Minecraft is coming to Nintendo Switch on May 11th
Minecraft is making its way to the Nintendo Switch. Today Nintendo revealed that the best-selling crafting game will launch on its new console on May 11th. The Switch edition looks to be much the same as the Wii U version, complete with Super Mario Bros.-themed content exclusive to Nintendo platforms. And while Minecraft is already available on a huge range of devices, the portable / console nature of Switch could potentially make this an ideal version.
Patriot Place theater puts Minecraft on the big screen
FOXBOROUGH — On April 29, local gamers were given the unique opportunity to play on the big screen at Showcase Cinema de Lux at Patriot Place as part of Super League Gaming’s Boston Revolt City Champs: Minecraft tournament.
Instead of playing the popular 3-D online game at home, participants were able to go to the theater and compete.
“The idea is to take Minecraft and make it a more communal environment where kids can play together,” said Showcase Vice President Mark Malinowski.
Players brought their personal laptops to use during the event and then played against each other on the giant screen for 90 minutes.
Most associate movie theaters with watching movies, but Malinowski said the environment is ideal to get gamers out to socialize and play together.
“It’s really fun to play at home, but in the theater, on the screen with the sounds, those are things you can’t get at home,” Malinowski said. “The goal is to get (kids) out having fun, and competing together in a social environment. More and more these days creating a communal and social experience is important.”
The three-day event will continue on Saturday, May 6 and again on Saturday, May 13. The grand final is scheduled for Saturday, May 20.
Tickets cost $60 per player. Parents get in free.
Showcase Cinema de Lux is located at 24 Patriot Place, Foxborough.
For more information visit, https://superleague.com/events/2686.
Mojang Wants to Hear Your ‘Minecraft’ Stories
One of the best things about Minecraft: Pocket Edition [$6.99] is how it can become a canvas for your stories, like how you went about building your “masterpiece,” or how you and your friends have created this very cool Realms server. If you have a cool Minecraft-related story to tell, Mojang wants to hear it and, if it’s cool enough, post it on the Minecraft webpage. If you haven’t been checking this webpage, Mojang has been posting some pretty cool stories that talk about various community builds, mini-games, and all kinds of other things. Now, the developers have put out a request for things like cool building projects, accounts from people who play Minecraft differently than most others, and so on.
If you do have a story to tell, you can go here and email Mojang (Microsoft), and who knows, your story might end up on the front page of Minecraft.net, which wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. Any stories you want to share?
Minecraft Marketplace offers a new place to buy maps and more
Microsoft is planning to launch a new Minecraft online store for third-party generated adventure maps, skins and texture packs.
Minecraft Marketplace, due to arrive this spring, will also host the company’s own goods. It’s planned as a curated store that offers the best Minecraft-related worlds and assets. Mods, which have traditionally been free, will not be included.
In the past, the company only sold its own first-party goods via an online store. Third-parties sold goods via their own online sites, but were restricted to only a few platforms.
Purchases will be made using a virtual currency called Minecraft Coins that can be bought with real money. The Marketplace will be attached to the user’s Xbox Live account. The currency cannot be earned through in-game activities. Third-party content creators will take at least a 50 percent share of income, according to a spokesperson for Microsoft, after retail fees have been extracted.
The Minecraft Marketplace will be available for all PC, tablet and mobile platforms, though not games consoles. These may be added at a later date.
At a press event last week, representatives from Microsoft’s Minecraft team demonstrated some of the packs that will be available for purchase. Nine creators have been chosen to launch the service including Sphax, Blockworks, Imagiverse and Noxcrew. New packs include:
- Skyfair: A set of floating islands featuring funfair-style mini-games.
- Pastel Skin Pack: Play in a pretty pastel art style.
- Pirate Map: Sunken galleons and swashbuckling combat map.
- Fairy-tale Adventure Map: Explore a world inspired by well-loved tales.
- Stone Age Texture Map: Dinosaurs and cave-dwellers.
- Scorching Sands: A post-apocalyptic role-playing map.
- Automaton Dreams: Cyberpunk adventure map.
A Microsoft spokesperson said that the company has been working on the store almost since it bought Mojang, back in 2014. The team decided on a curated offering in order to avoid IP issues and large numbers of poor user-generated offerings. Map-making is extremely popular in the Minecraft community
The company hopes the new store will inspire quality additional content, such as adventure maps and stories that use Minecraft almost like a game engine. Would-be creators can find out more at a website that launches today. Microsoft is only accepting applications from registered businesses.
Minecraft Marketplace will launch alongside the 1.1 Discovery Update, which includes concrete and glazed terracotta blocks, llamas, ability to effect behavioral changes to mobs (such as allowing zombies to fly), new evil villagers and an option to export in-game creations for 3D printing and editing in Microsoft Paint.
Minecraft Marketplace offers a new place to buy maps and more
Minecraft Code Builder In Beta
As part of a campaign to expand its share of the educational marketplace, Microsoft has created a new Code Builder tool that works in conjunction with Minecraft Education Edition and also integrates with Tynker, MIT’s ScratchX and the Microsoft MakeCode open source platform.
CodeBuilder was unveiled at a MicrosoftEDU event that took place in New York on May 2nd as one of several initiatives to spread Microsoft learning tools across K-12 classrooms – including Windows 10 S which we have already reported on.
At the event Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said:
“Democratizing education opportunity must be inclusive of everyone, not just a select few. To me this is extremely personal. This includes students with disability and different learning styles.”
Microsoft’s Minecraft Education Edition, an educational version of Minecraft specifically designed for classroom use, was announced in January 2016 and released in November after a beta test that opened in June. It costs $5 per year per user but is only available for purchase by schools, libraries, museums, and “participants in nationally recognized home-school organizations”.
The Code Builder add-on allows users to drag and drop commands to a virtual assistant, in the guise of a robot, who will perform tasks in the Minecraft world. It also supports switching into Javascript.
