If you had trouble getting to sleep last night, it was probably thanks to the huge disturbance in the force caused by $4.5bn changing hands. Disney now owns LucasFilm, which means that it now owns Star Wars. And there’s a new one on the way.
Join us as we take a quick snap shot of the web’s reaction… Read more
Movies about video games tend to be a bit on the really, truly terrible side of the “why did they bother?” spectrum, but that’s because most tend to pilfer the ludicrous gaming worlds and try to build a serious story around them. For Wreck-It Ralph, Disney’s taken another approach – poking gentle fun at the world of gaming writ-large. With many a retro gaming cameo to boot. Read more
“Over the next couple of years somebody’s going to build a game that reaches a billion people,” Bart Decrem, publisher of hit iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge, told a gathering of journalists and toy makers at a briefing in London this week.
That’s a sixth of the world’s population, but as daunting as that is, it’s a feat that’s beginning to look feasible. Angry Birds isn’t far off: Rovio has clocked more than 500 million downloads of its spectacular gaming success.
But Decrem doesn’t work for Rovio. Decrem is Disney’s new head of mobile, and he wants to get there first. But using Disney’s instantly recognisable characters to do so? Too easy.
Since Steve Jobs is Disney’s largest individual shareholder, it’s not all that surprising to see the company’s imagineers (aka designers and engineers to the rest of us) using the iPad in a major redesign project at Disney World in Florida. The team creating a new version of the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland have released an interesting video showing how they use the tablets and proprietary Disney software to manipulate 3D images of new buildings in the field.
The iPads are also used to grab pictures and video of problem areas and to have meetings on the fly. While there are plenty of Android tablets that could do the job, we’re sure Steve would say they’re just not “magical” enough for the Magic Kingdom. Click through to see the video. It’s a great behind-the-scenes insight into how a theme park gets put together…
The prospect of iTunes Replay, an iCloud-based movie streaming service which would allow you to re-download previous purchases for free, was revived in a string of rumours last week. However, reports from the US have now doused those claims with the cold, cold water of reality.
While the latest Apple TV update gave US owners the ability to stream any previously purchased TV show from the cloud, it seems arguments over rights have stopped the iTunes Replay plans in their tracks. Apple is reportedly struggling to get all the major movie studios on board and that doesn’t bode well for the UK…
Your own Tron lightcycle? Now that’d be tricky but your own Tron Segway? Well, that’s within your grasp. Inspired by Tron: Legacy, Ricky Brigante gave his Segway i2 Personal Transporter a makeover to make it look like one of The Grid’s vehicles. The low-tech redesigned uses 2in reflective tape, blue LED Christmas lights and electrical tape. He used Photoshop to help him map the design onto his Segway. You can see the Tron Segway on video after the break…
Disney’s Epic Mickey for Wii was the talk of E3, thanks to the family entertainment giant’s surprising move to cede creative control of its most famous character over to Warren Spector, a man better known for dark, adult games like System Shock and Deus Ex. Could this really be the same company who pumps out cross platform cash-ins for all its new movies?
The game’s now on sale and the first verdicts are out, so see what the gaming gurus made of this bold move in our Epic Mickey review roundup.
Tron: Evolution is here for Xbox 360 and PS3 to flesh out the somewhat incomprehensible narrative of Tron: Legacy with a prequel back story, and lots and lots free running. Shameless cash in? Genuinely good game? Read our Tron: Evolution review and find out.
