Okay... what?Just when we thought we were starting to get a grip on what would and would not be on Switch 2 cartridges, publisher Marvelous comes in with another bombshell (thanks for the heads up, @Wario64).In a recently published Q&A section regarding the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, Marvelous started to unpack what the game's physical copy actually entails. According to the site, the red Switch 2 cart contains the full Switch 1 game and the Switch 2 Upgrade Pack, but it can be inserted into and played on either console.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

A new animated kids’ series expected to premiere this year won’t be headed for a TV network. Or a streaming service. Instead, the founders of production studio We Ghosted Media plan to launch on a decentralized web platform that uses blockchain technology. And yes, a crypto wallet will be involved.  We Ghosted Media — founded by Chris Jammal, an assistant director for “Bob’s Burgers,” and Jaclynn Demas, producer of hit children’s show “Peg + Cat” — is a TV production studio abandoning traditional show release methods in favor of a decentralized approach, commonly referred to as Web3. The studio announced Friday it was teaming up with Lamina1 to launch the new animated kids’ series entitled “Owen Nowhere.” Lamina1 was founded by “Snow Crash” author Neal Stephenson and launched in 2022 as a Layer 1 blockchain platform designed to give creators an environment to protect, control, and monetize their intellectual property. Lamina1’s overarching mission, however, is to build an open metaverse. Stephenson’s vision of the metaverse — a concept he coined in his 1992 acclaimed novel — consists of a virtual world where users get their own lifelike 3D avatar. Blockchain technology and the metaverse are buzzwords in the tech world and they have been slow to achieve mass adoption. Introducing a kids’ show in this space is particularly bold, considering the production studio will have to figure out how kids will navigate a platform that requires a crypto wallet.  But Jammal and Demas are banking on the freedom of a decentralized platform, which allows the audience to interact and even participate, as a selling point that will win over users. Image Credits:We Ghosted Media The new show centers around Owen B. Gloom, a preteen aspiring content creator on a family road trip, documenting their visits to unusual tourist attractions, starting with the world’s largest. The family’s dynamic is funny, sweet, and slightly dysfunctional, featuring Owen’s adoptive vampire parents, a magical transforming vehicle, a pet cat, and a fish in a stroller.  But as Jammal and Demas told TechCrunch, this is more than a show. It’s really about their mission to set a “new standard for the future of children’s entertainment in the decentralized era.”  The project will be developed and viewable on Lamina1’s yet-to-be-launched Spaces, an offering that enables creators to create their own virtual worlds. In these worlds, creators can build interactive experiences, digital items, and content in various formats, including 2D, 3D, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR).  Jammal and Demas envision “Owen Nowhere” as an immersive experience that allows fans to engage with the world and contribute their ideas for the series.  The virtual space will also include exclusive behind-the-scenes content, collectible digital assets, and online community-driven experiences like voting. The studio believes that the most attractive feature is the opportunity for viewers to make key decisions for the story, such as suggesting destinations for the family’s adventures. “We were thinking [fans could] vote for where the Glooms can travel next. Do you want them to come to your hometown? Maybe they want to buy that souvenir that Owen picked up at the Grand Canyon [as] their own digital asset. Maybe they want to change his outfit. There are so many possibilities of how this can go,” Jammal said.  Image Credits:We Ghosted Media While it’s clear that this show has all the ingredients to resonate with viewers and hold their attention, there will be challenges, including convincing parents to manage a crypto wallet for their child. Parents may worry that introducing kids to this ecosystem, even indirectly, could expose them to financial manipulation or loss, even if the parents are the ones in control of the wallet. However, some parents are more open to the idea, with some sending their five-year-olds to crypto summer camps. In 2022, Zigazoo introduced NFTs for several IPs, including CoComelon. “It’s a big topic of discussion. It’s like, ‘What permissions do we need in place around it?’” Lamina1 CEO Rebecca Barkin said, adding, “I won’t tell you that we have the perfect answer right now…we’re going to learn real fast as this develops, what protections need to be put in place.” Owen Nowhere’s digital assets are positioned as a way for fans to be involved in the show and enable them to contribute financially to the show’s production by owning digital collectibles– including artwork, characters, and outfits — fostering a community of supporters who are invested in its success. “That token can be used as a loyalty token, it doesn’t have to be about cash and trading and the traditional crypto stuff. It’s about token-gated access and rewarding those who are sharing things, who are making really creative contributions to the community,” Barkin explained.  While the new series is primarily aimed at kids and pre-teens, it’s also designed to appeal to adults. This is similar to how “Bob’s Burgers” attracts many adult fans through its hilarious storylines about parenting. “We’re not going after that super young demographic,” said Barkin. Nonetheless, they may need to approach this with transparency and possibly even parental controls to appeal to their entire audience.  Lamina1’s Spaces product is slated to launch in the fall. Another virtual world launching on Spaces is “Artefact,” a project by visual effects company Wētā, known for its work on the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy. Lamina1 has raised $9 million to date from notable investors and angels, such as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Bloq co-founder Matthew Roszak.

Nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 2025 Academy Awards, Critics' Choice Movie Awards, British Academy Film Awards, Satellite Awards and many other, Jon M. Chu’s Wicked has proven itself a masterclass in the art of movie magic.  Along with explosions, impressively engineered contraptions and undersea dance clubs, the film adaptation of one of Broadway’s most popular musicals and bestselling novel by Gregory Maguire is also filled with magical, musical, and sometimes flying creatures brought to life with the help of the VFX artists at Clear Angle Studios, Framestore, Gentle Giant Studios, OPSIS, The Third Floor, Inc., and, of course, Industrial Light and Magic. “Ultimately what we do is always in the service of story,” shares Ryan Gillis, one of ILM’s VFX supervisors on Wicked. “For this film, we got to create a bear nanny, a wolf doctor, a flying Elphaba and her army of flying monkeys, the famed emerald city and yellow brick road.” Certainly not a bad visual effects gig.  Directed by Chu and produced by Universal Pictures, Wicked tells the story of the witches of Oz. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” their friendship reaches a crossroads, and their lives take very different paths. Glinda's unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, and Elphaba's determination to remain true to herself and to those around her results in unexpected and shocking consequences for her future. Their adventure in Oz ultimately sees them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. But the mysterious disappearance and imprisonment of Oz’s animal population, many of whom can speak, learn, and teach like any other two-legged citizen in Oz, is a major plot point. Gillis, a computer art graduate from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), served as Groom Supervisor and the Groom Artist for the film’s first animal stars, nanny Dulcibear and Wolf Doctor who care for Elphaba early in the film during her childhood.  “The biggest challenge with both of these characters was creating photorealistic animals that had subtle fantastical characteristics who then also had to give anthropomorphized performances,” explains Gillis, who had previously worked with fellow ILM VFX supervisor Robert Weaver on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. “Bears and wolves aren't known for their ability to belt out Broadway tunes. They don't have sprigs of human hair, dramatic stripes, and it's usually frowned upon when they take part in medical procedures. Dulcibear had to look both like a believable bear, but when she reached to pick up the newborn Elphaba she immediately had to present to the audience as nurturing, not threatening.” When Elphaba’s mother gives birth to her – with the help of a curly-haired, glasses-wearing Wolf Doctor – a horrified energy overtakes the delivery room as we see that Elphaba has bright green skin. While Elphaba’s birth mother wrestles with her emotions, unable to look at her own child, Dulcibear scoops up the radiantly emerald baby, cradling the child and, with a rather large claw and equally large heart, reassures Elphaba that everything will be alright.  ILM posted a behind-the-scenes breakdown of creating Dulcibear and her nurturing, mother-like movements in this video: Then there was the matter of making Dulcibear smile and sing, like any other mother would with their child.  “When undergoing rapid facial movements required for singing, the characters still had to look natural with readable expressions,” says Gillis. “This feat was achieved by our amazing animation team through performance choices and then supported by subtle accommodations that we built into the characters.” Both Dulcibear and Wolf Doctor had to show shock and surprise at Elphaba’s skin color, and noticeable concern as they sang about her unusual predicament; Dulcibear also had to reciprocate joyous giggles as Elphaba smiled and laughed at her bear nanny. Highlighting both animals’ snouts, eyebrows and eyeball shines were all part of the collaborative team effort to give the bear and wolf as much humanity as would be believable in the land of Oz.  “It is always an extraordinary challenge to make a character doing unbelievable things feel believable,” says Gillis. “And it takes a tremendous amount of coordination between all of our disciplines to accomplish it.” In addition to building the grooms for each asset, Gillis worked with modeling, texture, and lookdev departments to develop the proportions and overall look and feel of the animal characters. Once the assets were built, Gillis provided support to the simulation department to make sure they had what they needed to apply motion to the fur and to ensure that the hair – from bobbing head curls to fluffy, wagging tails – moved properly. “No matter how long you work in the industry, each project is an opportunity to learn something new, and every time you have to replicate an animal it is a crash course in anatomy,” notes Gillis. “To build an asset that works in diverse environments and with a broad spectrum of performances, you have to understand the way that something is built.” And, naturally, fur was an integral part of both Dulcibear and Wolf Doctor’s anatomical makeup. But while fur might seem like an obvious part of the grooming production for animal character models, it’s a more complex production process than expected.  “Fur layers can be built out of several different types of hair that, once you get to the outer surface of the hair volume, are rarely even visible,” explains Gillis. “Those invisible under layers influence how light scatters through the fur volume and ultimately how the hair moves and behaves. These characters were an exercise in finding an efficient balance between those inner and outer layers of fur while exploring how far we could push their more imaginative design aspects.” Dulcibear, sporting her own set of hair curls as well as housekeeper attire, has perfect dexterity when carrying Elphaba, taking part in tea parties and presenting the young witch with books. But the bear still carries in water buckets with her mouth while running in haste on all fours and Wolf Doctor, prepping for delivery, still must hop up onto a chair the way a dog would leap onto a couch. The way an animal’s fur moves and catches the light as its body shakes and pivots on all fours still has to translate when that same animal gets up on its hind legs and rocks a baby.  “Those realistic and artistic elements had to be combined so that the final characters were still believable, all while allowing the performance from the animators to be emotive while maintaining their readability,” shares Gillis. “The realization of both Wicked’s fantasy creatures and the renowned world for them to inhabit and soar through was pretty spectacular.” Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.

