Nier: Automata creators deny characters "were problematic overseas" and blame mistranslated subtitle for censorship rumours Nier miss. Image credit: Square Enix News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on June 14, 2025 Nier: Automata producer Yosuke Saito and director Yoko Taro have denied that any of their character designs were restricted for Western audiences. As spotted by Automaton, the developers were compelled to comment after a mistranslated Japanese-to-English subtitle intimated Nier: Automata had been subjected to censorship from Square Enix to meet global standards. GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE | Producers' Creative Dialogue Special Livestream.Watch on YouTube In the interview above (skip to 28:12 for the segment concerned), Sony executive Yoshida Shuhei asked the developers about their design process. "Our concept is always to do something that's 'not like anything else'. What I mean is, if Nier: Replicant had a boy as the main character, Nier: Automata would have a girl protagonist. If Western sci-fi is filled with Marine-like soldiers, we might go in the opposite direction and use Gothic Lolita outfits, for example," Taro said. "We tend to take the contrarian route." "There are, of course, certain things that are ethically or morally inappropriate – even if they're just aspects of a character," Saito added, according to the subtitles. "We try to draw a line by establishing rules about what’s acceptable and what’s not. "While certain things might be acceptable in Japan, they could become problematic in certain overseas regions, and even characters could become problematic as well. These are the kind of situation[s] we usually try to avoid creating. As a result, there are actually countries where we couldn't officially release Nier: Automata." This immediately caused consternation with fans but as Automaton points out, this "could be a little tricky to translate, even for an advanced Japanese speaker". When asked directly about the claim, Taro denied it, saying on X/Twitter: "I've never heard of such a thing happening". Saito simply said he thought the things he'd mentioned had been mistranslated, and would clarify this in a future livestream. In the same interview, former PlayStation exec Shuhei Yoshida called Nier: Automata the "game that changed everything", as it was responsible for reviving the Japanese games industry on its release. In a recent interview, Yoshida discussed how during the PS3 era, sales of Japanese games had declined, and increasingly studios there were chasing "overseas tastes". That changed with NieR: Automata in 2017, released for the PS4. "I think Yoko Taro created it without paying any mind at all to making it sell overseas, but it was a tremendous success," Yoshida said.

Nintendo Switch 2 games list – everything you can play right now Michael Beckwith Published June 5, 2025 9:35am Updated June 5, 2025 9:43am Mario Kart World – the Switch 2’s first must-have (Nintendo) The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally out now and there are over a dozen games available, but which are the most exciting and which can be safely ignored? While the Nintendo Switch 2 is backwards compatible, allowing you to continue playing through your backlog of Switch 1 games, chances are you’re more interested in checking out what’s new for the console. As it stands, the Switch 2’s launch line-up is solid. There may only be a small handful of first party Nintendo games, but Mario Kart World alone justifies a day one purchase and, if you don’t have a PlayStation or Xbox, there are lots of third party ports of excellent games you’ve missed out on. So, ahead of the Switch 2’s launch on Thursday, June 5, here is a quick rundown of every launch game available for the console, all of which can be pre-ordered now or purchased on launch day. Every launch game for Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Will you be paying for this? (Nintendo) Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Essentially a glorified instruction manual, this interactive museum teaches you all the features of the Switch 2 through a series of mini-games. Shockingly, this isn’t a free add-on and costs £7.99. Mario Kart World The Switch 2’s big first party exclusive and the first truly new Mario Kart game since 2014 (not counting the mobile game). It’ll be hard to top Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but Mario Kart World aims to do just that by introducing a massive open world to drive around. Here’s our review in progress so far. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition This upgraded version of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild is a great demonstration of the Switch 2’s more powerful hardware by offering an improved frame rate and HDR support. If you own the original on Switch you can pay a fee of £7.99 for the upgrade or get it free if you’re a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscriber. The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Both Zelda games will also be compatible with a new Zelda Notes mobile app (Nintendo) Like Breath Of The Wild, the Switch 2 version of The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom only offers visual and performance improvements, although there is the new Zelda Notes mobile app to keep track of and get hints on side quests. As with Breath Of The Wild you can either pay for the upgrade or get it free with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most technically impressive Switch 2 games, with a performance comparable to the PlayStation 4 Pro. It also comes with the Phantom Liberty DLC and mouse support. Split Fiction Arguably the best co-op game of the current generation, Split Fiction is a more than worthy follow-up to It Takes Two. Thanks to the Switch 2’s GameShare feature, you and a friend can play together with only one copy. Hogwarts Legacy Although Hogwarts Legacy is already available for Switch 1, the new console will be getting an upgraded version that works similarly to the Zelda games. Not only are the graphics improved but you can even use the mouse controls for casting spells. Street Fighter 6 Street Fighter 6 is still going strong among fighting game fans and now Nintendo owners can join in the fun thanks to online cross-play. A standard version is available for £34.99, but you can spend an extra £15 for a version that bundles together all of the DLC characters. Hitman World Of Assassination – Signature Edition There is already a cloud version of Hitman 3 for Switch 1, but this will be the optimal Hitman experience for Nintendo owners going forward. This compiles all the content from IO Interactive’s modern Hitman trilogy alongside a seperate roguelike mode. Sonic X Shadow Generations One of Sonic’s better 3D outings gets an equally good remaster, coupled with an even better adventure centred around Shadow the Hedgehog, in Sonic X Shadow Generations. Unfortunately, Sega isn’t offering any sort of upgrade path for people who bought the Switch 1 version. Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut The Yakuza games have started to find a new home with Nintendo thanks to the Switch 1 port of Yakuza Kiwami and now there’s this updated remaster of Yakuza 0, which adds new cut scenes and an online multiplayer mode. It’s a timed exclusive so it’ll come to other platforms eventually. Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess It’s not for everyone, but Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess’ blend of action and real-time strategy gameplay is wonderfully weird and fascinating. It being on Switch 2 means it can make use of the console’s mouse controls and it comes with new content that’ll also be added to the PlayStation, Xbox, and PC versions. Deltarune The episodic successor to Undertale, it’s been four years since Deltarune’s second chapter launched. For the Switch 2’s launch, not only are the game’s first two chapters being ported to the console (as well as PlayStation 5), but chapters three and four are dropping at the same time as well, for all formats. Survival Kids We’re still surprised Konami opted to reboot this long-forgotten franchise, but as fans of the original Game Boy Color game we’re glad it did. Simply dubbed Survival Kids, it’s less a survival game and more a co-op puzzle adventure where up to four players must explore a series of islands. Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S Sega’s second crossover puzzle game featuring Puyo Puyo and Tetris will find new life on Switch 2. So far only confirmed for Nintendo’s new console, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S offers a unique doubles mode for two teams of two to play against one another. Fast Fusion German studio Shin’en Multimedia continues to fill the F-Zero shaped gap in peoples’ hearts with the newest entry in its Fast series of racing games. Aside from online multiplayer and GameShare compatibility, Shin’en promises you can create hundreds of new racing machines by fusing vehicles together. Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster The original Bravely Default gets a much deserved second lease of life with a full Switch 2 remaster. Aside from HD graphics and quality of life updates, the remaster adds two new mini-games and reworks the original’s online features. Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition With the Switch 2’s mouse controls, strategy games like Civilization 7 will hopefully become more commonplace on Nintendo’s platform. If you already own the game on Switch 1, you can upgrade to the Switch 2 version for £8.99. Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition Another upgraded port of a strategy game, this complete edition also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Nobunaga’s Ambition series. Aside from mouse control support and all of the original game’s DLC, this includes six new story scenarios. Rune Factory: Guardians Of Azuma Nintendo Switch 2 Edition A new spin-off for the Rune Factory series of role-playing/social sim games, Guardians Of Azuma has you battling monsters one minute and cultivating your own farm the next. It will launch for Switch 1 as well, which you can later upgrade to Switch 2 for a £10 fee. Suikoden 1&2 HD Remaster: Gate Rune And Dunan Unification Wars This compilation of two Suikoden remasters from Konami brings the role playing series to Switch 2 just a few months after its original multiplatform launch. Sadly, there’s no option for Switch 1 owners to upgrade to the new version. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Level-5’s own role playing life sim hybrid only just arrived on Switch 1 and other consoles, but it too is seeing a Switch 2 version at launch. There’s no exact UK price for upgrading from the Switch 1 version, but it’s only $2.59 (about £1.91) in the US, so expect something equally cheap over here. Arcade Archives 2: Ridge Racer For the first time ever, the original arcade version of Ridge Racer from 1993 will be playable on consoles. Although it was initially announced for Switch 2, it is launching for PlayStation and Xbox as well. Fortnite What else is there to say about Fortnite? You know what it’s about. It’ll be free to play as usual and make the most of the Switch 2’s hardware to look and run better than its Switch 1 counterpart. Fortnite fans on Switch will want to think about upgrading (Epic Games) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Shift Up has announced a livestream dedicated to its crossover between Stellar Blade and Goddess of Victory: Nikke. The June 7 event promises to detail the upcoming Stellar Blade collaboration months following its initial announcement.

When Anna Ginsburg opened her talk at OFFF Barcelona with her showreel, it landed like a punch to the heart and gut all at once. Immense, emotional, awesome. That three-word review wasn't just for the reel – it set the tone for a talk that was unflinchingly honest, joyously weird, and brimming with creative intensity. Anna began her career making music videos, which she admitted were a kind of creative scaffolding: "I didn't yet know what I wanted to say about the world, so I used music as a skeleton to hang visuals on." It gave her the freedom to experiment visually and technically with rotoscoping, stop motion and shooting live-action. It was an opportunity to be playful and have fun until she had something pressing to say. Then, Anna began to move into more meaningful territory, blending narrative and aesthetic experimentation. Alongside music videos, she became increasingly drawn to animated documentaries. "It's a powerful and overlooked genre," she explained. "When it's just voice recordings and not video, people are more candid. You're protecting your subject, so they're more honest." Talking genitals and creative liberation: The making of Private Parts A formative moment in Anna's personal and creative life occurred when she saw the artwork 'The Great Wall of Vagina' by Jamie McCartney at the age of 19. It followed an awkward teenage discovery years earlier when, after finally achieving her first orgasm (post-Cruel Intentions viewing), she proudly shared the news with friends and was met with horror. "Boys got high-fived. Girls got shamed." That gap between female pleasure and cultural discomfort became the starting point for Private Parts, her now-famous animated short about masturbation and sexual equality. It began as a personal experiment, sketching vulvas in her studio, imagining what their facial expressions might be. Then, she started interviewing friends about their experiences and animating vulvas to match their voices. When It's Nice That and Channel 4 emailed her looking for submissions for a late-night slot, Anna shared a clip of two vulvas in casual conversation, and they were immediately