This weeks on Gamers Said, we read over what you the players want to see most from the Nintendo Switch 2s launch game. From Metroid Prime 4: Beyond to Mario Kart, you all gave incredible answers in excitement for the Nintendo Switch 2 launch date!

Over the last 20 years, Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings trilogy has been enshrined as a wintertime favorite by those craving spectacle and a cozy time on the couch. We can (and have!) debated if the films are best served by one holiday or another, but every fantasy nut seems to agree: The mix of Misty Mountains snow and an undying flicker of hope for a brighter future is a cure for the winter blues.But I have a new suggestion for Rings fans who might want to shake things up, or put an all-ages-friendly spin on the tradition: 1977s The Hobbit.Produced by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, the duo behind stop-motion Christmas classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus Is Comin to Town, as well as the hand-drawn Frosty the Snowman, The Hobbit TV movies reputation is poor. Critics of the time saw it as slow and overly whimsical. But after a recent reread of J.R.R. Tolkiens novel, and a rewatch of the film (its streaming now on Max), those negatives feel like an important part of the Rankin/Bass formula that has keptthe companys holiday shorts so indelible 60 years later. In fact, The Hobbit might feel right at home alongside Rudolph in a Christmas rewatch slate.Animated for Rankin/Bass by Topcraft, the anime studio that Hayao Miyazaki would eventually call home, the 1977 film was adapted by Romeo Muller (the writer behind all the Christmas specials) with the utmost faithfulness. Much like Tolkiens book, the film wastes no time in introducing Bilbo Baggins to Gandalf, Thorin Oakenshield, and Thorins band of dwarves, who require Bilbos help to infiltrate and recapture the Lonely Mountain from the gold-hoarding dragon Smaug.The party ventures off and hits all the familiar beats, from an encounter with trolls to a showdown with the Goblin King, a fateful meeting with Gollum, and a barrel ride on the way out from the elven kingdom. Anyone familiar with Jacksons nearly nine-hour take on The Hobbit will be thrilled to see Muller gracefully thread Tolkiens tale into a 78-minute TV movie package. The only victim of cuts is Bilbo and companys stint with Beorn the shape-shifter, whose side adventure even feels like trimmable fat in the book (hot take?).Topcrafts animation is particularly lush throughout the film, building on production design by Rankin, who was heavily inspired by illustrator Arthur Rackhams watercolors. The hard lines, shadow work, and earthy color palette feel more like concept art than cel animation. Compared to the studios work on Frosty, Topcraft outdoes itself with the character performances. The dwarves worn faces create a history to Middle-earth and every monster is complete nightmare fuel (but in a kid-friendly way). I could watch Bilbo and Gandalf puff hand-drawn smoke rings all day.Similar to their Christmas movies, Rankin and Bass lean heavily on songs to stitch the action together. In the absence of traditional carols, their go-to composer, Maury Laws, wrote some of the most 1970s folk bops imaginable, including The Greatest Adventure (The Ballad of the Hobbit), performed by Glenn Yarbrough, who went on to make a decent living touring with Christmas music. The soundtrack gives Bilbo and the dwarves perilous journey a certain fancifulness that isnt present in Tolkien, but its leveled out by the casting: You dont cast John Huston as Gandalf to make things gooey. Everyone in this movie is barking and constantly at each others throats, true to the source material.In rewatching The Hobbit around the Christmas season, I couldnt help but see the dedication to Tolkiens plotting as downright theological, a kind of spiritual reverence that was present in the Christian-leaning Christmas specials. Some believe that Tolkiens time writing letters in the voice of Father Christmas led him to create Gandalf in the first place watching a bearded dude and a bunch of dwarves could certainly conjure the image of Santa at his factory. But even beyond the surface, theres a certain Yuletide glow to Rankin/Bass Hobbit, the idea that this great myth must be committed to screen in all of its impossible glory. The tales of Middle-earth feel like scripture as Muller pieces together the key set-pieces. If Tolkien didnt write it, its not really in this version of The Hobbit.Case in point: Jackson dedicated an entire movie to the Battle of the Five Armies, whereas Rankin and Bass take a more Tolkien-esque approach of announcing the impending battle, sprinkling in a few spurts of action, then cutting to black when Bilbo gets knocked out. The hobbit wakes up as the dust of war settles. Everyone hugs it out and goes home. Thats what happened, thats what we get, and thats all we really need.That brevity is in the name of being downright religious about the text. Bilbos riddle-filled face-off with Gollum takes the form of a biblical parable. Smaug growls with fire before going full Old Testament on Lake Town. A final burst of greed from Middle-earths warring factions is met with a pure heart by Bilbo, who convinces man, elf, and dwarf to put differences aside and create a new future for the continent.Its epic, and full of joy. And if you spend your Christmas at the church of Lord of the Rings, 1977s The Hobbit might be an unexpected treat.The Hobbit is streaming now on Max.

