IDontBeatGames ThreadMarksman - Saved Transistor's sanity twice Member Oct 29, 2017 21,074 New York Welcome to the brand new Nintendo Switch 2 Community |OT|! Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Division, commonly abbreviated as Nintendo EPD, is the largest division within the Japanese video game company Nintendo. The division focuses on developing and producing video games, mobile apps, and other related entertainment software for the company. EPD was created after merging their Entertainment Analysis & Development (EAD) and Software Planning & Development (SPD) divisions in September 2015. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Projects:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom​96​Everybody 1-2-Switch!​56​Pikmin 4​87​Super Mario Bros. Wonder​93​Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition​73​Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club​74​The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom​85​ The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン, Kabushiki Gaisha Pokemon) (TPC) is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the Pokémon franchise, which consists of video game software, a trading card game, anime television series, films, manga, home entertainment products, merchandise, and other ventures. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Projects:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​Pokemon Scarlet/Violet​72​Pokemon Scarlet/Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero: Part I​66​Detective Pikachu Returns​66​Pokemon Scarlet/Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero: Part II​70​ Upcoming Projects:​ Game Title​Source​Pokemon Legends: Z-A​ Monolith Software Inc., trading as Monolith Soft, is a Japanese video game development studio originally owned by Namco (later Bandai Namco) until being bought out by Nintendo in 2007, best known for the Xenoblade Chronicles series of games. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Projects:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​Xenoblade Chronicles 2​83​Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition​89​Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden County​80​Xenoblade Chronicles 3​89​Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Expansion Pass Wave 4 - Future Redeemed​92​ Upcoming Projects:​ Game Title​Source​Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition​ HAL Laboratory, Inc., formerly shortened as HALKEN (derived from its native name), is a Japanese video game developer founded on 21 February 1980. While independent, it has been closely tied with Nintendo throughout its history, and is often referred to as a second-party developer for the company. The company is most famous for their work on the Kirby and Mother series, as well as the first two Super Smash Bros. games. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Projects:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​Kirby Star Allies​73​Kirby and the Forgotten Land​85​Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe​79​ Upcoming Projects:​ Game Title​Source​Kirby: Planet Robobot​ Retro Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo based in Austin, Texas. The studio is best known for its work on the Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country series, and has contributed to several other Nintendo-developed projects, such as Mario Kart 7. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Projects:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze​83​Metroid Prime Remastered​94​ Upcoming Projects:​ Game Title​Source​Metroid Prime 4​Official Youtube Video​Rumors: Metroid Prime 2 & 3 Ports​Jeff Grubb​ NDcube Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer and a subsidiary of Nintendo based in Japan with offices in Tokyo and Sapporo. The majority of the company is made up of former employees of Hudson Soft. They have also been the developers of the Mario Party series since Mario Party 9 onwards. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Projects:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​Super Mario Party​76​Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics​82​Mario Party Superstars​80​Everybody 1,2 Switch​56​Super Mario Party Jamboree​82​ Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game developer best known for developing games published by Nintendo with the Fire Emblem, Paper Mario, WarioWare, and Wars video game series. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Project:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​Fire Emblem: Three Houses​89​Paper Mario: The Origami King​80​WarioWare: Get It Together!​76​Fire Emblem: Engage​80​WarioWare: Movie It!​73​Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Remake​88​ 1-Up Studio Inc. (stylized as "1-UP Studio Inc."), formerly Brownie Brown Inc., is a Japanese video game developer founded on June 30, 2000, in Tokyo, Japan by Shinichi Kameoka and Kouji Tsuda who worked on the Mana series. The studio developed games for both Nintendo and Square Enix, including Magical Vacation and Sword of Mana. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Projects:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​Ring Fit Adventure​83​Animal Crossing: New Horizons​90​Super Mario 3D All Stars​82​Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury​89​ Next Level Games, Inc. is a Canadian video game developer owned by Nintendo based in Vancouver. The company is best known for its work with Nintendo, the Mario Strikers games and Punch-Out!! for the Wii, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Metroid Prime: Federation Force for the Nintendo 3DS, and Luigi's Mansion 3 for the Nintendo Switch. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Current Projects:​ Game Title​Metacritic Score​Luigi's Mansion 3​86​Mario Strikers: Battle League​73​ About the Nintendo Switch Online and the Expansion Pack: Play online with friends, family, and other players around the world. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Play old-school favorites like the Super Mario Bros.™ 3, Donkey Kong Country™, and The Legend of Zelda™: Link's Awakening games. These games include added online functionality so you can compete (or cooperate) online with friends depending on the game. Nintendo Switch Online members can buy a pair of Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers* and redeem each one for a digital game in the voucher catalog to score savings. For example, get The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and one other game for up to $30 in savings with Game Vouchers! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Get all the benefits of Nintendo Switch Online, plus access to classic Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Genesis games, along with select DLC. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Party like it's 1996 with classic Nintendo 64™ games like Mario Kart™ 64, GoldenEye 007, The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™, and more! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Includes classics like The Legend of Zelda™: The Minish Cap and Super Mario™ Advance 4: Super Mario Bros.™ 3. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members also get access a collection of SEGA Genesis™ games—like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Golden Axe—that are great to play anytime, anywhere! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Uncover top-quality experiences from independent developers with Indie World! Covering a wide range of genres, Indie World represent some of the best titles available for the Nintendo Switch from independent developers. Click to expand... Click to shrink... The Nintendo Switch 2 has officially been announced!​ Per Bloomberg: Robin Zhu, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said ahead of the announcement that Nintendo has prepared a supply chain network that will allow the company to sell more than 20 million units in its first year. That compares with the current Switch's sale of around 15 million units in its first four quarters. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Go hands-on with Nintendo Switch 2 at Nintendo Switch 2 Experience events in New York, Los Angeles, and Dallas! A free Nintendo Account is required to register. You can sign up here starting January 17. A free Nintendo account is required for signups. Dates and Locations: New York, April 4-6, 2025 Los Angeles, April 11-13, 2025 Dallas, April 25-27, 2025 Toronto, April 25-27, 2025 Europe: Paris, April 4-6, 2025 London, April 11-13, 2025 Milan, April 25-27, 2025 Berlin, April 25-27, 2025 Madrid, May 9-11, 2025 Amsterdam, May 9-11, 2025 Oceania: Melbourne, May 10-11, 2025 Asia: Tokyo (Makuhari), April 26-27, 2025 Seoul, May 31-June 1, 2025 Hong Kong, To be announced Taipei, To be announced Click to expand... Click to shrink... A Nintendo Direct focusing on the Nintendo Switch 2 has been confirmed! It will release in... Apr 2, 2025 at 10:00 AM ​   Last edited: Jan 16, 2025 Shaman Member Jan 18, 2024 3,556 Oh baby here we go. Exciting times ahead!   OP OP IDontBeatGames ThreadMarksman - Saved Transistor's sanity twice Member Oct 29, 2017 21,074 New York Shaman said: Oh baby here we go. Exciting times ahead! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Let the good times finally begin!   PAFenix Unshakable Resolve Member Nov 21, 2019 20,123 A disappointing lack of Donkey Kong in the OT.   Bishop89 What Are Ya' Selling? Member Oct 25, 2017 42,767 Melbourne, Australia All aboard!   lednerg Member Dec 18, 2017 248 We've made it! Does anybody have access to a press kit with higher quality images/video?   Geg Member Oct 25, 2017 6,606 What the hell is a Switch   Neoxon Spotlighting Black Excellence - Diversity Analyst Member Oct 25, 2017 93,516 Houston, TX Joining in on a new era of Nintendo.   OP OP IDontBeatGames ThreadMarksman - Saved Transistor's sanity twice Member Oct 29, 2017 21,074 New York PAFenix said: A disappointing lack of Donkey Kong in the OT. Click to expand... Click to shrink... We will make it up for it by posting about Donkey Kong its ok we're about to get bananas   ClickyCal' Member Oct 25, 2017 65,518 The year of Metroid Prime 4.   Lukar Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth Member Oct 27, 2017 28,250 Slick OT! ClickyCal' said: The year of Metroid Prime 4. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I reeeaaally hope it has Mouse-Con support on Switch 2. Playing the previous Prime games via PrimeHack feels so good.   jman0625 One Winged Uncle Works at Nintendo Member Dec 18, 2017 845 The year of a New Mario Kart after 11 years   Zekes Member Oct 25, 2017 7,955 Can't wait for the western release of Mother 3 on the Switch 2 baby   PAFenix Unshakable Resolve Member Nov 21, 2019 20,123 IDontBeatGames said: We will make it up for it by posting about Donkey Kong its ok we're about to get bananas Hell yeah, welcome to the super Mario Party! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Feel like we're going to have one hell of a Jamboree  OP OP IDontBeatGames ThreadMarksman - Saved Transistor's sanity twice Member Oct 29, 2017 21,074 New York lednerg said: We've made it! Does anybody have access to a press kit with higher quality images/video? Click to expand... Click to shrink... This is what I'm waiting on! I want to add more Nintendo Switch 2 related content into the OP, I had to make due with various news outlets websites lol Geg said: What the hell is a Switch Click to expand... Click to shrink... That's a good question right there Neoxon said: Joining in on a new era of Nintendo. Click to expand... Click to shrink... ClickyCal' said: The year of Metroid Prime 4. Click to expand... Click to shrink... You've waited so long, your time is almost here, how does it feel?! Lukar said: Slick OT! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Thank you!   jort Member Sep 18, 2024 305 In on first page   Amnixia ▲ Legend ▲ The Fallen Jan 25, 2018 11,942 Can't wait for the direct in April   BannerThief Member Apr 10, 2019 279 Seattle Gonna be my first Nintendo console since the GameCube, lfg.   fox Member Oct 25, 2017 197 Should be fun!   SofNascimento cursed Member Oct 28, 2017 24,911 São Paulo - Brazil I don't own a Switch but I must confess the Switch 2 is an alluring prospect. Waiting for more info.   Spooky_Lantern Member Nov 21, 2017 2,156 So is it confirmed the joycon can be used as a mouse?   MrSaturn99 One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 13,066 I live in a giant bucket. We're sorry we doubted ya, Nate! Fantastic work. Here's to a new era of Nintendo.  Aniki "This guy are sick" Member Oct 25, 2017 7,253 I hope I can get one day one. Looking forward to Monolith's new game.   Televoid Uncle Works at Nintendo Member Nov 28, 2024 1,458 Alright so now that Mous-con is real, over/under on if we're finally getting DS NSO on the new system.   Rndom Grenadez Prophet of Truth Member Dec 7, 2017 6,095 We in here!   OP OP IDontBeatGames ThreadMarksman - Saved Transistor's sanity twice Member Oct 29, 2017 21,074 New York BannerThief said: Gonna be my first Nintendo console since the GameCube, lfg. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Hell yeah!! We're happy you're here!   Shaman Member Jan 18, 2024 3,556 IDontBeatGames said: Let the good times finally begin! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Hell yeah! The gif is mental and I LOVE IT! Also the Direct will be on my birthday  Undeniablybiased Member Oct 25, 2017 4,163 Can't wait for everybody 1 Switch 2 Genuinely though, very excited to see a new Mario kart and whatever weird games the mouse-con bring us. Full version of that caveman online playtest maybe??  mavericktopgun Member Oct 27, 2017 5,447 Will the Switch 2 be bigger or as big as the ROG Ally? It's almost too big tbh.   EPaul Member Oct 30, 2017 650 Let's Goooo!   RebelStrike Member Apr 28, 2020 925 Hell yes and wow, very elaborate OT! Can't wait for the April Direct and more than ready to pick this up day one lol.   Xwing This guy are sick of the unshakeable slayer Member Nov 11, 2017 11,611 This is an excellent OT; awesome work! Looking forward to the Halo MCC announcement.  Jakenbakin "This guy are sick" and Corrupted by Vengeance Member Jun 17, 2018 14,385 Please god give me a new Monolith trailer in April   Lutv Member Nov 17, 2017 178 Jakarta Can't wait!   Vex Member Oct 25, 2017 25,625 GODDAMN NEW THREAD SMELL?   Punished Dan Member Oct 27, 2017 4,534 We will be there.   KanjoBazooie ▲ Legend ▲ Avenger Oct 26, 2017 32,726 Chicago BannerThief said: Gonna be my first Nintendo console since the GameCube, lfg. Click to expand... Click to shrink... welcome back to having a Nintendo console, this one should be dope   Maxime Member Oct 27, 2017 3,590 Highly doubt I'll be there day one, not even a big Nintendo client. But ngl, a new Nintendo console is always something special.   Ramsiege Avenger Oct 27, 2017 1,599 Excited for this one! Can't wait!   PaultheNerd Member Dec 25, 2018 978 Exciting times, looking forward to more news in April! Until then, Switch 1 direct and Pokemon Legends ZA trailer in February should hold me over.   poptire Avatar Wrecking Crew The Fallen Oct 25, 2017 15,517 Hello Switch 2 family   Punch_Rockgroin Member Feb 7, 2022 849 My poor wife has committed to getting this for me as a Father's Day gift. I wish her luck. 🫡 Are we actually getting joycon mice?!  Lukar Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth Member Oct 27, 2017 28,250 lednerg said: We've made it! Does anybody have access to a press kit with higher quality images/video? Click to expand... Click to shrink... IDontBeatGames said: This is what I'm waiting on! I want to add more Nintendo Switch 2 related content into the OP, I had to make due with various news outlets websites lol Click to expand... Click to shrink... There are a couple of pics on their press site, one sec EDIT: Here you go  Televoid Uncle Works at Nintendo Member Nov 28, 2024 1,458 BannerThief said: Gonna be my first Nintendo console since the GameCube, lfg. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Honestly a good choice with the BC of the new system. You'll have two generations of games to easily play on.   Kouriozan Member Oct 25, 2017 24,836 Posting in a new legendary thread. Switch 2 took it sweatass time but is finally showing itself !  Mattmo831 Featuring Mattmo831 from the Apple v Epic case Member Oct 26, 2020 6,541 Hello my family. cant wait for a new 3d mario (plz)   Bizarre Member Dec 7, 2024 970 Here goes The season of F Zero must be coming this time around  rewkol One Winged Slayer Member Oct 27, 2017 420 BannerThief said: Gonna be my first Nintendo console since the GameCube, lfg. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Don't know if I envy you for having so many great games to go back to, or if I feel sorry for you because there are so many games to go back to and (hopefully) so many more great games to come!  Genesius Member Nov 2, 2018 20,586 Gonna wait for Animal Crossing before I pick up a Switch 2 Mario Kart is evergreen  thecowboypoet Avenger Oct 25, 2017 2,533 Bishop89 said: Ultimate tier gif. 

