Developer Platinum Games' style is instantly recognizable--flashy, fast-paced action that oozes with personality and flair. World of Demons brings that signature style to Apple Arcade, giving you control of a samurai named Onimaru and thrusting you into, well, a world of demons. That successful Platinum formula translates well to iOS devices, with simple touch controls and quick action that looks and feels great on the smaller screen. There are some issues lying underneath--mostly in the camera system--but those problems aren't enough to derail this otherwise solid action experience.

World of Demons follows Onimaru, a lone samurai fighting against an army of vicious demons called yokai. Our hero is building an army of his own, however, as every enemy he defeats will join him in the fight against the game's main antagonist, the demon king Shuten Doji. Onimaru himself controls exactly like a Platinum Games protagonist, deftly running around stages while slashing with his massive katana. Consecutive presses on the attack button will result in stylish combos, with better rewards given for higher combos at the end of a skirmish. Holding down the button will slow attacks down, making strikes more powerful but making you vulnerable to enemy counterattacks.

The yokai Onimaru battle comes in all shapes and sizes, from small bean farmers to massive pink blobs, each with its own attack abilities. Each yokai is assigned a color (red, blue, or green), with each color having strengths and weaknesses over the other in a rock-paper-scissors system. Defeating a yokai adds it to your collection, and before each chapter you'll be able to equip two yokai for the following mission. Other yokai defeated during the chapter are added to a "deck" and disappear after one use.

Developer Platinum Games' style is instantly recognizable--flashy, fast-paced action that oozes with personality and flair. World of Demons brings that signature style to Apple Arcade, giving you control of a samurai named Onimaru and thrusting you into, well, a world of demons. That successful Platinum formula translates well to iOS devices, with simple touch controls and quick action that looks and feels great on the smaller screen. There are some issues lying underneath--mostly in the camera system--but those problems aren't enough to derail this otherwise solid action experience.

World of Demons follows Onimaru, a lone samurai fighting against an army of vicious demons called yokai. Our hero is building an army of his own, however, as every enemy he defeats will join him in the fight against the game's main antagonist, the demon king Shuten Doji. Onimaru himself controls exactly like a Platinum Games protagonist, deftly running around stages while slashing with his massive katana. Consecutive presses on the attack button will result in stylish combos, with better rewards given for higher combos at the end of a skirmish. Holding down the button will slow attacks down, making strikes more powerful but making you vulnerable to enemy counterattacks.

The yokai Onimaru battle comes in all shapes and sizes, from small bean farmers to massive pink blobs, each with its own attack abilities. Each yokai is assigned a color (red, blue, or green), with each color having strengths and weaknesses over the other in a rock-paper-scissors system. Defeating a yokai adds it to your collection, and before each chapter you'll be able to equip two yokai for the following mission. Other yokai defeated during the chapter are added to a "deck" and disappear after one use.

When I reviewed Miitopia on 3DS in 2017, I wasn’t terribly impressed. The game was dull, simplistic, and felt so random that I barely felt like I was playing it. But, as we’ve learned over the years, games can be improved significantly from their initial launches, and I figured that a Switch remake of Miitopia would be the perfect opportunity for Nintendo to fix the flaws of the 3DS release. Unfortunately, while there are notable improvements, the core game is still the same tiresome, repetitive experience from four years ago.

Miitopia is a game where you take created Mii characters--based on yourself, friends and family, celebrities, fantasy characters, whoever--and “cast” them as player and NPC characters in a simple RPG story. The Dark Lord of Miitopia is ruining the peace and stealing the faces of the populace, so it’s up to you and your merry band of adventurers to gear up and put a stop to his wickedness, with plenty of goofy character interactions and dialogue snippets along the way.

It’s a cute and fun concept, and to Miitopia’s credit, the Switch version of the game features a fully revamped character creator that lets you go all-out with creating incredibly detailed Mii characters by layering different hair, eyes, facial features, and additional shapes. It takes time to make a really impressive Mii, but if you’re willing to put in the effort, you can make some astounding creations. If you don’t have that sort of time, you can use Miis made by other players by entering their Access Code or pick from a selection of currently popular Miis. It’s a bit cumbersome not being able to search in-game for specific characters (it took me far too long to find a good Hank Hill) but with some online sleuthing on social media you should be able to find some good created-character libraries.

When I reviewed Miitopia on 3DS in 2017, I wasn’t terribly impressed. The game was dull, simplistic, and felt so random that I barely felt like I was playing it. But, as we’ve learned over the years, games can be improved significantly from their initial launches, and I figured that a Switch remake of Miitopia would be the perfect opportunity for Nintendo to fix the flaws of the 3DS release. Unfortunately, while there are notable improvements, the core game is still the same tiresome, repetitive experience from four years ago.

Miitopia is a game where you take created Mii characters--based on yourself, friends and family, celebrities, fantasy characters, whoever--and “cast” them as player and NPC characters in a simple RPG story. The Dark Lord of Miitopia is ruining the peace and stealing the faces of the populace, so it’s up to you and your merry band of adventurers to gear up and put a stop to his wickedness, with plenty of goofy character interactions and dialogue snippets along the way.

It’s a cute and fun concept, and to Miitopia’s credit, the Switch version of the game features a fully revamped character creator that lets you go all-out with creating incredibly detailed Mii characters by layering different hair, eyes, facial features, and additional shapes. It takes time to make a really impressive Mii, but if you’re willing to put in the effort, you can make some astounding creations. If you don’t have that sort of time, you can use Miis made by other players by entering their Access Code or pick from a selection of currently popular Miis. It’s a bit cumbersome not being able to search in-game for specific characters (it took me far too long to find a good Hank Hill) but with some online sleuthing on social media you should be able to find some good created-character libraries.

Knockout City's colorful, cartoonish aesthetic plays host to a relatively straightforward game of dodgeball, putting two teams against each other in a war waged with red rubber balls. But once you start factoring in deployable gliders, balls that can trap opponents in cages, and throwing techniques that can bend your shots around corners, Knockout City's identity starts to bubble to the surface. In between the satisfying thunks of direct hits and the grace of each character's movements, Knockout City features a satisfying level of depth that balances its pickup-and-play nature with a compelling competitive element that's difficult to walk away from.

Each of Knockout City's rotating modes rests on the fundamentals of finding a ball and trying to hit opposing players twice with it for a knockout, racking up your team's score in the process. Knockout City makes this both simple and satisfying by automatically targeting enemies for you, but giving you control over the distance and power of each throw. You can take a longer time to charge up for a faster swing of the arm but expose yourself in the process by limiting your movement speed to do so. Judging how much power to put behind a shot and balancing that with the distance between you and another player is critical, and just one of the many micro-decisions you'll need to make during each skirmish.

The balance between the two creates a dynamic that allows Knockout City to be approachable enough for casual play but still retain smaller complexities for competitive play to leverage. And when you start coming up against more savvy foes, additional mechanics start becoming more important. Just like in the real game of dodgeball, you can catch balls tossed your way to avoid taking a hit. In Knockout City, this applies a stacking effect to the ball, causing it to travel faster if thrown again quickly after being caught. You can quickly find yourself in an escalating ping pong match with another player, adjusting to shrinking catch timing windows with each exchange. Without the need to manually target enemies, Knockout City allows you to focus on timing and positioning instead, which makes its fast-paced action more manageable.

Knockout City's colorful, cartoonish aesthetic plays host to a relatively straightforward game of dodgeball, putting two teams against each other in a war waged with red rubber balls. But once you start factoring in deployable gliders, balls that can trap opponents in cages, and throwing techniques that can bend your shots around corners, Knockout City's identity starts to bubble to the surface. In between the satisfying thunks of direct hits and the grace of each character's movements, Knockout City features a satisfying level of depth that balances its pickup-and-play nature with a compelling competitive element that's difficult to walk away from.

Each of Knockout City's rotating modes rests on the fundamentals of finding a ball and trying to hit opposing players twice with it for a knockout, racking up your team's score in the process. Knockout City makes this both simple and satisfying by automatically targeting enemies for you, but giving you control over the distance and power of each throw. You can take a longer time to charge up for a faster swing of the arm but expose yourself in the process by limiting your movement speed to do so. Judging how much power to put behind a shot and balancing that with the distance between you and another player is critical, and just one of the many micro-decisions you'll need to make during each skirmish.

The balance between the two creates a dynamic that allows Knockout City to be approachable enough for casual play but still retain smaller complexities for competitive play to leverage. And when you start coming up against more savvy foes, additional mechanics start becoming more important. Just like in the real game of dodgeball, you can catch balls tossed your way to avoid taking a hit. In Knockout City, this applies a stacking effect to the ball, causing it to travel faster if thrown again quickly after being caught. You can quickly find yourself in an escalating ping pong match with another player, adjusting to shrinking catch timing windows with each exchange. Without the need to manually target enemies, Knockout City allows you to focus on timing and positioning instead, which makes its fast-paced action more manageable.

Jason Kilar isn't planning on leaving WarnerMedia anytime soon, according to a new report from Deadline. The New York Times previously reported that Kilar was negotiating his exit last week.

“My plan and my focus is to remain here in my CEO role at WarnerMedia," Kilar told staff in a town hall, as reported by Deadline. "I am not thinking right now about post-merger. There will be a time to consider that topic in 2022.”

His announcement that he's not leaving comes on the heels of WarnerMedia merging with Discovery to create a new venture. As part of the deal, Discovery CEO David Zaslav will take over the new company as CEO. WarnerMedia’s CEO joined the company in May 2020, just ahead of HBO Max's launch.

To say that Kilar’s time at WarnerMedia has been tumultuous in the industry would be quite the understatement. Just one year into the job, Kilar turned Hollywood on its head by announcing that Warner Bros. 2021 movies will hit HBO Max the same day they were released in theaters. Sitting in the middle of a pandemic with no clear sign as to when things would return to normal, Kilar took the opportunity to lean into the unprecedented. The goal was to scale HBO Max as quickly as possible in 2021, and then return to more normal distribution methods in 2022.

Risky! The move reportedly cost WarnerMedia an additional $200 million in smoothing over talent relations with backend deals. Directors like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve, both who have long relationships with Warner Bros., publicly condemned the move. Theater exhibitors like AMC and Regal admonished the decision. Kilar put everything on the table at a time that allowed for it, and did it with a consumer-first thesis. If people wanted new movies, and they couldn’t necessarily get to a theater, why not make it available for them at home?

It seems to be working. HBO Max saw big subscriber jumps with the release of Wonder Woman 1984, and engagement seemed to increase with every new high profile film, including Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Godzilla vs Kong. The latter film had the “largest domestic box office of any other movie in the last year while also having the largest viewing audience of any other film or show on HBO Max since launched,” according to AT&T’s chief financial officer, Pascal Desroches.

As Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw put it, “Love him or hate him, Kilar had a strategy and a vision. He started to map it out.”

For WarnerMedia, a company in the middle of a less than amicable restructure under AT&T ownership, Kilar is either a breath of fresh air or precisely the issue. Coming from Hulu when it first started, a company smack dab in the middle of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, Kilar brought a move fast, break things approach to WarnerMedia. The theatrical release model was just the latest thing to break.

Ironically, since then, every major studio has started reworking what a normal theatrical release will look like. Disney is moving films to Disney+ or debuting them simultaneously in theater and on Disney+. Sony has signed a new deal with Netflix. Paramount is working to get its films on Paramount+ faster. Searchlight and 20th Century Studios are making more films directly for Hulu.

Kilar, the prodigal executive brought in to try and fix WarnerMedia’s messy HBO Max strategy, has arguably done what he was hired to do.

Whether or not Kilar stays on board beyond 2022, post-sale and when Zaslav takes over, is the question looming over WarnerMedia.

Jason Kilar isn't planning on leaving WarnerMedia anytime soon, according to a new report from Deadline. The New York Times previously reported that Kilar was negotiating his exit last week.

“My plan and my focus is to remain here in my CEO role at WarnerMedia," Kilar told staff in a town hall, as reported by Deadline. "I am not thinking right now about post-merger. There will be a time to consider that topic in 2022.”

His announcement that he's not leaving comes on the heels of WarnerMedia merging with Discovery to create a new venture. As part of the deal, Discovery CEO David Zaslav will take over the new company as CEO. WarnerMedia’s CEO joined the company in May 2020, just ahead of HBO Max's launch.

To say that Kilar’s time at WarnerMedia has been tumultuous in the industry would be quite the understatement. Just one year into the job, Kilar turned Hollywood on its head by announcing that Warner Bros. 2021 movies will hit HBO Max the same day they were released in theaters. Sitting in the middle of a pandemic with no clear sign as to when things would return to normal, Kilar took the opportunity to lean into the unprecedented. The goal was to scale HBO Max as quickly as possible in 2021, and then return to more normal distribution methods in 2022.

Risky! The move reportedly cost WarnerMedia an additional $200 million in smoothing over talent relations with backend deals. Directors like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve, both who have long relationships with Warner Bros., publicly condemned the move. Theater exhibitors like AMC and Regal admonished the decision. Kilar put everything on the table at a time that allowed for it, and did it with a consumer-first thesis. If people wanted new movies, and they couldn’t necessarily get to a theater, why not make it available for them at home?

It seems to be working. HBO Max saw big subscriber jumps with the release of Wonder Woman 1984, and engagement seemed to increase with every new high profile film, including Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Godzilla vs Kong. The latter film had the “largest domestic box office of any other movie in the last year while also having the largest viewing audience of any other film or show on HBO Max since launched,” according to AT&T’s chief financial officer, Pascal Desroches.

As Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw put it, “Love him or hate him, Kilar had a strategy and a vision. He started to map it out.”

For WarnerMedia, a company in the middle of a less than amicable restructure under AT&T ownership, Kilar is either a breath of fresh air or precisely the issue. Coming from Hulu when it first started, a company smack dab in the middle of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, Kilar brought a move fast, break things approach to WarnerMedia. The theatrical release model was just the latest thing to break.

Ironically, since then, every major studio has started reworking what a normal theatrical release will look like. Disney is moving films to Disney+ or debuting them simultaneously in theater and on Disney+. Sony has signed a new deal with Netflix. Paramount is working to get its films on Paramount+ faster. Searchlight and 20th Century Studios are making more films directly for Hulu.

Kilar, the prodigal executive brought in to try and fix WarnerMedia’s messy HBO Max strategy, has arguably done what he was hired to do.

Whether or not Kilar stays on board beyond 2022, post-sale and when Zaslav takes over, is the question looming over WarnerMedia.

Amazon is buying iconic film studio and the company behind James Bond, MGM, in a deal worth $8.45 billion, the company announced today. The Information first reported the negotiations.

Amazon noted in its announcement that it will "preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films" with the acquisition.

MGM is the latest, smaller film company to be acquired by a much bigger company. The studio reportedly started looking for a buyer in December 2020, as first reported by Variety. Apple supposedly passed on acquiring the studio for around $6 billion last year, giving Amazon a clear runway to go full steam ahead.

One of the biggest questions people may have about the purchase is why Amazon would want to own MGM. Aside from the obvious value in sharing parts of the Bond franchise (with Eon Productions, which has control over how Bond movies are distributed meaning it's not like Bond is going to premiere on Amazon Prime Video just yet), two of the biggest advantages are Epix and a deep catalog of films.

Epix is a cable channel that’s available to 85 million cable customers around the country. Amazon likely doesn’t care about that aspect. Cable is losing customers every single quarter, and Amazon, a company built on the back of Prime subscribers, isn’t suddenly trying to compete with companies like NBCUniversal or WarnerMedia. That’s especially true this week following news that WarnerMedia and Discovery are merging to create a new super company that will dominate the world of cable and, potentially, streaming.

What Epix does have, however, is a lucrative Pay-1 deal with companies like Paramount. Pay-1 is a fancy term that basically means Epix gets exclusive rights to a Paramount movie after it hits theaters. While part of the deal has changed (Epix and ViacomCBS signed a new deal in February that will allow some Paramount films to hit Paramount+ for a period of time before heading to Epix) it means that Amazon would get access to films like Mission Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place II.

These are the types of movies that, historically, convince people to sign up for a streaming service or prevent them from canceling. At Amazon, it’s a little different. Some people may sign up for Amazon Prime because of shows like Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but it’s more likely that people sign up for Prime on the retail side. If, however, Prime Video keeps them actively engaged on the website, or does prevent someone from canceling, Amazon Prime’s churn rate decreases and the company’s main revenue point continues to grow.

Amazon wants to be a necessity for customers across the board. They want people to get all their groceries, electronics, and books from the website. Amazon Prime Video is arguably not a necessity — it just so happens to come with the bigger Prime offering. Having a library as deep as MGM’s could change that, though.

As Indiewire points out, MGM’s library “includes 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of television, including titles like ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘Rocky.’” Amazon Prime Video has a decent library already, but the company is now competing with deep wells from competitors at NBCUniversal, Disney (which now includes Fox), ViacomCBS, and the aforementioned new offering from WarnerMedia and Discovery.

