tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14265247266794780202026-11-11T10:30:39.278-08:00Read about the latest Gaming news and announcements. The official blog of Activision, publishers of Call of Duty, Sekiro, Crash Bandicoot, Skylanders, and more. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9410125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-77954281283470279442026-11-11T10:30:39.278-08:002026-11-11T10:30:39.278-08:00 <p>The last few years have seen significant debate over <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/01/game-developer-survey-50-work-at-a-studio-already-using-generative-ai-tools/">the widespread use</a> of <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/report-epic-games-goes-all-in-on-ai-for-disney-collaboration/">AI-powered tools</a> in <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/05/sony-says-efficient-ai-tools-will-lead-to-even-more-games-flooding-the-market/">game development</a> and the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/01/valve-most-games-made-with-ai-tools-are-now-welcome-on-steam/">responsible disclosure</a> of that usage to players. That debate has exploded into a full-blown controversy in the indie game development space this week, as <em>Big Walk</em> developer House House has publicly and belatedly disclosed minimal AI use in its popular co-operative puzzle exploration game.</p> <p>This particular controversy has been brewing behind the scenes for months, as judges and jury members for <a href="https://igf.com/about-igf/">the prestigious Independent Games Festival Awards</a> discussed the issue in private discussion groups. But the debate started to break into public view on Monday when 19 members of the 50-plus-member jury <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/austinwalker.bsky.social/post/3mzvyqaxnzc2w">released a signed statement</a> outlining a stance "declining to vote for any game that uses generative AI in any capacity."</p> <p>Noting "a significant increase in the number of submitted games developer with generative AI tools," the group of jurors called out AI's ecological, economic, psychological, and labor harms in rejecting tools whose use, they said, is still "not a foregone conclusion in our industry."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/big-walk-used-ai-to-fix-a-bug-now-the-indie-gaming-world-is-having-a-reckoning/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/big-walk-used-ai-to-fix-a-bug-now-the-indie-gaming-world-is-having-a-reckoning/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/GzQ9EaO<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-55822417065089086102026-11-10T11:30:09.390-08:002026-11-10T11:30:09.390-08:00 <p>Since Valve <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/10/valves-deck-verified-badge-will-show-which-games-run-well-on-steam-deck/">announced its Steam Deck Verified program in 2021</a>, players have found that a game's "Verified" status doesn't always match how well it actually runs on the handheld. Now, new Steam Deck frame rate data being shared by Valve itself can help players dig deeper into the performance they can expect from many Steam Deck games.</p> <p>Valve has been collecting anonymized frame rate data from Steam players who opt in <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/news/group/4397053?emclan=103582791433918461&amp;emgid=505101717860253962">since February</a>. Yesterday evening, the company <a href="https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/685269801333948420">announced</a> it has started sharing that data on many Steam Store pages as averages and histograms for both the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED.</p> <p>Valve acknowledges that players enabling VSync or frame rate limits can bias the collected data somewhat and that the measurements don't account for custom in-game settings that Steam Deck users may tinker with to get a game running. Regardless, Valve says it has nonetheless "found that the framerate data consolidates around relatively narrow ranges."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/steam-deck-performance-gets-a-reality-check-with-valves-new-fps-data/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/steam-deck-performance-gets-a-reality-check-with-valves-new-fps-data/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/0esiMFU<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-83577211900440952682026-11-06T15:30:35.980-08:002026-11-06T15:30:35.980-08:00 <p><!-- obsidian --></p> <p>Many people are not big fans of game publisher EA right now for <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/rip-bioware-ea-shuts-down-storied-rpg-studio-after-over-three-decades/">good reason</a>, but for those who remember a better time in the 1990s, there's a little good news. Twenty-five classic games from that EA era have been lightly remastered and updated, then placed for sale on <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ea_classics_sale?l=english">Steam</a> and <a href="https://www.gog.com/en/game/wing_commander_prophecy_30th_anniversary_edition">GOG</a>, including several Wing Commander games and nearly the entire Ultima series.</p> <p>Below is the full list of remastered or re-released games:</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/ea-producer-tells-the-inside-story-behind-new-wing-commander-remasters/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/ea-producer-tells-the-inside-story-behind-new-wing-commander-remasters/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/jKu4oVv<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-58293394846861765422026-11-06T10:30:25.213-08:002026-11-06T10:30:25.213-08:00 <p>Yesterday, when reporting on emerging efforts to <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/gamers-go-to-ridiculous-lengths-to-improve-gta-vi-with-nvidias-dlss-5/">pipe the console version of <em>GTA VI</em> through a PC's </a><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/gamers-go-to-ridiculous-lengths-to-improve-gta-vi-with-nvidias-dlss-5/">DLSS-powered Nvidia GPU</a>, we mentioned in passing that PC players could instead just wait for <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/11/claudes-new-rules-against-game-cloning-wont-stop-the-ai-copying-boom/">the AI-assisted decompilation port</a> that will no doubt be coming in short order. Now, a former Rockstar tech director says he thinks that exact threat could cause the developer to work faster on the official PC version of its soon-to-release crime/lifestyle simulator.</p> <p>Obbe Vermeij <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/obbe-vermeij-4926b51/">hasn't worked at Rockstar since 2009</a>, but in <a href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/its-a-brave-new-world-gta-6s-pc-port-will-release-sooner-than-you-think-to-avoid-losing-money-to-ai-rip-offs-says-former-rockstar-tech-director">a new interview with Rock Paper Shotgun</a>, he recalled how artists for the PC version of the original top-down <em>Grand Theft Auto</em> were incensed when the console version squashed the game's 256-color textures down to 16 colors for the PS1 release.</p> <p>"So it always has been that sort of awkward relationship between PC and the console," Vermeij said. "So in those days, it was like PC first and then console second, even though that didn't really make much sense for the sales, because the PlayStation versions sold way better."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/could-potential-ai-clones-of-gta-vi-force-a-quicker-official-port/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/could-potential-ai-clones-of-gta-vi-force-a-quicker-official-port/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/wYWVy4D<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-23568561773752741982026-11-04T16:30:29.357-08:002026-11-04T16:30:29.357-08:00 <p>For years, the AI industry's <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/kioxias-memory-is-sold-out-for-2026-prolonging-a-high-end-and-expensive-phase/">insatiable demand for memory and storage</a> has had plenty of knock-on effects on the price and availability of PC components like <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/10/memory-supplies-are-only-getting-tighter-micron-ceo-says/">RAM</a>, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/for-just-a-couple-of-months-in-the-middle-of-2025-it-was-an-ok-time-to-build-a-pc/">SSDs</a>, and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/ram-shortage-chaos-expands-to-gpus-high-capacity-ssds-and-even-hard-drives/">GPUs</a>. Now those shortages are also squeezing the supply of ROM chips that power physical Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 game cartridges.</p> <p>Chip manufacturer Macronix <a href="https://www.macronix.com/en-us/about/investor-relations/Pages/quarterly-results.aspx">announced in its third-quarter earnings report</a> that the company's production of ROM chips "has reached its end" and that it will begin "gradually decoupling from the game industry," <a href="https://finance.biggo.com/news/57bfd574-540d-4d1b-a70b-97994e14af0c">as reported by Taiwanese news site BigGo Finance</a>. That could be an issue for Nintendo, which analyst David Gibson <a href="https://x.com/gibbogame/status/2117805196130582970">notes</a> uses Macronix as its "main memory chip maker" for physical game cartridges.</p> <p>That ROM production—which has shrunk 39 percent in the last year and now represents just 5 percent of Macronix's business—is being crowded out by production of more lucrative, in-demand chips like NOR- and NAND-based memory and eMMCs, the company said. With Macronix's production capacity stuck at 25,000 12-inch wafers a month—and $1.2 billion in planned new capacity taking a year or more to spin up—less profitable ROM chips are taking up wafer space that can earn more through other types of chips.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/the-tech-memory-shortage-comes-for-nintendos-cartridge-supply-chain/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/the-tech-memory-shortage-comes-for-nintendos-cartridge-supply-chain/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/S7ifKEb<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-40450554963996561302026-11-02T13:30:26.184-08:002026-11-02T13:30:26.184-08:00 <p>The year was 1998. Britney Spears topped the charts, Bill Clinton was impeached, and a couple of little websites called Google and Ars Technica came online. It was also the year Nintendo released <em>The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time</em> on the Nintendo 64. Google, which has come to dominate the Internet (Ars is still working on that), is celebrating the imminent release of the <em>Ocarina of Time</em> remaster by temporarily transporting us back to that storied year with a search Easter egg.</p> <p>To access the Google time machine, you just have to search for either "Zelda" or "Ocarina of Time." Google will load the standard 2026 results page, but you'll see an animated Master Sword in the lower right corner. It appears on both mobile and desktop—just click the sword and enjoy the show.</p> <p>After a little time-skipping animation and a Link shout (you know the one), you'll swear it's 1998 again. The search page is transformed into a simple list of blue links with retro Google branding. This is particularly apt given the time-shifting mechanics in <em>Ocarina of Time</em>.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/googles-legend-of-zelda-easter-egg-transports-you-back-to-1998/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/11/googles-legend-of-zelda-easter-egg-transports-you-back-to-1998/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/4Wl1ZQT<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-86019745244321203602026-11-02T11:30:35.477-08:002026-11-02T11:30:35.477-08:00 <p>Last week, Anthropic introduced a new system prompt designed to stop its Claude models from recreating specific, existing video games. But while that move could help shield Anthropic from some liability, it's unlikely to do much to slow a massive wave of AI-assisted game porting and copying that has emerged in recent months.</p> <p>A social media user and <a href="https://x.com/chasmmmmmmmmmmm/status/2107897874860371988">AI decompilation enthusiast</a> going by the name "chasm" was <a href="https://x.com/chasmmmmmmmmmmm/status/2116062991686721968">among the first to note the prompt change</a> late last week, saying a new rule seemed to be added to the Claude Code prompt on or around October 27. That rule—included in a json file under the name "tengu_heron_brook"—reads as follows:</p> <blockquote><p>Do build original games, games in a genre, and games from the user’s own designs and assets. Don’t build a recreation of a specific existing game, even if it is renamed or called original.</p></blockquote> <p>XDA later <a href="https://www.xda-developers.com/anthropic-testing-potential-crackdown-on-vibe-coded-ports-of-existing-games/">independently verified</a> that the new rule appears in version 2.1.314 of the Claude Code binary, which was <a href="https://code.claude.com/docs/en/changelog#2-1-314">released on October 30</a>. XDA also reported that the "tengu_heron_brook" rule had been used for other purposes in earlier versions and that the Claude Opus 5.5 model specifically seemed to have its own distinct and independent instructions restricting game recreations as part of its system prompt bundle.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/11/claudes-new-rules-against-game-cloning-wont-stop-the-ai-copying-boom/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/11/claudes-new-rules-against-game-cloning-wont-stop-the-ai-copying-boom/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/VrvIwhp<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-47533502679260394452026-10-23T11:30:21.704-07:002026-10-23T11:30:21.704-07:00 <p>Gamers still hoping against hope for a true follow-up to <em>Half-Life 2</em> (after <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2007/12/valves-doug-lombardi-kinda-confirms-half-life-3/">so, so many years</a>) may remember last year's <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/01/is-2025-finally-the-real-year-of-half-life-3-confirmed/">flurry</a> of <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/02/fresh-leaks-suggest-half-life-3-development-may-be-nearing-completion/">speculation</a> that <em>Half-Life 3</em> was <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/journalist-insists-half-life-3-will-launch-with-steam-machine-in-spring-2026/">finally nearing completion</a>. Amid all those rumors, though, we never got any official sign from anyone inside Valve that a Half-Life project was currently in development.</p> <p>That changed this week thanks to an apparent slip-up during a panel at <a href="https://www.gamesoundcon.com/">GameSoundCon</a>, an industry conference devoted to "the art, technology, and business of game audio." In a panel devoted to Valve's use of open audio engines (captured in <a href="https://vimeo.com/1234454770">this Vimeo clip</a>), Valve composer and audio artist Mike Morasky let an interesting string of three letters slip while talking about the way the company implements high dynamic range (HDR) audio:</p> <blockquote><p>Our HDR system is basically that's one of the three pieces that come together to make an HDR that you can easily optimize. And in fact, I think Deadlock has their own version of HDR. <em>HLX has its own version</em>, so on and so forth [emphasis added].</p></blockquote> <p>"HLX," of course, has been <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/01/is-2025-finally-the-real-year-of-half-life-3-confirmed/">widely reported</a> as the internal code name for Valve's next Half-Life project. The codename has shown up <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36gF6eiCsqU">in Valve engine code since at least 2024</a>, but it has never been referenced in public by a Valve employee until now (though Morasky <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCMjDTxvGX0&amp;t=4280s">was responsible for a close call</a> in an interview last year).</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/everybody-panic-a-valve-developer-said-hlx-in-public/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/everybody-panic-a-valve-developer-said-hlx-in-public/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/v94wzBU<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-67521673948636508062026-10-22T16:30:39.883-07:002026-10-22T16:30:39.883-07:00 <p>A security researcher has demonstrated a software-only partial jailbreak of the Switch 2, gaining "userland" access that he says "lets us run homebrew, reverse engineer and mod Switch 2 games, back up save files off the Switch, and access most of the Switch 2’s peripherals through MMIO."</p> <p><a href="https://gitlab.com/pepsipu/ns2jb">The hack</a> relies on the original Switch version of <a href="https://www.petc4.smilebasic.com/about?lang=en">SmileBasic 4</a>, the latest in a long-running series of programming environments and interpreters that run on Nintendo hardware. The so-called "tethered" hack also requires access to a macOS or Linux PC on the same network to run a node.js package that helps enable privileged system access.</p> <p>Researcher Sammy Hajhamid <a href="https://pepsipu.com/blog/2026-10-switch2-jailbreak-ns2jb/">writes</a> that he used <a href="https://chatgpt.com/codex/">OpenAI's Codex</a> to poke at SmileBasic's language interpreter, using a custom harness that could send USB commands to the system and view results via HDMI (as well as power cycling via a Bluetooth light switch flipping device). After "substantial effort for ~2 weeks," that harness discovered a 32-bit integer overflow that occurs when removing items from an array in SmileBasic. That error gives access to an array pointer, which in turn allows read and write access to portions of system memory.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/switch-2-jailbreak-gives-hackers-new-ways-to-run-homebrew-and-mod-games/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/switch-2-jailbreak-gives-hackers-new-ways-to-run-homebrew-and-mod-games/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/Ls7BP68<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-65955987562966981222026-10-22T15:30:39.505-07:002026-10-22T15:30:39.505-07:00 <p>Those mourning yesterday's <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/rip-bioware-ea-shuts-down-storied-rpg-studio-after-over-three-decades/">shuttering of highly praised and influential developer BioWare</a> also had to deal with the cancellation of the next <em>Mass Effect</em> game, which was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg-Ctg6k_Ao">first teased back in 2020</a>. Today, we got our best look at what that game could have been with a short, leaked trailer for <em>Mass Effect: Universe</em>.