May 10
May 09
Netflix for iOS gets new post-play features for uninterrupted series-watching
Posted in: Today's Chili
It’s just been a few weeks since Netflix for iOS was suited with a novel audio menu and episode selector, but the app has now already reached version 4.1. While this particular release isn’t as major as, say, v2.0, some of the post-play features that have rolled out on TV connected devices and PCs are trickling down to the mobile platforms. Namely, once an episode is over, the next one starts playing automatically without any intervention required (it requires a prompt to proceed after every other episode). In the case of movies, you can expect to see a new recommended selection once the credits roll, and Netflix also promises some other more minor improvements elsewhere in the app, including under the hood tweaks to its second screen experience. Finally, Netflix also announced today that it’s signed a multi-year deal for five Disney Junior and Disney XD shows: Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Tron: Uprising, Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, and JoJo’s Circus.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Mobile, Apple
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: App Store, Netflix Official Blog
May 08
Just a couple days ago, Electronic Arts signed a deal with Disney that would see the video game publisher obtain exclusive rights to the Star Wars video game franchise, which pretty much confirms that new Star Wars titles will be incoming at some point. Today, it has been discovered that Lucasfilm has registered a slew of domain names that are possible ideas for future game installments.
Of course, the domains could be a mix between possible move titles and video game titles, but they give subtle clues as to what the title will be about. Some of the more notable domain names that were registered include Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Wolf Pack, Star Wars Alliance, and our personal favorite: Wookiee Hunters.
Other domain names include Wolf Pack Adventures, Order 67, Bothan Spies, Gungan Frontier 2, Gungan Frontier 3, and Gungan Frontier 4. Of course, further details on these titles is far from unknown, but it at least tells us that Disney and EA are set to kick it into high gear with new Star Wars installments over these next few years.
Disney acquired Lucasfilm and LucasArts back in October, essentially getting full control over everything Star Wars. However, it came at a cost for the Mickey Mouse company, who paid just north of $4 billion for it all. It looks like that investment will come to good use, though, as Disney looks to milk the franchise for everything its worth.
[via Fusible]
Lucasfilm registers pack of new Star Wars domains is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
May 07
Yesterday we reported that Disney had licensed Star Wars games production to EA. Just last month Disney announced that it was shutting down LucasArts, the game development arm of the studio. At the time, it was said that they were moving from a developing to a licensing model. EA will be putting DICE and Visceral Games on this development job and it has just been learnt that the new Star Wars titles EA will develop won’t be available on Nintendo Wii U console.
DICE technical director Joan Andersson said that their testing of the Frostbite 2 engine on Wii U did not yield promising results so they’re choosing not to go down this path. While adding that DICE does not want to back down from what they consider to be their low-spec machines, Andersson said that at the moment there’s no support for Wii U in Frostbite. Here, low-spec machines mean consoles with current generation technology. To top it all of, he confirmed that Nintendo’s Wii U console isn’t exactly in their focus right now. They’ve not said whether they ever plan on modifying Frosbite enough to make it compatible with Nintendo’s console.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: EA Registers For Battlefield 13 Up To Battlefield 20 Domain Names, $299 PS3 Legacy Bundle, 
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May 06
In the first week of April, Disney announced that it was pulling the plug on LucasArts. The studio said that it had made up its mind to shift LucasArts from a developing model to a licensing model. What this meant was that other developers would be allowed to create Star Wars games under license from Disney. Electronic Arts has now officially been confirmed as the exclusive developer of new Star Wars titles. EA’s job is to handle the core gaming audience.
EA’s three top studios will be developing these titles. The BioWare team will continue developing for Star Wars franchise whereas DICE and Visceral will now be on-board as well. EA Labels president Frank Gibeau has said that the titles might borrow from films, though the games will be entirely original with an entirely different gameplay and stories. EA has not yet revealed what will happened to the Star Wars titles that were under development before LucasArts was shut down, the Star Wars 1313 and Star Wars: First Assualt. All that EA has said on this matter is that they’re not announcing any specific titles at this point in time.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Pentagon Okays Use Of BlackBerry And Samsung Devices , Under the Radar: Meet C-Level Execs From Rackspace, BofA, Virgin America and more ($200 off door price promo code), 
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May 06
Electronic Arts and Disney announced a multi-year agreement today that will see future Star Wars video games exclusively developed and published by EA. This news comes a little over a month after the house of mouse made the decision to stop internal development at LucasArts. EA’s developers scheduled to take on the Star Wars universe include DICE (Battlefield), Visceral (Dead Space) and BioWare, the latter of which will continue development of its already released Star Wars MMO (The Old Republic). The financial terms of the agreement have yet to be disclosed, but EA will create games for a “core gaming audience” while Disney will produce casual titles for mobile and social outlets. Now that the force is strong with EA, our fingers are crossed for a new installment in the KOTOR franchise.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Joystiq
May 06
In a piece of news that informs on the future of Star Wars video games after Disney shut down LucasArts last month, Disney and Electronic Arts have signed a multi-year agreement that will see the game publisher obtain exclusive rights to the Star Wars video game franchise, allowing them to make Star Wars video games from here on out.
Electronic Arts says that DICE and Visceral Games will produce new Star Wars titles in the future, as they join BioWare, who is continuing to develop games for the franchise. As for what to expect in upcoming games from EA, the company’s Labels President, Frank Gibeau, says that the new games will be “entirely original with all new stories and gameplay,” with some elements being borrowed from past films.
However, the agreement between EA and Disney doesn’t give the game publisher all the rights to the Star Wars game franchise, as Disney will still retain the rights for “mobile, social, tablet and online game.” Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but we’re guessing it was for quite a large sum of money, especially for something so popular like Star Wars.
However, this gets us thinking as to how these upcoming Star Wars games will be published. Electronic Arts doesn’t have a very good track record, and they were recently voted the “worst company in America” for the second straight year, which has us worried about the Star Wars franchise. It’s possible that EA could turn things around by the time they release a new Star Wars game, but we’ll ultimately have to wait and see.
Electronic Arts obtains exclusive rights to Star Wars games is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 27
‘Sloth’ is defined as a person having a ‘reluctance to work or make an effort.’ It could also be referring to the ‘slow-moving tropical American mammal that hangs upside down from tree branches.’
Seemingly combining these two definitions is artist Phillip Light with his unique series which crosses the great Disney Princesses over with the ever-lovable sloth. Of course, this statement is only valid if you make the assumption that the princesses do nothing but laze around their palaces all day while being waited upon on hand and foot.
Aside from the illustrations being extremely adorable, Philip has creatively dubbed each with a unique but distinctly slothy princess name. Take, for example, Snow Sloth.
My personal favorite happens to be the Little Sloth-maid. Who’s yours?
[via Incredible Things]
Apr 24
Monsters Inc blew more than a few minds when it premiered in 2001. Sully’s coat comprised a million rendered hairs, and Boo’s oversized pink shirt moved with such a natural flow it appeared nearly life-like to audiences. And while advances in technology during the twelve years between the original film and the prequel—premiering in June—will provide another jaw-dropping visual experience, Monsters University was no less challenging to make. More »
Apr 24
Did you know that the Pirates of the Caribbean, one of the most iconic theme park attractions of all time, was originally going to be just a walkthrough wax museum at Disneyland? How lame would that have been? Thankfully, during the upgrades to the park for its new New Orleans Square, Walt Disney got caught up in the 1964 New York World’s Fair where the animatronic characters the Disney parks are famous for were developed. More »
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