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
Nintendo Download: Adventures of Pip, Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven, Pac-Attack, more
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another Nintendo Download. Here’s a look at some of the titles you can find on the Nintendo eShop beginning today:
- Adventures of Pip is a side-scrolling platformer for the Wii U that pumps pixels into its main character to help him overcome challenges.
- Pac-Attack is a “fun and quirky” for the Wii U’s Virtual Console that originally appeared on the Super NES.
- Cube Life: Island Survival is a game that looks ridiculously similar to Minecraft and its available now for the Wii U.
- Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven is a Japanese RPG for the 3DS that bases its attack system on bowling over your opponents.
More information on all of these games (and a few more) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Cube Life: Island Survival
World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 is Tetris, Super Mario Bros, Pong, Doom, WoW, Pac-Man
The World Video Game Hall of Fame, which is administered by the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and The Strong in Rochester, New York, has announced its inaugural list of inductees. Drum roll, please.
The 2015 Class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame includes…
- Doom, id Software’s pioneering first person shooter.
- Pac-Man, the dot-eating, ghost-chasing hero of every 80s arcade.
- Pong, one of video gaming’s earliest arcade hits.
- Super Mario Bros., the side-scroller that put the NES on the map and made Mario a household name.
- Tetris, the falling block puzzler that’s surely invaded your dreams at least once.
- World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s MMO made the genre what it is today and is still going strong after a decade.
While all of the games are at least ten years old, it’s amazing how important they still are to video gaming’s current climate. Bethesda will pull the curtain back on the next game in the Doom series at this year’s E3 Expo. Pac-Man recently celebrated his 35th anniversary and will star in a new mobile game this Summer. Super Mario Bros. is also celebrating a big anniversary this year and will influence this September’s Mario Maker. The Tetris Company, and Alexey Pajitnov, continues to license new version of Tetris and the latest, Tetris Ultimate, was released last year. Finally, Blizzard released World of Warcraft’s fifth expansion, Warlords of Draenor, in November and a sixth is already in the works.
These six games represent gaming at its greatest and are excellent choices for the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class. As part of their selection, the inductees will be on permanent view (and in playable form) at The Strong’s “eGameRevolution” exhibit.
Nine other finalists were considered for inclusion by the international committee including Angry Birds, FIFA International Soccer, The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, The Oregon Trail, Pokemon Red/Blue, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until all of them are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. But if you want to campaign for your favorite game, nominees for the Class of 2016 are currently being accept at the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s website.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Retro, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Doom (1993), Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Tetris, World of Warcraft, World Video Game Hall of Fame
Skylanders SuperChargers adds vehicles to the series this September
Activision has announced Skylanders SuperChargers, the fifth game in the franchise, will be available this September. As rumored earlier this year, SuperChargers will add land, sea, and air vehicles, more than 15 in all, to the Skylanders experience.
Developed by Vicarious Visions, Skylanders SuperChargers will be available on September 20 for the iPad, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. A “unique Skylanders SuperChargers experience” will also be released for the 3DS and Wii on the same day.
Activision will bring Skylanders SuperChargers to this year’s E3 Expo and the publisher plans to reveal quite a bit more about the game during the big show. For now, an extensive “Everything You Need to Know” guide for the game is available after the break and at the Activision Games Blog. (more…)
Weezer, Queen, Alice in Chains, more join Guitar Hero Live in latest tracklist update
Oh no! What do we do? I don’t care what they say about us anyway, so here’s another ten tracks from this Fall’s Guitar Hero Live:
- Alice in Chains – “Stone”
- Angus & Julia Stone – “A Heartbreak”
- Bullet For My Valentine – “Temper Temper”
- Catfish and the Bottlemen – “Kathleen”
- Deap Vally – “Lies”
- Neon Trees – “Everybody Talks”
- New Politics – “Harlem”
- Queen – “Tie Your Mother Down”
- Wolfmother – “Sundial”
- Weezer – “Buddy Holly”
90s favorites Weezer and Alice in Chains join 21st century rockers like Neon Trees, Wolfmother, Bullet For My Valentine, and New Politics in this update. Going a little further back, Queen is also on hand with one of their lesser known songs, “Tie Your Mother Down.” With this update, 54 songs have been confirmed for inclusion on the Guitar Hero Live disc and “hundreds” of additional songs will be available through the game’s GHTV Mode.
Guitar Hero Live, and its brand-new six-button controller, will be available for the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this Fall.
Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories will bloom on the Wii U, PC, mobile devices this Winter
After Natsume and original Harvest Moon developer Marvelous parted ways in 2014, the publisher decided to continue the series in North America with the release of Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley. Yesterday, they announced their second new Harvest Moon since the split, Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories. The game is in development for the Wii U, PC, and mobile devices, and will be available this Winter.
“From the farm to the town, we wanted Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories to evoke the feeling of a classic Harvest Moon game with modern twists!” said Hiro Maekawa, President and CEO of Natsume. “We’re also excited to finally bring the Harvest Moon series to the Nintendo Wii U, PC, and mobile platforms, where fans have definitely told us they want to see the series.”
Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories brings the franchise to several platforms where its never been before, but the gameplay will be inspired by some of the earliest entries in the series:
Go back to the roots of Harvest Moon in the latest installment of the series! Inspired by the old-school gameplay of the very first games, Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories will bring players a sense of nostalgia, along with exciting gameplay twists.
Tasked with the job of revitalizing a farm, players will need to befriend the villagers in town to unlock the titular “Seeds of Memories”! Seeds can be unlocked in many ways, such as giving a villager their favorite item, catching a giant fish, or by raising their first cow. Players will need to be up to the challenge of collecting all of the Seeds of Memories!
If farm life’s not your thing, players will also be able to cook, fish, forage, and mine, while also participating in contests and festivals. Players might even find that special someone among the bachelors and bachelorettes that live nearby.
We’ll get our first look at Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories during this year’s E3 Expo, which opens in less than two weeks.
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games announced by Nintendo
UPDATE: We’ve added the English-language trailer from the June 1 “Nintendo Direct Micro” presentation after the break.
Mario and Sonic will do battle on the athletic field once more in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which was announced this morning as part of a Nintendo Direct presentation delivered by Nintendo Japan. Like the first Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and London 2012, players will be able to go for the gold medal in Track, Floor Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Soccer, Beach Volleyball, and many other sports. We also got our first look at two new additions to the series today: Rugby and Golf.
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be released for the 3DS and Wii U sometime in the near future, though no release date was announced. However, every previous entry in the series has debuted during the November before the Olympic Games, so I think it’s a safe bet to assume Rio 2016 will as well. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Yoshi’s Woolly World will be released on July 16 in Japan
Nintendo has announced Yoshi’s Woolly World will be released fro the Wii U on July 16 in Japan. The news was delivered this morning during a special Japan-focused Nintendo Direct presentation.
In the video, which has been embedded above, players were introduced to many of Yarn Yoshi’s many patterns including Rainbow Yoshi, Piranha Plant Yoshi, Winter Yoshi, Moo-Moo Yoshi, and Famicom Yoshi. Yoshis patterned after Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong (unlockable through an Amiibo tap of the three figures) were also shown. The Power Badge system, wherein Yarn Yoshi trades some Beads for a powerup, was given a few seconds in the spotlight as well.
Yoshi’s Woolly World is still officially scheduled for a “Fall 2015” launch in North America, though we previously learned the game will be released across Europe in June. With Yoshi’s Woolly World set to release during the Summer in those two territories, I don’t think US gamers will have to wait until the last three months of the year to purchase a copy of the game. Hopefully, we’ll hear about an official US launch date soon.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Yoshi's Woolly World
Bloodstained coming to Wii U with Vita version now in sight
As expected, backers have pushed the Kickstarter campaign for Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night past the $3 million mark, reaching a huge stretch goal and opening up a few more.
First things first, this new monetary benchmark means a Wii U version of the game will officially go into development at Armature. The porting house plans to make full use of the GamePad’s second screen and will feature a map that can be fully annotated. Though if you prefer Off-Screen Play, that will also be included. Miiverse integration, and Wii U Pro Controller support will be included as well.
A pair of additional stretch goals have also opened up including Asynchronous Online Multiplayer at $3.25 million and a Vita version of the game at $3.5 million. And actually, the Asynchronous Online Multiplayer features that “Iga” would like to include sound very cool:
- “Borrow” a friend’s character stats for a certain amount of time (your friend will get a bonus)
- Ghost Data (See friend’s saved character movements while fighting a boss)
- Friend’s playthroughs affect your game in some way (e.g. a gravestone and an offering might mark the spot where your friend died)
Bloodstained’s campaign still has 12 days to go, so both of these stretch goals (and surely a few others) seem well within reach.