Matt Walsh is a man of many talents — a popular podcaster, a notable documentarian, a feared fisherman, and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyrDtgjAgII" target="_blank" rel="noopener">surprisingly good</a> &#8220;Mortal Kombat&#8221; player. There is one persistent trait, however, that must be addressed: his passionate hatred of &#8220;Star Wars.&#8221;
I discovered Walsh’s animosity for &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; in May of 2023 while listening to his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1156-princeton-professor-tries-to-debunk-biology-fails-hilariously?elementPosition=155&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+Show+Episodes+Carousel">show</a>. After hearing I played a recently released &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; game, he looked dead into the camera and said he was “repulsed by (me) completely.” And then continued to call me a “complete and utter disgrace.” Harsh. 
Last Thursday, theaters nationwide <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DIbYlxVpJnc/">launched</a> a week-long re-release of “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” to celebrate the film&#8217;s 20th anniversary. The film stands out not only for its stunning cinematography, one of a kind soundtrack, and compelling life-lessons, but also as the final “Star Wars” entry before progressive-infused Disney’s acquisition.
Walsh, apparently, did not recognize the exceptional film for what it is. After taking his children to see it in theaters, he <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1917266257956724823" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took</a> to X and attacked the movie.
I will now address his unfounded criticisms.
His first issue is with the film’s dialogue. Walsh claims “Revenge of the Sith” has “the worst dialogue he’s ever heard in a mainstream Hollywood film.” To support his claim, he quotes a romantic scene between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala: 
<blockquote>Anakin: You’re so beautiful 
Padme: It’s only because I’m so in love
Anakin: No it’s because I’m so in love with you 
Walsh leaves out the second half of the scene, which reveals the lines are not poorly written, but instead an intentional foreshadowing of what is to come later in the film. The scene continues;
Padme: So love has blinded you?
Anakin: Well, that&#8217;s not exactly what I meant. 
Padme: But it’s probably true.</blockquote>
At this point in the film, Anakin believes his wife is going to die in childbirth because of a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLb_k4Pz3CM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vision </a>he has in his sleep. As the primary antagonist, Emperor Palpatine (not Ovaltine) tells him that committing to the Dark Side is the only way to save her. This, and his blinding love for Padme, leads him to commit the atrocities he does later in the film. Pure genius from George Lucas, who Walsh claims should be arrested.
<div id="attachment_914885" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-914885" class="size-large wp-image-914885" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-35-PM-7863-1024x576.jpg" alt="Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman. Lucasfilm, Ltd. All rights reserved." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-35-PM-7863-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-35-PM-7863-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-35-PM-7863-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-35-PM-7863-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-35-PM-7863-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Lucasfilm, Ltd. All rights reserved.</div>
Walsh’s next criticism of the film is that it has “abysmal action choreography.” To me, this attack is the most absurd. 
The final <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3OtoO5zjjU&amp;t=358s">fight</a> between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, master versus apprentice, is one of the most iconic fight scenes in cinema history. Numerous outlets such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VpsG7JA-jc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WatchMojo</a>, <a href="https://screenrant.com/best-movie-sword-fights-ranked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ScreenRant</a>, and <a href="https://movieweb.com/best-one-on-one-sword-fights-in-movies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MovieWeb</a> all rank the battle as one of the greatest sword fights in movie history. The fight was choreographed by legendary stuntman Nick Gillard, and is not sped up at all. Both actors trained relentlessly to master each move shown on camera.
<div id="attachment_914883" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-914883" class="size-large wp-image-914883" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-30-PM-8822-1024x576.jpg" alt="Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor. Lucasfilm, Ltd. All rights reserved. " width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-30-PM-8822-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-30-PM-8822-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-30-PM-8822-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-30-PM-8822-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-01-May-2025-04-30-PM-8822-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Lucasfilm, Ltd. All rights reserved.</div>
Walsh specifically attacks the final move of the duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin, saying the following;
<blockquote>Anakin jumps and flips through the air like Spider-Man but then at the end he loses because the other guy is standing on a small hill and has the higher ground. This was for some reason an insurmountable strategic advantage, even though Anakin had just seconds earlier leaped like 20 feet in the air while doing flips like an Olympic gymnast. So then Anakin decides to jump directly over top the other guy, close enough that he can just casually reach up and cut his legs off. He could have jumped anywhere else on the hill, or just a little higher, and avoided this issue.</blockquote>
Like many things Walsh has criticized in the film, the seemingly risky move Anakin used was intentional. Young Anakin Skywalker was fascinated by his master Obi-Wan’s triumph over Darth Maul in “Episode I: The Phantom Menace.” To defeat Maul, Obi-Wan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsAEdblcqU4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flipped over him</a> and cut him in half upon landing.
When Anakin fights Obi-Wan, his pride and ego is at an all time high. He wants to prove to his once-master that he is now his superior. This is why moments before the final move, Anakin tells Obi-Wan, “You underestimate my power!”
Obi-Wan can sense Anakin is going to try his own move against him, so he offers one final warning, “Don’t try it.” Anakin did not listen, and ended up getting his legs cut off.
Walsh also criticized where the battle takes place, on a lava planet “for some reason.” He clearly suffers from a lack of knowledge in &#8220;Star Wars&#8221; lore. It’s the same reason he doesn’t understand why Anakin jumped over Obi-Wan.
The planet they fought on, Mustafar, is <a href="https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mustafar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> by Wookiepedia as “powerful in the Dark Side of The Force.” Palpatine sent Anakin there so he could tap into the Dark Side more intensely as he slaughtered the separatists who were awaiting him. In the 2017 comic Darth Vader 5, Palpatine <a href="https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darth_Vader_(2017)_5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">instructs</a> Vader to return to Mustafar because it “is not like other planets. It is unique. Deep beneath its surface rests a locus for the Dark Side of The Force.&#8221;
Vader was so drawn to the planet’s Dark Side power that seven years after “Revenge of the Sith,” he built his <a href="https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Fortress_Vader" target="_blank" rel="noopener">castle</a>, Fortress Vader, there. 
Walsh’s final objection to the film was that it “took itself too seriously.” He expands on this by claiming “You can’t be campy and fun and also have mass child slaughter in the same film.”
Most of Walsh&#8217;s criticisms come from a lack of looking beneath the surface, taking everything at face value. “Revenge of the Sith” was always meant to be lighthearted in the beginning, and tragic in the end. After nearly three decades of fans left without a backstory, the purpose of the movie was to show how Hollywood’s most iconic villain, Darth Vader, transformed from a cunning warrior for good, to the embodiment of evil.
Following the classic hero&#8217;s journey literary archetype, we witness Anakin’s lighthearted upbringing in Episodes 1 and 2, his tragic fall in the second half of Episode 3, and his eventual redemption in Episode 6. A story that George Lucas brilliantly wrote and produced over 3 decades.
Walsh’s tweet thread ends on a lighter note, expressing that despite all of his concerns, his kids liked it. To me and countless other fans who believe “Revenge of the Sith” is one of the greatest films ever made, we can only hope Matt Walsh will read this piece and watch it again with an open mind.
* * *
Jacob Falach is an associate producer at The Daily Wire. You can find him on Instagram at: @jacobfalach.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated Ray Park was the fight and stunt coordinator for the film. The actual fight and stunt coordinator for &#8220;Revenge of the Sith&#8221; was Nick Gillard.

