Month: February 2021

Former US President Bill Clinton is getting in on the podcast craze. The politician has announced a partnership with iHeartMedia and The Clinton Foundation to launch the podcast “Why Am I Telling You This?”

The debut episode is out now, and it sees Clinton interview legendary jazz musician Wynton Marsalis about his life and career. The episode is called “How Jazz Explains Democracy.”

The podcast series aims to explain complicated issues in a relatable way. “Each episode will feature his wide range of interests and well-known intellectual curiosity through conversations and stories with some of the most interesting people he knows about the ideas and issues that shape our interconnected world,” reads a line from the description.

“Growing up in Arkansas just after World War II in a family that didn’t have a lot of money, most of our entertainment revolved around storytelling. Listening to my relatives and neighbors tell stories showed me that everyone has a story, and that everyone’s story has value,” Clinton said. “I always thought that the main point of my work was to give people a chance to have better stories. Once you’ve heard a person’s hopes and fears, where they’ve been and where they want to go, your differences slip away–you become people first. Now more than ever, we need those kinds of connections.”

Podcasts continue to be extremely popular. Spotify–which recently paid Joe Rogan $100 million to bring his show to the platform–just announced that it now hosts 2.2 million podcasts. 25% of all users reported listening to podcasts for the latest period.

Bill Clinton’s new podcast is available on Spotify and everywhere else you get podcasts.

Microsoft recently requested that a class-action lawsuit over Xbox controller drift go to arbitration instead, and a US judge has now granted that request.

VGC reports that Washington Judge Ricardo S. Martinez agreed with Microsoft’s assertion that the plaintiffs had agreed to the Microsoft Services Agreement, which requires arbitration for such disputes. Microsoft had requested arbitration on the basis that agreeing to its terms of service bound the plaintiffs to use arbitration, and that a class-action suit wasn’t even permitted.

“The avid Xbox gamers who bring this lawsuit repeatedly agreed with Microsoft to submit their disputes to a consumer-friendly, individual arbitration process,” the judge wrote. “The Court therefore should compel Plaintiffs to arbitration, where they can litigate their arguments as to scope, unconscionability, and disaffirmance.”

Judge Martinez rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments that would have undone the arbitration requirement, such as the fact that it appeared only online, since product guides enclosed in the controller boxes gave a summary of the arbitration terms.

The suit alleges that Microsoft was aware of the Xbox controller drifting issues and failed to disclose the problem to customers. It claims that many consumers have been complaining of the problem since 2014.

Microsoft does seem at least somewhat aware of the issue, as it extended the Elite 2 controller warranty to reassure a “small percentage” of users experiencing mechanical issues.

Nintendo has also been facing criticism over drift in its Joy-Con controllers, prompting the company to extend service to faulty controllers and an apology from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa. Valve has also faced its own legal challenges over controllers, recently losing a suit over patent infringement.

Viggo Mortensen’s most well-known role is Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings series, but he wasn’t originally even supposed to appear in the fantasy film. Peter Jackson started filming the movie with Irish actor Stuart Townsend in the role, but it was determined that he was too young to be believable, and Mortensen got the call to come to New Zealand and play the role that would go on to define his career.

Mortensen has now reflected on replacing Townsend and his first days on set. Speaking to The Ringer, Mortensen had nothing but praise for Townsend, celebrating his capabilities and pointing out that he has gone on to have a successful career. By the time Mortensen got to set, Townsend was already gone, but it was still awkward.

“He was too young. It was a bad casting idea because he was the same age as the actors playing the Hobbits and Aragorn needed to be a little older,” he said. “So I think that was really the only issue there. I felt uncomfortable, to be honest; I hadn’t had that experience of taking the place of another actor.”

Mortensen said he didn’t get too hung up on this because he was anxious about fitting in with the rest of the cast, some of whom had been on set and training for months.

“They’d been training. And I hadn’t even read that book [The Fellowship of the Ring]. So I’m on the plane going [gestures to flipping through a book],” he said.

Mortensen was quick to embrace The Lord of the Rings, he said, as the stories are not unlike the tales he enjoyed as a child about Viking sagas and Celtic people.

Also in the interview, Mortensen shared a silly story from the early days of filming The Fellowship of the Ring. As part of his sword training, Mortensen kept his blade close to him at all times, and he even took it on a walk down the street outside of the studio. The police got calls about someone brandishing a sword and scaring people, so Mortensen had to inform them it was for a movie so he didn’t get in trouble.

Mortensen is currently out on a press tour promoting his movie, Falling, which marks his directorial debut. He also stars in the movie, and he wrote the script and the music.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has been a company on the rise with American audiences in the past decade due to partnerships with TNA, Ring of Honor, now possibly AEW. The launch of New Japan World back in 2014 was a turning point for the company with how accessible it became, but now they’re taking it a step further.

Variety is reporting that the wrestling company is launching its own Roku channel in the near future. The channel will be viewable in American, Canada, and the UK. Beginning February 11, New Japan will air every Thursday at 5 PM ET, then the replays will be available on-demand.

Additionally, the Roku Channel will have a slew of content from NJPW 2020 events so new fans can be initiated with the company fairly quickly.

“Our fans in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom are among our most loyal, and they have been very clear that they want NJPW’s content made available to them,” said Takami Ohbari, president of NJPW in a statement. “NJPW is unlike any other pro-wrestling in the world. It is the most athletic, sports-oriented pro-wrestling on the planet, and we are excited to bring our athletes and matches to these markets in such a major way. Thank you to The Roku Channel, and we look forward to a successful partnership that brings NJPW to millions of new fans around the world.”

Ohbari succeeded Harold Meij as president back in October. Meij was a key figure in the western expansion and getting American audiences familiar with the product and stars of the company, taking them on a US tour for most of 2018, which led to the G1 Supercard show with Ring of Honor in April 2019, selling out in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

New Japan had a deal with AXS TV with showing months-old programs and events for a couple of years, but eventually went to the Canadian-based Fight Networking in 2016.

The deal with Roku will make NJPW the first pro-wrestling promotion to debut on an AVOD streaming service. Last month, it was announced that WWE that it will be moving the WWE Network over to Peacock, with that transition set to take place on March 18.

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Famed movie director David Fincher has turned his sights to TV for his latest project: a beer ad for the Super Bowl. Anheuser-Busch recruited the Fight Club director to shoot the company’s first-ever Super Bowl ad that will play this weekend during the big game. The music in the film comes from Atticus Ross, who won an Oscar for the music he created for Fincher’s Facebook movie, The Social Network.

Ahead of that, the beer company has released the trailer online. Called “Let’s Grab a Beer,” the 90-second spot aims to demonstrate how getting a beer with friends and loved ones not just about the beer; it’s about spending time together.

“When we say, ‘Let’s grab a beer,’ it’s never just about the beer. It’s always about life’s most meaningful moments–big and small–that happen when we come together over a beer,” reads a line from the ad’s description. It’s all a little bit odd, given the current health crisis that is keeping people physically distant these days.

Super Bowl 55 ads are priced at $5.5 million for 30 seconds, so Anheuser-Busch is paying about $16.5 million for this spot, though whether or not the full thing airs during the game is unknown.

Anaheuser-Busch previously announced that there would be no traditional dedicated Budweiser Super Bowl ad this year–the first time in decades–but this new spot does feature that beer. It’s meant to be an all-encompassing advertisement from Anaheuser-Busch’s numerous brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Light Seltzer, Michelob Ultra, Stella Artois, Goose Island, Busch Light, and Cutwater Spirits.

This was not Fincher’s first beer commercial, as he previously directed his Fight Club star Brad Pitt in an ad for Heineken called “Beer Run.” Fincher’s most recent movie was the acclaimed black-and-white Netflix movie Mank.

Super Bowl LV takes place this Sunday, February 7 on CBS. We are expecting loads of ads and commercials, but perhaps not as many film trailers this year. For more, check out GameSpot’s roundup of all the Super Bowl LV ads so far.

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The NFL is looking to expand its presence in mobile gaming–the most popular gaming platform in the US–and has announced a new game jam of sorts where developers can create football video games with NFL branding.

The NFL signed a deal with the esports company Skillz to host what it is calling a “global game developer challenge.” Developers and studios can create an NFL-themed game using the Skillz esports platform, and successful games will get the joint marketing support of the NFL and Skillz.

The NFL is partnering with Skillz as part of its effort to expand its presence on mobile and reach the “next generation” of football fans.

“Mobile gaming continues to be an important platform to reach and engage new and existing fans,” NFL gaming boss Rachel Hoagland said. “Our agreement with Skillz provides access to a trusted platform and a highly engaged player base, making Skillz an ideal partner long term.”

The game jam will take place in Q2 of 2021. Developers can create any type of game they want, except it can’t be an 11 v 11 simulation-style game because EA Sports holds the exclusive rights to those types of games.

This is just the latest expansion of the NFL video game franchise, as the league has also partnered with 2K Sports for arcade-style NFL games. Additionally, the NFL partnered with Nifty Games on a new NFL mobile game called NFL Clash.

The NFL announced this deal just a few days before Super Bowl LV, which takes place this Sunday, February 7, in Tampa Bay, Florida. EA’s Madden Super Bowl simulation predicted that the Kansas City Chiefs will defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the title.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.