The latest (and lightest) film offering from DC Comics’ extended universe has a particular advantage: it’s a kids’ film, starring kids. The central character, Billy Batson (Asher Angel), is 14; so is his smart-alec foster brother and “manager”, Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer). Billy is granted a tidy collection of magic powers by a wizard (a bewigged and bearded Djimon Hounsou), including strength, super-speed and fingertips filled with lightning. By shouting “Shazam!” he is transformed into an adult in a superhero suit (Zachary Levi, believably and likably hapless), so, like many 14-year-old boys, he uses his new identity to buy beer (which he promptly spits out), saunter into a strip club, and go viral on YouTube. The evil Dr Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong) is after Billy’s powers, hell-bent on revenge after being told, as a child, by both his father and the wizard that he was weak.
There’s a sense of Stranger Things camaraderie among Billy and his foster siblings, who are actually fun to spend time with, and the film’s message of found family is a sweet one. Still, its overblown finale overstays its welcome, teeing up the team as mainstays in the inevitable sequel.
Watch the trailer for Shazam! – video
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Sonic Ether’s Unbelievable Shaders is a shaderpack that adds the kinds of effects we normally associate with ray-tracing— like light that’s able to bounce off other objects—to ol’ blocky-ass Minecraft, and do it while you’re playing in real-time.
It’s not technically ray-tracing (he’s actually using path-tracing), but the effects are still incredible. Here are some examples of it in action:
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And here are some screens showing it off on some more traditional areas:
You can download what you need by pledging $10 over on Sonic Ether’s Patreon page. Just know that the effects here are software-based, so you’ll need a decent PC to get a good framerate.
Considering how strange the past couple of years have been, the premise of a star-studded music festival hosted entirely in the virtual worlds of Minecraftdoesn’t sound even remotely far fetched. In fact, recent events and crossovers have led many to believe that video games are EDM’s next frontier.
This weekend, Chandler Riggs is hosting Pixel Festival, a full-fledged music festival inside Minecraft. For those unfamiliar with Riggs, he is known for his portrayal of Carl Grimes in the massively popular TV show The Walking Dead as well as a current role on ABC’s A Million Little Things.
EDM.com was lucky enough to be able to speak to the multi-talented star and learn more about his endeavors in both music and technology, and where the two worlds meet.
First things first, you may be wondering why a career actor is hosting his own music festival inside a video game. As some attentive dance music fans know, Riggs makes future bass under the name Eclipse and has released music on Steve Aoki‘s label. Riggs is also an avid gamer and said both gaming and music are his two favorite hobbies.
After the success of Fire Festival, the last Minecraft festival Riggs was associated with, he decided he needed to get into the game (pun intended) and create the virtual festival of his dreams. With that vision in mind, he created url.events, his very own team dedicated to creating virtual music experiences.
Although he had tons of fun and is friends with the minds behind Fire Festival and Coalchella, his festivals seek “everyday people that go to [real life] music festivals.” When speaking more on who the general audience is he mentioned inclusion, saying, “…People that can’t go to these [real life] festivals can come to these events. It’s really cool to be behind something as inclusive as this.”
The idea of having a music festival experience for free at home is something many dance music fans can get behind. With transportation, lodging, tickets, food, and other expenses, going to a music festival is not something everyone can swing. Riggs went on to mention a problem that many of us have faced: Many of our favorite artists don’t play in our home countries as often as we’d like.
“[Virtual festivals] are a way for people to go see their favorite artist if they live in a country where their artist doesn’t come to,” he told us. “It’s an awesome way for them to get that experience without having to physically be there.”
Riggs understands that virtual festivals will never replace real life festivals – and he agrees that real life festivals are “life-changing” – but this is an opportunity for some people who can’t get out to festivals or who are new to electronic music can get their festival fix.
With all that being said, enter Pixel Festival.
Riggs certainly proved his dance music cred when he released the hand-picked lineup. He made it clear that he is a fan of each and every one of the acts he selected to take the virtual stage.
Superstars like Virtual Riot, Flosstradamus, What So Not, Anna Lunoe, and many more are featured on the url.events inaugural festival alongside the eSports celebrity-turned EDM sensation, Ninja.
When asked about Ninja’s involvement Riggs stated: “I want all people that are related to gaming and music in any aspect to be able to be a part of this…He’s super excited for it, and we’re super excited for it. It’s going to be awesome”.
Due to game limitations, Pixel Festival will not have live audio, however, they have created a clever way to give the artists control during their set. Riggs described the process in detail:
“Since Minecraft doesn’t let us stream audio into the game, all of the sets are prerecorded. But, to kind of make up for that, we have a bunch of different ways that the artist can interact with the crowd on stage, aside from just typing in the chat. They can press buttons to activate fireworks, give different effects to the people in the crowd, for example, they’ll start floating, or there’s a cool fun surprise on one stage for what they can do to the crowd. It’s just another way for the artist to interact with the crowd to kind of make up for the prerecorded aspect of it.”
Half of any festival experience is the festival grounds. The one advantage a virtual festival has over real life is that there are no limitations to what you can do. Want to alter gravity and send attendees into the sky? Go for it. Want to make a giant castle stage with flying dragons in the sky? Why not. Anything is possible.
Riggs and his team of just four builders ran with that idea and created something truly insane. The festival grounds at Pixel Festival will feature everything from giant candy sculptures, to lava filled rivers, and even giant, dabbing unicorns.
The very idea behind Pixel Festival aligns with the notion that EDM is conquering the video game world. Marshmello and Fortnite‘s massive collaboration showed the world that gamers are ready to let dance music into their lives, while events like Pixel Festival hope to take things even further and offer complete experiences with fewer restrictions.
When asked when we should expect new music or shows from Eclipse, Riggs said:
“Hopefully soon. I’m looking at getting on a few shows in Europe. I’m hoping to get some of these because I’m still producing music every day and working on new stuff. I’m working on getting some vocals back for a few songs – and hopefully, I’m going to have a new release from Eclipse pretty soon.
To see their hard work in action and listen to some sets inside the virtual madhouse, fans who own Minecraft can log onto their server April 6th and 7th from 6:00-11:00 PM PST to join in on the fun.
THORPE Park opens its GameFX arena to the public, complete with Fortnite tournaments, retro gaming and special celebrity appearances.
Thorpe Park has opened up a brand new and limited time gaming area.
The first of four limited time events scheduled for 2019, GameFX is running from now until the end of May.
The GameFX area is an indoor space featuring a wide selection of new and classic consoles and games.
PS4 and Xbox One releases like Forza Horizon 4, Spyro Trilogy, Crash Bandicoot Trilogy, Minecraft, FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 are all playable in the arena.
That’s on top of retro games and consoles like the Sega Mega Drive, SNES, Dreamcast, Gamecube and PS2.
Gaming fans looking to experience something a bit different can also try out a variety of virtual reality games.
One of the more popular titles to try is the excellent Richie’s Plank Experience, which sees users face their fear of heights atop a skyscraper.
Thorpe Park adds a new gaming attraction (Image: THORPE PARK)
Thorpe Park adds a new gaming attraction (Image: THORPE PARK)
“Join us over in the gaming arena for our brand new GameFX powered by HYPD!” reads a Thorpe Park post.
“Practice your eSports skills across multiple consoles and games, immerse yourself in nostalgia as you reignite your childhood in the retro gaming area and defy your senses and push yourself to the limit as you engage with the latest virtual reality tech.”
But it’s the eSports tournaments that are arguably the most appealing aspect of GameFX.
Fans of games like Fortnite, FIFA and Apex Legends will be able to compete in tournaments to win some swag.
Celebrity influencers are also scheduled to appear at GameFX over the course of its run.
Thorpe Park adds a new gaming attraction (Image: THORPE PARK)
GameFX will be followed by more limited time attractions, beginning with Jungle Escape in May.
The jungle-themed escape room tasks teams with solving puzzles and completing physical tasks in order to emerge victorious.
This will be followed by a 90m inflatable “BounceZilla” course from the end of May until September, before Fright Night returns for in time for Halloween.
This past summer when I had the flu and was bored out of my mind, I made the decision to start playing the farming-and-life simulator Stardew Valley, which to this day is probably the best $15 I’ve ever spent. I don’t play a lot of video games—I grew up without any consoles, and my brain-to-controller-button-pressing time is about five solid seconds, making action-based games impossible—but I’ve since racked up about 200 hours playing Stardew. Butt Eater Farm is thriving. I’m rich as fuck. My farmer is currently cuckolding her lazy husband with all of the women in Pelican Town. The cute artist redhead is gifting me statues she’s made for me. I’m aging Ancient Fruit wine, shipping iridium-quality truffles, and straight massacring flying serpents with my Galaxy Sword.
The world of Stardew Valley, while somewhat haunted and extremely two-dimensional, is also quite beautiful and serene. The farm and Pelican Town are an escape from the tedium of everyday life, both for the player character in the game’s storyline and for me out there in the real world. I’ve often wished I could step inside my screen, get my hands dirty in the earth, pet some cows, and not think about a world where the President tells people the sound from wind turbines causes cancer.
Which is why this video, where some enterprising Minecraft player(s) faithfully recreated the world of Stardew almost pixel for pixel, is my moment of zen for the day. The video was uploaded a few months ago, but hasn’t been viewed much yet.
It’s important to note this is not the first time these two gameworlds have collided. There’s a Minecraft mod called Farming Valley that aims to replicate the Stardew Valley experience, and there’s even a hybrid game out there called Staxel that combines elements of Minecraft and Stardew. This Minecraft project isn’t playable, but it’s a fun trip for Stardew fans to see how landmarks like the spa, Elliott’s house, and Pierre’s look rendered in Minecraft blocks.
I haven’t picked up Stardew in a while because I’m still waiting for the fateful day the multiplayer version is released for consoles, but this video is making me seriously want to ditch work for some time on the farm. Enjoy.
Across all platforms, Minecraft – and all of its various editions – has sold over 150 million copies, and a tracker on the official site shows PC sales are now over 30 million.
In October 2018, Microsoft’s head of Minecraft, Helen Chiang, told Business Insiderthat the game had accumulated over 90 million monthly active players, and had sold over 150 million units across all platforms.
If you’re looking for a Minecraft-like experience to dip your toe into, you can give Boundless a whirl. It’s a cross between No Man’s Sky and Minecraft, and we got Simon Miller to sit down and play it, and he loved it.
