LOS ANGELES – Addressing a concerning escalation of threats against LGBTQ+ organizations throughout the country, leaders from TransLatin@ Coalition, the Los Angeles Police Department, and other officials gathered in a press conference to denounce acts of intimidation and to call for unity and protective measures for the trans and queer community.
A bomb threat called in to the LAPD on March 28, aimed at the TransLatin@ Coalition specifying today April 15 as the target date, has prompted an immediate and ongoing response from local authorities to ensure the safety of those at the coalition’s facilities and others. The LAPD has since been closely monitoring the site.
The suspect, identified as Henry Nolkemper, a white 61 year old male, was arrested by LAPD shortly afterward after being observed entering his residence on West 53rd Street. The police then searched his residence. Despite the absence of explosives, he was booked under serious charges including criminal threats with a hate crime enhancement.
Nolkemper, known to have a history of mental health issues, was on parole for previous threats to the community. His parole has since been revoked and he is currently held on a one million dollar bail.
The press conference today began with remarks from Robin Toma, Executive Director of LA vs Hate, who highlighted the organization’s role as the third largest source of hate crime reporting in Los Angeles, trailing only police sources.
He also stated that LA vs Hate has reported a troubling increase in trans-specific crimes, noting that such incidents are grossly underreported, a sentiment echoed by surveys within the trans community.
Robin Toma, Executive Director of LA vs Hate, Bamby Salcedo at the podium speaking, LAPD Assistant Chief Blake Chow, & Capri Maddox, Executive Director, City of LA Civil + Human Rights & Equity Dept. (Photo by Simha Haddad)
Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO of TLC, expressed her gratitude for the continued support from various partners and emphasized the daily challenges faced by transgender individuals. “Every day a trans woman steps out of her home, it is a revolutionary act. We are people who walk with targets on our backs,” Salcedo declared, setting a tone of resilience and defiance against the threats.
Special thanks were given to Supervisor Hilda Solis and Jury Candelario, a partner from APAIT and a Filipino immigrant, who marked 35 years in America by calling the trans-related stress “chronic” in his long tenure as a social worker. Esther Lim, representing Supervisor Solis, condemned the bomb threat as an act of “cowardice” and highlighted Solis’ support through a previous $55,000 contribution to TLC and a new motion to establish LA’s first LGBTQ+ commission.
Assistant Chief Blake Chow and Deputy Chief Ruby Flores of the LAPD provided updates on the legal actions following the threat. They noted a 13 percent increase in overall hate crimes, with LGBTQ+ specific hate crimes up by 33 percent. “Behind each hate crime, there is a victim, there are families,” Flores said, urging the community to report incidents and support anti-hate education initiatives. “These crimes affect people in ways statistics can’t reflect.”
Related
The press conference also featured voices from the community like Mariana Marroquin, Associate Director of Trans Wellness, who spoke passionately about the ingrained nature of hate experienced by trans individuals from a young age, and Cari Maddox, who emphatically stated, “Hate has no home in Los Angeles.”
Mark Bayard, representing Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, affirmed the DA’s commitment to fighting hate crimes vigorously, especially in light of the upcoming election season, which often sees a spike in such incidents.
As the community grapples with this latest threat, the message from today’s conference was clear: solidarity, education, and legal protection are key to combating hate and fostering a society where transgender people can integrate fully and safely.
Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for April 16th, 2024. In today’s article, we’ve got a handful of reviews for you to dig into. I have my thoughts ready on Freedom Planet 2, Terra Memoria, Moonglow Bay, and Tengoku Struggle, and it’s a real assortment to be sure. After that, we have some new releases to look at including a new game featuring Inugami Korone, my very favorite Vtuber. After that, it’s sales time! Lists of new and expiring sales, as you like it. Let’s get this week going!
Reviews & Mini-Views
Freedom Planet 2 ($24.99)
I liked the first Freedom Planet more than I like most Sonic games. Just mentioning that now so that you know where I am coming from. I felt like the story bits were a little too much, but the actual gameplay mechanics and level designs were outstanding. I also really enjoyed the boss battles, though some of them were a little long for my liking. It wasn’t hard to spot its origins as a Sonic fan game, but it was an incredibly well-made one. My hopes for the sequel were that it could find a better story-to-gameplay balance, and that it could properly break free from its source of inspiration and fully become its own thing.
Well, I didn’t get everything I wanted, but Freedom Planet 2 is a solid improvement on the original. The cutscenes are a lot easier to tolerate, as they’re shorter and better paced. The game still feels like Sonic at times, but I think it’s moving in a good direction in that regard. Perhaps the most important thing is that the game itself shows a lot of enhancements across the board. The presentation is better, the level designs are more interesting, the various characters feel more natural within those stages, and the mechanics have been tightened up. It’s a terrific 2D action game, and fans of 2D Sonic should have a great time with it.
I won’t belabor the point here. Freedom Planet 2 takes everything Freedom Planet did right and does it better, while also making sure to improve on the things it didn’t do well. It’s still not a perfect game by any means, and it can’t quite escape the orbit of Sonic the Hedgehog. But maybe it doesn’t have to? Maybe it isn’t meant to? Perhaps it’s just fine if it’s a really great riff on Sonic‘s gameplay. It knows what it wants to be and executes on that amazingly well. If you like 2D platformers, you’ll want to put this game on your shopping list.
SwitchArcade Score: 4.5/5
Terra Memoria ($19.99)
One thing I’ll give Terra Memoria: it has a lot of charm. I can really feel the passion that went into its creation, and early on it had me enchanted. The world design is intriguing, the characters who make up your party are distinctive, and the combat system takes a lot of cues from Grandia. That’s a good place to draw inspiration from. But the more the game went on, the more it lost me. The characters don’t get much development or fleshing out, the sub-systems often feel like an afterthought, and the battle system quickly becomes repetitive. By the end, I felt like I had played through a KEMCO RPG. A KEMCO RPG with an outstanding presentation, mind you.
The game is set in Terra, a fantasy world where magic makes everything go ’round. All is fine until some ancient robots awaken and start attacking. Six characters come together in these circumstances and must explore both the past and present to figure out what’s gone wrong and why. The turn-based battle system sees you exploiting weaknesses to try to delay the enemies’ turns, and it’s fun but never really challenges you to try new tactics. Nothing in the game demands more than simply picking at the enemies’ weaknesses with the best magic you’ve got.
There’s also a crafting system in here that you’ll mainly be using to build up your town/base, which is an enjoyable mechanic even if it isn’t very essential. There are other side quests beyond the town-building to complete, so the game certainly checks off the necessary boxes. But despite the game running a respectable twenty-ish hours, it never quite takes off the way you would hope. It feels like there’s half a game missing here. Not so much a missing second half, but rather bits and pieces cut from the game as it stands.
There’s a lot to like in Terra Memoria, especially in the game’s outstanding presentation. It’s clear its creators are fans of the RPG genre, and the foundation is here for something really great. Unfortunately, after a solid start the game doesn’t really build on things very well. Characters are paper-thin, the combat system quickly stagnates, and it all starts to feel like you’re just going through the motions. There’s enough gas in the tank here for me to recommend it to fans of the genre, though.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
Tengoku Struggle -Strayside- ($49.99)
The latest visual novel release from Idea Factory and Aksys comes from many of the same people that worked on Olympia Soiree, a game that our pal Mikhail reviewed and really enjoyed. I’ll say this for Tengoku Struggle: you can tell it’s from the same writer as that game. There are a lot of heavy adult themes in this game, including sexual assault and necrophilia. Most of the guys in this game don’t hesitate to threaten the heroine in very forceful ways. Maybe that’s your thing, maybe it’s not. But consider yourself advised, if nothing else.
Rin Enma is the adopted daughter of the King of Hell, and she’s just passed her final tests and taken a position as a Hell Guardian. She has no memories of her life before she died, and is simply dedicated to helping her father as best as she can. When some sinners use a loophole to escape Hell, Rin’s father tasks her with going to the human realm to track them down. To help her out, Papa sends four of his best “dogs” – some of Hell’s worst sinners. They’ll all have to live together in a house in Asakusa, a task made all the more arduous by the fact that Rin has a strong dislike of men. Their investigation will reveal a lot of secrets, and Rin might just find love along the way.
You’ve got five routes to play here, each with a good and bad ending. Some are a lot better than others, and this is one of those games where it feels like it’s strongly pushing you towards one particular pairing. Everything is written well enough, dialogue-wise, and some of the routes have interesting stories to tell. The truth behind Rin’s existence isn’t too hard to figure out before it’s properly revealed, but there are a few shocking twists up the writer’s sleeve. I only ended up really enjoying two of the routes, and one of them did absolutely nothing for me at all. It sometimes felt like the writer was going a little too over the top without good reason to. I will say that I absolutely loved Papa Enma, whose voice actor completely sells the bizarre character he’s portrayed as here.
While Tengoku Struggle shows the usual high production values and polish seen in Idea Factory’s other visual novels, I found the story here just wasn’t quite up to the usual output we see from the developer. There’s some good in it, and the best route is certainly worth experiencing if the premise has intrigued you. The writer’s tendency to try to shock the reader in cheap ways gets a little out of hand here, and some of the romances really aren’t sold well. A decent effort, but given the generally high-quality output of Idea Factory in this genre, Tengoku Struggle has some difficulty making its mark.
SwitchArcade Score: 3.5/5
Moonglow Bay ($24.99)
A tale as old as time, by this point. A decent game that is heavily dragged down by its terrible technical performance. To be clear, even if the game ran well, Moonglow Bay has its fair share of design issues. It’s a life sim of sorts where you’re fishing, cooking, interacting with townspeople, and running a business. These aspects aren’t balanced as well as they could be, with the basic tasks becoming incredibly tiresome very quickly and the business aspect undercooked and easily exploitable. The story has trouble finding a consistent tone, and the interface can often feel unintuitive.
None of this is as big of a problem as the technical side of the game, though. The game absolutely chugs as you walk around through the voxel-style world, to the point that I was almost feeling nauseous at times. A game that looks like this really shouldn’t run this poorly, so I’m hoping it’s an optimization issue that the developer can fix with some patches. Moonglow Bay is also extremely buggy. I ran into full-stop crashes back to the Switch’s home menu more often than I’d like, and sometimes cut-scenes would play multiple times in a row. I managed to get stuck in objects a few times, too.
It’s frustrating because despite the flaws in the game’s design, I found myself enjoying the basic loop well enough. It’s no Stardew Valley or anything, but it’s fine. I was really cheering for the protagonist as they tried to bring themselves and their town back to life. This is a game I want to enjoy, but it’s very difficult to do so in its current state. Had I not been playing the game for review, I would have bailed out very early due to how queasy it made me feel.
Moonglow Bay has a lot of good aspects to it that unfortunately are balanced against some balancing and pacing issues. All of this is overshadowed by the game’s buggy, unpolished state here on the Switch. Between framerate issues, crashes, collision mess-ups, and other bizarre bugs, it’s hard to properly get into the world the game is trying to build. I’m hoping the game can improve with some updates, because there is something here that compelled me when the problems weren’t pushing me away.
SwitchArcade Score: 3/5
New Releases
Evil God Korone ($3.95)
Yubi-yubi! The best Vtuber doggo comes to the Switch in this Korone-themed twist on Tsugunohi. Just like in the regular game, you’re walking to the left continuously as scary things happen. Korone is known for her occasional yandere tendencies, and she leans into it here as she goes full-blown evil god on us. Water in the fire, why?! Okay, this has a very particular audience. They know who they are, and they will probably pick it up even if they are base cowards who hate horror. No confidence.
Dream Tactics ($17.99)
A promising looking strategy RPG that blends deck-building elements with a fairly traditional take on the genre. The Dream World is in trouble, and you’re the only one that can save it. You’ll have to assemble a team and gather an assortment of cards as you battle your way through the evil Pillow Legions. The developers cite the Game Boy Advance era as their source of inspiration, and at least from what I’ve seen that tracks well enough. I’ll have to spend some time with this one to see if it’s as good as it seems.
The Bin Bunch
ZooKeeper ($10.99)
Overdelivery – Delivery Simulator ($7.99)
Perfect Knife ($0.99)
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
A tiny list of new sales, but I sure can’t argue with Gimmick or Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf at those prices. Over in the outbox… not much at all. Not much at all. Well, I’ll leave it to you. It won’t take too long for you to scan both lists; I suspect you already have as you’ve read this.
Select New Sales
Gimmick! Special Edition ($7.49 from $14.99 until 4/22) Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf($2.49 from $9.99 until 4/24) Bendy & the Ink Machine ($3.99 from $19.99 until 4/25) Hexapoda($4.99 from $12.99 until 4/29) Kittengumi: The Sakabato’s Thief ($4.99 from $9.99 until 4/29) Outer Terror($7.99 from $9.99 until 5/3) Virus Rush ($1.99 from $7.99 until 5/3) Evil Nun: The Broken Mask($13.99 from $19.99 until 5/3) She Sees Red: Interactive Movie ($2.49 from $9.99 until 5/4)
Sales Ending Tomorrow, April 16th
Blazblue Centralfiction SE ($12.49 from $49.99 until 4/16) Blazblue Cross Tag Battle ($4.99 from $19.99 until 4/16) Instant Tennis ($1.99 from $9.95 until 4/16) Pinball M: The Thing Pinball DLC ($4.66 from $5.49 until 4/16) Railgrade($19.49 from $29.99 until 4/16) Sheepo($3.84 from $10.99 until 4/16) Stay Cool, Kobayashi-San! ($1.99 from $13.99 until 4/16) Torn Away ($12.75 from $15.00 until 4/16) Xiaomei & the Flame Dragon’s Fist ($8.99 from $14.99 until 4/16)
That’s all for today, friends. We’ll be back tomorrow with more reviews, more sales, more new releases, and perhaps some news. I had a nice weekend despite a lot of issues bearing down on me. I credit the fine weather and a rare chance to sleep in on a Sunday. I recommend both things. I hope you all have a magnificent Monday, and as always, thanks for reading!
Scrappy & Erica Dixon Share Footage Of Their Recent Outing
On Sunday, April 14, Scrappy took to his Instagram Story to share footage from what appeared to be an airfield. In the initial clip, he showed multiple planes parked next to one another before showing a black helicopter.
In later clips, the rapper shared footage of his helicopter ride, which appeared to fly over Atlanta, Georgia.
Before concluding the posts on his Instagram Story, he also reported a video shared by Dixon. In the clip, Dixon showed another angle of the helicopter before sharing footage of her and Scrappy during their ride.
Instagram user @sbbaby1 wrote, “I think they are cute together. I’m happy that they are happy and I like his voice!!”
While Instagram user @visha1of1 added, “Enjoy life, that’s what it’s all about! ♥️”
Instagram user @black_girlsam wrote, “Is it still called “co parenting” when the child is grown? 🥴🤔”
While Instagram user @indeskribeabull added, “All they do is lie to us 😂😂”
Instagram user @fam0usxmark wrote, “Am I the only one happy that they back together?? 😅”
While Instagram user @vizzy_2013 added, “THEY NEED A SHOW CALLED REWIND THAT RELATIONSHIP! 🥴”
Instagram user @buttapecanmami_31 wrote, “They seem so much happier together .”
While Instagram user @duzzoduzzie added, “Let them love each other peacefully”
Instagram user @angiee_angiee_royal wrote, “I’m sick this two, dam yall either go together or not…”
A Brief Recap Regarding The Pair’s Speculated Romance
As The Shade Room previously reported, Dixon and Scrappy initially sparked reconciliation rumors in November 2023. At the time, the pair shared footage of them getting cozy at a nightclub.
Around the same time, the pair also shared footage of them at an Usher concert.
Since then, the pair have also shared footage from the dinner and spa outing at a Georgia resort and celebrated the New Year together. In February, Scrappy even confessed that he had always been in love with Dixon despite their pursuing other romantic relationships, per The Shade Room.
Later that month, the pair shared footage of their vacation to Aruba, per The Shade Room.
Most recently, Scrappy’s ex-wife, Bambi, has taken the rapper back to court. The fellow ‘Love & Hip Hop’ star is reportedly alleging that Scrappy’s “significant other” has been repeatedly posting their three kids on social media. This allegedly violates Bambi and Scrappy’s divorce terms, per The Shade Room.
However, in the court filing, Bambi reportedly did not state the name of Scrappy’s alleged partner.
In résponse, however, Scrappy did share a video that featured Dixon and all of the children he shares with both women.
In a lengthy Instagram post on Saturday, the Real Housewives of Orange County star, 47, and her boyfriend, 60, who previously dated Shannon Beador, 59, targeted Patti’s own love life as their statement against her got the attention of Vicki Gunvalson, 62.
“I’m so sick of this!!! Patti Stanger has never even met Johnny. Nor is she my friend!!! And anything she THINKS she knows about John are lies and based off misinformation. The forever single ‘matchmaker’ is worried about me????? Worry about yourself. Not me sweetie. I’m good,” Alexis began in an April 13 message. “I’m love bombing John also because we are in love so roll with that one!!!!!”
Alexis then shared her and John’s official statement to Patti, 62.
“Given Patti’s history of regrettable and offensive comments, we are not surprised, rather confused that she chose to speak about our relationship, considering she has never met John. Although, we understand, given her fraught romantic history, that Patti may not be aware of what a loving relationship looks like, we hope Patti can one day experience a true love like ours. Until then, perhaps it’s best Patti focuses on working on herself rather than trying to advise others.”
One day later, Alexis returned to her Instagram page to share another post, and in it, she was seen sitting on John’s lap while surrounded by loved ones.
“This picture is everything. My favorite photo ever. It sums up my relationship with [John Janssen]. The smiles. The joy,” she began.
According to Alexis, whose mother Penelope tragically died last summer, her mom always told her, “Move forward in strides, Alexis. You will always have haters. The haters are none of your business because all they do is tear down. You just build up sweet girl and carry the grace of God. Be good. Be kind. Do God’s work. The rest will fall in place. Good always outshines evil. But you have to carry the kind heart. Not the angry one.”
“I’m choosing to follow my mom’s wisdom,” Alexis continued, adding a series of hashtags, including “words of wisdom” and “I’m choosing the kind heart.”
Following Alexis’ series of posts, Vicki reacted to an article about the shade Alexis had thrown at Patti.
“Oh please Alexis!! You both sound like fools,” she wrote in response, via a screenshot shared by Bravo and Cocktails on Instagram. “Keep your narcissistic, gas lighting weird relationship off the internet [and] maybe people won’t be talking about you so much, [Patti Stanger] knows exactly what she’s talking about! Good luck … You’re going to need it!”
The Real Housewives of Orange Countyseason 18 is expected to begin airing on Bravo sometime later this year.
Ever since it launched on mobile Aspyr Media has been slowly releasing new DLC and updates for Civilization VI(Free) on iOS and Android. The most recent content updates have been for the Leader Pass while we’ve seen minor bug fix updates a few months ago. Ever since iOS 17.4 hit, the game has not been playable on iOS or iPadOS devices running it or 17.4.1. I hadn’t played the game on mobile at all since updating, so was not aware of this. Thanks to a tip from a reader over the weekend, I’ve been looking into this and have tried launching the game on all devices I have at home. Across four different iPhones and three iPads, the game does not let you play anymore. It gives you an error on launching, and remains on the splash screen shown below. I tried reinstalling it and had no luck. Aspyr confirmed that it is aware of this over a month ago, but there is no ETA on a fix.
Games and apps breaking on newer iOS versions isn’t new, but when you have a game like Civilization VI that costs more to get the DLC and game (outside sales) on mobile than other platforms, you expect some level of support. As of this writing, I don’t recommend buying the game on iOS until this is fixed. Who knows how long it will take as we still don’t even have updates to improve the visuals for iPads from years ago, let alone the current ones. If you’ve not played it yet, read our initial iPad review here and my updated review with expansions and more here based on how the game was when it still worked on up to date iOS versions then. I also reviewed the New Frontier Pass content and the state of the game in 2021 on iOS here. You can try out Civilization VI for free on the App Store for iOS here, and I recommend checking it again when either iOS or the game get updated to make sure it works before buying. I’ve reached out to Aspyr to check in on the status of the fix, and will update this news story if we hear back.
The potential of generative AI knows no limits. And what we have seen of it now might only be the tip of the iceberg.
For years, companies around the world have been working on mustering up their AI prowess—be it in the U.S., China, or France.
Generative AI’s potential to boost productivity, ignite creativity, and overhaul workflows is now taking off within countless industries. Regardless of the business case, companies working with or making their own generative AI tools have been catapulted to the forefront of the conversation.
Marking our inaugural Brainstorm AI conference at the Rosewood Hotel in London, where we’ll unpack some of these complex yet pressing subjects, Fortune took a deep dive into the state of play for generative AI across the world, with exclusive insights based on data from the Amsterdam-based intelligence company Dealroom.
Our analysis covers the world’s top 100 generative AI companies by funding. It’s little surprise that U.S.-based (and specifically, San Francisco Bay Area-based) companies dominated other regions by light years. The Sam Altman-led OpenAI is, by far, the highest-funded AI company, while its California neighbors Anthropic and Inflection AI follow closely after. Over in Europe, the likes of Mistral AI and Aleph Alpha have gained traction for their innovations.
Still, companies in France, the U.K., and Germany received a fraction of the funding—not because there aren’t enough of them, but because they haven’t reached the mammoth size their American peers have. Israel, which we’ve included in our analysis, also has a buzzing generative AI scene.
In numbers, that means Dealroom’s data on the 100 companies cuts off those that have raised below $70 million in total funding. That’s where the bulk of Europe’s fledgling companies fall. Since Dealroom data mainly considers funding figures in this case, some noteworthy players in the generative AI realm, like Google, aren’t part of the analysis below.
But Europe has to pat itself on the back for some of the strides it’s made. For instance, three of the 15 companies on our list have female founders. Seven companies were initially founded in Europe but have since moved to the U.S., where they obtained about $1.7 billion in funding.
Given the technology’s various use cases, defining what qualifies as a generative AI company can be challenging. By definition, generative AI uses algorithms to create new and realistic content—including text, images, and audio—based on training data. Dealroom’s data, which is as of April 2024, looks at companies that either use or create large language models trained on massive data sets to produce new content.
The charts below give us a glimpse of how Europe compares to some of the world’s AI power players. They also show us where the biggest strides in generative AI are being made in Europe and who the movers and shakers are.
Total funding for the world’s top 100 generative AI startups, by region
It’s clear that the U.S. has received the lion’s share of funding. American companies are ahead with more than 10 times the funding–$36.8 billion in funds raised compared to European and Israeli companies, which have only raised $3.2 billion so far. OpenAI is a clear leader with $12.3 billion in funds raised, according to data compiled by Dealroom.
Key European markets home to the biggest gen AI players by funding
In our analysis, Israel has the lead over Europe as a hub for generative AI companies, based on how much they’ve secured in funding. Within continental Europe, Germany and France emerge at the top.
The majority of the funding for European companies originates from European investors, based on Dealroom data. Roughly 43% of the funding for European and Israeli companies comes from their home countries, about 13% comes from a different country within Europe, and 39% comes from the U.S.
Most funded companies in Europe and Israel
Here’s a glimpse at the most funded companies in Europe and Israel–Aleph Alpha, the German answer to OpenAI founded by Jonas Andrulis, leads the category. In Nov. 2023, Bosch, SAP, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise backed a $500 million series B funding round, marking one of Europe’s biggest AI funding rounds ever.
France’s Mistral AI, led by Arthur Mensch, comes up second. Microsoft said it would invest $16.3 million into the French company in February.
See below for the full list of generative AI companies headquartered in Europe and Israel ranked by funding, per Dealroom data.
Aleph Alpha
Launch year: 2019 HQ city/country: Heidelberg, Germany Total funding (USD): $641.14 million
Mistral AI
Launch year: 2023 HQ city/country: Paris, France Total funding: $553 million
AI21
Launch year: 2017 HQ city/country: Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel Total funding: $326.5 million
Lightricks
Launch year: 2013 HQ city/country: Jerusalem, Israel Total funding: $305 million
Cera
Launch year: 2016 HQ city/country: London, United Kingdom Total funding: $302.5 million
Synthesia
Launch year: 2017 HQ city/country: London, United Kingdom Total funding: $155.58 million
Stability AI
Launch year: 2019 HQ city/country: London, United Kingdom Total funding: $151 million
Poolside AI
Launch year: 2023 HQ city/country: Paris, France Total funding: $126.01 million
Pecan
Launch year: 2016 HQ city/country: Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel Total funding: $112 million
DeepL
Launch year: 2009 HQ city/country: Cologne, Germany Total funding: $110 million
MDClone
Launch year: 2015 HQ city/country: Beersheba, Israel Total funding: $104.01 million
Corti
Launch year: 2016 HQ city/country: Copenhagen, Denmark Total funding: $90.9 million
Stratio
Launch year: 2014 HQ city/country: Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain Total funding: $85.8 million
Sana Labs
Launch year: 2016 HQ city/country: Stockholm, Sweden Total funding: $82.57 million
Ready Player Me
Launch year: 2014 HQ city/country: Tallinn, Estonia Total funding: $72.55 million
This feature was reported with assistance from Fortune’s executive editor Alex Wood Morton, list director Grethe Schepers, research analyst Elena Medina, and production editor Aslesha Mehta.
The 22-year-old posted a clip in what appeared to be a women’s locker room. The text on the video reads, “My homegirls trying to help me get my bd back because they helped me lose him” with two crying-laughing emojis.
Jeremih’s song ‘Love Don’t Change’ played in the background. She danced front and center as several women slowly entered the background, performing the same dance. The women were dressed in lingerie or see-through outfits. Yaya wore a black hoodie.
Roomies React To Mayweather’s Attempt To Rekindle Relationship
Roommates left their thoughts under The Shade Room’s IG report.
@_suckafreesi said, “Her baby needa box some sense into that head.”
One comment garnering over 40 thousand likes said, “Yaya has a good support system. Additionally, she doesn’t need NBA YoungBoy. But she may need psychological help.”
“With a million dollar daddy WHAT BABY DADDY? Floyd get her a therapist. ASAP,” @miyaa.michelle wrote.
@lord_azula insinuated Floyd Mayweather’s daughter wasn’t using her intelligence. She added, “The wheel is moving, but the hamster is dead……..”
She added in a second comment, “Wisdom has been chasing her, but she’s faster.”
Another commenter believes Yaya is coming off as desperate.
“The most unnecessary pick me of all time, of all BM she the one who didn’t have to do any of this,” @corychampangne wrote.
Yaya’s Legal Trouble
As previously reported, she allegedly stabbed Lapattra Lashai Jacobs inside of NBA Young Boy’s home in 2020.
Two years later, she pled guilty to stabbing Jacobs. However, Yaya changed her plea to NOLO CONTENDERE or no contest. This allowed her to take the criminal punishment but not admit guilt.
Court documents confirmed she was sentenced to 6 years of probation.
On Saturday, April 3, the pair took to Instagram to announce that they are expecting a bundle of joy. Their due date is only a few months away.
Their shared caption read, “Can’t believe we’re less than three months away from meeting our favorite human being #BabyGrinercomingSoon #July2024.”
This will be Brittney’s third child. She shares twins with her ex-wife and WNBA player, Glory Johnson. They were birthed in 2015. However, the athletes ended their marriage the following year.
The 33-year-old married Cherelle four years later in 2019.
Their supporters were excited to hear the news.
@liljo09 commented under their announcement, “Congrats! Amazing! Mini Griner homie.”
“Congrats ! We pray we are blessed with a little one this year !! Blessings to yu both to a pair of some of the greatest parents to be,” @transmission.detailing added.
@joyannreed wrote, “Such an amazing blessing.”
Griner’s B-Ball Career
The Phoenix Mercury is entering her 11th WNBA season. The baller has never played for another team and just signed a contract for another season. This is for good reason. Brittney is predicted to enter the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, per The Sun.
Not only is Griner a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, but she has also been an All-Star eight times. She made a powerful return to the WNBA after she was imprisoned in Russia. Brittney was detained for smuggling drugs from February to December 2022. Less than a gram of hash oil was in her vape cartridge.
After re-entering the women’s league, she averaged 17.5 points and 2.2 assists per game. Additionally, she brought in 6.5 rebounds each match-up.
Looks like things continue to get brighter for Britt. Congrats to the happy couple!
Trey Songz has reportedly settled a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault at a house party. Last February, a woman sued the singer under the name Jane Doe for allegedly sexually assaulting her in 2016.
More About The Settlement
She was initially seeking $25 million for mental and emotional distress, but according to Radar Online, the settlement amount has not been disclosed. Trey Songz reportedly informed the court of his conditional settlement with Jane Doe. They reportedly met in a Los Angeles nightclub.
News of the settlement comes months before their court hearing on September 16, 2024. The court will vacate the date due to the settlement.
Trey Songz has not commented publicly on settling the lawsuit. However, the paperwork reportedly said:
“The settlement agreement conditions dismissal of this matter on the satisfactory completion of specified terms that are not to be performed within 45 days of the date of the settlement. A request for dismissal will be filed no later than June 10, 2024.”
It’s unclear what these agreed conditions are. It’s also unclear if Trey admitted guilt or fault as part of the settlement. Last February, he denied the accusations, calling them “lies” in a social media post.
Lawsuit Claimed Trey Songz Did This
Editor’s Note: The following content recounts a graphic sexual encounter. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available at 800-656-HOPE (4673).
Jane Doe filed the lawsuit twice, with the second time being last year. She also named Atlantic Record. Trey’s manager Kevin Lilies and 300 Entertainment as defendants.
In the paperwork, the woman explained that Trey invited her to a private party and at one point invited her upstairs for what she believed was a consensual “sexual encounter.” Instead, Jane Doe accused Trey Songz of a brutal sexual assault after she had denied his suggestion of another form of sex.
“[Doe] alleges that after entering the upstairs bedroom, DEFENDANT SONGZ immediately threw [Doe] to the ground, pulled her dress up, ripped her panties off, pinned [Doe] face down on the floor, scratching her elbows and knees, and forced his penis into [Doe’s] anus without [Doe’s] consent, causing severe physical and emotional injury. [Doe] screamed in pain, fought to get free, and begged Songs to stop but was overpowered by DEFENDANT SONGZ,” the lawsuit read.
