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The director of 'Madagascar' takes on the Wild West of VR
As the writer/director of DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar, a blockbuster that spawned five sequels and one TV show, Eric Darnell could've easily hung up his hat and basked in his Hollywood legacy. But, instead, Darnell departed the studio he made famous last year to explore the "Wild West" of virtual reality with Baobab, an animation studio he co-founded alongside Maureen Fan, the former VP of games at Zynga. At this year's Tribeca Film Festival, the two debuted their first effort, Invasion!, a VR short featuring a lovable, alien-thwarting bunny rabbit and a prologue narrated by Ethan Hawke. "He's a big fan of VR, it turns out," says Darnell of Hawke's involvement.
Netflix's three new originals include 'Shrek' and 'Madagascar' spin-offs
Netflix is set to make good on its largest-ever deal for original content by launching no fewer than three new original Dreamworks series. With such varied and popular character base to choose from, the streaming giant confirmed today that it has chosen to launch spin-offs from two of the animation studio's biggest franchises. So what are they? The first is King Julien: a spin-off of the Madagascar franchise that focuses on a certain royal lemur, and the other is Puss In Boots: a Shrek-themed show featuring that swashbuckling cat with the adorable big eyes. Last up is Veggie Tales in the House: a reboot of the faith-based series that features a cast of, you guessed it, various fruit and vegetables. They follow Netflix's first Dreamworks spin-off, Turbo Fast, which debuted last December but wasn't available to binge watch. Instead, the company says it will push the second cluster of new episodes live on April 4th. The streaming giant expects to make the three new original series available by "late 2014," giving you plenty of time to familiarize yourself with the feature films.
iPhone 4S coming to China, Caribbean islands next week
Apple has announced that the iPhone 4S will be making its way to China and 21 other countries beginning next Friday, January 13th. The smartphone will reportedly launch on China Unicom just before the Chinese New Year, which will be celebrated on Monday, January 23rd. Pricing has not been announced in local currencies, but is listed as $199, $299 and $399 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. Apple China is clearly the most notable of the bunch, but other countries include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda. Jump past the break for the full PR from Apple. Update: Apple got in touch to remind us that Siri will be updated to support Chinese at some point in 2012, along with Japanese, Korean, Italian and Spanish.
Activision announces Madagascar Kartz, misses crucial naming opportunity
How it is that a company as business savvy as Activision misses the staring-them-right-in-the-face opportunity to name a kart racing-themed Madagascar game "Madagaskartz," rather than Madagascar Kartz? That's just what the company has named its upcoming kart racer, starring the cast of the animated movie, coming to current-gen consoles on October 27. Worried that the game might only be for kidz? Activision's David Oxford claims the game was designed for all ages, saying, "With the whole family competing against each other as their favorite zoosters, you have never seen action this wild." Clearly Mr. Oxford doesn't know about our weekend trip to Tijuana a month back. %Gallery-75327%
Shipping this week: Boring edition
Is there a more boring month than November? It's like there's nothing worth playing this month at all. After the debacle that was last week, this week is completely bereft of anything even remotely resembling fun in even the most infinitesimal way. Seriously, have you seen what's coming out this week? Just take a look. Gears of War 2 Tom Clancy's EndWar Secret Service: Ultimate Sacrifice James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Namco Museum Virtual Arcade Legendary History Channel Civil War: Secret Mission See? Nothing. Ah well, maybe we'll finally get something worth playing next week.[Image: sweet mandy kay][Via Joystiq]
iPhone in 29 new countries; unlocked in Hong Kong
Our sister site Engadget reports that Apple is now offering unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong via its online store. HK$5,500 (≈ US$700) will buy you an 8GB model, HK$6,200 (≈ US$800) gets you 16GB. The Apple Store's terms and conditions limit sales to individuals in Hong Kong only, but who knows what the gray market will bring. Three Russian carriers will also begin selling unlocked iPhones on October 3, with the 8GB model selling for over US$900. In related news, 29 new countries will begin selling the iPhone, some today: Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Qatar, Senegal, South Africa, Turkey and Venezuela. [Via IGM.]
