Latest news with #BestBuy
The Guardian
an hour ago
- Business
- The Guardian
‘You were among your people': Nintendo Switch 2 launch revives the midnight release
There was a time when certain shops would resemble nightclubs at about midnight: a long queue of excitable people, some of them perhaps too young to be out that late, discussing the excitement that awaits inside. The sight of throngs of gamers looking to get their hands on the latest hardware when the clock strikes 12 is growing increasingly rare. But if you happen to walk by a Smyths toy shop at midnight on 4 June, you may encounter a blast from the past: excitable people, most in their teens or 20s, possibly discussing Mario Kart. They will be waiting to buy the Nintendo Switch 2, the first major games console launch since 2020 and potentially the biggest of all time. What's particularly notable about this launch isn't the queues but just how few there will be. About 10 years ago, the midnight launch fad started to fade away. More and more players were buying digital copies of games, which meant they could download and start playing them straight away without leaving their homes. It means that this time around, Smyths is the only UK chain taking part. Even in the States, the home of frenzied launch-day consumerism, only Best Buy and Nintendo's own stores in San Francisco and New York have confirmed midnight openings. This is a stark contrast to the noughties and early 2010s. Back then, thanks to the vast global success of the PlayStation, Wii and Xbox consoles, video game launch events for titles such as Call of Duty, Halo and Grand Theft Auto were supported by thousands of stores around the world, and the biggest were extravagantly stage-managed. Microsoft's Halo 3 launch events in the US were accompanied by dozens of actors dressed as space marines; Bill Gates himself showed up at the Seattle branch of Best Buy. In the UK, the Call of Duty Ghosts event at the Westfield in Stratford hired a drill sergeant to yell at customers. 'My favourite was Skyrim,' says Greg Weller, who was then the UK marketing manager for Bethesda Softworks. 'We got the specs of Game's flagship store on Oxford Street and covered the whole front with Elder Scrolls artwork. We put a snow machine on the roof, so we made it snow in November on Oxford Street. We had press there, we had a cosplay competition, there was a humongous queue, and so many people were dressed up – they wanted to be part of the story, part of the community.' Console launches were a major phenomenon on a par with any movie premiere. For the launch of the Xbox One in 2013, Microsoft took over Leicester Square, building a vast Xbox-branded globe in the centre where the musicians Plan B and Katy B performed. A fortnight earlier, Sony took over the Standard High Line hotel in New York and turned it into a giant video game arcade with developers showing off their wares to thousands of gamers. For the stores and game publishers, these lavish launch events increased footfall and generated word of mouth and press coverage. For the fans, they were a way to feel part of something. 'Growing up as a gamer in the 90s, we were quite ostracised for the hobby,' says Rich Thompson, now a developer and founder of Black Rose Studio in Hull. 'But then having shops opening at midnight, it was mind-blowing. When Fallout 4 came out, our local Game store hired a DJ; it was a party atmosphere, there were hundreds of us there. I vividly remember people swapping contact details in the queue – you were among your people.' It wasn't all fun and games, however. Midnight launches sometimes descended into chaos. 'The problem was, you'd have one shop open in a city centre that's full of people coming out of the pub,' says Thompson. 'Drunk people would come into these launches, cause a scene and refuse to leave. I remember a huge fight breaking out at one Fifa launch night. Getting thrown out of a midnight game launch became a badge of honour.' Sign up to Pushing Buttons Keza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming after newsletter promotion In 2006, a man was shot by masked thieves while queueing to pick up his new PlayStation 3 at an event at a Walmart in Putnam, Connecticut. (He later told a local newspaper that, though seriously injured, he still staggered into the store to pick up his console.) In London, the Metropolitan police were so concerned about violence that they banned PlayStation 3 midnight launch events at all shops throughout the city apart from the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street. The transition to digital media, stiff competition from online firms such as Amazon and the disaster of the Covid lockdowns meant specialist high street chains began to close. Game once had more than 600 shops in the UK; now it has about 240. According to data from the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association, UK physical game sales dropped by 35% last year. Will the Nintendo Switch 2 launch turn things around? As we've seen with the vinyl revival and the unexpected incline of Blu-ray sales (due in part to consumer frustration with ad-riddled streaming sites), physical media is gaining popularity once more. There does seem to be a growing revival of interest in physical games. Boutique publishers such as Strictly Limited and Limited Run are producing beautifully packaged editions of modern and classic titles, while game cafes and retro arcades are on the rise. And, after all, the experiential nature of the launch event, the buzz, the social pleasures, is not something that can be replicated by an online purchase. 'I got my dad to drive me to a store at midnight for the Xbox launch,' recalls Thompson. 'He'd just finished a 12-hour shift. He thought it was just going to be us, but there was a huge queue. The staff were handing out drinks, Limp Bizkit were playing on a stereo system – for 13-year-old me it was just the coolest thing I could imagine. I looked up at my dad and he wasn't a gamer but he was excited too – there was an energy. All these people just turning up at midnight for a party in a shop.'
