We’re all waiting in breathless anticipation for Nintendo’s big Switch press event in just a few days on Jan. 12, which should be the biggest info dump about the system to date. So far, information has only trickled out about the system through official channels, with the bulk coming from leaks. Nintendo debuted a three minute trailer for the Switch this fall which revealed its handheld/home console split functionality, but the spot almost raised more questions than answers, and Nintendo has been tight-lipped since.
One point of speculation has been about the price of the unit, and it seems everyone more or less has the same idea in mind. After the system was first announced, analysts said that Nintendo probably couldn’t price it higher than $300. Last November, there was a retailer leak that put the Switch’s price at $250, but that was mostly seen as a placeholder rather than inside info. Now, Nikkei, the Japanese paper, is predicting a ¥25,000 for the Switch, or about $215 in the US given the current exchange rate. Given different international pricing, that may end up being rounded pretty far up to $250 overseas, which was the original price of the Wii at launch.
All of these are essentially just estimates, but the idea is clear, Nintendo would be pretty crazy to price the Switch any higher than this.
The Wii U had a higher base price of $300, which certainly was not the only factor it floundered, but it was a higher barrier of entry to than the Wii. The common thought is that the base model of the Switch will be $250, and perhaps some upgraded, higher storage version may be $300 at worst.
Price has been a big point in Nintendo’s favor the last few console generations, with the Xbox One and PS4 starting out at $500 and $400 respectively, and the PS3 famously going for $600 at launch. It seems unlikely that even with a device that combines handheld and home console functionality, that Nintendo would want to skirt above the $250-300 range.
Photo: Nintendo
The problem? Nintendo has not been great about making prices come down over time for both software and hardware. Wii U’s are still incredibly expensive to this day and Nintendo games rarely come down in price the way you see with most PS/XB titles. So while you’re getting money off up front, if you enter later into the console’s lifecycle, you’re not really saving much. The message is clear. Buy this console/game now, as it won’t do you any good to wait.
The Switch would seem to do a lot for $250, acting as both a handheld and console, but this raises a question I’ve had for a while now, one we still don’t know the answer to. It’s more or less being implied that Nintendo will phase out the 3DS after this year, which would leave both its division working on one unit, the Switch. Now, it’s great that Nintendo has a device that does both, but Nintendo’s handhelds have been enormous sellers by themselves over the years, and now scaling back to only one device implies they’re really going to want to increase hardware sales to make up for that. But they’re in a tough spot because the Switch’s price point isn’t combining two hardware SKUs for something like a $500-$550 asking price, so that simply relies on them selling a ton of units to make up the difference.
Not that Nintendo can’t do this, but is it likely? Ehhh.
Just this last generation, the Wii U sold 13.3 million units. The 3DS sold 61.5 million units. Yes, the 3DS will continue to be sold this year, but after that? Will it continue? Will Nintendo actually make a new handheld? Who knows? But if not, and if the Switch becomes the end all, be all of Nintendo’s hardware offerings, is it really going to sell 70 million units in this current climate? Maybe, but that’s an incredibly tall order.
There are a lot of other factors at play here including Nintendo making new inroads into mobile revenue streams and opening up its IPs for branding opportunities in other industries (the theme park!) but there’s a whole lot riding on the Switch, and that may be especially true after this year.
“Microsoft Monday” takes a look back at the past week of news related to Microsoft. This week, “Microsoft Monday” includes details about a red Xbox One controller being released tomorrow, the accidental release of a Forza Horizon 3 developer version, Minecraft surpassing 25 million copies sold for PCs and Macs, a few Windows 10 user interface tweaks, a connected vehicle deal signed with Renault-Nissan and more!
A Red Xbox One Controller Is Being Released Tomorrow
Red Xbox One Controller / Photo Credit: Microsoft
Tomorrow Microsoft is going to release a matte red version of the Xbox One controller. As of now, the red Xbox One controller appears to be limited to GameStop and the Microsoft Store at a retail price of $64.99. The red version of the Xbox One controller joins black, white and blue Xbox One controller options. And there are special edition versions of controllers with game themes and two types of Xbox One Elite controllers: a Gears of War 4 limited edition and a black-and-silver version.
Microsoft Accidentally Releases Developer Build Of Forza Horizon 3
Forza Horizon 3 / Photo Credit: Xbox.com
Microsoft and Playground Studios released a car pack update earlier this month, but it was actually the wrong version according to a Forza forum post. The car pack update ended up being a 53GB download and a new profile created in that version would not be playable in any other release. When the glitch was detected, the update was pulled. Interestingly, Engadget pointed out that the glitched release appears to have leaked details about Porsche cars coming to the game in the form of add-ons.
Minecraft Hits More Than 25 Million Copies Sold For PCs And Macs
Minecraft / Photo Credit: Mojang
Minecraft, the flagship game created by Mojang, has hit over 25 million copies sold on PCs and Macs to date. You can see the 25 million milestone published on the Mojang website where it also shows the number of copies being sold on a daily basis. As a whole, Mojang hit 100 million copies sold about six months ago across all of its platforms, according to Neowin. Minecraft is currently available on Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Windows 10, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Raspberry Pi, Apple TV, Gear VR, etc.
Mojang partnered with Telltale Games for the Minecraft: Story Mode. And there is a Minecraft movie coming in 2019. Microsoft acquired Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014 due to the success of Minecraft.
Windows 10 User Interface Tweaks
Microsoft is preparing to make some user interface changes to Windows 10 — which is currently being referred to internally as “Project NEON.” MSPowerUser posted some leaked screenshots of the new user interface and you will notice the animation, blur effects and windows toolbars appear to be transparent.
MSPowerUser suggested that the changes in the design are similar to what we saw with the Aero Glass elements in Windows Vista and Windows 7. The blurred sidebar, backgrounds and navigational elements for the apps are known as “Side-Nav Acrylic”, “Background Acrylic” and “In-App Acrylic” respectively. Some of these minor design changes are expected to arrive when Windows 10 Redstone 3 releases in the fall of 2017.
Microsoft Announces Connected Vehicle Platform Deal With Renault-Nissan
Microsoft has announced a new deal it signed with Renault-Nissan, which will be the first Connected Vehicle Platform customer. The Connected Vehicle Platform is a “set of services built on the Microsoft Azure cloud and designed to empower auto manufacturers to create custom connected driving experiences.”
The Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform will collect sensor data that can be used in other Microsoft products. For example, the Cortana digital assistant could be voice activated in vehicles to set up service appointments at auto repair shops.
Peggy Johnson, the executive vice president of business development at Microsoft, said that there are five core scenarios that auto partners are looking to prioritize through the Connected Vehicle Platform. This includes “predictive maintenance, improved in-car productivity, advanced navigation, customer insights and help building autonomous driving capabilities.”
Microsoft technology has been used in cars for years now. Microsoft SYNC was introduced at the North American International Auto Show in January 2007. Some of the other auto partners that will integrate Microsoft products into its vehicles include BMW, Volvo and Toyota.
Xbox Live Hits 3.9 Billion Hours Of Usage In November And December 2016
During the months of November and December 2016, Xbox Live hit an “all-time high” of 3.9 billion hours spent — which is a 23% increase year-over-year, according to Xbox.com. A major reason why Xbox Live hit an all time high is because nearly 400 new games were released in 2016 such as Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3. Of the 3.9 billion hours spent playing on Xbox Live, over 265 million hours were through the Xbox 360 games available within Xbox One Backward Compatibility program such as Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2 and Skate 3.
Plus gaming on Windows 10 saw tremendous growth. Over 2.5 billion hours of gaming was logged in Windows 10 for November 2016 alone, a 127% increased compared to the same time one year earlier.
Forza Horizon 3 has over 14 million players on Xbox One and Windows 10. And 23 million Versus Multiplayer and Horde matches were played since it launched on Gears of War 4. Another milestone is that Xbox One users created over 2.4 million customized Xbox Wireless Controller designs through the Xbox Design Lab.
Microsoft Flow Adds Support For 13 More Services
Microsoft Flow / Photo Credit: Microsoft
Last week, Microsoft announced that Flow now works for 13 more services. Microsoft Flow is an automated workflow service that performs tasks based on rules that you set between different applications. Flow is often compared to IFTTT.
According to a company blog post, Microsoft Flow can now connect to these 13 services:
• Azure Queues storage provides cloud messaging between application components. Queue storage also supports managing asynchronous tasks and building process work flows.
• Chatter is an enterprise social network for your company that allows employees to connect and collaborate in real time.
• Disqus is a service for web comments and discussions that makes commenting easier and more interactive, helping publishers power online discussions.
• Azure DocumentDB is a NoSQL service for highly available, globally distributed apps. Sign in to your DocumentDB account to create, update, and query documents and more.
• Freshdesk is a cloud-based customer support solution that will help you streamline your customer service and make sure your customers receive the support they deserve. The Freshdesk connector is intended for Freshdesk agents to manage tickets and contacts.
• Google Contacts is an online address book, integrated across your Google products and more.
• GoToMeeting is an online meeting tool that allows you to schedule your own meetings or watch for the ones you are invited to.
•HipChat is group chat, video chat, and screen sharing tool for teams of all sizes. Built for business, HipChat is persistent, searchable, and loaded with items your team will love.
• Medium is a vibrant network of thinkers who care about the world and making it better. Connect to your Medium account to track new publications, write stories, and more.
• MSN Weather provides the very latest weather forecast, including temperature, humidity, and precipitation for your location.
• WordPress is web software that you can use to create a beautiful website, blog, or app.
Microsoft To Reorganize Certain Departments On February 1st
According to Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet, Microsoft is set to conduct a massive management reorganization including the creation of a digital team focused on cloud services. The reorganization — which will affect the sales, partner and services teams under the Worldwide Commercial Business group headed by EVP Judson Althoff — is expected to take place on February 1st.
The Enterprise & Partner Group (EPG) will be merged with the Small and Mid-Market Solutions and Partners (SMS&P) group. Chris Weber, the corporate VP of midmarket solutions and partners, will oversee the combined businesses.
Microsoft will also combine the Worldwide Public Sector and Industry Businesses, which will be overseen by corporate VP Toni Townes-Whitley. A new “One Commercial Partner” business is being created to combine a number of partner teams within the company and it will be led by Ron Huddleston. The new digital team that will be handling cloud services will be led by corporate VP of Microsoft Services Anand Eswaran.
Will the reorganization cause any layoffs? Fortunately, a Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet that will be no layoffs due to the shift. “Like all companies, Microsoft reviews its resources and investments on an ongoing basis,” said the spokesperson.
Microsoft And Mattel Partner On A Connected Room Hub
Aristotle home assistant / Photo Credit: Mattel
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Mattel unveiled a new product within its nabi brand. The product — which is called Aristotle — is a connected room hub that was built through a partnership between Mattel, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Silk Labs. The purpose of Aristotle is to provide assistance to parents while entertaining children through the use of artificial intelligence.
“The platform’s Artificial Intelligence will utilize three distinct AI engines, including Microsoft Cognitive Services and the Silk Intelligence Platform. These multi-levels of AI enable Aristotle to learn patterns and autonomously act upon user habits to aid in child development and learning. Aristotle’s AI will also have a unique personality that will appeal to parents and kids and will be presented as the great descendent of Aristotle himself,” said Mattel in a press release.
The Aristotle device consists of a webcam and a speaker that responds to commands. The speaker has LED lights built-in that functions as nightlights, task indicators and for gaming purpose. Aristotle is able to recognize the kids based on their voices and names to offer personalized functionalities.
According to PCWorld, parents can also program Aristotle so that it only responds to commands after hearing the word “please.” And if Aristotle hears a child crying, parents can be alerted with a notification. Plus Aristotle can be programmed so that it triggers an event based on something that happens. For example, a lullaby can be played if Aristotle hears a child crying. And Aristotle knows multiple languages so it can respond in Spanish if a child is in the process of learning that language.
To make certain the privacy of the child is maintained, Aristotle was created with COPPA compliance. And there aren’t any default passwords so it prevents hackers from spying on children. Plus the data is encrypted to and from the cloud. To purchase Aristotle, Mattel will be selling it for $299 starting in June 2017.
Pop star Ariana Grande will make a guest appearance in Square Enix’s free-to-play Final Fantasy mobile game, Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius, the singer announced on her Instagram account today.
It’s not clear when Grande will make her guest appearance in the Final Fantasy game or how players will be able to recruit her. We’ve reached out to Square Enix for details.
Grande’s appearance in Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius is based on her latex rabbit eared look as seen on her latest album, Dangerous Woman, and in the video for the album’s title track. Grande shared “a little peek” at her character’s sprite in motion on Instagram.
A video posted by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on
Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius is a free-to-play, turn-based role-playing game for Android and iOS. The RPG includes a new cast of characters and familiar Final Fantasy elements, including limit breaks and summons.
Developed by Gumi, Brave Exvius was released in Japan in 2015 and came to North America in June 2016. The game has been downloaded more than 8 million times globally, Gumi announced in November.
Update: As part of the promotion, a remix of “Touch It” by Ariana Grande will be added to the soundtrack of Brave Exvius. Preview that in the video below.
One of the most controversial elements of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is its use of computer-generated imagery to bring back characters who appeared in a 39-year-old movie — as they appeared in that movie. The process of developing these digital recreations was difficult enough, but the ethical, legal and artistic questions surrounding it were even more thorny.
[Warning: The following contains spoilers about character appearances in Rogue One.]
Rogue One is a spinoff film, but it’s a direct prequel to the very first Star Wars movie, 1977’s Episode IV: A New Hope. The filmmakers behind Rogue One decided to use digital effects for two characters from A New Hope: Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia Organa. Tarkin, the commander of the Death Star, was played in that film by Peter Cushing, who died in 1994. Carrie Fisher, who died today at the age of 60, was 19 when she donned Princess Leia’s white gown in A New Hope.
Fisher’s younger self only makes a cameo in Rogue One, appearing in the film’s final shot. However, Tarkin — referred to as Governor Tarkin in the movie — gets a lot more screen time, actually carrying on conversations with Imperial comrades such as Ben Mendelsohn’s Director Orson Krennic. As such, his CG self must bear a much greater load.
The effects specialists at Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic combined live action with digital wizardry for both Tarkin and Leia. ILM chief creative officer John Knoll, who is credited alongside Gary Whitta for Rogue One’s story, described the process to the New York Times as “a super high-tech and labor-intensive version of doing makeup.”
Here’s how it worked. During the filming of Tarkin’s scenes, he was played by the British actor Guy Henry, who resembles Cushing in size and could speak reasonably similarly. Henry wore performance-capture equipment on his head, as you can see below, so his face could be replaced with the digital recreation of Tarkin’s.
Guy Henry wearing performance-capture equipment during the filming of Rogue One.Industrial Light & Magic/Lucasfilm via New York Times
The process was slightly different for Princess Leia. Initially, the camera is behind her; in that shot, she is played by the Norwegian actress Ingvild Deila. When Leia is shown from the front, it’s Deila’s hand that we see. But the character’s face, hair and costume are digital recreations based on footage from A New Hope, reports the New York Times.
In replacing Henry’s face with Tarkin’s, the animators worked hard to approximate Cushing’s original delivery. The effects take into account subtleties like the way his lips moved when he spoke a particular word. At the same time, the filmmakers did not prioritize that element of the digital performance.
“Realism had to trump likeness,” Hal Hickel, animation supervisor at ILM, told the New York Times.
The filmmakers didn’t necessarily succeed in that respect — in our Rogue One review, we said the CG for Tarkin “never quite manages to escape the realm of cartoony.” But more contentious than whether the digitally recreated Tarkin rests in the uncanny valley is the issue of choosing to use CGI to resurrect a character played by a person who is no longer alive.
Hollywood has been doing this ever since the technology made it possible; think of Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano in the third season of The Sopranos, which aired in 2001, or Oliver Reed as Proximo in 2000’s Gladiator. One of the more high-profile instances of this came in Furious 7, in which Paul Walker appeared after his untimely death.
