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Funny or Die delays launch of iSteve movie until April 17
Funny or Die has delayed the premiere of iSteve, a movie about the life of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The short film was scheduled to debut on April 15, but the tragic bombing in Boston prompted the comedy website to reschedule the film. According to Funny or Die's website, iSteve is now expected to air on April 17.
Watch the trailer for Funny or Die's upcoming iSteve biopic
Will Ferrell's comedy website, Funny or Die, is working on a biopic of Steve Jobs starring Justin Long, who played opposite John Hodgman in Apple's popular "Get a Mac" advertising campaign. Titled iSteve, the hour-long film will make its debut on April 15th on the Funny or Die website. To promote its movie, Funny or Die released a trailer that you can watch below. The 90-second clip is a montage of buzz words, cliches and overly dramatic conversations that may or may not happened in the life of Jobs. According to writer and director Ryan Perez, the script for the movie was written in three days and the film was shot in five. It may not be the best Steve Job's biography you will see, but it will be the first and perhaps the funniest.
April Fools: Journey gets a trailer for Rocket Death Match DLC
thatgamecompany is probably the last group of folks we expect these shenanigans from; They're always so artsy and sincere! But there must be a few yuksters around Sony's studio in Santa Monica, because the studio created this faux trailer for April Fool's Day, threatening to invade the serene landscape of Journey with some raucous Rocket Death Match DLC. Then again, maybe it makes sense. Getting vaporized with an across-the-map rocket shot in Halo might not be the same kind of emotion that we felt at the end of Journey, but they can both be pretty tearful experiences.
The Daily Grind: Do you like when developers try to be funny?
For most game developers, being seen as funny is a good thing. It makes the game's development team seem more likable and human. It also shows that the team is paying attention to the various in-jokes of the community. On the other hand, when a developer tries at affable humor and fails, it comes off like your octogenarian grandmother quoting Family Guy. Some developers are excellent at getting a sense of community humor, something Blizzard has done well with World of Warcraft. Some developers are good at cracking jokes, like Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida. And some developers, like Carbine Studios, just seem to have the whole comedy thing built into their very structure. But it's not like any of the aforementioned need to be funny to sell their games. It really comes down to what the players want. So do you like it when developers try to be funny? Or would you prefer they just work on the game instead of engaging the community? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Justin Long to play Steve Jobs in Funny or Die biopic parody
For years, actor Justin Long played the Mac to John Hodgman's PC in Apple's US TV advertising. Now Long is starring as Steve Jobs in a biopic parody due from the comedy website Funny or Die on April 15, 2013. Ryan Perez, the writer and director of the upcoming iSteve, said that "in true internet fashion, it's not based on very thorough research -- essentially a cursory look at the Steve Jobs Wikipedia page. It's very silly. But it looks at his whole life." The movie is expected to run anywhere from 60 to 75 minutes in length, short for a feature film, but the longest-ever project for Funny or Die. Perez notes that the script took him three days to write, and the movie was shot in five days. "We may not be the best, but we will be the first," said Perez. He's right, of course. Aaron Sorkin's biopic based on Walter Isaacson's book Steve Jobs is years away from hitting theaters, while the release of the Ashton Kutcher film Jobs has been delayed while a new marketing plan is created. So grab your bag of popcorn and zap iSteve to your HDTV using AirPlay on April 15. It's sure to be the funniest Steve Jobs biography you'll ever see. [via Cult of Mac]
Texts From Azeroth
Texts From Last Night (NSFW language warning) isn't exactly a new website, and neither is the idea of taking one of the texts featured there and pairing it with some sort of imagery to add to the hilarity. So really, the appearance of Texts From Azeroth, where selected texts are paired with WoW screenshots, was only a matter of time. I feel compelled to say this again: just assume that nothing beyond either of those links is safe for work. It's better that way. I am almost embarrassed at how entertaining I am finding this blog. At first I saw it and thought, "Oh, this might be amusing" and within ten minutes I was weeping with laughter, linking pictures to Facebook, and trawling the Texts From Last Night page looking for inspiration. Making that header image up there represents a few glorious moments of my life that I can never get back. Oh yes. Cherished readers of WoW Insider, do share in the comments -- which are your personal favorites? I'm quite partial to Garrosh and Kromgar here, for example. If you decide to make your own, link it here, and/or submit it to Texts From Azeroth yourself! Just please include a warning if the subject matter could potentially get someone in trouble. That's all we ask.
Valentine's Day around the virtual world
Do you hear the chirping of songbirds in love? Do you see the flirtacious glance that cute Orc is giving you from across the battlefiend? Do you smell the flowers of romance in bloom all around you? If so, man, you've got it bad. Fortunately for those suffering from VDAS -- Valentine's Day Addiction Syndrome -- plenty of MMOs are on hand to provide you with a temporary fix until you get proper medication and are carted away to a professional love care facility. It may not be the biggest of holidays in the virtual world, but when love arrives in February, it cannot be denied. And who knows for you single folk? The man, woman, or one-eyed Gnome of your dreams might just stumble over you on this fine day! Read on as we sum up some of the larger Valentine's events in MMOs today.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar is serious business
Science fiction. It's a genre all about man's eternal struggle against space aliens, cyborgs, and people with British accents in very large flagships. Or, you know, about things larger than humanity, about exploring the unknown, and about the sense of wonder at exploring strange new frontiers of a world similar to our own but unfamiliar at the same time. It's a chance for us to step beyond the boundaries of our own world and into the great beyond just a few paces at a time. But it's mostly the cyborgs and flagships. That stuff is really cool to watch. WildStar is a science fiction game. But it takes more than a few cues from a show that also had the audacity to lend a lot of the wild west to a deep space setting. It's hard not to pick up on the Firefly vibe from the previews, after all. But it's been very illuminating to see what the designers have to say about influences and the direction they want to take the game's storytelling because it's very different from other science fiction games on the market right now.
Family Guy Online to shut down next month
Get your Quahog gaming fix soon because Family Guy Online is not long for this world. The game announced that it will be shutting down next month on January 18th. Family Guy Online is currently in open beta, which means that it will have never officially launched before spinning down. The game will refund any cash purchases made during the last two months (from October 22nd through December 21st). If you're curious how this interactive version of the TV animated series performed, you can check out Beau's Rise and Shiny expedition. [Thanks to Matthew for the tip!]
Louis CK to offer HBO show as DRM-free download, chip away at cable content deals
With certain exceptions, HBO has developed a reputation for being protective of where and how its content goes digital. That makes Louis CK's plans for a 2013 comedy special a slight jolt to the system, even though it's not his first digital release linked to the channel. While HBO will get a first crack at airing the show, which will be recorded during Louis' ongoing tour, the comedian now plans to post the production online a few months afterwards using the same successful formula that has become his calling card: $5, no DRM and no region restrictions. The offering doesn't overhaul the industry, but it undoubtedly wrests control from the network as soon as the download link goes live. Think of Louis as making a small crack in cable TV's content wall.
Microsoft unveils Data Sense for Windows Phone 8, to debut on Verizon devices
Microsoft has just outed Data Sense, a new app for Windows Phone 8 that helps ensure you don't burn through your data plan. On top of tracking your usage app-by-app, it compresses every single web page you browse to keep data consumed to a minimum, and also sniffs out WiFi hotspots when they become available. The app features a Live Tile to give an ongoing saga of the megabytes you've consumed and will warn you near a preset limit. Redmond claims the hotspot sniffing and compression will let you consume 45 percent less data "when compared to the competition" -- likely a reference to iOS and Android, which already have a similar feature. Data Sense will arrive first on Verizon this fall, but there's no word yet on when other carriers will have it. To check the PR, go past the fold. For more, check out our Windows Phone 8 event liveblog!
Get Your Google Back: a hilarious video meant for Windows 8 converts
For those unaware, Windows 8 went on sale today. If all goes well, millions upon millions of Wintel users will be switching the latest OS in the coming months, and there's a giant in Mountain View that's severely concerned about the future of your searches. You see, Microsoft has done a fine job of pushing Internet Explorer and Bing into Windows 8, leaving Google loyalists nowhere to turn. Until now. After the break, you'll enjoy a lighthearted video from the masterminds at Google, explaining precisely how to Get Your Google Back. It's as simple as visiting getyourgoogleback.com on your Windows 8 machine, and then installing both Chrome and the Google Search app. Oh, and bonus points for "Aw yeah."
SNL skewers iPhone 5 complaints
If you caught last night's Saturday Night Live with guest host Christina Applegate, you may have seen this 5 minute sketch featuring three tech bloggers kvetching about the various perceived shortcomings of the iPhone 5. Their criticisms (Maps, purple haze, back panel scratching, "too thin and light") begin to seem not so important when Applegate's host brings on a panel of people intimately familiar with the iPhone 5's manufacturing processes. I won't spoil the (admittedly coarse and tasteless) gag, but as Applegate says when one of the "bloggers" asks to retract his earlier complaints: "No, this is a trap." [via Business Insider and AllThingsD]
The Daily Grind: What characters do you love to hate?
Kaliyo Djannis is one of my favorite companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Not because I like her as a person; she's really pretty unambiguously awful. But she's entertainingly awful, and working around the hindrances she provides makes the overall experience more entertaining. Every MMO has its important NPCs, and some of them either are just plain annoying or fade into the woodwork. But then there are the enemies you love to hate, the allies who frustrate you in amusing ways. Some of the Guild Wars henchmen (Orion and Alesia in particular) were half-useless, but charmingly so. Every Final Fantasy XI player got nightmares about running from goblins, but they had a strange charm despite that. So what about you? What's your favorite character whom you love to hate? An ally who's totally useless but makes life more interesting? An enemy who kills you in entertaining ways? Or just a story character who prompts a smile at his or her ineptitude? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Sifl & Olly come back from the laundry pile to review fake games
If you watched MTV in the late '90s, chances are you know of Sifl & Olly, the crescent fresh sock-puppet variety show starring, well, Sifl and Olly. It's been a while since we've seen the two in anything new – and today they've re-emerged in a new web series.The premise behind their new show is pretty much the same as the premise behind their old show, except the two have ditched the half-hour format this time around. In this episode, Sifl and Olly check out some Kinetic games for the Zeus 720 – obviously this is a spoof on the Kinect for Xbox 360 – and engage in some, well, mature activity. This one may not be strictly work-safe. You've been warned!
Laugh Factory app puts comedy on PS3 this September
Why did the Laugh Factory Xross the Media Bar? We're stopping right there, before even coming up with a horrible ending to that joke, before this fun news gets depressing. LA's Laugh Factory comedy club will release its own streaming video app on PS3 September 1, allowing you to watch both recorded and live performances from stand-ups.Through November, all the content will be free. Starting in December, if you want to enjoy the streaming comedy, it'll cost $3 a month. Feel free to institute your own two-drink minimum, and perhaps hire a local comic to warm up the room (your living room) before you start the show. You know, to make sure you get the most from your subscription.
Amazon Studios adds first four original shows to its 'development slate'
Back in May, Amazon put a call out for budding screenwriters to submit their ideas for an original comedy or children's series. Now, four of the submissions have been marked up on the Amazon Series Development Slate, with more being added to a "consider" list. The chosen projects comprise three comedies, and one preschooler's show. By getting the Amazonian thumbs-up, the ideas receive $10,000 to extend the initial option, assistance to develop the script, and potentially a pilot episode. So, we might not be seeing them on our screens / displays just yet, but we're sure we're not the only ones paying close attention.
Amazon Studios expands into TV series, looks to load up on content for streaming
Amazon has had a content development division for some time but today it's announced plans to expand from just movies to developing (and distributing, via its Instant Video service) original comedy and children's series. The new focus follows the competition like Netflix and Hulu which have both dived headlong into developing original TV show-style content that mirrors the content consumers seem to gravitate towards on streaming services. According to the press release Amazon Studios is willing to option one "promising project" per month for $10k and pay $55k to a creator if their series is selected for distribution. Submissions of 22-minute pilot scripts for comedies and 11-minute pilot scripts for children's shows are being accepted, which Amazon will either option within 45 days or the creator can choose between pulling it back and leaving it up for community feedback. There's more info at the site or in the press release after the break, but just remember: if we see any series picked up about dashingly handsome tech bloggers and the fast-paced lives they lead, we're coming for our cut.
Siri takes security to the extreme in parody video
Siri has many useful features, but here's one you won't find in Apple's documentation. This video from Aatma Studio showcases a new self-destruct feature that would make Dan Briggs or Jim Phelps proud. You can check out the YouTube video below.
This talking Domino's Pizza scooter will make your day infinitely more awesome (video)
Dearest RIM, Microsoft, Intel and Sony: Stop spending millions on mildly successful advertising campaigns. Just modify a delivery scooter to shout your brand name between gear shifts. Respectfully, A now-loyal Domino's Pizza customer.
