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
Miyamoto: Unannounced Wii U games to arrive in 2015 and Star Fox Wii U will be playable at E3
Shigeru Miyamoto recently sat down with Smosh Games to play a round of Mario Kart 8 and answer a few questions about Nintendo’s upcoming release calendar.
With the subject of racing games fresh in their minds, the Smosh Games guys asked Miyamoto about the future of the F-Zero franchise. Once again, the developer said that he wasn’t sure what to do with the franchise, but if it were to come back, it would feature a new controller interface:
“We see a lot of other designers making more traditional racing style of games, so we’ve tried to focus on something that feels a little bit more ‘gamey.’ Maybe if we create a new kind of controller interface and if we find one that’s particularly suited for F-Zero, maybe we’ll do something with it in the future.”
Miyamoto also said that one of the reasons the F-Zero series is on hiatus is because he and Character Designer Takaya Imamura are currently hard at work on Star Fox Wii U. The next adventure starring Fox McCloud will be released sometime this year, but Miyamoto would only confirm that the game will be playable at this year’s E3 Expo. That doesn’t preclude an early Summer for the game, but late Summer is more likely.
But finally, the big bombshell (or should that be Blue Shell?) from the interview came near the end. When discussing Nintendo’s Wii U lineup for 2015, Miyamoto mentioned that the consolemaker has a large number of games in the pipeline including the aforementioned Star Fox Wii U, as well as The Legend of Zelda Wii U, Mario Maker and Yoshi’s Woolly World. But he also admitted that several unannounced games are currently in the works: “There’s more, but I don’t think I can talk about them right now.”
Nintendo is a company that knows how to keep a secret, so it’s unlikely that we’ll learn more about these unannounced games until Nintendo is ready to actually announce them. But who knows, perhaps Miyamoto was referring to the mysterious Project Guard and Project Giant Robot, which were shown behind closed doors during last year’s E3 Expo.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged E3 2015, Star Fox Zero
Nintendo: Mario Maker may lead to more Maker games but no new Mario game in 2015
Bill Trinen, the Director of Product Marketing at Nintendo of America, recently sat down with the Reno Gazette-Journal to discuss the company’s plans for 2015 and their commitment to retro-styled gaming. During the course of the conversation, Trinen revealed that development on Mario Maker is going well and reveals that other Nintendo franchises could receive the Maker treatment if it sells enough copies:
Mr. (Takashi) Tezuka is working hard on Mario Maker and the game is progressing really nicely. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun seeing what people are able to do with the game when it comes out. During E3, we had everyone from moms and kids to longtime Nintendo fans and newer folks who just got into gaming lately just having tons of fun with the way they’re able to create stages. Depending on how people react, we’ll see if the teams take a similar approach with other franchises.
The marketer also confirmed that Mario Maker is the only Mario game we’ll get in 2015 as Nintendo won’t have the next game in the series ready this year:
We don’t always put out a new version of an existing series on an annual basis, there’s always a big gap. You see that with Super Smash Bros., which has been seven years since it last came out. With Pikmin 3, you saw a big gap as well. Mario games release more frequently but we don’t have a new Mario game this year so it’s not an annual event.
I can just imagine how great a “Legend of Zelda Maker” could be, so I sincerely hope that Trinen isn’t toying with us. Make it happen, Nintendo!
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
Nintendo Download: Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Bionic Commando: Elite Forces
Nintendo takes no holiday off! While much of the world is resting after a night of New Year’s Eve festivities, Nintendo has updated their eShop storefront like they do every Thursday. Though it should be noted that only a pair of new titles are available today… and both are Virtual Console re-releases. But first, if you haven’t purchased Shovel Knight yet, now’s the time. The game, which is available for both the Wii U and 3DS, is on sale for $9.99 (a 33% discount off the regular price).
Now, about those new releases. Available on the Wii U eShop, Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire was originally released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003 and I think the title says it all… it’s a pinball game with a Pokemon twist. Over on the 3DS eShop, Capcom has released Bionic Commando: Elite Forces, the Game Boy Color sequel to the classic NES side-scroller. More information about both titles can be found right here:
Wii U eShop Games
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire – Much more than a regular pinball game, Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire combines fast flipper action with a unique way to catch your favorite Pokemon. Control the flippers to shoot the Poke Ball at targets on one of two PlayFields. Play on either the Ruby or Sapphire Field to rack up as many points as possible. The game lets players catch more than 200 Pokemon and features characters from the Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire games.
