People hoping to score Nintendo’s new console this week are finding them on resale websites—at several hundred dollars over the retail price of $450.

It's the same every year. Like clockwork, both social media and real media clamour to do what they do best: moan. Not about politics. Not about the trains. Not even about the weather. No, it's Glastonbury Festival time, which means it's time for the annual whinge-fest over how much it costs and how bad the line-up is. It's a tradition as sacred as Glastonbury itself. Within minutes of the headliners being announced, someone somewhere will tweet "WHO?" as if that settles the matter. The tickets, they declare, are extortionate. The food is overpriced. The toilets are... well, they're not wrong there, to be fair. And yet Glastonbury sells out. Every. Single. Time. In minutes. Not hours, not days, but minutes; just 35 of them, this time around. A digital stampede of fans crashes the ticketing servers, elbows each other out of the virtual queue, and desperately parts with £373.50 of their hard-earned cash. If people really thought it wasn't worth it, why would that happen? Deep down, Glastonbury fans know it is worth it. Not just for the vibes. Not just for the bragging rights. In terms of basic maths alone, it remains a much cheaper way to see all your favourite bands compared with buying tickets to individual gigs. Let's break it down. From this year's stacked, genre-hopping, generation-spanning line-up, these are my 10 ride-or-die bands, the ones I'm determined to see come hell or high water at this year's Glastonbury. And next to them is a reasonable estimate of how much it would cost to see them individually on tour. Alanis Morissette: £60-£135 Charli XCX: £85-£200+ English Teacher: £25-£35 Gracie Abrams: £100-£400+ John Fogerty: £35-£130+ Lola Young: £25-£40 Olivia Rodrigo: £120-£200+ Raye: £50-£100+ Wet Leg: £30-£40 Wolf Alice: £40-£60 You can quickly see how these individual tickets would add up, and that's before the beer-soaked chips and £17 parking surcharges at the O2. But at Glastonbury, they're all included, alongside more than two thousand other acts. Plus five nights of camping, firewood, circus performers, standup comedy, theatre performers, secret gigs, DnB raves, late-night poetry slams, kids' clubs, drone shows, the visionary chaos of Shangri-La, a bloke dressed as a badger doing tai chi at 4am, and the very real possibility of watching Chris Martin duet with a kestrel. All for less than the price of one premium Olivia Rodrigo ticket at the Birmingham NEC with a half-decent sightline. © Amy Fern © George Harrison © Amy Fern No one involved with the festival will ever say this out loud... but in truth, this is underpricing. Glastonbury doesn't cost too much; it's that it's charging less than it's worth. The organisers know it, the scalpers know it, and deep down, so do we. Why else would the event remain massively oversubscribed year after year? The lesson for freelancers Herein lies the lesson for anyone who's ever said yes to a freelance gig, then immediately regretted it because the fee barely covers your oat milk habit. Every time you flinch at raising our rates, worrying, "What if they say no?" you need to remember that people will always complain about the price. But then they pay it anyway, if what you're offering is good. Just like a Glastonbury ticket, your work has value that goes beyond the sum of its parts. Clients might baulk at a day rate, grumble at a quote, or attempt the classic "Can you do it for exposure?". But if they really want you, they'll find the budget. Sure, you could try to undercut your peers. Offer the cheapest design package. Throw in extra concepts for free. Discount your fee before they even ask. But all that gets you is the creative equivalent of being the sad burger stand next to the rave tent: underpaid, undervalued, and slightly sticky. Here's the uncomfortable truth: clients don't always know what things should cost. They base their expectations on their last hire, a Fiverr ad, or what their mate's cousin paid a graphic design student in 2017. © George Harrison © Yushy Pachnanda © JodyHartley But it's not your job to price yourself within their comfort zone. It's your job to price yourself according to your value. If clients can't afford you, that's not rejection; that's redirection. Someone else—someone better, someone ready—will always pay you what you're worth. Just like someone always buys the last Glastonbury ticket. So ignore the noise. Just like the festival, you're not for everyone, and that's fine. Your rates should make you feel slightly nervous, not make your client feel overly comfortable. That's how you grow. That's how you stay booked. That's how you avoid burnout and build a business rather than a bargain bin. In other words, next time you feel the urge to knock 20% off your quote "just to be safe", picture yourself standing in a Somerset field surrounded by 200,000 sweaty strangers who all agreed—despite the price, despite the moaning, despite the toilets—that it was absolutely worth it. And then charge accordingly.

The month of June is set to be a particularly exciting one for PlayStation 5 gamers. Sony's PlayStation 5 was first released in 2020 and has been a massive hit. While the pandemic and scalpers made things a little rocky at first, PS5 sales have been incredibly strong, with the console building an impressive library of games.

Heazy IT Tech Verified Oct 28, 2017 4,643 London, UK Nintendo Switch 2 UK £395.99 / £429.99 (w/ Mario Kart World) original screenshot dead From Nintendo UK site  Last edited: Apr 11, 2025 NippleViking Member May 2, 2018 4,702 Jesus. $800 AUD then?   Doctor_Thomas Member Oct 27, 2017 11,467 Ooof.   raspberrymousse Member Mar 19, 2021 5,302 Cheaper than I thought   Stitch AU Member Oct 29, 2017 581 Brisbane, Australia What the fuck, thats $880AU for the mario kart edition.   Type VII Member Oct 31, 2017 2,977 I was expecting £425 so not too bad. At least we know when the preorders go live.   CasuallyDressed Member Jan 13, 2020 1,497 Eek.   Helix Mayor of Clown Town Member Jun 8, 2019 27,003 i thought it was going to be 50 quid cheaper   xendless Teyvat Traveler Member Jan 23, 2019 13,720 Nintendo UK store crashed already it's utterly fucked when preorders drop   Fevaweva Member Oct 30, 2017 7,589 That is about what I expected to be quite honest.   Hutchie Member Oct 27, 2017 1,791 London Decent but will wait n see how much cex sell em so can get rid of my remaining voucher   Charlie0108 Member Oct 29, 2017 4,600 I have £460 set aside for it so ok for me but I was expecting it to be about £50 cheaper.   discogs Member Oct 28, 2017 516 London When are UK preorders coming?   xendless Teyvat Traveler Member Jan 23, 2019 13,720 Hutchie said: Decent but will wait n see how much cex sell em so can get rid of my remaining voucher Click to expand... Click to shrink... On the Switch 1 launch it was way above rrp discogs said: When are UK preorders coming? Click to expand... Click to shrink... The OP image dude....  Swarming1182 Member Jan 14, 2018 534 Hell yeah.   Hutchie Member Oct 27, 2017 1,791 London xendless said: Only Switch 1 launch it was way above rrp Click to expand... Click to shrink... Looks like im waiting 6 months  DECK’ARD Creator of Worms Verified Nov 26, 2017 7,157 UK What I was expecting. Now open the preorders someone!  ItsBradazHD Member Nov 21, 2018 835 35 quid extra for mario kart is crazy value   J Snow Member Oct 25, 2017 452 About what I expected Hutchie said: Decent but will wait n see how much cex sell em so can get rid of my remaining voucher Click to expand... Click to shrink... I was thinking this but I went in today and they're selling second hand games more expensive than Argos a few doors down, I would really love to know what "algorithm" they use to calculate pricing   Tora The Enlightened Wise Ones Member Jun 17, 2018 8,983 Easily justifiable   Ara63 Member Nov 21, 2023 1,185 Given the other pricing news, if you care about Mario Kart at all buying that UK bundle is likely the cheapest deal for anyone worldwide.   Lowrys Member Oct 25, 2017 14,664 London discogs said: When are UK preorders coming? Click to expand... Click to shrink... 8 April. Gives all the scalpers and bots time to get ready ans vacuum them all up. Ridiculous. Just make them live now and let consumers have a chance.   Hutchie Member Oct 27, 2017 1,791 London Anyone got software prices? Apparently mario kart is €90 physical   Raiden Member Nov 6, 2017 3,032 Okay i'll take it. Do we have a official release date?   Axe Member Oct 27, 2017 3,590 United Kingdom I honestly was bracing for worse pricing for us.   geehepea Member Aug 5, 2024 358 about what I expected   Byron Hinson Member Nov 14, 2017 1,361 UK It'll be the cart pricing that's the killer   Swarming1182 Member Jan 14, 2018 534 Annoyed they chose to delay pre-orders. it just lets scalpers and bots grab them. The price is incredibly reasonable given the evident horsepower of this device, and especially with the Mario Kart World bundle, crazy good value.  Gowans Moderator Oct 27, 2017 5,833 North East, UK What about UK games prices?   Helix Mayor of Clown Town Member Jun 8, 2019 27,003 ngl though i'm not keen on getting MK World, it's crazy not to get that bundle cuz MK is just expensive on its own lol   harry the spy Member Oct 25, 2017 3,376 Do we know where we will be able to preorder from   Mutedpenguin Member Dec 5, 2017 1,392 Obviously I'll get the Mario Kart bundle(if I can)...but I feel it would be a much easier sell to the masses, if it was £399 including the game.   GovernWort Prophet of Truth Member Feb 20, 2020 1,093 Gowans said: What about UK games prices? Click to expand... Click to shrink... View: https://imgur.com/yzDDQ4Y   Bishop89 What Are Ya' Selling? Member Oct 25, 2017 42,772 Melbourne, Australia Stitch AU said: What the fuck, thats $880AU for the mario kart edition. Click to expand... Click to shrink... More than a ps5, crazy.   