Now that Balatro’s on mobile, here are some tips to get started

Now that Balatro’s on mobile, here are some tips to get started

Playstack

Now that Balatro is out on mobile, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And while it’s a great game, its tutorial doesn’t do the best job of setting you up for the kind of success necessary to hook you. In my first few hours, though I was completing the objectives laid out, it felt like I was stumbling my way to success instead of achieving it through strategy. Onboarding was a bit too abrupt, focused on the barebones of how to play instead of blending that with tips on how to play effectively. With that in mind, here’s some useful info and tips on how to get started.

I was told there would be no math

In Balatro, the main gameplay loop is amassing enough poker chips to beat a set chip total called a blind. To do that, you must create the ideal poker hand that maximizes the number of chips you can earn. I think what I initially had so much trouble with was understanding how scoring worked. Numbers were flying at me, and I didn’t know what they meant or where they came from. Knowing how scoring works is critical to maximizing your chip-earning potential.

Each hand you play is assigned a simple math equation:

Total chips earned = chip value of cards x multiplier score.

Image: Playstack

These are the math equations assigned to every hand. Using special cards, you can modify these base equations to increase your score.

The math equation is different for every type of poker hand, and the more powerful a hand is, the bigger the equation. You don’t have to remember hand hierarchies or their equation values — simply hitting the “Run Info” button will pull up a reference list. Now, here’s the important part: this math equation changes based on the cards you play and any modifiers you’ve earned. For example, the base equation for two pair is 20 chips x 2 multiplier score. If I play two queens and two 3s, I can figure out my score by adding the total chip value of my cards (10+10+3+3=26) to the equation’s chip value (20) and then multiplying that number by 2, equalling 92 chips.

GIF: Playstack

Scoring works by adding up all the chip values and all the multiplier values and then multiplying the two numbers together.

I’m loath to admit how long it took me to understand what was going on, but once I figured it out, everything clicked. I finally got what it was that makes this game hard to put down. Some of these blinds require amassing thousands of chips, so the main point — and honestly the biggest fun factor — of Balatro is beefing up those equations and your cards as much as possible. Which brings me to the next tip.

Cash rules everything around me

I wish the game took more time to explain that, early on, money is everything. For each blind, you have a number of chances or hands to earn enough chips, and if you don’t like the cards in your hand, you have a number of opportunities to discard cards in hopes of getting better ones. You earn the most money by beating blinds in the least amount of hands and with the fewest discards as possible. There are other ways to earn money, too, with special cards and perks you can get. Once you unlock it, use the special deck that starts you off with an extra $10 instead of the regular $4. Look for the perk (called a “tag”) that gives you $25 for beating “boss blinds” — or harder blinds that introduce some kind of negative effect like lowering equation values while requiring you to earn abnormally high amounts of chips. Bank as much as you can, as early as you can in order to...

Shop till you drop

The amazing thing about Balatro is that it’s managed to effectively reproduce the thrill of opening loot boxes without needing to spend a single dime on microtransactions. At the end of every blind, you get to visit the shop where you buy cards that add to or modify your deck, vouchers that impart powerful perks like the ability to increase your hand size, or jokers that have all kinds of score-modifying abilities. Go for the jokers that increase bonuses every round based on meeting certain criteria so your scoring potential can grow exponentially. My most successful run featured a joker that added a +1 to my multiplier every time I didn’t play a face card. By the end of that run, I was scoring upwards of 10,000 chips from the weakest hands played with the cheapest cards. If you see jokers that don’t work with your strategy, don’t forget that you can spend money to reroll the shop for new ones.

Image: Playstack

In the shop, you can buy cards that modify other cards or increase the value of specific hands.

Unlike most other roguelikes that let you keep some abilities or items when you die, when you fail a run at Balatro, all your special cards, vouchers, perks, and cash go away. You can’t take cash with you, so spend it.

Lastly, if you want to make sure you have a good time with Balatro...

Image: Playstack

Even Balatro’s developer knows this game is a problem.

Install an app blocker (seriously)

Runs in Balatro are short and seamless, making it trivial to get into a groove even after having to start over after a failed attempt. And if you’re an adult with responsibilities, that’s going to be a problem — especially on mobile. Three hours in real time feels like only 20 minutes, making Balatro the closest human beings have gotten to legitimate time travel. After wrapping up my first day with the game sometime around 5AM without feeling the slightest bit tired, I added it to my app blocker, setting it to cut off access every day at midnight. Those jokes about Balatro being a productivity problem aren’t that far off the mark, so if you want to try to get some sleep or work done, put guardrails in place so you can.

Welcome to Meta’s future, where everyone wears cameras

Welcome to Meta’s future, where everyone wears cameras

See that little circle? That’s a camera. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

All around Meta’s Menlo Park campus, cameras stared at me. I’m not talking about security cameras or my fellow reporters’ DSLRs. I’m not even talking about smartphones. I mean Ray-Ban and Meta’s smart glasses, which Meta hopes we’ll all — one day, in some form — wear.

I visited Meta for this year’s Connect conference, where just about every hardware product involved cameras. They’re on the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses that got a software update, the new Quest 3S virtual reality headset, and Meta’s prototype Orion AR glasses. Orion is what Meta calls a “time machine”: a functioning example of what full-fledged AR could look like, years before it will be consumer-ready.

But on Meta’s campus, at least, the Ray-Bans were already everywhere. It was a different kind of time machine: a glimpse into CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s future world where glasses are the new phones.

I’m conflicted about it.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Meta really wants to put cameras on your face. The glasses, which follow 2021’s Ray-Ban Stories, are apparently making inroads on that front, as Zuckerberg told The Verge sales are going “very well.” They aren’t full-fledged AR glasses since they have no screen to display information, though they’re becoming more powerful with AI features. But they’re perfect for what the whole Meta empire is built on: encouraging people to share their lives online.

The glasses come in a variety of classic Ray-Ban styles, but for now, it’s obvious users aren’t just wearing glasses. As I wandered the campus, I spotted the telltale signs on person after person: two prominent circle cutouts at the edges of their glasses, one for a 12MP ultrawide camera and the other for an indicator light.

This light flashes when a user is taking photos and videos, and it’s generally visible even in sunlight. In theory, that should have put my mind at ease: if the light wasn’t on, I could trust nobody was capturing footage of me tucking into some lunch before my meetings.

But as I talked with people around campus, I was always slightly on edge. I found myself keenly aware of those circles, checking to see if somebody was filming me when I wasn’t paying attention. The mere potential of a recording would distract me from conversations, inserting a low hum of background anxiety.

When I put a pair on for myself, the situation changed

Then, when I put a pair on for myself, the situation suddenly changed. As a potential target of recording, I’d been hesitant, worried I might be photographed or filmed as a byproduct of making polite eye contact. With the glasses on my own face, though, I felt that I should be recording more. There’s something really compelling about the experience of a camera right at the level of your eyes. By just pressing a button on the glasses, I could take a photo or video of anything I was seeing at exactly the angle I was seeing it. No awkward fumble of pulling out my phone and hoping the moment lasted. There might be no better way to share my reality with other people.

Meta’s smart glasses have been around for a few years now, and I’m hardly the first person — or even the first person at The Verge — to be impressed by them. But this was the first time I’d seen these glasses not as early adopter tech, but as a ubiquitous product like a phone or smartwatch. I got a hint of how this seamless recording would work at scale, and the prospect is both exciting and terrifying.

The camera phone was a revolution in its own right, and we’re still grappling with its social effects. Nearly anyone can now document police brutality or capture a fleeting funny moment, but also take creepshots and post them online or (a far lesser offense, to be clear) annoy people at concerts. What will happen when even the minimal friction of pulling a phone out drops away, and billions of people can immediately snap a picture of anything they see?