3DS eShop Games
Bionic Commando: Elite Forces – You are the perfect combination of man and machine – a Bionic Commando equipped with a Bionic Claw that will be extremely handy when infiltrating the danger zone. Blast through enemy lines as you grapple, swing and scale more than 20 levels of forests, deserts, mountains and futuristic cities. You are the last hope in saving your homeland from utter destruction. Suit up, soldier!
Inafune confirms that development on Mighty No. 9 is almost done in this New Year’s video
Keiji Inafune has posted a short “New Year’s” video to update fans of Mighty No. 9 on the game’s progress. According to the Mega Man creator, full development on Mighty No. 9 is almost complete and the only step left is porting the game to all the platforms it’ll be available on this Spring. But that’s a pretty important step as Inafune and his team at Comcept (and co-developer Inti Creates) plan to bring Mighty No. 9 to a boatload of platforms including the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, 3DS, and Vita.
Insert Quarter: A History of Fan-Made Mario Games
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
There’s no reason to hide it, Mario Maker is one of my most anticipated games for 2015. The ability to create my own Mario courses (and play courses created by others) has got me giddy with excitement. Writing for Joystiq, Lawrence Bonk has revealed that he’s just as giddy as I am. He is so giddy that he dove into the shadowy world of unauthorized ROM hacks of Super Mario Bros. and other games in the series. These fan-made creations are sometimes scary, but they’re always interesting:
Of course, long before there were dedicated toolsets, there was the humble game ROM. In addition to allowing people to finally brag about beating Ghosts N’ Goblins, NES game ROMs had/have the added bonus of being fairly easy to manipulate. What better title to screw around with than the original Super Mario Bros.? It didn’t have too many sprites and, oh yeah, there’s that whole “pretty much defined video games for an entire generation” thing.
The full article is available for your perusal at Joystiq.
Posted in Insert Quarter, Retro, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Maker
Behold the adorableness of this Kirby and the Rainbow Curse trailer from Nintendo Japan
This video for Kirby and the Rainbow Curse was so cute I nearly vomited rainbows out of my eyes. I have to be honest – I much prefer the Japanese title, which is Touch! Kirby Super Rainbow. So much more exciting!
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse will be out in North America for Wii U on February 13. Look also for me to cave and get a Wii U around that date.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Mario Kart 8: The Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack Review: Now With Link
Nintendo has been late to the party with regards to adding DLC to their games, but in Mario Kart 8 they have managed to tackle my biggest gripe since the term “DLC” rose its monstrous head and became an ugly word that meant a new way for developers to rip-off gamers… and that’s the amount of content. The Legend of Zelda X Mario Kart 8 DLC Pack comes with eight new tracks, as well as a few new characters, karts, and customisations. Another DLC pack based around Animal Crossing is due out in May 2015. Both DLC Packs are individually priced at $7.99 each or you can buy both together for $11.99, which means you are getting half the game’s original content at a quarter of the price. Value for the money, indeed! (more…)
Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Wii U
Tagged Mario Kart 8
Insert Quarter: Publishers Need to be More Upfront About DLC
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Downloadable Content. If you didn’t consider it the scourge of the gaming industry before, you probably do now. With games like Assassin’s Creed: Unity and DriveClub shipping to stores in a less-than-playable state, the downloadable content that publishers have planned begins to lose its luster. But that hasn’t stopped these publishers from asking for your money in the form of season passes. Sometimes, like in the case of 2K’s Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, without detailing exactly what content these passes will include.
Game Informer’s Mike Futter believes that it is time for publishers to be more upfront with their DLC plans in an effort to rebuild a level of trust with the gamers of the world. Even though DLC has become a very important part of the business side of the industry:
I am guilty. I have pre-ordered games. I have purchased season passes without full details of the contents. I have done these things based on my enthusiasm for the medium and faith in the publishers. That time has passed.
The full article is available for your perusal at Game Informer.
Posted in Insert Quarter, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel