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AirPods Pro 3 review: tripling down on a good thing
Product Reviews

AirPods Pro 3 review: tripling down on a good thing

by admin


The AirPods Pro are about as ubiquitous as earbuds can get. Step outside your door, and you’re almost certain to see people wearing them. For good reason, too. Their active noise cancelling (ANC) is excellent for the price, sound quality is great, and they’re comfortable and convenient. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? After all, messing with a winning formula just for the sake of change often ends up in disappointment.

That’s not the case with the $249.99 AirPods Pro 3. Of all the shiny new gadgets Apple launched last week, this is the sole no-brainer upgrade. Everything you liked about the AirPods Pro just got better — and so did everything you didn’t.

$249

The Good

  • Improved ANC and sound
  • Longer battery
  • Standalone workout tracking
  • Live translation
  • Same price
  • IP57
  • Better fit
  • Camera remote control is handy!

The Bad

  • If you’re hoping for traditional foam ear tips, this isn’t that

The second-gen Pro was more or less about refining the software and sound; the overall design didn’t change. But while the AirPods Pro 3 look familiar at a glance, pop them in your ear and you’ll feel the difference. The new buds and tips are more angled, so they slot more naturally into your ear canal. You can twist them in for a more secure fit, whereas the last AirPods Pro would pop out unless you put them in just right.

Another plus: Apple now includes five ear tip sizes, adding an XXS size so you have a better chance of finding a comfy fit. That said, I would temper any expectations regarding the “foam-infused” tips. These aren’t your traditional foam tips, which expand to fit your ear more securely. What Apple’s done here is more of a hybrid approach. The front portion has some foam that subtly expands, but the majority of the tip is silicone for comfort and easier cleaning.

You can see the difference between the AirPods Pro 3 (top) versus the AirPods Pro 2.

And the other side.

The third-gen buds have a new shape to better fit ears.

Fit has always been one of the biggest complaints with AirPods, regardless of model. Whenever I come across AirPods haters, the usual reasons are either that the buds are too uncomfortable or they simply slip out. My spouse has bought multiple pairs over the years because the buds are always falling out of their ears. Nary a day goes by that I don’t find them crouching next to the bed or sofa, phone flashlight out, searching underneath for a missing AirPod. With these, they immediately declared, “They fit so much better!” and proceeded to pre-order their own pair. I’ve heard similar reactions from fellow reviewers who also had issues with the fit on prior AirPods Pro.

Still, that’s not a huge sample size, and everyone’s ear shape is unique. While I think the Pro 3 will fit more people, I still recommend trying a pair before committing if you’ve had issues in the past. But as someone who hasn’t, these fit me better too.

At Apple’s keynote last week, Apple executives kept saying these things had the “world’s best ANC” for wireless in-ear headphones. The claim is that the active noise cancellation in the third-gen buds is twice as good as the second gen, and four times better than the originals. The sound quality is also purportedly better due to a redesigned internal architecture that Apple says improves airflow for better bass.

Now, I’m not an audio engineer, but I did put the AirPods Pro 3’s ANC through a series of real-life tests alongside my personal pair of AirPods Pro 2. It’s pretty damn good.

The first test was a six-and-a-half hour flight from San Francisco to New York. Both pairs of buds performed well, but the third-gen were noticeably better. The dull hum of the plane was completely eliminated, though I could still hear announcements if I didn’t have audio playing. (That’s typical for any ANC headphones, however, especially earbuds.)

The case for the AirPods Pro 3 also has stronger Find My capabilities this year.

My second test was sitting in my kitchen while my spouse and in-laws were fixing our broken garbage disposal and running the laundry. Again, the second and third-gen buds were comparable, but the latter were notably better at dampening higher frequencies like voices and my cats yowling for kibble. If I put my tunes on, I couldn’t hear anything.

I also tested the active noise cancellation at a Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson concert against the Loop Experience 2 and EarPeace Music passive earplugs, which reduce noise by 17db and 20db respectively. The third-gen buds outperformed the Loop Experience 2, and were roughly on par with the Earpeace Music. I normally wouldn’t use AirPods in lieu of earplugs at a concert, but it’s nice to know that they’ll do in a pinch.

As for sound quality, the improvement is subtle but definitely there. I noticed it most while listening to the K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack. Multi-part vocal harmonies in songs like “Golden,” “Your Idol,” and “What It Sounds Like” are more audible, while the bass lines are punchier. Despite listening to this album on repeat since June with the AirPods Pro 2, I noticed new elements in the sound production, like faint bubble-popping effects in the catchy “Soda Pop.” I had a similar experience listening to old favorites. And while I still think spatial audio is gimmicky outside of a Vision Pro, I can appreciate that sound quality has been subtly improved on Dolby Atmos tracks as well. Ultimately, you’ll notice a richer overall listening experience regardless of whether you’re listening to music or watching an immersive movie.

Sensors: Dual beamforming microphones, inward-facing microphone, skin-detecting sensor, motion-detecting accelerometer, speech-detecting accelerometer, heart rate sensor, touch control.

Chips: H2 headphone chip, U2 chip in charging case

Dust and water resistance: IP57

Battery: Estimated 8 hours of listening time with ANC, 7.5 hours with Spatial Audio and Head tracking enabled. 6.5 hours with heart rate sensing during workouts. 10 hours in Transparency mode. 24 hours with the case.

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3

Calls sound “generically good,” according to a friend I called while walking along a windy highway full of bustling cars. They weren’t able to hear any of the wind or environmental noise, even though the ANC wasn’t able to wipe them out entirely for me.

ANC is power-intensive, but I was pleased to see the third-gen buds have improved battery life. I wore them with ANC enabled for five hours of my flight, plus a 10-minute wait at baggage claim and a 40-minute Uber ride home. I still had 27 percent battery left by the time I got home. Altogether, my usage roughly tracks with Apple’s eight-hour estimate for ANC listening time on a single charge.

Hands-free fitness tracking

Perhaps the biggest hardware update for the AirPods Pro 3 is the addition of a heart rate sensor, enabling fitness tracking without an Apple Watch. It’s not a huge surprise, given that Apple added heart rate sensors to the Powerbeats Pro 2 earlier this year. But the AirPods Pro do a lot more with the feature.

For starters, you can track your heart rate during 50 types of workouts directly from the native iOS Fitness app. On the Powerbeats, this was limited to a handful of partner apps at launch. This is great news for folks with wrist tattoos, which get in the way of smartwatch sensors, or those who’d rather not wear smart rings, chest straps, or smartwatches for sports like boxing or weight lifting. It’s also a boon for anyone who routinely forgets their Apple Watch while on walks.

You can choose to track workouts with the Apple Watch or with just the AirPods Pro 3.

Apple’s Fitness Plus app can display heart rate data from the AirPods Pro 3 — a strange omission from the Powerbeats at launch. Crucially, the AirPods can also act as a secondary heart rate data stream when used with the Apple Watch. Previously, apps always deferred to the Apple Watch over the Powerbeats. Now, Apple’s introduced an algorithm that will analyze which of the two heart rate data streams has a stronger signal in a given activity, and prefer that one. Some good news: Apple isn’t gatekeeping these improvements to the AirPods. It’s since announced these updates will also come to the Powerbeats in iOS 26.

I tried Pro 3-only tracking for two outdoor walks and found that the heart rate tracking was comparable to a chest strap, within roughly 5 to 10 beats per minute. Accuracy will heavily depend on a secure fit, but I never had issues getting readings, even when I got sweaty. Some more good news on that front: the buds now have IP57 sweat and water resistance. I wouldn’t dunk my head in a pool while wearing them, but they might stand a better chance of surviving the wash or a sudden downpour.

As part of Apple Intelligence, the AirPods Pro 3 (along with the Pro 2 and AirPods 4) will support live translations for a handful of languages. I’ve always wanted the Babel fish from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to be real, so I was stoked to try this out. Compared to phones or smartwatches, earbuds feel like a more natural choice for live translation tech.

Sorry to burst any bubbles. This live translation feature is no Babel fish, though I can see it being useful in a handful of scenarios.

The feature was impressive in a live demo Apple gave me where a Spanish speaker gave a short speech. I activated Live Translation via the iPhone’s Action Button and voilá. (You can also activate by pinching both AirPods’ stems). The speaker’s voice was dampened and after a short, intentional delay, Apple Intelligence crisply translated what was being said on-device. You and your conversation partner can either both use AirPods for translation, or if they don’t have a pair, you can also view a transcript of the translated conversation on your iPhone. And if it worked like this every single time, I’d cry tears of joy.

You can view a transcript of a conversation via the iPhone

You can also start a live translation session from the phone…

Or via touch controls. You just have to press the stems of each earbud.

But real-life conversations are a bit different. They’re not always calm. They’re full of ums and uhs, and I doubt there’s any child of immigrants who hasn’t heard an auntie rattle off at the speed of light. So I called up my cousin’s spouse, who is a fluent German speaker, to see how this feature would handle translation without guardrails. To both of our surprise, it actually worked quite well for conversational German. It was even able to accurately translate when he spoke in German slang in an Austrian accent — something he said might be hard for a native German speaker. (He likened it to hearing someone with a thick Scottish accent.) It only stumbled when he would occasionally switch back to English to comment on accuracy.

The feature isn’t limited to in-person conversations only, however. It works with any audio you’re hearing in person, meaning you should be able to use it for public announcements while traveling, video calls, or foreign-language media. To test this, I watched a scene from the German film Der Untergang featuring an epic meltdown from Hitler in the last days of his dictatorship. I chose this scene precisely because the actor speaks quickly and with emotion, changing thoughts mid-sentence, and there’s cross-talk from other characters. (And because I could compare the translation with the official subtitles.)

1/3You can get the gist even if it’s not quite right.

The translation feature performed admirably, but struggled to recognize character names or account for abrupt pauses in dialogue. Sometimes it identified the words correctly but used the wrong meaning for the context. For example, a line that Live Translation presented as “Steiner could not massage enough forces for an attack” is translated in the movie’s subtitles as “Steiner didn’t have enough force to attack.” A more literal translation would be “Steiner couldn’t amass enough forces for the attack.” There are multiple ways you can translate the word that became “massage,” but Live Translation picked the wrong one.

This isn’t an Apple limitation; I’ve seen it across all AI translation tech. But while live translation works well enough to convey broad meaning, it’s hard to say whether people will use this as intended. I’ve lived abroad and have a multilingual family. To me, using AirPods makes most sense in trying to translate announcements, museum tours where multilingual options aren’t available, or media that may not yet have subtitles. In face-to-face human interaction, most people are happy to gesture or point to a translation app on their phones. And in business meetings where the absolute correct meaning is crucial, it’s hard to beat seasoned interpreters. I’ll be curious to try this out during an upcoming trip to Italy, but I have the sense that doing so will also come with a healthy dose of anxiety and self-consciousness.

Now that I’ve used the AirPods Pro 3, I can’t go back.

Let me preface this by saying you shouldn’t run out and buy these if your AirPods Pro 2 are working perfectly fine. There’s no reason to throw out a good pair of earbuds. Ideally, I’d ask that everyone exercise restraint and only upgrade when their current AirPods finally crap out or are genuinely in need of replacement. (If you’re coming from the original AirPods Pro, you’ve got a much better case for upgrading.)

But I also know how gadget nerd brains work. If you’re going to ignore me, yes this is a worthy upgrade. I wrote ahead of last week’s event that Apple should lean into giving people what they want, and they’ve done that with the AirPods Pro 3. I have next to no complaints, and the only downside I can think of is perhaps the improved fit still won’t work for everyone. The price is the same, the new additions are smart, and most importantly, the sound quality and ANC are top-notch for earbuds.

I’m happy with my AirPods Pro 2, but I won’t lie. Now that I’ve experienced the AirPods Pro 3, I can’t go back. I’ll be ordering a pair for myself once I return this review unit.

Agree to continue: AirPods Pro 3

Every smart device now requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it — contracts that no one actually reads. It’s impossible for us to read and analyze every single one of these agreements. But we’re going to start counting exactly how many times you have to hit “agree” to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people don’t read and definitely can’t negotiate.

Like any other Bluetooth earbuds, the AirPods Pro can technically be set up and used without you agreeing to anything in software. With the new heart rate tracking feature, however, you may optionally be asked to agree to third-party privacy policies and terms of service if you agree to share that data (i.e., Ladder, Runna, etc.)

Final tally is one mandatory agreement.

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Vampire Survivors developer Poncle on what it takes to be a good publisher: "Not everything can be a breakout hit"
Game Updates

Vampire Survivors developer Poncle on what it takes to be a good publisher: “Not everything can be a breakout hit”

by admin



Getting your game a publishing deal has never been an easy thing to do. Right now, it’s especially hard given that for many publishers, if it doesn’t seem like a guaranteed hit, it likely isn’t something they’ll take on. This is something that Vampire Survivors developer Poncle, or rather the actual person, Luca Galante, takes great issue with, and in a recent interview he spoke more broadly of his issues with publishers, and his thoughts on now being one.


“I see a lot of publishers I don’t like, and I think that’s my way to define what a good publisher should be, probably,” Galante explained to GamesRadar. “I see a lot of publishers that try to exploit the platforms just to make money, basically, because the video game industry is very obviously an industry that makes a lot of money. There is a lot of money to make. I see that these publishers will try and just exploit platforms for money.”


He went on to note how there are publishers who will put out simply incomplete games, or early access games that never get finished, and that for him, “what a publisher should do is, first of all, make genuine games, genuine products, something that has some real value, and then understand that not everything can be a breakout hit.” Galante also spoke of the importance of post-launch support, and for him this is “definitely a big thing from my point of view that publishers should be able to offer.”


As of now, Poncle has published two games, Berserk or Die, a beat ’em up where you have to mash your keyboard to beat enemies, and Kill the Brickman, a Brick Breaker-esque, turn-based roguelike game, both of which are cheap as chips (£3 and £4 respectively).


It’s these kinds of affordable games with smaller teams that Galante wants to lean towards in publishing, and in particular his priority is to find devs “that are very transparent in what they do, they want to talk with their community, and they have a real, genuine passion for making games.” Not only that, it’s important to him that these devs get to realise their vision by enriching it, as opposed to forcing in things like microtransactions or season passes.


Galante is, perhaps most importantly, fully aware with how lucky he got with Vampire Survivors, and that’s why he wants to publish other games. “We definitely made some mistakes when it comes to putting the game out there, but we learned a lot, and wanted to try to sort of share what we learned with other indies. It was a way to try and give something back to the indie community, share the luck.” Good luck indeed! At this point in time, every dev needs every ounce of the stuff they can get.



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Two young women look dubious
Product Reviews

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, which is apparently the good one, is getting remade and coming to PC

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FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE Announcement Trailer – YouTube

Watch On

There’s one more bit of PC-relevant news to come out of Nintendo’s latest blunderbuss of Mario guff, following the Hades 2 release date and Danganronpa 2×2 announcement. It’s that Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is getting a remake, and it’ll be available on PC next year.

“This title has undergone a complete overhaul,” the Steam page says, “with improvements to everything from visuals and audio to the core gameplay systems and controls. The signature Camera Obscura mechanic, used to capture and fend off spirits, remains a key feature, now offering richer and more engaging gameplay in both exploration and combat. In addition, the new ‘Holding Hands with Mayu’ mechanic adds a heartfelt touch, letting you experience the deep bond between the sisters like never before.”

While two later games in the series, Maiden of Black Water and Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, have made it to PC previously, this is the first time one of the well-received original trilogy will be officially represented on our platform of choice. It’s reportedly the scariest one in the whole series too.


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Fatal Frame, known as Project Zero in some territories, is about ghosts who can be hurt by taking photos of them. Keeping them in focus while they’re trying to murder you, and taking shots at the precise moment they attack—the “fatal frame” of the title—provides the challenge. As does the fact you have to stare at creeps and spectres in first-person through your viewfinder the whole time.

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is another 2026 release, though the trailer does end on “early 2026” so maybe we won’t have too long to wait.



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There is an absolute banger of a Feel Good Inc. remix made exclusively out of Stronghold Crusader sound effects, and it is now available on Spotify
Game Reviews

There is an absolute banger of a Feel Good Inc. remix made exclusively out of Stronghold Crusader sound effects, and it is now available on Spotify

by admin


You’ll always find some sort of otherworldly artifact in your YouTube song mix if you let it run long enough.

I’m not sure how and why the algorithm decided to serve me up this recent banger from Egg Beatz that uses nothing but sound effects from Middle Age strategy game classic Stronghold Crusader to recreate Gorillaz’ legendary Feel Good Inc., but it almost makes up for the precipitous drop it has recently caused to many of my favorite creators’ view count.

(Almost.)

But back to the banger! While you’ll definitely get more out of the song if you have played any of the classic Stronghold games, you can appreciate the skill and effort on display even without any experience with the world of the Rat, the Snake, the Pig, and the Wolf.

Starting off with The Pig’s distorted, slowed-down laughter, and the Arabian Assassin unit’s classic voice line setting the tone, followed by a slow buildup of the ever-so-common “No change in the treasury, lord,” you just immediately know that you’re in good hands.

Then it goes on like this:

“Something is wrong with our hops, mylord

My master thinks we’re losing this war

Gird your loins, sharpen your steel

Failure is not an option, just keep your eyes peeled

I’ll be away from work for a fair while

No space in the stockpile

I heard a rumor, a message from your scribe

Bandits are operating near the castle, lordship.”

Again, all this is arranged to the tune of Feel Good Inc., and it works shockingly well.

The best part? This awesome arrangement is now also available on Spotify, courtesy of the team at Firefly Studios being good sports about such a truly transformative work. For my money, this has now surpassed the legendary Age of Empires 2 theme song remix with the unforgettable Wololo autotune.

Yeah, there are some great gems at the bottom of the internet if you are still willing to rep the classics.

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Star Wars Outlaws dev comes out with first actually good reason for using Switch 2's controversial Game Key Cards
Game Updates

Star Wars Outlaws dev comes out with first actually good reason for using Switch 2’s controversial Game Key Cards

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Many of us have a few things to say about the Nintendo Switch 2’s controversial game key cards, which don’t actually contain game data, and instead trigger a download from the Nintendo eShop when they are popped into the device. However, developer Rob Bantin, who is an audio architect on Ubisoft’s game engine Snowdrop, has revealed why the studio opted for key cards when it came to Star Wars Outlaws on Switch 2.

In a reply to Digital Foundry’s John Linneman about Star Wars Outlaws’ use of key cards and whether or not cost was a factor, Bantin explained that full-fat cards “simply didn’t give the performance we needed at the quality target we were going for”.

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Bantin noted the Snowdrop engine “relies heavily on disk streaming for its open world environments”, adding they “don’t recall the cost of the cards ever entering the discussion – probably because it was moot”.

The developer said had Star Wars Outlaws been designed for Nintendo’s Switch 2 console from the beginning, things may have been different. “As it was, we’d build a game around the SSDs of the initial target platforms, and then the Switch 2 came along a while later,” Bantin said.

“In this case I think our leadership made the right call.”

Image credit: Eurogamer

Many third party developers have also opted for key cards for their own Switch 2 release. One high profile outlier was CDPR, which released Cyberpunk 2077 as a physical game cartridge with the actual game on it. Last month, it was revealed that out of all Cyberpunk 2077’s Switch 2 sales in June, over 75 percent were physical.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.



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Tetsuya Nomura Has Good News About Kingdom Hearts 4
Game Reviews

Tetsuya Nomura Has Good News About Kingdom Hearts 4

by admin


Many, many RPG fans are patiently awaiting the next installment in the Kingdom Hearts franchise. And a lot of those people are waiting for Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s third and final installment, too. As you might expect, some are worried about how development is proceeding on these two massive Square Enix RPGs, and to help calm those players down, FF7 and KH4 director Tetsuya Nomura has attempted to reassure us all that things are going “smoothly.”

As reported by Gematsu, during Friday’s Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis 2nd Anniversary broadcast, Nomura hopped in toward the end after seemingly spotting comments in the chat asking about FF7 Remake’s third installment. While he didn’t have a release date to share, he wanted everyone to relax. The game is on schedule, okay?

“Right, so, looking at the comments, I’m seeing people ask every so often about the third entry in the [FF7] Remake series,” said Nomura. “Apparently, [FF7 co-director Motomu] Toriyama mentioned in an interview that something might be released around the second anniversary [of Ever Crisis]. So that’s probably where those expectations are coming from. Right, so things are progressing really smoothly. I can’t really say more—if I suddenly went, ‘Well, actually…,’ everyone would be really surprised!”

He then added: “So yeah, things are moving along really smoothly, and the release timing has already been decided. We’re moving forward according to that schedule right now, so please rest assured and be patient.”

And don’t worry, fans of Kingdom Hearts, Nomura also had a small update about the Disney RPG, which was first announced back in 2022.

“And this has also come up in the comments here and there, but Kingdom Hearts IV is likewise steadily moving forward according to schedule, so please look forward to it.”

While this is good to hear, I imagine a lot of folks want a release window for one or both of these RPGs. FF7 Remake’s third entry will be its last, as confirmed by Square Enix in 2022. We still don’t know when it’s coming, what it will be named, and what platforms it will launch on, though I expect PS5 players will be able to play it day one. Meanwhile, we’ve heard very little about Kingdom Hearts 4, though we did get a new, very low-res screenshot earlier this year of Mickey Mouse in a library. Hopefully, that and Nomura’s assurance that everything is progressing as planned will be enough for folks until the next update.



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helldivers 2 dust devils warbond
Gaming Gear

‘PLEASE DON’T NERF COYOTE’: The new Helldivers 2 warbond has a fire-breathing rifle so good that players are begging Arrowhead to leave it alone

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While the metroidvania inclined celebrate the release of a long-awaited bug game, Helldivers 2’s stalwart protectors of freedom are hard at work ensuring no bugs will know another day of peace. This week, the Into the Unjust update kicked off a new offensive into Terminid strongholds, a directive that’s proving tougher than expected.

A new “Rupture” class of Terminid, recognizable by its red armor plating and burrowing technique, is wreaking havoc on reinforcements. While players have identified effective weapons to counter the novel threat, it’s no coincidence that the latest premium warbond, Dust Devils, is packing what might be the ultimate anti-Terminid primary: the AR-2 Coyote.

The most active corner of the Helldivers 2 community has already anointed the Coyote to gun royalty, singing its praises against bugs and preemptively begging Arrowhead not to nerf it.


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It’s really a thing of beauty: With a rounded profile, long barrel, and curved magazine, the Coyote is undoubtedly meant to evoke an AK-47. Its baseline stats aren’t extraordinary for its weapon class, but its numbers don’t really communicate why it kicks carapace.

The Coyote’s main draw is its incendiary ammunition, a first for non-laser assault rifles. As fire is comfortably the best status effect in terms of raw damage (and especially good for bugs), the Coyote flashes its teeth by unleashing a 45-round magazine into a wave of advancing bugs, killing most on contact and setting the rest on fire to die seconds later. I didn’t even mention that it has medium penetration, making it one of just four assault rifles that can punch through the Rupture strain’s armor.

I don’t wish to be dramatic. from r/Helldivers

When you look at the AR-2 Coyote in detail, it’s as if Arrowhead was trying to design the last Terminid gun you’ll ever need:

  • High damage: Base damage is weaker than other medium-pen ARs, but the fire damage adds big
  • Medium penetration: so it rips through anything smaller than a Charger
  • Fire ammo: You can literally fire one bullet at a bug, then watch it die from fire in seconds
  • Large magazine: A 45-round magazine (without any upgrades) means you can shoot everything chasing you before a reload is necessary
  • Easy recoil control: The Coyote kicks harder than a Liberator, mind you, but its recoil pattern is a steady vertical climb that’s easy to compensate for. Also, it has unlockable grips.

It’s the sort of gun that just feels comfortable and fun as soon as you use it, which is what you want when spending $10 on a warbond. Nerfs wouldn’t surprise me, but a post from redditor RandomGreenArcherMan offers sharp points that toss cold water on the Coyote’s dominance: its lower base damage means it kills some enemies slower than a Liberator, burning doesn’t tend to matter against smaller enemies that die in one bullet anyway, and it doesn’t have access to 60 or 80-round magazine upgrades.

Plus, ArcherMan reckons it’s not great against Automatons, who aren’t as easy to burn and reward precision headshots. That’s not to suggest the Coyote isn’t a sterling product of Super Earth engineering, just that it’s currently being deployed in its ideal warzone: bugs with medium armor.

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Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
Crypto Trends

Rich Bitcoiners Seem to be Spending BTC on Luxury Holidays. Is This Really a Good Idea?

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Bitcoin’s latest rally is spilling over into the luxury holiday market.

The Financial Times (FT) reported earlier today that private jet firms, cruise lines and boutique hotels are increasingly accepting crypto payments.

Flexjet-owned FXAIR, for instance, now takes tokens for transatlantic trips costing about $80,000, while cruise operator Virgin Voyages sells annual passes worth $120,000.

SeaDream Yacht Club and boutique hotel groups including The Kessler Collection have also added crypto checkout options, according to the FT.

High-end travel is a natural niche for crypto spending. On six-figure invoices, fees and volatility matter less, and merchants can instantly convert payments into fiat.

For customers, paying in bitcoin carries status value, echoing earlier bull-market splurges on Lamborghinis and watches. This time, the indulgence is time-saving private jets and one-of-a-kind cruises.

