[UPDATE] Saturday’s numbers are in. Rogue One made $46.25 million for the film’s second day in theaters, down 35 percent from $71 million on Friday, according to Deadline. Friday’s figure included $29 million from the movie’s Thursday night midnight opening.
Sunday’s box office estimates should be available later tonight. We’ll report back later when they are disclosed.
[UPDATE 2] The numbers from Friday are in. According to Deadline, Rogue One banked $71 million on Friday, putting the film on track to make around $156 million for the Friday-Sunday period.
[UPDATE] Disney has now officially announced that Rogue One made $29 million in the US on Thursday night. That sets a new Thursday night record for 2016, passing Batman v Superman ($27.7 million) and Captain America: Civil War ($25 million).
The original story is below.
The newest Star Wars movie, Rogue One, officially opens today, December 16. The rollout began with midnight showings–and those were massively popular, it seems.
As Deadline mentions, Rogue One‘s $30 million Thursday opening don’t come from Disney, but are instead estimates from exhibitors. We’ll update this post if Disney puts out official numbers today.
MLB Advanced Media is a partnership between 30 Major League Baseball club owners, banding together to provide online services for the league, including the MLB website, and various club sites. BAMTech is a streaming provider and subsidiary of MLB Advanced Media.
Riot was quick to confirm that the deal will not affect how viewers consume League of Legends content in 2017 in an interview with Yahoo Esports. ‘We first and foremost believe in making sure that the content is in places where the fans want to watch it, so that will continue to be the case,” said co-head of esports and head of merchandising for Riot Games, Jarred Kennedy. “We believe in making content freely available, and it will continue to be freely available into the future. We have no plans to change that.”
“That’s not to say that we won’t innovate down the road. Maybe there is something super cool that we create that has to be behind a premium experience so that fans want to buy into it,” clarified co-head of esports Whalen Rozelle.
BAMTech president of business and media Bob Bowman stated that the initial commitment of $50 M annually is only the beginning. “I hope we’re going to do a lot more than that. That’s the minimum guarantee, and I hope we’re going to exceed that by a large margin. And I expect that we will,” he said, citing the fact that esports are a digital-first property, compared to traditional sports.
Effects of the deal are anticipated to start becoming evident from 2018, with teams and players expected to see monetary benefit from deals signed in 2018 and beyond.
[UPDATE] A spokesperson for Niantic confirmed to GameSpot that Pokemon Go remains in development for Apple Watch. “We’ll have more news soon,” the representative said.
The original story is below.
Niantic will not release Pokemon Go for the Apple Watch, according to a new report. 9to5Mac heard from a source that Niantic has “ceased development of Pokemon Go for Apple Watch.”
The idea was for Apple Watch to display several pieces of information, including how far you need to walk to hatch eggs and how much more XP you need to get to the next level. It also shows nearby Pokemon, but if one of them appears, you would have needed to take your iPhone out to capture it.
In terms of what you could do on the Apple Watch itself, Niantic said players could collect items from PokeStops, see your earned medals, and watch your eggs hatch. Additionally, the app was going to keep track of your distance walked and calories burned.
The plan was for Pokemon Go for Apple Watch to launch in 2016.
There is no word on why Niantic reportedly decided to scrap its plans to bring Pokemon Go to the Apple Watch. The company hadn’t responded to GameSpot’s request for comment at press time.
We’ll report back with more details as they become available.
After spending days holed up in company meeting rooms engaging in fierce debate, our global team of GameSpot editors and video producers has finally assembled a ranked list of the 25 best games of the year. Our list is informed by an array of tastes and preferences, reflecting our team’s diverse gaming backgrounds and opinions. From the biggest triple-A offerings to the smaller, more focused indie experiences, there was an abundance of games we loved this year. We’re going to count down to number one over the next few days, so keep checking back as we unveil our choices for the 25 best games of 2016. For today, here are our picks for 20 to 16.
20. Firewatch
Set in the beautifully-realized wilderness of the North American midwest, Firewatch is not so much a game about outdoor survival and a mysterious plotline as it is about surviving emotional solitude, dealing with loss, and finding a way out. With its strong writing and natural dialogue, Firewatch is a game that manages to capture the thoughtful nuances of human nature and life experiences through a relationship between two people. More importantly, it lets you be directly involved.
While the key beats of the central plot are a shared experience for all players, the things that you choose to do and say as protagonist Henry causes a reaction in either the characters or the world, and affects how both Henry’s personality and his relationship with his supervisor Delilah unfolds. Everything from throwing a rock to what you say (or don’t say) through a two-way radio creates an effect. It’s a profound journey of self that is shaped by your actions.
Henry, Delilah, and the enthralling landscape of rural Wyoming will be remembered as a significant peak in narrative-focussed video games. Few other games this year made us connect so intimately to fictional characters like Firewatch. – Edmond Tran
One of the best strategy games of 2016 doesn’t feature combat. In Offworld Trading Company, resource gathering, supply chains, corporate sabotage, and the equity market are the weapons at your disposal. But the experience is far from mundane–the short, real-time multiplayer matches are frantically intense, filled with critical decisions every second.
