Meet Barry. Netflix has unveiled an impressive 30-second teaser trailer for the other young Barack Obama film out this year, this one titled Barry. The other one is titled Southside with You, and profiles Barack’s very first date with Michelle in Chicago. Barry is about “Barry” Obama during his college years, with an afro and everything, as played by newcomer Devon Terrell in the film. The cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Ashley Judd, Jenna Elfman, Ellar Coltrane, Jason Mitchell and John Benjamin Hickey. This sells me on the film completely and it’s only 30 seconds and barely has any shots of Obama’s face, just him walking around campus and New York, and I love it. Simple, sleek, good vibes, nice work Netflix. Check it. ›››
“I’m jealous of what you have.” The Orchard has debuted a trailer for an odd indie comedy titled Rainbow Time, written, directed by and starring Linas Phillips. The film is about a mentally challenged man named Shonzi, played by Linas Phillips, who moves in with his brother Todd, played by Timm Sharp. He now lives with his girlfriend Lindsay, played by the always wonderful Melanie Lynskey, and things become awkward when Shonzi wants to get more involved in their relationship, threatening to reveal secrets about Todd’s past. As weird as this sounds, the trailer actually promises a charming, quirky, enjoyably unique film. ›››
“We need to talk to them.” Paramount has unveiled a final trailer for the outstanding sci-fi movie Arrival, directed by master filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, arriving in theaters this November. You’ve already heard the buzz on this, as it has played at a bunch of film festivals in the last few months, and it’s one brilliant film about alien spacecraft that suddenly land on Earth. Amy Adams plays a linguistics expert who is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat. The full cast includes Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, Mark O’Brien and many others. I wrote in my glowing review from Telluride that Arrival is “a major milestone in sci-fi.” Thankfully they don’t reveal too much in this final trailer, which could ruin this, so take a look and catch this in theaters soon. Go see it. ›››
Technology giant Samsung has been in the news a lot lately over its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, some of which have caught fire. Now, US President Barack Obama is even talking about it.
During a speaking event Thursday about Obamacare, he said the Affordable Care Act is not unlike a new smartphone. If there are problems, the company–or the government in the case of health care–works to fix them. “Unless it catches fire. Then they pull it off the market,” Obama said with a laugh. Check out the clip below, as posted on Twitter by Politico’s Dan Diamond.
In the wake of its launch in August, Samsung recalled defective Note 7s after they began overheating and–in some cases–catching on fire.
For its part, Oculus issued a mandatory update for its mobile app that disabled Gear VR support on Note 7s. This move no doubt came out of concern that one could burst into flames while strapped to a person’s face.
It’s recommended that, if you have a Note 7, you keep it powered off and return it to the carrier or store where you purchased it. More details on the recall are available on Samsung’s website.
The drop in share value could be attributed to a number of things. Dr. Serkan Toto, an analyst in Asia, says he’s skeptical about the Nintendo Switch and its ability to reach a wide audience.
“Sorry, but is a portable/home console approach really that innovative in 2016? I am most concerned about the target group of the device: who else but die-hard Nintendo fans will buy the Switch?” he told GI.biz. “The Switch lacks a killer feature, and I think it will be very difficult for Nintendo to win back the casual gamers that are mostly on mobile now. In Japan, for example, the mobile gaming sector is already 2-3 times bigger than consoles. Even the PS4 struggles over here. It’s going to be a huge challenge to try to reverse that trend.”
It’s been suggested that Nintendo’s Super Mario Run for iOS could help draw people to the console business. But Toto thinks this may not happen. “I find it very difficult to picture a scenario where a critical number of mobile, free-to-play users converts to console and buy hard- and software for several hundred dollars upfront. Different markets, very difficult to bridge,” he said.
Superdata analyst Joost van Dreunen also said he questions the Nintendo Switch’s broad appeal.
“I have my reservations with regards to the breadth of the audience it targets. The Switch will likely be most popular among a younger audience: its functionality is uniquely geared toward pre-teens and teenagers,” he said. “While the device seems much less like a toy than we’re used to from Nintendo, its features like backseat multi-player and the ability to have several people play using a single piece of the controller target Nintendo’s traditional audience. The reveal video makes a lot more sense to me if you swap out all the adults in it with kids.”
Another analyst featured in the story, Piers Harding-Rolls of IHS, said the Nintendo Switch looks like Nintendo’s way of defending against the “increasingly robust encroachment of the smartphone and tablet gaming opportunity yet still appeal to traditional console gamers that are looking for a big-screen gaming solution in the home.” The system is a console/mobile hybrid that you can play at home or on-the-go. Harding-Rolls said it will be important for the Nintendo Switch to “avoid delivering a substandard experience by trying to be all things to all users.”
