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Build Your Own Droids with a STAR WARS R2 Kit

Have you ever wanted to build your own Star Wars droid? Create your very own cute robot companion like BB-8? Or maybe a sassy sidekick like K-2SO? Well now you can with this radical Star Wars littleBits Droid Inventor Kit!

Dropping on Force Friday II, this unbelievably cool STEM kit allows you to create your very own R2 unit, complete with bleep bloops. It allows for customization so you can adapt your dynamic droid too. The finished robot can complete 17 different Star Wars-themed missions and encourages users to reconfigure their droid, adapting them with crafts and household objects to create something truly unique.

“We’ve created a gender-inclusive product that celebrates kids’ own self-expression and ingenuity, while showcasing the same characteristics of imagination, grit and invention that are embodied in the Star Wars franchise,” said Founder and CEO of littleBits, Ayah Bdeir, of the Droid Inventor Kit.

It’s truly an incredible time to be a Star Wars fan as we see our childhood dreams slowly becoming reality with accessible, more affordable tech like littleBits Droid kits. At $99.95 this will likely be a a huge hit for Force Friday as well as high up on a lot of Christmas lists!

Though these kits are aimed primarily at kids, I’m sure that we’ll see a whole bunch of excitable adults building their own custom R2 units, us included!

So will you be rushing out on Force Friday to grab your little Anakin their own Droid Inventor Kit? Or are you more of a C-3PO person? Maybe you’re just excited to see more STEM/STEAM stuff making it’s way into the hands of the future inventors of tomorrow? Let us know in the comments!

Image: littleBits

More Star Wars swag!

Largest Millennium Falcon LEGO Set Ever
Even more LEGO Star Wars stuff
Funko Star Wars toys!

You’re Watching STRANGER THINGS Wrong, Duffer Brothers Say

We all have our own preferences for how we consume television, but when the creators of Stranger Things tell us we’re watching their show wrong we’re willing to listen. So what’s the “right way” to watch their hit series? Should we be binging it in one sitting, or savoring the episodes over a few weeks? What about watching them alone in a dark room, or with a bunch of friends? What is it we’re getting wrong when we watch the show?

The settings on our TVs.

In an interview with Vulture, the Duffer Brothers had some heated comments about the smooth motion technology on modern televisions, a setting which creates a sharp, but super shiny, super glossy, surreal picture. It is sometimes known as the “soap opera effect,” and that’s not a good thing.

“Us and everyone in Hollywood puts so much time and effort and money into getting things to look just right, and when you see it in someone’s home, it looks like it was shot on an iPhone,” Matt Duffer said. “When I go to my friends’ places back home I’m constantly fixing their TVs.”

His brother Ross said he can’t believe how prevelant the problem is, even at places where you’d expect better. ““It’s shocking! We were just at Comic-Con, and we walk on the main floor and the settings on every single TV is wrong. I was like, ‘Didn’t a bunch of nerds put this together? What is wrong with them?’”

As someone who loathes smooth motion, I fully support their crusade. And it makes sense their worked up about it since Stranger Things has a distinct retro look, and a big part of the experience is seeing it the “right” way.

So no matter how you consume the show otherwise–whether you binge, savor, watch alone or with others–at least make sure you turn off smooth motion. Because the Upside-Down should never look glossy.

How much do you care about the settings on your TV? Do you keep smooth motion on or off? Tell us in the comments below.

Need More From The Upside Down?

The Stranger Things season 2 posters are red, rad, and retro
We asked Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy every question we could think of
9 more movies Stranger Things needs to reference

Images: Netflix

Cash Withdrawal #38: Solar Thieves

Cash talks to funnyman Steve Mazan

What Does Luke Skywalker’s Dark New Look Mean?

When the galaxy far, far away shares a new photo of Luke Skywalker sporting his darkest look ever, there’s only one place that can bring to light what it all means: Nerdist News Talks Back. But while we have a lot to learn about the future of The Last Jedi, what secrets are there to uncover about the Joker‘s past? And will his origin movie be as much fun as The Walking Dead‘s own Pokémon Go-style game?

Piloting the ship today was The Dan Cave‘s Dan Casey, and he was joined by a Rebel Alliance of fellow Nerdist editors, the Kyles Hill and Anderson, and the newest member of our editorial team, Amy Ratcliffe. (Yay Amy!) They were live today like NNTB is every weekday at 1:00p.m. PST on Nerdist’s YouTube and Alpha channels. You should always tune in live to get your questions answered during the show, but definitely be on time tomorrow for an exciting Force Friday II preview.