Nintendo's mascot is one of the most iconic video game characters of all time, but fans have only just discovered the unusual backstory behind Super Mario's nameTech16:08, 22 May 2025The origin of Mario's name goes back to a rent dispute in the 1980s(Image: Universal Studios via AP)Super Mario has been enchanting video gamers for decades, yet it appears many have only just stumbled upon the origins of the iconic plumber's name. For anyone with a passing interest in gaming, Mario is a household name, the protagonist of the famous Super Mario series and the face of Nintendo.The Mario franchise stands as the top-selling video game series ever, boasting over 830 million units sold – including a staggering 430 million from Super Mario titles alone. Whether at costume parties or Halloween bashes, Mario's likeness is unmistakable across the globe.‌However, the backstory behind his moniker remains a curiosity for many. First making an appearance in 1981's Donkey Kong, the character initially went by "Jumpman", but it wasn't until the follow-up, 1982's Donkey Kong Jr, that he received the memorable name Mario, paving his way to international acclaim.‌The website Quora saw an outpouring of intrigue when one user posed the query: "Why is Mario called Mario?" Knowledgeable fans were quick off the mark to clarify, shedding light on a fascinating tidbit. The beloved character's namesake was none other than Mario Segale, an American businessman and notable figure in real estate development.Segale was the proprietor of a warehouse in Tukwila, Washington, which Nintendo used as a rental space during the early 1980s. When Minoru Arakawa, the founder and erstwhile president of Nintendo of America, fell behind on the rent for the premises, Segale made a memorable appearance to "angrily remind" him to pay – inadvertently providing inspiration to the Nintendo team.Article continues belowOne Quora user expressed their thoughts: "Could have been Shigeru Miyamoto, but I'm going with former Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa as a means to mock their then-landlord Mario Seagale, which in turn, turned Jumpman into Mario when the character became the antagonist in Donkey Kong Jr."Another individual elaborated: "Mario is called Mario because he was named after Mario Segale, who was the landlord of Nintendo of America's office, after barging in on a company meeting to demand payment of overdue rent."One Nintendo exec was said to have named Mario after their angry landlord(Image: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)‌In Jeff Ryan's 2011 book, Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America, he delved into the origins of the iconic name, recounting how Segale had nearly "jumped up and down himself" in fury over the delayed rent, emulating Jumpman’s own antics.He wrote: "Around this time, the Tukwila warehouse's owner showed up in person to angrily remind Arakawa about the rent. As the legend goes, the owner, Mario Segale, interrupted a conversation over what to call Jumpman. Segale said his piece, and he grew so incensed he almost jumped up and down himself."After the landlord departed, having delivered the threat of eviction, someone suggested the name Mario. It was a bit of a laugh, given that both men sported moustaches. But the name was well-received by all.Article continues below"If Mr. Segale had only shaved that morning, who can say what name the character on the screen might have been given? Super Carlos? Super Ivan? Super Stavros? Would that alternate-universe name have made a difference in Nintendo's success? Under any other name, would Mario play as sweet?"Mario will next appear in Mario Kart World for the Nintendo Switch 2, which will be released as a launch game for the new console on June 5th.‌‌‌

“Metamorphosis of Consciousness” (2025), mixed media, dimensions variable. All images courtesy of Red Brick Art Museum Through Fairy Lights and Butterflies, Chiharu Shiota Tethers Presence and Absence May 22, 2025 Art Grace Ebert In one of the foundational texts of Taoism, Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou recalls a dream in which he was a butterfly, soaring through the sky with no recollection of his human form. Upon waking, though, he finds himself firmly in a bipedal body, prompting an important question: is he a butterfly dreaming he’s Zhuang Zhou or a man dreaming he’s a butterfly? This ancient story of transformation and the thin line between states of mind informs a dazzling new installation by Chiharu Shiota (previously). “Metamorphosis of Consciousness” suspends glimmering lights and faint butterfly wings above an iron-framed twin bed topped with a white blanket and pillow. Rejecting the strict separation between body and mind, Shiota references her belief in the spirit’s ability to endure long after one’s final breath. “While each time we slip into sleep, it is a rehearsal for death—a journey beyond the body,” she says. “Metamorphosis of Consciousness” (2025), mixed media, dimensions variable Exemplary of the artist’s interest in memory and knowledge, “Metamorphosis of Consciousness” is just one of the immersive works in the monumental exhibition Silent Emptiness at Red Brick Art Museum in Beijing. On view through August 31, the show revolves around Shiota’s ongoing explorations into the “presence in absence,” this time extending such inquiries into ideas of emptiness as it relates to Eastern philosophy and enlightenment. Included in the exhibtion is an antique Tibetan Buddhist doorway that anchors “Gateway to Silence,” an explosive installation that entwines the elaborately carved wood structure in a dense, criss-crossing labyrinth of string. Red thread, one of the artist’s favored materials, symbolizes relationships. And in this case, it’s an invitation to introspection and finding an awareness of the present moment. Metaphorically interlacing art, memory, and faith, Shiota very literally visualizes the intextricable web in which we’re all bound, regardless of geography or era. Pieces like “Echoes of Time” and “Rooted Memories” incorporate materials like soil and large stones, presenting the passage of time as cyclical and the past as always shaping the present. Detail of “Gateway to Silence” (2025), antique porch and red wool, dimensions variable Born in Osaka, the artist has lived in Berlin for much of her life, and Silent Emptiness also tethers her roots to more global experiences. Shiota likened her understanding of herself to the way salt molecules appear as crystals only after water evaporates. “I was not visible as an individual in Japan,” she says. “Whereas I did not know who I was, what I wanted to do, and what was necessary in the water, I feel that I became an individual and crystal, and understood those things for the first time by coming to Germany.” Another example of finding presence in absence, Shiota’s migration and experience of discovery provides an important touchstone for her thinking and practice. She adds, “Absence does not signify disappearance but rather an integration into a vaster universe, re-entering the flow of time and forming new connections with all things.” (via designboom) “Gateway to Silence” (2025, antique porch and red wool, dimensions variable Detail of “Gateway to Silence” (2025, antique porch and red wool, dimensions variable Detail of “Metamorphosis of Consciousness” (2025), mixed media, dimensions variable “Rooted Memories” (2025), red rope, boat, and earth, dimensions variable “Rooted Memories” (2025), red rope, boat, and earth, dimensions variable Detail of “Rooted Memories” (2025), red rope, boat, and earth, dimensions variable “Multiple Realities” (2025), mixed media, dimensions variable “Echoes of Time” (2025), black yarn and rock, dimensions variable “Echoes of Time” (2025), black yarn and rock, dimensions variable Next article

