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The Sonic x Shadow Generations collectors’ edition brings the value with a reasonably priced figure for the series.
Sega announced the collection earlier last month but was yet to add an opportunity for US fans of the superfast hedgehog to buy the collectors edition.
Sonic x Shadow Generations gets a price
The collectors edition will only be available through the Japanese store, so the only tag we have to go on is the converted pre-tax price:

Standard edition: 6,589 yen, which is around $40
Digital Deluxe Edition: 7,689 yen, which is around $45
Collector’s Edition: 12,969 yen, which is around $80

Standard edition
The basic deal with the base game and those pre-ordering will get a bonus Sonic Adventure Skin and three Sonic the Hedgehog original stickers (Japan physical edition only).
Digital Deluxe Edition
Digital Deluxe buyers will receive the base game and gain access to the Digital Deluxe Season Pass. An additional character skin and level for Shadow (releasing Winter 2024), Terios Skin, Extra BGM Pack, Skill Points (for SONIC GENERATIONS), and the digital version of the art book and soundtrack. Pre-order bonuses include the Sonic Adventure Skin.
Collectors Edition
The collector’s edition, which costs $80 plus, features a 12 cm Shadow figure, a 5 cm keychain with a Sonic and Shadow shoe, stickers, and an art book of the game.
The collector’s edition will have an exclusive pre-order bonus Sonic Adventure Skin (in-game), and players can get a three-day head start on the game with 72 hours of early accesss — but not for the Nintendo Switch version.
SEGA has tried to promote Shadow, who will debut in the next installment of the Sonic cinematic universe. The game’s publisher has pushed the title alongside the classic Sonic tales, saying, “All-new collection that includes SONIC GENERATIONS, which unites Classic and Modern Sonic in a journey through time and iconic Sonic worlds!”
The game launches Oct. 25 on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.
Image: SEGA.
 
 
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Tether (USDT) has launched a new payment option in the Philippines, enabling citizens to pay their Social Security System (SSS) contributions using USDT, Tether’s stablecoin.
The SSS, a state-run social insurance program, provides support to both formal and informal sector employees, offering financial assistance during difficult times. To facilitate this new payment method, Tether has partnered with Uquid, a Web3 shopping and infrastructure company.
Uquid will enable USDT payments for SSS contributions on the TON blockchain. With a large user base across various markets, Uquid aims to promote cryptocurrency adoption in everyday transactions.
This development comes amid growing interest in stablecoins and their potential role in mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins have evolved from being primarily used as on-ramp tools for centralized exchanges to becoming liquidity providers in both centralized and decentralized markets.
Industry adoption of stablecoins
Some industry participants argue that stablecoins could disrupt the payments sector due to their transaction speed and low costs. Various companies in the financial industry have been exploring stablecoin implementation.
PayPal introduced its PYUSD stablecoin to enable transfers within its payment infrastructure, while Stripe announced that merchants using its platform can accept certain stablecoin payments for online transactions. There’s also growing interest in stablecoins for cross-border payments at the institutional level.
However, recent data indicates a decline in stablecoin holdings among investors. From December to May, stablecoin holdings decreased for both institutional and retail investors. Bitcoin (BTC) currently represents the largest single asset held by these investors.
Institutional investors appear to show a preference for Bitcoin over Ethereum (ETH), with Bitcoin holdings increasing following the SEC’s approval of Bitcoin Spot ETFs in January 2024. Meanwhile, Ethereum positions have decreased among institutional investors. This trend might be influenced by various factors, including perceptions of investment potential and regulatory developments.
Retail traders, on the other hand, have shown different behavior patterns, particularly during recent market movements. Their actions during the March-April 2024 market correction suggest an ability to adapt to changing market conditions.
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The First Descendant, like other free-to-play games, offered a chance to get in on some looter shooter action before the official release.
This was in the form of betas, and if you were one of the eager ones who got in and explored the world of Igris you would have earned yourself some rewards.
Here, we’ll explain how to claim The First Descendant beta rewards, as you’re not automatically given them when you load up the game for the first time.
How to claim The First Descendant beta rewards
Obviously, it seems like a given, but you must have played the beta to be eligible for any beta rewards.
If you did play at least some of it, whether that is five minutes or if you got your character to max level, you would have earned at least some in-game items.
To claim these, you must head to Albion in-game and your beta rewards will be available in your Mailbox.
One thing to note here though is that you must be playing on the same account tied to the beta otherwise you won’t have the beta rewards that you earned.
What are all of The First Descendant beta rewards?

