Sony shouldn’t have killed the Vita

I loved the Vita. I have vivid memories of playing Persona 4 Golden for hours in the dark on my dad’s couch in Chicago flying around the world of Gravity Rush from an airplane seat and playing Murasaki Baby before bed. The Vita felt good and it made me happy. And then, Sony killed it.

For the past seven years, I’ve been wondering why the Vita had to die. So today, we’re finally going to grieve and analyze together: What happened to the Vita, and what if it were still around today?

It’s been difficult to not think about the Vita recently. The mobile market is on fire right now, with Valve’s Steam Deck shipping out, the Playdate on its way from Panic, and of course Nintendo’s Switch and Switch Lite at the top of the charts. Not to mention, Microsoft is courting the handheld space with Cloud Gaming and Game Pass, and mobile gaming represents the largest and fastest growing segment in the industry. From consoles to PC, it seems every company is investing in handheld play. Every company except Sony.

To be clear, Sony doesn’t have to compete in the handheld market just because everyone else is doing it, but the tragedy here is they were doing it with the Vita – and as LL Cool J would say, they were doing it well. Even with an embarrassing amount of options in the handheld space, I still want a new Vita. I want one in black and another in a peach colorway; I want the entire back panel to be a touchpad with DualSense-style haptics and I want a little hole in one of the corners so I can attach charms, just like I did on the original. And, charm-hole aside, I don’t think I’m alone here.

Persona 4 Golden
Atlus

So, why don’t we all have shiny new Vitas in our hands right now? Basically, I think Sony got scared and scattered, and not necessarily in that order.

The Vita was a commercial failure, but its numbers weren’t completely tragic and there were even bright spots in its sales history. The Vita was an evolution of Sony’s successful PlayStation Portable line, with enhanced input mechanics, an OLED touchscreen and upgraded guts, and it first hit the market at the end of 2011. This was just before the launch of the Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One, and right after Nintendo dropped the 3DS.

As another handheld device, the 3DS is a good comparison point for Vita sales, and it doesn’t end up looking good for Sony. In 2012, Nintendo sold more than 13 million 3DSes, and that same year, Sony sold about 4 million Vitas. Sony stopped reporting Vita sales figures on their own after its first year on the market, and despite a few hardware iterations, the studio stopped building new devices in 2015. Sony essentially wrapped up support for the Vita by 2019, and best estimates place total global hardware sales around 16 million units. The 3DS, meanwhile, is at more than 75 million.

That’s the surface-level analysis, but I think comparing the Vita to the Wii U actually offers more insight into Sony’s mindset at the time, while offering a clear picture of what could have been.

By the beginning of 2013, the Vita and the Wii U were on shockingly similar trajectories. They were both iterations of previous hardware, trying new things and fumbling along the way. Nintendo’s Wii U came out in late 2012 and wasn’t nearly as well-received as its predecessor, the Wii, offering players a bulky gamepad with an uncomfortable UI and crappy battery life. In its five-year lifespan, Nintendo sold about 14 million Wii U consoles – 2 million fewer than the Vita’s estimated total, even.

Here’s where Nintendo and Sony pivoted away from each other. In classic Nintendo fashion, the designers of the Wii U kept their heads down and continued building their vision of a hybrid console. The Wii U wasn’t perfect, but that didn’t mean the entire concept was trash, and Nintendo’s blind focus eventually resulted in the Switch, a console with an emphasis on mobile play. Today, it’s one of the best-selling systems in history.

But where Nintendo chose to stay the course, Sony decided to turn around and go back home. It simply killed the Vita – and I think this was the result of internal turmoil at Sony proper. There was a disconnect in the way Sony marketed the Vita to different regions, and even in the way it explained basic ideas behind the hardware itself – like with its confusing and expensive memory card plan.

Since Sony stopped divulging Vita information early on, I’m using stats compiled by a self-professed data nerd at Kresnik258Gaming for this bit: The Vita sold best in Japan, where it enjoyed a sweeping marketing campaign complete with unique hardware bundles, models and games. The North American audience didn’t get the same attention, with limited advertising, few hardware bundles and only a couple of half-hearted attempts at regional software. By the time the second-generation Vita and Vita TV came out in 2013, Sony seemed barely interested in explaining the benefits of these systems to US and Canadian players, and Redditwasfilled with complaints about the company’s lack of support.