Star Wars Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith Photocall In Japan

Why Matt Walsh Is Wrong About ‘Revenge Of The Sith’

Why Matt Walsh Is Wrong About 'Revenge Of The Sith'

Disney

Film Reviews

Hollywood

Matt Walsh

Movie Theaters

Movies

Opinion

Star Wars

The Daily Wire

Video Games

Video games pose a very real threat to Hollywood’s box office hopes.
Modern games are more interactive and snazzier than their predecessors, digitally enslaving Gen Z in the process. “Netflix and Chill” doesn’t come close.
Studios surveyed the landscape and said, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Or, in this case, leverage their IPs for serious coin.
“A Minecraft Movie” earned a <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/minecraft-movie-box-office-success-blockbuster-1236361148/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whopping $313 million</a> across the globe in its opening weekend, pumping life into 2025’s sad theatrical start.
<div id="attachment_906797" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906797" class="size-large wp-image-906797" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207107585-864x576.jpg" alt="LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 30: (L to R) Sebastian Hansen, Jennifer Coolidge, Jack Black and Jason Momoa attend the World Premiere of &quot;A Minecraft Movie&quot; at Cineworld Leicester Square on March 30, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/WireImage)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207107585-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207107585-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207107585-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207107585.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/WireImage</div>
The smash comes on the heels of the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series, the burgeoning “Five Nights at Freddy’s” franchise, 2023’s “Super Mario Bros.” animated reboot and 2022’s “Uncharted” with Tom Holland. Let’s not forget 2021’s “Free Guy” with Ryan Reynolds as a lovable NPC (non-player character). The latter wasn’t based on any one video game but sprang from a sensibility gamers understood.
We’ve come a long way from wobbly video game adaptations like “Super Mario Bros.” (1993), “Max Payne” (2008) and “Alone in the Dark” (2005).
What changed? Studios started taking the source material seriously, expending big budgets to recreate the look and feel of the games in question. It helps that CGI advancements make it all possible, visually speaking. The sight of John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins fleeing rubbery dinosaurs in 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.” still makes us wince.
Studios have hired A-listers like Jack Black, Jim Carrey, Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt to bring video games to stunning life.
They also didn’t make them woke or forget the core audience in question – boys and young men. Disney spent years transforming the “Star Wars” saga into a feminist-friendly franchise with shows like “The Acolyte.”
How did that work out again?
<div id="attachment_906779" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906779" class="size-large wp-image-906779" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-1024x576.jpg" alt="Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Sebastian Hansen in ‘A Minecraft Movie’. Photo by Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright 2025 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright 2025 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. IMDB.</div>
It’s notable that “A Minecraft Movie” features two key female characters and gives them little to do. The film’s creative team checked those Identity Politics boxes but neglected to give the stars any sense of agency.
Still, the film’s cast and crew didn’t leave longtime fans behind. The new video game movies efficiently work elements of the games into the on-screen adventures. Those blocky swords in “A Minecraft Movie” are just one of many familiar sights for hardcore fans.
That, plus a wave of “easter eggs” make gamers feel seen. And they’re telling their friends all about it.
Black’s performance in “Minecraft” shouldn’t be overlooked. He’s like the Energizer Bunny on screen, but with even more energy. He also promoted the film without going full or even the semi-Zegler. He praised the feature as a fun, upbeat adventure that could heal a <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jason-momoa-jack-black-minecraft-movie-jennifer-coolidge-1236175713/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fractured nation</a>.
<blockquote>We’ve got to work together, my God. There’s so much violence and war and hatred. And that’s what I love about this movie — there’s a lot of love in it and there’s a lot of creativity. There is some anger and violence too, but in the end it’s about friendship and working together to make [the world] a better place.</blockquote>
Black has been a vocal Obama supporter in the past, even shooting a video to support the Democrat’s Iran policies – which haven’t aged well, to say the least.
He hasn’t been as loud about the political scene in recent years. He even <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blindsided-jack-black-axes-tour-after-bandmate-cheers-trump-assassination-attempt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">temporarily shelved his Tenacious D band</a> when fellow rocker Kyle Gass wished for President Donald Trump’s assassination on stage.
<div id="attachment_906787" style="width: 859px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906787" class="size-large wp-image-906787" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207617384-849x576.jpg" alt="LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 30: Jack Black attends the World Premiere of &quot;A Minecraft Movie&quot; at the Cineworld Leicester Square on March 30, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)" width="849" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207617384-849x576.jpg 849w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207617384-300x204.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207617384-768x521.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207617384.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 849px) 100vw, 849px" />Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures</div>
Carrey similarly <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-industry-news-february-23-2021-1945969" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stopped his barrage of hard-Left, anti-GOP paintings</a> in recent years. Meanwhile, Reynolds and Pratt are known for their upbeat, mostly apolitical personas.
Not every recent video game movie snagged “Minecraft”-sized numbers. Last year’s “Borderlands” debacle got ignored by gamers and torched by film critics.
The smart 2023 drama “Grand Turismo” offered a novel way to bring the driving game to the big screen, but audiences didn’t bite in “Minecraft”-sized numbers ($44 million US).
Still, the recent hits have given Hollywood exactly what it needs – young movie goers eager to share their thoughts on social media. “A Minecraft Movie” became a meme sensation in real time, with users producing “Chicken Jockey” gags on TikTok and elsewhere.
If you have to ask, you either never played the game or don’t have children under the age of 16.
Those memes made “Minecraft” an “event,” much like the 2023 “Barbie” movie. Women gathered their friends together to see the film wearing their best, “Barbie”-like outfits.
Now, teens are devouring “Minecraft” movie memes and celebrating them in theaters en masse. That’s exactly what studios love to see, even if some young fans are getting <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teen-boys-trashing-theaters-causing-mayhem-at-a-minecraft-movie-showings?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=Entertainment&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Teen+Boys+Trashing+Theaters%2C+Causing+Mayhem+At+%E2%80%98A+Minecraft+Movie%E2%80%99+Showings">carried away with their exuberance</a>. Those viral clips, ironically, will only build on the film’s popularity.
<div id="attachment_906791" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906791" class="size-large wp-image-906791" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207397332-864x576.jpg" alt="THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 2117 -- Pictured: (l-r) Actor Jack Black and host Jimmy Fallon during the &quot;Minecraft Claw Machine Challenge&quot; on Monday, March 31, 2025 -- (Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207397332-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207397332-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207397332-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2207397332.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images</div>
There’s another factor here, one that plugs in seamlessly to the “Minecraft” ethos. Many modern video games offer a canvas for inspired young minds. “Fortnite,” for example, allows gamers to choose from any number of “skins” and weapons. Players can team with friends across the street – or the globe – to create their own adventures.
They’re not just part of the action, they’re making the games up as they go. “Minecraft” might be the ultimate example of that ethos. The pixel-friendly game demands creativity from start to finish.
Movies aren’t interactive, at least for now. Films like “A Minecraft Movie” tap into that sense of self-directed adventure, the kind that makes video game adaptations into blockbuster hits.
The only downside for Hollywood? Studios will learn the wrong lessons from “A Minecraft Movie” and we’ll suffer through a few more “Borderlands” in the coming years.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-09-PM-2616

