Whether you’re playing on the original Nintendo Switch, the sleek handheld-only Switch Lite or the upgraded OLED model with its stunning display, you’re in for a gaming experience that’s versatile, immersive and downright fun. The beauty of the Switch lineup is that, despite having different models, all games are compatible across the board. So no matter which version you own, you’ll have access to the entire library of games without worrying about what works on which console. This flexibility makes the Switch lineup ideal for both casual gamers and hardcore fans who love having the ability to access every title, whether they’re at home on the big screen or gaming on the go.
With such a vast and diverse game library, choosing the best games can feel a bit overwhelming. Nintendo has something for everyone — from epic action adventures and thrilling multiplayer battles to relaxing life sims and nostalgic platformers that bring back memories of classic gaming days. Whether you’re looking to dive into sprawling RPGs, conquer puzzles or enjoy a bit of friendly competition, the Switch has you covered.
Got a PlayStation 5 but not sure what to play next? With the massive library available, it’s easy to get a little lost scrolling through titles. From award-winning adventures to intense action RPG experiences, there’s a world of incredible games to explore. You’ve got options across every genre, whether you’re into fast-paced shooters, immersive stories that will suck you in for hours, like Elden Ring, or epic multiplayer challenges. And let’s not forget those exclusive gems that make the PS5 shine, like Demon’s Souls or the latest Final Fantasy installment.
Even if you’re a seasoned gamer, sometimes you just need a little inspiration to dive back into the console and discover new worlds. Whether you’re after complex game modes that push your skills or just want a taste of that next-gen power, these PS5 games will give you plenty of reasons to keep your controller close. So, if you’re ready for the ultimate adventure (or maybe just an excuse to escape for a while), we’ve got some suggestions that will keep the boredom at bay.
It looks like we won’t have to wait long to find out what happens in the next installment of Netflix’s addictive and deadly drama Squid Game. The Netflix-owned blog Tudum announced the South Korean drama will return next year for its third and final season.
The first season ended with winner Seong Gi-hun, played by Emmy winner Lee Jung-Jae, leaving his newfound wealth to dismantle the titular game. Since then, we’ve learned in sneak previews and the Season 2 trailer that Seong's plan is to rejoin the deadly competition and convince the players to vote for the games to stop. Something tells me it’s not going to be that simple.
The second season of Squid Game just landed today on Netflix after a three-year wait.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/squid-game-will-have-a-third-and-final-season-in-2025-192216881.html?src=rss
Since the release of iOS 18.2 on December 11, ChatGPT integration has been an integral part of Apple Intelligence. Provided you own a recent iPhone, iPad or Mac, you can access OpenAI’s chatbot directly from your device, with no need to go through the ChatGPT app or web client.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot created by OpenAI and powered by a large language machine-learning model. In addition to the capability to interact with people using natural language, ChatGPT can search the web, solve complex math and coding problems, as well as generate text, images and audio. As of the writing of this article, the current version of ChatGPT is based on OpenAI’s GPT-4o and 4o mini models.
In June 2024, Apple announced it was partnering with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Apple Intelligence. While some of ChatGPT’s signature features are available directly within iOS, iPadOS and macOS, many, such as Advanced Voice Mode, can only be accessed through the ChatGPT app or the OpenAI website.
Where can you use ChatGPT on your iPhone?
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
On iPhone, ChatGPT is primarily available through three surfaces. First, Siri can turn to ChatGPT to answer your questions. In instances where Apple’s digital assistant determines ChatGPT can help it assist you better, it will ask you for your permission to share your request with OpenAI. You can also use ChatGPT to identify places and objects through the iPhone 16’s Camera Control menu.
Lastly, you can get ChatGPT's help when using Apple's new “Writing Tools.” Essentially, anytime you’re typing with the iPhone’s built-in keyboard, including in first-party apps like Notes, Mail and Messages, ChatGPT can help you compose text. Finding this feature can be a bit tricky, so here's how to access it:
Long press on a section of text to bring up iOS 18's text selection tool.
Tap Writing Tools. You may need to tap the arrow icon for the option to appear.
Select Compose.
Tap Compose with ChatGPT, and write a prompt describing what you'd like ChatGPT to write for you.
Do you need an OpenAI account to use ChatGPT on an iPhone?
No, an OpenAI account is not required to use ChatGPT on iPhone. However, if you have a paid subscription, you can use ChatGPT features on your device more often. Signing into your account will also save any requests to your ChatGPT history.
How to set up ChatGPT
If your iPhone hasn’t prompted you to enable ChatGPT already, you can manually turn on the extension by following these steps:
Go to Settings.
Tap Apple Intelligence & Siri.
Tap ChatGPT, then select Set Up.
Tap either Enable ChatGPT or Use ChatGPT with an Account. Select the latter if you have an OpenAI account.
What Apple devices offer ChatGPT integration?
An iPhone with Apple Intelligence is required to use ChatGPT. As of the writing of this article, Apple Intelligence is available on the following devices:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPad mini with A17 Pro
iPad Air with M1 and later
iPad Pro with M1 and later
MacBook Air with M1 and later
MacBook Pro with M1 and later
iMac with M1 and later
Mac mini with M1 and later
Mac Studio with M1 Max and later
Mac Pro with M2 Ultra
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/how-to-use-chatgpt-on-your-iphone-190317336.html?src=rss
In recent years, reflecting on the past 12 months has seemed to bring back nothing but woe. Surprisingly, though, 2024 saw a higher number of candidates for good things in tech than bad. In spite of the continued AI onslaught, widespread dissatisfaction and worldwide political conflict, there were some bright spots this year that put smiles on faces and took minds off things. As we get ready to start saying "2025" when making plans, here’s hoping that reminiscing about the best things in tech in 2024 can help us remember joyful times.
LocalThunk
You likely don’t know the name LocalThunk, which is the handle of a Canadian game developer who has yet to share his real identity. You do, however, know his handywork. LocalThunk made a little game called Balatro, which has been the indie success story of the year. The massive cultural footprint of this game instantly put him on the Mount Rushmore of solo developers, alongside Daisuke Amaya (Cave Story), Markus Persson (Minecraft), Lucas Pope (Papers, Please) and Eric Barone (Stardew Valley), among others.
Balatro — which can justly be described as a wacky full-fledged sequel to poker —came out back in February, and has since sold millions of copies across multiple platforms. It has popped up on numerous 2024 best-of lists and even nabbed a nomination for GOTY at The Game Awards. To call it a hit is something of an understatement. Balatro has become so popular that it has crossed over with other gaming franchises and inspired a physical deck of cards.
LocalThunk is now, very likely, worth a whole lot of money. Good for him. He created something new that everyone wanted, a venture that took three years. Despite the similarities to poker, the developer is extremely committed to keeping Balatro pure and out of the hands of gambling platforms. He recently revealed that he created a will that stipulated that the IP never be sold or licensed to any gambling company or casino.
I highly recommend checking out the game, which is available for both consoles and mobile devices. It will likely burn into your brain, leaving you unable to think or talk about anything else. Actually, wait until you have some time off work before giving it a download. — Lawrence Bonk, contributing writer
Bluesky
After several months in an invitation-only beta, Bluesky finally ditched its waitlist and opened to everyone at the start of 2024. At the time, it had just over 3 million users, a handful of employees and a lot of ideas about how to build a better space for public conversations. Since then, the service has grown to more than 25 million users, including a number of celebrities, politicians and other prominent figures who were once active on X.
Bluesky is still very much an underdog. Meta’s Threads has more than 10 times as many total users and far more resources. Even so, Bluesky has notched some significant wins. The open source service nearly tripled in size in the last few months of the year, thanks to a surge in new users following the election. The platform has also had an outsized influence when it comes to features, with Meta already copying unique ideas like starter packs and custom feeds.
Bluesky isn’t without issues — it needs to come up with a better approach to verification for example — but it’s still our best hope for an open, decentralized platform not controlled by a multibillion dollar advertising company. While Meta is reportedly preparing to point its ad machine at Threads and has already throttled the reach of political content, Bluesky’s leaders have made it clear they want to take a different approach. And while it’s hard to imagine Bluesky’s growth eclipsing Threads anytime soon, Bluesky feels more relevant than ever. — Karissa Bell, senior reporter
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold
We’ve seen so many competing designs on foldable phones over the years. Samsung started out with an inward folding hinge on the original Galaxy Fold and stuck with it as the Z Fold line has morphed into the long, skinny baton-like devices we have today. Then there were others like the Huawei Mate X which featured outward folding builds. More recently, companies have teased the first generation of gadgets with tri-folding displays. But after testing out Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold this year, it feels like keeping things simple was the winning formula all along.
