At the Kohl's store I visited in Clifton, New Jersey, Sephora was prominently advertised with its own branded entrance.Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Kohl's has more than 1,150 locations in 49 states. While there are Kohl's stores in the greater New York City area, including in Brooklyn and Yonkers, there aren't any in Manhattan.Kohl's announced its partnership with Sephora in 2020. By 2023, 910 Kohl's locations had added Sephora stores, and the retail chain built 140 more Sephora stores at Kohl's in 2024.In 2023, Sephora sales at Kohl's totaled $1.4 billion, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Sales are projected to hit $2 billion by 2025.A sign advertised an ongoing customer appreciation event with extra sales.Sales at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Kohl's Rewards members and Kohl's cardholders received extra discounts. The entrance I chose led me into the juniors section, which was strategically located right in front of Sephora.The junior's section at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The juniors section sold flared leggings, bralettes, and other styles popular with Gen Z.Sephora seemed to serve as the centerpiece of the store with prominent placement in the middle of the aisles.A Sephora location at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The Sephora was constructed like a store within a store, similar to smaller shops located in a mall. With celebrity beauty brands laid out in colorful displays under bright lighting, I felt drawn into the small-format Sephora like a moth to a flame.Inside the Sephora at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The aisles were full of makeup brands like Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Fenty Beauty by Rihanna. An assortment of fine jewelry with lab-grown diamonds was displayed around the corner from Sephora.Jewelry at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider On a June earnings call, Kingsbury said the retailer had removed some jewelry from stores to make room for Sephora locations since jewelry sales had been steadily declining.He said Kohl's planned to add more accessories like jewelry back into stores in time for the holidays and place them near Sephora in an effort to boost sales. There were also cheaper jewelry options nearby, such as Lauren Conrad's LC line.Lauren Conrad's jewelry line at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The items ranged between $7 and $15, while most of the fine jewelry items displayed nearby cost around $100. I was impressed by the wide selection of dresses at Kohl's, ranging from office looks to black-tie gowns.Dresses at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Kingsbury told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in September that Kohl's locations with more space for dresses were "performing better" than other locations.To me, the black-tie dresses in particular made Kohl's feel more like a department store than a big-box retailer. Kohl's featured inclusive sizing, with sections for women's plus size, women's petite, and men's big and tall.The big and tall men's section at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Kohl's also carries a line of adaptive clothing designed for accessibility. I appreciated how the store catered to a wide customer base.However, much of the store felt understated in comparison to Sephora.Flannel shirts at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Women's flannel shirts were on sale for $24.99 the same as they cost at Target, but more expensive than Walmart, where similar shirts cost between $5 and $15. I also didn't find the clothing displays particularly engaging compared to Sephora's luminous shelves and eye-catching photos. The selection of home decor at Kohl's didn't seem as large as I've seen at big-box retailers like Walmart and Target.Home decor at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The items were organized by color, which I found visually appealing. I also enjoyed the wooden roof displayed over the home decor section, which made it easy to spot and identify from a distance.Kohl's Q3 earnings report found that home decor was a "key growth area" that experienced a "strong collective performance" despite the overall slump.I was puzzled by a housewares section that featured aisles of slow cookers, vacuums, and suitcases next to each other.Housewares at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Centering the juniors and jewelry sections around Sephora's beauty products made sense to me, but these items all seemed like they belonged in different parts of the store. Perhaps it was a space issue, or maybe Kohl's is still playing around with store layouts that drive more sales. Kohl's hopes to replicate the success of its Sephora partnership through another partnership with Babies "R" Us.The Babies "R" Us baby registry at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider In October, Kohl's launched a digital baby registry service through Babies "R" Us to boost sales of baby gear, which has been a top seller.On the Q3 earnings call, Kingsbury said that while Kohl's had "benefited" from opening Babies "R" Us shops in 200 stores, these additions were still "unable to offset the declines in our core business."In a section titled "The Toy Box," boxes of Hot Wheels tracks, Lego sets, and Mr. Potato Heads were piled on the floor.Toys at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider This could have been a stylistic choice, but it did make me think of Business Insider senior correspondent Emily Stewart's story about how store aisles crowded with boxes are a sign of the retail apocalypse. As I headed toward the checkout counters, I saw a self-pickup section full of orders another method of increasing sales.Self-pickup at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider Kohl's launched self-pickup in all of its locations in 2022.The line for staffed checkout counters was about 10 customers deep, but there was no line for self-checkout.The checkout line at Kohl's. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider The staffed checkout counters may have had a longer line because of people making returns. It remains to be seen if Kohl's strategies will help the brand avoid further decline and closures.Kohl's trading post at the New York Stock Exchange. Richard Drew/AP By leaning into partnerships with Sephora and Babies "R" Us and thinking strategically about store layouts, Kohl's hopes to drive enough business to sustain its core brand and reverse its sales slump.

As devastating wildfires continue to burn through Los Angeles, so far killing at least 10 people and forcing well over 100,000 people to evacuate, or try to, President-elect Donald Trump has decided to point his ire toward a fish. Not the severe Santa Ana winds that fueled the fires. Not the unusually dry weather. Not the steady march of home development into fire-prone areas.A fish.In a post Wednesday morning on Truth Social, Trump blamed California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, for depriving the LA region of water because he wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt. Trump chided Newsom for not approving a water restoration declaration that doesnt exist, per Newsoms office. He also implied that protections for the delta smelt a small fish species found only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an expansive wetland in Northern California caused some fire hydrants to run dry in parts of LA. (Earlier this week, fire hydrants in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood ran dry, not because the city had no water but because of water pressure and other infrastructure issues.)This isnt the first time that Trump has bad-mouthed this fish. For nearly a decade now, the incoming president has claimed that he can solve Californias incredibly complex water problems by simply undoing regulations designed to help the delta smelt skirt extinction, as E&E Newss Jennifer Yachnin has reported. Those problems are not rooted in drought, Trump claims, but in Democratic rules that restrain private interests. In reality, rising temperatures have made Californias droughts even dryer.RelatedOther GOP leaders and conservative hosts have also targeted the smelt, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. In a 2011 speech, she blamed delta smelt protections for destroying peoples lives in the Central Valley. A faceless government is taking away their lifeline, water, all because of a 3-inch fish, Palin said. Where I come from, a 3-inch fish, we call that bait.A few years before, right-wing commentator Sean Hannity dedicated a full episode of his primetime show to the delta smelt. In front of a crowd in the Central Valley, he told his audience that farms in this once fertile area have dried up all because the government has put the interest of a 2-inch minnow before all the great people that you see out here tonight.Why do right-wing leaders have so much beef with this humble little fish?The delta smelt is basically extinctThe delta smelt is no polar bear or tiger. It looks like every other nondescript small fish. But worthless? Thats not only rude but inaccurate.Silver and slender, the delta smelt is endemic to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, meaning its found nowhere else on Earth. And for most of its time on our planet likely thousands of years it was a linchpin in the delta ecosystem, according to Andrew Rypel, an aquatic ecologist at the University of California Davis.Everything ate it, he said, from salmon, to sharks, to people. The species, historically, had a tremendous value. It provisioned energy for the whole food web.The smelt used to be one of the most common species in the estuary, Rypel said. But starting around the mid-20th century, the fish began a perilous decline, in step with the broader faltering health of the delta. Invasive clams and mussels were introduced and competed with the fish for food. Runoff from farmland polluted the water. And billions of gallons of water were and continue to be pumped out of the delta and delivered to farms and cities, including San Francisco.Delta smelt bred at the UC Davis Fish Conservation and Culture Lab in Byron, California. Randy Pench/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesThese fish can get killed directly by the water pumps, Rypel said, if they get sucked in or stuck on the intake filter. More importantly, decades of pumping and diverting water have changed the levels, temperature, and salinity of the water, dramatically altering the habitat to which smelt have adapted.We are putting the ecosystem in a perpetual state of drought through water extraction, and increasingly also with climate change, said Rypel. The droughts are longer and more sustained. The smelt just cant handle that.Their populations have mostly perished.In the 90s, the delta smelt was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act and under state law. In 2009, California upgraded the fishs status to endangered, and their numbers appear to have only dwindled since then. While these fish can be difficult to detect, wildlife surveys in the estuary have failed to turn up a single delta smelt in recent years. Thats why experts like Rypel describe them as functionally extinct meaning theyre so rare they effectively provide no function in their ecosystem, such as feeding predators. Rypel guesses there are less than 100 of them left in the wild. (As a last-ditch effort to save the species, UC Davis breeds the fish in captivity on land.)In an effort to stave off extinction, the delta smelt is protected under both state and federal law. Those protections limit to a small extent when and how much water can be pumped from the delta, in order to provide the fish with adequate freshwater and reduce impingement when fish get trapped against intake valves. Under these rules, more water flows out to sea. Much bigger pumping