Jane Doe says she left immediately after the assault. Her rideshare driver reportedly noticed her distress and took her to a local hospital. She received medical treatment and sexual assault counseling.
However, she brought forth the lawsuit because of the mental and emotional distress from the alleged encounter.
In February of this year, two women dropped a lawsuit against the singer that accused him of sexually assaulting them at a house party in 2015.
Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the SwitchArcade Round-Up for April 12th, 2024. In today’s article, we’ve got a couple bits of news items to get us going. And it’s a good thing we do, because this is not a strong day in any other regard. Several new releases, but not terribly good ones. Some sales, but not a lot. An unusual Friday, but perhaps one well-suited to my schedule today. So a light read today, but I think it’s still an enjoyable one. Let’s finish up the week!
News
‘Super R-Type’ and More Have Been Added to Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo just sort of does whatever with the retro game collections that are part of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Sometimes you go weeks without anything new, sometimes Nintendo lets you know a week in advance that games are coming, and sometimes we just get stuff dropped out of nowhere. Today is one of the latter days. Three new treats in the Super NES app for you to play: Super R-Type, Wrecking Crew ’98, and Amazing Hebereke. The latter two have previously seen releases in Japan only, but they are more than playable even if you don’t know Japanese. Some fun picks, to be sure. All you have to do is update your app and you can enjoy the new games.
Library of Ruina Switch Digital Pre-orders Now Live
Arc System Works America and Project Moon released a new trailer for the upcoming deckbuilder and begun digital pre-orders for the game on the eShop for Nintendo Switch. This new console version of the library battler features Japanese voiceover options not present in the original release. The store page mentions hundreds of hours of gameplay. I’ll see how that ends up being for my review. Stay tuned for that. Until then, you can pre-order Library of Ruina on Switch for $39.99 ahead of its April 25th release date in the West.
New Releases
Outer Terror ($9.99)
This wave of Vampire Survivors-inspired games isn’t going to pass anytime soon, is it? Here’s one more! It’s not very good, but perhaps its exploration elements will convince you that it’s worth the spin. Still, I can’t imagine any reality where I would recommend this over Vampire Survivors or Brotato, both of which will also leave you with more money in your pocket.
King Krieg Survivors ($5.99)
Another generic Vampire Survivors imitator, and another one of them that makes the poor decision of being more expensive than the real thing. It seems competent enough if you’re extremely hungry for another one of these kinds of games, but don’t expect anything new or interesting.
Japan Train Models – JR Freight Edition ($9.99)
These must be doing well enough for the publisher, because here’s a fourth one. This one focuses on the freight trains of Japan Railways. Like before, there isn’t really a game here. It’s more of a digital train model set. Build dioramas, check out all of the angles of the two licensed train types, and so on. If that sounds like a good time to you, then here you go.
Glorious Savior ($14.99)
It’s KEMCO RPG time, and it’s another one of EXE-Create’s efforts. If you have any experience with this publisher’s work in recent years at all, you probably know what you’re going to get here. It’s okay as this sort of thing goes, but like many of KEMCO’s titles it really doesn’t feel like something you should pay fifteen bucks for.
Cryptrio ($4.99)
A falling block puzzler where all of the pieces are monsters. You need to match three of the same type to make them disappear, which isn’t such an odd conceit for a game like this. What spices it up is that the monster pieces all have their own shapes you’ll have to deal with. And of course, you’ll want to set up some chains too. Every once in a while a boss will roll in and give you a hard time. Not bad for the very reasonable price.
Farmyard Haven ($5.29)
Another one that is more an exercise in relaxation than any sort of challenge, Farmyard Haven allows you to build a farm the way you like. There aren’t any particular restrictions, and you don’t need to worry about gathering resources or anything like that. There’s no way to win or lose. Just make a farm. Then start over again and make another farm. This is so mechanically similar to this publisher’s other game, Cozy Hamlets, that whoever wrote the eShop description forgot to swap out the name. Is it for you? I cannot tell you that. Ask your heart.
The Bin Bunch
Color Road ($4.99)
Park Them All! ($4.00)
Make It Fly! ($4.00)
Exploration Adventures ($7.99)
Fight Club ($14.99)
Sales
(North American eShop, US Prices)
Well, it’s that kind of day. Maybe you’ll find something good in the inbox, but nothing in there is getting me excited. The weekend outbox is much larger, so you might have a better shot of finding something cool in it. I’ll let you comb through it yourself, though. Well, one pick: Haiku, the Robot. That’s a good one. The rest is in your hands.
Select New Sales
Tanuki Sunset($8.49 from $16.99 until 4/19) Oxytone($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/19) Raid on Taihoku($6.59 from $10.99 until 4/23) RichMan 4 Fun ($8.99 from $11.99 until 4/23) Hero’s Hour($16.19 from $17.99 until 4/25) Leafy Trails Collection($7.49 from $9.99 until 4/25) Pretty Girls Klondike Solitaire Plus ($4.19 from $5.99 until 4/26) Burning Secrets ($2.99 from $4.99 until 4/26) Ravva & the Phantom Library($5.99 from $9.99 until 4/26) Alive Paint($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/26) Diorama Dungeoncrawl ($4.99 from $9.99 until 4/26) Slime Girl Smoothies ($8.99 from $14.99 until 4/26) Magic Exposure ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/26) Tricky Thief ($2.49 from $4.99 until 4/26) Rick Henderson ($2.79 from $7.99 until 4/26) Horatio Goes Snowboarding($2.44 from $6.99 until 4/26) Takotan($2.37 from $6.99 until 4/26) Thunder Ray: Origins ($11.98 from $19.98 until 4/26) Hero of Fate ($8.99 from $14.99 until 5/2) Space Warrior($1.99 from $2.99 until 5/2)
Sales Ending This Weekend
A Painter’s Tale: Curon, 1950 ($3.49 from $6.99 until 4/13) Abandon Ship ($8.74 from $24.99 until 4/13) Alba: A Wildlife Adventure($5.99 from $19.99 until 4/13) Alt-Frequencies ($1.99 from $7.99 until 4/13) Ashwalkers($7.99 from $19.99 until 4/13) Astria Ascending ($15.99 from $39.99 until 4/13) Astrologaster($3.49 from $9.99 until 4/13) Before I Forget($3.99 from $7.99 until 4/13) Born of Bread($23.99 from $29.99 until 4/13) Cassiodora($10.19 from $16.99 until 4/13) Double Kick Heroes ($7.69 from $21.99 until 4/13) Dungeon of Naheulbeuk($7.99 from $39.99 until 4/13) Elypse($13.99 from $19.99 until 4/13) Fates of Ort($5.09 from $14.99 until 4/13) Foretales($12.99 from $19.99 until 4/13)
Ghost of a Tale($7.49 from $24.99 until 4/13) Gravity Circuit($15.39 from $21.99 until 4/13) Guild of Ascension($6.79 from $16.99 until 4/13) Healer’s Quest ($5.24 from $14.99 until 4/13) Instant Sports ($3.74 from $14.99 until 4/13) Instant Sports Plus ($14.99 from $24.99 until 4/13) Instant Sports Summer Games ($4.99 from $19.99 until 4/13) Instant Sports Winter Games ($11.24 from $24.99 until 4/13) Iris & the Giant($4.49 from $14.99 until 4/13) Lethis: Path of Progress($5.99 from $19.99 until 4/13) Letters: A Written Adventure ($8.24 from $14.99 until 4/13) Linelight($2.99 from $9.99 until 4/13) Mari & Bayu: The Road Home($9.34 from $16.99 until 4/13) Nocturnal($12.99 from $19.99 until 4/13) Out of Space: Couch Edition ($2.49 from $9.99 until 4/13)
Pompom: The Great Space Rescue ($4.99 from $9.99 until 4/13) Revita($11.04 from $16.99 until 4/13) Ruggnar($7.69 from $13.99 until 4/13) RUN: The World In-Between ($5.49 from $9.99 until 4/13) ScourgeBringer($5.09 from $16.99 until 4/13) Skabma: Snowfall($17.49 from $24.99 until 4/13) Souldiers($10.99 from $19.99 until 4/13) The Nom ($1.99 from $4.99 until 4/13) They Always Run ($10.99 from $19.99 until 4/13) Venice 2089 ($3.49 from $6.99 until 4/13) Vernal Edge($14.29 from $21.99 until 4/13) Void Scrappers ($1.99 from $3.99 until 4/13) Haiku, the Robot ($10.99 from $19.99 until 4/14) Islets($11.99 from $19.99 until 4/14) Salt & Sacrifice ($7.99 from $19.99 until 4/14) Salt & Sanctuary($4.49 from $17.99 until 4/14) Save me Mr Tako: Definitive Edition($2.99 from $14.99 until 4/14) The Forest Quartet ($2.99 from $9.99 until 4/14)
That’s all for today and this week, friends. We’ll be back next week with more new releases, more sales, more reviews, and some news. My trip to the hospital was uneventful, which is how we want trips to the hospital to be. I’ll have to go back around in June, but such is the schedule these days. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Steam Deck Weekly. After a few controller reviews, and some iOS games I’ve been obsessed with, I’m back with a few Steam Deck game reviews for titles I’ve been enjoying over the last week or so. On the news front, we had the Triple-i Initiative this week, new Atlus trailers, Bitwave Games releasing more Toaplan games on Steam, and some notable games getting Verified as well. I have two specific longer features planned for the near future so stay tuned for that if you enjoy Paradox Interactive games or Final Fantasy XIV. Before the news and Steam Deck Verified/Playable games for the week, let’s get into the reviews first.
Steam Deck Game Reviews & Impressions
Children of the Sun Steam Deck Review
When Devolver Digital revealed René Rother’s Children of the Sun, it looked exactly like my jam, but I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy it until I tried the free demo. I was immediately sold. Children of the Sun is a blend of a puzzle game and a third person shooter where you control one bullet but do a lot with it. Children of the Sun is basically “One shot, multiple kills”, and it is amazing.
