Donald Trump Jr. is visiting Greenland, a territory his father said the US should take over.President-elect Trump recently resurfaced a first-term idea of his to buy the Arctic island.Greenland and Denmark have strongly rebuffed the idea.Donald Trump Jr. is heading to Greenland shortly after his father renewed remarks that the US should take over the Danish territory.President-Elect Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday that his eldest son and "various representatives" would be traveling to the Arctic island to "visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights."Trump added that "the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation."The post was accompanied by a video featuring someone, seemingly from Greenland, wearing a MAGA hat and saying that the country doesn't want to be "colonized" by Denmark anymore.Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a US ally and NATO member.A private visitIn a statement provided to Business Insider, Denmark's Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged Trump Jr.'s trip but said it had no further comment as it was not an "official American visit."During his first term in office, Trump proposed that the US buy Greenland, which the country's then-Prime Minister, Kim Kielsen, firmly rejected, saying, "Greenland is not for sale and cannot be sold."In recent weeks, as he gears up for his second term, Trump has once again revisited the idea of buying the massive island, which is replete with natural resources.On December 23, he said in a Truth Social post that ownership and control of Greenland is an "absolute necessity" for the US.He made the comments in a post announcing his choice for US Ambassador to Denmark, soon after he threatened to take over the Panama Canal.Reuters, citing a source familiar with the upcoming trip, said Trump Jr. will not be meeting Greenlandic politicians and is instead traveling to the country to record video footage for a podcast.Representatives for Trump Jr. did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. Greenland, the world's largest island, is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Jessie Brinkman Evans/Getty Images Elon Musk, who is expected to help guide Trump's second term, has also weighed in, posting on X that "the people of Greenland should decide their future and I think they want to be part of America!"While Greenland residents hold Danish citizenship, the government manages local affairs.In response to President-Elect Trump's post in December,In a recent speech, Egede expressed hopes that the territory would pursue independence from Denmark.Hours after Trump's December post, the Danish government announced a huge boost in defense spending for Greenland. On Monday, King Frederik of Denmark updated the royal coat of arms to more prominently feature Greenland and the Faroe Islands.Trump, who will take office on January 20, has also referred to Canada as the "51st state."

A friend of Charlie Munger's says Munger doubled his money on a contrarian bet soon before his death.The friend, Li Lu, gave an interview in which he discussed Munger's careful approach to investing.Li also described dramatically different approaches to risk tolerance between Munger and Elon Musk.Charlie Munger was still sniffing out bargains and scoring big gains at age 99, says a close friend of the late investing icon.Munger, Warren Buffett's business partner and Berkshire Hathaway's vice chairman for more than four decades, died in late November 2023, about a month shy of his 100th birthday.In a rare interview marking the first anniversary of Munger's death, Li Lu told the Chinese social network Zhenge Island that one of Munger's last moves was a contrarian bet."There was a stock that everyone disliked, and it might not be particularly politically correct," Li said. But that didn't stop Munger from studying the company and buying its shares, continued the Himalaya Capital Management founder, whom Munger once described as the "Chinese Warren Buffett.""The week before he died, this stock had doubled from the time he started investing to that time," Li said. It's unclear which stock he was referring to. Li didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.Li said the wager showed Munger retained his passion for investing until the end and "could still go against the market consensus and live to see this stock double." He said the stock remained "in the Munger family portfolio" and was "still performing very well." Li Lu was a close friend of Charlie Munger. JP Yim/Getty Images Li was the only person apart from Buffett who Munger trusted to invest his family's money. He introduced Munger to BYD, the Chinese EV maker that's been one of Berkshire's best investments over the past decade.Describing Munger's careful approach toward investing, in his interview with Zhenge Island he also seemed to allude to a story Munger had discussed at Daily Journal's annual meeting in 2017, saying Munger "read Barron's magazine every week for 50 years and only made one investment.""In 50 years I found one investment opportunity in Barron's, out of which I made about $80 million with almost no risk," Munger said in 2017. "I took the $80 million and gave it to Li Lu, who turned it into $400 to $500 million. So I have made $400 to 500 million out of reading Barron's for 50 years and following one idea."Munger added further details, indicating that the stock was an auto supply company named Tenneco that Apollo Global Management acquired in late 2022. He said that he made 15 times his money on the stock in about two years and that it took him only 90 minutes of research to pull the trigger after reading about it.Lunch with Elon MuskLi recalled a lunch with Munger and Elon Musk in which he said the Tesla and SpaceX CEO tried to win Munger's investment. He said the discussion showed their similar thinking on subjects such as batteries and science but also their stark differences in risk appetite. While Musk was willing to do things with only a 5% chance of success, he said, Munger "may need more than 80% chance of success before he will do it."Musk has previously discussed meeting Munger. Early in 2023 he posted on X that "Munger could've invested in Tesla at ~$200M valuation when I had lunch with him in late 2008." Musk's automaker went on to become one of the world's largest companies and is now worth about $1.3 trillion."I was at a lunch with Munger in 2009 where he told the whole table all the ways Tesla would fail," Musk wrote in another post. "Made me quite sad, but I told him I agreed with all those reasons & that we would probably die, but it was worth trying anyway."Correction: January 7, 2025 This story was updated to reflect that it wasn't clear from Li Lu's interview where Charlie Munger got the idea for the contrarian bet that Li said Munger made at age 99. The story also misstated when Elon Musk posted one of his comments about Munger. It was in early 2023, not early last year.

Bitter cold has lashed its icy fingers across the United States, bringing a frigid start to the New Year. Dubbed Winter Storm Blair, the tempest has triggered winter weather alerts for more than 60 million people this week in a swath from Illinois to New Jersey. The ongoing storm has already dropped up to a foot of snow in some cities and killed at least six people. As of Monday morning, nearly 300,000 utility customers had lost power across states including Virginia, Kentucky, and Illinois. The storm is forecasted to deliver more snow through Tuesday and frosty weather well into next week. Freezing temperatures are poised to reach as far south as Texas and Florida and could deliver the first snow to Disney World in almost 50 years. Winter Storm Blair comes as a bookend to one of the hottest years on record, and while its freezing North America, its origins actually lie in the Arctic.Theres evidence that because of climate change cold Arctic air may be more likely to break containment in the northernmost reaches of the planet and escape southward, bringing frigid temperatures to lower latitudes like the continental United States. It may seem counterintuitive, but the fact that global average temperatures are rising does not preclude bouts of cold, and for some Arctic-driven storms, it could exacerbate them. Scientists are examining the mechanisms connecting humanitys insatiable appetite for fossil fuels, the far north, and storms like Blair. Theyre revealing a complicated picture that shows some of the most profound consequences of climate change occur in the chilliest parts of the planet and during the coolest times of year. As average temperatures rise rapidly, their effects are manifesting in surprising ways, but with more observations and better forecasting tools, storms like Blair dont have to be so deadly and destructive.How warming at the North Pole can bring a winter storm to your commuteThere are a couple key mechanisms behind chills like Winter Storm Blair. One is the polar vortex, a spinning band of strong, cold wind that is normally confined to 10 to 30 miles above the North Pole. The polar vortex picks up strength during the winter and tends to stay circular, but because of waves in the atmosphere, it can occasionally split into multiple swirls or deform into an oblong shape that reaches outside the Arctic. The other factor is a jet stream known as the polar jet. This is a band of air blowing west to east at speeds of up to 275 miles per hour at altitudes between 4 and 8 miles above the Earths surface. When the polar jet is strong, it forms a well-defined ring around the Arctic and holds the icy air in place. When it weakens, it wobbles and forms a flower or clover shape when viewed from directly above the North Pole. Within those lobes, cold Arctic air spills over landmasses like Asia and North America. The polar jet stream and polar vortex are two rings of fast-moving air around the Arctic that play a large role in world weather patterns. Many climate scientists believe that global warming is changing these rings. MIT Climate PortalDisruptions in the polar vortex can combine with deviations in the polar jet, leading to more cold air reaching even further south. Such Arctic spillovers, though, have occurred naturally in the past. How does global warming play in? Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, co-authored a review article published last month looking at the body of research trying to answer this question.The key fact is that while Earth is warming on average, the Arctic is warming up to four times faster than the planet as a whole, a phenomenon called Arctic amplification. That has important knock-on effects. One is that a warmer Arctic means there is a weaker temperature gradient between the Arctic and its surrounding regions. Francis explained that the steep difference between Arctic and sub-Arctic temperatures is what powers the polar jet in the first place, so as the north begins to feel more like the rest of the planet, the jet gets weaker, making its frigid air more likely to meander across the Northern Hemisphere and causing more extreme winter storms like Blair. At the same time, the planets oceans have warmed to extraordinary levels in recent years, and some of the planets waters, such as the North Pacific Ocean, remain unusually balmy. Thats pushing tropical air further north, bending the jet stream northward over the Pacific and southward over North America. The loss of sea ice in regions of the Arctic due to warming also has the potential to reshape the polar vortex in ways that lead to more chilly air reaching further south. Francis and her co-authors acknowledge that theres a lot of uncertainty in quantifying exactly how much human-caused warming is influencing periods of severe cold. Its also unclear precisely how this will proceed as the planet keeps heating up. The effects of warming dont scale linearly, especially in the Arctic, and there are a lot of complicated feedback mechanisms that researchers are still trying to map out. Melting reflective sea ice, for example, yields to a dark, heat-absorbing ocean that can further melt more ice. There are also researchers who arent convinced that climate change has had a discernible role in recent cold snaps, or that theyll become more common as global