"Why doesn't Kojima just make movies?" It's a rhetorical question fans of Hideo Kojima have asked after every game since Metal Gear Solid. For better or worse, no other creator in the gaming industry has pushed the medium closer to film than Kojima. And after hinting his studio could venture into filmmaking, it's doing precisely that.
Per GamesIndustry.Biz, Kojima Productions has established a division dedicated to music, TV and film that will operate out of Los Angeles. Riley Russell, a former Sony Interactive executive, will lead the unit as it attempts to expand the cultural footprint of Kojima Productions.
"The new division will be tasked with working with creative and talented professionals in television, music and film, as well as the more familiar games industry," Russell told the outlet. "The team has as its charter, the goal of expanding the reach and awareness of the properties now under development at Kojima Productions, and to make them even more a part of our popular culture."
It's not surprising to see Kojima Productions expand beyond games. Kojima is known for his film-like approach to making games, and if you follow him on Twitter, you'll know he frequently tweets about his favorite albums and movies. The question now becomes how the studio plans to handle the expansion. Since reforming in 2015, Kojima Productions has released one game. You can push that number to two if you count the recent Director's Cut release of Death Stranding as a separate title. What would a film adaptation of Death Stranding look like? For that matter, what would an adaptation of any Kojima game look like? We may just find out soon enough.
GameStop's Black Friday sale is underway, and it includes some killer deals on Nintendo Switch games. Several have dropped from $60 to $27, which is the lowest price we've seen for them to date. The most notable title here is probably The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is widely considered one of the best games ever. If you haven't yet checked out the open-world adventure, now's a great time to do so ahead of the sequel's arrival in 2022.
The physical and digital editions of each game are on sale. If you're buying one as a gift, a physical copy might be the nicer option, but it's worth noting that GameStop's free shipping doesn't kick in until you spend at least $35. So, you might want to treat yourself too.
You can also find deals on PlayStation and Xbox games and services. Among them are a third off a year of PlayStation Plus and savings on games including Deathloop, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Far Cry 6 and FIFA 22.
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Blade Runner director Ridley Scott has confirmed that a TV show based on the sci-fi classic is in the works. The filmmaker also mentioned in an interview on BBC Radio 4's Todaythat work is progressing on the Alien series.
"We've already written the pilot for Blade Runner.. and Alien has now been written for pilot"
"We're already into having written the pilot for Blade Runner, and the bible," Scott said. "So already presenting Blade Runner as a TV show, which should probably be the first 10 hours, and then Alien is a similar thing. Alien is now being written for pilot." A bible is a plan that screenwriters or producers put together to detail the world of a TV show beyond what's in the scripts, including information about the characters and plot.
Scott didn't provide any insight about who's involved with the Blade Runner series or how it ties into his movie or the sequel, Blade Runner 2049, which was released in 2017. An anime spinoff, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, debuted on Adult Swim and Crunchyroll this month. In addition, Westwood’s classic 1997 adventure game Blade Runner is being remastered. So, Blade Runner fans have plenty to look forward to.
Meanwhile, the Alien series was announced last December. Noah Hawley — who adapted another popular movie, Fargo, for TV — is the showrunner of the upcoming FX show. The series won't premiere until at least 2023, unfortunately.
After its first serious foray into e-commerce this past summer, Twitter has started testing a new live shopping experience. The feature essentially allows users to both watch a broadcast and shop at the same time. The first live shopping stream will debut on November 28th at 7PM ET when Walmart hosts a Cyber Week-themed livestream with Jason Derulo. The songwriter will spend about 30 minutes talking about a variety of products, including electronics and home decor.
“Livestreaming on Twitter gives businesses the power to engage with their most influential fans, and adding the ability to shop into this experience is a natural extension to attracting and engaging with receptive audiences,” Twitter said of the feature.
Twitter has also started testing a “Shopping Manager” it says will help with the merchant onboarding experience. Additionally, the company is expanding the availability of the “Shop Module.” First announced in July, the tool allows brands and businesses to add a carousel to their profile that can highlight a selection of products. Over the coming weeks, the company says it will roll out the feature to more merchants in the US.
Compared to other social media platforms, Twitter has been slow to embrace and add e-commerce features. The fact the company is now adding a host of shopping features suggests it sees e-eommerce as a big part of its future.
