Re @BasedMikeLee Yes

This is an extremely important insight. Defund government-funded NGOs!DataRepublican (small r): I've said it again, I'll say it again. Taxpayer-funded NGOs function as a parallel government.Even worse, many sitting members of Congress are directly involved in them. They see themselves as the real government, prioritizing debates with other bureaucrats on the global

Despite the massive success of Marvel Rivals, the game's developer, NetEase, recently laid off some of the devs who worked on it. Soon after, there were reports about larger cuts within NetEase and the developers under its umbrella. However, those cuts won't affect The Blood of Dawnwalker, the upcoming vampire game from Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz.Tomasz Tinc, one of the co-owners of Blood of Dawnwalker's developer, Rebel Wolves, shared a message on his LinkedIn account to counter reports that his studio is endangered by any of the upheaval at NetEase."I've also read the articles suggesting that Rebel Wolves may be in danger due to the [rumored] situation at NetEase," wrote Tinc. "First and foremost, thank you for all the warm messages and wishes. The development of our game is progressing steadily, and we're facing no financial issues. The Blood of Dawnwalker's production is fully funded, and we work alongside our partners and friends from Bandai Namco, our game's global publisher, to bring the first chapter of the Dawnwalker saga to life. The vast majority of Rebel Wolves' ownership rests in the hands of Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and other studio co-owners, all of whom are employed by Rebel Wolves. NetEase is Rebel Wolves' minority shareholder."Continue Reading at GameSpot

Balatro is available on Xbox Game Pass starting today! This release comes alongside the 4th "Friends of Jimbo" update, bringing exciting new collaborations with titles like Critical Role, Bugsnax, Civilization VII, RUST, Assassin's Creed, Slay the Princess, Dead by Daylight, and Fallout.

Just consider waking one day only to discover that every man and woman has been transformed into an inanimate statue, and all structures have fallen to ruins. This is the world in which the protagonist of Dr. Stone, Senku Ishigami, finds himself after waking up. Where others would be scarred by loneliness, Senku is determined to seize new opportunities for human development with the help of science.

Within Marvel Rivals, fans can play as three different types of characters: Duelists, Vanguards, and Strategists. But, looking into the hero-shooter more in-depth, these heroes fall into even more specific roles: Poke, rush, and dive characters. Poke heroes are among the most popular heroes in the game, as they're typically safe choices and don't take incredible risks.

Hey, everyone! At Annapurna Interactive, were fortunate to work with some of the worlds best development teams around the world, supporting them to help bring unique game experiences to PlayStation. Today, we premiere a new Annapurna Showcase, highlighting some of these teams, sharing exciting news and updates about previously announced games that are coming very soon.Play VideoSayonara Wild HeartsThe critically-acclaimed rhythm game Sayonara Wild Hearts is coming to PlayStation 5 today. Experience a brand-new PS5 exclusive Remix Arcade game mode chasing high scores in endlessly replayable levels set to a selection of songs from the games iconic soundtrack.Sayonara Wild Hearts also features upgraded 4K visuals, runs at up to 120 FPS, and supports haptic feedback on PS5. Those who own the game on PlayStation 4 can upgrade their copy to the PlayStation 5 version for free as long as both platforms are linked to the same account.Play VideoLushfoil Photography SimExplore diverse landscapes, play with camera settings, and capture the perfect shot in Lushfoil Photography Sim.Featuring breathtaking locations, from the picturesque Italian countryside to the saltwater beaches of West Australia, Lushfoil Photography Sim delivers the premier digital photography experience, ramping up your favorite in-game photo modes to 11.Were excited for PlayStation players to experience the delight of travel photography when the game launches April 15, 2025 on PlayStation 5.Play VideoTo a TLed by esteemed Katamari Damancy creator Keita Takahashi, to a T is a charming, colorful adventure game about a teen navigating life in a small town with their cute dog companion.Play as a teenager (Teen), with a unique posture just trying to live a normal life in a small coastal town. Explore the town along with the help of Teens loyal dog and loving mother. While going to school and contending with bullies, Teen discovers a new ability granted to them by their extraordinary posture, as they start to uncover more about their mysterious lineage.PlayStation players can be charmed and delighted on May 28 when To a T launches on PlayStation 5. The latest trailer for the game features an original track, The Giraffe Song, performed by Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe, Adventure Time).Wheel WorldWheel World is a single-player bicycle racing adventure where youre tasked with preventing the world from collapsing.You are Kat, a young cyclist with one mission: save Wheel World from total collapse. Explore a stunning world filled with impressive vistas, hidden secrets, and races that will test your skills. Customize your bike with an endless array of parts, from sleek speedsters to off-road beaststheres no limit to how you can ride.Customize your ride, explore, and compete in this cycling journey with original music from the electronic music label Italians Do It Better when it launches this summer on PlayStation 5.Thats all for the Annapurna Interactive Showcase 2025. We hope you are just as excited about the upcoming releases as we are. We cant wait to get these games in your hands but for now make sure to follow and wishlist the games on the PlayStation Store to be among the first to receive the latest updates. From all of us at Annapurna, as well as our developer partners thank you so much for joining us.