Gizmodo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
Lenovo's 2-in-1 Chromebook Acts as Both a Tablet and Laptop for Practically Nothing, Keyboard Included
Best Buy has the Lenovo Duet 11 Chromebook for nearly 40% off for a limited time. Chromebooks are incredibly versatile and can sometimes be the better option for a lot of users when compared to a full Windows laptop with all the bells and whistles. If you just need something with a larger screen than your phone to do the tasks you'd otherwise do there, then Chromebook is the way to go. Best Buy has the Lenovo Duet 11 Chromebook at a pretty sizable discount. Normally priced at $399, but for a limited time you can get it for $150 off (-37.5%). That brings it down to just $249. The Lenovo Duet 11 Chromebook supports Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution in it's 11-inch touchscreen. It's running on a MediaTek Kompanio 800 processor with an integrated graphics card. Memory-wise, we're looking at 4GB and storage-wise, it's working with 128GB. The keypad and cover come in a respectable luna gray colorway, perfect for those who like their style subtle. See at Best Buy Versatility at Its Finest It's namesake of the 'Duet' comes from this being a two-in-one device. They keypad is detachable and given that the screen is a touchscreen, you can effectively transform your Chromebook laptop into a tablet in seconds. This adds a ton of versatility to how you choose to use your Lenovo IdeaPad, letting you switch between laptop and tablet on the fly given the task at hand. Killing time browsing through Instagram? Take the keypad off and layback on the couch. Drafting a longwinded email to a tough client? Maybe pop that keyboard back on and sit at your desk. The case doubles as a stand, so whether or not you have the keypad attached, you can prop the Lenovo IdeaPad up at the ideal viewing angle. That makes it great for catching up on your favorite TV shows in a pinch. The Chrome OS is fast and secure. It supports a ton of built-in Google apps such as Gmail, Gemini, Docs, Photos, YouTube, and more. It's loads super quickly, booting up in just 10 seconds. And then with 10 hours of battery life, it will handle the whole work day and then some on a single charge. Chat with friends or colleagues with ease thanks to the fixed-focus front-facing 5MP camera. Additionally, it has a rear-facing 8MP for taking photos and videos which is capable of auto-focusing so you can capture subjects at any distance.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Best Buy wants AI to offer customers fewer — but more relevant — search results
This story was originally published on CX Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CX Dive newsletter. Best Buy will roll out an AI-powered search experience across its website and app in the coming year for customers and employees, executives said on a Q1 2026 earnings call Thursday. The updated search engine uses AI prompts to guide customers to more specific searches, according to CEO Corie Barry. The experience is designed to produce fewer but higher-quality results that offer more information and better reflect customer intent. The electronics retailer will update the in-store shopping experience as well. Plans range from special experiences for the Switch 2 console product launch to department-based training for associates. Offering Best Buy customers a great experience creates opportunities for incremental profit streams across the business, according to Barry. While the electronic retailer's performance has been improving as CX initiatives roll out, the company was unable to maintain its return to sales growth as it had in the fourth quarter of 2025. Comparable sales fell 0.7% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, according to a company earnings report. Revenue was down 0.9% year over year to nearly $8.8 billion, but domestic online sales were a bright spot — up 2.1% year over year. About 3 in 5 Best Buy customers visit Best Buy's digital platforms at some part of their shopping journey, and the channel accounts for one-third of domestic revenue transacted, according to Barry. This is in line with what Barry reported in fourth quarter 2025. Best Buy's third-party marketplace, which is slated to launch in the summer, could take advantage of this strong digital baseline. 'We believe our marketplace launch is even more important in this environment as it provides ultimate flexibility in product assortments, price points, vendors and SKUs,' Barry said during the call. 'We can offer customers the broadest and most relevant experience possible, particularly when combined with our upgraded search capability.' The company will enhance the post-purchase experience for its third-party marketplace by letting customers choose between returning products directly to the seller or through a Best Buy store, according to Barry. All products sold on the marketplace will honor Best Buy's return window. Even if digital is the focus, stores remain an integral part of Best Buy's business, and CX investments are paying off there as well. Best Buy will train its workers to improve their expertise. The company completed a program for major appliances associates in March, and it plans to do the same in July with home theater workers to ensure they are well-prepared to help customers. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Gizmodo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Gizmodo
