Goldman Sachs is seeking to end its Apple Card partnership with Apply before their contract expires.According to a report from Reuters, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told analysts in an earnings call on Wednesday that theres some possibility the companys credit card deal with the Silicon Valley giant could come to an end before their contract runs out in 2030. This comes after a Wall Street Journal report from November 2023 saying the deal would end within 12 to 15 months, as the bank wants out of the consumer business.Recommended VideosWe have a contract with Apple to run that partnership until 2030, although theres some possibility that it wont continue until that time frame, Soloman said.Please enable Javascript to view this contentGoldman Sachs entered the partnership with Apple when it launched the Apple Card in 2019, which has since gained over 12 million users as of last year. The credit card partnership turned out to be a troubled one, as it caused a laundry list of issues for the bank, including intense regulatory scrutiny, customer service problems over billing, and a net loss $1 billion last January. The billing part was due to Apples insistence on sending out credit card bills to everybody at the beginning of every month rather than on a rolling basis like most credit card companies.The problems that arose from the Apple Card partnership caused Goldman Sachs to find ways out of the deal, including talking to American Express and JPMorgan Chase about taking over the Apple Card. Meanwhile, Apple had been in talks with Synchrony Financial, Capital One and Chase about the same thing. The 15-month mark for Goldman Sachs to end the Apple Card partnership comes up in February. Well see what happens then.Editors Recommendations

The European Commissions new chief competition enforcer pushed back against concerns that the regulator might weaken its efforts to curb Big Tech companies in the bloc ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration next week.

Leaving New York AT&T kills home Internet service in NY over law requiring $15 or $20 plans AT&T pulls 5G home Internet from New York to protest state affordability law. Jon Brodkin Jan 16, 2025 12:34 pm | 50 AT&T store in New York on Monday, October 21, 2024. Credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg AT&T store in New York on Monday, October 21, 2024. Credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreAT&T has stopped offering its 5G home Internet service in New York instead of complying with a new state law that requires ISPs to offer $15 or $20 plans to people with low incomes.The decision was reported yesterday by CNET and confirmed by AT&T in a statement provided to Ars today. "While we are committed to providing reliable and affordable Internet service to customers across the country, New York's broadband law imposes harmful rate regulations that make it uneconomical for AT&T to invest in and expand our broadband infrastructure in the state," AT&T said. "As a result, effective January 15, 2025, we will no longer be able to offer AT&T Internet Air, our fixed-wireless Internet service, to New York customers."New York started enforcing its Affordable Broadband Act yesterday after a legal battle of nearly four years. Broadband lobby groups convinced a federal judge to block the law in 2021, but a US appeals court reversed the ruling in April 2024, and the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case last month.The law requires ISPs with over 20,000 customers in New York to offer $15 broadband plans with download speeds of at least 25Mbps, or $20-per-month service with 200Mbps speeds. The plans only have to be offered to households that meet income eligibility requirements, such as qualifying for the National School Lunch Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or Medicaid.AT&T's Internet Air was launched in some areas in 2023 and is now available in nearly every US state. The standard price for Internet Air is $60 a month plus taxes and fees, or $47 when bundled with an eligible mobile service. Nationwide, AT&T said it added 135,000 Internet Air customers in the most recent quarter.AT&T has pitched Internet Air as a long-term replacement for DSL Internet in areas where it doesn't plan to build fiber. AT&T has said it won't build fiber home