Polynauts Central: (6/8 Archived)

Posted by Shaun McIlroy on August 6, 2012 05:14 am 974

Todays image comes courtesy of Sneaky Spy Guy

Welcome to Polynauts Central, here on Monday, August 6th, 2012.

Now that you're all accustomed to the weekend change (for the right reasons) in the form of PaddyStardust we can get back to the rat race of Monday - Friday converblurbs. Maybe we'll even have a Melee or two, as implied up top. Or not, but whatever happens we're here for one thing. To talk about games, GIF's and other stuff too.

NEW ARTICLES ON POLYGON:

1: 'Mass Effect 3' 'Leviathan' single-player add-on explores the origins of the Reapers by Michael McWhertor

"Revealed at EA's Summer Showcase event, "Leviathan" takes place during the events of Mass Effect 3 and will expand upon the game's events "with gripping and emotional storytelling, compelling new characters, powerful weapons and unique upgrades."

2: 'Rise of the Triad' bails on modern shooter conventions by Griffin McElroy

"The multiplayer demo for Rise of the Triad which debuted at QuakeCon 2012 really drove the game's nicheness home. I was murdered, repeatedly and remorselessly by two tweens who had played the demo several times before, and had memorized the locations of the game's strongest weapons. As respawning nets you a single pistol, you're almost always severely outgunned by your killer."

3: 'The Sims 3 Seasons' lets you control the weather in multiple ways by Chris Plante

"Getting more specific about what will set this one apart, Zamora cites a hot dog eating contest in the game's summer festival as something he thinks will surprise players with its humor, noting that players can participate, watch goofy animations, and see their characters get sick if they eat too much."

4: 'Prince of Persia' screenshot hints at new reboot set in Egypt by Emily Gera

"The image, shown with an overlayed title "PoP Zero 2," depicts a crowd surrounding a single warrior believed to be the titular prince, and an apparent Egyptian setting. This differs greatly from Ubisoft's earlier attempt at a Prince of Persia reboot, codenamed Prince of Persia Zero, which was thought to be set in the modern day as part of a radical departure from the series' origins."

5: Valve files unmask upcoming next-gen Source 2 engine by Emily Gera

"Files spotted in Valve's Source Filmmaker software hint at a next-gen engine called Source 2 developed by the company, according to one investigator on the ValveTime forum. Lines of script found in the Source Filmmaker code reference Source 2 over 60 times, as well as "Hybrid" which is believed to be the base that Source 2 is being built on top of. In addition, it is believed that Source 2 will keep the .BSP level format of its predecessor Source."

6: The Besties Podcast XXII by Justin McElroy

This weeks Besties is also available in a video format from the Polygon meetup in NYC.

FROM THE POLYNAUTS FORUMS:

1: Your Biggest Gaming Disappointment by GunFlame

"I'm sure we've all been there, waiting for the release of a highly anticipated game, or the next game in the series for your favourite franchise. You've read a little about the game (maybe you've read a lot), and regardless of how much you try to minimize your expectations, they are there. You are hopeful of something, you are expecting something. You don't know what, but you are excited even though you have no real idea on how the experience is actually going to be."

2: Pullquotes: Hideki Kamiya on PS All Stars BR - "It's just a rip-off" by Shaun McIlroy

"Listed are a series of Tweets sent out by Hideki Kamiya, director of Bayonetta and the upcoming Wii-U title Project P-100. Clearly his opinion of PlayStation All Stars: Battle Royale is low enough to state what many see as a fair appraisal, especially given that Smash Brothers until now has had no comparable competition in terms of its design."

3: Why John is the best Carmack: QuakeCon Keynote 2012 by DocSeuss

"Watch John Carmack talk like a genius for three and a half hours, guys. As always, he gives a mind-opening, fascinating look into the games id makes and the future of the industry. I swear, the only other guys capable of doing this to me are Doug Church and Warren Spector. If you have any interest in making video games at all, these are the men you should be learning from."

4: What do YOU like to see in games? by Solowing

This is something I enjoy asking people, because I tend to get interesting answers. It's a basic question: what do you personally like to see in games? I'm talking about stuff that scores brownie points with you. Stuff you rate higher on the scale than maybe other people. Stuff that you typically seek in games.

5: Misadventures in the zombie apocalypse: Day 1 by T. C. Sottek

"DayZ is a hardcore multiplayer game of survival based on ARMA II. These are the stories of my absurd, tragic, and admittedly hilarious deaths.

I awaken, as usual, somewhere on the coast of Chenarus: a post-Soviet country in a parallel world, 225 square kilometers in size. It seems like a nice place, really -- there's plenty of coast, rich forests, and rolling hills. Fortunately, the whole world's gone to hell, and my challenge is to survive a mess of irate zombies, bands of crafty human bandits who'll take my life for a Band-Aid, and the usual threats of starvation, dehydration, hypothermia, falling, drowning, and, well... you get the picture."

6: Official Guild Wars 2 Server/Guild? by Dyskresiac

"Has there been a GW2 Polygon server yet? I know in a previous server discussion thread quite a few people were playing on Yak's Bend. Yak's Bend has actually done quite well in WvW across the beta weekends (though we were up against some tough opponents in BWE2 that gave us quite a hard time.)"

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:

Adi Robertson brings you the latest tech news in 90 Seconds on The Verge which covers the following:

Aereo rolls out aggressive new pricing plans: an hour for free, $1 per day

Facebook launches new curated site to 'celebrate great stories'

POLYNAUTS COMMENTS OF THE WEEKEND (4-5/8):

"But if you end up with your sister, just back peddle the hell out of that situation, and act like it never happened."

Zombie711 - (3 recommends) - I have no words...

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 weekends 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. 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.