average temperatures rise. One study published last year using climate models and historical records reported that the main way we can see human influence on sudden periods of severe cold is that they arent as cold as they used to be. The paper found that cold extremes are warming up faster than average wintertime temperatures in North America. Scientists generally agree that winters are heating up on average and are warming up faster than summers. Despite this, dangerous winter weather will still, on occasion, spill over from the Arctic. Even though the Arctic is warming, it will still be frigid during winter for a very long time because it has no sunshine for 6 months straight, Francis said in an email. There will still be plenty of cold air there to feed into cold spells when the jet stream takes a big dip southward.Researchers also highlight that the dangers from severe cold waves come not just from the temperature but from how well people are prepared to cope with them. A cold snap can prove deadly if it grips an area that rarely sees such severe chills, as when Winter Storm Uri froze Texas in 2021 and killed 246 people. The threat is amplified when theres little advance warning. On this front, theres a bit of warm comfort in this icy weather. Forecasters are getting a better handle on the warning signs of cold spells. Scientists detected the polar vortex gathering strength last month, and meteorologists were warning since last week that intense cold and snow is in store across much of the United States. With further advances in data gathering and new AI forecasting tools, well likely be able to see the bitter cold more sharply in the future and from farther away.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: Climate

One player who claims to have seen an early build of GTA 6 has revealed some ambitious updates about the game but it's tough to know if any of it is true at this pointTech12:31, 07 Jan 2025Updated 12:35, 07 Jan 2025GTA 6 is certainly ambitious if this rumour is anything to go by(Image: Still)After more than a year, we've not heard anything from Rockstar Games about GTA 6 (although it's still expected to pull in billions of dollars in sales figures) but that hasn't stopped the news from rolling in.From a potential leak via a janitor, to a longtime voice actor seemingly confirming they're in the upcoming title, the internet is going wild with theories and speculation.Now, a new post has suggested GTA 6 will be more ambitious than anything Rockstar has attempted before but we're not quite ready to buy into the hype yet.Content cannot be displayed without consentIn a now-deleted Reddit post, which you can see above on X (formerly Twitter), one user claims to have seen a "few hours of random GTA VI gameplay from an 2024 build".Claiming not to work for Rockstar but that they were there for "some other work" (could this be our mystery janitor?), the post said the world of GTA 6 is expected to feel "alive".For example, everything (90%) has a physical place in the game, that means debris, litter of all kinds (there was a hint in the first trailer about cups on the road, one flattened by a car, the other half bent from the car's bumper. I'll post it here) that react to the world and player," it said."There will be crews of maintanance (sic), cleaning etc., that will be interacting with the in-game world and what the player (you) does," they add, giving the example that a big crash would lead to a truck coming to collect a vehicle, people cleaning the road, and more.Come and join The Daily Star on Bluesky, the social media site set up by ex-Twitter boss Jack Dorsey. It's now the new go-to place for content after a mass exodus of the Elon Musk-owned Twitter/X.Fear not, we're not leaving Twitter/X, but we are jumping on the bandwagon. So come find our new account on https://bsky.app/profile/dailystar.co.uk, and see us social better than the rest.You can also learn more about The Daily Star team in what Bluesky calls a Starter Pack.So what are you waiting for?! Let's M.S.M.F.A (Make Social Media Fun Again)The post goes on to say that water will linger after a storm (presumably forming puddles), and the in-game police will set up a crime scene if someone is killed or injured.It's a lot to take in, and while it follows somewhat with Red Dead Redemption 2's attempt at a living world, it's tough to get excited when even the usually fervent community has seen the post taken down.Article continues belowTake this one with a fistful of salt, we say.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

