“Milton Mulberry Jr. was going to die. Now, you’re probably thinking: ‘what a morbid way to start a story…’” Looking for something fun to watch this Halloween? Check out this amusing new short film Dead Hearts, a “gothic bedtime story” about two young lovers that is filled with “taxidermy, Kung Fu, and biker werewolves”. Valin Shinyei stars as a young unfazed-by-death mortician along with Dalila Bela as the taxidermy-loving blind girl he falls for, and they make for an adorable couple. I shouldn’t make the obvious comparison but this definitely has the “if Wes Anderson made a horror movie” vibe, though it’s really quite charming and enjoyable. I appreciate the way the story shifts in the second half, bringing the film full-circle. ›››
“You’ve done this before…? Why do you do it?” Magnolia Pictures has released a second trailer for the B&W indie horror drama The Eyes of My Mother, timed for release on Halloween because it’s a twisted little tease that will haunt you well into the night. Diana Agostini plays “Mother” in this nasty horror about a mother who teaches her daughter to be “unfazed by death”. The film has been described as a nightmare that is so unsettling and disturbing that many who’ve seen it want to forget it but can’t. The Eyes of My Mother stars Kika Magalhães, Will Brill, Flora Diaz, Paul Nazak, Clara Wong, and Olivia Bond. There’s only one scene in this new trailer but if you listen (and look) carefully, you will figure out what’s happening. ›››
Can Marvel still make an origin story exciting? Yes. As formulaic as Marvel Studios movies have become, they can still deliver thoroughly exciting big screen entertainment. Doctor Strange is the latest in their line-up that proves with the right formula (in this case, a good thing) of talent behind and on the screen, they can pull off another vibrant introduction. I’m admittedly not that familiar with Doctor Strange – I never read any of his comics and only know what I’ve learned writing about the movie leading up to the release. After seeing the movie, I’m now a big fan. It’s the story of an arrogant, egotistical doctor who has to see the world differently, figuring out how he can still contribute to the greater good even though he can no longer heal people with his hands. Beyond that, the visuals are spectacular and it’s worth seeing for them alone. ›››
Virtual reality will find its place in the gaming landscape, but it might not be for a few years, according to Xbox executive Phil Spencer. He said in a new interview with Stevivor that he has all the major VR headsets and has found that most of the games he’s playing now “feel like demos and experiments.”
This is not a knock on VR, he said. “I actually think it’s absolutely the right thing to have happened. That’s not a criticism at all, but should be happening. But I think it will take time.”
“I think VR will find its spot in gaming; I would make that bet,” Spencer went on to say. “We designed Scorpio as a VR-capable console. Whether that happens this year, next year, or the year after…”
Spencer added that he hasn’t found a VR game that people spend a lot of time in, for what he called “long-term engagement.” As he alluded to, most of what he’s played have been shorter experiences in nature that “feel like demos and experiments.”
“I don’t think the creators in the game space have yet found–well, they haven’t obviously perfected the craft of building VR games,” Spencer added. “It’s so early; I think we’re a couple of years before we’ll really see that hit mainstream.”
The executive went on to question the broad appeal of existing VR headsets, saying they can be cumbersome with their wires, in particular. Naturally, he mentioned Microsoft’s HoloLens as being a potential solution.
“In the long run, we need untethered solutions,” he said. “You need to have the compute capability not be wired to my display that’s on my head. That means I either have some kind of high-bandwidth wireless HDMI or I have compute here. With the HoloLens we’ve chosen to put compute in the HMD itself, so it’s right there. With HoloLens we picked where we think the tech’s going to be in ten years, because we see a lot of people doing great work in the VR space today.”
Project Scorpio comes out in fall 2017. Though it will be VR-ready, Microsoft has not yet announced any specific plans for the headset in the area of VR or AR.
Sony’s PlayStation 4 VR headset, PlayStation VR, launched in the middle of October. Sony announced just today that sales of the device are “on track,” though a specific unit sales figure was not disclosed.
Sales of Sony’s newly launched PlayStation VR headset are “on track,” chief financial offer Kenichiro Yoshida said today during the company’s earnings briefing.
The reporting period for this latest quarter ended on September 30, which might explain why the company only offered that high level description instead of a firm figure. It doesn’t appear that Sony has modeled a sales forecast for PlayStation VR. In fact, PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida said in September, “To be honest, we don’t know what demand will be.”
“As a VR fan, I want PSVR to succeed, but it trips up too many times to wholeheartedly recommend at this point,” he wrote. “Many of the launch titles will make a large percentage of people sick, and it may lead to the false impression that VR has to make you nauseated. If you have a PS4 and are dying to get PSVR, then I’d recommend the $499.99 bundle which includes the PlayStation Camera, two Move controllers, and PlayStation VR Worlds.
“If you have a PS4 and are simply curious about VR, I’d hold out until more titles are released. While there are a handful of fun titles, there’s nothing that I’ve played at launch so far to indicate to me that the PSVR is a must-buy right now. For everyone else, I’d recommend saving up for a better reality.”
Nintendo won’t officially announce more key details about the Switch system until January 2017, but now president Tatsumi Kimishima has offered a high-level take on two key areas: price and launch lineup.