The beta of Code Builder for Minecraft is now available for schools to try with both the Windows 10 and macOS versions of Minecraft Education Edition. New users can get a free one-year trial from the Microsoft Store for Education and both Minecraft Education Edition and the Code Builder add-on.
Another new facility for Minecraft Education Edition is to use it with Microsoft MakeCode, which is described as:
an open source is a platform that combines the magic of Making with the power of Coding as a more inclusive approach to computer science education.
This video from the team shows the new MakeCode for Minecraft in action:
The restriction with taking advantage of this is that you’ll need an Office 365 for Education account, and so have to be an educator, administrator, or student at an eligible institution, something that has attracted adverse comments from people who don’t have this access. However, at the Windows 10 S launch it was stated that:
All new machines that ship with Windows 10 S will also come with a free Minecraft Education Edition subscription.
which might provide a new way in for those willing to buy new hardware.
Magic: The Gathering Skin Pack Out Now On Minecraft
Fan of Magic: The Gathering? Me neither! But the guys at Microsoft have come to some conclusion that a huge amount of their player base are, by releasing a skin pack for the card game.
Now obviously I’m kidding, Magic: The Gathering is actually really fun, and has amassed quite a huge following all around the world – which obviously constitutes the release.
The pack essential lets you play as a legendary Planeswalker Including favourites like Liliana Vess, Avacyn, Ajani Goldmane, and more. Some of the skins are available for free, but If you do, however, end up loving them, you can buy the remaining skins for just a few bucks.
Unfortunately, It’s currently only available for download on the Pocket and Windows 10 editions of Minecraft. However, the developers promised that console versions would be on digital shelves in the near future — so hopefully that includes the PS Vita Edition.
For only $2.99 CAD comes a total of 15 skins to choose from.
In other Minecraft news, the Switch will reportedly run at 60fps and will feature “Medium Sized Worlds”
If you are looking at getting Minecraft of the Nintendo Switch, we have some exciting news for you: Mojang has announced that the Minecraft Switch Version will run at a glorious 60FPS, will feature “Medium Sized Worlds” compared it’s Xbox One and PS4 counterparts) and will have Wii U world transfers.
According to Microsoft, developing on the Switch has been rather easy, and the game will be updated to Minecraft‘s January update when it’s released on May 11.
Finally, the Switch will feature world transfers from the Wii U so that you can keep working on your existing projects – however, this functionality will, unfortunately, not be available on the launch date.
Students can now learn how to code directly in Minecraft
The latest new feature in Minecraft: Education Edition makes it possible for students to learn how to code while playing the game.
Known as Code Builder, the feature is available today in beta for Minecraft: Education Edition. Code Builder is a tool that shows up in the game as a robot. Users can interact with the game through the robot via learn-to-code platforms such as Tynker, Scratch and MakeCode. In essence, they program actions that the robot performs.
“I can build a wall by making a for loop, and then that wall is going to show up in the game,” said Michelle Dauphiny Becker, executive producer on Minecraft, in a video about Code Builder.
The feature isn’t limited to those introductory platforms — Becker added that “you can go as far as you want with the tools that we provide in Code Builder.” For instance, people who know JavaScript can code directly in that language without the in-game robot, according to The Verge.
Minecraft: Education Edition is open to students, teachers and staff at K-12 schools, colleges, universities, libraries, museums and other qualifying institutions. It is available on Windows 10 and Mac OS.
Powered by Your Toilet Paper Purchases – The TouchArcade Show #304
We kick off this week’s podcast talking about the drama of the week surrounding Apple cutting affiliate payments, making us entirely dependent on our Patreon. We’ve also got an Amazon referral link set up on http://toucharcade.com/amazon, and would really appreciate it if you do your shopping on Amazon through that to support the site! It costs you nothing! (Well, other than what you’d buy on Amazon anyway.) From there, we get into a pretty awesome podcast featuring the following games: Robot Unicorn Attack 3 [Free], Match Land [Free], Family Guy: Another Freakin Mobile Game [Free], Penarium [$1.99], Super Senso [Free], and Suck It Up [Free].
Don’t forget to shoot us emails with any questions, feedback, or anything else relevant or irrelevant to podcast@toucharcade.com. We read ’em all, and love decoding messages written entirely in emoji. As always, you can listen to us with the links below… And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and/or drop us a review in iTunes. Much appreciated!
Patreon backers get access to a ultra-rad video version of the podcast (you can get a taste of what they’re like above), which you can view by clicking here. It includes us playing the games we’re talking about as we’re talking about them, and other fun surprises.
iTunes Link: The TouchArcade Show
Stitcher: The TouchArcade Show via Stitcher Radio for Podcasts [Free]
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Direct Link: TouchArcadeShow-304.mp3, 75MB
Powered by Your Toilet Paper Purchases – The TouchArcade Show #304
Branching cities and floating pirate ships make Minecraft fresh again
Drifted away from Minecraft? It’s time to take a rocket-powered flight back.
The first thing I saw when I logged into Minecraft after a year’s absence was my friend dressed in a chicken costume flying through the air with magic purple wings on his back, the unmistakable fizz of fireworks propelling him forward. Naturally, I was hooked at once.
The wings-fireworks combo was introduced toward the end of last year, and like most of Minecraft’s updates these days, it passed me by. After playing the game religiously for its first few years I now dip in and out occasionally, and every time I expect to be confused by new additions, fall back into old routines, and then give up after a week.
But the wings have changed everything. They cut travel time across the world, so you can zip between your bases in no time at all. They’re also great for exploring—if you need to find a particular biome, just choose a direction, strap on your wings and take flight.
The wings and rockets let you explore another huge addition that arrived toward the end of last year: End Cities. These are sprawling sets of connected rooms found in the outer islands of The End that contain a new enemy type, floating pirate ships and—most importantly—some of the best loot in the game.