While other streaming services thrive on carefully selected and endlessly curated (meaning: limited) selections of movies, Tubi's a bit different: It feels like the Wild West, with everything from originals; to popular hits; to critically acclaimed favorites; to the lowest-brow, lowest-budget movies you'll find this side of an old Blockbuster. In that spirit, here's a sampling of some of the best stuff currently streaming on Tubi, and it's a wide variety—the streamer will not be pinned down. If you're unfamiliar, Tubi is a free, ad-based service, but generally I find the ads to be less obnoxious and less frequent than on other, similar streamers. Interstellar (2014) Christopher Nolan's mind-bending, but oddly plausible, sci-fi epic takes Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain on a hunt through space and time to find a new home for humans in a near-future during which we've made Earth unlivable. You can stream Interstellar here.Color Out of Space (2019) Nicolas Cage is at his Nic Cage-iest in this H. P. Lovecraft adaptation about a family's descent into madness. A beautiful, horrifying, utterly unique sensory experience. You can stream Color Out of Space here.Friday (1995) An unquestioned classic of stoner comedy, Friday sees Ice Cube and Chris Tucker accidentally smoking weed that they were meant to sell. And who among us hasn't? The two slackers set out to borrow or make the money back during a misadventure-packed Friday. You can stream Friday here. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan (alongside Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis) led Everything to Oscar glory a couple of years back, with Yeoh starring as Evelyn Quan Wang, a middle-aged immigrant running a laundromat with her husband. An IRS audit leads to a trip through a wildly outlandish, and ultimately emotional, journey through a multiverse of possibilities. You can stream Everything Everywhere here.Dune (1984) You've probably seen the recent Denis Villeneuve adaptation, but you might be less familiar with this messy and fascinating take from director David Lynch. Kyle MacLachlan leads an all-star cast in a movie that doesn't quite an achieve greatness, but nevertheless offers up a bevy of wild ideas, distinctive visuals, and Lynchian madness. You can stream Dune here. Some Like It Hot (1959) Tubi offers up a better assortment of classics than many of the other streamers, most of which have shifted to a newer-is-better focus. Hot stars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis as a couple of jazz-age musicians who run afoul of a mob boss, deciding to escape by posing as members of an all-female band (one that, memorably, includes Marilyn Monroe). Director Billy Wilder pitches the farce just right, at the intersection between smart and silly. You can stream Some Like It Hot here. Evil Bong (2006) No socially redeeming value here, just a goofy comedy horror movie about a bong that transports smokers to another planet, one where they're to be murdered by exotic dancers. Tommy Chong co-stars in this movie from Full Moon Features, purveyors of fine low-rent horror movies. You can stream Evil Bong here. Ghost World (2001) Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) face high school graduation, and a crush on Steve Buscemi, in Terry Zwigoff’s indie dark comedy. You can stream Ghost World here.Donnie Darko (2001) Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this memorable emo mind-bender about a troubled teenager who dodges disaster thanks to a bit of sleepwalking. An instant cult classic, it's the movie all the cool kids were talking about back in the day. You can stream Donnie Darko (director's cut) here, or the theatrical version here. Hollywood Shuffle (1987) Robert Townsend directs himself as Bobby Taylor, a satire about the perils of navigating the Hollywood system for an actor simultaneously too black and not black enough for the tastes of studio bosses. Through elaborate fantasy sequences and parodies of popular movies, Townsend creates a sharp and often extremely funny sendup that’s (sadly) still relevant. You can stream Hollywood Shuffle here.Barbarian (2022) One of the more divisive horror movies of the past few years (I love it), Barbarian stars Georgina Campbell as a woman who rents an Airbnb only to have a man (Bill Skarsgård) show up claiming that he also has rented the house. He seems nice enough, so she lets him in—enough of a premise for a horror movie right there, but Barbarian has twists that you'll never see coming. You can stream Barbarian here.Showgirls (1995) As with most of Paul Verhoeven's other films, it's possible to view his notoriously trashy film as either dark satire or unintended camp. It's tremendous fun either way and, though it quickly gained a reputation as garbage, it's far more watchable than many other better-reviewed films. You can stream Showgirls here.Rec (2007) This Spanish import is top-tier found footage, involving a group of firefighters on an emergency call who wind up trapped inside a building at the center of a creeping zombie infection. That limited, specific geography is key to the movie's brisk, efficient, and nerve-jangling effectiveness. You can stream Rec here.Planet of the Apes (1968) Astronaut Charlton Heston finds himself on an unknown (wink wink) planet in the distant future where he rather quickly finds himself in the power of the world's ape overlords. From a slightly goofy premise came this dark, disturbing, and timely fable. You can stream Planet of the Apes here. The Apartment (1960) Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine star in this searing, bittersweet, but ultimately humane comedy. MacLaine's Fran Kubelik is an elevator operator having an affair with the big boss at an insurance company, while Lemmon's Bud Baxter gets ahead by loaning out his apartment to upper management for various extramarital assignations. The budding friendship between the two threatens both of their careers. You can stream The Apartment here. Whale Rider (2002) Pai is a 12-year-old Māori girl and the direct descendant of their tribe’s traditional notable ancestor, the Whale Rider—except that, traditionally, women can’t lead. Star Keisha Castle-Hughes became the youngest nominee for a Best Actress Oscar for her open, genuine performance. You can stream Whale Rider here. The Descent (2006) Getting lost in those caves is scary enough, even before we discover that we're not alone down there. The ultimate in spelunking horror. You can stream The Descent here.Menace II Society (1993) A searing, raw portrait of urban violence in the 1990s, the Hughes Brothers' film follows Caine Lawson (Tyrin Turner) and his friends as they struggle for a better life amid crime and poverty, but who find themselves drawn deeper into crime and cruelty. The performances here are all phenomenal. You can stream Menace II Society here. Beauty Shop (2005) This Barbershop spin-off follows widowed hairstylist Gina Norris starting over in Atlanta with her daughter, and opening her own shop when a job doesn't pan out. Queen Latifah is as delightful as ever, and is joined by a great cast including Alfre Woodard, Della Reese, Alicia Silverstone, Andie MacDowell, Kevin Bacon, and Djimon Hounsou. You can stream Beauty Shop here.Room 237 (2012) This fascinating documentary explores, without judgement, the many (and often truly wild) theories and interpretations around Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Probably not what you're after if you want a bit of film analysis, but as an exploration of conspiratorial thinking? You could do a lot worse. You can stream Room 237 here. Terrifier (2016) Damien Leone's low-budget slasher series quietly build into a queasy empire, with the most recent film being a legit box office smash. Here, literal clown-from-hell Art stalks partygoer Tara Heyes and her sister Victoria (Scaffidi) on Halloween night. You can stream Terrifier here. Return of the Living Dead (1985) This horror comedy with punk style is both a knowing parody of zombie movies while also managing to be an impressively gory thriller in its own right that moves the whole genre forward. Plus, it’s got a great death-rock soundtrack. You can stream Return of the Living Dead here.Frankenhooker (1990) A disreputable and goofy but surprisingly effective horror comedy, Frankenhooker stars former Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen as the movie's take on Mary Shelley's monster, made in the image of a med student's dead fiancée and built from sex workers. The style and special effects here are pretty great. You can stream Frankenhooker here.Ghost in the Shell (1995) One of the best anime films of all time, at least when it comes to sci-fi and cyberpunk, Ghost in the Shell boasts impeccable style in addition to the thoughtfulness and complexity of its story. Major Motoko Kusanagi is a cyborg security agent hunting an enigmatic hacker known only as "the Puppet Master" in the rapidly approaching year 2029, a time when the rise of AI threatens even the idea of individual existence. You can stream Ghost in the Shell here. The Leather Boys (1964) A classic of British kitchen