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A renowned Apple engineer who was instrumental in developing modern-day computing has died. Bill Atkinson, who was part of Apple's original Macintosh development team, died of pancreatic cancer at 74, according to a Facebook post made by his family on June 5.His contributions to Apple and the Macintosh personal computer are still widely used today, including fundamental UI elements like the menu bar, double-clicking and the selection lasso. However, Atkinson's work goes much deeper than that, since he's partly responsible for the foundational design language that influenced Apple's early days. His legacy includes creating MacPaint, an application that showed the world what a graphics-based system looks like at a time when text-based systems were the norm, and developing QuickDraw, a graphics toolbox that the Macintosh and Lisa computers use. To make computers more user-friendly, Atkinson also designed HyperCard, an Apple application that introduced hypertext to everyday users and not just programmers. Tim Cook paid tribute to Atkinson, posting on X, that he was a true visionary whose creativity, heart, and groundbreaking work on the Mac will forever inspire us."Beyond Apple, Atkinson was one of three co-founders for General Magic, a software and electronics company that supplied products to Motorola and Sony in the 90s. Later, he worked with Numenta in 2007, which was a startup focused on artificial intelligence. Atkinson was also a seasoned nature photographer, publishing a book called Within the Stone that highlights polished and cut rocks with close-up shots. Atkinson is survived by his wife, two daughters, stepson, stepdaughter, two brothers, four sisters, and dog, Poppy.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/influential-apple-engineer-bill-atkinson-dies-at-74-191024913.html?src=rss

Xbox fans don't need to wait any longer to play Final Fantasy XVIon their Series X/S. Two years after the action RPG debuted on PS5, it got a surprise release on Xbox's consoles on Sunday. Its sudden arrival was announced during the Xbox Games Showcase as part of Summer Game Fest.The game's now available via the Xbox PC app as well. Granted, Final Fantasy XVI has been on Steam and the Epic Games store since last September, but some folks might have been waiting for its arrival on Xbox. Buying Final Fantasy XVI once on any Xbox platform means you'll be able to play it across console, PC and cloud with synced progression.A complete edition that includes both Final Fantasy XVI expansions is available for Xbox. There's a standard edition that includes the base game as well.The arrival of Final Fantasy XVI on Xbox means that you can now play all the mainline, single-player Final Fantasy games on Microsoft's consoles, save for the Final Fantasy VII remakes. However, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is coming toXbox this winter - just in time for those new Xbox gaming handhelds.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/final-fantasy-16-suddenly-arrives-on-xbox-series-xs-185542283.html?src=rss

Surely I wasn't the only one caught off guard that this trailer featuring Milo Ventimiglia, a cybernetic butterfly and a tentacly upside-down hell world turned out to be the announcement of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, right? Nevertheless, that just happened at the conclusion of the Xbox Games Showcase, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is officially on the way. Today's teaser comes ahead of an official reveal that's slated for this summer.The game is set in the year 2035, when "the world is on the brink of chaos, ravaged by conflict and psychological warfare following the narrative events of Black Ops 2 and Black Ops 6." According to Activision, it's "the first-ever consecutive release within the series, set more than 40 years after the events of Black Ops 6." It's all kinds of futuristic, and will see David Mason and crew facing "a manipulative enemy who weaponizes fear above all else."Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will be available on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Xbox PC, Xbox Cloud, Xbox Play Anywhere, Battle.net, Steam, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. Xbox Game Pass subscribers will also get it on launch day.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/heres-our-first-look-at-call-of-duty-black-ops-7-184709483.html?src=rss

Asobo Studio announced at the Xbox Games Showcase that its new entry in the Plague Tale series is a prequel set 15 years before its last game. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is focused on the smuggler Sophia from A Plague Tale: Requiem, and is scheduled to be released in 2026.Based on the brief description from the game's trailer, Resonance follows a young Sophia as she "seeks her independence as a fierce plunderer in the unforgiving world of the 14th century." The trailer shows Sophia on the run, escaping conflict, exploring mysterious ruins, and generally being pursued by danger, alongside more ominous vignettes showcasing Asobo's typically lush visuals.If surviving a plague made the first two games seem grim, escaping a flaming ship or battling in a gladiatorial arena doesn't make Sophia's past adventures seem all that more for fun. Still, there's very little to go on, and quite a bit more to learn before Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy comes out in 2026.Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy is currently set to be released on Xbox Series X / S, PS5, PC and Xbox Cloud Streaming. It'll also be available from day one through Xbox Game Pass.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/asobo-studios-next-plague-tale-game-is-a-prequel-arriving-in-2026-183305421.html?src=rss

The Persona 4 remake is real and its going to be called Persona 4 Revival. Atlus shared a trailer for the game during the Xbox Games Showcase, confirming its upgraded, likely Unreal Engine 5-powered visuals, and that it's coming to Xbox platforms.The trailer is remarkably short, all you really get are shots of Persona 4's small-town countryside setting, snippets of the game's score, some spooky TVs and the gray-haired player character running around. But if you've played the beloved RPG, you don't need much more to get the gist.Persona 3 Reload was released in 2024, featuring the Tokyo-set third game in the franchise, but with new graphics powered by Unreal. This next remake seems like its going to continue the trend with the fourth game in the franchise. Notably, without the voice talent of Yuri Lowenthal or Erin Fitzgerald, who both confirmed the existence of the remake and that they wouldn't be in it at the end of May.Persona 4 Revival is coming to Xbox Series X / S, PC, Xbox Cloud Streaming and PS5. It'll also be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/persona-4-revival-is-real-and-coming-to-ps5-pc-and-xbox-182120544.html?src=rss

Xbox kicked off its Summer Game Fest showcase by revealing the release date to The Outer Worlds 2, the sci-fi first-person RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, via a new trailer. The sequel is coming out on October 29, 2025 and Xbox plans to follow-up its stream with an in-depth look at the game.Like the original The Outer Worlds, the sequel continues its satire of end-times capitalism, focusing in the trailer on the player character's Earth Directorate agent working against various companies vying for destructive, dangerous technology. What that looks like in practice is freezing and exploding enemies with a variety of out-of-this-world weapons - shrink rays included. Knowing Obsidian's output, there's bound to be plenty of non-lethal ways to get what you want, too.The Outer Worlds 2 is coming out on October 29, 2025 for Xbox Series X / S, PS5, PC and streaming through Xbox Cloud Streaming.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/the-outer-worlds-2-arrives-on-october-29-172540150.html?src=rss

Apple's next big UI overhaul, reportedly called "Liquid Glass," is ready for its big reveal. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the upcoming interface redesign will feature "sheen and see-through visuals of a glassy surface." More specifically, Apple's new design language will have "transparency and shine effects" in its toolbars, in-app interfaces and controls.It may sound like a superficial makeover, but it's rare that Apple makes such a major change to its UI. The last big change for iPhones came from iOS 7 when Apple ditched its iconic skeumorphism design in favor of a more simplified design we have today.However, Gurman reported that Apple could be getting Liquid Glass ready for the eventual 20th anniversary of the iPhone next year. According to Gurman, the upcoming 20th anniversary release of the iPhone will have "curved glass sides around the entire phone, even at the edges." On top of that, this special iPhone will have "extraordinarily slim bezels and no cutout section in the screen" to better match the upcoming redesign.It's not the first time we're hearing about Apple's rumored redesign, which was expected to draw inspiration from the Apple Vision Pro. With this Liquid Glass design, Apple could unify the look of its interfaces across all of its devices and make it less of a dramatic visual shift when switching between your Vision Pro and iPhone. This big visual change is expected to align across the board with iOS 26, macOS, watchOS, iPadOS, and tvOS. We're expecting to see Apple's Liquid Glass debut during WWDC 2025 which will kick off on June 9, 1PM ET/10AM PT.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/apple-will-reportedly-demo-its-liquid-glass-interface-redesign-with-see-through-visuals-at-wwdc-165823089.html?src=rss

Summer Game Fest 2025 is well underway, and if there's one event from the weekend that everyone's sure to be talking about, it's the Xbox Games Showcase. The livestream is scheduled for Sunday, June 8 at 1:00PM ET (10:00AM PT), and you can tune into it on the Xbox YouTube channel or Twitch, where ASL interpretation will be provided. Immediately after the Xbox showcase, there will be a separate presentation dedicated entirely to The Outer Worlds 2. You can watch both the Xbox Games Showcase and The Outer Worlds 2 Direct using the embedded stream below when it goes live. Our reporters on the ground, Jessica Conditt and Mat Smith, will be giving live updates in our liveblog below.Last year's showcase brought us news about the upcoming Fable reboot (since delayed until 2026), the next entry in the Gears of War series, Gears of War: E-Day, the recently released Doom: The Dark Ages and much more. We may hear some fresh updates about those first two titles on Sunday, and possibly more about others like Everwild, State of Decay 3, Hideo Kojima's OD and Contraband. And of course, some new titles are likely to make their debut too.You can catch up here on everything we've seen at Summer Game Fest 2025, and follow along when the event begins for our on-the-ground coverage.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/live-updates-from-the-xbox-games-showcase-at-summer-game-fest-2025-200036748.html?src=rss