My Minecraft experience now revolves around them. When I log in I’m not thinking about what my next build is, or what resources I need to collect for my long-term project. I’m wondering how many End Cities I can loot in that session. To reach them, go The End and use an ender pearl on the gateway portal that spawns after you defeat the Ender Dragon. Then, pick a direction and hurl yourself off an edge, double-tapping space to spread your wings and firing rockets to gain speed.
It’s genuinely relaxing to glide between the islands, grazing the tops of the tall chorus plants below as the wind rushes in your ears. I especially like flying in third-person view (hit F5) and gradually sweeping left and right in gentle arcs. If you change direction quickly you slow down, which is useful for landing and gives you a sense of realistic physical movement—you feel like more than just a floating head. Trying to keep your speed up and manage your reserves of fireworks is like a stress-free mini game in itself.
Eventually, an End City will emerge from the darkness. They’re vast, impressive complexes connected to the ground by a thin room. Their tops branch up and out like twisted purple trees. Sometimes, a floating End Ship will spawn at the end of a pier which lets you ender pearl across if you don’t have yet have wings.
These ships are usually my first target, because they contain the best loot, and popping their two chests rarely disappoints. There’s diamonds abound, and you’ll often find diamond tools and armour with top level enchants alongside iron ingots, armour, and other goodies.
They’re also the only place you can find wings. If you don’t have a buddy who can lend you a pair like I did, you’ll have to find an End City on foot, climb up the tower, and use an ender pearl to get across to the ship. It’s a bit of a faff, but it won’t take very long and it’s well worth it in the long run.
Next it’s a smart idea to head for a treasure room, which you can identify by stairs leading down into their vaults. They, too, contain top-tier items as well as the new enemies, called shulkers. When their shell opens they fire what look like zero gravity cotton balls that home in on your position, dealing minimal damage but causing you to levitate on impact.
Provided you’re geared up with some decent armour, they don’t pose a threat, and they’re easy to take out. The levitation can actually be useful for climbing up towers or reaching new areas. As long as you have ender pearls or wings with you (or chorus fruit, which cancels levitation when you munch it) it’s easy to avoid any fall damage.
With no real enemy threat you’re free to move around the city, and this itself is fun, too. You can use the wings to glide between different rooms, or use ender pearls to clear gaps. And if you miss a shot the wings serve as a safety net that prevent you from dying, respawning, and having to traipse back to where you died (a cycle we all know too well).
It’s pleasant. You arrive at a base, grab diamond gear, muck about a bit, and then glide off to the next one. The feedback loop of fly, loot, fly is really addictive, and feels like a much more active way of tooling up than digging mine shafts miles under the surface, scrabbling through the dirt in the hope of finding a glint of blue.
But more than that, it’s rekindled my love for the rest of the game. Having access to high level tools and a reliable reserve of diamonds cuts down the time it takes me to complete other projects. Combining some of the enchanted diamond tools I’ve found in chests, including an Efficiency V, has given me a pick that rips through stone as soon as it touches it, allowing me to carve out an underground space for a substantial new tree farm in a matter of minutes.
I’m now a month in to this style of play, and I haven’t stopped thinking about what I can do with the loot I’ve plundered from End Cities. If you, like me, haven’t played it in a while, then its worth giving it a go—this might just be the update that makes you fall in love with Minecraft all over again.
Branching cities and floating pirate ships make Minecraft fresh again
Minecraft Patch Fixes “Glide” Issues As New DLC Hits The Store
Last month, the latest minigame “Glide” was added to Minecraft: Xbox One Edition and Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. Launching with only a single map, Mojang promised later updates would include additional maps. Some will be free, while others will be available for purchase in various packs or as part of the Glide Season Pass.
The first paid pack, “Glide Beast”, launches today on both consoles at US$2.99 or your local equivalent, with the promised Season Pass turning up simultaneously at US$9.99. “Glide Beast” draws inspiration from mythological creatures and contains three maps.
YetiYou can choose to dodge yetis and ancient fossils in the Ice Biome inspired map “Yeti” or fly alongside fire-breathing reptiles in “Dragon”. Alternatively you can face the “Kraken”, flying straight past the terrifying beast as it takes on two ships.
KrakenAlongside the release, a small patch fixes some bugs and makes minor improvements. The patch notes are identical for both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of the game.
- Added Glide Beasts Track Pack (Dragon, Kraken and Yeti Glide tracks)
- Added new Glide music tracks for the new Glide Tracks
- Change to Glide to require passing through all Checkpoints before reaching the end of the track
- Glide Solo Mode can now be played for longer before being automatically returned to the Lobby
- Fix for spectator not hearing Glide ring or thermal sounds for the player they are spectating
- Fix for Glide round timer continuing to tick while the Pause Menu is displayed in Solo Mode
- Decreased the respawn delay in Glide
- Added coloured particles when you cross the finish line in Glide
- Showdown in Glide now says “Hurry Up”
- Fix for Interface Opacity setting not affecting the HUD in Glide
- Fix for some Boat item textures in the Mass Effect Mash-up pack not matching the entity textures
- Fix for an issue that caused the damage sound to be repeatedly played at the end of a Glide round
- Fix for an issue that caused the body of player models to be set back from the other limbs
DragonThe patch is already live across all platforms.
Minecraft Patch Fixes “Glide” Issues As New DLC Hits The Store
‘Minecraft PE’ Got ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Skin Pack in Latest Update
Minecraft: Pocket Edition [$6.99] continues to prepare for the introduction of the Minecraft Marketplace, but in the meantime it continues to add new skins. This week, we got an unexpected Skin Pack based on the iconic CCG Magic the Gathering. The skin pack includes some of the most iconic figures of Magic, including necromancy master Liliana Vess, Ajani Goldmane, and archangel Avacyn. The skins looks pretty cool and definitely add a different tone to your Minecraft adventures. Even if you don’t care about Magic, you might still want to grab these skins.