sink realism, a movement in the 1960s that saw hyperrealistic portraits of, often, angry teens and young people, The Leather Boys sees young couple Reggie and Dot becoming increasingly estranged when Reggie mostly wants to just hang out with his biker friends. Among those friends is Pete, who seems to be developing an attraction to Reggie that goes a bit beyond that of a typical biker bro. You can stream The Leather Boys here. North by Northwest (1959) One of Hitchcock's best (and that's saying quite a bit), North by Northwest is a nearly non-stop thrill ride, seeing Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill hunted across the country by criminals who've mistaken him for someone else. It's as funny as it is clever, and nearly impossible to stop watching once you've started. You can stream North by Northwest here.Lars and the Real Girl (2007) The sweetest, most charming movie about the romance between a man and his life-like love doll that you're likely to encounter. You can stream Lars and the Real Girl here.They Call Me Trinity (1970) A classic spaghetti western, Trinity (kicking off a trilogy, appropriately enough), stars Terence Hill and Bud Spencer as brothers Trinity and Bambino, who help defend a Mormon settlement from bandits and a land-grabbing Major (Farley Granger). It's a rare comedy to come out of Italy's obsession with westerns, and a lot of fun for it. You can stream They Call Me Trinity here. The Wiz (1978) Long before Wicked reinvented (or at least reinterpreted) L. Frank Baum, the Broadway musical on which this movie is based imagined Dorothy Gale as a Black teacher from Harlem. The joyous film version is nearly a who's who of Black talent in the 1970s: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Thelma Carpenter, Lena Horne and Richard Pryor all play roles, while Quincy Jones, Luther Vandross, and Charlie Smalls all contributed to the music. You can stream The Wiz here. Cabaret (1972) Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey star in this essential musical about the good times and extravagant style of Weimar Germany giving way to the rising tide of fascism. You can stream Cabaret here.

Sniper Elite and Zombie Army developer Rebellion released a new IP earlier this year in the form of Atomfall, and though success is never guaranteed for a new IP, Rebellion’s latest has got off to a great start. Shortly after its launch, Rebellion announced that the game – which is also available via Game Pass on Xbox and PC – had crossed 2 million players across all platforms, and now the developer has elaborated further. Speaking in a recent interview with The Game Business, Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley revealed (via IGN) the fact that Atomfall was “immediately profitable” for the British studio at launch, in spite of the fact that a portion of its player base joined in through Game Pass and not direct sales. Kingsley went on to add that plans for sequels or spinoffs set in the Atomfall universe were also being discussed, while work on post-launch updates and DLC for Atomfall itself is, of course, also continuing. In our review of Atomfall, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “Atomfall concocts an engrossing story in a world full of intrigue and whimsy, while delivering a gameplay experience that is defined by strong world design, rewarding exploration, and an impressive emphasis on player agency. Utterly gorgeous and wonderfully eccentric, Rebellion’s post-nuclear dystopia is well worth checking out, even with some issues in combat and stealth.” Read the full review through here. Atomfall is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. 

Belgium-based Ravical has secured €7.3mn in pre-seed funding to bring AI agents to professional services firms in tax, legal, accounting, and insurance.  Joris Van Der Gucht, Ravical’s CEO and co-founder, said the “virtual employees” could do 80% of the work in these firms.   “Ravical’s agents take on the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that slow experts down,” he told TNW, citing examples such as retrieving data from internal systems, checking the latest regulations, or reading long policies.  Despite doing up to 80% of the work in these firms, Van Der Gucht downplayed concerns about the agents supplanting humans. The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!“We don’t expect job losses,” he said. “It’s not about replacing experts, it’s about creating space for them to be more impactful and reimagining how they engage with their clients.” Ravical’s AI agents are designed to suggest, not act independently. The company said each AI-generated output is traceable and audible, which are critical requirements in the world of professional services.  Ravical isn’t Van Der Gucht’s first venture into automating workflows. He previously co-founded Silverfin, which provides cloud-based accounting automation software. In 2023, he sold the company for €320mn. In February, he founded Ravical alongside AI experts Ken Bastiaensen and Benjamin Vandermarliere. Armed with fresh funding, the startup plans to refine its algorithms and expand its team.   Enrico Mellis, partner at Lakestar, the lead investor in the round, said he was excited to support the company in bringing its “proven” experience in automation to the booming agentic AI market. “Agentic AI is moving from buzzword to board-level priority,” Mellis said.  Ravical said it has already undertaken 10 pilot projects with professional services firms of various sizes and across multiple industries. The company is eyeing international expansion, but didn’t elaborate on where. AI’s evolution will be a hot topic at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19-20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now on sale — use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the checkout to get 30% off. Story by Siôn Geschwindt Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehic (show all) Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehicles, he's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. He has five years of journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. When he's not writing, you can probably find Siôn out hiking, surfing, playing the drums or catering to his moderate caffeine addiction. You can contact him at: sion.geschwindt [at] protonmail [dot] com Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

Belgium-based Ravical has secured €7.3mn in pre-seed funding to bring AI agents to professional services firms in tax, legal, accounting, and insurance.  Joris Van Der Gucht, Ravical’s CEO and co-founder, said the “virtual employees” could do 80% of the work in these firms.   “Ravical’s agents take on the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that slow experts down,” he told TNW, citing examples such as retrieving data from internal systems, checking the latest regulations, or reading long policies.  Despite doing up to 80% of the work in these firms, Van Der Gucht downplayed concerns about the agents supplanting humans. “We don’t expect job losses,” he said. “It’s not about replacing experts, it’s about creating space for them to be more impactful and reimagining how they engage with their clients.”The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now! Ravical’s AI agents are designed to suggest, not act independently. The company said each AI-generated output is traceable and audible, which are critical requirements in the world of professional services.  Ravical isn’t Van Der Gucht’s first venture into automating workflows. He previously co-founded Silverfin, which provides cloud-based accounting automation software. In 2023, he sold the company for €320mn. In February, he founded Ravical alongside AI experts Ken Bastiaensen and Benjamin Vandermarliere. Armed with fresh funding, the startup plans to refine its algorithms and expand its team.   Enrico Mellis, partner at Lakestar, the lead investor in the round, said he was excited to support the company in bringing its “proven” experience in automation to the booming agentic AI market. “Agentic AI is moving from buzzword to board-level priority,” Mellis said.  Ravical said it has already undertaken 10 pilot projects with professional services firms of various sizes and across multiple industries. The company is eyeing international expansion, but didn’t elaborate on where. AI’s evolution will be a hot topic at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19-20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now on sale — use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the checkout to get 30% off. Story by Siôn Geschwindt Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehic (show all) Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehicles, he's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. He has five years of journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. When he's not writing, you can probably find Siôn out hiking, surfing, playing the drums or catering to his moderate caffeine addiction. You can contact him at: sion.geschwindt [at] protonmail [dot] com Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