‘A Minecraft Movie’ Smashes Box Office … And A Few Theaters

'A Minecraft Movie' Smashes Box Office ... And A Few Theaters

Entertainment

Gaming

Jack Black

Jason Momoa

As “A Minecraft Movie” continues to dominate at the box office heading into its second week, there are reports of disorderly conduct as teen boys flock to theaters and act out trends circulating on social media.
These videos include moviegoers filming themselves throwing popcorn and other food and drink items and, in one instance, being kicked out for bringing a live chicken to a showing, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/minecraft-audiences-trashing-theaters-chaos-1236187217/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
This behavior has led to warnings from theaters about conduct, including threats of involving law enforcement. One New Jersey theater forbade anyone under 18 from attending any showings without an adult present despite the film being rated PG. 
“Large groups of unsupervised boys engaged in completely unacceptable behavior, including vandalism. We also received multiple complaints from other moviegoers who were trying to enjoy the film with their families,” Township Theatre in Washington Township, New Jersey, posted in a social media update. 
“Moving forward: Any minors wishing to see The Minecraft Movie MUST be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult. Unaccompanied groups of boys will not be admitted,” the statement concluded.
The bad behavior is usually aligned with the viral “chicken jockey” scene, which features Jack Black’s character Steve yelling “chicken jockey!” when a baby zombie appears on screen riding a chicken like a horse. This precedes Jason Momoa’s character, Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, fighting the zombie.
This moment has inspired moviegoers to shout the line while jumping on theater seats, screaming, and throwing popcorn, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/10/entertainment/minecraft-obsessed-teen-boys-are-destroying-movie-theaters/">noted</a>.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Minecraft Movie is Ruining Theaters 😳" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7ZzIq9D3OqA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Theater employees have also been posting images of what theaters look like after a movie showing. “These teens trashed every single theater playing this movie and since we have so many showings we had to clean them in less than 30 minutes as we had crowds outside the theater lined up to go inside!” one person <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZzIq9D3OqA">shared</a> in a YouTube video posted earlier this week, noting that some attendees are being kicked out or being forced to clean up their own messes.
“A Minecraft Movie” has grossed more than $185 million domestically and $380 million globally in just six days, outperforming expectations and putting it on pace to surpass “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Warner Bros. has not issued a statement on the chicken jockey mayhem as of Friday.

Minecraft Movie

Teen Boys Trashing Theaters, Causing Mayhem At ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Showings

Teen Boys Trashing Theaters, Causing Mayhem At 'Minecraft Movie' Showings

teens

U.S.

The competition just got bricked. “A Minecraft Movie” took the top spot at the box office this weekend, grossing $163 million domestically for the biggest opening weekend of the year.
Industry analysts originally predicted an opening closer to $60 million after mixed reviews on the trailer, per <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/minecraft-movie-box-office-record-breaking-opening-weekend-1236361020/">Variety</a>. But that was adjusted to $90 million as the film’s premiere drew closer. The video game based story also earned an additional $150 million worldwide for a grand total of $313 million against a $150 million production budget, not counting marketing expenses.
Before “Minecraft” dropped, the Disney/Marvel film “Captain America: Brave New World” held the record for biggest opening of 2025 with $88 million. As for the best performing video game adaptation, that title was held by “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (2023) which raked in $146 million during its opening weekend.
“There is a treasure trove of storytelling and (intellectual property) in that arena, making it a sweet spot where the industry can meet young moviegoers and general audiences who’ve become more selective,” Shawn Robbins, director of movie analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/06/business/minecraft-movie-box-office/index.html">CNN</a> in an email. He further noted that college students and teens on spring break likely helped boost box office numbers.
“A Minecraft Movie,” directed by Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite,” “Nacho Libre”), follows the journey of Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison (Jason Momoa), Henry (Sebastian Hansen), Natalie (Emma Myers), and Dawn (Danielle Brooks) who are all struggling with ordinary problems when they travel through a portal to the Overworld where they meet expert crafter Steve (Jack Black).
The foursome is tasked with fighting evil things and conquering the Overworld where &#8220;creativity doesn’t just help you craft, it’s essential to one’s survival&#8221; a synopsis of the film <a href="https://people.com/jack-black-minecraft-movie-beats-super-mario-bros-box-office-opening-11710286">says</a>.
“A Minecraft Movie” also includes Jennifer Coolidge, Kate McKinnon, and Jemaine Clement in supporting roles.
The film currently has a 48% critics rating and 87% audience score on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_minecraft_movie">Rotten Tomatoes</a>. “It feels like a small miracle that the resulting film is so funny, lively, and light on its feet,” the New York Magazine reviewer wrote in one review.

