GAMING

Hollywood has given us pretty much every possible version of a Santa Claus movie over the years. We’ve had good Santa, Bad Santa, Tim Allen Santa, and even evil robot Santa. But in 2022, Violent Night managed to put a fresh spin on the character by combining Santa Claus with the gritty action-hero story of…

Spanish studio MercurySteam – the developer of Metroid Dread – seems to be the studio behind yesterday’s Nintendo Direct showcase stopper, Metroid Ravenous. Read more Source link

Both of Nintendo’s Switch consoles have been cursed with deafening silence in their menus and eShops. But the latest version 23.0.0 update for the Switch 2 at least injects a little bit of personality and nostalgia into one of the platform’s menus, bringing back music for the Mii Maker. When you create a Mii in…

It’s been nine years since Mike Rose set up the indie publisher No More Robots. Read more Source link

Today marks yet another day in reporting on layoffs that have occurred in the games industry over the past several years, with this occasion unfortunately being GNOG and Goodbye Volcano High developer KO_OP. The studio shared word that 13 staffers were being laid off less than two weeks after the launch of the studio’s latest…

Spoilers follow for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 8, “Orders of Magnitude.” And now we’re back to regular Star Trek again with this episode, after weeks of “concept” stories. “Orders of Magnitude” isn’t doing any gimmicks, even if it is trading on a tried-and-true set-up that Trek itself has tackled itself many…

OpenAI is developing a tool that can perform “well-defined research tasks” Described as a “research intern” the project met its aim to achieve automation by September 2026, ahead of a fully automated AI researcher operational by March 2028 The company believes that automated research can “enhance human welfare” and make other contributions OpenAI has confirmed…

This limited-edition controller is stunning and sold out fast — but we’re seeing occasional availability at Best Buy, Walmart and more. Source link

EA’s new Saudi Arabia owners are reportedly looking to shuffle the publisher into a new gaming giant that would combine and spearhead the country’s gaming strategy. Bloomberg reports that early considerations at Saudi Arabia, the supermajority owner in a new consortium of investors that took EA private in a deal that closed August 4, would…

After the huge critical and commercial success of Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man series — especially Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 — the studio’s bubble has been burst by Marvel’s Wolverine, a limited and mediocre action game despite its slick visuals. Source link

Nintendo of America is currently facing a class action lawsuit for refusing to pass tariff refunds onto customers, and it’s against that backdrop it today announced a “Customer Appreciation Sale” apparently made possible by those rebates. Read more Source link

Nintendo of America has announced a “Customer Appreciation Sale,” offering 30% off games and access, with Nintendo specifically citing its tariff refunds as the reason why it’s running the sale, at least in part. “The Customer Appreciation Sale is our way of saying thank you to Nintendo players for their continued support and is made…

Tim Willits, chief creative officer at Saber Interactive, has given his own take on CEO Matthew Karch’s response to accusations that a writer at the company had been replaced with ChatGPT. Read more Source link

Rockstar Games have issued a statement making clear they’re sticking to their guns, as the final hearing in the legal battle between them and a group of former staff they fired last year begins. The hearing’s set to run from today, September 10th, until at least October 15th. The Independent Workers’ union of Great Britain…

GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games will today appear before an employment tribunal to face allegations from a union that it unlawfully fired 31 workers in October last year. The hearing, which kicks off at Glasgow Employment Tribunal this morning, will air allegations made by the Independent Workers of Great Britain union (IWGB) — allegations Rockstar…

The iRobot Roomba Duo is a robot vacuum concept One chunky, powerful mopping and vacuuming robot… … with a regular, small robovac docked in its hat, for detail work When it comes to robot vacuums, size matters. Robovac makers need their bots to be powerful, but also small enough to get into tight spots. The…

Here are hints and the answers for today’s NYT Connections puzzle for Sept. 10, 2026. Source link