Still, whether it makes financial sense is another matter. Bitcoin’s most famous cautionary tale comes from 2010, when Florida programmer Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 BTC on two pizzas, a purchase now worth over $1 billion in hindsight. Today’s jet bookings could invite the same regret if bitcoin keeps climbing.

Yet others see logic in cashing in.

With bitcoin recently hitting a record $124,128 on Aug. 14, some wealthy holders may view the present rally as a window to lock in gains before macro shocks send prices lower.

Inflationary pressures tied to the new U.S. import tariffs, along with wider economic uncertainty, could easily knock BTC back below $100,000, turning today’s holiday splurges into a rational hedge.

There are also tax complications.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), for instance, treats crypto as property, meaning that spending BTC counts as a taxable disposal and can trigger capital-gains liabilities. The U.K.’s HMRC applies the same principle, taxing disposals when coins are sold, swapped or spent.

The bigger backdrop, according to McKinsey data cited by the FT, is that younger affluent travelers are driving a luxury travel boom projected to nearly double spending between 2023 and 2028. For that generation, crypto is not just an investment vehicle but also a way to pay for experiences that promise freedom and exclusivity.

Bottom line: Crypto hasn’t taken over coffee shops, but at the top end of the market it is showing up. Whether that’s smart wealth management or another billion-dollar pizza mistake depends on how long this bull cycle lasts.



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Player characters in Story of Seasons Grand Bazaar stood in the town
Gaming Gear

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a good farming simulator, but it’s made great by its sense of community and willingness to get you involved

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Faming simulators are known for creating worlds for us to throw ourselves into, so it’s not too surprising that Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar—a remake of the 2010 DS game—follows suit. But, instead of just being your bog standard, friendly but still somewhat stand-offish farming simulator setting, there is something incredibly special about Zephyr Town. Whether you’re speaking to its human inhabitants or interacting with its nature sprites, it feels like everyone really has a place here, and before long it’ll sink its small town claws into you too.

It sounds pretty obvious, stating that every character in a game has a place there. But what I mean is everyone works in tandem with one another to create the kind of community spirit I haven’t experienced in a farming simulator before. Each character still has their own stories and routines, but their lives are so intertwined with one another it’s hard to really see them as standalone units. It feels different to a game like Stardew Valley, or even other Story of Seasons remakes—Friends of Mineral Town or A Wonderful Life—where each character knows what they’re doing, and sticks to it without showing much care for anyone else.

Each time you speak to someone in Zephyr Town, they’ll bring someone else into the conversation as soon as they get the opportunity. Whether that’s saying something along the lines of “did you hear what they said to that person?” or “I heard from so-and-so that you…” there’s always someone to talk about. These small interactions helped me feel far more involved in the going-ons of the community without having to constantly interact with each person. Even though that’s also made easier with the addition of the call out button, which lets you run past groups of people and greet them all in passing as your daily conversation.

Once I’d dealt with all my crops, pet and fed my animals, taken materials to the windmills to craft with, and stocked my stall for the upcoming bazaar, there was little to no time in a day for in-depth conversations with every single one of Zephyr Town’s inhabitants. I’d happily take the notes from other people if it meant I could still get all of my chores done before my stamina ran out and my avatar once again threatened to pass out.


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There’s still the initial uncertainty of a new character infiltrating their town—there always is with games like this—so it takes time to develop these friendships. Depending on how often you’re stopping for a chat, it could be a while before you’re trusted enough by others for them to speak more openly about what’s happening. But once you’ve reassured the locals that you are capable of helping them re-establish the town as a solid location for a weekly bazaar, everyone is keen to learn more about you and is more than willing to stop for a conversation.

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(Image credit: Marvelous)(Image credit: Marvelous)(Image credit: Marvelous)

Interactions mentioning other people can sometimes be vital to getting information about the preferences of characters too, which is incredibly handy when you realise there are no guidebooks for gift giving here. There is little to no guidance on how to earn the affection of other characters, besides vague phrases like “Dislikes: quick bites” and “Likes: yellow.” Whereas the conversations you have as you develop deeper friendships will reveal things like a character’s favourite meal, or a fond memory they share involving a specific item you can conveniently craft in a windmill.