Ask me what I'm reading at any given moment and I'll probably rattle off at least three titles, not to mention comics and the occasional textbook I may also be chipping away at in the background. Reading multiple books simultaneously might sound chaotic (at least, people always tell me it is), but there is a degree of organization to it all: each book in my pile of current reads is in a different format. I'll have one physical, paper book, an ebook and an audiobook in progress at a time, so I always have something on hand to read no matter where I am.While I used to carry around a dedicated ereader, I've shifted more toward using my phone for the job these days, especially since getting a foldable. Consequently, I've tried out a bunch of different apps for reading and logging my books. These are the ones I like most.Libro.fmAudiobooks have really grown on me over the last few years, almost entirely replacing podcasts as the thing I'll throw on when I'm cleaning, taking a walk or going for a long drive. While I tried to make do at first by only borrowing audiobooks from the library, I quickly found that the extremely limited selection from my library system coupled with really long wait times just wouldn't cut it if I wanted to stay up on new releases. After researching all the options, I settled on Libro.fm, an audiobook platform that shares a portion of profits (about half, according to a 2022 interview) with independent bookstores. And even better, you get to pick which bookstore to support with your purchases.I wasn't expecting to find my favorite local bookstore - a tiny shop in a small town in New York's Hudson Valley - on Libro.fm, so I was pleasantly surprised when it turned up in the search. With that, and the fact that all audiobooks from Libro.fm are Digital Rights Management (DRM) free, so you can actually download the files and do with them as you please, I was sold. You have a few options for buying audiobooks through Libro.fm: you can subscribe for $15 per month, which gives you one audiobook credit and a 30 percent discount on all purchases; you can buy credit bundles to save on purchases without a subscription; and you can purchase individual titles at their full, non-member price. There are also plenty of free books to choose from.Bookshop.org appThe moment I found out that Bookshop.org had launched ebooks and an app to read them on, I made the site my sole destination for buying digital books and haven't looked back. Just like Libro.fm, Bookshop.org lets you choose a local bookseller to support with your purchases. It's been doing this for physical book sales for the last five years - and according to its tally has raised over $38 million for independent bookstores in that time - but until now, there hasn't been a similar option for ebooks. The new app is a no-frills ereader app where you can browse the Bookshop.org catalog to save titles to your wishlist (purchases have to be made on the site) and read all the ebooks you've bought. There are some things I'd love to see it gain in the future, like comics and the option to display pages side by side for reading book-style on a foldable, but it's a great start as it is, especially if your primary concern is supporting small businesses.Right now Bookshop.org's ebook service doesn't sync with any of the mainstream ereader devices, so you're locked into reading on Android, iOS or a web browser, but the company said it's working on Kobo integration and we could see that happen before the end of this year.LibbyLibby, aka the library app, is my app of choice for older, less in-demand ebooks and audiobooks, or for when I don't have anything particular in mind and just want to browse the catalog to see what jumps out at me. It lets you link multiple library cards, meaning you potentially have a huge pool to pull from, and since you're borrowing books rather than buying them, it's entirely free. Libby also connects with Kindle, and you can have your titles automatically sent to your ereader. Some Kobo devices support OverDrive (the distributor behind Libby) too.While using an app may not be quite as satisfying as perusing the stacks IRL, I really like Libby's tag system, which lets you organize your borrowed books and To Be Read titles in whatever way works best for you. You can have a dedicated TBR tag, or create several different tags to group things by genre, mood, etc. Libby is also a great place to find magazines.Moon+ Reader (Android only)Moon+ Reader is the best app I've used yet for instances where I have the actual file for a book or document. It supports a ton of different file types - including ePUB, PDF, AZW3, MOBI and many more - and allows you to highlight and annotate text, in addition to offering auto scroll and text-to-speech so the text can be read aloud to you. It's really customizable, too. You can choose things like font, font color, background, margin width, line spacing and more for each document, and save the final build as a theme so you can use it again later. Designwise, the app feels almost like a relic of a bygone digital era, organizing all of your books in a skeuomorphic virtual bookshelf, and I love it. There are a few style options for the bookshelf too, or you can turn off the bookshelf and just see your books in a standard grid.There's both a free and paid version of the Moon+ Reader, and this is a situation where getting the paid version (Moon+ Reader Pro) is actually worth it. It's a one-time purchase of $10, and going that route will get rid of ads and open up more customization options. In addition to importing your own files into the app, Moon+ Reader has Project Gutenberg integrated so you can directly access that library of over 75,000 free books.The StorygraphNaturally, I need a way to keep up with all the reading I'm doing, and that's where The StoryGraph comes in. The StoryGraph is a data-focused app for keeping track of everything you're currently reading, everything you've read and the ever-growing list of titles you want to read. It even allows you to mark books as "did not finish." I love that I can have five in-progress books logged at a time, and can even update each entry to note how far along I am, which is nice for those I'm dragging my feet on completing.When you leave a review, you have the option to be really detailed about it, going beyond a star rating and a blurb. Reviewers can indicate whether the book would appeal to readers who like a particular mood, with over a dozen options. You rate the pace and answer basic questions about the plot and characters, like whether there's character development or if the characters are even likeable. There's also the option to add content warnings.Where The StoryGraph really shines, though, is in the stats. There are tons of actual graphs built into the experience to show you a comprehensive breakdown of your reading habits, from the genres, moods and pacing you prefer, to how much fiction you've read versus nonfiction. You can set challenges for yourself, like a yearly reading goal, and you'll be shown a Reading Wrap-up at the end of the year. It'll tell you how long it takes you to finish a book on average, and compare your reading stats to previous years.There is a mild social component to the app, but it's tucked away in its own tab and not shoved in your face, which I appreciate as someone who tends to shy away from those things. If you want, though, you can participate in or create readalongs, start buddy reads and book clubs (and even write out a code of conduct for the latter) or just see what other people with similar interests to yours are reading. The StoryGraph team also really seems to take users' feedback into consideration, and is constantly adding new things to the app and tweaking existing ones to improve the experience, which is always nice to see.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/the-best-apps-for-reading-tracking-and-listening-to-books-120047705.html?src=rss

During a showcase at Summer Games Fest, developer Dinosaur Polo Club announced that it will be adding a creative mode to Mini Motorways. The new mode will be available in a free game update coming to Apple Arcade, Steam, and Nintendo Switch on August 26, so you can get imaginative on whatever platform you've been playing this excellent strategy game.Like its predecessor Mini Metro, the core gameplay of Mini Motorways has a lot of calm, meditative elements in the experience of placing those first few roads. But as your city grows and the street network gets more convoluted, things can turn hectic real quick. And if you're like me, you've definitely run out of road tiles because you just couldn't stand making painfully illogical city plans. Creative Mode offers the welcome option to focus on aesthetics, letting players recolor, move and pivot houses and destinations to develop a city with more order. Or with more chaos, you do you!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/mini-motorways-is-getting-a-creative-mode-233031208.html?src=rss

Camper Van: Make it Home has everything you'd want out of a home-decorating simulator, but it's all on wheels and slightly miniaturized, and something about that combination is extra peaceful. The game is available on Steam right now, following a surprise drop during the Wholesome Games Showcase, which is part of Summer Game Fest 2025.In Camper Van: Make it Home, players solve organization puzzles and use their interior design skills to craft the mobile homes of their dreams. There's even space to decorate outside of the vehicle, and the accessories change along with the environments and seasons. Camper Van: Make it Home is just a perfect encapsulation of pastel dreaminess and cozy creativity.Camper Van: Make it Home is developed by Spanish indie team Malapata Studio, with financial support from Wings. The game has been on a little journey from Kickstarter, where it garnered more than 2,000 backers in 2023, to today's full release on Steam.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/camper-van-make-it-home-takes-interior-design-on-the-road-170043811.html?src=rss

There's a new shop management sim in town. Discounty will be released on August 21 for PC, Switch, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The game tasks players with managing a discount supermarket in a bustling town.The core gameplay loop reminds me of the shopkeeper portion of Moonlighter, but Discounty lets folks freely organize the shop's layout. It's also more than just a management sim. Players can walk around the town and "get caught up in small-town drama" while attempting to strike lucrative trade deals.There's a story here, as the tight knit community of Blomkest will react to how well the shop is doing. Getting too popular could ruffle feathers in the town, so players will have to manage sales expectations against the needs of the community. A tagline asks "will you pursue endless profits, or find a way to benefit everyone in Blomkest?"First time developer Crinkle Cut Games promises that the game holds some kind of dark secret, and we are dying to know what it is. Do capitalistic ghosts come out at night to haunt the town's residents? We'll find out this August.This news came to us via the Wholesome Direct livestream, which happened right in the middle of Summer Game Fest. Follow all of the SGF happenings and trailers right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-cozy-management-sim-discounty-arrives-on-august-21-170037206.html?src=rss

The egg-cooking roguelike Omelet You Cook is officially available for PC via Steam. It was shadow-dropped during the Wholesome Direct livestream, which falls in the middle of Summer Game Fest. This quirky title was first revealed last year, but now we can get our grubby little paws on it.The game looks like a good combination of chaos and strategy, casting players as a line cook at a middle school cafeteria. There's a bit of Overcooked here, along with the narrative-focused cooking sim Venba and the sushi minigame part of Dave the Diver. It looks really fun.It's not just a chaotic minigame. Players can add and prep ingredients between rounds, and there are rare relics that provide power-ups. There's even a hungry dog that hoovers up unwanted ingredients.This is an early access release, so folks should expect updates and changes as the months roll on. Developer SchuBox Games is also working on a football sim that stars chickens called Dicey Birdball, but that one didn't get a surprise drop today. That team sure does love poultry.This news comes from today's Wholesome Direct livestream, which coincides with Summer Game Fest. The announcements keep coming in from SGF, so stay on top of things right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/the-breakfast-making-roguelike-omelet-you-cook-was-just-surprise-released-on-steam-170024208.html?src=rss

