I don't know if people still use live wallpapers, but I like the way mine turned out.
Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this leak (assuming it's remotely accurate).
I suppose you could make a horror/thriller-esque story about Plas if you leaned into the body horror aspect of it; but he seems like a much better fit for a comedy instead.
The two most recent runs in 20 years (Gail Simone and Kyle Baker) definitely have Plas established as a pretty unserious guy. There's definitely a tinge of tragedy in his origin of being betrayed by his fellow goons, but he definitely bounces back.
Even runs where he isn't the primary focus (the Injustice tie-ins or the Terrifics) have him as a pretty comedic character.
Having said all that, I am not terribly familiar with Aronofsky's work; so I could definitely be missing something that makes him a good fit...
That stuck out to me as well. Disney probably made 50k USD in the time it took me to write this comment. This feels more like sending a message than trying to avoid a costly payout.
I'm sure they want to discourage lawsuits, but I'm worried they did this just to try to set a precedent on EULAs being the end-all-be-all.
I just hope they get enough bad publicity from this move to cost them more than the payout would have.
The fact that Disney is asserting that whether a EULA has been read is irrelevant and that a EULA signed five years prior for an unrelated use is still enforceable feels more than insidious.
I hope Disney's claim gets thrown out because I worry about the precedent this could set for EULAs going forward.
While this isn't news about new technology, I thought it was an interesting look about how predatory EULAs can still hurt us even years later in seemingly unrelated ways
Some key excerpts: >After a doctor suffered a fatal allergic reaction at a Disney World restaurant, Disney is trying to get her widower’s wrongful death lawsuit tossed by pointing to the fine print of a Disney+ trial he signed up for years earlier.
>Tangsuan was “highly allergic” to dairy and nuts, and they chose that particular restaurant in part because of its promises about accommodating patrons with food allergies, according to the lawsuit filed in a Florida circuit court.
>They allegedly raised the issue upfront, inquired about the safety of specific menu items, had the server confirm with the chef that they could be made allergen-free and asked for confirmation “several more times” after that.
>After about 45 minutes, Tangsuan “began having severe difficulty breathing and collapsed to the floor.”
>“The medical examiner's investigation determined that [Tangsuan’s] cause of death was as a result of anaphylaxis due to elevated levels of dairy and nut in her system,” according to the lawsuit.
>He is seeking more than $50,000 in damages and trial by jury “on all issues so triable.”
>In late May, Disney’s lawyers filed a motion asking the circuit court to order Piccolo to arbitrate the case — with them and a neutral third party in private, as opposed to publicly in court — and to pause the legal proceedings in the meantime.
>The reason it says Piccolo must be compelled to arbitrate? A clause in the terms and conditions he signed off on when he created a Disney+ account for a month-long trial in 2019.
>Disney says Piccolo agreed to similar language again when purchasing park tickets online in September 2023. Whether he actually read the fine print at any point, it adds, is “immaterial.”
>“Piccolo ignores that he previously created a Disney account and agreed to arbitrate ‘all disputes’ against ‘The Walt Disney Company or its affiliates’ arising ‘in contract, tort, warranty, statute, regulation, or other legal or equitable basis,’” the motion reads, arguing the language is broad enough to cover Piccolo’s claims.
>“There is simply no reading of the Disney+ Subscriber Agreement which would support the notion that Mr. Piccolo agreed to arbitrate claims arising from injuries sustained by his wife at a restaurant located on premises owned by a Disney theme park or resort which ultimately led to her death,” [Piccolo's legal team] wrote in the 123-page filing.
>They confirmed he did create a Disney+ account on his PlayStation in 2019, but he believes he canceled the subscription during the trial because he hasn’t found any charges associated with it after that point.
>“In effect, WDPR is explicitly seeking to bar its 150 million Disney+ subscribers from ever prosecuting a wrongful death case against it in front of a jury even if the case facts have nothing to with Disney+,” they wrote.
