Meta Quest 3 has just been announced for launch later this year, and Meta says this will be its "most powerful headset yet."

The 128GB Quest 3 will ship "in all countries where Meta Quest is currently supported this fall," and will launch for $499.99 USD. The early marketing info is light on concrete details, but in a press release, Mark Zuckerberg has some notable hyperbole: "The first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality. 40% thinner and more comfortable. Better displays and resolution. Next-gen Qualcomm chipset with 2x the graphics performance."

The Quest 3 features a "40% slimmer optic profile" and redesigned Touch Plus controllers for better ergonomics, according to the official site. It will also be backwards compatible with Quest 2 games and apps. We'll learn more about the headset during the Meta Connect event on September 27, which will hopefully include some more concrete details on specs and performance.

As of June 4, the Quest 2 is getting a major price drop: $299.99 for the 128GB model and $349.99 for the 256GB. An upcoming software update also promises some major performance improvements for existing headsets, including "an up-to 26% CPU performance increase with an up-to 19% GPU speed increase for Quest 2 and 11% for Quest Pro."

That price drop might ring a little hollow, however - it was just a year ago that Meta raised the price of the Quest 2 by $100. At least we've once again got a lower ceiling for the best Meta Quest 2 deals, I guess.

All this news comes just ahead of the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase later today, a VR-focused stop on the E3 2023 schedule. Meta Quest 2 is the most accessible option on our list of the best VR headsets - here's hoping the Quest 3 is a worthwhile follow-up.

Dig into the ranks of the best VR games.

Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone, known as ConcernedApe online, seems to be teasing an upgraded farming tool coming to the farming sim RPG, and it's a big deal. 

Barone dropped the briefest of teasers on Twitter earlier today. Two words was all it took to send the Stardew Valley fandom into its regularly scheduled frenzy: "Iridium scythe." When this fabled item will arrive is anyone's guess, but I'd wager update 1.6, recently announced as Barone takes a short break from Stardew follow-up Haunted Chocolatier, is a safe bet. 

The responses to Barone's tweet have been far more than two words. "Just called my parents crying to tell them the news," replied one fan, clearly speaking completely seriously. "Me not starting a new farm until the update comes out," said another. "Can I admit this excites me the most because everything can match now?" reads one reply.

That last Stardew fan is getting to the heart of the excitement around this particular feature. People have been asking for this thing for years – at least six years, according to the oldest forum posts I've been able to find, and basically every year since. 

If you're out of the loop, iridium is a type of material obtainable in Stardew Valley, but the game's never actually had an iridium-tier scythe, dooming your farming tool box to the miserable fate of incomplete color coordination. With an iridium scythe seemingly on the way, the iridium toolbox will finally be complete, and it will hopefully make scythe harvesting easier or more fruitful too. 

Last month, Barone shared some never-before-seen Stardew Valley concept art, and fans immediately asked for more.