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  • 30 years ago, the Super Bowl halftime show was Indiana Jones?
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    Kendrick Lamars riveting, incisive Super Bowl performance is likely to go down in history for many reasons, not the least of which is that it was the most watched halftime show of all time. It was a sharp contrast against what the Super Bowls entertainment interval used to look like for instance, three decades ago, when it was devoted not to a blockbuster artist, or a tribute to the host citys music scene, but instead to Indiana Jones.Let me give you some context: My friends and I recently tracked down decades worth of previous Super Bowl halftime shows on YouTube in order to rate and rank them for fun. We had a blast rediscovering shows wed loved, and watching performances wed never seen before. I highly recommend getting a group of friends together to revisit them. Somehow 2004 was even worse than we remembered! Diana Ross leaves her performance in a freakin helicopter!We also saw firsthand the way the halftime show evolved from the kind of marching-band performance youd see at a college game (albeit with a slightly bigger budget), into the mass entertainment extravaganza it is today. The crux of the issue was that broadcasters (and advertisers!) needed the halftime show to be enough of a draw that viewers wouldnt channel surf during the break and never return: Winter Magic wasnt going to cut it anymore.Even with the need to pivot toward more popular entertainment, an Indiana Jones stunt show now seems like an odd choice for the 1995 Super Bowl, especially since the franchises third (and at the time, final) movie had hit theaters in 1989. But Indiana Jones was a multimedia property in that era. Two seasons of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles aired from 1992-93, sometimes in the time slot right before Monday Night Football. A series of four TV movies followed, with one a year coming out from 1994 to 1996. In 1995, Disney was also just a few months from opening a new Disneyland theme park ride: Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. That made the Super Bowl a perfect chance for some corporate synergy.The 1995 show didnt completely leave musical acts behind: Between action set pieces with Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood fighting to recover the stolen Lombardi Trophy, Tony Bennett and Patti LaBelle serenaded the crowd. The show culminates with the entire cast singing Can You Feel the Love Tonight from Disneys The Lion King, released a year earlier.Overall, the stunt choreography is a strangely good match for the spectacle of halftime, though the show is problematic in all the ways Indiana Jones always has been. If youd like to know more about how this Super Bowl halftime show happened (and about the tragedy at the 1996 halftime show, which makes it unlikely well ever see another halftime stunt spectacular), check out Bleacher Reports excellent deep dive on the show.
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  • Solve a boarding school murder (or just frame a hater) in Expelled!
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    Overboard!, a narrative-heavy adventure title about killing your husband with a well-timed shove at sea and getting away with it, was one of my favorite games of 2021. Developer Inkle has announced a sequel of sorts called Expelled!, which is described in an announcement on Bluesky as an Overboard! game. Expelled! has a similar premise, but with a crucial twist. The game takes place in 1922 at a top boarding school, where someone has shoved a prefect out of a window to their death.For some reason, everyone at Miss Mulligatawneys School for Promising Girls suspects Verity Amersham, a scholarship student who must prove her innocence or find a convincing target toblame. ANNOUNCING: Expelled! an Overboard! game!Verity Amersham is a scholarship girl at a top boarding school. But someone's pushed a Prefect out of a window & everyone says it was her!She has one day to clear her name or find someone to take the fall. MARCH 12th tinyurl.com/vj5rhnwj inkle (@inkle.co) 2025-02-12T17:53:56.476ZA main feature of Overboard! is a time loop that allows the protagonist to learn from past mistakes and prepare her plan for the next round. Expelled! seems similarly repeatable, with one playthrough lasting somewhere between 30 to 45 minutes. Another intriguing part of the game is that morality opens up new options. The more evil Verity is, the more options she has at her disposal and when you only have a day to escape expulsion, taking those evil options will likely be very tempting.Verity is voiced by Amelia Tyler, the narrator of Baldurs Gate 3, who is capable of playing either a pious schoolgirl or a stone cold sociopath. Itll be fascinating to see just how dark the story can get.Expelled! is set to release on Steam on March 12.
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  • Elden Ring Nightreign pre-order guide
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    Revealed during 2024s Game Awards, Elden Ring Nightreign is the latest installment in FromSoftwares fantasy franchise. While the experience will feel familiar to veterans of the Soulslike genre, Nightreign is a co-op experience with some battle royale elements mixed in. However, instead of competing against other players, youll be forced to scavenge for equipment and fight mods of enemies until you and your allies are eventually herded into a climactic boss arena.Some lucky players have already had the opportunity to try out Nightreign as part of its network tests. But if you missed your opportunity to sign up back in January, heres where you can pre-order Elden Ring Nightreign for Xbox, PC, or PlayStation before its launch on May 30.Elden Ring Nightreign standard editionBecause of its slightly smaller scope, the standard edition of Elden Ring Nightreign is just $39.99. Regardless of your preferred platform, pre-ordering the standard edition ahead of the May 30 launch will get you a bonus in-game gesture. You can currently reserve the game for Xbox or PlayStation from Best Buy or GameStop, while PC players can reserve a copy on Steam. However, if you pre-order from Best Buy, youll get a free $10 gift card delivered via email following launch.Elden Ring Nightreign deluxe editionPre-ordering the $54.99 deluxe edition of Elden Ring Nightreign gets you the same pre-order bonus emote as the standard edition, but also entitles you to a digital artbook and soundtrack in addition to its planned DLC. Specifics on this new content are scarce at the moment, but it will include new characters and bosses when it launches later this year.If youd like to pre-order the deluxe edition for Xbox or PlayStation, you can reserve a copy from Best Buy or GameStop. The PC version is also available from Steam. Just as with the standard edition, pre-ordering a physical copy from Best Buy will get you a $10 gift card after the game is delivered.Elden Ring Nightreign collectors editionThe $199.99 collectors edition of Elden Ring Nightreign is only available directly from Bandai Namco. Pre-ordering this version of the game gets you everything featured in the lesser editions, but also includes a spread of collectibles you cant get anywhere else. In addition to a copy of the game for Xbox, PlayStation, or PC, youll get a Steelbook case, a 40-page hardcover art book, eight glossy tarot cards featuring the playable characters, and a 9.8-inch tall statue of Wylder.
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  • Taylor Lautner to play Taylor Lautner in Taylor Lautner: Werewolf Hunter
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    Twilight star Taylor Lautner is set to play a fictionalized version of himself who, in addition to being a former teen hearthtrob who played a brooding werewolf, is also a werewolf hunter. Variety reports that the show is currently in development at Amazon MGM studios, with 30 Rock writer Daisy Gardner serving as showrunner.The official synopsis is as follows: After wrapping the final Twilight film, Taylor Lautner vanished from the spotlight. Fans speculated, tabloids theorizedbut the truth is wilder than fiction. Taylor wasnt just taking a mental health break. He was preparing for his real callingTaylor Lautner: Werewolf Hunter. Playing himself, Taylor is drawn into a secret society of werewolf trackers who need his unique expertise. As he navigates his double lifeHollywood actor by day, supernatural warrior by nightTaylor must wrestle with the ultimate irony: fighting the very creatures that made him famous. Between saving the world, reviving his career, and falling in love, he faces the ultimate questionwhat happens when your biggest role becomes your greatest enemy?Lautner played Jacob Black in the Twilight Saga, who if we want to get very technical wasnt exactly a werewolf, but a shapeshifter who transformed into a wolf. Stephanie Meyer took many, many creative liberties with traditional Quileute legends when crafting her version of werewolves. We dont yet know how traditional the werewolves in Taylor Lautner: Werewolf Hunter will be. But the cheeky meta concept is definitely worth a few giggles.While his Twilight co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have gone on to star in indie darlings and superhero blockbusters, Lautners been quietly out of the limelight since the late 2010s. Hes married to a nurse who is also named Taylor and the two of them have an active social media presence and a mental health podcast.Taylor Lautner: Werewolf Hunter does not have a release date. It is also unclear whether or not Robert Pattinson will join as Robert Pattinson: Vampire Hunter.
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  • Android users can finally watch Severance
    www.polygon.com
    Im not someone who watches a lot of TV or movies on my iPhone or iPad, but I love knowing I have the option. Now, Android users will finally have the option of watching the streaming services small, but solid library on their phones and tablets, too.As first reported by Bloomberg, on Wednesday, Apple released Android apps for Apple TV Pus, six years after the apps initial launch and eight years after Apple TV debuted. This is perfect timing for Apple to expand the way audiences can enjoy their content, given the streamers current tentpole program, Severance, is nearing the halfway point of its stellar second season. With the new Android app for Apple TV Plus, itll be even easier for people to catch up on the Emmy-winning sci-fi series or any of the other great shows and movies the streamer has on offer. Apple TV Plus doesnt have nearly the depth or breadth of other streaming services like Netflix, but their hit rate is relatively high. While Netflix continues to lean into casual viewing, a lot of Apple TV shows arent afraid to demand your full attention. The twisty and mystery-laden Severance is the pinnacle of this, but the streamer produces a lot of quality, prestige programming including other fun sci-fi series such as Silo, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and Foundation that are worth putting your phone down for, or commandeering your phone to watch it.You can subscribe to Apple TV Plus for $9.99 a month, though new users can get a seven-day free trial before having to put any money down.
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  • Diablo 4 wont have annual expansions after all
    www.polygon.com
    The next Diablo 4 expansion wont be out in 2025, in spite of the studios previous comments about releasing them annually. Speaking at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas (via Bloombergs Jason Schreier), Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson said the follow-up to 2024s Vessel of Hatred expansion wont be out until 2026.In his DICE Summit presentation today on building a resilient live service, Diablo GM Rod Fergusson emphasized serving the game over the plan, a Blizzard spokesperson told Polygon. To that, we are excited to share that we are in development on our second expansion for Diablo IV, which will debut in 2026.A few months after Diablo 4 launched in 2023, Fergusson told Dexerto that new expansion releases would be annual. When asked about that statement in a 2024 GameSpot interview, his certainty wavered: Our players deserve to have more content and more ways to play, but in terms of whats the cadence and the right amount is not something I can talk about today.At DICE (via IGN), Fergusson said, In 2025, or just before Season 8, we will have a 2025 roadmap for Diablo 4. Now, our second expansion wont be on that roadmap, because our second expansion is coming in 2026, but at least players will have the road ahead.According to IGN, Fergusson said Vessel of Hatred slipped past the release date Blizzard originally had in mind as a result of the gargantuan overhaul to the games core systems last year. That shift pushed the upcoming expansion forward into 2026.Blizzard hasnt made any official announcements about what to expect in the next expansion, but anyone who has finished Vessel of Hatred will have a few good guesses on where the story will go next. In the meantime, the Season of Witchcraft is still on, granting players seasonal occult powers, like a poisonous pet frog.Update (8:07 p.m. ET): This story has been updated with a comment from Blizzard.
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  • Everything announced at Sonys February 2025 State of Play
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    Its 2025, and Sony Interactive Entertainment is back with its first State of Play presentation for the year. Sony broadcasted 40 minutes worth of PlayStation 5 news, focused on what it described as a creative and unique selection of exciting games from studios around the world. And Sony really packed those 40 minutes with near back-to-back announcements almost 30 trailers or reveals.Among the barrage of gameplay, Sony showed Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Dave the Diver DLC, Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater, and Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.The event began at 5 p.m. EDT and was streamed on both YouTube and Twitch, but if you missed the broadcast, weve got the full rundown of what was announced.Monster Hunter WildsCapcom debuted a new trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds, showing off a returning legacy monster called Mizutsune. Monster Hunter Wilds will be released on Feb. 28.Shinobi: Art of VengeanceShinobi: Art of Vengeance will be released on Aug. 28, bringing back the Shinobi franchise.Sonic Racing: CrossWorldsSega debuted a trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds during the State of Play, and announced that a closed network test is set for Feb. 21.Digimon Story Time StrangerA new Digimon game is coming: Digimon Story Time Stranger, taking players across worlds and time itself. Its expected out in 2025.Lost Soul AsidePre-orders for Lost Soul Aside open on Feb. 19.Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in HawaiiOn Friday, a new demo of Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will go live.Dave the DiverDave the Diver gets Ichibans Holiday DLC, bringing Yakuza to the game, in April.WWE 2K25WWE 2K5 is coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on March 14.Borderlands 4Borderlands 4 will be released Sept. 22, Gearbox announced during the State of Play.Split FictionHazelight Studios upcoming co-op game Split Fiction got a new story trailer during the State of Play, showing more about the adventures players will enter.Directive 8020Directive 8020 is the story of the brave astronauts of the Cassiopeia who embark on a deadly mission to save humanity, but their ship is infected by an alien lifeform that perfectly imitates its prey, per the YouTube description. Itll be released on Oct. 2.Five Nights at Freddys: Secret of the MimicFive Nights at Freddys: Secret of the Mimic will be released on June 13.The Midnight WalkThe Midnight Walk, described as a handcrafted dark fantasy adventure will be released on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR2 on May 8.Darwins Paradox!Help Darwin the octopus escape a food factory and get back to the ocean in Darwins Paradox!, which was debuted during the event.Warriors: AbyssWarriors: Abyss dropped today on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.Onimusha 2: Samurais DestinyOnimusha 2: Samurais Destiny will be released on May 23. Onimusha 2: Samurais Destiny returns with higher resolution graphics and modernized controls to perform Issen critical counter attacks and intense swordplay, per Sonys YouTube description.Onimusha: Way of the SwordOnimusha: Way of the Sword got its first trailer trailer and a release window: 2026. The new trailer debuts the new protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi.Metal Gear Solid: Snake EaterMetal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a remake of the 2004 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, will be released on Aug. 28.Hell Is UsHell Is Us will be released on Sept. 4, tackling a bleak topic: The demons known as humankind. Timely!Lies of P: OvertureLies of P: Overture is a prequel to Lies of P, announced for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.Dreams of AnotherPixelJunk announced Dreams of Another, a game that turns the third-person shooter on its head to build rather than destroy.Days Gone RemasteredDays Gone Remastered is coming to PlayStation 5 on April 25.Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: Nikke DLCDLC is coming to Stellar Blade on PlayStation 5 and Windows PC in June.Blue PrinceBlue Prince, a genre-bending, atmospheric, architectural adventure where you explore an ever-changing manor of 45 shifting rooms, was announced with a debut trailer.Abiotic FactorAbiotic Factor, in early access on Windows PC, will be released on console this summer.Tides of Annihilation When the streets of London are engulfed by an Outworld invasion, the only survivor, Gwendolyn, discovers a mysterious power to command the legendary Knights of the Round Table, reads the YouTube description for Tides of Annihilation. Driven by vengeance and the desperate need to save her sister, she embarks on a high-stakes journey across two worlds: a shattered modern London and the mythical Avalon.Metal EdenMetal Eden was revealed, and it looks like a fast-paced science-fiction first-person shooter.MindseyeAI and human greed collide in Mindseye, according to its developer.SarosHousemarque announced Saros with a cinematic trailer, and noted that the gameplay trailer will come later this year.
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  • Dreams of Another is a reminder that more games should fill the screen with particles
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    Sony revealed the latest in Q-Games PixelJunk series during its State of Play presentation Wednesday, and its a gorgeous shooter with a twist.Directed by Tomohisa Kuramitsu, who goes by Baiyon and is probably best known for his work on the PixelJunk Eden series, Dreams of Another is a shooter built around the idea that you dont just use guns to destroy objects, but to create things, and it features a dreamlike art style.The trailer shows a character, who seems to be wearing pajamas, carrying various guns and traveling through surreal environments one with horses running from a carousel, another with a robot running down a street.We dont know exactly how it all works just yet, but some passages in the trailer give a few clues. No creation without destruction, the trailer says. Because destruction is by no means an end but a beginning of something beyond. All human life is finite and that is why you feel an explosion of life when something is destroyed.According to Q-Games, the game uses point cloud rendering technology to create its unique visual style, and to also allow players to alter the world in various ways. The particle-heavy visuals give off a bit of a Rez Infinite vibe, which seems appropriate given how well that approached worked in VR, as Dreams of Another is heading to both PS5 and PS VR2.Following the trailer, Kuramitsu said the game defies the norms of shooting games. Rather than using weapons to harm or destroy, you use them to transform the abstract chaos and materialize the world around you.Dreams of Another is heading scheduled for release in 2025.
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  • Inventing the Past quest steps and walkthrough in The Sims 4
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    The Inventing the Past quest is part of a series of timed-limited quests in the Blast from the Past event inThe Sims 4.Each week in the event brings new story content for players to complete. If you do it and all the other quests part of the event you can get free items likeThe Surprise Birthday CakeandThe ElectroDance Floor.Here ishow to unlock and complete the week two Inventing the Pastquest in the Blast from the Past event inThe Sims 4. Since the quest involves a lot of specific steps, this guide will also explain how to level up Logic, how to level up handiness, and how to find plathinum and ironyum in The Sims 4.How to unlock the Inventing the Past questTo unlock the Inventing the Past quest, you must complete three other event quests prior: A Strange Visitor, Missing Clues, and Echoes of Time. Once you complete the Echoes of Time quest, the game will automatically start the content for Inventing the Past.Inventing the Past quest walkthroughAs you start this quest, youll start with three tasks off the bat: Read Theoretical Electronics at a LibraryRepair Something while Handiness Level 2 or HigherExercise Your Mind while Level 2 or Higher in Logic The first task is pretty straightforward: Press M to pull up the map and travel to any neighborhood library, like Willow Creek Archive. Go into the library, click on a bookcase, and select the option, Read Theoretical Electronics. Wait a moment, and that task will be complete.The rest of the quest is like a long to-do list of random tasks. The rest of the guide goes into detail on how to complete all the other tasks. How to level up Handiness in The Sims 4 To start on the Repair Something while Handiness Level 2 or Higher task, you need to level up your Sims Handiness to level two or higher. If youre playing from an existing save file, its likely your Sim has already reached a high enough level. If not, here is how to level up Handiness in The Sims 4.An easy way to level up your Sims Handiness level is by putting a Woodworking Table in its home. Its a piece of furniture in the Activities and Skills section of the objects menu and it costs 750 simoleons. Once you have one and placed in your home, its time to use it. Click it and select Horse Sculpture or Knife Sculpture. Continue to create sculptures until you level up. We only had to make three to raise our Handiness from level one to two.Now we need to repair an object. To do this, you can continue to live your day-to-day life until any object breaks. To speed this process up, Polygon bought the cheapest sink and used it a ton by cleaning dishes and having our Sim use it to wash its hands. When an object breaks, click it, select the Repair option.How to level up Logic in The Sims 4Now the game asks you to Exercise Your Mind while Level 2 or Higher in Logic.The easiest way to level up your Logic in The Sims 4 is to play chess. If you dont have a chess board, you can buy a basic one for 450 simoleons or you can use the public ones for free in Magnolia Blossom Park. Go to a board and continue to play until your Sims Logic level increases from one to two. Once your Sims has Logic level of two, play any chess game again, and it will satisfy the quest request for, Exercise Your Mind while Level 2 or Higher in Logic.How to get plathinum and ironyum in The Sims 4Now you need to find two kinds of ores: plathinum and ironyum. Theyre different items, but you use the same process to find each one. Heres how to find them.Hit M to pull up the map and travel to an outdoor area like Magnolia Blossom Park. Now look around outside until you find the spots to mine for the ore. Pause Live Mode if you want, and scan the surrounding area for protruding rocks that mark where you can mine for plathinum and ironyum. They look like the image below. Click on each rock and select the Dig option. Continue to dig in these marked spots until you unearth plathinum and ironyum. After completing that long to-do list, the game now instructs you to Build the Time Travel Component. To do that, pull up your inventory by pressing I and scroll down to Shard of Time icon that looks like a purple crystal. Click it and select, Build Time Travel Component. Do that and the quest is done!For more Blast from the Past quests, see our walkthroughs for Echoes of Time, A Strange Visitor, and Missing Clues, or our full Blast from the Past rewards list.