Children of the Sun has you playing as “The Girl” trying to take down cultists as a tactical sniper. There’s an interesting narrative with some great designs for the cut-scenes in between levels at play here, but the real draw is the sublime gameplay in each level. The desire to climb the leaderboards after you finish a level and try and optimize your score in it also plays a big part of the experience. You can ignore that and just make your way through the levels to see more of the story though.
I’ve seen some friends of mine skip the cut-scenes and such, but I don’t recommend doing that on your first run at least, because you will end up wasting time as those lead up scenes usually show you the different targets giving you a glimpse of how you should approach a part of a level. If you have say six targets in a level and can’t see them after you’ve skipped a cut-scene, you will just waste your own time trying to find them during gameplay.
Visually, Children of the Sun is stunning. It has a limited color palette in each level, but is sublime to look at on my Steam Deck OLED. Speaking of how it is on Steam Deck, it runs great out of the box, but I turned down some visuals to get the frame rate as high as possible on the OLED. If you run at 800p and disable some of the effects, you can get it to target 60fps or above with it hitting the high 70s at times, but you won’t be seeing a locked 60fps later on. During gameplay, I’d recommend capping it to 60fps with lower quality visuals or running it at 45fps if you play on the 90hz screen on the Steam Deck OLED for the best experience.
If you do play this on Steam Deck, I’d also recommend enabling gyro for the joystick for an even better experience when you unlock the ability to improve the aim precision a few levels in. It feels like Children of the Sun was designed to be super amazing on Steam Deck OLED specifically given how it looks, controls, and runs but it likely isn’t the case. I just think it is a perfect fit for the handheld.
On the audio side, the game has amazing sound design across the board. Get a good set of headphones to play this one if you can. Children of the Sun manages to perfectly complement its aesthetic with the audio through every single animation and effect during a level. It also shines in its story scenes between levels.
Children of the Sun is Steam Deck Verified already, and runs fine out of the box. As I said above, you can tweak things to run it at a higher frame rate if you want, and this is possible thanks to various post processing options like ambient occlusion, volumetric light, motion blur, and other options. I’d recommend enabling rumble and tweaking the aim sensitivity regardless of if you change anything else.
For its narrative, I’m very satisfied with Children of the Sun, but I would love more modifiers or levels as paid DLC in the future. This is a complete game, and while I was content replaying levels to get better scores, I really want more from this world. It is that good. The only area I think some might have issues with is the trial and error in some levels. I never thought it was a waste of my time and enjoyed experimenting before aiming for an optimized run through a level. Some levels took me quite a few tries to get right while others got done in one go.
Children of the Sun is fantastic. Not only does it encourage replays to climb up the leaderboards, but it is exactly what I want to see from Devolver Digital with its vibe and awesome gameplay. I hope it does well while also coming to consoles in the future. Right now, it is a perfect fit for Steam Deck and shines on the OLED screen. Don’t skip this one.
Children of the Sun Steam Deck Review Score: 5/5
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom Steam Deck Review
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom from developer Panik Arcade and publisher Those Awesome Guys is another game I had no idea existed until a friend saw the page pop up on Steam. He told me it looked like a game I’d either love or hate, and that got me curious. While there is a demo, I didn’t bother much with it, and got the full game to play on Steam Deck. I can safely say that I love Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom, and I wish I had paid attention to it sooner so I could’ve soaked up everything from the demo well before I had the game for review. I digress, but Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom is the real deal, and it has been a joy to play on Steam Deck.
If you’ve not heard of it, Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom is a hilarious 3D platformer without a real jump button that feels like it blends elements and colors from a few notable games from the 90s while still having its own flavor. Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom is also quite a collectathon of a game, so if you enjoy those, I urge you to get this. You will not regret it. I love the elements from Crash and Mario Sunshine it brings into the fray while still being relatively easy to complete. Working towards 100% has been quite a lot of fun as well.
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom ships with a very stylish and animated font and interface. You can turn off some of the effects in the accessibility menu though. It has quite a few options under video settings that let you change resolution, toggle screen shake, motion blur, color distortion, v-sync, smooth movement, render distance, and more. On my Steam Deck OLED, I left it running at 720p and turned off the retro style filter to have it look as crisp as possible. You can also toggle a speedrun timer and rebind controls
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom hasn’t been tested by Valve for Steam Deck yet, but it was playable without issue after changing one setting pre-release. Since launching a few days ago, that issue has been fixed and Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom boots up fine out of the box and will likely be Steam Deck Verified once the keyboard issue is fixed. I have to manually invoke the keyboard for any text input in-game. I previously used Proton Experimental, but it works fine now without any change. It can even target 90fps and do a good job of sticking to that.
Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom is immediately one of the nicest surprises of the year, and a superb platformer collectathon game. It oozes 90s charm with its unique characters, excellent music, and hard to put down gameplay. Steam Deck OLED owners should consider this for how the colors pop on the screen as well.
Steam Deck Review Score: 4.5/5
Minishoot’ Adventures Steam Deck Review
Minishoot’ Adventures from developer SoulGame Studio is a superb and polished blend of twin-stick shooters and top-down Zelda games with a sprinkle of metroidvania along the way. If that sounds up your alley, stop reading and go download the demo, then buy the game. It is that good. After playing it on both my Steam Decks, I was surprised at how long it was clocking in at a bit over 13 hours. This is definitely a meaty game.
After a brief tutorial segment, Minishoot’ Adventures opens up and basically lets you explore. As you take on more enemies and bosses, you collect gems or crystals to slowly level up and invest in various abilities. You also unlock actual new mechanics through progress and the pacing in Minishoot’ Adventures has been lovely outside of a few instances where I got lost or stuck and couldn’t tell where to go thanks to not realizing something in the environment was a point of interest, but that’s likely on me.
Minishoot’ Adventures has you taking control of a spaceship, taking on bosses, bullet hell zones, crystals, and more. My only real complaint is that the aesthetic feels a bit forgettable in parts. It is responsive and colorful across the board though, and a joy to play on the Steam Deck OLED on the 90hz screen where it ran perfectly out of the box.
Minishoot’ Adventures’ graphics options let you adjust frame rate target (up to 240hz), resolution (no 16:10 support despite having an 800p option), v-sync, and some accessibility options like screen flashing and screen shake intensity options. I turned them both off. It supports controllers and even lets you choose what controller prompts to display across multiple Xbox and PlayStation options.
Minishoot’ Adventures also has a few difficulty options including the ability to auto-aim, have slower enemies and enemy bullets, with separate options for game speed, invincibility, and infinite energy if you’d like to have a completely relaxed experience. Barring some elements of the aesthetic that are quite forgettable, Minishoot’ Adventures is awesome from start to finish. If you enjoy twin-stick shooters and older top-down Zelda games, this one is worth your time right now. Stop reading and go download the demo.
Lots of news this week across the Triple-i Initiative showcase that aired on April 10th, a new and awesome Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance trailer, Mortal Kombat 1 bringing my most anticipated kharacter in as DLC soon, Bitwave Games releasing more of Toaplan’s shmups on PC, a big System Shock remake update, Sand Land news, and more.
Atlus and Sega released new details for Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance alongside an excellent new gameplay trailer. Atlus confirmed that Nahobino will have a new form, showcased a new explorable part of the game world, and Demon Haunts. This feels like Atlus’ most expanded and enhanced re-release yet, and I can’t wait to play it at hopefully 90fps on Steam Deck OLED. Check out the new Sacrifice trailer below:
Mortal Kombat 1 adds Ermac as a DLC kharacter on April 16th for Kombat Pack owners and everyone else on April 23rd when he goes up as standalone DLC. Ermac was my most wanted DLC kharacter, and I’m glad that he’s finally joining the game soon. Watch his gameplay trailer below:
The Triple-I Initiative stream had many notable reveals like the Contra x Vampire Survivors DLC, Brotato DLC and co-op mode update, and more. The showcase ended with a reveal from Ubisoft and Evil Empire showcasing The Rogue Prince of Persia. This is a new 2D action-platformer rogue-lite game coming to Steam Early Access on May 14th. This is Ubisoft’s second Prince of Persia release of the year, but this is the first one on Steam. Hopefully Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown hits Steam soon as well. This looks incredible, and I can’t wait to play it in a few weeks on Steam Deck. Watch the trailer below:
City builder Laysara: Summit Kingdom from indie studio Quite OK Games got a shadow drop during the showcase, and it is out now in Steam Early access. I’ll be covering this soon, but it has been interesting to play. Watch the colorful trailer for it below:
Humble Games and E-Line Media revealed Never Alone 2, a follow-up to the original, but this time in an expanded 3D world. The original game was worth playing and I’ll be keeping an eye on this one. Hopefully it comes to mobile as well, but for now you can watch the trailer for it below:
Bitwave Games released the fourth volume of the Toaplan Shmups this week with Truxton II, Dogyuun, Twin Hawk, and Grind Stormer available standalone, in a bundle as volume 4, or an ultimate bundle for all 16 releases so far. These have quality of life features, leaderboards, and more, and they also play great on Deck. Stay tuned for my review next week. Watch the trailer below:
Gearbox had a few notable reveals this week across the Triple-i Initiative and on its own. Risk of Rain 2 had new information for Seekers of the Storm DLC and its Devotion Update that includes a Dead Cells collaboration revealed this week. Watch the trailer for the update below:
Gearbox and Wabisabi Games revealed RKGK, a gorgeous 3D platformer that looks built for the Steam Deck OLED screen. This is planned for release this summer, and you can watch the trailer for it below:
The last bit of notable news from Gearbox relating to Steam for this week is the “History of Homeworld” video the team released ahead of next month’s Homeworld 3 launch. I hope this one runs fine on Steam Deck, and you bet I’ll be trying it.
Bandai Namco Entertainment revealed its final dev diary for Sand Land discussing the brand-new region coming to the game. This region features a new story, monsters, and missions. After how much fun the demo was, I’m looking forward to the full game. Watch the new Sand Land Forest Land video below:
The final notable news of the week is two different updates from Nightdive Studios. The first is System Shock remake’s major 1.2 update adding in a new female protagonist, expanded ending, improved controller support, and a lot more. Full patch notes are here.