Art Basel Miami Beach didnt disappoint this year, with 286 galleries from 38 countries presenting thousands of beautiful, shocking, confounding, and famous contemporary artworks. Six sculptures made me pause longer than my planned schedule (with so much to see, I keep a timer on my watch for every aisle to make sure I can see it all in a 7-hour day). These works, featured below, had a paradoxical effect of creating their own private world of captivation while also somehow literally reflecting or revealing the colors, people, and excitement of fair around them.Here are those six artists from Art Basel Miami and the galleries presenting their work, in no particular order.Maurizio Cattelan at Marian Goodman GalleryMaurizio Cattelan, Untitled (elevator), 2001. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery \\\ Photo: Attilio MaranzanoRight now, Maurizio Cattelan may be most infamous for his 6.3 Million dollar banana that sold at Sothebys last month. Here at Art Basel Miami, where the duct-taped banana made its first debut in 2019, Marian Goodman Gallery installed an earlier work that was easily missed if you didnt look down. The 2001 work, titled Untitled (elevator), is an exceptionally detailed pair of mouse-sized elevators with doors that occasionally open with a familiar elevator ding. Adding to the illusion, tiny floor numbers above each elevator light up to imply the progress of each cab to unseen floors, opening the doors only at the ground floor. Its familiar and surreal, asking you to question what youre seeing while imagining the rest. I also love that one of the most amazing artworks at the fair wasnt noticed by half the visitors that passed by as I was photographing it.Maurizio Cattelan, Untitled (elevator), 2001 at Basel Miami 2024 \\\ Photo: David BehringerMaurizio Cattelan, Untitled (elevator), 2001. (DETAIL) Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery \\\ Photo: Attilio MaranzanoJeremy Shaw atBradley Ertaskiran GalleryJeremy Shaw, Towards Universal Pattern Recognition (Centennial Insight. NOV. 14, 1982), 2024 \\\ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Bradley ErtaskiranMontral-based gallery Bradley Ertaskiran presented the truly hypnotic work of artist Jeremy Shaw. Displaying six works from his ongoing series Towards Universal Pattern Recognition each was created from original archive press photographs that are framed in custom-cut prismatic lenses. From the front, the effect draws attention to a moment within each photograph, but from the side, the images split into a kaleidoscope fracture of movement, reflection, and distortion with every step. Each photograph captures a different and diverse range of altered states of consciousness, from the spiritual to the technological.Jeremy Shaw, Towards Universal Pattern Recognition (Centennial Insight. NOV. 14, 1982), 2024 \\\ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Bradley ErtaskiranJeremy Shaw, Towards Universal Pattern Recognition (COMPUTERS IN THE CLASSROOM. 10/7/81), 2024 \\\ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Bradley ErtaskiranJeremy Shaw, Towards Universal Pattern Recognition (COMPUTERS IN THE CLASSROOM. 10/7/81), 2024 \\\ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Bradley ErtaskiranOlafur Eliasson at Tanya Bonakdar GalleryOlafur Eliasson, The self-conscious orbital force, 2023 \\\ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los AngelesDesign Milk just featured Olafur Eliassons current exhibition at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery as the #1 New York gallery pick for November a fusion of light, sound, and color spectrums. And here at Art Basel Miami, the gallery presents a 2023 work by the Icelandic-Danish artist, composed of dozens of partially silvered solid glass spheres an effect that produces an upside-down mirrored view of its environment within each