Mario Kart World is obviously the big Nintendo Switch 2 launch title that’s going to dominate headlines not long from now, but there are other, smaller experiences coming from Nintendo that will be available on the upcoming next-gen console day 1 as well. There is, for instance, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, a game-slash-tech demo-slash-experience that, as its name suggests, is meant to act as a tour for all things related to the Switch 2 and its hardware. Ahead of its release, then, here, we’re going to go over a few key details that you should know about Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. WHAT IS IT? Let’s start with the basics- what exactly is Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour? It is, in a nutshell, a tech demo presented in the form of a guided tour that is meant to offer key details on the Nintendo Switch 2, its features, and its hardware. It will deliver that information through a mix of minigames, tech demos, and more. HOW IT IS STRUCTURED Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will see players controlling a tiny avatar character that you will move around on a large recreation of the Nintendo Switch 2 console. You will be able to walk around on the Switch 2 tablet, its screen, its buttons, and what have you, and will even be able to go into the console’s interiors, learning more about it as you go. FEATURES AND TECH DETAILS As you would expect, Nintendo is using Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour as an opportunity to succinctly convey key information about the console’s tech and features to as many people as possible. That means those who want to familiarize themselves with the basics can learn more about the Switch 2 Joy-Cons’ magnetic connectors, how the mouse functionality works (more on that in a bit), and other tech details. EXHIBITS The entirety of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be presented as one giant exhibit, with multiple smaller exhibits for players to walk around and explore. From roaming the different exhibit halls that resemble a giant Switch 2 to discovering and engaging with a variety of minigames, it seems like there will be a good bit of things to do. QUESTION MARKS AND SIGNS As you’re walking around the exhibits in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, you’ll spot question marks, dialogue prompts, and the like scattered everywhere. Interacting with these will uncover new information in a variety of ways. Let’s speak about some of those… MINIGAMES As you would expect, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will obviously feature several minigames that it will use to demonstrate some of its new features and capabilities. One tech demo, for instance, will turn your Joy-Cons into a virtual pair of maracas, asking you to shake them around and sense and play around with the beads inside to highlight the improved HD Rumble 2 feature. Another HD Rumble 2 minigame will task you with flipping a Joy-Con and using it as a mouse to find a single invisible point on the screen using only the vibrations you feel through the controller. MORE MINIGAMES There’s more minigames to speak of. For instance, there’s Speed Golf, which will have you use a Joy-Con as a mouse to, you guessed it, play golf. There’s also Dodge the Spike Balls, which is exactly what you think- you play as a tiny UFO in mouse mode and have to avoid a barrage of spike balls of different sizes, with the game serving as an advertisement of sorts of how precise and accurate the Switch 2’s mouse controls can supposedly be. Dodge the Spike Balls will also have a more difficult variant, where rather than simply dodging spike balls, you will also have to collect stars that will frequently appear amidst the barrage. Different minigames will also record high scores. QUIZES Scattered throughout the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour exhibits, you’ll also find what are known as Insights Quizes, which will present you with sets of questions that you’ll pick answers out of provided options for to test your knowledge about the Switch 2, its tech, and its hardware. The HD Rumble 2 quiz, for instance, will ask you about the console’s controllers, how the feature works on the inside of the controllers, and more. TECH DEMOS As we’ve touched on, several tech demos will also be featured in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour to show off the console’s capabilities and improvements over its predecessor. One tech demo that stands out, interestingly enough, is titled Super Mario Bros. 4K Demo, which has you play through the iconic level 1-1 from the original Super Mario Bros. The entire level is presented on a single screen, and more of it appears as you move and scroll forward. SECRETS Curiously, several times, Nintendo has said that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will also feature a number of hidden secrets and surprises tucked away, which likely means that players are going to be encouraged to poke around. Obviously, given the game’s very nature (if it can even be called a game, that is), you probably shouldn’t expect anything too elaborate or meaty, though it definitely does sound like there will be at least some digging to do for those who enjoy that sort of thing. MAP MENU At any time while moving around the exhibits, you’ll also be able to pull up a map menu that will let you conveniently scroll through all of your discovered activities on the side, and jump directly to them if you wish. Activities that you discover and engage with will automatically fill out your map, including the stamps that you’ve discovered, tech demos and minigames you have found, and more. FILE SIZE Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour isn’t going to be a particularly large or beefy game, and as you would expect, that is going to be reflected in its file size. As per its eShop listing, it will weight in at roughly 2 GB, which is pretty small even by Switch 2 standards- which, as we have seen from other games, is going to have larger file sizes than the Switch 1 (though still nowhere quite as large as what we see for most games on other platforms). PRICE Nintendo Switch 2 games are going to be pricier than they were on the Switch (and, in some cases, like with Mario Kart World, pricier than most games are on any other platform out there), but Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be much cheaper. The tech demo will be available for a price of $9.99. WHY IT ISN’T A FREE PACK-IN Many have argued that even a $10 price is unreasonable for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, given what it is and what it is offering, and arguably, the fact that we have had free pack-ins over the years like Wii Sports and Astro’s Playroom does kind of add more weight to that. Speaking to IGN about the game’s price and the decision to not include it as a pack-in with the Switch 2, Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinnen said, “For some people, I think there are people who are particularly interested in the tech and the specs of the system and things like that, for them I think it’s going to be a great product. It’s really for people that want more information about the system rather than necessarily a quick intro to everything it does. “And for that reason and just the amount of care and work that the team put into it, I think it was decided that, ‘Yeah, this feels like $9.99 is not an exorbitant price. It feels like a good value for what you’re getting out of the product.’ “ DIGITAL-ONLY When Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour launches, those who wish to partake will only be able to do so through digital purchases. Nintendo has confirmed that physical copies of the game will not be made available.

