(Credit: René Ramos; Nintendo; Sora)The Best Games on Every Platform Animal Crossing: New Horizons Animal Crossing: New Horizons (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent No game may end up defining 2020 more than Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Nintendo’s adorable life simulator has always had its fans. However, with the real world under lockdown, countless players have flocked to their own virtual islands to find community. Paying a mortgage to a raccoon is a small price to pay for the freedom to relax in your own social life again. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp 4.0 Excellent Fire Emblem isn't Nintendo's only awesome strategy series. If you prefer soldiers and tanks over knights and horses, check out Advance Wars and its terrific turn-based tactics. This remake includes campaigns from the first two Game Boy Advance games, offering hours upon hours of brilliantly designed missions. You can also design your own maps and play against friends online. Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp review ARMS ARMS (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent ARMS is Nintendo's newest take on the fighting game genre. It combines cartoonish aesthetics, sci-fi weapons, and arm-stretching boxing into an accessible, offbeat fighter with a lot of variety. It's a polished, fun, competitive game that bears more than a passing visual similarity to Splatoon. Though time will tell if ARMS gains any momentum within the esports scene, the game offers plenty of opportunity to swing fists at your friends. Bayonetta 2 Bayonetta 2 (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Bayonetta 2 is another fantastic game that launched on the wrong system. Years later its initial release, Bayo 2 still stands as one of the best action games out there, and now that it's been ported from the Wii U to the Switch it can get the attention and devotion it deserves. Tight controls, robust challenge, and plenty of style make this stand out as a pinnacle of action games. Bayonetta 3 Bayonetta 3 (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Just when you thought Bayonetta couldn’t get any more bewitching, PlatinumGames delivers an absolute master class on video game action with Bayonetta 3. Besides Bayonetta’s familiar punches, kicks, and guns, you can further expand her combat options by summoning giant demons and directing their attacks. Meanwhile, the multiversal story is ridiculous, even by Bayonetta standards. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent If Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night's story of a demonic castle and a lone savior sounds incredibly familiar, it should: the game was spearheaded by Koji Igarashi, the big brain behind many revered Castlevania games. Bloodstained is an excellent Castlevania game in everything but name, hitting the same beats Symphony of the Night, Aria of Sorrow, and Order of Ecclesia did. If you're thirsty for a new, enjoyable Castlevania-like game that calls back to before Lords of Shadow rebooted the series and Mirror of Fate completely failed to capture any of its luster, this is the game for you. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon 4.0 Excellent Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon isn’t a hard-hitting, nonstop action game like the main Bayonetta trilogy. Instead, this is a relatively relaxed adventure game full of puzzles and gorgeous storybook visuals. Young witch Cereza teams up with a young demon, Cheshire, to tackle challenges neither could complete alone. Although the combat isn’t quite as complex as in the mainline Bayo games, there’s still plenty of flair to the faerie fights. Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon review Bravely Default II Bravely Default II (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Modern Final Fantasy games have become their own beasts, but games like Bravely Default II remind us why we fell in love with those classic Square Enix JRPGs. In battle, you can either perform multiple actions at once (Brave) or wait to save up for later turns (Default), which opens up many strategic possibilities. On Switch, the diorama world looks more beautiful and nostalgic than ever. Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Crypt of the NecroDancer was a surprise indie hit in 2015, catching gamers' eyes and ears with its combination of roguelike randomized dungeon exploration with rhythm game beat-keeping. It hit the Nintendo Switch in 2018, and now it's back in a new and much more Nintendo-specific form: Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer, a title that injects rhythm game mechanics into The Legend of Zelda. This Switch game seamlessly combines Zelda and Crypt of the NecroDancer, creating a surprisingly accessible and thoroughly enjoyable experience played to the beat of Zelda's classic and music. Cassette Beasts 4.0 Excellent Pokémon doesn't have a monopoly on monster catching. Cassette Beasts is a stylish, indie RPG that puts its own spin on collecting creatures and pitting them against each other in combat. The open world has many quests, the fighting mechanics have the extra depth that experienced players crave, and the story veers off in cool, surreal directions. Most importantly, there are some great monster designs, like ghostly sheep and living bullets. Cassette Beasts review Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Forget fancy new video games. Sometimes you just want to play chess, solitaire, or one of the other virtual vintage games that make up this classic compilation. Not only is this a convenient way to play some of history’s most enduring games with friends, but Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics does a great job educating you on that history, including the fascinating early Hanafuda history of Nintendo itself. Game Builder Garage Game Builder Garage (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent If you thought Super Mario Maker was a great way to learn about game development, give Game Builder Garage a spin. This incredibly powerful 3D game creation tool lets you make anything from platformers to racing games to puzzle mysteries. Thorough, friendly tutorials explain the robust “Nodon” coding language, so even novices can create hitboxes and manipulate the Z-axis like pros. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent The Switch has gotten a reputation as a machine for game ports, and there's nothing wrong with that. The Wii U wasn't the massive hit the Wii was, but it still had several excellent games that went underappreciated in their time. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is one of them, a sequel to Donkey Kong Country Returns with even more challenge and variety. The Switch version of this game adds Funky Kong Mode, an easier setting and new playable character (Funky Kong himself) that makes the surprisingly brutal platforming feel a little less punishing. Hades Hades (for Nintendo Switch) Hades takes the punishing and divisive roguelike genre and masterfully twists it into one of the year's most addictive games. Fighting your way out of the Greek underworld with randomly changing skills and weapons feels incredible. The family drama at the game’s core gives you that extra narrative push to keep going. Plus, everyone is smoking hot. Indivisible Indivisible (for Nintendo Switch) While many role-playing games draw their influences from Western folklore, even RPGs made in Japan, Indivisible carves out a unique identity with a fresh Southeast Asian flavor. The 2D animation is exquisite, as we would expect from the developer of Skullgirls. Gameplay is a mix of nonlinear spaces to explore and enemies to defeat in tactical battles. Of the two types of play, the exploration sections impress us more. In these bits you find your way forward by using an axe to fling yourself up walls or by shooting arrows to blind sentries. That's just more satisfying than the frantic messes the fights, caught awkwardly between turn-based and real-time combat, can turn into.   Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Kirby’s Return to Dreamland is a traditional, side-scrolling adventure compared to Kirby’s more radical outings. Still, it’s an excellent showcase of what makes even a normal Kirby game irresistible. This Deluxe version enhances the Wii co-op classic with a sweet, new art style; extra powers; and an original epilogue. Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe (for Nintendo Switch) review Kirby and the Forgotten Land Kirby and the Forgotten Land (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Kirby and the Forgotten Land finally gives the pink puffball the epic 3D adventure that Mario, Link, and Samus got years ago. Float through the skies in creative levels bursting with secrets. Upgrade familiar powers, such as hammers and swords, into formidable new forms. Or just sit back and marvel at how Nintendo made the post-apocalypse look so cute. Kirby Star Allies Kirby Star Allies (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Kirby games are always fun. Whether they're the simple platformers like Kirby's Adventure or weirdly gimmicky experiences like Kirby's Dream Course, every first-party experience with Nintendo's pink puff ball has been enjoyable. Kirby Star Allies is no different, with a lighthearted campaign filled with colorful friends and abilities, surprisingly challenging extra modes to unlock, and support for up to four players at once. Get on the Friend Train! The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Hyrule is in danger again, and Link must save it. That's been the theme for nearly every Legend of Zelda game, and it's still the case in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The series' basic premise and Link/Zelda/Ganon dynamic are present, but nearly everything else is different. The classic Zelda dungeon-exploration structure is replaced by a huge open world that's filled with destructible weapons, monsters, puzzles, and quests. Breath of the Wild's scope is one previously unseen in the Zelda series, and Nintendo executes the adventure-filled world with aplomb. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, Nintendo Switch Lite 4.5 Excellent The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom turns Nintendo's epic franchise on its head in more ways than one. Instead of the swordsman, Link, you play as Princess Zelda. Likewise, you don't directly attack enemies; you summon useful items and foes to aid you on the mission. The game takes the creative, improv spirit of Breath of the Wild and applies it to a classic 2D top-down Zelda adventure with delightful results. Plus, it just looks adorable. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, Nintendo Switch Lite review The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (for Nintendo Switch) 3.5 Good No Zelda games are terrible, but no game polarizes the fan base quite like Skyward Sword. Fortunately, this HD remaster speeds up the pacing, enhances the graphics, and offers a button-based control scheme if you don’t care for motion controls. The structure feels especially linear in a post-Breath of the Wild world, but Zelda’s origin story is still worth experiencing. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch (OLED Model), Nintendo Switch Lite 5.0 Outstanding At launch, it was tough to imagine the Switch ever getting another game as good as Breath of the Wild. But years later, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom delivers everything we could have possibly wanted and more in this direct sequel to one of the greatest games ever made. Exploring the skies and underground caves makes Hyrule more vast than ever. New powers let you break the world apart and rebuild it as you see fit. Tears of the Kingdom is an irresistible, hypnotic adventure, and an absolute must-play for all RPG fans. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch (OLED Model), Nintendo Switch Lite review Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Who knows what the future holds for Star Wars, but Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga provides a terrific toybox take on Episodes I-IX. The Lego recreations of all nine movies gives you plenty to experience as you blast baddies and solve Force puzzles. But what really makes this game so special is how it turns the entire Star Wars galaxy into an open world to explore, whether it’s on colorful planets or through the vastness of outer space in your trusty starfighter. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (for Nintendo Switch) review Luigi's Mansion 3 Luigi's Mansion 3 - Nintendo Switch Standard Edition What started as a weirdly specific parody of Ghostbusters and Resident Evil has become of one the finest Mario spin-off adventures. Luigi’s spooky journey throughout a haunted hotel is arguably the most visually stunning game on the Nintendo Switch. Along with sucking up ghosts, you can now slam them (back) to death and shoot plungers to pull apart the scenery. Your greatest, and grossest, tool has to be Gooigi. This slimy green doppelgänger expands your puzzle-solving powers and provides an easy option for younger co-op partners. Lumines Remastered Lumines Remastered (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Puyo Puyo Tetris is great for classic, competitive block-dropping, but it's a bit overly perky and anime-ish to really relax to. Lumines Remastered is the ultimate chill-out block-dropper, syncing the mesmerizing pattern matching to dozens of hypnotic electronic and trance tracks. Load it on your Switch, put on your favorite headphones, and space out while you build huge combos. Mario & Luigi: Brothership Mario & Luigi: Brothership - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, Nintendo Switch Lite 4.0 Excellent Mario & Luigi: Brothership revives a Mario RPG subseries as a grand nautical adventure. The plumbers sail the seas, reconnecting scattered islands and battling foes with familiar, frenetic turn-based combat. On Nintendo Switch, the visuals and animations turn Mario and Luigi into cartoon-like characters. Mario & Luigi: Brothership - Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, Nintendo Switch Lite review Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Before Minions, there were Rabbids, Ubisoft's manic, sublingual, noseless horde spawned from Rayman: Raving Rabbids. Then the weird, bug-eyed, rabbit-like creatures caused havoc in their own game series. Now, they're running around Mario's stomping grounds in Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. This strategy-RPG combines two cartoonish worlds with satisfyingly deep, XCOM-like gameplay for a very fun and strange experience. It's a combination of styles that work much, much better than you'd expect. Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle proved that these two mascots could come together for excellent, approachable tactics gameplay. Sparks of Hope is more of the same, but even better. Equipping Sparks lets you further customize your squad’s strategic abilities. Wide open levels provide entertaining exploration between the skirmishes. Mario Golf: Super Rush Mario Golf: Super Rush (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Leave it to Mario to find a way to make golf games feel fresh again. Mario Golf: Super Rush’s standout gimmick has golfers teeing off all at once, and then physically running across the course to take their next shot. You still have to plan smart strokes, but you also need to keep an eye on the clock. The lengthy, single-player adventure teaches you the ropes before you head online to face real challengers on the green. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Mario Kart 8 stood out as the best-looking Mario Kart game yet when it came out on the Nintendo Wii U. Instead of making a new Mario Kart for the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo brought Mario Kart 8 to its new game system. In the process, Nintendo threw in both previously released DLC packs and made some few welcome changes to its multiplayer options, justifying the game's full retail price. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the most robust game in the series so far, and with the optional portability of the Switch, it ranks as a must-own title. Mario Strikers: Battle League Mario Strikers: Battle League (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Mario has played many sports throughout the years, but Mario Strikers: Battle League gives us the arcade soccer chaos fans have craved for more than a decade. It features fast-paced action, while allowing for depth and skill should you choose to push yourself. Customize your characters with stat-changing gear. Join online clubs to compete in ongoing seasons. And no one animates the Mario universe with as much style and attitude as the developers at Next Level Games. Mario Strikers: Battle League (for Nintendo Switch) review Mario Tennis Aces Mario Tennis Aces (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent You don't need to be a sports fan to enjoy Nintendo sports games. If a sport has "Mario" in front of it, it's probably going to be a fun, very unrealistic romp instead of a serious simulation. Mario Tennis Aces is an exciting tennis game not because of any realistic physics, but because of fast, responsive gameplay and strategic mechanics that make matches feel more like rounds in a fighting game than tennis sets. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics - Nintendo Switch 4.0 Excellent Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics lets you finally relive six legendary 2D fighters starring Marvel superheroes and Capcom icons. From the humble X-Men: Children of the Atom to the over-the-top Marvel vs. Capcom 2, this is vital fighting game history. An art gallery, modern control options, rollback netcode, and the underrated Punisher beat 'em up sweeten the deal. Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics - Nintendo Switch review Metal Slug Tactics Metal Slug Tactics (for Nintendo Switch) Metal Slug Tactics trades the mainline series' fast-paced running and gunning for methodical, turn-based strategy gameplay. Still, it's just as action-packed as ever. Line up your units for devastating sync attacks. Enjoy the beautiful old-school sprite work. Plan your turns, hop into a giant tank, and obliterate foes. Metroid Dread Metroid Dread (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent After nearly 20 years, Metroid Dread brings Samus Aran back to her 2D, bounty hunting roots for the true Metroid 5. In it, you explore a dense, dangerous new planet full of powers to pick up and enemies to eliminate. From uncompromising boss battles to terrifying chases, Dread more than lives up to its subtitle. If there's anyone strong enough to take down the terror, it's Nintendo's leading lady. Metroid Prime Remastered 5.0 Outstanding Metroid Prime is one of the best games ever made. It takes Super Metroid’s brilliant exploratory action and perfectly translates it to 3D with immaculate level design and immersive first-person shooting. This remaster, which ventures into the remake territory, includes everything that worked in the original, and ups the presentation to modern, beautiful standards. Plus, you can now play with dual-stick controls. Bring on Metroid Prime 4. Metroid Prime Remastered review Miitopia Miitopia (for Nintendo Switch) 3.5 Good Miis can do more than just play Wii Sports. In Miitopia, you use Nintendo’s cartoon caricatures to cast yourself, friends, and family as heroes and villains in a fast-paced, whimsical role-playing game. Turn yourself into a brave knight, while your buddy supports you as a pop star. The joke can’t quite sustain the whole runtime, but Miitopia is wildly entertaining.   Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent If traditional Monster Hunter is just too intense for you, Monster Hunter Stories 2 lets you experience this cutthroat world as a turn-based JRPG. Befriend monsters and take them into battle. Hatch eggs to expand your menagerie. Strategic battles draw upon familiar Monster Hunter concepts. And, of course, Rathalos is here. New Pokemon Snap New Pokemon Snap (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent The beloved Nintendo 64 spin-off finally gets the update it deserves. Instead of capturing Pokemon and forcing them to battle, New Pokemon Snap asks you to take beautiful photos of Pikachu and friends in their natural surroundings. The on-rails gameplay feels like a nonviolent version of a light gun game. The gorgeous graphics will inspire you to share your best pics online for the world to see. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Imagine Super Smash Bros., but instead of playing as video game mascots, you control beloved cartoon characters beating each other senseless. That's Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. From SpongeBob SquarePants to Ren and Stimpy to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the roster covers all eras of Nicktoon nostalgia. Beyond the ironic meme potential, "Nick Smash" features genuinely fantastic gameplay made by a team clearly passionate about this particular form of "platform fighting" games. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (for Nintendo Switch) review Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01 Variety Kit Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 01 Variety Kit (for Nintendo Switch) 5.0 Outstanding Labo is a weirder concept than the Switch itself. It's based around building cardboard "Toy-Cons" in which you place the Switch's components to let you do new things with them. It's also surprisingly functional, entertaining, and educational. The Nintendo Labo Variety Kit has all of the parts you need to build several different Toy-Cons like a piano and motorcycle handlebars, and walks you through every step of the process. Just building the Toy-Cons is fascinating, but the Toy-Con Garage mode adds surprisingly robust programming options to let you create your own remote-controlled creations. Nintendo Labo: VR Kit 4.5 Excellent It took over 20 years, but Nintendo finally got over its fear of virtual reality after the disastrous Virtual Boy. The Labo VR Kit lets you build your own VR headset that uses the Nintendo Switch and a set of lenses to create a stereoscopic image, and then insert that headset into different Toy-Con controllers to play a variety of games. That's already a ton of fun for $79.99 (or $39.99 for a starter set that only includes one Toy-Con to build instead of five). Add a programming environment on top that lets you create your own 3D games, and you have an impressive package. No More Heroes III No More Heroes III (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent No More Heroes III, like the other games in Suda51’s hack-and-slash trilogy, is a punk art game. Sure, some parts may be “bad,” like the technical jank or empty open worlds. But it’s all in service of larger commentary on everything from schlocky movies to wrestling fandom to the video game industry itself. Plus, cutting aliens down to size feels legitimately fantastic, and really that’s what matters.  Penny's Big Breakaway 4.0 Excellent The creators of Sonic Mania deliver a new indie 3D platformer that feels like a forgotten Sega classic. Use your trusty yo-yo to swing and roll through colorful, tightly designed levels that test your momentum control. Bosses and other enemies are sometimes more annoying than fun, but the movement mechanics are a joy to master. Penny's Big Breakaway review Pikmin 3 Deluxe Pikmin 3 Deluxe (for Nintendo Switch) 3.5 Good Pikmin isn’t the most recognizable Nintendo franchise, but the approachable real-time strategy game carries as much magic as Mario and Zelda. This Wii U port offers more missions and ways to control your army of cute plant creatures. The campaign's local, co-op play opens all kinds of new strategies, too. Veterans of previous Pikmin wars may have seen most of this content before, but Pikmin newcomers should absolutely jump into this tiny, tactical, and tactile world. Pikmin 4 Pikmin 4 (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Pikmin has always been good, but the quirky real-time strategy game has never broken out of its cult status over the past 20 years. Hopefully, that all changes with Pikmin 4. The biggest and best Pikmin game yet, Pikmin 4 gives you new Pikmin to command, a cute and customizable dog companion, and many gorgeous areas to strategically explore whether above ground or in countless caves. The multiplayer could be better, but Pikmin 4 is a top-tier Nintendo game everyone should play. Pikmin 4 (for Nintendo Switch) review Pizza Tower Pizza Tower feels like a fever dream of 1990s cartoons, internet memes, and retro Wario Land games. Don’t let his pudgy exterior fool you. Protagonist Peppino Spaghetti has many incredibly fast and fluid platforming tools, including dashing and wall-running. You’ll need to master those tools to beat levels as fast as possible, without losing your mind. Pokemon Legends: Arceus Pokemon Legends: Arceus (for Nintendo Switch) 3.5 Good Pokemon Legends: Arceus finally gives the Pokemon franchise a long-awaited refresh. Taking place in the distant past of Diamond and Pearl’s Sinnoh region, Arceus lets you capture and study wild Pokemon in a world where humans still fear the creatures. Vast open fields, revamped battle mechanics, and an utterly addictive approach to exploration create the most immersive Pokemon experience yet. Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu/Eevee! Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee! 4.0 Excellent If the traditional Pokemon RPGs are still just a bit too complex for you, consider the casual adventures Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee. This duo remakes the first-generation Pokemon Yellow, with bright, colorful, HD graphics, and a new capture mechanic based on Pokemon Go. In addition, there are trainer battles and turn-based combat for people who dig classic Pokemon. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Pokémon Scarlet - Nintendo Switch 4.0 Excellent Pokemon Sword and Shield and Pokemon Legends: Arceus experimented with expansive zones, but Pokémon Scarlet and Violet finally turns the monster-catching game into an open-world RPG. As we always suspected, the addictive Pokémon formula works brilliantly when you can go wherever you want, exploring towns and catching whatever monsters you encounter. Lingering technical issues keep it from reaching its full potential, but this is Pokémon's shining future. Pokemon Sword/Shield Pokemon Sword (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee were a nice warmup, but Pokemon Sword and Shield are the real home console Pokemon games we’ve been looking forward to playing. Travel across big, open landscapes to capture even bigger Pokemon. New expansions packs in 2020 give trainers even more regions to explore and more Pokemon to battle without having to buy a third version. The Pokedex will be complete before you know it.  Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 4.5 Excellent Prince of Persia returns to its 2D roots with The Lost Crown, a standout entry in the crowded modern Metroidvania market. Everything just clicks. The massive map is a joy to explore. Clever puzzles make the most of inventive abilities. Deep combat systems allow satisfying expression. Challenging DLC further expands the adventure. And the presentation combines Persian flair with anime exuberance. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown review Pokemon Unite Pokemon Unite (for Nintendo Switch) 3.5 Good If you’re curious about the MOBA genre, but scared of esports heavy-hitters like Dota 2 and League of Legends, then Pokemon Unite is the perfect place to get started. Two teams of five Pokemon battle each other in real-time to score goals across the map. This free-to-play game is also coming soon to mobile, so you’ll find plenty of aspiring Pokemon masters to challenge. Puyo Puyo Tetris Puyo Puyo Tetris (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Practically everyone in North America has heard of Tetris. Far fewer have heard of Puyo Puyo. Both are block-dropping puzzle games, but while Tetris has been Tetris for decades, Puyo Puyo has had many different tweaks and name changes in attempts to appeal to the west. It came out first as Puyo Pop, then received different licensed incarnations, such as Puzzle Fighter and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Now, Puyo Puyo is making its mark here, thanks to Sega and a double-billing with Tetris. The pairing results in a title that's plump with game modes, unlockables, and solo and multiplayer options. Red Dead Redemption Red Dead Redemption (for Nintendo Switch) Grand Theft Auto put Rockstar Games on the map, but for many the team's true masterpiece is the epic, open-world Western saga known as Red Dead Redemption. John Marston's cowboy odyssey has the scathing tone you'd expect from the developer, but it also has heart and a sense of tragedy. The Nintendo Switch version perfectly maintains the original gameplay experience, from stylish shootouts to riding your horse across the empty desert. It also includes the Undead Nightmare DLC. Finally, a version of Red Dead you can play in a tent under the stars. Rebel Galaxy Outlaw Rebel Galaxy Outlaw (for Nintendo Switch) Rebel Galaxy Outlaw has enough action-packed, visually dazzling spaceship dogfights to excite any Star Fox fan. The real joy, however, is in the quieter moments, when you act out your galactic trucker fantasies by carrying cargo from space stations named after Texas towns. Improving your ship is a bit of a grind, but it’s a rewarding one. If you get bored, you can always shoot down pirates—or become one yourself. Rocket League Rocket League (for Nintendo Switch) Rocket League is soccer, with remote controlled cars and funny hats. It's amazing how compelling a game can be when the entire point of it is to use a car to knock a ball into a goal, but Rocket League nails it. Wild physics, colorful visuals, and simple game types you can keep coming back to while challenging friends and strangers make this one of the best pseudo-sports games on the Switch. Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (for Nintendo Switch) Platforming excellence comes to the Nintendo Switch courtesy of Yacht Club Games' Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. This downloadable package includes the original Shovel Knight, one of 2014's top titles, as well as all the previously released DLC including the Plague of Shadows and Specter of Torment campaigns. If you long for some retro, 2D action, Treasure Trove a a game that you should not miss. Splatoon 3 Splatoon 3 (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Splatoon 3 isn't much different than Splatoon 2 (which in turn wasn't much different from Splatoon 1). However, no other online team-based shooter delivers an experience quite like this. Inking the ground, splatting opponents, and transforming from squid to kid never felt this good. The wealth of solo, cooperative, and competitive modes will keep you busy. Keep the party going with the excellent, roguelike DLC Side Order. Splatoon 3 (for Nintendo Switch) review Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection (for Nintendo Switch) Street Fighter has been the biggest name in fighting games for decades, and Capcom is proud of that fact. While it really got going with Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection lets you play the original Street Fighter in all of its genre-building glory. And, after you realize how bad that first attempt was, you can play the much better sequels like Super Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha 3, and Street Fighter III: Third Strike. You're looking at a dozen games in this collection, with loads of extra content like soundtracks and sprite data. Streets of Rage 4 Streets of Rage 4 (for Nintendo Switch) Streets of Rage 4 pounds life back into the dead sidescrolling beat ‘em up genre. The gameplay may not have progressed that much since Sega’s trilogy in the 1990s, but taking down hordes of goons with your fists has never looked better thanks to a thoroughly modern illustrated art style. A risky new mechanic that burns health to power special moves, unless you avoid getting hit, adds some fighting-game flair.  Super Bomberman R Super Bomberman R (for Nintendo Switch) 3.5 Good Bomberman's return to console gaming was one of the most surprising moments in the Nintendo's January 2017 Switch game showcase. Considering that the little guy's now the property of Konami, a company that's more known for killing P.T. and warring with Metal Gear maestro Hideo Kojima than making video games, it was shocking to see Super Bomberman R announced as a Nintendo Switch launch title. Thankfully, this newest entry in the beloved, bomb-tossing franchise keeps the series' simple and addicting core gameplay intact, and adds tons of modes, collectible items, and characters to keep things fresh. Super Mario 3D All-Stars Super Mario 3D All-Stars (for Nintendo Switch) 3.5 Good This classic Mario collection combines Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. They may not have received the radical visual overhaul of the original Super Mario All-Stars, but these are still three of the finest 3D platformers ever made—now playable in HD and on the go. Nintendo says this collection is a limited release, so get it while you can. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Super Mario 3D World seamlessly blends the free-roaming, open-ended platforming of Mario 3D’s adventures with the concentrated multiplayer mayhem of his latest 2D romps. It was great on Wii U, and now it's even better on Nintendo Switch. However, this package’s real star is Bowser’s Fury, an ambitious spin-off that reimagines what an open-world Mario game can be. Super Mario Bros. Wonder Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Nintendo Switch 4.5 Excellent In the beginning, all Super Mario games were wonderful 2D sidescrollers that dazzled us with their sheer imagination. But as Mario set his sights on 3D heights, the New Super Mario Bros. series turned 2D Mario into a safe and bland nostalgia franchise. No more! Super Mario Bros. Wonder fills 2D Mario to the brim with whimsy, creativity, and joyful confusion. Turn levels into psychedelic dreamscapes! Customize your abilities! Compete against friends online! Transform into an elephant! You can do all of this and more in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Super Mario Bros. Wonder - Nintendo Switch review Super Mario Maker 2 Super Mario Maker 2 (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Super Mario Maker 2 is a welcome update to the original Super Mario Maker. It adds a new skin, new themes, and plenty of new tools for making more creative and challenging Mario levels. You can create levels based on the graphics and mechanics of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros., just like in the previous Super Mario Maker. These levels can use one of 10 different themes: Ground, Sky, Underground, Forest, Underwater, Ghost House, Desert, Airship, Snow, and Castle. Sky, Forest, Desert, and Snow are new to Super Mario Maker 2. For more variety, you can toggle each theme to its nighttime variant, which adds unique twists to the gameplay. And, of course, you can share your creations online. Super Mario Odyssey Super Mario Odyssey (for Nintendo Switch) 5.0 Outstanding In Super Mario Odyssey, the heroic plumber returns to open-world game design for the first time since the incredible Super Mario 64. Though Odyssey isn't as technically groundbreaking as its predecessor, the action-platformer is packed to the brim with hat-tossing combat. Yes, hat tossing. This time around, Mario has a new friend, Cappy, who lets Mario dispatch enemies with the flick of the wrist. And, even better, Mario can assume the identity of an enemy, gaining its abilities, by plopping Cappy on the foe's head. Super Mario RPG Super Mario RPG - Nintendo Switch (OLED Model), Nintendo Switch Lite, Nintendo Switch 4.0 Excellent Forget Paper Mario or Mario and Luigi. The original Super Mario RPG, a collaboration between Nintendo and Square Enix, first showed us that Mario’s charms could translate to a Final Fantasy-style adventure. This faithful remake offers gorgeous new graphics and increased accessibility. At last, find out who Geno is. Super Mario RPG - Nintendo Switch (OLED Model), Nintendo Switch Lite, Nintendo Switch review Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent Only video games can capture the simple pleasures that come from racing monkeys inside balls. Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania remasters hundreds of classic stages from Sega’s obstacle course series in a single, cool package. Don’t let the bright colors and friendly monkey faces fool you. Rolling your monkey to the goal demands an expert understanding of the game’s unforgiving physics. If you get too frustrated, take a break with Banana Mania's wacky, multiplayer mini-games. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (for Nintendo Switch) 4.5 Excellent Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has everything a fan of Nintendo’s crossover mascot fighting game could want. A faster pace better for competitive play. Every single character who has ever appeared in the series, including third-party icons such as Banjo-Kazooie, Cloud Strife, and Solid Snake. There's a new single-player mode chock-full of even more fan service. The theme song even has lyrics now.  Tactics Ogre: Reborn Tactics Ogre Reborn (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent The original Tactics Ogre enthralled fans in 1995 thanks to its deep strategy and strong narrative. If you missed out the first time, Tactics Ogre: Reborn gives you another chance to check out this lost classic, the prelude to Final Fantasy Tactics. Just don’t expect hugely revamped graphics. Telling Lies Telling Lies (for Nintendo Switch) Her Story was a test for the kind of interactive story game developer Sam Barlow could pull off with just FMV clips and a fake computer interface. Telling Lies is the Aliens to Her Story’s Alien. Instead of just investigating one woman’s interviews, you follow four different characters. Tracing a nonlinear mystery across so many different threads can get overwhelming. Fortunately, Hollywood actors Logan Marshall-Green, Alexandra Shipp, Kerry Bishé, and Angela Sarafyan make the clips compelling watches in their own right. Besides, we’re all pretty used at communicating through video chat these days.  Triangle Strategy Triangle Strategy (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent A tactical follow-up to the gorgeous Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy is a luxurious strategy role-playing game that rewards your patience. Soak in the atmosphere on the land. Become invested in the characters and political intrigue. Methodically think through every option during turn-based battles and feel like an absolute strategic genius.  Trombone Champ Trombone Champ (for Nintendo Switch) Rhythm games usually make you feel like an ultra-cool rock god. Not Trombone Champ. This zany title embraces the goofy charm of its titular instrument, delivering an experience that is both awesome and awkward. The purposefully bumbling controls make each song sound like a confused elephant putting on a concert, an effect that's multiplied in local multiplayer. A light progression system unlocks famous trombone players like baseball cards while trying to solve a sinister riddle. The game is also available on PC, but the Switch version deserves props for its hilarious motion controls that take the trombone simulation to the next level. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore (for Nintendo Switch) 3.5 Good While you wait for Persona 5 to come to the Nintendo Switch, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, a late Wii U port, is the next best thing. This bewildering crossover between Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei has players entering the entertainment industry of Japan’s stylish Shibuya and Harajuku districts. Of course, you also do battle against demons by summoning Fire Emblem characters through the power of song. A streamlined battle system and pop music tone should delight players who don’t even care about anime RPGs.  Unicorn Overlord 4.5 Excellent As a Vanillaware game, we’re not surprised that Unicorn Overlord has an unbelievably beautiful illustrated aesthetic. However, the game backs up its looks with deeply strategic role-playing gameplay that requires tactical thinking. Ogre Battle fans, this one’s for you. Unicorn Overlord review Void Bastards Roguelikes can be a polarizing genre as their repetitive nature, random elements, and punishing difficulty threaten to make the entire experience a waste of time. Void Bastards avoids this trap with a core gameplay loop that’s a joy to repeat and an addictive sense of progression stringing you along the whole time.Each new spaceship you raid is basically a tiny comic book-styled System Shock level with spooky enemies to shoot, machinery to hack, character traits to manage, and equipment to salvage. Use that equipment to construct permanent new weapons and perks that make you eager to start another raid. Our journey across the galaxy stretched on for hours because it’s so easy to say “just one more piece of loot.”Note that Void Bastards is published by Humble Bundle, which is owned by PCMag’s parent company, Ziff Davis. WarioWare: Get It Together WarioWare: Get It Together (for Nintendo Switch) 4.0 Excellent WarioWare is one of Nintendo’s best and most shockingly self-aware franchises. It’s about Mario’s gross, evil doppelganger starting a shady game company to get rich. Fortunately for you, these “microgames” remain a pure blast of weird and wonderful bite-sized entertainment. The new gimmick here lets you and a friend tackle challenges with different characters whose unique move sets make you rethink your approach on the fly. Hurry up! Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition 4.0 Excellent This late-period Wii U gem finally returns to close out the Nintendo Switch era. A standalone entry of the Xenoblade saga, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition takes place on a lush open-world planet teeming with friendly and hostile creatures. Explore on foot or, eventually, by flying a giant mech. The dynamic RPG combat rewards smart timing and synchronizing party members. Along with improved visuals, this definitive edition adds a new epilogue story. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition review

