Buying physical copies of Nintendo Switch 2's "upgraded" games? You should probably read this"This is needlessly convoluted."Image credit: Eurogamer/Nintendo News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on April 5, 2025 Physical copies of OG Switch games upgraded for Nintendo Switch 2, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Metroid Prime 4, will seemingly ship with original Switch 1 cartridges.That's according to a Nintendo support representative in the UK, who reportedly confirmed in writing that the Switch 2 "enhanced" editions themselves will have to be downloaded separately via "download codes" and then applied to the original version on the cart.Nintendo Switch 2 Hands-On Preview: Mario Kart World Impressions & More!Watch on YouTubeWhilst the exact question posed to the customer rep is not provided, Does It Play on X/Twitter tweeted an image of an email response allegedly taken from a customer services conversation that reportedly stated: "Yes, we can confirm that the upgrades will be download codes. Thank you for your understanding". To see this content please enable targeting cookies.As Wario64 rightly points out, this wouldn't be the first time a customer service rep unwittingly gave out inaccurate information - so we've reached out to Nintendo for confirmation - and there's nothing on the box art we've seen thus far that suggests a separate download is required."And it's weird they would be codes when Nintendo is pivoting to game key carts instead of download codes of retail games," Wario64 added. "I know game key carts are different, I'm highlighting it because it shows Nintendo is offering that solution instead of download codes for Switch 2 games, so offering a code for the upgrade pack doesn't make sense (they could put the upgrade pack as a license on the cart)."As a commenter points out, it all feels "needlessly convoluted", although others suggest it's "part of the plan"."Pretty simple. If you resell the Switch 2 key cart, then the new person will have to purchase the upgrade pack. More money for Nintendo. Sounds like part of the plan," opined one.We'll try and clear things up as/when Nintendo comes back to us.ICYMI, Stateside Nintendo fans will have to wait a little bit longer before they can pre-order a Switch 2 after Nintendo of American confirmed that US preorders - which were scheduled to go live on 9th April - will now be delayed "in order to assess the potential impact of [President Trump's] tariffs and evolving market conditions".Eurogamer has confirmed with Nintendo that there are no current plans to adjust the ongoing pre-order process here in the UK.For more on the upcoming console, here's everything announced at the Switch 2 Direct, including pricing, games, and more.

Manage consent settings on AMP pagesThese settings apply to AMP pages only. You may be asked to set these preferences again when you visit non-AMP BBC pages.The lightweight mobile page you have visited has been built using Google AMP technology.Strictly necessary data collectionTo make our web pages work, we store some limited information on your device without your consent.Read more about the essential information we store on your device to make our web pages work.We use local storage to store your consent preferences on your device.Optional data collectionWhen you consent to data collection on AMP pages you are consenting to allow us to display personalised ads that are relevant to you when you are outside of the UK.Read more about how we personalise ads in the BBC and our advertising partners.You can choose not to receive personalised ads by clicking Reject data collection and continue below. Please note that you will still see advertising, but it will not be personalised to you.You can change these settings by clicking Ad Choices / Do not sell my info in the footer at any time.

Say goodbye to red spines.We've had an absolute overload of information about the Switch 2 this week and somehow fans keep finding all sorts of new and exciting details.If you haven't already noticed, Switch 2 game cases are now slightly different (and seemingly a bit bigger). Instead of transparent plastic borders, they're now red. Perhaps most interestingly though is how the box art wraps around the case, over the spine. In other words, you'll no longer be looking at red spines with mostly just plain text on them.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The big screen adaptation of video game mega-franchise Minecraft brought in $58 million on Friday, putting it on-track for a $135 million opening weekend domestically or potentially even more.That would give A Minecraft Movie the biggest opening of the year, beating out Captain America: Brave New World (which earned $88.8 million during its opening weekend in February) and providing a much-needed boost to the theatrical box office. ComScore recently estimated that 2025 domestic box office was down 7% year-over-year, and thats on top of significant declines from the pre-pandemic era.Coming to the rescue: Video games, particularly kid-friendly video games, which may soon eclipse superhero comics as the most reliable template for Hollywood blockbusters. The Super Mario Brothers Movie was one of the biggest hits of 2023 (behind only Barbie), and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was a major success over the recent winter holidays.The Minecraft game, first developed by Marcus Notch Persson and acquired by Microsoft in 2014, has a massive audience, with 204 million monthly active users in December. But it also posed particular challenges, since it offers those players a virtual sandbox, rather than a specific story or set of characters to adapt.Directed by Jared Hess (best known for Napoleon Dynamite), with six credited screenwriters, A Minecraft Movie meets these challenges by transporting human characters (played by Jason Momoa, Jack Black, and others) to a fantasy world animated in the recognizably blocky Minecraft style. The movie has received mixed reviews but then, so did The Super Mario Brothers Movie, and that proved no obstacle to massive box office success.A Minecraft Movies big weekend is also welcome news for Warner Bros., whose film division has endured a string of flops including The Alto Knights and Joker: Folie a Deux. So its probably safe to assume well be seeing a sequel.

