We asked you what you thought of the latest Nintendo Direct, and it turns out everyone hated it

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• We polled readers of our Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase live coverage to find out what they thought of the stream
• The result? A resounding disappointment that's shared by users on gaming forums
• Common complaints include an abundance of ports and a lack of truly "new" reveals

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If you were disappointed by the announcements in this week's Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, then it turns out that you're not alone.

The stream, which lasted roughly 30 minutes, showcased a bunch of upcoming games for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. We polled the thousands of readers who tuned in to our live coverage of the event, receiving hundreds of responses.

The question was simple: 'How would you rate the latest Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase out of 10?' with options for each numeric score. The answer? A resounding 1/10.

Of the 275 votes received, the majority (28%) picked the 1/10 score. Similarly low numbers dominated the other most common responses, with 3/10 and 2/10 taking second and third place.

If you add it all together, an overwhelming 58% rated the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase below a 5/10.

Although it didn't make the top three, 7/10 (which I would consider as representing a 'good' score) was still decently popular with 10% of the votes - suggesting there are some viewers who were satisfied.

Tellingly, however, very few voters opted to rate the Direct a 10/10 (just 4%), with even fewer (3%) picking 9/10.

To find out why, I turned to Reddit and the dedicated gaming forum Resetera to see what users are saying. The common theme seems to be a lack of new reveals, with the majority of trailers focusing on ports or products that have already been announced.

"Most of these aren't even announcements. [Indie game] Orbitals looks amazing and it's one of my most anticipated games, but we saw it in the last Nintendo Direct," reads one of the top-rated comments on a thread about the Direct. "What here is actually new?"

"There was only one game that was a world-premiere and exclusive to Switch 2," replied a user. "That game was Tokyo Scramble. Fun concept (dinosaur stealth game) but it needs a lot of polish and refinement. Looked like indie jank."

"There was nothing really aside from [Kyoto] Xanadu that was remotely interesting or hasn't already been out for ages elsewhere," said another.

One commenter on Resetera simply wrote "I'm going back to bed", which aptly sums up the overall sentiment there.

In spite of all this, there were definitely still some worthwhile highlights. Orbitals does indeed look superb with its It Takes Two style co-op action and adorable art style, while a fresh look at Resident Evil Requiem and the reveal of a The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered port go to show the technical capabilities of Switch 2 hardware.

Even so, I have my fingers crossed that the next Nintendo Direct is a little more exciting.

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Windows 11 is getting a new security feature that might cause confusion — here's what it does and why

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• Windows 11's latest preview patch has a security addition
• It stops users who aren't admins from accessing the Storage panel in Settings
• This was done to prevent unauthorized people from messing with the contents of your drive(s), but it wasn't announced, and might confuse some folks

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Windows 11's latest patch – which it should be noted is a preview release – has made a change to the operating system's settings that could confuse some people.

Windows Latest discovered that the KB5074105 patch applies a tweak under the radar whereby Windows 11 now requests admin permission when you go into Storage settings.

In other words, when you open the Storage panel in the Settings app, Windows 11 will pop up a 'user account control' dialog box before giving you access, one that contains different options depending on the type of local account you have.

If you have an admin account – which will be the case if yours is the only local account ever set up, and it's your PC – then you just need to click 'Yes' to the question about whether you want the app (Settings) to be able to make changes to your device. Then you'll be able to see all the Storage options as normal.

However, if you aren't an admin – which would be the case for other family members, for example, with a family PC that lots of people use – you will be blocked from going into this Storage panel (unless you enter the admin password, that is, which will be requested for access).

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Analysis: a sensible move, but one that could confuse some folks

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In short, this is stopping anyone who isn't an admin from messing with anything to do with storage.

As such, it's giving Windows 11 users a bolstered level of security in a case where a family member might go 'rogue' – or an unauthorized person with local access gets on the PC somehow – meaning they can't mess with your drive and, say, delete content. (It could also prove to be a hurdle for a hacker, even, who is potentially leveraging remote access to get onto your PC, although it wouldn't be much of a meaningful roadblock in that scenario – but still, it's something).

So, keeping the workings of the storage panel as accessible only by the primary user of the PC (the owner or admin) does make some sense.

The problem is that with this change sneaking in unannounced, when the box pops up out of the blue the first time the storage panel is accessed, there could be some bewilderment about why this question is appearing (when it never did before). It also disrupts the flow of the interface to have these warning prompts summoned, adding another click to any given storage-related operation.

