Netflix to buy Warner Bros film and streaming businesses for $72bn
The major Hollywood deal means Netflix will takeover ownership of franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. ⌘ Read more

Netflix wins deal to buy Warner Bros’ studio and streaming service for $108bn
The merger will see beloved shows and movies such as The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, and The Wizard of Oz join Netflix’s portfolio. ⌘ Read more

Netflix to buy Warner Bros film and streaming businesses for $72bn
The major Hollywood deal means Netflix will takeover ownership of franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. ⌘ Read more

Netflix to buy Warner Bros film and streaming businesses for $72bn
The major Hollywood deal means Netflix will takeover ownership of franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. ⌘ Read more

Netflix to buy Warner Bros film and streaming businesses for $72bn
The deal means Netflix will takeover ownership of franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and Warner Bros streaming service HBO Max. ⌘ Read more

Netflix to buy Warner Bros film and streaming businesses in major Hollywood deal
The deal means Netflix will takeover ownership of franchises including Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, and Warner Bros streaming service HBO Max. ⌘ Read more

Russia Blocks Roblox, Apple’s FaceTime
Russia has blocked Apple’s FaceTime and the gaming platform Roblox as part of a broader crackdown on foreign tech platforms. CBC News reports: Both restrictions are part of an accelerating clampdown on foreign tech platforms: In the case of FaceTime, Russian authorities allege it is being used for criminal activity, while Roblox was accused of distributing extremist materials and “LGBT propaganda.” Th … ⌘ Read more

This 18-year-old is the first badged netball umpire in a wheelchair
Brodie Taylor has changed the game of netball by overturning disability preconceptions to become the first person in a wheelchair to attain national netball umpiring accreditation. ⌘ Read more

Why is AI making computers and games consoles more expensive?
The AI industry consumes vast amounts of energy, fresh water and investor cash. Now it also needs memory chips - the same ones used in laptops, smartphones and games consoles ⌘ Read more

Valve Reveals Its the Architect Behind a Push To Bring Windows Games To Arm
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge’s Sean Hollister If you wrote off the Steam Frame as yet another VR headset few will want to wear, I guarantee you’re not alone. But the Steam Frame isn’t just a headset; it’s a Trojan horse that contains the tech gamers need to play Steam games on the next Samsung Galaxy, … ⌘ Read more

Japanese Devs Face Font Licensing Dilemma as Annual Costs Increase From $380 To $20K
An anonymous reader quotes a report from GamesIndustry.biz: Japanese game makers are struggling to locate affordable commercial fonts after one of the country’s leading font licensing services raised the cost of its annual plan from around $380 to $20,500 (USD). As reported by Gamemakers and GameSpark and tra … ⌘ Read more

Football presenter updates fans after scary on-air collapse during England game
Laura Woods says she is doing ‘OK’ after collapsing on-air during an England match. ⌘ Read more

Steam On Linux Hits An All-Time High In November
Steam’s November 2025 survey shows Linux gaming climbed to its highest share in a decade “thanks to the success of the Steam Deck, the underlying Steam Play (Proton) software, and now further excitement thanks to the upcoming Steam Machine and Steam Frame,” writes Phoronix’s Michael Larabel. From the report: A decade ago in the early Steam days the initial use was around 3% an … ⌘ Read more

Steam On Linux Use Easily Hits An All-Time High In November
The Steam Survey results are out for November 2025 and continue to be very positive for the growing adoption of Linux gaming thanks to the success of the Steam Deck, the underlying Steam Play (Proton) software, and now further excitement thanks to the upcoming Steam Machine and Steam Frame… ⌘ Read more

Matildas coach calls out Australian football’s ‘inferiority complex’
Joe Montemurro echoes the words of former Matildas boss Alen Stajcic in offering a frank review of the culture surrounding the world game in Australia. ⌘ Read more

Woolworths accused of exploiting affordable housing schemes to ram through projects
The retail giant is using development fast-track schemes to push ahead with new supermarket and apartment projects opposed by local councils. ⌘ Read more

Benedict Cumberbatch Films Two Bizarre Holiday Ads: for ‘World of Tanks’ and Amazon
“There are times when World of Tanks feels less like a videogame and more like a giant ad budget looking for something to be spent on,” writes PC Gamer.