‘A Minecraft Movie’ Smashes Box Office Records With $163 Million Opening Weekend

Box Office

Leaders in the video game industry spent the better part of the last decade marketing radical gender ideology in a hobby predominantly practiced by children and teenagers. No gamer could escape transgender symbolism or out-of-place pride flags sprawled across his screen.
In recent months, however, gamers have had enough of the political propaganda. They’ve now adopted a so-called “non-buynary” movement, refusing to purchase games saturated in identity politics. Now, an unprecedented number of games are seeing poor sales and game studios are folding. The movement appears to be working.
The video game industry is finally experiencing its Bud Light moment.
Americans boycotted Bud Light in 2023 after the company hired transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson. The boycott is still <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciapark/2024/07/18/bud-light-boycott-effects-endure-brand-drops-to-third/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">affecting</a> the brand with Bud Light falling to third place in beer sales last summer. Throughout the past year, many gamers <a href="https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/06/20/the-video-game-industry-needs-a-bud-light-moment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speculated</a> that the industry would have a reckoning similar to Bud Light when a majority of gamers put their foot down. 
In what became one of the largest flops in the history of gaming, Sony reportedly <a href="https://www.geeksandgamers.com/new-concord-details-reveal-a-higher-budget-and-troubled-development/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spent</a> $400 million to develop the shooting game “Concord.” Sony was banking on the new game to become a key new franchise, propelling the PlayStation brand into the future. Rather than focus on fun gameplay, “Concord” <a href="https://thatparkplace.com/playstation-studios-new-5v5-multiplayer-shooter-concord-gets-raked-over-the-coals-for-pushing-pronoun-nonsense-and-dei-character-designs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">forced</a> preferred pronouns and “DEI character designs” onto players. The new “DEI character designs” refer to modern game studios creating female characters who look masculine or overweight while also having LGBTQ identities.
After Sony announced “Concord,” <a href="https://thatparkplace.com/concord-lead-character-designer-believes-whites-must-acknowledge-their-privileged-position-and-then-actively-work-for-equality-also-claims-the-judicial-system-is-white-supremacy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comments</a> from the game’s lead character designer were unearthed where he stated that “whites must acknowledge their privileged position, and then actively work for equality.” He added that “complicity allows systemic racism to persist.” In another comment, he stated that the “entire penal/judicial system is white supremacy.” His ideology obviously leaked into the game.
“Concord” officially launched in August 2024 to a negative reception. The game <a href="https://steamdb.info/app/2443720/charts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed</a> to reach even 700 concurrent players online, becoming a massive disaster. Sony <a href="https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/its-official-concord-servers-are-now-offline-just-2-weeks-after-one-of-the-worst-launches-of-2024/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shut down</a> the servers after two weeks and refunded players who bought the game. Then, in October, Sony <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2024/sony-shutting-down-seattle-area-game-developer-firewalk-studios/#:~:text=This%20is%20widely%20seen%20as,during%20the%20COVID%2D19%20lockdown." target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the closure of “Concord’s” development company, Firewalk Studios.
Gamers simply refused to give their money to a studio that made a blatantly woke game. That’s not the only noteworthy example from 2024.
“Dragon Age” is a massive game franchise with millions of fans who waited a decade for another sequel. BioWare, however, failed to give fans what they wanted with the release of “Dragon Age: The Veilguard” in October. Much like “Concord,” the new “Dragon Age” game forced players into accepting radical gender ideology.
One of the main characters in “Dragon Age: The Veilguard” <a href="https://x.com/stillgray/status/1852700288039194637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1852700288039194637%7Ctwgr%5E376b55af526beb0196649b50aaab7f3df0de99b3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geeksandgamers.com%2Fdragon-age-the-veilguard-has-a-weaker-than-expected-opening-weekend%2F">identifies</a> as “non-binary” and it becomes a recurring plot point of the game. In one scene, a character <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7uoKLKbXxM">punishes</a> herself with pushups for misgendering the “non-binary” character. Gamers saw right through it and never truly bought into the game. The new “Dragon Age” only had <a href="https://gameworldobserver.com/2025/01/23/dragon-age-launch-sales-veilguard-vs-previous-games#:~:text=Dragon%20Age%3A%20Origins%20%E2%80%94%203.2%20million,to%20May%204%2C%202011)%3B">1.5 million players</a> within its first two months, 50% below expectations. The first game in the series sold 3.2 million copies in the same timeframe, with the second selling two million copies. BioWare then <a href="https://www.cbr.com/bioware-fires-dragon-age-the-veilguard-writers/">fired</a> all staff on the game’s writing team in January.
Another major release that floundered for similar reasons is “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.” Rocksteady Studios released the game in February 2024. “Suicide Squad” served as a sequel to the popular “Batman: Arkham” games but failed to live up to the hype.
The game has villain Harley Quinn <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1apjlvmoNTw">lecture</a> Batman for his brand of justice before outright killing the popular masked vigilante. Rocksteady Studios also used the game to <a href="https://boundingintocomics.com/video-games/rocksteady-confirms-next-suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-dlc-character-mrs-freeze-is-a-lesbian/">gender swap</a> Mr. Freeze into a character named “Mrs. Freeze” who is a lesbian. In the game, Mrs. Freeze has an <a href="https://x.com/Grummz/status/1816626214620266859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1816629746081628529%7Ctwgr%5E2b1d45700113f6f5a01344f946e04201d378928f%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthatparkplace.com%2Fsuicide-squad-kill-the-justice-leagues-lesbian-mrs-freeze-season-2-update-bombs-with-players-game-has-lost-95-of-its-players-since-february%2F">outfit</a> that includes the pride flag draped across her shoulder.
Not many gamers were impressed with “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s” direction. Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/05/09/wb-blames-suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-for-quarterly-miss/?sh=5d95b2a7ba87">reported</a> that “while we do not know sales figures, they appear dismal, and reports are that they were lower than even the worst-case scenario expectations for release.” Rocksteady Studios had <a href="https://www.gamesindustry.biz/rocksteady-cut-further-jobs-at-the-end-of-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multiple rounds</a> of layoffs last year after the game’s launch.
Game studios spent too many years preaching inclusivity and gender ideology to gamers and eventually lost the good will they earned in prior decades. People play games to briefly escape their problems in the real world – not to be forced into accepting a sinister ideology. The situation is even worse when these games are marketed to vulnerable children who are easily influenced.
For the video game industry to recover from its self-inflicted slump, studios must embrace the vision of pure enjoyable escapism of years past. Until that day arrives, gamers will undoubtedly continue to identify as “non-buynary.”
* * *
Casey Ryan is a writer and investigative reporter at Parents Defending Education.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Sony Cutting 900 Jobs In Its PlayStation Unit

Sony’s $400 Million Misfire: Why The Video Game Industry Is Facing A Bud Light Moment

Blizzard Entertainment

Bud Light

Corporations

LGBTQ

Woke Culture

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance blasted his opponent Tim Walz on Monday after the Democratic governor botched a common football term in a post about playing &#8220;Madden&#8221; with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
As millions of people watched actual football on Sunday afternoon, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez live-streamed themselves playing the popular NFL video game and talking about the 2024 race. In a since-deleted X post promoting the live stream, Walz wrote that &#8220;AOC can run a mean pick 6 — and I can call an audible on a play. And we both know that if you take the time to draw up a playbook, you&#8217;re gonna use it.&#8221; The post was meant to draw attention to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation&#8217;s conservative playbook for a second Trump term that Trump has repeatedly said is not a part of his agenda.
As pointed out by Vance on Monday, a &#8220;pick 6&#8221; is not a play or a scheme as Walz&#8217;s post suggested. It&#8217;s the term used for when a defensive player intercepts a throw and returns it for a touchdown.
&#8220;I guess the goal is to try to appeal to the young male vote by playing video games online with AOC. I don&#8217;t know who came up with that idea,&#8221; Vance said.
&#8220;He was talking about playbooks and trying to connect that to Project 2025, and he said, &#8216;Yesterday, AOC, she did very good, she ran a pick 6.&#8217; Ran a pick 6. You don&#8217;t run a pick 6. You run the West Coast offense and the spread offense and, you know, 3-4 and 4-3 defense. It made me realize that even though they say Tim Walz was a [high school] football coach, I think I know more about football than Tim Walz. And it&#8217;s appropriate &#8217;cause I think my running mate Donald J. Trump knows more about working at McDonald&#8217;s than Kamala Harris does,&#8221; he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
JUST IN: JD Vance trolls &quot;Coach&quot; Tim Walz after the governor claimed you can &quot;run a mean pick 6&quot; in football.
&quot;AOC can run a mean pick 6 &#8211; and I can call an audible on a play,&quot; Walz&#39;s X account said in an effort to impress young men.
&quot;You don&#39;t run a pick-six, you run the West… <a href="https://t.co/fY2J4pmwE3">pic.twitter.com/fY2J4pmwE3</a>
&mdash; Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/1850983625770094807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Walz was also slammed on social media, including by the Trump campaign, which wrote, &#8220;Tampon Tim is such a dork. You’d think a so-called football coach would be aware that you don’t run a pick 6!&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Tampon Tim is such a dork.
You’d think a so-called football coach would be aware that you don’t run a pick 6! 
😂😂 <a href="https://t.co/jz1rhXe4vU">pic.twitter.com/jz1rhXe4vU</a>
&mdash; Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1850927844819341568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
New York Post reporter James David Dickson <a href="https://x.com/downi75/status/1850864208868438098" target="_blank" rel="noopener">added</a>, &#8220;You don’t &#8216;run&#8217; a Pick 6, it’s not a system of offense. Tim &#8216;Swan Lake&#8217; Walz is supposed to be a football coach?&#8221;
&#8220;And they wonder why they can’t get men to vote for this ticket,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/GrageDustin/status/1850742460495929382" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> Townhall columnist Dustin Grage.

