When it comes to educational video games, the Carmen Sandiego franchise is a benchmark. The original computer game, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, came out in 1985 and has gotten tens of sequels and spinoffs since. In 2025, the first new franchise installment in 10 years, simply titled Carmen Sandiego, will hit store shelves (or, perhaps more accurately, public library shelves). Polygons early playthrough of a few hours of the game showed it was not just for fans of the franchise the game is also profoundly educational, which is refreshing in the age of overstimulating and hastily created content for children. Carmen Sandiego also looks to be an excellent, kid-friendly crash course in how to play video games.In the new puzzle-adventure game, Carmen Sandiego is a spy working case-by-case to take down a malicious thieving group called V.I.L.E. (just as she does in her Netflix TV show adaptation). As Carmen, the player visits locations around the world to uncover clues about suspects, chase down V.I.L.E. operatives, and ultimately issue a warrant to arrest the key perpetrator.The educational elements are woven into the game mechanics, so you cant help but learn facts about the countries youre visiting. For example, a witness who saw the thief may give you a few pieces of information, like that the thief spoke about studying Mayan ruins and that they had red hair. You can use that first bit of information to select your next destination Mexico City, in this case. Simultaneously, you use information you learn about the thieves themselves to narrow down your suspect database, marking off red hair as yes, for example.The learning doesnt just come in the form of static facts; Carmen Sandiego is designed in such a way as to encourage players to pay attention and absorb the full picture. Therell always be kids (and players in general) who want to skip all the dialogue and text and focus only on interactive gameplay mechanics. But in this case, youll fail quickly at your missions if you dont do that reading, so the incentive to take in the facts and make informed decisions is high and fun gameplay mechanics are still sprinkled in heavily throughout. In this way, Carmen Sandiego also successfully teaches the player how to play different kinds of video games in general; youll control Carmen first-person in one minigame, then solve a tangled-wires puzzle in the next. Youll find yourself jotting down quick math problems to determine how much time you have left to solve the case if you take one more 10-hour flight across the world. Youll sit idle for a few moments at your computer, determining whether to chase a suspected thief or to simply pickpocket them instead.The game isnt overly easy, and with no voice reads, its likely only a good fit for strong readers or kids who play games with adults who can read. There are some quirks that make me think itd make a good fit in a classroom, where a teacher can help students search for clues online (like, What country is Nara Park in?) and define tough vocab (like southpaw for left-handed). But based on this preview, Carmen Sandiego looks like it will be a near-perfect new addition to the franchise, and more importantly, a near-perfect game for kids who like to learn.The game isnt sanitized, nor is it a watered-down version of the original in short, it isnt trying too hard to appeal to the youngest members of its audience, though I think theyll like it. Its a Carmen Sandiego game through and through, which means its genuine fun and subtly educational. I, an adult with no children, will probably spend several more hours with it just for fun but if I did have kids, I feel confident itd be a killer first RPG/puzzle game for them. Carmen Sandiegowill be released in Q1 2025 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch. This preview was played on PC using a pre-release download code provided by Gameloft and HarperCollins Productions. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can findadditional information about Polygons ethics policy here.

