It's early June and the vibes are decidedly off in Cupertino.
The hype leading up to Apple's last two developer conferences felt much different. There was anticipation in 2023 for a potentially groundbreaking new headset. In 2024, there was a sense of urgency leading up to the company's AI announcements and whispers that Siri might actually, finally be good at something. But 2025?
Well, things are different.
The Vision Pro was the big announcement at that 2023 show, and it's, uh, still around. Apple has reportedly cut production due to slow sales, and you can get one at a steep discount on eBay. Maybe the price is wrong. And the big AI announcement last year? How's that going? As it stands, Apple Intelligence is stalled out. The features that Apple managed to deploy are underwhelming, and the meaty update to Siri has been delayed - maybe even for years. It sounds like the whole thing was a real fiasco inside Apple, and publicly, the company took down an ad showcasing Siri features that simply don't exist yet. Ouch.
And then there's the legal stuff. In 2021, a court in California ordered Apple to let developers add links allowing customers to make purchases outside of their a …
I usually struggle with strategy games. They're typically too hard for me, and I often get overwhelmed at managing multiple characters or squads. But I couldn't put down Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, which blends ideas from strategy games and classic TMNT arcade games to keep things snappy, easy to play, and full of action.
One way Tactical Takedown - developed by I Am Your Beast maker Strange Scaffold - keeps things simple is by having you play as just one character in each of the game's 20 levels. The four turtles have different movesets; Leonardo, for example, uses his swords to aggressively attack enemies, while Michelangelo can zip around the playing field on his skateboard. You're able to customize each turtle's arsenal by buying new moves, but I didn't change the movesets at all and got through the game just fine.
Battles take place in a grid overlaid on small chunks of very TMNT locations, like a street, sewer, or subway system. Every turn, you have six "action points" to spend as you please, whether that's moving around the level or attacking bad guys. You just press a button to use one of your moves, no menu required, which speeds things up considera …
Battlelines are being drawn between the major AI labs and the popular applications that rely on them.
This week, both Anthropic and OpenAI took shots at two leading AI apps: Windsurf, one of the most popular vibe coding tools, and Granola, a buzzy AI app for taking meeting notes.
"With less than five days of notice, Anthropic decided to cut off nearly all of our first-party capacity to all Claude 3.x models," Windsurf CEO Varun Mohanwrote on X this week, noting that "we wanted to pay them for the full capacity." An additional statement on Windsurf's website said: "We are concerned that Anthropic's conduct will harm many in the industry, not just Windsurf."
Here, Mohan's company is collateral damage in Anthropic's rivalry with OpenAI, which has reportedly been in talks to acquire Windsurf for about $3 billion. The deal hasn't been confirmed, but even the spectre of it happening was enough for Anthropic to cut off one of the most popular apps that it powers. After a spokesperson told TechCrunch'sMaxwell Zeff that Anthropic was "prioritizing capacity for sustainable partnerships," co-founder Jared Kaplan put it more bluntly.
"We really are just trying to enable our customers w …
The Insta360 Link is among the USB-C webcams that don’t work with the new Switch.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is more expensive in practically every way: pricier console, pricier games, an entire Chat button you'll eventually have to pay to use. So it was nice when Nintendo revealed you won't need its own $55 camera to video chat with pals.
"You can use the Nintendo Switch 2 camera accessory (sold separately) or any compatible USB-C® camera you'd like," the company wrote. But you might be mighty disappointed if you simply buy a PC webcam off the shelf.
Many USB-C webcams we've tried don't work at all, including the ones you'll typically find on "best webcam" lists around the internet, like the Logitech Brio 4K, the Insta360 Link, and the Elgato Facecam MK.2. Meanwhile, ancient USB-A cameras like my Logitech C920 fire up instantly with no trouble at all.
And in our testing, it doesn't seem to matter if you use the Switch USB-C ports or the USB-A ports on the dock, whether you're going through a C-to-A adapter, or whether you daisy-chain with a USB hub: the webcams that work, work, and the ones that don't, don't.
Overall, it's starting to look like Nintendo didn't mean "compatible with USB-C," but rather "compatible with Switch 2." So why did it suggest you can us …
Now that Summer Game Fest 2025 is off and running, it's time for my favorite part of the show: Day of the Devs. Day of the Devs is a yearly showcase highlighting the newest, quirkiest indie releases, and it is frequently the source of some of my favorite games SGF has on offer. This year is another banger slate of titles from your favorite indie publishers, like Devolver Digital, Annapurna Interactive, Panic, and more. I'll have more to share about these games once the show is over, but for now, here are my faves from the Day of the Devs Summer Game Fest showcase 2025.