Overall, though, it seems sensible to keep certain more sensitive parts of the Windows 11 interface behind what's effectively a locked door – but we should have had some kind of notification from Microsoft about this move.

Note that this is an optional change for now – in the preview update which arrived late in January – but it will become part of the full Windows 11 update for February, which lands next week, assuming Microsoft is happy with how this functionality is working.

On that latter note, it seems there may be a minor bug with this introduction, because as Windows Latest points out, a couple of drive clean-up options appear to have vanished from the Storage panel. This pertains to temporary files which are from old Windows updates and device drivers, we're told, so hopefully Microsoft will be aware of this, and fixing it so these can be cleaned out again. They are still removable via Disk Cleanup, Windows Latest informs us, as an alternative.

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Embark Studios is lowering the required Stash value ahead of Arc Studios' second expedition and introducing a new Skill Point catch-up system that will allow Raiders to reclaim the ones they missed

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• Arc Raiders players can sign up for the second expedition on February 25, and can depart on March 1
• Embark Studios is adjusting the required Stash value amount from 5 million Coins to 3 million following player feedback
• A new Skill Point catch-up system is being added for players who were unable to amass the required Coins during the first expedition

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The second Arc Raiders expedition kicks off next month, and Embark Studios is changing a few things following player feedback, including an adjustment to the required Stash value.

The studio shared the details in a new blog post, confirming that players can sign up for the second expedition from February 25, with the departure scheduled for March 1.

But before then, Embark has some new updates coming that may help experienced players and those new to expeditions. After listening to player feedback, the developer is lowering the required Stash value amount from 5 million Coins to 3 million to reach the maximum rewards.

"Starting off, we want to get one announcement out of the way right off the bat: we’ve heard your feedback about the required Stash value for maximum rewards being too high, and have decided to lower the requirement to 3 million Coins (600k per Skill Point). The reward will still be 5 Skill Points for reaching the 3 million Stash value," Embark said.

As the studio explained, this means that players need 600,000 Coins per skill point, as opposed to the previous 1 million requirement, which is a significant nerf that should be helpful when gearing up for the upcoming expedition.

In addition to this change, returning players who were unable to amass the required Coins during the first expedition will be able to reclaim the ones they missed with the new Skill Point catch-up system.

(Image credit: Embark Studios)

"The catch up Skill Points will be heavily discounted, making the total Coins needed to reach max Skill Points less for each Expedition," Embark said. "Amass the entire Stash value and enjoy your Skill Points before everyone else, fail to do so and the catch-up system will allow you to close the gap over time.

"For this Expedition, you will need to gather 300k Stash value per Skill Point missing from the first Expedition. When departing, Coins will contribute to the Skill Points of the second Expedition, before contributing to missing Skill Points from the first one."

Embark did note, however, that rewards and requirements "may change for future expeditions and bonus Skill Points won’t be available indefinitely for those that continue to depart."

Some of the permanent rewards for the second expedition include a new Scrappy outfit, an upgraded Patchwork outfit, which will get four additional toggles and two new color options, and buffs stacked from the previous expedition (but will be reset for those who decide not to depart again).

Players returning for their second expedition will also gain 5% more XP, which will total to 10%, a 6% Scrappy materials boost (12% total), and a 10% repair value increase (70% total).

The 'Expeditions Explained' image Embark released also confirms that a third expedition is in the works, with "more to come".

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Nvidia might not have any new gaming GPUs in 2026 — and could be 'slashing production' of existing GeForce models

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• Sources claim Nvidia won't make any new gaming GPUs in 2026
• This is because of the RAM crisis, with video memory being prioritized for AI graphics cards
• The report further asserts that Nvidia is "slashing production" of existing RTX 5000 GPUs, which sounds ominous

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We've again been told that Nvidia won't release any new gaming GPUs in 2026, this time from a more authoritative source on the rumor mill.

The Information reports that Nvidia isn't going to release any new GeForce graphics cards this year, due to the RAM shortage that also affects video memory.

If true, it'd be the first year in three decades that Nvidia hasn't released a new gaming GPU, whether that's an entirely new product or a refresh of an existing one, such as a Super version.

There are two sources with 'direct knowledge' of the matter, claiming this, noting that Nvidia needs to prioritize the memory chips it's getting for AI graphics cards, not gaming products, since there's much more profit in the former.

