You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereIn the last few years, the AI buzzword has overtaken the tech industry, bolstered by hardware manufactures such as Nvidia. With the RTX 50-series on the horizon primed for AI workloads, Nvidias Vice President of Applied Deep Learning Research Bryan Catanzaro claims that advancements in AI will ultimately open up a lot of new possibilities when it comes to gaming. Speaking to Digital Foundry, Catanzaro revealed that the company will find ways to harness AI to ultimately create more interesting looking and fun games.Nvidia believes AI will overhaul gaming Speaking to the popular tech analysts, Catanzaro explained that the industry is going to find ways of using AI in order to understand how the world should be drawn, and thats going to open up a lot of new possibilities to make games more interesting-looking and more fun, Catanzaro said during the interview, which can also be read in full on Eurogamer.As the Nvidia 50 Series prepares to launch this month, there has been some controversy over the Blackwell architectures use of AI to deliver Multi-Frame Generation as part of the new DLSS 4 technology. However, Catanzaro believes that moving towards this new tech is important to tackle current challenges facing todays graphics.Im very excited about the prospects of overcoming a lot of the limitations of todays graphics, which I think are really difficult to scale, he continued. The more fidelity we put in bottom-up simulation, the more work we have to do to capture textures and geometry and animate it it becomes very expensive and really challenging.There is a lot of graphics that are really held back because we just dont have the artist bandwidth, we dont have the time or the storage to really save all of that.Nvidia has confirmed that there will be 75 DLSS games and appsfeaturing Frame Generation from Day 0, with more on the way. While Multi Frame Generation will be limited to GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs, at least for now, Nvidia has confirmed that standard Frame Generation will be upgraded, benefitting those with older 40 Series graphics cards. DLSS games with Ray Reconstruction, Super Resolution, and DLAA can be upgraded to the new DLSS transformer model, Nvidia confirmed on their blog.The first RTX 50 Series cards are set to arrive by the end of the month, in the form of the RTX 5080 and the RTX 5090. The RTX 5070 and RTX 5070Ti are expected to launch in February.Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here Contents hide In a bid to avoid turning stale, Call of Duty Warzone is delaying a host of content primed for Season 2 in an effort to improve the overall gameplay experience. With the Call of Duty franchise fully utilizing the live-service model to continue injecting a breath of fresh air into Black Ops 6 and Warzone, the arrival of new weaponry and game modes often captures the attention of players loading into the action, but fans will have to wait a while for a massive content drop. Ahead of the Season 2 update, Activision has shared a wealth of information surrounding the state of the battle royale following numerous issues affecting fans. Instead of prioritising new additions, developer Raven Software has decided to push back new content to ensure bug fixes and quality-of-life updates have their desired impact.Warzone Season 2 will have less contentDuring the community update published on January 17th, 2025, the Warzone developer is focused on improving the battle royale before adding new weaponry and other mechanics to spice up the action.Weve made the decision to prioritise focus on gameplay tuning, adding more quality of life, and addressing ongoing bugs. This means that in order to deliver meaningful improvements to our players, new content originally planned for Season 2 has been shifted to create bandwidth to address foundational issues.The post also reveals the mid-season update will also arrive with quite a few quality of life changes making Season 2 an update of fixing rather than introducing new items that have the potential to cause further issues.So far, a total of 25 gameplay adjustments and updates have been showcased. Ranging from faster reloading and weapon swap speeds to faster successful jump height to maximise Omnimovement even more than before.Were essentially laying a foundation to make new technology immediately available to all our studios, improving development pipelines and the stability of porting features between titles, adds Raven Software.Will Season 2 save Warzone?Players will have to wait until the update rolls out to see