Xbox surprise: Microsoft reveals ‘Project Helix’ as the name of its next console https://www.geekwire.com/2026/xbox-surprise-microsoft-reveals-next-generation-project-helix-console/

I'm reminded of THE TALOS PRINCIPLE's DLC, which featured a bunch of robot intelligences trapped together in a closed system making up stories with which to amuse one another. It was sad there. This is just pathetic.

If you're playing RESIDENT EVIL REQUIEM this weekend, feel free to check out the IGN guide for it if you need a hand. I'm writing it alongside a couple of other people from the team, and we've just about gotten 100%. Except the Final Puzzle. That's driving us crazy.

things every single republican president of your lifetime has done - started a war in the middle east - completely destroyed the economy

Now that copies of RESIDENT EVIL REQUIEM are out in the world, I'm starting to see long-time fans of the series posting the expected rage threads on places like Reddit. While I've got my issues with the game's conclusion, so many of these people are mad because they're media illiterate.

i don't say this lightly, but the secret service does have a responsibility to ensure no one who rolled a Warlock ever occupies the White House

As long-time readers are no doubt aware, I have Opinions on the RESIDENT EVIL series. I've also been working on the IGN guide for RE: REQUIEM, which comes out this weekend, so I've had a lot of time to play, beat, and think about the game. Just nowhere to put those thoughts right now.

Saudi Arabia bought EVO. We can still fight for the FGC’s soul by @edgarallanbro.bsky.social "What we do now, collectively, will determine the future of the FGC." Read on:

Analysis: The best thing that the new Xbox CEO can do is … nothing https://www.geekwire.com/2026/analysis-the-best-thing-that-the-new-xbox-ceo-can-do-is-nothing/

Folks, please do me a big favor. If you haven’t done so already, please go give @hwoodtimes.com a follow and share this with your friends and enemies. The paid guests articles are already rolling out, and we plan to do so much more. If you like writer owned comedy and fucking hate AI, we got you.

Zillow teams up with ‘World of Warcraft’ to exhibit virtual homes inside popular game https://www.geekwire.com/2026/zillow-teams-up-with-world-of-warcraft-to-exhibit-virtual-homes-inside-popular-game/

Seeing the two versions of Danger side by side is like a before/after ad for psychiatric medication.

Huh. I wonder if that's Sonia.

A lot of mine are delivered with a weird sort of pride at my cult tastes or terrible ideas: SHOWGIRLS, SLEEPWALKERS, TANK GIRL, JASON X...

Seattle gaming startup Ironwood Studios raises $4 million for its next project https://www.geekwire.com/2026/seattle-gaming-startup-ironwood-studios-raises-4-million-for-its-next-project/

This is starting to get like universal basic income where every single objective study shows the same result but the people who don't like that result go "uh, well there's just really no way to know"

I’m not arguing with no account defending AI. My grandmother lives in an area being environmentally compromised currently by an ai data center. I remember the color of the lake before they built it and the sludge I see in it when I go to see her. Shut the fuck up about “the benefits of AI” forever.

I'm sorry the guy changing the rules on the fly is named what

Reposting for some higher traffic: I put up a new piece over the weekend for my newsletter about indie games.

Sickness slowed me down, but I've got a new post up on my indie-gaming newsletter. This week, I've been playing Heart Machine's POSSESSOR(S):

I'm generally all right with Duck Duck Go as a replacement for Google... except that it keeps turning its goddamn AI summary option back on by itself. I wouldn't be using DDG in the first place if I wanted that shit, man.

Everybody shut the fuck up and pay attention to the most important thing happening at this moment.

Making the switch to Vivaldi to get off of Chrome. The biggest adjustment so far is that it darkens the active tab, which is the exact opposite of how every other browser does it. For some reason I can't get used to this.

A true Canadian hero: "Fuck AI, fuck it so hard, just fuck it to death."

Meta layoffs hit Seattle-area VR studio Camouflaj, developer behind ‘Batman’ game https://www.geekwire.com/2026/meta-layoffs-hit-seattle-area-vr-studio-camouflaj-developer-behind-batman-game/

Roth is always well worth reading, but this is one of the Roth essays where you think to yourself, yeah, people trying to understand this era are gonna be reading this 40 years from now

RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'

"To all the haters out there, keep it up. It's working." —@davidgerard.co.uk

Great. Now Gemini wants to "help me write" in Gmail even when I've shut it off. This is less a feature and more like a curse. At least Clippy could take a fucking hint.

Just found out my wife might be losing her job, so I'm desperately searching for work. Contract, full-time, freelance, whatever. Press, PR, consulting, anything. I have 16 years of editorial experience and have been writing about games for 13. Reviews, news, previews, guides, etc. RTs appreciated.

I love the @aftermath.site folks, but this headline and subhed are absolutely art.

Jen Sorensen nails the hypocrisy and racism of the "European culture" argument.

I'm going to try and read more in 2026. Book #1: Chuck Wendig's BLACK RIVER ORCHARD. Kept me interested until the end, save for a couple of very "old man writing a teenage girl" moments, but it did feel like (interjection) he wrote the whole thing with a bunch of '80s Stephen King open in his lap.

amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders

Love this from Guillermo del Toro

so it’s going well then

Just watched WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY. It's sort of impressive that they made a film based on a video game that is essentially 100% Easter eggs. It never stops winking at the camera. The whole movie is a 100-minute MCU mid-credits sequence.

Thomas is a legend. He's done amazing work covering games that might have gone forgotten. Please support him if you can.

And, just so the first day of the newsletter isn't exclusively autobiographical: here's a lost column from the archives, about the goofy zombie apocalypse DEADLY DAYS.

And we're live. tl;dr - I started a newsletter about indie games. Please do subscribe and/or support it. cheating-at-solitaire.ghost.io/return-and-b...

“Maybe the lesson of 2025 is that not every game with a heart is a winner, but almost every winner is a game with a heart. And that despite everything, everywhere, all happening at once, people will make games just because their heart leads them there.” What a cherry on top of a brilliant cake.

The automated sexual abuse that Musk is doing right now should be national news. People should be going to prison for this shit. The logical conclusion to generative image creation and the internet, pure public automatic violence. Every Pizzagate fear just out in the open.

Going into 2026 like...

A soft, small, hopeful thing.

I had a weird year. I was almost on top of things for the first 7 months, but then I had my health crisis in July and pretty much gave up on staying current thereafter. 2026 is a rebuilding year. I hope it goes well for all of you, and if you like, come back Friday for the launch of my new column.

Sitting a stewing in frustration isn't nearly as cathartic as just designing a poster. Let's see how often I remember that in 2026.

Today is the last day that you can repost this image

Most of the negative feedback I've ever gotten was down to the commentor trying to win an argument that only they were having. One of the foundational problems with the 21st century Internet is the mistaken belief that everything is a dialogue. Naw, son. Sometimes I've just got the mic.

I was at a pre-E3 press conference years ago where they brought out Shannon Elizabeth as a guest speaker. She had nothing to do with anything that was being shown there. I assume she was simply the only working actress who had that day free.