Snap and Grab
Snap and Grab is a slick-looking action puzzle game that mixes Ocean's Eleven with Miami Vice. Set in the hyper neon aesthetic of the '80s, Snap and Grab lets you live out your master thief fantasies. Case the joint with your camera, taking pictures of the merchandise you wanna steal while also snapping pics of the people, places, and things that'll help your team get the goods and get out. Coming next year to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles.
Big Walk
It's time to take a gander at the next game from Untitled Goose Game developer House House. In Big Walk, House House combines the peacefulness of a …
After a very convincing tease that suggested news was in fact not incoming, Capcom just officially announced Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline entry in the franchise. It launches on February 27th, 2026 on PC, PS5, and Xbox.
The announcement came via a lengthy trailer that took quite a while before revealing itself to indeed be the next Resident Evil, focused instead on an office space. But then, naturally, things got pretty creepy. Capcom says the new game will indeed be survival horror, but didn’t provide much other info, explaining only that players will “escape death in a heart-stopping experience that will chill you to your core.”
In 1999, the iconic New York rap group Wu-Tang Clan released their very first video game, Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style. Now, 25 years later, the Wu have returned with a new game project called Wu-Tang: Rise of the Deceiver. Announced simultaneously at Summer Game Fest and at the opening performance of the group’s farewell tour, Rise of the Deceiver is part of the apotheosis of one of the greatest rap groups of all time.
The Verge had the opportunity to speak to the game’s developers at Brass Lion Entertainment about working with some of rap’s living legends on a project that is both the end of an era in rap history and the beginning of something new.
Rise of the Deceiver is an action co-op game in which players, imbued with powers bestowed upon them by the legendary members of the Wu-Tang Clan, fight against invaders that wish to corrupt their home. It’s been in development for three years, and started as a companion piece to Angel of Dust, a movie produced by Ghostface Killah and directed by The RZA.
“What we did is we leaned into elements of that script that worked really, really well from an interactive perspective, and made a companion piece to it,” said Bryna Dabby Smith co-founder and CEO of Brass Lion Entertainment.
According to Dabby Smith, the driving ethos behind Rise of the Deceiver is essentially, “do it for the culture.” While there have been numerous hip-hop-centric video games over the years, very few of them tackle the artistry, history, and culture of the genre beyond using it as set dressing. “We wanted to create something where it was built from the ground up,” Dabby Smith said. “It was by the culture, for the culture, and actually representing what [Wu-Tang Clan] put out there through the years.”
And for the game’s soundtrack, which incorporates music from throughout the group’s 30-plus year history, it really was built from the ground up.
“For us, the treatment of the music was a really big deal,” said Dabby Smith. It’s not just snippets of “C.R.E.A.M” or “Protect Ya Neck” playing during cutscenes. She talked about how their sound team created a dynamic music system.
“So while you are playing the game, the music is reacting to what you’re doing and it’s completely unique to your playing experience.” Additionally, players will experience Wu-Tang’s discography in ways they’ve never heard before.
“It’s not just the traditional songs that you’ve heard. It’s remix versions. It’s orchestral versions,” Dabby Smith said. There are even totally new tracks in the game that incorporate Wu-Tang samples to make something unique but still familiar to fans’ ears.
“Hip-hop is a syncretic art form. It takes pieces of things that have existed elsewhere and mashes them together in unique ways,” said Evan Narcisse, a former video game journalist who worked as a writer on the project. “We’re doing the same thing.”
Rise of the Deceiver is meant to appeal to all kinds of video game fans, not just 30-something hip-hop heads. There’s something for everyone. And if you are a 30-something hip-hop head, this game will be a love letter to one of the greatest musical acts in a generation.
“The Wu Tang Clan are larger than life,” said Narcisse. ”They’re superheroes, and they deserve a world that speaks that legacy.”
Yacht Club Games, the studio behind the Shovel Knight series, is launching its next game, Mina the Hollower, on October 31st, the team announced as part of Summer Game Fest on Friday.
Mina the Hollower is a top-down adventure game that looks like it was ripped directly from a Game Boy Color. You play as Mina, a mouse, and you’ll use things like your whip and the ability to burrow underground to take on enemies.