Outside of talking about one another, the community spirit is echoed through the favours you’re asked to complete and the events that occur throughout the year—helping the game feel more unified. For example, there’s a friendly rivalry between vendors at the bazaar to see who can make the most money (though conveniently, it’s always you) and everyone will always sing your praises if you win a competition such as the pet show or the horse derby.

If there’s one thing to remember though, it’s that no one in Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar misses an opportunity to talk about you either. The amount of times I’ve completely forgotten to check how much stamina I have before heading to the mountains to mine, and ended up hitting one too many rocks and passing out is frankly embarrassing. But to make matters worse, I haven’t just been able to dust myself off and get back to work the next day. Oh no. Every single character has been talking about you and what could’ve happened while you were out, and will express their concern to you whenever you get around to speaking to them next.

Occasionally you’ll get the odd telling off too, especially from Lloyd who, in his defence, does express the importance of not overworking yourself from the day you meet him. You’re bound to make some mistakes as a first time farmer. Yet as embarrassing as it was the first time this happened, it definitely made me feel like the people of Zephyr Town did care for their new resident. Not in an overbearing, doting way either. In the exact same way you’d care for a friend if they suddenly fell unwell in real life, which only reinforces this feeling of being so involved in their world.



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Tommy Castellanos makes good on jab as FSU stuns Alabama
Esports

Tommy Castellanos makes good on jab as FSU stuns Alabama

by admin



Aug 30, 2025, 07:46 PM ET

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — New quarterback Tommy Castellanos led a punishing rushing attack for Florida State with 78 yards and a touchdown as the Seminoles stunned No. 8 Alabama 31-17 on Saturday, ending the Crimson Tide’s streak of 23 straight wins in season openers.

Coming off a 2-10 season, Florida State handed a crushing setback to Alabama, which was viewed as a College Football Playoff contender under second-year coach Kalen DeBoer.

Castellanos, a transfer from Boston College, made headlines over the summer after saying legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban wasn’t there to “save” the Tide versus Florida State in their Week 1 matchup and that the signal-caller didn’t “see them stopping me.”

He backed up that jab by spearheading FSU’s dominant ground attack while staying efficient through the air, finishing with 16 carries while no one else had more than seven rushing attempts for the Seminoles and completing 9 of 14 passes for 152 yards.

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“It’s one of the reasons why I came here, for moments like these, for days like these,” Castellanos said after the game. “We got a long season ahead. Just take it one week at a time, keep grinding.”

Students and fans swarmed the field at Doak Campbell Stadium to celebrate the upset by the Seminoles, who closed as 13½-point underdogs at ESPN BET.

Under new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who spent eight seasons as Auburn’s head coach, Florida State was physical from the start, finishing with 230 rushing yards and averaging 4.7 yards per carry. The Noles averaged just 89.9 yards during their disastrous 2024 season.

“We’ve been training for this since January,” FSU linebacker Justin Cryer said. “What happened in that game was not a surprise to anybody in that room. Maybe to y’all. But not us.

“We’re not sending a message to the college football world. We’re not trying to make a big declaration. It’s all about day by day improvement and how we want to be better and keep moving forward.”

The Tide had not dropped a season opener since losing 20-17 to UCLA in 2001 under Dennis Franchione, and this defeat will ratchet up the pressure on DeBoer from the demanding Tuscaloosa faithful. Saban, who was DeBoer’s predecessor, led Alabama to six national titles.

OppScore’25 FSUNo. 8 Alabama31-17’04 ClemsonNo. 6 Tennessee27-14’81 ClemsonNo. 4 Georgia13-3’68 UNCNo. 7 Florida22-7’59 DukeNo. 9 Georgia Tech10-7

DeBoer fell to 6-4 against unranked teams at Alabama; Saban went 124-4 in such games.

Alabama couldn’t solve Florida State’s defense, finishing with 87 rushing yards on 29 carries. FSU halted Bama three times on fourth down, the final time coming with 5:39 to go.

Florida State defeated its first ranked opponent since knocking off No. 19 Louisville in the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

“We wanted to be the aggressor,” Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said. “And we were. Our players, they rose to the challenge.”

Micahi Danzy, Caziah Holmes and Gavin Sawchuk also had rushing touchdowns for Florida State.

Ty Simpson completed 23 of 43 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns in his Alabama debut. Germie Bernard led Alabama with eight catches for 146 yards.

The Associated Press and ESPN’s Andrea Adelson contributed to this report.



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