The B2B buying process is undergoing a seismic shift. Today’s marketers are witnessing purchasing decisions being made before sellers even have a chance to engage with audiences. In fact, 81% of B2B buyers choose a vendor before ever speaking to sales. Despite this, marketing teams are being asked to do more than generate leads. They are now responsible for guiding complex buying networks, enabling informed decisions, and navigating the rise of AI in purchasing journeys. The call to today’s marketers has never been clearer – the time is now to evolve. This was just one of the many messages coming out of Forrester’s B2B Summit earlier this month, where hundreds of B2B marketing luminaries and leaders gathered in Phoenix, Arizona for the Super Bowl of the B2B marketing and sales world. To discuss key takeaways from this year’s event, B2B changemaker Katie Martell sat down with Informa TechTarget’s own Dara Such. They explored how expectations are changing among buyers, as well as what conditions are affecting marketers and impacting their decision making. Below we explore three essential takeaways from the 2025 Forrester Summit North America that can be applied now and in the years to come. To view the entire conversation, watch the video below: #1 – Buying Groups Meet Buying Networks Over the past several years, we’ve witnessed the purchasing process become more independent with individuals trying to self-educate so they feel confident when speaking to a salesperson, a vendor or a potential supplier. Because of this, today’s buying decisions aren’t confined to a handful of stakeholders. Instead, buying groups need to expand and meet other networks and those that are influencing buyers – suppliers, procurement teams, competition, colleagues and members of a buying group themselves. This expanded buying network also includes a surprising new player: AI. Advances in technology have quickly integrated into the sales process with chat and generative AI tools influencing buying decisions. Whether in more robust or minor roles, marketing teams are utilizing generative AI in the RFP process to discover new vendors and determine what their requirements or criteria should be. But with great automation also comes great responsibility. While AI offers speed and scale, marketers must ensure their content is not only discoverable but credible. Therefore, human intervention is still needed to make sure results pulled from these tools are accurate. Trust is the currency of modern marketing, and the only way to earn it is through clear, valuable, human-centric messaging.  When done effectively, good messaging provides clear business value that goes beyond just features and functionality. And as a result, content has become a great vehicle for brands to reach the right buyer audiences. This means the long game when it comes to buying networks is often won or lost well before a pitch deck hits a prospect’s inbox. The challenge? Making your brand discoverable, credible, and trusted from the very start. #2 – Don’t Assume You’ll Get an Early At-Bat with Buyers – Focus on Enabling Buyers Marketers can no longer assume they’ll have the opportunity to tell their story directly. Instead, they must enable buyers to build confidence in their own decisions – through third-party validation, robust content, and consistent brand messaging. Having a singular focus on Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) no longer serves everyone the way it used to. But this does not mean that they are dead. We know that buyers are using content as their way to self-educate. Whether it’s through ChatGPT, LinkedIn, or research reports, buyers are drawing their own conclusions before a sales rep approaches them. This means marketing must serve as both educator and enabler, offering credible insights across all touchpoints. Marketing and sales need to layer MQLs with other buying group signals – intent data, buyer behavior across third-party sites, competitive engagement – to get a fuller picture of opportunities. Even with a largely buyer-led research process, according to Forrester, 81% remain dissatisfied with the winning vendor. Pre-purchase buyer enablement is essential, but vendors must also make sure that they are paying attention to value realization and post-sale strategy alongside sales and customer service. Marketers must think beyond the sale, ensuring that customers not only buy, but succeed. That’s what it truly means to be customer-obsessed. #3 – Treat AI as the “Sixth Man of the Year” In pro basketball, the “Sixth Man of the Year” award is given to the player that is the most valuable bench player for their team. AI is not here to replace marketers or sales teams, but it can “come off the bench” to help buyers reshape how they discover, evaluate, and decide. Already, 1–3% of referral traffic is coming from generative AI tools, and some experts predict up to a significant drop in direct vendor traffic as AI becomes a dominant entry point. As noted earlier, buyers are increasingly turning to AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot as their first step in the purchasing journey. This technology helps to summarize options, compare features, and surface solutions – sometimes well before a vendor even knows they’re being considered. This does put some pressure on vendors to equip their sellers with talking points, value statements that are about what really matters to buyers. Today’s buyers are more educated than they were previously when sellers would interact with them early on. They have interpreted content at their fingertips, so you risk buyers knowing more about your business’ product than your rep does if you’re not equipping them to have a powerful, valuable conversation. Sellers have the tools to have better conversations and buyers have the knowledge to make smarter decisions. That’s where the magic happens and where you can really start seeing revenue acceleration. But if you don’t have those two together, your business will be at a disadvantage. To adapt, marketers must: Feed AI with accurate, differentiated messaging Optimize for AI discovery—not just SEO Arm sales teams with more powerful insights, such as intent data, to match expectations of more informed buyers Win With Confidence, Not Just Conversion In this new era, marketing is no longer just about visibility – it’s about relevance, trust, and enablement at every stage of the buyer’s journey. The most successful B2B brands will be those that treat AI as a partner, create touchpoints with many members of the buying network, and focus not solely on conversion, but on building decision-making confidence. Learn more about how Informa TechTarget can support your needs across the entire product lifecycle.

We keep an eye on Hisense TVs here at Digital Trends, so you can imagine our excitement when we discovered one of the company’s best QLED models of 2024 is on sale this week: Right now, when you purchase the Hisense 65-inch U8N Series 4K ULED, you’ll only pay $948. The full retail price of this TV is $1,148.  We tested the Hisense U8N back in May 2024 and reviewer Caleb Denison said, “The Hisense U8N is one of the best TVs of the year — especially if you don’t want to pay OLED prices.” It’s amusing to compare a QLED TV to an OLED TV when talking about contrast levels, but the Hisense U8N delivers inky blacks that are truly that good. While the U8N looks best in a darker room to experience the best local dimming effects, the TV gets bright enough to combat glare and reflections in a well-lit room when watching SDR content. Related The Hisense U8N supports all HDR formats and features HDMI 2.1 connectivity on ports 3 and 4. Thanks to the TV’s native 144Hz refresh rate, Game Mode, and VRR support, the U8N is an excellent choice for console and PC gaming. You can also expect a wide color gamut, with terrific coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. Apps, casting, and compatible smart home controls are brought to you by Google TV. Once connected to the internet, you’ll be able to access apps like Netflix and Disney Plus, hundreds of free live TV stations, along with Apple AirPlay 2 and Chromecast. Save $200 on the Hisense 65-inch U8N Series 4K ULED when you purchase today. And if you’d like additional Hisense TV recommendations, you should also take a look at our roundups of the best QLED TV deals, best TV deals, and best Amazon deals. Editors’ Recommendations

The multidisciplinary artist’s retrospective reveals the challenges and rewards of grappling with wide-ranging interests.

