Twitch’s Restrictive Contract Drove Ninja to Mixer Deal
The world of video game streaming shook earlier this year when Tyler “Ninja” Blevins announced that he would be leaving Twitch and streaming exclusively on Microsoft’s Mixer platform. Now, Blevins’ wife and manager Jessica shared how Twitch’s unreasonable contract was a key reason behind the move.
did not listen to us,” Jessica said in an interview with Business Insider. “Everything we were asking, it never came back reflecting our wishes – and that’s completely outside of finances.” According to Jessica, “Money was the last thing on our mind.”
Surface Pro X Hands-On Impressions
The Surface Pro series has been coasting on incremental improvements for a while now, but the Surface Pro X is breaking that pattern by steering away from Microsoft's tried-and-true formula.
At face value, the Surface Pro X is a far slimmer device than any Windows tablet Microsoft has made previously. Measuring in at just 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.28, holding the device feels like a jumbo sized iPhone 8 Max with a four times larger display.
Surprisingly, though, the Surface Pro X isn’t any lighter than the also newly introduced Surface Pro 7, both devices weigh in at the same 1.7 pounds. However, the Pro X’s slimmer profile and curved edges definitely feel more pleasing to hold in your hands thanks to the Pro 7's sharp angles.
Why Movie Studios Might Lose Rights to ’80s Franchises Like Terminator
A string of copyright termination notices in the past year could mean that certain movie studios lose the exclusive rights to popular '80s franchises like Terminator, Die Hard, Predator, and more.
It’s all part of a legal trend with roots from back when these major franchises were finding their footing. As The Hollywood Reporter writes, Congress amended intellectual copyright law in the late 1970s to allow creators to grab the IP back from studios after a few decades. After 35 years, termination notices can be served up to their controlling parties.
Sayonara Wild Hearts Review – Falling Star
Playing Sayonara Wild Hearts' best levels is an intangible, hard-to-describe feeling. When the art, the movement, and the music all come together in a track, it's absolutely captivating. But it's also fleeting, and I spent the majority of my time playing Sayonara Wild Hearts chasing that feeling. It came through in a few standout levels, but for most of the game, I found myself on the verge of falling in love with songs only to fall short of that high.
It's an interesting kind of music game. The main goal is to simply flow with the music, rather than hit a series of precise rhythm-based inputs or dance along to beats. Crystalline hearts line the paths you ride (or fly) through, and often, following the hearts is the best way to get through a level safely without scrambling to avoid oncoming obstacles. Timed inputs are reserved for flashier moves--big jumps, deft dodges, graceful attacks--and these sequences are all scripted, so all you have to do is hit the button somewhat on time and then watch as the moves play out to the music. The camera and forward movement, including your speed, are automatic, too, leaving you to move only from side to side with rare exception. This all lends Sayonara Wild Hearts a dreamlike feel; you are both participant and observer, somewhat in control but mostly just along for the ride.
Initially, the dreaminess of Sayonara Wild Hearts is enchanting. The scripted moves, which often come during fight sequences against brightly colored antagonists, have a distinct magical-girl flair. Dodging an attack becomes a balletic leap, a flurry of punches culminates in an explosion of color, and even punch-induced vomit (in one level) is so colorful and abstract that it flows seamlessly with the overall aesthetic. Some levels are bathed in electric neons, while others are more pensive, dark blue interdimensional affairs. And yet all of them, even at their most bright and exciting, are tinged with melancholy, largely due to the heartbreak-infused pop soundtrack--it's the kind of music that, if it were to come on in a bar, would make you feel incredibly lonely but also kind of like dancing.
When this all works together, it really works. My favorite level, Dead of Night, closely matches the music with the action and, as a result, the song has impact. During the buildup, you ride your motorcycle through the forest, weaving between trees and picking up hearts while all is calm. Ahead of you are four masked enemies; they strike a group pose, and then, right as the drop hits, their three-headed wolf tank appears and the mini-boss-like sequence begins. You slide side to side to dodge attacks, then hit X with the prompt to leap over the tank as the music swells. It's timed beautifully, and you feel a sort of abstract sadness as the singer belts, "I'm the only one alive in the dead of night," and the tank slides, defeated, on the forest floor. You've "won," but it's bittersweet.
Most of the levels, however, aren't as finely tuned. A lot of times, the timing-based moves feel offbeat, like you should hit them a moment or two early or late to really be in-time with the music--or like they aren't really set to the tempo at all. It makes it hard to get into a lot of the songs, even though the soundtrack as a whole is excellent, and distracts from the overall spectacle of a level--you have to watch the prompts' visual cues rather than listen for the right timing most of the time.
