If you’re a Pokémon fan and want to boost your Nintendo Switch game collection, Best Buy has just launched an interesting sale. It cut the price of recent titles including Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, Pokémon Sword Edition and Pokémon Snap to $40, saving you $20 off the regular price. Even better, you can find the Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee titles for half off.
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond ($40) and Shining Pearl ($40) are remakes of the original 2006 DS games with much improved visuals thanks to the Switch’s hardware capabilities. They launched less than a year ago, so it’s rare to see them with up with a one-third off discount. Pokémon Snap ($40), meanwhile, is a sequel to the 1999 Nintendo 64 classic. It came out early last year, and again, gives you the same wildly original concept (take the best photos from a train to gain points), with much improved Switch visuals.
The other two titles with $20 discounts are Pokémon Shield Edition ($40) and Pokémon Sword ($40),released in 2019. While the games faced a backlash for not including all pre-existing Pokémon, they’ve gone on to sell nearly 25 million copies world-wide, becoming one of the fastest selling games on Switch. That popularity makes it hard to find them on sale, so a $20 discount is welcome news.
Finally, there’s Pokémon: Let’s Go Eevee! ($30) and Let’s Go, Pikachu! ($30). Both those launched in 2018, ostensibly as remakes to Pokémon Yellow. At the same time, they bridge the gap between the core series and popular Pokémon Go mobile game, by turning the experience of catching Pokémon into a Go-style minigame. Half off is a very solid deal for these games, but it’s not likely to last long.
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Due to the ongoing chip shortage, BMW is temporarily shipping some vehicles without support for Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, according to report from Automotive News Europe (which we found through 9to5 Google). According to a statement the company gave to Automotive News Europe, BMW has changed suppliers and begun using a chip that does not fully support Android Auto or CarPlay. As a result, the company continued in its statement, affected vehicles will receive an over-the-air software update by “the end of June at the latest.”
As 9to5Google notes, you can check if your recently purchased vehicle is affected by checking for “6P1” in the car’s production code. It also seems that all of the vehicles in question were manufactured in the first four months of 2022, and have final destinations in the US, France, Italy, Spain and the UK.
This is not the first time that BMW has delivered cars missing certain non-essential features in order to avoid shipping delays. Last fall, the company omitted touchscreen features from some vehicles, also due to the global chip shortage. And BMW is hardly the only automaker to take this tack either. Last fall, around the same time BMW was grappling with the touchscreen issue, Tesla decided to ship some cars without USB ports. Then, earlier this year, Ford, shipped some Explorer SUVs without rear climate controls.
In the case of BMW’s missing Android Auto and CarPlay support, it could be worse. As Automotive News Europe notes, when Mercedes-Benz was faced with a similar dilemma, it chose not to include the requisite chips in some vehicles, at which point customers would be forced to bring their cars into a ship to have them installed later.
The finalists that just missed out on a spot this time are Assassin’s Creed, Candy Crush Saga, Minesweeper, NBA Jam, PaRappa the Rapper, Resident Evil, Rogue and Words with Friends. All of those are classics in their own way, but it’s hard to argue with any of the four picks.
Ocarina of Time made it into the Hall of Fame as a first-time nominee. The first 3D Zelda title is widely regarded as one of the best games of all time, and it remains the highest-scoring game ever on Metacritic. It paved the way for the last two and a half decades of action games. Ocarina of Time walked so Breath of the Wild could run.
Influential simulation and strategy title Sid Meier’s Civilization was first named as a finalist back in 2016 and again in 2019. Arcade icons Ms. Pac-Man and DDR each made the shortlist once before.
They join the likes of Super Mario Bros., Doom, Mortal Kombat, Tetrisand Animal Crossing. As Eurogamer notes, Zelda and Pac-Man are the first two series with more than one entry in the Video Game Hall of Fame, though Super Mario Kart is in there as well.
As the first week of May comes to a close, a number of our favorite gadgets remain on sale, with some at record-low prices. Apple’s latest iPad mini is the cheapest we’ve seen it at $400, while most AirPods have been discounted. Also, a bunch of Kindles are on sale at Amazon and you can still pick up a Roomba from iRobot for hundreds of dollars less than usual. Here are the best tech deals this week that you can still get today.
iPad mini
Valentina Palladino / Engadget
Apple’s latest iPad mini is $100 off right now and down to $400, which is the lowest we’ve seen it. We still consider it to be the best small tablet. you can get, and the 2021 version earned a score of 89 from us for its modern design, solid performance, improved front cameras and USB-C charging.
