In context: The PlayStation VR2 debuted at an eye-watering $549, which was more than the PlayStation 5 itself. Shortly after launch, Sony said it had sold 600,000 headsets in its first six weeks of launch or eight percent more than the first-gen unit over the same length of time. The PlayStation VR2 is Sony's second-generation virtual reality headset, launched on February 2023. Now, more than two years later, the accessory is receiving its first price cut. Some might argue that Sony should have gone with a lower price from the start and they probably have a point.Last March, Bloomberg reported that Sony had halted production of the PlayStation VR2 in an attempt to clear out excess inventory. At the time, the publication cited a lack of compatible titles as one factor holding back wider adoption.In a newly published post on the PlayStation blog, Isabelle Tomatis, VP of global marketing for SIE, said that starting in March, the PS VR2 till drop to $399 in the US (449.99 / 399.99 / 66,980 in other markets). The core kit includes the headset, a PS VR2 Sense controller, and a set of stereo headphones, but there is also a bundle that comes with a PlayStation Store voucher for a copy of Horizon Call of the Mountain at the same price point.Last summer, Sony launched a PC adapter that expands headset compatibility to thousands of SteamVR titles. There are also several intriguing games in the pipeline due out later this year including Dreams of Another, Hitman: World of Assassination, and The Midnight Walk.A recent hardware update, meanwhile, enabled support for low-latency hand tracking, allowing devs to create titles that track a player's hand movement and position using the headset's built-in cameras.Given the new low price, wider game compatibility, and hand tracking capabilities, holdouts might finally consider picking up the PS VR2. If you don't already have a PS5, you can get into a new unit for around $425. // Related Stories

Reviewers LikedPremium designBright & colourful screenS-Pen includedExcellent build quality with IP68 ratingGenerous software support policyLoud, clear speakersReviewers Didn't LikeUnderwhelming processorFinicky fingerprint sensorNo headphone jackLight on RAMExpensive accessoriesCompetitors and Related Products Our editors hand-pick related products using a variety of criteria: direct competitors targeting the same market segment, or devices that are similar in size, performance, or feature sets. Expert reviews and ratings 80 The Galaxy Tab S9 FE can do almost everything that Samsung's more expensive tablets can, but it costs hundreds of dollars less. By AndroidAuthority on December 14, 2024 75 The Galaxy Tab S9 FE offers decent value for money if you don't need heavy processing power. For daily entertainment, social media, and light gaming, it's possibly the best tablet on the market at this price point. By AndroidPolice on July 02, 2024 87 In essence, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE is a budget-friendly alternative to the Galaxy Tab S9. The viability of the budget-friendly model largely hinges on the user's specific needs and usage patterns. By NotebookCheck on November 25, 2023 80 With excellent build quality, a bright and fluid display, and a brilliant all-inclusive stylus system, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE is a well-balanced mid-range tablet. Those after the very best media or gaming experience can do better for the money, but the Tab S9 FEs strength is in its all-round competence. By TechAdvisor on November 13, 2023 80 The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ is a high-value tablet thanks to its classy design, excellent build quality, and powerful software, making it the Android slate to beat. By PCMag on October 27, 2023 The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9FE offers great value at its price for digital artists. Considering that the S Pen comes included, its pricing makes it a pretty decent competitor against the latest base iPad model. Its no slacker when there is drawing to be done, and at this size, its comfortable to take out on the go with you. So far, I see no reason not to recommend this tablet. By Draw Your Weapon on December 23, 2023Load More Reviews

Lanterns is officially in production.DC Studios released the first-look photo of Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre in Lanterns, the upcoming detective series for HBO and Warner Bros. Television based on theGreen Lanterncomic.Recommended VideosChandler will portray Lantern legend Hal Jordan, while Pierre stars as new recruit John Stewart. Chandler and Pierre are seen walking down a desert road in the photo. While the two are not dressed in Green Lantern uniforms, Chandler is sporting a green ring.Please enable Javascript to view this contentLanternshas been described as a True Detective-likeseries as Hal and John play two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.Lanterns also stars Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, and Ulrich Thomsen.Kyle Chandler is Hal Jordan. Aaron Pierre is John Stewart. #Lanterns, the new HBO Original Series from DC Studios, is now in production. pic.twitter.com/1Tz30Xm8f0 Max (@StreamOnMax) February 27, 2025Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King wrote the Lanternspilot. In a statement released by Warner Media, Mundy, who serves as the showrunner, said, From the start, our driving force has been to deliver a layered drama rooted in nuanced storytelling and rich worldbuilding that balances tension and mystery with honest, authentic emotion. The goal is to create something that feels timeless and grounded without sacrificing the magic of the source material.James Hawes, Stephen Williams, Geeta Vasant Patel, and Alik Sakharov have been tapped to direct episodes. Executive producers include Mundy, Lindelof, Hawes, James Gunn, Peter Safran, King, and Ron Schmidt.Its unknown if Chandler or Pierre will appear in other DC projects beforeLanterns. Nathan Fillion will appear as Guy Gardner, a member of the Green Lantern Corps, in Superman.Gunn said Lanternswill premiere on HBOaround the same time asSupergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which arrives in theaters on June 26, 2026.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsMoon PresenceAkumaCulexFather RodinMorgan FreemanRedSephirothOzmaVideo games have been hiding secrets from us for decades. As far back as the first console generation weve been finding Easter Eggs, but developers didnt stop with simple hidden rooms or bits of text. Boss fights typically represent a barrier the player is forced to overcome to continue the story. Sometimes theyre easy, but sometimes theyre some of the hardest bosses in video game history. However, secret bosses are a real treat. Sometimes they represent a challenge far beyond anything the game would normally throw at the player, others serve more as jokes or fun references, or can even unlock a games secret ending. Lets explore every nook and cranny to find all the best secret bosses in video games.FromSoftwareFromSoftware is one of the few studios out there brave enough to hide entire levels behind obtuse secrets. There are secret bosses (usually multiple) in all of its games, but we decided to pick Moon Presence for how it both requires some arcane thinking to access and unlocks a new ending. As a Great One, most consider this the games true final boss, but you can only fight it if you find and use one of three hidden umbilical cords before entering the final boss sequende. Then, as long as you choose to fight Gehrman and win, you can then attempt to beat Moon Presence and see a new ending. As usual, theres almost no way to figure this out on your own.Recommended VideosCapcomAt this point, Akuma is as ubiquitous as Ryu and Chun-Li on the Street Fighterroster, but that wasnt the case inSuper Street Fighter 2 Turbo.Here, this demonic fighter was relegated to a secret boss that seemed to show up at random and replaced the normal final boss. The only way to challenge Akuma was to beat the game using no continues or within 25 minutes. Since you have no idea what to expect, fighting Akuma is no easy feat. That isnt terribly cryptic, but it is one of the few instances where a secret boss eventually becomes one of the most popular members of the roster going forward.RelatedNintendoWe have a suspicion that Nintendo didnt know Square was sneaking in this secret boss when developing Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.In what is otherwise a fairly forgiving and casual RPG, this secret boss feels ripped out of a Final Fantasygame. It is described as being from a world called Last Illusion, which, combined with his elemental crystals, is about as blatant a reference as you can get. This is one of two secret bosses in the game and far more challenging than the final boss. To reach it, you need to unlock a locked door in Monstro Town that can only be obtained after going through a long trading quest. Your reward is an accessory that halves any damage taken and doubles the damage you deal, which would be great if there was anything left in the game that posed a challenge.SegaMastering Bayonettatakes some dedication, but most players can still make it through the game relying on the basics and using some items. Rodin is the proprietor of the Gates of Hell where you spend your halos between missions on said items, new moves, and new weapons. There is one item in his shop that only appears after you have collected a cumulative 10,000,000 halos on a single save file called the Platinum Ticket. This costs 999,999 halos and unlocks a fight against Rodin himself, though you will wish you hadnt. Not only is he fast and strong, but he is immune to your greatest tool: witch time. Normally, when you dodge an attack perfectly, time pauses so you can get in free hits, but not here. You need to play almost perfectly if you want to take him down.UbisoftWhy would anyone want to fight Morgan Freeman? We can answer that, but if you do, South Park: The Fractured But Wholelets you give it a shot. You encounter Freeman working at Freemans Tacos during the game and are able to start his boss fight whenever you choose. Being a super boss with the power of God, youd be better off waiting