The Morning After: The best games of 2025
As many of us hunker down for the holidays, you might want to tackle some of the best games we’ve seen this year: the long-time-coming Silksong, the critically acclaimed (and sumptuous) Expedition 33 and the bizarre world of Baby Steps.
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Not to mention the Switch 2, which is slowly building out its own exclusive library with Metroid Prime 4 and Donkey Kong Bananza. Rare for me, this year, I’ve played many of the new games we’ve picked. Brag. I’d recommend both Dispatch and Blue Prince — I still haven’t completed the latter, but, yes, I’ve unlocked the secret elevator.
And if you don’t have access to your usual PC or console setup, there are some smartphone games worth your time, including Spooky Express, Is This Seat Taken and, well, Umamusume: Pretty Derby, a reimagined world of horse racing where the horses are anime girls with horse ears. Try explaining that to your uncle over dinner.
— Mat Smith
The other big stories (and deals) this morning
Paramount has an updated Warner Bros. Discovery bid
The 12 best last-minute Christmas gifts for 2025 that will arrive by December 24
Nintendo has huge discounts on Switch 2 games in its holiday sale
US bans new foreign-made drones and components
Previously sold drones will not be affected.
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The Federal Communications Commission has assigned foreign-made drones and their critical components as prohibited to import into the US. The FCC said several national security agencies have determined that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and their critical components produced in foreign countries pose an unacceptable risk to the United States’ national security.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr clarified on X the ban does not affect old drones. People can continue using the devices they’ve already purchased, and retailers can keep selling models already approved by the agency. One of the most well-known brands affected by the ban is Chinese company DJI, which told Engadget it was disappointed by the agency’s decision. “While DJI was not singled out, no information has been released regarding what information was used by the Executive Branch in reaching its determination,” a spokesperson said.
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Pirate group Anna’s Archive says it has scraped Spotify in its entirety
The group says it has over 86 million tracks.
Anna’s Archive, the open-source search engine for shadow libraries, claims to have scraped Spotify’s entire music library. The group acquired metadata for approximately 256 million tracks, including 86 million songs, and the total size is just under 300 TB.
“A while ago, we discovered a way to scrape Spotify at scale. We saw a role for us here to build a music archive primarily aimed at preservation,” the group said in a blog post. In response, the streamer said: “Spotify has identified and disabled the nefarious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping. We’ve implemented new safeguards for these types of anti-copyright attacks and are actively monitoring for suspicious behavior.”
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Foldable phone makers have solved every issue except one
The only issue is price.
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Google and Samsung have iterated their big foldables year on year for, well, years. But in 2025, they both delivered big phones that addressed prior flaws and issues. With the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung achieved what may be an even bigger accomplishment by creating a foldable phone of essentially the same size and weight as its own S25 Ultra.
The one thing the makers of big foldables haven’t figured out is how to make them affordable. OnePlus came close in 2023 with the Open, which cost $1,500 after rebates. But things are actually going backwards. The launch price of the Z Fold 7 ($2,000) is $200 higher than the Z Fold 5’s debut price.
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Everything you need to know about Amazon’s newest Echo feature: Alexa Home Theater
Spatial surround is here.
Amazon’s Alexa Home Theater feature has gradually become a legitimate surround sound option. You can link up to five Echo speakers and a subwoofer for a wireless cinematic experience. While the automatic room calibration and easy setup are great, the high price tag of a full Echo Studio array and limited EQ controls mean it’s best for people already juggling multiple Amazon speakers.
Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121545111.html?src=rss