</p> <p>In the roughly two-minute montage—which describes itself as "in-engine footage from our small team" that "uses our pre-production assets"—an ex-military officer wearing an N7 trenchcoat (similar to the one seen in that 2020 teaser) encounters an Asari at a bar. He talks of his frustration with military life—"by the time you put out one fire, another had already started"—before discussing his new line of work "stopping [the fires] before they start" and "making the choices no one else is willing to make. Going where others are afraid to go."</p> <blockquote class="reddit-embed-bq" style="height: 500px;" data-embed-height="546"><p><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/comments/1xclmpu/mass_effect_universe_trailer/">Mass Effect: Universe Trailer</a><br> by<br> <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Random_Hyabusa_Ninja/">u/Random_Hyabusa_Ninja</a> in<br> <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/masseffect/">masseffect</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async="" src="https://embed.reddit.com/widgets.js" charset="UTF-8"></script></p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/leaked-mass-effect-universe-trailer-gives-a-taste-of-what-were-all-missing/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/leaked-mass-effect-universe-trailer-gives-a-taste-of-what-were-all-missing/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/BLzsSoF<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-49956431012777297532026-10-22T10:30:40.350-07:002026-10-22T10:30:40.350-07:00 <p>Last year, we <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/07/not-just-seeing-red-virtual-boy-emulator-adds-full-color-support/">reported on Red Viper</a>, a Virtual Boy emulator that added a splash of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=660FVHPm1OA">Super Game Boy-style color</a> to Nintendo's famously failed red-on-black "portable" 3D headset from the '90s. Now, a new emulation experiment, <a href="https://github.com/yuk27/VBoyColor">VBoy Color</a>, has taken the concept to a higher level, using a tile-based palette system that allows for many more distinct colors in each individual Virtual Boy frame.</p> <p>Rather than simply replacing the Virtual Boy's four shades of red with four different colors, VBoy Color's <a href="https://github.com/yuk27/VBoyColor/blob/main/docs/COLOR_PACKS.md">readme files</a> explain how the emulator's game-specific Color Packs can assign a distinct four-color palette to each 8x8 tile in a Virtual Boy scene. That means the emulator can differentiate between green pipes, grey platforms, and red brick wall in <em>Mario Clash</em>, for instance, even though all those in-game objects share the same overlapping red hues in the original game.</p> <p>The Game Boy Color-esque results feel like being transported into an alternate history where Nintendo invested in a full-color display rather than cheaper red LEDs for the Virtual Boy hardware. The increased contrast between differently colored elements is particularly welcome in games like <em>Jack Bros.</em> or <em>Vertical Force</em>, where the original red-on-red display often makes it hard to differentiate the player-character from busy red background elements.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/this-emulator-reimagines-nintendos-virtual-boy-with-a-full-color-display/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/this-emulator-reimagines-nintendos-virtual-boy-with-a-full-color-display/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/gSHFMvE<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-78814811841573141442026-10-21T17:30:37.107-07:002026-10-21T17:30:37.107-07:00 <p>In September, when Microsoft <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/09/xbox-imposes-harsh-new-time-limits-for-game-pass-game-streaming/">severely limited the game-streaming buffet available to Game Pass subscribers</a>, the company said non-subscribers would soon be able to "purchase cloud playtime hours through the Xbox Store and stream eligible games they own on supported devices." Today, Microsoft <a href="https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/10/21/cloud-playtime-now-available-to-test-with-xbox-insiders/">rolled out those a la carte Cloud Playtime purchases</a> to Xbox Insiders, with prices that might be a bit galling for players who have already purchased these streamable games.</p> <p>The "introductory launch pricing" for Xbox's Cloud Playtime purchases is as follows:</p> <ul> <li>10 hours for $4 (~$0.40/hour)</li> <li>25 hours for $8 (~$0.32/hour)</li> <li>50 hours for $12 (~$0.24/hour)</li> </ul> <p>Purchased playtime "remains available until it’s used," Microsoft writes, so you don't have to worry about your 50-hour purchase expiring before you can use it fully.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/xbox-wants-you-to-pay-24-to-40-cents-per-hour-to-stream-games-you-already-bought/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/xbox-wants-you-to-pay-24-to-40-cents-per-hour-to-stream-games-you-already-bought/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/XunQKCs<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-28367029419065395622026-10-21T14:30:53.112-07:002026-10-21T14:30:53.112-07:00 <p>The legendary studio behind series like <em>Mass Effect</em>, <em>Dragon Age</em>, <em>Neverwinter Nights</em>, and <em>Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</em> is no more. BioWare <a href="https://x.com/bioware/status/2112953618093535510">announced via social media</a> Wednesday afternoon that "after more than three decades of shared adventures, BioWare is closing and early development on the next <em>Mass Effect</em> project is ending."</p> <p>The official announcement was posted mere minutes after <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-21/electronic-arts-to-cut-400-jobs-shut-down-bioware">a Bloomberg report</a> detailed 400 job cuts across BioWare parent company Electronic Arts, including 50 at BioWare, based on reports from "a person familiar with the company's plans."</p> <p>"Across our portfolio, we’re making deliberate choices to align talent and investments where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth," EA executives wrote in a message to staff, according to Bloomberg.