Anthropic on Thursday announced Claude Gov, its product designed specifically for U.S. defense and intelligence agencies. The AI models have looser guardrails for government use and are trained to better analyze classified information.The company said the models it’s announcing “are already deployed by agencies at the highest level of U.S. national security,” and that access to those models will be limited to government agencies handling classified information. The company did not confirm how long they had been in use.Claude Gov models are specifically designed to uniquely handle government needs, like threat assessment and intelligence analysis, per Anthropic’s blog post. And although the company said they “underwent the same rigorous safety testing as all of our Claude models,” the models have certain specifications for national security work. For example, they “refuse less when engaging with classified information” that’s fed into them, something consumer-facing Claude is trained to flag and avoid. Claude Gov’s models also have greater understanding of documents and context within defense and intelligence, according to Anthropic, and better proficiency in languages and dialects relevant to national security. Use of AI by government agencies has long been scrutinized because of its potential harms and ripple effects for minorities and vulnerable communities. There’s been a long list of wrongful arrests across multiple U.S. states due to police use of facial recognition, documented evidence of bias in predictive policing, and discrimination in government algorithms that assess welfare aid. For years, there’s also been an industry-wide controversy over large tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon allowing the military — particularly in Israel — to use their AI products, with campaigns and public protests under the No Tech for Apartheid movement.Anthropic’s usage policy specifically dictates that any user must “Not Create or Facilitate the Exchange of Illegal or Highly Regulated Weapons or Goods,” including using Anthropic’s products or services to “produce, modify, design, market, or distribute weapons, explosives, dangerous materials or other systems designed to cause harm to or loss of human life.” At least eleven months ago, the company said it created a set of contractual exceptions to its usage policy that are “carefully calibrated to enable beneficial uses by carefully selected government agencies.” Certain restrictions — such as disinformation campaigns, the design or use of weapons, the construction of censorship systems, and malicious cyber operations — would remain prohibited. But Anthropic can decide to “tailor use restrictions to the mission and legal authorities of a government entity,” although it will aim to “balance enabling beneficial uses of our products and services with mitigating potential harms.” Claude Gov is Anthropic’s answer to ChatGPT Gov, OpenAI’s product for U.S. government agencies, which it launched in January. It’s also part of a broader trend of AI giants and startups alike looking to bolster their businesses with government agencies, especially in an uncertain regulatory landscape.When OpenAI announced ChatGPT Gov, the company said that within the past year, more than 90,000 employees of federal, state, and local governments had used its technology to translate documents, generate summaries, draft policy memos, write code, build applications, and more. Anthropic declined to share numbers or use cases of the same sort, but the company is part of Palantir’s FedStart program, a SaaS offering for companies who want to deploy federal government-facing software. Scale AI, the AI giant that provides training data to industry leaders like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, signed a deal with the Department of Defense in March for a first-of-its-kind AI agent program for U.S. military planning. And since then, it’s expanded its business to world governments, recently inking a five-year deal with Qatar to provide automation tools for civil service, healthcare, transportation, and more.See More:

The epidermis (skin) is the body’s largest organ, so it would make sense that toxins found in fabrics that sit on the skin’s surface could be absorbed by the skin and make their way into the bloodstream. And polyester has been considered a particularly suspect fabric because it’s made from a chemical called polyethylene terephthalate, a plastic polymer used in various products.One study published in 1993 followed 24 dogs who were divided into two equal groups, one group wore cotton underpants and the other polyester. At the end of the study period, there was a significant decrease in sperm count and an increase in sperm abnormalities in the dogs who wore the polyester pants. But that said, this study is three decades old, done on dogs, and has had little additional research to show for it since.So, the jury is certainly still out as to whether fabrics decrease fertility, but there are some things that we do know. Chemicals Found in PolyesterAccording to Audrey Gaskins, an associate professor of environmental health at Emory University, most studies are focused on specific chemicals that might be found in fabrics rather than the fabrics themselves, and those chemicals are usually measured in blood or urine. But fabrics like polyester can contain a number of chemicals that might impact fertility. PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of chemicals found in thousands of products, and they’re difficult for the body to eliminate.“PFAS are commonly found in water-resistant clothing,” says Gaskins. However, drinking water is likely the most common avenue of exposure, as well as non-stick cookware, and many others.Research has shown that PFAS can reduce fertility in women by some 40 percent. According to NIH’s National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, high levels of PFAS found in the blood were linked to a reduced chance of pregnancy and live birth. Other research has shown that PFAS are linked to increased instances of endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), both of which reduce fertility.Poor Pregnancy OutcomesPolyester (when combined with spandex) may also contain bisphenol A (BPA), another chemical compound that has been shown to potentially impact fertility. A December 2022 study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine found a higher prevalence of PCOS in women with high amounts of BPA in their blood.Finally, polyester can contain phthalates, a chemical commonly used in things like sports bras and other pieces of clothing. These, too, have been shown to have a negative impact on fertility. A study published in the September 2021 issue of the journal Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that higher concentrations of the chemical have been associated with decreased rates of pregnancy, increased incidences of miscarriage, and other pregnancy complications.“We’ve found suggestive associations between higher concentrations of bisphenol and phthalate metabolites and worse markers of reproductive health like poor success with IVF,” says Gaskins. “What we don’t know is where the source of exposure is coming from.”Exposure to Fertility-Decreasing ChemicalsStill, the obvious implication if you’re trying to get pregnant is to try to decrease your exposure to any of these chemicals through any route possible, especially when you have control over exposure. If we know there are chemicals in these fabrics, decreasing use of them would be more achievable for many people compared to, say, changing your drinking water, says Gaskins.There’s definitely no downside to decreasing your exposure to these chemicals, and while clothing is likely not the largest means of exposure to things like PFAs, phthalates, and BPA, if you’re trying to get pregnant, they’re certainly a good place to start.This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. PFAS Exposure Linked to Reduced Fertility in Women Center for Environmental Health. What You Need to Know About BPA in ClothingJournal of Clinical Medicine. Bisphenol-A and Female Fertility: An Update of Existing Epidemiological StudiesBest Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Phthalates, ovarian function and fertility in adulthoodSara Novak is a science journalist based in South Carolina. In addition to writing for Discover, her work appears in Scientific American, Popular Science, New Scientist, Sierra Magazine, Astronomy Magazine, and many more. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. She's also a candidate for a master’s degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins University (expected graduation 2023).

Three former executives at the French video game company Ubisoft used their position to bully or sexually harass staff, leaving women terrified and feeling like pieces of meat, a French court has heard.The state prosecutor Antoine Haushalter said the trial of three senior game creators for alleged bullying, sexual harassment and, in one case, attempted sexual assault was a “turning point” for the gaming world. It is the first big trial to result from the #MeToo movement in the video games industry, and Haushalter said the case had revealed “overwhelming” evidence of harassment.In four days of hearings, female former staff members variously described being tied to a chair, forced to do handstands, subjected to constant comments about sex and their bodies, having to endure sexist and homophobic jokes, drawings of penises being stuck to computers, a manager who farted in workers’ faces or scribbled on women with marker pens, gave unsolicited shoulder massages, played pornographic films in an open-plan office, and another executive who cracked a whip near people’s heads. The three men deny all charges.Haushalter said “the world of video games and its subculture” had an element of “systemic” sexism and potential abuse. He said the #MeToo movement in the gaming industry had allowed people to speak out.“It’s not that these actions were not punished by the law before. It’s just that they were silenced, and from now on they will not be silenced,” he said.Ubisoft is a French family business that rose to become one of the biggest video game creators in the world. It has been behind several blockbusters including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and the children’s favourite Just Dance.The court in Bobigny, in Seine-Saint-Denis, heard that between 2010 and 2020 at Ubisoft’s offices in Montreuil, east of Paris, the three executives created an atmosphere of bullying and sexism that one member of staff likened to a “boys’ club”. One alleged victim told the court: “The sexual remarks and sexual jokes were almost daily.”Tommy François, 52, a former vice-president of editorial and creative services, is accused of sexual harassment, bullying and attempted sexual assault. He was alleged once to have tied a female member of staff to a chair with tape, pushed the chair into a lift and pressed a button at random. He was also accused of forcing one woman wearing a skirt to do handstands.“He was my superior and I was afraid of him. He made me do handstands. I did it to get it over with and get rid of him,” one woman told the court.At a 2015 office Christmas party with a Back to the Future theme, François allegedly told a member of staff that he liked her 1950s dress. He then allegedly stepped towards her to kiss her on the mouth as his colleagues restrained her by the arms and back. She shouted and broke free. François denied all allegations.Another witness told the court that during a video games fair in the US, François “grabbed me by the hair and kissed me by force”. She said no one reacted, and that when she reported it to her human resources manager she was told “don’t make a big thing of it”.The woman said that later, in a key meeting, another unnamed senior figure told staff he had seen her “snogging” François, “even though he knew it had been an assault”.She said François called her into his office to show her pictures of his naked backside on his computers and on a phone. “Once he drew a penis on my arm when I was in a video call with top management,” she said.The woman said these incidents made her feel “stupefied, humiliated and professionally discredited”.François told the court he denied all charges. He said there had been a “culture of joking around”. He said: “I never tried to harm anyone.”Serge Hascoët told the court: ‘I have never wanted to harass anyone and I don’t think I have.’ Photograph: Xavier Galiana/AFP/Getty ImagesSerge Hascoët, 59, Ubisoft’s former chief creative officer and second-in-command, was accused of bullying and sexual harassment. The court heard how at a meeting of staff on an away day he complained about a senior female employee, saying she clearly did not have enough sex and that he would “show how to calm her” by having sex with her in a meeting room in front of everyone.He was alleged to have handed a young female member of staff a tissue in which he had blown his nose, saying: “You can resell it, it’s worth gold at Ubisoft.”The court heard he made guttural noises in the office and talked about sex. Hascoët was also alleged to have bullied assistants by making them carry out personal tasks for him such as going to his home to wait for parcel deliveries.Hascoët denied all the charges. He said: “I have never wanted to harass anyone and I don’t think I have.”The former game director Guillaume Patrux, 41, is accused of sexual harassment and bullying. He was alleged to have punched walls, mimed hitting staff, cracked a whip near colleagues’ faces, threatened to carry out an office shooting and played with a cigarette lighter near workers’ faces, setting alight a man’s beard. He denied the charges.The panel of judges retired to consider their verdict, which will be handed down at a later date.

