Amazon Prime Video announced today it is ready to start production for an original feature-length documentary dedicated to the life and career of Canadian children’s entertainer Ernie Coombs, better known as Mr. Dressup.
The documentary, which doesn’t currently have a title, will be shot in fall 2022, with a subsequent release scheduled for some time in 2023. The documentary will release exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in 240 countries globally, followed by a broadcast window on CBC in Canada.
The original children’s entertainment show starring Coombs started in 1967. Over the course of 29 years, until 1996, the show aired 4,000 episodes on CBC. Now, the Prime Video documentary aims to shed light on never-before-seen archival footage, interviews with series puppeteers and musicians, and the Coombs family to reflect on the impact the series had on them. “The project also includes fascinating insights into Coombs and how he worked with other key creators and partners, including his friendship with Fred Rogers,” wrote Prime Video.
“Mr. Dressup holds a special place in the memories of millions, and Ernie, along with his puppet friends Casey and Finnegan, are the cornerstones of childhood entertainment for generations of Canadians,” said Nav Saini, head of content, Canada, Prime Video. “We are thrilled to work with our partners at marblemedia and the CBC to bring Canadian audiences a documentary that serves as a reminder of the power of creativity, the need for compassion, and the importance of playtime, from one of our most important entertainment icons.”
Twitter is finally allowing Android users with Twitter Blue to experience the same features it offers iOS subscribers.
The social media platform’s subscription service has made its redesigned Spaces Tab available to Android users, which houses various audio features, including podcasts, live, and recorded Spaces.
the redesigned Spaces Tab is now available to members on Android—be sure to update your app! https://t.co/sgFYYC1mYD
To access the new Twitter Spaces tab, account holders have to pay $6.49 a month in Canada. Users will also be able to use a host of other exclusive features, such as undoing tweets they already sent. Subscribers will also have access to the much-anticipated edit button once it’s released.
Another day, another Chatr data bonus. The Rogers flanker brand now has a 2GB monthly data bonus for 12 months on most of its plans.
The deal is available to new activations of select plans until October 3rd. As with other Chatr offers like this, the bonus will expire if the account becomes inactive or if the plan changes, so make sure to pick a plan you’ll want for at least a year.
Customers can get the deal on Chatr plans starting at $35/mo and up, except for the $45/mo plan. Instead, Chatr offers a special back-to-school deal on its $45/mo 5GB plan that gives it 10GB of bonus data per month for 12 months. The provider has extended the offer several times already, and currently, it’s slated to end on October 3rd as well.
Chatr plans come with either unlimited Canada-wide or unlimited Canada/U.S. talk (depending on the plan), unlimited text, and voicemail. Data is capped at 3G speed, and customers can get an extra 500MB/mo if they sign up for auto-pay.
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Overwatch 2 will have a bit of a grinding curve for new players.
While someone like me who owned the original game will have access to all of the title’s characters at launch, it will take new players about 100 matches before they can play as the characters on the original roster.
According to a recent Overwatch 2 blog post, Blizzard has received feedback that its pool of characters is overwhelming for new players, so it’s implementing a ‘First Time User Experience’ (FTUE) for people new to the game.
FTUE occurs in stages. The first stage has new players unlock game modes and chat functions, which will happen quickly. In phase two, players will unlock the original Overwatch heroes by playing roughly 100 matches. In contrast, they’ll only be able to unlock new heroes like Kiriko from the battle pass.
Competitive play won’t be unlocked until a new player wins 50 Quick Play matches, but FTUE functions are lifted when playing in a group for most game modes.
This should also help with ‘smurfing,’ the act of making a brand-new account — usually to help friends climb the ranks — and playing ranked far below your actual skill level.
You will not have to play through FTUE if you have an account with Overwatch playtime or if you own the Watchpoint Pack.
Nintendo has rolled out Splatoon 3 widgets on Android and iOS for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.
Using version 2.3.0 of the Switch Online app, members can add the following three widgets for the recently released ink-based shooter to their mobile devices:
A photo album
Battle log to show recent wins and losses
A stage schedule to stay up to date on the upcoming rotations for various game modes
It’s a surprising move for Nintendo, as the company has historically been slow to adopt modern online features and is instead known for overly complicated practices like friend codes and locking voice chat behind a mobile app.
Splatoon 3 launched earlier this month exclusively on Nintendo Switch. For more on the game, check out our review.
In the latest PokémonScarlet and Violet trailer, we see a special showcase of the Pokémon World Ecology Society with various clips of a new Pokémon called Wiglett.
While it looks like the Diglett that’s been around since Pokémon Red and Green, Wiglett isn’t the Paldean form of the Pokémon, but a new species entirely. In the video, we see so much more of the Pokémon than we’ve ever seen of Diglett, revealing that the Pocket Monster likes to stretch from its hole.
Details are currently scarce, so we don’t know its type, abilities or anything else outside of its name. Hopefully, the Pokémon Company will fill in some blanks sooner than later.
The actual Diglett will be in the game as well.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet come out on November 18th.
On an Amazon announcement-filled day, Logitech introduced its new “Designed for Mac” line with keyboards and mice for Apple users.
The new releases include two keyboards, namely the MX Mechanical Mini and the K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard, and two mice, namely MX Master 3S and Lift.
Keyboards
MX Mechanical Mini
The MX Mechanical Mini has a tactile mac keyboard layout (with command and option keys) with a backlit keyboard with a proximity sensor that only lights up when it detects your hands/fingers approaching. The backlighting adjusts according to your room’s lighting condition, and can be set in several modes, including ‘Breathing,’ ‘Contrast,’ ‘Wave,’ ‘Random,’ and ‘Reaction.’
Going into the Logi Options+ app allows you to customize keys, check battery life, set backlighting effects and assign app-specific profiles, and the keyboard can be paired with up to three devices, including Macs, iPad and iPhones.
The keyboard can be used wired (USB-C) or wirelessly, and according to Logitech, the keyboard runs for roughly 15 days on a full charge, and can go up to 10 months on a full charge if backlighting is turned off. It has a wireless range of up to 10m and comes with a one-year limited hardware warranty.
The MX Mechanical Mini is available in ‘Pale Gray and ‘Space Gray’ for $199.99.
K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard
The second keyboard on the list is one for minimal design lovers. K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard looks similar to Logitech’s Pop Keys keyboard but in a chiclet/island layout with circular keys.
The K380 is a wireless-only keyboard that runs on two AAA alkaline batteries that come pre-installed. According to Logitech, the batteries are good for roughly two years. The small form factor keyboard works with Macs, and can also connect to your iPad and iPhone. Similar to the MX Mechanical Mini, the K380 can also be paired with up to three devices simultaneously.
The K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard is available in ‘Blueberry,’ ‘Off-White,’ and ‘Rose’ colourways for $39.99.
Mice
MX Master 3S
The Mx Master 3S for Mac is an ergonomic mouse that is an exact replica of the company’s MX Master 3s but with support for macOS and iPadOS.
The mouse features an 8,000 DPI optical sensor that, according to Logitech, makes using the mouse on surfaces like glass feel seamless. It sports a MagSpeed Electromagnetic scroll wheel that can scroll 1,000 lines per second, all while being “nearly silent.”
Similar to the above-mention devices, the MX Master 3S can also be paired with up to three devices at once, and can be customized to feature app-specific button presets from the Logi Options+ application.
It features six buttons in total, namely the scroll wheel, a Mode Shift Button, a thumbwheel, two side buttons, and a Gesture button click.
According to Logitech, the mouse lasts 70 days on a full charge, and can offer up to three hours of usage with just a one-minute charge.
The Mx Master 3S for Mac is available in ‘Pale Gray’ and ‘Space Gray’ for $129.99.
Lift for Mac
Last on the list is the Lift ergonomic mouse. Logitech says that the mouse’s design is meant for you to hold it at a 57-degree angle, which it says is a “natural handshake position.” The design puts less pressure on your wrist, and places your arm and upper body in a more natural posture. The mouse is perfect for those who work on a computer all day long.
The mouse has a thumb rest, and buttons that are easy to access. Similar to the Mx Master 3S, Lift also features a quiet scroll wheel and “whisper quiet” clicks. It can connect to up to three macOS and iPadOS devices, and features up to two years of battery life with a single AA battery.
Lift for Mac is available in ‘White’ colour for $89.99.
That’s a question I find myself asking after the first full-length trailer for HBO’s The Last of Us series was released on September 26th. Quickly, people went nuts, proclaiming how great it looked and comparing it positively to the 2013 action-adventure game upon which it’s based. Me, though? I felt bored.
When the show premieres on HBO Max and Crave sometime in 2023, it will, effectively, be the fourth time this post-apocalyptic story about grizzled survivor Joel and plucky teenager Ellie is being told. Once in 2013 when the game debuted on PS3, a second time one year later on PS4, and a third earlier this month with a PS5 remake. That’s to say nothing of the fact that PS5 owners are straight-up given the PS4 remaster, easily playable via backward compatibility, through PS Plus at no additional cost. Four times in 10 years!
And don’t get me wrong, I love The Last of Us. Both the first game and its more polarizing sequel are two of my all-time favourites, and I’ve been enamoured with developer Naughty Dog’s works for most of my life. But there comes a time when seeing the same characters doing the exact same things just isn’t exciting to me, and I’m honestly confused why more people don’t feel the same.
Anecdotally, much of the conversation I’ve seen in my circle has been about how the show stacks up to the game. Even when HBO showed the first-ever footage from the show last month, people were losing their minds over beat-for-beat reenactments of key moments from the game, like Sarah’s death at the beginning or Joel and Ellie’s fight towards the end. With the most recent trailer, they’re doing the same, eagerly making side-by-side comparisons and beaming over the similarities. I even saw someone I know say that so much of the trailer looks like it was “pulled directly from the game” as if it’s some sort of crowning achievement. Many of the people I know who said things like this have played the game many times, too. I just don’t get it.
I’ve had two colleagues make the argument that this allows them to “share that experience” with friends and family who don’t play games. On some level, I suppose that’s fair, even if I do have fond memories of playing the original The Last of Us at a friend’s house and having his non-gamer mum enjoy the story passively as we went through it. But I do think you can’t truly share the experience because gaming is an inherently interactive medium. No matter how faithfully the story is recreated, narrative is just one of many elements in a game, and you lose a lot of that in a TV adaptation.
It also seems to ignore the fact that The Last of Us’ core “weary survivor protects a young child” story, while a leap forward for storytelling in gaming in 2013, was hardly novel on the whole. Only through the framework of a game was it elevated enough to feel fresh — a time-old yarn told in a unique way. It also seems to assume that the only way to capture what one loves about The Last of Us‘ story is through a near-identical retelling, as if a talented creator couldn’t find success in other approaches. And how will audiences who have seen, say, The Walking Dead or Children of Men or Logan or The Mandalorian even read The Road respond to the HBO series? Time will tell.
“…it’s when I see people say they’re crying over seeing the same shots from the game in a short live-action trailer that I get legitimately puzzled.”
But beyond that, I still see these same fans extremely excited for themselves. It’s one thing to be hyped to show The Last of Us to a mother or friend, but why are you so happy, personally, just to see all of these things that remind you of the game? You can say you’re glad to have the series for your non-gamer peeps, but your visceral reaction to 1:1 trailer shots shows how much you’re getting out of it, too. That’s what confuses me.
It’s like everyone’s only here to do the Leonardo DiCaprio Once Upon a Time in Hollywood “pointing at the screen” meme. The way the trailer carefully picks familiar beats from the game to the point of even reusing the same Hank Williams song just feels so cynical and manipulative, but people are feasting on it. Sure, some things in the show will be different, like Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) playing a new rebel leader character, but on the whole, this will be the same Joel and Ellie story, yet again.
We’ve now seen this exact same shot on PS3, PS4 and PS5, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we also get it in the TV show.
To be clear, I don’t begrudge people for being excited. We all have things that do that for us, and that’s fine! I would never tell someone they’re wrong for looking forward to something like HBO’s The Last of Us. What’s more, the show seems well-made so far (reportedly, Canada’s largest TV production ever) and the cast (especially Pedro Pascal) and co-writers Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (The Last of Us writer/director) are certainly talented. There’s certainly no reason to expect the show will be bad.
But it’s when I see people say they’re crying over seeing the same shots from the game in a short live-action trailer that I get legitimately puzzled. I’m not ashamed to admit I balled over many moments in Final Fantasy VII Remake, especially the opening CG trailer, itself a recreation of the one from the original PlayStation game. I think crying over art, games included, is meaningful and even healthy. The difference there, though, is that FFVII Remake is a dramatic reimagining of my favourite game of all time, nearly 25 years later — not just in terms of narrative, but gameplay, visuals, music and overall design as well.
And I totally understand the appeal of the warm comfort of familiarity, and so if I ever crave that, I can simply go back to the original Final Fantasy VII on pretty much any modern platform. But with The Last of Us, I see the same people paying full price for a remake that adds nothing substantive outside of accessibility and mere weeks later raving over the prospect of seeing that all again soon in a TV show. (Note: disabled people now being able to play the game is wonderful — I’m referring to the people who have always been able to play The Last of Us.) I even had someone tell me they’d gladly experience the story “over and over” while admitting he’s already played through the remake 2.5 times. They’re not content to just replay the readily available original game or its remaster if they’re longing to revisit this story.
Unless you’re a disabled gamer, the recently released The Last of Us Part I remake barely changed anything outside of visuals, but people didn’t seem to care.
And so I return to the question I posed at the beginning of this rant: when do we call it a day on The Last of Us? Since we’re clearly not ever getting a Final Fantasy VII Remake-style subversive spin on Joel and Ellie’s story, at one point will you be happy to move on from these two? When people continue to be uncritically accepting of the same thing, and we’ve heard reports that PlayStation boss Jim Ryan is so risk-averse, I can’t help but lament the message this all sends. When PlayStation sees how people continue to devour all of this, where will it end? Will we get a PS5 re-re-re-release of the original The Last of Us? What about a remake of The Last of Us Part II? When the show inevitably does well, will we get a second season that also re-tells Part II? Will we get additional seasons to let Druckmann realize every scrapped game idea? Will you enthusiastically turn up for all of these other hypothetical retreads?
“If you’re excited about HBO’s The Last of Us, I don’t want to take that away from you. I wish I could be, too.”
It’s especially disappointing to me because it doesn’t feel like it has to be this way. Nostalgia obviously sells, but projects like Final Fantasy VII Remake show how you can strike a fine balance between fanservice and meaningful iteration. Even beyond that, I look at adaptations like last year’s Arcane and the recently released Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Both were fresh and original takes on League of Legends and Cyberpunk 2077, offering plenty for fans and newcomers alike.
Rather than try to mould a particular game’s story into a TV show, these were first conceived as TV shows and made full use of the medium’s unique strengths. Even something like the surprisingly decent Sonic the Hedgehog movies mixed an original “found family” story with beats from the games. And even if PlayStation (understandably) wants to keep returning to the lucrative world of The Last of Us instead of doing something new entirely, couldn’t we at least get different characters and stories in that setting? Hell, even the seemingly neverending The Walking Dead has branched out with several spin-offs that aren’t all about the same central characters.
If you’re excited about HBO’s The Last of Us, I don’t want to take that away from you. I wish I could be, too. But after a certain point, I don’t need to keep seeing Joel and Ellie, especially when little is being done to make trips back to that world feel any different. Ironically, the “endure and survive” catchphrase from the original The Last of Us has proven rather prophetic. The same story will come at us, again and again and again, and all we can do is “endure and survive.”
