Latest news with #Puck
Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
If NFL, ESPN deal is done soon, it will have an immediate impact on how fans consume the most popular sport in the US
Per CNBC, the league is expected to take a 10 percent stake in Disney-owned ESPN, while ESPN would have ownership of NFL Network — including its seven live games per season — and Red Zone. Some other NFL Media properties also may be part of the package, though NFL Films is not expected to be one. The benefits for ESPN are obvious and enormous. ESPN is launching a much-anticipated standalone app in the fall, with the hopes it will revive the network's pre-streaming status as 'The Worldwide Leader in Sports.' Having more NFL content will be nothing short of a gold mine for the direct-to-consumer app, which will cost $29.99 per month. And with the NFL holding a stake in ESPN, it essentially makes the network, as Puck's John Ourand put it, 'a forever partner' with the league, and legitimate security when broadcast and streaming rights are up for bid again. Advertisement The benefits for the NFL? The league has been looking for years to find a way to offload or share its in-house media properties, and there's no better partner than ESPN and its parent company, Disney. From a journalistic standpoint, it's fair to wonder whether the NFL believes there is a side benefit to the deal — the possibility of limiting certain critical reporting on the league, which ESPN has done exceptionally well. Advertisement How this partnership would fully affect you and me won't be totally clear until the deal is complete and the parameters are revealed. But the baseline is this: Much of what you currently enjoy watching on the NFL Network — which will still exist in 24/7 form — will be under the purview of ESPN. And you're probably going to have to pony up for one more pricey streaming service if you want to keep watching all of it. This really is fake news One of the many, many, many scourges of social media — particularly the swamplands of Facebook — is AI-generated content. The vast majority of posts about a pop-culture or sports topic or personality is AI-generated at this point. Some of it seems real. All of it is trash. A more recent trend is phony but believable stories about an athlete doing an extremely good deed. The Sports Hub's Scott Zolak got duped by one recently, passing along on his afternoon show that Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and his wife donated all of the gifts from their recent wedding to local homeless shelters and children's charities. It was the kind of story you want to believe, and plausible to some degree. It also wasn't true. It was a lie concocted and spread by a social media content farm. Advertisement Zolak isn't alone. On Thursday, I noticed a longtime prominent NBA media member share a post on the social media platform Threads that Lions quarterback Jared Goff donated — let's get this concoction right — 'his entire $15.9 million bonus and sponsorship earns to a homeless shelter in Detroit to help fund 150 units [of] housing with 300 shelter beds.' That was followed by a fake Goff quote about seeing homelessness firsthand growing up. Listen, if actual media people can't spot a phony story, it's understandable — if disheartening beyond belief — why so much of this sludge is treated as truth by so many. A word of advice: if a story that seems too good to be true (or, on the opposite end, too scandalous), it probably is. Always check to make sure it is something that has been initially reported by a credible journalist. Preferably with a link to an actual story. Please don't tell me that's too much to ask. Boring or a booming British? Reader Pete G. reached out this week to ask whether Scottie Scheffler's systematic dominance on the PGA Tour, combined with a nature that is somewhat less charismatic than Tiger Woods's in his heyday, has led to a decrease in viewership in the anti-climactic final rounds. 'Watching the 4th round [of the British Open] was so boring and uninteresting,' he wrote. 'He is annoyingly steady and he never ( gives up a lead when he is in the driver's seat.' All true. But golf viewers seem to be digging it, at least according to the viewership numbers from Sunday's final round on NBC. Nielsen reported 4.1 million viewers for the fourth round, which was up 21 percent from the final round of Xander Schauffele's victory a year ago. Even without much suspense — Scheffler finished at 17 under par to win by four strokes — golf fans stuck around to watch him complete his fourth major victory and second this year. Advertisement McAfee apologizes — five months later Sentient monster truck Pat McAfee apologized Wednesday on his eponymous ESPN show to a female Ole Miss student, a mere five months after carelessly amplifying a false rumor that sent her life into chaos. McAfee being McAfee, he did it in the most self-aggrandizing way possible, including deploying the phrase/shield, 'As a girl dad,'' which is almost always followed by an apology for some behavior that humiliated a woman. 'Girl dads' fear lawsuits too, I'd imagine. "As a Girl Dad, I was very thankful for the opportunity to let Mr. Cornett know that I was wildly regretful for the part that our show played in his daughter, Mary Kate's, pain." - Pat McAfee apologizing for sharing a false rumor about an 18-year-old Ole Miss student on his show. — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) Chad Finn can be reached at
Irish Independent
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Countdown is on to Ireland's oldest and most unique festival Kerry's Puck Fair
Puck Fair, which runs annually on August 10th, 11th and 12th, can trace its roots back to the ancient Pagan festival of Lughnasa. Among the most well-known traditions of the festival is the crowning of a mountain goat as 'King Puck' each year, his coronation being officiated by the Queen of Puck, a local schoolgirl. This year the honour goes to Robyn O'Shea, pupil at Scoil Réalt na Mara in neighbouring Cromane. 'I have had a lifelong love for the history of Puck Fair and have enjoyed celebrating the festival with my family and friends down through the years. It's the atmosphere that grips me the most, with the town coming alive and celebrating amidst all the music playing and the traditions. I am looking forward to welcoming all those to the town who decide to come home to celebrate with us and also all those who come to visit to experience first hand what this great festival has to offer.' Speaking at the festival's launch, newly elected Kerry TD, Michael Cahill said that he is absolutely delighted to launch Puck Fair 2025. 'Puck Fair, Aonach an Phoic has been celebrated for hundreds of years in this fantastic part of Kerry, where I come from, people set their calendars by Puck. All other events happen either before or after Puck, that is the importance of it,' said Deputy Cahill. "Thousands of people arrive in Killorglin from every corner of the Globe every 10th, 11th and 12th of August annually, much thanks goes to the fantastic work put in by the local organising committee, in cooperation with An Garda Síochána.' Chairperson of the organising committee, Declan Falvey, highlighted the importance of the festival to the town 'Puck Fair is Ireland's oldest festival, and one of the most anticipated events in the Killorglin calendar annually. This year, as always, we have a stellar line up of musicians and activities, so look forward to welcoming crowds from far and wide to Killorglin over the three days of the festival.' This year's festival will also include a fantastic line-up of Irish talent, with musical acts and performances which will cater to audiences of all tastes and ages. Headline acts for this year's festival, which are all free to attend, include the supercharged musical act, The Fogues, the Celtic Irish Rock group Erin's Fury, the long established South West of Ireland Group Truly Diverse, and Jack Keogh. The full list of events for the festival is at
Metro
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Shadow Labyrinth review - Pac-Man meets Metroid
The Pac-Man episode of Amazon Prime show Secret Level is the inspiration for this strange new Metroidvania and its peculiar mix of influences. 2025 has so far been a good year for weird games, with plenty of unlikely oddities, including one featuring a boy stuck in a permanent T-pose and whose best friend is a singing giraffe, and the latest from Hideo Kojima where you take orders from a talking shop mannequin and fight ghosts by flinging a boomerang soaked in your own blood at them. It may seem a cliché but most of the strangest video games are made in Japan; those two certainly and so is this: a grim and gritty 2D Metroidvania that's also a secret Pac-Man game. As bizarre as that idea is it's worryingly reminiscent of Bomberman: Act Zero on the original Xbox, which reimagined the colourful party game as a dystopian nightmare and became infamous as one of the worst video games ever made. Shadow Labyrinth is nowhere near that bad, but then it's not actually that gritty either. It's inspired by a 10 minute episode of Amazon Prime Video show Secret Level, which reimagined Pac-Man as a sci-fi story about a starfighter pilot crash landing on an alien world and being manipulated by a malign Pac-Man. We haven't seen it, but we hope it was better than the game tie-in. Before we learned of the Amazon connection, we assumed the game had been inspired by the famous The Madness of Mission 6 fan art for Pac-Man, which you've probably seen on a T-shirt or two, if you've ever been to any kind of video game convention or similar event. That almost certainly would've been a lot more interesting than the vapid, cliché ridden sci-fi tale that is Shadow Labyrinth's actual backstory. Right from the start, the plot is filled with nonsensical sounding names and jargon, but the short version is you're a nameless swordsman who's been revived by a floating yellow orb called Puck, that anyone else would recognise as Pac-Man. (The name is a reference to the fact that the original arcade game was originally meant to be called Puck Man, until someone realised how easily the first letter of the word could be defaced.) After the brief, and very confusing, introduction you're immediately knee deep in Metroid homages, whacking weird alien bugs with your sword and practicing your 2D platform jumping. All of this is fine, although the bland and clinical-looking art style is immediately unappealing and almost makes it look like an old Flash game. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. The core gameplay is absolutely bog standard Metroidvania but the degree to which it copies the look and feel of Metroid, rather than Castlevania or anything more original, is strange and off-putting, given this is supposed to be a Pac-Man game. More importantly, Shadow Labyrinth is no Metroid Dread, and not only is it not as well designed or executed (the signposting is awful) but the only thing unique about it is the shoehorned in Pac-Man references. Like all Metroidvanias, there's a lot of exploration and backtracking in Shadow Labyrinth, as you pick up new abilities and weapons that then allow you to access areas you've previously seen, but which were inaccessible the first time round. That sense of slowly opening up the whole map, slowly peeling open its secrets, is the core appeal of the genre but this is a very uninspired implementation of the concept, with a hundred better example available elsewhere – especially from indie developers. You've probably already guessed, but one of the most important uses for Puck is taking over the morph ball role from Metroid, as you squeeze into places you can't usually fit. The Spider Ball upgrade, that allows you to stick to walls and tracks, is the real focus though, as you move along like the arcade game, eating little white dots along the way. There're more explicit recreations of the classic Pac-Man gameplay in a series of mini-games, which look and sound like the excellent Pac-Man Championship Edition games. They even use the same music, which only begs the question of why Bandai Namco didn't just make a new one of those, instead of wasting everyone's time with this Metroid nonsense. More Trending Having Puck combine with your character to become a sort of mechanical demon Pac-Man dragon sounds interestingly weird in theory but even that doesn't make the game any more fun to play. To add more salt to the wound, Puck is a very annoying character, and the whole game comes across as obnoxious and abrasive. When we say our favourite bit is the subtler references to other Namco classics, like Galaga and Xevious, it should give some indication of how much we enjoyed the majority of the game. Pac-Man has been around for 45 years and has aged better than most other golden age coin-ops, with the Pac-Man Championship Edition series keeping the core gameplay fresh and exciting even after all these decades. There's nothing fresh or exciting about Shadow Labyrinth though, the memory of which will linger for far less time. In Short: Mixing Pac-Man with Metroid seems like an enjoyably strange idea at first, until you realise just how bland and unimaginative the end result is. Pros: You have to get a long wrong to make a Metroidvania completely uninteresting and the sword-based combat is mildly engaging. The Pac-Man Championship Edition mini-games are fun. Cons: Once you dismiss the Pac-Man gimmicks the game has no notable ideas of its own and pales compared to better examples of the genre. Confusing and unengaging story, with ugly visuals. Score: 4/10 Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PCPrice: £24.99Publisher: Bandai NamcoDeveloper: Bandai Namco StudiosRelease Date: 18th July 2025 Age Rating: 12 Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Cyberpunk 2077 fans think new update secretly runs better on PS5 Pro MORE: The Drifter review – Australian adventure time MORE: RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business review – 20 seconds to comply
The Verge
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
A gritty Pac-Man reboot makes for surprisingly solid Metroid-style action
Shadow Labyrinth didn't make the best first impression, though I'm not talking about the game itself. The concept of a gritty reboot of Pac-Man first reared its strange head in Secret Level, an anthology that turned notable video games into animated shorts that mostly felt like extended commercials. And that's exactly what the episode 'Circle,' which reimagined Pac-Man as a blood-soaked survival story, turned out to be. But as off-putting as the episode was, it turns out that the premise actually works for a Metroid-style action game. For those who didn't watch Secret Level, Shadow Labyrinth puts you in the role of an unnamed, hooded swordmaster, who awakens to find himself inside some sort of dark alien labyrinth. He's greeted by a floating drone named Puck, who serves as both a guide and a partner to survive in this treacherous world. Puck, of course, is Pac-Man. For the most part, the game plays a lot like a typical Metroidvania. It's a side-scrolling game that's heavy on action, like Metroid Dread, and as you defeat bosses and collect gold, you'll slowly expand your arsenal of skills, which opens up the game further. The twisting, maze-like map is full of dead ends that you can't explore until you get the right ability, which include staples like a double jump and grappling hook. You can also craft various upgrades, both permanent and temporary, so you can customize the character to your liking. It's a satisfying loop of exploration, combat, and problem-solving (usually involving some kind of platforming sequence), punctuated by tense, elaborate boss fights that depend a lot on pattern memorization. I could be describing a lot of other games here, but there are a few elements that make Shadow Labyrinth unique. And it mostly has to do with Puck. Scattered throughout the labyrinth are rails that Puck can ride on, sort of like Pac-Man moving his way through a classic arcade maze. It's reminiscent of Samus' morph ball ability, except it's relegated to predetermined areas of the map. Later on, there are actual Pac-Man mazes to play through, too, complete with pellets and ghosts to eat. The game is at its best when you're quickly swapping between Puck and the swordmaster, either to navigate a tricky platforming sequence or defeat enemies. In one early boss battle, I was able to use a rail on the ceiling to avoid projectiles, and then drop behind the enemy for some quick sneak attacks. Early on, Puck and the swordmaster gain the ability to temporarily fuse together to create a power-up that's sort of like a mech suit, which you can use to devastate most enemies and even avoid environmental hazards. Oh, and when you're a mech, you can eat your enemies to gain materials needed for those important unlocks. One of the nice things about Shadow Labyrinth is that, unlike the animated short that preceded it, it doesn't overdo it with the grim tone. It can get a little bloody when you're slicing through creatures, but it's not gratuitous. In fact, much like Dread, the oppressive tone creates an interesting kind of tension, one that makes the rare moments of respite feel especially welcome. That said, the cutscenes are self-serious and convoluted, and there are silly moments where Puck becomes giant and eats the corpses of bosses, but these are mostly easy to ignore if all you want to do is explore a complex map, Metroid-style. That's really what the game offers. The combat is solid, the platforming is challenging, and the bosses are exciting. And thankfully, the tone mostly doesn't intrude on the experience, while the Pac-Man theme brings just enough new to add an interesting twist for those well-versed in Metroidvanias. Secret Level may have been a commercial, but it was a pretty poor one: it missed what actually makes Shadow Labyrinth worth playing. Shadow Labyrinth launches on July 18th on the PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Miami Herald
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Q&A: ‘The Studio's' Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg hope their 23 Emmy nominations help stack Season 2
LOS ANGELES - His impact on the film world is debatable, but fictional Hollywood studio head Matt Remick has earned the respect of his TV peers. The first season of "The Studio," which stars Seth Rogen as the bumbling Hollywood studio head, received 23 Emmy nominations, making the Apple TV+ series the most nominated freshman comedy in Emmy history - a distinction previously set by "Ted Lasso." The series also tied the record set by "The Bear" last year as the most nominated comedy series ever. "The Studio" made an impressive showing in the major categories, including for writing, directing and acting. Created by Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez, the satire explores a movie lover's executive ascension and the resulting struggle to balance his desire to make quality films and uphold artistic integrity while up against the corporate demands of the job. In addition to Rogen, who co-directed the season with Goldberg, the ensemble cast includes Catherine O'Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders and Kathryn Hahn. But the insider's look at Hollywood stands out with its impressive roster of A-list cameos, including directors Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Dave Franco, Anthony Mackie, Bryan Cranston and Zoë Kravitz - all of whom received guest actor nominations. The Times spoke with Rogen and Goldberg about the "The Studio's" big Emmys debut. Q: Congratulations on the big morning. I have to know: how soon did you hear from Matt Belloni? [The entertainment biz journalist and founding partner of the Puck newsletter had frequent mentions and a cameo in the show's first season.] Rogen: He hasn't texted me yet. Goldberg: Me either. Rogen: That motherf-. No messages. Zero. I'm checking right now. Nothing! [laughs] Goldberg: Ron Howard stopped his busy day. Belloni can't find the time. Q: "The Studio" is the most nominated freshman comedy in Emmy history, surpassing "Ted Lasso." What's your reaction to that? Goldberg: It's a real honor and an incredible thrill. Rogen: It's totally unexpected. We've had a long and lovely career that awards have not been a part of in any way shape or form. [laughs] The fact that [we're] people who started in their early 20s and are now in their mid-40s, and there's a whole new thing being introduced into our lives and our jobs, is very lovely. There's a real novelty to it and it's incredibly flattering in a way that we are not used to being flattered. Goldberg: And it will either trigger or prevent our midlife crisis. Rogen: Too late for that. Q: Seth, how do you think Matt views award nomination mornings? How does his routine compare to yours? Rogen: Oh, my God. Me and Matt, unfortunately, are more similar than I would like to admit - both as people who greatly crave external validation but also instantly translate any good news into potential pressure and anxiety to maintain that level of work. I think Matt would respond very similarly to how I'm responding to that. I'm both thrilled and feel immense pressure simultaneously to continue doing a show that people like. Q: So much of the show is about the push and pull of the Hollywood ecosystem - the decisions that even the most ardent lovers of movie or TV have to bend on to stay in the game or to keep making the thing they love. How has expressing this conundrum through the show illuminated or changed either your outlook or approach to the current realities of being a creative? Goldberg: It makes me appreciate it so much more. I've always appreciated it a great deal, but the the idea that we get to make art - now I'm just repeating Zoe's speech from the Globes [episode] - is just thrilling and you feel how difficult it is in the show. That's something that we keep running into it. My friends back home, they're like, "I love that show. It's so fun." And my friends in Hollywood are like, "Jesus Christ, that's stressful. I can only watch two at a time." And it's because they know that how real it is, how stressful it is, how difficult it can be, and how rewarding it can be. I feel like it's something that making the show and living it is a constant reminder of how difficult it all is. Rogen: The show is very reflective of our own attitude towards it, in that you see that Hollywood is much less willing to take risks in some ways than they than they used to be and in order to navigate that, you sort of have to accept that. We, as filmmakers, have. We make things based on big properties, and we also try to make smaller things based on original ideas. A lot of the show is based on our own frustrations and sort of trials and tribulations of being people who primarily want to create original material, but have found, at times, that if you want to do anything close to that in a way that actually is well-funded and seen by people, you have to make original things based on things that exist already. But, honestly, the more we get into it, it's like, "Jaws" is IP, technically; "The Godfather" is IP; "Gone With the Wind" is IP - it's nothing new. Hollywood has always looked for ways to mitigate their risk. I think individuals have always looked for ways to like be held less accountable for something going wrong. If you're making a thing that exists already in some way, then then no one will blame you for doing it. The fact that we got to make this show is like a vote for the other side. It is a big original idea. It's about Hollywood; people say, "No one wants to make a show about that, or watch a show about that." They let us take huge, creative swings with the show. The show, at once, is criticizing a system that is also allowing the show itself to kind of flourish, which we are very aware of. Q: Have you thought about who you will thank on the big night? And where does Netflix boss Ted Sarandos rank in that list? Goldberg: We just get up there, shout Ted's name and just walk off. Rogen: Yeah, we only thank Ted and no one from Apple. Q: "The Studio" is riddled with iconic cameos. Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese got their first acting nominations. How does it feel to have given them the platform for that? And Seth, how long before you find a way to get some of "The Valley" cast to make a cameo? Goldberg: To answer the first part of the question - my brain can't even accept it. It doesn't seem real. To even meet those two men was crazy. The fact that we did anything that makes them look good is one of the craziest things that's ever happened in my life. Rogen: Yeah, much like in the show, my greatest fear as a person is letting down the filmmakers who I love and who inspired me in the first place. The fact that they're getting recognition and doesn't seem like they wasted their time working with us is an enormous relief. It makes me just feel much better about the whole thing. My fear is that that I'm convincing people I love to work with me and that they'll walk away being unhappy with the experience or feeling like we didn't make them look good. [As for "The Valley"], I'll think about it. I haven't brought it up with the team yet, but now that you've cracked the door, I might have a way in. Q: Are you looking at this appearance at the Emmys as a way to get in your requests with some nominees in the room? Goldberg: If we play our cards right, we'll come out of there with the whole Season 2 stacked and ready to go. Rogen: Every Hollywood event I go to now is literally just so I can ask people to be on our show. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
