The Ladder Match is one of the most popular gimmick matches in professional wrestling. It gained fame through classic bouts featuring Razor Ramon against Shawn Michaels and Edge facing Eddie Guerrero. Additionally, it has inspired variations like the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (TLC) matches, which have included legendary teams such as the Dudleys, the Hardy Boys, and Edge and Christian.

When I went to Bellevue, Washington, in early April to visit Bungie’s headquarters and take a gander at Marathon, the studio’s upcoming extraction shooter, I remembered the first time I played a PC copy of Halo as a teen. Despite logging hundreds of hours on Xbox before, I was terrible with my mouse and keyboard until a patient stranger spent hours guiding me to victory. I had another guide with Marathon, but it wasn’t a random username hundreds or thousands of miles away via the internet — it was Kevin Yanes, a former Destiny developer who is now the Runner gameplay lead for Marathon.  And it was in my victory alongside Yanes — and our eventual defeat — that I started to believe that with Marathon, Bungie might actually pull off the three-peat by bringing yet another genre to the masses. The way Marathon works will be familiar to you if you’re already an extraction shooter sicko and have played games like Escape From Tarkov. But even if that’s not you, the game will still be mostly familiar if you’ve played a battle royale game like Fortnite or Apex Legends. What sets games like Tarkov and now Marathon apart from the battle royale genre — which involve a large group of players getting dropped onto a map where they loot items and try to be the last to survive — is that the loot can leave the match with you. The goal of Marathon isn’t to be the last player in the lobby; it’s to find cool shit (either hidden in a chest or stolen from other players), and then extract safely with said cool shit in tow. Each game of Marathon begins with you selecting the Runner you’d like to play. These Runners are essentially heroes — each one has a distinct look, a couple of specific abilities, and a fistful of passive effects. You’ll then set your loadout by pulling items from past runs into your inventory, like increased shields, higher-rarity weapons, and perk nodes. Or, if you’re just starting out and don’t have any items or currency yet, you can launch in with a sponsored pack, which is a free or cheap (in terms of credits, the in-game currency) loadout that comes with low-quality versions of everything you need. When you’re ready, you’ll group up (or matchmake) with two other players and head into the map of your choosing — of which there are several, each with varying difficulty levels and player caps. While Bungie did tell us that you can turn off squad-fill matchmaking and jump into a round as a solo or duo player, you’ll be at a distinct disadvantage.  You’ll load into a map with varying numbers of opponents, with the count depending on the map size. Dire Marsh, the map we played on for most of my preview, can hold 18 players — six squads of three, including your own.  The goal is twofold. First, you want to find the best kind of loot you can on the map; you can earn loot as a reward by completing events that appear, taking on AI enemies (all of which are very dangerous and will easily kill you if you lose focus), and solving minor puzzles. Second, you’ll be trying to make progress on any contracts you have with the game’s major factions. While we didn’t get to interact with the contract and reputation metagame as much as I would have liked, it showed a lot of promise — especially for players who don’t just want to hunt other teams for sport. When your backpack is full and contracts are complete, it’s time to find an Exfil location. When you activate your extraction beacon, it shoots up a giant “please don’t hurt me” beam into the sky that alerts all other players that someone is trying to escape with the good stuff. If you survive until the Exfil goes off, you keep your spoils, and it all goes into your vault for the next time you want to use it. If you die at any point in the match, you lose everything you had in your inventory and cannot get it back. If that sounds harsh, it is. It’s kind of the point. And while there are some friendlier elements to Marathon when compared to Tarkov and games like it — your allies can revive you an unlimited number of times, for example — it’s the most hardcore and punishing game that Bungie has ever made. But that’s where all the tension is, and it’s what led to some truly adrenaline-pumping moments during my sessions, a reaction that genuinely surprised me. When I first arrived at Bungie, I had assumed that Marathon wouldn’t be for me. I was a big Halo multiplayer guy in my youth, I’ve put hundreds of hours into PUBG, played plenty of Apex, and basically haven’t put down Destiny or its sequel since 2014. But as I age, I’m less inclined to engage with PvP, and for that reason, the extraction genre hasn’t ever truly gotten my attention. Although Bungie has managed to make games that speak to me for my entire