Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: Features
Insert Quarterly: The Best Game Writing of Winter 2015
Maybe it was the blanket of snow that covered the world over the last three months, but Insert Quarter took it slow in Winter 2015. But that doesn’t mean our showcase of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet came to a complete standstill. Have you ever wondered why Sony chose X-Circle-Square-Triangle for the face buttons on the PlayStation controller? Or maybe you’re worried that Batman: Arkham Knight killed the Teen rating?
The answers to those questions (and a few others) can be found in this edition of Insert Quarterly, which catalogs our favorite game writing from the last three months. (more…)
Posted in Features, Insert Quarter, Top Story
The Games of April 2015
Some of us will be playing Mortal Kombat, some of us will be playing Shovel Knight, and some of us will be playing both during the month of April. But that’s not all – there are a few other games we’re excited about, too! Read on to see what the Warp Zoned crew has on their plates for April. (more…)
Warpback: What We Played in March 2015
The Warp Zoned crew was mostly digging into their backlogs in the cold month of March! Some of us did get to play new games at PAX East, as well as game jam games, but for the most part, we were all just hibernating. Read on to see what we played to pass the time! (more…)
What Games Belong in the World Video Game Hall of Fame? We Asked A Few Developers…
This Summer, the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and the Strong Museum of Play will announce the first class of inductees for the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Any game, past or present, arcade or console, casual or hardcore, is eligible to be enshrined within its soon-to-be hallowed halls, and the World Video Game Hall of Fame is currently accepting nominations on their website through March 31. Do you think your favorite game has what it takes to be considered Hallworthy? First, it has to meet the following criteria:
- Icon Status: The game is widely recognized and remembered.
- Longevity: The game is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over time.
- Geographical Reach: The game meets the above criteria across international boundaries.
- Influence: The game has exerted significant influence on the design and development of other games, on other forms of entertainment, or on popular culture and society in general. A game may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.
Earlier this month, we asked a few developers at the PAX East expo which games they would nominate for the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Here’s what they told us… (more…)
Posted in Features, Top Story
Tagged PAX East 2015, World Video Game Hall of Fame
In the Year 20XX: An Interview With Chris King of Batterystaple Games
Back in the day, Sega used to run an advertising campaign that claimed “Genesis Does What Nintendon’t.” Aside from angering my inner nerd (I was an excellent speller in grade school), I could never actually figure out what Sega did that Nintendo didn’t. The same benefit of the doubt does not apply to the people who currently run Capcom. We know exactly what they aren’t doing, and that’s treating Mega Man, one of gaming’s most beloved characters, with the respect he deserves. There hasn’t been a new Mega Man game in nearly five years, and aside from an appearance in last year’s Super Smash Bros. For 3DS/Wii U (a Nintendo production), the character has been completely forgotten.
Enter Chris King, the programmer for Batterystaple Games. He saw the Mega Man-shaped hole in the market and decided to give the people what they wanted. His new game, 20XX, is a loving homage to Mega Man (more specifically, to the Mega Man X series) that adds in a lot of things that Capcom couldn’t do back in the 90s.
What does Capcom think of 20XX? After playing a few rounds of 20XX, we asked the developer that question, and a few more, at this year’s PAX East expo. (more…)
Posted in Features, Interviews, PC, Previews, Top Story
Tagged 20XX, PAX East 2015
The PAXpocalypse List: The Best of PAX East 2015
Most of the big publishers chose to skip the 2015 edition of PAX East and even those that did attend (like Nintendo and Microsoft) kept their most anticipated projects home. But that didn’t stop a wide variety of indie developers from setting up shop in the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center to wow the assembled masses. These developers set the tone for this year’s expo, which featured a heavy focus on games that attempted to reinterpret classic gameplay concepts for a new generation of players. And the crazy thing is that many of the developers hyping these games looked like they would have been in diapers the first time I fired up an SNES.
It was a welcome sight with the rest of the industry pivoting away from those types of games and towards a competition to see who can push the most polygons. So if you were a fan of gaming in the NES, Super NES, and Genesis days, this PAXpocalypse List is for you. Because these are the games we would have played over and over again if some horrible snow storm had trapped us inside the convention center beyond the last day of the expo. (more…)
Posted in Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged 20XX, Axiom Verge, Extreme Exorcism, Gigantic, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, Just Shapes and Beats, Knight Squad, PAX East 2015, Pit People, Rive, Shovel Knight, Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, Tabletop Games, Tumblestone, We Are Doomed
10 Actresses We Think Could Play Zelda in The Legend of Zelda TV Series
The three corners of the Triforce are now complete as we’ve come to end of our Casting Ideas for Netflix’s rumored adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. This time we shine a spotlight on the titular character, Princess Zelda, after previously posting our picks for Link and Ganondorf. Zelda has had an interesting development arc during the saga, from being the damsel in distress to becoming a woman of action, notably through her alter ego Sheik, one of the legendary Shiekah (“Shadow Folk”).
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to begin. (more…)
Posted in Etcetera, Features, Top Story
Tagged The Legend of Zelda
10 Actors We Think Could Play Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda TV Series
A good hero is only as good as his villain, and Link has had many, but Ganondorf (or Ganon), is his greatest nemesis, seeking out the pieces of Triforce which Link and Zelda strive to protect time and time again. How Ganondorf will be imagined on screen in Netflix’s rumored Legend of Zelda series is anyone’s guess. while Link and Zelda have largely remained the same throughout all the games, he clothed in a green tunic, she dressed in a regal dress (or prancing about in a ninja outfit as Shiek), Ganondorf’s appearance has undergone regular transformations. The one possibly best suited for TV is the humanoid Ganondorf from The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, where he is a leader of desert bandits known as the Gerudo. They might lose the green skin and bright ginger hair as well, but whoever they choose to play him will have to embody his power-hungry desire and brooding, dark presence.
With our picks for Link already locked in, we focus on the King of Thieves next. (more…)
Posted in Etcetera, Features, Top Story
Tagged The Legend of Zelda