I still consider Lies of P to be the very best of the best soulslike games you can play today. Others have come close, like the tremendously underrated Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (I also have a soft spot for 2023's flawed-but-interesting Lords of the Fallen), but none have been able to match this macabre take on the tale of Pinocchio. And I'm happy to report the game really shines on Nintendo Switch 2 with the arrival of Lies of P: Complete Edition.

It's very much the same game that fans have loved since its 2023 release. However, Lies of P: Complete Edition also bundles in the phenomenal Overture expansion and all previously released cosmetic downloadable content (DLC).

As a result, this review will broadly focus on the game's performance on Nintendo Switch 2 and its overall value for money of Lies of P: Complete Edition. Be sure to read our original Lies of P review for a more complete rundown of the game itself, as well as our Lies of P: Overture review if you're curious about the unmissable massive expansion that released last year.

If you own a Nintendo Switch 2 and you've been waiting for a chance to play Lies of P, then you'll be well-served with Lies of P: Complete Edition. Not only does it bundle the base game and the expansion at a reasonable asking price, but it's also a winner in the performance department with robust graphics options and speedy load times. I really can't recommend it enough, especially after completing my third playthrough of the game via this Complete Edition.

It's not a perfect package; the more quality-centric graphics options are perhaps a tad too ambitious, leading to a very noticeable performance compromise. Plus, the inability to disable motion blur means you'll probably get sick of the smeary image created whenever you adjust the in-game camera.

But if you stick to the performance- or balance-oriented graphics modes in either docked or handheld play, you'll find that Lies of P mostly plays like a dream on Nintendo Switch 2.

Arms' length

As a quick catch-up (though once again I'll direct you to the review links above if you want to really learn more about the game before making a purchasing decision), Lies of P is a soulslike action game in the vein of FromSoftware-developed titles like Elden Ring and the Dark Souls trilogy.

That means you can expect a high level of difficulty, with tough boss encounters and tricky enemies. You can also expect intricate level design with plenty to explore off the beaten path, and robust build variety that lets you craft a playstyle that suits your preferences.

Where Lies of P sets itself apart is in its gameplay particulars. The player character, as a puppet, can equip a variety of Legion Arms, which offer effects like applying harmful status elements, pulling enemies toward you, or laying down proximity mines for crowd control.

You can also mix and match the blade and hilt of most of the game's weapons, with different combinations changing how you swing the weapon, as well as the special moves it has access to. Finally, exploring is greatly incentivized by Quartz - a rare item that lets you unlock strong passive abilities via your P-Organ setup at the homebase of Hotel Krat. Such passives include more healing item uses, more amulet slots for applying strong combat effects, and greater effectiveness of your dodge roll.

Lies of P can be an extremely tough game, but there are two easier difficulty options if you'd prefer a more casual experience. These can be changed at any time, so feel free to switch them around if you find you're having too hard (or too easy) of a time; the game does not punish you or lock away any content on those easier difficulties.

P for Performance

So let's break down how Lies of P: Complete Edition runs on Nintendo Switch 2, specifically. In docked mode, on TV, you have three settings. The performance-centered option lets you play at a full 60fps, and it's tremendously smooth with little in the way of hiccups. The downside here is you lose quite a bit of graphical detail, with greatly simplified environmental detail and particle effects.

The quality-centered option swings a bit too far in the opposite direction, and while it does offer some nice-looking ray-tracing, the Switch 2 isn't quite able to keep up the pace and performance really suffers as a result. This setting also makes the camera-based motion blur very apparent, creating a Vaseline-like smear whenever you shift the camera in-game. There's no option to turn off the motion blur, either, so I would recommend avoiding this setting in both docked and handheld modes.

I personally found that the 'Balanced' setting offered the best results. This had the best balance between frame rate (a stable 30fps) and graphical detail. If you're going to play on TV, this is the graphics option I would strongly recommend.

There are still some caveats that are apparent across all graphics modes, though. There's very noticeable object pop-in for distant objects, especially in the game's denser areas like the Lorenzini Arcade or Overture's Krat Zoo. It's not game-breaking by any means, but it shows that some compromises had to be made for more stable performance on Switch 2.

Another annoying thing about this Switch 2 version is that you can only change graphics options from the title screen menu. That means you'll have to back out from the game to the menu every single time you want to change things up. This is another reason why I recommend just setting the game to Balanced mode from the jump. It offers the best visual quality to performance balance, and I would only suggest swapping to the performance-centered mode if you're desperate for 60fps gameplay.

On that note, a 60fps graphics option is coming to handheld mode via a day-one patch, so I was unable to test that during the review period.

Should I play Lies of P: Complete Edition?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Lies of P: Complete Edition has a basic set of accessibility options. There are three colorblind modes (protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia), as well as the option to adjust subtitle display and size. Full button rebinding is also supported, and as mentioned in the review, there are two easier difficulty options if the going gets a bit too tough.

How I reviewed Lies of P: Complete Edition

I played Lies of P: Complete Edition for 20 hours for this review. That playtime included most of the base game and the first handful of areas within the Overture DLC. I tested all graphics modes available during the review period, including quality, performance, and balanced options.

I played Lies of P: Complete Edition primarily in docked mode on an LG CX OLED TV with a Switch 2 Pro Controller, swapping over to handheld mode every so often to get a feel for overall performance there, too. I also hooked up my RIG R5 Spear Pro HS gaming headset for more immersive audio while playing in handheld mode.

First reviewed July-August 2026

• Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed that the price of Xbox consoles would rise in August, but did not reveal how much they would cost in the UK
• Now the prices are public, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative
• It follows a wider trend of increased prices driven by the sharp rise in the cost of RAM

Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed that it would be raising the prices of its Xbox consoles worldwide in August, but it left the prices outside of the US a mystery. Now the price hike has actually arrived, we know how much everything now costs in the UK — and it's pretty bleak.

The price of the once entry-level 512GB Xbox Series S has shot up by £130 to an eye-watering £429.99. That's more than the newer Nintendo Switch 2 system, which retails for £395.99.

A 1TB Xbox Series X is now £669.99 (up from £499.99), meaning that there's only a £120 difference between it and the competing PlayStation 5 Pro, which costs £789.99 despite offering significantly more storage and more powerful specs.

You can see all the price changes below:

Here are the new prices in the US, which were announced back in June, for comparison:

The raised prices come as the consumer electronics market is being squeezed by a global RAM shortage, which has caused the cost of key components to skyrocket. Market analysts have also said that the US-Israel war with Iran could further compound issues.

The price of other devices like laptops, phones, and tablets has also risen, but video game consoles are often sold with slim, or sometimes no, margin, which makes manufacturers particularly susceptible to rising costs.

Back in April, Sony raised the prices of its PlayStation 5 consoles by $100 / £100, citing "continued pressures in the global economic landscape". Only Nintendo has not put up the cost of its hardware since it released, though a former employee has warned that it is "inevitable."

Although part of a wider trend, the reaction to the new Xbox prices has still been overwhelmingly negative. A user on gaming forum Resetera described it as the "final nail in the coffin" for Xbox, which has struggled with sharply declining sales year-over-year.

"Makes no difference, no one is buying them either way," wrote another commenter, with others remarking on how difficult it can be to even find any Xbox products on sale in stores in Europe.

Even users that have already bought systems at lower prices seem worried: "My main concern is if a console breaks I can't afford another," one added.

I've been an avid PC gamer since the early 1990s. My first computer, bought specifically to play Star Wars: X-Wing, was a plucky 486DX running at 33MHz (cutting-edge at the time — well, only behind the 486DX2, but that was too pricey). I have fond memories of playing Doom on the office LAN and getting addicted to Quake when online gaming began (thanks to QuakeWorld, which made dial-up modem play viable as opposed to an utter lag-fest).

I could ramble on with nostalgic gaming recollections, but the point is I played Quake obsessively — to a high competitive level in a clan — then I lived and breathed EverQuest for several years, and down the line, I was totally lost in World of Warcraft for another few years, and so on.

I've always been a PC gamer, through and through — I did swear off MMORPGs, mind, as I can't be trusted not to lose large chunks of my life to them. From time-to-time, I've owned a console too, but it's always been by backup, second-string gaming machine, used sparingly.

Not anymore, though. My PC is now used just for work, and I haven't played a game on it for a year or so.

I am now, officially, a PS5 gamer. A console is my main gaming machine for the first time in my life. So, how did that happen?

A vow revoked and a lesson learned

If you happen to have read my past articles, you may recall that at the end of 2024, I vowed I wasn't going to buy a PS5 Pro last year. My masterplan was to avoid purchasing a new console, and use my gaming PC on the main TV in the living room for couch co-op sessions with my wife instead, while still being able to game in the study with my computer if I wanted.

Then came Black Friday in November of 2025, and I did a complete 180. I pulled the trigger on a good deal on a PS5 Pro bundle.

What changed during the course of 2025? Firstly, I realized that running cables from a PC in the study through to the living room TV is more of a hassle than I'd anticipated. Getting everything set up at the end of each week, ahead of my weekend gaming sessions, quickly became tiresome.

Moreover, I found my long HDMI cable wasn't reliable enough. The picture on my Sony OLED TV kept flickering, which was maddening, frankly. And for no apparent reason, too — sometimes it'd happen, sometimes it wouldn't. I never found out why. I also had occasional issues with my game controllers (typical PC hardware gremlins that were perfectly resolvable, but still a pain).

On top of that, having held off on buying a GPU upgrade for my PC — my plan for the money I would've spent on a PS5 (and did eventually spend on the console) — I was put off by issues around the RTX 5070 when it arrived. This was the graphics card I really had my eye on, but it was a disappointing incarnation in terms of its performance upgrade (and that 12GB of VRAM). The initial above-MSRP price only rubbed salt into these wounds.

The prices of AMD's rival GPUs were off-putting, too, in the early days of RDNA 4 — although that did change, and I came close to buying an RX 9070 XT when pricing finally settled down.

However, at that point, it was too late. I was already frustrated with my whole piping-the-PC-from-the-study situation, and by the time that Black Friday PS5 Pro bundle bargain popped up (it really was a great deal), I just couldn't resist.

I absolutely don't regret that decision, nor am I upset about buying a console with the money that was earmarked for upgrading my ailing RTX 2060 Super. That's not to say I don't miss some things about PC gaming, or that I'm not super-annoyed about Sony's latest stunt regarding discs.

I'm going to cover both sides of this gaming coin here. First, I'll tell you why I'm loving my time with the PS5 Pro now, before discussing what I don't like on the Sony side of the fence, and the clear, undeniable strengths of PC gaming.

PlayStation bliss

I did own a PS4 Pro before — as my second-string gaming device, backing up my PC — and it's striking just how much slicker the PS5 Pro is. For one thing, I found my PS4 Pro to be the noisiest console I've ever had, by far. It was noisier than any PC I've owned, and some vacuum cleaners for that matter.

The PS5 Pro is nicely quiet, super-fast to boot up, and more importantly to wake and sleep. This means it's dead easy to fire up the console for a very quick gaming session if I only have 10 minutes to spare and just want to dip into something briefly, or to pause a session (put the console in rest mode) if I need to pop out. It all feels very seamless, and there's not a snaking USB extension cable or HDMI lead in sight.

Visually, everything looks top-notch on my 4K OLED TV, too. Baldur's Gate 3 — yes, I was very late to the RPG — looked nothing short of fantastic, and the PS5 allowed me to play the adventure co-op with my wife in what was the best co-operative gaming experience I've ever had. Being able to dip in and out so easily, as we cooked dinner, then ate, then fed the dog, going back and forth to the living room in-between, was a major boon.

The PS5 has reminded me just how good couch co-op can be, and I've been enjoying indie games like Dysmantle, which has same-screen co-op (like Baldur's Gate 3). We've been playing a bunch of these games — it's the Diablo 4 expansions next, if you're curious (we played the base game on PS4, so I'm keen to see how good the game looks on its successor console).

The PS5 controllers were an unexpected bonus, too. They're so much better than the PS4, and they even fit my wife's smaller hands (she finds many controllers too big and painfully cumbersome, but not the DualSense).

Of course, a clear benefit of the PS5 over the PC is that there's no messing about with GPU drivers. By which I mainly mean poring through Reddit 'megathreads' worrying about whether the latest Game Ready installment is actually going to be a step backwards for my PC, perhaps in terms of performance for a particular game or bugs (or broken features). Windows 11 bugs are another issue, too. (Yes, there can be software glitches on the PlayStation, but nothing like what some PC gamers must endure at times.)

Then there's the RAM crisis. Buying PC components is just getting more and more painful. Obviously RAM and SSD prices are through the roof already, but PC gamers waiting on a GPU upgrade (as I was) are facing unpleasant hikes due to the price of video memory (VRAM). Indeed, the latest rumor from YouTube channel Hardware Unboxed is potential price hikes to the tune of 40% in some cases with Nvidia GeForce GPUs. Add plenty of seasoning with that assertion, of course, but it's clear enough that GPUs are getting pricier due to VRAM increases, especially for graphics cards loaded up with more of this memory (naturally). CPUs are in line to get more expensive, too.

The crisis in general is predicted to intensify as this year rolls on, and 2027 could be worse still — perhaps the worst ever year for the memory industry, alarmingly. With no need to upgrade my desktop, I'm glad to be out of this gloomy environment of spiraling costs. The situation has turned planning PC upgrade paths, which used to be a rather fun, sometimes even exciting, exercise, into a thoroughly depressing experience.

You might now be shouting at your screen about Sony hiking PlayStation prices, too, and that's a fair point. But I won't have to worry about upgrading my console, and it will happily sit in my living room for the next few years, blissfully not needing any new components (while my work PC can carry on happily with its RTX 2060 Super).

Granted, that's just my personal situation, and if you are thinking about buying a Sony console, with the new price of the PS5 Pro, I don't know if I'd recommend pushing for it over the vanilla PS5 now. (I got mine on sale for about 60% of the current lowest retail price). The base PS5 is still a great console, though, and it'll likely make a lot more sense for the average gamer — especially come Black Friday, when with any luck, there'll be some good deals around once again.

PC strong suits

There are a good number of plus points for PC gaming versus consoles, so as promised, I'll examine the other side of the equation here, and pick out what I particularly miss.

There are some notable downsides with console gaming, including that you need to pay for a subscription to access online multiplayer (in the main, although obviously that doesn't include free games like Fortnite). This doesn't bother me personally because I don't really play online anymore — as I said early, it's mostly about local co-op for me these days. But I totally get why having to pay for a monthly plan irks gamers who want to play the latest shooter, strategy epic, or whatever else, online.

What does bother me, though, is the price of the actual games on the PlayStation. One of the major strengths of the PC is that games are cheaper than they are on console, from big-name releases (which still command a weighty premium... just not as hefty as on consoles) through to a raft of indie titles, which are often very competitively priced.

Not only this, but you get regular Steam sales where some games get huge discounts (and you can pick up older titles in particular for a song), or value-crammed GOG bundles, and also the likes of Epic giving away some compelling offerings for free. You don't get any of this on the PlayStation, and Sony's store does seem to like to charge a lot, even for older titles. For me, this is probably the biggest drawback with shifting over to being a PS5 gamer.

A recent development compounded the situation, too, when we learned that Sony is doing away with physical discs for the PlayStation. I was already aware of the situation with the price of PlayStation games, of course, which is why when I bought my PS5, I chose a bundle with a disc drive.

That meant I could pick up, for example, the physical disc copy of Split Fiction for 40% less than the digital copy on the PlayStation Store. I can also currently purchase second-hand, older games on disc at a considerable saving. But all these possibilities are heading rapidly out the window when 2028 rolls around, and Sony enacts its plan to push physical media completely aside with the PlayStation.

I won't go into this controversy in depth here – we've covered it extensively elsewhere — but suffice it to say that I'm not happy about the idea at all, and it feels like a cynical and generally anti-consumer practice. And no matter how many gamers sign petitions (here have been a lot) it doesn't seem like Sony is going to backtrack on this one (aside from maybe niche collector's editions or the like, and if we're lucky enough to get those, they will of course cost a fortune).

You could argue that the PC is digital-only already: desktops don't come with disc drives anymore, those days are long gone. But what Sony is doing is quite different, given that PC gaming is an open platform bristling with different stores and options for digital purchases, whereas Sony has the PlayStation ecosystem locked down to its store. With physical media banished, a key choice and avenue for money-saving (don't forget, you can also recoup money by selling on your disc copy of a game) is removed, and Sony has an unhealthy level of control over the whole shooting match.

Okay, so I don't feel like the PlayStation disc drive I bought is useless — it'll be good for a long while yet, and I'll still be able to play older games on it, including my PS4 back catalog, plus I can use it for Blu-rays. Regardless, this Sony decision is a painful kick in the shin.

Finally, another obvious plus point for PC gaming is the variety of mods floating around and customization possibilities in general, which you don't get with a console. The PC is quite simply a more open platform all-round — although in my case, modding isn't something that I'm all that into anyway.

Disc-less Elysium

Let me finish by pointing out the obvious: a lot of this is very subjective. You may have quite different opinions. You might live and breathe mods. You might want games to look out-of-this-world, with visual options cranked to the max (and be able to afford the necessary PC hardware to achieve that). You may never want to play a shooter without a mouse and keyboard (I get that one, but I'm okay with a controller now — and I don't play competitively anymore).

You may never, ever, abandon your gaming PC. They may have to extract it from your cold, hardened claws after rigor mortis has set in, having expired clutching the object you love most in the world, in the hopes somehow taking it with you into the afterlife.

The point is, there are all sorts of pros and cons to be tailored for your own personal take on the gaming PC versus console debate. But for me, I'm really happy with my PS5 and I am looking forward to enjoying my living room, and co-op, gaming experiences for years to come... discs or no discs.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has become a bit of a meme in my house. It’s basically the only game that my non-gaming partner and I were equally excited about on its release. Every time I’ve gotten my hands on a new gaming machine, the immediate question was ‘can it run Flight Simulator?’, to which the answer was always, regrettably, no.

Which is why when I recently picked up a second-hand Xbox Series X and subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate, there was a lot of excitement when I realized we could finally play Flight Simulator in all its graphical glory. I jumped at the chance to finally lose my chocks, slip the surly bonds of earth, and crash my plane into the face of god.

What a wonderful world

My eldest brother was a bit of a Flight Sim nerd back in the day. So my impression of flight simulators was pretty firmly defined by their late 1980s incarnations — essentially just some flat polygons and super-aliased lines in two-point perspective, accompanied by a bunch of truly incomprehensible dials. Having utterly ignored the development of flight simulators ever since, it’s safe to say that when I saw how far they’d come in the last almost four decades, it was a bit of a shock to the system.

A lot of the praise that was heaped on Flight Simulator 2024 when it was released centered on how gorgeous the graphics were. And even playing now, some two years down the line, that praise holds up. Lighting effects are exquisite, with sunsets over enormous bodies of water like Lake Titicaca looking almost absurdly true to life. Weather effects and realistic day/night cycles only emphasise this, making the world around you feel fluid and organic.

But the biggest graphical draw for me is knowing that there’s a whole world meticulously rebuilt from satellite data for me to soar over. Flying down the Grand Canyon, the scale is still absolutely breathtaking, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to gun my little prop plane down over all the rapids in the Colorado River. Likewise, when I flew over Machu Picchu, the landscape is truly stunning, and there’s a real joy in winding along the surrounding valleys, watched over by lofty mountains. The level of detail is genuinely mind-blowing.

While cities aren’t quite as perfectly rendered as the landscape — the game’s algorithm makes a lot of assumptions when filling in the gaps from the satellite data — visiting places you know well is genuinely a bit uncanny. I landed my little prop plane in my street, and it felt a little surreal to stare at my own front door when I was sat mere feet away inside. Flight Sim also does a wonderful job of recreating local landmarks: it was so fun checking out Bath’s Royal Crescent, even if the game’s algorithm insisted on popping little corner shops at the base of every Georgian townhouse.

Given it’s based on satellite data, some areas are a little less exciting than others. For example, I decided to check out the thick Congolese rainforest and was rewarded with a flat, unbroken canopy for 100 miles in every direction. I know, right? Bro shocked a rainforest contains trees. But not every journey is going to be a scenic smorgasbord, so some flights are going to be more droolworthy than others.

Still, playing Flight Simulator 2024 is one heck of a visual treat. And I would regularly fire up the game just so I could check out a favorite landmark or explore a new patch of sky.

Brace for landing

Okay, so we’ve established that Flight Simulator 2024 is a very pretty game. But there’s a reason there are as many flying enthusiasts working toward getting their pilot’s license as there are casual sightseers playing the game. Because, underneath all the gloss and sheen lies the cold steel endoskeleton of an unflinchingly brutal simulator.

Having invested 12 hours in Flight Simulator 2024 so far, I’ve gone from being truly, hauntingly terrible at it to simply being really bad. Honestly, I’ve heard the word ‘stall’ so many times at this point, I’ll likely still wake up with it echoing in my ears in my sweat-drenched retirement home bed some half a century from now. Even though I’ve now qualified for my commercial licence, I feel nothing but pity for the virtual passengers that board my plane, as I know they have at best a 40% chance of reaching their destination in one piece.

Part of the reason for this is that the simulation is just staggeringly realistic. There’s an enormous number of variables to manage, all of which you can manage via controller shortcuts or direct from the cockpit controls, if you really want to double down on the masochism. Get the balance of these slightly wrong — for example, getting your pitch a few degrees off or mismanaging your throttle — and you’ll find yourself losing height too fast or hearing the Cessna 172’s dreaded ‘stall’ warning.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve stopped making truly cringeworthy mistakes. I no longer get screamed at by air traffic control for failing to radio for clearance to hit the runway or drop out of the air ten seconds after takeoff because I’ve set my throttle too low. I’m pretty good at using trim to maintain my attitude while at cruising altitude, and I can comfortably use dead reckoning to navigate my way along my intended flight path.

But I still find landing a painful and protracted process of plate spinning that I understand in principle and yet rarely manage to nail in practice. I think I’ve hit the perfect glide path, only to find myself coming in far too low, forcing me to gun my throttle like Maverick just to avoid myself ending up a smear on the cliff face. Or I execute what I think is the perfect flare to raise my nose as I hit the tarmac, only to realize I’m going too fast and rapidly jackknife my plane face down into the runway. As Douglas Adams remarked, it’s not the fall that kills you: it’s hitting the ground at 85 knots.

All of this sounds like it should be deeply frustrating. And it is. But it’s also weirdly compelling: the more I flop off the end of the runway like a cat dripping off the edge of a table or bounce around on the tarmac like a drunken rabbit on a trampoline, the more I double down and want to nail it the next time. Because there’s something exciting about the unlimited horizons beckoning you onward.

The Nintendo Switch was nothing short of a phenomenon. It won the hearts of millions, possesses one of the greatest games libraries in console history, and became one of the highest selling systems of all time. It brought the best parts of its failing predecessor, the Wii U, forward, assuming an ultra-convenient hybrid form, and during the COVID 19 pandemic, it felt like everyone and their dog were building their perfect island on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, or racing to the finish line in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

All of that is to say, that whatever came next would have huge shoes to fill. And so, in came the Nintendo Switch 2 — a system that appeared to be less of a revolution, and more of an evolution. It took what made the Switch great and ran with it, offering higher resolution and refresh rates, a larger screen for handheld mode, and even a mouse mode.

And in some respects, the Switch 2 has hit the ground running. It’s the second-fastest selling games console in recorded US history, and at just over a year old it's already seen multiple exclusives (such as Donkey Kong Bananza and Pokémon Pokopia) release to critical acclaim. But at the same time, some have been disappointed over the lack of a 3D Mario or truly new Zelda title on the horizon, while issues around battery life and pricing have also proved to be a turn off for others.

So, this got me thinking. Would gamers consider the Switch 2 to be more of a hit, or a flop? Sure, its sales figures have been impressive, but are users satisfied with the hardware upgrades? What are their thoughts on its game catalogue?

I spoke with industry experts, fellow journalists — and most importantly, you, our wonderful readers, and it proved to be a fascinating experience. I heard a lot of varying viewpoints, and now I’m here to report back.

Hit or miss: the expert take

To begin with, I spoke with Mat Piscatella, Executive Director of Games at the Market Research firm Circana, who had some excellent insight into the commercial performance of the Nintendo Switch 2.

“Well, over its first 12 months in the market, Nintendo Switch 2 hit 5.9M units sold in the US,” Piscatella told me.

This, he noted, ensured it became the second fastest-selling video game hardware in the US since Circana’s records began in 1995 — finishing behind the Game Boy Advance only. “If that's not considered a hit, I'm not sure what would be,” he remarked.

“For the 2026 year-to-date period ending May, US hardware spending in total was up 37% compared to the same period a year ago,” Piscatella said. He stated that this was “entirely driven by Nintendo Switch 2 as double-digit percentage sales declines were experienced across the other in market platforms”.

He also highlighted high sales of software, such as Donkey Kong Bananza, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Pokémon: Pokopia, and Mario Kart World, a game which was largely obtained via a bundle with the system.

So far so good, then, for Piscatella, who also highlighted the benefit of the Switch 2’s backwards compatibility — giving users access to thousands of unique titles from the original system.

He did flag that June date may indicate “tough year-on-year comp for the system,” largely due to sales being compared to the launch month. “After that we should see Switch 2 continue to perform well into its announced September price increase. Then we'll have to see what happens."

What does the TechRadar team think?

The early signs have been promising, commercially speaking, but our Managing Editor of Social & Engagement (and Nintendo enthusiast), Josephine Watson, says that “the Switch 2 needed more than sales to break Nintendo’s generational curse of yo-yo-ing console success. It needed sticking power”. So, one year on, has it stuck the landing?

She argued that the Switch 2’s weaker holiday sales and subsequent production cuts suggest that “the console has yet to prove its mettle in the same way the first-generation [Switch] did, even with such high sales figures in its first year.” Despite this, she did acknowledge the mid-lifecycle boom that the OG Switch experienced, largely due to the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons during the pandemic.

In terms of games, Watson had a somewhat mixed take, arguing that the Switch 2 had “a concerningly hollow launch title line-up carried mostly by Mario Kart World,” though she did suggest that the system gained momentum moving into the new year, especially with titles like Pokémon Pokopia and strong third-party additions like Resident Evil Requiem.

Is the Switch 2 a success one year on for Watson? “No — but yes, kinda,” she said. She lamented the lackluster battery life and pointed to how Nintendo could’ve done more to eradicate stick drift from the Joy-Con 2 controllers, but did express satisfaction with the improved processing power and refined eShop. And even though her views on the game library haven’t been entirely positive, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, scheduled for release in 2026, “is the game-changer,” she said.

TechRadar Senior Writer, Hamish Hector, admitted that he was “a little skeptical” of the Nintendo Switch 2 — both a little before and a little after its launch. But since grabbing one in the latter stages of 2025, those worries seem to have largely dissipated.

“It has cemented itself as my go-to gaming handheld,” Hector told me. “While it doesn’t have the raw power or library breadth of my Asus ROG Xbox Ally X — a handheld gaming PC with access to Steam’s vast suite of games — the Switch 2 does still boast a solid selection of AAA ports, incredible first-party hits and superb indie darlings”.

He noted how some AAA third-party ports have varied in quality, although hit the mark more often than they miss, and most issues manifest themselves as simple “graphical performance hitches” rather than “anything majorly frustrating”. He even hailed the Switch 2’s value for money, emphasizing that “At $449.99 / £395.99 it’s much more affordable than any worthwhile PC handheld, and even after its upcoming price hike to $499.99 it’ll still be a solid pickup”.

Here’s what our audience has to say

We’ve heard a range of views so far, albeit generally positive ones. It feels as if the general consensus is that the Nintendo Switch 2 has been an overall success, with a strong start in terms of sales and a commendable library to match. But I was most excited to hear from were you, our audience. So, I asked, and you answered: here’s whether you considered the Switch 2 to be a hit or a flop.

I asked our audience about their feelings on the Switch 2 across multiple platforms. With our poll here on the TechRadar website and over on WhatsApp, users were given four choices: 'It’s a hit'; 'it’s pretty good'; 'it’s a little disappointing'; and 'it’s a flop'. We got 892 votes, and the breakdown was as follows.

Over on YouTube, we wanted to try a more direct approach and gave our audience only two options: hit or flop. We received 446 votes (at the time of writing), with 61% selecting ‘hit’, and 39% going with ‘flop’.

But what do these results actually tell us? At a glance, the picture seems pretty divided. Across all of our polls on our website, WhatsApp, and YouTube, we received 1,338 responses. Of those, 693 (51.8%) were generally positive on the Switch 2 (respondents called it ‘a hit’ or ‘pretty good’), whereas 645 (48.2%) were generally more negative (respondents either selected ‘it’s a little disappointing’ or ‘it’s a flop’).

Over on our Facebook page, the reasons for such division became clear, with a wide range of differing opinions floating around.

Of course, the very meaning of ‘hit or flop’ in itself can be interpreted in a number of ways. One commenter, Andreas Carmblad, stated that “hit or flop is reflected in the sales figures,” suggesting that Nintendo’s new console has been a success so far.

Others were more focused on the quality of the system’s software lineup, with most talking up the first-party line-up — though one commenter described the current set of exclusives as “woeful,” adding “hopefully a few big releases can turn it around [like] OoT and a new 3D Mario game”.

Elsewhere, commenters expressed disappointment over the console’s battery life in handheld mode — understandable given that it can run flat in around 2 hours with more demanding games.

However, many considered the new hardware changes to be a hit, with Tim McDougall saying “It's an improvement in almost every way [over the original Switch] and it's now much closer in performance to the current gen home consoles. It's 99% backwards compatible with the first Switch, with many performance benefits. I'd say it's a success”.

I was slightly surprised to see so many members of our poll select ‘slightly’ disappointed in our poll, and I expect that this comes down to a sentiment that the console is still a few games short of being a true must-have for all gamers. However, with Zelda and Pokémon games releasing soon, a lot of opinions could be swayed — and I suspect a blockbuster Mario title would only seal the deal.

What I was pleased to see, however, is that very few members of our audience (10.4% in our main poll) consider the Switch 2 to be an outright flop. After all, the sales speak for themselves, and there have been a lot of very well received exclusives early in the system’s lifecycle.

Some personal thoughts

This brings me onto my personal thoughts. I pre-ordered the Nintendo Switch 2, and my expectations were high for the new system. Although I loved the original Switch’s library and appreciated its flexibility, the truth is, I actually didn’t love it all that much. For me, quality often felt overly compromised in handheld mode, with a lot of intensive titles struggling to reach up to 60fps. But the Switch 2 changed everything.

Now, I can enjoy titles in full HD at 60fps (and sometimes up to 120fps) in handheld mode, and I feel like the gap in quality when playing on the go — rather than in front of the TV — has shortened. What’s more, the Switch 2’s Handheld Mode Boost means that I can enjoy my original Switch games as if I was playing them with my system docked — a truly fantastic feature.

Then there’s the games. Controversially, I consider Mario Kart World to be the series’ best entry since the Wii generation, with a return to the true chaos and zaniness that made the games great in the first place — with knockout mode and the bizarre cast of characters being highlights for me. I’ve also had a blast with DK and Pokémon Pokopia, have spent countless hours racing in Kirby Air Riders, and exploring in Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.

The Switch 2 has also managed to do what the original model never could for me, in that I now often choose Nintendo for third party experiences. The brilliant combination of portability and higher fidelity visuals has made grinding in Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake or playing detective in Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army feel free of compromise.

Pair that with impressive sales performance, more convenient magnetic Joy-Cons, and even some pretty impressive virtual surround sound processing, and the Switch 2, in my eyes, is a sure-fire hit.

Yes, I share many users’ battery life gripes, and I personally believe that some of the first party games are far too pricey — I mean, $79.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95 for a physical copy of Mario Kart World? Really? But even with incoming price hikes, I’d consider Nintendo’s latest hardware to offer plenty of bang for your buck, and although I’d love to get Super Mario Odyssey 2 within the next year or so, I’m perfectly satisfied with the current, and upcoming crop of titles at this stage.

Loath as I am to say it, the future of gaming platforms isn’t looking so rosy right now. Windows is increasingly becoming more recalcitrant, constantly throwing hurdles in the faces of PC gamers in the form of performance-ruining updates and unsolicited AI implementations. And in the console world, Sony has irked everyone by ditching physical games from January 2028, while the recent bout of mass layoffs at Xbox belies its ‘back on track’ messaging.

Meanwhile, Valve appears to be going in the opposite direction. It already has a big advantage in the form of Steam, near enough the default storefront and launcher for PC gamers everywhere. Why, it’s generated an estimated $11.1bn in gross revenue in the first half of this year already. With pockets as deep as these, and without having to divert its earnings to shareholders (given it’s still, for now, a private company), that’s cash it can invest in expansion.

So is now the perfect time for Valve to break out, capitalize on its competitors’ floundering and shoot its shot at making SteamOS the next big platform?

SteamOS vs Windows

There’s no question that SteamOS has been quite the success already. This is almost entirely thanks to the success of the Steam Deck, Valve’s hugely popular device that launched in 2022 and kickstarted a mini revolution in handheld gaming. It runs SteamOS 3, which is based on the Arch Linux distribution and far superior to its initial Debian iterations. These were used on the original Steam Machines of 2015, and are no doubt part of the reason for the discontinuation of the units in 2018.

The big advantage of SteamOS 3 is its support for Proton, the compatibility layer that allows Windows games to run on Linux devices. Although it predates the Steam Deck, Proton found its calling on the handheld, proving a lot of doubters wrong by running a large library of modern games well on a small, portable device. Even AAA titles such as 007 First Light and Cyberpunk 2077 are perfectly playable, along with plenty of others.

But Valve is no longer confining its operating system to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. It’s recently expanded support to ARM, AMD and Intel devices, which means it can run on more devices such as the Lenovo Legion Go S and the Asus ROG Ally. Chris Hewish, a former Executive Producer at Activision and current President of gaming MoR Xsolla, explains the advantages of running SteamOS on such devices over Windows 11.

“With the SteamOS 3.8 release in June, Valve officially took the OS beyond the Steam Deck to the ROG Ally line, and Lenovo's Legion Go family, and early Intel support is starting to pull devices like the MSI Claw into the fold," he tells me. "On the same hardware, reviewers keep finding it ahead of Windows 11 where handheld players actually feel it: battery life, sleep and resume, and an interface built for a controller instead of a desktop squeezed onto a seven-inch screen.”

So, does the continued success of SteamOS rely on expanding to more hardware? Greg Weller, Head of Gaming Partnerships at Generation Media, and someone with over 20 years of industry experience — which includes stints at Rockstar Games and Bethesda Softworks — thinks so.

“The opportunity is significantly bigger if SteamOS continues to be device agnostic," he says. "The Steam Deck proved Valve could build a fantastic hardware experience, but the bigger strategic opportunity is allowing consumers to carry their Steam ecosystem across multiple devices rather than tying it to one piece of hardware.”

He continues: “We're seeing the same evolution across other entertainment sectors, like music, film and television, which have largely moved beyond device-specific experiences. People increasingly expect their content to follow them rather than the other way around. So, Valve hardware can absolutely remain the benchmark experience, but if SteamOS becomes the connective layer between a player's library, identity and multiple devices, that's a much bigger opportunity.”

However, not everyone in the industry shares this view. “SteamOS’ success largely depends on Valve's hardware for now and how far they actually push the OS itself,” says André Pimenta Ribeiro, CEO and co-founder of Anybrain, whose behavioral AI tools are used in popular online games such as Arc Raiders and The Finals.

He adds: “SteamOS’ success largely depends on Valve's hardware for now and how far they actually push the OS itself. I think Valve’s best case here is to grow to a broader, more casual audience through its own hardware and by offering its massive library to the mainstream player base, rather than exporting SteamOS to more devices in general. Once Valve hardware or SteamOS reach more mainstream adoption, then opening up the ecosystem makes sense. For now it feels mostly like a development play.”

Sticking points

If SteamOS wants a larger slice of the gaming pie, though, there are certain obstacles it needs to overcome. Hewish points to one of the system’s major sticking points: its incompatibility with games requiring anti-cheat tools.

“Kernel-level anti-cheat either does not run on Linux or has not been enabled there," he says. "Until the biggest competitive games work reliably through Proton, SteamOS is not a no-compromise choice. It is an 'as long as you don't play those games' choice, and those games are some of the most played in the world.”

Another problem is what Hewish calls “hardware breadth,” explaining that: “Windows still has the deepest compatibility layer for the long tail: niche peripherals, capture cards, VR headsets, external GPUs. If the reports about official GeForce support come to pass, that closes a meaningful piece of the gap, since SteamOS has effectively been an AMD platform until now.”

Of course, the other advantage of Windows is that once you’re done gaming, you can switch to using it as an everyday computer. “SteamOS is deliberately narrow, a console-like shell, and that focus is a strength on a handheld,” says Hewish. “But if it wants to take on Windows more broadly, the path into desktop mode for a browser, schoolwork, or a spreadsheet has to get smoother.”

SteamOS vs consoles

But what about SteamOS as a console competitor? The revitalized Steam Machine launched in June this year was hotly anticipated, and looked like a serious contender to the PlayStation-Xbox-Nintendo triumvirate. Russell Kay, a former Grand Theft Auto developer and Head of popular 2D engine GameMaker, believes it was a success in bringing SteamOS to a wider audience.

“In the living room, SteamOS is now a proper alternative to a console,” he says. "The library is already there, and so is the audience. Millions of people have a huge digital collection sitting on Steam, and SteamOS finally gives them a way to put that under the TV instead of on a console. That's a real advantage no other platform has.”

However, he says: “The real problem is the price — Steam Machines cost more than a console. A gap that’s unlikely to close anytime soon thanks to the rising cost of RAM and hardware.”

And there are other issues for SteamOS in the console space. Hewish explains: “The Steam Machine needs reasons to exist beyond ‘runs your existing library’. Consoles win on curation and exclusives as much as hardware. That fight is about habit and content, not benchmarks. Close the anti-cheat gap and keep the hardware momentum, and ‘the default handheld OS’ is realistic within a couple of years. [But] the living room is a longer climb no matter what the software does.”

Ribeiro, meanwhile, thinks: "[Valve] can make a splash against this weaker console market, but right now it's still a niche system for a specific subset of people — growing beyond that depends on where they take it. Valve is known for doing its own thing, and that’s not always conducive to serving the broader global ecosystem of casual players. I think it makes sense from the perspective that they want to grow beyond a distribution platform, but the extent of impact and its longevity is still to be seen.”

He concludes: “I already see Steam devices akin to consoles, such as the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. I wouldn’t replace my Windows PC or mobile device with it, but vs the existing console ecosystem, that’s more a toss-up.”

The future of SteamOS

It seems fairly clear-cut, then, that SteamOS is clearly leading the way when it comes to handheld gaming. But a push beyond that realm to usurp Windows or seriously challenge consoles is less certain.

Ultimately, Hewish sees it this way: “Windows still wins in two places: games with kernel-level anti-cheat, and anything you want to do that is not gaming. And in the living room it is early days. The new Steam Machine only started shipping at the end of June. So I would put it this way: [SteamOS is] a genuine competitor on handhelds today, and a credible but very young challenger in the living room.”

Of course, the high price of the Steam Machine certainly dampened its appeal. The consensus seems to be that while it was a capable device, it was too expensive to present a viable challenge to the living room market. Of course, the seemingly interminable RAM crisis threw a spanner in the works, even crashing the Steam Deck’s party thanks to a price hike that put a serious dent in its sales. But the fact remains the PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S all undercut the Steam Machine considerably.

But perhaps there’s hope yet for the Gabecube and other SteamOS implementations besides handhelds. After all, Hewish makes the point that having one platform dominate isn’t especially useful for game developers.

He says: “If you make games for a living, you do not actually want any single platform to win outright, even one you like. Concentration is where leverage goes to die. When one storefront or operating system controls the path to players, it eventually controls the terms, the fees, and the relationship. The healthiest ending to this story is not SteamOS replacing Windows. It is real competition at the platform layer, because that is what forces every gatekeeper to treat developers and players better. SteamOS taking a real share does exactly that.”

He further adds: “My bet is SteamOS becomes the preferred choice for people buying a device specifically to game, and Windows holds wherever one device has to do it all.”

Weller sees another benefit to the gradual permeation of SteamOS.

He says: “SteamOS has already established itself as a credible competitor, but not in the way people traditionally define competition. Rather than trying to replace Windows or persuade console players to switch overnight, SteamOS is reducing friction between players and the game libraries they've already invested in, allowing people to take their Steam ecosystem into more places and devices.”

“This reflects a much bigger shift happening across entertainment. Historically, consumers bought hardware first and then built a content library around it. Now, they're increasingly buying into ecosystems. Players care less about the operating system they're using and more about whether their games, saves, achievements, friends and purchases move seamlessly between devices.”

Gaming ecosystems have become important for another reason. “Our research found 72% of players discover games through social media, 67% through YouTube and 53% through platform stores such as Steam, PlayStation Store and Xbox Store," Weller explains. "Platform ecosystems have become both the storefront and the discovery engine. So SteamOS isn't simply an operating system but another touchpoint within a much broader ecosystem.”

“Valve's long-term competitive advantage has never been selling games, but focusing on the surrounding ecosystem: community features, recommendations, cloud saves, and overall experience of staying connected to your library. Those are the areas where Valve can continue to differentiate, rather than relying on exclusivity.”

The point about community features is an important one. The community around Steam has played a major role in the platform cultivating its loyal fanbase and the general good will of gamers. Its openness to mods and add-ons via its Workshop is a large part of this. And, as Kay points out, although games purchased on its storefront do contain DRM, “[it has] been one of the better stories when it comes to DRM". So if SteamOS wants to expand its horizons beyond handhelds, it needs to retain the element that sets it apart from other, closed-off gaming platforms.

Do you think SteamOS is going to be the next big platform in gaming? Vote in the poll below, and if you want to say more, why not leave a comment as well?

Having been put on Konami’s backburner for over a decade, Silent Hill’s resurgence has been nothing short of extraordinary.

A tepid start with Ascension and The Short Message was counterbalanced by the excellent Silent Hill 2 remake from Bloober Team and the homegrown Japanese horrors of Silent Hill f from NeoBards. The series seems like it’s now heading further in the right direction with the next game, Silent Hill: Townfall.

Early this month I played three hours of Silent Hill: Townfall and spoke with both Screen Burn director Jon McKellan and Konami series producer Motoi Okamoto about the game’s approach to retro tech, the Scottish setting, and cultural authenticity.

Going retro

Silent Hill: Townfall follows a man named Simon Ordell in the fictional town of St. Amelia, Scotland. As he wakes up, he finds the entire place shrouded in fog. Slowly walking around, I eventually pick up a pocked CRTV television, which is used for both gameplay and narrative reasons. It's Townfall’s primary mechanic and star of the show. Through it, you can see old static video recordings of Simon’s mysterious partner, Zoe Ellis, who is seemingly his connection to this island.

The radio’s screen also typically shows you the next place to go, which means it’s up to you to search around town until you find the correct spot. Additionally, you can hold up the radio to see through walls to check a monster’s position. It’s a wonderful twist on a common trope. In similar games, protagonists sometimes come with a ‘radar’ sense so that players can stay stealthy and avoid enemy detection. Implementing the radar into the radio itself is not only clever, but reinforces that Simon is, after all, just human, in an unrelenting world filled with monsters.

The time period that Townfall takes place in is paramount to its horror themes. A puzzle hints that the current year is 1996, which is where the mass adoption of technologies like the internet and home dial-up started happening. The transition to an increasingly connected world filled people with anxieties. Simon’s CRTV radio is just advanced enough, but is nowhere near the cutting edge technology we see today.

“The world was on a technological cusp around the mid 90s, where the internet was starting to become a thing. But you were too early to have Google Maps in your pocket and you didn't have this magic bullet for all the problems that might come up,” McKellan explained.

He continued, “So with analog tech, you feel like you can't quite rely on it. It’s a little bit uncertain, and I think that's a great place to be for horror.”

Another theme that was prominently was medicine and healthcare. As I strolled through St. Amecia, I saw protest signs littered around the town square with phrases about “taking this town back”.

I picked up collectibles and notes about St. Amecia’s local hospital, vaguely hinting at some sort of institution providing “protection.” As an American citizen in a country with mainly for-profit healthcare, my mind immediately began trying to connect the dots and figure out the story’s direction. Scotland has a public system, but perhaps some private healthcare provider came in and tried to take over? And what about the “protection” aspect? Did Simon, or someone else, snitch?

The medical symbolism doesn’t end there. Zoe herself is a nurse, and Simon also has an IV bag strapped to his arm. With ingredients found scattered throughout town, he can craft items Resident Evil-style. These include items like blood bags for his IV, which let him resurrect with a sliver of health after being killed by an enemy.

Thankfully, Townfall’s combat feels much smoother compared to Silent Hill f’s. In the latter, there always felt like a second of awkward hit stun when your melee weapons made contact with enemies. Here, smashing planks over their heads feels satisfying. The way their bodies all of sudden go limp simultaneously gives me a feeling of surprise relief every time.

Simon also eventually gets a powerful pistol that one-hit kills many monsters, rivalling even Grace Ashcroft’s Requiem from Resident Evil Requiem. The downside is that it makes a ton of noise when fired, so enemies nearby will zero in on your location. With limited ammo, it’s definitely your last resort weapon, and it’s gratifying every time it goes off.

McKellen ensured that social commentary would be at the heart of the story, similar to how Silent Hill f’s overarching message was around gender expectations. “There are a few different threads in this game that start to coalesce as the game progresses, and I think it takes people in kind of unexpected places,” he explained. McKellen is hoping that people (like me) have an idea of what’s happening, then excitedly twist our expectations.

So why does Simon have a cannula in his hand, and why does it bring him back when he dies? They’re not just gameplay gimmicks—they represent something. McKellen adds, “There's a lot behind it, and we pride ourselves as developers that everything in the game has some relevance. Nothing is there just because or to fill a void.”

Crafting different Silent Hills

Over the years, the setting for most of the Silent Hill games were, well, Silent Hill. But recently, Konami has expanded settings for the series to explore other areas. Silent Hill: The Short Message introduced “Silent Hill” as a phenomenon, where similar psychological and experiences occur outside of the titular town in Kettenstadt, Germany. Silent Hill f took the series back to its hometown in the fictional town of Ebisugaoka in 1960s Japan.

“Our current approach in branding is to introduce that concept and show similar types of psychological experiences and narratives that place outside of the boundaries of Silent Hill,” Okamoto said.

Screen Burn, headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, has a wide age range within its developers. Some grew up with the older games, while others recently discovered it through the newer releases. But the big lesson that the team learned about what’s essential to Silent Hill’s DNA is the understated nature of the stories. They’re not explicit, with plenty of room for interpretation but still feeling satisfied after finishing the game.

“You can walk away from a Silent Hill game feeling like you know something, but whether you know everything or need to discuss that with someone else was one of the big things that came out,” McKellan explained. “People were saying that after every game they would end up talking to someone else about it and having different theories.”

The studio’s last game was the sci-fi horror adventure Observation (which is also one of my favorites that you should check out), and the team grew from the game before that, Stories Untold. Both of them had technology as a major theme to convey gameplay, with Stories Untold having players interacting with computers and Observation switching between different cameras in a space station.

You can see the theme of technology rearing its head again in Townfall through the analog CRTV, as well as the phone booth players call to manually save their progress.

Townfall is also Screen Burn’s biggest game to date. The most notable departure is the freedom that players have in exploring the town. “Townfall feels like a Screen Burn game unleashed. We’re taking our narrative sensibilities, puzzle design, and attention to detail, and blowing that out to something much larger with the support of Konami and Annapurna,” said McKellan.

“So if you've played our previous games, you'll probably see a lot of common ground there.”

The future of Silent Hill

Looking ahead, Bloober Team’s remake of the first Silent Hill is set to come out after Townfall. Okamoto understood the worry players had about the series potentially becoming annualized, perhaps resulting in fatigue or lapse in quality. That's why Konami was open to new takes on the iconic horror franchise. The Short Message focused on social media, Silent Hill f was distinctly Japanese, and now Townfall is in Scotland.

With the rising cost of game development, it’s a wise idea to have other studios take on notable IP rather than just having your internal studios handle them. Not only does this result in more games being released, but outside talent can revitalize interest. I mean, Bloober Team and NeoBards are proof enough.

Okamoto, however, explained that this method was more about portraying cultural authenticity than anything else, and dependent on the kinds of projects Konami is working on.

“For example, the Metal Gear team has their own philosophy and approach for how they develop games,” Okamoto said. “At least from our perspective, with the goal being trying to create a wider, richer, and more culturally varied universe for Silent Hill, we feel that partnering with third-party developers works best.”

Silent Hill: Townfall launches on September 24 for PC and PlayStation 5.

Gaming is edging closer towards a divisive new normal, with Sony set to stop releasing physical game discs for PlayStation consoles in 2028, and Rockstar Games announcing that physical copies of Grand Theft Auto 6 will come with a download code in the box, rather than a disc.

Unsurprisingly, gamers attached to their physical media aren’t happy with either development, and the backlash online has been fierce, with PlayStation’s social media posts being met with furious demands for Sony to reverse course.

Sony’s plans, and the fact that Microsoft is seemingly set to follow suit, also mean GTA 6, one of the most anticipated games of all-time, likely won’t ever be available as a physical copy.

I spoke with Katarzyna Jakubiec, the chief business officer at G2A, an online marketplace that provides digital game keys. She told me that interest in PlayStation Store gift cards was already at record levels on the site before Sony’s and Rockstar's announcements, and GTA 6 pre-order openings have only further highlighted that trend.

G2A has become an increasingly popular way for players to save big on purchases as one of the few options for cheaper digital games. However, Jakubiec makes it clear that both physical and digital formats are pivotal in gaming.

"GTA 6 pre-orders have reinforced a trend we were already seeing rather than changing the market overnight," Jakubiec said. "During the pre-sale period, PlayStation gift card purchases on G2A reached record levels and continue to grow as anticipation for the launch builds, showing that many players are planning their purchases well ahead of release rather than waiting until launch day.

"While more players are embracing digital formats for the flexibility and convenience they offer, it's equally clear that physical copies continue to mean a great deal to many gamers, whether that's because of ownership, collection, or simply the experience of buying a physical game.

"We don't see this as an either-or conversation, and in an ideal world, people should have the choice to buy games in the format that suits them best. Physical and digital both have an important place within gaming, and different people will always have different preferences."

Unfortunately, that's not how Sony sees it; in fact, Sony's stance aligns with the idea that more consumers are purchasing more games digitally, as it makes the controversial decision to end game discs based on 'shifting trends in consumer preference', suggesting that physical game copies are becoming obsolete.

However, the reaction online and from key game industry figures like Dan Houser (Rockstar Games co-founder), who is no longer working at the game studio, indicate that gamers aren't, and frankly, never will be, done with physical game copies — and Jakubiec believes it's why figureheads within the industry need to adhere to players' different preferences.

"The reaction has been just as telling as the decision itself," she adds. "It highlights how passionate and diverse the gaming community is, and why major industry decisions need to consider the different ways people choose to buy, own, and experience their games.

She says that whether Sony decides to reconsider its plans is "ultimately for them to determine" — which seems unlikely, given that Sony has so far refused to reverse its decision, and shows no sign of changing its mind.

Jakubiec adds, "Whatever direction the industry takes, moments like this reinforce the need to listen to players and communicate those decisions clearly."

My day usually starts with a scan around major retailers, specialist sites, and deals aggregators to get a snapshot of the best tech offers that are available - and then I share the very best with you. Results can be mixed, depending on the time of year and whether there’s a major sale on, but there’s been one consistent theme lately: the deals on most PC components are atrocious.

If you’re a regular in this space, then you’re probably already well aware of the situation with RAM and storage prices over the past few months. It’s got to the point where I’ve all but given up on finding any good deals in this space, especially when there are no signs that it's improving.

Where did all the deals go?

There’s no clearer evidence of just how dire the situation is with this Samsung SSD ‘deal’ that’s currently live on Amazon. This Samsung 870 EVO is advertised as a whopping 62% off. But that’s from the current list price of, um, $1,039.99. With that price cut, it’s now down to $399.99. Almost $400 for a 2TB SATA SSD? One that has been as low as $79.99 in the past? And this counts as a deal?

That’s just a snapshot of how bleak it is shopping for PC gaming components in 2026. Worst of all, there doesn’t seem to be any positive news on the horizon. You have SSD controller manufacturers saying that “the retail SSD market has almost disappeared”, RAM prices have increased by at least 400% in some regions, and now one chip maker says its production costs are set to increase by 10% next year - so CPUs are potentially next up for price hikes.

It puts into perspective just how lucky I was when I chose to upgrade my PC towards the end of 2025. There were rumblings of price increases and stock shortages in those few months towards the end of the year, but it hadn’t reached the disastrous depths we find ourselves in now for wannabe PC builders.

I did have to wait a few months for my RAM to arrive, after the manufacturer I was about to buy RAM from completely shut down, but the cost didn’t make up nearly 50% of my entire budget like it would in today’s prices.

And my PC is very much a mid-range device with a Ryzen 9600x, a 9060XT, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB NVMe SSD, which is about all I wanted given I mostly use it for work. I do like to play the occasional game on PC that I can’t get on the PS5, or if there’s one I would prefer to play on that platform, or when prices make the PC version a more sensible choice. Those specs cover my needs nicely at a reasonable budget.

