The Switch already has its own version of Minecraft, and it’s easily the best portable edition the game has ever seen.
When Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, tweets to say that Minecraft is perfect for Nintendo Switch you know there’s probably something in it. He is in a peculiar position though, in that Microsoft now owns developer Mojang and could easily make Minecraft an Xbox and Windows exclusive if they wanted to. Thankfully, they’ve been more sensible than that, and Minecraft is still available on all Sony consoles. It took a long while for it to arrive on the Wii U though, despite it fitting the format, and the Nintendo audience, perfectly. But no such mistake is being made with the Nintendo Switch.
We’re still surprised that Nintendo themselves (or Lego) weren’t the ones that bought Mojang in the first place. But while they could easily have afforded the $2.5 billion price tag, that’s just not the way the company has ever worked. Even sweet-talking other publishers into bringing multiformat games to their consoles is usually beyond them, but as with much else they seem to have changed their ways with the Switch. And in so doing provided the console with what could easily be regarded as another killer app.
Although the details vary between versions this is fundamentally the same game that’s available on all the other console formats. There is some extra Super Mario-themed texture packs and music throw in (as well as a few other mash-up packs, which seems to be meant as justification for the slightly higher price tag), and good use is made of the Switch’s various multiplayer, but this is still the same old Minecraft at heart. And frankly it’s never felt as at home on any other console.
If you somehow don’t know what Minecraft is – which presumably means you also haven’t been near any children in the last five years – it’s basically digital Lego. Not literally (there’s Lego Worlds for that) but the appeal of building whatever you want out of small building blocks is very similar. You start the experience in a huge, randomly-generated, game world where everything is made out of small cubes composed of different materials such as wood, dirt, stone and other more precious minerals. These can be excavated and used to create a huge range of different items, from tools like shovels and pickaxes to bedroom furniture, boats, and armour.
Most people will play the game in Creative mode, where you’re left to do whatever you want, but there is also a more structured Survival mode, which imposes de facto goals – such as building a shelter to survive the monsters that appear at night. But from there you can still do anything you like, from catching a fish with a fishing rod (that you made) on a stove (which you also made) to making pets of the wandering wild animals.
Although the in-game tutorial does its best the set-up is very disorientating at first, but that’s actually part of the charm. Getting your head around the game’s internal logic takes a little while (the effect of gravity is implemented inconsistently, for example, so trees will happily stay standing even with the middle of their trunks removed). But working out what everything can be used for is a primary appeal and the help system almost ruins it at times by giving too much away.
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition (NS) – four-player is probably best left to TV mode
When it comes to the Nintendo Switch version, this sits somewhere between the Xbox 360 (and Wii U) version and the Xbox One in terms of performance. The maximum world size is ‘medium’, compared to the Xbox 360’s ‘small’ and the Xbox One’s ‘large’. The performance is a smooth 60fps throughout though, even in two-player split-screen mode. There is a little slowdown in four-player split-screen, but given you need both Joy-Cons, or a Pro Controller, for each player that’s probably not going to be an option for most people anyway.
That instantly makes it the best portable version of the game ever seen, especially given the numerous compromises of the Pocket Edition. The draw distance is quite short when in handheld mode though, and there’s a real inconsistency in when and how the touchscreen is used. For some reason you still have to use an onscreen cursor with the inventory, but you can use the touchscreen when crafting.
The other problem with the Nintendo Switch version is that it’s not the latest console update, but is instead stuck back where the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were in late January. It should be easy for it to catch up, but we’ll have to wait and see if it actually does. The online options are also predictably limited in terms of whose games you can join. You’re fine if you join someone already on your friends list, but there’s no in-game chat of any kind.
The Nintendo Switch Edition is a small step-down from the other current gen console versions, although to the casual observer it will seem all but identical. As a portable version of the game though, this is easily the best there’s ever been. And given how versatile it is in terms of multiplayer and playing it on the TV it’s easy to imagine it becoming many people’s favourite version. So while technically this is just another port, it’s also further proof of just how energising the Switch can be for even the most familiar games.