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  • Echoes of Time quest steps and walkthrough in The Sims 4
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    Echoes of Time is a time-limited quest thats part of the larger Blast from the Past event in The Sims 4. Do it and the other event quests, and youll be able to earn free in-game items like The Surprise Birthday CakeandThe ElectroDance Floor.In order to get all the free items in the Blast from the Past event, you have to do multiple quests. This guide will explain how to unlock the Echoes of Time quest in The Sims 4 and give a full walkthrough on how to beat it.How to unlock Echoes of Time in The Sims 4To start the Echoes of Time quest, you need to complete two quests before it: A Strange Visitor and Missing Clues. Once you finish them, the game will automatically prompt the Echoes of Time quest with a small pop-up window on your screen. Select, OK, and the quest will start.Echoes of Time quest walkthrough in The Sims 4The game will start with two tasks: Read the History of Time Travel at a Library and Study a Historical Display at a Museum. First, pull up your in-game phone and click the green car icon on it to travel to the library in town. Click on the library Willow Creek Archive and then the large car button. Once there, go into the library and left-click on a bookcase, select the option: Read History of Time Travel. Wait a bit, and the game will check that quest off.Now its time to go to the museum. Pull up your phone to travel again and go to the Municipal Muses, the museum in Willow Creek. Click on any work in the exhibit and click View. The view button should have a small Emit icon next to it. Wait for a while and the game will check off this task in the quest. Now go find any computer and click it. Select the Play Game option and then select The Sims Archives vol. 2. Once again, wait for a bit as your Sim plays the game and it will prompt the next part of the quest.Where to find an Elder in The Sims 4Next, the game tells you to Ask an Elder about the Shard. The game just wants you to talk to an older Sim for this step.To go find an older Sim, we waited around our my house in Willow Creek until seeing one walking around in the green space. Another way to do this is by going to a populated local area, like Magnolia Blossom Park, pausing Live Mode, and scrolling around until you find an older Sim.You can check the age of another Sim by hovering your cursor over a Sim without clicking. Once you find a Sim labeled, Elder, go and click it. Introduce yourself if you havent already. Then click again and select the option, Ask about Shard.Now the game tells you to Research Shards of Time. This is pretty easy, but its hidden behind a few menu options. Start by going to a computer and clicking the More Choices, option. From there, you need to click Web, and then Research From there, the option, Research Shards of Time will pop up; select that option. How to find the Shards of Time in The Sims 4The game now tells you to Search Objects for Shards of Time three times. To do this, you need to search random objects in your house and see if they have the Shards of Time.Click on various objects in your home like a couch, computer, bookcase, whatever until one object pulls up the option to Search for Shard of Time. In our playthrough, not every object that we searched had a Shard of Time, but it only took us four tries in total to find three shards.Now that we found three shards, its time to show them to our blue-haired buddy. To do that, go and find Emit, the guy you met in the previous quests. (Polygon found him in Magnolia Blossom Park going for a brisk jog.) Once you find him select the option, Show Shards of Time. Your Sim will show him the Shards and the quest will be complete. For more Blast from the Past quests, see our walkthroughs for Inventing the Past, A Strange Visitor, and Missing Clues, or our full Blast from the Past rewards list.
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  • Elden Ring director on why Dark Souls bosses appear in Nightreign: I thought itd be fun
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    As Elden Ring Nightreign previews begin to slowly trickle out ahead of its May 30 release date, battle designer-turned-director Junya Ishizaki sat down with GameSpot to discuss some of the more interesting choices the FromSoftware team made with the spin-off, including the decision to incorporate old bosses from the Dark Souls franchise.The primary reason for these existing bosses in Nightreign is from a gameplay perspective, Ishizaki said. Of course, with this new structure and with this new style of game, we needed a lot of different bosses. We needed a lot to add to this mix, so we wanted to leverage what we deemed appropriate from our previous titles.This makes a lot of sense, considering FromSoftwares established reputation for smartly using old assets in new games. They needed bosses for Nightreign, they had a bunch already developed from previous projects, so why not provide a little fan service? Speaking personally, however, Ishizaki offered an even more succinct explanation: I thought itd be kind of fun.Elden Ring Nightreigns reveal ignited a firestorm of discussion. Not only is a new FromSoft game always exciting, but the pre-release teaser also included footage of reused Dark Souls bosses like the Centipede Demon, the Dukes Dear Freja, and the Nameless King.Fans immediately began theorycrafting lore reasons for these throwbacks. Was this evidence, as IGN proposed, of a FromSoft multiverse? Weve seen hints in the past, such as the character Patches showing his sneering face in the studios games for decades, and Nightreign was considered by some to be further proof that these connections were more than a matter of thematic consistency or even just mere Easter eggs.But nope! Sounds more like FromSoft simply needed to fill out the boss roster, and Ishizaki thought bringing in Dark Souls bosses would be fun. As someone experiencing severe multiverse fatigue thanks to an entertainment industry loathe to develop new ideas, Im totally okay with this explanation.In his preview for Polygon, entertainment editor Austen Goslin described Elden Ring Nightreign as a game for the speed demons and the degenerates that feels like a carefully thought out, official version of the randomizer mods that FromSoftware players have used for years to keep the games they love fresh.
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  • Former Activision CEO somehow forgot the unforgettable
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    Theres a clip making the rounds today of former Activision Blizzard CEO and all-around video game fandom boogeyman Bobby Kotick recalling a failed acquisition and fumbling the details. On a video podcast for venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, featuring former EA exec Bing Gordon, Kotick confessed: We actually had a bad acquisition. The company that was, um in Manchester, that did the driving game for Xbox, and it was called, um You can watch the whole thing here, around the 8-minute mark. So yeah, not a great look. But when Im [checks Wikipedia] 62 years old, I suspect I may not remember something I did when I was [checks calculator app] 44 years old, which is basically how old I am now and Im feeling a way about it. Will I remember writing this post? Who knows.But what I do remember is Bizarre Creations absolute showstopper of a game one that my family still plays to this day.No, not Blur all respect to the Blur heads out there and no, not the driving game for Xbox, though respect to the Project Gotham Racing fans as well. Im of course talking about Geometry Wars, the game that helped establish a new kind of console game on Microsofts muscular sophomore effort and, in so doing, became arguably the Xbox 360s best launch title.Originally included inside Project Gotham Racing 2 on the original Xbox, Geometry Wars is a simple twin-stick shooter: left stick controls the ship, and right stick fires. Thats it! In one of my first jobs as a video game journalist (RIP Joystiq), I covered the Xbox 360 launch in the days leading up to its November 2005 release, and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved as the high-definition Xbox Live Arcade version was called immediately impressed. I wrote, If [Project Gotham Racing 3] isnt the highlight of the 360 launch, Bizzarres other creation surely is!I stand by it!In the weeks and months that followed, the rest of the Joystiq staff and I watched the global leaderboards with some combination of wonder and shock. They scored what now? The novelty of this kind of retro game being played on a high-def game console with the internet baked into its very fabric was the smallest of hints as to what was to come for video games, but it was a potent dose. We reported out high scores (congrats Striker and xTHeDoGgx) and challenged each other on the friends leaderboards.And now, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved remains a family favorite on the Steam Deck, where its bite-sized sessions coupled with some healthy father-son competition have reminded me how durable this games formula is, almost twenty years later. So even if you dont remember the name of the studio, or the city it was based in Liverpool, by the way you should remember Geometry Wars. Activision did close Bizarre Creations in 2011, following the launch of racing title Blur, and after some various moves, a handful of that team has reconstituted itself at Lucid Games, who managed to release Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions in 2014, marking the franchises first PlayStation release.And if you havent played it, I have good news for you! You can still purchase the original on the Xbox store for the same $4.99 it cost in 2005, or on Steam where its currently going for $1.99 thats less than a gas station coffee! If youre more of a PlayStation person, you can snag Geometry Wars 3 for $14.99 which is basically the price of a really fancy coffee nowadays (dont fact-check me).Im curious if any of you share my fondness for this game; let me know below. See you on the leaderboards.
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  • Civ 7 is already on sale at Newegg
    www.polygon.com
    Civilization 7 is barely one day old, but online retailer Newegg is already offering a substantial discount on the standard edition of the turn-based 4X title. If you were planning to pick up Civ 7 for PC or Xbox, you can currently grab a copy for just $54.99 when you use the code XVCVLZLCH at checkout (was $69.99).The seventh mainline installment of the Civilization franchise makes some substantial changes to the established 4X formula. While it isnt quite the monumental shift we saw with the introduction of the hex-based map in Civ 5, Civilization 7 brings a number of new mechanics to the table, like the soft-reset age transitions, giving diplomacy its own dedicated currency, and the ability to change your civilization mid-game.The game isnt without its problems, but many of the larger issues are being quickly addressed not only by the developers at Firaxis but by fans of the game as well. So it wont be long until this latest iteration of Civ matches the standards weve come to expect from the franchise.