Calculating what the spend would be these days for the same spec is a terrifying exercise. It’s over £1,600 now, when I was comfortably under £1,000 at the end of last year.

What does the future hold?

With everything pointing to similar or increasing prices for a long time ahead, anyone looking for a PC upgrade has no choice but to put up with these prices for the foreseeable future. Yes, there will be a chance for some savings during Black Friday in November, but we are still looking at a significant markup compared to the savings of old.

In fact, and I usually wouldn't recommend this, but with the way component prices are lately, I'd actually lean more towards buying a pre-built PC if you're shopping around now. Sure, these companies are still suffering from the same price increases, but you can actually find some good value rigs.

Most recently, for example, the Presidents' Day and 4th of July sales at iBuyPower had some strong discounts on high-end gaming PC, with extra savings of up to $350 available on PCs with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, an RX 9070 XT, and 32GB of RAM.

That would be my advice based on the poor quality of deals that are available on many PC components. Yes, there are still a few genuinely good offers out there that I've seen on the likes of CPUs and GPUs, but storage and RAM are certainly beyond saving right now — and I'd move quickly if there's anything good on the former, as those deals may be disappearing before long as well.

There’s nothing I like more than playing a game that lets me switch off entirely. Mundane tasks that require minimal brain power are my greatest escape (apart from a good book) and it’s even better when I’m able to gain a deep sense of achievement from completing them.

I’ve played countless hours of The Sims 4 and Stardew Valley over the years, or more recently Starsand Island. These titles earn their impressive ratings and big sales for providing exactly what cozy gamers like me want – a place to unwind, relax and tick boxes. But, I’m always on the hunt more. Little did I know that an evening scroll on TikTok was about to kick up my next cozy obsession that almost went Under the Radar.

As if by magic, videos were appearing on my feed of a library littered with thousands of books, all out of place. The players gaze over the chaotic collection with a visual aesthetic akin to Harry Potter saying things like: “You’re seriously telling me I have to put all these back away where they’re supposed to go” and “Oh my god, there’s a second floor.” And that’s when I got really intrigued.

Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! is exactly as the name suggests, a game where you become the librarian and must tidy everything up.

Serenely sorting shelves

It’s a big, big mess. Huge. There are books strewn everywhere, piled on tables, disordered in corners like some massive puzzle you need to solve. The task is simple, really, even if it does require you to sort out over 3,000 books. But, with a cozy vibe and a lot of time on my hands, I was so utterly ready to get stuck in.

What Tidy Up the Arcane Library! wants you to do is place all the books on the correct shelves, in the correct order, before you’re allowed to leave. There’s a couple of maps on the walls explaining which category of book belongs on which shelf and to start, you just need to, well, get going.

Don’t get me wrong, I was a little worried that the sheer mess would unsettle any promise of coziness. It’s not quite the same as tending to your crops or gathering resources, but it was the kind of task I get a kick out of – and I’m hopeful comfort gamers will agree.

It reminds me of silly little tasks I’ve always loved to do like sorting out coins or writing addresses on a tower of envelopes, but no-one ever threw all those coins or envelopes haphazardly across a room and asked me to tidy them up. Fortunately, my worries were quickly cast aside when the game began, offering me the chance to play a specifically-made cozy mode with no time restraints, just chilled out sorting.

Every time you put a book on the shelf in the right place, it glitters gold and I almost felt like I was shimmering with satisfaction. The dopamine rush in games like these are hard to beat, especially when it’s so simply gained.

But, if you put a book in the wrong place, there’s no glimmering reward, only a desperation to figure out where it goes instead. But, no bother, I told myself, there are always more books to sort.

List-slaying

Now, it’s worth mentioning here that book-sorting isn’t something you have to take on alone. No, you can also harness a little bit of magic. As you begin to fill up shelves correctly, you level up, unlocking points that can be spent on different magical abilities.

From illuminating the correct shelf for the top book you’re holding to placing the book onto said shelf without you having to lift a finger, it’s entirely up to you if you want to tackle Tidy Up the Arcane Library! without using any magic. But, if you want to protect your peace, I strongly recommend you do.

It’s also entirely up to you whether you spent your points on all the abilities. I didn’t. While Sort automatically arranges the books in your possession in numerical order, I actually quite liked just taking my time over it, rifling through my books like a proper librarian. But, I did lean heavily on the other abilities to make sure I didn’t go crazy.

I even ended up using those TikTok videos that led me here in the first place to teach me about the hidden keys that transformed me into a much more efficient librarian – carrying more books, moving faster and even jumping.

I’ve worked in a library, I’ve also worked in a bookshop, but I can safely say that the calmness and magic of Tidy Up the Arcane Library! makes it a far cozier experience than real life, especially with absolutely no customers.

I’m still clocking up hours in the game taking my sweet, sweet time because I know once it’s over, I’ll miss it. If you're interested in playing too, you can pick it up on Steam.

• Square Enix just released Final Fantasy 10 and Final Fantasy 10-2 for Nintendo Switch 2
• The bundle now runs at a higher resolution with improved textures and some quality of life additions
• There is no upgrade path for existing owners of the original Switch version, however

Square Enix just released new versions of its iconic role-playing games Final Fantasy 10 and Final Fantasy 10-2 for Nintendo Switch 2, but there's some bad news if you own the existing Switch editions.

The two games come as a combined HD Remaster bundle, which is currently available on the Switch 2 eShop for $49.99 / 44.99 / AU$79.95. There's no upgrade path if you bought the same remasters when they released for the original Nintendo Switch back in 2019. This means if, like me, you have a copies for Nintendo Switch, your only option to get your hands on these new ports is to buy them again at full price.

It's a huge shame, especially considering the fact that the Nintendo Switch 2 ports do look better in my experience.

The publisher provided a copy of the Switch 2 game earlier this morning and, weirdly, it turns out that it does not offer a save transfer feature — so I've only been able to compare very early sections in Final Fantasy 10.

Still, as you can see from the images above (captured in handheld mode), the Switch 2 port has a noticeably higher resolution picture (even with the Switch 2's handheld mode boost option enabled) and much better looking textures — especially if you pay attention to the background terrain while characters are speaking.

Unfortunately, it seems like the game is still locked to 30fps, though that shouldn't come as much of a surprise as every version so far has had the same restriction.

The Switch 2 edition also comes with some quality of life features that were previously added to the PC port of the games but absent on the original Switch. This includes the ability to speed up the game, turn off annoying random encounters, give yourself loads of items, and so on.

It's the kind of extra content that you would want from a $10 upgrade, but certainly does not justify paying full price. If you haven't played Final Fantasy 10 and Final Fantasy 10-2 this new port is likely to be a more tempting option, as these small changes still mean that it is the best version on Nintendo platforms right now.

First released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, Final Fantasy 10 sees protagonist Tidus as he navigates a fictional world inspired by the tropical islands of Southeast Asia in a quest to defeat a powerful evil creature.

Despite its age, it's considered one of the best RPGs with fans praising its distinctive art direction and emotional narrative. Its sequel, Final Fantasy 10-2, dropped in 2003 and continues the story in the same setting.

• Steam gifting and wishlists have received big improvements in recent updates from Valve
• Users can now gift games to friends and family directly via email
• Wishlists now have categories and a new 'Demo Available' highlight

Valve's updates to Steam have consistently enhanced the user experience for PC gamers, and fortunately, two of its most recent additions continue that trend.

On Steam News Hub, Valve announced two major improvements to the Steam gifting system and wishlists: users can now gift games to friends and family via guest checkout, without being limited to digital gift cards and hardware purchases, and gift games via email.

As for wishlists: categories are now available, with options to filter the wishlist via category name, a new 'Demo Available' highlight once a demo becomes available, and share a link to a specific category or filtered view of a wishlist, ultimately allowing users to sort further and organize wishlisted titles.

Both updates have made wishlisting and gifting much easier, especially since the latter now has cross-region gifting. Essentially, in a scenario where a friend is in a higher-priced region, Steam will 'calculate the cost in your friend's region' at checkout – but it's important to note that this must be a friend for this type of gift to work.

Most importantly, the improvements made to Steam wishlists should come in handy for future purposes beyond 2026, but also arrive at the ideal time considering the very busy game release schedule this year.

Not only do gamers have plenty of triple-A titles to look forward to on Steam (notably in September), with the likes of The Blood of Dawnwalker, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and Control Resonant all in the same month, but numerous indie games are arriving too, like Blackwood.

The demo highlight is a necessary update as well, since there are a significant number of games that either launch in early access or have been in development for years with long-running demo requests (i.e., Spine).

Updates as such are great for SteamOS PCs, especially the Steam Machine, and the more improvements made for each feature on the Steam client, the better.

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: One-minute review

The 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition takes the brand’s existing wireless mobile controller grip and makes a couple of surface-level changes.

The overall shape, style, and functions remain, but official Xbox licensing sees the Turbo button swapped for a dedicated Xbox button. It retains the $49.99 / £43.99 / AU$89 price tag of the original, meaning it's significantly cheaper than alternatives like the Backbone One or GameSir G8.

The Hall effect joysticks and triggers from the original are still here too, with clicky bumpers and what 8BitDo describes as a refined D-pad, though it felt pretty standard to me. For Xbox Cloud Gaming specifically, which is what I imagine most gamers would turn to this option for, it’s excellent on the whole. Cruising the streets of Japan in Forza Horizon 6 across iOS, Android, and Mac was smooth and responsive, with no perceptible latency over its wireless Bluetooth connection. The telescopic grip is the most secure I've seen in this category, confidently holding an iPhone 17 Pro with a case without any flex or creaking, and it’s comfortable enough for longer sessions.

The problems start when you step outside cloud gaming and into native mobile titles. Call of Duty Mobile refused to recognize the controller on both iOS and Android, and games that do work natively, like Fortnite, display PlayStation button prompts on screen despite the controller's physical ABXY layout and Xbox branding. The two back paddle buttons, a feature prominently listed on the spec sheet, also weren't recognized in any game or cloud gaming scenario I tested.

The core experience, however, is a pleasant one. If Xbox Cloud Gaming is your primary use case, the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition is close to a bargain. For native mobile gaming, the experience is a harder sell, and you’d be better off exploring other options on our list of the best mobile controllers.

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: Price and availability

• List price: $49.99 / ~£43.99 / AU$89
• Retains the same price as the original and undercuts similar competitors
• Available in white or black from 8BitDo and retailers

The 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition launched in July 2025, half a year after the non-branded version, keeping the same $49.99 / £43.99 / AU$89 price. You’ll find it at a range of retailers, though 8BitDo is keen to push you towards Amazon, as well as from its own online store.

It’s worth checking out different options because at the time of writing, 8BitDo's store has it on sale for $38.99 in the US, making an already competitive price even more attractive.

For context, the Backbone One 2nd Gen runs $99.99, and the GameSir G8 Wireless sits at $79.99, so even at full price, the 8BitDo undercuts its closest competitors by a comfortable margin.

If you’re not too fussed about that Xbox tie-in, it’s worth noting that the original version of this controller now shares the same iOS and Android compatibility and has been spotted as low as $25 on sale. The day-to-day differences are extremely minor, so if budget is a concern, it’s worth keeping an eye on both.

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: Specs

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: Design and features

• The most secure phone grip I've tested in a mobile controller
• Hall effect sticks and triggers are impressive at this price
• Quite a small overall profile

The 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition carries that familiar 8BitDo styling with rounded edges everywhere that almost look like they’re gently melting. It’s not, thankfully, and build quality is good across the board.

The textured rubber surface on the back of the phone deck is a highlight with a fun input-themed pattern, and the small amount of texture on the back of the main grips feels nice under your fingers. It’s available in your choice of black or white. I’ve been testing the former, and it’s a magnet for greasy marks, and I can see it getting shiny over time. Keep a microfibre cloth handy.

I don’t have massive hands, but the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition feels slightly small to hold, and it’s the length of the main grips that is the culprit. The left stick falls in a natural position, but the right one ends up nearly at the base of my thumb, and I essentially had to claw-grip the right side to reach it. It's not a dealbreaker, though coming from the stock Xbox Wireless Controller or even another mobile grip like the GameSir G8, it’s certainly a downgrade in comfort.

Where this controller definitely impresses is the phone deck. The telescopic action extends smoothly, and in testing, it held both my phones in a reassuringly sturdy way. This is the first mobile controller grip I've tested that confidently holds both a super slim POCO X5 Pro 5G and a chunky iPhone 17 Pro with a case still on without any sense that the phone might pop loose. There are no replaceable pads or removable elements to fiddle with; it’s just a good base design that’s wonderfully fit for purpose.

Feedback from the bumpers is sharp and clicky, with a responsiveness that feels better than you'd expect at this price point. The face buttons are a more standard fare, neither exceptional nor disappointing, though they are a little rattly. The D-pad has a noticeable wobble before the input registers, though the actual click is short and responsive once it fires.

There are Hall effect sticks and triggers on offer here, which is impressive for the price, and the sticks feel great with just the right amount of resistance. The triggers have a good level of detail but have a quirk: both left and right complete their full input range before the trigger is physically all the way down, leaving roughly 5% of dead travel at the bottom of the press. They don’t have the longest travel to begin with, so it’s a shame not to be using all of it.

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition: Performance

• Xbox Cloud Gaming works excellently across iOS, Android, and Mac
• Native mobile game compatibility is highly inconsistent
• Back buttons weren't recognized in any scenario I tested

Given its name, it should be no surprise that the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition is at its best when playing games via Xbox Cloud Gaming. I’d even go so far as to say that if you’re not a Game Pass subscriber, you can probably stop reading now and look to another mobile grip instead.

Initial pairing to devices is straightforward, and thankfully, there are no multiple connectivity modes to fumble with like on the GameSir G8 Bluetooth. The whole experience works smoothly out of the box, and I didn’t even need to consult the user guide for pairing mode instructions. I took a punt on holding a button until a light flashed, and I was right.

Switching the controller between devices wasn’t quite so simple, though admittedly my testing environment is a real stress test for this kind of thing. I attempted to jump around between my iPhone, MacBook Air, and Android phone, and things got rather temperamental.

The controller seemed to want to cling on to a previously paired device, even if Bluetooth was now switched off on it, so moving between a phone and a laptop usually required repairing from scratch rather than reconnecting to a previously paired device. If you’re not hopping back and forth as I have been, this won’t be an issue, though after a few days of testing I’ve ended up with four separate "Ultimate MGX" entries in my Android Bluetooth list.

No matter which of those devices I was connected to, the Xbox Cloud Gaming experience was excellent. I drove around Japan in Forza Horizon 6 without a hitch; the controls were responsive, and there was no noticeable Bluetooth latency.

The triggers offer plenty of granular control for working the throttle, though that dead zone at the end I mentioned earlier took some getting used to when it came to small throttle lifts around high-speed corners. There's no rumble or vibration support, but I’ll happily admit I didn't miss it. Cloud gaming and mobile titles rarely lean heavily on haptic feedback anyway.

Steam had a love-hate relationship with the controller, depending on the platform. Connecting to my MacBook Air over Bluetooth had Steam recognizing it as a different, previously paired controller, which then failed to work in-game. Plugging it in via USB-C looked promising at first with macOS referencing it by name, but it was never seen by Steam or Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Windows fared much better across both Steam and cloud; over USB-C, it was instantly set up as a general XInput device, fully mapped and compatible with both.

8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition gains a dedicated Xbox home button on the front, replacing the turbo button from the standard version. When in the cloud gaming app, this button opens the guide just like it would on console; outside cloud gaming, it’ll open either the Apple Gaming app or act as a home button on Android. It’s a nice-to-have sort of feature rather than a game-changing one, but I’ll admit I did use it a few times in testing and wouldn’t have looked twice at a turbo button.

The moment you step into native mobile games, however, things start to get messier, and you’re at the mercy of individual developers. Fortnite recognized the controller immediately on both iOS and Android, and the gameplay experience was responsive and reliable. But the on-screen button labels display PlayStation symbols (Circle, Cross, Square, Triangle) despite the controller's physical ABXY layout and Xbox branding.

That’s a little awkward. This usually happens because the controller identifies itself as a generic gamepad rather than as an actual Xbox controller, which means the Xbox licensing doesn't extend to how games see it. Call of Duty Mobile, one of the biggest mobile shooters on the planet, simply doesn't recognize the controller at all. Not on iOS, not on Android, and there’s no hardware mapping workaround either.

Depending on your play style, the back paddle buttons are perhaps the most frustrating limitation. They're physically well-designed, nicely positioned, and require just the right amount of force to trigger, but they weren't recognized in any scenario I tested. Not in Fortnite, not in cloud gaming, not anywhere. Even after binding them to specific inputs through the 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2 app, games simply didn't see them.

Speaking of the app, it’s incredibly basic and falls far behind competitors in this space. Firstly, there are confusingly two versions on the App Store; V1 doesn't recognize the controller at all, and V2 requires you to manually select and pair your controller model during setup despite the device already being Bluetooth-paired to your phone.

Once you're in, the customization options are barebones: button remapping, dead zone adjustments, and trigger tuning. It worked on both iOS and Android, though anything you configure is device-specific and doesn’t save on the controller itself.

Shoudl you buy the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

Here are two strong alternatives to weigh up.

How I tested the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller - Xbox Edition

• Spent several days testing across multiple devices and platforms
• I tested native mobile games, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Steam on Mac and Windows
• Tried the companion app on both iOS and Android

I tested the 8BitDo Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller Xbox Edition with an iPhone 17 Pro and a POCO X5 Pro 5G for mobile gaming, as well as a Mac and Windows PC for cloud gaming and Steam. I tested native mobile games, including Fortnite (on both iOS and Android), and attempted Call of Duty Mobile on both platforms. Cloud gaming testing focused on Forza Horizon 6 via Xbox Cloud Gaming on all devices.

I evaluated the companion app experience on both iOS and Android, including firmware checking, profile setup, and button remapping. I tested the back paddle buttons across multiple scenarios, including native games, cloud gaming, and through the 8BitDo Ultimate Software V2 app. I also tested the controller's behavior on Steam, including calibration and in-game recognition.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed July 2026

• Four original Xbox titles just arrived on PC
• The games are all available to buy or via any Xbox Game Pass plan
• They're part of a new Xbox backward compatibility on PC program

Microsoft just launched a new Xbox backward compatibility on PC program that makes it possible to officially play a selection of original Xbox games on Windows for the very first time.

As detailed in a new Xbox Wire post, the program is geared towards both traditional laptops and desktops in addition to handheld PCs such as the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X and currently includes four games: Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, and Fuzion Frenzy. These can be purchased individually or accessed with any Xbox Game Pass plan (yes, even the budget-oriented Essential tier).

All of these titles have never been officially released on PC before. They were, however, already available on Xbox consoles via backward compatibility and if you have previously purchased a license on Xbox One or Xbox Series X and Series S it will now carry over to PC.

They're not just basic ports either. There are new graphics features like up to 4x resolution upscaling, vsync, anisotropic filtering, and enhanced anti-aliasing. A new achievement system is also in the works and will be added to these four titles some time in the coming months.

The release of these games is presumably just the beginning, and I'm hoping that we will see more and more original Xbox exclusives come over to PC. It not only gives consumers a convenient way to experience classic games on a new platform, but also forms an important part of digital preservation by keeping these releases readily accessible on modern hardware.

It's also a big win for PC gamers, who previously would have had to shell out for dedicated Xbox console hardware in order to play these releases.

If you're interested in checking any of them out, you can see the minimum and recommended system requirements below to make sure your machine is up to scratch.

Minimum system requirements:

• GPU: Nvidia GTX 950 or AMD Radeon RX 550 or Intel UHD 770 or Intel Arc A310
• CPU: Min 4 Cores Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor
• RAM: 8GB
• OS: Windows 11

Recommended system requirements:

• GPU: Radeon RX 68005 or Nvidia GTX 1070 Ti or Intel Arc A770 
• CPU: 6 cores and 12 threads Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme 
• DirectX Version: DirectX12 API, Hardware Feature Level 11 
• GPU VRAM: 8GB 
• OS: Windows 11

Also make sure that your operating system and drivers are up to date.

• Nvidia again showed off DLSS 5 at its Siggraph 2026 keynote
• Team Green made it clear that developers will have a level of control, with a choice of three different AI models
• There will be two sliders to play with, and masks to keep DLSS 5 from interfering with game assets where it's not wanted – but many gamers think devs should have much more control than this

Nvidia has given us another showing of DLSS 5, the incoming tech for its GeForce GPUs which received a very stormy reception when first revealed at GTC 2026 – and unsurprisingly, changes have been made in the past few months.

Tom's Hardware reports that Nvidia revealed more about how DLSS 5 will be implemented at Siggraph 2026 over in Los Angeles, where the tech was the foremost topic in Team Green's keynote.

Nvidia was keen to point out how it has changed the neural rendering model in some key ways since DLSS 5 was first announced. Of course, it's obvious that a lot of this is about combating the idea that the tech is 'AI slop' which makes games look worse rather than better, and characters (particularly faces) look bad and have that undesirable 'uncanny valley' effect. And indeed the criticism that DLSS 5 is messing with the art direction and overall feel of a game's graphics.

On the latter point, back at the original reveal, Nvidia stressed that it would give game developers control over the end result with DLSS 5, and now we're seeing how this will work. Team Green has brought in three different AI models which offer varying levels of detail (and impact on performance), so devs can choose between three different filters, essentially.

This isn't a game-wide choice, though, as the developer can apply any of those models to any different scene, mixing and matching as needed. There are also two sliders to adjust the 'structure' and 'tone' intensity of the effects.

On top of that, the developer can mask off any game asset where they don't want DLSS 5 to be applied. That's good news as it means that, for example, character's heads (and faces) could be marked as out-of-bounds, and therefore not subject to Nvidia's tech. The developer could just get DLSS 5 to enhance background objects and details, and maybe only in a relatively minor way (by toning down those intensity sliders).

To clarify, DLSS 5 is essentially an AI filter that sits atop the existing DLSS suite of technology. Underneath that, you still have upscaling (and frame generation), and Nvidia applies what's essentially a photorealism filter on top of that in the form of this new neural rendering model.

If you want to grab some popcorn, Nvidia's full Siggraph presentation is available to watch on YouTube, check it out below. All the DLSS 5 stuff is at the start (well, past the usual preamble).

Analysis: a step forward, but the doubters remain

Has Nvidia managed to placate the DLSS 5 haters, then? No, in a word. Did you really think it would?

As one Redditor put it: "I had so much hope for DLSS in the early days, what a dumpster fire it's turned into."

Another observed: "So just confirming what anyone with a basic understanding of AI already knew. Glorified Instagram filter."

To be fair, in general the reaction has been somewhat more positive compared to the original reveal, and clearly it's a good thing that game developers can at least keep 'yassified' faces out of the mix with characters. Clearly, there is a level of control here, but despite Nvidia treading more carefully in this respect, there's still a feeling that it isn't doing enough.

A choice of three AI models and a pair of intensity sliders is relatively limited, really, and a far cry from anything like a full level of control over how DLSS 5 imposes itself on a game. Although admittedly there's still some way to go before DLSS 5 comes out – it'll supposedly arrive later this year, in the fall (so theoretically any time from September through to November) – and Nvidia could put in additional controls before the launch.

Aside from disappointment around the level of control Nvidia is giving devs, the other beef being raised is how much of a performance hit this AI filter might be burdened with. When Nvidia first demoed DLSS 5, it was running on a pair of RTX 5090 graphics cards, and in this more recent outing, there's no mention of the hardware involved.

It's fairly easy to guess that the GPU demands haven't been meaningfully reduced yet, otherwise Nvidia would likely be shouting about that – and this is being read as a worry by some. I get where they're coming from, although Nvidia has clarified that the tech will run on a single graphics card (it'll have to, of course), adding at Siggraph that DLSS 5 is "VRAM efficient" (a nicely vague assertion).

I'd expect it probably won't run on anything less than an RTX 5080 to begin with, or indeed an RTX 5090. And the other fear is that the initial incarnation could be quite rough in terms of artifacts and the like, and that's a danger with the first take on any tech. Just look at the original DLSS (version 1), which suffered from blurriness and glitches, before they were polished out and it became a seriously impressive upscaler. Perhaps the same will be true of DLSS 5, but there's a long road ahead yet, and notably, a lot more doubts and question marks here.

• Valve's Steam Deck has reportedly seen 82% fewer units sold, due to price increases
• The estimates are based on the handheld's position in Steam's global weekly top seller rankings
• The purported demand plummet suggests the hype for handheld gaming PCs may be spoiled, as a result of the RAM crisis

It's fair to say that Valve was largely responsible for the resurgence in popularity of handheld gaming with the Steam Deck (of course, Nintendo also played its part with its Switch console), but the RAM crisis has apparently undone a lot of the work.

According to an analysis from Boiling Steam, the Steam Deck's sales have reportedly fallen by 82% on average, due to the price increase for both LCD and OLED models. The analysis is based on the Steam Deck's position in the weekly top seller rankings on Steam, including calculations and estimates made regarding revenue from the devices.

Boiling Steam claims that a 72% revenue contraction and a 54% price increase have "completely shut down the demand" for the Steam Deck, which has ultimately resulted in the suggested 82% fewer units sold on average.

These certainly aren't far-fetched suggestions, especially because some of the official data from Valve indicates that. In the global weekly top seller rankings, the Steam Deck is currently in 14th place, a drastic fall from a position in the top five.

It's also worth noting that the LCD model is discontinued (still pending discontinuation in Australia), meaning the minimum consumers would have to spend for a Steam Deck would be $789 / £649 / AU$1,199 for the 512GB OLED model. Stock for the latter and its 1TB counterpart is also intermittent due to RAM and memory shortages.

Worse value

Most importantly, both OLED models are priced much closer to the Steam Machine ($1,049 / £879 / AU$1,609) than before, which is a more powerful fully-fledged desktop gaming PC — and perhaps that explains why the mini gaming PC is currently third in weekly top seller rankings on Steam (even if it's only been there for a week).

The Steam Deck is also an aging device, with more powerful mobile hardware for handheld gaming having been released since the launch of Valve's handheld. The Steam Deck used to get a pass as it was a lot cheaper than newer, more powerful, competitors, but due to the price increase that's no longer the case.

It's not all Valve's fault, as the RAM crisis has effectively hit every PC manufacturer in 2026. After all, it's the reason why the Steam Machine costs as much as it does, as the market conditions forced Valve's hand to avoid selling at a loss.

However, the supposed significant drop in Steam Deck demand from consumers, combined with the $1,000+ prices for other handheld gaming PCs, serves as a strong indication that handheld PC gaming is becoming a very niche option for gamers once again — and it wasn't exactly mainstream to begin with.

• Xbox users face account recovery issues ahead of the all-digital console future
• Xbox support offered help to more users after one had their account deleted after being hacked
• Some gamers are now hesitant to buy any of Microsoft's digital games or software

Sony's disc-less future for PlayStation consoles commences in 2028, and unsurprisingly it's left gamers unsettled, with Microsoft reportedly following in a similar direction. Unfortunately, it comes at a time when a digital future looks unsafe and insecure.

As reported by GamesRadar, Xbox has recently offered support to gamers who have lost access to their accounts due to hackers, in order to recover access to game libraries. This is directly involved with the case where one user had their 25-year-old Microsoft account hacked, and subsequently deleted, losing access to tons of personal OneDrive data and games.

In a response to the user, Joshua Khane, and the initial account deletion post, the Xbox support account issued an apology, stating it is actively working to 'restore access' to Khane's purchases, despite the account deletion email stating that it was 'irreversible'. Notably, it also highlighted that its 'DMs are open' for other users facing account recovery issues.

However, that's not done enough to satisfy users, as most suggest that Xbox support's DMs are simply full of bots, while others suggest that buying games on any of Microsoft's gaming ecosystems might be a risky move.

One user stated: "I was not affected by this, but watching the developments makes me feel very unsafe as an Xbox customer. Not sure if I should keep buying games and software from Microsoft if this is the way I'll be treated if my account ever gets hacked."

Most importantly, the drama arrives ahead of a disc-less console future, not just for Sony PlayStation users. Microsoft's Project Helix is reportedly set to feature a disc-to-digital function, known as 'Positron', allowing gamers to turn discs into permanent digital copies.

Xbox issues with account deletion after being hacked, and over 500 movies instantly removed from user libraries on PlayStation, aren't doing much to instil faith in users on both ecosystems to trust in an all-digital future.

It's now evidently clear that once physical game copies are out of the picture, users' access to games will be at the disposal of Microsoft and Sony, and that explains why gamers are continuously voicing their frustrations — but it's hard to say if those complaints will change anything.

If you’ve always loved the world of the Splatoon series but have been — understandably — put off by the prospect of its sweaty competitive multiplayer modes, then this latest Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive third-person shooter is for you.

Splatoon Raiders offers an incredibly compelling, single-player take on the series’ trademark ink-spewing action. It’s all underpinned by the same excellent shooting mechanics that make online matches of Splatoon 3 such a blast, now smartly recontextualized in a wholly player versus environment (PvE) format and enhanced with a plethora of satisfying progression systems that allow you to experiment with countless impactful character builds.

The sheer volume of content here is formidable: there are a vast number of highly replayable missions that can be tackled in multiple difficulty levels, more than a hundred weapons to wield, and even lend others a hand in online co-op for more unlockable rewards. This is comfortably one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 games and I know I’ll be coming back to it, even now I’ve seen the credits roll.

Fishy business

While the main Splatoon games are known for their clean urban aesthetics, Splatoon Raiders sets itself apart with a much grimier, more salvaged look. Set on the distant Spirhalite Islands, it follows an unnamed mechanic working for the Deep Cut trio — the iconic TV show hosts from Splatoon 3 who apparently moonlight as treasure hunters. With the group stranded on a raft after their latest treasure hunting expedition goes awry, they’re forced to improvise gear and track down the resources necessary to escape.

Fashioned from wooden crates and metal grates, the raft functions as your hub world in between missions and can be outfitted with a range of useful features like a customizable firing range and a range of upgrade stations, in addition to more whimsical options like an arcade cabinet that offers some cute pixel-art minigames. You always feel like there’s a meaningful upgrade that you’re working towards, and watching your craft develop from a ramshackle structure into a fully-fledged mobile base as you progress through the story is immensely satisfying.

That’s not to say that you need much encouragement to complete missions, however, as they’re a load of fun. There are three main types: quickfire dens that have you beating a few waves of foes in a short time limit, longer raids where you drop into large semi-open environments to secure nearby treasure chests, and dungeons that challenge you to get to a goal with a set loadout.

It seems pretty basic at first, but there are an incredible number of unique twists that keep each new mission feeling fresh. A den, for example, might throw hundreds of the same area-denial enemies at you — coating the small arena with noxious slime that chips away at your health and forces you to stay on your feet — while a raid could surprise you with tricky platforming sections and a strict time limit.

The dungeons, meanwhile, are more focused around puzzles and cleverly serve to tutorialize many of the weapons and abilities that you can unlock.

In the tank

Your character can carry one of three ink tanks (which basically determine your chosen ‘class’), designed for raw power, speed, or more careful ranged tactics. They all play completely differently, with their own roster of powerful gadgets to unlock and an overall power level that gradually ticks up with use.

I mainly relied on the Power Tank, which, true to its name, is all about big, bombastic attacks that deal massive damage. My favorite gadgets include the inky hatchet with its huge slashing strike that is invaluable for taking out tankier foes and a charging rocket launcher that wonderfully shreds through groups of smaller ones.

It might be tempting to rely on one favorite, but there are plenty of good reasons to try the others. Fully upgrading one tank requires you to spend time with the others, and some dungeons even have specific rewards depending on which you use to complete them. I initially thought that this might prove a frustrating barrier to progression, but soon came to appreciate being made to step out of my comfort zone because all three tanks are equally enjoyable to use with a huge variety of gadgets to discover.

Every gadget is highly customizable as well, with a plethora of collectible parts that do everything from minor stat upgrades to fundamentally change how they work. You can only add a certain number of parts at a time, so you’ll need to think carefully in order to craft a new build to successfully overcome a particularly tricky challenge.

There’s just as much depth to the wide selection of weapons. The 11 types on offer will all be familiar if you’ve played Splatoon 3, with a good mix of long-range shooters, nimble pistols, sloshing buckets, and so on, all with their own mechanics to master. Tackling more difficult missions rewards more powerful weapons at a strong pace, which, alongside the steady introduction of new rarities with their own unique qualities, further stops everything from becoming stale.

The same is true of the many enemy types. It’s the same malevolent Salmonids from the Salmon Run side modes of Splatoon 2 and 3, but with a healthy number of new varieties to surprise even the most seasoned fish hunters.

It all comes together for an experience that, even when some of the more difficult challenges force you to grind up your power level, remains fresh and exciting like a delicious piece of sashimi throughout.

Should I play Splatoon Raiders?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Like most modern Nintendo releases, Splatoon Raiders is lacking when it comes to accessibility features. It offers the ability to invert both thumbsticks, or use motion controls to aim.

The color of ink is usually random, but you can lock it to either blue or purple in order to be easier to see. In addition to offering harder versions of most missions, the game features three overall difficulty modes which decreases or increases the power of enemies.

How I reviewed Splatoon Raiders

I played nearly 20 hours of Splatoon Raiders on Nintendo Switch 2 using the Joy-Con 2 controllers in handheld mode. For audio, I used the system’s built-in speaker setup.

I experienced the whole of the game’s story, hitting the credits having tackled all of the major missions on the standard difficulty mode, in addition to some online co-op play.

First reviewed June 2026

• Someone has made a custom version of the Companion Cube case for the Steam Machine
• This DIY effort is on Printables, and can be 3D-printed for those with the hardware and necessary skills
• There are a growing number of custom projects around the Steam Machine, from faceplates through to full-on alternative takes on the gaming PC

Remember the ill-fated Companion Cube case for the Steam Machine? It had the plug pulled on it by Valve a few weeks ago, after maker Dbrand failed to get official permission to make its hard-shell case for the gaming PC, but now the concept has returned, in DIY form.

Tom's Hardware reports that a user on Printables, Jaron, has provided files that allow you to 3D-print your own version of the Dbrand Companion Cube (as flagged on X). You can print the pieces, and a full set of assembly instructions (including smart video illustrations) and extra necessary parts (screws and so forth) are supplied.

As made clear on X, this is a fan-made creation implemented "from scratch" and it's based on images of Dbrand's Companion Cube. Whether it'll attract the attention of Dbrand's own lawyers, well, we'll just have to see, but you'd imagine that some leeway might be granted here given the situation and what happened with Valve.

The creator makes it clear that the case isn't an official product, is nothing to do with Valve, and that it doesn't use "any official assets from any game".

An additional caveat is that Jaron notes: "I have not done any extensive thermal tests but no airflow or venting is blocked, and the additional vent provided by the front face plate aperture logo can help provide a little extra airflow. So I don't believe there will be any cooling issues caused by this case."

My main concerns about the original Dbrand Companion Cube were bound up in cooling issues — especially on warm days, in confined spaces like a TV cabinet — and that remains true with this creation.

Still, if you were disappointed that Dbrand's case was cancelled, and you have a 3D printer and want to have a crack at making your own — and you're pretty decent with a soldering iron — you can now do just that.

Other Steam Machine companions

Since the Steam Machine came out, there's inevitably been a lot of interest around the device, despite the high price. So, as well as this clone of the abandoned Companion Cube case, what else is out there in terms of Steam Machine customization?

New faceplates (front panels) are popular, and a much easier project than the above case, such as this example on Reddit (see the image above). I really like the slat effort here, and I can see why it's gone down very well with other Redditors (although I'm not so keen on the blue one).

What's also quite common is the number of custom small form-factor (SFF) PCs which are DIY takes on the Steam Machine, generally featuring beefier components (and at the same time, inevitably being larger than Valve's PC). 'The Orange Box' as shared on Reddit is a particularly smart example of one such effort with a strong Valve theme, built in a SilverStone SG05BB-Lite case. It has a Ryzen 7 5800X processor inside and an RX 9060 XT graphics card to give this considerably more pep than Valve's gaming PC.

There are other custom SFF PCs on Printables and this one from 3DCatt, which looks like a sized-up Steam Machine, has very similar aesthetics to fit your living room nicely, and a finished version someone has completed went very well indeed by all accounts.

Of course, there are issues around these alternatives to the Steam Machine as I explored in detail recently, and downsides to these custom SFF builds – albeit definite positives too, better performance being the main one. A PC that looks as good as The Orange Box doesn't hurt, either, and I'm sure we'll see more of these kind of SFF spins on the Steam Machine going forward.

• GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen says Sony's decision to end physical game production is 'totally irrelevant' to the company
• The statement is supported by both physical and digital games, which only contribute 18% to overall revenue
• Cohen's comments likely won't help gamers in their push to retain physical game discs

The backlash against Sony continues after its controversial choice to stop new physical disc production of PlayStation games from January 2028 and it looks like the US' biggest dedicated video game retailer isn't taking a stand.

In an interview with Bloomberg, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen dismissed the idea that the company will be impacted by Sony's decision to end physical game copies, stating "it doesn't matter at all," despite ongoing uproar from consumers.

"It mattered in the past; software makes up less than 12% of the business," Cohen said. "Collectibles makes up over half of the business, so it's totally irrelevant."

Frankly, it's a harsh and cold stance, but it isn't exactly incorrect, as Bloomberg highlights that both physical and digital copies of games are only 18% of GameStop's total revenue. The store has mostly transitioned to a focus on collectibles like Pokémon cards, and that's evident the moment you visit its website.

It's no secret that Sony's decision to end disc production in 2028 hasn't gone down well with most consumers, as many feel as though it's a direct threat to game ownership. A digital-only console means games (or other media) can be taken away from gamers at any time, and Sony has done that recently with over 500 purchased movies removed from user libraries.

Essentially, GameStop's reasoning for the end of game discs being irrelevant is similar to Sony's, as Sony highlighted the fact that most gamers are purchasing copies digitally in its announcement.

Despite that, the consensus among consumers is that the elimination of discs is quite unnecessary, only cutting off another option of purchase. It's also worth noting that prices for games on the PlayStation Store won't be as low as they would usually be via second-hand or video game retailers.

Sony has yet to address the matter since the announcement, even with the sheer amount of backlash it's receiving online, and gamers will likely be hoping that statements from CEOs like Cohen won't harm the fight to retain physical game copies.

• A Steam user has found a way to store games on SSDs with an auto-navigation and auto-start script
• These are effectively physical 'game cartridges' complete with key art
• However, costly SSDs means this is a pricey endeavor (the Steam gamer was lucky enough to pick up used drives on the cheap)

Physical copies of PlayStation games are coming to an end from January 2028, and as the backlash around that continues, a restoration of physical media on PC has been discovered — and it's novel to say the least.

A Steam user on Reddit has managed to store games on 'cheap 2.5-inch' SATA SSDs, effectively acting as old-school 'game cartridges' with key art, and a script that auto-navigates Steam to each game's page. The user also notes that automatically starting games from each drive is possible.

This comes amid a significant uproar from gamers following the revelation of Sony's plan to eradicate physical game discs, supposedly by the time its next PlayStation console arrives. It's a very controversial move that has united gamers across all platforms to fight to retain discs and to ensure game ownership remains intact.

With that said, physical media for PC has been dead for a long while, since a modern desktop PC doesn't come with a disc drive, and there are hardly any publishers selling physical copies for the platform.

With most games only accessible digitally on PC, in theory those titles can be taken away from buyers at any time. The trouble is that consumer-friendly figures like Gabe Newell, who leads Valve, the owner of Steam, won't be in charge forever.

So in the future, under new leadership, it's possible more anti-consumer measures might be introduced, or other aspects of PC gaming that consumers dislike, such as DRM (like Denuvo).

Steam Game Cartridges from r/pcmasterrace

Imagine if this 'game cartridge' system was adopted by PC game publishers? It's a smart idea, and a nice thought, but clearly not a realistic one. For starters, it'd be a prohibitively expensive method of reintroducing physical PC game copies.

Of course, platforms like Epic Games and Steam require users to be logged in and have their app installed to play games, so it's still a long way off true game copy ownership, anyway.

However, this concept would be paired perfectly with GOG, a platform that is DRM-free and doesn't require the launcher to play purchased games — in other words, you fully own purchased games on GOG.

Admittedly, publishers releasing PC game cartridges in the form of SSDs is a pipe dream, especially with the current state of the hardware market, and the RAM crisis, complete with skyrocketing SSD prices.

The idea comes at the wrong time, then, but if the RAM crisis ever settles down, then maybe this is something we'll see more PC hobbyists doing — and perhaps even the odd publisher.

Denshattack! is undoubtedly one of 2026's best indie games, providing endless amounts of fun. It takes clear inspiration from several fast-paced platformer classics, from its splashy and colorful art style, bombastic and intense OST, to its high-speed and intense levels.

Instead of the conventional control of a character, developer Undercoders has you taking control of a train. You focus on style mixing skills and speed across multiple theme park-like levels, and aim for the highest scores possible throughout to beat rival gangs, and fight to wreck a 'shady megacorp', known as Miraidō, in a 'Japanese dystopia'.

Frankly, the story wasn't my focus going in, but rather how the developers could keep the experience feeling exciting as you progress — and fortunately, it managed to do just that with each stage feeling like it was ripped straight out of an action-packed comic book.

This is a game that I can certainly see others coming back to over and over again for challenges to obtain higher scores, and most importantly, enjoy the intense atmosphere each level provides.

Denshattack! borrows from three huge platformer classics

From the off, the inspiration behind Denshattack! was clear as day. The incredibly fast-paced and intense train adventure sequences reminded me very much of my experiences with Sonic games, notably Sonic Unleashed and its first Windmill Isle level.

In Denshattack!, you'll be overwhelmed with how many combinations you may have to remember at such high speeds, and you'll need fast hand-eye coordination to pull off tricks and dodge obstacles. You'll have several objectives to hit in each level, some being main objectives, but others standing as optional, with the latter contributing to the final score.

One example is what I call the brake-to-boost mechanic; Denshattack! allows players to break at any given moment during a level, but will give you a heads-up when turning a corner on a track for a drift. If you hold down the left trigger and let go at the right time (when the meter is centered in the middle and fully green), you'll get a big boost to speed, which is often one of the optional objectives in levels.

The intensity of Denshattack!'s gameplay is incredibly high; avoiding crashes into walls, jumping to change railway tracks, and even timing perfect landings to increase your score add to the game's difficulty. It even encourages you to avoid obstacles at the very last second, with one aspect of each level's final score labelled 'dares', effectively testing your daredevil skills.

Many of these mechanics play a significant role in boss battles, which require faster reaction speeds. That might sound straightforward, as most boss battles in games are more difficult and require better timing, but with how rapid Denshattack!'s gameplay flow is, leaving you very little time to settle, it's absolutely worth noting.

Sometimes, it can even feel like the game is moving just a tad bit too fast when you're attempting to keep track of objectives — arguably an issue with modern-day Sonic games too — but getting the hang of controls and timing doesn't take very long, and once you do, there's plenty of fun to be had.

Jet Set Radio is another Sega classic, and a simialrly big inspiration. The art style in Denshattack! is very similar, with its cartoonish and colorful nature, even down to the very font across the game's UI in-game and within menus.

The soundtrack is phenomenal, and also much like Jet Set Radio's, which shouldn't come as a huge surprise, since some of Jet Set Radio's composers, like Richard Jacques, have collaborated on Denshattack!'s funky, disco-like, bass-centric, and synthwave-infused OST.

Those inspirations are combined to make an intense adventure come to life, but what gives Denshattack! its own identity is the vast amount of unique maneuvers, tricks, and even attacks (during boss battles), giving players a push for higher scores.

Many of the tricks reminded me of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, like grinding across rails at high speeds and air spins, but not on a skateboard. Instead, you're quite literally using a train to provide a great spectacle, in what I originally thought was an odd move, but perfectly highlights the chaotic nature of riding in Denshattack!.

There's also a fair amount of customization available for the train car itself, and plenty of levels and collectable items to look out for throughout the game's runtime — and seeing a significant portion of what you can do in Denshattack!, I have no doubts this will be a 2026 sleeper hit.

The Nintendo Switch 2 has been out for just over a year now, and it’s had a fascinating start to life.

It’s undoubtedly been a commercial success, becoming the second-fastest selling console in recorded US history, and it’s already seen its fair share of hits, whether that be the phenomenon that is Pokémon Pokopia or the 2025 Game of the Year nominee, Donkey Kong Bananza. But some are still unconvinced.

It’s not a stretch to say that, in spite of its high sales, the console has been highly contentious among gamers. While many speak with positivity about the Switch 2, there have been criticisms around the consoles battery life and performance, for instance.

Some gamers have also noted concerns around the lack of big first party hitters, such as a brand new 3D Mario, a new entry in the Legend of Zelda series (rather than a remake), and the system’s slightly patchy release schedule for 2026. Bundle that with some high-priced software and incoming console price rises, and I can see why some fans are yet to be won over.

My thoughts: a brief summary

In my personal opinion, though, the Switch 2 has had a pretty strong start. Growing up, I saw the messy launch of consoles such as the PlayStation 3, and the simply woeful launch titles for its successor, the PlayStation 4 and its counterpart, the Xbox One. Meanwhile, the Switch 2 has some great multiplayer fun in titles like Mario Kart World and Kirby Air Riders, some exceptional single player experiences like the aforementioned Donkey Kong and Pokémon games, and a healthy dosage of third-party support to boot.

What’s more, I’d argue that performance is pretty strong, and with a 1080p 120fps display for handheld mode, it no longer feels like I’m sacrificing too much quality just to play without my TV. Throw in 4K visuals in docked mode, far comfier Joy Con 2 controllers, and surprisingly good virtual surround sound, and I for one am happy with the hardware upgrade brought to the table by Nintendo’s new hybrid console.

I do wish that some games were a little more affordable — $79.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95 for a physical copy of Mario Kart World definitely feels excessive, even with modern pricing standards. And I really wish the console’s battery life was a bit better too, even if I have found a workaround of sorts.

All in all, though, I’ve had a great first year with the Switch 2, and its prolific sales are there for all to see. But I’m not just here to share my view — there’s something else I’m far more interested in.

Tell us what you think about the Switch 2

That’s right: TechRadar Gaming wants to hear from you.

I’ve briefly spoken about some contentious points, but I want to gauge the thoughts and feelings of all of you out there. Do you think the Nintendo Switch 2 has been a hit or a flop?

Below, you’ll find a poll, where you can tell us what you think.

However, I’m also really keen to draw some specifics from our readers. If you’d like, you can comment below and make your voice heard — has the Switch 2 been a disappointment for you? Is it already among the console elite? We want to hear it all — and your comments may even feature in an upcoming article!

• There's a new red light issue with the Steam Machine
• This time a solid red light is being displayed which indicates the device is running hot
• That isn't necessarily the case, and in fact the Steam Machine's temperatures can be normal, and a bug in the BIOS can cause the light to come on

If you're an early adopter who's been worrying about a red light being displayed by your Steam Machine while gaming, then there's not necessarily anything to panic about, as apparently this temperature warning light is being mistakenly triggered.

VideoCardz noticed a thread on Reddit where the original poster shares correspondence from Valve's support team about what's happening in terms of the red light coming on when the temperature is nowhere near the intended warning threshold.

As per Valve's FAQ on the Steam Machine's light bar, the red light comes on solidly (across the whole bar) when the device is deemed to be overheating, meaning the CPU temperature is over 95C or the GPU is over 90C (or indeed both).

The Redditor noticed that the red light was on when their Steam Machine was at temperatures of 75C and 81C for the GPU and CPU respectively, neither of which should have caused the warning light to appear.

As the message from Valve explains, there is a "known issue with the current BIOS" that means the red light comes on "much earlier" than it should.

The problem is entirely related to the temperature threshold for the light, and the Steam Machine is not overheating in any way in these cases, it should be noted.

The message from Valve informs us that a BIOS update will be coming to fix the problem soon. In fact, that update will increase the threshold to 100C for both the CPU and GPU, which is the point at which the Steam Machine will throttle the components to ensure they don't get any hotter.

In case you were wondering, if either the CPU or GPU does get any hotter than 100C, the device will then shut down to protect itself from any potential damage.

Analysis: false alarm

What this means is that if you're seeing the red warning light a fair bit, it's likely a symptom of this overkeen BIOS which is turning on the light way earlier than it should be. Odds are that your CPU and GPU are running cool enough, and you can check this using the Steam performance monitor or a third-party tool as the Redditor did.

In any case, even if you do see the red light and it's correctly indicating temperatures at Valve's threshold levels, this isn't going to damage the Steam Machine – it just means the components will be throttled back to run slower to prevent any such damage. If that doesn't work, and the component temps aren't brought back under control, as noted the PC will turn itself off to avoid any potential GPU or CPU-frying scenarios.

It's not a pleasant thought that your Steam Machine is throttling and not running as fast as it should, though, if this happens – but based on this (and other) reports of this incident, that isn't the case, and the only error is the light showing when it shouldn't. There's no actual overheating, throttling, or anything else going on under the hood.

If you're worried that Valve's new temperatures for throttling and the warning light seem high at 100C, this is in line with what's to be expected from AMD laptop parts (which are what's used for the Steam Machine's CPU and GPU).

For now, all those who have bought one of Valve's gaming PCs can do is wait until the next BIOS update which should hopefully fix this problem. It's also worth noting that the 'Red Line of Death' is a completely separate issue, and we've had some troubleshooting advice on that knottier problem since it was first highlighted.

• One of the original Xbox founders, Laura Fryer, suggests Sony is stripping away game ownership via an all-digital future
• It comes after PlayStation announced physical game discs won't be produced starting from January 2028
• Fryer claims Sony let Rockstar 'take the heat' by announcing a digital-only GTA 6 first

Sony is still under fire after its latest announcement of a future all-digital future for PlayStation games, as physical game copies are due to be axed — and not only are consumers livid, some gaming industry veterans are too.

As reported by Notebookcheck, Laura Fryer, one of the original founding members of Xbox, has recently condemned Sony's announcement ending physical game discs for future PlayStation games, and highlights the threat the move poses to game ownership.

The announcement from Sony has since resulted in major backlash regarding game ownership from thousands online, including a slight pushback (or support for physical media) from indie game developers like Astrolabe Games.

In this case, Fryer hasn't been shy about noting just how dangerous the end of physical game discs will be once 2028 arrives, especially since rumors suggest Microsoft may follow in a similar direction with its next Xbox console.

"Digital is convenient until someone else decides you've had enough, and there are some games and movies where I will never have enough of them," Fryer stated, which is arguably a valid statement since Sony recently removed over 500 purchased movies from users' libraries.

It's worth noting that Rockstar Games recently opened GTA 6 pre-orders, with the announcement that there won't be a physical copy of the game, which Fryer highlights as an important step to Sony's latest plans, stating: "Sony waited for Rockstar to make the first move, take the heat, and now they're going all in to make this the new normal."

Fryer even references Don Mattrick's infamous statement regarding an 'always online' Xbox One console experience, as she suggests that this is what Sony, Microsoft, and, frankly, Hollywood are doing today.

"When was the last time you put a disc in and the game just worked without a big download? All the major players, Sony, Microsoft, even Hollywood, they're all aligned here. Digital kills the used market, and it stops your old library from competing with new games on the next console."

That 'always online' future is closer than it ever has been, and with Sony also shutting down PS3 and PS Vita stores in 2027. That means whenever the PS6 (or future PlayStation consoles) eventually becomes a retro console like the PS3, there will be no way to play games on the system unless it's via digital means — and that directly eliminates game ownership completely.

Sony's social media team are having a rough week: anything they post is getting piled on by angry gamers who are outraged by Sony's plans to stop the production of game discs.

Many PlayStation owners are vowing to boycott the PlayStation Store, cancel their PlayStation Plus membership and never buy PlayStation products again.

It's a PR nightmare for sure, with pretty much any online PlayStation content becoming a place for gamers to protest, derailing any attempt to talk about anything else.

It reminds me of the response to Sonos' introduction of a new and hugely flawed app, which Sonos now admits was badly done.

Sonos' PR nightmare lasted for around 18 months, there is now optimism and rebuilt trust around the new changes it's bringing to improve the app. Could Sony learn from Sonos' experience and its attempts to rebuild customer trust?

I think the answer is: yes it could, but no it won't.

What Sonos got right and Sony probably won't

Speaking to TechRadar earlier this year, Sonos CEO Tom Conrad set out his views on how to try and make angry customers happy again. "You just have to show up in people's life with some humility and do the hard work of earning their trust back through great execution, great product, great software, great experiences, and never forget what you put people through."

So far, Sony isn't doing that: rather than respond to gamers' concerns, it's battening down the hatches and staying silent about its move to digital-only. And that's a shame, because there are genuine reasons for gamers to worry about Sony's decision.

There are three key concerns about digital-only. The first, and I think the most important, is cost. The PlayStation Store is ludicrously expensive: for example Spider-Man 2, a three-year-old game, is £69.99 digital today in the UK, where I'm based. Competition between retailers means it's around £37 on disc.