Monument Valley 3 is finally coming to more platforms, after being a Netflix exclusive since December. The game will be released on July 22 for PC, Switch, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Remember, Switch games are playable on Switch 2, so it should also technically be available on Nintendo's new console.Monument Valley 3 is considered a solid entry in the franchise, with plenty of fresh puzzles that play with perspective. You navigate a character through bizarre mazes and strangely-designed levels.These games are partially inspired by artists like M.C. Escher, as the pathways don't necessarily follow the laws of physics. It's a whole lot of fun, and sort of plays like a more psychedelic version of the Switch exclusive Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.The third entry in the franchise brings in a new gameplay mechanic in the form of a sailboat that freely moves between sections. The vibes are top-tier, with gorgeous art and a great ambient soundtrack. We don't have a price yet, as Monument Valley 3 was free with a Netflix subscription, but Monument Valley 2 ranged from $5 to $8 depending on the platform.This news comes from today's Wholesome Direct livestream, which happens during Summer Game Fest. The announcements are coming in fast and hot from SGF, so stay on top of things right here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/monument-valley-3-breaks-free-from-netflix-on-july-22-170002131.html?src=rss

The Hitman trilogy, also known as Hitman World of Assassination, will be available on iPhones, iPads, as well as Mac computers, this summer. IO Interactive has announced that it was expanding Hitman's availability during the developer's showcase at Summer Game Fest 2025, where it celebrated the franchise's 25th anniversary. IO Interactive's Chief Development Officer, Veronique Lallier, said the launch on iOS means you can travel the world with Hitman in your pocket. Event attendees were given the chance to experience the game running natively on iOS.Lallier also announced that Hitman is coming to table top. IO Interactive has teamed up with board game creator Mood Publishing to make Hitman the board game, which will be available for backing on Kickstarter later this year. The board game will feature the franchise's characters, iconic weapons and backdrops. Up to four players can play as assassins going after a single target, and the one who takes the target out will get the payout in the end.In addition, the developer has revealed that Le Chiffre, the villain from the Bond film Casino Royale, will be the World of Assassination's new Elusive Target. Mads Mikkelsen, the actor who played Le Chiffre in the movie, provided the likeness and the voice for the new game character. You'll only have a limited time to go after Mikkelsen's character, as Hitman's Elusive Target missions only appear once, and you cannot attempt them again after they end. To note, IO Interactive recently revealed its James Bond game, 007 First Light, which will be coming out in 2026. If you play the Elusive Target mission with Le Chiffre, you can redeem an exclusive suit in 007 First Light when it becomes available.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hitman-world-of-assassination-is-coming-to-ios-and-table-tops-160036401.html?src=rss

Wu-Tang Clan has a new game. At Summer Game Fest 2025, Brass Lion Entertainment has introduced its debut game, Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver. In it, you'll have to fight alongside the group's members to defeat the invading forces of the Deceiver and to save your home of Shaolin. The game is an action RPG with "anime-style fighting and afro-surrealist aesthetic." While you can play the game alone, you can also team up with up to two more friends online, and all of you can customize your fighting styles and your fashion.According to The Washington Post, the group looked for a studio that can develop a game that can tie in with Ghostface Killah and RZA's upcoming film, the supernatural thriller Angel of Dust. That's when the members found out that Brass Lion's director of music and culture was American record producer Just Blaze.Bryna Dabby Smith, Brass Lion's co-founder and CEO, said Wu-Tang loved the concepts their company presented for the game. "The script is in the horror genre, but it really worked from an interactive perspective," the executive told The Post. Brass Lion was co-founded by Manveer Heir (Wolfenstein and Mass Effect 3), Rashad Redic (Fallout 3, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) and Smith (The Bourne Conspiracy, Sleeping Dogs). Heir previously said that the studio will focus on telling authentic underrepresented stories not just relating to race, but also to age, religion and sexuality.Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver will feature classic Wu-Tang tunes alongside new material, as overseen by Just Blaze. It doesn't have a release date yet, but you can watch a teaser below and look at some screenshots on its official Steam page.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/wu-tang-clans-new-game-blends-anime-with-afro-surrealism-140048792.html?src=rss

We're really covering all the bases with our latest slate of reviews. We've got everything from an EV family hauler to a smart pellet grill. Wireless earbuds, a unique camera and a GPU that's actually affordable are also on the list. Plus, there are new Playdate games and a VPN review if you're into those things. Whatever your preferred flavor, read on for a recap of our reviews from the last two weeks. VW ID.Buzz There really isn't an electric minivan available in the US, although the VW ID.Buzz certainly comes close. The EV is definitely a head turner, and it offers loads of cargo space for both passengers and packages. "It's just a shame that it's held back by some obvious issues," senior reviews reporter Devindra Hardawar said. "The ID.Buzz is still undeniably useful though, especially if you don't plan on taking many road trips, so there's a chance it'll become more compelling as its price falls." Weber Smoque Wi-Fi-equipped pellet grills can get very expensive very quickly. Thankfully, two of the biggest names in grilling chose to offer affordable models as part of their 2025 lineups. One of those is Weber, and the company's new Smoque pellet grill provides reliable performance alongside all of the features most backyard pit masters will ever need - for $799. "Weber really hit its stride with pellet grills last year with the Searwood, and the Smoque is proof the company has more compelling ideas in the hopper," I wrote. "Thankfully, this one saves you some money without sacrificing any of the culinary results." Fujifilm GFX100RF The GFX100RF may be a world's first, according to Fujifilm, but the camera isn't without a few substantial flaws. Despite a great design, sharp image quality and new controls, this model isn't good for low-light situations, has subpar autofocus and doesn't offer any image stabilization. As senior reporter Steve Dent noted, maybe the GFX100RF has a higher calling. "The GFX100RF is fun to use, though, and introduces several innovations like the aspect ratio dial," he said. "Though it may never have a huge market, I think products like this push the industry in new directions and create conversations that draw new people into photography." AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT Upgrading your GPU these days isn't typically an affordable task, but AMD has a $350 option that's a solid bet for most users. "The Radeon RX 9060 XT is a reminder of a world where we didn't have to pay more than $400 to get a capable GPU," Devindra explained. "So for the vast majority of players out there - the ones who aren't using monitors with crazy high refresh rates or 4K+ resolutions - it's all the GPU you really need." Two sets of midrange earbuds: Skullcandy and Sony If you're looking for a set of wireless earbuds for under $150, we recently reviewed two options in that price range. First, Skullcandy's Method 360 ANC borrows heavily from Bose's QuietComfort Ultra earbuds, although officially it only features "sound by Bose." However, Senior buying advice reporter Jeff Dunn warns against the expectation of flagship quality performance. "This is still a tier above most budget pairs we've tested," he said. "It has nearly all the features we're looking for (unlike, say, the Beats Solo Buds), it's comfortable and the sound signature will hit right if you're hungry for bass." Sony is best known for its 1000X line of earbuds and headphones, but the company has struck gold a few times with midrange devices. Its latest, the WF-C710N, has a comfy design and a lot of features for $120. However, sound quality is where you'll notice the biggest difference between it and more expensive options. "If I had been able to hit (or even surpass) Sony's stated battery life, these earbuds would be easy to recommend," I wrote. "Despite that, they're still a solid option, especially at $120, since the company once again outpaces its midrange rivals with more convenient tools than you'll find anywhere else." Playdate Season 2 and testing ExpressVPN Playdate Season 2 will deliver two new games per week for the handheld through July 3. Weekend editor Cheyenne Macdonald has already played the first two entries, Fulcrum Defender and Dig! Dig! Dino!, and a third title that Panic also released called Blippo+. Meanwhile, senior writer Sam Chapman tested ExpressVPN, observing how the service outpaces much of the competition despite its lack of customization options and its higher price.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-vw-idbuzz-weber-smoque-fujifilm-gfx100rf-and-more-133047923.html?src=rss

Panic is not messing around with Playdate's second season. After starting off Season Two on the right foot with Dig! Dig! Dino!, Fulcrum Defender and the surprise rollout of Blippo+, the team has followed through with another strong pair of games for week two. The Whiteoutand Wheelsprung are, like the week one games, polar opposites of each other: a somber, narrative-heavy post-apocalyptic adventure and a nutty dirtbike game with realistic(ish) physics.If you're looking for any throughline between them, I've got you. It's squirrels. You'll see. (Alright I may be reaching, but as both a journalist and a wildlife rehabilitator who is currently raising orphaned squirrels, just let me have this one).This week also brought an update for the "intergalactic TV service," Blippo+, and it looks like we'll be getting new content for some time to come. The Season Two team wrote in an email accompanying the latest drop that "Blippo+ itself is going to update every week for eleven (!) weeks, every Thursday at 10AM PT [1PM ET]." Once it's all over, there will be reruns. We'll get a countdown for that on week 12, the team says. Now, let's get into the new games.The WhiteoutScenic Route SoftwareMinutes into playing Scenic Route Software's The Whiteout, I became certain that this was going to be another game that would make me cry. The narrative tone is heavy, the atmosphere is bleak and absolutely nothing about it suggests that anything is going to get better... ever. It feels hopeless from the start, but you have to keep trudging along anyway. (If you've ever read The Road, the feeling should be familiar). When I finally reached the end, though, I wasn't in tears - I was totally speechless, in a "mouth hanging open, empty inside" kind of way. It's stunning.The Whiteout is narrative driven, picking up in a barren post-apocalyptic version of the US in which a snowstorm began one spring and never stopped. The events are set in current times - the onset of the snow occurred in spring 2025 - giving it an eerie, close to home kind of quality. Everything about it feels like something that could happen. As you play through its five chapters, the story is told through the playable character's musings about the past and present. It's all beautifully written, with numerous sentimental moments that felt genuinely heartbreaking.It did manage to get a few smiles out of me though; the character makes cynical quips here and there, and a nefarious bunch called The Woodpeckers comes to be known simply as "the 'peckers," which got me every time. And the appearance of a squirrel just kind of hanging out in the background served as a refreshing sign of life amid the desolation. (I wondered while playing if the squirrel was a checkpoint, but I'd have to go through it all again to figure that out for sure.)The gameplay entails mostly linear exploration, searching for resources, solving puzzles and making choices about your next moves. There's not much in the way of action, and you spend most of the game just walking with a slowness that is at times maddening. But, while I definitely would have appreciated the option to speed up even a little (a gentle jog, maybe?), the lethargy helps to illustrate how hard it would be to carry on in such conditions. Backtracking several times to get all the resources you need to progress in some areas is painfully tedious, so the relief when you do complete the action is real. Patience is key in this game.I fear some people will give up on this title early because of the pace, and I implore you not to do that. It's worth every minute. It's also worth it to play with headphones, as recommended, to really let yourself be immersed in the setting. I stayed up half the night playing and got up early the next morning to finish it, and I'm still thinking about the ending I came to. There are multiple endings according to the creators, so I'll likely dive back in for another go once I've had more time to digest. The Whiteout is without a doubt the most memorable game of both Playdate seasons to date.WheelsprungNino van Hooff & Julie BjornskovSo, you played The Whiteout and now you're depressed. The Playdate team seems to have prepared for this, because the other game that dropped this week with the second release of Season Two may as well be the antidote. Wheelsprung is cute, charming and silly as hell. It's also a pretty challenging (and frustrating) physics game, but I do love a game that pisses me off a little.The art of Wheelsprung is instantly recognizable as that of Julie Bjornskov, one of the creators of Escape the Boardgame and Escape the Arcade, which is to say it's oozing whimsy. Bjornskov made this one with programmer Nino van Hooff. The story is pretty simple: a family with a child who loves nuts - like, enough to scatter them all over the place in joy - has briefly left their home unattended, and you're a squirrel equipped with an absurdly flexible dirtbike who is on a mission to collect as many nuts as possible in their absence. There are nearly three dozen levels to complete, each of them an obstacle course you must figure out how to navigate on the two-wheeler. There's also a level editor to create your own tracks.The squirrel's dirtbike is basically a Dr. Seuss contraption, and it's capable of some pretty impressive maneuvers. Lean in either direction using the D-pad and it can do a wheelie. Hit the down arrow and it'll instantly turn you to face the other way. But you must always be conscious of your balance. Allowing the squirrel's helmet to so much as tap an obstacle will result in a run-ending wipeout, as of course will all-out crashing. This game forces you to get extremely creative to traverse complicated tracks. There's a leaderboard and ideally you want to finish with the fastest time possible, but for a handful of levels my main goal at first was just figuring out how to make it to the end at all.I don't want to give away too many hints about how to excel in this game, but I sure have spent a surprising amount of time driving my bike upside down dangling from one wheel, or rocking the bike back and forth to creep forward like an inchworm. It is absolutely ridiculous, and lots of (somewhat rage-inducing) fun.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playdate-season-2-review-the-whiteout-and-wheelsprung-130014285.html?src=rss

Milan Kovac, who leads Tesla's Optimus humanoid robotics program, is leaving the automaker. In a post on X, Milan talked about how he joined Tesla as an engineer for the core Autopilot team in 2016 and how he started leading the Optimus group in 2022. He explained that he's leaving his position, because he's "been far away from home for too long and will need to spend more time with family abroad." Kovac stressed that it was the only reason he's leaving and that his support for Elon Musk and the Tesla team was "ironclad," perhaps insinuating that his decision had nothing to do with Musk's politics or recent fallout with the president.Tesla first announced that it was working on a humanoid robot in 2021, though it wasn't able to debut an actual prototype until a year a later in 2022. Musk said back then Optimus will be able to move at 5 mph and carry loads up to 45 pounds. He also said that he expects it to sell for $20,000 each when built at volume and claimed that the machines can give the company a $25 trillion market cap. Since then, Tesla has demonstrated Optimus' ability to handle an egg, cook meals, fold the laundry and throw the trash. The robot doesn't have a solid release date yet. Musk said back in April that the robot's production had been affected by China's export restrictions of rare earth magnets, so it's most likely not going to be anytime soon.Bloomberg, which reported Kovac's departure first, said he's leaving the company immediately. Ashok Elluswamy, who's leading the company's Autopilot group, is taking over his responsibilities.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-head-of-teslas-optimus-humanoid-robot-program-leaves-the-company-120015282.html?src=rss

One of the best things about an indie game showcase is that you'll see at least one preview that makes you think "huh?" and "lol!" in equal parts. For the Day of the Devs presentation at Summer Games Fest 2025, Tire Boy definitely fits the bill. Mechanics-wise, it's an open-world action-adventure game, which is pretty standard fare. However, like the name says, you play it all out as a tiny anthropomorphized tire. It looks super goofy, but in a way that might also be super great.The trio from GameTeam6 who presented the early build of the game explained that they wanted to do some odd things with scale in the world, and that's definitely been accomplished. Most other characters tower over little Tire Boy, whether they're a friendly owl, an enemy frog or just a really big heckin bunny. But there's also some sweetness promised as Tire Boy tries to uncover the secrets of his past and his tire people. It's the sort of wacky combination that can be a lot of fun in practice.The studio has a ways to go before it's ready to play; they didn't suggest any time frames for a demo or release window, but Tire Boy can be wishlisted on Steam if you want to keep tabs on this quirky project.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/tire-boy-is-a-wacky-open-world-adventure-game-you-can-tread-all-over-000036605.html?src=rss

There's a new puzzle game in town, and this one tackles remote work and corporate data manipulation. Pocket Boss is coming to Steam and the developers just dropped a trailer during the Day of the Devs showcase event, which is part of Summer Game Fest.Pocket Boss casts players as an employee working remotely, trapped by the whims of an ever-demanding boss. The game is primarily set inside of a chat window, though the puzzle element kicks in when the aforementioned job creator demands changes to data in order to maximize profits and erase competitors.When that happens, the perspective shifts to a minigame. There looks to be plenty of different designs here. One game involves flinging a competitor's market share off of the screen, while another has players navigate a physical representation of the stock market without crashing. It's like a corporation-soaked take on the WarioWare franchise.The game is published by Playables, which is the studio behind the novel-looking Time Flies and the interactive cartoon KIDS. We don't have a release date for Pocket Boss just yet.PlayablesOf course, this is just one game announced during the beefy Day of the Devs stream, and that's just one event of many throughout Summer Game Fest. It's a good time to be someone who likes to read and watch trailers about upcoming video games.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/pocket-boss-turns-corporate-data-manipulation-into-a-puzzle-game-000042457.html?src=rss

Relooted is a heist game about reclaiming African artifacts from the Western countries that stole them, developed by independent South African studio Nyamakop. Relooted is set in a future timeline where Western nations have signed a treaty to return plundered items to their African regions of origin, but things aren't going to plan. Western leaders are instead hiding the artifacts away in private collections, so it's up to a ragtag crew based in Johannesburg, South Africa, to strategize and steal them back.Relooted is broken into missions, and each one includes a briefing about the artifact, an infiltration planning stage, and the heist. Gameplay is a mix of puzzle and action as you case each building, set up your run, and then execute the plan. Once you grab your target artifact, the security alarms go off and you have a limited amount of time to escape, so thorough preparation is key.In the Day of the Devs reveal video for Relooted, producer Sithe Ncube cites a wild statistic from a pivotal 2018 report on African cultural heritage, saying, "90 percent of sub-Saharan African culture heritage is in the possession of Western collections. That is millions upon millions of deeply important cultural, spiritual and personal artifacts, including human remains, that aren't in their rightful place."The locations in Relooted are fictional, but the 70 artifacts you have to steal back are real, and they're all currently in Western and private collections, far from their original homes and owners.Nyamakop is one of the largest independent games studios in sub-Saharan Africa, with about 30 developers working on Relooted right now. Its previous game, the globular platformer Semblance, was the first African-developed IP to ever come to a Nintendo console, hitting the Switch in 2018. In order to get Semblance on the Switch, Nyamakop co-founder Ben Myres had to bootstrap his way around the world, buying one-way tickets and finding new partners on the fly in a daisy chain of game festival appearances. Here's how Myres explained it to Engadget at E3 2018:"The entry curve into being an indie game developer in South Africa is like a cliff face. Because you don't have the contacts, the platform holders like Xbox, Sony. You don't have reps that live in your country. The press that matter are all here. There isn't a big enough market locally to sell to, so you have to make works to sell to the West, which means you have to go to Western shows and you have to meet Western press. So basically, if you're not traveling a ton, you're not going to be able to make it."Nyamakop has grown significantly since 2018, and Relooted is an unabashedly African game built by a majority-POC team, Myres and Ncube said in 2024."There is the thing about making games for Africans - we say that a lot," Ncube told GamesIndustry.biz. "We say that should be a thing, we should make games for Africans because we're playing games that were made in the West. But will people even play those games, if you make them? And then if you make games targeting people ... even if you were to make one that's really good, there's no guarantee that you'll have a lot of people playing it. So I think there's some level of confusion, I can say, in terms of unexplored aspects of the African games market."Relooted is in development for Steam, the Epic Games Store and Xbox Series X/S, and while it doesn't yet have a firm release date, it's available to wishlist.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/rescue-african-artifacts-from-colonizers-museums-in-the-heist-game-relooted-000035161.html?src=rss