An important piece of gaming history has been preserved today, as a leaker has released the ROM files for Project Dream, a canceled proof-of-concept for a Rare-developed pirate RPG that would eventually become the basis for the beloved Banjo-Kazooie series. You can check out a video of the alpha footage below, and if you do,…

Which brings us to the 1995 cyber-thriller Hackers, a film that feels specifically designed to produce maximum Matthew Lillard energy. Directed by Iain Softley, the film follows a group of teenage punks with a knack for hacking, who get caught in a corporate embezzlement scheme after one of their own accidentally uncovers the Da Vinci…

This week’s dual-pronged Nintendo Direct shows were stuffed with huge games. Kirby and the World Beyond! Metroid Ravenous! The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! But the Japanese version of today’s show quietly snuck in at least one game the rest of us didn’t get: a sequel to Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii’s 1983 adventure…

For more than three decades, Pokemon and its various card and video games have enjoyed sustained popularity around the world. And at least one prominent collector and investor–Griffin Gaming Partners co-founder Peter Levin–believes that Pokemon’s enduring appeal not only extends to the present, it could continue even if the world suddenly came to an end….

Blizzard Entertainment has secured a first union contract with parent company Microsoft, ratified by a workforce vote covering just under 1,900 staff. Read more Source link

Truth be told, I’m still not sold on “bullet heaven” as a genre. Name notwithstanding, the genre is certainly here to stay, and there always seems to be funny new takes on it despite the fact that Vampire Survivors did kind of start it off without much room for improvement. While I’m not sure if…

Three fan-favorite Batman movies are being re-released in theaters next week in celebration of Batman Day. Warner Bros. has announced some big plans for Batman Day next week, one of which includes a whole weekend of Batman films in theaters. The studio will be re-releasing Tim Burton's Batman, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, and The…

An anti-immigration-themed adaptation of Tetris was removed from the White House website over the weekend. The move comes days after The Tetris Company disavowed any involvement with the game and said that it “take[s] copyright infringement very seriously.” The White House’s “Build the Wall” game asked players to stop a “Zombie Border siege” by stacking…

Earlier this year, many Apple products (but not iPhones, AirPods or Watches) were hit with a huge set of price hikes. And then, more recently, Apple unveiled its new Mac mini range, which also comes at a 50% higher starting price than just five months before. This left me (and probably a lot of other…

Here are hints and the answer for today’s NYT Strands puzzle for Sept. 9, 2026. Source link

It’s almost become tradition at this point: the announcement of a new release with massive historical significance gets buried within a sizzle reel in a Nintendo Direct. Today, we got a shadowdrop for Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon Classic HD. This Super Famicom roguelike went untranslated for 33 years, despite building a massive following…

Stephen King’s Carrie was the first novel the prolific horror writer published back in 1974. It kicked off his career as a writer and has since been adapted several times, recreating Carrie in a different setting each time. Source link

Sounds the alarms! A reveal trailer for a brand-new Kirby game has been revealed in today’s Nintendo Direct. Called Kirby and the World Beyond, the game is headed to the Nintendo Switch 2 in Spring, 2027. Read more Source link

Whether you love it or hate it, or simply wish it had a better name, friendslop is taking the world by storm. 2026 has introduced a plethora of new titles to the emerging genre, but perhaps none have had the same level of overnight success as Meccha Chameleon, a hide-and-seek style multiplayer game that puts…

Frontier Developments has reported record financial results following its June trade update. Read more Source link

“Low-poly dogs!” I hear you chant in the distance. “Low-poly dogs!” The war cry gets louder. “Low-poly dogs!” It’s inescapable now, the low-poly dogs requested by the masses are here… Or, well, in the digital world of Old School RuneScape at the very least, as Jagex have added in a new members-only quest that allows…

While some exciting new LEGO Mario Minifigure sets are on the horizon, some of the older Super Mario builds have been seeing some nice discounts lately, too. The LEGO Super Mario: Mario Kart Bowser’s Castle set is one of them, which has fallen to its lowest price to date at Amazon of $65. That's a…

