Napoleon Dynamite cast reunites in Web3 animated series, Sega’s blockchain game and more…

by · September 27, 2022

The lead cast from the cult-classic film Napoleon Dynamite is reuniting for an animated series that will be released through blockchain technology.

According to a Sept. 27 report from Hollywood news Deadline, the stars of Napoleon Dynamite have all signed on to voice characters in CyKo KO, an animated adaptation of Rob Feldman’s cartoon of the same name, with a 12-minute pilot set to launch on Web3 streaming service Rewarded .TV.

Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 indie comedy that developed a worldwide cult following despite being shot in just 22 days and on a limited budget of $400,000. The main cast includes Jon Heder, Tina Majorino, Efren Ramirez and Jon Gries.

Heder, who played Napoleon Dynamite, will take on the role of the main character who also bears the same name as the show. CyKo KO follows the story of a hero and his sidekicks who protect the colonies of “SuperEarth” from enemies and giant monsters. A 12-minute pilot is reportedly in the works at this stage.

As part of the fundraising process from the show, Rewarded.TV will host a sale of CyKo KO NFT card collections on October 1st.

The packs start at $59 a pop and were developed in partnership with Theta Labs. Hodler’s of the NFTs will get access to all Season 1 episodes of the series along with other shows and movies on Rewarded.TV.

Monthly prizes and a chance to meet the cast of CyKo KO or participate in the pilot have also been announced.

Cyko KO NFT drop: Rewarded.TV

The Web3 streaming platform enables users to earn RPLAY tokens and NFT rewards for time spent watching media, while people can also earn from launching their own content.

Sega’s first blockchain game

Japanese gaming giant Sega is set to release its first blockchain game via Oasys’ Layer-2 network called the HOME-verse.

According to a Tuesday announcement from Oasys, the game is based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms mythology, which is from Segas SANGOKUSHI TAISEN arcade based card game franchise.

The game itself will be developed and operated by double jump.tokyo and will consist of a digital trading card game, most likely with a PVP battle mode attached.

Artwork from Sega’s SANGOKUSHI TAISEN game series: Oasys

While it doesn’t represent a triple-A quality game launch, the move is significant as it shows that Sega is finally ready to dip its toes into the blockchain gaming market.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the 2022 Tokyo Games Show earlier this month, Oasys representative Ryo Matsubara emphasized that major gaming companies in Japan such as Bandai Namco, Sega, and Square Enix all have a long-term vision for blockchain-based gaming.

“They don’t [want to] change that policy. They really understand the future use of blockchain. They don’t think about, you know, just the revenue, they want to create the next future [of gaming],” he said.

Related: Anonymous makes a series of accusations against Yuga Labs and its Bored Ape Yacht Club

PUBG creator looks at Metaverse game next

Brendan Greene, the creator of the wildly popular survival shooter PUBG, has revealed that his next game called Artemis will be a Metaverse-focused title that is likely to have NFT and blockchain elements.

Greene noted in a Wednesday interview with Hit Points that the game will allow players to create whatever they want in a large open world, and that digital elements such as NFTs will be incorporated so that users can extract value from the game via digital goods.

“We are building a digital place. It must have an economy, and it must have systems at work. And I think you should be able to extract value from a digital place; it has to be like the internet, where you can do things that will make you money.”

“But it’s not about Chanel and Louis Vuitton. There’s a kid named AwesomePickle who sells cool skins because he understands what people want, he added.

Mega ETH loan against Mega Mutant Apes

A ballsy NFT collector has used NFT lending platform Arcade to borrow 1044 Ether (ETH) against two of their Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFTs this week.

At the time of writing, 1044 ETH is worth $1.33 million and the hodler who goes by @fragmentxyz on Twitter used the borrowed capital to buy another rare MAYC NFT for 1000 ETH.

Under the loan repayment terms, @fragmentxyz has an interest rate of 18% APY which must be paid off within 90 days. The move marks a new method of extracting liquidity NFTs without selling them (in theory) and suggests that the hodler is betting that there is no major price volatility for MAYC NFTs over the next three months.

Other good news

Christie’s has launched its own dedicated NFT “on-chain auction platform”, allowing auctions to be conducted completely on-chain on the Ethereum network.

The Walt Disney Company may be on the verge of expanding into the crypto space after posting a new job for an “experienced corporate attorney” to work on “emerging technologies” such as NFTs and Metaverse.