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For what feels like at least a decade, online gaming spaces have overflowed with takes about how boring and repetitive open-world games have become. I never agreed, personally; I have the kind of brain that finds great joy in scrambling from one map icon to the next, filling meters and making numbers go up along the way.
Then I played Rise of the Ronin.
The latest title from the action game gurus at Team Ninja should be great. It’s got all the ingredients! Whether it’s the skillful, satisfying combat, the occasionally gorgeous recreation of 1860s Japan, or the powerful idea of getting into shenanigans and making story-altering choices with real historical figures, Rise of the Ronin has it all.
Instead, what should be Team Ninja’s biggest triumph was, for me, one of its biggest letdowns. There’s plenty to like about Rise of the Ronin, especially in the opening hours, but whatever novelty exists at the start eventually gives way to the worst kind of open-world gruel.
SEE ALSO: 'Final Fantasy VII Rebirth' is everything you could want it to be What I liked about Rise of the RoninWarning: This section contains minor spoilers for the early parts of Rise of the Ronin’s story.
Hey, I know that guy! Extremely real man Ryoma Sakamoto is one of your buddies in 'Rise of the Ronin.' Credit: PlayStation/Team NinjaI really mean it when I say the first act of Rise of the Ronin had me super stoked to play more because it’s goofy as hell.
Set in various parts of Japan during that country’s particularly tumultuous 1860s, Ronin starts with a bang by having the player create not one, but two protagonists. These "Blade Twins" as they’re called were brought together during childhood by tragedy before becoming experts in the ways of the blade.
Naturally, you choose to play the rest of the game as one of them, while the other becomes a recurring antagonist. It’s pretty cool to put time into a detailed character creator and then be told that one of your creations is now someone that you’ll want to beat up for the next few dozen hours. Love that.
Aside from that, Ronin follows the Assassin’s Creed path pretty closely. You’ll spend most of the game hobnobbing with fictionalized versions of real historical figures, all of whom have been reimagined as badass swordsmen for the sake of boss fights. One of the first events is a boss fight against Matthew Perry, a real U.S. naval officer who played a key role in opening relations between America and Japan.
U.S. diplomacy really hasn't changed much since 1860. Credit: PlayStation/Team NinjaI don’t know if Perry ever used a sword in combat in real life, but the guy’s got some moves in Rise of the Ronin. I don’t know if I’d call this game’s treatment of history respectful or not, but it is at least funny.
The rest of the narrative, outside of the occasional cameo by someone you either recognize from history class or Google, is unremarkable. It’s all an excuse to get you from one place to the next. It occasionally hints at being more interesting than it actually is by forcing you to make major choices, but aside from sometimes locking you out of side quests, these never felt that meaningful to me.
I’ll put it this way: It’s a little weird for me to take a decidedly anti-shogunate position during a major story mission, only to turn around and be all buddy-buddy with the literal shogun in a side quest 20 minutes later. There’s also at least one instance where you can make a choice that extremely diverges from history, only for the game to gin up a reason for that to not matter very much right afterward.
The bayonet is so coolThankfully, like Team Ninja’s other efforts (Nioh, Ninja Gaiden, Stranger of Paradise), Rise of the Ronin is much more about fighting dudes than watching cutscenes.
The parts where you fight dudes are absolutely the peak of what Ronin has to offer. It’s a little simpler on the surface than something like Nioh or Stranger of Paradise in that you only have one basic attack button and no magic abilities. However, there are a boatload of different weapon types to choose from, and each type has at least three (and often more) upgradeable styles to utilize in combat.
Personally, I favored a rifle with a bayonet attached to it. You can do sick melee combos that end with you shooting some goober samurai in the face from point-blank range. It feels great.
The importance of styles can’t be understated. A little on-screen icon will helpfully let you know if the style you currently have equipped is strong, weak, or neutral against whatever your enemy is using, so fights typically involve switching between weapon styles (or weapons entirely) to fit the situation. Choose the right stance and your foe will go down a lot more quickly than he would have otherwise.
Experimenting with different weapons is fun. Credit: PlayStation/Team NinjaOf course, it’s not as simple as just rock-paper-scissorsing your way through fights with the right styles. There’s a real element of skill here because of your other major ability, the Counterspark. This is a counter move that is a skeleton key for the rest of the combat system, in that it can stagger enemies and refill your stamina meter, which drains with every attack.
The timing on pulling off a successful counter is just stringent enough to feel rewarding without being too punishing. Successfully counter several strikes in a row, and the enemy will be stunned long enough for you to perform a sick finishing move. As a loop, it feels fantastic.
That said...I did feel that eventually fights became predictable and rote. There’s very little diversity in tactics from one boss fight to the next. Your objective is always to just memorize attack patterns and counter accordingly until the boss is stunned. It’s really fun five hours in, but a lot less interesting 30 hours in.
What I disliked about Rise of the RoninIt beat my ability to care out of meAlright, fun’s over. Let’s get to the stuff about Rise of the Ronin that caused me to give up mere hours before the game’s final mission because I just didn’t care anymore.
The truth is that when you’re not actively engaging in sword duels, Rise of the Ronin is dreadfully boring. Its open world is sizable enough and full of icons to clear out from the map, but almost none of them provide any juice. It’s kinda cool that one of the collectibles is just cats that you can pet, but that’s it.
Some of the expanses are lovely. Credit: PlayStation/Team NinjaAlmost every side quest involves going to a place and killing dudes. Sometimes you have to use a way-too-technologically-advanced camera to take photos instead. You technically have the option of using stealth in most encounters, but this isn’t any different from any other modern open-world game — aside from the part where the enemy AI is too stupid to see you assassinate one of their friends from ten feet away.
Open-world activities give almost nothing in the way of narrative heft. The zones don’t even feel particularly cleverly designed, which was what allowed me to enjoy a similar design structure in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. There aren’t really unique environmental hazards or mechanics from one area to the next.
It’s just a game about running between icons until a meter fills up and you get some rewards. For the first ten hours, I loved it. For the next ten hours, I liked it but could feel it becoming tedious. And then for ten hours after that, I wanted to play anything else instead. What starts as an exciting samurai adventure devolves into monotonous sludge well before it’s over.
Too much god damn lootSpeaking of rewards, Rise of the Ronin doesn’t have a great sense for what should make them feel worthwhile. Similar to the studio’s recent work in Nioh, there’s just way too much loot in this game. Each area has several optional treasure chests to find, but these quickly become meaningless because each one has like 18 swords in it that don’t do anything aside from provide a slightly higher damage number than the one you already have equipped.
This extends to the gear system, which does at least let you dress your character up however you want. However novel it is to find a U.S. Navy uniform in a chest at the beginning of the game, though, pales in comparison to how dull it is to find a 50th, slightly more powerful version of the same thing 20 hours later.
At a certain point, getting loot in Rise of the Ronin feels like having chocolate cake for every meal. The good brain chemicals stop firing after a while and you’d rather play a game with no loot in it instead.
Here’s another way of looking at it: Your in-game inventory has a very generous 2,000 open slots, and my inventory still filled up like halfway through the story.
Sometimes it’s pretty, other times it’s notMy final criticism of Rise of the Ronin is a lot less significant than the others, but it needs to be said that this is a big-name PS5 exclusive that doesn’t always look the part.
Sometimes, you crest a hill and see an idyllic flower field on the horizon that the sunlight is hitting in just the right way and it’s gorgeous. But then the camera zooms in for a cutscene and you see that the character models aren’t anywhere near as expressive as some other recent AAA games.
It's overall an inconsistent visual presentation, which is part and parcel with the performance on PS5. I played in the mode that promises a higher frame rate and there were plenty of noticeable dips at seemingly random times. Rise of the Ronin isn’t ugly by any means, but it’s not a system showcase for the PS5, either.
Final thoughtsIt doesn’t bring me any particular joy to tear into Rise of the Ronin like this. Team Ninja is a venerable studio responsible for some of the greatest action games ever made. That kind of pedigree should absolutely translate to an open-world masterpiece, but it just doesn’t in this case.
Maybe the Team Ninja-heads in my life will love it anyway. There’s certainly lots of tinkering you can do with various weapons and styles and builds and whatnot. Rise of the Ronin isn’t lacking in depth or back-of-the-box features that sound exciting, but in practice, it never really came together into what I wanted it to be.
The Washington State Cougars and Drake men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet in a postseason tournament game at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday, March 21. The game is scheduled to start at 9:05 p.m. CT/7:05 p.m. PT.
No. 7-seeded Washington State comes into the matchup 24-9 overall. Most recently, Colorado beat WSU 58-52 on Friday in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament. This season, the WSU Cougars are led by a pair of scorers with Isaac Jones averaging 15.4 points per game and Myles Rice contributing 15.1 points per contest.
No. 10 seed Drake enters the contest 28-6 overall. On March 10, Drake defeated Indiana State 84-80 in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game. Tucker DeVries leads Drake in scoring with 21.8 points per game.
SEE ALSO: How to download the 2024 March Madness basketball bracketKyle Smith is the WSU Cougars men’s basketball head coach. Darian DeVries is the Drake men’s basketball head coach.
Washington State vs. Drake basketball game time and networkThe Washington State vs. Drake men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on TruTV at 9:05 p.m. CT/7:05 p.m. PT on Thursday, March 21.TruTV broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Tom McCarthy (play-by-play), Deb Antonelli (analyst), Avery Johnson (analyst), and AJ Ross (reporter).
The winner advances to face No. 2 seed Iowa State or No. 15 seed South Dakota State on Saturday, March 23 at the CHI Health Center Arena.