>The court has scheduled a hearing on Disney’s motion for October 2.
I've been holding onto my phone well past its prime since I can't help but see every new phone on the market as a downgrade because of this.
I know people say that you don't NEED an SD card if you buy the most expensive version and rely heavily on cloud services but it's definitely an intentionally worse customer experience.
I'm actually really sad Sony pulled out of the US, since I was planning on getting an Xperia this year. Now it feels like I'm limited to Samsung or Google if I want a flagship SoC...
I'm definitely a little late to the party to comment on this thread, but it blows my mind that any organization would pick a flight with SAG-AFTRA at this point (or the WGA, though that's not relevant to THIS issue).
SAG has already proven they will hold out pretty much indefinitely and the effects of the joint SAG/WGA strike are still being felt in Hollywood now.
Is the siren song of AI so alluring that companies are willing to die on this hill? At its peak hype, I could see executives salivating at the potential savings; but my understanding is there has been pretty substantial pushback to projects made with AI (or tech with AI in it). I can't imagine that these large studios think their potential savings would outweigh the potential losses in sales; but I guess that's why I'll never be a Fortune 500 CEO...
I wish SAG-AFTRA nothing but the best in their endeavor for protections against AI.
It's very hard to know that cause of this effect; but between the three women in the article, it seems demonstrably true that the apps treat you differently based off your input race.
While it is not proven to be a result of the algorithm (how would you prove that?), so many tech companies have a bad track record of avoiding algorithmically enforcing white supremacy that I would not be surprised to find out it is at least partially because of the code.
I hope some of these companies audit their own data-analysis methods for racial bias, but I wouldn't hold my breath for it...
And got better matches. Is the algorithm the problem, or the men?
Some key highlights (I would highly recommend reading the whole article, though): >Recently I saw a TikTok from a Black woman who said that when she changed her race to “White” on Hinge, she was presented with better men. I immediately gave it a try and was shocked to find that in addition to the guys I usually saw, there were men who were more handsome and better educated and who had better jobs than those who usually showed up in my search results.
>Some of the men I was able to swipe through had previously only been available in the “Standouts” section, which Hinge describes as “outstanding content from people most your type.”
>Now I’m left wondering if this new crop of men popped up because the app’s algorithm codes white women as more desirable, and thus presents them with the “best” options, or if these men are just searching for white women. Neither would surprise me. It’s well known that Black women have dismal experiences on dating apps: User data collected by OkCupid in 2009 and 2014 showed that men rated Black women less attractive than women of other races. Meanwhile, college-educated Black women are 53 percent less likely to marry a well-educated man than white women are.
>In the past, Ashleigh has found that she doesn’t match with very many people on Hinge compared to Tinder, where she’s more successful. When she does match with cis men, she finds they frequently introduce themselves with sexually charged comments, often commenting on her body type. Since changing her race to white, she says that generally hasn’t been the case. “They’re actually asking questions; they’re trying to get conversations started and flirt with me,” she says.
>Does she think she’s simply seeing men who are looking to match with white women, or is the algorithm positioning her as more desirable? She says the truth is probably somewhere in the middle — after all, these apps are designed to keep us on there, spending money.
>After changing her race, Alanna also found that she was presented with different Black men than she’d seen before: “Way more employed, and guys who actually took the time to answer the prompts. More real photos of them versus the memes I usually see.” She also got more likes from men, going from an average of one to three per week to four to five each day.
>I’d hate to think the algorithm favors white women, but I think I’d be more disappointed to find out that I just stumbled across a bunch of Black guys who are looking for white girls. No matter what the truth is here, it’s ugly and speaks to the challenges Black women have when trying to date online, which are admittedly easier to bear than the ones that come with trying to date offline, at least in my city.
Ever since I watched RedLetterMedia's "F*ck You, It's January" (YouTube | Piped) I cannot stop noticing how studios will drop movies they don't have faith in at the very start of the year.
