Nothing Special

Microsoft has announced that preorders for the 25th-anniversary edition of the Xbox Series X are now open (at least to some), and if you want one, it's going to cost you. As rumored, the 1TB console will cost $900, which is $100 more than the standard Xbox Series X. It features a translucent green design and sports an "Xbox 25" logo to celebrate the milestone. The bundle comes with a special-edition 25th-anniversary translucent green Xbox controller as well. Each console unit is individually numbered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-INYU6FLgI Additionally, Microsoft has announced that all of

Netflix has an all-new demastered version of Stranger Things season 1: a glitchy, grainy, and gloriously vintage VHS Special Edition.

One of the surprise announcements at Gamescom's Opening Night Live event was PUBG Ded Net, a spin-off with a new premise where "death is only the beginning." Set in the fictional world of Cascadia in the '90s, Ded Net is a new multiplayer FPS that "combines shooter gameplay with roguelite progression." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zh1OhGVsyo That's all there is to go on at this stage, but you can sign up to test the game on Ded Net's website. It's not surprising to see PUBG expand like this. After all, developer Krafton has said it wants PUBG to become a universe of sorts that spans multip

Microsoft is encouraging people to buy the Xbox edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 by offering a special perk that players can't get on other console systems. People who preorder any edition of MW4 on a Microsoft Store--including Xbox or PC--will get a $5 digital credit back. Customers on PC will get a pop-up notification from the Xbox app within 35 days of MW4's launch on October 23 with their Xbox gift card; a similar pop-up notification will appear on Xbox as well. https://twitter.com/CallofDuty/status/2093776106465673515 The fine print states that the promotional gift credit must be

What is gambling? Strategic deck-builders like Luck Be A Landlord and Balatro have both been hit with high age-ratings by app stores and ratings boards, because the games are associated with gambling. Both are one-time purchases with no microtransactions, and no ties to gambling other than visuals borrwed from the casino world: slot machines and poker hands, respectively. Meanwhile, loot boxes and gacha games, which actually do have exploitative mechanics, seem to slide by ratings boards without much trouble. So what, actually, is gambling? And how do we talk about it in 2025, when gambling is