According to Sarah Kisor, one of the Minecraft skin artists, this pack was quite an interesting challenge because they had to translate these very complex characters into the simplicity of Minecraft. It took time to make it so these skins are instantly recognizable for fans of Magic. The Magic skin pack is available now on the Minecraft Pocket Edition Store.
‘Minecraft PE’ Got ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Skin Pack in Latest Update
Minecraft for schools introduces Code Builder
The special schools edition of popular construction and exploration title Minecraft is adding a programming twist with a Code Builder add-on that controls a special assistant within the game.
Announcing the feature at the May 2 MicrosoftEDU event in New York, Code Builder is available within Minecraft: Education Edition right away.
“Learning can be done best when you don’t think that you’re learning… you’re enjoying yourself, you’re making something,” explained Hadi Partovi, CEO of Code.org, in a video introducing the Code Builder suite.
His company is committed to increasing interest and participation in computer science education in the US, especially among female students, underrepresented minorities, and those from less well-off backgrounds.
“Code Builder is a natural extension of the game that students know and love, and a welcome into the world of programming,” said Minecraft Executive Producer, Michelle Dauphiny Becker.
Learn-to-code packages like ScratchX, Tynker, and Code Studio will be able to connect with Minecraft: Education Edition through Code Builder, the game edition’s blog announced.
Microsoft bought Minecraft as a whole, along with its developer Mojang, for US$2.5bil (RM10.82bil) in 2014.
It licenses Minecraft: Education Edition to schools through the use of a subscription-based account system that launched at US$5 (RM21.64) per account per year. — AFP Relaxnews
Downey’s in, Law’s in: That means Sherlock Holmes 3 is happening
Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. James Watson in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ action adventure mystery Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.(Warner Bros.)
“It looks like it could happen this fall. Downey said he wants to do it. He’s gotta launch into another ‘Avengers’ movie right after the new year. So we’re trying to get it done,” Silver said.
“We have a script that we like. Jude Law is available and Downey is available, and we’re hoping we can get it done. If it works, great. If not, we’ll do it another time. But it looks like it could happen now.”
Downey Jr, Law and Ritchie’s respective schedules have been one big problem that keeps Sherlock Holmes 3 from happening.
Read: After 5 years, Robert Downey Jr will finally shoot for Sherlock Holmes
Downey Jr has been busy with his role as Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man in Marvel’s movies while Law and director Ritchie are working on Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur.
Follow @htshowbiz for more
Downey’s in, Law’s in: That means Sherlock Holmes 3 is happening
David Beckham makes his acting debut in King Arthur. See pics
Football star David Beckham will make his acting debut in Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and there are pictures to prove it.
Beckham, one of the most popular football players in the history of the sport, has long been rumoured to switch to acting post retirement. But aside from appearances in a few documentaries, and a cameo in Ritchie’s previous movie The Man from UNCLE, Beckham has stuck to playing the occasional match, and improving his Instagram game – which is where he shared this first look at his character Blackleg Leader from King Arthur.
Beckham appears to be playing the leader of a squad of soldiers (possibly under the command of Jude Law’s villain). And by the looks of it, things don’t turn out so good for Beckham’s character, who in another picture appears to have been badly scarred.
Beckham was earlier rumoured to be making a cameo in the first Kingsman movie. He also appeared in the comic book that inspired it.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is scheduled for a May 12 release and stars Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law and Djimon Hounsou.
David Beckham makes his acting debut in King Arthur. See pics
Fast & Furious 8 zooms past coveted $1 billion mark. That’s Rs 6400 crore!
Actors Tyrese Gibson, Nathalie Emmanuell, Vin Diesel and Ludacris attend The Fate Of The Furious New York premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
The film, which released on April 12 in India, has collected $867.6 million from international markets and $192.7 million in the US since its release, reports variety.com.
Thank you to our #FastFamily all over the world! #F8 pic.twitter.com/8owVGOwiDa
— Fast & Furious (@FastFurious) April 30, 2017
The film holds the record for the highest opening weekend collection by amassing $542 million.
Directed by F Gary Gray and written by Chris Morgan, the film features Vin Diesel, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Scott Eastwood and Charlize Theron.
The film made Rs 67 crore in its opening weekend in India.
The Fate of the Furious is the first in the franchise since the tragic death of actor Paul Walker in 2013.
Fast & Furious 8 zooms past coveted $1 billion mark. That’s Rs 6400 crore!
‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2’ Blasts Off With $106M – International Box Office
MONDAY UPDATE, WRITETHRU with GOTG2 actuals: Rocketing off in 37 markets this weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 came in nearly $5M higher than projected on Sunday. With a $106M opening at the international box office, the launch was notably stronger than forecast in both Europe (+$3.1M) and Latin America (+$1.1M). That ratchets the debut up to 64% bigger than the first Guardians, 57% bigger than Captain America: The Winter Soldier and 24% above Thor: The Dark World when comparing the same suite of territories and all at today’s exchange rates. Many markets have a holiday today for May Day.
The GOTG2 opening is in line with pre-weekend projections which hovered around the $100M mark. Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill got off to an especially good start on Tuesday last week, taking advantage of holidays in Italy and Australia/New Zealand. This is the same late-April sweet spot that has seen Disney release such Marvel tentpoles as Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Iron Man 3.
Although Civil War is not a fantastic comp here given that it hulks out as essentially an Avengers movie, it’s interesting to note that GOTG2 has opened above it in some key markets. Those include Germany and France which are both in the Top 5 hubs.
GOTG2 is currently in 58% of its offshore footprint with domestic and the rest of the world, including China but not yet Japan, pressing play on Awesome Mixtape #2 this coming week. It’s expected to continue to outperform the previous film with China potentially playing a pivotal role. The market was tops on GOTG in 2014, even after the movie released more than two months later than the rest of the rollout. It still charmed the PROC with $96.5M to lead all overseas plays.