To date, based off my very detailed research of quickly scrolling through Wikipedia, Marvel has only released two MCU movies in February: Black Panther, and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania.
With the numerous data-set of two points, it seems like Marvel has two potential reasons for not having faith in a movie:
- It actually is bad (see Quantumania)
- It is a Black-led movie (see Black Panther)
You could make the case that they dropped Black Panther in February because it is Black History Month, but Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was released in November...
With all this said, now, I am curious in their lack of faith in the new Captain America movie. I've already mentioned the two reasons, I would expect them to not have faith in it, but there is a third reason as well:
- New MCU movies simply don't have the draw that the old ones did. Even a decent quality MCU movie would really need to stand out for audiences to notice, and this movie may just not stand out...
Whatever their reason for releasing Captain America: New World Order in February is, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.
It feels like a tale as old as time, that a company gets bought by another and immediately selling off assets; and I would very much like to stop hearing it.
While sometimes spending does need to be cut, cutting assets immediately after an acquisition usually does not maintain the company's health in the long term.
On another note, while I think Paramount/ Skydance is right that the current streaming environment is not amiable to the customer; I find it amusing this is just creating "Cable 2." I know each studio wants to keep all the money for themselves, but it feels ridiculous they are pretending "Cable 2" would be better for customers than a music streaming model, where any streamer can provide any content
Skydance plans to make as much as $2 billion in cost cuts after it acquires Paramount Global, largely to overhaul its linear TV businesses
Some key excerpts: >Skydance executives who are set to take over the owner of CBS, Nickelodeon and MTV have identified at least $2 billion in cost cuts that can be made at the company, much of it from its linear media operations, according to Jeff Shell, who is slated to be named president of the new entity.
>David Ellison, the Skydance chief who will become the CEO of a “new” Paramount, put a spotlight on his plan to boost the media conglomerate with content from his entity, which controls certain rights to top Paramount franchises like “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible.” He envisioned a new company that combined Skydance’s animation business with that of Nickelodeon, and CBS Sports with Skydance’s sports documentary division.
>Shell indicated a willingness to sell certain non-strategic assets — which he did not immediately identify — and suggested the company hoped to add to the CBS Sports portfolio, which boasts the Masters golf tournament, Big Ten football, part of the NCAA March Madness tournament and NFL rights.
>In time, Shell suggested, many of the streaming services were likely to be bundled together. The current streaming experience “‘is not great,” he said, with consumers forced to pay high fees to continue to receive most services. The current consumer experience “is not sustainable,” he added. “I think you already see the bundling process starting to happen,” he said, because consumers may have favorite media brands, but still crave a unified experience. “If you’re in that bundle you’re going to win, and if you’re not, you’re going to be in trouble.”
I can't say I'm surprised to see Gamepass get a price hike; it always seemed like it was in the loss leader stage to try to grow market share.
I wonder what the reasoning was to institute the hike now, though, since I'm not sure how strong their market share actually is on it.
My theory is that either:
- Microsoft is tired of footing the bill and expects results now
- Microsoft/ Xbox think they have enough market share, so it is time to stop cultivating and time to start harvesting
My understanding is they are still releasing new Series S models, which are basically just Gamepass machines; so I would expect they are not happy with their current market share (though corporations literally never are), which makes me think it's the former option, not the latter.
All that being said, I wonder how much the price can increase before the value proposition of Gamepass is moot. Right now 20 USD a month doesn't sound bad as long as you're playing at least one new game a month, but I wonder how much more room there is in the price before the number of games you would need to play becomes unreasonable.
Personally, I've never been a fan of the Gamepass model since I like owning my games physically (it's the main reason I prefer console to PC), so I don't have much of a horse in this race; but I will be interested to see what becomes of Gamepass in the long term.
While I am tired of comedy sequels coming out decades too late, I am cautiously optimistic about Shrek.
