Story modes in sports games have had a long-standing problem. Scripted narratives clash with the “anything can happen” nature of sports, which means what happens in the actual games can be in direct opposition to what happens in the narrative.
20.01.2024 - 17:15 / polygon.com / Toussaint Egan
Greetings, Polygon readers!
This month marks a brave new year, with an exciting new slate of sci-fi releases on the frontier. Dune: Part Two, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and Mickey 17 are all primed to be among 2024’s biggest releases, not to mention a new Alien movie from Evil Dead director Fede Álvarezand the latest installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise.
You won’t have to wait long in order to get your speculative thrills, though. We’ve pulled together a list of the best sci-fi movies available on Netflix this month, from post-apocalyptic adventures to present-day parables of scientific hubris.
Let’s dive in and see what this month has to offer!
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney
More than a decade since it was first released in theaters, Alfonso Cuarón’s survival thriller about a woman stranded in the most inhospitable environment known to humanity is still as visually and emotionally spectacular to watch in 2023. Sandra Bullock stars as Ryan Stone, a medical engineer and mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Explorer, who is sent tumbling into space when the ship is bombarded with a shower of debris from a nearby satellite. Rescued by her crewmate Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), the pair must find a way to reestablish contact with Earth and do the impossible: return home with no functioning shuttle or hope for rescue.
Inspired by Cuarón’s childhood love of space travel, Gravity was applauded by both critics and scientists for its stunning visuals, captivating lead performances, and scientific accuracy. The innovative “lightbox” rig technology used to capture Bullock’s and Clooney’s performances and simulate the 360-degree zero-gravity movement of the film’s cinematography was a breakthrough in entertainment technology akin to the motion-capture technology in 2009’s Avatar or the “bullet time” effect in 1999’s The Matrix. Cuarón’s film is not only a captivating portrait of human perseverance triumphing over adversity, but a genuine milestone in the history of filmmaking. —Toussaint Egan
Directors: Álex Pastor, David Pastor
Cast: Mario Casas, Naila Schuberth, Georgina Campbell
Netflix’s Bird Box Barcelona suffered from premiering too close to season 1 of the narratively similar The Last of Us series, but seen with more distance from that series, it lands better and hits harder.
Set in the world of Netflix’s hit horror movie Bird Box, but featuring different characters dealing with the same alien invasion, it tracks a Barcelonan man, Sebastián (Mario Casas), traveling with his daughter Anna (Alejandra Howard) through a post-apocalyptic world filled with monsters whose visual appearance causes human witnesses to kill themselves. Navigating an alien-filled world
Story modes in sports games have had a long-standing problem. Scripted narratives clash with the “anything can happen” nature of sports, which means what happens in the actual games can be in direct opposition to what happens in the narrative.
Amulets are your main piece of equipment in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. They run the gamut from being simple buffs to completely changing how you play. Some are easy to find, and just need to be bought from merchants, while others are rewards for beating bosses or are hidden in chests that could take a bit of skill to reach. The best part is, once you find one you like, you can upgrade it at the forge to make it even better. The difficult part is deciding which ones are best and worth spending resources on. With 37 amulets total, we’ve narrowed things down with this list of the best ones to get in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
The Last of Us 2 Remastered's director doesn't understand the mixed response to the re-release, arguing, "it's the best way to play."
The Nintendo Switch has had a lot of success in the nearly six years since its release. The console-handheld hybrid has been on the market since 2017, and a slew of fantastic games from first- and third-party developers have launched over the course of the system’s life cycle. Recently, heavy hitters such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pokémon Scarletand Violet, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder have boosted the system’s appeal, while a healthy list of upcoming Switch games continues to drum up excitement.
Few video game consoles stirred up as much buzz as the Nintendo Wii. Before motion-tracking software was considered standard fare and shovelware began popping up left and right to take advantage, Nintendo looked to revolutionize the gaming landscape with the Wii.
Have an Intel CPU? You'll need a quality motherboard that's compatible with it. The motherboard is essentially the central nervous system of every PC, and the right one will make sure your rig will work flawlessly without overworking the other components.
Planning on assembling a gaming PC with an AMD Ryzen processor at its heart? If that's the case, your rig should pack a motherboard compatible with AMD processors, which will let your rig perform at the best possible level.
Handheld gaming PCs offer both portability and performance so you can take your gaming sessions anywhere. Whether you're looking for a certain operating system or an option that fits your budget, there are plenty of handheld PCs to choose from.
Disney Lorcana has unveiled a more accessible, two-player starter set that promises to "ease new players into the game and [trading card game] space" in general.
The Xbox Series X is a delightful console, but can ironically be a headache to get a suitable monitor for. Why? It can’t necessarily take advantage of all of the stats the best gaming monitors are going to be able to give it. It’s rated to run 4K at 120Hz max. This means the usual high definition, high refresh rate lists of monitors — what gamers typically go for — is thrown out the window. However, with lower requirements, there are actually also lower quantities of monitor for you to choose from without, essentially, paying for extra. No matter what your situation, however, here are your best options.
For PC gamers, there isn't a more important component than a graphics card, but it can be tough to find the best graphics card for you. GPU reviews don't always tell the full story, and tracking down the graphics card that offers the best value between cost and performance isn't as simple as shopping online.
Hello and happy new year! Once again, team Engadget has set up shop in Las Vegas for CES, living out of suitcases so that we can scour the massive show floor and occasionally injure ourselves in the process. For CES 2024, we expected to see AI everywhere, and we were not disappointed.