If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, online live-streaming platforms like Sling and Max offer fans flexibility and accessibility that aligns with modern sports viewership.
Best streaming services for the Drake vs. WSU basketball gameIf you have cut the cord, don’t fear because Saturday's clash between the Drake and WSU Cougars men’s basketball teams is streaming. There are several platforms ready to give you access to the game. Here are your top options.
Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Blue Plan $15.00TruTV is available through Sling TV’s Blue Plan, which is available for a $15 rate during the first month and then is $40/month subsequently. The Blue Plan includes 40 channels, 50 hours of free DVR storage, and the potential to stream on three devices at once.
In higher-priced plans, Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, TBS, and TruTV.
Most affordable: Max Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max With AdsMax is lacing up its sneakers this March to dive into men's college basketball. There are three tiers to Max's packages, each with the B/R Sports Add-On included.
The cheapest package is Max With Ads, which is $9.99 per month. It allows streaming on two devices. You can save 42% by paying for one year upfront at $69.99.
The second package is Max Ad-Free, and that is $15.99 per month. If you’re mainly getting Max for sports, there isn’t much difference between Max With Ads and Max Ad-Free since sports will still include ads. If you pay one year upfront, you save 45% on Max Ad-Free at $104.99.
Max Ultimate Ad-Free is the third package, and it is $19.99 per month. It also upgrades to allow streaming on four devices at once. Plus, it has 4K Ultra HD capability. The one-year price for Max Ultimate Ad-Free is $139.99.
The Iowa State and South Dakota State Jackrabbits men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday, March 21. The game is scheduled to start at 7:35 p.m. ET/6:35 p.m. CT.
No. 2 seed Iowa State enters the matchup 27-7 overall. Most recently, Iowa State defeated Houston 69-41 on Saturday in the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Keshon Gilbert leads ISU in scoring this season with 13.8 points per game.
The No. 15-seeded SDSU Jackrabbits come into the contest 22-12 overall. On March 12, South Dakota State beat Denver 76-68 in the Summit League Championship. Zeke Mayo is the leading scorer for South Dakota State with 18.8 points per game this season.
SEE ALSO: How to download the 2024 March Madness basketball bracketT.J. Otzelberger is the Iowa State men’s basketball head coach. Eric Henderson is the South Dakota State Jackrabbits men’s basketball head coach.
Iowa State vs. South Dakota State basketball game time, networkThe Iowa State vs. South Dakota State men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on TruTV at 7:35 p.m. ET/6:35 p.m. CT on Thursday, March 21. TruTV broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Tom McCarthy (play-by-play), Deb Antonelli (analyst), Avery Johnson (analyst), and AJ Ross (reporter).
The winner advances to face No. 7 seed Washington State or No. 10 seed Drake on Saturday, March 23 in Omaha, Nebraska.
If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, online live-streaming platforms such as Sling and Max offer a dynamic experience for viewers.
Best streaming services for the SDSU vs. ISU basketball gameIf you're looking to catch every dribble, dunk, and dramatic timeout of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits vs. Iowa State men's basketball game, these streaming platforms have got you covered.
Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Blue Plan $15.00Sling TV’s Blue Plan offers TruTV with a special $15 rate for the first month, then transitions to the $40/month regular rate. The plan includes 40 channels, 50 hours of free DVR storage, and a three-channel simultaneous streaming capability.
In higher-priced plans, Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, TBS, and TruTV.
Most affordable: Max Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max With AdsMax is broadcasting men’s college basketball this March. With a trio of options to choose from, Max is adding for free to each tier the B/R Sports Add-On.
The cheapest package is Max With Ads, which is $9.99 per month. It allows streaming on two devices. You can save 42% by paying for one year upfront at $69.99.
The second package is Max Ad-Free, and that is $15.99 per month. If you’re mainly getting Max for sports, there isn’t much difference between Max With Ads and Max Ad-Free since sports will still include ads. If you pay one year upfront, you save 45% on Max Ad-Free at $104.99.
Max Ultimate Ad-Free is the third package, and it is $19.99 per month. It also upgrades to allow streaming on four devices at once. Plus, it has 4K Ultra HD capability. The one-year price for Max Ultimate Ad-Free is $139.99.
The Illinois Fighting Illini and Morehead State men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday, March 21. The game is scheduled to start at 3:10 p.m. ET/2:10 p.m. CT.
No. 3-seeded Illinois comes into the matchup 26-8 overall. Most recently, Illinois defeated Wisconsin 93-87 on Sunday in the Big Ten Conference Tournament championship game. Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the Illinois Fighting Illini in scoring this season with 23.0 points per game.
No. 14 seed Morehead State enters the contest 26-8 overall, also. On March 9, Morehead State beat Little Rock 69-55 in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship game. This season, Riley Minix leads Morehead State in scoring and rebounding with 20.8 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per contest.
SEE ALSO: How to download the 2024 March Madness basketball bracketBrad Underwood is the Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball head coach. Preston Spradlin is the Morehead State men’s basketball head coach.
Illinois vs. Morehead State basketball game time, networkThe Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Morehead State men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on TruTV at 3:10 p.m. ET/2:10 p.m. CT on Thursday, March 21. TruTV broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Tom McCarthy (play-by-play), Deb Antonelli (analyst), Avery Johnson (analyst), and AJ Ross (reporter).
The winner faces No. 6 seed BYU or No. 11-seeded Duquesne on Saturday, March 23 in Omaha, Nebraska.
If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, online live-streaming platforms like Sling and Max offer a viewing experience that caters to the demand for convenience and quality in sports broadcasting.
Best streaming services for the Morehead State vs. Illinois basketball gameSo you’re eager to witness the Morehead State vs. Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball tournament game. Here are your best streaming options.
Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Blue Plan $15.00Sling TV’s Blue Plan offers a special introductory offer of $15 for the initial month, before going to $40/month thereafter. But there’s more to this plan with 40 channels, 50 hours of free DVR storage, and the capability to stream simultaneously on three devices.
In higher-priced plans, Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, TBS, and TruTV.
Most affordable: Max Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max With AdsThis March, Max is making its grand entrance into men’s college basketball streaming. With three distinct streaming tiers, Max adds the B/R Sports Add-On to each package for free.
The cheapest package is Max With Ads, which is $9.99 per month. It allows streaming on two devices. You can save 42% by paying for one year upfront at $69.99.
The second package is Max Ad-Free, and that is $15.99 per month. If you’re mainly getting Max for sports, there isn’t much difference between Max With Ads and Max Ad-Free since sports will still include ads. If you pay one year upfront, you save 45% on Max Ad-Free at $104.99.
Max Ultimate Ad-Free is the third package, and it is $19.99 per month. It also upgrades to allow streaming on four devices at once. Plus, it has 4K Ultra HD capability. The one-year price for Max Ultimate Ad-Free is $139.99.
The BYU and Duquesne Dukes men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet in a postseason tournament game at the CHI Health Center Arena in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday, March 21. The game is scheduled to start at 12:40 p.m. ET/10:40 a.m. MT.
No. 6-seeded BYU comes into the matchup 23-10 overall. Most recently, Texas Tech beat BYU 81-67 on March 14 in the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Jaxson Robinson is the leading scorer for BYU this season with 13.8 points per game.
The No. 11-seeded Duquesne Dukes enter the contest 24-11 overall. On Sunday, Duquesne defeated VCU 57-51 in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament championship game. Dae Dae Grant leads Duquesne in scoring this season with 16.7 points per game.
SEE ALSO: How to download the 2024 March Madness basketball bracketMark Pope is the BYU men’s basketball head coach. Keith Dambrot is the Duquesne Dukes men’s basketball head coach.
BYU vs. Duquesne basketball game time, networkThe BYU vs. Duquesne Dukes men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on TruTV at 12:40 p.m. ET/10:40 a.m. MT on Thursday, March 21. TruTV broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Tom McCarthy (play-by-play), Deb Antonelli (analyst), Avery Johnson (analyst), and AJ Ross (reporter).
The winner advances to face either No. 3-seeded Illinois or No. 14-seed Morehead State on Saturday, March 23 in Omaha, Nebraska.
If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, platforms such as Sling and Max are at the forefront of online live streaming and enable fans to have access to live games with unprecedented ease.
Best streaming services for the Duquesne vs. BYU basketball gameThe Duquesne vs. BYU men’s basketball game can be seen on several streaming platforms. Check out these streaming solutions that promise an unparalleled viewing experience.
Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Blue Plan $15.00Sling TV's Blue Plan is how you can watch TruTV. Starting with a $15 offer for the first month, the plan then transitions to the standard $40/month. Beyond just TruTV, the Blue Plan includes 40 channels, 50 hours of DVR storage at no additional cost, and the versatility of streaming on three devices at once.
In higher-priced plans, Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, TBS, and TruTV.
Most affordable: Max Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max With AdsMax offers you a tiered approach to subscription services, each level includes the B/R Sports Add-On at no additional cost. College basketball fans can access comprehensive coverage, mirroring the depth and intensity of the tournament itself.
There are three Max tiers. The cheapest package is Max With Ads, which is $9.99 per month. It allows streaming on two devices. You can save 42% by paying for one year upfront at $69.99.
The second package is Max Ad-Free, and that is $15.99 per month. If you’re mainly getting Max for sports, there isn’t much difference between Max With Ads and Max Ad-Free since sports will still include ads. If you pay one year upfront, you save 45% on Max Ad-Free at $104.99.