The report also contends that Nvidia is "slashing production" of its existing RTX 5000 GPUs, without providing any details on the exact percentage cut that we're looking at.

Obviously, add seasoning to all this. Nvidia wouldn't be drawn to comment directly on these rumors – unsurprisingly – but Team Green did tell The Information that it continues to ship all GeForce products and is working with suppliers to maximize memory availability.

That's the exact same reassurance that was given by Nvidia when there was speculation that the RTX 5070 Ti had essentially been dropped from the production lines, a claim that Team Green flatly denied.

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Analysis: a growing weight of rumors for both production cuts and delayed refreshes

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Both of these rumors add to existing threads already spun from the grapevine. We've heard multiple times now that Nvidia is cutting back production levels of GeForce GPUs, with the latest assertion being a 15% to 20% drop. The Information doesn't pin down any specific value to this purported cut in gaming chips rolling off production lines, but if it's worth talking about, it must be a significant enough percentage, perhaps in line with the mentioned figure.

We also previously heard from a reliable leaker on X (the same source as the 20% production drop rumor) that there'll be no gaming GPUs from Nvidia in 2026. So, with two separate reports claiming this – and a more heavyweight source in the form of The Information here – this increases the odds that there's some truth to these theories.

The Information also divulges that Nvidia planned an incremental update to the RTX 5000 range, codenamed 'Kicker', and that the new design for these refreshed graphics cards had been completed. However, the report claims Nvidia delayed these plans in December 2025, without saying when the new launch timeframe would be.

It seems that it won't be this year, then, and this could push back the next-gen GeForce GPUs, too. Nvidia's RTX 6000 range was supposed to enter mass production late in 2027, but that won't happen now, we're told. Presumably, that shunts these RTX 6000 GPUs back to 2028, although that isn't clarified here.

Of course, the 'Kicker' refresh is doubtless the rumored RTX 5000 Super GPUs, which are incremental upgrades over existing models. Going by rumors, Nvidia planned (or indeed still plans) an RTX 5070 Super, an RTX 5070 Ti Super, and an RTX 5080 Super.

The theory was that they'll load up on tons of video RAM – 18GB for the RTX 5070 Super, and 24GB for the other pair – so with that in mind, and the scarcity of VRAM, it makes a lot of sense that Nvidia wouldn't want to go ahead with these new GPUs.

The hope that we'll see RTX 5000 Super refreshes realized this year appears to be crushed, then. Indeed, the more worrying prospect is not that there won't be any new GeForce GPUs in 2026, but that Nvidia's existing gaming boards are going to be subjected to increasing price hikes as supply levels continue to fall off.

The rumblings from Nvidia's big GPU rival, AMD, haven't been any more comforting of late, either. Away from the higher-end of the graphics card spectrum, both Team Green and Red are now rumored to be slanting production more towards 8GB GPUs rather than 16GB models, much to the chagrin of many gamers who feel that 8GB isn't nearly enough these days.

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Evercade's retro gaming consoles will officially pass the 'can it run Doom?' test — the landmark FPS franchise is coming sometime this year

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• Doom will be coming to Evercade devices sometime in 2026
• Specific games haven't been announced yet, but it's likely to be the classics
• The announcement was made on Evercade's YouTube channel

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Blaze Entertainment has teamed up with Bethesda and id Software to bring classic Doom titles to Evercade systems sometime in 2026.

Officially announced via a short teaser on Evercade's YouTube channel, the 20-ish seconds-long clip doesn't reveal much other than some kind of Doom and Evercade collaboration is happening.

Presumably, as we've seen from countless Evercade cartridges at this point, this would most likely be a collection of classic Doom games. That would naturally include Doom and Doom 2, their various expansions, and potentially Doom 64. It'd be great to see more recent classic Doom efforts, too, such as John Romero's Sigil series.

Furthermore, if it is a cartridge collection, they'll work across pretty much every Evercade retro gaming console released up to this point. That includes the Evercade EXP, Evercade VS, Evercade Alpha, and Super Pocket handheld.

There is also a chance of limited-edition Evercade devices inspired by Doom. That would be appropriate, given that this collaboration should be lining up with developer id Software's 35th anniversary.

With no further information or pre-order details available right now, all I can say for now is watch this space.

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‘Someone is actually reading the room’: Firefox just got an AI kill switch, and I hope other developers will follow its lead

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• Mozilla Firefox 148 will soon get an AI kill switch
• This addition can disable all AI features in one go
• You’ll also be able to disable AI tools individually, if you like

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Firefox is often chosen by people who dislike the direction Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers are taking. And as browser makers rush to stuff their products with as much artificial intelligence (AI) as possible, Firefox is taking a different tack, introducing an “AI kill switch” that disables all AI features in the Mozilla app.

In a blog post about the decision, Mozilla says users will get the feature with the Firefox 148 update, which is set to arrive on February 24. Not only will this let you manage individual AI features within the browser, but you’ll also be able to switch them off entirely with a single click.

Aside from the all-in-one kill switch, you’ll be able to choose whether to enable or disable the following features: translations, alt text in PDF files, AI-powered tab grouping, link previews, and the AI chatbot that’s located in the browser’s sidebar.

Mozilla caused something of a backlash late in 2025 when it announced it would bring AI features to the Firefox browser. Although these run on your device – meaning your information is not sent to any company’s cloud servers – many users were unhappy with the advent of AI features in a browser like Firefox, which has often sought to differentiate itself from rival offerings.

Banish AI from your browser

Mozilla’s latest move seems to have met with a positive reaction from some sections of the internet. Responding to the announcement on Reddit, user jpsreddit85 quipped, “Says a lot about the future state of AI when the most requested feature is to disable it.” User David-J, meanwhile, commented that “Someone is actually reading the room.”

As a long-time Firefox user, this feels like the right move by Mozilla. AI is controversial at the best of times, but especially so among Firefox users, who pride themselves on their independence and generally seem less on board with AI than many internet users.

Adding AI to Firefox was always going to be a risky move by Mozilla, given the userbase’s sentiments – adding a way to block it entirely is a sensible way to win back support.

That said, this seems to be a fairly isolated move in the world of web browsers. Chrome has a near-monopoly on browsers, and its creator, Google, a major AI investor, has added numerous AI features to the app. Microsoft and Apple, makers of Edge and Safari, are equally committed to AI.

Very few browsers have added an AI kill switch like Firefox's, though privacy-focused alternatives like Brave and DuckDuckGo can also be customized in this way. That all means that if you’re sick of AI in your browser, there are options available to you – you just need to avoid the biggest players.

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GTA 6 owner Take-Two is 'embracing generative AI' as part of its goal to be the 'most efficient company in the entertainment business' says CEO

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• Take-Two Interactive is "embracing generative AI" according to its CEO
• The Rockstar Games owner "hundreds of pilots" testing the technology
• Thankfully generative AI will play "zero part" in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6

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Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has discussed the potential of generative AI technology in the company's latest earnings call.

In response to a question about the recent bruising that Take-Two stock received following the announcement of Google's Project Genie AI tool, which purportedly allows users to generate playable interactive worlds based on prompts, Zelnick admitted that he was "a little confused" by the market's reaction.

"The video game business, since its inception, was built on the back of machine learning and artificial intelligence," he explained. "We create our games in computers with technology and, ever since questions began about generative AI about months ago, I've been incredibly enthusiastic about what the future can bring."

He went on to reveal that Take-Two is currently "actively embracing generative AI" with "hundreds of pilots" testing its implementation across the company including in its game studios.

He added that the company has the chance "to drive efficiencies, reduce costs, and create the opportunity to do what digital technology has always allowed" by reducing the time spent on "mundane tasks" and freeing up time for "the more interesting tasks of making superb entertainment."

It comes as part of Take-Two's overall strategy to "be the most creative, be the most innovative, and be the most efficient company in the entertainment business."

What does this mean for Rockstar?

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Sashkin)

Although you can hardly move for massive tech companies making announcements regarding generative AI, use of the technology remains controversial in the gaming space.

Fans were disappointed to see apparent "AI slop" adorning the side of a building in a recent Forza Horizon 6 trailer, and Battlefield 6 players expressed fury at the sale of seemingly AI generated content in the game's virtual store late last year.

Thankfully, Zelnick has confirmed that generative AI will not be used in the development of the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6. Speaking to Gamesindustry.biz ahead of the earnings call, he confirmed that: "Generative AI has zero part in what Rockstar Games is building."

"Their worlds are handcrafted. That's what differentiates them," he explained. "They're built from the ground up, building by building, street by street, neighborhood by neighborhood. They're not procedurally generated, they shouldn't be. That's what makes great entertainment."

The earnings call also reaffirmed that GTA 6 is still on track to launch on November 19, 2026 with marketing efforts expected to ramp up soon.

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I’m a writer who won’t use generative AI — here are 7 AI-free tools that actually support real writing

While it seems that software firms want to put AI into everything, many creative people want tools that are AI-free. I'm one of them. I'm not against AI by any means – I use AI tools in music, and I've found AI-based transcription to be a godsend (once I take out the bits it makes up) – but as a professional writer and author, generative AI is a no-no for me for multiple reasons.

A big one for me and for many other writers is that genAI writing is based in part on pirating our books: some of my own books and books by my writer friends are in the Anthropic dataset (and because I’m not in the US, I'm not eligible for any of the $1.5 billion settlement that came from the class action lawsuit against the company).

One of the results of that is that many literary magazines and other important outlets now have a strict "no AI for anything" policy.

There are more practical everyday issues too. I've found that AI-powered helpers tend to make my writing worse and the writing process more difficult. I've turned off AI-based autocorrect that had me constantly fixing ridiculous changes it made to my error-free typing, and I've shuddered as AI editing tools turned characterful writing into LinkedIn thought leader-style corporate slop.

So, what can writers use instead? Here are seven excellent options from distraction-free desktops to print and ebook producers.

1. LibreOffice (Windows, Mac, Linux)

(Image credit: Future)

• Free

The free, open source, old-school Microsoft Office alternative isn't the prettiest app suite out there, I know. But it's a very good place to write words, because it gets out of your way and lets you focus on the words you're writing. It has Master Documents so you can break even the biggest writing projects into more manageable chunks, it has the Navigator noting every use of the H1 heading style so you can easily find your way around chapters, and because it runs locally rather than in the cloud it's always available even when Wi-Fi isn't.

2. Beat (Mac, iPad)

(Image credit: Lauri-Matti Parppei)

• Free (Mac)
• €12.99 (about £11 / $15 / AU$22) for iPad

Created by screenwriter Lauri-Matti Parppei for other screenwriters (and since extended to cover novel writing too), Beat is a clean, straightforward and very fast writing app that features an outliner, distraction-free writing, good file format support, automatic formatting and on the Mac, a library of plugins to expand its features. The Mac version is free and open source; sales from the iOS/iPadOS version help Parppei keep the lights on.

3. Ulysses (Mac, iPhone, iPad)

(Image credit: TechRadar)

• $39.99 / £39.99 (around AU$60) per year for Mac
• $5.99 / $5.99 / AU$9.99 per month for iPhone/iPad

Ulysses has been my go-to writing app for many years now. It's a Markdown-based writing environment that runs very quickly and keeps features to a minimum, and I love it so much I wrote an entire article about how good it is. One of its best features is its ability to export your work to almost anything: content management systems, blogging platforms, ebooks and all the key text and document formats. It's very customizable and has tiny system requirements because working in plain text, which is what Markdown effectively is, isn't going to make even the most modest Mac break sweat. It's good on iOS/iPadOS too, and syncs over iCloud.

4. iA Writer (Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad)

(Image credit: iA)

• $19.99 (£15 / AU$29) iPad/iPhone
• $29.99 (£22 / AU$43) Windows
• $49.99 (£36 / AU$72) Mac

Like Ulysses iA Writer is a stripped-down, lightning fast writing environment with superb export options, but while the app doesn't use AI itself – hence its inclusion here – its creators have taken an interesting approach to the technology, which they've written about in detail. Instead of integrating AI writing tools into their apps, they've described it as a problem to solve as AI gets everywhere – and their solution is called Authorship. Authorship is in the Mac, iPhone and iPad versions of the app and it can track changes made by the likes of Apple's AI writing tools as well as text copied from third party generative AI.

5. Scrivener (Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad)

(Image credit: Literature and Latte)

• £55 (about $75 / AU$108) Mac/Windows
• $23.99 (about £17.50 / AU$35) iPhone/iPad

I've written entire books in Scrivener, and that's what it was made for: in addition to its writing tools it's also an excellent research and ideas organiser, so you can have notes about your characters, photos of locations you want to use, snippets of information you want to include and anything else relevant to your book right there in the app. It's overkill if you only want to write short pieces, but if you want an app that can take you from the first blank page to a fully finished manuscript and ebook, Scrivener is superb.

6. Storyist (Mac, iPhone, iPad)

(Image credit: Storyist Software LLC)

• $59 (about £43 / AU$85) for Mac
• $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$29.99 for iPad/iPhone

Storyist is a good-looking and very friendly writing app aimed at novelists and screenwriters, and it contains some great tools to help you create your masterpiece including snippets for commonly used text, print-ready PDF output, an excellent outliner and an extensive selection of customisable style sheets for specific kinds of publication. It's quite similar to Scrivener, albeit a bit less intimidating-looking.

7. yWriter (Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone, iPad)

(Image credit: Spacejock software)

• Free (Windows/Mac)
• £14.99 / $14.99 / AU$22.99 (iPhone/iPad)

yWriter promises that it won't write your novel, suggest plot ideas or perform any creative tasks whatsoever. It's a stripped-back writing app that encourages you to think of your story in terms of scenes rather than chapters, and to use metadata: project notes, objects used in the scene, which character's viewpoint is being used, whether the scene is a draft or complete and so on. The Mac app is still in beta and that's currently closed, but if you have an Apple Silicon Mac you can run the iOS version.

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Raspberry Pi price hike means it's now 70% costlier than pre-RAM crisis — but there's promising DDR5 news at least

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• DDR5 RAM pricing appears to have plateaued in Germany
• That's very different from the past few months of huge price leaps
• At the same time, analyst firms are forecasting major price hikes are still to come, and PCs are feeling the knock-on effects – the Raspberry Pi being the latest victim

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There's a hopeful sign that the RAM crisis might be stalling, but don't put too much stock in this idea just yet – especially as we're still hearing about major price hikes for memory, and also PCs, the latest of which is a big leap in cost for the compact Raspberry Pi computer board.

I'll come back to the Raspberry Pi pricing (flagged by Tom's Hardware) later, but first off, let's focus on the better news from the memory market. VideoCardz spotted that German tech site 3D Center, which keeps tabs on the RAM prices at retail in that country, has found that price hikes on DDR5 memory have apparently stalled – at least for now.

Over the past month, based on the cost of a mix of 20 separate DDR5 RAM products at German retailers, pricing has only risen by a marginal 0.1% from mid-January to now.

That's a very different picture compared to the huge leaps seen in the previous few months.

From October to November 2025, we witnessed a 49% rise, followed by a 93% price hike across these products through December 2025, and then a chunky 27% increase in January 2026. Albeit even this latter rise showed that inflation was slowing down, and has now plateaued in February according to 3D Center's figures.

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Analysis: a welcome respite, but let's not get carried away

(Image credit: Zoomik / Shutterstock)

We need to take any such theories about reaching a pricing plateau with some caution, given that this is just one report, based on a slice of the market in a single country.

Of course, you could argue that huge inflationary spikes can only persist for so long, by their very nature – consumers are going to stop buying (in the main) if they feel pricing has become too ridiculous, which will in itself have a levelling effect in terms of supply and demand.

We've seen some evidence of exactly this in the stabilization of very pricey high-capacity RAM kits in recent months, which is at least a glimmer of hope amid all the gloomy news of big price increases.

However, don't forget that, more broadly, analyst firms still believe there's plenty of price misery to come, with TrendForce predicting that DRAM pricing is likely to rise by 50% (or a little more) in the first quarter of 2026.

We've also seen the cost of RAM having a knock-on effect with various products, the latest of which is the Raspberry Pi, the compact and affordable computer board, which has become less affordable due to the cost of its system memory, with the top-tier models, anyway.

Recently announced price increases have hit models of the Raspberry Pi 4 and 5, which pack more than 2GB of RAM. The big increases are applied to the top-end boards with 16GB (as you might guess), and they've gone up in price by $60, which means the flagship Raspberry Pi 5 is now $205.

That's 70% more expensive than this model was at launch, so it's not that far off double the price now – and getting way out of cheap-and-cheerful territory, of course.

There isn't much the manufacturer can do about this, though, if they're having to pay a great deal more for the system RAM from the supplier.

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Capcom's new Resident Evil Requiem trailer might have two massive hints you missed

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• Capcom's Resident Evil Requiem just got a new short film featuring Maika Monroe
• It shows the story of a mother and child from the Raccoon City outbreak
• The trailer's ending may tease the return of a major character

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Resident Evil Requiem is less than a month away, with its launch set for February 27, and Capcom has stepped up its marketing efforts – this time with an unexpected trailer.

