Love your classic retro games? D7VK 2.0 is out now to bring more performance improvements for running retro Direct3D games on Linux. We also just had the DXVK 3.0.2 release to fix up some more modern games.
An impressive sounding release with the developer noting in some cases you’ll see a “2x(+) performance increase in some CPU limited scenarios” which sounds awesome. One of the games tested being Half-Life which showed a performance bump from 19.8FPS to hitting the 60FPS cap which is fantastic.
Pictured – Half-Life
Some of what’s new from the changelog includes:
Rebased on top of the upstream DXVK 3.0.2 release.
Improved the performance of CPU ProcessVertices calls with handrolled SSE helpers, and fixed a few minor regressions, thanks to @CkNoSFeRaTU.
Added a workaround for (D3D9) MANAGED pool buffer placement targeted at DEFAULT buffers, which drastically help with upload performance when said buffers are used for SWVP/ProcessVertices calls as well. This has had a positive effect on performance in Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue, SCP – Containment Breach and practically all GoldSrc engine titles, such as Half-Life.
Stripped most debug loggers, and moved others away from hot paths, which apparently has had a drastic effect on performance in CPU limited scenarios.
Worked around a WineD3D limitation concerning video memory bump luminance format surfaces, which has fixed minor rendering issues in Dungeon Keeper 2 and the Matrox G400 TechDemo.
After a careful analysis of age accurate GPUs such as the Matrox G400, Nvidia Riva TNT2 and ATI Rage 128 on Windows XP, we’re now reporting the POW2 and non-POW2 conditional surface dimension caps globally. This has fixed clipping issues in various games, such as Empire Earth and removed the need for specific workarounds in Total Annihilation: Kingdoms, Revenant and a few other titles.
Worked around projected light terrain Z-fighting on night tracks in Need for Speed: Porsche. Thanks to @CkNoSFeRaTU for helping out in determining the root cause of this game bug.
Addressed several oversights and potential problems in the D7VK codebase (thanks to @hourianto for spending their tokens on an LLM-driven review pass, which was mostly useful).
Create a HAL device in situations where a game passes an unknown GUID. This works around texture filtering issues in Revenant.
Simplify surface attachment handling thanks to an upstream WineD3D DDraw bug being fixed, which speeds up all surface Flip calls.
Fixed a black screen regression affecting The Sims: Complete Collection.
Added a frame limit for Dungeon Keeper 2, to prevent runaway flame/water surface animations.
Fixed a regression which caused some materials to be erroneously updated as if they were the currently set device material.
Finalized the removal of stipple caps from reported device features, also based on observed values reported by age-accurate video cards.
Only report D3DPRASTERCAPS_ANTIALIASSORTINDEPENDENT as a device FSAA capability, as per observed behavior of age-accurate video cards.
🌐 External Sources: github.com/WinterSnowfall/d7vk Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Christopher Nolan has built his career turning complicated ideas into cinematic spectacle. Oppenheimer (2023) and Dunkirk (2017) explore the horrors of war and the thought-provoking interpersonal drama that grounds it. Others, like Tenet (2020), Inception (2010), and Memento (2000), play with time and memory to weave convoluted heists with great emotional payoff. Even the more somber titles like Insomnia (2002) and The Prestige (2006) dive deep into psychological complexity, where Nolan’s gritty, flawed characters have their moment to unravel and shine.
It’s hard to find anime that capture the nuanced complexity associated with Nolan’s cinematic style, but plenty of stories feature complicated time paradoxes, non-linear storytelling, and profound explorations of the human condition. Abstract or thematically dense anime like Serial Experiments Lain or Neon Genesis Evangelion might come to mind, but they don’t quite capture the same sentiment of a Nolan movie. That said, here are 10 best anime worth checking out if you are a fan of Christopher Nolan’s varied filmography.
1
Paprika
Satoshi Kon’s Paprika (2000) and Inception (2010) are often mentioned in the same breath due to thematic overlaps, wherein some of Nolan’s imagery is directly drawn from Kon’s film. A case in point would be the iconic warped hallway scene inside a zero-gravity hotel, or when a character presses their palm to shatter reality like glass. While these parallels are overt, Paprika and Inception couldn’t be more different in their handling of the intended premise. While both films tackle dream infiltration, Paprika uses a psychiatric device named DC Mini to enter patients’ dreams; Inception incorporates shared dreaming and time dilation into the complicated process.
Paprika is undoubtedly more surreal in nature, as it effectively uses the dizzying unreality of dreams to flesh out the protagonist, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, and her alter-ego, Paprika. After a detective named Toshimi Konakawa is plagued by a recurring dream, Paprika decides to get involved just as the sudden theft of three DC Mini prototypes occurs. Kon’s filmmaking merges outlandish sci-fi elements with engrossing mystery, which compounds into an experience that is impossible to forget.
2
Heavenly Delusion
Even when Nolan isn’t directly messing with time, he uses non-linear storytelling of the Memento (2000) variety to heighten mystery and challenge audience perception. Masakazu Ishiguro’s Heavenly Delusion juggles two storylines to similar effect — one where Maru and Kiruko travel a post-apocalyptic wasteland to reach “Heaven,” and another where a group of kids inhabits a school that is dubbed “Heaven.” The fun lies in figuring out how or when these storylines might intersect, and whether character worldviews are objective or tainted by external factors.
Similar to Nolan’s penchant for puzzle-box storytelling (best accomplished by 2006’s The Prestige), Heavenly Delusion also drops cryptic hints that only make complete sense once the central puzzle is solved. The mystery surrounding “Heaven” haunts this somewhat overlooked anime, while the danger posed by worldly threats (like monsters) is juxtaposed against the intimate struggles that Maru and Kiruko face during their journey.
3
Planetes
Planetes is a hard sci-fi space adventure that follows the DS-12 Toy Box crew, who are a part of the Space Debris Section. Their purpose is to prevent space debris from colliding with space stations and satellites, accomplished manually through various means. This is a story about the dangers of human ambition and the cost that we might have to pay with unfettered technological advancement, which includes space colonization.
Nolan’s Interstellar feels closest in terms of spacefaring spectacle, but the similarities actually run much deeper. Planetes also explores the psychological toll of isolation and uses hard science (like accurate orbital mechanics) to communicate the heavy burden that astronauts carry to accomplish their missions. The anime centers on Hachimaki, whose dream to own a spaceship feels impossible in the light of his low-paying, high-risk job and the dire state of things back on Earth. At one point, Hachimaki is thrust into deep isolation in the series, which fuels his traumatic disconnect from the rest of humanity and his obsession to join a manned Jupiter mission.
4
Monster
Image: Madhouse
Naoki Urasawa’s Monster is an unparalleled dissection of the human psyche. It follows neurosurgeon Kenzo Tenma and his efforts to deal with sociopathic former patient Johan Liebert, whose brand of evil is both chilling and realistic. Tenma had saved Johan’s life years ago while disregarding orders to prioritize influential patients — a decision that cost him his entire career. Monster makes excellent use of a nuanced antagonist and a wide cast of supporting characters to create a labyrinthine narrative that blurs the definitions of good and evil.
Monster feels close to Nolan’s Insomnia, a psychological neo-noir that uses harsh daylight and discordant sound to disorient the viewer. This is also a tale submerged in moral ambiguity, which feeds into the paranoia that Will Dormer (Al Pacino) experiences. Monster’s exploration of morality is arguably more complex, as it raises questions about whether a human life is inherently worth saving. Nobody can predict if a child will grow up to become a monster, but what would an “everyman” like Kenzo do to combat the guilt that comes with his choices?
5
Voices of a Distant Star
Image: CoMix Wave Inc.
A Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, Suzume) film might not have much in common with Nolan’s filmography at first glance, but Voices of a Distant Star (2002) uses time dilation to heartbreaking effect just like Interstellar. Two childhood best friends, Mikako and Noboru, are separated when Mikako is enlisted to fight aliens on a deadly space mission while Noboru has to stay on Earth. As if cosmic distance isn’t enough, the two also have to deal with time dilation once Mikako heads deeper into space, which means that the messages she sends back to Earth take much, much longer to get there.
This is similar to Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) drifting apart from his kids during the space mission in Interstellar, with Miller’s Planet dilating time so much that it widens this gulf more than ever. While Voices of a Distant Star isn’t a full-length feature, it tells a moving story about the persistence of memory against the oppressive void that is space and time. While Mikako and Noboru have every justification to forget about each other, they do everything in their power to breach the impossible distance separating them. Much like Interstellar’s hopeful ending, Voices of a Distant Star affirms that physical distance matters little when love is unconditional.
6
Perfect Blue
Another Kon classic, Perfect Blue dives into the life of J-pop idol-turned-actress Mima, who becomes a victim of stalking and gradually begins to lose her grip on reality. Featuring some of the most groundbreaking sequences of animation on film, Perfect Blue echoes Kon’s preoccupation with fractured realities and how they manifest on a psychological level. While Kon’s storytelling feels more layered than the tropes employed in a Nolan film, Perfect Blue also employs the use of mirrored surfaces and doppelgängers to pit two ideals or perspectives against one another.
The narrative ambiguity of Perfect Blue is rather intentional, much like the ending of Inception or the general mechanics of Tenet. Identity and perception are fluid concepts that cannot be put inside a box, which is why the objectivity of Mima’s experiences is brought into question. That said, Perfect Blue is more preoccupied with the toxic nature of celebrity culture and how it warps the popular perception of identity. In keeping with Kon’s exploration of trauma in Paranoia Agent and Millennium Actress, this celebrated movie also taps into the impulses that make Mima tick.
7
Steins; Gate
Image: White Fox
If you’re a fan of the looped timeline and reversed entropy featured in Tenet, the mind-bending nature of Steins; Gate is bound to scratch that itch. A lot happens within the first few episodes: The opening tips us off to the possibility of alternate timelines, a dead body found during a time travel conference sets protagonist Rintaro Okabe on a wild adventure, and a phone-operated microwave is able to send messages back in time.
As outlandish as all of this sounds, Steins; Gate grounds its time travel shenanigans in practical sci-fi tropes, where making a change in the past completely shifts reality instead of triggering the butterfly effect. The temporal leaps in this story are confined by World Line Divergence, which measures the degree by which a base world and an alternate world differ (calculated in percentage). Such convoluted rules take a toll on Okabe, as he is doomed to relive tragedies and deal with the repercussions of messing with the flow of time.
8
Id: Invaded
Image: NAZ
This Inception-coded anime centers on detective-turned-convict Narihisago, who can dive into the “id wells” of serial killers to figure out their motives. A horrific personal tragedy prompts Narihisago to break the law in Id: Invaded, which lands him his prison sentence in the present. An id well is a virtual reality constructed from the subconscious of serial killers, which investigators like Narihisago can explore with the help of cutting-edge technology.
Much like Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), the characters in Id: Invaded are haunted by loss, and this grief acts as the motivation to dive into these psychological simulations. While these Nolan-esque elements are present, the anime feels more in sync with Paprika, which also uses a procedural framework to further its psychological themes. Even so, Id: Invaded does a commendable job of portraying the disorganized chaos of a person’s unconscious, which is littered with symbolic imagery and fragmented memories as opposed to straightforward clues.
9
Psycho-Pass
If you’re looking for an anime that mimics the gritty realism of The Dark Knight trilogy, Psycho-Pass comes very close to fulfilling that sentiment. There are no caped crusaders or rogues’ gallery in this story, but the Tokyo featured in Psycho-Pass becomes the nexus of a cerebral and complex thriller. Here, we’re introduced to the Sibyl System, a law enforcement group and bio-computer network tasked with preventing crime by identifying latent criminals.
Pre-emptive social correction inevitably leads to city-wide surveillance and arbitrary expectations of morality, which Psycho-Pass tackles with panache. There’s no dearth of flashy action here, but these high-octane sequences are balanced with discussions about whether a “perfect” society is one that’s robbed of free will. Inspector Akane Tsunemori and her partner Shinya Kogami emerge as characters who struggle within a setting designed to break them — while Akane’s centrist approach is repeatedly challenged by a corrupt system, Shinya’s brutal (but effective) tactics to enact justice often cross ethical lines.
10
Erased
Image: A-1 Pictures
If you’re looking for a Nolan-coded time travel story that doesn’t have world-ending consequences, Erased might be your best bet. In this story, a struggling mangaka named Satoru Fujinuma has an involuntary ability called “Revival,” which allows him to send his consciousness back in time right before a tragic incident. After someone close to him gets murdered, Satoru’s Revival sends him back 18 years into the past, where he must save more than one life.
While the anime’s time manipulation mechanics lend to a tense race-against-time storyline, the stakes in Erased are much more personal, as Satoru’s urge to save people is confined to the ones he loves. The past isn’t just a quick destination, as it also holds the power of nostalgia. Satoru needs to navigate the town he grew up in and cross paths with the people he knew when he was a child. While these aspects paint Erased as a profoundly emotional experience, Satoru’s journey functions on the same deterministic logic that most time travel protagonists employ.
There are games that evoke a very particular time and place to me. For the first Cozy Grove, the time was 2021 – when the COVID restrictions were yo-yoing in and out – and the place was my front room, every morning. I didn’t feel like my day could start without checking on my collection of spirit bears, seeing what arbitrary task they had for me today, and sweeping the floating islands for beetles, fish and clams. Other people were locked into Animal Crossing; I was at one with my Cozy Grove.
Playing Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, the first game’s sequel (effectively a port of a Netflix version of the game), outside of lockdown restrictions feels slightly odd. I have to check the time and remind myself that I need to get changed out of my pyjamas. I have other responsibilities, and I can’t amble around looking for collectibles all day. I almost have to be disciplined.
Cozy Grove is back!
A Reunion With Old Friends
Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit evokes these past feelings because it is, for better and some worse, a continuation more than a sequel. If you’re a Cozy Grove fan, you should know that this doesn’t represent a revolution, and barely an evolution. It’s more stories, different bears, a smattering of additional things to make and decorate with, and – on the very rare occasion – a new category of thing to chase. But otherwise, this is like returning to old friends.
For the uninitiated, this is very much your cozy slice-of-life sim. Anyone who has played Animal Crossing will immediately understand the stakes, although there’s no Tom Nook hovering over you, eyeballing you for cash. You are a Spirit Scout, castaway on a ghostly island with a crashed bus and no sign of your Spirit Scout friends. Initially, the island is small, and all you can do is approach some nascent bear spirits, tapping them to wake them up. They’re long-dead but with unfinished business, and it’s up to you to complete their quests and send them on to the other side.
There’s a dark, macabre side to Cozy Grove that makes it more appealing to me than Animal Crossing. The bears are very much flawed, and it’s fun to watch those flaws grow and unravel as you help them. The lingering themes of death and regret are a contrast to the happy-go-lucky Nintendo game. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit introduces bears who are overly attached to the number of followers they have, or overly covet material belongings.
More Tools Than you can Shake a Dowsing Stick at
The quests hand you tools and then let you loose on an island to use them. You can’t walk five metres without stumbling on a beetle to catch in a net, an ingredient to forage for a meal, a hole to dig, a fish to catch, a shell to grab, a leaf-pile to rummage in, a beast to feed, an imp to chase – and so on. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit introduces a power-washer, in the form of a handheld pufferfish, to offer something new. Each of the activities is almost bottomless, as a Blathers-like fire accepts one of each item as a collection log; recipes require ingredients to make furniture and food; and everything can be sold to fund further ventures. I’m not kidding when I say that you can live in Cozy Grove for months and years.
It’s time to explore again
There are diminishing returns, though. Only a set number of quests – culminating in Spirit Logs, which expand the island if you get enough of them – appear each day. Resources deplete and go on cooldown. Stuff constantly appears, but the rarity of them seems to decrease. And specific things happen on specific days (definitely boot up Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit on seasonal holidays), which encourages you to check in but not necessarily stay. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit gives you permission to leave, but doesn’t punish you if you stay.
A word on the presentation, too. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit is gorgeous, in a detailed picture book style. It’s comforting to spend time in a world that has been so painstakingly illustrated, when other media feels like it’s going in the opposite direction.
Dare we say, Better than Animal Crossing?
If you’ve never played a Cozy Grove game before, this is the place to start. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, as you would expect, imports all of the wonderful quality-of-life improvements that have been made to the series over the years (it’s so satisfying to cook things without having to bring the ingredients, and to have more inventory and storage spaces available). And the game itself latches onto you like a limpet. I find it almost impossible to play anything else when I first boot the Xbox. I’ve got to – at the very least – make sure I’ve ticked off the quests for the day. And maybe fed my birds. Oh, and collected food from the kitchen…
For those who have played Cozy Grove before – you’re going to pick this up regardless of what I say. I know because I’m the same. I had exhausted Cozy Grove, and this represented a new neighbourhood, new stories and a completely new reason to drop in and enjoy the game loops. It was a fresh start for me: I could properly organise my flowers and animals this time, rather than owning a ragtag hub. I could do it properly this time.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t complain about the lack of real changes to the formula. Sure, I think it would have been a mistake for Spry Fox to have shaken the etch-a-sketch and started again, but there was certainly room for more changes than are currently present. I’m not convinced that I needed to be a Spirit Scout again, with the same objective – and largely the same problem – as I had before. I am on the fence about whether all of the ingredients, foodstuffs, beetles and shells had to be exactly the same models as in Cozy Grove (sure, there are additions and renames, but they are very much in the minority). And the ratio of old to new, in terms of what you find and do, is probably 95:5. If you had told me what proportion I expected before starting Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, I would have said 80:20. This is way off that pace.
Less a new game – but that doesn’t matter!
More Cosy Grove: Remastered Than a New Game?
As a result, Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit feels more like a refinement of the original formula, or the opportunity to re-release the game with all of the quality-of-life stuff packed in. I understand the thinking: there’s a chunk of COVID players who didn’t return to the Grove, and – for that group – this will seem like a vast improvement. Spry Fox did an enviable amount of work to make it a more user-friendly experience over the years.
New cozy-game, life-sim players who haven’t touched Cozy Grove before? Oh, they are in for a delightful surprise. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit doesn’t have the marketing of Animal Crossing, but I think it’s very much a companion to it. If you’ve ever found Animal Crossing to be a bit needy, a bit family-friendly, then – ho boy – have we got the game for you.
Habitual Cozy Grove players might feel the softest tinge of disappointment, though. Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit represents a new reason to hop back in – and that was enough for me – but, what it does not represent is an entirely new experience. There are new bears, new stories, but you might be hunting the islands for a little more than that.
Important Links
Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit Brings Us More Ghostly Charm – https://www.thexboxhub.com/cozy-grove-camp-spirit-brings-us-more-ghostly-charm/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/cozy-grove-camp-spirit/9pfc35hjkn69
Of the game industry’s many problems, one of the most depressing is how quickly generative AI has wormed its way into development. According to GDC’s 2025 State of the Game Industry report, more than 50% of surveyed devs work at companies that use AI tools (a figure that has almost certainly increased since then). In some ways, it isn’t surprising that a medium at the intersection of art and technology has embraced this fad born from the latter. That doesn’t make it less disappointing.
As a recent article from The Atlantic put it, “by economic and engineering measures, generative AI might be the worst technology ever deployed.” It is tremendously resource-inefficient, displaces workers, disproportionately benefits the already wealthy, and can only function thanks to mass theft.
Beyond the significant ecological and moral issues that come with ChatGPT, Midjourney, and the rest, there’s another problem when it comes to AI-generated art: It’s ugly as sin. It looks bad because it’s literally a hodgepodge of stolen work–something that intrinsically lacks human creativity.
Where creators used to make rough but charming placeholders, now they type a few words into a prompt without the discovery that comes from struggling through iterations. It’s destructive for audiences, who are denied something genuine, and for artists, who are relying on a digital hallucination instead of their own insight.
Thankfully, there’s a new game that represents the exact opposite of a glossy, AI-powered future. It bulldozes past its own superficial flaws to reach a fundamental truth tech companies have been trying to hide: Creating and engaging with human-made art is fun. It’s not an accident that Meccha Chameleon is the buzziest game on Steam.
Released on June 9 by independent developers lemorion_1224 and Haganeiro, the game quickly exploded in popularity, selling 15 million copies in 26 days. Despite being made in only two months, its Steam page is free of AI disclosures, suggesting its devs didn’t use the controversial tech to generate assets.
A player crouches and attempts to blend in with colorful balloons.
Admittedly, you can tell Meccha Chameleon was turned around by a small team on a tight timeline. Its graphics are rudimentary, with playable characters that are basically 3D stick figures. The UI is damn ugly, with bright green menus that genuinely might be Unreal Engine defaults (although the googly-eyed penguin sliders are peak kitsch). The server browser doesn’t work quite right. And then there’s the music, which, to be generous, sounds like royalty-free tunes that would play in a budget department store.
Most of these problems are aesthetic, but if a gaming magazine critic from 2005 wrote about this one, they would probably dock quite a few points for a “lack of polish.” It’s definitely rough around the edges.
Ultimately, though, none of this undermines the central idea, which only a human could come up with: What if you took a typical hide-and-seek game, inspired by mods such as Team Fortress 2’s prop hunt, but had players camouflage themselves with shitty graphics-editing tools?
When hiding, stick yourself to a wall and paint over your character to blend in. When seeking, try to spot the camouflaged stick people (and then blast them with a gun, because this is a video game). Players score points if they stay hidden while in a hunter’s line of sight, meaning they’re incentivized to engage with the painting mechanic instead of just hiding in a corner. After blending in as best you can, you sit and wait, a horror-movie dread settling in despite the inherent silliness. The atmosphere shoots the other way when a round comes to an end, as you and your friends laugh at the deeply stupid hiding spot that had everyone duped.
Players army-crawl on the ground with large rifles as they attempt to find hidden characters.
It’s like a hastily made Photoshop job that’s funnier because it’s slapdash. Sure, if the game used AI-generated assets, it might look “cleaner” in some spots (at least until you look too closely and see the ugly details), but there’s a deeply human charm to these weirdly animated 3D stickpeople and the cluttered worlds they inhabit.
While the “point” of a match is to score points and evade detection, Meccha Chameleon inspires more than just the desire to win: It encourages creativity. The game teases out latent skills many players probably haven’t engaged with since middle school art class, pushing them to fill in a canvas shaped like a little dude. Friends who haven’t done anything art-related in years will get so absorbed in perfecting their “masterpieces” that they end up neglecting everything else, including concealing themselves in a reasonable amount of time.
If you were ever held back from making something by a perceived lack of “natural talent,” this game reminds us that the purpose of creation isn’t to produce a gallery-worthy masterpiece. What’s more important is to enjoy the process of making something, however goofy and imperfect. What matters is that you made it, and not a machine that plagiarized countless human artists who poured time and effort into honing their craft. It’s a reminder that while most of us will never become acclaimed painters, there’s still value in engaging with the struggle of making something rather than just typing words into a prompt.
Whether it’s capturing the perfect shading and textures to become functionally invisible or grabbing the biggest brush and making a mess, splashing colors over a white background alongside buddies is simply a good time. Combining MS Paint with “friendslop” camaraderie was a stroke of genius.
A player lies in wait above a door, painted to look like the wallpaper.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that everyone got the whole “creativity and originality are what matter” message. There are already tons of Meccha Chameleon clones on Steam, the Roblox store, and elsewhere, many of which cut corners by using generative AI. After all, there will always be people who copy what’s cool and novel to make a quick buck.
In a moment where tech misanthropes are trying to offload fundamental aspects of humanity to machines, Meccha Chameleon is a charming, wonky creation about making charming, wonky creations. It’s human through and through.
Earlier this week, some people in the Seattle, Washington area began spotting a strange little creature scuttling about. Was it a new cryptid? A new mysterious creature like Bigfoot or Nessie? Nope. Instead, what people were spotting was a raccoon with a deformed spine that locals have started referring to as Jimothy. And unlike those other cryptids, he’s real and cool.
On July 14, as documented by MyBallard, Kiana Hall spotted Jimothy near a local Goodwill. She pulled out her phone and captured a video of the rotund raccoon and posted it to Instagram, where it quickly went viral. As of July 17, it has over 6 million views. As for the critter’s name, MyBallard reports that Hall simply thought he looked like a Jimothy. I agree.
“I hope he stays safe wherever he is,” Hall told the site.
This video of Jimothy spread across the Seattle subreddit, where people began sharing stories and more videos of the short little raccoon online. Someone else posted a video of Jimothy sneaking on their porch. And another resident shared a clip of Jimothy on their back patio “living the good life.” People also began sharing fan art of the raccoon, who has quickly become quite popular and built up a sizable fanbase.
Interestingly, before he went viral earlier this week, Jimothy had seemingly been spotted around that area before. Someone on Reddit shared a sketch from 2023 showing what looks like a crude drawing of Jimothy. Another person on Reddit shared a video that showed a similar-looking raccoon in that same area in 2023, possibly a younger Jimothy hanging out with some other raccoons.
“Nice to think there’s some evidence he’s doing OK and other raccoons treat him normally,” posted one user on Reddit.
MyBallard received an image from one of its readers, Amanda, claiming that she and her family had seen Jimothy back in 2023 as a little baby, and they called him Nubby. She shared a supposed photo of the baby Jimothy. “He’s very sweet and harmless,” Amanda told the site.
I love Jimothy. And not just because he’s adorable and cool. What I love about him is that he is proof that many cryptids people supposedly spot out in the woods or desert aren’t mythical monsters or weird aliens or demons. Instead, nature can produce some really wild-looking creatures all on its own, and I think that’s rad.
Some are worried that all this attention on Jimothy might lead to someone trying to capture him. So let’s make it clear: You can take photos of this cute raccoon with a short spine all day. But don’t feed it. Don’t try to capture it. And please, don’t kill it. Otherwise, a large chunk of Seattle might track you down and throw you into a dumpster.
Bethesda has officially confirmed Fallout 5, remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, and a brand-new Fallout project from Obsidian Entertainment as part of a huge new roadmap for the series.
Yes, all at once.
The announcements came in a new statement from Bethesda Game Studios, published less than two weeks after Xbox began its enormous reset. Around 3,200 jobs are expected to be lost over the course of the restructure, including dozens at Bethesda, as Xbox shifts its attention toward its biggest and most reliable franchises. Fallout is very clearly going to be one of them.
Let’s start with the biggest surprise, even if it isn’t technically a surprise anymore: Obsidian is officially returning to Fallout.
I reported on the project last week after Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier revealed that Obsidian had lost roughly a quarter of its staff and was pivoting toward a new Fallout game. Bethesda has now confirmed the collaboration, saying it is teaming up once again with its “longtime friends” at Obsidian.
“We could not be more excited to work with Obsidian again,” Todd Howard told Bloomberg, adding only that the “timing is right” for the two studios to reunite.
Howard refused to say whether the project will use Bethesda’s Creation Engine, how it originated, or which studio will take the lead in production. He did stress that the Fallout franchise remains managed by Bethesda and its franchise teams, suggesting Obsidian will not simply be handed the keys to the wasteland and left to do whatever it wants.
A NOTE FROM BETHESDA GAME STUDIOS
We love making these worlds as much as you love playing in them. Today, we want to share what’s next for Bethesda Game Studios and what you can expect from us in the years ahead.
For forty years, we’ve built games that have entertained almost… pic.twitter.com/slD4pMWqW1
— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) July 17, 2026
And no, Bethesda has not called it Fallout: New Vegas 2. It could be a sequel, a spin-off or something entirely different. All we know for certain is that Obsidian is making a new Fallout project with Bethesda, 16 years after the release of New Vegas.
Interestingly, Fallout creator Tim Cain also returned to Obsidian as a full-time employee late last year. Cain said at the time that nobody would correctly guess what he was working on. But, of course, that was before everything went crazy.
Bethesda has also finally confirmed that remasters of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are in development. Rumours of a Fallout 3 remaster have been floating around for years, while fans have been begging for New Vegas to receive some modern-day love for even longer.
However, Bethesda announced no release dates, platforms or other details for either game. It specifically described them as remasters rather than remakes, but we don’t yet know how extensive the work will be or which studios are handling it.
As for Fallout 5, it is real and currently only in preproduction. Bethesda describes it as the franchise’s “long-range destination,” which is a polite way of saying everyone should settle in for a wait.
The Elder Scrolls VI remains Bethesda’s primary development focus, with the majority of the studio currently working on it. Both games are being built using Creation Engine 3, a new shared technology platform Bethesda has been developing since Starfield launched. According to the company, the engine will allow its teams to support multiple projects simultaneously and includes new tools, rendering technology and gameplay systems.
That should let some work on Fallout 5 happen alongside The Elder Scrolls VI, but the clear message is that the next mainline Fallout is still a long way away. Obsidian’s project and the two remasters will presumably help fill that enormous radioactive hole in the schedule, although none of those games has a release window either.
It’s honestly kind of mind-boggling that Microsoft has allowed Fallout to languish for so long, especially now that the TV show has become a massive hit. The fact that Fallout 5 is only in pre-production feels entirely wrong, to me.
There is more immediate Fallout content coming. Fallout 76 will receive a major expansion next year called Raven Rock, described as a prequel story to Fallout 3. Bethesda says the online RPG is still home to millions of players and has now received nearly 70 free updates.
Fallout 4, meanwhile, has passed 35 million copies sold following its tenth anniversary. Fallout Shelter has now attracted more than 250 million players and will receive additional Seasons, while Amazon Studios and Kilter Films are also developing an unscripted Fallout Shelter television project. Quite what an unscripted Fallout Shelter show looks like is anyone’s guess. Personally, I hope it involves putting strangers in an underground bunker and seeing how long it takes before somebody gets assigned to the wrong room and starts a small civil war.
Production on the third season of Amazon’s main Fallout television series is already underway, following ten Emmy nominations for Season 2. Bethesda is also skipping its traditional Fallout Day broadcast this year, but says it is planning a live event in Washington, D.C. for the franchise’s 30th anniversary in 2027.
The timing of this roadmap is impossible to ignore. Xbox has just cut deeply across its studios and made it clear that its future will be built around fewer, much larger franchises. In his Bloomberg interview, Howard called the layoffs “really tough,” but said Bethesda is changing to focus on the franchises and work it needs to deliver.
This, then, is what that new strategy looks like for Fallout: two remasters, two new games, another Fallout 76 expansion, ongoing mobile support and multiple television projects. On paper, it is the busiest and most promising Fallout pipeline Bethesda has had in years.
The only small problem is that almost none of it has a date. Fallout fans finally have a packed roadmap; now they just have to survive the wait.
Insomniac Games has released a new cinematic trailer for Marvel’s Wolverine, providing another interesting look at Logan’s upcoming PlayStation 5 adventure.
This one is titled “Ain’t No Hero”, and the trailer swaps extended gameplay for a rapid montage of Wolverine doing what he does best: shrugging off punishment, extending those adamantium claws, and making several groups of unfortunate enemies deeply regret standing in his way.
We see Logan fighting across rain-soaked streets, battling enemies aboard a moving train, and wandering through the frozen Canadian wilderness. Sabretooth also makes another appearance, suggesting that the long-running rivalry between the pair will be central to the story.
However, the biggest reveal comes during the trailer’s Tokyo sequence, giving us a look at what might be another of the biggest adversaries in the game.
Lady Deathstrike joins Wolverine’s growing villain roster
The closing moments confirm that Lady Deathstrike, otherwise known as Yuriko Oyama, will appear in Marvel’s Wolverine. She is shown commanding a group of ninjas before extending the long adamantium claws attached to her fingertips, ready for a battle.
Logan and Lady Deathstrike do not quite clash directly in the footage, but everything points towards her becoming one of the game’s major bosses. Considering both characters have adamantium skeletons, any eventual confrontation is likely to be a long, bloody affair.
Lady Deathstrike joins an increasingly impressive collection of confirmed characters. Mystique, Omega Red, Jean Grey, Sabretooth, the Reavers, and towering Sentinels are all expected to play a part in Insomniac’s original Wolverine story, with more probably awaiting when we get our hands on the full experience.
The different locations shown also further imply the global nature of Logan’s journey. You will be traveling between Madripoor, Canada, and Tokyo as Wolverine searches for answers about his past, cutting through anyone who wants to dare challenge him.
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The X Games is coming to San Vansterdam as part of skate. Season 4, bringing a complete stadium takeover, new competitive challenges and a collection of exclusive rewards to EA and Full Circle’s skating game.
Running from July 21 until August 25, the X Games San Van event will transform the Stadium into an officially themed competition venue inspired by the MoonPay X Games League Championship course in New Orleans.
The redesigned location will feature a new street park, a competition bowl and a huge vert ramp. While the wider X Games event is only available for a limited time, EA says players will continue to have open access to the new Stadium layout after the event ends.
Season 4 also sees San Vansterdam resurrect the San Van Open, a classic competition from the fictional city’s history. The event is intended to take players from local street skaters to competitors performing on one of skating’s biggest stages.
“X Games has always been about giving the world’s best skateboarders a stage to push what’s possible,” said Jeremy Bloom, X Games CEO. “Bringing that experience into skate. lets millions of players compete on an authentic X Games League course, represent their clubs, and experience the intensity, progression and creativity that define our sport. It’s a natural extension of what we’re building.”
X Games progression and challenges arrive in skate.
Alongside the Stadium makeover, the X Games San Van event introduces a dedicated progression system featuring new missions, team activities and challenges inspired by memorable moments from X Games history.
Several tasks have been designed around the signature tricks of real X Games athletes, while skateboarder Dashawn Jordan will provide voiceover for the challenges. This marks the first time that skate. challenges have included commentary from an X Games athlete.
Players will also be able to complete sets of X Games Club Tasks inspired by the skateboarding scenes of Los Angeles, São Paulo, New York and Tokyo. Each location’s challenges have been built around famous tricks and skating styles associated with the region.
Spot Battles are also returning during the event, although they will include a new competitive twist. Party sizes and cooperative challenges have been expanded as part of the update, allowing up to eight players to participate together.
X Games rewards and cosmetics
Completing event challenges will unlock a selection of exclusive rewards, including player backgrounds, icons and team jerseys representing Los Angeles, São Paulo, New York and Tokyo.
Additional X Games League cosmetics will be available through the in-game store, giving players more ways to customise their skaters and crews throughout Season 4.