ILM teams with Ben Stiller and Apple TV+ to bring thousands of seamless visual effects shots to the hit drama’s second season. By Clayton Sandell There are mysterious and important secrets to be uncovered in the second season of the wildly popular Apple TV+ series Severance (2022-present). About 3,500 of them are hiding in plain sight. That’s roughly the number of visual effects shots helping tell the Severance story over 10 gripping episodes in the latest season, a collaborative effort led by Industrial Light & Magic. ILM’s Eric Leven served as the Severance season two production visual effects supervisor. We asked him to help pull back the curtain on some of the show’s impressive digital artistry that most viewers will probably never notice. “This is the first show I’ve ever done where it’s nothing but invisible effects,” Leven tells ILM.com. “It’s a really different calculus because nobody talks about them. And if you’ve done them well, they are invisible to the naked eye.” With so many season two shots to choose from, Leven helped us narrow down a list of his favorite visual effects sequences to five. (As a bonus, we’ll also dive into an iconic season finale shot featuring the Mr. Milchick-led marching band.) Before we dig in, a word of caution. This article contains plot spoilers for Severance. (And in case you’re already wondering: No, the goats are not computer-graphics.) Severance tells the story of Mark Scout (Adam Scott), department chief of the secretive Severed Floor located in the basement level of Lumon Industries, a multinational biotech corporation. Mark S., as he’s known to his co-workers, heads up Macrodata Refinement (MDR), a department where employees help categorize numbers without knowing the true purpose of their work.  Mark and his team – Helly R. (Britt Lower), Dylan G. (Zach Cherry), and Irving B. (John Turturro), have all undergone a surgical procedure to “sever” their personal lives from their work lives. The chip embedded in their brains effectively creates two personalities that are sometimes at odds: an “Innie” during Lumon office hours and an “Outie” at home. “This is the first show I’ve ever done where it’s nothing but invisible effects. It’s a really different calculus because nobody talks about them. And if you’ve done them well, they are invisible to the naked eye.”Eric Leven 1. The Running Man (Episode 201: “Hello, Ms. Cobel”) The season one finale ends on a major cliffhanger. Mark S. learns that his Outie’s wife, Gemma – believed killed in a car crash years ago – is actually alive somewhere inside the Lumon complex. Season two opens with Mark S. arriving at the Severed Floor in a desperate search for Gemma, who he only knows as her Innie persona, Ms. Casey. The fast-paced sequence is designed to look like a single, two-minute shot. It begins with the camera making a series of rapid and elaborate moves around a frantic Mark S. as he steps out of the elevator, into the Severed Floor lobby, and begins running through the hallways. “The nice thing about that sequence was that everyone knew it was going to be difficult and challenging,” Leven says, adding that executive producer and Episode 201 director, Ben Stiller, began by mapping out the hallway run with his team. Leven recommended that a previsualization sequence – provided by The Third Floor – would help the filmmakers refine their plan before cameras rolled. “While prevising it, we didn’t worry about how we would actually photograph anything. It was just, ‘These are the visuals we want to capture,’” Leven says. “‘What does it look like for this guy to run down this hallway for two minutes? We’ll figure out how to shoot it later.’” The previs process helped determine how best to shoot the sequence, and also informed which parts of the soundstage set would have to be digitally replaced. The first shot was captured by a camera mounted on a Bolt X Cinebot motion-control arm provided by The Garage production company. The size of the motion-control setup, however, meant it could not fit in the confined space of an elevator or the existing hallways. “We couldn’t actually shoot in the elevator,” Leven says. “The whole elevator section of the set was removed and was replaced with computer graphics [CG].” In addition to the elevator, ILM artists replaced portions of the floor, furniture, and an entire lobby wall, even adding a reflection of Adam Scott into the elevator doors. As Scott begins running, he’s picked up by a second camera mounted on a more compact, stabilized gimbal that allows the operator to quickly run behind and sometimes in front of the actor as he darts down different hallways. ILM seamlessly combined the first two Mark S. plates in a 2D composite. “Part of that is the magic of the artists at ILM who are doing that blend. But I have to give credit to Adam Scott because he ran the same way in both cameras without really being instructed,” says Leven. “Lucky for us, he led with the same foot. He used the same arm. I remember seeing it on the set, and I did a quick-and-dirty blend right there and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to work.’ So it was really nice.” The action continues at a frenetic pace, ultimately combining ten different shots to complete the sequence. “We didn’t want the very standard sleight of hand that you’ve seen a lot where you do a wipe across the white hallway,” Leven explains. “We tried to vary that as much as possible because we didn’t want to give away the gag. So, there are times when the camera will wipe across a hallway, and it’s not a computer graphics wipe. We’d hide the wipe somewhere else.” A slightly more complicated illusion comes as the camera sweeps around Mark S. from back to front as he barrels down another long hallway. “There was no way to get the camera to spin around Mark while he is running because there’s physically not enough room for the camera there,” says Leven. To capture the shot, Adam Scott ran on a treadmill placed on a green screen stage as the camera maneuvered around him. At that point, the entire hallway environment is made with computer graphics. Artists even added a few extra frames of the actor to help connect one shot to the next, selling the illusion of a single continuous take. “We painted in a bit of Adam Scott running around the corner. So if you freeze and look through it, you’ll see a bit of his heel. He never completely clears the frame,” Leven points out. Leven says ILM also provided Ben Stiller with options when it came to digitally changing up the look of Lumon’s sterile hallways: sometimes adding extra doors, vents, or even switching door handles. “I think Ben was very excited about having this opportunity,” says Leven. “He had never had a complete, fully computer graphics version of these hallways before. And now he was able to do things that he was never able to do in season one.” (Credit: Apple TV+). 2. Let it Snow (Episode 204: “Woe’s Hollow”) The MDR team – Mark, Helly, Dylan, and Irving – unexpectedly find themselves in the snowy wilderness as part of a two-day Lumon Outdoor Retreat and Team-Building Occurrence, or ORTBO.  Exterior scenes were shot on location at Minnewaska State Park Preserve in New York. Throughout the ORTBO sequence, ILM performed substantial environment enhancements, making trees and landscapes appear far snowier than they were during the shoot. “It’s really nice to get the actors out there in the cold and see their breath,” Leven says. “It just wasn’t snowy during the shoot. Nearly every exterior shot was either replaced or enhanced with snow.” For a shot of Irving standing on a vast frozen lake, for example, virtually every element in the location plate – including an unfrozen lake, mountains, and trees behind actor John Turturro – was swapped out for a CG environment. Wide shots of a steep, rocky wall Irving must scale to reach his co-workers were also completely digital. Eventually, the MDR team discovers a waterfall that marks their arrival at a place called Woe’s Hollow. The location – the state park’s real-life Awosting Falls – also got extensive winter upgrades from ILM, including much more snow covering the ground and trees, an ice-covered pond, and hundreds of icicles clinging to the rocky walls. “To make it fit in the world of Severance, there’s a ton of work that has to happen,” Leven tells ILM.com. (Credit: Apple TV+). 3. Welcome to Lumon (Episode 202: “Goodbye, Mrs. Selvig” & Episode 203: “Who is Alive?”) The historic Bell Labs office complex, now known as Bell Works in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, stands in as the fictional Lumon Industries headquarters building. Exterior shots often underwent a significant digital metamorphosis, with artists transforming areas of green grass into snow-covered terrain, inserting a CG water tower, and rendering hundreds of 1980s-era cars to fill the parking lot. “We’re always adding cars, we’re always adding snow. We’re changing, subtly, the shape and the layout of the design,” says Leven. “We’re seeing new angles that we’ve never seen before. On the roof of Lumon, for example, the air conditioning units are specifically designed and created with computer graphics.” In real life, the complex is surrounded by dozens of houses, requiring the digital erasure of entire neighborhoods. “All of that is taken out,” Leven explains. “CG trees are put in, and new mountains are put in the background.” Episodes 202 and 203 feature several night scenes shot from outside the building looking in. In one sequence, a camera drone flying outside captured a long tracking shot of Helena Eagan (Helly R.’s Outie) making her way down a glass-enclosed walkway. The building’s atrium can be seen behind her, complete with a massive wall sculpture depicting company founder Kier Eagan. “We had to put the Kier sculpture in with the special lighting,” Leven reveals. “The entire atrium was computer graphics.” Artists completed the shot by adding CG reflections of the snowy parking lot to the side of the highly reflective building. “We have to replace what’s in the reflections because the real reflection is a parking lot with no snow or a parking lot with no cars,” explains Leven. “We’re often replacing all kinds of stuff that you wouldn’t think would need to be replaced.” Another nighttime scene shot from outside the building features Helena in a conference room overlooking the Lumon parking lot, which sits empty except for Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman) riding in on his motorcycle. “The top story, where she is standing, was practical,” says Leven, noting the shot was also captured using a drone hovering outside the window. “The second story below her was all computer graphics. Everything other than the building is computer graphics. They did shoot a motorcycle on location, getting as much practical reference as possible, but then it had to be digitally replaced after the fact to make it work with the rest of the shot.” (Credit: Apple TV+). 4. Time in Motion (Episode 207: “Chikhai Bardo”) Episode seven reveals that MDR’s progress is being monitored by four dopplegang-ish observers in a control room one floor below, revealed via a complex move that has the camera traveling downward through a mass of data cables. “They built an oversize cable run, and they shot with small probe lenses. Visual effects helped by blending several plates together,” explains Leven. “It was a collaboration between many different departments, which was really nice. Visual effects helped with stuff that just couldn’t be shot for real. For example, when the camera exits the thin holes of the metal grate at the bottom of the floor, that grate is computer graphics.” The sequence continues with a sweeping motion-control time-lapse shot that travels around the control-room observers in a spiral pattern, a feat pulled off with an ingenious mix of technical innovation and old-school sleight of hand. A previs sequence from The Third Floor laid out the camera move, but because the Bolt arm motion-control rig could only travel on a straight track and cover roughly one-quarter of the required distance, The Garage came up with a way to break the shot into multiple passes. The passes would later be stitched together into one seemingly uninterrupted movement. The symmetrical set design – including the four identical workstations – helped complete the illusion, along with a clever solution that kept the four actors in the correct position relative to the camera. “The camera would basically get to the end of the track,” Leven explains. “Then everybody would switch positions 90 degrees. Everyone would get out of their chairs and move. The camera would go back to one, and it would look like one continuous move around in a circle because the room is perfectly symmetrical, and everything in it is perfectly symmetrical. We were able to move the actors, and it looks like the camera was going all the way around the room.” The final motion-control move switches from time-lapse back to real time as the camera passes by a workstation and reveals Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) and Dr. Mauer (Robby Benson) standing behind it. Leven notes that each pass was completed with just one take. 5. Mark vs. Mark (Episode 210: “Cold Harbor”) The Severance season two finale begins with an increasingly tense conversation between Innie Mark and Outie Mark, as the two personas use a handheld video camera to send recorded messages back and forth. Their encounter takes place at night in a Lumon birthing cabin equipped with a severance threshold that allows Mark S. to become Mark Scout each time he steps outside and onto the balcony. The cabin set was built on a soundstage at York Studios in the Bronx, New York. The balcony section consisted of the snowy floor, two chairs, and a railing, all surrounded by a blue screen background. Everything else was up to ILM to create. “It was nice to have Ben’s trust that we could just do it,” Leven remembers. “He said, ‘Hey, you’re just going to make this look great, right?’ We said, ‘Yeah, no problem.’” Artists filled in the scene with CG water, mountains, and moonlight to match the on-set lighting and of course, more snow. As Mark Scout steps onto the balcony, the camera pulls back to a wide shot, revealing the cabin’s full exterior. “They built a part of the exterior of the set. But everything other than the windows, even the railing, was digitally replaced,” Leven says. “It was nice to have Ben [Stiller’s] trust that we could just do it. He said, ‘Hey, you’re just going to make this look great, right?’ We said, ‘Yeah, no problem.’”Eric Leven Bonus: Marching Band Magic (Episode 210: “Cold Harbor”) Finally, our bonus visual effects shot appears roughly halfway through the season finale. To celebrate Mark S. completing the Cold Harbor file, Mr. Milchick orders up a marching band from Lumon’s Choreography and Merriment department. Band members pour into MDR, but Leven says roughly 15 to 20 shots required adding a few more digital duplicates. “They wanted it to look like MDR was filled with band members. And for several of the shots there were holes in there. It just didn’t feel full enough,” he says. In a shot featuring a God’s-eye view of MDR, band members hold dozens of white cards above their heads, forming a giant illustration of a smiling Mark S. with text that reads “100%.” “For the top shot, we had to find a different stage because the MDR ceiling is only about eight feet tall,” recalls Leven. “And Ben really pushed to have it done practically, which I think was the right call because you’ve already got the band members, you’ve made the costumes, you’ve got the instruments. Let’s find a place to shoot it.” To get the high shot, the production team set up on an empty soundstage, placing signature MDR-green carpet on the floor. A simple foam core mock-up of the team’s desks occupied the center of the frame, with the finished CG versions added later. Even without the restraints of the practical MDR walls and ceiling, the camera could only get enough height to capture about 30 band members in the shot. So the scene was digitally expanded, with artists adding more green carpet, CG walls, and about 50 more band members. “We painted in new band members, extracting what we could from the practical plate,” Leven says. “We moved them around; we added more, just to make it look as full as Ben wanted.” Every single white card in the shot, Leven points out, is completely digital. (Credit: Apple TV+). A Mysterious and Important Collaboration With fans now fiercely debating the many twists and turns of Severance season two, Leven is quick to credit ILM’s two main visual effects collaborators: east side effects and Mango FX INC, as well as ILM studios and artists around the globe, including San Francisco, Vancouver, Singapore, Sydney, and Mumbai. Leven also believes Severance ultimately benefited from a successful creative partnership between ILM and Ben Stiller. “This one clicked so well, and it really made a difference on the show,” Leven says. “I think we both had the same sort of visual shorthand in terms of what we wanted things to look like. One of the things I love about working with Ben is that he’s obviously grounded in reality. He wants to shoot as much stuff real as possible, but then sometimes there’s a shot that will either come to him late or he just knows is impractical to shoot. And he knows that ILM can deliver it.” — Clayton Sandell is a Star Wars author and enthusiast, TV storyteller, and a longtime fan of the creative people who keep Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound on the leading edge of visual effects and sound design. Follow him on Instagram (@claytonsandell) Bluesky (@claytonsandell.com) or X (@Clayton_Sandell).

“I want to make a big announcement,” said Faryar Shirzad, the chief policy officer of Coinbase, to a nearly empty room. His words echoed across the massive hall at the Bitcoin Conference, deep in the caverns of The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, and it wasn’t apparent how many people were watching on the livestream. Then again, somebody out there may have been interested in the panelists he was interviewing, one of whom was unusual by Bitcoin Conference standards: Chris LaCivita, the political consultant who’d co-chaired Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. “I am super proud to say it on this stage,” Shirzad continued, addressing the dozens of people scattered across 5,000 chairs. “We have just become a major sponsor of the America250 effort.” My jaw dropped. Coinbase, the world’s largest crypto exchange, the owner of 12 percent of the world’s Bitcoin supply, and listed on the S&P 500, was paying for Trump to hold a military parade.No wonder they made the announcement in an empty room. Today was “Code and Country”: an entire day of MAGA-themed panels on the Nakamoto Main Stage, full of Republican legislators, White House officials, and political operatives, all of whom praised Trump as the savior of the crypto world. But Code and Country was part of Industry Day, which was VIP only and closed to General Admission holders — the people with the $199 tickets, who flocked to the conference seeking wisdom from brilliant technologists and fabulously wealthy crypto moguls, who believed that decentralized currency on a blockchain could not be controlled by government authoritarians. They’d have drowned Shirzad in boos if they saw him give money to Donald Trump’s campaign manager, and they would have stormed the Nakamoto stage if they knew the purpose of America250. America250 is a nonprofit established by Congress during Barack Obama’s presidency with a mundane mission: to plan the nationwide festivities for July 4th, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “Who remembers the Bicentennial in 1976?” the co-chair, former U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios, asked the crowd. “I remember it like it was yesterday, and this one is going to be bigger and better.” But then Trump got re-elected, appointed LaCivita as co-chair, and suddenly, the party was starting earlier. The week before the conference, America250 announced that it would host a “Grand Military Parade” on June 14th to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, releasing tickets for prime seats along the parade route and near the Washington Monument on their website, hosting other festivities on the National Mall, and credentialing the press covering the event. (Their celebrations and events are a different operation from the U.S. Army, which had never planned for a parade to celebrate its 250th birthday, much less a military parade, but is now spending up to $45 million in taxpayer dollars to make the parade happen.) According to the most recent statements from Army officials, the parade will include hundreds of cannons, dozens of Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters, fighter jets, bombers, and 150 military vehicles, including Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Stryker Fighting Vehicles, Humvees, and if the logistics work out, 25 (or more) M1 Abrams tanks. Trump had spent years trying to get the government to throw a military parade — primarily because he’d attended a Bastille Day parade in France and became jealous — and now that he was back in office, he’d finally eliminated everyone in the government who previously told him that the budget didn’t exist for such a parade, that the tank treads would ruin the streets and collapse the bridges, that the optics of tanks, guns and soldiers marching down Constitution Avenue were too authoritarian and fascist. June 14th also happens to be Donald Trump’s birthday.And Coinbase, whose CEO once told his employees to stop bringing politics into the workplace, was now footing the bill — if not for this military parade watch party, then for the one inevitably happening next year, when America actually turns 250, or any other festivities between now and then that may or may not fall on Trump’s birthday. (This wasn’t the first party they helped fund, though. Earlier this year, Coinbase wrote a $1 million check to Trump’s inauguration committee. One month later, the SEC announced that it was dropping an investigation into Coinbase.) I had to keep reminding myself that I was at the Bitcoin Conference. I’d been desperately looking for the goofy, degenerate party vibes that my coworkers who’d covered previous crypto conferences told me about: inflated swans with QR codes. Multimillionaires strolling around the Nakamoto Stage in shiba inu pajamas. Folks who communicated in memes and acronyms. Celebrity athletes who were actual celebrities. “Bitcoin yoga,” whatever that was. Afterparties with drugs, lots of drugs, and probably the mind-bending designer kind. And hey, Las Vegas was the global capital of goofy, degenerate partying. But no, I was stuck in a prolonged flashback to every single Republican event I’ve covered over the past ten years – Trump rallies, conservative conferences, GOP conventions, and MAGA fundraisers, with Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” playing on an endless loop. There was an emcee endlessly praising Trump, encouraging the audience to clap for Trump, and reminding everyone about how great it was that Trump spoke at the Conference last year, which all sounds even stranger when said in an Australian accent. In addition to LaCivita, there were four GOP Congressmen, four GOP Senators, one Trump-appointed SEC Commissioner, one Treasury Official, two senior White House officials (including David Sacks, the White House crypto and A.I. czar), and two of Trump’s sons. All of them, too, spent time praising Trump as the first “crypto president.” (Vice President J.D. Vance would be speaking the next day to the general admission crowd, but he was probably going to praise Trump, too.) The titles of the panels seemed to be run through some sort of MAGA generative AI system: The Next Golden Age of America. The American Super Grid. Making America the Global Bitcoin Superpower. The New Declaration of Independence: Bitcoin and the Path Out of the U.S. National Debt Crisis. (Speaker: Vivek Ramaswamy.) Uncancleable: Bitcoin, Rumble & Free Speech Technology. (Speaker: Donald Trump Jr.) The only difference was that this MAGA conference was funded by crypto. And if crypto was paying for a MAGA conference, and they had to play “God Bless the USA,” they were bringing in a string quartet.Annoyed that I had not yet seen a single Shiba Inu — no, Jim Justice’s celebrity bulldog was not the same thing — I left Nakamoto and went back to the press area. It hadn’t turned into Fox News yet, but I could see MAGA’s presence seeping into the world of podcasters and vloggers. A Newsmax reporter (great blowout, jewel-toned sheath dress, heels to the heavens, very camera-ready) was interviewing White House official Bo Hines (clean-cut, former Yale football player and GOP congressional candidate, nice suit), right before he was hustled onstage for a panel with a member of the U.S. Treasury. Soon, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) was doing an interview gauntlet while his senior aides stood by, one wearing a pink plaid blazer that could have easily been Brooks Brothers. Over on the Genesis Stage, the CEO of PragerU, a right wing media company that attacks higher education, was interviewing the CEO of the 1792 Exchange, a right-wing nonprofit that attacks companies for engaging in “woke business practices” such as diversity initiatives. (Leveraging Bitcoin’s Values to Shift the Culture in America.) I walked into the main expo center, past a crypto podcaster in a sequined bomber jacket talking to a Wall Street Journal reporter. For some reason, his presence was a relief. Even though he was clearly a Trump supporter — his jacket said TRUMP: THE GOLDEN AGE on the back — there was something more janky and homegrown, less corporate, about him. But the moment I looked up and saw a massive sign that said STEAKTOSHI, the unease returned. A ghoulish-looking group of executives from Steak ‘n Shake, the fast food company with over 450 locations across the globe, had gathered under the sign in a replica of the restaurant. They were selling jars of beef tallow, with a choice of grass-fed or Wagyu, and giving out a MAKE FRYING OIL TALLOW AGAIN hat with every purchase an overt embrace of the right-wing conspiracy that cooking with regular seed oils would lower one’s testosterone. (Relevant to the conference: they were also advertising that their restaurants now accepted Bitcoin.)Andrew Gordon, the head of Main Street Crypto PAC, had been to five previous Bitcoin Conferences and worked on crypto tax policy since 2014. He’d seen Trump speak at the last conference in Nashville during the election, and the audience – not typically unquestioning MAGA superfans – had melted into adoring goo in Trump’s presence. But now that Trump was using his presidential powers to establish a Bitcoin reserve, roll back federal investigations into crypto companies, and order massive changes to financial regulatory policies — in short, changing the entire market on crypto’s behalf with the stroke of a pen — Gordon clocked a notable vibe shift this year. “There are people wearing suits at a Bitcoin conference,” he told me wryly back in the press lounge. (He, too, was wearing a suit). The change wasn’t due to a new breed of Suit People flooding in. It was the Bitcoin veterans the ones who’d been coming to the conference for years, dressed in loud Versace jackets or old holey t-shirts – who were now in business attire. “They’re now recognizing the level of formality and how serious it is.”According to the Bitcoin Conference organizers, out of the 35,000-plus attendees in Vegas this year, 17.1 percent of them were categorized as “institutional and corporate decision-makers” — a vague way to describe politicians, corporate executives, and the rest of the C-suite world. Whenever they weren’t speaking onstage, they were conducting interviews with outlets hand-selected from dozens of media requests that had been filtered through the conference organizers, or in Q&A sessions with people who’d bought the $21,000 Whale Pass and could access the VIP Lounge. (Yes, the industry-only day of the conference had an even more exclusive tier.) They were sidebarring with crypto CEOs outside the conference for round tables, privately meeting Senators for lunch and White House officials for dinner. Gordon himself had just held a private breakfast for industry insiders, with GOP Senators Marsha Blackburn and Cynthia Lummis as special guests. And for the very, very wealthy, MAGA Inc., Trump’s primary super PAC, was holding a fundraising dinner in Vegas that night, with Vance, Don Jr., and Eric Trump in attendance. That ticket, according to The Washington Post, cost $1 million per person.It was the kind of amoral, backroom behavior that would have sent the General Admission attendees into a rage — and they did the next day, when the convention opened to them. During one extremely packed talk at the Genesis Stage called Are Bitcoiners Becoming Sycophants of the State?, a moderator asked the four panelists what they’d like to say to Vance and Sacks and all the politicians who’d been there yesterday. And Erik Cason erupted.“‘What you’re doing is actually immoral and bad. You hurt people. You actively want to use the state to implement violence against others.’ 
That’s like, fucked up and wrong,” said Cason, the author of “Cryptosovereignty,” to a crowd of hundreds. “If you personally wanna like, go to Yemen and try to stab those people, that’s on you. But asking other people to go do that – it is a fucked up and terrible thing.” He grew more heated. “And also fuck you. You’re not, like, a king. You’re supposed to be liable to the law, too. 
And I don’t appreciate you trying to think that that you just get to advance the state however the fuck you want, because you have power.”“These are the violent thugs who killed hundreds of millions of people over the last century,” agreed Bruce Fenton of Chainstone Labs. “They have nothing on us. All we wanna do is run some code and trade it around our nerd money. Leave us alone.”The audience burst into cheers and applause. Bitcoin was the promise of freedom from the government, who’d murdered and stolen and tried to control their lives, and now that their wealth was on the blockchain, no one could take their sovereignty. “Personally, I don’t really care what they [the politicians] think,” said American HODL, whose title on the conference site was “guy with 6.15 bitcoin,” the derision clear in his voice. “They are employees who work for us, so their thoughts and opinions on the matter are irrelevant. Do what the fuck we tell you to do.