sold. With a shoestring budget of £2,000 and a five-week deadline, she rallied 11 illustrators to help bring the film to life. "I set up a Dropbox, and talking genitals started flooding in from the four corners of the world while I was sitting in my bedroom at my mum's," she laughed. One standout moment came from an Amsterdam-based designer who created a CGI Rubik's Cube vagina, then took two weeks off work to spray paint 100 versions of it. The result of what started as a passion project is an iconic, hilarious, and touching film that still resonates ten years on. From humour to heartbreak: What Is Beauty The talk shifted gear when Anna began to speak about her younger sister's anorexia. In 2017, during her sister's third hospitalisation, Anna found herself questioning the roots of beauty ideals, particularly in Western culture. Witnessing her sister's pain reframed how she saw her own body. This sparked a deep dive into beauty through the ages, from the Venus of Willendorf, a 28,000-year-old fertility goddess, to the Versace supermodels of the 1990s and the surgically sculpted Kardashians of today. "You realise the pace of the change in beauty ideals," she says. "If you revisit the skeletal female bodies which defined the super skinny era of the 2000s and compare it to the enhanced curves of today, you realise that trying to keep up is not only futile; it's extremely dangerous." She also explored the disturbing trend of dismemberment in advertising – shots taken where the heads are intentionally out of frame – and the impact this has on self-perception. Her response was What Is Beauty, released in 2018 on International Women's Day and her sister's birthday. The short film went viral, amassing over 20 million views. "It was a love letter to her," Anna said. "Because it didn't have English dialogue, it travelled globally. The simplicity made it resonate." And despite its runaway success, it brought her zero income. "Then I made the worst advert for a bank the world has ever seen," she joked. "I made money, but it broke my creative spirit." Enter the Hag: Animation, myth and millennial angst OFFF attendees were also treated to the world-exclusive first look at Hag, Anna's new animated short, three years in the making. It's her most ambitious and most personal project yet. Made with the support of the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding, Has is a 16-minute fantasy set in a surreal version of Peckham. The main character is a childless, single, disillusioned woman with snakes for hair. "I had just broken up with a lockdown boyfriend after struggling with doubts for nearly 2 years,"' she reveals. "The next day, I was at a baby shower surrounded by friends with rings and babies who recoiled at my touch. I was surrounded by flies, and a dog was doing a poo right next to me. I just felt like a hag." Drawing on Greek mythology, Anna reimagines Medusa not as a jealous monster but as a feminist figure of rage, autonomy and misinterpretation. "I didn't know she was a rape victim until I started researching," she told me after the talk. "The story of Athena cursing her out of jealousy is such a tired trope. What if it was solidarity? What if the snakes were power?" In Hag, the character initially fights with her snakes – violently clipping them back in shame and battling with them – but by the end, they align. She embraces her monstrous self. "It's a metaphor for learning to love the parts of yourself you've been told are wrong," Anna said. "That journey is universal." Making the personal political (and funny) Telling a story so autobiographical wasn't easy. "It's exposing," Anna admitted. "My past work dealt with issues in the world. This one is about how I feel in the world." Even her ex-boyfriend plays himself. "Luckily, he's funny and cool about it. Otherwise, it would've been a disaster." She did worry about dramatising the baby shower scene too much. "None of those women were horrible in real life, but for the film, we needed to crank up the emotional tension," she says. "I just wanted to show that societal pressures make women feel monstrous whether they decide to conform or not. This is not a battle between hags and non-hags. These feelings affect us all." Co-writing the script with her dear friend and writer Miranda Latimer really helped. "It felt less exposing as we'd both lived versions of the same thing. Collaboration is liberating and makes me feel safer when being so honest," Anna explains. Sisterhood, generations and the pressure to conform It was very clear from our chat that Anna's younger sisters are a recurring thread throughout her work. "They've helped me understand the world through a Gen Z lens," she said. "Stalking my youngest sister on Instagram was how I noticed the way girls crop their faces or hide behind scribbles. It's dehumanising." That intergenerational awareness fuels many of her ideas. "I definitely wouldn't have made What Is Beauty without Maya. Seeing what she was going through just unlocked something." She's also keenly aware of the gender gap in healthcare. "So many women I know are living with pain, going years without a diagnosis. It's infuriating. If I get asked to work on anything to do with women's health, I'll say yes." Medusa, millennials, and the meaning of self-love One of Hag's most biting commentaries is about millennial self-care culture. "There's a scene in the character's bedroom – it's got a faded Dumbledore poster, self-help books, a flashing 'Namaste' sign. It's a shrine to the broken millennial." She laughs: "Self-love became a commodity. An expensive candle, a jade roller, and an oil burner from Muji. Like, really? That's it?" Her film pokes at the performative of wellness while still holding space for genuine vulnerability. This same self-awareness informs her reflections on generational shifts. "Gen Z is going through the same thing, just with a different flavour. It's all about skincare routines now – 11 steps for a 14-year-old. It's wild." Feminism with fangs (and a sense of humour) Anna's feminism is open, intersectional, and laced with humour. "My mum's a lesbian and a Child Protection lawyer who helped to make rape within marriage illegal in the UK," she shared. "She sometimes jokes that my work is a bit basic. But I'm OK with that – I think there's space for approachable feminism, too." Importantly, she wants to bring everyone into the conversation. "It means so much when men come up to me after talks. I don't want to alienate anyone. These stories are about people, not just women." What's Next? Hag will officially premiere later this year, and it's likely to resonate far and wide. It's raw, mythic, funny and furious – and thoroughly modern. As Anna put it: "I've been experiencing external pressure and internal longing while making this film. So I'm basically becoming a hag while making Hag." As far as metamorphoses go, that's one we'll happily watch unfold.

