All posts tagged: video games

A Typo Landed an Innocent Gamer in Prison for 18 Months

A Typo Landed an Innocent Gamer in Prison for 18 Months

Published by skeptic

One missing underscore in a Skyrim-themed username put an innocent Nova Scotia man in prison for 18 months. A 2018 child-luring investigation, which began in Madison, Wisconsin, and eventually extended to Halifax, Canada, was based on a false premise. Police were looking for a man using the Kik messaging service under the name “fus__ro_dah” (two underscores after “fus”), but they accidentally requested records for the username “fus_ro_dah” (one underscore after “fus”). This one-character difference led them not to the perpetrator but to a Canadian man named Brandon Klayme. (Readers may recognize “fus ro dah” as the Unrelenting Force “dragon shout” from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.) Despite finding no evidence of the crime on his digital devices, Canadian police arrested Klayme in 2020 on child sex abuse charges. He was convicted after a trial in 2023 and sentenced in 2024 to 18 months in prison. He served the full term. Even after release, Klayme continued to fight his conviction. In the process of preparing his appeal, the username mistake that led to all these years …

Valve Steam Machine Review: A Compromised Console

Valve Steam Machine Review: A Compromised Console

Published by skeptic

Valve claims the Steam Machine can hit “up to 4K at 120 Hz” on supported displays via HDMI 2.0 connections (albeit using AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) upscaling tech, rather than at native resolutions), but the Steam Machine Verified label it will be applying to games on the Steam Store is based on a 1920 x 1080 benchmark. I’ve been testing it on a 55-inch 4K OLED TV and a 27-inch 1080p desktop monitor, both with 120-Hz refresh rates, both using HDMI. I used four games as references: Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, Crimson Desert, Lego Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, and Japanese RPG Granblue Fantasy Relink: Endless Ragnarok. Frame rates were tracked using the Steam Machine’s built-in monitor, accessed by tapping the “…” button on the Steam Controller and activating the “Performance Overlay.” On the TV, Spider-Man defaulted its output resolution to 2048 x 1152 but hit a smooth 60 frames per second (fps). Manually switching to 3840 x 2160 (full 4K) without AMD’s FSR active and all graphics settings at “High” dropped performance to …

A K Bounty Aims to Make Sony’s PlayStation 5 a Computer Again

A $10K Bounty Aims to Make Sony’s PlayStation 5 a Computer Again

Published by skeptic

Using your PlayStation to play games is just fine. But what if you could use your Sony console to vibe code with your AI agents on Linux instead? That’s what the ownership advocacy organization Fulu wants to make possible, and it’s willing to pay $10,000 to prove it can be done. Helmed by YouTuber Louis Rossmann and fellow consumer advocate Kevin O’Reilly, Fulu pays bounties to the first person who proves they can fix or bypass product features that Fulu deems to be hostile to device owners. Fulu puts up the first $10,000, then will match donations up to another $10K. Since it started in late 2025, Fulu has paid out two bounties so far—one for a fix of Google’s outdated Nest thermostats and another for DRM-enabled Molekule air purifiers. On Tuesday, Fulu announced a bounty that would reward hackers who could disable Sony’s proprietary software locks on its PlayStation 5 consoles and, in theory, allow a user to install an operating system like Linux on the gaming console. “Make PlayStations computers again,” O’Reilly tells …

MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Review: Great Power, Shocking Price

MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ Review: Great Power, Shocking Price

Published by skeptic

It’s practically covered in ports—two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, a microSD slot, and even a 3.5-mm audio jack. It’s relatively future-proof, allowing you to upgrade the SSD (if they’re ever affordable again), with Wi-Fi 7 support. It’s all crammed into a “Void Purple” shell that impresses with a premium feel. An etched micro-texture offers a secure grip, while the Xbox-standard control layout is within easy reach for most players, although the four menu and system buttons flanking the screen may require a stretch. Analog sticks (encircled with LED light halos, naturally) and shoulder triggers are built with Hall effect sensors for improved accuracy and long-term resilience and offer a nice degree of resistance when pressed. The chunky, angular D-pad feels great too, although its concave shape may take a moment to get used to, and its glossy plastic picks up microscratches easily. Although it’s running Windows 11 under the hood, the full-screen Xbox Mode takes the lead, giving a unified view of games installed from any storefront. The Claw lacks a dedicated Xbox system button, but …

Thousands of ‘Pokémon Go’ Players Descend on Times Square to Defeat Mewtwo

Thousands of ‘Pokémon Go’ Players Descend on Times Square to Defeat Mewtwo

Published by skeptic

Invites were sent out to 2,000 Pokémon Go players across the five boroughs of New York City through community ambassadors. (The event was made an invitation-only affair to avoid overcrowding in what is already one of the busiest places on Earth.) The players only knew about thematic raids happening in the vicinity of Times Square, according to Mark Van Lommel, Scopely’s director of marketing communications. At a certain time in the evening, notifications went out through the game asking ticketed players to head to Times Square for a special event, where they were treated to a live EDM concert by Loud Luxury, after which Mega Mewtwo Y took over the many screens and a united battle kicked off. (Mega Mewtwo Y was ultimately defeated.) The event was livestreamed on all of Pokémon’s websites and social channels, and this weekend a special Pokémon Go Fest Global virtual event will bring the same Mega Mewtwo Y gameplay experience to all trainers, sans the Times Square screens. “Everyone around the world can play that for free this weekend,” …

Epilogue SN Operator Review: Super Nintendo Fun

Epilogue SN Operator Review: Super Nintendo Fun

Published by skeptic

There were workarounds—European or Australian gamers will likely remember dual-boot adapters that used a local cart to ‘spoof’ the console into accepting an imported American game—but with different TV standards to consider, most players were effectively limited to only the games released in their home territory. With the SN Operator, that’s all literally consigned to the past. All cart sizes fit, and lockout chips are ignored—insert a game from anywhere in the world and, so long as it’s still in good working order, it’ll load. Modern displays mean old hurdles like different NTSC or PAL display standards are irrelevant. That brings a few material benefits for purists. When the NTSC versus PAL distinction was an issue, it often meant PAL games ran more slowly due to the standard’s lower 50-Hz refresh rate compared to NTSC’s 60 Hz. Being in the UK, I can finally play Street Fighter II Turbo at its original speed, or the classic action platformer Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade’s Revenge without Spidey feeling like he’s web-swinging through mud. Region-free also …

9 Best Keyboards (2025), Tested and Reviewed

9 Best Keyboards (2025), Tested and Reviewed

Published by skeptic

Other Keyboards We Like Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft Happy Hacking Keyboard Classic Type-S for $264: The Happy Hacking Keyboard lineup has never been known for cost-effectiveness. This is shown especially with the Pro Classic Type-S, a nearly-$300 keyboard with wired-only connectivity and a distinct lack of bells and whistles. However, the unique layout and Topre switches can pretty much only be found here, and make for a unique tactile typing experience that can’t be matched by many other keyboards. Plus, the massive aftermarket community for Topre keyboards means both repair and customization are incredibly easy and well-documented. They’re a bit pricey, but one of these keyboards could last the rest of your life with a bit of care. Wooting 80HE for $200: While the technology falls a bit behind the 60HE V2, the 80HE’s larger layout still makes it a fantastic option for anyone who isn’t quite ready to get rid of their F-row and arrow keys. The switches feel great, the magnesium case is incredibly robust, and the Wootility customization interface is both straightforward and …

Buying Digital Media? You’re Really Just Renting. | U.S. News Decision Points

Buying Digital Media? You’re Really Just Renting. | U.S. News Decision Points

Published by Sam Flores

Thanks to streaming technology, it’s easier than ever to buy a movie, a song or a video game without ever leaving your living room. But many consumers don’t know that they are shelling out for a license to play the media that the distributor can discontinue. In other words, you don’t really “own” it. That’s where a physical copy can be reassuring. No one is showing up at your house to demand you hand over your DVD of “Casablanca.” But if your provider loses streaming rights to the movie or shuts down entirely, you may be out of luck if you went purely digital. How angry would you be if you shifted to an all-digital library then lost access to “Terminator 2” because it vanished from your provider’s library of offerings? Sign Up for U.S. News Decision Points Your trusted source for breaking down the latest news from Washington and beyond, delivered weekdays. By clicking “Sign Up”, you will receive the latest updates, including emails, from U.S. News & World Report and our trusted partners …

I Tried Rips, the Card-Pack App Where Users Spend Thousands Chasing Pricey Pokémon

I Tried Rips, the Card-Pack App Where Users Spend Thousands Chasing Pricey Pokémon

Published by skeptic

After I tripled my money by pulling pricey Pokémon cards out of digital packs on the Rips app, I immediately knew what I had to do next: keep on ripping. It was time to lock in, boost my volatility settings, and start spending real money opening even more expensive packs. These digital card packs, primed for fast ripping and even faster rewards, are rising in popularity. People have downloaded the Rips app over 6 million times since its launch in October 2025, with half of those downloads happening in the past two months, according to data from Apptopia. You pay money to rip digital packs and win physical cards, but you also have the instant option to sell them back. Rips exemplifies the current online moment where I’m bombarded with new and inventive ways to digitally gamble everything away. From sports betting to prediction markets, the smartphone in my pocket is the hottest place to lose it all while trying to make a quick buck. Rips did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment. Even …

Sony’s PlayStation Puts a Nail in Physical Media’s Coffin

Sony’s PlayStation Puts a Nail in Physical Media’s Coffin

Published by skeptic

Bad news for fans of physical media: Sony has announced that it is abandoning game discs. In a blog post published Wednesday, Sid Shuman, senior director of global content communications at PlayStation, wrote that from January 2028, “physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued.” Shuman added that the decision is down to “consumer preferences” and the broader entertainment industry shifting away from physical discs to digital, and that he feels “this is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs.” The blog is a mere three paragraphs but raises several questions about Sony’s decision and its impact across the console gaming industry going forward. The main one that many gamers are likely leaping to, though, is “What is Sony thinking?” Sizing Errors Sony’s decision does have some merit. The vast majority of video game sales—across the entire industry, not just PlayStation—are digital downloads. There’s a convenience to being able to buy, install, …