The PlayStation 4 is a fantastic video game console.

Maybe you already have one? Over 40 million people already do, and that's because it's a great system: It's fast and easy to use, it's got great games, and it does lots of cool stuff!

Maybe you're not convinced? That's possible: $299 is a lot of money to drop. But that price includes more than the console — you'll also get a great game like "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End."

In case that doesn't push you over the edge, here are 14 great reasons to pick up a PlayStation 4 right now.

REVIEW: The new PlayStation 4 Pro is only for three very specific groups of people

1. It's less expensive than ever.

This is the number one reason to buy a PlayStation 4 right now: it's currently on sale for Black Friday weekend. Normally this bundle costs $299, as does the PlayStation 4 in general, but it's dropping to $249 for this weekend only.

This deal only lasts until November 28, so it's time to make moves if you're going to make moves.

2. PlayStation Plus continues to be the best deal in gaming.

Do you like awesome games? 'Course you do. That's why you're considering buying a PlayStation 4 in the first place! How about awesome, free games? Because that's exactly what you'll get every month with a subscription to Sony's PlayStation Plus service.

It enables online play, sure, but more importantly you get free games every single month through the program. You keep the games for as long as you stay subscribed. The service literally pays for itself in two months. It is the biggest no-brainer of all no-brainers.

This should be your first purchase after buying the PlayStation 4 itself.

3. "Bloodborne."

Listen, "Bloodborne" is not for the faint of heart. You see that monster up top? That's not concept art. You're the comparatively diminutive hunter in the foreground in this equation, and that giant monster is surprisingly fast. Do the math. "Bloodborne" is gorgeous/gruesome, tremendously challenging, and easily one of the best games on PlayStation 4. Oh, and to be clear: You can only play "Bloodborne" on the PlayStation 4.

Advance ticket sales for the much anticipated standalone "Star Wars" movie, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," will go on sale at online ticket sites in the US beginning Monday at 12:01 a.m. EST, according to an announcement by Lucasfilm.

The movie opens in theaters December 16 and follows the events that led up to the destruction of the Death Star in the first "Star Wars" movie, 1977's "Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope."

Felicity Jones plays the leader of a rebellion team tasked with stealing the plans to the Death Star.

Industry projections have the movie making north of $130 million at the domestic box office on its opening weekend.

Tickets for the movie have already have already gone on sale in the UK.

SEE ALSO: 32 movies you have to see this holiday season

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 10 details you may have missed in episode 8 of 'Westworld'

Martin Scorsese spent over 20 grueling years to get his adaptation of "Silence," Shûsaku Endô's 1966 novel, to the screen. But that obsession to tell the story of Jesuit priests who try to spread Christianity to Japan in the 1500s seeped into his main actors as well.

In a profile on Scorsese and the making of "Silence" in this weekend's New York Times Magazine, the film's stars Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver reveal the intense research they did before shooting the film in Taiwan to authentically play Jesuit priests.

Garfield spent nearly a year absorbing Jesuit spirituality.

"Andrew got to the point where he could out-Jesuit a Jesuit," Rev. James Martin, the author and editor-at-large of the Jesuit weekly America who was a consultant on the film, said in the Times article. "There were places in the script where he would stop and say, 'A Jesuit wouldn't say that,' and we would come up with something else."

Driver spent 4 1/2 months dropping 51 pounds to play the role. By his final scene of shooting Driver was hallucinating from hunger, according to the Times story.

Both actors also spent time at the Jesuit retreat in Wales, St. Beuno, where they took part in a seven-day pledge of silence. When the two would cross paths they would wave to each other and continue with their studies of Jesus' life, crucifixion, and resurrection.

"I had the feeling that I was being called to something: called to work with one of the great directors, and called to this role as something I had to pursue for my spiritual development," Garfield said about preparing for the role.

"Silence" opens in theaters December 23.

SEE ALSO: Jessica Chastain gives an Oscar-worthy performance in her timley new movie "Miss Sloane"

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: ‘The Walking Dead’ fans think they uncovered something huge in this scene from the latest episode

Jeremy Clarkson has fired back at Netflix's claim that his new show, "The Grand Tour," cost Amazon a whopping $250 million.

“Amazon spent far less than Netflix would have you believe,” Clarkson told CNN. “It’s no way near as expensive as people have been saying.”

