Monthly Archives: July 2016
Pokemon Go About to Overtake Twitter App’s Daily Active Users
If you're in the US, Australia or New Zealand you'll likely have looked out of the window to see bands of aimless people, moseying the streets with faces in phones, like some benign version of The Purge. If you're anywhere else, you'll have seen the same thing, but they're all crying, because Pokemon Go isn't out yet. This game is huge, and now we have the data to prove it.
SimilarWeb has compiled information about the game's current usage on US Android phones, the standout fact being that Pokemon Go is on course to overtake Twitter's daily active users, meaning it's currently being used daily on 3% of all measured phones.
Hello Games Already Working on No Man’s Sky’s First Update
Hello Games founder Sean Murray has said that his team is already working on a first update for No Man's Sky, a month before the game's release.
On Twitter, Murray explained that the game has passed certification (the checks required for a game to be released on its chosen platforms) in the EU, US and Asia, leaving the team free to work on the next step:
Well, waiting for a build to upload really. Actually we're already busy on Update 1
— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) July 10, 2016
It's not clear whether "Update 1" is a day one patch for the game, or a content update due for release post-launch.
The Secret Life of Pets Opens Bigger Than Inside Out
Universal's new animated feature The Secret Life of Pets surpassed expectations this weekend at the North American box office, debuting in first place with $103.2 million.
As noted by THR, Illumination Entertainment's new family-friendly film surpassed Inside Out with the biggest all-time opening for an original animated feature, and is now the studio's second highest-grossing debut, just behind Minions' $115.7 million figure. When compared to all animated films, The Secret Life of Pets currently stands in sixth place.
This weekend also brought with it the debut of 20th Century Fox's new comedy Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates, which placed fourth with $16.6 million. The film, which stars Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick, surpassed expectations off its $33 million production budget.
Preacher: Can Tulip Lure Jesse Back to His Old Life?
Having made an impression as the cool and calculated Raina – well, before her Inhuman transformation changed things for her -- on Agents of SHIELD, Ruth Negga has now made the leap into a very different comic book world with Preacher.
On the adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic, Negga stars as Tulip, the former girlfriend of Jesse (Dominic Cooper), who is determined to lead him back into the criminal past he’s tried to leave behind. I spoke with Negga about her character’s amazing entrance in the first episode – which included a brutal fight inside a moving car and a homemade bazooka – along with what motivates Tulip and more.
IGN: You had such a cool entrance in the first episode. What did you think when you saw how they were bringing you in?
SGDQ Speedrun Marathon Earns $1.2 Million for Charity
This year’s Summer Games Done Quick has come to a close, bringing in a grand total of more than $1.295 million, including proceeds from a special Humble Bundle offered throughout the show.
The money was raised to benefit charity Doctors Without Borders and tops the $1.23 million raised during SGDQ 2015 as well as the $1.2 million raised during AGDQ 2016 earlier this year.
Outlander: What’s Ahead for the Time Jump and New Characters
Things are going to be looking a lot different on Outlander when the series returns for Season 3.
The Starz time travel series did a major overhaul on its storyline in the Season 2 finale, "Dragonfly in Amber," and stars Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe and showrunner Ron Moore offered up some teases of what those changes mean for the future.
Full spoilers for Outlander continue below.
Richard Rankin and Sophie Skelton on Outlander
Gambit Producer Says Movie May Film Spring 2017
Following a production delay for Gambit earlier this year, filming on 20th Century Fox's upcoming superhero movie is now targeting an early 2017 start date, according to writer and producer Simon Kinberg.
Speaking to The Hashtag Show (via EW) at the 2016 Saturn Awards, Kinberg said they "have a great script" for the film and are hoping to start shooting "at the beginning, or spring, of next year."
Kingberg also spoke to the studio's plans for Deadpool 2, noting that Fox's forthcoming sequel is also targeting an early 2017 production start date. In addition, the producer addressed the future of X-Men, saying he plans to begin work on writing the next entry in Fox's mutant-focused film franchise very soon.
John Barrowman Made Series Regular for All CW DC Shows
Malcolm Merlyn won't just be bringing his meddling ways to Arrow this fall.
John Barrowman, who has played Merlyn since season 1 of Arrow, will retain the series regular status he earned on the show in season 3. Now, however, he'll be a series regular across all four of The CW's DC shows, TV Line reports.
So Barrowman will have the opportunity to appear on any number of different Earths in numerous time periods on all of the Greg Berlanti-produced series on the network, which now includes Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl.
Pokemon Go Is Secretly the Best Exercise App Out There
Within a minute of first booting up Pokemon Go, I was already straying from my daily route.
I was out on my dogs' morning walk, going down the same path we've been walking for years, when I decided to boot up the new augmented reality game from The Pokemon Company and Niantic for iOS and Android. Once I got through the brief tutorial, I was alerted to the fact a Pokemon was behind me.
Despite the great smells that I'm sure were just out of reach of my dogs' noses, I turned us around, walking back half a block to look behind a dumpster to see if I could catch that rogue Charmander. He seemed to be hanging out in an apartment building and my drive to catch 'em all doesn't cover breaking and entering, so I settled for catching the Squirtle hanging out next to a car on the side of the road. I'm more of a Bulbasaur girl, anyway.
Which Game of Thrones Season Is the Best?
Warning: Full spoilers for all of HBO's Game of Thrones...
With Game of Thrones' final season and the behind-the-scenes documentary "The Last Watch" now firmly a part of the past, let's survey all the seasons and figure out which one's worthy enough to sit on the Iron Throne. Or - er - in King Bran's wheelchair.
Back after Season 6, when the world learned that Game of Thrones would be ending with Season 8, no one could have anticipated how polarizing the show would become. So divisive, in fact, that an online petition to remake Season 8, signed by a million people, grabbed headlines. But even though many felt the series lost its way during the final two seasons, there's no denying how great Game of Thrones was for the bulk of its run.