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  • D&Ds decadelong tradition of hiding Easter eggs early in its books has come to an end
    www.polygon.com
    When 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons first rolled off the assembly line with the original Players Handbook (2014), it arrived with a very special Easter egg. Its a goof thats been repeated dozens of times, one thats been included in every single hardcover rulebook, sourcebook, and campaign book published over the last decade. And with the release of the Monster Manual (2025), the franchises third revised core rulebook, publisher Wizards of the Coast tells Polygon that this little moment of jocularity is officially coming to an end. Pour one out, dear reader, for the fantasy legal disclaimer.I first found the original disclaimer, wedged into a tiny bit of empty space on the copyright page, when I began covering D&D in earnest for Polygon about eight years ago. Thats when, while I was out of town covering E3, the shelf holding the Polygon D&D library leapt off the wall of my bedroom office and impaled my otherwise perfectly functional Ikea desk. As I levered one chunk of laminated pressboard out of the other, the PHB fell open there right in front of me and I saw it for the first time, sitting just below a description of Tyler Jacobsons depiction of the fire giant, King Snurre.Disclaimer: Wizards of the Coast is not responsible for the consequence of splitting up the party, sticking appendages in the mouth of a leering green devil face, accepting a dinner invitation from bugbears, storming the feast hall of a hill giant steading, angering a dragon of any variety, or saying yes when the DM asks, Are you really sure?I called out a few of my favorites in an article back in 2016, but by and large Ive not covered these little Easter eggs as they have appeared in various books, letting them simply be for my own amusement and the amusement of anyone else who might discover them. So when I took receipt of the new Players Handbook (2024) last year, you better believe that my first stop was on the copyright page looking for a little dose of joviality. But the disclaimer was not to be found. Same for the Dungeon Masters Guide (2024) and the new Monster Manual (2025), which releases widely into retail on Feb. 18.Reached for comment, Wizards sent word back from none other than D&D lead designer Jeremy Crawford. He let me know that I wasnt imagining things, and that fantasy legal disclaimers are no more. Other, slightly more overt Easter eggs can be found throughout the latest D&D books, he said, including things like cameos from the characters in the original Saturday morning cartoon show from the 1980s. But these in-fiction snippets of fantasy legalese have gone the way of THAC0.So, in honor of these comedic little morsels and the anonymous folks at Wizards who helped them make their way into every game book for 10 solid years here are the last five 5th edition D&D books and their fictional disclaimers.Sept. 13, 2023 saw the introduction of Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, which expanded on the first adventure published in the original 5th edition Starter Set:Disclaimer: The fanatics of Ilvaash can neither confirm nor deny whether they plot to incorporate this books owners into a mighty new illithid empire. Any transformations incurred, up to and including face tentacles, are strictly coincidental.Oct. 17, 2023 was the physical release date for Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse, a boxed set with three different books. As such, it features three different disclaimers, including one in the unmistakable voice of Morte, the beloved floating skull from Planescape: Torment.Turn of Fortunes Wheel:Disclaimer: Fortunes Wheel welcomes guests and currencies from all planes, realities, and timelines. The house takes no responsibility for any harm (financial, physical, existential, or otherwise) endured during games of chance, in interactions with guests or house security, or by running afoul of the proprietor. Gamble responsibly.Mortes Planar Parade:Disclaimer: Everything in this book is true except the parts that aint. The planes change, coins and threats adjust a few details, boring bits get more colorful. You know how it is. Whats what? Youre a cagey sort, Chief. I know youll figure it out.Sigil and the Outlands:Disclaimer: The factions of the City of Doors are not responsible for symptoms associated with accidentally happening upon the Cage. Please consult your doctor if you experience any of the following: upset stomach, nausea, existential dread, cleithrophobia, or an irresistible urge to wax poetic about philosophies relating to the multiverse.On Jan. 5, 2024, after a slight delay due to manufacturing defects, came The Deck of Many Things. One of its two companion books, The Book of Many Things, had the following disclaimer:Disclaimer: The gods of fate take no responsibility for any alignment changes, deaths, debilitating curses, fiendish enmities, imprisonments, or sudden betrayals, nor for the loss of ability scores, experience points, magic items, physical property, or wealth, resulting from the use of this book. Looks, its the Deck of Many Things. What did you expect?The penultimate book of the original line, and 5th editions most high-level campaign to date, landed on May 21, 2024. Buried inside the cover of Vecna: Eve of Ruin youll find the following disclaimer:Disclaimer: All resistance to the Lord of the Hand island Eye is futile. Any thwarting of his will or his creations is temporary, as the Undying one will eventually remove all evidence of any inferior versions of reality. There will be no mercy for your pitiful souls, which never existed.And, finally, from Quests from the Infinite Staircase, which arrived at retail widely on July 16, 2024, I present the last 5th edition fantasy disclaimer ever published:Disclaimer: Wizards of the Coast is not responsible for dubious interpretations of poorly worded wishes granted by noble genies or other almighty entities. Please send all complaints regarding ill-interpreted wishes to your Dungeon Master in the form of a strongly (and carefully) worded letter.I guess they werent all bangers in the end. But Ill still miss em. Got a favorite of your own? Carefully pull it down off the shelf and drop it no, not the shelf; the disclaimer in the comments below. And if you or anyone else knows more about the secret history of these charming little snippets, you know where to find me.
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  • Crysis 4 on hold as studio cuts 15% of staff
    www.polygon.com
    Crytek has put Crysis 4 on hold as it lays off around 60 staff, around 15% of its 400 person company. Some staff working on the future of Crysis has shifted to work on Hunt: Showdown 1896, a multiplayer shooter released in 2019 that remains quite popular and, even, grown exponentially since its release, hitting its all-time peak concurrent players (more than 60,000), in August. Despite the success of Hunt: Showdown 1896, Crytek said it cant continue as before and remain financially sustainable.Like so many of our peers, we arent immune to the complex, unfavorable market dynamics that have hit our industry these past several years, a Crytek representative wrote in a post on social media. The layoffs affect development teams and shared services.pic.twitter.com/zJzGroAIex Crytek (@Crytek) February 12, 2025The German developer attempted to reduce costs and cut operating expenses, but called the layoffs inevitable, its Wednesday post said. The studio will offer severance packages to laid-off employees.Crysis 4 was announced in 2022 as being in early development. Crytek released a short teaser in which the company called Crysis 4 a truly next-gen shooter. Alongside the video, Crytek also put out a call for new hires: It was looking for people who will truly shape the future of the franchise. The company has shared very few details on the game since then. Crysis 3 was released in 2013, the last new game the franchise gotten since then. Electronic Arts published each of these three games. Crytek, however, did release remastered versions of the first three games, released in 2020 and 2021.Despite the success of the franchise and Hunt: Showdown 1896, Crytek has, indeed, faced financial issues in the past: In 2016, Crytek employees told Polygon some employees hadnt been paid in months something that echoed complaints from 2014 in which then-CEO Cevat Yerli said the missed payments were designed to keep the company out of bankruptcy.As Crytek alluded, the video game industry continues to struggle after years of financial woes and layoffs. Tens of thousands of workers were laid off over the past three years; nearly 1,000 of which were laid off in the first two months of 2025, per unofficially collected data.
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  • Its too early to talk about Osgood Perkins The Monkey, so lets talk about Stephen Kings The Monkey
    www.polygon.com
    I always thought it was strange that Stephen Kings publishers thought his short story The Monkey was such a big deal. Compared to the other stories surrounding it in his indelible 1985 anthology Skeleton Crew, it felt like a whiff. That book is home to some of his all-time most memorable, hardest-hitting shorter works, including The Mist, The Jaunt, The Raft, and especially my all-time favorite King story, the ridiculously ghoulish Survivor Type. Plus its full of interesting oddities: poems, a full-on 50s pulp science fiction story (Beachworld), some weird unexplained vignettes that feel like dreams King never assigned to a narrative. And then theres this story about an evil wind-up toy?And yet, on the cover of my battered old Signet paperback edition of Skeleton Crew, there was the monkey, with pride of place the image the publisher had chosen to represent the whole shebang. Why? Is a classic wind-up monkey toy really that unsettling, even given the fixed stare and bared teeth? But in edition after edition of Skeleton Crew down through the ages, it resurfaces on the cover art.A gory new movie adaptation is on the way this month, from Longlegs writer-director Osgood Perkins. So I figured it was time to look back at the Stephen King story and see if I could understand why so many book publishers, at least, felt The Monkey was Skeleton Crews central hook.What stands out about The Monkey in 2025,45 years after its first publication,is how visceral Kings language gets. The story jumps around in time as it tracks a mans long relationship with a toy windup monkey that resists all attempts to discard or destroy it. It just keeps turning up in unlikely places, starting with the opening paragraphs, when protagonist Hal Shelburn and his family are exploring the attic of Hals childhood home, and his older son Dennis finds the monkey in a box.Hals immediate response is to suppress a scream, which sets up one of the storys biggest sources of intriguing friction from the very first sentence: A wind-up toy is a ludicrous thing to find terrifying, so Hals obvious trauma and terror sets up a major curiosity gap. As the story progresses, King keeps finding new ways to describe the look and feel of the monkey in ways that similarly highlight the toys unlikely, unnatural awfulness: its balding, mangy patches, its glazed eyes, its large and carnivorous teeth, its mechanical body writhing or humping whenever its internal mechanics start up. But mostly, he finds graphic, awful ways for people or animals to die whenever the wind-up monkey starts banging its cymbals together.Theres always been a fully invested, go-for-broke tone to the imagery in Kings writing, and in this case, I dont just mean him embodying evil as a wind-up toy. I mean, for instance, the way Hals vivid imagination leads him at one point to visualize a local mans car, sunk in an area lake years ago, as now inhabited by the rotting corpses of all Hals lost loved ones, complete with a back seat full of dead children. Its a compellingly morbid daydream that has little to nothing to do with the story, but King describes it in loving detail, drawing a clear and horrible mental picture that puts us in Hals increasingly ragged mindset. That level of color makes stories like The Monkey feel much darker and more dangerous than the would otherwise.But even apart from these sorts of morbid images, King packs on the ominous foreshadowing, starting with the obvious tension between Hal, his pill-popping wife Terry, and Dennis, a 12-year-old whos been smoking pot and mouthing off to his parents. (Throughout the story, Hal seems perilously close to writing Dennis off as a lost cause in order to focus on his sweeter and more beloved 9-year-old son Petey pretty shocking behavior from someone were expected to empathize with, especially considering how minimal Dennis offenses are and how young he is.)This is a familiar King hallmark that persists to this day: The tendency to enrich even the shortest stories with a lot of close character detail and complicating incident. Theres no narrative urgency that requires this story about a cursed killer toy to delve into Hals employment problems, and the little strains on his relationship with each of his family members. But all these details do establish early on why hes under so much pressure that the toys return paralyzes him, and why he turns to Petey for companionship and support in facing the monkey, even at the risk of bringing him into lethal danger.Where The Monkey really comes alive, though, is in the escalating and increasingly unhinged rants Hal imagines for the monkey as the deaths pile up. Every time the toy activates and bangs its cymbals together, someone or something dies. Starting in childhood, when he first finds the thing, Hal imagines a malevolent, gleeful intelligence behind it that challenges him to imagine who its killed each time it starts up again. He puts its rictus grin into words, starting simply with a single paragraph where it mocks him (Jang-jang-jang-jang, whos dead?) and building up to longer, more frequent, and increasingly maniacal rants full of graphic and creepy details. Given that the toy monkey never actually speaks, Hals elaborate imaginary voice for it underlines his disintegrating mindset. Its a reminder of how raw and aggressive Kings writing style was in the 1980s.This frantic internal monkey-voice is one of the things I most remember about my early reads of The Monkey, and one of the things I liked least about it. The trope of an internal voice feeding a protagonist information or whipping them into an emotional frenzy (or both) is a longstanding wrinkle of Kings, one he uses so much in books from Rose Madder to Liseys Story that they sometimes stand in for actual character interaction or story development. Here, my first impression was that it was just him going overboard, trying to make a fairly random object scary by giving it a voice that only really exists in its victims head.Going back and reading it all these years later, though, The Monkey seems much more like a giddy pulp exercise. Its one of the many King stories that explores the incomprehensible aspects of death (particularly who dies, and when and how) through a weird, unlikely, even borderline silly vehicle, then ramps up the tension and focuses in on the protagonists dread and desperation until the story becomes a barreling thrill ride. The late going gets odd Ive never been able to fully picture how Hal rows a boat even once it cracks in half and fills with water but the sense of foreboding and fear never eases up. If anything, the fact that so much threat can be packed into such a ridiculous object just underlines how Kings commitment to oddball ideas makes him stand out as a horror writer.Theres a small nod late in the story toward some kind of larger message, as Hal muses on the nature of evil, and whether its more likely to be unaware and uncomprehending, or awake and malicious. And if you read the Wikipedia page, youll see several examples of scholarly writers trying to map much larger Jungian or Freudian symbolism onto the monkey, as a metaphor for unresolved childhood fear or suppressed destructive impulses.But coming back to Stephen Kings The Monkey ahead of Osgood Perkins The Monkey, the story doesnt feel remotely like a modern horror metaphor about trauma, or an exploration of how Hal needs to bury his hostility toward his former employer, his fragile wife, and his resentful older son. It feels far more like King following the straight-line path that his publishers may have followed when deciding on the cover of Skeleton Crew: Things that share some facial similarity with humans, but arent human, can be fairly creepy. Things that sometimes move like theyre alive, but mostly dont, can be fairly creepy. Never knowing exactly when or how were going to die, and knowing that death may come for us in an unexpected and seemingly arbitrary way, is inherently creepy.Maybe The Monkey doesnt need to be about anything more than the sense of facing all these things, and pushing back against them. Hal cant control fate, or death, but he can at least resist the embodiment of it that haunts his life. That alone is enough to make The Monkey stick in readers minds and on publishers cover art, all these decades later.
