Polynauts Central (17/8 Archived)

Posted by Shaun McIlroy on August 17, 2012 07:20 am 1143

PolynautsHeader7/8

Todays image comes from the mind of SneakySpyGuy

Welcome to Polynauts Central. It's Friday, August 17th, 2012 which means Gamescom is nearly over. Remember to keep an eye on the Polygon Gamescom Story Stream, which as of today has 115 updates. For more immediate news from Cologne track the @Polygon Twitter feed throughout the day.

But wait, there's more said Mr. Ballmer. If you're into comics, manga and anime and want a nice organised place to talk about those, then head on over to Crisis on Infinite Polygons for chaosyoshimage's all-in-one thread.

So with all that, join me now and lets spend a few minutes going over the Gamescom news from yesterday.

FROM GAMESCOM BY POLYGON

1: Media Molecule ramping up for another big project by Brian Crecente

Call it a hunch, but I think when Media Molecule's Alex Evans told me that two-thirds of his studio is busying themselves by making tea, he was hinting that the studio behind LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway are scaling up for another big project.

2: PCs stolen at Gamescom containing 'Divinity' builds, $5,000 reward offered by Dave Tach

Two PCs containing early builds of developer Larian Studios' Divinity: Dragon Commander and Divinity: Original Sin were stolen from a booth at at Gamescom, the developer announced today.

Larian is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the PCs' return and the culprit's identity. "We're asking the game community to band together to track these criminals down and to get the games back," a representative from Larian wrote in an email to Polygon.

3: 'Devil May Cry' developers didn't expect to be 'greeted as liberators' of the series by Emily Gera

According to Jones, Ninja Theory was given the green light by Capcom to pursue their vision, after being told "you don't need to be tethered to the existing cannon in every particular place." However there was an awareness of an intolerance to major shifts in design from the series' passionate fanbase.

4: 'Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance' slicing 'completely destroyed' the level design by Emily Gera

"We wanted the player to be able to cut everything so actually we would develop something where you could do this," Korekado told Polygon today at Gamescom.

"We kind of saw it coming but it completely destroyed the level design. The game design was impossible to control, it had a lot of difficulty, we at one point gave up. We thought we had to control what can be cut and what can't be cut. And that is something that we learned when the game was developed internally. "

5: 'Papo & Yo' review: love's labors lost by Dave Tach

The gameplay is simple to a fault. Quico enables his escape by interacting with a series of elements chalk-drawn onto the blocky environment. When Quico turns a key on the side of a small house, it grows cartoony legs and ambles across the screen like a possessed jack-in-the-box, conveniently coming to rest across a heretofore unbridgeable chasm. That wild sight delighted me the first time I saw it, but Papo & Yo's bag of tricks is limited. When every corner of the game is peppered with homes that can sprout legs, it stops feeling special.

FROM THE POLYNAUTS FORUMS:

1: Why can't I control a female player in FIFA? by FantasyMeister

The title isn't a question I usually ask myself because I'm a Dad, a gamer, and not particularly interested in FIFA titles. To me it's a non-issue that I'd normally, to be honest, be a little apathetic about.

However, 4 years ago my daughter introduced me to the wonders of Girls Soccer Leagues (she plays) and this question arose and I've given it a lot of thought. The answer is simply that whilst EA haven't deliberately excluded the option, they haven't actively included it either. If they try to one day to make Women's Soccer an inclusive part of the FIFA series they'll have to devote time and resources into implementing it without being certain they'll recoup that investment, without even being certain there's a demand for it.

2: Crisis on Infinite Polygons (The Comics and Animation Thread) Issue #1: There Came a Thread Unlike Any Other by chaosyoshimage

So, what's this thread about you may ask? Well, due to the crazy amounts of discussion that anime, comics, manga, and cartoons get in Polynauts Central we now have a dedicated thread for it. Last week's netted over 200 replies over the last few days, which isn't bad since we're just getting started (Now, if we were an actual comic that might be bad).

3: PS3 - to buy or not to buy? by shanitee

With all the talk of PS4 in the next 18-24 months, should I get a PS3 now or bide my time until potential price cuts in the next few months? Even though next gen consoles aren't too far away, there are some pretty compelling PS3 exclusive titles already out (Uncharted, Killzone, Infamous, GT, etc.), and quite a few more coming out over the next year (Last of Us, Beyond), as well as it being a blu-ray player. So, should I wait, or just get the damn thing now!?

4: Why do we need video game boxes? by pitseleh0

Why can't the industry put out some game boxes that actually represent the game inside? Are they afraid that in this digital world us seeing what the game actually looks like will be less awe inspiring than a fabrication? I want to see the game darn it. Let me judge if it is good for me or not. I spend countless hours of my own time keeping up with this stuff, reading, researching, watching youtube videos. I am doing more than my part, you can at least make a box that shows what they product is like.

So what about you? Do you even care what your box looks like?

5: Innovation vs Marketability by Pojodin

I have been making some observations of what people have posted in various topics. I am curious to see if I understand a certain sentiment correctly and see if there is a case to be made. Essentially, the argument I have seen is that creativity and innovation have been stifled by the marketability of various AAA games. More directly, I am curious to see if it is the case that innovation stands in opposition to the marketability of games, especially in the case of sequels.

REMINDER: Polygon.com : Community Requests Thread by Shaun McIlroy

This is our "Official Polynauts" topic for Polygon.com requests, those which we've all made mention of in anticipation of the sites launch in 2012. I thought I'd collate them all here for the Polygon team to check back and see if the stars align with their overall plans, whatever they may be.

FROM THE VERGE:

Joshua Topolsky, the tallest man at The Verge, brings you the latest tech news in 90 Seconds on The Verge which covers the following:

POLYNAUTS COMMENT OF THE DAY (16/8):

Technically Shaun is from a different island. An Ireland, if you will.

Xavdog (4 recommends)

Every day there will only be one comment from the previous thread. It's decided based upon the most recommends an individual receives for their comment; should two people have the same rating then both comments will be posted.

Okay, there we have another Mondays worth of catch-ups folks. Remember to sound off in the comments below and share any awesome news you find today. As always, feel free to hit me up on Twitter @shaunmcilroy if you want to chitchat throughout the day.

NOTES:

New to the Polygon Community? Please take time to read the Community Guidelines as laid out by the editorial team here at The Verge. Particularly take note here: "Foul language: Cussing, swearing, or just plain nasty: all of the above are not cool here." That goes for NSFW material as well folks.

If you're looking the best way to filter through any current deals on games (regardless of platform) then check out The Gamers Grid created by community Polynaut, NuclearPrinny.

If you're a fan of the image up top and want to submit your own, remember to keep them coming in for this section of Polynauts Central, GIF's included, at this link. If you want to submit a header image for Crisis on Infinite Polygons you can do that on this thread. Finally, check out the thread on multiplayer events here in Polynauts Assemble! for all the latest news on who's playing what, where and when.