Personally, I can see how incredibly useful this would be to capture candid photos of my new baby, who is already starting to recognize when a phone is taking a picture of her. But it’s not hard to imagine far more malicious uses. Sure, you might think that we all got used to everyone pointing their phone cameras at everything, but I’m not exactly sure that’s a good thing; I don’t like that there’s a possibility I end up in somebody’s TikTok just because I stepped outside the house. (The rise of sophisticated facial recognition makes the risks even greater.) With ubiquitous glasses-equipped cameras, I feel like there’s an even greater possibility that my face shows up somewhere on the internet without my permission.

There are also clear risks to integrating cameras into what is, for many people, a nonnegotiable vision aid. If you already wear glasses and switch to prescription smart glasses, you’ll either have to carry a low-tech backup or accept that they’ll stay on in some potentially very awkward places, like a public bathroom. The current Ray-Ban Meta glasses are largely sunglasses, so they’re probably not most people’s primary set. But you can get them with clear and transition lenses, and I bet Meta would like to market them more as everyday specs.

Of course, there’s no guarantee most people will buy them. The Ray-Ban Meta glasses are pretty good gadgets now, but I was at Meta’s campus meeting Meta employees to preview Meta hardware for a Meta event. It’s not surprising Meta’s latest hardware was commonplace, and it doesn’t necessarily tell us much about what people outside that world want.

Camera glasses have been just over the horizon for years now. Remember how magical I said taking pictures of what’s right in front of your eyes is? My former colleague Sean O’Kane relayed almost the exact same experience with Snap Spectacles back in 2016.

But Meta is the first company to make a credible play for mainstream acceptance. They’re a lot of fun — and that’s what scares me a little.

The messy WordPress drama, explained

The messy WordPress drama, explained

Matt Mullenweg at WordCamp 2024 in Europe. | Screenshot: WordCamp

WordPress is essentially internet infrastructure. It’s widely used, generally stable, and doesn’t tend to generate many splashy headlines as a result.

But over the last week, the WordPress community has swept up into a battle over the ethos of the platform. Last week, WordPress cofounder Matt Mullenweg came out with a harsh attack on WP Engine, a major WordPress hosting provider, calling the company a “cancer” to the community. The statement has cracked open a public debate surrounding how profit-driven companies can and can’t use open-source software — and if they’re obligated to contribute something to the projects they use in return.

The conflict has escalated in the days since with a barrage of legal threats and has left swaths of website operators caught in the crossfire of a conflict beyond their control. WP Engine customers were cut off from accessing WordPress.org’s servers, preventing them from easily updating or installing plugins and themes. And while they’ve been granted a temporary reprieve, WP Engine is now facing a deadline to resolve the conflict or again have their customers’ access fall apart once again.

WP Engine is a third-party hosting company that uses the free, open-source WordPress software to create and sell its own prepackaged WordPress hosting service. Founded in 2010, WP Engine has grown to become a rival to WordPress.com, with more than 200,000 websites using the service to power their online presence.

“Silver Lake doesn’t give a dang about your open source ideals, it just wants return on capital.”

Mullenweg leads two different WordPresses. There’s WordPress.org, the open source project that develops the backbone of the WordPress publishing platform, and then there’s WordPress.com, a company that sells a hosted version of the open-source WordPress software — just like WP Engine. Mullenweg runs Automattic, which owns WordPress.com. Data suggests that around 43 percent of all websites use WordPress, but it’s not clear how many are hosted by WordPress.com or another party.

Along with selling plans on WordPress.com, Automattic contributes a lot of development effort to the open source project, which itself relies on donations and community contributions to run. According to Mullenweg, the team contributes 3,988 hours per week. The company may not have to pay to use WordPress, but it certainly pays to develop and improve it.

WP Engine operates a bit differently. It says it focuses on investing in the community through sponsorships and encouraging the adoption of the platform. The hosting platform was acquired by the private equity firm Silver Lake in 2018, and Mullenweg views it as a business that profits off of open-source code without giving anything back.

That frustration came to a head last week when Mullenweg took the stage at WordCamp — a WP Engine-sponsored WordPress conference — and took direct aim at WP Engine. “The company is controlled by Silver Lake, a private equity firm with $102 million in assets under management,” Mullenweg said. “Silver Lake doesn’t give a dang about your open source ideals — it just wants return on capital. So, it’s at this point I ask everyone in the WordPress community to go vote with your wallet. Who are you going to give your money to: someone who is going to nourish the ecosystem or someone who is going to frack every bit of value out of it until it withers?”

Mullenweg followed up this statement with a September 21st blog post, where he lambasted WP Engine for contributing just 40 hours per week to the WordPress.org open source project. “WP Engine is setting a poor standard that others may look at and think is ok to replicate. We must set a higher standard to ensure WordPress is here for the next 100 years,” Mullenweg wrote in the blog. He ripped into WP Engine even more, saying it’s “strip-mining the WordPress ecosystem” and giving users a “crappier experience so they can make more money.”

Mullenweg isn’t just defending the ethos of open source — he’s also defending his competing WordPress provider

Mullenweg doesn’t appear to be wrong about WP Engine’s contributions. But WP Engine is ultimately abiding by the rules of WordPress’ open-source license: it’s generally free to use, and WP Engine doesn’t have to give back to the WordPress community just because it’s banking off the open-source code. Of course, it’d be nice if WP Engine did, but nothing requires that it do so.

Complicating this further: Mullenweg isn’t just defending the ethos of open source — he’s also defending his competing WordPress provider. In his blog post, he claims WP Engine is “profiting off of the confusion” caused by the company’s branding. Mullenweg alleges that WP Engine is promising to give customers WordPress but that the company is actually offering a distilled version of the service. He goes on to say WP Engine will need a commercial license for the “unauthorized” use of the WordPress trademark, which is controlled by the WordPress Foundation and later sent a cease and desist letter in an attempt to make the company pay up.

WP Engine isn’t staying silent. It sent a cease and desist letter that tells a very different story of what has been going on behind the scenes. In its letter, WP Engine claims Automattic demanded a “very large sum of money” days before Mullenweg’s keynote at the September 20th WordCamp convention — and if the company didn’t receive it, Mullenweg allegedly threatened to carry out a “scorched earth nuclear approach” toward WP Engine.

WP Engine alleges Mullenweg harassed the company through text messages and calls, with one screenshotted text saying: “If I’m going to make the case to the WP community about why we’re banning WPE I need to do it in my talk tomorrow.” The texts, which Mullenweg confirmed he sent in an interview with Twitch streamer ThePrimeagen, say he prepared several presentation slides for his WordCamp talk, with the working title “How Private Equity can Hollow out and Destroy Open Source Communities, a Story in 4 Parts.”

After WP Engine refused to pay WordPress, the company alleges Mullenweg followed through on his threats. “Mr. Mullenweg’s covert demand that WP Engine hand over tens of millions to his for-profit company Automattic, while publicly masquerading as an altruistic protector of the WordPress community, is disgraceful,” WP Engine’s letter states. “WP Engine will not accede to these unconscionable demands which not only harm WP Engine and its employees, but also threaten the entire WordPress community.”

WordPress.org has now made it clear that it’s going after WP Engine for not only failing to give back to the WordPress project but also for its alleged misuse of the WordPress trademark. Mullenweg now says Automattic has given WP Engine two ways to “pay their fair share”: either by paying a licensing fee or making contributions to the open source WordPress project. “This isn’t a money grab: it’s an expectation that any business making hundreds of millions of dollars off of an open source project ought to give back, and if they don’t, then they can’t use its trademarks,” Mullenweg said.

The WordPress Foundation — the charitable organization that backs the open source WordPress project — is led by Mullenweg and other lesser-known board members who aren’t displayed on its website. It seems the WordPress Foundation has made some tweaks to its trademark guidelines in recent days. As of September 19th, the policy said you are “free” to use the WP abbreviation in “any way you see fit.” But now WordPress has deleted that language, replacing it with a line that says not to use WP “in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is ‘WordPress Engine.’” The updated policy also explicitly states: “If you would like to use the WordPress trademark commercially, please contact Automattic, they have the exclusive license.”

