Mike Judge always seemed to have secret geek sympathies. He co-created the HBO series Silicon Valley, as well as the movie Office Space (reviewed in 1999 by Slashdot contributor Jon Katz). Now comes the word that besides rebooting Buffy the Vampire Slayer — and an animated scifi/action/horror film called Predator: Killer of Killers — Hulu is also relaunching Judge's animated series King of the Hill on August 4th. And Cinemablend notes they took great pains to ensure the inclusion of internet-loving neighbor Dale Gribble despite the death of voice actor Johnny Hardwick: Co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels joined the cast of returning voice actors for a revealing Q&A at ATX Fest while also revealing longtime cast member Toby Huss took over the role of Dale Gribble... Hardwick passed away in August 2023 at 64, with fans and co-stars paying tribute soon after. It was revealed at the time that he'd recorded some audio for the new season, but it was clear that another actor would be needed to fill those intimidating and conspiracy-obsessed shoes. Among other characters, Huss provided the voice of Cotton Hill and Kahn Sr. in the O.G. run, and feels to me like a natural fit to take over as Dale. And he sounds humbled to have been given the task, telling the ATX Fest crowd: "Johnny was one-of-a-kind and a wonderful fellow. I'm not trying to copy Johnny...I guess I'm trying to be Johnny. He laid down a really wonderful goofball character...he had a lot of weird heart to him and that's a credit to Johnny. So all I'm trying to do is hold on to his Dale-ness. We love our guy Johnny and it's so sad that he's not here...." I can already hear Dale himself questioning why he sounds different, and whether or not the government has replaced him with a lizard creature or some other sentient organism... In the immediate aftermath of Johnny Hardwick's death, the word was that the actor had filmed a couple of episodes' worth of material for the Hulu revival, but Mike Judge went on the record at ATX Fest to reveal that initial assessment undershot things entirely. From the voice of Hank Hill himself: "Johnny Hardwick is in six episodes. He's still going to be in the show." Hulu uploaded the new opening credits to YouTube eight days ago — and it's already been viewed 2.1 million times, attracting 55,000 upvotes and 7,952 comments... Long-time Slashdot reader theodp shared the official blurb describing the new show: After years working a propane job in Saudi Arabia to earn their retirement nest egg, Hank and Peggy Hill return to a changed Arlen, Texas to reconnect with old friends Dale, Boomhauer and Bill. Meanwhile, Bobby is living his dream as a chef in Dallas and enjoying his 20s with his former classmates Connie, Joseph and Chane. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Reading Time: 10 minutes Picking an omnichannel marketing platform can feel like walking into a tech maze. Every vendor promises personalized customer experiences and 360-degree views. But behind the technical terminologies, most platforms just add noise. Right now, your customers expect seamless, intuitive experiences, whether they’re on your website, checking email, scrolling Instagram, or walking into your store. And they don’t care what platform you’re using. They care that it works. That it feels cohesive. And if your current tools can’t keep up, you’ll feel it in your churn rate, in your campaign ROI, and in the silence when nobody clicks. This article explains how to actually choose an omnichannel marketing automation platform that delivers a measurable, meaningful impact.   What is an Omnichannel Marketing Platform? An omnichannel marketing platform brings all your customer touchpoints—email, SMS, social, web, and more—into a single, unified connected system. It tracks customer behavior across different devices, personalizes communication in real time, and automates actions based on where each customer is in their journey. In short, such platforms allow you to completely harness omnichannel marketing — no more juggling five tools to launch a campaign or manually syncing customer profiles. It’s about delivering the right message, on the right channel, at exactly the right moment, without missing a beat. How Do Omnichannel Marketing Automation Platforms Work? At the core of omnichannel marketing platforms is automation, and it’s what makes them truly powerful. These tools don’t just streamline your marketing, they do the heavy lifting for you by intelligently responding to customer behavior in real time, on the right channel. Here’s how it works: Data Integration: The platform gathers data from every interaction your customers have with your brand, whether it’s a social media click, an email open, or a web visit. It stores and syncs that data, building a comprehensive customer profile. Behavioral Triggers: Based on that profile, the platform automatically triggers personalized actions. If a customer browses a product on your website and abandons it, the system can send them a targeted follow-up email with a discount. Or, if they engage with a post on Instagram, they might receive an SMS with relevant content. Multi-Channel Coordination: Instead of running isolated campaigns across different platforms, omnichannel automation makes sure your messaging is synchronized, no matter where your customer interacts with your brand. The experience is seamless regardless of whether it is conducted on a mobile device, desktop, or in-store. Ultimately, these platforms use automation to enable smarter, more personal marketing, allowing brands to swiftly reach their customers with the right message at the right time. Why is an Omnichannel Marketing Platform So Important for Marketing Teams? Marketing today is about being seen everywhere your customers are and delivering the right message in the right way. An omnichannel marketing platform makes that possible, and here’s why it’s crucial: Drives Better Engagement: Customers expect a smooth experience no matter where they interact with your brand. When your marketing is consistent across email, social media, and your website, it creates a sense of connection. More than just seeing your ads, they’re actually engaging with your brand in a way that feels personalized, familiar, and authentic. Makes Campaigns More Effective: With an omnichannel platform, you can monitor your campaigns in real-time and quickly adjust them if things aren’t going as planned. No more waiting for reports to trickle in. You can make changes on the fly, which means your marketing efforts are always aligned with what’s working at the moment. Allows for True Personalization: Forget generic messaging. An omnichannel marketing platform helps you gather data from every customer interaction, allowing you to tailor your approach based on what each customer is interested in. Builds Stronger Customer Relationships: When you engage with customers across multiple channels in a relevant, timely way, you make them feel seen and valued. This connection goes beyond a single sale. It turns casual buyers into loyal customers who trust your brand to deliver on their needs, no matter where they are. Delivers More Bang for Your Buck: The beauty of automation is that it frees up your team to focus on your omnichannel strategy, while the omnichannel marketing automation platform handles the routine tasks. This efficiency leads to better targeting, reduced costs, and a stronger ROI. You’re reaching the right customers at the right time without wasting effort. Helps You Make Smarter Decisions: All your customer data is centralized, so you’re not guessing anymore. Whether you need to optimize a campaign or uncover new opportunities, the insights provided by the platform allow you to make data-driven decisions that move your business forward. Responds to Customers in Real Time: When someone shows interest in your product, the last thing you want is to lose that momentum. Omnichannel marketing platforms trigger automatic follow-ups based on actions customers take, so they get the right message when they’re most interested, whether it’s through an email, text, or on social media. Keeps Your Brand Consistent: With everything tied together in one platform, your message, tone, and offers stay consistent across channels. No matter where a customer encounters your brand, they’ll have the same experience and brand recognition each time. Elevates the Customer Experience: When all of your channels work together, customers feel like they’re interacting with a brand that really gets them. The result? A better overall customer experience, which translates to stronger loyalty, higher engagement, and more referrals. In short, an omnichannel marketing platform is a game-changer for B2C marketing teams. It brings your efforts together in a way that’s efficient, intelligent, and most importantly, human, making it easier to engage your audience and deliver results.   How to Choose the Right Omnichannel Marketing Platform for Your Team Choosing the right omnichannel marketing platform is a big decision for any team. It’s an investment that can elevate your marketing strategies, enhance omnichannel customer engagement, and improve overall performance. But with so many options available, how do you ensure you’re making the best choice for your team? Here are some key factors to think about. Integration Capabilities: Your platform needs to seamlessly integrate with the tools you already use, so you can focus on what really matters. Whether it’s your CRM, email marketing automation software, or social media platforms, you don’t want to waste time and energy managing multiple systems that don’t talk to each other. Ask yourself, how easily will this platform integrate with and support the tools and platforms you already use? Ease of Use and Customization: A platform that’s difficult to use is more of a burden than a help. Look for one that’s intuitive and easy for your team to get comfortable with. The last thing you want is a tool that causes frustration and slows things down. Think about how user-friendly the platform is for your team. Can you easily customize features to fit your unique needs? Data and Analytics: An omnichannel marketing platform should give you clear, actionable insights so you can make smart, informed decisions. Does the platform provide detailed omnichannel analytics that you can use to refine your campaigns? Can it help you track customer journeys and behaviors across channels? Scalability and Support: Your business is growing, and your platform needs to grow with it. The last thing you want is to outgrow your tool in six months and have to go through the hassle of switching to something new. Check whether the platform is scalable enough to accommodate your future growth. What level of customer support is offered, and how responsive is the team? Now that you have a sense of what to consider when choosing an omnichannel marketing automation platform, let’s dive into the key features to look for.   5 Key Features to Look for in an Omnichannel Marketing Automation Platform You can’t build a high-performing marketing engine founded on disconnected tools and vague customer data. If your team is working across five different platforms to run a single campaign, something’s broken. The tool you pick will either streamline your marketing or slow it down. So, forget the bells and whistles for a moment. What you really need are features that bring clarity to your customer experience. Here are the five features that serve as the foundation of a platform that can scale with your brand. 1. Unified Customer Profiles across Channels Modern marketing starts with understanding. A powerful omnichannel marketing platform should combine customer data from every touchpoint (website visits, email clicks, mobile app activity, purchase history, and other interactions) into a single, continuously updated profile. This unified view helps your team move from being ‘reactive’ to being ‘proactive’. Instead of blasting generic messages, you can deliver relevant content tailored to where that customer is in their journey. It’s the difference between feeling like a brand knows you… and feeling like it’s spam. 2. Behavior-Driven Automation Workflows Static email blasts are outdated. Customers expect relevant, timely communication based on how they engage with your brand. The platform you choose should let you create workflows that automatically trigger actions like sending a reminder, adjusting content, or changing the message channel, based on real-time behavior. For example, a user who browses a product but doesn’t buy it, should receive a well-timed nudge — maybe an email, or a push notification. The point is: your platform needs to adapt to customer intent and behavior, not force every lead down the same path. 3. Real-Time Analytics and Reporting You shouldn’t have to wait 48 hours to know if something flopped. You need to be able to tweak your omnichannel marketing automation strategy in real-time based on what’s happening right now. Does the platform offer real-time insights into campaign performance? Can you adjust tactics immediately based on live data? Also, no one wants 20 meaningless charts. Look for a platform that shows you the vital metrics, like clicks, conversions, and drop-offs, so your team can make quick, sure choices. 4. A Centralized Campaign Builder for Every Channel If you’re logging in and out of separate tools to handle email, SMS, web and mobile push notifications, and in-app messaging, something’s broken. Your omnichannel marketing platform should let you map and launch all of those in one place, from one logic flow. That way, if you’re running a product launch, you can build the entire experience—email, follow-up text, in-app message—all from the same workspace. This keeps your messaging consistent, and it saves your team loads of time. 5. Scalable Personalization Powered by AI Everyone talks about omnichannel personalization. But if it takes your team hours to set up basic name merges or segments, it’s not scalable. A strong platform should help you personalize campaigns at scale using AI, not by making you do more, but by automating based on real customer data. Whether that’s product recommendations, timing messages based on when someone usually engages, or switching up channels depending on preferences, the goal is simple: make it feel like a one-on-one conversation, not a broadcast.   5 Best Omnichannel Marketing Platforms to Increase Customer Engagement 1. MoEngage MoEngage is a powerful customer engagement platform built for B2C marketing teams that want to create seamless, personalized journeys across channels like email, mobile and web push notifications, SMS, WhatsApp, in-app messaging, web, and more. It’s designed to help brands understand their customers deeply and act on that understanding in real time. What makes MoEngage stand out is how it brings all your customer data into one unified platform, allowing you to automate complex journeys without jumping between tools or teams. Whether you’re re-engaging an app user, launching an omnichannel campaign, or sending a personalized offer, this platform makes it easy and efficient. No wonder so many brands switch to MoEngage! How Pricing Works: MoEngage offers a tiered pricing model based on Monthly Tracked Users (MTUs). The Growth plan starts around $750/month, but it depends on what features you want to use. Larger brands can opt for the Enterprise plan, which includes more advanced features, higher limits, and dedicated support. Best For: Growth-focused brands that want to deeply personalize customer experiences at scale, particularly in industries like Ecommerce, fintech, media, quick-service restaurants (QSRs), travel, and mobile-first apps. In fact, it’s the perfect Ecommerce marketing automation platform for omnichannel customer engagement. If your team values real-time insights, automation, and customer-centric engagement, MoEngage is likely a great fit. 2. Shopify Plus Shopify Plus is an enterprise-level Ecommerce platform designed to help brands deliver a seamless shopping experience across all customer touchpoints. It enables brands to sell on various platforms, including online stores, mobile apps, social media, and physical retail locations, all managed from a single dashboard. While Shopify Plus does a great job managing omnichannel commerce, it’s not as feature-rich on the marketing automation side. If your team is looking for deep personalization, behavioral segmentation, or advanced journey building, you’ll likely need to connect Shopify with a marketing automation software platform. How Pricing Works: Shopify Plus pricing varies based on specific business requirements and sales volumes. Best For: High-volume omnichannel retail marketers and brands looking for a scalable Ecommerce solution that offers basic omnichannel capabilities and centralized management of multiple sales channels. 3. ActiveCampaign ActiveCampaign does a great job of bridging marketing automation with a personal touch. It’s built for businesses that don’t just want to send mass emails, but send smart ones. The platform shines when it comes to customer segmentation, letting you trigger emails, SMS, or even site messages based on real behavior, not just assumptions. That said, it’s not the kind of tool you just open and instantly “get.” The automation builder is powerful, but there’s a learning curve. Still, once you set it up, it runs like a machine that’s personalized, timely, and way less manual effort than you’d expect. How Pricing Works: Pricing starts at $29 per month and scales based on contact volume and feature set. Plans can go up to $149/month or more, depending on business needs. Best For: Small to mid-sized businesses looking for a cost-effective, flexible marketing automation platform with strong segmentation and multichannel engagement tools. (No, we’re not getting into the omnichannel vs. multichannel marketing debate now). 4. HubSpot HubSpot is an all-in-one platform that helps brands grow by focusing on inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. It’s well-suited for those looking to integrate their marketing efforts across various channels, without the need for complex technical skills. Honestly, HubSpot’s strength is in inbound marketing and CRM. However, its capabilities in advanced omnichannel campaign automation aren’t as extensive as those in some other platforms. If you need highly sophisticated marketing features, you may want to look elsewhere. How Pricing Works: Pricing starts at $800 per month for the Marketing Hub. For full access to all features, the Enterprise plan starts at $3,600 per month. Best For: Brands that focus on inbound marketing and CRM, looking for a user-friendly platform to manage omnichannel efforts easily.   Migrate to a Better Omnichannel Marketing Platform Today One thing’s clear: not all omnichannel marketing platforms are created equal. The right platform should feel less like another tool and more like a strategic partner, helping you understand your audience, stay consistent across touchpoints, and make marketing smarter, not harder. MoEngage stands out for this very reason. In fact, our omnichannel marketing platform is built for teams who want more than just dashboards. It’s for marketers who want results. And the best part is, migrating to a customer engagement platform has never been easier. Want to see MoEngage in action? Book a demo today and explore what better marketing looks like. The post How to Choose an Omnichannel Marketing Platform appeared first on MoEngage.

On-device channels are no longer all about preloads. Today, telcos represent another performance marketing channel with transparent reporting and deeper insights. To get the full picture behind the performance of your on-device campaigns, it’s critical to prioritize long-term KPIs. It’s the only way the stickiness of users acquired through these channels really shine. Why?On-device campaigns reach users when they’re setting up their new devices and looking to download apps they’ll use throughout the device lifetime, not necessarily right away. Think about it - if you download a booking app from an ad during device setup, are you planning to book a vacation immediately or later down the road?This means attribution is a waiting game for on-device campaigns, with day 30 as the turning point. In fact, if a user engages with your app 30 days down the line, they’re more likely to stay active for a long period of time. Simply put, LTV is high for on-device campaigns. This means you want to be looking at KPIs that allow you to measure and optimize the value of the users you attract far down the road.ROASROAS is king when it comes to measuring the long-term value of your users. To get the clearest idea of your ROAS and how to optimize it, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, ROAS should be measured on D30/60/90 not D1/3/7. This is because, with on-device channels, users are likely to open an app within the first 30 days or longer - when a user downloads an app during device setup, they do so expecting to open it in the future, not right away.You should also pay attention to how it’s being measured. ROAS is calculated by dividing the amount of revenue a campaign generates by the amount it costs to run it. In the context of on-device campaigns, that revenue comes from in-app purchases, subscriptions, or ad monetization.When measuring the effectiveness of your on-device campaigns, it’s important to calculate ROAS using your on-device ad revenue rather than average ad revenue, which will be lower. That’s because ad revenue is high for users acquired through on-device campaigns - on-device channels use unique data points and deep algorithms to ensure the right bid for each individual user. To get the clearest picture of where you stand in relation to your ROAS goals, you should integrate ad revenue with your on-device platform.Once calculated, ROAS gives a clear monetary view of your campaigns, so it’s clear how much you spent vs brought in. This monetary value is important because it tells you if your on-device campaigns are reaching valuable users. Looking at ROAS by placements, you get insight into which placements are doing it best. With the knowledge of how to maximize ROAS, you’ll maximize the long term value and engagement of your users, too.Cost KPIsComparing LTV to spend will help you determine whether or not your users are spending enough to cover your spend and ultimately turn a profit. You can even pinpoint areas of your strategy that are effective, and those that may need adjustment.There are a few ways to measure cost effectiveness. Here are the most common two, especially for on-device campaigns.Cost per action (CPA)If it’s quality you’re looking for, first, run a CPA campaign to confirm that you’re looking in the right places for users who will engage with your app. To count as a conversion, users must see the ad, install the app, and complete the action you preset. You’ll only pay for the users who reach a chosen point in the app experience after installation. A CPA that is higher than LTV is a clear indicator that your campaigns are focused on less relevant channels or touchpoints, while a CPA that is lower than your LTV confirms that you are attracting high quality users.In the context of on-device campaigns, this is key because it means you won't pay immediately for a user who may not engage for a month or so. The pricing model also integrates in-app revenue, which is useful for apps that rely more on IAPs than ads.Cost per retained user (CPRU)It’s also worthwhile to keep track of how much you’re paying for the user that’s still there on day 30. CPRU takes into account conversions and retention rate - if your budget is $10k, you have 1000 conversions and a day 1 retention rate of 20%, you come away with 200 converted users at a $50 per user acquisition cost. If you can increase retention, you end up with higher quality users at a lower CPRU.Measuring CPRU, retention becomes a success metric for your UA campaigns and can help you determine whether you have enough engaged users to cover spend.On day 30 and beyond, these KPIs can help you optimize your on-device campaigns to reach the most engaged users with high LTV.