You could be racing across the surface of Mars to find and lay claim to mineral-rich plots of land, hurrying to place buildings for faster manufacturing, and making shady deals with the black market to disrupt a key location in an opponent’s operations. Or, you could be quickly trying to sell truckloads of your resources, crashing the market price, turning your rival’s profit into massive debt, and letting you buy them out.
Matches are vicious, and the scales often tip dramatically. Nobody would have ever thought a game centered around capitalism could get your heartrate up so high, but Offworld Trading Company succeeds with its truly unique, wonderfully-executed concept. – Edmond Tran
Owlboy is an unassuming side-scroller, that, on the surface, looks vaguely similar to scores of other pixelated indie games that have landed on Steam over the years. But there’s far more to it than meets the eye. Beyond its exemplary pixel art, Owlboy has one of the most effective soundtracks of the year, which also serves as the perfect complement to the game’s impressive and oft-touching cast of characters.
Otus, the mute and sensitive hero, faces great tragedies and challenges, the likes of which his peers claim he’ll never overcome. With the help of three unlikely allies, he manages to navigate dark caves and penetrate enemy lines to quell a mounting pirate invasion and save his village. Teamwork is paramount, and while Owlboy is on the easy side, boss fights standout as great tests of dexterity and strategy. It’s a masterfully built game with equal parts heart and explosive action. – Peter Brown
With stylish confidence, Quadrilateral Cowboy turns you into a badass hacker in an retro-futuristic world with ’80s cyberpunk flair. It throws you into a series of increasingly elaborate and puzzling heists across towering skyscrapers, moving trains, space stations, and more. But the coolest and most satisfying part of the experience is the physicality of hacking. You’ll pull out your chunky laptop in the game, confidently type a series of commands into the text-based terminal with your real-life keyboard, and prepare a set of gadgets. You’ll smack “Enter” and then rush through dangerous obstacles as they briefly deactivate, grabbing your objective and crashing through a window before any alarms trigger, just liked you planned.
It also has some of this year’s most poignant storytelling–the downtime between missions gives you the chance to explore the charming details of homes and workspaces, creating a strong sense of world and character without ever hearing anyone speak. With its heart-pumping highs and charming quiet moments, Quadrilateral Cowboy is a delight from beginning to end. – Edmond Tran
“Farming simulator” is probably not a term that most people would describe as synonymous with “fun.” Farming, both in gaming and real life, involves commitment, daily upkeep, and a lot of chores, but that’s what makes Stardew Valley all the more amazing: it takes the genre’s groundwork laid out in the Harvest Moon franchise and turns it into a sprawling adventure of exploration and variety. Despite being made by just one person, Stardew Valley is filled with hours of content that doesn’t feel like padding. But the reason Stardew Valley was able to keep us obsessively cultivating our life in the country was the mix of rich characters and hidden depths buried in its simple premise. – Justin Haywald
[UPDATE 2] The numbers from Friday are in. According to Deadline, Rogue One banked $72 million on Friday, putting the film on track to make around $156 million for the Friday-Sunday period.
[UPDATE] Disney has now officially announced that Rogue One made $29 million in the US on Thursday night. That sets a new Thursday night record for 2016, passing Batman v Superman ($27.7 million) and Captain America: Civil War ($25 million).
The original story is below.
The newest Star Wars movie, Rogue One, officially opens today, December 16. The rollout began with midnight showings–and those were massively popular, it seems.
As Deadline mentions, Rogue One‘s $30 million Thursday opening don’t come from Disney, but are instead estimates from exhibitors. We’ll update this post if Disney puts out official numbers today.
The screenshot above clearly shows that a rage-quitting player (right) will receive a death’s head icon on their profile, while the player that never rage-quits (left) will get a shield icon.
According to the tutorial tooltip “Penalties will be incurred for disconnecting during a match, including LP (League Points) reduction, and temporary matchmaking restrictions.”
Another feature mentioned in the leak is the ability to choose your own music to coincide with different game events, such as versus matches, training, ranked matches, and casual matches.
Famous Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the series, has weighed in with his verdict on the just-released spinoff, Rogue One. Writing on Twitter, Hamill showered the Gareth Edwards-directed film with praise. Specifically, he said the casting is spot-on and said Rogue One is “ingenious” for how it “deepens and expands” the wider Star Wars film franchise.
There is 1,500 Gamerscore up for grabs. As you can see in the full list below, some achievements are from the original and others are completely new.
Halo Wars: Definitive Edition launches on December 20 for people who preorder the Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition. Codes are going out in waves, and it could take 7-10 days to get your code, Microsoft says.