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/rip-bioware-ea-shuts-down-storied-rpg-studio-after-over-three-decades/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/rip-bioware-ea-shuts-down-storied-rpg-studio-after-over-three-decades/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/N2aL6pM<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-6779778241541157102026-10-21T11:30:54.102-07:002026-10-21T11:30:54.102-07:00 <p>It's October in the Midwest, which means it's time for the pinball world to descend on a convention center in Chicagoland for the annual Pinball Expo. Once thought to be an entertainment sector slowly bleeding out, pinball has come back in a big way in recent years. I visited one of Chicago's last old-school manufacturers before heading down the road to see what's new in the silver-ball universe.</p> <h2>Behind the silver ball</h2> <p>Hundreds gathered on a brisk fall Friday morning outside Stern Pinball's headquarters in Elk Grove, Illinois, waiting to enter a Wonka-like wonder factory where piles of raw parts become licensed creations from <em>Jaws</em> to the brand-new <em>Fallout</em>. Stern invited me to tour its offices and factory floor before heading off to the convention in nearby Schaumburg, Illinois.</p> <img width="1914" height="1080" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667.jpg" class="fullwidth full" alt="An early morning line begins to form outside of Stern HQ as busses of Pinball Expo attendees arrived for tours." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667.jpg 1914w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667-640x361.jpg 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667-1024x578.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667-1536x867.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667-384x216.jpg 384w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667-980x553.jpg 980w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/PXL_20261016_134708667-1440x813.jpg 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1914px) 100vw, 1914px"> An early-morning line begins to form outside of Stern HQ as buses of Pinball Expo attendees arrive for tours. <p>As I stood with my tour group in Stern Pinball's HQ lobby, mouth agape at the dozens of machines lining the walls, we were greeted by the man himself, Gary Stern, who gave us some background on the company's 40-year history. After a stop at Gary's podium, we were ushered to the factory floor entrance, where Stern employee and legendary game designer George Gomez briefed us on the tour rules and answered questions. According to Gomez, "at any given time, Stern controls 90 percent of the current pinball market, and everybody else splits the rest."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/the-past-present-and-future-share-a-show-floor-at-pinball-expo-2026/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/the-past-present-and-future-share-a-show-floor-at-pinball-expo-2026/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/s0RfoIJ<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-66268254586400723072026-10-20T15:30:29.288-07:002026-10-20T15:30:29.288-07:00 <p>We haven't heard many details about Microsoft's upcoming "Project Helix" gaming hardware since <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/03/ms-exec-microsofts-next-console-will-play-xbox-and-pc-games/">the company announced it in March</a> as a device that will "play your Xbox and PC games." In <a href="https://fortune.com/2026/10/20/the-non-gamer-ceo-racing-to-save-microsofts-xbox/">a new wide-ranging profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma</a>, though, Fortune alludes to a dual release strategy for upcoming Microsoft gaming hardware, with "a next-generation handheld device" planned by the end of next year and a 2028 holiday season console release that could cost between $1,200 and $1,800.</p> <p>That future console price range is based on what has "internally been projected" at the company, according to Fortune. But the price for consumers could come down if "Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost," the outlet says, as <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/10/why-nintendo-is-losing-money-on-each-wii-u-launch-unit/">many console makers</a> have <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2006/11/8239/">done in the past</a>.</p> <p>While a $1,200 starting price would be historically high for the game console market, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/08/todays-game-consoles-are-historically-overpriced/">even accounting for inflation</a>, it also reflects a new normal: <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/chips-arent-improving-like-they-used-to-and-its-killing-game-console-price-cuts/">The slowdown in Moore's Law</a> and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2026/10/memory-supplies-are-only-getting-tighter-micron-ceo-says/">AI-driven component shortages</a> mean cutting-edge gaming hardware just isn't as cheap as it used to be. This year, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/06/valves-steam-machine-ships-june-29-for-1049-but-you-probably-wont-be-able-to-buy-one-yet/">the Steam Machine broke the $1,000 starting price</a>, while <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/11/the-ps5-pros-biggest-problem-is-that-the-ps5-is-already-very-good/">the 2-year-old technology in the PlayStation 5 Pro</a> is <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/sony-is-raising-playstation-5-prices-again-this-time-by-between-100-and-150/">now going for $900</a>, and the 6-year-old Xbox Series X <a href="https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/06/25/xbox-console-price-update/">now starts at $750</a>.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/report-microsofts-project-helix-planned-for-2028-at-1200-to-1800-price/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/report-microsofts-project-helix-planned-for-2028-at-1200-to-1800-price/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/o1jGpfb<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-23079876245693270022026-10-19T13:30:47.858-07:002026-10-19T13:30:47.858-07:00 <p>Since its earliest days, the video game industry <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/03/attacking-the-clones-indie-game-devs-fight-blatant-rip-offs/">has been built</a> on <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2009/12/cloning-or-theft-ars-explores-game-design-with-jenova-chen/">developers creating clones</a> of <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/06/defining-tetris-how-courts-judge-gaming-clones/">competing games</a>, with <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/06/defining-tetris-how-courts-judge-gaming-clones/">varying levels of originality</a> and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/01/wordle-and-ip-law-what-happens-when-a-hot-game-gets-cloned/">varying levels of enforcement from game platforms</a>. Now, though, AI coding tools are making that cloning process so efficient that many developers are getting extremely cautious about sharing their early work too widely.</p> <p>Developer Alliance Arts highlighted this trend over the weekend, delaying the launch of a planned public demo for its demon-themed Russian Roulette drinking game <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/4150720/Drunken_Goddess_Reflux/"><em>Drunken Goddess Reflex</em></a>, which had been set to go live with <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/sale/nextfest">today's launch of Steam Next Fest</a>.</p> <p>In <a href="https://x.com/AllianceArtsEN/status/2111043223326163101">a post on social media Friday evening</a>, the Alliance Arts team wrote that, in addition to concerns about managing streaming restrictions, "we're concerned that the demo's content could be used to quickly imitate or replicate the game's presentation and gameplay with AI or other tools and that such works could be released before our launch."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/ai-game-clones-are-making-indie-developers-afraid-to-show-their-work/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/ai-game-clones-are-making-indie-developers-afraid-to-show-their-work/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/UyBZdch<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-59090903448701747752026-10-17T04:30:49.837-07:002026-10-17T04:30:49.837-07:00 <p><!-- obsidian --></p> <p><em>Neverwinter Nights</em> was made by the studio that produced seminal RPGs <em>Baldur's Gate</em>, <em>Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic</em>, <em>Mass Effect</em>, and <em>Dragon Age</em>. It sold well and was critically acclaimed at launch. Yet, somehow, it has not been canonized in most gamers' minds over the decades the same way the games that came before and after it were.</p> <p>Nonetheless, more than two decades later, it still has a tight-knit and surprisingly active community that none of those other games can rival. I think that's partly because it was a completely different beast.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/why-biowares-neverwinter-nights-still-has-thousands-of-active-players/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/why-biowares-neverwinter-nights-still-has-thousands-of-active-players/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/UaNOFpb<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-8636298151265295072026-10-16T14:30:36.919-07:002026-10-16T14:30:36.919-07:00 <p><!-- obsidian --></p> <p>A new bill proposed by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) aims to establish new regulations that would ensure that "buying a video game would give the consumer ownership of the game rather than a license to play it," including assurances that they can continue to access the games for years after they are released.</p> <p>The announcement names <em>NBA 2K25</em> as an example of the problem the bill aims to solve; that game launched on September 6, 2025, but is <a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/nba-2k25-is-getting-delisted-after-just-2-years-and-single-player-story-mode-will-become-unplayable">scheduled</a> to become unplayable on December 31 due to server shutdowns. The bill, which is called the Power to Players Act, directs the FTC to take action to prevent outcomes like that in the future.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/us-rep-proposes-bill-to-give-video-game-buyers-ownership-not-a-license/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/us-rep-proposes-bill-to-give-video-game-buyers-ownership-not-a-license/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/CSt9FEu<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-79112579246423206052026-10-14T16:30:21.681-07:002026-10-14T16:30:21.681-07:00 <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/12/epic-undercuts-steam-with-new-store-that-gives-devs-more-money/">Nearly eight years</a> after Epic took on Steam with its own Game Store and launcher, the <em>Fortnite</em> maker is deploying a new tool to give it an edge over Valve: vibe coding.</p> <p>In <a href="https://store.epicgames.com/news/epic-games-launcher-preview">announcing</a> the new <a href="https://launcher.epicgames.com/">publicly available "Preview" build</a> of its Epic Games Launcher, Epic writes that "programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look." And while that might sound a little tongue-in-cheek, Epic Games Store General Manager and VP Martin Keely <a href="https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/epic-says-its-new-vibe-coded-epic-games-store-launcher-is-faster-than-steam/">told PC Gamer</a> that the team "started from scratch" and used AI as "a tool to write and review new features and new capabilities from the ground up in a different tech stack than what we had previously." The goal, Keely said, was to "look at functionality that existed [in the current Epic Games Launcher] and [say] we want to replicate that, but not the code itself."</p> <p><a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/we-vibe-coded-a-new-epic-games-launcher-epics-new-store-app-was-built-using-ai">Speaking to IGN</a>, Keely clarified that using AI to code the new Launcher "made us more efficient and allowed a small team to rewrite the code base and be able to launch it faster across platforms, support Windows and Mac, and we're going to have a Linux version as well."