JD Vance

JD Vance Rips Tim Walz For Botching Football Term While Playing ‘Madden’ With AOC

JD Vance Rips Tim Walz For Botching Football Term While Playing 'Madden' With AOC

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Football

Tim Walz

Two new <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/video-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video games</a> that push the propaganda of the Left, like DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), have turned out to be total flops, with a non-woke one booming.
The first-person online shooter Concord &#8212; developed by Firewalk studios and published by Sony &#8212; came out on August 23 and Sony announced on Tuesday that it was shutting down the game on September 6 and promising that sold copies would be refunded, <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-shooter-concord-going-offline-this-week">IGN</a> reported.
It was released only on PS5 and Windows and in a very short amount of time, gamers proved they didn’t want to play the game with weirdly-drawn <a href="https://x.com/TheBugleDaily1/status/1830721273753743699">DEI characters</a> who had their pronouns proudly flagged in the corner, as The <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2024/09/02/politics-free-black-myth-sells-10-million-in-three-days-as-dei-games-dustborn-and-concord-flop/">Federalist</a> reported.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Concord will be taken offline on September 6, 2024 and all players will receive a full refund. <a href="https://t.co/nhuQVFnSqu">https://t.co/nhuQVFnSqu</a> <a href="https://t.co/vMNQurgPJI">pic.twitter.com/vMNQurgPJI</a>
— IGN (@IGN) <a href="https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1831000818037776625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
On the day Concord launched, it had a total of 697 concurrent players worldwide. To put those numbers into perspective, largely-panned gaming disappointment Rocksteady’s “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” was considered a bomb when it debuted to a comparatively large <a href="https://steamdb.info/app/315210/charts/">13,000</a> players. The game was slammed for its woke elements like a lesbian race-swapped version of Batman nemesis <a href="https://boundingintocomics.com/2024/07/18/rocksteady-confirms-next-suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-dlc-character-mrs-freeze-is-a-lesbian/">Mister Freeze</a>, the outlet noted.
Playstation Director Ryan Ellis said of Concord’s failure that &#8220;while many qualities of the experience resonated with players, we also recognize that other aspects of the game and our initial launch didn’t land the way we’d intended.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1724211156439000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-L2DitSaIUj5wz8v0bgxx">Tickets for “Am I Racist?” are on sale NOW! Buy here for a theater near you.</a>
Days earlier, the adventure game Dustborn &#8212; developed by Red Thread Games and published by Quantic Dream &#8212; was released with gamers completely uninterested in the political and leftist setting and characters of the game.
Forbes described it <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattgardner1/2024/08/22/dustborn-review-love-it-or-hate-it-it-dares-to-be-different/">as</a> “among the most unrepentantly liberal and left-leaning games out there.”  The Federalist and others <a href="https://x.com/GiveMeBanHammer/status/1830122758313034085">noted</a> the characters in the game have the ability to “cancel and bully opponents, get triggered, and call people racists.&#8221;
&#8220;Dustborn emphasizes the power of words and the importance of building an inclusive society where everyone belongs,” one person wrote. “Is that so PC Gamer? Me looking at the game in any detail, it seems to indicate that its doing everything in its power creating the complete OPPOSITE in every way.”
In response to the criticism, <a href="https://x.com/RedThreadGames/status/1829503995192222020">Red Thread Games</a> developers said that from the start, they wanted to create a world where “everyone can feel safe,” calling the complaints a “tidal wave of hate and abuse.”
The game debuted with an all-time peak of just <a href="https://steamdb.info/app/721180/charts/">83 players</a>, while current player totals hover around the mid-20s, The Federalist noted.
And while several reports have noted the problem with the game is all the leftist propaganda, others have said the game’s just bad. One critic <a href="https://x.com/LifuLifuVT/status/1831003860963373181">called</a> out “the writing” and said the “one-dimensional” characters with a “storyline with absolutely zero depth” and an “unlikeable main character with no trace of human empathy” is just “bad, plain and simple.”
Meanwhile, the Chinese developed “Black Myth: Wukong,” which was released on August 19, is exploding, selling <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/black-myth-wukong-sells-an-incredible-10-million-copies-in-just-3-days">10 million copies</a> in only three days, the outlet noted.
&#8220;Black Myth&#8221; &#8212; a game based on the ancient Chinese classic &#8220;Journey to the West&#8221; &#8212; contains no politics and diversity propaganda.
Forbes reported that creators who requested a review copy of the game were asked not to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/08/18/the-black-myth-wukong-no-feminist-propaganda-no-covid-19-discussion-email-is-real/">include</a> things like &#8220;politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization and other content that instigates negative discourse.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gaming-convention-slammed-for-creating-bipoc-lounge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gaming Convention Slammed For Creating ‘BIPOC Lounge’</a>

