Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Meet the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: Quake, GoldenEye 007, Defender, and Tamagotchi
- The BAFTA Games Awards Polled the Public and Shenmue is “The Most Influential Video Game of All Time”
- 2024 GOTY Scoreboard: Astro Bot, Balatro, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, More
- The Strong Museum of Play Acquires Prototypes and Development Documents from Volition’s 30-Year History
- Minecraft’s Volume Alpha Soundtrack Has Been Added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Inside the ‘Dragon Age’ Debacle That Gutted EA’s BioWare Studio – Bloomberg (2025)
- Fight Club, The Game David Fincher Didn’t Want You To Play – Time Extension (2025)
- It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)
- 22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive – The Verge (2025)
- The B-movies of Paul W.S. Anderson double as acts of devotion to his muse, Milla Jovovich – The AV Club (2025)
All Articles: Switch
Bot Gaiden Is A Side-Scrolling Platformer With Style: An Interview With Doug Pohl of SwordSwipe Studios
MetroidVanias rose to fame in the 80s and 90s thanks to the popularity of the Metroid and Castlevania franchises, but the genre went dormant in the 2000s as developers pushed pixels aside for polygons and aspired to create sprawling 3D worlds. After being rediscovered and remixed by the indie community, the MetroidVania is finally having its moment here in 2018.
But what if you’re looking for something else from a side-scroller? What if you want the fast action and self-contained levels that characterized the Ninja Gaiden and Contra franchises? Enter SwordSwipe Studios, and their upcoming game, Bot Gaiden.
The gameplay style and artistic inspirations for Bot Gaiden came to us straight from the 80s, but unlike most side-scrollers now on the market, SwordSwipe’s platformer doesn’t look like it came from the 80s. We sat down with Doug Pohl, one of the developer’s co-founders, to find out exactly how he’s bringing back the fast action and precision platforming of those classics in a new package. (more…)
20XX Review – Batterystaple Games Has Perfected the Ability to Generate a Great Mega Man Game
Back in 2015, we all got to relive the instantly recognizable beats of the first six games in the Mega Man series thanks to the Mega Man Legacy Collection. It was surprisingly easy to slip back into the familiar patterns of the franchise, but at the time I wondered if we’d ever get the chance to apply that muscle memory to something new. So while we continue to wait for this Fall’s Mega Man 11, the newly-released 20XX is here to fill the gap… and to prove that games inspired by the Blue Bomber can feed your nostalgia needs just as well. (more…)
Bethesda will bring “a big mix of stuff” to E3 2018
Bethesda held their first E3 Press Conference in 2015, and they managed to instantly win over the crowd by showcasing the first teaser trailer for Doom. In the years since, the publisher has doubled down on this strategy, and continued to focus on spectacular sequels and expansions to their biggest franchises.
And it sounds like 2018 won’t be any different.
DualShockers tracked down Bethesda’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, Pete Hines, at PAX East 2018, and asked him what we can expect from the company’s E3 showcase. As in years past, Hines promised that fans will see “a big mix of stuff” that won’t be limited to one kind of game or genre:
[W]e have a lot of new stuff to talk about at E3. Whether or not folks realize it, this is the hell on Earth time for us with E3. We are in the midst of so much planning and work for all of that content but I’m really excited.
I think we have a lot of stuff that folks are going to like. To my earlier comment, it’s going to be a big mix of stuff that’s all over the place. It’s not going to be like all [one] kind of game or genre. It’s going to be a lot of stuff in a lot of different areas and hopefully, there’s something in there for everybody.
Bethesda always has a lot of irons in the fire, but aside from the constant drumbeat of The Elder Scrolls VI (and the two “big and crazy” projects that will precede it), we don’t have any idea what the publisher is working on.
I guess we’ll all find out together during Bethesda’s E3 Showcase, which will be held on June 10 at 9:30 PM (Eastern Time).
You Don’t Know Jack will return in Jackbox Party Pack 5
Jackbox Games will bring back “You Don’t Know Jack” in this Fall’s Jackbox Party Pack 5 on the PC, consoles, and other “major digital platforms.”
