In a bizarre exchange earlier this week on Capitol Hill, the chair of President Donald Trump’s Federal Commission on School Safety backed away from its stated objective to study the role firearms play in school violence. At the same time, the chair detailed its intent to spend time studying the effects of video games and social media. Leahy pressed the Secretary on how, precisely, it would study the impact of video games and social media, two other action items mentioned alongside firearms on it

The Last of Us is worth returning to, 5 years laterShare The Last of Us is worth returning to, 5 years laterThe Last of Us may be five years old, but it’s still the best big game story out there. Joel is emotionally impenetrableAt the beginning of the game, Joel is a gruff, middle-aged man who happens to be highly competent at hurting and killing people. When he first meets Ellie, Joel makes it clear that he doesn’t care one bit about her. Much later, he accepts the photograph from Ellie, accept

World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth will release simultaneously around the world on Aug. 14. For players who struggle with time zones, that means American players will actually be able to start playing on Aug. 13 — a full day early. World of Warcraft expansions usually roll out first in Europe, leaving North American players to spend the night watching European streams of new expansions before a big release. Battle for Azeroth will launch in all regions — the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, Korea an

The next entry in Avalanche Studios’ open-world sandbox adventure series, Just Cause, appears to have leaked on Steam. Promotional images for Just Cause 4, which has not yet been announced by Avalanche or publisher Square Enix, have appeared on Valve’s storefront. Here’s a look at what Steam users have been served tonight: an image of what appears to be Just Cause series protagonist Rico Rodriguez overlooking a dark and stormy jungle scene. If Steam’s listing is accurate, Just Cause 4 would be o

Dark Souls Remastered uses an essential concept called Humanity, and it’s difficult to understand. There two states of being in Dark Souls Remastered — Hollow and Human:Hollow . Hollowness is the default state of being in Dark Souls Remastered. When you kill something in Dark Souls Remastered, you get Souls. Talking about Humanity (or humanity) gets complicated quickly, which is why we need to add some terms that Dark Souls Remastered doesn’t use.

I’ve often referred to Souls combat as “the dance.” If you think of encounters as dance between you and your enemies, then it won’t be a stretch to think of Dark Souls Remastered as a rhythm game. Dark Souls games may be notoriously difficult, but they also tend to be fair, once you figure out the rules. Teat every combat encounter — from the lowliest Hollow to the Lord of Cinder — like a series of if-then statements. Enemies in Dark Souls Remastered aren’t all that different than the thought pr

Our Dark Souls Remastered class guide is designed to tips the scales in your favor — to a point. Many of the character classes will look familiar to RPG veterans, but Dark Souls Remastered has its own twists. Grid View QLOC/FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via PolygonQLOC/FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via PolygonQLOC/FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via PolygonQLOC/FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via PolygonQLOC/FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via PolygonQLOC/FromSoftware/Bandai Namco via PolygonQLOC/FromSoftware/Bandai Namc

Fans of “serious Jim Carrey” (the one from movies like Eternal Sunshine, The Truman Show, and Man on the Moon), rejoice. The project reunites the actor with Eternal Sunshine director Michel Gondry, and the influence is all over the series’ first trailer. Gondry serves as an executive producer and is also directing several episodes. The pilot for the series was written by creator, executive producer, and showrunner Dave Holstein (WEEDS, Raising Hope). Throughout the season, Jeff begins to push ba

There is a lot going on with Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido, for better or worse. Sushi Striker is a head-to-head puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch or the 3DS where you stand across from your opponent and try to destroy them with sushi. Sushi Striker introduces these mechanics one at a time, but the amount of information you have to keep in your head at any given moment while also making split-second decisions about how to make the most of every situation can feel excessive. It’s the confli

A new genre of horror has begun to emerge over the last decade: eco-horror, stories in which the planet itself is the monster. Except that the plants in question are actually aliens that just happen to look like plants. But that’s been changing since 2006, when An Inconvenient Truth was released and raised climate change awareness across the planet. They’re not aliens come to destroy us; they’re just terrestrial species that have evolved to target humans. Watch the video above to learn more abou

Mitchell’s goal is to watch Infinity War every day, but said all he can promise to do is his best. I see it as a redemption point for all of us fans.”Infinity War is an important movie for Marvel fans. If he spent an average of $10 on a ticket, and saw Infinity War 44 times, he’s spent about $440. “We’ll be sitting in the front row watching Infinity War,” Mitchell said. “Of course.”Avengers: Infinity War is still playing in theaters.

