When Destiny 2: Heresy arrives early next month, players will find themselves back on the Dreadnaught, the Hive ship that's been left adrift since The Taken King expansion. And while players have fought inside the ship before, the Dreadnaught has undergone some changes since its last appearance. "What's significant about the Dreadnaught's return for Heresy is that it's going to be changing, and we're going to be fighting through it in ways we've yet to experience," said Nikko Stevens--Destiny 2's Narrative Architect--during a feature on PlayStation's official site. "The Dreadnaught has reawakened for the first time in almost a decade, spurring the Vanguard and Guardians across the system to take notice. We finally get to see what has become of the Dreadnaught years after Oryx was felled and its halls were left to corrode, without a Navigator."There are plenty of Taken enemies waiting for players on the Dreadnaught, and the goal of the mission is to push back against the corruption that has largely overtaken the ship. That's why this mission will introduce a new activity called The Nether. In this task, Players will be dispatched to disable the ship's internal weapons and prevent the Taken corruption from spreading. Both the players and their enemies can also be positively or negatively affected by boons which will shake up the balance of power between them.Continue Reading at GameSpot

Season 2 is live in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and the big update added The Tomb map to Zombies mode. Just like the previous maps, Treyarch includes a secret song you can unlock, and here we guide you through unlocking the hidden song unique to The Tomb.For more on Season 2, make sure to check out our coverage of all the content added to Black Ops 6 and Warzone. This includes limited-time events, new game modes, DLC weapons, and more. How to unlock the Easter egg song for The TombIn order to play the secret song on The Tomb, you first need to find three hidden headphones. The headphones are blue and have fuzzy ears like the Mr. Peeks bunny. These can be interacted with in any order and at any time during your match. Press Square (PlayStation) or X (Xbox).Completing this Easter egg will play the new Zombies song called "Dig," which is composed by Kevin Sherwood. The song also features vocals from Matt Heafy of Trivium. Mr. Peeks headset #1The first headset you can encounter is in the Stamin-Up perk machine room. You'll find this one by the feet of the statue just to the left of the perk machine. Mr. Peeks headset #2The second headset is found by the green portal. Before entering the portal and accessing the Nowhere location, you'll want to turn right instead. The headset is located in a small nook above a pile of bones. Mr. Peeks headset #3Lastly, the final headset is found inside the Nowhere location. You can go through the green portal, where you just found the second headset, and inside Nowhere you'll want to look for the path that runs between the red and yellow portals. Walk from the red portal toward the yellow one, and you'll find the headset on the ground by a glowing spore.The hidden song will play once you've interacted with all three. You can do these steps once per match to play the song. More BO6 Zombies guidesFor more Zombies, make sure to check out our guide for the best perk augments to use. We can also walk you through unlocking the hidden songs for the Liberty Falls and Terminus maps.

The Ray Gun remains a consistently sought-out classic in Black Ops 6, just as it did back in World at War all those years ago. With the arrival of The Tomb, Black Ops 6's new Zombies map, players might want to spin the Mystery Box again and again, hitting useless weapons, wasting their points, and chasing down the next Mystery Box spawn in search of that elusive Ray Gun. However, that all ends now.

Since 1992, Mortal Kombat has garnered fans worldwide with its arcade-style fighting game. Now, the series is even more popular, with in-depth titles being released on various platforms. Though the first game only had a roster of seven characters (and three unplayable fighters), its subsequent entries have developed an arsenal of Kombatants that have contributed to the game's story in many ways.

