Opinion
8 CommentsDisney Infinity was a triumph
Today I read that Cracker Jack boxes now include a QR code that links to mobile games, instead of a physical toy.
"The Cracker Jack Prize Inside has been as much a part of the nostalgia and love for the brand as the unforgettable combination of caramel-coated popcorn and peanuts," Haston Lewis, the senior director of marketing at Cracker Jack parent company Frito-Lay, said in a press release. "The new Prize Inside allows families to enjoy their favorite baseball moments through a new one-of-a-kind mobile experience, leveraging digital technology to bring the iconic Prize Inside to life."
I was recently at a museum with my children and saw a variety of antique Cracker Jack toys under glass, and marveled at what you used to get inside the box. I have memories of what used to come with...
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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...
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May 2, 2016
Their future is Epic: The evolution of a gaming giant
Find out how one of the industry’s biggest developers is changing its approach.
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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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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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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...
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42 CommentsTitanfall 2 drops this fall
Titanfall 2 is scheduled to be released this fall, publisher Electronic Arts announced today.
In a slide presentation for its 2017 fiscal year, EA listed Titanfall 2 for a launch in its fiscal third quarter, which runs from October through December 2016. That means the publisher expects developer Respawn Entertainment to ship Titanfall 2 in the same window that EA DICE will launch another first-person shooter, Battlefield 1. EA announced Battlefield 1 last week with a release date of Oct. 21.
During an investor call today, EA CEO Andrew Wilson downplayed any possibility that the two games will cannibalize each other, calling the first-person shooter genre "a giant category in our industry."
Titanfall 2 is in development on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One. Respawn and EA...
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1 CommentNext NBA Live console game coming out in early 2017 (update)
EA Sports won't release an NBA Live game this year — instead, the next entry in the simulation basketball franchise will arrive in early 2017, publisher Electronic Arts announced today.
EA included a new NBA Live game for consoles in a slide presentation for its 2017 fiscal year, which runs from April 2016 through March 2017. But unlike the other EA Sports titles that are traditionally released in EA's fiscal second quarter, from August through September — namely, Madden NFL, NHL and FIFA Soccer — NBA Live is listed as a fourth-quarter project.
The fourth quarter of EA's 2017 fiscal year runs from January through March 2017. This coincides with the NBA All-Star Game, which is held in early February.
The most recent entry in the franchise was NBA Live 16, which was released in...
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31 CommentsThe best version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution is now playable on Xbox One
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut is now backward compatible on Xbox One, Microsoft announced. Square Enix first released the game on Xbox 360 back in 2013, two years after the original version's launch.
Director's Cut is a revised, improved edition of Human Revolution, adding a New Game+ mode and additional tweaks. It also includes the downloadable add-on The Missing Link and a bonus mission.
The biggest change from the older game is revamped boss fights. Although Human Revolution received positive reviews in its initial release, critics complained of the boss fights and how they deviated from the stealth-driven action players got used to throughout the rest of the game. These parts of the games were outsourced to GRIP Entertainment, not developed by Eidos Montreal like the...
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29 CommentsMass Effect: Andromeda now set for early 2017 launch
The release of Mass Effect: Andromeda has been pushed back a bit — the game is now scheduled to be available in "early 2017," developer BioWare announced today.
"As we've been playing the game at the studio recently, it's showing us that we're taking the game in the right direction," said Aaryn Flynn, general manager of BioWare, in a post on the Mass Effect website. "But we also know we need the right amount of time to make sure we deliver everything the game can be and should be — that's our commitment from all of us to all of you. Because of that, Mass Effect: Andromeda will now ship in early 2017."
The statement confirms comments made by Blake Jorgensen, chief financial officer of Mass Effect publisher Electronic Arts, during a technology conference in early March. At the time,...
News
8 CommentsNeed for Speed series won't return until 2017
Electronic Arts' Need for Speed series is taking the year off, and Sweden-based developer Ghost Games is planning to bring the franchise back with a new entry in 2017, the studio announced today.
"We are now building upon the foundations that have been laid with Need for Speed and delivering our next game in 2017," Ghost Games said in a blog post today.
EA appears to have turned Need for Speed into a biennial series; the publisher also gave the franchise a rest in 2014 after Need for Speed Rivals, which was a launch title for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2013. Need for Speed, a reboot of the franchise, debuted in November 2015 on PS4 and Xbox One and was released on Windows PC in mid-March 2016.
Ghost Games has delivered new content to Need for Speed players in a number of...
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4 CommentsFallout 4 gets mod support on Xbox with closed beta later this month
Bethesda Game Studios announced that Fallout 4 on Xbox One will receive mod support following the release of Far Harbor this month. In a tweet, the company confirmed that mods will arrive on the console versions of Fallout 4 in a closed beta for a public release.
