Cover Story
Issue
25
January 9, 2017
Final Fantasy 7: An oral history
30,000 words! 35 interviews! 4 videos! A trivia minigame! We take an in-depth look back at Square’s breakthrough role-playing game.
Read moreDeals
25 CommentsPlayStation Store sale slashes prices on critics’ favorite games
The PlayStation Store is prepping console owners for the 2017 Academy Awards with a timely set of deals. The “Critics’ Choice” sale runs from now until 8 a.m. PT on Feb. 28, marking the end of a notable Oscar season with a bunch of discounted, top-notch video games to distract you from this Sunday night’s big show.
There are deals on PlayStation 4, Playstation 3 and PlayStation Vita games beloved by critics, celebrating the best of the best that the consoles have to offer. PlayStation Plus subscribers get up to 70 percent off on a diverse array of well-regarded titles, from Polygon’s 2016 Game of the Year Doom to one of our runners-up, Titanfall 2.
We’ve rounded up some of the games on sale that are most worthy of your time. If you’re going to skip out on the Academy Awards to play a...
News
9 CommentsWhere to buy the Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch will be released on March 3, 2017, and it’s likely going to be very hard to track one down. This list will give you a good idea about what retailers may have the units, and which retailers are a waste of time.
The system has been out of stock when it comes to pre-orders for some time, but companies like Nintendo love that photo-op with long lines of smiling fans waiting for their chance to buy the hardware, and we already know that some of the launch units are being held back for walk-in customers on the day of release.
Your hunt may not be in vain, but I also wouldn’t want to get your hopes up; Nintendo is sure to have problems meeting demand during the first day, no matter how the system does in the long term. The good news is that Nintendo is going to ship two...
Star Wars
7 CommentsRogue One will be available to download at end of March, purchase on Blu-ray early April
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story editors revealed earlier this year there was more than enough footage for an entirely new act in the movie, but based on the descriptions of what’s included in the home release, don’t expect to see anything new.
Disney confirmed that Rogue One will be available to purchase digitally on March 24 and on Blu-ray, DVD and on-demand as of April 4. Included in the announcement is a list of what will accompany the movie. Interviews with the cast and crew of Rogue One, a look at the Empire and a conversation about what it was like bringing a young Princess Leia back to the big screen are just a few of the highlights. Nowhere in the list of features, however, do the words “deleted scenes” appear. The full list of bonus materials can be seen below.
A Rogue Idea –...
Tabletop Games
4 CommentsDark Souls: The Board Game in the flesh at Toy Fair New York
Dark Souls: The Board Game was on display at this year’s Toy Fair New York. Steamforged Games’ head of game development David Carl was there to give Polygon a guided tour of a pre-production run of the game, one of only two in existence. He says the first production run is complete, and shipping to distribution now from the manufacturer.
Dark Souls had an incredible Kickstarter campaign, bringing in more than $5.4 million in 2016. The game seeks to recreate the classic Dark Souls experience, and many have wondered if the company famous for a Blood Bowl-inspired take on soccer was up to the challenge. From what we’ve seen, the game looks solid.
Carl explained to us how a play session will take shape. Each roughly two-hour game will be composed of four parts. First, players will have a...
Opinion
38 CommentsWorld of Warcraft's gold rush has upended Blizzard’s economy
There has been an economic panic in World of Warcraft. On Feb. 6, Blizzard changed the rules, allowing players to exchange WoW Tokens for Battle.net balance. That means that gold you earn or buy in World of Warcraft can now be used in any Blizzard property.
This has caused wild fluctuations in the value of the tokens, the value of WoW gold and, by extension, the time WoW players spend earning that gold.
Wait, what are we talking about?
WoW Tokens are Blizzard’s mechanism for allowing players to spend real money to buy gold, the in-game currency players can earn from killing monsters, completing quests and selling loot to vendors.
The in-game gold economy has been plagued by shady outfits trying to sell gold for cash since the game launched in 2004, and a litany of other problems,...
Video
2 CommentsPeaceCraft: Raandyy gets some help from his biggest fans
Stranglethorn Vale is one of the largest areas in World of Warcraft, which is not ideal for our peace-loving hero, Raandyy. Our trek to Booty Bay, the city at its southernmost point, is filled with invisible predators and murderous Horde players — but Raandyy’s got an ace up his sleeve: His surprisingly large in-game fan club. Let’s hear it for Raandyy’s Fandies!
