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Sony's Bravia Core streaming service will deliver video comparable to Blu-ray
If you purchase a Sony Bravia XR TV this year, you’ll get exclusive access to high-quality movies through a new streaming platform called Bravia Core, Sony has announced.
Sony Pictures softened 'Concussion' to appease the NFL
Looks like it isn't just its own Players Association that the National Football League can push around with impunity. Internal Sony emails recently brought to light by the company's massive data breach indicate that Sony Pictures intentionally softened the point on it's upcoming film Concussion so as not to upset the league. The movie, which stars Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the man who helped first diagnose CTE (or chronic traumatic encephalopathy). According to the emails, Sony executives discussed at length with Smith and Peter Landesman, the film's director, about altering the script and marketing for the film to avoid antagonizing the NFL. The movie's angle was reportedly changed from being a condemnation of the NFL's handling of the growing CTE crisis to focus more on Omalu's discovery and initial diagnosis.
Q-bert Rebooted puts Q-nicorns on PC, mobile [Update]
Q-bert Rebooted offers the original, 2D Q-bert plus a 3D, upgraded version with more than 30 new levels. Q-bert Rebooted comes from Gonzo Games and Sideline Amusements, licensed from IP holder Sony Pictures Entertainment, Polygon reports. The updated game includes variant Q-bert characters such as the Q-zilla and Q-nicorn. Q-bert Rebooted is due to launch for $5 on July 8 on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux, and later on Android and iOS. Update: Q-bert Rebooted isn't confirmed for PS4 or Vita, or any other consoles for that matter, Gonzo Games developer Robert van Gool tells Joystiq. The studios are still negotiating console contracts. [Image: Sideline Amusements]
Sony launches Blackjack-meets-RPG Suits and Swords on iOS, Android
Sony Pictures Television, a division of Sony's TV and film production company Sony Pictures Entertainment, launched its first original mobile IP today, Suits and Swords. The free-to-play game mixes fantasy RPG elements with the classic card game Blackjack. It challenges players with saving four lands that represent the four suits in a standard deck of 52 playing cards: Heart Union, Diamond Empire, Club Kingdom and Spade Nation, guiding a knight named Captain Black Jack on a quest to face "the Joker." Along the way, players upgrade Black Jack's magic, weapons and armor and unlock additional side quests. Suits and Swords is available for free on iOS and Android via Google Play and the Amazon App Store.
'Console war movie' domain names registered by Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment, the film production arm of the Sony conglomerate, registered a batch of domains playing off "console war movie" through brand protection company MarkMonitor. Sony Computer Entertainment, the company's gaming branch, has no fingerprints on the registrations, suggesting this to be a full-tilt movie endeavor rather than a marketing plan for the next PlayStation, as Fusible ponders.The full list of registered domains can be found below, but just to ease the shock, we'll tell you they all include the words "console war," some have "movie" and others still have the audacity to use a hyphen. The drama of war:
YouTube seals deals with major studios to compete with iTunes
Google-owned YouTube plans to expand the premium on-demand video rental services offered through its website. Earlier this week, Google and YouTube reportedly closed deals with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Universal and Lionsgate to offer filmed content from these studios as streaming rentals -- including access to new releases the same day as competing movie-on-demand services. YouTube's new service is expected to compete with market leaders in the online video rental market: Apple and Amazon. In an effort to generate revenue with professionally produced content, YouTube began offering premium video rentals on its website about a year ago, starting with a limited number of films from the Sundance Film Festival, Weinstein Co. and MGM. But the Google subsidiary has struggled to transform its 130 million monthly users into a sizable audience for its paid and ad-supported feature films. This week's licensing agreements that expand YouTube's library of rental titles may help more customers see value in paying the website for access to Hollywood films and make it a more competitive rival to Apple's iTunes and Amazon's Instant Video services. Google isn't the only big brand making big moves in the streaming video business. According to The Hollywood Reporter, both DirecTV and Dish Network are exploring subscription streaming service businesses to challenge Netflix and iTunes. Meanwhile, cable television provider Comcast is trying to negotiate deals to offer premium video-on-demand options that would allow cable subscribers to enjoy new movies only 6–8 weeks after their theatrical release dates.
See Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime in action
Riding on the slimey coattails of last week's announcement, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime received the full media push this morning, with a handful of screens and a debut gameplay trailer (found after the break). Alongside receiving assets, we learned that the Behavior-developed game will follow a team of rookie ghostbusters "on a brand new paranormal experience" in New York City. As teased in the trailer by a giant, sentient subway line, players will take down ectoplasm-filled enemies and "gigantic bosses" with several characteristic ghostbustin' weapons (insert "don't cross the streams!" joke here). It seems the old ghostbusters -- and the actors that voice them -- will be sitting this one out. We reached out to Slimer's representation for more information, and will update this post if we hear anything back. Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime should arrive on XBLA, PSN, and PC "this Spring."%Gallery-109442%
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime slathered on XBLA, PSN and PC next Spring
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime will be a downloadable follow-up to 2009's Ghostbusters: The Video Game, 'cause Gozer knows publisher Atari can barely afford a full-cost sequel. Being developed by Assault Heroes creator Wanako (now named Behavior Studios), the four-player (online and couch co-op) top-down action game will not feature any voice work by the original Ghostbusters like Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. It's still unclear whether their characters even appear, or if they've been replaced by a new team of specter hunters. Sanctum of Slime, to be released in the Spring of 2011 on XBLA, PSN and PC, will have players taking the role of "the rookie," who was introduced in the 2009 game. We don't have more details beyond what little information and screens were given to USA Today, so let's just cross our streams and hope for the best.
Sony signs up all six major studios for HD movies on PlayStation Network
Well, it looks like Sony has a little treat for PS3 users now that they're able to turn their consoles back on -- it's just announced that it has signed up all six major studios to deliver HD movies on the PlayStation Network (the first company to do so, as Sony is happy to point out). That includes 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. and, of course, Sony Pictures Entertainment, which combined have an initial slate of 19 HD movies available to buy or rent -- including "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Star Trek," "District 9," "Inglourious Basterds," and "The Wizard of Oz," to name a few. Those are only available in the US at the moment, but Sony says it plans to also roll them out to the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain "soon."
Silent Hill tops weekend box office
Despite a disastrous critical reception, Silent Hill has climbed to the top of the box office following a lucrative opening weekend in which the film grossed about $20.2 million. Of course, this comes at a time when the film industry is in a down cycle as it gears up for the summer blockbuster season. Silent Hill's biggest competition was Scary Movie 4, which was entering its second weekend of release.[Thanks, Sean]
Metareview - Silent Hill (the movie)
You've read our take on Silent Hill, now it's time to sum up what the film critics are saying. Currently, Metacritic has posted 14 reviews, which average out to a 29/100. For the record, this is the last time we will ever — EVER — get our hopes up for a movie adaptation of a video game.Choice quotes: Chicago Sun-Times (38/100) - "My damn brain lit up too much." [Roger Ebert] The New York Times (10/100) - "[Wraps] up like the outrageously overwrought fantasy of a French movie nerd obsessed with horror ... who has been given obscene amounts of money to adapt a video game." [Nathan Lee] San Francisco Chronicle (0/100) - "Nobody gets naked, which on second thought may be a good thing — because when a movie features people getting their skin ripped from their bodies, it pretty much kills the mood." [Peter Hartlaub]
The Spider-Man PS3 font returns... for 3rd Spider-Man flick
How far are we willing to go to satisfy our PlayStation 3 cravings? Just check out that image to the right for a small taste of the console imagery which rightfully should be ours.A couple weeks ago, Sony Pictures Entertainment released the promotional image you see here for Spider-Man 3, set to be released in theaters May 4th, 2007. It's been one of the few new official media glimpses of the PS3 font to roll out of Sony HQ in Western markets recently.Now if only we could add a "P" and an "S" before that little "3" in the corner, we'd have something pretty to show for Sony's latest dream machine. Alas, the movie title referenced also contains those limited letters (but placed in the wrong arrangement). Well, just as long as the PS3 arrives before the year of Peter Parker's next big-screen adventure, we'll be mighty pleased.