The second is Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition getting cross platform multiplayer and more through its first major post-launch update 1.1. Check out the full patch notes here with many PC-specific additions like the level editor now having a music jukebox, lobby invitation changes, and more. Watch the trailer for the big update below:
New Steam Deck Verified & Playable games for the week
A few games I’ve completed entirely on Deck finally getting a rating from Valve like Relink and Monster Hunter Stories 2 getting the Playable rating. It is also good to see Alone in the Dark which I still need to play get a Playable rating while thatgamecompany’s Sky gets a Verified rating. The full list of notable new Steam Deck ratings from Valve this week is below:
Alone in the Dark – Playable
Granblue Fantasy: Relink – Playable
Joe Danger – Verified
Manic Mechanics – Verified
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin – Playable
Samorost 3 – Verified
Sky: Children of the Light – Verified
The Road to Canterbury – Verified
World’s End Club – Playable
Steam Deck Game Sales & Discounts
The Triple-i Initiative showcase was accompanied by a set of Steam sales and some demos for the featured games. Check it out here. Barring this (highlights above), the other notable sale for this week is the Fallout franchise sale that celebrates the Amazon Prime series just airing. Check out the deals here.
Beginning April 15th until April 22nd, the Steam FPS Fest 2024 will take place with deals, discounts, and demos for first-person shooters including team-based ones, boomer shooters, and more. Check out the trailer below:
That’s all for this week’s edition of the Steam Deck Weekly. I didn’t get enough time to play one specific game for this week, so stay tuned for that and more next week. As usual, you can read all our past and future Steam Deck coverage here. If you have any feedback for this feature or what else you’d like to see us do around the Steam Deck, let us know in the comments below. I hope you all have a great day, and thanks for reading.
Here’s What Was Reported About The ‘Scary Movie’ Franchise & Its Return
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount unveiled its plans for the franchise’s return at CinemaCon on Thursday, April 11. The company has reportedly teamed up with production and distribution company Miramax for the “new take on the franchise.”
Additionally, the outlet reports Miramax “will finance” the franchise’s sequel while “Paramount will distribute.”
Furthermore, the outlet adds that Neal H. Moritz, the producer for the ‘Fast & Furious film franchise, will produce the latest ‘Scary Movie.’
Lastly, it remains unclear whether the sequel will feature the franchise’s original stars, have an entirely new cast, or a mix of original and new actors. PEOPLE notes that the franchise’s initial film, which was released in 2000, starred actors such as Regina Hall, Anna Faris, Shawn, and Marlon Wayans.
Paramount reportedly did not share a release date for the sequel, per The Hollywood Reporter. However, the latest installment in the ‘Scary Movie’ franchise is expected to be released sometime in 2025.
Reboot Reports About THIS Television Show Also Surfaced Earlier This Month
Fans of the television series and movies from the early 2000s also received more good news earlier this month. As The Shade Room previously reported, production company 51 Minds revealed its plans to reboot the former competitive dating series, ‘Flavor of Love.’
The show aired between 2006 and 2008 and has spawned viral, meme-able moments that still keep the internet in a chokehold to date.
Idk if anyone uploaded this but flavor of love season one was funny af. I wonder if beyonce saw this episode of not lol pic.twitter.com/jNEb30EXSy
Ultimately, the company revealed that production is working with the show’s former bachelor, Flavor Flav, to “reimagine” the series.
“We’re in the process of working with Flavor Flav to reimagine what Flavor of Love can feel like in this in this decade, which is very different. The project is really fun, a comedy in the dating space,” Julie Pizzi, President of Bunim/Murray Productions and 51 Minds, explained to Deadline earlier this month.
However, they are adding a twist this time around.
LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, the TransLatin@ Coalition commemorated a significant milestone as it marked the launch of its 15th Anniversary Campaign during a press conference held in Los Angeles. The event also served as a platform to unveil the organization’s 2023 Annual Report, shedding light on its journey, accomplishments, and ongoing commitments.
Led by Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition, the press conference highlighted the perilous situations faced by transgender and Latinx individuals in their home countries, where they often confront insurmountable violence.
Salcedo emphasized the harsh reality that many flee to cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco seeking asylum, only to encounter further violence and danger, often leading to deportation and, tragically, sending them back to potential harm or death.
A poignant moment of the event was the unveiling of a new logo commemorating the organization’s 15th anniversary, aptly dubbed their “quinceañera.” This symbolizes not only a milestone but also a renewed commitment to advocacy and support for the TransLatin@ community.
In a groundbreaking announcement, Salcedo revealed plans for a $35 million state of the art multiservice and multipurpose space aimed at providing a safe and secure space for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. With $20 million already secured, this initiative underscores the organization’s dedication to addressing the pressing needs of the community.
The TransLatin@ Coalition, founded in 2009 by a group of transgender and gender nonconforming immigrant women in Los Angeles, has evolved into a nationally recognized organization with a presence in 10 states across the U.S. It offers direct services to transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex individuals in Los Angeles, with a focus on empowering and improving the quality of life for its members.
Since its inception, the organization has achieved numerous milestones, including the establishment of the Center for Violence Prevention and Transgender Wellness in 2015, the opening of the first-ever TransLatin@ office in 2016, and the launch of the #TransPolicyAgenda in 2019.
The TransLatin@ Coalition’s advocacy efforts have also extended to legislative triumphs, such as the passage of AB2218 in 2020, which allocates grant funding for transgender wellness and equity programs, and supporting bills like AB1163 and AB 1487, aimed at advancing transgender rights.
With the recent expansion to include the El Monte site and the opening of a new building on Sunset, the TransLatin@ Coalition continues to broaden its reach and impact, reaffirming its commitment to serving the community and creating inclusive spaces where history is made and celebrated.
“Beautiful and amazing people, who are trans, gender non-conforming, or intersex, please know that you are beautiful and amazing and that you are valued. Do not feel alone. There is a whole movement that is fighting for you. Continue to assert your presence within the tapestry of our society. We love you, we see you, we thank you,” Salcedo told the Blade.
As the organization looks ahead to the next 15 years and beyond, its mission to advocate for the specific needs of the TransLatin@ community remains steadfast, guided by values of altruism, respect, transparency, and collaboration.
“I’ve forgiven Jax for things that I shouldn’t have over the years. I stood by him no matter what. But after nine years, that can wear on you,” Brittany began in an April 9 interview with Us Weekly.
Three months after separating, Brittany admitted that Jax likely thought she would “come right back” before sharing details about the fight that prompted her to leave.
“The night that I went out with [Kristen Doute], I came home at 10 o’clock [and] he didn’t come home ‘til 4 o’clock in the morning … I don’t know if he was hungover the next morning or what, but he comes in and starts a huge fight with me,” she revealed. “He, like, made a story up in his head that [Kristen’s boyfriend], [Luke Broderick], was reaching out to him saying we were already having issues in our marriage at that time.”
According to Brittany, who noted that Jax wants her to keep everything to herself when it comes to their relationship, Luke never actually texted Jax.
“He just made up this big story to sort of fight with me the next morning because he was having insecurities in his own head,” she explained. “[So] I was like, ‘OK, this is insane. I cannot deal with this. This is obviously a toxic situation. If you don’t get help, then me and [our son Cruz] are not going to be living here right now.’ Because it just didn’t feel it didn’t feel right.”
Fueling Brittany and Jax’s marriage problems in recent months has been the opening of their new bar, Jax’s Studio City.
“If we were to be drinking, or anything like that, we were always going to be fighting. Stuff like that’s always not good if you’re already in a bad place,” Brittany noted. “I’m not saying he shouldn’t be at the bar. But there has to be a limit on how late you stay or how often you go.”
As things between them got worse after filming the debut season of The Valley, Brittany said Jax began “staying at the bar more.” Additionally, talks stalled about having more kids — as did their sex life.
“We weren’t being intimate. … We were getting on each other’s nerves,” she shared. “It was messing with my confidence — why is he not coming on to me? I felt like I wasn’t good enough. If you start to feel like your partner doesn’t want you and they’re also being mean to you, it’s like, ‘What am I doing here?’”
“He would say, ‘I’m 44 and I’m tired.’ I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, everybody has kids, and not everybody’s going through this!’” she continued. “I can’t talk to him about things; he always goes on the defensive. He doesn’t care about my side.”
“It was very embarrassing, and he doesn’t really understand,” Brittany stated. “To him, he would be like, ‘Well, I just care about you. I was so worried about you. I care about you so much. Like, I was just telling a story.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, but you added that I, for sure, had a stroke and you knew at that point that I didn’t.’ So you just lied on a TV show. That’s harmful to me.”
“He acknowledged it but then he’s always like, ‘I said sorry.’ He likes to think that just saying, ‘I’m sorry,’ will be fine and we should move on,” she added. “I can’t do that now, this is too serious. And if things don’t change, then we can’t be together because we’re gonna be unhappy for the rest of our lives.”
Following their return to television, Brittany felt that Jax “got a bit of a big head again.”
“He’d made a lot of changes for Cruz, but he started being the old Jax [again]. All season long I wanted to be with him and then things got continually worse,” she shared.
Jax even threw their TV return in Brittany’s face, reportedly telling her, “I got us a show,” to make her feel like she “wouldn’t have anything without him.”
Although Brittany put up with Jax’s shenanigans, including his affair with Faith Stowers, for many years, she reassessed their marriage after welcoming son Cruz in April 2021.
“I realized I wanted more in a relationship. I need to make sure Cruz isn’t living in a house where his parents are fighting; that could be a horrible way to grow up,” she reasoned.
As for whether she’s still in love with Jax, Brittany said, “I am. But it’s different.”
“I was very naive in the beginning on Vanderpump Rules. I was on a TV show, being embarrassed by Jax, but I was madly in love, and I just wanted to be with him. I’m different now. I can stand up for myself and not take his sh*t anymore,” she declared.
While Brittany confirmed that a reconciliation between her and Jax is possible, she added that “a lot of things” need to happen first.
“Things are in his hands if he’s going to fix some things in our relationship, so we will see,” she said. “I’m not seeing enough effort from his side. He needs to go to therapy. He doesn’t need to be staying out at the bar all the time. He needs to respect me more and stop taking me for granted.”
He also needs to stop making Brittany feel like his “punching bag.”