Best Buy Offers This Insignia Soundbar at a Practically Free Price to Help You Get Ready for Father's Day
Upset that all the Memorial Day sales have already come to pass? If you were hoping to upgrade your home entertainment situation be it in your living room, bedroom, basement, or home theater, but missed out on the great deals we saw at the beginning of the month, you are thankfully no out of luck. The next big holiday sale is still some ways away, but there are great deals active right now if you know where to look. Right now, Best Buy has this Insignia 2.0 channel soundbar discounted. Normally going for $60, this television audio accessory has been slashed down to $50. That may not sound like a lot, but it's a rare discount. See at Best Buy Why Get a Soundbar? Sound is 50% off the movie-watching experience. You can have the best picture in the world available, but it won't leave it's full impact if the audio is coming out of the TV's built-in speakers. The best way to improve your home audio for watching movies, football games, and big budget TV shows without breaking your own budget is with a soundbar. This dual-channel soundbar will amplify your TV's existing audio. Choose between three different sound modes depending on the content you're viewing—standard, theater, and news. The slim design makes it perfect for smaller living spaces like those apartment-living in the city. It rests easily on top of your TV stand or can be wall-mounted, whichever you prefer. The soundbar even comes with all the necessary hardware to get it up on the wall. The soundbar connects to your TV easily using HDMI ARC and then fills your room with spectacular sound surround sound. It will also support connections over digital optical as well as 3.5 AUX and USB. Connecting over HDMI ARC allows you to even control your soundbar using your regular TV remote—less stuff to lose between the cushions of your couch. You can even connect to your phone or other devices to listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, and more using Bluetooth. After connecting wirelessly the first time, your soundbar will remember your phone making future use even easier to get started. So if you're ready to turn your back on the low-quality audio you TV's built-in speakers are providing you, you can upgrade to the Insignia 2.0 channel soundbar for the low price of $50 over at Best Buy. That's a nearly a 20% discount from its standard price of $60. You don't need to spend oodles of cash to enjoy high-quality sound. See at Best Buy
Digital Trends
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
The 98-inch TCL QM7K just launched, is great for sports, and is over $1,000 off
There's news, and then there's great news. The news is that TCL recently released the QM7K TV. The great news is that its 98-inch version — if you follow You Asked you might heard about it a few days ago — is already hugely discounted. Just how hugely? Like a lot of things, it sort of depends on who you ask. If you go with TCL's suggested price of $5,000, it's $2,200 off, while if you go with Best Buy's standard price of $4,000, it's $1,200 off. Either way, this massive TV (with a massive discount) is marked down to $2,800 at the moment. Go check out this hot TV deal via one of the buttons below, but also be sure to keep reading to get an overview of what we've seen and experienced with this 2025 release. Why you should buy the 98-inch TCL QM7K If you've determined you have room for a 98-inch TV, what makes the QM7K special other than its recent launch? Color and power. Our TCL QM7K review will give you all the details, but this 4K QD-Mini LED TV displays with 'spot-on' color accuracy 'right out of the box' in Filmmaker Mode that truly doesn't need to be calibrated to be enjoyed. It's plenty bright as well, refreshes at 144Hz, and has the recently new (but now expected) automatic low latency gaming mode. But will it be games that you'll be using your QM7K for? Our recent 'You Asked' episode about 98-inch TVs for sports featured the QM7K heavily. Here's the key excerpt: It's got the features you look for in a premium TV from top to bottom, supporting all the video and audio formats you could ask for like Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and DTS. And notably for sports, it has excellent SDR brightness and does a great job upscaling low bitrate content, like sports. This offer that saves you $2,200 off of TCL's new $5,000 98-inch TV (making it just $2,800) won't last forever as it's an introductory offer. So, if you want the TV, be sure to tap one of the buttons below to get it now. Or, for something completely different, check out our listing of the best TVs under $1,000.
