Image: Nintendo It’s September, so naturally, it means it’s time to announce all the holiday video game bundles. And as inevitable as Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” being the number one song in America in October, Nintendo is releasing yet another Mario Kart 8 Deluxe holiday bundle. This non-Switch OLED bundle comes with three months of Nintendo Switch online. But, if you want all the extra courses and characters added over the years, like Birdo, Kamek, and Petey Piranha, you’ll have to purchase the Booster Course DLC for $25 or sign up for the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack at $50 for a year’s subscription.This year, Nintendo’s also offering an Animal Crossing: New Horizons bundle for the Switch Lite. (Remember that game? It... Continue reading…

New Discord update for Xbox. | Image: Microsoft Microsoft is rolling out a new Xbox dashboard for September that includes the ability to stream your Xbox gameplay to Discord friends and variable refresh rate (VRR) improvements for the Xbox Series S / X consoles. The dashboard update also includes the new Xbox voice reporting feature and a new way to pair accessories to Xbox consoles.The updated Discord functionality means you can now stream your gameplay to anyone on Discord. It’s built into the Parties & Chats section of the dashboard, and a new “stream your game” option now appears once you’re connected to a Discord server. You can customize your stream quality, and the feature arrives just in time for tomorrow’s release of Starfield.This Discord stream feature is only one-way,... Continue reading…

Image: Annapurna Interactive Stray, the hit Annapurna Interactive game starring a cat, is getting a “feature adaptation” from Annapurna Animation, according to a press release. Annapurna didn’t share much else about the movie — we still don’t know when it might come out or what it might look like — but if you were a fan of the game and looking for another way to experience the game’s universe, now you can look forward to this upcoming film.In the press release, Annapurna also said that it plans to adapt more Annapurna Interactive titles in the future, though it didn’t specify which games might be turned into movies or shows. Scrolling through the studio’s list of games, there are a lot of good candidates, though; perhaps a Kentucky Route Zero miniseries? A Donut... Continue reading…

This Amazon Fire TV Stick is one of the best streaming media devices on the market right now and for good reasons. This streaming media device delivers impressive quality with support for 4K, but also features Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support too. Furthermore, you get a lightning quick menu experience thanks to the device's powerful processor and RAM setup, access to a wide variety of streaming apps and can also play games downloaded through the Amazon App Store.

Oh, hey, a strawberry. | Photo by Wes Davis / The Verge Niantic has a new Pikmin AR experiment for your mobile browser, called Pikmin Finder, that lets you pluck pikmin from any old place and send them off to collect treasure for you (via Nintendo Life). It’s basically a cute, distilled version of 2021’s Pikmin Bloom, and unless you’re just hopelessly charmed by Shigeru Miyamoto’s imaginary garden creatures, it’s only good for a couple minutes of diversion. And the only official acknowledgment that it exists appears to be a support article.Niantic has had trouble lately, so it’s not a surprise this was released so quietly. Between summer layoffs, a studio closure, and a lawsuit alleging internal sexual bias, the beleaguered company hasn’t put its best foot forward lately. Niantic has a lot... Continue reading…

Whether you need a powerful and reliable speaker for your home or you want something that can come with you on your adventures, the Tronsmart Bang Max portable party speaker is up to the task. The Bang Max delivers the sound quality power to function as your at-home go-to speaker but is lightweight enough to toss in your bag and bring along.

Intel is expected to launch its Raptor Lake Refresh CPU lineup later this month, and recent leaks have already revealed several details about it. Earlier this year, a report is believed to have revealed the specifications of at least three unlocked K-series Raptor Lake Refresh desktop SKUs, including the Core i9-14900K, i7-14700K, and i5-14600K. Now, a new leak seemingly confirms some of the leaked specs and also gives us some insight into the performance of the flagship SKU - the Core i9-14900K.

Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge We found the best cameras for your budget and needs. Continue reading…

Unified messaging platforms, or chat aggregators, are a great way to keep your growing list of messaging apps in check by letting you access and manage multiple apps from one place. This can help you streamline communication across different services and even devices. Beeper is one such unified chat app that I use on my phone and laptop to manage a whopping amount of messaging apps from a single hub.

I, too, charge my devices in a blank void of solitude. | Image: Nomad After toying with lower-cost magnetic Qi wireless charging for a minute, Nomad is back on its proper MagSafe charger kick. The premium accessory maker is announcing a new multi-charger that’s meant to charge your iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch all at once and look good doing it.Nomad’s Base One Max 3-in-1 is a $170 MagSafe charger that can simultaneously fast-charge a compatible iPhone at 15W (hey, it’s fast for an iPhone, okay?), an Apple Watch, and a set of AirPods or other wireless earbuds with Qi charging built into their case. The 3-in-1 weighs a hefty 1.7 pounds (755 grams), comes with a detachable 6.6ft / 2m USB-C cable, requires a 30W power adapter (not included), and comes in black or silver colors that can both be ordered... Continue reading…

Apple products tend to offer excellent hardware and software qualities. So when you buy an iPhone or one of the excellent Macs, you're investing in a device that should work reliably and last you for years to come. Though usually, the company's cables aren't as durable, and you may need to buy several units during an iDevice's lifetime. Fortunately, there are plenty of Lightning cables available out there, and we've highlighted the best ones below.

A dredger shoots sand onto a beach in France. The boat pumps sand from offshore sand bars before shooting it back onto beaches in an effort to fight erosion. | Image: NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP via Getty Images People are dredging an alarming amount of sand from the seafloor, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warned today. An average of 6 billion tons of sand are taken from marine environments every year, according to a new global data platform from UNEP.That comes out to more than 1 million dump trucks of sand extracted per day to make concrete and glass, build new artificial beaches, or replenish eroding coastlines. The pace is getting even more untenable, putting increasing pressure on marine life and coastal communities. “It’s not sustainable.”“It’s not sustainable. The amount of sand that we are withdrawing from the environment is considerable and has large impacts,” Pascal Peduzzi, director of a UNEP center for analytics... Continue reading…