Max Ultimate Ad-Free is the third package, and it is $19.99 per month. It also upgrades to allow streaming on four devices at once. Plus, it has 4K Ultra HD capability. The one-year price for Max Ultimate Ad-Free is $139.99.
The TCU and Utah State men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet in a tournament game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Friday, March 22. The game is scheduled to start at 8:55 p.m. CT/7:55 p.m. MT.
No. 8 seed TCU enters the matchup 21-12 overall. Most recently, Houston beat TCU 60-45 on March 14 in the Big 12 Conference Tournament championship game. Emmanuel Miller leads TCU in scoring this season with 15.9 points per game.
No. 9-seeded Utah State comes into the contest 27-6 overall. On March 15, San Diego State defeated USU 86-70 in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. This season, Great Osobor leads Utah State with 18.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.
SEE ALSO: How to download the 2024 March Madness basketball bracketJamie Dixon is the TCU men’s basketball head coach. Danny Sprinkle is the Utah State men’s basketball head coach.
TCU vs. USU basketball game time and networkThe TCU vs. Utah State men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on TBS at 8:55 p.m. CT/7:55 p.m. MT on Friday, March 22. TBS broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Kevin Harlan (play-by-play), Dan Bonner (analyst), Stan Van Gundy (analyst), and Andy Katz (reporter).
Whatever team wins advances to face either No. 1 seed Purdue or No. 16 seed Grambling State on Sunday, March 24 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, online live-streaming platforms such as Sling TV and Max offer alternatives for enjoying the game.
Best streaming services for the Utah State vs. TCU basketball gameIf you're one of the brave souls who cut the cord, fear not because Friday’s clash between the Utah State and TCU men’s basketball teams isn't out of your reach. There are several streaming platforms ready to give you access to the game. Here are your top options.
Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Blue Plan $15.00If you want to watch the TCU vs. Utah State game on TBS via Sling TV, you’ll need either the Orange Plan or the Blue Plan. Both the Orange and Blue plans start at $15 for the first month and then increase to $40 per month subsequently, and they both also come with 50 hours of free DVR storage.
TBS is one of 26 channels included on both the Orange and Blue plans. There are six channels exclusive to the Orange Plan, including ESPN and ESPN2. There are 14 channels exclusive to the Blue Plan, and those include FS1, NFL Network, and TruTV. Another difference between the Orange and Blue plans is that you can only stream on one device with the Orange Plan, and the Blue Plan allows streaming on three devices at once.
In higher-priced plans, Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, TNT, and TruTV.
Most affordable: Max Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max With AdsMax is lacing up its sneakers this March to dive into the madness of men's college basketball. There are three tiered Max packages, each with the B/R Sports Add-On included.
The cheapest package is Max With Ads, which is $9.99 per month. It allows streaming on two devices. You can save 42% by paying for one year upfront at $69.99.
The second package is Max Ad-Free, and that is $15.99 per month. If you’re mainly getting Max for sports, there isn’t much difference between Max With Ads and Max Ad-Free since sports will still include ads. If you pay one year upfront, you save 45% on Max Ad-Free at $104.99.
Max Ultimate Ad-Free is the third package, and it is $19.99 per month. It also upgrades to allow streaming on four devices at once. Plus, it has 4K Ultra HD capability. The one-year price for Max Ultimate Ad-Free is $139.99.
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times' revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player's flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for March 21 SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Here's the answer and hints for March 21Here are the clues and answers to NYT's The Mini for Thursday, March 21, 2024:
AcrossAnimal seen on a carton of Ben & Jerry'sThe answer is cow.
The answer is taped.
The answer is ample.
The answer is grill.
The answer is yes.
The answer is Camry.
The answer is Oppie.
The answer is wells.
The answer is tag.
The answer is del.
Delve deep enough into the story behind the new Netflix show 3 Body Problem, and you'll soon find yourself with a three-book problem.
That's because the show draws on elements found in all three books that comprise the "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy by Chinese sci-fi author Cixin Liu: The Three Body Problem, its sequel The Dark Forest, and the final book in the trilogy, Death's End. If you're looking for the group of friends at the center of the show, you'll find that most are based on characters who never meet.
Of the main characters in the show, only two are taken from the first book, and only one of those retains his name. One character is drawn from The Dark Forest, and the rest can be found in Death's End — which comes after what is very likely to be the show's dramatic finale, in The Dark Forest (Death's End mostly takes place on a timeline that runs alongside the first two books).
SEE ALSO: What exactly is the three-body problem in '3 Body Problem'?That means if you decide to dive into the books after watching all eight episodes, it's very hard to see what the show characters look like in their original (mostly Chinese) versions without getting what is probably a ton of spoilers for future series. Meanwhile, the Wallfacer storyline, introduced in episode eight, takes us into the first third of the second book.
But don't worry. In this roundup that contains only spoilers for the show (and none for the books past the points of the plot covered in the show), we've got you.
So let's strap on our futuristic VR headsets, which in the book are full-body "V-suits," and dive in — starting with the one part of the show's narrative that is most like the books.
A big yes to Ye Wenjie Credit: NetfixThe story of the woman who sent the fateful message to the San-Ti (the alien race who, in the book translation by U.S. science fiction author Ken Liu, are called "Trisolarans" after their three suns) made it to the screen condensed but almost entirely unaltered.
Both book and show open with the public humiliation of Ye Wenjie's father during the Cultural Revolution in China, when the teaching of western science came under brutal repression from zealous (and mostly young) supporters of Mao Zedong. Looking back on this shameful moment in history is a big deal; when published in China, the original version of Liu's novel hid those events in the middle of the story. (A serialized online manga version by Chinese artists is currently "on hiatus" at this very point in the book.) The author has confirmed that he originally intended it to be the opening.
Ye gets in trouble with the authorities for possessing a copy of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring at a labor camp, and is sent to join the secret sun-based message project at Red Coast Base. The show has failed to mention it, but in the book Ye also marries and then kills a man she meets there in order to keep the message she sent a secret. She is later revealed as the head of the ETO (Earth-Trisolaran Organization), and has a crucial discussion with the Wallfacer character in the second book (see below).
Ye also has a daughter who dies by suicide, as in the show, though the reasoning behind this is only revealed in Death's End.
Augustina 'Auggie' Salazar and Da Shi Credit: NetflixThe gruff, skeptical, chain-smoking detective known as Da Shi (Benedict Wong) makes just as big an impression in the books (where he is Chinese rather than from Manchester, but still). He appears both in the first and second books, and initially is more of a freelance investigator rather than working for Wade's shadowy government organization. He's also a former officer in the Chinese military.
The nanotechnology expert Da Shi works with — Auggie (Eiza Gonzalez), the French scientist who sees the countdown in her field of vision — is a man named Wang Miao, who only appears in the first book. Both Auggie and Wang are being hounded by the San-Ti/Trisolarans until they stop their cutting-edge (pun intended) research.
Both see the stars flicker due to the Sophons faking the apparent level of background radiation in the universe, although Wang has to go to a remote scientific facility to do so. (Which makes more sense than seeing them in a college in Oxford, a city where it's very hard to see the stars at night.)
And yes, both characters see their nanofiber filaments used in a gruesome attack in the Panama Canal on the ETO ship, Judgment Day (an attack which, in the book, is Da Shi's idea). The show contains more grisly details, but the book doesn't skimp on the fact that the ship has been sliced open by 40 invisible wires.
ETO leader Mike Evans (Jonathan Pryce) is the same character in the book, also shares fairy tales over the radio with his "Lord", and is likewise killed in the Judgment Day attack. The biggest addition in the books is that when Ye first meets him in the logging camp, Evans espouses a philosophy called "pan-species Communism" that treats all flora and fauna as having rights equal to human rights.
Jack Rooney and the '3 Body' game Credit: NetflixYou won't find the book version of Jack Rooney (John Bradley) until Death's End, and you might miss him if you blink. He's called Hu Wen, and he became wealthy by mass-producing "Green Tempest," a herbal soda based on something his cancer-stricken friend from school once concocted on a class trip. He does not participate in the "3 Body" game — and nor does any main character in the trilogy other than Wang Miao the nanotech expert.
The game itself is very similar, though it contains several more levels than the ones seen in the show. Wang calls himself Copernicus in the game, and encounters many more historical figures that we assume to be NPCs. One level contains Pope Gregory, Galileo, and Aristotle, and deals with a pre-computer technical solution to the three-body problem.
Another level that Wang plays after the giant human computer features Einstein, who points to a large moon that was created when the gravitational effect of the three suns ripped it out of the planet itself. The eventual destruction of the Trisolaran world is made clear, and in other flashback chapters we meet the pacifist Trisolaran who sent the reply to Ye begging her to be silent.
As in the show, the book's version of the game leads its few successful players to a meetup where they are inducted into the ETO or banished from the game — although the meetup contains more players, most of them highly successful in their fields (including a businessman, a politician and a famous avant garde author). Wang goes undercover with the help of Da Shi, and the ETO is infiltrated by the Chinese army as a result.
A character called Pan Han, a known environmental activist in league with the ETO, is responsible for the murder of a 3 Body player named Shen Yufei, which is the closest analog to the killing of Rooney in the show.
Will, Wade, and the Wallfacer Credit: NetflixHere's where the show's connection to the book trilogy gets really tangled. Will Downing (Alex Sharp) is drawn from Yun Tianming, a cancer patient with a fatal diagnosis in Death's End. Tianming is in love with a former classmate he has barely seen, Cheng Xin (in the show she's Jin Cheng, played by Jess Hong). They once shared a meet-cute moment over an origami boat.
Flush with cash from his soda-selling friend Hu Wen, the dying Tianming buys his old crush the rights to a star via the Stars Our Destination project (administered by the UN in the book, rather than being a private organization, which makes more sense in terms of the star purchases being official).
Then, at a much earlier point than Will, Tianming decides to end his life via a new law that introduces government-sanctioned euthanasia: this features the failsafe "answer five times with different numbers" process seen in the show. (We learn that his sister is concerned about the amount of money his cancer treatment is costing, though the scene in the show where she blatantly asks for an inheritance is an invention.)
In the book, Tianming's assisted suicide is interrupted by Cheng. She's a rocket expert who has been working with the UN's Planetary Defense Council (or more precisely, the PDC's intelligence arm, the PIA) on sending a spy probe to intercept the Trisolaran fleet.
As in the show, Cheng proposes the "staircase" nuclear-bombs-in-space project, which will accelerate the probe to more than one percent of lightspeed, to a character named Wade (Liam Cunningham). Wade suggests sending the frozen head of a dying patient on the probe, which is when Cheng learns about her old classmate's condition. (Unlike in the show, they don't hang out on the regular.)
In the books, Wade is Thomas Wade, a young and apparently "handsome" American, rather than a gruff old Irishman. He appears only in relation to the Staircase project; in the first book, Three Body Problem, the roles filled by Wade in the show are given to various government officials and generals. (Likewise, Cheng's British naval officer boyfriend Raj Varma, played by Sameer Usmani, is a composite character invented for the show.)
Wade doesn't ask Tianming to sign an oath of loyalty to humanity, but there is an oath administered by the UN Secretary General to the six finalists for the project, all patients with a terminal diagnosis. Tianming isn't the only one to refuse the oath — which is the correct response, the entire ceremony being an elaborate ruse — but he is the only one to survive long enough to have his live head frozen and put aboard the probe.
As in the show, the probe is blasted off course thanks to a fault on one of the hooks on its solar sail. And in a concession by Wade, Tianming is packed off with some seeds to provide the aliens with examples of Earth food, though these are seeds selected by the Staircase team's experts rather than the specific seeds Cheng requested.
And then there's the Wallfacer: Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo) in the show, sociology professor Luo Ji in the second book. If you thought Saul didn't have much to do in the show until the final episode other than sit around getting stoned, that's because Luo Ji doesn't enter the trilogy until book two, The Dark Forest.
Luo Ji (the fact that his name sounds like "logic" is no coincidence) is as flummoxed as Saul by his Wallfacer nomination at the UN. But given the fact that Luo Ji is an expert in what he calls "cosmic sociology," the pick makes a lot more sense to the reader. He has a girlfriend, rather than a one-night stand, who breaks up with him prior to the nomination, and she isn't killed in the suspicious car crash that targets Luo Ji.
The Wallfacer announcement at the UN features three other Wallfacers whose names differ from the book. Afterwards, Luo Ji also tries to shirk his role, and is again made a target of assassination by the Sophons.
After that attempt, Da Shi becomes Luo Ji's chief bodyguard and closest companion (that is, if you don't count a curious character who is probably a spoiler for season 2).
Sophons, so good Credit: NetflixAs in the show, the Sophons of the book are super-intelligent computers constructed from a single proton. The Trisolarans have learned to unfold this tiny subatomic particle in higher dimensions, which is why they're so keen to stop advanced physics research on Earth.
It's a lot clearer in the books that this is the main goal of the Sophons that have arrived on Earth: They hang around in particle accelerators so humans can't get clear results from atom-smashing experiments. But they can also intercept and control our communications, such as the worldwide "you are bugs" message (which lasts for three seconds in the book). Here's how Cixin Liu describes their power in Dark Forest:
A sophon is just a microscopic particle which, despite possessing a high intelligence, has the potential for only a limited effect on the macroscopic world due to its microscopic scale. The primary threats they pose to humanity lie in their erroneous and random interference to high-energy physics experiments, and in the quantum entanglement network that monitors Earth.
In its microscopic state, a sophon cannot kill, and it cannot engage in any other offensive attack. If a sophon wants to produce a larger effect on the macroscopic world, it can only do so in a lower-dimensional unfolded state. And even in that situation, its effects are highly limited, because a sophon unfolded in lower dimensions on a macroscopic scale is very weak.
Regardless, in the books, the Sophons seem very keen on assassinating Luo Ji in particular. They use their allies in the ETO to nominate "Wallbreakers" whose goal is to outline and publish the secret long-term strategies that are supposed to exist in the Wallfacers' heads.
How the showrunners will play out the Wallfacer-versus-Wallbreaker battles of Dark Forest remains to be seen. Though as co-showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss found with their previous hit Game of Thrones, changes you make from the original books in the early episodes of a TV adaptation will affect so many of your future decisions that the show and the books start to look completely different.
So far, however, Benioff and Weiss and their co-showrunner Alexander Woo have threaded a needle as delicate as those invisible nanofibers: the show is a gripping adaptation that remains as close to the spirit of the original as it can be with a more international cast of characters.
As author George R.R. Martin did with Game of Thrones, Cixin Liu has given his blessing to the TV version; unlike GRRM, Liu actually has a complete set of books for the showrunners to finish adapting. We can only hope later seasons are this successful — but so far, so good.
How to watch: 3 Body Problem is now streaming on Netflix.
When Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss teamed up with with Alexander Woo for Netflix's 3 Body Problem, they didn't just bring their genre novel adaptation expertise. They also brought a few familiar faces.
Making the leap to 3 Body Problem are a number of Thrones actors, including Jonathan Pryce, Liam Cunningham, Conleth Hill, and — in a key role as one of the core friendship group that form "Oxford Five" — John Bradley.
SEE ALSO: '3 Body Problem': How the book and the Netflix show differThe latter is both one of the best, and one of the worst, parts of 3 Body Problem. Here's why.
Who does John Bradley play in 3 Body Problem?Remember nervous Game of Thrones bookworm Samwell Tarly? Well, John Bradley's 3 Body Problem character couldn't be much further removed. In the sci-fi series Bradley plays Oxford dropout Jack Rooney, a multi-millionaire owner of a snack empire who breezes through his scenes with the carefree dry sarcasm that only someone ridiculously young and rich could muster.
Rooney is a genius who has taken a different path to his fellow Oxford grads. Instead of science and academia, he's embraced money. Now he lives life in a bachelor pad that looks like what would happen if you gave a teenage boy an infinite allowance, gratuitously oversized drum kit, $13,000 Acer Predator Thronos Air gamer chair, and all.
Jack Rooney is the joker of the bunch. Credit: Ed Miller/Netflix John Bradley is the perfect comic relief in 3 Body Problem.The problem with a show about scientists struggling to save the world is it invites a certain level of seriousness. Bradley's character laughs in the face of this. Whether he's swearily reacting to the realism in the high-tech VR game sent by the aliens, being hilariously dismissive of the game's young Follower that needs constant saving, or casually roasting his friends, Jack Rooney is 3 Body Problem's Tyrion Lannister.
And when he and his friend Dr Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) start teaming up to play the game together, he really finds his stride.
"England again," says Rooney as they appear together in the VR world. "So you're in my game?"
"Mate, I've lived in England for 12 years," says Jin. "Maybe the game found something we're both familiar with."
"Oh, I don't like how it knows that. It better not have gone through my search history."
"Well if we see a girl farting on a birthday cake, we'll know," comes Jin's dry response.
This is just one of many amusing moments that breaks up a fairly dark show with some lightness. Jack is at the centre of almost all of these exchanges.
Jack and Jin make an entertaining team. Credit: NetflixWarning: Spoilers for episode 3 of 3 Body Problem beyond this point.
So why is John Bradley's character also one of the show's worst bits?Imagine what Game of Thrones would have been like if Tyrion had died in Season 1. That was the feeling I had when Jack Rooney was unceremoniously murdered at the close of episode 3 of 3 Body Problem, just as his character was hitting his stride. His dry eye-rolling and double-act with Jin were so much fun to watch, and the absence of that is felt pretty badly in the next five episodes.
I'm not saying he should have been kept around to the end, necessarily, but episode 3 did feel a little bit premature. If we'd had Jack's sarcastic commentary at the beach house, or after the San-Ti launch their "you are bugs" attack, it could have added some laughing-in-the-face-of-the-apocalypse humour that, after Rooney makes his exit, is something the show's missing.
How to watch: 3 Body Problem is now streaming on Netflix.
Halloween, but make it arthouse. That's the vibe of the trailer for In a Violent Nature, a Chris Nash horror about a resurrected killer stalking people in the picturesque wilderness.
The trailer doesn't give too much away – it's mostly tracking shots of the killer trudging through various lovely settings – but expect a creeping sense of dread paired with some delightful cinematography.
In a Violent Nature is in theatres from May 31.
It's impossible not to think about Game of Thrones while watching 3 Body Problem.
Netflix's latest sci-fi series comes to us courtesy of Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who've teamed up with Alexander Woo (The Terror, True Blood) for this adaptation of Liu Cixin's lauded Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. The similarities don't stop there: Game of Thrones actors and collaborators pepper the entire series. John Bradley (aka Samwell Tarly), Liam Cunningham (aka Ser Davos Seaworth), and Jonathan Pryce (aka the High Sparrow) have prominent roles. Ramin Djawadi composed the show's music, while frequent Game of Thrones director Jeremy Podeswa helms several 3 Body Problem episodes.
SEE ALSO: What exactly is the three-body problem in '3 Body Problem'?But perhaps the deepest similarity between 3 Body Problem and Game of Thrones is that of the complexity of the source material — complexity which has rendered both book series to be viewed as "unadaptable." Game of Thrones owes that label to its wide scope and unwieldy cast, but Liu's work is an even taller order. The trilogy covers millions of years and is hard science fiction. It smashes near-impenetrable physics concepts together at lightning-fast speeds, just like particles in the accelerators that are so key to 3 Body Problem's main mystery.
How do you translate this story to the screen, then? If you're Benioff, Weiss, and Woo, you make some big changes, including creating entirely new characters to better ground us in the grand scope of 3 Body Problem. Frequently, though, that scope ends up overwhelming any actual emotional resonance. Or, worst of all, it falls flat, failing to create any sense of wonder or horror in the face of the cosmic unknown.
What's 3 Body Problem about? Zine Tseng in "3 Body Problem." Credit: Ed Miller / NetflixEven though 3 Body Problem takes place on Earth, it's the idea of the cosmic unknown that really drives the series as it alternates between the past and the present.
The show kicks off in Cultural Revolution-era China, where astrophysicist Ye Wenjie (an enthralling, steely Zine Tseng) witnesses her physics professor father being murdered in a "struggle session" (a public spectacle where enemies of the state were denounced, tortured, and sometimes murdered). He'd been accused of teaching "reactionary" concepts like the Big Bang theory. (Given the Game of Thrones connection, comparisons to Arya Stark watching Ned's beheading are inevitable.) A few years later, she finds herself at a top-secret military base. Her activity there will shift the entire course of humanity... but we won't really begin to feel the effects of her work until 2024.
SEE ALSO: '3 Body Problem': What do the aliens actually look like?The first of these effects is a mysterious string of brilliant scientists dying by suicide, all around the world. Grizzled detective Clarence Shi (Benedict Wong) takes on the case, which leads him to the aforementioned totally new characters, a group of scientists and classmates known as the Oxford Five. (Notably, 3 Body Problem shifts the present's story from China to the U.K.) Among them are Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), an insatiably curious theoretical physicist; Auggie Salazar (Eiza González), a researcher about to revolutionize the world with her new nanotechnology; Jack Rooney (Bradley), head of a snack empire; Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo), a talented but unfocused research assistant; and Will Downing (Alex Sharp), a high school physics teacher. Together, they'll uncover a looming alien threat to Earth.
Said threat may be centuries away, but for humanity, the planning for the future begins now. Each member of the Oxford Five will have a very different role to play in humanity's coming battle for survival — but when it comes to making good television, only some of these storylines truly hit.
3 Body Problem's characters are hit-or-miss — and so is the story. Eiza González, Jess Hong, Saamer Usmani, Jovan Adepo, Alex Sharp, and John Bradley in "3 Body Problem." Credit: Ed Miller / NetflixOur first main gateway into the perils the Oxford Five will face is Auggie, who is tormented by a ticking countdown only she can see. The horrors of the countdown reduce Auggie (and González, by default) to a perpetual state of trembling panic, which later gives way to a perpetual state of drinking, smoking, and looking beautiful, but not much else. It's a less-than-compelling treatment of a principal character, and any later, more emotionally weighty scenes involving Auggie crumble as a result.
Luckily, things start to pick up as 3 Body Problem turns its focus to Jin and Jack. Both receive mysterious VR headsets that transport them into an astonishing, immersive video game about helping civilizations throughout history survive chaotic eras of planet-wide catastrophe. The two throw themselves into the game with gusto, combining Jack's (sometimes uncouth) gamer savvy and Jin's penchant for problem-solving. Bradley and Hong make a winning pair: Bradley brings welcome comic relief to some of 3 Body Problem's stranger scenes, while Hong harnesses Jin's curiosity with such verve that it's impossible not to get sucked into the game — or any complicated scientific explanations — with her.
SEE ALSO: '3 Body Problem' ending: What does Dr. Ye Wenjie's 'joke' about God really mean?The remaining pair of the Oxford Five fares less well. Will receives a diagnosis that upends his entire life, but he spends most of the season pining after Jin in what feels like 3 Body Problem's version of the "nice guy" trope. (It also features the most out-of-nowhere Lana Del Rey needle drop.) Saul's unresolved past romantic entanglements with Auggie also feel undercooked as he, too, is frustratingly sidelined until the very last minute. This show simply isn't equipped for relationship drama.
Thankfully, the interactions between any of the Oxford Five and Wong's Clarence are delightful across the board, be they funny or weighed down with existential dread. If only the core friendships at the heart of the show could be as believable and as developed.
3 Body Problem's sci-fi is also a mixed bag. More of this! Credit: Courtesy of NetflixIf 3 Body Problem's characters don't always give us anything to latch onto, at least we're in for some cool sci-fi shenanigans, right? Right?
For the most part, yes. 3 Body Problem delivers some truly excellent sci-fi set pieces. Any scene set within the video game creates the opportunity for grand-scale spectacle, from an army millions-strong to a cataclysmic freeze. We're also treated to some compelling body horror, as civilizations within the game dehydrate themselves into desiccated corpses to survive chaotic eras. Coming back to life is literally a matter of just adding water, making for some neat, trippy scenes of bodily expansion.
Elsewhere, we get a space mission sequence that is among the most gripping parts of the show, some thrilling deep-space intrigue courtesy of young Ye Wenjie, and a horrifying ship-set attack where the threat lies only in what you can't see. Thanks to some clever visual effects and a whole episode of careful build-up, that scene becomes the closest 3 Body Problem gets to replicating the shock and awe of Game of Thrones at its most captivating. Judging by my own stunned reaction, I'd put it somewhere near the White Walkers' attack on Hardhome.
What truly makes these moments of spectacle tick isn't sheer grandeur, but rather the emotions behind them. Curiosity, devastation, hope, disgust — these intermingle to create immediately impactful television. Yet 3 Body Problem also falls into the trap of alienating its emotional depth from its own physics musings. (Although to its credit, it does a better job than the book.) Major science-related twists are often delivered through mountains of heavy exposition that give you little to no room to process. Sometimes, they can be fun, like when a striking warrior avatar (Sea Shimooka) in the video game flies down from the sky to explain what's going on. Overall, though, the explanations are dizzying or downright dull, no matter how hard actors try to sell them.
Even the alien threat feels underdeveloped, although part of that could certainly be chalked up to 3 Body Problem's attempts at maintaining an air of mystery. With 400 years before the aliens' supposed arrival, there's too much of a sense of remove. 3 Body Problem certainly tries to convince you that generations down the line will feel the impact of this arrival, even drawing a clumsy comparison to climate change. Yet it all feels strangely flat, stuck in two dimensions even as the series waxes poetic about the infinite dimensions the universe could contain.
One day, when a dusty Mars rover peers up at the Martian sky, it might spot a plane swooping overhead.
NASA is in the early stages of investigating the prospect of an extraterrestrial aircraft that can explore the Red Planet's vast desert. It's funded by the space agency's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which encourages "visionary ideas that could transform future NASA missions with the creation of breakthroughs."
Earlier this year, the agency selected a proposal called MAGGIE (short for Mars Aerial and Ground Intelligent Explorer) as a conceptual technology that merited more funding. Now, the aviation technology company behind it, Coflow Jet, has released a NASA-approved video showing how the double-winged plane might launch to Mars and eventually begin its flights around the planet.
NASA's interest is obvious. A Mars plane would revolutionize Martian exploration — whether it's looking for frozen water resources, areas that could have once potentially harbored life, or places to collect scientific samples.
"We provide the possibility to move around," Zha, the president and founder of Coflow Jet, told Mashable in January. "There are no roads there," added Zha, who is also the director of the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and Aerodynamics Lab at the University of Miami.
SEE ALSO: NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.The three-minute video below demonstrates how MAGGIE could launch atop NASA's new megarocket (its towering Space Launch System). The animation then shows the craft carrying the rocket's payload (with the packed-up MAGGIE inside) separating in space before journeying eight months to Mars. After an ambitious descent and landing (reminiscent of NASA's successful, though daring, endeavors to land car-sized rovers on Mars), the plane settles on the desert surface.
"You can land any place you feel is interesting."Crucially the plane takes off vertically, like a helicopter. That's essential on a rocky, crater-blanketed world with no runways. "You can land any place you feel is interesting," Zha said.
To fly on Mars, a MAGGIE plane will need to overcome serious environmental challenges.
That's because, compared to Earth, the Martian atmosphere is quite thin. Its density is about one percent of Earth's, making it difficult to generate the lift needed for flight. Yet the MAGGIE plane's narrow double-wings are designed (conceptually) to produce many times more lift than conventional aircraft on our planet.
The plane is also specially designed for its vertical landing and takeoff abilities. The propellers are almost always facing forward, but by turning the wing flap down to 90 degrees, the airflow from the propellers creates lift. "That will get the plane up vertically," Zha explained.
In the coming years, Zha and his team will continue to expand their Martian aviation proposal, in hopes of progressing to the next stage of NASA funding. Any such out-of-this-world plan must be realistic. MAGGIE, for example, is currently designed with about a 26-foot (7.85 meters) wingspan — so it could fit and fold inside a large rocket.
"Anything proposed to NASA has to be very, very well thought out," Zha emphasized.
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Working at home means making the space you live in feel like a space you can work in. That might be easy with a big budget to transform a bedroom into an office, but if you're opting for budget-friendly function over form, you may want to get something that can expand upon your current tech setup.
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14 ports for $50 offThis docking station lets you connect one USB-C cable to your computer and trade up for 14 more ports, including a replacement USB-C data transfer port. Between the dual HDMI 2.1 ports and the DisplayPort 1.4, you could connect up to three compatible monitors to one device. Slide your laptop into the center of a command station.
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StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: Mbeat mBeat 14-in-1 USB4 Docking Station $199.99 at the Mashable ShopOut of its lauded Sundance world premiere, It's What's Inside was picked up by Netflix, though that's a bit of a shame. While it's sure to find a streaming audience, the ideal way to watch the movie is surrounded by dozens of other unsuspecting strangers having a riotous evening as they discover the movie's audacious twists and turns. Failing that, you should watch it at home with your spouse or significant other, if only to test the strength of your relationship.
Set at an intimate, all-gender bachelor party, It's What's Inside is a jaw-dropping thriller that follows the reunion of a diverse group of college friends with wildly entangled histories. However, to reveal its basic premise beyond this would feel like giving too much away, given its daring surprises (and more importantly, the way they're presented). Each is marked by uncanny remixes of familiar classical tunes and old movie scores. In the interest of preserving that experience — and at the request of Netflix's PR team — this review will hold back on those details until a section near the end, which will be clearly demarcated, though it won't spoil anything per se.
Why all the fuss? Well, even mentioning the freaky subgenre into which this movie falls might be a spoiler for some. But suffice to say, it's a deviously good time. Debuting writer/director Greg Jardin knows how to twist his screws with precision, and in the process, he crafts a ludicrous, metaphysical midnight romp that forces its ensemble to look at each other — and at themselves — in surprising ways.
It's What's Inside begins with jealousy.It takes about half an hour before the premise fully reveals itself to the audience, as well as to the characters, so the movie lays plenty of groundwork in the meantime. It begins with a young couple — the clammy, uptight Cyrus (James Morosini) and the well-meaning, nervous Shelby (Brittany O'Grady) — trying and failing miserably to spice up their love life. The duo's overlapping, nonsensical arguments reveal more about their broken relationship than straightforward exposition could hope to. Within seconds, Jardin announces himself as a deft dramatic storyteller who takes traditional conversations and stages them in new and exciting ways.
SEE ALSO: TikTok has an obsession with testing friends and partners — and it needs to stopThe speed with which the film draws doubts and disagreements from its leading characters feels like a shot of adrenaline, starting with the couple's tiff over the blonde wig Shelby wears at Cyrus's request. This introduces a charged racial subtext in the process — Cyrus is white, while Shelby is a mixed-race Black woman — which the film flirts with in awkward and hilarious ways.
These lingering topics of race, body image and jealousy are further exacerbated when Cyrus and Shelby attend the aforementioned bachelor party. As soon as they show up, they're accosted by their group of college friends about why they aren't married eight years into their courtship. This inquisition is led by Nikki (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a famous blonde influencer on whose pictures Cyrus frequently leaves saucy public comments.
Something strange and unfulfilled is clearly in the ether, though no one seems to talk about it, making for an alluring introduction to a friend group with more than a few secrets. Seemingly ordinary conversations feel uncomfortable, as scenes of old friends catching up after years apart are imbued with unspoken tensions. As each new bit of information is revealed, all you can do is laugh in sheer delight at how absurdly good the movie is at creating tension in unique ways.
It's What's Inside hinges on a "missing link."Reunion stories work best when they feature a sense of absence. Lawrence Kasdan's film The Big Chill and Rahul da Cunha's play Class of '84 center on classmates coming together when an old friend dies, while Robert Altman's Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean follows old pals meeting to reminisce about the late actor James Dean. It's What's Inside isn't quite as somber, but it similarly establishes a complicated history with which the characters must reckon.
Once Cyrus and Shelby arrive, they're welcomed by Nikki and her charming former flame Reuben (Devon Terrell) — who happens to be the groom — along with Reuben's secret stoner crush Maya (Nina Bloomgarden), his boisterous, trust-fund bestie Dennis (Gavin Leatherwood), and their artist friend Brooke (Reina Hardesty). Together, they speculate on whether or not the eighth and final member of their group, Forbes (David Thompson), will show up. They haven't seen him in years, and as they recall the murky details of his expulsion from college after a drunken incident, their hazy memories take the form of a magnificently funny Rashomon-esque sequence adapted for the age of Instagram. Picture after picture of a fateful party from eight years ago appears across the screen. These still images, with various nostalgia-inducing Instagram filters, change in detail ever so slightly with each recollection, as though the characters' collective memory were an iPhone camera roll.
Jardin's propulsive montages of social media feeds, and his rapid, back-and-forth editing between his characters, creates a nerve-wracking rhythm. However, his new media-inspired aesthetic takes hilariously literal form when Forbes is actually introduced, mysterious green briefcase in hand. His friends remember him as a tech-savvy type, and Thompson may very well have been cast because of his resemblance to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose uncanny public persona he embodies with aplomb.
Facebook, on the surface, is about preserving moments in amber, and Jardin's ingeniously funny visual approach to capturing memories and relationships injects each scene with momentum, even if it seems like nothing important is unfolding. The fact is, something usually is happening, but the pieces only fit together in retrospect, like during scenes in which the camera (courtesy of cinematographer Kevin Fletcher) zooms into negative space, only for it to be filled in unexpected ways.
Rarely has a debuting director crafted a film that feels so precise in its visual chaos, bringing to the fore a lingering anxiety from beneath the seemingly mundane. The eye-popping production design certainly helps; Reuben hosts his party at the ornate mansion he inherited from his mother. He turns it into a getaway destination rife with harsh, monochromatic lighting — a different color in every room! — and various mirrored art pieces, as though his idea of a good time were a giallo. The tone of the movie is playful enough (and more importantly, absorbing enough) for these inorganically-placed backdrops to justify themselves.
As the party goes on, its conversations take the form of chaotic cacophonies. Few individual sentences stand out amidst the overlapping chatter, but each actor quickly establishes their character's general vibe and behavior, as the camera circles around them in disorienting fashion. All it takes is a line or two — sometimes even just a silent gesture — to get a read on each character, like Maya's laid-back demeanor, or Dennis's tendency to provoke conflict in the guise of jokes.
These introductory scenes have a vibrant, youthful energy, but they're purposeful too. They're fleeting snapshots of who these people are, which comes in handy later on, when the movie's focus shifts towards figuring out who they're pretending to be. These hidden truths are unveiled (and eventually gamified) when Forbes reveals what's in his briefcase, and while its contents are best left discovered during the movie, the nature of the story is at least worth touching upon, for a couple of reasons. One, if you're still on the fence, maybe a bit of clarity about the premise might convince you. And two, while that premise may sound like it's been done to death, rest assured — no other movie has quite approached this central conceit like It's What's Inside.
Okay… What is It's What's Inside really about?You won't find major spoilers here, but if you'd like to avoid a basic sense of the movie's subgenre, here's your off-ramp. This review will only reveal as much as its writer knew going in, which all but ensures it'll still be a tremendously good time.
Minor plot details to follow.
It's What's Inside is a body-swap movie, though how exactly it becomes one (and the ensuing plot mechanics from there on out) are worth discovering for yourself. Forbes, whose creepy grins and shifty demeanor hint at some kind of bone to pick, lures his friends into a party game, which he explains is best understood when experienced firsthand. Like the film, trying to explain it in words might not do its surprises justice.
You've probably seen a body-swap movie or two — perhaps Freaky Friday, The Hot Chick, or the Jumanji sequels — though few of them have unfolded on quite this scale, or have been gamified in such an exciting way. In the aforementioned examples, it's relatively easy to keep things straight; it's two people switching places and two actors behaving like one another, which is often a selling point. Face/Off isn't quite a body-swap movie in the same way, but who doesn't love seeing John Travolta channeling Nicolas Cage? Or, in the Harry Potter movies, Helena Bonham Carter playing Hermione Granger pretending to be Bellatrix Lestrange?
Now, think of how many nesting-doll permutations of these you could have with more than two characters, and the actors' broad, idiosyncratic performances in It's What's Inside click into place. However, the audience is never left confused unless Jardin wants them to be. Through innovative use of color, split-screen shots, and layered performances, everything tracks at all times, no matter how seemingly complicated the premise becomes.
By giving his characters wild new experiences and modes of interaction, Jardin forces their interpersonal tensions to the surface in ways that are constantly surprising. You can never quite tell exactly which zig will lead to what kind of a zag, even if it seems obvious as a traditional screenwriting setup. But It's What's Inside is far from traditional, and payoffs click into place in uproarious fashion, even when it feels like the movie might run out of steam late into its strangely existential second act.
Each jaw-dropping turn slowly and skillfully builds its story of strained romance, the inability to communicate, and the fears and insecurities that set in years into a relationship, and it does all this in a briskly fun 102 minutes. With a roving camera that never slows down, It's What's Inside feels alive in a way few recent Hollywood thrillers have, with each formal decision revealing secrets and subtext through eye-popping composition. Wielding devilishly enjoyable visual language, it provides winking hints of catharsis that make even its most audacious, galaxy-brained genre swerves feel like a couple's therapy session atop the world's tallest, fastest rollercoaster. It's a frenetic and fascinating film that can't be missed.
It's What's Inside was reviewed out of its Texas Premiere at SXSW 2024.
When it comes to dating, one of the most common pieces of advice you'll hear is to find someone with similar interests to yours. That could look like a similar lifestyle, career choice, music taste, hobby, etc. In today's online dating market, however, finding a potential partner is becoming more complex — and exhausting. A 2022 study found nearly 80 percent of people experience fatigue or burnout while dating online. Not to mention the wide array of intentions users are on the app for — some for fun and others on a mission to find the one. Sex columnist and relationship expert at Fun Factory, Zachary Zane, shares, "Some apps, even ones that advertise as 'dating apps' really are more of hookup apps. People there aren't looking for a more serious romantic partner — they're just looking for casual flings."
