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'The Dark Crystal' Comic-Con preview goes behind the scenes
Besides The Witcher, Netflix also highlighted its upcoming The Dark Crystal prequel series at Comic-Con. Instead of another trailer, the video posted goes behind the scenes, talking to engineers and others at Jim Henson Company who have continued the tradition more than thirty years later for this ten episode run. According to director Louis Leterrier, hopefully the audience will "forget you're watching puppets." Stars like Mark Hamill and Taron Egerton showed up for the SDCC panel, where producer Lisa Henson said "This is the proudest thing that I've done since my siblings and myself started running the company." The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance will premiere on Netflix August 30th.
ICYMI: Medical HoloLens, programmable kids robot and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-1882{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-1882, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-1882{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-1882").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Case Western Reserve University students put HoloLens to work to learn parts of the human body. The classic '60s TV show Thunderbirds is coming back for more episodes of puppet goodness thanks to a Kickstarter campaign. And a new robot aimed at teaching kids to program is out to terrorize your family pets.
Disney is working on more natural moving robots
Disney may not have much of a stake in robots at the industrial scale, but the company sure employs plenty of animatronics at its parks and films. So it only makes sense that it would want to build the most natural moving robots it can and encourage you to suspend your disbelief. Its research labs have developed a new method for controlling mechanical puppets, without the usual motors, pumps or valves. Instead the set up you see above (and in the video after the break) relies on pneumatic tubes and air pressure. As a puppeteer moves one arm, the other mimics it exactly, with no bounce back, stuttering and an imperceptible delay. The result is accurate, natural motion with impressive precision. That could lead to more convincing movie monsters, animatronic attractions without the usual stiff jitters and perhaps even more life-like fully autonomous robots that are less awkward to interact with. The company has already pumped plenty of money in to building more convincing robots, and has even gone as far as figuring out a way to clone human faces. (Your days are numbered, you have been warned.) Make sure to check out the videos after the break, because this is something that needs to be seen to truly be appreciated.
Brentalfloss and friends serenade with 'Ballad of the Mages'
We've always thought that having magical powers would likely solve every problem in our lives, but the latest song from retro-culture songwriter Brentalfloss (accompanied by special guests Mad in the Moon and Mega Ran) proves that may not be the case ... at least in Final Fantasy's universe.
It's what's inside that counts: Wheatley puppet edition
After seeing something completely astounding, our first instinct is to rip it apart to see just how its innards work in such graceful harmony with each other. Thankfully, the amazing Wheatley-puppet creator Jennifer Sorrell is giving us an inside look at her personality sphere with in-progress photos, descriptions of materials and process, and humble assertions (lies) that her Wheatley didn't turn out to be perfect. Wheatley was Sorrell's first foray into puppetry, but we're guessing it's not her last. Check out the complete behind-the-scenes build on her cosplay blog, and request she make a 1-1-scale puppet of GLaDOS next. The office has been looking pretty bare recently.
Star Fox sings 'Space Oddity' in 3D, puppet-style
If you fondly recall long nights barrel-rolling across the galaxy with Fox and his crew on your N64, this video is for you. If you've ever listened to David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in the angsty privacy of your room, this video is for you. If you ever saw a puppet show at one of your local libraries, this video is for you. If you've never done any of those things, your childhood must have sucked. Geek-gag geniuses brentalfloss and Underbelly threw together a stellar Star Fox-remake of Bowie's "Space Oddity" using hand puppets, paper spaceships and what appears to be a small amount of Fox porn. We think they nailed the entire video in these five words: "Hey Falco, you're a douche," but we could just be projecting.
Puppets promote Shiren the Wanderer 4 in Japan
Shiren the Wanderer 3 hits North America on February 9, but Chunsoft and publisher Spike are already preparing to release Shiren the Wanderer 4 in Japan. There, the roguelike dungeon crawler is a big enough deal to warrant television advertising! And that's a good thing, because these TV ads for Shiren 4 (after the break) are absolutely wonderful, featuring puppets(!) of Shiren, Koppa, and monsters in the new tropical island setting. Of course, if you were to go into this game based on the sunny commercials, you might be a bit surprised when you're murdered repeatedly by monsters, losing all items and progress each time. We hope someone gets the idea to sell Shiren puppets. [Via GoNintendo]
Katamari Forever rolls into stores with one final puppet video
Namco has released one last trailer for Katamari Forever to coincide with its release this week. Once again, the questionably-sober hand puppets return to talk about why they think Katamari Forever is the best Katamari game yet. It's a surreal video that makes us feel like we're watching Adult Swim while, um, eating brownies -- something Katamari creator Keita Takahashi claims he doesn't do. After watching this trailer, we're not entirely sure we believe him.%Gallery-51402%
Hand puppets share the bizarre magic of Katamari Forever
A little over a month ago, we received a Japanese trailer for Katamari Forever that piqued our monolingual curiosity -- what could these adorable hand puppets have to say about the latest entry in Namco Bandai's ball-rolling franchise? Today, Playstation.Blog released the English version of the trailer, and our query was answered: They're talking about food, and one sounds like Matthew McConaughey. We didn't really expect that.We'd just like to take this chance to say, we get it, Namco Bandai. Your games are unusual. You can stop with the unsettling and bizarre trailers now.
Behind the scenes with Paul Barnett, featuring a big surprise
What do Joss Whedon-created television character Angel and Paul Barnett have in common? Well, apparently they've both undergone a spell that's changed them into puppets. Creepy. Well, it's also kinda cute too. Okay, fine, it's really cute, but we're only admitting it because Paul knows where we all live and now that he's a puppet with knowledge of sharp kitchenware, we really can't be taking any chances.We've even got word from secret sources that this may not be the last time we see Paul in his true form. In fact, our informant has told us that it's possible we may see a reappearance in a certain podcast featuring particular productions.Keep an eye out after the break...
One Shots: We are all puppets of Destruction
Just when we thought we'd seen it all in regards to Warhammer Online, something like today's One Shots comes along and firms up the fact that we've really only scratched the surface in this column. We've heard of some pretty interesting ways to taunt your enemies or amuse your friends, but using puppets in an MMO is one we don't generally see. This screenshot, in from our regular Warhammer Online contributor, Snacky (this time reporting in from the Badlands server), shows off one such confusing and yet funny moment. Snacky writes in: In my downtime while waiting for scenarios to pop, I like to amuse myself and the occasional passerby with a puppet show. We're not entirely convinced they're watching the puppet, Snacky. If you're one of the legion of players who are enjoying Warhammer Online, we'd love to see what you've been up to. Alternately, if WAR just wasn't your thing, and you've gone to another game, don't think we don't want to hear from you -- we do! We want screenshots from all MMOs, big and small. (If your game is small, it's a great way to get some free promotion for it!) Just get your game on, grab some screenshots for us and email them in. Our address is oneshots AT massively DOT com. Don't forget to include your name (server/guiid welcome too) and a quick description. We show it off and give you the credit for sending it in. %Gallery-9798%
Harvest Moon: Waku Waku Animal Puppets
Our Japanese is not quite good enough to ascertain the nuances of this dramatic scene, but what we could understand was self-evident anyway. In this ad for Harvest Moon: Waku Waku Animal March, the frog wants the cow to give him a ride like the animals in the game do. The cow (spoilers!) relents, and the frog gleefully hops on, only to find the ride slow. The cow complains about being out of energy, and the frog cheers him on, telling him to summon his "cow power." Then the frog takes off on a date with Keromi-chan. In the second part, after the break, the frog and cow decide to make use of Waku Waku Animal March's photo features. Wackiness ensues, culminating with the frog asking the cow to take some "sexy" shots. And that's why you should buy Harvest Moon: Waku Waku Animal March.
