Toyota's sales in China are slumping as it faces brutal competition from local EV giants like BYD.The Japanese automaker plans to fight back by taking a page from Elon Musk's playbook.It said Wednesday it would build a fully owned EV factory in Shanghai, after Tesla did the same in 2019.Toyota is taking a page out of Elon Musk's playbook as it plots a comeback in China.The Japanese automaker announced on Wednesday that it would build a new EV and battery factory in Shanghai, as it seeks to turn around stuttering sales in the world's most competitive car market.Toyota will fully own the new factory, which it says will have the capacity to produce 100,000 electric vehicles a year for the Lexus brand from 2027.The facility will see it join Tesla as part of a select group of foreign automakers who run their own Chinese operation, along with Tesla's Shanghai gigafactory and a VW plant in eastern China.Foreign carmakers were previously required to enter into partnerships with local companies to build cars in China, though those rules were relaxed in 2018.The new factory marks a change in strategy for Toyota, which currently sells cars in China through joint ventures with local firms FAW and GAC.The world's largest automaker has struggled in China, with sales dropping nearly 7% in 2024 amid brutal competition from homegrown EV giants like BYD.Toyota's decision to prioritize hybrids over battery electric vehicles has seen the company avoid the slumping sales and financial difficulties that have hit some of its rivals.But it has also meant Toyota has struggled to compete with the wide range of low-cost electric vehicles on offer in China, with BYD selling EVs for as little as $10,000.The Japanese giant is trying to change that, in part by following Tesla's lead.Tesla opened its Shanghai gigafactory in 2019, after Elon Musk pushed for a relaxation in China's foreign ownership rules.Production at the factory scaled up rapidly, and by 2021, around half the company's global deliveries came from the Shanghai site.China has since become one of Tesla's most important markets, with Tesla selling around 657,000 electric cars in the country last year as it competed with local rivals in a brutal price war.Toyota's strategy shift in China comes as the company reported a 27% drop in quarterly profit in its latest earnings.Toyota's vehicle sales also dropped slightly to 10.8 million vehicles, enough to retain the title of world's largest automaker but raising concerns that the hybrid boom that has fuelled Toyota's recent growth may be slowing down.Despite this, Toyota raised its full-year profit forecast by 400 billion yen ($2.6 billion) to 4.7 trillion yen ($30.7 billion) as it also announced its new $14 billion battery factory in North Carolina was ready to begin production.Toyota did not respond to a request for comment, sent outside normal working hours.

Just over two weeks into his presidency, Donald Trump has already thrown American democracy into crisis. On his first day in office, the president pardoned those who had violently stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a bid to obstruct his removal from power. He then fired more than a dozen federal prosecutors who had brought charges against the January 6 rioters a pair of moves that signal that the federal government will not necessarily punish Americans who perpetrate political violence in the presidents name.The administration has also coerced corporations into giving Trump money and other concessions, through tactic threats of regulatory scrutiny. Its Federal Communications Commission has pressured CBS News into giving regulators an unabridged version of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris last year, as though the government has a right to veto the editing practices of independent news networks.But Trumps starkest assault on democratic norms is his usurpation of Congresss authority over spending. The separation of powers is a fundamental feature of our constitutional order: The peoples legislative representatives determine what the government will spend money on and the president administers that spending.Upon taking power, the Trump administration has commandeered Congresss prerogatives. Trump paused the disbursement of trillions of dollars in congressionally authorized spending. Faced with a court order to halt this spending freeze, the administration backed down only partially. The White House rescinded a memo that had ordered a sweeping pause in federal grants but insisted that the federal funding freeze was still in place and continued blocking spending on green energy, foreign aid, and other programs it does not like.This assault on the separation of powers was not an impulsive aberration. Rather, Trump and his nominee to lead the White House budget office, Russel Vought, have argued for years that the president should have the authority to withhold congressional appropriations that he opposes.Meanwhile, the presidents top donor, Elon Musk, has claimed the authority to place civil servants on administrative leave, in a seemingly illegal violation of congressionally mandated civil service protections. More gravely, Musk and Trump shuttered the US Agency for International Development (USAID), an independent agency codified by Congress in 1998. The executive branch does not have the authority to dissolve federal agencies that it does not like without an act of Congress. Musk has also secured access to the Treasury Department systems that distribute trillions in federal payments and has suggested that his team would be justified in blocking spending that it deems suspect.This constitutes a democratic emergency in and of itself. But the Trump administrations power grab also threatens to exacerbate another impending crisis: the fight over raising Americas debt limit. In fact, the interaction between these two crises could not only jeopardize Americas economic stability, but provide Trump with a golden opportunity to further consolidate power.If Congress cant trust the president to honor its appropriations, it probably cant raise the debt limitIn most political systems, when lawmakers order more spending than they offset through taxes, the Treasury borrows whatever funding is necessary to execute their will.In the US, however, we have added a bizarre and hazardous extra step to this process: If Congresss laws require the Treasury to borrow money in excess of a certain statutory limit, then the House and Senate must take an additional vote raising that limit (which is