Murasaki Baby
Ovosonico

This regional disparity happens to align with some major managerial shifts at Sony, and a larger change in its approach to players and developers. With the launch of the PS4 in 2013, Sony was on top of the world – interactive entertainment president Jack Tretton obliterated the Xbox One during an iconic E3 show, and once both consoles hit the market, the PS4 emerged as a clear winner in terms of sales numbers. Then, Tretton left Sony in 2014 and Shawn Layden took his place. By this point, the Vita was clearly an afterthought in North America. With Layden at the helm, Sony’s E3 shows took on a more business-oriented tone, and by 2016, it felt like an entirely different company on-stage. And this wasn’t just external: Sony had been saturating its systems with innovative and award-winning indie titles throughout the 2010s, but in 2016, two of the company’s pivotal indie evangelists, Adam Boyes and Nick Suttner, left, and indie developers said they felt abandoned by Sony’s system.

Honestly, it seems like Sony had too much going on internally to properly focus on the Vita, and in the chaos, it lost its sense of experimentation. Since this time, Sony has doubled down on the things it knows, like upgrading its console hardware and releasing first-party games, and it’s simply following the crowd when it comes to things like PlayStation Plus and streaming. I guess PSVR is cool, but it certainly doesn’t have the same impact as the Vita once did.

Or, as the Vita could still have. Imagine if Sony had a sequel to the Vita around today to market alongside the PS5 as a connection point for its streaming ambitions and an attractive hub for developers of all sizes. While Microsoft is busy buying up every mid-tier studio in town, a Vita would offer Sony a chance to collaborate in unique ways with smaller developers, giving the company even more exclusives, the currency of the modern market. We know that players today appreciate a sleek handheld component to their consoles, and Sony could use something to compete with Microsoft’s vast cloud capabilities and funding in R&D. It could use something that Microsoft doesn’t have. PSVR can’t fulfill this role – but Vita totally could. 

At least, that’s how I feel. Let me know if I truly am alone here, or if you also want a handheld system from Sony – only rule is, you have to say whether you want the charm hole.

Samsung’s Galaxy S22 is down to a record low of $700 at Amazon

Both Samsung and other retailers have offered a few ways to save when picking up one of the latest Galaxy smartphones, including offering a discount on higher storage models during the pre-order window. But Amazon’s back now with a new discount — $100 off the Samsung Galaxy S22, bringing the 128GB model down to $700. The same discount applies to the 256GB versions, which are on sale for $750.

Buy Galaxy S22 (128GB) at Amazon – $700Buy Galaxy S22 (256GB) at Amazon – $750

While the Galaxy S22 isn’t a huge departure from last year’s flagship phones, Samsung made some useful changes and welcomed upgrades this year. The handset’s design remains attractive and now has Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus+ for added protection against drops and scratches. The S22 sports a lovely 6.1-inch 2,340 x 1,080 resolution touchscreen with a 120Hz variable refresh rate and an ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint reader, too. The panel is impressive, reaching up to 1,300 nits of brightness, and the new Vision Booster feature automatically ups things like color saturation and contrast depending on your environment. Plus, the fingerprint reader is really fast, so you’ll never have to wait long for the device to unlock.

The S22’s triple rear camera array takes sharp photos and much-improved images in low-light conditions. Even though we think Samsung’s new Adaptive Pixel feature, which uses multi-frame image capture to combine high-quality pics with lower-res pixel-binned shots to create a final composite image, is a bit overhyped, the S22 still has some of the best cameras you can get on a smartphone at this price.

General performance is stellar as well thanks to the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip inside the handset. You’re also getting 5G support and a decent battery life. In our testing, the Galaxy S22 lasted just under 15 hours (if battery life is your biggest concern, you’re better off going for the S22+, which lasted about 2.5 hours longer). Overall, if you’re looking to upgrade to a new Android phone, the Galaxy S22 is one of the best out there right now — and it’s even better at this sale price.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Samsung and iFixit will launch a self-repair program for Galaxy devices

Apple isn’t the only major tech brand introducing a fix-it-yourself program this year. Samsung is teaming up with iFixit to launch a self-repair program for Galaxy devices in the US sometime this summer. Most details won’t be available until the program is ready, but you’ll have access to official parts and repair tools as you walk through step-by-step repair guides. The early part selection will include back glass, charging ports and display assemblies.

