The Nintendo Switch is a miracle. The Steam Deck doubly so. In both cases, their respective manufacturers attempted something that seemed impossible: cramming AAA games into hardware you can play on the bus. Both pulled it off by performing a delicate dance to balance performance, efficiency, and simplicity for the …
Read More »'Fortnite' Maker Epic Games Challenges Apple’s Dominance With New iOS App Store
Epic Games today officially launched a rival app store for iOS in the European Union, marking the first time Apple’s own App Store has had to face a serious rival. The Epic Games Store will initially offer Epic’s games, including Fortnite, for users to download onto their iPhones, with plans …
Read More »'The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom' Finally Gives Zelda Her Own Game
After decades of serving as the named inspiration for the beloved franchise The Legend of Zelda, the series’ titular princess is finally getting her own game. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, releasing September 26 for Nintendo Switch, gives Zelda her very own hero’s journey after Link goes missing. …
Read More »Mobile Gaming Is Having a Moment—and Backbone Wants to Unite It
Mobile gaming has never received the same respect as console and PC gaming. Yet it generated over $90 billion in 2023, accounting for half of the global games market, and runs the gamut from casual to AAA titles. It's continuing to grow, and the boundary between mobile gaming and “regular” …
Read More »‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ Initial Prototypes Were ‘Chaos’
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom developers had a problem: The land of Hyrule kept falling apart. Anyone who has played Tears of the Kingdom might be able to guess why. Some of the game’s big advances—Link’s Ultrahand and Fuse abilities, which allow players to create any tool …
Read More »How to Install a Larger SSD in Your Steam Deck
As a PC gamer, you’ve likely already felt the pain that is the ever-increasing file size of today’s games—Baldur’s Gate 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are each around 150 gigabytes, for example. These giant games become even more of a hassle on portable consoles like Valve’s Steam Deck. Huge …
Read More »‘Super Mario RPG’ Is Still One of Nintendo’s Best, Most Bizarre Games
There’s a scene early in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars where Mario, alongside his new friend Mallow—a “frog” who looks like a cotton candy cloud wearing pants—is hunting down a thief. Toad, faithful servant of the Mushroom Kingdom, reports a sighting, then scoffs at the question of …
Read More »You Should Be Able to Pick Up Any Game Where You Left Off on Any Platform
In case you hadn't heard, Cyberpunk 2077 is good now. The much-maligned game, which was notoriously bug-ridden at launch, has had a renaissance since it received an overhaul and its first and only story expansion in September. Now, the act of dashing through the gorgeous and hyper-violent streets of Night …
Read More »Can 'Monster Hunter Now' Pull Niantic Out of Its Slump?
On his walk toward Niantic’s office in the Bay Area one day, senior producer Sakae Osumi noticed everyone staring up. There was an eclipse happening, as good a reason as any to tilt back and gaze into the sky, but Osumi had another thought: What if a team working on …
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