Netflix content boss Ted Sarandos recently told The Telegraph that "The Grand Tour," starring Clarkson and the "Top Gear" team, cost Amazon "about a quarter of a billion dollars." The FT had previously reported that Amazon had paid $250 million for three seasons of the show.

Clarkson disputes that number. While he wouldn't reveal how much the show actually cost, he said he knew the figure and it wasn't close to $250 million.

The first episode of the show's 12-episode first season dropped November 18.

The big rollout

"The Grand Tour" is a huge moment for Amazon in its bid to rival Netflix as the top producer of high-quality streaming content.

Netflix even mentioned the show in its most recent earnings report, saying the company assumed it would make Amazon "as global as YouTube and Netflix." Amazon is poised to expand its video service to more than 200 countries, most likely starting in December, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Amazon is doubling its spend on video content in the second half of this year, compared with last year, the company's CFO, Brian Olsavsky, said previously. Amazon most recently disclosed its investment amount on video content back in 2014, when it spent $1.3 billion.

But while Amazon may want "The Grand Tour" as its calling card for an international rollout, Sarandos said, for Netflix, the price was just too high.

"We made a play for that show, definitely," Sarandos told The Telegraph. "But we've had every season of 'Top Gear' on Netflix in most territories in the world, so we had a better sense than most of what the audience was for 'Top Gear' on our platform. We knew what it was worth."

Netflix, for its part, plans to spend $6 billion on content in 2017.

Additional reporting by Eugene Kim.

SEE ALSO: Everything we know about the first 3 episodes of Jeremy Clarkson's Amazon show 'The Grand Tour'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 'Nothing to apologize for': The 'Hamilton' actor who addressed Mike Pence responds to Trump

After months of speculation, Pokémon Go creator Niantic Labs has finally released Ditto into the wild.

Ditto was the last missing Pokémon in the game, aside from a few powerful Legendary creatures like Mewtwo that will likely be released through special events in the future.

What's special about Ditto is that it's a shape-shifter — it masquerades as other Pokémon until it's caught and then morphs into whatever creature it's fighting in a gym.

Here's everything you need to know about catching and fighting with Ditto in Pokémon Go:

SEE ALSO: Pokémon Go is finally giving more people access to the game's most wanted feature

Ditto hides as other common Pokémon until you catch one.

Reports are still coming from players about what creatures Ditto hides as, but many have caught the purple blob in the form of Pidgey, Rattata, Magikarp, Spearow, and Zubat. 

Some have also caught Ditto from less common Pokémon, like Oddish, Paras, and Pidgeot.

Here's what it looks like when you catch a Ditto:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/801217783304372224
Managed to get another video of catching Ditto, this time it transformed from a Rattata @trnrtips#PokemonGO#dittopic.twitter.com/s45wGgFnxc

Ditto only has two moves: transform and struggle.

RAW Embed

In a recent roundtable conversation with actresses put together by The Hollywood Reporter, the issue of the gender pay gap in the movie industry came up and Amy Adams had a strong opinion on how the topic is being covered by the media.

“Who you should be asking is the Producer Roundtable: ‘Do you think minorities are underrepresented? Do you think women are underpaid?’” she said. “We are always put on the chopping block to put our opinion out there, and that question is never asked. I’m like, ‘Why don’t you ask them and then have their statements be the headlines in the press?’ I don’t want to be a headline anymore about pay equality.”

This is on the heels of her "American Hustle" costar Jennifer Lawrence writing a piece for Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter newsletter in 2015 in which she pointed out that she made less than her male costars on the movie.

Her piece motivated numerous actresses to also speak out about not receiving equal pay in their careers.

Business Insider asked Jessica Chastain on Friday if she felt the media should continue bringing up the gender pay gap in Hollywood with actresses.

"I love the article that Jennifer Lawrence wrote about the pay gap. I thought it was so important," Chastain said while promoting her new movie "Miss Sloane" (which opens in limed release on Friday and nationwide December 9). "I love that people are talking about it. It makes sense that journalists are asking actresses and actors about it because, seriously, producers aren't the ones doing press."

Chastain said the revelation for her about the Hollywood gender pay gap came when she heard former Sony head Amy Pascal say in an interview that women get paid less in the industry because they don't ask for more.

"I heard that and at first I got so offended and then I went, wait a minute, that's probably true," Chastain said. "I started reading a lot about it and you realize women don't ask for more but they don't ask for promotions, and knowing that I've completely changed."

The actress now strives to make sure that she is being compensated for her work equally to her male costars.

"I'm so lucky to have this job, but what I do ask is when I join a production, I want to make sure that the male actor isn't making four times my salary, which has been true, or seven times my salary," she said. "If that's true you go, 'You know what, I don't need this job.'"

Chastain said it's important for actors to continue the conversation because they are the most visible in Hollywood, but she stresses the issue cuts much deeper.

"We have to look at why society is telling women to not show up over-prepared, not to be treated equal," she said, touching on the first presidential debate for which the criticism about Hillary Clinton was that she was over-prepared. "Why don't they say that about men? What's wrong with trying hard and showing up and being good at your job? We really need to look at ourselves and say we need to reevaluate this. We need to reevaluate women who ask for a pay raise or ask for a promotion. It's actually an okay thing. It's okay to be ambitious, it's okay to be over-prepared."

SEE ALSO: Here are the must-see movies likely to win Oscars in 2017

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: ‘The Walking Dead’ fans think they uncovered something huge in this scene from the latest episode

You finally got a PlayStation 4. You're ready to dive into all the action.

But where should you start?

OK, yes, definitely play "Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain." But also, at some point on that first day, there's one other crucial thing you should do: Pay for an annual subscription to PlayStation Plus.

What's PlayStation Plus?

PlayStation Plus, a paid loyalty program, is a crucial addition to your PlayStation 4. Why?

• It enables you to play games online with other people!
• It gives you monthly discounts on games and movies!
• But, most important, it gives you free games every month. Free! For the duration of your subscription!

What types of games? Really great games! Like "Rocket League":

And "Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes":

And "Spelunky":

For a small annual fee ($60 a year, or $10 a month if you prefer a shorter commitment), you get what Sony calls an "Instant Game Collection."

This month, that means two pretty-great games on the PlayStation 4:

And that game library grows every month. As long as you continue paying for PlayStation Plus, you retain access to every game you've ever downloaded free. Pretty incredible!

So let's do some quick math:

• "Everybody's Gone to the Rapture" normally costs $19.99.
• "The Deadly Tower of Monsters" normally costs $14.99.

The value you get from just this month is nearly half the cost of an entire year of PlayStation Plus.

If you download and play the three to four games you got free through PlayStation Plus, the service paid for itself. Anything beyond that is pure bonus value.

One more thing: If you own a PlayStation Vita or a PlayStation 3, you'll also get free games on those platforms. Some of the games are even "cross-buy," meaning you'll get access to them across multiple PlayStation devices ("Spelunky" is this way — once you own it on one PlayStation console, you own it all PlayStation consoles).

So remember: Before dropping hundreds of dollars on $60 games with your new PlayStation 4 this holiday, snag a $60 annual subscription to PlayStation Plus. You'll thank us.

SEE ALSO: 15 reasons why it's the perfect time to buy a PlayStation 4

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's why some people have a tiny hole above their ears

Expectations for "No Man's Sky" had been building for years. The game promised endless space exploration — hop in a ship and jet from planet to planet at your leisure. Go on an alien safari! Collect materials!

But when the game was introduced in August, some people thought that their expectations were unfairly built up, that the game wasn't what its developers promised it would be.

Making this all the more complicated, the massive space exploration game was made by a small development team — about a dozen people. To say their resources are stretched thin is a serious understatement.

On one side, fans felt ripped off; on the other, fans sympathized with a small group trying its hardest to make something gigantic. In the end, no one was happy.

Gamers scorched the game's review page on Steam, the world's largest digital-game store. The game's developer, Hello Games, largely went silent (outside the occasional statement about bug fixes or to say it had been hacked).

On Friday, Hello Games issued its first major statement since the game's launch: A major new update is coming to "No Man's Sky" in the not-so-distant future. It's called "The Foundation Update," and it brings the underpinnings of base building, a much-requested feature, to "No Man's Sky."

What's base building?

The idea is simple: After discovering a planet you like, you could craft a home on it. Think of it like "Minecraft," in which you gather materials and use them to build a furnished home. The same concept applies here, though it's unclear exactly how it'll work.

The statement from Hello Games says it "won't be our biggest update, but it will be the start of something." More specifically, this update lays the groundwork for bigger changes. "This is putting in place a foundation for things to come," the statement said.

Though Hello Games clearly intends to use the statement as a means to update players about a new addition to the game, the statement also takes time to indirectly address the fervor around the game's release. "The discussion around 'No Man's Sky' since release has been intense and dramatic," it says. "We have been quiet, but we are listening and focusing on improving the game that our team loves and feels so passionately about."

No details are given about the exact release timing of the update; the only wording used is "soon." The game is out now on PlayStation 4 and PC.

SEE ALSO: 8 things you should know before jumping into 'No Man's Sky'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Albert Einstein’s famous space-time theory could just be a stepping stone to something much greater

Former "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart and former "Colbert Report" host Stephen Colbert almost left Comedy Central in 2012 amid heated contract negotiations, according to Chris Smith's new behind-the-scenes book, "The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History."

Variety reported that the book goes into great detail about how both hosts were engaged in tough contract negotiations with Comedy Central owner Viacom's then-CEO, Philippe Dauman. 

Dauman took a particularly hard stance on Colbert. Luckily, Colbert and Stewart shared the same agent, James Dixon. Dixon decided to tie Colbert and Stewart's negotiations together to gain leverage.

For Stewart, he and the company couldn't agree on the amount of time he can take off from the show to direct the film, "Rosewater," in 2013.

"I don’t think Philippe in any way saw what we do as special," Stewart said in the book. "As far as he was concerned the star is the real estate, and whether or not we are the ones who carved out that real estate and made it valuable is not important to them."

When it was clear the parties couldn't come to an agreement, Stewart told their agent he was done and Colbert followed his lead.

“How close can you get to it all falling apart? I mean, Jon quit and we were a package,” Colbert said.

That was enough to shift the negotiations. Dauman called their agent and said the company would give the men the deals they wanted.

Stewart would stay on with "The Daily Show" until 2015. He currently has a production deal at HBO, with an upcoming digital program with HBO planned.

Colbert extended his contract for "The Colbert Report" to 2014. In 2015, he replaced David Letterman as the host of CBS's "The Late Show."

Earlier this year, Dauman was ousted from his chief executive role at Viacom amid a bitter dispute with owner Sumner Redstone.

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert: Trump is already breaking his 'strangest and strongest' promise

DON'T MISS: Here's how much the highest-paid stars on TV actually make

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 'That hypocrisy is also real' — Jon Stewart takes liberals to task for calling all Trump supporters racist

TV shows are getting rocked by a drop in viewership, according to a new report by analysts at Pacific Crest.

The "golden age" of TV shows might appear to be in full swing still, and it certainly is in terms of output. The industry is on pace to handily beat the 409 scripted shows released in 2015, continuing an upward trend.

But there's a problem: people aren't tuning in, at least in the same numbers. For new episodes last quarter, "average viewership for the top 200 general entertainment series declined 20% year-over-year," according Pacific Crest (using the L+3 measurement, live plus three days). Networks are still pumping out shows, people just seem to have lost a bit of interest.

It's even worse with kid's shows, which saw the top 500 series take a 30% viewership dive in Q3 versus last year, the analysts noted in the report.

This downward trend has been bad for advertising revenues this quarter. "Outside of NBC [and the Olympics bump], advertising results were at or below expectations in aggregate, likely driven by weaker-than-anticipated viewership at most networks," the analysts wrote.

In the report, Pacific Crest pointed out a few media companies that have suffered recently:

• "More competition in serialized dramas has led to ratings declines at key originals for AMC."
• "Weaker engagement with key movie titles has negatively impacted Lionsgate."
• "Subscribers moving to packages without ESPN has negatively impacted Disney."
• "Kid's content is secularly challenged, which continues to affect Viacom."

AMC's woes

TV network AMC is a particularly instructive example when it comes to the TV industry, and high-quality dramas.

AMC built its recent success out of high-quality dramas like “Breaking Bad,” “Mad Men,” and “The Walking Dead.” But now the rise of streaming services like Netflix, and the insane amount of shows being produced, might be bringing AMC down.

“Average audiences for almost every returning AMC original in 2016 are down double-digits versus 2015,” Pacific Crest analysts wrote last month. “This highlights the increase in competition for viewer time. In particular, the explosion in high-quality original dramas driven by [streaming video on demand] companies [like Netflix] has commoditized an area of programming that AMC helped popularize and represents the core of the network's brand.”

With the amount of good shows increasing and the amount of people watching decreasing, something likely has to give, eventually.

Peak potential

Perhaps we will see the "peak TV" moment that FX boss John Landgraf has been talking about for awhile. 

Landgraf had previously predicted we'd see the peak number of scripted shows in 2016, but then revised his estimate to "by 2019 at the latest," after seeing how much money Netflix was investing in original content.

"I’m not saying that I believe we are in a bubble, which is going to pop, causing us to go from 500-plus scripted series to half that number," Landgraf explained in August. "Rather, I think we are ballooning into a condition of oversupply which will at some point slowly deflate, perhaps from 500-plus shows to 400 or a little less than that."

There might be diminishing returns for producing beautiful, moving, and expensive TV shows — if you can't cut through the noise.

Regardless, Pacific Crest says something needs to change for media companies to hit their numbers next year. "Viewership trends will likely need to reverse for 2017 estimates to be attainable," the analysts wrote.

SEE ALSO: Jeremy Clarkson fires back at Netflix's claim that his new show cost Amazon $250 million

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A psychologist explains how birth order affects your chances of success

Disney and Lucasfilm just released a new trailer for the upcoming "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."

Entitled "Trust," the new trailer clocks in at about a minute-and-a-half with extended looks at some scenes from the movie.

It focuses in on one of the most common relationships from the "Star Wars" franchise, the one between human and droid.

Specifically, it features K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk) and its relationship with Jyn (Felicity Jones). Apparently, Captain Andor (Diego Luna) assigned the droid to protect her.

Directed by Gareth Edwards, "Rogue One" follows a risky move by the Rebellion to steal the plans to the Death Star. The first stand-alone film in the "Star Wars" franchise, "Rogue One" takes place after the events of "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith" and before the events of the original "Star Wars."

The film also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, and Forest Whitaker.

"Rogue One" is set for a December 16 release in US theaters.

Watch the new "Rogue One" trailer, "Trust," below:

SEE ALSO: Donald Glover's costar says he'll bring 'visibility' to Lando, who was 'kind of lost' in 'Star Wars'

DON'T MISS: Every 'Star Wars' movie is coming to TV in massive $200 million deal

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 2 millennials watched the original ‘Star Wars’ for the first time

Disney's "Moana" sees a 16-year-old Polynesian girl cross the ocean in an effort to restore her native Pacific Islands to the lush, green sanctuary they once were.

The movie has more than an odyssey and a female lead in common with 2015's summer blockbuster, "Mad Max: Fury Road."

"Moana" includes a subtle, but undeniable homage to the action-adventure movie, which is set in a future, desert wasteland.

Halfway through the film, Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) and her traveling companion, a mythical demigod by the name of Maui (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), encounter a tribe of anthropomorphic coconuts called kakamora. Moana remarks, "They're kind of cute."

Then the kakamora paint pearly white teeth on their armor and take up arms.

Their ship emerges from the fog, revealing a massive fleet of pirate ships.

Moana and Maui race in the opposite direction, but the kakamora follow in hot pursuit.

The intensity recalls the epic chases in "Mad Max: Fury Road," when Max, Furiosa, and their crew try to outpace their foes over deserted sand dunes.

In "Moana," the percussion swells as the coconut-clad creatures — who carry staffs and axes made from shark teeth — make gains on the protagonists. Their painted faces mimic those of the War Boys from "Mad Max." Even the large, ramshackle vessels are reminiscent of Immortan Joe's brigade, if you swap out the wood paneling for industrial finishes. There's no heavy metal music or flame-throwing guitarist to build suspense, but the effect still works.

You can see for yourself in theaters now.

SEE ALSO: Disney's new masterpiece 'Moana' is an exhilarating movie experience with the strongest female role model yet

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Lin-Manuel Miranda and The Rock team up in the trailer for Disney's 'Moana'

Disney's "Moana" includes a colorful cast of characters, though a dumbwitted chicken stands out as maybe the most absurd animal sidekick we've seen from the animation studio.

Heihei follows Moana, a 16-year-old Pacific Island teen, on a journey across the ocean. It's unclear how Moana and her featherbrained friend became acquainted, though the pair are inseparable throughout the movie.

At this year's San Diego Comic-Con, a panel featuring the film's cast and creators revealed that Heihei (voiced by Alan Tudyk) started out as almost an entirely different character.

"Heihei the animal went through a bit of a character evolution," the movie's writer Jared Bush ("Zootopia," "Big Hero 6") said. "He started out as kind of a jerk. Heihei had a lot of attitude."

The Comic-Con audience then watched a brief animation test (not from the movie) that showed Heihei trying to steal food away from the movie's other beloved animal sidekick, Pua. People sighed, feeling sorry for the pig.

"Over the course of many different screenings, [we learned] the character wasn't resonating," Bush said. "We started to change just one little thing about Heihei."

How did Disney decide to make Heihei more likeable?

They dropped his IQ.

Moments later, panelists showed a clip of Heihei as he appears in the movie — not-all-there. The audience giggled at a second animation test in which Heihei tries to eat a snack, but keeps missing the morsel and nose-diving into the floor. It was funny, if not ridiculous.

"Pua is the cutest Disney character, Heihei is the dumbest character," Bush continued.

"Moana" is in theaters now, so you can see Heihei's makeover for yourself.

SEE ALSO: The 15-year-old who is the voice of the newest Disney Princess says she's never met her famous costars

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Lin-Manuel Miranda and The Rock team up in the trailer for Disney's 'Moana'

Chandler Riggs' role on AMC's "The Walking Dead" isn't necessarily over because his contract is up, according to his mother.

Gina-Ann Riggs responded to a fan on Instagram who commented on fears that Riggs (who plays the son of Lori and Rick Grimes, Carl Grimes) is leaving the show, because his seven-year contract is up and he just got accepted to college at Alabama's Auburn University.

"Don't over analyze. His seven year contract is up. That's all he was saying, nothing else," Gina-Ann wrote on Instagram. "Pretty big accomplishment for a child actor (and for the parent who had to quit his job for this child to be able to follow his dream)."

Fans had good reasons to fear Chandler's departure from the hit zombie series.

First, his father, William Riggs, posted a now-deleted message on Facebook that sounded to some fans as if his son was packing up now that his contract is up.

"7 year contract completed!” he wrote earlier this month.“Grateful to AMC, Cast & Crew, TWD fan base and especially Chandler for always being 100% dedicated. Whether it was getting up at 4AM, working in the freezing cold past 2AM, leaving his friends and carefree kiddom behind, scrambling to make up missed schoolwork, he has done it without complaint and always made me proud & amazed to be his dad!"

Second, Auburn University is more than two hours away from Atlanta where "The Walking Dead" shoots. That's not too far a schlep, but it could be tough for a busy college undergrad.

And finally, "The Walking Dead" is on a major character killing spree as of lately. Two major characters were killed recently by Negan and Chandler's Carl has been in the show villains crosshairs before.

Fans will just have to wait and see.

SEE ALSO: Actor Steven Yeun shows Conan O'Brien how he's bouncing back from 'The Walking Dead'

DON'T MISS: 'Walking Dead' star Norman Reedus was reportedly bitten by a fan who 'lost her mind'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: ‘The Walking Dead’ fans think they uncovered something huge in this scene from the latest episode

Most of the virtual reality headsets on the market are backed by huge companies: Facebook has its Oculus Rift and Sony makes the PlayStation VR, for example.

But a tiny Tokyo-based company, founded by former Sony game designer Yuka Kojima and Lochlainn Wilson, is taking them all on with its own high-end VR headset, and it even includes a new technology that the rest of the industry doesn't have yet.

In the next few months, Fove will start shipping its $599 headset (Fove 0) to people who preordered it. It requires a powerful Windows computer.

If you want one, you can preorder one for $599 on Fove (this version of the headset is aimed at game creators and enthusiasts though). You should get it in the next few months, depending on when Foxconn finishes production. 

The most important feature of Fove, and what makes it a worthy competitor to Oculus and HTC Vive, is that it tracks your eyes. No other commercially sold VR headset does that at this point, although the competitors are trying to catch up quickly. (Google bought an eye tracking startup for $20 million last month.)

"When I was working at Sony Entertainment, one of my main passions was bringing more human and emotional reactions to video games," Kojima said in an email to Business Insider. "I can’t wait to see what interactive narrative designers do with eye-tracking, or how VR worlds will seem more connected and real with characters that intelligently make eye contact and know where you are looking."

Eye tracking means that Fove can tell where you're looking while you're in virtual reality, which it turns out unlocks several important new possibilities.

I got to try one of Fove's most advanced prototypes out last month. It was extremely cool. I played a "Space Invaders" style game, and I didn't have a gamepad. I simply glanced at the spaceships I wanted to shoot — these looks really could kill (digital space ships and aliens.) 

There's one other big way that Fove differs from other virtual reality companies — the Tokyo-based company was cofounded by a Japanese woman in the mostly-male, largely-American world of virtual reality. 

"To be honest, there are not a great deal of advantages to being a woman in the VR industry. What matters most is that you have the right tech and you have the right timing. We think we have both," Kojima said. "I don’t think too much about being a female founder in tech, though, I prefer to focus my energy on the next task at hand."

Why does eye tracking matter? 

Fove launched as a Kickstarter in 2014. At the time, it blew past its goal, becoming the 2nd most successful VR Kickstarter of all time, only behind a small project called Oculus Rift, which was eventually bought by Facebook for $2 billion. 

The reason why Fove caught the interest of the virtual reality community is that it promised "foveated rendering," or a next-gen VR concept that is poised to become a very big deal. 

If you look inside the Fove headset, you'll see a few little specs of technology near where your eyes rest inside the headset.

These are infrared sensors, and they track where the pupil of your eye is looking. It's not as easy as it sounds — your eye darts from place to place, your gaze wanders and doesn't go in a straight line, and to really make eye tracking useful, it needs to be extremely fast and extremely accurate.

But if you can track where the user is looking, what you can do is make sure the spot on the screen where they're looking is extremely detailed, and spend less time and power drawing super detailed parts of the scene in the users' peripheral vision. 

That's foveated rendering, and it's an important technology because it's believed to reduce the power requirements for VR so that you won't need a powerful computer hooked up to the headset. $4.5 billion headset startup Magic Leap uses foveated rendering as one of its core technologies, for example. 

"We’re planning to combine our eye tracking with facial tracking to fully immerse people into VR," Kojima said.

Previously, high-end eye tracking was only available in research contexts, and required expensive machines. Now Fove is selling a capable eye-tracking headset for $599. 

What's next? 

Fove is very clear that its headset is not for everyday consumers. On its pre-order page, the company makes clear that the first Fove is "for developers, researchers, and creators." 

Add one more target market: the company is actively looking to outfit video arcades and internet cafes with Fove headsets, Fove director of strategy Jim Preston told Business Insider. VR arcades are a booming business, especially in Asia, Preston said. 

For explorers who do end up buying a Fove, there also isn't a lot of software available for gamers yet. The Fove headset ships with a few demos, and it also supports a few open-source gaming engines, but the company is small and doesn't have the big developer budget of a company like Facebook. 

The company does expect to get an influx of money in the spring when it raises a Series B. The company already raised $11 million in a Series A earlier this year, primarily from Asian investors, including Foxconn, which is manufacturing the Fove. 

Preston said in the upcoming round it's soliciting investment from Western, Silicon Valley-oriented venture capitalists as well, although it's too early to announce anything. 

Fove expects to continue refining the Fove headset, but it also knows it has technology that other companies might like to use in its virtual reality and augmented reality projects. Licensing its eye-tracking tech is possible in the company's future, Preston said. 

SEE ALSO: This startup wants to replace your Fitbit — and your eyeglasses

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Elon Musk just unveiled something that could revolutionize how you power your home

In the huge PlayStation 4 game "No Man's Sky," you're a lone traveler exploring an endless universe full of planets, aliens, and billions of stars. Of course, if you want to explore that universe, then you're going to need a ship.

The game just got a massive new update that adds freighters, but it was absolutely rife with spaceships of all types before today.

Here are some of the craziest ones we've found in our travels — in the game and on the internet:

SEE ALSO: The biggest PlayStation 4 game of the year is basically 'Minecraft' in space with 18 quintillion planets

DON'T MISS: Controversial game 'No Man's Sky' is getting its first major update — and it's bringing major changes

The ships range in size from smaller ships — like the one in the background — to gigantic space trucks. That red ship in the foreground is huge!

There are some pretty amazing midsize ships as well. This guy looks straight out of "The Last Starfighter." Look it up, kiddos!

One player on Reddit found this glorious beast in matte black. Gorgeous!

Episode 8 of HBO's "Westworld" was full of Easter eggs and little things you may not have noticed if you weren't paying close attention. There were literary references aplenty, and a familiar host popped up in yet another role on the show. We're still just as confused as ever, but these little details might help.

Follow Tech Insider:On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »

Disney figured out how to win the Thanksgiving weekend years ago, and since then has just gotten better at it.

Before this year's five-day holiday, eight of the top 10 all-time box office grossers over Thanksgiving weekend were Disney titles, with 2013's "Frozen" leading the way ($93.5 million).

Disney now holds nine of the top 10 titles over the Turkey Day holiday thanks to its new release, "Moana."