For the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. last year, Nintendo released a special edition Game & Watch. (If you don’t know, Game & Watch were a line of handheld LCD devices from the ‘80s that could each play one very simple game.) Rather than featuring a single title, the Super Mario anniversary device had a full version of the original adventure as well as its Japan-only sequel, known in the West as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels.
Nintendo’s pulling the same trick this year with a 35th-anniversary Legend of Zelda-themed Game & Watch that just went on sale. And like last year’s model, it includes a color screen and full games, but the selection is more generous. It includes the original The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, both originally released on the NES. It also includes The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which came out on the Game Boy in 1993, making this essentially a collection of Zelda’s early 8-bit adventures.
I actually have never really played the first two Zelda games, though I do love Link’s Awakening. I played the Switch remaster a few years ago, but I haven’t touched the original game since my childhood — so when we got a chance to check this tiny device out, I was pretty thrilled to give that game a go.
The Game & Watch itself is elegantly designed, but also feels rather cheap. It’s a tiny, palm-sized device with an eye-catching gold front, while the rest of the device is clad in green plastic. The front has a 2.36-inch color LCD screen that is very small but also looks great — and when playing Link’s Awakening, the upgrade from the Game Boy’s screen, which had no backlight, is dramatic. The D-Pad and buttons are nothing to write home about, but they’re good enough.
On the right side of the device is an exceedingly modern USB-C port for charging its battery (which is pretty meager, so you’re going to need to do that a lot) and a power button; the speaker is on the left side. Finally, there’s a great Easter egg on the back: When the screen is on, the Triforce glows subtly through the green plastic. It’s a great little detail.
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
The Game & Watch has a few different modes: clock, timer and game. Pressing the “game” button lets you switch between the three Zelda titles, a Link-themed version of Vermin (from a 1980 Game & Watch), and the timer. The clock and timer are fairly self-explanatory, but their use of Zelda action as backgrounds is expertly done.
On the clock, you’ll see the original Legend of Zelda, and the CPU-controlled Link essentially battles his way through the game over the course of the next 12 hours, defeating Ganon and rescuing Zelda at 11:59. If you’re so inclined, you can pick up the console and control the action from the clock screen at any time. Likewise, the timer features a handful of different scenes from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link that you can either watch or play yourself. The device’s packaging even converts into a little stand so you can use the Game & Watch as a desk clock.
If you’re interested in this Game & Watch, though, you’re not in it for playing the clock: you want to relive Link’s earliest adventures on the smallest portable device you can find. Sure, you can play the NES Zelda collection on the Switch (or many other old Nintendo devices), but the Game & Watch’s miniature screen and old-school controls feel just right for these adventures. That’s doubly true with Link’s Awakening, since it was originally designed for portable systems.
The games themselves are exactly as you remember them, with no quality of life enhancements or graphics updates; Link’s Awakening is in black and white, rather than the later “DX” version released for the Game Boy color. I’m not complaining, though, as these original versions seem right for the Game & Watch as a celebration of the series’ 8-bit origins.
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
How you feel about these games will depend on your history with the series. Like I said, I’ve never played the original NES Zelda adventures; I got on board with A Link to the Past in 1992. As such, I don’t have a lot of nostalgic love for the original pair, and playing the first game was an exercise in frustration. There’s barely a map, Link is slow while enemies are fast, and aiming is imprecise at best. I definitely died more than my fair share of times, which was rather humbling for this self-described Zelda expert. But hey, I shouldn’t have expected anything different from a 1986 game, and I started to get the hang of it soon enough.
Link’s Awakening, on the other hand, was like visiting an old friend. Muscle and brain memory combined to have me slashing my way through it in no time at all, and it controlled just like I remembered. The A and B buttons may have felt rather squishy, but the D-pad was close enough to the one on my old Game Boy that I felt right at home. I don’t know if I’ll finish the NES Zelda games, but I’ll definitely play through Link’s Awakening.
So who exactly is this $50 device for? The Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch was really only meant for people who loved that first Mario game, not necessarily people who love the Mario franchise in general. Likewise, The Legend of Zelda Game & Watch is best for someone who loved these original games growing up. It doesn’t even have to be all three, though — if one of them was a formative gaming experience, you’ll delight in getting a chance to play it on a cute little handheld. But someone raised on Twilight Princess or Breath of the Wild probably will find these a lot less essential.