The next major Pokmon Trading Card Game Pocket update, dubbed Space-Time Smackdown, is scheduled for Jan. 29, but several cards are already starting to appear online, presumably through datamining. Lets break down some highlights.First and foremost, Space-Time Smackdown appears to include a Mewtwo ex killer in the form of Weavile ex. Pokmon TCG Pockets competitive meta is still dominated by Mewtwo ex decks despite the steady release of new cards, but Weavile exs ability to start doing decent, weakness-exploiting damage as early as turn two should be a boon for taking down opponents who rely on Psychic-type Pokmon. Dark-type decks are currently dependent on tricky strategies involving poison damage, so Weavile ex should also go a long way toward shaking that up.If youre as fond of damaging your fellow Pokmon TCG Pocket players psychologically as I am, we have a great new card for trolling: Porygon-Z. Its a beefy boy with good damage-dealing potential, but things get real tasty with its one attacks ability to randomly change the type of energy the opponent generates during their next turn. Missing out on even a single useful energy can be devastating in a game as quick and simple as Pokmon TCG Pocket, and I look forward to ruining at least one persons day with this card even if it doesnt always translate to wins.Bidoof makes a spectacular Pokmon TCG Pocket debut with Super Fang which, if youre familiar with the video games, halves the opposing Pokmons HP. This will have diminishing returns, of course, and Bidoof wont be the bulkiest Pokmon in your deck by a long shot, but imagine reducing cards like Pikachu ex and Gyrados ex to 60 and 90 HP respectively with just two energy.And finally, the rich get richer with the introduction of a new type of card, Pokmon Tools, specifically the card Rocky Helmet. A lot of decks still use Druddigon, with its 100 HP and retaliatory damage, as a way to tank hits while they evolve and build energy on benched Pokmon. Rocky Helmet gives any card a similar ability, but attaching it to Druddigon means it will deal a whopping 40 damage every time the opposing Pokmon hits it with an attack. I foresee a lot of decks either keeping Druddigon around for the foreseeable future or finding a way to include at least one because fighting against it is going to be annoying as heck.Its an exciting time for Pokmon TCG Pocket, both for collectors and folks who take the battle mod seriously, and I cant wait to see what new strategies players figure out when Space-Time Smackdown releases to the public.

In Dimension 20s last live show series, the crew of the actual play phenomenon leaned into improvisation determining each shows setting and characters through random draws right in front of the audience. But for their much-hyped Madison Square Garden live performance on Jan. 24, the setting and characters were predetermined, and the venue was among the best-known in the world.When Polygon sat down with game master Brennan Lee Mulligan and player Ally Beardsley last week and asked whether they planned to lean in a more theatrical direction for the one-night-only, sold-out show The Gauntlet at the Garden, they were quick to answer.Oh yes, we are, Beardsley said, with relish.Mulligan put it simply: Were going to get rowdy.Without revealing details on the events of Gauntlet, Polygon can confirm: Mulligan and crew did indeed get rowdy. Before the eyes of almost 20,000 screaming fans, Dimension 20s Gauntlet delivered shocks, experiments in interactivity, and a WWE shows worth of pyrotechnics. That shouldnt come as much of a surprise to fans of the series, although staff at Madison Square Garden may have been surprised by a full-house audience that showed up on time for a main act that went on promptly at 8 p.m.But then again, The Gauntlet at the Garden has been surprising people since it was announced. The show made headlines last April when it sold out the most famous venue in New York in a mere four days, a shock to Ticketmasters dynamic pricing algorithm, to Dimension 20s stars, and to the actual play community as a whole. It was undeniable proof of the genres reach and impact, not to mention the tabletop role-playing hobby itself. (The show was recorded, and will eventually be released alongside other Dimension 20 shows on the Dropout streaming service.)Maybe the most magical promise of The Gauntlet in the Garden lay in its premise. For NYCs famous Garden, Dimension 20 brought a show based