WordPress.org banned WP Engine from accessing its servers free over their “legal claims and litigation” — a move that has made it more difficult for customers to use WP Engine. However, Mullenweg decided to temporarily remove the block just two days later. He’s given WP Engine until October 1st to create their own mirror or resolve the conflict. “Why should WordPress.org provide these services to WP Engine for free, given their attacks on us?” Mullenweg wrote. WP Engine says it only sent a cease and desist order to WordPress and has not yet filed a lawsuit.

When asked about the ban on WP Engine, Automattic spokesperson Megan Fox said in a statement to The Verge that “trademark violations have resulted in the company being blocked from some WordPress resources.” WP Engine pointed The Verge to its statements on X when reached for comment.

The fight has garnered a mix of reactions. On one side, people think WP Engine is in the wrong, with some saying the company should contribute more to the open source project and that its use of “WP” is misleading. On the other, some WordPress community members are calling on Mullenweg to step down and accuse of him abusing his power over WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Others believe the situation could result in a fork of WordPress and brought up concerns about whether WordPress will take action against other companies using the “WP” abbreviation or trademark.

But in a dispute that’s meant to clarify what is and isn’t WordPress, Mullenweg risks blurring the lines even more. WordPress.org and WordPress.com both have a point — but it looks an awful lot like they’re working together to make it.

Gemini is making Gmail’s smart replies smarter

Gemini is making Gmail’s smart replies smarter

Automated responses in Gmail can now provide more detail and context for some users on iOS and Android. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is rolling out a Gemini-powered update to Gmail for Android and iOS that will tailor smart replies more specifically to emails. First announced back in May, Google says its new contextual Smart Replies will “offer more detailed responses to fully capture the intent of your message” by taking the entire content of the email thread into consideration.

Users can hover over each of the suggested contextual smart replies to preview the text, and select the option that best matches their needs or writing style. Suggested replies can be edited or sent immediately. The idea is that this will both save time (especially if you’re often buried in your Gmail inbox) and improve the variety of automated responses available beyond a simple “Yes, I’m working on it” or “No worries, thanks for the heads up!” — even adding an initial greeting and a signoff message.

Image: Google

Provided users are content with the automated options, they may not have to do any typing at all when responding to an email.

The new contextual Smart Replies are now rolling out for Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium, and Google One AI Premium subscribers. The feature is currently only available in English and builds on the original Smart Replies added to Gmail in 2017.

This Eufy security camera can show nighttime as if it were daytime

This Eufy security camera can show nighttime as if it were daytime

The EufyCam S3 Pro security camera has a built-in spotlight but can also display nighttime footage as if it were daytime without the spotlight. | Image: Eufy

The newest security camera from Eufy — Anker’s smart home company — can see clearly in the dark, uses radar motion sensing for fewer false alerts, and records 24/7 when wired. As with other Eufy cams, the new S3 Pro has free facial recognition, package, vehicle, and pet detection, plus locally stored recorded video with no monthly fees.

Unlike most other Eufy cameras, the S3 Pro will work with Apple Home and is compatible with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video service.

The EufyCam S3 Pro launches this week as a two-camera bundle with one HomeBase S380 for $549.99. The HomeBase 3 enables smart alerts and local storage (16GB onboard storage, expandable up to 16 TB). It also connects the S3 Pro to Apple Home, making it the first Eufy camera to work with Apple’s smart home platform since the EufyCam 2 series from 2019.

Image: Eufy

The S3 Pro comes in a two-camera bundle with the HomeBase S380 (HomeBase 3). The camera can also be purchased separately.

Eufy spokesperson Brett White confirmed to The Verge that the S3 Pro will be compatible with HomeKit Secure Video. Apple’s end-to-end encrypted video storage service. “The plan is for all future devices to have Apple Home compatibility, and we’re looking into grandfathering older devices, too,” said White.

The S3 Pro has a new color night vision feature called MaxColor Vision that promises “daylike footage even in pitch-dark conditions, without the need for a spotlight.” I saw a demo of this technology at the IFA tech show in Berlin this month, and it was impressive.

A camera was positioned inside a completely dark room, sending video to a monitor outside, on which I could see everything in the room as if it were daytime. Eufy says a 1/1.8-inch CMOS sensor, F1.0 aperture, and an AI-powered image signal processor power the tech.

Image: Eufy

Eufy’s MaxColor Vision technology can show a dark landscape (far left) as if it were in daylight on the right in three MaxColor Vision modes.

While the color night vision doesn't use a spotlight, the S3 Pro does include a motion-activated spotlight that Eufy says can adapt based on real-time lighting to give you the best image. The light can also be manually adjusted using the app while viewing a live stream.

New dual motion detection uses radar sensing technology combined with passive infrared (PIR) technology. This should identify people more accurately and not send alerts that there’s a person in the yard when it’s a tree blowing in the wind. Eufy says it reduces false alerts by up to 99 percent.

The S3 Pro is battery-powered with a 13,000 mAh battery that provides up to a quoted 365 days of power. A built-in solar panel can power the camera power for longer. In my testing of the EufyCam S3, which also has a built-in solar panel, I’ve not had to recharge it in over a year.

The S3 Pro's solar panel is 50 percent larger than the S3's, and Eufy claims it can keep the camera fully charged with just an hour of sunlight a day. Eufy also includes an external solar panel with the camera, so you can install the camera under an eave and still get power.

Eufy says the S3 Pro records up to 4K resolution and is powered by a USB-C cable. When wired, it can record 24/7 — the first consumer-level battery-powered camera from Eufy with this capability.

Other specs include:

• Full-duplex two-way audio
• Dual-mic array that can record human voices up to 26 feet away
• A 100dB siren and motion-activated voice warnings
• A 24/7 snapshot feature that can take a photo every minute
• Activity and privacy zones
• Integration with Google Home and Amazon Alexa
• IP67 weatherproofing
• 8x digital zoom

Following some serious security and privacy incidents in 2022, Eufy has published a new list of privacy commitments on its website. The company also worked with cybersecurity expert Ralph Echemendia following the issues, and last year, he completed an assessment that, the company claims, shows it has “met all proactive and reactive security benchmarks.”

Google Maps is cracking down on fake reviews

Google Maps is cracking down on fake reviews

If a place is caught using fake reviews, Google will temporarily limit its reviews entirely. | Image: The Verge

Google Maps is reeling in business pages engaging in fake reviews, and highlighting such activity to its users. Google will now impose restrictions against business profiles that violate the search giant’s Fake Engagement policy, such as temporarily removing reviews, blocking new reviews or ratings, and displaying a warning message on profiles that have had fake reviews deleted.

The business profile restrictions were introduced in the UK earlier this year, but Search Engine Roundtable notes that the support page was updated in mid-September to seemingly apply globally. For the moment, however, only users in the UK are seeing the business warnings, such as the example posted to X by Mike Blumenthal.

Image: Google / Mike Blumenthal

This is the warning message that will appear on business pages caught using fake reviews.

Google’s prohibited and restricted content policy says that contributions to Maps “should reflect a genuine experience at a place or business.” Business pages are not permitted to display content that doesn’t “accurately represent the location or product in question,” or has been incentivized by giving reviewers payment, discounts, or freebies. Google Maps will also look for reviews that attempt to manipulate ratings by posting from multiple accounts, or utilize emulators, modified operating systems, or other methods that “mimic genuine engagement.”

It’s unclear how Google will accurately determine which reviews violate these rules, but the threat of being publicly shamed may be enough to deter some businesses from trying to artificially inflate their ratings. The warning message can also help users avoid visiting places Google deems untrustworthy, instead of suspicious reviews simply vanishing without explanation.

SteelSeries is launching $160 gaming earbuds for your Xbox, PlayStation, or PC

SteelSeries is launching $160 gaming earbuds for your Xbox, PlayStation, or PC

Image: SteelSeries

SteelSeries has created new earbuds that are designed to pair with Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch consoles, or even PCs and mobile phones. The $159.99 Arctis GameBuds include active noise cancellation (ANC), Qi wireless charging, and the ability to instantly swap between mobile Bluetooth usage and console or PC gaming.