After multiple delays, the Analogue Pocket finally has an exact release date. In an email the company sent to those who pre-ordered the handheld console, Analogue said it would start shipping the device on December 13th. It expects to deliver most pre-orders by the end of the year.
If you expect you won’t be at home to receive your shipment during that time, Analogue recommends you email it about holding your order. In that case, your Pocket will ship sometime around January 3rd. Lastly, if you want to make any last-minute tweaks to your order, the final day to do so is November 28th.
Getting the Pocket to market has been something of a journey for Analogue. When the company first announced the $199 handheld, with its ability to play Game Boy, Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color and Atari Lynx games, it promised to deliver it sometime in 2020. But that was before the pandemic, and like with many other electronics, supply chain issues forced Analogue to adapt.
If you're looking for an affordable robot vacuum to gift this year, one of iRobot's latest may do the trick. The Roomba 694, which came out earlier this year as a replacement for the Roomba 675, has dropped back down to an all-time low of $179. Normally $275, this model was already fairly inexpensive — especially for an iRobot device — but this Black Friday sale puts it in line with budget models from the likes of Anker and others.
iRobot carried over most of the features from the Roomba 675 to the new 694, but the latest robo-vac has a sleeker design that features three physical buttons on its top. You can manually control the device using those buttons, or you can turn to the mobile app for that. When we tested the Roomba 694 for our budget robot vacuum guide, we found it to be good at cleaning both hard and carpeted floors, thanks in part to iRobot's three-stage cleaning system, and we liked its ability to focus on particularly dirty spots until they were completely clean. One of the on-device buttons even lets you activate a spot-cleaning mode if and when you want the device to clean only a targeted spot.
The companion app is one of the Roomba 694's selling points. It's pretty easy to navigate, even for those who have never used a robot vacuum before. With the iRobot app and the device connected to WiFi, you can set cleaning schedule and remotely turn the device on and off. You can even use Alexa or Google Assistant commands to tell the robo-vac to start a cleaning job — and when it's finished, it'll automatically return to its base for a recharge. It should last roughly 90 minutes on a single charge, which should be enough time for it to clean one floor of your home (depending on how big it is) or the entirety of a small apartment.
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Uber Eats is moving into the cannabis market. Starting today, users in Ontario can place an order at retailer Tokyo Smoke through the app. Don't expect an Uber driver to drop off joints, though. Cannabis orders are pickup-only for the time being.
Users need to search for "cannabis" or "Tokyo Smoke" and confirm they're of legal age before they can make their purchase. Orders will be ready for pickup within an hour. At the store, buyers will need to present their ID to Tokyo Smoke staff to prove they're aged 19 or older.
With the help of the swift order turnaround, Uber and Tokyo Smoke hope they can steer business away from those who deal pot illegally. Uber says the underground market accounts for 40 percent of non-medical cannabis sales in Canada, where recreational use was legalized in 2018.
Cannabis is a new market for Uber. The company didn't mention whether it will offer cannabis purchases in other provinces or via other retailers, or if it will eventually deliver orders. Uber has been making inroads into alcohol delivery, and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said earlier this year the company might deliver cannabis in the US if it were legalized at federal level.
Next year's Sundance Film Festival will mark a momentous return to Park City, Utah, after in-person festivities were cancelled last year. But Sundance isn't giving up on the digital platforms it used to stream films and bring cinephiles into a VR social hub last January. As part of its New Frontier exhibition, Sundance plans to expand The Spaceship, its virtual venue where attendees can chat together and explore VR and mixed reality art installations.
In an effort to connect Sundance's in-person attendees with its global online audience, the Festival will also launch a "Biodigital Bridge" in Park City. Shari Frilot, Sundance's Senior Programmer and Chief Curator of New Frontier, describes it as a human-scale screen where physical and digital attendees will be able to interact with each other. Developed together with the immersive studio Active Theory, the bridge will offer basic chat support, but it's mostly a way for Sundance-goers to see how other attendees enjoy the event.
Sundance New Frontier curator Shari Frilot.
Sundance Film Festival
Frilot says New Frontier has been pushing the concept of biodigital experiences for several years now, mostly through an exploration of how technology can intersect with our lives. Think of the way that an app like Uber, or even Google Maps, has reshaped the way we navigate physical spaces. But now that the pandemic has forced us to rely on our tech more than ever — Sundance wouldn't have been possible without it last year, after all — the term seems practically prescient. It's more than just a buzzword: Frilot says she's interested in exploring the technology that best serves humanity, or Team Human, as media theorist Douglas Rushkoff put it.
Last year, I found Sundance's online platform last year to be a fascinating way to explore the festival and interact with fans. The core of the experience is the aforementioned Spaceship, which allows attendees on computers and VR headsets to mull about together. On a laptop or desktop, it resembles a stripped down version of Second Life. You walk around as simplistic avatars, and if you choose, you can also flip on your webcam, which fills your avatar's head with a live video feed. Since Sundance's platform is built on WebXR, a way to deliver virtual reality over the web, you can enter that same space in VR by slipping on any headset and visiting Sundance's website.
Sundance Film Festival
Compared to SXSW's VR platform, which looked beautiful but mostly felt like a virtual wasteland, it was clear that Sundance got something right last year. After isolating for most of 2020, being able to see many of my cinephile friends in VR made last year's Sundance feel special. So for next year, Frilot says, the festival is going even further. The Spaceship will be upgraded with a new Cinema House, where attendees on computers and VR headsets can view events livestreamed from Park City, as well as room-scale discussions.
On the ground, Sundance will also have a new space called The Craft, which will let in-person attendees visit New Frontier exhibits, artist discussions and panels. There will also be VR headsets to use, though the festival is also encouraging people to bring their own gear if they've got it. Sundance hasn't finalized its list of New Frontier exhibits yet, but Frilot tells me many artists are optimizing for the Oculus Quest 2, so fest-goers can experience their work without being connected to a PC. But there will likely still be pieces that demand a serious VR rig. Sundance's famed Egyptian theater will also host some New Frontier performances, which will occur both on the ground and virtually on the Spaceship.
You'll need a $50 Sundance Explorer Pass to access all of these virtual goodies, which is double what it cost last year. It's a shame to see the price jump so quickly, but it's also reflective of the deeper commitment the festival is making in its digital platforms. Notably, the Explorer Pass is also open to people around the world, whereas Sundance's virtual screenings are limited to U.S. attendees.
"[The virtual platform] is not just this thing that we're trying, we're actually doubling down on this," Frilot says. "This points to the vital landscape of how cinema and storytelling is going to manifest [going forward]. We're here to not only contribute to it, but to meet it and support it."
For those who haven't jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon yet, the holiday shopping season is a great time to buy one because you'll find most models on sale. We're a few days out from Black Friday but the six-quart Instant Pot Duo Plus is already half off, bringing it down to a record low of $59. The higher-end Instant Pot Pro Crisp, which includes an air-fryer lid, is also down to an all-time low of $170.
The Instant Pot Duo Plus is better for most people, and certainly better for Instant Pot newbies. It combines nine cooking methods in one device: pressure cooking, slow cooking, sautéing, rice cooking, yogurt making, steaming, warming, sous vide cooking and sterilizing. It also has a number of quick-cooking modes, including slow cook, soup, eggs and rice, that can be activated with just one button press. All that is to say that this one device can prepare a bunch of different foods in various ways, without much hassle on the part of the home cook. The inner pot is made of food-grade stainless steel and is dishwasher safe, too, so cleanup is a breeze as well. And with this model's six-quart capacity, you'll be able to make a full meal for a mid-sized family or a group of visiting friends easily.
Air frying is a big trend right now and thankfully you don't have to buy a dedicated air fryer to get those results. A few Instant Pot models have an air fry mode, but they require a special lid. The Instant Pot Pro Crisp is one such model that comes with the necessary lid (along with the standard multi-cooker lid) and it's $80 off right now, bringing it down to $170. This model has 11 cooking modes, the two included lids plus additional accessories like an air fryer basket and a dehydrating/broiling tray. It's also an eight-quart machine, making it even better than the discounted Duo Plus for large families and gatherings.
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