College will be back in session soon enough, which also means a new batch of freshmen will start living the dorm life. If that applies to you, we think it’s a good idea to stock up on a few essentials for your new tiny abode before you get there, especially if this is your first time away from home. We’ve got tech recommendations, of course, but not everything on this list is a gadget. That’s because we also wanted to cover the other items that will bring you the comforts of home to your dorm and hopefully make student life less stressful.

Echo Dot

I resisted a smart speaker until a few months ago. After getting an Echo Dot, I now use Alexa to set alarms, play focus music, remind me about stuff and keep tabs on the weather — all of which would have been very helpful back in school. Sure, your phone can do most of that, but anything that helps you pick up your phone less is a productivity booster in itself. Plus, the Dot works with all major music services and the sound quality is surprisingly good for its size. There’s more than enough punch here to entertain a dorm room and do justice to your study beats. — Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer

Belkin MagSafe 3-in-1 wireless charger

If you own multiple Apple products and you’re constantly detangling charging cables, we highly recommend a 3-in-1 wireless charger like the Belkin BoostCharge Pro. It has a 15W MagSafe charging base for your iPhone and charging spaces for your Apple Watch and AirPods as well. The horizontal layout lets you charge any Qi-capable phone, though at reduced speeds, or other compatible earbuds and accessories. On top of that, the flat pad format means you can easily pack it in your bag the next time you go on a trip. — Nicole Lee, Commerce Writer

Anker Soundcore Space A40

A good set of noise-canceling headphones can help you get some peace and quiet anytime you need to work or want to escape the rowdiness of your fellow dormmates. You don’t need to spend a ton to find a quality pair, either: The Anker Soundcore Space A40 delivers effective active noise cancellation, eight to 10 hours of battery life per charge, a transparency mode, IPX4-rated water resistance and solid audio quality for less than $100 (and even less than $80 often times when on sale). If you don’t like their bassy default sound, you can also customize the profile through a useful companion app. Just note that these are earbuds; if you’d prefer an over-ear pair, try the Anker Soundcore Life Q30. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Commerce Writer

Linenspa shredded foam pillow

Comfort is key to dorm living, which is why we recommend an oversized reading pillow like this one from Linenspa. It helps change up your seating position so you’re not in your desk chair all the time, and it’s definitely a lot more comfortable than just piling up bed pillows against the wall. The pillow is filled with shredded memory foam so it won’t put a lot of stress on your back, plus it comes with a soft velour cover. That posture support makes it great for reading, playing games or watching TV. As a bonus, there’s also a handle on the top that makes it easy to carry around. — N.L.

Zwilling Electric Kettle

Dorms may limit the number and types of kitchen appliances you can have, but most are fine with a simple electric kettle like this one. Zwilling’s Electric Kettle boils water eerily fast and doesn’t have an exposed heating element, which some housing regulations don’t allow. It also looks lovely and, in our experiments, boiled 16 ounces of water in two minutes flat. Sure, it can help you make tea or coffee, but the real pro-level move is stocking up on instant cup foods for morning oatmeal, midnight Cup Noodles and the cravings in between. — A.S.

Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 3

For when their phone’s speakers just won’t cut it, the UE Wonderboom 3 can make their dorm-room parties and chill sessions on the quad even better with punchy sound. The small, barrel-shaped speaker is compact enough to fit in a backpack, and it could be attached to the outside of a bag with a carabiner clip thanks to its built-in top loop. We found the Wonderboom 3 to deliver the biggest sound of all the portable Bluetooth speakers we tested in its size range, and the latest model has improved battery life and wireless range. There’s no app, but it can be paired with other UE speakers for stereo sound. And if it accidentally falls off a table or takes a bit of a beating, its IP67-rating and drop-proof design should sufficiently protect it. — Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor

Nanoleaf Lines

Nanoleaf’s modular smart lights let you add personality and functional lighting to your half of the room. The 90-degree “Smarter” kit comes with four Lines that attach at right angles, so you can make a few different designs (a square and an X come to mind). The set is expandable and each bar has millions of available colors with the ability to display two hues at once. Lines works with Alexa, HomeKit, Google Home, IFTTT and other smart home platforms, so you can set themes, create routines and control the lights with your voice. But possibly the best news for dorm dwellers is the included mounting tape that won’t punch holes in your walls and anger your RA. — A.S.

LapGear Designer

When you’re just too lazy to sit at your actual desk, a lap desk like the LapGear Designer can make working from the bed or couch more comfortable. The Designer is softly padded and lightweight, with an easy-to-clean top that’s large enough to fit a 15-inch laptop. A stopper at the bottom helps keep things from slipping off when you’re sitting at an angle, plus there’s a slot for holding a phone and a handle for carrying the whole thing around. — J.D.

Vornado 630 Medium Air Circulator

Many dorms lack air conditioning, so having a fan that’s powerful enough to keep you cool during the late-summer months is crucial. The Vornado 630 should do the job, as it moves air around a room powerfully yet takes up little room on a tabletop or larger window sill. It doesn’t oscillate, but you can tilt its head vertically, and the way it circulates air allows it to send a breeze through most of a room. A simple dial lets you swap between three speed settings, while the sturdy plastic frame is easy to clean and keeps the thing relatively quiet when it’s on. If you’re moving into a particularly large dorm room, the Vornado 660 is a stronger alternative. — J.D.

OXO Good Grips cereal dispenser

When I was in college, we called cereal, ramen and vodka “the five food groups.” I hear today’s college-bound generation drinks less (and is probably better with numbers), but I suspect cereal is still a staple, which is why this dispenser from OXO is a must-get. The silicone seal on the pop-top lid keeps Crispix crunchy and Lucky Charms fresh (though it can do nothing to make Grape Nuts less gravel-like). It also keeps ants and other pests out and the clear plastic looks nice on a shelf. But I particularly like being able to open the lid, pour out the cereal and close it back up with just one hand. — A.S.

Pure Green 100% Natural Latex mattress topper

Chances are, the bed in your dorm room isn’t very comfortable. It’s also probably not easy (or cost effective) to change the mattress. That’s why we recommend getting a mattress topper: It’s the one way to control how your bed feels without spending a lot of money. We prefer a natural latex option like this one from Pure Green because it delivers comfort and support without the sinking feeling of memory foam. It also won’t absorb much body heat, which helps keep you cool throughout the night. Pure Green sells its mattress topper in three different thicknesses — from one inch to three — to fit your particular needs. Opt for the 1- or 2-inch if you want firm or medium-firm, or spring for the 3-inch model if you prefer a something softer. — N.L.

Lunya Sleep Mask

Roommate pulling an all-nighter with the lights on? Want to catch some z’s in the afternoon in between classes? Or maybe you’re just particularly sensitive to light? If you can relate to any of this, we recommend getting a sleep mask to make it easier for you to drift off into dreamland. This one from Lunya is one of our personal favorites because it completely blocks out light and feels comfortable to boot; it’s like wearing pillows on your eyes. We tend to prefer this model over masks with eye cups because it’s not quite as bulky. The Lunya’s wide elasticized band will fit most people and it even covers the ears, which helps reduce noise. It’s also machine washable, so you can easily keep it clean. — N.L.

Codenames

Playing casual board games is a great way to socialize at gatherings without the need to engage in small talk. A really popular one is called Codenames, a party game that pits two teams of spies against each other. Each “spymaster” has to get their teammates to guess hidden words (which are plotted out on a grid) using only one-word clues and a number. For example, if you wanted your team to guess the words “costume,” “web,” and “spider,” you might say “Peter, 3” to indicate that there are three clues on the board that match that word. There are also clues you have to avoid, which makes the game a little harder. The game is easy to explain and it encourages communication, which helps break the ice. — N.L.

Herd Mentality

If you want a game that’s more light-hearted, we recommend Herd Mentality. It accommodates four to 20 players, which makes it perfect for parties. In it, you simply take turns flipping over a question and trying to write down what you think everyone else will answer as well. For example, if the question is “What is the best way to cook an egg?” you write “scrambled” and it turns out that is what most other players answered as well, you will get points. But beware of giving the answer that’s the odd one out, because you’ll get the dreaded Pink Cow and be in danger of losing the game – unless you can somehow trick someone else into getting it instead. — N.L.

Canon’s mirrorless EOS R mirrorless camera family now sits at a healthy 11 members, but most of those to date have been high-end models priced at over $1,000. Recently, though, the company has been wooing budget-minded shoppers with models like the $480 R100 and the subject of this review – the $680, 24-megapixel R50.

The R50 uses a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor from the $980 EOS R10, so image quality should be on par. Otherwise, you can think of the R50 as an RF-mount version of the older M-mount M50 Mark II – but with updates like uncropped 4K that make it better for creators. At the same time, it’s even lighter and smaller, so it’s ideal for travel, street photography and more.

Where the $480 R100 is aimed at the bottom end of the mirrorless market, the $680 R50 is targeting users a bit more serious about photography and content creation. Does it have enough going for it to entice such users? Let’s take a look.

Body & Handling

The EOS R50 is diminutive in both weight and size, weighing in at just 375 grams with a battery and memory card. With a similarly light and small lens, like the 18-45mm kit or the new 28mm pancake model, it can easily slip into a small bag. Travelers and tourists will often settle for a smartphone rather than lugging around a heavy camera, but the R50 removes that barrier.

There’s a price to be paid in terms of usability, however. It has a relatively small grip that’s effectively unusable with large lenses, though it does have a nice rubber material so it shouldn’t slip out of your hands.

The R50 is also lacking in controls compared to other models. It has just a single dial to change settings, meaning you have to hit the exposure compensation button to toggle between shutter speed and aperture in manual mode. But since the camera is designed for beginners used to smartphones, it’s essentially designed to be controlled by the touchscreen. That works well enough, but the main menu items are a little small and fiddly.

The 2.95-inch touchscreen is nice though, with a relatively high 1.6 million dot resolution. As with all other Canon EOS R cameras, it fully articulates, making it useful for selfies and vlogging. The electronic viewfinder is on the low end though, being relatively small and with a low 2.36-million dot resolution.

With the same small battery as the EOS R10, it gets just 370 shots on a charge – perhaps the camera’s biggest weakness. It is, however, a significant improvement over the 305 shots you get with the original M50 II. Other features include a mic but no headphone port, a single slow UHS-I card slot, USB-C and micro HDMI ports and yes, a built-in flash that’s perfect for its target market.

Performance

One significant problem with budget-oriented cameras is the lack of a good autofocus system – something that’s crucial for camera novices. Luckily, the R50’s hybrid phase-detect autofocus is very solid. A simplified version of the AF from high end cameras like the R3, it tenaciously follows subjects and captures sharp photos.

It can track eyes, faces and heads, along with animals including dogs, cats, birds and horses. It also tracks vehicles like race cars, bicycles, trains and airplanes. You can either let the system choose a subject, or tap the touchscreen to select it yourself.

Steve Dent for Engadget

Performance is a little less dependable for animals and vehicles than it is for people. And subject tracking will often drop the subject if you’re too far away from it. But overall, the AI system is dependable, particularly with people.

That serves it well for burst shooting, which is surprisingly fast for such a small camera. It can grab frames at up to 12 fps in mechanical shutter mode or 15 fps in silent electronic mode. However, you’re limited to 42 JPEG images in a burst and just 7 uncompressed RAWs, due to the small buffer and slow memory card slots.

On top of the usual manual and auto shooting modes, the R50 has creative settings for beginners including something called A+ Advanced Auto. If it detects a scene that’s tricky to shoot due to high contrast or darkness, it takes four shots and combines them into a single JPEG image, much like smartphones have done for years. The results can be pleasing, but may also look overprocessed.

As you’d expect, there’s no in-body stabilization, so you’ll need to rely on optically stabilized lenses for that – and there are only two of those in the APS-C lineup. Those only deliver 4 stops of shake reduction, but it’s enough to allow for sharp shots at 1/10th of a second or so. When using the silent shutter function, beware that some rolling shutter effect is present, but it’s reasonably well controlled.

Image quality

As the R50 shares the R10’s 24-megapixel sensor, photo quality is nearly the same. For normal shooting, I saw color accurate photos with skin tones leaning on the warm side as is typical with Canon’s color science. JPEGs strike a good balance between sharpening and noise reduction, while RAW files allow for a decent amount of room to tweak images.

Low-light performance isn’t amazing, though. ISO 6400 is pretty much a hard limit, and even then you won’t have a lot of room to boost blacks without getting tons of noise. And you don’t have in-body stabilization to help at low shutter speeds.

Luckily, the R50 does have a built-in flash that can fill in if you’re lacking light. Just make sure to dial the illumination levels down in the settings to avoid blowing out your subject.

Video

Where the EOS R10 offers cropped 4K 60p video, the R50 is limited to 4K 30p. Luckily, that is uncropped, however, and supersampled from 6K. You’re limited to 1080p for slow-mo, but luckily it can shoot up to 120fps, though 60fps is considerably sharper.

It’s the cheapest camera on the market by far with 10-bit mode via the HDR PQ mode, though the footage requires some tweaking for normal usage. A C-Log mode that might boost dynamic range isn’t available, but it’s not really necessary for its intended market segment.

Steve Dent for Engadget

For a relatively small and cheap camera, the R50 offers excellent video quality. The oversampled video is very sharp, and colors are accurate and human friendly. The fact that 4K video isn’t cropped is a huge plus for vloggers.

The autofocus is also outstanding for a camera in this price bracket, with tenacious tracking that keeps focus sharp in most circumstances. It also has a “close-up demo mode” that works much like Sony’s product showcase mode, quickly switching focus from your face to any object you bring up to the camera.

The digital stabilization is OK for walking and talking, as long as you try to move smoothly. All of these things make the R50 an excellent camera for vloggers and content creators ready to step up from a smartphone.

Wrap-up

Steve Dent for Engadget

With the R50, Canon has found a good balance between power and affordability. Where the R10 has a lot of competition at its higher $980 price point, the $680 R50 has only a few rivals

Its main competition is Sony’s $700 ZV-E10, which is slightly better for vlogging but not as good for photography. Another option is the $700 Nikon Z30, which offers a similar feature set but lacks an EVF and has less reliable autofocus.

If those models are too much, Canon just released the $480 R100, the least expensive new mirrorless camera on the market. Content creators may lean toward the Sony ZV-E10, but if you’re looking for a solid hybrid camera that can do everything, Canon’s R50 is a great choice.

Developers are taking another shot at a One Punch Man game, but this one is very different than the last major attempt. Anime service Crunchyroll has announcedOne Punch Man: World, an online multiplayer action title headed to Android, iOS and PC. The free-to-play game has you and friends joining the Hero Association to fight a growing wave of villains through missions and raids. You can unlock and play as heroes from the TV show's first season, including Saitama's faithful sidekick Genos, Mumen Rider and Puri-Puri Prisoner. You can relive key moments from the show, too.

Where Bandai Namco's A Hero Nobody Knows was a fighting game, this is more of a Devil May Cry-style action title with combos, dodges and ultimate attacks. You'll spend much of your time ranking up, including through side missions and mini games elsewhere in Z-City. 

One Punch Man: World arrives later this year. You can pre-register for the PC version now. Crunchyroll is working on the game alongside Perfect World, the studio responsible for Persona 5: The Phantom X and Tower of Fantasy.

It's too soon to say how well the game works in practice, including in-app purchases. Having said this, the creators face the same problem Bandai Namco did: how do you balance a game where the main hero, Saitama, can defeat anyone with a single hit? The answer seems to involve holding him back (a video on the official site shows Saitama using many punches to fell an enemy), but you'll likely have to wait for the finished product to know how powerful he really is.

One of the last traces of the early Xbox era is going away. Microsoft has revealed it's replacing Xbox Live Gold with a Game Pass Core tier on September 14th. The $60 per year (or $10 per month) subscription is necessary to play many (but not all) online multiplayer games on consoles, as before, but it also represents a shift in how the company doles out bonus games.

The company is sunsetting Games with Gold, which offered a steady flow of titles for Live subscribers. Instead, you'll get a base collection of more than 25 games with new entries two to three times per year. Most of them are first-party games like Doom Eternal, Forza Horizon 4 and Halo 5, although you will find the occasional third-party project like Among Us and Human Fall Flat.

If you're already an Xbox Live Gold member, you'll automatically switch to Game Pass Core when it's available. Games with Gold ends on September 1st. However, you'll still have access to any Xbox One games you claimed if you're either a Core or Ultimate member. Redeemed Xbox 360 games are yours to keep even if your subscription lapses.

Microsoft has signalled its intent to change Live Gold for a while. It stopped offering year-long subscriptions in 2020, and ditched Xbox 360 games in 2022. The company planned to raise Gold prices in 2021 before quickly reversing the decision.

The change might be disappointing if you liked Games with Gold's more frequent catalog expansions. While you do get some hits, it's a not-so-subtle way to steer you toward an Ultimate subscription with a much larger selection (including some day-one titles), cloud gaming and an EA Play membership. In that sense, PlayStation Plus Essential (which still offers bonus games every month) may be more appealing if you're open to Sony hardware.

With that said, Sony pulled the PlayStation Plus Collection this spring. Unless you got the selections through other promos, you'll have to pay to revisit some of the PS4 era's best games. Microsoft isn't strictly mimicking Sony's strategy (it's mainly a bid to showcase first-party releases), but this is a rough equivalent if you're just looking for an instant library.

Samsung's ViewFinity S9 5K monitor is coming to the United States — finally giving Mac and PC users alike a chance to pick it up for $1,599. The tech giant announced its first 5K monitor at CES in January and launched it this June in South Korea. 

Samsung designed the 27-inch ViewFinity S9 5K monitor for creatives, with HDR 600 support, a matte display to reduce glares and Eye Saver Mode for long days tolling away. The company's first 5K monitor also has a 5,120 x 2,880 resolution, 99 percent DCI-P3 and 221 pixels per inch. Plus, you can calibrate the ViewFinity S9 5K monitor through the SmartThings app in either Basic mode, which adjusts gamma settings and white balance, or Professional mode, which controls luminance and color temperature or space. It includes a 4K camera and is compatible with either a PC or Mac. 

Interestingly, the ViewFinity S9 5K monitor costs exactly the same as its competitor, the 27-inch Apple Studio Display — which first came out in early 2022. At the time, we gave the Studio Display an 80 rating due to features such as a so-so webcam, 60Hz refresh rate and single-zone backlighting. The ViewFinity S9 5K has the same refresh rate but offers a few better features than Apple's Studio Display (or at least includes them without any extra cost). Apple is charging another $400 to adjust your monitor's height and angle and a whopping $2,299 if you also want a nano-texture glass display. Plus, the S9 5K has a 4K webcam versus Apple's 12MP option. All in all, unless you're an Apple or nothing shopper, Samsung's ViewFinity S9 5K might be a better choice for the price. Check it out for yourself in stores this August. 

Electric vehicle startup Canoo has delivered its first shipment to NASA. This week, a trio of the company’s Crew Transportation Vehicles (CTVs) arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Although they look like they’re made for exploring the surface of the Moon, the vans are designed to carry astronauts to the KSC’s launch pads, starting with NASA’s forthcoming Artemis 2 mission.

According to Canoo, the vans, based on the company’s existing lifestyle vehicle design, can carry fully-suited astronauts, as well as flight support crew and any equipment they may need. “The vehicles have an exclusive interior and exterior design that will provide astronaut and crew comfort and safety while on the nine-mile journey to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center,” the company said, adding it would share interior shots of the vehicles later this year.

Canoo

The Artemis 2 mission will see NASA launch its first crewed mission to the Moon since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. Four astronauts will travel around the satellite during the 10-day flight. During Artemis 2, NASA plans to conduct additional tests of its Orion capsule and Space Launch System (SLS) super heavy-lift rocket to ensure both spacecraft are safe for future crewed missions to the lunar surface.

As for Canoo, this is a chance for the automaker to drum up interest for its EVs. In May 2022, the company warned investors it was running low on cash. Since then, it announced an agreement with Walmart to provide the retailer with 4,500 EVs. The company also delivered a test vehicle to the US Army. Still, even with those deals in place, it has a long way to go before achieving financial sustainability.

After multiple years of delays, it looks like the Cybertruck is finally on its way to consumers. On early Saturday morning, Tesla tweeted out a photo of a Cybertruck that recently rolled off the company’s Giga Texas assembly line in Austin. “First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas!” the automaker said of the image.

As Electrek points out, the vehicle in question is likely a production intent model Tesla designed to identify the most efficient way of making the new vehicle at scale. The fact the company shared a photo of a finished Cybertruck would suggest it’s on track to meet the most recent timeline Elon Musk set for the oft-delayed pickup.

