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The gaming industry has reached a new cultural milestone with the rise of 'unc games' - games predominantly played by older gamers. This shift towards intergenerational gaming is gaining momentum, with 50-60% of all gamers now over 30 years old and the average age of gamers increasing to 41.The term 'unc' is a semi-disparaging Gen Z name for anyone over 30. 'Unc games' refer to games that are popular among older gamers, such as World of Warcraft and other titles from the 1990s and 2000s. The article's author, Keza MacDonald, argues that it's time to embrace this cultural shift and recognize the value of older gamers.Circana data suggests that 97% of console purchasers in the US last year were over 25. This demographic is profitable, with older gamers buying consoles and spending money on games. Developers and publishers should consider catering to this demographic, as they have been propping up the gaming industry's traditional business model for years.The article also touches on the topic of game pricing, with rumors that Grand Theft Auto VI may be the first $100 game. While this may seem steep, it's argued that games have become more expensive to produce and that different price points will cater to various gamers.Ultimately, the gaming industry is becoming more intergenerational, with retro games and classic consoles gaining popularity. Media outlets and game developers are now supported by people's sustained interest in retro games, and new games are being developed with homage to influential older titles.

A Parisian software engineer, Ari Hodara, has won a €1m Picasso painting in a charity raffle. The painting, 'Head of a Woman', was created by Pablo Picasso in 1941 and is part of the artist's collection.Hodara purchased a €100 ticket for the '1 Picasso for €100' lottery, which aimed to raise funds for Alzheimer's research. He was informed of his win via a video call from Christie's auction house in Paris and initially questioned whether it was a hoax.The raffle, organized by French television producer Péri Cochin, sold 120,000 tickets, generating €12m in revenue. Of this amount, €1m will be donated to the Opera Gallery, which owned the painting.The painting, 'Head of a Woman', is a portrait of Picasso's longtime muse and partner, Dora Maar. It was painted in the same studio where Picasso created his 1937 masterpiece, Guernica.This is the third iteration of the Picasso raffle, which has raised over €10m for cultural and humanitarian causes in previous years.

Ron Timehin's photograph, taken at Labadi, a popular tourist resort in Accra, Ghana, offers a unique glimpse into the lives of the local community. The image features five Ghanaians, a ruined farm building, and an elegant horse, which adds a touch of majesty to the scene. Timehin aimed to capture the community's daily life, traditions, and cultural heritage in a collaborative way, allowing the subjects to present themselves as they wanted to be seen. The photograph showcases the community's pride and resilience, highlighting their strong sense of identity and connection to their heritage. The community, centered on fishing, is known for its strong sense of unity and mutual support. Timehin was drawn to the way they look after each other and take pride in their community. The photograph also features a Ghanaian flag, symbolizing national pride and cultural identity. Timehin's project began when he was approached by a charity called My Runway Group, which organizes cultural exchange programs. The project allowed him to document the community and share some culture between the UK and Ghana. His work has been shortlisted for the Sony World Photography Awards 2026, and an exhibition of his images will be held at Somerset House in London.