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/programming-is-hard-epic-games-leans-on-vibe-coding-for-its-new-launcher-app/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/programming-is-hard-epic-games-leans-on-vibe-coding-for-its-new-launcher-app/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/bUEsM29<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-54759003846200707642026-10-14T10:30:42.998-07:002026-10-14T10:30:42.998-07:00 <p>Prolific first-person shooter level designer Richard "Levelord" Gray died Monday at the age of 68, based on reports <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xgbd7cukx2ccms4mj5rp6uqj/post/3mxrooxdr6k2v">shared on social media by Apogee Entertainment</a> yesterday. He had "dealt with cancer on and off for a while now," <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/joesiegler.blog/post/3mxrn4xyzhc2j">according to former colleague Joe Siegler</a>.</p> <p>After studying computer engineering in the '80s and tinkering on some early games in COBOL, Gray broke into the industry at the age of 35 in 1994 with the launch of <a href="https://doomwiki.org/wiki/GrayDOOM">GrayDoom</a>, a set of four maps for the then-new <em>Doom</em> that were widely shared on CompuServe and beyond. The work attracted the attention of Q Studios' Nick Newhard, who contracted Gray to work on level design for the <a href="https://blood-wiki.org/index.php/Blood">late '90s cult classic <em>Blood</em></a>.</p> <p>Gray was subsequently hired by 3D Realms, where <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/apogeeent.com/post/3mxtjqafyak2z">he said he was given free rein</a> in designing "half the levels" for <em>Duke Nukem 3D</em>. There, he was also responsible for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/injunclan/videos/907075211665951/">the famous, signed "You're Not Supposed to Be Here" easter egg</a>, which players could find only by using cheats to explore outside of the usual confines of the map.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/legendary-fps-level-designer-richard-levelord-gray-passes-away-at-68/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/legendary-fps-level-designer-richard-levelord-gray-passes-away-at-68/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/JxKocBT<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-24157552110831873942026-10-13T16:30:35.848-07:002026-10-13T16:30:35.848-07:00 <p>For years, Chinese hardware manufacturers have carved out a market niche with <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/09/are-android-based-game-streaming-handhelds-a-fad-or-are-they-the-future/">an array of handheld Android gaming devices</a> focused on retro emulation and/or more modern game-streaming capabilities. Now, though, a major game industry trade group is targeting one of those manufacturers, Anbernic, asking the US Trade Representative (USTR) to add the company to <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/26/2026-17351/2026-review-of-notorious-markets-for-counterfeiting-and-piracy-comment-request">its list of "Notorious Markets"</a> that "engage in or facilitate substantial copyright piracy or trademark counterfeiting."</p> <p><a href="https://torrentfreak.com/game-industry-asks-u-s-to-flag-denuvo-cracker-voices38-as-notorious-piracy-threat/">TorrentFreak</a> was among the first to notice <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/comment/USTR-2026-0529-0010">the request from the Entertainment Software Association</a> (ESA), which was submitted to the USTR last week. In it, the US trade group—which represents major publishers including Nintendo, Microsoft, PlayStation, Amazon, Epic, EA, Ubisoft, <a href="https://www.theesa.com/our-members/">and more</a>—notes that Anbernic devices "are routinely offered or shipped with removable memory cards preloaded with hundreds or thousands of unauthorized copies of copyright-protected video games published by ESA members."</p> <p>While many online sellers do include an SD card full of ROMs alongside emulation hardware of all types, Anbernic itself <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Handhelds/comments/1x4u2zp/comment/pggnpo9/">does not appear to do the same</a> when selling directly from its website. Regardless, the ESA argues that these ROM-laden Anbernic devices selling through "normal retail channels" help to "normalize hardware-based piracy by delivering illicit catalogues through a polished consumer product." This, the ESA says, meets the threshold for a "superfake," an ill-defined designation that applies to "high-quality counterfeit trademark goods ... on a commercial scale."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/esa-targets-anbernic-emulation-handhelds-as-superfake-piracy-enablers/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/esa-targets-anbernic-emulation-handhelds-as-superfake-piracy-enablers/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/ytSsZDz<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-71553702566783033362026-10-12T15:30:06.225-07:002026-10-12T15:30:06.225-07:00 <p><!-- obsidian --></p> <p>Just over 10 years after its initial release, space exploration and survival crafting game <em>No Man's Sky</em> is making its way to the iPhone and iPad, Apple and developer Hello Games announced today.</p> <p>It will run on devices as far back as the iPhone 11 and the third-generation iPad Air. <em>No Man's Sky</em> might not have the most cutting-edge AAA graphics (though they're still strong, and they've come a long way since launch via updates), but the game's uncommon method of generating galaxies of incomprehensible scale on device consistently for all players from a single-seed happening on a phone is remarkable for those of us who remember phones performing far behind consoles or desktop PCs.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/after-a-10-year-redemption-arc-no-mans-sky-is-coming-to-the-iphone-and-ipad/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/after-a-10-year-redemption-arc-no-mans-sky-is-coming-to-the-iphone-and-ipad/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/IyncTUz<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-66880514875534150852026-10-12T11:30:36.635-07:002026-10-12T11:30:36.635-07:00 <p>For over a decade now, the only "official" way to play <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/08/metal-gear-solids-hideo-kojima-working-on-new-silent-hill/">Hideo Kojima's cult classic, <em>P.T.