Opinion
21 CommentsYuri on Ice brought me back to anime
On paper, there’s almost nothing that would compel me to like Yuri on Ice.
I haven’t watched anime since high school. I know nothing of figure skating except for passing glances at the Winter Olympics. I’m sure there are plenty of people in the same boat, yet this show is approaching alarming levels of popularity on Tumblr, Twitter, basically the entire internet.
So how is an ice skating anime so popular that it crashed Crunchyroll? Yuri on Ice packages an extremely niche thing into something fascinating — even relatable — for mass audiences. It’s one of the most authentic shows I’ve seen in a while; the skating moves are real, the depression is real, even the sound design is spot-on. Yuri on Ice is also super cute and super gay, and it’ll leave you wanting more.
M...
News
3 CommentsPokémon Go now available on Apple Watch
Pokémon Go is out now on Apple Watch, Niantic announced today. The watchOS version of the hit Pokémon game, which debuted at an Apple event this fall, is available to download from iTunes.
The Apple Watch version of Pokémon Go is more stripped-down than its smartphone predecessor. The game is scaled back to better fit the watch’s user interface, but there are still several main features that players can access. These include finding Pokémon and picking up items from PokéStops, as well as collecting Pokémon candy.
A key element lacking from the Pokémon Go Apple Watch app, however, is catching Pokémon. Players will still need to pull out their iPhones in order to capture a nearby monster, as the Apple Watch app only notifies players when a Pokémon is in the area.
That aside, the features...
Cover Story
Issue
24
November 4, 2016
Blizzard’s prodigal son returns
How one of Blizzard’s co-founders left the company, why he decided to come back and what it means for the future.
Read moreStar Wars
28 CommentsRogue One fans are making their own tributes to a key missing moment
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has aspects that don’t feel like they belong in a Star Wars film, but fans have taken it into their own hands to add a key element that was sorely missed.
[Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for Rogue One.]
Those who have already ventured out to their local theater to see Rogue One may have noticed that the movie was missing something: an opening crawl. The long crawl of text, offset by John Williams’ iconic score, has become a crucial part of the Star Wars viewing experience. The decision to not include the crawl in the film was a way to keep Rogue One separate from the main series, according to Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy.
Despite Lucasfilm’s best intentions, some fans were upset with the studio’s decision. One (possibly hyperbolic) fan on...
Deals
9 CommentsSteam Winter Sale: Best deals on new games
The annual Steam Winter Sale is on right now, which means there’s a ton of cheap games to sift through and spend all that holiday money on. But with price cuts offered on hundreds of games, figuring out what’s worth buying can be a challenge.
We’re digging through the discounts to find some of the seasonal event’s best deals. If you need to catch up on the year’s biggest games, keep reading — Steam has many of them at some pretty stellar prices, just in time for Game of the Year season.
As always, feel free to pitch in with any other Steam Winter Sale highlights you find in the comments below.
Stardew Valley ($9.99, 33 percent off)
Chucklefish Games
The most common refrain heard this year — this very, very trying year — was “fuck 2016.” That’s precisely why Stardew...
News
3 CommentsHere’s the first gameplay of Super Mega Baseball 2
Just in time for the holidays, Canadian indie studio Metalhead Software released the first gameplay footage of Super Mega Baseball 2 today, in a video focusing on the game’s revised visuals.
The original Super Mega Baseball, which debuted in December 2014, was one of the biggest surprises of that year — a game with a kid-oriented art style that belied a fundamentally solid simulation of baseball underneath. If Super Mega Baseball’s success is anything to go by, its sequel could be a game of the year contender next year (for sports fans, at least).
Metalhead co-founder Scott Drader, who appears in and narrates the video, told Polygon this summer that the one major area in which the first Super Mega Baseball received negative feedback was its art style. Many people loved the game, but...
Issue at Hand
0 CommentsThe Star Wars universe is expanding — even in comic books
Star Wars has a long history with comic books — in fact, the very first Star Wars comics debuted before the very first Star Wars movie hit theaters.
Issue at Hand is Polygon’s webseries about the weird world of comics, and today’s episode is all about the history of Star Wars comics: how Star Wars may have saved the industry in the ‘70s, and how the comics industry helped give Star Wars a huge resurgence in the ‘90s.