In all openings this weekend, the James Gunn-helmed sequel was the No. 1 movie (save in Portugal, Turkey and Vietnam). It also bested the original in each market, except for Belgium which had previews the last time around. On 176 IMAX screens, and ahead of a big push this week, GOTG2 made $5M.
The biggest play is the UK with $16.9M, followed by Australia at $11.8M, Germany with $9.3M, Mexico at $8.2M and France with $7.9M. In the UK, Disney now has the top two openers of 2017 led by Beauty And The Beast and with GOTG2 in 2nd. The film’s Friday debut is also the 2nd biggest opening day ever for a Marvel Cinematic Universe title — behind Captain America: Civil War, and ahead of GOTG by 86%.
In the rest of the box office galaxy, Universal’s The Fate Of The Furious pushed past $1B worldwide while Disney’s Beauty And The Beast has moved up to $1.142B global with a 9% increase in Japan’s 2nd frame. And, in India, S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali 2: The Conclusion had grossed an estimated 121 net crores ($18.2M) on its opening day to shatter records at home while the action sequel is also a monster in North America and other overseas play.
Breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below; actuals will be updated on a rolling basis.
The ragtag troupe of Disney/Marvel space-savers rocketed to $106M at the international box office this weekend. The opening, which began on Tuesday in Italy and Down Under, comes in 64% above the previous GOTG movie and tops other sequel comps Captain America: The Winter Soldier (+57%) and Thor: The Dark World (+24%). The launch is in line with projections from ahead of the weekend where the range was $85M-$100M with most thinking it would get to the latter number, if not a bit higher.
Notably, GOTG2 outperformed Captain America: Civil War in some key plays, even though it’s not a perfect comp given it scales more as an Avengers installment. In only 37 material markets this frame, there are several majors to come including China, Russia and Korea this week. Japan tunes in on May 12. GOTG2 should continue to outperform the previous film, although China as ever will be key. The day-and-date release with domestic is better timing than 2014’s GOTG, and the market has been energized by the massive success of The Fate Of The Furious.
On the last movie, China was the top offshore play at $96.5M, followed by the UK ($47.4M), Russia ($38.5M), Germany ($24.6M) and Australia ($23.3M) to round out the Top 5.
This weekend, GOTG2 was No. 1 in all of its debuts, except Portugal, Turkey and Vietnam and was higher than GOTG the first everywhere save Belgium where the original had previews in the mix.
The UK was the biggest launch market for the space jam with a 67% share. It’s the 2nd biggest opening of the year, behind Disney’s own Beauty And The Beast; and the 2nd best first day for an MCU title (behind Civil War). The $16.9M bow is over 86% higher than the first film.
Australia came in with $11.8M after being boosted by the Anzac holiday earlier in the week. At the weekend, it was 27% bigger than GOTG. Germany kicked off with $9.3M and the 2nd best MCU debut ever. It’s over 11% ahead of Civil War there and better than GOTG. Mexico jumps up to No. 4 in the actuals with $8.2M and France rounds out the Top 5 at 16% higher than Civil War and 36% better than GOTG with $7.9M.
Other key market cumes include Brazil ($6.9M), Italy ($4.1M), Indonesia ($3.4M), Spain ($3.3M) and the Philippines ($3.2M). Austria saw the best MCU debut of all time.
IMAX pulled in $5M of the total weekend gross on 176 screens in 35 hubs. The UK portion of that was $1.4M for 50% better than GOTG. Standout performances in the large format were seen in Turkey (+139% on GOTG), Mexico (+80%), France (+73%), Australia (+69%) and Brazil (+57%). The film adds 700 more IMAX screens in 31 markets next frame, including China and North America.
BAAHUBALI 2: THE CONCLUSION
It is notoriously difficult to get solid numbers out of India, particularly when a movie is released in four different language versions as is the case with S.S. Rajamouli’s sequel to 2015 Telegu smash Baahubali. However, Day 1 estimates came in at 121 net crores ($18.2M) with 285 gross crore ($42.8M) through Saturday, according to local analysts. The worldwide gross of 217 crore ($32.6M) on Day 1 topped the entire first weekend of Salman Khan’s Sultan. Through Saturday, the global estimate is 382.5 crores ($57.5) which is, frankly, unheard of. It also topped box office king Aamir Khan’s Dangal opening on Day 1.
Outside of India, in seven markets including North America, it made $13.83M including $10.14 domestic.
In IMAX, shows sold out across the weekend scoring the No. 1 opening ever in India for the format with $334K on 10 screens, about 15% bigger than The Fate Of The Furious. The launch is also IMAX’s biggest global opening ever for an Indian title and the biggest domestic bow for a foreign language movie. On only 66 IMAX screens worldwide, it grossed $2.34M.
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion reunites the Rajamouli with star Prabhas, along with Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty and Tamannaah Bhatia. The first film went on to be the third-highest grossing Indian title globally with an estimated $97M. It won the National Award for Best Feature Film in 2015. At opening, it grossed over $20M locally and had a weekend take of about $28M worldwide. The period war epic hails from Tollywood (as the Telugu industry is known) and is released in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam.
This one picks up with hero Shivudu (Prabhas) as he comes to terms with his legacy and the responsibility placed on him by this knowledge. Shivudu’s quest aims to find the answer to the question that’s plagued fans of the franchise: Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?
Released on over 9,000 screens worldwide, the Prabhas-starrer received a rapturous reception at home and abroad. In India, it played on a record 6,500 screens. The Day 1 score there came in nearly 6 times bigger than the top opener of 2017, Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees. We will update with full-weekend figures as they become available and I’ll have a separate report with more detail a bit later.
HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONS
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS
Joining the $1B club, Universal’s high-octane 8th installment in this $4B+ franchise added $68.4M in 69 territories this frame. The international total is $867.6M for $1.06B worldwide. This is the fourth-highest-grossing Universal film worldwide after Jurassic World ($1.67B), Furious 7 ($1.52B) and Minions ($1.16B). It is also the studio’s 5th film to reach the $1B mark, and tops Jurassic Park’s $1.04B.
Japan was the only new play, also the final release, with $7.5M. That’s the best start for the franchise in the market, although it came in at No. 2 behind Beauty And The Beast whose ardent fans kept that film at No. 1.
Most notably this weekend, F8 grew to 2.43B RMB, making it the biggest imported movie of all time in the market. It is No. 2 ever amongst all movies with local pic The Mermaid still at No. 1 overall with 3.4B RMB. The dollar figure on F8 in the Middle Kingdom is $361M.
The Top 5 markets are now China, Mexico ($33.4M), the UK ($32.8M), Germany ($27.5M) and Brazil ($32.4M). F8 is Universal’s highest grossing film ever in Egypt, Indonesia, Paraguay and Venezeuela.
In IMAX plays this frame, TFOTF earned $5M on 858 screens. The global cume is now $58M in the format; China alone is $27M.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Coming off of a $17.2M weekend in 46 territories, the Bill Condon-directed Beauty has played to $662.4M worth of overseas audiences. Globally, the total is $1.142B, making it the No. 13 highest grossing movie of all time. This week it waltzed past Transformers: Age Of Extinction, Skyfall, Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon.
In Japan, Disney saw turnstiles spin 9% harder than on the first weekend. The cume there is now $33.6M and Golden Week is upon us. Elsewhere, holds were strong including in the Netherlands (-10%), Spain (-30%), New Zealand (-30%).
In Europe, the estimated cume to date of $267M, makes this the 2nd highest grossing film of the past 12 months in Europe (behind only Rogue One). In the UK/Ireland, Beauty And The Beast is the 8th biggest movie of all-time, and the biggest musical ever there with $87.4M..
THE BOSS BABY
Alec Baldwin’s briefcase toting tot cashed in with another $15.6M this weekend on 9,281 screens in 72 markets. The DreamWorks Animation pic that Fox is releasing is seeing super holds with an international cume of $248.2M.
The lead market is the UK with $29.6M after 4 frames while France has banked $20.2M after five. Holland jumped by 51% in its sophomore session ($3.6M cume). Spain dipped just 16% ($8.8M to date) and Poland also slipped just 16% for a 2.65M cume.
Boss Baby has also become the biggest grossing DWA title ever in Hong Kong (topping Kung Fu Panda 2). Korea is still on deck on May 3.
SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE
The blue boys and girl found $11.7M internationally this weekend. Animated in 62 markets and on 9K screens, the Sony release now has an overseas cume of $117.8M. In the 2nd China frame, the film added $5.1M for an $18.1M cume to date.
GOING IN STYLE
This Warner Bros’ remake lifted another $3M from the international box office on 2,370 screens in 46 markets. The overseas cume is now $24.2M. Australia dropped 34% from opening to total $2.1M to date. Mexico also had a good sophomore hold with $437K from 419 screens. The total there is $1.8M. Germany’s $516K weekend was a 32% drop for $2.9M to date. The lead market remains the UK at $3.4M. France and Italy get in on the action this week.
MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLE
Get Out (UNI): $1.6M intl weekend (30 markets); $21.4M intl cume
Ghost In The Shell (PAR/MS): $1.3M intl weekend ($1.1 in 40 PPI markets); $126.2M intl cume ($124.9M PPI)
Sing (UNI): $800K intl weekend (10 markets); $357.6M intl cume – Japan now highest grossing offshore hub with $42.3M
Logan (FOX): $118K intl weekend (13 markets); $383.2M intl cume
Hidden Figures (FOX): $116K intl weekend (10 markets); $60M intl cume
Split (UNI): $100K (18 markets); $136..8M intl cume
LOCAL-LANGUAGE
There were also a handful of new titles that performed well in Asia this weekend. The Fate Of The Furious was supplanted at the top of the China chart by Shock Wave. The Hong Kong action pic about a hostage situation grossed $24.4M to win the weekend, although F8 was ahead of it on the Sunday. Also debuting in the Middle Kingdom this session were Battle Of Memories, a sci-fi thriller from Leste Chen with $21.8M; romcom Love Off The Cuff with $13.7M; and Derek Hui’s drama This Is Not What I Expected with $12.3M. In Korea, political drama The Mayor led box office at $5M per comScore although Kobiz has it higher at $6.1M. That was followed by comedy/adventure pic The King’s Case Note with $4M per comScore, $4.9M according to Kobiz. F8 slipped to 3rd place there this weekend with a $23.2M cume.
‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2’ Blasts Off With $106M – International Box Office
Michael Rooker Explains Why Yondu Didn’t Always Have A Huge Mohawk
The first Guardians of the Galaxy introduced a lot of people to some of the most obscure superheroes in Marvel’s vast library. Though characters like Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, Rocket, and Drax have existed for decades, but they didn’t even exist as Guardians of the Galaxy until the Marvel comic by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Paul Pelletier, Rick Magyar, and Nathan Fairbairn.
One of the film’s breakout characters comes from the original Guardians team from the ‘70s—the red-mohawked, blue-skinned Yondu. Played by Michael Rooker in the film, this version of the character was different from his comic book counterpart, with their main similarities being a name and whistle-powered arrow.
Even Yondu’s mohawk is different in the films and in the first movie it was much smaller than how it appears in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which is more comparable to his comic book counterpart.
Rooker spoke with ScreenCrush regarding his meatier role in the latest Guardians flick, revealing just why the mohawk was different in the first film.