That’s because instead of trying to create a foldable with a unique aspect ratio or screen size, Google basically took the exterior display from the standard Pixel 9 and then installed a flexible display almost exactly twice the size on the inside. So when it’s closed, you have a phone that looks, feels and operates just like a typical glass-brick but when opened can also expand to become a mini tablet. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold also has the best cameras on any foldable on sale today while not being much thicker or heavier than its more traditional siblings. But perhaps the biggest victory is just seeing how much of a jump in build quality and usability the Pro Fold offers over its predecessor without making any major sacrifices. I just wish it was a bit more affordable so more people could experience the magic of a big foldable phone. — Sam Rutherford, senior reviewer
AR Glasses
For years, companies like Meta and Snap have hyped up the promise of augmented reality — not just the animated selfie lenses and other effects we can see on our phones, but standalone hardware capable of overlaying information onto the world around us. But despite these promises, actual AR glasses felt just out of reach.
This year, that finally started to change. Snap released its second pair of AR Spectacles, and Meta finally showed off its Orion AR glasses prototype. After trying out both, it’s easy to see why these companies have invested so much time and money on these projects. To be clear, both companies still have a lot of work ahead of them if they want their AR glasses to turn into a product their users will want to actually buy. Right now, the components are still too expensive, and the glasses are way too bulky (this is especially true for Snap, if the social media reactions to my selfies are any indication). But after years of hearing little more than lofty promises and sporadic research updates, we finally saw real progress.
Snap has lined up dozens of developers, including Niantic, Lego and Industrial Light and Magic who are already building apps for AR. Meta is, for now, keeping its AR work internal, but its neural wristband — which may be coming to a future pair of its RayBan-branded glasses — feels like a game-changer for next-gen controllers. So while AR glasses aren’t ready to replace our phones just yet, it’s getting a lot easier to imagine a world in which they might. — K.B.
ASUS Zenbook Duo
The classic clamshell with a screen up top and a physical keyboard down below isn’t going away anytime soon. But this year, the Zenbook Duo showed that laptops still have plenty of room for improvement. That’s because after multiple attempts by various manufacturers to refine and streamline dual-screen laptops, ASUS finally put everything together into a single cohesive package with the Zenbook Duo. It packs not one but two 14-inch OLED displays with 120Hz refresh rates, solid performance, a surprisingly good selection of ports (including full-size HDMI) and a built-in kickstand. And weighing 3.6 pounds and measuring 0.78 inches at its thickest, it's not much bigger or heftier than more traditional rivals.
You also get a physical keyboard, except this one connects wirelessly via Bluetooth and can be either placed on top of the lower screen like a normal laptop or moved practically anywhere you want. This allows the Zenbook Duo to transform into something like a portable all-in-one complete with two stacked displays, which are truly excellent for multitasking. And because the keyboard also charges wirelessly, you never have to worry about keeping it topped off. But the best part is that starting at $1,500, it doesn’t cost that much more than a typical premium notebook either, so even when you’re traveling you never have to be limited to a single, tiny display. — S.R.
DJI Neo
DJI’s tiny $200 Neo drone blew into the content creator market like a tornado. It was relatively cheap and simple to use, allowing beginners to create stunning aerial video at the touch of a button, while taking off and landing on their palms. At the same time, the Neo offered advanced features like manual piloting with a phone or controller, subject tracking and even impressive acrobatics.
Weighing just 156 grams and equipped with people-safe propeller guards, DJI’s smallest drone can be piloted nearly anywhere with no permit needed. And unlike Snap’s Pixy drone, it’s far more than a toy.. It can fly at speeds up to 36 mph and perform tricks like flips and slides. It also offers reasonably high-quality 4K 30p video. All of that allows creators to track themselves when walking, biking or vlogging, adding high-quality aerial video that was previously inaccessible for most.
There are some negative points. The Neo lacks any obstacle detection sensors, so you need to be careful when flying it to avoid crashes. Video quality isn’t quite as good as slightly more expensive drones like the DJI Mini 3. And the propeller noise is pretty offensive if you plan to operate it around a lot of people. Perhaps the biggest problem is that DJI’s products might be banned in the US by 2026, even though it escaped that fate this year.
For $200, though, it offers excellent value and opens up new creative possibilities for content creators. Much like the company’s incredibly popular Osmo Pocket 3, the Neo shows how DJI is innovating in the creator space to a higher level than rivals like Sony or Canon. — Steve Dent, contributing writer
reMarkable Paper Pro
reMarkable’s distraction-free writing slates have always offered an elegant alternative to other tablets. The second generation model is great, but the advent of the Paper Pro has highlighted where that device was lacking. It’s certainly one of the best pieces of hardware I’ve tested this year and, if I owned one, I’d likely make it a key part of my daily workflow. The bigger display, faster internals and the fact it can now render colors elevates it above the competition. It’s gone from a useful tool to an essential one, especially if you need to wrench yourself away from the distractions of the internet.
It’s still far too expensive for what it is, and qualifies as a luxury purchase in these straightened times. It won’t stack up in a spec-for-spec comparison to an iPad, even if they’re clearly catering for two very different audiences. But, judging it on its merits as a piece of technology, it does the job it was built to do far better than anything else on the market. What can I say, I just think it's neat. — Daniel Cooper, senior reporter
NotebookLM
Maybe my AI dalliances are far too mundane – I spend more time trying to get worthwhile shopping advice from Claude and ChatGPT, for instance, rather than playing around with music generators like Suno or even image creators like Dall-E. But for this podcast fan, it’s Google’s NotebookLM that was the big AI revelation of 2024.
The audio offshoot of Google’s Project Tailwind, an AI-infused notebook application, NotebookLM synthesizes a full-on podcast that summarizes the documents, videos or links you feed it. Delivered as a dialogue between male and female co-hosts, it feels like a next-gen two-person version of the Duplex software agent that Google unveiled in 2018. The resulting audio stories (just a few minutes in length) wouldn’t sound terribly out of place on your local NPR station, right down to copious use of “ums,” “ahs,” pauses and co-hosts talking over each other with a relevant detail or two. Yes, it doesn’t have any more depth than the chatter on the average TV morning show, occasionally botches pronunciation – sometimes spelling out common acronyms letter by letter, for instance – and it’s just as prone to hallucinations as any other current AI model. And I certainly don’t think real podcast hosts have anything to fear here (at least, not yet.)
But to me, NotebookLM doesn’t feel like the rest of the AI slop that’s invading the web these days. It’s a win on three fronts: The baseline version is free, it’s dead simple to use (just feed it one or more links, or a blob of text) – and it can be downright fun. This was the system’s take when I fed it the full text of Moby Dick, for example – and that’s small potatoes compared to, say, the hosts “discovering” they’re not human. Thankfully, unlike the plethora of projects that Google summarily kills off, NotebookLM seems to be flourishing. I haven’t tried the new “phone in” feature or the paid Plus subscription, but both suggest that we’ll be hearing more from Audio Overviews in 2025. — John Falcone, executive editor
PC CPU competition heats up
For the past decade, the story around laptop and desktop CPUs has basically been a back and forth between Intel and AMD. At times, AMD’s sheer ambition and aggressive pricing would make its chips the PC enthusiast choice, but then Intel would also hit back with innovations like its 12th-gen hybrid processors. When Apple decided to move away from Intel’s chips in 2020, and proved that its own mobile Arm architecture could dramatically outpace x86 and x64 designs, it was clear that the industry was ready to shift beyond the AMD and Intel rivalry.
So it really was only a matter of time until Qualcomm followed in Apple’s footsteps and released its Snapdragon X Elite chips, which powered the new Surface Pro, Surface Laptop and other Copilot+ PCs. Those mobile chips were faster than ever before, far more efficient than Intel and AMD’s best, and they were aided by some timely Windows on Arm improvements. While you may still run into some older Windows apps that don’t run on Arm machines, the experience today is dramatically better than it was just a few years ago.
LG is bringing a lamp that doubles as a small garden to CES 2025. The "indoor gardening appliance" is designed for apartment dwellers or anyone whose otherwise backyard-challenged to enjoy the benefits of homegrown produce.
During the day, LG says the lamp with a circular lampshade shines LEDs in five different intensities on whichever plants you want to grow. Then, at night, the lights fire upwards to create cozy mood lighting in whatever room you put the lamp in. If you'd prefer something that's more compact and armchair-height, LG also has a version that the size of a side table.
LG
The taller, standing lamp can hold up to 20 plants at a time, according to LG, and the whole setup is height adjustable so that you can accommodate larger leafy greens or small herbs and flowers. The real beauty of LG's design, though, is that you don't need to worry about watering. There's a 1.5 gallon tank built in to the base of the lamp that can disperse the appropriate amount of liquid for whatever you have planted. Both lamps are also connected to LG's ThinQ app so you can adjust lighting and watering schedules remotely.
