“An array of rapidly developing technologies offer thrilling potential for the future of motion pictures – such as the rise of AR (augmented reality), AI (artificial intelligence) and the ever-increasing capacity for computers to power detailed digital worlds. What will films look like in 20 years’ time? And how will the cinematic stories of the future differ from the experiences available today?” Correspondent Luke Buckmaster asks some of the people working to make it all happen. – BBC
Category: media
Video Game Players Have An Endless Thirst For Updates, And The Pressure Is Driving Developers To The Breaking Point
For years it’s been known that the makers of top video games would make employees work 90-hour weeks or more, with no extra pay, at the crunch time before a title’s release. But now crunch time never ends. – PC Gamer
Starbucks Got About $2.3 Billion In Free Advertising From The “Game Of Thrones” Coffee Gaffe
“The label is muddled in shadow, but many fans speculated that it was the iconic green siren from Starbucks — and most of the jokes and discussion called out the Seattle coffee chain by name. Turns out, it was just a craft services cup.” – CNBC
CBS Censors ‘The Good Fight’ Segment About China
The streaming series, a spinoff of the old broadcast series The Good Wife, is known for its satirical Schoolhouse Rock-style cartoons called Good Fight Shorts. Last week, in place of the Short, the audience saw 8½ seconds of a placard that said “CBS HAS CENSORED THIS CONTENT.” Many viewers figured it was satire. It wasn’t. Emily Nussbaum reports on what went down at CBS. – The New Yorker
Have Video Games Become The Definer Of Common Culture?
Film can no longer claim to perform a function for our whole culture when there is no whole. When Golden Age Hollywood promised to tell the story of our culture, it was usually the story of a cultural mainstream. Now it is even clearer that Hollywood’s promise is meaningful only to one, admittedly still large, audience in the plenitude. New audiences, also in the millions, seek their cultural centers elsewhere—in video games and social media. – Wired
That “Game Of Thrones” Accidental Coffee Cup? After Internet Ridicule, HBO Has Erased It
While the big, bad Night King failed to “erase the memory of Westeros,” as Bran Stark put it, HBO was able to do so using the magic of digital editing. – The New York Times
Podcasts Are Internet For Your Ears
Does that sound good to you? Because now you can be plugged in online even when there are no screens around? Okay, but at least be aware of the distraction costs… n+1
Are Companies Like Facebook and Twitter Platforms Or Publishers? It Really Matters
If they’re platforms, they don’t have legal responsibility for the content carried on their sites. If publishers, then they’re legally liable. Fair enough. But the companies are muddying the distinctions, claiming to be both and neither. And that’s creating problems. – Vox
In The Age Of Brexit, There’s A Whole New Crop Of Video Games About Britain
“They come in all shapes and sizes, from Nintendo’s Pokémon Sword and Shield, which riffs on the architecture of Oxbridge and London, to PanicBarn’s anti-Brexit polemic Not Tonight. Most began development long before the EU referendum, but they are useful explorations of national identity at a time when what Britain stands for is hotly contested.” – The Guardian
Audio-Only Porn Becomes A Business (How Did This Not Happen Before Now?)
“These recordings — half-erotica, half-radio play — have long flourished on Reddit communities like GoneWildAudio or PillowTalkAudio. Now, entrepreneurs bet it can go mainstream — and make money. … Anyone looking for the classic tropes — for example, a pizza delivery boy’s romp with a bored housewife, or any sex that starts with ‘I’m sure we can figure out some form of payment’ — should look elsewhere.” – The Daily Beast