For most of the election, many people thought Donald Trump was a joke, or at least someone who had no chance of being President. It’s no surprise, then, that many video games that featured or added modes involving Trump treated him that way, too. The creators of those games talked to us about the intent and impact of…
“Every time we have a chance to get ahead, they move the finish life.” 20th Century Fox has released one final trailer for the inspiring new drama Hidden Figures, hitting theaters in January. This film tells the story of three intelligent women who worked for NASA and helped provide some of the math equations and calculations to send astronaut John Glenn into orbit (in 1962). The full cast features Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, and Glen Powell. The first trailer looked great, and this one is just as fun. I’m glad Fox is putting all their weight behind this film and giving it the full support it needs to find a big audience. Enjoy. ›››
“What’s the difference between wishing someone dead and actually doing something about it?” Magnolia Pictures has debuted an official trailer for the indie thriller A Kind of Murder, a vintage murder mystery set in 1960s New York. Jessica Biel and Patrick Wilson star as a married couple with personal problems living in NYC. Walter becomes obsessed with an unsolved murder that gets him into all kinds of other trouble. The cast includes Haley Bennett, Vincent Kartheiser, Eddie Marsan, Corrie Danieley and Radek Lord. I’m not sure where this film came from – this was the first time I’d heard about it before. It doesn’t look that bad, but doesn’t really look that great either, almost as if they tried too hard. Have a look. ›››
Nothing ever happens on Sunday… Hopefully everyone went to see Arrival this weekend. If you’re still in the mood for some beautiful first contact sci-fi, this short is for you. It’s a very lovely companion to Arrival, but that’s all I’ll say. On Sunday is a short directed by David Lea, who made this on his own time without any money. Via email, he explains his inspiration: “Way back in 1984 [my dad] hand built a cabin bed for my bedroom and underneath this, made from wood, flashing lights and copper piping, he’d constructed a spaceship cockpit… 31 years later I thought it was past time to repay the favour.” Check out the film below. ›››
Miyazaki is coming back to theaters! GKids and Fathom Events have announced a special 15th anniversary screening of Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli’s 2001 film written & directed by Hayao Miyazaki, which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar (in 2003). The film will be showing in theaters nationwide for two days only – on Sunday, December 4th (the English dubbed version) and Monday, December 5th (the English subtitled version). The special event will also include the short film “Ghiblies: Episode 2” – described as a unique 25-minute film from Studio Ghibli, featuring “several comedic vignettes and caricatures” of Studio Ghibli staff as they go about their day. As a huge Ghibli fan, it’s always a treat to see their films in theaters. ›››
EA’s Battlefield 1 is among the many games that support Sony’s recently launched PlayStation 4 Pro console. But what kind of improvements can players expect on the new console?
Digital Foundry has posted an in-depth report that discusses this, while a comparison video (immediately below) shows off the game running on a PS4 and PS4 Pro. For its tests, Digital Foundry played side-by-side on each console in the same squad, with one player closely following the other.
The site found that the PS4 Pro version provides up to a 10-15 FPS advantage over the standard PS4. Obviously, Battlefield 1’s gameplay is very dynamic, as players control when buildings come crashing down and more, so not every sequence is the same in terms of performance. However, the site concluded that Battlefield 1 sticks closer to its 60 FPS target on PS4 Pro than the regular PS4. Looking at graphics, the PS4 Pro version has a resolution advantage over the PS4, with better textures, effects, and terrain details. These improvements are apparent on both 4K and 1080p screens, apparently.
A smoother and more visually rich experience could in theory give PS4 Pro players an advantage over people playing on a standard PS4. EA has not yet addressed this.
Battlefield 1’s massive Fall update came out on November 15–it made a series of changes across the entire game, spanning maps, weapon balance, and more. See the full patch notes here.
Released in October, Battlefield 1 became the biggest launch in developer DICE’s history based on the number of daily active players. The exact number was not disclosed, but we do know that players spent a collective 59 million hours in-game. You can see more statistics here.
To celebrate Titanfall 2‘s launch, the CEO of developer Respawn Entertainment took his team to Hawaii. Writing on Instagram, Vince Zampella said, “Took the team to Maui to celebrate launching an amazing game!” They are apparently at the Four Seasons luxury resort–which looks totally incredible.
Publisher EA has not announced any sales numbers for Titanfall 2. CFO Blake Jorgensen said this week that that EA is taking a long-term approach to the franchise, so first-day and first-week sales are not keeping him up at night, apparently.
“We remind people we’re building a franchise with Titanfall, so it’s not about the first day of sales or the first week of sales, it’s about the long run,” he said. “We’ll do a lot of things with Titanfall to continue to build engagement. We’re going to give away a substantial amount of free extra digital content going into next year. And really build the franchise around people and engaging with the title. Because everyone who has played it just loves it.”