The second is second-hand gaming. I buy many games second-hand, and many gamers like to sell their games after they've completed them or got annoyed by them, so that they can spend what they recoup on more new games (a win for the industry overall). So I can buy Returnal for about £20 on eBay. I can't buy the digital edition second-hand, so if I want the digital version it's… you guessed it, £69.99.

To be fair, you can get both games, and others, on PlayStation Plus Extra. But not everyone wants or can sustain yet another subscription, and we know that all subscription services go up in price — often dramatically so, as we saw with Xbox Game Pass last year.

And the third is ownership. Sony's disc announcement came just days after it deleted customers' purchased copies of over 500 movies, making it clear that purchasing doesn't mean owning forever. And those movies cost a lot less than £69.99.

Sony may have to eat humble pie for a while in order to mimic Sonos here, seeking out customer views to talk about those concerns, and maybe thinking about how to address them — so for example it could tell us that digital codes would still be sold through multiple retailers, like Nintendo does with its key cards, or that we'd be able to resell our digital-only games (even if it hasn't developed the mechanism for this yet).

However, the reality is that for a firm the size of Sony, even a significant customer backlash such as 246,586 signatures on a petition represents a microscopic proportion of its 125 million PlayStation Plus subscribers, let alone the many more PlayStation owners — and it can afford to ignore them.

That's something of a gamble. Just ask Microsoft, whose Game Pass price hike scared off far more customers than expected — according to reports, it lost 4 million out of 34 million Game Pass subscribers when it was expecting huge growth instead, forcing a partial reversal.

But Sony's gaming business is far bigger, and that means it can still upset a lot of customers without feeling much pain.

I suspect Sony is going to take a different lesson from the Sonos situation: even at the height of customer anger, Sonos still sold lots of speakers, soundbars and subs.

Then again, maybe Sony is more rattled than it's currently letting on. Two days after the digital-only announcement, with customers raging online, Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki sold more than half of his Sony stock and Sony's chief strategy officer unloaded a bunch of Sony shares too.

• Warframe's upcoming Tau update was showcased today at TennoCon in London, Ontario
• The update will take the game in a bold new direction, introducing a noir detective story
• A smaller Fall update is scheduled before Tau lands later this year

So, it's finally happening: Warframe is going to the Tau system later this year, in a hotly anticipated major update that has been repeatedly teased for years.

Having just watched the reveal live at TennoCon 2026, I have to say... any predictions I had about this update could not have been more wrong.

Last year's The Old Peace update gave us a glimpse of Tau's distant past, showing glittering orbital academies and futuristic humans living in harmony with the robotic Sentient race. As it turns out, the 'present-day' Tau is absolutely nothing like that.

Instead, today's event introduced us to a grimy neo-noir dystopia, a Sentient city named Fornax inside a gigantic ring-shaped superstructure orbiting one of Tau's dead worlds. The live demo at TennoCon is seen through the eyes of a new upcoming warframe, Brysko, who is so obviously a frameified version of Blade Runner protagonist Rick Deckard that it almost borders on parody, right down to his long jacket and beefy signature pistol. Oh, and did I mention that he's voiced by Matt Mercer?

Dark city

The narrative of the new update leaps between plotlines at a breakneck pace (as has become common for Warframe's frankly wild storytelling), first showing us flashbacks featuring the Lotus and the player characters finally figuring out how to get to Tau. Meanwhile, sometimes-hero-sometimes-villain Albrecht Entrati is already in Tau, sending Brysko on an investigation into Fornax's seedy underworld in a story that clearly draws heavy inspiration from 40s noir detective films.

Fornax is not a great place to live. It evokes Blade Runner's rain-soaked Los Angeles or Cyberpunk 2077's Night City, blended with the crumbling architecture and utter hopelessness of Warhammer 40,000's multi-layered hive cities. "Addiction is the theme of this update," said Warframe Creative Director Rebecca Ford at the press preview event I attended on Thursday night, and that's immediately evident in the city's inhabitants.

Brysko himself chain-smokes cigars, the undercity slums are filled with drug-addled Sentients begging for scraps and pissing in the streets (yes, these robots can urinate... no, developer Digital Extremes did not explain how or why), and a large part of the live demo focuses on a casino seemingly run by presumed-dead Sentient character Adis, all grown up and now a cold, calculating mob boss named 'the Hunra'.

The neo-noir stylings extend here, too. Unlike most of the playable warframes in game (or the mutated human protoframes), Brysko is what Ford calls a "chimeraframe" - in other words, a frame who retains his own personality and individuality. He narrates his investigation in classic jaded detective fashion, and seemingly has an ongoing romance with a Sentient blues singer who performs in the Hunra's club.

A twisting tale

In true Warframe fashion, it's a staggeringly unusual twist for the overarching story. This is a game where you don't reach the character creation screen until after at least a dozen hours of gameplay; the plot dances between genres, a space opera one minute and a 1990s time-travel adventure the next. It's dipped its toes into cosmic horror, military shooters, and tales of anticapitalist rebellion.

Swordfights, gunfights, ghost pirates, hoverboards, cats, mechs, and worlds to explore inside children's fantasy storybooks. Perhaps it was inevitable that Digital Extremes might eventually settle on a dark detective thriller in its writing team's roving adventure through the annals of genre fiction. But I certainly didn't see it coming, and I'd be amazed if anyone else did too.

A small slice of the TennoCon live demo showed the arrival of one of the Vessels: titanic bio-mechanical humanoids built for the coming war against Warframe's big bad, but until now left inert in the old labs beneath the surface of Deimos. We briefly saw a customization screen that let you choose a body type and tweak the colors of the Vessel, implying that we'll probably be playing as one directly in the near future, but the context for this has largely been left unanswered thus far.

New stars, new worlds

Setting aside the bizarre new narrative direction for a moment, let's break down what we can actually expect from the Tau update when it drops in late 2026.

As many fans have hoped, it looks like the Tau system will contain its own new star chart to navigate (essentially the 'world map' of Warframe), separate from the Origin System chart that currently forms the basis for the game's setting. Ford confirmed that players will be able to move between the two systems at will once Tau is unlocked, adding: "This is just growth - we're not replacing anything." I have to wonder if this particular statement was prompted by a certain other sci-fi live-service game and its controversial habit of routinely hacking out older content...

At launch, Tau will feature two explorable planets, with the megacity of Fornax being one of them. Fornax itself will be broken into three 'hubs', the first of which is the casino setting shown in the live demo. From there, Digital Extremes has plans to further flesh out the system in future updates; one part of the demo shows at least three other planets in orbit around Tau's binary suns, one of which appears to have been shattered by some ancient conflict.

Different challenges

Gameplay-wise, it's largely the same fast-paced parkour-combat Warframe fans have come to love, just expanded. The demo showcases multiple new Sentient enemy types, new guns, a grappling hook mechanic, and a boss fight against a fantastically designed pair of Sentient twins who can amalgamate their bodies into a single large monster.

There are some spins on the usual formula coming too, though, specifically to reflect the wildly different setting of Tau. Gone is the Steel Path, Warframe's 'hard mode' overseen by mentor character Teshin - instead, a new endgame difficulty will be implemented for missions in Tau, with the Steel Path's Acolyte minibosses also replaced by something Digital Extremes was not yet ready to reveal.

Ford also teased at least one new mode with "a twist on the core Warframe mission structure, to make it feel more fresh." Oh, and you can gamble via a selection of minigames in the Hunra's club, with Ford immediately comparing it to Final Fantasy VII's beloved Gold Saucer amusement park.

And that's about everything we know so far. The Tau update is slated for late 2026 (most likely December, from the cadence of major updates), with a smaller content drop - named 'Iceblade of Narin' - coming in the Fall. I'll wrap it up here, but needless to say, I'm very excited now.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 were just ported to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5
• Aside from an upgraded picture quality, they seem otherwise identical to the original versions
• Some fans are convinced that they just don't feel right, however

Yesterday, Activision treated us to the surprise release of not one, but two Call of Duty ports. You can now buy the original Black Ops and its acclaimed follow-up, Black Ops 2, on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 for the very first time.

They upgrade the resolution of both games on these newer consoles (a substantial step up from the 608p native picture quality of the backwards compatible versions available on Xbox) but otherwise seem almost identical to their original incarnations.

Even some big features that many fans thought would be cut, like Black Ops 2's infamous emblem creator, are present and accounted for.

I picked up copies of the two games immediately with my own cash (there's currently an irresistible 50% discount on them if you have PS Plus) and spent the best part of yesterday evening playing on my PS5. Aside from the crisper picture quality, they're just as I remember.

I replayed the original versions of both games pretty recently too, via second-hand physical copies that I bought for my Xbox Series X to refresh my knowledge of both games ahead of the Black Ops 7 launch — this latest entry is a Black Ops 2 sequel, after all.

Some fans aren't as impressed, though, and argue that the games just don't feel right.

"Black Ops 1 PS5 has a serious controller input lag issue that needs to be adressed [sic] and fixed" argued one poster on r/callofduty. "It surely wasn’t this bad on PS3".

"Sounds like the original launch" another fan replied, with someone else chiming in: "The golden days" and a tongue-in-cheek sobbing emoji.

"BO1 always felt hard to aim in even in the old days compared to BO2. Pretty sure this is normal" added someone else.

Another post similarly reckons that "The responsiveness is terrible. I distinctly remember the original Black Ops 1 feeling way crisper than this". The top comment agrees, complaining that "I’m losing every gun fight because my gun doesn’t fire in time".

Although everything feels fine to me, there's definitely a chance that those playing specific resolutions, on specific TVs, or with features like VRR enabled might be having a much worse experience. I expect some patches will be released in the coming weeks if these claims hold water.

• Zero Parades: For Dead Spies now has a free to play TTRPG
• It adapts the game's setting and mechanics for pen and paper
• It also comes with a free premade one shot to help you learn the game

Let’s face it, 2026 — with its component price hikes, sweeping layoffs, cancellations, expensive AAA titles, and Sony’s promise to stop making physical games — has been something of a year of Ls. But one of the few lights in this darkness, and game of the year contender, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies just announced brand new content is dropping: it’s a tabletop version of its gameplay, and it’s totally free.

If you head over to one-shot site you’ll find everything you need to get started including a simple core rulebook and a One Shot story set in the Zero Parades world 30 years before the events of the game.

The One Shot comes with everything you need to play your first session including location maps, premade characters, GM materials (to help whoever is running things) and adapted rules that bring the game’s mechanics to life in TTRPG form.

Scratching the itch

Anyone who has played Zero Parades: For Dead Spies or its spiritual predecessor Disco Elysium will have already felt the TTRPG inspired elements — all challenges in the games are already presented as dice rolls.

Just like in Zero Parades the pen and paper game has the same stats and Faculties — Action, Relation, Intellect — which determine how capable your character should be at certain actions, as well as details on how you can exert yourself to increase your odds of success — at the cost of raising your Fatigue, Anxiety, or Delirium respectively.

You also find items of clothing you can equip to make your stats better (and sometimes also worse), or tools which unlock actions like a camera allowing you to snap photos to use later — or to remember a sick spy moment you just pulled off, the decision is all yours.

As a major fan of both TTRPGs like Dungeons and Dragons and of Zero Parades I had been thinking of adapting the digital gameplay into something pen and paper for my regular playgroup. With this free release I don’t need to do any work at all — though I love there are the resources to create your own adventure and stories if you want to move away form the premade One Shot.

Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is everything you’d want from a follow-up to Disco Elysium. It keeps the post-Soviet vibes and aesthetics with a whole new story and setting. The gameplay is very similar too, with a few updates that fine-tune mechanics in a way that feels better and yet utterly familiar.

There’s also that general and gradually growing weirdness that made Disco Elysium so much of a joy to play through.

So many people I know who loved Disco Elysium had no clue Zero Parades is a thing they can play, and the perfect game to scratch the itch Disco Elysium leaves you with.

Plus if you’re reading this article the day it comes out the full Zero Parades: For Dead Spies game is 10%-off for everyone, and 20% off for owners of Disco Elysium in the Steam Summer Sale. What are you waiting for? Go and play it!

• Valve has posted a fix for the 'red line of death' problem
• A small number of bug reports have surfaced online
• Leaving the PC unplugged overnight seems to help

There's good news if your newly purchased Steam Machine has been hit by the 'red line of death' — where the PC displays a solid red indicator light and refuses to boot up (reminiscent of the old Xbox 'red ring of death').

A couple of reports about this problem have appeared in recent days, although it's not clear exactly how widespread this issue is. If you have been hit by the frustrating bug though, Valve now has some official advice for you.

In detailed troubleshooting instructions posted to Reddit, the official Steam hardware feedback account advises affected users to work through a series of steps that include unplugging the Steam Machine and forcing a full reboot.

It's worth saying that the Redditor who originally reported the issue was able to get their Steam Machine up and running again by leaving it unplugged overnight — so an effective fix might not require all of the official instructions.

Here's what to do

Well, the Steam Machine was pretty cool for the 20 minutes that it worked from r/steammachine

If you do find the 'red line of death' appearing on your Steam Machine, these are the troubleshooting steps to follow, as per Valve:

• Unplug the Machine, then press the power button a few times. This ensures any stored energy in the PSU gets discharged. You may see the power indicator LED blip a moment.
• Plug the Machine back in. Note if your power LED glows (breathing pattern) white or not. If yes, please submit a Steam Support ticket and tag me, or send me a chat request with the ID.
• Hold the power button down for ~6s. You should see the power indicator LED (dot) flash momentarily. Release the power button when you do.
• The power indicator LED will start to cycle some color codes. These are designed to allow you to select various options for recovery/troubleshooting purposes. When the LED turns green, short-press the power button. This should perform a full 'CMOS reset'.
• On the next boot, you should see the RGB bar as blue - it may take a bit longer to boot due to a memory re-training.

So there you have it — if your Steam Machine works again, the Steam support account requests that you tag it on Reddit. If not, the next step is to create a support ticket so the issue can be investigated further.

It might be that a number of users have already experienced this problem and resolved it without turning to Reddit or social media, but it's not something you want to see after paying a top price for the gaming PC.

Snakebyte Ergo Grip S2 review

The Snakebyte Ergo Grip 2 is a basic grip for the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons, although it has a few tricks up its sleeve.

Its design is very much a case of function over form. There’s no RGB lighting, and the all-black colorway leaves no room for levity. At least it's simple and unfussy, consisting merely of a central bar and two grip handles on either side. These handles are reasonably long but quite thin compared to more traditional controllers.

The build quality isn’t particularly great, it has to be said. There’s quite a bit of flex to the whole unit, although it's solid enough and the plastic feels smooth in the hand. But it’s certainly not going to challenge the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers on this front.

There’s a small switch underneath the Ergo Grip 2 to release the central bar from the bottom of the pad, allowing it to pivot upwards and out of the way of the grip handles so you can insert the Joy-Cons. This seems a little gimmicky, and what’s more, it’s not strictly necessary: by inserting my Joy-Cons at an angle, I managed to get around the handles while the center was locked down.

I think it would’ve been simpler to engineer a solution where the handles didn’t get in the way at all, rather than have a rotating mechanism. I’m also mildly concerned about the button that locks it down. I noticed a small amount of play while it’s locked down, which could spell failure further down the line.

Happily, the fit for the Joy-Cons is more secure. They slot into the Ergo Grip 2 just as well as they do into the Switch 2 itself. The hold feels strong, and the handles effectively partially cover their outsides, which prevents them from being prised out easily.

In action, it’s quite comfortable. The Joy-Cons sit fairly close together, but not so close as to cause issues. However, the grip handles took me a little while to get used to. At first, I had to slide my hands upwards to reach the Joy-Cons' bumpers when playing games such as Super Mario Bros. Wonder. However, I discovered that I could slot my last two fingers into the handles’ small indents for better purchase, which helped alleviate this problem somewhat.

But there are a few more ergonomic issues with the Ergo Grip 2. The bottom parts of the grips aren’t particularly long, and what’s more, they’re completely vertical, rather than angling outwards. This meant that they didn’t sit in the palms of my hands as well as more traditional gamepads, leading to a less secure feeling of grip.

This verticality extends to the orientation of the Joy-Cons. They don’t angle outwards at the bottom, which is part of the reason why reaching the bumpers can be a struggle. Other grips, such as the Genki Dual Wield, create such an angle, which feels like a more natural way to use the Joy-Cons.

The Ergo Grip 2 features a USB-C port for charging while you play. There are LEDs on top to indicate charging status, although these are basic, merely lighting up red while charging and green once complete.

At 200cm, the included USB-C cable is quite long, but it's made from rubber. This contrasts with the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories, including other controllers and grips, that come with braided cables for better flexibility. Thankfully, the cable is quite light, so I didn’t feel much resistance while playing, and I wasn’t worried about the cable disconnecting. However, it’s quite hard to unbunch, meaning it fails to maximize its entire length.

At less than £20, though, such shortcomings are easier to swallow. If all you’re after is a cheap way to securely hold your Joy-Con 2 controllers and want to play and charge at the same time, you could do worse than the Ergo Grip 2.

Snakebyte Ergo Grip S2 review: Price and availability

The Ergo Grip 2 can be ordered from Snakebyte’s website for €19.99, which is about £17. However, we have seen it for less than this at other retailers. This is a fair price for a Joy-Con 2 grip, especially one that features charge-and-play.

However, there are Switch 2 accessories that are arguably better value for money, including others from Snakebyte. Its Starter Kit S2, for instance, includes Joy-Con 2 grips, a case, wired earbuds, joystick caps, and a screen protector — all for about the same price as the Ergo Grip 2.

Should I buy the Snakebyte Ergo Grip S2?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Snakebyte Ergo Grip S2 review: Also consider

How I tested the Snakebyte Ergo Grip S2

I tested the Ergo Grip 2 for several days. I played various games with it attached to my Joy-Cons, including Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Super Mario 3D All-Stars. I attached and detached my Joy-Cons several times to test the fit and pivot mechanism of the grip.

I’ve been gaming for decades and have used many systems and controllers in that time. I’ve also reviewed other Switch 2 grips, as well as numerous controllers for the Switch, PC, Xbox, and mobile.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: June 2026

We've had a couple of early reports of Steam Machine failures, describing a red light indicator of a problem that means the PC won't turn on, which is something that'll be very familiar to those who've had an Xbox in the past.

A Redditor posted (see below) that their "Steam Machine was pretty cool for the 20 minutes that it worked", detailing how things went wrong, and how the PC ended up displaying a 'Red Line of Death' and not booting – reminiscent of the 'Red Ring of Death' visited upon some unfortunate Xbox 360 owners (myself included).

The Redditor tells us that they played five minutes of No Man's Sky before noticing an update for the Steam Machine, which they installed — and then the device fell over.

Well, the Steam Machine was pretty cool for the 20 minutes that it worked from r/steammachine

Post-update it failed to boot, and the owner was left looking at a red light on the right-hand side of the Steam Machine's light bar. After a bit of digging, it was discovered that this indicates a 'GPU failure', as per Valve's troubleshooting info on the Steam Machine's LED.

The owner has contacted Valve for help, but at the time of writing, support hasn't yet got back to them (or at least they haven't updated the Reddit thread with the details of what's happening).

This isn't quite a sole complaint, as there's another report of a GPU failure with the Steam Machine on the Steam Forums. But clearly, we shouldn't go running for the hills in panic that this is going to be Valve's very own 'red ring' controversy that casts a hellish blight across this hardware launch just yet.

Analysis: faulty KITT

While talk of the Redditor's Steam Machine being 'bricked', meaning permanently dead, is premature, it's not clear where things might go from here. Given that in the Redditor's case it happened after an update, perhaps it's reversible (the other post on Valve's forums, where the PC immediately failed on first boot, sounds more definitively terminal).

In both cases, though, a GPU failure doesn't sound good, and while it may be possible to resolve that via poking around and attempting a recovery with the PC, the buyer on Reddit is wisely awaiting instructions from Valve's support team.

I'm betting this will be a return in the end (with both PCs), and I think that's for the best, as I'd be worried if a device I bought had an initial problem like this, as I'd fear that it's something that might resurface later on.

Of course, some point out that the problem is that furnishing the purchaser with a new unit may not be a speedy process, given the limited stock of the Steam Machine so far. But Valve will obviously have some contingency plans in place for potential returns, as they will inevitably happen.

That's another thing to make clear here: just because we've seen a Red Line of Death (well, two) doesn't mean everyone should be panicking about the quality of Valve's hardware. There will be a percentage of faulty devices, that's just reality, and currently, we have just a pair of reports.

If these problems keep on coming, though, that's obviously a different matter, and we could be looking at a more difficult situation for Valve. Time will tell, but for now, let's stay well clear of the mentioned hills.

At any rate, at least the red line looks a lot cooler than the red ring. It reminds me of KITT in Knight Rider, or the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica, though the light really should be pulsing from side to side, of course.

Gaming has officially reached its worst state in decades after PlayStation announced it will ditch game discs for PlayStation consoles starting in 2028.

It comes very shortly after Rockstar Games and its most anticipated game, arguably of all time, GTA 6, opened pre-orders.

Why is that relevant, you may ask? Well, in case you've missed it, there will be no discs available for 'physical' copies of GTA 6. Essentially, buying the highly anticipated game digitally or the physical edition at retailers means you won't have a hard copy of the game, as the latter comes with a code in a box.

Frankly, it's a reach to even suggest that GTA 6 has a physical edition at all, as a code in a game case definitely isn't a physical copy — and that's what makes things even more ridiculous.

Rumors recently suggested that there would never be any disc of GTA 6, and after PlayStation's disastrous announcement, it's safe to say that those rumors are accurate. We're not focusing exclusively on GTA 6 here, but if you're wondering what the future of gaming will look like from 2028 and beyond, GTA 6 is the example.

The PlayStation 'monopoly-like' behaviour begins

To put it simply, that example of GTA 6 means that all of the games purchased from the year 2028 and beyond on PlayStation consoles will no longer be owned by consumers, because digital purchases are actually licenses.

That's a huge issue for several reasons. If PlayStation wanted to revoke a user's access to a game, it could do so at any time, which we've recently seen with the removal of over 500 movies from user libraries without refunds. If a user loses their account from an unwarranted ban (or even by being hacked), then their digital purchases are effectively gone for good.

With this in mind, Sony's behaviour feels very monopolistic. Of course, gamers can still choose to buy third-party games on other platforms, but since Sony has reportedly tried to make certain games like Crimson Desert a timed exclusive (reported by Forbes), and it's now cutting off another avenue of purchasing games, it comes across as unfriendly to gamers, even if its moves aren't exactly illegal.

Physical copies have always allowed consumers to buy, resell, or borrow games and get their hands on cheaper copies at retailers, whether brand new or second-hand.

The latter is what gives stores like CeX, Game (in the UK), and GameStop purpose, letting consumers find games that they didn't want to pay full price for at launch, or buy games for retro systems like the PS1 or PS2, since the libraries from those game consoles are severely limited on PS5 (and some are only available via streaming).

Since the PlayStation Store will soon be the only place to buy games on PlayStation consoles, consumers will effectively be forced to pay high prices for most titles — including both PlayStation exclusives and third-party games that have been available for years already.

The examples are clear to see above; GTA 5 is a 2013 game that has received multiple re-releases from PS3 to P55, and somehow still costs $39.99 / £59.99 / AU$89.95. The same applies to Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, a 2022 game, which costs $49.99 / £44.99 / AU$74.95, and the list goes on.

At CeX, GameStop, and multiple other video game retailers, games of their caliber will cost significantly less, without needing a sale or discount to make them affordable for consumers.

That affordability is seemingly what Sony is also trying to eliminate alongside game ownership. Streamlining all PlayStation game purchases to its PlayStation Store ensures you can't find a cheaper deal for a game anywhere else. If that doesn't sound monopolistic, then I don't know what does.

Sure, there will likely still be cheaper options via video game retailers for 'physical' games with a code in a case. However, the fact that discs will no longer exist for games will instantly discourage gamers from opting for those so-called 'physical' editions, since ownership will be out of the equation.

It's always been more expensive to pay for games digitally than it has been to buy them second-hand — especially with constant price increases and few steep discounts — and once second-hand games are gone in 2028, there will be no going back.

To make matters even worse, Sony is also shutting down the PS3 and PS Vita stores in 2027, leaving PS3 and PS Vita owners with no possible way to purchase any of the games on those two platforms.

Announcing such a drastic move at the same time as informing gamers that discs will cease to exist on PlayStation does the exact opposite of instilling faith in consumers that buying digitally is the right move.

When the PS5 or any other future PlayStation console eventually becomes a retro console, Sony may very well do the same thing and close the platform's store. Without discs or hard copies of games, you can essentially kiss them goodbye for good.

The warning signs have been there all along; physical media, specifically within the gaming industry, has seen a steady decline over the years, with publishers and game studios of particular games opting for digital releases, and on some occasions, later releasing physical editions.

As Hideo Kojima, a veteran gaming designer, once said, "eventually, even digital data will no longer be owned by individuals on their own initiative". That reality is now here — and unless gamers stand up to Sony's anti-consumer practices now, it'll be too late once 2028 arrives.

• Video game retailers have voiced concern over Sony's move to axe physical PlayStation game copies in 2028
• Game has stated that it 'won't sit idly by' and fully supports physical game ownership
• The move from Sony puts multiple video game retailers at risk of closure

Sony has dropped an absolute bombshell on the gaming industry, with the announcement that PlayStation will no longer produce discs for physical game copies starting in 2028, and that hasn't sat well with consumers or retailers.

Multiple video game retailers have reacted to Sony's PlayStation disc elimination, condemning the move in support of consumers and physical game ownership. Notably, the video game retailer, Game, released a statement on X (translated from Spanish), highlighting its frustration with the case.

"Regarding the latest news: our silence is over. Video game lovers, it is time to defend what matters to us," a relevant statement from Game, that comes amid the movement, Stop Killing Games, that coincides with the issue surrounding game ownership once multiplayer games go offline.

"The latest decisions we are seeing in the industry deeply worry us, because they affect everyone who understands video games as something more than a downloadable file. We are not going to sit idly by. Digital and physical [games] can coexist; in fact, they have been doing so for years."

Another video game retailer, Loot Box Gaming, has taken to X, stating: "Shall we start with PS+ cancellations for today? It's just voting with your wallet. These companies will feel the pressure if their finances drop."

It doesn't stop there, however, as yet another independent video game retailer, VGP Video Game Plus, said: "Oh f**k! To be continued", which sums up a lot of people's frustrations.

Sony's decision to end physical copies doesn't just impact consumers and the ability to own a hard copy of a video game, but it also severely impacts businesses such as Game, CeX (both primarily in the UK), and Gamestop.

It's just PlayStation for now, but the likelihood of Microsoft following suit is very high, especially with the rumors suggesting the next Xbox console will effectively be a gaming PC. This is a very dire situation for retailers and consumers, and if Sony doesn't reverse its decision, it could drastically change gaming forever.

