Like the seemingly unending comic book movie craze, Hollywood loves to find a type of film that it can turn into the next big cultural touchstone. Over the years, we've seen movies based on video games attempt to reach that level, with varying levels of success. We've seen adaptations of games for decades, but, to be fair, a lot of these were awful adaptations. Many of them missed the point of the source material and were clumsily executed--although we'll always have a soft spot for the 1994 Street Fighter movie--but lately, we've seen some big changes in this genre.The Super Mario Bros. Movie took the world by storm last year, earning an obscene amount of cash at the box office, while the Uncharted and both Sonic the Hedgehog movies were also successful. With fresh new IPs to option, dozens of video game movies have been announced over the last couple of years, and while production is moving swiftly on several of them, many more appear to be trapped in the lowest levels of development hell.We're hopeful that we'll see some progress on these long-in-development films, but until Hollywood says otherwise, here's a deep dive into the video game movies that could be showing at your local cinema in the future. If there's not an attached release date or it's not a sequel, though, keep in mind these could also just never be made in the end. 1. OutlastAn incredibly terrifying series of first-person survival-horror games, Outlast is coming to the big screen as part of a deal between Lionsgate and developer Red Barrels. Still at an early stage of development, writer JT Perry--who has worked on the stories for the games themselves--will be penning the screenplay. 2. HelldiversAnnounced at CES 2025, Helldivers is one of two projects in development currently through Sony and its subsidiary Columbia Pictures. Helldivers is essentially a spiritual successor to Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers film, and is set in a future where humanity worships freedom and the concept of managed democracy. The games have a cheeky sense of humor, and the studio behind them would love to see several A-list celebrities in the movie--provided that they're killed off in hilariously over-the-top scenes. 3. MinecraftRelease date: April 4, 2025Minecraft has been one of the biggest games for years, and the creative sandbox of cubic characters is getting ready for a feature film adaptation. There aren't too many details available on the adaptation yet, but what we do know is that it'll be directed by Jared Hess (Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite) and it'll star Jason Momoa and Jack Black. Hess is also aiming to avoid an "ugly Sonic" situation as filming continues in New Zealand, so as to not disappoint children who love the game.In case you missed it, the first Minecraft trailer arrived in September, and it certainly is something. 4. Watch DogsMore than 10 years after it was first announced, filming finally began on Watch Dogs in July, a series of open-world games published by Ubisoft and featuring hacktivist gameplay. Directed by Mathieu Turi (The Deep Dark), the film Tom Blyth and Sophia Wilde. Additional casting details or a release date have yet to be revealed.Principal photography wrapped up in September, and the project is now in its post-production phase. 5. Until DawnRelease date: April 25, 2025Based on the 2015 interactive-horror game, an Until Dawn film is on the way from Shazam director David F. Sandberg. The original game was a star-studded affair that featured Rami Malek, Hayden Panettiere, and Brett Dalton as part of a group of friends who reunite in a remote mountain resort, and it's not long before the gang find themselves facing off against a horrific threat to their survival. You won't have to wait too long to see the adaptation, as Sony has set an April 25, 2025 release date for Until Dawn. In case you missed it, the first teaser for the film revealed a promising--and gory--adaptation that manages to squeeze in the choose-your-own-demise gameplay mechanic of the source material. 6. Days GoneDays Gone was an interesting--but flawed--first-party game when it first launched on PS4 in 2019, and while it didn't reach the same levels of success as Marvel's Spider-Man or Ghost of Tsushima, it might be better suited for the silver screen. A tale of love, bikers, and zombies in a post-apocalyptic world, the script for this adaptation has been written by Sheldon Turner (X-Men: First Class and the Road House remake) and is said to have a modern-day Western feel to it. Sam Heughan (Outlander) is reportedly attached to play the protagonist Deacon St. John. 7. Death StrandingHideo Kojima's Death Stranding takes place in a fascinating universe, one where an extinction-level event has almost wiped out humanity and where being caught out in the rain is a painful death sentence. It's also weird as hell, packed with some very recognizable Hollywood faces, and it has no shortage of material to explore. The feature film adaptation was announced back in 2022, and in December 2023, film and television company A24 officially revealed its partnership with Kojima Productions to bring Death Stranding to life or Death.Kojima has big plans for this IP, as not only is he involved in the production of the Death Stranding movie, but he's also planning to create a Death Stranding film universe. 8. Dead by DaylightFor anyone yearning for a good ol' slasher horror movie, you might want to keep your eyes peeled for Dead by Daylight. The longrunning multiplayer horror game has long been considered a love letter to cinematic terror, and its feature film adaptation will be produced by Blumhouse and James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious). 9. Duke NukemIs the world ready for Duke Nukem's return? A relic of the video game past--for good and bad reasons--the legendary gunslinger is making his way to theaters in a film project from the producers behind Cobra Kai. This will be an entirely new production when compared to the ill-fated Duke Nukem project that was set to star John Cena, and it was first announced in 2022. Since then, there has been radio silence on the project and it has no names attached to direct, write, or star in it. 10. FirewatchCampo Santo's story-focused and solitary adventure game Firewatch might sound like an odd choice for a film adaptation, but producers Snoot Entertainment are aiming to bring the interactive piece of art to the big screen. No other details, such as casting announcements or tentative release window, have been revealed since the 2020 announcement, but at the time, Camp Santo co-founder Sean Vanaman had nothing but high praise for the project and the people attached to it. 11. Five Nights at Freddy's sequelsIf you'd correctly guessed that a film based on a video game series about homicidal animatronic food mascots would go on to break box office records, then we'd really like you to pick our next lottery numbers. A Five Nights at Freddy's sequel was inevitable, and while it's still early days, Josh Hutcherson recently revealed that the writers are "nailing down the story" for the follow-up. Horror movie studio Blumhouse produced the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, and it became the company's highest-grossing movie ever. 12. Ghost of TsushimaBack in 2020, Ghost of Tsushima arrived to send off the PS4 generation in grand style. A samurai tale with gorgeous visuals and intense action, the game attracted the attention of John Wick director Chad Stahelski and was quickly added to his slate of projects. Don't expect to Ghost of Tsushima on the big screen soon, as the director is currently focused on a Highlander reboot starring Henry Cavill as the legendary swordsman. Stahelski intends to create an "epic" atmosphere of samurai action while also seeing just how far he can "push the color palette" on this project.We also know that Sony is developing a Ghost of Tsushima anime spin-off, with this adaptation being handled by Demon Slayer studio Aniplex. 13. Gravity RushGravity Rush has managed to escape the pull of development hell since it was first announced in 2022, as work steadily continues on it. Anna Mastro (Secret Society of Second Born Royals) is reportedly the director, and at CES 2024, an entire five seconds of footage was seen during Sony's press conference. Unlike the anime-inspired 2012 game, this version of Gravity Rush appears to be taking a more realistic approach as it brings the gravity-defying world of Hekseville to life. 14. Iron LungBased on the 2022 horror game of the same name by David Szymanski, the adaptation of Iron Lung has already been written, directed, and produced by Mark Fischback AKA Markiplier, who's also starring in it. While it is complete, the movie doesn't have a release date yet, but the teaser trailer does look suitably bloody. If you've never played the game, Iron Lung is set in a universe where an event known as "The Quiet Rapture" has caused all known stars and habitable planets in the universe to vanish. After an ocean of blood is discovered on a lifeless moon, one convict is sent to explore the crimson waters from inside a rickety submarine. 15. Just CauseJust Cause, a series of open-world video games where character development takes a backseat to gloriously over-the-top explosions, is the perfect vehicle for a gratuitously violent popcorn blockbuster with a bloated pyrotechnics budget. It has been a long time since we've heard any news on the project, as in 2017, the film was set to be directed by Brad Peyton and would star Jason Momoa. Peyton eventually dropped out and was replaced by Michael Dowse (Stuber), but since then, there's been nothing but radio silence on this project. 16. Just DanceWhile the heyday of dancing movies is long over, there might still be room for Ubisoft's infectiously fun Just Dance series to shine on the silver screen. The only problem here is that after production company Screen Gems won the motion picture rights to Just Dance all the way in 2019, we've heard next to nothing on the status of this project. 17. The Legend of ZeldaSony and Nintendo, working together again? That's the plan, as Sony's movie business has big plans to turn The Legend of Zelda into a live-action film. Maze Runner's Wes Ball is attached to direct this adaptation of Nintendo's massively popular franchise, and while we don't what the story will be and who might play Zelda and Link in the film, Sony CEO Kenichiro Hirada is already hyping up the project as an "amazing tale of adventure and discovery" ahead of its eventual release. 18. Martha is DeadDon't let the title fool you, because this isn't a Batman prequel movie! Instead, Martha is Dead is a creepy thriller set against the backdrop of Italy during World War 2. As the twin sister of Martha, who was recently discovered drowned and dead in a lake, players had to navigate a tangled web of mystery as the Allied war machine edged closer to home. The game developer, LKA, has teamed up with UK publisher Wired Productions and Swedish film production company Studios Extraordinaires for this film project. 19. Metal Gear SolidKong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts's Metal Gear Solid project has been gestating for close to a decade now, and it looks increasingly likely that it's stuck in development hell. Updates have been few and far between, with the last notable mention of the film being in 2022 when Oscar Isaac--who is attached to play Solid Snake--mentioned that the focus was on finding a good story to do the legendary game justice. 20. Mortal Kombat 2Get ready for round 2! 2021's Mortal Kombat movie generated an impressive $84.4 million at the box office, and for the sequel, the original--and surviving--cast will all be making a comeback. Mortal Kombat 2 once again features Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Tadanobu Asano as Lord Raiden, Mehcad Brooks as Jax, and Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, and this time, Karl Urban joins them as brash Hollywood A-lister Johnny Cage.Plot details haven't been revealed yet, but in a previous interview, director Simon McQuoid did tease that the lush realm of Edenia could be explored in the follow-up. 21. Pac-ManWe've had Pac-Man cartoon series, a starring role in a Futurama episode, and a villainous turn in an Adam Sandler film, and at long last, Bandai Namco's pellet-chomping hero is ready for top billing. A live-action project based on an original idea from Sonic the Hedgehog movie producer Chuck Williams has been announced, but there have been no further details revealed yet on the potential cast, director, or a release date since the 2022 announcement. 22. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu sequel2019's Detective Pikachu had a great box office run, sleuthing up an impressive $433 million worldwide. A sequel starring the gumshoe electric rat was a safe bet, but several years later, details on the sequel have been hard to come by. A representative for Legendary Entertainment said that the film is still "in active development," but beyond that, details on this movie are scarcer than a shiny Pokemon in the wild. 23. Poppy PlaytimeWe might be looking at a new boom in horror movies starring sadistic mascots after the success of Five Nights at Freddy's, and you can add Poppy Playtime to that list. The original game is set in an abandoned toy factory inhabited by killer collectibles, and for the film adaptation, Studio71 is handling production duties. The studio is well-known for its work on the recent VHS horror movies, making this company a good fit for the unique terror of Poppy Playtime. 24. PortalIt has been a long time since there has been any movement on Portal, Valve's wonderfully challenging game of interdimensional puzzles, but producer JJ Abrams really wants you to know that the film project isn't dead yet. Or at least, it was definitely still being worked on in 2021 when Abrams mentioned that a script was being written. Is the film cake a lie? Only time will tell. 25. RabbidsIt was only a matter of time until the Minions of video games, Rabbids, were optioned for a film deal. Film production company Lionsgate landed the movie rights to Ubisoft's Rabbids in 2019, but like several other video game movie projects, this appears to be another gaming IP stuck in development hell, much to the relief of parents across the world. 27. Return to Silent HillThere are some lofty expectations for Return to Silent Hill, as not only is this psychological-horror movie rebooting the film series, but it's also taking a stab at adapting what many fans consider to be the best game in the franchise. Starring Jeremy Irvine and Hannah Emily Anderson, Return to Silent Hill is directed by Christophe Gans. The French film director brought Silent Hill to the big screen in 2006, and filming began in Germany and Eastern Europe in April 2023. 28. Saints RowAnother video game movie possibly stuck in development hell, there have been zero updates on the Saints Row project for several years now. At the time, writer Greg Russo said that his script was inspired by The Warriors and Escape from New York, and F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious) was set to direct it. 29. SifuJohn Wick creator Derek Kolstad announced his plans to adapt the hard-hitting action game Sifu to the big screen in 2022, bringing the bone-crunching brutality of this martial arts epic to life. While the story of a martial arts prodigy out for revenge is fairly standard stuff in the genre, Sifu's added twist is that the vengeance-driven protagonist is in possession of a magical talisman that can bring them back to life, but they'll age after each use. Kolstad envisions the film as John Wick meets M. Night Shyamalan's Old, which should make for an interesting action film if it ever gets greenlit. 30. Slime RancherSlime Rancher is one of the most adorable games around--and one of the highest-rated on Steam--as the core pitch of wrangling cute blobs on a distant alien planet makes for some engaging fun. Not much is known about this project yet, but what we do know is that the story of young rancher Beatrix LeBeau is being adapted by Story Kitchen, a production company set up by John Wick writer Derek Kolstad. 31. Space Channel 5One of the defining games of the Sega Dreamcast, Space Channel 5 might sound like an obscure property to revive as a movie, but this wacky game has an equally weird pitch that could put butts in seats. The film version has been described as a mix of comedy and dance, all set to the story of a hapless fast-food worker who is recruited by a freedom reporter from the future to save the world from aliens. How? By using the power of viral dancing to save the day. So basically, TikTok: The Movie. 32. Space InvadersInvaders! From space! New Line Cinema announced in 2019 that the classic Taito arcade game was headed to a movie screen near you, but several years later, it looks like those hostile extraterrestrials might have gotten stuck in a black hole on the way. Mortal Kombat writer Greg Russo was hired to write the script back then, but there's been no word then about the status of this alien invasion project. 33. StrayCurrently in development at Annapur(r)na Animation, Stray is another recent game destined for a silver screen debut in the future. The original game mixed stealth and post-apocalyptic vibes, but with the neat twist of controlling an orange tabby cat looking for a way back home. Along the way, the cat crosses paths with the flying drone B12, an ally who helps the furry creature escape a city of robots and parasites. 34. Street FighterWe've had two live-action Street Fighter movies over the decades, one being so wonderfully awful that it's actually good, and the other one being downright terrible and devoid of any Tuesday memes whatsoever. Is the third time the charm then for this franchise? Talk to Me directors Duo Danny and Michael Philippou were originally attached to this project, but they dropped out, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts. 35. Streets of RageYet another project with a John Wick link to it, Sega's rough-and-tough Streets of Rage adaptation is once again a film that Derek Kolstad is involved with. An action-packed staple of the '90s, Streets of Rage was successfully revived several years ago for a fourth outing, and a new game in the series is on the way as part of Sega's new initiative to flex some retro muscles. 36. Talking TomIf there's one thing that Hollywood has proven over the years, it's that anything can be a movie--even a collection of mobile apps featuring anthropomorphic animals talking back to you. The jury is still out on whether a good Talking Tom movie is possible, and to make things even weirder, this live-action project from Outfit7 has recruited Assassin's Creed producer Jean-Julien Baronnet to help it make the leap from mobile to big screen. Baronnet is also the producer of the Rabbids Invasion television series, so this looks like a good fit. 37. Bendy and the Ink MachineWhat if Walt Disney ditched Mickey Mouse for blood-curdling horror? You'd have Bendy and the Ink Machine, a delightfully macabre send-up of classic animation full of devious puzzles to solve. With Five Nights at Freddy proving to be a huge hit at the box office, horror games are quickly being optioned by studios and this adaptation will be handled by Radar Pictures, the company behind the Jumanji reboots. Beyond that, not much else is known about the project other than Bendy creator Paul Crawford's pledge to make a "quality" film that honors the source material. 38. Comix ZoneComix Zone, a game for which advertisements were plastered over pretty much every Marvel and DC comic book in 1995, is another retro game property coming to the big screen eventually, maybe. First announced in 2022 and described as a loose adaptation of the game--which was inspired in turn by comic books of the era--the film will follow "a jaded comic book creator and a writer who find themselves sucked into the final issue of his popular series and must fight their way out of the printed pages to stop a supervillain hellbent on destruction. Written by Mae Catt (Young Justice), the film is also aiming to explore the power of storytelling. 39. Clair Obscura: Expedition 33Before the game's arrival on PC and console, it was announced that a live-action adaptation was in development. While Clair Obscura: Expedition 33 has drawn eyes to its turn-based RPG action thanks to its impressive visuals, the game does have a fascinating plot that revolves around a deadly goddess awakening once a year to cause calamity amongst the surviving humans. "Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number. And everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away," the official synopsis reads. "Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she'll wake and paint 33. And tomorrow we depart on our final mission--Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again." 40. Horizon Zero DawnSony is looking at a feature film adaptation of one of its biggest IPs, as while Horizon was originally lined up to get a live-action Netflix series, last year it was reported that the project wasn't moving forward due to workplace misconduct allegations surrounding The Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman.Set in a post-apocalyptic future where human civilization has reverted back to a primitive state following a cataclysmic robot uprising, the film follows the outcast Aloy as she looks to unite the tribes of humanity to prepare for a massive threat that could wipe out all life on the planet if left unchecked.

Our nostalgic journey into Fortnite's past is continuing onward this week with the launch of Fortnite OG Season 2, which takes us back to the 2017 version of Fortnite. Epic's metaverse as we know it didn't exist then--this game was just a burgeoning battle royale with a unique building mechanic that was quickly blowing up. And with the release of OG Season 2, we've gotten a change to the game's mpa.But the original Fortnite Season 2 was a landmark, though not for its gameplay. Instead, it's because Season 2 is when Fortnite introduced its battle pass concept that pretty much the entire rest of the games industry has borrowed in the seven years since. And with that battle pass came the solidification of Epic's strategy of using FOMO (fear of missing out) tactics to sell cosmetics.For those hoping that Fortnite OG Season 2 would bring that old battle pass back and give you the chance to earn the Black Knight skin: Sorry, it's not happening today. But Fortnite OG Season 2 is bringing back several old fan-favorite locations, including a couple that were never brought back on later battle royale islands or in Reload--outside of that first Season OG in 2023, anyway--so there are a couple true oldies here.But this is just a season change, not a new chapter, so we're only getting a partial overhaul of the map for now. Read on to see everything that's changed on the Fortnite OG island in Season 2. Shifty ShaftsThis little mining town just south of Tilted Towers became a fixture on the map for all of Chapter 1 after it first showed up in Season 2. But Shifty hasn't been gone that long--it returned as a location on the Chapter 3 island, and is also included in Reload. Snobby ShoresThis quaint little suburb on the western coast of the island is one of Fortnite's all-time best landing spots, but it's been absent from the battle royale island since Chapter 1--though it returned briefly during that first 30-day Fortnite OG season back in 2023. Haunted HillsHaunted Hills is another old location that they haven't re-used on any subsequent battle royale islands, and this initial version of the spot will be pretty barebones compared with how much stuff was added to it by Season 6. Junk JunctionThis scrapyard is one of the smaller named locations we've had on the battle royale map--small POIs were much more common in Chapter 1 than they are now. Tilted TowersArguably the most popular location Fortnite has ever had, Tilted Towers is a place we're all too familiar with because it was a key location in Chapters 1, 3 and 4. But keep in mind that this is the original version of Tilted Towers, which is slightly different and has a little bit less going on than you probably remember. But that'll be part of the fun.

Aspyr, the developer behind Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered, has released a new update for the action-adventure game, along with a modest list of patch notes. The revamped versions of two of historys most iconic video games were released on December 10, and after waiting for nearly 25 years, fans of the franchise were generally not disappointed. The predominantly positive reviews praised the quality-of-life improvements offered by Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remasteredwhile remaining faithful to the original games.

Dark fantasy anime is an influential genre that has captivated viewers with its intense storytelling, thought-provoking themes, and well-written characters. Some of the most popular anime of all time fall within this genre and have become a cultural benchmark.

The recently released DeepSeek-R1 model family has brought a new wave of excitement to the AI community, allowing enthusiasts and developers to run state-of-the-art reasoning models with problem-solving, math and code capabilities, all from the privacy of local PCs.With up to 3,352 trillion operations per second of AI horsepower, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs can run the DeepSeek family of distilled models faster than anything on the PC market.A New Class of Models That ReasonReasoning models are a new class of large language models (LLMs) that spend more time on thinking and reflecting to work through complex problems, while describing the steps required to solve a task.The fundamental principle is that any problem can be solved with deep thought, reasoning and time, just like how humans tackle problems. By spending more time and thus compute on a problem, the LLM can yield better results. This phenomenon is known as test-time scaling, where a model dynamically allocates compute resources during inference to reason through problems.Reasoning models can enhance user experiences on PCs by deeply understanding a users needs, taking actions on their behalf and allowing them to provide feedback on the models thought process unlocking agentic workflows for solving complex, multi-step tasks such as analyzing market research, performing complicated math problems, debugging code and more.The DeepSeek DifferenceThe DeepSeek-R1 family of distilled models is based on a large 671-billion-parameter mixture-of-experts (MoE) model. MoE models consist of multiple smaller expert models for solving complex problems. DeepSeek models further divide the work and assign subtasks to smaller sets of experts.DeepSeek employed a technique called distillation to build a family of six smaller student models ranging from 1.5-70 billion parameters from the large DeepSeek 671-billion-parameter model. The reasoning capabilities of the larger DeepSeek-R1 671-billion-parameter model were taught to the smaller Llama and Qwen student models, resulting in powerful, smaller reasoning models that run locally on RTX AI PCs with fast performance.Peak Performance on RTXInference speed is critical for this new class of reasoning models. GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs, built with dedicated fifth-generation Tensor Cores, are based on the same NVIDIA Blackwell GPU architecture that fuels world-leading AI innovation in the data center. RTX fully accelerates DeepSeek, offering maximum inference performance on PCs.Throughput performance of the Deepseek-R1 distilled family of models across GPUs on the PC.Experience DeepSeek on RTX in Popular ToolsNVIDIAs RTX AI platform offers the broadest selection of AI tools, software development kits and models, opening access to the capabilities of DeepSeek-R1 on over 100 million NVIDIA RTX AI PCs worldwide, including those powered by GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs.High-performance RTX GPUs make AI capabilities always available even without an internet connection and offer low latency and increased privacy because users dont have to upload sensitive materials or expose their queries to an online service.Experience the power of DeepSeek-R1 and RTX AI PCs through a vast ecosystem of software, including Llama.cpp, Ollama, LM Studio, AnythingLLM, Jan.AI, GPT4All and OpenWebUI, for inference. Plus, use Unsloth to fine-tune the models with custom data.

In the mid-70s, Mattel Electronics started putting together a plan to release a game console that would end up taking on Atari, showing the future of what games could be, and introducing what remains one of the oddest controllers in video game history. The story of Intellivision is long and takes a number of turns, which you can read all about in the book Intellivision: How a Videogame System Battled Atari and Almost Bankrupted Barbie from The MIT Press.Written by University of California, Irvine professors Tom Boellstorff and Braxton Soderman, the book weaves together over 150 interviews and extensive research material to piece together what happened behind the scenes. Below, we have an excerpt from chapter 4, diving into how Mattel used test marketing and celebrity writer George Plimpton to get the word out when introducing the console to the world.Intellivision was test marketed in December 1979 in Fresno, California, in about 12 department stores in the metropolitan area, including Sears, Weinstocks, and Gottschalks (a chain founded in the city). The test marketing was deemed successful, and as Mattel Electronics turned toward a wider launch in August 1980, it was clear that advertising would be crucial to Intellivisions success. Tim Huber, vice president of marketing during Intellivisions release, explained that Mattels early marketing success led to a toy industry expectation that commercials would be ready for any product. Huber emphasized that if a toy was premiered at a major convention like Toy Fair without a full, finished commercial, nobody bought it. Thus, it is unsurprising that advertising was Mattels biggest expense after inventory. Gene Kilroy, a director in preliminary design, noted it was often 15-20 percent of a products cost, while research and development would be a fraction of that amount.Intellivisions advertising was handled by Ogilvy & Mather (O&M). With a history dating to an agency founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather, O&M was one of the worlds largest advertising companies. In December 1970 it acquired Carson/Roberts, Mattels original advertising agency. John Seifert, who became O&Ms account director in charge of Intellivision (and was later the companys global CEO), noted that O&M toy category experts often spent their whole career advertising Mattel toys, paired with Mattels product manager for a particular toy (with whom they might be promoted in parallel). Mattel and O&M shared sales data and the impact of media spending. Many internal marketing memoranda had a left-hand column of staff broken into two groups, with Mattel employees above and O&M employees below, as if they were one company. Executives from the two companies met regularly. Bill Gillis, vice president of marketing recalled, Never a week passed that I didnt have a meeting or two with the O&M folks. Gene Del Vecchio, at the time a research project director at O&M, noted that Mattels business accounted for around 75 percent of O&Ms Los Angeles office billings during that period, joking that if Mattel sneezed wed catch pneumonia. Seifert emphasized that by 1980 O&M was developing hundreds of commercials a year for Mattel across its toy lines.O&Ms first Intellivision commercial featured the Master Component and Keyboard Component, emphasizing learning, games, and using the system for home financial planning and even exercise. By June 1980, marketing researchers had tested an abridged version of this spot, deeming it ineffective in generating brand recall. Intellivision sales remained sluggish throughout most of 1980. Senior vice president of marketing Frank OConnell recalled that this caused a mild panic as the product was not selling at retail. The campaign essentially positioned Intellivision as a home computer, which failed to generate consumer interest.Intellivision marketing had to adjust quickly and it did. Josh Denham from Mattel Toys became the new president of Mattel Electronics in September 1980, hiring OConnell soon after. OConnell recalled immediately commissioning market research which found that unaided awareness of Intellivision is low, especially in comparison with Atari. Denham and OConnell understood it was necessary to go on the attack or Mattel corporate would discontinue us halfway into Christmas, OConnell said. Intellivisions marketplace battle with Atari would soon turn bloody on national television.Repositioning Intellivision would not be easy. Atari had been in stores for almost three years. Mattel Electronics Product Manager Al Nilsen noted, We were the higher priced brand, by a lot. We didnt have the arcade history or background they did. Atari had a ton of money. Yet Ataris market position also offered an opportunity. OConnell and the marketing department felt a head-to-head comparison to Atari would jump our awareness and piggyback off their millions in advertising and clearly demonstrate Intellivisions point of difference. Crucially, a comparison commercial only made sense because Atari had already familiarized the public with the idea of home video game systems. OConnell approached Mattels board of directors with the contentious idea to spend millions on competitive advertising during the Christmas season. Atari would be livid seeing their system denigrated and their market awareness hijacked to sell a competitors product. Nevertheless, faced with huge losses if Intellivision failed, Mattel chairman Art Spear (and Mattels board of directors) agreed.Because of the risk, O&M also needed convincing. Denham recalled being inspired to strike when he saw an Atari television commercial and realized Ataris product looks like kids made it:We sold everything we had. Our warehouse of retail was totally cleaned out. That started the whole thing rollingI came to work and told our liaison with Ogilvy & Mather, Hey, I want you to get Ogilvy to do a comparative commercial, our product side by side. Later she said, Well, I just talked to Ogilvy and they dont think its a good idea to do comparative commercials. I said, Tell them if they dont have a comparative commercial, were going to get a new ad agency.The agencys reticence was understandable. Seifert noted how David Ogilvy, the advertising executive who created the modern O&M company through a merger in 1964, warned against comparative advertising because it gave visibility to ones competitor. Del Vecchio added that from O&Ms perspective, a mitigating factor was that if youre a new entrant and your product has a critical point-of-difference against the major competitors product, it can be beneficial to make the comparison. As Denham had observed, Intellivisions gameplay and graphical realism were critical distinctions. If O&M was going to do this, Seifert realized multiple concerns had to be addressed, including the question, Who is the person that helps you through the storytelling? Because we didnt think it was just as simple as to say look at Intellivision, look at Atari, you decide.Thus, George Plimpton was chosen as Intellivisions spokesperson. The first editor-in-chief of The Paris Review, Plimpton cultivated an image of erudition but also published participatory journalism, including books about sports. In the first, Out of My League (1961), Plimpton recounted pitching for a professional baseball team. Later books recounted participation in professional football, boxing, golf, and hockey. This eclectic background made Plimpton a unique fit. His intellectual air dovetailed with Intellivisions name and sophistication; his sports background harmonized with Intellivisions early emphasis on sports video games. Seifert, who managed the ad campaign, recalled that Plimpton was a bit of an intellect, guided by the facts, but also a good storyteller.To convince Plimpton to participate, OConnell remembered bypassing Plimptons agent to call at a hotel in Southern California, where he was playing golf. Plimpton expressed interest, and OConnell went to Plimptons hotel room with Brian Dougherty, an engineer working on Intellivision who recalled being asked to bring both an Intellivision and an Atari. We set them up side by side for Plimpton to see. After playing the video games, Plimpton agreed to do the commercials, saying, Well this is great. I can participate in these sports without actually getting hurt!The early comparison commercials between Intellivision and Atari focused on sports video games. It is fitting that the first commercial, described at the beginning of this chapter, used Major League Baseball and NFL Football: Baseball is considered an intellectual game because of its slow pace and multiple points for decision-making, while football emphasizes strategy but also hard-hitting action. Plimptons image, fusing intellectualism with athleticism, recalled both forms of gameplay. Moreover, Plimptons participatory journalism pitching at Yankee Stadium and running plays as a quarterback for the Detroit Lions buttressed his authority to decide which system was closer to the real. Gary Elliot, vice president for software advertising at O&M, noted that Plimpton was so believable and so completely different from what Atari was doing in the marketplace.As sociologist Tarleton Gillespie argued in the 2010 essay The Politics of Platforms, the marketing and public relations that surround platforms join disparate ideas to articulate a malleable set of beliefs and ideologies. Platforming Plimpton giving him a stage to speak on national television forged relationships between Intellivisions realism, sports, intelligence, action, and masculine focus. It augmented the fantasy that video games offered the opportunity to play real sports virtually. It elevated Intellivision beyond a toy, legitimizing Intellivisions strategic video games in comparison to Ataris childish offerings. Plimptons persona combined minor celebrity status and the everyman, rugged sportsmanship and intellectualism, fatherly wisdom with playboy bachelorism. The fact that later research at Mattel Electronics showed that consumers had low recall of Plimpton does not indicate that Plimpton was ineffective but that his image was complex and productively diffuse a persona that could convey multiple intersecting ideas.Seifert, working with Nilsen and others, spent more than $8 million to produce the first series of Plimpton commercials. Accompanying these commercials were print advertisements in magazines like Newsweek. After the Plimpton commercials aired, a marketing study found consumer intent to purchase an Intellivision increased from 5 percent in October 1980 to 28 percent in January 1981, concluding that the campaign conveyed Intellivisions superiority to Atari and game realism themes. During Christmas 1980 we sold everything we had, Denham recalled. Our warehouse of retail was totally cleaned out. That started the whole thing rolling. A few years later, engineer David Chandler summed up the Plimpton commercials impact in a document looking back at the consoles history: Intellivision finally was a reality in the marketplace.

Launch pads are traps that shoot you up into the air allowing you to skydive or glide back to the ground in Fortnite.Launch pads are extremely useful as they let you travel large distances in a short amount of time, which is particularly helpful in Fortnite OG as there are no drivable vehicles. Rather than running on foot, you can glide clear of the incoming Storm Circle and avoid danger altogether.However, launch pads are very rare and pretty difficult to find as they only appear as traps.Heres where to find a launch pad and how to use it in Fortnite OG.Where to find a launch pad in Fortnite OGLaunch pads only appear as traps in Fortnite OG meaning theyre not preplaced on the map. In order words, launch pads appear as random loot on the floor or in chests and supply drops. Youll have to get a little lucky, or search a ton of chests around the map.Some of the best locations to search are Greasy Grove, Retail Row, Lonely Lodge, and Pleasant Park due to the amount of loot you can find in the area. Tilted Towers is also a great location to search, but its a heavily contested landing spot. If youre feeling confident, go for it! If not, its best to land elsewhere.How to use the launch pad in Fortnite OGTo use the launch pad, youll need to find a flat surface that isnt the bare ground.If youre playing in the classic Fortnite OG, you can build a platform to place the launch pad on. For those in No Build, you may need to destroy the roof of a building to reveal the floor beneath it.Once youve found or made a flat surface, place the launch pad onto the platform and jump on it to fly into the air. From here, you can either skydive or redeploy your glider to descend to the ground.How to complete travel distance after jumping on a Launch Pad questOne of the OG Season 2 Greatest Hits quest requires you to travel 1,000 distance after jumping on a launch pad. That is easier said than done, as launch pads are already a rare drop, but you wont travel anywhere close to 1,000 units in one jump. However, there is a trick to cover the distance using one launch pad.Rather than traveling a far distance with the launch pad, glide back to where you placed it and jump on it again. Repeat the cycle of launching and gliding back until youve successfully traveled the full distance and completed the quest.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.If youve been eyeing premium wireless earbuds but dont want to shell out big bucks, this deal on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 might catch your attention. Originally priced at $279.95, theyre now going for $99.99 on Wootbut only for eight days or until sold out. Plus, Prime members get free standard shipping, while others will have to pay $6 (just a heads up, this sale is only available in the U.S., and free shipping isnt available for Alaska, Hawaii, or PO boxes). You also get a two-year Sennheiser manufacturer limited warranty, so theres some peace of mind if anything goes wrong. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 Earbuds $99.99 at Woot $279.95 Save $179.96 Get Deal Get Deal $99.99 at Woot $279.95 Save $179.96 These IPX4-rated earbuds come with four pairs of ear tips (XS to L) and three sets of stability fins, which help keep them in place, especially if you plan to use them at the gym. The controls are built into the capacitive outer panels of each earbud and are said to be quite responsive. That said, the touch controls can be a bit too sensitiveaccidentally pausing or skipping tracks when youre just adjusting the earbuds is a common issue. Battery-wise, you get seven hours per charge with an extra 21 hours from the case (decent, but expect less if ANC is on). Charging is convenient since the case supports both Qi wireless charging and USB-C.Its Bluetooth 5.2 compatibility ensures a stable connection while its 7mm dynamic drivers cover a wide frequency range of 5Hz to 21kHz, delivering deep bass without distortion, clear mids, and balanced highs. The sound quality is impressive with AAC, AptX, AptX Adaptive, and SBC supported (which should work well for most users), but audiophiles might notice the absence of LDAC support. Active noise cancellation (ANC) here is solid but not the best. It handles low rumbles (like plane noise) well but struggles with higher-frequency sounds (like chatter and clanking dishes), as noted in this PCMag review. You can tweak the EQ, adjust ANC settings, customize touch controls, and more using the Sennheiser Smart App.If water resistance is a priority, the Jabra Elite 7 Pro (Renewed, $129.99) offers a higher IP57 rating, making it more durable against dust and water. And if youre after stronger ANC, the Sony WF-1000XM4 (Renewed, $149.97) might be a better pick.

If you were looking for a respite from X, but Threads didn't work out for you, you might have ended up at Bluesky. Sure, Mastodon is great in theory, but it doesn't have nearly as many users talking in one place. And as a single app, Bluesky is simply easier to use.Bluesky also feels like an app that has learned (or is still learning) from the mistakes of its peers. It has superior built-in moderation and troll-fighting features, and is relatively easy to get started with. But if you're going to pick up a new social network, you're going to want to carry over your mute words with youthat is, the collection of terms you've made over the years that you just don't want to see displayed on your feed. Maybe it's political stuff, or news about a certain celebrity, or even AI.Bluesky makes it easy to mute words, and there's even a feature called Moderation Lists, where you can use crowdsourced lists and bulk-mute accounts at once. Here's how to use both.How to mute words and phrases on BlueskyOpen the Bluesky website or smartphone app. From the sidebar, go to Settings > Moderation > Muted words & Tags. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Here, you'll see many options for muting a word. First, write the phrase or word you want to mute in the text box. Then, go through your optionsthough I think the default options are the best choice. Still, in the Duration section, you can choose to only mute the word for 24 hours, or 7 days, or 30 days, which can be great for, say, temporarily blocking out spoilers for a TV show you haven't watched yet.Next, you can choose if you want to mute just Bluesky posts, to also mute tags. Here, too, the default of Text and Tags works quite well, instead of blocking just tags.Lastly, you can choose to exclude users you follow from your mutes, in case you still want to hear about a topic like AI, but only from people you follow. When you're all set, click the Add button. Repeat the process to add more mute words and phrases. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Your muted words will show up in the section below. To unmute a word, all you have to do is to click the little X icon next to the word and confirm from the pop-up box. Credit: Khamosh Pathak How to mute accounts in bulkLike other social media services, Bluesky lets you mute or block individual accounts right from that person's profile view. Click the three-dotted menu, choose Mute account, and you're done.But the service goes beyond that: It also lets users create Moderation Lists that can be shared freely with a link, and it's possible to mute or block all the accounts included on such a list with just a click. It's a handy way to block a bunch of known NFT scammers, or notorious trolls, for example.To create your own Moderation List, go to Settings > Moderation > Moderation Lists > New. Then give the list a name and description, and click on Save. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Use the search bar up top to search for and add any number of profiles to the list. Then, click the Subscribe button up top (confusing, I know), and from the popup, choose Mute account. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Then, click on Mute list from the popup to confirm. Credit: Khamosh Pathak This process becomes a lot more interesting when you start to search for crowdsourced lists about different profiles. For example, Skywatch Blue has curated many lists for blocking specific scammers or trolls. There's even a list dedicated to people who have Elon Musk's name or reference in their profile or description, which some people might find particularly handy in 2025.

WhatsApp has claimed that some users were possibly compromised by spyware, according to a report by The Guardian. The Meta-owned messaging app went on to allege that nearly 100 journalists and activists were targeted in the attack. Additionally, the platform says it has high confidence that the Graphite spyware came from Paragon Solutions, a company founded in Israel that was recently acquired by a US investment firm.Hacking experts allege that this was a zero-click attack, meaning that the targeted users wouldnt have had to click on a nefarious link to get infected. This is a similar method to another large-scale WhatsApp hack, in which spyware called Pegasus infected over 1,400 devices. Once a device is infected by something like Pegasus or Graphite, the spyware operator has total access. This even includes the ability to read messages sent via encrypted applications like WhatsApp and Signal.WhatsApp says it has informed the 100 or so users of the potential attack, but has declined to disclose where they are based and who they are. It did say that it disrupted the alleged attacks back in December, though it's unclear how long the targets may have been under threat.This is the latest example of why spyware companies must be held accountable for their unlawful actions. WhatsApp will continue to protect peoples ability to communicate privately, a company spokesperson said. WhatsApp has sent Paragon a cease and desist letter and says that its exploring legal options.As for Paragon, it recently entered into a controversial $2 million contract with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department. Wired reports that the one-year contract tasks Paragon with providing a fully configured proprietary solution including license, hardware, warranty, maintenance and training. The company has yet to respond to the allegations from WhatsApp.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/whatsapp-claims-that-100-journalists-and-activists-were-the-targets-of-israeli-made-spyware-171701672.html?src=rss