Given its animated nature and fantasy setting, there isn't a lot of pressure to explain why the characters are all decades older. You can just set it right after the last one, which I think avoids a pitfall a lot of late sequels fall into.
Additionally, in my opinion, Shrek actually has a pretty strong track record. I mostly rewatch the first two, but the fourth and Puss in Boots 2 (if you count that as a Shrek movie) are both really good also. (I can't comment on the first Puss in Boots movie since I never saw it, and we don't need to discuss Shrek 3...)
I think it COULD also be fun to see Shrek lampoon more of modern Disney, since a lot has changed for them since the early 2000s; but it feels like Shrek has moved further and further from that style of comedy and have moved more into irreverently twisting broader fairy tales instead, so that doesn't feel very likely to happen, unfortunately.
Seeing as how the movie is years away, I think it is too soon to be making claims in either direction for the movie's quality; all I can decisively say is I really hope it doesn't disappoint.
'Shrek 5' is officially a go as Universal announced a July 2026 release date. Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers are all set to return.
Some key excerpts: >DreamWorks Animation has announced that “Shrek 5″ is officially in development, with a far, far away release date of July 1, 2026. Original “Shrek” stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz are all confirmed to return.
>Antonio Banderas’ return as the feisty feline Puss in Boots is not yet confirmed. “Shrek 5” will be directed by Walt Dohrn, who served as a writer and artist on “Shrek 2” and “Shrek the Third,” and as head of story on “Shrek Forever After,” in which he also voiced Rumpelstiltskin. “Shrek 5” will be produced by franchise returner Gina Shay and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri; Brad Ableson serves as co-director.
That's a really good point about their business model potentially being unsustainable, but I still question if adding gambling is the answer.
Things that get me to go out (and I know that is anecdotal at best) are things like trivia nights, theme nights, stand up comedy, etc. I don't think I would be very tempted to go out by the opportunity to be hustled in Angry Birds.
I agree that Dave & Buster's needs to develop a more novel niche to not get erased by home entertainment, but I would be shocked if this was the best way to do it.
I remember when this news first leaked, people online were joking about getting into fights over a 200 dollar bet on a kid's game if skeeball.
While I'm not sure how common that type of phenomenon would be, I have to agree with the author of this article that I would certainly think twice before bringing a child to a location where gambling is encouraged (especially in conjunction with drinking).
Archive link: http://archive.today/c0FEu
Some key highlights: >Dave & Buster’s [...] recently announced plans to let patrons place real-money bets on the company’s main attraction: its arcade games.
>The suburban gaming den’s new betting operation is part of a partnership with Lucra Sports, a technology company that describes its product as “gamification services.” In practical terms, Lucra licenses its software to other businesses, allowing them to integrate certain kinds of betting into their existing apps and websites. Lucra deals in the kinds of bookie-free “peer to peer” bets—say, on the results of a night of bowling or a game of pickup basketball—that might have previously been sealed with a handshake.
>The chain is expected to roll out all of this in the coming months, and it will be available only to adults
>Beyond that, neither Dave & Buster’s nor Lucra Sports—which both declined to comment—is saying what kinds of betting will be allowed and at what scale.
>Gambling on games of skill has a much easier time cruising past legal roadblocks.
>Because of these legal distinctions, Lucra Sports—which has financial backing from a host of sports executives and professional athletes, including former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry and former NFL player Emmanuel Sanders—says its services are legal on some level in 45 US states.
>Even in their relatively milquetoast skill-game form, these kinds of betting services normalize something that feels a lot like traditional gambling as most Americans now experience it
>Kids too young to grasp how football works or what betting on it might mean will soon be able to encounter a version of it at the arcade, potentially priming them to open their own betting accounts once they hit legal age.
>That Dave & Buster’s would decide to dive in right now is best read as an indicator of just how nervous traditional entertainment industries have become about gambling and its capacity to devour their customer base and its disposable income. In its 2022 annual report, Dave & Buster’s identified the spread of legalized gambling as an existential threat, even as the company was continuing to grow and its stock price was soaring.