News
7 CommentsTowerfall developer’s next game, Celeste, heading to the Nintendo Switch
Celeste, a hardcore mountain-climbing platformer developed by the creators of 2013’s Towerfall, will be available to play on the Nintendo Switch.
Developer Matt Thorson made the announcement via a new gameplay trailer on YouTube today. Thorson and co-creator Noel Berry announced the game in July 2016, using Twitch to stream a bit of the game’s development. Celeste is based on an earlier game from 2015 called Celeste Classic, which Berry and Thorson created for the PICO-8 in four days.
“I love how a climbing route often looks impossible at first glance, but through experimentation and creative thinking you can find the necessary contortions to scale your way to the top,” Thorson wrote on PlayStation Blog in December, explaining why he and Berry decided to make a game focused on...
The limits of free speech (when you have 50 million YouTube subscribers)
There is an increasing amount of noise surrounding “freedom of speech,” “fake news,” and everyone’s right to be heard. This has particular bearing on the gaming community, where the term “freedom of speech” is often used incorrectly.
On the other hand, online personalities are often playing a role in game marketing, and issues with GamerGate and other hate groups latching onto gaming means that games, studios and publishers are confronted with the task of moderating community and forum posts and interactions while being told they are censoring others. Hence, depriving someone of their right to free speech.
As an entertainment attorney with over seven years of experience in a practice dedicated exclusively to gaming culture and industry, this has been an ongoing cause for concern. It’s...
Latest Reviews
Streaming
6 CommentsThe area HBO once dominated is being quickly surpassed by Netflix: Stand-up comedy
Netflix announced today it had signed a new, exclusive deal with Louis C.K. for two new stand-up specials, making the Louie creator the latest comedian to join the company’s growing slate of talent.
Prior to Netflix signing the deal with C.K., the company made similar deals with Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Schumer, Patton Oswalt and David Cross. Based on reports, Netflix shelled out anywhere from $20 million to $100 million to secure their talents. In doing so, Netflix made its intentions very clear: It wants to become the comedy giant that HBO made itself known for from its early years into the late ‘90s.
Between 1994 and 1999, HBO had a show called the HBO Comedy Half-Hour. It was exactly what the title promised and featured a new comedian every week. Between...
Opinion
26 CommentsWhy Jimmy Kimmel needs to make the Oscars political
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel confirmed in a recent interview that he wasn’t going to make the Oscars overly political.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the biggest award show of the year — the third most-watched special event from last year — Kimmel said while acceptance speeches from actors were sure to get political, he didn’t want to come out attacking President Trump or the controversy surrounding his executive orders for 10 minutes straight.
“I don’t think it will be very political,” Kimmel said. “There will be some element of that to the show. A lot of it depends on what happens.”
Kimmel’s attitude toward the monologue and the way he’ll approach the biggest stories of the day is a direct contrast to the way award shows have been playing out this year, and also how last year’s Oscar...
News
1 CommentH1Z1 tournament to air on The CW in primetime
H1Z1: King of the Kill is headed to primetime television. The finale of a $300,000 tournament series is set to air April 20 on The CW Network at 9 pm ET.
Daybreak Game Company, formerly known as Sony Online Entertainment, launched H1Z1 into Steam’s Early Access in February 2015. The zombie-themed online multiplayer survival game was originally expected to be free-to-play, but it eventually split into two games — H1Z1: Just Survive and H1Z1: King of the Kill — both retailing for $19.99. Throughout its lifespan the competitive mode, originally called Battle Royale, has been incredibly popular. It remains among the most-played games on Steam and the most-streamed games on Twitch.
The “tournament and eSports docuseries” will be called H1Z1: Fight for the Crown and will launch on The CW and...
Streaming
0 CommentsMartin Scorsese’s highly anticipated movie, The Irishman, is a massive win for Netflix
Martin Scorsese, an award-winning and revered director, has been struggling to get a film called The Irishman made and released for close to a decade. Now, however, seven years after the film was announced, The Irishman has found a worldwide buyer in Netflix.