The Dumb Home Google announces 1st and 2nd gen Nest Thermostats will lose support in October 2025 Affected units will work locally, but smart features will shut down in October. Ryan Whitwam – Apr 25, 2025 2:58 pm | 8 Credit: Google Credit: Google Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Google's oldest smart thermostats have an expiration date. The company has announced that the first and second generation Nest Learning Thermostats will lose support in October 2025, disabling most of the connected features. Google is offering some compensation for anyone still using these devices, but there's no Google upgrade for European users. Google is also discontinuing its only European model, and it's not planning to release another. Both affected North American thermostats predate Google's ownership of the company, which it acquired in 2014. Nest released the original Learning Thermostat to almost universal praise in 2011, with the sequel arriving a year later. Google's second-gen Euro unit launched in 2014. Since launch, all these devices have been getting regular software updates and have migrated across multiple app redesigns. However, all good things must come to an end. As Google points out, these products have had a long life, and they're not being rendered totally inoperable. Come October 25, 2025, these devices will no longer receive software updates or connect to Google's cloud services. That means you won't be able to control them from the Google Home app or via Assistant (or more likely Gemini by that point). The devices will still work as a regular dumb thermostat to control temperature, and scheduling will remain accessible from the thermostat's screen. If you have one of these units, Google will be reaching out via email with some deals to soften the blow. In the US, owners can get a $130 discount if they upgrade to the fourth-gen Nest, which was released just last year for $280. In Canada, the discount will be CA$160. Google is offering a discount on the fourth-gen Learning Thermostat for those still using the soon-to-be unsupported models. Credit: Ryan Whitwam Google is offering a discount on the fourth-gen Learning Thermostat for those still using the soon-to-be unsupported models. Credit: Ryan Whitwam The situation is a bit more frustrating for owners of the European thermostat—Google doesn't have any newer units to sell. Heating and cooling systems in Europe have various quirks that set them apart from North American systems, and consequently, it has been more than a decade since Nest released a smart thermostat adapted to the continent. And it never will again, the company confirms. The European seconnd-gen Nest Learning Thermostat will be the last from Google. For anyone in Europe deeply embedded in the Google ecosystem. Google recommends picking up a third-party unit that works with Google Home. In compensation for the inconvenience, owners of the old second-gen device can get a 50 percent discount on the Tado Smart Thermostat X, which works with Euro systems and Google Home. This move comes just weeks after Google confirmed it had discontinued the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm, as well as the Nest x Yale Lock. Google Nest isn't making a replacement, so Nest fans were directed to third-party First Alert and Yale devices that will work with Google Home. Google has been shedding jobs in the Platform and Devices division that includes Nest. With fewer workers, it's not surprising the team would look to drop support for its older products. And in fairness, these devices have lasted far beyond Google's measly five-year commitment. So you can't say they didn't warn you. 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. 8 Comments

Encrypted messages could be hidden within a normal-looking conversation on social mediaTero Vesalainen/iStockphoto/G​etty Images Secret messages can be hidden inside fake conversations generated by AI chatbots. The technique could give people a way to communicate online without arousing the suspicion of oppressive governments. When messages are encrypted for secure transmission, the resulting cipher text – an unusual string of garbled characters – stands out like a sore thumb. That is fine if you are keeping secrets in a country where secrets are allowed, but under brutal dictatorships, this could land a citizen in hot water. Even the UK government recently …

James Clare, Zhi Han (Anthony) Yao, and Flint Mueller. Clark Hodgin for BI 2025-04-25T18:51:40Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Three teenagers in New York designed a cardboard, called Kiriboard, to replace plastic packaging. They got the idea when a box of motors for their robotics hobby arrived damaged. Their invention won the $12,500 Earth Prize. Now they plan to buy a machine to make more Kiriboards. Three teenage boys in New York City have invented a clever packaging material that they hope will replace toxic plastics and make plastic-free shipping a reality.Zhi Han (Anthony) Yao, Flint Mueller, and James Clare are planning to pursue a patent and eventually pitch their product to Home Depot, as well as traditional shippers like Amazon, FedEx, and the US Postal Service.They call