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
Yacht Club sails in with an update on Shovel Knight’s Specter Knight campaign
Yacht Club Games is still toiling away at Shovel Knight‘s heaping helping of post-launch content, and after giving us a quick glimpse at the King Knight campaign a few weeks ago, the developer has returned with an extended profile of Specter Knight’s upcoming adventure.
Using a series of GIFs to illustrate Specter Knight’s moveset on their official website, Yacht Club Games seems to be mining another 8-bit classic, Ninja Gaiden, for inspiration. Specter Knight can slash with his trusty scythe, be he also has a lightning quick dash that can be performed on the ground or in the air. The character’s nimble form will also allow him to wall run to reach greater heights.
Yacht Club Games is developing the add-on campaigns for Specter Knight and King Knight simultaneously, though Specter Knight’s will launch first. The team isn’t ready to talk release dates just yet, but both campaigns will be available for free, alongside the also in-development Body Swap Mode and Battle Mode.
Finally, Yacht Club announced that Shovel Knight will be available on store shelves for the Vita soon. The limited physical version is in production at FanGamer and will be released in early October.
Kylo Ren angsts up the latest Character Trailer for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Exactly a week from today, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be available on store shelves for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. So WB Games has released one last Character Trailer, this time focusing on Kylo Ren’s exploration of “the lighter side of the Dark Side.”
Featuring new dialogue from Adam Driver, be sure to pause Kylo Ren’s vignette after seven seconds to get a great look at his bedroom. It looks like something of a college comedy, but I think the Warhol-inspired Darth Vader portrait is an especially nice touch.
And in case you missed it, a Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens demo is now available to download through the PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store for the PS4 and Xbox One.
Three Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games will be added to Wii U eShop this Thursday
Nintendo has announced that three games in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series will be added to the Wii U eShop this Thursday, June 23.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (originally released for the Game Boy Advance and DS, respectively, in 2006) will be added to the digital storefront alongside Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, which was originally released for the DS in 2009.
In case any of these games are unfamiliar to you, Nintendo supplied us with these expanded descriptions:
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team
What if you woke up one day, and you were a Pokemon? What if all of a sudden you find yourself in a NEW world, where you can speak and interact with other Pokemon? The adventure begins when you and your partner Pokemon set out on rescue missions in a world ravaged by natural disasters. But, what is your true purpose and destiny in this Pokemon world? That’s the REAL mystery…Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
Become a Pokemon and Save the World! In the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky game, players become a Pokemon and team up with a partner Pokemon. Together the two set out on an adventure of exploration and discovery, ultimately saving the world from destruction. This game is a great starting point for players to enter the world of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and for returning players to discover even more secrets.
Nintendo also revealed that additional Pokemon games from yesteryear will be added to the Nintendo eShop this Summer.
Players can go straight to the final boss in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo has described The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as an “open-air” adventure, but just how open will the game’s world be? Well, when Polygon spoke to Producer Eiji Aonuma at this year’s E3 Expo, he revealed that players can start a new game and head directly for the final boss:
“Users may not actually get the full story depending on how they play this game and how they strategize and solve puzzles,” producer Eiji Aonuma told Polygon. “Users are able to go to the very end goal without revealing why Link woke up the way he did and where he did. Whether you want to reveal the storyline and find out why Link woke up, or you want to just go straight to the goal, that’s an option totally up to the user.”
While I’m sure a successful attempt at beating Breath of the Wild like that will make a great speedrun video some day, Aonuma thinks players who try are a bit on the “crazy” side:
“Anybody who can go straight to the goal without doing anything else — there’s two possibilities,” Aonuma said. “Either they’re a really good gamer, or they could be somebody that’s a little bit crazy. But it’s not impossible. I created the game like that.”
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will released for the Wii U and NX sometime in 2017.
Posted in News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged E3 2016, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
New Retail Releases: Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE, Mighty No. 9, Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, More
The major game publishers clearly didn’t want to compete with the annual E3 Expo last week, but a number of them are back this week with a handful of intriguing new titles.
Leading the way is Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE, an Atlus/Nintendo collaboration for the Wii U that mashes together characters you’d find in a Fire Emblem game with the mood of a Persona title.