The Samsung self-repair program will initially cover the Galaxy S20 and S21 phone lines as well as the Galaxy Tab S7+. Don’t expect to service your new Galaxy S22 Ultra at first. The company will expand its effort to cover more devices and repair categories, though, and you can send the faulty parts to Samsung for recycling.

The company pitches the self-repair option as both a “convenience” and a sustainability move. You can fix your Galaxy hardware on your own terms rather than creating more e-waste. However, this is also likely a response to Right to Repair regulation and advocacy. Samsung can show that it’s at least somewhat DIY-friendly before regulators swoop in, even if the products themselves aren’t very conducive to repairs at the moment.

The Stanley Parable’s rebuilt and expanded ‘Ultra Deluxe’ edition arrives April 27th

It was silly of us to think the ending of The Stanley Parable was actually the end of the game. Ridiculous, even. Catastrophic, possibly. 

Nearly 10 years after the award-winning indie game’s debut, original creators Davey Wreden and William Pugh are back with an upgraded, expanded and even stranger version called The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. It’s been in development for more than three years, and it’s finally due to hit Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles on April 27th.

The Ultra Deluxe edition includes expanded storylines, plus new content, secrets and choices. The release date trailer teases employee number 427’s revamped office space and the reality-bending physics at work in the new game. It looks familiar with flashes of the unknown; basic graphics with quietly trippy mechanics. And over the top of it all, a soothing voice narrating your every move.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
Crows Crows Crows

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a collaboration between Pugh’s studio, Crows Crows Crows, and Wreden, while narrator Kevan Brighting is back as well. The script for the new content is longer than the original game script, and the developers said they tried to implement the fresh mechanics in unexpected ways — which is entirely expected for The Stanley Parable.

“Early in development, the plan was just to bring The Stanley Parable to consoles with a few small tweaks, but as time went on we kept getting more and more excited about what else we could do with the game,” the developers said in a press release. “We learned what we wanted it to be as we were making it.”

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
Crows Crows Crows

It almost sounds like the new game built itself — but that’d be impossible, right?

… Right?

What we bought: Chrysler’s Pacifica was the perfect family plug-in hybrid, until it wasn’t

It’s a terrible time to buy a car. The global chip shortage and a pandemic-driven demand for safe transportation has pushed prices to obscene levels. It’s not unusual to see dealers adding on $10,000 or more in “market adjustment fees.” For most people, the smartest decision right now is to hold onto your current car for as long as possible. But as my wife and I began preparing for our second child, we realized we needed a larger vehicle for carrying twice as much baby gear, as well as to take the occasional road trip.

As much as I loved my 2017 RAV4 Hybrid, it would have been too tight with two car seats in the backseat along with two kids worth of gear in the trunk. It also didn’t have CarPlay integration, which meant I had to rely on Bluetooth audio and Toyota’s abysmal infotainment apps. (I was particularly annoyed that I couldn’t even play the radio while using Google Maps navigation.) There weren’t any rear vents for heating and cooling, either, which inevitably turned the back seat into a furnace during Georgia’s obscenely humid summers. That’s a surefire way to make a toddler cranky, and it would be even worse with an infant onboard.

Thankfully, I’ve spent the last few years obsessively researching the perfect family car. (You can thank the pandemic and my desire to tinker with new hardware for that.) Toyota’s hybrid 2021 Sienna taught me that minivans can actually look cool these days and get decent mileage. I’ve also tested out Toyota’s RAV4 Prime, Prius Prime and the Kia Sorento, all of which were plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) with a bit of electric driving range.

At first, I leaned towards the updated Sienna: I genuinely loved our review unit, and Toyota’s reliability is legendary. But it turns out tons of other people had the same idea earlier this year. New Siennas were selling for $8,000 over their list price, based on what I saw at several local dealers. (Who, of course, didn’t tell me about those extra fees until I stepped foot in their godforsaken offices.) And used 2021 models were actually going for more than their original list price. I wasn’t about to spend over $50,000 on a used Sienna.

Chrysler Pacifica 2018
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Then I remembered the other popular minivan, the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. It’s the only PHEV minivan on the market, delivering 33 miles of electric range and 32 MPG of gas driving. We gave it a glowing review in 2018, and, well, my options were pretty limited earlier this year. My dream car would have been a large family-sized EV, but with the Tesla Model X still far out of reach and no alternatives available, a PHEV simply made more sense.

After being burned by several useless car dealers, I spent weeks hunting through Carvana listings. I appreciated that they were up front about extra fees, they don’t gouge you as much as dealers and I had a great experience buying my RAV4 from them in 2020. Eventually, I found my ideal Pacifica: a Limited 2018 model with low mileage, CarPlay, a tri-plane sunroof, advanced safety features and a 20-speaker sound system. There was no way I was going to look like a cool dad in a minivan, but at least I could have a bit of fun driving it.

Chrysler Pacifica 2018
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

A week later, Carvana took away my RAV4 as a trade-in and delivered the Pacifica to my driveway. It was love at first sight. Even though it’s not as sporty as the Sienna or RAV4 Prime, I love the Pacifica’s cute and quirky aesthetic. It’s as if Chrysler took the idea of a family van and processed it through a ’90s anime filter. Its arched LED daytime running lights seem like they’re winking at you, while the elegant body lines give it a sense of motion while it’s standing still.

The sheer practicality of the Pacifica also won me over quickly. The Pacifica’s sliding doors made it a cinch to install my daughter’s 30-pound car seat, and I appreciated having much more room for child loading/unloading. Being a minivan, its trunk area was massive, even if I decided to have the third-row seats opened up. Those rear seats are a serious upgrade over mid-size SUVs, where they’re only meant for children.

Chrysler Pacifica 2018
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

My wife and I also loved having more interior space in general, since we inevitably found ourselves buried in toddler toys and gear in the RAV4. There’s even enough room for my daughter to use her portable potty between the seats! Another bonus: The rear seats also have two separate video screens, which will be perfect for keeping the kids entertained during long trips.

Things got even better in the driver’s seat, where the Pacifica’s UConnect infotainment system finally made me feel like I was driving a modern car. The 8.4-inch screen was bright enough to be clearly visible in direct sunlight (something my RAV4 struggled to do), and it had a surprisingly responsive touchscreen. While I was most excited to have CarPlay integration, it was nice to see that UConnect’s entire interface could be customized as easily as an iOS device.

Chrysler Pacifica 2018

Unfortunately, Carvana didn’t ship the Pacifica with a Level 1 charging cable, but I received a voucher to receive one from a local mechanic. That process would take a few weeks though, so I bought another charger myself to get juice up sooner. After 12 hours of charging from a standard wall socket in my garage, the Pacifica truly became the PHEV of my dreams. It handled quietly and smoothly around my neighborhood, giving us enough EV driving to deal with daycare drop-off and pickup, as well as our typical neighborhood errands.

While I’m sure nobody would ever mistake the Pacifica for a Tesla, I definitely surprised some local drivers when I zoomed ahead of them at stop lights. That’s the power of EV torque in action: It was so smooth, it never felt like I was driving a large minivan.

Chrysler Pacifica 2018
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

My family and I had a blissful first few weeks with the Pacifica. We rarely exceeded the 30 miles of EV range we typically saw every day (a bit less than EPA estimates), which meant the gas gauge pretty much stayed put. Sadly, our honeymoon period ended shortly after Valentine’s Day, when Chrysler announced it was recalling 16,741 2017-2018 Pacifica hybrid models. The company said it was aware of 10 vehicles that caught fire while the ignition was off, many of which were also charging at the same time. Chrysler’s advice: Park outside and don’t charge your Pacifica until the problem is fixed.

Sadly, our car was among the recalled models, so now we’re stuck using it like a standard hybrid. The Pacifica is still a very nice family minivan, but without EV driving it just felt less special to me. Occasionally, its regenerative brakes will gather enough juice for a bit of electric fun, but it’s never too long before the V6 engine kicks in and it starts guzzling gas again. We’re also not getting anywhere near the 32MPG estimated mileage. Instead, it’s hovering around 21MPG, which is more in line with the standard gas Pacifica.

Chrysler Pacifica 2018
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

After all that research and anticipation, it’s heartbreaking to see our dream PHEV turned into a hybrid with so-so mileage, especially with skyrocketing gas prices. I’m also kicking myself for taking a risk on a Chrysler car, a brand that hasn’t been known for reliability nearly as much as Toyota. All I can do now is hope Chrysler comes up with a fix soon and pray that we don’t have to deal with a car fire with kids onboard. (Or just throw caution to the wind and swap to the Volvo XC90 PHEV.)

The Morning After: PlayStation’s answer to Xbox Game Pass breaks cover

After a fair degree of speculation, Sony has officially announced the next evolution of PlayStation Plus, its subscription service. And, finally, it could offer enough to match Microsoft’s compelling Game Pass. It’s still called PlayStation Plus but will fuse it with PlayStation Now, the company’s middling game streaming service, at least at the highest tiers.

PlayStation Plus Premium ($18 per month) is where the PS Now aspect really comes into play, with access to an extra 340 or so games, including PS3 titles you can stream via the cloud. A bunch of PS1, PS2 and PSP games will be available to stream or download, too, but the streaming feature will be only in markets where PS Now is currently available. That includes the likes of the US, UK, Japan and a large chunk of Europe.

Then there’s PlayStation Plus Extra (for $15 per month), which will fold in the existing PS Plus service, soon to be renamed PlayStation Plus Essential (still $10 per month) but add a library of “up to” 400 PS4 and PS5 games. These will encompass PlayStation’s in-house titles as well as third party games.

At the outset, Sony plans to offer games including Death Stranding, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mortal Kombat 11 and Returnal. However, it’s unlikely that first-party PlayStation games (usually exclusive at launch) will appear on the service immediately. Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz in an interview: “We feel if we were to do that with the games that we make at PlayStation Studios, that virtuous cycle will be broken.” In PlayStation’s favor, at least in the US, the annual price is $60 less than Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members’ annual cost.

The new-look PS Plus will start rolling out in June.

— Mat Smith

 

The biggest stories you might have missed


Dyson made noise-canceling headphones that filter the air

They have the technology.

Dyson just unveiled its first wearable product: a set of noise-canceling, air-purifying headphones. The Dyson Zone comes with a detachable vizor for the bottom half of the wearer’s face, which looks, to put it mildly, odd. That vizor actually blows filtered air to your nose, mouth and chin, sort of like a portable fan dedicated to the lower portion of your face. Dyson has integrated a smaller version of its air filtration system into the earcups.

Continue reading.

Intel claims its new 5.5GHz chip is the world’s fastest desktop processor

It arrives on April 5th, but isn’t cheap at $739.

Intel has unveiled the Core i9-12900KS Special Edition CPU, claiming it’s “the world’s fastest desktop processor.” Intel boosted the clock speed from 5.2GHz to 5.5GHz (on up to two cores) by bumping the power from 125 to 150 watts. AMD recently said its $449 Ryzen 7 5800X3D was the world’s fastest gaming processor, that its 3D V-Cache beats Intel’s older Core i9-12900K. However, Intel’s latest model has a much higher maximum clock speed (5.5GHz compared to 4.5GHz). Now we wait for the benchmark tests to prove the eventual winner.

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NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090 Ti will cost you $1,999

And you thought the Intel chip was pricey…

NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090 Ti is finally here, and it’s clear the no-compromise design comes with the steep price tag to match. The new flagship GPU is now available, at a heady $1,999. That’s $500 more than the ‘base’ RTX 3090 and closer to the price of line-blurring GPUs like the old $2,499 Titan RTX. And don’t be surprised if you pay more thanks to ongoing shortages — we’re already seeing more expensive cards at retailers.

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Devialet’s huge soundbar might not need a separate subwoofer

It has eight built-in subwoofers.

TMA
Devialet

There’s not an awful lot of competition at the high-end soundbar market, with most consumers looking towards surround sound speaker setups with multiple speakers, separate subwoofers and the rest. For those of us looking for minimalist aesthetics and better sound, Sennheiser’s Ambeo now has competition from Devialet. The giant soundbar can upmix stereo sound so it’s more enveloping and richer. You also have to be a certain level of rich to afford the thing.

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‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ sequel delayed to spring 2023

No, Nintendo. Nooooo.

This won’t come as a huge surprise to gamer cynics, but Nintendo has announced it’s delaying the launch of the hugely anticipated Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel. As is usually the case with such delays, Nintendo didn’t offer a ton of details. Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma said the company decided to “extend our development time a bit” and apologized to those looking forward to playing the new game. Expect to wait til spring 2023. And possibly even a little longer.

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Unicode won’t accept any new flag emoji

Politics and usage are to blame.

In the next wave of emoji, which has brought us burritos, flamingos and so on, don’t expect to see more flags. The Unicode Consortium has warned it will “no longer accept proposals” for flag emoji, regardless of category. They’re more trouble than they’re worth, the organization said, whether it’s the inherent politics or the value they bring. Flags are “by far” the least-used emoji, Unicode said, and aren’t even used that often in social media bios. The Consortium added that flag additions tend to “emphasize the exclusion of others.”

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Indie hit ‘Unpacking’ comes to PS4 and PS5 this spring

The peaceful, zen-like puzzle gameplay of Unpacking (the real game, that is) will soon be available to the PlayStation crowd. As Polygonsays, Witch Beam and Humble Games have announced that Unpacking will be available on PS4 and PS5 this spring. It’s launching alongside physical releases from Limited Run Games for the PS4, PS5 and Switch versions.

The game is already available in digital form on Macs, Switch, Windows PCs and Xbox consoles.

Unpacking was considered one of the stand-out games of 2021 precisely because it served as an antidote to the chaos and noise of the real world (and, we’d add, many other video games). All you do is unpack items as you settle into a new home — and, ultimately, a new life. The audio and visuals are relaxing by themselves, but the mechanics also encourage patience and curiosity. Throw in a subtle, near-wordless approach to storytelling and you might return just to give yourself a break.

Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders start April 8th

Apple’s first Friday Night Baseball doubleheader will stream on April 8th. Announced at its recent “Peek Performance” event, the program will see Apple stream two exclusive MLB games every Friday through the end of the regular season. The first doubleh…

Kia’s EV9 SUV will move from concept to reality in 2023

If you thought it wouldn’t be long before Kia turned the Concept EV9 into a production model, you guessed correctly. The automaker has revealed that a road-ready version of the electric SUV will be available in Europe in 2023. There was no mention of launches in North America or other regions, but it’s an SUV — it may just be a matter of time before you see the EV9 cruising American and Canadian streets.

Kia didn’t say what would change in the transition from concept to production. However, we’d expect the badge to cut many of the more exotic features, including the yoke, giant wheels, retractable roof rails and lounge-like seating modes. We wouldn’t be surprised if Kia kept the 27-inch display and even the hood-mounted solar panel, though.

The production EV9 might also preserve the claimed specs. The concept promised up to 300 miles of range and 350kW fast charging that could take it from a 10 percent charge to 80 percent in 30 minutes. Kia also recently detailed autonomous “Automode” technology for the EV9 that can take over from the driver on the highway.

There are still important unknowns like pricing. Even so, the EV9 could be one of Kia’s most important all-electric vehicles to date, at least in some areas. While the EV6 has been well-received so far, some markets (particularly North America) skew heavily toward crossovers and SUVs. The EV9 could help Kia take on competitors like the Tesla Model Y and Volkswagen ID.4, not to mention reel in buyers who haven’t been thrilled by the Niro EV.

‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ sequel delayed to spring 2023

If you were looking forward to playing the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild this year, we have some bad news. Nintendo just announced in a short video that the game will be delayed and the company is now targeting a spring 2023 release after previously saying the game would come out in 2022.

As is usually the case with such delays, Nintendo didn’t offer a ton of details. Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma said that the company decided to “extend our development time a bit” and apologized to those looking forward to playing the new games. 

Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel
Nintendo

The video also offered a quick look at gameplay for the upcoming release, with a big focus on how this adventure will take place in the skies above Hyrule as well as on the ground. It wasn’t too different from what we saw in the game’s first official trailer that was released at E3 2021, but it is at least a good refresher for what we have to look forward to. One detail that did catch our eye, though, is a scene where Link holds a pretty beat-up looking version of the iconic Master Sword. Your guess is as good as ours as for what that means for the game, though. In the meantime, don’t despair, Switch fans — there are still plenty of great games to look forward to in 2022.