Willy Member Oct 27, 2017 402 I said £379 at the lowest previously so I wasn't far off. Honestly, not the worst price if you want Mario Kart World in the bundle. I think I'll be waiting for more first party games to come out though. edit - £75 physical games. Ouch.  cursed beef Member Jan 3, 2021 946 so physical is just dead dead huh? nintendo said fuck families   Gowans Moderator Oct 27, 2017 5,833 North East, UK Thank you, £75 seems wild esspecially in an age of cheap PC games and Game Pass.  GovernWort Prophet of Truth Member Feb 20, 2020 1,093 This is on the Nintendo UK site. Pro controller is £75 and the GC controller is £59  IIFloodyII Member Oct 26, 2017 27,432 Was expecting 400 so not too bad ther. But they can absolutely fuck off with the £75 for games.   Helix Mayor of Clown Town Member Jun 8, 2019 27,003 75 quid for flagship Nintendo games?…..   geehepea Member Aug 5, 2024 358 Prices for all accessories and software announced in the direct Edit: also noticed this smallprint on the page Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 digital games, upgrade packs and amiibo will open on My Nintendo Store from 24/04.  Koukalaka Member Oct 28, 2017 10,399 Scotland ItsBradazHD said: 35 quid extra for mario kart is crazy value Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah, I expect the bundle will fly off the shelves considering it's a £30 saving  Snarfington Avenger Oct 25, 2017 3,154 GovernWort said: This is on the Nintendo UK site. Pro controller is £75 and the GC controller is £59 Click to expand... Click to shrink... Hmm I think I qualify but will have to check on the emails, wonder where I can do that? Hope it's not some rando newsletter  GokouD Member Oct 30, 2017 1,348 Game prices could be worse really, given the euro/dollar prices. And that's from the Nintendo store, you can probably knock £10 off at Amazon or Smyths.   shadowman16 Member Oct 25, 2017 41,549 Not super happy about the prices... but Im a fool and will be getting DK and MK for sure... ANd Yakuza and SF...   jazzfunkgreats Member Oct 7, 2019 307 I fit the criteria for the invitation thing on playtime and subscription length but I've only just turned on newsletters now, so I'm not expecting much. I knew I should have just embraced the spam   JayCB64 Member Oct 25, 2017 11,418 Wales Honestly I thought it would be a little worse lol   IDreamOfHime Member Oct 27, 2017 16,363 I don't actually mind that price, especially the Mario Kart bundle price. Hoping to buy from Amazon....kept my Xmas gift vouchers for this. My plan this gen is digital only, I don't have the space for boxes anymore.  Ocarina_117 Member Oct 26, 2017 9,887 Not as angry as others with this pricing to be honest. I get a tonne of time out of Nintendo games and their first party releases are spaced out nicely.  LewieP Member Oct 26, 2017 19,822 I was expecting £399 for the system to saved a cool £4.  

Following the release of Triumphant Light, The Pokémon Company has announced the fourth themed booster pack for Pokémon: Trading Card Game Pocket, Extradimensional Crisis, introducing Ultra Beasts to the mobile collectible card game. Ultra Beasts, first introduced in the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon video games, are enigmatic creatures from another dimension. They arrive through Ultra Wormholes and emit a strange, otherworldly energy. Pokémon TCG Pocket introduces cards like Buzzwole ex, Blacephalon, Nihilego, and Guzzlord ex, including a few more Pokémon from the Alola region, such as the debut of Type: Null. To mark the Ultra Beasts’ debut in Pokémon TCG Pocket, a themed binder cover featuring these powerful creatures will be available in the Shop starting May 29, purchasable with shop tickets. Additionally, players can highlight their favorite card using a new floral display board, which can be obtained with event shop tickets earned during the upcoming Wonder Pick event, running June 11-28. There will be three events during June to coincide with the release. The first is the Ultra Beast Drop Event starting June 3-13, where players can take on special solo battles to earn new promo cards, including Ultra Necrozma ex. The Wonder Pick Event next starts June 11-21, where promo cards for Poipole and Stufful will be available to pick. Lastly, the Ultra Beast Mass Outbreak Event starts June 22-28, where Ultra Beast-related cards will have increased chances of appearing in rare picks and bonus picks. Collecting Pokémon cards through the app might be the safer — and less stressful — option right now. You don’t want to be competing against the scalpers who camp outside GameStop literally risking their lives to get Pokémon cards.