Since there were two betas for The First Descendant, there were also two sets of rewards you could pick up.
Moreover, these rewards differed depending on how much of the betas you played, with the people who spent the most time in-game receiving the ‘better’ gear.
Here are all of The First Descendant beta rewards you could get:
Steam Beta Test (Oct 2022) rewards

High Five emote – All test participants
Frost Walker Hunter & 2 titles: Groundbreaking (Prefix), Explorer (Suffix) – Completed Void Intercept Battle

Crossplay Open Beta Test (Sep 2023) rewards

Send Heart emote – All test participants
Bear Cub back attachment – Players who leveled a Descendant to Level 20
Passion spawn effect – Players who cleared a Hard Mode Void Intercept Battle
Bunny head skin “Trendsetter” – Survey participants

If you sadly didn’t get in on the two betas, you can pick up some additional gear through The First Descendant Twitch Drops, so don’t be too disheartened!
The post The First Descendant beta rewards: A full list and how to claim appeared first on ReadWrite.

A Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6 item has caught the eye of players taking on a new GTA Online Update.
The Bottom Dollar Bounties update, launched on June 26, focuses on Maude Eccles’s Bottom Dollar Bail Enforcement service. This new in-game trade allows players to enter the bond service and hunt down lucrative wrongdoers.
The update also introduced a fleet of new vehicles, game modes, and various cosmetic items. One item has particularly captured the attention of the GTA 6 Reddit fanbase.
GTA 6 cosmetics catch the eyes of gamers in GTA Online
On the GTA Online Reddit community, user DogWifDreads posted a familiar-looking necklace. This item, the Silver Layered Necklace, was previously seen on protagonist Lucia in the GTA 6 trailer.
Noticed a Small Detail… byu/DogWifDreads inGTA6

