Polynauts Central (20/8 Archived)

Posted by Shaun McIlroy on August 20, 2012 07:53 am 517

PolynautsHeader7/8

Todays image comes from the mind of JWD

Welcome to Polynauts Central. It's Monday, August 20th, 2012 which means Gamescom is over. If you missed any of it then check out the Polygon Gamescom Story Stream, which as of now has 137 updates.

But wait, there's more said Spiderman. 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 some of the weekends breaking news.

FROM POLYGON

1: Nintendo 3DS XL on sale now by Kimber Streams

Nintendo's new 3DS XL is available in the US starting today from Toys R Us, GameStop, and Target. If you're still not sure about picking one up, check out our review - we found that the larger 4.88-inch screen, more attractive design, and longer battery life made the new handheld worth the extra $30.

2: The sea battles of 'Assassin's Creed 3' won't be much of the game by Brian Crecente

In the Assassin's Creed 3 mission the player is tasked first with destroying five frigates, something Masters did handily by switching between a variety of ammo including grapeshot and heat shot.

Nearby, another Ubisoft employee showed off the same section of the game on a Playstation 3. Sitting in front of the Wii U version, I couldn't tell a difference between the two versions of the game.

3: OnLive sheds light on acquisition, promises new products and uninterrupted service by T.C. Sottek

OnLive has just issued a statement about its major corporate shake-up, confirming the sale of its assets, and promising that its services will "continue without interruption." The company says that on August 17th, all of its assets "were acquired by a newly formed company that will continue to operate under the OnLive name," and has confirmed that it is restructuring under an "Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors" - an option for struggling companies that allows them to transfer all of their assets to another one to run the business more efficiently, to prepare the company for a quick sale, or other purposes

4: The Classics: 'Dino Crisis' by Andrew Webster

The Classics are must-see, must-read, must-play works revered by The Verge staff. They offer glimpses of the future, glimpses of humanity, and a glimpse of our very souls. You should check them out.

The easiest way to explain Dino Crisis is that it's Resident Evil with dinosaurs instead of zombies. And while that may sound reductive, it's also very true - and it's what makes the game so great. The change gives Dino Crisis a bigger range of enemies to fear and more reasons to fear them. Being trapped in a room with a frighteningly fast raptor is a lot scarier than being stuck in one with a shambling zombie, and throughout the entire experience you're constantly aware of the T-Rex that's lurking about. That roar is very unsettling.

5: 'Van Helsing' lets players augment powers on the fly by Griffin McElroy

Players of dungeon diving action RPGs will likely recognize most of Van Helsing's combat and progression mechanics. As Van Helsing - actually the son of Bram Stoker's vampire hunter, who's been dragooned into the family business by his pops - players will traverse isometric cities and dungeons while hunting down swarms of baddies and fulfilling quest objectives. He'll do so by wielding swords, guns, and magic spells, each of which have their own trees of learnable powers which can be slotted two at a time onto the interface.

FROM THE POLYNAUTS FORUMS:

1: OnLive buyer, who & why? by hatwearer2034

With the rumours circulating in the last few hours regarding OnLive's future who would you like to see acquire the company and why? What direction would you like to see the company go?

2: Unpopular opinion: Mario is no longer the innovative icon by Smerp

It's sad to look at New super mario brothers 2 for the 3DS, and compare it to early nineties mario. The mario of the late 80's, 90's, and early 00's were all essentially telling the same story, but the games, aesthetics, mechanics and character designs couldn't be more unique. Nintendo in general took big risks to say the least, but this isn't a doom and gloom story about Nintendo, it only proves how the Mario franchise has changed with Nintendo for the worst.

3: Hilariously Terrible Box Art by GiantBoyDetective

Hey folks, I just stumbled across a gem called "Race Drivin'" for the Genesis and couldn't get over it's ridiculously bad name and box art. If it was called "Racin'" or "Drivin'" it would have been fine, but "Race Drivin'"?!? Haha.

4: Weird time for buying console games? by jaan

I just can't get rid of this strange feeling when I go out buying games these days. There is so much talk about next generation of consoles that it feels wrong for me to invest in my current system. A quick calculation tells me I spend more than 1000 EUR (1200 dollars) for games just on my PS3 console. There are great games out there like Sleeping dogs and more on the way but I just won't buy them because it feels that next generation is coming out soon. Oh, and there is the new GTA which I think is going to be one of the first next gen games.

5: Gaming limbo: The slump by Greendtea

Guild wars 2 early access starts in a little less than a week and I simply cannot find a game that keeps my attention for very long in the interim. None of them feel "right" if you know what I mean. I just beat Assassins Creed: Revelations a few days ago and since then I've installed no less than 9 neglected steam games in an attempt to find a game to get that feeling. Maybe I'm just too transfixed on Guild Wars 2.

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:

Adrianne Jeffries, who's clearly not 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 WEEKEND (18-19/8):

Traptical Espionage Action

chaosyoshimage (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.