Posts Tagged: studio
A One Piece anime remake is in the works from Netflix and Wit Studio
Right now’s a really good time to be a One Piece fan. Netflix announced on Sunday that it’s working with Wit Studio — the animation studio behind the early seasons of Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga — for a new anime adaptation of the long-running series. It’ll start fresh from the East Blue saga, or the beginning of Eiichiro Oda’s manga, which is now in its final saga and expected to wrap up in the next few years.
One Piece follows the adventures of the rubber-limbed pirate Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, known as the Straw Hats. Both the manga and the original anime series have been ongoing since the late ‘90s. And, just this summer, Netflix released a live-action One Piece adaptation that was surprisingly well received considering Hollywood’s track record with live-action anime remakes.
As many have been preparing for the inevitable void that will be left when the manga and original anime come to an end, the latest announcement couldn’t be better timed. There’s little information available about the new series at this stage beyond the fact that it will be called The One Piece and “will recreate the story of the original One Piece manga.” We don’t have a release date yet, but Netflix says it’s in production now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-one-piece-anime-remake-is-in-the-works-from-netflix-and-wit-studio-221411871.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Apple’s much-maligned Studio Display webcam gets manual framing
Apple has released a firmware update for its Studio Display to improve its contentious 12MP ultrawide webcam, it said in the release 17 notes spotted by 9to5Mac. While the company (sort of) addressed image quality issues in previous updates, users still complained about the camera’s relatively high tilt that can be distracting on video calls. Now, the latest update “adds support for zoom, recenter and manual framing” to the webcam, giving users more control over how they look
The new controls now let you zoom and pan across the image to help position yourself in the frame the way you want, and you can go back to the default settings by hitting the “recenter” button. That should be a big help for those who use the webcam in manual mode, though it also works with Center Stage to automatically frame you in the image. The update also adds “minor stability improvements” to the Studio Display. Note that the Studio Display firmware update also requires the latest macOS Sonoma release that came out yesterday.
Also via the macOS Sonoma release, Apple brought the same controls over to the Continuity Camera that lets you use your iPhone for video chats on Mac. That might be a better option for many Studio Display owners, as despite all the fixes, the webcam still ain’t great.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-much-maligned-studio-display-webcam-gets-manual-framing-095650027.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
How to pre-order the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
While Microsoft’s event on Thursday focused on AI, the company spent some time debuting a few new Surface devices as well. The new Surface Laptop Studio 2 is supposedly the most powerful Surface device Microsoft has made, with support for the latest Intel processor, NVIDIA RTX 40 series GPUs and the first Intel NPU on Windows to power AI effects. The Surface Laptop Go 3, on the other hand, is the company’s newest small laptop and it’s billed to have significant performance improvements and up to 15-hours of battery life. Here’s how you can pre-order the new Surface Laptop Studio 2 and the Surface Laptop Go 3.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
The updated Surface Laptop Studio 2 is even more powerful than the previous version, sporting 13th-gen Intel i7 H-class processors, NVIDIA RTX 4050 and 4060 GPUs and it can be configured to have enterprise-level RTX 2000 Ada Generation graphics as well. The 14.4-inch touchscreen tilts forward so you can use it in studio and stage modes (in addition to the standard laptop mode), and the machine has Dolby audio-powered speakers, a touchpad that supports adaptive touch and an included Surface Slim Pen 2. The latest model can be configured to have up to 64GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage.
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3
The new Surface Laptop Go 3 is the latest iteration on Microsoft’s tiny notebook. Coming in at under 2.5 pounds, it has a 12.4-inch touchscreen, a fingerprint-toting power button for biometric logins and improved performance that should make it 88 percent more powerful than the original Laptop Go. Microsoft claims the Laptop Go 3 will have up to 15 hours of battery life and it will come in four colors: platinum, sage, sandstone and ice blue. It will run on Intel Core i5 processors and can be configured to have up to 16GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage.
Follow all of the news live from Microsoft’s 2023 Surface event right here.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-pre-order-the-microsoft-surface-laptop-studio-2-152956033.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Baldur’s Gate III localization studio apologizes for omitting contract workers from credits
A studio that handled Baldur’s Gate III translations has apologized after outsourced workers were omitted from the game’s credits. "We take full responsibility for this omission of our freelancers' names and apologize for the effects that it had," Altagram Group founder and CEO Marie Amigues said in a statement. "We would like to thank Larian for allowing us to quickly fix that error and update the credits section. The names of the Brazilian Portuguese translators will be included in an upcoming patch to the game."
Although the credits did not feature the translators Altagram worked with, they included the names of the company's executives and department leads. Contractors who translated Baldur’s Gate III into languages other than Brazilian Portuguese were credited, though different companies handled those localizations.
A Statement from Altagram Group (1/2) pic.twitter.com/jeUYb9bSlc
— Altagram (@Altagram_Group) August 10, 2023
Baldur’s Gate III developer and publisher Larian Studios said Altagram was to blame for the oversight. It asked the company to rectify the situation, and it seems Altagram swiftly obliged.
Unfortunately, outsourced workers who contribute to games are not always fully credited for their work. That can impact their future prospects, as it makes it slightly more difficult to prove to potential employers that they worked on a given game.
Crediting workers may not be a concern for some localization studios in the coming years, though. We'll surely see certain developers attempting to use artificial intelligence to translate games into different languages in the hopes of reducing costs. However, localization is skilled work that requires people who can not just mechanically translate text from one language to another, but can take into account factors like idiomatic quirks and cultural references that may not make sense to a certain audience.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/baldurs-gate-iii-localization-studio-apologizes-for-omitting-contract-workers-from-credits-195936678.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Apple’s new Beats Studio headphones could support personalized spatial audio
It has been more than five years since Beats last refreshed its top-end Studio headphones, but a new model could be on the way. According to 9to5Mac, Apple is “about” to launch a set of Beats Studio Pro headphones. The new model reportedly features a custom Beats chip that promises improved active noise cancellation and transparency mode performance. For the first time, the Studio line may also feature personalized spatial audio. Additionally, 9to5Mac speculates the new model will come with a USB-C port for fast charging.
Visually, the headphones look similar to the current Studio3 model, though it appears Apple has done away with the “Studio” branding found on the side of those headphones. Based on codenames found by 9to5Mac in the internal files for iOS 16.5’s release candidate, Apple collaborated with fashion designer Samuel Ross, best known for starting the clothing label A-Cold-Wall, on the design of the Beats Studio Pro. Images the outlet found in those same files suggest Apple will offer the headphones in four colorways: blue, black, brown and white.
It’s unclear if Apple intends for the Beats Studio Pro to replace the $ 349 Studio3 headphones, or if the company plans to market them as a more premium offering. According to 9to5, Apple is also working on a set of Studio Buds+. They will reportedly support audio sharing, automatic device switching and Hey Siri integration. The outlet suggests both products will arrive in stores soon.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-new-beats-studio-headphones-could-support-personalized-spatial-audio-200614057.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Diablo co-creator Erich Schaefer is making an action RPG with a studio of Blizzard North veterans
With Diablo IV set to arrive later this year, 2023 will be a big year for action RPGs. But there’s more to look forward to beyond this year. On Thursday, Moon Beast Productions – an indie studio founded by Phil Shenk and Peter Hu, two former Blizzard North developers – announced the hiring of Diablo series co-creator Erich Schaefer. In an interview with GamesBeat, the studio said Schaefer will serve as lead creator director on a new action RPG. Details on the project are sparse, but what Moon Beast shared with Schaefer was reportedly enough to convince him to come out of retirement.
“We have ideas for changing the genre with a different approach to progression and trying to solve some of the problems that are beholden to PvE games, especially games, like the Diablo franchise has dealt with,” Shenk told GamesBeat. All three men worked on Diablo II. Notably, Shenk is credited as the game’s lead character artist, and was responsible for designing the appearance of a few of the game’s character classes, including the necromancer and assassin. Lord of Destruction, Diablo II’s excellent 2001 expansion, features a tribute to Shenk in the form of a monster you must slay to complete one of Act V’s quests.
Schaefer told GamesBeat Moon Beast currently employs about 12 people, making it smaller than many of the other studios working in the ARPG genre. The good news is Schaefer has plenty of experience leading small teams. At Runic Games, he made Torchlight with a team of about 25 people. "I want to work on projects that are fun and genuinely try to do something different," Schaefer said. "It’s impressive what the Moon Beast team has built in such a short time. It fired up my imagination with possibilities, and that's a huge part of why I wanted to come aboard."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/diablo-co-creator-erich-schaefer-is-making-an-action-rpg-with-a-studio-of-blizzard-north-veterans-232322721.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Workers at Blizzard support studio Proletariat aim to unionize
On Tuesday, workers at Proletariat, the Boston-based studio Blizzard bought earlier this year to support World of Warcraft development, announced they recently filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Proletariat is the third Activision Blizzard studio to announce a union drive in 2022, but where past campaigns at Raven Software and Blizzard Albany involved the quality assurance workers at those studios, the effort at Proletariat includes all non-management workers. The 57 workers who want to form the Proletariat Workers Alliance include animators, game designers and software engineers. The group seeks representation from the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the union that helped QA staff at Raven Software and Blizzard Albany organize.
“Everyone in the video game industry knows Activision Blizzard’s reputation for creating a hostile work environment, so earlier this year, when we heard that Blizzard was planning to acquire Proletariat, we started to discuss how we could protect the great culture we have created here,” said Dustin Yost, a software engineer at Proletariat. “By forming a union and negotiating a contract, we can make sure that we are able to continue doing our best work and create innovative experiences at the frontier of game development.”
The Proletariat Workers Alliance asked Activision Blizzard to recognize their union voluntarily. According to the group, the company has yet to respond to the request. Activision Blizzard did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request.
The workers at Proletariat say they aim to preserve the studio’s “progressive, human-first” benefits, including its flexible paid time off policy and robust healthcare options. Additionally, they want to protect the studio from crunch, the practice of forcing compulsory overtime during the development of a game. They’re asking management to commit to a no-mandatory overtime policy and implement better pay and health protections for workers who agree to voluntary overtime. The Proletariat Workers Alliance says their colleagues also shouldn’t be penalized during performance reviews for not taking on extra work.
In June, Microsoft announced it would respect all unionization efforts at Activision Blizzard following the close of its $ 68.7 billion deal to buy the publisher. Earlier this month, the FTC sued the tech giant to block the merger.
‘Star Wars’ and Studio Ghibli team up for a Disney+ Grogu short film
A couple of days ago, Studio Ghibli tweeted a teaser video showing both its logo and Lucasfilm’s, as well as a photo of a Grogu figurine. Now we know what those posts are hinting at. Apparently, the two companies worked together to create a short film hand-drawn by Studio Ghibli. It’s entitled Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies, starring the beloved alien toddler from The Mandalorian with a strong affinity for the Force and the “susuwatari” from Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
According to IGN, the short film was directed by Katsuya Kondo, who’s known for his character design work and a style that’s deeply tied with Studio Ghibli’s films. It also features music by Ludwig Göransson, who composed the scores for the previous two seasons of The Mandalorian. Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies, will be available for streaming today November 12th on Disney+, exactly three years after The Mandalorian debuted.
Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies, a hand-drawn animated Original short by Studio Ghibli.
Streaming tomorrow on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/G8tV37OD87
— Star Wars | Andor & Tales of the Jedi On Disney+ (@starwars) November 12, 2022
Grogu will be back and will be reunited with “Mando” in the third season of The Mandalorian after leaving to train at Luke’s Jedi Temple by the end of the second season. Disney gave fans a glimpse of what they can expect when the show comes back sometime next year in a trailer released during the company’s D23 expo in September.
A studio of ‘Witcher 3’ developers are making an online action game set in feudal Japan
A group of former CD Projekt Red developers is working on a new online action that will take players to feudal Japan. This week, Dark Passenger co-founders Jakub Ben and Marcin Michalski announced the formation of their studio and put out a call for talent in a series of tweets spotted by PC Gamer. Ben and Michalski were part of the art team that worked on The Witcher 3 and later went on to do contract work on Cyberpunk 2077.
Dark Passenger’s first game doesn’t have a name yet, but the studio’s website provides some details on the project. Ben and Michalski say they want to create an online multiplayer game with support for both competitive and cooperative play. They describe a title that sounds like it will borrow elements from games like Titanfall and Absolver. “Our locomotion system will allow players to perform incredible [feats] such as running on arrows that were fired by other players, fast climbing on vertical surfaces with the use of shuko claws or using [a] yari spear like a pole to jump over obstacles,” the studio said. “Engaging [in] close-ranged combat will demand as much dexterity as tactics and close cooperation with teammates.”
The news of the founding comes after former CDPR executive Konrad Tomaszkiewicz announced at the start of the year he was creating a studio named Rebel Wolves. He said his team would release its first project, a dark fantasy role-playing game built in Unreal Engine 5, sometime in 2025. After directing the critically acclaimed The Witcher 3 and contributing to Cyberpunk 2077, Tomaszkiewicz left CDPR in May 2021 amid allegations he bullied coworkers. Before his departure, it came out that work on Cyberpunk involved a lengthy and brutal crunch period for many of its developers.
As PC Gamer points out, Dark Passenger’s careers page alludes to some of the criticisms of CDPR. “We create a prejudice-free environment based on tolerance, support and understanding. We treat individual needs as seriously as the group’s expectations,” the page states. “We provide all amenities, private medical care and paid overtime. With an emphasis on work-life balance, we offer flexible working hours and holidays.” As for when you can expect to play the studio’s first game, Dark Passenger has not shared a release date.
‘Zenless Zone Zero’ is a new action RPG from the studio behind ‘Genshin Impact’
Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse is working on a new project. On Friday, the studio shared the first trailer for Zenless Zone Zero, an action RPG set in a modern urban setting. Reminiscent of titles like The World Ends With You and Scarlett Nexus, the game pits players against Ethereal, monstrous creatures borne from another dimension. In a nod to Neon Genesis Evangelion, the action takes place in New Eridu, one of the few cities to survive the devastation wrought by the Ethereal.
As a “Proxy,” you’ll need to organize a disparate party of characters to battle the monsters. Hoyoverse hasn’t explicitly said how it plans to monetize Zenless Zone Zero, but it sounds like the game will employ a similar system to the one found in Genshin Impact. In other words, expect to use real-world money to improve your chances at obtaining some of the game’s most powerful party members. Zenless Zone Zero does not have a release date yet, but you can sign up to take part in the game’s closed iOS and PC beta by visiting its official website.
Grab a free Amazon Echo Show 5 when you buy an Echo Studio at Best Buy
Best Buy might be your ticket if you’re looking to get started on a smart home and want better sound than you usually get from smart speakers. The retailer is running a promo that gives Echo Studio buyers a free Echo Show 5 for the same $ 200 it norma…
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Tencent’s new blockbuster US game studio is led by a ‘GTA’ veteran
Tencent is determined to have more of an impact on gaming outside of China, and not just by pouring money into existing studios. Reuters reports that Tencent Holdings has created a new California studio, LightSpeed LA, that will develop and publish “…
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Android Studio 4.0 available now on stable channel
Android Studio 4.0, the tool behind the design and coding of Android apps, is now here and available on the stable channel. The latest update is out now and the Android Developers Blog have announced that Android Sudio 4.0 brings a new Motion Editor, a Build Analyser and more options with Java 8 language APIs. […]
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The making of a diverse game studio
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Google opening Stadia game development studio in Montreal, and they’re hiring
Google’s game-streaming service Stadia hasn’t launched or proven at all successful yet, but the company taking a leap of faith to prove their commitment by opening their own exclusive studio in Montreal – and yes, they’re hiring! The gaming sphere took notice when Google announced what could be the world’s first truly feasible game-streaming service […]
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PlayStation studio chairman Shawn Layden is stepping down
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Google shutters its Spotlight Stories VR studio after six years
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OxygenOS 9.0.2 OTA brings Nightscape, Studio Lighting, and November Security patch to OnePlus 6
The OnePlus 6T launched on October 29th with its new gesture navigation system, the fancy Nightscape low-light imaging feature, Studio Lighting, as well as the improved UI for the About Phone section. Just like it promised, OnePlus is bringing these features and more to the OnePlus 6 via a stable software update. Rolling out as an […]
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[TA Deals] Get into animation and unleash your creativity with this Animatron Studio Pro discount!
Are you a creative type looking for a new tool to flesh out some of your animation ideas? We’ve got a great deal on a lifetime subscription to Animatron Studio Pro that might be just what the doctor ordered. What makes Animatron stick out in a sea of similar programs is that it’s totally usable […]
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‘Fortnite’ studio Epic Games sues two alleged cheaters
Earlier this week, Fortnite publisher Epic Games filed a civil suit against two people who were allegedly cheating while playing the game online. They were associated with subscription-based website Addicted Cheats and used its services to hunt down…
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Oculus shuts down its VR film studio
Oculus Story Studio won't be making any more award-winning VR shorts. Jason Rubin, the company's VP of content, has announced in a blog post that it's shutting down the film division. It's only been a bit over a year since the studio was launched, bu…
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Affordable motion capture system is an entire studio in one skintight suit
The motion-capturing Smartsuit Pro brings a studio-level mocap experience but replaces wires and cameras with smart sensors and Wi-Fi. Whether you want to make movies or games, this is the suit for you.
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