But that’s tomorrow. Today was about that ominous new picture of Luke Skywalker in a very Dark Side-ish jacket.

What does Luke’s much darker look mean for The Last Jedi? Has he possibly turned to the Dark Side, or is he merely going Gray? Would a Luke struggling to walk the line between light and dark make him more interesting? Would it make the story more nuanced?

If Luke is going Dark, like he did in some of the older comics, would that change everything we’ve ever known about Star Wars? And should Lucasfilm consider using any other elements from the Expanded Universe in future movies? Mara Jade anyone? YES PLEASE.

After departing Ahch-To, the panel headed to Gotham, because every day means more Joker news. The latest reports say the Martin Scorsese produced standalone prequel will be a “dark Joker” movie. But, uh, how much darker can the freaking Joker get? And will a full origin story ruin part of what makes the character so great? What are some other DC movies they’d rather see instead?

Image: Warner Bros.

Then things got gruesome! Well, not really, but they did talk about the upcoming Walking Dead/Pokémon Go-style augmented reality game. Is there any way it will have the huge appeal the Pokémon Go AR game did? Are people going to want to go outside to kill zombies they way they wanted to capture imaginary creatures? If not, what other franchises might make for a great augmented reality?

What about a game produced by Martin Scorsese where Luke Skywaler turns to the Dark Side to fight zombies?

Okay, maybe not, but we want to hear you thoughts about all of today’s topics, so talk back to us in the comments below.

Want more The Last Jedi stories?

New vehicles for The Last Jedi.
Meet Snoke’s personal bodyguards.
Celebrate all things porgs.

Featured Image: Lucasfilm

See DOCTOR WHO, SUPERNATURAL, and 7 Other Fandoms in This Tattoo

The idea of incorporating multiple fandoms into a single tattoo is intimidating to me, but anything is possible with the right tattoo artist. Proof is visible in Lin Kat’s arm piece that features nine fandoms. NINE. The tattoo includes the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, an Aaron Burr quote from Hamilton, the TARDIS from Doctor Who, a Supernatural symbol, Loki‘s helmet, a Sherlock nod, and an eye that could represent Sandman, A Series of Unfortunate Events, or Welcome to Night Vale.

Look at this artful ink. Heck, make it a scavenger hunt.

The inspiration for the tattoo? Lin told Nerdist, “For me, there is a spiritual element about getting a tattoo. My first one was the Deathly Hallows [symbol], which I knew I would get when I finished reading the seventh Harry Potter book. As the years progressed, I got into so many fandoms and found TV shows and characters I love. They’ve inspired me as person and taken me to weird worlds and on adventures. So I kept adding and adding to my list of the things I knew I would love forever.”

Tattooist Inga Luk is responsible for designing and inking this piece. “I got an idea from a client about all the details she wanted to incorporate into the tattoo. The hardest mission was to make a composition with all the symbols without making the design look too chaotic and messy. It took me about a week to get the result I was happy with,” she said.

After you more of Luk’s work on Instagram, see what a day at work is like for her:

If you have nerdy ink on your skin or you’re a tattoo artist that applies pop culture, STEM, music, or other nerd-inspired ink (tl;dr: I want to see basically all of the tattoos) on a regular basis, then please hit me up because I’d like to highlight you in a future Inked Wednesday gallery. I’m especially interested if you have a sleeve or other large tattoo. You can get in touch with me via email at alratcliffe@yahoo.com. Send me photos of the tattoos you’d like me to feature (the higher resolution, the better) and don’t forget to let me know the name of your tattoo artist if you have it, as well the name of the shop he or she works out of. If you are the tattoo artist, give me links to your portfolios and/or Instagram accounts so I can share them with our readers.

Want to see more nerdy tattoos?

A frickin’ Guardians of the Galaxy sleeve.
Ahsoka Tano lives in this tattoo.
A Hogwarts tattoo with a Niffler.

Images: Lin Kat

Was Prince’s Favorite Color Really Not Purple??

There aren’t that many celebrities that have an actual color that they can claim as their own. I mean, who gets to lay claim to something that’s a part of nature? Prince did, that’s who. And no one has disputed the fact that purple was His Royal Badness’ signature color for 35 years.

Not until now that it is. We’ve learned, via the folks at Vulture, the Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson claims that the Purple One’s favorite color wasn’t purple at all…it was orange. Wait, what??

Here’s what she had to say:

“The stand out piece [of his collection] for me is his orange Cloud guitar. It is strange because people always associate the color purple with Prince, but his favorite color was actually orange.”

