The best scene in Disney's incredibly photo-realistic remake of The Lion King features a computer-generated beetle rolling a ball of computer-generated dung across a computer-generated African landscape. It might sound mundane, but this particular ball of dung is carrying a tuft of fur from the runaway lion Simba, and its eventual discovery will renew hope that the rightful king of the savanna is alive and well. It's a funny, touching reminder that in the circle of life, every little creature and every lump of waste has an important role to play.
The best thing about this scene is that it's completely wordless, and it convinced me that this Lion King would have been far better as a silent movie, one that treated its newfangled visual style as more than just a digital face-lift. But that wouldn't have suited Disney's game plan: to produce an essentially risk-free remake of the 1994 animated film that remains one of its all-time greatest hits.
The Hamlet-inspired plot is nearly identical to the original. So are Elton John's memorable songs and Tim Rice's less memorable lyrics, this time sung by a solid voice cast that includes Donald Glover, John Oliver and Beyoncé. (The soundtrack also includes a new Beyoncé song called “Spirit.”) The crucial difference is that, instead of the original's gorgeous hand-drawn visuals, the new movie looks and feels like live-action, an illusion achieved through a sophisticated mix of digital imagery and virtual-reality techniques.
The result plays like a Hollywood blockbuster disguised as a National Geographic documentary, or perhaps the world's most expensive safari-themed karaoke video. The movie feels both overwhelmed by its technical virtuosity and shackled by its fidelity to the source material. It begins with a nearly shot-for-shot re-creation of the first film's famous opening sequence: The sun rises over the landscape; the lush, soaring melody of “Circle of Life” rings out; and some very persuasive-looking elephants, zebras, giraffes and other critters gather to celebrate the birth of Simba, an adorable little cub destined to succeed his father, Mufasa, as king of the Pride Lands.
As shot by the cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, it's a majestic, if redundant, sequence, a sign that we've seen this all before. Then the familiar plot kicks in, the characters start talking and singing, and your sense of wonderment may turn to confusion. The animals' lips may match their dialogue, but there's next to nothing going on behind the eyes: Who knew photo-realistic lions were this bad at emoting? You can't fault the actors: James Earl Jones, who voiced Mufasa in the earlier film, reprises that role here with his signature gravity. And Chiwetel Ejiofor strikes the right note of menace as Mufasa's brother Scar, who plots to kill both father and son by luring the unsuspecting Simba down into a gorge, placing him directly in the path of a wildebeest stampede.
Within minutes, Mufasa is dead and a heartbroken Simba is on the run, leaving Scar and his vicious hyena allies to take over the savanna. At this point, the movie shifts abruptly into zany comedy mode, as Simba befriends the amiably loud-mouthed duo of Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog. They're voiced by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, and their energetic banter and their performance of that classic slacker anthem “Hakuna Matata” — it means “no worries” — give the story an undeniable lift.
Laughing at this movie is a lot easier than taking it seriously. Soon the grown-up Simba, now voiced by Donald Glover, is reunited with his childhood friend Nala, played by Beyoncé. But when they launch into “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” not even the actors' lovely voices can bring these lions' dead-eyed come-hither expressions to life.
I've never been the biggest fan of the original Lion King, which beneath its brightly entertaining surface has always struck me as too emotionally calculated by half. But that film feels like a triumph of form and content next to this movie, because its story about a fictional animal kingdom feels so vividly and gloriously cartoonish in every detail. The new Lion King is so realistic-looking that, paradoxically, you can't believe a moment of it. And although it was directed by Jon Favreau, who previously shepherded a wild menagerie in his recent remake of The Jungle Book, it has none of the imagination that made that movie more than just a high-tech retread.
Disney is in the midst of an ongoing campaign to update its beloved animated classics for a new generation, from the recent Dumbo and Aladdin to upcoming versions of Mulan and The Little Mermaid. Some of these remakes have been more inspired than others, but few have felt quite as futile as The Lion King. This isn't the circle of life; it's more like a creative dead end.
It keeps on getting new features to allow for easier building.
Today, the game new features for Realm owners and content creators.
Minecraft is part of Xbox Game Pass which you can get through Best Buy.
Minecraft has been getting few features for many years now, and that's one of the main reasons why it's played by over 90 million players each month. Today, Minecraft got a massive patch which addresses permission settings for Realm owners, brings numerous bug fixes, and changes the way creators can access certain commands. You can take a look at the patch notes below. They have been edited for clarity.
Changes
Increased the frequency and volume of the ambient mob sounds made during raids, to make them easier to locate.
Added new Wandering Trader sounds.
Updated the main menu splash text.
Updated the default main menu panorama from Aquatic to Village & Pillage.
The Store button on the main menu has been renamed to Marketplace.
Realm owners can now set relevant permissions for players invited to their Realm.
Default settings can be set for all new members entering a Realm
The owner can set permissions for an invited player to either visitor, member, or operator.
When resetting a world, or uploading a new world, already set permissions stay in place.
Fixes
Fixed several crashes that could occur during gameplay.
Fixed a crash that could occur when launching the game on some Windows 10 devices.
Fixed a crash that could occur when certain interactive blocks are loading in when joining a Realm.
Fixed a crash that could occur when switching players on Xbox One.
Fixed a crash that could occur when engaging in a fight with an Elder Guardian in an Ocean Monument.
Fixed a crash that could occur when loading the game.
Fixed a crash that could occur when throwing an Egg or Snowball.
Fixed a crash that could occur when trading with a Villager.
Fixed a crash that could occur when throwing a trident with Loyalty enchantment
Fixed a crash that could occur on Nintendo Switch when the game was saving or loading.
Fixed a crash on Nintendo Switch that could occur when suspending and resuming the game.
Fixed a crash that could occur when exiting the game.
Fixed a crash that could occur when signing into Xbox Live.
Fixed a crash that could occur when choosing a skin on launch of the game.
Fixed a Marketplace issue that could result in the game getting stuck or crashing when loading in items.
Fixed a crash that could occur when the game was checking for previously downloaded content.
Made further performance improvements when opening inventory screens.
Made several performance improvements related to various interface screens and interactions.
Significantly reduced bandwidth usage by allowing the client to reuse chunks it has already seen.
Improved chunk loading performance in multiplayer.
Improved performance around new villages and villager job sites.
Several other performance improvements, including some related to mob pathfinding.
Frosted ice blocks no longer drops performance while they're melting.
Endermen teleporting particles no longer cause consistent performance drops, especially during boss fights.
Reduced the amount of memory required to load textures.
Cached resource packs no longer decrease performance on Nintendo Switch.
Removed an unnecessary Xbox Live sign-in notification.
Fixed an issue where consuming the last item in a stack to unlock an achievement could cause the achievement not to unlock.
The Haggler achievement once again unlocks when requirements are met.
The Zombie Doctor achievement now unlocks when curing a zombie villager.
Marketplace resource packs are now immediately applied after downloading in the world edit menu.
Player permissions now apply correctly when more than one operator tries to adjust them.
Made improvements to roaming skins, which should apply correctly after reloading or reinstalling the game and signing in.
Custom skins are now applied correctly without needing to restart the game to see them.
Skins equipped from the Recent section are once again applied when selected.
World settings now sync correctly between different Xbox One devices.
Resource packs are now applied correctly after downloading through the world or global settings.
Newly purchased Realms are now always visible after finalizing the purchase.
Fixed an issue that would show an error message when attempting to renew a Realm subscription on Xbox One.
Fixed several related issues with End Gateway portals. These should now teleport the player to the correct safe location when used.
Villager trading now properly takes away items from the second slot, when applicable.
Only players who fought in a raid now receive the Hero of the Village effect in Realms.
The Bad Omen effect is now only received when killing an Illager Captain, not when dealing non-fatal damage with a bow or potion.
Players no longer see through the world when clipping into blocks after leaving a boat.
You can now interact with blocks while holding a charged crossbow on touch devices.
Players no longer clip through walls when transitioning from swimming to standing in water.
Players that are being healed can now still be knocked back by TNT.
Arrows that are shot into blocks keep their position when reloading the world.
Area of Effect clouds no longer try to spawn excessive numbers of particles when time of day is changed.
Corrected the position of leads on Wolves.
Tamed cats no longer slide around while sitting.
Fixed the missing Taiga Zombie Villager skin.
Fixed a fighting texture issue on some Villager skins.
Dyed leather horse armor color no longer affects other horse armor.
Vindicators can now path correctly over carpet during raids.
The Wither no longer plays its spawning animation when reloading a world.
Mobs will no longer path-find over Brewing Stands.
Added a sound to indicate when a villager does not want to trade.
Illager Captains now drop banners correctly even if the world is reloaded.
Mobs will now spawn on double slabs.
Fixed the sitting model for cats that were previously tamed ocelots.
Fixed missing zombie villager sounds.
Certain zombie villagers now have the correct name in death messages instead of a placeholder name.
Mobs no longer get stuck when pathfinding on ladders.
Evokers no longer move too fast when moving towards villages in raids.
Mobs no longer spawn inside leaves during raids.
Villagers that are actively trading with players will no longer run and hide when the raid bell rings.
Clerics now correctly pathfind to their job sites.
Tamed tuxedo cats now use the proper texture.
Stray cats can no longer claim beds in villages for worlds converted from version 1.10.
The Ghast spinning model in monster spawners is now the correct size.
Fixed wandering trader podzol and coral trades.
Fletchers now trade sixteen arrows instead of five.
Changed the cost of butcher's cooked rabbit trade.
Leatherworker's saddle trade is lowered from ten to six emeralds.
Removed the sand trade from the wandering trader and adjusted the cost of a diamond hoe from tool smith villagers.
Iron Golems no longer run to the world center after their village is destroyed.
Villagers without professions now follow regular schedules and will actually sleep, which they deeply need.
Fixed the creeper model in some Marketplace maps.
Converting a normal Pillager to a Captain with tag commands now displays the banner correctly.
Fixed various scenarios where certain blocks couldn't be placed until the game was restarted.
Frosted ice blocks can now be broken.
Fixed Sea Grass texture brightness.
Bamboo leaves are now lighter.
Flowing lava once again turns into cobblestone when hit by water.
Red sandstone stairs now have correct textures on all sides.
Players no longer lose villager job site locations if they replace a job site block that is tied to an experienced villager.
Village job site blocks now have consistent sound volume levels when used by players.
Scaffolding can no longer be placed on Conduit blocks.
The Bell now swings towards a player when it is hit.
Note Block particles now correctly correspond to the notes played.
The grindstone now correctly combines and repairs two damaged items.
Farmland now has the correct side and bottom textures.
Smokers now have the correct bottom texture.
Fixed door and trapdoor textures.
Cocoa beans now break and drop when pushed by pistons.
Slabs and other non-solid blocks once again prevent grass from growing on dirt.
Flowing water is no longer left behind after flowing over string.
Bells now ring when hit with splash and lingering potions.
Composter growth particles now appear in the correct location.
Blocks can once again be placed on unlit Redstone Ore.
Fixed animated textures for flowing lava and water on several texture packs.
Efficiency pickaxes now break packed ice at a faster rate.
Dropped items no longer prevent minecarts from being placed on rails.
Empty glass bottles now stack correctly when removed from brewing stands.
Banner patterns can no longer be lost or duplicated when switching them in a loom with a full inventory.
Using Pick Block on sweet berry bushes now gives the player the correct item.
Bone meal is now consumed correctly when used on grass.
Cactus blocks of different growth stages can be smelted into green dye again.
Stripped birch wood is no longer used to craft acacia planks when playing on Realms.
Shields no longer appear too bright in item frames.
Updated the Illager Banner texture.
Barrels now appear in the proper place of the creative inventory.
Correct colors of wool are now displayed as a material required to create colored banners in the recipe book.
The player's arm is no longer displaced in first person view after eating food.
Tinted spawn eggs are now properly scaled in item frames.
Fixed a bug on dedicated servers and Realms which could cause the wrong block types to generate in the world.
Tweaked the number of job sites that generate in villages.
Updated the glass texture for locked maps in the Cartography Table UI.
Adjusted the Cartography Table screen to fit Android screens when using Classic Interface.
Pressing the Y button on controller on the Cartography output slot now only crafts the correct amount.
Added controller tooltips for the Lectern screen.
The villager trading screen no longer opens and closes if the player is standing too far away.
Items that are split between slots in the villager trading screen still count as a total trade amount.
The How to Play button on the Cartography Table now directs to the proper screen.
Killing a wandering trader's llama can no longer display their inventory screen.
The screen reader prompt no longer appears every time network settings are adjusted on Nintendo Switch.
The Always Day toggle now correctly animates and shows the correct setting.
Dates appear again next to player earned achievements in the Achievements menu.
The Invite to Game button is no longer enabled on Featured Servers.
Going back to the Play screen or Settings screen will now properly select the previously selected tab when Text to Speech is enabled.
The Wheel Turning button is now only shown once in the Minecraft VR settings.
Made improvements to the patch notes to make sure the correct ones show up after an update.
The Marketplace search screen now displays the proper pack icons.
The New tag will be properly removed from a Marketplace collection once it has been viewed.
Fixed Marketplace sale items not showing the discount percentage.
Further improvements to performance when using selectors with commands.
Removed tile prefix in the /give command.
Made item names more consistent by removing tile from the beginning of some of them.
Blocks and entities that aren't available in the Creative inventory no longer require the minecraft namespace when used as parameters in commands.
After fishing_hook is killed by command, players can now cast the hook again without having to cast twice.
Killing a rideable entity no longer respawns its rider when killed in the same tick.
The testforblock command now works reliably with items renamed in the language files.
The Behavior Pack template once again contains the spawn_rules folder.
Removing a timer component and adding a new one should no longer have the new timer inherit the old timer's time value.
Custom underwater mobs can now spawn naturally.
Custom entities now correctly re-evaluate current target validity.
getBlocks now returns a 3D array of block objects.
Fixed a scripting issue that could cause the player to float.
ScriptAttackComponent and ScriptCollisionBoxComponent now correctly retrieve updated data.
Pick Block now works correctly on non-vanilla entities that have been added using add-ons.
Functions ran on a game loop now use an origin which has Game Master permissions, not Owner permissions.
Added a new constructor parameter to the ServerCommandOrigin so that the Function Manager can create an instance with upgraded permissions.
Player Position is now reported for the player feet like other mobs.
Collision Box and Attack components report the correct data now.
Updated templates for 1.12.0 with new resources, behaviors, documentation, and example packs can be downloaded from aka.ms/MinecraftAddons.
Created a screen to view content log errors for Behavior and Resource Packs.
The log screen can be opened using Ctrl + H after enabling in Profile Settings.
Enabled content logging for creators on Bedrock Dedicated Server to debug pack errors.
Mob events can now be toggled using the new /mobevent command.
Particle emitters can now trigger slash commands, actor events, and MoLang expressions.
Added the ability to play single animations at any time, overriding an entity's current state-based animation.
Animations and particles can be spawned without being linked to entities using animation timelines.
Sound effects can now be triggered by animation events.
Added auto-complete to the Command Input field for command blocks.
A delay can be added to the command block using the new field, measured in Redstone ticks.
Allows custom crafting recipes for shaped crafting, shapeless crafting, and furnaces using Behavior Packs.
Recipe JSON files have been added to the Behavior Pack template.
New simple items can be added to the game using Behavior Packs.
Currently, only a subset of components has been exposed, with more being added in future updates to allow more complex behaviors.
Some items, such as food, are now data-driven and their JSON files have been added to the Behavior Pack template.
New “simple” blocks can be added to the game using Behavior Packs.
Currently, only a subset of components has been exposed, with more being added in future updates to allow more complex behaviors.
New data-driven articles.
New data-driven Animations
Script engine updates.
New block events and two new APIs have been included to query for blocks.
Basic inventory events have been exposed to the Script Engine.
Allows executing commands with a callback when the command is executed without using events.
Data is contained in objects passed to callbacks under the data field.
Custom events need to be registered before being triggered.
Be sure to check out these changes if you play Minecraft. The game is currently available through Xbox Game Pass. You can either pay $10 a month for Xbox Game Pass, or pick up Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which bundles Xbox Game Pass for consoles, Xbox Game Pass for PC, and Xbox Live Gold into one package.
Minecraft has been getting few features for many years now, and that's one of the main reasons why it's played by over 90 million players each month. While a lot of gamers prefer to experience “Survival Mode,” many others like the freedom “Creative Mode” offers. Unfortunately, copying massive structures isn't easy and you have to use third-party file editing tools to quickly clone buildings. Luckily, that's about to change.
Today, the developer Mojang, now under the banner of Xbox Game Studios, announced the availability of the “Structure Block” in the Minecraft: Bedrock Beta. According to a post on the game's website, “Structure blocks are a really handy editing tool… they're an incredibly helpful way of copying and pasting builds all over your Minecraft world. To use them in this beta, make sure you toggle the Use Experimental Gameplay option in the settings.”
You can customize how many blocks you want your Structure Block to cover, and depending on those dimensions, everything will be saved. You can then easily copy and paste the building anywhere. You can even clone any number of times. For example, let's say that you want to create a row of houses in a city you're building. Now, you can just make one and then copy and paste the rest! This is incredibly useful and has been a much-requested feature for years now.
Aside from the Structure Block, you should also see a new creature roaming the world. It appears to be a fox and looks absolutely adorable from what we've played so far. Minecraft is part of Xbox Game Pass so you can play it right now.
Researchers at Iowa State University have unlocked the secret to creativity, and that secret is Minecraft. Kind of. The researchers got two groups to play Minecraft, another to play “a NASCAR racing game”, and another to watch TV. Then they all drew aliens and had their creativity judged based on how far their drawings strayed from boring human anatomy.
The group that played Minecraft without further instruction were judged to be the most creative – but the group that played Minecraft while being told to “be as creative as possible” were the least. What’s going on there, then? ‘Not sure’, say the researchers.
Here’s co-researcher and psychology professor Douglas Gentile, telling you about the thing he understands more than me.
The most interesting part has to be how urging people to be creative wound up restraining them. Rather than give one explanation, Gentile suggests a couple:
“Maybe creativity’s like a muscle, and they tried really hard in the game and then it was worn out by the time they got to the alien drawing task. Maybe they didn’t like being told how to play, and so were kind of subtly rejecting our instruction. We don’t really know, and followup studies will have to look at this. But it does look very similar to much of the other game research, that what you practice you can get better at, but in fact how you do it might matter just as much.”
So, no firm conclusions – but a promising avenue for further research. His ‘exhaustion’ theory does remind me of those case studies that suggest willpower functions like a resource, with judges being more likely to reject parole applications the closer they get to lunch. Then again, the idea that being told to be creative winds up restricting your thinking has an appeal of its own.
I’m also interested in exactly how they assessed creativity. That alien drawing task is a smart way of going about measuring a process that seems absurdly hard to assess scientifically, but it has its limits. You could draw a single straight line and presumably score maximum points for creativity, which (delightfully) seems both wrong and very accurate.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 makes me feel like a creative genius. It accomplishes this bold feat through use of brilliant game design. In summary, no, it is not a “Minecraft Clone.” I use plenty of fancy words to elaborate on that in this video.
Somehow I arrived at adulthood without ever learning to enjoy creativity. Every time my life requires me to be creative, I make a face like Judge Dreddand complain throughout the exercise.
Well, 2016's Dragon Quest Builders made creativity fun. By meticulously laying out learning tasks as goals along the winding road of an adorably paced epic adventure set in a deep cut of the Dragon Quest universe, the game lent me the joy of being effortlessly creative.
As I note in my video, an ungodly percentage of comments on Dragon Quest Builders 2‘s trailer accuse the game of being a “Minecraft Clone.” This is like calling Breath of the Wild an “Adventure Clone.”
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is a full-length Dragon Quest game, which just so happens to supplement its cutscenes, exploration, and combat elements with cutely robust city planning mechanics. And, yes, perfectly fleshed-out, endlessly rich Minecraft building.
I see Minecraft as pretty much productivity software for nurturing children’s creativity. I wish we’d had it when I was in elementary school. All we’d had in my house was a bucket of off-brand Legos. We only had one of the flat green pieces, and it was frustratingly small. The biggest structure I could ever build was a port-a-potty.
Dragon Quest Builders 2 is bigger, longer, deeper, and magnitudes more narratively exciting than the first. It has online co-op building. Its controls are spectacularly riddled with gargantuan quality of life improvements. For example: your townspeople can build for you, if you lay out the blueprints and dump the materials in a nearby chest. It’s hilariously satisfying to watch them build.
If you played the first Dragon Quest Builders and loved it, yet the previous paragraph enthralls you, I personally cannot conceive of the possibility of this game disappointing you.
Dragon Quest Builders 2‘s in-game social aspects allow me to view thousands of other players’ creations—and effortlessly travel to and tour their islands, if I want. It fascinates me to see how creative other players can get. I realize I’ll probably never build a shockingly complex cathedral in Dragon Quest Builders 2. Though given that what initially hooked me about playing a “Minecraft Reskin” was its Dragon Quest wallpaper, I find it fittingly satisfying that my village, viewed from the top down, looks perfectly like part of an 8-bit Dragon Questmap.
The Dragon Quest Builders series has taught me that all I really need from a game is Dragon Quest towns. Dragon Quest Builders lets me make my own towns. It’s unlimited Dragon Quest towns. This is enough to convince me that I probably don’t need another video game for at least a couple of weeks.
I go into specific detail about a few of the game’s systems in my video, so if that sort of thing excites you, you could slam your Builder’s Hammer down on the thumbs-up icon on our YouTube channel.
Here's how the first half hour or so of my experience with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite went. I opened the game, went through some basic tutorial stuff and walked around for the course of four levels or so.
“Well,” I thought to myself. “Maybe Minecraft Earth will make this work.”
Minecraft Earth is Microsoft and Mojang's upcoming walking game, and itwill be the second ultra high-profile game to try and recapture the magic that made Pokemon GO one of the most profitable mobile games in history. Sure, there have been plenty of other titles in the meantime with varying degrees of success from franchises like Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park and The Walking Dead. But there's big and then there's big, and these games are big. Harry Potter was big based on the scope of the franchise and the fact that it was coming from the same developer as Pokemon GO. Minecraft Earth is big because, you know, Minecraft.
Minecraft Earth CREDIT: MICROSOFT
We recently got to see some gameplay from this thing, and it looks cool. It looks similar to those other games on some level, but it also looks like it's on a much better track to translate this property than what Wizards Unite did with what it had to work with: it helps that Mojang understands what makes this thing tick down at its bones.
Things kick off with a closed beta coming up “in the next two weeks”, according to a recent announcement. It will start on iOs and move to Android “soon” afterwards. From the website:
The closed beta will launch for iOS in the next two weeks, with the Android version following soon thereafter.
As with most closed betas, the number of participants will be limited in numbers and locations. This is to make sure our servers are able to keep up with all the exploration, creation and, hopefully, surviving that is going on around the world. To learn about the current availability of the beta, follow Minecraft Earth on Twitter!
As is also common with beta versions, your progress will occasionally be reset as we test and develop various features of the game.
If you are selected to participate in the closed beta (congratulations!), you will receive an invitation email to the email address you have associated with the Microsoft Account or Xbox Live account you submitted in your registration.
If you are selected (congrats again!), you will need to play at least once every 7 days. If you don’t, we’ll give your spot to someone else, as space in the beta is very limited.
