Valnet decided to shut down XDA's Gaming segment, so I'm starting 2026 looking for work. I'm open to any jobs or freelance opportunities in journalism, PR, or consulting. DM me if you'd like my email. Also, consider giving @jakejameslugo.bsky.social work, as he was let go today as well.

Put on my Caleb Williams jersey and the Bears scored a touchdown immediately after sucking all game LMAO

I don't like trauma dumping on main, but 2025 was definitely the hardest year of my life. From losing my job early on to simultaneously doing the freelancing and Master's Degree grind to some family medical stuff that popped up at the end of the year, it has been rough all around. Glad it's over!

Bears will be the NFC North Champions this season no matter what! And people were predicting we'd be out of the playoffs a couple of weeks ago!

Wow, glad that Week 18 Lions game is a little less high stakes now. I would still like to win that and potentially get the #1 seed, but for the most part this NFC North season couldn't have gone much better for the Bears.

When you're Italian, every Christmas Eve is a Final Fantasy VII Fishes Remake

I'm looking back on the 2025 articles I'm proudest of. It was by far the hardest year of my career. I was laid off less than half-a-month into 2025, so this year really forced me to learn about everything from the freelance grind to mock reviews to establishing Gaming segments at existing sites.

Damn, White Castle has really fallen off.

I'm really looking forward to 007 First Light, but I'm also getting incredibly weird vibes from IO Interactive right now. They're spending tons of money on celebrity cameos for it and Hitman, their SGF press event, and publishing MindsEye. Worried what will happen if this isn't a massive success.

Over the weekend, I posted my interview with Bloober Team about the Switch 2 port of Layers of Fear: The Final Masterpiece Edition. The CEO said they "absolutely" will support Switch 2 going forward and teased a big Nintendo-related announcement coming soon: www.xda-developers.com/layers-of-fe...

holy fuck, da bears

HOLY SHIT I CAN'T BELIEVE WE WON THAT

I don't think I'll be playing any new games before the year is over, so I wanted to share my personal Top 10 games list: 1. Donkey Kong Bananza 2. Sword of the Sea 3. Avowed 4. Ball X Pit 5. Lumines Arise 6. Keeper 7. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound 8. Hades 2 9. Kirby Air Riders 10. Mario Kart World

I really love Dogpile from @folly.studio. Play it if you haven't already www.xda-developers.com/dogpile-reco...

Pretty concerning sales numbers. I wonder if more affluent shoppers on the top part of the K-shaped economy aren't as likely to engage with Black Friday deals because they can afford it regardless. So sales can stay consistently decent throughout the year but don't get the holiday discount boost.

Another great reason to not use AI is the backlash and anger you can't put back in the bottle that comes with using it. Now, all of the writing and art for Divinity will be (rightfully) scrutinized for AI use, and people online will feel generally better criticizing it than they would've before.

Doing some end-of-year roundups, and it's fascinating how many video game release dates the Google Overview gets wrong now. I know it's because of AI, but you'd think people would be fact-checking that for newer games! And I'm talking big ones like Death Stranding 2!

I actually remember someone at the theater (I think it was an Alamo Drafthouse?) giving us this disclaimer when I saw it opening weekend. Shocked it still needs to be said eight years later.

Bears are division leaders again!

Positioning Xbox Game Pass as a vault prison is certainly a choice.

I'm doing a live blog for The Game Awards! I'll be keeping it up to date with every game announcement and award winner. www.xda-developers.com/the-game-awa...

Look out. #Supergirl lands in theaters June 26.

My brother asked me if I knew the name of an indie game he couldn't remember that had "Abyss" in the title, and this was my genuine response to him:

I'm very happy to share XDA's 2025 game of the year list! Our top ten games consist of a healthy mix of indies, AAA heavy hitters, and titles with generally innovative and creative game design: www.xda-developers.com/xda-game-of-...

Well, at least Caleb Williams doesn't have the worst game-losing interception of the week now.

Playing Metroid Prime 4, and I'm a little surprised at how boring it is. It's not boring because of the slow pace (I actually love its world design and sense of exploration). I just don't find its game design that creative, when Nintendo's other Switch 2 games this year have been great at that.

I interviewed the Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator about the series' PS5 debut. He revealed that Microsoft originally said no to the idea of a PS5 port, only to change its mind a year or so later! Shows how much Xbox's strategy has shifted, even internally: www.xda-developers.com/microsoft-fl...