© Gizmodo I wish I was making this stuff up, but chaos seems to follow me at all tech events. After waiting an hour to try out Google’s hyped-up Android XR smart glasses for five minutes, I was actually given a three-minute demo, where I actually had 90 seconds to use Gemini in an extremely controlled environment. And actually, if you watch the video in my hands-on write-up below, you’ll see that I spent even less time with it because Gemini fumbled a few times in the beginning. Oof. I really hope there’s another chance to try them again because it was just too rushed. I think it might be the most rushed product demo I’ve ever had in my life, and I’ve been covering new gadgets for the past 15 years. —Raymond Wong Google, a company valued at $2 trillion, seemingly brought one pair of Android XR smart glasses for press to demo… and one pair of Samsung’s Project Moohan mixed reality headset running the same augmented reality platform. I’m told the wait is 1 hour to try either device for 5 minutes. Of course, I’m going to try out the smart glasses. But if I want to demo Moohan, I need to get back in line and wait all over again. This is madness! —Raymond Wong May 20Keynote Fin © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo Talk about a loooooong keynote. Total duration: 1 hour and 55 minutes, and then Sundar Pichai walked off stage. What do you make of all the AI announcements? Let’s hang in the comments! I’m headed over to a demo area to try out a pair of Android XR smart glasses. I can’t lie, even though the video stream from the live demo lagged for a good portion, I’m hyped! It really feels like Google is finally delivering on Google Glass over a decade later. Shoulda had Google co-founder Sergey Brin jump out of a helicopter and land on stage again, though. —Raymond Wong Pieces of Project Astra, Google’s computer vision-based UI, are winding up in various different products, it seems, and not all of them are geared toward smart glasses specifically. One of the most exciting updates to Astra is “computer control,” which allows one to do a lot more on their devices with computer vision alone. For instance, you could just point your phone at an object (say, a bike) and then ask Astra to search for the bike, find some brakes for it, and then even pull up a YouTube tutorial on how to fix it—all without typing anything into your phone. —James Pero Shopping bots aren’t just for scalpers anymore. Google is putting the power of automated consumerism in your hands with its new AI shopping tool. There are some pretty wild ideas here, too, including a virtual shopping avatar that’s supposed to represent your own body—the idea is you can make it try on clothes to see how they fit. How all that works in practice is TBD, but if you’re ready for a full AI shopping experience, you’ve finally got it. For the whole story, check out our story from Gizmodo’s Senior Editor, Consumer Tech, Raymond Wong. —James Pero I got what I wanted. Google showed off what its Android XR tech can bring to smart glasses. In a live demo, Google showcased how a pair of unspecified smart glasses did a few of the things that I’ve been waiting to do, including projecting live navigation and remembering objects in your environment—basically the stuff that it pitched with Project Astra last year, but in a glasses form factor. There’s still a lot that needs to happen, both hardware and software-wise, before you can walk around wearing glasses that actually do all those things, but it was exciting to see that Google is making progress in that direction. It’s worth noting that not all of the demos went off smoothly—there was lots of stutter in the live translation demo—but I guess props to them for giving it a go. When we’ll actually get to walk around wearing functional smart glasses with some kind of optical passthrough or virtual display is anyone’s guess, but the race is certainly heating up. —James Pero Google’s SynthID has been around for nearly three years, but it’s been largely kept out of the public eye. The system disturbs AI-generated images, video, or audio with an invisible, undetectable watermark that can be observed with Google DeepMind’s proprietary tool. At I/O, Google said it was working with both Nvidia and GetReal to introduce the same watermarking technique with those companies’ AI image generators. Users may be able to detect these watermarks themselves, even if only part of the media was modified with AI. Early testers are getting access to it “today,” but hopefully more people can acess it at a later date from labs.google/synthid. — Kyle Barr This keynote has been going on for 1.5 hours now. Do I run to the restroom now or wait? But how much longer until it ends??? Can we petiton to Sundar Pichai to make these keynotes shorter or at least have an intermission? Update: I ran for it right near the end before Android XR news hit. I almost made it… —Raymond Wong © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo Google’s new video generator Veo, is getting a big upgrade that includes sound generation, and it’s not just dialogue. Veo 3 can also generate sound effects and music. In a demo, Google showed off an animated forest scene that includes all three—dialogue, sound effects, and video. The length of clips, I