Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Has Another Big Night and Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2025-2026 DICE Awards
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- “Animal Crossing” and Undertale” Lead the Way for New Book Series About Games at University of Chicago Press
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
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- 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)
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All Articles: Super Mario Maker
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins Game of the Year at 2015 Game Awards
After racking up more nominations than any other title, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt easily waltzed away with the “Game of the Year” prize at the 2015 Game Awards. Held last night in Los Angeles, the game also secured the “Best Role Playing Game” statue during the awards show, as well as “Developer of the Year” honors for CD Projekt Red.
While The Witcher 3 is known for its size, two smaller games also managed to win multiple awards last night. Sam Barlow’s Her Story took home the Game Award for “Best Narrative” and “Best Performance” for actress Viva Seifert. Meanwhile, Rocket League reached its goal by winning for both “Best Independent Game” and “Best Sports/Racing Game.”
Nintendo had a good Game Awards as Splatoon took home a pair of awards for its unique take on the multiplayer shooter (specifically, “Best Multiplayer” and “Best Shooter”). Nintendo also won “Best Family Game” for Super Mario Maker.
Many other titles took home a trophy last night including Mortal Kombat X (“Best Fighting Game”), Life Is Strange (“Games For Change Award”), Ori and the Blind Forest (“Best Art Direction”), and Lara Croft Go (“Best Mobile/Handheld Game”). And Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won “Best Action/Adventure Game” and “Best Score/Soundtrack,” though host Geoff Keighley explained that he wasn’t able to accept either award as Konami had barred him from the event.
While that turn of events was a bit shocking (and frankly, rather petty), the biggest surprise may have been that Bethesda’s Fallout 4 was completely shut out at the 2015 Game Awards.
A complete rundown of this year’s winners can be found after the break. (more…)
Time Magazine names their top ten video games of 2015
It looks like Time Magazine will get the first word in the annual discussion about the best games of the past 12 months as the publication recently published their look at the “Top 10 Video Games of 2015.” As usual, Time’s honorees are a mix of blockbusters and games with a lower profile. That includes this year’s #1, which is Prune, a “minimalist” puzzler for the iOS. I’d never heard of Prune before today (and I’m sure I’m not alone), but it certainly looks interesting.
Among this year’s blockbusters, Nintendo has two titles in Time’s Top Ten: Super Mario Maker at #6 and Splatoon at #10. Both certainly made the Wii U stand out against the PS4 and Xbox One. But speaking of the PS4 and Xbox One, several multiplatform games rose to the occasion in the eyes of Time’s editors including Rise of the Tomb Raider (#2), Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (#3), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (#5), and Batman: Arkham Knight (#8).
The rest of Time’s Top Ten can be found right here:
Time Magazine’s Top Ten Video Games of 2015
1. Prune (Mobile)
2. Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One, Xbox 360)
3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
4. Her Story (PC, Mobile)
5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
6. Super Mario Maker (Wii U)
7. Ryan North’s To Be or Not to Be (PC, Mobile)
8. Batman: Arkham Knight (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
9. Undertale (PC)
10. Splatoon (Wii U)
Posted in Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Batman: Arkham Knight, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Super Mario Maker update adds Checkpoint Flag, context-sensitive powerups, Event Courses, and Nintendo Course World
A new update to Super Mario Maker, which is available starting today, will add a handful of oft-requested features to the game creation tool (and its 3.3 million uploaded courses)…
- Checkpoint Flag – By shaking an Arrow, creators will now be able to place a mid-level Checkpoint Flag on their course. Instead of starting over at the beginning, players will be able to restart a course at the Checkpoint Flag.
- Context-Sensitive Powerups – Creators will be now have the chance to add a Super Mushroom and a Fire Flower to a Question Block. If Mario is small, he’ll get a Super Mushroom, but if he’s big, he’ll get the Fire Flower.
- Event Courses – Event Courses are specially-designed levels created as part of a worldwide event. The first Event Courses will be “Ship Love,” the winning course from the Facebook Hackathon earlier this Summer, and the Omegathon course from PAX Prime.
- Nintendo Course World – Nintendo is adding a new tab to the Makers page and “Official” Nintendo-created courses will soon be available in their own area.
- Finally, shaking a Muncher will open up a more advanced version of the Gnat Attack minigame.
Check out the trailer embedded above for an in-depth look at these new features and happy Mario Making!
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
NBA 2K16, Madden NFL 16 lead off September 2015’s top ten list of best-selling games
Sports! Sports! Sports! Sports!
