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: Wii U
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD will include a harder “Hero Mode”
Not content with just offering the normal difficulty setting, Nintendo has announced that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD will feature an additional difficultly setting called Hero Mode. The higher difficulty setting, also seen in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, will remove healing hearts from being found in the environment, forcing Link to seek out fairies or potions. Not only that, but enemy AIs will dish out double the damage they do in Normal Mode.
This new feature is one of several to be added to the original game, including Swift Sail, which allows players to control the King of Red Lions ship directly, rather than indirectly changing direction by controlling the wind. The GamePad’s second screen will also allow players to effectively play the game as an FPS, in a similar way to Link’s Crossbow Training on the Wii. Along with the improved HD graphics, this version of Wink Waker is shaping up to be a must-own game.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD will be available in October.
[Source: Polygon]
Posted in News
Tagged Gamescom 2013, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Wii U
“Finding Luigi” paints Mario’s brother as a parkour legend
Ever since the release of Super Mario Bros. 2 (Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels to us Americans), Luigi has been able to jump higher and farther than his squatter brother, Mario. Using this trait as a jumping off point, Nintendo has decided to reimagine their second-most-popular character as a parkour legend in the short film “Finding Luigi.”
“Finding Luigi” follows two inept filmmakers on a bizarre odyssey in search of the green-suited one. Apparently, “during the early days he was everywhere,” but now, he has fallen off the map. “Gone underground” as the kids say. But before that there’s plenty of footage of someone in a Luigi costume doing parkour. It’s amazing how well the character’s in-game persona translates into real-world parkour movements.
“Finding Luigi” was produced to promote New Super Luigi U, which is available in stores as of today.
Posted in News
Tagged New Super Luigi U, Wii U
Say hello to the villains of Lego Marvel Super Heroes in a new trailer
In honor of this year’s Gamescom expo, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has released a new trailer for Lego Marvel Super Heroes. In addition to confirming the game will also appear on the PS4 and Xbox One this Fall, the developers at TT Games have given us our first look at some of the game’s many villains. They include (deep breath)…
Dr. Doom, Doctor Octopus, Magneto, Sandman, Arnim Zola, Green Goblin, Sabretooth, Abomination, Loki, Mystique, and Galactus. There’s also blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpses of the heroic Cyclops, Storm, and the Silver Surfer.
But unless I missed him, I’m still holding out for Lego Blade. Though I love that we’re getting Lego Punisher, even if he wasn’t in this trailer.
Nintendo Download: Dillon’s Rolling Western 2; Injustice, Kirby’s Adventure out next week
Nintendo’s weekly “Nintendo Download” typically highlights games that will be available on the 3DS eShop and Wii U eShop during the next week, but this is getting ridiculous. Today, gamers can give three new games a shot:
- Dillon’s Rolling Western: The Last Ranger and Soccer Up 3D on the 3DS eShop
- And Clash of Elementalists on the DSiWare Shop.
Next week, major new releases Injustice: Gods Among Us (Wii U) and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (3DS) will be released, along with Wii U Virtual Console title Kirby’s Adventure.
Want more details on all of these titles? They’re available after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged 3DS, DS, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Wii U
Nintendo Download: Lego City Undercover, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, more
This week’s Nintendo Download should really be referred to as “next week’s Nintendo Download” as most of the new addition to the 3DS/Wii U’s download services won’t be available until March 19.
That’s when Lego City Undercover and Need For Speed: Most Wanted U will make their Wii U debut. That’s also when Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and The Croods: Prehistoric Party! will be released for the Wii U and the 3DS. Next week will also see the release of the next Wii U Virtual Console game, Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream, on Wednesday, March 20.
So what’s available today? On the 3DS eShop, there’s Mega Man III, Rayman Origins, and Reel Fishing 3D Paradise; and on the DSiWare Shop there’s Forgotten Legions and Goony.
More details about this week’s new games and next week’s releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged 3DS, DS, Lego City Undercover, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Need For Speed: Most Wanted, Wii U
Lego Batman 2 coming to Wii U this Spring
After already selling over 3.4 million copies worldwide on the 3DS, DS, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii, and Xbox 360 since its release last year, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes is coming to the Wii U this Spring.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the news yesterday and the company emphasized that changes would be coming to the Wii U port, stating that Lego Batman 2 “will take advantage of the innovative Wii U GamePad controller.”
As well as using the GamePad as an interactive map, players will be able to “enjoy the entire game experience on the GamePad in off-TV mode, or have a second player join in on the TV, so they can fight crime together without having to share a single screen.”
Posted in News
Tagged Lego Batman 2, Wii U
The Witness coming to PC/iOS… but probably not Xbox 720 or Wii U
One of the highlights of Sony’s PS4 announcement was the whimsical, Myst-like trailer for Jonathan Blow’s upcoming puzzler The Witness. The developer has since expanded on its unveiling to Kotaku, and confirmed what other platforms it will appear on.
“Our deal with Sony is a limited-time exclusivity that applies only to competing console platforms. Basically it is that you will see the game on the PlayStation 4 before you will see it on the Wii U or the next Microsoft console, if the game ever appears on either of those.”
In other words, he is free to launch it on the PC and iOS regardless of his deal with Sony. In fact, Blow states that if he and his team were able to develop those versions in time for the PS4 launch, “The ideal situation for us is to release everything simultaneously or close to simultaneously.” The outspoken developer was very forthcoming when discussing why he had chosen the Playstation 4 as the right console for The Witness, and revealed that Sony did not give him money for the exclusivity.
“The real situation is that, because we are a small developer, we only have the ability to launch on a small number of platforms at once. We liked the idea of being on a console, and originally we thought we might be on the PS3 or Xbox 360, but eventually we decided not to target either of those due to the relatively low system specs… The Wii U still has pretty low system specs, so it came down to a choice between the next Microsoft console or the next Sony console.”
In typical Jonathan Blow fashion, he had a lot more to say about The Witness. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged Mobile, PC, PlayStation Meeting 2013, PS4, The Witness, Wii U, Xbox One
Watch Dogs is coming to every platform ever this holiday season
Well, not quite every platform, but it will be one of Ubisoft’s most widely released titles to date. Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot was at the New York launch event for Sony’s new console, the PlayStation 4. There, he was singing the console’s praises, and revealed that Watch Dogs will be available during the system’s launch this holiday season.
“Ubisoft has a strong history of supporting new technologies with unique and creative offerings. The power and capability of the PS4 allows the Watch Dogs team to further push the boundaries of what was previously thought possible in interactive entertainment.”
Bold words, but Ubisoft are not hedging their bets on Sony’s new box alone. With the company showing the same strategy that has lead it to become one of the most successful developers during the current generation, the futuristic open world third-person thriller will also be released on the console’s predecessor, the PS3, as well as the Xbox 360, PC, and the Wii U. There has been no word on if Watch Dogs is a timed exclusive for Sony’s next-generation system, but given the recent debacle surrounding the delay of Rayman Legends so it could also be released on the PS3 and Xbox 360, it would be reasonable to assume that Watch Dogs will hit all consoles simultaneously.
And while it has not been mentioned thus far, we can only assume this wide umbrella will also ensnare Microsoft’s Xbox 720, whenever it is announced.
Posted in News
Tagged PC, PlayStation Meeting 2013, PS3, PS4, Watch Dogs, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One