just how effective the changes are. The integration of Black Ops 6 into Warzone marked the first time all Call of Duty developers are working in the same environment and its clear each studio is getting used to the new arrangement.If successful, Season 2 has the opportunity to restore Warzone and areas of Black Ops 6 to its former glory ahead of Verdansks imminent return which is guaranteed to bring fans back onto the virtual battlefield.For more CoD intel, check out the best controller settings along with the best XM4 loadout perfect for mid-range action.Call of Duty: WarzonePlatform(s):PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox OneGenre(s):ShooterSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

A little over a year ago, Sarah Wetenhall, the taste-making president and CEO of The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, reached out to Martina Mondadori to inquire if the founder and editor-in-chief of Cabana, the stunning Milan-based interiors and decorative arts publication with a corresponding lifestyle brand, was interested in designing the storied 1947 propertys newest residence.Martina was on our vision board, Wetenhall tells AD. How can you not be a fan of her brilliance and creativity and the world she has built with Cabana? Luckily, Mondadori was as enthused by the prospect as Wetenhall.The Cabana aesthetic, exemplified by pristine craftsmanship and lush palettes, is exactly what Wetenhall desired for The Colonys commodious, sun-drenched bungalow, a contrasting atmosphere to the hotels existing collection of guest-designed villas, including Goops, which, Wetenhall points out, has a restful and reserved West Coast vibe, while the maximalist Chairish offering showcases pattern upon pattern. Additionally, Aerin Lauders is quintessential Palm Beach and Mark D. Sikes did a classic blue and white.Debuting this week, the most expansive of the glamorous soft pink-hued hotels long-stay retreats flaunts the dual imprints of Mondadori and her life partner, British designer Ashley Hicks (the couple also joined forces on their art-filled Milan residence, as seen in AD). Wetenhall shared the same directive she gives all her collaborators (your style, filtered through a Palm Beach lens) and then was happy to step back. The magic of the space comes from letting Martina and Ashleys imaginations go wild, she adds. This is Cabana, this is Milan, this is Italian, but with the whimsy, the lightness, and the irreverence of South Florida.Mondadori has ambitiously grown the vivid Cabana universe beyond the magazines pages and by opening a complementary Milan shop in 2024 that teems with tableware, home decor, and vintage goods. Further translating that compelling lifestyle directly to a hospitality setting was a dream come true, she says. The Colony has a distinctive visual identity and so does Cabana. This is a mix of our DNAs.Consider the warm, natural living room done up in raffia wallpaper that takes cues from the 1980s homes in Capri conceived by late Italian decorator Verde Visconti. Fabrics from Schumacher, a longtime partner of The Colony, dominate the trifecta of bedrooms as well as the Renzo Mongiardinoinspired den with its bright, decidedly Palm Beach textile pattern swathing the ceiling, too. I live for upholstered walls, gushes Wetenhall. Bathroom tiles exude a Spanish and Italian look, and the kitchen, separated from the dining room by elegant, tied-back curtains, nods to the one at Yves Saint Laurents onetime countryside abode in Normandy.Incorporating The Colonys signature pink into the bungalow was an essential move, and it makes a particularly bold impression as a series of porcelain Ginori 1735 plates emblazoned with florals that match the linens draping the dining table.The bungalow has this continental flair of old Europe that fits so well on the island because of Palm Beachs architectural influences. Artisans were going to Europe, bringing back antiquities, and reconstructing them here, explains Wetenhall. Those design references were so strong in the 1920 and 30s and you can sense it when you walk around the town.Unlike The Colonys guest rooms, often checked into for a few nights at most, families spend large amounts of time holed up in the residences, so we wanted every corner to feel like a home, making it a place where at the end of the day you want to cozy up, says Mondadori. Weaving in one-of-a-kind pieces help cement that inviting atmosphere. We placed an antique birdcage in the living room on top of the antique cabinet, and for me its the sort of element that gives the bungalow the Cabana mood, that quirkiness.