The game was initially announced in February 2022 alongside a Kickstarter to help raise funds for development. The Kickstarter was a big success, raising more than $1.2 million.
If you want to try Mina the Hollower ahead of its official launch, Yacht Club games is releasing a demo for the game that’s available now and will be part of next week’s Steam Next Fest. I got early access to the demo and really loved it. Any progress you make in the demo, which ends with the game’s first big boss fight, can be brought over to the final game.
Square Enix just announcedKiller Inn, a new “murder mystery action” game, as part of Summer Game Fest on Friday.
In a Killer Inn match, 24 players are divided into two teams of “wolves” and “lambs,” and it’s the job of the lambs to discover and kill all the wolves or for the wolves to kill the lambs. (Just to be clear, you play as humans, but with the title of wolves or lambs.) When wolves kill a lamb, they’ll leave clues like a piece of hair or clothing that the lambs can use to try and identify the wolves.
Killer Inn is coming to PC, and it will be getting a closed beta “soon.” You can apply for the beta on the game’s Steam page.
It looks like an interesting take on a murder mystery video game, especially if you are looking for something new to play with your friends after following the popularity of Among Us.
I’m not sure how it took so long, but a real-time strategy game set in Westeros is finally in the works. The new game is called Game of Thrones: War for Westeros, and it’s described as a “classic, premium” RTS game for PC that will let players take control of the various houses and factions in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy universe.
The game is being developed by PlaySide Studios, and will include both a single-player campaign and multiplayer options. Here’s the official description:
In War for Westeros, players will lead the armies of House Stark, House Lannister, House Targaryen, or the Night King in ruthless free-for-all battles where trust is fleeting and power is everything. Engaging in epic real-time strategy battles, forging strategic alliances, and weaving deceit against rival forces will be key.
Each faction offers deeply asymmetric strategies, with signature heroes, armies, and mechanics forged from the brutal legacy of Westeros. Players can deploy infantry, cavalry, siege engines, giants, and dragons to break enemy lines as they work to outplay and outmaneuver rivals with inspiring hero abilities and the ruthless instincts of a true war commander.
While there have been plenty of Game of Thrones video games, including some cleverindie spinoffs, War for Westeros seems like a very natural expansion for the franchise. The game is launching at some point in 2026.
It’s that time of year again. With E3 done and gone, Summer Game Fest has taken its place, and it always makes for a busy few days in gaming.
The centerpiece of the event is SGF Live on June 6th at 5PM ET, a keynote hosted by Geoff Keighley that, like The Game Awards, is packed with new game announcements as well as updates and trailers for games we already know about. But there are also a handful of other smaller showcases sprinkled throughout the week, including the Access-Ability Summer Showcase (June 6th at 11AM ET), Day of the Devs (June 6th at 7PM ET), the Wholesome Direct (June 7th at 12PM ET), and the PC Gaming Show (June 8th at 3PM ET). And that’s not including standalone events from PlayStation and Xbox.
It’s a lot to keep track of, and you can follow along with the most important updates right here.
Google is taking another step toward making Gemini a more helpful assistant. It’s rolling out “scheduled actions,” a feature AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers can use to ask the AI assistant to perform tasks at specific times, like providing a summary of their calendar at the end of each day or generating ideas for blog posts every Monday.
Users can also have Gemini complete one-off tasks using this feature, such as asking for a summary of an award show the day after it happens, Google says. “Just tell Gemini what you need and when, and it will take care of the rest,” the company writes in a post announcing the change.
The Ray-Ban Meta is down to $239.20 at multiple retailers for a limited time.
With summer just around the corner, sunglasses make a practical and timely Father’s Day gift. If you want to gift a pair that’ll truly impress, right now you can buy the latest Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses starting at $239.20 (about $61 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target.
Beyond just protecting dad’s eyes, these stylish smart glasses will make his life a lot easier. The built-in 12MP camera lets him snap hands-free photos and 1080p videos that are surprisingly good, and even livestream directly to Facebook or Instagram. They also feature solid sound and excellent call quality, thanks to five built-in microphones, so he can listen to music and take calls without ever pulling out his phone.
The latest Meta Smart Glasses improve on the original with new AI features that make them even more useful. With just his voice, Dad can take photos, record videos, send messages, ask questions, or get translations in multiple languages. The AI can also remember objects, landmarks, and parking spots – and even help him scan QR codes with ease.