orb. Reaching over 13 feet across, The self-conscious orbital force evolved abstracts a three-dimensional mathematical figure into two dimensions, while simultaneously giving the illusion depth with the various sizes of spheres. Its both mathematically complex, perfectly executed, and joyously approachable. And though lacking any color itself, it sparkles and flashes with every color and movement from the surrounding fair, producing both a serenity and excitement at once.Olafur Eliasson, The self-conscious orbital force, 2023 \\\ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los AngelesOlafur Eliasson, The self-conscious orbital force, 2023 (detail) \\\ Photo: David BehringerOlafur Eliasson, The self-conscious orbital force, 2023 (detail) \\\ Photo: David BehringerTara Donovan at Pace GalleryTara Donovan, Stratagem XVI, 2024, Tara Donovan \\\ Photo: Courtesy Pace GalleryArtist Tara Donovans ethereal exhibition at Pace Gallery last spring was made from thousands of used CDs set against a view of skyscrapers. The series of works, made from countless pairs of CDs glued face-to-face are also material and mathematical marvels. The gallery here presented a single work from the series, Strategem XVI, towering 84-inches tall. Here its partial translucency revealed views of a booth full of exceptional artwork, including Alexander Calder mobiles, a Claes Oldenburg pie, and stunning blue sculpture by Peter Alexander (seen in the detail image below).Tara Donovan, Stratagem XVI, 2024, Tara Donovan \\\ Photo: Courtesy Pace GalleryTara Donovan, Stratagem XVI, 2024 (detail) \\\ Photo: David Behringer at Art Basel MiamiJacob Hashimoto at Miles McEnery GalleryJacob Hashimoto, The Cosmic Whirlwind of Past Faults, 2024 \\\ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NYMiles McEnery Gallery presented several new kite-based wall sculptures by Jacob Hashimoto. The composition of Cosmic Whirlwind of Past Faults (above) highlighted what I love most about his work an opposing gravitational quality that is both physical and weightless. The Undoing of Light (below) visually glitches at its center with black & white circles, all set within cloud-like forms of blue. Fans of his work should check out this link to his recent exhibition at the gallery, where 11 of his smallest kite-based works encouraged a 180-degree view.Jacob Hashimoto, The Undoing of Light, 2024 \\\ Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NYJacob Hashimoto, The Undoing of Light, 2024 (detail) \\\ Photo: David Behringer.Hank Willis Thomas at Jack Shainman GalleryHank Willis Thomas, Community, 2024. Photo: Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New YorkJack Shainman Galleryfeatured a new Hank Willis Thomas sculpture titled Community created from mirror-polished stainless steel. Seven hands link at the wrists in mutual support as the mirrored surface reflects the viewer and the form itself functions as a sort-of portal to whatevers on the other side.The world renowned artist is known for his photographic-based works and sculptures. In January 2023, his 20-foot-tall memorial The Embrace was unveiled on Boston Common in Boston, commemorating the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King by representing the arms of their embrace after Dr. King, Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.For the work at Art Basel Miami, Hank Willis Thomas recently posted on his Instagram Right now we need community more than anything. How can we come together?Hank Willis Thomas, Community, 2024 \\\ Photo: Courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New YorkHank Willis Thomas, Community (detail) 2024 \\\ Photo: David BehringerIts incredible to me how fast seven hours can fly by at Art Basel Miami and the extent to which exceptional artwork can refuel and sustain energy and curiosity. The next edition is December 5-7, 2025. See you there!

