Kenny Baker, the British actor who starred as plucky robot R2-D2 in the &quot;Star Wars&quot; movies, died on Saturday at the age of 83, the Guardian newspaper reported. 
 
Baker, who measured one metre tall (three foot, eight inches), had problems with his lungs and had been ill for some time, his niece Abigail Shield said. 
 
&quot;He brought lots of happiness to people and we&#39;ll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world,&quot; she said. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re all very proud of what he achieved in his lifetime.&quot; 
 
Baker played the resourceful droid known for his whistles and beeps in the original &quot;Star Wars&quot; movie in 1977 and in the five following movies. 
 
He also received a credit in last year&#39;s &quot;Star Wars: The Force Awakens&quot;, and attended the European premiere in London in December in a wheelchair. 
 
However Anthony Daniels, who played R2-D2&#39;s on-screen friend C3PO and with whom Baker had a frosty relationship dating back decades, said he was never actually on set. 
 
The latest instalment of the franchise, &quot;Rogue One: A Star Wars Story&quot;, is due out in December. 
 
Baker also starred in cult movies from the 1980s such as &quot;Time Bandits&quot; and &quot;Flash Gordon&quot;. 
 
(AFP)

Baker had been dealing with some lung problems for quite a few years

Kenny Baker, the British actor who starred as plucky robot R2-D2 in the "Star Wars" movies, died on Saturday at the age of 83, the Guardian newspaper reported. Baker, who measured one metre tall (three foot, eight inches), had problems with his lungs and had been ill for some time, his niece Abigail Shield said. "He brought lots of happiness to people and we'll be celebrating the fact that he was well loved throughout the world," she said. "We're all very proud of what he achieved in his lifetime." Baker played the resourceful droid known for his whistles and beeps in the original "Star Wars" movie in 1977 and in the five following movies. He also received a credit in last year's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", and attended the European premiere in London in December in a wheelchair. However Anthony Daniels, who played R2-D2's on-screen friend C3PO and with whom Baker had a frosty relationship dating back decades, said he was never actually on set. The latest instalment of the franchise, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", is due out in December. Baker also starred in cult movies from the 1980s such as "Time Bandits" and "Flash Gordon". (AFP)

?Star Wars? actor Kenny Baker dies at 83

The anticipated &quot;Star Wars: Episode VIII&quot; will pick up from the cliffhanger in the final scene of &quot;The Force Awakens&quot;, fans of the franchise were told at the final day of the three-day Star Wars celebration in London. A&nbsp;new Han Solo was also unveiled at the event for a stand-alone film on the much-loved character. 
 
Director Rian Johnson said &quot;Episode VIII&quot;, due out in theatres in December 2017, will break &quot;a long-standing &#39;Star Wars&#39; tradition&quot; as each of the previous &quot;Star Wars&quot; films has picked up at least a year after the events of its predecessor. 
 
&quot;I didn&#39;t want to skip ahead. That last moment of (Episode) VII, I want to see what happens next,&quot; Johnson told fans on Sunday. 
 
&quot;Episode VIII&quot; is the next installment in Walt Disney Co&#39;s latest &quot;Star Wars&quot; trilogy that kicked off with last year&#39;s &quot;The Force Awakens&quot;, featuring a new generation of characters led by Daisy Ridley&#39;s Rey and John Boyega&#39;s Finn. 
 
Johnson said &quot;Episode VIII&quot; will get &quot;to the heart&quot; of the new characters and challenge them. 
 
&quot;The first film was this incredible explosion of adventure and excitement that sets up these characters and then just out of necessity it&#39;s very natural that in the second film that we start zooming in on the characters,&quot; Johnson said. 
 
New Han Solo treat for fans 
 
On Sunday, rising star Alden Ehrenreich, 26, was officially introduced as Han Solo in a franchise spin-off due out in May 2018 that will follow an origin story of the handsome, rogue space smuggler made famous by Harrison Ford.&nbsp;&quot;As a kid, this character especially, you play make-believe and you kind of imagine what it would be like,&quot; Ehrenreich said. 
 
The biggest applause went to veteran &quot;Star Wars&quot; actors Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who played siblings Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the franchise.&nbsp;Hamill said fans always ask if he and Fisher have a sibling-like relationship, to which he replies, &quot;Yeah, we fight all the time and we&#39;re not speaking to each other for years at a time.&quot; 
 
Disney is releasing three stand-alone films that will explore new realms and stories outside of the trilogies first set up in George Lucas&#39; 1977 &quot;Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope&quot;.&nbsp;On Friday, fans were shown exclusive footage from &quot;Rogue One: A Star Wars Story&quot;, out this December, which features a new host of characters. 
 
(Reuters)

Director Rian Johnson departs long-standing Star Wars tradition of picking up story at least a year after the events of its predecessor

The anticipated "Star Wars: Episode VIII" will pick up from the cliffhanger in the final scene of "The Force Awakens", fans of the franchise were told at the final day of the three-day Star Wars celebration in London. A new Han Solo was also unveiled at the event for a stand-alone film on the much-loved character. Director Rian Johnson said "Episode VIII", due out in theatres in December 2017, will break "a long-standing 'Star Wars' tradition" as each of the previous "Star Wars" films has picked up at least a year after the events of its predecessor. "I didn't want to skip ahead. That last moment of (Episode) VII, I want to see what happens next," Johnson told fans on Sunday. "Episode VIII" is the next installment in Walt Disney Co's latest "Star Wars" trilogy that kicked off with last year's "The Force Awakens", featuring a new generation of characters led by Daisy Ridley's Rey and John Boyega's Finn. Johnson said "Episode VIII" will get "to the heart" of the new characters and challenge them. "The first film was this incredible explosion of adventure and excitement that sets up these characters and then just out of necessity it's very natural that in the second film that we start zooming in on the characters," Johnson said. New Han Solo treat for fans On Sunday, rising star Alden Ehrenreich, 26, was officially introduced as Han Solo in a franchise spin-off due out in May 2018 that will follow an origin story of the handsome, rogue space smuggler made famous by Harrison Ford. "As a kid, this character especially, you play make-believe and you kind of imagine what it would be like," Ehrenreich said. The biggest applause went to veteran "Star Wars" actors Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, who played siblings Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the franchise. Hamill said fans always ask if he and Fisher have a sibling-like relationship, to which he replies, "Yeah, we fight all the time and we're not speaking to each other for years at a time." Disney is releasing three stand-alone films that will explore new realms and stories outside of the trilogies first set up in George Lucas' 1977 "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope". On Friday, fans were shown exclusive footage from "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", out this December, which features a new host of characters. (Reuters)

Episode VIII to break Star Wars tradition; new Han solo unveiled

Virtual reality has yet to take off with the bulk of video gamers, but the industry is doubling down on its bet that one day it will. 
 
At the annual E3 video game showcase in Los Angeles this week, attendees strapped on Virtual Reality (VR) headsets to peer into fantasy worlds, battle robotic creatures and command starships. Meanwhile, game publishers announced investments that showed they believe VR is ready to go mainstream. 
 
&quot;This is clearly the coming-out party for VR,&quot; said P.J. McNealy, chief executive officer and founder of Digital World Research. &quot;The interest is there, the hardware is coming to market, and the content developers are figuring out how to take advantage of it.&quot; 
 
E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is an annual spectacle devoted to serious gaming. Sales of games played on consoles or PCs still lead the $99.6 billion global gaming industry, according to data from research firm Newzoo. But an explosion in mobile games, plus a shift toward virtual reality hardware and software, could change that. 
 
Sony Corp unveiled a $399 PlayStation VR headset at E3 that will hit stores in October. Fifty games will be available by year&#39;s end, including VR versions of blockbuster franchises &quot;Resident Evil&quot; and &quot;Batman.&quot; 
 
Some games will be exclusive to PlayStation VR, including &quot;Star Wars: Battlefront X-Wing VR Mission.&quot; Star Trek fans can command a Starfleet vessel &quot;Star Trek: Bridge Crew,&quot; which will be playable on PlayStation VR, Facebook&#39;s Oculus Rift headset, and the HTC Vive VR device. 
 
Microsoft will have a new version of its Xbox, dubbed Project Scorpio, that will support VR in time for the 2017 holiday season. The company is also is developing its HoloLens augmented reality glasses, which overlay images as holograms onto a user&#39;s real-life field of vision. 
 
Many in the industry are still skeptical about VR&#39;s potential. They question how many gamers will shell out hundreds of dollars for a headset after investing in a gaming console. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re going to find out what&#39;s good and bad about virtual reality in the months and years to come,&quot; said Steve Boxer, a gaming journalist from Britain who tried out games at E3. 
 
&quot;Personally I don&#39;t want to have to sit there wearing a virtual reality helmet for more than 20 minutes.&quot; Sony is working with developers to adapt console games to a VR environment, said John Koller, vice president, Sony Interactive Entertainment America. 
 
&quot;VR is going to be shorter, very intense bursts,&quot; Koller said. &quot;We see it chopped up into these experiences that are very exciting and emotionally driven.&quot; 
 
The industry isn&#39;t abandoning traditional games. 
 
While companies are trying to build a new market in VR, &quot;even more time and more money is being spent to maintain the cash cow of the business with new titles,&quot; said Mark Goodman, an analyst with Strategy Analytics. 
 
Among the games generating buzz at E3 was Horizon Zero Dawn, a role-playing game featuring a female hunter, and a new installment in the God of War franchise, analysts said. 
 
Companies staged over-the-top booths with pulsating music, flashing lights, and giant video screens. Organisers limited decibel levels to keep the noise in check. 
 
Developer 2K Czech set up a two-story, New Orleans-style bar and sent a live jazz band marching through the convention halls to promote its game, &quot;Mafia.&quot; 
 
Nintendo erected a makeshift cave to mimic the world of the new Legend of Zelda game, attracting a line of hundreds of people and earning positive reviews. 
 
Zelda could be a big enough hit to entice people to buy Nintendo&#39;s next-generation console called NX when it comes out next year, McNealy said. 
 
&quot;Anybody who&#39;s going to buy a console may buy one for that,&quot; he said. &quot;It&#39;s a new version of a huge franchise for them.&quot; 
(Reuters)

Major gaming players like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft are set to launch virtual reality-based games involving Resident Evil, Batman, others

Virtual reality has yet to take off with the bulk of video gamers, but the industry is doubling down on its bet that one day it will. At the annual E3 video game showcase in Los Angeles this week, attendees strapped on Virtual Reality (VR) headsets to peer into fantasy worlds, battle robotic creatures and command starships. Meanwhile, game publishers announced investments that showed they believe VR is ready to go mainstream. "This is clearly the coming-out party for VR," said P.J. McNealy, chief executive officer and founder of Digital World Research. "The interest is there, the hardware is coming to market, and the content developers are figuring out how to take advantage of it." E3, or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, is an annual spectacle devoted to serious gaming. Sales of games played on consoles or PCs still lead the $99.6 billion global gaming industry, according to data from research firm Newzoo. But an explosion in mobile games, plus a shift toward virtual reality hardware and software, could change that. Sony Corp unveiled a $399 PlayStation VR headset at E3 that will hit stores in October. Fifty games will be available by year's end, including VR versions of blockbuster franchises "Resident Evil" and "Batman." Some games will be exclusive to PlayStation VR, including "Star Wars: Battlefront X-Wing VR Mission." Star Trek fans can command a Starfleet vessel "Star Trek: Bridge Crew," which will be playable on PlayStation VR, Facebook's Oculus Rift headset, and the HTC Vive VR device. Microsoft will have a new version of its Xbox, dubbed Project Scorpio, that will support VR in time for the 2017 holiday season. The company is also is developing its HoloLens augmented reality glasses, which overlay images as holograms onto a user's real-life field of vision. Many in the industry are still skeptical about VR's potential. They question how many gamers will shell out hundreds of dollars for a headset after investing in a gaming console. "We're going to find out what's good and bad about virtual reality in the months and years to come," said Steve Boxer, a gaming journalist from Britain who tried out games at E3. "Personally I don't want to have to sit there wearing a virtual reality helmet for more than 20 minutes." Sony is working with developers to adapt console games to a VR environment, said John Koller, vice president, Sony Interactive Entertainment America. "VR is going to be shorter, very intense bursts," Koller said. "We see it chopped up into these experiences that are very exciting and emotionally driven." The industry isn't abandoning traditional games. While companies are trying to build a new market in VR, "even more time and more money is being spent to maintain the cash cow of the business with new titles," said Mark Goodman, an analyst with Strategy Analytics. Among the games generating buzz at E3 was Horizon Zero Dawn, a role-playing game featuring a female hunter, and a new installment in the God of War franchise, analysts said. Companies staged over-the-top booths with pulsating music, flashing lights, and giant video screens. Organisers limited decibel levels to keep the noise in check. Developer 2K Czech set up a two-story, New Orleans-style bar and sent a live jazz band marching through the convention halls to promote its game, "Mafia." Nintendo erected a makeshift cave to mimic the world of the new Legend of Zelda game, attracting a line of hundreds of people and earning positive reviews. Zelda could be a big enough hit to entice people to buy Nintendo's next-generation console called NX when it comes out next year, McNealy said. "Anybody who's going to buy a console may buy one for that," he said. "It's a new version of a huge franchise for them." (Reuters)

Video game makers plunge deeper into virtual reality

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?Star Wars? actor Kenny Baker dies at 83

Episode VIII to break Star Wars tradition; new Han solo unveiled

Video game makers plunge deeper into virtual reality