You remember Exodus, right? Its the upcoming sci-fi RPG from former BioWare developers that could easily be mistaken for Mass Effect. No really The premise in its initial trailer is just Mass Effect Andromeda without the N7 armor. Matthew McConaughey showed up to announce it during the 2023 Game Awards and narrated a series of videos about its world. And today, developer Archetype has launched an actual play set in its universe, sadly sans McConaughey.Star Heist: An Exodus Story is the only way youre going to learn more about the world of whatever Exodus the video game ends up being for a while. Co-founder and executive creator director James Ohlen, who worked on Baldurs Gate and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, is the dungeon master for the series. Hes joined by a cast of actors from film and games, including Cassidy Cummings, Elizabeth Maxwell, Brian Villalobos, and Chynna Walker.The whole thing is using the tabletop rules from the Exodus Travelers Handbook, which was released last year to people who signed up for the Exodus founders email list. Episode 1 centers on a dig team exploring ruins for ancient artifacts left behind by you guessed it a precursor race who had advanced technology.Throughout the series, well unveil exciting elements from the game world, Ohlen said in a news release, and I cant wait for fans to explore the far reaches of this innovative sci-fi world with us.Focusing on the tabletop role-playing game while details remain rather thin on the video game isnt surprising for a studio owned by Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast. Actual play series, like Critical Role, continue to be huge, and the format lends itself well to introducing the world of RPGs before you even play them.