The National Parks Service has always inspired a vision of wonder for nature. Publisher Standards Manual returns with a brilliant green second edition of their first book, Parks, an anthem to graphic design in collaboration with photographer Brian Kelley, now in its fifth reprint. Parks 2 includes over 300 passages, interviews, pictures, and pamphlets, a comprehensive assortment of the often overlooked literature and structure of a storied part of American graphic design history. It celebrates the forgotten work that the Parks Service has been doings since its inception in 1916.Kelley quickly realized his work wasnt complete with the first edition. Drawn to the iconic pamphlets, maps, and vintage brochures released by the Park Service, they serve as lasting reminders of what the type, style, and design inclinations were in each subsequent decade. Parks 2 builds on this, adding even more context for the design that was popular at the time of release.The National Park System in the United States now comprises more than 400 areas covering more than 84 million acres in 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. While these lands were occupied with native peoples beforehand, protecting and tending to the land, these acres are now set aside for a similar purpose, for the public to enjoy.Full of historical accounts and vintage letterhead, Parks 2 pays homage to the park system that has inspired so many to foster their love for nature. With written works from Chris Burkard, Alex Honnold, Forrest Shearer, Ashima Shiraishi, Leah Thomas, Lilly Smith, and Brian Kelley himself, they serve to illustrate a vision of the world that cannot be captured on camera. The juxtaposition of pop art, historical reproduction, and essay makes for a cohesive picture of what made the department what it is today: an appeal to the people in natures name.Standards Manual is a 2014 independent publisher founded by New York-based designers Jesse Reed and Hamish Smyth. The Standards Manual store in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, is the only graphic design bookstore in New York, specializing in new and vintage books on the subject. Parks 2 is the fifteenth title released by Standards Manual, and is available for purchase on their website.To learn more about Parks 2 from Standards Manual, click here. For more of Brian Kelleys work, please click here.

Honey, which is owned by PayPal, is a popular browser extensionwith 19 million users on Chrome alonebut the shopping tool is being accused of some seriously shady practices, including keeping users away from the lowest online prices and blocking creator affiliate links to deprive them of revenue. The scandal surfaced through a comprehensive video posted by MegaLag, who calls it "the biggest influencer scam of all time" based on an investigation that's apparently been ongoing for several years. MegaLag claims to have reviewed masses of documents, emails, and online ads in the course of the investigation, as well as having spoken to victims and personally falling foul of Honey's methods.What is "the Honey trap" influencer scam?Honey is a browser extension meant to give you any relevant discount codes available when you shop online and automatically apply them to your checkout price, instantly saving you money. The idea is that using the extension means you don't have to hunt for coupons and codes, and in several influencer video promotions, it's described as free money. But Honey seems too good to be true: In tests across multiple sites, MegaLag was able to manually find working coupon codes when Honey couldn't find any, or better coupon codes than the ones automatically Honey applied. What's more, when bigger discounts are applied at checkout, Honey doesn't appear to add these codes to its database.This is allegedly how Honey strikes deals with retailers, by giving them control over the discount codes that shoppers can access. MegaLag found further evidence in Honey's own FAQs and in a podcast produced by Honey, which was intended to promote its services to online businesses. In certain cases, users are limited in what coupon codes they can use if Honey is installed. The practice of limiting coupon codes that users can use obviously doesn't fit with Honey's promise to "search for the internet's best coupons," which is the claim on its homepage at the time of writing. "If we find working codes, well automatically apply the best one to your cart," Honey says. The extension will certainly find you codes, sometimesjust not always the best ones.It seems that the extension has an influence on revenue sharing too. Honey has been heavily promoted by a long list of online influencers in the past, including MrBeast and Marques Brownlee. According to MegaLag, the Honey extension deletes affiliate link cookies from these influencers when people click through to products from their YouTube videos and other sites, which would mean the influencers aren't paid for the referral. Instead, Honey would get their commission. This allegedly happens