>this move feels motivated more by the fear of being left behind while others profit than by a genuine belief in the value of the product itself.
>The vision that’s dancing in executives’ heads, I have no doubt, is something akin to the opportunity to be a little Las Vegas in every American suburb. They should probably be more wary of the likelier—and grimmer—alternative: becoming something closer to most of the other casinos in America, where no parent would ever dream of throwing their kid’s birthday party.
A follow-up to the beloved 1996 comedy is confirmed to be in the works at the streamer.
Some key highlights: >The streamer announced at its upfront presentation to advertisers on Wednesday that it was moving forward with Happy Gilmore 2 with Adam Sandler on board to reprise his role as the titular rage golfer.
>Netflix didn’t release any details about the film, such as its story line, writer or director.
>Christopher McDonald who played the golfer Shooter McGavin the first film, has suggested his character might return in the sequel.
At this point, I've lost count of the number of times Elon should have been let go. I recall him recently saying that dosing himself with cat tranquilizers was cool and a good business decision actually.
That's not even getting into turning Twitter into a Nazi bar (and throwing out its extremely valuable branding) or pushing for the cybertruck that cuts its passengers, looks like a dumpster, and corrodes if you look at it funny.
The fact any board of directors considers this man employable at all is mind boggling to me.
Honestly, that's my main hope as well; that all the charging team talent will disperse across the market and help other chargers spread as well. The article mentioned Tesla having 60% of the fast charger market, so hopefully we will see other companies fill the gap.
My concern is that if no companies pick up the ball Tesla just dropped (or more accurately angrily chucked over the fence), that this could set the EV charging network back significantly; which would definitely be a problem for mass adoption of EVs.
Almost all of the Sony Spider-Man movies since 2008 have been of questionable quality. Even the ones I enjoy (Venom, Madame Webb) are only fun in the so-bad-it's-good kind of way.
I really don't have very high hopes for Noir because of that, but I am sure I'll still be entertained by Nic Cage; and I am a little hopeful since Lord and Miller are involved in some capacity (though I'm not sure what the extent of their involvement is).
I agree. I have no idea of the quality of the show, but Nic Cage doing his best Noire impression will be entertaining either way
When this news dropped a little while ago. I saw a lot of speculation that basically Elon got mad that a woman said he was wrong and laid off possibly Tesla's biggest asset in a tantrum.
Honestly, at this point, the most surprising part of this situation is how unsurprised I am at that being exactly what happened.
Hopefully, this will not set back a widespread EV charging network (Tesla or otherwise) too much; but it definitely sounds like damage has been done.
Insiders tell the story of the firings that have upended a network widely viewed as a signature Tesla achievement and a key driver of its EV sales.
Some highlights I found interesting: >After Tinucci had cut between 15% and 20% of staffers two weeks earlier, part of much wider layoffs, they believed Musk would affirm plans for a massive charging-network expansion.
>Musk, the employees said, was not pleased with Tinucci’s presentation and wanted more layoffs. When she balked, saying deeper cuts would undermine charging-business fundamentals, he responded by firing her and her entire 500-member team.
>The departures have upended a network widely viewed as a signature Tesla achievement and a key driver of its EV sales.
>Despite the mass firings, Musk has since posted on social media promising to continue expanding the network. But three former charging-team employees told Reuters they have been fielding calls from vendors, contractors and electric utilities, some of which had spent millions of dollars on equipment and infrastructure to help build out Tesla’s network.
>Tesla's energy team, which sells solar and battery-storage products for homes and businesses, was tasked with taking over Superchargers and calling some partners to close out ongoing charger-construction projects, said three of the former Tesla employees.
>Tinucci was one of few high-ranking female Tesla executives. She recently started reporting directly to Musk, following the departure of battery-and-energy chief Drew Baglino, according to four former Supercharger-team staffers. They said Baglino had historically overseen the charging department without much involvement from Musk.