This year, all those huge sacks with dollar signs on them have been thrown Benedict Cumberbatch’s way, making him the game’s newest “Holiday Ambassador” and t … ⌘ Read more

Gamers can earn cryptocurrency tokens but experts warn of risks
As the crypto sector expands its appeal beyond tech insiders, the gamification of cryptocurrencies is appealing to younger users, which experts warn is walking the line between gaming and gambling. ⌘ Read more

Fixing the “Civilization 6 is Damaged” Error on Mac
Civilization 6 may be an older strategy game, but it retains immense popularity and replay value for fans of the Civilization franchise. If you’re a Mac gamer who has Civilization VI (Civilization 6 for those who aren’t fans of roman numerals), you might have come across a situation where you go to play Civilization 6 … Read More ⌘ Read more

Kangaroos make history in the books and on the field in flag defence
North Melbourne proves to be ground breakers and history makers as it extend its match-winning streak to 27 games in a comprehensive win over Brisbane. ⌘ Read more

Live: Kangaroos and Lions meet in blockbuster AFLW grand final trilogy
North Melbourne carries a 26-game winning streak into the AFLW grand final in a bid to become the first club in league history to win consecutive premierships. Follow live. ⌘ Read more

Wine 10.20 Released With VKD3D 1.18 Upgrade For Direct3D 12
Wine 10.20 is out as the newest bi-weekly development release of this open-source software enabling Windows applications and games to run on Linux. This is also with Wine 11.0 stable quickly approaching… ⌘ Read more

WBBL game controversially called off with Thunder three runs from victory
After rain falls for most of the Sydney Thunder’s innings, umpires decide to call off their WBBL clash against the Strikers with Phoebe Litchfield one swing away from ending the game. ⌘ Read more

Open-Source Nouveau+NVK vs. NVIDIA 580 Linux Gaming/Graphics & Compute Driver Performance
This Black Friday is an in-depth look at the current performance of the open-source NVIDIA Linux driver stack with the Nouveau kernel driver (the Nova driver not yet being ready for end-users) paired with the latest Mesa NVK driver for open-source Vulkan API support. With that NVK Vulkan driver is also looking at the OpenGL performance using the Zink OpenGL-on-Vulkan driver used now for OpenGL on modern NVIDIA GPUs rat … ⌘ Read more

Read an extract from The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
The New Scientist Book Club is currently reading Iain M. Banks’s classic sci-fi novel The Player of Games. In this extract, we meet protagonist Gurgeh for the first time ⌘ Read more

Why sci-fi novelist Iain M. Banks was an ‘astounding’ world-builder
The New Scientist Book Club is currently reading the late Iain M. Banks’s Culture novel The Player of Games. Fellow science fiction author Bethany Jacobs reveals how his work inspired her ⌘ Read more

Epic’s Sweeney Says Platforms Should Stop Tagging Games Made With AI
The CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, has argued that platforms like Steam should not label games that are made using AI. From a report: Responding to a post on Twitter from a user who suggested that storefronts drop this tag, the industry exec said that it “makes no sense” to flag such content. Sweeney added that soon AI will be a part of … ⌘ Read more

Everything you need to know ahead of the 2025 AFLW grand final
Wondering what time the AFLW grand final starts and how you can watch it live? We’ve got you covered. ⌘ Read more

Sometimes, (just sometimes) my ability to pattern match and remember how to play perfect games of chess is awesome 😎

ABC Classic’s curated Christmas list has music for everyone
ABC Classic’s Christmas music selection has everyone covered, whether you’re a fan of choirs, orchestras, Christmas movies, operas, musicals or video games. ⌘ Read more