SEE ALSO: Bumble rethinking women 'making the first move'Those looking for their fairytale love story have had it with the huge pool of people on apps like Tinder. They've begun leaning into their interests and wandering over into the world of niche dating apps. We're not talking about the crucial considerations of race, religion, and sexual orientation — which there are plenty of specific apps for. Rather, we're exploring the phenomenon of apps catering to very specific shared interests. Think vegans, farmers, Disney adults, dog lovers, cat lovers, personality types, and music genres. You name it, and there's likely a niche dating app out there catering to it. In fact, there are so many different variations it has us questioning if these niche apps are even successful.
The pros of niching down in datingIs one similarity really enough to find a long-lasting partner?
According to Kendra*, a 36-year-old devout vegan, the answer is a resounding yes. Kendra gave up swiping on Hinge after months of no luck trying to find a partner who takes care of their body in a similar way she does. Kendra deleted Hinge and downloaded the vegan and vegetarian dating app Veggly instead. For Kendra, the appeal of downloading a niche app based on her lifestyle felt like a breath of fresh air. Everyone was there with the same mindset, and there was no more guessing through the screen about whether someone was a vegan or not.
It may sound obvious, but people like people who are interested in the same things as them. A recent study by dating advice site Healthy Framework shared that 61 percent of daters use dating apps to meet people with common interests. Another study from the Pew Research Center found that 64 percent of married Americans believe having shared interests with their partners is very important for a successful marriage.
In Kendra's case, she can't imagine not having a partner with the same diet as her, as her lifestyle is of "utmost importance." What she was trying to find on Hinge for months, she found in Veggly after a few days. "I had only been using the app for a week or two when we found each other. He was the first and last person I ever met from the app. I couldn't have dreamed up a better human to experience life with," she told Mashable. For her, deleting Hinge and downloading Veggly was one of the best choices she ever made. Kendra and her partner, Dave, have been together for three years.
Although there's more people on larger dating apps, the qualities you want in a partner may be harder to find. Every type of person is under the same algorithm. Niche dating apps hope to filter out the clutter and center on that one thing you have in common.
Alex Felipelli, founder of Similar Souls, a company building niche dating apps like Veggly, says it all comes down to quality vs. quantity. "The pool may be smaller depending on your city and the size of your niche, but there's a much better chance you'll match with someone compatible with you," he explains.
Felipelli builds dating apps in niches where people already have strong feelings and values. Currently, he runs Veggly, the vegan and vegetarian dating app, and Lefty, the dating app for progressives. Veggly, which launched in 2019, has a 1.2 million-person user base globally. Their website contains an entire page of successful testimonials from around the world.
With the overcrowded market, dating app founders need to know what makes them stick out to generate a community of loyal users. For some apps, that same overcrowdedness is what's making their own communities blossom. "Dating apps need a critical mass for them to succeed, both in terms of matching partners and being financially viable. Now that the dating app market is much larger, there is an opportunity for niche dating apps to thrive," explains Jessica Alderson, co-founder and relationship expert at So Syncd, the personality-type dating app.
Dating according to your valuesTabby, the cat person's dating app, launched in 2020, catering to people who have a deep love for their felines. The app even made its way to SharkTank, scoring a deal with Kevin O'Leary. However, things quickly went downhill in 2022 when it was removed from the App Store and stopped posting on social media (its founder didn't respond to Mashable's request for comment). Its brother app, Dig for dog lovers, had a similar trajectory, shutting down after just two years of trying to bring "dog-minded people" together.
Felipelli's theory on why these specific niches didn't pan out is because it doesn't take much for someone to be a cat or dog lover. "For many, it's not really a value and more of a given. Niche dating apps have to hit the core of what someone believes. If not, what makes them special to pique someone's interest?" he asks. Oftentimes, curiosity and the stagnation of other mainstream apps are what draw people into these niche communities.
Hannah, 29, was watching a YouTube video about her personality type one night when she came across a sponsored ad for So Syncd, inspiring her to sign up. Hannah liked the idea that So Synced shifted the focus from appearance to compatibility, something you rarely find in our modern dating world. "Anyone who signed up for an app based on personality types was interested in finding a meaningful relationship rather than a one-night fling, which can be the case for a lot of [these] other apps," she explains. Similarly, Brendan, 25, has a curiosity for personality types but felt overwhelmed by more popular apps due to his shy personality. So Syncd felt like a great place to find someone with similar interests to him. Brendan and Hannah matched three years ago, leading them to get married just eight months after meeting.
SEE ALSO: What happens when your favourite TikTok couple breaks upIt may have taken Hannah, Kendra, and their partners a lot longer on a mainstream app to find what they were looking for. The decision to jump out of the saturated pool and into a smaller community led them to find exactly what they sought. Zane recommends taking the jump for those stagnant in their dating adventures, as there's not much to lose. "If you're not having luck finding a partner in your approach, then maybe change your approach and try something new."
Are dating apps getting too niche?It's obvious these niche apps are fostering community, which is a huge positive for users trying to escape the numbers game of Tinder-like apps. Humans are passionate, and niche dating apps allow people to kindle relationships based on their unique passions. Zane tells Mashable there's no such thing as "too niche" when it comes to dating. His argument: If it's connecting people, then it's working. "People can bond and connect over literally anything, and a niche app is just a starting point to connect." A testament that there really is someone out there for everyone.
The question then lies in what's next. Have we exhausted every dating niche possible? Zane thinks it's likely. "Dare I say, we're running out of niches. I feel like there truly is an app for everyone these days." Felipelli, however, isn't so sure. He's currently researching what industry Similar Souls should break into next in hopes of serving yet another smaller community and bringing like-minded people together. Who knows? Maybe it's time for the lactose-intolerant folks to shine!
* Dating app users are referred to by their first-name only for privacy reasons.
TL;DR: Through March 24, get a pair of eco-friendly Ultrasonic 360° Plug-in Pest Repellers for $19.99 to help drive away rodents and bugs.
The Ultrasonic Repeller offers a way to get rid of pests around the house that doesn't cause them any harm. All this ultrasonic repeller does is emit an ultrasonic frequency that the manufacturers claim stimulates the nervous system of rodents and other pests like cockroaches, driving them away.
These devices are safe to live and eat around as the only thing they emit is noise, and no toxins or chemicals of any kind. If you're ready to sound the silent alarm and drive pesky invaders out of your house, then here's your chance to get a two-pack of Ultrasonic 360° Plug-in Pest Repellers on sale for $19.99 (reg. $45).
Eco-friendly bug repellantIf you have a pest problem at home, no need to spray, trap, or swat your way into an even bigger mess. This Ultrasonic pest repeller emits sounds that may be inaudible to humans and some pets, but they could help drive pests like rats and bugs out of your home.
Worried about the environment? This device operates on low energy and doesn't produce anything but sound. Plus, these pest repellers have a wide operating range. They could each help drive off pesky visitors 120 sq.m., and with two of them, you could cover a wide area. You might not hear it working, but just pay close attention to the bug population in the area.
Non-toxic: They wouldn't hurt a flyProtect your home from pests around the clock without any stinky candles or toxic chemicals.
Regularly $45, you can get two Ultrasonic 360° Plug-in Pest Repellers on sale for $19.99 for a limited time.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: Home Essentials Ultrasonic 360° Plug-in Pest Repeller (2-Pack) $19.99 at the Mashable ShopTL;DR: As of March 21, if you want to learn coding, C++, and more, get the basics down in the Raspberry Pi and Arduino Developer bundle for $69.99 (reg. $423.)
Learning to program Raspberry Pi and use Arduino could be a gateway into robotics, game design, IT, and more, but it's a little tough to get started on your own. If you want a comprehensive introduction to the topic taught by experts, enroll in this Raspberry Pi and Arduino Developer bundle. This intro bundle includes courses on everything from programming Python and C++ to using Linux and more, and it's on sale for $69.99.
Study coding, Linux, and moreNo experience is required to start learning how to work with Raspberry Pi and Arduino in this bundle, and the first two courses introduce you to both devices. The Raspberry Pi intro is 10 hours and shows you everything from how to control it with Python to adding vision to your applications using a camera module.
The Arduino intro is just as comprehensive with lessons on creating an Arduino circuit, programming, using digital pins for output, analog pins, and a whole lot more that could be exciting to anyone who loves the hardware behind robotics and games.
Other course topics include more in-depth looks into coding with Python and C++, using Linux and command lines, object-oriented programming, and ROS2.
All course materials last for life, including course outlines and video lectures. View them as many times as you need in any order. Each course is taught by industry professional Edouard Renard, a software engineer who co-founded a robotics startup in 2016 and built a complete robotic arm from scratch using Arduino and Raspberry Pi.
Raspberry Pi and Arduino trainingTake your first steps into the world of programming and robotics by learning how to use Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
Get the best price online when you purchase the Raspberry Pi and Arduino Developer bundle for $69.99.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: Edouard Renard The 2023 All-In-One Raspberry Pi & Arduino Developer Bundle $69.99 at the Mashable ShopTL;DR: Through March 24, if you like the convenience of a dual-screen setup and the portability of a laptop, get the Glance Portable 16-inch monitor for $179.97.
Laptops may be portable, but that means you might be stuck working on one screen. Sure, you could pack a full-sized monitor in your backpack, but that's not quite as streamlined a solution as just sliding a sleek secondary monitor like the Glance into your computer bag.