commonly called the debt ceiling).This is a deeply dysfunctional institution. Congress perennially struggles to raise the debt ceiling because your representative voted to increase Americas borrowing limit to over $31 trillion sounds bad in campaign advertisements. Were Congress to actually fail to raise the debt limit, however, it would put the executive branch in an impossible position: The president would either need to nullify duly authorized spending or ignore the debt limit law. In practice, it is widely believed that a sustained debt ceiling breach would force the Treasury Department to default on Americas debt payments, a development that would likely trigger an economic crisis. Federal borrowing exceeded the debt limit at the start of this year, but the Treasury Department can delay a breach for a few months through various extraordinary measures. But if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling by sometime in the late spring or early summer the exact timing is not yet clear then the government will default on its obligations.There is (almost certainly) no way for congressional Republicans to raise the debt ceiling without Democratic cooperation. This is because the House GOP has a mere five-seat majority, the smallest in modern history. And many House Republicans are unwilling to vote for a debt limit increase, unless it is paired with politically toxic cuts to government spending.Already, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled that he will work with Democrats on legislation raising the debt limit, a tacit admission that his party cannot do this on its own. House Democrats, meanwhile, recognize that the debt limit provides a rare source of leverage over the unified GOP government. And they plan to withhold support on an increase unless Republicans agree to fund various Democratic priorities and reverse some of Trumps executive orders.Yet the Trump administrations refusal to honor congressionally authorized spending threatens to make such a bipartisan agreement impossible. After all, if the Republican president is not actually bound by congressional appropriations and can simply refuse to administer spending on Democratic priorities then there is no basis for bipartisan dealmaking: House Republicans cannot make any credible concessions to their Democratic counterparts.How a debt ceiling crisis could turn into a constitutional oneThis is dangerous for its immediate implications: A debt ceiling breach would have damaging economic consequences. But a congressional stalemate over the debt limit could also provide the Trump administration with an opportunity to further aggrandize and legitimate its usurpation of Congresss spending power.An administration eager to make unilateral cuts to the federal budget could exploit such a crisis to do precisely that: Incapable of executing all appropriations, the administration could choose to continue spending on defense, border control, and other Republican priorities while throttling spending on the safety net. The administration could choose to continue spending on defense, border control, and other Republican priorities while throttling spending on the safety net, environment, and federal workforce.Such triage might initially be framed as an emergency measure. Yet Congresss failure to uphold one of its most basic fiscal responsibilities preventing the government from defaulting on its obligations would give Trump an opening to legitimize his radical theories about the presidents spending powers: If the legislature cannot restrain its appetite for spending enough to keep federal borrowing within its own prescribed limits, then perhaps America needs a strong leader to take responsibility for curbing outlays away from a hapless Congress.Its worth emphasizing that this scenario is entirely hypothetical. And I think it is much more likely than not that we avoid it. Between today and the exhaustion of Americas borrowing capacity, the judiciary might decisively rebuke the Trump administrations infringements on congressional authority (although it is not entirely clear that the president would comply with such a ruling). Or else, the White House may scale back its unconstitutional activities, and Democrats might therefore regain faith that the terms of a debt ceiling deal would be honored.But Trumps first two weeks in office have given us cause for contemplating worst-case scenarios. Ive been covering Trumps affronts to liberal democratic norms for nearly a decade now. And I failed to anticipate that he might empower an unaccountable megabillionaire to order the lawless dissolution of independent federal agencies, sideline every civil servant who refuses to comply with his orders, and meddle in Treasury Department payment systems. As the Trump administration turns the unthinkable into the actual on a daily basis, its reasonable to consider possibilities that had previously appeared too far-fetched and menacing to scrutinize (or prepare for). The prospect that a debt limit crisis may trigger a constitutional breakdown is one such hypothetical. See More:

A leader who voters rejected several years ago returns to power, largely thanks to discontent with the incumbent partys economic performance. Almost immediately upon taking office, the leader launches a blitzkrieg designed to strengthen his personal grip on power. He claims unprecedented power over the budget, fires the leaders of government oversight agencies, and places vast policymaking power in the hands of an unelected wealthy ally. The opposition, divided and disorganized after electoral defeat, struggles to formulate an effective response as democracy begins to buckle.The country I am describing is, of course, Hungary in 2010.That year, Prime Minister Viktor Orbn returned to power after his defeat in 2002. He then launched an ambitious plan for turning a vibrant democracy into an authoritarian state, moving so swiftly to remove all formal checks on his power that few Hungarians truly understood how much power he was accruing. Judges and watchdogs were replaced with pliant cronies; his top allies took command of policymaking apparatus while developing tools for controlling the press.The power Orbn had accrued in those early days made it possible for him to systematically and secretively erode the fairness of Hungarian elections in the coming years. By the time he was up for reelection in 2014, the opposition barely had a chance. In hindsight, the first year may have been the entire ballgame even if no one quite knew it at the time.Ive spent the past week speaking with Hungarians and experts on Hungary, asking them to reflect on what happened then and offer advice to Americans today. For these observers, events in the US feel like dj vu. One Hungarian, speaking anonymously for fear of career ramifications, warned Americans that they may see democracy slip away if they dont act now.Theres no time for waiting and watching, they said. They can do so much so much counting on the fact that everyone is paralyzed.Yet my Hungarian sources also sounded a note of hope. When they look at Donald Trump, they see a leader with far less power than Orbn had in 2010. And when they look at the United States, they see a country with many more resources to resist an autocratic takeover than they had 15 years ago.Orbns 2010 takeover depended crucially on his legislative dominance. His Fidesz party had a majority large enough to amend the Hungarian constitution at will. With that much power, it was easy for him to seize full control over the government in record time.By contrast, Trumps House majority is one of the narrowest in history. And in the Senate, the filibuster severely limits what Republicans can pass. The legislative balance of power situation forces Trump to rely on executive orders of dubious legality, creating a number of different ways to check his abuse of power (like lawsuits) that wouldnt have worked in Hungary of 2010.But democracy will not defend itself. If Americans dont learn Hungarys lessons dont appreciate that we are facing an extinction-level threat to democracy we will surely live to regret it.Orbn was first elected to be Hungarys prime minister in 1998, serving until his conservative Fidesz party lost its majority in the 2002 elections. While he governed as a (mostly) normal center-right leader, it appears that defeat radicalized him. He spent the next eight years developing extensive and detailed plans for consolidating power once returned to high office. The planning included hiring law firms to develop a policy blueprint for seizing control of the government once he was elected a more detailed, aggressive version of Project 2025. The 2010 election provided a perfect opportunity for him to turn these ideas into reality. The Hungarian economy was in shambles after the 2008 financial crisis so bad, in fact, that it required an emergency $25 billion from the International Monetary Fund and others to avoid fiscal ruin and the current prime minister was embroiled in scandal. Much in the way that Trump and Elon Musk have seized control of an obscure but critical federal payments system, Orbn targeted the guts of democracy.Hungary was in a similar situation in 2010 as the US has been in recent months, says Szabolcs Panyi, a journalist at one of a handful of Hungarys remaining independent outlets. There was a lot of disillusionment with the previous government, and everyone was like, We dont care, Orbn has been in power [before].Orbn rode the incumbents unpopularity to a commanding victory. Though Fidesz only won 51 percent of the vote, Hungarys strangely apportioned legislature meant that it now had a two-thirds majority in parliament enough to amend the constitution, which Orbn did 12 times in the first year alone. From Day 1, he started with the blitz of stuff, says Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton University who studies Hungarian law and politics. And it was endless.The purpose of these changes was not, primarily, to end democracy in one fell swoop. Rather, it was to remove as many checks on Orbns authority as possible, so he could then quietly undermine key democratic institutions like fair elections and the free press over the course of several years. The power grab was designed not to accrue power for powers sake, but to enable democratic death by a thousand cuts down the line.For this reason, many of Orbns changes focused on seizing control of the countrys judiciary, through mechanisms like forcing judges into retirement and stripping the high court of its capacities to review Fideszs actions. Key oversight positions, like the state audit office and public prosecutor, were given over to Fidesz operatives.The takeover of the prosecutors office was, functionally, the equivalent of Trumps ongoing purge of the Department of Justice and FBI.The public prosecutors office was quite central, as this is the office that could prosecute any kind of wrongdoing by state authorities and politicians, says Zsuzsanna Vgh, a Hungarian expert on democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. The power grab overwhelmed the Hungarian public and opposition through two different, interconnected strategies.First, it happened so rapidly and on so many different fronts that it was difficult for them to find any one cause to focus on. Second, many of the changes sounded technical and obscure, making it hard to explain to the public why they needed to get up in arms.Much in the way that Trump and Elon Musk have seized control of an obscure but critical federal payments system, Orbn targeted the guts of democracy: the things that ensure its smooth functioning behind the scenes. Its the kind of stuff that doesnt excite passions like banning elections would have, but allowed him to subtly undermine their fairness without much of the public grasping what had truly happened.Lajos Simicska, the Musk before MuskOnce Orbn cowed the courts and law enforcement, he was able to fundamentally corrupt Hungarian policymaking deputizing his cronies to make policy that benefited themselves and their party rather than the nation. Chief among these allies was a man named Lajos Simicska, a wealthy childhood friend of Orbns who played a strikingly Musk-like role in the 2010 power grab.In her book Tainted Democracy, former Fidesz member of Parliament Zsuzsanna Szelnyi recalls Simicska spending many weeks at Viktor Orbns country house after the election, much as Musk took residence at Mar-a-Lago in November.When the government was formed, she writes, Simicskas people cornered key positions in the apparatus of government, including the management of the National Development Agency, which oversaw the distribution of EU funds, and the Public Procurement Authority. This is, in effect, the power Musk is currently attempting to assert control over the mechanisms through which the government spends and distributes money.Notably, Simicska did all of this without holding any kind of actual position. Like Musk, he bypassed the traditional government appointment process, turning