I have a love-hate relationship with Stranger Things. Like many of my friends, I was fully charmed by the first season, but each subsequent season has filled me with growing frustration. The series touches on so many elements that cater to me specifically, like coming-of-age narratives threaded in with supernatural hijinks. But as Stranger Things’ […]

Should every woman be able to do 11 push-ups? According to orthopedic surgeon and health influencer Vonda Wright, they should — and, no, modified “girl push-ups”  don’t count.  Last month, Wright appeared on The Mel Robbins Podcast, the popular self-help show that tends to generate this sort of arbitrary health advice, to share her recommended […]

Paige Smith / Bloomberg:
PayPal reports Q1 net revenue up 1% YoY to $7.8B, transaction margin dollars up 7% to $3.7B, above est., TPV up 3% to $417.2B, and active accounts up 2% to 436M  —  PayPal Holdings Inc. beat analysts' estimates on a key profitability gauge, another sign of progress for Chief Executive Officer Alex Chriss's turnaround plan.

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Helsinki-based IXI, which is building low-power glasses that can autofocus to a user's prescription, emerges from stealth and raised a $36.5M Series A  —  Blink and you'll miss it: A startup out of Finland is taking a new look at the market for prescription eyewear.

Metaphor: ReFantazio publisher Atlus and gaming merchandiser iam8bit have no shortage of history together. With the Persona franchise alone, iam8bit has partnered with Atlus to put out more than 10 different collectible soundtracks on vinyl records spanning the entire mainline franchise, as well as spin-offs and DLC. Today, iam8bit announced the continuation of that partnership through a 4xLP vinyl soundtrack of one of 2024's best games, Metaphor: ReFantazio.

The package, which is wrapped in the cover imagery of the novel carried by Metaphor: ReFantazio's protagonist, includes four vinyl records. Each record is pressed on character-inspired Iris Burst vinyls, each a different color to represent a different main character. Pre-orders for this package begin today on iam8bit.com and run through May 27. The package costs $100, with shipping set to begin this fall/holiday season.

The title was the latest game from the creative team behind the Persona franchise starting with Persona 3, with director Katsura Hashino, character designer Shigenori Soejima, composer Shoji Meguro, and many other developers reprising their roles for Metaphor: ReFantazio. Though distinct from his more modern compositions in the Persona series, Meguro's compositions serve as a highlight to the broader Metaphor: ReFantazio experience. 

Metaphor: ReFantazio launched on October 11, 2024, and earned critical acclaim. In our belated review, we awarded it a 9 out of 10. Metaphor: ReFantazio also earned third place in our list of the top 10 games of 2024 and took home our award for the Best RPG in an RPG-loaded year. Similarly, Metaphor was nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024, and though it fell short to Astro Bot, it took home awards for Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, and Best Role-Playing Game.