Though still undated, the Creation Kit update is planned for consoles in May (on Xbox One first) and June (PlayStation 4). Far Harbor, the next Fallout 4 expansion, launches on Windows PC and both consoles May 19, so Xbox owners can expect the Creation Kit to arrive sometime thereafter.
Fallout players on PC have had access to mod support for the past few weeks; the Creation Kit entered a closed beta in early April, followed by an open beta that same month. The update brings the ability to create their own mods, as well as...
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15 CommentsMadden NFL 17 announced, launching Aug. 23
Madden NFL 17 is the 2016 installment in EA Sports' long-running Madden NFL franchise, and it will be released Aug. 23 — the series' usual fourth-Tuesday-in-August slot, publisher Electronic Arts announced today.
Developed by EA Tiburon, Madden 17 will be available on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The game will be playable early on Xbox One for EA Access subscribers.
EA also announced today that it will debut a gameplay trailer for Madden 17 and reveal the game's cover athlete during the 6 p.m. ET edition of ESPN's SportsCenter on Thursday, May 12. EA had held a fan vote for the Madden box art annually for six years; this will be the first time since 2009's Madden NFL 10 that the publisher, not the fans, will choose the cover athlete.
For more on the Madden...
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3 CommentsDead Island: Retro Revenge stars the angriest cat owner ever in new trailer
Dead Island: Retro Revenge comes as a free bonus for those who pre-order Dead Island: Definitive Collection. In case you haven't made your mind up yet on whether it's a game worth putting money down on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One collection early, the trailer above boils it down for you.
In short: Retro Revenge is all about saving your cat from, as per usual, the undead. Unlike the Dead Island affairs it comes packed in with, the game is a 16-bit endless runner. While Retro Revenge shares a universe with the original Dead Island (from 2011) and Riptide (2013), expect this game to be more about the humor than the survival horror
Pubisher Deep Silver announced in March that Dead Island Definitive Collection will hit retail May 31; that's when Retro Revenge will also be available to...
News
72 CommentsOverwatch open beta extended by a day
Overwatch's open beta, which got underway for everyone on Thursday, has been extended by a day and will now conclude Tuesday, May 10 at 10 am PT.
The extension is good for all platforms.
Blizzard announced the extension yesterday evening, couching the extension as a thank-you to the Overwatch community who have played the beta in great numbers.
Overwatch, the class-based multiplayer shooter, will launch May 24 on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One.
News
5 CommentsNBA Live 16 coming to EA Access in late May
NBA Live 16, the most recent basketball game from EA Sports, will be available to EA Access subscribers in The Vault starting May 25, according to the EA Access Twitter account.
Developed by EA Tiburon, NBA Live 16 was originally released last September on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to a lukewarm reception. Its face scanning app, at least, was actually pretty good.
The impending debut of NBA Live 16 on EA Access will mean that all of EA's 2015 sports games are available free to subscribers. EA's latest sports title is EA Sports UFC 2, which launched less than two months ago.
EA Access, which is available exclusively on Xbox One, costs $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year. NBA Live 16 will be the 21st game to be added to The Vault, following FIFA 16 last month and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour...
News
82 CommentsWhy DICE chose World War I for the new Battlefield
Electronic Arts and DICE today unveiled Battlefield 1, a combat simulation set in the First World War, due to be released worldwide Oct. 21.
A trailer showed during a livestream depicted combat making use of ground, troops, airplanes, battleships, Zeppelins, horses and snipers. At a press event, an EA spokesperson stressed that the game is about "variety, and not just shooting from a muddy trench."
Weapons on display included bayonets and hand maces, rifles, machine guns, gas attacks and sniper rifles. Battlefield 1 also allows players to take control of tanks and biplanes. Dedicated vehicle classes are being introduced, such as tank captain and pilot. Some vehicles can be used by two players, such as a pilot and gunner.
"There's a common misconception that this was an era of...
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2 CommentsEpic Games: 'We would have died three times' without Unreal Engine
When Epic Games began giving away its Unreal Engine last year to anyone who wanted it, it seemed like a bad idea to many casual observers of the video games industry. Epic hadn't published anything on consoles since 2013, didn't have any full releases planned for more than a year, and the engine seemed like its only sellable product.
It was, in fact, a very good idea, co-founder Tim Sweeney told Polygon. "Last year was our best engine year ever," Sweeney said. "By a significant margin."
Unreal switched to a subscription based model in 2014 when Unreal Engine 4 launched, and then dropped the monthly fees altogether in March of last year, in favor of standard royalties for most projects and then customized licensing agreements for large-scale endeavors. Giving Unreal out and then...
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