Polynauts Central (11/9 Archived)

Posted by Shaun McIlroy on September 11, 2012 04:41 am 2173

Did anyone notice the ALT text?

Todays image is one of mine; It's showing that no matter how sad and unhappy we are at times the world is still a beautiful place upon which we have the privilege to live.

It's Tuesday September 11th and this is Polynauts Central, at Polygon on The Verge..

  • For comics, manga and anime and if want a nice organised place to talk about those, then head on over to Crisis on Infinite Polygons Issue #4 for chaosbirdomaid's all-in-one thread.
  • If you want to talk game related art - or even art in general but be sure to head over to the thread by Paradox Me called The Polygon Gallery of Fine Arts and grab yourself some cheese, olives and a glass of wine.
  • If you want to talk about, or discover new music then Shinta has a thread for you simply called Music.
  • If you want to talk about any movies or television shows with fear of spoilers then go to PrinceLUDA21's Polynauts: The Movie: Episode 2 thread.
  • Zombie711 feels that snacks should have a thread. Won't somebody go talk waffles with him?

FROM POLYGON

1: Gaming scholarship rewards grades and gaming skills by Brian Crecente

The idea is that patients who come to class, finish their homework and achieve success, are awarded experience points that allow them to "level up" their title from a resiliency rookie to a resiliency rock star. She also awards points to the group as a whole and those points can be used to unlock special treats, like a pizza party.

2: Steam's 'Big Picture' launches beta by Tracey Lien

The beta was first announced last week in The New York Times, and Valve has since released videos showing how the service can be set up. Games on Big Picture can be played with controllers or with a keyboard and mouse set-up, and players can also use the service to surf the web, navigate Steam, and chat.

3: ArenaNet reopens sales for 'Guild Wars 2' by Tracey Lien

"Preserving the customer experience has always been our top priority," said Mike O'Brien, president and cofounder of ArenaNet. "We're supporting Guild Wars 2 for the long run. We'll always do what it takes to deliver the best online gaming experience for our customers, even when that means throttling sales."

4: A brief history of sports games by Reverse Enginears

The road to greatness, from the earliest sports video games to the blockbusters of today; it's a history of sports games in just under two minutes. Are you ready for some football? (And baseball, and hockey, and bowling, and RC car racing …)

Reverse Enginears is a digital creative agency that specializes in A/V re-sequencing. AKA "remixes." Their remixes have been featured in advertising campaigns for Disney, Marvel and GM, and have been watched millions of times on YouTube and elsewhere.

5: Indie Games Uprising 3 promotes service with nine Xbox Live Indie Games by Dave Tach

Indie Games Uprising 3's purpose is to "promote Xbox Live Indie Games in the best light possible by showcasing the diversity, talent, and potential of the platform as a whole," according to the Indie Games Uprising website. "Our goal is not to immediately boost initial sales, but long term exposure to the platform, as well as introduce developers to their audience and the industry."

FROM THE POLYNAUTS FORUMS:

1: Curiosity, Benevolence and Selfishness by PaddyStardust

So, I was reading this little piece earlier about Curiosity, Peter Molyneuxs new jam. For those unaware, the players all contribute to chipping away at a cube, to find something inside. Currently, no-one knows what the something is, but Molyneux is saying it might change the world. Silly statement aside, it's a pretty cool idea.

What I didn't realise before now, is that only one person will see the contents of the cube. Just one. This got me to thinking about what I would do if I won. Would I post it up online in full, guaranteeing myself Internet fame? Would I keep quiet, a secret only I would be party too? Would I tease it, but not reveal it, giving the world hints but not the full picture? I'm racking my brains over it, and I can't decide what I would do. So I put this to you:

If you were the sole winner of Curiosity, would you share the contents of the Cube with the world?

2: Clean those machines! by Shadowsigma

So, here’s some of what I want to see in games potentially coming in the next gen. I haven’t touched on everything, and I don’t want to go into how hardware can define this stuff. I want to focus on game design, and what needs to be done to make the next generation of games truly feel like next generation games.

So what about you, what do you want to see or what do you think needs to be done?

3: Why I Don't Enjoy Japanese Games by DocSeuss

In all honesty, I was that kind of snobbish, bratty teen who looked down his nose at dubs because that was the thing to do, and who believed that the West was devoid of all creativity, incapable of creating an interesting thing. Probably a strange admission in a thread titled "Why I Don't Enjoy Japanese Games," but... well, it's an important one.

My introduction to Warren Ellis that day--and no, I don't write like him; it was all a ruse to get me into Western comics and broaden my horizons--changed me, but it didn't make me like Japan less.

4: The Polyknights (Guild Wars 2) - Guild Events & Scheduling [09/10] by Lynith

Many of us are starting to get our bearings straight and itching to do some guild activities. This is the thread for discussing what you'd like to see the guild do, and more importantly what days/times are good for you all.

For updates on scheduling and reminders... Follow us on facebook and/or twitter. We are hoping to have events as soon as this weekend (Sept 15th.)

FROM THE VERGE:

Ross Miller heads 'Into Darkness' in todays '90 Seconds on The Verge'.

POLYNAUTS COMMENT OF THE DAY (10/9):

This is what came to mind:

TheRealDoshu (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 weekends worth of catch-ups folks. Remember to sound off in the comments below and share any awesome news you find today. As always check out the @Polygon feed on Twitter to keep up to date, or feel free to hit me up at @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 - Mods DO police this place remember.

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, if you want to submit a header image for Crisis on Infinite Polygons you can do that on this thread.