Close your eyes and think of the word “summer.” What comes to mind?Is it long days at the beach, a drink in one hand and a book in the other, letting the sun fall on your face and the waves tickle your toes? Two weeks of vacation in some remote destination, piling up memories to keep yourself warm through the rest of the year? The endless freedom you remember in those July and August weeks of childhood, set loose from the confines of the classroom? Hot dogs and ice cream and roller coasters and ballgames? John Travolta’s falsetto at the end of “Summer Love”?Well, I have bad news for you, my friend. You are yet another victim of the summer industrial complex, that travel industry-concocted collection of lies designed to convince you that June, July, and August are the three best months of the year. The beach? That sun will literally kill you. Vacation? Just don’t look up how much plane tickets cost, and don’t even think of leaving the country with the way the dollar is dropping. Freedom? Unless you are an actual child, a schoolteacher, or an NBA player, you’re going to spend most of your time in summer working as hard as you do the rest of the year. Hot dogs are honestly the worst way to eat meat. Your ice cream is already ice soup. Roller coasters kill an average of four people per year (you can look it up). If you want to drink beer, you don’t need to sit through a baseball game while doing it. Grease is fine, but its success led to John Travolta one day being allowed to make Battlefield Earth, a film so bad that as of this writing, it has a 3 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Summer is the triumph of hope over experience. Every Memorial Day weekend, we begin our summers full of expectation, sure that this will be the season we create the summer to remember. And every Labor Day weekend, we emerge, sweaty and mosquito-bitten, wondering what precisely happened over the past three months. Then next year we do it all over again, fruitlessly chasing that evanescent summer high — even though deep down inside, you know it’s probably going to be a disappointment, and secretly you’re counting the days until September. If you were able to control those hopes, you might be able to control that disappointment.But don’t you dare air those feelings out loud. When I suggested this essay to my fellow Vox editors, they reacted as though I were about to commit a war crime on paper. Doesn’t everyone love summer? Isn’t summer the best? How dare you look askance at the gift that is the three months when our hemisphere happens to be titled toward the rays of our life-giving sun? What kind of monster are you?As it turns out, I am precisely that kind of monster. So what follows is why this is our most overrated season — and unlike summer itself, which really is getting longer year by year, I’m going to be brief. It’s hotYou will not be surprised to learn that I don’t like the heat. Maybe it’s genes — my ancestors come from Ireland, a small, charming, rainy island where for most of the year, the sun is little more than a rumor. I realize this makes me unusual. The US county that has added the most people in recent years is Maricopa, Arizona, home to Phoenix. Phoenix has a lot of things going for it: relatively inexpensive housing, a fairly robust labor market, and a vibrant population of wild parrots, which is absolutely something I knew before researching this article.Phoenix also has sun — lots and lots of sun. Just look at what they named their NBA team. And with that sun comes unfathomable summer heat. Across the full 2024 calendar year, the city logged a record-breaking 70 days of temperatures over 110 degrees, obliterating the previous record of 55 days set in 2020. It also set a record for the most days straight with temperatures in the triple digits, with an unfathomable 113 days in a row.Yet every year, apparently tens of thousands of Americans take a look at those numbers and think, “Yes, please, I would like to see if they have any available lots left on the surface of the sun.” Look, I get it. The tremendous growth of the Sun Belt in recent decades is one big piece of evidence that, if given the choice, most Americans would rather boil than freeze. Or even be slightly cold. And sure, historically cold temperatures have had a bad habit of killing large numbers of human beings. No one in Game of Thrones was warning that “summer is coming.”But while it’s still true that extreme cold kills significantly more people globally than extreme heat by a large magnitude, heat is catching up. And there’s one thing you can count on with climate change: It will continue to get hotter. Summer — that season you love so much — is where we’re going to feel it. You may have heard the line: “This could be the coolest summer of the rest of your life”? It’s true! Just to take one example: A study found that by 2053, 107 million people in the US — 13 times as many as today — will be living in an extreme heat belt where they could experience heat indexes above 125 degrees. So sure, Americans like the heat just like they like summer, though I can’t help wondering if that has to do with the documented connection between extreme heat and cognitive impairment. (Summer! It makes you dumber!) But I doubt you will like it when your body is no longer able to cool itself through sweating and you begin suffering multiple organ failures. It’s boringLet’s flip through the major events of autumn. You have your Halloween — everyone loves candy. Thanksgiving — by far the best American holiday, even if we have all collectively decided to eat a bird we wouldn’t otherwise touch the rest of the year. Christmas and Hanukkah — presents and several days off.Spring has Easter, a festival of renewal and chocolate. Winter has…okay, to be clear, this is an argument against summer, not a defense of winter. Summer has Memorial Day (cookouts, beaches); Fourth of July (cookouts, beaches, and ooh, a chance to blow off my finger with fireworks); and then two utterly endless months before Labor Day, where we also have cookouts and beaches. And in between, there are just…days.This is the secret problem with summer. After school has let out and Independence Day has passed, we enter a tepid sea of indistinguishable days, with little to no events to break them up. July 12? July 27? August 13? I challenge you to tell the difference. Time becomes a desert that stretches out to every horizon, without even the false hope of a mirage to break it up. The Catholic Church, which I grew up in, calls the entirety of summer “Ordinary Time” in