IndieWire reported last night that Netflix had acquired the film, which was originally supposed to be distributed domestically by Paramount and internationally by STX. The purchase makes it one of the biggest independent films the streaming service has bought, with Scorsese being one of the most prolific directors to enter an exclusive deal with Netflix.
The Irishman, which stars Robert DeNiro, is expected to be released in late 2019, close to 10 years after the the longtime co-workers announced they would be adapting Charles...
News
3 CommentsHot and heavy Mass Effect pack comes to Cards Against Humanity
The massive Mass Effect nerds at Cards Against Humanity have teamed up with developer BioWare to produce an expansion pack for the vulgar card game — a small card pack themed around the beloved video game franchise that’s all about boning aliens in space, Cards Against Humanity announced today.
The 14-card Mass Effect Pack is now on sale for $1, with free shipping available to U.S. customers. If you want a pack, you should buy it sooner rather than later — “once we are sold out on the site, we are done forever,” Trin Garritano, director of events, emotions and various promotions at Cards Against Humanity, told Polygon.
Illustrator Cara McGee did the artwork for the pack; you can see the cover above, and the inside of the placard below. “And yes: Shepard and Kaidan smooch when you close...
News
12 CommentsGetting banned from Club Penguin is now a competitive sport
Speedrunners have found their new favorite game: Club Penguin. But players aren’t just jet-setting from igloo to igloo at record speed; they’re actively getting themselves banned as fast as possible.
PC Gamer first picked up on the trend, which has exploded in speedrunning communities over the course of the week. The Banned from Club Penguin subreddit, which formed as a place for deviant players to share their funniest ban stories, is currently overloaded with videos from record-setting successful attempts at getting booted from the kid-friendly online multiplayer game.
User ButtonWalls seems to be the originator of the trend, according to a highly popular Reddit thread. His speedrun seems slow in comparison to some recent accomplishments, but when he posted a video of him getting...
Video
3 CommentsElder Scrolls Online: Morrowind has its first gameplay trailer, new screenshots
The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind dropped its first gameplay trailer today, and it’s custom built to send your nostalgia into overdrive.
The video, which is included above, is set to a motion-picture style orchestral soundtrack. You’ll see familiar locations from the 2002 classic, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, recreated in the modern MMO engine. We recognized Seyda Need, that games’ backwater swamp town, as well as Balmora where its first major quest line took place. There’s also a smattering of giant mushrooms, dwemer ruins and more bone armor than you can shake a glass mace at.
The Elder Scrolls Online takes place 700 years before The Elder Scrolls 3, but that’s not stopped the developers from including locations made famous in Elder Scrolls games, including the imperial city of...
News
4 CommentsPokémon’s 21st birthday is gonna get wild
Pokémon Day, which commemorates the franchise’s birthday, is Feb. 27, and this year’s looks to be a big one. Pokémon is finally of drinking age this year, and The Pokémon Company is holding several events to honor the big 21.
The whole list of Pokémon Day festivities is on the official Pokémon website, including things to buy and special items appearing in games like Pokémon Go. Here’s the round-up of how fans should spend Feb. 27:
From Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. PT until March 6 at 1 p.m. PT, all wild Pikachu in Pokémon Go will be wearing appropriate party hats to show just how hard they’re celebrating the series’ 21st birthday. These special Pikachu will wear the party hats forever, apparently — because why ever stop partying?
Pokémon TV, the online and mobile streaming platform where fans...
News
13 CommentsXbox Games With Gold brings you Borderlands 2, Evolve in March
March will be a 2K Games-heavy month for the Xbox Games With Gold lineup, with both Borderlands 2 and Evolve on the list, Microsoft announced today.
Gearbox Software’s open-world shooter will be available free to Xbox Live Gold subscribers from March 1-15 on Xbox 360 (and Xbox One, via backward compatibility). The backward-compatible Xbox 360 game for the second half of the month is 2008’s Heavy Weapon, a retro arcade shooter from PopCap games.
The Xbox One titles coming in March are both terrifying in their own ways. All month long, Gold members will be able to download a free copy of Layers of Fear, the horror game from Bloober Team. The Ultimate Edition of Evolve, the asymmetric multiplayer shooter from Turtle Rock Studios, will be free from March 16 through April 15. It’s worth...
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