</em></a>—the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/04/signs-points-to-cancellation-for-kojimas-silent-hills/">long-discontinued</a> "playable trailer" for <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/03/hideo-kojima-and-konami-productions-appear-to-be-parting-ways/">Kojima's canceled "Silent Hills" project</a>—has been via <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/05/discontinued-ps4-horror-demo-p-t-worth-hundreds-on-ebay/">one of the increasingly rare PlayStation 4s</a> that previously downloaded a copy during its monthslong availability window. Now, though, one coder is helping to preserve the game with a porting tool that builds a playable x86 PC executable from the original PS4 files.</p> <p><a href="https://x.com/smokisevdalisi">Coder Lorean Xavier</a> said he was inspired to work on <a href="https://github.com/LoreanXavier/pt-pc/">the "P.T. for PC" project</a> "because P.T. deserved to keep existing somewhere other than on consoles that still have it installed." The open source porting effort rebuilds the <em>P.T.</em> engine in C++ and Vulkan, using the original files from the PS4 game to re-create "every level, model, texture, sound, script and cutscene," according to its GitHub listing. That means players without their own legitimate decrypted copy of the original <em>P.T.</em> will have to track one down in order to generate a playable PC version.</p> <p>The reliance on real <em>P.T.</em> files makes this port more authentic than <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/01/hobbyists-resurrect-kojimas-lost-game-p-t-as-a-free-pc-download/">previous hobbyist efforts</a> to re-create the look and feel of <em>P.T.</em> for a PC audience. And while PS4 emulators <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/silenthill/comments/1mqt9cg/silent_hills_pt_is_now_fully_playable_with/">recently reached a point where they could run <em>P.T.</em> completely</a>, this native port also sports extra features, like upscaling and frame-generation, a camera mode, experimental third-person and VR support, and a "museum" section where you can look at and listen to in-game assets (including "unused content").</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/long-lost-horror-gaming-cult-classic-p-t-gets-a-much-needed-pc-port/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/long-lost-horror-gaming-cult-classic-p-t-gets-a-much-needed-pc-port/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/6aZFCE4<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-21877164863770171412026-10-02T16:30:41.147-07:002026-10-02T16:30:41.147-07:00 <p>"Rendering <em>Doom</em> in a database is obviously a bad idea," Lukas Vogel writes in <a href="https://cedardb.com/blog/sqldoom/">a lengthy blog post</a> explaining how exactly he managed to render <em>Doom</em> using an SQL database.</p> <p>OK, that's not entirely accurate. The <a href="https://github.com/cedardb/sqldoom">SQLDoom project</a> uses a small Python client to handle input and output, drive the game's timing, and display each frame to the screen. Behind that, a series of CedarDB tables tracks the game geometry and state, while about 1,300 lines of SQL queries spread across 89 <a href="https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/sql/cte-in-sql/">common table expressions</a> implement the game logic and generate 35 bitmap framebuffers per second.</p> <p>In this, SQLDoom is a major improvement over <a href="https://cedardb.com/blog/doomql/">Vogel's previous DoomQL project</a>, which last year set out to build "a multiplayer Doom-like shooter entirely in SQL." Unfortunately, that effort ended up with raycasting-based, grayscale ASCII graphics that were more akin to the simplistic 90-degree-angled maps of <em>Wolfenstein 3D</em>. The newer SQLDoom, on the other hand, generates full-color 640x480 frames that look like they could have come from the original <em>Doom</em> executable.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/can-it-run-doom-sql-database-edition/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/can-it-run-doom-sql-database-edition/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/5RvX2Jl<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1426524726679478020.post-3196759709295460752026-10-01T07:30:41.258-07:002026-10-01T07:30:41.258-07:00 <p>For a long time, PC gamers could access many PlayStation 5 games only if the publisher <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/08/sony-says-it-will-explore-more-pc-ports-for-playstation-titles/">invested in a bespoke port</a> (something Sony <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/03/sony-wont-bring-any-more-single-player-playstation-games-to-pc/">has recently said it will be scaling back</a>). Now, though, rapid advancements in PS5 emulators and other tools are making recent PlayStation titles increasingly playable on generic PCs.</p> <p>SharpEmu was the first of these emulators, advancing from <a href="https://github.com/sharpemu/sharpemu/commit/a1dea499bc00eb12ba740e6f4708f3525fe883ae">a "very early alpha stage" in May</a> to <a href="https://github.com/sharpemu/sharpemu/">a current state</a> that can "load the eboot.bin of real games, execute native CPU instructions, and partially handle GPU-related functionality." The most recent release <a href="https://sharpemu.app/compatibility/">boasts 10 tested games that reach a "playable" state</a>, including six that developer CursedIfElse <a href="https://x.com/CursedIfElse/status/2103612440143339874">says</a> are "fully playable at 60 fps." That includes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKhb7P15aq4">simple 2D games like <em>Tetris Forever</em></a> but also <a href="https://x.com/iExplosiveRage/status/2105053592013181064">3D titles like <em>Astro Bot</em></a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQJqV6PXC2s">the PS5 <em>Demon's Souls</em> remaster</a> running at playable frame rates.</p> <p>"SharpEmu has prioritized hardware accuracy from the very beginning, and we’re finally starting to see that investment pay off," CursedIfElse <a href="https://x.com/CursedIfElse/status/2105058607238877413">wrote on social media this week</a>. "It was built completely from scratch, and this is how far we’ve come."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/ps5-emulation-is-suddenly-making-big-strides-on-pc/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/ps5-emulation-is-suddenly-making-big-strides-on-pc/#comments">Comments</a></p> <br> <br> from Gaming - Ars Technica https://ift.tt/k1jcGaT<br>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com