its liturgical calendar, which always seemed fitting to me. Nothing special, nothing to wait for — just all the Ordinary Time you can take.And while the calendar is no help, there’s also what I call the collective action problem of summer. Everything slows down and even shuts down, either because people go off on vacation or because they haven’t but almost everyone else has so what’s the point of doing anything. All the big cultural events — the books, the (actually good) movies, most of the good TV — won’t arrive until the fall. (Except The Bear. The Bear is great.) The sports landscape is as barren as your office, and this summer we don’t even have the Olympics.I’m sure someone will tell me I’m missing the point of summer, when the very formlessness of the days reminds us to slow down and appreciate these moments out of time. Sure, great, whatever. Personally, I can either be hot or I can be bored — not both.It has AugustTechnically this should be a subcategory of the previous section, but even Auxo, the Greek goddess of summer, would get impatient with August. Why does it have 31 days? Who voted for that? August is the worst parts of summer concentrated and then wrung out over the course of more than four sweaty, sticky weeks. I am positive that I have experienced August days where time begins to move backward.Slate had it right back in 2008: Let’s get rid of August. We’ve gone to the moon, we’ve mastered the genome, we’ve somehow made Glen Powell a movie star. If we can do all that, we can remove one measly month from the calendar. Or we could, except that August is the month when all motivation goes to die.It has vacations…in AugustI’ve got a great idea. Let’s have most of the country all go on vacation during the same few weeks. And then let’s ensure that those few weeks are set during one of the hottest, muggiest months of the year. What could go wrong (other than ridiculous travel costs, heat stroke amid the capitals of Europe, and the better-than-average chance of getting hit by a tropical storm)?It has FOMOIt’s probably not true that everyone is having more fun than you this summer, all evidence on social media notwithstanding. But it will feel that way.It’s become a verbLet me give you one last piece of advice. If you encounter someone who uses the term “summering” in a sentence, get far, far away. You are dangerously close to getting into a conversation about the best way to clean linen pants.I realize I’m not going to change a lot of minds here. There’s something deep in our biological clocks that can’t seem to help but welcome the days when the sun stays up past 8 pm and the air temperature reaches equilibrium with our bodies. Add that to the enforced summer love that comes from all the industries that capitalize on this seasonal affliction. We summer haters are few and rarely invited to parties, but at least we see the truth. The truth is that you might actually enjoy your summer more if you lower your expectations. It’s not the summer of your life — it’s just three months in the middle of the year. And please, put on some sunscreen. That big thing in the sky really is trying to kill you. Update, May 26, 9 am ET: This story was originally published on July 8, 2024, and has been updated with new data on heat waves in Phoenix.You’ve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you — threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you — join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

oni-link tag reference no one gets Member Oct 25, 2017 17,372 UK And why is the answer obviously Ezio's Family View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSVHx23ByhM The only other piece that I think even comes close is Gusty Garden Galaxy View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6rZkej57cU But even then, it's surely Ezio's Family Are there any other contenders? What do you think, Era?  dom ▲ Legend ▲ Avenger Oct 25, 2017 12,382 Last edited: Today at 5:32 AM RockmanBN Visited by Knack - One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 31,941 Cornfields Wii Shop Channel View: https://youtu.be/yyjUmv1gJEg View: https://youtu.be/2gmQYBZPV7g   blueredandgold Member Oct 25, 2017 8,668 This was my ring tone for a properly twelve months I think.  Jubilant Duck Member Oct 21, 2022 9,247 RockmanBN said: Wii Shop Channel Click to expand... Click to shrink... Was gonna be what I said. Truly iconic in a way no single game's song could be.  Exist 2 Inspire Powered by Friendship™ Member Apr 19, 2018 4,680 Germany I take Home in Florence over Ezio's Family personally. Man i love this game so much.  Musiol Member Oct 27, 2017 70 For me probably Maiden's Astrea theme from DS. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPJUQg_U5HY   Blue_Toad507 Member May 25, 2021 3,807 If you owned a Wii, you knew this song.  Tsaki Member Feb 12, 2019 466 Ezio and Wii Shop like were already said. I'd put Uncharted's theme and probably some Call of Duty main menu soundtrack like Black Ops. - YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. youtu.be - YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. www.youtube.com   Adryuu Master of the Wind Member Oct 27, 2017 6,519 Uncharted Worlds View: https://youtu.be/7ZoFw9uXJwk?feature=shared And while I'm at it, also this one, why not: View: https://youtu.be/kgcq_ZtqbO0?feature=shared  MegaSackman Member Oct 27, 2017 20,706 Argentina Nate's Theme from Uncharted for sure. It started as generic for people, ended up being iconic. View: https://youtu.be/kgcq_ZtqbO0?si=5Co-INQ6d-6sx7Xn Edit: Beaten!  Kotetsu534 Member Dec 31, 2022 545 My first thought was the Uncharted 2 Main Theme, but Gusty Garden Galaxy probably outranks it actually. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42tMX5UEAS8   ItsOKAY Member Jan 26, 2018 1,779 Frankfurt, Germany 100%  Adryuu Master of the Wind Member Oct 27, 2017 6,519 Tsaki said: Ezio and Wii Shop like were already said. I'd put Uncharted's theme and probably some Call of Duty main menu soundtrack like Black Ops. - YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. youtu.be - YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. www.youtube.com Click to expand... Click to shrink... MegaSackman said: Nate's Theme from Uncharted for sure. It started as generic for people, ended up being iconic. View: https://youtu.be/kgcq_ZtqbO0?si=5Co-INQ6d-6sx7Xn Edit: Beaten! Click to expand... Click to shrink... Kotetsu534 said: My first thought was the Uncharted 2 Main Theme, but Gusty Garden Galaxy probably outranks it actually. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42tMX5UEAS8 Click to expand... Click to shrink... all right lol  Duncan Member Oct 25, 2017 15,482 HotsauceDragon Member Oct 25, 2017 3,645 ClivePwned Member Oct 27, 2017 4,214 Australia Gusty Garden, Wii Shop, Portal all mentioned, so: Adrenaline from Call of Duty Black Ops 2 View: https://youtu.be/hPR_hKpwXbI?si=Wq3mpSVzka2I5SST or Suicide Mission from Mass Effect 2 View: https://youtu.be/VTsD2FjmLsw?si=NiyXJ3sTV7vgJH-J  GTAce Member Oct 27, 2017 4,615 Bonn, Germany Motorstorm, baby!  OhhEldenRing Member Aug 14, 2024 2,868 It's the Wii Shop music and nothing comes close   Tsaki Member Feb 12, 2019 466 ClivePwned said: Gusty Garden, Wii Shop, Portal all mentioned, so: Adrenaline from Call of Duty Black Ops 2 View: https://youtu.be/hPR_hKpwXbI?si=Wq3mpSVzka2I5SST or Suicide Mission from Mass Effect 2 View: https://youtu.be/VTsD2FjmLsw?si=NiyXJ3sTV7vgJH-J Click to expand... Click to shrink... So good.  ReplacementPelican Member Oct 29, 2017 4,932 oni-link said: And why is the answer obviously Ezio's Family View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSVHx23ByhM Click to expand... Click to shrink... I'm tempted, I suppose, to think of any others. I'd say either the Uncharted theme or Far Horizons from Skyrim do, for me, just live on so strongly and vividly. But, really, I think you've got it in one with Ezio's Family because it feels like the defining track of a franchise that is still going very, very strongly and in almost every game, sometimes arranged a bit differently or interpreted differently but it feels like its become the theme song of the series, really. Its also just an incredible piece of music.  OP OP oni-link tag reference no one gets Member Oct 25, 2017 17,372 UK I made this thread after hearing Ezio's Family for the first time in a while and thinking "damm this slaps", but looking at all the answers so far, I clearly forgot just how many certified bangers there were this generation   BeansBeansBeans Member Jan 14, 2025 1,093 RockmanBN said: Wii Shop Channel Click to expand... Click to shrink... And we're done here.  Z'ard "This guy are sick" Member Mar 5, 2019 1,549 Ukraine Uncharted 2 theme is the first thing that came to my mind.   IMCaprica Member Aug 1, 2019 11,031 It's Wii Shop Channel theme for sure. Probably followed by Wii Sports theme. And then in an incredibly distant third, maybe "Dovahkiin" from Skyrim?   BGBW Member Oct 25, 2017 15,459 Well since the obvious candidates like the Wii themes and Still Alive have been posted I present that track that haunted all your dreams: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOxqgLUPFHg WAH WAH!  Izanagi89 "This guy are sick" and Corrupted by Vengeance Member Oct 27, 2017 18,842 Gaur Plain defines that era for me, at least on Wii View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDJtsfR51To   Nintenleo XIV Member Nov 9, 2017 5,137 Italy tadaima Member Oct 30, 2017 3,137 Tokyo, Japan Everybody with a Wii was forced through the Mii create flow, so I guess the Mii theme. Which, although not going as hard as the Shop channel theme, is great. View: https://youtu.be/po-0n1BKW2w?si=NBQktoBzY4b06420   Last edited: Today at 6:16 AM Akai Member Oct 25, 2017 6,244 Like always with these threads. Too many great ones to name as the examples already shown. Here's is an other one: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJq-F51QblI   Last edited: Today at 6:26 AM GMM Member Oct 27, 2017 5,799 Tons of great entries here, I will throw in a dark horse from Deus Ex: View: https://youtu.be/FUy87tpfNe4?si=0DT6_tEJpgNPZWZK   OP OP oni-link tag reference no one gets Member Oct 25, 2017 17,372 UK every time someone posts this I'm compelled to watch the whole thing from start to finish lol  Nakenorm "This guy are sick" The Fallen Oct 26, 2017 27,206 Yeah it's definitely Uncharted for me at least. Probably the Wii channel theme in general tho.   FarSight XR-20 Member Jan 4, 2018 9,511 Squid Icarus Member Jul 11, 2019 370 I think the biggest ones have already been mentioned (I think Ac2 is the winner). Here's a few more memorable highlights: View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99lHz11ElkA View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xHttYIwocY   Nintenleo XIV Member Nov 9, 2017 5,137 Italy I was obsessed with this trailer and its music  StarErik Member Oct 27, 2017 606 The Mii Channel theme is used in so many TikToks, YouTube videos and Instagram reels so that theme is probably the most recognizable and has the biggest reach. My personal favorite is Gusty Garden Galaxy, though.  Transistor The Walnut King Administrator Oct 25, 2017 41,658 Washington, D.C. I'd say this has become pretty iconic (The Last of Us theme) - YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. youtu.be   Last edited: Today at 6:42 AM Sordid Plebeian Member Oct 26, 2017 19,866 Never Forget  SolidSnakex Member Oct 25, 2017 28,046 TLoU main theme - YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. www.youtube.com   JamboGT Vehicle Handling Designer Verified Oct 25, 2017 1,531 Am probably going to be in the minority, but for me it was this, I watched this trailer so much and still unironically love this song. 5oul on D!splay from GT5 View: https://youtu.be/MXh25i7_3Is   Exist 2 Inspire Powered by Friendship™ Member Apr 19, 2018 4,680 Germany GMM said: Tons of great entries here, I will throw in a dark horse from Deus Ex: View: https://youtu.be/FUy87tpfNe4?si=0DT6_tEJpgNPZWZK Click to expand... Click to shrink... Probably my favorite video game track ever, so damn good.  Jawmuncher Crisis Dino Moderator Oct 25, 2017 44,841 Ibis Island If we're talking "truly iconic" as in world view, Halo 3's Menu and anything Wii Sports/Menu related would be at the top.   Bishop89 What Are Ya' Selling? Member Oct 25, 2017 42,778 Melbourne, Australia AstronaughtE Member Nov 26, 2017 13,171 The Barbarian Choir: View: https://youtu.be/AVy7YPNP_zI?si=lNiLhHE40iyby0VE Wet Hands: View: https://youtu.be/MSepOYJxB64?si=NIFMpP7z1VQbAMNd  Doopl Member Oct 25, 2017 287 Ballad of the Goddess (Zelda Skyward Sword) View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4ReyoNpyrM Build That Wall (Bastion) View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3SZee4YZX8  wrowa Member Oct 25, 2017 4,794 Wii Shop Channel is weirdly big on TikTok etc, so it's probably that.   Zyrox One Winged Slayer Corrupted by Vengeance Member Oct 25, 2017 5,182 The first thing that popped into my head reading the thread title was Super Smash Bros. Brawl's main theme (probably because the game really drills the theme into your head with multiple different arrangements) View: https://youtu.be/zeKE0NHUtUw Looking at the thread though there were lots of really memorsble tunes. Some good shouts in here.  Mafro Member Oct 25, 2017 9,118 It's absolutely the Wii Shopping Channel.   Stef Member Oct 28, 2017 7,732 Rome, Italy, Planet Earth This, and not even close. Still listening to it after all these years. (it is the Halo 3 soundtrack, but linking something from Youtube has become a nightmare...) View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0GdEIkGQOk 