Anthropic has unveiled a custom collection of Claude AI models designed for US national security customers. The announcement represents a potential milestone in the application of AI within classified government environments. The ‘Claude Gov’ models have already been deployed by agencies operating at the highest levels of US national security, with access strictly limited to those working within such classified environments. Anthropic says these Claude Gov models emerged from extensive collaboration with government customers to address real-world operational requirements. Despite being tailored for national security applications, Anthropic maintains that these models underwent the same rigorous safety testing as other Claude models in their portfolio. Specialised AI capabilities for national security The specialised models deliver improved performance across several critical areas for government operations. They feature enhanced handling of classified materials, with fewer instances where the AI refuses to engage with sensitive information—a common frustration in secure environments. Additional improvements include better comprehension of documents within intelligence and defence contexts, enhanced proficiency in languages crucial to national security operations, and superior interpretation of complex cybersecurity data for intelligence analysis. However, this announcement arrives amid ongoing debates about AI regulation in the US. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently expressed concerns about proposed legislation that would grant a decade-long freeze on state regulation of AI. Balancing innovation with regulation In a guest essay published in The New York Times this week, Amodei advocated for transparency rules rather than regulatory moratoriums. He detailed internal evaluations revealing concerning behaviours in advanced AI models, including an instance where Anthropic’s newest model threatened to expose a user’s private emails unless a shutdown plan was cancelled. Amodei compared AI safety testing to wind tunnel trials for aircraft designed to expose defects before public release, emphasising that safety teams must detect and block risks proactively. Anthropic has positioned itself as an advocate for responsible AI development. Under its Responsible Scaling Policy, the company already shares details about testing methods, risk-mitigation steps, and release criteria—practices Amodei believes should become standard across the industry. He suggests that formalising similar practices industry-wide would enable both the public and legislators to monitor capability improvements and determine whether additional regulatory action becomes necessary. Implications of AI in national security The deployment of advanced models within national security contexts raises important questions about the role of AI in intelligence gathering, strategic planning, and defence operations. Amodei has expressed support for export controls on advanced chips and the military adoption of trusted systems to counter rivals like China, indicating Anthropic’s awareness of the geopolitical implications of AI technology. The Claude Gov models could potentially serve numerous applications for national security, from strategic planning and operational support to intelligence analysis and threat assessment—all within the framework of Anthropic’s stated commitment to responsible AI development. Regulatory landscape As Anthropic rolls out these specialised models for government use, the broader regulatory environment for AI remains in flux. The Senate is currently considering language that would institute a moratorium on state-level AI regulation, with hearings planned before voting on the broader technology measure. Amodei has suggested that states could adopt narrow disclosure rules that defer to a future federal framework, with a supremacy clause eventually preempting state measures to preserve uniformity without halting near-term local action. This approach would allow for some immediate regulatory protection while working toward a comprehensive national standard. As these technologies become more deeply integrated into national security operations, questions of safety, oversight, and appropriate use will remain at the forefront of both policy discussions and public debate. For Anthropic, the challenge will be maintaining its commitment to responsible AI development while meeting the specialised needs of government customers for crtitical applications such as national security. (Image credit: Anthropic) See also: Reddit sues Anthropic over AI data scraping Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out AI & Big Data Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is co-located with other leading events including Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars powered by TechForge here. The post Anthropic launches Claude AI models for US national security appeared first on AI News.

Best of Summer Game Fest 2025 trailers – Mortal Shell 2, Game Of Thrones and more GameCentral Published June 7, 2025 3:33am Updated June 7, 2025 7:01am The Resident Evil and friends show (YouTube) Watch all the most interesting trailers from the biggest summer preview event of the year, including Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Code Vein 2, and Wu-Tang: Rise Of The Deceiver. You never know what you’re going to get with Summer Game Fest, the would-be replacement for E3 hosted by The Games Awards creator Geoff Keighley. Some years there’s tons of big name reveals and some years it’s mostly just AA and indie titles. This is one of those years. That doesn’t mean there was nothing of interest, but the mic drop reveal at the end of the two hour long show was Resident Evil Requiem, and it was by far the biggest game to be featured. Despite being only a day after the Nintendo Switch 2 launch, and Nintendo registered as a partner, the only time the console was even mentioned was a brief ad for Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition. Although that does probably increase the chances of a Nintendo Direct later in the month. There were a few notable trends for the games at this year’s Summer Game Fest: a lot of Soulslike titles with dark grey visuals, a lot of anime games, and plenty of live service titles still trying their luck at hitting the big time. So, if the thought of that doesn’t appeal you may find the pickings relatively thin. Although there’s also Jurassic World Evolution 3 and the Deadpool VR game if you fancy something different. Mortal Shell 2 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. The first annoucement was Mortal Shell 2, a sequel to the 2020 Dark Souls clone that is still one of our favourite Soulslikes not made by FromSoftware. Developed by a mere 30-man team (Keighley was keen to highlight that many of the games were by surprisingly small developers) the sequel seems to be going for a more overt horror atmosphere, while there was a lot more gun combat than usual for the genre. It’s out sometime in 2026. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach It’s never a surprise to see Hideo Kojima at a Geoff Keighley event but the cut scene he decided to show for Death Stranding 2 was not exactly the most enthralling. It featured Luca Marinelli as Neil and his real-life wife Alyssa Jung as therapist Lucy, arguing about the fact that he’s forgotten who she is. Neil is apparently the villain of the piece, and the one dressed up in Solid Snake cosplay in some of the previous images. The game itself is out in just a few weeks, on June 26. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Sega had a strange little dig at Mario Kart World during their reveal of Sonic’s latest kart racer, pointing out that it has cross-play… even though Mario Kart is obviously only on Nintendo formats. The game looked good, but the focus of the demonstration was crossover characters from other games, including Hatsune Miku, Ichiban Kasuga from Like A Dragon, Joker from Persona 5, and Steve from Minecraft. The game will be released on September 25 for every format imaginable. Code Vein 2 We’re really not sure the art style in this unexpected sequel to the 2019 Soulslike works very well, with its anime characters and realistic backdrops, but at least it’s something a bit different. The original didn’t seem quite successful enough to justify a follow-up, but the action looks good and at least it’s one Soulslike that’s not copying FromSoftware’s visuals as well as its gameplay. It’ll be released for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and PC sometime next year. Game Of Thrones: War For Westeros It does seem madness that there’s never been a console action game based on Game Of Thrones. There still isn’t, but at least this real-time strategy game isn’t just some seedy mobile title. Unfortunately, the pre-rendered trailer never showed a hint of any gameplay, so there’s no clue as to what it’s actually like, but apparently it involves ‘ruthless free-for-all battles where trust is fleeting and power is everything’. It’s out next year and seems to be PC-only, which is a shame as it could have worked as a spiritual sequel to EA’s old Lord Of The Rings real-time strategies. Onimusha: Way Of The Sword It’s been a very busy week for Capcom this week, with Pragmata re-unveiled at the State of Play on Wednesday and Resident Evil Requiem being the big reveal at the end of Summer Game Fest. But we also got a new gameplay trailer for the reboot of Onimusha, which looks extremely pretty and continued the series’ tradition of not even trying to have anyone sound like they’re actually from Japan (like Resident Evil, the originals only had English voiceovers). There’s no release date yet, but it’s out next year on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Felt That: Boxing One of the strangest reveals of the show was what seems to be a Muppet version of Punch-Out!!, with the potty-mouthed puppets taking part in what also probably counts as a homage to Rocky. The gameplay does seem almost identical to Nintendo’s old boxing game but hopefully there’s a bit more to it than that. The game doesn’t have a release date and is currently scheduled only for PC. ARC Raiders Expected to be the next big thing in online shooters, the only thing ARC Raiders has been missing is a release date, but it finally got that at Summer Game Fest. It’ll be out on October 30 for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC, which is interesting because that’s right around the time