ESPN's broadcast of the US Open was cut short for DirecTV users on Sunday after Disney issued a blackout midway through on all of its networks. It occurred after a 2019 deal expired without a new agreement for a licensing deal between the two companies.
Unsurprisingly, DirecTV and Disney disagree on which company is to blame. "The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system," Rob Thun, chief content officer at DIRECTV, said in a statement. "They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers — making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price."
DirecTV's release also claimed that Disney mandated at the last minute that it "must agree to waive all claims that Disney's behavior is anti-competitive" to proceed with a deal. The provider further called out Disney for being unpopular with many of DirecTV's customers. It also took issue with Disney putting its "best programming," like The Bear and Only Murders In The Building, directly on streaming services while filling ABC with "cheap-to-produce primetime gameshows, unscripted spinoffs, old former ABC hits, or simulcast content."
In contrast, Disney claimed that DirecTV "chose" to deny their subscribers access to content. "While we're open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we've extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs," stated Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairmen of Disney Entertainment, and Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN. "We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that's what our viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what's in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming."
A similar disagreement occurred at the same time last year. In that instance, Disney pulled its networks from Spectrum for 12 days until making a new deal with Charter, Spectrum's parent company. The agreement brought back channels like ABC and ESPN, and Spectrum TV Select and Select Plus subscribers also got access to the Disney+ basic tier and ESPN+ (only Select Plus users). In its release, DirecTV called out this pattern, claiming that "Disney is again taking an anti-consumer approach."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/disney-cuts-directv-customers-access-to-abc-espn-and-more-123047594.html?src=rss
Heart-warming little adventure games have really found a place to thrive in the Playdate. I picked up Electrolight this weekend while looking for something in the same vein as the bite-sized puzzle/exploration game, Eyeland — cute, low-commitment, not particularly difficult — and found it to be utterly charming.
Electrolight is described as “a tiny game about a tiny piece of light on a tiny adventure.” In it, you’re just a twinkle of light trying to find your way out of a computer so you can see the world. There are only a handful of rooms to explore, with a few simple puzzles to solve and items to collect that will help you advance on your mission. And there are some inspirational messages sprinkled throughout to encourage you on your journey toward new experiences.
Weakty
It’s a short game that’s perfect for a moment when you just want something lighthearted to keep you busy for a half-hour or so. I completed it in about 20 minutes. Electrolight only costs $2 on the Playdate Catalog.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/electrolight-is-a-short-and-sweet-playdate-adventure-game-about-branching-out-213656431.html?src=rss
If this week’s rumor about a video game set in the universe of 2022’s The Batman got your hopes up, I have some bad news: no such thing is in development at the moment. Responding to a question on Threads about whether Warner Bros. has a game in the works based on the Robert Pattinson-led film, DC Studios’ co-head James Gunn said, “Sadly there is no truth to this whatsoever.” The rumor stems from a Puck report that was published on Friday.
The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, popped back up in theaters on Wednesday as part of AMC’s celebration of the 85th anniversary of Batman. Work on a sequel is currently underway, and an HBO limited series focusing on The Penguin is slated to come out this fall. We aren’t getting a video game spin-off any time soon, though. And, in case you were wondering, “There is also no truth to Tubthumping by Chumbawamba being played on the set of Superman (this is a real rumor on Reddit someone just sent me!),” Gunn posted.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/no-a-video-game-spin-off-of-the-batman-is-not-in-the-works-james-gunn-says-211149164.html?src=rss
The highly illegal but very popular media streaming site Fmovies and an affiliated network of pirated movie and TV show websites have been shut down. The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global coalition of movie studios and entertainment companies including Disney, NBCUniversal and MGM, announced the dismantling of the illegal streaming site, several of its other websites including bflixz, flixtorz, movies7, myflixer and aniwave and its video hosting provider vidsrc.to, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Fmovies operation was based in Vietnam. Hanoi police arrested two unidentified men in connection with the pirated media empire who are awaiting charges.
Fmovies launched in 2016 and racked up 374 million monthly visits more than 6.7 billion visits from January 2023-June 2024. Data from SimilarWeb ranked Fmovies as the 280th most visited website in any category and the 11th most popular TV, movies and streaming website. ACE called the Fmovies syndicate “the largest piracy ring in the world,” according to a statement released earlier today.