At the start of the year, Musk predicted Cybertruck volume manufacturing would begin in 2024, adding limited production would likely kick off “sometime this summer.” More recently, he told investors Tesla would hold a Cybertruck delivery event in the third quarter of 2023. “[It] takes time to get the manufacturing line going, and this is really a very radical product," Musk said in April. “It's not made in the way that other cars are made." To that point, the Cybertruck’s signature stainless steel frame involves complicated manufacturing techniques that aren’t normally used in the production of other cars. Tesla has also encountered repeated bottlenecks involving its next-generation 4680 battery.

The company's original (and very optimistic) release date for the Cybertruck was 2021. At the time, Tesla said the vehicle would start at $39,900 for the single-motor variant, with the three-motor model coming in at $70,000. The automaker has since said that it has yet to decide on final pricing, and that the cost of the Cybertruck could be based on multiple factors, including supply chain shortages and the state of the economy.

Nothing will make you feel old like the anniversary of a much loved gaming console. Perhaps none more so than the 40th birthday of the Nintendo Entertainment System (or the Famicom as it was known for its 1983 Japanese debut).

Having launched in the very same year that the games industry crashed, Nintendo faced an uphill battle to make what would become the NES a commercial success. But we all know what happens next. Nintendo, through some shrewd decisions, creative talent and maybe just a dash of luck would become a console gaming right up to this very day. But it all starts with an unassuming beige and red box that two years later would become the retro-futuristic gray box that we all know and love.

Here are seven gaming legacies that Nintendo’s first home console gave to the world.

Bringing the D-pad

Kris Naudus for Engadget

It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time where game controllers were almost as unique as the console they were connected to. As wild as it might sound, the NES was the first home console that sported the humble D-pad. The cross-style design would become a standard on controllers to this day.

Like all good inventions, it was born out of necessity. Nintendo’s early Game & Watch handhelds needed a control system that was pocket-friendly. A tiny joystick was impractical, plus the company wanted something more reliable than the four directional buttons some systems experimented with. Cue a little bit of design magic and the iconic D-pad as we know it was born.

The design was so effective that it was included on the NES controller along with two input buttons, instantly becoming a winning formula. This format proved so popular that you’ll be hard-pressed to think of a modern console that doesn’t use some form of this layout.

Better third-party games

Today we expect console titles to be of a certain standard, even if that doesn’t always pan out. We can broadly thank Nintendo, and specifically the NES for this. In the early ‘80s, third-party game development was a wild west with few checks and balances — any company could develop and publish games for any system. When the NES came along, it introduced the concept of licensed third-party games thanks to the NES’s 10NES “lockout” chip that prevented just anyone publishing a game for the platform. In turn, this created some form of quality control which would go on to become an industry standard.

It wasn’t all entirely positive (if you weren’t Nintendo that is). The 10NES was the first mass-market use of what we'd now generically call DRM, and it allowed Nintendo to initiate the industry-standard 30 percent licensing fee which, in its evolution, is still a source of contention with developers (and customers). The NES also introduced the idea of “exclusives” which is something else we still see for modern releases (often to the chagrin of gamers).

robtek via Getty Images

That said, Nintendo’s “seal of approval” did a lot to revive the gaming industry after its infamous crash in 1983, and for that we’re eternally thankful. Not to mention, we can’t be sure any amount of Mario would have made the platform what it was without titles like Contra, Mega Man 2 and Dragon Warrior, all made by third-party developers.

Bonus: Nintendo’s “10NES” lock-out chip authentication chip is also the reason why you sometimes had to “blow” into a cartridge, as if the contact between the chip and the console wasn’t perfect it would stop the game from booting. That’s, perhaps, another long-lasting legacy we’re glad to see the back of.

Console game saves

The Legend of Zelda’s legacy speaks for itself, but its debut on the NES came with a feature that changed everything: game saves. This had never been seen on a console in the US before and it changed what was possible for console games across the board, paving the way for bigger, more complex titles. A lot of the NES’ best loved franchises like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy simply wouldn’t have been possible without battery saves, giving the technology an outsized legacy.

While games on disk-based computers had been deploying saves for a couple of years, consoles didn’t have internal storage, so players were stuck with workarounds like codes or passwords. Unlike a proper save, which would include things like current weapons and power-ups, a password would usually (though not always) just start you off at the beginning of the last level you were on. This was practical for things like racing games or platformers, but problematic for things like RPGs and sims.