assume, will be short at first, but the results look pretty sophisticated if the demo is to be believed. —James Pero If you pay for a Google One subscription, you’ll start to see Gemini in your Google Chrome browser (and—judging by this developer conference—everywhere else) later this week. This will appear as the sparkle icon at the top of your browser app. You can use this to bring up a prompt box to ask a question about the current page you’re browsing, such as if you want to consolidate a number of user reviews for a local campsite. — Kyle Barr © Google / GIF by Gizmodo Google’s high-tech video conferencing tech, now called Beam, looks impressive. You can make eye contact! It feels like the person in the screen is right in front of you! It’s glasses-free 3D! Come back down to Earth, buddy—it’s not coming out as a consumer product. Commercial first with partners like HP. Time to apply for a new job? —Raymond Wong Read more here: Google doesn’t want Search to be tied to your browser or apps anymore. Search Live is akin to the video and audio comprehension capabilities of Gemini Live, but with the added benefit of getting quick answers based on sites from around the web. Google showed how Search Live could comprehend queries about at-home science experiment and bring in answers from sites like Quora or YouTube. — Kyle Barr Google is getting deep into augmented reality with Android XR—its operating system built specifically for AR glasses and VR headsets. Google showed us how users may be able to see a holographic live Google Maps view directly on their glasses or set up calendar events, all without needing to touch a single screen. This uses Gemini AI to comprehend your voice prompts and follow through on your instructions. Google doesn’t have its own device to share at I/O, but its planning to work with companies like XReal and Samsung to craft new devices across both AR and VR. — Kyle Barr Read our full report here: I know how much you all love subscriptions! Google does too, apparently, and is now offering a $250 per month AI bundle that groups some of its most advanced AI services. Subscribing to Google AI Ultra will get you: Gemini and its full capabilities Flow, a new, more advanced AI filmmaking tool based on Veo Whisk, which allows text-to-image creation NotebookLM, an AI note-taking app Gemini in Gmail and Docs Gemini in Chrome Project Mariner, an agentic research AI 30TB of storage I’m not sure who needs all of this, but maybe there are more AI superusers than I thought. —James Pero Google CEO Sundar Pichai was keen to claim that users are big, big fans of AI overviews in Google Search results. If there wasn’t already enough AI on your search bar, Google will now stick an entire “AI Mode” tab on your search bar next to the Google Lens button. This encompasses the Gemini 2.5 model. This opens up an entirely new UI for searching via a prompt with a chatbot. After you input your rambling search query, it will bring up an assortment of short-form textual answers, links, and even a Google Maps widget depending on what you were looking for. AI Mode should be available starting today. Google said AI Mode pulls together information from the web alongside its other data like weather or academic research through Google Scholar. It should also eventually encompass your “personal context,” which will be available later this summer. Eventually, Google will add more AI Mode capabilities directly to AI Overviews. — Kyle Barr May 20News Embargo Has Lifted! © Xreal Get your butt over to Gizmodo.com’s home page because the Google I/O news embargo just lifted. We’ve got a bunch of stories, including this one about Google partnering up with Xreal for a new pair of “optical see-through” (OST) smart glasses called Project Aura. The smart glasses run Android XR and are powered by a Qualcomm chip. You can see three cameras. Wireless, these are not—you’ll need to tether to a phone or other device. Update: Little scoop: I’ve confirmed that Project Aura has a 70-degree field of view, which is way wider than the One Pro’s FOV, which is 57 degrees. —Raymond Wong © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo Google’s DeepMind CEO showed off the updated version of Project Astra running on a phone and drove home how its “personal, proactive, and powerful” AI features are the groundwork for a “universal assistant” that truly understands and works on your behalf. If you think Gemini is a fad, it’s time to get familiar with it because it’s not going anywhere. —Raymond Wong May 20Gemini 2.5 Pro Is Here © Gizmodo Google says Gemini 2.5 Pro is its “most advanced model yet,” and comes with “enhanced reasoning,” better coding ability, and can even create interactive simulations. You can try it now via Google AI Studio. —James Pero There are two major types of transformer AI used today. One is the LLM, AKA large language models, and diffusion models—which are mostly used for image generation. The Gemini Diffusion model blurs the lines of these types of models. Google said its new research model can iterate on a solution quickly and correct itself while generating an answer. For math or coding prompts, Gemini Diffusion can potentially output an entire response much faster than a typical Chatbot. Unlike a traditional LLM model, which may take a few seconds to answer a question, Gemini Diffusion can create a response to a complex math equation in the blink of an eye, and still share the steps it took to reach its conclusion. — Kyle Barr © Gizmodo New Gemini 2.5 Flash and Gemini Pro models are incoming and, naturally, Google says both are faster and more sophisticated across the board. One of the improvements for Gemini 2.5 Flash is even more inflection when speaking. Unfortunately for my ears, Google demoed the new Flash speaking in a whisper that sent chills down my spine. —James Pero Is anybody keeping track of how many times Google execs have said “Gemini” and “AI” so far? Oops, I think I’m already drunk, and we’re only 20 minutes in. —Raymond Wong © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo Google’s Project Astra is supposed to be getting much better at avoiding hallucinations, AKA when the AI makes stuff up. Project Astra’s vision and audio comprehension capabilities are supposed to be far better at knowing when you’re trying to trick it. In a video, Google showed how its Gemini Live AI wouldn’t buy your bullshit if you tell it that a garbage truck is a convertible, a lamp pole is a skyscraper, or your shadow is some stalker. This should hopefully mean the AI doesn’t confidently lie to you, as well. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said “Gemini is really good at telling you when you’re wrong.” These enhanced features should be rolling out today for Gemini app on iOS and Android. — Kyle Barr May 20Release the Agents Like pretty much every other AI player, Google is pursuing agentic AI in a big way. I’d prepare for a lot more talk about how Gemini can take tasks off your hands as the keynote progresses. —James Pero © Gizmodo Google has finally moved Project Starline—its futuristic video-calling machine—into a commercial project called Google Beam. According to Pichai, Google Beam can take a 2D image and transform it into a 3D one, and will also incorporate live translate. —James Pero © Gizmodo Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, says Google is shipping at a relentless pace, and to be honest, I tend to agree. There are tons of Gemini models out there already, even though it’s only been out for two years. Probably my favorite milestone, though, is that it has now completed Pokémon Blue, earning all 8 badges according to Pichai. —James Pero May 20Let’s Do This Buckle up, kiddos, it’s I/O time. Methinks there will be a lot to get to, so you may want to grab a snack now. —James Pero Counting down until the keynote… only a few more minutes to go. The DJ just said AI is changing music and how it’s made. But don’t forget that we’re all here… in person. Will we all be wearing Android XR smart glasses next year? Mixed reality headsets? —Raymond Wong © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo Fun fact: I haven’t attended Google I/O in person since before Covid-19. The Wi-Fi is definitely stronger and more stable now. It’s so great to be back and covering for Gizmodo. Dream job, unlocked! —Raymond Wong © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo Mini breakfast burritos… bagels… but these bagels can’t compare to real Made In New York City bagels with that authentic NY water 😏 —Raymond Wong © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo I’ve arrived at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif., where the Google I/O keynote is taking place in 40 minutes. Seats are filling up. But first, must go check out the breakfast situation because my tummy is growling… —Raymond Wong May 20Should We Do a Giveaway? © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo Google I/O attendees get a special tote bag, a metal water bottle, a cap, and a cute sheet of stickers. I always end up donating this stuff to Goodwill during the holidays. A guy living in NYC with two cats only has so much room for tote bags and water bottles… Would be cool to do giveaway. Leave a comment to let us know if you’d be into that and I can pester top brass to make it happen 🤪 —Raymond Wong May 20Got My Press Badge! In 13 hours, Google will blitz everyone with Gemini AI, Gemini AI, and tons more Gemini AI. Who’s ready for… Gemini AI? —Raymond Wong May 19Google Glass: The Redux © Google / Screenshot by Gizmodo Google is very obviously inching toward the release of some kind of smart glasses product for the first time since (gulp) Google Glass, and if I were a betting man, I’d say this one will have a much warmer reception than its forebearer. I’m not saying Google can snatch the crown from Meta and its Ray-Ban smart glasses right out of the gate, but if it plays its cards right, it could capitalize on the integration with its other hardware (hello, Pixel devices) in a big way. Meta may finally have a real competitor on its hands. ICYMI: Here’s Google’s President of the Android Ecosystem, Sameer Samat, teasing some kind of smart glasses device in a recorded demo last week. —James Pero Hi folks, I’m James Pero, Gizmodo’s new Senior Writer. There’s a lot we have to get to with Google I/O, so I’ll keep this introduction short. I like long walks on the beach, the wind in my nonexistent hair, and I’m really, really, looking forward to bringing you even more of the spicy, insightful, and entertaining coverage on consumer tech that Gizmodo is known for. I’m starting my tenure here out hot with Google I/O, so make sure you check back here throughout the week to get those sweet, sweet blogs and commentary from me and Gizmodo’s Senior Consumer Tech Editor Raymond Wong. —James Pero © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo Hey everyone! Raymond Wong, senior editor in charge of Gizmodo’s consumer tech team, here! Landed in San Francisco (the sunrise was *chef’s kiss*), and I’ll be making my way over to Mountain View, California, later today to pick up my press badge and scope out the scene for tomorrow’s Google I/O keynote, which kicks off at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Google I/O is a developer conference, but that doesn’t mean it’s news only for engineers. While there will be a lot of nerdy stuff that will have developers hollering, what Google announces—expect updates on Gemini AI, Android, and Android XR, to name a few headliners—will shape consumer products (hardware, software, and services) for the rest of this year and also the years to come. I/O is a glimpse at Google’s technology roadmap as AI weaves itself into the way we compute at our desks and on the go. This is going to be a fun live blog! —Raymond Wong

Should Sony embrace a PC future? (Sony/Metro) The Thursday letters page is surprised that Nintendo Switch 2 stock is relatively easy to find, as one reader looks forward to Hellblade 2 on PS5. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk Box it up Hearing about the rumours of the next gen Xbox being basically an ordinary PC makes perfect sense and is not a surprise to me. I think it’s the only logical move left for Xbox, even if I’m not sure how they’re going to make any money from it if Steam and the other stores are going to be on there.PC gaming is quickly taking over, so my question is whether the PlayStation 6 could also be a ‘PC in a box’. It may sound crazy but a few years ago, so too would the idea of Sony games appearing on PC. I really don’t see what the argument would be against it, especially given how expensive the PS5 Pro already is. Making the next PlayStation, or at least the PlayStation 7, a PC means Sony don’t have to spend nearly as much on hardware R&D and can instead concentrate on making games. Something that they don’t seem to have had the time or money for this gen. I think especially as streaming starts to take off, as the preferred casual method for playing games, it will only be the PC that is left as an alternative. It’s sad in a way but, personally speaking, as long as the games are still good I don’t really care that much.Purple Ranger Doomed highlight I’ve just beaten Doom: The Dark Ages and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think your review was accurate but since I was playing it for free on Game Pass the faults didn’t really bother me. However, I have to comment on the story, or rather the fact that Bethesda chose to highlight as one of the most important new features of the game.It’s a complete non-event: boring and cliched, with no characters of any interest. Even the game seems to lose interest because there are very few proper cut scenes in the second half, not that that’s a problem. None of it is a problem, really, because who wants a story in a game like Doom? So why did Bethesda make so much of a fuss about it? If it had been good that would’ve been one thing. If there’d been a lot of cut scenes that would’ve been something else. But it was just nothing. I really don’t understand why they ever thought to mention it.James Speed of Mercury Is there a chance you will review Blades Of Fire, please? I’m very interested in MercurySteam games; I love both of their Metroid games and I’m that one person that liked all three of their Castlevania games (yes, Lords Of Shadow 2 was unfocused and padded out, but I loved what it got right so much).Your reviews are the ones I trust the most so if you do have the time I’d appreciate it, the few I’ve seen have been quite mixed. Thank you, keep up the excellent work.Beastiebat (PSN ID) Currently playing: Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition, Metroid Dread, and Elevator Action -Returns- S-TributeGC: Thank you. We’re trying to get it done but we’re a bit behind this week, due to staff holidays and press events. Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk News update There’s a couple of things I’ve not seen yourselves or any readers mention lately, so I thought I should bring them up.The Sea Of Stars DLC is out now! It’s absolutely free too, which seems crazy because it looks quite substantial. I’m looking forward to playing it this weekend when I have more time. Another thing I’ve not seen mentioned is that Hogwarts Legacy on Switch 2 can be bought at a huge discount if you own the game on Switch. Around £10 reportedly. You can even buy the game on Switch in the sale now and then buy the Switch 2 version, costing under £30 in total, it seems, which is a great deal. It’s not an upgrade as the Switch 2 game isn’t a port. Keep up the great work! I don’t write in much, but I still read every morning. I finally prefer this than the Teletext days now.Fatys Henrys GC: Thank you for your patronage. Old and