Pokemon Go maker Niantic making a game of the world

SAN FRANCISCO - Pokemon Go maker Niantic on Wednesday moved closer to turning the world into a giant game board in a fun mix of fantasy and reality.

San Francisco-based Niantic opened the door for outside developers to build titles to add to its current lineup of mobile games which includes Pokemon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. and Ingress.

"We think there are adventures everywhere waiting to be discovered," Niantic founder and chief executive John Hanke said at a press briefing.

He laid out a vision of "planet-scale" augmented reality where the technology gets people "off the couch and playing together" in parks, streets, cafes and just about anywhere "atoms and bytes meet" and users can ramble in search of virtual creatures.

The invitation to developers interested in building on the Niantic platform came as the company announced that "Run to My Heart" made by JCSoft in Silicon Valley took top place in the company's first "Beyond Reality Contest" that featured a total of $1 million in prize money.

Themes of games in the competition ranged from steampunk tank battles to protecting animal sanctuaries.

"We decided to combine love of running and games as a way for friends to go out and explore," said Jenny Xu of JCSoft, a family enterprise.

The game is set in a world where people who don't run are turned into potatoes.

A Niantic creator program set to launch early next year will have a fund of $10 million to be spent over the course of three years to help developers build experiences for its AR platform.

"Augmented reality is going to reshape the entertainment experiences of tomorrow, altering how we engage with the digital and real worlds," said Niantic head of developer relations Kellee Santiago.

"We know developers are key to creating the new kinds of experiences that get people to explore and connect with the real world."

Niantic collaborated with Warner Brothers Games to create Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Pokemon Go was created in a partnership with Nintendo.

Pointing the way

Niantic is looking to improve the real-world maps that provide destinations or points of engagement such as Pokemon Go gyms where virtual battles take place.

Niantic games have been built with the help of player-contributed map information that dates back to when people playing its first game Ingress used smartphones with GPS capabilities to submit places of potential interest.

"We call them waypoints," Hanke said.

"This has been a journey along with our players; as more people play they curate the data."

Since the launch of Ingress some eight years ago, about 27 million locations have been submitted for consideration as waypoints, with 9.4 million having become part of the "live game board."

A "Wayfarer" program now allows high-level players of Niantic games to submit spots they think special for consideration as new points on the game board.

"We are building the foundations for planet-scale AR," Hanke said.

Niantic is also bolstering the business side of its platform by letting small or medium-size businesses schedule events such as Pokemon Go "raids" where players rally together to battle tough in-game adversaries.

Previously, Niantic had only had such partnerships with nationwide companies such as McDonalds or 7-Eleven.

"This is the first time mom-and-pop shops can easily and quickly become a part of Niantic's products," said partnership products lead Carla Li.

Shops can use the opportunities to bring in people when business is slow and make their presence known in communities. The partnerships also revenue opportunities by being able to promote businesses without interrupting play with traditional ads.

Niantic was also tapping into machine vision and other technology to make games more interactive, such as enabling virtual characters to act more naturally by waiting for doors to open or avoiding bumping into people.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Will Smith movie 'Bright' gets a sequel

MANILA – Video streaming service Netflix announced on Thursday that its latest big-budget offering, “Bright,” is getting a sequel.

This after it became the No. 1 movie on Netflix in over 190 countries – with more people viewing the film internationally than domestically – since its premiere on December 22, 2017.

Director David Ayer and stars Will Smith and Joel Edgerton have been confirmed to be part of the sequel.

“Bright” is set in an alternate version of present-day Los Angeles, where humans live alongside supernatural beings like orcs, elves, and fairies.

Smith plays the role of Daryl Ward, a human police officer who is racist against orcs like Nick Jakoby (Edgerton).

In a previous interview, Smith and Edgerton talked about the movie’s racial undertones and anti-bullying message.

“I became very much in love with the character of that orc who is bullied by everybody. I felt like the whole script was saying something about bullying en masse, like bullying other cultures, religions, and groups,” Edgerton said.

   
Smith, for his part, said: “In playing [my role], I learned a lot, looking at the racial and class divides from that angle in a science-fiction film.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Netflix movie 'Bright' sends anti-bullying message

TOKYO, JAPAN – Netflix’ newest movie not only seeks to entertain as it also sends a powerful message about bullying.

“Bright” is set in an alternate version of present-day Los Angeles, where humans live alongside supernatural beings like orcs, elves, and fairies.

The movie also marks the reunion of lead star Will Smith and director David Ayer, who last worked together in “Suicide Squad.”

Smith said he was able to experience “a very different social paradigm” in his role as Daryl Ward, a human police officer who is racist against orcs.

“The elves are at the top of society, they’re the rich people that have everything. And the orcs are at the bottom of society. They’re the people that everybody looks down on. So humans are in the middle,” he said in a press conference at The Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo.

“In playing [that role], I learned a lot, looking at the racial and class divides from that angle in a science-fiction film,” he added.

In “Bright,” Smith stars alongside Joel Edgerton, who takes on the role of the earnest orc cop Nick Jakoby.

Bullied all his life by humans, elves, and even his fellow orcs, Jakoby seeks to make a name for himself as a police officer and was tasked to work with Ward (Smith).

Edgerton hopes that through his character in “Bright,” he is able to represent “everybody who is judged, bullied, and mistreated when all they want is to be judged based on their actions and merits.”

“When I read the script… I was very hooked,” he said. “I became very much in love with the character of that orc who is bullied by everybody. I felt like the whole script was saying something about bullying en masse, like bullying other cultures, religions, and groups.”