Stellar Blade 2 is official and seemingly not too far away Can you Adam and EVE it? Image credit: Shift Up News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on May 20, 2025 Developer Shift Up has quietly announced its acclaimed sci-fi hack-and-slash adventure Stellar Blade is getting a sequel - and it looks like it's due to arrive before the end of next year. Shift Up shared the news as part of its recent investor presentation, tucking mention of a Stellar Blade sequel away on a slide highlighting its "IP expansion" plans for 2025 and 2026. The studio's free-to-play sci-fi shooter Goddess of Victory: Nikke got a mention, as did the mysterious "Project Witches", but it's Stellar Blade we're interested in here. Two key developments were listed under the Stellar Blade header: firstly, a "platform expansion", which seems likely to be a reference to the game's imminent arrival on PC - a release Shift Up has extremely high hopes for. And then next to that, an unassuming second blue box tagged with the all-important word "sequel". Some of the features coming to Stellar Blade on PC.Watch on YouTube Shift Up's sequel announcement didn't come with any specific details, but one interesting takeaway is the timeline the studio looks to be working on. According to Shift Up's slide, Stellar Blade 2 is due to launch before 2027, strongly suggesting the developer is targeting a 2026 release - less than two years after the launch of the first game. That feels like a remarkably swift turnaround time for a fully fledged AAA sequel. The investor presentation slide in question. | Image credit: Shift Up Hopefully, though, Stellar Blade 2 can live up to the standard set by its acclaimed predecessor, which was awarded four stars in Eurogamer's review. "Stellar Blade has a fair bit of weirdness," Jessica Orr wrote, "but its killer tunes and vibey, flow-state combat - plus a transformative hard mode - are enough to leave you entranced." PC players can pick up Stellar Blade via Steam or Epic when it launches on 11th June. Additionally, a Complete Edition arrives for PC and PlayStation 5 on the same day, bundling together the base game, various cosmetics for protagonist EVE, and more. PC players should note, however, Stellar Blade is currently blocked in over 120 countries, which seems to have surprised Shift Up as much as everyone else. Over the weekend, the studio said it was "closely discussing the region lock issue" with Sony in the hope of finding a solution before 11th June.

For the 110 people working on Anno 117: Pax Romana, the upcoming city-builder from Ubisoft Mainz, every game in the franchise has led to its Winter 2025 release. The Anno series has had some hits and misses — its most recent game, 2019’s 1800, is widely considered one of its best, while future-focused titles 2205 and 2070 had mixed results. But Pax Romana has something for die-hard tactics players, beauty builders, and even newcomers like me: the franchise’s first-ever simultaneous release on PC and console, the reintroduction of land combat, the promise of finally bringing Anno to Rome, and major updates to existing game systems. Recommended Videos Some team members have worked on the series for 10, 15, or 20 years, know exactly what diehard Anno fans want (prettier palettes that take advantage of improved graphics, a greater variety of choice, more robust gameplay systems, and diegetic moments of hilarious catastrophe), and are determined to deliver. I travelled to Rome to be one of the first people in the world to go hands-on with Anno 117: Pax Romana and chat with creative director Manuel Reinher and game director Jan Dungel, emerging from the experience thoroughly jet-lagged and with a newfound appreciation for the series and the genre. Andiamo! A new Anno Anno 117: Pax Romana is the first game in the series since the beloved 1800, which was set during the Industrial Revolution. It’s also the series’ biggest historical leap backwards. The team didn’t want to set the next Anno game during the bloody, war-fueled throes of the Roman Empire, but during the height of a 200-year-long period of peace and prosperity.  “Our fans have asked for this for a very long time,” Reinher tells Digital Trends. “The power of Rome, it’s a very appealing setting, but we struggled because with Rome there’s a certain fantasy that is well-delivered, and delivered so often people have a certain expectation … We found Pax Romana is the playground for us, it ticked all the boxes. It’s almost 200 years of stability in the empire, peak growth … and it’s a good fit because conflict is not the core of the Anno experience.” U In Anno 117, you’ll play as a freshly appointed Roman governor in Latium, a province close to the center of the Empire, tasked with upholding that aforementioned peace and prosperity. Will you govern with an iron fist and hope that fear keeps the peace, or show empathy and kindness and pray to one of your chosen Gods that rival governors don’t step on your exposed toes? And then there’s Albion, the fog-covered Celtic lands where no “civilized” Roman dares tread lest they face the ire of the strange, savage locales. You can go there, as well (though I didn’t get to that during my hands-on), and decide what to do with the land and its people.  Anno 117: Pax Romana hopes to offer players deeper, more meaningful choices than any other game in the franchise. A massive discovery tree, with over 150 “discoveries” divided into three main categories (economy, civic, and military), will help “soften the linearity” players may have felt in previous titles.  Researching improved storage capacities can help you store more product to trade with neighboring provinces, while civic research allows you to explore different religions, or build new public buildings. And you won’t be locked to a certain branch on this discovery tree, you’re free to research paved roads, or learn Latin, or beef up your military presence.  Like any Anno game, 117: Pax Romana is centered around economic simulation with some traditional city builder mechanics and 4X strategy features sprinkled in. But 117 is bringing back a controversial feature players haven’t seen in the franchise in a very long time: land combat. Ub The team is pretty close-lipped about it during our preview, but confirmed Anno 117: Pax Romana will have both land and naval combat, with more depth when it comes to integrating the two, and the promise that only big, powerful cities can have a thriving military. But don’t fret — Anno is not a war sim franchise, and the team considers land combat to be “another choice, another tool.” Diplomacy could be your vibe, rather than wielding steel. Aside from gameplay features, the team wants 117 to be the “most beautiful builder gamer, period.” There’s a new day and night cycle that elicits some big “ooohh” moments, like when the flickering fires of the lucernae come alive as the sun sets, or when burgeoning cities are cut through with gorgeous lavender fields. The added ability to create curved roads allows for more freedom in city layouts, and the team’s attention to detail can be found in every pixel, from the waves breaking around a sailing ship to grain crops shifting softly in the wind. Ubisoft is excited to show people how multicultural ancient Rome was, how it pulled inspiration and even religions from Celtic and Egyptian lands, and how the expansion of the empire led to cultural exchange. “Religious ideas, technologies, resources, they travel from one province to the other,”  Reinher explains.  This ancient melting pot helped stabilize the empire. “People are surprised by that fact … This happened 2,000 years ago. Ideas travelled like this, and it’s a fascinating story that breaks the boundaries of what we all have in our minds when we think about such an economic empire.” Roman onboarding Ubisoft Mainz promises Anno: 117 Pax Romana’s gameplay experience is for both newcomers and old heads alike, thanks to an improved onboarding system. “Anno can be quite complex, but it’s rewarding step-by-step,” Dungel says. “You don’t need to completely understand the universe to enjoy [the games].” To describe sitting down to play an Anno game for the first time while surrounded by the cold stone walls of an ancient Romane estate as “surreal” wouldn’t do it justice. Overwhelmed by the game’s systems and in awe of the Horti Sallustiani (the gardens of Sallust), I worry I won’t be able to create an Empire my ancestors would be proud of. I consider lingering around the craft services table and eat as much olive bread (a staple of the Romane diet) to avoid embarrassing myself. But I have a job to do, and gawking at the marble structure soaring overhead won’t do me any good.  So I sit down, load in, and am immediately tasked with placing my governor’s villa somewhere on this newfound island that’s far enough inland to avoid getting attacked by coastal invaders, but central enough that it can easily connect to warehouses and other important commerce buildings. Ubi An in-game pop-up urges me to ensure that my villa is connected to another important building, but fails to tell me I have to build that second structure. I glance around, helpless, until someone comes over and walks me through it, just for me to immediately get stuck again because I can’t see a missing pixel of road that means the buildings were technically still not connected.  I let out a grunt of frustration. I am jetlagged and my brain is functioning at its lowest possible capacity. I need more olive bread. Soon enough, my Italian ancestors smile upon me. I start to get the hang of things after my little roadblock (teehee). I build a sawmill in the center of a forest to ensure we have a steady supply of wood, and place a collection of houses for my lowest class working folks probably a bit too close to the governor’s house for a man of his stature’s liking (I believe in solidarity across classes in my ancient Rome). I ring the workers’ homes with purple wildflowers, place a tavern and a market close enough to their quarters so that they buff everyone who lives there (which helps you earn more money faster), and send my sole ship out to treaty with a neighboring isle.  “[Building Anno 117] was a little bit challenging, because we have very different audiences,” Dungel admits. “Some people want to collaborate, they are super hardcore, they want to value share and network, but some people are more casual. For the first time, we decided we would try to find a way to please both of these groups, not make it less deep and less complex, but give an option for people who want to go more casual. That’s why you don’t have to deliver all the needs [requirements for every population tier that must be filled in order to progress] … you don’t have to immediately go to another province.” Ub Though I stumble at first, after about 1.5 hours of playtime, I have a tier 3 city sprawling out before my eyes, complete with soap production, ship-building, tunic and sandal makers, tilers, and a temple to worship our chosen goddess, Ceres, who helps boost our farms’ output. There’s a plethora of emergency services, including doctors, Vigiles Urbani (basically Rome’s NYPD), and firefighters, the last of whom successfully snuff out a fire that starts near my sheep pasture. I even have a massive new ship that can carry far more cargo than the one I started with.  But my city is net negative, and losing money fast. I get a loan, then another, then another, and then I start to panic. Despite my efforts, there just aren’t enough people to produce my much-needed products (the pretty lady on a neighboring island really wants tunics), or enough raw material for the people to form into something usable for the empire. I need to build more homes to get more able-bodied workers, but I don’t have enough lumber, and my island is looking more and more like a desert every minute.  Even the Anno experts next to me are struggling with their financials. “I can’t take another loan,” one player bemoans.  Before I can right my ship, the hands-on is over. I had just gotten my negative income out of the triple digits and was in the process of conquering another island that had some crucial resources (olives, mackerel), when we were given a times-up signal. “I was getting the hang of it!” I protest. “I just need more plebeians!” The Ubisoft dev who pulled me from the depths of dirt road despair two hours earlier laughs. He has just seen a new city builder player be born before his eyes. Anno 117: Pax Romana releases later this year for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.