The Mobile Pixels Glance is a portable monitor compatible with laptops, mobile devices, and more. This 16-inch display is free-standing, HD, and super lightweight. Whether you want to finally see the other half of your biggest spreadsheet or like to watch movies while you work, this portable monitor is a low-cost solution you can take practically anywhere, and it's only $179.97 through March 24.
A portable second screen for laptopsNo driver needed for this plug-and-play monitor, so just connect your computer and use all 16 inches for work or play. Getting some homework done in a coffee shop? Plug your wired headphones into the 3.5mm headphone jack to listen to videos while you power through an essay. Or you could connect some external speakers at home.
Switch between landscape and portrait mode in an instant with this versatile monitor. You can also switch whole devices considering it's compatible with Mac, Windows, DeX, Nintendo Switch, and select Android devices. It even comes with all the cables you need to connect, including two USB cables, a charger block, and a Mini HDMI cable.
Shipping is freeDual screens aren't just for desktop users anymore.
You have until March 24 at 11:59 p.m. PT to get the Glance Portable 16-inch monitor for $179.97 — plus free shipping.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Opens in a new window Credit: Mobile Pixels Glance: Portable 16" Monitor with 1080P FHD Display $179.99 at the Mashable ShopThe Tennessee Vols and Saint Peter’s Peacocks men’s basketball teams are scheduled to meet in a postseason tournament game at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The game is scheduled to start at 9:20 p.m. ET on Friday, March 22.
No. 2 seed Tennessee enters the matchup 24-8 overall. Most recently, Mississippi State beat the UT Vols 73-56 last Friday in the SEC Tournament. Dalton Knecht leads the Tennessee Vols in scoring this season with 21.1 points per game.
The No. 15-seeded Saint Peter’s Peacocks come into the contest 19-13 overall. On Saturday, St. Peter’s defeated Fairfield 68-63 in the MAAC Tournament championship game. The top scorer this season for the Peacocks is Corey Washington with 16.5 points per game, and he is the leading rebounder with 6.6 rebounds per contest.
SEE ALSO: How to download the 2024 March Madness basketball bracketRick Barnes is the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball head coach. Bashir Mason is the St. Peter’s Peacocks men’s basketball head coach.
Tennessee vs. St. Peter’s basketball game time and networkThe Tennessee Vols vs. Saint Peter’s Peacocks men’s basketball game is scheduled to be broadcast on TNT at 9:20 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 21. TNT broadcasters for the game are scheduled to be Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst), and Allie LaForce (reporter).
If you don’t have cable or satellite TV, online live-streaming services like Sling TV and Max blend high-quality broadcasting with the flexibility of internet streaming.
Best streaming services for the St. Peter’s vs. UT Vols basketball gameSeveral streaming services offer ways to watch the Saint Peter’s Peacocks vs. Tennessee Vols men’s basketball game. Each one is ready to bring the court to your couch. Here are your options.
Most affordable: Sling TV Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Blue Plan $15.00If you want to watch the Tennessee Vols vs. St. Peter’s Peacocks game on TNT via Sling TV, you’ll need the Orange Plan or the Blue Plan. Both the Orange and Blue plans start at $15 for the first month and then increase to $40 per month subsequently, and they both also come with 50 hours of free DVR storage.
TNT is one of 26 channels included on both the Orange and Blue plans. There are six channels exclusive to the Orange Plan, including ESPN and ESPN2. There are 14 channels exclusive to the Blue Plan, and those include FS1, NFL Network, and TruTV. Another difference between the Orange and Blue plans is that you can only stream on one device with the Orange Plan, and the Blue Plan allows streaming on three devices at once.
In higher-priced plans, Sling TV’s sports channel offerings include ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NFL Network, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, TBS, and TruTV.
Most affordable: Max Opens in a new window Credit: Max Max With AdsThis March, Max is getting into men’s college basketball with the inclusion of the B/R Sports Add-On. You can see every jump shot, block, and upset across TNT, TBS and TruTV with no extra fees attached.
There are three Max tiers. The cheapest package is Max With Ads, which is $9.99 per month. It allows streaming on two devices. You can save 42% by paying for one year upfront at $69.99.
The second package is Max Ad-Free, and that is $15.99 per month. If you’re mainly getting Max for sports, there isn’t much difference between Max With Ads and Max Ad-Free since sports will still include ads. If you pay one year upfront, you save 45% on Max Ad-Free at $104.99.
Max Ultimate Ad-Free is the third package, and it is $19.99 per month. It also upgrades to allow streaming on four devices at once. Plus, it has 4K Ultra HD capability. The one-year price for Max Ultimate Ad-Free is $139.99.
Reddit has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $34 per share, reaching the top of its initially expected price range and hitting its target valuation of $6.4 billion. According to the Redditors at r/wallstreetbets, the company should enjoy it while it lasts.
The first significant social media IPO since Pinterest in 2019, Reddit's stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange from Thursday under the ticker symbol RDDT. Of the 22 million shares up for grabs, approximately 6.7 million will be sold by stockholders, with Reddit receiving no proceeds from their sale. The rest will be sold by the company.
At $34 per share, this means that Reddit could potentially raise around $519.4 million from the sale of its stock — provided every share sells, and sells at that price. The offering is scheduled to close on Monday.
SEE ALSO: Reddit finally files IPO, gives Redditors first dibs on buying stockThere are some impressive-looking numbers, and some of the best Reddit could have hoped for. However, Reddit's $6.4 billion valuation is still a downgrade from what it was three years ago. The company had been valued at up to $15 billion in late 2021, when it initially began working toward going public. Such plans were subsequently delayed due to issues such as fluctuating markets and high interest rates, with the social media company finally filing its IPO just last month.
r/wallstreetbets bets against Reddit Credit: Mateusz Slodkowski / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty ImagesWhile Reddit's IPO pricing may look promising, the irreverent denizens of stock trading subreddit r/wallstreetbets are largely sceptical. One top comment derisively labelled it a "pump and dump" scheme, a fraudulent tactic in which stock prices are artificially inflated then sold before their value falls. As of writing, it has over 2.3 thousand upvotes.
Others have expressed eagerness to short Reddit's stock. Shorting is when an investor borrows a share from its owner, sells it to a third party, then later buys it back and returns it. People short stock when they believe its price will fall between them selling the share and buying them back, allowing them to keep the difference in value.
"Can’t wait to short this cess pool after the initial pump," commented u/AngerFurnace.
Considering Reddit's history, such apprehension seems reasonable. Reddit's IPO filing last month stated that the company has "incurred net losses since [its] inception," and had accumulated a deficit of $716.6 million by the end of 2023. The company has never turned a profit in the 18 years since it was founded, and many Redditors expect its stock to fall soon after the initial excitement wears off.
"Smart people don't buy shares of a company that's never made any fucking money," wrote u/InsideOutPoptart. "This is a scheme to cash in and get out by the owners. Stay away."
"Millions of young/new investors are about to learn a valuable lesson," u/Str_ posted.
Even so, a few bold investors still appear willing to take the bet despite unfavourable odds.
"Tesla had negative [earnings per share] for the first decade of its existence," countered u/ekrekel. "Amazon barely did for its first 7 years."
Selling ad space and user-generated data directly to businesses is a markedly different beast to selling physical products to the masses. This doesn't seem to bother Reddit IPO believers, though some look to be buying the stock primarily as a joke.
"Warren Buffett said to invest in companies you know, use, and love," said FineJuggernaut3295. "I’m long RDDT."
"I picked up $5k worth for shits figuring I’d be getting rekt, but I gotta admit seeing [r/wallstreetbets] so bearish [i.e. pessimistic] has me feeling like this is going to be a nice little payday," wrote u/hallidev.
Could r/wallstreetbets take Reddit stock 'to the moon'? Credit: Tim Goode / PA Images via Getty Imagesr/wallstreetbets made headlines in 2021 when users collectively initiated a short squeeze on GameStop's stock, buying up the video game retailer's shares en masse and driving its share prices up. This forced hedge fund Melvin Capital, which had been attempting to short GameStop's stock, to sell their shares at this elevated price in order to minimise their losses before the value climbed even higher.
This short squeeze significantly contributed to Melvin Capital's 53 percent loss that January, with the investment firm haemorrhaging $6.8 billion in that month alone. The multi-billion dollar hedge fund shut down mere months later.
As such, the power of r/wallstreetbets shouldn't be underestimated. The subreddit was even directly referenced as a risk in Reddit's IPO, stating that its users could contribute to "extreme volatility" in the share's market price and trading volume.
Despite numerous jokes and comments, no clearly coordinated plan to manipulate Reddit's stock has yet emerged on r/wallstreetbets, though this could quickly change. Either way, Reddit's stock market debut will be interesting to watch.
Reddit has had a difficult relationship with both its users and moderators as of late. The company was the subject of widespread criticism last year when it began charging developers for access to its application programming interface (API), causing many popular third-party apps to shut down. Moderators shut down numerous subreddits in protest, but were forced to reopen after Reddit threatened the volunteers with removal. Unsurprisingly, the moderators' attitude toward Reddit is now frosty at best.
The company has been attempting to claw itself into profitability with a slew of unpopular changes, from disallowing users to opt out of ad personalisation to selling user-generated data to train AI models. Such an approach might have contributed to Reddit only losing $90.8 million last year, as opposed to losing $158.6 million the year before.
Unfortunately, Reddit seems to have paid the difference in goodwill — and could keep paying yet.
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