Also in 343’s blog post, the developer teased what sounds like all-new Halo projects. “I can’t really say anything of substance but yesterday we had a studio-wide presentation by Tim Longo, Halo Creative Director, on some super interesting topics pertaining to super secret future stuff,” 343’s community manager said. “All I can say is that I left that meeting feeling very excited.”
Additionally, 343 talked about a new “Olive” helmet that players can obtain in Halo 5. Everyone who makes a map or mode using Forge that is selected by 343 for Matchmaking will get the helmet. Halo 5’s recent Monitor’s Bounty update improved Forge substantially–get all the details here.
343 also teased that another “secret” helmet for Halo 5 will be discussed “soon.”
The blog post covers numerous other subjects, one of which is a delay for the recently released Voices of War Halo 5 multiplayer announcer pack. People in non-English regions have to wait longer.
“We are deeply sorry for this delay and the resulting inconvenience this brings to Halo 5 fans across the world,” 343 said. “We appreciate your support and enthusiasm for Voices of War and are working to release it worldwide as soon as possible. We’re unable to commit to a firm ETA at this time but expect it will take at least several more weeks to resolve.”
343 also clarified that the Voices of War DLC is not localized for non-English countries. “All three announcer voices will be in English, regardless of the language your console is set to,” it said.
Additionally, 343 said it’s heard the feedback about an uncapped frame rate option for Halo 5: Forge on PC–but it’s not coming, at least not officially.
“We’ve heard fan requests for this functionality loud and clear and the team has looked deeply into this issue,” 343 said. “Unfortunately, since all of the game code and logic for Halo 5–in both the client and dedicated servers–is fundamentally built around and assumes 60hz, it’s not going to be possible to implement this change.
“Currently there are some community “hacks” that allow players to go beyond 60hz but doing so really highlights the issues as physics start to break, particle effects misfire, water and surfaces behave incorrectly and so on. This is certainly something the team will continue to think about as we move into the future but is unfortunately beyond scope for Halo 5: Forge.”
It’s that time again. The NPD Group this week announced the Top 10 Best-Selling games in the US for the past month. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, of course, came out on top for November. Meanwhile, the PS4 broke the Xbox One’s win streak to become the best-selling console during the month. [Full story]
While Nintendo won’t share more details on the Nintendo Switch until its January event, a report this week from VentureBeat shared some new insight on its specs. According to sources, the system will have around 1 teraflop of performances, which is below the PS4 and Xbox One. It’ll still be a capable console, for sure, but you shouldn’t expect the highest-end graphics. [Full story]
THE OTHER STUFF:
You can now play some Xbox One games with Oculus Rift, as the virtual reality feature has now gone live, Major Nelson announced this week.
Streaming site Twitch has announced AutoMod. This is an automated bot for filtering racist and sexist comments on Twitch. Get more details on it here.
Here’s the first footage of the PlayStation 4 version of fighting game Tekken 7. Previously, all we saw was footage of the arcade edition. Watch it here at IGN.
Iconic Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto sat down for an interview with TV personality Katie Linendoll recently to discuss the soon-to-launch mobile game, Super Mario Run. You can listed to the chat, which dives into the inspiration behind the game and more, here on iTunes.
EA’s exclusivity arrangement with car company Porsche is apparently coming to an end, freeing up other franchises to have Porsche cars appear in other games. Read more at GT Planet.
BioWare’s PC MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic is celebrating its 5th anniversary this year. To celebrate, BioWare is giving away a bunch of goodies–get all the details here.
You can now buy all manner of Rocket League apparel, thanks to the fine folks at Jinx. Go to the retailer’s Rocket League page to see everything you can buy.
Battlefield 1 is apparently having some issues on PC. Specifically, thousands of people reportedly can’t play or are struggling to play the game thanks to a DirectX issue. Learn more here.
Rainbow Six Siege got a big new patch this week–check out the full patch notes here.
Zack Snyder has released a new image of Aquaman from next year’s Justice League movie. We see Aquaman in a coat, for some reason. Go to Batman-News to see the image and learn more.
Here’s the newest trailer for Sniper Elite 4’s Hitler-killing bonus mission.
Virtual reality company Survios this week announced that it raised a whopping $50 million from a number of venture capital firms and Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Funcom this week announced a partnership with Dark Horse Comics for a new digital comic book for its new open-world game Conan Exiles. “By reading the comic, fans will get a unique glimpse into the events that take place in the savage Exiled Lands,” Funcom said.
Terry Crews visited the Blizzard headquarters this week to meet with the Overwatch team, sparking speculation that he may end up voicing a yet unannounced character.
In a recent thread on Reddit, Terry Crews said, “I would LOVE TO PLAY DOOMFIST,” via a verified account at the suggestion from a fan.
This sparked a lot of excitement from Reddit’s Overwatch community, with the thread recording 1222 responses at the time of writing.
The Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Expendables star threw fuel on the rumor-fire by visiting the Overwatch team at Blizzard headquarters. Nothing has been confirmed from either Crews or Blizzard, but fan speculation is running high.
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