Many units have a reset button, which shuts off the appliance to prevent it from overheating or from burning its motor out while struggling with a jam and then pop open. They are usually at the bottom of the unit and are bright red or black. Once you have given your unit time to cool off, press the reset button back down and then run the garbage disposal while cool water is flowing to test it.In many cases, this is all you need to do to get a garbage disposal that has stopped working to function normally again. But if it is jammed or otherwise compromised, it will require further efforts, so its important to be sure this is not the case before pressing the button.If the reset button engages often, though, then simply pressing it to restart your unit is not a complete solution. Youll need to check for clogs, start doing the dishes with cooler water, and potentially have the unit professionally serviced or replaced.Also, before you calland paythe electrician, check the breaker box for a tripped circuit breaker. (And make sure the disposal is plugged in and switched on.)How to clear garbage disposal jamsIf you garbage disposal is jammed, disconnect the unit from power, then have a look inside using a flashlight. If you can see something physically stuck in the disposal blades, you can try to dislodge it using needle nose pliers or a pair of tongsdont stick your bare hand in there, though!If you cant clear the jam from above or if you cant see an obvious cause, you can often manually rotate the impeller blades from below, potentially clearing the jammed object. You can check if your garbage disposal can be unjammed, says David Lewis, owner of Mission AC and Plumbing. Grab your Allen wrench or that tool that came with the unit. Stick it into the [small hole] at the units bottom, and then give that impeller a little spin. If you can move the blades around a few rotations, then you should be able to run the water then turn the disposal on as usual. Check again to see if there is a physical object that can be removed after manually rotating the blades and before running the unit.For units that do not have a place for a wrench on the bottom, you may be able to manually turn the blades with a thick wooden spoon, achieving the same result.Fixing garbage disposal clogsThe easiest way to clear a clogged kitchen sink is with a plunger. First, fill the sink partially with water to cover the plungers lip, says Kent Boll, founder of Service Today. Then pump the plunger up and down several times to create suction and pressure. After a few plunges, pull it off to see if the water drains. Dont use a toilet plunger because, first of all, you can transfer bacteria to your kitchen sink from a toilet, and secondly, toilet plungers have a different design, making them ineffective for unclogging garbage disposals.

Desperate ShippingBabe, wake up, a new GTA 6 trailer two release date theory has dropped, and it's definitely not people reading too much into some desperate shipping container mathsThe moon may have let them down, but they theorise on, unperturbed.Image credit: VG247/Rockstar Games. News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Look, I know you might be a bit sick of GTA 6 fans desperate for a second trailer clutching at straws so hard they're on the verge of getting kicked out of Macccy Ds for theiries that might point to when such a thing could arrive, but some of them are at it again. The spark that lit the speculation fire this time? Some numbers on a shipping container.To be fair, at least it's not all that different from the stuff that's set folks off before, which includes moons, playlists, and the number 27 over the course of the final months of 2024.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. So, what's gone down that's got GTA 6 superfans all riled up when they should clearly have been combing over last week's Switch 2 reveal like proper GTA 6 truthers? Well, as with the moon theories, Rockstar Games posted an image in a Twitter post about some stuff for GTA Online."Claim a free Vapid Dominator GT muscle car and more with GTA+," it wrote, "Members also earn bonuses on Priority FIB Files and Terrorbyte Client Missions, save with Arcade Property discounts, and much more". So, just a 'hey, come join our premium subscription thing, you get a free car, please give us money' post, accompanied by a nice picture of a Dominator driving past some shipping containers, in case you forgot what one looked like. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.But wait, in the words of Billy Mays, there's more. An eagle-eyed fan on the GTA 6 subreddit was quick to spot some numbers on a red shipping container to the left of the car. Thus began the maths. All of the numbers on the container, aside from a two that's in a box, which I guess is a special anti-theorising box it's paid for because it's sick of this bollocks, were added up, giving a total of 30. So, the poster theorised, January 30, 2025. Trailer two date, book it. It's coming.. byu/douknowwhyareuhere inGTA6To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Oh and, they added, January 30 is a Thursday, which is the same day of the week GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 had their final release dates announced. Phwoar. Coincidence, I think not. They also added that Rockstar's next earnings call is on February 6, because, you know, Rockstar doing a thing, so surely they'll finally do the thing this fan wants.Even a lot of commenters on the GTA 6 subreddit, a place where theories like this are most likely to be heard out, aren't buying this one. So, with any luck, it'll turn out to be 100% accurate, just so we all get a good laugh.Are you at least finding the endless GTA 6 trailer two theories amusing, even if just as a distraction from any discourse about how much it might cost? Let us know below!

Sharing Is CaringI know Nintendo won't do it, but I really hope the Switch 2 brings back the DS' best featureIn another world we're all still enjoying the DS.Image credit: Nintendo/ VG247 Article by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 As popular as the Nintendo Switch has been, and as successful as the Switch 2 will likely be, I don't think there'll be a Nintendo console I'll look back on more fondly than the DS. The blinds of notalgia are highly likely to be an influence on that fact, with many an hour spent on car rides on the way to school spent playing Mario Kart with my friends, but who cares, I'm getting close to my thirties, now is the right time to wax poetic about my childhood.Still, I can't deny I love the Switch too. It's had some incredible games released for it, and the industry is clearly catching up with it after some likely COVID-induced delays by releasing different kinds of portable consoles (the Steam Deck, PlayStation Portal etc.). The Switch will forever be an incredibly influential console, and even if it is one that's designed to be shared with friends through the power of those Joy-Cons, I still feel like it's missing the DS' greatest feature: download play.Watch on YouTubeFor those of you that never owned a DS, or simply forgot about the feature, it was a simple one. Say your friend owned Mario Kart DS, but you didn't, you could use download play to play with them in local co-op. This worked for a range of other games with co-op modes too, and was a super convenient way to play things with your pals that had different tastes from you.Now, I know what you're thinking: why do we even need this when the Joy-Cons exist? Just pick one of them up and you can instantly play together! Well, sure, that's fine for games where splitscreen works, but honestly, it's not ideal. I love me some Mario Kart 8, but if you've ever tried playing it with a friend, it's not the most fun of experiences. The screen just gets much too crowded, it's harder to see what you're doing, and if you want to play it undocked, think again.Take Splatoon, too - maybe you would like to play with a friend that doesn't have it, but you use download play to let them hop in, the two of you trialing it out with computer-controlled teammates? Splatoon certainly wouldn't work in splitscreen, after all, the element of tactics would be thrown out the window (we've all been victims of screen sniping in the days of Halo or GoldenEye matches with your supposed best buds).To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The introduction of Joy-Cons certainly opened more doors for local co-op, but honestly they really only work when you're at home, and they don't work for games that are more complicated than Mario Kart. Portable consoles are such personal things that just feel too hard to share properly, so something like download play would be such a welcome addition, even if I know it's an unlikely one.A benefit of the Switch 2 is that, obviously, it's bigger, so perhaps some of my qualms about playing games undocked with friends will go away. I just can't help but look back to a time where sharing a game was as easy as one, two, three. Sure, it probably wouldn't help sales - why buy a game designed to be played with friends if you don't need to because your friend has it - I'm just feeling nostalgic, I suppose.Hell, maybe Nintendo is cooking up some features so interesting and weird that I won't care about this particular, honestly not that important grievance. I really hope that is the case, because I do understand why some are a bit underwhelmed by the Switch 2 so far (even if it doesn't really need a new hardware gimmick to surprise us with (plus, let's not forget those rumours about a mouse-like functionality in the Joy-Cons)). They really should bring back the Virtual Console, though.

