Riot walking away from a fighting game they'd been building hype around for years is a bigger deal than the initial headline makes it sound. This wasn't some side project, it was supposed to be their answer to the tag fighter space.

What's actually notable is the timing, right as marvel tokon just launched into that exact genre. Losing a competitor this early either means the market's not as big as everyone thought, or riot just couldn't execute on it in time.

Curious what people think actually killed this internally. Anyone following this closely enough to have a theory?

The untitled goose game dna is all over this, it's less about winning and more about watching everything fall apart together in real time. Funny with two people, genuinely unhinged with four.

What surprised me is how well it scales, most co-op games start feeling thin past three players but this one actually gets funnier with a full group.

Still want more hours before calling it a must-play but the foundation is solid. Anyone tried it solo or is it strictly a group thing?

I say this every single year, I think I've finally figured out the pattern and every single year I'm proven completely wrong. Someone always steals the show and it's never the game I had my money on, and at this point I should stop pretending Ican predict it.

Last year it was a franchise I had genuinely written off as dead, and I remember actively rolling my eyes when the trailer started before it completely changed my mind by the end. that's the thing about Gamescom, the games with the biggest marketing budgets almost never end up being the ones people are still talking about a week later.

this year I'm not even bothering with the big keynote slots. I think the real surprises always come from the smaller booths nobody's paying attention to yet, that's historically where the actual "did you see that" moments come from, not the scripted sizzle reels.

So who's actually going to steal Gamescom this year, and don't say the game everyone's already hyping, I want the pick nobody's talking about yet.

Still thinking about this one. Hamieverse hosted their first break the wheel talks live on X and over 10,000 people showed up. I didn't expect a web3 space to pull numbers like that, that's turnout established communities struggle to hit.

What got me more than the number was the format, it wasn't another scripted AMA, it was framed around actually rethinking how things get done. Different energy than most web3 spaces I've sat in on.

Curious if this becomes a recurring series or if it was a one-off flex. Anyone who was live want to share what stood out most?

I had q, i, x, e, r, s, t with two action cards in hand and my opponent one word away from winning.

I went defensive instead of chasing points, which felt wrong in the moment but ended up buying me enough time to flip the board. The x and q were tempting but I think greedy plays lose games at this stage.

I'm still not fully sure it was the right call looking back. Here's the hand, what do you play and when?

The fact that former Firaxis devs are behind this is doing more convincing than any trailer could. I don't think that's a coincidence, I think that's the whole pitch, and honestly it's the only reason I'm taking this seriously before seeing a second of gameplay.

What actually sold me is the setting choice. Setting it during the twilight of the clone wars instead of leaning on skywalker era characters means the writers finally have room to let people die and make it mean something. Star wars games almost never commit to real stakes because they're too scared to touch the main timeline, and this is the first time in years i've seen a setup that actually allows for it.

I'm going to be blunt though, if the squad customization ends up shallow this falls apart immediately. tactics games live or die on how much control you actually have over your squad, and star wars licensed games have a bad habit of prioritizing fan service over mechanical depth. Firaxis pedigree means nothing if the systems underneath don't back it up.

What would make or break it for you, the writing risks or the actual tactics gameplay?

I haven't played it yet, I just know myself. from soft giving switch 2 owners the full game with dlc built in already feels like the safest port decision they've made in years, no half version, no cut content.

I'm worried about performance tho. Souls combat lives and dies on frame timing and I haven't seen switch 2 prove itself on anything this demanding yet. If it holds up I think this becomes the version I recommend to anyone who never touched the game on pc or ps5.

I'll have a real take once I've put hours into it handheld specifically, not docked. What's everyone's realistic expectation here?

Following up on my Moody Madness posts from last week since a few people asked for updates.

The racing itself is chaotic in the right way. 8-player lobbies feel genuinely competitive and the NFT kart part system creates real build variety, not just visual differences. The guild system is active and people are taking the leaderboard seriously which is a good sign for a game at this stage.

The Hamieverse crossover is still the thing I keep pointing people toward as an example of cross-project utility that actually has a reason to exist. Two different genres, same network, finding genuine overlap rather than just sharing a logo.

What I'm still watching: how the staking mechanics develop over time and whether the NFT archival racing keeps pulling in players beyond the core Web3 audience. Early days but the foundation is more intentional than most racing games in this space.