The technology wasn’t perfect of course. If the battery died or somehow lost contact, you would lose all your saves. But it was a good enough system to last into the 2000’s with some form of on-cartridge saves being used right up until the 3DS. There was, of course, a free, time-honored alternative way to “save” games, usually when you had to go down for dinner: pause and switch off the TV (and maybe hide the controller from any siblings).

The video game mascot

SOPA Images via Getty Images

It’s hard to talk about anything Nintendo without a nod to the world’s most famous plumber. The NES isn’t where Mario had his first outing of course, not by a long shot. It’s not even the first console to have a Mario Bros. game (that was the Atari 2600). But the NES is arguably where the most important gaming franchise for Nintendo - Super Mario - began.

Super Mario Bros. isn’t just important for Nintendo, the side-scrolling platformer would go on to have an outsized influence that would reach far beyond the walls of Kyoto. The unique gameplay with power ups, secret rooms and a colorful world with a full cast of characters came together to create a formula that would set it on a path to become the best-selling game of all time (a title it no longer holds, alas).

There would of course be two sequels on the NES. Super Mario Bros. 2 (the US version at least) was brighter, bigger and added the ability to throw enemies and objects. Super Mario Bros. 3 ramped things up further with even more hidden bonuses and abilities. All three titles received positive reviews and critical acclaim. Most importantly, Super Mario Bros. would solidify the platformer as a key element of console gaming, directly inspiring Nintendo’s main rival, Sega, to create its own iconic mascot franchise.

The concept of mascot platformers has died away to an extent, but Crash Bandicoot helped sell the PlayStation, and we saw fresh attempts at mascots in the form of Ratchet & Clank, Spyro and Banjo Kazooie through the late '90s and '00s. Today, Master Chief is essentially the face of Xbox, and Sony uses the likes of Nathan Drake, Aloy and Joel in much the same way Nintendo used Mario: To sell consoles and merch.

The video game movie adaptation

Walt Disney Studios

There had been games based on popular films since the 1970’s, but we had to wait two decades before we’d see that concept reversed. In 1993, Super Mario Bros. became the first video game movie adaptation and boy did things get off to a bad start.

Starring Bob Hoskins (The Long Good Friday, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) as Mario and John Leguizamo (Moulin Rouge, Spawn) as Luigi, the movie received tepid reviews at best. The movie follows our plumbing heroes as they travel to another dimension (from Brooklyn!) to rescue, well, you know who. Looking back now, the costumes are a little camp, the effects comedic and the plot about as thin as the film it was shot on - but it was an exciting event for Kooper-stomping kids around the globe to have a movie of their own.

To put it in perspective, Hoskins said it was the worst thing he had ever worked on, and he did a run of commercials for British Telecom. A year later we’d be graced with adaptations of Double Dragon and Street Fighter which both have Rotten Tomatoes scores of less than half of Super Mario Bros. (which is already only 29%). Sadly, things don’t get much better from there on out with it taking until 2019 until a game-based movie would earn a “Certified Fresh” score Tomatometer (and that was… Detective Pikachu with 68%).

The light gun

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You might be surprised to learn that the technology behind the light gun has been around since the 1930s. Nintendo had developed its own version as far back as 1970 for its Laser Clay Shooting System. Old rival Sega had actually beaten Nintendo to the punch with its Periscope game in 1966. But of course, the one that would find its way into juvenile American hands en mass would be the NES Zapper in 1984.

You can’t talk about the Zapper without thinking about Duck Hunt, one of the most iconic titles on the system even if, let’s be real, it wasn’t all that good. But something about that unshootable dog (and the fact it was a pack-in game) has earned it legendary status.

Sega would introduce its own light gun, the much cooler-named Light Phaser, for the Master System two years later. And who could forget the iconic if a little… aggressively designed Super Scope accessory for the SNES? The light gun would live on for a few more generations, notably through Sega’s official accessories for the Saturn and Dreamcast and Namco’s GunCon series for the Playstation and PlayStation 2.

