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Sims 4 YouTuber Eva Rotky talks what’s desperately missing in build/buy and the eco-friendly fairytale of Enchanted by Nature

by admin August 22, 2025

Since the beginning of the decade, The Sims 4 has shown a consistent preoccupation with sustainable living and reclaiming industrial spaces.

Its most recent add-on, July 2025’s Enchanted by Nature expansion, is just the latest DLC to tackle a theme that was already present in the aptly-named Eco Lifestyle expansion pack, as well as the Cottage Living and Horse Ranch packs, the Tiny Living stuff pack, and the Werewolves game pack (that last title sounds a little left-field, but trust me, it fits the theme).

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To learn more about this growing design trend within The Sims 4 and its player community, I spoke to Eva Rotky, a Sims YouTuber who describes herself as “an interior designer by day and a Sims builder by night”.

She has been gaming as a hobby since childhood, but it wasn’t until the pandemic lockdowns that friends encouraged her to begin making YouTube videos of her Sims builds, which eventually led to her joining the EA Creator network in 2022. “If my seven-year-old self could see or know these things,” she says, “She’d be like, absolutely not! I don’t believe it!”

Eva has been a Simmer since the days of the original game back in the early 2000s, so naturally she’s well-positioned to appreciate the changes that have come to the series over its 25-year history – in particular, the expansion of build mode, one of the few features which the majority of players seem to agree has improved with every new gen of the franchise.

The Irish folklore inspired world of Innisgreen gave fairies and PlantSims a new place to call home in Enchanted by Nature.Image credit: EA / Maxis

“I do think that there is a trend at the moment outside of The Sims to go back to nature and to want to reconnect with nature,” Eva agrees. “I think that’s especially since COVID and lockdown that people are cherishing nature a bit more and wanting to embrace it, not be stuck in a concrete city and a one-bedroom apartment. I think it’s definitely reflecting a trend in society as well, but obviously also those are features in the game that The Sims community has always wanted to have.”

So does this extend to simulated living too? “I don’t know what it is about The Sims, but being outdoors is so much more fun in The Sims than just being indoors in your house,” Eva explains, adding that: “One of my favourite things to do in The Sims is the landscaping, and it’s not something I’m particularly interested in outside of The Sims, I don’t really know plants!”

Despite some Sims skills applying to real life more than others – Eva’s day job is in interior design, and she even mentions including Sims builds in her portfolio when she applied for the role she holds now – there’s no denying that The Sims 4’s whimsical vision of the natural world has a hold on her.

“Creating landscapes in The Sims is so satisfying, just making a garden or a space that looks natural with plants growing out everywhere and not perfectly pristine all the time. In my Enchanted by Nature build I went heavy on the landscaping, I spent most of my time on it just in the landscaping tools. Even though the build/buy is lovely, the exterior was kind of where it was at with the new roof colours and being able to place plants on roofs with the new base game update.”

Watch Eva put her ideas into practice with her Enchanted by Nature build!Watch on YouTube

Updates to The Sims 4 – whether free or paid – are of particular interest to Eva, who makes a point of not using custom content (CC) in her builds, and keeps her use of mods to a minimum. This ensures her designs are more accessible for players on console, for example, as well as adding an extra layer of creative challenge; and it also means that Eva is very attuned to critique of what’s new in every DLC release.

“I’ve enjoyed it more in recent years because of the build/buy and the quality of the items really changing and improving in my opinion, and there being more of a focus on the actual design of the items that really makes it easier for me to use no CC in my builds,” she says. “It’s always a challenge and I do enjoy it. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating, but in recent years I would say it’s been so much easier because of the really beautiful items that the team have been creating.”

This seems like a good time to address the elephant in the room – or should that be the spiral staircase very prominently not in the room? – and ask Eva what’s still on her wishlist for future updates. “My first thought was spiral staircases!” Eva confirms. “I miss those so desperately! That would be my number one wishlist item. Probably it’s so small, but it makes such a difference.”

Given that spiral staircases almost go without saying, though, Eva also adds that: “One thing I would also really love would be to be able to create not-full-length walls – so you could create a few more shapes, do half the length of the wall or something like that. I think that’d be really fun!”

A recent base game update brought greenhouses and living roof options to The Sims 4, further supporting that recurring theme of greener living. | Image credit: EA / Maxis

Eva is also quick to point out that, despite not wearing its eco credentials on its sleeve quite so blatantly as Enchanted by Nature, the previous Sims 4 expansion pack – March’s Businesses & Hobbies – still quietly carries the theme.

Nordhaven – the world that shipped with the pack – draws its primary inspiration from a mixture of Stockholm and Copenhagen; and while the name of the city may be a little on-the-nose, EA deserves credit for avoiding the obvious one-note Ikea jokes in favour of a more authentic approach to designing a modern Scandinavian urban environment, both in terms of public areas and living spaces.

To prove the point, Businesses & Hobbies features some of Eva’s own work, in the form of two pre-made lots in Nordhaven: a neoclassical museum in the Gammelvik historic district and a converted foundry in Iverstad, the latter styled as a formerly industrial neighbourhood where defunct factory buildings are being repurposed as residential dwellings.

The builds are, as you might expect, very distinct from one another, demonstrating both the breadth of Eva’s design interests and the flexibility of what can be created in the game as it stands.

“Scandinavian mid-century is kind of my bread and butter to be honest, and industrial as well, so it was nice to create something that felt so realistic,” Eva says of her Iverstad build. “And every time I’m in [Nordhaven], I feel like I’m where the inspiration came from. I feel like I’m not in The Sims, I feel like I’m actually in Copenhagen or somewhere, which is really lovely.”

Nordhaven, where Eva’s builds are featured in-game, is far more down-to-earth than Innisgreen, but they share their eco-conscious themes. | Image credit: Maxis / Electronic Arts

All of this ties neatly into Eva’s overarching design philosophy: “I think the balance to strike in any design is always not to be one-sided,” she explains. “If you only focus on nature then that will come with challenges and limitations. And what I love doing (also in real life design) is combining natural materials with man-made materials. I think that kind of combination and contrast between the two is actually how you create something that’s really timeless.”

One final thing that strikes me about Eva’s Sims content is that, while you might expect her interests to be very grounded in aspirational design, she’s never afraid to let her more whimsical side show.

By her own admission, her favourite among her own builds is not a high-end mansion but a recreation of one of the post-apocalyptic fortresses seen in The Last of Us – which is, after all, nothing if not a defunct space being repurposed by humans and reclaimed by nature at the same time.

Whether it’s a luxurious mansion, a zombie-proof stronghold, or a fairytale cottage, Eva recognises that the unifying theme – the one thing that perhaps draws together most Simmers, despite being an incredibly diverse player base – is the wish fulfillment. “What I really like about The Sims is that you can do whatever you want,” she explains. “You might never be able to live in any of these houses in real life, but you can create your own little reality in The Sims and do it there.”

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Ripple Finally Ends Lawsuit with SEC After Court Approves Dismissal

by admin August 22, 2025

The Ripple lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally come to an end after almost five years. The court has approved a joint request from both Ripple and the SEC to dismiss their appeals.

Lawyer James Filan shared the news on X, saying the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit signed the order.

Jame Filan shares the news on X | Source: X

The SEC decided to drop its appeal, while Ripple and its executives, Chris Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse, also chose to withdraw their own cross-appeal.

But now that the case is closed, Ripple must pay a penalty to the SEC. Judge Analisa Torres had already ruled that Ripple owed $125 million for breaking securities laws when selling XRP to institutional investors. This fund was already placed in escrow while the case continued, as it waited for the appeal decision to finish.

Earlier, Ripple and the SEC agreed to reduce the penalty to $50 million, but Judge Torres did not accept that amount. She refused to issue a ruling that would change the settlement, leaving the higher fine of $125 million in place. Ripple will now complete this payment to officially settle the matter.

Meanwhile, this is good news to the crypto space and it sure has been celebrated. At the time of writing this report, XRP is up 5.57%. This was from the previous day and intraday low of $2.78. Currently, the token is trading for $3.06, with an 89% surge in trading activity, leading to $9.27 billion in trading volume.

The case initially started back in December 2020, when the SEC accused Ripple of raising $1.3 billion through sales of unregistered securities. Since then, the lawsuit had become a turning point for the crypto space, with debate raising about whether digital tokens should be treated as securities under U.S. law. With the appeals dismissed and the fine confirmed, this chapter is officially closed.

Also Read: Traders Are Shifting to Ethereum as Bitcoin Volatility Drops

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

11 Tips for Getting Started in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

by admin August 22, 2025

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is the best way to play one of the greatest Metal Gear games of all time. However, like most Hideo Kojima games, the Metal Gear Solid series features unique gameplay and mechanics. Whether you’re a veteran fan of the series or experiencing Snake Eater for the very first time, the new modes and gameplay tweaks will be sure to satisfy you.

Here are 11 tips to keep in mind when jumping into Metal Gear Solid Delta.

Pause cutscenes if you need to

Hideo Kojima’s games are known for their long cutscenes, and Snake Eater is no different. The majority of your first few hours will feature very minimal gameplay. And while the cutscenes are exciting and bizarre, you can pause them to take a break without risking skipping them entirely. Pause any cutscene by hitting the menu button and if you want to skip, you’ll see the option for that, too. It’s also worth mentioning that you can hit the same button to pause lengthy radio conversations as well.

The camouflage screen.

Screenshot by Sean Booker

Swap camo often

Snake Eater can be played like a run-and-gun shooter, but a stealthy approach is generally better, and utilizing your various outfits and facepaint will maximize your evasiveness. Make sure to change your appearance often to match your surroundings. And to make swapping even quicker, hold up on the D-pad to access a quick change menu.

You can keep track of your camouflage percentage at the bottom of the screen.

Screenshot by Sean Booker

Keep an eye on camo percentage

The game will give you a higher stealth rating the better you blend in, so make sure to watch your camo percentage. As you move around the environment, a percentage at the bottom will show you how hidden you are. The higher the number, the less likely an enemy will spot you. Bonus tip: There’s a trophy you can unlock if you bring your camouflage over 90%.

Having a radio conversation about the original Godzilla movie.

Screenshot by Sean Booker

Call your team often

Throughout the game you’ll unlock more and more allies to call and chat with on the radio. These conversations can range from hints on how to proceed to how you save your game. Calling teammates often will give you bonus dialogue about events that you just witnessed or played through. They’ll even offer fun anecdotes or just chat with Snake.

Be aware of time paradoxes

Snake Eater is a prequel entry in the Metal Gear Solid franchise. This means that you can’t deviate too far from the main story because it would mess with events that take place in MGS 1 and 2. If you do, you can create literal Time Paradoxes resulting in game over screens and humorous lectures from your team.

One such example is killing Ocelot after meeting him for the first time. To proceed, you need to leave him unconscious on the ground — stabbing him with your knife will disrupt the canon. However, you can stab him anyway if you want a trophy.

Keep an eye out for R1 prompts in cutscenes

Snake Eater has unique cutscenes where at specific moments, you can swap camera angles to see what Snake is looking at. You’ll miss out on important visuals while the game just shows your character looking into binoculars, for example. When you see the R1 icon show up in the screen’s corner, make sure to hit it. However, do keep in mind that this game is a product of an older era and sometimes you’ll realize Snake is just staring at a woman’s chest.

The drag bodies toggle in the game settings.

Screenshot by Sean Booker

You can change settings to drag bodies easier

Hiding bodies is important to keep alert levels down. You can lift and drag someone by holding down the Square button, but doing so can be kind of annoying. In the settings menu you can select to change carrying from a button hold to a simple button press. This gives you back your right thumb in order to regain camera control while dragging someone out of sight.

Remove the silencer from your pistol.

Screenshot by Sean Booker

Use silencers, but recognize when you don’t need them

Trust me on this, stealth is your friend in this game. It’s harder to pull off, but worth it. This means silencers are quite important for avoiding gun fights and staying hidden. However, silencers can wear down and won’t last forever. To avoid overusing them, remove the silencers anytime you engage in a big gun fight or boss battle. If the enemy already knows you’re there, there’s no point wasting the silencer.

Grab the thermal goggles early

One of the most useful pieces of equipment is the thermal goggles. It allows you to see enemies through walls and will help spot bosses during big fights. They can be collected pretty early in the game too. The second time you reach the destroyed base that housed Sokolov, check in the locker in his room.

Don’t miss the early machine gun

If you’re wanting to take the loud route through the game, there’s a machine gun stashed away quite early in Snake Eater. At the first bridge you encounter, where the game has you use a beehive to scare off an enemy, the gun is located in a small cave underneath. You can reach it by crossing the bridge and then circling around the ledge to the left. You need to grab the gun the first time you get to the bridge, though. The next time the gun will be gone and you’ll only find ammo.

Become the snake eater

You can hunt and eat various animals in the game for stat and health rewards. Find a snake, eat the snake, get the Snake Eater Trophy.

With those 11 tips you’ll now start off on a much stronger footing when playing through Metal Gear Solid Delta.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater comes out on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC on Aug. 28.

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

Esports

A Return to the Culture Wars? | Opinion

by admin August 22, 2025

It’s almost a quarter of a century since Grand Theft Auto 3 launched, in the process
effectively heralding the beginning of a decade in which video games were thrust into the
heart of a bitterly fought culture war.

For those too young to remember that era clearly, it’s hard to explain just how serious and
concerted efforts to censor, ban, or otherwise regulate the content of video games were. Socially conservative politicians, commentators, and opportunists on both sides of the
Atlantic rushed to make videogames a scapegoat for youth violence.

This wasn’t a new strategy – it was the same type of attack that had in previous decades
targeted music genres like rap and metal, or horror movies and other “video nasties”. There
was prior art in targeting video games, too: conservative commentators famously tried to
implicate Doom in the Columbine High School massacre in the late nineties.

GTA 3, however, was a turning point.

Attacks on video games had largely been
occasional pot-shots when there wasn’t much else in the news; right-wing newspapers could
reliably knock up some pearl-clutching about a video game when there wasn’t much else to
fill space with.

Now they have become the absolute core issue for conservative culture warriors.

GTA 3’s commercial success, piggybacking on the broader success of PlayStation in turning
games into a mainstream medium in that era, was part of the reason for that. The other part
of the reason was that GTA 3 included not just a lot a lot of violence but also allusions to sex
and prostitution.

It wasn’t the first game to include sexual content by any means, but it was this aspect that
sent many conservatives into a frenzy.

It’s no accident that arguably the biggest blow these
cultural warriors were able to strike against the GTA series was over the “Hot Coffee”
incident, in which it transpired that code and assets for a minigame in which the protagonist
had sex with his girlfriend had been left on the discs for GTA San Andreas, although it wasn’t
accessible to players without using mods.

In a game in which you could gleefully murder
people by their hundreds, it was an inaccessible animation of some fully-clothed humping that got the game re-rated Adults-Only by the ESRB, and earned Rockstar a warning from
the FTC.

Ultimately, though, this is an argument that conservatives lost pretty comprehensively.

Image credit: Rockstar Games

Games were repeatedly confirmed to be protected speech in the United States and came to
be generally accepted as a creative medium deserving of free expression in most other
western jurisdictions.

The argument that violent games were responsible for violent crime
among young people, meanwhile, was debunked over and over again by statistical analyses
and psychological studies.

Most people probably treat this whole era as a historical curiosity – a growing pain for the
medium, similar to the backlash experienced by many other types of media in the past. Something that needed to be fought, and resisted, but which is now over and done with.

You might ask librarians and authors – at pretty much any point in the past century and a
half – how well letting your guard down in these situations, assuming a battle won to be an
issue settled forever, tends to work out.

With cultural conservatism now back in the ascendency in many countries, there are plenty
of groups on that side who absolutely have not forgotten how they lost the battle over
video games – and are aching to relitigate it from their newfound positions of sociocultural
power, using the smarter and sharper approaches that they’ve been honing for a decade.

Make no mistake – what you can see sliding into the medium’s most vulnerable faultlines
right now is the thin end of a very thick wedge. Conservative groups have weaponised
payment processors, as they have in many other cases in recent years, to demand the
removal of “adult” content from digital storefronts like Steam and itch.io.

It’s such a small demand; it almost seems so reasonable. Pornographic games make lots of
people a bit uncomfortable, especially if they’re being listed right next to your nice
wholesome games on a storefront.

The temptation to argue for appeasement is strong when
privately you’re thinking to yourself, “good riddance” – especially given that some (a small
minority) of the games involved are pretty unpleasant by most reasonable standards.

Not to trivialise Niemöller’s famous poem, but the whole reason they came for the
communists first was because they knew lots of ordinary people would quietly think, “good
riddance”. He’s speaking to a very specific and dark moment in history, but outlining a much
more universal strategy and the tragedy of how we fall for it again and again.

The whole
point of coming for the most objectionable group first is to open a fracture – to insert a lever
that you can then use to drive it wider and wider.

We already know how the wedge starts to widen. Even in this first round, games with LGBTQ+
themes – not necessarily explicit in nature! – were being caught up in the sweep and treated
as “adult” content.

This mirrors the strategy seen in book banning efforts in the United
States. Campaigners create a framework to ban “pornographic” content, and then expand
the definition of “pornography” to include anything related to the lives and existence of
minority groups they dislike, and ultimately any kind of content that makes them
uncomfortable.

There is no reason to believe that this is where those efforts would stop. Some people in the
industry may be willing to throw LGBTQ+ creators and consumers under the bus to appease
the conservative movement, but it won’t work – throwing out chum in the water only attracts
more sharks.

Conservatives who have carried a chip on their shoulder about the failure of
their campaigns against video games for decades are circling, emboldened by the realisation
that they can sidestep all those problematic free speech legalities by weaponizing
commercial financial infrastructure instead of courts and legislation.

Moreover, the defences that won this battle last time may no longer work. The modern
conservative obsession with redefining what is “healthy” (childhood vaccinations are out, raw
milk is in) based on political rather than scientific or evidence-based standards will equally
be applied to media consumption.

Scientific studies and analyses exonerating games of any
connection to youth violence mean little and less in an era when science is dismissed and
vibes, not evidence, drive public discourses and even government policy.

A movement with the taste of blood in its mouth from banning pornographic or LGBTQ+ themed
games will quickly find new targets in the long, long list of Things That Make Them A Bit
Uncomfortable – a list they’ve been carefully curating since the 1990s.

“Some people in the industry may be willing to throw LGBTQ+ creators and consumers under the bus to appease the conservative movement, but it won’t work – throwing out chum in the water only attracts more sharks”

This is a slippery slope argument, but the key figures in this movement – from Project 2025
author and Trump cabinet member Russ Vought all the way down to the small campaign
groups spearheading these censorship movements – have been quite open about their
strategy being to launch headlong down that slippery slope.

Pornography is the wedge issue; LGBTQ+ themes are prying the gap open further.

By the time
the mechanisms being used to target pornographic games or LGBTQ+ themed games are
turned on games for featuring any kind of sexualised content, or same-sex romance options,
or depictions of violence against conservative in-groups (expect loud outrage at any game in
which players can shoot at police officers, though blasting away at brown people in military
shooters will no doubt remain just fine), it’ll be a bit too late to start lobbying your political
leaders.

If you’re not even in the United States, you might never have that option at all – though you’ll still be caught in the global splash damage of US payment processors’
domestic decisions.

In six months or a year when some ambitious conservatives start thinking they can take
down GTA 6 and land a hammer-blow on a medium they’ve hated since Jack Thompson’s
heyday, the moment for the industry to really take a united stand in defence of its creative
freedoms will already have passed.

It’s now, when the games being targeted are relatively
small and perhaps even a little uncomfortable to get behind, that red lines over free
expression truly need to be drawn – and payment processors, perhaps, sharply reminded
exactly whose hand is feeding them.

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Trump’s World Liberty Scoops Up $5M in Ethereum at $4,670

by admin August 22, 2025

Ethereum is experiencing a sharp surge as Trump-linked World Liberty Financial makes headlines with new purchases. According to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, World Liberty recently spent 5.025 million USDC to acquire 1,076 ETH at $4,670.

Source: X

The project, which is linked to President Trump’s Family, is coming back after selling thousands of ETH at a high loss. Lookonchain reported that a wallet tied to World Liberty sold 5,471 ETH for $8.01 million at $1,465 per token.

This came after the entity had spent nearly $210 million to accumulate 67,498 ETH at an average of $3,259. Consequently, the position is now sitting on a loss of about $125 million.

Coinbase Expands Token Roadmap

The purchase comes just a day after Coinbase added World Liberty Financial USD (USD1), the Trump-backed stablecoin, to its listing roadmap. Coinbase is trying to diversify assets across Ethereum, Base, and Solana networks with this move.

In addition, tokens like QCAD, Dolomite, and SPX6900 have made their way onto the Ethereum review list. AWE Network and Flock are now being considered on Base, while Solayer has been added for Solana.

Eric Trump, who serves as the Vice President of Trump Media Group and is also a co-founder of World Liberty, shared the news about the roadmap on X. He teased that more announcements are on the way, keeping the project in the limelight.

USD1 is officially on @Coinbase!!!
More @worldlibertyfi news to come very soon! https://t.co/GaDxpHAlH3
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) August 21, 2025

Bitcoin OG Shifts Into Ethereum

Moreover, blockchain trackers flagged unusual activity from a long-dormant Bitcoin whale. The wallet, which received 100,784 BTC seven years ago, turned into 62,914 ETH worth $270 million.

Additionally, it established a 135,265 ETH derivatives long position valued at $580 million. Lookonchain noted that the same entity may control multiple wallets following similar strategies.

Ethereum’s market reaction to these is identifiable. As of writing, ETH trades at $4,765, up 13.07% in the past 24 hours, with volumes exceeding $59 billion.

Ethereum’s rally is getting interest from political projects and Bitcoin whales, one of them being the OG. Coinbase’s roadmap update further fuels the momentum.

Also Read: SharpLink Approves $1.5B Stock Buyback Tied to ETH Holdings

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

David Hayter “Would Have Loved” A Redo With Metal Gear Solid Delta

by admin August 22, 2025

David Hayter is always down to play Snake–whether it’s Naked or Solid. But the voice actor does wish he had the chance to re-record lines for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, the remake of the 2004 PS2 game.

Speaking with Inverse, Hayter explained that he believes he could have improved some of his dialogue from the original game for the remake. “I do feel that I’m a little better of an actor now than I was then,” said Hayter, with a laugh. “It was fine back in the day, but I would have loved to bring some of the knowledge that I’ve picked up over the past 20 years to it.”

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Now Playing: Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Review

That said, Hayter is apparently holding out hope that he can show off his improved acting chops in a future Metal Gear Solid game. If one does get made, the franchise will be handed off to a new generation of Konami developers. “Anytime they ask me to be Snake, I’m in,” said Hayter, who voiced the character in the first four mainline entries (and other spin-offs). “It’s the definitive role in my life. It’s so complex and so profound, and there are so many different aspects to both him and Big Boss. So anytime it comes up, I’m down.”

In 2013, Hayter was replaced as the actor for Snake by Keifer Sutherland–known for 24, Stand By Me, and The Lost Boys–in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Needless to say, it wasn’t easy to swallow at the time for Hayter. However, earlier this month, Hayter expressed that he’s come to peace with The Phantom Pain.

Metal Gear Solid Delta is set to launch next week on August 28 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game will get a new online multiplayer mode called Fox Hunt in the fall, but it won’t support cross-play. For more, check out GameSpot’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater review.

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle review: full of features for the most committed farmers

by admin August 22, 2025

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Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle: One-minute review

The Farming Simulator crowd is a pretty diehard one, but unlike the sim racing community they aren’t blessed with a world of choice when it comes to dedicated peripherals and accessories. The Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle is one of the few options available with a combination of a wheel, pedals, and input-rich side panel.

The wheel and pedals are pretty stock standard, bordering on being a little underwhelming. Both are made entirely of plastic with a real hollow feeling and no reassuring weight to them. There’s no force feedback on offer here either, instead the wheel relies on a tightly sprung return mechanism to recentre the wheel in a pretty aggressive and haphazard way. The pedals also lack any kind of resistance, both the accelerator and brake feel the same under foot with an identical size and travel. It all has a very arcade vibe but at least it gets the job done.

The control panel is a different story altogether, so much so it almost feels at odds with the rest of the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle. Once again it’s all plastic, but it’s much more solid and each of the 24 buttons are snappy and responsive. The front loader joystick is the highlight on the entire bundle, it feels premium and offers a great level of control.

I fired up Farming Simulator 25 and was delighted to see how well the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle was pre-mapped. Not only was the entire setup recognized immediately, it was truly plug and play with every in-game control for every machine I tried already configured out of the box. It made the experience far more welcoming than the Thrustmaster FarmStick X which required almost entirely manual setup before I could begin working the fields.

The lack of force feedback meant it wasn’t exactly a realistic experience, the entire time I spent behind the wheel I was fully aware it was essentially a toy, but it made me enjoy my farming a trailer-load more than when I’ve played with a controller or keyboard and mouse.

(Image credit: Future)

Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle: Price and availability

List price: $329.99 / £229.99 / €289.99
Side panel also available separately as a standalone device
Previously sold as the Saitek Heavy Equipment Bundle

Just like a scarecrow standing alone in a field, the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle seems to cast a pretty lonely figure in the category of farming simulation gear.

Racers are blessed with an abundant range of wheels but it’s rare to see such a focused piece of tech. Much like that experienced, old scarecrow, the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle is somewhat of a veteran at this stage too. Celebrating its 10th birthday in 2025, this wheel and button box combo was originally released by sim hardware manufacturer Saitek shortly before its acquisition by Logitech back in 2016.

Logi then rebadged and re-released the Heavy Equipment Bundle under its Logitech G brand a couple of years later and it remains as one of the only dedicated farming sim rigs in the market. Little has changed since the original, you’ll still get a three-piece bundle of a wheel, pedals and side panel, and the price remains close to what it was at a reasonably steep $329.99 / £229.99 / €289.99. If you’ve already got a wheel and pedals, the side panel is available on its own for $169.99 / £139.99 / €169.99.

This sees the Logitech G Heavy Equipment bundle come in a chunk cheaper than its only major competitor, the Hori Farming Vehicle Control System, which will set you back just shy of $400. It also keeps it in-line with the sim racing staple Logitech G920, which does away with the side panel in favor of a higher-quality wheel. If you play more than just Farming Simulator it may be worth looking at that standalone option and spending a little more to pick up a higher quality wheel.

(Image credit: Future)

Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle: Specs

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Dimensions

Wheel: 13.98 x 10.83 x 12.60in / 355 x 275 x 320mm (HxWxD)

Pedals: 5.43 x 9.17 x 7.09in / 138 x 233 x 180mm (HxWxD)

Side Panel: 7.56 x 6.61 x 13.27in / 192 x 168 x 337mm (HxWxD)

Weight

Wheel: 4.19lb / 1902g

Pedals: 1.26lb / 572g

Side Panel: 2.56lb / 1160g

Mappable Buttons

Wheel: 10

Side Panel: 24

Sticks

Wheel: 2

Side Panel: 1

Pedals

Throttle Controls

Platform Compatibility

PC (Windows 11/10, MacOS)

Box Contents

Heavy equipment wheel with 6.6ft/2m USB connector cable, Gas and brake pedal set with 6ft/1.8m USB connector cable, Side panel control deck with 6.6ft/2m USB connector cable

(Image credit: Future)

Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle: Design and features

900° rotating steering wheel with spinner knob
More than 30 mappable buttons plus throttle control wheel
Dual-mode joystick

While it may have arrived in a large box featuring Logitech’s slick, modern G branding, the Heavy Equipment Bundle itself is distinctly old school. This combo is now a decade old and it shows every bit of that age. There’s an instant giveaway too, the product photo on the box is noticeably low resolution and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same one that Saitek was using all those years ago. First impressions certainly weren’t excellent.

This experience wasn’t quickly improved when opening the box either. Call me a packaging snob but I’m a sucker for a slick unboxing experience and I wasn’t granted that here. There’s not much going on in there and it was all flanked by basic, thin brown cardboard. I know Logitech isn’t pitching this as a premium device but if I’d invested more than $300 on it I’d feel a little short changed.

It’s a simple bundle but has everything you need to get going, no extra gear required. You’ll also often find it bundled with a copy of Farming Simulator too which is a nice touch. In the box is an 11” wheel with an integrated table clamp, built-in USB-A cable and a fixed spinner knob.

A two-pedal accelerator and brake pedal set connects to the wheelbase with an included cable, while the side panel also includes an attached clamp and its own USB-A cable. It means needing to offer up two ports on your PC, though also allows the side panel to be used independently from the wheel as your PC will see them as two entirely separate devices. That’s mainly a blessing but also a slight curse, more on why later.

Build quality is disappointingly average across most of the Heavy Equipment Bundle. For something with ‘heavy’ in its name the whole thing is unbelievably light and rather cheap feeling. It’s plastic everywhere you look and I constantly found myself wanting for the smallest smidgen of rubberisation, upholstery or even just a little embossed texture.

The Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle wheel features a mirrored layout with four buttons and two thumb sticks on each side. These are nicely positioned and reasonably sized and I had no problem reaching and accurately using them while working the farm. Around the back of the wheel are two further buttons that while well placed, are irritatingly loose and loud. I streamed my Farming Simulator 25 gameplay on Twitch and had multiple comments from viewers about just how intrusive those rear button clacks were.

The side panel is much better in this regard and almost feels at odds with the wheel and pedal set. While not mechanical, each button is much more solid with no rattle or wobble, and they’re nearly arranged with plenty of space between each. Presses are firm but responsive with a gentle tactile bump and audible click. It’s all very pleasant. The dual-mode joystick is a nice size and has enough resistance to offer fine control without feeling like a workout. I’d have liked a little more strength to the resistance of the throttle wheel, but for how often it’s used it’s perfectly passable too.

(Image credit: Future)

Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle: Performance

Plug and play for Farming Simulator titles
Centre-sprung wheel has no force feedback
Loads of customization potential

It may not actually mention farming anywhere in its official title, but the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle’s intentions are clear—all it really wants to do is help you plough, sow, and harvest. This is a dedicated farming wheel in all but name.

You’ll need to be establishing your homestead on a computer though because the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle offers no console support whatsoever. The good news is there’s compatibility with both Windows and MacOS, somewhat of a rarity in the gaming world. It’s also impressively plug and play, so much so it wasn’t even recognized by Logitech’s G Hub, so there isn’t even an app to install before you can hop in the game.

Logitech has worked in partnership with developer Giants Software on the Heavy Equipment Bundle so it’s in the natively supported Farming Simulator 25 where I spent most of my time behind the wheel. Firing the game up for the first time I was delighted to immediately be greeted by not only a fully–pre-configured wheel and side panel, but the game also showing me correctly labelled inputs alongside menu items.

I was able to navigate straight through menus and into a new save without ever touching my keyboard or mouse, relying mainly on the thumb stick and button set on the wheel itself.

Arriving on the farm I jumped straight into the nearest truck to test out the most basic driving controls. They worked just fine, but as someone used to using pretty high-spec sim racing gear I found the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle wheel to be incredibly toylike.