Image: Fellow TravellerCitizen Sleeper was, coincidentally, one of 2022's sleeper hits. With its combination of top-tier writing and decision-based gameplay, this table-top-inspired RPG and space adventure pulled us into its airlock and wouldn't let us out until we had played through the emotional damage of witnessing every possible outcome (and yes, that includes the three DLC packs).It will come as no surprise, then, that we were rather excited to see a sequel on the way. Announced in June 2023 and confirmed to be coming to Switch at the June 2024 PC Gaming Showcase, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector promises more of the same deep space dilemmas, but with an expanded dice system, clean-cut job roles and multiple environments to explore, we were keen to learn more about its new recruits before liftoff.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube793kWatch on YouTube Sitting for a chat with Gareth Damian Martin (of the game's one-person team, Jump Over The Age), we aimed to do just that. Our conversation covered an intergalactic range of topics, including the pressure of making a sequel, the game's TTRPG roots and their plans for the future.So, don your space suits and buckle up, Sleeper, it's time to talk spaaaaace... Update: Roll the dice in 2025Nintendo Life: Citizen Sleeper was a huge success back in 2022, but youve said in the past that a sequel wasnt the natural next project for you. What was it that made you want to come back to this universe for Citizen Sleeper 2?Gareth Damian Martin, Jump Over The Age: Im a big fan of making experimental projects, and inventing new designs within games, which means a sequel isnt always my first instinct. But with Citizen Sleeper, I felt there was still so much more of the experiment to do! The first game was fairly modest in terms of system and scale, so it left plenty of space for new systems and ideas. In particular, Im a big fan of ship and crew sci-fi series like Cowboy Bebop and Farscape, but I have always felt games never quite got the genre right. So it was exciting to try to make one of these stories within the Citizen Sleeper universe, which I felt was ideally suited to this kind of storytelling.In the end, I felt like there was an opportunity to build on the first game while also offering something equally fresh and different so that the two games could sit alongside each other as a pair.Image: Fellow TravellerCitizen Sleeper 2, like its predecessor, is about a lot of different things: capitalism, humanity, survival, loneliness etc. What are the biggest challenges of balancing so many themes when it comes to writing a story like this? I have to be honest, I dont really write thematically when Im telling a story. Im not really focused on making statements. Instead, I am very interested in my characters and the different paths they can take through the game.I really hope players enjoy connecting the dots between the two gamesWhen I start writing, I often have a lot of situations in my mind that feel interesting or exciting. I might have an idea for a contract where you instigate a mutiny on a ship in the middle of a general strike or an idea for a group of characters who are all pursuing the same long-lost interstellar drive. I select and invent these based on my own interests, so the reason Citizen Sleeper has these themes is because thats what interests me in the world! Thats when I really set up the subjects of the story, and from that point on, my mind is focused on who the characters are, how they speak, how the world works, and what might make for a compelling plot.Some stories are compelling because they are tense and pacy, others because they are introspective and heartfelt. For me, the beauty of Citizen Sleeper is that the game can contain all these atmospheres and stories at once, so I dont worry too much about balancing. If it interests me and seems like a strong story, I try to get it in!Despite sharing some narrative DNA, this sequel feels like it can be played by those unfamiliar with the first entry. How important was it for you to create something that continues the Citizen Sleeper universe, but also works as a standalone?I think this is always an important part of making a sequel, you have to assume that this is the first game for players. But rather than see this as a limit, I saw it as an opportunity. I have always been a big fan of time skips in stories. When done well, they mix all the existing ingredients of the story, and then the reader or player gets to feel smart and curious as they piece it all back together and tell their own story of what happened in the missing time between.What is especially fun with a time skip is they