Without access to physical game copies, consumers leave their ability to access their games at the discretion of PlayStation. This is problematic as Sony can revoke user access to media (in this case, games) at any time and has recently done so when it removed movies from user libraries.

This move also reduces consumer options - with physical games you could shop around, even buy a game second-hand. Now, it's likely that it will only be Sony that you can buy digital games from, which allows the company to set prices without competition.

What's worse is that in some cases (i.e game sharing), if you lose access to the internet, you can no longer play the games you've purchased, something that can be solved with a physical copy — and if that privilege is gone for good, any sense of video game copy ownership could be a thing of the past.

PlayStation has announced that it will end the production of disc releases after more than 30 years of physical games, confirming that everything that you buy will be digital-only from January 2028 onwards.

There will inevitably still be some new games on sale in stores, but likely only empty cases containing printed download codes. It's devastating news for physical game collectors and those skeptical of digital ownership, but also likely to sting for all PlayStation fans.

There's nothing quite like the feeling of getting your hands on a physical game and almost everyone will have a favorite, not to mention fond memories of scrounging money to buy them or receiving them as gifts as a kid.

That's why I've asked every PlayStation gamer on the TechRadar team to look back on some of their favorite physical releases for a final, teary-eyed send-off.

Hidden secrets revealed

I’m all for great cover art, but the PlayStation case I’ll always remember is that of the original Metal Gear Solid from 1998. That’s because the back of it contained a crucial clue for the game that stumped me for an embarrassing amount of time.

“You should contact Meryl by Codec,” Colonel Campbell says at one point during the stealth classic. “Wasn’t her frequency written on the back of the CD case?” It took a few hours (possibly days) for me to realise that he meant the game’s physical case, where a tiny screenshot reveals that life-saving frequency.

As much as I enjoyed fighting Psycho Mantis and creeping around under cardboard boxes, it was this moment that made me doff my cap to the game’s designers — and it’s sadly the kind of dovetailing between games and the physical world that just won’t be possible from 2028.

Mark Wilson, Managing Editor, News

Please insert disc 2

I've been on one PlayStation or another for around 25 years. I've got fond memories of unwrapping physical releases, poring over manuals and physical maps of digital locations, and I'm genuinely emotional at the prospect of the era of physical releases, buying resold games cheaply, and owning your own damn games (not just the license) coming to an end.

Perhaps my favorite physical disc memory is playing through Final Fantasy 9 while sharing a controller with my friend. I was around nine years old.

The party suffered Beatrix's ultimate move, the screen went black... and up came the "Change to Disc 2" message. We freaked out - I think both of us had forgotten this was a multi-disc game.

Matt Evans, Senior Editor, Fitness, Wellness & Wearables

Pour one out for the creamiest PS4 cover

I have an entire bookshelf of PS5 and PS4 games, but there’s only one with cover art that looks like a guy drowning in… cream. (I have been reliably informed that I will get in big trouble for suggesting it looks like anything else, so I leave that entirely to your own imagination.)

I’m, of course, talking about The Evil Within 2, with its striking front that depicts troubled detective protagonist Sebastian Castellanos immersed in a sea of milky fluid. He looks so peaceful, eyes shut as if asleep and his hands clasped together almost in prayer — a perfect reflection of the game's dream-world setting and undercurrent of religious themes.

It’s the kind of cover art with layers that you can only truly appreciate if you have it in your hands. There’s a creepy monster looming just over his shoulder, reaching up to pull him deeper into the nightmarish stew, and the outlines of floating skulls to really emphasize the threat.

It tells you everything you need to know about the game inside: this man is in imminent danger, and you need to get him out.

Even so, my absolute favourite detail is one that most would miss. The artwork is entirely monochrome aside from Sebastian’s wedding band, which glows gold on his ring finger. A little symbol of familial warmth and hope among all the sterile, creepy white. It’s only fitting; this is a game about going through hell to save your daughter, after all.

Dashiell Wood, Gaming Editor

Flushed to bits with Balatro Special Edition

Balatro was easily my favorite game of 2024, and even now I’ll dip in to play more — either to see how deep into a run I can venture, or to slowly chip away at Completionist++.

I picked it up digitally a little after launch, but when the Special Edition debuted with a physical disc and a handful of real cards from the game it was an immediate buy for me. Even if it meant I’d own it twice on PS5.

Admittedly the box is a little lackluster — the jokers are an odd selection, and considering it’s more of a collectible I would have loved a retro-style book insert to have been included — but I do love the cover art despite its simplicity, and I mostly saw picking up the game again as just a way to show the LocalThunk-made masterpiece some well-deserved extra appreciation!

(P.S. Bonus shoutout to the holographic cover art of Kingdom Hearts 2 on the PS2, that, combined with the Tetsuya Nomura-drawn art, was peak 2006-cool).

Hamish Hector, Senior Staff Writer

RIP Rockstar's iconic maps

Ironically, some of my favorite physical releases have been from one of the companies that’s being partially blamed for this disc-less future: Rockstar.

Rockstar’s move to not include an actual disc in the ‘physical’ release of GTA 6, instead just having a download code, means the biggest game of the generation, maybe even of all time, won’t really be having a physical release, and Sony’s announcement makes that seem especially bleak.

Buying a physical edition of a Rockstar game used to be a joy, as they often came with a fold-out map.

I used to love putting the disc in to install the game, then poring over the map, marvelling at the ever-expanding size of the titles and trying to figure out secrets and cool places to visit.

It was part of the experience, almost like you were preparing to vacation in the world. I remember doing it with the first ever GTA game on PC, right up to Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS4, which, sadly, is likely to be the last time I open a physical Rockstar game...

Matthew Hanson, Managing Editor, Core Tech

Even the ugly covers can be winners

Ico is a truly gorgeous game. The art style is absolutely perfect as an accompaniment to leading Yorda through the game’s world and fighting off the shadow monsters trying to kidnap her. And the box art in Japan and Europe nailed its atmosphere to perfection.

I owned the original cardboard case, which featured this gorgeous sleeve, an inner case with Yorda contrasted against a black tunnel and a range of art postcards conveying stunning moments from the game. Any time I slipped it open and removed the disc to place into the PlayStation, it was like I was entering the game’s mysterious castle step-by-step and made it feel like a living artwork.

Which is why it will never not be funny to me that this is the artwork Sony used to promote the game in the US. Rather than the tender, minimalist puzzler you’re actually getting, it looks like it’s advertising a straight-to-video 90s horror about a haunted windmill.

It’s the kind of embarrassing thing you whip up when you first discover Photoshop, decidedly not the kind of thing you release to a market of 300 million people, and for that I will always find it highly amusing.

Josh Russell, Reviews Editor

The best things in life are freebies

Cyberpunk 2077 is my favorite physical PlayStation game I own.

Outside of clocking hundreds of hours exploring Night City, I love it because it came with so much more than just the game’s disc, meaning my copy of Cyberpunk 2077 is a real collectors item for fans of the beloved RPG.

I enjoy collecting video game artwork and this release came with crammed with postcards, stickers, a game map, and a world compendium full of important lore. There’s something just so satisfying looking through all that whilst a game downloads, you’ve got everything you need to know about Night City in there without needing to even get out your phone.

This is a sad day for those of us who love physical video game collectibles, and even a freebie as small as a stack of postcards can make you feel like you’re buying something special. Cyberpunk 2077 has truly gorgeous aesthetics and so I’m glad I was able to get my hands on some free artwork back when I bought the game.

It’s a shame that future games might not get the same treatment.

Lucy Buglass, Senior Entertainment Writer

The last of these?

Having missed out on picking up any special editions over the PS3 and PS4 generations, it's the PS5 where I have really been able to treat myself to some special, and now favorite, physical editions of games.

Chief among them are both the collector's editions of The Last of Us titles on PS5: the WLF Edition of The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, and the Firefly Edition of The Last of US Part 1.

Not only are these spectacular editions in their own right with wonderfully arranged boxes and layouts, fantastic steel books and a host of physical goodies to peruse, they mean more to me because I couldn't get special editions of both when they first came around.

They're in a box right now due to an impending house move, but these will be front and centre in my new office shelving units when I get the chance to display them in all their glory.

Hopefully, Sony finds a way to keep collector's editions like these going, though a large part of me will be very sad that there's no actual disc inside...

Rob Dwiar, Managing Editor, Gaming & Streaming

Unboxing a beating

I’ll admit I’m not really a big collector of physical copies of games these days thanks to the ease of digital downloads.

This was different back when games used to come in cardboard boxes or stuffed DVD cases, and had things like maps or chunky manuals with extra lore in them. There is a caveat though, as throughout the PS3 and PS4 eras digital downloads for games often cost much more than their physical counterparts, leaving me with a small selection of boxed PlayStation titles — my favourite being Bloodborne.

There’s nothing more than the disc and a leaflet touting Until Dawn and The Order 1886 inside, but it’s the stark cover art that stands out, with the ‘hunter’ facing away from the viewer, saw cleaver and blunderbuss in hand, against a contrasting white-grey background.

To me this represents the grim, dark journey Bloodborne takes you on: a blood-soaked path that marked a distinct departure from the Dark Souls series while still feeling like a game only FromSoftware could nail.

The physical box gained an almost ritualistic feel for me. In the odd event that the disk wouldn’t be in my PS4, I’d have to take it out of the box with the cold, grim hunter on the front greeting me with the familiar feeling that I’ll have to slash, parry, dodge my way through Yarnham time and time again as Father Gascoigne gives me a pasting. How I hated it, how I loved it.

Roland Moore-Colyer, Managing Editor, Buying Guides

Still hanging on to this one

Without a shadow of a doubt, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is my favorite video game cover of all-time. It will forever sit at the forefront of my memory when reminiscing about the PS3.

Not only is the game itself an all-time great, but its cover art represents so much of the game’s excellence, with the very train sequence that it’s depicting later inspiring games like and Stellar Blade and even movies such as Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (even though its director swears it's not, it definitely is).

It’s sad to say goodbye to physical games, and here’s hoping that the backlash forces Sony to rethink its choice — but I’ll never forget the Uncharted 2 cover art for encapsulating just how amazing the PS3 era of gaming was.

Isaiah Williams, Staff Writer, Computing

The latest installment in Nintendo’s weird and wacky rhythm game franchise has finally landed with Rhythm Heaven Groove (known as Rhythm Paradise Groove in PAL regions). It’s a game that sticks closely to its foundations: there’s a simplistic control scheme, cartoonish art style, and a set of frankly surreal levels to sift through.

That’s not to say that Rhythm Heaven Groove brings nothing new to the table, however. There are plenty of multiplayer minigames available, and there’s a new single player mode called Beatspell, which riffs on the RPG genre.

So, is the mix of classic Rhythm Heaven charm and new content enough to place this entry among the best Nintendo Switch games? Here are my thoughts after hours upon hours of testing my skills.

More of the same — but not in a bad way

Let me begin by laying my cards on the table. I’m a long-time fan of the Rhythm Heaven series, and have poured a ton of hours into perfecting my timing on Rhythm Heaven (DS) and my personal favorite Rhythm Heaven Fever on the Wii.

I’m a sucker for the zany characters and goofy set of circumstances they find themselves in — whether that be dancing in tandem with a group of shrimp or playing badminton with a dog while piloting an airplane (yes, really).

And I’d argue that Nintendo — alongside codeveloper TNX — has re-created what made the series special effectively in Rhythm Heaven Groove. It’s a lot more of the same stuff we got before, but that’s by no means a bad thing.

A lot of the absurdism has been retained, and whether I was playing as a frog and launching my amphibian brethren off a lily pad or bouncing lemons off by biceps as a hard-core gym bro, I felt that the unorthodox appeal of what came before was still alive and breathing on Nintendo Switch.

Levels are, on the whole, pretty memorable, and while I found some to be less compelling — like using a massive hammer to crush cans, or sweeping the floor as part of a four-piece pop band — there’s plenty of personality, vibrant colors, and eccentric character designs to marvel at.

In the core solo levels, there’s a decent amount of variety too, even with the music, which spans a variety of genres, tempos, and styles. I found myself bopping my head to the tunes in Alien Alphabet — a level where you have to communicate with a chatty extra-terrestrial — as well as Hop N Slide — where you play as a computerised creature that has to jump and duck through hurdles — among many others.

If you want, you can even listen to the tracks in the Sound Studio menu, which fills out as you play through the game’s varying levels.

But let’s talk a bit about gameplay, something that there’s understandably little to discuss around. Like its predecessors, Rhythm Heaven Groove keeps things outrageously simple.

Whatever mode you’re playing, you just have to press buttons — sometimes even just one — in time with the beat. Controls are responsive and there are visual and audio cues that help you to nail your timing. You’ll either get your rhythm spot on, a little off, or straight up wrong, and this will determine how well you do in a particular level or minigame.

In the main single player levels, you can earn medals by hitting almost every note faultlessly, and this really brought the perfectionist out of me. I felt almost compelled to get a medal in every level, including the remixes, which combine multiple levels together in one brilliant collage.

You occasionally get the option to go for Perfect in some stages, which can earn you an in-game reward. This can be infuriating — but in a way that’s addictive and oh-so satisfying when you pull off a flawless run.

One minor gripe I have is that there’s no option to restart within a level when going for Perfect. For some reason, you have to jump back to the main menu, re-enter and try again. It’s a minor frustration, sure, but when you’re trying to get in the zone it can feel a tad grating.

Speaking of menus, I was slightly surprised to find that they were quite bland. The main menu is just a list, there’s little visual flair or intrigue about it. Again, this is a nit-pick, but for such a vivid and charismatic title, I expected something a little less rudimentary.

The new stuff: the good, the bad, and everything in between

Right, so despite a couple of small things, the core single player experience is very enjoyable in Rhythm Heaven Groove. But what new stuff can you sink your teeth into.

Well, perhaps the highest profile addition is the aforementioned Beatspell mode, which takes visual and gameplay inspiration from classic RPGs. By entering varying commands at different rhythms, you’re able to cast a handful of spells, including fire and water attacks, healing, and more. You must use your magic to defeat basic monsters as well as bosses, which have varying weaknesses and attack patterns.

You can level up your spells as you progress through each level, although these are reset at the beginning of each new area. It’s a neat idea, and I personally preferred to pour my points into attacking spells to defeat enemies faster — which helps you earn bonus points for a better star rating at the end of each segment. While beating your enemies is pretty easy, getting a high star rating requires consistently good timing, especially later into the campaign.

However, I wouldn’t say that Beatspell is the strongest mode ever. The levels feel pretty repetitive, and the narrative throughout the campaign failed to capture my interest. It’s very basic, and it doesn’t quite have the same quirky feel that the core levels exude.

Sure, there’s a bit more variation in terms of gameplay — you’re not restricted to one or two basic inputs and can approach levels how you see fit, but the music and enemies I encountered felt less charismatic than what the series typically delivers, making me less enthused about returning to levels and perfecting my score.

Still, some of the new additions show promise, and when my talented colleague and TechRadar Gaming Editor, Dash Wood, played the multiplayer minigames, he had an absolute blast. We loved everything here, from the catchy tunes through to the charming visuals and competitive feel, and I’m definitely going to be forcing a few friends and family members to duke it out with me.

There are more modes too, including Drum Lesson, the experimental Rhythm Toy Mode, and the Café, where you can take a break and receive tips. All in all, there’s plenty of ways to enjoy the beat-based fun in Rhythm Heaven Groove, and although I didn’t love Beatspell, the core experience alone had enough content to keep me entertained.

I liked most of the new additions overall, then, although I wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator, named Lil’ Miss Reeds. This robotic character uses text-to-speech to read menus aloud, which is a neat touch in terms of accessibility, although the voice, in my view, is pretty annoying.

Luckily, you can turn text-to-speech off in a sub-menu, which I quickly did — but again, in spite of my dislike for the robo voice, it’s a thoughtful touch. Especially given that there’s an option to describe what’s on screen as well as reading text aloud.

One final point before I wrap up, which has been a fairly big topic of discussion for this title. Although the Nintendo Switch 2 has been out for more than a year now, Nintendo decided to release this entry as an exclusive on the original Switch. In my view, this is a very sensible decision: not only is the Nintendo Switch the best-selling console in history, opening one of the more niche Nintendo franchises up to a larger player base, but the game itself is hardly the most technically demanding.

And I found performance to be consistent throughout — there were no framerate hiccups, visuals looked vibrant and relatively sharp, and controls felt responsive too, whether I was playing on my TV or using wired earbuds in handheld mode (though the latter option will be best for perfectionists due to lower latency).

So, what do I make of Rhythm Heaven Groove overall? For me, it's a continuation of everything that made its predecessors tick. With a whimsical visual style, head-bopping tunes, and zany level design, there’s plenty of the oddball rhythmic fun that we’ve come to expect from this series.

Sure, Beatspell wasn’t my favorite, and the simplistic gameplay won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you want a beat-hitting game that’s entertaining to dip into solo or with friends, this is an easy title to recommend.

Should you play Rhythm Heaven Groove?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

There aren’t all too many ways to customize your experience in Rhythm Heaven Groove, although you can switch between a few Read-Aloud settings.

There’s the option to have the narrator Read words, read and describe what’s on the screen, or deactivate the narrator altogether.

How I reviewed Rhythm Heaven Groove

I spent around 10 hours playing through Rhythm Heaven Groove. During this time, I played through the main solo levels, the Beatspell campaign, and tried out the other side modes.

The majority of the time, I played the game in TV mode, with my Nintendo Switch 2 connected to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and my Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. However, I did also dip into handheld mode a fair few times, and connected up the Sennheiser CX 80U wired earbuds to enjoy the in-game music and sounds.

More generally, I’m a long-time fan of the Rhythm Heaven series and have reviewed many video games during my time here at TechRadar. This has included plenty of Nintendo exclusive games, like Kirby Air Riders, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, and Drag x Drive.

I love every part of Splatoon... Except actually playing it — a problem the upcoming Splatoon Raiders might just fix.

In my eyes, the series’ art style is one of the best in Nintendo’s incredibly strong catalog. It has an attractive urban fantasy world populated by adorable, squid-like characters that feels both modern and fresh. The bright, shiny colors give everything a decidedly Gen Z vibe — one that’s further reinforced by the fashionable street clothes available for your in-game character to wear.

The concept of a third-person shooter all about ink is wonderfully original too, and I adore how the pristine blank stages are gradually smothered in your team’s colourful ink as matches progress. The problem, at least for me, is how incredibly sweaty the player-versus-player (PvP) side of the game inevitably becomes. Both Splatoon 2 and Splatoon 3 offered me a few weeks of fun around launch, but after a while it started to feel like the only people I matched up against had thousands of hours in the game and could destroy me in a flick of a wrist with the twitchy motion controls.

A skill issue, perhaps, but I know that I’m not alone, and it seems like Nintendo has cottoned on as well. While Splatoon 3 offered a single-player campaign, it wasn’t the most exciting, but the developer has clearly taken everything it learned from creating it, alongside the game’s roguelike Side Order DLC, and poured it into this new Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive.

Splatting solo

After playing for a few hours at a recent preview event, I can already see that Splatoon Raiders is shaping up to be the ultimate experience for those who, like me, are enamored with the series but just aren’t cut for competitive online play. Everything that I enjoyed in the main games is here, starting with the character creator.

You can choose to be either a squid-like Inkling or Octoling (an alternate species introduced in the Splatoon 2 expansion), with a few body types and hairstyles to flick through. The designs are all fantastic and aggressively on-trend.

I particularly appreciated the cute bangs available if you choose an Octoling, decked out in shiny plastic charms like a Fairy Kei model. Your options are limited at first, but there’s a decent roster of great-looking outfits to unlock and further customize your look as well.

The character you create is an anonymous mechanic, trapped on a remote island with Shiver, Frye, and Big Man (the iconic television hosts from the in-game Deep Cut broadcasts that trigger every time you log in to Splatoon 3, who it turns out also moonlight as a team of treasure hunters) after an expedition gone awry.

This island serves as your hub world, offering a little firing range and various stations where you can upgrade your gear. The base itself can be upgraded too, adding new targets to the firing range, unlocking new types of gear upgrades, and even introducing a little arcade cabinet where you can play charming retro-style mini games.

While I pored over every little detail, you’re only meant to spend a little bit of time here in between replayable missions. These drop you into surrounding islands to fight off waves of Salmonids — the rabid fish creatures from the other games’ Salmon Run co-op modes.

The shooting is as satisfying as ever, with all the most important weapon types of Splatoon 3 returning from the rapid-fire Splattershots and Dualie Squelchers to long-range options like the Jet Squelcher and Splat Charger.

Fighting fishy foes

There's a good level of enemy variety, with a good selection of basic grunts to mow down on top of some more advanced, and surprisingly tricky, types. I also spotted a handful of new arrivals, like the massive Salty Tongue — a huge, fat salmon that slides around the battlefield on a bed of evil goo and takes a good few shots to beat. Defeated foes drop glowing orange eggs, charging a gauge for a devastating special attack.

Most levels are quite large and open, with your main goal being to recover upgrade material and hidden treasures throughout. A compass guides you towards the available objectives, though eagle-eyed explorers will spot a small number of hidden detours filled with extra loot.

As in the main games, spraying on the ground coats it with a layer of bright slime that you can quickly swim through in a squid form while replenishing your tank of inky ammunition — a mechanic now used for platforming challenges to break up the fights against enemy waves. These are paired with fun little segments that see you surfing across water or floating through the air on wind currents.

It’s clear that Splatoon Raiders is intended to be more approachable than the multiplayer games. It offers three difficulty levels and isn’t particularly punishing if you do die: you retain most of what you’ve collected and can thus invest it in upgrades to make your next run easier. There’s co-op too, which lets you tackle the levels of the campaign with up to three friends if you really need a the added hands.

I’m eager for a second helping when Splatoon Raiders drops on July 23, 2026.

• A number of Steam Machine clones are now out there
• The latest is the 'Steamroller' from Meta PCs in the US
• While it has strengths over and above Valve's PC, it misses out on some key aspects, notably around its suitability for the living room

As the Steam Machine is now officially shipping — at least to some gamers who have reservations placed and paid for — we're seeing more alternatives to the best gaming PCs for those who haven't been able to secure, or simply aren't tempted by, Valve's latest hardware.

The latest Steam Machine alternative is the Steamroller (nice name) from US-based Meta PCs. Tom's Hardware reports that the Steamroller is a prebuilt featuring an AMD Ryzen 9600X processor, backed with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a Radeon RX 7600 graphics card (with 8GB of video RAM). There's a 1TB NVMe SSD for storage.

All this is packed into a micro-ATX case (the Jonsbo D32), with a 240mm AIO liquid cooler inside and a 650W power supply (gold rated).

Preorders are open now, with the Steamroller requiring you to part with $1,299 of your hard-earned cash, with units shipping from July 7 (that's about £980 / AU$1,900, although this particular machine is only available in the US).

This certainly looks like a respectable compact build for a gaming PC; however, like all of these Steam Machine alternatives or clones floating around right now, it misses the point of Valve's creation in a few key ways.

Let's look at those — and also, for balance and fairness, the strengths of the Steamroller and similar devices compared to the Steam Machine, because this isn't just a one-way street.

1. Living room suitability

To focus on the looks of a PC may seem superficial, but in the case of the Steam Machine, this is a big part of the appeal. It's an unobtrusive and inconspicuous little cube that sits on your TV stand (or elsewhere), blending in and not drawing attention to itself (or potentially annoying your partner, say, who maybe isn't as keen on gadgets and gaming as you are).

These alternative builds all fall down in terms of not being nearly as subtle as the Steam Machine. The Steamroller (or rather the Jonsbo D32 case) measures 207 x 395 x 314mm. Compare that to the dimensions of the Steam Machine, which are 156 x 152 x 162mm. The difference is a compact cube versus an admittedly small PC, but still, something heftier that looks like a computer rather than a slick gadget that happily nestles near your TV without drawing undue attention to itself.

I think Valve's achievement in keeping the size of the Steam Machine down to this level is pretty remarkable, in fact (albeit it has had an effect on performance, of course).

2. Hot hot heat

Something else Valve has thought a lot about is the thermals of the Steam Machine, again in light of that living room setting — by which I mean the device might be crammed onto a little shelf, or inside a cramped TV cabinet. Valve's engineers have considered this (as explained to Eurogamer), and ensured that the vents and cooling system are designed to mitigate potential issues around positioning.

The likes of micro-ATX cases haven't, of course, been subject to that kind of design thinking (although you could refer back to the above point — meaning they probably wouldn't fit in some of these spaces anyway).

3. Bring the noise

Coming hot on the heels (sorry) of thermals is the noise made by a PC when the graphics card is potentially running at toastier levels under more intense gaming demands. Just as with a console, you don't want your living room gaming PC to assault your eardrums with overly intrusive fan noise (especially if you have the TV volume on low, later at night).

Going by reviews, the Steam Machine is a commendably quiet device, and indeed even better than consoles in this regard (mentioning some names, I was not impressed with the PS4 Pro's noise levels; the PS5 Pro is much better, though). Obviously these alternative prebuilt PCs using desktop-class graphics cards are not going to be as quiet, and exactly what you'll get in terms of noise in taxing games could be, shall we say, undesirable.

4. Console-like experience

Speaking of consoles, another thing Valve has done with the Steam Machine is to ensure that the device provides a really slick living-room gaming experience. For one thing, that means instant sleep and wake functionality. On top of that, you also get HDMI CEC support that allows you to adjust the volume on the PC with your TV remote control (or have the TV set switch on or off automatically with the Steam Machine).

These are really convenient touches that make using the Steam Machine feel a lot more seamless, akin to the major consoles as noted. Of course, you won't get these kind of quality-of-life features with an alternative prebuilt PC. And they are invaluable, frankly, if you want to just jump on for a quick five-minute gaming session here and there.

The other side of the fence

I should clarify that I'm not having a pop at this Steam Machine alternative from Meta PCs. As noted, the Steamroller looks to be a solid build, and certainly a much better idea than, say, attempting to pick up a cheap clone from China (which is a very bad idea in my opinion, in case you were wondering). And it actually has a few advantages over the Steam Machine in certain areas, too.

For starters, the Steamroller offers considerably faster performance for your PC games, mainly due to the beefier (desktop-class) GPU. However, given the asking price, the RX 7600, while certainly an upgrade on the Steam Machine's (discrete but laptop-class) custom RDNA 3 graphics card, feels a touch stingy. Other Steam Machine alternatives have gone with meatier upgrades to the likes of the RX 9060 XT, which will obviously provide even higher frame rates.

The Steamroller is also more flexible in terms of upgrades. You can swap out the GPU in the future, for example, or indeed do anything you can with a typical PC. With the Steam Machine, you can only upgrade the RAM or storage (and even then, a memory upgrade is seemingly annoyingly fiddly).

Those are very real benefits for the Steamroller (and its ilk), obviously, especially the additional performance. But the real point of the Steam Machine is to be a system that takes over living-room gaming, and works in a seamless way in that environment — bringing your existing Steam games library to the big-screen TV, enabling you to play in a more relaxed and convenient couch-based setting. And in that respect, these Steam Machine clones are missing some big parts of the picture.

• Dbrand made a Companion Cube case for the Steam Machine
• It was a tribute to the Companion Cube from Portal, and a popular idea
• Unfortunately, Dbrand went ahead and made this product without any permission from Valve, and so had to withdraw it from sale today

Dbrand has announced that its fancy case for the Steam Machine that made Valve's gaming PC look like a Companion Cube from Portal has been pulled from sale.

Why? Because, rather unfathomably, as Dbrand explained on Reddit, it didn't ask permission from Valve to make and sell this creation.

Dbrand said: "We launched around 3am on Monday, June 22nd. Overnight, it [the Companion Cube case] became the second-fastest selling product in our 15-year history, behind only the Switch 2 Killswitch."

"Shortly after, Valve's legal team reached out. They stated that the Companion Cube is Valve intellectual property, for which Dbrand does not have a license. They requested we take down the product and launch film immediately. This was entirely within their rights, and they were direct, fair, and respectful throughout."

Dbrand complied, while launching an appeal to Valve to see if there was "any way to keep the project alive: properly licensed, with their blessing, on their terms".

The short response was no, although Dbrand concedes: "Given our backwards approach of building first and asking permission later, it was a fair answer."

And that is the story of a $130 hard-shell Steam Machine case ($99 for the 'poverty' version) that was never meant to be. Refunds are being issued today, June 29, 2026, for anyone who ordered a Companion Cube case.

Analysis: permission denied

This whole episode is suitably baffling considering that Dbrand apparently put over a thousand hours of engineering into making the Companion Cube, ensuring the Steam Machine fit into it perfectly, and developing 44 sets of injection-molding tools in the process. Not to mention hiring out a university campus as the set for the launch video.

Dbrand says: "By the end, we were losing money on every $99 Poverty Cube sold, but it didn't matter. This had turned into a passion project for the entire organization."

As you can imagine, there are a lot of bemused (or indeed amused) gamers on the Reddit thread calling Dbrand stupid, which the company freely admits is true. One Redditor says: "You had two jobs! Ask Valve, and make the thing."

Another asks: "How on Earth did you think you would be able to sell this thing without getting permission from Valve...???"

Well, yes. It's a good point. Some argue that Dbrand might have wanted to build up some publicity and show off all the pre-orders to persuade Valve to be more likely to say yes, but that theory falls apart because the company forgot to ask Valve – at all.

Amidst the (rightfully) withering criticisms are more than a few disappointed punters who are actually canceling their Steam Machine (they say) because they won't be able to put the gaming PC in Dbrand's enclosure.

Obviously that's a subjective matter, but I'm not seeing the appeal at all personally. The Companion Cube made the Steam Machine a good deal chunkier (when the idea is that it's a low-profile, unobtrusive living room PC), and while very nicely made by all accounts, it pushed the price up even further. And, despite ventilation obviously being considered in the design, I do wonder about the effect on the Steam Machine's cooling system on a hot day.

Still, those are all moot points now. Dbrand said this one is a "hard lesson to learn publicly," and, indeed, hopefully the company will take it to heart. It's not the first time that a Dbrand product has come off the rails like this, though. You might recall Sony sending a cease-and-desist letter, which canceled Dbrand's 'Darkplates' (faceplates for the PS5) because of the way they replicated a "protected product design". A Darkplates version 2.0 was launched with changes to address this, and it remains on sale today.

When the Darkplates were first revealed by Dbrand, it was with the prescient slogan 'Go ahead, sue us', so you've got to wonder whether this particular lesson taught by Valve is going to stick.

• Grand Theft Auto 6 is selling eight times faster on PS5 than Xbox says IGN
• Xbox disputes this, however, in a statement to Windows Central
• This potential bad news comes just as Xbox announced console price hikes

IGN has reported that, based on its internal affiliate data, Grand Theft Auto 6 preorders on PS5 are surging ahead of Xbox preorders of the game at a rate of eight to one — Xbox is now saying this is far from the full picture. Though, I have a hard time believing Xbox is doing a heck of a lot better than this data suggests.

In a statement to Windows Central, an Xbox spokesperson explained that “This doesn’t represent pre-order data. We’ve had record orders. People should wait for real data and not clicks on affiliate links."

Now, I don’t doubt that GTA 6 is selling gangbusters everywhere it’s playable, leading to “record sales.” Grand Theft Auto 5 is considered the third-best-selling game of all time — trailing only Minecraft and Tetris (though not everyone counts Tetris, as the figures aggregate several versions of the game, and you might see some places calling GTA 5 the second-best-selling of all time). So it tracks that out of the gate GTA 6 would be hugely popular too, and I expect it will only get more popular when GTA 6 Online and the PC port eventually release.

However, Xbox seeing record orders and its preorders lagging behind PlayStation’s aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, it’s no secret that the PS5 has outsold Xbox consoles this generation, so you’d expect the Sony hardware to have more GTA 6 game sales — though with estimated sales figures sitting at around 95 million for PlayStation to 35 million Xboxes, you would expect a rate of two or three to one, not eight to one.

Is something more going on here as Xbox suggests?

What's going on with GTA 6 sales?

On Xbox’s side of the argument, there are reasons not to extrapolate too much from affiliate link data.

First, people might simply be picking the game up digitally directly from Xbox’s store rather than through typical affiliate partners like Walmart, Argos, and Amazon. Given that GTA 6’s physical edition is functionally identical to the digital version — as there’s no disc, just a download code in a plastic case — there’s little to no advantage to buying from a retail store.

And given Xbox's digital gaming focus with services like Game Pass and multi-platform gaming across consoles, PCs, and PC handhelds (even if GTA 6 doesn’t look set to be a Play Anywhere title at launch), it makes sense that Xbox gamers would be more comfortable (and possibly more likely to shop) at Xbox’s own store compared with PS5 gamers and PlayStation's store.

What’s more, affiliate data doesn’t necessarily mean sales. IGN hasn’t said much on what exactly its data is based on, but if it's affiliate link clicks (as the Xbox spokesperson suggests it is), then that doesn’t necessarily mean the PS5 version is selling eight times more copies, just that links for the PS5 version are eight times more popular.

Gamers could simply be clicking on them more but then not buying the game, or clicking a few times before making a purchase, though I’m not sure why you wouldn’t expect Xbox and PlayStation gamers to be equally flaky on a post-click purchase.

The only final piece of support for Xbox would be if IGN’s audience skewed more towards PlayStation at a rate disproportionate to the overall population’s two- or three-to-one.

Though as a general gaming outlet rather than one dedicated to either side of the aisle, I don’t see that being the case — all I could see happening is IGN’s audience of gaming enthusiasts could be more likely to own both an Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 console, and then with Sony’s promise that GTA 6 “plays best on PS5” they’d be more likely to pick up a copy for Sony’s hardware compared with Xbox’s.

All that’s to say, while IGN’s stats might not be entirely accurate to the final picture, I don’t doubt that PS5 sales of GTA 6 are blowing Xbox’s out of the water. And even if current sales aren’t quite eight-to-one, I wouldn’t be surprised if sales trend in that direction.

My argument here is Xbox consoles are set to get a major price hike effective August 1, 2026, putting the Series X at $749 for the all-digital, and $899 for the disc drive equipped model (price increases outside the US are yet to be confirmed) — a sharp raise on the previous costs of $599 and $649 respectively which are the identical to the equivalent PS5 models.

Sony may announce similar hikes itself — it isn’t immune to the cost increases hitting the whole industry, though its drastically better sales may help it weather the storm for a little longer — but until it does, the PS5 looks like a much better deal. If casual gamers still rocking a last-gen console finally want to upgrade so they can play GTA 6, there will be a clear winner: the PlayStation 5.

There’s still a lot of time before Grand Theft Auto 6’s eventual November 19 release date (I’ll be ready for another delay until it’s actually in my hands), but I don’t think Xbox’s fortunes will turn around dramatically by then.

• Valve's Steam Machine has seemingly sold out straight away in Japan
• Reservations are going for up to $3,000 in the US on eBay
• If you're tempted to look at cheap alternatives from Asia given all this, be very cautious around that idea

Given the price of the Steam Machine (and some other wrinkles with the device) it's not surprising that many gamers are looking for alternatives, but you need to be careful in that regard – although you may find it difficult to believe that some people are willing to pay a lot more than the official MSRP for Valve's gaming PC.

Before we come onto the tale of how much scalpers are reselling Steam Machine reservations for, the cautionary development is the likes of what appear to be super-affordable Steam Machine clones being offered over in China.

A prime example posted on Reddit is a white Steam Machine copy which claims to be built around a Ryzen 5 5500 processor with 16GB of DDR5 RAM, alongside an AMD RX 6750 GRE graphics card with a 2TB SSD. This is selling for the equivalent of $688 in China, so compare that to what Valve's charging for the Steam Machine with 2TB of storage: $1,349 in the US.

So, on the face of it, you're looking at not far off half the price for the Chinese clone PC, but there are a fair few weighty caveats attached which I'll come back to in a moment.

Meanwhile, while there are those searching for a bargain alternative to the official Steam Machine, at the other end of the spectrum there are those willing to pay something like double the asking price to secure one of the initial Steam Machine models to roll off the production lines.

As TweakTown noticed, there are people trying to resell their reservations for a Steam Machine on eBay. In case you didn't realize, Valve offered the chance to reserve a spot to purchase its gaming PC (using a randomized lottery system, rather than first-come-first-served), and some successful folks are effectively selling their place in the line.

Some of these auction listings are up for sale at approaching $3,500 over in the US (for the 2TB model), and TweakTown notes there appears to be a confirmed sale at $2,800. It's difficult to believe someone would pay that much, but it's seemingly true (unless the seller is engaging in shenanigans somehow).

On top of that, Notebookcheck.net highlighted another apparent indication of the popularity of the Steam Machine as Valve readies to open pre-orders (for those with a reservation). In actual fact, the device is already on sale in the Asian market, and the PC has already sold out in Japan. Seemingly retailer Komodo Station put the Steam Machine straight onto its shelves (rather than using a reservation system), and the PCs didn't hang about for long before they vanished.

Analysis: reasons to be fearful

There's certainly a level of demand for the Steam Machine, then, although this could, and indeed I'd argue it's likely to be, a reflection of stock levels as much as it is demand. Nonetheless, there are disgruntled gamers over in Japan complaining on social media that they can't get a device.

This is also reflected in the apparent eBay prices for reservations in the US, although there's an important point to note here: most of these haven't sold (yet). In case you were mulling this route, bear in mind that you are placing a lot of trust in the seller to fulfil your order in the end. It's not an approach I'd recommend, and neither is buying a Steam Machine clone from Asia because it seems like a bargain and a half.

What are the dangers of the latter? Well, mainly that you don't really know what you'll be getting. If we take the highlighted example of the Chinese PC on Reddit above, there are some notable red flags with the listing, including that the Ryzen CPU is paired with DDR5 RAM that the platform it runs on (AM4) doesn't support.

On top of that, the RX 6750 GRE is a relatively chunky GPU, as several Redditors point out, and it seems highly unlikely that it'll fit in the chassis which is pictured for the device. What about the thermals, cooling solution, and fan noise, too? I'd be especially worried on those fronts.

Who knows: maybe you'll get a much larger box than the illustrated case, or components that are different to those advertised. I'm not saying this will necessarily be the case with the example product shown, but this is the concern with all of these kinds of offers from Asia, and it's why I'd take a hard pass on any such buying opportunity when it's being shipped outside of China.

Remember, there's the added cost of importing the PC to be considered as well, not to mention that if the device goes wrong or runs overly hot and unstable, then good luck with the returns process. There's also the potential security risks of a PC from an unknown vendor over in China that might be loaded with a dodgy version of SteamOS to trap the unwary.

In short, there are potential pitfalls aplenty, and if you want a more affordable alternative to the Steam Machine – or a living room PC with more performance and bang-for-buck like the so-called 'Stim Machine' – then buy something locally, and from a trusted (national) retailer.

Or just take the DIY path and build your own Steam Machine, which is the other option available to those who are unimpressed with Valve's pricing. Of course, you have to bear in mind that the RAM crisis – which forced up the price of the Steam Machine in the first place – will make this a much trickier endeavor than it would have been a year ago. There are also elements of Valve's PC that a DIY build won't be able to replicate, such as HDMI CEC support.

Sometimes I feel like the only person who actually liked Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. Sure, the old third-person shooter isn’t exactly the most fun to play — but that’s entirely the point.

It’s the gory swansong of two disgusting men, presented entirely through the low-res lens of a handheld camcorder that intentionally leaves you disoriented as you navigate the towering concrete skyscrapers of Shanghai. The game does everything it can to overwhelm, with its fragmented plot told almost entirely in a language that you can’t even understand.

The whole experience is devoted to being as unapologetically miserable as possible, and that’s exactly what makes it so alluring. Like a grimy slasher movie, you just can’t look away. In my eyes, there’s never really been an experience quite like it. That is until now.

Pure rage

When an ad for Better Than Dead came across my Instagram feed, I instantly knew it was just what I’ve been looking for. The camcorder perspective is the most obvious similarity, although unlike Kane & Lynch 2, the camera in Better Than Dead is being held by the protagonist, so everything unfolds in first-person.

The storytelling is just as raw. The game opens on a visual of a bright blue sky, distorted by the fisheye lens and film grain effects. This serene scene is nothing more than a clever visual trick, a poster plastered to the wall of the cell where our young woman protagonist has been confined.

You look around to discover a mattress covered in blood, gross scraps of discarded food, a filthy squat toilet, and an alluring side table bathed in light from a little lamp.

On it, you find a pistol, accompanied by an unknown message in Chinese and a drawing of a bird fleeing a cage. You don’t need a translation to know the stakes: something horrible is happening here, and this gun is your only way to escape.

From there, your rampage begins, sprinting through the corridors of what turns out to be a dodgy porn studio, gunning down members of the triad before eventually bursting out onto the street.

After this, each level has you infiltrating other triad-affiliated locations, like seedy restaurants or shifty back alleys, to take out every gang member in sight. It’s paced almost like a first-person Hotline Miami, with dense layouts and tricky enemy placements that require at least a few goes to learn the ropes, and an emphasis on speed and brutality.

You’ve got a slick slide that helps dodge incoming fire and offers a sliver of bullet time — vital for success as you die in just two hits.

Back for more

The gunplay isn’t exactly simple, though. Although our protagonist is fueled by pure rage, she’s still untrained with firearms, with swaying hands that make it difficult to land hits on target. Mercifully, ammunition is unlimited, so dumping a whole magazine in the general direction of enemies is the way to go.

Can it be frustrating? Incredibly, but that only increases the satisfaction of pulling off the perfect massacre. Throw in the fact that the game isn’t afraid to touch on some pretty dark subject matter, and I’m feeling the same rush that had me so in love with Kane & Lynch 2.

I can’t fault the presentation either. If you can look past the crude menu UI, the total lack of on-screen icons in the game lends the action a cinematic, realistic feel. The strong camcorder effects and wise decision to pixelate characters’ faces (facial animation is usually a sticking point for lower budget games) do a great job of smoothing out the visuals. Squint, and you could even mistake what’s on screen for real video footage.

The sound design is impeccable as well. Gunfire is meaty, and enemies scream in pain when they’re shot, often dropping to the floor and twitching a little before you finish them off. Given that all of this comes from a solo developer and costs just $14.99 / £13.75 / AU$ 20.95, it’s a pretty impressive achievement.

Better Than Dead is currently in early access via Steam and is receiving frequent updates. There are only a handful of levels now, but in the time I’ve owned the game, the developer has already added the start of a hub world with a handy practice firing range and is constantly tuning things based on player feedback.

Kayne and Lynch 2 fans (I know there are potentially dozens of us out there), this is one to watch.

Final VR3000 EX for Gaming: two-minute review

The Final VR3000 EX for Gaming is a multi-platform gaming headset aimed at the more affordable end of the gaming market. It offers a low-latency connection, a fold-to-mute mic, and spatial audio for a much more manageable price than many of the premium pads on the market. But does it deliver on everything it promises?

The Final VR3000 EX for Gaming’s build isn’t bad, all things considered. I’m not a huge fan of the plastic on its earcups or how rattly it can be — both make it feel a bit cheap and flimsy — while the adjustable headband doesn’t really go tight enough for people with smaller heads. But the fabric section of the headband and the faux leather cups are really comfortable: despite a tiny bit of sweatiness, I found them comfortable enough to wear for the best part of a day.

Sound quality on the VR3000 EX is really solid: trebles feel crisp enough to give everything real immediacy, while the mids have sufficient clarity that I could easily differentiate the different roars of demons I gunned my way through in Doom. The only area where I’d say the headset doesn’t quite match pace with the best wireless gaming headsets out there is bass. It would be nice if guns had a little more boom — unless I’ve really misunderstood, the F in BFG9000 does not stand for ‘feeble’.

On paper, the VR3000 EX has some pretty great features for its price point, but I found this was the point it really struggled to deliver. Although Final talks a good game about the headset’s spatial audio, in practice the only dimension I really found had strong differentiation was left / right, with noises behind me being harder to pinpoint and there seemingly being no height effect that I could detect at all.

The headset’s Footstep Clarity Mode is a similar story. While creeping around the Dust II map on Counter-Strike 2, I found detecting the footfalls of rivals to be pretty easy, which is great. However, I couldn’t really appreciate a significant difference in this, whether the mode was enabled or not. It seems churlish to complain about this, given footsteps were still easy to hear, but I’m just not sure how much this feature actually adds.

I will give Final less faint praise over the headset’s foldaway mic though. Testing it out, I found it did a pretty creditable job of picking up my voice and its fold-to-mute functionality worked well to stifle the recording, even though there was a slight lag of a little under a second for it to kick in. However, it doesn’t seem to have a near-field mic or significant noise gating, as when it was recording it absolutely picked up the background music I was playing and the clack of my keyboard.

And whatever quibbles I may have about the VR3000 EX’s other features, I was pretty blown away by its battery life. During my battery tests, I found that Final was pretty on the money with its 55-hour estimate for this headset. That blows even many more premium headsets out of the water for longevity and means you’re unlikely to need to charge it more than once a week, even if you’re gaming for a significant proportion of each day.

Everything is relative. Given its price, I’d usually be pretty generous with the Final VR3000 EX for Gaming. And it doesn’t get everything wrong: it has decent enough mids and trebles and a good stereo field. But bass is pretty lacking and many of the features it professes to have are almost imperceptible. In light of that, I’d argue another budget option like the Corsair HS55 Wireless might serve you better instead.

Final VR3000 EX for Gaming review: price & release date

• Launched on December 12, 2025
• List price of $149.99 / £99.99 / $259
• But it’s already on sale for £69.99 in the UK

Released on December 12, 2025, Final VR3000 EX for Gaming is available now. While it originally went on sale at a list price of $149.99 / £99.99 / $259, it’s already showing up for a fair amount less in some regions. You can currently pick it up for as little as £69.99 in the UK, which is a pretty low price for a gaming headset.

As for your options at that price, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that there’s not a whole load of customizability and it only comes in one colorway, black. On the plus side, there aren’t loads of different versions for different platforms: the one version of the VR3000 EX is compatible with PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC, although unfortunately there’s no Xbox Series X / S compatibility.

Final VR3000 EX for Gaming review: specs

Final VR3000 EX for Gaming review: design / features

• Comfortable to wear
• Not all materials feel that premium
• Epic battery life
• Quite loose fitting

Given its price, it’s not surprising that the Final VR3000 EX’s build quality seems a little on the cheap side. Not only does the textured plastic on their cups feel pretty low quality, but they are incredibly rattly when you handle them, which doesn’t speak to a tremendously robust construction. On the plus side, they didn’t seem to rattle at all when they were on my head.

Additionally, the fabric headband and faux leather earcups are delightfully soft, meaning I actually found the VR3000 EX to be surprisingly comfortable. I wore them on and off for much of a day, and they didn’t start to squish my ears, a problem I’ve always found with cheaper headphones and headsets. However, I will say the faux leather gets decidedly sweaty during longer use, particularly during tense first-person shooters.

I’m less convinced by the VR3000 EX’s fit, unfortunately. While the clamping force feels just about right, it’s not all that easy to adjust the stiff adjustable headband while the headset is on your dome. And Final seems to have modeled this headset around Mr Mackey from South Park — I have a pretty big head and yet the VR3000 EX only just about felt stable on the shortest setting, while one of my smaller-skulled colleagues definitely found he couldn’t get it small enough for it to feel comfortable.

All of its controls are on the left earcup. There’s an on switch, the volume dial, a Mode button that lets you switch between Bluetooth and USB mode — as well as play/pause media and answer/end calls — and the Control button, which allows you to trigger Footstep Clarity Mode. Each button has a clicky enough action to provide decent tactile feedback, while the volume dial is lightly notched to make increasing the volume feel nicely precise. However, I will say that they’re positioned close enough that it’s not always easy to know right away which button is which by feel alone.

The app for the Final VR3000 EX is pretty limited. It has three features: it enables you to update the headset’s firmware, switch on Footstep Clarity Mode, and provides access to Final’s EQ settings. While it’s hard to justify using the app just for the Footstep Clarity Mode, the 10-band EQ that’s included is pretty decent, even if I’m not all that convinced that the impact of the lowest 31Hz is really that appreciable. So while it’s not like you need to rush to download this, it’s still useful so I’ll count this one as a bonus.

A far more unequivocal win for the VR3000 EX though is its battery life. Final quotes its total life as being up to 55 hours, and this was borne out by my testing. I set it streaming music constantly for six hours, and during that time the battery only dropped to 90% — a back-of-the-envelope calculation would put its total life at 60 hours. So even factoring in that battery discharge curves aren’t necessarily regular, I’d say 55 hours is a perfectly reasonable expectation for how long this headset should last you.

Final VR3000 EX for Gaming review: performance

• Good sound performance, even if bass is weaker
• Spatial audio claims totally overblown
• Not sure Footstep Clarity mode adds much

Design and features are all well and good. But where the rubber meets the road for a gaming headset is whether those things translate into a good sonic performance in-game. And, sadly, when you actually take the Final VR3000 EX for Gaming for a test drive, it doesn’t quite deliver on the expectations it’s set for itself.

The VR3000 EX sounds very decent, but it is a little uneven in how it handles the balance of frequencies. On the plus side, it has a good level of bite in the high-end. The screams of the possessed when I was playing Doom were immediate enough to be rattling, while the whine of my chainsaw as I carved up imps felt sufficiently realistic.

But it’s when it comes to bass that the VR3000 EX is a little more lacking. When I tested the Turtle Beach Atlas 200, I heaped praise on it for the almighty boom that issued when I was clicking heads with the sniper rifle in Counter-Strike 2. With the VR3000 EX, it almost felt like I was playing a different game, with the game’s rifles having scarcely any more impact than my dual Berettas. While that has a very limited impact on your kill ratio in-game, it does make the whole thing feel a lot less immersive.

Speaking of, Final spends a lot of time hyping up the VR3000 EX’s spatial audio skills in its product description. And yet I’d say rumors of its immersiveness have been greatly exaggerated.

On the one hand, the VR3000 EX has a pretty creditable stereo field, with action occurring on either side of me always feeling pretty easy to pinpoint. Whether I was trying to spot where an inbound explosive engineer was charging from or fleeing from hell knights in Doom, the VR3000 EX generally made it easy to tell which side their howls and roars came from.

Unfortunately, I can’t say Final’s headset fares as well in other dimensions. There’s just enough variation in footsteps in front and behind you that I could tell which was which when giving it my full attention — but in the heat of battle, I’m not sure how useful I actually found these subtle cues. And while Final explicitly mentions height effects on its site, I could not spot any significant difference at all between action happening above me and gunfights happening right under my nose.

Honestly, that’s fine: I do not expect accomplished Dolby Atmos-style effects from hardware that costs roughly the same dough as a couple of AAA computer games. But I do wish brands would stop denuding the term spatial audio of its meaning by using it as a marketing gimmick.

Sadly, the VR3000 EX also treads a pretty similar path with its Footstep mode. While engaged in a free-for-all deathmatch in Counter-Strike 2, the headset did a perfectly adequate job of allowing me to pick out my rivals’ footfall and react accordingly. So far, so good, right? Except during this match I switched Footstep mode on and off many times, and I genuinely couldn’t spot whether I was actually getting an enhanced sense of steps or whether it was largely just a placebo.

One area I’ll happily give the VR3000 EX its due, though, is its connectivity. Using its USB dongle, I honestly couldn’t detect any latency between kills onscreen and the crack of gunfire. While an effective low-latency mode is pretty common with gaming headsets, it’s still a welcome feature on a headset this affordably priced. Even when connected via Bluetooth, the audio wasn’t remotely laggy and enabled me to respond pretty quickly to what was going on around me. So it definitely gets some points there.

And as long as you don’t have particularly high expectations, the VR3000 EX’s foldaway mic works well enough as well. Its action is smooth, and the fold-to-mute function absolutely works, meaning you can be sure no one is overhearing you when you want a bit of privacy — although there is a lag of around a second before it mutes, so bear that in mind. Unfortunately, though, sound quality isn’t great, with my voice sounding a little bit on the tinnier side, and there’s no noise-gating that I can tell, meaning friends and foes online will be able to hear any background chatter or music in your room.

Should I buy the Final VR3000 EX for Gaming?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if...

Final VR3000 EX for Gaming review: also consider

How I tested the Final VR3000 EX for Gaming

• Tested over a week
• Tried out on a range of titles including Counter-Strike 2 and Doom
• Have 10 years experience writing about audio and 35 of gaming

I tested the Final VR3000 EX for Gaming over the course of a week. I paired it with my desktop PC at home, my MacBook Pro M4 and TechRadar’s Acer Predator Helios 300 gaming laptop. I then tested it out with multiple titles including Counter-Strike 2 and Doom, as well as listening to some playlists on Apple Music.

In terms of specifics, I tested out the spatial audio in multiple Counter-Strike 2 deathmatches and tried switching the Footstep Clarity Mode on and off to see how much difference that made to how perceptible opponents’ positions were. I recorded myself while talking, typing, and playing music to test the VR3000 EX’s foldaway mic, as well as folding it away to test how effectively it muted incoming audio.

When it comes to my personal experience, I’ve been writing about and testing audio gadgets for over ten years now, as well as using audio gear to produce and listen to music. I’ve been playing games on a daily basis since they were all 8-bit, sharing my time pretty evenly between console, handheld and PC gaming. And yet, it turns out, I still get thoroughly mogged when playing Counter-Strike 2, which I blame on my middle-aged reflexes.

