Wednesday, Feb. 22 from 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM

Facebook Event

For years, Nintendo publicly dragged its feet about entering the mobile games market. It had dominated mobile gaming in its own way for decades, with the Game Boy and its descendants up to the current 3DS and the upcoming hybrid Switch, leaving a museum’s worth of failed competitors in its wake. (Including, notably, the Nokia N-Gage, which was a combination portable gaming console and cell phone. It seems ironic now that the thing failed.)

Why go through the trouble of entering another market when you define the one you’re in?

But two years ago, after years of investor pressure, Nintendo finally announced a partnership with Japanese mobile game giant DeNA to produce games for iOS and Android using its biggest names: Mario, Animal Crossing, and Fire Emblem. (The ridiculously popular Pokémon Go wasn’t part of this; it was developed by Niantec working directly with The Pokémon Company.)

Aside from some stunning cinematography, special effects and scenery, this U.S.-China co-production lensed, according to IMDB.com, on location in Qinqdao and New Zealand (!) is more about cashing in on the growing international audience of the PRC and USA. The use of Real 3D and IMAX 3D is what The Great Wall is really all about - not a story or, heavens’ forbid, character development - although to be sure, there is a hidden propagandistic message about Beijing’s military might and policies. Put your brains into neutral and the 3D glasses on to watch this vapid but eye-popping big budget picture which, at $135-150 million USD, is reportedly the most expensive movie ever made in what had once upon a time been the People’s Republic of China.