As gamers upgraded their TVs to the fancy new flat kinds we have today, the old-fashioned light guns of the '80s, '90s and '00s stopped working. The Wii and PS3 both used LED sensors to achieve the effect, and there was an official Aim Controller for PSVR, but no one has really figured out a standard way for us to shoot things from the comfort of our couches. (OK, Sinden has figured it out, but until a console supports its camera-based Light Gun system, it's only going to be for real enthusiasts.)

The mega franchise

Nintendo

Did we mention the NES also played games? More than possibly all of the above, the impact of the NES is lived out through the franchises that we still enjoy today. Of course, there’s Mario at the top with over 200 titles featuring the iconic mascot in some form or another. Within that are flagship titles for every console Nintendo has ever made - usually multiple for each.

The NES was the platform that introduced the US to the Zelda, Mega Man, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, Dragon Quest, Ninja Gaiden and Kirby series. It was also the first console for many existing arcade franchises like Bionic Commando.

Not all of those series continue to this day, but the ones that do are some of the best known (and loved) franchises out there. In May, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom began emptying pockets and puzzling the minds of kids and adults alike. And just last month, Final Fantasy XVI found its way into the collection of over 3 million people in under a week.

Of course, despite the age of the original games, there are still modern ways to play them. Nintendo's most current console has over 60 NES games available via Switch Online, and the selection includes most of the titles you'd hope for (including the Super Mario Bros trilogy, Legend of Zelda, Punch Out and many, many more).

Did you ever feel that your Assassin's Creed experience wasn't personal enough? Maybe not, but Ubisoft is betting that you'd like to give it a try regardless. The company has teamed up with OWO to release an Assassin's Creed Mirage edition haptic feedback shirt. Put it on and you'll feel parkour, impacts and "exclusive sensations never felt before" — yes, really. You might want to close the door while you're playing, from the sound of it.

OWO's shirt includes haptic points at on your chest, stomach, lower back and arms. The trick is an algorithm that adjusts nine wave parameters to simulate interactions ranging from the wind to a dagger. You can use a mobile app to calibrate sensations in specific games or replace them with your own. Compatible games frequently rely on mods (such as Fortnite and Beat Saber), but there are already a handful of native games like Crisis Brigade 2 Reloaded and Drone War. This is the first major collaboration.

Details of pricing and a release date are yet to come, but the haptic apparel will work with PS4, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. The game will be released October 12th, and the OWO shirt will include a game code. OWO's Founder Edition shirt sold for €499 ($560), but it was also part of a 2,000-unit batch and won't necessarily reflect the final price.

Wearable haptics for games aren't new, but they tend to be experimental efforts. See Sony's Rez Infinite synesthesia suit from 2017 as an example. The Assassin's Creed collaboration won't necessarily take that tech into the mainstream, but it's coming right as the next generation of mixed reality headsets is coming to market. Don't be surprised if haptics gain some traction as immersion becomes more important in AR and VR games.

Antstream Arcade is offering over 1,300 retro game titles on Xbox One and Series X/S, with notable titles such as Space Invaders, Metal Slug and Bubble Bobble. The company says these titles will be playable instantly without additional downloads or installation via its cloud gaming platform, with more titles being added every week. This is notable as Antstream will be the first third-party game streaming service on Xbox.

The service will support cloud-based game saves, an online scoreboard and the ability to pick up your game from multiple devices. Antstream Arcade is already available on Mac, PC, Linux, Android TV, Firestick and Samsung TVs, but this marks the first time it is coming to a game console.

Antstream says that it is using its “unique technology” to mod original games, allowing the company to create new mini-game challenges for both new and returning players. For example, you could play a modified Pac-Man map where the main objective is to avoid collecting the dots. Players will be able to enter tournaments, challenge other players to duels or compete for the highest score.

Antstream

Microsoft already has its own Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming service, and that’s available as a native app on Android, Windows, Samsung smart TVs and select VR headsets. It’s also available on iOS and Mac but you’ll need to use a web browser to access it. Though, Xbox Cloud Gaming is more focused on playing modern titles away from your console, while Antstream Arcade is solely focused on tugging those nostalgic heart strings.

Antstream Arcade on Xbox will be available for pre-order starting today on the Xbox store. Pricing will start at $29.99 annually with a one-time lifetime purchase option for $79.99. The company says all future games and new features will be included, regardless of which purchase option you decide to go with.