• Leonardo DiCaprio handed over to the US government Marlon Brando's best actor Oscar that had previously been gifted to him.
• According to The New York Times, Jho Low, a Malaysian financier who gave DiCaprio the Oscar, stole billions of dollars from a Malaysian investment fund.
• The Times said US investigators are in the process of recovering things purchased by Low.

Leonardo DiCaprio was given Marlon Brando's 1955 best actor Oscar, which Brando won for "On the Waterfront," as a birthday gift, but had to return it last year when it was revealed to be involved in a corruption scandal.

This week, new details emerged in a New York Times report about Jho Low, the Malaysian financier who gifted Brando's Oscar to DiCaprio after he won it for $600,000 at an auction. Low stole billions of dollars from a Malaysian government investment fund, called the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund (1MDB), and is a fugitive on the run from US investigators, according to The Times.

According to The Times, Low is believed to be in hiding in China, and the US took charge of the investigation because it's been "been cracking down on the flow of illegal money through the American financial system."

Court documents reviewed by The Times revealed that several federal agencies are in the process of recovering items Low purchased, including $8 million worth of jewelry Low gave Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr.

According to the book "Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the World," which was released earlier this year, Kerr handed over the jewelry to the US government last year. But according to the Times report, another gift to Kerr, a piano in her home, is causing problems because it won't fit through the doors.

The recovery process has been slowed, according to The Times, because Low is in hiding, and he and his associates "have denied wrongdoing and are challenging the forfeitures."

SEE ALSO: Ellen DeGeneres is considering quitting her TV show, even though she is the highest-paid talk show host in the world

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NOW WATCH: The inside story behind the Marvel movie you were never supposed to see

• "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is out now for the Nintendo Switch and players are already starting to get competitive with the new game.
• Up to eight players can fight each other in Smash at the same time, leading to plenty of mayhem on the battlefield.
• While players who have played Smash in the past will have no problem picking up "Ultimate," there are a few tricks that set veterans apart from casual players.

"Super Smash Bros." has provided fierce a fierce video game battleground since the first game in the series was released on the Nintendo 64 in 1999. With "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" now out for Nintendo Switch, the fight continues with multiplayer matches breaking out across offices, dorm rooms, and house parties everywhere.

While "Ultimate" is the biggest Smash game ever, the rules are the same: players fight to knock each other off the stage using their favorite video game characters. Those who have played the previous games should feel right at home when they pick up "Ultimate;" every character from the previous games has returned and dedicated tournament players have already begun developing advanced techniques for their favorite characters.

Not everyone is ready to become a professional Smasher, but it can't hurt to have a few tricks to beat casual players right? Here are some essential tips to help you dominate your friends in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate."

SEE ALSO: 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' brings more than 70 characters to the Nintendo Switch — here they all are

SEE ALSO: We found a trick that unlocks every character in 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' in just a few hours. Here's how to get your favorites as fast as possible.

Figure out a comfortable control scheme (seriously though).

Really though, it may sound obvious, but knowing your controls is the first step to winning. "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" has no shortage of control schemes and settings, so it's important to figure out which works best for you. While Smash veterans may prefer playing on the old-school GameCube controller (compatible with "Ultimate" via an adapter sold separately), the new Switch controls have a different layout and an extra button to customize.

In addition to the standard controls, pay attention to the "Other Settings" options. Lots of players prefer to turn off "Stick Jump" so they don't accidentally jump with the analog stick and die. Personally, I like to set my right analog to "Tilts" for quick attacks, and use Attack+Special for smash attacks. Some people like to set their Jump to a trigger button at the top of the controller for easier access.

Remember that Smash has two types of jumps: A regular jump that is performed by holding the jump button, and a short hop, which can be done by tapping the jump button. You should feel comfortable using all of your attacks at both heights.

Controls are saved to specific usernames, so you can set your personal preferences for different controllers and even create multiple names to use different control layouts for different characters.

Learn how to use items to your advantage.

While not everyone prefers to play with items enabled, they're a key part of Smash. Some are basic weapons, some will give you special power-ups, and a few might just blow up in your face and kill you. Learning the different items is key to survival.

In addition to throwing items with the "Attack" button while they're equipped, you can also drop them in-place by pressing the "Grab" button. If an item is thrown at you, you can catch it by pressing "Attack" or "Grab" right before it hits you, even if you're in mid-air.

Even if items are turned off, characters like Link and Peach can generate their own items — Link can throw bombs, and Peach can attack with thrown vegetables — and use them to trick and trap opponents.

Remember all of your options for getting back to the stage.

When knocked off stage, every character in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" can use their Up+Special Attack move to help them get back onto the stage. That special move will vary from between characters but it's your prime key for survival when used properly. If you find yourself having trouble staying alive, you can pick a character like Kirby, Jigglypuff, Metaknight, King Dedede or Pit, who can float in the air for a period. 

Some characters have extra moves to help them get back to the stage too. Using attacks with extra horizontal movement can help make your return to the stage less predictable. A few characters can hit themselves with their special moves to help propel them back to the stage, and an even smaller handful can use certain moves to literally tether themselves to the stage, including Samus, Lucas, Young Link, Toon Link, and Richter/Simon Belmont.

• Sinemia has emerged as a low-cost competitor to MoviePass in the movie-ticket subscription space.
• But many customers have complained about its fees, one of which is the subject of a lawsuit filed in November.
• There are seven ways Sinemia can charge you fees.

As MoviePass has continued to restrict the showtimes and movies its subscribers can see, its rival Sinemia has started to look like a sweet deal.

The movie-ticket subscription service, which expanded to the US earlier this year, has been advertising its low prices on Facebook and Instagram. In one paid post I ran across on Facebook yesterday, Sinemia advertised its price of $8.99 monthly for three movie tickets (to any regular movie showing, at practically any theater). That sounds like a much better deal than MoviePass, which charges me $9.99 per month for a severely restricted catalog of available movies (and likewise limits me to three movies per month).

But not so fast.

Being a Sinemia subscriber can actually become a lot more expensive than it seems at first blush because of the app's sneaky fees. One new fee, introduced in October, is even the subject of a lawsuit from angry customers.

In case you are thinking of subscribing to Sinemia, or just want a clearer understanding of the fees, here's a breakdown:

• Membership initiation fee: $19.99 to $29.99. This fee can be avoided if you pay for an entire year up front, but if you want to only be billed monthly, you have to pay it when you start your membership.
• Accelerated cardless activation fee: $9.99. If you don't want to wait 1 to 2 weeks for your Sinemia plan to "activate,"  you can speed it up by paying extra.
• Convenience fee: around $1.50 per ticket. Sinemia does not pay the convenience fees charged by advance online ticket services like Fandango, and passes them on to the customer. Sinemia recently launched the option to use a physical Sinemia debit card and avoid online fees, however my card has not arrived yet (I paid for a card earlier this month), so my only option is still booking online.
• Processing fee: up to $1.80 per ticket. This new fee, which was introduced on top of a convenience fee in October, was the main subject of the lawsuit by customers against Sinemia. Sinemia said that the "processing fee of up to $1.80 applies so that Sinemia can continue to provide access to all showtimes for all movies in all theaters without restrictions as well as to keep our subscription plans and services consistent, as they have been since the founding of the company."
• Debit card fee: $14.99. If you want to avoid the two per-ticket fees outlined above, you can sign up to use the Sinemia debit card (and pay another fee). If you have the card, you can buy tickets at the theater and supposedly avoid both convenience fees and processing fees. My card has not arrived yet so I can't personally confirm that.
• Misuse fee: price of the movie ticket. Several upset Sinemia customers have contacted me complaining about being charged a "misuse fee" when they weren't able to check into a movie, one of whom said it was because of a glitch in Sinemia's app. Sinemia described the fee in this way in a statement: "If users do not check in 30 minutes before or after their show time, the full ticket price may be charged to the customer's payment method. Sinemia provides a warning the first time a customer does not check in, and Sinemia does not charge a fee for the first misuse."
• Monthly fee: $3.99 to $29.99. Let's not forget the actual monthly subscription fee you pay for your account, which can range depending on what bells and whistles you want.