The Minecraft movie is still more than two years away, but some casting news has emerged. It has been reported that Steve Carell is in talks to star in the big screen version of the hugely popular game.
According to Variety, Carell is in discussions with Warner to join the film’s ensemble cast. Although the studio declined to comment on the story, Variety did note that the studio was “getting close” to signing the star. Carell is best known for his comedic roles in the likes of The Office and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, as well as his Oscar-nominated dramatic turn in Foxcatcher.
In an interview with Collider earlier this year, producer Roy Lee explained that game developers Mojang were heavily involved with the film’s pre-production. “They know everything [that] is going to be in the movie, and that can give us insight into future updates,” he said. “We can put things into the movie around the same time they relaunch newer versions of the game, and at the same time, potentially taking ideas from the movie and putting them into the game.
“So I don’t know exactly what things are going into the game, but they know exactly what’s going into the movie.”
Lee also hinted at the direction that they were going with the film’s story, and gave an indication of its target audience. “Minecraft would be part of a multiverse that humans can enter, that has the feel of a live-action version of a Minecraft experience,” he said. “[We’re going for] the same target audience as Jurassic World.”
Microsoft’s upcoming Project Scorpio system has been described as the “most powerful console ever made.” As such, it’s going to cost more than the Xbox One S (which starts at $300), but its exact price point remains a mystery. In an interview with Levelup.com, Spencer discussed Scorpio’s price at a high level, saying the system is targeted at people who want a high-end experience.
“Scorpio will be a premium console. It will cost more than S, obviously, that’s how we are building it,” he said (via Gamepur). “We have not announced the pricing yet, but I want to make sure that the investment we are putting into the product of Scorpio meets the demands of the higher-end consumer and that will be a higher price.”
Also in the interview, Spencer pointed out that Project Scorpio is not a replacement for the Xbox One. It will live alongside that system, with games and accessories for Xbox One also supporting Project Scorpio. This is all part of Microsoft’s attempt to build an ecosystem that, not unlike the PC market, allows people to buy a console that meets their pricing and performance needs.
“There is not one product that our customers come in and buy,” he said. “Some people come in and buy the 500 GB Xbox One S. Many people now are now buying our original Xbox One consoles that are a really good price. There is no one product that you look at and say, ‘This is the product that defines how you are doing in that market.’”
“It is really the breadth of all the products you have at all the price points,” he added. “For us, when we think about Scorpio, it’s for a higher-end customer who demands the most they can get out of a console, and we built a console to meet that demand.”
Spencer’s comments about Project Scorpio’s price are apparently in response to analyst Michael Pachter telling Gamingbolt that it would be “suicide” for the console to cost more than $400.
A movie based on Naughty Dog’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic game The Last of Us was announced in 2014. At one time, it seemed hopeful that the movie would be made, as Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann (who wrote the game and is working on the movie) said there was a table read. Additionally, Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams has said she’s interested in playing Ellie, one of the leads. However, Druckmann said earlier this year that the movie is stuck in “development hell” and that appears to still be the case.
Speaking to IGN, producer Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) said Druckmann took the rights to The Last of Us directly to Sony instead of Raimi’s Ghost House pictures. This has complicated matters, apparently.
“With this one he went to Sony–who I have a very good relationship with–but they have their own plans for it and I think Neil’s plan for it,” he said. “I’m not trying to be political; Neil’s plan for it is not the same as Sony’s. And because my company doesn’t have the rights, I actually can’t help him too much. Even though I’m one of the producers on it the way he set it up, he sold his rights to Sony, Sony hired me as a producer by chance, and I can’t get the rights free for him so I’m not in the driver’s seat and I can’t tell you what Sony and Neil together will decide on. If they do move forward I’d love to help them again.”
Raimi also confirmed that he remains attached to the Last of Us movie, but acknowledged that he’s “not too sure what that means.”
“Right now it’s just sitting there,” he said about the film. “They don’t want to move forward, and it’s not my place to say why, and Neil, I think, is in a slight disagreement with them about how things should go so there’s a standstill. And I don’t have the power to move it.”
The Last of Us is not the only Naughty Dog game being made into a movie, as an Uncharted film is also in the works. Recently, Sony announced that the movie is being “fast-tracked,” and that Night at the Museum director Shawn Levy has come aboard to direct it.
No new entries in The Last of Us or Uncharted game franchises have been announced.
The next major video game movie is Assassin’s Creed, which stars Michael Fassbender. The movie opens on December 21–watch the newest trailer here.