The first portable “Xbox” fails to unify a messy world of competing PC gaming platforms. Here at Ars, we have been writing about rumors of a portable Xbox for literal decades now. With the ROG Xbox Ally, Microsoft has finally made those rumors a reality in the weirdest, most…
Project Amethyst focuses on efficient machine learning, new compression techniques. It feels like it was just yesterday that Sony hardware architect Mark Cerny was first teasing Sony’s “PS4 successor” and its “enhanced ray-tracing capabilities” powered by new AMD chips. Now that we’re nearly five full years into the PS5…
Arcane hidden options can offer accessibility without confusing the “core” game experience. For gamers of a certain age, gibberish character sequences like idkfa, torg, ABACABB, and UUDDLRLRBA are akin to long-lost magical incantations. They evoke an era where game developers frequently and routinely let players use cheat codes to…
The Rubik’s WOWCube is a 2×2 cube with modern twists. The Rubik’s Cube has been reinvented with more games and many more screens for much more money. What has long been cherished as a simple toy yet complex puzzle requiring nothing but a healthy amount of twisting, turning, and…
If you like games that handle like Project Gotham Racing, you might love this. Over the years, racing sims have come a long way. Gaming PCs and consoles have become more powerful, physics and tire models have become more accurate, and after COVID, it seems like nearly everyone has…
TV tie-ins aside, it’s the combat tweaks over the past year that really matter. Like anybody, I have a few controversial gaming opinions and tastes. One of the most controversial is that Fallout 76 —the multiplayer take on Bethesda’s rethink of a beloved ’90s open-world computer roleplaying game—has been…
Analysts see trouble for studios like BioWare, potential for Saudi meddling. This morning’s announcement that EA plans to sell itself to a consortium of private equity firms is one of the biggest business stories of the year. The $55 billion deal is the largest leveraged buyout in history and…
Epic will “inquire into our partner’s creative intentions” before making a final decision. If you watch this for a full hour, leave a comment to receive absolutely no prize. Epic Games has disabled a Fortnite emote based on the HBO show Peacemaker after the latest episode cast the dancing…
Investors will receive $210 per share, well above the stock’s all-time high. Friday’s reports that Electronic Arts planned to go private were publicly confirmed Monday morning. Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners will join together to pay an estimated $55 billion for…
There’s an unparalleled purity to MOO2’s commitment to the fantasy. I love 4X games. I’ve tried other strategy game genres, but frankly, they don’t stick if they’re not first and foremost 4X games—at the heart of it, it must be about exploring, expanding, exploiting, and yes, exterminating. I suspect…
