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
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt nabs eight nominations at 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards
South by Southwest Gaming recently announced the nominees for this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, not surprisingly, has captured the most accolades. CD Projekt’s sprawling RPG is up for eight awards, including “Game of the Year.” It was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Art,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Visual Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” “Excellence in Musical Score,” and “Most Enduring Character.”
Competing against Geralt of Rivia for “Game of the Year” is a familiar-looking quartet of games including Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and Undertale. Bloodborne was actually a close second to The Witcher 3 with seven nominations.
Who wins at the 2016 SXSW Gaming Awards will be determined in part by a public vote that will hosted by IGN from Monday, February 1 through Friday, February 12. The winners will be announced on Saturday, March 19 at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) and you can watch it live on Twitch.
The complete list of this year’s nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Bloodborne, Fallout 4, Her Story, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Splatoon, Star Wars: Battlefront, Superhot, Tabletop Games, The Order: 1886, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Mighty No. 9 delayed for a third time… will now be released in Spring 2016
There is no joy in Mudville… Mighty Keiji has delayed again.
Keiji Inafune and his team at have Comcept have informed Kickstarter backers that Mighty No. 9 has been delayed again. The platformer won’t be able to meet its planned release date of February 9 and will instead now launch sometime in the Spring. Once again citing bugs in the network code as the reason for the delay, all the developer could do was apologize:
The reason for the delay is rooted in bugs inside the network modes, and specifically problems with matchmaking. There are two large reasons for this problem, one of them being the large number of platforms supported (the solution for each platform is slightly different) and the other stems from the fact that the engine we are using is no longer being updated which means adjustments for matchmaking and online code are being made manually (actually reprogramming parts of the engine by the dev team themselves).
Unfortunately, this is all a result of miscalculations on the part of us, the development staff. As a result, our fans who have been looking forward to Mighty No. 9 have been forced to wait for over half a year longer than expected, and for that we are sincerely sorry. I want to take this chance to apologize personally, and on the behalf of the development staff.
Inafune added that the development team “has been working on these issues non-stop without break” and that “the end is in sight.” If that’s true, Mighty No. 9 will finally be released for the 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Spring.
Splatoon’s final new map, Ancho-V Games, is now available to download
Nintendo aped Steam’s Early Access model when they launched Splatoon nearly nine months ago. During its first few weeks of availability, the game had relatively few maps and an even fewer number of game modes. But Nintendo slowly and steadily added new content to the game through a series of free updates… ultimately offering more weapons, more modes, and more maps at regular intervals. But that all came to an end this week with the release of “Ancho-V Games,” Splatoon’s final new map.
Here’s what the always-entertaining Squid Research Lab had to say about the map:
The setting this time around is inside the offices of the developers of hit indie games like “Squid Jump.” Keep an eye out for some of the jellyfish development team, hard at work (and under a strict NDA!) on their next title. Hope they don’t mind the mess!
One feature of this stage are the PC-fan shaped propellers that can be inked to move portions of the floor. Use these to exploit the stage’s verticality and gain the high ground over your opponents. What role do these things play in game development, anyway?
It’s been quite a ride for Splatoon and the many players who populate its ink-filled arenas. I’m sure the game’s lobbies will stay crowded for a long time, and it looks like the consolemaker will continue to offer monthly Splatfest events for the foreseeable future.
Nintendo has a fantastic new franchise on their hands with Splatoon, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
New Releases: Final Fantasy Explorers, Lego Avengers, Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC
This might get said every January, but January 2016 was an abnormally slow period for new game releases. The first month of the year closes out with the launch of a trio new games and a promise of much more to come in the remaining eleven frames:
- Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS) is a multiplayer action RPG from Square Enix that resurrects “legendary” Final Fantasy characters to battle with a horde of monsters guarding a cache of crystals. Yup, sounds like a Final Fantasy game.
- Lego Avengers (3DS, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One) is the latest Lego-ization of some pop culture favorite by the geniuses at TT Games. This time, they’ve set their sights on the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe and created a brick-filled adaptation of The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron Man 3, and Thor: The Dark World.
- Finally, Square Enix comes back around again to bring Lara Croft’s latest adventure, Rise of the Tomb Raider, to the PC.
As always, we’ll be back later this week to shine the spotlight on the latest digital releases available through the PlayStation Store, Xbox Games Store, and Nintendo eShop.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Final Fantasy Explorers, Lego Avengers, Rise of the Tomb Raider
Every new character from Hyrule Warriors Legends can be added to the Wii U original
GameXplain has good news for everyone who is thinking about buying Hyrule Warriors Legends for the 3DS… you’ll also receive a code to import all five new characters into the Wii U original. It’s unknown if Nintendo will offer the characters as DLC for Wii U owners who don’t want to purchase Hyrule Warriors Legends, but my gut tells me they will.
The GameXplain folks also created the video embedded above, which includes almost an hour of action starring Linkle, Skull Kid, Toon Link, Tetra, and the King of Hyrule in the Japanese version of Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U.
Hyrule Warriors Legends is currently available for the 3DS in Japan, with a North American/European launch planned for March 25.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Hyrule Warriors
Nintendo Download: Minecraft: Story Mode, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, SMB3 GBA, more
It’s going to be a busy busy time for Nintendo fans this weekend as the latest Nintendo Download includes a pair of hotly-anticipated new titles and a different pair of reborn classics.
Let’s start with the new, as Telltale brings their episodic magic to a Nintendo console for the first time in a long time with the release of Minecraft: Story Mode. The first episode, The Order of the Stone, is now available to download through the Wii U eShop and Wii U owners will finally get their chance to craft a new adventure with Jesse and his friends while also possibly saving the world. Also available this week is Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, the latest Mario RPG from Nintendo. Paper Jam will merge “two classic gaming universes” when its added to the 3DS eShop tomorrow.
However, if you’re looking for a game that has received a seal of approval from the gaming public, you can always turn to this week’s Virtual Console re-releases. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 and Zack & Wiki: Quest For Barbaros’ Treasure are both available to download for the Wii U today, bringing an enhanced version of Mario’s greatest adventure (along with the hard-to-find e-Reader-exclusive levels) and a pirate tale from Capcom to the Wii U for the first time.
More information about all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Minecraft: Story Mode, Super Mario Bros. 3
Nintendo confirms Wolf Link Amiibo will unlock Challenge Mode in Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
After a week of rumors, it looks like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD will indeed include a bonus dungeon that’s unlockable with the included Wolf Link Amiibo figure.
The bonus dungeon will be known as the Cave of Shadows and serve as a sort of Challlenge Mode for Twilight Princess players. After completing the Cave of Shadows, players can record their score (represented as their remaining Hearts) to the Wolf Link Amiibo. And tapping the figure again will reopen the dungeon to give players another shot at besting their highest score.
Players will also be able to use other Zelda-themed Amiibo figures in the game. Some of the figures will bestow weapon refills on Link as tapping a Link or Toon Link figure will fill your quiver with arrows. Other figures provide Link with protection as tapping a Zelda or Sheik figure will refill your Hearts. Finally, tapping a Ganondorf figure will make the game considerably harder as all enemies will deal double damage.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD will be released exclusively for the Wii U on March 4.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
A Day-By-Day Guide to All of 2016’s New Video Games (January – March)
After years and years of publishers packing the September through November “Holiday” season with an unmanageable number of new AAA titles, we might get a much more balanced release calendar in 2016. But can you believe it all happened by accident?
Video game fans have always had to deal with delays, but publishers got even more use out of their erasers than normal in 2015. Aside from the one-two punch of Fallout 4‘s E3 2015 announcement, and its eventual release on November 10th, no game felt safe… and more than a few big titles got pushed into 2016. So now we get to ring in 2016 with a release calendar that just might offer up something exciting all year long.
Are you ready? Because here… we… go… (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Amplitude, Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia, Bravely Second: End Layer, EA Sports UFC 2, EVE: Valkyrie, Far Cry: Primal, Final Fantasy Explorers, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright/Conquest, Gone Home, Hitman, Hyrule Warriors, Killer Instinct, Lego Avengers, Life Is Strange, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Mega Man Legacy Collection, Mighty No. 9, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2, Pokken Tournament, Project X Zone 2, Rebel Galaxy, Resident Evil 0, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Rocket League, Street Fighter V, The Banner Saga, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Walking Dead: Michonne, The Witness, Tom Clancy's The Division, Umbrella Corps, XCOM 2