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition
In Short: The definitive portable version of Minecraft, with almost all the features of the current gen home console editions combined with the convenience of the Nintendo Switch.
Pros: A good port of the original, with excellent performance in both handheld and TV mode. Minecraft is naturally well-suited to Switch, and there a few fun extras with the mash-up pack.
Cons: World sizes aren’t as big as the PC or other next gen consoles. Restrictive online options and not the latest update. Inconsistent use of the touchscreen.
Score: 8/10
Formats: Nintendo Switch Price: £19.99 Publisher: Mojang Developer: 4J Studios and Mojang Release Date: 12th May 2017 (currently eShop only) Age Rating: 7
Nintendo revealed its plans for E3 in a press release Thursday, and we couldn’t be more excited for the Switch-related reveals. While these aren’t necessarily predictions, here are five games and announcements we’d love to see from Nintendo at E3 2017.
1) Super Mario Odyssey: It’s already been confirmed that Super Mario Odyssey will factor into Nintendo’s E3 plans in a big way, but we truly hope it delivers on everything we saw in January’s debut trailer. For all intents and purposes, this looks like the triumphant return of 3D sandbox Mario games. We haven’t seen one of those since Sunshine in 2002, so expectations are riding high.
Not only should the slice shown during E3 be as substantial as last year’s Breath Of The Wild Great Plateau demo, but it should also highlight several ways in which the play style has evolved over the last 12 years. Fans who played Sunshine or Super Mario 64 already have a basic idea of what to expect. We hope Nintendo builds on the best parts of those games in ways nobody sees coming. Infuse new genres and mechanics into the plumber’s upcoming adventure.
2) Virtual Console & Online Details: While this sort of stuff may not be sexy enough for a Direct debut, we hope Nintendo takes some time during E3 week to answer two of the biggest questions still haunting Switch owners: is Virtual Console coming, and how will this fall’s online service be structured?
Since we’re talking about desires rather than predictions, our reasonable dream scenario is that Switch online access costs $20 a month with a free Virtual Console game that you can keep as long as the subscription is active. In January Nintendo said free games would only be playable for the month, but we hope that idea gets rolled back. As for VC, we hope Nintendo is taking this extra time to ensure that all Wii U purchases transfer to Switch for free. Even more pie in the sky perhaps, wouldn’t it be great to pay an extra $10 a month to get unlimited access to the entire VC catalog? Make Switch’s services shine so brightly that we never have time to be bored with the console.
3) Super Smash Bros. For Switch: We’ve heard the rumors forever, and we hope E3 2017 is when they’re finally confirmed to be real. We’re fine with this game starting out as a Wii U port, but we’d love to see Nintendo commit to an extended DLC plan for the future.
‘Super Smash Bros’
We hope ‘Super Smash Bros.’ comes to Switch in a way that builds off its predecessor on Wii U with tons of new character and stage DLC.Photo: Nintendo/Facebook
In other words, continue to give us new characters and stages beyond the couple of new additions that have popped up in rumor reports. Make this iteration less of a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and more of a continuation of an existing service on a new platform.
4) Metroid: Enough is enough Nintendo! We know Retro Studios has been toiling away on something for years, and evidence is mounting that it could be Metroid-related. This franchise has essentially been dormant for a decade, so we’re willing to take anything. Just tell us this game exists. If we’re dreaming, we’d like to see it come out this fall, but even a 2018 tease would blow the roof off the building.
After seeing how Breath Of The Wild brilliantly reinvented Zelda, it’d be awesome to see Metroid adopt some of that game’s best features. Put space exploration front and center, flesh out planets with sidequests and tie it down with the impressive combat and movement from Prime. Metroid Switch could fill in for the awesome Mass Effect game we didn’t get this year.