life, my history with the studio wasn’t enough to outweigh my skepticism. After the developers walked us through how Marathon works, I was escorted to the play area to get my hands on the game. The squads were premade, and I was placed in a group with another American journalist and one from a different country who struggled to communicate with us. And thus began our morning of getting destroyed. Whenever we ran into other players, it didn’t go well for us, in what admittedly felt like a true “random matchmaking” experience. As I went to lunch for the day, I felt conflicted. On one hand, I worried that my PvP woes were well founded, and that Marathon would eventually not be very fun if I couldn’t reliably or confidently take on other squads. On the other hand, the game was slick as hell. The sleek, mechanical aesthetic is astounding, and the strong art direction has already driven up hype. As long as I was progressing my contracts and just being present in the world of Marathon, I was having fun. My concern was what would happen when those contracts turned more intense, and when not interacting with other players would no longer be an option. Luckily, things changed after lunch, as Bungie decided to move my team around. Suddenly, we were joined by Kevin Yanes. All anyone would say about Yanes was that he was good at Marathon. That’s an understatement, I soon learned. Yanes changed the game for me and our third squadmate, not because he could carry us while we were learning — although that was certainly part of it, I won’t lie — but because he could teach us things that would have taken hours of playing on our own to discover. When we dropped into our first match together, Yanes opened the map and pinged two nearby locations. “OK, we got a Complex spawn,” he said, denoting where on the map we were. “There are two other squads that can spawn here and here, so we need to be careful unless we want to go after them right away.” It was overwhelming — and intoxicating. What started as a team that absolutely did not want to get into scrapes became a squad that was actively hunting players down. Suddenly, mysterious gas-filled rooms that once seemed impossible to open, we now knew how to vent. An Exfil beam didn’t mean “thank god, a team is leaving” anymore; it was more like an enemy team’s dinner bell ringing to say, We found all this cool stuff for you; please come take it! And we did. As my knowledge grew, so did my comfort level. In very short order, I found myself going from asking Yanes questions to taking my newfound knowledge and putting it into action. Still, I did worry that Marathon wouldn’t be fun without someone like Yanes as a squadmate. That the joy was in extracting with great shit every time, not in the game itself. But even when we lost to some extremely talented Valorant players on the final match of day 2, I found that I still felt good about my experience and my team. It’s too bad that not every player out there will have Yanes to teach them the game — as much as his co-workers joked that they should ship him with every copy of Marathon. But they will have me. And their favorite streamers. And guides (on Polygon). And Tarkov friends. And Halo players. And Guardians from Destiny’s Crucible. Since Halo, Bungie has relied not only on its skilled developers, but on its community of players around the world to help with tutorializing its games. For my friends, I will be Yanes when it comes to Marathon — I will be the online stranger I met when I played Halo for the first time back in the day. Marathon is difficult. It’s punishing, and it’s intentionally frustrating. It has low lows and high highs, by design. It’s a difficult sell to the masses — the most difficult pitch Bungie has made yet. But what Bungie has always been good at is producing converts: players who see the vision, get pulled inside, and can’t wait to share the game with their friends. I find myself an unlikely convert to Marathon’s vision, and I left Bellevue desperate to get my hands on the game again — one of the best feelings you can have about something you’re playing when on the clock. There are a million factors that could sink Marathon: the crowded live service market, the game’s monetization strategy — all that Bungie has confirmed is that it won’t be free-to-play — its release timing, and the state of the global economy. You’d have to be a fool to look at any upcoming game in 2025 and say, “That’s a surefire hit.” But what I can say, without being a fool, is that Marathon made me truly enjoy PvP for the first time in nearly a decade.  Others have been teaching me to play Bungie games for 20 years, and even if I won’t be as good a teacher as Kevin Yanes, I’m excited to pay it forward with my own friends when Marathon comes to PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X on Sept. 23. Disclosure: This article is based on a Marathon preview event held at Bungie’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, from April 2-4. Bungie provided Polygon’s travel and accommodations for the event. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.

This installment of our reviews roundup goes in several different directions. We've got an excellent Android phone, some smart glasses and a powerful CPU. Plus, we revisited our old pal the iPhone 16 Pro and offer up a spoiler-free review of The Last of Us season two. There's plenty to catch up on, so keep scrolling to see what our reviews team has been up to over the last few weeks.  Google Pixel 9a There's a lot to like about the Pixel 9a. In fact, senior reviews writer Sam Rutherford argues it's the best Android phone you can buy right now in terms of pure value. "I would love to see Google add a true telephoto lens and its charging speeds (both wired and wireless) could be better," he writes. "But for $500, Google's most budget-friendly phone covers all the bases and then some." Even Realities G1 If you're looking for a pair of smart glasses that are more practical instead of being a content capture device, Even Realities' G1 might be for you. The device impressed senior editor Daniel Cooper, but the caveats will be dealbreakers for some people. "I really like Even Realities’ G1 for what they can do right now, but I’m also hopeful that it’ll get far more useful in the future," he explains. "It seems to me there are so many things that could be tweaked, primped and plumped to make these far more appealing." AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D The latest AMD Ryzen CPU is a powerhouse, but it comes with a steep price tag. "After releasing a pair of excellent midrange GPUs, which showed that the company can genuinely go toe-to-toe with NVIDIA, this CPU and its accompanying 3D V-Cache technology is a reminder of how AMD is far ahead of Intel in many ways," senior editor Devindra Hardawar says. "While it’s certainly not the best deal around, if you can afford it, the 9950X3D is the best desktop CPU you can buy today." An iPhone 16 Pro check-in and S2 of The Last of Us We're revisiting big devices about six months after their initial release to see how things are progressing. UK bureau chief Mat Smith recently put the iPhone 16 Pro through its paces again, noting that Apple Intelligence remains a disappointment. Deputy news editor Nathan Ingraham got early access to The Last of Us ahead of the season two premiere this weekend. He explains that the show navigates a rough patch in the source material with relative ease, and his review won't spoil the new episodes. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/engadget-review-recap-the-pixel-9a-smart-glasses-and-amds-latest-cpu-141825552.html?src=rss

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Thermal pools, hammams, banyas, onsens, shvitzes, cold plunges, steam rooms, and saunas: Hot and cold water, and the communal experience of steam and sweat, has been a pillar of social and wellness cultures across millennia. Now a new crop of brighter and busier spaces known as social bathhouses seek to re-create the benefits of communal bathing with a callout to today’s overstressed, always-connected culture. As one bathhouse owner says, “You’re half naked, your phone’s in the locker, everyone’s going through something together.”  There isn’t a comprehensive count of social bathhouse openings, but there’s a sense that it’s a nascent category in American fitness culture that is ripe for expansion. Market research firm Technavio predicts the sauna market in the U.S. will grow from $390 million in annual sales in 2023 to $526 million by 2028, with similar growth trends predicted for cold-plunge tubs. New spaces from Maine to Seattle are opening to offer modern twists on traditional bathing culture alongside social events, DJ nights, and coffee tastings.   [Photo: Sauna House] A place where your phone will melt Matthew and Gabriella Khalil’s renovations of the old AIG building in New York City into a hip coterie of startups and exclusive parties includes a two-story urban bathhouse. The Schvitz in Detroit resurrected an old Jewish bathhouse that used to host the machinations of Al Capone’s gang. Drip Nordic Sauna in Asheville, North Carolina, is a portable wood-fired sauna that can be rented for events and chill-out sessions. They’ve been dispatched to Airbnbs on mountaintops and a local music festival. Austin has two spa experiences opening soon: Bathe, and Submersive, an immersive spa from the founder of Meow Wolf. This past January, New York City hosted the first Culture of Bathing Conference, with more than 100 attendees, many of whom were opening their own venue.  “This is something that wasn’t here five years ago, and a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon,” says Don Genders, founder and CEO of Design for Leisure, an established player in the spa and wellness worlds. “It surprised me that some of the veterans in the industry haven’t seen this opportunity, or if they have, they haven’t read it properly. A lot of people are missing out.”  [Photo: Sauna House] Often described as another example of the post-COVID 19 push for socializing and community, social bathhouses have been described as “friend-making boxes.” That isn’t wrong, but there’s much more pushing Americans into ice-filled tubs and saunas. Genders attributes it, in part, to the younger generation’s pursuit of experiences and comfort with alcohol-free socialization. There’s also a desire for digital detox; nearly everyone interviewed for this article said the appeal of spaces where phones would literally melt is significant. “The dopamine hit you get from a real Finnish sauna, and the hot-cold relax cycle, is unmistakable,” says Andrew Lachlan, cofounder and CEO of Sauna House, which has four locations in the Southeast. “It’s a healthy form of dopamine, and we’re all dopamine fiends now.” [Photo: Native Dreamer Photography/Sauna House] More than a bath Significant credit is due to wellness influencers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone suddenly had a lot of time to do their own research, or at least listen to the podcasts of those who had. Personalities like Andrew Huberman, Rhonda Patrick, and Susanna Søberg, author of Winter Swimming—all PhDs—helped stoke the attraction to tradition, authenticity, primal health and fitness, and the scientific evidence backing up contrast bathing. “It was hot and cold,” says