I’ve been trying them out for the past few days, and so far, I’m impressed, but I’ll need more time for a full review.

The Arctis GameBuds look very similar to most earbuds on the market, complete with a variety of silicone tips to fit different ear shapes. SteelSeries is using a four-microphone ANC system to block out sounds while you’re gaming, and there’s a transparency mode if you want to hear the environment around you.

Image: SteelSeries

The Arctis GameBuds fit into a wireless charging case.

The GameBuds connect to an Xbox or PlayStation through a tiny USB-C dongle that provides 2.4GHz wireless connectivity. You can triple-tap a button on the earbuds to swap between Bluetooth 5.3 for mobile devices and the 2.4GHz wireless signal for consoles and PCs. It’s surprisingly quick at swapping the audio over, but it doesn’t support simultaneous audio over Bluetooth and 2.4GHz like Sony’s Pulse Explore earbuds do.

I’ve been immediately impressed with the EQ settings in the mobile companion app. It includes more than 100 audio presets for popular games like Call of Duty, Destiny 2, EA Sports FC 24, Fortnite, and Valorant. These largely mirror the same EQ presets that can be found in SteelSeries’ GG desktop PC app with Sonar, and the results are impressive in games like Valorant, where you need to hear every footstep possible.

You can also toggle ANC and transparency modes in the mobile app or adjust the level of how much noise is being canceled out or allowed in. Both the mobile and desktop SteelSeries apps will allow you to control these settings and show the battery life levels for each earbud and the charging case.

Image: SteelSeries

The GameBuds come with a useful mobile app.

The ANC does a good job of filtering out sounds around you if you’re playing music or a loud game, but you’ll still hear some ambient sounds if you have the volume low or your game doesn’t have a ton of audio.

SteelSeries promises that the charging case delivers 40 hours of battery life, with 10 hours for each use and three extra charges thanks to the case. I’ve found that the battery drains at around 10 percent an hour using the 2.4GHz connection, so the battery life looks like it will be solid. The case also offers wireless Qi charging (not Qi2) and a USB-C connection at the rear that will provide around three hours of play with 15 minutes of fast charging.

While the GameBuds work across consoles and PC, there are separate models for both Xbox and PlayStation. If you purchase the PlayStation model, it will only work on Sony’s consoles, PC, and mobile, but the Xbox version works across all platforms. The Xbox variant includes an additional chip to adhere to Microsoft’s security policies and a slider button to switch to Xbox compatibility. The white model is exclusive to PlayStation, and there is a black variant for both Xbox and PlayStation.

Image: SteelSeries

There is a black version of the GameBuds for Xbox players.

SteelSeries is entering an increasingly crowded earbud market for gaming, going up against Sony, Razer, and Logitech. The $159 price of the Arctis GameBuds is less than the $199 Sony asks for the PlayStation Pulse Explore, and the GameBuds even include the ANC support that Sony surprisingly omitted. Sony offers ANC on its $199 InZone Buds with impressive 12-hour battery life, but those still lack the wireless charging case that SteelSeries provides.

While the $149 Razer Hammerhead HyperSpeed buds include ANC, they only deliver three hours per charge. Logitech’s $179 G Fits have better battery life at seven hours but lack ANC. SteelSeries has clearly found a gap in the market where it can offer low-latency earbuds with Bluetooth connectivity, a mobile app, ANC, and a wireless charging case, all for $159.

The Arctis GameBuds are available to preorder today in black and white versions, priced at $159.99 (€169.99). The GameBuds will be released worldwide on October 29th.

The best Nintendo Switch controllers to buy right now

The best Nintendo Switch controllers to buy right now

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

From the unbeatable Switch Pro and comfy Joy-Con alternatives to a dongle that lets you use your Xbox or PlayStation controllers with your Switch, these are the best Switch controllers you can get.

The best Nintendo Switch controllers aren’t the ones that come with it. While the removable Joy-Cons included with all non-Lite Switch consoles are convenient given they can be detached for wireless use, their tiny contourless design isn’t that comfortable for long gaming sessions or large hands. And while Nintendo has taken steps to address the dreaded Joy-Con drift and earlier quality control problems, some issues persist.

In this buying guide, we focus on wireless controllers that are both comfortable and reliable, as well as a few options that come with unique features designed to match your play style. We’re not covering wired controllers that plug into the Switch’s dock, as they’re almost all the same and don’t offer substantial savings in many cases. (PowerA and PDP make decent ones that will do in a pinch, but they’re very basic. Unless you detest recharging your controllers, it makes more sense to go wireless.)

Also, if you buy a third-party wireless controller (as in, one not made by Nintendo), there are certain things that it likely won’t be able to do unless otherwise noted:

• It won’t have HD rumble. This is what Nintendo calls its advanced haptic feedback, which is more precise than that of many third-party controllers and more akin to Sony’s haptics engine in its subtlety. That said, some more limited rumble may be present.
• Many third-party Switch controllers don’t have motion controls for gestures or gyroscopic aiming in games that support it, though more options are starting to implement the latter feature with varying degrees of quality.
• Most non-Nintendo options lack an NFC reader for Amiibo cards or figurines, which unlock special features in some games.
• Most third-party options won’t be able to turn on the Switch remotely. (You’ll have to manually press the console’s power button.)
• While some Switch controllers have 3.5mm headphone jacks, getting audio out of them can only happen through a wired USB connection, not wirelessly. For most people, pairing Bluetooth headphones to your Switch is a sufficient (and very easy) workaround.

If you’re playing your Switch while docked, it’s hard to go wrong with the official Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. It’s the only traditional gamepad that checks all the boxes above — minus the 3.5mm audio jack — and it’s one of the most satisfying controllers we’ve tested. The GuliKit KingKong 2 Pro, meanwhile, makes for a great Xbox-style controller with exhaustive customization, while the Hori Split Pad Pro is great for those who prefer to play in handheld mode. Then there’s 8BitDo’s PC-friendly Ultimate Bluetooth Controller and DualShock-esque Pro 2 controller, both of which are well worth a look.

The best Nintendo Switch controller for TV mode

Supported platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, Steam Deck, mobile, Apple TV / Connectivity: Bluetooth, wired / Connector type: USB-C / Mappable rear buttons: No / Software customization: No / Rumble: Yes, HD / NFC: Yes / Motion: Yes / Power: Built-in rechargeable / Console Wakeup: Yes

More than seven years down the road, Nintendo’s first-party Pro controller is still the best gamepad for the Switch. It launched alongside the console in 2017 as a more traditional alternative to Nintendo’s quirky Joy-Cons, and in many ways, it rivals the standard models from Sony and Microsoft in terms of comfort and build quality.

Aside from the Joy-Cons, the Switch Pro Controller is the only wireless option that includes HD rumble, gyroscopic movement support, and an NFC reader for Amiibo cards and figurines. It’s also the only controller we’ve tested (again, aside from the Joy-Cons) that can power on the Switch without being plugged into it. The gamepad is built like a tank, and its battery life is so good that it sometimes seems like it’ll never run out. Nintendo says that it lasts around 40 hours per charge, so it’ll likely take casual gamers a long time to run down the battery.

The buttons and triggers have a satisfying bounce, while its directional pad is responsive and clicky enough to satisfy retro gamers. The controller charges via USB-C, just like the Switch, and it’s compatible with a slew of other platforms you might game on, including PC, Android, and SteamOS. It also works with Apple devices thanks to its compatibility with the latest versions of iOS, macOS, and even tvOS and visionOS.

Given the price, we wish that it had other features, like programmable buttons or a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio, even if wireless audio transmission from the Switch to a controller isn’t currently possible. (At least you can connect a pair of wireless headphones via Bluetooth, but only if you have no more than two controllers connected to your Switch at once.)

The best Switch controller for handheld mode

Supported Platforms: Switch / Connectivity: Wired / Connector type: Joy-Con slots / Mappable rear buttons: Yes / Software customization: No / Rumble: No / NFC: No / Motion: No / Power: via Joy-Con slots / Console Wakeup: No

I’m sure there are some people who enjoy using Joy-Con controllers, but kids and small-handed folks aside, most people probably wouldn’t say they’re the most comfortable option. That’s where the Hori Split Pad Pro comes in.

The Split Pad Pro comes in a variety of colorways, and it both looks and feels like a Switch Pro Controller that’s split in half. One-half slides into each side of the Switch console like Joy-Cons, but unlike Nintendo’s default controllers, Hori’s gamepad features big, easy-to-reach buttons and generously sized triggers and analog sticks, all of which feel great in play. It also provides a lot of grip, which is particularly useful for people who need to get a better handle on the console for fast gameplay or stay comfy over longer play sessions.

The Split Pad Pro doesn’t have batteries or sensors — not to mention support for rumble, motion, IR, or NFC — so it’s completely useless when detached from the Switch. It’s only for handheld mode unless you purchase the Split Pad Pro Attachment that turns it into a wired controller. We don’t recommend most people go that route since the attachment alone costs more than a Switch Pro Controller, which is a shame considering it doesn’t try to add any of the aforementioned elements (it does add a 3.5mm headphone jack, however).

The company also sells the Split Pad Compact, which is a smaller version of the Split Pad Pro that typically costs around $50. It might be worth a look if you want something as functional as the Split Pad Pro but closer in size to a Joy-Con — especially since it’s currently on sale at Target for $32.49 (about $18 off).

The best Xbox-style controller for the Switch

Supported Platforms: Switch, PC, Steam Deck, mobile, Apple TV / Connectivity: Bluetooth, wired / Connector type: USB-C / Mappable rear buttons: No / Software customization: No / Rumble: Yes / NFC: Yes / Motion: Yes / Power: Built-in rechargeable / Console Wakeup: Yes

The GuliKit KingKong 2 Pro rivals the Switch Pro Controller in build quality, but it feels more like a modern Xbox controller, and its textured rear grips might give it the edge for some. Unlike most third-party controllers, it retains Amiibo support, though some users have reported issues with inauthentic Amiibo products. The KingKong 2 Pro can connect via Bluetooth to the Switch and to PC, macOS, iOS, Android, and other platforms. And because it uses GuliKit’s Hall effect sensors for its analog sticks, it’s immune to drift.

We recommend checking out this video at iFixit to see a thorough explanation of how it works, but in essence, Hall effect sensors use magnets to alter electrical current instead of physically rubbing on (and eventually wearing down) a sensor to produce an input. While we haven’t heard widespread reports of chronic analog stick drift issues on the Switch Pro Controller thus far, controllers with Hall effect sensors will never encounter it, and the peace of mind is worth the added cost. (The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller below also uses GuliKit’s sensors.)

Control-wise, almost everything about the KingKong 2 Pro feels just right. The face buttons, bumpers, and D-pad all strike a balance between travel, tactile feedback, and feel. The analog sticks are incredibly fluid yet easily snap back into their default positions. Clicking the sticks doesn’t require much force, either, even when they’re off-axis. And while we can’t fully credit GuliKit for the excellent ergonomics afforded by the Xbox-inspired shape, we can award points for the sturdy materials used and nailing a well-balanced weight.

The controller provides exhaustive customizability options, too. You can swap button layouts, program macros, and cycle through preset levels of rumble intensity and trigger sensitivity (which may not apply when using it with the Switch, as it doesn’t support analog triggers). However, managing these settings is less than ideal, as you can only change them by inputting button combinations. Sure, the combos are simple, but memorizing them all is challenging. Thankfully, GuliKit clearly spells everything out in the comprehensive manual you’ll receive with the gamepad.

It’s worth noting that GuliKit now sells a KingKong 3 Pro and KingKong 3 Max. The 3 Pro builds upon the premium controller by adding four slots for detachable rearward buttons or paddles (two come in the box) and a 1,000Hz polling rate for improved responsiveness. The 3 Max is similar but includes three pairs of back buttons (including short and long styles) and a 10-minute macro recording limit (versus 10 seconds on the 3 Pro). There’s also a dedicated trigger mode switch, RGB lights around the analog sticks that signal which sensitivity mode you’re in, and NFC for Amiibo support.

We haven’t tested either of the new GuliKit models (yet), but we intend to pull them in for consideration soon, so stay tuned.

A Switch controller for PC and Steam Deck

Supported Platforms: Switch, PC, Steam Deck, mobile, Apple TV / Connectivity: 2.4GHz, Bluetooth, wired / Connector type: USB-C / Mappable rear buttons: Yes / Software customization: Yes / Rumble: Yes / NFC: No / Motion: Yes / Power: Built-in rechargeable / Console Wakeup: No

8BitDo’s Ultimate Bluetooth Controller feels like a Switch Pro Controller in shape, with a similarly short grip profile that larger hands may not prefer. Both share Switch and Windows PC support, but 8BitDo gets a leg up with full Steam Deck compatibility. Its haptics are decent but not as good as Nintendo’s, and it’s missing Amiibo support, though it does feature customizable back paddles and motion controls — along with a hidden trick that allows you to wake a docked Switch by giving the controller a little shake. It also comes with a charging dock, which stores the 2.4GHz dongle when not in use. The included dock is handy for charging the 22-hour battery, which is still pretty generous but comes well short of the 40-hour mark set by Nintendo’s official controller.

The Ultimate controller comes in several variants, but we recommend the Bluetooth model over the 2.4GHz or wired options because it includes 2.4GHz connectivity and GuliKit Hall effect sticks, which the 2.4GHz-only version lacks. The analog sticks offer just the right amount of resistance and sport a comfortable concave top, but they’re just a tad short on the sides. All of the buttons offer great travel, though, and the analog triggers have a satisfying amount of resistance when pulled.

As for tweaks, you can customize button mapping profiles, macros, vibration intensity, and stick and trigger sensitivity using the Ultimate Software app on mobile or PC. The controller has a dedicated button that lets you swap between three profiles on the fly, plus an extra turbo button you can either reconfigure or remap. When it comes to Switch controllers, 8BitDo sets the standard for the breadth of these options and how to access them, which is another reason it’s high on our list.

A well-rounded Switch controller that looks like a DualShock

Supported Platforms: Switch, PC, Steam Deck, mobile, Apple TV, Raspberry Pi / Connectivity: Bluetooth, wired / Connector type: USB-C / Mappable rear buttons: Yes / Software customization: Yes / Rumble: Yes / NFC: No / Motion: Yes / Power: Built-in rechargeable / Console Wakeup: No

The 8BitDo Pro 2 is another great option with Hall effect sticks for the Nintendo Switch, especially if your hands are happiest with a PlayStation-style controller. The Pro 2 has a comfortable grip, a crisper D-pad than the Switch Pro Controller, and two easy-to-press paddle buttons on the underside. It has rumble support (though not HD rumble) and motion control for games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Overwatch 2, both of which allow for gyroscopic aiming. PlayStation gamers will also appreciate that the left analog stick is located toward the bottom — just like on Sony’s controllers — rather than above the D-pad as on the Switch Pro.

With 8BitDo’s Ultimate software on a mobile device or a Windows computer, you can customize the Pro 2’s button mapping and the sensitivity of its triggers and analog sticks. You can even save up to three control scheme profiles and cycle through them with a button located between the analog sticks. On its rear, there’s a switch that lets it toggle between Nintendo Switch, X-input for PC, DirectInput, and macOS modes, each with its own control customizations and Bluetooth profile. This controller offers a lot for $50 (or $54.99 if you want one of the incredibly cool translucent blue, purple, or green editions).

An adapter that lets you use your own controllers

There are many other devices that allow you to use third-party controllers, but 8BitDo’s might be the best value. Instead of spending $70 on multiple Switch Pro Controllers, the $19.99 8BitDo Wireless Bluetooth USB Adapter 2 lets you turn a Bluetooth controller you already own into a wireless Switch controller. It plugs into your Switch dock and supports a wide variety of models, from the latest Xbox and DualSense controllers to last-gen gamepads for the Wii and PlayStation 3. (Note: the first-gen model can’t connect to most Xbox Bluetooth controllers due to a Bluetooth incompatibility, so make sure you get the latest model.)

To our surprise, the PS5 DualSense controller we tested it with worked incredibly well, with better-than-average rumble and more responsive motion controls than many dedicated Switch controllers offer. What’s more, so long as you’re using one of the newer Xbox Series X or S controllers, an Xbox One Bluetooth controller, a DualSense, a DualShock 4, or the Switch Pro Controller, you can customize their button mapping, analog stick sensitivity, and more within 8BitDo’s computer and mobile app.

8BitDo has an extensive support page that lists the steps required to set up your specific controller, as well as which features of those controllers it supports. That said, it’s best if you know the Switch’s button layout by heart if you plan to use either a PlayStation or Xbox controller with this adapter, as the layout on your controller will not match the on-screen prompts in games.

If you already have a controller you really like and don’t mind jumping through a few small hoops to connect it, 8BitDo’s affordable adapter deserves a spot in your entertainment center. If you plan to use more than one third-party controller at a time, you’ll need an adapter for each controller (and a USB hub), but if you have a lot of controllers sitting around, it might be worth it.

Other Switch controllers you should know about

Nitro Deck / Nitro Deck Plus

We like CRKD’s Nitro Deck around here. It’s a cradle-style controller that holds the Switch between a pair of Hall effect sticks, outfitting it with a standard array of face buttons, four programmable back buttons, turbo functionality, gyro motion controls, and rumble. It has passthrough charging, though, not passthrough video, which would allow it to double as a dock for TV gameplay. The step-up Nitro Deck Plus adds said functionality (with a USB-C to HDMI adapter), along with Bluetooth connectivity and adjustable vibration intensity / analog sensitivity. We’ve found these to be notable improvements, but wish the passthrough solution was more elegant and that CRKD could solve the ergonomics (particularly on the right side, where the analog and button placement can cause discomfort).

GameSir T4 Cyclone Pro

We recently tested the GameSir T4 Cyclone Pro ($49.99) for consideration. It offers many of the same functions as the GuliKit KingKong 2 Pro — including remappable buttons, Hall effect sticks, and two distinct macro buttons — along with dedicated vibration motors in the triggers, which is something the GuliKit can’t claim. That said, it falls just short due to mushy-feeling buttons. GameSir considers the extra padding under the buttons a feature that makes the impact softer, but we felt it takes away from the experience. Also, although it’s perfectly usable with the Switch, the Pro’s button labeling takes after Microsoft’s, which may not be ideal for those who have trouble memorizing inputs. We also found resyncing with the Switch to be a chore after switching from a mobile device or a Windows PC.

GameCube Style Wireless Controller

We also recently tried several wireless PowerA controllers, including the GameCube Style Wireless Controller ($59.99) and a Pikachu-themed version of the standard PowerA Enhanced Wireless ($59.99). We like the fun design of PowerA’s controllers, but they don’t live up to the quality of the models we recommend above, which is a shame considering some cost nearly as much. The GameCube-style wireless controller is a pretty faithful recreation of the original if you fancy a pure Super Smash Bros. experience, but it’s barebones with no rumble, NFC, or IR. It’s an easy way to get the old-school feeling back if you don’t already have a Bluetooth-based alternative to use with 8BitDo’s USB Adapter 2.

Update, September 25th: Updated to reflect current pricing and availability.

Intel is releasing another microcode update to protect crashing Raptor Lake CPUs

Intel is releasing another microcode update to protect crashing Raptor Lake CPUs

Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

Get ready for another wave of urgent motherboard updates for your desktop PC. Intel has just announced a new microcode update for its 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake processors — the ones that could possibly get permanently damaged and begin to crash your PC.

While there’s still no fix for chips that are already crashing, the company is now releasing microcode update 0x12B to motherboard manufacturers to help prevent one of the root causes of damage. In this case, it prevents the Intel CPU from asking for too much power when it’s just sitting idle or performing light tasks. (Too much voltage can prematurely age a chip.)

Intel says it may take several weeks for motherboard manufacturers to validate and roll out BIOS updates across their products — but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should wait. Previous BIOS updates contain two earlier Intel microcode fixes to help prevent damage, as well as new power settings that could also reduce the risk.

But if your chip is already crashing, I wouldn’t bother with a BIOS — send it straight back to Intel or your PC system provider, who should cover it under Intel’s special extended warranty. Let us know if they refuse to help.

Intel still hasn’t answered our questions about how many Raptor Lake chips have likely been affected by these and other possible instability issues, or identified batches of chips that were affected by an earlier oxidization issue, but we’re asking again now.

In late August, the company categorically asserted that its laptop chips are not affected by the voltage issue or other known causes of Raptor Lake desktop chip instability. There were some scattered reports that Raptor Lake laptop chips were displaying similar behavior.

Palworld’s PS5 port is on hold indefinitely in Japan

Palworld’s PS5 port is on hold indefinitely in Japan

Palworld | Screenshot: PlayStation (YouTube)

Sony included the PS5 launch of Palworld as one of its news items during Tuesday evening’s State of Play presentation, but it left out a detail. While the game has launched on PlayStation platforms in 68 countries and regions worldwide, Japan is not one of them.

The official Japanese account for the game said on X, according to machine translation, that the release date in Japan “has not yet been decided,” without going into detail about the reason. It certainly seems like a reason could be the patent infringement lawsuit Nintendo and The Pokémon Company filed against Palworld developer Pocketpair last week, but the tweet didn’t confirm things either way.

The most recent statement about the issue from Pocketpair is still this one from the 19th, which says, in part:

We have received notice of this lawsuit and will begin the appropriate legal proceedings and investigations into the claims of patent infringement.

At this moment, we are unaware of the specific patents we are accused of infringing upon, and we have not been notified of such details.

＜PS5版『Palworld / パルワールド』について＞
PlayStation公式『State of Play』にて発表があった通り、PS5版『Palworld / パルワールド』が本日、全世界68の国と地域で発売されました。… https://t.co/BNzS18XBYK

— パルワールド/Palworld 公式 (@Palworld_JP) September 24, 2024

Ghost of Yotei is the next entry in Sucker Punch’s Ghosts series

Ghost of Yotei is the next entry in Sucker Punch’s Ghosts series

Image: Sucker Punch

To close out Sony’s State of Play presentation, Sucker Punch debuted a first look at the next game in its award-winning Ghosts series. Dubbed Ghost of Yotei, players will inhabit a new female protagonist named Atsu, who wields a shamisen in addition to a samurai’s traditional sword. According to the trailer description, Atsu will travel the wilds around Mount Yotei accompanied by a mysterious wolf companion.

Sucker Punch Studios, the developers behind the Sly Cooper and Infamous series, released Ghosts of Tsushima back in 2020. The game was praised for its quiet, contemplative moments as much as it’s Akira Kurosawa-style samurai action. Earlier this year, Sucker Punch released a PC port of Tsushima and confirmed that a movie based on the game is in the works, with John Wick director Chad Stahelski tapped to lead the project.

In the blog post announcing the game, Sony stated that Ghost of Yotei was Sucker Punch’s first game built specifically around the PS5. According to the developers, Ghost of Yotei will offer the same kind of beautiful observation moments as its predecessor while adding new features as well.

Image: Sony

Ghost of Yotei

“We have massive sightlines that let you look far across the environment, whole new skies featuring twinkling stars and auroras, even more believable movement from wind on grass and vegetation,” said Andrew Goldfarb, communications manager at Sucker Punch. “Our new setting also gives us the opportunity to introduce new mechanics, gameplay improvements, and even new weapons.”

Sony didn’t share release date details, only pegging the game to a 2025 release window.

Logitech has created a Stream Deck for Photoshop and Premiere Pro

Logitech has created a Stream Deck for Photoshop and Premiere Pro

Image: Logitech

After acquiring Steam Deck rival Loupedeck last year, Logitech is launching a $199.99 MX Creative Console that’s designed to control Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro. The control panel includes a Stream Deck-like keypad and a dialpad that has an analog dial and plenty of buttons to speed up creative tasks.

Logitech has created custom plugins for Adobe apps like Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, and Illustrator for its MX Creative Console. In Premiere Pro you can use the dial to scrub through a timeline, and there are four buttons around the dial to activate functions like undo.

There’s also a roller for navigation, allowing you to easily adjust the level of zoom on a Premiere Pro timeline for more precise edits. In Photoshop you can twist the main dial to adjust brush sizes, or zoom in and out using the roller.

Image: Logitech

The keypad and dial combo can be placed right next to your keyboard.

The main keypad works much like a Stream Deck, with nine customizable LCD keys that can be used to launch apps or control different features inside apps like Photoshop or Premiere Pro. There are also two page buttons at the bottom so you can create 15 pages of keys for each app.

All of the controls are fully customizable through Logitech’s app, with presets you can drag and drop onto the buttons for each app. It helps automate repetitive tasks into a single button press that usually require a few clicks or memorizing numerous keyboard shortcuts.

Image: Logitech

You can customize each button and key inside Logitech’s Creative Console app.

While this type of hardware combination will certainly speed up creative tasks in apps, if you already have the muscle memory of knowing a variety of keyboard shortcuts then the Creative Console might be slightly less useful. The dialpad alone could make this $199.99 device worth it for some though, thanks to the dial and roller precision tools that are unlike controlling apps using a mouse or keyboard.

Logitech is launching the MX Creative Console in pale grey and graphite models, and it’s even bundling three months of Adobe’s Creative Cloud membership. The main keypad connects to a PC or Mac through USB-C, and the dialpad connects via Bluetooth or Logitech’s Bolt dongle (sold separately).

The MX Creative Console enters a crowded market, going up against editing consoles like the TourBox Elite, Loupedeck Creative Tool, DaVinci Resolve editing keyboards, and even Elgato’s Stream Deck. Logitech will start shipping the MX Creative Console for $199.99 on October 14th, with preorders beginning today.

An official OpenAI X account was taken over to peddle a crypto scam

An official OpenAI X account was taken over to peddle a crypto scam

Image: The Verge

An official OpenAI account on X was taken over to peddle a cryptocurrency scam on Monday evening.

On Monday at 6:24PM ET, the @OpenAINewsroom account, which shares news from OpenAI and has nearly 54,000 followers, made a now-deleted post advertising an “$OPENAI” token.

“We’re very happy to announce $OPEANAI: the token bridging the gap between Al and blockchain technology,” the post said. “All OpenAI users are eligible to claim a piece of $OPENAI’s initial supply. Holding $OPENAI will grant access to all of our future beta programs.” The post also included a link to a spoofed version of OpenAI’s website at a URL that wasn’t openai.com.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

Two posts from the hijacked OpenAI Newsroom account.

When I visited the site, there was a section for claiming the $OPENAI cryptocurrency. When I clicked the button, it asked me to connect a wallet, which I didn’t do.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

If you find yourself on this website, do not connect your crypto wallet.

OpenAI and X didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. As of this writing, the OpenAI Newsroom account hasn’t posted anything to explain what might have happened. The account launched at the beginning of this month.

The most controversial Olympics moment came down to four seconds

The most controversial Olympics moment came down to four seconds

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

A late inquiry kept US gymnast Jordan Chiles off the podium. But who is to blame? The judges, the technology, or the way we measure time itself?

At the Olympics, seconds matter. Anyone who’s watched the Games — or, really, any athletic competition — knows the difference even a fraction of a second can make. It’s the difference between a basketball going up just before the buzzer sounds instead of the moment after and the difference between a championship and an elimination.

This persnickety counting is only supposed to matter on the field of play itself — the court, the pitch, and, in the case of gymnastics, the mat. But at the women’s floor final in Paris, four seconds off the podium have become more important than any flips and twists done during the competition. These four seconds have spiraled into a monthslong saga that implicated the officials managing the sport and immiserated the athletes who’ve been caught up in this mess.

It began in the seconds after the women’s floor exercise final. US gymnast Jordan Chiles completed her routine and sat down to await her score. She was the last one to compete, and her mark would determine the final rankings of the artistic gymnastics event in Paris. Chiles had helped the US team take gold but kept missing out on opportunities to win solo medals. This floor final was her one and only shot on any individual hardware.

When her score of 13.666 was posted, Chiles smiled, but not her typical exuberant one. She had placed fifth, less than a tenth away from a medal.

Nearby, Ana Barbosu of Romania was smiling and laughing as the reality of the bronze started to sink in. This medal marked Romania’s return to the Olympic medal podium for the first time since 2012. The once dominant program that had fallen off the cliff competitively for over a decade had finally clawed its way back to relevance.

But things weren’t as final as some of the gymnasts thought. Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, one of Chiles’ coaches, had momentarily disappeared to submit an inquiry into her difficulty score, and the Superior Jury, which handles such matters, had accepted it. Chiles’ 13.666 became a 13.766, which launched her from fifth to third and onto the podium.

When the new score was announced, Chiles sprinted down the sideline, passing Barbosu who was standing on the competition podium with a Romanian flag, and collapsed in tears. Barbosu looked around, momentarily confused, the crushing disappointment just starting to hit her. She had been bumped down to fourth and out of the medals.

The ecstasy of victory and the agony of defeat in a single frame — the sort of thing that the Olympics is known for. Inquiries, on the other hand, though ubiquitous in gymnastics, usually happen with far less fanfare, and viewers rarely take note of them. Scores go up by a tenth or two and sometimes go down. Usually, all of that gets left on the field of play.

But here, another competition — between the two countries’ teams and between the different organizations that mediate Olympic gymnastics — was just beginning.

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Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Within 24 hours of the medal ceremony, Romania had brought a complaint before the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) seeking to overturn the results. Initially, according to the evidence submitted by Chiles’s legal team, they tried to challenge the outcome of the inquiry on gymnastics grounds, saying that the jump that was subject to review was insufficiently rotated and shouldn’t have been credited. That didn’t work. Their second objection was about an erroneously applied out of bounds deduction that took Sabrina Voinea-Maneca out of the medals. Had her coach — who is also her mother — inquired into this deduction, Voinea-Maneca would’ve had the bronze.

The case that was presented in front of CAS said nothing about an underrotated leap. The focus shifted from performance to, simply, bureaucracy: they decided to question the timing of Chiles’ inquiry though Voinea-Maneca’s out of bounds deduction remained in the conversation, too.The Romanian Gymnastics Federation claimed Chiles’s challenge was submitted too late and should have never been considered in the first place.

This had the feel of a fishing expedition, of trying different tacks to find one that would give Romania the bronze medal they felt that they had earned, one way or the other; it didn’t even matter which of the two Romanian gymnasts went home with the bronze.And this gambit worked. CAS concluded that Chiles’ inquiry had been submitted too late. Her inquiry was timestamped four seconds beyond the one-minute time limit, according to Omega, the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games. This result was devastating for the American gymnast. Chiles’ score reverted to 13.666, and she was dropped back to fifth place. Barbosu was elevated to the bronze medal position.

But determining whether Chiles’ inquiry was really four seconds over time is a much fuzzier task than simply looking at a clock — and Chiles’ team argued that they had been wronged.

But what about the rules?