In terms of pricing, Kimishima said during an earnings briefing that the console will be priced in line with what you’d expect from a Nintendo console. However, given that the Switch is something of a new idea in game–it’s a console/mobile hybrid–it’s not so easy to compare to any past Nintendo system.
“Regarding the price, as we have been saying, we are, in principle, not planning to sell it at a loss,” Kimishima said. “We would like a wide variety of consumers to enjoy Nintendo products, and we would also like to think in terms of consumers’ expectations for our products.”
In terms of game support, Nintendo’s only confirmed Switch game is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, though teasers for new or updated versions of Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon were shown during the Switch’s announcement video. There was also a mysterious 3D Mario game on display in the video. Nintendo cautioned that the announcement trailer only showed “short glimpses of representative gameplay to demonstrate the liberating nature of the Nintendo Switch home gaming system.”
In the earnings briefing, Kimishima said third-party support for Switch has been strong because the studios “realize that Nintendo Switch offers a chance to create new and exciting surprises which are not possible with existing gaming devices.” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said previously that Switch could “redefine” gaming.
Also during the presentation, Kimishima was asked if the initial launch lineup for Switch will be aimed at hardcore gamers. He didn’t outright answer this question, but claimed Switch will be “embraced by a variety of different people across many different age demographics.”
Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us: Remastered has been updated to support Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 4 Pro. As spotted by Twitter user ATW Tech, version 1.07 adds support for high dynamic range display” and also improves the quality of stereo audio.
Speaking to Digital Foundry, Naughty Dog previously said The Last of Us: Remastered will run in 4K natively on the PS4, but it will be locked at 30 FPS. The game will also be playable at 60 FPS on PS4 Pro, but selecting this option limits the game’s display resolution to 1080p.
You can check out comparison shots between the the normal version of The Last of Us: Remastered and the 4K version in this NeoGAF thread.
The PS4 Pro comes out on November 10, priced at $400. It features a 1 TB hard drive but does not have a 4K Blu-ray player in part because Sony says it sees a shift towards streaming. 4K and HDR are two of the major advantages players will have if they purchase a PS4 Pro. These are enabled in part by doubled GPU power, and boosted CPU clockspeed.
Amiibo support for New Leaf was announced in July. When the update comes out, you can tap compatible Amiibo figures and cards on your 3DS, which will then bring that specific villager to your town. Check out some screenshots and every compatible Amiibo in the gallery above.
Sony today reported earnings for the three-month quarter ended September 30, announcing it shipped 3.9 million PlayStation 4 consoles during the July-September quarter.
Sony’s Game & Network Services division overall saw its sales slide 11.3 percent to ¥319.9 billion ($3.2 billion). The decrease, which Sony labeled as being “significant” was mainly attributed to a difficult foreign exchange rate and PS4 price drops. PS4 game sales partially offset the downturn, Sony said.
Operating income for Sony’s Game & Network Services division fell to ¥14.9 billion ($188 million). Again, this decrease was attributed mainly to the PS4 price drops as well as lower PlayStation 3 sales. Partially offsetting the decrease were PS4 hardware cost reductions and the aforementioned increased game sales.
On a wider angle, Sony Corporation overall saw its sales for the quarter fall by 10.8 percent to ¥1.7 trillion yen ($16.7 billion), a downturn that it attributed “mainly” to the impact of foreign exchange rates. Operating income dropped as well, coming in at ¥45.7 billion ($453 million).
The next gaming product launch for Sony is the PlayStation 4 Pro, which goes on sale on November 10, priced at $400. GameSpot received a unit this week and we’ll have lots more coverage in the days ahead.
For more on how other gaming companies are doing from a business perspective, check out GameSpot’s reports on the latest earnings below. Electronic Arts report earnings later today, November 1, while Sega, Take-Two, Activision, and Ubisoft are scheduled to do so later this week.
James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi blockbuster Avatar made pioneering use of 3D, and the director wants to take the technology even further with its sequels. Cameron has revealed that he hopes to release the follow-up movies in glasses-free 3D.
The director was recently given honorary membership of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, and at the ceremony spoke about his intentions to advance the technology he uses for the Avatar sequels even further.
“I’m going to push,” Cameron said, via Indiewire. “Not only for better tools, workflow, high dynamic range and high frame rates–the things we are working toward. I’m still very bullish on 3D, but we need brighter projection, and ultimately I think it can happen–with no glasses. We’ll get there.”
Cameron has promised no fewer than four more Avatar movies. The first is currently scheduled for a 2018 release, but in September the director admitted that this date could change. “We haven’t moved that target yet, but we will if we need to,” he told Variety.
“The important thing for me is not when the first one comes out but the cadence of the release pattern. I want them to be released as close together as possible. If it’s an annual appointment to show up at Christmas, I want to make sure that we’re able to fulfill on that promise.”
Cameron also gave a hint as to what the sequels might be about. “The storyline in the sequels really follows Jake and Neytiri and their children,” he revealed. “It’s more of a family saga about the struggle with the humans.”
The first Avatar earned $2.7 billion worldwide, making it the most successful movie ever made in terms of box office earnings.
