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
Even Nintendo can’t get their hands on every Amiibo figure for their Comic-Con 2015 booth
Are you planning to pay a visit to the San Diego Comic-Con next weekend? If so, you should stop by the Nintendo booth (#235) to gaze at a display of almost every Amiibo figure in existence. I say “almost” every figure because Nintendo themselves said they won’t be able to procure all of them in time for the convention. It makes you wonder, exactly how rare are some of these Amiibo figures when the company that makes them can’t find some of them?
If you’re interested in doing more than staring at Amiibo figures you can never own, Nintendo also plans to have a full slate of playable games at their Nintendo Gaming Lounge, which will be located at the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina during this year’s Comic-Con. Located directly adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center, the Nintendo Gaming Lounge will feature many of the same demos that Nintendo brought to this year’s E3 Expo:
Playable Wii U Games
- Super Mario Maker
- Yoshi’s Woolly World
- Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
- Splatoon
- Skylanders SuperChargers (Activision)
Playable 3DS Games
- Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
- Little Battlers Experience
- Yo-Kai Watch
Nintendo will also hold a number of tournaments at the Nintendo Gaming Lounge. So if you’ve ever wanted to show the world your prowess at Splatoon, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, Pokemon: Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, and the unreleased Little Battlers Experience, you can. More details on the tournaments, including a full schedule, can be found at Nintendo’s Comic-Con page.
Yacht Club will uncover a retail version of Shovel Knight on October 13
After selling more than 700,000 copies of Shovel Knight across seven different platforms, Yacht Club Games has announced plans to release a retail edition of the game on October 13. Yacht Club will self-publish Shovel Knight’s retail edition, which will be priced at $19.99 on the 3DS, PS4, Wii U, and Xbox One. Our friends in Europe will also get the chance to buy a boxed version of the game for the PC if they so choose.
The boxed version of Shovel Knight will come complete with the Plague of Shadows expansion, which Yacht Club says will be available for owners of the download version much sooner than October. Whether you own the boxed version or the download version, all Shovel Knight players will eventually receive free access to all the planned updates including the Specter Knight expansion, the King Knight expansion, Battle Mode, and Body Swap Mode. Naturally, Shovel Knight’s retail edition will also include a retro-tastic instruction booklet.
You can visit Yacht Club’s official website for an even more in-depth look at Shovel Knight’s retail edition and the upcoming Plague of Shadows expansion.
Star Wars: Battlefront, Fallout 4 lead the way in Game Critics Awards Best of E3 2015 nominees
The Force is strong with DICE’s Star Wars: Battlefront as the game collected five nominations, more than any other title, from the Game Critics Awards in their annual Best of E3 competition. The Star Wars shooter is up for “Best of Show,” “Best Console Game,” “Best PC Game,” “Best Action Game,” and “Best Online Multiplayer.”
Bethesda’s Fallout 4 and Guerrilla’s Horizon: Zero Dawn can also be considered contenders after collecting four nominations apiece. Both games will battle each other (and Battlefront) for “Best of Show” and “Best Console Game,” but their path will split for the remaining nominations. Fallout 4 is up for “Best PC Game” and “Best RPG,” while Horizon: Zero Dawn was nominated for “Best Original Game” and “Best Action/Adventure Game.”
Two other nominees will compete for this year’s “Best of Show” award including Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and the Oculus Touch motion controller.
The group behind the Game Critics Awards is comprised of representatives from 38 media publications, and they plan to announce this year’s winners on July 7. The full list of nominees can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged E3 2015, Fallout 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Star Wars: Battlefront, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Nintendo will add Tower Control mode to Splatoon on July 1
Splatoon will receive another option for Ranked Battles in the very near future, as Nintendo has announced the new Tower Control mode will be part of a July 1st update to the game. Tomorrow’s update will be available to download at 10:00 PM (Eastern Time), but fans can get a sneak peek at the mode today during a special Treehouse Live stream scheduled for 6:00 PM (Eastern Time).
What’s the best way to tackle Tower Control? Here’s what Nintendo had to say:
The objective of Tower Control is to ride a single floating tower into the enemy’s base. Both teams rush toward the tower, which is initially placed in the center of the map, and the tower will start moving automatically once a player climbs aboard. But beware: Riding the tower will increase the chances of being splatted, as every player has his or her target on the tower. Riding the tower alone is pretty tough, encouraging randomly selected teams of players to team up to accomplish their goal. Just like in Ranked Battle and Turf War, players will be rewarded for working together as a team. Surrounding the tower and protecting the player riding the tower, using each stage’s features to gain an advantage, and supporting each other are the keys to victory.
