Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
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- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- With Grand Theft Auto 6 poised to take over the world, I reached out to Jack Thompson and it did not go well – PC Gamer (2026)
- Vib-Ribbon: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- How a Second-Grade Teacher Revived a Beloved Video Game – The New York Times (2026)
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- Diablo IV PC Cooled With Real Human Blood Is Still Going Strong Two Years Later, Says Guy Who Won It – Aftermath (2026)
Most Recent: Wii
New releases lead the way in August 2013 NPD report of best-selling games
The NPD Group has released their monthly report on the financial health of the video game industry and, good news, retail game sales in August 2013 increased 21% over the same period last year. The entire retail game industry (games, consoles, and accessories) raked in $521 million, an increase of 1% over August 2012. Though the report estimates this number accounts for only half of all video game spending in August when you factor in used games, rentals, digital sales, add-on content, subscriptions, mobile apps, and social network microtransactions that the NPD doesn’t track.
Most of the increase in game sales was due to a stronger than usual slate of August releases. In fact, only two games in the August top ten are holdovers from previous months (Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition at #5 and NCAA Football 14 at #7).
The remainder of the top ten is populated entirely by new titles: Madden NFL 25 (#1), Saints Row IV (#2), Disney Infinity (#3), Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (#4), Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (#6), Payday 2 (#8), Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (#9), and Pikmin 3 (#10).
If you’d prefer the top ten in list format, you can find it right here:
Bestselling Games in August 2013
1. Madden NFL 25 (Xbox 360, PS3)
2. Saints Row IV (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
3. Disney Infinity (Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Wii U, 3DS )
4. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
5. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (Xbox 360)
6. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
7. NCAA Football 14 (Xbox 360, PS3)
8. Payday 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)
9. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PS3, PC)
10. Pikmin 3 (Wii U)
[Source: GameSpot]
Disney Infinity cost $100 million to develop
Disney Infinity, Disney Interactive’s attempt to clone the success of Skylanders, is now available in stores. But you’ll never believe how much it cost to produce and just what effect is has had on Disney’s video game division.
The wall Street Journal recently published a behind-the-scenes look at Disney Infinity and, according to their sources, the game (and its associated toy line) cost more than $100 million to produce. Only Star Wars: The Old Republic can boast a higher production budget.
But this gargantuan project comes at a cost for Disney Interactive. Internal development within the company has ceased and all of their future projects (Fantasia: Music Evolved, Star Wars: Battlefront, the Visceral Studios Star Wars game, and Kingdom Hearts III) are co-productions with other publishers. According to The Wall Street Journal’s report, devotion to Disney Infinity also caused the axe to fall on several other titles including a tie-in game based on this Summer’s Iron Man 3 and an interanlly-developed Star Wars game.
But I think Robert Iger, Disney’s CEO, best summed up the importance of Disney Infinity’s launch: “If Infinity does well, it bodes very well for the bottom line of this unit. If it doesn’t do well, the opposite will be the case.”
Well said, Bob.
New Releases: Saints Row IV, Disney Infinity, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, More
This week’s new releases take us to infinity and beyond.
The “infinity” is taken care of by Disney’s massive companywide crossover, Disney Infinity, is ready for release on the 3DS, PS3, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360. The game’s “Starter Pack” will come complete with three figures (Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles, and Sulley from Monsters Inc.) with additional figures available for purchase separately.
That brings us to the “beyond,” which is ably covered by Volition’s Saints Row IV. The insane antics of the Third Street Saints have found a new home at Deep Silver, but the latest game is available for three familiar platforms: PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. And if you’ve got the scratch, why not spring for Saints Row IV’s luxurious (and ridiculous) “Million Dollar Pack.”
Also available this week is the latest adventure of Sam Fisher, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360); the 1960s-set adventures of an anti-alien task force, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified (PC, PS3, Xbox 360); and the standalone release of Luigi’s latest starring effort, New Super Luigi U (Wii U).
More new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Disney Infinity, New Super Luigi U, Saints Row IV, The Walking Dead, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist, XCOM
NCAA Football 14 finds the endzone as July’s best-selling game
The July 2013 best-selling games chart has been released by The NPD Group and EA’s NCAA Football 14 has gone to the head of the class. It will be the last game to carry the “NCAA Football” moniker as the NCAA has ended their licensing agreement with the game publisher.