5) Something Nobody Expects: Every great E3 showcase has a totally unexpected surprise, so we hope Nintendo has one up its sleeve. There have been no rumblings about a franchise like Animal Crossing or F-Zero coming to Switch yet, so wouldn’t it be awesome to hear that a title along those lines is set to release this year?
The shock factor could also come from a third-party partnership too considering Nintendo historically struggles in that department. We know about the whole Rabbids thing, but that’s not a show stopper. We’re talking about a major name or franchise with some form of Switch exclusivity. Beyond Good And Evil 2 in 2017 perhaps ? Bring on the unexpected.
Nintendo’s E3 Direct stream is set to take place June 13 at 12 p.m. EDT. It will be followed by Treehouse streams throughout the convention.
What do you want to see from Nintendo’s E3 showcase? Will any of our dreams come true? Tell us in the comments section!
Minecraft wasn’t always the enormous franchise that it has become. It has slowly been building in popularity since its creator, Markus Persson, released the game in 2009. So, what is it about this independently created game that made it endure over time?
HELLBOY TO GET HORROR REBOOT? WE’VE SEEN STRANGER THINGS
(Photo by Universal, Curtis Baker/Netflix courtesy Everett Collection)
This week’s biggest and most surprising news was sort of a confluence of two stories from earlier in the year. First, there was the Twitter announcement from director Guillermo Del Toro in February that, “Hellboy 3 Sorry to report: Spoke w all parties. Must report that 100% the sequel will not happen. And that is to be the final thing about it.” Note that Del Toro was speaking specifically about a sequel to the two Hellboy movies that he directed, starring Ron Perlman. Also, earlier this year, David Harbour (Stranger Things) was in contention for the role of Cable in Deadpool 2, suggesting he was interested in starring in a comic book movie — that role eventually went to Josh Brolin instead. Put all of that together, and it leads to this week’s news of a Hellboy reboot starring David Harbour and directed by Neil Marshall (The Descent, the Blackwater and Watchers on the Wall episodes of Game of Thrones.) The new movie, possibly titled Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, will be from Millennium Films, the company best known for mid-level budget action movies like The Expendables and Olympus Has Fallen. The Hellboy reboot was described by its new screenwriter as, “a darker, more gruesome version of Hellboy… walk[ing] a razor’s edge between horror and comic book movie.”
Fresh Developments
1. CLIFF CURTIS CAST IN THE AVATAR SEQUELS AS “REEF PEOPLE” LEADER
(Photo by Fox Searchlight)
Even those who never saw James Cameron’s 2009 hit Avatar are likely to know it involved blue aliens that looked like a cross between deer and elves (i.e. the Na’vi). Cameron has been talking about his sequels for years and years now, including the detail that the story would be moving to Pandora’s oceans. This week, Fox and Cameron revealed their first new cast member, confirming the new setting. Prolific character actor Cliff Curtis, currently starring on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, has signed on to play “Tonowari, the leader of the Metkayina reef people clan.” What we don’t know from that description is whether the “reef people” are also Na’vi, another Pandoran race, or a little bit of both. 20th Century Fox has scheduled the four Avatar sequels for December dates in 2020, 2021, 2024, and 2025, starting with Avatar 2 on December 18, 2020.
2. HUGH BONNEVILLE TO PORTRAY ROALD DAHL IN BIOPIC
(Photo by Laurie Sparham/Weinstein Company courtesy Everett Collection)
The works of British children’s authors have inspired a number of big screen adaptations, but their lives themselves have also provided some rich material. Some notable examples include Finding Neverland (Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie), Shadowlands (Narnia creator C.S. Lewis), Saving Mr. Banks (Mary Poppins creator P.L. Travers), and Miss Potter (Peter Rabbit creator Beatrix Potter). Another prolific British author was Roald Dahl, whom we can thank for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Witches, Matilda, and last year’s The BFG. Well, it’s finally Dahl’s turn to receive a (shared) biopic, and the actor who has landed the role is Hugh Bonneville. Downton Abbey fans will know Bonneville for portraying Lord Robert Crawley, the 7th Earl of Grantham. The currently untitled biopic will tell “a bittersweet, comedic story focusing on Dahl’s marriage to actress Patricia Neal, [as] the story moves between New York, England and Los Angeles in the early 1960s, a time when Dahl struggled to write some of his most famous works and Neal returned to acting with Hud.”
3. BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND JAKE GYLLENHAAL MEET UP IN RIO
(Photo by Jason Smith, John Nacion / Everett Collection)
Italian director Luca Guadagnino has yet to have a hit in the USA, but after his debut in 2010 (I Am Love), he has continued to attract actors that suggest it might just happen for him soon. For example, Guadagnino’s 2016 film, A Bigger Splash, featured the talents of Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes. If negotiations work out for his fourth film, titled Rio (not to be confused with the 2011 animated hit of the same name), Guardagnino will be assisted by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal will play a financial reporter who travels to Rio de Janeiro to visit a wealthy friend (Benedict Cumberbath), only to find himself sucked into a plot to fake his friend’s death. Like many of the films covered in this week’s Ketchup, Rio is making the news now in advance of being sold to various international markets at next week’s Cannes Film Festival.
4. ARYA STARK AND THE WITCH CONFIRMED AS WOLFSBANE AND MAGIK IN THE NEW MUTANTS
(Photo by Dee Cercone, James Atoa / Everett Collection)
Blogs, websites, and columns about film development (like this one) sometimes cover news years ahead of time, but we can’t necessarily presume everyone will remember every detail. Consider, for example, the news from March of last year about the rumored casting of two of the leads in next year’s X-Men spinoff, The New Mutants (4/13/18), to be directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars). As it turns out, that story was on the money, but the official announcement didn’t happen until this week. Maisie Williams, best known as Arya Stark from Game of Thrones, has been cast as Rahne Sinclair, AKA Wolfsbane, a Scottish teenager with the ability to turn into a wolf (and a halfway werewolf form too). Anya Taylor-Joy, the star of last year’s The Witch (and this year’s Split) has been cast as Illyana Rasputin, AKA Magik, the little sister of Colossus, who can teleport, use magic, and also has a really big sword. As The Hollywood Reporter reports, “Fox is making serious efforts to find ethnically appropriate actors, conducting wide searches for a Native American to play Moonstar and a South American for Sunspot.” The other New Mutants will be Cannonball and Warlock, but apparently, not founding member (in the comics), Karma.
5. PETER DINKLAGE TO STAR IN “TATTOO” DRAMA, MY DINNER WITH HERVE
(Photo by MGM courtesy Everett Collection)
If you’ve been following film development news long enough, you may be familiar with a biopic called My Dinner with Herve, which refers to 1970s actor Herve Villechaize. Villechaize (who was also a dwarf) was basically known for two roles: the villain Nick Nack in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun and (more famously) Tattoo on the ABC TV show Fantasy Island. Villechaize also struggled with personal demons, ending his own life in 1993. It’s not yet known how much My Dinner with Herve will explore the latter, but we now know that Villechaize will be portrayed by Peter Dinklage, AKA Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones. Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) will costar with Dinklage as a struggling journalist who finds himself spending a wild night with Villechaize, partying at locations all over Los Angeles. HBO Films is producing, but the company may also seek a theatrical release.
