by Stone Marshall | Jul 17, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Apple’s iOS App Store, Sensor Tower has shared a list of the apps and games that have spent the most time in the #1 spot of the store’s various charts. Looking at the period of time from July 1, 2010 to July 5, 2018, Sensor Tower’s researchers found that a total of 30,000 unique apps have achieved #1 status on the free, paid, or top grossing charts in at least one country.
Image and charts via Sensor Tower
Honing in the data a bit more, Sensor Tower found 422 apps that hit #1 on the top free iPhone apps chart in the United States during this period, and of those apps, Facebook Messenger spent the most days at #1 with a combined 317 days. Worldwide, WhatsApp earned the top spot with a combined 1,783 days at #1 for free iPhone apps. Popular apps in both the U.S. and worldwide for these charts included Snapchat and YouTube.
Looking at the amount of days at #1 for paid iPhone apps, Minecraft had the most days both in the U.S. (847 days) and worldwide (1,645 days) App Stores. Games were popular in the U.S. on the paid iPhone apps chart, also including Angry Birds (311 days), Heads Up (225 days), and Where’s My Water (47 days), but globally there was more of a mix with apps like Facetune (1,501 days), Afterlight (1,312 days), and 7 Min Workout (1,134 days) rounding out the top four spots under Minecraft.
Clash of Clans spent 805 days at #1 on Apple’s top grossing iPhone apps chart in the U.S., coming in far ahead of the second place app Candy Crush at 278 days. The only non-gaming apps on this chart were Pandora (202 days), Netflix (172 days), and Spotify (61 days). Worldwide, Clash of Clans held onto the top spot with 1,900 days, while Spotify also remained in the top ten with 1,047 days spent at #1.
The App Store officially launched on July 10, 2008 with 500 apps for iPhone 3G owners to download, 75 percent of which were paid downloads. Over time the App Store grew and expanded, introducing in-app purchases, apps for the iPad, subscriptions, revamped interfaces, and more. Most recently in iOS 11, Apple introduced editorialized content on the App Store’s home page with articles and features that highlight new and interesting apps and games every day.
For more on the ten-year anniversary of the iOS App Store, be sure to check out our retrospective that dives into the big events that hit the App Store over the past decade.
Read more here: https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/10/whatsapp-messenger-minecraft-popular/
by Stone Marshall | Jul 16, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Max Brooks’s Minecraft book The Island was a bestseller last year. Now there’s a second official tie-in novel: Minecraft: The Crash.
This action-packed thriller centres on Bianca, who ends up in hospital she and her friend Lonnie are involved in a car crash. Almost paralysed by her injuries, she decides to try a new VR version of Minecraft that responds to her every wish. Teaming up with two kids who are also playing on the hospital server to explore its virtual realm. Is Lonnie in there with her too? And can Bianca help him to return to reality?
Minecraft: The Crash is available to buy in hardback, ebook and audiobook formats now. Thanks to publishers Century we have five copies to give away, plus five signed copies of Minecraft: The Island; five lucky winners will get one of each. To put your name in the hat for the chance to win them, simply answer the question below.
Read more here: https://www.gamesradar.com/win-the-new-minecraft-novel-the-crash/
by Stone Marshall | Jul 16, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” squashed the competition at the domestic box office.
The Marvel sequel — starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly — opened with $76 million from 4,206 North American locations. That start is significantly ahead of the original “Ant-Man,” which debuted with $57 million in 2015.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp” easily topped the weekend, as fellow box office newcomer “The First Purge” scared up $17 million from 3,031 theaters. Meanwhile, “Incredibles 2” narrowly stole the No. 2 spot from “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” The blockbusters earned $29 million and $28.6 million respectively this weekend.
Overseas, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” collected $85 million, taking the worldwide opening to $161 million. Across 20 movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has brought in $17 billion globally. All 20 films have opened No. 1 at the box office.
Praise seems to be strong for Peyton Reed’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” which holds a promising 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. The acclaimed first film came in slightly lower with an 82% Rotten Tomatoes average.
“We are really thrilled about the results,” Cathleen Taff, Disney’s head of domestic distribution, said. “We continue to be amazed by what Kevin Feige and the team do with these films.”
Taff also highlighted Lilly as Marvel’s first female title character. “Kevin and his team always try to come up with a great story diversity. I think you see that come to play here,” she said.
With a production budget around $162 million, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” looks like another win for Marvel. The studio has had a string of box office hits in 2018 with “Avengers: Infinity War” racking up over $2 billion and counting, and “Black Panther” passing $1.3 billion globally.
Universal and Blumhouse’s “The First Purge” debuted on Independence Day, getting a head start on the weekend. Its five-day total sits at $31 million, while internationally, the film has gathered $10.9 million. Gerard McMurray directed the $13 million film, which was written and produced by James DeMonaco.
Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution, praised DeMonaco and Blumhouse for the strong opening.
“The new chapter really taps into the zeitgeist. It’s the fourth in a franchise that they happen to keep very relevant,” he said. “We think we’re going to be great counter-programming for the rest of the summer.”
The fourth movie in the series serves as an origin story, starring Y’lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade, Luna Lauren Velez, and Marisa Tomei. The most recent iteration was 2016’s “The Purge: Election Year,” which ended its theatrical run with $79 million domestically and $118.5 million worldwide. “The “Purge” movies have pocketed over $360 million globally.
Universal and Amblin Entertainment’s “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” recently charged past $1 billion at the worldwide box office. In three weeks, the dinosaur tentpole has earned $333.3 million in North America.
Now in its fourth frame, Disney-Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” just hit a major milestone of its own. Everyone’s favorite crime-fighting family has crossed the $500 million mark domestically and $700 million worldwide. It’s the first animated film to surpass $500 million at the North American box office, and the 12th film ever to do so. Internationally, “Incredibles 2” has made $269 million.
Also in the top five is Sony’s “Sicario: Day of the Soldado.” The Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin-led sequel picked up another $7.6 million, its the domestic tally to $35 million. With $4.2 million overseas, “Soldado” has collected $39.2 million.
At the specialty box office, Roadside Attractions and Miramax’s “Whitney” bowed with $1.3 million from 452 locations. The documentary focusing on the life and career of Whitney Houston holds an A CinemaScore and a Rotten Tomatoes average of 90%.
Also opening in limited release was Annapurna’s “Sorry to Bother You,” which landed the best per-screen-average of the weekend with $44,881. Boots Riley’s film brought in $717,302 when it opened in 16 theaters. The dystopian comedy stars Lakeith Stanfield, Armie Hammer, Tessa Thompson, Steven Yeun, Danny Glover, Terry Crews, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, and Omari Hardwick.
Elsewhere, Focus Features’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” landed in the top 10 at the domestic box office again, drawing another $2.6 million when it expanded to 893 locations. In five weeks, the documentary on Fred Rogers has amassed an impressive $12.4 million.
Another documentary, Neon’s “Three Identical Strangers” earned $717,008 million from 5 locations, bringing its domestic tally past $1 million.
The 2018 box office, which just hit $6.5 billion, is up 9% from last year, according to ComScore.
Read more here: https://variety.com/2018/film/box-office/ant-man-and-the-wasp-box-office-marvel-first-purge-incredibles-2-record-1202868193/
by Stone Marshall | Jul 15, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
There may be a special Marvel Easter Egg hidden in plain sight.
[This story contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp.]
Ant-Man and the Wasp was double the fun for fans of the Wasp, with two versions of the character getting time to shine.
Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) helps her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) on the mission to rescue Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm, where she’s been stuck for 30 years. When Janet returns, she’s got untold powers that she uses to partially heal Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen). The full breadth of her powers are unknown, for now, but begs the question: Just how did 30 years in the Quantum Realm change or evolve her?
For some, the fact that Janet returns from the Quantum Realm with new powers and abilities in Ant-Man and the Wasp may seem inconsistent with comic book canon — after all, the comic book Janet van Dyne came back from an extended stay in the Microverse (the comic book version of the Quantum Realm) without any similar power-up. And yet, longterm Marvel comic book fans might recognize a…universal explanation for what’s happening with Janet — one that could connect the Ant-Man movies to Marvel Studios’ more cosmic output.