their geometric, cardboard invention Kiriboard, since it's inspired by Japanese kirigami, which is the art of cutting and folding paper."Something like this is the wave of the future," Jerry Citron, the teenagers' environmental-science teacher, told Business Insider.Yao, Mueller, and Clare won the Earth Prize on April 8, making them one of seven winning environmental projects by teenagers across the globe. The award comes with $12,500, which they plan to use to buy a cutting machine, called a CNC router, and test more prototypes.Plastic-free shipping could change the worldJust like any plastic, Styrofoam and other plastic packaging can shed microscopic bits of plastic into homes and the environment.Microplastics have been detected from the oceans to the top of Mount Everest, in animals' and humans' body tissues and blood, and even in rain all over the planet. They're associated with heart attack and stroke risk. Some researchers suspect they could even be contributing to the recent rise in colon cancers in young people."I didn't realize it was as big of an issue as it was," Yao told BI. "I mean, companies have made sustainable initiatives and greener initiatives, but they haven't really fully replaced plastic packaging."Enter the Kiriboard: Kiriboard is cut into lattice-like shapes so that it can bend to fill the space between an item and the wall of its box. The cuts give the cardboard a three-dimensional structure that makes it sturdy and allows it to bend and absorb impact, protecting what's inside, similar to bubble wrap but without the plastic. A Kiriboard prototype the trio built out of cardboard from a jump rope box. Clark Hodgin for BI Once perfected, the three teens hope their design can help ship packages of sensitive or heavy equipment even more securely, at a competitive price. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. What is your job title? (1 of 2) Entry level position Project manager Management Senior management Executive management Student Self-employed Retired Other What products or services can you approve for purchase in your role? (2 of 2) Advertising / Marketing Client / Account Management Company strategy HR / Training / Office support Managing budgets IT / Telecoms / Tech Recruiting new employees Sales Software development Financial Other None of the above By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Thanks for sharing insights about your role. Broken motors and crumple zonesClare, Mueller, and Yao are all on the same robotics team at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Clare is a junior, and Mueller and Yao are seniors.The idea for Kiriboard started when they opened a shipment of Kraken X60 motors, which are about $200 a pop. They found that the brass pins, which connect the motors to a robot, were damaged and unusable. They assumed the pins had been damaged in transit."We're like, well, we should do something about this packaging, because clearly the packaging wasn't good enough," Mueller said.Clare thought about how cars are engineered with crumple zones, meant to absorb the energy of impacts to protect the people inside. Clare, Yao, and Mueller in their high school robotics lab. Clare is holding a Kraken X60 motor. Clark Hodgin for BI Similarly, he said, "you can make strategic weak points in your packaging so that the package warps and deforms," sparing the package's contents.With help from the Earth Prize program and Citron, they built and tested their first Kiriboard prototypes.The matrixIt was a scrappy effort, with cardboard scavenged from their school.After some research and consulting various teachers, Yao said they drew up eight or nine different designs, and narrowed down to four to build and test. Then, came the fun part: dropping heavy stuff on their creations.To test their prototypes' durability, the teens slammed them with a roll of tape, a stapler, a can of soda, and a metal water bottle — "which did the most damage, but not as much as we thought it would," Clare said.They dropped each item onto the Kiriboard prototypes from various heights, so that they could calculate and study the physical forces of each impact."Basically, we want to see what's the most amount of force it can take before it snaps," Yao said.The results were promising, the trio said. The Kiriboard prototypes A screenshot of the trio's design for Kiriboard packaging. Zhi Han (Anthony) Yao, Flint Mueller, James Clare In the design pictured above, four triangular "legs" hold the Kiriboard in place inside a box."This middle section, we call it the matrix. This is supposed to be flexible," Yao said. Once you place an item for shipping inside the box, the matrix "is supposed to form to the product."Once they've purchased a CNC router to automate cutting the cardboard, they plan to test prototypes by actually shipping them in boxes."Right now, we want to perfect our product," Yao said.When it's ready, they said they might also pitch it to the electronics company AndyMark, which shipped them the robotic motors that arrived broken."No shade to them," Clare said, adding that their robotics team frequently orders from AndyMark with no problems."We're on the brink of, like, this could become a reality, and it's just up to us to put in that final effort," Mueller said. Clare chimed in: "All from a broken package." Recommended video

