Warp Zoned Presents
Most Recent: 3DS
Inside leads the way with six nominations at 2017 GDC Awards
The organizers of the Game Developers Conference have announced the nominees for the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards, which will be held on March 1 at 9:30 (Eastern Time). Playdead’s Inside tallied six nominations, including “Game of the Year,” “Best Narrative,” “Best Design,” “Best Visual Art,” “Best Audio,” and the “Innovation Award.”
Competing with Inside for “Game of the Year” honors this year is Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Blizzard’s Overwatch, Arkane’s Dishonored 2, and Campo Santo’s Firewatch.
Double Fine’s Tim Schafer will host the GDC Awards this year for the sixth time. He previously hosted the ceremony in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
The full list of nominees, and a huge number of Honorable Mentions, can be found after the break. (more…)
Pokemon Sun/Moon were the best-selling games on Amazon in 2016
Earlier this week, Steam provided a quick glimpse at the best-selling games available through the storefront in 2016. Besides The NPD Group’s monthly reports on gaming’s retail sector, it might be the best window into what sells and what doesn’t that we have.
However, Amazon also published a list of best-selling games from 2016 earlier this week, and naturally, it features a considerably more console-centric bent. Nintendo’s Pokemon Sun and Moon reigned supreme, taking the #1 and #2 spots. Final Fantasy XV was the best-selling PS4 game (#3 overall), while Madden NFL 17 claimed the Xbox One’s highest ranking (#5).
You’ve got to go all the way down to #18 to find the best-selling Wii U game (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD), and the only PC game on the list is Overwatch (#46). No Vita games managed to crack Amazon’s Top 100 (which also included console bundles and accessories), but the Wii version of Just Dance 2017 checked in at #21.
The complete list of Amazon’s best-selling games from 2016 can be found after the break. (more…)
The Video Game Canon: An Introduction and The Top 100 (Version 1.0)
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…
Is it possible to rank the greatest video games of all time in a “scientific” way? Do you just throw the question to so-called experts and let them hash it out in a no-holds-barred debate? Or is there some way to create a “Video Game Canon” that the wide-ranging community of developers, critics, and players can all agree on?
Probably not. But we can try.
Since gaming’s earliest days, dozens of publications have tried to sort through the noise and compile their own list of “The Best Video Games of All Time.” By analyzing all of these attempts at ranking the greatest games and combining them into a single list, we can apply a little scientific rigor to the process and possibly create a “Best Video Games of All Time” list that everyone can agree on.
Before we go any further, let me just say… no matter how we try to justify it, it’s impossible to prove, by “science” or otherwise, that one game is definitively better than another. My attempt at adding “science” to the mix is just a way to add some zing to the numerical formula doing all the work behind the scenes.
Ideally, this project will give us the chance to look back at the history of video games reflected through some the medium’s greatest titles. The list itself will serve as something of a road map to help us learn how the best games of all time are connected to each other, to better appreciate how players interacted with video games in the past, and to explore what video games might become in the future.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com for all future updates to this project and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Nintendo Download: Mario Kart 64, Castlevania Dracula X
Even though it’s Thursday, only two new games were added to the Nintendo eShop today. But Nintendo is definitely going with quality over quantity this week, as both can rightly be called stone-cold classics, and one would make an excellent party game for your New Year’s Eve bash this weekend.
Originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997, Mario Kart 64 was the second game in the Mario Kart franchise and the first time it achieved perfection. Now available to download through the Wii U eShop, Mario Kart 64 featured the debut of four-player Battle Mode, as well as the infamous Blue Shell.
New 3DS owners will be able download Castlevania: Dracula X beginning today. Serving as a precursor to Symphony of the Night, Dracula X was released in extremely limited quantities for the Super NES back in 1995, but that won’t be a problem with the 3DS eShop edition.
More information on both games can be found after the break. (more…)
GalaxyTrail will bring Freedom Planet 2 demo to PAX South; Demo will also be released as a free download after the show
GalaxyTrail got dressed up in a big red coat and a bushy white beard and played Santa on Christmas as they delivered a series of tweets about their upcoming plans for Freedom Planet 2.