Disney has just dropped the first trailer for Tron: Ares, and its sporting some deadly light cycles and a harrowing new take on the Master Control... and has there ever been a film with a cooler color scheme? Sci-fi gets its game on in the third film in the Tron franchise, following the iconic 1982 original and Tron: Legacy in 2010.Tron: Ares follows a highly sophisticated Program, Ares, who is sent from the digital world into the real world on a dangerous mission, marking humankinds first encounter with A.I. beings. It stars Jared Leto, Greta Lee, Evan Peters, Hasan Minhaj, Jodie Turner-Smith, Arturo Castro, Cameron Monaghan, with Gillian Anderson, and Jeff Bridges.Joachim Rnning directs. Sean Bailey, Jeffrey Silver, Justin Springer, Leto, Emma Ludbrook and Steven Lisberger serve as producers, with Russell Allen serving as executive producer. David Seager serves as the production visual effects supervisor; VFX studios include Clear Angle Studios, Day for Nite, GMUNK, ILM, and Proof Inc.TRON: Ares hits U.S. theaters on October 10, 2025. Source: Disney Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.

ZDNET's key takeaways The OnePlus Pad 2 is the company's latest Android tablet with a premium design and flagship specs for $550. It's compatible with a keyboard and pen that OnePlus sells separately, so you can turn it into an Android-powered laptop. While the multitasking features are excellent, and the Pad 2 checks all the boxes when it comes to entertainment, it still suffers from the pitfalls of using Android on a big screen. more buying choices OnePlus is offering a great new deal on the OnePlus Pad 2. By entering the code "SPRING25" at checkout, you slash $100 off the tablet's price tag, dropping it to $450. You also get a free gift of your choosing: either the OnePlus Stylo 2 or the OnePlus Folio Case 2.The Android tablet market has been in a weird place for a while. Companies either position them as regular iPad alternatives or try to add advanced productivity features to compete with the iPad Pro and Surface Pro. We've even seen tablets that turn into smart displays, such as the Google Pixel Tablet.Also:This midrange OnePlus phone is such a good deal, I struggle to recommend pricier flagshipsThere are many ideas about what an Android tablet can be. The new OnePlus Pad 2 combines some of these ideas while remaining moderately priced. With specs from the latest flagship smartphones, an aluminum design, quality speakers, and pogo pins for a keyboard, it aims to be both your next laptop and your go-to device for watching movies. details View at OnePlus I'll give it to OnePlus; it crafted a beautiful device. The Pad 2 sports a high-end aluminum enclosure that feels as premium as you'd expect. It's sturdy, ice-cold when you pick it up in the morning and feels like it's worth twice as much. It's also impressively thin at 6.49mm and weighs just over a pound.Also: This OnePlus 13 deal makes upgrading to the flagship Android a much easier decision for meThe speaker grilles are on both sides for stereo audio, and the pogo pins for the accompanying keyboard are on the bottom. OnePlus included a prominent camera bump on the back of the tablet, a brand identifier seen on most modern OnePlus smartphones. The company even says its smartwatch lineup was inspired by it. Inside the bump is a 13MP camera, which is best suited for scanning documents or QR codes -- not for replacing your smartphone camera. Max Buondonno/ZDNETThe display is quite good for an LCD. It measures 11.61 inches diagonally and features a 2800x2000 resolution, a 144Hz refresh rate, and 900 nits of brightness. OnePlus did a nice job calibrating the colors to appear accurate and properly saturated, making everything from movies to games look great. While I still think Apple offers the best LCDs on any tablet -- the iPad Air is a perfect example -- OnePlus comes in a close second.If you're enjoying that good-looking screen and forgot your headphones, the speakers will serve you well. OnePlus added a couple of extra speakers to the Pad 2 compared to the previous version, and they sound really good. Audio quality is full, gets really loud, and has plenty of rumbling bass for such a thin device. I played plenty of music on the tablet, and it all sounded great.Also:Samsung's new Galaxy tablets beat the iPad Air in two ways - for the same priceThe OnePlus Pad 2 delivers flagship performance. Powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, it offers blazing-fast speeds, smooth animations, and hiccup-free gaming thanks to OnePlus' HyperBoosted optimizations. I've yet to encounter anything that slows it down, ensuring it's powerful enough for today and years to come. The chipset is paired with 12GB of RAM, so you won't have to worry about apps crashing in the background.I'm also happy to report that battery life is a