Ars Technica Gaming

1. Someone got Doom in an SQL database

   1,300 lines of SQL querying renders accurate bitmapped views of Hell at 35 fps.

2. PS5 emulation is suddenly making big strides on PC

   Games like Astro Bot and Demon’s Souls are running ably without a console.

3. The PS5 hacking scene just took a big leap forward

   New exploit works on all but the most recently updated consoles.

4. Shuffling the deck chairs: Xbox continues its "reset" with dramatic restructuring

   Activision gets Halo, Obsidian becomes part of Bethesda, and more internal shake-ups.

5. Not just Proton: Getting to know Valve's new SteamOS compatibility layers

   New system-level tools bring Arm chipsets, Android APKs into the Steam ecosystem.

6. Steam Frame: The Ars Technica review

   Valve's new $1,059 VR hardware tries to revive an abandoned VR "revolution."

7. GOG brings back "big box" PC games, one printable template at a time

   Preservation "goodies" also include downloadable 3D models for desktop perusal.

8. The White House made a "Tetris" clone. The Tetris Company was not amused.

   Trump admin's propaganda "arcade" hits some apparent legal limits.

9. The combat demo for Free Stars: Children of Infinity is out, and it's free

   Blast your opponents in 1v1 arcade space battles like it's 1992 all over again.

10. A ratings board wouldn't let Valve release a trailer. It "leaked" it instead.

    "I think we can't get in trouble for that now. It's like 20 years ago."

11. Xbox imposes harsh new time limits for Game Pass game streaming

    Over 1 million Game Pass subscribers will have to pay more for their heavy streaming use.

12. Pocket's AI made my game ideas real. Now Meta controls the results.

    Interactive mobile "gizmos" are easy to make, hard to share outside Meta's platform.

13. A 12TB Steam “teraleak” spills more than a decade of lost PC gaming history

    Cut content from Portal 2, hints of Half Life 2: Episode 3, and so much more.

14. Panic passes Trump tariff refunds back to the Playdate customers who paid them

    "It just felt like the right thing to do."

15. Xbox’s new disc-to-digital program gives physical games a digital future

    "Most" Xbox One and Series X games are compatible; discs will still work after being claimed.

16. New bootloader lets you take the "Meta" out of the original Meta Quest

    Privilege escalation attack grants "full control" and freedom from Meta's servers/apps.

17. Ars Live recap: How can we stop publishers from killing their own games?

    The Stop Killing Games movement faces an uphill battle.

18. Live now: Ross Scott discusses the Stop Killing Games movement

    Our discussion takes place live on August 11 at 2:30 pm ET.

19. Developer Cold Iron Studios shuts down cloud version of $60 game with no refunds

    A reminder of the perils of digital ownership.

20. Valve slowly expands SteamOS support on non-Valve hardware

    New update includes improvements for the Intel-based MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ among others.