Polygon Backstory is a podcast that celebrates conversations about the games we play.
There’s so much news, so many announcements happening every single day in the games press that it’s hard to keep track of them all. Every few weeks I’ll pluck an individual or a topic out of the stream of stories flowing down the front page and bring them here to you.
This week my guest is journalist Andrew Groen, author of the upcoming book Empires of Eve: A History of the Great Wars of Eve Online. Andrew’s book is so special because it’s the first time anyone has ever set out to document the history of a virtual world. Out of the many stories inside, I convinced Andrew to share one of his favorites with us today.

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Thanks for listening.
This week’s soundtrack is a Below the Asteroids, part of the official soundtrack of Eve Online.

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Fire Emblem Fates is one of the year’s most anticipated 3DS titles, with the Special Edition (which includes Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, Conquest and Revelation all on one cartridge, plus bonus goodies) selling out almost immediately everywhere online.
Above, watch us unbox our copy of that coveted Special Edition, including its unique box, hardcover art book, a New 3DS XL carrying bag (no doubt intended to match the Fire Emblem Fates-themed version of the New 3DS XL hardware, which does not include the game), and a strange, two-sided 3DS retail game box with the cover art of both games on each side of it. Weird!
Fire Emblem Fates comes out in North America on Feb. 19 for $39.99. For more Fire Emblem videos, check out our YouTube playlist with all our coverage of the game so far, and be sure to subscribe to Polygon on YouTube to be notified when our future Fire Emblem coverage hits.

It’s time to make all of the memes Much like how Giphy helps track down the perfect gif to use in any scenario, the newly created Frinkiac will help users find the exact Simpsons screenshot they’ve been searching for.
The project, which was created by developers Sean Schultz, Allie Young and Paul Lehrer, allows users to input any quote from the show and find the matching screenshot.
Once the screenshot is found, users have the option to create a meme out of it. The quote is pasted onto the corresponding screenshot which can then be saved as an image file.
According to one of the developers, the Frinkiac is based on a system that “parses episodes and generates screen captures." He added that the search engine then tries to figure out which are the most relevant screenshots based on the quote being looked up.
The Frinkiac also gives users information on what episode and season the screenshot is from, as well as context for the quote in the shot.
As of right now, the search engine only allows users to look up screenshots from the first 15 seasons. The developers haven’t said if they plan on incorporating any of the more recent seasons.
For a more technical breakdown of how the search engine was built, check out their developers blog.

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Above, watch us play Fire Emblem Fates from the very beginning, including the opening cutscenes, character customization, tactical strategy gameplay and more.

The channel’s first original mobile release Cartoon Network Studios has launched OK K.O.! Lakewood Turbo Plaza — its first original mobile game — for iOS and Android devices, the network announced today. Indie studio Double Stallion co-developed the title based on a concept by Steven Universe producer Ian Jones-Quartey and collaborator Toby Jones, storyboard director on Regular Show.
OK K.O.! Lakewood Turbo Plaza wears those influences proudly, combining the fantastical fights of Steven Universe with the offbeat humor of Regular Show. Cartoon Network, however, is dedicated to expanding the free mobile title (which has no microtransactions) into a game franchise, not an animated one.
Along with today’s launch, the company will host a game jam based upon Lakewood Turbo Plaza and its cast of superhero fighters. From Feb. 12-14, 200 indie designers will convene in Portland, Oregon to create prototypes of future games in the series. Cartoon Network stated in a press release that these builds will “inform future iterations of the property," with the winning team’s design becoming a full-fledged game.
While Cartoon Network is emphasizing its latest IP as a game first, Lakewood Turbo Plaza is also the subject of a series of animated shorts. These videos are animated by various studios, which Cartoon Network hosts on its website for viewing. You can watch the first of these shorts above.
Several of the cable channel’s animated series have translated to the gaming space in the past. We named Steven Universe: Attack the Light one of the best games for new iOS users, for example, and Adventure Time recently received its first virtual reality title.

Will explore her family’s past and future Family memories and a haunted past are the main themes that author Claudia Gray will explore in her upcoming novel, Star Wars: Bloodline.
Gray told USA Today that the events in the novel take place years before The Force Awakens and follow Leia’s transition from princess to general.
Leia will be a senator in Bloodline, and a large portion of the book will focus on helping the new generation of senators and lawmakers remember the importance of the Rebellion and the devastation the Empire caused. Gray said the book would take place decades after the fall of Darth Vader, at the height of a peaceful New Republic.
Gray also confirmed that Leia’s family would play a large part in the book and in the development of the senator. The author said that while the novel isn’t just about Leia as a mother or sister, there would be disastrous developments from within her own family. It’s a theme, Gray said, that would have “pretty far-reaching repercussions for several characters."
Star Wars: Bloodline is a direct follow-up to Star Wars: Aftermath, written by Chuck Wendig. Aftermath was released last year before The Force Awakens.
Bloodline will be released May 3, and an excerpt of the novel can be read on USA Today’s website. For more Star Wars reading material, check out this list Polygon put together of everything available right now.

“I’m making this show as you’re watching it." Louis CK released his new television series, Horace and Pete, with no fanfare because he wanted viewers to experience it without knowing anything about it beforehand, he said on his website today.
The comedian pulled a Beyoncé last Saturday, springing Horace and Pete on the world out of nowhere while his FX series, Louie, is on an extended hiatus. CK is selling episodes of the series exclusively through his website, and released the 67-minute pilot episode Jan. 30.
"As a writer, there’s always a weird that as you unfold the story and reveal the characters and the tone, you always know that the audience will never get the benefit of seeing it the way you wrote it because they always know so much before they watch it," CK said today. "And as a TV watcher I’m always delighted when I can see a thing without knowing anything about it because of the promotion. So making this show and just posting it out of the blue gave me the rare opportunity to give you that experience of discovery."
The way CK is making Horace and Pete also plays into his release plan. The series is filmed as a multi-camera sitcom, and CK said it’s intended to have a "live feeling."
"So I’m making this show as you’re watching it," he said.

CK also touched on the pricing of Horace and Pete, which, at $5 for the pilot, is higher than the standard $3-per-episode pricing for most TV shows. He said today that he is "producing, directing, writing, distributing and financing" Horace and Pete by himself, and noted that the show is "fucking expensive" to make. Its cast includes well-known actors such as Alan Alda, Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco and Jessica Lange.
"Horace and Pete is a full on TV production with four broadcast cameras, two beautiful sets and a state of the art control room and a very talented and skilled crew and a hall-of-fame cast," CK explained. "Basically this is a hand-made, one guy paid for it version of a thing that is usually made by a giant corporation."
The pilot of Horace and Pete will remain at $5, while the second episode — which is being made right now and will be released the morning of Saturday, Feb. 6 — will cost $2. The rest of the episodes will go for $3 each. In keeping with the bootstrap feel of the show, CK did not provide a release schedule or details on how many episodes he plans to produce.

Epic Games shows what it’s like to build a world, virtually Even if you’re not a game developer, level editor or virtual reality evangelist, Epic Games’ latest innovation for its popular Unreal Engine is impressive. During a livestream today, the company showed off how Unreal Engine developers can use the game’s editor in VR to develop content, moving and editing 3D objects with a “virtual iPad" interface.
Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney and Mike Fricker offer a quick overview of Unreal Engine’s VR editor in the video above. You’ll see Fricker using an HTC Vive head-mounted display and motion controls to edit a virtual environment in real-time.
"You’re editing VR in VR," Sweeney said. "It’s a completely what-you-see-is-what-you-get experience. There’s no question about what your game looks like."
If you’re interested in a longer look at Unreal Engine’s VR editor, Epic Games’ replay of its 40-minute livestream can be watched in the Twitch archive below. The company plans to reveal more details about its VR editor at next month’s Game Developers Conference.

There’s almost too much desert in Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak. But there’s also not nearly enough.

For a real-time strategy game series that utilized outer space as its core environment for a decade, it’s weird to open Deserts of Kharak’s campaign for the first time and realize just how much sand you’re going to have to drive through in this Homeworld prequel. The opening narration even emphasizes it. “Our planet is dying," says protagonist Rachel S’jet, who adds that "the desert grows with every passing year."
The characters are motivated only by survival, searching for an "anomaly" that they say will save them from the growing starvation and dehydration that are hurting the population. Their vehicles are land rovers of various sizes, their abilities limited to smoke screens and long-range launchers. It’s so simple and straightforward that the only jarring element seems to be this endless desert.
it’s weird to open Deserts of Kharak and realize just how much sand you’re going to drive through