Sometimes a failure is just a good idea with bad timing. Consider the Steam Machine.In 2013, at the height of the console gaming era, Valve, the owner and operator of Steam, the biggest PC digital video game storefront, announced an attempt to mainstream PC gaming with a console-like experience and convert millions of console gamers to Steam shoppers along the way.At the time, consoles were thriving, home to exclusives and the assumed first stop for 90% of AAA releases.The Steam Machine wasnt one literal machine, but a conceptual blueprint for gaming PC manufacturers to create cheaper, itty-bitty PCs that fit comfortably under a living room TV.Players would surf through their video game libraries in an operating system that looked less like a Windows desktop and more like an Xbox UI. And to do so, theyd use a special controller that blended the console controls of the past with the laptop trackpads of well, also the past.Despite the hopes of many industry analysts, the Steam Machine project, which promised all the benefits of PC gaming with no headaches, led to a paltry set of middling gaming PCs. Valve mothballed the strategy in 2018.Of course, thats not the end of the story. Far from it.Though the hardware died, the dream nonetheless persisted. The Steam Machine has inspired more industry changes in its death than most video game consoles do in life. Valves primary goal was to get its storefront on more screens, but it was the Steam Machines secondary function popularizing PCs that resonated.A decade ago, according to a chart by Visual Capitalist, PCs had managed parity with consoles after years eating their dust. By 2022, however, PC gaming accounted for $45 billion in revenue 50% more than its console cousins. And in 2025, a decade after Valve launched the first Steam Machines, PC gaming will have its victory lap, thanks in large part to another piece of Valve hardware.Heres how PC gaming went from hardcore to mainstream, and why you should expect PC gaming culture to expand even further in the years to come.PCs arent intimidating now that they look (and feel) like a Nintendo SwitchIn the 1990s and early 2000s, people who preferred console games had a fair and repeatable critique of PC gaming: Youd spend as much time fighting the machine as you would playing a game. PC gaming, its critics would say, meant lots of tinkering, where consoles for all their limitations just worked.Now, you can experience the lions share of what PC gaming offers through a Steam Deck without worrying about specs, GPUs, or processors and without ever seeing Windows blue screen of death or Windows at all. The Steam Deck condenses many of Valves best ideas from the Steam Machine into a single, reasonably priced, portable device that also can connect to your TV via HDMI, of course.The Steam Deck looks and feels like a Nintendo Switch but with all the freedom and perks of traditional PC gaming. For example, mods no longer require lengthy setups from sketchy websites; they can be added to a game directly from the Steam Workshop. For people tempted to tinker beyond simple mods, the Steam Deck also includes a Linux desktop experience. A cottage industry of YouTubers, writers, and coders produces a constant stream of guides and tools to simplify once complex processes like setting up a dozen or more emulators or access to things like Xbox Game Pass.A decade ago, PC manufacturers struggled to translate Valves vision of the Steam Machine into a viable commercial product. They needed to see what success looked like if they ever hoped to achieve it themselves. Today, the Steam Deck serves as a tangible example of what an approachable, marketable console-like PC experience can be. Companies like Asus, Alienware, Lenovo, Logitech, and Ayaneo have spent the past year flooding the market with Steam Deck competitors, and 2025s release calendar is already filling with plenty more handheld gaming PCs.My colleague Sean Hollister wrote at The Verge about how this shift may allow Valve to take a kind of soft control of the PC gaming space, that other hardware makers could shift to SteamOS and Valve itself could return to the living room hubs of the Steam Machine era, now in a position of strength. And all of that might happen. But while Valve has a history of controlling the PC digital storefront market, its been notoriously slow (if not outright unwilling) to grow into something that could rival Sony or Microsoft.Thats fine. Even if Valve simply keeps its course, the Steam Deck has already turned PC gaming into a snowball rolling downhill, getting bigger and bigger and bigger. It cant be stopped. And the whole industry is better off for it.AAA exclusives became too financially riskyDragon Age: The Veilguard was in development for nine years. The smaller Senuas Saga: Hellblade 2 was in development for nearly five years. Major video game publishers fixated on making games that suck up dozens if not hundreds of hours have perpetually expanding teams spending more time making fewer games. As a result, AAA games are more expensive to produce than they have been at any point in history.Thus, the survival of big-budget video game studios depends on each major release reaching the largest audience possible.Xbox has even begun to move many of its releases to rival hardware, like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, hoping to recoup its budgets (and humor an ever-watchful FTC).But for games that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to make and market, the cumulative console player base still isnt enough. And so, nearly every publisher, big and small, is porting its games to PC often releasing them on the same day they hit consoles.This is a radical change from 15 years ago, when many game publishers avoided PC releases due to widespread (and in hindsight, demonstrably unreasonable) fears of piracy. And from 10 years ago, when what games did arrive on PC were gated behind byzantine, publisher-owned apps.Now, you can skim Steam and see games from EA, Ubisoft, and Activision, along with Microsoft and Sony. The major holdout is Nintendo which has been busy battling emulation of its games on PC hardware.Video game publishers need to break free of this cycle of scale. But until they do, the best way to break even (let alone profit) will be expanding their pool of customers with the millions of PC gamers.People expect to enjoy their media wherever and whenever not just on their sofaRemember the Xbox One, the colossal failure from which Microsoft has never fully recovered? Its architects imagined the Xbox as the center of entertainment. People would funnel their entire media diet from their streaming apps to their cable box through the Xbox hardware, making it the centerpiece of the living room. The One home entertainment machine to rule them all.Microsoft overlooked one fatal fact: The average person no longer spends their free time in the living room sharing a TV. With the rise of the smartphone and laptop, people now consume media whenever and wherever is most convenient and comfortable. So as Microsoft imagined families gathering around the living room TV, parents and kids were splitting up to consume media on their screen of choice. Four years later, Nintendo went the other direction with the Nintendo Switch, a video game console that could be removed from its dock and played wherever the kids and parents went.But its PCs that have long untethered gaming from the living room. Because PC owners can choose from hundreds of variants or build their own gaming PC altogether PC gaming has existed on storefronts and digital libraries that follow players from one device to the next. So, if you want to play PC games on a console-like system, you can. Or you can do so on a gaming laptop, a handheld device, or a traditional desktop machine.Following the failure of the Xbox One, current Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has been charting a many-years-long path to make Xbox an anywhere brand instead of just a console. The companys This is an Xbox ad campaign which shows Xbox games running on the Xbox console but also smartphones, laptops, and handheld PC gaming devices is a clear culmination of that effort.But what has taken Xbox nearly a decade to achieve has been possible with PC gaming the whole time.What even is a console at this point?For decades, consoles were an obvious choice for most gamers. They were cheaper, had comparable graphical power at their launch, required minimal technical expertise, and were the only way to play some of the biggest games of a given year. Now all those arguments apply more to portable PCs like the Steam Deck than they do to consoles.The PS5 Pro launched a few months ago for an eye-watering $700. Its visuals still cant compare to high-end PCs. The systems big exclusives eventually make it to PC, where they often run better and are sold for less. Meanwhile, Xboxs latest commercial spends more time showing Xbox games on devices other than its own console. And PCs offer a wider selection of indie and multiplayer games than consoles, too.In March 2024, Spencer told Polygon hed like to see PC gaming storefronts like Epic Games Store and Itch.io running on Xbox hardware. And this past month, rumors have swirled that Steam may appear on Xbox.This should it come to pass in 2025 is the endgame scenario. PCs wont surpass consoles; consoles will become PCs.