you’d expect this year’s Call Of Duty to come out – and the new Battlefield, if EA launches it this year. ARC Raiders’ strong word of mouth gives it a head start though, which could make for an interesting autumn shootout. Out Of Words When we interviewed Jospeh Fares about Split Fiction, we asked him why he thought no one had ever tried to copy his games, despite their huge success. He didn’t know but finally another developer seems to have wondered the same thing and Out Of Words does look very reminiscent of It Takes Two in particular. The hand-crafted, stop motion visuals are neat though and it’s definitely one to watch, even if it doesn’t have a release date yet. Lego Voyagers Another game taking inspiration from Split Fiction, at least in the sense that it has a friend pass that means only one person has to own a copy of the game to play online co-op. It’s by the creators of the very good Lego Builder’s Journey and rather than being based on Lego licensed sets, or any other established toy line, it’s all about solving puzzles by building Lego structures. If it’s as good as Lego Builder’s Journey it’ll be doing very well indeed, although there’s no release date yet. Mixtape Between South Of Midnight and The Midnight Walk, and Out Of Words, stop motion animation Is suddenly very popular for video games. The art style in this new game from Annapurna was notably different though, and while we’re not entirely sure what’s going on in terms of the gameplay the 80s soundtrack sounds like it’ll be the best thing since GTA: Vice City. Acts Of Blood Made by just nine people in Indonesia, this very bloody looking beat ‘em-up looked extremely impressive, and also very reminiscent of the violence in Oldboy. We didn’t quite gather what was going on in terms of the story but we’re sure revenge has something to do with it, as you beat down hordes of goons and get a Mortal Kombat style view of an opponent’s skeleton, when you manage to put a big enough dent in it. It’ll be out on PC next summer. Scott Pilgrim EX We can’t say we’ve ever been fans of Scott Pilgrim, either the comics or the film, but the 2D graphics for this new scrolling beat ‘em-up look gorgeous. It’s clearly intended as follow-up to Ubisoft’s film tie-in from 2010, which was well received by many, and is by the same team behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Marvel Cosmic Invasion (which was also at Summer Game Fest and announced Rocket Racoon and She-Hulk as characters). It’ll be out on current and last gen consoles and PC next year. Hitman: World of Assassination Although 007 First Light did get a quick name check on stage, developer and publisher IO Interactive instead spent their time talking about Agent 47 in MindsEye and Mads Mikkelsen in Hitman: World of Assassination (aka Hitman 3). He’ll be reprising the role of Le Chiffre as the latest elusive target in the game – a special character, usually played by a famous actor, that is only available to assassinate for 30 days, starting from today. That’s neat but it’s also interesting that it implied IO has a considerable amount of leeway with the Bond licence and what they can do with it. Lego Party! The other Lego game to be unveiled was an outrageously obvious clone of Mario Party, only with 300 different minifigures instead of the Mushroom Kingdom crew. These can be rearranged in trillions of different combinations, in order to compete for stars golden bricks and play 60 different mini-games. We’re big fans of Mario Party (and Lego) so if this manages to be as fun as Nintendo’s games then we’re all for it. It’ll be release for both consoles and PC this year. Blighted A new game from Drinkbox Studios, makers of Guacamelee! and Nobody Saves The World is immediately of interest but this Diablo-esque role-player looks a bit more serious and horror tinged than their previous games. It also seems to be channelling Hades creator Supergiant Games, none of which is a bad thing. Whether it’s a Metroidvania or not isn’t clear but at certainly points in the trailer it definitely seems to have co-op. It’s not certain which formats it’s coming to but it’s out on PC next year. Infinitesimals A lot of people are probably going to compare this to online survival game Grounded, but the plot makes it sound like a more serious version of Pikmin, with aliens visiting Earth and battling with both insects and some sort of mechanical robot menace, as you search for your lost crew. It’s out for consoles and PC next year and while there’s very little concrete information on the gameplay the visuals certainly look impressive. Wu-Tang: Rise Of The Deceiver Whether you care about the Wu-Tang Clan or not this had some of the nicest visuals of any game at the show. They seemed fairly obviously influenced by the Into The Spider-Verse movies, but that’s no bad thing, and we’re only surprised that hasn’t happened before. The idea of a Wu-Tan action role-playing game was leaked quite a while ago, where it was described as Diablo meets Hi-Fi Rush, which does seem to fit with what you see in the trailer. There’s no release date so far. Into The Unwell There were a lot of great looking games at the show, but this might have been our favourite, with its 40s style animation reminiscent of a 3D Cuphead. It’s a bit hard to tell exactly what’s going on with the story but you seem to be playing an alcohol abusing cartoon character who’s been tricked by the Devil into… taking part in a third person action roguelite, that also has three-player co-op. There’s no release date but if it looks as good as it plays it’ll be doing very well indeed. Stranger than Heaven The final reveal before Resident Evil Requiem was what was previously codenamed Project Century and while it looks like a Yakuza spin-off it’s not actually part of the franchise, even though it’s by the same developer. Sega didn’t explain much, but when the game was first introduced it was set in Japan in 1915 and yet this trailer is set in 1943 (i.e. in the middle of the Second World War). More Trending Given the codename that probably implies you’re playing in multiple time periods across the whole century. There was no mention of formats or a release date though, so it’s probably still quite a while away from release. Resident Evil Requiem was the biggest news of the night (YouTube) 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

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk had a very public spat this week. Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 2025-06-07T19:13:48Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? President Donald Trump says he has no desire to repair his relationship with Elon Musk. He also said Musk would face "serious consequences" if he funds Democrats. Meanwhile, Musk deleted some of his most incendiary X posts on Saturday. It seems Elon Musk won't be President Donald Trump's "first buddy" again anytime soon.Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he has no plans to repair his relationship with Musk after it imploded this week. When asked if their relationship is done, Trump said, simply, "I would assume so, yeah."Trump said he doesn't intend to speak with Musk and said the tech billionaire was "disrespectful to the office of the President.""I think it's a very bad thing, because he's very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the President," Trump said.The epic and very public fallout began after Musk criticized Trump's tax bill, which the president calls his "One Big Beautiful Bill."During Thursday's dramatic exchange, which took place mostly on the social media networks each billionaire owns, Trump threatened to terminate Musk's government contracts and subsidies. Musk shot back that Trump was in the so-called "Epstein files" in a now-deleted post.In the NBC interview on Saturday, Trump warned Musk against funding Democratic candidates running against GOP members voting in favor of the bill, saying there will be "serious consequences.""If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that," Trump said. "He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that."Last month, Musk said he would spend "a lot less" on political campaigns in the future. He spent hundreds of millions in support of Trump in 2024."If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it," Musk said at the Qatar Economic Forum last month. "I do not currently see a reason."Trump's remarks on Saturday came after Musk deleted some X posts from his account. He deleted the post referencing the Epstein files and a video he re-posted that appeared to show Trump partying with Epstein in the 1990s. Musk also deleted an X post in which he called a Trump comment an "obvious lie" and another post saying SpaceX would decommission its Dragon spacecraft "immediately."White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Business Insider that passing the tax bill is the president's priority."President Trump and the entire Administration will continue the important mission of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse from our federal government on behalf of taxpayers, and the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill is critical to helping accomplish that mission," Leavitt said in a statement.Representatives for Musk did not respond to a request for comment from BI.The repercussions from Musk and Trump's dispute were swift, affecting the price of Tesla stock and Dogecoin. A senior White House official told BI that Trump is now considering selling his Tesla.On Saturday, Vice President JD Vance said it was a "huge mistake" for Musk to "go after the president" during the newest episode of "This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von.""I'm not saying he has to agree with the bill or agree with everything that I'm saying," Vance said. "I just think it's a huge mistake for the world's wealthiest man, I think one of the most transformational entrepreneurs ever — that's Elon — to be at this war with the world's most powerful man."During the interview, Vance said he thinks everything will be fine between the pair if Musk "chills out a little bit.""Hopefully Elon figures it out and comes back into the fold," Vance said, adding that Trump had been a "little frustrated" with Musk's recent criticisms."But I think he's been very restrained because the president doesn't think that he needs to be in a blood feud with Elon Musk, and I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine," Vance said.Musk responded to Vance's comment on X on Saturday, writing, simply, "Cool." Recommended video

