Ars Technica Gaming

1. Union game performers strike over AI voice and motion-capture training

   Use of motion-capture actors' performances for AI training is a sticking point.

2. Lego’s newest retro art piece is a 1,215-piece Super Mario World homage

   $130 set is available for preorder now, ships on October 1.

3. FTC attacks Microsoft’s post-merger Game Pass price increases

   Regulator says move is "exactly the sort of consumer harm" it warned about.

4. Switch 2 is around the corner, but Nintendo announces a new Switch accessory anyway

   Oddly timed accessory is released as the Switch's life cycle is winding down.

5. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition gave me new respect for gaming speedrunners

   Bite-size speed challenges refresh the classics, but require a healthy dose of patience.

6. Valve runs its massive PC gaming ecosystem with only about 350 employees

   Ars' leak analysis shows a large "Games" department and a very well-paid "Admin" team.

7. Full dev build of Space Marine 2 leaks, and players are already leveling up

   Developers canceled a beta test—but may have gotten one anyway.

8. PC emulator comes to iOS, but Apple’s restrictions hamper performance

   UTM SE's lack of JIT compilation means "SE stands for Slow Edition."

9. “Superhuman” Go AIs still have trouble defending against these simple exploits

   Plugging up "worst-case" algorithmic holes is proving more difficult than expected.

10. $500 aluminum version of the Analogue Pocket looks like the Game Boy’s final form

    Other Pocket iterations have stuck to colorful (and cheaper) plastic.

11. Arm tweaks AMD’s FSR to bring battery-saving GPU upscaling to phones and tablets

    Arm "Accuracy Super Resolution" is optimized for power use and integrated GPUs.

12. Latest Apple Arcade additions show Apple is looking backward, not forward

    Opinion: Games that were popular in 2011 or even 2022 won't move the needle for Apple.

13. Microsoft asks many Game Pass subscribers to pay more for less

    Launch day access to first-party titles now restricted to $19.99/month "Ultimate" tier.

14. Why 1994’s Lair of Squid was the weirdest pack-in game of all time

    The HP 200LX included a mysterious maze game called Lair of Squid. We tracked down the author.

15. Fallout: London devs will “downgrade” Fallout 4 to save their massive mod

    The game's "next-gen update" threatened to upend years of work on the "DLC-sized" mod.

16. After two rejections, Apple approves Epic Games Store app for iOS

    European iOS users will see the alternative app store launch sometime soon.

17. The new Riven remake is even better than Myst

    The original developers revised puzzles and realized the immersive world in 3D.

18. Patent document showcases the cloud-only streaming Xbox console that never was

    Microsoft couldn't get the price of its streaming Xbox low enough to release it.

19. Apple rejects PC emulators on the iOS App Store

    New iOS emulation rules only apply to "retro game consoles," not retro computers.

20. The math on unplayed Steam “shame” is way off—and no cause for guilt

    It's fun to speculate, but sales and library quirks make it impossible to know.