“One ship was … the ceiling was too low,” Rooker said. “There was a couple of vital scenes that we’re doing and it was a little too … I would have hit my head. I would have had to duck down and scrunch over.”
So there wasn’t some cosmetic reason or in-story purpose behind the change, it was just practical with the production of the set.
“Dude, at least that’s the reason they told me,” Rooker added. “They lie to actors all the time. You know these directors and producers lie to us all the time. ‘No, no, no, we can’t do that because of this and this.’ But in reality they just don’t have the money in the budget to make the ceiling higher, okay? Yeah, that’s what they had mentioned. It was low.”
While the shorter, protruding metallic mohawk helped establish Yondu’s aesthetic in the first film, sequels are about going bigger and bolder and that attitude is matched with the bigger version of the ‘do.
Hopefully Rooker sports an even bigger mohawk in Avengers: Infinity War, something reminiscent of an ‘80s gutterpunk.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters this Friday.
Michael Rooker Explains Why Yondu Didn’t Always Have A Huge Mohawk
Custom Minecraft figs with glowing eyes and swords
Red Lava Toys is a Detroit-based startup that make super cool, low-cost custom Minecraft figs at a local makerspace: they CNC-milled their own injection molds for the body and joints, and have precision die-cut vinyl stickers that they print to order with long-lasting ink and cover with a clear adhesive coat, then place them on the body of the toy.
Better still, they’re 3D printing glowing swords and other accessories, and augmenting the heads with glowing eyes — prices range from $15-$20.
You can order from a variety of readymades, or give them your Minecraft username, or upload a skin and they’ll print your character. They offer a full, 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee.
I picked up a couple of these at Detroit’s Penguicon this weekend. They’re really fantastic!
Minecraft hits the big screen in Foxborough
FOXBOROUGH–Local gamers will get the chance to play Minecraft on the big screen this weekend at Showcase Cinema de Lux at Patriot Place.
Beginning on April 29, Showcase Cinema de Lux is teaming up with Super League to host the tournament, Boston Revolt City Champs: Minecraft.
Instead of playing the popular 3-D online game at home, participants are given the chance to come to the theatre, team up and compete in a series of three head-to-head sessions for a chance to enter the Grand Final championship, taking place on Saturday, May 20.
“The idea is to take Minecraft and make it a more communal environment where kids can play together,” said Showcase Vice President, Mark Malinowski.
The event is geared towards pre-teens, he said.
Tickets for the event cost $60 per player. Tickets include admission to the three events, an official club jersey, 90 minutes of gameplay per event, access to seven unique games modes and exclusive heroes, and a chance to qualifty for the grand final. Parents accompanying their child are free.
The first event is this Saturday, April 29 from 10:15a.m.-12p.m. The second and third events are scheduled for Saturday, May 6 (10:15a.m.-12p.m.) and Saturday May 13 (10:15a.m-12p.m.). The grand final is slated for Saturday, May 20 from 1:15-3p.m. Players are asked to arrive 15 minutes prior to the start time.
Showcase Cinema de Lux is located at 24 Patriot Place, Foxborough.
For more information and to purchase tickets visit, https://superleague.com/events/2686.
Sweden’s booming video game industry is more than just Microsoft’s ‘Minecraft’
Microsoft’s acquisition of “Minecraft” maker Mojang in 2014 thrust it into the center of Sweden’s vibrant video-gaming cluster, where a boom in the last half decade — that includes much more than “Minecraft” — is one of the biggest success stories in the industry.
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — Microsoft raised eyebrows in 2014 with the announcement it was spending a hefty $2.5 billion to buy Mojang, the Swedish developer of world-building game “Minecraft.”
The reaction among the fast-growing video-game industry in Stockholm was a little different.
“For us, it was like, ‘Microsoft got a pretty sweet deal,’ ” said Susana Meza Graham, an executive with Swedish video game maker Paradox.
“Minecraft,” by the time Microsoft came calling, was a global phenomenon. It instantly gave Microsoft a hugely popular brand with kids and gamers of all ages, as well as the $100 million or so in profit that Mojang was then pulling in annually.
Bringing Mojang and its 35 employees under Microsoft’s umbrella also thrust the Redmond company into the center of a vibrant, and unique, video-gaming cluster.
Sweden’s video-game boom in the last half decade is one of the biggest success stories in the industry, fueled by a talented and creative workforce and the fruits of years of government support for education and technology.
The country today boasts the second-highest concentration of video-game studios per capita in the world (neighboring Finland is No. 1), according to data from industry tracker Gamedevmap. The U.S. clocks in at 13th, with less than half the rate of game companies per capita as Sweden.
And an industry trade group estimates that one out of every 10 people in the world has played a game developed in Sweden, from casual titles (“Candy Crush”) to the high-end (“Battlefield”) and whimsical (“Goat Simulator”).
Recently, many have plugged into “Minecraft,” an open-ended game that lets players pilot blocky characters and build elaborate universes. The game has sold more than 122 million copies, the second-biggest all-time seller behind No. 1 “Tetris.”
Converted factories
Stockholm, Sweden’s largest city and home to 930,000 people, is spread across an archipelago of 14 islands and coastline where Lake Mälaren meets the Baltic Sea.
At the core is the kidney-shaped island of Gamla Stan, “old town” in English, a maze of narrow cobbled streets connected by bridges and ferries to the adjacent islands.
Just to the south sits Södermalm, an island primarily used for farmland until its bogs and lakes were drained and working class housing was built in the 19th century. Today, it is Stockholm’s cultural capital, and the heart of its gaming scene.
One recent Friday, Meza Graham and most of Paradox’s 220 employees gathered on the sixth floor of their Södermalm headquarters to toast — Prosecco in hand — the simultaneous release of two updates to their games.
Avalanche, another development studio, occupies two floors of the same building. Dice, the biggest employer in Sweden’s gaming industry, is headquartered across the street.