So while Sinemia seems like an amazing deal on the surface, if you are going to take the plunge, please be aware of the fees. I have had over 150 Sinemia angry customers contact me since I started writing about the service, and the most common complaint has been that they were not aware of the fees when they signed up.

MoviePass, which has had its share of problems, charges a one-time activation fee but otherwise does not charge any extra fees beyond the standard monthly fee.

If you have any information about Sinemia, contact the author at nmcalone@businessinsider.com.

SEE ALSO: Why customers should be wary of MoviePass and Sinemia, from class-action lawsuits to 'F' ratings from the Better Business Bureau

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NOW WATCH: The inside story behind the Marvel movie you were never supposed to see

• The Chinese government has not approved any new video games for release in the country since March 2018, and the freeze could continue into early 2019.
• China recently announced the formation of an Online Games Ethics Committe, but the committee's first batch of reviews resulted in zero approvals.
• Video game publishers are working to meet the government's criteria, even as the halt in approvals has meant they're losing money in a huge market.

It's been about 9 months since the Chinese government approved a new video game for release in the country, and the freeze is likely to continue well into next year. Though the country recently established an Online Games Ethics Committee, the organization has yet to find a game that fits their criteria.

South China Morning Post reported last week that while China recently formed an Online Games Ethics Committee to approve video games for sale in the country, the committee has yet to approve any of the games it has reviewed.

China has strict regulations regarding new media entering the country. Video games and movies alike must be reviewed by officials prior to their mass release, and the government has strict standards prohibiting violence and offensive content. In March, China established the State Administration of Press and Publication to handle the approval of video games and other new media. The reorganizing of the approval process led to a complete halt of video game approvals, and China has also restricted the monetization of certain games that were already approved. 

Read more:Kids in China are trying every trick in the book to beat the facial recognition software that puts a mandatory time limit on popular video games

According to China Central Television, a state-run channel, the committee has reviewed 20 games so far; nine of the games were rejected outright, while the other 11 will need to modify their content to be eligible for release. The committee did not identify any of the games that were reviewed. A government source told the South China Morning Post that the freeze on new approvals is expected to continue into February 2019, while the government establishes a new licensing system.

While it's unclear what standards new games need to meet for approval, Chinese officials have criticized video games as a whole for their impact on the country's youth. Those rallying against video games have suggested that they are addictive and make children unproductive.

With about one-fifth of the world's total population, China is the largest video game market on the planet. Chinese gamers spent an estimated $34 billion on video games during the 2018 fiscal year, according to New Zoo.

China also happens to be home to the world's largest video game publisher, Tencent. Tencent has been unable to release or otherwise monetize some of its most popular games this year and its total value has dropped by roughly $200 billion as a result. In an effort to quell concerns about kids getting addicted to video games, the company has implemented new age restrictions, going so far as to include facial recognition software to limit playtime.

The formation of the Online Games Ethics Committee suggests that China may soon be ready to approve new games, but publishers will still need to work through quite a bit of bureaucratic red tape to bring their game into the country.

SEE ALSO: Kids in China are trying every trick in the book to beat the facial recognition software that puts a mandatory time limit on popular video games

SEE ALSO: Video game addiction has sparked a culture war in China — and it’s having huge repercussions for the world's biggest video game maker

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NOW WATCH: Amazon wants to open 3,000 cashier-less grocery stores — and they'll have a major advantage over their competitors

• After two and a half years, Pokémon Go players finally have the ability to battle each other, thanks to a long-awaited new update.
• The update literally changes the game: It introduces a revamped battle system that lets Pokémon learn a third attack, introducing a whole new layer of strategy. 
• The fights themselves let trainers take a team of three Pokémon into battle, with otherwise hard-to-find items as a possible prize for the victor.
• To start a battle, you'll generally need to be close enough to your would-be opponent to scan a QR code on their phone — a mechanic designed to encourage real-world interaction.
• Here's how it all works.

Developer Niantic has finally given Pokémon Go players the ability to battle their fellow Pokémon trainers — a feature that's been in hot demand since the game first launched in the summer of 2016. 

Starting late Wednesday evening, the update started going out to Pokémon Go players. As is usually Niantic's way, it started going out to high-level players first, but it's spreading fast. So if you don't see the option right away, just give it a little bit and try again to see if it's reached you. 

It's already clear that the addition of player-versus-player (PvP) battles is slated to completely change the game. And I mean that literally: Among many other things, the trainer battle update adds the ability for your Pokémon to learn a third attack, beyond the two that they already know. The game's battle system itself is getting tweaked slightly, such that you're rewarded for tapping rhythmically to charge up certain attacks in combat.

Much of it builds on the game's new social features, which were introduced a few months ago alongside the also-much-requested Pokémon trading feature. While you can battle strangers, there are a few advantages to fighting your friends. 

Here's how Pokémon Go trainer battles will work:

SEE ALSO: This is how Pokémon trading works in Pokémon Go

The first thing you gotta know is that Pokémon Go battling is sorted into leagues. When you challenge another trainer, you decide ahead of time which league's rules you'll fight under.

Different leagues have different caps on the strength of the Pokémon you can use to battle. The highest-level league, the Master League, takes off (almost) all the limits: You can use any Pokémon, at any level, including so-called Legendaries.

The one caveat are that you can't use Ditto or Shedinja, two weird cases in the larger Pokémon canon, in any kind of player-versus-player battles, including Master League. 

If you want to battle another trainer, you'll use your phone's camera to scan their unique QR code. You'll only be able to battle remotely with your Ultra Friends and Best Friends, as a perk for IRL besties.

• YouTube last week released its annual "Rewind" video, which features more than 130 YouTube stars and celebrities.
• Appearances included Will Smith, Marques Brownlee, Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, John Oliver, and many more.
• In the course of a week, YouTube Rewind 2018 has become the most disliked video in YouTube history. As of Thursday morning, it had over 120 million total views but over 10 million dislikes.
• People are criticizing the video for not including many of YouTube's biggest and most influential stars, likely because many of them experienced some form of controversy in 2018.

Last Thursday, YouTube released its annual "Rewind" video, which featured more than 100 YouTube stars and celebrities.

But in the course of just one week, "YouTube Rewind 2018" has become the most disliked video in YouTube history.

It's the fastest video to climb the list of "most dislikes on YouTube." And in the last 24 hours, it passed the previous record-holder of most YouTube dislikes: Justin Bieber's "Baby," a video that had eight years to accrue dislikes.

YouTube issued a statement to The Verge on Thursday:

“Honest feedback can suck, but we are listening and we appreciate how much people care. Trying to capture the magic of YouTube in one single video is like trying to capture lightning in a bottle. We also learned that creating content can be really hard and this underscores our respect and admiration for YouTube creators doing it every day. Keep the feedback coming and maybe we’ll release a top 10 list of ‘Rewind dislike’ reaction videos.”

So, why are people so upset about Rewind 2018?

It all boils down to the video's intended audience.

People expect YouTube's Rewind videos to be an homage to creators, but given the absence of so many YouTube stars that had "controversial" moments this year, the video appears to be focused on keeping advertisers happy.

That's the only possible explanation for the absence of YouTube's most popular creators, like Felix "Pewdiepie" Kjellberg, Shane Dawson, David Dobrik, and so many others.

When you search for "YouTube Rewind 2018," two of the top three results are negative responses to YouTube's actual video, made by popular YouTube creators.

The Paul brothers, in particular, were notable absentees from "Rewind 2018."