Internet in over half of its wireline footprintand will focus its fiber builds on more densely populated areas.NY is outside AT&Ts wireline territoryEnding home Internet service in New York is relatively simple for AT&T because it is outside the 21-state wireline territory in which the telco offers fiber and DSL home Internet service."AT&T Internet Air is currently available only in select areas and where AT&T Fiber is not available. New York is outside of our wireline service footprint, so we do not have other home Internet options available in the state," the company said.AT&T will continue offering its 4G and 5G mobile service in New York, as the state law only affects home Internet service. People with smartphones or other mobile devices connected to the AT&T wireless network should thus see no change.Existing New York-based users of AT&T Internet Air can only keep it for 45 days and won't be charged during that time, AT&T said. "During this transition, customers will be able to keep their existing AT&T Internet Air service for up to 45 days, at no charge, as they find other options for broadband. We will work closely with our customers throughout this transition," AT&T said.Residential users will be sent "a recovery kit with instructions on how to return their AIA equipment, while business customers can keep any device they purchased at no charge," AT&T said.Jon BrodkinSenior IT ReporterJon BrodkinSenior IT Reporter Jon is a Senior IT Reporter for Ars Technica. He covers the telecom industry, Federal Communications Commission rulemakings, broadband consumer affairs, court cases, and government regulation of the tech industry. 50 Comments

Artists impression of Carinodens, a mosasaur whose remains scientists suspect might have been manipulated and then labelled as a new speciesHenry SharpeRemnants of a bizarre shark-toothed aquatic predator that lived alongside dinosaurs were probably forged, according to new research.The contentious fossil of a jaw fragment was apparently collected by miners working at the Sidi Chennane phosphate mines in Morocco, in rock that is 66 to 72 million years old. Nick Longrich at the University of Bath, UK, and his colleagues analysed the find and classified it as a new species of mosasaur named Xenodens calminechari in 2021. AdvertisementThe fossil possesses highly unusual blade-like teeth similar to those of sharks, which Longrich and his colleagues suggested would help carve up large prey.Morocco is uniquely rich in mosasaur fossils, says Henry Sharpe at the University of Alberta in Canada. Miners working in the phosphate mines come across mosasaurs all the time.The problem is many people in Morocco make a living selling fossils, says Sharpe. So many of the mosasaur fossils being sold from Morocco are modified [there] teeth are added, bones are sculpted, all to make the fossil worth more to sell. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterSharpe and his colleagues have now reassessed the evidence published by Longrichs team. The biggest indication that the fossil is forged are the teeth, says Sharpe. Each mosasaur tooth corresponds to a pit in the jaw. Even if the fossil is very poor quality, you can still count the correct number of teeth by counting the number of these pits, he says. But X. calminechari has four teeth over two pits.The teeth also appear to be glued onto the jaw in ways that dont align with the pits, says Sharpe. The tooth implantation looks likely to be faked.There are ways to determine whether a fossil was forged, says Sharpe. Typically, forgeries are sculpted using a mixture of bone fragments and glue, and then embedded in a mixture of glue and sand that looks like natural rock. CT scans allow you to see into the underlying bones and rock to determine whether they were modified.CT scanning fossils is common, and really should be standard for mosasaurs coming from Morocco, says Sharpe.Rather than a new species, Sharpes team suspects the fossil represents a known, albeit manipulated, mosasaur. Its teeth are similar to those of juvenile mosasaurs named Carinodens and Globidens, says Sharpe.I applaud the authors of this paper, says Valentina Rossi at University College Cork in Ireland. To address this [forgery] problem, we must keep talking about it [and] report fossils that have been prepared in ways that are