Those who remember PC gaming in the days before Steam may have fond memories of the “big box” packaging that made those games stand out as shelf eye candy and sought-after in-home collectibles. Today, PC gaming platform GOG is hoping to reignite some of the nostalgia for those days by adding downloadable 3D models and…

Creative Assembly has explained how it designed a faithful Warhammer player experience for Total War: Warhammer 40,000 Battle product owner Dave Petry says the team didn’t directly recreate the tabletop systems, but tried to “authentically simulate” them Creative Assembly continued its “trusting” relationship with Games Workshop, which shared its “infinite knowledge” Creative Assembly worked closely…

Here are the answers for today’s NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Sept. 9, 2026. Source link

Mark Cerny, PlayStation’s lead systems architect, says he’s “nearing the end” of his career and wants to “pay it forward” by investing into future generations of game developers. His method of doing that is teaming up with The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley and forming The Nova Games Foundation, which will award grants to aspiring…

Some shows change television forever. Anthologies have never been the same since The Twilight Zone, the modern sitcom owes a lot to I Love Lucy, and puzzle-box mysteries all had to step up their game after Lost. But sometimes, a show’s influence on the medium is more subtle, like Roots quietly championing long-form storytelling or…

With the gameplay reveal of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake happening earlier today, thousands of people from around of the world have taken their first look at the latest entry in the beloved Nintendo series. The most immediate reaction from the masses? A combination of confusion and delight at the new look….

Nintendo gave us a decent slice of gameplay during the 40th anniversary Zelda direct. But they did not show everything, on their website lies tons of additional footage that was not shown during the stream. We showcase all of it in one cohesive montage. Source link

Club Penguin – the Disney-owned, Flash-based MMO, which ran from 2005 to 2017 – was a formative experience for a generation of children. Stephen MacDonald, who was a senior manager at Disney from 2012 to 2015, says that Club Penguin had over 300 million registered users at its peak. Read more Source link

Is Katamari Damacy an evil game? I realised as soon as I wrote the heading for this one that calling one game an evil version of Katamari might not be quite right, given the level of destruction you can enact in that series. Perhaps we’re getting into an ontological argument there, so I’m going to…

If you're looking for a lightweight everyday laptop with gaming chops, then check out this new deal that popped up at Walmart. For a limited time, the Gigabyte AERO X16 16" gaming laptop with GeForce RTX 5070 discrete graphics has dropped to just $1,339.99 with free shipping after a $160 instant discount. The AERO X16…

After five years in development, Free Stars: Children of Infinity—the official sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters by the old game’s original creators—has released a free public demo. It’s a “combat demo” in the style of UQM’s melee mode, where players can assemble a fleet from the game’s roster of nearly 40 ships, then match those…

AI data centers are creating a much needed boom for the American trucking industry But the boom might not last for long as the requirements for truckers fall significantly once construction finishes Moratoriums and poor opinions of AI data centers could also quell the demand American truckers are being hired by AI data center developers…

Nintendo is marking four decades of Zelda with special hardware, playable ocarinas and more ways for fans to celebrate the legendary series. Source link

Backrooms director Kane Parsons has been praised by Hideo Kojima at the film’s Japanese premiere, with the acclaimed game director saying he’s “envious” of the 21-year-old. Backrooms has been one of the major hits that has made 2026 the biggest summer ever at the box office, which is even more impressive when you realize it…

Nintendo gave players their first in-depth look at gameplay for the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake during today’s Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct. While the game’s new graphical style got a lot of attention (love it or hate it), the company also revealed a number of new features. Here are five of the most…

Today, during a Nintendo Direct dedicated to the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series, Columbia Pictures and Nintendo released the first-ever trailer for the upcoming live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, starring Bo Bragason as the titular Princess Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link. Read more Source link

After over a decade with no new entries, the Silent Hill franchise has been on a roll recently. Since 2024’s Silent Hill 2 remake brought the beloved, dread-inducing game back into the spotlight, the spin-off Silent Hill f took somewhat of a detour, taking the familiar atmosphere to 1960s Japan. Now, the upcoming Silent Hill…