>Two former Supercharger staffers called the $500 million expansion budget a significant reduction from what the team had planned for 2024 - but nonetheless a challenge requiring hundreds of employees.
>Three of the former employees called the firings a major setback to U.S. charging expansion because of the relationships Tesla employees had built with suppliers and electric utilities.
While Nic Cage being attached is no guarantee of quality, I do find it interesting this is his first TV series. I'm sure he's been offered TV roles before, so to me this implies he might really believe in the project.
Lord and Miller being involved is a good sign, too; but I'm not sure how much influence a producer really has, to be honest, so it might not mean anything for the show's quality.
Either way I'll definitely be watching it since I love Nic Cage and greatly enjoyed him as Spider-Noir in the Spider-Verse movie; but with Sony's track record, I'm only cautiously optimistic.
I didn't read the original Spider-Noir run, so I can't comment in that regard, but I don't see why live action would be a problem. Noires were really big in the 40s and they were all live-action. As long as the direction leans into that aesthetic, I think it could feel even more noire than the animated version.
Nicolas Cage will once again play Spider-Man Noir, but this time in a live-action series at Amazon
Some key excerpts: >Cage is set to star in the live-action show “Noir,” which has been ordered to series at MGM+ and Amazon Prime Video. The series will debut domestically on MGM+’s linear channel followed by a global launch on Prime Video.
>Per the official logline, “Noir” will tell the story “of an aging and down on his luck private investigator (Cage) in 1930s New York, who is forced to grapple with his past life as the city’s one and only superhero.”
>The show hails from Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot, who will also serve as co-showrunners and executive producers. They developed the series with the “Into the Spider-Verse” team of Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal, all of whom will also executive produce. Harry Bradbeer will executive produce and direct the first two episodes.
>The role will mark the first regular television role of Cage’s career.
Unsealed court filings reveal Meta's secret plan, "Project Ghostbusters," to acquire valuable intel about Snapchat through its users' devices.
Some key excerpts: >Court filings unsealed last week allege Meta created an internal effort to spy on Snapchat in a secret initiative called “Project Ghostbusters.” Meta did so through Onavo, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service the company offered between 2016 and 2019 that, ultimately, wasn’t private at all.
>It’s Meta’s in-house wiretapping tool to spy on data analytics from Snapchat starting in 2016, later used on YouTube and Amazon. This involved creating “kits” that can be installed on iOS and Android devices, to intercept traffic for certain apps, according to the filings. This was described as a “man-in-the-middle” approach to get data on Facebook’s rivals, but users of Onavo were the “men in the middle.”
>Facebook ultimately shut down Onavo in 2019 after Apple booted the VPN from its app store.
>Prosecutors also allege that Facebook violated the United States Wiretap Act, which prohibits the intentional procurement of another person’s electronic communications. Onavo could also be considered straight spyware, but also seems to fall under the definition of wiretapping, according to prosecutors.
>The court filings show chats and emails that depict Zuckerberg as being directly involved in these communications.
>Prosecutors allege Project Ghostbusters harmed competition in the ad industry, adding weight to their central argument that Meta is a monopoly in social media.
His proposal would pare down the workweek over a four-year period. The 40-hour workweek has stood as the standard in the U.S. since it became enshrined in federal law in 1940.
Archive link: https://archive.ph/sVDYB
Some key excerpts: >Senator Bernie Sanders this week unveiled legislation to reduce the standard workweek in the United States from 40 hours to 32, without a reduction in pay
>The law, if passed, would pare down the workweek over a four-year period, lowering the threshold at which workers would be eligible to receive overtime pay.
>Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, said at the hearing such a reduction would hurt employers, ship jobs overseas and cause dramatic spikes in consumer prices.
>Mr. Sanders is far from the first to propose the idea, which has been floated by Richard Nixon, pitched by autoworkers and experimented with by companies ranging from Shake Shack to Kickstarter and Unilever’s New Zealand unit.