IHS is predicting Nintendo Switch will sell 2.85 million units worldwide at launch in March 2017.
Nintendo has finally revealed its new console, the Nintendo Switch, and now we know more about it. The company has confirmed that the console’s “main unit” is the device that has the LCD screen and detachabe Joy-Con controllers, not the docking station.
“The dock is not the main console unit of Nintendo Switch,” a Nintendo representative told IGN. “The main unit of Nintendo Switch is the unit that has the LCD screen, which the two Joy-Con controllers can be attached to and detached from. The Nintendo Switch Dock has been created so that it is extremely easy to seamlessly switch from playing games on a TV to transition into a portable mode.”
The principal function of the dock, then, is to output to the TV and charge and power the system.
This suggests that the dock does not contain any extra horsepower and that the at-home and on-the-go experiences that Nintendo Switch provides may be the same in terms of graphics. This is not confirmed however, and we still have many other unanswered questions.
Some video game voice actors are now on strike, after nearly two years of negotiations between the SAG-AFTRA union and publishers failed. The strike took effect today at 12:01 AM PT.
As announced previously, the SAG-AFTRA union has asked its members to strike some of the biggest publishers in gaming, including Activision, EA, Take-Two, Insomniac Games, and WB Games (see a full list here). According to the union, the strike covers all games from these companies that went into production after February 17, 2015.
Additionally, SAG-AFTRA said some of its members will picket EA’s Playa Visa, California office at 10:30 AM PT this coming Monday, October 24.
SAG-AFTRA says that its package of proposals is “not loaded with any crazy demands.” Several prominent voice actors have spoken out in support of authorizing a strike, including Roger Craig Smith (Batman, Assassin’s Creed), Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect, Guild Wars), and actor Wil Wheaton. According to Deadline, only about 25 percent of video games use union voice actors. This is the first strike in the history of video game performers.
According to the union, the gaming industry refuses to offer residual payment bonuses and other profit-sharing opportunities. Specifically, SAG-AFTRA asked that its performers receive an additional “full-scale payment” for every 500,000 units sold, for a maximum of four secondary payments if a game sells 2 million copies, Deadline reported. Additionally, the union claims that the industry has denied a proposal that would reduce the recording time for “vocally stressful” sessions to two hours to help prevent an actor from damaging their voice.
In a statement Thursday evening, SAG-AFTRA didn’t mince words when talking about the negotiations and the residuals in particular.
“This group of video game employers knowingly feeds off other industries that pay these same performers fairly to make a living. This represents a ‘freeloader model of compensation’ that we believe cannot and should not continue,” it said.
“In this industry, which frequently uses performers and understands the intermittent and unpredictable nature of this type of work, fair compensation includes secondary payments when games hit a certain level of success with consumers, not simply higher upfront wages,” it added. “Secondary compensation is what allows professional performers to feed their families in between jobs.”
“No matter what these companies are peddling in their press releases, this negotiation is not only about upfront compensation. It is about fairness and the ability of middle-class performers to survive in this industry. These companies are immensely profitable, and successful games–which are the only games this dispute is about–drive that profit.
“We have proposed a fair payment structure that enables the sustainability of a professional performer community. These employers have unreasonably refused that. The time has come to end the freeloader model of compensation and that is why our members are united behind this cause.”
According to the video game publishers, it offered a 9 percent wage hike as part of the negotiations. Additionally, they offered additional compensation of up to $950 per game based on the number of voice acting sessions an actor did on a particular game. With the wage hike, this package could apparently lead to a 23 percent increase in pay for some actors.
As it stands, video game voice actors represented by SAG-AFTRA are paid at least $100/hour, plus benefits. Another proposal put forth in the negotiations would allow publishers to fine SAG-AFTRA “tens of thousands of dollars” if an approved agent is not involved with every audition for their client. The industry also reportedly wants a provision that would allow them to fine actors $1,000 or more if they show up late to work or are deemed to be not fully participating in a recording session.
According to SAG-AFTRA, the union would also like to see the gaming industry loosen up on some of its secrecy rules. As it stands, according to SAG-AFTRA, an actor sometimes does not even know the game he or she is auditioning for, which it argues is not fair.
“We had hoped this would be successful, but union leadership left mediation without providing a counteroffer,” the lawyer representing the video game industry, Scott Witlin, said in a statement. “We urged union leaders to put the package to a vote of their membership, but union leaders refused.”