until the end of the game even to try. All you need to do is go behind the counter and punch him three times in a row. Your reward? Just a Trophy or Achievement.Game FreakNothing was more mind-blowing to us as kids as when we encountered Red, our previous character in Pokemon RedandBlue,at the very end of GoldandSilveron top of Mt. Silver. It felt like a true passing of the torch moment between generations to overcome what represented our past character. Naturally, Red is the most challenging fight in the game with a Pikachu, Snorlax, Charizard, Venusaur, Blastois, and Espeon (or Lapras) but it was what that fight represented that made it more memorable.Square EnixIf you only are familiar with the remakes then you might not know that you only fight Sephiroth once at the very end of Final Fantasy 7.The first time we battled him in real-time came inKingdom Hearts, where he appeared in the secret Platinum Match at the Olympus Coliseum. Unlocking the match requires you to beat all the previous cups and Ice Titan, which is time consuming but not overly difficult. Sephiroth himself is as deadly as he is imposing. He is almost more frightening here than in his own game. Not only does his sword cover almost the entire arena, but it deals massive damage with each swing. He is also fond of teleporting and summoning pillars of fire. The real kicker is his Sin Heartless Angel move which, if you cant stop it, will drain all your MP and set your HP to 1.Square EnixThe toughest secret boss in all of Final Fantasyis up for debate, but we feel Ozma deserves that honor. Coming fromFinal Fantasy 9,this big sphere is far more deadly than it looks. Finding it is also a major pain. You need to find the Chocobs Air Garden by playing the hot and cold minigame long enough to find enough Chocographs to eventually learn the Sky ability. Then, you need to find the islands shadow on the map to know where to use a Dead Pepper item and fly up there. Once in the fight, youre in for a rough time. Ozma has access to cursre, doomsday, holy, death level 5, and meteor, besides being able to heal itself. It also can tell if your party can absorb any damage types and never use them.Editors Recommendations

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A bad year Doctors report upticks in severe brain dysfunction among kids with flu CDC data is limited but hints it could be one of the more severe seasons. Beth Mole Feb 27, 2025 1:00 pm | 12 Credit: Getty | Rebecca Nelson Credit: Getty | Rebecca Nelson Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreDoctors around the US have anecdotally reported an uptick of children critically ill with the flu developing severe, life-threatening neurological complications, which can be marked by seizures, delirium, hallucinations, decreased consciousness, lethargy, personality changes, and abnormalities in brain imaging.It's long been known that the seasonal flu can cause such devastating complications in some children, many with no underlying medical conditions. But doctors have begun to suspect that this year's flu seasonthe most severe in over 15 yearshas taken a yet darker turn for children. On February 14, for instance, health officials in Massachusetts released an advisory for clinicians to be on alert for neurological complications in pediatric flu patients after detecting a "possible increase."With the anecdata coming in, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed all the data it has on neurological complications from flu this year and seasons dating back to 2010. Unfortunately, existing surveillance systems for flu do not capture neurological complications in pediatric cases overallbut they do capture such detailed clinical data when a child dies of flu.An analysis of that data, published today in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, can't definitively say that this year is out of the norm. For one thing, the flu season is not yet over. But the data so far does suggest it may be one of the more severe seasons in the last 15 years.Specifically, the CDC received reports of a severe neurological complication called influenza-associated acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE). ANE is a severe form of the more general category of influenza-associated encephalopathy or encephalitis (IAE), meaning brain dysfunction or inflammation from the flu.When a child dies of the flu, clinicians are required to fill out a standardized case report form from the CDC, which collects a large variety of data, including complications. Encephalopathy or encephalitis are included as a checkbox on the form.Between 2010 and February 8, 2025, 1,840 children died of the flu. Of those, 166 had IAE checked off as a complication. IAE was most prevalent in children aged 2 to 4 but affected children in all age groups under 18. More than half of the cases (54 percent) had no underlying medical conditions, and most (80 percent) were unvaccinated against the flu.Uncertain trendsMost of the cases (72 percent) were from an influenza type A strain rather than the generally less common type B. Among 73 cases with influenza A subtyping data, H1N1 was