Vishal Kamal has been covering video games for 7 years, writing about everything from hardware deals and new releases to esports and the business
side of the industry. He runs TheBadGamer, focused on gaming news worth your time.
The 2026 Pokémon World Championships and PokémonXP convention delivered a cascade of franchise announcements, from the first animated film in seven years to the 2027 Worlds heading to Singapore. New Z-Mega Evolutions arrive in Pokémon Champions this September, while Armored Mewtwo returns to Pokémon GO after a six-year absence.
HoYoverse's new cooperative action RPG Nodusfall debuted at Gamescom 2026 with a photorealistic aesthetic and monster-hunting structure that initially drew Elden Ring comparisons. After an hour of hands-on play, the combat feels far closer to Final Fantasy 16's spectacle-driven Eikon battles than FromSoftware's methodical design.
Ridley Scott's post-apocalyptic thriller The Dog Stars debuted to a dismal $19.3 million global opening weekend, landing in sixth place behind the surprise hit Coyote vs. Acme. The Disney and 20th Century Studios film, starring Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin, carries an $80 million budget and a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 41%.
Oscar-winning visual effects legend Phil Tippett has closed his Berkeley studio and auctioned off decades of stop-motion history following Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The artist behind iconic creatures in Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and RoboCop confirmed his retirement while keeping his two Academy Awards. The liquidation sale dispersed AT-AT models, signed posters, and countless artifacts from a career that defined modern creature effects.
Grand Theft Auto 6 players have traced the real-world inspiration for Jason and Lucia's Vice City apartment to Miami's Belmar Condominium, a salmon-colored building demolished after a $12 million sale in 2022. Using Google Maps historical imagery dating back to April 2013, fans matched the in-game exterior, fence, parking lot, and even interior details to archived Zillow listings. The building vanished from Street View by 2024, leaving only digital ruins for players to explore when the game launches November 19, 2026.
A massive 12-terabyte leak of Valve internal builds from 2003 to 2013 has surfaced online, reportedly containing the elusive 2009 Portal 2 beta and an unfinished weapon linked to Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Data miners are currently sifting through the files, which also include assets from the cancelled F-STOP puzzle game. The leak appears tied to Valve's old Steam2 infrastructure.
Nintendo will raise the Switch 2's MSRP from $450 to $500 on September 1, ending the current pricing before two new bundles arrive in late September and October. Refurbished units at Woot remain the best value at $399.99, while the upcoming Mario Kart World and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort bundles include three months of Nintendo Switch Online but save less than $50 versus buying separately.
Activision served a cease-and-desist order to Call of Duty cheat provider Elocarry and filmed the in-person delivery, posting the video publicly as a warning to cheat developers. The publisher says it has issued 80 such letters, disrupted 375 reseller operations, and shut down 30 vendors. Meanwhile, the second Modern Warfare 4 beta weekend is open to all players and includes multiplayer, a campaign mission, and Warzone battle royale.
EA Motive's long-silent Marvel's Iron Man project surfaced in a major gameplay leak on August 28, 2026, revealing armor customization, helicarrier combat, and a globe-trotting adventure. EA's humorous official response earned 14.8 million views and turned community anxiety into overwhelming excitement.
This weekend brings notable discounts on Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, the Nintendo Switch 2 console, and the Jurassic World 4K 7-Movie Collection. Our review gave Tomodachi Life a 7/10, praising its creativity-driven civilization simulation while criticizing restrictive sharing features. The Switch 2 is available refurbished for $399.99 ahead of a planned price increase.