FuturLab has laid off seven employees following the cancellation of a project unrelated to PowerWash Simulator. Read more Source link

Andrew Garfield has said he hopes that any billionaires who see his new movie, The Uprising, are “scared s**tless” by it. The former Spider-Man actor spoke about The Uprising as part of a Q&A alongside director Paul Greengrass ahead of the movie’s launch this week. The Uprising depicts the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, which was…

Just 52% of Brits are familiar with the concept of a data center Positive sentiments are down, while negative perception is up This report calls for greater transparency and public engagement New research has revealed only one in two (52%) Brits are aware of the term data center, but despite growing awareness (with the figure…

Here are the answers for today’s NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for Sept. 8, 2026. Source link

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi is to thank for each member of the party having access to all of the FITS jobs from the start in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. As we approach the end of Final Fantasy 7’s remake trilogy, Square Enix is introducing one of the biggest overhauls to the…

Mega Man is still one of the most anticipated Fortnite collaborations coming in Chapter 7 Season 4. It has been teased since the previous season ended, and despite Mega Man items being in the battle royale games, fans are patiently waiting for the skins to be added to Fortnite. It seems that players won’t have…

As the western video games industry continues to struggle, the Chinese industry appears to be booming, revealing a worth of more than $50bn in 2025 – more than five times the industry in the UK. Read more Source link

Can you believe that The Legend of Zelda franchise turned 40 this year? It’s true, and it’s the main focus of today’s new Nintendo Direct. The series is in the spotlight, and Nintendo says it’ll celebrate its ruby anniversary with a new broadcast that fans will want to check out. Don’t forget, there’ll also be…

At the heart of any PC setup is your monitor. You can have the fastest and most powerful rig and peripherals going around, but it’s all bottlenecked by how fast and detailed you can see it. LG has long been one of the leaders in the space, and the tech giant has just launched two…

Report claims an incredible 80% of AI tools are running in organizations without IT oversight Browser agents and integration tools are escaping the attention of security and IT engineers Reco’s State of Agent Security 2026 report also tracked 637 vulnerabilities across agents and LLMs Unmonitored deployment of AI tools is a risk to security, and…

A number of Nintendo Switch 2 owners apparently got a rude surprise this weekend when they discovered their consoles were restricted from using online services by Nintendo for no discernible reason. The home of Mario and Zelda has now reportedly responded, fixing the issue and saying it was a due to an internal server problem….

Atsushi Nishigori has spent much of his career inside the machinery of others’ anime. His years at Gainax — the hugely influential studio behind FLCL and Neon Genesis Evangelion — put him in the orbit of creators like Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuya Tsurumaki. He later worked on The Idolmaster, Darling in the Franxx, and Shin…

There’s an old Sam Raimi profile in the New Yorker I think about quite a bit. This is because, mid-way through the piece, Raimi says one of the most interesting things I’ve ever heard a film-maker, or any kind of creative person, put into words. Read more Source link

Watch the first gameplay reveal for Arjun coming to Street Fighter 6 in October 2026. Source link

Today, the British semiconductor and software design company Arm is holding the Arm Everywhere China event in Shanghai to unveil its latest contributions to the AI computing landscape. Read more Source link

As I've mentioned in a few different articles today, Amazon has been restocking a whole bunch of rare Pokémon TCG sets for Labor Day, and there are some seriously sought-after sets up for grabs right now. That includes the rare Destined Rivals Elite Trainer Box, which is currently available for just under $116 from Amazon….