The website even has its own subreddit where users could request and share links to TV shows and movies. As authorities closed in on the Fmovies operators, Reddit users started posting notices that the syndicate’s streaming sites weren’t working or starting to shut down. When news of Fmovies’ demise started to surface, users started asking for suggestions of alternate pirating sites.
ACE Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin called the shutdown and arrests “a stunning victory for casts, crews, directors, studios and the creative community across the globe.”
The walls seem to be closing around some of the web’s bigger media pirates. ACE claimed an earlier victory on August 15 following the shutdown of the aniwave illegal anime streaming website. Another pirate website, fboxz.to, shut down a few days later and posted a goodbye note on its homepage telling its visitors to “Please pay for the movies/shows, that’s what we should do to show our respect to people behind the movies/shows,” according to TorrentFreak.
The past month hasn’t been kinder to online pirates either. Earlier this month, the US extradited Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload who was the poster child for online piracy in the 2010s, from New Zealand to face charges for operating his video downloading empire.
Authorities arrested Dotcom in 2012 in his New Zealand home on counts including racketeering, copyright infringement, money laundering and copyright distribution. His indictment claims that Megaupload caused $500 million in damages and made $175 million in advertising and subscription revenue from its illegal media library.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/the-worlds-largest-tv-and-movies-piracy-streaming-ring-is-dead-230141145.html?src=rss
The Oldest House could be coming to a big screen near you. TV and film adaptations of Control and Alan Wake may be on the way after Remedy Entertainment struck a deal with Annapurna Pictures. Annapurna is stumping up half of the development budget for Control 2 and in return it snapped up the rights to adapt the two franchises.
Remedy fully owns the intellectual property of both after it bought the rights to Control from 505 Games earlier this year. The two franchises exist in an MCU-style shared universe, and they're both highly cinematic. Expanding them into audiovisual mediums makes a lot of sense.
Remedy will take the lion's share of Control 2 game revenue after both sides have recouped their investments. Annapurna will keep most of the proceeds of any TV and film projects. No specifics have been revealed about how it may adapt Control and Alan Wake.
The studio is behind movies such as Zero Dark Thirty, Her and Nimona, which turned out to be a surprise hit on Netflix. It's starting to turn games published by its excellent Annapurna Interactive division into films as well. An animated Stray movie is on the way.
"Annapurna’s expertise across film, TV and video games makes them an ideal partner for us," Remedy CEO Tero Virtala said. "This agreement will ensure we can develop Control 2 into the best game possible, allow us to move into self-publishing for selected titles and expand our franchises to other mediums."
The agreement should alleviate some financial pressure on Remedy. Control 2 had an initial budget of 50 million euros ($55.4 million), but that number could end up rising. Moving into TV and film will give Remedy a fresh revenue stream too.
Remedy's operating profit nosedived over the last couple of years. It had 19 million euros ($21.1 million) in net cash at the end of June, down from 31.7 million euros a year earlier. Its games have been critically acclaimed. However, Alan Wake 2, which Remedy said in February was its fastest-selling game to date, had only "recouped most of its development and marketing expenses" as of earlier this month.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-alan-wake-and-control-universe-may-expand-to-film-and-tv-175949089.html?src=rss
Netflix and the BBC have released an all-too-brief look at Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. A clip from the stop-motion animated movie features Wallace proudly revealing his latest invention, a “smart gnome” called Norbot. The robot aggressively shakes Gromit’s paw while introducing itself to the pooch, hinting at trouble ahead.
It’s a very short clip, but it’s full of charm and wit. The concept of a smart gnome as a riff on the smart home is funny by itself and it perfectly matches the type of humor the Wallace and Gromit series is known for. Wallace encouraging Gromit to put the voice-activated Norbot through its paces is a great touch too, considering that the beagle is famously silent.
There’s something not quite right about Norbot — the robot has a creepy design and an all-too-chipper attitude (the great Reece Shearsmith voices it). According to the Radio Times, the smart gnome is designed to perform any gardening task or “gnome improvement” (heh). It proves a hit with Wallace and Gromit’s neighbors, at least until things start to go wrong in what may well be cinema’s most terrifying instance of AI running amok yet. Wallace and Gromit will have even more problems on their plate, as the film includes the return of franchise villain Feathers McGraw.
