You may think that GoldenEye 007’s success was a sure thing, but for a while there, the shooter’s fate was pretty hazy. This week on The History of Fun podcast, we look back at some of the moments in development that made James Bond’s Nintendo 64 jaunt so remarkable. Enjoying The History of Fun? New to The History of Fun? Every Monday, Russ Frushtick, Allegra Frank and Chris Plante explore the hidden backstories behind the things we love to do.

And that series, unlike the typical Netflix fare, is an anime — the at-times horrific, at-times hilarious, always eye-catching Devilman Crybaby. The 10-episode first season of Devilman Crybaby hit the streaming service on Jan. 5. And for as grotesque as it regularly gets, Devilman Crybaby is bizarrely easy to love. I had to force myself to stop watching Devilman Crybaby. But I didn’t think I’d ever be interested in something that looks or sounds like Devilman Crybaby, and yet here we are.

This week on Game Ogre, Polygon’s best new show involving a two-headed Christmas sweater, Pat and I discover that we are still not free of the cruel Game Wizard’s curse. The wizard wants us to survive at a 5-star wanted level in Grand Theft Auto 5 for 10 whole minutes. There are lots of ways to be alive in Grand Theft Auto 5. Game Ogre is a bi-weekly series that we’re forced to do because of an ill-advised theft of wizard gold. Check out previous episodes on Polygon’s YouTube channel!

The Nintendo Switch version of NBA Playgrounds, the arcade-style basketball title from indie studio Saber Interactive, has frustrated Switch owners with its bumpy development path. Now its road has taken another turn with a strange re-release of the game, known as NBA Playgrounds: Enhanced Edition. Related NBA Playgrounds reviewSwitch owners have been waiting many months for further updates, including both free and paid add-on content that Saber has released for the other versions of NBA Playgro

The Nintendo Switch version of NBA Playgrounds, the arcade-style basketball title from indie studio Saber Interactive, has frustrated Switch owners with its bumpy development path. Now its road has taken another turn with a strange re-release of the game, known as NBA Playgrounds: Enhanced Edition. Related NBA Playgrounds reviewSwitch owners have been waiting many months for further updates, including both free and paid add-on content that Saber has released for the other versions of NBA Playgro

Luca Redwood, the game designer behind breakout hits 10000000 and You Must Build A Boat, is trying something a little different with his next game, Photographs. “After I made You Must Build A Boat, I wanted to branch out a bit,” Redwood said. I wanted to make a narrative game where I tell a story, but it’s tricky because I make games for PC and for mobile. People don’t read words on mobile, which makes it difficult to do a narrative game, or at least to appeal to a large number of people. “I had

Luca Redwood, the game designer behind breakout hits 10000000 and You Must Build A Boat, is trying something a little different with his next game, Photographs. “After I made You Must Build A Boat, I wanted to branch out a bit,” Redwood said. I wanted to make a narrative game where I tell a story, but it’s tricky because I make games for PC and for mobile. People don’t read words on mobile, which makes it difficult to do a narrative game, or at least to appeal to a large number of people. “I had

Pokémon Go streamer Reversal’s reason for the hiatus isn’t just personal — like many other players, he’s finally fed up with the game’s controversial exclusive Raid battle system. I’m done with this EX-Raid Pass System,” Reversal tweeted on Sunday afternoon. This is a common ratio for players who devote tons of time and energy to the game’s normal Raid battles. “What’s an EX Raid pass?” Mystic7 asked, subtly hinting to his own bad luck with the invite-only system. Here’s one that sums it up:Conf

Pokémon Go streamer Reversal’s reason for the hiatus isn’t just personal — like many other players, he’s finally fed up with the game’s controversial exclusive Raid battle system. I’m done with this EX-Raid Pass System,” Reversal tweeted on Sunday afternoon. This is a common ratio for players who devote tons of time and energy to the game’s normal Raid battles. “What’s an EX Raid pass?” Mystic7 asked, subtly hinting to his own bad luck with the invite-only system. Here’s one that sums it up:Conf

I’ve been watching Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds replay videos for about a month now. When it officially launched last month, the team behind Battlegrounds introduced an ingenious replay feature. The foursome jumped a complete stranger on a motorcycle, then proceeded to tear into the man with everything in their arsenal. He turned into ShadowSix’s car, and let Battlegrounds’ insane physics system do its worst. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but be sure to watch all the way through to the end.