crucial questions about federal spending and policy over to an opaque clique. Szelnyi explains:Simicska did not hold public office and could not be held to account, his vast influence was a particularly serious problem. The most critical economic bills were proposed to the Parliament as private members bills, which made it difficult to identify which business groups interests were actually being served by any given proposal. Government decisions became entirely inscrutable.When I spoke to Szelnyi on the phone, she warned that opacity was a necessary step toward the consolidation of Orbns power. Once the policy processes were brought under Simicskas thumb, he began using that power to build a private sector empire using policy tools to sell him controlling stakes in a huge number of industries, including (most dangerously) the media. He was a 100 percent partner of Orbn, she tells me. They were really doing everything together.The assault on the press did not formally abolish press freedoms, but rather abused and politicized normal state functions. Visit from the audit agency, harassment by government lawyers, withholding state support via ad revenue all these tools were used to force independent outlets to sell to either the government or a private sector ally like Simicksa. By 2017, around 90 percent of Hungarian media were controlled by the state or an allied entity.The United States today has a far more robust and diverse media sector than 2010 Hungary. Yet Musks purchase of Twitter is a warning sign as are recent capitulations by major media companies, including Facebook and CBS. On this, Panyi, the journalist, was particularly scathing: At least in Hungary, these people had to be pressured.Even aside from media, the corruption of economic policy turned into a source of stability for the Orbn regime. The more that the countrys elite class got in bed with the state, the more they depended on staying in the governments good graces which meant that they couldnt rebel even if they wanted to. Simicska became a case in point: When he and Orbn had a falling-out in the mid-2010s, the latter used state power to crush the formers business empire.The power consolidation, in short, enabled all kinds of corruption which then itself became a tool for bringing the press and the economic elite under Fidesz control.Why the Hungarian parallels should give Americans warning and hopeThere are two main lessons that my Hungarian contacts wanted Americans to learn from their experiences.First, what is happening right now in the United States is exactly what a dying democracy looks like. Democracy doesnt die overnight, but rather in stages. While Trump hasnt moved to abolish elections or even rig campaign finance rules, he is setting the stage for future power grabs that would enable all sorts of anti-democratic behavior.The best chance to stop it is now, before the power consolidation succeeds to the point where Trump will feel emboldened to attack electoral fairness directly. Hungarians, by in large, didnt mount much resistance in Orbns early days and thats part of why it succeeded so well.I think our society has been quite passive, Panyi says. Thats something we inherited from communism, where the survival strategy was to mind your own business. Passivity always favors these kinds of regimes.Second, and more optimistically, the United States in 2025 is far better positioned to fight off this type of blitzkrieg power grab than Hungary was in 2010.This isnt just because the United States has been (at least somewhat) democratic for centuries, giving it a far more robust history of political activism than Hungary. Its also because Trump is orders of magnitude weaker, in terms of formal powers, than Orbn was.Hungary is a small country, around 10 million people, where nearly all power is concentrated in the national government. Key powers that the US reserves to the states, like drawing the lines of legislative districts, are done nationally which allowed Orbn to do things like slip an egregious gerrymander into one of his early constitutional amendments. The federal system gives Americans opportunities for resistance that Hungarians simply didnt have.But even on the national level, Trumps powers (at least on paper) pale in comparison to Orbns. This is because of both constitutional design and the balance of power in the legislature.Hungarys 1990s-vintage constitution was easy to amend, as its 1990s-era framers were concerned about making mistakes that their descendants would have to live with. The US Constitution is the opposite requiring not only approval from Congress but also three-fourths of the states. So while Orbn could practically legislate regime change, Trump doesnt have the power to make even the slightest constitutional change. On issues ranging from birthright citizenship to freedom of the press to running for a third term, hes formally bound by a seemingly unchangeable document.Nor can he do much by statute. Republicans in the Senate dont have a filibuster-proof majority, and its unclear if there are enough Republican votes to go nuclear and eliminate the filibuster entirely. Even if there are, Republicans still have the smallest House majority since the Great Depression, meaning that just a handful of defections from principled Republicans would be enough to derail any legislative power grabs. Perhaps for these reasons, Trump has shown no interest in engaging in Orbn-style lawmaking sprees, passing bill after bill in rapid succession. Instead, the administration has chosen to engage in a series of unilateral power grabs where either Trump or Musk declares that theyre doing something and dares someone to stop them. Oftentimes, what theyre doing is straightforwardly illegal or even unconstitutional.Hungary shows us that the courts are the critical battlegroundYet laws arent self-enforcing. They need someone with authority to order that the lawbreaking is going to stop. Which means that many of the biggest battles are likely to come down to the courts.In Hungary, the courts were hamstrung by design: Many of Orbns biggest early moves were designed to bring the courts to heel. Without their oversight, he and Simicska could get away with whatever they wanted. Which is why the Hungarians I spoke with warned Americans that protecting their authority, and those of other watchdog institutions, would be central in the weeks and months to come.Whenever there is a power to constitutional practices, the judiciary needs to step in, Vegh says. Civil society