misleading.There can be many reasons to produce forged fossils, but it mostly boils down to money, says Rossi. A broken fossil bone will not sell, but a complete piece, like a jaw bone full of well-preserved teeth, will likely sell well, she says.Countries like Canada largely prohibit private fossil sales, says Sharpe. Without such regulations, there may be a temptation to tweak fossils to fetch high prices.Longrich was approached for a comment on this story, but didnt reply. Sharpe hopes Longrichs team will CT scan the fossil and publish the results. Scientific consensus isnt reached by agreement; its reached by disagreement until both sides gather enough data to answer the question, he says.Journal reference:The Anatomical Record DOI: 10.1002/ar.25612Topics:

Erosion has come for yet another home on the billionaire hot spot island of Nantucket.A house last purchased in July was demolished on Tuesday.Buying on certain parts of the wealthy island has become a gamble as weather patterns intensify.Just over six months after businessman Don Vaccaro signed the paperwork on his new property on Nantucket's coast, the beach house is no longer.On Tuesday, the three-bedroom home was demolished after being condemned by the town after the coast eroded to within five feet of the structure, according to a filing by the town's conservation commission. Just last year, the property was valued at nearly $2 million by the town's assessor. Vaccaro spent only $200,000 on it, but its upkeep cost several hundred thousand more.Vaccaro says that in hindsight his purchase of 28 Sheep Pond Road was a "terrible investment.""Not only the $400,000, but the time suck of having to deal with it," Vaccaro wrote in an email to Business Insider. He cautioned other beachfront homeowners to think seriously about erosion strategies, like planting sea grass, to avoid a similar fate.Though Vaccaro followed the town's condemnation order, he still believes 46-year-old home could've lasted longer before it finally fell into the ocean."I hoped to have the summer of 2025, but that will not happen," he wrote.The home's final demise was also a surprise to Mike Melvin, the general manager at Holdgate Partners, which oversaw the demolition, told Business Insider. Just last year, his firm had updated the house when its septic tank fell into the ocean."It was a little bit surprising to see how fast things have eroded out there," he said.Melvin blames storms this winter with strong southeast winds that chipped away at the island's southern shore."They'd be better with a nor'easter, to be honest," Melvin added.By the end of the week, what remains of the house will either be turned into gravel or packed up and sent to a contractor to handle the disposal off-island. Melvin worries other homes in the area might still be at risk as the year goes on."It could be just one bad storm" that takes out other properties, Melvin said.Buying a home on certain parts of Nantucket, an island off Cape Cod's coast known for attracting the ultrawealthy like billionaires Eric Schmidt and Steve Schwarzman, is a gamble. In recent years, erosion has led to the demolition of a handful of properties, many once valued at multiple millions of dollars. Other residents have spent seven figures to move their homes away from threatened bluffs.Over the next 50 years, sea level rise, coastal flooding, and erosion are estimated to cause over $3.4 billion in cumulative damages to Nantucket, according to the island's 2021 Coastal Resilience Plan.While there have been a number of firesales on particularly vulnerable properties, the island's larger real estate market has remained healthy. In 2024, the number of single-family homes sold on the island increased 11% year over year, according to data from local firm Fisher Real Estate. Since 2020, the number of homes sold on Nantucket for more than $10 million has increased 50% and the median home sale price reached an all-time high of $3.7 million."The concentration of wealth is quite stunning on Nantucket, and it keeps escalating," Bruce Percelay, a real estate developer and the publisher of the island's N Magazine, who has been vacationing on Nantucket for nearly all of his life, told BI last year. "To use a well-worn phrase, come hell or high water, people are still buying multimillion-dollar homes on Nantucket."