Ok. So I know Tyka was his sister, and is current executor of his estate (by the way, thank you Tyka, for finally allowing Prince’s classic videos on YouTube). BUT – as a longtime Prince fan since early childhood, I call shenanigans on this claim. From his iconic videos for “1999” and “Little Red Corvette“, both of which helped make Prince a household name, he was sporting purple from head to toe. On the song “D.M.S.R” from 1999, he ever so sexily commands the listener to “take a bite of my purple rock.” Prince even recently got his very own shade of purple!

And then, of course, there’s Purple Rain, his signature album and song. You kind of can’t overlook that one.

On top of all that, Prince’s Paisley Park home in Minneapolis was lit with purple lighting, the man had a fleet of purple limos, and he once changed the fountain colors from a mansion he rented from blue to purple. Yes, Prince wore other colors too, including orange. And the best outfit he ever wore was the bright blue one with little fluffy clouds all over it from “Raspberry Beret.” But I think when Pantone decided to name a shade of purple after Prince, they made the right call.

How do you feel about referring to Prince as ‘the Orange One” from now on? Does it feel as wrong to you as it does to us? Be sure to chime in with your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Warner Brothers

More from the Purple King!

Prince has his own shade of purple
Prince’s music videos are finally available
Hear Prince’s song “Deliverance”

Did This GAME OF THRONES Finale Easter Egg Confirm the Night King Theory?

While waiting for new novels in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, fans have had a lot of time to come up with theories about George R.R. Martin‘s epic saga. Sometimes, the fans are right on the money, as shown with the R + L = J reveal about Jon Snow’s true parentage in the sixth season of Game of Thrones. The Night King hasn’t even been seen in the books yet, but he’s playing an increasingly large role on the TV series. In today’s Nerdist News, we’re examining a key scene from the season finale that may give some credibility to the wild theory about the Night King’s true identity.

There are potential spoilers ahead for the final season of Game of Thrones. And major spoilers for the seventh season finale! You’ve been warned!

Join senior editor and guest host, “Dragonglass” Dan Casey, as he runs down an elaborate theory about the way that Bran Stark could potentially be the Night King. The gist of it is that, at some point in the future, Bran uses his Three-Eyed Raven warging powers to send a warning out to the past. In a desperate bid to stop the creation of the White Walkers, Bran even wargs into the Night King’s mind and remains trapped there for thousands of years. It’s a bit of a reach, but it could explain why the Night King seemed to recognize Jon Snow at Hardhome and allowed him to leave alive.

How does that play into the season finale? Sharp-eyed viewers noticed that the Night King’s army of the dead was marching in a familiar formation: the shape of a wolf’s head. You know, the Stark family crest. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. But we do know that the Night King and the White Walkers value symbolism, and they’ve been leaving dead bodies arranged in patterns for years. We wouldn’t put it past the Night King to flout his ties to the Stark lineage.

What do you think about the Night King theory? Warg yourselves into the comment section below and let’s discuss!

Images: HBO

What else is happening in Game of Thrones news?

How Daenerys’ vision from the House of the Undying prepares us for the show’s endgame
Someone made an epic, custom Game of Thrones version of Settlers of Catan
This deleted scene explains what really went down between Sansa and Arya

Watch the First Episode of Dan Harmon and Game Grumps’ E-Sports Show GOOD GAME

YouTube video game channel Game Grumps is having a real moment right now: In addition to consistently posting hundreds of thousands of views on their videos, they also released Dream Daddy, a dad dating simulator that’s been perhaps the most talked-about Steam game of the past couple months. Now they’re breaking into longer, scripted entertainment with their new YouTube Red series, Good Game.

The first episode is available to watch for free on the Game Grumps YouTube channel right now, and while the second episode can only be seen on YouTube Red, and there are plenty of reasons to watch both.

Aside from Game Grumps’ Dan Avidan and Arin Hanson, a lot of creative firepower went into making this show, an e-sports comedy about two friends putting together a competitive team in order to take home a $1 million prize.

Dan Harmon executive produced the series (along with Michael Waldron, Steve Levy, Jen Roskind, Brent Lilley, and Hanson), which was created by Michele Morrow and Jesse Cox. Rick and Morty writers Sarah Carbiener and Erica Rosbe wrote the show (and served as showrunners), and it was directed by Danny Jelinek, known for his work on shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Childrens Hospital, and Comedy Bang! Bang!.

TODAY!

Esports fans, read below.#GoodGameSeries drops later today on @GameGrumps#YTRedOriginals #GG pic.twitter.com/rgNDsnElWb

— Michele Morrow (@michelemorrow) August 30, 2017

We previously spoke with showrunners Carbiener and Rosbe on “Nerdist News Talks Back,” so revisit that video below. Harmon was also recently a guest on Game Grumps and spoke about working on the show during his 80-minute visit, so check that out here.

Featured image: GameGrumps/Twitter

 

Need More Games? Of Course You Do



Xbox and PlayStation cross-play may be on the way!
Is a Game of Thrones video game being developed?
This band’s music video is a playable Night Trap-style FMV game

MR. ROBOT’s Latest Season 3 Trailer is a Nightmarescape of Madness

After burning through some cash, living off the grid, and taking a detour into 1980s sitcom territory, Mr. Robot is back October 11th, and we’ve got another trailer to prove it. The good news is that Elliot (Rami Malek) looks to be recovering nicely (you didn’t think a little bullet would stop the main character, did you?). The bad news is that the world still looks like a horrific nightmarescape of uncomfortable madness. Fun!

Of course, even though the world of Mr. Robot is in a fictional version of 2015, creator Sam Esmail has admitted that real-world events, namely the election, have colored how this season will play out.

“I’m never going to deny the energy of what’s happened, but it coincided with what we’re doing in the third season,” Esmail told Indiewire. “We kind of went down the road of this sort of dystopic version and here we are present day, so it kind of went hand in hand in a certain extent. But yeah, of course [the election] informed some of our writing.”

This trailer comes on the heels of the teaser earlier in the month that blended visuals from the show with a voice over version of Leonard Cohen’s “Democracy,” and the full trailer looks to be as spiteful and sardonic as ever.

It also looks like the third season of the show will continue to focus on the fallout both from the first major fsociety hack and from Elliot’s dissociative disorder. Darlene (Carly Chaikin) took over control of an fsociety scrambling to stay alive after victory, the FBI, repped by Agent DiPierro (Grace Gummer) proved to be a formidable opponent, and Whiterose’s (B.D. Wong) Dark Army proved to be even more dangerous.

On that last note, it’s great to see that we’ll get more Wong this season. His veteran status plays well off the fierce younger talent on display, particularly since Christian Slater’s performance as Mr. Robot is so purposefully unsteady and deranged. It’s beautiful to have a calm, controlled foil to Slater’s intense rage.

Especially since it looks like all hell is about to break loose again, if the below key art is any indication. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: USA

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL Red Band Trailer is Weird and Bloody

Remember back in 2003, when the teaser trailer for Kill Bill (back then, it was just going to be one movie) played in your local multiplex, and it announced the long-awaited arrival of “The 4th Film by Quentin Tarantino?” I certainly remember that. It meant each of the movies by this filmmaker was special and worth counting. In a similar fashion, the new trailer for Blade of the Immortal, based on the popular manga by Hiroaki Samura, shouts its place in legendary director Takashi Miike‘s canon loud and clear: 100. This is Miike’s 100th film. And it looks bananas.

Beware: This is a RED BAND TRAILER and is NSFW.

Miike’s filmography started all the way back in 1991 when he began directing video features for Japan’s lucrative direct-to-VHS market. He is a directing machine, with a whopping 15 productions released between 2001 and 2002 alone. Though he’s eased up in recent years, he’s still averaging close to four movies per year. Astonishing. He’s known for some incredibly violent and controversial movies, including Audition, Ichi the Killer, and Sukiyaki Western Django. He can also make one hell of a samurai movie, as evidenced by his arguable masterpiece, 2010’s 13 Assassins.

For Blade of the Immortal–a manga about a sloppy but effective ronin named Manji who is responsible for the death of 100 other samurai, who has been gifted/cursed with immortality (meaning any time he’s dismembered, he’s repaired by “sacred bloodworms”), and who goes off to kill 1,000 evil men–Miike is the perfect choice. It’ll allow for the director’s trademark affinity for arterial blood spray (something that began with Akira Kurosawa, thank you very much) and what looks like a lot of amazing battle sequences.

Sign us up! Blade of the Immortal will premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas this September and then will hit cinemas everywhere November 3.

Images: Warner Bros/Magnet Releasing/Dark Horse

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. He writes the weekly look at weird or obscure films in Schlock & Awe. Follow him on Twitter!

And for more manga movies:

Our look at Lone Wolf and Cub
Our look at the Kill Bill influencer, Lady Snowblood
And Wolf Guy, a manga about a werewolf private eye