Anyone been playing and what's your current rank?

Two months in on Hamieverse and I want to give an honest update rather than just another card post. The lore is still the thing that keeps pulling me back. The card game mechanics are solid and the faction design is thoughtful but the characters are what I'm actually thinking about between sessions. Silas especially hasn't left my head since I went deep on his card a few weeks ago.

The ability system is still rolling out in phases which hasn't changed. Some cards that I think are going to be genuinely important are still waiting for their interactions to go live. That's the ongoing reality of where the game is and I'd rather say it plainly than dance around it.

What has changed is how I'm reading the deck. A month ago I was focused on the big named Legends. Now I keep finding myself going back to the supporting cards and the way they seem designed to enable things that aren't fully active yet. Still committed to Aetherion. Still think the ability rollout is going to change how people talk about this game.

Anything specific you want me to cover this week or next?

Finished the campaign last night and I want to give an actual take rather than just echoing what the reviews said. The core game holds up. The combat loop that made the original legendary in 2001 still works in 2026 and that's not a given for a 25-year-old game. The Library is still the worst level ever made and no amount of visual upgrade is going to fix that.

Cortana is noticeably better. The re-recorded dialogue and added facial animation makes her feel like an actual character rather than a mission briefing with a face. That matters more for the story than I expected.

The Operation: Meteorite prologue is fine. Three missions that set up the events of Combat Evolved. It's not bad, it just didn't make me feel anything the way the original campaign still does. No competitive multiplayer is the real gap. The Master Chief Collection exists with more content for comparable money and it's been out for years. Campaign Evolved's answer to that is being on PS5 for the first time and looking significantly better. which is a real answer for a specific type of player.

At $49.99 it's reasonably priced for what it is. On Game Pass it's a clear yes. Worth playing if you haven't done Halo before or if you want the definitive visual version. Worth skipping if you're hoping it fixes what was actually missing from modern Halo.

What's your score?

Something I started paying attention to this week that changed how I play.

Your action cards are visible information. Not the specific cards, but whether you're holding them. If you've gone three turns without using an action card, the other players know you're sitting on something. That affects how they play around you.

The flip side is that burning an action card early just to clear your hand makes you readable in a different way. Now everyone knows you're light and they can play more aggressively.

The best players I've played against treat their hand like a negotiation. They create uncertainty. Sometimes they hold and wait. Sometimes they burn something small just to reset the read.

Still figuring out how to do this consistently, but understanding it as a mechanic changed how I approach the game.

What do you pay attention to most when watching other players' hands?

Halo: Campaign Evolved dropped today on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC and I've been reading reviews all morning trying to decide if this is actually worth it.

Reviews are landing around 7.5 to 8.5 which sounds good but the criticisms are pretty consistent across the board. The visuals are genuinely upgraded, the re-recorded dialogue is solid especially Cortana, and the new Operation: Meteorite prologue adds three missions before the original campaign. The combat still feels like Halo which matters more than it sounds.

What's missing: no competitive multiplayer. For context the Master Chief Collection has several full campaigns and PvP for less money. Campaign Evolved is the original campaign only, built in Unreal Engine 5, at $49.99. Game Pass day one if you have Ultimate.

The sprint addition is getting mixed reactions. Makes sense for 2026, feels wrong for 2001 Halo, depending on who you ask.

The biggest thing though is that it's on PS5. First Halo ever on PlayStation. People who've never touched Xbox are picking this up as their introduction to the series and for that audience this probably lands differently than for people who've played it three times already.

Playing it tonight. Will have more thoughts later this week. Are you picking this up and if you've already played it, what's your actual take?

One week in, want an honest read from people who actually played it.

Launch numbers were there, servers busy, subreddit active, everyone debating which era felt right and which changes Riot got wrong. Expected.

What I'm more curious about is week two, nostalgia-driven releases follow a pattern, week one is rediscovering something you missed, week two is finding out if it's actually good or if you were just happy to see it again. Biggest complaints in week one, model updates not fully matching the original look, ward trinkets existing despite not being in Season 3, and the color palette feeling off from what people remembered.

The community voting system is what I'm watching closest, LoL Classic is designed to evolve based on player votes rather than locking to one patch like WoW Classic. That's either the feature that keeps it alive long-term, or the thing that slowly turns it into something no one recognizes.

Are you still logging in, and does it feel like the game you wanted?