“He was always giving me jabs. I can’t deal with that for the rest of my life,” she stated. “He’s never satisfied. We have our son and this beautiful home, the bar, and a successful podcast, and he still needs more. He’s gone to doctors and complains that he needs help but then never goes back. I had to pick up the pieces all the time. It’s very frustrating.”
“I won’t waste my time and get back into a toxic situation. Now the veil has been lifted and I see how much I was always cleaning up Jax’s messes. I’m thrown in the middle of all these fights and constantly forced to apologize for him in the media and to friends. It’s hard,” she went on.
Looking ahead to their future, Brittany said if she and Jax end up divorcing, she’d love to stay in their home with Cruz.
In the meantime, she’s focused on co-parenting.
“If this ends in a divorce, we will discuss what happened with him later in life. We’re not fighting in front of him and we try to do fun things like the aquarium and the zoo. I feel like Cruz is happier that we’re not in the same house right now — and that tells me a lot,” she noted.
Moving on to dating, Brittany said that while it’s “weird to even think about,” she has considered what she’d be looking for in a future partner.
“I need someone who has their stuff together, who is confident and respectful and makes me laugh. It’s going to be difficult because I am so in the public eye,” she explained. “[Jax and I have talked about dating] here and there. We act like it would be OK, but I’m not sure. I think he’d freak out if he saw me with a man. I’d be upset, too. You can get over those things, but the first one might be strange.”
Following their split, Brittany said she’s gotten support from the entire The Valley cast, including Kristen, and Pump Rules stars Scheana Shay and Lala Kent.
“I’m trying to stay busy working out, spending time with my friends and talking to my family. I’m focusing on my mental and physical health. This revenge body is about to be insane! I’m getting my sparkle back,” she concluded.
The Valleyseason one airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, the TransLatin@ Coalition commemorated a significant milestone as it marked the launch of its 15th Anniversary Campaign during a press conference held in Los Angeles. The event also served as a platform to unveil the organization’s 2023 Annual Report, shedding light on its journey, accomplishments, and ongoing commitments.
Led by Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition, the press conference highlighted the perilous situations faced by transgender and Latinx individuals in their home countries, where they often confront insurmountable violence.
Salcedo emphasized the harsh reality that many flee to cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco seeking asylum, only to encounter further violence and danger, often leading to deportation and, tragically, sending them back to potential harm or death.
A poignant moment of the event was the unveiling of a new logo commemorating the organization’s 15th anniversary, aptly dubbed their “quinceañera.” This symbolizes not only a milestone but also a renewed commitment to advocacy and support for the TransLatin@ community.
In a groundbreaking announcement, Salcedo revealed plans for a $35 million state of the art multiservice and multipurpose space aimed at providing a safe and secure space for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. With $20 million already secured, this initiative underscores the organization’s dedication to addressing the pressing needs of the community.
The TransLatin@ Coalition, founded in 2009 by a group of transgender and gender nonconforming immigrant women in Los Angeles, has evolved into a nationally recognized organization with a presence in 10 states across the U.S. It offers direct services to transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex individuals in Los Angeles, with a focus on empowering and improving the quality of life for its members.
Since its inception, the organization has achieved numerous milestones, including the establishment of the Center for Violence Prevention and Transgender Wellness in 2015, the opening of the first-ever TransLatin@ office in 2016, and the launch of the #TransPolicyAgenda in 2019.
The TransLatin@ Coalition’s advocacy efforts have also extended to legislative triumphs, such as the passage of AB2218 in 2020, which allocates grant funding for transgender wellness and equity programs, and supporting bills like AB1163 and AB 1487, aimed at advancing transgender rights.
With the recent expansion to include the El Monte site and the opening of a new building on Sunset, the TransLatin@ Coalition continues to broaden its reach and impact, reaffirming its commitment to serving the community and creating inclusive spaces where history is made and celebrated.
“Beautiful and amazing people, who are trans, gender non-conforming, or intersex, please know that you are beautiful and amazing and that you are valued. Do not feel alone. There is a whole movement that is fighting for you. Continue to assert your presence within the tapestry of our society. We love you, we see you, we thank you,” Salcedo told the Blade.
As the organization looks ahead to the next 15 years and beyond, its mission to advocate for the specific needs of the TransLatin@ community remains steadfast, guided by values of altruism, respect, transparency, and collaboration.
More Details Regarding The Findings Related To Lunchables
According to a report published by the consumer advocacy group on Tuesday, April 9, tests ran on “12 store-bought versions of Lunchables and similar kits” revealed that they contain “relatively high levels of lead, cadmium, and sodium.”
Additionally, the group discovered that Lunchable kits served in schools contain “even higher levels of sodium” than those sold in grocery stores.
Consumer Reports that out of the 12 kits tested, only one didn’t test positive for phthalates. Furthermore, the organization notes that phthalates are the “chemicals found in plastic.” Phthalates have reportedly been “linked to reproductive problems, diabetes, and certain cancers.”
According to the report, the kit that didn’t test positive for phthalates was the Lunchables Extra Cheesy Pizza.
Here’s Why The Meal Kit Should Reportedly Be Removed From School Menus
Brian Ronholm, the director of food policy at Consumer Reports, shared a statement about why Lunchables should be removed from school menus.
“Lunchables are not a healthy option for kids and shouldn’t be allowed on the menu as part of the National School Lunch Program,” Ronholm asserted. “The Lunchables and similar lunch kits we tested contain concerning levels of sodium and harmful chemicals that can lead to serious health problems over time. The USDA should remove Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program and ensure that kids in schools have healthier options.”
The report explains that the USDA currently allows two Lunchable kits to be served in schools. The kits reportedly include the Turkey & Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza.
Furthermore, Consumer Reports adds that the kits are served to almost 30 million kids “through the National School Lunch Program.” Additionally, the organization notes that sodium levels in the kits range from “460 to 740 milligrams per serving.
The level is reportedly “nearly a quarter to half of a child’s daily recommended limit for sodium.”
The report states, “The school version of the Turkey and Cheddar Lunchable contained 930 mg of sodium compared to 740 mg in the store-bought version. Similarly, the Lunchable pizza kit for schools had 700 mg of sodium compared to 510 mg in the store version.”
Lastly, the report notes that eating foods with high sodium “can lead to high blood pressure and lead to hypertension.” Children who intake higher levels of sodium “are about 40 percent more likely to develop hypertension.”
Furthermore, Consumer Reports notes that hypertension is a “risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage.”
Consumer Reports Take Action As Lunchables & The USDA Shares Statement
Ultimately, the organization has launched a petition encouraging the USDA to take action and remove meal kits from school menus. To date, the campaign has received over 15,000 signatures.
Furthermore, the group is striving to garner over 25,000 signatures.
According to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for Lunchables has issued a statement defending the nutritional quality of the meal kits.
“All our foods meet strict safety standards that we happily feed to our own families. We are proud of Lunchables and stand by the quality and integrity that goes into making them,” the statement reads. “According to current science, processed foods arbitrarily classified as ‘ultra-processed’ are not necessarily less nutritious. In fact, many processed foods contain added nutrients, providing even more benefits to the consumer. The classification of foods should be based on scientific evidence that includes an assessment of the nutritional value of the whole product, not restricted to one element such as a single ingredient or the level of processing.”
Additionally, the USDA shared a statement with the outlet.
“USDA takes very seriously our responsibility to ensure school meals are of the highest nutritional quality,” the statement reads. “…Importantly, USDA doesn’t allow or disallow individual food items. Our requirements address the overall content of meals – some of them on a daily basis and others on a weekly basis. So, the Lunchables described in the article would need to be paired with fruit, vegetables, and milk. In addition, a school who wanted to serve a higher sodium product one day has to balance that with lower sodium items on others. Many schools are taking steps to use more scratch-cooked and local foods, and USDA has supported these efforts through expanded grants for equipment, training, and local food procurement.”
Ever since I bought my first 8BitDo Arcade Stick, I’ve gotten a bit obsessed with different sticks, controllers, and more for arcade games, fighters, shmups, retro games, and more. If you’ve read any of our fighting game reviews or shmup articles, you’ve likely seen the ones I use on a daily basis like my Hori SF6 edition stick or the leverless controllers I have like the Razer Kitsune and more-recently, Haute42 models. I took a chance on the Haute42 Board mini because it was very cheap, and also would be a new style of controllers for me with it basically using full keyboard keys. After spending a few weeks with the controller across multiple platforms, I’m glad I gave it a shot, because it has been eye opening in many ways, but it isn’t perfect.
Haute Board mini – the cheapest keyboard controller
So what makes the Haute Board mini worth covering? It is the cheapest keyboard style controller, and was very interesting to use in fighting games and shmups since I bought it. Instead of a d-pad or a stick like in traditional controllers for movement, the Haute Board mini has movement done via four keyboard keys that act as WASD on the keyboard. Aside from movement, the four main buttons act as A B X Y LB RB LT and RT. There are secondary buttons for home, back, start, left stick press, right stick press, and turbo as well.
Haute Board mini – what’s in the box
Well, the Haute Board mini doesn’t actually ship in a box, but a padded envelope. This includes the Haute Board mini, a USB cable (A to C), accessories (LEOBOG Graywood V4 switch, keycap puller, a switch puller, two 6mm button caps, six anti-slip pads), and a small instruction manual. Given the low asking price of the package, I didn’t expect a fantastic USB cable, but I recommend getting a good one like one of these.
Haute Board mini compatibility
The Haute Board mini works on Windows, Steam Deck, PS3, PS4, Raspberry Pi, Android, iOS (in my testing), and more as has been detailed on the official website. I’ve been using it mainly on iPhone, iPad, Switch, and Steam Deck. I also tested it on PS5 with an adapter that I’ll get to in a bit.
Haute Board mini performance and feel
Despite its low asking price, the Haute Board mini feels very sturdy and the major input buttons all feel great. It has one USB C port for plugging into other devices and a USB A extension port. The Haute Board mini is a wired-only controller. When using it to play games like Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, G-Darius HD, Dariusburst, and more, I had no trouble with inputs. I did take a few minutes to get used to the Haute Board mini when I initially got it though. I’ve also used it for some rhythm games with no trouble since.
