Polygon - PAX East 2014: All the games, all the news, all the kiltshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/42931/favicon.ico2014-04-21T18:01:34-04:00http://www.polygon.com/rss/stream/53696372014-04-21T18:01:34-04:002014-04-21T18:01:34-04:00How Landmark forced Sony Online to change its usual development model
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bRJ8fTD3sZzliOfQ55daH_ALK34=/0x0:1280x720/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31947261/landmark-screenshot_1280.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Sony Online Entertainment's <i><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="/game/landmark/14306">Landmark</a></i>, née <i>EverQuest Next Landmark</i>, left its relatively brief alpha phase for a closed beta <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/27/5552368/everquest-next-landmark-enters-closed-beta" target="_blank">less than a month ago</a>. Dave Georgeson, director of development on the <a href="/franchise/everquest/595" class="sbn-auto-link">EverQuest</a> franchise and a 25-year veteran of the game industry, told Polygon during an interview at PAX East 2014 that for many games, "alpha is a joke" — an almost meaningless internal milestone. Not so for <i>Landmark</i>, the build-anything sandbox title from Sony Online that is also a massively multiplayer online game: Because of the company's decision to give players early access to the project, <i>Landmark</i> had to be a playable game much earlier than usual.</p>
<p><i>Landmark</i> was <a target="_blank" href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/2/4582742/everquest-next-landmark-sony-online-entertainment">announced last year</a> alongside <i><a href="/game/everquest-next/14304" class="sbn-auto-link">EverQuest Next</a></i>, the ambitious next step in Sony...</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/21/5637236/landmark-sony-online-development-model-interview">Continue reading…</a>
</p>
https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/21/5637236/landmark-sony-online-development-model-interviewSamit Sarkar2014-04-21T11:00:03-04:002014-04-21T11:00:03-04:00AbleGamers Foundation raised more than $33K at PAX East 2014
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U9sR2h-pSSkVI3WgP4ptrfv7tHc=/0x107:1024x683/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31928289/ablegamers-foundation-banner_1024.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>The AbleGamers Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for gamers with disabilities, raised $33,635.07 at PAX East 2014, the group announced today.</p>
<p>It was the organization's largest single instance of fundraising, more than doubling the total from PAX East 2013.</p>
<p>The funds include contributions from players of Pachinko for Charity, a gaming area that the AbleGamers Foundation had set up in the lobby of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Industry partners like Paradox Entertainment and Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos gave matching funds for the first $12,500, and other donors also pitched in. Over two dozen companies such as The Behemoth, Deep Silver, Electronic Arts and Uber Entertainment provided more than $42,000 in...</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/21/5636062/ablegamers-foundation-pax-east-2014-fundraising-33k">Continue reading…</a>
</p>
https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/21/5636062/ablegamers-foundation-pax-east-2014-fundraising-33kSamit Sarkar2014-04-21T00:00:01-04:002014-04-21T00:00:01-04:00Why the makers of Guacamelee decided to make a touch game about a one-armed woman
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n85fycqLc94ITzZxsaAHwZHMkb0=/0x0:1279x719/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31809483/severed0018.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>In <em>Severed</em>, players take on the role of a woman who wakes in a desert with a missing arm and perhaps missing memory.</p>
<p><span>The game, which uses swipes with a finger on a screen in combat, has players on the hunt for body parts and the story of how this unnamed protagonist woke in a desert.</span></p>
<p>It's a compelling story coming from the creators of <i>Guacamelee</i>. It's also the first game in Drinkbox's history that won't be a platformer.</p>
<p>"We've been making platformers for six years and <i>Guacamelee </i>for three years," said Drinkbox co-founder Graham Smith. "We're going to try something new, something different."</p>
<p>So Drinkbox opened the floor to pitches from everyone at the studio to see what they could come up with.</p>
<p>"When we opened it up to the studio to...</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/21/5627888/severed-interview">Continue reading…</a>
</p>
https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/21/5627888/severed-interviewBrian Crecente2014-04-20T23:00:01-04:002014-04-20T23:00:01-04:00State of Decay's Lifeline DLC is just the start of Undead Labs' 'long-term ambitions'
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2BR9ZK93o35_JR5dinm5qm5ILio=/0x0:1920x1080/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31820589/lifeline38_1920.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p><em>State of Decay: Lifeline</em>, the second expansion and the first story-based add-on for Undead Labs' hit Xbox Live Arcade title, turns the tables on <em><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="/game/state-of-decay/4956">State of Decay</a></em> by putting the player on the military side of humanity's efforts to repel the zombie threat. But as we saw during a demo of <em>Lifeline</em> at PAX East 2014, that doesn't mean that the DLC will shy away from what made the original game so special: exploring the psychological effects of dealing with the undead.</p>
