Ahead of the Switch 2 reveal, you may be surprised to know that the best console for hardcore and lapsed gamers alike is already here and the Steam Deck is a fantastic purchaseTech16:37, 31 Dec 2024I love the Steam Deck OLED for its convenience and huge library(Image: Lloyd Coombes/Daily Star )Its been almost eight years since the Nintendo Switch launched, and the system that let us take a home console on the go has been nothing short of a roaring success.No longer splitting its time between a handheld and home system, Nintendo has been able to deliver incredible games you can play anywhere, and the market has responded with huge sales.Thats sparked interest from rivals, too, with Xbox considering a handheld, while Sony is poised to re-enter the market according to reports. With Switch 2 on the horizon, Im here to tell you that the best handheld console for you might just be the one thats already out the Steam Deck OLED.It's a beauty(Image: Lloyd Coombes/Daily Star )If youre new to the idea of a Steam Deck, let me summarise. A Steam Deck is, in essence, a small PC with console-like controllers. It runs Linux, an operating system less common than Windows or macOS, but packed with flexible features.It comes from Valve, a company that made its name developing some of the most incredible games in history with Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and DOTA 2, which has since established a huge digital storefront called Steam.Steam is the premiere place to by PC games, packing thousands of titles and often at a fantastic discount. Pairing that with a handheld device that, while too small to fit in your pocket but can still be thrown in a bag before a long flight, means you can nab a huge library of PC games and take them anywhere.The Steam store is packed with games, and they're often discounted(Image: Lloyd Coombes/Daily Star )Steam has been around for so long you can buy classics like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and more for the price of your morning coffee, making it a great way to catch up on huge games you may have missed.Its a library even the Xbox Series X, with its multi-generational backward compatibility would be envious of, with games like 2004s Half-Life 2 (widely regarded as one of the best games of all time) just a couple of quid in the Steam Winter Sale at the time of writing.If youve balked at paying 50 and up for a new game, the Steam Deck might be for you. And, if youre wondering about the power, have no fear.Not only is the console an ideal place to play indie titles, its got enough grunt for AAA games, too. If someone told you in 2020 that Cyberpunk 2077 would be playable on a handheld, youd have probably suggested they were mad, but CD Projekts adventure is a great experience on Steam Deck.Elden Ring, one of the best games of the last decade, was developed with Steam Deck optimization in mind, meaning its every bit as playable as it is on other platforms, and even former PS4 and PS5 exclusives like God of War or Horizon: Forbidden West are great.If you happen to have a powerful gaming PC too, you can always use Steams cloud saves to pick up where you left off when you get home, but its not all about whats on Steam.That Linux base means you can install Epic Games Store and Battle.net with a few minutes of work, but it also means you can run a whole host of emulators for classic games of bygone eras.The OLED model is even better than the prior one(Image: Lloyd Coombes/Daily Star )None of this is really new information, I admit, but Ive found myself reaching for my Steam Deck more often than my PlayStation, Xbox, or Switch recently to catch up on titles I missed from this year.This years breakout hits, Balatro and Animal Well, are perfect for quick bursts of fun and the latter feels much more suited to the OLED Steam Deck than the LCD version.In fact, my wife has the LCD version and, between us, weve racked up a whole host of time on the platform once our son is asleep. While she works through her Disney Dreamlight Valley to-do list, Ive been slaying all manner of nasties in Path of Exile 2 and Diablo 4 while we watch TV.Ive been able to put time into my favourite games of the year like Tactical Breach Wizards and the PC version of Front Mission 2 Remake that I simply wouldnt have been able to do had I been restricted to waiting until the TV was free, or sitting in my dark, dingy office.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED

The past two weeks, we here at io9 have looked back at the movies, shows, and games of 2024, and given our own individual takeaways on certain trends that took place this year. Now its time to think about whats nextand more specifically, what were looking forward to in 2025. Feel free to let us know what youreexcited for (and hope hits the mark) in the comments below. Mobile Suit Gundam: GQuuuuuuX Sunrise/Khara After the conclusion ofThe Witch From Mercuryin 2023,Gundam set itself a high bar for whatever show might come nextand its not just a surprise to see another coming so soon, but one that has the potential to set that high bar rocketing past the atmosphere into the stars itself. GQuuuuuuXs wildly stacked array of creative talentfrom Kharas Hideaki Anno, Yoji Enokido, Kazuya Tsurumaki, and Ikuto Yamashita on writing, direction, and mechanical design, respectively? Pokmons Take on character design? A story that, if the leaks are to be believed, plays with the very foundational conflict ofGundam itself? Were in for something with the potential to be one of the franchises very best works, let alone one of the best series of 2025. James Whitbrook M3GAN 2.0 If Supermans too wholesome an option, consider another contender for hero of the summer: a kid-sized AI robot with killer dance moves, killer fashion sense, killer instincts, and (presumably) a killer revenge drive in her sequel.M3GAN 2.0 is once again directed by Gerald Johnstone and written by Akeela Cooper, and brings back Gemma (Allison Williams) and Cady (Violet McGraw), plus therell be a whole new crop of characters too. We have every reason to believe our besties return will be just as campy, gory, and shriek-inducing as everand were counting down the days to June 27, 2025. Cheryl Eddy Wicked: For Good The firstWickedblew movie audiences away, proving the movie musical works if you just come right out and say its a musical. The sequel, which will expand the second act of the play, is rumored to include more new original music and the events of L. Frank Baums Wizard of Oz. Were interested to see how Dorothys journey will be incorporated alongside Elphaba and Glindas. Also, were holding space for more memes. Sabina Graves Avatar: Fire and Ash After two movies, I think we can safely stop joking about Avatar. The first movie was good, the second movie was very good, and now were waiting on part three, which is sure to be one of the biggest hits of the year. Plus, in addition to further exploring the world of Pandora, its always exciting just to see a new James Cameron movie. Especially since with each of these sequels, he continues to push the bar of technology with dynamic, character-driven storytelling. Germain LussierLike a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii RGG/Sega The Like a Dragon franchise went from being a zany, niche open-world series of games to a household name thanks in significant part to its prequel title, Yakuza 0,and its later entries having an English voice track. While Yakuza purists turn their noses up at the concept, accessibility is essential, and the language barrier is no different. This is why developer Ryu Ga Gotoku is coming off a year of releasing three Yakuza games, only to announce a fourth at the front end of 2025 led by fan-favorite character (and Yakuza 0 limelight stealer) Goro Majimatruly a Kendrick Lamar-esque sequence of events. Whats more, the studio, which famously reuses tons of its highly detailed assets to make games so frequently (we love a conscientious developer), is righting the wrong of Ubisoft crapping out a crummy and long-delayed live service pirate game in Skull and Bonesby making the pirate game that it promised withPirate Yakuza in Hawaii. In RGG, we trust. Isaiah Colbert Predator: Badlands Prey was a delight back in 2022, and even before it wrapped up, it was clear the Predator franchise was aiming for a comeback. Details on Predator: Badlands have been scarce, save for itll make the alien the star while Elle Fanning pulls double duty as twin sisters. Well eventually find out what Badlands has under the helmet, and cant wait to see what its bringing to theaters on November 7, 2025. And its not even the only hitting next year! Justin CarterAndor Season 2 Star Warshas had a bit of a rough time with itself lately, as the series struggles to chart a clear path forward with a vision of what it actually wantsStar Warsto be. But one of the rare highlights of this malaise to display a clarity of purpose is finally back, after a delayed wait: Cassian will finally find us all inAndors second, final season on April 22. Expectations are through the roof after the incredible first season, and every little tidbit weve been teased so far has us hoping that another Andor high can sustain us long enough to actually make it to Lucasfilm managing to get a movie into theaters again. James Whitbrook Synduality: Echo of Ada As a habitual mourner ofTitanfallas a video game franchise, any inkling of a new sci-fi mecha game that has the potential to be a spiritual successorwhile being anime-AF is like catnip to players worldwide, and Bandai NamcosSydnduality: Echo of Ada could fill those shoes. Its characters look pretty, its mechs even