Neverway already looks, sounds and feels like it's going to be something special - in a grim, grotesque and hellishly depressed kind of way. (Side note: That could be a nice tagline, no? It's grim! It's grotesque! It's hellishly depressed! It's... Neverway! OK, I'll stop.)Neverway is a life-sim RPG starring Fiona, a young woman who quits her dead-end job to live on a remote island farm for a while, where she ends up becoming the immortal herald of a dead god. Fiona has to fight through nightmare realms and battle repulsive horrors, while also tending her land and maintaining relationships with townsfolk. She's able to meet and date more than 10 distinct characters, and forming friendship bonds unlocks combat abilities. The game features farming and fishing mechanics, and there's also a crafting system for secondary tools like the hookshot, which supplements Fiona's primary weapon, a sword.Neverway comes from Coldblood Inc., an independent Vancouver studio founded by Brazilian-Canadian developers Pedro Medeiros and Isadora Sophia. Medeiros is the pixel artist behind Towerfall and Celeste, two stunning indie games, and Sophia is an ex-senior software engineer at Microsoft and the creator of the open-source Murder Engine, which powers Neverway. The game also features music by Disasterpiece, the composer behind Fez and the top-tier horror film It Follows, with sound design by Martin Kvale of NokNok Audio. OuterSloth, the indie game fund established by Among Us creators InnerSloth, is providing financial backing for Neverway, and Coldblood Inc. is self-publishing it.Though Neverway was officially announced one month ago during the Triple-i Initiative showcase, it still made a splash as part of the Day of the Devs event tied to Summer Game Fest 2025 this week. Neverway is heading to PC at an undetermined future time, and it's available to wishlist on Steam now.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/bask-in-the-grotesque-pixel-art-beauty-of-neverway-000046814.html?src=rss

Fusing light psychological horror with the quiet melancholy of American Realist painter Edward Hopper, developer Thomas Waterzooi is following up his puzzle games Please, Touch the Artworkand Please, Touch the Artwork 2 by having you just watch the artwork instead. Please, Watch the Artwork is an upcoming spot-the-difference game featured during Day of the Devs that tasks you with observing a museum of living paintings and tracking down a sad clown that may be harshing the other paintings' vibe.In the game, you'll observe living versions of classic Edward Hopper paintings, like Nighthawks or Automat, and look for inconsistencies, like a character behaving strangely or objects being out of place - what one could describe as sad clown interference. You'll then click on the offending area and it'll be repainted, restoring the living painting to its normal gloomy self.Please, Watch the Artwork riffs on popular horror titles like I'm On Observation Duty, Five Nights At Freddy's and dozens of other similar games on Steam that make you look at fake CCTV footage of a garages and office buildings. Waterzooi's game just takes a slightly classier approach. The combination of classic art and eclectic puzzle mechanics has paid off well in the past, too: Please, Touch the Artwork was nominated for numerous awards, including an Apple Design Award.Please, Watch the Artwork will be available on iOS and Android for $4.99 and on Steam for macOS, Windows and Linux devices for $7.99. Waterzooi's Day of the Dev's presentation didn't include an exact release date for the game, but he did suggest that it will be out around Halloween.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/please-watch-the-artwork-is-a-puzzle-game-with-eerie-paintings-and-a-sad-clown-000022744.html?src=rss

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio first teased "Project Century" in 2024, and at Summer Game Fest it debuted a new trailer revealing the game's full name: Stranger Than Heaven. The game clearly draws on the bareknuckle brawling of the Yakuza series, but this time is set in the jazzy Japan of 1943.It's hard to get a full sense of the story from the trailer alone, but similar to RGG's previous games, it looks like Stranger Than Heaven will feature an open-world full of enemies to whoop and narrative choices that'll be as determined by who you punch as who you help. If the player character Mako Taito isn't a private eye, he does appear to be investigating something.RGG's released a Like a Dragon spin-off, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii earlier this year. Before that, it's last major entry in the melodramatic crime saga was Like a Dragon Infinite Wealthin 2024. Besides the gameplay similarities, it's not clear if Stranger Than Heaven is set in the same world as RGG's other open-world action RPGs. At the very least, it does seem incredibly stylish, though.Stranger Than Heaven is still in-development and doesn't currently have a release date.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/rggs-project-century-is-now-called-stranger-than-heaven-232848763.html?src=rss

If you've ever dreamed of being a student at a school built entirely out of escape rooms and silly puns, Coin Crew has the game just for you. Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School is heading to PC in 2026, and it's available now to wishlist on Steam. It's the sequel to Escape Academy, which is one of our absolute favorite puzzle games in recent years, particularly when played as a couch co-op experience.Escape Academy 2 expands the campus into an open world, allowing players to explore and uncover secrets between classes, ramping up the student role-playing vibe. Coin Crew also drew inspiration from games like Animal Well and The Legend of Zeldaseries, which incorporate riddles and mysteries into the standard exploration gameplay loop, creating a free-roaming puzzle flow.The original Escape Academy attracted more than 4 million players, and the sequel appears to be even bigger and radder. There's no release date for now, but Coin Crew is looking for playtesters through its Discord channel. The Escape Academy series is published by iam8bit, and the sequel was revealed during the Day of the Devs showcase tied to Summer Game Fest 2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/escape-academy-2-back-2-school-is-an-open-world-puzzle-game-spanning-the-whole-campus-000055295.html?src=rss

While many of us soldier on with the remakes and VR takes on the Resident Evil story, Capcom is prepping the next chapter of the story: Resident Evil Requiem. The sequel was fully revealed as part of Summer Game Fest Live, kicking off a week(ish) of gaming announcements and release dates.Intercutting the starting moments of REs of the past, Capcom did a fake-out, teasing that we'd have to wait a little longer to see Resident Evil Requiem - it turns out they only meant a 30-minute wait.The teaser trailer raised more questions than answers, teasing locations from previous games, like Raccoon City - and its ruined police department. It appears the game will follow Grace Ashcroft, as she tries unveil grim mysteries and, er, gets kidnapped. She's the daughter of Alyssa Ashcroft - a Resident Evil character that I do not remember at all.Capcom confirmed a year ago that veteran director Koshi Nakanishi will lead what is definitely not the ninth chapter of Resident Evil. (If you don't count Code Veronica, who even are you?) Nakanishi was involved in the development of Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, among other Resident Evil titles.Resident Evil 9 is set to launch on February 27, 2026, but a demo will be playable in August at Gamescom, so book your tickets for Cologne, Germany.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/resident-evil-requiem-announced-at-summer-game-fest-2025-231136129.html?src=rss

Tribute Games, the developer behind the fantastic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, is back with its take on another comic book IP. Scott Pilgrim EX is a beat-em-up coming to PC and consoles in 2026.This looks like a real evolution of its work with those pizza-loving turtles. There's a large map to explore with plenty of secrets, seven playable characters and, most importantly for Pilgrim fans, a brand-new story. Vegans, robots and demons have taken over Toronto! This seems only nominally better than ex-boyfriends.The developer promises "countless creative combos" and all kinds of quests "across space and time." The graphics and soundtrack are both absolutely soaked in retro goodness.If the idea of a sidescrolling Scott Pilgrim beat-em-up seems eerily familiar to you, it's not the Mandela Effect. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game was first released all the way back in 2010.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-dev-behind-tmnt-shredders-revenge-is-making-a-scott-pilgrim-beat-em-up-223721054.html?src=rss

Drinkbox Studios is back with a new title called Blighted, a 3D Metroidvania that promises to take the concept of generational memory to some bizarre and compelling new places. It will have a solo or co-op story that sees players fighting their way through a world full of monsters and secrets as they attempt to control the blight that corrupts them. And maybe eat some brains. The game was announced during the Summer Game Fest kickoff stream.The team describes Blighted as a "psychedelic western nightmare," which is pretty much exactly what I love to see from Drinkbox Studios. This company is probably best known for the excellent 2D platformers Guacamelee! and Guacamelee! 2, but don't sleep on the surreal dungeon-crawler Severed either. Drinkbox games have a powerful sense of place and clever action mechanics, so I'm very curious to see how they'll bring those sensibilities into this genre.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blighted-is-a-trippy-metroidvania-from-the-team-behind-guacamelee-000030687.html?src=rss