Bathrooms are no longer just functional pitstops in the home theyre spaces where we recharge, refresh, and truly relax. Like mini-spas, bathrooms have evolved into wellness retreats, which is precisely the vision Spanish company Sanycces and interdisciplinary design practice Jorge Herrera Studio sought to realize with the Oasis collection. This collection takes a holistic approach to bathroom design, transforming the bathroom into a sanctuary that beautifully blends relaxation with high design.The Oasis collection includes everything you need to create an immersive bathroom experience: bathtubs, sinks, headrests, side tables, poufs, and towel racks. Unlike other bath collections that focus solely on functionality, Oasis adds warmth and coziness to a traditionally cold, utilitarian space. Instead of sterile materials, Jorge Herrera selected walnut, oak slats, natural fibers, and customizable textiles elements that feel as inviting as they do durable. We wanted to integrate the essence of the home, using textures and natural materials that make us feel good in our space, explains Herrera. If other rooms in the home are enriched with textures and materials, why not bring that same warmth to the bathroom?The result is a well thought out collection that makes it easy to create a seamless sensory experience. With soft, rounded shapes, neutral tones, and natural materials like oak, its capable of transforming your bathroom into a personal spa retreat. Oasis has already garnered international acclaim, winning both the IF Design Award and Red Dot Award for Product Design in 2024, a testament to its innovative, wellness-focused approach.This isnt the first time Sanycces and Herrera have collaborated; their previous Duna, Calma, and Tempo collections also drew inspiration from natures quiet beauty and organic shapes. With Oasis, they take this connection further, creating a space that welcomes warmth, tranquility, and a sense of retreat right into your home.To learn more about the Oasis collection by Sanycces and Jorge Herrera Studio, visit sanycces.es.