non-issue. It's hard to mess up battery life on tablets since their large sizes can accommodate big batteries, and that's what OnePlus has done here. The Pad 2 ships with a huge 9,510mAh battery that can easily last multiple days if you use it lightly, or about a day and a half with mixed to heavy usage (e.g., watching a couple movies or TV shows, playing some games, and sorting through my inbox all day).In classic OnePlus fashion, fast charging is also included on the Pad 2. The tablet comes with a 67W SuperVOOC charger in the box that juices it back up from zero to 100 percent in around an hour and a half, which is great considering the size of the battery. Max Buondonno/ZDNETOnePlus has done a lot of work to make multitasking easier. Through OxygenOS on top of Android 14, the Pad 2 supports Open Canvas, which originally debuted on the OnePlus Open last year. This set of software features lets you multitask like a champ. You can run three apps at the same time in a shifting tile-like layout, pull up more apps through the dock or floating app drawer, drag and drop files between apps, and more. It's the most useful multitasking system I've ever used on an Android tablet.Also: Google's Pixel Tablet has been my smart home display for almost a year (and it's 30% off)OnePlus also includes special settings for optimizing apps that might not include tablet layouts by default. Of course, your mileage will vary, and some apps don't work well with these shoehorned layouts, but it's at least handy if a simple app like a calendar or to-do list needs to be expanded to fill the entire screen.What'll be most useful to OnePlus smartphone users is the tight integration between them and the Pad 2. OnePlus allows you to place calls, send texts, sync your clipboard and notifications, and even remotely use apps installed on your phone right from the tablet. This obviously only applies to the few people who have invested in OnePlus' ecosystem, but it's a nice bonus nonetheless. Max Buondonno/ZDNETOnePlus sent me the $150 Smart Keyboard and $40 Folio Case 2 to round out the multitasking experience, and I have to say, they're quite good. The keyboard offers a lot of travel and is reliably responsive thanks to those pogo pins, and the case adds some extra protection to your tablet. The $99 OnePlus Stylo 2 was also in the box, and it's equally good.Also:This $80 tablet makes a great travel companion - and at this price I might get twoGoogle has done a lot of work over the years to make Android on tablets a more pleasurable experience, but many apps still need to catch up to their iPadOS counterparts. Some are well-optimized for tablet layouts, while others insist on showing up as blown-up phone apps. Some are missing features, capabilities, and even a Play Store listing. Even Chrome refuses to load the desktop version of Google Search consistently, which is a royal pain when you're trying to get work done. Max Buondonno/ZDNETIt's also really tough trying to do laptop things with the Pad 2. If you want to edit a video or touch up some photos, you're limited to the underbaked UIs and app layouts. In some cases, I would much rather use Lightroom on my Android phone than on my tablet.One final note on software: OnePlus says the Pad 2 will receive three major OS upgrades and four years' worth of security updates, which isn't too shabby given the price.ZDNET's buying adviceIt's easy to say who should buy the OnePlus Pad 2 and who shouldn't. If you want a multimedia device with powerful performance, a nice screen, long battery life, and great speakers -- and you don't mind that it runs Android -- the Pad 2 is an excellent choice.If, however, you want a tablet that can turn into a laptop, you should consider more premium options like the iPad Pro and Surface Pro. Regardless, at $549, the OnePlus Pad 2 is a fantastic tablet that delivers on various fronts, and the company continues to offer competitive trade-in and bundling deals to help you round out the experience for less money.This article was originally published on August 2, 2024, and was updated on April5, 2025. When will this deal expire? As per OnePlus, this deal will end on April 13, 2025.Deals are subject to sell out or expire at any time, though ZDNET remains committed to finding, sharing, and updating the best product deals for you to score the best savings. Our team of experts regularly checks in on the deals we share to ensure they are still live and obtainable. We're sorry if you've missed out on a deal, but don't fret -- we constantly find new chances to save and share them with you onZDNET.com. Show more Looking for the next best product? Get expert reviews and editor favorites withZDNET RecommendsFeatured reviews

Oak trees produce acorns in abundance every few years in a process known as mast seeding. Two years later, Lyme disease follows like clockwork.