6. MARGOT ROBBIE TO PRODUCE AND STAR IN 1930S DUST BOWL THRILLER DREAMLAND
(Photo by Frank Masi/Paramount Pictures courtesy Everett Collection)
Australian actress Margot Robbie is probably best known for starring as Harley Quinn in last year’s Suicide Squad and Jane in The Legend of Tarzan, but in the near future, she’ll be starring in three biopics (I, Tonya; Goodbye Christopher Robin; and Mary Queen of Scots), and she also voiced a role in next year’s animated version of Peter Rabbit. On top of all that Robbie is also taking control of her own agency by becoming a producer, and the latest film project she’s producing for herself as a starring vehicle is called Dreamland. Set during the “Dust Bowl” devastation of Depression Era America, Dreamland is a bank robber thriller about “a 15-year-old boy on his quest to capture a fugitive bank robber (Robbie) and collect the bounty on her head, all with the goal of saving his family farm from foreclosure.” Director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte is reportedly, “hoping to bring a balance of nostalgic beauty and gritty realism to the proceedings as well as a balance between a sense of romanticism and a sense of violence.”
7. DANIEL RADCLIFFE TO SHOOT AT PEOPLE, GUNS AKIMBO
(Photo by Jaap Buitendijk/Warner Bros. courtesy Everett Collection)
Another actor who continues to establish a new identity on the big screen is Daniel Radcliffe, the former Harry Potter child star. Last year saw the release of probably the craziest example of his efforts to branch out, in the form of Swiss Army Man, in which he played a corpse with amazing gastrointestinal “powers.” Radcliffe is now attached to star in an action comedy called Guns Akimbo, to be directed by New Zealand’s Jason Lei Howden, who made his debut with the heavy metal comedy Deathgasm. Radcliffe will play a man with a dead-end job who finds himself “enrolled on a dark net website that forces complete strangers to fight in a city-wide game of death so that their gladiatorial battles can be live-streamed worldwide to a fanatical audience.”
8. TOM HANKS TO STAR IN WESTERN NOVEL ADAPTATION NEWS OF THE WORLD
(Photo by Jaap Buitendijk/Walt Disney Studios courtesy Everett Collection)
Tom Hanks has obviously starred in a wide variety of films during his lengthy career, but he has yet to appear in a Western. That’s about to change, as he is now attached to star in a film adaptation of the Paulette Jiles novel News of the World, written by Luke Davies (Lion) for Fox 2000. Hanks will star as Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a Texas cowboy in 1870 who “travels from town to town to read the news to locals who would otherwise not know what is going on in the world. While Kidd is sparked up by spreading the word of the passage of the 15th Amendment that gave voting rights to all men, he agrees to escort a 10-year-old white girl to her aunt and uncle in San Antonio after she was rescued from the Kiowa Indian tribe that kidnapped her and killed her family four years earlier. His traveling partner is an ornery youngster who didn’t want to be rescued and brought to her relatives.”
9. JOHNNY DEPP SAYS HELLO TO RICHARD SAYS GOODBYE
In RT’s latest 24 Frames gallery, you can browse through “24 Dicks We Love From Movies and TV” to mark the debut of Amazon’s I Love Dick. Well, Johnny Depp is now attached to star in a dramedy called Richard Says Goodbye, so we might have another to add to the list. This will be the second film from indie director Wayne Roberts, who made his debut last year with the similarly titled Katie Says Goodbye, starring Olivia Cooke, Mireille Enos, James Belushi, and Mary Steenburgen. Depp will star as “a world-weary college professor who is given a life-changing diagnosis and then decides to throw all pretense and conventions to the wind and live his life as boldly and freely as possible. With a biting sense of humor, a reckless streak and a touch of madness, he binges through every vice: smoking, drinking, sex, and hurling blunt insults at anyone who annoys him, giving him more pleasure than he’s had in years.” Johnny Depp previously starred in a similar film, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson.
Box Office: Guardians Vol. 2 Tops Snatched, King Arthur
The Fate of the Furious and The Boss Baby round out the top five.
This weekend two new major new releases disappointed while there were a couple of surprises near the bottom of the top 10.
The rag-tag team of misfits lead the box office for a second straight weekend as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2slipped a reasonable 57% from last weekend to an estimated $63M, bringing its total to $246M after 10 days. By comparison, the original fell 55% in its second weekend so even though sequels tend to front load their grosses, Guardians 2 seems to be holding on better than most. After 10 days the original was at $176M and ended its run at $333M. Following roughly the same trajectory, and realizing the box office at the beginning of the summer is more competitive than at the end of the summer, Guardians 2 could end at around $375-400M.
Second place belonged to the leading ladies of Snatched. The R-rated comedy starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn opened to a so-so $17.5M, according to estimates, from 3,501 theaters for a per screen average of $4,999. Critics were not kind as it currently sits at 36% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences didn’t seem too pleased either as it got a B CinemaScore. It doesn’t appear the counterprogramming to the male dominated summer blockbusters worked in this case. However, with a production budget around $40M, it will likely make back its money unlike…
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword which tanked this weekend grossing only an estimated $14.7M from 3,702 theaters for a per screen average of $3,971. Its production budget was in the $175M vicinity and while a lot of films these days make up their money overseas, King Arthur is dying there too as it opened to $29M from 51 markets this weekend. Critics liked this one even less as it stands at 28% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, yet audiences liked it a bit more as it got a B+ CinemaScore. Still, this one is in the running for biggest bomb of the year and it’s only the second week of May.
Holdovers, all with relatively small drops, took the next four places on the charts. Landing in fourth place was the multicultural crew of The Fate of the Furious which took in an estimated $5.3M in its fifth go around, bringing its cume up to $215M. In fifth place was The Boss Baby which added an estimated $4.6M to its coffers, bringing its total up to $162M after seven weeks. 2017s reigning champ fell to sixth place this weekend as Beauty and the Beast added another $3.86M, according to estimates, to its gargantuan total, bringing its cume up to $493M after nine weeks. Does it have enough left in the tank to become only the eighth film to hit the magical $500M mark? I’m gonna say yes. And in seventh place was How to be a Latin Lover which took in an estimated $3.75M bringing its total up to $26M after three weeks.
There was s surprise entry in the top 10 as the unheralded Lowriders ended in eighth place this weekend with an estimated $2.4M from only 295 theaters for a per screen average of $8,810, second best in the top 10. A PG-13 drama about lowrider car culture with virtually no stars managed to do some pretty good business. Ninth place belonged to the disappointing thriller The Circle which added an estimated $1.7M to its bank, bringing the total up to only $18.9M… which is virtually the same total as the final film in the top 10, the biggest Bollywood hit of all time, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion which made $1.5M from only 375 theaters this weekend, bringing its total to $18.93M. If I told you a few weeks ago that a Bollywood film that had a 167 minute running time and never play in more than 425 theaters would outgross a film starring Tom Hanks and Emma Watson, would you have believed me? Also, I never would have said it because I never would have imagined it happening.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $118M which was down 3.7% from last year when Captain America: Civil War remained at number one with $72.6M; and down 32.5% from 2015 when the ladies of Pitch Perfect 2 opened in the top spot with $69.2M.
As noted by Variety, director Guy Ritchie’s fantasy drama, starring Charlie Hunnam, is this summer’s first box office flop and has a long way to go before recouping its hefty production budget of $175 million. Read IGN’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword review, or watch the video below, to find out why the film’s “incessant desire to be clever and funny, go too far and become off-putting.”
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword – Review
02:35
Leading the box office for its second consecutive week is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which earned an estimated $63 million. With a $145 million debut last weekend, the domestic total for director James Gunn’s sci-fi sequel is nearing $250 million.
Just ahead of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword in second place is Snatched. Fox’s R-rated comedy, starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn, debuted to an estimated $17.5 million. Meanwhile, Lowriders, the Ricardo de Montreuil-directed drama about a teenage graffiti artist, played by Gabriel Chavarria, had a limited release this weekend, placing eighth with $2.4 million.
Rounding out this weekend’s top five are The Fate of the Furious and The Boss Baby, which earned an estimated $5.3 million and $4.6 million, respectively.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – Chris Pratt on What Comes Next for Star-Lord
01:41
Here are this weekend’s Top 10 North American box office estimates via comScore:
