Gaming

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

updated
Sep 17, 2026
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September 20268 articles

Nintendo Switch update 23.0.0, from Nintendo's security advisory of 10 September 2026. Fixed in: Version 23.0.0, released 9 September. Affected: Switch, Lite and OLED below 23.0.0. Not affected: Switch 2, per Nintendo. Exposed features: Send to Smartphone; Mario Kart Live. Attack needs: Someone else to scan your QR code. Check it: System Settings, then System.
Gaming · Guide

Switch Update 23.0.0 Fixes a Flaw That Needs Your QR Code

Nintendo's advisory covers the original Switch, Lite and OLED. The attack only works if someone else scans the code on your screen.

Sony's PlayStation Store settlement, from the settlement administrator's site and court filings. Settlement: $7,850,000 in PSN wallet credit. Who: US buyers of listed games, 2019–2023. Claim form: None: credit is automatic. Estimated credit: $0.91 to $33.66, average about $1.14. Split: By number of qualifying purchases. Final hearing: 15 October 2026.
Gaming · Explainer

Sony's $7.85M PlayStation Settlement Has No Claim Form

Eligible US accounts get store credit automatically, split by purchases. Filings estimate $1.14 on average, paid after a 15 October hearing.

Steam Frame is sold through a queue, in four steps from Valve's sign-up FAQ. Sign up: pick 256GB or 1TB, one per household. 17 September, 10am Pacific: lists shuffled, later sign-ups join the back of the waitlist. From 18 September: purchase emails go out in shuffled order. 72 hours: to buy, or the spot goes to the next person. Valve's prices: $1,059 for 256GB and $1,299 for 1TB. Valve shows no queue position.
Gaming · On Paper

Steam Frame Sign-Ups Now Join the Back of the Waitlist

Valve shuffled the lists on 17 September and gives nobody a queue number. Community trackers estimate one from email timestamps.

Valve's four Steam Machine models as a bar chart: 512GB at $1,049, 512GB with Controller at $1,128, 2TB at $1,349, and 2TB with Controller at $1,428. The controller adds $79 at either size and the 2TB model adds $300. Every model button on Valve's page joins a waitlist rather than a checkout.
Gaming · On Paper

The Steam Machine Is a $1,049 Waitlist, Not a Purchase

Valve's own page lists four models from $1,049 to $1,428, and every button joins a waitlist. The controller adds $79.

The four Steam Deck badges — Verified, Playable, Unsupported and Unknown — with what each means, and the six checks a game must pass to be Verified including full controller support, 30fps at 800p, and text no smaller than 9 pixels at 1280 by 800.
Gaming · Explainer

What the Steam Deck Badges Actually Promise

Verified means 30fps at 800p and text no smaller than 9 pixels. Unknown means nobody has checked, not that it is bad.

Two verbatim quotations. Valve: the Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Sony: use of the terms own, ownership, purchase, sale, sold, sell, rent or buy does not mean or imply any transfer of ownership.
Gaming · Explainer

The Word "Buy" Does Not Mean Buy

Sony's terms say using the word purchase "does not mean or imply any transfer of ownership". Valve's say the same thing shorter.

Valve's refund rules: a game needs under two hours played within fourteen days; a pre-order's fourteen days runs from release but the two hours starts immediately; DLC, bundles, unredeemed gifts, redeemed gifts and Steam hardware each have their own condition.
Gaming · Guide

Steam's Refund Window Shuts Before Christmas

Two hours played, fourteen days from purchase. A game bought on Black Friday stops being refundable on 11 December.

Yearly cost of the cheapest tier including online console multiplayer: Nintendo Switch Online $19.99, PlayStation Plus Essential $79.99, Xbox Game Pass Essential $119.88.
Gaming · Guide

What a Console Costs After You Buy It

Online play runs $19.99 a year on Switch 2 and $119.88 on Xbox. Storage expansion differs just as sharply, and both are fixed when you buy.

August 20266 articles

A modern handheld gaming console on a wooden surface.
Gaming · Explainer

Why Handheld Gaming Battery Life Is Always Short

The ROG Ally X carries twice the Steam Deck's battery and lasts about as long at full tilt. The capacity bought performance, not hours.

A USB-C hub showing HDMI, USB and Ethernet ports.
Gaming · Guide

Do You Need a Dock for Your Steam Deck?

A hub, not a video upgrade. Valve's own specs put the official dock's display ceiling below what the Deck does over plain USB-C.

A Steam Deck OLED handheld console.
Gaming · Explainer

What Is a Steam Deck? A PC That Happens to Be Handheld

Not a console. A small AMD computer running Linux — which is why it plays what it plays, and why battery life is a range not a number.

A desktop gaming setup with a wide monitor and RGB lighting.
Gaming · Explainer

Why Games Stutter on a Fast PC Even at High FPS

The frame counter says 120 and the game still lurches. That hitch is usually the game building a shader at the moment it first needs it.

Averaged review scores out of ten: Steam Deck OLED 8.6 from 12 outlets with a 3-point spread; ROG Xbox Ally X 8.5 from 12 with a 1-point spread; Legion Go S (SteamOS) 7.4 from 5 with a 4-point spread. A footnote reads: averages of published scores, we have not tested these.
Gaming · Shortlist

The Best Gaming Handhelds of 2026, According to the Reviews

Twenty-nine published scores for three machines: two a tenth of a point apart at the top, and one that reviewers split over like no other.