PlayStation fans will be able to see Helldivers and Horizon hit the big screen in coming years, but that's not all as Ghost of Tsushima is getting an anime adaptationTech11:20, 07 Jan 2025Horizon Zero Dawn just got a stunning remaster on PS5(Image: Guerrilla Games)The Gran Turismo movie may not have been a cinematic masterpiece, but it was just fun enough to justify its existence and Sonys got the taste for it now.Announced at CES 2025, Sony confirmed its developing movies based on two new titles, with Helldivers and Horizon: Zero Dawn in line for adaptations as the company flexes it's synergistic muscles between PlayStation Studios and Sony Pictures.Both projects are likely some time away from release, but theyre certainly not the only things to get excited about if youre a movie-loving PlayStation fan as the company has confirmed Ghost of Tsushima will get an adaptation, too but not as a movie.Ghost of Tsushima Legends was a DLC update for the first game(Image: Crunchyroll)Im excited to announce we are working with Sony Pictures on developing a film adaptation of our amazingly popular PlayStation game Helldivers 2, Asad Qizilbash of PlayStation Productions revealed on stage.Horizon is one of our most exciting IPs, filled with so much potential to expand into new categories and genres, he added later.The most recent example is Lego Horizon Adventures, which launched this past November a playful story inspired by the world of Lego and made fully out of Lego elements."There is one more Horizon project Im excited to be able to reveal for the first time here today. Columbia Pictures and PlayStation Productions are at the early stages of developing a film adaptation of the award-winning Horizon: Zero Dawn.Just imagine, Aloys beloved origin story set in a vibrant, far-future world filled with the giant machines, brought to you for the first time on the big screen.Perhaps just as exciting, however, is confirmation that Ghost of Tsushima: Legends is getting an anime adaptation. The project, a collaboration between Aniplex and Crunchyroll, is slated for 2027.As the Legends part of the name suggests, itll deal more with the fantastical side of the Ghost mythology, leaning into content introduced in the multiplayer update for the first game.Article continues belowThe move for all three projects make sense in terms of game releases, too. Aside from Lego Horizon Adventures, we saw a Zero Dawn Remaster released at the tail-end of 2024, while Helldivers 2 was one of the years most popular games.Ghost of Yotei, a standalone sequel to Ghost of Tsushima which features a new protagonist and region, is planned to launch in 2025 we named it one of our most-anticipated titles of 2025.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED

Xbox could look to release a new console next year, dubbed the Xbox Prime, and it could have a new Call of Duty title as a launch game to help shift units according to a new rumourTech11:13, 07 Jan 2025Could we see a new Xbox next year?(Image: AFP via Getty Images)Itd be fair to say Xbox has had a rough time of this generation. Aside from reports of being outsold by PlayStation 5 regularly, Microsofts gaming brand has struggled to get its ducks in a row with its now unrivaled first-party studios.Now including Bethesda and Activision-Blizzard, Microsoft has the keys to a whole host of huge gaming franchises, but its most recent messaging has been about how you dont need a console to play them.That could change, however, with reports suggesting the company is looking to roll out a fresh console in 2026 and its not the Xboy handheld, either.Content cannot be displayed without consentPosting on X (formerly Twitter), longtime Call of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope shared a prior post from back in May, 2024.The post had suggested that Call of Dutys 2026 title is being considered as a launch game for the next Xbox, but the follow up suggests that is the case and the console could be called Xbox Prime.The account acknowledges the information should be taken with a huge grain of salt, but with Call of Duty 2026 reportedly bringing back wall-running and remastered maps (also reported via TheGhostOfHope last month), it could be an exciting time to be a CoD player on Xbox.Microsoft discussed releasing its first-party games on other platforms last year in a podcast-style show. During that broadcast, Sarah Bond, president of Xbox, said "Theres some exciting stuff coming out in hardware that were going to share this holiday, and were also invested in the next-generation roadmap.Come and join The Daily Star on Bluesky, the social media site set up by ex-Twitter boss Jack Dorsey. It's now the new go-to place for content after a mass exodus of the Elon Musk-owned Twitter/X.Fear not, we're not leaving Twitter/X, but we are jumping on the bandwagon. So come find our new account on https://bsky.app/profile/dailystar.co.uk, and see us social better than the rest.You can also learn more about The Daily Star team in what Bluesky calls a Starter Pack.So what are you waiting for?! Let's M.S.M.F.A (Make Social Media Fun Again)And what were really focused on there is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation, which makes it better for players and better for creators and the visions that theyre building.That hardware update for the Holiday season was revamped Xbox Series S and X consoles, but Microsoft is seemingly keen to continue making consoles. As yet, the company hasnt committed to a mid-generation console upgrade like the PS5 Pro.Article continues belowAs for Call of Duty, Black Ops 6 marked the first game in the series to launch on Xbox Game Pass on Day One, but classic entries are expected to land in the coming months and World at War could be first.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED

This is but a quarter of Super Smash Bros. Ultimates roster of playable characters (Nintendo)With over 80 fighters, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate seems like something no sequel can ever top, so what will a Nintendo Switch 2 sequel look like?Just as Mario Kart 8 Deluxes overwhelming success has made it difficult for Nintendo to put together a new sequel for the Nintendo Switch 2, the publisher faces the exact same problem with its Super Smash Bros. series.Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is absolutely worthy of its name, boasting one of the biggest rosters of any fighting game ever made. Between its launch roster and subsequent DLC, it features not just Nintendos own all-stars but famous faces from across the games industry.No other franchise could have brought together icons from the likes of Sega, Microsoft, and even Disney. And that isnt getting into all the cameos via the assist trophies, spirits, and Mii costumes either. Counting those, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a huge accomplishment; one thats seemingly impossible to top.Despite some initial reservations about whether the series could continue after Ultimate, series director Masahiro Sakurai has admitted a new Super Smash Bros. game will most likely happen with his involvement.However, in the wake of the addition of Ultimates final DLC character, Kingdom Hearts Sora, in 2021, Sakurai didnt shy away from how difficult putting together the next Smash Bros. will be: If were going to continue with the series, Nintendo and I need to discuss and seriously consider how to make it a success.We do know Sakurais been working on a new project since 2021, but whether its the next Smash Bros. or not is hard to discern, given his vague comments about it.Regardless, the Switch 2 is bound to get its own Super Smash Bros. game. Aside from being a well-recognised and beloved series, you just have to look at Super Smash Bros. Ultimates sales numbers to see why more is guranteed.According to Nintendos own metrics, it is the third best-selling game on the Switch at 35.14 million units sold and has sold more than the Wii, 3DS, and Wii U instalments combined.Will Nintendo port Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to the Switch 2?So, what can Nintendo do for the Switch 2 entry? The way we see it, there are two options. The first is to simply port over Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but with all its DLC bundled with it. Essentially, Nintendo can give it the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe treatment. A Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe, if you will.Nintendo would still have to renegotiate the licences needed to retain all the third party characters, but this otherwise seems like a no-brainer. The port could feature all the same content, meaning fans wont have to worry about a diminished roster, but would likely include extra content on top of that.Since the Switch 2s backwards compatibility will allow people to keep playing the original Ultimate on the newer hardware, a re-release would need to offer something new, such as additional characters, to convince established fans into double dipping especially as Nintendo doesnt tend to offer upgrade paths for those that own the original versions of games.Much like Mario Kart 8 Deluxes Booster Course Pass, this hypothetical Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe could be supported by waves of DLC that bring even more characters to the game.What new characters could come to Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo Switch 2?While Super Smash Bros. Ultimate saw many fan favourite characters join the roster (like Ridley, King K. Rool, and Banjo and Kazooie), Nintendo isnt short on options for future additions.When it comes to who the most popular ones are amongst fans, common picks online include the likes of Waluigi from the Super Mario games, Dixie Kong from Donkey Kong Country, and Geno from Super Mario RPG (coincidentally, those three are referenced through Mii costumes in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate).There is also a surplus of third party guest stars Nintendo can draw from its partners, particularly from companies whove already leant their characters to Smash Bros. Some examples are Street Fighters Chun-Li and Ace Attorneys Phoenix Wright from Capcom, as well as Crash Bandicoot and Halos Master Chief from Microsoft.Theres some debate about whether PlayStation characters could or should be included but Lego Horizon Adventures getting a Switch seems to increase that possibility, at least for series protagonist Aloy.However, Sony doesnt have as close a working relationship with Nintendo as Microsoft does and the company has shown little interest in bringing any of its other IPs or characters to Nintendo platforms.As for whats actually viable, Nintendo is obviously going to prioritise picks from its own franchises. Combined with its release schedule post-Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the fact that the Smash Bros. games double as promotions for other Nintendo properties, there are a handful of characters that seem rather obvious or at least have very strong chances. Those being:A new Pokmon character (the series always gets a new representative to promote the newest Pokmon games)A new Fire Emblem character (the series has had a new representative every Smash Bros. game since Melee in 2001)A new Metroid character (maybe Sylux to cross-promote Metroid Prime 4)A new Xenoblade character (either someone