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3 CommentsTwitch-banned dick pic game returns in high-def, completely for free
A revamped version of provocative indie game Cobra Club, described by its designer as a title about "body image, privacy and dick pics," is now available as a free download on Windows PC, Mac and Linux. Although creator Robert Yang is hosting Cobra Club HD on his personal itch.io page, which usually offers "pay as you want pricing," he won't allow customers to pay anything for the game whatsoever.
That's because, as he outlined in a talk at Game Developers Conference 2016, common payment processing sites like PayPal ban sellers from distributing "certain sexually oriented materials or services." Video games typically fall under PayPal's offensive materials, discouraging Yang from using the service — or any payment service at all — to sell his sex-oriented projects.
Yang's works, like C...
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3 CommentsWatch a Destiny player kill Oryx by himself — on hard mode
One Destiny player achieved a seemingly impossible feat last week: killing Oryx, The Taken King, in a fireteam of one.
On hard mode.
The player in question, who goes by the moniker esoterickk on Reddit, said that figuring out how to pull off this incredible feat took 20 to 25 hours over the course of a week. Esoterickk added that the challenge was "definitely a big step up" from accomplishing the same task on normal mode, which another player managed to do in early December. That person was one of five people whom esoterickk thanked for contributing to the solution for soloing Oryx on hard mode, so it was a team effort, even if esoterickk got there first.
So how did esoterickk do it?
It turns out that this was only made possible by a hotfix released shortly after Destiny's April...
News
1 CommentStyle Savvy: Fashion Forward will let you dress like Mario this summer
Stye Savvy: Fashion Forward, the third game in Nintendo's fashion-themed franchise, is coming to retail on Aug. 19. Nintendo quietly announced the game's stateside launch date in a press release.
The Nintendo 3DS game will include amiibo functionality, allowing players to scan their figures to unlock outfits inspired by Nintendo characters like Mario and Samus. These pieces — just the latest example of gaming's intersection with high fashion — represent a tiny amount of the more than 19,000 clothing items stylists will have access to in Fashion Forward.
The third entry in the boutique ownership simulation series is the second Style Savvy game to hit 3DS. Style Savvy: Trendsetters came West in 2012. Nintendo released Fashion Forward in Japan and other territories in 2015.
Last week,...
News
8 CommentsDoom developers explain the campaign's progression system
Doom's single-player campaign will let you customize your skills to suit your play style, and in a new developer diary, the game's developers at id Software discussed the options that the system offers.
You can modify your guns, turning the up-close-and-personal shotgun into a mid-range weapon with an alternate fire mode. According to Doom creative director Hugo Martin, weapon customization will determine how you tackle the enemies that the game throws at you, since you'll have to use specific guns for certain foes. This also applies to the player character.
"We kind of have this whole upgrade system that allows you to play in a lot of different ways and use your own strategy in how you approach the different arenas, and even tweak that as you go through the game," said executive...
Linelight explores the art and play of minimalism
Linelight is a study in minimalism.
It is a platformer stripped of the colorful aesthetics of backdrop, of setting, of characters.
What is left is a line and a dash, sometimes dashes, and a very attentive design which so absorbs players that they won't notice what isn't there.
The game is the first solo project created by Brett Taylor, who designed it in Unity over the course of about ten months.
"In college, I discovered programming," Taylor tells me at the Manhattan hot chocolate shop where we meet for an interview and a bit of game playing. "I lost like ten pounds. It was everything I always wanted to do but could never put into words.
"I exploded with productivity."
He created a few smaller projects, he said, working on and off on his designs. He got a job at Arcadium working on...
News
8 CommentsPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 6 takes to the stand stateside this fall
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — Spirit of Justice is coming West later this year. Capcom will release the Nintendo 3DS game, the sixth starring the titular lawyer, as an eShop exclusive this September.
The company hasn't given a specific release date beyond the September launch window; it first confirmed a Western release at last year's Tokyo Game Show. Instead, Capcom offered up a new English-language trailer for the game, which fans can check out above.
Joining Phoenix Wright in his latest courtroom drama is his fellow defense attorney Apollo Justice, as well as other colleagues. The game will take place in the fictional land of Khura'in, a mystical kingdom that will require Phoenix and Apollo to get in touch with their spiritual sides — since its court system typically uses...
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21 CommentsReport: Lionhead Studios had 'multiple buyers' lined up to save the company
Multiple companies were reportedly interested in purchasing the recently closed Lionhead Studios, according to Kotaku UK. People familiar with the company told the site that these included some of gaming's biggest names.
Citing confidentiality agreements, Kotaku UK's sources were unable to detail who these potential buyers included. The talks took place during the mandatory consultation period that preceded Lionhead's closure late last month. That six-week period is required by British law; parent company Microsoft used the time to help transition employees into new jobs before ultimately shutting down the veteran game studio, founded by Peter Molyneux 20 years ago.
Among Lionhead's best known and most beloved franchises was the Fable series. One person familiar with the studio...