in its Unsleeping City setting, which debuted in the shows third season in 2019. An urban fantasy version of NYC in which the angel of the Bethesda Fountain and the Dragon of Bleecker Street are friends, and an undead Robert Moses and a barely veiled metaphor for Amazons attempt to move its corporate headquarters to Queens are foes, this Unsleeping City show was performed in the most thematically resonant venue possible.Since Polygons offices are in New Yawk, and this writer is a born New Yawker herself, we took the casts East Coast jaunt as an opportunity to sit down with Mulligan and Beardsley to discuss capturing that New Yawk feel, how well real settings mix with fantasy games, and how it feels to have made it in the place where, if you do, they say you can make it anywhere.This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.Dimension 20 live show in 2019 vs. Dimension 20 live show in 2025 (: @caitmayart.bsky.social) Dimension 20 (@dimension20.bsky.social) 2025-01-25T21:06:15.940853Z[Ed. note: Due to other commitments, Beardsley was not able to be present for our whole interview slot, so Polygon started out speaking to Mulligan solo.]Polygon: The last time I talked to you was for the five-year anniversary of Dropout, and you said youre not great at reflecting in the moment you compared yourself to a man running from a bear. But in the last year, you guys have sold out Madison Square Garden and had your U.K. tour. Its been a wild ride. That has to have prompted some kind of reflection how has that changed how you view the show? The audience? The job?Brennan Lee Mulligan: Susana. Susana, how dare you presume, after I was so clear with my bear metaphor, that I have reflected at all! [in a reflective tone] Its a really fascinating thing. Meditating on everything thats changed is I suppose it happens, or it has to happen, right? There has to be a moment where you reflect on, or speak or think about, whats going on.The whirlwind of events has been so fast and furious. Its not that I am unaware of all these massive changes, but I dont think there have been many periods of deep reflection. And the chapter of my life that Im in right now, especially on a personal level my wife and I were married in 2023, and we had a child. And when you are asked to be present in the moment, as being a parent will force you to be, weirdly I know that theres a connection between being present and reflecting, but I think the act of reflecting is fundamentally looking toward the past. You are trying to consider what has happened.I joke with people about becoming a parent, and say, Its done wonders for my anxiety, because I simply dont have enough energy to be worried. Theres a certain level of exhaustion where youre like, If I get hit and knocked out, then all the better to be horizontal. [laughs] Thats the level of energy that youre operating from.I think the feeling I keep returning to in place of reflecting, or being struck by the enormity of how bizarre life has become, in a surreal, fortuitous way is just really centering in gratitude. And in a bizarre way, the gratitude actually hasnt changed, because my point of focus is not necessarily the expanding reception of the show.The thing I am first and foremost, primarily grateful for is the ability to do this show at all. Audiences come, and with them comes the ability to sustain the show. And for that, I am eternally grateful. The actual physical number of bodies that will be in Madison Square Garden, or that [attended] the U.K. and Ireland tour, the amount of people that subscribe to Dropout all thats amazing, because it means that we can hire more artists and hire more people.Watching great people do cool shit always makes me smile. So proud of our friends at @dimension20.bsky.social and @dropouttv.bsky.social, and this MSG show is one for the books. <3 Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer.bsky.social) 2025-01-25T01:37:48.078ZAnd we know that were a good company that takes care of people that we work with, so the bigger the company gets, the more we can isolate people from an industry that can at times be much crueler than we keep things.To the degree that I have ambitions, I want to try to take care of as many people as possible. To that end, things like Madison Square Garden that are big achievements that allow us to grow, allow us to protect more people.I do try to stay rooted in a way that feels mentally healthy, and in a way that