Intel makes a bid for handheld gaming PCs with new Arc G3 processors

Most of the Steam Deck imitators on the market right now use AMD silicon, specifically the Ryzen Z-series chips. These are the same chips AMD makes for regular laptops, but with different power settings better suited to a compact handheld system. There are handhelds based on Intel silicon (MSI’s Claw is the main one), but Intel hasn’t yet tried making silicon marketed specifically for that purpose.

Today, the company is throwing its hat in the ring with two Intel Arc G-series processors, which will allow gaming handhelds to leverage the company's genuinely quite good Arc B-series integrated GPUs. Intel says that several Arc G-series handhelds will arrive "starting in June 2026, with broader availability throughout the year." These systems will include a new MSI Claw model, a Predator Atlas 8 from Acer, and a device from OneXPlayer.

Intel normally uses its "Arc" branding for integrated and dedicated GPUs, but in this case, the "Arc" brand encompasses the entire chip, including the CPU, GPU, NPU, and other components.

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Steam Deck sells out in North America within 24 hours of price hike

Well, that was fast. Less than 24 hours after Valve announced renewed availability of the Steam Deck OLED (at a massively increased MSRP), the handheld is once again listed as "out of stock" in the US and Canada. Spot checks of other regional Steam stores on Thursday morning showed the hardware as still available across Europe and Australia for the time being, as well as in Asian countries through Valve's sales partner Komodo.

While it's hard to know from the outside just how many Steam Deck units sold at the new inflated price, those sales were enough to once again boost the hardware to the top of Steam's Top Sellers list. That list is based on total revenue over the last 24 hours, though, so the $789 Steam Deck could easily have sold many fewer distinct copies than the highest-ranked software on the current list, the $70 007 First Light.

Valve's Steam Deck store page notes that the handheld "may be out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages." But that warning first appeared on the store site back in February, and stock-tracking websites show there have only been exceedingly brief availability windows for Steam Deck purchases between then and now.

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Valve's Steam Deck is back in stock after months, but you won't like it

Valve's Steam Deck handheld has been largely unavailable to buy since mid-February, a victim of the RAM and storage shortages that have been driving up prices for most consumer tech since the fall of 2025. The good news is that the Deck is back in stock on Valve's site and ready to ship in three to five days; the bad news is that it appears to have returned because somebody wished for it on a monkey's paw.

The 512GB version of the OLED Steam Deck now sells for a whopping $789, $240 more than its previous $549 price. The 1TB version (which also includes an anti-glare screen coating, a slightly nicer case, and an "exclusive startup movie and keyboard theme") will now run you $949, a $300 increase from its old $649 price. The old $399 base model with 256GB of storage and the older LCD screen has been discontinued, though this had been announced well before these price increases took effect.

These prices are particularly hard to swallow for a nearly 3-year-old revision of an over-4-year-old handheld PC. If there's a saving grace for Valve, it's that most competing handhelds from the likes of Asus and Lenovo are also pushing or exceeding that $1,000 mark. Of the Deck's major competitors, only the $600 Asus ROG Xbox Ally (and its AMD Ryzen Z2 A processor, which is very similar to the Deck's semi-custom AMD chip) is significantly cheaper than the Steam Deck.

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Nvidia kills Windows XP-era Control Panel "after 20 years of dedicated service"

Shiny new Nvidia apps like the GeForce Experience and the "Nvidia app" have come and gone, but the old Nvidia Control Panel and its rotating green Nvidia logo have existed as an option for managing basic settings since it was originally introduced in 2006.

That's ending with version 610.47 of Nvidia's Game Ready and Studio drivers for GeForce GPUs. Nvidia says the old Control Panel will no longer be installed by default, since "all actively supported Nvidia Control Panel features for GeForce users have been modernized and transitioned" to the new Nvidia app.

"The NVIDIA app contains all of the modern functionality of the NVIDIA Control Panel available for GeForce RTX GPUs, and much more, while running faster and more efficiently," writes Nvidia Technical Marketing Content Editor Andrew Burnes in the drivers' release notes.

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Windows' classic 3D Space Cadet pinball is getting a physical re-creation

If you owned a Windows computer in the late '90s or early '00s, you probably remember 3D Pinball for Windows - Space Cadet, a surprisingly competent virtual table included for free with multiple Microsoft OS releases through Windows XP. Despite the game's authenticity to real pinball, Space Cadet wasn't based on an extant physical table, but was merely one part of the Full Tilt! Pinball software collection sold by Maxis starting in 1995.

In the intervening years, hobbyists and enthusiasts have discussed the possibility of crafting a homebrew physical table based on Space Cadet many times, without much tangible progress to show for it. A company called Deeproot Pinball went so far as to develop a reskinned prototype of Space Cadet's layout for a planned 2021 release before the whole company went under amid fraud allegations.

Where Deeproot failed, though, hobbyist CNCDan hopes to succeed in creating a physical Space Cadet table. In a video, he documents the start of his build process, which already includes 3D-printed mechanical flippers, pop bumpers (complete with embedded LEDs), slingshots, and even a raised playfield, all designed to mimic the look and feel of the original Windows table.

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I spent years forcing myself to finish The Witcher 3—don't repeat my mistake

I don't like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I'm sorry to disappoint you. I know it's confusing, and I hope you will still respect me.

I had to say that a lot back in 2015. When the game first came out, the community of critics and enthusiasts I was a part of went bananas for it, much in the same way the current crop of journalists and influencers rallied around Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in 2025—another game that didn't really work for me, if I'm being frank.

The Witcher 3 was showered in accolades and awards, and it seemed like every Twitter conversation was about it. There were memes all over Reddit about how no other game could live up to it, plus lengthy essays from games journalists about just why it was so incredible. "Game of the Year" awards rained from the proverbial sky.

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The Steam Controller’s “drop-in” charger almost started a fire for this owner

When we reviewed the new Steam Controller last month, we noted how the satisfying click of the magnetic charging puck easily connecting to the back of the controller lets users “save the hassle of fiddling with a power cord.” But one Reddit user’s experience highlights how the exposed contacts on that puck can be a fire hazard if Steam Controller owners aren’t careful.

On the r/SteamController subreddit, user Toikka shared how the metal portion of the charging puck “started sizzling due to a short circuit” when it came in contact with their metallic watch strap. The strap had apparently flopped down from a nearby watch charger and hit the controller puck “at the exact wrong angle,” which “almost started a fire,” the user wrote.

This is a potential issue that Valve appears to be aware of. In the manual included with every Steam Controller, Valve warns that both the charging puck and the Controller contain ”magnetic parts [that] may attract magnetic items.” Users should make sure both are “free of metallic objects” in order “to reduce the potential risks of sparks and resulting property damage or possible injury,” Valve wrote. The manual also warns that the magnets could have a negative effect on medical devices, credit cards, and magnetic data storage placed nearby.

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The era of 1,000 Hz gaming monitors has arrived, but why?

Almost exactly two years ago, we were gawking at prototypes of 1,000 Hz monitors and wondering who really needed a display that could support such ludicrously smooth frame rates. Now that those prototypes are starting to develop into retail products, we're still wondering how much of a market there is for gaming displays that can update with a new frame every single millisecond.

The latest entry in the ultra-fast refresh race is LG's 24.5" UltraGear 25G590B, which the company announced this week as "the world’s first Full HD gaming monitor with a native 1000Hz refresh rate" ahead of a planned launch in "select markets" in the second half of the year. That "Full HD" promise means LG's 1,000 Hz display hits the 1080p threshold that is by far the most common resolution reported by gamers in Steam's regular hardware surveys.

That would represent a decent step up from the likes of Acer's Predator XB273U F6, Samsung's Odyssey G6, or Phillips' EVNIA 27M2N5500XD, all of which have to shift down to a relatively blurry 720p resolution to run at a full 1,000 Hz (but which support 1440p resolutions at a still-quite-fast 500 Hz). LG also notes that its high-end monitor can hit its resolution and refresh rate specs natively, without the need for any "dual mode" rebooting shenanigans to get the fastest performance.

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Civilization VII finally lets you build a civ that stands the test of time

"Build a civilization to stand the test of time." That was the promise on the box of Sid Meier's Civilization, the first in a long-running strategy game franchise that has evolved over 35 years and seven mainline entries.

Civ 7 introduced a new approach to play wherein players would change civilizations from their initial selection twice by the end of a game. Lots of players said, "Wait a minute: we're literally not building a civilization to stand the test of time anymore." After such a negative launch reception, longtime series fans began to wonder if the franchise itself would continue to stand the test of time.

It's clearly not a coincidence that the new, major update for the game reaching players today is titled "Test of Time." It's a major reworking of several of the game's key systems, and it reintroduces the ability to play one civ from beginning to end while retaining some of the big ideas that defined Civ 7 at launch.

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Bill to block publishers from killing online games advances in California

A bill focused on maintaining long-term playable access to online games has passed out of the California Assembly's appropriations committee, setting up a floor vote by the full legislative body. The advancement is a major win for Stop Killing Games' grassroots game preservation movement and comes over the objections of industry lobbyists at the Entertainment Software Association.

California's Protect Our Games Act, as currently written, would require digital game publishers who cut off support for an online game to either provide a full refund to players or offer an updated version of the game "that enables its continued use independent of services controlled by the operator." The act would also require publishers to notify players 60 days before the cessation of "services necessary for the ordinary use of the digital game."

As currently amended, the act would not apply to completely free games and games offered "solely for the duration of [a] subscription. Any other game offered for sale in California on or after January 1, 2027, would be subject to the law if it passes.

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Over a year later, AMD is bringing improved FSR 4 upscaling to its older GPUs

When AMD announced version 4 of its FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) graphics upscaling technology early last year, it came with strings attached: The improved hardware-backed image quality would be available only on Radeon RX 9000-series GPUs based on the RDNA4 architecture, not on any older Radeon GPUs.

To date, AMD has released only a handful of 90-series graphics cards, including the RX 9070 XT, the RX 9070, the 8GB and 16GB versions of the RX 9060 XT, and an RX 9060 that's only available to PC companies rather than end users. That list notably doesn't include any integrated GPUs, such as those found in AMD-powered thin-and-light laptops or gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck and its imitators.

Over a year later, AMD Computing and Graphics SVP Jack Huynh has announced that a version of FSR 4 is finally coming to older GPUs. The rollout will begin in July with RDNA3- and 3.5-based GPUs, which include the Radeon RX 7000 series, as well as integrated GPUs like the Radeon 890M and Radeon 8060S.

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Pirates are already playing Forza Horizon 6 days before its launch

Playable copies of Microsoft's Forza Horizon 6 have appeared on game piracy sites more than a week before the game's official launch, the apparent result of a mistake in uploading the game's files to Steam over the weekend.

Since the early days of Steam, players have been able to preload encrypted versions of supported games well ahead of release so the game is ready to play when the encryption key is released on launch day. But early Sunday morning, Microsoft mistakenly uploaded roughly 155 GB of Forza Horizon 6 files to Steam in unencrypted form, as tracked by SteamDB.

That unprotected upload was noticed almost immediately across social media sites and Reddit. Within hours, Reddit's CrackWatch community was reporting that the game's copy protection had been broken, allowing for easy downloads of pirated versions across multiple piracy sites reviewed by Ars (while that initial CrackWatch post has since been "removed by Reddit’s Legal Operations team," details of another crack were being discussed on CrackWatch as of Monday morning).

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Sony says "efficient" AI tools will lead to even more games flooding the market

Anyone following the modern game industry knows that easy-to-use game engines and the accelerating shift to digital distribution have helped enable a massive increase in the quantity of commercial games released each year, both on console storefronts and especially on Steam. Now, Sony Interactive Entertainment President and CEO Hideaki Nishino says we should expect the rate of new game releases to accelerate even faster as new AI development tools make it easier for developers big and small to pursue new projects efficiently.

In a presentation to investors on Friday, Nishino noted that Sony "expect[s] to see a meaningful increase in the volume and diversity of content available to players" in the near future. That increase is the inevitable result of AI development tools that are "lowering barriers to creation, accelerating development cycles, and enabling more creators to enter the market," he said.

By way of evidence, Nishino cited Sony's first-party game development efforts. Gamemakers inside Sony are already using AI tools to "automat[e] repetitive workflows" in areas like quality assurance, 3D modeling, and animation, he said.

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The Nintendo Switch 2 is getting more expensive later this year

When we reviewed the Switch 2 just after its launch last year, we warned that interested customers might want to buy in early, as the launch price could go up. That potential price hike became a reality today, as Nintendo announced the Switch 2's MSRP will increase to $499.99 on September 1, a $50 (and about 11 percent) increase from the $449.99 launch price.

In an announcement of the impending price increase today, Nintendo cited "changes in market conditions" and "the global business outlook" that are "expected to extend over the medium to long term." That's likely a reference to the climbing RAM and storage prices that have been impacting all sorts of hardware makers for months.

Nintendo's pricing move means all three current major consoles have now increased in price since launch. Sony's PS5 got its second price increase in March, just eight months after its first price hike. The Xbox Series consoles saw their second price increase in September, five months after an initial price hike. Nintendo also raised the price of the aging original Switch console for the first time last year.

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Everyone’s a loser in Strait of Hormuz game that simulates global crisis

It’s no fun living through the global energy shock and growing economic crisis that has ensued since the conflict choked off shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. But it can be enlightening to play through the new game Bottleneck that forces players to choose among the 2,000 ships still stuck in and around the strait—all while actual news reports and real maritime transit data help tell the story of the unfolding events.

The free browser-based game challenges players to act as a fictional maritime coordinator by selecting a handful of ships that get to pass through the strait each day. Most decisions come with serious costs or trade-offs, whether it’s paying the toll imposed by the Iranian government that has claimed authority over the strait or antagonizing Iran or the United States while pushing either side toward widening the war. Failure to push through enough specific shipments can spark individual crises involving the price of oil, food, and water security, and a countdown to famine in many countries.

“The game does not ask whether you are smart enough to solve the crisis,” said Jakub Gornicki, the journalist and artist who developed the game, in a post. “It asks what kind of damage you choose when every option has a cost.”

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