and the general public [need] to call out unconstitutional and undemocratic practices to not shy away from speaking truth to power and drawing attention to whats going on.Trump certainly did fill the federal judiciary with appointees in his first term. But hes simply unable to do an Orbn-like takeover of the courts without legislative buy-in. And so far, theres zero indication that hes even contemplating introducing bills that would (for example) strip the Supreme Court of jurisdiction over his actions.That means the courts remain a powerful check on his authority at least, on paper. There are some early optimistic signs, like rulings against the unconstitutional order against birthright citizenship or the illegal spending freeze.But many of these issues will assuredly go all the way to the Supreme Court, where so much depends on the personal feelings of the six Republican justices.That so much can depend on six people is a troubling state of affairs for any democracy: a sign that things really are going in a dangerous direction. But the comparison for Hungary also shows that things could be far worse and that Americans still have a chance to stop Trump from using the Orbn playbook to tear down the worlds oldest democracy.A version of this piece appears in On the Right, my newsletter on conservatism. Subscribe here.See More:

It'd be fair to say EA never fully embraced the Switch, but its CEO seemingly wants to put more of its big sports franchises including EA FC on Nintendo Switch 2

Disney tried to buy Nintendo in 2016 claims former ImagineerGameCentralPublished February 5, 2025 11:38amUpdated February 5, 2025 11:38am Nintendo is not for sale (Getty/Disney/Nintendo)Microsoft has already tried to buy them multiple times, but it seems that Nintendo had another suitor just before the launch of the Switch.If you cant beat em, buy em, has long been the logic of most corporations, especially American ones. Microsofts purchase of Activision Blizzard and Bethesda is the most obvious example of this in the games industry, but its been going on at a smaller scale for decades.Whats also been going on for decades is companies trying to buy Nintendo. Microsoft has attempted to do so multiple times, including when it was first thinking about entering the games industry and as recently as 2020.They were rebuffed every time, but a rumour has now emerged suggesting that Disney tried the same thing only a few years earlier and were met with the same response.The claim was made by former Imagineer Robert Carter, in a podcast from a month ago that has only recently gone viral. He was asked several questions about Disneys business, including one about their failed attempts to buy Japanese anime studios including Studio Ghibli.Before he got into that though, Carter started his answer with the bombshell that: In 2016, when Disney was still going really hot, there was even talk of buying Nintendo, internally.This resulted in shocked Pikachu faces all around for the other three presenters, although Carter offered no more details than the fact that, They were not interested in the slightest.Thats certainly believable, as Nintendo goes to great effort to ensure they cannot be victim to a hostile takeover, thanks to large cash reserves and attempts to buy back stock whenever it becomes available.Xbox boss Phil Spencer noted this in the leaked email that revealed Microsofts most recent attempt to buy the company.At some point, getting Nintendo would be a career moment and I honestly believe a good move for both companies. Its just taking a long time for Nintendo to see that their future exists off of their own hardware. A long time, said Spencer, in a comment that has not aged well, given Xboxs current difficulty in selling their own hardware.More TrendingAs for Disney, its always been strange that the company has shown so little interest in video games. Despite being in the position to take a leading role in the industry from its very inception, Disney has instead limited itself to a trickle of licensed titles and occasional, brief experiments in internal development.2016 saw the cancellation of their last dalliance with self-publishing, in the form of toys to life franchise Disney Infinity. Its failure may have been what triggered the interest in acquiring Nintendo, combined with the fact that the company was then at a low ebb, following the failure of the Wii U.However, a year later the Nintendo Switch was released, greatly raising the companys worth and making them even less predisposed to a buyout.Of course, theres a chance that Carter is mistaken but Nintendos actions make it clear it knows it will always be at risk from larger companies but, especially while it remains as successful as it currently is, there seems to be no intention from Nintendo of taking them up on their offers. Disney Infinity was the last time Disney made any effort with its own games (Disney Interactive)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

A game worthy of the gods (Microsoft)Microsoft has announced even more Xbox games are coming to PlayStation 5 in 2025, and likely Nintendo Switch 2.After a hesitant start to their multiformat strategy in 2024, Microsoft now seems to be doubling down on its efforts to support the PlayStation 5, insisting that there are no red lines when it comes to what games could be brought over.Microsoft has already confirmed Indiana Jones And The Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5 will release on PlayStation 5 this year, while other first party titles like Doom: The Dark Ages and The Outer Worlds 2 will launch on Sonys console alongside the Xbox Series X/S version.Less than a week after Forza Horizon 5s PlayStation 5 announcement, Xbox has announced two more first party games for Sonys console and its great news for strategy fans.Here is what you need to know.New Xbox games coming to PS5Age Of Mythology: Retold and Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition are both coming to PlayStation 5 this year. The former, which is a remastered version of 2002s original Age Of Mythology, will come to the console on March 4, while the latter is slated merely for spring.The arrival of Age Of Mythology: Retold on Sonys console coincides with the launch of a new Immortal Pillars expansion, which includes a Chinese pantheon, a campaign inspired by Chinese mythology, and seven new maps.This expansion arrives on PC and Xbox Series X/S on the same day as the PlayStation 5 version, with cross-play support. All future updates will roll out across all platforms simultaneously following this date.Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition, a remaster of the 1999 original game with improved visuals and all previous DLC, will also launch on PlayStation 5 with a new expansion although developer Worlds Edge is keeping details under wraps until spring.As for Age Of Empires 4 players, Microsoft has announced two new expansions for 2025. The first, Knights Of Cross And Rose, will launch in the spring, and includes a new solo mode and the ability to lead two well-known armies inspired by history. There are no details on the second expansion, but it will partly focus on shorter and repeatable experiences.The existence of these ports suggest Age Of Mythology: Retold and Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition could be in the pipeline for Nintendos Switch 2 as well especially as they would both showcase the consoles mouse-like functionality.Microsoft has confirmed Xbox games are coming to Nintendos next console, but hasnt named any actual titles yet. It seems clear that Nintendo has told third party publishers not to make any announcements until the Nintendo Direct in April.More TrendingBeyond these titles, rumours suggest Microsoft is planning to release a lot more Xbox games on other platforms this year, including Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. A glimpse at upcoming DLC for Age Of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (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

By Kyle Barr Published February 5, 2025 | Comments (0) | The VGHF archive includes scans of magazines ranging from the official Xbox mag to Game Informer, along with trade publications few regular customers have had access to before now. Image: VGHF Every year, more of gaming history is lost. Basements flood, papers dissolve, and the video games industry titans sadly pass away. The Video Game History Foundation is offering what is now the most comprehensive and searchable library of video game documentation. If youre like me, its only when you dig through the mountains of old mags and design docs that you truly comprehend how meaningful physical media was to an entire generation of gamers. Magazines were my everything. It started when my mother started to drag me to the supermarket every week for several hours of anxiety-ridden shopping. My mother was obsessive about getting everything we could require for a family of five, even if it would sit on the shelf for years, uneaten. I would push one shopping cart, and my mother would push another. I needed an escape. I would run to the magazine aisle every week and grab that months copy of Game Informer or EGM. I would push my nose into the magazines as if I could fall into them. I didnt comprehend it until years later, but those publications helped keep me sane. When print media slid, when GameStop officiallydiscontinued Game Informer in August last year after 33 years, and when game companies quit including booklets and guides inside their game boxes, gamers didnt just lose access to physical media. We also lost our personal attachment to the medium we so cherished, which made existing within the gaming sphere tangible. I would not be a writer if it werent for those magazines. The VGHF Archive is a Fountain of Gaming Lore The Video Game History Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for gaming preservation, unveiled its digital library last week. Its an archive of not just magazines but trade publications, catalogs, memorabilia, and even some behind-the-scenes working documentation. You can find the original publicity booklet for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and FromSoftwares beloved PS4 title Bloodborne. There are production videos and interviews from developer Cyan for the landmark adventure game Myst and directories for the E3 gaming showcases from 1995 through 2006. Other than watching old videos of PlayStation execs shouting riiiidgggee, racceeer, there are a few better ways to reminisce about that defunct gaming showcase.In an interview over video chat, VGHF Library Director Phil Salvador told Gizmodo the archive was made to be as accessible as possible. While you may find .zip files full of magazine PDFs elsewhere on the web or your own stack of musty magazines sitting in a box in your attic, the VGHF archive is a research tool. In effect, anybody can become an amateur video game historian. Image: VGHF Even when you struggle to find keywords for the right documents, the VGHFs archive is more easily parsed than any towering stack of funky-smelling periodicals. The library is searchable by keyword, titles, and date ranges. Digging through the magazine archives, I was struck by how much marketing around video games has changed. Several gaming magazine issues featured an advertisement for the cult classic PS2 game Icobefore the games Western release. The image included a sprawling, impossible maze with the tagline solve the puzzles or join the tormented souls forever.It was an eye-catching ad for a game that notoriously did not sell well in the U.S. Part of that may be due to the confusing advertising blitz before the game arrived in 2002. Salvador pointed to landmark titles like the seminal 1994 game Earthbound. Nintendos press releases showed that the company tried to market it from a personal finance angle. Those documents arent yet available in the archive, but the VGHF is working on them. The collection started with the groups founder, video game preservationist Frank Cifaldi, and his own personal magazine collection. The nonprofit invested in a quality debinder and scanner, but collecting the thousands of documents took years. The project started in 2017, and over the past eight years, a series of part-timers, volunteers, and Salvador have begged, borrowed, and bartered for more video game content. More outside groups like Retromags and Out-of-Print Archive donated magazine content, while more private collectors loaned out material to beef up the full library. See for Yourself How the Gaming Sausage Gets Made The Video Game History Foundations physical archive includes a hoard of magazines and memorabilia. Image: VGHF Families of video game executives have also contacted the group to offer documentation. The group highlighted a collection they dubbed the Mark Flitman papers. Flitman was an executive and producer at companies such as Konami, Acclaim, Midway, and Mindscape. His family invited the VGHF to digitize a hoard of old documents kept in his basement.There