Published June 7, 2025 10:00am EDT close Tennessee DMV experiencing long lines ahead of REAL ID deadline May 7 is the deadline to get a REAL ID, and some DMVs are facing large crowds and major backup. FOX's Asher Reed spoke with FOX 35 Orlando from outside a DMV in Antioch, Tennessee, with more on the issue. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! If you've received a text message claiming to be from your state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and threatening you with fines or penalties unless you pay up, you're not alone. A new wave of scam texts is sweeping across the country, targeting drivers in states like Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Vermont, Texas, North Carolina and even Washington, D.C.These messages look official and urgent, warning you about supposed unpaid tickets or tolls and demanding immediate payment. But don't be fooled, as these texts are sophisticated scams designed to steal your personal information or money. The scammers are getting better at making their messages look real, so it can be tricky to spot the fraud. But with a few simple tips, you can learn how to recognize these scams and protect yourself before you click or respond. DMV scam text. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How the DMV scam text message worksThese scam messages vary slightly depending on the state you're in, but they’re generally structured in the same way. The text threatens consequences, such as credit score damage, revoked driving privileges, suspended vehicle registration or increased toll fees, if you do not pay the bill you have supposedly incurred. To make the message appear legit, the scammers often include a date for penalties to begin, a fake administrative code and a link that appears to be an official DMV website.FBI WARNS OF SCAM TARGETING VICTIMS WITH FAKE HOSPITALS AND POLICEPro tip: If you're instructed to copy the link into your browser rather than clicking it directly, it's a scam. A person receiving a scam text message on their phone. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Why DMV text scams are so convincingThe scam relies on two key elements to be effective: fear and a sense of urgency. These are two powerful psychological motivators that can send you into a panic since your driving privileges are at risk, or you're facing financial consequences. The aim is to get you to act hastily without pausing to verify the source. The messages also mimic legitimate government communications by including familiar terms, official-sounding codes and web addresses that appear authentic. Here is an example of what the text might look like: DMV scam text. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)States known to have issued warnings about DMV scam texts (as of June 2025):ConnecticutPennsylvaniaGeorgiaFloridaNew YorkCaliforniaIllinoisNew JerseyVirginiaColoradoVermontTexasNorth CarolinaWashington, D.C.Reports are surfacing across the U.S., and the list of affected states is likely to continue growing as more residents come forward.How to spot and avoid DMV text message scamsIf you receive a suspicious text message claiming to be from your state's DMV and demanding payment or personal information, follow these steps to protect yourself:1. Be skeptical of any message creating urgency or panic: Scammers rely on fear and urgency to trick you into acting without thinking. If a message pressures you to act immediately, that's a major red flag.2. Check for obvious red flags: Look for signs like strange sender addresses, awkward language, misspellings or links that don't match your state's official DMV website.3. Do not click any links or reply, and use strong antivirus software: Legitimate DMVs will not ask for payments, personal details or sensitive information via unsolicited text messages. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.4. Verify directly with your DMV: If you're concerned the message might be real, contact your state's DMV using the official website or a trusted phone number. Never use the contact information provided in the suspicious text.5. Consider a Personal Data Removal Service: Your personal information is widely available online, which can make you a bigger target for these types of scams, therefore you might look into a personal data removal service. These services work by submitting opt-out requests to data brokers that collect and sell your information, helping to reduce your digital footprint and making it harder for scammers to find your contact details. GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HEREWhile no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap — and neither is your privacy.  These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet.  By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.6. Delete the message immediately and block the sender: Removing the text helps prevent accidental clicks and reduces the risk of falling for the scam later. Also, be sure to block phone numbers and texts that send spam or scam messages, reducing future risk.7. Register your number with the National Do Not Call Registry: While this won't stop all scams, it can help reduce unwanted communications.8. Don't provide any personal or financial information: Never share your Social Security number, driver's license number, banking information, or passwords in response to an unsolicited text.9. If you clicked the link or gave out information, act quickly: If you accidentally entered personal or financial information, contact your bank, credit card provider or local law enforcement right away to minimize potential damage.10. Keep your phone's security features updated: Ensure your device's operating system and security software are current to help block known scam numbers and malicious links.11. Report the scam: Forward the message to 7726 (SPAM) to alert your mobile provider and help block similar messages in the future. Mark the message as junk or spam within your messaging app, if possible. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov or the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.Kurt’s key takeawaysScam texts pretending to be from the DMV are getting more convincing, but you don't have to be their next victim. Staying skeptical of urgent messages, double-checking anything that seems off and never clicking suspicious links can go a long way in protecting your personal information. Remember, the real DMV will never pressure you for payment or sensitive details over text. By staying alert, you can help prevent these scams and keep your personal information and money secure.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPShould tech companies and telecom providers be doing more to protect you from scam texts, or does the responsibility ultimately fall on you to keep your digital life safe? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com/ContactFor more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/NewsletterAsk Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.   Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

Wholesome Direct 2025 - everything announced at this year's cosy indie showcase Big hops! Discount shops! Spooky pups! More! Image credit: Eurogamer Feature by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on June 7, 2025 If you're the sort who just can't seem to resist the soothing rhythms of turnip planting and interior design, you've come to the right place. This year's Wholesome Direct - which marks the fifth anniversary of the showcase - has now aired, unleashing a fresh wave of cosy games to stick on your wishlists. We've got vending machine management, adorable puppies on spooking adventures, cheese-based puzzling, geckos, goats, seasonal cemetery exploration, and a whole lot more. So if that sounds like it might help sate your idyllic yearning, read on for all the big announcements from Wholesome Direct 2025. And for more indies, you can check out our round-up of this year's Day of the Devs showcase elsewhere. Leaf Blower Co. Leaf Blower Co. trailer.Watch on YouTube Ever wished your PowerWash Simulator had a little less splosh and a little more whoosh? That seems to be the starting point for developer Lift Games' Leaf Blower Co., a game about making the untidy tidy come rain, snow, or shine, one mechanised gust at a time. It's got a story mode plus a variety to locations waiting to be blown debris-free, and if that appeals, a demo's available now on Steam ahead of its release later this year. Instants Instants trailer.Watch on YouTube Instants is a creativity themed puzzler about the intoxicating pleasures of obsessive scrapbooking. It sees players attempting to sort images into chronological order and then assembling them into a scrapbook to reveal a "heartwarming" story inspired by the way family history can be passed down using pictures. It's developed by Endflame and launches today on PC (via Steam and Epic), and Switch. Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar trailer.Watch on YouTube Stardew Valley might be the face of farming sims these days, but the grandaddy of the genre - Story of Season (formerly Harvest Moon) - never went away, and another entry in the venerable series is looming. Grand Bazaar is actually a remake of 2011 DS game Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar, and it's got pretty much everything you'd expect from these kind of things - including turnips to fondle, animals to rear, and locals to dazzle with your impressive root vegetable collection. The main twist is you'll be selling all this yourself by setting up shop in the titular bazar. And if that sounds like something you'd enjoy, it launches for Switch, Switch 2, and Steam on 27th August. Gourdlets Together Gourdlets Together trailer.Watch on YouTube Perhaps you're already a fan of last year's Gourdlets or perhaps you're completely new to its vegetable-themed low-stakes thrills. Either way, there'll soon be a new way to play, thanks to developer AuntyGames' Gourdlets Together. Essentially, it takes the laid-back village-building vibes of the original, slings in a bit of a fishing focus - where earnings can be spent on upgrades or accessories to decorate your island home - then lets you do it while hanging out with friends online. Gourdlets Together launches on PC later this year. Luma Island Luma Island trailer.Watch on YouTube Don't think we're done with the farming sims yet - not by a long shot! Luma Island launched last year, offering an attractive mix of crop whispering, profession-specific activities, creature collecting, exploration, and puzzle-y dungeoneering. And come 20th June, it'll be getting just a little be more swashbuckling, thanks to its free Pirates update, introducing a new profession, new Lumas, new outfits, and a pirate cove filled with mini-games, temples, traps, and treasures. It'll also bring a range of different difficulty modes to suit players of all tastes. Is This Seat Taken? Is This Seat Taken? trailer.Watch on YouTube Think you're a dab hand at the old 'awkward family gathering' seating plan challenge? Well then, this might just be the game for you. In Poti Poti Studio's "cosy, silly, and relatable" logic puzzler Is This Seat Taken?, the goal is to satisfy the demands of a particularly fussy group of chair occupiers to find the perfect spot that'll keep everyone happy - be they on the bus, at the park, or in the office. It's coming to Steam, Switch, iOS, and Android this August, and a Steam demo's out now. MakeRoom MakeRoom trailer.Watch on YouTube Here's one for the aesthetic tinkerers and furnishing fetishists out there. MakeRoom, from developer Kenney, sees players decorating a series of miniature dioramas - from cosy indoor retreats to camper vans and even forests - to fulfil the requests of adorable NPCs. You might, for instance, be tasked with creating the perfect room for cats, or a suitably moody hideout for a vampire. Then it's simply a matter of hanging drapes, plopping down plants, and even crafting furniture to bring these spaces to life and satisfy your clients' whims. It all sounds very much like Animal Crossing's weirdly compelling Happy Home Paradise expansion, so if it's more of that sort of thing you want, MakeRoom comes to Steam on 7th August. Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell trailer.Watch on YouTube The apple bell - whatever an apple bell is - has been stolen, but luckily for apple bell lovers everywhere, renowned detective Ambroise Niflette is on the case. Over the course of Topotes Studio's investigatory adventure, Ambroise - and players - will roam the village of Touvoir, interrogating its inhabitants and searching for secrets, all while using a notebook of steadily amassing leads to reveal contradictions and unmask the culprit. It all sounds perfectly lovely, but the real draw is the delightful art style, which is heavily inspired by miniatures and stop motion. Ambroise Niflette & the Gleaned Bell is eventually set to launch on Steam, but first there's a Kickstarter, which is underway now. Let's Build a Dungeon Let's Build a Dungeon trailer.Watch on YouTube First there was Let's Build a Zoo, and now comes Let's Build a Dungeon. But while developer Springloaded kept its focus pretty tight for its debut release, Let's Build a Dungeon goes broad; not only is it a playable RPG creator where you can rustle up your own worlds and quests, it's also claiming to be an entire games industry sim too, where you'll need to manage all the malarky around releasing your game - from attracting funding right through to making a profit at the other end of the process. But if all that sounds too stressful, Springloaded has confirmed - as part of its latest showing - there'll be a cosy sandbox Build Mode too. There's still no release date for Let's Build a Dungeon yet, but it's heading to Steam (there's a demo here), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Squeakross: Home Squeak Home Squeakross: Home Squeak Home trailer.Watch on YouTube What do you get if you cross adorable mice with classic grid-filling puzzler Picross? Well, this thing, obviously. Squeakross: Home Squeak Home is the work of developer Alblune, and it adds its own twist to the familiar logic-testing formula by introducing a home decorating element. The idea is each puzzle corresponds to an unlockable bit of decor - including furniture, accessories, and stickers - so you'll slowly amass new furnishings and trimmings as you give your brain a work out. Is there an in-game lore reason why puzzles equals furniture? Who knows! We'll soon find out, though, given Squeakross launches for Switch and PC (via Steam and itch.io) today. Monument Valley 3 Monument Valley 3 trailer.Watch on YouTube Ustwo Games' perspective shifting puzzle series Monument Valley has been a big old hit, amassing tens of millions of downloads since its iOS debut back in 2014 - so it wasn't a huge surprise when a third entry showed up on mobile last year. Initially, however, it was locked behind a Netflix subscription, but Monument Valley 3 - which we quite liked despite it offering little meaningful evolution for the series - is finally spreading its wings later this year. As announced during today's Wholesome Direct, it's coming to Steam, Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 22nd July. Big Hops Big Hops trailer.Watch on YouTube If you immediately thought bunnies, you're wrong. Big Hops is, in fact, a frog-themed action platformer, in which players attempt to help the titular Hop find his way home. Each world he visits on his adventure promises its own self-contained story - involving everything from mountain cultists to desert ne'erdowells - all interspersed with plenty of agile platform action. You can grapple across gaps, hoist levers, rotate wheels, even pick locks - all using your tongue - and it's accompanied by some veggie-based gameplay that lets players introduce the likes of climbable vines and mushroom-based bounce pads into levels. Big Hops is currently raising funds via Kickstarter and a Steam demo's out now. Little Kitty, Big City Little Kitty, Big City trailer.Watch on YouTube Here's quicky for you. Little Kitty, Big City - the feline-focused open-world adventure from Double Dagger Studio - is getting a little bigger. That's thanks to a free content update coming to all platforms this "summer", promising new story content, a new neighbourhood to explore, and new oddball characters to befriend. That's alongside a new cat customisation feature for you creative sorts out there. Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk trailer.Watch on YouTube What's in a name? Well, pretty much everything in this case. Aftabi Games' Vending Dokan!: Kozy Kiosk is, just as it sounds, a cosy, laidback game about managing your own vending machine empire. You'll choose where your machines go and what they sell, and hire staff to ensure they stay stocked, clean, and in working order. There's a heavy customisation element too, as you're free to decorate the areas surrounding your vending machines in order to attract new customers. Kozy Kiosk is officially referred to as an "idle simulation", and can be played both actively and passively. And if that appeals, it launches for Steam today. Winter Burrow Winter Burrow trailer.Watch on YouTube Developer Pine Creek Games' "woodland survival game" Winter Burrow was unveiled during December's Wholesome Direct, but it's back to announce it's now coming to Switch. If you missed its original reveal, Winter Burrow casts you as a mouse who's attempting to fix up their burrow and turn it into a toasty retreat from the cold. That requires exploring the snow-covered world outside, gathering resources, crafting tools, building things, making friends, baking pies, and more. Winter Burrow launches next year and will be available for Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch. Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game Tales of the Shire trailer.Watch on YouTube After multiple delays, cosy hobbit life sim Tales of the Shire is almost upon us, and developer Wētā Workshop is readying for its arrival with a brand-new trailer. It's been described as a game about "finding joy in the small moments", and features all the usual life sim activities - fishing, cooking, gathering, decorating, merrymaking - with a bit of a Lord of the Rings twist. So yes, you CAN decorate your hobbit's hole. Tales of the Shire launches for Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on 29th July. Haunted Paws Haunted Paws trailer.Watch on YouTube If your interests lie at the intersection of spooky mansions and adorable pups, prepare to have your day made. In developer LazyFlock's supernatural adventure Haunted Paws, players - either solo or with a friend - control two brave (and customisable!) puppies as they explore a creepy old house in search of their human, who's been kidnapped by sinister forces. It promises puzzles, lighthearted spookiness, and even a few emotional bits. There's no release date for Haunted Paws yet, but it's coming to Steam. The Guardian of Nature The Guardian of Nature trailer.Watch on YouTube This wholesome, hand-drawn puzzle adventure from Inlusio Interactive is all about the interconnectedness of nature, and sees players embarking on a botanical journey as the lovably be-hatted Henry. Not only does Henry know his stuff about the natural world, he's also able to change his size, meaning players can explore both above and below ground as they solve puzzles to assist nature. The Guardian of Nature launches into Steam early access today, and it's coming to Switch, Xbox, iOS, and Android too. Everdeep Aurora Everdeep Aurora trailer.Watch on YouTube If you've ever thought Dig Dug would be improved if its protagonist was a cat, Everdeep Aurora might be the game for you. It follows the apocalyptic adventures of a kitten named Shell as she explores subterranean depths in search of her mother. You'll obliterate blocks, do some platforming, play mini-games, and converse with peculiar characters as you investigate the dark secrets buried below, all without a hint of combat. Its limited-colour pixel art looks wonderful, and it's coming to Steam and Switch on 10th July. Seasonala Cemetery Seasonala Cemetery trailer.Watch on YouTube From the creators of A Mortician's Tale, the "meditative" Seasonala Cemetery is a "peaceful but poignant reflection on life and death". It's set in an expansive, living cemetery that changes dynamically based on your system's time and date. The summer, for instance, might see the world bustling with vibrant life, while the winter brings quiet and snow. You can interact with NPCs and animals, rummage through nature, learn the history of the nearby city through its gravestones, or simply relax to its ambient sounds. Seasonala Cemetery is out today on Steam and itch.io, and is completely free. Camper Van: Make it Home Camper Van: Make it Home trailer.Watch on YouTube One of (bizarrely) several camper-van-themed games currently in the works, developer Malpata