GMKtec NucBox M5 Ultra pairs an eight-core Ryzen 7 7730U with dual 2.5GbE, Wi-Fi 6E, and triple-display output while starting at just $330 a pop for a barebones configuration The underlying 2023-release CPU is capable, but a rebadge of the 2022-launched Zen 3 Ryzen 7 5825U, which is, in turn, a 2021-launched 5800U with a…

The MCU’s post-Avengers: Secret Wars slate is dominated by big hitters like X-Men, Ghost Rider and Black Panther 3, but one under-the-radar movie in development is Nova, about Nova Centurion Richard Rider. The Nova movie is still currently undated, but despite being years out, screenwriter Michael Waldron has dropped the first hint of what the…

Over the next few months, highly anticipated titles like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Black Clover are returning after a long break. There are also intriguing isekai to choose from, such as season 2 of Reincarnated as a Sword, or the brand-new iteration of Magic Knight Rayearth. Whatever your genre or animation style of choice, it’s a…

Patrice Désilets, the creator of the Assassin’s Creed series and director of 1666: Amsterdam, has said he will make a sequel to open-world human evolution survival game Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey. Read more Source link

EA Sports is using generative AI to create voiceover for its in-game commentators in NHL 27, according to veteran sports commentator John Buccigross. When speaking on the Chirping Zebras podcast (initially spotted by Insider Gaming's Mike Straw), Buccigross was talking about his experience working with EA Sports on the NHL games. He revealed that he…

Whenever a new AI model is released in a cut-down form because it is too powerful, or one transgresses its sandbox and performs an unexpected cyber hack on a company’s website, we tend to see jokes made about Skynet or HAL 9000 becoming a reality. But science fiction didn’t just predict our current relationship with…

Here are hints and the answer for today’s NYT Wordle puzzle for Sept. 8, 2026. Source link

Rockstar once worried that fans would find Red Dead Redemption 2 boring after spending time with GTA 5 and its trio of protagonists. After years of primarily offering a singular protagonist for you to experience its in-game worlds through, Rockstar broke tradition by going with three for GTA 5 – giving you the option to…

Francis Lawrence has been making Hunger Games movies long enough to bring the series back to a “return to form.” He joined the franchise with Catching Fire in 2013, and now, five films later, November’s Sunrise on the Reaping finds him staging another Quarter Quell in another spectacular arena, and, as he told me behind-closed…

A prominent Nintendo leaker has spilled even more information about the console maker’s potential plans, which include the long-awaited return of Nintendogs and an all-new Super Smash Bros. game (not a buffed up version of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, apparently.) Read more Source link

Tabletop role-playing games have reached an all-time high in popularity. Turns out, there’s a certain appeal about rounding up a group of friends together to go through an adventure while chucking dice in the process. For over half a century, the juggernaut of the genre has been none other than Dungeons & Dragons, designed by…

If you were upset to hear that pop star Ariana Grande wouldn't return in Final Fantasy Resonance, a new mod is here to save the day. In case you were unaware, Square Enix's Final Fantasy Resonance will arrive as the long-running RPG franchise's first proper HD-2D game when it launches next month, and it also…

Microsoft faces claims that its data center noise harms nearby residents Standard dBA monitors may fail to capture some low-frequency noise Residents accuse xAI of causing noise, vibration, and air pollution Microsoft and xAI are facing lawsuits over noise and other alleged harms linked to data center operations in Wisconsin and Mississippi. At least six…

Here are hints and the answers for today’s NYT Strands puzzle for Sept. 8, 2026. Source link

Data mining is a tricky thing for game developers. They can’t really avoid it, and its occurrence is very much a compliment to their game, but what’s uncovered is often devoid of context and can give players the wrong ideas about creative decisions. Path of Exile co-creator Chris Wilson learned the hard way that trying…

Rockstar Games seems to have an ambivalent attitude towards GTA’s past, particularly the early 2D games and some spinoff titles, and its record in making these games available is decidedly spotty. Below, we break down the current state of availability of every game in the series — where you can find it, and what the…

Final Fantasy Resonance doesn’t launch in full until next month, but modders are already using its new demo to reinstate the series’ most iconic diva. I’m talking about Ariana Grande, of course. Read more Source link

Sega cancelled its live-service Super Game initiative earlier this year as “taking on this challenge at this time would be too risky.” Read more Source link