One of the biggest problems with the Switch 2 isn't availability or a looming price hike, but the platform's online marketplace. What should be a highlight reel of Nintendo exclusives, outstanding third-party titles, and rising indie stars is instead an eShop full of slop drops, and Dead Gears: Space of War is indicative of this problem. Scheduled to launch on May 29, the game's key art combines an on-the-nose use of the Cog symbol from Gears of War with the font of Dead Space, all positioned above what is likely an AI-generated image.

The game's trailer doesn't inspire much confidence either, as what should be a sizzle reel for Dead Gears: Space of War is instead a by-the-numbers gameplay teaser that has nothing in common with the art assets being used to promote this release. Not exactly surprising, given that publisher Consann Real Estate has in the past released numerous "Simulator" games and Fall Buddies--which probably has nothing to do with Fall Guys. Probably!

So what's going on here? Despite its efforts to keep slop to a minimum, the Nintendo eShop is more infested than ever before with games that range from low-effort asset flips to clones attempting to piggyback on the momentum set by popular games and franchises. While the eShop Highlights section is fairly safe to browse, once you scroll down to the other sections of the marketplace, it quickly becomes a slop-free-for-all when you start browsing.

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Forza Horizon 6 is out now for people who pay extra ahead of its wider release on May 19, and one thing fans have noticed right off the bat is that they cannot destroy cherry blossom trees. This is notable because almost all other trees in the game can be smashed.

Design director Torben Ellert explained to Japan Times that this was a deliberate decision done to honor cultural traditions in Japan, which is where the game takes place.

"Almost all trees in the game are smashable to ensure that traversing the world map is both fun and rewarding. However, several tree types are not, for example, the cherry blossom trees, because they're an iconic element of Japanese culture," Ellert said, as reported by Dexerto.

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With video game adaptations being all the rage, it was only a matter of time before Uwe Boll returned to the world of filmmaking. The infamous director behind several video game movies like Postal and Far Cry, Boll has begun production on 23 Years Later: The Castle of the Dead, a spiritual successor to his 2003 adaptation of Sega's House of the Dead. The title for the movie is also suspiciously similar to the two 28 Years Later movies that were recently released.

Despite the crowdfunding push for the movie failing--no funds were collected from the whopping 39 backers who initially pledged $14,000 to the project--filming will kick off on September 5 in Germany. Jonathan Cherry and Ona Grauer, who starred in the original House of the Dead, are back for this project and Boll has teamed up with his longtime producer Michael Roesch to bring it to life.

Plot details are being kept under wraps, but Roesch said to THR that the film will be an upgrade when compared to House of the Dead, which was mostly set inside of a derelict home that was besieged by zombies. "We're upgrading from a house full of zombies to a castle full of zombies," Roesch said.

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It's another year, and that means another hilarious NFL release schedule video from the Los Angeles Chargers based on a video game. This time, the football organization utilized Halo Infinite to reveal its 18-week schedule that begins this September and runs through January 2027.

The social media team with the Chargers worked with Xbox to make the video--seen below--in Halo Infinite's Forge mode. In fact, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma responded on X with three lightning bolt emojis to the Chargers post, showcasing her support of the creative reveal. Each weekly matchup is teased on the Mission Select screen to start, with opponents getting fresh maps in Halo. There's a cool custom boat created, for example, to preview the team's matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 13.

should we REALLY make our schedule release video in halo?
yes yes yesyes
yesyes yes yes yes
yes yes yes yes yes
yes yesyes yes yes
yes yesye yes yes
yes yes yesyes pic.twitter.com/eusK9QmNGd

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 14, 2026

This is the second year in a row that the Chargers have utilized an Xbox property for the schedule unveiling, as the team used Minecraft last year. In 2024, The Sims 2 was the medium, demonstrating that the Chargers have a varied taste in gaming.

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It's the end of the road for Lego 2K Drive. Developer Visual Concepts has announced that the game, released in 2023 to good reviews, will be delisted on May 19 with its multiplayer servers going offline on May 31, 2027.

After that, "All game functions requiring online servers will no longer function," the developer said. The game's store pages across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox disclosed the forthcoming changes, but the eShop page doesn't mention anything about delisting and server shutdown.

Lego 2K Drive was released on May 19, 2023, so the delisting date is exactly three years later. 2K has not disclosed why Lego 2K Drive is being delisted and losing multiplayer support, but some suspect it has to do with licenses and small player populations.

