Polygon launch is nigh. Do you plan on frequenting the site?

I'll probably check it out because hey, it's a brand spanking new website. But I don't know anything about the people there or the history of the site, so I don't have any expectations. After this site, every other video game site just seems kinda lame.

Can someone explain the Gies hate to me? I'm curious to know what it is about him people seem to active dislike.

At least they were public about where the money came from.  It's a psychological thing. If you want to review a song I made and I give you candy because you ask if you can have some, you're going to think better of it. Jeff could talk a lot of good about this in a Jar Time if somebody sends him a question about it, making reviewers buy the games they review with their own money in order to get a more honest opinion.

Nope. I don't like any of the asshats working on it (Justin not included for the most part). I don't like their holier than thou attitude. I don't like their pretentious documentary. And I especially don't like that they're in Microsoft's pocket.

I don't see why I should care about it, I like Justin and Griffin but I could really careless about any of the others. In the end they are just going to be another video game news site, we haven't seen any video content come out from them other than the circle jerk that is their documentary. I keep a hefty list of sites for video games because they each do something great on their own that others don't.

GameInformer has their replay videos and are one of the first places to get information on just about anything.

The Escapist has some of the best articles you can find with their writers along with Yahtzee.

Rock Paper Shotgun is my one stop for anything PC gaming related

Gamasutra for when I want to read more industry specific stuff

Giantbomb for the podcast and quicklooks

and Penny Arcade Reports for the sheer amazing and thought provoking articles that Ben writes

What is Polygon going to do that could differentiate itself from these sites? Why would I go there and not to one of these that I have been visiting for more than a couple years for some? So far they have cornered the market on self-aggrandizing so I guess they have that going for them.

I'm one of the six people on the planet that actually like Gies and definitely plan to keep up with his stuff on Polygon.

If the writing quality is more than adequate, yes. I get my fill of articles from RPS, Eurogamer, and GB, and my news from forums.

I've been following them on The Verge for a while, and I've been really digging their output. Only now that they've pulled away from there in preparation for their site's launch am I realizing how frequently I actually checked for new content (very frequently). I'm super excited to see the final output!

Also, I'm really excited to see the site itself. They've been talking a big talk about the tech behind the site, and so I'll be interested to poke around with the design.

Not really. I don't like any of the personalities involved and that documentary promo was such a hilarious exercise in pretentiousness that it managed to scare me off completely. I'll check it out, but no, I'll probably won't frequent it.

@kishinfoulux said:

...He's not on it... Not sure if they'll launch a more standard podcast though.

That was what I was getting at.

I'm not a very big fan of Gies and Crecente, so I probably won't visit very often. It dosn't help that they seem to be sponsored by MS, kinda makes the site look like a joke.

No. The only reason I come to this site is because of the community.

Not really, but I do dig the logo they have. Very minimalistic and stylish

I like their logo. I don't like the fact that they've got ads up before the site even launches. Really though, we'll hvae to just wait and see. I sometimes find myself needing another podcast to listen to, so maybe I'll check it out (if they, ya know, have a podcast).

Financed by Microsoft for $750,000. 

No. I like Phil Kollar and a few of the other guys seem ok some of the time. But it just looks like a stale, boring site to me.

@Vegetable_Side_Dish said:

Financed by Microsoft for $750,000.

and?

Occasionally, when I'm bored or want a review of something. Increasingly though I am less and less interest in the 'art of video game design' games journalism and just want to know if a game is cool or not and have a laugh along the way, which Giant Bomb is the leading outlet of. Twitter is good enough for news and Edge magazine is good for previews and gives me enough analysis.

Not really, no. The McElroys and Chris Grant are cool but they aren't enough to get me to visit more video games sites than I already do. I kind of get all I need from Giant Bomb and Joystiq with the occasional outside link. Plus, that documentary nonsense. My god. Double plus, the Vox Media designers are just the worst, you guys.

I really liked there story / interviews with the creative directors of Dishonored so I will check it out and if it lives up to the hype I will frequent it

I have no about the dudes behind this polygon site thing, i feel i should know, who are they someone please?

And like most people, GB is already enough and then some for me.

Sure, it's one of the many places i get my gaming news already and i'm eager to see the real site.

Only for justin...

Nope

Probably. I really like most of the people (Gies is one of the few game writers who I really respect), and I have read their writing on the verge and enjoyed it. I think it could be cool and interesting.

@M_Shini said:

I have no about the dudes behind this polygon site thing, i feel i should know, who are they someone please?

And like most people, GB is already enough and then some for me.

they are dudes from other video game websites

I was wondering why I kept seeing "polygon" mentioned from time to time. So I visited the site and was utterly turned off by the page design. I have not been back.

If they do something interesting with the site then sure. It's too early to tell at this point.

