Technologies

Pokemon Winds and Waves: First Mainline Games for the Switch 2 Are Coming in 2027

Following the recent release of Pokemon Legends: Z-A, The Pokemon Company announced its first mainline games exclusively for the latest Nintendo console.

Pokemon Winds and Waves, the first mainline games in the series to come to the Nintendo Switch 2, were launched on Friday, the franchise’s 30th anniversary, on a special Pokemon Presents livestream. They will be released in 2027 exclusively on the Switch 2.

Following the precedent set by Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the new games seem to be set in a fully explorable open world. The new playable region is scattered across multiple islands, with wide swaths of ocean between them.

The distinct split between water and land harkens back to cherished gameplay mechanics from generation-3 Pokemon games Ruby and Sapphire, which were released in 2002.

As tradition dictates, we got our first look at the three new starter Pokemon, which are powerful pals that serve as the player’s first partner in an unfamiliar new place.

The grass-type starter, Browt, is a chickadee with a head that’s bulbous enough to invoke the Brain. The water-type, Gecqua, is a quadrupedal gecko with a cool attitude. And the fire-type starter, Pombon, is a super cute orange kitty with a mane that eclipses its body. (I suspect Pombon will quickly become a fan favorite.)

Fan-favorite Pokemon from previous games were also shown off. So far, we can confirm that Pikachu, Tympole, Wailord, Tropius, Carnivine and Frillish are in the cast of monsters to be caught in the next mainline Pokemon games, among other older creatures. Many of the returning Pokemon seem to fit into the island theme, residing in volcanic caves, marshy swamps and underwater coves.

It’s been four years since the last mainline Pokemon games — Pokemon Scarlet and Violet — were released for the Nintendo Switch.

While those games were lauded by some fans for their open world and more freeform approach to telling a Pokemon story, they were held back by poor performance and game-breaking bugs on Nintendo’s first hybrid console. Nintendo will hope that Pokemon Winds and Waves — games built for, and exclusive to, the more powerful Switch 2 hardware — will fare better when it comes to in-game performance.

Pokemon Winds and Waves may be the first traditional Pokemon games for the Switch 2, but they aren’t the first ventures into the world of pocket monsters in recent years.

The recently released Pokemon Legends: Z-A introduced a whole new battling system, moving away from the turn-based mechanics the franchise has been known for since 1996. Pokemon Pokopia, an Animal Crossing-style game that will be released next month, is also primed to bring pocket monsters to cozy gaming spaces.

Both games will tide fans over until they can dive into the watery world of Pokemon Winds and Waves next year.

Technologies

Meta Raises Prices on Quest 3 and Quest 3S Due to RAM Shortage

The VR headsets are RAMageddon’s latest victims.

Meta’s latest virtual reality headset, the Meta Quest 3 (512 GB), will cost $100 more starting Sunday. You can blame the ongoing RAM shortage.

Meta released the pricing update on Wednesday in a blog post calling out price increases for the Meta Quest 3 and 3S models. «The cost of building high-performance VR hardware has risen significantly,» Meta said in the post explaining the increase.

High demand from AI data centers is straining memory chip supplies, causing supply constraints and price increases in consumer tech. Many experts aren’t expecting the RAM shortage to end until 2028.

Counterpoint Research released findings in February showing that RAM costs increased by 80% to 90% in the first quarter of this year. Tech companies continue to hike prices, with Microsoft being the latest to increase the cost of the Microsoft Surface and Samsung doing the same for some Galaxy devices.

Here’s the original pricing as of Thursday, along with what you can expect to pay starting April 19.

Price changes for Meta Quest 3 models

Meta Quest model and storage	Original price	New price
Meta Quest 3S (128 GB)	$300	$350
Meta Quest 3S (256 GB)	$400	$450
Meta Quest 3 (512 GB)	$500	$600

Expect price bumps for refurbished Meta Quest headsets. Prices for Quest accessories will remain the same for now, though we’re unsure whether this applies to games in the Meta store, or whether there’ll be a change in the future.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Meta Quest 3 and 3S are Meta’s latest virtual reality headsets. The Quest 3S is the budget-friendly version, while the Quest 3 is the «pro» model. CNET’s Scott Stein rated both models high for their mixed reality, with better color cameras and improvements from the Quest 2.

Technologies

Planet Parade in the Sky: How to View 4 Planets Lined Up This Week

The cosmic lineup of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune is here.

Space activity has picked up this month, with two meteor showers and the historic Artemis II mission, which sent humans back to the moon and splashed down on Earth last Friday.

Stargazers have a few more things coming in April, including a planet parade where four planets — Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune — appear in the sky at the same time.

The small parade started on Thursday, April 16, and lasts until nearly the end of the month. All four planets will be relatively close to one another on the eastern horizon just before sunrise each day. To view the parade, you’ll need to stay up almost all night or wake up very early. And it’s best to grab a telescope.

The optimal time to view it depends on where you are. If you’re at a higher elevation, try just before 6 a.m. local time. If you’re at sea level, wait for the planets to come up above the horizon just after 6 a.m. local time. The planets will be swiftly chased by the sun, giving viewers a narrow window to view all four planets before sunrise.

Since sunrise varies based on location, you may have as long as 40 minutes or as little as 20 minutes to see all four planets. You’ll want to check the local sunrise times to see if you have enough time to spot all four before the sun comes up.

The proximity to the sun and the narrow window make April’s planet parade one of the more difficult ones to see, according to Geza Gyuk, senior director of astronomy at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium.

«Mercury is, as always, close to the sun and hard to see,» Gyuk told me. «Since Mars and Saturn will be close to Mercury, they will also be hard to see without a very low eastern horizon.»

The best days to try to see the planet parade are between Saturday, April 18 and Friday, April 24. Before those dates, Saturn is a bit close to the sun and rises late over the horizon, and after them, Mercury starts to drift precariously close to the sun.

Get out (or borrow) a telescope

Skygazers need a telescope at a minimum to see all four planets, since Neptune is not visible to the naked eye.

Even using a telescope, Gyuk says it takes some skill to pick out Neptune in the night sky. He recommends taking a pair of binoculars as well, since it’ll make the other three planets easier to see. But he warns skygazers to be careful not to look directly at the sun while using them.

The usual stargazing rules apply: You’ll have better luck away from light pollution, so leave the city and suburbs to get the best view.

The chance to see four planets in the sky at the same time, and so close together, isn’t terribly common. Gyuk says that astronomers tend not to refer to these events as planet parades — instead calling them «planetary alignments» — but also rarely pass up the opportunity to view planets in unique configurations like this.

«I always try to catch a glimpse at least whenever this sort of planetary alignment occurs,» Gyuk said. «It is a thrill to me.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 17 #775

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for April 17, No. 775.

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

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is pretty difficult. Hope you know your sea creatures! Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Shell company.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: By the sea.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

LOCK, LOCKER, MOLLS, SOCK, TOLL, CALM, POLL, POLLS, POLE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: