Everybody panic: A Valve developer said “HLX” in public
Sound designer lets Half Life-related codename slip at a conference.
Kyle Orland
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104
Gaming // Gaming & Entertainment
Switch 2 security takes a hit as hackers unlock homebrew access
“Userland” exploit relies on integer overflow found in “SmileBasic” interpreter.
Kyle Orland
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47
Leaked Mass Effect: Universe trailer gives a taste of what we’re all missing
We can’t have nice things, but at least we can get trailers for them.
Kyle Orland
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102
This emulator reimagines Nintendo’s Virtual Boy with a full color display
Tile-based color palettes go way beyond the four shades of red on original hardware.
Kyle Orland
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26
Xbox wants you to pay 24 to 40 cents per hour to stream games you already bought
Time-based a la carte charges come on top of the purchase price for the games themselves.
Kyle Orland
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181
RIP BioWare: EA shuts down storied RPG studio after over three decades
Next Mass Effect project canceled as parent company lays off 400.
Kyle Orland
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225
The past, present, and future share a show floor at Pinball Expo 2026
Flipping through the highlights in and around Pinball Expo 2026.
Nick Indge
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43
Microsoft reportedly projects $1,200 to $1,800 price for 2028 Project Helix
Xbox maker is also apparently planning its own gaming handheld for next year.
Kyle Orland
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179
Most Read
AI game clones are making indie developers afraid to show their work
Delayed Steam Next Fest demo is a sign of a growing problem for indie devs.
Kyle Orland
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237
Why BioWare’s Neverwinter Nights still has thousands of active players
The single-player is just OK, but according to the players, that doesn’t matter.
Samuel Axon
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88
US Rep proposes bill to give video game buyers “ownership,” not “a license”
There are still significant hurdles ahead, both technical and legislative.
Samuel Axon
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142
Epic says its new vibe-coded Epic Games Launcher is faster than Steam
But the new “Preview” app “will have some bugs,” Epic warns.
Kyle Orland
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302
Legendary FPS level designer Richard “Levelord” Gray dies at 68
Tributes pour in for the man behind iconic Duke Nukem 3D levels and much more.
Kyle Orland
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40
ESA targets Anbernic emulation handhelds as “superfake” piracy enablers
But third-party sellers, not Anbernic, are the ones routinely selling ROM-filled SD cards.
Kyle Orland
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71
Epic Games reportedly pivoting to “AI first” game development model
“No more hand-written code” or AI-free art for delayed Marvel/Star Wars shooter.
Kyle Orland
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431
After a 10-year redemption arc, No Man’s Sky is coming to the iPhone and iPad
You can get a universe in your pocket if you have an iPhone 11 or later.
Samuel Axon
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90
Long-lost horror gaming cult classic P.T. gets a much-needed PC port
Kojima’s discontinued “playable trailer” is no longer stuck on a few aging PS4 hard drives.
Kyle Orland
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40
Someone got Doom in an SQL database
1,300 lines of SQL querying renders accurate bitmapped views of Hell at 35 fps.
Kyle Orland
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51
PS5 emulation is suddenly making big strides on PC
Games like Astro Bot and Demon’s Souls are running ably without a console.
Kyle Orland
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94
The PS5 hacking scene just took a big leap forward
New exploit works on all but the most recently updated consoles.
Kyle Orland
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43
Shuffling the deck chairs: Xbox continues its “reset” with dramatic restructuring
Activision gets Halo, Obsidian becomes part of Bethesda, and more internal shake-ups.
Kyle Orland
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143
Not just Proton: Getting to know Valve’s new SteamOS compatibility layers
New system-level tools bring Arm chipsets, Android APKs into the Steam ecosystem.
Kyle Orland
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77
Steam Frame: The Ars Technica review
Valve’s new $1,059 VR hardware tries to revive an abandoned VR “revolution.”
Kyle Orland
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253
GOG brings back “big box” PC games, one printable template at a time
Preservation “goodies” also include downloadable 3D models for desktop perusal.
Kyle Orland
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59
The White House made a “Tetris” clone. The Tetris Company was not amused.
Trump admin’s propaganda “arcade” hits some apparent legal limits.
Kyle Orland
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96
The combat demo for Free Stars: Children of Infinity is out, and it’s free
Blast your opponents in 1v1 arcade space battles like it’s 1992 all over again.
Lee Hutchinson
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51
A ratings board wouldn’t let Valve release a trailer. It “leaked” it instead.
“I think we can’t get in trouble for that now. It’s like 20 years ago.”
Kyle Orland
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40
Xbox imposes harsh new time limits for Game Pass game streaming
Over 1 million Game Pass subscribers will have to pay more for their heavy streaming use.
Kyle Orland
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158
Pocket’s AI made my game ideas real. Now Meta controls the results.
Interactive mobile “gizmos” are easy to make, hard to share outside Meta’s platform.
Kyle Orland
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107
A 12TB Steam “teraleak” spills more than a decade of lost PC gaming history
Cut content from Portal 2, hints of Half Life 2: Episode 3, and so much more.
Kyle Orland
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71
Panic passes Trump tariff refunds back to the Playdate customers who paid them
“It just felt like the right thing to do.”
Kyle Orland
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98
Xbox’s new disc-to-digital program gives physical games a digital future
“Most” Xbox One and Series X games are compatible; discs will still work after being claimed.
Kyle Orland
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101
New bootloader lets you take the “Meta” out of the original Meta Quest
Privilege escalation attack grants “full control” and freedom from Meta’s servers/apps.
Kyle Orland
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50
Ars Live recap: How can we stop publishers from killing their own games?
The Stop Killing Games movement faces an uphill battle.
Kyle Orland
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48
Live now: Ross Scott discusses the Stop Killing Games movement
Our discussion takes place live on August 11 at 2:30 pm ET.
Kyle Orland
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49
Developer Cold Iron Studios shuts down cloud version of $60 game with no refunds
A reminder of the perils of digital ownership.
Scharon Harding
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100