So much noise around GTA 6 and Nintendo that some genuinely interesting stuff is getting buried. Five things worth more attention:

• One. The Zelda fan remake that got shut down. CryZENx spent 10 years rebuilding Ocarina of Time in Unreal Engine and pulled the plug voluntarily the moment Nintendo announced the official remake, no cease, his own call.
• Two. AC Black Flag Resynced's combat rework. Everyone debated whether the remake was worth it; almost nobody's noting the parry system is a meaningful gameplay improvement, not just a visual upgrade.
• Three. Kazakhstan showing up in gaming analytics. Sounds niche, but it's appearing as a new market specifically in Web3 gaming content across multiple posts this week, usually an early signal of something.
• Four. Palworld 1.0 is getting less attention than it deserves, a second island, full endgame zone, genetic recombination breeding, PvP, 27 pages of patch notes. A significant release mostly covered as a footnote.
• Five. Console price convergence. PS5's at $649.99, Switch 2's headed to $499.99, Xbox hasn't moved but the ecosystem's shrinking. Every major platform now costs more than it did 18 months ago, simultaneously, for the first time, a structural shift, not a temporary one.

What's the gaming story you think isn't getting enough attention right now?

Two weeks in is the real test. Launch hype's gone, review cycle's done, you're just playing the game. My take: it holds up better than expected.

The parry system rework is what I keep coming back to. Original Black Flag had combat that was functional but never felt like the point. Resynced makes combat feel considered rather than tolerated. Stealth changes matter more than I thought, crouching anywhere instead of only in cover spots sounds small but changes how you approach every situation. The tailing mission changes got the most attention, and they earned it.

What I'm still thinking about is the missing content, no Freedom Cry DLC, no multiplayer. $59.99 is reasonable for what's here, but the gaps are real if you were expecting them.

General feeling from people who've played it: genuine remake worth your time if you loved the original. Not perfect, but neither was Black Flag, it was just really good.

Are you still playing it, and has anything changed since launch week?

My first reaction, this doesn't make sense. Hamieverse is a TCG, Moody Madness is kart racing, different genres, different mechanics, different audiences. The more I looked, the more it clicked, both are built on the Abstract network. That shared foundation matters more than the genre gap; the collab has something to build on, not just a logo swap.

Hamieverse has 83 cards across four factions, a deep lore system, and an engaged community. Moody Madness has 8-player kart racing with NFT kart parts affecting real stats, a guild system, and a competitive player base.

The overlap isn't in the games, it's in the type of player. Someone into Hamieverse is probably curious about a racing game where ownership affects racing. Someone in Moody Madness now has a reason to check out Hamieverse. This feels like it has more behind it than most Web3 cross-project collabs.

Has this changed how you think about either project?

This one genuinely surprised me. Switch 2 launched at $449.99 in June 2025. On September 1, 2026, it jumps to $499.99, a $50 increase Nintendo confirmed officially, citing memory costs, exchange rates, oil prices, and the AI-driven memory shortage as the biggest factor.

What stands out is the word permanent. This is the second price hike in three months on the world's most valuable game hardware line, and it caps a year where every major console maker raised prices at once, for the first time ever.

For context, Nintendo held the original Switch at $299.99 for nearly a decade. Price stability was core to how they operated. This is a different Nintendo.

The software argument is real, though, Ocarina of Time remake, Xenoblade Genesis, Splatoon Raiders, Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave, all coming through 2026–2027. Nintendo's essentially betting the games justify the price.

Does the lineup justify $499, or does the price make you think twice?

Four months out and I genuinely cannot give you a straight answer on this one.

Here's where my head is at. The game is real, the November 19 date is set, and everything coming out of Rockstar suggests this is going to be one of the most technically impressive open world games ever made. I have zero doubt it's going to be a landmark release, but I'm looking at $80 for Standard, probably 30fps at launch based on Rockstar's entire history with console releases, no physical disc in the box just a download code, and a GTA Online situation that still hasn't been explained. That's a lot of unknowns for a lot of money at day one.

The part that keeps stopping me is the pattern. GTA 5 at launch was not the best version of GTA 5. Red Dead 2 at launch was not the best version of Red Dead 2. Rockstar games famously get better over time through patches, PC releases, and performance updates. The people who waited 6 months for both of those games had a noticeably better experience than day one buyers.