A mixture of recent and older titles populates the rest of the top ten, which you can view right here:
1. NCAA Football 14 (Xbox 360, PS3)
2. Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (Xbox 360)
3. The Last of Us (PS3)
4. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
5. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)
6. Far Cry 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
7. Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
8. Injustice: Gods Among Us (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U)
9. NBA 2K13 (Xbox 360, PS3 ,Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC)
10. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PS3, 3DS, Wii U, Vita, PC)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Far Cry 3, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Lego Batman 2, Minecraft, NBA 2K13, NCAA Football 14, NPD, The Last of Us
New Releases: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Payday 2, DuckTales Remastered, More
The brothers Mario are venturing back into the RPG world with today’s release of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team for the 3DS.
Tuesday will see the release of a few titles on the complete opposite end of the gaming spectrum including the multiplayer heistfest Payday 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) and the latest strategy game in the Europa Universalis series, Europa Universalis IV (PC).
The rest of this week’s new releases all star anthropomorphized animals…
- There’s the PC version of WayForward’s DuckTales Remastered. Downloadable console versions will also be available this week and special retail editions will be available next week.
- There’s the Wii and Wii U port of Angry Birds Trilogy.
- And there’s Phineas and Ferb: Quest For Cool Stuff, which will be available for the 3DS, DS, Wii, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
I guess, technically, Phineas and Ferb aren’t animals. But they sure are weird looking.
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Angry Birds Trilogy, DuckTales Remastered, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Payday 2
Ubisoft, Hasbro strike deal to bring Monopoly and other board games to next-gen consoles
Get up and go to your game closet. Chances are you’ll have a well-worn copy of at least one of the following board games in there: Monopoly, Scrablle, Trivial Pursuit, Risk, Battleship, and Cranium. What do they all have in common? First of all, they’re all published by Hasbro.
Also, new versions of each game are coming to current-generation and next-generation consoles courtesy of Ubisoft.
“Hasbro makes games that we all know and love, and we’re thrilled to be able to work with them to create video game experiences based on some of their most popular brands,” said Tony Key, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Ubisoft.
Electronic Arts previously held the Hasbro board game license for console games. They will still be able to publish and develop apps based on Hasbro board games for mobile devices.
New Releases: Pikmin 3, Dragon’s Crown, Tales of Xillia, More
Nintendo is back in a big way this week with Pikmin 3. The latest game in one of Shigeru Miyamoto’s favorite franchises is in stores today and is sure to please Wii U owners who have been waiting for a big new title since Lego City Undercover‘s release this Spring. The PS3 is also back in a big way this week after a slow Summer. Namco Bandai’s action RPG, Tales of Xillia, and Atlus’ artful beat ’em up, Dragon’s Crown (available on the PS3 and Vita), will be available in stores on Tuesday.
What else is available this week? Well…
A game adaptation of Disney’s Cars spinoff, Planes, touches down on all Nintendo platforms (3DS, DS, Wii, and Wii U) this week. And EA has put out another Sims 3 expansion, The Sims 3: Dragon Valley. Finally, a boxed version of Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition for the PC is available this week, alongside Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers, a budget dogfighter for the PS3 and PC.
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, Wii U
Tagged Dragon's Crown, Mortal Kombat, Pikmin 3, Tales of Xillia
Wii U suffers miserable sales during the last three months, can Pikmin 3 turn the tide?
Nintendo has released their second quarter sales figures for 2013, and they do not make for pleasant reading. Their new flagship console, the Wii U, sold just 160,000 units worldwide from the start of April through the end of June. Compare that to its predecessor, the Wii, which managed to sell 210,000 units and push its worldwide sales total past the 100 million mark.
Needless to say, this was reported across the board as disastrous news for the company, however solvent they are. Yet taken in a different perspective, it does not immediately spell doom and gloom for the Wii U. First of all, the console has sold 3.61 million units globally in the eight months since it was released. Also, Q2 saw a vast drought of games for the console. The only first party games released were Game & Wario and New Super Luigi U, and the latter is just a downloadable expansion for New Super Mario Bros. U. Worthwhile third party games were also in scant supply, though multiplatform games such as Injustice: Gods Among Us and Resident Evil Revelations did make it to the Wii U.
The pessimistic view is that games are not the issue, yet as GamesIndustry International reports, the July release of the long-awaited Pikmin 3 pushed the Wii U to sell 22,000 units in a single week in Japan. Given that only 90,000 units sold in that country in the previous three months, it would be safe to assume the raft of new games set to release this year, including The Wonderful 101, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Super Mario 3D World will see the Wii U steadily climb in sales before its next generation siblings are released.
However, Pikmin 3 also illustrates how Nintendo is learning from their past mistakes. A advertising big push for the game in Europe prior to its launch propelled it to number two in the most recent Chart-Track list of bestsellers.