LG introduced its previous take on an indoor gardening tool, the LG Tiiun, at CES 2022. That larger, fridge-shaped appliance could also automatically grow and water plants, but was far less aesthetically-pleasing than the company's new lamp. With all of the features it has on board, LG's new lamp is really just one Sonos speaker away from being the ultimate living room appliance. At least until tech companies find another use for lamps.
LG's new indoor gardening appliance doesn't have a release date or an official price, but expect the company to share more details once CES 2025 officially starts.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/lg-found-a-new-job-for-your-standing-lamp-173446654.html?src=rss
Interior of stylish living room with gray and dark wooden walls, concrete floor, cozy gray couch and armchair standing near round coffee table and a standing lamp garden.
Some consider gift cards not the most personal of gifts, but I say that's not the case. They allow you to get exactly what you want with no confusion, and (typically) both gifter and giftee walk away happy. But maybe you received a few gift cards for the holidays and are stumped on what to buy with them — Engadget can help. Here, we've gathered some of our favorite gadgets and services of the year that are all worthy ways to spend your gift card money, from wireless mice to coffee gear to gaming controllers.
Social media platform Bluesky has launched Trending Topics into beta, the company announced in a post on its platform. The new feature is one of the most-requested by users and matches a function that has been on rival Threads for around nine months, and on X (Twitter at the time) since at least 2017.
The Trending section shows the top viral content on the platform, with topics like "Christmas," "Nosferatu" and "Wikipedia" (thanks to Elon Musk) currently on top. It can be found by clicking on search in both the desktop version and mobile apps, or you can disable it altogether in the settings, TechCrunch noted. Any words that you have muted won't appear in Trending topics either.
Bluesky recently hit a big milestone with 25 million users, many of whom recently fled X following the US elections. Though still relatively small compared to Threads and X, users have remarked on the high levels of engagement along with the lack of bots and harassment compared to Elon Musk's platform. Other highly requested features still not implemented include bookmarks, editing, verification badges and private posts.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/bluesky-launches-a-trending-topics-feature-in-search-140049208.html?src=rss
The Joy-Cons on your Switch were pretty innovative when the system came out, but it’s been long enough that we know they don’t work for every use case. Luckily, it’s also been long enough that plenty of companies have come out with their own Switch controllers, meaning you have your pick of the litter when it comes to upgrading your gamepad experience. Whether you’re a casual player, love to marathon classic games or are ready to take your Switch skills to a professional tournament, there’s a Switch controller for you.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/best-nintendo-switch-controllers-160034389.html?src=rss
If there’s one thing Steven Moffatt loves to do with Doctor Who, it’s to find a monster buried in the mundane. He’s made statues, shadows, lost children and even the idea of silence into some of the show’s most terrifying villains. Sadly, the mysterious extra door you often find in older hotel rooms isn’t as universal a concern, but it’s still a rich seam for him to mine. That’s the inspiration for “Joy to the World,” Doctor Who’s 2024 Christmas Special. Which is light, fun and a little bit scattershot, much like Christmas is meant to be, right?
When Doctor Who returned, the show was woven back into the UK's cultural firmament in a way it never had been before. Part of that process was adding the show to the BBC One Christmas Day schedule, making it a universal cultural touchstone. For most of its post-2005 run, it has aired an episode next to the Strictly Come Dancing and EastEnders’ festive specials. Imagine the British equivalent to those everyone-gathered-around-the-TV events like the Super Bowl or the Macy’s Day Parade, but on Christmas Day. Even if you don’t like any of the fare on offer, you’re still expected to sit with the family and consume it.
With these specials, the prestige timeslot, longer runtime and bigger budget are burdens as much as they are benefits. The show has to play to a far broader audience than normal, with diehard fans sitting elbow-to-elbow with elderly relatives filling every silence with gossip about their neighbor's garden project. Consequently, the story needs to be a little looser, with less need for the audience to be paying undivided attention to what’s going on. And it needs to be an oasis of fun in the melodramatic drudgery that is the BBC One Christmas Day schedule.
Normally, the festive special would be the sole province of the showrunner but Russell T. Davies handed the reins to Steven Moffatt. Moffatt succeeded Davies as showrunner the first time around, co-created Sherlock and is widely-regarded as the best Who writer of the 21st century. With a pedigree as impeccable as that, and having already written "Boom" for the Ncuti Gatwa’s first season in the title road, expectations are high.
Bad Wolf / BBC Studios
Moffatt is an arch farce writer and has a strong grasp of structure, so it’s no surprise we open in medias res. The Doctor is offering room service to a variety of people in different time periods including Edmund Hilary’s base camp at Everest and the Orient express before stumbling in on Joy in a miserable London hotel room in 2024. After the credits, we spool back to the Doctor arriving in the Time Hotel, which allows guests to vacation throughout history. Don’t worry about causality or any A Sound of Thundershenanigans, the Hotel is somehow built to protect its guests from screwing up the timeline.
The Doctor is looking to steal some milk for his coffee from the hotel buffet, but his eye is caught on something sinister: A person carrying a briefcase with a handcuff chain is trying to check into a room. The Doctor recruits Trev, one of the employees, to keep watch while he scouts ahead to work out what scheme could be afoot. As it turns out, the case is sentient and evil, leaping from host to host and possessing each one in turn. Once it’s leapt to the next host, the last one disintegrates.
Bad Wolf / BBC Studios
It’s here the Doctor bumps into Joy who, through hijinks, winds up handcuffed to the case in place of the hotel manager. When the Doctor opens the case to try and find a solution, the case threatens to kill whoever it’s connected to unless it gets a four digit code. Who shall provide the code? The Doctor, emerging from his own future, taking Joy with him while leaving “our” Doctor trapped in 2024 without the TARDIS. As the hotel door closes, the Doctor hurls abuse at his future self, about why he’s always alone and people are always leaving him. He’s doubly upset as he never normally has to travel “the long way around,” one day after the other.
And so, the episode essentially stops to give us an extended sequence of the Doctor making friends with Anita, the hotel manager. The Doctor gets a job as the hotel’s handyperson, and slowly lets his guard down, spending more time with Anita until they’re a platonic couple. It’s a sequence you’d never see in a regular episode, with snatches of the Doctor and Anita’s life. He makes the microwave bigger on the inside, repaints Anita’s car TARDIS blue and they even sit and talk to one another on chairs — a key visual given the lack of chairs on the TARDIS. But as the year elapses and it’s time for the Doctor to return to his own show, he waves goodbye to Anita.
Bad Wolf / BBC Studios
Returning to the time hotel, the Doctor bursts back in on the events of a year ago, sharing the code and yanking Joy off to new adventures. The Doctor works out the briefcase holds the embryonic form of an artificially-created star that would offer a source of imaginable power to whoever owned it. But unless you own the Hand of Omega, stars take a long time to develop, far longer than anyone would be able to wait and test their experiment. Unless, of course, you hijack a time hotel and send it back to dinosaur times, waiting for when human history begins to see if it works.
Joy, still possessed by the case, heads to the hotel’s dinosaur room while the Doctor tries to break its hold over her. To do that, he provokes an emotion strong enough to poison the link between the case and its host before it obliterates them. He bullies her, goading her into disclosing why she's staying at a downmarket London hotel. Turns out she’s grieving the loss of her mother who died of COVID-19 in an isolation ward and Joy was unable to say goodbye to her in person. Sadly, before the Doctor can deactivate the star seed, it’s eaten by a (brilliant-looking) dinosaur, putting it out of his reach.
Bad Wolf / BBC Studios
The Doctor and Joy head back to the hotel and, 65 million years later, find the star is now ready to detonate. It’s been locked inside a stone structure with a heavy stone door that neither of them can move, and time is running out. So, the Doctor, who boasts that he’s “good with rope,” steals a rope from the Everest base camp, hanging it off the back of the Orient Express to haul the stone away.. It’s an impressive and kinetic sequence let down only by the dreadful CGI when Gatwa’s standing on the train. Typical Doctor Who: It can now do convincing dinosaurs, but now can’t do a convincing train.
It’s here things lose their coherence, since Joy’s eyes flash with possession energy, but by the time the Doctor returns, Joy has… eaten the star? Absorbed it somehow? Made friends with and bonded with it? He finds her standing on a cliff edge, where Joy says she’ll merge with the star and take it to the heavens, where it will do nobody any harm at all. At this point in my notes, I wrote “Don’t let this be Bethlehem,” when the camera pulls out to reveal that’s exactly where they are, complete with three camels parked outside a stable. Oy.