 I don’t work for you. I’m not underneath you. You’re underneath me.” But the politicians weren’t going to listen to them, much less talk to them. The politicians spent the conference surrounded by aides and security who stopped people from approaching – I’m sorry, the Senator has to leave for an engagement now – or safely inside the VIP rooms with the $21,000-dollar Whale Pass holders and the million-dollar donors. By the time American HODL said that the politicians worked for him, they were on flights out of Vegas, having gotten what they wanted from Code and Country, an event that was closed to General Admission pass holders.Coinbase’s executives were at Code and Country, however. Coinbase held over 984,000 Bitcoin, more coins than American HODL could mine in a lifetime. And Coinbase was now a sponsor of Donald Trump’s birthday military parade. The Nakamoto Stage during Code + Country at the Bitcoin Conference.After David Sacks and the Winklevoss twins finished explaining how Trump had saved the crypto industry from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (or as one Winklevoss called her, “Pocahontas”), I was jonesing for a drink. A few other reporters on the ground had told me about “Code, Country and Cocktails,” the America250 afterparty held at the Ayu Dayclub at Resort World, and I signed up immediately. Reporters at past Bitcoin Conferences had promised legendary side-event depravity, and I hoped I would find it there. As I entered the lush, tropical nightclub, I saw two white-gloved hands sticking out the side of the wall, each holding a glass of champagne at crotch level. I reached out for a flute, thinking it was maybe just a fucked-up piece of art, and gasped as the hand let go of the stem, disappeared into the hole, and emerged seconds later with another full champagne glass. Past the champagne glory hole wall — there was really no other way to describe it — was a massive outdoor swimming pool, surrounded by chefs serving up endless portions of steak frites, unguarded magnums of Moët casually stacked in ice buckets, the professional Beautiful Women of Las Vegas draped around Peter Schiff, the famous economist/podcaster/Bitcoin skeptic. When not booked for private events, the crescent-shaped pool at Ayu would be filled with drunk people in swim suits, dancing to DJ Kaskade. No one was in the pool tonight. Depravity was not happening here. In fact, there was more networking going on than partying, and it was somehow more engaging than Bone Thugs-N-Harmony suddenly appearing onstage to perform. And it was distinctly not just about making money in crypto. A good percentage of this crowd wore some derivative of a MAGA hat, and anyone who could show off their photos of them with Trump did so. This, I realized, was how crypto bros did politics — a new game for them, where success and influence was not necessarily quantifiable. “Crypto got Trump elected,” Greg Grseziak, an agent who manages crypto influencers, told me, showing me his Trump photo opp. “In four years, this is going to be the biggest event in the presidential race.”Grzesiak walked off to do more networking, I finished my glory hole champagne, and in the meantime, Bone Thugs had started performing “East 1999”. A fellow reporter leaned over. “Who do you think those guys are?” he asked, pointing to a group of extremely tall white men in suits and lanyards, standing behind a velvet rope to the left of the stage.I walked over to investigate. They looked like the group of Steak ‘n Shake executives I met at the Expo Hall — the ones with the beef tallow jars and derivative MAGA hats — and they were lurking next to the stage, watching the rappers like vultures but barely moving to the music. This scene was too preposterous to actually be real: Steak ‘n Shake executives, at the Bitcoin Conference, attending a party for America250, in the VIP section, during a Bone Thugs-n-Harmony set? “Shout out to Steak ‘n Shake for being the first fast food restaurant to accept Bitcoin!” announced one of the Bones. The company logo appeared on a screen above his head.No flashy Vegas magic (or dancers in cow costumes, now shimmying onstage with Steak ‘n Shake signs) could mask what I just saw. This party was co-sponsored by a MAGA-branded fast-food chain owned by Sardar Biglari, a businessman who had purchased Maxim, became its editor-in-chief, and used the smutty magazine to endorse Trump in 2024. So was Frax, the stablecoin exchange, and Exodus, one of the biggest crypto wallet companies in the market. Bitcoin Magazine’s logo flashed across the stage at one point, as editor-in-chief David Bailey, in his own derivative MAGA hat, tried to hype up the crowd for J.D. Vance’s speech the next day. (“You only get to live history once,” he said, to faint cheers.)For some unknown reason, these companies were all putting their money into America250, and as I had to keep reminding myself, America250 — the government nonprofit in charge of planning the country’s celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration’s signing — was currently working to get tanks in the streets of Washington DC for Donald Trump’s birthday. I went for one last champagne flute from the glory hole, just for the novelty, and as the hand disappeared back into the wall, I caught something I’d missed earlier: above the hole was a logo for TRON, the blockchain exchange run by billionaire Justin Sun. He had faced several fraud investigations from the SEC that magically disappeared after he invested $75 million in a Trump family crypto company, and seemed more than happy to keep throwing crypto money at Trump. Recently, he won the $TRUMP meme coin dinner, spending over $16 million on the token in exchange for a private and controversial dinner with the president.TRON was also cosponsoring the America250 party.Earlier, I’d run into the Australian emcee in the elevator of The Palazzo. She’d spent the day teetering across the Nakamoto Stage in dainty kitten heels, a pinstriped blazer and miniskirt suit set, and given the gratuitous Trump praising and the fact she was blonde, I had stereotyped her as MAGA to the core. But the program was over and she was holding her heels by their ankle straps, barefoot and sighing in relief. This was not her usual style, she told an attendee. She’d take a pair of sneakers over heels if she could. But the conference organizers had told her to dress up because there were senators in attendance. “Tomorrow, the real Bitcoiners are coming,” she said, and she’d get to wear flat shoes. And the next morning, on the day of Vance’s speech, I found myself stuck outside the conference with the “real Bitcoiners.” In spite of all the emails that the conference had sent me reminding me of how strict security measures would be, possibly to overcorrect from last year’s utter shitshow around Trump’s appearance, I’d woken up too late, eaten my bagel too leisurely, got sidetracked by a police officer-turned-Bitcoin investor excited I was wearing orange (whoops), and barely missed the cutoff for the Secret Service to let me in. But the conference had set up televisions with a live feed of Vance’s speech, and the rest of the general admission attendees were remarkably chill about it, opting to mingle in the hallways until the Secret Service left. I found myself in a smaller crowd near the expo hall door, next to a young man carrying a live miniature Shiba Inu (“It’s a tiny doge!” he said proudly), and the podcaster I’d seen earlier in the sequined bomber jacket. He introduced himself as Action CEO, and with nothing else to do but wait — “You can watch the [Vance] replay,” he reassured me, “these events are mainly about networking” — we got to talking. “I’m actually excited that Trump isn’t even here, I’ll be honest with you,” he said, speaking with a rapid cadence. Trump was ultimately just one guy, and the fact that he sent his underlings and political allies — the ones who could actually implement his grand promises for the crypto industry — proved he hadn’t just been paying lip service. That said, it had come with some uncomfortable changes, including the re-emergence of Justin Sun. “It’s a little bit concerning when you say, All right, we don’t care what you did in the past. Come on out, clean slate,” he continued. “That’s the concern right now for most people. Seeing people that did wrong by the space coming back and acting like nothing happened? That’s a little concerning.” And not just that: Sun was back in the United States, having dinner with Trump, and giving him millions of dollars. “If you’re sitting in a room and having a conversation, people are literally gonna go, yeah, it’s kind of sketch that this guy is back here after everything that’s happened. You’re not gonna see it published, because it’s not a popular opinion, but we’re all definitely talking about it.” If Action’s friends weren’t comfortable talking about it openly, that fraudsters with enough money were suddenly back in the mix, it was certainly not the kind of conversation the CEOs were going to have in front of the General Admission crowd. (Though it did mean that the emcee, looking much happier than she did the day before, got to wear low-heeled boots and shorts.) But behind closed doors — or at least at the Code and Country panels, where the base pass attendees couldn’t boo them — they gave a sense of what their backroom conversations with the Trump administration did look like.“I was actually at a dinner last night and one of the things that someone from the admin said was, What if we give you guys everything you want and then you guys forget? Because there’s midterms in 2026, and hopefully 2028, and beyond,” said Sam Kazemian, the founder and CEO of Frax, which had sponsored the America250 party. “But one of the things I said was: We as an industry are very, very loyal. The crypto community has a very, very, very strong memory. And once this industry is legalized, is transparent, is safe, all of the big players understand that this wasn’t possible without this administration, this Congress, this Senate. We’re lifelong, career-long allies.”“Loyalty” is a dangerous concept with this president, who’s cheated on his three wives, stopped paying the legal fees for employees who’d taken the fall for him, ended the careers of sympathetic MAGA Republicans for insufficiently coddling him, withdrew security for government employees experiencing death threats for the sin of contradicting him in public by citing facts. It was only weeks ago that he and Vance were publicly screaming at Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who was at the White House to request more aid in the war against Russia, for not saying “thank you” in front of the cameras. It would be less than a week before he began threatening to cancel all of Elon Musk’s government contracts when the billionaire criticized the size of Trump’s budget, even though Musk had given him millions and helped him purge the government. And if you were to find a photo of any political leader, billionaire or CEO standing vacant-eyed next to Trump and shaking his hand, the circumstances are practically a given: they had recently made him unhappy, either for criticizing him, making an imagined slight, or simply asserting themselves. The only way they could avoid public humiliation, or their businesses being crushed via executive order, was to go to Mar-a-Lago, tell the world that the president was wonderful, and underwrite a giant party for his birthday military parade. Maybe Kazemian knew he was being tested, or maybe the 32-year old Ron Paul superfan had no idea what the administration was asking of him. Either way, he responded correctly. At least one person at the conference was thinking about ways that the government could betray the Bitcoin community. As the panel on Bitcoiners becoming sycophants of the state wrapped up, and the other panelists finished telling the government pigs to go fuck themselves and keep their hands off their nerd money, the moderator turned to Casey Rodarmor, a software engineer-turned-crypto influencer, for the last question: “Tell everyone here why Bitcoin wins, regardless of what happens.”“Oh, man, I don’t know if Bitcoin wins, regardless of what happens,” he responded, frowning. He had already gamed out one feasible situation where Bitcoin lost: “If we all of a sudden saw a very rapid inflation in a lot of fiat currencies, and there was a plausible scapegoat in Bitcoin all over the world, and they were able to make a sort of marketing claim that Bitcoin is causing this — Bitcoin is making your savings go to zero, it’s causing this carnage to the economy — 
If that happens worldwide, I think that’s really scary.” The moderator froze, the crowd murmured nervously, and I thought about the number of times Trump had blamed a group of people for problems they’d never caused. An awful lot of them were now being deported. “I take that seriously,” Rodarmor continued. “I don’t know that Bitcoin will succeed. I think that Bitcoin is incredibly strong, it’s incredibly difficult to fuck up. But in that case… man, I don’t know.” I had asked Action CEO earlier if Kazemian, the Frax CEO, was right — if the crypto world was unquestioningly loyal to Trump, if their support of him was unconditional. “Oh, it’s definitely conditional,” he said without hesitation, as his Trump jacket glittered under the fluorescent lights. “It’s a matter of, are you going to be doing the right things by us, by the people who are here?” We walked down the expo hall, past booths promising life-changing technological marvels, alongside thousands of people flooding into Nakamoto Hall, ready to learn how to become unfathomably rich, who paid $199 to be there.The audience of “Are Bitcoiners Becoming Sychophants of the State?”, Day Two of the Bitcoin ConferenceSee More:

Study the Secrets of Early American Photography at This New Exhibition “The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will feature more than 250 photographs Lillian Ali - Staff Contributor June 6, 2025 This image, taken by an unknown photographer in 1905, is an example of a cyanotype. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, William L. Schaeffer Collection A new exhibition at the crossroads of art, history and technology chronicles the beginnings of early American photography. Titled “The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910,” the show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City features more than 250 photographs that capture “the complexities of a nation in the midst of profound transformation,” says Max Hollein, the Met’s CEO, in a statement. Curator Jeff Rosenheim tells the Wall Street Journal’s William Meyers that the exhibition focuses “on how early artists used the different formats to record individuals and the built and natural environments surrounding them.” A daguerrotype from around 1850 depicts a woman wearing a tignon, a headcovering popular among Creole women of African descent. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, William L. Schaeffer Collection The oldest photographs on display are daguerreotypes, named for inventor Louis Daguerre, which were introduced in 1839 as the first publicly available form of photography. Creating a daguerreotype was a delicate, sometimes painstaking process that involved several chemical treatments and variable exposure times. The process yielded a sharply detailed picture on a silver background and was usually used for studio portraiture. The exhibition moves through the history of photography, from daguerreotypes and other photographs made on metal to those made on glass and, eventually, paper. It even features stereographs, two photos showing an object from slightly different points of view, creating an illusion of three-dimensionality. Installation view of "The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910" Eugenia Tinsely / The Met Rosenheim believes that early photographic portraits empowered working-class Americans. “Photographic portraits play a role in people feeling like they could be a citizen,” Rosenheim tells the Guardian’s Veronica Esposito. “It’s a psychological, empowering thing to own your own likeness.” Photographs in the exhibition also spotlight key moments in American history. Items on view include a portrait of formerly enslaved individuals and an image of a conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The exhibition features big names in American photography, such as John Moran, who advocated for the recognition of photography as an art form, and Alice Austen, a pioneering landscape photographer. Group on Petria, Lake Mahopac​​​​​​, photographed in 1888 by Alice Austen The Metropolitan Museum of Art, William L. Schaeffer Collection Many of the photographs on display were taken by unknown artists. One of the most recent photos in the exhibition, taken by an unknown artist in 1905, is a cyanotype depicting figures tobogganing on a hill in Massachusetts. Cyanotypes were created by exposing a chemically treated paper to UV light, such as sunlight, yielding the blue pigment it was named for. Beyond portraits and landscapes, the exhibition features several enigmatic images, such as one of a boot placed in a roller skate and positioned on top of a stool. Rosenheim tells the Guardian that the mysterious photo “asks more questions than it answers.” An unknown photographer took this unconventional still life in the 1860s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, William L. Schaeffer Collection “It’s very emblematic of the whole of 19th-century American photography,” he adds. The exhibition features photographs from across time and economic divides, with portraits of the working-class and wealthy alike. “The collection is just filled with the everyday stories of people,” Rosenheim tells the Guardian. “I don’t think painting can touch that.” “The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910” is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City through July 20, 2025. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

It's early June, which means it's time for a ton of video game events! Rising from the ashes of E3, Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest is now the premium gaming event of the year, just inching ahead of… Geoff Keighley's Game Awards in December. Unlike the show it replaced, Summer Game Fest is an egalitarian affair, spotlighting games from AAA developers and small indies across a diverse set of livestreams. SGF 2025 includes 15 individual events running from June 3-9 — you can find the full Summer Game Fest 2025 schedule here — and we're smack dab in the middle of that programming right now. We're covering SGF 2025 with a small team on the ground in LA and a far larger group of writers tuning in remotely to the various livestreams. Expect game previews, interviews and reactions to arrive over the coming days (the show's in-person component runs from Saturday-Monday), and a boatload of new trailers and release date announcements in between. Through it all, we're collating the biggest announcements right here, with links out to more in-depth coverage where we have it, in chronological order. Tuesday, June 3 State of Unreal: The Witcher IV and Fortnite AI Epic hitched its wagon to SGF this year, aligning its annual developer Unreal Fest conference, which last took place in the fall of 2024, with the consumer event. The conference was held in Orlando, Florida, from June 2-5, with well over a hundred developer sessions focused on Unreal Engine. The highlight was State of Unreal, which was the first event on the official Summer Game Fest schedule. Amid a bunch of very cool tech demos and announcements, we got some meaningful updates on Epic's own Fortnite and CD PROJEKT RED's upcoming The Witcher IV. The Witcher IV was first unveiled at The Game Awards last year, and we've heard very little about it since. At State of Unreal, we got a tech demo for Unreal Engine 5.6, played in real time on a base PS5. The roughly 10-minute slot featured a mix of gameplay and cinematics, and showed off a detailed, bustling world. Perhaps the technical highlight was Nanite Foliage, an extension of UE5's Nanite system for geometry that renders foliage without the level of detail pop-in that is perhaps the most widespread graphical aberration still plaguing games today. On the game side, we saw a town filled with hundreds of NPCs going about their business. The town itself wasn't quite on the scale of The Witcher III's Novigrad City, but nonetheless felt alive in a way beyond anything the last game achieved. It's fair to say that Fortnite's moment in the spotlight was… less impressive. Hot on the heels of smooshing a profane Darth Vader AI into the game, Epic announced that creators will be able to roll their own AI NPCs into the game later this year. Wednesday, June 4 PlayStation State of Play: Marvel Tōkon, Silent Hill f and the return of Lumines Another company getting a headstart on proceedings was Sony, who threw its third State of Play of the year onto the Summer Game Fest schedule a couple days ahead of the opening night event. It was a packed stream by Sony's standards, with over 20 games and even a surprise hardware announcement. The most time was given to Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, a new PlayStation Studios tag fighter that fuses Marvel Superheroes with anime visuals. It's also 4 versus 4, which is wild. It's being developed by Arc System Works, the team perhaps best known for the Guilty Gear series. It's coming to PS5 and PC in 2026. Not-so-coincidentally, Sony also announced Project Defiant, a wireless fight stick that'll support PS5 and PC and arrive in… 2026. Elsewhere, we got a parade of release dates, with concrete dates for Sword of the Sea (August 19) Baby Steps (September 8) and Silent Hill f (September 25). We also got confirmation of that Final Fantasy Tactics remaster (coming September 30), an an all-new... let's call it aspirational "2026" date for Pragmata, which, if you're keeping score, was advertised alongside the launch of the PS5. Great going, Capcom! Rounding out the show was a bunch of smaller announcements. We heard about a new Nioh game, Nioh 3, coming in 2026; Suda51's new weirdness Romeo is a Dead Man; and Lumines Arise, a long-awaited return to the Lumines series from the developer behind Tetris Effect. Thursday, June 5 Diddly squat There were absolutely no Summer Game Fest events scheduled on Thursday. We assume that's out of respect for antipodean trees, as June 5 was Arbor Day in New Zealand. (It's probably because everyone was playing Nintendo Switch 2.) Friday, June 6 Summer Game Fest Live: Resident Evil Requiem, Stranger Than Heaven and sequels abound It's fair to say that previous Summer Game Fest opening night streams have been… whelming at best. This year's showing was certainly an improvement, not least because there were exponentially fewer mobile game and MMO ads littering the presentation. Yes, folks tracking Gabe Newell's yacht were disappointed that Half-Life 3 didn't show up, and the Silksong crowd remains sad, alone and unloved, but there were nonetheless some huge announcements. Perhaps the biggest of all was the "ninth" (Zero and Code Veronica erasure is real) Resident Evil game. Resident Evil Requiem is said to be a tonal shift compared to the last game, Resident Evil Village. Here's hoping it reinvigorates the series in the same way Resident Evil VII did following the disappointing 6. We also heard more from Sega studio Ryu Ga Gotoku about Project Century, which seems to be a 1943 take on the Yakuza series. It's now called Stranger Than Heaven, and there's a (literally) jazzy new trailer for your consideration. Outside of those big swings, there were sequels to a bunch of mid-sized games, like Atomic Heart, Code Vein and Mortal Shell, and a spiritual sequel of sorts: Scott Pilgrim EX, a beat-em-up that takes the baton from the 2010 Ubisoft brawler Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game. There were countless other announcements at the show, including: Troy Baker is the big cheese in Mouse: P.I. for Hire Here's a silly puppet boxing game you never knew you needed Killer Inn turns Werewolf into a multiplayer action game Out of Words is a cozy stop-motion co-op adventure from Epic Games Lego Voyagers is a co-op puzzle game from the studio behind Builder's Journey Mina the Hollower, from the makers of Shovel Knight, arrives on Halloween Wu-Tang Clan's new game blends anime with Afro-surrealism Day of the Devs: Blighted, Snap & Grab, Blighted and Escape Academy II As always, the kickoff show was followed by a Day of the Devs stream, which focused on smaller projects and indie games. You can watch the full stream here. Escape Academy has been firmly on our best couch co-op games list for some time, and now it's got a sequel on the way. Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School takes the same basic co-op escape room fun and expands on it, moving away from a level-select map screen and towards a fully 3D school campus for players to explore. So long as the puzzles themselves are as fun as the original, it seems like a winner.  Semblance studio Nyamakop is back with new jam called Relooted, a heist game with a unique twist. As in the real world, museums in the West are full of items plundered from African nations under colonialism. Unlike the real world, in Relooted the colonial powers have signed a treaty to return these items to their places of origin, but things aren't going to plan, as many artifacts are finding their way into private collections. It's your job to steal them back. The British Museum is quaking in its boots. Here are some of the other games that caught our eye: Snap & Grab is No Goblin's campy, photography-based heist game Please, Watch the Artwork is a puzzle game with eerie paintings and a sad clown Bask in the grotesque pixel-art beauty of Neverway Pocket Boss turns corporate data manipulation into a puzzle game Tire Boy is a wacky open-world adventure game you can tread all over The rest: Ball x Pit, Hitman and 007 First Light After Day of the Devs came Devolver. Its Summer Game Fest show was a little more muted than usual, focusing on a single game: Ball x Pit. It's the next game from Kenny Sun, an indie developer who previously made the sleeper hit Mr. Sun's Hatbox. Ball x Pit is being made by a team of more than half a dozen devs, in contrast to Sun's mostly solo prior works. It looks like an interesting mashup of Breakout and base-building mechanics, and there's a demo on Steam available right now. Then came IOI, the makers of Hitman, who put together a classic E3-style cringefest, full of awkward pauses, ill-paced demos and repetitive trailers. Honestly, as someone who's been watching game company presentations for two decades or so, it was a nice moment of nostalgia.  Away from the marvel of a presenter trying to cope with everything going wrong, the show did have some actual content, with an extended demo of the new James Bond-themed Hitman mission, an announcement that Hitman is coming to iOS and table tops, and a presentation on MindsEye, a game from former GTA producer Leslie Benzies that IOI is publishing.  Saturday-Sunday: Xbox and much, much more Now you're all caught up. We're expecting a lot of news this weekend, mostly from Xbox on Sunday. We'll be updating this article through the weekend and beyond, but you can find the latest announcements from Summer Game Fest 2025 on our front page.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/everything-new-at-summer-game-fest-2025-marvel-tokon-resident-evil-requiem-and-more-185425995.html?src=rss

Genshin Impact has finally introduced a non-Cryo character from Mondstadt for the first time since Albedo's release in Version 1.1: Dahlia! He's a four-star Hydro sword character, and also serves as a deacon at the Church of Favonius.

You should report fraud to the FTC and FBI even if you didn't lose money. You'll be a good samaritan if you do.