are some stories you can find just by sleuthing through the back pages of gaming history. One file from the Flitman collection shows the initial design for a Nintendo 64 launch title called Monster Dunk. The game never made it past pre-production, but it included concepts for characters like The Hunchback of Notre Dunk and The Ghost of Abrajam Lincoln (TM). This ghostly Lincoln is described as the slightly spiritualized head of Lincoln put on top of sour ghost body. Sounds incredible, right? The devs received approval to develop the game, but a 1995 issues report noted Monster Dunk was seriously understaffed. The project was supposed to hit an April 1996 first draft deadline, but the game simply fizzled out, as many initial designs do. The archive includes hand-drawn level design inspiration for Sonic the Hedgehog. Image: VGHF Its a dive into the sausage making of video games that few on the outside would normally get to see for themselves. Gaming, as an artistic medium, is restricted by funding, manpower, technology, and the whims of the market. For every landmark game likeMyst, theres a Monster Dunka game that never made it past the many, many hurdles of production.Not enough people are good video game historians, and its not because theres not interest, Salvador said. Its not because theres a lack of skill; its because theres often a lack of access to materials. So much of video game history gets lost simply because of storage. Salvador said they find so much history from early video game development in the Chicago area compared to studios from California because homes in the Windy City have basements, whereas Californians dont. Just because a file is digital doesnt make it any more available for preservation. Modern publishers and industry groups have made it clear they do not want to grant researchers or players the ability to play out-of-print titles. The VGHF previously sponsored a study showing close to 90% of video games from past decades are not commercially available. The group also suffered a blow when the U.S. Copyright Office sided with game publishersand restricted historians access to non-accessible titles under fair use.The archive wont have access to actual games, at least not for the time being. Much to publishers chagrin, that lack of availability will only help push gamers toward emulation. Still, the nonprofit plans to update the archive with more material over time. Salvador said the team hopes more developers note the benefit of having such a resource available to everyone. A big part of our job is having those conversations with developers and saying this stuff really is valuable, Salvador said. We really want to preserve it and respect it.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Kyle Barr Published November 5, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published October 25, 2024 By Justin Carter Published September 28, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published July 15, 2024 By Kyle Barr Published March 25, 2024 By Rob Bricken Published March 3, 2023

Claudine Hermann School / SAM architectureSave this picture! Arpajon SalemArchitects: SAM architectureAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:2516 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Arpajon Salem Roofing: SarmatesElectrical: ETRELECStructural Engineering: Bollinger + Grohmann Ingenieuere, Bollinger + Grohmann More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Site Integration - The school complex appears in the landscape with a controlled formal and material duality: The classrooms appear in the form of monolithic pavilions that rhythmically shape the landscape with a sequential faade, both dynamic and systematic, offering a different appearance from every viewpoint, sometimes massive, sometimes transparent. The facades, made of in-situ tinted concrete that gives off a warm and welcoming appearance, are then sandblasted after pouring to expose aggregates, in certain places, thus controlling the final quality. The pavilion classrooms emerge from the ground like rocksraw, noble and timeless. Shared spaces, including the after-school center, the restaurant, and the main hall of the school complex, are revealed under significant aluminum roofs that guide the visitor toward the entrances. Thus, the proposed architecture for the different volumes distinguishes between reserved spaces dedicated exclusively to learning and shared, multi-purpose spaces intended for all neighborhood residents. In this sense, it respects the urban hierarchy known and recognizable to all, in which public facilities punctuate the urban landscape within a uniform mass of buildings for private use.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Visible Materials -Cconcrete for walls, aluminum for roofs, and wood for joinery. These materials are chosen for their strong technical and identity value: they are durable, local, and traditional, with well-controlled aging properties. The school complex conveys a reassuring serenity that will be preserved over centuries. While achieving the required technical and environmental performance, it integrates the technical systems seamlessly (insulation, technical equipment, etc.), anticipating their eventual replacement over time without altering the building's image. The goal is to propose a contemporary architecture, adapted to current needs, yet designed to harmonize with the natural and built environment, complementing it in a coherent and sustainable ensemble.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Overall Composition - Access to the school complex is provided by two entrances located at the north and south corners of the future gymnasium. These entrances lead to the school's courtyard, which, in an L-shape, wraps around the gymnasium and connects the two entrances opening onto rue du Soufflet and the public courtyard to the southeast. The school complex consists of three buildings: To the north, a building in the form of a ''longre'', a linear structure typical of rural areas, houses the reception and interface spaces as well as the after-school activity hub. To the northwest, the school restaurant is located between the delivery area and the garden. South of the restaurant is the preschool, and further south, opening onto the public courtyard is the elementary school. This layout offers the following advantages: All shared spaces, such as the library, multipurpose room, activity room, and restaurant, are grouped around the public square, thus forming the