<p><em>Lifeline</em> casts the player as a member of Greyhound One, a small platoon that's attempting to maintain order in the overrun city of Danforth. Unlike in <em>State of Decay</em>, you start out with plenty of rations and support from the larger military. But all of it dwindles over time in the...</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/20/5628554/state-of-decay-lifeline-preview-undead-labs-interview">Continue reading…</a>
</p>
https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/20/5628554/state-of-decay-lifeline-preview-undead-labs-interviewSamit Sarkar2014-04-20T13:00:02-04:002014-04-20T13:00:02-04:00See Star Citizen's dogfighting, and more, in action
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N8hEbJ5h45FmAE9HVlYW7Xkt1BM=/0x0:1920x1080/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31896809/starcitizendev_2014-04-11_14-06-20-24.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>For those who didn't get the chance to see <em>Star Citizen</em>'s dogfighting presentation at PAX East 2014, whether in person or streamed on Twitch, Cloud Imperium Games has released this 30-minute video showing that demonstration and much more for the record-setting, crowdfunded space combat simulator.</p>
<p>The presentation itself begins at 9:30 and lasts to about 22:30. It's followed by another 15 minutes of footage and interviews from the PAX East show floor, which details how to set up a dogfighting match in Arena Commander, the online multiplayer module that will be offered to backers before the full game is released in 2015.</p>
<p>Polygon was at the event shown in the first half of the video, and had hands-on time with the game's dogfighting; our...</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/20/5633742/star-citizen-dogfighting-video-arena-commander-pax-2014">Continue reading…</a>
</p>
https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/20/5633742/star-citizen-dogfighting-video-arena-commander-pax-2014Owen S. Good2014-04-18T16:58:55-04:002014-04-18T16:58:55-04:00OlliOlli developer Roll7's next trick, the kill combo-based shoot 'em up Not A Hero
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/H7YSxgPHP5saSz4HRGhhLK-nkEE=/0x0:1280x720/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31828465/not_a_hero.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Cover-based shooting is given a retro isometric slant in developer Roll7's <i>Not A Hero</i>, the London-based team's follow-up to skateboarding game <i>OlliOlli</i>.</p>
<p><span>The PC action game combines shooting, sliding and reloading — and the occasional kitten bomb — for a combo-based affair that sits somewhere between arcade classics </span><i style="line-height: 1.5;">Rolling Thunder</i><span> and <i>Elevator Action</i> and Platinum Games' hyper-fast shooter </span><i style="line-height: 1.5;">Vanquish</i><span>.</span></p>
<p>In <i>Not A Hero</i>, players lay siege to a building as a gunman, sliding into and out of cover, clearing rooms of enemy henchmen in an attempt to escape. In other missions, you'll have to hack terminals or paste up a series of political posters in support of BunnyLord, a purple bunny from the future with mayoral aspirations.</p>
<p>As you pop in and...</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5606556/not-a-hero-roll7-pc-game">Continue reading…</a>
</p>
https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5606556/not-a-hero-roll7-pc-gameMichael McWhertor2014-04-18T09:30:02-04:002014-04-18T09:30:02-04:00Three indies discuss the future of free-to-play games
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LkZFTXO_-QXBatG173PmXxeaki0=/0x0:1100x619/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31706511/ss_a8ea7d5864a94f7e5e88cdb0cf3b47328c919bf5.1920x1080.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>The phrase itself conjures up emotions.</p>
<p>The free-to-play model as it's been used in the last few years is divisive. Some see it as a way to lower the barrier to entry, to invite players into games without an upfront financial burden. Others see it used as a crass business model designed to get players to pay to win.</p>
<p>It's not only players who wrestle with the revenue model. Developers we've spoken to are aware of its less than stellar reputation, even as they see its potential benefits. And some of them, particularly independent developers, are looking for ways to invoke the free-to-play model without the baggage associated with it.</p>
<p>The free-to-play model is evolving, and the developers at Carbon Games, FrogDice and RobotLovesKitty...</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5620660/airmech-arena-stash-upsilon-circuit-interview">Continue reading…</a>
</p>
https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5620660/airmech-arena-stash-upsilon-circuit-interviewDave Tach2014-04-18T03:00:01-04:002014-04-18T03:00:01-04:00Defense Grid 2 and the refinement of tower defense
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FB63Q5q0TQky6Gdy8nz-aTMMCcY=/0x0:1920x1080/640x360/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/31782219/defense_grid_2.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Hidden Path's <i>Defense Grid 2</i> builds upon the well-established, but consistently addictive tower defense formula that has engrossed players for more than a decade. The crowdfunding-backed strategy game takes the creep-killing fun of the original game, <i>Defense Grid: The Awakening</i>, and further refines — rather than redefines — it with a bevy of intelligent changes.</p>
<p><span>Using resources that are doled out over time, <i>Defense Grid 2</i> tasks players with building a series of defensive towers in an attempt to stop aliens from plundering their base. A variety of towers are available in the game's arsenal, from long-range cannon towers to low-cost gun towers to lasers, which quickly fire but deliver a continued burn. The goal, as in most games in the...</span></p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5625916/defense-grid-2-preview-pc-xbox-one-ps4-steam">Continue reading…</a>
</p>
https://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5625916/defense-grid-2-preview-pc-xbox-one-ps4-steamMichael McWhertor