It's been a few years since Yacht Club Games, the studio behind Shovel Knight, ran a successful Kickstarter campaign for the first entry in a new franchise, and now we know when that game will drop. The team announced at Summer Game Fest Live that Mina the Hollower will arrive on October 31 on PC. A demo is available on Steam until Steam Next Fest ends on June 13.Mina the Hollower is a gothic horror-influenced, action-adventure platformer, so the Halloween release date is quite fitting. It's styled after the look and feel of Game Boy Color games - so much so that the game has no 3D assets and a limited color palette (but Yacht Club did make one concession by opting for a widescreen display ratio). As the inventor and mouse Mina, you'll have a whip as a weapon and the ability to burrow short distances to cross gaps and have a moment of invincibility.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/mina-the-hollower-from-the-makers-of-shovel-knight-arrives-on-halloween-222539705.html?src=rss

Annapurna Interactive showed off a first like at Lego Voyagersat Summer Game Fest Live, the next game from Light Brick Studio, the developers of Lego Builder's Journey.Lego Voyagers is co-op puzzle game where you and a friend will play as two Lego studs, traveling through a realistic, brick-based world solving puzzles. The trailer showed off several different locales your studs will journey through, including a Lego speedboat and rocket launch. To make your way through the game's various challenges, you'll move and build new structures by picking up bricks with your studs.The game looks like it builds on the calming vibes of Builder's Journey, but with a focus on co-op gameplay. Light Brick's first game worked like a riff on Monument Valley, tasking you with building a path for your bricks through a minimalistic Lego world. Voyagers takes things in a Split Fiction-direction, just with a lot more chill.Lego Voyagers is "coming soon" to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, Nintendo Switch and PC. You'll be able to play with a friend using only one copy of the game thanks to a feature called Friend's Pass.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/lego-voyagers-is-a-co-op-puzzle-game-from-the-studio-behind-builders-journey-222331161.html?src=rss

A new co-op adventure is coming from Epic Games. Made by WiredFly and Kong Orange, Out of Words will offer a stop-motion-flavored platform adventure that's a little bit cozy and a little bit fantasy. The controllable humans have had their mouths stolen - that's why it's called Out of Words. (It's a little On The Nose.)The cute figures and creatures have been crafted by hand, and cutscenes suggest they've been stop-motion animated alongside the gaming parts. Alongside the two humans you seemingly control, there's also a cute flying stingray. According to Epic Games, much of that whimsy originates from the mind of acclaimed poet Morten Sondergaard.Epic GamesA core navigation dynamic will be the ability to invert gravity, allowing players to run upside-down alongside each other. There are other traversal powers, including monstrous arms that can grab and slingshot players across spaces.Out of Words launches in 2026, and is coming to the Epic Games Store, PS5 and Xbox Series X and S.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/out-of-words-is-a-cozy-stop-motion-co-op-adventure-from-epic-games-220803056.html?src=rss

Killer Inn is a little bit murder mystery and a little bit third-person action game, and combined, it looks like a lot of fun. Square Enix and developer Tactic Studios revealed Killer Inn during today's Summer Game Fest kickoff stream. A beta for the game is coming to Steam soon and it's available to wishlist now.Killer Inn is a lot like the movie Clue, or the TV show The Traitors, or the social improv game Werewolf, or the video game Spy Party - it's all about uncovering players' true intentions and concealing your own, with a murderous twist. Each round includes 24 players, some of whom are wolves, while the rest are lambs. As a lamb, the players' goal is sniff out the wolves and survive their attacks, and the wolves are out to blend in with the herd, stealthily killing when they can. Each kill leaves behind a clue for other players to find. The game ends when one team has eliminated all members of the opposing group. It isn't pure social strategy - there are various weapons, traps, poisons, bits of armor and masks to use, and a range of characters to choose from. Killer Inn is playable solo or with up to four players.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/killer-inn-turns-werewolf-into-a-multiplayer-action-game-220859571.html?src=rss

I have not played a single boxing game outside of Wii Sports this century, but that could be about to change. Summer Game Fest Live brought us the reveal of Felt That: Boxing, which stars puppet pugilists.This project from the appropriately named Sans Strings Studio and Seth Green's animation company, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, is billed as "a comedic, over-the-top boxing game set in a world where the charm of furry puppets collides with the fury of boxing." The clip is structured like a trailer for an underdog sports movie and it is just delightful.The snippets of gameplay suggest there will be training minigames that include dodging slices of burnt toast that a trainer hurls at your puppet (who is named Fuzz-E) and, uh, plunging a toilet. According to the description on the YouTube video, the developers are aiming to make the "boxing mechanics are intentionally ridiculous, favoring fun over precision, with [puppet] limbs flailing about with an insane sense of chaos." Lovely.This trailer was immediately the most interesting thing during SGF Live up to that point. Felt That: Boxing does not yet have a release window, but you can wishlist it on Steam now, like I just did.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/heres-a-silly-puppet-boxing-game-you-never-knew-you-needed-215616201.html?src=rss

Developer Cold Symmetry jumpstarted Summer Game Fest Live with the first trailer for Mortal Shell II, a sequel to Mortal Shell with what looks like an equal amount of gruesome imagery. The game is expected to launch in 2026, but you can register right now to try a beta version of Mortal Shell II when it becomes available.According to the game's Steam page, Mortal Shell II is a standalone sequel to the original Mortal Shell released in 2020. It combines deliberate, Dark Souls-style action with a grotesque, dark setting, not unlike Dark Souls itself. The trailer offers ample examples is full of over-the-top enemies- of particular note, a giant armored snail - and lots of sharp things piercing soft flesh.Playing as "the Harbinger" you'll travel through "more than 60 dungeons," leveraging the "Shells" of fallen warriors to gain new abilities, Cold Symmetry writes. It sounds like the just the kind of punishing experience Soulslike fans get out of bed for.Mortal Shell II is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X / S in 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/mortal-shell-ii-is-dark-gross-and-coming-in-2026-214811717.html?src=rss

Troy Baker will don the cartoon fedora and play the lead role in Mouse: P.I. For Hire. The game has garnered buzz for its unique blending of genres. Imagine a film noir-infused cross between Cuphead and Doom.Baker will play Private Investigator Jack Pepper, the game's protagonist. He's a war hero turned detective who begins his journey responding to a cliche damsel in distress. Pepper's investigation then peels back the layers of the city's dark underbelly. It sounds like developer Fumi Games ticked all the items off the noir checklist.Oh, and don't forget the minor detail that he's a rodent. Expect plenty of cheesy (meaning puns about cheese) one-liners.Being a first-person shooter, Mouse: P.I. For Hire has plenty of Rambo-style room-clearing. Pepper's weapons range from conventional (shotgun) to comically ludicrous (turpentine cleanser). There's even an ode to Popeye: Down a can of spinach to beat your foes to smithereens.The game's animation draws inspiration from the same 1930s cartoons as Cuphead. Like that game, Mouse: P.I. For Hire's monochromatic visuals are all hand-drawn. (But whether it's as punishingly difficult as the 2017 classic remains to be seen.) Watching the delightfully wacky trailers, it's easy to see why gamers are keeping an eye on this one.It sounds like a wild ride. But that doesn't necessarily point to a game in need of an industry titan like Baker. So, perhaps there's more to the game's narrative than you might expect. Or, maybe The Last of Us actor is merely checking "played rodent" off his bucket list. (Couldn't blame him!)Baker said he's been following the game's development from its first teaser. "Its art style, gameplay and 1930s lm-noir aesthetic continue to win me over. I cannot wait to keep working with the team to bring Jack Pepper to life and hope to have some exciting things to share as we get closer to launch!"You can check out the game's new trailer here. Mouse: P.I. for Hire arrives later this year. It will be available on all major platforms, including Switch 2.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/troy-baker-is-the-big-cheese-in-mouse-pi-for-hire-220033867.html?src=rss

The latest Apple iPad Mini is on sale via Amazon, bringing the 128GB model down to a record-low price. Each Wi-Fi-only model has been discounted by $100, so the 128GB version is $399, the 256GB tablet is $499 and the beefy 512GB model is $699. This deal applies to multiple colorways. This is one of the best Apple tablets, and the only choice for those looking for a compact iPad. It's the company's most powerful tablet in this size, as the A17 Pro chip is plenty capable. An M-series chip would have been nice, but it's not in the cards just yet. Having said that, this is still a full-featured iPad that can hang with its larger cousins. It offers support for the Apple Pencil Pro, which is handy, and the 12-megapixel camera on the rear takes decent shots, even in low light. The camera is also a decent choice for scanning documents and QR codes, as noted in our official review. The speakers sound much better than one would expect, though this has become the norm with recent Apple products. The display looks nice, but it is just a standard LCD with a 60Hz refresh rate. Apple tends to reserve its best screen technology for the higher-end tablets. There's no Face ID here, but that's not a deal breaker for me, as I actually prefer Touch ID or just quickly typing in a four digit security code. Check out our coverage of the best Apple deals for more discounts, and follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-latest-ipad-mini-drops-to-a-record-low-price-170558317.html?src=rss