In the coverage of the wildfires that have torn through the Los Angeles area this month, you may have seen some familiar faces among the survivors. Prominent celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, and Mel Gibson, have had their houses and in some cases their sources of livelihood destroyed. How the rich and famous, in addition to regular Angelenos, have had their lives upended by this natural disaster have been an integral part of the medias coverage of the fires. Media coverage has pointed to a litany of reasons for the fires intense destructivity, ranging from its potential points of origin to manmade factors like increased urban development. Theres also been a revolution in attribution science the ability to connect climate change to acute extreme-weather events. In fact, a new scientific analysis out of the University of California Los Angeles published this week concluded that climate change intensified the citys devastating wildfires. At the same time, its unclear if Americans are making the connection between the devastation of the fires and climate change: Although a recent poll conducted by Emerson College found that a majority of respondents identified climate change as a major cause of the fires, CNN reported Americans overall concern about climate change hasnt budged in decades. Some of the public have expressed a certain amount of schadenfreude about the plight of wealthy Palisades residents, but overall, most celebrities have been met with outpourings of sympathy as well as sometimes unconventional assistance (this is how a 2010 album from former Hills star Heidi Montag reached the top of the iTunes chart after she and husband Spencer Pratt were displaced after the fires).Is the focus on celebrities a giant messy distraction, or does it help highlight how even enormous wealth and resources cannot shield you from the impact of climate change? Should we be focusing more on the victims who are poor and marginalized, like the rural populations of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina who were battered by Hurricane Helene last year? Should we be talking more about the long-term impacts of these events, such as, for example, how the fires will increase the ongoing problem of water scarcity for all Californians?The answer may surprise you: In fact, the current focus on celebrities and the wealthiest victims may be exactly what we need to deliver a much-needed wake-up call about climate change to people who havent been paying that much attention.Betty Lai, an associate professor of psychology at Boston College who researches the psychological impacts of natural disasters and other climate-related effects, said that there are three interlocking components that affect peoples engagement on climate change: their existing beliefs on the issue, their perceptions of their own risk, and their emotional investment. Lai explained that for many people, climate change is something that happens somewhere else. To many people, climate change feels like an abstract concept, she told Vox. They dont believe its an imminent threat.When you can connect to peoples experiences, it makes it feel more real, more tangible.Who better than to connect to than a celebrity with whom you may already have a comforting parasocial relationship? This identification with individual victims of the wildfires, Lai said, will likely increase the publics awareness of the risk around climate change which should also raise peoples emotional investment in the issue. These are people that you have connected with and you understand who they are, she said. Moreover, the close association of Los Angeles with Hollywood, and its huge influence over both our national image and our collective cultural heritage, arguably makes the devastation hit closer to home than a disaster that impacts other regions of California might. Steve Westlake, a Cardiff University research fellow who studies behavioral shifts related to climate change, argued that a major event like a raging inferno can jolt people out of their climate complacency at least for a while. He also said that the behavior of celebrities during and in the aftermath of these disasters can be hugely consequential for the public. As the wildfires raged on, many fans were spotted on social media, deliberately spreading the untrue rumor that Swift had donated $10 million to wildfire relief. Westlake pointed to the long-debated theory of credibility in leadership and people with influence; his recently published research found that visible leading by example from politicians and celebrities significantly increases the willingness of members of the UK public to change their lifestyles to promote sustainability and reduce carbon emissions. You can imagine what would happen if you applied that theory to someone with the influence, say, of Taylor Swift. Indeed, her fans recognize this on some level; as the wildfires raged on, many of them were spotted on social media, deliberately spreading the untrue rumor that Swift had donated $10 million to wildfire relief. If you care about climate change and you believe these people are influential, and clearly they are, Westlake said, then there is the potential there to send a very strong signal if they change their behavior. He emphasized the importance of prominent public figures visibly reducing their carbon footprints a change that may do more to actually send a message than merely talking about climate change (looking at you, Leonardo DiCaprio) or expressing sympathy for victims of the wildfires. On the other hand, if high-profile celebs and business leaders fail to change their own behavior when confronted by the climate crisis, Westlake says, then that cements the [idea] that things wont change.One added benefit of the medias current coverage of the wildfires is that the inclusion of the dramatic narratives of some high-profile victims means that the news cycle has yet to move away from the crisis. That, in turn, gives us a rare chance to see a part of the story that rarely makes headlines: the recovery period. Lai pointed out that focused attention on the disaster itself fades over time, and when attention