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But the drastic change in this setting makes sense, not only in terms of the narrative, but also as a way to reboot a franchise whose first installment dates back to 1999 and has been stagnant for years. The history of the Homeworld name is complicated, with the licensing changing hands multiple times before landing with Gearbox in 2013. Besides a re-release of the first two games, there hasn’t been much anchoring the franchise in the public consciousness. Luckily for fans and the uninitiated, the game that would eventually become Deserts of Kharak bridges that gap in time.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is a prequel, but also exists as a stand-alone title. Thanks to a streamlined story and a beautiful, hand-drawn style that emphasizes the emptiness of sand and dust, I never felt at a loss as someone who never played much of the original Homeworld games.
The game is filled with Easter eggs and references that connect the two sides together. For example, main character Rachel S’jet is an ancestor to Karan S’jet, who leads Homeworld 1 and 2. But this mostly serves as a link rather than an important plot point; you don’t need to know future events to understand the story beats. You just need to learn how to drive the Kapisi — a giant production facility that also doubles as a self-sufficient aircraft carrier and battle fortress — and how to strategize your units.

Deserts of Kharak never feels too static despite taking place over one long road trip through the desert where you fight the same enemies, the Gaalesian, again and again. Each level requires its own strategy and multiple steps to clear each objective, and the game drops hints and slowly reveals techniques and systems over time. As the team discovers more technology as they move across the desert, more vehicles and upgrades are unlocked.
I suspect that this could get tedious for more advanced players, but even newer players may find some monotony as well. The Kapisi crawls across the dunes, and the expanse of the maps means your small assault vehicles will take their time getting to an area, but this becomes more manageable as the style of play becomes more familiar.

With just 13 missions that take anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour each (depending on your skill level), the story is brief, although not necessarily lacking. Developer Blackbird Interactive keeps plot on the outskirts of each campaign, allowing dialogue, lore and character moments to book-end battles.
For example, Rachel S’jet is a prime member of your team, and her motivations move the story forward without too many bumps. But there’s not too much to Rachel as a character that is complex or interesting, While her determination allows her to lead a team, it also gets her into situations that make you question whether you should let her out of the Kapisi at all.
More intriguing are the Gaalesians, a desert race that look upon Rachel and her companions’ need to reach space as heresy. The details in their compounds and their clothing, which seem reminiscent of a previously nomadic lifestyle, are more impressive than their place in Deserts of Kharak’s story, where they mainly function as a barrier to the Coalition.

for the most part multiplayer is more of the same

For Deserts of Kharak, it feels like the destination is more important than the journey. The story is secondary to Blackbird’s need to get the Coalition to space in time for the events of the original Homeworld. The "anomaly" Rachel and the others are searching for is ill-defined for most of the game — how do they know it’ll change everything? Why doesn’t the Coalition try and work with the Gaalesian for survival tips? Who knows?
Once you’re done with the story, there’s multiplayer, assuming you have more luck than I did in finding a game. The lobby was usually dead, with a game popping up on the public games list and disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared. Matchmaking was just as useless, timing out before matches could be made.
Once I found a game, there wasn’t much to explore. The campaign does plenty with its desert format, but Deserts of Kharak’s multiplayer offers only five maps — and each map has a particular player limit that only serves to lessen the kinds of matches available. There are a few options in the menu that can change up each round, such as including extra objectives, but for the most part it’s more of the same.

The two are producing their own Mr. Robot-type show Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are about to venture into television once again following a series order from SyFy for their new show, Incorporated.
The series, which is described by the network as a “futuristic thriller," follows young executive Ben Larson as he masks his identity in an attempt to infiltrate one of the biggest corporations in the world and save the woman he loves.
The show stars Sean Teale (Reign) as Larson, and will also include the acting talents of Eddie Ramos (Teen Wolf), Dennis Haysbert (24) and Julia Ormond (Mad Men). Affleck and Damon will act as executive producers on the show, which will be run by Ted Humphrey (The Good Wife).
Incorporated is the latest to join SyFy’s recently rebranded slate of programs, including The Magicians, The Expanse and Brave New World.
Dave Howe, president of SyFy and Chiller, said that Incorporated was the type of science-fiction that "holds up a mirror to the world" and "challenges the notions of the world we live in today."
If it sounds like the type of genre programming made popular by shows like Mr. Robot, that’s exactly what it is. Networks like SyFy have seen what USA accomplished with the type of dark, off-kilter dramas they’re producing and are jumping on board.
Incorporated will air later this fall.