The movie took in a strong $81.1 million, according to Exhibitor Relations, which puts it at No. 2 all-time over the holiday weekend.

Following a Polynesian girl who heads out on an ocean journey to save her people, the movie features the voice of Dwayne Johnson and the music of "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.

"Moana" got off to a great start when it earned $2.6 million in Tuesday preview screenings, breaking the previous record held by "The Good Dinosaur." The movie went on to having an opening day take of $15.7 million. It had a strong Thanksgiving Day with $9.9 million, and then on Friday shot up to $21.8 million.

The strength of "Moana" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which came in second over the holiday weekend with $65.3 million, helped the domestic box office cross the $10 billion mark for the year in record time.

That milestone was hit on Friday — faster than last year when it didn't reach that number until December 18. And 2015 saw an all-time record $11 billion at the domestic box office, so Hollywood studios are very thankful this Thanksgiving as things are looking good for 2016 to surpass last year's mark.

"Moana" is just the latest example of Disney's dominance at the box office this year. The studio has passed the $6 billion mark globally, an all-time record for the company, and is nearing an industry all-time record of $7 billion worldwide for the year.

SEE ALSO: The breakout star of Disney's "Moana" was almost a totally different character

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Meet the man who turns pop-up books into intricate works of art

A Japanese company unveiled the world’s biggest robots ever made, and its CEO wants to use them to build a tourist park.

Follow BI Video: On Twitter

Join the conversation about this story »

Note: Spoilers are ahead for previously aired Westworld episodes, as is some potentially spoiler-y speculation for future episodes.

Something is wrong in "Westworld."

HBO's sci-fi western drama — a serialized reboot of Michael Crichton's 1973 thriller by the same name — depicts a fantastical robot-filled "theme park" of the future.

Westworld guests can interact with artificially intelligent "hosts" — gunslingers, brothel madams, a farmer’s daughter, Native Americans, and more — taking part in all the sex and violence that can be jammed into these characters’ storylines. And all of it teed up by the people who are essentially Westworld's game designers.

But as visitors ride, terrorize, shoot, and sleep with the park's robot hosts, the designers operating behind the scenes soon discover that something is off.

Along the way, Westworld’s story brushes up against all kinds of uneasy questions — mainly scientific and philosophical — about the complex intersection of technology and people.

While we can't say where the show is going, or whether it will ever answer any of these questions, here are some of the most interesting ones we’ve spotted so far.

Do we all live in a simulation?

Everyone in Westworld wakes up to go about their day — working, drinking, fighting, whatever it may be — without knowing that their entire existence is a simulation of a “real world” created by the park’s designers.

Physicists and philosophers say that in our world, we can’t prove we don’t live in some kind of computer simulation.

Some think that if that is the case, we might be able to "break out" by noticing any errors in the system, something the Westworld robots seem to be brushing up against.

Can we control artificial intelligence?

Each time the park wakes up (or the simulation restarts?), the hosts are supposed to go about their routines, playing their roles until some guest veers into the storyline. The guest might go off on an adventure with the host — or they might rape or kill them. In any case, when the story resets, the hosts' memories are wiped clean.

Supposedly.

For some reason, a few hosts seem to remember their disturbing past lives. This may be related to a “software update” created by park founder Dr. Robert Ford (played by Anthony Hopkins) or it may have something to do with his mysterious co-founder, Arnold.

Luckily, and for a variety of reasons, AI researchers today believe out-of-control AI is a myth and that we can control intelligent software. Then again, few computer and linguistic scientists thought machines could ever learn to listen and speak as well as people — and now they can on a limited level.

How far off are the intelligent machines of Westworld?

Behind the scenes at Westworld's headquarters, advanced industrial tools can 3D-print the bodies of hosts from a mysterious white goop. Perhaps it's made of nanobots, or some genetically engineered tissue, or maybe it's just plastic that's later controlled by as-yet-undisclosed advanced technology.

There's a lot of mystery here, and as we find out in one episode (when a host smashes his own head in with a rock), the "thinking" part of the machines is definitely located in the head. But what's it made of? And what powers these strange constructs? And how are the batteries recharged, if at all? Can (and how do) they feel pain and pleasure?

These automatons seem like an engineer's dream as well as her nightmare.

Nothing like this exists in the real world, but researchers and entrepreneurs are working hard to advance soft robots, ultra-dense power sources, miniaturized everyday components (some down to an atomic scale), and other bits and pieces that might ultimately comprise a convincing artificial human.