Pratt won’t be doing an Italian accent for Mario

No Italian accent in Mario animated movie

Chris Meledandri, co-producer of the upcoming Super Mario animated movie, both relieved and disappointed Mario fans by stating that Chris Pratt will not be putting on an Italian accent and that the voice he has developed is “phenomenal”.

“All I can tell you is the voice that he's doing for us, and Mario, is phenomenal," Meledandri told TooFab. "Yeah I can't wait for people to hear it."

• Charles Martinet, who voices Mario in the games, will make a cameo appearance
• Anya Taylor-Joy plays Princess Peach
• Bowser will be voiced by Jack Black
• Seth Rogen likely to star in upcoming Donkey Kong flick

Heritage: “As an Italian American myself, I understand," he remarked. "You know, I understand the comments." Luigi co-star Charlie Day “actually comes from Italian heritage. Yeah so that's our nod."

Self-aware: The movie will acknowledge the sudden absence of Mario's iconic accent, but it is “not the tenor of the performance throughout the film.” The new animated film will debut on December 21st next year.

Who wrote The Lusty Argonian Maid in The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind?

a) Crassius Curio
b) Jiub
c) Dagoth Ur
d) Dram Bero

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today's issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Niantic raises money to build metaverse

Niantic has raised an enviable $300 million, which values the developer at $9 billion. The investment will go towards building a “real-world metaverse.”

CEO John Hanke has his own idea of what a metaverse should be like, and it is a far cry from the Ready Player One-style total sensory immersion via virtual reality. Hanke describes that as a “dystopian nightmare.”

Public devkit: Niantic wants a metaverse anchored in the real world, favouring augmented rather than virtual reality and the first step is the release of its Lightship AR Developer Kit.

Real-world AR: “We believe humans are the happiest when their virtual world leads them to a physical one,” he said. It should “improve our experience of the world as we’ve known it for thousands of years.”

Nintendo disturbed by Activision Blizzard

Another broadside has been launched at Activision Blizzard over the continuing allegations and revelations of misconduct, this time from a somewhat unexpected end: Doug Bowser, President of Nintendo of America.

“I find these accounts distressing and disturbing. They run counter to my values as well as Nintendo’s beliefs, values and policies,” reads Bowser’s internal email to Nintendo staff.

Pressure on: Nintendo has been “in contact with Activision, have taken action and are assessing others,” he continued, without going into specifics about the actions except that they seem to involve the Entertainment Software Association.

Committee: Activision Blizzard’s Board of Directors has formally announced a Workplace Responsibility Committee, “initially comprised” of two independent directors who will oversee the company's progress towards “successfully implementing its new policies, procedures, and commitments”.

Black Friday sales & Pay What You Want

There are Black Friday discounts over on Humble Bundle as part of the aptly named Black Friday Sale with some big name games getting big percentages off by as much as 80%.

The Choose Wisely Bundle is pay-what-you-want and £7.37 gets you all 7 items, while the Black Friday RPG Bonanza is for tabletop ebooks and £18.45 will unlock all 41 of them.

• Console versions of Grand Theft Auto remastered collection updated to fix a number of gameplay and technical bugs
• Decidueye added to Pokémon Unite as Ranged Attacker, starting out as Rowlet, evolving to Dartrix, and then Decidueye
• Xbox Pioneers: Creativity & Innovation roundtable discussion hosted by Reggie Fils-Aimé, former president of Nintendo of America
• Guerrilla talks about authenticity in Horizon Forbidden West and how it's building a more believable “living world”
• Godfall: Challenger Edition and Mortal Shell for PlayStation Plus this December along with Lego DC Super-Villains
• Mortal Kombat is “awesome” but not awesome enough for Keanu Reeves to want Matrix or John Wick crossovers

Who wrote The Lusty Argonian Maid in The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind?

ANSWER: Crassius Curio!

The Elder Scrolls is one of those rare videogame series with lore rich enough to feature in-game books. The books range from scholarly treatises on Tamrielan history to short stories, but few stand out quite like The Lusty Argonian Maid. A cringeworthy attempt at a titillating play, it is written by none other than Crassius Curio, one of the councilors of House Hlaalu and big-time lecher.

He will shamelessly flirt with you and offer help in exchange for a kiss. Despite his licentious ways, he is actually one of the least corrupt members of House Hlaalu and actually one of the nicer characters in the game. Unfortunately, he is also pretty much that boss from work who doesn't quite understand the concept of personal space.

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey. If you have any feedback or news tips for the team, please email us!