Gaming

After months of speculation around memory shortages and other global pricing impacts, Valve announced the release date and price of Steam Machine

And a weird detail about its reservation system is that if you reserve today, you won't be at the bottom of the waitlist - at least until June 26 (Friday) at 3AM Sydney time/AEST to be precise. Units then ship June 30 (AEST).

Valve is going with a new system where it will close initial reservations at that time, randomise it, and then email people who managed to grab one.

For me? I'm definitely on the list, but it's still a bit of a toss-up whether the FOMO will get to me. I love the concept of the device - being able to play games like Spyro: Reignited Trilogy or Red Dead Redemption 2 at 60fps on my couch. And as a Steam Deck convert, I'm slowly growing a Steam library and would love to play a lot of my games at a higher resolution. But it remains to be seen whether I can stomach the slightly AI-inflated prices. Here's how much it'll cost in Australia:

Steam Machine 512GB: 1,609 AUD

Bundle: Steam Machine 512GB + Steam Controller: 1,728 AUD

Steam Machine 2TB: 2,109 AUD

Bundle: Steam Machine 2TB + Steam Controller: 2,228 AUD

Both the Steam Machine 2TB and 2TB bundle options come with two additional faceplates: red fabric, and solid walnut.

Here's how Valve describes the Steam Machine in a press-release:

• Small and compact (a roughly 6-inch cube!)
• Over 6 times the horsepower of Steam Deck: Play your favorite games on Steam, including AAA titles.
• Powered by SteamOS, an OS optimized for gaming
• Runs cool and whisper-quiet
• 4K gaming at 60 FPS with FSR (thanks to semi-custom AMD desktop class CPU/GPU)
• Built-in power supply
• 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E plus Bluetooth 5.3 with dedicated antenna
• Ready for all kinds of peripherals and monitors
• And there's a cool LED strip!

You won't have to dust off that orange VHS tape for this one.

I try not to let nostalgia get me, but Limited Run Games latest collection, Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection, has me weirdly excited in the most boomer way.

Included in the collection are the following classics:

• Rugrats: Search for Reptar (PlayStation 1)
• The Rugrats Movie (Game Boy / Game Boy Color)
• Rugrats: Time Travelers (Game Boy Color)
• Rugrats: Studio Tour (PlayStation 1)
• Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (PlayStation 1 / Game Boy Color)
• Rugrats: Castle Capers (Game Boy Advance)

I have such vivid memories of Search for Reptar that I'll definitely be giving this a download on Nintendo Switch. It also comes out on PS5.

The collection also features:

Rewind & Save Anywhere: Made a bad jump? Just rewind the clock. Need to stop for snacks? Save your progress at any moment.

Retro Screen Filters: Play with crisp modern pixels or toggle on classic CRT and handheld filters for that authentic 90s glow.

Digital Museum: Browse high-resolution scans of the original manuals and box art. It’s like owning the physical copies all over again!

Music Player: Kick back and listen to the iconic soundtracks with a dedicated in-game audio player.

There's also a Deluxe Edition with a Jewelcase (extremely tempting) and:

Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection Game Retro Styled CD Jewelcase (holds cartridge or CD), CD Soundtrack, Reptar Puzzle Piece Keychain, Sticker Sheets

Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection is available physically too via Limited Run Games, sadly not on an orange cartridge. Pre-orders go on sale May 1 US-time and the game launches on digital stores May 15 US-time.

Bungie and Sony have announced that upcoming title Marathon has a release date. The game is arriving March 5, 2026, alongside a Limited Edition DualSense controller.

In a generation of just plain boring Limited Editions, the Marathon controller actually looks nice and unique. Lets hope the game is equally special and not another live-service PlayStation dud. Eat your heart out The Last Of Us: Factions (which was cancelled) and Concord (which was shut down just weeks after its launch).

Great video from The Game Business with interviews with the people behind the PlayStation 1's launch in Europe. The interviews include:

former bosses Chris Deering and Jim Ryan, developers Martin Alltimes and Juan Montes, PR and marketing veterans Glen O’Connell, Alan Welsman and Geoff Glendenning, and Namco’s Jackie Plumeridge.

I especially love the anecdote from Chris Deering about advertising the PlayStation brand at Football games, which you can see in this stock photo here. And how important it was being on the ground to market the console.

Update 26/08/2025: Demonschool has been delayed.

The hype around Hollow Knight: Silksong is unquestionable. Releasing September 4, the follow-up to Hollow Knight is coming 7 years after it was originally announced.

I genuinely can't wait - and it might be my most anticipated game of the year full stop. Which is saying a lot when you consider we had a new Mario Kart and full 3D Donkey Kong game.

So spare a thought for any games releasing around the same time. One game I feel the most for is Demonschool - a "new-style tactics RPG" that shows inspiration from Persona, while also sporting a really unique look and feel.

At least Demonschool will get a mini head start. Also Team Cherry aren't giving out review codes prior to release either, which might give Demonschool a bit more attention in the gaming press.

September will also see Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots on September 5th, Baby Steps from Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch and Bennett Foddy on September 8th, and Borderlands 4 on September 12th.