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  • Elden Ring Nightreign is releasing in May
    www.polygon.com
    The new Elden Ring is closer than you might think. FromSoftware announced on Wednesday that Elden Ring Nightreign, the new multiplayer spinoff of the studios excellent open-world game, is set for release on May 30. Nightreign was first announced at The Game Awards last December, with a gorgeous, but slightly mysterious, teaser trailer.FromSoftware also announced that Nightreigns base game will retail for just $40. There will also be a $99 deluxe version of the game that includes a few cosmetic additions, as well as access to the games DLC. FromSoftware hasnt specified what this DLC will include just yet. On top of these editions, there will also be an even fancier version of the game that will come with a statue and several other physical collectibles, as well as the in-game items and DLC from the deluxe edition.This announcement came amid a number of previews for the game, including Polygons own, which found the game to be a refreshing remix of Elden Rings mechanics, combined with a surprisingly fun battle royale twist. Many more FromSoftware fans will get the chance to try Nightreign out later this week when the studio begins the games first Network Test event, which will give a select number of players access to an early version of the game for testing. Registration for the Network Test has already closed, but for the players who have been invited, it will take place at a variety of times running from Feb. 14 to Feb. 16.
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  • Arcade legend Jeff Minters next remake is I, Robot: the first game with polygons
    www.polygon.com
    Jeff Minter, the legendary, iconoclastic arcade game designer, is back with another Atari remake. Once again, the author of the classic Tempest 2000 and its sequels has dug deep into Ataris back catalog and unearthed a truly deep cut to apply his intense, psychedelic spin to. Last time, it was the notoriously difficult, unreleased curio Akka Arrh; this time its I, Robot, a historic but failed game from one of Ataris great minds.I, Robot is a 1984 arcade game designed by Dave Theurer, creator of Missile Command and the original Tempest. Theurer loved to push the technological boundaries of early gaming and I, Robot holds the distinction of being the first commercial video game rendered with real-time, flat-shaded (as opposed to wireframe) 3D polygon graphics eight years before Segas Virtua Racing and a decade before PlayStation made this kind of 3D gaming a mass-market proposition.But I, Robot was a flop, and less than 1,000 cabinets of the game were produced. Its unusual design has the player controlling a robot, hopping around mazes and flipping the color of tiles while shooting at enemies and avoiding the gaze of Big Brothers giant eye.Going by the trailer, Minters take on I, Robot is typically distinctive, upping the pace, taking liberties with the design, and incorporating elements of his own games like Gridrunner and the Tempest remakes, as well as his trademark procedural techno music and bleary psychedelic visuals. Naturally, the robot hero has been given the head of an ox, too. (Minter, whose company is called Llamasoft, has a long-standing obsession with animals of the ungulate family.)In between levels, players will dip into a trippy tube shooter for some Tempest-style action, while the release also includes what Minter is calling the Ungame, a visualizer that allows the player to play around with the games sights and sounds without worrying about enemies. (The original I, Robot also included a chill secondary mode, a drawing tool called Doodle City.)Minters I, Robot will be released in spring 2025 on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, and Ataris own VCS system. According to the trailer, therell be a PlayStation VR2 version, too.
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  • World of Warcrafts big goblin patch gets a launch date of Feb. 25
    www.polygon.com
    The first major content patch for The War Within is all about goblins, and the patch is set to arrive on Feb. 25. Tuesday, Blizzard announced the release date for both the main patch and the beginning of season 2, as well as a rundown of all the new features players can expect. The expansions story takes us to Undermine, the goblin capital a massive urban center with driveable and upgradeable cars, a series of competing cartels, and a new dungeon centered around blowing up a dam.The patch, titled Undermined, will go live in two parts. On Feb. 5, Undermine will open up, with the new D.R.I.V.E. system, joinable cartels, the Operation: Floodgate dungeon, new Delves, and a new PvP map. Players will also be able to pick new log-in camps for their Warbands, which is a nice cosmetic feature that lets all of your alts hang out.On March 2, players will be able to participate in the new raid, Liberation of Undermine, and finally beat up long-time bad guy Gallywix. There will be new tier sets for each class in Liberation of Undermine, a popular feature for completionists and those into their class aesthetic fantasy. Blizzard will also introduce an updated Mythic+ rotation. Well just have to wait and see how the raid concludes, and how this links to the greater story of Xalatath and her schemes.
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  • Pokmon Go Beloved Buddies event guide
    www.polygon.com
    Pokmon Gos Beloved Buddies event celebrates bonded Pokmon and runs from Feb. 11-15. The event introduces Dhelmise to the game, where it can be caught for the first time.In addition to Dhelmises debut, there are a few bonuses that will be live for the duration of the event, including doubled XP for catching Pokmon, Lure Modules lasting for one hour (instead of 30 minutes), and bonus Stardust for catching Diglett, Slowpoke, Shellder, Dunsparce, Cutiefly, and Formantis.Notably, any newer players will want to use this event as an opportunity to catch Volbeat or Illumise (depending on their region). These are regional Pokmon, meaning theyre only usually available in specific areas. Usually you can only find one or the other near you, with the other only being available other regions, so take advantage of this opportunity while you can.We list out the other perks of the Pokmon Go Beloved Buddies event, including the Collection Challenge, spawns, boosted shinies, and more.Pokmon Go Beloved Buddies event Timed Research and rewardAs with some of the other events weve gotten during the Dual Destiny season, this Timed Research features a branched choice to pick between: Candela or Arlo? Your choice will largely depend on what Pokmon you may already have collected, as well as if you like Team Go Rocket encounters. This time around, the rewards actually vary outside of the encounters, though only very slightly.Check out our comprehensive explainer on which to pick between Candela or Arlo in our Beloved Buddies Timed Research guide.Pokmon Go Beloved Buddies event Collection ChallengesThe following Collection Challenges will be live throughout the duration of the event:Beloved Buddies Collection Challenge 1Catch a CutieflyCatch a FomantisReward: 15 Great Balls, 3,000 StardustBeloved Buddies Collection Challenge 2Catch a ShellderCatch a SlowpokeReward: 15 Great Balls, 3,000 StardustBeloved Buddies Collection Challenge 3Catch a DiglettCatch a DunsparceReward: 15 Great Balls, 3,000 StardustPokmon Go Beloved Buddies event Field Research and rewardsSpinning a PokStop during the event period may yield one of these tasks:Catch 2 Pokmon (200 Stardust)Trade a Pokmon (Tandemaus encounter)Win a raid (1,500 Stardust)Pokmon Go Beloved Buddies event boosted spawnsThese Pokmon will spawn more frequently during the event period:Nidoran-FNidoran-MDiglett*SlowpokeShellderDunsparce*RemoraidMantinePlusleMinunVolbeatIllumiseCutieflyFomantis*There is an increased chance of finding this shiny in the wild as part of the event.Pokmon Go Beloved Buddies event raid targetsThe following changes to theraid schedulewill take place as part of the event:One-star raidsThree-star raidsShellderSlowbroDwebbleHippowdonSkrelp*Dhelmise*These Pokmon have an increased chance of being shiny when raided.
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  • Candela or Arlo choose a path outcomes in Pokmon Go
    www.polygon.com
    Youll need to choose betweenCandela or Arloas part ofPokmon Gos Beloved Buddies free Timed Research. The choice you should pick is based on what kind of content you do, what type of Pokmon you need, and your general playstyle.Below we explain the choices between the two branched choices inPokmon Gos Beloved Buddies Timed Research.Which path should you pick? Candela or Arlo?After the first step of the free research, therell be a branched choice: Should you pick Candela or Arlo?If you want a PvP-relevant Pokmon and Poffins, you should pick Candela. Candela offers a meta-relevant Great League PvP pick: Dunsparce. However, this isnt super hard to come across (the spawns are boosted for Dunsparce during this event, too), so this shouldnt be too much of a determining factor when it comes to picking Candela.If you want a more PvE-oriented Pokmon and a Rocket Radar, you should pick Arlo. Youll get a Cubone, which evolves into Marowak, a decent Great League PvP contender, and a Scizor, which can Mega Evolve into a pretty good bug-type attacker. Arlo also offers a Rocket Radar, so if youre hunting down Giovanni and the Team Go Rocket leaders, this is pretty useful.Notably unlike past branched research, the steps are actually different based on which person you choose. Candela requires adding a new friend and trading Pokmon to another player, so if youre an introvert or a solo player, these may be walls that will prevent you from finishing the research. In this case, you should pick Arlos path.Candela and Arlo Timed Research steps and outcomesBelow, we list the steps and rewards for the Beloved Buddies Timed Research. Remember that you must complete the research before the event ends on Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. in your local time.Beloved Buddies step 1 of 3Catch 15 Pokmon (5 Ultra Balls)Spin 5 PokStops or gyms (Remoraid encounter)Explore 2 km (Mantine encounter)Rewards: 1,000 Stardust, 1,000 XPAfter completing this step, youll get the choice to pick between Candela and Arlo. Doing so will impact what tasks you get as well as the rewards.Beloved Buddies step 2 of 3 (Candela)Earn 10 hearts with your buddy (500 Stardust)Earn a candy exploring with your buddy (Luvdisc encounter)Make a new friend (2 Poffins)Rewards: Dunsparce encounter, 2,000 XPBeloved Buddies step 2 of 3 (Arlo)Catch 15 Pokmon (500 Stardust)Transfer 5 Pokmon (Cubone encounter)Defeat 3 Team Go Rocket grunts (1 Rocket Radar)Rewards: Shadow Diglett encounter, 2,000 XPBeloved Buddies step 3 of 3 (Candela)Play with your buddy 5 times (10 Ultra Balls)Send 3 gifts to friends (500 Stardust)Trade a Pokmon (Shellder encounter)Rewards: Rapidash encounter, 3,000 XP, 2,000 StardustBeloved Buddies step 3 of 3 (Arlo)Catch 25 Pokmon (10 Ultra Balls)Transfer 15 Pokmon (500 Stardust)Defeat Team Go Rocket Arlo (Slowpoke encounter)Rewards: Scizor encounter, 3,000 XP, 2,000 StardustAfter completing all three steps (no matter which path you picked), youll also get an additional 2,500 XP and 2,500 Stardust.