Ubisoft Shows Off New AI-Powered FPS And Hopes You’ve Forgotten About Its Failed NFTs
Ubisoft has revealed Teammates, a first-person shooter built around AI-powered squadmates that the company is calling its “first playable generative AI research project” – not long after the publisher went all-in on NFTs and the metaverse only to largely move on from both. Built in the Snowdrop Engine th … ⌘ Read more

** Sticker party, November **
Some random thoughts including how the band Imagine Dragons is kinda like Metal for kids; distributing apps, even without involving Apple at all, is deeply annoying on macOS; Pokemon ZA is fun, but I think that I’m a turn-based girlie at heart; my partner has been playing a lot of Tears of the Kingdom lately, it has been a lot of fun for me to watch, and hair-pullingly frustrating for our nearly 10 year old who has strong opinions about the correct order of operations in that game; I wrote, but am cu … ⌘ Read more

Linux 6.18 To Enable Both Touchscreens On The AYANEO Flip DS Dual-Screen Handheld
Sent out today were a set of input subsystem fixes for the near-final Linux 6.18 kernel. A bit of a notable addition via this “fixes” pull is getting both touchscreens working on the AYANEO Flip DS, a dual-screen gaming handheld device that can be loaded up with Linux… ⌘ Read more

British Army Will Use Call of Duty To Train Soldiers
British soldiers are using computer games such as Call of Duty to sharpen their “war-fighting readiness,” an Army chief has said. From a report: General Sir Tom Copinger-Symes, the deputy commander of Cyber and Specialist Operations Command, said the war in Ukraine, where remote-operated drones have become crucial on the battlefield, proved the worth of having soldiers s … ⌘ Read more

Steam Frame Using Mesa’s Turnip Vulkan Open-Source Driver
In addition to Valve contributing to the open-source Radeon Vulkan driver for enhancing the Linux gaming experience and their AMD-powered Steam Deck, the upcoming Steam Frame VR headset is making use of Mesa’s open-source “Turnip” Vulkan driver for Qualcomm Adreno graphics… ⌘ Read more

How Two Janitors Made One of the Year’s Most Charming RPGs
Adam Marshall spent more than a decade developing Kingdoms of the Dump while working as a custodian at a school in suburban Philadelphia, cleaning floors and hauling trash bags from 3 PM to 11 PM before coming home to work on his turn-based role-playing game until 5 or 6 AM. The game, which Bloomberg has called “one of the year’s most charming RPGs,” came out … ⌘ Read more

ASUS Armoury Driver Set To Be Introduced In Linux 6.19
Expected to be introduced in the upcoming Linux 6.19 kernel cycle is the ASUS Armoury “asus-armoury” driver for enhancing support for the ASUS ROG Ally gaming handhelds and other ASUS enthusiast/gaming devices under Linux… ⌘ Read more

Roblox Blocks Children From Chatting To Adult Strangers
Roblox is rolling out mandatory facial age-verification for chat features to prevent children from communicating with adult strangers. The platform will restrict chat to verified age groups, expand parental controls, and become the first major gaming platform to require facial age checks for messaging. The BBC reports: Mandatory age checks will be introduced for … ⌘ Read more

Microsoft Open-Sources Classic Text Adventure Zork Trilogy
Microsoft has released the source code for Zork I, II, and III under the MIT License through a collaboration with Team Xbox and Activision that involved submitting pull requests to historical source repositories maintained by digital archivist Jason Scott. Each repository now includes the original source code and accompanying documentation.

The games arrive … ⌘ Read more

Nvidia Brings Ad-free Cloud Gaming To New Chromebooks
Nvidia and Google announced today a new cloud gaming plan called GeForce Now Fast Pass that is exclusive to Chromebooks. Anyone who purchases a new Chromebook will receive a year of the service included with their device at no additional charge. Fast Pass allows Chromebook owners to stream more than 2,000 games from their existing Steam, Epic or Xbox libraries.