In a nutshell: Chinese-owned TikTok faced a US ban on April 5 unless it could divest its American operations to a stateside buyer. The Trump administration was reportedly finalizing a deal involving several investors, but Beijing withdrew in response to new US-imposed tariffs, prompting the White House to extend the deadline. President Trump recently signed an executive order to extend the delay on TikTok's US ban for another few months as negotiations to sell the Chinese-owned social network to American investors continue. The President claimed that the deal had seen "tremendous progress," but his recent sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs reportedly pushed the Chinese government to stop the deal.Sources told the AP and Reuters that TikTok owner ByteDance and the White House were finalizing an investment deal with multiple US companies that would leave ByteDance with a 20 percent stake. The identities of the American buyers remain undisclosed. However, previous reports mention private equity firm Blackstone, tech giant Oracle, Amazon, mobile app platform AppLovin, OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely, and others.On April 2, Trump introduced historic tariffs on many countries. The lengthy list, which experts have described as a "nuclear bomb" on international trade, includes new taxes on imported Chinese goods that increase total anti-China tariffs to 54 percent. In response, Beijing signaled to ByteDance that it wouldn't approve TikTok's divestment until it could renegotiate the duties.Congress passed a law banning TikTok in the US last year for national security reasons. However, President Trump, reversing the stance from his first term, extended the deadline days after taking office to allow time for a sale.Many fear that the social network could put the personal data of its over 170 million American users into Beijing's hands or make them vulnerable to Chinese propaganda. Still, support for a ban has subsided considerably over the past two years. // Related StoriesTrade groups expect the new US tariffs to disrupt the global economy, upending a trade paradigm that has lasted for decades. Virtually everything Americans buy, including computers and other electronics, could see substantial price hikes.As markets have lost trillions of dollars over the past few days in the worst performance since the pandemic, tech companies such as AMD, Dell, and HP experienced almost 10-percent declines. Although semiconductors aren't affected yet, new incoming tariffs might also target them.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsWhen is Record Store Day?Whats available on RSD?How do I get the most out of RSD?Cover your basesRSD aftermath and hopeFor many collectors of those spinning plastic discs of joy known as vinyl records, Record Store Day is better than Christmas. Every April (and Black Friday), music lovers emerge from their winter hibernation to line up at record stores around the world in hopes of getting their hands on exclusive and limited-release records pressed especially for the big day. Its also a day to get out and bump elbows at the record bins with like-minded vinyl nerds and support independent, local brick-and mortar-stores. It can be a blast and it can be a bust, but its a vinyl community event that must be experienced.But what is RSD, as its colloquially know, whered it come from, when is it, and what can you expect from it? Im gonna break it down for you.Recommended VideosThe very first RSD took place on Saturday, April 19, 2008. Amid the uprising of digital music and streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music no one other than serious vinyl collectors was thinking about records, and the format was on life support. The 1,400 indie record stores in the U.S. were dying and needed a little love, so they banded together and Record Store Day was born.Now, twice a year, music lovers and vinyl collectors get a day just for them. With the spring weather, the flagship RSD event happens every April, with the 2025 edition coming on Saturday, April 12. Record Store Day brings exclusive, limited-edition vinyl releases to indie record shops in more than 14 countries around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and the U.K.In 2010, the first RSD Black Friday event happened because who says only big-box stores get to have all the fun? Instead of battling crowds for budget TVs, why not score a rare record or two instead? The list of releases might be smaller than Aprils RSD, but the thrill and comraderie is the same.Derek Malcolm / Digital TrendsA month or two before every Record Store Day event, a list of up to several hundreds of release titles is distributed through the official Record Store Day websites of each country. When the lists are released, theyre not hard to find theyre shared all over social media and youll often find them posted to the websites of your local record stores as well.The U.S. RSD list includes all the titles that will be distributed to American record stores. Titles include everything from rare releases and exclusives, colored pressings, and box sets to 7-inch singles, live concerts, various artist complications, soundtracks, and