According to the developer, they’re going to make an appearance at PAX South in January with a playable demo of the side-scrolling homage to Sonic the Hedgehog. But if you can’t make it to the first major gaming convention of the year, GalaxyTrail also revealed that they plan to make the demo available as a free download (presumably for the PC) after the show:
Lastly, we'll be showing off the demo in person at PAX South! Find us in San Antonio, TX on January 27-29. https://t.co/zfujNak8ZL
— GalaxyTrail (@galaxytrail) December 25, 2016
Freedom Planet 2: Sample Version will be available at the end of January as a free download, and include all playable characters. pic.twitter.com/nOps8QcGFt
— GalaxyTrail (@galaxytrail) December 25, 2016
But wait, there’s more… GalaxyTrail also released a brand new trailer for the game, and it’s been embedded above. More trailers will be uploaded over the next few weeks.
Freedom Planet 2 will be released for the PC this Summer. It’ll also be available for “Nintendo Platforms” (probably the 3DS and/or Switch) sometime later.
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, Switch
Tagged Freedom Planet 2, PAX South 2017
New trailer highlights features Nintendo is adding to Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World
Yoshi’s Woolly World will be released for the 3DS on February 3 as Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World, and Nintendo plans to add several new features to the side-scrolling platformer for its portable debut.
According to a post on Nintendo.com, Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World will get additional Amiibo functionality thanks to the brand new Yarn Poochy figure. Players can use the Yarn Poochy figure to ask the character for assistance during a tough level, as well as unlock Poochy-themed bonus stages. New Yoshi patterns are also available by tapping Amiibo from the Animal Crossing and Splatoon series.
Other new features include:
New to the series, the Craft Yoshi mode will let you design your own patterned Yoshi. Using intuitive tools, you can use the Nintendo 3DS touch screen to design your own colorful and stylized Yoshi character. Your favorite pattern can even be shared through StreetPass!
In addition to the game, one animated short starring Yoshi and Poochy will be unlocked every day for 30 days for people that own the game. These short stop-motion animations can be viewed through a menu in the game.
Less experienced players looking for a little help can easily switch to Mellow Mode while playing Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World to gain the assistance of Poochy Pups. These sweet little Pups will sniff out secrets and wrap up enemies, and can even double as yarn balls for Yoshi to throw.
Nintendo has also unveiled a trailer showcasing the 3DS-exclusive features for Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World, and its been embedded above.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Yoshi's Woolly World
Nintendo Download: Shantae Half-Genie Hero, Mario Party 2, more
Even though we’re counting down the days until Nintendo’s Switch Presentation, the consolemaker is still adding new titles to the Nintendo eShop, including one game that’s retro-styled and another that’s just plain retro.
WayForward’s Shantae series began on the Game Boy Color all the way back in 2002. It wasn’t a design choice to create retro-styled side-scrolling platforming in those days, but it is today, and Shantae still looks impressive in her first high definition outing on the Wii U. In Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, a mysterious crime wave has swept through Sequin Land, and players will need to master the genie’s “devastating Hair-Whip Attack” to fight back against the criminal masterminds employed by Risky Boots.
Also available to download for the Wii U today is Mario Party 2, which was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. More than a dozen sequels have been added to the Mario Party in the years since, but I’m sure one of the earliest games in the franchise still has plenty of fans for this Virtual Console re-release.
You can learn more about both of these games (and a few other new releases) after the break. (more…)
Two new Dragon Quest XI trailers unveiled for Switch, PS4, and 3DS
Square Enix debuted two new trailers for Dragon Quest XI: In Search of the Departed Time at last week’s Jump Festa in Japan. The massive new RPG is currently in development for the 3DS and PS4, though Nintendo Japan finally confirmed that it will also be available for the Switch.
The Cinematic Trailer, embedded above, will introduce fans to the game’s main characters and some of the new monster designs. Meanwhile, a new Gameplay Trailer, available after the break, gives fans a look at the 3D open world of the PS4 version and the more retro stylings of the 3DS version.
Dragon Quest XI: In Search of the Departed Time will be released sometime in 2017 in Japan. It’s unknown when, or if, the RPG will make its way to North America. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PS4, Switch
Tagged Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age