Ayer, for his part, said he wanted to use “Bright” as “a great opportunity to make a movie with a message in it.”

“Bright” also stars Noomi Rapace and Lucy Fry, who portray the elves Tikka and Leilah, respectively.

The movie is available in Netflix worldwide.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Amazon to produce 'Lord of the Rings' television series

Amazon.com Inc has bought the global television rights to "The Lord of the Rings," the company said on Monday, in what may be its biggest and most expensive move yet to draw viewers to its streaming and shopping club Prime.

Amazon said it will produce a multi-season series that explores new storylines preceding author J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first installment in the famed fantasy trilogy.

Three movies made of the trilogy in the early 2000s, filmed in New Zealand and based on Tolkien's novels, garnered nearly $3 billion at the box office and 17 Academy Awards.

New Line Cinema, which distributed the film trilogy, the Tolkien Estate and Trust, and publisher HarperCollins will work with Amazon to produce the television series.

Amazon did not say how much it was paying for the rights.

The project underscores a shift in Amazon's video programming. Its studio started in 2010 with a focus on unique shows beloved by critics, such as "Transparent," about a father coming out as transgender to his family.

That was a winning formula for attracting Hollywood talent, awards and buzz, though not Prime subscribers around the world.

Now, Amazon is looking for a dramatic show that could be a hit globally, much like HBO's popular fantasy series "Game of Thrones."

This puts Amazon in uncharted territory, with higher-than-usual production costs expected so it can transport viewers to Middle Earth.

Amazon justifies its spending on programming as a way to draw new sign-ups to Prime, whose members buy more goods more often from the world's largest online retailer.

"Amazon is committed to producing super high quality, recognized, branded entertainment," said Wedbush Securities industry analyst Michael Pachter. "That's a departure from shows like "Transparent" and "Catastrophe.""

"By definition this will be expensive," he added.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Review: 'Cinderella' makes kindness its own magic

MANILA -- There's a warmth to Disney's live-action adaptation of "Cinderella" that's sorely lacking in what passes as kids' entertainment nowadays. You come out smiling, knowing you've been entertained without completely knowing why.

Part of it is seeing the familiar: a fairy tale that hits all the right beats without crushing it under a cynical boot heel. There's CGI in the movie but not at the sacrifice of character. There's darkness but never at the expense of joy.

"Cinderella" teases you with the promise of a traditional fairy tale, charms you with lavishness and then strips away its own trappings to reveal the beating heart of its own humanity. It's the type of movie you wish Hollywood would do more of for kids -- at once, both old-fashioned and charming in its own right. And once in a while, we get our wish.

What's refreshing about this take is balance. Director Kenneth Branagh provides no deconstructions here, no misunderstood witches or horrifying giants, no damsels in distress with swords and full body armor. Cinderella, as played by Lily James, exudes the kind of beauty that radiates from the inside, soft as starlight.

At the start of the story, Ella's happy childhood loses part of its luster when she loses her mom, played by Hayley Atwell. Before dying, mom gives Ella some words of wisdom: "Have courage and be kind" - words that Ella will live by until adulthood. The words sound twee and there's a wee bit of lag as Ella grows up but it's all set up for what comes ahead: more heartbreak, loss, abuse, redemption.

When Ella's coldly malicious stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and her two daughters enter the picture, you know you've found the stuff that teleseryes are made of. Cate Blanchett as the stepmom is in full Cherie Gil mode here, deftly hiding her contempt for Ella in silken gloves -- insisting that Ella call her "Madam" before relegating her to the attic.

Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drizella (Sophie McShera) fare no better as the lazy, contemptuous stepsisters but it is the stepmother that is given an extra layer of malevolence. Tremaine grounds her wickedness in human need; you recognize her selfishness and remain chilled as she twists things to her own advantage. When Ella suffers taunts that turn to bullying and then outright abuse at her stepmother's hands, you ask - will kindness and courage be enough? This story tells us - everyone needs help, even from the most unexpected places.

Here, too, do we find Branagh's courage and confidence in the Cinderella story. Ella's first meeting with Prince Kit (Richard Madden) in the woods is as comfortable as wearing a glove. Prince Kit comes off as a boy learning to be a man: his goodness is rooted from the lessons he learned from his father, played by a commanding Derek Jacobi. When he finds his counterpoint in Ella, in a meeting of unknown equals, something is kindled and we find the spark. This, then, is the stuff that fairy tales are made of -- a recognition of kindred souls with similar values.

From here on out, it's all razzle-dazzle and spectacle. The prince invites all young maidens to a royal ball to find the girl in the woods, but Ella is forced to stay behind. Here, she meets her fairy godmother, played by a delightfully kooky Helena Bonham Carter, and gets a complete makeover complete with glass slippers, pumpkin turned golden chariot and mouse friends turned into steeds.

And then off to the ballroom scene, surely the most lush and beautiful in recent cinema before that breath-taking run back as the coach turns back to a pumpkin, the coachmen become lizards and the horses become mice. And of course, that glass slipper and the search for the runaway bride-to-be.

I'll stop there because everyone knows the ending. Branagh strips away artifice and lets kindness create its own magic, its own deus ex machina. And the restraint pays off. You don't need fairy godmothers to make storybook beginnings. Kindness to others, the courage to stand up for what's right, and a lot of help from friends - these are the things that can create their own magic.

"Cinderella" opens in cinemas in the Philippines on Thursday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com