from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 or Elma to promote the Xenoblade Chronicles X remaster)A slightly obscure retro pick (think the Ice Climbers and Mr. Game & Watch)At least one major third-party pickThe most obvious guess though is new characters from new IP released alongside the Switch 2. Theres bound to be at least one or two such games at launch, and perhaps several within the first year or so, which will be perfect for some cross-promotion with Smash Bros.Not to mention, if Nintendo wanted a Smash Bros. title ready for the Switch 2s launch later this year, a port of Ultimate should be the easier option over something completely new. Plus, itd help push Switch 2 sales to all the diehard Smash fans who may not be interested in Nintendos other titles.While this is undoubtedly the safest option, that in itself is rather antithetical to Nintendos usual approach to sequels. The company is rarely content to just pump out the same game again with a couple of new bells and whistles attached, with Splatoon being one of the few exceptions to that general rule.Look at The Legend Of Zelda, for example. 2017s Breath Of The Wild is a completely different beast compared to its predecessor, Skyward Sword. And while 2023s Tears Of The Kingdom stuck to Breath Of The Wilds formula, it expanded the map and added several new mechanics that opened up gameplay opportunities not possible in the previous game.The core of Super Smash Bros. hasnt changed all that much since the original 1999 game, but each entry has always brought new things to the table beyond the expanded roster. Be they Super Smash Bros. Brawls story mode that turned the game into a side-scrolling beat em-up or customisable movesets for every character in the 3DS and Wii U entries.Granted, the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe example makes a re-release seem more likely but the circumstances surrounding it were different, as the original Mario Kart 8 launched for the flop Wii U console and only sold 8.46 million copies (according to Nintendos figures), far less than the previous entries on the Wii and 3DS.The Switch revamp was done to give Mario Kart 8 another shot at life and get it out early into the consoles lifecycle, since making a brand new game would have taken much longer. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, by comparison, doesnt need its sales figures propped up.What would a new Super Smash Bros. look like?A new Smash Bros. will not have a roster as large as Ultimates. Sakurai said as much in 2019 (per VGC): If Smash Bros. continues in the future, then theres no way this many fighters and series can be represented again.But perhaps a semi-reboot of the series, with less characters, is just what the formula needs. A smaller roster could permit the development team to focus on other areas, be they new online multiplayer modes, more involved single-player content, or more refined movesets for returning characters particularly those like Samus and Donkey Kong who have gone mostly unchanged since 1999.The problem is that a smaller roster will inherently be a turn-off for a lot of people. If a sequel doesnt let you make Mario and Pikachu fight Final Fantasy 7s Cloud and Minecraft Steve, why pick it up when the game that does allow that is readily available?More TrendingWhen it comes to sequels, people naturally expect each subsequent entry to be bigger than the last one. Smash Bros. roster has ballooned in size since 1999, so anything less than Ultimates starting selection of 76 characters will feel like a downgrade.With this in mind, the smartest solution is to not only port Ultimate to Switch 2, but also keep re-releasing it every time Nintendo makes a new console, adding more characters every time.While we could foresee Nintendo going with an Ultimate re-release for Switch 2, be it at launch or later in its lifecycle, it feels like the company will hit the reset button on Super Smash Bros. eventually.Nintendos priorities have always been gameplay, experimentation, and innovation rather than recycling its greatest hits. Knowing this, Smash Bros. fans may need to accept that Ultimate wont be a forever game, but a glorious one-time or perhaps just two-time event. Is a smaller Smash Bros. inevitable? (Nintendo)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive 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

Call Of Duty games cost over $700,000,000 to make half that of GTA 6Michael BeckwithPublished January 7, 2025 11:25amUpdated January 7, 2025 11:26am In case you didnt realise how expensive modern game development is, these figures make it clear as day (Activision)Activision has publicly shared the budgets for recent Call Of Duty titles, making them the most expensive games ever made that we know of.Unlike movies, you very rarely, if ever, learn how much a video games development budget is. And any time you do find out, its usually because it has leaked unofficially or via some legal process the publisher couldnt prevent.In 2023, court documents from Sony accidentally gave away how much money the company spent making The Last Of Us Part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West. While Insomniac Games budget for Spider-Man 2 made its way online that same year, thanks to a hacking incident.Those leaked budgets were between $212 million and over $300 million, which is the top-end for most triple-A games. As it turns out, though, those examples are still much cheaper than what Activision is spending on each new Call Of Duty game.How much do the Call Of Duty games cost to make?This past December, Patrick Kelly, head of creative on the Call Of Duty series, disclosed the development costs and sales for three of the more recent games in a court filing. The titles in question and their respective budgets are as follows:Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 (2015) over $450 million (about 358 million) in development costs 43 million copies soldCall Of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) over $640 million (about 509 million) in development costs 41 million copies soldCall Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020) over $700 million (about 557 million) in development costs 30 million copies soldThe figures for Black Ops Cold War also covers marketing costs, according to Game Files Stephen Totilo on Bluesky.The filing in question was only recently discovered by Game File and, for context, is part of a lawsuit regarding a school shooting that took place in Uvalde, Texas in 2022.The suit, which was filed last May, alleges the Call Of Duty series is partially to blame for the shooting as the culprit was said to have avidly played it; specifically the three games listed above. Can you believe Spider-Man 2 still cost less to make than even the 2015 Call Of Duty? (Sony)It is somewhat shocking to learn that even Call Of Duty games from almost a decade ago cost more to make than Sonys modern AAA single-player titles.By comparison, Horizon Forbidden West cost only $212 million (about 168 million), The Last Of Us Part 2 was $220 million (174 million), and Spider-Man 2s budget was in excess of $300 million (over 239 million).Although Call Of Duty games are replaced each year with a new title they are filled with microtransactions that likely make them far more profitable than single-player titles although the exact details are never likely to be made public.You can see how the budgets have ballooned as time has gone on, meaning more recent releases like 2024s Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 almost certainly cost over $700 million and are now likely to be in the region of $1 billion especially given the unusually big marketing campaign for the most recent title.Knowing the development costs for one of the biggest video game franchises in the world are so high suddenly makes the rumoured GTA 6 budget seem a lot more believable.More TrendingLast year, it was suggested the upcoming sequel has a budget of $2 billion (about 1.6 billion), which would easily make it the most expensive video game ever made.It sounded ludicrous at first, but GTA 6 has been highly anticipated for years, to the point where costing only twice as much as a new Call Of Duty almost seems cheap.Plus, GTA 5 has made over $8.5 billion (about 6.77 billion) in revenue since 2013, thanks to its re-releases and continued support for the multiplayer component, GTA Online.GTA 6 is expected to follow suit with its own multiplayer mode. So, if Rockstar is going to be supporting GTA 6 for over the next decade and achieve the graphical quality seen in that first trailer, it will need an extremely high budget. GTA 6 is too expensive to fail (Rockstar)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive 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

Nintendo Switch 2 can run PS5 and Xbox Series X/S games suggest tech expertsGameCentralPublished January 7, 2025 10:48amUpdated January 7, 2025 10:48am This leak is what all the analysis is based on (Reddit)Analysis of leaked images of the Nintendo Switch 2 motherboard suggests the new console will be more powerful than it first seems.2025 has continued just as 2024 ended: with endless Nintendo Switch 2 leaks, most of which appear to be real. Theres been a lot of focus on the new Joy-Cons but what was also leaked over the new year was images of the new consoles motherboard.According to the tech experts at Digital Foundry, the images are almost certainly real and so they and others have been able to make quite detailed estimates of the consoles power and what it can and cant do.It is, as youd imagine, all very complicated but the gist of it is that they estimate the Switch 2 will be roughly as powerful as a base PlayStation 4 (so not a PS4 Pro). However, that comes with a lot of caveats, and they also predict that many Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 games will be ported to the Switch 2, even if they dont run quite as well on it.On paper, its suggested that the Switch 2 seems to be less powerful than Steam Deck and other PC-based portable device, but Digital Foundry points out that raw tech specs are never a good indication of what a console can actually do.Importantly, they emphasise that, unlike the original Switch, Nintendo was directly involved in the design of the new hardware and so there will be lots of features and secret sauce that will allow the Switch 2 to run games with better than expected performance.Its predicted that the new console will be able to make use of machine learning features, including upscaling tech like DLSS, as well as ray-tracing. And while the Switch 2 doesnt