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  • How to get Dhelmise in Pokmon Go, Dhelmise counters and weakness explained
    www.polygon.com
    Dhelmise makes its debut in Pokmon Go as part of February 2025s Beloved Buddies event.Despite resembling an anchor and living underwater, this haunted Alolan Pokmon is in fact a ghost- and grass-type and according to its Pokdex entry, a predator of the mighty whale Pokmon Wailord. Oh buoy!As with most new Pokmon added to Pokmon Go in the past year, Dhelmise cannot be found in the wild but thankfully, theres a clear and direct route on how to get one on its debut.How to get Dhelmise in Pokmon GoMaking its first appearance in 2025s Beloved Buddies event, Dhelmise can only be found in raids on its debut.In terms of raid difficulty, Dhelmise is in the three-star category so for solo players, unless you have strong counters (and ideally a Mega Evolved or Shadow Pokmon in the mix), youll want to bring a friend or two to help you take it down.Dhelmise weakness and counters in Pokmon GoAs a ghost- and grass-type, Dhelmise is weak to fire-, ice-, flying-, ghost-, and dark-type moves. Thats quite a range, giving us plenty of options but if you wanted specific Pokmon in mind, we recommend:For fire-type options, consider (Mega) Charizard or Blaziken, or Ho-OhFor ice-type options, consider (Mega) Abomasnow, Mamoswine, or Mewtwo with Ice BeamFor flying-type options, consider (Mega) Rayquaza with Dragon Ascent, or (Mega) PidgeotFor ghost-type options, consider Dawn Wings Necrozma, (Mega) Gengar, or Mewtwo with Shadow BallFor dark-type options, consider (Mega) Tyranitar, or (Mega) HoundoomAs noted, Mega versions of the relevant Pokmon listed above are recommended, but know you cannot bring more than one Mega Pokmon into battle. Similarly, if you have a Shadow version of any of the above, that can help give you the edge.Can Dhelmise be shiny in Pokmon Go?On its debut, Dhemise cannot be shiny in Pokmon Go. The rollout for shinies in Pokmon Go varies sometimes a Pokmon can be shiny on its debut, sometimes they can take years so know you might be waiting a while.Until then, you can see what shiny Dhelmise looks like thanks to this video by Majin Munchlax on YouTube from Pokmon Sword and Shield:Next, see if you should choose the Candela or Arlo path!
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  • Marvel Rivals cancels its controversial rank change after players revolt
    www.polygon.com
    Never mind, your rank is safe from the upcoming midseason patch in Marvel Rivals. NetEase has cancelled its plans for a surprise rank reset after players criticized the change on social media and the games Discord server.After the release of Dev Talk 10 regarding the seasonal rank adjustment, we received a wealth of feedback from the community, NetEase wrote in a Dev Talk post today. A common concern was the pressure associated with having a rank reset every half-season, which has made participating in competitive mode less enjoyable.Next weeks patch wont reset your rank, and midseason patches going forward wont either. The cosmetic reward in this case, the Blood Shield Invisible Woman skin for reaching Gold will be handed out and replaced with a new one, but everyone wont have to climb back up from Bronze to earn it. The start of seasons, however, will still include a rank reset.Shortly after the announcement on Monday, players on Reddit, X, and Discord discussed how a midseason rank reset would discourage trying to climb, especially for anyone who doesnt have a lot of time to play. Kicking people to a lower rank every six to seven weeks would also hurt the quality of matches as players settle into their proper skill levels. This the kind of thing that just kills my vibe for the game, one Reddit user said at the time.Thousands of other Reddit comments and X replies expressed the same concerns. Some players went direct and sent support messages to NetEase with their feedback.With the change now reversed, players are happy they were listened to. Very impressed to see how they handled the criticism, Im honestly shocked, wrote on Reddit user. A dev team that makes adjustments almost immediately, unlike my teammates, wrote one X user.The midseason patch will go live on Feb. 21 and will mark the debut of the Thing and Human Torch on the roster, as well as a list of balance changes.
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  • How to get the Barrow-Dyad Exotic in Destiny 2
    www.polygon.com
    The Barrow-Dyad is an Exotic Strand submachine gun from Destiny 2: Heresy, and it comes from an Exotic questline called The Taken Path, which culminates in the Exotic mission, Derealize. To get to all these quests and missions, however, youll need to do a lot of secret hunting around the solar system.In this guide, well explain how to get the Barrow-Dyad Exotic SMG, including how to start the Taken Path Exotic quest so you can start your hunt.How to get the Barrow-Dyad Exotic in Destiny 2To get the Barrow-Dyad Exotic SMG in Destiny 2, youll need to do the following:Find The Taken Path quest inside the Dreadnaught during The Nether (we go into exactly how to do that below). Complete the lengthy Exotic quest by hunting down secrets around the solar system.This will eventually unlock the Derealize mission, which will net you the Barrow-Dyad Exotic submachine gun just ahead of the final boss.Youll then gain access to a quest called Dyadic Ascension, which will help you upgrade your Intrinsic perks.Below, well explain how to start the Taken Path Exotic quest so you can get on your way for the rest.How to start The Taken Path Exotic questUnlike many other modern Exotic missions in Destiny 2, there is absolutely no warning or indication that an Exotic quest is available for you to pick up in-game when you login. Instead, youll need to find a secret item in the Dreadnaught during the Nether activity.When you load into the Nether, there seems to be a chance that an unusual Blight will spawn in with you somewhere in your starting area (the game randomly selects one of the Dreadnaught zones to be your starter area). While it appears these Blights can appear in any area, we can only confirm one location: the Hall of Souls.Load into a private version of The Nether over and over again until it serves you up the Court of Oryx area, the Hall of Souls. Inside, head to the middle platform where you normally fight the boss of this area. Run through the hall with the Thrall statues until youre looking at where you load in for the Kings Fall raid, but dont cross the bridge. Instead, look up and to your right. If you see a large Blight ball latched onto the strut near the ceiling (like in the image above), youve found it. If not, load back in until you find the Hall of Souls and the Blight.Clear the enemies out of the area to make it easier to maneuver, walk up to the strut the Blight is attached to, and pull out your Ghost. Youll see some invisible platforms leading up to the Blight. Climb them and jump into the Blight (or just grapple into it if you have Strand). Youll now find yourself in the Blighted Cyst and will need to complete a small puzzle.How to solve the something whispers puzzleInside the Blighted Cyst, youll see a green barrier in front of you with a blank rune on it, a directional plate under the rune, and a Taken portal to your left. Avoid the portal and stand on the plate. If you stand on it long enough, the rune will display a symbol and broadcast to your UI something whispers to the right.Shoot the rune and walk off the plate to your right as you do it. This will teleport you to the other side of the barrier. If youre with any friends, make sure they do the same.Once on the other side, go to the elevated table sitting inside the Blighted Cyst and interact with it. Youll pick up the Taken Osseous Fragment, an Exotic redeemable item that has no indication on where you should go next. Open your Director and head to the Shaping Slab in Eris apartment. Talk to it and youll pick up The Taken Path, an Exotic quest that promises to eventually reward you with the bizarre Barrow-Dyad Exotic submachine gun.
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  • Get every Pathfinder and Starfinder comic for just $18 at Humble
    www.polygon.com
    If you need to stock up on some light reading, Humble is currently offering a massive bundle of 71 Starfinder and Pathfinder comics for just $18. Published by Dynamite Entertainment! This bundle features every tale inspired by the fantasy and sci-fi TTRPG settings created by Paizo, and its certainly worth checking out if youre a fan of the game.All 66 issues of the Pathfinder comics are present in this bundle, which includes all of the associated specials and one-shots, in addition to the five-issue run of Starfinder: Angels of the Drift. Purchasing this bundle entitles you to PDF, ePUB, and CBZ formats of every issue, so you can enjoy them on a variety of devices or applications.Humble always sends a portion of each sale to benefit a nonprofit in this case, your purchase will support United Negro Collego Fund, a foundation dedicated to improving access to higher education for Black Americans. You can use the Adjust Donation drop-down menu to fine-tune how much goes to the publisher, the charity, or Humble.
