Warp Zoned Presents
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The Video Game Canon: Super Mario Bros. 3
Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with a look at Mario’s actorly ambitions in Super Mario Bros. 3. Here’s a teaser…
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”
– As You Like It, Act II Scene VII
Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom cohorts have held a surprising number of occupations over the years. In addition to his plumbing business and the hero-for-hire game, Mario has been employed as a multi-sport athlete, a race car driver, a referee, a dancer, an artist, a virologist, and a typing tutor. He’s practically done it all, and I think only political office has eluded him. I guess that’s the trouble with monarchies.
Bouncing from genre to genre like that is usually considered a liability for other game characters. As sublimely silly as the idea seems, no one wants to see Kratos squeezed into a go-kart. And yet, fans readily accept Mario’s multitasking, and many of his spinoff adventures are now more popular than some of the franchise’s traditional platformers. There’s a strong possibility this all stems from the fact that Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, designed the character this way from the beginning.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Posted in 3DS, Features, Retro, Top Story, Video Game Canon, Wii, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Bros. 3
Pokemon Sun/Moon were the best-selling games on Amazon in 2016
Earlier this week, Steam provided a quick glimpse at the best-selling games available through the storefront in 2016. Besides The NPD Group’s monthly reports on gaming’s retail sector, it might be the best window into what sells and what doesn’t that we have.
However, Amazon also published a list of best-selling games from 2016 earlier this week, and naturally, it features a considerably more console-centric bent. Nintendo’s Pokemon Sun and Moon reigned supreme, taking the #1 and #2 spots. Final Fantasy XV was the best-selling PS4 game (#3 overall), while Madden NFL 17 claimed the Xbox One’s highest ranking (#5).
You’ve got to go all the way down to #18 to find the best-selling Wii U game (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD), and the only PC game on the list is Overwatch (#46). No Vita games managed to crack Amazon’s Top 100 (which also included console bundles and accessories), but the Wii version of Just Dance 2017 checked in at #21.
The complete list of Amazon’s best-selling games from 2016 can be found after the break. (more…)
The Video Game Canon: An Introduction and The Top 100 (Version 1.0)
The Video Game Canon is a statistical meta-ranking of dozens of “Best Video Games of All Time” lists that began in 2017 with Version 1.0, and the ranking has been updated several times since then. Which game is #1? There’s only one way to find out…
Is it possible to rank the greatest video games of all time in a “scientific” way? Do you just throw the question to so-called experts and let them hash it out in a no-holds-barred debate? Or is there some way to create a “Video Game Canon” that the wide-ranging community of developers, critics, and players can all agree on?
Probably not. But we can try.
Since gaming’s earliest days, dozens of publications have tried to sort through the noise and compile their own list of “The Best Video Games of All Time.” By analyzing all of these attempts at ranking the greatest games and combining them into a single list, we can apply a little scientific rigor to the process and possibly create a “Best Video Games of All Time” list that everyone can agree on.
Before we go any further, let me just say… no matter how we try to justify it, it’s impossible to prove, by “science” or otherwise, that one game is definitively better than another. My attempt at adding “science” to the mix is just a way to add some zing to the numerical formula doing all the work behind the scenes.
Ideally, this project will give us the chance to look back at the history of video games reflected through some the medium’s greatest titles. The list itself will serve as something of a road map to help us learn how the best games of all time are connected to each other, to better appreciate how players interacted with video games in the past, and to explore what video games might become in the future.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com for all future updates to this project and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Black Friday Game Deals 2016: Amazon
Black Friday has arrived, so I hope your wallet is ready for the deal-splosion happening at Amazon today.
As is Amazon’s MO, not all of the deals that are currently available on the site will be available all day. But we’ll do our best to keep you updated on the best discounts, as well as a revolving series of Lightning Deals. In the meantime, you can find a massive list of Black Friday Deals after the break for games such as Forza Horizon 3, Gears of War 4, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, and Dishonored 2, as well as console bundles and gaming accessories like mice, keyboards, controllers, and headsets.
And don’t forget about the rest of this year’s Black Friday Game Deals. (more…)
It Came From 19XX: Silent Hill
Horror games have changed in recent years. As “walking simulators” like Layers of Fear and hide-and-seek tributes such as Outlast have risen in popularity, old-school survival horror titles have become increasingly scarce. So join us, zombies and ghouls, as we revisit one of horror gaming’s classics in time for Halloween. (more…)
New Retail Releases: Titanfall 2, World of Final Fantasy, Skyrim Special Edition, More
EA and Respawn Entertainment will storm their way into stores this week with Titanfall 2 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. In addition to expanded multiplayer options, Titanfall 2 will include a single-player campaign for the first time. We can finally say it… Your Titanfall sequel is ready.
Also available this week is World of Final Fantasy, a new “chibi” RPG from Square Enix that celebrates the grand history of the Final Fantasy franchise. Designed primarily for a younger audience, PS4 and Vita players will still need to save the world from an evil mastermind. Thankfully, they’ll be aided by dozens of heroes from previous games in the series.
If you’d rather skip all the fighting and just dance, Ubisoft has you covered with the launch of Just Dance 2017 on the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Just Dance 2017 includes dozens of songs, and the new Just Dance Machine mode, which will throw an assortment of different dance styles at players.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition will make its PC, PS4, and Xbox One debut this week, as Bethesda plans to relaunch their epic RPG on a new generation of platforms. And Telltale will bring together Minecraft: Story Mode – The Complete Adventure on a single disc for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Finally this week, one of my favorite puzzlers of the year, Tumblestone, will receive a retail release on the PS4 and Wii U.
A complete list of this week’s new retail releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Just Dance 2017, Minecraft: Story Mode, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, TitanFall 2, Tumblestone, World of Final Fantasy
Ubisoft reveals full Just Dance 2017 tracklist… including Maroon 5’s “Don’t Wanna Know”
Just Dance 2017 will boogie its way into stores on October 25, so now’s the perfect time for Ubisoft to unveil the game’s full tracklist.
In addition to previously-announced tracks from Justin Bieber, Sia, and DNCE, Just Dance 2017 will also include music from Beyonce (“Single Ladies”), Ariana Grande (“Into You”), and Zayn (“Like I Would”). “Don’t Wanna Know,” the newly-released single from Maroon 5’s upcoming new album, will also be a featured track in the game.
Just Dance 2017 will be available this month for the PC, PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game is also in development for Nintendo’s NX console and it’ll presumably launch alongside the console in March 2017.
The full Just Dance 2017 tracklist can be found after the break, and a gameplay trailer featuring “Don’t Wanna Know” has been embedded above. (more…)
Dark Horse to publish Hyrule Historia sequel Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts in February 2017
After the massive success of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia (including a series timeline that fans are still talking about), Dark Horse and Nintendo are teaming up again to publish The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts in Early 2017. Art & Artifacts will be packed with promotional artwork and interviews with the design team, along with exclusive artwork from the next game in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild:
Fans of The Legend of Zelda are in for a treat with The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts. Readers can peruse over four hundred pages of fully realized artistic masterpieces, exclusive interviews with the design team behind the beloved video game franchise, the official pixel art of the early series, and rare promotional art never before published in this format. The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts offers fans a sneak peek at art from the newest game in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, prior to its official release. This breathtaking volume is essential for any true Zelda fan!
The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts will be available in stores on February 21, 2017. And let’s hope that release date means we’ll get Breath of the Wild on the Wii U and NX sooner rather than later.
Posted in 3DS, DS, Etcetera, News, Retro, Switch, Wii, Wii U
Tagged The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild