Technologies

PlayStation State of Play: Everything Announced, From 007 to Ghost of Yotei

Some of the biggest upcoming PlayStation 5 games got trailers, including Ghost of Yōtei, a Final Fantasy Tactics remaster, a 007 game and more.

On Wednesday, Sony’s State of Play online event showcased plenty of trailers of upcoming games launching later in 2025 and into 2026. The preview, lasted less than an hour, showcased new and previously-announced PS5 titles as well as a new controller.

The last State of Play was in February and featured previews of games including Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, Lies of P: Overture and Saros, from the studio behind Returnal.

This time, Sony released a few teasers for many of its most-hyped games, including Ghost of Yōtei, Silent Hill F, Pragmata, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a remaster of the original Final Fantasy Tactics and even more levels from last year’s fan-favorite hit Astro Bot.

The trailer fest also included a reveal of a new official Sony fighting stick, which Sony has given the codename Project Defiant (a final name is forthcoming). While it doesn’t have a release date or price, the company noted that it will have wired or «ultra-low latency» wireless connectivity, a durable design and a sling carry case included for easy transport.

How to watch Sony State of Play

State of Play streamed live on YouTube and Twitch starting at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET).

007 First Light

We got our first look at the new James Bond game from Amazon MGM Studios, 007 First Light. From the trailer, it’s clear that the game will cover the origins of the super-spy set in what seems like the groovy 1960s. Bond is young, eager and getting his start at MI6, with missions that will take him around the world. 007 First Light is coming in 2026.

Ghost of Yotei

The spiritual sequel to Ghost of Tsushima had a trailer that showed more vibes than gameplay, pretty much just teeing up a gameplay reveal stream coming in July. Ah well.

Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls

Ignore that word salad title — this is a heretofore unlooked-for Marvel fighting game from Arc System Works, famed for the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue series as well as Dragon Ball FighterZ. While a little more grounded than Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 (where are my super jumps?), Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls will have 4v4 tag team battles, promising tight gameplay and fun new costumes for Marvel heroes. It’s coming to PS5 and PC in 2026.

Lumines Arise

A new game in the Lumines universe is coming from the creators of Tetris Effect: Connected, and you can see the impact with synesthetic combination of music and visuals working together. Lumines Arise comes out Fall 2025 for PS5.

Pragmata

Our second big trailer for Pragmata, Capcom’s next single-player adventure, shows even more of the relationship between the astrogear-wearing protagonist and the robot (looking like a small girl) with more capability than she seems. Pragmata comes out in 2026.

Romeo is a Dead Man

Romeo Is A Dead Man, a new game from Grasshopper Manufacture, was created by noted game developer Suda51 (Killer7). The trailer opened with a bloody protagonist origin transitioning into gameplay of him, newly reborn, slashing and shooting his way through hordes of dead demon-like things. This game — and whatever panoply of styles and oddball features suitable for Suda51 — is coming in 2026.

Silent Hill f

Another trailer for the next Silent Hill game set in 1960s Japan, this game interspersed cutscenes with some gameplay of main character Hinako, a schooolgirl, fighting horrific mannequin-like monsters in schools and shrines across a mist-covered town. The game comes out on September 25, 2025.

Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement

The next game in the Bloodstained series of Castlevania-likes is another side-scrolling grim action game, which is coming out in 2026.

Digimon Story: Time Stranger

A new Digimon game from Bandai Namco, Digimon Story: Time Stranger is a story-rich RPG with a cel-shaded anime style set in a Japan invaded by monsters. The game comes out October 3, 2025.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

A remaster of the Final Fantasy Tactics classic, the game has two versions: the original game and the enhanced version with fully-voiced dialogue, improved graphics and more. Launching on PS5 and PS4 September 30, 2025.

Baby Steps

Described by one CNET colleague as «open world QWOP,» Baby Steps looks to be a surrealist adventure of a character with one goal: make it to the bathroom. It looks like a zany idea brought to life in Garry’s Mod (and I meant that as a compliment). Baby steps comes out September 8, 2025.

Hirogami

Hirogami is a beautiful-looking platformer starring protagonist Hiro, a master of origami folding themself into different forms to traverse the locations. It’s got a unique animation look where your character moves «on the 2’s», or with half the framerate to give it the stylized look of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Hirogami is out September 3, 2025.

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound

From the makers of the Blasphemous games comes the next side-scrolling action entry in the Ninja Gaiden series, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, featuring two heroes from rival clans who must team up to defeat evil. It’s out July 31 on PS5 and PS4.

Cairn

The upcoming climbing game Cairn got another trailer ahead of its release later this year. In Cairn, you climb using natural handholds, but it’s more than just the ascent — main character Aava has her own personal journey to make in her ascents. Cairn comes out for PC and PS5 on November 5, 2025.

Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection

Over 20 different versions of the original Mortal Kombat games are coming to PS5 and PS4 later in 2025. Retro game restorers Digital Eclipse have bundled the first four Mortal Kombat games (as well as Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate) and more into the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, which will also let you challenge players online.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

Another trailer for the remake of the third Metal Gear Solid game, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, showed off more bosses and, curiously, a crossover with Ape Escape (capture the ape and get a robo-ape mecha to deploy?). Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is out August 28, 2025.

Nioh 3

Nioh 3 is coming next year. The reveal trailer for the next entry in the samurai demon-killing game showed off its open world design and a new ninja playstyle to add to its armored samurai fighting. The game has a PS5 demo out today and will be released in early 2026.

Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow

A new game in the storied Thief franchise, Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow, is a PSVR 2-only game that follows in its predecessors’ medieval stealth adventure footsteps — except this time, of course, players get a virtual reality hands-on perspective. Made by Vertigo Games, creators of Metro Awakening and Arizona Sunshine, Thief VR is coming later in 2025.

Tides of Tomorrow

An oceanborne post-apocalypse game that looks like Waterworld by way of the wildly vibrant Sunset Overdrive, Tides of Tomorrow has another feature that could distinguish it from the crowd: a multiplayer story. Though its exact processes are hard to tell from the trailer, players can follow their friend or favorite streamer to see how their choices shape the collective story of the game. Tides of Tomorrow comes out next year on February 24, 2026.

Sea of Remnants

Have you ever wanted to sail the seas as a puppet? Sea of Remnants seems like an even more colorful and zany single-player Sea of Thieves with some interesting color and ocombat mechanics. The trailer showed off dragons and massive floating crab bosses whose shells are coated in gold. Also what looks like mermaid bosses? Sea of Remnants is coming in 2026.

Sword of the Sea

Yes, Sony debuted a third sea-themed game at State of Play — or rather, one mixing seas and deserts from game-makers versed in both. Sword of the Sea is a new indie adventure game from Giant Squid, creators of the iconic games Journey, Abzu and The Pathless. And yes, we’re getting another soundtrack from Austin Wintory. Sword of the Sea comes to PS5 and PlayStation Plus on August 19, 2025.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Jan. 9

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 9.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? The Across clues were kind of tough today. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Question in a late-night text
Answer: YOUUP

6A clue: Plentiful
Answer: AMPLE

7A clue: Saint ___ and Nevis (Caribbean nation)
Answer: KITTS

8A clue: Baby-bringing bird
Answer: STORK

9A clue: Take care of the tab
Answer: PAY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Himalayan herbivores
Answer: YAKS

2D clue: Fail to include
Answer: OMIT

3D clue: «High five!»
Answer: UPTOP

4D clue: The «U» of UV rays
Answer: ULTRA

5D clue: Annoying to deal with
Answer: PESKY

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

I Got Up Close and Personal With Boston Dynamics’ New Atlas Robot

Before Atlas takes its first steps into the world of work later this year, I found myself face-to-face with CES 2026’s most talked-about robot on the show floor.

When I say that I went hands-on with the new Boston Dynamics Atlas robot, I mean that I actually held hands with it. This humanoid robot, which CNET just awarded the Best Robot of CES Award, is one of the most advanced in the world, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get up close and personal with it.

This product version of the robot, which is set to be shipped to Hyundai factories imminently to start working, has been the talk of CES this year. The specific Atlas robot I encountered was a static model that wasn’t turned on or fully operational. Our interactions were, therefore, sadly one-sided. Still, I ran my hands over its soft-touch plastic shell and gently prodded at its finger joints, wondering how it would feel if they gripped me back.

People tend to have varying feelings about humanoid robots — understandable given that they are built to some degree in our image, while also usually being stronger than us, with «brains» that we don’t fully understand. Atlas definitely evokes contradictory emotions for me — even more so when I stood face-to-face with it.