restrictions, however, have more to do with ensuring that saltwater doesnt move upstream and make the water unusable for cities and farms, according to UC Davis law professor Karrigan Brk.Farmers dont love these restrictions, especially during times of drought. Rules crafted to help the fish can limit how much water farmers receive to irrigate their crops (though things like drought and efforts to limit salinity have a far greater impact on how much water flows to California farmland). Hoping to gain more political support, Trump and other right-wing leaders have over the years criticized the regulations, blaming them and, in turn, the fish for the hardship felt by farmers, a key part of their political base. This makes sense. The modern Republican Party has a history of criticizing the Endangered Species Act. Trump, for his part, won the election for presidency on a platform that promised deregulation, especially as it pertains to environmental protections.A distributary of the San Joaquin river in Tracy, California. George Rose/Getty ImagesUltimately, Trumps hostility toward this fish is not actually about a fish. Its about boosting the perspective that regulations are bad for everyday Americans. As Tufts University sociologist Caleb Scoville put it this summer, Statements about the Delta Smelt are made politically powerful through links to partisan positions that have little, if anything, to do with water.It is hardly surprising then that Trump blamed a powerful Democratic governor and regulations as reasons that LA is burning.To be clear, they are not.Regulations to prevent the delta smelt from going extinct have nothing to do with LAs catastrophic fires. For one, the problem wasnt a lack of water. Plus, most of the citys water doesnt even come from Northern California, as Alastair Bland reported in CalMatters. Right now, the Metropolitan Water District, one of the sources that supplies LA, has the most water stored in its system in the history of the agency, Mark Gold, water scarcity director for the Natural Resources Defense Council and a board member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, told Bland.The delta smelt is a red herring. What is a legitimate question, however, is why should California and the federal government protect a species thats essentially extinct? The fish is still hanging on, Rypel suspects. So improving the health of the estuary can help the existing individuals survive it could stave off extinction. It also makes ongoing efforts to reintroduce captive-bred smelt more likely to succeed.Increased freshwater flow benefits other species, too, including the highly valued Chinook salmon and the related longfin smelt, both of which are in decline. In July, the US Fish and Wildlife Service listed the San Francisco delta population of longfin smelt as endangered. And again, outflow from the delta also prevents saltwater from spreading inland and threatening drinking water and crops.In California, 83 percent of our native fishes are at risk of extinction, Rypel said. All of these native California species are going the way of the delta smelt. Its just that the smelt is happening faster. Indeed, the delta smelt is just one part of a much broader trend. A new study in the journal Nature found that one in four freshwater species are at risk of extinction globally. Weve actually been very effective at engineering water and getting more efficient with water use, Rypel told me. Its just we havent figured out how to have ecosystems at the same time.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:

It is an interesting quirk of video game history that one of the greatest ever horror titles debuted on the Nintendo GameCube, a toylike console better known for the cutest titles in the Zelda series and Animal Crossing. But in 2002, Capcom revealed five exclusives to boost the beleaguered platform and among them was Resident Evil 4, technically the 13th title in the franchise, which on its release three years later would be considered its zenith. It was an exciting new lease of life for the survival horror genre.Not that youd guess all this from the games extraordinarily pedestrian setup. Six years after the fall of the Umbrella Corporation smouldering cop Leon Kennedy has been dispatched on a mission to retrieve the US presidents kidnapped daughter, who has been spotted in a tiny village in rural Spain. For some reason best known to the Secret Service, hes going in alone.Yet from this B-movie premise, it radically challenged the conventions of the Resident Evil series and the survival horror genre itself. By moving the action away from the grim, rainy midwest of Raccoon City and into the Spanish countryside, Capcom thrust Resi fans (and Leon himself) into utterly unfamiliar surroundings. This sense of dislocation continued when the traditional lumbering zombies (clearly inspired by George A Romeros Night of the Living Dead trilogy) were replaced by brutishly fast, axe-wielding country folk, infected with parasites by evil aristocrats in a gothic castle. These sprightly creatures were much more in line with the infected maniacs depicted in Danny Boyles modern take on the zombie flick, 28 Days Later, surely an influence on Resi 4 director Shinji Mikami. Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the obscure Lovecraftian horror Dagon, which is actually set in Spain, have also been put forward by fans as potential inspirations.The action feels frighteningly close Resident Evil 4 (2005). Photograph: CapcomIn interviews, producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi said that theme of the game was fear of groups. Throwing swarms of Ganados at the player rather than small groups of zombies ramped up the pressure, and prompted many moments of sheer panic. The games rudimentary AI allowed foes to circle behind the player rather than stumbling brainlessly straight at them.But most importantly, Resi 4 yanked the players eye-line downwards from a floating third-person perspective to an intense over-the-shoulder viewpoint. This made it easier to aim at enemies compared with the frustratingly obtuse early Resident Evil games, but more importantly, it accentuated the sense of embodiment and proximity. The action feels raw, the teeth and axe blades frighteningly close. Mikami has since said that he never realised this would be such a revolutionary feature, but it inspired a whole generation of brawling adventures including Gears of War (and the 2018 reboot of God of War).Elsewhere, Dead Space designer Ben Wanat has referred to EAs cosmic horror shooter as Resident Evil 4 in space, and The Last of Us designer Ricky Cambierhas spoken about his ambition to recreate the tension of Resi 4. And when you look at it now, the sense of interdependence between Leon and Ashley certainly foreshadows the vulnerable relationship between Joel and Ellie.The new shoulder camera, with a heightened emphasis on action and gunfights, altered the whole tempo of the Resi experience. There were still tense minutes of quiet as you explored dank, carcass-strewn farmyards and castle grounds. But then there were bloody sieges as waves of monstrous warriors came at you through the muddy lanes and murky industrial tunnels. The set-piece encounters have become the stuff of legend from the rabid dogs lurking in the ornate garden maze to the giant serpent beast in the lake, the game has a thrilling menagerie of boss enemies to contend with. Amazingly, even the inventory management is fondly recalled, with players obsessively repacking their attache case to fit in more goodies bought from the shadowy trader.In 2023, Capcom released a wonderful updated version, which introduced a new generation to its thrilling, Grand Guignol pleasures. But go back to the original and it still works. Once in a while, a video game comes along that fans love, but that game designers love more and these games end up altering the approach of the entire industry. Super Mario 64 was one, Doom was another. To that list we must surely add Resident Evil 4.

Destiny 2's Exotic vendor, Xur, is back again this week here's how to find him, what he's selling, and whether we recommend his offerings before he vanishes againTech16:45, 10 Jan 2025Updated 17:04, 10 Jan 2025What is Xur selling this week?(Image: Charleen Bougourd/Bungie Inc.)Destiny 2 is seeing declining player numbers, but at least Act 3 of the second post-Final Shape Episode is here.I's Friday, and that means we're off to take our strange coins to Xur to buy exotic weapons and armour for our Guardians to tear through the new Slayer's Fang Exotic Mission with.This year's Final Shape expansion mixed things up for the tentacle-faced NPC, meaning Xur can now sell a much more varied list of items, and he's only ever found in one spot. Luckily for you, we'll cover where he is, and what he has, for December 10 - 14.Here's what Xur is offering for Guardians this week in Destiny 2(Image: Bungie Inc.)While Xur used to appear in multiple places, hopping between planets, he can now be found at Destiny 2's main social space, The Tower.Head to Cayde's ramen shop, and down the alley next to it to find Xur. He only appears from 5PM GMT/ 10AM PDT/ 1PM EDT on Friday to 5PM BST/ 10AM PDT/ 1PM EDT on Tuesday .Struggling to find him? Check out our screenshot below for his exact location on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.Here's where Xur can be found post-Final ShapeAs of 5PM GMT/ 10AM PDT/ 1PM EDT, Xur is selling:Acrius Catalyst - 71 Strange CoinsTrinity Ghoul Catalyst - 71 Strange CoinsMechaneer's Tricksleeves (Hunter) - 41 Strange CoinsAn Insurmountable Skullfort (Titan) - 41 Strange CoinsChromatic Fire (Warlock) - 41 Strange CoinsExotic Class Item - 41 Strange CoinsThe Xurfboard (Skimmer/Sparrow) - 97 Strange CoinsHe was also selling these weapons:Hawkmoon (with Snapshot Sights) - 23 Strange CoinsThe Huckleberry - 23 Strange CoinsSunshot - 23 Strange CoinsThe Wardcliff Coil - 23 Strange CoinsDestiny 2's famous exotic seller, Xur, is back again.(Image: Bungie Inc.)Xur will also sell materials, including Engrams, via the More Strange Offers section, while he also has the following Legendary Weapons which cost 17 Strange Coins each.Ignition Code (Grenade Launcher)Scathelocke (Auto Rifle)Stochastic Variable (SMG)Contingency Plan (Scout Rifle)Sailspy Pitchglass (Linear Fusion Rifle)Eleatic Principle (Machine Gun)Quickfang/Crown-Splitter/Eternity's Edge (Class Swords)As of the Final Shape expansion, Xur has his own reputation system, similar to what you've likely seen with the Gunsmith and other vendors.By ranking up his reputation rank, you can earn the following from him:Rank 4: Enhancement Core x 7Rank 7: Enhancement Prism x 3Rank 10: Exotic Engram x 2Rank 13: Ascendant ShardRank 16: Ascendant AlloyReset Rank: Exotic CipherOnce you've reset the rank, these change to the following:Rank 4: Enhancement Core x 3Rank 7: Enhancement PrismRank 10: Exotic Engram x 2Rank 13: Enhancement Core x 5Rank 16: Enhancement Prism x 2Reset Rank: Exotic CipherArticle continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