new Excited to hear some actual news about the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel and that it will feature at least one whole new city. However, I hope that the game features both the whole of Night City and the new one. Strangely, I can’t think of any sequels that do that. With GTA, they don’t include the previous game and the new one, and I’m not sure anywhere else does either.Weirdly, the only example I can think of that did that is Pokémon Gold and Silver, which had the whole of the map from Red and Blue (thanks to no less than Satoru Iwata himself). I’m sure there’s technical reasons it doesn’t happen usually but while the PlayStation 5 and beyond may no longer show much of a graphical improvement perhaps there’ll be able to do things like this more easily.Kankor The end of the beginning So, after being reminded that my mother’s partner doesn’t like me very much I’ve cheered up with two lovely pieces of news. Stellar Blade is getting a sequel, very soon. It releases on PC next month. The second announcement is Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 on PlayStation 5 in the summer. This is something I was highly anticipating. Just the graphics alone makes it worth the time. So, after this and Gears Of War also releasing on PlayStation I’m not asking if Xbox is truly dead. It’s a fact that Xbox is indeed only kept afloat by Game Pass.This is only the start. Halo will release on PlayStation 5. Fable. Avowed. State Of Decay 3. Starfield. The list goes on. In hindsight this is deserved. Because of the Xbox One’s failure Microsoft lagged behind an entire generation and Sony raced ahead, never looking back. I never brought an Xbox One, actually. The PlayStation 4 was my choice in 2013 and after picking up the last one, at Argos in 2014. I never gave the Xbox One a second look. Today, Microsoft are still suffering from their malignant decisions and it is thoroughly deserved. If I was Phil Spencer I’d cancel the upcoming handheld, because that is leading up to a fail, much more so than the Xbox One. Not even ASUS can save Xbox.Shahzaib Sadiq Direct from the source I’m always fascinated by Nintendo’s Ask the Developers interviews, they’re so in-depth and genuine and I don’t think they get enough recognition. Nintendo’s reputation is of being secretive and distant, but Sony and Microsoft would never do something like this. They just have carefully worded developer quotes that were probably written by a marketing person anyway.Who would’ve guessed they’ve been planning Mario Kart World for eight years or that they were already making Switch 2 games, based on preliminary specs, in 2020? I guess that’s the sort of time you need but it’s very interesting to get exact dates and to hear it from the horse’s mouth.Onibee In stock now I’ve managed to bag myself a Switch 2 pre-order after you put your article up on where to buy it. I was going to hold off; eventually decided I can’t resist the temptation to play the new Mario Kart. But I think it will be a good long term investment and there’s no ruling out that there might be an eventual price increase of the unit, like there’s been recently with other consoles.After I managed to get my pre-order done about a week ago or so I’ve visited some of those retailers, websites just to see how lucky I got managing to pre-order it in the first place. I’ve been able to see deals every time; different deals but there’s always been at least one available with Mario Kart or the Zelda pack or camera or SD card bundle. I’ve checked out of curiosity about four or five times and could have dropped on a pre-order again and again, so does that mean Nintendo is actually beating the scalpers? Or is it too expensive or is there a lack of interest? I couldn’t for the life of me get an Xbox Series X day one, at the start of the generation because of the use of online bots, but it seems something has changed for the better with the latest Nintendo console release. That’s got to be a good thing for everyone, except the scalpers.Nick The Greek GC: It’s hard to tell but there’s no indication of a lack of demand, given analysts think Nintendo is being too cautious in its sales predictions. They always said they wanted no shortages at launch, so we guess their plan worked. It was probably helped by the fact that the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 came out at the same time, during Covid, and so were competing for manufacturing time and resources. By contrast, Switch 2 has a clear run at a quiet time of year for games. Inbox also-rans I had literally no idea that Fortnite wasn’t on mobile for the last five years. I would’ve figured that was its biggest format, but I guess you’re saying it wasn’t?MouseGC: No, it’s one of the smallest. Apparently not even Fortnite fans want to play with touchscreen controls. I would never, ever in a million years pay £80 for a video game. Even if I got it for cheap later, the fact that it was at one point that much would still put me off.Gribbly More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk The small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter. Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: What is Rockstar Games’ best game? 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