At last year’s world championships in Antwerp, Kathi-Sue Rupp, a Category 2 Brevet level men’s gymnastics judge who served as one of the inquiry officials, described the process for filing an inquiry. The screen of the tablet that she worked from had two sections: one that had a list of the gymnasts who had just finished their routines within the last minute and another that had gymnasts who had completed their routines within the last four minutes. It’s a bit more complicated in qualifications or all-around competitions since more than one gymnast is competing at the same time. But the athletes went up singly at the Paris floor final, making for a less dizzying process. The inquiry official who accepted Landi’s challenge wouldn’t have had a list of names to go through to find Chiles’. By the time her score was flashed, it was too late for anybody else to file one.

“If a gymnast or coach had an inquiry, they would come over to the inquiry desk [and] tell me that they wanted to put in an inquiry for whoever the gymnast was,” Rupp said. “I would look for their name on that list underneath a minute, pull up, open their file, ask them, ‘Okay, you didn’t agree with the D score. What D score do you think it should have been?’ I would then need to input the D score that they think it should have been and hit submit.”

Everything in the process takes time, from the coach approaching to her asking them for the name of the athlete and the skill they want to look into. “Me just saying that took more than four seconds,” Rupp pointed out.

There is no mechanism stopping an inquiry from being submitted even if it is processed after the allotted time, according to Alain Zobrist, chief executive of Omega. “We’re just providing the judges with the technology according to the rules of the Federation,” he told The Verge when explaining how the system works relative to this specific field of play. Basically, the way that Zobrist presents the case, Omega is a glorified log-creating service. (They do other timing functions in gymnastics, despite it being a “scoring sport,” because there are time limits on certain events, like floor exercise and balance beam. Also, when a gymnast falls from an apparatus, they have a limited time to remount and resume their routine, and Omega would time that as well.)

Chiles’ team tried to argue all of this — that they’d submitted the inquiry on time, that there had been an understandable delay — but CAS shot it down with a unanimous decision. On August 14th, they ruled that Barbosu would receive the bronze medal.

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The CAS decision, however, might not be the final word. On September 16th, Chiles’ legal team filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the only entity that can compel CAS to reopen the case, citing far more procedural mismanagement than anything detailed in the original decision: misdirected emails leading to extremely delayed notifications for US sport officials, which impacted their ability to prepare for the tribunal; missing file attachments; and a major source of conflict of interest on the three-person adjudication panel.

But they also presented compelling evidence that challenged the official narrative of the decision — that Landi had verbally inquired Chiles’ D-score before the 60-second time limit had been exhausted. They had audio and documentary footage from Religion of Sport, the production company that was trailing Chiles’ teammate, Simone Biles, throughout the Olympics in Paris for the upcoming episodes of the Netflix series, Simone Biles Rising. The combined audio and visuals capture Landi verbally inquiring more than once before one minute had elapsed from the moment that Chiles’ floor score was posted in the arena.

The four seconds that had seemed authoritative in the CAS decision seem much less so now. Or, at least, these seconds can be seen in a new light. They tell us when the inquiry intake officer inputted the challenge, not when it was proffered by the coach. A distinction with a very big difference as far as Chiles’ supporters are concerned. But what about the rules? The International Gymnastics Federation had this particular one on the books — 60 seconds to inquire for the final gymnast in a rotation — but what emerged from the hearing is that this was never strictly enforced, down to the second, because there was no mechanism to mark the precise time of the verbal inquiry.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

The audio of this process after Chiles’ initial score was posted was heard in the RoS footage that her lawyers provided. Landi can be repeatedly heard saying “Inquiry for Jordan” before the one-minute mark, presumably to be heard above the din in the arena.

No matter how quickly Rupp or anyone else works, there will always be a small lag between the verbalizing of the inquiry and inputting it into the system. It would be impossible to do them simultaneously.

A key argument in Chiles’ appeal revolves around this point — that all the timestamp tells us is when the inquiry was entered into Omega’s system. In the CAS proceedings, Donatella Sacchi, the president of the women’s technical committee, said that when the inquiry was inputted, she received a notification on her tablet alerting her to it so she and the rest of the Superior Jury could begin the review. She explained that there was no flag on the play, meaning no indication that the challenge was anything but timely, so she went ahead and reviewed the element in question.

The Omega system, according to Chiles’ appeal, also did not contain any mechanisms to account for the lag between when a verbal inquiry is made. CAS may have said that FIG does not offer any leeway in its own rulings, but on appeal, lawyers are noting that the same system that is supposedly unambiguous, in fact, offers its own possibility of doubt.

What was made clear in the testimony in front of the ad hoc tribunal was that there was actually no way for FIG to record the exact time that a verbal inquiry was submitted; the only thing the system, Omega or otherwise, can tell us is when it was manually inputted by an official.

“I felt pressure to get it in on time,” Rupp noted about the process of logging a verbal inquiry, especially given the strict time constraints coaches are under to submit. “My biggest fear was not being quick enough [to] open up the files and get the process going.”

Chiles’ overall appeal is based on two legal strategies. The first is about the athlete’s “right to be heard,” claiming CAS rejected an appeal out of hand and the process of hearing Romania’s complaint through an ad hoc tribunal on a rushed timeline denied her due process and rights of responses. The second claim — and the one that Chiles’s legal team emphasized the most in their filing — is that one of the three CAS appointed jurists had an obvious conflict of interest in determining the outcome having done prior work for the country of Romania.

Videos from NBC’s broadcast, a video team shooting the documentary on Simone Biles, and a broadcast from Olympic Broadcasting Services show Chiles’ coach verbally submitting the inquiry before the one-minute deadline as part of the evidence filing. Audio from these feeds clearly shows Cecile Canqueteau-Landi saying “inquiry” more than once between the 49 and 60 second marks.

The timestamped multiple feeds provide a new wrinkle in the supposed unambiguous log. It shows a new timeline that was not considered when determining the validity of the multiple claimants on the Paris 2024 women’s floor exercise bronze medal.

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If these appeals make one thing clear, it’s that things like inquiries are just as much on the field of play as a sky high double somersault. A sport where every element is subjectively evaluated needs correctives that account for human error.

Right now, to gymnastics leadership, this tension can only be resolved with more technology. To FIG president Morinari Watanabe, it’s not the technology that’s holding the sport back, but the human. “This is because we’re not able to break our own prejudices because of our traditions,” he said about the women’s floor exercise final. “We need change. We need challenges. And we need the courage to move forward.”

In the end, this story comes down to timing. But it also comes down to margins.

Chiles’ appeals could drag out well beyond this year, as it did in the case of the 2022 Olympics team figure skating medalists. It took over two years for that case to wend its way through CAS and for the medals to be reassigned. The skaters were awarded their upgraded medals at a special ceremony in Paris this summer.

Whether or not such proof — wherever it comes from — will sway the Swiss Federal Tribunal remains up in the air. But the evidence from the Olympics’ timekeeper was unambiguous, according to Zobrist. “No matter when the inquiry is done, the system would record a time,” he said. “The evidence is the log. So, the moment you push the button, that’s the logs that we get.”

Yet, Omega’s log is now no longer the only timed piece of evidence that will determine how FIG’s rules get interpreted. Chiles’ legal team has provided video evidence that shows a new timeline, reintroducing ambiguity to the events that followed the floor exercise final.

We already have the ability to parse and dissect the sport of gymnastics on a granular level. But sometimes when we offer supposed clarity on the field of play, we create new complexities that we could not foresee with little mechanisms to enforce them.

In the end, this story comes down to timing. But it also comes down to margins.

One swimmer out-touching another at the pool wall to claim a medal. A sprinter leaning forward to win the race in a photo finish. It’s easier to accept the athletes themselves, through their performance, generating those miniscule margins than it is to accept those created by paperwork that feels altogether divorced from the athleticism.

Technology has made it possible for us to measure time in infinitesimal increments and perceive minute differences in performance. But as the fiasco around the women’s floor final in Paris demonstrates, technology, on its own, without sound policies and consistent enforcement, is not a tool for better field management. All that does is make the human failure all the more legible.