An announcement on the developer’s official website lays out all the details, and it looks the trivia game will include many of the features and question types that fans have come to expect. But it’ll also get a change of scenery so that Jackbox can mock “binge” culture:
We didn’t want to do another YDKJ just because we could. We wanted to wait until we had a fresh take on the classic formula. This version sees the game (and Cookie) acquired by the friendly corporate overlords at Binjpipe, your premiere media bingeing streaming service. It’s a big scenery change that’s led us to update the game in really fun ways, and given us a ton of new stuff to make fun of.
“You Don’t Know Jack” will also include support for up to eight players, as well as “new question types, audience integration, brand new fart sounds, a lot of old fart sounds too, streaming features, begrudging meme references,” and “more than one Frasier joke for some reason.”
Like the previous Jackbox Party Pack collections, Jackbox Party Pack 5 will also include four other games that’ll be announced at a later date. For now, check out the C2E2/PAX East Trailer embedded above. It’s a hilarious takedown of binge-y buzzwords.
Nintendo Switch has officially outsold the Wii U after ten months on the market
It’s official. After launching in March and being available to consumers for just under ten months, the Nintendo Switch has officially surpassed the Wii U in total sales. According to Nintendo’s internal tracking, they’ve sold 14.86 million Switch consoles as of December 31. This milestone easily leapfrogs the Wii U, which sold just 13.56 million consoles before it was discontinued in January 2017.
Nintendo also shared some software sales figures for the Switch’s first year, and leading the way is Super Mario Odyssey with 9.07 million copies sold. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is second place with 7.33 million copies sold, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was close behind with 6.7 million copies sold on the Switch.
Other million-sellers for the Switch include Splatoon 2 (4.91 million), 1-2-Switch (1.88 million), Arms (1.61 million), and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (1.06 million).
Nintendo will announce full-year sales figures for the Switch in April, and it’ll be interesting to see what these numbers look like then.
Posted in News
Tagged 1-2-Switch, Arms, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Wii U, Xenoblade Chronicles 2
The Video Game Canon: 2018’s “Version 2.0” Update
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…
The Video Game Canon has been upgraded to “Version 2.0” thanks to the addition of four new lists that were published throughout the last year. Edge Magazine’s “100 Greatest Videogames” issue, Jeux Video’s “Top 100 Best Games of All Time,” Polygon’s massive “500 Best Games of All Time,” and Stuff UK’s “50 Greatest Games of All Time” have reshuffled the ranking in a big way.
Let’s take a look…
Visit VideoGameCanon.com for all future updates to this project and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Gorogoa Review – A Museum-Worthy Puzzler
Nearly five years ago, at my first IndieCade East, I was amazed by what games could do. The feelings they evoked in me, the anxiety, the joy – that weekend helped solidify in me that games were more than just an activity. Sometimes, they could be an experience, one that was unique, evocative, and memorable.
Unsurprisingly, one of the games I played that cold weekend in New York City was the hauntingly beautiful Gorogoa. (more…)
Link rides a motorcycle in Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s Champions Ballad DLC… which is now available to download
The Champions Ballad, the second expansion from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘s Expansion Pass, is now available to download from the Nintendo eShop on the Switch and Wii U. Nintendo surprise-launched the DLC during last night’s Game Awards, while also introducing Link’s motorcycle in a new trailer:
In this second of two DLC packs that are part of the game’s Expansion Pass, players are granted access to a large new adventure featuring a never-before-seen dungeon, new insights into the background of the game’s four Champions, as well as a new high-mobility means of transportation. Once players complete the adventure, they will have the opportunity to traverse the enormous world of Hyrule on top of a motorcycle called Master Cycle Zero. The DLC will also grant access to nine new armor items for players to find, as well as the Ancient Saddle and Bridle items.
The Expansion Pass, which includes The Champion Ballad, as well as The Trial of the Sword, is now available to purchase for $19.99.
Posted in News
Tagged Game Awards 2017, Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Wii U