In recent days, Donald Trump has signaled eagerness to reach a trade agreement with China. The president said Tuesday that his 145 percent tariffs on Chinese imports will “come down substantially” in the near future. On Thursday, Trump said that his administration is already negotiating with China over trade, saying, “They had a meeting this morning.” Asked who precisely had a meeting, Trump told reporters, “it doesn’t matter who ‘they’ is.”Yet that same day, China denied the existence of such negotiations, saying that “any reports on development in talks are groundless.” By most accounts, China feels little need to come to the table. Chinese leaders reportedly believe that they can wait Trump out. They’re not enticed by his floated offers of partial tariff relief, but instead favor a total pause on the tariffs, as a condition for commencing negotiations over the two nations’ trade disputes.China’s intransigence may take some US observers (particularly those in the White House) by surprise. The Chinese economy has been suffering from deflation, due to a collapse in its property sector. Manufacturing has been one of the nation’s few economic bright spots. Now, as many as 20 million Chinese workers are at risk of losing their jobs because of a collapse in exports to the US, according to an estimate from Goldman Sachs.Nevertheless, the Chinese government believes that it has the upper hand in this trade fight. And they’re probably right. That could have dire implications for America’s economy, if Trump cannot reconcile himself to a near total capitulation. China has the advantage in its trade war with the US for at least three reasons:1. China’s stuff is more precious than America’s moneyDonald Trump’s trade policies are all rooted in one fundamental — and fundamentally wrong — premise: If America runs a trade deficit with another country, then we are effectively “subsidizing” that nation. After all, in that scenario, our trade partner is receiving more money from us than we are collecting from it.Given this reality, the president long assumed that America could easily win a trade war with China, which runs a large trade surplus with the US. Trump spelled out the logic of his position in 2018, tweeting, “When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.” But this is poor reasoning. Trade is not a zero-sum game in which sellers “win” and buyers “lose.” This is easy to see at the individual level. Unless you own a farm or snack-food company, you probably run a trade deficit with your grocery store: Each year, you sell roughly $0 worth of goods to your local Costco or Aldi, while purchasing hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars worth of foodstuffs from them. Yet it does not follow that you are “losing” hundreds of dollars on trade with your grocer annually — the money you give them secures you life-sustaining products. By Trump’s logic, American consumers could comfortably cease all trade with US grocery stores — and therefore win a “trade war” with those grocers — since shoppers “lose” money on transactions with such retailers. Yet money is only useful to the extent it can be exchanged for goods and services. Bread has more utility to a starving man than a wallet full of $20s. Of course, trade between consumers and their local retailers is not perfectly analogous to trade between America and China. But Trump’s idea that buyers always have the upper hand is actually even more misguided when applied to the US-China relationship. Your local Kroger needs to sell things to Americans in order to exist. The same is not true of China, which sells only about 15 percent of its exports to the United States. Without question, Trump’s tariffs will heap pain upon an already faltering Chinese economy. But ultimately, China needs our dollars less than we need its goods, minerals, and industrial inputs.Compensating for a decline in consumer demand is a fairly simple task. Money is not technically difficult to generate: China can partially offset the impact of lost sales to Americans by helping its own people spend more through policies that discourage saving, boost wages, and increase income redistribution. At the same time, China can work on increasing its exports to the rest of the world (a task it is currently pursuing). By contrast, it is not technically possible for the United States to swiftly replace what we gain from trade with China. Beijing has sought to hammer home this point in recent days by abruptly choking off exports of rare earth minerals and magnets to the United States. Such elements are indispensable for manufacturing electronics, batteries, military drones, and countless other essential goods. And America cannot get many of these minerals from anywhere else, at least not at the necessary scale.According to one expert who spoke with the Washington Post, developing a China-free supply chain for all rare earths would take “10 to 15 years.” Many US manufacturers will exhaust their stockpiles of these minerals within the next couple months.And America’s dependence on Chinese