Gaming

Consoles, handhelds and the hardware you play on. Not game reviews.

updated
1d ago

October 202612 articles

Switch Online or the Expansion Pack? What each tier includes, from Nintendo’s US pages, read 13 October 2026. Nintendo Switch Online, $19.99 a year, family $34.99: online play in compatible games, Save Data Cloud, NES, Super NES and Game Boy classics, the Nintendo Music app and member offers, GameChat on Switch 2. Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, $49.99 a year, family $79.99: everything in Switch Online, plus Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance and SEGA Genesis classics, Virtual Boy with an accessory sold separately, three DLC packs at no extra cost, and on Switch 2 only, GameCube classics and the Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom upgrade packs. Nintendo lists the Expansion Pack at a 12-month price only.
Gaming · Explainer

Switch Online Is $19.99 a Year; Expansion Pack Adds $30

The $49.99 tier adds N64, GBA, Virtual Boy and Genesis games and three DLC packs; GameCube games come only on Switch 2.

What each PlayStation Plus tier adds, from PlayStation’s US pages read 13 October 2026. Essential: $79.99 a year or $10.99 a month, with online multiplayer and monthly games. Extra: $134.99 a year or $16.99 a month, all of Essential plus the Game Catalog and Ubisoft+ Classics. Premium: $159.99 a year or $19.99 a month, all of Extra plus classics, game trials and cloud streaming. Online play is in all three tiers. Upgrading mid-plan costs the price gap for the time left; in Sony’s example, Essential to Premium with 6 months left costs $40.
Gaming · Explainer

PS Plus: Essential for Online Play, Premium to Stream

Extra adds a catalog of hundreds of games for $134.99 a year; Premium adds classics and trials at $159.99. Essential is $79.99.

Bar chart: reviews rate the $649 PS5 highest of six consoles. Average of three outlet scores out of 10, with US list prices read 12 October 2026. PS5 8.7, $649. Switch Lite 8.4, $229.99. Switch 2 8.3, $499.99. Xbox Series X 8.3, $799.99. PS5 Pro 7.7, $899, unavailable at Sony. Xbox Series S 7.3, $499.99. Scores from TechRadar, Tom’s Guide and IGN or PCMag; we have not tested these consoles.
Gaming · Shortlist

Reviews Rate the $649 PS5 Highest of Six Consoles

Eighteen scores from four outlets. Reviewers split most over the Switch 2, and the cheapest Xbox now lists at $499.99.

Which Legion Go comes with SteamOS, from Lenovo’s spec sheets and US store, read 11 October 2026. Legion Go: ships with Windows 11, Z1 or Z1 Extreme chip, 8.8-inch IPS screen, detachable controllers. Legion Go S: Windows or SteamOS, Z2 Go with 4 cores or Z1 Extreme with 8 cores, 8-inch IPS screen, fixed controls. Legion Go 2: Windows, with a SteamOS model announced in January 2026, Z2 or Z2 Extreme chip, OLED screen, detachable controllers. For sale at Lenovo US on 11 October: Legion Go S models only.
Gaming · Explainer

Legion Go S and Go 2 Come in SteamOS Versions

The Go S comes with a four-core Z2 Go or an eight-core Z1 Extreme. On 11 October Lenovo US was selling only the Go S.

Which ROG Ally is which: five models from Asus’s US pages and Xbox Wire, read 11 October 2026. Ally (2023): Z1 or Z1 Extreme chip, 16GB and 512GB, 7-inch IPS-level screen, 40Wh, 608g, $599 or $699 at launch. Ally X (2024): Z1 Extreme, 24GB and 1TB or 2TB, 7-inch IPS-level, 80Wh, 678g, $799.99. Xbox Ally (2025): Z2 A, 16GB and 512GB, 7-inch IPS-level, 60Wh, 670g, $599.99. Xbox Ally X (2025): Z2 Extreme, 24GB and 1TB, 7-inch IPS-level, 80Wh, 715g, $999.99. Xbox Ally X20 (2026): Z2 Extreme, 24GB and 1TB, 7.4-inch OLED, 80Wh, 756g, $1,299.99. The Xbox Ally X and X20 share chip, memory, storage and battery. Prices are Asus US store prices; the 2023 Ally’s are launch prices.
Gaming · Explainer

The 2025 Xbox Allys Split on Chip; Only the X20 Gets OLED

The $599.99 Xbox Ally runs a four-core Z2 A with 16GB; the $999.99 Xbox Ally X and $1,299.99 X20 an eight-core Z2 Extreme with 24GB.