fades, so does financial aid, volunteer attention, and help from the public and social aid programs. The longer the media focus remains on the recovery, the more all of that attention converts to actual, crucial assistance. Not only that, but more media coverage of the aftermath means that the public may gain a better understanding of the long-term impacts of these disasters.Theres a perception that everyone has an equal chance of being affected by a disaster, Lai said. Theres this idea that this could happen to anyone. Its the recovery period, however, where the cracks in this idea begin to show. For those with means, recovery can be easier, Lai said. Its a myth that disasters affect all people equally, because when you have fewer means, its harder to return to the place you were living. You might not have insurance or recovery funds, or emergency funds for childcare, for instance. Additionally, natural disasters and other climate-related disasters impact victims mentally, psychologically, emotionally, and even physically; PTSD, anxiety, increased smoking, and increased drinking are all commonly observed effects and many of these effects impact marginalized people and those with limited resources differently than they do wealthier survivors. There is fatigue from hearing these stories, Lai said. But its the buildup of these stressors that puts people at risk for negative impacts after a disaster. Media coverage dies down, but the recovery period will go on for years for the victims.Both Westlake and Lai emphasized the need for journalists to be clear about naming the problem. Lai observed that theres a push in the research field to not call these events natural disasters but rather human-related disasters. Sacrifice is a bit of a dirty word in climate change, Westlake said. But in our culture, it really indicates what we value. One of the key things is to say the problem, Westlake said. The problem is fossil fuel consumption and burning. Thats the key to include in stories if you can. And make that connection. Identifying the primary problem of fossil fuel consumption can hopefully increase the onus to cut down consumption, both among consumers and among larger entities. This, he stressed, is where celebrity influence really comes into play. Sacrifice is a bit of a dirty word in climate change, Westlake said. But in our culture, it really indicates what we value. If were willing to change our consumptive experiences for a stable climate, a livable planet, it doesnt seem such an extreme thing to do. If that change can happen one celebrity at a time, so much the better even if its just a small, step-by-step process. It doesnt have to be switched off overnight, Westlake said. It doesnt have to be perfection.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:

In May last year, an anonymous forum poster shared details of what they claimed would be the next game in the Like a Dragon series, the Japanese gangster drama with a unique spirit of melodrama and ridiculousness. It would star the series most theatrical, violent villain, Goro Mad Dog Majima, as a pirate with amnesia, and it was called Project Madlantis. This leak went under the radar, quite possibly because it sounded so silly that nobody would believe it. But then, at 2024s Tokyo Game Show in September, Sega surprised everyone by announcing exactly this. It is called Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Thats it. Thats the game.Madlantis sounds like a theme night at a noughties student bar, but is in fact the games pirate hub, a nautical Vegas where captains battle and bet on each other in coliseum face-offs. Ships are outfitted with cannon and pistols, but also machine guns and rocket launchers. Sailing the seas around Hawaii, avoiding lightning strikes during storms, Captain Majima can let go of the wheel of the ship and heft an RPG on to his shoulder to blow up an enemy craft. Boarding another vessel results in a fight between crews, which, given all the tricorn hats and outlandish costumes, looks like a punch-up between a bunch of extras from an 80s music video.When you get sick of swashbuckling you can put into port in Hawaii, where Majima slips on a colourful short-sleeved shirt and runs around getting into scraps with street thugs or nosing around in peoples lives. (He can also glide serenely around on a Segway.) Here, I accompanied a Japanese pop star and a group of her superfans on a guided bus tour, helped a buff woman beat up some creeps on the beach, bought a cow, and fought a polar bear named Stephanie in hand-to-hand combat. Majima is followed around everywhere by a small boy called Noah, and a tiger cub who once offered me a butterfly from its tiny jaws.They didnt have these in the golden age of piracy take aim at enemies with an RPG. Photograph: SegaWe have fans who have been playing our games for decades at this point, says Hiroyuki Sakamoto, the series chief producer. Their speculation has become more and more accurate. Because theyre getting so good at figuring out what were probably going to do next, we have to think of ways to come from a different direction, so we can still surprise them [but] not everything is as over the top as we possibly could make it. In the end, there are still a lot of character drama stories.The Like a Dragon series has become known for its lifelike virtual versions of real-world places in Japan and farther afield, from its version of Tokyos Kabukicho, Kamurocho, to tropical Okinawa. Hawaii was also the setting for 2024s Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which means that the studio was able to reuse a lot of what theyd already painstakingly built. This has allowed for a quick production schedule: development began around September 2023, and the game will be released this February.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionBut Sakamoto feels these games are as much about their characters as their settings. Like a Dragon tells stories about people with strong beliefs, strong feelings, creeds and ways of life, and how these people connect with each other, he says. Even when they are connecting over bottles of rum below deck on their gangster pirate ship.