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  • Youre supposed to be confused in Civilization 7
    www.polygon.com
    There is a lot going on during every turn of Civilization 7. Each time you hit next turn, the computer is calculating the moves of other civilizations, factoring in your difficulty setting, proposing new wars, collecting new resources, selecting new items off the tech tree, and so on. Basically, math is always happening in Civilization 7. Why else did you think the turns take so damn long to calculate?All of that behind-the-scenes complex machinery is what makes Civilization Civilization, and its what veterans come to the series for a way to build out what actually feels like an empire from scratch. But all of those moving pieces can make for a very stressful first-time experience. Worse, it can make you feel like you dont understand the game. It could even make you feel like you shouldnt play it.That feeling of a lack of understanding propelled me away from past Civilization games, even though I enjoyed the few matches I spent with them. But Ive learned something after bouncing off more than one Civilization game before Civilization 7: Youre supposed to be confused.As I mentioned before, the Civilization series is complex, and there are a lot of moving pieces happening every single turn. Confusion is a completely natural feeling when faced with a thousand potentially important pieces of information in front of you. What does Production do? How much Science do I need to research something? What does Happiness even do? Why can my unit move two spaces sometimes and one space other times? What do you mean theyre declaring war on me?! I get it. But those questions are normal, and the way you feel is okay. Youre definitely doing a ton of stuff wrong, but I have excellent news for you: You can still win at Civ if youre doing almost everything wrong, but doing one thing right.Civilization 7 is a video game in which you learn by doing. Guides are extremely helpful for answering your specific questions, especially when the Civilopedia in-game can be less than helpful. (And to that end, you dont want to miss our Civilization 7 guides.) But nothing teaches Civilization better than actually playing Civilization.When youre first starting out, you want to pick a leader that means something to you, and a civilization that you have some affinity for. Youre going to be seeing a lot of your leader, and youre going to be working on evolving your civ, so make sure if you pick Confucius, its because youve read one of his biographies or something like that. Connections and a desire to see Rome succeed (or wherever your extended family might be from) will pull you through when the deep confusion hits.Once youre in the game, pick an advisor and stick with them. This will basically determine what victory path youre going to go on. Maybe you like the idea of ruling the world by conquering it and you want to go for a Military Victory. Or maybe youre fascinated by some of the incredible wonders of our world, or are interested in religion. Then follow the culture advisor to reach a Culture Victory.After youve selected a direction for your civilization, it really is as simple as boosting that one aspect as much as possible. If youre looking to complete the Manhattan Project and win a Science Victory, get your Science up as high as it can go. Do whatever your Science advisor says. If you dont understand why your units are moving weird or why youre suddenly losing a battle you thought you would win, just know that you dont need to understand that. You just need more Science.On the default difficulty, following your advisor is potentially enough to win the entire game, and youll walk out the other side understanding how to win that kind of victory in the future. Then, pick another civilization, another leader, and another victory condition for your next match. As the turns go by, youll begin to understand the things that confused you the last time around, and you can then compound that knowledge with what you now know about Science civilizations or whatever you did the first time.Like the cities in Civilization 7, knowledge about the game is built up, paved over, and rebuilt over time. You cannot read the Civilopedia or even our guides to fully grasp the game. You must read and play, or otherwise risk overloading yourself with information. The best and biggest advice I can give for coming into Civilization 7 is to resist that urge to restart your game because it isnt going well. There are lessons to be learned every turn in Civilization, even ones where you lose entire armies or even cities. And even if you feel like youre not learning as you play, I promise you are. Every turn, every age, and every match will get you that much closer to that I think I finally get it, moment. With enough practice, you might even fully understand it in time for Civilization 8.
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  • Hunter Schafer spotted with fan
    www.polygon.com
    Euphoria and Cuckoo star Hunter Schafer was observed speaking with a fan earlier this week when he posted a photo of his encounter with the actress to his Instagram. The man in the photo is Konami alum Hideo Kojima, the Japanese video game developer known for his work on niche titles like Penguin Adventure and Policenauts, neither of which were released in the United States. (You also might know him from a little game called Death Stranding.) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hideo Kojima (@hideo_kojima)Schafer is apparently collaborating with Kojima and Get Out director Jordan Peele on OD, a project which, according to its website, explores the concept of testing your fear threshold [] while blurring the boundaries of gaming and film. Sophia Lillis (It, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) and Udo Kier (Hunters, Bacurau) will also appear.The actress stirred debate about her gaming bonafides last year when, during a photo shoot for Vogue, she appeared to be using a Nintendo Switch as a controller despite the console being in portable mode. Schafer has yet to comment on the controversy.
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  • Will Trumps tariffs impact Nintendo Switch 2 and other consoles?
    www.polygon.com
    President Donald Trump halted on Feb. 3 his threat to put tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, postponing a potential 25% tariff after meeting with each government. But a 10% tariff for all goods imported into the U.S. from China went into effect on Feb. 4, applying on top of existing tariffs for Chinese imports. So much of the gaming industry relies on China to produce its wares, from consoles, computer components, and accessories to board game and tabletop miniatures. Its not just that your console is going to be more expensive, Joost van Dreunen, New York University professor and author of the Super Joost newsletter, told Polygon in an interview. Its everything around it as well.When Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in 2019, video game consoles, certain toys, and other technology were exempt. Thats not the case this time, despite a protest from the Entertainment Software Association, the main trade group that represents the game industry. Video games are one of the most popular and beloved forms of entertainment for Americans of all ages, the ESA said in a Feb. 3 statement. Tariffs on video game devices and related products would negatively impact hundreds of millions of Americans and would harm the industrys significant contributions to the U.S. economy.The full impact of the additional tariffs has yet to be seen; a lot of products are already in the U.S. waiting to be sold, and companies are still sorting out how theyll be impacted. It leaves a lot of questions: Will console prices go up? What about consoles produced outside of China but that rely on components made there? Will the tariffs impact the cost of the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2, which is currently in production? Will it hurt the already struggling video game industry?Polygon spoke to van Dreunen, an expert in the video game industry, as well as Washington State University economics professor Christopher Clarke to find answers.How do tariffs work?Tariffs are essentially a federal tax on goods imported into the U.S. When a package arrives in, say, the port of Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Houston, or wherever, it has to go through customs, Clarke told Polygon. The domestic company that brought it from abroad has to pay the government.Companies usually pass the cost of those taxes on to consumers via increased prices. In addition, other governments typically apply retaliatory tariffs as a response or punishment and China already has. On Monday, the Chinese government put into effect 10%-15% tariffs on crude oil, liquefied natural gas, farm machinery and select other products from the United States, reports NPR, meaning that oil and machinery exported from the U.S. will cost more for Chinese importers.Thats going to harm our exporting businesses as well, Clarke said. It can have these chain effects. Now the exporter businesses arent having as many sales, so they cant hire as many people, and that can harm jobs. Theres not as much income, and people cant buy as much stuff. Thats ultimately what harms the economy.The Consumer Technology Association, a trade group advocating for the tech industry, put out a study in January predicting that a 60% flat-rate tariff on Chinese goods which Trump threatened during his 2024 campaign would cause video game console prices to jump by 40%. The tariff that went into effect this week is lower, and a CTA spokesperson told Polygon that the organization doesnt have updated estimates. But the gist of the study remains true: Tariffs mean that American consumers will end up paying more for video game consoles and accessories. Its not a shift that will happen tomorrow, though: The price of an Xbox Series X isnt going to immediately go up.But as companies face the burden of tariffs, prices will rise, experts told Polygon and that can mean a poorer domestic economy in general, which never bodes well for leisure goods and cultural exports like video games.Theres a lot of worry among consumers that Nintendos upcoming console, the Switch 2, will have a high price tag made even higher due to tariffs. Their impact on the new hardware is unclear, though. MST Financial analyst David Gibson wrote on X in February that the Chinese tariffs are unlikely to affect the Switch 2, since Nintendo previously moved part of its production pipeline to Vietnam the company and electronics manufacturer Hosiden have tried to get to 50% of production from Vietnam, he wrote. Nintendo made the move in 2019, after threats of a previous U.S. trade war with China. Gibson posited that Nintendo could send its Vietnamese-made consoles to the U.S. to avoid tariffs against China.Still, a lot of Nintendo Switch consoles and their components will be produced in China, Clarke said and that will impact gamers. Trump could also extend tariffs to cover Vietnam, which would render any production relocation moot, van Dreunen said. Currently, less than 1% of video game consoles are made in the U.S., Clarke added. The CTA published a study in October 2023 that found that tariffs wont pressure technology manufacturers into bringing production to the U.S., as Trump has repeatedly suggested.Completely reshoring technology manufacturing operations back to the United States is simply not practically or economically feasible given the scale and complexity of required resources and underlying economic production structure, the study said. Instead, its likely that, as Nintendo did, companies will continue to diversify production operations, pushing pipelines from China into Vietnam, India, and elsewhere.Beyond price increases for consumers, van Dreunen said game companies will likely look for ways to lower costs. The inflation to the industry at large, over the whole of it, will continue to depress demand, he said. Were already having a rough time with layoffs and low single-digit increases year over year. Were going to continue to see that particularly as tariffs take hold.The chaotic implementation of it all tariffs being threatened and then put on hold, as with Canada and Mexico, for instance doesnt help. Just the threat of a trade war is enough to create volatility in the market, especially in an industry thats already struggling. As the Washington Post put it, the tariff chaos is a feature, not a bug.Its a tool to create a lot of noise, van Dreunen said. Its a campaign to create a lot of chaos, to obfuscate some other things. Its not a new conversation, and its a very obvious political tactic. Gaming, in that sense, provides a great lens to see what the landscape looks like more clearly. I would reserve my emotional reaction and think a little deeper as to what is actually changing around us as a result.
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  • When does the Shadow Hunt event start in Black Ops 6
    www.polygon.com
    The Shadow Hunt event gives you the opportunity to join Nocturne in Black Ops 6.The Shadow Hunt event is tailored around Nocturne, an operator added in the Season 2 Battle Pass, and his organization of highly trained assassins. Players will need to complete his challenges to earn rewards like the TR2 Marksman Rifle, but when can you start the challenges?Heres when the Black Ops 6 Shadow Hunt event starts in your time zone and what you can expect from the event.What time does the Shadow Hunt event start in Black Ops 6The Shadow Hunt event will start on Thursday, Feb. 13, and run until Thursday, Feb. 20.Although there isnt an official start time for the event, previous Black Ops 6 events have started at 10 a.m. PST, so it stands to reason the Shadow Hunt event will start around the same time. Provided the update cadence is the same, heres when you can expect the Shadow Hunt event to start in your time zone:10 a.m. PST for the West Coast of North America1 p.m. EST for the East Coast of North America6 p.m. GMT for the U.K.7 p.m. CET for West Mainland Europe3 a.m. JST on Friday, Feb. 14 for Japan5 a.m. AEDT on Friday, Feb. 14 for the East Coast of AustraliaAnd well update this guide with the official times if and when developer Treyarch makes them available.What to expect in the Shadow Hunt eventThe Shadow Hunt event will feature seven rewards, including the TR2 Marksman Rifle and a Binary Trigger Fire Mod for the Tanto .22 SMG.Additionally, according to an X post by Realityuk, youll earn the usual cosmetics such as a spray, emblem, and XP token, but the best prizes are the Slipstream perk, Black Diamond Bayan operator skin, and the aforementioned Marksman Rifle and weapon mod.Shadow Hunt Event pic.twitter.com/OIg9qAYJFc Reality (@realityuk_) January 28, 2025As seen in the video above, youll need to complete six limited-time challenges in either Multiplayer, Zombies, or Warzone, witch each challenge having its own reward. The requirements to complete the challenge will vary depending on the mode youre playing, so youre free to play any mode of your choosing. To earn the ultimate prize, you need to unlock all six rewards, so finish those challenges as soon as possible!
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  • Dinosaur Comics Ryan North on merging 2025 politics with Marvels best supervillain of all time
    www.polygon.com
    With Ryan Norths Squirrel Girl still standing as one of the greatest Marvel comics of this century, and with North in the midst of a lauded run on Fantastic Four, it feels like pigeonholing to describe him as the Dinosaur Comics guy. On the other hand, the Canadian writer who has also hit the New York Times bestseller list with prose books like a choose-your-own-adventure adaptation of Romeo and Juliet has kept the venerable webcomic going strong and steady at qwantz.com even as the other projects on his plate have gotten bigger and bigger. There are enough readers out there whove never connected the dots on his career that its worth drawing the line between his creative spheres.Also, sentences like The Dinosaur Comics guy is writing Marvels latest line-wide crossover event, One World Under Doom are simply irresistible.One World Under Doom is Norths first time at the helm of a major Marvel Comics crossover, and as typical for a writer who loves to experiment with form, its not a story about Doctor Doom taking over the world. Instead, Doctor Doom as North says, the best supervillain of all time has already taken over the globe by page one, much to the bafflement of Earths superheroes. The question raised by One World Under Doom #1 isnt so much How will the Avengers stop him? but Does a beleaguered world even want them to?Polygon sat down with North over video chat to talk about this classic superhero event comic, and discuss punch-em-ups, weird science solutions, and the dangerous political fantasy of What if there was one perfect person who could fix everything for us?This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.Polygon: In his late career, Doom co-creator Jack Kirby drew some sketches of the villain without his mask, which Doom insists that he wears because of a disfiguring science experiment gone wrong. Famously, Kirbys sketches depict him as merely having one little scar. What do you think is going on under Dooms mask?Ryan North: Under his mask? Oh, wow, starting with the hard questions.I always liked [Kirbys take]. To me, Doom is someone who has all these gifts, all these strengths. Hes smart, hes driven, hes brilliant, powerful. It was never enough. Hes never pleased. And I think the reason he is never pleased is because Reed Richards exists. I dont think Doom thinks hes smarter than him, but hes damn close. And it frustrates Doom that he cant prove once and for all that he is the better man here.So for me, you take that mask off I think its what Kirby drew. The perfect face with the one scar, the blemish that he just cant accept. If he could accept that blemish, he could accept Reed Richards, but he cant do either.Years ago, someone asked me, Hey, I dont know a ton about comics stuff, but whats the appeal of Doctor Doom? I was totally speechless. All I could think was, You have to read any comic with Doom in it. Hes perfect. If you boil the idea of supervillains down to a syrup, why is it Doom?So before I was writing Fantastic Four, or before I even knew I was writing Fantastic Four, I was working on a book called How To Take Over the World, which was nonfiction [about] supervillain schemes.In the intro to that book, I talk about Doctor Doom, and I say hes the best supervillain of all time. And the reason is that hes got all the powers of science, hes got all the powers of magic, and he dresses like a robot in a cape. Everything is peak. [Laughs] And, most impressively of all, he can speak in the third person and have it read as cool and not ridiculous.There are times when Doom starts talking about Doom in third person, and youre like, Oh crap, things are getting serious now that hes doing this. Everything just ties together with him, in this perfect bow of elegance and power and operatic beauty, almost? I cant think of anything I would change with him to make him better, which is great for a character and a character design.The simplest summary of the logline of One World Under Doom is Doctor Doom is taking over the world again, which is kind of a dog-bites-man story. How does this become a man bites dog story? Tell me about your twist.This is a story of Doctor Doom taking over the world, and it begins with him having taken over the world. Thats done. So the story is almost like dog bites car. Now that hes got it, whats he going to do with it, and how is he going to hold onto it? The first issue is basically him selling himself to the world, saying, Look, heres what Im doing. Heres why you should accept me.[The issue ends with] this woman repeating a slogan back to him and sort of giving that oh shit moment of This might be working. You get to see both Doom and the heroes working in this unfamiliar status quo where he has successfully done this, and theyre left going, Well, what now? This clearly cant stand. Hes Doctor Doom, this is not a good thing for the world. And then Doctor Doom saying, Hey, Im Doctor Doom, and this is definitely fine, and its definitely a great thing for the world.It is a story of power and politics, in the sense of politics being the art and science of negotiating with people, and trying to get them to do what you want them to do. Dooms never really been one for negotiation. Its a big story, in the sense that it is dealing with global events and big heroes running around doing stuff, but its also a story of Doctor Doom, personally, and getting to see him get what he wants. He doesnt want the world for altruistic reasons, of course, he wants to take over the world to show that hes the best guy to be in charge of the world. This is all, in the end, feeding his ego. And thats dangerous, but also powerful.Maybe this is me projecting, as an American, but it feels like youre asking questions about why people follow charismatic leaders.Thats not [just] an American thing! For me, I think that Doom is selling himself as a single leader who can do everything; this special little guy [laughs] whos going to solve all the problems.And thats a fantasy, right? Thats a fantasy of What if there was one perfect person who could come down and fix everything for us? And thats a dangerous fantasy, thats an anti-democratic fantasy. So in one sense, [One World Under Doom] is a story of a fascist leader trying to take things over, and succeeding in doing that. When you look at fascism as a political system, you have to see that its sold on that seductive fantasy of Heres a guy who can fix everything. This man alone can do it. Doom sees himself in that way. Hes the kind of guy whos like, Yes, OK, yes, that is fascism. But when Im doing it, its not fascism, its the actual best guy doing it, so its fine. [Laughs][One World Under Doom] is talking about world politics not in the sense of actual Whats Going on Today politics, but the idea of fascism versus more democratic approaches. You see a lot of that in history not so much in the present, where we thankfully do have a lot of democracies but going back a couple hundred years, where you have nations represented by kings and queens and individuals, and world politics was the relationships between these individuals and what they wanted to do.I consider you a guy who has a real knack for tie-in issues to events.[Laughs] Theyre hard!Your Squirrel Girl tie-in for War of the Realms and Fantastic Four tie-in for Blood Hunt come to mind the event tie-in comic is a tricky thing, and youve mastered it. Now that youve been on the other side of penning and organizing a big crossover event, do you feel like youve learned something new about the form?Yeah, thats exactly it. As a guy who has done tie-ins before, one thing I wanted to do here was have the whole story written well in advance, so when it came time to give the story to other artists and other writers, to be like, What do you want to do with this? It was less of, Yeah, Im thinking this might happen, and Im pretty sure around issue #8, well be here. Instead, I could go, Heres the script, heres exactly whats happening.Because for me, when Im doing a tie-in issue, what I care about is What is the status quo? Whats happening? Where are the characters? What can we do with this? Because then once you know what the world looks like, you can tell a story inside that world. With War of the Realms, it was OK, frost giants have taken over, theres some place for Squirrel Girl to operate there. In Blood Hunt, vampires have taken over. The challenge there was, Well, how can we tell a story with Mister Fantastic where he doesnt solve the problem? And the answer was, Hes trying to, but hes struggling with it because its magic, and hes bad at magic, and hes surprised when Doom solves the problem, which is a nice lead-in to where this is going.I just wanted to make sure that I had [One World Under Doom] fully written, so that for everyone else doing a tie-in on their side, it would be as easy as possible to say, Heres whats happening. What can we do with this? And I will say, Ive seen what people have planned for some of the tie-ins, and theres stuff there where Im like, I wish Id thought of that, thats so cool. If I hadnt already written these issues, I wouldve stolen that and put it in my book!As a Squirrel Girl fan, Im always delighted to see her in your wider Marvel books. Is that just about using a favorite character, or is there more to it?Oh yeah, shes going to show up again in One World Under Doom, and she has an important role to play. There was no way I was going to do a Marvel event and not put Squirrel Girl into it, because I love her. But also, I think whats so great about her is she is this really smart, intelligent woman, and she sees through baloney in a way that I think is really useful. She brings a fresh voice to the table.So its not just like, Oh, Squirrel Girl is here because Ryan likes Squirrel Girl. Squirrel Girl is here and she has a cool role to play. Shes encountered [Doom] before, she knows what hes like. And it lets us have some really interesting discussions on the hero side about, like, What are we doing here? What is the correct thing to do here? What is the ethical thing to do here? Those are Squirrel Girl questions. Shes involved in those conversations.I wrote a piece recently about Todd Phillips Joker movies that challenged me to figure out what I considered immutable about a very mutable character. What do you think is immutable about Doctor Doom?I was going to answer that by saying that the Joker famously changes a lot. Youve got the goofy one, youve got the serious one, they did three Jokers for a time, just to bring that home. Doom, in his first appearance, sends the Thing back in time to steal Blackbeards gold. Hes got this archness to him that remains, I think. He can do big goofy stuff, but its serious because he is such a threat.I think his second appearance is him being blasted into space on an asteroid, and theyre like, Lets see if he survived. And he comes back, hes like, Yeah, obviously I survived, Im Doctor Doom! As much as you get a sense of who Reed is when he calls himself Mister Fantastic right off the bat, you get a sense of who Doom is when not only does he call himself Doctor Doom when he doesnt have a doctorate, he dresses like that. He is making a statement.So if youre asking whats the essential part of Doom, I think he has been very consistent throughout the years. He can be a little bit silly. He can be very serious. He can be both at the same time, but the consistent part for me, like, Whats the core of Doom? Its how he presents himself to the world and the way he talks about himself in the third person. And of course, ego, but a lot of characters have ego. Its what they do with it [that counts].
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