The Morning After: Nintendo Switch 2 US pre-orders (finally) open Thursday

After that whole tariff tango, Nintendo is readying its North American pre-order system for the Switch 2. The original Switch 2 price will remain the same, $450, as will the original $500 for the Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle. However, some Switch 2 accessories will receive price adjustments due to “market conditions.”

(As a non-North American, I may have splurged on the Piranha Plant Switch 2 camera — I have no regrets.)

Hori

There are some fine-print details attached to pre-ordering directly from Nintendo. You must be 18 years or older, sign in with your Nintendo account and register your interest in pre-ordering. Then, you’ll get an invitation email when it’s time to play your pre-order, and the invitation will be valid for 72 hours. And for extra jeopardy: “Invitation emails will be prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis for registrants who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours, as of April 2, 2025.”

If you don’t meet those criteria of die-hard/flush with cash Nintendo fan, there are other options: Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart and Target have confirmed they’ll open pre-orders on April 24.

— Mat Smith

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Bluesky is getting an official verification system

And blue checkmarks.

Bluesky is adopting an official verification system, after all. The company said it plans to grant blue checkmarks to “authentic and notable” accounts. It will also allow some trusted organizations to verify users.

The platform previously resisted centralized verification, relying instead on a domain-based verification system, which allows users to change their handles to match domains they’re associated with.

It’s a bit of a mess. For example, when Barack Obama joined Bluesky recently, his handle did not use a custom domain. Individual Bluesky employees ended up publicly vouching for the former president.

The company will now proactively verify certain accounts and add a prominent blue checkmark to their profile. It’s still not clear what criteria Bluesky will use to verify its users.

Continue reading.

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Nintendo is going after the person behind last year’s massive Pokémon leak

It wants Discord to give up the user’s identity.

Nintendo

Nintendo is going after the leaker behind last year’s massive Pokémon data breach. It wants Discord to reveal the identity of the person behind the leak, who goes by the name GameFreakOUT on the platform. Nintendo said in a subpoena the person uploaded “confidential materials not released to the public” to a Discord server called FreakLeak. After that, the leaked materials spread to every corner of the internet.

It included early character designs, source codes and even an upcoming Pokémon MMO.

Continue reading.

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Using generative AI will ‘neither help nor harm the chances’ of Oscar nominations

Both The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez came under fire for using AI.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided AI is fine. The issue of award-nominated films using AI was first raised in 2024 when the productions behind Best Picture nominees The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez both admitted to using the tech to alter performances. “With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination,” AMPAS writes.

Continue reading.

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