MagicSpan

No bedroom window? No problem. These sun simulators might just make it easier to wake up and catch z’s.
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Author: Matt Jancer

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

You can now buy a refurbished iPhone XR from the Apple Store, MacRumors reports. It’s a cheaper way of getting the bestselling phone of last year, and Apple’s refurbishing process means that it should perform almost identically to a brand new model.

A 64GB refurbished iPhone XR will set you back $499, a $100 saving over its current $599 asking price, while a refurbished XR with 128GB of storage costs $539, $110 less than the $649 Apple now charges for the phone new. Although the refurbished phone is available in a more limited selection of colors, there’s a wider selection of storage options. The 256GB iPhone XR, which Apple discontinued last year, can be bought refurbished for $629.

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Author: Jon Porter

Twitter’s notice, which says that the tweet broke its rules about glorifying violence. | Screenshot: Twitter

Twitter has placed a public interest notice on a tweet from President Trump for breaking the platform’s rules about the “glorification of violence.” However, Twitter has not chosen to remove the tweet from its platform entirely, because it believes it to be in the public interest. Twitter announced the notice in a tweet thread from its official comms account.

The notice means that the tweet is hidden from Trump’s timeline, but is accessible if you visit the tweet directly after clicking a “view” button. The reach of the tweet will also be limited as part of the process. Although users can still retweet it with a comment, they cannot reply to it, retweet it directly, or like it. Twitter also says that its notice means that the tweet won’t…

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Author: Jon Porter

A new update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now available, but it doesn’t make any major changes to the game. According to the patch notes on Nintendo’s support website, the 1.2.1 update “addressed issues to further ensure an enjoyable gaming experience.” The notes don’t delve into any specific changes, but one of the issues that appears to have been resolved is the item duplication glitch.

You’ll need to install the latest update to continue playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons online. If the update isn’t installed automatically, you can do so manually by highlighting the game’s icon on the Switch dashboard, pressing the Plus button, and then selecting Software Update.

New Horizons is in the midst of its Stamp Rally event to celebrate International Museum Day. The event runs through May 31 and has you collecting stamps from different stations that are hidden around the museum’s fish, fossil, and insect exhibits.

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Author: Kevin Knezevic

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are coming later this year, ushering in a new generation of gaming. Both systems are stacked with a multitude of improved features and capabilities, but there is one in particular that Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon believes people are underestimating. This feature could radically change how we experience games, but it’s something that doesn’t immediately jump off the page when you think “next gen.”

During a recent livestream, Boon said the first thing people tend to ask about with new consoles is how much better the graphics will look. But he believes it’s the dramatically improved loading times that might end up being the bigger differentiator between the current generation and next-gen.

“It’s funny when these new consoles come out and everybody goes, ‘OK, what do the graphics look like?’ I think people are underestimating the impact that the almost zero loading time is going to have,” he said, as reported by Twinfinite. “That’s suddenly going to open doors that weren’t considered possible before and I think we haven’t even scratched the surface of what will eventually be done with those systems.”

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Author: Eddie Makuch

2K has released seven different games from three franchises on the Nintendo Switch today, all of them beloved titles. BioShock: The Collection, Borderlands Legendary Collection and XCOM 2 Collection are now available, and the individual titles within the first two collections can also be bought separately. Each game comes with all previously released DLC.

If you’re buying these games digitally, you’ll want to hope that you have plenty of space on your SD card–the smallest game in the bunch weighs in at 10.4GB. In total, the seven games weigh in at 103.1 GB.

BioShock 2, which originally launched with a multiplayer mode, features just the campaign, along with the Minerva’s Den and Protector Trials DLC packs.

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Author: James O’Connor

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition has arrived on the Nintendo Switch, adding another sprawling adventure to the hybrid system’s library. It can also be an overwhelming one between its vast environments and numerous complex systems, particularly if you’ve never played the Wii original or the New 3DS port.

While this version of Xenoblade Chronicles greatly cleans up the UI and makes other tweaks to improve its accessibility, there are still some aspects of the game that aren’t fully explained by its tutorials. To help you out, we’ve rounded up some essential tips and other things to be aware of before you set out on your adventure across the Bionis.

We gave the remastered RPG a 9/10 in our Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition review. Critic Jake Dekker called it “just as vast and fantastical as it was in 2010” and said, “Although not every aspect of Xenoblade Chronicles has aged as well as others, Definitive Edition proves that Xenoblade Chronicles is still a fantastic JRPG with an immense amount of strategic depth that’s still impressive in 2020.”

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Author: Kevin Knezevic

Chad Muska, one of the iconic skateboarders from the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, is returning for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, and in a new video he has talked about the series’ legacy and impact on both his life and skating culture.

Muska, who was 21 when he appeared in the first game back in 1999, says that “the games influenced my life in general,” and was very important for the skateboarding industry. “To this day, people come up to me and they’re like, ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, I picked you! If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have started skateboarding!'”

You can watch the short video below, and compare 1999 PlayStation 1 Muska to 2020 PlayStation 4 Muska.

Muska first appeared in the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, before appearing in the next five games in the series, through to Tony Hawk’s Underground 2. Activision recently released a similar video for another skater from the series’ history, Steve Caballero.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 releases September 4 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Check out our preorder guide to make sure you’re ready to roll on day one.

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Author: James O’Connor

Crystal Dynamics has revealed a new character for their upcoming Marvel’s Avengers game, and it’s someone we’ve never seen in the comics or movies. In a new post on Square Enix’s website, the team is introducing Cerise–a new “inhuman” team member.

Cerise is a wheelchair user, and the motion capture for her was provided by accessibility specialist Cherry Thompson. The post is light on details about the character, but game designer Mariah Robinson talks about the importance of accessibility and representation to the team. “We have been working on a variety of ways to represent diversity,” she says. “We see all kinds of people in our society, so why not reflect that in our in-game world?”

Senior community and social media manager Meagan Marie shares similar sentiments in the interview. “The fantasy of being a Super Hero is universal, so options that allow players to customize their experience to fit specific needs and playstyles means we can share our vision with even more fans,” she says.

The presence of Cerise suggests that there could be other original characters in the game too–hopefully we’ll find out more when the next gameplay footage debuts on June 24.

Marvel’s Avengers is due to launch on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on September 1, 2020.

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Author: James O’Connor

Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images for Wired

Rony Abovitz, the co-founder and CEO of lavishly funded augmented reality company Magic Leap, will step down from his position, reports Business Insider. Abovitz’s planned departure, which doesn’t yet have a concrete date, marks an unceremonious end to his tenure at the helm of Magic Leap, a once-buzzy startup that earned a high profile for how secretive it was early on about its technology and the eye-popping amounts of venture capital it raised.

Magic Leap has so far raised about $3 billion dollars over the last decade, though it has only released one product, the Magic Leap 1 headset. The company raised $350 million of that funding just earlier this month, after laying off about 1,000 employees back in April and ditching its consumer…

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Author: Nick Statt