Author: Trent Meikle

It’s frankly astounding that Nintendo had the gall to withhold Donkey Kong Bananza from the world as long as it did, particularly in the face of the R1,530 Mario Kart World it served up at the Switch 2’s launch instead. We had our fun with World, but we can’t deny that Donkey Kong Bananza is the best excuse yet to pick up a Switch 2. With the original Super Mario Odyssey team at its back and a more palatable R1,330 price, it was almost impossible for Bananza to fail. We’re pleased to report that Nintendo’s latest not only met our already high expectations, but blew…

No more excuses, guy. The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) announced yesterday that it was partnering with two of South Africa’s largest banks, FNB and Capitec, in a bid to expand smart ID and passports services around the country and ensure easy access no matter where you are. Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber said that FNB and Capitec were the first South African banks to sign up for the DHA’s new ‘digital partnership model’. The upgrade will see the number of branches offering these services rise into the hundreds, as well as offering these services through banking apps. Banking on…

MTN Business announced today that it has partnered up with the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) Gauteng Region as part of a strategy to prop up local businesses. The agreement, which was signed during a ceremony at the MTN Innovation Centre, will see the Council become an official reseller of MTN’s business-based products, “including mobile data, ICT services, and enterprise connectivity tools.” “SANTACO is not only a transportation powerhouse, but it also represents community enterprise and resilience at scale. By collaborating with SANTACO, we are helping unlock digital and economic participation where it matters most,” said Charles Molapisi, CEO…

After this year’s Summer Games Fest turned out to be a bit of a bust, we turned our attention to the event that’s kept the spirit of E3 alive. Gamescom promises four days of pure gaming goodness. Kicking off proceedings is Opening Night Live, led by the one and only Geoff Keighley (who else?) on 19 August 2025. Gamescom officially kicks off the following day — 20 August — and runs ’til Sunday, 24 August. It’s Opening Night, fellas https://youtu.be/SKHL2qbqkSA Opening Night Live is typically where you’ll see most of the event’s biggest reveals and updates, but that doesn’t necessarily…

GPT-5 is coming to Apple Intelligence. Soon Last week, OpenAI debuted GPT-5, supposedly delivering one of the biggest updates to the model’s overall speed and usability while (briefly) mourning the loss of GPT-4o. The question on some Apple users’ minds now is when ChatGPT integration with Apple Intelligence will bring the model’s new smarts to play. Soon, apparently. According to Apple (via 9to5mac), the company expects its devices to catch up shortly. As it stands, the iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and visionOS 2 versions utilise GPT-4o when using the ChatGPT add-on on top of the native Apple model. Apple…

There are roughly 80 million PS5 consoles out in the wild, according to Sony’s most recent quarterly results drop of the current financial year, confirming it had reached the milestone as of 30 June 2025. For a console that costs as much as this one does – not to mention the expensive 4K TVs required to get the most out of it – as well as supply issues in the console’s early days, that’s a rather impressive figure. The PS5 takes the lead Of course, it’s got nothing on the PlayStation 5’s elder siblings, all of which managed to cross…

Yesterday, Vodacom claimed to have placed the country’s first-ever “native” voice call on the 5G spectrum, a capability known as Voice over New Radio (VonR). The mobile operator placed the call over its test network, calling it an “important prelude to launching the service on the live network.” While South Africa has had access to the 5G spectrum for many years now, it has been exclusively reserved for carrying data, while 5G-capable smartphones are still forced to rely on older VoLTE (Voice over LTE) infrastructure when placing traditional voice calls. Not for much longer, says Vodacom. Vodacom’s VoNR is showing…

Nintendo’s surprise Indie World showcase wrapped up yesterday, bringing with it a plethora of indie titles coming to the Nintendo Switch 1 and 2 (and a bunch of other consoles) this year and the next. We’re not sure what’s more amazing – just how many games Nintendo managed to squeeze into a fifteen-minute time slot, or the fact that a (very) short indie-led showcase is somehow more entertaining than last week’s full-on Nintendo Direct. Mina the Hollower https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT8suGTzYN0 From Yacht Club Games (makers of the excellent Shovel Knight) comes Mina the Hollower. Players take the role of Mina, a Hollower, on…

If you’re still stuck on a 2G or 3G smartphone in 2025, TCL has launched two new 4G smartphones under the Alcatel umbrella that can help you make the jump for cheap (not that there’s any rush, really). As such, TCL expects these to hit “participating retail stores” sometime in September, failing to mention which those are. “As a complimentary addition to our TCL portfolio, we’re bringing back the Alcatel brand known for its high-quality, entry-level phones,” says TCL’s Ernst Wittmann. “We’re making it our mission to ensure that everyone can enjoy access to the latest mobile applications and experiences.”…

Right off the back of that underwhelming Partner Direct, Nintendo’s hoping it can assuage any ill will with another showcase, set to go live later today. This time it’ll be a tight fifteen-minute-long Indie World showcase, so it’s probably best not to get your hopes up for anything big to be revealed for the Switch 2. If Chillin’ by the Fire was saved for that last proper Direct, we shudder to imagine what’s in store for today. Everything but a first-party Nintendo Direct Still, that isn’t going to stop us from watching Indie World, scheduled to go live at 15h00 local…