Movement, too, can disrupt the flow of things. It can be hard to line yourself up properly for hearts, turns, and jumps; you might find yourself a little bit to the right or left of where you thought you'd be. This is largely caused by the independent camera, which sometimes leaves you blind going into turns or unsure of how obstacles and collectibles will line up. The highly stylized, dreamy feel of each level also leaves some ambiguity as to the placement of things. I found myself wishing there were either fewer obstacles or tighter controls; while the flowy feel of moving side to side fits the aesthetic perfectly, it's hard to stay in the zone when you're constantly tipping the analog sticks slightly to better line yourself up.
Each level continues into the next not like tracks on an album would, but with short breaks in between. On top of that, the main story mode kicks you to the menu after each level to see your score and select the next song. There is a seamless mode of these same levels in the extras section, and the broken-up structure lends itself well to mobile or handheld play--but the story is the first mode you're introduced to, and it's only about the length of a long album. Where you might listen to an album all the way through at least once before jumping around and picking songs, you do the opposite in Sayonara Wild Hearts, and that saps it of its momentum.
On repeat playthroughs, I found myself getting more and more used to Sayonara Wild Hearts' quirks and better appreciating each level as I gained the muscle memory for them. Only a few hit me like Dead of Night did, and those levels are stellar. But the rest are either forgettable or somehow discordant, whether because of movement issues or strange timing. I wanted to get lost in the daydream it presented, but I kept getting ripped back to reality, just a bit more melancholic than when I started.
Sayonara Wild Hearts Review – All That Glitters
Playing Sayonara Wild Hearts' best levels is an intangible, hard-to-describe feeling. When the art, the movement, and the music all come together in a track, it's absolutely captivating. But it's also fleeting, and I spent the majority of my time playing Sayonara Wild Hearts chasing that feeling. It came through in a few standout levels, but for most of the game, I found myself on the verge of falling in love with songs only to fall short of that high.
It's an interesting kind of music game. The main goal is to simply flow with the music, rather than hit a series of precise rhythm-based inputs or dance along to beats. Crystalline hearts line the paths you ride (or fly) through, and often, following the hearts is the best way to get through a level safely without scrambling to avoid oncoming obstacles. Timed inputs are reserved for flashier moves--big jumps, deft dodges, graceful attacks--and these sequences are all scripted, so all you have to do is hit the button somewhat on time and then watch as the moves play out to the music. The camera and forward movement, including your speed, are automatic, too, leaving you to move only from side to side with rare exception. This all lends Sayonara Wild Hearts a dreamlike feel; you are both participant and observer, somewhat in control but mostly just along for the ride.
Initially, the dreaminess of Sayonara Wild Hearts is enchanting. The scripted moves, which often come during fight sequences against brightly colored antagonists, have a distinct magical-girl flair. Dodging an attack becomes a balletic leap, a flurry of punches culminates in an explosion of color, and even punch-induced vomit (in one level) is so colorful and abstract that it flows seamlessly with the overall aesthetic. Some levels are bathed in electric neons, while others are more pensive, dark blue interdimensional affairs. And yet all of them, even at their most bright and exciting, are tinged with melancholy, largely due to the heartbreak-infused pop soundtrack--it's the kind of music that, if it were to come on in a bar, would make you feel incredibly lonely but also kind of like dancing.
When this all works together, it really works. My favorite level, Dead of Night, closely matches the music with the action and, as a result, the song has impact. During the buildup, you ride your motorcycle through the forest, weaving between trees and picking up hearts while all is calm. Ahead of you are four masked enemies; they strike a group pose, and then, right as the drop hits, their three-headed wolf tank appears and the mini-boss-like sequence begins. You slide side to side to dodge attacks, then hit X with the prompt to leap over the tank as the music swells. It's timed beautifully, and you feel a sort of abstract sadness as the singer belts, "I'm the only one alive in the dead of night," and the tank slides, defeated, on the forest floor. You've "won," but it's bittersweet.
Most of the levels, however, aren't as finely tuned. A lot of times, the timing-based moves feel offbeat, like you should hit them a moment or two early or late to really be in-time with the music--or like they aren't really set to the tempo at all. It makes it hard to get into a lot of the songs, even though the soundtrack as a whole is excellent, and distracts from the overall spectacle of a level--you have to watch the prompts' visual cues rather than listen for the right timing most of the time.
Movement, too, can disrupt the flow of things. It can be hard to line yourself up properly for hearts, turns, and jumps; you might find yourself a little bit to the right or left of where you thought you'd be. This is largely caused by the independent camera, which sometimes leaves you blind going into turns or unsure of how obstacles and collectibles will line up. The highly stylized, dreamy feel of each level also leaves some ambiguity as to the placement of things. I found myself wishing there were either fewer obstacles or tighter controls; while the flowy feel of moving side to side fits the aesthetic perfectly, it's hard to stay in the zone when you're constantly tipping the analog sticks slightly to better line yourself up.
Each level continues into the next not like tracks on an album would, but with short breaks in between. On top of that, the main story mode kicks you to the menu after each level to see your score and select the next song. There is a seamless mode of these same levels in the extras section, and the broken-up structure lends itself well to mobile or handheld play--but the story is the first mode you're introduced to, and it's only about the length of a long album. Where you might listen to an album all the way through at least once before jumping around and picking songs, you do the opposite in Sayonara Wild Hearts, and that saps it of its momentum.
On repeat playthroughs, I found myself getting more and more used to Sayonara Wild Hearts' quirks and better appreciating each level as I gained the muscle memory for them. Only a few hit me like Dead of Night did, and those levels are stellar. But the rest are either forgettable or somehow discordant, whether because of movement issues or strange timing. I wanted to get lost in the daydream it presented, but I kept getting ripped back to reality, just a bit more melancholic than when I started.
D&D’s Celebrity Players Explain Its Recent Surge in Popularity
Dungeons & Dragons has been around since 1974, when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson published the first rule set - one that sparked the dawn of almost all other tabletop role-playing games - from a basement in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. By the end of the 1980s, tens of millions of players worldwide were plundering dungeons and slaying dragons, and despite social stigma (and a pretty intense political movement) during the 70s and 80s, D&D remained one of the most popular games in all of geekdom.
Now, more than 45 years after the birth of the game, D&D has more players than ever. But why has this traditionally stigmatized game become so incredibly successful? We asked some of the biggest names in the world of Dungeons & Dragons what they think makes D&D a critical hit.
How Tom Holland Helped Save the Spider-Man MCU Deal
If you, like countless others, are breathing a huge sigh of relief that Sony and Marvel have decided to make nice and partner on a third Spider-Man MCU film, you’ve got Tom Holland to thank. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor played an instrumental role in convincing the powers that be at Sony and Disney to patch things up.
36 New The Last of Us Part 2 Story, Character, Release Details
After months and months of quiet, The Last of Us Part 2 jumped back into the spotlight in September with a brand new story trailer, release date, and a hands-on opportunity that allowed us to play two hours of the Naughty Dog sequel. From our preview time with The Last of Us Part 2, we learned a lot of details, large and small, about how the sequel evolves the original game.
With that in mind, I've broken down those details, ranging from gameplay, setting, characters, and release plans for The Last of Us Part 2, below. (If any of this feels familiar, I covered much of it in my preview, but be sure to read on for even more!)
Eddie Murphy to Make Beverly Hills Cop 4 After Coming to America 2
Eddie Murphy is reportedly planning on making Beverly Hills Cop 4 after finishing production on Coming to America 2.
In an interview with Collider, Murphy, who is returning to host Saturday Night Live for the first time since 1984, elaborated on his intentions for a new movie.
“Yeah that’s what we’re doing after Coming to America 2,” Murphy said. “We’re doing Beverly Hills Cop and then the plan is to get back on stage and do standup. That’s what I’ll be doing mostly is standup. These movies and Saturday Night Live it’s kind of like…I’m looking at it as a bookend. If I decided I wanted to stay on the couch forever, I ended it on a funny note.”
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker Will Reveal How Strong The Force Is
Star Wars: The Last Jedi left us with plenty of questions, like “are Rey’s parents really nameless drifters?” Or “who is that dang broom kid?” Perhaps most importantly, we were left with a lot of questions about the true strength of the Force, and what that strength looks like in an era where the Jedi lineage is hanging on by a mere thread. Wonder no more, at least not until December. The Rise of Skywalker co-writer Chris Terrio says we’ll learn once and for all just how strong the Force really is in the final film.
In an interview with Empire, Terrio addressed what he believed to be the two biggest questions that will drive the plot of The Rise of Skywalker. First, there’s the matter of “who is Rey?” and her murky heritage.