duties falling to Yosuke Saito (Drakengard, Nier).
Even with the “online” tag, the game looks to be a traditional entry in the Dragon Quest series with job classes, Slimes and turn-based battles. It also has a cel-shaded look that is very reminiscent of Dragon Quest VIII.
Best of all, Dragon Quest X will be available for the Wii and the Wii U. Yes, you read that right. The Wii U version will include enhanced graphics and cross-console play with the Wii version. The Wii version is currently scheduled for a 2012 release in Japan while the Wii U version is “TBA.” Hopefully they make it to America as well.
Posted in News, Wii, Wii U
Tagged Dragon Quest X, Dragon Warrior, Dragon Warrior II, Dragon Warrior III
Wii U release date, price won’t be announced until 2012
Nintendo has published the investor’s Q&A that accompanied their quarterly financial report in July. Most of the Q&A relates to the 3DS and its recent price drop, but Nintendo President Satoru Iwata also confirmed that the price and release date of the Wii U won’t be announced until 2012:
“Since the Wii U we showed you at the E3 show in June was still in the development phase without very specific proposals on the software titles, we are going to announce the release date and the price next year when we are able to explain the specific [titles].”
So I guess those of you hoping to get a Wii U surprise at Gamescom, PAX Prime or the Tokyo Game Show will have to find other things to get excited about.
Nintendo planning downloadable GameCube games for Wii U
The NintendoGal spoke to Amber McCollom, Nintendo’s Director of Entertainment & Trend Marketing, at E3 and she has dropped a pretty huge bombshell. It looks like the Wii U’s online store will include GameCube games in its download offerings.
Here’s the relevant exchange from the interview:
NintendoGal: I noticed on backwards compatibility at the press conference that the GameCube was missing. Why is this?
McCollom: You know it’s interesting that you bring up backwards compatibility and Nintendo’s history usually goes back one system. The Wii was compatible with GameCube and Wii U will be compatible with Wii and that’s pretty traditional in launches from Nintendo.
NintendoGal: So the Wii U will not support the discs or accessories?
McCollom: Actually the GameCube discs will not be compatible with Wii U, but a number of the games that were playable on GameCube can be downloaded from WiiWare.
The one thing McCollom didn’t mention is how GameCube games will be made available on the Wii U. Will they be the original games running off a Virtual Console-like emulator? Or will they be HD ports rebuilt from the ground up like we’ve seen on the PS3 and Xbox 360?
Hopefully, we’ll find out soon.
Wii U to include 3DTV support
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata recently sat down for an interview with the San Jose Mercury News and during the short Q&A he confirmed that the Wii U will include 3DTV support:
If you are going to connect Wii U with a home TV capable of displaying 3-D images, technologically, yes, it is going to be possible, but that’s not the area we are focusing on.
When it comes to 3-D, we already have the 3DS, and each owner of the Nintendo 3DS is capable of viewing 3-D images. However, when it comes to the home console, it depends upon the availability of 3-D TV sets at home, which, unfortunately, is not expanding enough. And rather than pouring a lot of energy into that kind of area, with the Wii U we’d like to focus more on each Wii U owner being able to have an equal opportunity to enjoy it.
So basically, it sounds like the Wii U will support 3DTVs, but don’t expect a lot of 3D content from Nintendo.
BioShock Infinite wins big, Vita edges out Wii U in E3 Game Critics Awards
The results are in for the Game Critics Awards’ Best of E3 2011. BioShock Infinite came away the clear winner, with a victory in every category it was nominated for, for a total of four wins. This comes at the expense of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, which tied with BioShock for most nominations, but came away with a big zero. Battlefield 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim managed to grab two awards a piece, and the PlayStation Vita knocks out the Nintendo’s Wii U to take best hardware.
Head over to the official site for a full list of winners and quick facts.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Battlefield 3, BioShock Infinite, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception