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Over the past few years, retro gaming has becoming more and more popular with gamers who want to recapture a bygone era of video games. And now, Arcade1Up has made it easier and more affordable to bring retro gaming to your home.

Enter Arcade1Up’s Classic Se Series, the company’s compact version of arcade cabinets. Ideal for those who live in small spaces, these cabinets feature retro gameplay,...

Spoiler Alert !!!Hints and full solutions for both New York Times word games ahead.

Jazz knowledge became the ultimate Friday flex today when August 8 decided to quiz me on bebop legends I should probably know but absolutely don’t. Today’s New York Times Games threw Strands and Connections at me with completely different energy: one demanding serious musical street cred, the other sneaking arcade history into wordplay categories.

The whole experience left me googling jazz nicknames while discovering that Ms. Pac-Man was apparently a 1982 sequel. Sometimes puzzle solving doubles as accidental education.

Want to tackle these yourself first? Check out our complete puzzle solving guide before scrolling to solutions. But if you’re ready for answers and jazz history lessons, here we go.

Nyt Strands Solution for August 8, 2025 (#523)

Today’s Strands theme “Kings of swing and bebop” focuses on legendary jazz musician nicknames, with Nyt’s testers rating it moderate difficulty.

The much-awaited Nintendo Direct event on July 31 has just concluded, and we think it was a pretty decent presentation. It was a Partner Showcase, which means the event only focused on third-party titles, excluding the likes of franchises like Mario and Animal Crossing. From major RPG reveals to surprising third-party ports, the 25-minute peak Nintendo showcase video unveiled everything that is coming to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 handhelds.

The rapid-fire string of announcements managed to deliver quite well, as the developers announced something for every type of player. If you somehow missed the event, we have handpicked 5 of the best moments from July 31, 2025’s Nintendo Direct.

1. Kicking Off With Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection Release date: Sometime in 2026

The event started off pretty well, as one of the best mobile RPGs, Monster Hunter Stories, is finally getting a threequel. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is coming to Nintendo...

Quick View10. Mortal Kombat 29. Ghost of Tsushima 8. Five Nights at Freddy’s 27. Helldivers 26. Pac-Man5. Watch Dogs 4. Detective Pikachu3. Elden Ring2. Death Stranding 1. Fallout Season 2

There was a time when the announcement of video game adaptations horrified gamers. They just couldn’t imagine how Hollywood would turn their beloved gaming franchises into some of the biggest cinematic disasters this time. Just think of the Need for Speed movie, or the Halo TV series. Just a few years ago, adapting a game to the big screens was almost a guaranteed way to kill its legacy and send it to oblivion.

But then came in the game-changers like Fallout, The Last of Us, Arcane, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. These adaptations flipped the negative perception completely, proving that video game stories can shine on screen. In just a few years, we’ve gone from disappointments to genuine blockbusters, with major adaptations sweeping accolades and breaking records.

Fans think they solved the murder mystery on The Young and the Restless. They believe that Carter is setting up this long con revenge plot against his employer. He could be bitter towards Cane for snatching up everybody’s company, including his own.

Cracked The Case

The Y&r spoilers for July 28 to August 1 suggest that Carter (Vincent Stalba) is up to no good. Fans are already onto him. Over on the Y&r subreddit, one poster claims to have cracked the case. “What if Carter is a descendant of this DeLeon family? What if he’s made about his family’s home being bought out by Cane, and the vineyard being knocked down for a stupid maze?”

Carter could be out to get Cane (Billy Flynn). He wants his family’s property back. Cane’s estate is associated with a winery called Chante DeLeon. While being held hostage, Sharon (Sharon Case...

Synthwave outfit Gunship is back with a claymation sequel ten years after unleashing 80s-inspired retrosynth cult classic “Tech Noir.”

Paying tribute to classic ’80s and ’90s genre blockbuster culture, the new single and claymation video is appropriately titled “Tech Noir 2” and reunites fans with the band’s vivid retro-futuristic world, pushing their audiovisual storytelling into heartwarming territory.

The video’s story follows “a young girl whose obsession with arcade glory accidentally leads to her baby brother’s abduction by the arch-villain from the original Tech Noir video. To rescue him, she must venture into a video game world and channel the power of legendary gaming heroes. As an added touch, fans who won Gunship’s online competition will spot their initials immortalised in the in-video arcade high-score table.”

The original video was directed by acclaimed animator Lee Hardcastle and featured horror master John Carpenter, who lent his voice to the opening monologue.

Sony Corp. has taken a small stake in Tekken and Pac-Man games giant Bandai Namco, as part of a strategic business alliance.

Japan-based Sony paid 68 billion yen ($464M) for a 2.5% stake in its compatriot company, which is also the owner of the Soulcalibur, Elden Ring and Dark Rings franchises.

The strategic alliance resulting from the investment will see the two companies seek to tap further into the booming global market for Japanese content and anime franchises.

They will “focus on expanding the fan community for IP such as anime and manga around the world and strengthening engagement, particularly in the anime field where rapid market growth is anticipated,” according to a statement.

In an even more corporate-sounding statement, Toshimoto Mitomo, Chief Strategy Officer, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Sony Group Corporation, said: “Through this partnership, we aim to co-create an array of content and experiences that exceed expectations and deliver Kando to even more fans,...

Whenever RPGs come up in conversations, there’s one name that instantly pops into our heads: Todd Howard. Let’s be honest, despite the controversies, the man’s a legend. He’s the one leading the charge at Bethesda Game Studios and is responsible for blockbuster hits such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, which have completely changed how we experience open worlds. It’s hard to imagine what the gaming scene would’ve looked like without his influence.

So, what has allowed Howard to craft such legendary games? Well, he’s a gamer himself. Seriously, he lives and breathes video games, just like all of us. He, too, has some special games that have fired his creativity and changed his approach when it comes to crafting games. Wondering which titles hold a special place in his heart? Let’s take a look at the top 10 video games that Howard...

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Remember those days? Back when you’d cruise down to the local movie theater, plop down with a big tub of popcorn, and just lose yourself in a movie? No deep dissections, no endless online debates – just pure, unadulterated fun, thrills, and maybe a little bit of magic. That, my friends, was the 80s. It was a time when Atari was king, arcades hummed with the glow of Pac-Man and Space Invaders, and our imaginations were fueled by pixels and silver screens. If you’re looking for a perfect slice of that cinematic pie, look no further than 1984’s Cloak & Dagger. This film perfectly captures that awesome feeling when your childhood dreams of being a secret agent collided head-on with real-world adventure. It stars Henry Thomas, who you’ll remember as Elliott from E.T., this time as Davey Osborne. Davey’s a kid...

It takes a specific kind of marketing mind to imagine that a dark and gritty reboot of a beloved children’s character can amount to anything good. While the Golden Age of Comic Books ultimately gave way to edgier storytelling in the Seventies and Eighties, and everything from Steamboat Willie to Winnie the Pooh now has a blood-soaked live-action iteration (thanks, public domain!), the basic concept rarely offers more than shock value. What if this candy-colored icon of happier days was a killer?

The idea’s seen its day in gaming,...

When you think of franchises within Sony, a few big names come to mind: God of War, Horizon, and the usual heavy hitters. But when Sony decided to give Concord a dedicated episode in Secret Level, it really showed where the company’s head was at.

And if there’s one word to describe that place, it’s got to be rotten. While Concord got the spotlight, Helldivers 2 (their actual live-service success) barely earned a cameo. It’s almost as if the company had the winning lottery ticket and didn’t even check the numbers.

Blinded by the chase: Sony’s desperate search for a live service hit

It’s no secret that Sony’s been chasing the Fortnite dream. Its goal? A live-service juggernaut that could keep people hooked for years. But in their blind pursuit of that elusive success, they completely missed Helldivers 2, a game that turned out...

School’s out and summer is officially upon us, which means you might be looking for something to watch for family movie night a bit more often now. It’s good you’ve found your way here.

Each month, movies are added and removed across all streaming platforms, making it hard to keep track of what you can watch and where. So, we’re going to help you out a bit — specifically when it comes to Prime Video. There are plenty of family-friendly films to choose from on the streamer, and of course, we trust you to find something you like.

But, if need some specific recommendations, you can find seven of our favorite family-friendly comedies that are currently streaming on Prime below.

Michelle Monaghan, Adam Sandler and Josh Gad in “Pixels” (Columbia Pictures) Pixels (2015)

If enjoy the movie “Free Guy,” odds are pretty good you’ll enjoy “Pixels,” which came several years earlier.

The Dying Light franchise has been a long-running icon in the zombie-survival genre, balancing horror with parkour at the same time, which keeps the player hooked. Moreover, with the upcoming Dying Light: The Beast, the developers seem to be going an extra mile by including a mechanic that takes inspiration straight out of a legendary arcade game.

The upcoming game introduces Beast Mode, which is far from being just another rage meter, and is instead a twist on nostalgia from an arcade game you never saw coming.

Dying Light: The Beast’s Beast Mode is inspired by this iconic arcade game

Dying Light: The Beast, while having the same fundamentals from previous installments, steers off course by doing everything with twice as much exaggeration. One of the innovations in the new game is the addition of Beast Mode, a mechanic where the player can enter a state of rage and...

According to “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” executive producer and head writer Molly McNearney, being a late night writer requires a really thick skin, “because 90 percent of what you’re writing in the morning as you’re crying reading the news is rejected. So we are a bunch of losers,” she joked during a recent panel.

During the panel, held inside the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” studio in Hollywood, as seen in the exclusive video above, McNearney was joined by fellow EP and head writer Danny Ricker, who added, “That’s your first rejection of the day, by the way. It’s just another 12 hours of that.” Gary Greenberg, co-head writer and supervising producer on the show also appeared on the panel, and said, “There’s home and away rejections,” clarifying that all those jokes that get pitched in the morning are sent in by the writers working from home, before they come...

The Mario Kart series has been a cultural phenomenon since the release of its first game back in 1992, and one simple aspect of it changed the entire racing games genre back in the day. Before Mario and his friends took to the asphalt, racing games were often about serious affairs, but Nintendo made sure to add a flair of cartoonistic fun in racing, and hence, Mario Kart was born.

While the franchise has been a successful venture for Nintendo since the early days, other than the graphics and a few elements, the core gameplay features haven’t really changed much. Making it feel like the same game but with different glasses on. One way Nintendo can make the game feel fresh and new again is by following the footsteps of Super Smash Bros.

Mario Kart has become quite stale and needs something new

The Mario Kart series has become quite popular,...

We're about to see a heck of lot more video game movies. The superhero genre, which proved to be Hollywood's most powerful weapon in wrenching kids away from their iPads and YouTube for more than a decade, is waning. Meanwhile, the industry continues its struggle to adapt to the streaming age in a pandemic era where people are really only attending the multiplex for event films. But with "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" becoming one of the highest-grossing films ever and "A Minecraft Movie" also crushing it at the box office, it seems video games are the new superheroes.

"Five Nights at Freddy's," the "Sonic" movies, and even "Fallout" and "The Last of Us" on the TV side of things. This is the new era we find ourselves in, where video game IP becomes the new font for all Hollywood's ideas. But this is very much the reverse of how...

One of the most iconic video game characters ever, Pac-Man, now has a modern cookbook presented in a retro style. Bandai Namco's Pac-Man is one of the oldest and most iconic video game characters, dating way back to 1980 when the industry was in its infancy. The character is an iconic part of gaming history, and you can now bring a slice of the Pac-Man pie home, literally.

The official Pac-Man cookbook is here, and it's full of adorable and delicious themed recipes and a retro style. The book, titled "Pac-Man: The Official Cookbook," was written by Lisa Kingsley and Jennifer Peterson and published by Simon & Schuster, where it's also available to buy. The 160-page hardcover tome contains 60 recipes inspired by the iconic yellow circle, and can be purchased for $29.99.

Pac-Man Cook Book Embraces Its Retro Origins Classic Recipes And Visual Style With A Modern Twist

A Pac-Man cookbook is very fitting,...

In putting together episodes of Secret Level, creator Tim Miller utilized a very similar system that he used when doing the show Love, Death + Robots. He assembled this group of novelists and short story writers and helped to give them key information about various video games to build stories off of. “We make these big decks that tells you all the do’s and don’ts and we send them to the authors and then they pitch us. We’ll usually ask five or 10 authors to pitch us on any given game. Then we pick the best idea that we like and they write a prose version of that story which we then adapt into a screenplay,” he tells Gold Derby during our recent Meet the Experts: TV Animation panel.

Secret Level, which is available to stream on Prime Video, is an animated anthology series that tells standalone short...

2025 has been a great year for anime. With monster hits like Solo Leveling and The Apothecary Diaries dominating fan conversations, competition for the year's biggest anime franchise has never been fiercer. Given the already heated competition for top spot, it's surprising that a franchise that isn't even airing a new anime this year just broke a big record and has suddenly catapulted itself to the forefront of conversations about the biggest franchises of 2025.

Recently, the X account for the multimedia idol franchise Love Live!made a post announcing that their song AiScReam has achieved over 25 million views on YouTube. More than that though, Love Live!'s account claims that total views to videos related to the song on YouTube have exceeded 6 billion views. The songis clearly a massive hit with anime fans and is a great reminder of just how big idol culture still is, both in Japan and abroad.

Maybe no other game than GoldenEye 007 better gave you memories with your friends. Just seeing the cover automatically sends you back to those basement days, chugging Surge and belching Doritos 3D. And when you took your N64 to college, it was cheap beer on both fronts. Whatever the setting or era, it was almost guaranteed that someone was getting an N64 controller to the knee. Now, GoldenEye 007 is being recognized not just for how many friendships it ruined but how innovative the multiplayer gameplay was, as it will officially be part of the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

Joining GoldenEye 007 are Defender, Quake and Tamagotchi. On Defender, The Strong National Museum of Play noted it for its gameplay that helped separate the skilled players to those who just threw quarters in random machines at the arcade. As for first-person shooter Quake – which id Software launched as a successor of...

As the once-reliable superhero genre has loosened its iron grip on moviegoers, Hollywood is turning to video games as a source for blockbuster success, and so far it appears to be working. Sure, we've had historic duds such as the biggest bomb of 2024, "Borderlands," but in the wake of "Minecraft" claiming two of the biggest box office weekends of 2025 and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" becoming one of the 20 biggest films ever, video games look to be the next IP ripe for plundering.

For a long time, of course, things mostly worked the other way: Hollywood would provide the IP and video game developers would do their best with the license. But for the most part, it seemed as though adapting successful films into video games was tough business. There have been so many awful games based on successful movies that fans mostly just accepted that such games were going to be awful.

Video games have been the pinnacle of entertainment for the last few decades. What began as a simple time killer with games like Pac-Man and Mario soon turned into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Games now are not just a way to pass the time; they require a lot of grinding and dedication to achieve elusive in-game trophies and medals.

Back in the day, game development studios used to solely focus on single projects, but things have changed now. Developers like EA and Ubisoft release multiple games everywhere, be it multiplayer or campaign. Each year is packed with new games or continuations of a popular franchise, adding to the vast library of games.

Like each year, 2025 is also filled with multiple releases. Up to now, we have hit titles like Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, Atom Fall, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, and more. These new releases have been quite entertaining, and...

A decade past its namesake video game, Sony’s “Until Dawn” adaptation isn’t the “best” possible outcome. To get that ending, the studio would’ve had to move faster, turning its popular PlayStation title from 2015 into a movie — preferably, back when it had a prayer of casting Hayden Panettiere and Rami Malek as the mo-cap teens they played then.

The original “Until Dawn” follows a group of grieving friends terrorized by a mysterious presence at a snowy cabin. It’s got multiple endings, famously determined by player choice, but the game also has a memorable narrative with the potential to win nostalgia points among gamers at the box office. Theoretically. What director David F. Sandberg does with his take on “Until Dawn” is something altogether stranger, with an approach more bizarre than almost any film 10 years ago would have tried.

Written by Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler, this “standalone...

If you are a gamer, then this is the era to be in. From experiencing pixelated games like Mario and Pac-Man to games filled with brilliant stories and mesmerizing graphics like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk, the industry has come a long way.

In the last two decades, many notable game developers have made a list of games that have successfully turned into popular franchises. Plenty of games like Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and Grand Theft Auto have all been part of many gamers’ lives as they grew up. But gone are the days when the only issue was if you could run the game; now it is all about 4K resolutions and frame rates and whatnot.

With the newer generation of gamers coming up, they are not able to show the same love to the popular franchise as they don’t have the attachment that a lot of people do,...

Adam Sandler's 2015 sci-fi comedy movie Pixels will soon have a new streaming home. It will be available on Netflix starting April 11.

Pixels was directed by legendary filmmaker Chris Columbus. Sandler stars as Sam Brenner, a former arcade video game champion who unites with other players to save the world from an alien attack. When the aliens misinterpret video footage of classic video games as a declaration of war, they use the games as blueprints for their invasion, leading President Will Cooper (Kevin James) to recruit Sam to engage the aliens in an all-out battle where the fate of the planet is at stake.

Pixels was inspired by Patrick Jean's 2010 short film, and Jean served as an executive producer on the film. The story drew on the nostalgia factor of classic retro arcade games, with Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders being licensed for the film. Pixels was released...

The legal battle between It Ends With Us co-stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively isn't ending any time soon. There are multiple lawsuits going on, and the court date is set for Mar. 9, 2026.

With a series of serious accusations between the two of them, their reputations have taken a hit in the past few months. Baldoni's Wayfarer Studio's Pac-Man is in jeopardy of being scrapped, and the actor and his production studio reportedly lost millions. Lively recently premiered the sequel to 2018's A Simple Favor, Another Simple Favor, at the 2025 South by Southwest Festival, but the public is divided. In a new appearance on The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast, Justin Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, addressed the chances of settlement.

When host Matt Belloni argued that there is an intense public interest and "damage to both sides" and that he thinks the parties would settle, Freedman replied near the end of the episode,...

“For a period, it really seemed like survival horror had died. But like the zombies that plague its hallways, it always gets back up. You cannot kill survival horror.”

So posits Doctoral Researcher, Kaytlin Blackmore, in TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming’s debut episode. It’s a rhapsodic reflection on how the genre in question has managed to endure across the generations, in the face of ever-shifting consumer tastes, adversarial cultural forces, and unfavourable regime changes on the publishing front. More importantly, though, it’s just a fundamentally warm and fuzzy sentiment that resonates throughout the entirety of this community-backed docuseries.

Constructed in a way that recalls the reverent originals that you often find while browsing Shudder (i.e. Horror’s Greatest or The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time), TerrorBytes is first & foremost an admiring look at survival horror over the ages. So rather than scrutinising the...

Video Game realms hold intricate histories, profound lores, and profound characters that would translate amazingly into the morion screen if done in a correct way. For its past 68 years of their existence, Video Games have rightfully earned the title as one of the most complete forms of entertainment. Being one of the few that have successfully achieved full immersion between audience and product, with the exception of "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, of which immersion was still limited to sole text, Video Games have managed to make astonishing masterpieces while allowing the playing to be a part of the world. Whether it is allowing them to choose where the character will go next and what action to perform at what time or letting every decision the player makes drastically change the story and how it is presented. This medium has brought us some of the most profound and intricate characters,...

When there’s a discussion about bringing video game adaptations to big screens, you wouldn’t think of Pac-Man as a choice. It’s a simple game that’s repetitive and doesn’t bring in terms of the story or characters. However, Pac-Man was picked by Prime Video’s Secret Level as one of the franchises to be focused on.

Secret Level featured a unique take on Pac-Man. (Image via Prime Video)

Secret Level didn’t feature a faithful adaptation of Pac-Man. The show shook a radically different direction by featuring Pac-Man as a titular who’s trying to make it out of a maze that has no exits and is filled with bloody battles and extreme gore. It was undoubtedly a horrifying experience, but it still doesn’t come close to a fan-adaptation that will truly scare you for life.

Secret Level‘s Pac-Man fails against this fan adaptation...

Hollywood and video game adaptations have a complicated relationship. While some films find success, many are met with a barrage of criticism from fans and critics alike. Long before Mark Wahlberg suited up as Sully in Uncharted, he dipped his toes into the world of video game movies.

Mark Wahlberg in Max Payne | Credits: 20th Century Studios

With an $85 million budget, stylish visuals, and a strong cast, it had all the makings of a hit. But even before stepping onto the set, Wahlberg had his doubts, in hindsight it seems pretty justified. But why did Wahlberg hesitate?

What did Mark Wahlberg find that made Max Payne a red flag? A still from Max Payne | Credits: Rockstar Games

When Max Payne was pitched to Mark Wahlberg, he wasn’t exactly jumping with joy. Despite the game’s cult following and gritty neo-noir storyline, Wahlberg wasn’t familiar with the source material.

2015 was a good year for fans of the sport when two legendary boxers competed in the ring for the win – Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. While the highly anticipated fight ended up being somewhat of a letdown, fans, including P Diddy and Mark Wahlberg, were excited to see it all unfold. The two top names in the industry released a video betting on their preferred boxer and let’s just say that it didn’t end too well for Mark Wahlberg.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao | Credits: Showtime

When they sat down to place their bets, it went without saying that they were going to go big. While the value began at $100,000, Mark Wahlberg wasn’t convinced with the “little” amount Diddy had proposed. Unfortunately, the actor’s confidence backfired.

Mark Wahlberg and P Diddy’s insane bet on the Fight of the Century Diddy and Mark Wahlberg place...

Justin Baldoni’s issues with Blake Lively have started affecting his career. According to a source, Baldoni may lose three potential projects, including a live-action Pac-Man. The It Ends With Us actor and his Wayfarer Studios were involved in the live-action version of the popular arcade game from 2022. Amidst the drama in August 2024, reports about the film resurfaced.

After months of speculation about a feud between the lead actors on It Ends With Us, Lively accused co-star Baldoni of creating a hostile work environment in a civil rights complaint filed on December 21. Baldoni filed a countersuit, claiming damages worth $400 million for charges including civil extortion and defamation.

Justin Baldoni with Blake Lively in It Ends With Us | Credits: Sony Pictures Releasing

However, Lively’s complaint had done some damage to Baldoni’s career. He and his studio were both dropped by WME, the talent agency. While Baldoni has strong support from a section of fans,...

The ongoing legal saga surrounding the film It Ends With Us looks – bizarrely – to have put pay to a potential Pac-Man movie.

Pac-Man is a character used to living in a perpetual state of danger, given that in each of the original game’s 256 levels, there are menacing ghosts out to get our circular yellow hero. However, at least with Blinky and his crew of spectral companions Pac-Man could pick up a power pill once in a while and turn the tables on them.

Sadly, when it comes to the cutthroat world of Hollywood film production, the videogame icon may be tragically out of his depth. The ghosts of Hollywood are deadlier than those of a 1980s arcade machine.

If you weren’t aware, a Pac-Man movie was announced a couple of years ago, with little else emerging in the way of details apart from the reveal that it would be a live-action project.

Insiders close to Justin Baldoni revealed that his career has taken a hit amid his legal battle with Blake Lively.

If you missed it, the It Ends With Us costars have accused each other of poor behavior, defamation and more in competing lawsuits that have been filed over the last two months.

A new report revealed that Justin is suffering professionally as the legal face-off continues to develop. In fact, one key project he had lined up has now been described as “in doubt.”

Keep reading to find out more…

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the actor/director has “lost three jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars” since Blake‘s lawsuit was filed in late December.

The outlet noted that one of the projects that now has an unclear future is the live-action Pac-Man movie that he was developing with his Wayfarer Studios. The movie was first announced...

Years after it was announced that Justin Baldoni would help bring Pac-Man to life on the big screen, an unfortunate update has been shared about the project. The news comes amid the ongoing legal battle between Baldoni and It Ends with Us co-star Blake Lively.

Per THR, Baldoni's Pac-Man film might have been scrapped. The film is reportedly in serious jeopardy as a direct result of the allegations Lively made about Baldoni, which include sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign to harm her reputation. It was a project that Baldoni was planning to quickly move on to after It Ends with Us, as he said in an Aug. 18 text to his PR team that he was hoping Pac-Man would next "move towards the future." It had been something on his agenda since the film was first announced in 2022.

Related Elliot Page Is Turning a Hit 12-Year-Old Video Game Into...

In August, Justin Baldoni believed Pac-Man, the yellow, pellet-eating protagonist of the 1980s arcade game, could be the hero he needed to help change the messy narrative surrounding the release of It Ends With Us.

For weeks, rumors of a feud between director-star Baldoni and his co-star Blake Lively had dominated entertainment news headlines, and he was looking for a way to turn the page. According to a text he sent his PR team on Aug. 18, Baldoni suggested sharing the news that he would next direct a Pac-Man movie, something he hoped would help him “move towards the future.”

But Pac-Man, which Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios were developing since 2022, may no longer be in his future. It is among at least a trio of projects that are now in doubt as friction with Lively turned from internet curiosity into a full-fledged legal war.

In recent days, sources close to...

Prime Video's Secret Level was an exceptional anthology series, with each episode focusing on a different beloved video game franchise. After Season 1 released in late 2024, fans have been desperate for more episodes, praying that their favorite video games get adapted into a standalone episode. According to the show's creator, Tim Miller, and supervising director, Dave Wilson, those dreams might very well come true, as the show could have a very long shelf life. Season 1 included games like Armored Core, Dungeons & Dragons, Sifu, Warhammer 40,000, Mega-Man, and an absolutely wild Pac-Man episode. But, gamers know those are just scratching the surface of the medium's 60-year history.

During an interview with The Direct, Tim Miller and Dave Wilson revealed how long Secret Level could continue for on Prime Video, and it's certain to get fans very excited. "The list is pretty huge," Miller said of the games he wants to adapt in future seasons.

Secret Level creator Tim Miller confirmed Season 2 will feature more fan-favorite video games. That's just the tip of the iceberg; they have a long list of IPs begging to be adapted.

Tim Miller admitted Season 1 merely scratched the surface of Secret Level's potential. Fan-favorite video game IPs like Warhammer 40k, Mega Man, and Dungeons & Dragons were featured, but Miller has plenty more games on his wish list. "We could get ten seasons out of it," he told The Direct. "And that's just all games that we generally--it's not like you're scraping the barrel. It's just games that you'd really love to see." Season 1 did throw curveballs like the weird Pac-Man episode; Miller said they could also flip the script with other properties.

Related 10 Amazing Anthology Shows to Watch if You Loved Secret Level

Anthologies are a unique format for television. With the great success of Secret Level, what...

The creative minds behind the recently renewed Amazon Studios series, Secret Level, have tons of ideas for what Season 2 could include.

Secret Level is an animated anthology that tells unique stories set within the worlds of established game franchises and IP. In its first season, it has already told tales from Mega Man, Dragon Age, The Outer Wilds, Concord, Dungeons & Dragons, and more.

The show's Pac-Man piece seems to have drawn the most attention. It took the innocent arcade game and turned it into a violent and disturbing short about a lost soul's quest for survival and purpose.

Read full article on The Direct.

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2024 is over, and we have seen some brilliant and not-so-brilliant TV shows on streaming services and cable networks. However, the sci-fi fantasy genre TV shows are proving to be the biggest ones this year with the release of shows like Fallout and 3 Body Problem. The sci-fi fans are having a great year, and if TV shows weren’t enough, we also got Dune: Part Two this year, which was the most successful sci-fi fantasy film in 2024. So, let’s check out the best new and returning sci-fi fantasy shows that came out last year.

Silo Season 2 (Apple TV+ & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – Apple TV+

Silo is a sci-fi dystopian drama series created by Graham Yost. Based on the Silo trilogy of novels by Hugh Howey, Season 2 of the Apple TV+ series continues the story of Juliette after...

The gaming industry has come a long way from arcade games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Donkey Kong to almost realistic VR games like Metal Hellsinger, Lone Echo, and Half-Life: Alyx.

In a world where gaming continues to blur the lines between reality and virtual experiences, Sony is taking the concept of immersion to an entirely new level.

Ellie shooting a clicker in The Last of Us | Credits: PlayStation Productions

Sony’s groundbreaking Future Immersive Entertainment Concept aims to engage all your senses, redefining how we experience video games. With the company’s feature reveal at CES 2025, the future of gaming is more sensory-rich and interactive than ever. Here’s how Sony’s latest innovation could revolutionize the gaming industry.

Sony reveals its Future Immersive Entertainment Concept at CES 2025 The Last of Us Part II | Credits: PlayStation Productions

Sony’s concept revolves around multi-sensory gaming combining the latest technologies in...

The thrill of espionage meets stealth gameplay in Super Spy Raccoon’s vibrant, retro-inspired world. In this Nintendo Switch game made by Slain Mascot, you play as Romeo Raccoon and must collect secret papers across five single-screen levels. From beachside hideouts to jungle treks, each level is designed around a playful spy trope.

The game features pixelated graphics and chiptune music, creating a nostalgic atmosphere. Players must rely on stealth rather than combat, which connects the game’s narrative and mechanics. This turns every level into a puzzle, where timing and careful movement are key to beating it.

The characters’ stories aren’t as deep as in RPGs, but the game focuses on pure gameplay mechanics and enjoys simplicity. The constant pursuit of high scores adds emotional weight and encourages persistence in a cute, retro setting.

The Stealthy Dance: Gameplay Mechanics in Super Spy Raccoon

At its core, Super Spy...

Quick Links Secret Level's Mega Man Ending, Explained Prime Video Can Tell More Mega Man Stories

The following contains spoilers for Secret Level Episode 10, "Mega Man: Start," now streaming on Prime Video.

When it comes to video game adaptations, TV fans are getting a few. HBO has The Last of Us, Netflix has a couple of anime series based on the Castlevania franchise, while Prime Video is adapting new and vintage properties for Secret Level. Interestingly, the latter anthology dials in on one of Capcom's biggest icons: Mega Man.

Though Episode 10, "Mega Man: Start" is short, it's still the ideal launchpad for a series that could traverse the many games, since the character debuted in the 1980s. In the process, it could outshine the cartoons of old with more action, polished CGI, and gravitas in the narrative.

Secret Level's Mega Man Ending, Explained Rock Suits Up to Protect...

‘Secret Level’ is an animated series created by Tim Miller for Amazon Prime Video, produced by Blur Studio and Amazon MGM Studios. The show features 15 episodes based on different video games, with a voice cast that includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Hart, Keanu Reeves, and more.

It was announced in August 2024 and premiered with the first eight episodes on December 10, 2024, followed by the rest on December 17, 2024. The series received mixed reviews, and the Pac-Man episode helped promote a new game, ‘Shadow Labyrinth.’ In December 2024, Amazon renewed ‘Secret Level’ for a second season.

In the ‘Armored Core: Asset Management’ episode Keanu Reeves plays the pilot, and even though Reeves’ performance in the show was vital for the episode, Wilson and Miller explained that it almost didn’t happen.

The creators explained how Keanu Reeves joined the project. Tim Miller texted Dave Wilson asking if they had a role for Keanu, and after some back-and-forth,...

The idea of a crossover between gaming titans Master Chief from Halo and Doom Slayer from Doom seems a bit impossible. But we almost got a glimpse of it in Amazon Prime’s Secret Level, a new animated anthology series that adapts popular video game franchises.

Space Marines in the Warhammer: 40,000 episode of Secret Level | Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video

Showrunners Tim Miller and Dave Wilson revealed they pitched a collaborative episode to Xbox, but their proposal was ultimately rejected by Microsoft. In a surprise to no one, fans aren’t too happy. But come on, it would’ve been one of the most epic gaming collaborations ever! Maybe we’ll get another chance with Season 2.

Secret Level could’ve had one of gaming’s biggest crossovers A still from the Concord episode of Secret Level | Image Credit: Amazon Prime Video

Secret Level premiered on Amazon Prime Video on December...

The following contains spoilers for Secret Level, now streaming on Prime VideoSecret Level's exploration of a classic game mechanic is a boon to the show's storytelling. The series bounces around various games and worlds, with some consistent themes appearing in numerous episodes. One of the best ones is the way the show approaches a core mechanic of most video games. It's a classic concept found in multiple generations of gaming, as it's a key way several games force gamers to make repeated attempts to grow as a player to accomplish their mission. It ends up being treated as a storytelling device in many of the stand-alone episodes found in Secret Level.

The creatives behind Secret Level don't just play with the worlds of their games, but sometimes experiment with the storytelling potential of the concept. One mechanic in particular is tackled from different emotional vantage points throughout Secret Level's fifteen episodes,...

Tim Miller's video game anthology Secret Level managed to land a wide variety of titles for its 15-episode first run, from beloved indies like Spelunky and Sifu to iconic older series like Pac-Man and Mega Man and more wide-ranging franchises like Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer. However, there's still so much untapped potential for this series of animated shorts. The sky is the limit as far as finding games to adapt into a short, compelling story of roughly 5 to 20 minutes. For many reasons though, actually convincing game developers and publishers to come on board and clearing all the legal hurdles is no small task, especially when it comes to the biggest franchises.

Secret Level's first season has officially come to an end, and while it certainly nailed many of its interesting video game adaptations, Kratos' limited role makes it clear which franchise must appear in season 2. Although everyone will rank Secret Level's episodes differently, Prime Video's anthology series had more hits than misses during its first outing, leading to the show being renewed for a second season. Having featured some classic and popular titles such as Pac-Man, Mega Man, and Warhammer 40,000, Secret Level proved it was capable of adapting some big IPs alongside some more niche gaming franchises.

However, one of the project's biggest disappointments was God of War's Kratos. The iconic character featured in Secret Level episode 15, which involved a mash-up of multiple PlayStation characters. Unfortunately, most of their roles were restricted to brief cameos that didn't have a massive impact on the story, which came as...

Undoubtedly, One Piece stands tall with its cult popularity and worldwide fanbase. It is also one of the most successful anime franchises with its breakthroughs. Besides world records, it is soaring heights with its splendid animation and storytelling.

Above all, the series’ cultural impact is indisputable in more ways than one. This is especially true with theme parks, cafes, and collaborations. However, a recent development vexed the fans majorly.

Monkey D. Luffy in a still from the anime | Credit: Toei Animation

With Pacman and Skibidi Toilet’s addition to Fortnite, fans couldn’t help but express disappointment. The game previously featured Dragon Ball along with Naruto. In this case, fans’ disdain seems valid mostly.

On the other hand, the game’s exclusion of Luffy only proves why the character remains a cultural icon. From his persona to his determination, Oda left no stone unturned in magnifying his brilliance.

One Piece...

Amazon Prime Video's animated series Secret Level brought some of the most popular video games to life during season 1, and now it has been renewed for season 2. Created for the small screen by Tim Miller, Secret Level uses an anthology format to explore stories set within the worlds of hit video game franchises. Utilizing a varied animation style, and a cast of Hollywood A-listers, the series uses short-format storytelling to adapt games that may otherwise never get their chance as big-budget movies or ongoing TV series.

From arcade classics like Pac-Man to brand-new games like Concord, it's the variety with which Secret Level adapts its stories that makes it so compelling. On top of that, the individual episodes range in tone from clever twists on their sources (like "Pac-man: Circle") to more straight-forward tales set in the established universes of the games. This opens the door for a seemingly endless number of game adaptation possibilities,...