And don’t forget, Splatoon’s first North American Splatfest (Cats Versus Dogs) will take place this weekend on July 4th.
Splatoon Review: You’re a Squid! You’re a Kid! You’re the Best Shooter in a Long Time!
Even though it doesn’t star Mario or Link or Samus Aran, Splatoon is the quintessential Nintendo game. Starring a race of shapeshifting human/squid creatures known as Inklings, the game’s bright colors and relentlessly cheery attitude place it firmly within Nintendo’s wheelhouse. But Splatoon is also unlike your typical Nintendo game in that it’s a shooter, albeit one that uses squid ink instead of bullets and is more concerned with area control than racking up killstreaks.
It’s also the best shooter I’ve played in a very long time. (more…)
Ubisoft CEO says its “too early” to talk about Beyond Good & Evil 2
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is one of the more outspoken executives in the entire video game industry, which is why The Guardian tracked him down at the 2015 E3 Expo to ask about Beyond Good & Evil 2.
Beyond Good & Evil was released in 2003 to widespread critical acclaim and the support of a fervent fan following. In 2008, a sequel was revealed during Ubisoft’s then-annual Ubidays show, but development updates have been slow to materialize since then. Fans got their hopes up in 2011 when Ubisoft released Beyond Good & Evil HD for the PS3 and Xbox 360, but four long years passed before they got their next glimpse at the game, when developer Michel Ancel showed a piece of concept art featuring series protagonist Jade.
Upholding this tradition, Guillemot was enigmatic with The Guardian, but also encouraging. According to the CEO, the game (which he never refers to by name) is still in development, but it’s too early to talk about:
However, the Guardian met Yves Guillemot, who co-founded Ubisoft in 1986, at the E3 expo in Los Angeles, and asked directly whether Beyond Good and Evil 2 was still in development. He replied: “I can’t say the name, but there is a team working with Michel Ancel on a project that is… very interesting.”
When pressed on the connection between this new project and Beyond Good and Evil, Guillemot said: “It’s a game I’m sure you will like very much, and we can’t say more.”
Ancel previously told reporters that development began on Beyond Good & Evil 2 in 2007, so if Guillemot is telling the truth, our decade-long wait may be just the beginning.
Nintendo will build 100 levels for Super Mario Maker… more than any previous Mario game
UPDATE: It looks like Super Mario Maker won’t ship with 100 pre-built levels on the disc. Instead, 60 courses will be available when you first boot up the game, which is still a pretty impressive number.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Last week, we learned that Super Mario Maker would ship with a number of pre-built levels, including the four featured during the finals of the 2015 Nintendo World Championships. But those four are apparently just the beginning for the Wii U game (or possibly the end, considering how difficult they were).
It’s been removed in the interim, but yesterday, Super Mario Maker’s page on Nintendo UK included a new bullet point promising the game would ship with 100 pre-made levels. Specifically, the site stated, “There are also 100 courses included that you can play without an internet connection.” Not only is that a very generous number, but the inclusion of 100 courses would actually make Super Mario Maker the biggest Mario game of all time. As you can see from this chart, every other entry in the side-scrolling series pales in comparison:
| Title | Number of Levels |
| Super Mario Bros. | 32 |
| Super Mario Bros. 2 | 20 |
| Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels | 52 |
| Super Mario Bros. 3 | 90 |
| Super Mario World | 72 |
| New Super Mario Bros. | 80 |
| New Super Mario Bros. Wii | 77 |
| New Super Mario Bros. 2 | 92 |
| New Super Mario Bros. U | 73 |
It may not have a World Map, but Super Mario Maker is clearly no mere level editor. And when you add in all the ridiculously creative courses that will surely be created after the game’s September 11 launch, it might be the last Mario side-scroller we’ll ever need.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
USA! USA! USA! Splatoon’s first Splatfest has been rescheduled for July 4
After a week of tinkering, Nintendo has worked out all the kinks in Splatoon‘s network code and is ready to reschedule the game’s first North American Splatfest. The all-day “Dogs Versus Cats” showdown will now take place on Saturday, July 4. Hopefully, everyone out there in Nintendo-Land will celebrate the independence of our nation by splatting a large part of it!
The Splatfest will begin bright and early on July 4 at 3:00 AM (Eastern Time). After 24 ink-filled hours, the contest will come to an end at 2:59 AM (Eastern Time) on July 5. And then we’ll finally know which four-legged furball is truly man’s best friend. Spoiler Alert… the correct answer is dogs… regardless of what happens during the Splatfest, the answer is dogs.
You can make your selection now in-game at the Splatfest kiosk in Inkopolis Plaza. Participants will receive a special Splatfest t-shirt with three ability slots. Unfortunately, you have to give it back after the event is over.