Nintendo has finally spoken about the Nintendo Switch 2, confirming prior leaks from accessory manufacturer Genki are "not official" as speculation about a reveal date intensifiesTech14:34, 10 Jan 2025Is this the Nintendo Switch 2?(Image: @KirPinkFury/X)The Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to launch this year, but the highly anticipated console has been featured in a swathe of leaks in recent leaks.Reports have suggested it'll use AI upscaling for 4K visuals and have magnetic Joy-Con controllers, while earlier today we heard it could have an OLED display, too.Perhaps the most surprising leak of all came from gaming peripheral manufacturer Genki, which reportedly told at least one journalist at CES this week that they have seen, and have, a Switch 2 even showing off a dummy unit of the console.After staying quiet for a few days, however, Nintendo has fired back.More Switch 2 leaks are emerging(Image: @KirPinkFury/X)As spotted by VGC, Nintendo has released a statement to Japanese site Sankei.It's short and sweet, simply saying "these images and videos are not official," but it gets the point across. Still, Genki's console mock-up, while not "official", isn't the only render on the internet.As we covered today with the OLED rumours, designers have built 360-degree mockups of the system based on leaked information, including a mystery button.Some had speculated that Nintendo was looking to avoid getting caught up in the CES news cycle, and now a Microsoft event is locked in for January, the company is running out of available dates to reveal its new console.With suggestions it could have PS4 Pro levels of power when docked, and run a AAA title from a couple of years ago, we're excited for the company to clear up the rumours.For more on handheld consoles, be sure to check out why your next system should be a Steam Deck OLED.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED

Despite earlier reports suggesting the Nintendo Switch 2 would come with an LCD display, a new leak 'confirms' it'll have an OLED panel after all, and gives another look at the systemTech13:49, 10 Jan 2025More Switch 2 leaks are emerging(Image: @KirPinkFury/X)A new console is always reason to be excited, but the Nintendo' Switch 2 is one of the most anticipated new pieces of hardware in history.While we've seen rumours that it'll leverage NVIDIA's AI upscaling for 4K visuals and use new magnetic Joy-Con controllers, we've also heard it'll revert to an LCD display.That left some fans cold, given the clear step forward of the Switch OLED, but now a new report has suggested it could have an OLED screen after all.As seen in the video above from 91mobiles, Switch 2 is expected to have a much larger 8.4-inch screen but mostly keep a similar form factor to the original.91mobiles' and OnLeaks accompanying report says "According to OnLeaks, the new Switch 2 console will be a lot bigger than the current offerings, namely the Switch OLED and the standard Switch.""The new console is expected to feature a larger 8.4-inch panel. However, while it wasnt mentioned which panel would be used, it will most likely be an OLED panel."It's not conclusive, but it would feel surprising to have an LCD display on a console in 2025, especially as OLED has become democratised by cheaper mobile phones.OLED offers a brighter screen, better contrast levels, and deeper black levels. It also lends itself to better battery life, all of which sound like key considerations for a handheld console.Still, there's some mystery about an additional button. Some early renders showed a button below the Switch 2's Home button, while this report suggests it'll be above it. Whether it appears in either spot, we don't know what it'll do, either.For more on handheld consoles, be sure to check out why your next system should be a Steam Deck OLED.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED

New PlayStation studio making groundbreaking AAA game with COD Zombies creatorAdam StarkeyPublished January 10, 2025 4:13pmUpdated January 10, 2025 4:13pm PlayStation is working on a secret AAA project (Sony Interactive Entertainment)A job listing has outed a new PlayStation studio in L.A., which appears to be led by a former Call Of Duty veteran.Sony has closed down several developers over the past year, including Concord developer Firewalk Studios and London Studio, but it seems the company has been secretly creating new ones as well.A job listing has appeared at PlayStation for a project senior producer at a newly established AAA studio based in Los Angeles, which is driven by a team of seasoned industry leaders and experienced game developers. The project is described as a groundbreaking AAA original IP.Its unclear who exactly is working at the studio, or what its called, but all signs point to it being led by Call Of Duty Zombies creator Jason Blundell.After leaving Call Of Duty developer Treyarch, Blundell co-founded L.A. based studio Deviation Games with Dave Anthony in 2020, which had partnered with Sony to make an original IP. Blundell left two years later, and the studio was officially shut down in March last year, before it had even released a single game.According to subsequent reports, Sony had formed a new studio with ex-Deviation Games employees. While this was never officially announced by Sony, a former employee at Deviation, JC Farmer, posted on X in December 2023 that they had joined PlayStation Studios as a junior game designer, and that he works for Blundell.All this context has been highlighted in connection with the new job listing on ResetEra, and while theres a chance it is unrelated (a bunch of Bungie employees were recently integrated into Sony as well), all the information seems to match up.Interestingly, a rumour from August claimed Blundell and his new studio had partnered with Destiny 2 developer Bungie for an action game set in a brand new science-fantasy universe something Bungie was apparently working on already. None of this, however, has been officially annouced.If it is Blundells new studio, the dynamics of the whole situation is somewhat odd. Devation Games was an independent studio, which had only teamed-up with PlayStation to publish its first game. Its unclear what happened for the studio to essentially shut down and re-emerge under Sonys wing, but a former employee at Deviation previously described issues with certain members of management in a LinkedIn post.This isnt the only mysterious studio weve heard about at Sony in recent years. In 2022, a job listing appeared for an internship at a new studio in San Diego, which was said to be working with Naughty Dog on a beloved franchise.That seemed to imply a new Uncharted game, but neither it nor the studio itself has ever been officially announced.More TrendingAs for what is officially announced from Sony, Naughty Dog recently revealed its next game as Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, while Insomniac is currently working on Marvels Wolverine. The only other confirmed projects are Ghost of Ytei from Sucker Punch Productions, Fairgame$ from Haven, and Bungies Marathon. Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is Naughty Dogs next game (Sony Interactive Entertainment)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

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 it seems to deliver (Deep Silver)The sequel to historical role-playing game Kingdom Come: Deliverance is even prettier and more realistic than ever, and has a healthy obsession with cleanliness.Playing Skyrim, Baldurs Gate, The Witcher, or any of the other legion of role-players with Tolkien-esque settings you get a reassuring sense of olde worlde charm, filled with castles, horse riding, and potion drinking. Yes, theres magic and mystical beasts, but whats really missing from the historical side of their recreations of the virtual dark ages is the sense of utter, mud-soaked squalor.Released in 2018, Kingdom Come: Deliverance more than made up for other role-playing games shortcomings in that department, by presenting players with a far grittier and more accurate representation of the medieval world. Set in Bohemia in the early 1400s, it treated players to a world with no wizards and griffons, but one where it was a job just to stay clean and presentable, with visits to the public baths and tailor absolutely essential if your character, Henry, wished to maintain his presence in polite society.Thats because 15th century Europe was obsessed with social status, believing God had made everyone just as they were. It meant if you were born a peasant, that was your lot in life, and the aristocracy felt both socially and morally superior. That made Henry, the bastard son of a nobleman and a peasant, something of a conundrum.He ends up as bodyguard to minor noble, Lord Hans Capon, and given how war torn and feudal Bohemia was during that period, its work that offers a lot of potential for misadventure. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 picks up the story just after the first instalment finished, with Henry accompanying Hans and his small retinue on a mission to take an important message to a local lord. As in the first game, things dont go smoothly.Thats partly down to Hans, whos not the most serious minded peer of the realm. Along with an insatiable eye for the ladies, hes also easily distracted and loves a drink. Its a combination ripe for disaster, which is just what occurs in the opening scenes. After making an ill-advised overnight camp in the open, even though they know bandits are ravaging the area, their group is set upon and slaughtered, with Henry and Hans escaping, severely wounded, in nothing but their underwear.Its an excellent introduction to a game whose systems work together in complex and interesting ways. For example, all role-playing games demand your character wears and upgrades their armour and weapons, but Kingdom Come goes so much further than chucking out your shirt in favour of newly acquired chainmail. First of all, you cant just put on armour. Henry needs a layer of protective padding underneath to make it bearable.On his head theres a cloth hood between the helmet and his skull, a padded gambeson goes under his chest armour, quilted hose protects his legs from the rattling metal plates that go on top, and shoes fit underneath the spurs that help him ride. Your inventory lets you create and swap between three complete outfits, which is just as well given the sheer number of elements that go into each one.The detail