Sports! Sports! Sports! Sports!
With the Fall gaming rush off to a slow start, Electronic Arts and 2K Games more-or-less split the month with four sports titles in the NPD Group’s monthly top ten. NBA 2K16 slammed it home to take the #1 spot, while EA’s Madden NFL 16 slipped to #2 in its second month on the chart. Rounding out this month’s murderer’s row was FIFA 16, which bicycled kicked its way into the #4 spot; and NHL 16, which safely skated into the #9 spot.
While most of this Fall’s biggest games are still a few weeks away, new releases did take up the majority of the remaining slots. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain sent off Hideo Kojima in style with a #3 ranking, while Bungie’s Destiny: The Taken King expansion took the #5 spot. Nintendo’s Super Mario Maker was the only platform-exclusive title to break into the top ten and it did so at #6. A pair of licensed games, Disney Infinity: Star Wars at #7 and Mad Max at #8, claimed the next two spots.
Finally, Minecraft continues to hold on by claiming the #10 slot. Expect Mojang’s creation to rise as we get closer to the holiday shopping season.
September 2015’s top ten can be viewed in handy list format after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Destiny, Disney Infinity: Star Wars, FIFA 16, Mad Max, Madden NFL 16, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Minecraft, NBA 2K16, NHL 16, NPD, Super Mario Maker
Worldwide sales of Super Mario Maker have surpassed one million copies
According to Nintendo, games from the Super Mario franchise have sold more than 310 million copies since Mario stomped his first Goomba back in 1983. Today, they can add another million to that total as Super Mario Maker has become the latest entry in the series to reach platinum status.
“For Mario fans around the world, including myself, Super Mario Maker was a dream 30 years in the making,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “The game has captured and unlocked the imaginations of gaming fans of all ages and brought their dedication to Nintendo to a whole new level.”
Super Mario Maker’s million-selling milestone is based on worldwide sales of the game through the Wii U eShop and retail outlets (including the various Super Mario Maker bundles) since its release in mid-September. In that time, the average Super Mario Maker player has created at least two levels as more than 2.2 million levels have been uploaded to the game’s servers.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
Nintendo Download: Super Mario Maker, Tecmo Bowl, Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX, more
You couldn’t design a better Nintendo Download this week if you tried. But then, any designers in the audience will be quite busy beginning tomorrow when Super Mario Maker is added to the Wii U eShop. More than a mere Mario level editor, Super Mario Maker will include dozens of pre-built courses and the option to download an unlimited number of levels from the Wii U community. Also, you can use an Amiibo figure to drop Link (and many other characters) into a Mario game for the first time.
The Wii U eShop received a bounty of new releases this week in addition to Super Mario Maker. For starters, Tecmo’s famous football sim for the NES, Tecmo Bowl, is now available through the Virtual Console. Seems appropriate on Kickoff Thursday. Also available to download today are a pair of puzzling adventures including steampunk caper The Swindle and the first-person environmental brain-twister QUBE: Director’s Cut.
Finally this week, Sega will bring Japan’s most famous blue-haired idol, Hatsune Miku, to the 3DS in the rhythm action game Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX.
More information on all of these titles (and a few others) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Super Mario Maker
New Releases: Super Mario Maker, Tearaway Unfolded, Hatsune Miku Project Mirai DX, More
Nintendo is finally ready to let fans unleash their inner Miyamoto this week with the release of Super Mario Maker for the Wii U. The course creator will let players design and upload a neverending stream of Mario levels, along with being able to play the dozens of courses already on the disc. Players will even have the ability to bring characters like Link and Samus Aran into a Mario game for the first time through an Amiibo tap or by unlocking the character through the Challenge Mode. Super Mario Maker may be the last video game we ever need.
However, if the idea of Super Mario Maker as the last video game you’ll ever play isn’t appealing, there are a few other new releases this week. Chief among them is Tearaway Unfolded, Media Molecule’s PS4 adaptation of their puzzle platformer, which was originally released for the Vita in 2013. Players can jump back into Atoi’s papercraft world to solve puzzles using the unique features of the DualShock 4 such as illuminating a dark room with the Light Bar or whipping up a windy storm with the controller’s built-in motion sensor.
Finally this week, we have a pair of brand new 3DS games… Sega plans to release Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX, an idol/maker/rhythm game, for the handheld. Meanwhile, Jeff Foxworthy will host another interactive adaptation of his game show, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?