Even after so many entries, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii's Chief Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto believes RGG Studio is still focused on bringing in new and existing players alikeTech17:01, 16 Jan 2025Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is ideal for newcomers, according to Sakamoto-san(Image: Sega)Who is that well-dressed pirate? Why is he in Hawaii? Why does that ship have a shark launcher? These are all questions a new player is likely to have coming into the latest entry in the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series.Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii may feel like a sort of sidestep, but I was curious to find out how it'll welcome new players not yet introduced to Goro Majima and his unique brand of madcap energy.With the Like A Dragon TV show likely to pull in additional eyeballs and potentially have new fans interested in the exploits of Kazuma Kiryu, I wondered how they'd fare jumping into Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii when it launches next month.Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has a big focus on ship-to-ship combat(Image: Sega)Speaking at the Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii preview event, Hiroyuki Sakamoto, Chief Producer on the game said the studio is always looking to bring in new fans while also catering to existing ones."Appealing to both new and old users is something that we're always thinking about and always trying to do as a company and as a studio", Sakamoto san explains."Take Majima [this game's protagonist]. He's definitely a fan favorite and people who have played the series really like him and know who he is. But if you've never played the series, he's so stupid," he jokes."In this game, we're starting with him having amnesia. So we're starting from scratch with this character for both people who are familiar with him and people who aren't, because nobody knows what's going to happen with this kind of blank slate that Majima has become at the very beginning.""In that sense, it can hopefully appeal to both types of users. We've been making this series for about 20 years, and we're always hoping to find ways to bring new users in and at the same time please our old users as well. We're not just making games for core fans of the series.""For example with Yakuza 7 [Like A Dragon] we changed the gameplay to an RPG battle system, and we got a lot of new users, a lot of new fans who are interested in the game because of that," he revealed."So we're always kind of trying to experiment and find ways to both make our existing fans happy and to bring it to them."Article continues belowFor more on Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, check out Sakamoto-san's comments on the game's development timeline.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.RECOMMENDED

Nintendo Switch 2 explained: release date, price, games, and new Joy-ConsMichael BeckwithPublished January 16, 2025 6:07pmUpdated January 16, 2025 6:07pm So, when can we get one? (Nintendo)Now that Nintendos announced the thing, we run down every important detail about the Switch 2, from its new Joy-Cons to its games.There has been a lot of chatter about the Nintendo Switch 2 over the past several months. So much so that it felt like we already knew everything about it before Nintendo properly revealed it.While the first trailer was brief, and lacked any narration or text to explain what was being shown, it still managed to confirm a number of details about the console or at least corroborate some of the leaks.Below weve compiled everything you need to know about the Switch 2, from its features to when you can try it out for yourself.What is the Nintendo Switch 2 release date?Nintendo has yet to announce a release date for the Switch 2, beyond a vague 2025 window. However, based on what we do know, it seems like you shouldnt expect it to launch any earlier than April.Aside from the fact that Nintendo has a dedicated Switch 2 Direct planned for April 2, which will no doubt be where a bunch of new games will be shown, it is running events for people to get first-hand experience with the console over the coming months.As summarised by Wario64 on X, these public events are running from as early as April 4 all the way to June, which could point to Switch 2s release not being until after that.If you cant bear to wait that long to get your hands on the console, you can register to attend the London event, which runs from April 11 to April 13, on Nintendos website. Registration opens from January 17 at 2pm GMT until the end of January 26 and tickets will be given away at random. Theres no indication of a price yet (YouTube)How much will the Nintendo Switch 2 cost?Nintendo has not announced a price for the Switch 2 yet and likely wont until much closer to the consoles launch.There have so far been no reliable leaks about its potential price, but even if there were theyd be subject to change. The