Studio's Make it Home is a pretty self-explanatory thing. You've got a camper van to make your own as it journey across beautiful, idyllic landscapes. Part of your goal is to solve organisational puzzles, but there's laidback interior design too. Camper Van: Make it Home is available today, alongside a demo, on Steam. Lynked: Banner of the Spark Lynked: Banner of the Spark trailer.Watch on YouTube FuzzyBot's Lynked: Banner of the Spark is a cheerily colourful action-RPG, that's part sci-fi roguelike, part relaxed life sim. At its most peaceful, you'll farm, fish, gather materials, and build your base with help from your robot pals, but that's all in service of its more frenetic hack-and-slash action. When you're ready for some proper adventure, you can brave the wilds, battle evil robot forces with a large arsenal of weapons, and search for helpful bots to bring back home. Lynked is already available on Steam, but it's coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S too. Omelet You Cook Omelet You Cook trailer.Watch on YouTube In this chaotic cooking roguelike from SchuBox Games, you're tasked with creating the perfect omelettes to satisfy your customers' increasingly peculiar demands. That involves combining ingredients as they fly by on a conveyor belt, from the relatively mundane to the rather more dubious, in the hope of earning enough money to increase your provisions, add useful relics to your pantry, and, hopefully, please the fearsome Principal Clucker. It all looks wonderfully ridiculous, and it launches on Steam today. Milano's Odd Job Collection Milano's Odd Job Collection trailer.Watch on YouTube Milano's Odd Job Collection (known as Milano no Arubaito Collection in Japan) is coming to the west for the very first time. It follows the adventures of 11-year-old Milano as she's left to her own devices over the summer. Free to do as she pleases, she embarks on a range of odd job - from pizza delivery to milking flying cows - in order to make money and have fun. Milano's Odd Job Collection, from developer Westone, is coming to Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC later this year. Fireseide Feelings Fireseide Feelings trailer.Watch on YouTube If you've got something to get off your chest, what better place to do it than by a roaring fire in a cosy forest glade? Fireside Feelings is described as a "mental wellness experience" promoting empathy, connection, and positivity between players. Situated cosily in your customisable camp, you're able to answer questions on a range of topics, taking part in conversations between people "separated in space and time". Conversations aren't live, and there's no direct interaction with others, but the goal, according to developer Team Empreintes, is to "share experiences, express your emotions, and be a part of a caring community". It launches today on Steam. All Will Rise All Will Rise trailer.Watch on YouTube Well here's something you don't see every day. All Will Rise is a "narrative courtroom deck-builder", in which you and your team take a corrupt billionaire to court, accusing them of a river's murder. That involves accumulating cards and using them to engage in conversation battles, attempting to charm, intimidate and manipulate those you meet around the vibrant city of Muziris. "Obey a dead river god's summons - or defy them," developer Speculative Agency explains. "Pass information to violent ecoterrorists - or maintain your pacifist ideals. Convince a corporate stooge to testify for you - or blackmail him with sensitive information. Your choices will determine the [city's] fate." All Will Rise is currently crowdfunding, but it's aiming to launch on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and Steam. Gecko Gods Gecko Gods trailer.Watch on YouTube It's hard to go wrong with a gecko, which immediately gives developer Inresin's Gecko Gods a bit of an advantage. What we've got here is a "serene lizard-sized puzzle-platformer" set on a beautiful archipelago, in which its tiny protagonist clambers across forgotten ruins, solving puzzles as they go. There are secrets of a lost civilisation to uncover, hidden paths, and more, all of which you'll be able to explore for yourself when Gecko Gods launches for Switch, PS5, and Steam later this year. But if you're an impatient sort, a Steam demo is available now. One Move Away One Move Away trailer.Watch on YouTube If you quite fancied the idea of Unpacking, but thought it had far too much 'taking stuff out of things' for its own good, you might enjoy Ramage Games' One Move Away, which is basically the inverse experience. Here, you play as three different characters, starting with a young girl in the 1980s, gradually learning more about them as you pack their belongings away ready for another chapter in their intertwining lives. All this plays out in first-person across 20 levels, and if that takes your fancy, a Steam demo's out now ahead of a full launch on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Heidi's Legacy: Mountains Calling Heidi's Legacy trailer.Watch on YouTube As you've probably already guessed, Heidi's Legacy: Mountains Calling takes inspiration from the classic children's stories. Which is why it's something of a surprise to learn its protagonist is called Adèle. Regardless, this is a game of grumpy old men, goat management, and alpine wandering, where you'll explore the beautiful countryside with your bleating pals, foraging for herbs, mushrooms, and more in a bid to help the nearby village. You can unlock abilities that open up more of the world, and chat to the locals in branching conversations'll that impact their lives. And as for those goats, they can provide milk, cheese, and wool. "Will you embrace slow living," asks developer Humble Reeds, "or push for bolder change?". Heidi's Legacy is coming to PC "soon". Hotel Galatic Hotel Galatic trailer.Watch on YouTube In Hotel Galactic, you're responsible for the running of a modular hotel on a strange cosmic island, which you'll customise and optimise in order to provide guests with the perfect stay. There are resources to manage, a workforce to build, and more, as you cater to the demands of your ever-growing colony, all with assistance from your ghostly Grandpa Gustav. There's a bit more to it than that, though, and the whole thing's framed by a tale of love and vengeance that's conveyed through some lovely anime-inspired art and animation. Hotel Galactic launches into Steam early access on 24th July, with consoles to follow, and a demo's available now. Out and About Out and About trailer.Watch on YouTube If it's serene forest meandering you're after, then look no further than Yaldi Games' Out and About. It's a "cosy foraging adventure" focused on exploring nature and identifying real-life plants and fungi. You'll cook recipes, make herbal remedies, and help rebuild your community after a devastating storm, all while hopefully learning a bit of botanical knowledge you can take out into the real-world. Out and About looks to be aiming for a 2025 release on PC, with a console launch to follow. And if it's piqued your curiosity, you can test out a Steam demo now. Discounty Discounty trailer.Watch on YouTube Forget the farm life; how about managing your own discount supermarket in a small harbour town? That's the premise of Discounty from Crinkle Cut Games, which sees you designing and organising your shop, managing stock levels, working the checkout, and striking trade deals. You'll make friends, navigate local drama, and expand your empire, but that doesn't mean you have to play nice. After all, can you really become filthy rich without making a few lifelong enemies along the way? Discounty launches for Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC on 21st August and, yup, a demo's available now on Steam. Islanders: New Shores Islanders: New Shores trailer.Watch on YouTube We're big fans of developer GrizzlyGames' minimalist city builder Islanders around these parts, so news publisher Coatsink was developing a sequel earlier this year came as a pleasant surprise. It is, if you're unfamiliar, a game about attempting to squeeze as much onto a procedurally generated island as possible, maximising building synergies and minimising penalties to get the highest score. New Shores sounds like a gentle finessing of the formula, rather than a radical reinvention - it's got a sandbox mode as well as a high score mode now, alongside new power-ups called "boons" - but that's okay. The big news is it now has a release date and is coming to Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam on 10th July. Collector's Cove Collector's Cove trailer.Watch on YouTube VoodooDuck's Collector's Cove might be yet another farming game, but it does at least have a unique twist. For starters, your farm is on a boat endlessly sailing the oceans AND it's powered by an adorable sea monster who you'll need to forge a bond with. As you set out on a tranquil adventure across the water, you'll farm, fish, craft, and personalise your surroundings, sometimes stopping off at passing islands to catalogue their unique flora. Collector's Cove doesn't have a release date yet, but it's coming to PC and a Steam demo's available now. Town to City Town to City trailer.Watch on YouTube Fans of minimalist railway game Station to Station might want to pay attention here. Town to City is developer Galaxy Grove's follow-up to that earlier puzzler, sporting a similar voxel art aesthetic and vibe. This time around, you're charged with building quaint picturesque towns by placing shops, houses, amenities, decorations, and more - all in a bid to please your residents and encourage more to move in. Eventually, you'll have multiple towns under your care, helping the whole region grow and thrive. Town to City doesn't have a release date yet, but you can play a demo on Steam. Fishbowl Fishbowl trailer.Watch on YouTube And finally for the big, non-montage reveals, it's Fishbowl, a coming-of-age tale told over the course of a month. Developer imissmyfriends.studio describes it as a "warm and cozy story about living in isolation, nurturing friendships and understanding grief", and it's all focused on 21-year-old video editor Alo as she works from home while mourning her grandmother. As the days tick by, you'll video call loved ones, work to assemble videos, do care tasks, and solve puzzles to unpack your grandmother's belongings - recovering childhood memories as you do. There's no release date for Fishbowl yet, but it's coming to PS5 and Steam.