Tesla has been awfully cagey with its self-driving data this week. Reuters is now reporting that Tesla is trying to stop the city of Austin from handing over public records involving its robotaxi operations in the city, which are set to expand this month. This comes just a few days after the automaker asked a judge to prevent the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from releasing certain data related to crashes that involved its cars with self-driving features.Reuters says that it requested two years' worth of communications between Tesla and Austin officials in February, shortly after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that Austin would play home to the robotaxi experiment.Dan Davis, an Austin public information officer, told Reuters in April that third parties" were asking the city to withhold these records in the interest of protecting privacy or property." After the publication escalated the matter to the Texas Attorney General's office, an attorney for Tesla wrote Ken Paxton opposing the release of what it called confidential, proprietary, competitively sensitive commercial and/or trade secret information."Reuters also spoke with Neal Falgoust, an Austin Law Department official overseeing public records issues about the matter. Falgoust told reporters that the city of Austin doesn't take any particular position on the confidentiality of the materials involved. When Reuters pressed further, asking if the people of Austin have a right to information about the driverless cars that would be traversing their streets, Falgoust did not respond.Tesla said just last week that it had been testing driverless Model Ys in Austin for several days, which Elon Musk said was a month ahead of schedule. This would not be the first fleet of autonomous taxis on the streets of the Texas capital, with Waymo operating there since 2023 within a specific geofenced area. Waymo has also partnered with Uber in Austin since March.By Texas law, the Attorney General's office has 45 business days to decide whether the city of Austin is required to make these records public, which would be next week.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-is-reportedly-blocking-the-city-of-austin-from-releasing-robotaxi-records-155643815.html?src=rss

Sony's latest Days of Play sale is underway. It features deals aplenty on PlayStation 5 consoles, accessories and games, as well as PS Plus subscriptions. One of the more intriguing discounts is for the PS5 DualSense Edge. The premium controller has dropped by 15 percent from $200 to $169. That's the lowest price to date for the peripheral. The deal is available on Amazon and from Sony directly. The layout apes that of the regular DualSense controller, but there's a lot more going on with the Edge. For instance, there are function buttons below each thumbstick that allow you to swap between button configurations (which you can customize at any time in the PS5 settings). On the rear, there are switches that enable you to change the pull length of the shoulder triggers. There are also rear paddles, and you can choose between a set of levers or shorter half-domes. It's possible to swap out the thumbsticks as well and, because they attach to the controller magnetically, it's a cinch to do so. Other than the standard nubs, you can choose between short-stemmed convex and long-stemmed convex options. There's also a cable lock that prevents you from accidentally removing the USB-C charging cable by accident. You might want to keep that cable plugged in. One of the major downsides of the DualSense Edge is its battery life. In our testing, we got around five to six hours of use on a single charge, less than the six or seven we get with the standard DualSense. Last but not least, the DualSense Edge comes with a hardshell carrying case. There's even a passthrough flap through which you can thread a USB-C cable to charge the controller while it's cocooned in the case. There are, of course, lots of other intriguing discounts in the Days of Play sale, including one on the standard PS5 DualSense controller. That has dropped to $55, which is $20 off the list price. Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/playstations-dualsense-edge-wireless-controller-is-on-sale-for-a-record-low-price-143629684.html?src=rss

The first thing you do after tearing open the Switch 2's box is snap its Joy-Con 2 controllers to the sides of the console. But unlike the Switch 1, which used flimsy rails to connect its controllers, the Switch 2's Joy-Con rely on magnets. That leads to a visceral "thunk" whenever you snap them on - it's as if they leap out of your hands and right onto the Switch, ready for some Mario Kart World action. And every time it happens, I can't help but smile.Even before you turn on the Switch 2, it's clear that Nintendo recognized one of the biggest issues of the original Switch: Those Joy-Con rails stunk. They didn't hold the controllers in place well, and they wore down over time, which could lead to Joy-Cons slipping out mid-gameplay. In my case, one bad drop just two weeks into owning the original Switch made one of my Joy-Con gamepads loose for the system's lifetime. The only fix was replacing the controller's locking buckle, or buying a new an entirely new Joy-Con set for $80.So, at the very least, it feels nice to have a new Switch console where the controllers feel sturdy. With the Joy-Con 2 attached, the Switch 2 feels almost as solid as the Switch Lite, which doesn't have removable controllers. To put it another way, the Joy-Con 2's "thunk" is like the satisfying sound of a luxury car door being slammed shut rather than the sound of a cheap economy car closing. The "thunk" means security. The "thunk" means quality. We still don't know if the Joy-Con 2 are completely free of the dreaded drifting problem that plagued the original controllers. One Reddit user claimed their launch system arrived with drifting controllers, and Redditor moshi_yo tore their controller apart and noticed that it uses the same joystick mechanism. But Nintendo producer Kouichi Kawamoto said in an interview that the company "redesigned everything from scratch." They added, "Compared to the Joy-Con controllers for Switch, the control sticks are larger and more durable, with smoother movement."Less immediately noticeable than the Joy-Con 2 "thunk" is the Switch 2's wider kickstand, which I quickly learned to appreciate. That's something Nintendo brought over from the Switch OLED model, but it's still useful this time around. As I was playing Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, the kickstand easily let me balance the system on my lap in tablet mode while using the Joy-Con 2 to mouse around on my leg. Is that an ideal setup? No. But it's certainly functional in a pinch.While the Switch 2 overall feels like a major refinement of the original, with its larger screen, dramatically faster hardware and more usable eShop, new issues have cropped up for Nintendo. The console's reliance on expensive microSD Express cards will make it tough for players to deal with increasingly large games, and similarly developers seem to be balking at actually putting games on physical carts. Instead, many titles are taking advantage of Nintendo's Game-Key Cards, which unlock digital versions of titles and can be resold like a physical used game. Unlike full-fledged carts, though, those Game-Key Cards won't work down the line when Nintendo eventually moves on from the Switch 2 and shuts down its eShop.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-switch-2s-best-feature-is-its-satisfying-joy-con-2-thunk-150031872.html?src=rss

Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) kicks off next week - but if I'm honest with myself, I'm struggling to care. I used to watch the shows with eager anticipation as to what new goodies would be coming to my Mac across the next year. But in recent years, a lot of the features highlighted either fell into the bucket marked wait, you couldn't do that already?" or the one marked well, that's not a thing I'm going to use."It doesn't help the rumored slate of announcements for this year is mostly stuff I know I'm not going to need to engage with. The loudest rumor is a Vision Pro-inspired UI overhaul to bring the iPhone, iPad and Mac in line with their youngest sibling. Consistency is a fine thing to aim for, but Apple is reportedly justifying this change by saying it's jarring to switch between platforms. I can't say I've ever had an issue, and my concern is Apple will forget that each of those devices is different, and operates in a different way to its stablemates.If a promise is made too often, there's a risk you'll stop believing it will ever be fulfilled. Apropos of nothing, Apple's going to make the iPad more useful as a productivity tool. The rumors hint the slates will get better multitasking and app window management to make it more Mac-esque. But unless iPadOS gets the sort of radical changes that'll make it operate a lot more like macOS, nothing will change. And I'm doubtful Apple would bring true multitasking to the iPad, lest it eat into Mac sales - not to mention the constraints of its form factor.As someone who is aggressively indifferent toward generative AI and voice assistants, tweaks to Apple Intelligence and Siri leave me similarly cold. I'm not sure I would ever want a gussied up pattern-recognition algorithm writing messages and emails in my voice. Neither am I too into the idea of using generative AI to create images. I'd much rather stay in the real world. Sure, I'm a young man yelling at a cloud, I don't care.AppleAccording to Apple, I'm clearly in the minority since the only time I ever engage with Siri is by accident. I can think, type and operate a phone far faster than I can say out loud Hey Siri, dim my living room lights by 50 percent," so the slowness of speech irks me. Of course, I'd love a virtual assistant that was as skilled and imaginative as a flesh-and-blood person who could marshal all of my data, organize it and keep me on track. But I don't believe we're close to that point, and Apple has failed to deliver on its promises in this area more than once.The only rumored feature that excites me is the AI-powered" battery management mode for iOS 19 (or 26, as the rumors indicate). I say AI-powered," since I'm not sure how much we need to oversell an algorithm that tracks your usage patterns to make power-saving adjustments. But it's the sort of feature that, if it's able to make meaningful improvements to the iPhone's longevity, could be transformative.After all, as a relatively heavy iPhone user, I rarely find my device lasting until the end of the day without a top-up charge. This isn't a new problem, either, since the iPhone's battery has been lackluster since the first model was launched in 2007. In a world where most Android handsets boast of multi-day battery life, the iPhone's battery life remains embarrassing. Yes, you can take that as a not-too-subtle dig at the rumored thin-and-light iPhone Air, which feels to me like the most egregious waste of development resources imaginable.Maybe this is a sign of my subconscious frustration with Apple that it feels so compelled to push forward rather than tidying up behind it. I groused last year that the company gave so much attention to the addition of multitrack recording to Voice Notes despite the feature already being in Garageband. I would love nothing more than Apple to do what it did in 2009 with Snow Leopard and in 2017 with High Sierra. In both of those instances, the company opted to focus on tidying up the existing code to make it smaller and run faster rather than over-extending itself with new features. That, to me, would seem like a far better use of Apple's time than repainting the home screen with snazzier icons.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/is-it-wrong-the-iphones-ai-battery-management-is-the-only-wwdc-rumor-im-excited-about-143028037.html?src=rss