Bad Wolf / BBC Studios
Joy reunites with her mother and the Doctor goes back to traveling, but not before he gets Anita a job running the Time Hotel. We also get a little shot of Ruby Sunday, who will return to the show for its second season proper.
As I said at the top, you can’t judge “Joy to the World” on the merits of a regular episode since it’s serving multiple masters. But I don’t think we could call it the strongest episode of either Steven Moffatt’s oeuvre or the show’s various Christmas Specials. Like all of the Disney-era episodes, it has a slightly incoherent quality where the pacing sags and zips in all the wrong places. I’m for the lengthy aside where we see a “normal” year in the life of the Doctor, but the story framing it should have been tighter to balance out the slowness. It’s a fun enough way to pass an hour with a stomach full of holiday turkey (or your preferred equivalent) with enough mawkishness to make you think you’ve seen something quite profound. But I don’t think I’ll be coming back to watch this one again and again like I would for, say, “The Christmas Invasion.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/doctor-who-joy-to-the-world-review-what-a-star-190018215.html?src=rss
If you received a bunch of gift cards for the holidays, consider it a blessing. Whoever gave them to you likely wanted to give you a gift you'd actually use, and rather assume (incorrectly), they wanted to ensure you'd get their money's worth on something you actually like. Maybe there's nothing on your wish list at the moment, but you're keen to spend that gift card on something that will make your commute easier or your home feel more cozy. Below are some of our favorite items that are well worth that $50 gift card you're eager to use up, from power banks to streaming sticks to smart lights.
A million different online multiplayer games seem to arrive each week, but good games you can play on the couch with a buddy aren’t as common. If you’re looking for a suggestion, we’ve rounded up a selection of our favorite couch co-op games below, from 2D platformers and lengthy RPGs to chill puzzlers and intense shooters. Just be aware that we’ve limited our selection to genuine co-op experiences, not games like Mario Kart or a Jackbox Party Pack that may be playable on one machine but are largely competitive by nature.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/best-co-op-games-for-pc-nintendo-switch-ps-4-and-more-141542259.html?src=rss
Android phones have been the first to feature a bunch of notable standards. They were the first to support 4G, 5G, USB-C (way back in 2015 no less) and in-screen fingerprint sensors. And when it comes to wireless charging, you can trace that lineage all the way back to the Samsung Galaxy S3 from 2012 (though the webOS-poweered Palm Pre and its Touchstone charger is the true OG). Unfortunately, when it came to adding support for the Qi2 wireless charging standard to devices in 2024, it feels like Android phone makers were stuck on outdated patch notes.
The Qi2 standard was officially announced in early 2023 during CES. We even gave it an award, as the spec looked to bring 15-watt wireless charging (and possibly more in future revisions), improved safety and critically the introduction of Magnetic Power Profiles that make it a cinch to align and attach compatible charging pads. In essence, Qi2 was set to bring the simplicity and ease of use iPhone owners enjoy with MagSafe products to the Android ecosystem.
Not a single phone from any of the top three Android phone makers in the US (Samsung, Google and Motorola) offered support for Qi2 in 2024.
Photo by Sam Rutherford
Even more surprising is that in a rare move for a company that likes keeping its tech siloed neatly inside the walls of its ecosystem, Apple shared core parts of the MagSafe spec with other members of the Wireless Power Consortium (which is the governing body that oversees the Qi and Qi2 standards) to speed up development and interoperability. So you’d think after seeing the convenience and popularity of MagSafe accessories among iPhone users, Android phone makers would have rushed out to add Qi2 to as many devices as possible. But nearly two full years after the spec was finalized, the grand total of Android handsets that support Qi2 stands at one: the HMD Skyline.
At this point, you might be saying that product development cycles are multi-year processes that are difficult to change prior to launch. And in most cases, you’d probably be right. But let's be honest, it’s not like Samsung, Google, Lenovo and others didn’t see this coming. Like Apple, practically all of the big Android phone makers are also members of the WPC, so they would have known about the development of Qi2 long before it was officially announced. On top of that, the first iPhone with MagSafe was the iPhone 12, which came out four years ago. So even if we assume that the first time Samsung, Google et al were presented with the idea of a magnetic wireless charging system was during Apple’s keynote in the fall of 2020, you’d imagine that’s still more than enough time to engineer similar technology for use on today’s Galaxy and Pixel handsets.
The HMD Skyline was the only Android phone to feature Qi2 this year.
Photo by Sam Rutherford
For manufacturers, another concern when adopting a new standard is that there may not be enough accessories and other compatible peripherals on sale to make implementation of new tech worth it. We’ve seen this in the past with modular phones like the LG G5 and Moto Z Force line and the funky palm-reading tech on the LG G8. However, because Qi2 and MagSafe gadgets are largely interchangeable, there’s already a huge market of options like Anker’s MagGo line of power banks, which are some of my current favorite portable battery packs.
Another annoyance is that some phones like the Razr Plus and Pixel 9 Pro Fold will even stick magnetically to some Qi2 accessories and may even suck down a tiny bit of juice. Unfortunately, this is more of a coincidence caused by the magnets used to help keep foldables open or closed, rather than an intentional use case. This means that even though these devices may appear to support Qi2 at first glance, accessories don’t maintain a firm grip and often slide off even in what appear to be ideal circumstances. Even cases that claim to add support for Qi2 are hit or miss, resulting in a poor experience for Android phone owners hoping to recreate the magic of MagSafe on their own. It’s really a shame, because it almost feels like with a few small tweaks Google, Moto and others could unlocked Qi2 support on a wider range of devices without a ton of extra effort or cost.
The lack of Qi2 support on Android phones is preventing users from enjoying a huge range of handy charging accessories.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Unfortunately, while many Chinese phone makers have avoided Qi2 up until this point, that’s sort of to be expected with manufacturers like Oppo often favoring proprietary tech like its 65-watt AirVOOC wireless charging instead of more widely accessible industry standard. And because the Galaxy S24 family came out at the very beginning of 2024, Samsung didn’t have quite as much time to add Qi2 to its current flagship lineup as Google, which launched the Pixel 9 series just a few months ago. Regardless, this still doesn’t explain the general reluctance of OEMs to adopt what I’d argue is one of the most meaningful upgrades in accessibility and general usability you can add to a smartphone today.
But the most frustrating thing is that six months ago, our friends at CNET pondered why we had yet to see any Qi2 Android phones. And as we’re nearing the end of the year, there’s still only a single model trying to spark hope that 2025 will be different. So kudos to HMD for doing what Samsung, Google et al. couldn’t be bothered to figure out. Now I’m just worried that if things don’t change next year, one of the most promising standards could end up in the graveyard (at least for Android phones) before ever getting a chance to thrive.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/android-phone-makers-dropped-the-ball-on-qi2-in-2024-191029769.html?src=rss
This ban takes effect on January 1 and lasts until March 15, 2031. The country’s Council of Ministers has also stated that additional bans may be required in other regions during periods of peak energy demand. It could also go the other way. The ban could be temporarily lifted or altered in certain regions if a government commission examines changes in energy demand and deems it necessary.
Russia isn’t the only country to put the kibosh on crypto mining due to the industry’s obscene energy demands. Kosovo outlawed the practice back in 2022 to conserve electricity during an energy crisis. Angola did the same in April of 2024. That country’s law goes a step further and criminalizes crypto mining. Several European countries, like Iceland and Norway, have started to strictly regulate the industry due to energy shortages.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/russia-bans-crypto-mining-in-multiple-regions-citing-energy-concerns-163102174.html?src=rss
Lilium, a company working on flying taxis that can take off and land vertically, has ceased operations. As TechCrunch notes, German media Gründerszene was the first publication to report that it laid off 1,000 workers a few days ago after it failed to secure more financing to continue its technology's development. Patrick Nathen, the company's co-founder, has announced that the company has stopped all operations on LinkedIn. Tagging his co-founders, he said that they can no longer continue working on their "shared belief in greener aviation," at least under Lilium.
The German company has been testing its VTOL electric air taxis for a while now. Its vehicle took off for the first time for its maiden flight back in 2017, and it completed its first phase of flight tests in 2019. Lilium was able to prove that its VTOL air taxis are capable of flying at speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour, though the Lilium Jet prototype it unveiled in 2019 was supposed to be able go as fast as 300 kmh and to have a range of 300 kilometers.