After a 90‑year blackout, MGM’s 1932 melodrama Letty Lynton is set for its first legal public screening. The film, starring Hollywood icon Joan Crawford, was withdrawn in 1937 following a plagiarism lawsuit and pressure from the Hays Office, which deemed its risqué themes “unfit for adaptation”.The controversy began when MGM attempted to acquire the rights to the Broadway hit Dishonored Lady, a play notorious for its depictions of booze, drugs and sexual intrigue. After the playwrights demanded $30,000—a sum the studio balked at—MGM settled for the cheaper novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes for $3,500. The resulting film, inspired by the 1857 murder trial of Scottish socialite Madeleine Smith, shocked contemporary censors with scenes such as Crawford’s character watching her ex‑lover sip poisoned champagne.Legal battles intensified when playwrights Edward Sheldon and Margaret Ayer Barnes sued MGM for plagiarism, alleging the movie copied their work rather than the novel. The protracted case forced MGM to pull the film from circulation in 1937, and a year later Crawford herself was labeled “box‑office poison”. Yet both the actress and the film survived, resurfacing in cultural memory through fashion and later adaptations.Beyond cinema, Letty Lynton left an indelible mark on 1930s style. Costume designer Adrian created a white organdy dress with exaggerated sleeves for Crawford; the design was mass‑produced for Macy’s and sparked a nationwide craze. Edith Head later called the dress “cinema’s single biggest influence on fashion”.The film’s revival is largely credited to Crawford’s grandson, Casey LaLonde. In an Instagram post, he announced that the play’s copyright would expire on 31 December 2025, clearing the legal path for a public showing. Warner Bros., which now holds the rights to many pre‑1986 MGM titles, restored the picture in 4K and arranged for its debut at the TCM Film Festival in Los Angeles on 1 May 2026. The movie will also be issued on Blu‑ray and DVD through the Warner Archive.LaLonde thanked Warner Bros. and library historian George Feltenstein for making the restoration possible, noting that without their effort “we wouldn’t have this fabulous film to see again on big and small screens.”Fans of classic Hollywood can finally experience a piece of cinema history that was once deemed too daring for the silver screen, offering a fresh look at Joan Crawford’s daring performance and the era’s bold storytelling.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has issued a stark warning: if the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked by the ongoing US‑Israel conflict with Iran, the world could face a food ‘catastrophe’. The disruption is already halting shipments of vital agricultural inputs, a situation that could quickly cascade into higher food prices. FAO chief economist Maximo Torero told Al Jazeera that, for now, food prices have stayed stable because existing stockpiles are absorbing the shock. However, he cautioned that this buffer is temporary and that “the clock is ticking.” FAO agrifood economics director David Laborde added that if traffic does not resume, the resulting strain on energy and fertilizer markets will translate into “higher commodity and retail prices later this year and into 2027.” According to the FAO, 20‑45% of key agrifood inputs—including fertilizers, pesticides and feed—depend on maritime passage through the Hormuz chokepoint. Nearly half of the world’s traded urea, the most widely used fertilizer, also moves through the strait, making global agriculture highly vulnerable. Recent gas supply disruptions have already forced fertilizer plants in the Gulf and beyond to cut or halt production, raising concerns that farmers may have to reduce fertilizer use or face higher production costs. Torero emphasized that poorer countries are especially at risk because planting calendars leave little room for delays; a slowdown in input delivery could quickly lead to “lower output, higher inflation and slower global growth.” The blockade stems from Iran’s decision to bring traffic to a near‑total halt in retaliation for attacks by the United States and Israel, which launched a war on Tehran on 28 February, resulting in the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The conflict has already doubled oil and gas prices compared with pre‑war levels. Negotiations between Iranian and US representatives over a 21‑hour marathon failed to secure a permanent ceasefire. Subsequently, US President Donald Trump announced a naval blockade, stating that the navy would interdict ships in international waters that had paid Iran a toll to traverse the strait. The US military later declared it would block all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports, including those in the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. FAO officials stress that decisive action—both a sustained ceasefire and the reopening of the waterway—is essential to prevent the looming food crisis from becoming a full‑blown catastrophe.

Celebrating two decades since its West End debut, Avenue Q is back at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre until 29 August, offering a refreshed version of the Broadway‑to‑London hit that originally won Tonys for Best Musical, Book and Score.The revival, billed as a “love letter to the original”, is helmed once again by Jason Moore – the director who first staged the show in 2006. At 55, Moore admits that returning to a work he originally conceived is unusual, but he sees the anniversary as an opportunity to upgrade the show’s scale, technical ambition and cultural sensitivity.Created by composers Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx with book by Jeff Whitty, the musical blends colourful Sesame‑Street‑style puppets with adult themes such as sex, racism, housing crises and existential angst. While the core story remains, the production team has added contextual notes to jokes that might puzzle Gen‑Z audiences – for example, the reference to 1980s sitcom star Gary Coleman is retained but clarified for modern viewers.Moore’s casting criteria emphasise a youthful “innocence” and a strong aptitude for puppeteering. As actor Emily Benjamin explains, performing through a puppet is an “ego death” that forces the performer to shift focus from self to the character, reducing vocal anxiety and deepening emotional honesty.Behind the scenes, puppet director Iestyn Evans coordinates a complex choreography where human actors operate hand‑and‑rod puppets in full view, interacting simultaneously with fellow performers. This layered performance style demands precise timing, especially when tackling songs like “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “If You Were Gay”, which have sparked whole‑company discussions about their relevance and sensitivity today.Moore acknowledges that the show’s transgressive edge – famously illustrated by “naked puppets having sex” – still feels bold, even as contemporary West End productions such as Oh, Mary! and The Book of Mormon have pushed similar boundaries. He argues that the musical’s core questions – “how do you give your life meaning?” – remain timeless, and that the updated production aims to engage a new generation of audiences.As Benjamin puts it, “they might just be little cloth things, but people can often empathise with something that isn’t real more directly than with a human being telling the same story.” The revival therefore hopes to prove that puppetry can still provoke, entertain and resonate in today’s cultural climate.