Nintendo is also getting ready for the Summer Games this week with the release of Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games for the Wii U. Players will get to try out 14 Olympic sports including soccer, track, and rugby.
Another highly-anticipated title this week, though for very different reasons, is Mighty No. 9 for the PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One (it’ll also be available digitally for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360). Keiji Inafune’s tribute to the Mega Man franchise has been facing development woes since the very beginning, and it’ll be interesting to see how the final product came together.
Elsewhere on store shelves this week will be The Technomancer, an action RPG for the PS4 and Xbox One from Spiders; and MXGP 2, the latest motorcycle racer from Milestone, for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Finally, Microsoft will re-release Minecraft: Xbox One Edition in a special “Favorites Pack” bundle that includes the base game and seven additional add-ons (Battle & Beasts Skin Pack, Battle & Beasts 2 Skin Pack, Natural Texture Pack, City Texture Pack, Fantasy Texture Pack, Festive Mash-up, and Halo Mash-up).
We’ll be back later this week with a look at all the new additions to the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
UPDATE: The release of The Technomancer was pushed back a week to June 28.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One
Tagged Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Mighty No. 9, Minecraft, Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem
Shigeru Miyamoto talks about “a new kind of Mario” at E3 2016
During the waning hours of this year’s E3 Expo, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto told IGN, “We’re always challenging ourselves to create something new, so hopefully you’ll see a new kind of Mario in about a year or two.”
For longtime fans of Nintendo, any kind of new Mario game is cause for excitement, but a “new kind of Mario” game is something else entirely. And if it’s still a year or two away, does that mean it’s in development for Nintendo’s new NX console?
Mario’s video game career has allowed him to take up a number of different vocations over the years, but Miyamoto believes that the core principles of any Mario game must be grounded in “approachability and accessibility.” This has made it difficult for the developer to stray too far from the traditional Mario formula, but younger employees have helped him “[look] at the conventions with fresh eyes.”
It’s much too early to speculate on what Miyamoto is cooking up within Nintendo’s headquarters, but it goes along with what Super Mario Maker co-creator Takashi Tezuka said back in November, when he told reporters the consolemaker has “interesting things” planned for the character.
Wherever Mario goes next, it might be a while before we hear about it. Miyamoto finished his chat with IGN by saying, “Maybe next E3 we’ll be able to share something.”
Nintendo Download: Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Terraria, Super Paper Mario, more
Even though it was E3 week, Nintendo has loaded this week’s Nintendo eShop update with a great new (and classic) games.
Leading things off is Rhythm Heaven Megamix, which received a surprise launch for the 3DS earlier this week. Rhythm Heaven Megamix collects more than 70 challenges from the series and asks players to match the absolutely bizarre beat of goats eating turnips, viruses speeding around a body, a hungry bear, and more.
Also this week, a Super NES classic is now available to download for Nintendo’s handheld. Mega Man 7 isn’t as well-known as the NES sextet that preceded it, but fans have started to come around on the original Blue Bomber’s only 16-bit adventure.
Over on the Wii U, players are able to download Terraria today, which is two weeks earlier than expected. The side-scrolling exploration game has added a touchscreen interface for its Wii U debut, along with online and splitscreen multiplayer. Finally, Nintendo added the Wii-era adventure Super Paper Mario to the Wii U eShop.
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Paper Mario, Terraria
Nintendo slaps an October 7 release date on Paper Mario: Color Splash
The Paper Mario series will return this Fall in Paper Mario: Color Splash for the Wii U. During this week’s E3 Expo, Nintendo announced that the game will be available on October 7. They also revealed the Koopalings will appear in the series for the first time as Mario tries to restore the missing colors to Prism Island:
In this new Paper Mario game, the story begins as Mario and friends arrive on Prism Island and need to solve the mystery surrounding Toad characters that have lost their color. Mario and his new partner Huey join forces to learn more about what is happening on Prism Island, and also to collect missing Paint Stars.
Nintendo’s Treehouse Live series took a deeper look at Paper Mario: Color Splash yesterday, and you can check out the entire 40-minute video after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2016, Paper Mario: Color Splash