Woke Video Games Flopping As A Non-Woke One Booms

General

Wokeness

Nintendo restored a character’s previously hidden gender identity in the new English version of a Mario game, after initially introducing the character in the 2004 Japanese version of the video game as transgender.
In the new Nintendo Switch version of “Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door,” game makers have decided to make it clear that a supporting character named Vivian is transgender after previously removing the language in the 2004 English and German version of the game, UK <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2024/05/22/paper-mario-remake-restores-characters-trans-identity-english-version-20890660/">Metro</a> reported.
In the original 2004 Japanese version, released for the Nintendo GameCube, the villainous character &#8212; born as a male &#8212; is introduced alongside his two villain sisters, the <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/05/23/lifestyle/nintendo-includes-transgender-character-in-new-paper-mario-video-game/">New York Post</a> noted.
Vivian’s sister Marilyn asks him how they can be defined as &#8220;the three shadow sisters,&#8221; before exclaiming: &#8220;You are a man! A man!&#8221; Vivian then replied, &#8220;Sorry, sister … it was my mistake … Sigh…&#8221; Metro noted.
In the European version, it is also clear Vivian is a man, replying to his sisters, &#8220;That’s true, you are two sisters, but I am a woman too now, and I’m proud to have turned into a woman,” Metro noted.
In the previous English version of the game, the character was described as “ugly” and was bullied, the Post noted. However, in the new remake with the English translation, Vivian tells Mario: &#8220;Truth is, it took me a while to realize I was their sister … not their brother. Now their usual bullying feels heavier,&#8221; the outlet noted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Paper Mario TTYD localizers made Vivian trans.
She was originally a cross-dresser, or femboy, in the original Japanese. Not trans.
We have such a problem with kids being forced into gender assignment before they are consenting adults that this doesn&#8217;t belong in a kid&#8217;s game by… <a href="https://t.co/Qx1cGpdu0S">pic.twitter.com/Qx1cGpdu0S</a>
— Grummz (@Grummz) <a href="https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1792951090671153194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2024</a></blockquote>
Another reported change in the new version of the game is that Vivian’s trans status is now seen as something to celebrate and they have tamped down the teasing, the Post noted.
However, there were those on social media who disputed the claim Vivian was ever trans, noting that translation to English is off. One <a href="https://x.com/revenant_MMXX/status/1793675263462814177" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> shows that Vivian was described as a &#8220;feminine-presenting man or a crossdressing&#8221; one, rather than trans.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Another <a href="https://x.com/Grummz/status/1792951090671153194" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> wrote, &#8220;She was originally a cross-dresser, or femboy, in the original Japanese. Not trans. We have such a problem with kids being forced into gender assignment before they are consenting adults that this doesn&#8217;t belong in a kid&#8217;s game by [NintendoAmerica].&#8221;
The introduction of a transgender character in the Super Mario Universe is reportedly not new, Metro noted. A character named Birdo was first introduced as trans in the Japanese-only “Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic” in 1987, which later became known as &#8220;Super Mario Bros. 2.&#8221;
However, the outlet noted that there’s been no consistency about the character’s transgender status since its earliest introduction. <a href="https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NAADE.pdf">Nintendo</a>&#8216;s own <a href="https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/pdf/CLV-P-NAADE.pdf">instruction manual</a> for &#8220;Super Mario Bros. 2&#8221; described Birdo as a character who &#8220;thinks he is a girl&#8221; and would &#8220;rather be called &#8216;birdetta,’” <a href="https://screenrant.com/birdo-deserves-better-nintendo-mario-trans-identity-gender/">Screen Rant</a> noted.

Debut Of Allied Esports’ “PlayTime With KittyPlays” At HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas

Nintendo Restores Alleged Trans Character’s Identity In English Version Of Mario Game

Nintendo Restores Alleged Trans Character's Identity In English Version Of Mario Game

Japan

Nintendo

Transgender

World

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/video-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EA Sports</a> released the official trailer for their new &#8220;College Football 25&#8221; video game on Thursday, the first time in more than a decade that the company produced the game after a lawsuit was filed in 2013 over name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights.
The game will be available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S starting on July 19 and will allow players to play all 134 FBS schools in all modes of the game, including Dynasty, Road To Glory, Road to the College Football Playoff, and College Football Ultimate Team.
“EA SPORTS College Football is BACK! We’ve felt the passion and anticipation of college football fans every step of the way since we first announced this game, and we’re ecstatic to finally be able to show everyone what we’ve been building,” said Daryl Holt, SVP and Group GM, EA SPORTS. “College Football 25 is built with authenticity at its core, inspired by experiences our fans have loved from our games, and fully evolved to reflect modern college football – all of which will immerse them in the sights, sounds, and true-to-life gameplay of the sport they love.”
The official trailer released by EA Sports showcases the major advancements made in the game since the last time the studio released the game.
The game&#8217;s cover features the best players in college football, including  Michigan running back Donovan Edwards, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, and Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter.
Top commentators broadcast the game, including Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, and David Pollack.
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Bring Glory Home.
Coming July 19. Pre-Order Now 
🔗: <a href="https://t.co/sJ7cJ5NXLj">https://t.co/sJ7cJ5NXLj</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CFB25?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CFB25</a> <a href="https://t.co/iJWl5ZxVQl">pic.twitter.com/iJWl5ZxVQl</a>
— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) <a href="https://twitter.com/EASPORTSCollege/status/1791483861718663547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2024</a></blockquote>