“We are delighted to introduce Norbot, a ‘Nifty Odd-jobbing Robot’ gnome, designed to help Gromit with his gardening chores,” directors Nick Park (the series’ creator) and Merlin Crossingham said in a statement. “Norbot is Wallace’s most proud achievement to date and, according to Wallace, his ‘best invention ever!’ Garden gnomes have long been a part of Wallace and Gromit’s world, but this is no cute patio ornament… We’re so excited to see Wallace unleashing his latest invention, Norbot, into the world. However, his long-suffering pooch, Gromit, may be a little less sure…”
It’s almost hard to believe that Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is just the second full-length film in the franchise’s long and Oscar-laden history. It will arrive almost two decades after The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Netflix announced a deal with Aardman a couple of years ago to bring new Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit films to its platform. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will arrive on the streaming service later this year everywhere except the UK, where it will premiere on the BBC.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/netflixs-wallace-and-gromit-movie-features-a-smart-gnome-robot-in-a-teaser-clip-143224865.html?src=rss
ESPN launched a feature called Where to Watch in its app and website. This guide is a list of all the sporting events happening on a given day and, fittingly, where you can watch them. The resource covers not just ESPN's own channels, but also broadcast, cable and regional sports networks and streaming services. Users can prioritize their favorite leagues and teams to make details about those games front and center. People who are authenticated pay TV customers or ESPN+ subscribers can click through to watch the live events if they are an ESPN network stream or a select partner network.
ESPN is hardly the first to come up with this idea. In fact, you can already see a comprehensive list of all kinds of athletic events on the Sports page of Just Watch. But the fact that it's such a useful tool is a sign of just how convoluted it can be to watch a specific game. Sports leagues are fragmented across a host of rights deals that mean your team might play on one media platform one night and a totally different one the next. For instance, NBA and WNBA matches will predominantly be on ESPN in the coming years. Except for when the games are on NBC and Peacock. And when they're on Prime Video. Resources like Just Watch or ESPN's Where to Watch might give you the information, but they don't reduce the costs of being a loyal viewer.
If that wasn't enough, there are also new sports-centric streaming options on the horizon from ESPN. The Disney-owned company is planning to offer a standalone streaming subscription next year and it's also a partner in the proposed Venu sports streaming package (although that's hit some hurdles).
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/espns-where-to-watch-offers-a-tv-and-streaming-guide-to-sports-viewing-221350244.html?src=rss
There are a ton of Rugratsgames from early CD-ROM games to the Nintendo 64 but there’s never really been one that truly stood out on its own. The MIX Games, Wallride and Limited Run Games may have given us the definitive Rugratsgame with Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland set for release on September 10 on Steam and both current and previous-gen consoles.
The new throwback Rugrats game was announced last year almost to the date. Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland looks like it was inspired by those classic NES platformers that fueled your childhood fun and frustration (funstration?). The game comes in two modes: HD mode featuring graphics that look just like the Nicktoon and a special 8-bit mode that looks like it came out on a throwback console.
You’ll be able to play as Tommy, Chuckie, Phil and Lil as you traverse the Pickles house. The babies are pretending that their homestead has transformed into their own video game, which may just be the most adorably meta thing ever.
Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland can be played in solo or two-player co-op mode. Limited Run Games is also releasing the game on orange and classic gray NES cartridges but you missed your chance to buy one because they’ve already sold out.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/rugrats-adventures-in-gameland-crawls-out-of-its-playpen-on-september-10-212021343.html?src=rss
Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi spotted an Instagram feature that may be in development: real-time Spotify integration. The extant code seems to indicate that songs played on Spotify will create Notes automatically within Instagram. These Notes appear on top of your inbox and profile picture if people tap to view your Instagram profile.
This sort of feature already exists in Discord. And Instagram Users can already add Spotify tracks to their Notes or Stories manually, so iterating on that isn't completely outrageous. That said, Instagram isn’t the type of chat platform people keep open for extended periods so it's unclear if there would be as much value in real-time music integration, should the feature ever properly see the light of day.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/instagram-may-be-adding-real-time-spotify-integration-170040342.html?src=rss
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 first appeared with an intriguing trailer as part of Microsoft's summer showcase, teasing a dream world where squads of adventurers fight in a bid to defeat “The Paintress” who is gradually shaving years off the maximum life that people could live.
