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)
Warp Zoned Archives
All Articles: Wii
Bridgestone claims that “Kevin Butler” never appeared in their commercial

The “Kevin Butler” lawsuit saga just gets stranger and stranger. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, a representative from Bridgestone has pointed out that actor Jerry Lambert didn’t have any lines in the commercial he appeared in, so he couldn’t have been portraying “Kevin Butler.”
“Mr. Lambert is one of the actors who appeared in the commercial as a Bridgestone engineer. Bridgestone denies that ‘Kevin Butler’ appears in the Bridgestone commercial discussed herein and thus denies that he speaks or does anything whatsoever in the commercial.”
Sony is suing Bridgestone and Lambert’s company, Wildcat Creek, for trademark infringement over their use of the “Kevin Butler” character in a commercial for a “Buy Four Tires, Receive a Wii” promotion. Bridgestone counters with the assertion that Sony never actually registered a trademark for the “Kevin Butler” character and that viewers understand that the people in commercials are actors.
Bridgestone makes a compelling case, but I’ll bet that someone, somewhere, believes “Kevin Butler” is a real person.
Nintendo Download: Art Academy, Crosswords Plus, Cave Story, more

Nintendo is going big with this week’s Nintendo Download with seven titles are newly available to download today, and an eighth scheduled for release this Sunday, October 7.
This week’s two biggest additions are Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! and Crosswords Plus. The art tutor and the crossword puzzles collection are now available on the 3DS eShop… and in the same week the retail versions became available in stores. Not bad, Nintendo.
Purchasing either title through the 3DS eShop will also net you a downloadable copy of Donkey Kong: Original Edition, which features the never-before-seen-on-a-home-platform Cement Factory level.
There’s plenty of other new releases this week as well. So hit the jump for a full rundown of this week’s new Nintendo Downloads. (more…)
Griffin, Durant, Rose score a spot on the NBA 2K13 cover
With the lockout a thing of the past, 2K Sports has decided to not go with a retired legend for the cover of NBA 2K13.
Instead, the publisher has tapped three of the best players currently playing the game: Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. All three were suitably humbled to be selected for the cover. And why not, they were preteens when NBA 2K was released!
“Being crowned as one of the NBA 2K13 cover athletes is a huge honor and something I always dreamt about,” said Durant. “It’s definitely humbling to grace the cover after the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.”
“There’s so much young talent around the NBA, so it’s very exciting to be chosen for NBA 2K’s ‘New Dynasty’ alongside Kevin and Derrick,” added Griffin. “The NBA 2K series has always been my first choice when I want to get a game in.”
“It’s a dream come true to be one of the cover athletes for NBA 2K13,” commented Rose. “I’ve worked closely with 2K Sports since NBA 2K10, and I’m honored to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jordan as the latest Chicago Bull to be featured on the cover.”
NBA 2K13 will be released for the PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360 on October 2. A Wii U version will also be available before the end of the year.
Diablo III named best-selling game of May 2012 after collecting a ton of loot

Can you guess the best-selling game of May 2012 according to The NPD Group’s monthly calculations? Go on, guess, it’s not really a mystery… The best-selling game of May 2012 was Blizzard’s Diablo III.
Diablo III’s loot frenzy was the lone bright spot for the game industry this month as total sales were down 28% from May 2011 with console hardware taking the biggest hit (a 39% drop).
But that’s not for lack of trying. A ton of new releases broke into the top ten this month including Max Payne 3 (#2), Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (#3), Sniper Elite V2 (#7), and Dragon’s Dogma (#9). But I guess they didn’t put up the sales numbers to compete with last May’s biggest game, L.A. Noire.
The complete top ten can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Diablo III, Dragon's Dogma, Just Dance 3, Max Payne 3, NBA 2K12, NPD, PC, Prototype 2, PS2, PS3, PSP, Sniper Elite V2, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Wii, Xbox 360
NBA 2K13 slams it home on October 2; tips off at Wii U launch too

