Polynauts Central (2/11 Archived)

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Today's header image brought to you by Nipah.

Hello there! Today is the 2nd of November, but more importantly it's FRIDAY! We're creeping further towards winter and we're here at Polynauts Central on Polygon with spare blankets to keep you warm.

What is Polynauts Central? Well, it's your place for off-topic discussion and brief update on the past day of events in the realm of Polygon.

POLYGON NEWS

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1: HALO 4 REVIEW: THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE by Arthur Gies

The original Halo wasn't just about great combat or multiplayer, though it set the standard for those things in shooters for the better part of a decade. There was also a sense of wonder and discovery that Halo's sequels often struggled to find again. They were bigger, yes, and they had more of everything Halo had, but that was also sort of the problem. They were charting known territory, with pockets of novelty and an emphasis on adding new mechanics or upping the graphical stakes.

Halo 4 does some of those things. It possesses a striking sense of scale. There are new mechanics. It's a technological achievement that most have assumed was outside of the reach of Microsoft's now seven-year-old console. But it's more than that. Halo 4 is a return to the series' roots of discovery, of wonder and, at times, of awe. It helps that it might be the most consistently great game of the series to boot.

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2: EXPLORING PLAYER AGENCY THROUGH ART by Tracey Lien

The artist and writer both share a frustration with games that Thompson expresses in his essay, Saving Zelda. It is a frustration with modern video games. Specifically, it is a frustration with recent Zelda games like Skyward Sword where the sense of wonder and exploration is taken from the player. It's a frustration with the game's handholding, with endless tutorials and what they believe is the devaluing of player agency.

"Games are about player agency to a very large extent," Hellman tells Polygon. "And I think the problem we have with the more recent Zelda games is that our agency as players isn't as valued as much as we feel it should be, and that's sort of against the nature of video games and against what they do best."

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3: CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN MOVIE GOES INTO PRODUCTION, ROGER AVARY ATTACHED TO WRITE AND DIRECT by Alexa Ray Corriea

A feature film adaptation of Return to Castle Wolfenstein is underway at Panorama Media with director/writer Roger Avary of Pulp Fiction and Killing Zoe fame at the helm, reports Collider.

Castle Wolfenstein's story centers on a young US Army Captain and British Special Agent on their mission to infiltrate Castle Wolfenstein, where Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is planning to unveil a new secret weapon. At the castle, the pair will go up against Himmler's SS Paranormal Division and battle to prevent the Nazi's from turning the tides of war in their favor.

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4: MASS EFFECT TRILOGY SET FOR NOV. 6 RELEASE, SYSTEM SPECIFIC DLC DETAILED by Dave Tach

Mass Effect Trilogy, the three game compilation of the spacefaring role-playing game saga, is set for release Nov. 6, 2012 on Xbox 360 and PC and Dec. 4, 2012 on PlayStation 3, according to a post on BioWare's blog by Ryan Warden, external producer at BioWare Edmonton.

The PlayStation 3 version of Mass Effect will ship with the Bring Down the Sky DLC "on-disc and on the PSN download" but not Pinnacle Station. The Mass Effect 2 disc will include the Cerberus Network, Kasumi — Stolen Memory, Overlord and Lair of the Shadow Broker but not Firewalker, Normandy Crash Site, Zaeed — The Price of Revenge or Arrival. Mass Effect 3 will ship without on-disc DLC.

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5: DEATH MARCH: THE LONG, TORTURED JOURNEY OF HOMEFRONT by Rob Zacny

It was a holiday party, but it hardly felt like a happy occasion for many of the Kaos developers and their partners. Mid-December of 2010 was a fleeting break in the middle of a brutal crunch as the studio tried desperately to finish Homefront, publisher THQ's most ambitious stab at breaking into the alluringly lucrative AAA military shooter market.

The work schedule was so all-consuming that one developer likened it to exile in Siberia, and relationships inside and outside the studio were also fracturing under the pressure. Now, at the holiday party, all those people and all those tensions were gathered under one roof to celebrate the close of a lousy year and prepare for uncertainties of the next. Tradition dictates that the head of the studio give a speech and a toast at the company holiday party, and creative director / general manager Dave Votypka had his work cut out for him this night. Many of the line developers working at Kaos blamed management for the nightmarish development cycle and whether or not they blamed Votypka personally, he was representing management that night in New York.

FROM THE FORUMS

1: YOUR FAVORITE VIDEOGAME BOX ART by Kinapuff

Whether the game itself is excellent or complete trash, there are without a doubt a long list of amazing box arts out there. Some paint a picture of the games concepts and strengths, where as others take a simplistic and stylized approach - all just as valid in the ever so tough struggle of catching our eyes attention.

So what are some notable box arts that you've come across, and that you still favor to this date?

2: POLYNAUTS SUPER HALLOWEEN PUMPKINS by Sneaky Spy Guy

Hello, friends of the soul and welcome. I thought it'd be fun to share our images of the pumpkins we carved this year, that is unless you're too cool for them! Onto it then. My three year old brother loves Angry Birds so we decided we would each make one for him! You'll have to forgive me for the picture quality.

3: NEW SILENT HILL MOVIE by TheGizmofromPizmo

So against my better judgement I went to see the new Silent Hill because I was free that night and hey, I didn't think the first one was that bad. All I can say is if you didn't like the first one, then this one isn't going to convince you. About the only good scare in the movie was the mannequin scene, mainly because it didn't depend on fucking jump scares. Part of the problem is that it's a sequel to the first movie which no one liked and barely anyone remembers.

4: ANGRY AT A GAME? BREAK YOUR CONTROLLER! by TheOmegaSpartan

Video games have offered us many joys and excitement for years and decades for others but not all have been as easy to play or finish as the rest. That one part or parts in a game that can be so frustrating and tedious that when you fail to complete the objective, you must relieve your anger! You must break something! I'm holding the game controller! Time to slam it on the FLOOR!

I, for one, work my way to slamming the controller. Phase 1: Grip the controller tightly. Phase 2: Rapidly press all the buttons at once. Phase 3: Drop (not slam) controller on the floor. Final Phase: Slam the controller on the floor. You do not move up from the Final Phase. You will continue to slam the controller until it breaks. It sounded like a good idea at the time to ease your anger until you calm down and realize that replacing controllers can be really freaking expensive!


POLYNAUTS COMMENT OF THE DAY (11/1):

So this is how cool my son is. He asks me, "Dad, can I get Minecraft for my birthday?" I just looked at him, smiled, then replied, "Why? Because you like building with Legos?" And he lights up and says, "Yeah, and you can build anything in Minecraft! It's sooo cool." So yeah, he's getting Minecraft. So proud *tear*

twoBrokenThumbs (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.

And thus we have another day's worth of Polynews. 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. There's also our own @Polynauts twitter feed for you to tweet us if you see something AMAZING that should be featured on tomorrows Polynauts Central.

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