Need For Speed Movie Gets Michael Keaton

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It’s being reported that Michael Keaton has joined the cast of the movie adaptation of Need for Speed.  Based on the EA game of the same name, Aaron Paul and Dominic Cooper are starring in the film, which is being directed by Scott Waugh.

Keaton will play a reclusive and eccentric host of an underground auto race where he invites the best drivers from around the world. The story will focus on an ex-con participating in a cross-country race while he is being targeted by gangsters.

Already cast are Imogen Poots, Kid Cudi, Ramon Rodriguez, Rami Malik and Harrison Gilbertson. George Gatins penned the screenplay, while his brother John Gatins will produce with Mark Sourian and Patrick O’Brien.

Source: HollywoodReporter.com

Mark Zuckerberg Increases Share In Facebook

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According to an SEC filing, Mark Zuckerberg now owns 29.3 percent of the social network he founded, valued at $18 billion. The increase from 28.2 percent means he now owns 632 million shares in Facebook.

This comes right after Facebook was successful in getting U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet to dismiss four shareholder lawsuits against the site. These cases were all connected to Facebook’s IPO in 2012.

Source: Reuters

NCsoft On Board For Unreal Engine 4

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NCsoft announced that they are licensing Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Games. The company has a history of working with Unreal-powered games, having created Lineage II with Unreal Engine 2 and more recently releasing the Unreal Engine 3-based Blade & Soul.

“Unreal Engine 4 is an extremely fascinating game engine in terms of its unprecedented efficiency and performance,” said James Bae, chief product officer of NCsoft. “We plan to release our best game ever using our Unreal Engine expertise and the new state-of-the-art Unreal Engine 4 tools.”

“NCsoft’s first Unreal Engine mega hit, Lineage II, has remained in Korea’s top 10 games for 10 years, and people have been blown away by the leading-edge Unreal Engine 3 visuals of Blade and Soul,” said Ray Park, territory manager for Epic Games Korea. “With Unreal Engine 4 in their hands, NCsoft is set to redefine MMORPG success all over again.”

Apple Denied iPhone Trademark In Brazil

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Apple’s request to use the iPhone name in Brazil has been denied by regulators at Inpi. Instead they have ruled in favor of IGB Eletronica SA, a Brazilian electronics maker that applied to register the name in 2000.

IGB Eletronica won the rights to use the name in 2008 and has been selling their own “iPhone” since December. Apple can use the iPhone name on other products… just not for smartphones.

The response comes seven years after Apple initially filed its request for a ruling on the matter. It comes as a blow to the electronics giant, as they seek to expand their brands into emerging markets like Brazil.

Florida Senator Literally Thirsts For Change

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Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio took one small sip of water during his GOP rebuttal to the State of the Union address yesterday.  It immediately sparked a deluge of tweets, memes and an infamous GIF courtesy of BuzzFeed.

There were also plenty of snarky comments.Â

Rubio showed he could laugh at himself, tweeting a photo of the now infamous Poland Spring bottle.  He told Good Morning America, “I needed water, what am I going to do?”

Continuing the joke, he pulled out a bottle of water on the show and took a sip.

“God has a funny way of reminding us we’re human,” Rubio said on the show.

Source Associated Press

Crysis 3 — Promote How You Want

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EA is clearly taking the promotion of Crysis 3 seriously, and are giving people enough different looks at the game in an attempt to show them something they might like. These three videos released in the past few days detail everything from the final video in the well crafted “7 Wonders” series, a gameplay video set to Muse’s Liquid State and a somewhat cheeky TV spot set featuring Sharp Dressed Man by ZZTop.

 

God of War: Ascension – Kratos Comes To Life

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In God of War: Ascension, it’s essential for the story to convey everything as subtle as the affection Kratos has for his wife to his anger against those agents that work against him. This video goes in depth into how the performances by actors is slowly translated into something in game that everyone can appreciate.

 

Call of Duty Veteran Robert Bowling Executive Producing Breach & Clear

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Gun Media has announced that Robert Bowling, the former Call of Duty creative strategist for Infinity Ward, will serve as executive producer on Breach & Clear. The mobile title is described as a hybrid tactical strategy game where you control spec-ops soldiers during the planning and execution stages intense missions.

“We’re hoping to change the conversation about what denotes a mobile game,” said Bowling. “With Breach & Clear, we’ve taken the design principles of creating a major console release and transferred that to a title that just so happens to be launching on mobile devices. Our focus is to take a gameplay experience and mechanic that is built from the ground up for mobile or touch control and enhance it with the depth and progression you’d expect from a AAA console release.”

“We’ve been looking forward to announcing Breach & Clear since the day we conceived it,” added Wes Keltner, Founder and Creative Director of Gun Media. “The collective mind at Gun, along with Robert Bowling’s vast experience in the console market has combined to create what we believe is a truly unique game that will test the minds and reflexes of military strategy fans everywhere.”

Apple Reportedly Developing iWatch

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Reports are that Apple has 100 people working on its iWatch smartwatch device. The team is composed of hardware and software designers from the iPhone and iPad in addition to a staff from the company’s marketing group.

The contacts asked not to be identified as the plans are unannounced. The team’s size suggests Apple is moving beyond the experimentation phase in its development, according to the sources.

“The iWatch will fill a gaping hole in the Apple ecosystem,” wrote Bruce Tognazzini, a technology consultant and former Apple employee. “Like other breakthrough Apple products, its value will be underestimated at launch, then grow to have a profound impact on our lives and Apple’s fortunes.”

The watch will allegedly include some iOS functions and will link to the iPhone wirelessly. It is also believed that it will include Siri voice control support, notification support, mobile payment features, navigation support, and caller ID.

Josh Spencer, a fund manager at T. Rowe Price Group, says that Apple is right to invest in products such as watches, even if they don’t result in commercial products. “There’s more people that would wear an Apple watch than would wear Google glasses,” Spencer said.

Wearable devices for tracking fitness are already on the market from Nike, Fitbit and other manufacturers.

Source: Bloomberg