even if no discounts are applied, and when users go for the PayPal Rewards cashback scheme too: The original affiliate link data is edited, and Honey pockets the bonus. In one example, Honey intercepts a $35 commission for a NordVPN subscription, leaving the original affiliate with nothing, then returns $0.89 of that back to the customer as cashback reward.In an email to MegaLag, Honey confirmed this is how the extension works, as Honey ultimately directs the customer to the best possible deal, not the influencer. The extension "follows industry rules and practices, including last-click attribution" PayPal's Josh Criscoe told The Verge. As yet, PayPal hasn't commented on the practice of limiting access to coupon codes.MegaLag is promising additional videos soon, so there's more to come on thisbut Honey's reputation has already taken a serious hit. It seems you might be better off trying to find discount codes yourself.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.The Amazon Echo Buds, available in black or glacier white, are now $24.99 (down from $49.99)their lowest price ever, according to price-tracking tools. These stem-style earbuds come with translucent silicone covers to provide a fit that is generally secure, but the sound can vary depending on how the earbuds sit in your ears. Inside, the Echo Buds house 12mm dynamic drivers with a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. When properly positioned, they deliver solid bass without distortion, even at high volumes, while mids and highs balance the sound nicely, as noted in this PCMag review. Echo Buds (2023 Release) | True Wireless Bluetooth 5.2 Earbuds with Alexa, multipoint, 20H battery with charging case, fast charging, sweat resistant, semi-in-ear | Black $24.99 at Amazon $49.99 Save $25.00 Get Deal Get Deal $24.99 at Amazon $49.99 Save $25.00 These earbuds are equipped with Bluetooth 5.2 and support AAC, AptX, and SBC codecs, offering impressive compatibility for their price. That said, they lack active noise cancellation, which may be a drawback for some users. On the plus side, they support multipoint pairing for seamless switching between devices. Additionally, the earbuds' touch controls are reportedly highly responsive and customizable via the companion appwhere you can also tweak the EQ settings, manage your default streaming platforms, toggle hands-free Alexa access, and enable the Find My feature to locate misplaced earbuds.The Echo Buds offer up to five hours of battery life per charge with an additional 20 hours provided by the charging case (turning off hands-free Alexa can extend that runtime to six hours, though your mileage may vary). Note that Amazon does not include a USB-C charging cable in the box, so youll need to provide your own. Also, if durability is a priority, you'll probably find the IPX2 water-resistance rating of the Echo Buds disappointing. While they can handle light splashes, theyre not built to endure heavy rain or sweat, so youll want to be cautious in more challenging conditions.

Lilium, a company working on flying taxis that can take off and land vertically, has ceased operations. As TechCrunch notes, German media Grnderszene was the first publication to report that it laid off 1,000 workers a few days ago after it failed to secure more financing to continue its technology's development. Patrick Nathen, the company's co-founder, has announced that the company has stopped all operations on LinkedIn. Tagging his co-founders, he said that they can no longer continue working on their "shared belief in greener aviation," at least under Lilium.The German company has been testing its VTOL electric air taxis for a while now. Its vehicle took off for the first time for its maiden flight back in 2017, and it completed its first phase of flight tests in 2019. Lilium was able to prove that its VTOL air taxis are capable of flying at speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour, though the Lilium Jet prototype it unveiled in 2019 was supposed to be able go as fast as 300 kmh and to have a range of 300 kilometers.Lilium has been struggling financially over the past year, but its CEO reportedly remained optimistic about being able to secure enough funding as recently as last month. Grnderszene said that a small number of people will remain employed to help with liquidation. The company has yet to announce what will happen to its technology and the rest of its assets, but its patent attorney, Fabien Mller, wrote in a post that he's managing the transition of Lilium's intellectual property.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/flying-taxi-maker-lillium-lays-off-1000-workers-and-ceases-operations-160025593.html?src=rss

In January 2025, 27 movies and shows are being chopping from Netflix. Here's the full list of everything leaving Netflix this month.

Security flaw could have granted hackers the ability to read sensitive information.

Upgraded defense policy will create a joint force to look after Pentagon networks, and remove Chinese tech.