doesnt end there. Head out for a day in the countryside, and youll inevitably end up muddy. Get in a scrap and therell be cuts and tears to take care of, not only flesh wounds but in your armour and base layers. That requires a trip to the public baths (or in a pinch, a rural water trough) and a visit to the armourer and tailor to make repairs.If you fail to do that, or simply cant afford it, Bohemias deeply stratified society reacts accordingly. Thats important because Henry and Hans frequently get into scrapes, some comical and many life-threatening, but emerging from them unscathed is often a case of talking rather than fighting your way out. That involves more than a simple skill check against a single stat, but rather a whole suite of factors.In conversation you can tell the truth, lie, bluster, intimidate, threaten or pull social rank, depending on the situation. As a nobleman you can arrogantly impose your superiority on lower class Bohemians, but thats not going to work if youre plastered in mud with torn clothes and no horse. Its usually preferable to try and use your wits to evade aggressors though, because the first person melee combat remains clumsy. Despite what it sounds like, its not set in the UK (Deep Silver)While streamlined from the first game, fights are still deliberately slow and brutal. Choosing which direction to swing your sword, mace or axe from, youll also need to time defences and ripostes, managing your puny stamina bar to prevent yourself getting bulldozed. The parry window has been noticeably increased from the first game, making battles less frustrating, but we still found ourselves doing everything possible to avoid them.Its just as well conversations are so rewarding, with important protagonists voice acting just as natural and charismatic as it was, even if minor characters can still be more variable. Its also very odd that everyone speaks in various British accents, which doesnt help sell the fact that youre supposed to be 900 miles away in what is now the Czech Republic.Early on in our playthrough, our wounded heroes are rescued by a toothless old crone, who sounds oddly aristocratic, her conversation peppered with the word aint, which sounded about as authentic in its delivery as it would do coming from the Princess of Wales.More TrendingIts a minor point, but along with a few flickering textures, and slightly clunky navigation on the map, you get the feeling it wont prove a particular impediment to enjoying the game once you get your teeth into it. Deliverance 2 seems to have considerably fewer rough edges than its generally well received predecessor did at launch, which is a promising start.Graphically its a huge leap forward, its gorgeous looking countryside and colourful (if you keep it clean) regalia looking noticeably sharper and more attractive than the first game could manage, even at maximum graphics settings on PC. While theres a sense that everything has been refined rather than reinvented, the net effect is that the game already feels significantly more polished, while its other systems forging weapons, brewing potions are just as detailed and fastidiously accurate.Whether all that holds up for the lengthy play time of the full game remains to be seen, but so far all the earlier indicators are good.Formats: PlayStation 5 (previewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: 59.99Publisher: Deep SilverDeveloper: Warhorse StudiosRelease Date: 4th February 2025Age Rating: 18 The first person combat is still clunky (Deep Silver)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. 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By Margherita Bassi Published January 10, 2025 | Comments (0) | A mosaic image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope of the Crab Nebula, the remnant of a star's explosive death. NASA/ESA All carbon in the universe forms in the fiery cores of stars, but the element that makes up 18% of our bodies may have taken a detour through the outer edges of our galaxyand perhaps even into intergalactic spaceon veritable cosmic conveyor belts before reaching Earth, according to new research. Astronomers in the U.S. and Canada have revealed that the circumgalactic mediuma vast, complex halo of gas surrounding galaxiesstores carbon (among other materials) far from the galaxy before recycling it back into the star-forming regions where it originated, contributing to the formation of planets, moons, new stars, and other celestial bodies. The discovery, detailed in a December 27 study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, could have important implications for our understanding of galactic evolution. Scientists confirmed the existence of the circumgalactic medium in 2011, describing it as a vast, circulating cloud around star-forming galaxies like the Milky Way that contributes to recycling hot, oxygen-rich gases. Now, researchers from the new study demonstrate that lower-temperature material, including carbon, can also hitch a ride on this cosmic conveyor belt, as its described in a press release.We can now confirm that the circumgalactic medium acts like a giant reservoir for both carbon and oxygen, Samantha Garza, an astronomer from the University of Washington who participated in the study, said in the university statement. And, at least in star-forming galaxies, we suggest that this material then falls back onto the galaxy to