I’m in awe of the engineering, a little fearful of its capabilities, hesitant about what it could mean for the future of humanity and charmed by its design and styling. The periwinkle blue iteration of Atlas that I met on the show floor at CES 2026 almost bears more resemblance to a Dyson product than it does the industrial robots that defined Boston Dynamics’ early days, when it was best known for its work with DARPA.

«There’s a lot of really specific things about this robot that probably look a little weird,» said Zachary Jackowski, Boston Dynamics VP and general manager of Atlas. He pointed to the legs, which he described as «like nothing anyone else was doing.»

Atlas’ thighs are narrow set and in line with the torso, while the calves are wider set, attached to their upper counterparts with a circular joint. This robot is, in fact, all subtle curves and soft lines. There are no harsh edges or stark angles.

During a year when CES has been flooded with humanoid robots, Atlas definitely does stand out due to its design. It appears both less classically human and less industrial than some of its peers, while also lacking the often intimidating, featureless faces they tend to exhibit. Instead, it has two low-set cameras resembling eyes placed where you’d usually expect a mouth to be. Its face is a perfect flat circle, defined by an LED halo that gives it a somewhat Pixar lamp effect.

I asked Jackowski why Boston Dynamics decided to skew so relatively unhuman with this version of its humanoid. «Well, it’s not a human,» he said. «It projects the wrong first impression about a robot to have it pretend to be something that it’s not.»

Particularly in the early days of humanoids, he added, robots won’t have anything like human-like intelligence. People should look at it and see it for what it is — a tool for performing tasks safely and efficiently.

In fact, most of the design decisions were made to keep Atlas as simple, scalable and safe as possible, Jackowski said. I remark that there’s some irony in thinking of a humanoid robot as simple, given the complexity of the technology and development process to bring Atlas to life.

The key to making it simple, Jackowski said, is having a strong enough grasp of the technology to «accomplish the complex thing of building a humanoid robot,» but then being able to take it apart and understand that you can use fewer computers and actuators in it while achieving the same results.

And it’s essential to Boston Dynamics that Atlas is perceived as simple. After all, it’s a general-purpose humanoid, which might eventually be sent far and wide to fulfil all manner of roles. Jackowski calls it the «ultimate generalist.»

Simplicity aside, there are aspects of Atlas that Jackowski believes set it apart from other humanoids at the show. «The repairability of this robot is crazy good,» he said. «The runtime is crazy good. The strength is unlike anything.»

From working in Hyundai’s manufacturing plants, Atlas’s job trajectory is to eventually graduate to many of the same industrial environments where Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot works, before moving to bussing tables in the service industry and eventually into the home. The robot will evolve between now and then, Jackowski said. However, this could be an early glimpse of the type of humanoid that will eventually be our housemate.

That’s some way away, though, which is probably for the best. As I gaze up at Atlas, which I’d guess is around the same height as my husband, my feeling is that, however impressive Atlas is, I’m still not ready for it to move in.

Technologies

This Star Wars Dartboard Has a Secret That Will Stop You From Using the Force to Win

This cool dartboard has cameras to track your score and keep you honest

Right in the middle of the high-tech show floor at CES 2026 sits a pub called the Bull and Barrel with some of the coolest dartboards I’ve seen. Target Darts was showcasing its collaboration with both Star Wars and Xbox. Darts may not be for everyone, but I love «shooting some arrows» in my basement with the family. I also love anything Star Wars themed, so these tick a lot of boxes.

The basic Star Wars set comes with a branded board and wall protector that resembles the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and costs $200. The board is of very high quality, with a tight-knit sisal fiber face, and the protector is thick enough to keep stray shots out of your drywall. The graphics are cool too, with nods to the original Falcon and even have the gold dice hanging above.

The big tech twist to this board, though, is the Omni light ring around the outside. It uses four cameras to track your dart’s position, then sends that info to an app that keeps score. The scoreboard is crisp and clear and uses the voice of legendary darts announcer John McDonald to narrate your game. It’s pretty great to hear his voice announce my terrible scores.

The Omni also allows you to connect with other players worldwide via shared scoreboards. I love the idea of my dad having a board at his house or playing a match with me at my house. It adds a feeling of community to home darts that you don’t normally get outside a pub or bar.

The Omni is a much more expensive proposition than the Star Wars set, coming in at $650, but if you’re serious about the game and a Star Wars fan, it looks to be a great investment.