Othership cofounder Harry Taylor, recounting how he and his partner and cofounder, Amanda Laine, decided to start their international chain, which has a new location opening in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn this summer. “Why is this not more of a thing? This is something the world needs.” [Photo: Ian Patterson/courtesy Othership] Today’s new bathhouse concepts—often bathed in light and light-colored wood—are a reaction to a new generation of sauna fans visiting traditional Russian and Jewish bathhouses and deciding that they wanted something that aligned more closely with the high-design spaces they’re accustomed to in other parts of their lives. Genders says that some of today’s founders thought they could do it better themselves. In the U.S. in particular, where there was once a strong bathhouse culture in the 19th century, modern cultural aversion to the bathhouse as a dirty space—often directly linked to homophobia and a reaction to the AIDS crisis—held back the growth of the industry for decades.  [Photo: Ian Patterson/courtesy Othership] These new bathhouse concepts aim for something bigger, says Matt Aspiotis Morley, founder and director of Biofilico, a design studio focused on this industry. Saunas that fit a handful of people have now been built for 40, with staircase and stadium seating to encourage conversation. Small, subterranean enclaves are making way for bright, lofted, open-air venues with natural light. Operators ask for unisex changing areas and smaller entryways to maximize the space for pools, plunges, saunas, and customers. Elements like conversation pits and communal spaces, says Morley, get extra focus in social bathing sites. [Photo: Sauna House] “It’s kind of a wild, wild west” A key challenge remains finding a space. Communal bathhouses don’t necessarily require an urban storefront with curb appeal, but they do need a location with high ceilings and a lack of columns breaking up the floor plate. Sauna House COO Jen Richter, whose firm is operating and opening a handful of spaces across the Southeast, says the real estate hunt is tough, and they often find winners with old industrial buildings, including an auto shop and fencing academy, both of which they’ve turned into new facilities.   There’s also the challenge of doing things right, as far as health and safety are concerned (see the recent conversation around the sanitary issues of NYC’s Bathhouse). Keeping cold plunges clean and sanitary, without the benefit of heat, remains difficult, says Richter, especially with startup owners improvising larger and larger setups, and the challenges of navigating varied local ordinances. She predicts there’s going to be “flush out” of some locations as this concept becomes a long-lasting trend.  [Photo: Native Dreamer Photography/Sauna House] “It’s kind of a wild, wild west,” says Othership’s Taylor. They made their own cold plunges from scratch, since he says they couldn’t find a commercial grade version of what they needed. Their saunas were so big they basically daisy-chained heathers together to warm the space.  Users often pay monthly fees, and unless they come daily, the per-visit cost remains relatively high. For many operators, it’s sort of like being a spa without the expensive-to-provide services; saunas and bathhouses have lower labor costs, and most of the expenses come from the fixed cost of labor, water, and power. Once the pools and saunas hit a certain number of visitors, everything else is profit (a 10-pack of classes for Othership’s NYC location is $510, though there are other, cheaper monthly membership options). [Photo: Sauna House] A new tradition Traditional saunas have been around for millennia in cultures from Japan to Finland—even the upper Midwest has an established culture from Scandinavian immigrants—but the settings are often more austere. Finland has 3 million saunas for a population of 5.5 million, and they tend to be small spaces at private homes. The ceremonial aufguss, a European tradition, brings a bit of showmanship to the sauna, with an aufguss master utilizing towels, essential oils, and music to create a more ceremonial experience.  There’s no doubt the American version—the first U.S. Aufguss competition is scheduled for late June at Bathhouse in Brooklyn—will be a bit more flamboyant. Taylor says that Othership’s spaces include music, patterned light, guided meditations, and essential oils on snowballs, all meant to be sensory activating and entertaining. He considers it both an evolution of tradition and a new experience altogether. The overlap between psychedelics, spirituality, and what’s being done with hot and cold is all about a state shift, says Taylor, who calls the regulars at his locations “Shipheads.” [Photo: Ian Patterson/courtesy Othership] Mental health can be a magnet for visitors, says Sauna House’s Richter, noting that members of the recovery community often frequent the space, bringing along journals and books.  Perhaps the biggest challenge for the industry’s growth remains funding. Big institutional lenders and private equity firms want tried-and-tested business models, not startups and passion projects without a track record. Genders sees a big opening for someone with industry experience to start a mid-market chain with dozens of locations across the country as a magnet for funding and more expansion.  But that may change soon. The German Therme Group recently announced plans to open a 15-acre resort of spas and saunas in Washington, D.C. Genders expects some of the Canadian chains to start making moves, and Morley, the designer, says he’s working on projects that seek to incorporate more space for saunas and cold plunges in traditional health clubs and gyms. Why not incorporate this experience at a place you’re already paying to attend every month? The boom in bathhouses, which remains heavily fragmented, has gained critical mass. The challenge may be avoiding the typical American fitness hype cycle where trends quickly get commercialized and co-opted.  “This isn’t a trend,” says Drip Sauna cofounder Daniel Ratner. “This is something that’s existed forever and will continue to exist. It’s just a matter of, how can we continue to make this an accessible part of our day-to-day?”

