Ars Technica Gaming

1. Years later, Arkane’s Dishonored is still a modern stealth classic

   Steam punk magical-realist world-building at its finest.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Valve rejoins the VR hardware wars with standalone Steam Frame

   SteamOS-powered headset sports semi-modular design, wireless "low-latency" PC streaming.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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."

8. With Skigill, the classic RPG skill tree becomes a crowded battlefield

   Vampire Survivors-esque battler sets itself apart with great weapons, unique graphics.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. Roberta Williams’ The Colonel’s Bequest was a different type of adventure game

    What if point-and-click games weren't about the puzzles?

12. 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.

13. ROG Xbox Ally X: The Ars Technica review

    The first portable “Xbox” fails to unify a messy world of competing PC gaming platforms.

14. AMD and Sony’s PS6 chipset aims to rethink the current graphics pipeline

    Project Amethyst focuses on efficient machine learning, new compression techniques.

15. It’s time for game developers to bring back the cheat code

    Arcane hidden options can offer accessibility without confusing the "core" game experience.

16. 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.

17. Rally Arcade Classics is a fun ’90s-throwback racing game

    If you like games that handle like Project Gotham Racing, you might love this.

18. 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.

19. EA will be a very different company under private ownership

    Analysts see trouble for studios like BioWare, potential for Saudi meddling.

20. Fortnite disables Peacemaker emote that might resemble a swastika

    Epic will "inquire into our partner's creative intentions" before making a final decision.