Gaming

Who doesn’t love a gorgeous print mag? Editors Mark Serrels and Jackson Ryan (author of our in-depth investigation into Tales of the Shire) are launching a new publication called Continue, which promises to “celebrate and interrogate video game culture, creativity and, community.” The Kickstarter campaign has already blown past its goal — check it out here.

It’s not clear, and Microsoft VP Jason Ronald wouldn’t tell us in person, saying more info about the Game Preservation program is on the way. But his written remarks include the phrase: “we’ll be rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past.” What new ways? Well, it appears PC-first development is “compatible with next-gen game preservation.”

Sean Hollister and I are seated at VP of Next Generation Jason Ronald’s talk about “building for the future.” Maybe some Helix news?

We’d heard it was at the Game Developers Conference and here it is: the original metal X prototype, which predated the Bill Gates / The Rock stage reveal of the actual console. Also see a few other items from Xbox history in my quick gallery:

We’re in line for Microsoft’s keynote, but look what we spotted at its booth at GDC! “Cross-platform is the future of the Xbox ecosystem,” it writes. “Build for Xbox on PC.” Again, the future of Xbox is W.

Apple’s gaming subscription is getting two fantastic indie games on April 2nd, the spooky fishing simulator Dredge+ and cozy interior decorating/puzzle game Unpacking+. They join a growing list of hit PC titles on Apple Arcade, including Cult of the Lamb, added in December, and Civilization VI, added last month.

It follows a similar suit filed two weeks ago by New York. Both allege that the loot boxes in games like Counter-Strike 2 are essentially gambling, and the class action accuses Valve of “deceptive, casino-style psychological tactics.”

These images posted to X by the official Microsoft Game Dev account actually appear to show existing dev kits for older console models like the Xbox One and Series X — but given they’re tagged as a “sneak peek” for GDC 2026, the Project Helix hardware may be revealed soon.

EasySMX followed up its excellent S10 controller with the cheaper S10 Lite that’s better in one very cool way and a little worse in others. Ultimately, its cheaper price is worth paying for comfy ergonomics and native Switch 2 software support, but the S10 is still the leader in our updated buying guide.

So far, the only brick-built versions of Mario you can get are the electronic interactive ones, the super-sized version driving a kart, and the pixelated 2D ones. But according to a short video teaser Nintendo of America shared on X, Super Mario Lego minifigures are enroute, you’ll just have to wait until next year to get them.

During GDC on Tuesday, Nvidia announced that visionOS 26.4, expected later this spring, will include support for Nvidia’s XR streaming platform CloudXR 6.0, allowing users to play games like X-Plane 12 and iRacing on the Vision Pro. Developers will soon be able to test their games over the cloud, too, with GeForce NOW Playtest.

Coco Robotics, which makes autonomous delivery robots, announced on Tuesday that it’s partnering with Niantic Spatial, the AI spinoff of the Pokémon Go developer. Niantic’s geospatial AI model, which was trained on images from AR scans in Pokémon Go, will help Coco’s robots find their way to your house.

Nintendo has given a release date for the adorable Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, which hits the Switch 2 on May 21st. Donald Glover unfortunately does not make an appearance in the new trailer.

It’s only been a few weeks since Resident Evil Requiem launched, and Capcom has already confirmed that the game will be getting some notable updates including a photo mode and, more exciting, a full-on story expansion. Timing is still TBD.

Lego’s supersized Mario Kart set that debuted exactly a year ago is getting some competition. A 2,234-piece Luigi version is now available for preorder for $179.99 before launching on April 1st. It features Luigi in the Mach 8 kart that was immortalized in the viral death stare video, but without Luigi’s angry, rage-filled expression.

Microsoft sure seems to be hinting so! And I suspect Tom is right about what that means. (Better W than L, right?) The company will be at GDC on Wednesday with a “Building for the future with Xbox” keynote session.

So here’s a lengthy trailer for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which includes a dramatic rendition of Mario saying “mama mia” and a surprising amount of action. More importantly is the news that Yoshi will be voiced by Donald Glover. The movie hits theaters on April 1st.

At GDC 2026, the company announced plans to expand its support for “glasses-free 3D gameplay on the Samsung Odyssey 3D gaming monitor.” Samsung says over 60 titles are already supported through its Odyssey 3D Hub platform, but that will expand to over 120 by year’s end, including Rogue Factor’s Hell is Us releasing in March.

As part of a broader conversation about Panic’s gaming business and its next title, co-founder Cabel Sasser acknowledged that adding a backlight is “by far the number one request” people have about its Playdate handheld. Hopefully it becomes a reality!

Cookie’s Bustle is an extremely weird PC game released in 1999. And for reasons no one understands, a person by the name Brandon White, through their company Graceware, has been trying to erase all trace of it through non-stop copyright claims. But the VGHF got its lawyers involved and has finally put an end to Graceware’s shenanigans.

The Financial Times reports Palmer Luckey’s ModRetro is in talks to raise funds at a $1 billion valuation, which sounds like a lot for a retro gaming company.