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
Super Mario Maker update adds Checkpoint Flag, context-sensitive powerups, Event Courses, and Nintendo Course World
A new update to Super Mario Maker, which is available starting today, will add a handful of oft-requested features to the game creation tool (and its 3.3 million uploaded courses)…
- Checkpoint Flag – By shaking an Arrow, creators will now be able to place a mid-level Checkpoint Flag on their course. Instead of starting over at the beginning, players will be able to restart a course at the Checkpoint Flag.
- Context-Sensitive Powerups – Creators will be now have the chance to add a Super Mushroom and a Fire Flower to a Question Block. If Mario is small, he’ll get a Super Mushroom, but if he’s big, he’ll get the Fire Flower.
- Event Courses – Event Courses are specially-designed levels created as part of a worldwide event. The first Event Courses will be “Ship Love,” the winning course from the Facebook Hackathon earlier this Summer, and the Omegathon course from PAX Prime.
- Nintendo Course World – Nintendo is adding a new tab to the Makers page and “Official” Nintendo-created courses will soon be available in their own area.
- Finally, shaking a Muncher will open up a more advanced version of the Gnat Attack minigame.
Check out the trailer embedded above for an in-depth look at these new features and happy Mario Making!
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
Latest Pokken Tournament trailer introduces Shadow Mewtwo
Shadow Mewtwo makes his Pokken Tournament debut in the latest trailer for the Pokemon-themed fighting game, but don’t expect much else from the video embedded above. The “new” trailer is virtually identical to the announcement trailer that was first released by The Pokemon Company back in August. But if you can’t get enough of Pokemon beating the snot out of each other, the Play button is ready and waiting.
Bandai Namco’s Tekken team is currently hard at work on Pokken Tournament and the fighting game will launch exclusively for the Wii U in Spring 2016.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Pokken Tournament
Super Mario Producer Takashi Tezuka has “interesting things” planned for the franchise
After successfully launching Super Mario Maker in September, Producer Takashi Tezuka has no plans to sit on his laurels. The lifelong Nintendo employee (he’s been with the company since 1984) told Nintendo Dream (via Nintendo Everything) that a new game in the series is already in the planning stages. Tezuka also has some “interesting things” he’d like to try:
“I think many people wonder what will happen to the next entry in the original series after we created this new form of side-scrolling Mario action. Don’t worry, we intend to come up with interesting things even after this, so please look forward to those, too.”
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Super Mario Maker, so I’m completely on board for more “interesting things” from Takashi Tezuka.
Posted in 3DS, News, Switch, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Odyssey
New Releases: Call of Duty Black Ops III, Need For Speed, Yo-Kai Watch, More
Are you ready to answer the call of duty? Right on schedule, Activision and Treyarch will release Call of Duty: Black Ops III for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One this week. Taking place in a near future where technologically-augmented soldiers form the backbone of modern war, the game will also be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, though it won’t include the single-player Campaign Mode. Players in the market for a PS4 will also be able to pick up a 1 TB PS4 + Call of Duty: Black Ops III Bundle this week.
This week’s other major new release is Need For Speed, the latest entry in the long-running racing franchise. Developer Ghost Games considers the PS4 and Xbox One game a complete reboot of the series and has packed Need For Speed with five overlapping storylines and dozens of cars.
The kids will get their chance to play as well as Nintendo and Level-5 will release the Pokemon-like Yo-Kai Watch for the 3DS, while Little Orbit will launch Snoopy’s Grand Adventure for the 3DS, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Finally, a number of games are getting special edition re-releases including Evolve: Ultimate Edition (PS4, Xbox One), Lords of the Fallen: Complete Edition (PS4, Xbox One), and Shovel Knight (3DS, PS4, Wii U).
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Evolve, Lords of the Fallen, Need For Speed, Shovel Knight, The Peanuts Movie: Snoopy's Grand Adventure, Yo-Kai Watch
Nintendo Download: Human Resource Machine, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, PictoParty, more
Nintendo is keeping things simple for today’s Nintendo Download. The consolemaker approved just five new games for their digital storefront this week. Wii U and 3DS owners are usually able to browse through more than a dozen new games per week.
However, fans of Little Inferno and World of Goo should be very excited today as the creators of those games are teaming up to Human Resource Machine, a puzzle game starring an office drone built entirely around the ability to program. But don’t worry if you’ve never programmed before, the game will teach you the ropes.
GOTO more_games. If you don’t speak programming nerd, pretend I said, “Also available this week…”
- PictoParty (Wii U), a Pictionary-like family party game.
- Octodad: Dadliest Catch (Wii U), a game where an octopus pretends to be a person.
- Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town (Wii U), a Virtual Console re-release of the farming simulation, which was originally released for the Game Boy in 2003.
- Barbie and her Sisters Puppy Rescue (3DS and Wii U), a game where Barbie and her sisters rescue puppies.
More information on all of these games is available after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Octodad: Dadliest Catch, PictoParty
The Legend of Zelda Wii U will feature “twist” on open world gameplay
It’s looking more and more likely that The Legend of Zelda Wii U will be the last major title released for the console when it launches sometime next year. With the NX seemingly right around the corner, Producer Eiji Aonuma is hoping that the promise of an open world will make fans flock to Link’s latest Hyrulian adventure. But Aonuma has something else up his sleeve as the developer recently told IGN that Zelda Wii U will feature a “twist” on traditional open world gaming:
“We actually had some feedback from Skyward Sword, where people were saying, ‘This is not exactly the Zelda game I was looking for, I was looking for a bigger open world.'” Aonuma told IGN. “Unfortunately, I can’t go into details but I’m hoping to put a surprise, or kind of a twist, on my view of an open world game. I hope that you’ll look forward to it.”
Nintendo has always been a very secretive company, so it’ll probably be a long time before we find out what this “twist” is. However, Aonuma is also looking to plan something big for the franchise’s 30th anniversary, and we might hear about it sooner rather than later. Speaking to Famitsu (translated by Nintendo Everything), Aonuma said:
“This year we wanted a Majora’s Mask concert, so it is not impossible that there may be a 30th anniversary concert next year. However, as we are trying to complete the new Zelda as fast as possible, that is all that is on our minds. That being said, we hope something will take form for the 30th anniversary. It is especially important to a producer of the series, so I hope to give something everyone can look forward to next year.”
Rumor has it another HD remake is in the works (current scuttlebutt points to a remake of Twilight Princess), but all we really know for sure is that The Legend of Zelda Wii U will be released for the Wii U sometime next year… though Nintendo is not a company known for forgetting important anniversaries.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
New Releases: Halo 5: Guardians, WWE 2K16, Minecraft: Story Mode, More
After last week’s soft launch, Microsoft is finally ready to unleash the highly-anticipated Halo 5: Guardians onto the Xbox One audience. Microsoft has been building towards the return of the Master Chief ever since the platform’s launch back in 2013. Will it live up to the hype? I don’t know, but it’ll certainly move a few Xbox One bundles this holiday season.
For players looking for an edge in Halo 5 (or any action-heavy Xbox One game), Microsoft will also release the Xbox One Elite Controller this week. Featuring a slew of swappable components and the powerful Xbox Accessories app to help customize the controller, Microsoft is hoping to establish the Elite Controller as the input option of choice for hardcore gamers.
If you prefer your battle royales to be a bit more Earth-based, you might be interested to know that 2K Games will release WWE 2K16 for the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360 this week. Starring “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the latest WWE game includes the biggest roster of wrestlers ever, as well as a redesigned Create-A-Wrestler mode.
Rounding out this week’s new releases is a trio of re-releases including the debut of Divinity: Original Sin – Enhanced Edition on the PS4 and Xbox One. It’s joined by the coming apocalypse of Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition (PS4, Xbox One) and the dirt track racing of MX vs ATV: Supercross Encore (PC, PS4).
Finally this week, Telltale Games is offering a “Season Pass Disc” for Minecraft: Story Mode on the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360. Players who purchase the Season Pass will receive the first episode of the game on the disc, along with downloadable access to all subsequent episodes as they’re released.
A full list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Darksiders II, Halo 5: Guardians, Minecraft: Story Mode, WWE 2K16
Nintendo Download: The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water, Just Dance 2016, more
This week’s Nintendo Download features a batch of scary adventures, a pair of licensed games, and a new entry in one of Nintendo’s biggest franchises.
Available tomorrow for the 3DS, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is another multiplayer Zelda game. Taking place in the aftermath of A Link Between Worlds, players will have to guide three heroes through “inventive dungeons” as the build a “Link Totem” to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.
A pair of licensed games are also new available for the 3DS this week. Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations turns the adventurous duo into detectives, searching the Land of Ooo for strange cases to solve (sounds a bit like The X-Files with a talking dog…). 3DS players will also have the chance to download Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden this week. The anime adaptation features “bone-crushing blows” and more than 100 characters.
Over on the Wii U, players will get the chance to download three games that bring the scares just in time for Halloween. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water brings the Camera Obscura to the console for the first time, and asks players to hunts ghosts in the haunted woods atop the mysterious Mount Hikami. Slender: The Arrival also sets much of its action in a forest as players avoid the dreaded Slenderman. Finally, Super Ghouls ’N Ghosts is a Virtual Console re-released of the Game Boy Advance remake of the classic Super NES side-scroller. That’s a mouthful, so remember to keep your pants on Arthur!
Finally this week, if you’d rather dance, Ubisoft will release two new games in their long-running Just Dance series for the Wii U. Just Dance 2016 features songs from Mark Ronson, Meghan Trainor, and many others while Just Dance: Disney Party 2 lets the whole family dance along to the most popular shows and movies on the Disney Channel.
You can find more information about all of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)