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Are you wondering how to get the Scanner upgrade in Subnautica 2? This device, known as the Bioscanner, doesn't just give you info about man-made objects and basic lifeforms. It actually lets you learn more about the enigmatic alien beings known as the Axum.

Table of Contents [hide]

• Subnautica 2 gear guide - Bioscanner upgrade
  • Cicada Wreck location
  Subnautica 2 gear guide - Bioscanner upgrade

  The Subnautica 2 Bioscanner upgrade can be yours a bit later in your run. That's because you have to venture far to the east of the Lifepod. If you're following our mini-walkthrough, then you need to check out the Alien Ruins well past the Tadpole Pens.

  Cicada Wreck location

  Once you reach the Alien Ruins, tackle a few objectives from the NOA Terminal until you learn about the Iso blackbox signal. It's actually east-northeast of the region, fairly close to the large alien turbine. If you look at the top of a plateau, you'll see the Cicada Wreck (EVA Prep). Inside, you'll find the Iso blackbox, Bioscanner, and other goodies.

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Do you want to obtain the Sonic Resonator and Feedback Resonator in Subnautica 2? This device and its upgrade will surely be of vital use throughout the campaign. With it, you should be able to farm a lot of minerals and, much later in the game, unlock an integral ability.

Subnautica 2 gear guide - Sonic Resonator and Feedback Resonator

By default, your character can only gather materials by hand. Shortly thereafter, you should have the Survival Multitool, which lets you smack around smaller mineral deposits. But what about larger nodes? How do you actually destroy them? Well, that's where the Sonic Resonator comes into play.

Sonic Resonator fragment locations

The Subnautica 2 Sonic Resonator becomes available once you've scanned two of its fragments. Fortunately, they're both in the same location:

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Are you scratching your head because of the alien door in Subnautica 2? This curious-looking object is supposed to lead you to the inner recesses of the observatory. Likewise, just a short distance away, there's a massive turbine that seems to lack power. We've got all the details for you in this guide, but be ready for a few spoilers, too.

Table of Contents [hide]

• Subnautica 2 guide - Alien observatory door and turbine
  • Alien Ruins biome
  Subnautica 2 guide - Alien observatory door and turbine

  The alien observatory door in Subnautica 2 is fairly close to the Alien Ruins biome/marker, which is a key objective once you're done with the Tadpole Pens. If you're just free-roaming, then the structure is actually 1,100 meters east of the Lifepod. Beware, though, because there are several enemies, including a deadly leviathan, along the way.

  Alien Ruins biome

  Upon reaching the alien observatory, you'll notice a pedestal and a doorway. You can't do anything yet, as you're told that the device requires a massive amount of power to function. For now, though, just explore the Alien Ruins biome and the abandoned base. You should also craft the Bioscanner upgrade and Feedback Resonator upgrade. Both of these are integral for the next tasks.

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By default in Subnautica 2, mobility is very slow. While you can pull off some movement tech with the Air Bladder and the Dash ability, you'll be moving at a snail's pace for a majority of the early game. However, all of that changes when you gain access to the Wakemaker. The Wakemaker is Subnautica 2's version of the original game's Sea Glider, and it's an equipment item you can use to swim faster.

While you'll want to start using the Wakemaker as quickly as possible, there are a few different steps you need to take before that happens.

How to find the Wakemaker Fragments in Subnautica 2

Similar to the Tadpole, the Habitat Builder, and just about every other important tool in Subnautica 2, you can only obtain the crafting recipe for the Wakemaker after scanning all of its fragments. To craft the Wakemaker, you need to find three total fragments.

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Pokemon Character Guide: Deluxe Edition

$60 | Releases August 30

Preorder at Amazon

Pokemon Character Guide: Collector's Edition

$200 | Releases August 30

Preorder at Amazon

After 30 years, the world of Pokemon has grown massive with hundreds of pocket monsters and multiple regions to explore. Plenty of books have been published over the years, but Pikachu Press's upcoming Pokemon Character Guide is aiming to be a comprehensive and luxurious look at the franchise. Out on August 25, you can preorder this deluxe edition book for $60 through Amazon, or if you want to go all out, a feature-packed $200 Collector's Edition is also available.

Pokemon Character Guide: Deluxe Edition $60 | Releases August 30

Clocking in at 336 pages, the Pokemon Character Guide features entries on over 1,000 Pokemon. Exploring every region in the franchise, the book also shines a light on the various Pokemon animation projects, the video games, Pokemon: The Trading Card Game, and much more. The book also includes a foreword written by The Pokemon Company president and CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, and it's enhanced with a ribbon bookmark, premium golden gilded edges, Pikachu endpapers, and a comprehensive index. As an added bonus, the Pokemon Character Guide also features a special chapter focused on Legendary and Mythical Pokemon.