preserves the nature of the work that I do for the people who enjoy that work. I really stay focused on: This was the biggest success it could be the moment I could [both] do it and afford two to three burritos a day. I can do this and take care of a family. That is the bar of success.And as it gets bigger and bigger, its almost like youre watching that from outside of yourself, going, This is nuts. This is really crazy! But I think for myself as a part of process, and a part of trying to be a diligent craftsman, and to protect my family and the cast and crew of the show, the people that I care about I try to stay in a Time to make the donuts! mentality of really focusing on the work thats right in front of me.Because in a weird way, I think that, especially in this age of internet viewership and parasociality, people want to know theyre seeing something authentic. So thats a big part of it, is me going, OK, I need to protect my ability to be unaffected by how big the show has become.People are coming here for the dude who goes on rants about how gnomes work, so I have to keep that guy in one piece for people to be able to come and seek the experience theyre seeking.Authenticity on the internet can be really draining.Mulligan: Its a fascinating thing. And, like, yeah, what is authentic? And what does it mean to perform authenticity? I mean, people much smarter than myself have written a lot about it.When I was a kid, I used to get picked on and bullied, a lot. I was taken out of school because I was getting put in too many trash cans, you know? That bullying was really bad, and one of the things that I reflected on when I did reflect on [laughs] the past was that a lot of the reason that bullying happened was, I did not really have a strong set of skills to alter my personality to fit. It was sort of like, Im a square peg, and if Im near round holes, Im in trouble. Im just not going to fit in.a big HOOT GROWL to all 20,000 of you who joined us for last nights dimension 20: gauntlet at the garden. the last week has been nothing short of surreal. see you tonight for dropout improv at the MGM music hall in boston! Sam Reich (@samreich.bsky.social) 2025-01-25T16:06:23.698211ZIve talked to the wonderful Aabria Iyengar about this before. Shes talked about being able to adapt or shape-shift to accommodate the circumstances she was in. And she was like, I feel like you never did that. I wouldve loved to have been able to do that, and I really couldnt. I dont know why. I just couldnt. And weirdly, what used to be a tremendous liability which is that I dont really know how to alter myself has ended up making elements of internet content creation pretty easy. Because I dont have to do a lot of work to summon my authentic self up.Which is not to say theres not parts of myself that are private, or just for my family, or just for my loved ones. But it is to say that for the most part, Im kind of like this in real life. Ive had friends that have said versions of, These people on the internet, they dont know the real you. And I kind of shrug and go, I dont know, they kind of do. I am pretty consistent. I order the same meal every day. I think youre getting the guy.The painful part, of course, in parasociality, isnt that people dont know the real you, its the imbalance. Its that someone meets you that has a connection to your work and you dont know them. Which is why when I tend to meet fans, Im always like, Tell me about yourself. Where do you work? What do you do? It feels like correcting an imbalance, almost.As a writer, Ive had people who meet me and say, Oh, you do just talk like you write. And its like, Yeah, I do. Where do you think it comes from?Mulligan: Yeah! Ive had stuff that Ive written go out on the internet and people will be like, Oh God, Brennan writes like he talks, I can read this in his voice. They come from the same place! I use the language how I use it. Totally.As a New Yorker whose dad worked for the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development for over 25 years and had Robert Moses biography The Power Broker in his bedroom for my entire childhoodMulligan: Lets fucking go.the moment where Bob Moses, New York Citys epitome of an inhuman, corrupt, power-hoarding city planner, showed up in your Unsleeping City arc as a lich that was the moment the series transcended for me.