“The Bears are the #1 team in the NFC” what the fuck are you talking about

My expectation for the Bears coming into the season was 9-8. I can't believe we're already at 9-3 while not even operating at full strength on offense and defense yet! Glad to see some of @marioprime.bsky.social's Patriots luck trickled over to me and the Bears!

I absolutely loved Kirby Air Riders! While the constant pop-ups could feel like an annoying mobile games sometimes, the core gameplay is just so ridiculously fun that every match is as exhilarating as the best match you've had in any other multiplayer game: www.xda-developers.com/kirby-air-ri...

I find it fascinating that platforms like Roblox are kind of entering the same space Flash games occupied in the 2000s, but are much more harmful because they are actively trying to gather data and make money off children. It's like if Addicting Games' worst ads ran the website back then.

Welcome back, Star Fox Adventures: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWV0...

Not too surprising, but Nightdive Studios' remaster of Outlaws is great! I never actually played this one before, but I really enjoyed it. Makes me wish there were more video game Westerns! www.xda-developers.com/outlaws-rema...

I reviewed Black Ops 7! It does everything you'd expect a Call of Duty game to do good enough, but the use of AI-generated content and complete disregard for Black Ops' more serious roots make this one of the more artistically confused games in the franchise www.xda-developers.com/call-of-duty...

PUBG creator Brendan Greene is launching a survival game later this week. Its world is generated with the help of machine learning. I spoke to Greene to learn more about how the technology was implemented and the impact it could impact game developers: www.xda-developers.com/playerunknow...

I have some conflicted feelings about Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's Co-Op Campaign. It solves the issue of COD campaigns feeling like a disconnected afterthought, but that comes at the cost of fundamentally changing the nature of what the campaign offers: www.xda-developers.com/call-of-duty...

Metroid fans are going to be so mad in December when Red Dead Redemption's Switch 2 port is outselling Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on the eShop.

I reviewed Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. I really enjoyed its story, even though that's not usually my favorite part of Zelda games. Also, the Calamo hype is real and deserved. www.xda-developers.com/hyrule-warri...

This news is pretty cool! I was considering upgrading my PC next year, but I may just pick up a Steam Machine instead. I am a bit worried about pricing, though. www.xda-developers.com/new-steam-ha...

I'm doing a State of Play Japan live blog for XDA! I don't have super high expectations for the showcase, but would love to get a Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls release date: www.xda-developers.com/state-of-pla...

I encouraged Giovanni to write this review and I think doing so turned him into the first post-modern game critic: www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/ufo-5...

Lumines Arise is fantastic. It's certainly a bit harder to get into than Tetris Effect, but once you learn the intricacies of how Lumines works, it's even more rewarding: www.xda-developers.com/lumines-aris...

Sadly, this is why people go Republican. The repeated own-goals Democrats keep doing make the party look weak to your under informed working class voter who wants strong willed politicians to make their life better. Democrats have objectively better policies, but fail to enact/defend them properly.

I just watched Predator: Badlands! It's a really fun movie that reminds me a lot of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from a couple of years ago. A solid blockbuster with creative ideas and humor that isn't grating. A reminder that it's still possible to make a franchise film with charm.

The nice thing about working for a website named XDA is that typing the letter "x" in the search bar brings up XDA rather than X.

Just got one of the funniest comments I've ever gotten on an article. All of this for saying that I like Battlefield 6's normal multiplayer modes more than REDSEC!

I still can't believe that there's a guy named "Peacemaker Aldo" running for sheriff in my local election this year.

The Outer Worlds 2 is fantastic. The original is one of my favorite RPGs, and this sequel builds upon it in all of the right ways. None of its companions really stuck out to me as much as the original's did, but I still loved it: www.xda-developers.com/the-outer-wo...

I reviewed Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. I ended up a bit underwhelmed by this game considering how weird of a development cycle it had. I also wish it embraced its tabletop RPG roots more. At least it avoided being one of the year's gaming disasters. www.xda-developers.com/vampire-the-...

Here's my review for Ninja Gaiden 4! I was looking forward to this one a lot, but unfortunately I seem to be on the lower end in regards to how I rated it. I love its combat, but don't think the game does much else that well: www.xda-developers.com/ninja-gaiden...