The new game, inspired by the world of Pokémon X & Y, is coming to Switch and Switch 2 this October 16 2025.

For players who purchase the game on Nintendo Switch, a Switch 2 "upgrade pack" will be available to purchase, which presumably means the game will cost more for Switch 2 users. From The Pokémon Company:

The cover art has also been unveiled, featuring the game’s main characters and their partner Pokémon battling a Mega-Evolved Pokémon at night in Lumiose City.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a new frontier for the Pokémon video game series, blending an RPG story unfolding in a single city with action elements and a real-time battle system unlike anything seen before in the franchise. Trainers can look forward to the beginning of a new adventure in Lumiose City—one woven by people and Pokémon together!​

I've been following indie 3D platformer Big Hops development on Twitter, and now Bluesky, for years now. The game features all the bells, whistles and twists that you would expect from a modern take on the genre. And now for the first time I've been able to play it via a demo on Steam.

With elements of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Mario Odyssey, as well as its own unique and clearly fine-tuned art-style, the game feels amazing. In a way that other indie platformers sometimes miss. There's clearly a level of polish that Big Hops is going for. But the team at Luckshot Games might need some help.

Developer Chris Wade at Luckshot Games announced the demo over on Bluesky today, alongside news of a Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 release at the end of the year. He also announced that the games publisher had dropped the game, and they're instead turning to Kickstarter for more support.

Definitely give the demo a go and let us know what you think!

Big Hops on Steam

Tongue-swing, free climb, and build your own path forward in a new kind of 3D platformer! Plant veggie bounce pads, tightropes, hookshots, and much more. Find a way home through huge Desert, Ocean, and Mountain worlds and collect bugs, upgrade your backpack, and meet animal friends along the way.

STEAM

It is a brutal day for institutional games media, and independent media cannot fill the void.

Polygon Acquired by Porn Mogul Who Co-Founded Brazzers

Before he founded Valnet, Hassan Youssef started one of the biggest porn sites on the internet.

404 MediaSamantha Cole

This blog is a "side gig" of sorts for me, so sometimes it's hard to balance finding time to play the latest games before they come out with my real life.

When a review code for Blue Prince arrived around a week ago I assumed I'd get sidetracked and let it slide by. Instead I played 10+ hours of the surprise gem over one weekend. Just one more run, I'd say, before genuinely looking outside and seeing that several hours had passed by and it was suddenly pitch black. I normally hate run-based games where progression can feel just out of reach and luck-based, but Blue Prince almost had a Tetris-effect on me. I'd stop playing and still have the twists and turns of this house running through my brain. At one point I had the room-selection UI pop into my head as I left my real house.

I haven't uncovered every secret the game has to offer, or even rolled credits. I think I'm very close, but also from the sound of things I'm far from done.

But 16+ hours in I'm obsessed and can't stop wondering what's next in this deceptively simple-seeming puzzle game, one that's built around perfect bite-sized runs and strategic play.

Blue Prince has a bit of a board game vibe to it. As the player you explore an inherited house. At the start of each day the house isn't sketched out at all. Every room could be the key to victory, if you can manage to find a path through the house.

Like a board game, each room of the house is generated from a selection of 3 rooms, kinda like picking up 3 cards from a deck at the start of a turn. You're trying to get to a certain room on the board, but this can be limited by your inventory and which randomly selected rooms are offered to you. You might hit a road-block and have to end the day.

Different rooms contain different tools, perks and paths. The currency of the game includes steps, which count down with each room you enter and exit, as well as gems, coins and keys. They're all essential to progression and incredibly difficult to balance. Sometimes finding just one bit of food will save an entire run. Sometimes a key is the difference between today and tomorrow.

Some rooms will punish you, by taking away steps, while others will give you more time to explore the house. You'll find yourself locked out of progressing, or lacking the gems required to open a new type of room that you haven't seen before.

I've felt so many types of emotions playing this game. It has environmental storytelling that just trails along in the background, and everything may or may not be a clue to progression. Simple things that you might walk past a hundred times can eventually become a puzzle to solve. It's best to have a physical notebook by your side as you play, and my own is filled with the scribbles of a mad-man. Everything is a clue, every note, every item.

But runs can also end very quickly. Sometimes you'll get blocked off by a bad set of 3 rooms that equate to a dead end. Sometimes you'll need to collect a key or gem to unlock a door. Some doors are hidden behind specific items. Some specific items uncover powerful specific rooms. Or sometimes you'll have a great run where you're wealthy and able to get extremely far into the house.

When I'd get a great run going, it almost felt like I was winning a lottery. But there's also a need for tactics too, it isn't just luck-based. There are even permanent perks that you'll need to work hard to uncover.

Overall it's best to go in blind though. The best part of this whole review period was simply the fact that barely any discussion around this game existed online, apart from some discussions around a demo released last year.

I think the key tip from me is to explore. Don't worry about how many days have passed, but instead look around. Always pick new rooms if you're offered them, even if it leads to a dead end.

And avoid spoilers at all costs. I've already told you too much (but not really).

(Also yes, the name is kinda a pun for Blueprints, don't let that scare you off)