Bond may be MGM’s biggest franchise (even with confusing distribution rules), but there are enough recognizable titles in the company’s vault to keep subscribers happy and engaged, Amazon hopes. It all comes back to an ouroboros strategy. If people are more engaged with Prime Video, they may use the retail website to buy more household items. If they spend more time on Amazon’s main website, they could decide to read a comic on Comixology they saw an ad for in the corner of the website. They might go from there to Twitch, and then back to Prime Video. Amazon wants to keep as many people in the ecosystem as possible.

And, hey, $9 billion is a lot — but it’s still chump change for a company whose market value is $1.76 trillion.

So, for $9 billion, Amazon is going to own James Bond and you’ll notice a bunch of new movies available to stream exclusively (I imagine) on Prime Video. The only real question left is whether Jeff Bezos gets to play a Bond villain in the future.

Amazon is buying iconic film studio and the company behind James Bond, MGM, in a deal worth $8.45 billion, the company announced today. The Information first reported the negotiations.

Amazon noted in its announcement that it will "preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films" with the acquisition.

MGM is the latest, smaller film company to be acquired by a much bigger company. The studio reportedly started looking for a buyer in December 2020, as first reported by Variety. Apple supposedly passed on acquiring the studio for around $6 billion last year, giving Amazon a clear runway to go full steam ahead.

One of the biggest questions people may have about the purchase is why Amazon would want to own MGM. Aside from the obvious value in sharing parts of the Bond franchise (with Eon Productions, which has control over how Bond movies are distributed meaning it's not like Bond is going to premiere on Amazon Prime Video just yet), two of the biggest advantages are Epix and a deep catalog of films.

Epix is a cable channel that’s available to 85 million cable customers around the country. Amazon likely doesn’t care about that aspect. Cable is losing customers every single quarter, and Amazon, a company built on the back of Prime subscribers, isn’t suddenly trying to compete with companies like NBCUniversal or WarnerMedia. That’s especially true this week following news that WarnerMedia and Discovery are merging to create a new super company that will dominate the world of cable and, potentially, streaming.

What Epix does have, however, is a lucrative Pay-1 deal with companies like Paramount. Pay-1 is a fancy term that basically means Epix gets exclusive rights to a Paramount movie after it hits theaters. While part of the deal has changed (Epix and ViacomCBS signed a new deal in February that will allow some Paramount films to hit Paramount+ for a period of time before heading to Epix) it means that Amazon would get access to films like Mission Impossible 7 and A Quiet Place II.

These are the types of movies that, historically, convince people to sign up for a streaming service or prevent them from canceling. At Amazon, it’s a little different. Some people may sign up for Amazon Prime because of shows like Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but it’s more likely that people sign up for Prime on the retail side. If, however, Prime Video keeps them actively engaged on the website, or does prevent someone from canceling, Amazon Prime’s churn rate decreases and the company’s main revenue point continues to grow.

Amazon wants to be a necessity for customers across the board. They want people to get all their groceries, electronics, and books from the website. Amazon Prime Video is arguably not a necessity — it just so happens to come with the bigger Prime offering. Having a library as deep as MGM’s could change that, though.

As Indiewire points out, MGM’s library “includes 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of television, including titles like ‘Silence of the Lambs’ and ‘Rocky.’” Amazon Prime Video has a decent library already, but the company is now competing with deep wells from competitors at NBCUniversal, Disney (which now includes Fox), ViacomCBS, and the aforementioned new offering from WarnerMedia and Discovery.

Bond may be MGM’s biggest franchise (even with confusing distribution rules), but there are enough recognizable titles in the company’s vault to keep subscribers happy and engaged, Amazon hopes. It all comes back to an ouroboros strategy. If people are more engaged with Prime Video, they may use the retail website to buy more household items. If they spend more time on Amazon’s main website, they could decide to read a comic on Comixology they saw an ad for in the corner of the website. They might go from there to Twitch, and then back to Prime Video. Amazon wants to keep as many people in the ecosystem as possible.

And, hey, $9 billion is a lot — but it’s still chump change for a company whose market value is $1.76 trillion.

So, for $9 billion, Amazon is going to own James Bond and you’ll notice a bunch of new movies available to stream exclusively (I imagine) on Prime Video. The only real question left is whether Jeff Bezos gets to play a Bond villain in the future.