 |
|
|
|||||
|
|
Hey everyone,Barrie Einarson here from Trade Ideas with todays edition of What Makes This Trade Great. I want to walk through RXRX, because this is one of those trades that really highlights the importance of process over perfection. To Subscribe to Trade Ideas:Use Promo Code BARRIE15 for 15% off an Annual Premium Subscription The First… Source
The entertainment industrys most well-known awards show is heading to streaming. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced that the Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, will exclusively air on YouTube starting in 2029. The new deal means the awards show is abandoning its long-time partnership with ABC (owned by frequent Oscars heavyweight, The Walt Disney Company), though the Oscars will continue to air on the network through its 100th anniversary in 2028.The Academy Awards will be joined by other Academy events and programming on the Oscars YouTube channel, including the Governors Awards, the Oscars Nominations Announcement, the Oscars Nominees Luncheon, the Student Academy Awards, the Scientific and Technical Awards, Academy member and filmmaker interviews, film education programs, podcasts, and more, AMPAS says. The Google Arts & Culture initiative will also digitize artifacts in the Academy collection and help provide digital access online as part of the new partnership.We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said in the announcement of the new YouTube deal. The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community.Awards shows have struggled to find their footing in the streaming era, particularly because they already served a niche audience even when broadcast TV was the norm. Prior to the Oscars heading to YouTube, Netflix snagged the rights to stream the SAG Awards in 2023, an acting-focused award show thats often seen as a precursor to the Oscars.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-oscars-will-exclusively-air-on-youtube-starting-in-2029-181545531.html?src=rss
The creators of the Hitman series have honed their style of- open-ended and spectacle-driven sandboxes across several games, and now they're taking their signature immersive gameplay to the world of James Bond. With 007 First Light, developer IO Interactive is crafting an origin story for the globetrotting British spy, showing how he undertook daring missions at the start of his career to eventually become the world's most infamous agent.Before the reveal at The Game Awards of 007 First Light's newest villain, played by Lenny Kravitz, we had an early look at the latest bits of plot for James Bond's origin story as a superspy. We also spoke with cinematic and narrative director Martin Emborg about the main inspirations for the game, how Bond's origin taps into decades of lore, and why a good spy story is timeless."What I think is kind of baked into doing an origin story for a character like James Bond, is that everyone knows the character and who he's going to become," Emborg said. "But how does he become this character? I think that's an exciting challenge from a storytelling perspective."IO Interactive's James Bond is young and inexperienced.IO InteractiveWhile some Bond films and novels have touched upon the early years of the iconic character, 007 First Light will be the first attempt at an actual, modernized origin story. As a twenty-something new MI6 recruit, this James Bond, portrayed by Patrick Gibson, is inexperienced and brash, which can result in some operations going off the rails. He still possesses a certain cunning, and near-supernatural levels of charisma and resourcefulness. This presents a solid archetype for the games open-ended missions where players will explore tightly designed worlds with a multitude of tasks and objectives to handle however the players see fit.While IO Interactive's Hitman series taps into the spy experience, what really separates James Bond from Agent 47 is that he's a far more social character. The social element will play a big part in how players can find ways to distract, or even outright bluff through charisma to sneak into areas.. Emborg explained that James Bond's resourcefulness also makes him a compelling character for a video game, especially one that is all about player agency.007 First Light will take players to several locations, including Slovakia and what appears to be Vietnam.IO Interactive"Bond is a competent character, Emborg said. We want to give the player the opportunities to have that agency to say, 'Oh, I'm gonna talk to that guy,' or, 'I'm gonna go and punch that guy, or, I can probably crawl up into a tight space to sneak in.' Having that sense of agency is pivotal if you want to deliver a full Bond experience. Obviously, the social aspect of that is important; to embed yourself and infiltrate socially is a big part of that Bond experience." Emborg said the rhythm of a James Bond game is different from a Hitman title, even though espionage, infiltration and subterfuge are at the core of both. "We have a lot of experience with that from obviously making Hitman, but there are just many more gears to Bond, he said. Of course, the shape of this game is different. We have sandbox locations where you make the open-ended decisions, but we also have other levels where it is a chase or a set-piece encounter, and then it opens up again. So we kind of coined the term, having a game that breathes. It's a very different way of playing this type of game that we usually do, so we've definitely bolstered our toolbox for this game."In many ways, 007 First Light is a story that can only be told in an interactive format. The new game will pull from numerous novels and films for its plot, and it also features a large cast of familiar characters seen throughout the franchise such as MI6 assistant Moneypenny (performed by Kiera Lester), gadget guru and quartermaster Q (played by Alastair Mackenzie), and team leader M (Priyanga Burford). But like any singular Bond story, First Light features its own set of original characters. In addition to James Bond's MI6 mentor John Greenway (portrayed by Lennie James), a new core villain, black-market smuggler and warlord Bawma, will be played by Lenny Kravitz. It's a familiar setup for a Bond experience for sure, but within the context of a video game one made by IO Interactive it really taps looks to tap into the Bond fantasy more than other games have. From the gameplay demos and trailers we've seen, IO Interactive looks to be channeling the style and lore from decades of Bond with its modernized reboot of the character. From deep cuts to On Her Majesty's Secret Service one of the great and underrated Bond movies and You Only Live Twice, 007 First Light is keeping a keen eye on paying tribute to what came before."At the very beginning, it was very much like a maelstrom of [ideas], then suddenly something emerges, and you build up a story around it," Emborg said. He continued, I love doing this stuff and with great reverence for the material. It's a privilege to work in this universe. James Bond is one of the few IPs that still hasn't been overdone, in my view. We have a space to come in with a fresh take, and he's a character who's seen a lot of versions over the years."Confirmed MI6 gadgets include the "Q-Watch."IO InteractiveSo far, 007 First Light has the makings of not only the biggest Bond game but also the most true-to-life simulation of being a superspy. While previous Bond games like Goldeneye and Everything or Nothing are well-loved classics, they embody traditional video game shooting spectacle. 007 First Light is looking to lean into the immersive element of the Hitman games in its adaptation of James Bond, finally giving players the opportunities to explore the social aspects of spy work on a grand scale. 007 First Light will arrive on March 27, 2026, for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/io-interactives-007-first-light-reimagines-james-bond-as-a-young-and-reckless-spy-180000758.html?src=rss
Uber and DoorDash are challenging a forthcoming NYC law that encourages tipping on food-delivery apps, as reported by The New York Times. The two entities have filed a joint federal lawsuit just ahead of the ruling going into effect next month. Back in 2023, many food delivery apps in the city moved the tip suggestion box to after purchases had been completed. This is sort of how rideshare apps work. It followed NYC mandating a minimum pay rate for food delivery workers, the first in the country. The new law simply switches the tip suggestion box back to checkout, with a suggestion of ten percent. Customers are still free to set it to zero, if that's their thing. The two companies say this law violates the First Amendment by requiring them to "speak a government-mandated message." They also say the rule would cause customers to use the app less because they were suffering from "tipping fatigue." As a customer of food delivery apps, I am not stricken with tipping fatigue. I have, however, come down with a serious case of "what are all of these mysterious fees on my bill and why is my burrito $45?" fatigue. NYC food delivery workers have experienced a sharp decline in tips since the apps switched the suggestion field to after a purchase has been completed. It's extremely easy to ignore an app notification while in a food coma on the couch. "Removing the tipping option is to keep workers in poverty and make them depend on taking more orders," said Ligia Guallpa, co-founder of Workers Justice Project. Food delivery in the city is still booming. New Yorkers spent more than $265 million on restaurant deliveries in the first half of 2025, which is up from $183 million during the same period in 2022. Current estimates suggest that there are around 80,000 delivery workers in NYC. This particular law became a small part of the city's recent mayoral campaign. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said during the campaign that he supported giving customers the option to tip at checkout. DoorDash donated $1 million to his rival, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/uber-and-doordash-challenge-nyc-law-that-encourages-tipping-163315375.html?src=rss