Kalakshar US

Just five years ago, Nintendo was at a crossroads. The Wii U was languishing well in third place in the console wars and, after considerable pressure, the company was making its first tentative steps into mobile gaming with Miitomo and Super Mario Run. Fast-forward to today: The Switch is likely on the way to becoming the company’s best-selling “home console” ever, and seven Switch games have outsold the Wii U console. Everything’s coming up Nintendo, then, thanks to the Switch’s unique hybrid format and an ever-growing game library with uncharacteristically strong third-party support.

However, the Switch’s online store isn’t the easiest to navigate, so this guide aims to help the uninitiated start their journey on the right foot. These are the games you should own — for now. We regularly revise and add to the list as appropriate. Oh, and if you’ve got a Switch Lite, don’t worry: Every game on the list is fully supported by the portable-only console.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the best game in the series yet. It streamlines many of the clunky aspects from earlier games and gives players plenty of motivation to keep shaping their island community. As you’d expect, it also looks better than any previous entry, giving you even more motivation to fill up your virtual home and closet. The sound design reaches ASMR levels of brain-tingling comfort. And yes, it certainly helps that New Horizons is an incredibly soothing escape from reality when we’re all stuck at home in the midst of a global pandemic.

Bayonetta 3

Bayonetta 3 is a delicious amplification of the series’ most ridiculous themes. It indulges in absurdity without disrupting the rapid-fire combat or Bayonetta’s unrivaled sense of fashion and wit. Bayonetta 3 is joyful, mechanically rich and full of action, plus it allows players to transform into a literal hell train in order to take down massive beasts bent on destroying the multiverse. Bayonetta elegantly dances her way through battles, dropping one-liners and shooting enemies with her gun shoes in one moment, and turning into a giant spider creature the next.

The Bayonetta series just keeps getting weirder, but that doesn’t mean it’s losing its sense of satisfying gameplay along the way. In the franchise’s third installment, Bayonetta is powerful, confident and funny; she’s a drag queen in a universe loosely held together by witchcraft, and the chaos of this combination is truly magical.

Astral Chain

I was on the fence about Astral Chain from the day the first trailer came out until a good few hours into my playthrough. It all felt a little too generic, almost a paint-by-numbers rendition of an action game. I needn’t have been so worried, as it’s one of the more original titles to come from PlatinumGames, the developer behind the Bayonetta series, in recent years.

In a future where the world is under constant attack from creatures that exist on another plane of existence, you play as an officer in a special force that deals with this threat. The game’s gimmick is that you can tame these creatures to become Legions that you use in combat. Encounters play out with you controlling both your character and the Legion simultaneously to deal with waves of mobs and larger, more challenging enemies. As well as for combat, you’ll use your Legion(s) to solve crimes and traverse environments.

Astral Chain sticks closely to a loop of detective work, platforming puzzles and combat — a little too closely, if I’m being critical — with the game split into cases that serve as chapters. The story starts off well enough but quickly devolves into a mashup of various anime tropes, including twists and arcs ripped straight from some very famous shows and films. However, the minute-to-minute gameplay is enough to keep you engaged through the 20-hour or so main campaign and into the fairly significant end-game content.

Does Astral Chain reach the heights of Nier: Automata? No, not at all, but its combat and environments can often surpass that game, which all-told is probably my favorite of this generation. Often available for under $50 these days, it’s well worth your time.

Celeste

Celeste is a lot of things. It’s a great platformer, but it’s also a puzzle game. It’s extremely punishing, but it’s also very accessible. It puts gameplay above everything, but it has a great story. It’s a beautiful, moving and memorable contradiction of a game, created by MattMakesGames, the indie studio behind the excellent Towerfall. So, Celeste is worth picking up no matter what platform you own, but its room-based levels and clear 2D artwork make it a fantastic game to play on the Switch when on the go.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Dragon Quest XI is an unashamedly traditional Japanese role-playing game. Most of the characters are established RPG tropes: mute protagonist-who’s-actually-a-legendary-hero, sister mages, mysterious rogue and the rest. Then there’s the battle system, which has rarely changed in the decades of the series. (There’s a reason that this special edition features a 16-bit styled version of the game: The mechanics and story work just as well in more… graphically constrained surroundings.) While the story hits a lot of familiar RPG beats, everything takes an interesting turn later on. And through it, the game demands completion. RPGs require compelling stories, and this has one. It just doesn’t quite kick in until later.

This eleventh iteration of the series also serves as a celebration of all things Dragon Quest. Without getting too deep into the story, the game heavily references the first game, taking place in the same narrative universe, just hundreds of years later.

The Switch edition doesn’t offer the most polished take on the game — it’s available on rival consoles — but the characters, designed by Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame, move around fluidly, in plenty of detail despite the limits of the hybrid console. And while it’s hard to explain, There’s also something just plain right about playing a traditional JRPG on a Nintendo console.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is one hell of a game. Developer Intelligent Systems made a lot of tweaks to its formula for the series’ first outing on the Nintendo Switch, and the result of those changes is a game that marries Fire Emblem’s dual personalities in a meaningful and satisfying way. You’ll spend half your time as a master tactician, commanding troops around varied and enjoyable battlefields. The other half? You’ll be teaching students and building relationships as a professor at the finest school in the land.

Hades

Hades was the first early access title to ever make our best PC game list, and the final game is a perfect fit for Nintendo’s Switch. It’s an action-RPG developed by the team behind Bastion, Transistor and Pyre. You play Zagreus, son of Hades, who’s having a little spat with his dad, and wants to escape from the underworld. To do so, Zagreus has to fight his way through the various levels of the underworld and up to the surface. Along the way, you’ll pick up “boons” from a wide range of ancient deities like Zeus, Ares and Aphrodite, which stack additional effects on your various attacks. Each level is divided into rooms full of demons, items and the occasional miniboss.

As Hades is a “roguelike” game, you start at the same place every time, with the levels rearranged. With that said, the items you collect can be used to access and upgrade new weapons and abilities that stick between sessions. Hades initially caught our attention just for its gameplay: You can jump in for 30 minutes and have a blast, or find yourself playing for hours. As the game neared its final release, the storytelling, world-building and its general character really started to take shape — there’s so much to do, so many people to meet and even some romance stuffed in there. You could play for hundreds of hours and still have fun.

Hollow Knight

This was a real sleeper hit, and one of very few Kickstarter games to not only live up to but exceed expectations. Hollow Knight is a 2D action-adventure game in the Metroidvania style, but it’s also just a mood. Set in a vast, decrepit land, which you’ll explore gradually as you unlock new movement and attack skills for your character, a Burtonesque bug-like creature. Short on both dialogue and narrative, the developers instead convey a story through environment and atmosphere, and it absolutely nails it.

You’ll start out feeling fairly powerless, but Hollow Knight has a perfect difficulty curve, always allowing you to progress but never making it easy. For example, it borrows the Dark Souls mechanic where you’ll need to travel back to your corpse upon death to retrieve your “Geo” (the game’s stand-in for Souls), which is always a tense time. Throughout it all, though, the enemies and NPCs will never fail to delight. For a moody game, it has a nice sense of humor and levity imbued mostly through the beautifully animated and voiced folks you meet. Given its low cost and extremely high quality, there’s really no reason not to get this game. Trust us, it’ll win you over.

Into The Breach

When is a turn-based strategy game not a turn-based strategy game? Into the Breach, an indie roguelike game where you control mechs to stem an alien attack, defies conventions, and is all the better for it. While its core mechanics are very much in the XCOM (or Fire Emblem, for that matter) mold, it’s what it does with those mechanics that’s so interesting. A traditional turn-based strategy game plays out like a game of chess — you plan a move, while predicting what your opponent will do in return, and thinking ahead to what you’ll do next, and so on, with the eventual goal of forcing them into a corner and winning. At the start of every Into the Breach turn, the game politely tells you exactly what each enemy character is going to do, down the exact square they’ll end on and how much damage they’ll inflict. There are no hit percentages, no random events, no luck; each turn is a puzzle, with definitive answers to how exactly you’re going to come out on top.

Into the Breach battles are short, and being a roguelike, designed to be very replayable. Once you’ve mastered the basics and reached the end, there are numerous different mechs with new attack and defense mechanics to learn and master as you mix-and-match to build your favorite team. If you’re a fan of either puzzle or turn-based strategy games, this is a must-have.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild signals the biggest shift in the series since the Nintendo 64’s Ocarina of Time, and it might well be one of the best games of the past decade. It pulls the long-running series into modern gaming, with a perfectly pitched difficulty curve and an incredible open world to play with. There’s crafting, weapons that degrade, almost too much to collect and do and a gentle story hidden away for players to discover for themselves. Even without the entertaining DLC add-ons, there’s simply so much to do here and challenges for every level of gamer.

Disco Elysium Final Cut

Disco Elysium is a special game. The first release from Estonian studio ZA/UM, it’s a sprawling science-fiction RPG that takes more inspiration from D&D and Baldur’s Gate than modern combat-focused games. In fact, there is no combat to speak of, instead, you’ll be creating your character, choosing what their strengths and weaknesses are, and then passing D&D-style skill checks to make your way through the story. You’ll, of course, be leveling up your abilities and boosting stats with items, but really the game’s systems fall away in place of a truly engaging story, featuring some of the finest writing to ever grace a video game.

With the Final Cut, released 18 months after the original, this extremely dialogue-heavy game now has full voice acting, which brings the unique world more to life than ever before. After debuting on PC, PS5 and Stadia, Final Cut is now available for all extant home consoles – including Nintendo’s Switch. Loading times are a little slower than on other systems, so it might not be the absolute best platform to play it on, but Disco Elysium is an experience unlike the rest of the Switch library, which is why it makes it on this list.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s vibrancy and attention to detail prove it’s a valid upgrade to the Wii U original. Characters are animated and endearing as they race around, and Nintendo’s made bigger, wider tracks to accommodate up to 12 racers. This edition of Mario Kart included gravity-defying hover tires and automatic gliders for when you soar off ramps, making races even more visually thrilling, but at its core, it’s Mario Kart — simple, pure gaming fun. It’s also a great showcase for the multitude of playing modes that the Switch is capable of: Two-player split-screen anywhere is possible, as are online races or Switch-on-Switch chaos. For now, this is the definitive edition.

OlliOlli World

OlliOlli and its sequel, OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood, were notoriously difficult to master. They were infuriating, but also extremely satisfying when you pulled off just the right combo of tricks and grinds needed for a big score.

I was worried that OlliOlli World’s colorful and welcoming new direction for the series was going to dispense with that level of challenge, but I shouldn’t have been concerned. Developer Roll7 made a game that’s significantly more approachable than the original titles — but one that keeps the twitch-response gameplay and score-chasing highs intact for those who crave them.

It’s hard to sum up exactly what makes OlliOlli World so compelling, but the game mixes serious challenges with moments that let you really get into that elusive flow state, where you’re just pulling off tricks, riding rails and generally tearing through a course without thinking too much about what you’re doing. The music, sound effects, art style, level design and variety of moves you can pull off all contribute to this vibe — and even though the game looks entirely different from its predecessors, the end result is the same: skateboarding bliss.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

Super Mario 3D World was unfairly slept on when it originally launched in 2013, mostly due to the fact very few people had a Wii U. It’s a superb translation of old-school Mario mechanics into 3D (Mario 64 is a masterpiece, yes, but unless you’re a speed-runner it doesn’t quite have the pace of the NES and SNES games). It’s also a great multiplayer game, as you can play simultaneously with three other players and race through levels — the winner of each level gets to wear a crown in the next.

With the move to the Switch, and Nintendo finally starting to figure out online gaming, you can now do that remotely, which is a huge plus. The bigger addition is Bowser’s Fury, an all-new game of sorts that plays more like a blend of Super Mario Odyssey and 3D World. There are some really creative challenges that feel right out of Odyssey, blended with the lightness and speed of the Wii U game. (It should be noted that Bowser’s Fury is also only good for one or two players, unlike the main game.) We’d recommend 3D World just on its own, but as a package with Bowser’s Fury, it becomes a much better deal.

Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey might not represent the major change that Breath of the Wild was for the Zelda series, but it’s a great Mario game that’s been refined across the last two decades. Yes, we got some important modern improvements, like maps and fast travel, and the power-stealing Cappy is a truly fun addition to Mario’s usual tricks. But that core joy of Mario, figuring out the puzzles, racing to collect items and exploring landmarks, is here in abundance.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

This is the ultimate distillation of Nintendo’s multiplayer fighting game. The series’ debut on Switch brings even more characters from beyond Nintendo’s stable. If you’re sick of Mario, Pikachu and Metroid’s Samus, perhaps Final Fantasy VII‘s Cloud, Solid Snake or Bayonetta will be your new go-to character. There are about 80 characters to test out here (although 10 of them are locked behind DLC).

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate features a divisive new single-player mode where you augment characters with stickers, battling through special conditions to unlock more characters and, yes, more stickers. At its core, Smash Bros. games combine fast-paced, chaotic fights with an incredibly beginner-friendly learning curve. Yes, some items are confusing or overpowered, but your special moves are only a two-button combination away. Turning the tables is built into the DNA of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, ensuring thrilling battles (once you’ve sorted handicaps) for everyone involved.

 

Blessedly 2022, a year that by most people’s estimation will be remembered as lousy, will soon be in the rear view mirror of history. Hallelujah, life goes on.

There are any number of reasons to give a failing grade to The Year That Was: Inflation and the still-looming threat of another global recession, critical legislative losses on abortion and trans rights, yet another new covid variant, having to pay attention to Elon Musk — take your pick. But, in the realm of labor, there’s at least one reason to feel hopeful. 2022 was the year unions won elections to represent workers at two of the world’s biggest tech companies, with a third likely on the way.

Workers at an Apple Store in Towson, Maryland made history in June, becoming the first 110 unionized members of the tech giant’s approximately 160,000 person workforce. They chose to be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, but the Baltimore-area staffers are far from alone. Retail workers at a store in Oklahoma City became the second unionized faction within Apple in October — backed by the Communications Workers of America — while another in Glasgow, Scotland — joining GMB — became the third in November.

Many other Apple Store locations have been agitating for better conditions as well, a non-exhaustive list of which includes two stores in New York City, one in St. Louis, and one in Atlanta. Some of these have stalled or been frustrated by the usual union-busting tactics, like an alleged policy created by management in New York’s World Trade Center location to curtail organizing. The company’s anti-union tactics in Atlanta have since been deemed illegal by the National Labor Relations Board. And of course, Apple reportedly hasn’t given up on undermining already unionized locations. Workers at that same Towson store claim the company is withholding new benefits seemingly in retaliation.

Amazon workers in Staten Island have likewise become the first to organize one of the company’s warehouses — and not with an established union, either. Amazon Labor Union (ALU), a grassroots effort which officially established itself last April, secured a win against tremendous odds, less than a year after forming. Those odds, incidentally, included retaliatory firings of leaders, using police to intimidate and arrest organizers and an (unsuccessful) attempt to overturn the unionization vote. Amazon has previously illegally interfered with a union election and reportedly retains the services of operatives from the infamous Pinkerton agency to spy on workers and labor groups. The company’s new CEO, Andy Jassy, recently violated labor laws in several interviews by openly stating his employees would be “better off without a union.” This is all to say ALU had a tremendous uphill climb and, incredibly, managed to pull it off.

As with Apple though, what we’re talking about is a first step. The company has not bargained a contract yet with workers from ALU, and will likely forestall and undermine that process as much as possible, whether by legal or illegal means.

ALU’s organizing efforts have branched out but have so far not found the same success. A warehouse in upstate New York voted overwhelmingly against unionization. However, management had put up digital banners at the same location ahead of its organizing drive instructing workers specifically not to sign union cards, again in apparent contravention of labor law. ALU withdrew a union petition to organize a warehouse in California in October, but has remained open to refiling. Apart from ALU, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters claimed last December that organizing Amazon facilities would be a top priority — seemingly it has focused those efforts on an Amazon Air hub in San Bernardino, where workers have walked out in August and October. The surrounding area — California’s inland empire — is believed to be home to the highest density of Amazon facilities in the company’s logistics network.

Microsoft, too, received an early Christmas present in the form of quality assurance testers at its subsidiary ZeniMax Media announcing their intention to unionize with the Communications Workers of America. While that election has not yet taken place, Microsoft’s president Brad Smith penned a lengthy screed earlier this year supposedly espousing the company’s openness to union representation within its ranks. To many (this author especially) Brad’s words were hot air intended to assuage regulators who are weighing whether to allow the company to merge with games giant Activision-Blizzard. Incidentally if that deal goes through, Microsoft will be home to three bargaining units: this past year QA testers at Raven Software and Blizzard Albany successfully joined the CWA in May and December, respectively, becoming the first workers not only at Activision but at any major games publisher to do so.

Necessarily a huge number of other labor actions in the tech space have been left out of this recollection, but for the most part they fit the pattern above: lower-paid workers at wildly profitable companies whose wages have not even remotely kept up with inflation. Adding insult to injury, tech companies, broadly, did extremely well during the pandemic while these same frontline workers risked their health and safety. Then this year, once economic forecasts became gloomier, many were swept up in downsizing decisions. It’s perfectly logical Amazon warehouse workers, games testers at Microsoft and Activision, support staff at Meta, cafeteria workers with Alphabet and Waymo, janitors at Twitter and retail associates at Apple, Google Fiber and Verizon would be unhappy with their work arrangements. It’s the same reason rail workers, nurses and Starbucks baristas have been agitating, and the same reason approval for unions is the highest it’s been since 1965. Things aren’t working. The hand they’ve been dealt is unwinnable. And though an imperfect tool, unions are one of the few ways workers can attempt to renegotiate the terms.

Unfortunately, labor law in the US leaves much to be desired. Companies have incredible power to delay bargaining, wearing down their own workforces by attrition while cooking up excuses to fire, lay off or manage out organizing leaders. Even after the hurdle of winning a union election, according to Bloomberg Law, the mean negotiation time to secure a contract is over 13 months — and many take significantly longer. The penalties for breaking labor law are so minimal, especially for companies of Big Tech’s size, as to be non-existent. Whether this groundswell of organizing continues to grow in the coming year remains in every way an open question, depending at least in part on economic realities. With layoffs continuing to ravage not just frontline workers but higher-wage tech jobs, there’s reasons enough to suspect it might.

 

Instagram has been placing a bigger focus on Reels this year and that extends to how users will create their 2022 Recap. You’ll be able to select up to 14 of your favorite photos. Instagram will automatically stitch these together into a Reel with narration templates from the likes of Bad Bunny (one of the biggest stars on the planet), Priah Ferguson and DJ Khaled.

Last year, Instagram’s recap feature was called Playback. It selected up to 10 of a user’s Stories from the past year and folks were able to swap Stories in and out as they saw fit. The feature meant that users didn’t necessarily have to resort to third-party apps to share memories of the previous 12 months.

Reels have been a major growth area for Meta over the past yea. The company now says that, across Instagram and Facebook, Reels are played more than 140 billion times every day. Meta has been bolstering its answer to TikTok across both apps in recent months by adding things like tools that make it easier to create Reels, an in-app Reels scheduler and ways to post to Reels from third-party apps.

 

While plenty of gadgets cross our desks, we at Engadget also end up buying a lot of things for ourselves throughout the year. In 2022, some of us upgraded our TVs while others invested in new cookware and deskaccessories that upped our productivity. But there are plenty of things we’ve been loving recently that haven’t made it onto the site. Here, our staffers look back on the year that was by gushing about their favorite items they bought this year.

Nest Hub Max

I got a Nest Hub Max last year for Christmas and over the past 12 months, it’s probably brought me more joy than any other gadget. By setting Google Photos to automatically upload pictures of my son to an album linked to the Nest Hub, every day I’m treated to a slideshow of all the fun times we’ve had. When people say kids grow up fast, they’re totally right. But as a photo viewer with voice controls, the Nest Hub max lets me relive those memories while being also an important part of my smart home control center. – Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter

55-inch LG B2 OLED smart TV

In prioritizing big purchases for our new home, I knew I wanted to get a better TV and soon. Not only did we need a new one quickly for our living room while my fiance used our old one in the basement he’d claimed as his man cave, but I also wanted to see if I could get a good deal during Amazon’s October Prime Day event. I ultimately decided to splurge on the 55-inch LG B2 OLED smart TV when it dipped under $1,000 during that period. To say the difference from our old LED TV was instantly noticeable is not hyperbole: as soon as we set the thing up, we were stunned by the quality. Blacks are deep and colors are much more vibrant than on any TV we’ve had before.

We’ve watched a lot of things on it so far, from live sports to documentaries to sitcoms and everything looks much sharper and more colorful than we’re used to. We’re also pleasantly surprised by LG’s webOS. This is the first TV we’ve used with it and it was super easy to get accustomed to. We like how you can customize your homescreen and navigate either with the arrow keys on the remote or the convenient little cursor that flies around the TV screen. We now refer to it as the “good TV” in the house, with my fiancé opting to watch his weekly sports games on the B2 rather than in his basement sanctuary. — Valentina Palladino, Senior Commerce Editor

Chase Bliss Gen Loss v2

I have made no bones about my love of all things lo-fi and broken. What can I say? I like warbles. In my quest to make every instrument I own sound like it’s coming out of an old tape player I’ve tried a number of things, but in June I pre-ordered the Generation Loss MKII and I think my search is now complete.

The Generation Loss is one of the most popular lo-fi pedals ever made, and last year its creator, Tom Majeski of Cooper FX, joined the relentless experimenters at Chase Bliss. One of the first orders of business was updating his classic pedal. It’s pitched as a “VHS duplicator,” but that is greatly underselling things. While the original Gen Loss was just sort of a generalized tape simulator, the MKII version digs into the highly specific sonic characteristics of a variety of tape-based devices.

The company pulled apart and analyzed VHS players, Tascam Portastudios and dictaphones in an effort to find out what makes them unique. It covers everything from the subtle frequency drop off of old ¼-inch tape running through a reel-to-reel machine, all the way to the crushed hum that results when you make a copy of a copy of a VHS cassette. And if you’re not into the newer version that faithfully recreates particular tape formats, you can always throw one of Chase Bliss’ patented dip switches to turn on classic mode. — Terrence O’Brien, Managing Editor

Apple MagSafe Duo charger

I’ll admit it: My favorite gadget of the year is, well, something I bought last year. In spring 2021,I picked up Apple’s MagSafe Duo charger, which can charge both your iPhone and Apple Watch at the same time, all in a fold-up, compact form factor. While I could (and have) used it at home to charge my Apple devices overnight, I picked it up as a compact charging kit for when I traveled. As we all know, 2021 was not the year for roaming the globe. But as travel restrictions were lifted this year, I finally got to see if the pricey charger was worth the investment.

Yes, $129 was a lot for a dual charger, but it fulfilled the brief of using just a single cable and being so much more compact than most rival Apple Watch standup chargers. It unfurls like a makeup compact, meaning it can slip into anyone’s luggage with ease. Yes, I could take the Apple Watch cable, but in recent years these cables have USB-C, not USB-A sockets. Unfortunately, a lot of hotels (and charging plugs) still don’t have those, and if I’m visiting a different country, there are only so many things I can charge at once with a travel adapter.

After unfolding the two sides, the magnetic puck for Watch charging can also be folded out at 90 degrees, attaching to the wearable and allowing me to see the time when it’s set up. The small footprint means it fits on most nightstands and bedside tables at hotels, guest rooms and even window ledges. If space is at a premium, you can fold it around to charge a single device, whether that’s the watch or your iPhone. The MagSafe charger spot can also wirelessly recharge my AirPods if I ensure they’re in the correct position.

It’s not perfect. I’m increasingly frustrated at the sluggish charging speed when wirelessly charging my iPhone – even if this isn’t a problem when charging overnight. Hopefully, Apple will bring out another model that’s hopefully cheaper and faster to charge. When Apple eventually ditches Lightning, it’ll need to make a new one anyway. – Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief

Bissell SpotClean Pet Pro

Our new house has carpet on the second floor and, while it’s in pretty good shape, there were some stains we wanted to remove if possible before moving in. We also have a cat who occasionally eats too fast and, well, I probably don’t have to tell you the rest. Investing in a spot cleaner seemed like a no-brainer, and I’m glad I went with Bissell’s SpotClean Pet Pro. It’s fairly light at 13 pounds and not very big, so I can tote it around by its carrying handle to any place in my home. All you have to do is fill the solution tank with the proper ratio of cleaning liquid and water, plug the machine in, turn it on and use the included handle to scrub away stains.

I first used it on some of the carpet’s existing mystery marks and they easily came out after a few minutes of elbow-greased scrubbing. The SpotClean’s handle has a button that lets you control the amount of solution it sprays out, and while it’s running, it’s constantly sucking up excess water, filling up a separate tank with the dirty bits. The hardest part of using it is the scrubbing you have to do, and how much weight you want to put into it is totally up to you. I found most light stains came out quickly and without too much effort on my part, but I did spend more time on tougher spots. I also love that I can use this to deep clean upholstered furniture, like our old couch which is in desperate need of a refresh. This spot cleaner certainly isn’t the sexiest purchase I’ve made for our new home, but it’s one that will keep it looking fresh and clean for longer. — V.P.

Tushy Classic Bidet 3.0

Everyone likes a clean butthole. I don’t think that’s a controversial thing to say. But while toilet paper does a decent enough job, sometimes it just doesn’t get the area clean enough. Which means you end up using more TP, potentially clogging the toilet in the process, and you still might not feel like it’s completely clean. That’s why I recently purchased the Tushy Classic 3.0, an affordable bidet that can fit with my existing toilet.

I’ve long wanted one of those fancy Japanese bidet toilets. But not only are they expensive, they require remodeling my bathroom with an additional outlet, which I simply can’t justify at the moment. The Tushy Classic 3.0, on the other hand, is only $130 or so, and it gets the job done at a fraction of the cost. Installing it is easy. All we did was attach it to our existing plumbing and we were done in about 10 minutes. It doesn’t use any electricity either. Turning the knob adjusts the water pressure while moving the toggle adjusts the angle of the spray nozzle.

We’ve been using it for a few months now, and we really do love it. We almost look forward to going number two, which is a strange thing to say. As a woman with monthly menstruation, I really appreciate that it helps get me much cleaner than with toilet paper alone. I think we end up using less TP as a result, too. I’d probably want to upgrade to a fancier bidet in the future, but for now, the Tushy Classic 3.0 more than does the job. — Nicole Lee, Commerce Writer

Blueland hand soap

Before we moved into our new home, we had nearly exhausted the available storage in our apartment. Our tiny bathrooms had little to no space to store extra hand soap, bath wash and other necessities, so I resorted to stuffing our linen closet to the brim – so much so that I had to lean on the door to get it to close properly. So I turned to Blueland, which makes hand soap, cleaning supplies and the like that come in small tablets inside compostable pouches, and most of their formulas are plant-based, vegan and more environmentally friendly than cleaners you’ll find in big-box stores. All you do is drop the formula tablet into a container of water, shake it up and let it sit for a while until the whole tablet dissolves and then you can use the product.

I was immediately impressed with the foaming hand soap for a few reasons. First, a couple of packets took up significantly less space than even a refill jug of the soap I was previously buying, plus I liked the fact that I was purchasing one less plastic bottle by switching. Second, the soap actually worked as advertised. I had tried a couple of eco-conscious hand and dish soaps before this, and most of them had left me disappointed because I felt like they didn’t clean as well as standard solutions. But Blueland’s hand soap foamed up nicely and actually left my hands feeling clean after every wash, with no weird residue left behind.

I started off using the tablets in a mason jar outfitted with a foaming pump lid, but I’ve since graduated to Blueland’s own glass hand soap bottles, which are hefty and luxe. Ultimately, Blueland solved a few problems for me: I don’t have to waste as much space storing hand soap refills, I don’t have to create as much waste since I’m not buying those single-use plastic bottles anymore and I don’t even have to remember to buy hand soap when I go shopping because I get refills sent to my door every few months. — V.P.

Fujifilm XF 27 mm F/2.8

Earlier this year, when I started dabbling in photography as a hobby, I decided the best way for me to start honing my skills was to have my Fujifilm X-T30 with me at all times. The only issue was that, even the relatively light XF 35mm f/2 bought was a little too bulky to go everywhere. I ended up snagging one of Fuji’s 27mm pancake lenses used a few months back, and it’s barely left my camera since. More importantly, my camera has barely left my side since.

With this lens the X-T30 comfortably fits in my Peak Design Field Pouch, along with a cleaning cloth and brush, a notebook and pen, plus my keys. It’s so easy to just grab everything no matter where it is that I’m going. To my parents’ for a birthday dinner? Sure. Grocery shopping? Why not? Just around the block to walk my dog? Seems silly not to.

Obviously, the big feature here is size, but it’s not like you’re making a lot of tradeoffs to get there either. Images taken with the 27mm are insanely sharp. Even wide open at F/2.8 the corners are crisp and contrasty. Would a larger aperture have been nice? Sure. But this is plenty for street photography and family snapshots. My version doesn’t have an aperture ring sadly, but the newer model does. Honestly, my one real complaint is that the minimum focus distance is about 13.4 inches, and I often find myself wanting to get closer to my subject. Still, this is probably the best investment I’ve made in my budding love of photography. — T.O.

Anyday Everyday cookware set

After a traumatic incident where I accidentally set a small fire in a hotel room during a work trip to Barcelona, I’ve always been extra careful about leaving metal in a microwave. So when my friend gifted me a set of Anyday bowls, telling me it was safe to place their metal lids in my microwave and cook whole meals with them, I was blown away.

The premise of these glass bowls is that they’re designed to cook food in your microwave. The bowls themselves are made from thicker, thermal shock-resistant frosted glass so they’ll better withstand temperature fluctuations without cracking. The lids keep steam in the dish to cook your food, and have vents to let out the excess. A silicone rim expands to accommodate extra pressure, and the stainless steel in the lids is curved in a way that Anyday says makes it “100% microwave-safe.”

As someone who mostly prizes convenience when it comes to cooking, I’m enamored with my Anyday bowls. I love steaming eggs and fish filets, but I can also cook rice, vegetables, pasta, and make nut butters, cakes and pretty much anything in the microwave with this system. Of course, anything requiring a sear, deep fry or broil won’t work, and some of the recipes the company shared on its website are too complicated for my liking. But for making healthy steamed meals, the Anyday system is honestly a godsend (or friendsend). Best part: they’re dishwasher safe, so I don’t need to deal with the cleanup after. — Cherlynn Low, Deputy Editor

Madewell Zip-Top Transport Crossbody

My go-to bag for years has been the Pearl crossbody from Lo & Sons, which I love for its compact size and multiple compartments. But it just wasn’t big enough for all the gear that I wanted to carry around with me. So for my birthday this year, I decided to buy myself a newer, larger, bag. I knew that I wanted it to be a crossbody – it feels more secure to me than a regular shoulder model – and I would prefer it if it had top handles. I discovered Madewell’s Zip-Top Transport Crossbody while I was browsing the web, and it seemed to fit the bill.

I’ve had it for a few months now, and it’s earned its place as my new everyday bag. It’s made from a vegetable-tanned leather that’s soft and worn with a slight waxed finish which feels lovely to the touch. The shoulder straps are detachable so I can swap them out if I want, or I can use just the top handles by themselves. The best thing about it for me is its size: at around 10 x 10 x 3 inches, it’s small enough to not weigh me down, but it’s also surprisingly roomy. It fits all my essentials and then some. That includes my wallet, phone, keys, earbuds, pens, my Kobo Libra 2 e-reader, a portable battery and, if I wedge it in correctly, even my Hobonichi Techo planner.

That said, I wish it had more compartments. It only has two inside pockets, which themselves are not that big. As a result, it’s easy for smaller items to get lost; I often have to spend time searching for my lipstick or hand sanitizer. My current solution is to keep these items in a separate small makeup pouch that can fit inside the bag so that it’s easier to fish out. It’s not perfect, but at least for me, the good outweighs the bad. — N.L.

Purist Mover water bottle

I spent $50 on a water bottle earlier this year, and surprisingly, I don’t feel like an idiot months later. That’s because the bottle is the Purist Mover, and it has largely solved the problem of my water picking up a metallic taste after a few weeks. The trick is an ultra-thin, unbreakable layer of glass that lines the interior and helps prevent odors and tastes from transferring. To my taste buds, this has actually worked. I still need to wash the bottle every so often, of course, but so far my water has never tasted like anything other than water.

This might seem like a pointless thing to brag about, but the Mover just feels nice, too. Its textured finish is pleasing to the touch, and its simple design looks high-end – for a water bottle, at least. There are multiple lid and size options available; I went with the 18-ounce model and “Union” spout cap, which has been fine, though the lid tends to make a whistling sound that sounds uncannily like hitting a bong. (Be warned if you’re ever off-camera during a work call.) I still can’t tell anyone they should spend this much on a water bottle, but the Mover does the thing I want, and I’m spending way less on wasteful plastic bottles as a result. — Jeff Dunn, Senior Commerce Writer

 

If you’ve been meaning to grab a spare gamepad for your PlayStation 5, today is a good day to do so, as Sony’s DualSense Wireless Controller is back on sale for $49. This the same deal we saw around Black Friday and ties the lowest price we’ve tracked. Normally, the controller retails around $70. The discount is available at several retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, GameStop, Target, Best Buy and Sony’s own PlayStation Direct store. It also applies to multiple color options, though stock of those appears to differ by retailer, and some models may not arrive before Christmas. According to the controller’s PlayStation Direct listing, this offer is scheduled to run through December 23.

The market for third-party PS5 controllers is mostly limited to more expensive “pro” models, so the DualSense remains the only real option for people who want something more reasonably priced. That said, it’s still a good controller, with the familiar PlayStation layout, well-sized grips, responsive triggers and impressively detailed haptics (which can also be turned off in most games). Its battery doesn’t last nearly as long as something like a Switch Pro Controller, but it’s an improvement over the PS4’s pad, and it’s rechargeable through a USB-C port. And while there’s always a risk of durability issues with gamepads you use all the time — yours truly has had two models break in two years — Sony appears to have improved the DualSense’s internal hardware since the device launched in late 2020.

The DualSense is still on the heavier side, and though it does have Steam support, using it with a gaming PC is generally a bit more complicated than the process would be with Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S controller (which itself is still on sale for $40). If you want more “pro” features like customizable back buttons, trigger stops and multiple settings profiles, meanwhile, note that Sony’s higher-end DualSense Edge controller will release next month, albeit at a pricey $200. All that said, if you just need a PS5 pad for the basics, this is a good deal.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

 

When I first checked out the Dyson Zone in March, the company didn’t allow us to take our own photos of video of the demos, since they were still a ways from production. Now that we have new details about the pricing and availability of Dyson’s air-purifying headphones, the company invited us to check out the device again, this time with video. The Dyson Zone will be available in March at a starting price of $950.

My second experience with the Dyson Zone was very similar to the first, except I was able to test it in more situations. Our video producer Joel Chokkattu and I were accompanied by a company rep while we took the headset out on the streets of New York, walking around for a block on a rainy day. As expected, passersby gawked when I snapped the Bane-like visor onto the headset, and one person even turned their head in shock.

To see if the Zone would be comfortable enough for me to wear on a long flight, which is how I believe most people would want to use it, I laid out on a couch with the entire device on. It wasn’t terrible. We also got to check out the companion app and see a live chart showing the sound levels in our surroundings.

As a reminder, the Dyson Zone is not designed to protect against COVID-19 or other viruses. It does not seal to your face, even if the visor does cover your nose and mouth. It does leave the chin exposed, and there’s a gap between the device and your skin. You can use inserts like an N95 mask attachment that the company offers as part of a package, but on its own the Zone is only getting rid of particles and acidic gasses like nitrogen dioxide and ozone.

For the full details, check out our video above and let us know what you think!

 

Fortnite maker Epic Games will pay $520 million to settle allegations that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and “tricked millions of players into making unintentional purchases,” using deceptive design strategies called dark patterns, the Federal Trade Commission said. The agency notes that there are two separate settlements, each of which broke FTC records.

Epic will pay $275 million for allegedly violating the COPPA rule as part of a proposed federal court order. The agency says that’s the largest penalty it has obtained to date over a rule violation. Epic will also refund customers $245 million over its billing practices and use of dark patterns. The FTC claims that’s the largest refund in a gaming-related case and its biggest administrative order to date. It will decide whether to finalize the consent order after a 30-day public comment period.

“As our complaints note, Epic used privacy-invasive default settings and deceptive interfaces that tricked Fortnite users, including teenagers and children,” FTC chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement. “Protecting the public, and especially children, from online privacy invasions and dark patterns is a top priority for the Commission, and these enforcement actions make clear to businesses that the FTC is cracking down on these unlawful practices.”

Fortnite has been a colossal success for Epic. The game generated $9 billion in profit between 2018 and 2019, and $5.1 billion in gross revenue in 2020.

The FTC claimed that Epic violated the COPPA rule by collecting personal data from Fortnite players aged under 13 without notifying or seeking consent from their parents. In its complaint, the FTC said parents who wanted Epic to delete personal information on their kids had to “jump through extraordinary hoops” and even then the company sometimes didn’t honor those requests.

The agency also accused Epic of engaging in “unfair practices” and harming children and teens by enabling voice and text chat by default. “Children and teens have been bullied, threatened, harassed and exposed to dangerous and psychologically traumatizing issues such as suicide while on Fortnite,” the FTC claimed.

As part of the COPPA settlement, the FTC says there’s a first-of-its-kind provision that forces Epic to have more stringent default privacy settings for kids and teens, including making sure that voice and text chat are off by default. The company also needs to delete personal data it has collected on Fortnite players unless a player says they’re 13 or over or it gets parental consent to retain the information.

Earlier this month, Epic rolled out “cabined accounts” for young Fortnite, Fall Guys and Rocket League players. It said at the time these accounts provided a safe way for kids to play its games. Without parental consent, users with cabined accounts are locked out of features like using voice chat or buying items from in-game stores with real money.

The second complaint accused Epic of using “dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases and [letting] children rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement.” The FTC claimed that players could be charged when resuming Fortnite from sleep mode, when it was on a loading screen or by accidentally clicking a button next to an item preview option. The agency said these design decisions led consumers to pay “hundreds of millions of dollars in unauthorized charges.”

The FTC said children were able to buy V-Bucks, Fortnite‘s in-game currency, without parental consent until 2018. “Some parents complained that their children had racked up hundreds of dollars in charges before they realized Epic had charged their credit card without their consent,” the agency noted. The FTC has targeted the likes of Amazon, Google and Apple for similar reasons in the past.

On top of that, Epic allegedly locked the accounts of users who disputed unauthorized payments with their credit card companies. The FTC said Epic ignored more than a million user complaints and employee concerns over wrongful charges.

Along with the $245 million Epic will pay to cover refunds, the proposed consent order seeks to block it from using dark patterns to charge users or otherwise charge them without obtaining explicit consent. Epic will also agree not to enact blanket bans for accounts that perform chargebacks, only disabling those it suspects of actual fraud. The FTC will send emails to those who made Fortnite in-game purchases when it has more details to share about the refund program.

Epic said in a lengthy statement that, among other things, it has “restored thousands of accounts that were banned due to reported chargebacks under our previous policy.” Payment information will no longer be saved by default, with users offered the chance to opt out. This will add more friction to the checkout process and perhaps help to avoid unintended purchases. “We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players,” the company said.

This isn’t the end of Epic Games’ legal troubles when it comes to Fortnite, which the FTC notes has more than 400 million players. Earlier this month, a judge ruled that a Quebec class action suit claiming the game is addictive (leading one child to reportedly spend more than $6,000 CAD on skins) could move forward.

 

OnePlus has revealed when it will formally show off its flagship products for 2023. The Cloud 11 event will take place in New Delhi, India, on February 7th. The company will showcase the OnePlus 11 5G, OnePlus Buds Pro 2 and more.

Along with revealing the event date, OnePlus said it would bring a couple of fan-favorite features back for its next flagship smartphone. The OnePlus 11 will once again feature the company’s Alert Slider, which offers an easy way to shift between silent, vibrate and alert modes. You can expect Hasselblad tuning for the camera system as well. Both features were available on the OnePlus Pro 10, but neither were present on the more budget-friendly 10T.

As for the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, the company said they’ll offer “a full-bodied, stereo-quality audio experience with crystal clarity.” OnePlus said it will have more to reveal beyond the smartphone and earbuds.

OnePlus, which recently promised four years of major OS updates for some of its 2023 phones, will be looking to make a splash with its next batch of flagship devices. Although the company’s original ethos was to build competitive smartphones it could sell at a lower price than market leaders, it has edged further into the premium category since then. The OnePlus 10 Pro, for instance, cost $899.

The brand has scheduled the event during a relatively busy time of the year. While CES will be over and done with a few weeks beforehand, OnePlus will debut the flagship products right around the time Samsung is expected to show off the Galaxy S23 lineup. Despite major recent changes for the brand, OnePlus may once again get lost in the shuffle.

 

There are two types of people in this world: those with naked iPhones and those who stick their handset in a case as soon as they unbox it. If you just got a new phone and fall into the latter category, you have an overwhelming range of options to consider. It’s easy to fall down a rabbit hole, researching iPhone cases from companies you’ve never heard of on Amazon. You may be tempted to get one of the cheapest options available, or maybe the one with the cutest pattern, but they might not be the best iPhone cases for your needs. We tested out a number of the latest cases, covers and protectors to see which are actually worth your money.

Spigen Ultra Hybrid Magfit

If you want a basic, protective case that comes at an affordable price, Spigen has you covered. The company’s Ultra Hybrid MagFit cases have clear backs that show off the color of your iPhone and we like their raised bezels that protect the rear camera. The cases also have tactical buttons on the side that make it easy to feel around and adjust your phone’s volume without even looking at it. The overall slim profile of the case allows it to protect your iPhone without adding too much bulk, and it’s MagSafe compatible as well. Also, the Ultra Hybrid case was one of the most secure we tried – to the point where it was almost difficult to extricate the iPhone when we needed to test out a new cover. And while they normally go for around $45, you can often find them on sale for $25 to $30.

Smartish Gripmunk

We’ve recommended Smartish cases in the past for their artistic designs, but we particularly like the Gripmunk series for the latest iPhones. They’re a bit rougher around the edges than Spigen’s cases, literally – Gripmunk covers have textured edges that make them easier to grip and less likely to slip out of your hands, while the backs of the cases show off cute patterns and designs like floral arrays, cosmic scenes and more. There are a few solid-color options too, if you want to go the True Basic route (no shame), and these cases have MagSafe compatibility as well. If you’re a minimalist and don’t like to carry a lot on your person, you could ditch your billfold and spring for Smartish’s Wallet Slayer that has similarly textured edges along with a sleeve on the back that can hold up to three credit cards and a few notes of cash.

Case-Mate Blox

If you’re looking for a bold, eye-catching case that has tons of personality, Case-Mate has a ton of great options to consider. Its iPhone 14 series has glittery cases, floral print covers and everything in between, but the one that stuck out most to me is the Blox line. These cases have squared-off corners that give your iPhone a modern, blocky look. Combine that with their bright neon colors and you’ll likely never have to ask your friends where your phone is again – you won’t miss it. I also appreciate that the Blox cases are fingerprint-resistant, provide protection against 10-foot drops and have built-in magnetics for MagSafe accessory compatibility.

Incipio Organicore

You have many more options today than you did previously if you want an environmentally friendly phone case. Incipio’s Organicore line is one of our favorites because its cases are 100 percent compostable, provide decent protection and the latest models are MagSafe compatible, too. They come in clear and opaque designs, and the latter has a buttery texture that makes the case feel more luxurious than you’d think. Organicore cases will protect your iPhone from drops up to eight feet, and their raised edges will be the first line of defense your phone has against accidental dings and bumps. MagSafe accessories work fine, but we did find that the opaque case wasn’t the grippiest out of the ones we tested. Best to stick to flat wireless chargers like Apple’s, rather than vertical magnetic stands where gravity can take over.

Cyrill Kajuk Mag

Cyrill makes a number of elegant cases and the new Kajuk Mag is no exception. It’s one of the thinnest and lightest cases we tried, but it does have four layers of protection: a soft microfiber lining, a sturdy PC back, TPU bumpers and a vegan leather exterior. Since the company doesn’t boast a certain level of drop protection, this is a good option for those that care more about aesthetics but also want a simple, protective layer standing between their iPhone and hard concrete. As the name suggests, you can use the Kajuk Mag with MagSafe accessories, and it even has an accessory hole built in, for those that want to attach charms, straps and other things.

Peak Design Everyday Case

Peak Design’s Everyday Case not only looks attractive, but it turns your phone into a bunch of different things when you pair it with any of the accessories in the company’s mobile ecosystem. We like its protective rubberized bumper and nylon shell, and its SlimLink connector sits in the middle of the case’s back, waiting for whichever accessory you need that day. The company’s mobile tripod is one of our favorites for taking better photos with your phone, but also propping it up any which way you need. Commuters can opt for the dashboard mount to keep their phone within reach while driving, or the bike mount when you need to follow directions on its screen. If you use your phone for everything and want a case that can support all of those different activities, this one is a good option.

Pelican Shield Kevlar

Maybe you work outdoors, go camping frequently or are simply a bit clumsier than most. Some of the best protection you can get for your iPhone comes from Pelican’s Shield Kevlar case series. They’re admittedly bulky, but that’s how they safeguard your phone from up to 21-foot drops. The 5mm raised bumper provides shock-absorbing safety for the rear camera array as well as the handset as a whole, plus the secure edges and dustproof cover keep all unwanted debris out. Plus, these cases are MagSafe compatible, so you don’t have to sacrifice convenience when opting for as much protection as possible.

 

Europe has hit Facebook owner Meta with a complaint that its Marketplace classified service is unfair to competitors. By tying its main social media site to Marketplace, it has a “substantial distribution advantage” over rivals, the EU Commission wrote in a press release. 

“With its Facebook social network, Meta reaches globally billions of monthly users and millions active advertisers,” EU Antitrust Commissioner said in a statement. “Our preliminary concern is that Meta ties its dominant social network Facebook to its online classified ad services called Facebook Marketplace. This means that users of Facebook automatically have access to Facebook Marketplace, whether they want it or not.”

In addition, the Commission found that Meta imposes imposes unfair trading conditions on competitors that advertise on Facebook or Instagram. That essentially allows it to use “ads-related data derived from competitors for the benefit of Facebook Marketplace,” it said. The practices, if confirmed, would infringe on EU rules that prohibit the abuse of a dominant market position. The EU has the power to impose a fine of up to 10 percent of Meta’s annual revenue and prohibit the behavior. 

In a statement, Meta’s head of EMEA competition said the “claims made by the European Commission are without foundation” and that the company “will continue to work with regulatory authorities to demonstrate that our product innovation is pro-consumer and pro-competitive.” 

Last year, the EU Commission launched an antitrust probe into Facebook’s classified advertising practices to determine if it broke competition rules by using advertiser data to its own benefit. The so-called Statement of Objects released today is a formal step in EU antitrust investigations, informing parties of complaints raised against them. Meta can now examine the documents, reply in writing and request an oral hearing to present their comments, according to the Commission.