While you could play Fortnite on the original Nintendo Switch, it was a less than ideal situation that made the game feel more like a rough around the edges tech demo than a polished piece of software. Because of the Switch's hardware limitations, Fortnite could only run at 30 frames per second max, which could make it tricky to pull off well-timed shots. Character models were often so simplified that they barely looked like their counterparts on other consoles. And a combination of dropped frames, simpler textures, and overall lower resolution gave the island a choppy, muddy aesthetic quality that was tolerable, but far from beautiful.
Though it was constantly being patched, Fortnite felt dated on the original Switch in a way that made it hard to justify Battle Passes or get excited about new design changes to the island. But, similar to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Fortnite's Switch 2 update revitalizes the game by addressing almost every one of its core issues and highlighting all of the new bells and whistles Epic has been developing for it.
Even in the Fortnite's main menu where all of the game's various modes, shops, and inventory screens are displayed, there was a sluggish …
iFixit has completed its teardown of the Nintendo Switch 2 and many repairs don’t look easy. | Image: iFixit
After retroactively lowering the original Nintendo Switch’s repairability score from an 8 out of 10 to just 4 out of 10 to reflect 2025 standards, iFixit has found the Switch 2 to be even harder to fix. Following its full teardown of the new console, iFixit is giving the Switch 2 a 3 out of 10 repairability score thanks, in part, to a battery that’s once again “glued in with powerful adhesive” and flash storage modules and USB-C ports that are soldered to the main board.
Nintendo continues to rely on the tri-point screws the company has been using to assemble its consoles and handhelds for decades, and on the Switch 2, many are hidden behind stickers that get damaged in the process of removing them to access the screws. The company has never released repair parts or manuals for the original Switch, and there are currently none available for the Switch 2, so you’ll need third-party alternatives to reassemble the console.
Components like the headphone jack, speakers, microphone, and microSD reader on the Switch 2 are easy to remove. As are buttons that are soldered to breakout boards, and the console’s cooling fan that’s held in place by three screws.
But iFixit describes removing the Switch 2’s battery as an “absolute mission” and “just as bad as the original Switch.” Lots of isopropyl alcohol and a “whole set of pry tools” were needed to remove it, and in the process the foam Nintendo glued to the battery was left disintegrated making a future battery swap a difficult and messy endeavor.
The Switch 2’s gamecard reader, which was modular and relatively easy to remove and replace in the original Switch and Switch OLED models, is now soldered to the console’s mainboard as it is on Switch Lite. iFixit also found three different types of thermal paste used in the Switch 2 which in the original Switch would solidify over time making it hard to remove and less effective at preventing the console from overheating.
Even the new Joy-Cons on the Switch 2 are harder to disassemble, which is problematic because the joysticks are using the same potentiometer technology as the original Joy-Cons that rely on a resistive material that can wear away over time. That’s one of the causes of the original Switch’s notorious joystick drift issue and this time around it’s going to be even harder to do repairs or replace the sticks altogether with Hall effect or TMR alternatives.
When Mission to Zyxx debuted in 2017, the podcasting space was very different. There were fewer shows, and more money was being spent as companies rushed to figure out how to capitalize on the growing medium. At a time when many big podcasts were focused on news and investigative reporting, Zyxx - an improvised comedy about a group of alien diplomats journeying across the galaxy in search of adventure - felt like an oddity that was channeling the spirit of classic radio dramas.
The show was a loving sendup of Star Wars and Star Trek's most iconic (and ridiculous) narrative beats. And while nostalgia was a big part of Zyxx's appeal, meticulous sound design and inspired, on-the-spot performances made each episode sound like something from podcasting's future.
When Mission to Zyxx came to an end in 2022, the show's creators - Alden Ford, Jeremy Bent, Allie Kokesh, Seth Lind, Winston Noel, Moujan Zolfaghari, and Shane O'Connell - needed a break and time to figure out what they wanted to do next. Eventually they landed on The Young Old Derf Chronicles; it's set in the same universe as Mission to Zyxx and features many voices from the original, but it's a very different kind of (mini) …
Last night, I stayed up way too late playing through the Great Plateau section of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and I'm falling in love with the game all over again.
The opening moments of Breath of the Wild are iconic. The wide shot of Hyrule you see after leaving that first cave is breathtaking, showing you the world of possibilities ahead. Solving the puzzles on the Great Plateau requires some real creativity and experimentation, especially to survive the colder parts of the area. All of that magic is still there with the Switch 2 version of the game, which you can get as a $9.99 upgrade if you already own the Switch version or as a standalone $69.99 purchase, but it all plays better.