Mario Kart World is obviously the big Nintendo Switch 2 launch title that’s going to dominate headlines not long from now, but there are other, smaller experiences coming from Nintendo that will be available on the upcoming next-gen console day 1 as well. There is, for instance, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, a game-slash-tech demo-slash-experience that, as its name suggests, is meant to act as a tour for all things related to the Switch 2 and its hardware. Ahead of its release, then, here, we’re going to go over a few key details that you should know about Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. WHAT IS IT? Let’s start with the basics- what exactly is Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour? It is, in a nutshell, a tech demo presented in the form of a guided tour that is meant to offer key details on the Nintendo Switch 2, its features, and its hardware. It will deliver that information through a mix of minigames, tech demos, and more. HOW IT IS STRUCTURED Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will see players controlling a tiny avatar character that you will move around on a large recreation of the Nintendo Switch 2 console. You will be able to walk around on the Switch 2 tablet, its screen, its buttons, and what have you, and will even be able to go into the console’s interiors, learning more about it as you go. FEATURES AND TECH DETAILS As you would expect, Nintendo is using Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour as an opportunity to succinctly convey key information about the console’s tech and features to as many people as possible. That means those who want to familiarize themselves with the basics can learn more about the Switch 2 Joy-Cons’ magnetic connectors, how the mouse functionality works (more on that in a bit), and other tech details. EXHIBITS The entirety of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be presented as one giant exhibit, with multiple smaller exhibits for players to walk around and explore. From roaming the different exhibit halls that resemble a giant Switch 2 to discovering and engaging with a variety of minigames, it seems like there will be a good bit of things to do. QUESTION MARKS AND SIGNS As you’re walking around the exhibits in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, you’ll spot question marks, dialogue prompts, and the like scattered everywhere. Interacting with these will uncover new information in a variety of ways. Let’s speak about some of those… MINIGAMES As you would expect, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will obviously feature several minigames that it will use to demonstrate some of its new features and capabilities. One tech demo, for instance, will turn your Joy-Cons into a virtual pair of maracas, asking you to shake them around and sense and play around with the beads inside to highlight the improved HD Rumble 2 feature. Another HD Rumble 2 minigame will task you with flipping a Joy-Con and using it as a mouse to find a single invisible point on the screen using only the vibrations you feel through the controller. MORE MINIGAMES There’s more minigames to speak of. For instance, there’s Speed Golf, which will have you use a Joy-Con as a mouse to, you guessed it, play golf. There’s also Dodge the Spike Balls, which is exactly what you think- you play as a tiny UFO in mouse mode and have to avoid a barrage of spike balls of different sizes, with the game serving as an advertisement of sorts of how precise and accurate the Switch 2’s mouse controls can supposedly be. Dodge the Spike Balls will also have a more difficult variant, where rather than simply dodging spike balls, you will also have to collect stars that will frequently appear amidst the barrage. Different minigames will also record high scores. QUIZES Scattered throughout the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour exhibits, you’ll also find what are known as Insights Quizes, which will present you with sets of questions that you’ll pick answers out of provided options for to test your knowledge about the Switch 2, its tech, and its hardware. The HD Rumble 2 quiz, for instance, will ask you about the console’s controllers, how the feature works on the inside of the controllers, and more. TECH DEMOS As we’ve touched on, several tech demos will also be featured in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour to show off the console’s capabilities and improvements over its predecessor. One tech demo that stands out, interestingly enough, is titled Super Mario Bros. 4K Demo, which has you play through the iconic level 1-1 from the original Super Mario Bros. The entire level is presented on a single screen, and more of it appears as you move and scroll forward. SECRETS Curiously, several times, Nintendo has said that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will also feature a number of hidden secrets and surprises tucked away, which likely means that players are going to be encouraged to poke around. Obviously, given the game’s very nature (if it can even be called a game, that is), you probably shouldn’t expect anything too elaborate or meaty, though it definitely does sound like there will be at least some digging to do for those who enjoy that sort of thing. MAP MENU At any time while moving around the exhibits, you’ll also be able to pull up a map menu that will let you conveniently scroll through all of your discovered activities on the side, and jump directly to them if you wish. Activities that you discover and engage with will automatically fill out your map, including the stamps that you’ve discovered, tech demos and minigames you have found, and more. FILE SIZE Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour isn’t going to be a particularly large or beefy game, and as you would expect, that is going to be reflected in its file size. As per its eShop listing, it will weight in at roughly 2 GB, which is pretty small even by Switch 2 standards- which, as we have seen from other games, is going to have larger file sizes than the Switch 1 (though still nowhere quite as large as what we see for most games on other platforms). PRICE Nintendo Switch 2 games are going to be pricier than they were on the Switch (and, in some cases, like with Mario Kart World, pricier than most games are on any other platform out there), but Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be much cheaper. The tech demo will be available for a price of $9.99. WHY IT ISN’T A FREE PACK-IN Many have argued that even a $10 price is unreasonable for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, given what it is and what it is offering, and arguably, the fact that we have had free pack-ins over the years like Wii Sports and Astro’s Playroom does kind of add more weight to that. Speaking to IGN about the game’s price and the decision to not include it as a pack-in with the Switch 2, Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinnen said, “For some people, I think there are people who are particularly interested in the tech and the specs of the system and things like that, for them I think it’s going to be a great product. It’s really for people that want more information about the system rather than necessarily a quick intro to everything it does. “And for that reason and just the amount of care and work that the team put into it, I think it was decided that, ‘Yeah, this feels like $9.99 is not an exorbitant price. It feels like a good value for what you’re getting out of the product.’ “ DIGITAL-ONLY When Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour launches, those who wish to partake will only be able to do so through digital purchases. Nintendo has confirmed that physical copies of the game will not be made available.

Back in 2010, when Cartoon Network first announced its plan to reboot the beloved 1985 animated TV series Thundercats, the first thought that went through my mind was, “That’s great! Do Blackstar next!” In 2014, when Boat Rocker Media announced its reboot of 1981’s Danger Mouse, same thing: “Huh, interesting, but do Blackstar next.” 2016’s Disney reveal about its reboot of 1987’s Duck Tales? “Rad. But… Blackstar?” And so it went, year after year, with the announcements about 2018’s Netflix reboot of She-Ra: Princess of Power, 2021’s He-Man reboot Masters of the Universe: Revelation, the CG version of Inspector Gadget, the American Voltron update Voltron: Legendary Defender, half a dozen new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers projects, a little-loved second Thundercats series, and every single Smurfs movie. I get it — the kids of the ’80s are producers and writers and showrunners now, with enough clout to get their childhood memories turned into new shows. But apparently none of them watched Blackstar, easily one of the coolest animated series of the 1980s, built around the coolest sword. There’s a direct genetic line between the success of 1977’s Star Wars and the wave of space-set, fantasy-themed Saturday morning cartoons that closely followed. Star Wars beget ABC’s popular Thundarr the Barbarian, a post-apocalyptic dystopian-future fantasy about a muscular hero who fought oppressive magical villains while wearing a fur skirt, hanging out with a leotard-clad sorceress, and more or less carrying a lightsaber and traveling with a Wookiee. Thundarr helped inspire Blackstar, CBS’ equivalent show, about a muscular hero who fought oppressive magical villains while wearing a fur skirt, hanging out with a leotard-clad sorceress, and carrying his own form of laser sword. (No