Rogue One’s filmmakers defended their decision, noting that it was primarily motivated by the story. The concept of the movie is based around stealing the plans to the Death Star — which Tarkin commands — and the weapon fires upon multiple planets during the film.
“If he’s not in the movie, we’re going to have to explain why he’s not in the movie,” Kiri Hart, head of development for Lucasfilm’s story group and a co-producer on Rogue One, told the New York Times.
As is noted in the credits of Rogue One, Lucasfilm also obtained permission from Cushing’s estate to recreate Tarkin for the film. Both his estate and Carrie Fisher received special thanks in the credits. But the filmmakers did consider other options in case the effects didn’t work out, such as having Tarkin appear only in a hologram or giving his dialogue to other characters.
But it sounds like a digital recreation was always the plan for Leia — even if it seems like a simple shot of the character from behind, with Deila in the iconic costume and hair buns that Fisher wore in A New Hope, would have been enough.
“To deliver on that moment of hopefulness, that is really underscored by the fact that you do get to see her face,” Hart told the New York Times. “That’s the best possible use of effects, to enhance the meaning and the emotion of the experience for the viewer.”
Ben Affleck confirmed this year that he would star in and direct Warner Bros.’ stand-alone Batman movie, but the actor recently admitted that wasn’t set in stone.
Affleck sat down with The Guardian to discuss his career and latest movie, Live by Night. During the interview, he was asked about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and The Batman. Although Affleck confirmed he was on board during a panel at CinemaCon, he told The Guardian there were a few stipulations that could prevent him from going through with it.
“But it’s not a set thing and there’s no script,” Affleck answered when asked about the movie. “If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great I’m not going to do it.”
After Batman v Superman was released — and torn apart by the majority of critics — Affleck has been left to defend the film he made. In an interview with Fox 5 DC in October, Affleck finally addressed the criticism head-on instead of dodging the question.
“It was interesting, that movie, because it was judged not necessarily on execution so much as on its tone,” Affleck said. “People seemed to want to have a lighter tone to the movie, and I thought that was interesting because it’s subjective. Tone is not a qualitative thing. It’s subjective, right? Some tones resonate with me that might not with you.”
Affleck added that he personally loved it, but after scorching reviews and a seemingly neverending line of questioning about the poor reception, it seems like he’s being more cautious this time. Although Affleck will direct the movie and play Batman, giving him more control than most, it all depends on whether or not the script lives up to his standards. Affleck will reportedly co-write the script with Geoff Johns, one of DC’s more notable Batman writers and the head of DC Films.
Details surrounding the movie are still light, including when it’ll be released, but The Batman will be a part of DC’s Extended Cinematic Universe.
Tom Hardy is a lost, vengeful and violent man in a new clip from the actor’s upcoming series on FX, Taboo.
The series, on which Ridley Scott is executive producer, follows James Keziah Delaney (Hardy) as he returns to London in 1814 to seek revenge for his father’s mysterious death. Although FX hasn’t released too many details about the series, recent trailers have explained that Delaney returns to London as a changed, unrecognizable man after spending years in Africa.
This clip showcases just how much he’s changed. In it, he’s talking to a woman who runs a brothel about tracking down a group of men. It’s the longest look we’ve gotten of Hardy in the role yet, but it should feel familiar to those who have seen films like Locke or Mad Max: Fury Road. Hardy is calm but terrifying as he turns into a monster, threatening the woman if he doesn’t get his way.
Taboo is one of Polygon’s most anticipated new shows of 2017, and this clip gives a pretty good indication as to why that is. Hardy has proven that he’s more than capable of handling a role like this, and with Scott on board as an executive producer, it seems like a pretty good bet. Hardy created the series alongside his father, Chips Hardy, with long-time collaborator Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) on board as showrunner.
Taboo also stars Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones), Oona Chaplin (Game of Thrones) and Michael Kelly (House of Cards). It will premiere on Jan. 10 at 10 p.m. ET on FX, three days after it premieres on the BBC. A trailer for the series can be seen below.