Some members of the GTA Reddit praised the post, saying, “This is a kind of cool thing to point out. I like that they’re giving us a tiny taste of it.”
Another user speculated that other cosmetics are being ported over, saying, “There are some tattoos that are reused, too. Like the 3 smiley faces that become more warped/wavy from the Fooligan DLC on the guy who’s hanging out of the door of the green truck in the GTA6 trailer.”
Rockstar, the publisher of GTA, is no stranger to referencing older titles and including a host of Easter eggs throughout the game series.
GTA 6 has been one of gaming’s top stories across 2024 for many contrasting reasons. The launch trailer for the much-anticipated new venture back to Vice City was hijacked and hacked before being leaked to the world.
Arion Kurtaj, the British teenager who played a key role in the GTA 6 hack, was detained indefinitely for his online attack on Rockstar. He has previous blackmail charges against him for similar digital fraud on Brtish Telecom and mobile provider EE.
GTA 6 is set for a 2025 launch, and we have broken down all the need-to-know news including release date, setting, characters, map, and much more on Rockstars’ much-awaited gangland title.
Image: Rockstar.
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Swedish scientists have discovered how to use nanorobots to target and kill cancer cells.
Made of amino acids, the tiny robots can be injected into the body. They can activate ‘death receptors’ in cells, helping to shrink tumors. All cells have death receptors, so the main obstacle has been finding a way for the robots to identify the harmful cancer cells, rather than attacking healthy cells and cancerous ones alike.
The team of scientists, based in the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, had been working on finding this ‘kill switch’ for years, ever since they first discovered how to create the tiny robots made from amino acids.
How do the robots identify cancer cells?
“This hexagonal nanopattern of peptides becomes a lethal weapon,” Professor Björn Högberg, who led the study, told Metro. “If you were to administer it as a drug, it would indiscriminately start killing cells in the body, which would not be good. To get around this problem, we have hidden the weapon inside a nanostructure built from DNA.”
The construction of this nanoscale DNA structure is known as DNA origami. By combining DNA and peptides, the team created robots that only target cancerous cells. The pH (or potential of hydrogen) measures how acidic or alkaline any given substance is. For most part of the human body, the pH level is around 7.4, or neutral, but the areas surrounding tumors are usually slightly acidic.
By measuring the pH, the robots can identify which areas are cancerous. They stay inactive in areas at pH 7.4 but start taking out cells at pH 6.5.
“We have managed to hide the weapon in such a way that it can only be exposed in the environment found in and around a solid tumor,” said Professor Högberg. “This means that we have created a type of nanorobot that can specifically target and kill cancer cells.”
Initial testing has taken place on mice, with the robots helping to shrink breast cancer tumors by up to 70%.
“We now need to investigate whether this works in more advanced cancer models that more closely resemble the real human disease,” said first author of the study Yang Wang. “We also need to find out what side effects the method has before it can be tested on humans.”
In the future, the team also hopes to make the nanorobots able to target specific types of cancer. Cancer research also recently benefitted from technological advancements in AI, reducing treatment time and accelerating diagnoses.
Featured image: Ideogram
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The Bahamas, a pioneer in launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC), is now crafting regulations to boost the adoption of its “Sand Dollar.”
According to a Reuters report published on Monday, the Caribbean nation aims to mandate commercial banks to offer access to this digital currency. John Rolle, governor of the Bahamas’ central bank, revealed plans to expand the Sand Dollar’s reach. He said:
We foresee a process where all of the commercial banks will eventually be in that space and they will be required to provide their clients with access to the central bank digital currency. […] We’ve begun to signal that to our institutions.
Launched in 2020, the CBDC has seen limited uptake. To address this, the government is developing rules that would require commercial banks to distribute the digital currency.
Since its October 2020 debut, the Sand Dollar has shown growth. Central bank data indicates that by the end of 2023, the currency’s circulation volume increased by 60.8% to $1.7 million from the year’s start. Personal wallets for the Sand Dollar grew by 20% over the year, reaching 118,955 by December’s end.
The news follows a mid-April report that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has announced that it is exploring the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), often referred to as “digital cash.”
The history of the Sand Dollar
The SandDollar, launched by the Central Bank of The Bahamas in October 2020, is a central bank digital currency (CBDC) designed to complement the Bahamian dollar. Its development began in the late 1990s as part of broader efforts to modernize the country’s payment systems.
In December 2019, a pilot program was initiated on the island of Exuma, chosen for its representation of The Bahamas’ archipelagic features. Following Hurricane Dorian in 2019, the pilot was extended to Abaco in February 2020 to aid in restoring financial services.
The SandDollar officially launched nationwide in October 2020, making The Bahamas the first country to roll out a retail CBDC according to Intereconomics. The currency operates on a tiered wallet system with different levels of access and transaction limits based on user verification requirements.
Initial adoption of the SandDollar was relatively slow, with monthly transactions averaging around 15,000 SandDollars. Usage increased in 2021 as COVID-19 restrictions eased and promotional efforts resumed. By the end of 2022, monthly transactions had grown to an average of 85,000 SandDollars.
In December 2022, the total SandDollars in circulation surpassed one million. However, as of early 2023, SandDollars still represented less than 1% of the total Bahamian dollars in circulation.
The Central Bank has continued to develop the SandDollar system, integrating it with the Automated Clearing House in 2022 to allow for transfers between e-wallets and bank accounts. As of 2023, the bank is working on implementing new features and improvements to enhance user experience and functionality.
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