None, some or all of the following may turn out to be true when Red Dead Redemption 2 launches on Oct. 26. Red Dead RPGIn Red Dead Redemption 2, players will step into the boots of Arthur Morgan. Red Dead Redemption didn’t really offer traditional RPG mechanics, like a tree of skills to learn or attributes to upgrade, although the player did unlock levels of Dead Eye upon completing certain landmark missions. We also know from initial preview coverage that Red Dead Redemption 2 will involve some

Father’s Day is on Sunday, June 17 which means you have less than two weeks left to figure out what to get the dad in your life this year. Dads can be hard to shop for — sure, there are a few Father’s Day classics, but there’s a limit to how many ties a man can own. Below, we’ve rounded up some of our best bets for different types of dads you may be shopping for this year. From new dads to seasoned pros, here are 10 unique, interesting and fun gifts to get your favorite father figure this year.

YouTube is obsessed with Lucas the Spider, an adorable animated arachnid created by Disney-Pixar artist, Joshua Slice. Lucas the Spider quickly became a staple of YouTube culture, bridging high-quality animation with an interesting schtick: what if spiders were cute? Chris Vaccarino, Fanjoy’s founder, told The Daily Beast that YouTube creators and general influencers celebrate merchandise, and embrace the sales portion of their career. The estimated $1.2 million profit will go toward a college f

If the rumors are true, Microsoft is well aware of all this, and is renewing its dedication to first-party titles with some big reveals planned for E3 2018. Crackdown 3: Believe it or not, Microsoft announced Crackdown 3 way back at E3 2014. Halo 6: It’s been a minute since the last proper Halo game, 2015’s Halo 5: Guardians. Third-party games: Microsoft and Sony each make co-marketing arrangements for multiplatform titles. Could the company introduce a PlayStation Now-esque streaming service as

“I don’t remember buying Parasite Eve,” I thought. In Parasite Eve, a strain begins to evolve and become self-aware, seeking another host beyond humans. Listen to more of Ashley’s thoughts on Parasite Eve at 3:00 — as well as Dark Souls , Halo , and Killing Eve — in the latest episode of The Polygon Show. Embrace the weirdPlaying Parasite Eve in 2018 was like stumbling upon a time capsule. After losing Squaresoft to a merger with Enix — a great moment of personal sorrow — I rarely see the studio

A new set of challenges have just dropped for Fortnite Week 6 of Season 4, and we’ve got yet another vague “Search between…” challenge to puzzle together. This time you need to “Search between a Playground, Campsite and a Footprint.”Lucky for you we’ve already done the heavy lifting! It’s a pretty innocuous spot, but as you get a bit closer to it, you’ll notice a weirdly bright, circular patch of dirt. Head for that, and you’ll find the battle star just as you approach it. Once you do, you’ll

And the subsidiary industries that Star Wars has spawned, from toys to novels to video games, has changed how the entertainment business works. The release of Solo: A Star Wars Story just five months after that of The Last Jedi makes it clear that Star Wars has never been more ubiquitous than it is now; in fact, if Solo’s box office is any indication, audiences might actually be going a little sour on Disney’s attempts to turn the property from a touchstone of childhood and nostalgia into a neve

It turns out the members of the Justice League do that too, except they like to imitate Batman’s overblown bravado and the gravelly growl. [Warning: This post contains minor spoilers for Justice League #1.] Any good superhero comic needs good fighting banter, and Scott Snyder (Batman, Dark Nights: Metal) can write it with the best of them. In Justice League #1, J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, telepathically links the team so they can coordinate — and banter — while battling Neoanderthals ac

An exclusive look at World of Warcraft: Before the StormShare An exclusive look at World of Warcraft: Before the StormWorld of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth is a little over two months away. World of Warcraft: Before the Storm tells the story of the brewing war between the Horde and Alliance. He’d cleaned up blood a time or two“Young King Anduin has a kind reputation,” Verina had said, trying to bolster them both. “I think if King Anduin Wrynn wanted to host a party, he’s got a lovely keep to do