Ever wished your storage solutions could be as beautiful as they are practical? Meet Tronco, the delightfully innovative container that brings the organic charm of forest life into your home. Inspired by the distinctive shape of tree trunks, this clever design transforms everyday storage into a playful statement piece that works hard while looking effortlessly stylish. The cylindrical form with its subtle texture and natural contours creates an immediate connection to the outdoors, bringing a breath of fresh air to interior spaces. What makes Tronco truly special is how it reimagines storage as something to be celebrated rather than hidden away. Crafted from recyclable polyethylene, these containers offer a sustainable solution for organizing your essentials while doubling as display platforms for your favorite objects. The smooth, curved surfaces invite touch, while the hollow interior provides generous space for tucking away everything from bathroom necessities to living room odds and ends—proving that practical storage can also be a joy to look at and use. Designer: Furf for Qeeboo The real magic happens when you start stacking these versatile containers. Multiple Tronco units can be piled vertically to create a sculptural tower reminiscent of a stylized tree, complete with branch-like protrusions perfect for hanging clothes, towels, or accessories. This playful nod to nature transforms a simple storage solution into a functional art piece that becomes a focal point in any room, sparking conversation while keeping your space beautifully organized. I’m particularly excited about how Tronco adapts to virtually any environment in your home. Place a single unit in the bathroom for toiletries and towels, stack a pair in the bedroom for clothing and accessories, or create a mini forest in your living room to corral books, remote controls, and decorative items. The versatile design even works outdoors on terraces and patios, bringing the same organic-inspired organization to your exterior spaces without worrying about weather damage. For those who love customization, Tronco offers clever optional features that enhance its functionality. Add mobility wheels to the base unit for easy repositioning throughout your home—perfect for those who like to refresh their spaces regularly or need flexible storage solutions. The innovative magnet system allows for secure stacking of multiple units into taller columns, ensuring your creative arrangements stay perfectly in place even in busy households with pets or children. The beauty of Tronco lies in its ability to bridge the gap between practical storage and artistic expression. Unlike conventional containers that demand to be tucked away in closets, these tree-inspired pieces deserve to be displayed prominently. Their sculptural quality transforms the mundane act of organization into something joyful and expressive, proving that even the most functional items in our homes can contribute to our aesthetic environment while making our daily lives smoother and more organized. The post Tronco Is A Nature-Inspired Storage Design That Stacks Like Magic first appeared on Yanko Design.

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Bungie has officially revealed that Marathon, its sci-fi PvP extraction shooter and spiritual reboot of the 1994 classic, will launch on September 23, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. The announcement came alongside the game’s first full gameplay trailer, showcasing fast-paced, high-tech action in a visually arresting sci-fi world. Described as a “massive ghost ship” orbiting the planet Tau Ceti IV, the game’s setting is rich with mystery. Players assume the role of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries who venture into the abandoned colony to retrieve valuable artifacts and survive deadly encounters against other teams. Key Features Revealed: PvP Extraction Gameplay: Think Escape from Tarkov meets Destiny with faster movement and stylized visuals. Crossplay and Cross-Save: Fully supported across all platforms at launch. Alpha Access Now Live: Players can register for a closed alpha via Bungie’s Discord, available on PS5, Xbox, and PC. Emergent Storytelling: Bungie hints at player-driven narratives and evolving world states. As a spiritual successor to the original Marathon trilogy, this reboot embraces its roots while modernizing its design for today’s extraction shooter landscape. With Bungie now under Sony’s wing, but the game launching day one on Xbox, Marathon also serves as a key example of multiplatform strategy in the current-gen console wars.