Why won’t Steam Machine support HDMI 2.1? Digging in on the display standard drama.
Valve tells Ars its “trying to unblock” limits caused by open source driver issues.
Kyle Orland
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69
Gaming // Gaming & Entertainment
Testing shows why the Steam Machine’s 8GB of graphics RAM could be a problem
Valve has work to do on the software side—but some fixes are coming.
Andrew Cunningham
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177
“Players are selfish”: Fallout 2’s Chris Avellone describes his game design philosophy
Avellone recaps his journey from learning on a TRS-80 to today.
Alan Bradley
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75
After a Witcher-free decade, CDPR still promises three sequels in six years
CD Projekt Red says shift to Unreal Engine allows for more rapid development.
Kyle Orland
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70
After 40 years of adventure games, Ron Gilbert pivots to outrunning Death
Interview: Storied designer talks lost RPG, a 3D Monkey Island, “Eat the Rich” philosophy.
Kyle Orland
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79
Revisiting Jill of the Jungle, the last game Tim Sweeney designed
DOS platformers didn’t have a reputation for being fun, but this one is a blast.
Samuel Axon
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211
GPU prices are coming to earth just as RAM costs shoot into the stratosphere
Some RAM kits are over three times as expensive as they were three months ago.
Andrew Cunningham
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117
Valve’s Steam Machine looks like a console, but don’t expect it to be priced like one
Upcoming gaming box will be priced in line with a similarly specced PC, Valve says.
Kyle Orland
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190
Most Read
Return to the year 2000 with classic multiplayer DOS games in your browser
There are fan-made browser versions of Red Alert, Unreal Tournament, and more.
Samuel Axon
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80
Microsoft makes Zork I, II, and III open source under MIT License
Microsoft’s Open Source Programs Office worked with Jason Scott to do it.
Samuel Axon
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151
Google’s latest swing at Chromebook gaming is a free year of GeForce Now
GeForce Now Fast Pass is a new service tier exclusively for Chromebooks.
Ryan Whitwam
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40
Celebrated game developer Rebecca Heineman dies at age 62
The gaming community mourns a beloved mentor and LGBTQ+ advocate with a storied career.
Benj Edwards
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95
The Analogue 3D is the modern N64 fans have been waiting for
Excellent design and display filters, but the lack of OpenFPGA support rankles.
Kyle Orland
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46
Fans’ reverse-engineered servers for Sony’s defunct Concord might be in trouble
“Concord Delta” project locks down Discord after YouTube video takedowns.
Kyle Orland
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70
Cities: Skylines upheaval: Developer and publisher announce “mutual” breakup
Paradox subsidiary Iceflake Studios will take over work on the storied city simulation.
Kyle Orland
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73
I’ve already been using a “Steam Machine” for months, and I think it’s great
With a little know-how, you can get yourself a Steam Machine right this minute.
Andrew Cunningham
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198
Years later, Arkane’s Dishonored is still a modern stealth classic
Steam punk magical-realist world-building at its finest.
Kyle Orland
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90
Are you ready for a $1,000 Steam Machine? Some analysts think you should be.
Tariffs, component volatility, and Valve’s tolerance for losses all lead to uncertainty.
Kyle Orland
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241
Valve says it’s still waiting for better chips to power Steam Deck 2
Even a 50 percent performance-per-watt improvement wouldn’t be enough, engineer says.
Kyle Orland
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102
Valve rejoins the VR hardware wars with standalone Steam Frame
SteamOS-powered headset sports semi-modular design, wireless “low-latency” PC streaming.
Kyle Orland
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139
Steam Deck minus the screen: Valve announces new Steam Machine, Controller hardware
SteamOS-powered cube for your TV targets early 2026 launch, no pricing details.
Kyle Orland
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241
Review: New Framework Laptop 16 takes a fresh stab at the upgradeable laptop GPU
New components make it more useful and powerful but no less odd.
Andrew Cunningham
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80
New project brings strong Linux compatibility to more classic Windows games
But author warns that Direct3D 7 “is a land of highly cursed API inter-operability.”
Kyle Orland
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78
With Skigill, the classic RPG skill tree becomes a crowded battlefield
Vampire Survivors-esque battler sets itself apart with great weapons, unique graphics.
Kyle Orland
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31
After confusing driver release, AMD says old GPUs are still actively supported
Re-using old silicon means that dropping “old” GPUs can affect “new” products.
Andrew Cunningham
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104
CS2 item market loses nearly $2B in value overnight due to “trade up” update
Once rare $14K knife now sells for $7K, some common guns jump from $10 to over $100.
Kyle Orland
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129
Roberta Williams’ The Colonel’s Bequest was a different type of adventure game
What if point-and-click games weren’t about the puzzles?
Samuel Axon
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87
Open source GZDoom community splinters after creator inserts AI-generated code
UZDoom fork promises to fix other top-down leadership problems with the decades-old mod.
Kyle Orland
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103
ROG Xbox Ally X: The Ars Technica review
The first portable “Xbox” fails to unify a messy world of competing PC gaming platforms.
Kyle Orland
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142
AMD and Sony’s PS6 chipset aims to rethink the current graphics pipeline
Project Amethyst focuses on efficient machine learning, new compression techniques.
Kyle Orland
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93
It’s time for game developers to bring back the cheat code
Arcane hidden options can offer accessibility without confusing the “core” game experience.
Kyle Orland
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111
Rubik’s Cube gets a $299 update, complete with IPS screens and its own apps
The Rubik’s WOWCube is a 2×2 cube with modern twists.
Scharon Harding
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62
Rally Arcade Classics is a fun ’90s-throwback racing game
If you like games that handle like Project Gotham Racing, you might love this.
Jonathan M. Gitlin
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49
Hands-on with Fallout 76’s next expansion: Yep, it has Walton Goggins
TV tie-ins aside, it’s the combat tweaks over the past year that really matter.
Samuel Axon
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56
EA will be a very different company under private ownership
Analysts see trouble for studios like BioWare, potential for Saudi meddling.
Kyle Orland
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154
Fortnite disables Peacemaker emote that might resemble a swastika
Epic will “inquire into our partner’s creative intentions” before making a final decision.
Kyle Orland
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103