Preorder at Amazon Pokemon Character Guide: Collector's Edition $200 | Releases August 30

The Collector's Edition of the Pokemon Character Guide features the same content as the Deluxe Edition, but it comes packed with extras. The book itself is packaged inside a collector's box that features ornate designs, and it's accompanied by two collectible video game prints, two collectible animation prints, an exclusive Pokemon: TCG playmat, and a certificate of authenticity.

Preorder at Amazon

Another great option for budding Pokemon researchers is the Pokecology: An Illustrated Guide to Pokemon Ecology hardcover book that launched just a few weeks ago. This officially licensed 208-page volume explores the Pokemon universe's unique ecologies based on data from the official Pokedex entries throughout the series, alongside illustrations from illustrator and real-life animal behavior researcher Chihiro Kinoshita. The book is published by Pikachu Press, the same company behind the upcoming Pokemon Character Guide. It's available for $11 (was $15) at Amazon.

Pokecology: An Illustrated Guide to Pokemon Ecology

$11 (was $15)

See at Amazon

To complete your Pokemon library, you can also pair the Character Guide and Pokecology books with the official Pokemon Pocket Guide Box Set. This is a massive two-volume paperback box set that covers almost 900 Pokemon. Both entries combined offer over 1,100 pages of content, with details on Pokemon descriptions, stats, abilities, movies, and evolutions. Each Pokemon entry is also accompanied by an illustration, with the first volume covering Pokedex entries No. 1 through 442, and Volume 2 ranges from No. 443 through 898. Pokemon from the Paldean region are sadly excluded, but with Pokemon Winds and Waves coming out next year, this pocket-friendly set of books will come in very handy for when you catch legacy pocket monsters in the Switch 2 game. You can also purchase each volume on its own at decent discounts, but you'll save a few bucks more when you buy the box set edition, which is available for $20.29 (was $29).

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Lego The Lord of the Rings: Minas Tirith (8,278 pieces)

$650 | Releases June 4

Preorder at Lego

Lego has officially revealed its newest--and biggest--Lord of the Rings set yet, a massive 8,278-piece recreation of the White City, Minas Tirith. Available now to preorder for $650, the set will release first on June 1 for members of Lego's free rewards program, Lego Insiders, and it will be followed by a global launch on June 4. As an added bonus, any purchases made between June 1 and Jun 7 will also receive the Lego Icons: Lord of the Rings Grond battering ram set as a Gift with Purchase.

Lego The Lord of the Rings: Minas Tirith (8,278 pieces) $650 | Releases June 4

Based on the iconic location as seen in Peter Jackson's third Lord of the Rings movie, Return of the King, the Minas Tirith set is a diorama piece that combines an expansive cityscape with detailed interior scenes, including the citadel throne room. The assembled set measures over 23.5 inches high, 24.5 inches wide, and has a depth of 14.5 inches. Essentially, you're going to need a lot of room to display it in all its glory.

It also comes with the following 10 minifigures:

• Aragorn (in King Elessar garb)
• Arwen
• Denethor (with tiny tomatoes)
• Faramir
• Gandalf the White
• Gondor Guards (four in total)
• Peregrin Took

Preorder at Lego Gallery

As mentioned above, this is Lego's largest LOTR set yet, dwarfing impressive past releases like the Rivendell and Barad-dûr Tower by a significant margin. All of these sets are still available to order in case you'd like to complete your collection, alongside smaller LOTR kits like Sauron's Helmet and the Balrog Book Nook.

More Lego Lord of the Rings Sets

• Balrog Book Nook (1,201 pieces) -- $109 ($130)
• Barad-dûr Tower (5,471 pieces) -- $459
• Sauron's Helmet (538 pieces) -- $70
• The Shire (2,017 pieces) -- $270
• Sméagol & Déagol (181 pieces) -- $110 ($120)
• Rivendell (6,167 pieces) -- $499

Moving to other realms beyond Middle-earth, you can also preorder several more upcoming Lego sets. The company is expanding its line of video game console replicas with a Sega Genesis set and it's also celebrating 25 years of Shrek with an absolutely cursed diorama set.

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The Xbox Elite Controller 2 has remained one of the best options for gaming on not just Xbox consoles, but PC, for several years now, but it appears it's about to get an upgrade. Images of the Xbox Elite 3 Controller have appeared online via a Brazilian regulator, and they show a few new features that players should be very excited about.

