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
- 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
- “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
- 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)
All Articles: Vita
No UMD Passport for Vita in US
Buying a PlayStation Vita in a week or two? Excited about the prospect of playing your UMD games on it? If you live in North America, that dream has just been shattered. Sony told Kotaku that they will not be bringing the UMD Passport Program to North America.
The UMD Passport Program in Japan allowed Japanese users to pay a small fee to download their UMD games on their Vitas. North American customers will still be able to access their digital purchases through the PlayStation Network – but that pile of UMDs you have will be more useless than ever before.
The Vita will be out February 15 for early adopters and February 22 for gamers who have smaller wallets and more sanity.
GameStop has playable Vita demo stations
Are you counting down the days until the PlayStation Vita is available? For those not keeping track, it’s 12 days for the First Edition Bundle and 19 days for the standard package.
But if you must get your hands on Sony’s next handheld right now, head on down to your local GameStop as they’ve announced they’re the first retailer to offer Vita demo stations. 3,300 GameStop stores have constructed the demo stations, which contain the following eight games:
- Escape Plan
- Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational
- Little Deviants
- FIFA Soccer
- ModNation Racers: Road Trip
- Uncharted: Golden Abyss
- Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition
- Wipeout 2048
To further entice you to purchase the handheld, GameStop plans to sweeten the pot by giving an additional $25 in credit when you trade-in a DS, 3DS or PSP system towards the purchase of a Vita.
Posted in News
Tagged Little Deviants, ModNation Racers: Road Trip, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Vita
MLB 12: The Show first trailer released, hits a home run
Wow. I am not into baseball games, or sports games, or really sports in general, but this trailer made me want to get this game. It’s pretty awe-inspiring, especially pulling off wicked double plays. Add in PlayStation Move support and PlayStation Vita integration and this game is blowing my mind. Check out the full details over at the PlayStation Blog.
MLB 12: The Show will be out on March 6 for the PS3 and Vita.
Posted in News
Tagged MLB 12: The Show, PS3, Vita
Ed Boon on Mortal Kombat Vita: Touchscreen Fatalities, New Challenge Tower, and more
Sid Shuman over at the at the PlayStation Blog recently sat down with Ed Boon to get some information about Mortal Kombat coming to the Vita. The game’s got everything from the PS3 version (including Kratos and all downloadable content), plus even more content tailored specifically for the Vita’s unique capabilities.
He wasn’t allowed to discuss how they used the accelerometer or the Sixaxis, but Boon goes into detail about how the touchscreen is utilized: “In terms of gameplay, we’ve always wanted MK to be as accessible as possible. For example, you can touch your X-Ray Meter to execute an X-Ray Attack. For fatalities, you can ‘slash’ the screen with the appropriate inputs — say, away, away, up — to execute the fatality. It makes some of the more difficult fatalities easier and it’s fun to slash at your screen to fire off a fatality. I was surprised by how engaging it is.”
As for the new Challenge Tower, Boon said “there are challenges that are unique to PS Vita’s capabilities. Over the years we’ve had Test Your Might, Test Your Luck, Test Your Sight… well, we’ve added two completely new ones for PS Vita. We’ll be revealing those soon, and they will take advantage of the accelerometer and other features.”
What blew me away the most about the interview was that the Vita version will be running at the same framerate as the PS3 version – 60 frames per second. Talk about smooth!
Posted in News
Tagged Mortal Kombat, Vita
Sony renames Ruin; It’s now Warrior’s Lair
Sony’s Ruin, which they showcased at E3 to demonstrate the smooth transition between playing a game on the PlayStation 3 and continuing it on the go on the Vita, has been renamed Warrior’s Lair. In the Vita section of their site, Sony brags that the Diablo clone will be able to “stay connected via the PlayStation Vita, Web and PS3; quest, challenge rivals and craft everywhere you go.”
Diablo clone or not, this game looks like a great way to show off the unique qualities of the PlayStation Vita. There’s still no release date, but speculation is that it will be out sometime this year.
Mortal Kombat koming to PS Vita this Spring
After it’s incredibly awesome rebirth on the PS3 and Xbox 360 last year, WB Games and NetherRealm Studios are now bringing Mortal Kombat to the PlayStation Vita this Spring.
“The NetherRealm team is committed to making sure that we follow up the success of 2011’s Mortal Kombat with an equally compelling experience on the PlayStation Vita,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “The original game content and new features we developed for the PlayStation Vita will provide gamers with the best fighting game experience available on the new mobile platform.”
Not only will Mortal Kombat on the Vita be the same gore-filled game that appeared on the PS3/Xbox 360, but it’ll also include several Vita-exclusive features. According to NetherRealm, they’ll be announced in the next few months.
Posted in News
Tagged Mortal Kombat, Vita
Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus to launch with PS Vita on February 22
All you Ninja Gaiden fans can toss your shuriken into the air with jubilation because the release of Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus for the the Playstation Vita has been moved up to February 22 (making it a Vita “launch day” title instead of a “launch window” one). Just remember to dodge the inevitable hail of steel afterwards.
The Ninja Gaiden series is not known for coddling its players. In fact, it’s known for its controller-snapping difficulty. Thankfully, Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus introduces “Hero Mode,” which dials back the level of thumb-crushing frustration so new players can slash their way through the story.
The game will also use quite a bit of the Vita’s new hardware features. It’ll take full advantage of the rear touchpad to power up Ryu Hayabusa’s moves and use the embedded gyro sensor to allow you to aim the bow with a tilt of the Vita. BE WARNED, you do not sling the Vita in order to activate the shuriken throw. Although, a Vita to the face could probably knock down the heftiest of your real world foes.
Posted in News
Tagged Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, Vita
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Vita’s US launch
With the launch of the PlayStation Vita exactly two months away, Sony has released a detailed outline of the handheld’s launch plans including day one games, launch window games, and prices for every announced peripheral.
As you know, the Vita will be available in three different packages. A “First Edition” bundle will be released on February 15 (which is less than two months away) that includes a carrying case and Little Deviants. February 22 is the official launch day, which will see the release of a Wi-Fi model available for $249.99 and a 3G/Wi-Fi model available for $299.99. All Sony-published launch games will be available on the 15th to support the “First Edition” bundle.
In addition to the system itself, every Vita system includes six Augment Reality Play cards and one voucher to download a handful of augmented reality mini games from the PlayStation Network.
Hit the jump for the complete list of every launch day and launch window game. (more…)