It’s a very JRPG-sounding premise. It’s the first title from new French studio Sandfall Interactive, set in a bleak, ethereal world inspired by Belle Époque-era France (spot the twisted Eiffel Tower), adding slightly more reason to battle this powerful, mysterious Paintress. You’ll play a team of Expeditioners, exploring fantastical landscapes and fighting monsters to defeat the Paintress. It sounds vague because well, I don’t quite understand what the hell is going on. I went back to the trailer – perhaps that will help clarify things.
Clear as mud. But that’s fine, this is a fantasy RPG — I didn't expect to understand the story from the outset. I recently watched some hands-off gameplay with Guillaume Broche, Creative Director for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and the game’s producer, François Meurisse.
We toured a handful of levels and locations, also introducing a handful of the party characters. You’ll start the game with Gustave. Each party member has their own unique battle mechanic, which charges up during battles. You can increase the charge speed with judicious guarding, dodging and parrying. With Gustave’s robotic arm, for example, he can build up a shock attack that he can unleash early for extra damage, or charge up further for an extra aggressive strike.
Maelle, Gustave’s adoptive sister who goes missing early in the game, has a stance technique that can augment her battle stats after an attack from her fencing saber. The game is turn-based, with enemies and allies able to attack (or recover) in a predetermined order. This is augmented with some action RPG touches and QTEs (quick-time events) where you’ll need to defend with precision timing. Get enough parries in a row, and characters will damage the enemy heavily. I got to see a boss monster strike my entire party — fortunately, you only have to nail the dodge once for the entire team to block or parry. The fights themselves are reminiscent of Persona 5, with dramatic camera-angle shifts, inky, paint-themed special effects and a focus on the beautiful character (and monster) design. Special attacks and spells use ability points, which are also replenished from successful guarding and QTE timing. In short, you will still have to pay attention during battles. Sorry.
Alongside Maelle and Gustave, the party in the demo was rounded out by Lune, apparently the team’s mage. You’ll come across the rest of your expeditionary party during the adventure, in typical JRPG style. Broche told me at the outset that Expedition 33 was a tribute to the classic RPGs of the ‘90s, even if it looks nothing like them. Outside of pixelated Switch adventures, turn-based RPGs have long fallen out of favor, replaced by action RPGs, even for remade titles. This is Sandfall Interactive’s attempt to reinvigorate the turn-based RPG for 2024.
Each character has a dedicated weapon type that can be gradually enhanced and strengthened, adding new abilities as the character grows. I caught a glimpse of a complicated skill tree that players will get to chip away at. Elemental attacks will depend on the weapon your character is wielding, likely meaning some careful party creation (or customization) will be needed later in the game.
Beyond elemental weaknesses, some enemies will also have shielding that will protect them from your attacks. As you progress, some will have visible weaknesses that players will have to shoot at – usually with visual tells, like the weak spots on early anchor enemies. This free-aim system is also used in the environments. I saw a few ‘shooting’ puzzles used to unlock treasure and other rewards. Expedition 33 will be separated into different thematic areas, each offering alternative routes (some may offer extra treasure or tougher enemies) and visual landmarks that will offer more insight into the world and lore. The developers said that much of the story will have to be unearthed by players themselves, hunting down collectible notes from the husks of failed expeditions of the past.
Sandfall Interactive
The early environments I saw of Expedition 33 were gorgeous. One of the initial areas is built as if you’re walking along the bottom of the ocean, laced with plankton, coral and curtains of seaweed. In fact, the beautiful world is only outdone by the character models. The team seems to have put a lot of effort into making its heroes emote and react in a way you wouldn’t have seen in RPGs of old.
I’m wary of how much of an RPG epic the Sandfall Interactive team will be able to make, given its size. While I didn't get to play Expedition 33 at this point, I wonder how much exploration will be possible in the finished game and whether it will reward players’ curiosity beyond plot lore and mournful letters from dead expeditions.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will be released in 2025 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and PC.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/clair-obscur-expedition-33-is-a-turn-based-rpg-with-beautiful-artistic-flair-130050721.html?src=rss