>Representative Mark Takano, Democrat of California, introduced the 32-Hour Workweek Act in the House in 2021, and has reintroduced it as a companion bill to the one sponsored by Mr. Sanders in the Senate. > >In proposing the legislation, Mr. Sanders cited a trial conducted by 61 companies in Britain in 2022, in which most of the companies that went down to a four-day workweek saw that revenues and productivity remained steady, while attrition dropped significantly. The study was conducted by a nonprofit, 4 Day Week Global, with researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College and a think tank, Autonomy.
Developer makes Small Radios Big Televisions free to download in response.
Archive link: https://archive.ph/168Vn
There are now several games known to be getting delisted by WBD. I will link to the article with the list at the end
Some key highlights:
>Warner Bros. Discovery, as part of its ongoing effort to stretch the definition of "entertainment company," recently told a solo indie developer it would be "retiring" his 2016 dreamlike puzzle adventure game Small Radios Big Televisions from the Steam and PlayStation stores. The developer, in response, has made it free to download for PC
>Deery clarified that the game will be pulled in the next 60 days. Deery noted that Adult Swim Games "hasn't really been a thing for many years now" and that most of the people he worked with had moved on. "When you're working with purely digital products nothing is going to stay around for very long," Deery told Game Developer.
>The reason given by Warner Bros. Discovery, as seen in the notice that Game Developer also reviewed, was "internal business changes." "Thank you for your contribution to our game library and understanding during this transition," the notice concludes. "We are available should you have any questions."
>Warner Bros. Discovery executives said late last month during a financial call that its gaming business was due for a "tough" year-over-year comparison. That is largely due to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
>At a higher level, the merged Warner Bros. Discovery entity has shown no hesitation when it comes to folding known names and removing content. The firm killed the fully produced Batgirl and a Scooby-Doo film prior to release as a reported tax strategy.
>It's hard to imagine how much it would cost to maintain storefront support for this sub-$20 game from 2016, but it was apparently too much for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The list of Adult Swim games can be found here: https://delistedgames.com/as-more-developers-confirm-it-looks-likely-that-all-adult-swim-games-titles-will-be-removed-by-may/ (Archive link: https://archive.ph/fjt3Q)
The Swedish gaming company Embracer Group AB is canceling a video game in the beloved Deus Ex series after two years of development and will lay off a number of employees as part of an ongoing initiative to cut costs, according to people familiar with the moves.
Archive link: https://archive.ph/WOlNl
>The Swedish gaming company Embracer Group AB is canceling a video game in the beloved Deus Ex series after two years of development and will lay off a number of employees as part of an ongoing initiative to cut costs, according to people familiar with the moves. > >Eidos, the Montreal, Canada-based studio behind the game, will instead focus on an original franchise. The canceled Deus Ex project, which had not yet been announced, was slated to enter production later this year, said the people, speaking anonymously because they are not authorized to talk to the press. > >The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Following a period of massive expansion during the pandemic, Embracer Group has lately been making widespread layoffs, game cancellations and studio closures. > >The sci-fi Deus Ex series has been critically acclaimed and sold more than 14 million units worldwide. It was acquired by Embracer in 2022.
Nintendo Co. will launch a new game console this year with an 8-inch LCD screen, according to Omdia analyst Hiroshi Hayase.
>Nintendo Co. will launch a new game console this year with an 8-inch LCD screen, according to Omdia analyst Hiroshi Hayase. > >The new device from the Kyoto-based games maker will be responsible for a doubling in shipments of so-called amusement displays in 2024, Hayase said in Tokyo on Friday. His research focuses on small and medium displays and he bases annual forecasts on checks with companies in the supply chain
cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/11075469
> Image transcription: A blue stylized shirt with the logo of The Wash from SpongeBob, a sticker of a squashed Plankton, a sticker resembling Squidward's "I really wish I weren't here right now" pin, a sticker resembling Mr. Krabs' mom's underwear, a keychain of Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob, and Patrick playing D&D, a BFF ring (which I didn't make), and a Chum Bucket bucket to hold everything.