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0 CommentsRory McIlroy PGA Tour gets another new course and update to its career mode
Another title update to Rory McIlroy PGA Tour adds a new course and brings in a long anticipated feature to the career mode: Major tournaments will now alternate their venues, instead of playing at the same course every season.
First, the new course: Banff Springs (pictured), located in Canada's Rocky Mountains, joins the game for free with the new update and will be added as an event in the career mode. Banff was a mainstay of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series that preceded Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, which launched in July last year. Several dramatic elevation changes help make Banff an extraordinarily difficult course. It is the 14th real-world course in the game, the 16th available in the career mode, and 19th overall.
As for major tournament rotations, the U.S. Open will swap between...
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40 CommentsGame of Thrones author George R.R. Martin publishes new chapter of sixth book
George R.R. Martin recently apologized to fans for not being able to finish the sixth book in the Song of Fire and Ice series, The Winds of Winter, before the new season of Game of Thrones started up. Now, as a token of appreciation for his readers, Martin has released a new chapter from the book, which you can read here.
The new chapter follows Arianne Martell and her relationship with the Sand Snakes — the group of questionable warriors that are running rampant through Dorne in the series right now. The new chapter about Arianne replaced the chapter from The Winds of Winter that was sitting on the author's website, which followed Alayne.
While the new chapter may look promising for anxious readers who want to get their hands on the next installment in the series, Martin said that...
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17 CommentsNintendo's next two mobile games will be free-to-play
After making the announcement that its next two mobile games would be based on the Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing franchises, reports are now suggesting that the titles will be free-to-play.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the price of the two games — which will be available for iOS and Android devices — comes directly from Nintendo's mobile gaming partner, DeNA, best known for their work on Nintendo's most recent smartphone game, Miitomo. Miitomo, a social media platform-turned-game, launched back in March and has since been downloaded more than 10 million times.
DeNA's executive chief, Isao Moriyasu, told the Wall Street Journal that the titles would be free, but hinted that there would be in-game microtransaction offers for those who downloaded them. The two games will...
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8 CommentsDark Souls 3 enjoys the series' biggest launch
Dark Souls 3 shipped 3 million copies, Bandai Namco announced today, making this the largest launch in series history.
The figure is for units shipped to retailers, not actual copies sold, but it still appears Dark Souls 3 will end up the all time leader in that department. The first sold 1.2 million copies, the second only shipped 1.2 million copies, over roughly the same span after their launches. Dark Souls 3 launched March 24.
The series has sold 13 million units lifetime, Bandai Namco said. The shipping breakdown for Dark Souls 3 is 1.5 million to North America, 1 million in Europe, and 500,000 in Asia.
For more on Dark Souls 3, see Polygon's in-depth guide.
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6 CommentsNintendo 2DS gets another price cut
Not even a year after cutting the price to just under $100, the Nintendo 2DS is getting another price drop. Beginning May 20, Nintendo's entry-level handheld will be $79.99, the company announced this morning.
The new $79.99 offering will still include a download code for Mario Kart 7, as past SKUs have. The Nintendo 2DS debuted in October 2013 at $129.99 and its price dropped to $99.99 in August 2015. It's meant to be a lower-cost introduction to the 3DS line of games, and more usable for younger gamers.
The Nintendo 2DS handheld plays all of the 3DS and DS libraries, just without the 3D effect of its 3DS siblings. It's also a single "slate" as opposed to the unfolding clamshell of the 3DS lines. It still has two screens, a touch screen, and all the other controls of a 3DS.
The 2DS...
Esports
13 CommentsWorld Esports Association seemingly leaked, includes major esports teams and brands
In a post on the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive sub-Reddit today, someone leaked the picture of a poster above. This image appears to reveal the existence of something called the World Esports Association, or WESA. The Redditor was then accused of leaking a major announcement and deleted the image.
So what is WESA? The mystery figure who leaked the image did not provide that information. However, it's clear from the picture that this Association includes some big names in the esports world, including tournament organizer ESL and major esports teams such as Fnatic, Na'vi, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Mouseesports, G2, Virtus Pro and more.
All of the team organizations listed have devoted Counter-Strike teams, though many also have teams focused on other popular competitive games such as League...
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52 CommentsStar Wars Battlefront sequel coming in 2017
Electronic Arts plans to release a follow-up to last year's Star Wars Battlefront sometime in 2017, the publisher announced today during an investor call.
The Star Wars Battlefront sequel wasn't listed on EA's slate of announced titles for its 2017 fiscal year, which suggests that the game will be released sometime from April to December 2017. (EA's 2017 fiscal year ends in March.) EA said in an earnings release today that it has shipped over 14 million copies of Star Wars Battlefront, which was released last November on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.
"We'll most likely have one Star Wars title a year for the next three to four years," said Blake Jorgensen, EA's chief financial officer, during the call. The only Star Wars game that EA has announced for a 2016 release is a S...