More than that, we also talk about the fantastic crop of current Star Wars comics that are contributing to the new Star Wars expanded universe. Thanks to the Lucasfilm story group, they’re just as canonical as the new Star Wars movies.
Want to learn even more about the fascinating, stranger side of comics? Catch up with every previous episode of Issue at Hand in our...
Super Mario Run guide: How to get every pink, purple and black coin
Super Mario Run is filled with money, but the pink, purple and black coins scattered throughout every level in World Tour are the most difficult to get. Collecting them rewards you with rally tickets for the competitive Toad Rally mode — and accounts for much of the Nintendo game’s replay value.
Collecting special coins works the same way in every board from 1-1 to 6-4. First you collect the pink coins, which unlocks the more difficult purple coins, which unlocks the most difficult black coins. We’ve collected every coin in Super Mario Run, and in the videos below, we’ll show you how to do the same. (You can also watch each of these videos on Polygon’s YouTube channel.)
World 1 coins
World 2 coins
World 3 coins
World 4 coins
World 5 coins
World 6 coins
Polygon’s Super Mario Run...
News
5 CommentsFirst two RollerCoaster Tycoon games arrive on Android, iOS
RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, a blend of the classic Windows PC game and its sequel, is now available for $5.99 on Android and iOS, publisher Atari announced today.
The game isn’t a bundle of those two games; it’s one product that combines features from 1999’s RollerCoaster Tycoon and 2002’s RollerCoaster Tycoon 2. That means you can play scenarios from the original game with improvements from the sequel, such as the ability to place rides and other attractions at heights above and below ground.
Chris Sawyer — the original developer of both games — served as a producer on RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, which was made by London-based Origin8 Technologies.
“As the creator of the original RollerCoaster Tycoon PC games many years ago, I have seen how much excitement and entertainment they...
News
2 CommentsHalf-Life remake’s version of the game’s controversial alien world looks great
The creators of Black Mesa, the ambitious, fan-made remake of the original Half-Life, released something special for fans this holiday: the first public look at its version of Xen, the alien world players are transported to in the game’s final chapters.
Black Mesa developer Crowbar Collective released the first screenshot of Xen today on its forums. The team behind the Half-Life “recreation” also elaborated on their approach to remaking Xen, which was generally considered to be the weakest aspect of Valve’s landmark first-person shooter.
“We want our version of Xen to feel like it really belongs with the rest of the game in terms of mechanics, cohesion and progression,” the team said in a forum post. “But we also want to push the boundaries and explore this unique and varied setting; to...
Latest Reviews
Nintendo
14 CommentsNES Classic hunters: Here’s your last chance to buy it at GameStop before Christmas
The NES Classic Edition has been one of the hardest items to find this holiday season, but GameStop is giving you one more chance before Christmas: the gaming chain is expecting a small number of units to be in physical store locations today and tomorrow.
“GameStop has again received another limited shipment of Nintendo NES Classics today through Thursday,” the notice stated. “Only available in store, not online. GameStop recommends that customers call their local stores to determine local quantities.”
We don’t know how many they’ll be getting, and we’re not sure what areas will get the most, but start calling your local stores to figure out your chances of grabbing one before Christmas. We think they’re pretty great, and the secondary market is selling them for over $200 at the moment,...
Comics
2 CommentsJohn Wick is getting his own comic book in 2017
Dynamite Entertainment and Lionsgate have partnered up for a new comic book series inspired by Keanu Reeves’ 2014 film, John Wick.
According to a press release from Dynamite, the comic will follow John Wick right after the events of the first film. In the movie, Wick is a former assassin who’s drawn back into the world of the underground crime syndicate after his dog is viciously killed by members of the Russian mob.
Dynamite’s CEO and publisher, Nick Barrucci, said that the comic will focus on entirely new stories. The comic will also introduce new assassins and characters that Wick interacts with, but Barrucci didn’t say if the character would be leaving New York City at all. In the sequel, Wick leaves the country and heads to Rome where he meets another group of assassins.
B...
News
5 CommentsThe Last Guardian companion book coming in February
Superfans of The Last Guardian may be interested in its upcoming companion book, An Extraordinary Story, which will offer “countless details about the inner workings and inspirations behind The Last Guardian’s mysterious world,” publisher Future Press announced today.
Future Press worked with the makers of The Last Guardian at GenDesign and Sony’s Japan Studio to produce the book; the developers walked the publishing house through the game with “sketches depicting the designers’ intent, storyboard and screenshot comparisons of key moments, and never-before-seen illustrations.” Future Press visited GenDesign’s offices in Tokyo for interviews with the team.
In addition to offering artwork from the development process, An Extraordinary Story will function as something of an explanatory...
Feature
8 CommentsIt’s that time of the year. Let us help.
Polygon’s Holiday Gift Guide 2016
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We've had new console hardware, VR headsets and loads of peripherals released this year, along with an immense number of games for consoles, computers, handhelds and set-top boxes. And what about tabletop games, awesome artwork and other goodies?
We can help ease your burden. We've gone through and picked some of our favorite and most gift-worthy games, accessories, hardware and stocking stuffers from the year, all of which you'll find below. Need a great gaming gift? Start here.
Under $40
Feeling cheap? We’ve done our best to come up with some selections that won’t make it seem that way.
$40-$100
Looking for something in that pricing sweet spot? Head in here.
$100+
Money no object? The industry...
Analysis
0 CommentsStreaming TV doubled its original shows in 2016, while cable TV’s roster declined
The trend in premium networks and cable television ordering more and more scripted TV series came to an end in 2016, while streaming services doubled their offerings.
FX’s research team released their annual numbers on the state of television, and one aspect of the report stands out above the rest: Netflix and other streaming services are prepared to spend to dominate. This year still saw a record number of original, scripted programming — 455 series in all — but streaming services provided most of the growth. New series declined on cable and premium channels.
The team released an informational chart (below), which clearly shows the huge increase streaming saw in just one year. In 2015, 46 new original series were ordered for a total of 421 scripted series on broadcast, cable, premium...
News
20 Comments‘Silent’ mechanical keyboards are coming
Cherry keyswitches are the de facto gold standard for mechanical gaming keyboards, and up until now, they’ve been notoriously noisy. In a press release issued today, Wisconsin-based Cherry Americas says they’ve cracked the code and are now shipping noiseless keyswitches into the manufacturing channel.
Cherry Americas
Both the Cherry Silent and Cherry Silent RGB light-emitting keyswitches come in red and black versions. However, both will feature a 45 centinewton actuation pressure. That appears to mean that they’ll be a bit softer than your average Cherry blue switches, which come in at 50 cN, and in line with classic Cherry reds.
But here’s the interesting part. Both will feature an “integrated, patent-pending noise reduction feature.” We don’t have any idea what...
News
9 CommentsNew Overwatch heroes are in the works — but we may never get to play them
Overwatch has had a pretty big year, by most measures. It’s won several awards, millions of fans and hundreds of hours of players’ time since it launched this past May, among other achievements and honors.
But Jeff Kaplan, the game’s director, took to YouTube to offer more than just a pat on the back in his latest developer update. Instead, as he explains over the course of 12 minutes, he’s looking ahead to what 2017 will bring to Overwatch.
Not everything Kaplan discusses is so revelatory on its own, but even the vague hints of what’s to come should appease fans. Oasis, a map that’s now in beta on the Windows PC version’s public test realm, will launch in full early next year. Kaplan’s team is also working on adding customization to the spray and communication wheels, so that players...
News
11 CommentsSuper Mario Run downloaded 40M times in four days
Super Mario Run, the first mobile game starring everyone’s favorite Italian plumber, was downloaded more than 40 million times worldwide in its first four days of release, Nintendo announced today.
That figure represents an App Store record for fastest-downloaded game, said Phil Schiller, senior vice president for worldwide marketing at Apple, in a press release from Nintendo. However, the companies did not clarify which app held the previous four-day record. Apple said in July that Pokémon Go racked up the most first-week downloads in App Store history, although neither Apple nor Nintendo gave a specific figure at the time for the number of downloads.
In the case of Super Mario Run, the figure seems to exceed download numbers from various analytics firms. Launch-day estimates varied...
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