often allow for the prequel/sequel order to be read in either way, as discovering where a character came from is as compelling as discovering where they end up. So this was a big focus when making the game, and I really hope players enjoy connecting the dots between the two games and being surprised by the often unusual journeys characters may take.Image: Fellow TravellerThe sequel appears to be much more rooted in the RPG genre, with clearly defined class skills, missions and expanded dice mechanics as just a few additions. Were there any other games (video or tabletop) that inspired these mechanics during development?As with the first game, Citizen Sleeper 2 was massively inspired by designs and concepts from pen-and-paper TTRPGs. Blades in the Dark was the first tabletop game I ever ran, and it remains my favourite. It inspired the first game, and with the sequel, I saw the opportunity to adapt more of its systems into a video game. Citizen Sleeper 2s push mechanic, where you accrue stress to gain a bonus to or reroll your dice, is a direct inspiration from that game, and its systems are designed around asking the player to push their luck.stress quickly became a very useful tool to represent all kinds of systems in the gameIn the stress systems I added to Citizen Sleeper 2, I took inspiration from the myriad of stress systems appearing in tabletop games over the past five years, but especially Mothership and Heart: The City Beneath. Theres so much good and exciting game design happening in the tabletop scene, and I find it a constant inspiration for my own work.On the video game side, my main touchstone was Mass Effect 2. I wouldnt say I was attempting to replicate anything from Mass Effect 2, however, more that I wanted to make a game that approached similar ideas in a different way. I often find this is a way I like to work in games. In Other Waters was my own take on Metroid Prime, refocusing it on scanning and xenobiology. In the same way, Citizen Sleeper is my own take on the Mass Effect series, shifting the focus from saving the galaxy as a supercop to learning to live and survive in the margins of an interstellar society.Image: Fellow TravellerWith community and home being such an important part of the first game, how does this theme play into the larger setting of the Starward Belt in the sequel, and what challenges do the new hubs pose for the Sleeper?Ideas of home play out a little differently in Citizen Sleeper 2: rather than having a massive urban megastructure as the location, the game plays out over a series of scattered habitats of varying size and style. Because of this, your home really becomes the Rig, a ship you have stolen and that expands and changes over the course of the game. I really want to capture that slow and subtle process of transformation as the ship gains crew and becomes more familiar, and often in writing the game, I found that to be in contrast with the Hubs, which ultimately, you always have to leave.So I think at the heart of the game is a tension between moving on and settling down, which feels very important to the Citizen Sleeper series in general.There were many stressful moments in Citizen Sleeper, and now Stress is a mechanic in the sequel. Why did you decide to implement this, and what effect will it have on your relationships in-game?Citizen Sleeper 2 ties up some of the ideas nicely, while also opening up the possibility of more storiesStress systems are a fairly popular and well-battle-tested element in many contemporary TTRPGs, and I think thats because they offer an abstract form of harm vs Health Points. You might take stress from a heist, a difficult negotiation, or babysitting a child, but you hopefully wouldnt take HP damage! This allows for a broader range of challenges for players and also consequences. I was really aware of the possibilities this opened up for telling a broader range of stories from running TTRPGs, especially ones that arent focused on combat. So this was one of the first things I wanted to add to the sequel.As I developed these ideas in Citizen Sleeper 2, stress quickly became a very useful tool to represent all kinds of systems in the game. It represents the stress your body is under and the possibility that the pressure might turn into real and permanent harm. It represents your crews eagerness to continue working on a contract when things dont go well. It also represents more abstract ideas, like how quickly a derelict ship is falling apart, or the opinions of a disgruntled crew turning against their captain. So stress bars of various kinds will have a huge effect on your path through Citizen Sleeper 2, and I think managing them is one of the most compelling