There’s no force feedback or even basic rumble effect, just an overly keen centre spring that offers a tiny amount of resistance when steering but sends the wheel rubber-banding back to a default position like a cartoon saloon door. It’s not exactly immersive but I’ll concede it’s far more fun than using a controller or keyboard and I’d still rather use this wheel than no wheel at all.

(Image credit: Future)

Jumping over to some more complicated agricultural machinery is where things got more confusing. Every button was bound and they were all labelled in game, that was good, but the problem was both the Heavy Equipment Bundle wheel and side panel use the same input numbers and the game rarely told me which it was referring to. It seemed as if it only wanted to show me wheel labels rather than side panel numbers, a slight problem given it has some three times more inputs to remember. It meant blindly pressing just about every button to work out what did what and then needing to memorize them.

There is an incredible amount of customisation potential here though and even just using the default button maps I had a blast. I can imagine experienced digital farmers getting a huge amount of value from the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle side panel, particularly if you took the time to refine the input layout to something a little more memorable.

In my testing it was the dual-mode joystick that proved the standout addition. Controlling the intricate movements of an excavator arm felt natural, and more importantly, incredibly fun. I did need to go in and rebind a couple of movements here to gain full control, but once I did you’d have a hard time dragging me out of the driver’s seat.

The fundamental gameplay improvements brought about by the joystick made me long for a little more input variety because beyond this (and the basic throttle wheel) the Heavy Equipment Bundle side panel is just an array of simple buttons. There are four of what appear initially to be two-state switches, but are actually just buttons in costume with a switch-style keycap.

Given how many farming systems are two-state, think raising and lowering a harvester head or extending and retracting an auger, this functionality would have been very welcome as it’s not always immediately obvious in game whether you’ve got your gear in the right position and having some real world visual feedback would have helped.

While a majority of my time with the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle was spent in Farming Simulator 25, I also tried jumping over to a couple of other similar titles to see how it fared. Results were mixed. In Euro Truck Simulator 2 I had to manually configure every input, even down to simple left and right turn controls, though this was simple enough and the game recognized each input.

Motorway driving is rather dull without any level of force feedback however, so I probably wouldn’t recommend it. Roadcraft offered no functionality at all, though this is true of a lot of wheels so I’m inclined to lay blame more on the software side than the wheel itself.

(Image credit: Future)

Should you buy the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider…

Not sure if the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle is the right choice?

Here are a couple of other flight stick options you might consider instead.

Swipe to scroll horizontallyRow 0 – Cell 0

Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle

Thrustmaster SimTask FarmStick X

Thrustmaster Sol-R Flight Stick

Dimensions (HxWxD)

Wheel: 13.98 x 10.83 x 12.60in / 355 x 275 x 320mm

Pedals: 5.43 x 9.17 x 7.09in / 138 x 233 x 180mm

Side Panel: 7.56 x 6.61 x 13.27in / 192 x 168 x 337mm

9.1 x 7.5 x 7.3in / 230 x 190 x 185mm

9.72 x 7.71 x 7.71in / 247 x 196 x 196mm

Weight

Wheel: 4.19lb / 1902g

Pedals: 1.26lb / 572g

Side Panel: 2.56lb / 1160g

1.9 lb / 858g

2.79lb / 1270g

Mappable Buttons

Joystick Axis

Triggers

Throttle Controls

Platform Compatibility

Xbox and PC (limited games on console)

Box Contents

Heavy equipment wheel with 6.6ft/2m USB connector cable, Gas and brake pedal set with 6ft/1.8m USB connector cable, Side panel control deck with 6.6ft/2m USB connector cable

FarmStick X, Warranty flyer, USB-C to USB-A cable, Additional trigger cap

Sol-R base, Sol-R grip, Removable wrist rest, Thumb rest (+ 1 cover) for left-handed configuration, Stability supports, Detachable USB-C cable, Warranty information

(Image credit: Future)

How I tested the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle

I clamped the bundle to my desk and spent hours playing Farming Simulator 25 on PC
I tried a range of farmyard machinery and general controls
I also checked performance in other, non-officially supported games

I added the Logitech G Heavy Equipment Bundle to my PC gaming setup featuring an Intel Core i9 14900k CPU and AMD Radeon 9070XT graphics card.

Setup was simple with integrated screw clamp mounts on both the wheel and side panel attaching firmly to my desk, with the pedals just resting on the floor. Both the wheel and side panel need their own USB connection, though both performed just fine when connected to either a USB hub or directly into my motherboard.

Most of my testing was focused on Farming Simulator 25 through Xbox GamePass where I tested the out-of-the-box button mappings of a range of vehicles for the first couple of hours. I then jumped into the in-game menus and made a few manual tweaks to check how simple things were to re-configure to my personal preference.

After ploughing a few fields I swapped over to RoadCraft and Euro Truck Simulator 2 to check performance in titles it’s not officially designed for.

First reviewed April 2025

Dormant Bitcoin Whale Awakens: BTC OG Rotates Into $577M ETH Long

by admin August 22, 2025

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

Bitcoin is entering a decisive phase after setting fresh all-time highs last week but failing to trigger a clean breakout. Following the rejection below $125K, the market has shifted into uncertainty, with volatility rising and traders split on what comes next. Analysts are divided: some warn of a breakdown below current range supports, while others argue that this consolidation is just another step before a continuation higher.