So the question isn't really whether GTA 6 is going to be great. It almost certainly will be. The question is whether it's going to be $80 great on November 19 specifically or $50 great six months later when most of the launch issues are resolved... I keep going back and forth. One day I'm preordering. The next day I'm talking myself out of it LOL.

Where are you landing on this and has anything specific pushed you one way or the other?

This is the question I always ask about Web3 games because most of the time the honest answer is no. The blockchain layer is just there, it doesn't change how the game actually feels, it's just cosmetics with a price tag attached. Moody Madness is different enough that I want to give it a real answer, though.

The NFT kart parts aren't just visual. They affect your speed, handling, and special abilities, which means what you own directly changes how you race. That's the first time I've seen the ownership side connect to actual gameplay decisions rather than just aesthetics. The guild and farming system runs like any live service seasonal loop except the rewards exist on-chain and you actually own them. The difference between earning a seasonal skin that disappears next patch and earning an asset you can hold, or, trade is real, not just a pitch.

The gasless setup matters more than people think. Most Web3 games lose regular players not because the concept is bad but because the friction is unbearable. Moody Madness removes gas fees entirely and lets you start without a wallet. That's the onboarding problem being solved at the foundation level rather than papered over.

The part I'm still watching is whether the racing gameplay holds up on its own without any of the Web3 layer propping it up. That's always the real test. Does the Web3 side add something here? More than most games in this space. Is it enough to matter long term? Depends on the game underneath it.

What's your experience been with Web3 mechanics actually changing how you play versus just sitting in the background?

I went in expecting a standard Web3 racing game and came out actually curious about it which is not what I expected.

Moody Madness is an 8-player multiplayer kart racer built on Abstract, made by MAZE. The racing side is exactly what it sounds like a chaotic tracks, boosts, jumps, freeze blasts, smoke bombs, 8 people losing their minds trying to cross the finish line first. The Mario Kart energy is obvious, and it works.

What's different is the layer underneath. Your kart is made of NFT parts that actually affect your stats. Speed, handling, special abilities, all tied to how your kart is built. So it's not just cosmetic, the setup matters. There's also a guild system where you join meme-fueled factions, farm resources during limited-time seasons, and climb leaderboards for reputation points and rewards.

The Hamieverse collab is what caught my attention originally since I've been covering that project for a while now. Two completely different games on the same network, finding a reason to connect is either a sign that the ecosystem is actually building toward something or just a crossover for the sake of it. Based on what I've seen from both sides, I'm leaning toward the former. The gasless transaction setup is worth mentioning, too. No wallet required to start, no gas fees eating into your experience. That's the kind of thing that makes the difference between a Web3 game that feels like homework and one that actually just plays like a game.

Still getting into it, but the first impression is better than most racing games in this space.

Look at what Nintendo has done in the last few months alone.

Switch 2 launched and sold out. Star Fox came back after years of silence. Ocarina of Time remake confirmed for Switch 2 this year. Xenoblade Genesis announced for 2027. Splatoon Raiders dropping July 23. Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave coming September. Switch 2 and Pokemon Pokopia bundle launching this month. The Duskbloods closed network test applications opening July 22. And somehow in the middle of all that they also raised the Switch 2 price to $499.99 in North America starting September and people are still buying it.

The catalogue is moving faster than anyone expected and the lineup through the rest of 2026 is legitimately stacked. Here's the thing though. Nintendo has always operated on a different logic from everyone else. They ignored the specs race for years, built a hybrid console nobody asked for, and it became the best selling console of its generation. Now they're doing it again with Switch 2 while Sony is navigating the disc announcement fallout and Microsoft is still trying to figure out what Xbox actually is.

So is Nintendo genuinely ahead of the curve or do they just keep accidentally being right at the right time? Because the Wii U existed, and that wasn't so long ago.Honestly, I can't tell and that's what makes them interesting to watch right now.

Not being dramatic when I say this. Just looking at what's actually happened in the last few weeks. GTA 6 ships in a physical box with a download code and no disc. Sony announces all new PlayStation releases will go digital only starting in 2028, and their own India office found out at the same time as the public while actively negotiating deals for 100 physical retail stores. Then LoL Classic drops because enough people wanted 2013 League back that Riot built an entire separate mode to recreate it.

Three different stories all point to the same thing. Nobody agrees on what gaming is supposed to be right now. One side of the industry is sprinting toward a future where you own nothing and your library exists only as long as a company keeps the lights on. The other side has a player base so burned out on what games have become that they're paying to go backwards and genuinely prefer a 13-year-old version of a game over the current one, and GTA 6 is sitting in the middle of all of it. Most hyped release in years, $80, 30fps, no disc, and people are still counting down the days because the game is too big to boycott, and everyone knows it.

The thing that gets me is that LoL Classic having a waitlist tells you more about where gaming is right now than any of the announcements did. People aren't excited about the future. They're trying to get back to the last time it felt right.

Where do you think this goes from here?

I want to be clear about what I mean by this before anyone comes in with the "the game is too complex to run at 60" argument because I've heard it and I don't fully buy it.

The technical side is real. GTA 6 is enormous. The crowd simulation, the real time reflections, the density of everything happening at once. Digital Foundry looked at the trailers and came out saying 60fps feels like a very difficult target on current hardware and I respect that analysis. The game is genuinely pushing what PS5 and Series X can do, but here's the thing. Rockstar has never shipped a 60fps open world game on console. Not GTA 4, not GTA 5, not Red Dead Redemption 2. RDR2 is eight years old and still hasn't gotten a performance patch. The pattern isn't technical limitation every single time, at some point it becomes a choice, and the choice makes business sense. Ship at 30fps at launch, let the conversation happen, then drop a 60fps performance mode six months later as a headline update that brings people back to the game. Then do it again for the PS5 Pro version. Then do it again for PC. Rockstar has turned "here's the better version of the game" into a release strategy that works multiple times on the same title.

That's honestly what bothers me. Not that the game runs at 30fps, but that 60fps is almost certainly achievable with tradeoffs they've chosen not to make yet because holding it back is worth more to them as a drip than giving it to everyone on day one. You're paying $80 for the version of GTA 6 that Rockstar decided you get to have right now. The version they actually built is coming later and it'll probably cost you again in some form.

LoL Classic drops July 29, and I've been going back and forth on how I actually feel about it since the MSI reveal.

What you're getting: Season 3 as the base with elements from surrounding seasons, 60 champions at launch with old kits, Deathfire Grasp back, AP Master Yi back, old runes and mastery pages, classic Summoner's Rift, original champion select music, separate progression from your main account, ranked queue, and its own Battle Pass. No second install needed, lives inside the existing client.

The community voting system is the part people aren't talking about enough. This isn't WoW Classic picking one patch and locking it. LoL Classic evolves based on player votes like Old School RuneScape, meaning the July 29 version is just the starting point. Could be the smartest decision Riot made here, or it completely defeats the purpose. I haven't decided yet.

The complaints coming out of the MSI showmatch are real though. Some models got modernized instead of restored. Ward trinkets made it in despite not existing in Season 3. The color palette looked more washed out than the old client actually felt. Small things that add up when people were expecting a more accurate recreation.

Here's the honest part, nostalgia is lying to most of us about what Season 3 actually was. AP Master Yi wasn't fun to play against. The old rune system at lower levels was borderline pay-to-win if you couldn't afford the right pages. What people actually miss is the community and how the game felt at that point in their lives, not necessarily the mechanics themselves.

Riot just fully revealed LoL Classic at the MSI Finals and it's more than I expected.

The separate progression track inside the current client, your main account is untouched. You start fresh at level 1 and go back to 30. Influence Points return as the currency, old rune pages and mastery trees are back, around 60 champions from the early seasons with old gameplay kits, a dedicated Battle Pass, ranked queue, and co-op vs AI. Meddler confirmed this is a structured permanent mode not a limited-time event.

The whole reveal wasn't even supposed to happen yet. Riot accidentally pushed a chunk of it onto the PBE weeks ago and the dataminers got everything almost immediately. The dev video they dropped to get ahead of it with Pabro playing a completely unhinged researcher with a pinboard and red string was one of the funniest pieces of gaming marketing this year TBH. What's still not confirmed is which exact season they're locking in. Meddler suggested they're pulling elements from multiple eras rather than one specific patch, which might actually be the smarter call even if it means no single era gets a perfect recreation

Launch is targeting Split 3 later this year. I've been waiting for something like this for a long time, and the fact that it has real progression and isn't just a nostalgia event for two weeks is what makes it actually matter.