The Victoria & Albert Museum has acceded to a Chinese printer’s demand to excise several maps and photographs from recent exhibition catalogues, illustrating how Beijing’s censorship apparatus can reach even Western cultural publications. According to documents obtained by The Guardian through freedom‑of‑information requests, the Chinese company C&C Offset Printing flagged a 1930s British‑empire trade‑route map as non‑compliant with the standards of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP). The printer instructed the museum to either delete the page or replace it with an approved image. Faced with the request, V&A; staff approved the change, acknowledging that the map’s depiction of China’s borders triggered the rejection. An internal email noted the delay caused by the edit, stating that the catalogue’s production was paused while the offending page was revised. Cost considerations lie at the heart of the decision. Like the British Museum, Tate and the British Library, the V&A; routinely commissions Chinese printers because they can deliver catalogues at roughly half the price of European firms. This financial incentive, however, comes with the implicit obligation to obey Chinese content restrictions covering topics such as Buddhism, Taiwan, Tibet, Tiananmen Square and other subjects deemed politically sensitive. The museum’s compliance extended beyond the map issue. For a catalogue accompanying the 2021 Fabergé exhibition, the V&A; also removed a photograph of Lenin after the printer warned that the image could be considered “sensitive” by Chinese authorities. V&A; spokespersons described the alterations as “minor” and asserted that the institution maintains “close editorial oversight” when printing abroad. They emphasized that any change that would compromise the narrative would be rejected, and that the museum would relocate production if necessary. Other cultural bodies have responded differently. The British Museum declined to comment on how it handles similar censorship requests for at least eight publications printed in China, while the British Library claimed it has never encountered such issues. Tate Publishing, meanwhile, confirmed that Chinese printers have produced several of its children’s books but insisted that no content has ever been altered at a printer’s behest. A UK publisher who preferred anonymity highlighted the trade‑off: Chinese printing is markedly cheaper, yet the process introduces delays while materials are screened for politically sensitive content, especially references to Tibet or disputed borders. Former employee of C&C Offset Printing remarked that complying with Chinese government directives is standard practice for domestic firms, underscoring the systemic nature of the censorship. These revelations raise broader questions about the ethical implications of cost‑driven outsourcing for publicly funded institutions and the extent to which they are willing to compromise editorial independence to meet budgetary targets.

The head of the United Kingdom’s Royal Ballet and Opera publicly thanked Hollywood actor Timothée Chalamet for inadvertently driving a surge in ticket sales after his candid remarks about the art forms during a March interview promoting his upcoming film.Chalamet, whose family has ballet ties, quipped that he was relieved to work in cinema rather than “opera or ballet, where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this any more.’” The comment sparked swift backlash from fellow actors and cultural institutions, but also ignited a wave of public interest.Speaking to the Times, RBO chief Alex Beard described the reaction as “just fantastic” and highlighted the organisation’s measured response. “We chose not to issue a hoity‑to‑ity reply,” Beard said. “Instead we invited people to see what we’re doing – for example, the fact that the largest slice of our audience is aged 20‑30.”Beard revealed that a single Instagram post about the controversy generated 2.5 million engagements and 500,000 shares, translating into an immediate lift in ticket sales. “So cheers, Timmy!” he added, acknowledging the actor’s unintended promotional impact.Other cultural bodies quickly turned the spotlight into a marketing opportunity. The Seattle Opera launched a ticket discount for its production of Carmen using the code “TIMOTHEE,” directly leveraging the buzz.Chalamet’s director, Luca Guadagnino, defended the actor in an interview with Italy’s La Stampa, calling the public outcry “disproportionate.” Guadagnino argued that a single comment should not become a “planetary polemic” and urged unity across artistic disciplines, emphasizing that “every form of imagination should be nurtured.”

Endless Cookie arrives as a daring, hand‑crafted animation that immerses viewers in the everyday chaos of a Canadian Cree household in the remote Shamattawa First Nation. The project, conceived and voiced by half‑brothers Seth and Peter Scriver, took nine years to complete, a fact the film humorously acknowledges through its meta‑narrative and frequent self‑parody. The visual style feels like a cross between Cheech and Chong antics and the digressive storytelling of Tristram Shandy, with scenes that oscillate between vivid surrealism and grounded family moments. From a post‑apocalyptic Toronto backdrop to a sprawling story map described as “bulging like a distended colon,” the animation pushes the boundaries of conventional indie filmmaking. Beyond its eccentric humor, the film tackles weighty themes with a wry yet respectful tone. It shines a light on police racism and historic land theft, while celebrating ancestral continuity and community resilience. The narrative deliberately sidesteps the Scrivers' own cultural positions, allowing the Indigenous perspective to remain front and centre. Key vignettes include a chaotic caribou stakeout, a punk‑era flashback to 1980s Toronto, and a bizarre encounter with a clingy snowy owl—each episode underscored by the presence of the family’s twelve dogs, two of which are humorously named Cheech and Chong. The film’s funding source even appears as a talking slide rule, adding another layer of self‑referential comedy. Critics have likened the animation’s energy to a “SpongeBob SquarePants episode after an afternoon of smoking DMT,” while also noting its lineage to the counter‑cultural spirit of Fritz the Cat. The result is a work that feels both hallucinatory and deeply affectionate toward its subjects. Endless Cookie becomes available for streaming on Mubi starting 17 April, offering audiences a rare glimpse into a vibrant, self‑determined Indigenous narrative that challenges mainstream cinematic conventions.