Lilium has been struggling financially over the past year, but its CEO reportedly remained optimistic about being able to secure enough funding as recently as last month. Gründerszene said that a small number of people will remain employed to help with liquidation. The company has yet to announce what will happen to its technology and the rest of its assets, but its patent attorney, Fabien Müller, wrote in a post that he's managing the transition of Lilium's intellectual property.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/flying-taxi-maker-lillium-lays-off-1000-workers-and-ceases-operations-160025593.html?src=rss
No game this year captured the imagination of the Engadget crew quite like Balatro did, and when it came time for each staff member to pitch their favorite games of 2024, everyone – and I mean everyone – wanted to write about Balatro. In the end, rather than forcing everyone to fight for the chance to write about their love of the game, we instead decided to ask the team to write their own individual take on Balatro.
My Steam Deck is a Balatro machine and I love it
My Steam Deck is a Balatro machine at this point, and no, I’m not complaining about this. I’ve broken out my Steam Deck for plenty of games before Balatro and I plan on playing lots more on it in the future, but for now and potentially until I take my final breath, its primary function is joker generation.
First of all, Balatro just feels nice on a handheld device. It’s the kind of game that you can play passively while watching TV or listening to a podcast, or with intense focus as you try to collect jokers, stakes, achievements and stickers on the way to Completionist++. The Steam Deck is the ideal platform for this type of game, because, especially in combination with a comfy PC setup, it allows players to flow between these two states without losing progression. The mobile version of Balatro is rad and the Switch version is peachy, but I started playing on PC and, more than 500 hours later, I’m reluctant to start over on any other platform.
I absolutely love curling up on the couch with Balatro, playing it on the PC at my desk, using it as a distraction on long commutes, and getting a few hands in before bed. The Balatro Machine — uh, I mean, Steam Deck — enables my obsession in a seamless way.
— Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
Balatro is a card game you can feel
Balatro is a game you mostly play in your head. There’s a giant array of modifier cards, each with their own effects and consequences, and you work through their permutations like you’re tinkering with a chemistry kit. It’s a game of decisions, all of which are contingent on the decisions you’ve made prior. Some work, most blow up in your face.
This is what makes Balatro engaging, but it’s not my favorite thing about it. What I like most is how tangible it is. How it makes a digital playing card game have any felt impact at all. It’s the little tck and shake each card does when scored. The donk when a joker adds to your multiplier, the way the donks speed up and rise in pitch as buffs and retriggers pile up. The thrrrp of the deck reshuffling. The brief delay upon opening a booster pack to raise anticipation, how the pack disintegrates to emphasize the finality of your decision. The sound of coins colliding when you collect interest or buy something. The fire that burns and rises around your score when you’ve passed the goal in one hand, a dopamine hit within a dopamine hit. The way the air gets sucked out of the trancy music when you inevitably fail.
You are not a character in Balatro. You’re just you, staring at cards set against swirling colors. Yet all of these flourishes go a long way toward sucking you into that vortex, really locking you in it, somehow giving a game that most resembles video poker a sense of physical place. Balatro is, among many things, an A-1 example of economical sound design. The easiest way to dilute it is to play it on mute.
— Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter
The real Balatro was the joker stickers we earned along the way
I am not an achievement hunter — I’m the sort of person who skips sidequests that aren’t interesting and rarely replays games after finishing them. The one “Platinumed” game in my PlayStation collection is the PS4 version of Resogun, and I have 100-percented precisely zero games on Xbox. Why, then, was 2024 the year that I became obsessed with achieving Completionist++ on Balatro?
I received the Completionist Steam achievement, which you get by discovering every card in the game, after a month with the game. It took me another five months to get Completionist+, awarded to those who beat Ante 8 with every deck on gold difficulty. The one thing left for me to do was the game’s toughest challenge: Competitionist++, which involves getting gold stickers on every joker by beating Ante 8 on gold difficulty with each of them active.
As of writing, Completionist++ is still a distant dream. It’s easy to feel like you’ve mastered the game after beating Completionist+; There are simple joker combinations that can take you past Ante 8 with every deck. Completionist++ strips those safety nets from you, forcing you to beat the game’s hardest level without relying on surefire strategies. While I do occasionally miss my high-score chasing early days with Balatro, this challenge has given the game a completely new dynamic for me, as I figure out how to craft a win out of jokers I considered useless before.
If you’ve made your way through all the stakes and are wondering what to do next, Completionist++ is a challenge worth setting yourself. Just a word of warning: I’ve played for 460 hours across my PC and Steam Deck, and I’ve only unlocked 961 of the game’s 1,200 stickers.
— Aaron Souppouris, Executive Editor
Balatro is a deep, complex game for filthy casuals like me
Some of my friends and co-workers are taking Balatro to some wild extremes. Aaron told me he's unlocked and completed about 95 percent of the game; I meanwhile sit at a paltry 19 percent. Another friend routinely shares quick videos from his runs where he racks up hundreds of millions of points in a single hand with Jokers I can't fathom, while my best single hand sits at a little over 3 million.
The good thing, though? This isn’t discouraging; it’s a feature, not a bug. Balatro has somehow managed to be the kind of game you can sink hundreds of hours into in an all-out quest for completion and mastery. Or you can do as I do and pick it up, play for 30 minutes or an hour a few times a week, and come back to it again with plenty to do when you get the itch.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to get to the point where I’m grabbing a billion points on a single hand, but my gaming time is limited and I usually choose to spend it on the PS5. But one of the great joys of Balatro is that you can go on a bender and play it for hours, and then not come back to it for days or weeks, and then just pick it up and keep making progress. You’re not going to lose any skills or forget your objectives. It’s a casual, pick-up-and-play game that also hides some incredible depth, and games like that don’t come around too often.
— Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor
Balatro is an almost perfect mobile port
2024 is unquestionably the year of Balatro. It came out of nowhere to fill our heads with dreams of flush fives and legendary Jimbos. But I think what put it really over the top was when it launched on iOS and Android earlier this fall. Not only did the mobile version cost $5 less than the desktop edition on Steam (or console ports), but there are no intrusive ads or extra purchases anywhere in the game. That's including all the crossover cardbacks (like the ones featuring characters from The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077 and more) and the big forthcoming update due out at the beginning of next year.
On top of that, there’s essentially no difference in features between the mobile and desktop/console versions. Granted, that’s due in large part to the game being a relatively simple title (at least in terms of graphics). But even so, you’d be surprised how easy that is to mess up. The game boots up nearly instantly and even when you’re smashing antes while pushing your score deep into scientific notation, the system doesn’t get bogged down. Throw in a satisfying interface, support for cloud saves, multiple languages and profiles plus a high contrast option that's great for accessibility, and you've got an app that plays well on practically any device.
In fact, I’d argue that foldables like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 are the perfect joker-hunting devices. Their large screens feel like a perfect match for Balatro without ever feeling cramped, which happens sometimes on older gadgets with less roomy displays. Text is generally easy to read (though sometimes less so on tiny devices) and there’s plenty of open space to push things around without getting in your own way. I have a few minor complaints you can read about in my longer piece on Balatro's beauty on mobile devices, but as a whole I'm confident I’m going to get more than my money’s worth for years to come.
— Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/engadgets-balatro-of-the-year-2024-140021833.html?src=rss
This year may not have been as jam packed as 2023 was for gaming, but there were still plenty of amazing new releases. Whether you love a good indie or a big-budget production, this year had you covered. All you needed to do was look a bit deeper than you might have in 2023.
Animal Well
The core of Animal Well isn’t that structurally complicated: It’s a lock-and-key Metroidvania. You go to places to unlock other places and abilities. There are puzzle bits. Platforming bits. Bosses. A sense of progression. Beating the core “story” opens up a couple layers of admirably elaborate and increasingly meta secrets, but let’s be real, most people interested in those are just going to look up the answers online.
And yet, you play it, and you can’t help but think there isn’t much like it nowadays. Why? It’s not just the lo-fi aesthetic. It’s the fact that you never learn what your little blob guy is. It’s giving you a map to mark up yourself instead of providing any instructions. It’s accidentally realizing the disc you’ve held onto for the last three hours isn’t just for throwing. It’s the big monkey that flings rocks at you, just because. It’s the way each screen is a static shot, the way the camera centers the world instead of the player. It’s the eternal wonder and pleasure of uncovering what lies in wait in the dark, behind us, under our feet, outside of our little wells. And then having no clue what it actually means. That’s real stuff.
Animal Well is that rare thing: a modern video game that trusts you to figure it out and has enough grace to let you stumble in the shadows. I bet the ending will leave you slack-jawed.
— Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter
Astro Bot
Astro Bot is a paean to the three-decade history of PlayStation. It shines a spotlight on every crevice of the brand's timeline, turning both mascots and long-forgotten characters from Sony's archives into adorable bots that you collect along your journey.
