This week, Nintendo’s Direct livestream showcased a bunch of new games for the Switch, and an awful lot of them featured the company mascot (and movie star) Mario, if not his brother Luigi, and more . And this is all on top of the incoming .
To start, the company is bringing another classic Mario RPG to the Switch. The company plans to release an updated version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on the console in 2024, 20 years after the original game debuted on the GameCube. That’s not the only game getting remade: Mario vs. Donkey Kong, originally a GameBoy Advance game, is on its way and we’re waiting on Super Mario RPG’s remake too.
Nintendo revealed it’s also bringing back one of its oldest hits, space racer F-Zero, but with a twist. F-Zero 99 is the first new game in the series in nearly 20 years. We’ve had battle royale Tetris and Mario. Now, it’s F-Zero. 99 cars on a single track — chaos ensues. It’s available to play now for Switch Online subscribers.
And if you’re more a PlayStation gamer, then Sony’s State of Play revealed new PS5 colors and a Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth release date — and trailer!
— Mat Smith
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Honda’s Motocompacto will retail for ‘under $995’ this November.
This is Honda’s Motocompacto, a throwback all-electric rideable inspired by the short-lived Honda Motocompo scooter of the ’80s. Yes, it looks like Muji toaster or something. Honda says its aluminum frame and wheels keep it “lightweight,” but at 41 pounds, it’s firmly in the same weight class as regular e-bikes. And with a range of “up to 12 miles,” it’s not getting you very far either. After you’ve used its 12-mile range, it takes 3.5 hours to rejoice.
When Monday comes around.
After several months of betas, iOS 17 is about ready to launch to the public. The new software, landing Monday, September 18, includes significant upgrades to Messages, FaceTime, keyboard and more. FaceTime adds video voicemails, so you can let your friends see you as you leave them a message. iOS 17 also works with tvOS 17, so you can take FaceTime calls on Apple TV, using your iPhone or iPad as a camera. The update also includes a new StandBy mode that transforms your iPhone into a smart display when it’s charging on the horizontal. Meanwhile, Contact Posters give you customizable full-screen profiles that flash on your phone’s screen when friends and family call.
More of the same.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 is a modest upgrade from its predecessor, the Galaxy Watch 5. There are some health tracking improvements and a slightly sleeker design. The caveat is that the Watch 6’s predecessors, dating back to the Watch 4, will have access to all these updates. So, if you have one of the previous two models, you might not need to upgrade.
They just made baseball even duller.
Major League Baseball is ready to test its virtual ballpark for a regular-season game. Fans can enter the digital stadium on Wednesday, September 20, to watch the Tampa Bay Rays host the Los Angeles Angels.
The league debuted the digital park earlier this summer for a celebrity softball game, but next week’s game will mark the first non-exhibition game to deploy the metaverse-like digital park. The entire setup sounds like something you’d eventually use with a VR or AR headset, like the Meta Quest or Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro. While it may be a precursor to those more immersive experiences, you’ll access this game on flat screens through a web browser.