Adding fuel to the debate, new on-chain data from Lookonchain reveals activity from a long-dormant Bitcoin OG. This wallet, which first received 100,784 BTC ($642M) seven years ago, has ended its dormancy with a surprising strategy. Instead of continuing to hold BTC, the OG sold a significant portion while rotating into Ethereum. The whale purchased 62,914 ETH ($267M) spot and opened a massive 135,265 ETH ($577M) long position.

The scale of this move is notable, signaling one of the boldest bets by an early Bitcoin holder in recent years. It underscores shifting dynamics in crypto markets, where institutional demand and cross-asset strategies now play a critical role. Whether this signals fading Bitcoin momentum or a tactical rotation remains to be seen, but the coming weeks could be decisive.

Bitcoin OG Whale Moves Align With Ethereum Rotation

According to Lookonchain, one of the largest Bitcoin OG wallets has been actively moving funds on-chain, depositing BTC into Hyperliquid to sell while simultaneously accumulating Ethereum. Tracking shows this OG originally received 85,947 BTC ($547M) around seven years ago, and the trading activity strongly mirrors the whale behavior reported recently.

Further on-chain analysis identifies six wallets tied to the same OG, collectively holding an enormous 83,585 BTC ($9.42B). The scale of these holdings confirms that we’re watching one of the most influential individual players in the crypto market.

Bitcoin dormant whale transactions | Source: Lookonchain

These recent moves do not necessarily signal a wholesale rotation from Bitcoin into Ethereum across the broader market, but they highlight the tactics of a large, strategic whale. The Bitcoin short positions opened could serve as a hedge against existing BTC exposure, protecting gains while reallocating into ETH. Alternatively, the OG might anticipate a stronger relative performance from Ethereum in the short to medium term.

The reality is that the exact motives remain unclear. Still, these actions align with the latest trend of asset rotation into Ethereum, fueled by institutional adoption, treasury strategies, and leveraged bets. Regardless of intent, the market impact of such large-scale moves cannot be ignored, as they add weight to Ethereum’s growing dominance narrative.

BTC Enters Critical Phase

The 8-hour chart shows Bitcoin trading at $112,779, holding just above its 200-period moving average (red line), currently positioned at $113,498. This level has become a crucial battleground between bulls and bears, as BTC tries to stabilize after losing the $120K zone earlier this month.

BTC consolidates below key levels | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView

Price action highlights a clear lower high structure following the rejection at $123,217, which now stands as strong resistance. Since then, Bitcoin has struggled to recover momentum, consistently trading below the 50-period (blue) and 100-period (green) moving averages, signaling a bearish short-term bias. The confluence of these MAs around $116K–$117K marks a zone that BTC must reclaim to shift momentum back in favor of bulls.

For now, support at $112K is being tested repeatedly. A breakdown below this level could trigger further downside toward $110K, aligning with the broader market’s weakening momentum. On the flip side, if bulls manage to defend current levels and push price above the 50MA, the path back toward $118K–$120K could reopen.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction for August 22

by admin August 22, 2025

The market is mainly green today, according to CoinStats.

Top coins by CoinStats

BTC/USD

The rate of Bitcoin (BTC) has risen by 3.42% over the last 24 hours.

Image by TradingView

On the hourly chart, the price of BTC has blasted after a breakout of the $113,472 level. As most of the daily ATR has been passed, there are low chances of seeing increased volatility by tomorrow.

Image by TradingView

On the longer time frame, the rate of the main crypto is rising after a bounce off from the support level of $111,919. However, Bitcoin (BTC) might need more time to accumulate energy for an ongoing rise.

The Best Big Screen Chromebook Is On Sale Now

by admin August 22, 2025

Back to school is always a great time to pick up a deal on a new laptop for the upcoming semester, and the Asus CX15 Chromebook is available at Walmart for $159. It may not be the fanciest option, but it has a sizable screen and a full keyboard with a numpad, all for less than the cost of a new textbook. If you’re just looking for a no-frills Chromebook for occasional web-based work and a slightly larger display, this is a great deal.

Photograph: Luke Larsen

When it comes to performance, the CX15 isn’t terribly exciting, with an Intel Celeron N4500 and 4 GB of memory. Fortunately, that should be fine for regular note-taking, email sending, and essay editing, with most of that work happening in your browser anyway. The extra-large 15-inch screen is great for putting two windows next to each other while getting some work done, or for watching a movie in the evening, even if the color accuracy isn’t the best.

The Chromebook CX15 is available in two colors, a classic and professional Pure Gray as well as a more fun and friendly Fabric Blue. Both feature the full-size keyboard, which is going to make writing out long paragraphs more comfortable, and the full numpad for you math and science nerds out there. The touchpad isn’t our favorite, with some occasional clunkiness, but you could do a lot worse for the price.

It has only 120 GB of internal storage, which is fairly common for Chromebooks, because it’s expected you’ll lean heavily on Google’s cloud storage options. To that end, the Asus Chromebook CX15 includes three months of the Google One AI Premium Plan, which includes 2 TB of cloud storage as well as a variety of AI-enhanced tools. You’ll also get three months of YouTube Premium, which gives you an ad-free experience while watching videos and listening to music.

If the Asus Chromebook CX15 isn’t speaking to you, there are several other deals currently running on some of our other favorite Chromebooks. We’ve also put together a list of our favorite back-to-school laptop deals if you’re specifically looking for a new laptop to bring to class or the library.

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August 22, 2025 0 comments