AI, avatars, and the future of mental healthContinue reading on UX Collective

Before particularly rough storms, I have been known to go outside and give my plants a pep talk. I'm not sure how I'd feel about receiving distress messages from my garden (I need help! from Bob the fig tree, etc.). But you can bet Im going to sign up for this parasocial experiment, because today at CES, Bird Buddy announced Petal, a new AI-enabled camera to help you engage with the outside world.Petal is a solar-powered camera that you can clamp onto a raised bed or planter, stick into a bed, or wrap around a tree limb. It will work anywhere as long as theres wifi and sunlight. Like the bird-watching cameras that Bird Buddy is famous for, these cameras will give you extremely high-resolution, up-close video and photo of birds, bugs, and the plants they perch on. The cameras will then use an AI layer that can identify whats going on outside, from a flower blooming to birds hatching or a tomato ready to be plucked.As with most Bird Buddy cameras, you can do an awful lot without a subscription, but with a subscription, you can name individual birds, as well as the flowers, bugs, and plants in your yard. I cant decide if this is charming or insane, but Im 100% in for the ride this summer.Bird Buddy hopes that youll buy Petal in multiples and place them around your yard. Theyll even have interchangeable lenses: You can go with a wide angle or change it to a macro for great depth of field. You can capture time lapse, and still get notified with your favorite artichoke plant gets visited by a bee or bug, or when it is affected by weather.Though announced today, Petal will be officially introduced in a Kickstarter this summer with Bird Buddys other release, WonderBlocks, a modular planter system for outdoors that includes mason-bee hotels, bug hotels, and self-watering planters. Bird Buddy will also offer planting blocks impregnated with native plants and pollinators local to your geography. All these parts are meant to work together, and seem to imply that Bird Buddy is moving away from a singular focus on birds, and towards bird watching being part of your connection to the outside. Pricing has not been announced for either Petal or WonderBlocks.

Swimming is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Cleaning a pool, however, is an absolute drag. For my money, pool-cleaning robots are much handier than even standard robovacs. If you have access to a pool, the forthcoming Wybot S3 could ensure you never have to walk around like a doofus with an oversized net ever again. Announced at CES, the Wybot S3 is an improvement over the S2 in nearly every way. The company says its the first self-docking, self-emptying automatic charging pool cleaning robot. It includes an automated self-emptying system, which is standard with land-based robovacs but new to water-adjacent models. The unit transfers debris from its body to a 10-liter above ground base station. This bin is big enough to go 30 days without having to be manually emptied. Wybot Another first? The robot charges itself automatically via integrated solar panels. Under optimal sunlight, itll suck up around 1.5 hours of runtime per day. If the weather is less than ideal, the unit can also be charged by plugging into a traditional power outlet. As for the actual cleaning, the unit includes a whole bunch of sensors that help it create a 3D map of the entire underwater environment. This lets it plan the most efficient cleaning route and minimizes the chances of blind spots. The company says this is particularly important for irregularly shaped pools. It also comes with a camera that susses out the largest amounts of debris, for improved efficiency and accuracy. Wybot The Wybot S3 can be monitored and controlled in real-time via a proprietary app, with a connection that combines Wi-Fi and sonar. The aquatic robovac is available for preorder right now, with shipments going out in the second quarter of the year. However, all of that waterproof tech is gonna cost you. The robot will be priced between $2,500 and $3,000, depending on which options are selected. Pool cleaning robots have been popping up all over the place lately. A company called Aiper brought an impressive model to CES back in 2023 and the Beatbot Aquasense Pro has been receiving rave reviews. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/the-wybot-s3-just-might-be-the-pool-cleaning-robot-of-your-dreams-140100715.html?src=rss