Wookiee, though — instead, series hero Blackstar got to ride a dragon.) Both shows were on the leading edge of the post-Star Wars dark fantasy wave, leading to movies like Excalibur, Conan the Barbarian, and Dragonslayer. But unlike most of those ’80s fantasies — Flash Gordon aside — Thundarr and Blackstar kept a foot in Star Wars’ science fiction roots, hanging onto the idea of worlds where technology and mysticism met and clashed. Thundarr was more popular, but Blackstar was more compelling: a weirder, darker, richer world with a lot more going on, and a much more imaginative sword that wasn’t just a lightly reskinned lightsaber. Though the show only managed a single season and 13 episodes (compared with Thundarr’s two-year, 21-episode stint), Blackstar’s potential still sticks with me decades later. The story in brief: An astronaut from a future Earth, John Blackstar, enters a black hole in his experimental timeship, and winds up trapped on an ancient alien world, full of magic and monsters. (It’s essentially an isekai series, decades before isekai was the hottest trend in anime and manga.) The local Sauron equivalent, the Overlord, dominates the planet Sagar with an artifact called the Powerstar, a huge two-handed crystalline energy sword. Somehow, the Powerstar gets broken into identical halves, producing two badass weapons: the Power Sword, which the Overlord still holds, and the Star Sword, which falls into Blackstar’s hands. Blackstar winds up as the figurehead in a growing rebellion against the Overlord’s. Meanwhile, the Overlord wants not just to squash this budding rebellion, but to reclaim the Star Sword and take up the Powerstar again. In a series of interviews for Blackstar’s 2006 DVD release, the creators and writers cop to some of their influences in writing the show: The protagonist is a little bit John Carter of Mars (the original Edgar Rice Burroughs version, not the 2012 fantasy-movie version) and a little bit Flash Gordon, though he also closely resembles the protagonist of the 1979 live-action series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The Trobbits — tiny comedy-relief people who find and rescue Blackstar after his timeship crashes — take a little inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien’s hobbits, and a lot more from Disney’s seven dwarfs, complete with the “one personality trait apiece” dynamic, and a youngest member who never speaks. (There are also seven of them.)  The Overlord is somewhere between Darth Vader and Ming the Merciless, while Blackstar’s sorceress companion, Mara, is basically just a reskin of Thundarr’s Princess Ariel, with very similar powers, a similar elegant, educated personality and role as party historian, and similar obvious crush on the oblivious hero. Although these characters rarely feel unique, the mythology and setting of Blackstar’s world very much do, and the central plot device of the Powerstar is unique in fantasy animation. The symmetry of the central villain and hero each having half of the world’s most legendary weapon — which is to say, half of the power left in a world struggling to define itself — is a clever riff on the idea that heroes and villains should mirror each other for maximum thematic impact. Their connection through the sundered Powerstar gives the protagonist and antagonist an intimate personal connection, a reason to clash again and again. It also helps define their characters, and what they do with power. It’s no coincidence that in the Overlord’s hands, the Power Sword is all blunt force, used solely to blast or slash, while Blackstar uses the Star Sword as a finesse weapon with flexible magical abilities. (Too flexible, really: Its magic is ill-defined, and the show’s writers invented new Star Sword powers in nearly every episode.) The idea of these two swords as yin and yang, perfect halves that assemble into a greater whole, is unusually elegant for an ’80s cartoon — and one of the series’ many ideas that was never really explored to full advantage. For modern viewers Blackstar is fairly close to unwatchable. Its production company, Filmation, emerged from a series of commercial jobs in the 1960s, but by the 1980s, it specialized in budget-priced television animated entirely in America, rather than in cheaper overseas production houses. That necessitated a lot of cost-saving devices, like recycling the same hand-drawn sequences many times over, often within the same episode, and using a hilariously limited library of sound effects. Blackstar’s sound design is garish and repetitive, with vocal work that sounds like almost everyone is shouting. The scripts are clunky: Blackstar is conceived as a quippy hero who peppers his foes with snarky one-liners, but his jokes are cataclysmically stiff. About the best he can muster is a jaunty “Putting on a little weight, aren’t you, Rocko?” when hefting one rock elemental to toss it onto another during a battle. And the series is designed for the syndication of the era, meaning that episodes might re-air in any order. So there’s no story development, no character arcs, not even an opening episode to establish Blackstar’s origins. Continuity glitches, inconsistent design and storytelling, and budget-saving slow pans across paintings abound. But the world it’s set in is fascinating. There are hints here and there of ancient technologies and centuries-old civilizations buried under what’s become a verdant forest, centered on the magic of the gigantic central Sagar tree, a mystic font of power the Trobbits live in and tend to. Sagar is a world full of weird creatures that seem either like evolutions of familiar animals, or like magical constructs — shark-bats and frog-rabbits and monkey-birds, long before Avatar: The Last Airbender made these kinds of amalgams a running joke. Those slow-pan, cash-saving painting backgrounds are rich, elaborate, and colorful, suggesting a world with the darkness and detail of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.  While so much of 1980s animation was about the clear line between good and evil, there’s a sense throughout Blackstar that most of the world of Sagar isn’t aspected in such a black-and-white way. It’s just a chaotic ruin, where hungry monsters, prim but weary civilizations, and barbaric enclaves all exist side by side, divided by lethal geography. Every scattered outpost and wandering monster is equally dangerous to Blackstar and the Overlord, but ripe for either of them to exploit for an advantage in their ongoing war. There are even hints at a nuanced system for magic, where the mental power of sorcery and the elemental power of nature magic are different things that work in different ways. After Blackstar’s single season ended, Filmation immediately followed it with the Mattel-backed and far better funded He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a series based on an existing toy line, but just as clearly based on elements borrowed from Blackstar. Once again, there’s a muscular hero in a fur skirt with a magic sword, battling a sorcerous villain in a chaotic technofantasy world packed with environmental hazards and weird, wildly diverse humanoids. Filmation regular Alan Oppenheimer voiced both Blackstar’s Overlord and He-Man’s Skeletor; similarly, Linda Gary voiced Blackstar’s leading lady Mara and He-Man’s Teela. Filmation staff writer Tom Ruegger developed the series bible for both shows, and it shows, in everything from the similar heroes’ and rogues’ galleries to the sprawling high-and-low-tech world where magic and robots co-exist. One He-Man episode, “The Remedy,” even reused several Blackstar sequences, reintroducing Blackstar’s dragon-horse Warlock as a beast He-Man saves from a giant spider, then rides around. While He-Man had many of the same budgetary and aesthetic limitations as Blackstar — frequently recycled animation, obnoxious sound design, goofy and often ineffectual comedy relief — He-Man was immediately more popular. So popular, in fact that toy maker Galoob tried to nab some of Mattel’s sales success by putting out a weirdly modeled toy line for Blackstar, two full years after the show was canceled. (Those toys did not do well.) Now, we’re in an era where He-Man gets reboot after reboot — an all-ages animated version, a CG version for kids, a new live-action movie scheduled for 2026 — while Blackstar is all but forgotten. And I find that so strange. The bid to reboot and update every hit cartoon of the 1980s seems like a natural enough progression for an era of media fueled by nostalgia, but I’ve never understood why there isn’t more of it for Blackstar, a series that was more imaginative and ambitious than either the predecessor it was trying to outdo or the follower that got all the glory. In the way of so many other ’80s cartoons, my interest in a reboot is much less about re-creating an often janky, limited, cheaply made TV series, and much more about realizing the potential these characters and this world couldn’t take advantage of in the 1980s. A modern version with up-to-date animation could give John Blackstar a proper backstory, and actually make some sense of the biggest hero/villain themes the ’80s version lightly touched on. It could take advantage of the retro-future magic setting and the sprawling original world of Sagar in ways Filmation never dreamed of.  And most importantly, a proper modern update could finally dig into the event that split the Powerstar and turned its two halves into thematic weapons. There are so many story possibilities for that particular cool sword, just waiting to be discovered by a new generation.