industry extends well beyond elements. We also rely on China for electronics, pharmaceutical ingredients, and myriad other goods.A government can increase consumer demand almost instantly by electronically depositing money into its citizens’ bank accounts. By contrast, there is no button that the US can push to instantly replace the physical products that China provides us. 2. America’s allies have little interest in joining our trade warTo the extent that Trump has a strategy for winning his trade war with China, it involves conscripting America’s allies into the fight. The administration says it aims to strike trade deals with the European Union, Japan, and other friendly countries and then “approach China as a group.” It also plans to ask its allies to reduce economic ties with China, as a condition of securing relief from Trump’s tariffs.It is true that America and its allies have some mutual economic grievances against China, which has threatened Western export industries by “dumping” products below cost onto global markets. Nevertheless, America’s allies display little appetite for an economic showdown with China. On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Japan intends to “push back against any US effort to bring it into an economic bloc aligned against China,” due to the importance of its trade relationship with Beijing. Likewise, the European Commission said this week that it has no intention of “decoupling” from China.The reasons for this reluctance to break with China are not difficult to discern. Japan and the EU are no less dependent on Chinese exports of key minerals and goods than the United States is. And at this point, they have little reason to believe that the US is a more reliable trade partner than China. Beijing is not waging war against Europe’s exporters to protest largely fictional trade barriers; Washington is. So why pursue closer economic alignment with the US at the expense of trade relations with China?Trump’s diplomatic task is made all the more difficult by his failure to articulate a clear set of demands. It is not evident precisely what America’s allies are supposed to be uniting against China to achieve. Trump’s ostensible complaint is that the US runs a trade deficit in goods with China. But it is difficult to conceive how such a deficit could be fully eliminated, given the structural characteristics of each nation’s economy — and even harder to understand what interest Europe or Japan would have in eliminating that deficit.3. This trade war is less politically damaging for the CCP than the GOPThe final reason why the Chinese government has the upper hand in Trump’s trade war is that it will face less domestic political pressure to relent.This is partly because China’s authoritarian government doesn’t need to worry about the next election. But it also reflects the fact that America is unambiguously the aggressor in this fight. Trump’s tariffs weren’t triggered by any particular Chinese action, even if they are partly inspired by Beijing’s genuine trade violations over the past two decades. Xi Jinping therefore should have little difficulty persuading much of the Chinese public to blame Trump for any contraction in their nation’s export industries. In fact, Trump’s tariffs may actually help Xi politically by enabling him to deflect public discontent about economic conditions away from the Chinese Communist Party and toward the United States.For Trump’s party, on the other hand, his trade war already looks politically devastating. Public approval of Trump’s economic management has fallen to 37 percent in Reuters-Ipsos’s polling, his lowest mark ever in that survey. An Economist-YouGov poll, meanwhile, shows Americans saying Trump’s economic actions have hurt them personally more than they’ve helped by a 30-point margin. And these results are consistent with those of other surveys.Critically, the real economic effects of Trump’s trade war with China have barely been felt yet. Manufacturers and retailers have been able to draw on their stockpiles of Chinese wares, delaying the shortages and price spikes that a sustained trade war will produce. If Trump stays the course, it is likely that his approval will fall much lower, jeopardizing the GOP’s fragile grip on the House if not the Senate.For all these reasons, China does not feel compelled to rush to the negotiating table. Xi seems to believe that time is on his side — the longer this trade war drags on, the more desperate Trump will become for a deal. Judging by the White House’s increasingly conciliatory rhetoric — and strained attempts to demonstrate progress toward a settlement — the Chinese president seems to be right.See More:

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is finally real, and it's fantastic, with rumours suggesting Bethesda could repeat the trick with another of its iconic franchisesTech14:24, 25 Apr 2025Fallout 3 is iconic, but it could definitely do with less brown(Image: Bethesda)The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is finally here after a series of leaks, and it's really rather good.Between the vastly improved visuals (it was originally launched in 2006, after all) and the reworked systems, it's somehow carried across everything that made the original so special — including plenty of meme-worthy moments.‌With The Elder Scrolls 6 likely yonks away (hey, we'll take a Remaster of Skyrim, if Bethesda is reading this), fans have been digging deeper into what could be next.Article continues belowWhile Todd Howard's team seemingly works on both Starfield updates and The Elder Scrolls 6, reports have suggested that another studio could be working on another Bethesda remaster to help fill the gap — and it won't be Elder Scrolls.We still can't quite believe how good Oblivion now looks(Image: Bethesda)According to some rumours, Fallout 3 could be the next big Bethesda RPG to get a remaster.‌That comes from court documents about Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which was the first we heard of the Oblivion Remaster.The same document suggested Fallout 3 is also in line for a revamp, with Virtuous' size as a studio meaning there's a good chance it's also developing the post-apocalyptic title.If the rumours are true, and the game hasn't been cancelled since that document was made public, it's likely it'll follow the same process as the Oblivion remaster which offers a stunning visual overhaul while still running predominantly on the old engine.‌As the game's description reads: "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered modernizes the 2006 Game of the Year with all new stunning visuals and refined gameplay.""Explore the vast landscape of Cyrodiil like never before and stop the forces of Oblivion from overtaking the land in one of the greatest RPGs ever from the award-winning Bethesda Game Studios."The Oblivion Remaster is out now(Image: Bethesda Softworks)‌So, while we wait for a potential remaster of Fallout 3, what of Oblivion Remastered? Well, despite no warning (aside from the aforementioned leaks), the game still hit some huge numbers.According to Steamdb, the game racked up a peak of over 190k players this week, and also shot to number 1 on Steam's top sellers list.Article continues belowThat's perhaps most impressive because the game is also available on Xbox Game Pass on PC, while we don't have player counts for PS5 or Xbox consoles.With those considerations, there's every chance Oblivion's remaster is one of the most-played games of 2025 so far, which would surely bode well for Fallout 3's remaster.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.‌‌‌

We’re just over a month away (Nintendo) Metro journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more Pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 have now opened around the world, so here’s where you can pick up a console in the UK. Nintendo’s reveal of the Switch 2 may still be suffering from some confusion over the finer details, but that hasn’t stopped millions of people from pre-ordering the console. The Switch 2’s launch is just over a month away, on June 5, 2025, and many retailers have already sold out. This week, pre-orders in the US and Japan also opened, with the latter seeing unprecedented demand. Nintendo’s next console looks set for a record-breaking launch, but retailers across the UK and Europe are still only getting intermittent restocks – which makes securing a console very difficult. In the UK, the Switch 2 base console costs £395.99, while the limited time Mario Kart World bundle is priced at £429.99. This knocks off £33 from the game’s £66.99 digital price, effectively making it half price. The bundle is currently sold out at most retailers, but there were restocks at The Game Collection and Amazon this week – so it’s vital to keep an eye on the list belowto see if the bundle comes back into stock. Where to pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle in the UK Alternatively, you can pre-order Switch 2 accessories (now without an invite) through the My Nintendo Store. This includes the GameCube controller, priced at £58.99, which will launch on the same day as the Switch 2, to promote the roster of GameCube games arriving on Nintendo Switch Online. Elsewhere, there’s the Switch 2 camera, which is required if you want to broadcast your face while playing Mario Kart World. More Trending here’s also a cheaper camera modelled after a Piranha Plant, but the image quality is worse, at 480p resolution compared to the former’s 1080p. All the accessories listed below launch alongside the console on June 5, 2025. Where to pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 accessories in the UK Nintendo GameCube controller – £58.99 Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller – £74.99 Joy-Con 2 controller set – £74.99 Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip – £29.99 Nintendo Switch 2 All-In-One Carrying Case – £66.99 Nintendo Switch 2 Carrying Case & Screen Protector – £20.99 Nintendo Switch 2 camera – £49.99 Piranha Plant camera – £33.99 Along with Mario Kart World, the Switch 2 launch line-up includes Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, Split Fiction, and Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It’s always watching (Nintendo) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

For now, the evidence for neuromodulation products is slim