We have some great news for fans of rhythm games. Ratatan . This is a spiritual successor to one of the most renowned rhythm games of all time, Patapon. The designer behind the original game, Hiroyuki Kotani, is involved.
The mechanics here are similar to Patapon and its sequels, . The game tasks players with rhythmically controlling cute little soldiers called Cobuns, but directing these warriors while avoiding damage is easier said than done. We said it felt like “the gaming equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach.”
The developer also announced some new features coming to the game. It revealed two new worlds, including a jungle and a garden that’s been frozen over, along with new soldier and weapon types. This is 2025, so the game also features a roguelike element, as players can encounter unique power-ups and buffs during each run.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about this title, including the price and when it’ll eventually come to gaming consoles. The developer has a livestream planned for September 14 hosted by voice actor Tomokazu Sugita. The stream “will feature the latest updates, our post-launch roadmap and information on upcoming events.”
Patapon originally came out all the way back in 2007 for the PSP. It was followed by a handful of sequels, all originally for Sony’s first portable console. The first two games have been ported to other consoles, .
Blackbird Interactive, developer of Homeworld 3 and Minecraft Legends, has reacquired full intellectual property rights of Hardspace: Shipbreaker.
Announced today, the developer now has full ownership of the IP. Originally, the game was brought to market in partnership with Focus Entertainment, which not only assisted as publisher but also acquired partial ownership of the IP.
According to the announcement, Blackbird isn’t ready to share specifics aside from there being “multiple Hardspace projects” currently in development, paving the path forward to flesh out the IP into a franchise. According to a financial report issued in June 2022 by Focus Entertainment, Hardspace: Shipbreaker had sold over 500,000 copies in its two years in early access.
It’s been a year since Blackbird Interactive talked about a “realignment plan”
Hardspace: Shipbreaker has been a standout release for Blackbird. In recent times, however, the team has undergone layoffs and leadership changes internally.
As reported by Business in Vancouver, where the studio is based, founder Rob Cunningham transitioned from the CEO role to board chairman back in March of this year, with Eric Torin taking over the helm after his tenure as chief strategy officer. This is reflected in Blackbird’s official site.
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The news came around a year after Blackbird made layoffs due to “economic pressures” beyond its control, claiming the cuts were part of a wider “realignment plan” that was implemented after some of its partners shelved in-development projects. “We looked at multiple ways of avoiding this and regretfully other options weren’t viable,” a Blackbird spokesperson said at the time.
The layoffs followed another round of job cuts that took place in August 2023, which affected 41 staff members. Months later, Mojang pulled the plug on Minecraft Legends.
The Latin superstar will perform during the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers game in São Paulo on Sept. 5
Karol G keeps the Tropicoqueta party going. The Latin superstar was announced as the headliner for the NFL‘s halftime show in São Paulo, Brazil during the Week One matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers.
“This year has been truly rewarding, and the timing of this opportunity is perfect,” Karol told AP. “With my latest album Tropicoqueta, I set out to represent the many facets of my Latin culture, something I’m incredibly passionate about in everything I do. I’m excited to bring that same energy and pride to this global stage and honored to continue elevating Latin culture on such a monumental platform.”
The game will stream live from Corinthians Arena on September 5 and be available to watch on YouTube for the platform’s first-ever NFL live broadcast. Coverage begins with a pre-game show at 7 p.m. ET, with kick off at 8 p.m. ET.
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“We’re thrilled to welcome Karol G and a fantastic lineup of local talent to the 2025 São Paulo game honoring the sounds of Latin America, and delivering those tuning in globally a historic performance on YouTube,” said Tim Tubito in a statement. Tubito is the Senior Director of Global Game Presentation and Entertainment at the NFL. Besides Karol G’s exciting headlining performance, the game will feature local talent like Brazilian star Ana Castela, who will perform the country’s National Anthem Hino Nacional Brasileiro.
“It’s truly an honor and a moment I’m so proud to be part of,” Karol G said of the upcoming performance. She continued: “I’ve watched many NFL halftime shows over the years and now having this opportunity to bring my music to this global stage means the world to me. I can’t wait to celebrate with everyone in São Paulo and fans all around the world.”
Priscilla Presley’s former business partners accused the rock widow of hastening daughter Lisa Marie’s death to secure her own spot atop Elvis’ massive financial kingdom, according to a bombshell lawsuit filed in Los Angeles this week.
Plaintiffs Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko accused Priscilla Presley, the former wife of rock icon Elvis Presley, of fraud, breach of contract and other civil misdeeds in the L.A. County Superior Court action entered on Monday.
Kruse, an auctioneer who specialized in Elvis sales, and Fialko, an Elvis memorabilia collector, said they had been collaborating with the defendants for years to leverage her name for maximum profits.
But once the plaintiffs got Priscilla Presley back on stable financial footing in November 2023, they allege she “abruptly cut ties” with Kruse and Fialko and denied them compensation from the movie “Priscilla.”
Earlier that year, the defendant’s daughter Lisa Marie died at age 54.
Lisa Marie had been ailing, but her mom Priscilla insisted they attend a Golden Globes together event on Jan. 10 as the mother “clasped to the spotlight,” the lawsuit said.
Lisa Marie collapsed at her home days earlier and died of small bowel obstruction, the medical examiner’s office ruled.
“Priscilla rushed to West Hills Hospital and despite Lisa’s clear directive to ‘prolong her life,’ Priscilla pulled the plug within hours of Lisa being admitted,” according to the lawsuit.
“Priscilla knew that Lisa’s death neutralized the threat of Lisa’s efforts to have Priscilla removed as the sole trustee of Lisa’s irrevocable life insurance trust and Priscilla ultimately wanted to control the Promenade Trust and Graceland. At her house the week following (before Lisa’s funeral), Priscilla exclaimed, ”I’m the queen, I’m in charge of Graceland.’ Kruse and Fialko were heartbroken by the unsettling behavior.”
Reps for Priscilla Presley and Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter the defendant’s granddaughter, could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
Elvis and Priscilla Presley were married for six years prior to their 1973 divorce, which was four years before the king’s passing.
Priscilla Presley is now 80 and Elvis was 42 when he died on Aug. 16, 1977 at Graceland.
Google’s ambitious AI age verification isn’t contained to YouTube. It appears to be making its way to Google Search as well.
For those unaware, Google began rolling out its controversial AI age verification system to YouTube yesterday in a bid to make the internet a safer place for young individuals. The tool determines whether a user is underage or not based on their activity and the content they consume. It, however, can falsely flag adults as being underage too, with said users then being forced to prove their age by uploading a government ID, credit card or a selfie.
Users falsely flagged, of course, are unhappy with being forced to hand over sensitive data, and that frustration might soon boil over.
Yesterday marked the first day that a similar age verification pop-up was observed directly within Google Search. Highlighted by user bunihe on the r/YouTube subreddit (via TechIssuesToday), the pop-up explicitly noted that some of their account settings were changed because their age couldn’t be verified.
We changed some of your account settings because we couldn’t confirm if you’re an adult. Check if your new settings are right for you.
Flagged once, flagged everywhere?
Reportedly, the user received the prompt on Search after they had already encountered an age verification request on YouTube earlier the same day. This might suggest that once Google’s AI flags one of your accounts as being underage, it will affect all other Google services tied to that account. “Was watching some TechLinked earlier today when the age verification popped up on my phone, initially I didn’t think too much about it cuz I thought “It is just YouTube”. Apparently it affects my Google search experience too,” wrote the user.
Although the move is disruptive for users on YouTube, its scope isn’t immediately clear in Search. It could potentially force SafeSearch for all queries, disable age-sensitive ad categories, block specific keywords, restrict specific website categories, and more.
AI-based age verification is currently limited to the US, but it is expected to be rolled out to more countries and regions in the near future. We’ll have more to share as additional reports of its impact on Search emerge.
The use of trifluridine/tipiracil (Lonsurf) led to a numerical but not statistically significant improvement in disease-free survival (DFS) compared with placebo following curative resection in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) who were positive for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), according to data from the phase 3 ALTAIR trial (NCT04457297).
Findings presented at the 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress revealed that in the overall population, patients treated with trifluridine/tipiracil (n = 122) achieved a median DFS of 9.30 months (7.92-10.84) compared with 5.55 months (95% CI, 4.177.33) in those given placebo (n = 121; HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.60-1.05; P = .107). In the trifluridine/tipiracil arm, the 12- and 24-month DFS rates were 31.8% (95% CI, 23.6%-40.2%) and 16.9% (95% CI, 10.4%-24.8%), respectively. These respective rates were 26.8% (95% CI, 19.16%-35%) and 14.5% (95% CI, 7.85%-23.1%) in the placebo arm.
“A [forest plot] analysis showed that patients with stage IV disease or microsatellite stable [MSS] status derived significant benefit from trifluridine/tipiracil,” lead study author Masahito Kotaka, MD, PhD, of Sano Hospital in Hyogo, Japan, said in a presentation of the data.
ALTAIR Overview
ALTAIR was part of the CIRCULATE- Japan trial schema, and it included patients from the GALAXY (UMIN000039205) and VEGA trials (jRCT1031200006) who underwent curative resection for CRC and tested positive for ctDNA after surgery. Patients needed to be at least 20 years of age with no radiographic evidence of disease, and they received standard perioperative therapy. ctDNA monitoring was done using the Signatera assay. Patients who tested positive for ctDNA were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive trifluridine/tipiracil or placebo for 6 cycles.
DFS served as the primary end point of ALTAIR. Secondary end points included ctDNA clearance rate, overall survival, safety, treatment completion rate, and quality of life (QOL).
Baseline characteristics were well balanced between the 2 arms. In the overall population of ALTAIR (n = 243), most patients were younger than 70 years (64%), were men (58%), had left-sided tumors (71%), were ctDNA positive at 1 month following surgery (53%), had BRAF wild-type disease (96%), had RAS wild-type disease (61%), and had MSS disease (98%).
Safety Data
Any-grade adverse effects (AEs) occurred in 98.4% of patients in the trifluridine/tipiracil arm vs 57.0% of patients in the placebo arm. The rates of grade 3 or higher AEs were 73.0% and 3.3%, respectively. Serious AEs and AEs leading to study discontinuation occurred in 4.9% and 6.6% of patients in the trifluridine/tipiracil arm, respectively; these rates were both 0% in the placebo arm. No patients in either group experienced AEs leading to death.
Any-grade AEs of note consisted of decreased neutrophil count (trifluridine/ tipiracil, 74.6%; placebo, 4.1%), decreased white blood cell count (63.9%; 3.3%), decreased platelet count (12.3%; 3.3%), and decreased lymphocyte count (8.2%; 0.8%). In the trifluridine/tipiracil arm, the rates of these AEs occurring at grade 3 or higher were 56.6%, 17.2%, 1.6%, and 4.1%, respectively. None of these AEs were reported at grade 3 or higher in the placebo arm.
AEs led to dose skipping in 95.1% of patients in the trifluridine/tipiracil arm vs 11.6% of patients in the placebo arm. The rates of AEs leading to dose reductions were 37.7% and 0.8%, respectively. The median treatment duration was 174 days (range, 8-251) in the trifluridine/tipiracil arm vs 150 days (range, 40-187) in the control arm.
REFERENCE:
Kotaka M, Bando H, Watanabe J, et al. Association of ctDNA clearance with disease-free survival, safety, and quality of life from ctDNA-directed therapy: findings from the ALTAIR study. Presented at: 2025 ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress; July 2-5, 2025; Barcelona, Spain. Abstract 3O.
President Donald Trump holds a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. — Reuters/File
US defence team to visit New Delhi for military talks.
Arms purchases continue despite strain over high tariffs.
India says ties with US have weathered challenges in the past.
India said on Thursday that it hoped relations with the United States would move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests, seeking to temper worries that ties were headed downhill in the aftermath of high tariffs imposed by Washington.
A US defence policy team will be in New Delhi this month for talks with Indian officials and its arms purchases from the US are on course despite the strain in ties, the Indian foreign ministry said.
A new friendship built between the two countries has hit a rough patch after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50% last week from an earlier 25% saying it was a penalty for India’s continued imports of Russian oil.
New Delhi has accused the US of double standards in singling it out for Russian oil imports and called the tariffs unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.
At the same time, it has also indicated that the warming of ties that began at the turn of the century covers a wide range of areas and should not be seen only through the prism of trade, although it hopes that trade talks will continue and result in a deal.
“This partnership has weathered several transitions and challenges…and we hope that the relationship will continue to move forward based on mutual respect and shared interests,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing.
Purchases of military equipment from Washington were on course, Jaiswal said, adding that a US defence policy team was expected in Delhi this month.
Reuters reported last week that India has put on hold its plans to procure new US weapons and aircraft and that a planned trip to Washington by the Indian defence minister had been cancelled.
The Indian government subsequently said reports of a pause in the talks were wrong.
The Arsenal u18s have learned their group stage draw for the u18 Premier League Cup in 2025/26, with the competition kicking off this month.
Photo via Arsenal.com
Arsenal have confirmed that they’re due to face Peterborough United, Stoke City, and Norwich City in this season’s u18 Premier League Cup group stage, playing Peterborough at home and the other two games away.
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The group stage is always competitive, with only the top team guaranteed a spot in the knockouts. Unless you win all three matches, qualification can end up out of your hands.
The competition kicks off in August, with Arsenal hosting Peterborough on Tuesday, August 26th. The young Gunners will then travel to Stoke on Saturday, October 4th, before wrapping up the group stage away to Norwich on Saturday, November 22nd.
The u16 Premier League Cup mirrors the u18 competition, so they’ll play the same group stage matches.
Photo via Arsenal.com
The u18 draw follows the recent u17 Premier League Cup draw, with the Arsenal u17s receiving matches against Crystal Palace, Fulham, and Watford.
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The u17 group will hope for another successful year, stepping up to this level having won the u16 Premier League Cup last season.
The young Gunners triumphed with a 3-1 win over Chelsea in the final thanks to goals from Kyran Thompson, Josiah King, and Marley Frohock.
Photo via Thompson on Instagram
Meanwhile, the u21s have learned their EFL Trophy group stage opponents, with the team to play away against Cardiff City, Exeter City, and Newport County.
A potential gas giant recently discovered orbiting in the habitable zone of one of the closest stars to Earth could have a moon capable of sustaining life — just like the alien world “Pandora” from the “Avatar” movies, researchers have speculated.
However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that such a moon exists or that it could support life. In fact, scientists are still unsure if its host planet is actually where they think it is.
A study published Aug. 11 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters revealed the potential discovery of a Saturn-size gas giant, dubbed S1, orbiting Alpha Centauri A — one of three stars that make up the Alpha Centauri system, which lies roughly 4.25 light-years from our own solar system.
The potential exoplanet, which likely orbits its home star at up to twice the distance between Earth and the sun, was initially spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in August 2024. However, the powerful telescope failed to spot the world again when it was expected to become visible in February and April this year, leading to it being dubbed a “disappearing planet.”
Researchers believe that S1’s orbit may have moved it in front of Alpha Centauri A, making it much harder for JWST to spot the gas giant. By their calculations, it should become visible again in 2026 and 2027, meaning we will need to wait a few more years before we can be certain of its existence.
But if it is eventually confirmed, “It would be the most significant JWST discovery to date,” study co-author Stanimir Metchev, an exoplanet researcher at Western University in Ontario, told Live Science.
Related: Proposed spacecraft could carry up to 2,400 people on a one-way trip to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri
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An artist’s interpretation of what the potential Saturn-size gas giant S1 may look like in orbit around Alpha Centauri A. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Robert L. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC))
To date, only two planets have been confirmed within our adjacent neighborhood, both of which orbit Proxima Centauri — the closest star to Earth, which circles the binary star pair of Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B. But as our closest stellar neighbors, the idea of traveling to Alpha Centauri and potentially establishing a human colony there has long piqued humanity’s interest in both science and science fiction.
The triple stars’ most notable sci-fi inclusion is probably in the “Avatar” franchise, as the home system of Pandora — the fictional homeworld of the blue-skinned aliens, known as the Na’vi, who go to war with humans who invade the moon (which purportedly orbits a gas giant) after traveling to Alpha Centauri on interstellar starships in the 22nd century.
Interestingly, S1 is likely around the same size as Polyphemus, the fictional gas giant orbited by Pandora. And both S1 and Polyphemus also supposedly reside within Alpha Centauri A’s habitable zone, where there are suitable conditions for extraterrestrial life to emerge.
Real-life Pandora?
Until now, the idea that there could be a real-life Pandora in Alpha Centauri seemed like a very long shot. But if S1 is confirmed to be a real planet, there is a high chance that it could have a number of moons.
“I would expect that there are probably moons there,” Mary Anne Limbach, an exoplanet researcher at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the new study, told NPR. “Moon formation around giant planets generally should be quite common.”
In our own solar system, for example, the largest gas giants Jupiter and Saturn have a combined 369 natural satellites at the latest count, including sizable moons such as Titan, Europa, Io, Ganymede, Enceladus and Mimas, some of which may even be capable of supporting life themselves.
Related: 32 alien planets that really exist
The Alpha Centauri star system as imaged in three observatories. From left to right: the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS), NASA”s Hubble Space Telescope, and NASA”‘s James Webb Space Telescope. The JWST image at right shows a dot that may be a Saturn-size planet. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Aniket Sanghi (Caltech), Chas Beichman (NExScI, NASA/JPL-Caltech), Dimitri Mawet (Caltech))
But if S1 does have a moon, what are the chances that it can support some form of extraterrestrial life? The answer likely lies in how large it is. Limbach said she is “optimistic” that S1 could support a Mars-size moon, which would make it large enough to have its own atmosphere and large surface oceans, similar to those found on Earth.
However, David Kipping, an exoplanet researcher at Columbia University in New York who was not involved in the new study, is more skeptical and told NPR that any moon around S1 would likely only grow to the size of Titan, which is around two-thirds the size of Mars but slightly larger than Mercury.
At this size, the moon is unlikely to be able to hold together an atmosphere, making extraterrestrial life — especially on the scale seen in the “Avatar” movies — very unlikely. Therefore, to get a real-life Pandora, “you need this planet to have an unexpectedly big moon,” Kipping said, though he added that “it’s not impossible.”
The next challenge, if and when S1 is confirmed to exist, will be to spot any potential exomoons surrounding it. However, this could be tricky as exomoons are notoriously hard to spot, as they are so much smaller and colder than planets. Therefore, we may need to wait for a space telescope several orders of magnitude more powerful than JWST to see anything, which could take decades.
The year 2024 proved to be one of the most challenging of Shericka Jackson’s career.
The Jamaican athletics star began it with the highest of hopes, a first individual Olympic gold medal in Paris firmly in her sights. And she had every reason to believe it was possible. She was the reigning back-to-back world champion over 200m and the fastest woman alive in the event.
Only six months earlier, in Budapest, Jackson had clocked 21.41 and still looked visibly disappointed as she crossed the line. The frustration came from missing Florence Griffith-Joyner’s long-standing world record of 21.34, but her reaction spoke volumes: she believed the mark was within her reach.
Heading into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the expectations were sky-high, not only for Olympic gold, but for the possibility of rewriting the record books in the 200m. In the 100m, she had also shown enough to suggest that a sprint double could not be ruled out; after all, she is already a double world silver medallist and an Olympic bronze medallist in the event.
What she could not have foreseen was the series of setbacks ahead, with injuries derailing her build-up and ultimately forcing her to withdraw from what was meant to be her crowning Games in the French capital.
“Last year was really, really hard for me, mentally and physically,” Jackson said in May ahead the Xiamen Diamond League, her first outdoor race of 2025 at the end of April.
“But I had my family, friends and coaches in my circle. Coach and I sat down and had a conversation during the Olympics and we worked on the fine details and I took some time to get healthy,” she said.
That break appears to have paid off and the five-time Olympic medallists has quietly turned disappointment into a 2025 season characterised by measured progress and growing confidence.