More importantly, though, Astro Bot stands squarely in the pantheon of great PlayStation games in its own right. It's an exquisitely designed platformer that's bursting with personality, wit and gorgeous visuals. Team Asobi packed its ultra-charming game with clever ideas and mechanics to keep you on your toes. It even feels great thanks to smart use of the DualSense controller's haptic feedback.
Video games aren’t always supposed to be fun. But Astro Bot wrings pure joy out of every single moment — at least when it’s not kicking your ass in the tough bonus levels.
— Kris Holt, Contributing Reporter
Batman: Arkham Shadow
I never get sick of playing the Batman Arkham games. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve solved all the Riddler’s puzzles or foiled The Joker’s plans. Batman: Arkham Shadow does a superb job of replicating all the things that make the original Batman games fun, like using gadgets to rack up combos in hand-to-hand combat and swooping out of the darkness to pick off armed henchmen. The game’s most impressive feature, however, isn’t the fighting, Batarang-ing or the satisfying feeling you get when you make a Tyger guard’s leg bend in the other direction. It’s the story.
Batman: Arkham Shadow goes deep into the legend of Batman and its Rogues Gallery of thematic villains. It unpacks Bruce Wayne’s story of perpetual pain and need for emotional redemption just as well as any of the other games and even some of the big-screen adaptations. Batman: Arkham Shadow shows that VR games have a lot of potential to be more than just mindless shooting galleries and boxing simulators.
— Danny Gallagher, Contributing Reporter
Balatro
Of all the games you see on this list, not one was as universally loved as Balatro. Nearly every member of the Engadget team wanted to write about the game. So instead of limiting ourselves to just one blurb, we wrote an entire ode to Balatro.
Crow Country
When I first heard about Crow Country, a 2024 release that was heavily influenced by PS1 survival horror games, I was really intrigued but also a bit worried that it’d be little more than a nostalgia grab. But once I got to playing it, I totally fell in love, and found it to be a unique experience even with all the loving nods to its inspirations.
Crow Country follows Mara Forest, a somewhat shady protagonist, as she explores an abandoned amusement park in search of its missing owner, Edward Crow. There are constant hints to a terrible event that led to the park’s shutdown, and strange skinless monsters are all over the place. In typical survival horror form, you have to manage your resources like ammo and health kits, and you’ll encounter a bunch of puzzles that you’ll need to solve in order to progress. I played Crow Country before the introduction of Hard mode, and found it to be spooky and engaging — but, to my surprise, also kind of cozy, which I really liked. But there’s a game mode for everyone. If you want a more riveting experience, go for Hard mode. If you don’t want to face any enemies, there’s Exploration mode. Survival, the “normal” mode, falls in between those two.
Crow Country is a great game with some light horror and a story that was fun to piece together along the way. It’s perfect if you want to play a horror game that has a creepy atmosphere but won’t have your heart in your throat the entire time.
— Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend Editor
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Dragon Age: The Veilguard wastes no time showing off the full glory of its graphical prowess and epic storytelling. Once you’ve spent some time in its (excellent) character creator, it’s only a few minutes until you’re fighting to stop the end of the world. Solas, the previous game’s surprise villain, is trying to tear apart the boundary between the spirit and human world. And in the process, his magical ceremony fills the screen with a glorious array of neon lights, color and shadows. If you’ve got a modern GPU, you’re in for a ray tracing workout.
I’m a gamer of simple pleasures, and I’ll admit, that bombastic opening sequence alone was enough to make me fall for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. What kept me playing, though, was BioWare’s classic formula of intriguing characters and sharp storytelling. I’ll forgive the many missteps of Mass Effect Andromeda, Veilguard’s crew of ragtag heroes make it clear BioWare still has its narrative.
What’s truly surprising, though, is that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is also a decent action RPG, with fast-paced and challenging combat that feels more reminiscent of the recent God of War games than anything from Dragon Age proper. There’s a rich skill tree to follow, and you can always re-spec without penalty.
For a game that could take a hundred hours to truly finish, Veilguard still manages to feel fresh and exciting every time I sit down to play. So really, I don’t mind if it doesn’t hit as hard as previous entries, or if it doesn’t give you as many consequential choices as Baldur’s Gate 3. Sometimes it just feels good to hang out with your fantasy buds and crack a few demon skulls.
— Devinda Hardawar, Senior Editor
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
The second part of the anticipated remake of 1997’s Final Fantasy VII uses the power of the PlayStation 5 to create a more significant (if not entirely open) world. (It’s also one of the best games to showcase what the PS5 Pro is capable of, offering smoother framerates and crisper textures and detail.) It’s a bigger, better, game than Remake.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth expands Remake's often constricted alleys and buildings into expansive plains, mountain hikes, and Mythril caverns. What’s interesting about this middle chapter is that the ending of Remake seemingly cut ties with the story we all knew from the original. Despite that, Cloud, Aerith and the rest of the motley crew tour most of the same towns and destinations of the original game. That feeling of nostalgia is paired with a modern, further refined action RPG battle system, with new synergy attacks, materia and summon spells. It’s all a little convoluted, but also meant I got to lean into my favorite characters and their play styles. (No one likes Cait Sith.)
It’s a rolling adventure that folds in extra character and story detail. While exploration in this middle chapter isn’t as expansive as I might have liked, the themed areas are all different from each other, packed with their own battle and exploration themes. I just love the soundtrack of Rebirth – I love it so much that it made it into my most-played albums of 2024.
— Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
When I first learned an Indiana Jones game was in the works, it seemed instantly superfluous. What’s the point when the Tomb Raider and Uncharted games have spent decades translating Indy’s pulpy action into the world of video games? I should have known better than to doubt MachineGames, the developers behind the recent (and excellent) Wolfenstein games. If anything, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has more in common with Dishonored and Hitman than the bombastic set pieces that have plagued Uncharted’s Nathan Drake. It’s a first-person game, for one, and it focuses more on stealth and problem-solving than mowing down dozens of baddies.
The game begins with a stunning recreation of the opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, a sequence that had me continually dropping my jaw. Many shots are directly mirrored from the original film, the Indy model looks surprisingly life-like, and perhaps the biggest shock of all, voice actor Troy Baker delivers a solid interpretation of a young Harrison Ford. Honestly, his Indiana Jones sounds more like the character I remember than Ford does in the recent (and genuinely great) Dial of Destiny.
While you’re equipped with a gun early on, most of your time is spent investigating large areas like the Vatican, sneaking around restricted areas and punching fascists in the face. You’ll also encounter a few puzzles that pose just enough of a challenge to be satisfying, without being overly annoying.
Five hours into the game, I realized I hadn’t yet fired my gun. And it would take several more hours before that was actually necessary. I can’t think of many other action franchises that practiced such restraint.
MachineGames didn’t just make a good Indiana Jones game — it crafted one of the best Indiana Jones experiences ever made. I’ll take The Great Circle over Temple of Doom any day. It’s so good, it belongs in a museum.
— D.H.
Infinity Nikki
From the hours we spend transmogging items or building gear sets for max stats, fashion has always been low-key essential in video games. So it's about damn time that someone decided to take the plunge, accept that style is everything and put it at the heart of an extremely charming game. Infinity Nikki is the most time I have ever spent in a game's photo mode. How could I not? My in-game wardrobe has been filling up with pieces all over the style spectrum – from the ultimate cozy loungewear to absurdly frivolous pastel confections – and I love them all. Dressing up in fabulous outfits is a big part of Infinity Nikki's immaculate vibes, but there's a whole lot of game here that has wisely taken its design cues from other very good titles.
The influence of Genshin Impact is clear in the approach to gacha systems. The open-world exploration and side questing feel reminiscent of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. The Whimstar mechanics are right out of any 3D Mario. But every idea has been toned down so there's no stress and very little challenge. That sounds like it should be boring. It's not. Being in Miraland is a complete joy.
— Anna Washenko, Contributing Reporter
INDIKA
I haven’t stopped thinking about INDIKA since I played it in May. It’s not a constant train of thought or anything, but memories of the game float through my consciousness fairly often and I welcome them each time — funny, heartwrenching and all the emotions in between. And yet, INDIKA is not a game I freely recommend to every person. It’s a satirical and surreal tale about the devil living inside a nun’s head, and while it has laugh-out-loud dialogue and cute buddy-cop moments, it’s also laced with scenes of sexual violence. No matter how delicately and powerfully these scenes are handled, they’re still heavy.
But, if you’re up for it, INDIKA is an utterly unique third-person adventure that deftly balances levity and agony. It offers a flurry of whimsical absurdity, religious criticism and raw human suffering, always with a wink and a nod. INDIKA thrives in the messy area between pleasure and discomfort, and it’s worth a play for anyone seeking something mature and original.
— Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is composed of contradictions. It’s a distillation of everything that makes a puzzle game tick, and it’s also a complete subversion of the genre. It’s heartwarming but eerie, mysterious yet satisfying, chaotic and utterly logical. It’s modern, vintage and futuristic all at once.
In Lorelei, players are stranded at the gates of an otherworldly hotel, and the only thing to do is investigate the creativity and tragedy that’s touched its grounds over the decades. The hotel is vast and dotted with secrets, and each of its rooms houses at least one mystery. There are more than 150 puzzles in the game — memorization tests, logic riddles, perspective tricks, math problems, art projects, lunar phases, astrological clocks and mazes — and the solution in one room often unlocks secrets in other areas. It’s a nonlinear experience, though it feels like everything in the hotel is deeply connected. Even you.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is for fans of puzzles, narrative twists and David Lynch — but really, it’s for anyone who likes rad new video games. This is a game like no other, and it’s proof that innovation is alive and well in the industry, especially among indie developers.
— J.C.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Metaphor: ReFantazio improves on the Atlus JRPG formula that I’ve loved across various Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games in every way. Perhaps the game’s greatest triumph is making that classic JRPG grindfest feel unique and purposeful. Rather than crawling through bleak, procedurally generated dungeons to level up between key objectives, you’ll be claiming bounties on monsters, helping locals rescue loved ones or searching for mysterious relics. Add to that an engaging and surprisingly grounded storyline, vibrant characters and a fine-tuned battle system, and you have a clear winner.
The one drawback is that I wish its technical underpinnings were stronger; all the beautiful artwork and stylish menus in the world can’t hide that the game is clearly built on the same engine as Persona 5, stretched to its absolute limits. Coming from the slick Persona 3 remake, which utilized Unreal Engine to good effect, it’s a little jarring to see low-res textures, fizzling lines and weird loads between areas. None of this is enough to stop Metaphor from being a game I recommend to anyone who will listen, though.
Here’s hoping that the next Persona game — which has to be around the corner, right? — takes the gameplay improvements of Metaphor and pairs them with an engine that wasn’t built to accommodate the PlayStation 3.
— Aaron Souppouris, Executive Editor
Neva
Nevapacks a hell of a punch. This action platformer tells a devastatingly affecting story about disease, entropy and the relationship between human and animal over time. It's mesmerizing on multiple levels: visually, aurally and emotionally.
The story plays out almost wordlessly, with Nomada Studio largely using its environments, enemy encounters and your progression to tell the tale. You play as a warrior named Alba who tries to cleanse the world of a corruptive force that plagues the environment and possesses animals. Her companion is a titular wolf. Neva grows from a pup to an adult throughout the seasons depicted in the game. Alba can call the wolf to her when they're apart, but the timbre of her cries changes depending on how fraught the situation is.
Neva is a relatively short game, but it's one that will stick with you. Just as the blight does to the landscapes and fauna of this sumptuous world.
— K.H.
Nine Sols
2024 may not be over yet, but I can safely say we probably won’t see Team Cherry release Silksong. In other words, it was another painful year for Hollow Knight fans. But if you love Metroidvanias as much as I do, 2024 was easily one of the genre’s best years since 2017. Even if you only count two of this year’s more popular releases, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown andAnimal Well, there was no shortage of incredible Metroidvanias to play over the last 12 months. But if you ask me, most people slept on 2024’s best release: Nine Sols.
Nine Sols is one of those rare experiences where the elevator pitch actually does the game justice. It’s a 2D Metroidvania with a Sekiro-inspired combat system. I’ll be honest, that alone would have been enough to get me hooked, but the reason I’m still thinking about the game months after it came out in May is because of its story. The only thing I’ll say here is that Nine Sols is the product of Red Candle Games. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because the studio’s previous game, Devotion, was at the center of a major censorship scandal involving the Chinese government. By all accounts, Devotion featured an incredible story, and I wish I could play it after experiencing Nine Sols. The team at Red Candle Games are master storytellers, and if the way Hollow Knight hid its best narrative elements behind item descriptions and environmental details left you wanting more, I think you owe it to yourself to give Nine Sols a try.
— Igor Bonifacic, Senior Reporter
Pepper Grinder
Pepper Grinder is a brisk, no-bullshit 2D platformer. Its hook is the titular device: a giant frigging drill that lets you chew and leap through each stage like a chainsaw-wielding dolphin. You’re never fully in control while the machine roars along, so navigating the quick stages comes to feel like a cross between bull riding and figure skating, as wild and destructive as it is elegant. Put another way, simply moving in this game is a kinetic thrill. The levels themselves refuse to repeat or linger on ideas for too long — some tedious run-and-gun segments toward the end aside — the boss fights are honest challenges and the whole thing is over in about four hours. That’s fine. Pepper Grinder knows what it is, does what it does and does it well. If only more games could be so focused.
— J.D.
Thank Goodness You're Here!
Dumb, funny, easy to play, I can’t tell if Thank Goodness You’re Here is a tribute to British comedy history or a pastiche about what Americans think British comedic sensibilities are. Either way, it’s a whole lot of fun. You control an unnamed, tiny man who goes around the fictional town of Barnsworth, helping people the only way he can: pummeling objects and people with his little fists. You can hit things, you can jump, and that’s it. That’s all you need to rustle together a flock of seagulls, deliver soup to a sickly man with spaghetti arms and even fix the local fish and chip shop’s fryer.
It looks like a fizzy cartoon that would look at home on Cartoon Network, squeezed through an aggressively Northern English lens. It’s just a shame it doesn’t last longer.
— M.S.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Two years in a row with absolutely stellarZelda games? Sign me up! The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is not nearly as expansive as Tears of the Kingdom, but it definitely shares some of the same DNA. Don’t let the cutesy toy-like art style fool you. This is a legitimate Zelda game, and not an experiment like Princess Peach: Showtime.
Here are the main takeaways. This is the first-ever game that actually stars the titular Princess Zelda, and no I’m not counting the Philips CD-i title from the 90s. Also, she’s an absolute badass summoner/mage who made me feel more powerful than Link ever did. It plays like a perfect mix between old-school Zelda (A Link to the Past was an obvious inspiration) and the more open-ended modern games like Breath of the Wild.
I spent hours upon hours trying to rig up contraptions to reach faraway sky islands in Tears of the Kingdom and, lo and behold, I did the same thing here to explore the entire map before I made a dent in the main story. There are 127 summonable echoes that combine in fascinating ways to allow for custom puzzle solves and unique methods of travel. It also has old-school dungeons, including one of my very favorites in the whole franchise. I hope we get more playable Zelda titles in the future, as the series bears her name. Also, the next Smash game had better let Hyrule’s princess embrace her inner dark mage. I want to murder that little Earthbound kid with five crows and a Lynel.
— Lawrence Bonk, Contributing Reporter
Phoenix Springs
I’ve never encountered a game quite like Phoenix Springs. I’ve played point-and-click adventures, sci-fi mysteries and narrative games, but I’ve never seen one that sounds this luscious, looks this dramatic or plays this hypnotically. Phoenix Springs is a noir detective novel come to life but it’s also a cyberpunk vision of the future, and it’s all presented in muted, hand-drawn hues blanketed in light blue shadows. Truly, every scene of this game is gorgeous.
Phoenix Springs stars Iris Dormer, a technology reporter who’s searching for her estranged brother, Leo. Her hunt takes her from the abandoned buildings of a rundown city, to a rich suburb, and finally to Phoenix Springs, a desert oasis bathed in golden light and occupied by a handful of odd, disconnected people.
There’s nothing rushed about Phoenix Springs. Iris walks leisurely through expansive wide shots, her silhouette cutting across high grasses and cold concrete at the same unhurried pace. When she speaks, she sounds like a jaded detective lost in time, her sentences stark and powerful. Haunting choir chords and droning bass lines share screen time with pristine silence and birdsong. Phoenix Springs excels as both a piece of art and a detective game, and it’s the perfect escape for anyone who wants to slow down and get lost in the grit of a neo-noir world.
— J.C.
Still Wakes the Deep
Still Wakes the Deep is quietly one of the best horror games of 2024 — and in a year that gave us Mouthwashing, Slitterhead and the Silent Hill 2 remake, that’s saying something. Still Wakes the Deep comes from the horror masters at The Chinese Room, and it’s a stunning first-person experience that introduces violent paranormal monsters to the Beira D oil rig in the middle of the icy North Sea.
In Still Wakes the Deep, horror comes in multiple forms. The invading creatures move with thin, too-long limbs that burst from their bodies like snapping bungee cords. Large pustules and bloody ribbons grow along the corridors, emitting a sickly cosmic glow. The ocean is an unrelenting threat, wailing beneath every step. And then there’s the oil rig itself, a mazelike platform supported by slender tension legs in the middle of a raging sea, groaning and tilting as it’s ripped apart from the inside. Each of these elements is deadly; each one manifests a unique brand of anxiety.