• First reviewed: June 2026
• Read more about how we test

• A French retailer has made its own version of the Steam Machine
• The 'Stim Machine' packs an RX 9060 XT GPU, which gives it far faster frame rates at the same price tag
• There are other benefits of the alternative PC, too, as well as compromises where the device loses out to the Steam Machine

With the price of the Steam Machine, we've inevitably seen a lot of chatter about alternatives, either in DIY form or with pre-builts, and here's another of the latter: the 'Stim Machine'.

VideoCardz reports that French retailer LDLC made the Stim Machine, although it has since dropped that cheeky name, but I'll still use it here, as I like it, and it's much better than the LDLC 'PC Box' which is the new (yawn-some) name.

The device follows the spec of Valve's gaming PC to a large extent, with a few key differences.

The main change is that instead of the RDNA 3 semi-custom AMD GPU that's in the Steam Machine, you're getting a current-gen (RDNA 4) RX 9060 XT graphics card. It's the 8GB model (the same loadout as the Steam Machine's GPU), but the 9060 XT has considerably more grunt under its bonnet.

The processor is the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F, a 6-core and 12-thread effort like the Zen 4 chip in the Steam Machine, and there's also 16GB of DDR5 RAM. You get a 500GB SSD (again, the same as Valve's) but with two additional SATA slots for more storage should you wish (as opposed to the microSD option with the Steam Machine).

The price is exactly the same as the Steam Machine in France if you want the retailer to supply you with the pre-built version (or you can save 4% if you just order the parts to be sent and build the rig yourself).

Analysis: Stim versus Steam – the relative pros and cons

As noted, the main difference is the RX 9060 XT, which will boost your frame rates a good deal versus the Steam Machine. Not only is the GPU considerably faster, but you also get FSR 4 with the current-gen Radeon family for better frames per second still. And there's the possibility of upgrading the graphics card in the future, which is missing with the Steam Machine.

Indeed, even upgrading the RAM on the Steam Machine is a relatively fiddly task by all accounts, as you have to remove quite a bit of the internals to get to those RAM slots. The Stim Machine also gives you those extra storage options.

Having argued the case against Valve's creation, it's only right to list the cons of the Stim Machine. For starters, while it's a Mini-ITX case and a compact PC — seemingly a SilverStone SST-SG13B Sugo case, as pointed out on Reddit – it's still quite a bit larger than the Steam Machine (11.5 liters versus 3.8 liters).

In other words, volume-wise it's three times the size of Valve's PC, and yes, it's still small enough, but part of the draw of the Steam Machine is its diminutive size that lets the device sit unobtrusively in your living room. There's also the thermals, cooling, and noise to consider regarding whacking the 9060 XT GPU in the Stim Machine, particularly in a living room setting. Valve's Steam Machine is impressively quiet, as reviews have made clear.

What alternatives to the Steam Machine are also missing are some of Valve's quality-of-life features for more streamlined (steam-lined?) operation, including instant sleep/wake functionality and HDMI CEC support (allowing your TV remote to control volume, or switch the TV set on or off with the Steam Machine). These are some really thoughtful touches from Valve.

Not forgetting that with the Stim Machine, you have to set it up and install SteamOS yourself (although the retailer does provide a guide), which could be a stumbling block for tech novices. All that's done for you with the Steam Machine, with just a simple out-of-the-box experience to navigate.

So, all in all, it's not quite such a simple face-off here, but there's no arguing that, due to it packing an RX 9060 XT, the Stim Machine will offer a lot more pep with frame rates than Valve's compact gaming PC. So if frame rate smoothness is your overriding priority, and you can put up with the mentioned trade-offs, an alternative like the Stim Machine is the the way to proceed.

What we also shouldn't forget is that whether you buy a Steam Machine, or an alternative pre-built like this one (or you go the DIY route yourself), it's a win for Valve, as it's another gamer on SteamOS — and buying software from its store, which is the real point of this living room PC. Indeed, Valve is actively encouraging folks to build their own Steam Machines if they feel that the official model is too pricey (but of course, building any computer is an uphill pricing struggle these days).

Another interesting point to note is that among the many interviews Valve's engineers have given of late, PC Gamer has a fresh nugget on the next-gen Steam Machine from Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat.

As far as a potential sequel to the PC goes, Griffais noted: "I don't think we're thinking about [the Steam Machine] with quite as long of a timeframe as something like the Steam Deck."

So, a Steam Machine 2 with more powerful innards shouldn't be as lengthy a wait as a Steam Deck sequel, but that said, Aldehayyat elaborated that it isn't just around the corner (unsurprisingly).

The next Steam Machine will happen "in line with typical PC upgrade cycles and what people typically do", and Aldehayyat said, "It's just a matter of when it makes sense to [upgrade], at what price point, at what time, on what games are available. Like if a bunch of new games come out on Steam that require more performance, that would probably make us wanna upgrade the Steam Machine faster."

• Valve has said that every Steam Machine has one stick of 16GB RAM
• This is a correction to a previous statement in which Valve engineers indicated that some models had two 8GB sticks
• There's no 'RAM configuration lottery' then, but Valve may switch to dual sticks in the future — and that could be another reason to hold fire on a purchase for some

We've learned more about the Steam Machine's RAM configuration — and I've got to wonder if the latest details spilled might convince more gamers to hold off purchasing the living room gaming PC for now.

The Verge reports that Valve has come forward to clarify that every Steam Machine has a single stick of 16GB of system memory. In an interview with the YouTube channel previously, Valve engineers had indicated that there were two possible configurations with its gaming PC: either two 8GB RAM sticks, or one 16GB module (with the latter being more prevalent).

Now Valve has told Gamers Nexus: "We misspoke here – all units will actually have one 16GB stick of RAM."

This requires a little explanation if you missed it, as there's a subtle difference between these configurations. In both cases, you are still getting 16GB of memory, but when split into two 8GB sticks you're receiving the benefit of dual-channel memory (the RAM sticks working in parallel).

Therefore gamers were miffed that they didn't know what they'd get in their Steam Machine, and if they'd get the boost from the dual-channel configuration or not (although there's more to this argument, and also a benefit of having a single stick, which I'll come back to momentarily).

At any rate, this is now all a moot point, although things could be different down the line, as in its most recent statement, Valve added: "It's possible that this might change in future builds, but the units that customers are currently signing up for will all come with one 16GB stick of RAM."

Valve actually wanted to use the configuration of two sticks of 8GB for the Steam Machine, and the reason it didn't is because the company simply couldn't source the supply levels needed — hence the switch to more plentiful 16GB modules. So, when procuring 8GB memory sticks is less of a problem, Valve will be going this route.

Analysis: a better upgrade path vs dual-channel boosts

As mentioned, there are pros and cons to both RAM configurations. If you have a pair of 8GB sticks, you get a performance boost from the dual-channel setup as noted. However, the catch is that the frame rate increase in many scenarios is not that much, and Valve argues it isn't noticeable in the main with DDR5 RAM – and I get that argument, it's fair enough.

However, as I discussed earlier this week, there are scenarios where there may be a sizeable enough performance difference, particularly away from 4K resolution, or with games which are taxing on the CPU (and concerns around additional stutter are a thorny extra issue here, too).

For me, this means that a one stick configuration is suboptimal, and I know if I was buying a Steam Machine, this setup would bug me somewhat.

That said, as some gamers are pointing out, the advantage of a single 16GB stick is that it offers room for an upgrade. This is because there are two RAM slots in the Steam Machine, and if you have a pair of 8GB modules, both are filled. Want to upgrade? You need to buy a pair of 16GB sticks and get rid of the 8GB modules (you could sell them second-hand).

On the other hand, with a single 16GB stick, all you need to do is buy a (matching) 16GB module to slot in next to it (as you have an empty slot). Therefore you're only paying for one 16GB stick rather than two (minus what you get back for selling the 8GB modules in the latter case). That's a pretty handy benefit for those who envisage topping up their Steam Machine to be a 32GB PC in the future, when games demanding that loadout become increasingly common.

However, I see a couple of issues here. Firstly, it's a fairly common scenario that people buy a PC with the intention of upgrading the RAM, and never actually bother. It's a nice idea, but then procrastination sets in, and before you know it, the device is on the way out anyway, and you're looking for a new one.

Secondly, compounding this – and reinforcing any procrastination – is the fact that it's not easy to make the RAM upgrade with the Steam Machine. Well-intentioned upgraders may be put off when they discover that you must yank out a bunch of stuff to get to the memory slots, which really isn't ideal.

I'm not sure how many gamers really will benefit from the better upgrade path to 32GB realistically, then, with the single 16GB setup – while it's clear enough what the (no effort) gains are with a pair of 8GB sticks.

So, knowing that two 8GB modules may well be the default configuration in the future – as it was always supposed to be – my thought is that this is another reason to wait on a Steam Machine. Further consider that, as Tom's Hardware flagged, we just learned that the Steam Machine was originally shaping up to be priced at or just under the $750 mark in the US, before the RAM crisis fully kicked in and threw the bill-of-materials (cost of the components) out of whack.

Now I'm wondering how many gamers, seeing that original target price of sub-$750, and these fresh details about the RAM configuration, are feeling that they'd rather wait it out and buy a Steam Machine when the PC comes back down towards its target price, running with a pair of 8GB sticks.

All this certainly seems to have introduced an increased level of reluctance for would-be buyers. As one Redditor puts it: "The more I hear, the more I want to keep my money." Although granted, in that thread, others are saying they're pleased to get a single stick of 16GB for the mentioned future upgrade reasons – I'm just not convinced this will apply to many buyers out there, versus the benefits of dual-channel.

Whatever the case, there's definitely an argument that exercising some patience, and holding off purchasing for the time being, could pay off with the Steam Machine eventually. Of course, there's always the option of building your own version of Valve's gaming PC, which is another route that some folks may well be considering as an alternative.

Microsoft has just announced that the price of the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles will increase "effective August 1, 2026" in a post on Xbox News Wire. Specifically, the company says that "The price of Xbox consoles will increase by US$100 for 512 GB models and US$150 for 1 TB models. We will also be sunsetting our 2 TB model."

We don't have confirmation on what this will mean in countries outside the US, but we know there will be changes worldwide; the question is how much.

This will make the prices of Xbox consoles in the US as follows:

So the Xbox Series S now costs the same as the Series X used to, and is the same price as the PS5 Digital Edition currently costs (though we'll see if that changes again too…).

Fortunately, you have a chance to beat the price rise at the moment — if you're in the US, Walmart has a great discount on the 1TB disc version currently.

We're getting into a real crunch point when it comes to price rises caused by the AI-driven memory crisis.

Apple has just announced a huge suite of price rises, having resisted as long as possible, and the price of the Steam Machine shocked people who were hoping for something more console-level — but Valve says the memory companies had them over a barrel, basically.

It's hard to say if the price rise coming just before the Grand Theft Auto 6 launch is a cynical move by Xbox, or if letting us know six weeks in advance, during a sales event, just after GTA 6 pre-orders went live is doing us a favor — I'm inclined to lean towards the latter.

With protagonist Fox McCloud appearing in a surprise cameo in the recent Super Mario Galaxy Movie, it’s clear that Nintendo wants to bring its niche on-rail space shooter series to a wider audience. To that end, this new Star Fox makes a lot of sense. It’s a remake of the 1997 title Star Fox 64, which is beloved by fans and a good starting point if you’ve never played one of the games before.

The problem for me is that this is far from the first time that Nintendo has brought Star Fox 64 back. I grew up with the Nintendo 3DS, and experienced it as Star Fox 64 3D. This was followed by some hands-on time with the Wii U reimagining Star Fox Zero, and then finally a playthrough of the original release when it came to Nintendo Switch via Nintendo Switch Online.

Every single mainline Star Fox game that’s come out since I was about eight years old has been a version of Star Fox 64, and now, as an adult, I’m getting yet another one in Star Fox for Nintendo Switch 2.

I really wish the gaming giant had been a little bolder with this release, adding even just a smidge of new gameplay to freshen up the old campaign. Still, Star Fox 64 is a cult classic for a reason, and thanks to its strong base, this remake is still plenty of fun to play through for what is, hopefully, one last time

Into the Lylat Wars

The premise is simple, if a little unconventional. You’re a dashing fox in a universe populated by anthropomorphic animals where civilization has managed to crack space colonization despite an apparent lack of opposable thumbs.

Rather than rooting through sci-fi bins, you’re the leader of a mercenary squad (staffed by you, the bird-like Falco, the lagomorphic Peppy, and slimy Slippy toad) that lends its services to the highest bidder — in this case an intergalactic army that’s waging war against the evil scientist dictator Andross.

Fully voiced and animated cutscenes to convey all this information are one of this remake’s biggest new additions, and they feel like a natural inclusion. They’re not super long or expansive by any means, but all flow well and are decently acted throughout even if there are a few moments where the animation can look a bit cheap.

They provide some much-needed downtime in between each of the levels, which are hectic, high-score challenges that see you steering your ship, the Arwing, through intense battles. The action unfurls in a largely on-rails format, but that doesn't mean that this isn’t a degree of strategy to it.

You can swerve all across the screen, hitting barrel rolls to deflect incoming fire and blasting your laser canons. Your craft very much exists in a 3D space, so enemies often come up behind you, requiring evasive maneuvers like somersaults or hitting the brakes.

There's a boost too, which, deployed at the right time, can see you zooming under falling debris or through closing gaps — often picking up a power-up or two in the process. It’s all remarkably smooth to control, and sections where you pilot other vehicles keep the stages feeling fresh.

Each campaign is extremely short, taking just over an hour to complete, and has you working your way through a map of the galaxy littered with 16 unique planets.

You can’t visit all of them in one playthrough, which, alongside the two main story paths, gives you plenty of reasons to replay it at least a couple of times. That said even when you bear that in mind, the experience is still pretty fleeting and doesn’t feel befitting of the $49.99 / £41.99 / AU$84.95 digital (or $59.99 / £44.99 / AU$99.95 physical) asking price.

This is especially true if you’ve played all the other versions of Star Fox 64, as you’re basically just paying for a new, admittedly quite pretty, coat of paint.

There is thankfully a new battle mode to try out, and it’s pretty good on the whole. It’s in an online 4v4 player versus player (PvP) format, with one team playing as the Star Fox squad and the other cast as their rivals Star Wolf. Each of the three maps has its own associated game mode, ranging from simple control point capture to fighting to drag limited space cargo back to base.

I’ve had a great time with it so far, though I can imagine that online populations will quickly dwindle given the small map pool. Hopefully a post-launch update will add some more.

Should I play Star Fox?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

As with most first-party Nintendo releases, the accessibility features here are thin. Subtitles are used throughout the game, though their appearance cannot be customized. You can invert the axis of the control scheme and disable features like controller rumble, but that’s basically it.

How I reviewed Star Fox

I played Star Fox on Nintendo Switch 2 for roughly eight hours, experiencing all of its major campaign routes, unlocking every planet, and trying out challenge mode.

I also dived into its multiplayer offering, using my earlier hands-on experience with other players when trying it at Nintendo HQ and testing matches against bots. I mainly played the game in handheld mode using the Joy-Con 2 controllers, though I did briefly test it in docked mode on a 4K Samsung TV to ensure the performance and Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller support is up to scratch.

First reviewed June 2026

• There's a hidden twist with the configuration of the Steam Machine's RAM
• Most devices have a single 16GB stick, but some have a pair of 8GB modules
• A single or dual configuration may not make much difference in many cases, but it can in some scenarios — and some gamers really aren't happy about this

You may be aware that the Steam Machine has 16GB of RAM, but what you may not know is that it's likely present as a single stick of 16GB DDR5 memory, rather than the preferable configuration of twin 8GB sticks — although you may get the latter.

Confused? I'll come back to that wrinkle in a moment, but in the main, it seems most Steam Machines have the single 16GB loadout, which as Digital Foundry explains is due to Valve having difficultly securing 8GB sticks of memory.

As Steam Machine engineers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat said in an interview: "It was quite literally impossible to buy 8GB [sticks], at least at the quantities we're looking to buy mostly because everybody wants higher storage, and that's more profitable, so all the capacity shifted to that."

In short, it was either go with 16GB sticks for the most part — which were in more plentiful supply — or shelve the Steam Machine project.

Why is a pair of 8GB RAM modules better? Because it makes use of dual-channel memory — essentially both sticks working in parallel — for a performance boost, which you obviously can't get with just one stick. So, your next question is likely to be: how much of a difference is there?

A dual-channel setup is nothing like twice as performant for gaming, of course, but there is a (situational) boost, although Valve's engineers argue that, by and large, it's not a noticeable one with DDR5 memory.

Aldehayyat says that these two configurations (single or dual) are "pretty comparable" in actual games, as opposed to certain benchmarks where weaknesses may show up in a more pronounced way for the single stick.

In fairness to Valve, it's true that in a lot of gaming scenarios with the Steam Machine, having all your DDR5 RAM in one block won't make any real difference, at least not one that's noticeable in terms of the smoothness of your gaming experience. That's especially true at higher resolutions where the likes of 4K puts much of the workload on the shoulders of the GPU.

However, in games which are more demanding on the CPU, that's less true, and you may find that the single stick configuration is a drag on performance, possibly hitting you with more stutter (dropping to much lower frame rates more often).

As Digital Foundry points out, an increasing number of games tax the CPU, notably heavyweight open-world titles such as Crimson Desert, or the likes of Baldur's Gate 3 or Cities: Skylines.

Analysis: single or dual lottery — although there's actually a benefit to the latter, too

Let's return to the RAM lottery twist I mentioned at the outset, which is that as explained by Griffais in a separate Gamers Nexus video (which was flagged by Wccftech), some Steam Machines have a pair of 8GB sticks (if this memory was available in certain regions at the time of production — and it doesn't sound like it was in many cases).

There could be an upside to the single 16GB loadout, mind you, and that's if you intend to upgrade the RAM in the future. With a spare memory slot, you can buy another 16GB stick to easily double up to 32GB down the line — but if you have two 8GB sticks, that can't be done (you'll need to buy two 16GB modules, and entirely replace the existing ones, at a greater cost).

So, if you're worried about all this, should you be opening your Steam Machine to check your RAM configuration, with a view to switching to a pair of 8GB sticks if you have a single 16GB module (while selling the latter)? I don't think that's a great idea, because for starters, Digital Foundry makes it clear that getting to the RAM and replacing it "requires significant disassembly of the machine", and possible risks therein. It's certainly not something a relative tech novice will want to attempt, and honestly, the performance upside of switching to a dual-channel setup (if you have a single RAM stick) is not really worth all the hassle.

Overall, this is a less-than-ideal situation, between the single stick performance catch, and the RAM lottery aspect where you can't tell what hand you'll be dealt with your Steam Machine.

Unfortunately, Valve hasn't had much choice in the matter thanks to the memory crisis. Ruling out using dual sticks in some cases would, of course, have limited supply further, when the situation is already bad enough to have forced the price of the entry-level Steam Machine over a grand.

So, once again, thanks to the giant memory hoover that is AI, PC buyers are getting the short end of the RAM stick (to put it politely).

Predictably, many gamers aren't happy to learn about this. One Redditor complains: "This is absolutely awful. They've done the thing that sh***y prebuilds do, which is have a single stick in single channel memory which affects CPU performance."

Another deflated Redditor simply states: "This whole Steam Machine is the most depressing thing for me in the last 7 months. It's officially DOA."

If this puts you off the Steam Machine even more coming on top of the steep MSRP pinned on the device, you may want to consider buying an alternative PC in the sales or indeed building your own, which to be fair to Valve, is something it's encouraging.

• Valve has said it's "rolling out improvements to [SteamOS] so it's more compatible with desktop hardware"
• The company also made it clear that it's collaborating closely with Nvidia for better GPU compatibility
• The aim is to make SteamOS more widely deployed on DIY PCs away from the Steam Machine, and this is tempting some gamers to ditch Windows 11

Valve has underlined how it's improving SteamOS to allow gamers to make their own version of the Steam Machine should they wish, which is already prompting some excited chatter on Reddit about abandoning Windows 11.

The Verge reports that Valve's Pierre-Loup Griffais (an engineer who often gives interviews) made it clear that the company is busy "rolling out improvements to [SteamOS] so it's more compatible with desktop hardware" and also "collaborating with Nvidia very closely" on ensuring better compatibility with Team Green's GPUs.

Before you get too excited, though, the caveat that Griffais attached is that Nvidia support isn't coming anytime soon – meaning not this year – but that it's "certainly something that we're working on in the background".

Valve just released SteamOS 3.8 which prepared the ground for the new Steam Machine, arriving with some key changes to ensure a better experience with Intel CPUs, as well as Nvidia GPUs (or indeed all discrete graphics cards, which will benefit from "greatly improved video memory management").

The introduction of KDE Plasma version 6.4.3 with Wayland support is important, too, very much upping the desktop game and bringing in better support for external displays and VRR in SteamOS, among other boons.

In short, with SteamOS 3.8, Griffais notes that "you can put together your own Steam Machine using whatever PC parts you want."

All of which is paving the way for more PC gamers who are fed up with Windows 11 and Microsoft to make the switch over to SteamOS as an alternative operating system (especially those who aren't running an AMD-powered system).

Despite it being still relatively early days in this effort (as noted regarding the work with Nvidia GPUs), some gamers are already happily declaring that they're ready to ditch Microsoft's platform for SteamOS.

One Redditor tells us: "Decided to go all in and wipe my main 2TB drive and install this [SteamOS]. Just got it installed and tried a couple games, working very well so far. Going to make myself stick with it instead of slithering back to Windows."

Here's another gamer who says: "The minute SteamOS gets Nvidia support, there is going to be a large mass exodus of users in the gaming space off of Windows."

In a similar vein, a further Reddit thread informs us: "I found that some of my Steam games which played fine on Windows 10, actually played far worse on Windows 11. I decided to switch back to Linux Mint and give Steam another go on that after having tried it a few years ago, and to my surprise, those games all worked great now. So I've stuck with Mint and every game I have in my Steam library runs well without issue. Value has really been doing a great job of bringing gaming to Linux."

And in that same thread, a Redditor observes: " The instant this [SteamOS] becomes stable with driver[s], I'm jumping out [of] Windows." (Not literally).

Analysis: Steamy Windows

It appears this is prompting more than a few gamers to reconsider their position with Windows 11, but we clearly shouldn't get carried away yet. SteamOS has a long road ahead of it as a rival to Windows 11, as it remains very much a niche proposition, but clearly Valve is pushing hard to make it a much more compelling alternative.

The good thing is that even if you don't intend to go near the Steam Machine – and you believe it's well overpriced, as many do (thanks to the memory crisis) – the launch of the device could still benefit you, as SteamOS continues to take strides forward. As Valve observes, you can just build your own Steam Machine-style PC, or to avoid the RAM crisis price hikes, simply repurpose an existing rig you have (perhaps with a choice upgrade or two grabbed in a sale).

With notable strides being taken here – and some progress being made in terms of getting anti-cheat games to run, too, in certain cases, although there's still plenty of work to be done here – we can be hopeful that SteamOS adoption could be accelerated considerably.

However, Windows 11 remains dominant by a long, long way in the PC gaming world, although SteamOS gaining traction could worry Microsoft for the longer-term, and prompt further efforts to make Windows 11 better for gamers – which again would be a win, albeit an indirect one.

I couldn’t get enough of Pokémon Champions at launch. The Nintendo Switch 2 pokémon battler was a game I’d been waiting for since its announcement and it was close to everything I hoped for— but after a couple of weeks I fell off.

Between a mixture of other games releasing, not always having my Switch 2 on me, and several real life commitments taking up my time, my quest to climb up through Mater rank petered out.

Now Champions has hit smartphones — launching on iOS and Android earlier this week — and the game feels more at home here than it ever did on Nintendo’s hardware. The quest to be the very best is back on.

There’s something somewhat surreal playing an official full-on Pokémon battling game on mobile, especially a mobile game that’s so microtransactions light compared to other Android and iOS releases from the franchise — it’s possible to spend real money on more storage space, teams and a Battle Pass for premium rewards, but nothing beyond cosmetics is exclusive to folks who pay up and the free-to-play experience is fantastic especially if you have transferred in critters from Pokémon Go or a mainline entry via Pokémon Home.

Despite this strangeness, Pokémon Champions works so well because any time your phone is connected to the internet (via wi-fi or a cell network) you can boot into a battle. I’ve battled on London’ tube while commuting to work, when kicking back in bed, while sat at a restaurant waiting for friends to arrive, and I might have snuck a game or two from my work desk….

Because this is all on a device you can slip into your pocket it’s super easier to pick up an impromptu game or two when the moment arises — there’s no prior thought or prep required compared to playing on a Switch. Wile the graphics are a little tuned down compared to what you’ll get on Switch 2, my experience so far has been very smooth on mobile.

I started out using my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 with the tablet-like inner display giving me a great view of battles even with menus sharing the screen, however I didn’t feel the experience was especially cramped when I switched to its smaller front display, or the screen of my Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.

In fact, there was a strange nostalgia to using the Ultra, with the S Pen stylus making me feel like I was back in 2005 playing Pokémon Diamond on Nintendo DS.

No matter what Android or iOS device you have, the Pokémon Champions experience should feel like a delight and much more fulfilling than other free mobile games out there, but if my words so far aren’t enough to convince you to hop onto the ladder The Pokémon Company is sweetening the deal…

Let’s Go Raichu!

To celebrate the Android and iOS launch all players (who log in by September 1) will receive a free gift: Raichu and both of its Pokémon Legends Z-A DLC Mega Stones to mega evolve it into either Mega Raichu X or Mega Raichu Y.

Having fallen down the ladder in my hiatus I decided to climb back up to Master Rank using Raichu, and as some expected ahead of its debut Raichu Y and its No Guard ability is an absolute beast. A speedy special attacker with 100% accurate Zap Cannon and Focus Blast is a force to be reckoned with, and this pocket monster pairs very well into many of Champion’s biggest threats.

Life Orb Garchomp, or Raichu itself (with its un-mega evolved Lightning Rod ability), are two solid counters if you’re struggling against it on other teams, but I’ve found it’s a lot more fun to ride the Mega Raichu Y wave than try to fight it.

Mega Raichu X is nothing to sniff at, though in Champions’ current doubles meta — which is low on sleep control or future paradox pokémon — its ability to set up electric terrain isn’t super impactful. If/when the future paradoxes and threats like Amoonguss rear their head I see Raichu X finally emerging from hibernation.

That’s the joy of Champions’ approach so far. Slowly rolling out new ‘mons and items to mix things up often enough to keep the game fresh, but not yet so often to feel overwhelming for more casual fans.

If you’re still here I’m not sure what excuse you have. Go download Pokémon Champions, there’s nothing better you could be doing with your phone.