seem to have a SSD, load times are expected to be considerably reduced thanks to a custom decompression block.Although the Switch 2s performance is compared to a normal PlayStation 4, this will be augmented by Nvidia DLSS and modern GPU features and solid ray-tracing support.As such, its predicted that therell be a wide range of PlayStation 4 era ports, with many games and franchises that have never appeared on a Nintendo console before.On top of that, Digital Foundry predict that there will also be PlayStation 5 era ports, albeit running at a frame rate of 30fps instead of 60fps and likely with other compromises.More TrendingThe comparison is made between the current Switch and its array of impossible ports, like Doom (2016) and The Witcher 3 which, while inferior to the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 4 versions, still look and run surprisingly well.These are only predictions, but there have already been reports of the Switch 2 enjoying significant third party support from launch and it was widely assumed, before the motherboard leak, that the new console would be at least as powerful as the PlayStation 4.It will almost certainly be Nintendos own games which push the console the furthest, but so far theres been no substantial leaks about what games therell be at launch and beyond.Thats why, despite all these hardware leaks, the official reveal will still be hugely exciting, as we still know nothing about the most important aspect of the new console: the games. Leaks about the games would still be far more interesting (Reddit)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralExclusive 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

New York City Implements Traffic Congestion Pricing, the First in the USSave this picture!Rush hour traffic jam with taxis and cars merging on Varick Street towards the Holland Tunnel in Manhattan, New York City. Image Ryan DeBerardinis via ShutterstockNew York City has implemented the first congestion pricing scheme in the US, charging drivers up to $9 per day to enter a designated zone south of Central Park, encompassing areas like Times Square and Wall Street. The initiative aims to alleviate chronic traffic congestion, improve air quality, and generate revenue for public transportation improvements, addressing New York City's ranking as the world's most congested urban area for two consecutive years. The plan went into effect Sunday, January 5th, 2025.Save this picture!The plan, while intended to improve traffic flow and fund public transit, has faced significant opposition. Lawmakers from New Jersey and New York suburbs criticize it as an unfair tax on commuters, while a legal challenge from New Jersey officials, citing environmental concerns, was unsuccessful. The diverse reactions, ranging from anger from commuters to support from residents illustrate the varied impacts and opinions on the congestion charge's efficacy and fairness. The program, initially proposed in 2019 and repeatedly delayed, faced legal challenges and a last-minute toll reduction by Governor Hochul before its final implementation.Save this picture!The system utilizes existing tolling infrastructure, relying on 1,400 cameras across 400 lanes, and it includes reduced rates outside peak hours and discounts for drivers already paying bridge and tunnel tolls. While cities like London and Paris have seen positive results from similar initiatives, New York's program faces significant headwinds. The substantial backlash from drivers and businesses in the tri-state area underscores the potential for negative impacts. Transparency regarding the program's effects on traffic flow, air quality, and public transit usage will be crucial to evaluating its long-term success or failure. Related Article New York City Unveils Plans to Transform Fifth Avenue into a Pedestrian-Centered Boulevard Congestion pricing works on a fairly simple economic theory that increasing cost decreases demand and shifts transportation to other modes like trains, buses, and cycling. This is a tried-and-true transportation planning tool that has been used in Singapore since the 70s and has also been used in similar-sized cities like London and smaller (but still large) cities like Milan and Stockholm. I fully expect that after several months of lowered car traffic people will begin to feel safer riding their bikes and buses will see fewer delays. - David Banks, a lecturer at the University at Albany's Department of Geography & Planning, for NewsWise Save this picture!In other similar news, New York City has announced plans to transform Fifth Avenue into a pedestrian-centered boulevard, enlarging sidewalks and reducing traffic lanes to improve pedestrian comfort and support the economic development of street-side commercial and retail venues. The city also recently announced the installation of + POOL, a floating swimming pool equipped with an innovative water filtration system, at Pier 35 in New York's East River.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorCite: Maria-Cristina Florian. "New York City Implements Traffic Congestion Pricing, the First in the US" 07 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025413/new-york-city-implements-traffic-congestion-pricing-the-first-in-the-us&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