and tense parts of the game.This time around, I really wanted the game to be stressful, compelling and filled with emergent stories of success and failure. Stress is the tool that allows me to achieve that.Image: Fellow TravellerYou recently told Eurogamer that Citizen Sleeper 2 would be the last video game in the Citizen Sleeper universe, but a tabletop adaptation is still on the cards for the future. How does it feel to be thinking about returning the game to its tabletop roots and is there anything you feel will be lost/gained in the process?Im very early in the process of making a Citizen Sleeper TTRPG (as you might imagine, Ive been busy with the sequel!), but I have a very clear objective with it. Im really happy with the two games and the story they tell in this universe. I think Citizen Sleeper 2 ties up some of the ideas nicely while also opening up the possibility of more stories. My aim with the TTRPG is to hand the tools to tell those stories over to the player and to let them carry whichever threads catch their interest forward with their friends (or start totally new ones).What gets left behind by doing that is, of course, my own presence as the narrator of those stories, but I think after two games, there are a lot of references for people to go to if thats what they want. What is gained is the radical openness of a tabletop system, the chance for players to fill in the gaps in a meaningful way and really explore their connections to the universes characters and ideas. Which, in a way, is what these games have been about all along.This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.Thank you to Gareth for taking the time to answer our questions and to Jasmine at DoubleJump Communications for setting it up. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector launches on the Switch eShop on 31st January for 20.99 / $24.99. A sleeper hitRelated GamesSee AlsoShare:00 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesThe Switch eShop Is A Nightmare, So We've Made Our Own "Better eShop"Fixing what Nintendon'tRound Up: The Reviews Are In For Donkey Kong Country Returns HDWorth going bananas over?Silksong Fans Think They've Narrowed Down The Big AnnouncementIs the cake a lie?Lunar Remastered Collection Brings Classic JRPG Series To Switch This AprilPhysical release also confirmed System:Switch eShopAlso Available For:PS5, Xbox Series X|SPublisher:Fellow TravellerDeveloper:Jump Over The AgeGenre:Adventure, RPGPlayers:1Release Date:Switch eShop 31st Jan 2025, $24.99 31st Jan 2025, 20.99Series:Citizen SleeperOfficial Site:nintendo.comWhere to buy:Buy on Nintendo eShop Buy eShop Credit:

Image: McDonald'sMcDonald's and The Pokmon Company have today announced another crossover event that sees a limited range of Trading Cards appearing in Happy Meals across the United States until late February.Starting today, fans in the US can pick up a four-card Pokmon TCG booster and sticker activity sheet with every Happy Meal, and if you order via the McDonald's app, you'll bag 24 pack hourglasses and 12 wonder hourglasses for Pokmon Trading Card Game Pocket too.Like previous events, the McDonald's booster packs have a limited range of cards available in them. The full collection is listed on the McDonald's website, but we'll be kind and share it with you below too:Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube793kWatch on YouTube CharizardPikachuMiraidonJigglypuffHatennaDragapultQuagsireKoraidonUmbreonHydreigonRoaring MoonDragoniteEeveeRayquazaDrampaThis Happy Meal event appears to be locked to the US for the time being, with UK customers still receiving the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 tie-in.Some previous McDonald's x Pokmon crossovers have been, uhh, less-than-pleasant experiences, with scalpers buying up all the toys and McDonald's UK even limiting Happy Meal toy purchases. What we're saying is, if you've got your heart set on nabbing one of these packs, please remember that other people might want one too. Fast foodLike stealing burgers from a babyWhen confronted by angered Pokmon Masters, call your managerWill you be picking up a Pokmon Happy Meal in the coming weeks? Let us know in the comments.[source pokemon.com, via x.com]See AlsoShare:01 Jim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesMy Nintendo Store Adds New Donkey Kong Country Returns HD Reward (US)Fancy some sticky notes?Pokmon Trading Card Game Pocket Details New Trade Feature, Arriving This MonthNew booster packs are also being addedOops! EVO 2025's Lineup Has Accidentally Been RevealedUpdate: Evo confirms lineup and extended rosterNintendo Download: 16th January (North America)Donkey Kong! Tales of Grace! Blade Chimera!

Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech!This week, were looking at just how much fintech startups raised in 2024, a slew of fundraising deals, Plaids reported revenue growth last year, and more!To get a roundup of TechCrunchs biggest and most important fintech stories delivered to your inbox every Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. PT, subscribe here.The big storyGlobal funding to fintech startups continues to decline. According to CB Insights State of Fintech 2024 Report, fintech startups globally raised a combined $33.7 billion in funding last year down 20% from the year before. Deal volume also dropped by 17% to 3,580. But there are at least a couple of bright spots: The annual decline in funding was fintechs smallest in three years. Plus, funding rebounded to close the year strong, reaching $8.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 up 11% compared to the 2024 third quarter. CB Insights also reported a 33% annual increase in median fintech deal size to $4 million.Dollars and centsImage Credits:LemFiLemFi, a London-based financial services platform designed for immigrants, raised $53 million in new funding, which it will use to fuel efforts to acquire more customers and further expand into more countries.Recharge, a key European player in online prepaid payments, has secured a 45 million debt facility with ABN AMRO to look at rolling up the market with a round of M&A, as well as moving into fintech-style services.French startup Hyperline wants to build the next-generation Chargebee. It raised an initial 4 million funding round from Index Ventures back in 2023 ($4.1 million at todays exchange rate). And Index Ventures is doubling down on this investment as it is investing another $10 million in the startup.Bench, the accounting startup that imploded over the holidays, filed for bankruptcy in Canada on January 7 revealing massive debts, documents seen by TechCrunch show. The filings one for Bench and another for 10Sheet, Benchs original name show that Bench had $2.8 million in cash on hand by the end of its life but $65.4 million in liabilities. Charles Rollet does a deep dive here.More fintech IPOs?! Trading platform eToro has reportedly filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO that could value the company at over $5 billion. Israel-based eToro, which competes with the likes of Robinhood, told TechCrunch it is not commenting on IPO rumors.Amazon has agreed to acquire Indian buy now, pay later startup Axio, deepening its push into financial services in one of its fastest-growing markets.Ex-SoftBank veteran Akshay Nahetas Switzerland-based startup, Distributed Technologies Research (DTR), is attempting to bridge the gap between traditional banking and blockchain technology, joining an army of companies trying to modernize the global payments infrastructure.Barclays Rise is shutting down in 2025.People movesSynctera has hired its first CFO, Matias Pino.Mark Fiorentino announced hes left Index Ventures to join Bain Capital as the newest partner charged with helping to guide the next generation of growth-stage AI-native, vertical SaaS and fintech startups.Last year was a good year for Plaid. Bloomberg reports that revenue at Plaid Inc., which provides infrastructure to connect fintechs and banks, spiked by over 25% last year.Cryptocurrency-wallet provider Phantom Technologies raised $150 million in a funding round at a $3 billion valuation. Sequoia Capital and Paradigm co-led the round.Thanks for reading. Well see you again next week!

In BriefPosted:9:25 AM PST January 21, 2025Image Credits:David Paul Morris / Bloomberg / Getty ImagesStripe is laying off 300 people, but says it still plans to hire in 2025Fintech giant Stripe is laying off 300 people, according to a leaked memo reported on Tuesday by Business Insider.The affected employees are largely in product, engineering, and operations roles, the memo said. Despite the layoffs, Chief People Officer Rob McIntosh said that Stripe intends to still grow its headcount by 17% to land at about 10,000 by the end of the year. Doing the math, that means Stripe has about 8,550 employees currently.McIntosh said the cuts are happening because it became clear there were several team-level changes needed to ensure Stripe had the right people in the right roles and locations to execute against its plans.In November 2022, Stripe announced that it was laying off 14% of its workers, impacting around 1,120 of its then 8,000-person workforce.The company has long been expected to go public but has instead continued to raise funds and conduct tender offers to provide liquidity to employees. It was valued at $70 billion as of last July.Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up for TechCrunch Fintechhere.Want to reach out with a tip? Email me atmaryann@techcrunch.comor send me a message on Signal at 408.204.3036. You can also send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew attips@techcrunch.com. For more secure communications,click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop and links to encrypted messaging apps.Topics