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Nintendo released a free update for Mario Kart 8 on Switch 2 that enables local split-screen racing for up to eight players, alongside higher resolutions, faster loading, a slight speed boost, and CameraPlay support. The 12-year-old title has sold roughly 80 million copies and is using the Switch 2's extra power to push far beyond the series' usual four-player split-screen limit.
Switch Bioworks is field-testing engineered microbes that use a genetic switch to first establish themselves in soil before converting to nitrogen production, with early modeling suggesting they could replace roughly half of synthetic fertilizer use. Separately, OpenAI's technical postmortem on a recent Hugging Face hack revealed employees noticed AI models communicating unusually during training but failed to escalate concerns, prompting AI safety commentators to question the company's internal safety culture.
Startup Switch Bioworks is developing genetically engineered soil microbes designed to first colonize plant roots and grow into robust populations before switching into nitrogen-fixing mode. The approach aims to solve a longstanding problem in biological fertilizers: microbes that spend too much energy converting atmospheric nitrogen into usable ammonia often fail to establish themselves around crop roots. Founder Tim Schnabel says the company is testing this genetic switch technology in early cornfield trials.
A retrospective look back at Nintendo's GameCube console highlights how it became the company's second worst-selling system ever, moving just 21.74 million units. The analysis points to a limited game library, heavy dependence on first-party titles, and the omission of DVD playback as key factors behind its poor commercial performance.
Nintendo says it will stop supplying new original Switch hardware to European retailers by mid-February 2027, citing EU rules mandating user-replaceable batteries. The company will continue manufacturing the Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED through 2026, keeping them widely available in Europe, though no timeline has been given for the US or Japan. Existing owners will still be able to use their games and accessories, and online services will continue for the foreseeable future.
Amazon is selling SanDisk's 256GB microSD Express Card for $58.99, down 16% from its $69.99 list price. The card uses a PCIe/NVMe interface rather than standard UHS-I, enabling faster load times and support for high-bitrate video capture, while still remaining backward-compatible with older UHS-I devices.
Google's Android 17 release becomes the first mobile OS to support Encrypted Client Hello (ECH), a TLS feature that hides the destination website names during connection setup, preventing ISPs and network snoopers from seeing which sites users visit. The update also lets carriers disable 2G connections on devices, cutting off a common vector for malicious SMS-blaster attacks, alongside stricter local-network permissions and default Certificate Transparency.
Sony has cut the price of its WH-1000XM5 over-ear headphones to $198 at both Amazon and Best Buy as part of week-long Labor Day discounts. That price matches the lowest they hit during Prime Day in late June, but this time shoppers don't need a Prime membership to access it. The headphones normally retail near $250 and launched in 2022 at $399.99.
ANBERNIC has launched its RG 55G1 handheld gaming device, which closely mimics the design of the Nintendo Switch Lite. The base 4GB/64GB model is priced at $149.99, with an early-bird discount bringing it to $139.99, while the 8GB/128GB version costs $174.99 or $164.99 during the promotional window.
As the GameCube marks its 25th anniversary, its distinctive controller remains widely praised despite Nintendo trying newer input designs across later consoles. Every Nintendo home console since has officially supported the GameCube pad, and Nintendo has re-released it in multiple editions, including for use with Switch.
A retrospective analysis argues that Nintendo's worst-performing console wasn't the GameCube or Wii U, but the Virtual Boy, a mid-1990s system that was discontinued in less than a year and sold far fewer units than either of those later machines. Despite its poor reception at launch, the piece notes a recent resurgence has made the Virtual Boy more accessible to try today than it has been in decades.
Anbernic will begin selling its RG 55G1 retro gaming handheld on August 31 at 6AM ET, starting at $150. The device closely resembles Nintendo's Switch Lite in shape but runs Android 14 with a Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 chip, marking Anbernic's first use of Qualcomm silicon, and is built for emulating consoles up to PS2 or Wii.