[Image transcription: A "Doctor's hate him" style meme titled "The Founders HATE Him" about Goran'Agar. The side text reads "He beat his ketracel-white addiction in less than 35 days using this simple trick. FIND OUT HOW"]
> Garfield (voiced by Chris Pratt), the world-famous, Monday-hating, lasagna-loving indoor cat, is about to have a wild outdoor adventure! After an unexpected reunion with his long-lost father – scruffy street cat Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) – Garfield and his canine friend Odie are forced from their perfectly pampered life into joining Vic in a hilarious, high-stakes heist. > > Directed by: > Mark Dindal > > Screenplay by: Paul A. Kaplan & Mark Torgove and David Reynolds > > Based on the Garfield® characters created by: Jim Davis
> Cast: > Chris Pratt > Samuel L. Jackson > Hannah Waddingham > Ving Rhames > Nicholas Hoult > Cecily Strong > Harvey Guillén > Brett Goldstein > Bowen Yang
If approved by union members, the tentative contract would end a strike that lasted nearly four months and shut down Hollywood film and TV productions.
Archive link: https://archive.ph/25S6Y
> “In a unanimous vote this afternoon, The SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP bringing an end to the 118 day strike,” the union said in a statement. “The strike officially ends at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, November 9.” > > SAG-AFTRA did not disclose terms of the agreement, but said details would be released after it is reviewed by the national board on Friday. > > The proposed contract — which still must be ratified by the union’s members — would boost minimum pay for members, increase residual payments for shows streamed online and bolster contributions to the union’s health and pension plans. It also establishes new rules for the use of artificial intelligence, a major source of concern for actors.
Press release of Nintendo Co., Ltd.
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> Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto Minami-ku; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, "Nintendo" hereafter) today announced that it will develop a live-action film of The Legend of Zelda. > > The film will be produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director and Fellow of Nintendo and Avi Arad
> The film will be produced by Nintendo and Arad Productions Inc., and directed by Wes Ball. The film will be co-financed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., with more than 50% financed by Nintendo. The theatrical distribution of the film will be done worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
According to multiple sources familiar with the state of the negotiations, entertainment companies are seeking to pay for scans, but not their use or re-use.
Archive link: https://archive.ph/4F4YF
> The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is seeking to secure AI scans for Schedule F performers — guild members who earn more than the minimum for series regulars ($32,000 per TV episode) and feature films ($60,000). The companies’ suggested clause would require studios and streamers to pay to scan the likeness of Schedule F performers. SAG-AFTRA is seeking to attach a compensation for the re-use of AI scans as AMPTP member companies would also need to secure consent from the performer. The language currently in the AMPTP’s offer would see the studios and streamers secure the right to use scans of deceased performers without the consent of their estate or SAG-AFTRA. > > “This is one of the biggest reasons SAG did not accept the ‘last, best and final’ offer from the AMPTP. We could not allow that language to stand,” says one union-side source. “This is massive. Every A-, B-, C-, D- and E-lister — all the higher-paid performers — who think this is a minimum wage strike, they must know they are in this fight. They have to realize that this is about protecting them. This is their strike now when they realize what’s on the line. The people who launched the campaign to take a deal — they’d be f—ked if we took this deal with that in there.”
> “They can’t have that loophole to exploit performers. … [The Schedule F AI language in the AMPTP’s proposal] behooves them to have you dead in that they need consent when you’re alive but not when you’re dead.”
> On Monday afternoon the SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee told union members that it had responded to the AMPTP’s latest offer. “Please know every member of our TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee is determined to secure the right deal and thereby bring this strike to an end responsibly,” the group stated. “There are several essential items on which we still do not have an agreement, including AI. We will keep you informed as events unfold.”