Which PS5 is which: one has a disc drive. Sony’s US consoles, from PlayStation Direct and Sony’s pages, read 9 October 2026. PS5: $649, disc drive built in, 1TB storage, model group CFI-2100. PS5 Digital Edition: $599, no disc drive, 825GB storage, model group CFI-2100. PS5 Pro: $899, no disc drive, 2TB storage, PSSR upscaling and Wi-Fi 7. Add-on disc drive for the Digital Edition and the Pro: $79. Prices are PlayStation Direct’s; Sony’s list from 2 April 2026 is $649.99, $599.99 and $899.99.
Gaming · Explainer

The $899 PS5 Pro Has No Disc Drive; the $649 PS5 Does

The $599 Digital Edition drops the drive and has 825GB, not 1TB. The Pro adds AI upscaling, a bigger GPU, 2TB and Wi-Fi 7.

What an Android handheld plays, from Valve, Microsoft, Nvidia and the makers' pages, read 8 October 2026. On the device: Android games; nothing else needs to be on. Steam Link: your Steam games, running on your own PC, which must be on. Xbox Cloud: Game Pass titles; from November, monthly hour limits. GeForce Now: supported PC games you own, from Nvidia's servers. No Valve app runs Steam games on Android itself. Steam Deck OLED runs them locally, from $789 at Valve.
Gaming · Explainer

Android Handhelds Reach Your Steam Games by Streaming

From $244, they play Android games on the device; PC games arrive by Steam Link, Xbox Cloud Gaming or GeForce Now.

A new Steam Deck is $789 or $949: Valve’s US store, read 7 October 2026, sells the OLED only, with no LCD sold new. 512GB OLED: $789 new, $549 before 27 May, refurbished $629 and out of stock. 1TB OLED: $949 new, $649 before 27 May, refurbished $759 and out of stock. LCD: not sold new, refurbished $279 to $359, all out of stock. Before-May prices as reported by Tom’s Hardware on 27 May 2026; refurbished prices from Valve.
Gaming · Guide

Steam Deck Price Now: $789 or $949, and Only OLED

Valve raised both OLED models in May. No LCD Deck is sold new, and every refurbished unit was out of stock on 7 October.

The Steam Controller is $99, from Valve’s store page and launch post, read 6 October 2026. Price: $99, £85 or €99, CA$149 or A$149; purchasing opened 4 May. Connections: the puck uses 2.4GHz and takes up to four controllers; Bluetooth or USB-C also work; a Steam Machine needs no puck. Battery: 8.39 Wh, 35-plus hours by Valve’s figure, less with Steam Frame tracking. It pairs with PCs, Steam Deck, Steam Machine and Steam Frame. On macOS, some Steam games cannot use it because of Apple’s Game Controller framework.
Gaming · On Paper

The New Steam Controller Is $99, on Sale Since 4 May

It pairs with a PC, Steam Deck, Steam Machine and Steam Frame. Valve flags a gap on Macs, and its page now shows a reservation button.

How long Meta patches each Quest: security updates until at least, from Meta's Help Center, read 6 October 2026. Quest 2: December 2027, no longer sold, a 2020 headset. Quest Pro: December 2027, no longer sold, launched October 2022. Quest 3: 10 October 2028, on sale, launched October 2023. Quest 3S: 15 October 2029, on sale, launched October 2024. Meta's rule: at least five years from first US sale. Original Quest: security patches ended August 2024. Per-headset feature, store and social end dates: Meta publishes none for these four.
Gaming · Explainer

Quest 2 and Quest Pro Get Security Updates Until Dec 2027

Meta prints a security date per headset but no date for feature, store or social cut-offs, except on the original Quest.

