The Mandalorian: Chapter 2 Review
The response to The Mandalorian has been overwhelmingly positive. While that’s not a huge surprise for the Disney era of Star Wars, the fact that we’ve gone a week without backlash whiplash is the surprising part. It didn’t take long for people to sour on most things Star Wars since the Mouse bought out George. After all, people eventually soured on The Force Awakens. It didn’t take long for people to turn on The Last Jedi. The latter movie seemed to taint Solo. Fans didn’t give Resistance a chance.
The fact that we’ve got a near consensus positive attitude to The Mandalorian after a couple of episodes is a pretty big deal. After the most recent episode, it sure seams like everyone is on board with Star Wars’ first foray into live-action TV.
The Mandalorian: Chapter 1 Review
Back in 2005, George Lucas floated the idea that Star Wars would be coming to TV as a live-action series. Production on Revenge of the Sith was wrapping up and during his Star Wars Celebration III appearance, George talked about a TV series being part of the future of Star Wars. Over the next years, that idea became Star Wars: Underworld but never actually saw the light of day. Despite having over 50 scripts written, Lucas said that it would have cost too much to produce so the project was shelved by 2010.
Over the last decade, TV production has changed. TV show productions rival movies in terms of budget and quality. With the Disney purchase of LucasFilm and looking to make a splash for the launch of their Disney+ streaming service, Star Wars was chosen as the flagship franchise to lead Disney into the online age. And that brings us to The Mandalorian, a story of a Mandalorian bounty hunter who takes on a lucrative but dangerous job….
Google Stadia to Launch with Only 12 Games
YouTube Terms of Service Update Has Content Creators Concerned
Every so often, something happens over at YouTube that has content creators worried that the end is nigh for them and/or the website that hosts their content. So far, YouTube has come out mostly unscathed while YouTubers have found alternate ways of making a living creating online video content. Between the “adpocalypse,” copyright claim abuses, concerns over the application of community guidelines for monetization and ongoing changes to the YouTube discoverability algorithm, it’s seldom smooth sailing for your favourite YouTuber.
The latest changes to YouTube’s Terms of Service is doing nothing to allay those concerns as two lines are getting YouTubers concerned for their future… again.
China to Limit Online Gaming Time for Minors
How Movie Franchises Make Their Money (Infographic)
With Disney+ launching in only a couple of days, people are gearing up to add yet another subscription streaming service to their lineup. That also means that Disney is adding another revenue source to the plethora that they already have for their myriad film franchises. But even with the advent of online streaming for entertainment, it’s not like these franchises haven’t made copious sums of money already.
But how much have some of film’s biggest franchises made and how have they made them? We have a handy infographic to show you. Take a close look at Star Wars’ merchandising revenue while you’re here.
BlizzCon to Open with Big Protest
Blizzard has been subject of an exceptional amount of controversy over previous weeks since their ban of Ng “Blitzchung” Wai Chung following a call for the liberation of Hong Kong during a Hearthstone tournament. Since then, Blizzard has been the subject of criticism from the media, gamers, its own employees and even prominent politicians.
Now, the public outcry against Blizzard will hit very close to home. Fighting for the Future will be launching a massive protest on the opening day of Blizzard’s biggest event of the year, BlizzCon, under the Gamers for Freedom banner.
Game of Thrones Creators Exit Star Wars Project
The two men who were behind the much beloved then much derided Game of Thrones series are no longer at the helm of the next stage of Star Wars movies.
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss announced early on Tuesday morning that they would no longer be at the helm of the first Star Wars movies to follow Episode IX and will instead focus on their commitments to Netflix.
Alberta to Eliminate Digital Media Tax Credit
If you’ve ever wondered why so many gaming developers and publishers have studios in Canada, it’s because of various forms of government support given to these companies to create jobs. Various levels of government have provided funding to companies in the forms of loans, grants and tax breaks.
One province that just put some more skin in the game to promote gaming and similar digital industries has just gotten right out of it. The recently elected government of Alberta has announced that their upcoming provincial budget will eliminate the province’s Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit which might leave some current and future plans for developers in the province in question.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm – Farewell Review: The End at the Beginning
With Life is Strange 2 coming this fall and Dontnod moving forward with new characters and a new story in that game, it’s only appropriate that the final episode of Life is Strange with Max, Chloe and Arcadia Bay is called Farewell. As you’d expect from Life is Strange, even the title has some depth to it with this bonus episode being our farewell to Max and Chloe along with Max and Chloe’s farewell to each other. That doesn’t answer the question of whether we needed this episode to close the Life is Strange story.