How AR Game Ingress Directly Led to Pokemon Go
John Hanke and Mike Quigley of Niantic Labs recently revealed how their massively multiplayer augmented-reality game led to the development of Pokemon Go. In an interview with VentureBeat, the duo spoke about how their partnership with Nintendo started.
The Pokemon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara led the collaboration, though former Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata "had his hand on the wheel," Hanke said.
Iwata saw the need to embrace mobile gaming, and Ishihara, Hanke said, is a big fan of Niantic's Ingress. Ishihara and his wife are both high-level Ingress players—higher than Hanke himself. Niantic's chief executive does not, however, mention if Ishihara is a supporter of the Enlightened or the Resistance.
Star Wars Star Surprises Fans at New York and London Screenings
John Boyega, who plays Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has been making unannounced appearances at screenings of the recently opened movie, much to the delight of film-goers.
Somehow Boyega was able to make the time to surprise not only fans in New York theaters, but more recently, London theater-goers. The actor promised "random theatre pop-ups" in London. "You just might see me," he announced via his Twitter account.
Posting videos of his surprise visits to his Instagram account, Boyega told one New York theater he was "in the area, trying to get some drinks." His stops were "random," and he took time to interact with Star Wars fans. In one photo, Boyega looks like he's just made one kid's day, if not his whole year.
There’s a Population of Pokemon Living Near You Right Now
Pokemon Go developer John Hanke of Niantic Labs says that Pokemon are everywhere. "You can walk out of the house and within five minutes, you can find Pokemon," he told VentureBeat. "There'll be a population of Pokemon living near all our players."
Gyms, Hanke said, "will be a bit more rare," though they will be necessary in leveling up your Pokemon and for battling other players. It'll just take a little more effort to get there.
Pokemon will live in environments compatible with their types, like water types by water, Hanke said. "It may be that certain Pokemon will only exist in certain parts of the world. Very rare Pokemon may exist in very few places." So the Pokemon living on your street might not be the rarest in your area, but they could be Pokemon that aren't available elsewhere.
Nintendo Reveals Top 3 Games on Wii U, 3DS
Miiverse users have voted—Nintendo's top Wii U game of 2015 is Splatoon. The company held a vote on its Miiverse platform, allowing users to pick their favorite games for both Wii U and 3DS.
Splatoon came in at the number one spot, with fans citing its "fresh take on the online shooting genre" as proof of its prowess. IGN gave the colorful game an 8.6 for a similar reason. Nintendo is constantly refreshing the game, holding regular events and recently releasing two new maps.
R2-D2’s Arc in Star Wars: The Force Awakens Explained
R2-D2 has a rather mysterious role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and as such, the creative minds behind the film have come forward to explain the thinking behind the lovable droid's story arc.
During a post-screening Q&A this weekend (via EW), director and co-writer J.J. Abrams, co-writer Lawrence Kasdan and initial screenwriter Michael Arndt discussed Artoo's inclusion, diving into some plot-specific details. If you haven't yet seen the film you may want to stop reading, but if you have, this should clear a lot of things up.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoilers below.
Force Awakens Has Record-Breaking Opening Weekend
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has made movie history, setting a new record opening weekend high with a domestic debut of $238 million.
Disney also confirmed that J.J. Abrams' space epic made a whopping $279 million during its five-day international debut, bringing the current global earnings to a staggering $517 million.
"Our sole focus has been creating a film that delivers that one-of-a-kind Star Wars experience, and director J.J. Abrams, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and the Lucasfilm team have outdone themselves," Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn said in a statement.
"To all of the fans around the world who not only came out in Force to make this such an exciting and astronomical debut but who treated this film as their own and helped preserve the experience for their fellow fans by not spoiling it – thank you, we do."
Banshee: Season 4 Trailer
In anticipation of Banshee's return to TV this coming April, Cinemax has released a promo clip for Season 4.
In case you didn't already know, Banshee's fourth season will serve as its last. As such, its brief 45-second trailer is filled with ominous hints at the potentially grim fate that awaits Lucas Hood (Anthony Starr) and the rest of the crew.
The clip also littered with loads action-packed gunplay, a bit of romance and, yes, even a flamethrower. See it below.
Banshee: Season 4 will premiere on April 1 on Cinemax. While you patiently wait for its debut, check out IGN's review of Season 3 and our interview with EP Greg Yaitanes on its shocking finale.
Notable Hidden Force Awakens Cameo Revealed
Star Wars: The Force Awakens harkens back to the prior films on several occasions, and it's now been revealed that director J.J. Abrams went so far as to seek out contributions from some notable series alums beyond Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill and the other obvious returns, among them Ewan McGregor and Frank Oz.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoilers below.
In one particular scene with Rey (Daisy Ridley), after she picks up a certain lightsaber for the first time, the familiar voices of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi can be heard among the purposely jumbled images and sounds Rey is experiencing, and in an interview with EW, Abrams revealed how that scene was created, confirming that Ewan McGregor, Frank Oz and even the late Alec Guinness are all included in the film.
League of Legends’s Gravity Gaming Bought by Rick Fox
It was announced yesterday that former professional basketball player Rick Fox is the new owner of North American League of Legends team Gravity Gaming.
ESPN reporter Darren Rovell revealed on Twitter that the team will be rebranded as Echo Fox. Earlier this month, The Daily Dot reported that the team sold for $1 million, though the buyer was unknown at that time.
Former NBA player Rick Fox has purchased eSports team Gravity. Will rebrand as Echo Fox for next competition in League of Legends.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 18, 2015
Coleco Announces New Cartridge-Based Console
In a partnership with Retro Video Game Systems, Coleco has announced a new cartridge-based console system called the COLECO Chameleon.
Chameleon comes a little over 30 years after the company's Colecovision, which made IGN's list of the top 25 video game consoles of all time. Released in 1982, Colecovision was known for bringing popular arcade games into the home.
Coleco claims the Chameleon will be "a versatile new video game system that serves as a modern day take on the classic game console," and is promised to "accurately play classic games." The system will also play new 8-, 16-, and 32-bit games, all in the spirit of the "golden age of gaming."