Colorado v UCLA

EA Sports Revives Highly Popular College Football Video Game

College Football

Sports

Here&#8217;s a statistic that, at least if you were born at any point prior to the 1990s, is probably pretty hard to believe. By revenue, the gaming industry is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2023/11/17/the-gaming-industry-a-behemoth-with-unprecedented-global-reach/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bigger</a> than both the movie industry and the music industry — combined. And for the past several years, it hasn&#8217;t been particularly close. The difference is consistently more than $100 billion per year. Games are a massive market, one that&#8217;s mostly targeted at young people. But despite those numbers, for the most part, the games industry has avoided mainstream scrutiny. You&#8217;ll see far more discussion about, say, Sydney Sweeney or Taylor Swift than you&#8217;ll ever see about prominent video game voice actors and directors — who pretty much no one knows anything about. Everyone&#8217;s heard of Lionsgate, or Paramount, but almost no one&#8217;s heard of studios like &#8220;Don&#8217;t Nod Entertainment,&#8221; for example.
And that&#8217;s significant, because these no-name studios are behind the single most coordinated effort to indoctrinate millions of children through entertainment that&#8217;s ever occurred in this country. This effort is maybe more powerful than teachers&#8217; unions, if only because these propagandists mostly work in secret. Even if you homeschool your children, they&#8217;re not immune to it. You might have heard something about one of the companies behind this indoctrination effort, called &#8220;Sweet Baby Inc&#8221; or SBI. In a moment, I&#8217;ll get into the details about what exactly they&#8217;re doing, and who&#8217;s helping them do it.
But first, I want to get the good news out of the way. If there&#8217;s any silver lining, it&#8217;s that this effort to indoctrinate children is incredibly hamfisted. Some of the dumbest people in the world are behind it. Take that studio I just mentioned — &#8220;Don&#8217;t Nod Entertainment.&#8221; They&#8217;re behind the very popular &#8220;Life is Strange&#8221; video game series, which has been played by tens of millions of people. To give you an idea of how overt the propaganda is in &#8220;Life is Strange,&#8221; here&#8217;s just one, mercifully short sequence involving — what else — a racist white guy. There&#8217;s some backstory about how he kidnapped an innocent Hispanic kid or something:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 Life Is Strange 2 V2" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t27RP8fSKGk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&#8220;We need to build a wall,&#8221; says the white racist kidnapping the innocent Hispanic boy. This is a game that, if Wikipedia is to be believed, received &#8220;generally positive reviews. &#8230; Critics praised the story.&#8221;
So we can conclude that the bar is incredibly low in this entire industry. All that developers have to do is beat their audience over the head with rote Left-wing propaganda, and their game will be well-received. The more recent game &#8220;Suicide Squad&#8221; is another prominent example. They decided to write a story about Batman&#8217;s toxic masculinity, which ended with a girlboss shooting Batman. Here&#8217;s part of that sequence:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 Batman Death Scene" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t6WkeBvIonU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
You can just imagine how many purple-haired women must work at that studio. They probably provide the hair dye on tap. I didn&#8217;t play that game, obviously. I haven&#8217;t played any of these games. I am not a video game fan or player, as most people I think know by now. But the point is that these clips were all over the internet because of how awful they are. They&#8217;re just terrible in every way — even just from a quality perspective — even if you happen to agree with their politics.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1326-the-radical-wokeness-of-the-video-game-industry-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
But the fact remains that, for children of a certain age, the propaganda doesn&#8217;t need to be subtle. All they need to do is present it to children, and it can be effective. That&#8217;s why some anonymous people using the games platform &#8220;Steam&#8221; decided to figure out exactly who&#8217;s putting this garbage in games, and why.
They found that the company I mentioned earlier, called &#8220;Sweet Baby Inc.&#8221; — no relation to the Sweet Baby Gang, I swear off any association and I would file a lawsuit for copyright infringement, if not for the fact that I don’t have a copyright, and also Sweet Baby Inc. existed first, technically, but never mind that — anyway, these people on Steam found that Sweet Baby Inc. has contracted with major publishers to push principles of DEI in video games, as aggressively as possible. Sweet Baby Inc., or SBI, worked with the developers of the game I just showed you, Suicide Squad. They&#8217;ve also had a role in several other major releases.
On their website, SBI boasts that they&#8217;re committed to installing principles of &#8220;diversity&#8221; into games. And they do it forcibly. In fact, the co-founder and CEO of SBI, a woman named Kim Belair, recently spoke to game developers and instructed them to threaten their companies unless they comply with Sweet Baby&#8217;s DEI mandates:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="004 CEO" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QrtmDwwfzyQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is how DEI works in every industry, of course. The goal isn&#8217;t to improve the company&#8217;s product in any way. It&#8217;s to blackmail companies and threaten them into submission. Pay the DEI tax, or we&#8217;ll destroy you. Only in the games industry, where everyone is dumber than they are in every other industry, do they just come right out and say it.
Along these lines, as you might have guessed, so-called games journalists are somehow even dumber than journalists in other industries, too — which is really saying something. They&#8217;re completely unable to hide their real goals or display any hint of subtlety whatsoever. For example, in response to clips like this surfacing, games writers have produced several articles portraying SBI as the victim of a &#8220;harassment campaign&#8221; — by which they mean people are noticing what SBI is doing. For example, here&#8217;s how a writer for the website Polygon, Joshua Rivera, <a href="https://twitter.com/jmrivera02/status/1767600140695867472?s=20">responded</a> to people who are concerned about SBI: &#8220;In a just world these clowns would have their steam accounts turned off, their PlayStations bricked and get booted from any respectable social platform.&#8221;
So in the games industry, the journalists just come right out and demand that you&#8217;re deleted from the Internet if you dare to look deeper into their narrative. So let&#8217;s do that. In a recent podcast, Kim Belair explains that her company&#8217;s mandate is to make every game political. There has to be &#8220;diverse representation&#8221; in all contexts, even in, say, World War I:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="005 Diversity" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/59Gw7-_7CAk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So SBI wants to &#8220;build a narrative and a story that includes moments and elements custom-made to bring representation and joy to people.&#8221; And she uses the example of World War I. There weren&#8217;t a whole lot of women fighting on the front lines of World War I. But they shoehorn that into their game anyway, because at every possible opportunity, they need to minimize and demonize white men. White men cannot be the hero of anything, even historical events where they were the heroes, like World War I. The point is to attack white men whenever possible.
We&#8217;re seeing this at all levels in the gaming industry. Here, for example, is Dani Lalonders. She reportedly used <a href="https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1767681553755509171">to work</a> at Sweet Baby Inc. just a year ago. Now she works for a studio at EA, one of the biggest games studios on the planet. Watch as she explains why she doesn&#8217;t hire white people on her team, because they commit all kinds of microaggressions:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="006 Racist Nonbinary Sweet Baby" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eMaHJ_mugvY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Notice that she doesn&#8217;t say what the white microaggressions were. Maybe those nasty white people said something nice about her hair. Maybe they asked where she was from. Maybe they say, &#8220;Hey, cut that line of dialogue about building the wall — it&#8217;s a little too on the nose.&#8221; Who knows? In any event, this is an employee of a major games studio straight-up admitting that she doesn&#8217;t hire white people. This isn&#8217;t just unethical; it&#8217;s illegal. It&#8217;s the kind of thing that&#8217;s usually left unsaid in major corporations. But it&#8217;s standard practice in the games industry to just come right out and announce it. To give another example — also in response to the SBI story — a senior editor at the gaming site Kotaku wrote, &#8220;hi! you can&#8217;t be racist against white people! thanks for tuning in!&#8221;
The people writing this garbage are &#8220;true believers.&#8221; They&#8217;re the low-IQ foot soldiers. But the reason they&#8217;re so well-funded is more interesting. As the former games executive Mark Kern explained this week, the cost of producing games is extremely high. It&#8217;s higher than it&#8217;s ever been, in fact. So games studios are looking to raise money in any way possible. And one way to get a lot of money is through ESG financing:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="007 Former developer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_ea7z-2yyWs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
What <a href="http://e.sg/">ESG</a> financing entails, Kern goes on to say, is that games studios have to agree to all kinds of conditions — including hiring companies like SBI to &#8220;diversify&#8221; their games.
In other words, what&#8217;s happening here is much bigger than SBI. It&#8217;s about the companies that fund SBI. That includes a fund called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Er7X1PSHM&amp;t=425s">Baby Ghosts</a>, which is also run by anti-white managers who are proud of their bigotry. It also includes the biggest institutional investors on the planet, like Vanguard and Blackrock, which own a substantial portion of gaming companies like Microsoft. These entities are creating the incentives. The only good news, as Kern points out later in that interview, is that ESG financing is drying up, in part because interest rates are changing. And there&#8217;s more exposure than ever to this propaganda, which makes it less effective.
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The U.S. government appears to be aware of that, and they view it as a potential problem. They want the propaganda to continue. We know that because, on its website, a nonprofit called &#8220;Take This&#8221; <a href="https://boundingintocomics.com/2024/03/12/us-government-funded-non-profit-take-this-responds-to-sweet-baby-inc-backlash-by-calling-on-video-game-industry-to-clearly-and-unequivocally-denounce-gamergate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">labels</a> all criticism of SBI as &#8220;harassment.&#8221; They&#8217;re coordinating a response to it. What&#8217;s &#8220;Take This&#8221;? Apparently, according to their website, they&#8217;re a &#8220;mental health nonprofit&#8221; that&#8217;s funded by the Department of Homeland Security. In other words, your tax dollars are paying for the defense of propagandists targeting children in the video game industry. For some reason, DHS is involved.
And actually, it&#8217;s worse than that. As the Intercept <a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/03/09/fbi-dhs-gamers-extremism-violence/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> this month, &#8220;Gaming companies are coordinating with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to root out so-called domestic violent extremist content, according to a new government report. Noting that mechanisms have been established with social media companies to police extremism, the report recommends that the national security agencies establish new and similar processes with the vast gaming industry.&#8221;
What this means is that the video game industry — without a lot of fanfare — has transformed into a tool of both propaganda and surveillance. It&#8217;s an effective way to indoctrinate children precisely because it hasn&#8217;t received much attention. Now, finally, that attention is here. And it&#8217;s yet another reason to keep these games as far away from your children as possible. If you do that, games journalists — literally the lowest form of journalist on the planet — will accuse you of &#8220;harassment.&#8221; That&#8217;s how you&#8217;ll know you&#8217;re doing the right thing.