As spotted by Tecnoblog (via The Verge), the new Xbox Elite 3 Controller features two scrolls wheels on either side of the headset connector, for reasons unclear. A pair button will also make it easy to shift between local play and cloud play, letting you choose whether the controller is connected directly to your system or to your Wi-Fi network.

Xbox Elite 3 controller leaked pic.twitter.com/4sMEpQm9Sd

— Xbox News & Deals (@XboxStockAlerts) May 14, 2026

The other big change is the inclusion of a removable battery pack. Previous Elite Controllers used a non-removable battery, much like PS5 controllers use, but offering the removable option should let players continue to use the same controller long after the original battery has degraded. Microsoft has made a point of including traditional AA battery compartments in most of its wireless controllers over the years, giving players the option of purchasing separate rechargeable packs if they so choose.

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For a long time, the common wisdom was that game consoles would usurp PC gaming, leaving it a niche hobby, ignored by the greater gaming community. And indeed, for a long time consoles were the most popular way to play mainstream games. But recently, especially since the release of the current generation of consoles, the very opposite seems to be coming true. PC gaming has been expanding while consoles falter.

Looking forward to the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles, analysts are predicting $900 as the low end of possible pricing--and that number is seeming more and more optimistic. That's a lot of money to spend for a dedicated machine that, for most console owners, is just used for playing Call of Duty or the latest football game. Consoles are becoming too expensive for all but the most dedicated gamers to justify--especially when gamers in their teens and early 20s have grown up in a world where a console is no longer needed to play the vast majority of games.

While the gaming industry as a whole is still massive, the traditional sector of games are struggling. Games industry sales tracker Circana reported that last year, games spending in general dropped by 4% compared to last year. Hardware spending specifically dropped 27% percent. Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 sales dropped by 70% and 40%, respectively. Nintendo's numbers were bolstered by the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, but still saw a 10% drop. Both PS5 and the current Xbox consoles have seen multiple price hikes in the last 18 months, and the Nintendo Switch 2 launched at $450 in the US, 50% higher than the launch price of the first Switch.

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In the past decade, life sims (and farming sims, in particular) have gone from a relatively niche genre with a handful of standout titles to a full-blown phenomenon. While this is great for players who now have an abundance of fields to plow, animals to tend to, and townsfolk to woo, the sheer saturation of these titles makes it harder than ever for a game to truly stand out. As such, more and more of these games have sought out interesting angles to help shake up the formula--just look at the current trend of "cozy" games subverting the genre by incorporating horror. However, players looking for something horror-adjacent but decidedly less blood-soaked than Neverway or Grave Seasons have long been out of luck--until now.

Little Chicken's Moonlight Peaks seeks to bridge the gap between the cozy and the macabre, offering up a lighthearted life-sim experience set in a world filled with vampires, werewolves, witches, and seers. After spending around five hours with Moonlight Peaks, I found a fair amount to enjoy--its vibrant-yet-moody color palette and lush environments being chief among them. In the demo I played, the game feels a bit barebones and lacks the ability to truly compel me (both puns very much intended). The controls also feel just a bit off and the world and its characters, not fully alive. However, I remain cautiously optimistic that, with more time spent in development (the game is set to launch in July), Moonlight Peaks could deliver an experience that sets it apart from similar titles.

In Moonlight Peaks, you play as Count Dracular's heir apparent. After yet another fight with your blood- and soul-sucking father, you decide it's time to leave the castle and create a life of your own somewhere else. This journey leads you to your witchy mother's former hometown, the small village of Moonlight Peaks.

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Once you start getting past the initial area in Subnautica 2, you'll begin to encounter more resources, which are required to craft advanced tools, healing supplies, and materials. These resources aren't as common as Titanium and Copper, though, so they can take some time to track down. One of the resources you'll be chasing for hours is Silver, which is a necessary resource to improve all sorts of technology. While Silver can be a pain to find, there are specific areas you can look in Subnautica 2 that will yield a guaranteed supply of it.

Silver locations in Subnautica 2

There are technically two different kinds of Silver in Subnautica 2: regular ore and Silver Outcrops. Regular Silver ore can be looted with your hands just like any other metal, but Silver Outcrops require the use of a Sonar Resonator to mine due to their larger size and harvest potential.

The Sonar Resonator has fragments lying around that you can scan to eventually build it. However, that will take hours into Subnautica 2, and you need Silver to upgrade your oxygen tank rather quickly, so you'll want to know where regular ore can be found.

