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
Hyper Light Drifter Beta Impressions: How To Do A Beta the Right Way
Who doesn’t love the sweet, slick, retro style of Kickstarter darling Hyper Light Drifter? This 2D action RPG took the indie world by storm last year, ultimately collecting more than $640,000 from backers during its Kickstarter campaign. Watching the videos and seeing the magic unfold as developer Heart Machine met its goal, beat it, and then left it in the dust was a joyful experience. I got a chance to play Hyper Light Drifter at PAX East this year and the staff loved it so much we chose it for our PAXpocalpyse list. And now I’m getting the chance to play it early in my living room thanks to a backers-only beta. The PC beta was originally supposed to be available from October 3rd through the 5th, but after some “internal discussions, the team decided to extend the beta to the 31st. I couldn’t be happier, and I’ll admit – I’ve had a hard time putting it down. (more…)
New Releases: Bayonetta 2, Civilization: Beyond Earth, Just Dance 2015, More
The third phase of Nintendo’s attempt to dominate the Fall gaming season arrives this week in the form of Bayonetta 2 for the Wii U. Platinum’s stylish witch has been given a second life by The Big N and the developer returned the favor by packaging the original Bayonetta with the sequel. Nintendo will also release a pair of smaller 3DS titles this week: Fantasy Life, an RPG/life simulation hybrid, and Pokemon Art Academy, a drawing game starring Pikachu.
Also available this week is the futuristic Civilization: Beyond Earth for the PC. Firaxis designed the game as a spiritual successor to the popular Alpha Centauri, which is something fans of the franchise have been asking for for a long time.
Speaking of franchises we haven’t seen in a long time… Ubisoft will bring Just Dance 2015 to the PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One this week. That “long time” comment was a joke, by the way. What’s not a joke is the return of Harmonix, who are back with a new music game of their own, the Disney-inspired Fantasia: Music Evolved for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
Finally this week, Telltale Games will release The Walking Dead Season 2 for the PS4 and Xbox One. Get your cleaning cloth ready, those tear-stained controllers won’t clean themselves.
A complete 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 Bayonetta 2, Civilization: Beyond Earth, Fantasia: Music Evolved, Just Dance 2015
Project CARS release date moves to March 17, 2015 to avoid holiday competition
In order to avoid the stiff competition from this Fall’s “household names,” Slightly Mad Studios and Bandai Namco have announced that the release of Project CARS has been pushed back to March 17, 2015. This new release date will allow the developer to provide an extra layer of polish to the game.
“Our goal has always been to deliver a landmark title that encompasses the wishes and desires of racing fans from all around the world; something with features and content powered by the community that provide a truly unforgettable and pioneering experience” said Ian Bell, the Studio Head at Slightly Mad Studios. “Whilst a tough decision to make, the change in release date allows the game the greatest chance of success and visibility, and the opportunity to polish the game even further to the high standards that both ourselves and our community demand and expect. We’re eager for you all to see what we’ve been working on in just a few months.”
Project CARS’ new release date applies to the PC, PS4, and Xbox One editions of the game. It is also in development for the Wii U, and will be released for Nintendo’s console sometime in 2015.
Insert Quarter: Why Developers Still Make 2D Games… Because They Love Them
Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.
Why do developers still love to make 2D games? In this installment, USgamer’s Tyler Ohlew examines the relationship between developers and the two-dimensional worlds they create (often by hand). Speaking to developers behind modern 2D classics such as Shovel Knight, Guacamelee!, and SteamWorld Dig, he discovered that this relationship actually comes down to a love of the style and a universality that goes beyond simple nostalgia.
3D development is easier than ever now, with tools like Unity and Unreal Engine 4 available for very little cost or even free. So, in a landscape dominated by these 3D games, what compels a developer to look back and continue the work that was forced to take a back seat? Why does any developer work in 2D anymore?
You can read the rest of the article at USgamer.
Posted in 3DS, Insert Quarter, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Guacamelee, Shovel Knight, SteamWorld Dig
Destiny was destined to be the best-selling game of September 2014
After selling more than five million copies in its first week of availability, Bungie’s Destiny easily took the top spot as the best-selling game of September 2014. New releases ruled last month as The NPD Group’s latest report revealed that seven games cracked the top ten.
At #3, EA’s FIFA 15 challenged Destiny for the crown, but came up short. It was followed by Super Smash Bros. For 3DS (#4), Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (#5), NHL 15 (#6), The Sims 4 (#8), and Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (#9). The only holdovers were Madden NFL 15 (#2), Minecraft (#7), and Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (#10).
According to Joystiq, despite Destiny’s massive success, game industry sales only grew by 2% over September 2013. Of course, September 2013 featured the release of Grand Theft Auto V, a singularly special event, and downloadable titles are constantly eating into retail’s market share. But good luck getting The NPD Group to admit to that.
This months top ten can be found in a handy list format after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Diablo III, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, FIFA 15, Madden NFL 15, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, Minecraft, NHL 15, NPD, Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, The Sims 4
Nintendo Download: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, Ballpoint Universe: Infinite, more
The Castlevania series continues its slow takeover of the Wii U eShop with today’s addition of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance to Nintendo’s digital storefront. Harmony of Dissonance was the second game in the series released for the Game Boy Advance and is one of the few where the player doesn’t confront a resurrected Dracula.
Also available on the Wii U eShop today are two titles that take their inspiration from pen-and-paper drawing. Ballpoint Universe: Infinite is a shooter derived from “ballpoint-pen sketches,” while Paper Monsters Recut features a “living world made out of paper.”
Over on the 3DS eShop, players will be able to download the Game Boy Color classic Harvest Moon 2 GBC for the first time. More than a dozen titles have been released in the franchise since Harvest Moon 2 GBC’s release, so this one is truly a blast from the past.
More details on all of these games, as well as a few more new releases, can be found after the break. (more…)
Groove to this debut trailer of the Wii U version of Beatbuddy
German developer Threaks has always said they wanted to bring Beatbuddy, their side-scrolling underwater music game, to consoles. And last week, Nintendo confirmed that Beatbuddy would indeed debut on the Wii U sometime in the near future. Today, we got our first of Beatbuddy in action on the Wii U and I think the side-scrolling underwater music game has never looked better.
The Wii U version of Beatbuddy doesn’t have a release date as of yet, but it’ll be available to download through the Wii U eShop “soon.”
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians
Nintendo: Super Smash Bros. For 3DS/Wii U is a pun on Super Smash Bros. 4
For a long time, much of the world referred to Super Smash Bros. For 3DS and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U as “Super Smash Bros. 4” as both games represent the fourth major entry in the Smash series. Turns out, we weren’t all that far off. Writing in his regular Famitsu column (as translated by Nintendo Everything), Super Smash Bros. Director Masahiro Sakurai explained the game’s title is, at it’s core, just a cute pun:
“This time the name of the system was used as a subtitle in order to avoid confusion among consumers. However, for both systems ‘Smash Bros. For’ is included in the title, so isn’t that nice?”
I knew it! Super Smash Bros. For 3DS is available now and Super Smash Bros. For Wii U will be released on November 21.
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Smash Bros. For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U