Top down view of colorful illuminated gaming accessories laying on table.

The Radical Wokeness Of The Video Game Industry

Department of Homeland Security

Diversity

Racism

Readers Pass

The Matt Walsh Show

The Major League Baseball video game “MLB The Show” is introducing women players in its 2024 edition of the game even though professional women’s baseball doesn’t exist.
For the first time, gamers will be able to create and play with a woman baseball player in the “Road to the Show: Women Pave Their Way” game mode. The “Road to the Show” game mode, which has been a staple of &#8220;The Show&#8221; throughout the years, allows users to customize a player and play through an MLB career.
Mollie Braley, a narrative designer, for “MLB The Show” told <a href="https://blog.playstation.com/2024/03/05/mlb-the-show-24-unveils-road-to-the-show-women-pave-their-way/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PlayStation.Blog</a> that the game’s new feature allowing people to play as women “was inspired by the stories of women in baseball.”
“Throughout history, women have been making waves in the sport,” Braley added. “These include legends such as Toni Stone, who was one of the first women ever to play professional baseball, and has a new Storyline in MLB The Show 24. Our team wanted to create something where dreams become a reality, and we felt like adding this to Road to the Show was the perfect opportunity that gave our players the option to experience this.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
MLB The Show announced a new game mode in Road to the Show called Women Pave Their Way.
For the first time ever, players can create and play as a female player 👏 <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBTheShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MLBTheShow</a> <a href="https://t.co/aMfX9gfzlC">pic.twitter.com/aMfX9gfzlC</a>
&mdash; The Sporting News (@sportingnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/1765019397591023679?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Stone played baseball for the Indianapolis Clowns, a Negro League team, in 1953, becoming the first woman to play for a professional baseball team, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/10/sports/toni-stone-75-first-woman-to-play-big-league-baseball.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The New York Times. The female baseball player joined three other teams in the Negro League before retiring from the sport just a year later.
While women play for the USA Baseball national team, which participates in world tournaments over the summer, there are no professional or collegiate women&#8217;s baseball teams. Women also play fastpitch softball at the college and professional levels, but even professional softball differs greatly from Major League Baseball in numerous ways from the size of the ball to the distance between bases.
“MLB The Show’s” move to add women into the game comes after other sports video games, such as NBA 2K and FIFA, have allowed gamers to play with women’s teams in recent years.
“This new gameplay experience is a unique pivot in the baseball world that will encourage, inspire, and motivate individuals to chase their dreams,” said Kelsie Whitmore, who plays on the Women’s USA Baseball National Team.
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“To me, this project is a great opportunity for the world to be informed of women who play baseball and that taking their skills to the next level is possible. My hopes for this project is to educate others that women/girls do play baseball and that they are capable of competing in this game at every level,” Whitmore added.
“MLB The Show 24” will be released to the public on March 19.

Baseball

‘MLB The Show’ Video Game Introduces Women Players

'MLB The Show' Video Game Introduces Women Players

Women

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/susan-sarandon-posts-holocaust-reference-gina-carano-got-canceled-for-similar-message" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Susan Sarandon</a> talked about the impact of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/studios-load-up-on-ai-specialists-as-actors-writers-remain-on-picket-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a> (AI) in Hollywood and why it was different for those she referred to as generations of kids who have grown up with realistic video game characters.
The 77-year-old actor opened up about the ongoing actors strike after the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/actors-go-on-strike-heres-what-that-means-for-your-shows-and-movies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists</a> voted to strike three months ago over a variety of issues, one which has to do with what she called the &#8220;threat of artificial intelligence&#8221; on actors&#8217; careers, calling it &#8220;a now or never situation,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/susan-sarandon-interview-sag-aftra-strike-1235613424/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hollywood Reporter</a> reported.
&#8220;It scares me if it means taking someone&#8217;s image, using it in perpetuity in any film you want without the actor having control anymore,&#8221; Sarandon said. &#8220;Going in this direction, I don&#8217;t know if we should copyright our voices or ourselves.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Susan Sarandon on the SAG-AFTRA Strike: &#8220;This Is a Now or Never Situation&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/wbHsIJgFcu">https://t.co/wbHsIJgFcu</a>
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) <a href="https://twitter.com/THR/status/1711660589611974706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2023</a></blockquote>
&#8220;I think people want to see the humanity that is perceived on the screen,&#8221; she added. &#8220;There are generations of children who grew up playing video games where the characters seem almost real. And maybe it won&#8217;t be an insult to them to see computer-generated images of actors doing things they have no power over.&#8221;
&#8220;I think maybe artificial intelligence would be better suited for the role of CEO,&#8221; the Hollywood superstar continued. &#8220;It could analyze everything and make decisions based on sales.&#8221;
The &#8220;Step Mom&#8221; star said we are just at the beginning of AI and &#8220;as time goes on, everything will become more and more complicated and with fewer and fewer rights for artists.&#8221;
One of the sticking points that initially led (SAG-AFTRA) to join the Writers Guild of America&#8217;s (WGA) strike in July was the studios&#8217; response to <a href="https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/post/sag-aftra-on-strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artists</a> concerns to institute &#8220;protections against the existential threat AI poses to their careers,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/ai-jobs-studios-hire-1235545491/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hollywood Reporter</a> noted.
While writers worried that studios&#8217; use of things like ChatGPT — to write or rewrite scripts — would take away jobs from producers, writers and more, the actors are more concerned with their images and voices being digitally reproduced and used without their consent in future projects. WGA <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wga-members-ratify-3-year-deal-with-studios-officially-ending-strike" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially ended</a> their strike on October 10 after the writers ratified a proposed three-year contract that addressed writers&#8217; concerns.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/studios-load-up-on-ai-specialists-as-actors-writers-remain-on-picket-line" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Studios Load Up On AI Specialists As Actors, Writers Remain On Picket Line</a>

Clayton Kershaw’s 4th Annual Ping Pong 4 Purpose Celebrity Tournament

Susan Sarandon Explains The Impact Of AI In Hollywood — And Why Younger Generations May Not Care

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