more, and its combat clips scratch that itch in every mecha fans brain to pilot weave their giant robot through a flurry of oncoming missiles with the assistance of their congested UI prompts. Lets hope it lives up to the hype. Isaiah ColbertMetroid Prime 4: Beyond Nintendo As weve seen with Mario, Zelda, and more, Nintendo treats its OG titles with extra care. Which is why it will have taken almost two decades to make a mainline Metroid game, one which was announced almost a decade ago. And yes, Metroid Dread was awesome. But Prime 4 promises to be so much bigger and more ambitious. A true return to the world of Samus Aran in a way that gamers have been waiting for, in some cases, all their lives. Germain Lussier Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition TheXenoblade series has become one of my all time favorite sets of JRPGs, but one of its finest entries has been locked to the Wii U for the best part of a decade. Thats changing with the release ofXenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editionon the Switch, which means that, at long last, more people can experience this fascinating refraction ofXenobladethat jukes where the sci-fantasy series usually jives, leaning much more into the former genre to deliver one of Nintendos best open-world RPGs. A mech game that actually keeps youawayfrom the giant robots on the cover for the opening half of the game,X makes up for its relatively light narrative beats with a truly remarkable world to discover, one that rewards players willing to engage in exploration with an incredibly rich setting. I cant wait to have every entry in one of my favorite series finally playable in one place. James WhitbrookWitch Hat Atelier Last year saw a massive boom in fantasy anime with shows likeFrieren: Beyond Journeys EndandDelicious in Dungeon. To complete the trifecta of whats been christened as the fantasy big three is Bug Films upcoming anime adaptationof Witch Hat Atelier. WhereasFrierenandDelicious in Dungeonflourished respectively with their character work and world-building,Witch Hat Atelierexcels at both, with an inventive magic system. Moreover, the series is laden with themes similar to 2024 standoutLook Back, which portrays the trials and tribulations of learning a new skill. Rather than tune into whateverHarry Potterslop Warner Bros is making ad nauseam, reward yourself by making Witch Hat Atelier your anime to watch in 2025. Isaiah Colbert Sinners Warner Bros. After tackling Creed and Marvel, Ryan Cooglers about to show us his own original take on horror. The prospect of Michael B. Jordan playing twins going up against something supernatural in their hometown is too good to pass up, and it became even more interesting once the first trailer hit. Add on an inevitably incredible score by Ludwig Gransson, and hell yeah, sign us up for Sinners. Justin Carter Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Social media has always been chock full of bad ideas, horrible analogies, and downright idiotic observations. But ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter back in late 2022, it seems like things online just keep getting worse. And to mark the destruction of a once great social media platform, it feels appropriate to present a collection of some truly horrible tweets from 2024. Some of the tweets are funny, some are odd, and others are just plain lies. We couldnt bring ourselves to share the most politically extreme and gory tweets that appeared on X over the past year, even though tweets like that would technically fall under the category of bad. Musk has, after all, built a safe space for the celebration of Nazism and snuff films, as anyone whos still trying to use that site can attest. To be clear, this list is far from comprehensive. There are way too many bad tweets to count. But this is a snapshot of some particularly bad tweets from the past year. Heres hoping for better tweets in the year 2025. But were not going to hold our breath on that. 1) That doesnt look right 2) Oh Marty 3) The billionaire buys an election Musk did wind up donating to a candidate. And that guy was named Donald J. Trump, the once and future president of the United States of America. The billionaire donated about $277 million (that we know of) into the 2024 election. Another tweet many months later Musk denied he was donating money to Trump. That tweet was eventually deleted after it came out Musk was definitely donating hundreds of millions to Trump.A since-deleted tweet from Elon Musk about donating to Donald Trump. 4) Sounds rough 5) Its like a cheat code 6) Dark Brandon strikes again 7) Thats her husbands name 8) Redistribution of Taylor Swift 9) Pathetic beyond comprehension 10) Your robot doctor is lying to you 11) Biden did not die. Tweet claiming Joe Biden has died of covid. 12) Fertilizer? 13) Joe Biden tried to kill Trump Despite that tweet coming from a sitting congressman, theres no evidence Biden tried to have Trump assassinated. 14) Super Bowl psyop 15) A lot like what? 16) Biden is already dead 17) Epstein? 18) Mid-life crisis in progress 19) Thats not how the famous saying goes 20) Bookmark it 21) Taylor Swift would never, you weird man 22) Weather control