original Switch is currently 259.99, so the Switch 2 will almost certainly be more expensive than that.How much more expensive could also depend on whether proposed tariffs by US president elect Donald Trump go through, but youre probably looking at over 300.To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser thatsupports HTML5videoUp NextHow powerful is the Nintendo Switch 2?Nintendo has not commented on the power of the Switch 2, which isnt surprising since thats never been something the companys been interested in discussing.Based on leaked information and images of its motherboard, the prevailing theory is that it will be roughly equivalent to a souped up PlayStation 4.Not necessarily a PS4 Pro, but with enough modern components to be able to run some PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X games at a lower resolution and frame rate. It may also allow for 4K visuals thanks to DLSS upscaling. The Switch 2 is still a hybrid console (YouTube)Will the Nintendo Switch 2 be backwards compatible?Nintendo had already confirmed backwards compatibility for the Switch 2, but the reveal did dig a little deeper into that detail.Firstly, both physical and digital Switch games will be playable on the Switch 2, with the trailer confirming Super Mario Bros. Wonder as one example. However, it does mention that certain games wont be supported or fully compatible.Nintendo says it will share more info on its website at a later date, which will hopefully include a full list of which games wont be compatible. This sort of thing isnt uncommon for a new console and will likely only include a few minor titles.The Switch 2 will obviously have its own exclusives, as confirmed in the trailer, but Nintendo hasnt mentioned if theyll be cross-gen and also released on the original Switch.Are the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons magnetic?Yes, the Switch 2s new Joy-Con controllers will be magnetic, although this was rumoured to be the case as far back as April.The aforementioned manufacturer leak and a replica by accessory company Genki only reinforced the idea, and the reveal trailer by Nintendo corroborates that the controllers now click into the sides of the console rather than needing to be slid into them.Can the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons be used as computer mice?Another leaked detail corroborated by the Switch 2 reveal is that the new Joy-Con controllers can function like computer mice.Although Nintendo doesnt outright say it, the shot of the two Joy-Cons sliding across the ground is pretty clear. You can also briefly see the controllers being attached to new grip accessories, suggesting those are what you use to allow the Joy-Cons to slide about. Computer mouse functionality could be a game changer (Nintendo)What does the new mystery button on the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons do?The presence of a new button on the Joy-Con controllers has been corroborated by the Switch 2 reveal. However, whereas leaks showed the button with the letter C on it, the button is completely blank in the trailer.Nintendo has not confirmed what it does yet. Theories have ranged from it being related to a new internal camera to a possible new social feature or a cast option that lets you beam whats on the screen to a TV without connecting the console to its dock. We want to get our hands on that new Mario Kart ASAP (YouTube)What games are in development for Nintendo Switch 2?So far, Nintendo has not explicitly announced any games for the Nintendo Switch 2, with the exception of a new Mario Kart teased during the reveal. That will most likely be a launch title or, at the very least, be out before the end of 2025.There have been theories of Metroid Prime 4, which is slated for 2025, being a cross-platform release for the current Switch and Switch 2. However, thats not believed to be the case for Pokmon Legends Z-A.More TrendingThe only other first party rumour has been a new Donkey Kong game, which was posited back in 2021, as the next big game from the Super Mario Odyssey team.There have been far more rumours of third party games coming to Switch 2, mainly ports of PlayStation and Xbox games, such as Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Halo.Ubisoft, in particular, is said to be planning a lot of Switch 2 ports, including ones for Assassins Creed Mirage and Assassins Creed Shadows. Konami is also rumoured to be bringing Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater to Switch 2 in 2025.Retailer listings point to Bandai Namco, EA, Bethesda, Take-Two, and Warner Bros planning Switch 2 releases as well, though whether these will be ports or entirely new games is unclear. Is Master Chief about to make the jump to Nintendo? (Microsoft)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.GameCentralSign up for exclusive 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

Longlegs writer-director Osgood Perkins is back with fresh nightmares in his upcoming Stephen King adaptation.