The Sydney leg of the Overwatch World Cup Qualifier has come to a close and the final results were quite surprising. Coming into the weekend the highest seeds in each group, Sweden in Group C and Finland in Group D, were the favorites to make it out of the qualifier. While Sweden managed to move through their group with little resistance, Group D proved far more complicated. Unfortunately for the Group D representatives, another team came into the Sydney qualifier stronger than anyone anticipate

This puzzle was created by USAopoly, but someone at Nintendo likely had to sign off on it. “Piece together a playful close-up image of Mario and add this to your Super Mario puzzle collection.” The puzzle is one thousand pieces. One thousand pieces of regret. The company knows how to make actual, non-punitive puzzles, so why the bad design on the Nintendo offerings? The red Mario puzzle is currently on sale for $9.99, just in case you decide that you dislike yourself and would like to spend hour

The Pokémon Company’s legion of giant Pikachu makes everything better. We’ve seen them hilariously deflate on stage; we’ve even seen them hang out with Polygon’s New York staff. But we have yet to see them shill a Pokémon-themed vending machine while dancing to traditional Alpine singing. This is probably their best dance routine yet — they form a Poké Ball around the vending machine, man. But the main event here are the Giant Pikachu and that perfect, bizarre soundtrack.

Nine Inch Nails released a new video for a song from their upcoming EP, Add Violence, and it features an unexpected star: the video game Polybius, released by Llamasoft earlier this year. The video for “Less Than” is along the lines of a lyric video, with Trent Reznor’s words blasting by as someone plays a game of Polybius. The clip, directed by Brook Linder, appears to draw inspiration from the longstanding urban legend surrounding Polybius, an arcade game once believed to have been created by

Two years after Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the company would be building a designated section inside its theme parks dedicated to Star Wars, we have our first, detailed look at what the project will encompass. The theme parks will be based around a “never-before-seen planet, a remote trading port and one of the last stops before Wild Space,” according to the company’s official website. Disney’s panel dedicated to its theme park development will take place Saturday afternoon in Anaheim. S

Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom won’t make its previously scheduled November release, game director Akihiro Hino announced today. In a video statement, Hino, who is also CEO of developer Level-5, said, “We have decided that more development time is required in order to deliver the full Ni no Kuni 2 experience to our fans. I deeply apologize to whose who have been looking forward to the game’s release.”Hino also touched on Ni no Kuni 2’s announced multiplayer component, clarifying that … there i

Production on the New Nintendo 3DS has ended in Japan, according to Nintendo’s Japanese website. There are two versions of New Nintendo 3DS currently available: the New Nintendo 3DS and the New Nintendo 3DS XL. Production ends just before the release of New Nintendo 2DS XL, a revision of the 3D-free Nintendo 2DS handheld. Update: Nintendo of America told Polygon that stateside customers shouldn’t be affected by production ending on the New Nintendo 3DS. “There are no changes to the sales status

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds will add first-person only servers in the next update, a bid to make the already challenging game even harder. In a tweet sent out early this morning, creator Brendan “Playerunknown” Greene said the addition would come along in the next monthly update. 1st person servers are coming to @PUBATTLEGROUNDS in our next monthly update! #MakeHardcoreGreatAgain — PLAYERUNKNOWN (@BattleRoyaleMod) July 13, 2017Battlegrounds already offers a first-person and a third-person mode

Gran Turismo Sport, the seventh mainline entry in the franchise, is now scheduled to be released Oct. 17 on PlayStation 4, developer Polyphony Digital announced today. The launch happens to be two weeks after the arrival of Gran Turismo Sport’s direct competition — Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport 7 is set to launch Oct. 3 on Windows 10 and Xbox One. It’s been a long, winding road for Gran Turismo Sport to get this point. The developer had also planned to hold an open beta for Gran Turismo Sport in

Humble Bundle is publishing what we’ve already decided is the cutest game of 2018: Mineko’s Night Market, an indie game from Meowza Games. Mineko’s Night Market is the first title from the young, two-person indie studio. The best part of the game is that its setting draws from a real life place beloved by cat lovers. Tashirojima is a Japanese island that’s home to more cats than human beings — much like the world of Mineko’s Night Market, which takes place on a cat-worshipping Japanese isle call