Kaltura Offices / RD&ASave this picture! Itay Benit PhotographyOffices InteriorsBnei Brak, IsraelArchitects: RD&AAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:6000 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2023 PhotographsPhotographs:Itay Benit PhotographyManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Basic Collection, Carmel Business, INNOVATE, Wow Design, Yair Doram Lead Architects: Roy David, Shay Shaul More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. The design concept for the space is inspired by the word 'movement.' When viewers watch a video, they expect it to move, but what happens if it doesn't? What occurs between one 'PLAY' and the next? Is it a still image? A single frame? And what if movement is only triggered by the viewer's presence in the space?Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!In this experimental interior, the space itself becomes a 'PLAY' button, activated by the movement of people. When they are still, the space pauses; when they move, the action begins to unfold.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Drawing from the company's brand identity, we developed a structural language where the individual is represented by rectangular shapes, collaboration areas by circular forms, and the spaces in between by triangles. These shapes correspond to a single frame, a camera roll, and the iconic 'PLAY' button, respectively.Save this picture!Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Bnei Brak, IsraelLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeRD&AOfficePublished on December 31, 2024Cite: "Kaltura Offices / RD&A" 31 Dec 2024. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1024218/kaltura-offices-rd-and-a&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

We reached new heights in aerospace in 2024.Image: Popular Science composite. Joby Aviation/SpaceX/NASA/Lockheed Martin/Dawn Aerospace ShareThe past year in aerospace was so full of exciting developments that we had a tough time picking a final five. From the rise in sustainable and green aviation to the overall growth in public and private space innovations, 2024 has been an inflection point for the future of flight tech. The boldest breakthroughs, though, came in the form of a flying taxi powered by hydrogen, a rocket plane that can reach outer space, commercial astronauts outside their spacecraft, the potential return of supersonic air travel, and the launch of a mission to find life beyond the asteroid belt.(Editors Note: This is a section from Popular Sciences 37th annual Best of Whats New awards. Be sure to read thefull list of the 50 greatest innovations of 2024.)Grand Award WinnerHydrogen-electric VTOL air taxi by Joby: Fly from Boston to Washington without visiting an airport and with no emissionsBetween the negative impact of carbon emissions and the headache of TSA lines, flying often feels like more hassle than its worth. But Joby Aviations hydrogen-powered air taxi might just be the breath of fresh (and clean) air weve been waiting for. By swapping out traditional batteries for a cutting-edge liquid hydrogen fuel system, Joby has supercharged the range of its electric vertical takeoff aircraft beyond its original roughly 150 miles on battery power. To prove it, they pulled off a 523-mile test flight in July, showing off what could soon redefine regional travel. As if on cue, the FAA in October introduced its first new category of civilian aircraft since the helicopter debuted in the 1940s, clearing the runway for air taxis to potentially become as common as choppers in our daily lives.Mk-II Aurora rocket-powered aircraft by Dawn Aerospace: A rapidly reusable spacecraftOne of the biggest challenges to the commercialization of space remains relatively high launch costs. Dawn Aerospaces Mk-II Aurora offers a solution to this problem by combining rocket-powered performance with the operational flexibility of an aircraft. Though still in the testing stages, the Aurora is designed to demonstrate rapid reusability, allowing it to complete multiple flights in one day. This is a key step toward making commercial space as accessible and efficient as commercial aviation. The Auroras innovative design allows it to take off from standard runways without requiring exclusive airspace, making it ideal for applications including atmospheric research, Earth observation, and microgravity experiments. As a technology demonstrator, it also serves as a foundation for development, perhaps one day proving that the sky is no longer the limit for runway-based flight.Polaris Dawn spacewalk by SpaceX: First EVA by private astronautsImagine stepping out of your cozy spacecraft into the vast, uncharted expanse of spaceno government agency holding your hand, just you, your crew, and the infinite cosmos. Thats precisely what the Polaris Dawn team achieved on September 12th with the first-ever commercial spacewalk. By venturing into the void without the usual safety net of governmental oversight, the Polaris Dawn mission has opened the door to a future where space isnt just the playground of governments. Instead, its accessible to private enterprises and, possibly someday, everyday adventurers. The Polaris Dawn spacewalk also tested SpaceXs new EVA suits to show that private companies can develop and deploy the technology needed for humans to survive in outer space.X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport by NASA and Lockheed Martin: A return to supersonic air travelNASAs Quesst Missionboom-free supersonic travel a reality with their X-59 supersonic aircraft. Traditional supersonic planes like the Concorde were notorious for their earth-shaking sonic booms, limiting their ability to fly over land. The X-59, which made its public debut in January, is designed to eliminate the boom and replace it with a soft thump using clever engineering like a super-streamlined body and advanced aerodynamic features. If successful, the X-59 could pave the way for the resumption of supersonic passenger flights over populated areas, cutting travel times dramatically without disturbing communities. After test flights to ensure safety in 2025, NASA plans to fly the X-59 over various US cities, gathering public feedback to help rewrite aviation regulations that currently ban overland supersonic flights.Europa Clipper by NASA: Searching for lifes ingredients in Jupiters orbitJust launched in October, the Europa Clipper is NASAs newest research probe. Its set to investigate one of the solar systems most intriguing mysteries: Does Jupiters icy moon Europa have what it takes to support life? Europa is theorized to have a vast, salty ocean beneath its frozen crustan environment ripe for life as we know it. Thats where the Clipper comes in: Its equipped with cutting-edge instruments to detect evidence of water or any potential signs of life. When it reaches Europa in 2031, the spacecraft will make dozens of flybys, capturing detailed images of the moons surface and analyzing plumes of water vapor thought to erupt from cracks in its icy crust. By exploring what may lie beneath Europas surface, the Clipper could redefine our understanding of Europa and guide future missions.

Nature, Published online: 31 December 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04209-0A long-sought nuclear clock is closer than ever thanks to ultra-accurate measurements of Thorium-229.

Nature, Published online: 18 December 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04167-7Chinas low-altitude aviation economy is poised to become a trillion-yuan industry in 2025 if safety and security challenges can be overcome.

Nature, Published online: 18 December 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-03983-1Laurie Barge and Arezoo Khodayari created an internship between NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California State University, Los Angeles to launch the careers of students from minority backgrounds.

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Video streaming platform Netflix is diving deep into the world of video games, with everything from classic hits to industry unknowns. Here's our list of the best games you can play on Netflix.