the most common virus strain (56 percent), with the remainder being H3N2. So far this flu season, H1N1 and H3N2 are circulating at about equal proportions.CDC scientists then broke out the data by year, finding a range of 0 percent of deaths with IAE (in the 20202021 flu season) to 14 percent of deaths with IAE (20112012). So far in this flu season, there have been 68 pediatric deaths, nine of which (13 percent) were with IAE. That puts this flu season as the second worst for IAE-caused pediatric flu deaths. But again, the data is preliminary as the flu season is still ongoing, and there can be lags in reporting.Whether ANE is occurring more frequently than in previous years is yet more uncertain, given that it's not a complication systematically reported on the standardized case reports for flu deaths. ANE is a severe type of IAE that is diagnosed based on a specific pattern of brain lesions seen on computed tomography (CT scans) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs).The CDC called the health departments of the states where the nine fatal cases with IAE had been reported to ask if the children had ANE specifically. Of the nine IAE fatalities, four had the more severe ANE. All four of the deaths were in children younger than age 5. Only one child had underlying health conditions. Two had been vaccinated against the flu. All of the children were infected with H1N1.Given the data limitations, "it is currently not known whether these reported cases vary from expected numbers," the CDC researchers conclude. The CDC noted that Japan does systematically collect data on encephalitis and encephalopathy generally, as well as IAE specifically. Between 2010 and 2015, 74 percent of all IAE cases were in people under the age of 18. Of those IAE cases in children and teens, 8 percent were fatal.While this year's flu season is still going, the CDC researchers called for enhanced surveillance to try to capture data on IAE in non-fatal cases. The researchers also emphasized the importance of vaccination, which is known to reduce the risk of the flu and its complications.Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 12 Comments

Roll the dice Portal Randomized feels like playing Portal again for the first time Small gameplay tweaks make for a completely fresh take on old challenges. Kyle Orland Feb 27, 2025 12:34 pm | 9 Watch your step. Credit: Valve / gamingdominari Watch your step. Credit: Valve / gamingdominari Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreFor most modern players, the worst thing about a video game classic like Portal is that you can never play it again for the first time. No matter how much time has passed since your last playthrough, those same old test chambers will feel a bit too familiar if you revisit them today.Over the years, community mods like Portal Stories: Mel and Portal: Revolution have tried to fix this problem with extensive work on completely new levels and puzzles. Now, though, a much simpler mod is looking to recapture that "first time" feeling simply by adding random gameplay modifiers to Portal's familiar puzzle rooms.The Portal Randomized demo recently posted on ModDB activates one of eight gameplay modifiers when you enter one of the game's first two test chambers. The results, while still a little rough around the edges, show how much extra longevity can be wrung from simple tweaks to existing gameplay. Make special note of that "gravity changed" note in the corner. Credit: Valve / gamingdominari Make special note of that "gravity changed" note in the corner. Credit: Valve / gamingdominari Not all of the Portal Randomized modifiers are instant winners. One that adds intermittent darkness, for instance, practically forces you to stand still for a few seconds until the lights flip back on (too slowly for my comfort). And modifiers like variable gravity or variable movement speed have a pretty trivial effect on how the game plays out, at least in the simplistic early test chambers in the demo.But the best modifiers in this randomizer play out like a completely new game. I'm particularly fond of the "floor is lava" mod that forces you to leap between tiny volcanic islands to survive. Mods that spawn enemies or slowly fill the room with a neurotoxin also add a bit of welcome tension to early Portal challenges that otherwise feel much too simple and safe (or sometimes a lot of tensionI still haven't figured out how to get through the relentless turrets the mod can sometimes place, even after multiple tries).The idea behind Portal Randomized is far from new; we've written in the past about how randomizers add fresh takes into classic console games. And the implementation here could use a bit of polish and rebalancing before it's extended to all of the game's test chambers.Still, we're excited about any attempt to make a beloved classic game feel new again. Here's hoping that projects like this inspire more modders to experiment with how small gameplay tweaks can make old games feel completely different.Kyle OrlandSenior Gaming EditorKyle OrlandSenior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper. 9 Comments