[Ally Beardsley arrives]Mulligan: [To Ally] Were talking about The Power Broker and Robert Moses. Robert Caro, the author of The Power Broker, has got to be the most influential biographer. I mean, in terms of someone who went like, Oh, thats how you remember this guy? No, this is how you remember this guy. Its crazy. Its an incredible book.Ally Beardsley: Woooow, I havent read it yet.Full disclosure: I also have not.Mulligan: Its a fucking doorstopper of a book. Let me be clear. Its a hefty fucking tome. You can see it on bookshelves really easily, because its the size of a fucking block of wood.Beardsley: Like Infinite Jest or something. Did you read it in prep for the season, or?Mulligan: I read it long before, long before, because my dad talked about Robert Moses all the time growing up. Recently, I went on 99% Invisible, Roman Mars and Elliott Kalans podcast, to talk about it, and I had to write and apologize and be like, Dogs, its been a long time since Ive read it. Its an incredible read, but the level of detail is exhaustive. I mean, this dude, talk about having the receipts. Robert Caro has the fucking data. Its crazy.Is it easier to run and play a game in a setting that exists, because you cant get more detailed world-building than a place that is actually real? Or is it harder because you cant just make stuff up?Mulligan: Well, I think you and me [to Ally] have different answers here, probably, because I am from New York and Ally is from Inland Empire in California. And so the reality for me is, youve hit on something here. Time to part the curtain behind the Wizard of Oz and expose the humbug behind it. The Unsleeping City is one of my favorite settings because of the light lift. Theres a lot of Dimension 20 seasons, and The Unsleeping City was like, Oh, take the city I love, and add magic.Beardsley: Totally.Mulligan: You could almost improvise your way through the world-building of the Unsleeping City, because so many of the set-pieces like, Bethesda Fountain is one of the most magical places in the city to me. So of course that was going to be the source of one of the things, because its just literally reporting and literalizing a felt sensation of magic from a real place.You can just go through the whole city doing that over and over and over again. So youre exactly right. The world-building on the DMs side? Waaay easier than a Calorum that has to be made from scratch.Beardsley: Totally, with maps, et cetera.Mulligan: But playing it is probably a very different story if youre trying to evoke the experience of living in a city that you know from media rather than from lived experience.Beardsley: Yeah, but I think it was an easy lift for me as well, because I was just playing a transplant to a big city queer runaway from a small town to a big city. So I just mapped all my experience from LA onto New York, and it feltMulligan: It felt very truthful, for whatever its worth. Its so funny, because you and Lou, as Californians, play these characters Vox Populi and the Vox Phantasma who are deeply tied into the city, and I think exactly evoked it.I never wouldve guessed that Lou was not from New York City from the way he plays Kingston.Beardsley: Yes!The moment he first slides into that character and cups his hands in front of his chest, I thought, I know that guy. I see that guy on every fucking street in this city.Beardsley: Yes, totally! So funny.Mulligan: I think Ally and Lou are performers at a level where Artistry is a real thing. People can tap into something and have a deeply felt understanding of truth such that Lou, without having been a New Yorker even if you have lived in New York your whole life, New York is such an expansive city. Which New York have you lived in your whole life? So I think Lous an incredible artist. And so is Ally, in terms of invoking something very truthful, as artists using the power of imagination to flesh out truthfulness.I went to Oberlin College, which has a long-running Vampire: The Masquerade LARP set in New York City. I had a bunch of friends in it who had never been to New York City in their lives.Mulligan: Awesome.I remember explaining, You cant call Port Authority by its full government name. No one calls it The Port Authority Bus Terminal.Mulligan: [laughs, puts on a New Yawk tough-guy voice] Ohhh, I gotta go down to the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Thats so funny.Beardsley: [same voice] Im strollin here!Mulligan: [with amazement] God, a bunch of Oberlin kids being a bunch of [tough-guy voice] Hey, Im a fuckin vampire, alrigh?