Capcom released a new live-action short film named 'Evil Has Always Had A Name' featuring It Follows and Longlegs actor Maika Monroe. Its story that follows a mother and her child before, during, and after the Raccoon City outbreak.

There are multiple easter eggs in the trailer, namely the silhouette of Resident Evil 3's Nemesis hidden in smoke, and the classic 'S.T.A.R.S' voice line in the background. We also have the Gun Shop Kendo store briefly shown during the night of the outbreak, and a licker, which seemingly leads to the heartbreaking demise of the protagonist's daughter.

Most importantly, we see the same shot of Raccoon City's crater that has been present in almost all of Requiem's trailers. Assuming it's set in the present day (or close enough), Monroe's now zombified character gives a monologue stating, 'tell them I was still me, right up until the end' before being slain at her daughter's burial site.

Zombies may be sentient in Requiem

It may be best to use the term 'zombie' loosely. While the infected we've seen in Resident Evil Requeim are clearly not human, director Koshi Nakanishi highlighted that each maintains elements of their human personalities, even committing to the same daily tasks they would when alive, complete with some speech.

However, this short film may have just hinted at the undead in Requiem being more sentient than we thought, possibly being fully aware of what's happening, maintaining memories and feelings, but without the ability to control themselves over their infection.

It won't be the first time the franchise has attempted something as such: Resident Evil 4 featured enemies controlled by the Las Plagas parasite, but still kept human traits (even if they were wild and violent).

Requiem appears to be taking a similar route, but one that will tug on players' heartstrings, if this short film is anything to go by.

Was that Ada Wong at the end?

(Image credit: Capcom)

There's still so much we don't know about Resident Evil Requiem, and that's fortunate for many who want to go into the experience blind. One thing we do know is that legacy characters will be making a return, whether from Resident Evil Outbreak or the franchise's mainline entries.

Ada Wong has been present in every Resident Evil game that features Leon S. Kennedy thus far and, if this is indeed Leon's last game for a long while, her appearance is increasingly likely.

That's further backed up by the end of this short film, where armed forces are moving into Raccoon City, with a voice that sounds very familiar stating 'Copy that. Raccoon City is ours.'

We know that Ada's motivations and allegiances in the Resident Evil games are blurred, often working for shady corporations or figures like Albert Wesker. It's not far-fetched to suggest that this may indeed be Ada Wong talking, which will have us wondering which side she's truly on at launch on February 27.

Either way, Resident Evil Requiem is shaping up to be the franchise's most ambitious title, with emotional story beats and a potential end to a saga that has run since 1998.

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The inevitable has happened — the Switch has finally outsold the DS, making it Nintendo's all-time best-selling console

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• The Switch has reportedly become Nintendo's best-selling console ever
• As of the end of 2025, it has finally surpassed the DS's previous record
• The Switch remains behind the PlayStation 2 by about 5 million units, according to SIE

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Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch is officially its all-time best-selling piece of hardware, finally surpassing the previous record set by the original DS console as of December 31, 2025.

The company's latest financial data update (sourced by The Verge) shows that the original Switch (also accounting for the Lite and OLED models) has reached 155.37 million hardware units sold. That's been enough to dethrone the Nintendo DS and its lifetime sales of 154.02 million units across all models.

The Switch has also crossed 1.5 billion software units sold as of December 31, 2025, vastly outpacing any system in its history. The next closest is the DS at 948.76 software units, closely followed by the Wii's 921.85 million.

Still, Nintendo has some legwork left to do if it wants the Switch to surpass the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 2. According to Sony Interactive Entertainment's cumulative worldwide hardware unit sales, the PS2 is sitting at 160 million units (as of March 31, 2012).

Despite an underwhelming Christmas performance, the Nintendo Switch 2 has done alright in its first six months on store shelves. At 17.37 million hardware units sold as of the end of last year, it was Nintendo's fastest-selling console at launch. Its momentum may continue to be rocky, though, as analysts have warned consumers to brace for a price hike sometime in 2026.

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Record-breaking graphics card was broken, until this YouTuber repaired the Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti — then used it to dominate this 8K GPU benchmark

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• A YouTuber repaired an Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti with a hole in the board
• The project then went further into a quest to juice up this graphics card and set a new record with it
• That attempt was successful, with the resurrected RTX 5070 Ti grabbing top spot in its GPU category for the Unigine Superposition 8K test

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Pushing GPUs to record-breaking levels is nothing new for enthusiast overclockers, of course – but here's something that definitely is new: a record being set by a graphics card with a hole in it.

VideoCardz highlighted the achievement of Brazilian YouTuber Paulo Gomes and his team (via PC Gamer), who had previously brought back to life a nonfunctional Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti that had a hole in its circuit board.

(Image credit: Paulo Gomes / ET's LGA1155 / YouTube)

That feat of tech resurrection wasn't enough, though, and the YouTube channel figured that setting a record with this RTX 5070 Ti would be a fun task to attempt.

The team used an RTX 2080 Ti board as a new base for the broken GPU, then undertook a whole lot of soldering, fiddling around with voltages, and tweaking power levels to get something capable of setting a world record.

This happened during a livestream that lasted over seven hours (which you can see below – or rather, skip through, rather than watch in its entirety, unless you're very brave), and it ended in a new record for the Unigine Superposition 8K optimized test.

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Analysis: a seriously impressive achievement

This fudged-to-work RTX 5070 Ti with a hole in it managed to score 11,150 in the end, which is a long way behind the number one RTX 5090 results, of course, but it's the best score ever seen for the RTX 5070 Ti itself (some way down the overall rankings, naturally). The GPU did this by hitting a clock speed of 3.23GHz, we're told.

As VideoCardz points out, this isn't the most respected GPU benchmark in town these days, but nonetheless, to get a broken RTX 5070 Ti working again – and working well enough to break any record – is mind-boggling, frankly.

Granted, the resulting graphics card does not look pretty, with wires snaking everywhere and yellow masking tape applied all over the place, but in some ways, this makes the achievement all the more remarkable.

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Bethesda has finally given us a new trailer for Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas… but it isn’t quite what I had in mind

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• Bethesda just gave us a new Fallout trailer
• It doesn't confirm the rumored Fallout 3 remaster
• Fallout Season 2's finale airs this week

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If the internet is to be believed, the finale of Fallout Season 2 – the Prime Video hit based on the iconic video game series – won’t leave us wanting for more Wasteland adventures for long, as Bethesda is apparently gearing up to shadow-drop a remaster of Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, or both.

And it did just drop a brand new trailer for both games… but it was also an advert for the series as a whole. Starring Aaron Moten (who plays Maximus in the show) and Vault Boy in a creepy-meets-funny sketch where the duo revisit various entries in the series – including Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas, as well as more recent entries like Fallout Shelter and Fallout 76.

While the 2:25-minute skit does a great job of selling the different entries in the series, it’s obviously not what many players had been hoping for. And while it doesn’t outright confirm a rerelease of two Fallout classics, it doesn’t dispel my hopes yet either.

Need some addictol for my copium problem

So why do many believe in the shadow-drop speculation?

Well, it wouldn't be the first time. Fallout 4 was made official and then released only a few months later, which was much quicker than typical industry norms at the time, but 2023’s Hi-Fi Rush and last year’s Oblivion Remastered were both proper instant surprises when they made their debuts.

And according to developer comments, Bethesda wants to do more shadow-drops going forward (via FRVR).

How do fingers point towards Fallout 3 and New Vegas, then? Well, both of these games – especially New Vegas with the most recent season – have been a significant inspiration for the TV show. However, the games unfortunately show their age, which doesn’t make them easy for Fallout’s newer, more casual fans to pick up.

We also have court documents from Microsoft confirming a Fallout 3 remake is in the works. These same documents also spoiled the Oblivion remaster.

Will Fallout 3 follow Oblivion? (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

Remaster speculation hasn’t been helped by posts like this on Reddit, which suggested Steam had teased the remakes by saying the Fallout series had 12 entries, but only showed 10 games in the collection; however, fans pointed out it’s because of regional variants, not secret remasters.

Or this other post highlighting that several trailers were recently removed from the Fallout 3 Steam page – something which also happened just before Oblivion’s remaster landed.

However, as is true for all leaks and speculation – doubly so for releases fans are unbelievably excited for – it’s hard to tell where legitimate spoilers end and desperate hoping begins.

I’m very much a believer that at least one Fallout 3 or New Vegas will be updated soon, though I’m not expecting any Remaster to land later this week. Hopefully I’m proven wrong on that, but either way we have the Season 2 finale to look forward to – and after last episode’s ending it can’t come soon enough.

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