Pokmon Go is trying something new: a battle pass-like progression system called the Go Tour Pass. The pass only lasts for a week, leading up and through the huge Go Tour: Unova event, but with the pass comes a ton of questions on how it works and if its worth buying the deluxe upgrade.Below we explain how the Go Tour Pass works, if its worth upgrading to deluxe, and all the rewards you can get for completing the pass.How does the Tour Pass work?Functionally, this is kind of just a battle pass that many other games have. Every player gets the pass starting at Feb. 24 at 10 a.m. in your local time. You will have until March 2 at 6 p.m. in your local time to complete as much of the pass as possible.You can earn Tour Pass points in two ways:By catching Pokmon (5 points each), hatching eggs (10 points each), and catching Legendary Pokmon (50 points each)Complete Pass Tasks (50 points per task, one per day for all users and two per day for Deluxe players)Note that there is a cap to how many points you can earn per day. You can only earn 150 points per day using the above methods, in addition to 50 or 100 more points from completing the daily Pass Tasks that appear below the pass, depending if you have Deluxe or not.This means that you can only earn four to six ranks per day until the Go Tour: Unova event. The cap will be completely removed during the weekend event on March 1 and 2, allowing you to farm as many points as youd like.So is the Tour Pass worth upgrading to deluxe?Maybe, but it depends on your playstyle and how you value items like fusion energy and XL candy.The deluxe version of the Tour Pass does give a whole ton of stuff, including the following, in exchange for $15:Victini encounterAdditional Pok Balls, Great Balls, Ultra Balls, Lure Modules, Incense, Lucky Eggs, and Star PiecesThe new Lucky Trinket itemEncounters with additional Pokmon like Servine, Pignite, Dewott, Sandile, Mienfoo, Pawniard, Vullaby, and BasculinUp to 200 additional Blaze Fusion Energy and Volt Fusion EnergyXL candy for Snivy, Tepig, Oshawott, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Tornadus, Thundurus, and LandorusThe Kyurem Helmet cosmetic item$15 worth of PokCoins is about 1,900 coins (give or take a few, since theres no actual $15 coin bundle) if you buy them from the web store. If you total up the cost of the non-ball items you get from the pass, its at around 1,240 coins worth of upgrades though this doesnt include the Lucky Trinket, which is a new item and not purchasable in the store, and the cosmetic hat.The value from this pass mainly comes from the idea of getting an item that allows you to be instant Lucky Friends with any trainer (the Lucky Trinket), the 200 additional Blaze and Volt Fusion Energy, and the XL candy. Obviously these things cant be directly measured in coin value its up to you if this is worth it.The Victini encounter is also something maybe worthwhile, especially if you missed your chance to get a Victini before. Mythical Pokmon are always rarities, so if you like to collect them, this is a good opportunity to grab one.Some folks have also datamined information that reveal that the shiny odds on the encounters are increased. The starters (Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott) are at a 1/20 chance and everything else is at a 1/64 chance. For some reason, the extra Basculin you can catch as part of the deluxe pass are also at a 1/20 shiny rate.Outside of that, being able to rank up quicker thanks to the additional Pass Tasks every day will get you to the Tour Pass Bonuses faster at ranks 20, 60, and 80. These reward you with buffed up catch XP, which is always useful.If youre unsure, you can always progress in the pass first, then upgrade to deluxe on Sunday before it disappears if youve felt like youve gotten your fill of rewards. The rewards can be claimed retroactively, so you dont have to worry too much about it. Note that if you do buy the pass later, you will miss out on the additional daily Pass Task (and thus one rank per day), but since the cap will be removed on the weekend, this wont make you miss much.Pokmon Go Tour Pass rewards listBelow, you can see all the rewards for both the basic and deluxe tracks of the Go Tour Pass. Note that from ranks 101-500, you get the same rewards: 50 Stardust for the basic reward and 100 Stardust for the deluxe reward.RankBasic rewardDeluxe reward1Go Tour 2025 TeeVictini encounter25 Pok Balls25 Pok Balls3Snivy encounterServine encounter4Tepig encounterPignite encounter5Oshawott encounterDewott encounter65 Snivy Candy25 Snivy Candy XL75 Tepig Candy25 Tepig Candy XL85 Oshawott Candy25 Oshawott Candy XL95 Snivy Candy25 Snivy Candy XL105 Tepig Candy25 Tepig Candy XL115 Oshawott Candy25 Oshawott Candy XL121 Lure Module1 Lure Module131 Incense1 Incense14100 XP1 Incense15100 XP1 Incense16100 XP1 Incense172 Reshiram Candy25 Reshiram Candy182 Zekrom Candy25 Zekrom Candy192 Kyurem Candy25 Kyurem Candy20Tier 1 Tour Pass Bonus: 1.5x catch XP, 1.5x Freeze Shock/Ice Burn duration during Go Tour: Unova215 Great Balls25 Great Balls22Sandile encounterSandile encounter23Mienfoo encounterMienfoo encounter24Pawniard encounterPawniard encounter25Vullaby encounterVullaby encounter265 Great Balls25 Great Balls275 Sandile CandySandile encounter285 Mienfoo CandyMienfoo encounter295 Pawniard CandyPawniard encounter305 Vullaby CandyVullaby encounter311 Star Piece1 Star Piece321,000 Stardust1 Star Piece331,000 Stardust1 Star Piece341,000 Stardust1 Star Piece351,000 Stardust1 Star Piece361,000 Stardust1 Star Piece372 Reshiram Candy5 Reshiram Candy XL382 Zekrom Candy5 Zekrom Candy XL392 Kyurem Candy5 Kyurem Candy XL4010 Go Tour StickersKyurem Helmet415 Great Balls25 Great Balls425 Sandile CandySandile encounter435 Mienfoo CandyMienfoo encounter445 Pawniard CandyPawniard encounter455 Vullaby CandyVullaby encounter465 Great Balls25 Great Balls475 Sandile CandySandile encounter485 Mienfoo CandyMienfoo encounter495 Pawniard CandyPawniard encounter505 Vullaby CandyVullaby encounter511 Lucky Egg1 Lucky Egg521,000 XP1 Lucky Egg531,000 XP1 Lucky Egg541,000 XP1 Lucky Egg551,000 XP1 Lucky Egg561,000 XP1 Lucky Egg572 Reshiram Candy5 Reshiram Candy XL582 Zekrom Candy5 Zekrom Candy XL592 Kyurem Candy5 Kyurem Candy XL60Tier 2 Tour Pass Bonuses: 2x catch XP, 2x Freeze Shock/Ice Burn duration during Go Tour: Unova615 Ultra Balls25 Ultra Balls62Basculin (Blue Striped) encounterBasculin (Blue Striped) encounter63Basculin (Red Striped) encounterBasculin (Red Striped) encounter641,000 XP1 Lure Module655 Ultra Balls25 Ultra Balls66Basculin (Blue Striped) encounterBasculin (Blue Striped) encounter67Basculin (Red Striped) encounterBasculin (Red Striped) encounter681,000 XP1 Incense695 Ultra Balls1 Star Piece701,000 Stardust5,000 Stardust711,000 Stardust5,000 Stardust721,000 Stardust5,000 Stardust731,000 Stardust5,000 Stardust741,000 Stardust5,000 Stardust751,000 Stardust5,000 Stardust7625 Volt Fusion Energy50 Volt Fusion Energy7725 Blaze Fusion Energy50 Blaze Fusion Energy7825 Volt Fusion Energy50 Volt Fusion Energy7925 Blaze Fusion Energy50 Blaze Fusion Energy80Tier 3 Tour Pass Bonuses: 3x catch XP, 3x Freeze Shock/Ice Burn duration during Go Tour: Unova815 Cobalion Candy5 Cobalion Candy XL825 Terrakion Candy5 Terrakion Candy XL835 Virizion Candy5 Virizion Candy XL845 Tornadus Candy5 Tornadus Candy XL855 Thundurus Candy5 Thundurus Candy XL865 Reshiram Candy5 Reshiram Candy XL875 Zekrom Candy5 Zekrom Candy XL885 Landorus Candy5 Landorus Candy XL895 Kyurem Candy5 Kyurem Candy XL905 Ultra Balls1 Lucky Egg911,000 XP5,000 XP921,000 XP5,000 XP931,000 XP5,000 XP9425 Volt Fusion Energy50 Volt Fusion Energy9525 Blaze Fusion Energy50 Blaze Fusion Energy9625 Volt Fusion Energy50 Volt Fusion Energy9725 Blaze Fusion Energy50 Blaze Fusion Energy98Woobat encounter5,000 XP99Darmanitan encounter5,000 XP100Zorua encounter1 Lucky Trinket101+50 Stardust100 Stardust