continue the recycling process.The same carbon in our bodies most likely spent a significant amount of time outside of the galaxy! This recycling of stellar material is crucial for the formation of new celestial bodies, while the recycling of carbonoften called the building block of lifeis essential for the formation of our bodies and all living things. Think of the circumgalactic medium as a giant train station: It is constantly pushing material out and pulling it back in, Garza explained. The heavy elements that stars make get pushed out of their host galaxy and into the circumgalactic medium through their explosive supernovae deaths, where they can eventually get pulled back in and continue the cycle of star and planet formation. Garza and her colleagues used the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope to detect how the circumgalactic medium of 11 star-forming galaxies impacts nine distant quasars (extremely bright galactic cores). Their analysis revealed that some of the quasars light is absorbed by an abundance of carbon in the circumgalactic mediumcarbon that in some cases was channeled out nearly 400,000 light years beyond its original galaxy. Thats four times the diameter of the Milky Way.The implications for galaxy evolution, and for the nature of the reservoir of carbon available to galaxies for forming new stars, are exciting, said Jessica Werk, a co-author on the study also from the University of Washington. The same carbon in our bodies most likely spent a significant amount of time outside of the galaxy! Further research could provide more insight into how the materials channeled by the circumgalactic medium impacts the number of stars formed in a galaxy. One theory, for example, hypothesizes that the eventual decrease or end of the circumgalactic mediums involvement in the cosmic recycling process could contribute to a galaxys declining population of stars.If you can keep the cycle going pushing material out and pulling it back in then theoretically you have enough fuel to keep star formation going, said Garza. So even though you may wish you had more time to travel, rest assured that at least your carbon atoms had quite the intergalactic voyage before ending up in your body.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Isaac Schultz Published January 9, 2025 Isaac Schultz and Passant Rabie Published January 4, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published December 30, 2024 By Margherita Bassi Published December 15, 2024 By Isaac Schultz Published December 11, 2024 By Isaac Schultz Published November 21, 2024

Its long been known that, despite Power Rangers overnight success, its behind-the-scenes drama saw its cast and crew earn very little of the blockbuster cash the series brought in as it exploded in the early 90s. But in a new video together, two of the original members of theMighty Morphin team opened up about just how sketchily they were treated, both before and after Saban realized the phenomenon it had in its Spandex-clad hands. Speaking in a recent video for Fanward (via Popverse), Austin St. John and Walter Emanuel Jonesthe original Red and Black rangers, Jason and Zackdiscuss what it was like being young actors signing onto a show that became an overnight sensation. The answer? Sketchy contracts, non-union rates, and threats of immediate replacementsomething that actually happened to one of their original co-stars, Audri DuBois, who played the Yellow Ranger in Power Rangers pilot. After the pilot got picked up, she knew then that we were going to get screwed, St. John recalled. [DuBois] went to Haim Saban and was like Hey, this is jack, you need to pay us more. And he fired herhe liked her. They got along.The TV show itself was non-union originally, we got a contract, and the contract was not that great, Jones prefaced. We were told, Hey, you could take this contract and show it to your lawyers or to your agent, but first person that comes back and wants to change anything, were going to fire you. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was an immediate success upon its debut in 1993, but that didnt change future contracts the cast signednor did it change the rates the crew behind the cameras received either, even in the face of the shows grueling filming schedules. I could remember a lot of the crew coming to me off camera being like, Man, you guys should go union. Look at what theyre doing. You guys are getting screwed, St. John added. Because the crew, they were getting paid even crappier than we were. St. John, Jones, and Thuy Trang, who replaced DuBois after the pilot as Trini the Yellow Ranger, all departedPower Rangers after the conclusion of season two, and made more money making appearances for fans at external events than they did for actually filming. It would take decadesuntil Hasbros ownership of the Power Rangers brand and the production of the 2019 series, Beast Morphers, for the series to become a unionized production. And although the franchise faces an uncertain future again after Hasbro initiated a controversial fire sale of its costuming history (and perpetual rumors of new reboot shows and movies seem to flicker in and out of the morphing grid), one things for sure: St. John and Jones made sure they were paid better when they returned to the franchise in the years since their exit. 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.