Amid the life-threatening terror, Still Wakes the Deep manages to tell a moving story about family and regret, thanks in large part to the game’s fabulous voice acting and compelling script. This one was easy to miss amid the glut of good horror games this year, but it belongs at the very top of that list.
— J.C.
Silent Hill 2
There isn’t much to say about Silent Hill 2 and its story that hasn’t already been said a million times; it is incredibly bleak, a masterclass in psychological horror. In the 2024 remake, the story is much the same, but there’s a new intensity to the enemies and environmental elements that takes the horror to another level. Silent Hill 2 (2024) really got under my skin at times, and at others, made me jump out of said skin.
In the game, you play as the confused and grieving James Sunderland, who traveled to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his dead wife telling him she’s waiting for him. They once vacationed there as a couple, but needless to say, Silent Hill is not as he remembers it. The game presents you with both a fight for survival and mystery that needs solving, as James fights off horrifying monsters and little by little uncovers clues that point to dark events. It’s extremely compelling and genuinely scary, not to mention emotionally effective as the story eventually reveals itself. Bloober Team did a great job with the remake and, as with the original, it’s the kind of game you’ll be thinking about well after you’ve finished playing.
— C.M.
Space Marine 2
At first glance, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is a simple, by-the-numbers action game in the mold of Gears of War. It’s loud, bloody, and over the top. But the more I played Space Marine 2, the more I came to appreciate how much depth and intelligence it hides just below its shiny Ceramite surface. For one, it absolutely nails the Warhammer 40K setting, both visually and in tone. It’s a game that knows its transhuman protagonists are just cogs in a brutal and repressive regime.
Then there’s the close combat system, which, once again, seems simple but rewards players who take the time to master its rhythm. Just because you’re a super soldier doesn’t mean you can simply charge into combat; instead, you need to block, parry and counter the most deadly opponents on the field. Plenty of other games have employed this rhythm, but Space Marine 2 makes its own and feel extremely satisfying. Add to that a compelling co-op mode that offers a great progression system, and you have a game that I’ve played more than any other this year.
— I.B.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remasted
I’m going to exploit a loophole to write about one of my favorite games that technically came out back in 2020, The Last of Us Part II. However, Naughty Dog released a remastered version for the PS5 in January. Yes, the core game is the same, and the graphics upgrade isn’t nearly as massive as the remake of the first Last of Us that came out in 2022. But as I said in my review of Part II Remastered, the new roguelike “No Return” mode was easily worth the $10 upgrade fee on its own.
I wasn’t going to write this up for our favorite games of the year, thinking it would be silly to go back to this particular obsession of mine yet again. However, my PlayStation 2024 wrap-up indicated that I spent a positively ridiculous 318 hours playing Part II. Yes, I went through the main campaign once this year and also finally got the platinum trophy that had eluded me on the PS4 version — but my rough guess is that I spent somewhere between 250 and 275 hours on No Return alone. Yes, that’s borderline obsessive behavior, but I think it also speaks to how good the combat system in Part II is. And getting to play these encounters with 10 different characters, each with their own traits and quirks, means there’s a ton of replay value here (if I haven’t proved that already). Add in the randomized mods that pop up (invisible enemies, healing when you land a melee hit, tripwire traps populating the arena) and you’ll never have the same run twice.
— Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor
Vendetta Forever
Fitness is one of the best selling points for VR headsets. It’s not just a static gaming experience. You can get up, jump around, squat, duck and dive your way in all sorts of different games. Meatspace Interactive may not have had fitness in mind when they designed the rapid action simulator Vendetta Forever, but it’s one of the most fun ways to work up a sweat on a VR headset. Vendetta Forever puts you in the shoes of the target of a series of minimalist assassins. Just like Superhot VR, the action ramps up the more you move, but Vendetta Forever has a unique “LO-KILL-MOTION” gimmick that makes it so addictive.
You zip between your faceless enemies as you snatch weapons out of the air like firearms, ninja stars and even pencils while contorting your body to avoid incoming fire. It’s easy to get caught up in the repeating action as you make your way through action movie staple scenes and learn from your deadly mistakes in gun run after gun run. Vendetta Forever is my favorite way to meet my daily cardio requirements.
— D.G.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/engadgets-games-of-the-year-2024-133005519.html?src=rss
If you're traveling for the holidays today, I hope you're not flying on American Airlines, because it still might be a rough day. Earlier this morning, the airline said on X that all of its flights were currently grounded, but since then the Federal Aviation Administration has lifted the stoppage, which was originally issued at the airline's request. Despite the fact that things are returning to normal, there's a good chance these disruptions will have ripple effects making a busy travel day even tougher.
As The Verge noted, a notice posted by the Federal Aviation Administration confirms that there is a "nationwide groundstop" for all AA flights; it also says that this stoppage is at "company request."
We're currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights. Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we'll have you safely on your way to your destination.
Aside from the FAA notice and American Airlines' post on X, there wasn't a real reason given for the delay. But since the grounding was lifted, CNN reports that an American Airlines spokesperson said the stoppage was due to a "vendor technology issue" that has now "been resolved and flights have resumed."
Update, 9:15AM ET: This story has been updated to note that the ground stoppage has been resolved.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/all-american-airlines-flights-in-the-us-are-currently-grounded-131522223.html?src=rss
FILE - American Airlines planes wait at gates at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport Friday, July 19, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Hyundai is offering select EV buyers a free CCS to NACS (North American Charging Standard) adapter so that they can charge current models at Tesla's Supercharger stations. That will allow owners to charge CCS-port Hyundai models at Tesla's 20,000 strong Supercharger network, once shipping starts in Q1 2025.
Hyundai is offering the free adapter to owners of 2024 and earlier Kona Electric, Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Ioniq hatchback models, along with 2025 Ioniq 6, Ioniq 5N, Kona Electric Genesis EVs. You'll be able to get the free adapter through the MyHyundai owner site. The adapters will be offered to anyone who purchased a Hyundai EV before January 31, 2025. Sibling brand Kia is also offering free NACS adapters to select customers starting next year, with a full list of supported models set to arrive soon.
The automaker is joining Ford in offering the perk to its users, and other manufacturers are likely to do the same in the near future. That's because the US government recently announced that NACS is becoming an open industry standard that's likely to be widely used in charger networks across the continent.
Future models won't need the adapter, as Hyundai has joined a host of automakers in changing its charging ports to NACS. That'll begin with the 2025 Ioniq 5, which will have access to Tesla Superchargers as soon as it ships, according to Tesla. Older CCS-based models don't currently have access, but Tesla is likely to enable that once the adapter ships.
The news is significant because Hyundai recently became second largest seller of EVs in North America next to Tesla. The company currently sells four models: the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 5N crossovers, Ioniq 6 sedan and Kona Electric SUV. Kia, meanwhile, offers the EV6 crossover, EV9 SUV and Niro EV.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/hyundai-will-offer-its-ev-customers-free-nacs-adapters-starting-next-year-130010136.html?src=rss
Honda and Nissan have officially confirmed the rumors that they're pursuing a merger. Both would still operate under their brands but with a new joint holding company as parent. If Nissan-controlled Mitsubishi also came on board, the combined group would become the world's third-largest automaker by sales volume, with a net worth of up to $50 billion.
Nissan and Honda previously announced plans to work together on EV development, but the joint company would be far more integrated. According to the press release, it could include standardizing vehicle platforms, unifying research and development teams, and optimizing manufacturing systems and facilities. This could help cut costs.
In the US, Nissan sells large pickup trucks and SUVs that Honda doesn't offer, alongside more experience in EVs and plug-in electric vehicles. On the other side, Honda has relatively stable financials while Nissan has been struggling, particularly at home in Japan.
According to the Financial Times, Meta may add displays to its Ray-Ban smart glasses collaboration. These screens could appear in a future device iteration as early as next year. It’s not aimed at full mixed reality, though. The screens will be on the smaller side and will likely be used to display notifications or responses from Meta’s AI virtual assistant.
A group of fans have made a native PC port of Star Fox 64, which they are calling Starship. Harbour Masters, the team behind the project, used a tool that converts the original game ROM into PC executable code, so it doesn’t use any proprietary Nintendo code. That means it’s technically legal. (I’m sure Nintendo is looking into it.)
Like previous ports, Starship features all kinds of modern bells and whistles to set itself apart from the 1997 original. The frame rate is higher and the port includes frame smoothing technology for better visuals. There’s also another major benefit: It’s moddable.