“This would have to be the most populated game-development area in the world,” says Jacob Kroon, a spokesman with the Swedish Games Industry trade group.
A few blocks away down a street of utilitarian-looking apartment buildings and brick-walled former factories converted into offices is a subsidiary of Rovio, the Finnish-headquartered “Angry Birds” builder.
And around the corner from there, on the first floor of an old tobacco factory, is Mojang.
Mojang’s trajectory
The company was founded in 2009 by Markus “Notch” Persson, who built “Minecraft” in his spare time.
Early on, he spurned a job offer from game publisher Valve, which wanted him to bring his game idea to the Bellevue company.
After the sale to Microsoft closed, Persson and Mojang’s two other founders left the company.
Microsoft’s purchase of one of Sweden’s crown jewels of video gaming sparked the concerns that typically come when a big company acquires a smaller one.
New oversight and an infusion of foreign corporate culture can end what made the acquired company successful in the first place, particularly in the creative and personality-driven video-gaming industry.
There were “a lot of worries” among employees at Mojang, said Jonas Mårtensson, who joined the company the year before the deal and would stay on afterward as CEO. “What would Microsoft do? Who would we work with?”
But executives and developers in Stockholm say they haven’t seen much change in direction from Mojang in the 2½ years Microsoft has owned the studio, which now employs more than 50 people here.
From outward appearances at Mojang today, there’s little to suggest the company even belongs to Microsoft.
Much of the change has been in Redmond, where Microsoft has set up a studio to pilot some editions of “Minecraft,” and used the game prominently in marketing materials, including for the HoloLens, Xbox and the company’s education initiatives.
Bigger picture, “Microsoft hasn’t really shown yet what they want to do,” said Patric Palm, chief executive of Hansoft, a Sweden-based game and software development tool maker. “And since they paid such a hefty price, they obviously have a bigger game in mind here.”
Positive acquisitions
Some Swedish game studios have flourished under new management.
Dice, creator of the “Battlefield” series, was scooped up in 2006 by Electronic Arts (EA), the California-based company with a reputation for pulling the plug on studios it acquired.
Instead of withering, Dice has thrived. It employs more than 550 people in Sweden, including the team behind the hit “Battlefield 1.” Dice’s CEO at the time of the sale, Patrick Söderlund, now runs EA’s worldwide network of studios.
Another Swedish gaming company, Massive, has kept producing hits in nearly a decade as a subsidiary of French gaming giant Ubisoft.
“If anything, (international acquisitions) have only been positive” for the local industry, said Oskar Burman, an industry veteran who has led Stockholm studios owned by EA and Rovio, among others.
Like many of Sweden’s video-game pioneers, Burman got his start in the “demo” scene, tinkering with game making on early personal computers built by the likes of Atari and Commodore.
“Back in the 90s, it was really hard,” he says. “It was not seen as a proper path by anyone. We struggled (for legitimacy) with the government, our parents, everyone.”
They did, however, have advantages that would come into play as video gaming grew from hobby to a multibillion-dollar entertainment industry.
Swedish stimulus
Sweden made English-language education compulsory for all children in the 1960s, seeding a population fluent in what would become the default language of the internet and computer science.
Government investments in the information age paid dividends, too, from subsidies to buy home computers in the 1990s, to a state-funded broadband internet build out in the 2000s.
Peter Zetterberg, a Swedish video-gaming pioneer who helped pilot Microsoft’s Mojang acquisition, said the country’s cultural scene has also benefitted from a patient parenting attitude. Kids, he says, are often given the freedom to learn through play, rather than pressured into traditional career paths.
“To the frustration of my parents, we had a computer, and I sat in front of it a lot,” he said. “We fiddle with things, we tinker, and eventually, we might find the thing we want to do.”
Meanwhile, the country’s small domestic market forces companies to look to the global market — and particularly the U.S.
Meza Graham, a former consumer-goods marketer and Paradox’s 12th employee, was hired in 2004 to help build the company’s international presence and publishing studio. Paradox’s games — mostly deep, historical, world-spanning strategy simulations — were written in English. So were its website and user forums.
“At first, everyone assumed we were American,” she said. The company didn’t go out of its way to correct that impression.
Meza Graham also tried to inject a bit of American-style confidence into the company’s correspondence, a contrast to a Swedish tendency for humility and deference. Simple things, she said, like “if we think we’ve made a good game, say that in the news release.”
Paradox would go on to make its share of hits, and went public last year, listing shares on the Nasdaq First North exchange in Stockholm.
Growth spurt
The industry’s biggest growth has occurred in the last few years, a boom partly fueled by digital downloads of games that meant startups like Mojang didn’t need to work with a publishing-house gatekeeper.
Between 2010 and 2015, the most recent figures available, employment at Swedish game companies more than tripled, to 3,700 people, according to the Swedish Games Industry group. Sales surged from the equivalent of $132 million to $1.4 billion.
Mojang has contributed much of that revenue growth, and its sales have continued to climb under Microsoft. Revenue attributed to the Mojang subsidiary during Microsoft’s fiscal year ended in June was up 84 percent from the company’s last full year of independent ownership, to $443 million.
Tommy Palm, chief executive of Stockholm-based Resolution Games, said Microsoft could prove to be a good home for Mojang. “I think Microsoft certainly has the long-term vision,” he said. “Minecraft is a super interesting product, there are so many things you can do with it.”
For Sweden, Microsoft’s cash also minted another set of wealthy game-industry veterans who might wind up looking for second acts.
Palm and Burman are both repeat entrepreneurs, using some of the cash from previous deals to test new ideas. Many here are also waiting to see what Mojang’s departed founders do next.
“You need heroes,” said Mårtensson, the current Mojang CEO. “And we’ve had a few success stories. That inspires people.”
Sweden’s booming video game industry is more than just Microsoft’s ‘Minecraft’