even CDs (gasp!).Its a great opportunity to add something unique to your record collection, and as someone whos stood in the rain in line for hours to get my hands on many cool pressings, when youre successful, its like winning the lottery.Once the RSD list goes out, theres some work to be done to help ensure you find and secure the records youre looking for. The list can be big, so take some time and go through it, jotting down the records you want. Make note of the quantity of copies pressed limited run pressings can number in the low hundreds to several thousands. This will help you gauge the likelihood of you getting a copy, but it goes without saying that so will the artist and title youre not going to be the only one standing in line for Taylor Swifts 7-inch white vinyl Fortnite remixthats on this years list.Once you have your want list, as the weeks leading up to RSD approach, your local record stores will likely start reaching out on social media asking their customers to let them know what RSD records they want them to order. Dont be shy, let them know, either through their socials (if theyre friendly like that, and most of them are), drop by in person or give them a call. If youre not sure what record stores near you are participating, each RSD website for your country will have a handy locator or list of stores.While you cannot pre-order RSD records, your local stores will try their best to get in the ones their customers want. But there are no guarantees: its been my experience that the stores get what they get.Derek Malcolm / Digital TrendsAs the day approaches, many record stores will post the RSD titles and quantities theyve gotten in on their socials or on their websites, and many will do this up to the day itself. Armed with this info, you can now decide what store or stores will give you the best chance of securing that Limited Run Top Secret! soundtrack featuring Val Kilmer (rest in peace). Now all you have to do is get up bright and early and get in line before everyone else and hope it doesnt rain.Lastly, and this might be hard to hear: after all that prep, theres still a good chance you might not even get the record you want.So, heres what you do. Have the phone numbers of the other potential record stores handy in a note on your phone, piece of paper or something, and call them to see if they have the records youre looking for. Some will post live stock on their sites or socials, but thats such a moving target its best to just call. They may or may not hold it for you once the rush dies down, but at lest youll know where to go next.Another good idea is to divide and conquer. You surely have other vinyl enthusiast friends, so work together, spread out to the other stores if you can to get the titles you each want.Ill leave you with a ray of hope. When Record Store Day is over and done, record stores will likely allocate all their leftover titles to a RSD bin or crate in the store. Ive gotten lucky several times in the weeks and even months after the day and stumbled upon records I missed out on in, for example, a Sunrise Records in a shopping mall or something keep your eyes peeled!All this is to say that all is not lost, even if you dont get the record you wanted you got a pretty great shared community experience out of the day, regardless. And while you wait six months for the next RSD, keep your crate fingers sharp and you never know what youll find.Happy Record Store Day hunting!Editors RecommendationsPro-Jects record flattener looks like a waffle iron, will rehab warped vinyl

Elon Musk said Saturday he wanted a "free trade zone" between the US and Europe, days after President Donald Trump levied tariffs on the European Union. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images 2025-04-05T18:29:15Z SaveSaved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.Have an account? Elon Musk on Saturday said he wants to see a "free trade zone" between the US and Europe.On April 2, US President Donald Trump set a 20% tariff rate for the European Union.Musk's comments came as he spoke remotely to a meeting of Italy's League Party.Elon Musk on Saturday said he'd like to see a "zero-tariff" system between the United States and Europe, days after President Donald Trump implemented baseline "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of trading partners."I hope it's agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America," Musk told Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini virtually at a meeting of Italy's League Party. "That's what I hope occurs."Under Trump's latest tariff plan, which he announced this week on what he called "Liberation Day," the European Union, which includes Italy, will be subject to a 20% tariff rate.Musk has been one of the most consequential figures of Trump's second term with his plethora of cost-cutting efforts tied to the White House DOGE office.During the talk, Musk also said he'd like to see increased freedom for individuals to move between Europe and North America."If people wish to work in Europe or wish to work in North America, they should be allowed to do so, in my view," he said. "That has certainly been my advice to the president."Recommended video