Apple’s AirPods Pro are back on sale for $175, which is 30 percent off their normal price. We gave them a score of 87 for their improved fit, good audio quality and solid ANC.
If you still prefer the original design to Apple’s AirPods, you can grab the second-gen earbuds for $100 right now. That’s 37 percent off their normal rate and only $10 more than their record-low price. We gave them a score of 84 for their improved wireless performance and solid battery life.
The high-end AirPods Max are $100 off and back down to $449. While not an all-time low, it’s close to the best price we’ve seen. We gave the cans a score of 84 for their excellent sound quality, good ANC and handy onboard controls.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is cheaper than ever right now at $40. That’s $20 off its normal price and the lowest we’ve seen it. Nintendo’s first-party games rarely go on sale like this, so if you haven’t picked up the cozy title yet, now’s the time to do so.
Both the PS5 and PS4 versions of Elden Ring are still $10 off and down to $50 — a pretty good discount for a popular new title. The game has been widely acclaimed since it came out, despite some performance issues that have now been resolved. You could easily get lost in its open world, intriguing story and challenging gameplay.
Both the 40mm Galaxy Watch 4 models are $76 off and down to a new record low of $174. We gave the Galaxy Watch 4 a score of 85 for its bright, crisp display, comprehensive head tracking and improved third-party app support.
Amazon’s latest Kindle Paperwhite is 25 percent off and down to an all-time low of $105. It has a number of improvements over the previous model, including a larger screen with more front lights, an adjustable warm light and USB-C charging. Also, the standard Kindle is down to $55 and the Kindle Oasis is on sale for $200.
Amazon’s Echo Show 8 is back down to an all-time low of $90 right now, while the tiny Echo Dot is on sale for only $28. The Show 8 is one of our favorite smart displays and we gave it a score of 87 for its minimalist design, lovely screen and good sound quality. These deals are part of a larger Amazon device sale that may have some good gift options if you’re still on the hunt for a Mother’s Day gift.
Through May 9th, new and free LastPass users can upgrade to a paid account and save 20 percent. That will bring a Premium membership down to around $29 annually instead of the usual $36, while Families would cost about $38 annually and Business down to $58 per user each year.
Samsung’s latest Frame smart TVs have been discounted on Amazon, so you can grab the 55-inch model for $1,297, which is $200 less than usual. A few size options are on sale, so you can choose the one that fits best in your home. It’s rare to see sales on the latest TV models, and these new Frames have a new matte finish that helps reduce reflections, so they will hopefully blend even more into your home when you have them on Art Mode.
iRobot’s affordable Roomba 694 is still on sale for $180 right now, which is a record low. This is one of our favorite budget-friendly robot vacuums thanks to its easy to use mobile app, good cleaning power and sleek design.
The Roomba j7+ robo-vac and the Roomba s9+ are both $200 off right now and down to $599 and $799, respectively. These are both advanced machines from iRobot, with the j7+ sporting a pet poop detection feature, while the s9+ has the strongest suction power of all of the company’s robot vacuums. Both also come with clean bases, so you won’t have to empty their dustbins manually after each cleaning job.
The new Beats Fit Pro earbuds are $20 off and down to $180. That’s one of the best prices we’ve seen all year, and they earned a score of 87 from us for their comfortable fit, punchy bass, solid ANC and loads of handy features.
The Beats Studio Buds are back down to a record low of $100. We gave them a score of 84 for their tiny, comfortable design, balanced sound and quick-pairing on both Android and iOS.
Jabra’s new Elite 4 Active earbuds are $20 off and down to $100, which is a new record low. The budget-friendly Elite 3 are also on sale and down to only $60. We gave the Elite 4 Active a score of 84 for their comfort fit, solid sound quality and customizable ANC, while the Elite 3 came in at 88 thanks to their good battery life, reliable onboard controls and comfortable fit.
Anker’s Eufy RoboVac 11s is on sale for $150 thanks to a discounted price and an extra $50 coupon on the product page you can clip before adding the item to your cart. We consider it to be one of the best cheap robot vacuums you can buy due to its slim frame that helps it get under furniture, good suction power and included physical remote which lets you change cleaning modes, set schedules and more.