I like their writing. The reviews are among the best I've read this year and their articles range from good to amazing! The Mirror Men of Arace was one of the best pieces of game writing I read all this year. I am very curious of what these guys and gals will do with their own website.

Absolutely 
Not! 
 
I barely have enough time for GB. Plus they came off as snobby in that trailer.

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of The Besties and the McElroy brothers in general.

@Animasta said:

@M_Shini said:

I have no about the dudes behind this polygon site thing, i feel i should know, who are they someone please?

And like most people, GB is already enough and then some for me.

they are dudes from other video game websites

But they are guys with pedigree. Their EIC is the former EIC of Joystiq. From the same site you have the enjoyable Justin McElroy. Brian Crescente, former EIC of Kotaku and editor Michael McWhertor from the same site. Russ Pitts, former EIC of The Escapist. Arthur Gies, former editor in Gamespy, IGN and also podcaster on Rebel FM. Phili Kollar, former editor of 1Up and Game Informer. The last one I know of is Matt Leone that is a former editor of 1UP and EGM. So it's quite a nice bunch of editors they got there. Very impressive line-up.

@Dogma said:

@Animasta said:

@M_Shini said:

I have no about the dudes behind this polygon site thing, i feel i should know, who are they someone please?

And like most people, GB is already enough and then some for me.

they are dudes from other video game websites

But they are guys with pedigree. Their EIC is the former EIC of Joystiq. From the same site you have the enjoyable Justin McElroy. Brian Crescente, former EIC of Kotaku and editor Michael McWhertor from the same site. Russ Pitts, former EIC of The Escapist. Arthur Gies, former editor in Gamespy, IGN and also podcaster on Rebel FM. Phili Kollar, former editor of 1Up and Game Informer. The last one I know of is Matt Leone that is a former editor of 1UP and EGM. So it's quite a nice bunch of editors they got there. Very impressive line-up.

as I said

dudes

The only person on their staff that doesn't make me want to kill myself is Griffin McElroy, so no.

I actively detest several of the personalities on the site and their circlejerking. So no.

GB is the only video game site I frequently peruse but I frequent several forums (neogaf etc) so I get most of my information from there. GB is just for crazy video content and the bombcast.

I like the McElroy brothers so I'll probably check it out.

I'll check it out at first and check in over time to see if it's going to be anything worth looking at but GB will and always will be my main go-to site.

I kind of read Arthur Gies reviews, but probably won't be a regular member of polygon.

Mainly I enjoy everyone on the Besties so I'll go to the site, if they do good work I'll keep going to it. Love the McElroys so that is reason enough to give it a chance.

@MariachiMacabre said:

Can someone explain the Gies hate to me? I'm curious to know what it is about him people seem to active dislike.

I don't know much about his character but i actively hate his reviews. He can be incredibly critical of the most inconsequential details in games people wouldn't expect to be important or GOTY material when the year comes to an end. And at the same time he throws out the window every last ounce of integrity he has when reviewing games that are going to be massive and definitely expected to be GOTY material and just ignores all the most glaring issues these games may have.

Best example i can think of is him saying that because Blizzard has a good track record up to now that they have earned the rights to NOT be criticized for the failings of Diablo 3. I mean how can you acknowledge the game has some serious issues and then say that we shouldn't even bring these issues up in the same sentence and call yourself professional?

Um sure, if they give a good reason to frequent it. So far it just seems like another video game site, albeit with some talented folks behind the wheel.

But like... news is news, doesn't matter where I get it. If their editorial content is strong like it is here then I'd check it out here or there. It's gotta have some good hooks though to keep me coming.

Dunno, the only two people from Polygon that I have any awareness of are Gies and Frushtick. Gies is an arrogant jerk so I have no interest in anything he has to write. And Frustick did a guest appearance on 8-4 Play where he came off as the biggest imbecile imaginable. If they think a moron like him is worth having on staff then they clearly have no interest in increasing the level of discourse in gaming. Seriously, fuck that guy.

So what is Polygon/Verge? What was their old site called? (Where Justin McElroy is known from)

I didn't even know that the site hadn't launched. Silly me!

Can someone explain to me what's so good about the McElroys in terms of video game writing. The only stuff I've seen from them has been boring generic news coverage like the stuff Alex does for Giant Bomb. That and Justin's Nier review.

Nope

I used to frequent Joystiq a lot and still frequent the site for news but the site lost a lot of its personality and the change to the podcast was the worst thing they could've done. It's just a shame they couldn't get Ludwig.

What? No. Why would I do that? Dedicating myself to one videogame website about videogames already takes massive chunks from my day.

I thought they had already launched the site! Damn, I can't believe they have taken so long. I might check it out once it's alive, if I remember, but I doubt I'll frequently visit them.

Don't even know who any of those people are, apart from the McElroys, and even them I know only from MBMBAM. They could be bad at their real jobs for all I know.

Though on the upside, that means I don't already hate any of the site staff, so I'm at least open to being convinced.