After the embers settled in Southern California, photographers like Tag Christof traversed ruined, macabre Los Angeles neighborhoods in search of what was left. Much of the imagery we saw after the fires were empty lots where a house used to be, charred trees, orange dystopian skies, and freestanding chimneys. How should the lives and places lost during the fires which recently swept Southern California be memorialized? Palisades Fire Memorial, Concept Rendering (© Milton Lau, Evan Hall/CourtesyHouse Museum) Project Chimney, a new initiative by House Museum, as the name suggests, seeks to relocate several historically significant chimneys designed by Richard Neutra, Paul R. Williams, and Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr., and others in the Pacific Palisades burn zone. It marks one of many reconstruction developments underway today meant to help heal a broken city. Los Angeles Conservancy, the Pacific Palisades Preservation Coalition, and Studio 1323 are all institutional supporters. More than 55 historically significant chimneys have been tagged for relocation, some of which date back to 1922, when the Palisades was founded as a community. These chimneys range from midcentury modern, to Spanish colonial revival to coastal New England styles. Some chimneys come from houses where notable figures resided, like that of Reverend Dr. Charles Scott, an important pastor; and actor Anthony Hopkins. House Museum envisions these chimneys coming together in a new location to create what it calls the Palisades Fire Memorial. The chimneys will be arranged in a circle, like Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, and also recall also Chris Burden’s Urban Light at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Richard Neutra, Kesler House, 2025. (© Evan Curtis Charles Hall/CourtesyHouse Museum) Already, four chimneys have been committed by owners to the memorial, including one by Eric Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright’s son who died in 2023. “Like elders in the community, the monolithic structures will gather people together and tell the tales of bygone residences and family histories,” House Museum said in a statement. Evan Curtis Charles Hall, House Museum director, added the memorial is “crucial for resisting cultural erasure and honoring over 100 years of design and cultural development.” Palisades residents can submit chimney candidates directly to House Museum for consideration to be included.

Eufy features the cheapest robot vacuum combination this year, with a handheld unit built into the robot's body instead of the dock - and it's 25% off.

Looking for help with today's NYT Strands puzzle? Here's an extra hint to help you uncover the right words, as well as all of today's answers and Spangram.