It’s bad luck to change anything in the middle of a hot streak. Your favorite headband, your driving route to the court, even your underwear. It all has to stay the same. Every athlete knows this.
It looks like the people at 2K Sports are a superstitious bunch as well. Just as they’ve done every year since 2007, the publisher plans to release NBA 2K13 for the PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360 during the first week of October (October 2 to be exact). A Wii U version is also in development and will ship during the “holiday season.”
NBA 2K13 is, as always, in development at Visual Concepts. This year, the developer plans to include a new downloadable NBA All-Star content package with every pre-order of the game. Buying early on the PS3 and Xbox 360 will net fans a trio of star-studded bonuses:
[The NBA All-Star] add-on content will be set in Houston, the site of the 2013 NBA All-Star Game and will allow fans to stage their own NBA All-Star Game, including three NBA All-Star events – the Foot Locker Three Point Shootout, BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, and the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest featuring all-new intuitive, pick-up-and-play controls.
Gamers can pit the NBA’s current superstars against classic players in both the Foot Locker Three Point Shootout and Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Rosters for both the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge and 2013 NBA All-Star Game will feature the 2012 All-Stars, with dynamic updates to the 2013 rosters once the participants are announced.
“The NBA All-Star package is our way saying ‘thank you’ to fans for their ongoing love of the NBA 2K series,” said Jason Argent, Vice President of Marketing for 2K Sports. “This content provides a ton of depth and value to our fans, and it’s just the beginning of a lot of big news about NBA 2K13.”
FIFA Soccer 13 will bring the innovation this Fall

EA Sports has officially announced that FIFA Soccer 13 will be available this Fall on the… deep breath… 3DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360, and iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad.
The latest addition to EA’s footie franchise promises to take a few revolutionary steps forward with an improved Career Mode, improved online play, and more than 500 officially licensed teams (clubs in soccer-speak).
The publisher has also revealed that big changes are coming to the on-field action, which you can read more about after the break. (more…)
Prototype 2, Kinect Star Wars lead April 2012 NPD report
Activision’s Prototype 2 took the top spot in the latest NPD report of bestselling games. Another new release, the Xbox 360-exclusive Kinect Star Wars, “did the Han Solo” all the way up to #2.
The remainder of the list is overflowing with familiar faces from last Fall including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (#3), NBA 2K12 (#5), and Just Dance 3 (#9). It wasn’t a Fall release, but Mass Effect 3 continues to hold strong at #8 now that the controversy over the game’s ending has come to… an end.
In terms of dollars made, the game industry suffered a 32% drop in overall sales from April 2011 ($630.4 million versus $930.9 million) when Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat ruled the charts.
You can check out the NPD Group’s complete list of bestsellers for April 2012 after the break. (more…)
Posted in News
Tagged Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Just Dance 3, Kinect Star Wars, Mario Party 9, Mass Effect 3, MLB 12: The Show, NBA 2K12, NPD, PC, Prototype 2, PS2, PS3, PSP, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360
See how many systems Nintendo has sold since they started selling systems
Nintendo has been in the video game business for a long time. Longer than Sony, Microsoft, Sega, Activision, Electronic Arts… nearly everybody actually. So it stands to reason that the company has sold a lot of systems and a lot of software. How much? Well, I’m glad you asked.
During their most recent quarterly financial briefing, Nintendo revealed lifetime-to-date sales figures for all of their consoles and handhelds. Some of the numbers may surprise you:
Hardware Sold
- DS: 151.52 million units
- Game Boy/Game Boy Color: 118.69 million units
- Wii: 95.85 million units
- Game Boy Advance: 81.51 million units
- NES: 61.91 million units
- Super NES: 49.1 million units
- Nintendo 64: 32.93 million units
- GameCube: 21.74 million units
- 3DS: 17.13 million units
All Software Sold
(Includes Nintendo-Published and Third-Party Titles)
- DS: 900.31 million units
- Wii: 818.46 million units
- Game Boy/Game Boy Color: 501.11 million units
- NES: 500.01 million units
- Super NES: 379.06 million units
- Game Boy Advance: 377.52 million units
- Nintendo 64: 224.97 million units
- GameCube: 208.57 million units
- 3DS: 45.42 million units
All sales data is based on worldwide totals and is accurate as of March 31, 2012. Italics indicates currently available system.
Posted in News
Tagged 3DS, DS, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, NES, Nintendo 64, Super NES, Wii