The new iOS 18.4 beta is still missing an AI-overhauled Siri, on-screen awareness, and the app integrations feature we were promised all the way back in June at WWDC. If you're waiting for those features, try your luck with iOS 18.5.However, 18.4 isn't an empty update. The first beta introduces Priority Notifications, and Apple Intelligence now supports more languageswhich is great news for Apple users across the globe. In addition, Apple Intelligence is now accessible in the European Union for the first time. Here's everything that's new with iOS 18.4.Priority NotificationsOne of the new highlight features in iOS 18.4 is Priority Notifications. When enabled, your iPhone will use on-device intelligence to figure out which notifications are truly important, and will highlight them in a new Priority Notifications box at the top.However, in this beta, it's not enabled by default. Go to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and then enable the feature. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Sketch style in Image Playground Credit: Khamosh Pathak When you're creating an image in Image Playground, you'll see a new style option called Sketch. This style makes it look like your AI-generated image was sketched on a paper. If that sounds familiar, that's because we also saw this back at WWDC, but Apple only just added it to iOS with this update. New Ambient Music feature in Control Center Credit: Khamosh Pathak Apple already has a background sounds feature that generates nature sounds for ambient playback. However, in iOS 18.4, you'll find a new Ambient Music section in Control Center. There are four options: Sleep, Chill, Productivity, and Wellbeing. Tap one, and it'll play a corresponding playlist from Apple Music. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Apple has mapped a playlist to each button by default, but you're not locked to any. If you go into the editing view and then tap on a control, you can choose a different playlist (Apple gives you four different options for each control), or you can choose any playlist from your own collection.Apple Intelligence comes to the EUApple Intelligence now supports French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified), plus there's now support for localized English language in both India and Singapore.Recipes come to the News+ appThe News app has a new Apple News Food+ section for paying subscribers. Here, you can access tens of thousands of aesthetically pleasing recipes. There are also stories, restaurant reviews, and more.The new Mail app comes to iPad and MacWith iPadOS 18.4 beta and macOS 15.4 beta, the redesigned Mail app is coming to the iPad and the Mac. Once you update, you'll get access to email categories and other AI features on your tablet and computer.A much better Genmoji button Credit: Khamosh Pathak When I wrote about Genmoji, I was tempted to call it a hidden feature, because that's what it felt like. Genmoji was just a multicolor smiley face tucked in the corner of the Emoji keyboard.Apple seems to have learned its lesson: With 18.4, the new icon says "Gemoji" right next to the smiley face rainbow icon.New Podcasts widgets Credit: Khamosh Pathak The Podcasts app has two new widgets: one for Library, and for Shows. The Library widget can show you all saved episodes, downloaded episodes, or latest episodes. The Shows widget is for highlighting all episodes from a single show. You can choose a show, and then access all the latest episodes from the show from the Home Screen.More choices for default apps Apple's selection of default apps options is growing. You can now set a different Translate app by default, and if you're in the EU, there's now support for choosing a default navigation app, too. (If you're not in the EU, try using Map Redirect as a workaround.)CarPlay changesFor some users, it looks like CarPlay is adding a third row of app icons on the Home screen.Other small changesMajor app updates like iOS 18.4 typically include a number of smaller changes in addition to more notable ones. Here's what else iOS 18.4 updates on your iPhone: When you're setting up a new device with iOS 18.4, you'll be prompted to select an age range. You can choose between Child (12 or younger), Teen (13 to 17), and Adult (18 or older). Apple says that it will use this data only to help set up parental controls.There are two new Shortcuts actions for the Messages app: Open Conversation, and Send Message.When you go to edit your Albums, you'll see a new List View option, hopefully making it easier to rearrange albums.