Haute Board mini on iOS
I didn’t see any mention of iOS for the Haute Board mini when I bought it from Amazon, but I saw the official website listed iPadOS as compatible in keyboard mode. I can confirm it does work in PS4 mode (you can change mode when you plug it in by holding a specific button listed on the controller backside) in the few games I’ve been playing with controller support like Streets of Rage 4 and Puyo Puyo Puzzle Pop.
Haute Board mini on Switch and Steam Deck
The Haute Board mini works flawlessly wired on both Switch and Steam Deck out of the box. There is nothing else required aside from plugging it in with the correct button held (indicated on the backside). On Switch, I use the Haute Board mini with retro games, shmups, and fighters. On Steam Deck, barring those, I also use it for some older platformers. Anything you control with an arcade stick will work fine here, as long as you are comfortable with the keys of course. Doing 360 and 720 motions on the Haute Board mini is difficult for me.
Haute Board mini on PS5 and Xbox
To get the Haute Board mini working on PS5, you need an extra dongle. I use the Brook Wingman FGC converter, but this only works for some fighting games and shmups. It will not work in many native PS5 games. The converter doesn’t work in Dragon Ball FighterZ’s PS5 version apparently as well. It does work in Tekken 8, Street Fighter, Guilty Gear Strive, and others though. On Xbox though, the Brook converter I had been using before doesn’t reliably work because Microsoft keeps pushing out updates to block it. I do not recommend getting this for use on your Xbox Series X.
Haute Board mini software and features
The Haute Board mini uses GP2040-CE and it is very easy to update, manage, and customize (software wise). The board itself doesn’t have
Haute Board mini – customization
It is easy to change the main buttons and switches on the Haute Board mini. If you’re up to it, you can even order a DIY kit from Haute42’s web store. Speaking of customization, I have two complaints with the Haute Board mini right now. The first is the secondary buttons are hard to press or differentiate while playing without looking down. You might get used to this, but I would’ve liked having one or two of them bigger than the others so I could press them easier. The second complaint is a minor one, but is customization related. Getting your own art on this is quite hard without a good quality sticker print. Haute42 has a template, but it isn’t as easy as working with art for their other controllers.
Haute Board mini – should you buy it
As my first keyboard button style arcade controller, the Haute Board mini has been amazing. Aside from the two issues I mentioned above, I have no hesitation in recommending this if you’re curious about the keyboard style controller options available. This is affordable and the compatibility is excellent. Just factor in the additional dongle purchase if you want to use this on PlayStation.
If you’d like to grab it, the Haute Board mini keyboard controller is available for $40 (or so) on Amazon here. A new Haute Board mini plus AKA the B16 is also available, but I’ll be covering that when the controller I bought recently arrives. If you do end up buying it or already own one, I’d love to know what you think about it. Let us know in the comments below, and also if you’d like to see any specific controller reviewed.
If you buy the controllers or items listed and linked above through our links on Amazon, it helps TouchArcade in a small way.
LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, the TransLatin@ Coalition commemorated a significant milestone as it marked the launch of its 15th Anniversary Campaign during a press conference held in Los Angeles. The event also served as a platform to unveil the organization’s 2023 Annual Report, shedding light on its journey, accomplishments, and ongoing commitments.
Led by Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition, the press conference highlighted the perilous situations faced by transgender and Latinx individuals in their home countries, where they often confront insurmountable violence.
Salcedo emphasized the harsh reality that many flee to cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco seeking asylum, only to encounter further violence and danger, often leading to deportation and, tragically, sending them back to potential harm or death.
A poignant moment of the event was the unveiling of a new logo commemorating the organization’s 15th anniversary, aptly dubbed their “quinceañera.” This symbolizes not only a milestone but also a renewed commitment to advocacy and support for the TransLatin@ community.
In a groundbreaking announcement, Salcedo revealed plans for a $35 million state of the art multiservice and multipurpose space aimed at providing a safe and secure space for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. With $20 million already secured, this initiative underscores the organization’s dedication to addressing the pressing needs of the community.
The TransLatin@ Coalition, founded in 2009 by a group of transgender and gender nonconforming immigrant women in Los Angeles, has evolved into a nationally recognized organization with a presence in 10 states across the U.S. It offers direct services to transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex individuals in Los Angeles, with a focus on empowering and improving the quality of life for its members.
Since its inception, the organization has achieved numerous milestones, including the establishment of the Center for Violence Prevention and Transgender Wellness in 2015, the opening of the first-ever TransLatin@ office in 2016, and the launch of the #TransPolicyAgenda in 2019.
The TransLatin@ Coalition’s advocacy efforts have also extended to legislative triumphs, such as the passage of AB2218 in 2020, which allocates grant funding for transgender wellness and equity programs, and supporting bills like AB1163 and AB 1487, aimed at advancing transgender rights.
With the recent expansion to include the El Monte site and the opening of a new building on Sunset, the TransLatin@ Coalition continues to broaden its reach and impact, reaffirming its commitment to serving the community and creating inclusive spaces where history is made and celebrated.
“Beautiful and amazing people, who are trans, gender non-conforming, or intersex, please know that you are beautiful and amazing and that you are valued. Do not feel alone. There is a whole movement that is fighting for you. Continue to assert your presence within the tapestry of our society. We love you, we see you, we thank you,” Salcedo told the Blade.
As the organization looks ahead to the next 15 years and beyond, its mission to advocate for the specific needs of the TransLatin@ community remains steadfast, guided by values of altruism, respect, transparency, and collaboration.
The rapper recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Atlanta’s Hot 107.9 radio station, which was released on Tuesday, April 2, via YouTube. The interview appeared to be in anticipation of the rapper headlining Atlanta’s upcoming Birthday Bash concert.
To note, Latto will be the first female rapper to ever headline the event, per The Source.
About two minutes into the six-minute interview, the rapper was asked to share her top three G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) female rappers.
“Kim — gotta say Kim,” Latto began, referring to Brooklyn-bred rapper Lil’ Kim. “Imma say Left Eye — rest in peace, Left Eye and shawty.”
Social Media Speculates She Referred To Nicki Minaj
Social media users entered The Shade Room’s comment section to react to Latto’s list. Many shared their confusion about her mentioning someone as “Shawty.”
Instagram user @kingsilvy wrote, “Wait …. Shawty??”
While Instagram user @mocurlsss added, “Lord I thought shawty meant shawty lo and I got real confused 🥹🥹”
Instagram user @shanceys wrote, “nobody: me on google searching ‘shawty female rapper’ 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭”
However, some explained that they believed she was referring to Nicki Minaj.
Instagram user @iammalikalrahim wrote, “Shawty = Nicki Minaj. Of course she’s not going to say her name, but she has always gave Nicki her flowers way before the beef. Latto is a real one for that.”
While Instagram user @jaylen.dupree added, “‘Shawty’ is Nicki. She ain’t gotta say her name tf. It took a certain level of maturity to even still give credit after everything. Some of yall don’t even got that part down.”
Instagram user @shantoria__ wrote, “I respect her being real and still giving Nicki(shawty)😂 her props💯”
While Instagram user @jcockerhamofficial added, “‘Shawty’ is definitely Nicki yall if you not from the south it went right over your head 😂”
Instagram user @brittanycity wrote, “Love Latto for this actually, too many ppl would let their pride keep them from even saying that”
While Instagram user @mikeb_soxtraa added, “It’s clear she still likes Nicki. Nothing wrong with that. Hopefully they talk one day without social media….”
Instagram user @heisolivertwixt wrote, “I really feel like Nicki and Latto can be fixed.”
On April 9, Latto seemingly reacted to her own words with a brief tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A Brief Recap Of The Viral Exchange Between The Rappers
As The Shade Room previously reported, Latto and Nicki Minaj’s relationship took a turn in October 2022. At the time, Latto had been nominated for a Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance with her hit single, ‘Big Energy.’
Minaj seemingly took offense to the Grammy Board’s nomination. At the time, the GRAMMY board considered her recently released single, ‘Super Freaky Girl,’ pop rather than rap.
“If ‘Super Freaky Girl’ is pop, then so is ‘Big Energy,’” Nicki told fans on Instagram Live. “If you move ‘Super Freaky Girl’ out of rap and put it in pop, do the same thing with ‘Big Energy.’ Same producers on both songs, by the way… Let’s keep s**t fair. Even when I’m rapping on a pop track, I still out rap.”
Shortly after Minaj shared her sentiments, Latto took to X to seemingly share that she couldn’t celebrate her nomination.
In response, Minaj blasted Latto for being “silent” rather than speaking out for her to the Grammy board.
Just hours after shocking the City Girls’ fanbase with their verbal tussle, it looks like Yung Miami and JT are moving on. At least, that’s what Caresha had to say on X.
After going viral, both women seemingly confirmed they addressed their issues on a private phone call. Plies gon’ like this one!
After the City Girls came for each other’s necks, the women seemingly took the conversation offline.
But after that private conversation, a post from JT’s X page went live on her feed. In it, JT expressed that she always has reasons to be mad when she is. That includes situations “behind closed doors” allegedly at the hands of Miami.
“If I’m ever mad I have a reason to be behind close doors you have done stuff to me that you think I should just get over! You never come to my defense when I would’ve literally took a bullet for you! When CP popped off I was there 1st episode, & when someone canceled I showed up in a red wig! Keep calling me mad like the internet do but you know me my heart pump Gold! I wish you the best always & I love how fast you got on here behind Santana!”
Yung Miami responded, “Jatavia, we just got off the phone I’m so confused now we back to the internet?????”
JT admitted that the post was written before their conversation.
In response, Miami claimed she was “moving on.” She wrote, “Jatavia I love you.”
JT returned the loving energy to Yung Miami, writing “I love you more. I actually love you the most!”
So, What Exactly Happened Between JT And Yung Miami?
Yung Miami entered the X chat, alleging that “a b***h” has been sneak dissing” her “for weeks.” Jatavia replied to her post with a warning about today being the “last day” Miami acts “dumb.” From there, the City Girls accused each other of switching up. Jatavia accused Caresha of being jealous of her and being an attention seeker.
Meanwhile, Miami claimed that JT was kicking her while she was down, dissing her on the songs ‘No Bars’ and ‘Sideways.’