June 5, 20254 min readThe Trump-Musk Fight Could Have Huge Consequences for U.S. Space ProgramsA vitriolic war of words between President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could have profound repercussions for the nation’s civil and military space programsBy Lee Billings edited by Dean VisserElon Musk (left) and President Donald Trump (right) seemed to be on good terms during a press briefing in the Oval Office at the White House on May 30, 2025, but the event proved to be the calm before a social media storm. Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesFor several hours yesterday, an explosively escalating social media confrontation between arguably the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, and the world’s most powerful, President Donald Trump, shook U.S. spaceflight to its core.The pair had been bosom-buddy allies ever since Musk’s fateful endorsement of Trump last July—an event that helped propel Trump to an electoral victory and his second presidential term. But on May 28 Musk announced his departure from his official role overseeing the U.S. DOGE Service. And on May 31 the White House announced that it was withdrawing Trump’s nomination of Musk’s close associate Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Musk abruptly went on the attack against the Trump administration, criticizing the budget-busting One Big Beautiful Bill Act, now navigating through Congress, as “a disgusting abomination.”Things got worse from there as the blowup descended deeper into threats and insults. On June 5 Trump suggested on his own social-media platform, Truth Social, that he could terminate U.S. government contracts with Musk’s companies, such as SpaceX and Tesla. Less than an hour later, the conflict suddenly grew more personal, with Musk taking to X, the social media platform he owns, to accuse Trump—without evidence—of being incriminated by as-yet-unreleased government documents related to the illegal activities of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Musk upped the ante further in follow-up posts in which he endorsed a suggestion for impeaching Trump and, separately, declared in a now deleted post that because of the president’s threat, SpaceX “will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.” (Some five hours after his decommissioning comment, tempers had apparently cooled enough for Musk to walk back the remark in another X post: “Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”)Dragon is a crucial workhorse of U.S. human spaceflight. It’s the main way NASA’s astronauts get to and from the International Space Station (ISS) and also a key component of a contract between NASA and SpaceX to safely deorbit the ISS in 2031. If Dragon were to be no longer be available, NASA would, in the near term, have to rely on either Russian Soyuz vehicles or on Boeing’s glitch-plagued Starliner spacecraft for its crew transport—and the space agency’s plans for deorbiting the ISS would essentially go back to the drawing board. More broadly, NASA uses SpaceX rockets to launch many of its science missions, and the company is contracted to ferry astronauts to and from the surface of the moon as part of the space agency’s Artemis III mission.Trump’s and Musk’s retaliatory tit for tat also raises the disconcerting possibility of disrupting other SpaceX-centric parts of U.S. space plans, many of which are seen as critical for national security. Thanks to its wildly successful reusable Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, the company presently provides the vast majority of space launches for the Department of Defense. And SpaceX’s constellation of more than 7,000 Starlink communications satellites has become vitally important to war fighters in the ongoing conflict between Russia and U.S.-allied Ukraine. SpaceX is also contracted to build a massive constellation of spy satellites for the DOD and is considered a leading candidate for launching space-based interceptors envisioned as part of Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile-defense plan.Among the avalanche of reactions to the incendiary spectacle unfolding in real time, one of the most extreme was from Trump’s influential former adviser Steve Bannon, who called on the president to seize and nationalize SpaceX. And in an interview with the New York Times, Bannon, without evidence, accused Musk, a naturalized U.S. citizen, of being an “illegal alien” who “should be deported from the country immediately.”NASA, for its part, attempted to stay above the fray via a carefully worded late-afternoon statement from the space agency’s press secretary Bethany Stevens: “NASA will continue to execute upon the President’s vision for the future of space,” Stevens wrote. “We will continue to work with our industry partners to ensure the President’s objectives in space are met.”The response from the stock market was, in its own way, much less muted. SpaceX is not a publicly traded company. But Musk’s electric car company Tesla is. And it experienced a massive sell-off at the end of June 5’s trading day: Tesla’s share price fell down by 14 percent, losing the company a whopping $152 billion of its market value.Today a rumored détente phone conversation between the two men has apparently been called off, and Trump has reportedly said he now intends to sell the Tesla he purchased in March in what was then a gesture of support for Musk. But there are some signs the rift may yet heal: Musk has yet to be deported; SpaceX has not been shut down; Tesla’s stock price is surging back from its momentary heavy losses; and it seems NASA astronauts won’t be stranded on Earth or on the ISS for the time being.Even so, the entire sordid episode—and the possibility of further messy clashes between Trump and Musk unfolding in public—highlights a fundamental vulnerability at the heart of the nation’s deep reliance on SpaceX for access to space. Outsourcing huge swaths of civil and military space programs to a disruptively innovative private company effectively controlled by a single individual certainly has its rewards—but no shortage of risks, too.

Most of what you need to know about the Nintendo Switch 2 is right there in the name: this is the direct sequel to the Switch. It’s bigger, more powerful, more refined, and builds on a strong foundation. If you liked the first Switch, you’re almost certainly going to like the Switch 2. But whether it’s worth upgrading immediately is going to depend a lot on your current gaming library and how much you’re willing to spend for a small library of first party titles.  The Hardware From an ergonomic perspective, the Switch 2 is a definite upgrade over the original with a nicer looking, rounded off cradle, a bigger screen, and new magnetically attached Joy-cons that are a breeze to connect and remove. Also a really underrated new feature is the more flexible kickstand, which lets you play the Switch 2 from multiple angles if you’re into that sort of thing. While it didn’t really get much coverage in previews, I was also pleasantly surprised by a sturdier cover for game cards that will better lock them into place. That’s not hugely important, but it does show how much thought Nintendo put into the system to address almost every criticism of the original Switch, which was a pretty great portable to begin with. Furthermore, the sound quality of the Switch 2 in portable mode is surprisingly better than the old model. Oddly enough though, as good as the sound is, the HDR implementation is surprisingly underwhelming in this initial batch of games. That’s really not a huge deal, but it’s odd that Nintendo even pushed it at all given how barely noticeable it is right now. Maybe future games (or a future Switch 2 refresh) will improve on it. My only real gripe about the Switch 2 is that it’s maybe too big. I’m a six-foot and two inches, 270 pound professional wrestler in my spare time, and this thing is almost too big for my hands. It starts to feel a little heavy after an hour of playtime. At least the battery life is rock solid, however, which has always been a strong point of Nintendo portables, though the console does run noticeably warmer than its predecessor.  Set Up and the Switch 2 Experience Getting started with the Switch 2 is simple, although not without a bit of the typical Nintendo weirdness. By logging into my Wi-Fi and My Nintendo account, I transferred everything from my original Switch to the Switch 2 in a little over 10 minutes. All I had to do was plug in both consoles and move them within a few feet of each other. The one downside of this is that the Switch 2 then immediately decided to start downloading a few dozen of the most recent games I’ve played. That’s good in theory, but since the Switch 2 only comes with 256GB of internal storage, I didn’t want all those old games on my new console. If there’s an easier way than going through the game library and canceling all of those individual downloads, I couldn’t find it. Still, this made clear just how much space is going to be an issue with the new console. After downloading updates and just a handful of my older titles, I was down to only 175GB of space. When some launch titles are already clocking in at 60 gigs, it’s clear that a MicroSD Express card is going to be a necessity for a lot of gamers. Given the price of those, I do wish the Switch 2 had a port for older SD cards that could play original Switch games, or allowed for a hard drive in docked mode. Maybe that’s something we’ll see in an update down the line. Anyway, once I had downloaded what I wanted and canceled everything else, it was time to dive into the Switch 2 dashboard… which actually looks a lot like the original Switch’s. All of the icons are rounder, just like the cradle and system itself. The eShop doesn’t slow down anymore, and everything else is pretty much where it was on the first Switch. If you ever upgraded from an Xbox One to an Xbox Series X, it’s a similar type of negligible change.   What’s New with the Switch 2 Unlike some past Nintendo consoles like the Wii, the Switch 2 doesn’t have any major new gimmicks, but there are a couple of interesting new features. The upgraded Joy-Cons can now be used like computer mice. There’s also GameChat, a new way to communicate with other players during gameplay through video and audio. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! Honestly, I didn’t spend a lot of time with either of these features. They work as advertised, they’re just not exactly revolutionary, especially given that Microsoft and Sony have allowed this type of communication while gaming for years. There’s definitely promise to these ideas down the line, but they’re not exactly day one system sellers. It’s probably 50-50 whether we see games that take advantage of these features, or if developers just ignore them entirely. Switch 2 Games, Old and New The Switch 2 is launching with an impressive collection of more than two dozen games. Many like Street Fighter 6, Hogwarts Legacy, and Hitman are ports of games that have been available elsewhere for awhile now. I picked up Mario Kart World, Bravely Default HD, and Cyberpunk 2077. I’ll have fuller thoughts on Mario Kart World in a few days, but for now I’ll say it’s a very fun game that doesn’t necessarily do a whole lot to show off its console’s power. The other two games are excellent ports of older titles, with Cyberpunk 2077 in particular offering some enjoyable new control options thanks to the upgraded Joy-Cons. What’s especially impressive at launch are the upgrades to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Available for $10 each, or as part of an annual Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. These almost look like brand new games with higher resolution and frame rates that now put them on par with a lot of the best looking games on Xbox or PlayStation.  Even in handheld mode, the Zelda titles look noticeably better than on the original Switch. The free upgrades I checked out in New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario Odyssey, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury don’t go quite that far in terms of improvements, but the games definitely do perform better. It was actually kind of rough going back to Switch games like Splatoon 3 and Xenoblade Chronicles X that don’t have enhancements of any kind, and still having to deal with their little graphical hiccups on the Switch 2. But I didn’t notice any issues with backwards compatibility. Original Switch games seem to play flawlessly on the new console. Another reason to check out the Switch 2 is GameCube games for Expansion Pack members. I played a few minutes each of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, and SoulCalibur II and I’m pleased to report that they all performed admirably. Whatever emulator Nintendo is using doesn’t make these games look like full-on remasters, but they do look very sharp on a 4K TV, and I’m excited to see what other classic titles get added in the future. Is the Switch 2 Worth Buying? Whether you should pick up a Switch 2 right now (if you can even find one) really depends. If you always wanted a Switch but for some reason never got one, a Switch 2 is an absolute no brainer. It’s going to be the best way to experience some Switch classics like Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. If you haven’t had any other way to play great games like Cyberpunk 2077, Yakuza 0, or Hogwarts Legacy, then yes, the Switch 2 is an excellent purchase, and it’s cheaper than either a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X.But if you’ve played your original Switch to death and have any other current gen console, a solid gaming PC, or a Steam Deck, the Switch 2 is a dicier proposition. Some great looking games like Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment are on the horizon, and I have no doubt the Switch 2 will be worth the purchase over time, but $450 and up is a lot to ask for what the console offers at the moment.