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After years of development and behind-the-scenes controversy, Subnautica 2 from developer Unknown Worlds is out now in early access. If you're curious about the game but don't have an Xbox or a PC powerful enough, there is another way to play it--by streaming it to a device you already own via Nvidia GeForce now or Microsoft's cloud gaming service.

For GeForce Now, you still have to buy the game and then subscribe to the service to play it. There is a free tier of the service, but it limits you to one-hour sessions, has ads, caps you at 1080p/60fps, and streams from a "basic" rig. Alternatively, you can pay $10/month for no ads and streaming from a GeForce RTX rig with six-hour sessions and up to 1440p/60fps. There is also an Ultimate tier of GeForce Now ($20/month) that has no ads, eight-hour sessions, and up to 5K/360fps.

Go to the GeForce Now website to learn more.

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Are you wondering about how to heal your character in Subnautica 2? The world of Proteus is full of mysteries and wonders, but danger also lurks in every corner. If you decide to play on Creative Mode, then don't fret, since your character is pretty much invulnerable. Conversely, if you're playing on Survival Mode, then this guide is for you.

Subnautica 2 survival guide: Healing

At the start, your character has 100 health/HP. This gets depleted if you experience mishaps, such as:

• Going hungry (starving) or thirsty (dehydration). Each time your food or water meter ticks, you lose -4 HP.
• Taking damage from enemies and the environment--i.e. extreme heat. The damage you suffer varies.
• Leviathans are also considered hostile creatures, but they'll gobble up your character whole, leading to instant death.
• Running out of oxygen causes your screen to darken. If you're unable to replenish it in time, your character will perish, too.

Healing up via Medical Gel Sacs

To heal your character in Subnautica 2, you can consume items known as Medical Gel Sacs. These come from underwater plants known as Acidic Raions:

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After nearly a year of speculation, AMD has announced that it is bringing its latest generation of AI-powered upscaling technology, FSR 4.1, to its older generations of GPUs, starting with RDNA 3 cards as early as July.

FSR 4.1 launched in March for AMD's latest GPUs, namely the RX 9070 XT, 9070, and more. Older, but just as capable, RDNA 3 cards such as the RX 7900 XTX, have been stuck on FSR 3, with AMD repeatedly stating that newer hardware in its latest cards enabled the AI upscaling in a way previous architecture couldn't. That is no longer the case, with AMD's Jack Huynh stating that the company has done a lot of work to ensure the upscaling suite is optimized for the older hardware. Better still, he says AMD is also planning to release FSR 4.1 on even older RDNA 2 GPUs, such as the one found in the Steam Deck, in early 2027.

This not only enhances older desktop GPUs during a time where the price of PC hardware has increased exponentially, but it also is good news for upcoming RDNA 3 devices, like Valve's Steam Machine. When it was originally announced, Valve said that the living-room PC would leverage upscaling to support games at 4K, but the reliance on FSR 3 at the time didn't make that option too enticing given its shortcomings. With FSR 4.1, the same technology that currently underpins Sony's PSSR 2 on the PlayStation 5 Pro, that is a different discussion entirely.

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Rockstar Games owner Take-Two saw its stock price jump by over 6% today after news broke that preorders for GTA 6 could start on Monday, May 18. Reading between the lines here, it appears investors are excited about the idea that Rockstar is finally going to start taking people's money.

Investors may also see this report as more of an indication that GTA 6 will not be delayed again and will actually come out on November 19, thus signaling strength and confidence in the stock.

With Take-Two's share value climbing today--it's at $242 as of publish time--the company has added $2 billion+ in market cap. Even with the growth, Take-Two's share price so far in 2026 has fallen by about 4%, however. The company's stock value took a beating in February when Google announced Project Genie, a new AI system that it said was capable of creating video game worlds.

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Cloud gaming has been a big focus for Microsoft and the Xbox division for several years, and the company has been rumored to be working on a new controller to help with this initiative. It looks like images for the peripheral have leaked, but compared to the standard Xbox Wireless Controller that has been in action for over five years, this new model looks to be a polarizing new design.

Images from Brazil's Anatel regulator (via Tecnoblog) show off a device that's smaller and more compact than a standard controller. The new controller reportedly features the standard inputs of an Xbox controller, a rechargeable 500mAh internal battery, Bluetooth connectivity for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, and Wi-Fi functionality for game streaming.

Este é o novo controle da Microsoft para Xbox Cloud Gaming https://t.co/P27j4Rn0M2

— Tecnoblog (@Tecnoblog) May 14, 2026

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