An update to Overwatch’s public test realm adds sprays for Doomfist, the game’s newest playable character. Blizzard Entertainment has stuffed tons of references to pop culture and the Overwatch canon into Doomfist’s unlockable cosmetic items, as PC players have discovered, and they’re a lot of fun to sift through. There’s a nice nod to Muhammad Ali among Doomfist’s sprays, calling to mind a famous photograph of “the greatest” boxer standing above his downed opponent, Sonny Liston. The spray is e

Narrative adventure game What Remains of Edith Finch comes to Xbox One on July 19. To celebrate, the team at Giant Sparrow has released a new trailer highlighting the quirkiness of the game in great detail. In What Remains of Edith Finch, players take on the role of Edith herself as she engages with death and the memories of the family she once loved. The game has received high praise from many outlets, both within the games industry and in the mainstream media. From our review:To call What Rema

As someone with Nigerian roots, I’m a fan of Overwatch’s newest hero and fellow Nigerian, Akande Ogundimu — otherwise known as Doomfist. A Twitter thread from Andrien Gbingie, a marketing manager at Ubisoft Montreal of Nigerian origin, provides more context for what inspired some of Doomfist’s coolest new looks. Doomfist’s two legendary skins are based on orishas, spirits that reflect the gods of the Yoruba religion. The orisha have different color schemes, with their colors corresponding to dif

Last week, Arc Systems Works brought the sheep-based solitaire game Shephy to Nintendo Switch eShop. While it looks adorable and fluffy on the surface, this downloadable title’s story mode is anything but, telling a disturbing tale of … murder. There’s some beautiful sheep illustrations narrated by one of the farm animals, and it all seems perfectly sweet at first. “Every last one.”It turns out that the sheep’s owner has taught them more about the world than the animals were meant to know. The

Oculus could be developing a new, cheaper VR headset, reports Bloomberg. The $200 device, its sources say, could be out as soon as next year. This is in addition to our commitment to high-end VR products like Oculus Rift and mobile phone products like Gear VR.”Bloomberg’s story said that Facebook is moving forward with plans to unveil a new Oculus device in 2018. The new headset, codenamed “Pacific,” would look like a smaller Rift and be lighter than the Gear VR. The Oculus Rift was recently on

Newly released Black the Fall is a hell of a lot like Playdead’s highly acclaimed Inside. I also enjoyed playing the first hour or two of Black the Fall (gameplay video above). Black the Fall is set in a factory world of massive industrialism, grinding work, barking propaganda and absolute obedience. Both Black The Fall and Inside offer a take on the chilling vibe of returning to the dark side. Published by Square Enix Collective, Black the Fall is out now on PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox O

Microsoft’s plans for Gamescom include the expected heavy focus on the Xbox One X, as well as a celebration of Age of Empires’ 20th anniversary, the company announced today. Gamescom itself doesn’t open its doors until Tuesday, Aug. 22, but Microsoft is kicking things off on Sunday the 20th. The next day, Aug. 21, Microsoft will run another livestream at the same time, noon PDT, for the Age of Empires franchise. The original Age of Empires launched 20 years ago this October, and at E3 last month

The feature, which Microsoft refers to as custom Gamerpics, supports uploading an image from an Xbox One, Windows 10 PC or smartphone. Custom images are supported for Gamerpics — your Xbox Live gamertag’s round icon — and for your club’s profile picture or background. Custom Gamerpics are the “most requested feature” from Xbox Live customers, according to Microsoft, which has been beta-testing the option since March. Another new feature in the July firmware update is designed for households with

The past year was a great one for new television series, especially genre shows like Stranger Things, Westworld and The Handmaid’s Tale — all of which are well-represented in the nominations for the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards. Leading the list was HBO’s Westworld, which debuted last fall on HBO with the most-watched first season for an original series in the network’s history. But one show that was an out-of-nowhere hit last summer also received a perhaps surprising number of nominations today:

Warner Bros. Japan has released a new trailer for the first live-action Fullmetal Alchemist movie. The trailer showcases the film’s heroes — including Winry Rockbell, Roy Mustang, Maes Hughes and Riza Hawkeye — as well as the Homunculi Lust, Envy and Gluttony. The film will cover Edward and Alphonse Elric’s quest to retrieve the legendary Philosopher’s Stone in order to restore their bodies to their original state. Actor and singer Ryosuke Yamada, known for his work with J-pop boy band Hey! The