[This story contains spoilers for What Remains of Edith Finch .] Edith Finch is smothered in words. Edith Finch is smothered in wordsIn games it is so easy to rely on words, and I have started to go to war with them in my own work. On the one hand, it’s catchy and romantic about the act of creation, and I love working hard at a thing I love. Edith Finch made me think deeply about that.

Super Mario Odyssey takes a different approach: It’s fun to learn and pointless to master. Super Mario Odyssey isn’t actually satisfying to finishFor me, Super Mario Odyssey is a garden of many short paths that don’t go anywhere. Previous Mario titles also benefited from mechanical themes (gravity in Super Mario Galaxy) or continuity in spatial progression (exploring a castle in the overworld of Super Mario 64). Super Mario Odyssey bravely embarks on a more free-form, open-world approach. Super

I’ve been watching Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds replay videos for about a month now. When it officially launched last month, the team behind Battlegrounds introduced an ingenious replay feature. The foursome jumped a complete stranger on a motorcycle, then proceeded to tear into the man with everything in their arsenal. He turned into ShadowSix’s car, and let Battlegrounds’ insane physics system do its worst. I won’t spoil the ending for you, but be sure to watch all the way through to the end.

We daydream about an alternate universe where literary magazines and the book reviews of national newspapers write about games with sophistication, rather than as gee-whiz curiosities or alien invaders. Why can’t we live in that timeline? The one where game developers write about their peers’ work in the way that novelists do, and where novelists and art critics write about the games they play, instead of concealing their habit in the blue glow of midnight? For a week, Polygon set out to make th

And the best model for doing loot boxes and microtransactions already exists under Destiny 2 publisher Activision-Blizzard’s corporate umbrella. Overwatch’s loot boxes pull in tons of money for Blizzard-Activision. That means a $50 spend buys you seven bundles of five loot boxes, with 200 silver left over, which you could use to buy one more box. It may sound simplistic to say that Overwatch loot boxes cause less controversy just because they’re less expensive, but that doesn’t make it untrue. D

Six years ago, The New York Times asked me to become a video game critic. Making video games is hard. Writing about video games? Polygon asked some of our favorite game developers and writers to reflect on the games we played in 2017. We’ve invited a few of our favorite game developers, and a few of my favorite game-playing writers, to reflect on the games we played in 2017.

These personal essays will examine the best, most important and weirdest moments that occurred in television, film, streaming and YouTube/Twitch in 2017. The series will end with Polygon’s Best of TV and Best of Movies pieces. When we’re inundated with so much television, it’s important to acknowledge the best of the best. Big Mouth gives its characters an entity to point to and blame for all of life’s mishaps; by shaping puberty as an unrelenting gargoyle, Big Mouth reinvigorates one of televis

And that series, unlike the typical Netflix fare, is an anime — the at-times horrific, at-times hilarious, always eye-catching Devilman Crybaby. The 10-episode first season of Devilman Crybaby hit the streaming service on Jan. 5. And for as grotesque as it regularly gets, Devilman Crybaby is bizarrely easy to love. I had to force myself to stop watching Devilman Crybaby. But I didn’t think I’d ever be interested in something that looks or sounds like Devilman Crybaby, and yet here we are.

Red Sparrow hasn’t received too much attention in recent weeks, but the arrival of the new trailer has Marvel fans calling it the Black Widow movie they’ve been demanding for close to a decade. There are similarities between Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff and the character Lawrence seems to be playing in Red Sparrow. Questions about Marvel’s commitment to a stand-alone Black Widow movie has been a topic of interest for years. Marvel Studios’ co-president Kevin Feige told Dea

Red Sparrow hasn’t received too much attention in recent weeks, but the arrival of the new trailer has Marvel fans calling it the Black Widow movie they’ve been demanding for close to a decade. There are similarities between Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha “Black Widow” Romanoff and the character Lawrence seems to be playing in Red Sparrow. Questions about Marvel’s commitment to a stand-alone Black Widow movie has been a topic of interest for years. Marvel Studios’ co-president Kevin Feige told Dea