QSSR: AI upscaling on the base PS5, from Sony’s, Insomniac’s and PlayStation support pages, read 5 October 2026. Base PS5 with QSSR: a per-game patch, not a system update; the first games are Marvel’s Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei. PS5 Pro with PSSR: Sony still calls it the gold standard, and the Enhance PSSR Image Quality setting is Pro only. Do you switch it on? Wolverine has it on by default, says Insomniac; it is a game option, with no PS5 system setting. Sony offers QSSR to all PlayStation developers; more games need patches.
Gaming · Explainer

Base PS5 Gets AI Upscaling, but Only in Patched Games

Sony’s QSSR arrives game by game, starting with Wolverine and Ghost of Yōtei. Sony still calls the PS5 Pro’s PSSR the gold standard.

September 20265 articles

Steam games and Steam hardware compared: two refund policies, from Valve’s own pages, read 21 September 2026. Clock starts: at purchase for games, at delivery for hardware bought from Steam. Window: 14 days for both. Use allowed: under 2 hours played, against what a shop test allows. Return postage: nothing to send, against yours, says the policy. Cancel before shipping: nothing ships, against within 24 hours. After the window: ask anyway, against warranty or local law.
Gaming · Guide

Steam Hardware Gets 14 Days From Delivery, Not 2 Hours

No playtime cap, but the unit has to pass as new, and Valve’s policy puts the return postage on you. Cancel within 24 hours to skip it all.

Every Switch Nintendo still sells, from Nintendo's US store read 20 September 2026. Nintendo Switch 2 $499.99. Switch OLED Model $399.99. Nintendo Switch $339.99. Nintendo Switch Lite $229.99. Refurbished by Nintendo $169.99 to $319.99. Coming soon: 45 of 52 titles list Switch 2; 7 list Nintendo Switch.
Gaming · Explainer

Nintendo Still Sells Three Old Switch Models, From $229.99

The OLED is $399.99, a hundred under a Switch 2. Of the 52 games Nintendo lists as coming soon, seven play on the original.

Resetting a Steam Deck: Valve's three routes, from its SteamOS recovery pages, read 19 September 2026. If it boots into Steam: Settings, System, Factory Reset, which wipes all local data, games included. If it reaches the menu: hold the three-dot button and power, then Erase user data, for when Steam will not load. If nothing works: a USB recovery image, then Re-image Device, which wipes everything and installs stock SteamOS. To keep your games: Previous B, or Repair SteamOS — try these before any wipe.
Gaming · Guide

Resetting a Steam Deck Wipes Every Game and Local Save

If it boots, the reset is in Settings, under System. If not, Valve has two more routes, and two repairs that keep your games.

Xbox disc-to-digital, from Xbox Support and Microsoft's usage rules, read 18 September 2026. Discs: Most Xbox One and Series X games. Not: Xbox 360 or original Xbox. You get: Play without the disc; PC and cloud. The disc: Keeps working. Sell or lose it: Access may be limited or revoked. Now: Select Xbox Insiders; no release date.
Gaming · Explainer

Xbox's Digital Copy of Your Disc Lasts While You Keep It

Disc-to-digital gives Xbox One and Series X discs a digital licence. Sell or lose the disc and Microsoft says access may be revoked.

How Steam Frame runs games, from Valve's Steamworks documentation, read 18 September 2026. Chip: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, Arm64. Windows games: Proton, then FEX for x86 code. Android games: Lepton, a container. Deck and Machine: Proton only, in Valve’s docs. Badge covers: On-headset play, not streaming. 2D minimum: 30fps at 1280 by 720.
Gaming · Explainer

Proton, FEX and Lepton: How Steam Frame Runs Your Games

Steam Frame's Arm chip runs Windows games through two translation layers, Android ones in a container. Its badge ignores streaming.