heart of the village. The preschool is also located near the central plaza, which shortens travel for the youngest children throughout the day. Older students, who need more activity and are noisier, are located at the southern end of the site. The entrances to the different areas are easily identifiable under large overhanging roofs that protect the entrances.Save this picture!Public Spaces - The school's courtyard, created between the access on rue du Soufflet and the public courtyard to the south, completes with a soft-traffic lane and a continuous road network around the future gymnasium. The terrain's slope, approximately 3%, is conducive to a fine differentiation of public spaces and built volumes, which are set on three different levels, staggered by 1.5cm. This slope helps define the boundary between the school's courtyard and the private terraces of the elementary classrooms. In the morning, the courtyard is actively used by students and parents, while the terraces remain private and oriented to the east. These private terraces, associated with each elementary and preschool classroom, act as a front garden and a buffer to ensure privacy between public and private spaces. These terraces allow students to take greater ownership of their school, organizing for example, outdoor workshops, temporary or semi-permanent constructions, and various experiments with the elements (sun, rain, wind,) or simply having outdoor classes in good weather with a positive atmosphere. The stairs connecting the different levels within and outside the school, often associated with steps, constitute meeting, relaxation, or spontaneous spaces. This project aims to offer the neighborhood a true village square, located centrally among the different programmatic hubs, brought to life by its cultural and sports offerings, and its urban and architectural qualities.Save this picture!Save this picture!Pedagogy and Open Spaces - The project for the Claudine Hermann school group in Arpajon reflects a contemporary approach to teaching, with an emphasis on open, flexible, and stimulating spaces. The circulation areas become active spaces, conducive to interactions and versatile uses, while the alcoves, bleachers, and private terraces extend pedagogical activities beyond the classrooms. These spaces encourage students' autonomy and creativity, in constant contact with the outdoors and nature. Designed as a 'village on a child's scale', the building features plazas, multi-purpose areas, and harmonious transitions between indoors and outdoors, providing an enriching and immersive educational environment.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:FranceLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeSAM architectureOfficeMaterialsWoodConcreteMaterials and TagsPublished on February 05, 2025Cite: "Claudine Hermann School / SAM architecture" 05 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026313/claudine-hermann-school-sam-architecture&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Expo City Dubai to Be Transformed by UNStudio into New Urban CenterSave this picture!Aerial - UNStudio. Image HansinokThe site of Expo 2020 Dubai is scheduled to undergo a major transformation, developed by UNStudio in collaboration with several other firms. The master plan aims to reimagine the location of the first World Expo held in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia into a new urban center, integrating the structures of the original Expo with new developments to create a cohesive and engaging new district. The development, part of Dubai's 2040 Urban Master Plan, leverages approximately 80% of the existing infrastructure and buildings from Expo 2020, minimizing waste and maximizing the value of previous investments.Save this picture!Save this picture!The 3.5-square-kilometer development is designed to accommodate over 35,000 residents and 37,000 professionals, while maintaining capacity for approximately 50,000 annual visitors. The masterplan shifts from the organic layout of the Expo 2020 thematic districts to a more efficient grid system. This improved urban structure enhances navigation and accessibility.Save this picture!The development is organized into five new districts: Expo Downtown, a high-density mixed-use area, Expo Fields, featuring sports facilities and residential components, Expo Hills, a low-density residential area with open spaces, Expo Business, understood as an innovation campus, and Expo Valley, a low-density residential neighborhood planned for completion in 2026. Each district incorporates a mix of residential, commercial, and recreational elements. Related Article UNStudio Designs Hybrid Building in Luxembourg for a Reduced Carbon Footprint A key focus is on creating a green and vibrant public realm. The landscape design, led by SLA, incorporates elements of the Expo 2020 themes of Sustainability, Mobility, and Opportunity. This involves extensive green spaces, water features, and the planting of over 30,000 native trees. The integration of the Dubai Exhibition Centre further enhances connectivity and activity within the site. The design prioritizes efficient urban planning, incorporating extensive green spaces and promoting alternative transportation methods such as walking, cycling, and public transit. The project's sustainability goals are reflected in its pursuit of LEED Gold and BREEAM Excellent certifications.Save this picture!Save this picture!In other related news, preparations are underway for the next edition of World Expo, to be held in Osaka, Japan. Construction photographs reveals the "Grand Ring," designed by Sou Fujimoto, which will encircle the exhibition grounds, while most of the national participants have unveiled designs of their pavilions, including Kengo Kuma's design for the Portugal Pavilion, and the German pavilion, by LAVA Architects.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorCite: Maria-Cristina Florian. "Expo City Dubai to Be Transformed by UNStudio into New Urban Center" 05 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026517/expo-city-dubai-to-be-transformed-by-unstudio-into-new-urban-center&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Try V-Ray 7 for SketchUp: https://www.chaos.com/vray/sketchup Discover how V-Ray Luminaires in V-Ray 7 for SketchUp revolutionize rendering complex light fixtures! Learn how this new feature dramatically reduces render times while enhancing accuracy, making it easier than ever to achieve photorealistic lighting in your SketchUp scenes.