Logan Paul is one of YouTube's most popular faces, but he got himself in hot water for filming a suicide victim in Japan earlier this year. Logan's little brother Jake is even more popular, but the live boxing match between Jake Paul and his YouTube rival KSI wasn't exactly a shining moment for the site's reputation — even if it brought in nearly 1 million live viewers to YouTube at the time.

As The Verge's Julia Alexander put so well, "[YouTube Rewind 2018] feels disingenuous, like YouTube is hiding its uglier side under a carpet while showing guests around."

"YouTube Rewind 2018" shows there is a clear schism between the expectations and reality of YouTube. Viewers and the community at large expected to see all of the people who made their names on YouTube this year, for better or worse. But YouTube only wants to share the people and parts of the site it feels comfortable sharing. That's why Will Smith kicks off the video, even though The Fresh Prince has a fraction of the subscribers that Pewdiepie has.

All that said, not everyone hates YouTube Rewind 2018. The video still has over 2 million likes, and features hundreds of YouTube stars and celebrities from around the world who were filmed in four different locales: Los Angeles, London, Seoul, and Rio De Janeiro. If you're interested in seeing all of the people who did make the video, we spotted every single person so you don't have to.

SEE ALSO: These were the top YouTube videos of 2018, according to Google

1. Will Smith — actor and rapper

2. Marques Brownlee — tech reviewer

3. ItsFunneh — gaming videos

• "Fortnite" is one of very few games that can be played across competing platforms — players on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, iPhone, and Android all play together.
• The company behind "Fortnite," Epic Games, is making a major move to bring that functionality to other games.
• By pioneering that functionality with "Fortnite," Epic has already tested it with the world's largest game.

If you bought this year's "Call of Duty" game on Xbox One, and your friend bought it on PlayStation 4, you can't play together. 

It's the same game running on very similar hardware, yet you're unable to play together. Why? Business, of course, is the unfortunate answer.

Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 are competitors, and each runs its own paid online service. Those services don't work with each other, and thus you're unable to play games across the two competing platforms. 

But things began changing earlier this year, and it's all because of "Fortnite." 

Read more:The company behind 'Fortnite' is taking on Apple, Google, and Steam with its latest move: a digital storefront for games

"Fortnite" is one of very few games that you can play with friends across every platform it's on — and that's a lot of platforms. 

Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac, iPhone, and Android all run "Fortnite," and all seven versions of the game work together. Players on iPhone can play with players on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and every other combination of those platforms that you can imagine.

That's a major accomplishment, and it's largely due to two major things that happened in the last two years:

1. "Fortnite" launched its Battle Royale mode in September 2017, and subsequently went on to become the most popular game in the world.
2. Microsoft made a major push with its own huge game, "Minecraft," to unite players across all platforms. Nintendo, unbelievably, joined that push.

Those two things combined put a ton of pressure on Sony. A large enough portion of Sony's 80-million-plus base of PlayStation 4 owners complained, and Sony looked like the bad guy for not allowing PS4 owners to play games with everyone else.

In September, after months of bad press, Sony relented and allowed "Fortnite" players on PlayStation 4 to play with everyone else. It was the first cross-platform game in an ongoing effort to open the doors, Sony said at the time— a fundamental shift in the entire game industry.

Now, just a few months later, "Fortnite" maker Epic Games is kicking open the doors with a massive new initiative aimed at making cross-platform play a reality sooner than later.

"Throughout 2019, we’ll be launching a large set of cross-platform game services originally built for 'Fortnite'," Epic Games said in a blog post this week. "These services will be free for all developers, and will be open to all engines, all platforms, and all stores." 

That may not sound like much, but it has the potential to be huge: Epic Games is releasing a totally free set of tools that are intended to break down the barriers between players on different game platforms.

Instead of "Call of Duty" players on Xbox only playing with other Xbox players, this could open the doors to cross-play across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and more.

And it's especially meaningful coming from Epic Games. When the North Carolina-based company isn't creating the world's biggest games, it also makes the tools that thousands of game developers use to make games: Unreal Engine 4. More directly: Epic Games is trusted by game developers all over the world when it comes to the tools used for building games. 

But, unlike its work with Unreal Engine 4, Epic Games says that the cross-platform gaming services it's offering are completely free; the company will issue a software developer kit in 2019 that's free to use. The plan is to update the software developer kit throughout 2019 and beyond.

What this will mean in the long-run for gaming remains to be seen, but it's an important move from a major third-party game studio with enough leverage to push platform holders like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

SEE ALSO: Sony gives in: After months of criticism, Sony is finally allowing 'Fortnite' players on PlayStation 4 to play with people on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch

Join the conversation about this story »

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• China is approving an unexpected number of US movies this month to reach its box office goal of $8.7 billion by year's end, according to Bloomberg.
• China is expected to surpass the US as the world's box-office leader within the next five years, according to a report by Ampere Analysis.
• While China is relying on imported movies to reach its goal, Chinese audiences are essential for boosting blockbusters that disappoint in the US.

Hollywood is increasingly relying on the international box office, particularly in China, to boost blockbusters that don't perform as well in the United States. But China is also relying on Hollywood for its own box office this year.

According to Bloomberg, which cited anonymous sources, China's propaganda ministry has approved an unexpected number of US films to be screened in the country in December in order to reach its 2018 goal of $8.7 billion (60 billion yuan) in ticket sales by year's end. The movies include "The Grinch," "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," and "Searching."

READ MORE: A new report says China will dethrone the US as the box-office leader in less than 5 years, and that's good news for The Rock and monster movies

These last-minute additions would raise the number of imported movies to 41, more than its goal of 34, according to Bloomberg.

While US movies are essential to China's goal, the Chinese box office is still expected to surpass the US as the biggest in the world within the next five years, according to a recent report from Ampere Analysis.

According to the report, China has been building cinemas at an unprecedented growth rate of 35% every year since 2009. By 2023, Ampere predicted the Chinese box office will reach $12 billion. Allowing more US movies could contribute to that, especially as Hollywood relies more and more on international markets.

READ MORE: 'Aquaman' is the biggest movie in the world, and it hasn't even debuted in the US yet

"Aquaman" debuted in China over the weekend, two weeks before its US release date. It was still the biggest movie in the world with $94 million.

Other movies this year to get a big boost from China are "Venom," which has grossed $270 million there, and "The Meg," which made $153 million. Movies starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, like "Rampage" and "Skyscraper," underwhelmed in the US, but became worldwide hits thanks to their appeal in China.

SEE ALSO: The 9 biggest Hollywood winners of 2018 and 5 losers who wish this year never happened

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NOW WATCH: The inside story behind the Marvel movie you were never supposed to see

• Jake Johnson is the voice of Peter Parker in the Sony animated movie "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse."
• He spoke to Business Insider about the fear he had for over a year while working on the movie that he would be replaced by a bigger-name actor.
• He recounted the moment he had with a group of kids when it hit him that he would now be known as an actor who played Spider-Man.
• And Johnson talked about some of the funny ideas he had for his memorable Lowery character from "Jurassic World" if he returned for the sequel.

Jake Johnson is not a household name — yet — which may explain why he was so nervous that Sony would come to its senses and replace him as Peter Parker in its ambitious animated Spider-Man movie.

Thank goodness that never happened.

The hype for “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (in theaters Friday) is building, with critical acclaim and Oscar buzz. And you can trace a lot of it back to Johnson's self-deprecating, past-his-prime portrayal of Peter Parker. It's a side we’ve never seen of the legendary character, despite the countless versions of Parker that have been done in live-action movies and cartoons.

And Johnson couldn’t be a better fit to do it. Known for his laid-back comedic style on the TV show “New Girl,” and movies like “Let’s Be Cops,” “Tag,” and “Jurassic World,” Johnson's voice and style matched perfectly with the overweight, sweatpants-wearing Parker who mentors the newest Spider-Man, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), in the movie.

Business Insider chatted with Johnson about the negative voiceover experience he had on another project that made him so paranoid he was going to lose the Peter Parker job, why it took over two years to voice the character, the touching moment with kids that made him realize he’s now part of the Marvel universe, and if we’ll see his Lowery character in “Jurassic World 3.”

Jason Guerrasio: Peter Parker being out of shape, dealing with a breakup with Mary Jane, and wearing sweatpants, was all that fleshed out in the script when you got it or did those things evolve over time?

Jake Johnson: You know, it was kind of there, to be honest. The original vision from [producers] Chris Miller and Phil Lord from the start was their version of Peter. When I was brought on board I put my own spin on it and tried to make it be my own, but the core of who he is was really there on the page. 

Guerrasio: And I would imagine that was an exciting challenge to take on because we've never seen this character this way before.

Johnson: Absolutely. It was really exciting for me. Everything about this version of Peter I found neat. I've never imagined a superhero past his prime that wasn't in a comedy about superheroes. I also really liked that as the movie goes on you see that Peter Parker's still got it.

Guerrasio: You’ve been involved with this movie for two and a half years. For voiceover work that's kind of uncharted territory. Generally for stars, voiceover work is a fun quick job. You come in, do your work for a few weeks to a month, and get out. Did you know this would involve that kind of commitment?

Johnson: Honestly, knowing Chris and Phil and having worked with them before briefly, they are guys who never stop working. I remember I did a scene with them in "21 Jump Street" and we must have improvised that scene for countless hours. So I knew they are guys who are going to explore an idea and a joke from every which way. And if you look at our directors Peter [Ramsey], Bobby [Persichetti], and Rodney [Rothman], every one of them was an Alpha dog. So I thought we have five very strong voices and our producer, Christina [Steinberg], who was always there. I felt, "We're going to get dirty on this one." And we did. But as an actor I was shocked at how much joy I got. It felt like pure acting to me that I didn't expect. 

Guerrasio: But two and a half years, there have to be lines you've said so many times for this movie that you never want to say again the rest of your life.

Johnson: [laughs] It wasn't like I was recording it every day for two-plus years. I always had a chunk of time in between. I mean, and I'm not saying this as some promotional line, I really loved playing Peter Parker. I was always excited to get back into it. The monologue, "My name is Peter B. Parker and I was bit by a radioactive spider," I did that monologue probably 35 to 40 different times. I would come back and they would say, "Hey, we made a little tweak, we're doing the monologue again," and I would just be like, here we go. 

Guerrasio: And is it true that when you got the role Sony wouldn't let you announce it for like a year and a half?

Johnson: Yeah. 

Guerrasio: What was holding that secret like?

Johnson: That was tricky because I was really excited about it. And when I got the gig I started recording soon after so I knew about the Spider-Verse and Miles and the creation of all these characters and the team that the Spider-Verse was creating. I knew this thing was going to be special. So it was hard not to talk about it. 

Guerrasio: But as an actor, for that year-plus you had to been thinking, “These guys can cut me at any time and get someone new for this and no one would know.” Was that swirling through your head?

Johnson: Absolutely. That has happened to me many times in this business. I'm not going to name the names out of respect, but I've done entire voiceovers for movies. Movies that have a voiceover throughout it. I've laid down the tracks with the directors, and then I found out later they were using that as a temp track. So that's part of the business. They hear the voice and something's not right and it's an easy fix. They have this rhythm and they are like, “Now let's see if somebody else's voice sounds better.”

Guerrasio: I mean, that must be such a punch in the gut.

Johnson: Oh my god, hey, a big part of this business is just getting punched in the gut. But on this, Sony started announcing other actors but they hadn't announced me and I thought, "C'mon man, I was born at night but not last night. I know what's happening here!" I thought for sure I was getting replaced by some huge name that's in all the superhero movies. And then I got the call that they were announcing me and it was such a relief.

But in all seriousness, this isn't spin, there are money jobs everywhere in this business but the reason I didn't want to get cut out of this movie is because I really hope to keep playing Peter. I like it. I really want to see another script. I really want to know what happens to him and MJ. And I also don't want to be in the writer's meetings, I want to see the script.

Guerrasio: I mean, if anyone's earned it I think it's you. I think you can jump on the table and demand it. 

Johnson: [laughs] Thank you, man. 

Guerrasio: Shameik is so great in this, especially the scenes where Miles and Peter interact. Were you two able to record in the same room?

Johnson: We did, and it helped a lot. When I first started doing Peter alone in a room I would just read the lines as is and then when it would be Miles' lines I just imagined Shameik would deliver it as a kid. So, like the line, "Sorry, kid, but it's just not your time," you imagine saying it to a little boy. There's a little sweetness to the delivery. But with Shameik, who gave more confidence and a swagger with Miles, I didn't feel I needed to sugar coat the lines. I could talk to him more like a peer. So the whole tone was now, "I'm sorry man, but you just don't have it." That turn from, "Hey, sorry kid," to that didn't happen until we were face to face and doing full scenes locking eyes. 

Guerrasio: How about Nicolas Cage, who voices Spider-Man Noir in the movie? Did you get to be in the same room with him?

Johnson: That's a heart breaker, but no. And, I asked, too. I said, “If there's any chance,” and they said, "If we can pull strings we'll get you to him.” But it didn't happen. I really wanted to. But I got to record with Kathryn Hahn. She is Doc Ock, so we got to do that scene where she reveals herself as Doc Ock and we got to do our dialogue together and we improvised. The directors actually would just yell out, "Try this," and would hand us written lines in the moment. It just felt like old-school acting. Just getting in there and doing it. 

Read more: "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is a comic book come to life, and the best animated movie of 2018

Guerrasio: Has it hit you yet that kids will be seeing this movie and you will be their first Peter Parker? You will be the one introducing them into this world. 

Johnson: I've been really lucky with my career in that I've been working for the last decade, but I mostly make things for grown ups and old teens. This is the first time where in the schedule they have made time for me to do stuff like go to the Ronald McDonald House of the Children's Hospital in LA and visit kids. They have no idea who I am, but when they are told I play Peter Parker they want the autograph to say “Peter Parker.” 

Guerrasio: Wow. 

Johnson: I can sit here and talk to these kids and all they want to talk about is their favorite characters in the movie. None of them are ever Peter. [laughs] But they all love Peter, they ask me to say lines from the movie in the voice, and I felt that was so cool. That's when it kind of hit.

Guerrasio: How’s your Peter Parker signature?

Johnson: It’s tough, man, I just started doing it the other day.

Guerrasio: Last one, and we're going to make a sharp right here, so indulge me. Will Colin Trevorrow make things right and bring your Lowery character back for "Jurassic World 3"?

Johnson: [laughs] I thought it was pretty sad that Lowery wasn't in “Fallen Kingdom.” It was sad that Lauren Lapkus [who plays Vivian in "Jurassic World"] wasn't there. I'm like, "How are you not going to see what happens with those two?" Now, Lowery was in an early draft of "Fallen Kingdom" and years ago there was a moment where [franchise screenwriter] Derek Connolly was pitching me some of the Lowery bits. We were talking about Lowery is a different guy because of what he went through in the first movie. Like he's got a huge ponytail now. I pitched that he's got sleeve tattoos. 

Guerrasio: He's been through the s--t.

Johnson: Yeah, you know, he's seen some things. He is now a different guy. The trauma of seeing a dinosaur attack really messed him up. I thought we could have some fun. [laughs]

Guerrasio: So where do things stand now?

Johnson: If my number is called to bring Lowery out of retirement I will gladly grow the mustache and put the glasses on, and if it doesn't happen, I wish the best for the franchise. 

SEE ALSO: "Mary Poppins Returns" celebrates the old Disney musicals and is the feel-good movie of the holidays

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The inside story behind the Marvel movie you were never supposed to see

• Audience demand for Netflix Originals will surpass that of licensed titles by October 2019, a new report from research firms Parrot Analytics and S&P Global Market Intelligence said.
• Original content is essential as more companies like Disney and AT&T enter the streaming competition.

Netflix had an ambitious goal in 2018 to release 1,000 original TV shows and movies by year's end. The investment is expected to pay off as more and more companies enter the streaming war and exclusive content becomes not only important, but also necessary.

A report from research firms Parrot Analytics and S&P Global Market Intelligence released on Thursday said audience demand for Netflix Originals would surpass that of licensed titles by October 2019.

That's good news for the streaming giant, as licensed titles will be harder to come by in the future.

Disney is ending its high-profile licensing deal with Netflix at the end of this year. It will release new content going forward to its upcoming streaming service, Disney+, starting with March's "Captain Marvel."

Disney+ could already be affecting Netflix's library. Netflix has canceled three of its Marvel shows recently (Disney owns Marvel Entertainment): "Luke Cage," "Iron Fist," and "Daredevil." While social-media data showed that interest in the shows had dropped dramatically over time, it's also likely that Disney wants to limit competition.

FX's "Sons of Anarchy" was also pulled from Netflix this month. The Fox-owned series could be a casualty of the Disney-Fox merger, which is expected to close in early 2019, and it's likely that other Fox properties will be removed from Netflix eventually.

Read more: As 'exclusives' become the priority for Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, these charts show how many TV shows and movies they still share

"The future for the industry is likely to be even more crowded and the winners are still unknown," S&P research director Deana Myers said in the report. "Walt Disney is expected to debut its SVOD [subscription video on demand] service in 2019 and its proposed buy of the studio and libraries of 21st Century Fox will add a vast amount of content to this service. Other anticipated SVOD launches include those by Apple and Warner Media. We estimate the overall US SVOD industry has many strong years of growth in its future, particularly as competition from Disney and Apple could impact the market."

AT&T, which bought Time Warner this year to form WarnerMedia, has also caused problems for Netflix recently. The internet exploded earlier this month when the Netflix show page for Warner Bros.' 1990s hit sitcom "Friends" said the show would be leaving in January.

Netflix removed the note soon after and confirmed that "Friends" would remain on the service in 2019. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson confirmed that AT&T and Netflix were finalizing a multiyear agreement to keep "Friends" on Netflix while giving AT&T the option to include it on its own service. According to The New York Times, Netflix will pay up to $100 million for the show, more than the $30 million a year it was paying before.

That's a steep price tag, and it highlights how essential original content will be for Netflix when Disney, AT&T, and more companies launch their own services.

Licensed shows still accounted for 63% of viewing in the US in October, but streaming of originals increased 24% compared to that time last year, according to 7Park Data. In November, six of the 10 most streamed shows on Netflix were originals.

SEE ALSO: China gave a sign that more Hollywood movies will be essential as it looks to surpass the US as box-office champion

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NOW WATCH: The inside story behind the Marvel movie you were never supposed to see

• The number of scripted original shows on online services is now higher than on broadcast or basic cable networks.
• There were 495 scripted original shows in total in 2018.

For the first time ever, the number of scripted original TV shows is higher on streaming services than on basic cable or broadcast networks.

As Netflix invests heavily in original content, and Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and more try to keep up, the number of original series on online services has increased to 160, according to an analysis by FX Networks Research.

Last year, the number of original streaming shows was 117.

Broadcast networks had 146 shows in 2018, basic cable had 144, and pay cable had 45.

There were 495 scripted original series total in 2018, while 2017 had 487. If viewers think it's hard to keep up with TV now, even more companies, like Disney and AT&T, are launching their own streaming services in 2019.

Below is a chart that breaks it all down:

And here is how the number of original series has taken flight on streaming services since 2014:

• 2014: 33.
• 2015: 49.
• 2016: 90.
• 2017: 117.
• 2018: 160.

SEE ALSO: Audience demand for Netflix Originals will soon pass demand for licensed TV shows and movies, and that's great news for the streaming giant as competition heats up

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NOW WATCH: The inside story behind the Marvel movie you were never supposed to see

• The studio behind major "Call of Duty" games like "Modern Warfare" and "Infinite Warfare" was evacuated on Thursday, Kotaku reports.
• Infinity Ward is based in Woodland Hills, California, and it employs hundreds of people.
• Police reportedly arrived on Thursday morning and informed the staff of a bomb threat. 

One of the main studios behind "Call of Duty" reportedly had a bomb scare on Thursday.

Los Angeles-based Infinity Ward was evacuated on Thursday morning by local police, reports Kotaku. The threat appears to be tied to a string of bomb threats around the United States. On Tuesday, a building at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif headquarters was evacuated after police in New York received an anonymous bomb threat. 

"We are currently monitoring multiple bomb threats that have been sent electronically to various locations throughout the city," the New York Police Department said on Twitter. "These threats are also being reported to other locations nationwide & are NOT considered credible at this time."

Infinity Ward parent company Activision has yet to confirm the evacuation; representatives didn't respond to request for comment as of publishing.

According to a person at Infinity Ward, all employees were safely evacuated. It's unclear if an explosive device was found following the evacuation.

Infinity Ward is one of several studios that creates new "Call of Duty" games for Activision, alongside Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games — all three are wholly owned by Activision. The latest game in the series, "Call of Duty: Black Ops 4," was developed by Treyarch. The three studios rotate development of the annualized "Call of Duty" series; Infinity Ward is expected to be the studio in charge of 2019's "Call of Duty" entry.

SEE ALSO: 'The building is all clear and secure': Bomb threat forces evacuations at Facebook's Menlo Park campus

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NOW WATCH: Watch BMW's self-driving motorcycle accelerate, turn, and brake to a stop

• DJ Khaled's waterfront Miami home has been listed for $7.99 million.
• The waterfront mansion has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and an enormous sneaker closet.
• The home is flush with luxury amenities, including a boat lift, an elevator, a wine cellar, and an outdoor entertaining area.

DJ Khaled's home is the stuff of sneaker-lovers' dreams — and it's now on the market.

The Miami villa is listed at $7.99 million by Janet Ben Zvi of ONE Sotheby's International Realty.

DJ Khaled, 43, is a DJ and producer. He also, as Business Insider's Angela Johnson previously reported, launched a luxury furniture line called We The Best Home in September; the line includes lots of "leather, gold, and high-end features."

A similar attention to detail — and appreciation for the shinier things in life — can be seen throughout his home.

Read more:A new report reveals the 17 most popular housing markets for the world's richest people, and a notoriously expensive city is missing from the list

According to a new report from Knight Frank, Miami is one of the world's most popular housing markets for the world's richest people. It's a growing market in which many of the top real estate sales come from penthouses in residential developments. Khaled's house now joins the likes of a $68 million penthouse, which could shatter the state's record, as some of the Miami area's glitzy real estate offerings.

Here's a look inside the mansion:

SEE ALSO: Tour the most expensive zip code in Florida — the mysterious members-only island where millionaires pay $250,000 for access

READ MORE: Here's what the most expensive house for sale in every US state looks like

According to The Wall Street Journal, the home sits on a half-acre of property on Dumbfoundling Bay in Aventura, about 20 miles north of Miami.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Google Maps

The home is located in an ultra-exclusive gated community ...

Source: Janet Ben Zvi of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty

... and has unobstructed views of the bay and city, according to Janet Ben Zvi of ONE Sotheby's International Realty.

Source: Janet Ben Zvi of ONE Sotheby’s International Realty

2018 has been a year of transformation in the telecom and media industries.

Telco behemoths snatched up media and ad tech in an effort to compete against the Silicon Valley giants. Digital upstarts like Netflix or YouTube threaten cable-TV viewership and subscriber counts while the Facebook-Google duopoly has a chokehold on digital advertising.

What followed in 2018 were megadeals and industry-reckoning antitrust decisions by the Justice Department.

AT&T scooped up Time Warner and AppNexus. Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, and Comcast picked up Sky.

Those deals totaled nearly $200 billion.

Now those companies have to hunker down and integrate those businesses. The execs running the businesses know as much.

"You will work very hard, and this next year will — my wife hates it when I say this — will feel like childbirth," WarnerMedia CEO John Stankey told HBO employees after the AT&T-Time Warner merger closed in July.

"If 2018 was the year where they focused on their future income statement, 2019 has to be the year where they focus on their balance sheet and make sure that they're strong enough to go compete against companies like the big tech platforms who live and die by their ability to acquire customers and integrate them into some kind of platform structure," Todd Klein, a partner at the venture-capital firm Revolution, told Business Insider.

But there's more M&A to come in the media and telco industries in 2019, analysts and investment-banking experts told Business Insider. Here are the companies and sectors they'll be watching closely in 2019.

SEE ALSO: As pay TV takes a hit, Dish Network's Sling TV is fighting back with 'synthetic' bundles to retain subscribers

Digital-native companies

The next wave of M&A will focus squarely on midsize digital companies, as ad dollars are hard to come by and these companies are challenged to diversify into other forms of revenue.

"This includes companies like Cheddar, Tastemade, midsized gaming companies, and others who dominate a subsegment but who are trapped in an endless battle to achieve sustainable scale," Klein said. "Whether they bulk up together or combine with a larger platform, there will be fewer independent niche content players at the end of 2019 than at the beginning."

A broadband distributor such as Comcast could make a play for Cheddar, a millennial business-news service, to complement Comcast's commitment to the digital ecosystem that rests on access to broadband, Klein said.

Companies that have direct consumer relationships will also be targets in 2019 as their recurring subscription revenue can offset their reliance on advertising.

Roku, which had 24 million active user accounts as of the end of the third quarter, is also seen as an acquisition target. Morgan Stanley analysts predicted that Roku would continue to pick up users over the next four years.

Other buyers could include big tech companies like Facebook that are heavily reliant on advertising, Klein said.

"Facebook has a very narrow business model," he said, adding that "subscriptions would be extremely valuable to a company like that."

CBS-Viacom and other entertainment assets

In entertainment, the focus is on a merger of CBS and Viacom.

Since Les Moonves, the chairman and CEO of CBS, resigned in September following allegations that he sexually harassed and assaulted women throughout his career at the company, experts have speculated that a CBS-Viacom merger could occur in the coming year.

"You need to be larger player in this environment," said Jim McVeigh, the founder and CEO of CyndX and a veteran investment banker who advised on deals for AT&T, Comcast, and Time Warner. "And smaller players, even Discovery, are probably going to need to find a home. By being out there on their own, they are putting themselves at a strategic disadvantage."

A Viacom-CBS deal is a natural fit because CBS has NFL broadcasting rights that would serve Viacom well, said Mary Ann Halford, a former Fox International executive vice president who is now a senior adviser at the strategy consulting firm OC&C Strategy Consultants.

Other sale targets in 2019 could be Lionsgate and Univision, both of which need scale to compete, Halford said. Lionsgate's vice chairman, Michael Burns, has acknowledged it would be willing to sell, and The Wall Street Journal has reported that Univision is exploring a sale.

Snap

Snap needs a bailout. It's strapped for cash and might need to raise capital by 2019, a MoffettNathanson report said. It's also facing stiff competition from Facebook.

It all could point to a sale.

"We would expect Snap to be acquired before it goes bust, possibly by Netflix," Alex DeGroote, an independent media analyst, told Business Insider. Both are video companies that don't compete on product. And with a $120 billion market cap, Netflix could afford it.

Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at New York University, identified Google or Amazon as likely buyers. He gave the slight upper hand to Amazon, given that it recently launched a commerce-focused partnership with Snap, as well as cited Google's failed attempts at social media.

But Klein said he thought the possibility of a Snap sale had waned as the company has lost its luster.

"They have not really consistently come up with an answer to Instagram," he said.

• Jake Johnson admitted he was sad that his "Jurassic World" character, Lowery Cruthers, wasn't brought back for the sequel, "Fallen Kingdom."
• Talking to Business Insider while doing press for "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," in which he voices Peter Parker, Johnson revealed some of the ideas he and screenwriter Derek Connolly came up with for the character in an early draft of the movie that was eventually scrapped. 

Jake Johnson has found success in the last decade in TV ("New Girl") and indie films ("Safety Not Guaranteed," "Drinking Buddies"), but his most entertaining work may be his appearances in big blockbusters — like playing Tom Cruise's dead friend in "The Mummy" and his scene-stealing performance as Jurassic Park super fan and hopeless romantic park employee, Lowery Cruthers, in "Jurassic World."

We'll likely never see a sequel to "The Mummy" (RIP, Dark Universe), but Lowery was in an early draft of this summer's hit "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom." But plans changed, and Lowery was taken out of the story, which Johnson admitted he was bummed about.

"I thought it was pretty sad that Lowery wasn't in 'Fallen Kingdom,'" Johnson told Business Insider, while doing press for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" (in theaters Friday), in which he voices Peter Parker.

Johnson wanted to continue telling the story of his budding relationship with Lauren Lapkus' "Jurassic World" character, Vivian.

"I'm like, 'How are you not going to see what happens with those two?'" Johnson said with a laugh.

Johnson was also disappointed because when Lowery was in the script, he and franchise screenwriter Derek Connolly met a few years ago and came up with funny ideas to give the Lowery character more layers in "Fallen Kingdom."

Read more: "Mary Poppins Returns" celebrates the old Disney musicals and is the feel-good movie of the holidays

"We were talking about Lowery is a different guy because of what he went through in the first movie," Johnson said. "Like he's got a huge ponytail now. I pitched that he's got sleeve tattoos. The trauma of seeing a dinosaur attack really messed him up. I thought we could have some fun."

Sadly, that was all scrapped early on.

"Fallen Kingdom" director J. A. Bayona explained while doing press for the movie that instead of bringing back Lowery, they went instead with the high-anxiety systems analyst/activist Franklin Webb character, played by Justice Smith.

But with "Jurassic World" director Colin Trevorrow, who is also good friends with Johnson, returning to direct "Jurassic World 3," there's hope Lowery may return.

And Johnson is ready.

"If my number is called to bring Lowery out of retirement I will gladly grow the mustache and put the glasses on," he said.

SEE ALSO: MoviePass competitor Sinemia has 7 different ways it can charge you fees, and many customers are furious

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NOW WATCH: The inside story behind the Marvel movie you were never supposed to see

• Nintendo's biggest game of the year, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," is now available. 
• Good news: It's an incredibly impressive game that's ridiculously fun to play, alone and with friends.
• I've been playing the "Smash Bros." franchise since the first one. "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is the best game in the series.

There are hundreds of Super Mario games. Even "Mario Kart" is getting up there in sequels — the latest entry is "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe," which is actually more like the fifteenth Mario Kart game.

But the "Smash Bros." series is an outlier.

Despite the franchise originally launching way back in 1999 on the Nintendo 64, Nintendo has only made five games in the series. The fifth game, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," just launched on the Nintendo Switch — and it's truly excellent. 

Beyond just being a fun game to play, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is an exhaustive, interactive encyclopedia of gaming. In what other game can Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario, Solid Snake, and Cloud Strife fight to the death at Hyrule Castle? In what other game can you listen to literally hundreds of songs from the last 30 years of gaming? 

Like so many other aspects of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," the answer is simple: There's nothing else like it.

Having spent the last week playing it non-stop, and the last 20 years playing "Smash Bros." games, I've got a lot to say about what makes "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" so incredibly good.

SEE ALSO: Nintendo's biggest game of 2018 proves that the gaming giant still hasn't figured out how to make online games

"Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" has an overwhelming amount of content.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate." The game is seemingly overflowing with stuff to do.

Let's start with the list of characters: As the game's name implies, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" is intended as the definitive edition of the franchise. To that end, it has more than 70 characters. More than 70! And more are being added!

That leads to some truly outrageous match-ups between characters that have no place being together. Taking on Sonic as Mega Man, or watching Bayonetta fight Simon Belmont from "Castlevania," there's a sense of lived nostalgia built into "Smash Ultimate." 

It is perhaps cliché to speak about "Super Smash Bros." as an encyclopedic, voluminous game, but that doesn't make it any less true. There are dozens of stages to fight on, each featuring an absurd level of detail. Each of those dozens of stages has a wide variety of music tracks dedicated to it, encompassing 30 years of gaming (and often offering modern remasters/remixes as well).

It's a staggering amount of content. And I haven't even begun talking about all the different game modes!

More than just stuff to explore, there's so much to do in "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate."

Yes, it's true: You have to unlock that huge roster of characters in "Smash Ultimate." And that will take some time.

With two friends helping, I unlocked the vast majority of the 70-plus characters in a single day. It wasn't a chore or a grind: It was as simple as playing through the game's relatively quick "Classic Mode" levels, which are a ton of fun. These are the standard linear progression that might be the only "campaign" mode in another fighting game. You fight a bunch of different characters, culminating in a boss fight. It's pretty straightforward.

But Classic Mode is just one of the several ways in which you can enjoy "Smash Ultimate."

There's the standard "Smash" mode, which is the base level fighting that "Super Smash Bros." is known for — played either against computer-controlled characters, or a group of friends. 

Then there's the "Mob Smash" modes, which are especially grueling challenges against various groups of enemies.

Then there's the online mode, which allows you to play with friends and strangers all over the world. It's got some issues, but it is by far the most robust online mode of any "Smash Bros." game.

And then there's the "Spirits" mode, which is an absolutely massive single-player campaign that's entirely new to the "Super Smash Bros." franchise.

"Spirits" mode is a strong reason to buy "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" all by itself. It's essentially a fighting game-based role-playing game starring the entire cast of characters.

Sounds confusing? In practice, it's not — you move characters around a large, hand-drawn map, occasionally stopping to take on various fighting-based challenges. Maybe you fight like a dozen Kirbys, or the heroes of the "Legend of Zelda" games (or whatever else). The battles are themed, and have various conditions — maybe your foes are impervious to certain types of attacks, for instance.

Spirits mode can only be played by one person, and is intended as a meaty story mode of sorts.

It is, by far, the largest addition to the latest "Smash Bros.", and it's an incredibly meaningful addition at that. I've spent at least 10 hours thus far going through Spirits mode, unlocking characters and earning new "spirits" to attach to my unlocked characters.

What do those spirits do? They offer benefits, along the lines of "buffs" in role-playing games. Maybe you use a "Wii Fit" trainer spirit, thus granting your character greatly increased movement speed and jump height. Or maybe you use a spirit that enables you to start each match with a baseball bat! Using these spirits is key if you want to succeed in Spirits mode.

Thankfully, Nintendo does a lot of holding players' hands early on in Spirits mode. I never felt confused, or like I couldn't proceed. Spirits mode offers a substantial reason for people to play "Smash," even if they're not into fighting games.

• The "League of Legends" developer Riot Games has suspended its chief operating officer, Scott Gelb, for two months without pay following reports of sexual misconduct in the workplace and a pending lawsuit against the company.
• Gelb has been accused of repeatedly touching his employees' genitals in the workplace and farting in their faces as a joke.
• In November, two women filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, alleging that the "bro culture" that dominated Riot's work environment negatively affected their careers.

The "League of Legends" developer Riot Games has acknowledged Chief Operating Officer Scott Gelb's role in upholding a culture of toxic masculinity that has made the company the target of a gender-discrimination lawsuit.

Reports of Riot's "bro culture" first surfaced in late August, detailing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct and gender discrimination in the workplace. Gelb specifically has been accused of repeatedly farting on employees, humping them, and hitting their testicles as a part of what was described as a running workplace gag.

Following the allegations that it fostered a work environment unwelcoming to women, Riot apologized and pledged to conduct an internal review and make necessary changes to its culture.

Now, more than three months into its 16-month "cultural transformation timeline," Riot has informed employees that Gelb will be suspended without pay for his behavior and undergo training before returning to the company in two months, Kotaku reported on Thursday.

Riot, whose extremely popular "League of Legends" is the most watched esport, has 2,500 employees, 80% of whom are men, according to Kotaku. Riot is a subsidiary of Tencent, the Chinese conglomerate and world's largest video-game publisher.

In an internal email first obtained by Kotaku and later published in full by Variety, Riot CEO Nicolo Laurent said the decision to suspend but ultimately retain Gelb was made following a joint investigation by a board-of-directors committee and the law firm Seyfarth Shaw.

Riot said in a statement: "After carefully reviewing and considering the findings, the Special Committee of Riot's Board of Directors determined that a two-month, unpaid leave of absence, along with training, was the appropriate action given the allegations that were substantiated. We can also confirm that many of the rumors circulating about Scott within the company, the media, and other channels were actually not true."

The email and statement don't specify what Riot found to be false or the behavior Gelb was suspended for, though it was generally described as inappropriate, unprofessional, and unacceptable.

Read more: The company behind one of the biggest video games in the world was just slammed with a lawsuit alleging its 'bro-culture' created a sexist workplace where women were rated on their 'hotness,' told that 'no doesn't necessarily mean no,' and shown unsolicited photos of male genitalia

Laurent asked Riot employees to join him in uplifting Gelb as a leader upon his return, commending his fellow executive's choice to seek "redemption" rather than leave the company. He said Gelb would "help make Riot a more diverse and inclusive organization."

"Scott could have avoided owning his past and his consequences," Laurent said in the email. "He could have left Riot. Scott chose ownership and redemption. I will root for him, will support him through this journey, and will leverage him as a great leader when he returns next year. I hope you will join me."

A 'slap on the wrist'

Kotaku said it spoke to several current Riot employees who were frustrated with the company's decision to retain Gelb. One person likened the two-month suspension as "a tiny slap on the wrist" and described the decision to keep Gelb as disrespectful to employees affected by his behavior.

In its August apology, Riot said it was willing to remove employees and make large-scale changes as part of its internal investigation.

"No one and nothing is sacred," the company's blog post said. "We are prepared to make big changes and have begun taking action against specific cases, including removal of Rioters, though we aren't likely to get into those details publicly on a case-by-case basis for legal and privacy reasons."

Laurent said in the email that Riot remained committed to protecting employees during the investigation but that Gelb's case was an exception because of his high-visibility role within the company.

The company is also facing a legal challenge from a class-action gender-discrimination lawsuit filed in November by two female Riot employees, one former and one current, alleging that the company's "bro culture" negatively affected their careers.

Other Riot employees have been accused of sending unsolicited pictures of their genitals and maintaining a list of the "hottest" employees. The lawsuit also alleges that male Riot employees used the word "dick" 500 times in the workplace over a month.

SEE ALSO: The company behind one of the biggest video games in the world was just slammed with a lawsuit alleging its 'bro-culture' created a sexist workplace where women were rated on their 'hotness,' told that 'no doesn't necessarily mean no,' and shown unsolicited photos of male genitalia

READ MORE: 'We're sorry': The massive game studio accused of fostering a sexist work culture apologizes and vows to change

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• In an email to all CBS staff Friday, the company said it's rolling out new sexual harassment programs and urged them to fill out an anonymous survey about workplace culture.
• The email comes a week after CBS News settled a lawsuit with three women who accused former CBS anchor Charlie Rose of "blatant and repeated sexual harassment."
• Ryan Kadro, executive producer of CBS This Morning, was named in the suit. He announced he would leave the company in January.

CBS is surveying its employees about workplace culture and rolling out new programs to deal with workplace harassment in the wake of accusations against former CBS host Charlie Rose and former CBS CEO Leslie Moonves.

Employees received an anonymous survey on November 30 to provide "frank and honest" feedback on their experiences to build a "stronger CBS."

"We want to be clear CBS has turned a page on its approach to these issues, and although this work will take time, it is worth it to be comprehensive and get input from all of you," read an email to all CBS employees.

The broadcaster also said in an email delivered to staff on December 14 that it would unveil new programs to improve workplace culture in the coming months. The programs have been promised to employees since September and include efforts to increase transparency, solutions to ensure open communication, improve trainings, and processes for reporting and taking action. 

The survey comes as lawyers hired by CBS recently concluded an investigation into sexual misconduct claims against Moonves and broader workplace culture issues at the company. Moonves left the company in September after a dozen women told The New Yorker that Moonves sexually assaulted or harassed them and that their careers suffered as a result.

The lawyers' investigation concluded that "the board would have multiple bases upon which to conclude that the company was entitled to terminate Moonves for cause," according to a draft of the report viewed by The New York Times. The fate of Moonves' $120 million severance package remains uncertain. The board is reviewing the report to decide if Moonves will receive the payout, according to the Times.

And CBS News recently settled a lawsuit with three women who accused former CBS anchor Charlie Rose of "blatant and repeated sexual harassment."

The email also follows the news that Ryan Kadro, executive producer of CBS This Morning, would leave the company in January. Kadro, who has been at CBS since 2010, was named in the suit against Rose, which was settled a week ago. Kadro said in an email to staff that his departure was related to a desire to try something new.

"I couldn't shake the feeling in my gut that I need a new challenge (and a serious nap.) It's the natural course of things," Kadro wrote.

The women who sued CBS — Katherine Brooks Harris, Sydney McNeal, and Chelsea Wei — worked at CBS between 2016 and 2018 and claimed in the suit that Rose harassed them, "including unwanted physical touching, including without limitation caressing and touching their arms, shoulders, waist and back, pulling them close to his body, and kissing them on the cheek."

The suit also claimed Kadro "knew that Mr. Rose had a history of sexual harassment" and that Wei "told Mr. Kadro words to the effect of, 'I'm telling you in case you have a lawsuit on your hands.'" Wei filed a complaint to human resources against Rose and Kadro in November 2017, the suit claims.

The lawsuit also alleged acts of intimidation by Kadro, claiming he "kicked and shoved Ms. Wei's chair with substantial force, startling, intimidating and scaring Ms. Wei."

Back when the lawsuit was filed in May, CBS said it would "vigorously defend against the allegations pertaining to CBS News and Mr. Kadro."

SEE ALSO: CBS News has settled a lawsuit with 3 women who accused former host Charlie Rose of sexual harassment

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• Niantic, the developer of "Pokémon Go," is said to be raising a new round of $200 million, bringing its valuation to $3.9 billion.
• It's a reflection of the continued success of "Pokémon Go" and the sky-high expectations for its forthcoming "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite."
• Niantic is slowly realigning itself as a maker of tools for other developers — a model that's served "Fortnite" maker Epic Games to great effect.
• Samsung, which is participating in the funding round, has already said it's collaborating with Niantic in this push.

"Pokémon Go" is 2 1/2 years old, but it's still going strong — the game raked in $73 million in October alone, according to estimates, and just this week launched a long-awaited competitive-battling mode.

Now it appears that Niantic, the game's developer and a Google spinoff, is leveling up with a new $200 million funding round valuing the company at $3.9 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The round is reportedly led by Silicon Valley investment firm IVP, with participation from Samsung and eSports investor aXiomatic Gaming. The Inquirer previously reported that Samsung's share of the round was $40 million.

The hefty funding round shows that investors are optimistic about Niantic. A year ago, the company was valued at $2.7 billion, making this a significant up round. Previous investors in Niantic include Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, Google, and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund.

There are some obvious reasons for this excitement: Even as "Pokémon Go" continues to outperform, Niantic is slated to release "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite," a seemingly surefire hit, next year. The Wall Street Journal reported that Niantic is also in talks to develop more games based on licensed intellectual property.

However, beyond its bright future as a game studio, this investment would seem to have everything to do with Niantic emerging as a maker of software for programs. Earlier this year, Niantic previewed the Real World Platform, software that it intends to license out to developers to make their own GPS-based augmented-reality games.

For Niantic, the Real World Platform appears to be the long-term play. Gaming is a hit-driven business; "Pokémon Go" revenues could evaporate tomorrow if another huge title came along. But history has shown that there's a durable business to be built in licensing out the foundational software to help others make games.

If you want an example, look no further than Epic Games, the creator of the international phenomenon that is "Fortnite." Beyond its video-game business, Epic has long offered the Unreal Engine, a wildly successful video-game engine that it licenses to other developers for free, taking a cut of their revenues in exchange.

An Unreal bet

While Epic doesn't disclose how much revenue the Unreal Engine brings in, its sheer popularity in the gaming industry — smash hit "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" is an Unreal Engine game, as is this year's "Dragon Ball FighterZ" — likely means that it's doing just fine. Earlier this year, Epic raised funding valuing it at $15 billion.

Niantic's big bet is that the Real World Platform will also become a cornerstone in AR, which is the technology for overlaying digital imagery onto the real world. Companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook all see AR as a major new phase in computing, and there's clearly at least the opportunity for Niantic to play a major role in the gaming industry yet to come.

This is where Samsung comes in. In November, Samsung announced that it is collaborating with Niantic to further develop the Real World Platform, with this investment representing a deepening of that partnership. This alliance makes some sense, as Samsung has touted AR-related features as a selling point for its latest Galaxy S9 smartphones. With Niantic on its side, Samsung hopes to outdo rivals like Apple at AR technology.

Altogether, a picture begins to emerge about why Niantic seems to be in such demand. It has solid-gold gaming hits today that are delivering real revenue, a pipeline of successful games to come, and, perhaps most importantly, an actionable plan for generating a business that goes beyond appealing to fickle consumers. Oh, and Niantic hasn't even launched yet in China, which is the biggest smartphone-gaming market in the world.

Of course, this all hinges on the expected bull market for AR technology to actually materialize. As we've seen with virtual reality, a sister technology to AR, consumer uptake of these platforms can be extremely slow. If Niantic's bet is correct, it stands to benefit — but at least if it's wrong, it still has "Pokémon" and "Harry Potter."

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• K-Swiss is creating a pair of shoes aimed at video game players.
• The main selling point: Being able to quickly kick them off.
• They cost $110 and are expected to launch in mid-2019.

How much would you pay for a pair of performance gaming shoes? What are "gaming shoes"? 

K-Swiss is attempting to answer both questions with a new line of knit sneakers, dubbed the "Icon Knit," that are specifically designed, "for superior fit and comfort." But not just anyone's fit and comfort — these sneakers are aimed at the lucrative esports audience.

If the debut video for the shoes is any indication, K-Swiss envisions smartphone esports players wearing these shoes while traversing the world (seen above). To that end, K-Swiss is teaming with esports organization Immortals on branding the shoes.

Here's a closer look:

That still leaves some lingering questions: What makes a "gamer" shoe? Aren't games played while seated, often at home, without shoes on? K-Swiss says they're defined by "the ability to quickly kick the shoes off hands-free," according to Bloomberg.

That's right: These shoes are intended to perform best when they're not being worn. 

K-Swiss showcased the shoes in an announcement video, which you can see right here:

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