“Working closely with the X Games team, we set out to capture the energy and intensity of the X Games League Finals course and bring that into San Vansterdam in a way that feels authentic to both worlds,” said Deran Chung, Senior Creative Director at Full Circle. “From the layout to the flow of each line, this was about translating a real-world competition experience into something players can explore and make their own.”
The X Games San Van event begins on July 21 and runs until August 25. It will be available to all skate. players, with Season 4 also scheduled to conclude on August 25.
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Fancy a co-op adventure where hauling scrap is just as important as surviving monsters? Wreck Runners arrives today on Xbox Series X|S, PC with Xbox Play Anywhere support, and PlayStation 5, throwing teams of up to four players into the heart of the infamous Bermuda Triangle in search of valuable loot.
Priced at £8.39, this isn’t your typical extraction game. Instead of military operators or treasure hunters, you’re employees of the mysterious Trustwell Corporation, tasked with recovering whatever valuable cargo you can before the fog – and the things hiding within it – catch up with you.
At A Glance
Game: Wreck Runners
Developer: Disruptive Games
Publisher: Disruptive Games
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Play Anywhere, PlayStation 5
Price: £8.39
Genre: Co-op Extraction Adventure
The Bermuda Triangle Is Open For Business
Trustwell Corporation sends your crew into the Bermuda Triangle aboard the ORCA, an all-terrain mobile base capable of travelling across land, sea and air. Your objective? Search abandoned ships, haunted facilities and mysterious locations for valuable salvage before making it back alive. Of course, nothing stays straightforward for long.
Every expedition is a balancing act between greed and survival. Stay out too long chasing one more valuable haul and you’ll soon find yourself dealing with thick supernatural fog, increasingly hostile creatures and a world that seems determined to stop your team escaping.
While Wreck Runners can be played solo, it has clearly been built around cooperative play.
Up to four players can work together to recover oversized cargo, using physics-based tools to drag, lift and transport valuable salvage back to the ORCA. Coordination becomes increasingly important as the dangers ramp up, especially when poor weather, supernatural threats and awkwardly shaped loot all start competing for your attention.
The versatile Scrapjack tool also adds a touch of chaos to proceedings, allowing players to grapple cargo… or each other, depending on how helpful – or mischievous – your teammates happen to be.
Upgrade The ORCA And Keep Exploring
The salvage you recover can be spent improving your equipment, upgrading the ORCA itself or even customising your squad before venturing back into the Triangle. As your tools improve, you’ll be able to tackle more dangerous expeditions, explore deeper into the mysterious region and uncover more of the secrets hidden beneath its swirling fog.
With dynamic weather, escalating threats and a constant push-and-pull between risk and reward, each expedition promises to unfold a little differently.
Ready To Risk It All?
Co-op extraction games continue to evolve beyond traditional shooters, and Wreck Runners looks to carve out its own niche by mixing salvage mechanics, physics-based teamwork and supernatural horror inside one of the world’s most infamous locations.
Whether you’re planning carefully coordinated salvage missions or simply trying not to leave your friends behind when the fog rolls in, there’s plenty of mystery waiting inside the Bermuda Triangle.
Wreck Runners is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PC with Xbox Play Anywhere support via the Xbox Store, as well as on PlayStation 5 and Steam for £8.39. You won’t find Wreck Runners on Game Pass, at least not at launch.
Trinkets play a crucial role in defining your playstyle in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. The remake of the original title, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, offers a modernized combat system. Unlike the original game, where you could upgrade swords, pistols, and armor sets to gain defense and offense stats, you cannot do that in the remake. Instead, you have to rely on the base stats and bonus effects of Pistols, Swords, and Trinkets. Trinkets provide additional effects that can help you in various ways. One of the best Trinkets to get early in the game is the Sea Shells Trinket. It can help you earn more resources from skinning animals. In this guide, we will explain where to find the Exotic Sea Shells Trinket in Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.
Where to Find Exotic Sea Shells Trinket in AC Black Flag Resynced
The Exotic Sea Shells Trinket is one of the early trinkets that you can find after reaching Havana. It is the first location you reach after completing the game’s tutorial. While you are in Havana, it is best to explore it. To find the Exotic Sea Shells Trinket, go to the southeast side of Havana to look for a chest. Use the focus by holding L2 to reveal any secrets and chests nearby. Mark the “white dots” on the screen and head to the coordinates (214, 568).
These coordinates lead you to a chest in a small courtyard that you can reach by climbing over the wall from either side. Drop down into the courtyard and loot the chest to get the Exotic Sea Shells Trinket. Moreover, it will also complete a Secret in Havana.
What is the Use of Exotic Sea Shells Trinket
The Exotic Sea Shells Trinket “Increases the wildlife products gained from skinning animals.” If you hunt a wild animal while this trinket is equipped, you will get double the skin and bone resources. This trinket is highly effective in collecting skins and bones from hunting animals. It does not matter if you are in the early or late game; this trinket is best for farming animal resources, which are essential for crafting various upgrades. This trinket also works on sharks and whales, so if you want to get more Shark Bones or Whale Skins, then this trinket is the way to go.