“We value our performers and their dedication,” he added. “The union has demanded a contingency fee based upon number of games sold or subscribers. Instead of that, we are offering to immediately reward the hard work of performers through this accelerated raise and additional compensation package.”
Another thing to note that is the “majority” of upcoming games already in production will not be affected by the SAG-AFTRA strike, according to the industry, because of an existing “No Strike Provision” of the collective bargaining agreement.
Joss Whedon directed two of the biggest superhero movies of all time, and now wants to turn his hand to Star Wars. The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron director has been speaking has been speaking about his experience working with Marvel, and about how he feels about branching out to other franchises.
Speaking to Complex, Whedon explained that he enjoyed working within established universes, and Star Wars was high on his to-do list. “It’s a fun thing to do, to put yourself in the service of something if you think you can add an interpretation,” he said. “It’s no different than any other storytelling. There are some times when you get micro-managed to death but with Marvel, they let me make two movies that were very much mine. So do I want to make James Bond movie? Yeah. Anne Hathaway does Catwoman again? Sure, I’m in.
“Do I want to make a Star Wars movie? Yeah. I was like, ‘I don’t want to make a Star Wars movie. Like, god dammit, why?’ But I saw the trailer for Rogue One a while ago and I was like, ‘I want to do that.’ To make a Star Wars movie and not be wed to the bigger picture.”
Whedon had previously spoken about his interest in directing The Force Awakens, before realising that he wouldn’t have time to make that film as well as Avengers: Age of Ultron. “When I heard that I was like, ‘I wonder… no, I really can’t do that. I already have a job.’” he told CNN in 2013. “I wouldn’t clear the Avengers. I’m having so much fun with that sequel right now, just with the script, that I couldn’t imagine not doing it.”
Despite the director’s comments about not being “micro-managed” by Marvel, he has in past been a little less positive about his experience on Age of Ultron. Last year Whedon revealed the creative battles he had with Marvel executives over certain sequences in the film. “The dreams, the farmhouse, these were not the things [the executives liked],” he told the Empire podcast. “These are things I fought to keep.
“With the cave, they pointed a gun at the farm’s head and said, ‘Give us the cave or we’ll take out the farm’. You know, in a civilized way. And I respect these guys, they’re artists, but that’s when it got really, really unpleasant. I was so beaten down at that point I was like, ‘Sure, okay. What movie is this?’”
On October 20, Nintendo revealed its newest gaming platform, Switch, but we won’t learn about its technical specifications, how much it will cost, or whether games will be region-locked until 2017, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki.
Posting on Twitter, Mochizuki, the publication’s Tokyo-based technology reporter, said Nintendo won’t be provided any further Switch information this year.
Nintendo: no more official announcement would come this year on 1) game titles 2) spec details, including region-lock status.
Nintendo Switch is a console and handheld hybrid device, as rumors prior to its official unveiling suggested it would be. It features a tablet-like screen that sits in a “Nintendo Switch Dock” and connects it to a TV for traditional couch gaming.
When the tablet is lifted out of the dock it will “instantly” transition into a portable mode for playing games on the go. It also uses detachable controllers called “Joy-Cons,” and these can attach onto the sides of the tablet or onto a “Grip” accessory so that it’s “mirroring a more traditional controller.”
“One player can use a Joy-Con controller in each hand; two players can each take one; or multiple Joy-Con can be employed by numerous people for a variety of gameplay options,” Nintendo said in a press release.
Nvidia confirmed in its own blog post that the console uses a custom Tegra processor. “The high-efficiency scalable processor includes an Nvidia GPU based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards,” it said.
Motion posters are an increasingly popular way to promote movies. Last month we got this trippy one for Doctor Strange, a now a new one for the upcoming Power Rangers has arrived. It was posted on the movie’s twitter page and showcases the suits that will be worn by the teen superheroes. Check it out below:
The poster follows the first trailer that was released earlier this month, which suggests that the film is going for a more serious tone than the old TV series. The suits didn’t really make much of an appearance in this first teaser, but Elizabeth Banks’ evil Rita Repulsa was featured heavily.
Power Rangers opens in theaters on March 24, 2017, directed by Dean Israelite. It stars Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, and Bryan Cranston.
Power Rangers first appeared on screens in 1993’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. The show mixed new American scenes with footage taken from the Japanese show Super Sentai. To date there have been 23 TV series and two earlier movies.
At NYCC, we also learned that there’s apparently a new Power Rangers game on the way, though it was unveiled with seeming no fanfare whatsoever.