A 2012 storyline in the Avengers comic book series featured the return of Janet Van Dyne after an extended stay in the sub-atomic Microverse — during which time she was believed dead by Hank Pym and others, a la the Ant-Man movies — but, once back in the regular Marvel Universe, she didn’t display the kind of increased power-set her cinematic counterpart does. That wasn’t a surprise; in Marvel’s comic book mythology, characters venture back and forth between the Micro- and Macro-verses without it impacting their abilities in any way. (Admittedly, characters from the Microverse tend to stay small, but they are called “Micronauts.”)
That said, the 1979 Micronauts comic book series did introduce a concept that could explain away what happened to the onscreen Janet, as unlikely as it seems. Debuting in the eighth issue of the series, Captain Universe is a superhero with a particularly unusual gimmick: As the tagline of the character’s (rare) solo appearances put it, Captain Universe is “the hero that could be you!”
Michael Golden/Marvel Entertainment
According to Marvel mythology, the Enigma Force — a sentient cosmic energy that is, in some way, connected to the very life-force of Microverse — is responsible for the creation of something called the Uni-Power. Again, what the Uni-Power exactly is has always been left suitably unclear, but the short version is, it’s a force that is transferred to individuals in times of need, transforming them into Captain Universe, a costumed superhero with a variable power set that traditionally includes flight, super-strength and enhanced versions of the user’s traditional abilities. The Uni-Power doesn’t stick around, however; once the immediate danger has passed, it tends to move on to an unknown future host.
Captain Universe is far from the most high-profile character in the Marvel Universe, but the concept has shown up in series including The Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers and The Incredible Hulk, as well as a brief Captain Universe strip that ran in anthology title Marvel Spotlight for three issues starting in 1980. Unlike many of the characters and concepts introduced in the Micronauts comic, the intellectual property to Captain Universe didn’t originate as part of the original Mego toyline, and is therefore available for Marvel to use in whatever medium it chooses — including movies.
Steve Ditko/Marvel Entertainment
It’s a stretch, admittedly, that the cinematic Janet van Dyne’s power boost comes from a quasi-obscure comic book concept from an entirely different comic book series in the 1970s…but if the Marvel Cinematic Universe has proven anything across the past decade, it’s that quasi-obscure comic book concepts are one of the things that it does very, very well indeed. Maybe the third movie in the Ant-Man series could be called Ant-Man, The Wasp and Captain Universe after all…?
by Stone Marshall | Jul 15, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
At E3 2018, Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s Executive President of Gaming, revealed new Xbox hardware is on its way. Microsoft is seemingly committed to supporting the Xbox brand in the long-term, and Spencer concurs—though he admits the enormity of today’s games might change how we perceive sequels and console generations.
“As you think about this next wave of hardware that eventually will come, so many of the large, large games people are playing today are still going to exist when the next hardware comes out,” Spencer tells Eurogamer in an interview published today. “You’re not likely to see a ‘2’ after all those, as people are trying to move you to the next version of those games. In the old model of games shipping, getting played and then going away—and that was all of the games—a console transition was an easy step-function.”
Spencer cites Minecraft as an example. The reason Xbox One didn’t ship with Minecraft 2 is because players don’t necessarily want a new Minecraft; they just want Minecraft to keep getting better.
“When you look at games like PUBG and Fortnite and you think about these large games and ecosystems that’ll be out there, when new hardware comes, people are still going to want to play those games, and it’s going to be important for us as platforms to support them,” Spencer says.
Crazy crossover events help keep “old” games fresh, too.
The longevity of games resulting from the “games as a service” model is also why Xbox is committed to backwards compatibility. “I’m very proud of our track record of compatibility and us respecting the purchase of games you’ve made with us and bringing that to the current generation,” Spencer said. “It is in our core on who we are.”
We can supply everything there is to know about the new Xbox, and we’re also on top of all the neat little surprises coming out of E3 2018. Keep following us!
Read more here: https://www.usgamer.net/articles/minecraft-2-isnt-happening-as-the-original-will-evolve-and-live-on-forever