Apple Intelligence brought with it some of the most hyped new features for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac when it released with iOS 18.1. Even now, its functions are being upgraded and currently include writing assistance, an enhanced form of Siri, and AI image generation. Capabilities are limited to the iPhone 15 Pro series, all iPhone 16 models, all iPads running an A17 Pro chip and above, and all Macs with an M-series chip, but that's still a lot of options. However, not everyone's happy with it. That's because Apple recently made the decision to turn Apple Intelligence on by default for all compatible devices. Even though the new features are exciting, not everyone wants to use artificial intelligence features on their smartphones or other devices, especially now that they take up 7GB of storage space and involve sending data to Apple's cloud.If you're among those who are skeptical, it's good news that you can turn off Apple Intelligence on your iPhone or other compatible Apple device.Alternatively, if you do want to use Apple's AI, it's easy to turn it back on.How to enable Apple Intelligence on iPhone or iPad Credit: Khamosh Pathak If you have an Apple Intelligence compatible iPhone, iPad, or Mac, the easiest way to turn Apple Intelligence on is to upgrade to iOS 18.3/iPadOS 18.3/macOS 15.3 or later. This will automatically enable Apple Intelligence on your device. Alternatively, navigate to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and flick the toggle to turn it on manually.If enabling manually, you should see instructions to finalize your Apple Intelligence access on-screen. Just follow the outlined workflow and it'll be enabled for you. If updating didn't turn on Apple Intelligence for you or you're still not seeing an option to enable Apple Intelligence, ensure that your device language and Siri language are set to one of the supported variations of English, as Apple Intelligence is only available in that language for now. Find device language in Settings under Language & Region in the General tab and Siri language under the Siri tab in the same app. If you still don't see the Apple Intelligence toggle, it might not be available in your region.How to turn on Apple Intelligence's ChatGPT extensionWhile on the Apple Intelligence & Siri page, scrolling down will also show an option for setting up ChatGPT integration, which is not enabled by default and will allow Siri to pass on difficult questions to ChatGPT, plus will give Apple Intelligence's Writing Tools the ability to compose text rather than just rewrite it. Under Extensions, tap ChatGPT, then on the new page, hit Set Up... to get started. A ChatGPT account is optional for this feature, and Apple promises to obscure your Apple Account and IP address before passing on data to OpenAI, as well as keep OpenAI from training on your information. Note that enabling ChatGPT integration requires agreeing to OpenAI's Terms of Use.How to turn off Apple Intelligence on iPhone or iPad Credit: Khamosh Pathak Using AI raises many concerns, such as high energy usage, privacy issues, or even simply the potential for unreliability that often comes with a new, immature technology. If you decide that you'd rather not use Apple Intelligence on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you can easily disable it. Go to Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri and toggle off Apple Intelligence. You'll see a confirmation pop-upselect Turn Off Apple Intelligence. That will remove the AI from your device, including any ChatGPT integration you might have also enabled.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.You know whats nice about social media? It takes the guesswork out of gift-giving. Ahead of Valentines Day, you can glance over your partners shoulder to see what kinds of products the algorithms are serving them ads for, watch influencers demonstrate the trendiest items, or just search for whats hot. Heres what to get your lover for Valentines Day, based on what's going viral.#1: Personalized jewelryThe first thing I've been getting a lot of videos about lately is personalized jewelry. Granted, a lot of these videos are coming from manufacturers or boutiques themselves, but I'm only seeing them because they're getting enough positive feedback to go viral, landing them on my FYP. Generally speaking, heart-shaped jewelry is a no-no and expensive jewelry can be dicy depending on the stage your relationship is at, but personalized jewelry is always a winner. It's more sentimental and meaningfulbut it doesn't actually have to be super spendy. An engraved sterling silver bracelet can be as low as around $14 on Amazon and can feature a name, a special date, geographical coordinates, or something special to you and your person. Two years ago, my boyfriend got me this initial necklace from Tiffany ($210) and I haven't taken it off. You can also create a custom combination using Kendra Scott's Color Bar, which is especially popular among college-aged and younger people, but works for anyone. (This is what I got as my birthday present last week, for instance.) #2: Permanent jewelryAnother idea that is popping up all overbut is a little seriousis permanent jewelry. These are typically small bracelets that are welded onto the wearer (so, like, easy enough to snap if you really had to, but let's hope you never do). On social media, couples post about going to get them together, though I caution you should both do it or else it's a little weird and possessive, in my opinion. It used to be that "permanent jewelry" meant spending thousands on some Cartier, but these days, it can be as low as a few hundred, depending on where you live. Shops offering the service have popped up all over the country, so Google your city name and "permanent jewelry," but only if you think your partner will really like it. Alternatively, you can buy DIY kits that come with two bracelets and everything you need to attach them for around $50. FabuLove Permanent Bracelet Kit $49.95 at Amazon $55.00 Save $5.05 Shop Now Shop Now $49.95 at Amazon $55.00 Save $5.05 #3: A mini fridgeThis was big last year but is still big this year, too. (I just added one to my cart after months of pressure from my algorithm.) Mini fridges are popular for storing drinks, yes, but also for keeping skincare items chilled, so whether your sweetie likes to crack open a cold one or apply 11 layers of goop to their face (or both at the same time), there are a few avenues to success here.A classic Insignia mini fridge in black ($99.99, Best Buy)The Iceblue skincare fridge with a lighted mirror on the front ($39.99, Amazon)#4: Stanley tumblers (and other, non-Stanley tumblers)Stanley tumblers (and their various competitors) have remained popular for years now and are an appropriate gift for any holiday. People love these things, so it's a slam-dunk as far as gifts are concerned. Put flowers or smaller presents inside to seal the deal and aim to pick up the Valentine's-themed Stanley ($45) for style points, since that one is trending.#5: Customized anythingReturning to my original point, custom gifts are always best, especially on more romantic holidays. Spend some time on TikTok or Reels and you'll see customizable goods from air fresheners to pajamas. A few ideas:A blanket with a photo on it ($18.99)An illuminated photo plaque ($12.99)A t-shirt with photos arranged to look like band merch, which is very popular ($12.99)Gift selection ideas courtesy of social mediaThese are a few things that are popular on the app right now, sure, but everyone is unique so you can't just order up a little fridge for your sweetie if it's not something they actually want. If you're OK with a little light cyber-stalking (and you're sure that the person you're buying for wouldn't be creeped out), try going to their Instagram and hitting their "following tab." You'll see not only the accounts they follow, which can point you toward hyper-curated interests and the hashtags they track. Look through the accounts and hashtags, where videos and posts they've liked will populate automatically for you (because the algorithm is sick). If you see, "Liked by [their username]" under a post, that can give you a good idea of what they really like but maybe haven't thought to ask for. Again, proceed with caution: If the person you're buying a gift for might find that technique invasivesuch as someone you just started datingdon't use it! But if you're really struggling with gift ideas and you know the person well enough, give it a shot.

Waymo posted on X today that it has opened fully autonomous rides on LA freeways to its employees. The company noted that this is a preliminary step toward bringing its vehicle fleet onto highways for all passengers in the city.Freeways are an intrinsic part of the LA experience. To better serve our expansive 79-square-mile service area, we're beginning to provide our employees with access to fully autonomous rides on LA freewaysa key step toward expanding this capability to all riders. pic.twitter.com/oWqVQ1hlJz Waymo (@Waymo) January 28, 2025 After getting approval to begin local robotaxi operation in March 2024, Waymo offered autonomous rides in LA at a small scale, with a waitlist for interested customers. In November, the waitlist ended so any Angelenos could call for a ride. But for a sprawling city like LA, having access to a highway is all but essential for getting around, so adding freeways to the cars' capability would mark a big improvement in how useful Waymo robotaxis will be there.Waymo, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, has set its sights on its first international expansion. The business said it anticipates starting vehicle tests and mapping in Japan early this year. On the home front, Waymo is also slated to launch in Austin and Atlanta in early 2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/waymos-autonomous-robotaxis-are-starting-to-merge-onto-la-freeways-191035547.html?src=rss

Heads up, Animal Crossing fans: if you havent yet bought the paid version of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and plan to do so, it might be a good idea to snap it up in the next day or so. The mobile game for iOS and Android is currently $10, but the price will double to $20 after 1AM ET on January 31. Thats when the introductory offer comes to an end.Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete arrived in December, a few days after Nintendo shut down the free-to-play edition. Folks who played the original version can still transfer their save data via their Nintendo account and continue from where they left off. The deadline transferring the data is 2AM ET on June 2.Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp debuted in 2017. It employed a freemium model with microtransactions, but Nintendo has since decided to ditch that approach. While you'll now need to pay for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete upfront, the current iteration of the game doesn't have any in-app purchases.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/heads-up-animal-crossing-pocket-camp-complete-will-only-be-10-for-a-couple-more-days-183525135.html?src=rss