As far as I could tell, the frame rate stayed at a steady 60fps no matter where I went in my initial explorations, which makes the game feel much smoother and more responsive. That was nice for my skirmishes with the Great Plateau's Bokoblins; they're basic enemies, but I liked sparring with them at the faster frame rate all the same. The game also has a higher resolution on Switch 2, and while the graphics aren't improved too dramatically from the original …
Apple is planning some significant design changes across its core apps, including Phone, Camera, and Safari, that it will announce at WWDC next week, according to a report from Bloomberg. For its Phone app, Apple will reportedly add a new view that puts favorite contacts, recent calls, and voicemails into a “single, scrollable window.”
Bloomberg notes that this new view will be optional, and that users can switch back to the old layout using a toggle within the Phone app. The design tweaks are part of the broader, visionOS-inspired changes Apple is expected to make across its operating systems, which will reportedly now be called iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, tvOS 26, and visionOS 26.
In line with the “digital glass” elements that Bloomberg says Apple will incorporate across its operating systems, the outlet reports that Safari will get a “more transparent and glassy address bar.” The company is reportedly planning to simplify the Camera app as well, which YouTuber Jon Prosser hinted at earlier this year. As previously reported by 9to5Mac, Apple may also add support for polls in Messages, along with the ability to set background images that sync across devices — similar to WhatsApp.
Other changes mentioned by Bloomberg include expanding the Mac’s Preview app to iPadOS and iOS, allowing users to open and annotate PDFs on their mobile devices. Bloomberg shared more details about Apple’s rumored Games app, too, which could feature Home, Arcade, Play Together, Library, and Search tabs. Despite rumors that Apple is planning to change the shape of its app icons, Bloomberg reports that they will “largely” stay the same.
Based on recent predictions, WWDC is shaping up to have a focus on operating system-centered revamps, rather than major advancements in AI. Though Bloomberg notes that Apple will likely add AI-powered live translation of phone calls and texts, we will likely have to wait for a future event to see the company’s fully upgraded Siri.
Now in its third year, the Access-Ability Summer Showcase is back to redress the lack of meaningful accessibility information across the ongoing video game showcase season. As we see progress broadly slow down, it's also a timely reminder of the good work that's still happening in pursuit of greater accessibility in gaming.
"At a time where we are seeing a slowdown in accessibility adoption in the AAA games space," organizer Laura Kate Dale says, "we're showing that there are interesting accessible games being made, games with unique and interesting features, and that being accessible is something that can bring an additional audience to purchase and play your games."
The showcase is growing, too. In 2025, it's longer, more packed with games, and streamed concurrently on Twitch, Youtube (where it's also available on-demand), and on Steam's front page. That growth comes with its own challenges - mitigated this year by Many Cats Studio stepping in as sponsor - but the AA Summer Showcase provides an accessible platform in response to the eye-watering costs of showcasing elsewhere (it has previously been reported that presenting trailers across Summer Game Fest starts at $250,000), …
You can use many of 8BitDo’s wireless controllers with the Switch 2 following a simple firmware update. | Image: 8BitDo
8BitDo announced that eight of its flagship controllers are now compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2 following a firmware update.
Although some companies had early access to the Switch 2’s specs to build accessories like cases and screen protectors, many had to wait until launch day to ensure their devices were compatible with the new console.
8BitDo has an extensive line of controllers that are already compatible with the original Switch, including an all-button arcade controller launching in July. The new firmware update is available for the following models:
Ultimate 2 Bluetooth Controller
Ultimate Bluetooth Controller
Ultimate 2C Bluetooth Controller
Ultimate C Bluetooth Controller
Pro 2 Bluetooth Gamepad
SN30 Pro Bluetooth Gamepad
USB Wireless Adapter 2
USB Wireless Adapter
The company said more updates are coming soon.
8BitDo provides multiple tools for updating the firmware on its controllers. There’s an Upgrade app available for macOS and Windows PCs that downloads and installs new firmware when a controller is connected to the computer with a USB cable.
You can also use 8BitDo Ultimate Software for Windows, Android and iOS mobile devices, or the newer 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2, which is only available for Windows and macOS. You can check which version of the Ultimate Software that your 8BitDo controller is compatible with on the company’s website.