Maybe you've just picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 and want to try GameChat features with your friends in Mario Kart World, but can't quite swing $55 for the official camera right now after plopping down $500 for the console and game bundle. The solution might be in your pocket.The Switch 2 supports third-party USB-C webcams. However, you might be able to use your phone instead. YouTube channel Will It Work? has demonstrated how to use an iPhone as a camera for the console.Unfortunately, it's not quite as simple as opening the iPhone's Camera app, plugging a USB-C cable into both devices and setting up the phone (perhaps on a MagSafe charger) so it points at your mug. I tried that, and nope, no dice. Instead, if you plug the cable into a USB-C to HDMI adapter, and that into an HDMI capture cable and hook the daisy chain into your Switch 2, your new console should recognize your phone as a camera. This process may work for Android devices too.Since doing this will pipe whatever's on your phone's screen into your Switch 2, you might want to use an app that hides all of the on-screen camera controls and only shows what the selfie lens or rear-facing array picks up. There are a few free options in the App Store that can do the trick. You can check that this all works by opening up the Settings on your Switch 2 and going to Controllers & Accessories > Test USB Camera.Links in the YouTube video that demonstrates this workaround point to Amazon listings where you can pick up the two cables for $31, but you may be able to find cheaper versions. Of course, that's moot if you already have both cables. A regular capture card and HDMI to USB-C cable might work too. Naturally, if you have a USB-C webcam handy, that's an easier way to go about all this.There is one downside to note before you use your iPhone as a Switch 2 camera, as Will It Work? points out. There may be some lag, which could affect lip sync. But if you can live with that, this might be an option for you.There's another accessory you might already have on hand that could save you from buying an official Nintendo or third-party one. The Switch 2 fits into the Steam Deck's case. You might want to add some padding, as the Switch 2 is a smaller device than the Steam Deck and might shift around in the case otherwise, but it's still perhaps worth considering.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/you-can-use-an-iphone-as-a-nintendo-switch-2-camera-142622005.html?src=rss

The new Nintendo Switch 2 comes with 256GB of storage built in. That's eight times more than the original Switch and four times more than the Switch OLED. But the new console's improved performance means that some games will hog a ton of that space: Cyberpunk 2077is a 59GB download, for one, while Split Fictionchecks in at 69GB. Other titles aren't nearly as big - particularly those made by Nintendo itself - but chances are you'll eventually want to add more room to the device.When you do, you'll need a microSD Express card. These are not the same as the standard microSD cards you may have bought for the first Switch or other gaming handhelds - they're newer, faster and significantly more expensive. But if you want more space, they're your only choice. If you're looking to grab one today, we've laid out the best microSD cards for the Switch 2 and broken down what you should know before you buy.The best microSD cards for the Switch 2 (and why you might want to wait to buy)The SanDisk microSD Express Card and Lexar Play Pro.Jeff Dunn for EngadgetThe Switch 2 is the first mainstream device to require microSD Express for storage expansion, so there aren't many options available to buy just yet. To make things easy, here's a list of every microSD Express card we've seen at retailers at the time of writing.128GB

Pokemon Legends: Z-A, the much-awaited follow-up to 2022's Pokemon Legends: Arceus, is now available for pre-order. You can get the digital version for the old Switch for $60 or for the new Switch 2 for $70 from Nintendo's website. In case you have no plans to get the Switch 2 anytime soon and you do get the game for the first Switch console, you can purchase an upgrade pack for $10 to get access to better graphics and higher frame rate for Nintendo's new system later on. Pre-ordering lets you pre-load the game so you can play it as soon as it becomes available on October 16.The action role-playing game is not just a follow-up to Arceus, but also a sequel to Pokemon X and Y. It's set in Lumiose City, introduced in X and Y over a decade ago, and features three available starters: Chikorita and Totodile from Gold and Silver, as well as Tepig from Black and White. Its gameplay is a mix of the real-time capture mechanics on Arceus and the old-school turn-based gameplay of traditional Pokemon titles. The game is also bringing back X and Y's Mega Evolution mechanic, which can temporarily transform a Pokemon into a much stronger monster, boosting its power and sometimes even changing its type.The physical version of Pokemon Legends: Z-A is now also available for pre-order from retailers like Walmart (Switch, Switch 2) and Best Buy (Switch, Switch 2.). It's not clear if pre-ordering the game will get you any bonuses, but the Walmart listing URLs hint at an "exclusive gift with purchase."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/you-can-now-pre-order-pokemon-legends-z-a-for-the-switch-and-switch-2-140004626.html?src=rss

OpenAI has appealed a court ruling from last month that forces it to retain ChatGPT data indefinitely as part of a copyright violation case brought by The New York Times in 2023. CEO Sam Altman said in a tweet on X that the judge's decision "compromises our users' privacy" and "sets a bad precedent."In May, federal judge Ona T. Wang ordered OpenAI to preserve and segregate all ChatGPT output log data that would otherwise be deleted due to a user request. She said that the ruling was justified because the volume of deleted conversations is "significant." The directive notes that the judge asked OpenAI if there was a way to anonymize the data to address users' privacy concerns.The New York Times sought the order so that it can accurately track how often OpenAI violates its IP, including instances when users requested deletion of chats. A federal judge allowed the original case to proceed, agreeing with the NYT's argument that OpenAI and Microsoft's tech had induced users to plagiarize its materials.In a FAQ on its site, OpenAI painted the order as a privacy issue without addressing the millions of alleged copyright violations. "This fundamentally conflicts with the privacy commitments we have made to our users," the company wrote. "It abandons long-standing privacy norms and weakens privacy protections." OpenAI noted that the order "does not impact ChatGPT Enterprise or ChatGPT Edu customers."The NYT and other AI copyright cases are still ongoing, as courts have not yet decided whether OpenAI, Google and other companies infringed copyrights on a massive scale by scraping material from the internet. The tech companies have argued that training is protected by "fair use" copyright law and that the lawsuits threaten the AI industry. Creators of that content, in turn, argue that AI harms their own livelihoods by stealing and reproducing works with little to no compensation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/openai-appeals-court-order-forcing-it-to-preserve-all-chatgpt-data-120032364.html?src=rss

The Switch 2 has finally launched, and we've got our systems in-hand to show them off. This week, Devindra, Sam Rutherford and Nathan Ingraham will dive into their first impressions of Nintendo's new console and Mario Kart World. And of course, we'll discuss the chaotic launch experience. Also, we chat about what to expect from Apple's WWDC 2025, where we'll likely see a new naming scheme and facelift for Apple operating systems, as well as more details about their AI plans with Apple Intelligence.Subscribe!

After years of rumors, months of hype and weeks of anticipation, the Nintendo Switch 2 has finally been released into the world. If you successfully pre-ordered a model, then well done, and if you haven't snagged one yet, fear not. We've got literally tens of pages giving you all of the important info, so you can prepare and / or glower covetously at your screen. That includes Sam Rutherford's detailed preview filling you in on all the details, plus answering if you really need to buy one so soon after launch. The team has also cranked out this list of key questions about all the hardware and software changes in a console they do not call Le Switch Deux in France. If, after reading all of that, you decide to throw your money at the screen, we've also got a rundown of which retailers are selling.I'll be honest, I nearly joined the pre-order scrum the moment it was announced but opted not to for a couple of reasons. First, I don't have the time or opportunity to game enough to need to get a console on day one. Second, I don't think I've yet wrestled all the entertainment out of the first-generation Switch. And third, the pain of buying a new console is always in the two- or three-year wait before its games library is muscular enough for it to be worth your while. Which is why I'll be joining many of you in glowering covetously at the screen, at least for the next year.- Dan CooperGet Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!The news you might have missed

Dead smartphones aren't so smart. If you travel, stay away from home for extended periods of time or simply forget to charge your phone occasionally, it might be wise to keep a portable charger in your bag. Over the past few years, I've tested over fifty different models to find the best power banks for different life situations. I looked at price, capacity, design and wattage to pick the candidates, then used each one to charge up a slew of different devices to see how they compare. This guide also includes info on what to look for in a battery as well the latest regulations on flying with a power bank. Here are the best portable chargers you can buy right now. Table of contents

The Nintendo Switch 2 comes with a one-year limited warranty that covers the cost of repairing unexpected defects, but any damage that falls outside that coverage will cost you. Avoiding that could be key, because based on Nintendo's customer repair portal, paying to fix a Switch 2 is noticeably more expensive than repairing an older Switch.Now, prices could vary depending on how your Switch 2 or its accessories are damaged. Just looking at repairing water damage specifically, though, here's how prices break down:

It's a big day for everyone who has successfully acquired their Nintendo Switch 2, but few hardware launches go off without a single hitch. In addition to some surprising hidden costs to finishing the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, players have also discovered a compatibility problem in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.The conditions for this issue to occur, luckily, appear to be pretty narrow. It's happening in online matches of the fighting game where one person is on a Switch 1 and the other is on a Switch 2. If one of the players choses the Mii Fighters as their character, the match may immediately end. Also, thumbnails aren't always saving correctly for the Mii Fighters, which are customizable for each person.Nintendo is aware of the problem, according to a translation posted on X by user OatmealDome. The game company said that an update for this Smash compatibility issue will be released "soon," although no more specific date has been provided. Basically, if you're going to spend launch day with your Switch 2 playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, just don't pick Mii Fighters.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/mii-fighters-are-breaking-super-smash-bros-ultimate-matches-on-the-switch-2-212304774.html?src=rss