Ring makes doorbells, cameras, floodlights, alarms and intercoms, a list best summed up as stuff to keep your home safe. The obvious omission in the lineup is smoke detectors, which is why the company has rocked up to CES 2025 arm-in-arm with experts Kidde. The pair has put together a range of detectors for the home which are connected by WiFi to the Ring ecosystem.That way, should the whiff of smoke (or, if you buy a combination alarm, smoke and carbon monoxide) wafts through your home, youll get a ping on the Ring app. Youll also, and this is perhaps the most desirable feature of the package, get a warning seven days before your battery runs out, letting you avoid the dreaded alarm chirps.Given Rings penchant for subscription platforms, its no surprise that theres a 24/7 smoke and carbon monoxide monitoring service available. For $5 per month, a remote monitoring service can keep an eye on your home and raise the alarm if the undesirable gases are spotted. Theres no word on how much the new alarms will cost, but theyll be available exclusively at the Home Depot at some point in April 2025.At the same time, Ring has announced it is upgrading the video quality for its existing Floodlight Cam Pro and Spotlight Cam Pro. If you already own these models, youll soon be able to view their outputs not in HD, but 2K thanks to improvements in Ring Vision. This software update will start rolling out on January 8.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/ring-and-kidde-launch-connected-smoke-and-carbon-monoxide-alarms-140052259.html?src=rss

Brisk It debuted its first AI-enabled smart grill concept at CES last year, and now the company is back with a new, low-cost model for 2025. Dubbed the Zelos 450, this compact unit joins the Origin series machines in the company's lineup. Despite the dramatically lower price of $399, Brisk It still managed to pack in its AI cooking tech to assist in all areas of backyard grilling. The company says its Zelos line of pellet grills were designed to offer its advanced features at a more affordable price. Although the company has only announced the 450-square-inch version at CES 2025, it sounds like a larger option could be on the way. Like Brisk It's other models, the main selling point is the company's Vera generative AI platform. Now in version 2.0, Vera offers image recognition on your phone to construct personalized recipes, replicate completed dishes, make a meal based on photographed ingredients or provide inspiration based on what's in your shopping cart at the store. Every recipe is automated with the grill, which the company says will reduce stress and ensure consistent results. Brisk It says the tech makes BBQ and grilling as easy as asking a question and pressing a button. In fact, the company claims the combination of Vera and the Zelos 450 can even compensate for mistakes like forgetting to baste a prime rib roast. Like most smart pellet grills, the Zelos 450 has Wi-Fi connectivity that allows you to control the grill and monitor progress from anywhere via your phone. The grill also can smoke as low at 180 degrees Fahrenheit and sear at 500 degrees, or anything in between like baking and roasting. The Zelos 450 has a simpler design than Brisk It's Origin series, with a more basic onboard controller and display than those first two models. This makes sense given the much lower price tag. The Zelos 450 will be available in Q1 2025 at Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes and directly from the company for $399. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/brisk-its-latest-ai-infused-smart-grill-only-costs-399-140035250.html?src=rss

China denies involvement as more US telecoms providers are revealed to be victims of Salt Typhoon attack.

OWC ThunderBlade X12 offers blazing-fast speeds up to 6.5GBps with RAID configurations and Thunderbolt ports.