Disney Imagineers have made a fully mobile, bipedal version of Guardians of the Galaxy’s Groot, and it may one day be walking around Disney Parks.
As reported by TechCrunch, this adorable Groot is part of a walking bipedal robotics platform called Project Kiwi, a “first of its kind for Disney and a real robotics milestone.”
Disney has made some impressive robots/animatronics in the past of characters like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’s Hondo Ohnaka and Avatar’s Na’Vi Shaman, but those have always been stuck in place. This version is free to walk around, wave, and be as wonderfully cute as Groot is known to be.
This platform was developed over the past three years by WDI researchers and robotics, and while Groot is the character being featured at the moment, this is “a platform first and foremost, which means it could take this form when it gets to the parks, or another form entirely.”
There are currently no immediate plans to bring Project Kiwi to the parks, as there is still much work to be done, but its an impressive achievement none-the-less and a glimpse of what the future of Disney robotics can look like.
Prior to the success of Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance, the collective “Tom Clancy’s” games were arguably Ubisoft’s biggest hits. Rainbow Six revolutionized close-quarters tactical squad shooters with its relentless difficulty and necessitated planning. Ghost Recon took the action into larger areas for a blend of intense action and precision. But it was Splinter Cell that cemented Ubisoft’s place as the master of the techno-military thriller game.
The series took the stealth-action concepts pioneered by Metal Gear Solid and improved them to near-perfect levels, even working the tagline “Stealth Action Redefined” into the first game’s full title. Splinter Cell evolved and morphed in the years that followed, adding more action elements, a greater emphasis on dark, personal storytelling, and creative new multiplayer modes. For a long time, it seemed like it could do no wrong, and even after needing to switch actors for Sam Fisher when developing Splinter Cell Blacklist–Michael Ironside was suffering from cancer at the time–new studio Ubisoft Toronto delivered a slick mix of traditional stealth and deadly action.
And then Splinter Cell disappeared, only not in a fun way like when Sam Fisher blends into the darkness and becomes the night itself.
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What The Hell Happened To Splinter Cell
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It has been nearly eight years since Splinter Cell Blacklist was released, and Ubisoft has shown almost no interest in continuing the series with another mainline entry. Instead, we have an upcoming animated series for Netflix, Sam’s inclusion in other series like Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six, and a VR-exclusive game in partnership with Oculus. Don’t get me wrong: Those DLC appearances were fun, I’m excited about the Netflix show, and the idea of being behind Sam’s goggles in VR sounds incredible. But they can’t replace the new, full AAA game that players want.
Is Ubisoft afraid of Splinter Cell? According to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, that actually might be the case. Back in 2019, he said the company’s development teams were anxious to work on Splinter Cell because of how passionate–and sometimes angry and demanding–the fans can be. How can you create a game that seems new when players are adamant about what they don’t want to change?
It’s a tough nut to crack, but Ubisoft has made big changes to Splinter Cell in the past while still retaining the series’ essence. Double Agent, while not the best-received game in the series, introduced a sliding trust system that forced Sam to balance supporting the NSA and a homegrown terrorist group called John Brown’s Army. Conviction emphasized Sam’s deadliness while remaining undetected, and Blacklist used a play-your-way philosophy that allowed for stealth purists and action fans to both enjoy the game. Yes, not every experiment worked, but Splinter Cell has been one of Ubisoft’s most consistently well-executed franchises.
Despite the franchise’s consistent quality and the latest game’s good reviews, Splinter Cell Blacklist didn’t meet Ubisoft’s sales expectations, and that likely gave the company pause when considering its next move. The game never got a re-release on the Xbox One or PS4, and it wasn’t until 2018 that it was even backward compatible on Xbox One.
Since then, we’ve seen two new Ghost Recon games. Rainbow Six Siege released and became an esports staple. Both The Division and The Division 2 joined the live-game scene. And nearly every summer, fans hoping for a new Splinter Cell game announcement are met with disappointment along with a vague statement from Guillemot on how Ubisoft has not forgotten the franchise.
Having a big-name game fail to meet your sales expectations is certainly cause for concern, but there were several factors at play when Blacklist launched. It was released just a few months before new systems were due to hit shelves, and it was running on an engine that was woefully dated. It also launched on the same day as a few other AAA games, including Saints Row 4 and The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, which could have at least muddied the waters.
The Michael Ironside situation had given the game some bad press before it was even out. The actor hadn’t mentioned his illness during this time–and didn’t owe anyone an explanation–and Ubisoft followed suit, likely to protect his privacy. To fans, it looked like Ubisoft had unceremoniously dropped one of the people who was key to defining Sam as a character.
That wouldn’t be a problem with a new game, as Ironside’s cancer is in remission and he has provided Sam’s voice in multiple special-event missions in the Ghost Recon series since then. He even asserted that he is Sam Fisher in an interview, and you can’t show your passion for a role much more than that.
The whole “don’t change it” worry that Guillemot expressed a few years ago seems especially valid now, as we’ve seen Ubisoft make some decisions for other Clancy franchises that just don’t make much sense. Ghost Recon Wildlands’ huge open world and chaotic approach to cooperative action made it a huge, if unpolished, hit, but when Ghost Recon Breakpoint released, it seemed like the company had learned all the wrong lessons. It felt even buggier, and the gear level system felt out of place, making it far too similar to The Division. Ultimately, it took months of post-launch updates to add (and remove) features before Breakpoint would feel like Ghost Recon again.
Breakpoint woefully undersold, and oddly, this could actually be a good thing for a potential new Splinter Cell game. Ubisoft has seen how trying to shoehorn existing franchises into its current “bigger and with more RPG elements” overarching design philosophy simply doesn’t work most of the time. It certainly wouldn’t work with Splinter Cell.
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Sam Fisher In Rainbow Six Siege: Everything You Need To Know
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This isn’t a zero-sum game: Splinter Cell can evolve while still feeling like Splinter Cell. Larger individual maps with more ways to approach them, unexplored settings, and a unique story angle can all do this while still appealing to longtime players. As long as it retains the core pillars of Splinter Cell–staying hidden in extremely dangerous situations and using a whole bunch of cool gadgets–it will be just fine. The Clancy franchise name is arguably stronger now than it ever has been, particularly because of Rainbow Six’s success, and this can work in Splinter Cell’s favor. Ubisoft doesn’t need to deliver the perfect game that appeals to everyone, as such a thing isn’t possible. It just needs to bring Splinter Cell back. Splinter Cell fans clearly want a new game, and after nearly eight years, the time is right. A lack of stealth espionage games from competitors emphasizes how much Ubisoft can take advantage of the situation and launch the series back to superstardom.
Perhaps Ubisoft is using projects like Splinter Cell VR and the Netflix series to gauge interest in a future game, and if that’s the case, I believe Ubisoft will find that there is. Guillemot wouldn’t get asked about it year after year if there weren’t any interest. But the company must understand that this is the stealth espionage franchise now. Metal Gear Solid shows little sign of returning, and it’s up to Splinter Cell to carry the torch.
Respawn Entertainment has grown considerably since its early day working on the first Titanfall game, with multiple franchises and releases under its belt. Its next game, or at least one of its next games, will be an original IP–its first since Titanfall launched back in 2014.
Though details on the project are scarce and it looks to be very early in development, several Respawn developers confirmed the game will be a new IP. The official job listing also uses this wording and mentions a “compact incubation team,” and the studio means it. Programmer Steven Kah Hien Wong added that only five people are on the project at the moment.
Want to get in early and help build a new IP from scratch? We’re a team of *5* right now looking for our 6th (a coder)! https://t.co/BpfxUBZ71L
Respawn certainly has a lot on its plate with the continued development of Apex Legends as well as an expected Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order sequel, and it also branched into VR with Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond last year.
The listing also explicitly states there will be no crunch or overtime work and that Respawn will support the candidate in “nurturing [their] life-work balance.” It doesn’t sound like Respawn expects dedicated producers to be working full-time on the project, with one responsibility being “self-as-producer” activity including tracking time spent on various tasks, but this could just be for its early stages.
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Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond Official Gameplay Trailer | Gamescom 2020
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The development team will “pioneer new ways to enable adventuring until the heat death of the universe,” whatever that means, and the team will still emphasize good-feeling gameplay. Respawn has primarily worked in first-person shooters thus far with the exception of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and the Titanfall games in particular are certainly known for buttery-smooth controls.
Though it has been more than four years since Titanfall 2 released and underperformed commercially, it doesn’t appear that has completely killed the chances of a sequel. According to Respawn’s parent company Electronic Arts, that choice rests with Respawn itself. Given the acclaim the second game received–both for its multiplayer and groundbreaking campaign–there’s still certainly a vocal fanbase waiting to play Titanfall 3.
This review contains spoilers for Invincible Season 1, Episode 7, titled “We Need to Talk,” which is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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Amazon Prime’s Invincible has been uneven at times, but its strengths outweigh its weaknesses. This has been true for individual episodes, like the fifth (“That Actually Hurt”), whose storytelling and character work eclipse last week’s sixth entry (“You Look Kinda Dead”). In that vein, this week’s seventh chapter, “We Need To Talk,” feels like a definitive portrait of the series, as it approaches its season finale next week. It combines, within a single episode, elements and subplots that don’t really work, with a central story about its lead characters that lands so precisely, and so spectacularly, that the missteps almost cease to matter.
Things finally reach a boiling point for the Grayson family, now that Debbie (Sandra Oh) knows that Nolan (J.K. Simmons) killed the Guardians of the Globe. Although, before the couple’s inevitable confrontation, the episode takes a few brief moments to set the stage through Debbie’s eyes. She sighs at her empty bed, and at the hole Nolan punched in the wall the previous night, before approaching him as he stands at their window. Their eyes meet in its foggy reflection. They’ve become disconnected, and these scenes from a rocky marriage precede Debbie giving Nolan one last chance to come clean, or to give her some kind of explanation that makes sense.
The Nolan-Debbie plot has been the show’s biggest departure from the comics. Instead of having all this information suddenly sprung on Debbie, her detective work makes her an active part of the plot, and it gives her the chance to reckon with her husband’s actions, and to work through her denial and disbelief. The other side of this coin is Nolan himself, who ends up in a complicated position. In the comics, his relationship with Debbie was revealed to be a ruse, but in the show, you can feel him wrestling between his violent Viltrumite duties and his genuine, loving human relationships. He’s constantly, painfully conflicted — like when he practices his confession to Mark (Steven Yeun) on a lonely mountaintop — and his facial animation this week makes him especially intimidating. He still stares silently, but he feels like he’s about to explode.
And explode he does, on a number of occasions. After Donald (Chris Diamantopoulos) takes Debbie to the GDA for her protection (and to use her to track down Mark), Nolan returns home and sniffs out a handful of invisible SWAT agents. He dispenses with them in gloriously gruesome fashion, ramming a gun through one of their faces, and slamming another into the kitchen countertop so hard that he splits him in two. He even crushes Donald’s torso with his bare hands. The show’s ultra-violence works best when it’s purposeful, and here, it makes Nolan downright terrifying. All the while, the question of Mark’s allegiance to his father looms large at the GDA, as both Cecil (Walton Goggins) and Nolan try to find him first.
After the events at Upstate University last week, William (Andrew Rannells) drops Mark and Amber (Zazie Beetz) back home. Mark makes a last-ditch attempt at winning Amber back by finally coming clean about his secret identity. Although, in a nice surprise — and another nice departure from the comics — Amber seems to have figured it out already. The chickens have finally come home to roost for both Mark and Nolan, whose super-powered dilemmas feel like reflections of one another. Their dishonesty, with the women in their lives, has gone on far too long, and their relationships may have been damaged beyond repair.
Not knowing where to turn, Mark seeks out his former teammate Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs) at her rural hideaway, from where she’s been helping people in secret. Theirs is a much more low-key story, which largely involves sitting by a waterfall, but their conversation is charged with frustration and tension. Mark feels trapped by his failures, while Eve’s lingering feelings for Mark underscore her own outburst at him, once they begin mischaracterizing each other and things finally boil over.
However, the episode falters somewhat during its more action-packed subplot about Robot (Zachary Quinto) and the Mauler Twins (Kevin Michael Richardson), who, it’s revealed, have been cloning Robot a new human body. This story is filled with heady sci-fi ideas about consciousness, which coalesce in a particularly haunting moment, when the “real” robot’s memories are copied from his mangled body into a child clone of Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas). We see things from both bodies’ points of view at once, through overlapping images, which raise questions of the authentic self. It feels like something out of The Prestige.
Robot claims he’s thought long and hard about this dilemma, and the Maulers say they think about it often too. But during the preceding six episodes, this cloning subplot has only been presented in the form of breadcrumbs. It’s been more mystery box than character drama. As far as the audience is concerned, the characters have only briefly mentioned these existential questions, when they ought to have been central to a plot this lofty. Even the moving death scene of Robot’s “original” body feels slightly deflated in the process. Robot and the Maulers may finally have more screen-time this week, but their subplot still feels tacked on to the rest of the story, since their ruminations are swiftly replaced by an action sequence.
Similarly, the episode doesn’t spend much time on the actual fallout of this plot. Sure, the real Rex is suitably upset by this violation of his autonomy, but when Robot shows up to Guardians HQ in human form, it’s smack-dab in the middle of other, bigger events surrounding Nolan. The idea of adults trapped in children’s bodies, and Robot being attracted to Monster Girl (Grey Griffin) in this form, is a particularly thorny one to navigate, but the episode seems to hand-wave it away by having Monster Girl be the one to end the discussion, claiming she needs time to “process” it. However, the episode doesn’t focus on any kind of processing on her part either.
Each time the show cuts back to the Robot plot, it can’t help but feel like it’s robbing attention from Nolan’s story, which grows increasingly intense with each scene. Cecil fires an enormous, Earth-shaking laser at him from outer space, which Nolan then flies towards and wrecks from within. It’s a fantastic spectacle, as is Nolan and Mark’s battle with the GDA’s Lovecraftian kaiju, and Nolan’s subsequent stand-off with a teleporting Cecil (who, unfortunately, still has one of the show’s most drab and lifeless vocal performances).
Many of the episode’s action beats feel evocative of Dragon Ball Z, especially when a resurrected Immortal (Ross Marquand) charges at Nolan in a fit of vengeful rage. With the world’s eyes and cameras on him, Nolan murders The Immortal yet again, punching a hole right through his chest before tearing him in half. The moment isn’t just physically wince-inducing, but it feels like an emotional knife-twist for Mark, who watches on in horror.
It wasn’t meant to be this way. Nolan had intended to explain himself to Mark on his own terms, but his actions came back to haunt him — in a very literal manner — before he had the chance. As the episode comes to a close, Mark and Nolan float above all the destruction and bloodshed below. For the first time this season, there’s no post-credit scene, and no music playing over the end titles. Only haunting silence. The stage is now set for both an action-packed finale, and a difficult conversation between father and son.