In context: Nintendo has set a new date for Switch 2 pre-orders: April 24. The company initially promised pre-orders would begin on April 9 but backtracked just days before, citing ongoing tariff uncertainty as the reason for the delay. With those trade concerns seemingly resolved or at least accounted for, Nintendo is giving it another shot. The Switch 2 will still launch on June 5, featuring upgraded internals, improved Joy-Con controllers with magnetic snap-on rails, and backward compatibility for most digital Switch games. Nintendo has been relatively open about the hardware. However, its wishy-washy approach to pre-orders has caused confusion and speculation, particularly regarding its price. When the company postponed the April 9 date, it issued a brief statement that blamed "evolving global trade conditions" and promised updates soon. That led to conjecture that Nintendo might be waiting for clarity on U.S. import tariffs – especially since the new console, like its predecessor, is manufactured in China, which faces the stiffest tariffs. A few analysts predicted Nintendo would delay the pre-order window by weeks or even months. So, the company's new April 24 timeline is more optimistic than many expected. Pre-orders will be available from Nintendo directly and through Amazon, Walmart, GameStop, Best Buy, and Target. Nintendo will offer two SKUs: a $450 standalone Switch 2 and a $500 bundle that includes Mario Kart World. That hasn't changed. What has changed are the prices of some first-party accessories, including the Pro Controller, Joy-Con sets, and the charging dock, which now cost slightly more than their original announcement. A complete breakdown of products and pricing is available on Nintendo's website. With just six weeks left before launch, the new pre-order window gives buyers less time to secure a console – but it could also help Nintendo limit scalping. Scalping has been a hot-button issue for all major consoles. The original Switch was unavailable for over a year because of it. This time, Nintendo has heavily restricted pre-orders through its storefront. Customers who want to buy directly from Nintendo must be at least 18, sign in with a Nintendo account, and register their interest before pre-orders open on April 24 – a queue for the queue, so to speak. While Nintendo says it will prioritize orders on a first-come, first-served basis, additional eligibility rules apply. // Related Stories "Registrants who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours, as of April 2, 2025," will receive the highest priority, the company says. Qualifying customers will get email invitations valid for just 72 hours. In effect, Nintendo is offering first dibs to its most dedicated fans, but has put it behind a Switch Online subscription paywall. Casual buyers may have better luck with other retailers. Since scalpers can and do still list guaranteed pre-order slots on eBay for double or more retail prices, brushing up on strategies to beat them might be wise. Check out how I landed a PlayStation 5 during peak demand – because these pre-orders will go fast.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is one of our favorite phones. In fact, it is right there at slot number two in our list of the best Android phones, where we call it the “best big Android phone.” It’s also 20% off today, knocking a 128GB storage and obsidian black version of the phone down to $884, from $1,099. That’s a savings of $215. You can also get a discount on the , but it costs a few more dollars at $899. Tap the button below to see the phone we’re highlighting in today’s best deal or keep on reading to see why this is one of our favored phones. The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a powerhouse. It has 16GB of RAM, and excellent display, legitimately helpful AI tools, and what our Google Pixel 9 Pro XL review calls the “best Pixel hardware yet.” As mentioned, it is the second phone detailed in our list of the best Android phones, labelled as a “big” phone. And it is, the XL referring to its 6.8-inch Super Actua OLED display with a 1344 x 2992 resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rate. Our review calls this display “outstanding” and tells us that the “screen is bright and vibrant without being too punchy.” You begin to wonder why this is number two. To put everything into context, and show both why the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a stellar pick while on sale and why determining “the best” is hard with these phones, take a look at some comparisons. The top phone right now is the OnePlus 13, a new phone from a brand that is popping off in a big way lately. While we don’t have a comparison between the OnePlus 13 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL, we do have have a head-to-head where the OnePlus 13 and Google Pixel 9 Pro are compared. The results? “As much as we would love to give the OnePlus 13 the winner’s flowers, we’re giving them to the Google Pixel 9 Pro.” Related If you want a phone with a bigger screen, aren’t interested in having one of the best tablets, and get this deal where you save $215, then the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL likely becomes the best Android phone for you. Remember, the phone is usually $1,099, so this puts it down to $884 if you tap the button below. And, if color matters to you, don’t forget you can also get the for $899. Editors’ Recommendations

Surreal paintings of the American West at Harper’s and meditative images of abandoned structures in Haifa, Israel, at SLAG&RX reveal artists with keen sensitivities to place.

Rock on (quietly) Google adds YouTube Music feature to end annoying volume shifts Automatic audio leveling is coming to YouTube Music. Ryan Whitwam – Apr 18, 2025 4:52 pm | 15 Credit: Google Credit: Google Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Google's history with music services is almost as convoluted and frustrating as its history with messaging. However, things have gotten calmer (and slower) ever since Google ceded music to the YouTube division. The YouTube Music app has its share of annoyances, to be sure, but it's getting a long-overdue feature that users have been requesting for ages: consistent volume. Listening to a single album from beginning to end is increasingly unusual in this age of unlimited access to music. As your playlist wheels from one genre or era to the next, the inevitable vibe shifts can be grating. Different tracks can have wildly different volumes, which can be shocking and potentially damaging to your ears if you've got your volume up for a ballad only to be hit with a heavy guitar riff after the break. The gist of consistent volume simple—it normalizes volume across tracks, making the volume roughly the same. Consistent volume builds on a feature from the YouTube app called "stable volume." When Google released stable volume for YouTube, it noted that the feature would continuously adjust volume throughout the video. Because of that, it was disabled for music content on the platform. It's unclear how consistent volume differs, but presumably it won't change volume within the track and wreck your tunes. Unlike stable volume, which is enabled on a video-to-video basis, YouTube Music's consistent volume is toggled globally. Hopefully, that will make genre transitions less jarring without changing how a song sounds. According to 9to5Google, consistent volume is only available on YouTube Music v8.15 and later on Android and iOS. You'll find it under the main app settings inside the Playback (or Playback and restrictions on iOS) submenu. Or maybe you won't! Google often rolls out new features to specific app versions as a server-side update. Some listeners are seeing the toggle for consistent volume on both iOS and Android, and others are not. The only thing you can do is wait for Google to complete the full rollout. Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards. 15 Comments