The … ⌘ Read more

Rust-Based Arm GPU Kernel Driver “Tyr” Begins Running GNOME & Basic Games
Initially upstreamed into the Linux 6.18 kernel is Tyr as a Rust-based GPU kernel driver for Arm Mali hardware. This is in effect a Rust alternative to the Panthor DRM kernel driver for newer Arm Mali GPUs with the Command Stream Firmware (CSF). With the latest development code for Tyr, it’s moved onto running the GNOME desktop and basic games like SuperTuxKart… ⌘ Read more

‘Talking To Windows’ Copilot AI Makes a Computer Feel Incompetent’
Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant in Windows 11 fails to replicate the capabilities shown in the company’s TV advertisements. The Verge tested Copilot Vision over a week using the same prompts featured in ads airing during NFL games. When asked to identify a HyperX QuadCast 2S microphone visible in a YouTube video – a task successfully completed i … ⌘ Read more

The State Of The AMD RADV Vulkan Driver In Late 2025
In addition to talking about the Valve-backed open-source driver work for old AMD Radeon GPUs, Timur Kristóf also presented at the XDC2025 conference on the state of the RADV Vulkan driver. Timur was joined by Daniel Schürmann to talk about the great Linux gaming experience now possible on the RADV driver with the work done by Valve, AMD, Red Hat, Google, and the open-source community. RADV ray-tracing is much better today than in the past, the ACO compil … ⌘ Read more

AI Use in ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’ Draws Fire From US Lawmaker
An anonymous reader shares a report: The use of AI in the latest Call of Duty has prompted a US lawmaker to call for regulations to prevent artificial intelligence from taking jobs away from human workers. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who represents a large swathe of Silicon Valley, took aim at Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 after buyers noticed the pop … ⌘ Read more

Take-Two CEO Says Consoles Aren’t Going Away, But Gaming is Moving Toward PCs
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, which operates publishing labels including GTA-maker Rockstar Games and 2K, said on Monday that although gaming consoles are not going away, the industry is moving toward PCs in the next decade. From a report: “I think it’s moving towards PC and business is moving towards open … ⌘ Read more

Sony Killed This Game in 2024. Three Developers Reverse-Engineered It Back to Life
An anonymous reader shared this post from the gaming news site Aftermath:

Concord, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Firewalk Studios’ Overwatch-like shooter, was live for just two weeks before it was pulled offline. Though Concord certainly had some dedicated players, it didn’t have many — which is why it … ⌘ Read more

I like to read through old RPG books and zines for inspiration for my games, and lately I’ve been enjoying the Arduin Grimoire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduin), one of the earliest 3rd-party zines (coming out during the initial run of OD&D). It’s filled with a bunch of unique ideas (some better than others), entirely too many charts, and is very much a product of its time, but there’s something about its “raw”-ness (and its variety) that I still find appealing.

I wound up running 2 out of 3 of the one-shots, both Halloween games based on Ravenloft / Curse of Strahd, and both rousing successes (for the players, not so much for Strahd).

Since I’m on something of a gaming kick, I think I’m going to try and finish plotting out the rest of the fae adventure I’m running for my kids, while also (hopefully) finishing my super secret astral gaming project.

Can I do it? Stay tuned and find out!

Wine 10.19 Released With More Improvements
Ahead of the Wine 11.0 code freeze beginning in early December, Wine 10.19 is out today as the newest bi-weekly development release for running Windows games and applications on Linux… ⌘ Read more

Where Have All the TV Cameras Gone?
TV manufacturers are abandoning their attempts to turn TVs into interactive social devices through smart cameras. Sky announced this month that it will discontinue Sky Live, a camera accessory for its Sky Glass televisions that brought video calls, body-tracked workouts, and motion games to the living room. The device will stop working at the beginning of December. Sky will brick the cameras and … ⌘ Read more