JBL’s Charge 5 Bluetooth speaker is down to $150, which is only $20 more than its all-time low. This earned a spot in our portable Bluetooth speaker guide thanks to its bright sound, long battery life and USB-C port for charging.
As always, Geoff Keighley will be the master of ceremonies for Summer Game Fest Kick Off Live. Expect new game announcements, world premieres and fresh looks at other upcoming titles. Immediately after that event wraps up, Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition will shine the spotlight on a bunch of indie games.
You’ll be able to watch the Summer Game Fest double bill on a wide range of platforms, including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Facebook. For the first time, you’ll be able to catch Summer Game Fest Kick Off Live (and, in December, The Game Awards) at IMAX theaters in the US, Canada and the UK. If you really want to see a bunch of trailers and teasers for upcoming games in IMAX, you can buy a ticket for Summer Game Fest on May 12th.
“Video games are the most powerful, immersive and spectacular form of entertainment in the world, so it’s only natural to bring them to fans in IMAX, the world’s most immersive cinema format,” Keighley said in a statement.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 is now cheaper than ever at Amazon, where the 40mm Bluetooth-only version is currently on sale for $174. That’s a new all-time for the wearable and is $76 less than its retail price of $250. The watch has been on sale a few times for $200 over the past months, but the lowest it got before this was $180 ahead of Black Friday last year.
We gave the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 a score of 84 in our review and praised it for its comprehensive health tracking capabilities. It has a 3-in-1 biometric sensor that enables body mass scans and new sleep-tracking features, such as continuous blood oxygen detection that can help assess your sleep quality more accurately. We also praised the watch for having a sharper and brighter screen than its predecessors.
Since Galaxy Watch 4 is loaded with Wear OS, it has much better third-party app support than previous versions. You can download apps directly from the Play Store — there’s even a section that shows which of the apps on your phone has a Wear OS counterpart. In addition, Samsung has added gesture controls to the device via the One UI that will let you answer or dismiss calls by flicking your wrist or lifting your arm.
Although only the 40mm version is on sale for $174 right now, you can also get its bigger counterpart at a discount. If you prefer a larger smartwatch, the 44mm version of the Galaxy Watch 4 is currently available for $230, which is only around 90 cents off its all-time low and $50 less than its regular price.
Gaming has been one of Chrome OS’ weak spots for years. Most Chromebooks have lower-power hardware paired with an OS built on web technology, so playing AAA titles found on Windows has simply not been an option. Cloud gaming, like Google’s own Stadia, offered a solution of sorts, but many players have been eager to see how Steam would fare, after Google announced Valve’s platform was in an early alpha phase.
News Editor Nathan Ingraham tested things out on one of the seven Chromebooks that can run Steam, an ASUS Chromebook CX9 with Intel’s 11th-generation Core i7. (Google says Steam required a device with at least a Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM.) He explains that many games run like a dream; however, his attempts to play 2018’s God of War, originally released for the PS4 and ported to Windows in January this year, was apparently a “totally unplayable slideshow.” God of War’s spec requirements demand either NVIDIA’s GTX 960 or AMD’s R9 290X graphics cards — it wasn’t a huge shock.
While Google and Valve will improve the Steam experience from this early alpha, it’s fair to say Chrome OS will never be the place to play cutting-edge games. But, Steam’s library is vast, and there are thousands of titles — most playable offline, something Stadia can’t offer.
The six-episode series debuts on Disney+ on May 27th.
Lucasfilm and Disney+ celebrated May the 4th by offering another look at the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. There’s not a ton of new footage, but it includes a peep at Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) being pieced together, which is much more than the breathing cameo from the previous trailer.
The New York Times has revealed it added “tens of millions” of new users in the first quarter of 2022 thanks to Josh Wardle’s hit word game. That led to the company’s best quarter yet for subscriber additions to games, and “many” of those incoming players have stuck around to try other games.
The company will start mass-producing Universal Flash Storage 4.0 in the third quarter.
Samsung has introduced the latest iteration of its Universal Flash Storage product, which it says is much, much faster than its predecessor. UFS was created to enable SSD speeds for cameras, phones and other devices, but this version — called UFS 4.0 — can reach 23.2Gbps per lane. That’s double the speed of UFS 3.1, the storage used in Samsung’s Galaxy S22.
It may be smaller than the Beam, with some high-end features.
Sonos’ rumored budget soundbar was briefly posted online at Colombian store KTronix. The listing suggested g it will be called the Sonos Ray and be smaller than the already compact Beam Gen 2 at just 22 inches long (versus 25.6in), if slightly taller and thinner. A previous leak hinted Sonos might release it as soon as early June. And while the Colombian price (about $323) likely won’t reflect the exact pricing for the US, it does imply the rumored $250 sticker is at least close to the mark.
Graduation is traditionally a big time for gift-giving, so if you know someone heading out into the real world who could use an upgrade after four (or more!) long years of higher education, we’ve got a host of options — even if the giftee is in deep with tech already.
For about as long as Chrome OS has existed, gaming has been one of its most notable Achilles’ heels. Most Chromebooks have lower-power hardware, and the OS is built on web technology, so playing AAA titles found on Windows has simply not been an option. The rise of cloud-based gaming services like Google’s own Stadia have helped the situation, but perhaps the biggest advance in Chromebook gaming came in late March, when Google announced that Valve’s Steam platform was in an early alpha phase on Chrome OS. Just as you can on Windows, Mac and Linux, this lets you download and install games from the vast Steam catalog. As a Chromebook fan who also loves a good game, I had to give this a shot.
So Google provided me with one of the seven Chromebooks that can run Steam, an ASUS Chromebook CX9 with Intel’s 11th-generation Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage space. These are hefty specs for a Chromebook, but Google specified that Steam required a device with at least a Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM. While Steam may eventually work with lower-powered devices, it’s clear that many Chromebooks simply won’t be able to cut it. But if you do have the right hardware, the Steam experience is pretty good, so long as you keep your expectations in check.
I didn’t have any problems getting Steam installed, but it’s a lot more complicated than setting it up on a Windows computer. You’ll need to switch your Chromebook to the Dev channel, so don’t do this on a machine you rely on for daily use. After that, you’ll need to enable a specific flag in Chrome and type a few commands into the Chrome OS Crosh terminal. Once that’s done, Steam will download to your machine, at which point you can login and start downloading games.
Right off the bat, any game that is supported in Steam for Linux can be installed without any compatibility issues. As I’m a massive Half-Life fan, the first two games I tried out were Valve’s own Half-Life 2 and Portal 2 — two old games that don’t require powerful hardware. Both, unsurprisingly, played like a charm. There were rare frame rate drops, but the experience felt identical to playing them on Windows or on a Mac.
At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I decided to get crazy and install 2018’s God of War, originally released for the PS4 and ported to Windows in January of this year. It was a totally unplayable slideshow. That’s no surprise, though, as God of War calls for either NVIDIA’s GTX 960 or AMD’s R9 290X graphics cards with 4GB of memory. The Chromebook’s integrated Intel Iris X graphics aren’t in the same league. This is no real knock on the Chromebook, though, because a Windows machine with the same specs wouldn’t be able to run God of War, either. I was mostly surprised that I was able to install it at all.
To install games like God of War, or any other titles that don’t have a native Linux version, you’ll need to turn on the experimental Steam Play compatibility tools. Once I did that, though, I could install just about any game I came across. Obviously, demanding games like God of War aren’t going to work, but there are still tons of titles in the Steam library that are worth checking out. Both Hades and Cuphead ran flawlessly, and Fallout 4 worked pretty well too. It wasn’t as smooth as the other games I tried, but the first few hours were definitely playable.
The main catch is that the first time you run games using compatibility tools, they’re extremely slow to load. Steam has to “process Vulkan shaders” for a lot of titles, and this can take five to ten minutes or more on some games (like Fallout 4). Fortunately, this only happens the first time you launch a particular title.
Most of the games I tried were from Google’s own list of recommended titles that had been tested on Chrome OS, and those experiences were almost all solid. The one game my Chromebook couldn’t quite keep up with was The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Google recommended playing that one with graphics on low, and said that only Chromebooks with an i7 processor would work. Even then, frame rates and control responsiveness was poor enough that I didn’t want to play after a few minutes.
While Google and Valve will certainly improve the Steam experience from this early alpha, it’s fair to say that Chrome OS will never be the place to play cutting-edge games. Chromebooks just aren’t built with that kind of hardware.
But, Steam’s library is vast, and there are thousands of titles across any genre that you can think of. Bringing that catalog to Chrome OS is a huge step forward for those who love games but don’t necessarily need to play Cyberpunk 2077 with settings on high. Whether it’s for replaying older classics like Portal 2 or trying newer releases like Hades, Steam for Chrome OS vastly expands the gaming you can do on a Chromebook. And if you really want to play The Witcher 3 or God of War, a streaming service like NVIDIA’s GeForce Now can plug the gap. So far, the alpha build of Steam for Chrome OS is promising, and I hope that Google and Valve can make it work on more Chromebooks before long.
The New York Times‘ purchase of Wordle appears to have paid off, at least in the near term. The newspaper has revealed that it added “tens of millions” of new users in the first quarter of 2022 thanks to Josh Wardle’s hit word game. That led to the company’s best quarter yet for subscriber additions to games, and “many” of those incoming players have remained to try other games.
The surge came alongside an otherwise strong quarter that included 387,000 new digital subscribers (including those from The Athletic). The Times reported a jump to 9.1 million subscribers, with digital revenue climbing by 26 percent. The buyouts helped slash the company’s net profit to $4.7 million versus $41.1 million a year earlier.
The surge in users isn’t exactly shocking. The paper bought a hugely popular game at the height of its success, and that demand continued throughout the quarter. The question, of course, is whether or not the deal will be worthwhile in the long run. It’s not certain if Wordle will remain the sensation it has been, and it’s no secret that the Times is still better-known for its crossword puzzle than the other games in its repertoire. With that said, the original Wordle has survived an onslaught of clones — it stands a better chance at enduring success than some viral games.
Just how popular is Wordle? The NYT says in its Q1 earnings report that “Wordle brought an unprecedented tens of millions of new users to The Times, many of whom stayed to play other games which drove our best quarter ever for net subscriber additions to Games…”
May the 4th is here once again and that means a bunch of retailers have deals on Star Wars gadgets, toys and collectibles. If you’re a Star Wars fan, or know someone who is, now’s the time to stock up on everything from video games to themed Instant Pots while they are deeply discounted. Here are the best May the 4th Star Wars Day deals we could find this year.
Star Wars Instant Pots
Instant Pot
Amazon has a limited-time sale on Star Wars-themed Instant Pots and you can pick up the adorable BB-8 Duo Mini machine for only $60. A number of other schemes, including Darth Vader and Little Bounty, have been discounted as well, and those are full Duo models, so they come with a few more cooking modes and a larger, six-quart capacity.
Yubico has knocked 54 percent off two-packs of its YubiKey 5 NFC series, That brings the pack of two USB-A security keys down to just over $41, the duo of USB-C keys down to just over $50 and the pack with one of each down to $46. This is a solid sale on some of the latest models from Yubico, and these keys give you a physical way to use two-factor authentication to unlock your devices and accounts.
Unsurprisingly, you can find a bunch of discounted Star Wars merch, accessories and more at Amazon today only. You can get knickknacks for your desk, T-shirts with your favorite characters on them, LEGO sets and toy lightsabers for less than usual. Some of our favorite deals include the R2-D2 Tamagotchi for just over $11, the LEGO Star Wars AT-ST Raider set for under $29 and this 2,000-piece The Chosen One puzzle for $15.
Best Buy’s sale today knocks up to 30 percent off Star Wars LEGO sets, up to 20 percent off Star Wars 3D puzzles and up to 40 percent off plush figures. You can also save up to 25 percent on certain Star Wars video games, and $57 off this adorable “galactic snackin'” Grogu doll.
Walmart’s Star Wars Day sale is much like Best Buy’s in that it includes discounts on a hodgepodge of toys, games, collectibles and more. Quite a few Funko Pops are on sale, including this The Child with Canister figurine, plus numerous LEGO sets are cheaper than usual.
While not on sale, Otterbox just launched a new collection of Star Wars-inspired Symmetry cases for iPhone and Galaxy devices. They’re branded with fun illustrations of characters including Darth Vader, Boba Fett and even an Ewok. Since these are Symmetry cases, they have the features that you’d expect from this lineup, including a slim profile, drop protection a raised bumper.
