Gaming

How to Fish is a 1–4 player cooperative physics-based fishing game in which players are stranded on a rocky islet and must survive by gathering clams and buying gear. Fishing is simple—cast, wait, reel—but caught sea life flops onto land and must be subdued using fists or purchased weapons up to guns; players can launch fish into the air and shoot them. The game also includes side activities such as barbecuing seagulls and gambling catches on slot machines and roulette, providing short, daft multiplayer sessions.

Eurogamer compiled a list of 47 specific, small moments and odd little pleasures in video games that the site’s writers say bring them joy. The piece deliberately avoids big franchises or favourite series and focuses on minor moments instead. It runs as part of Eurogamer’s Optimism Week to highlight positive aspects of the medium and invites readers to share their own examples in the comments.

A 115-minute science-fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg has climbed back to the top of streaming charts. Steven Spielberg has spent more than five decades making films that have become permanent fixtures of pop culture. The film’s streaming resurgence reflects renewed viewer demand for Spielberg’s work and keeps his catalog culturally prominent.

A 10-episode detective thriller on FX blends Taylor Sheridan’s sensibilities with Breaking Bad–style tension. The series adapts a film but deliberately omits the original movie’s characters and is structured as an anthology that will introduce new characters each season. That anthology approach forces the show to balance preserving the movie’s tone with adding enough new material to stand alone.

Eurogamer's weekly 'What we've been playing' returns with three contributors sharing recent plays. Mat J offers a philosophical take on gaming, Connor revisits Minesweeper, and Bertie leads a second week of the community Big Walk. The pieces highlight a mix of personal reflection and reader-driven events that underline editorial variety and active audience engagement.

Disney has long invested in high-stakes science fiction, building audience trust with Pixar's digital worlds and Marvel's cosmic universe. Despite those major successes, the studio also backed multiple high-budget sci-fi projects that cratered at the box office. Those expensive failures highlight that even a dominant studio's tentpole strategy carries substantial financial risk.

Mortal Shell 2 launched on Steam this week as a major new entry in the Soulslike genre and is being called one of the year’s best. The release follows a run of retro indie launches earlier in the week, leaving PC players with multiple fresh options for the weekend. The mix of a high-profile Soulslike and smaller indie titles gives players both big-budget and retro-styled picks to dig into.

A humanoid robot sprinting in a training run at the second annual World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing failed to stop, slammed into a safety cushion, and broke at the waist, collapsing in sparks. The WHRG features thousands of humanoid robots from hundreds of teams competing across more than 50 events, including track races and scenario-based tasks scored for autonomy. A video of the crash was shared online on August 20, 2026. The incident highlights current limits in high-speed control and safety for humanoid robots.

Dave Bautista will play Kratos in Amazon's live-action God of War series, replacing Ryan Hurst. Hurst left the production after suffering a torn bicep that requires surgery; filming began in February in Vancouver and Kratos scenes will be re-shot with Bautista. The show adapts the first God of War game and God of War: Ragnarök, with season two expected to continue Ragnarök's storyline.

Netflix will release the second season of its anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners this year. A new trailer has been published and confirms the upcoming season will run 10 episodes. The release expands the Netflix-hosted adaptation of the Cyberpunk franchise and adds a new 10-episode entry to its anime lineup.

Developer Owen Feldman modified a Steam Controller to run the text adventure Zork by flashing custom firmware and emulating an Intel 8080 CPU. Feldman wrote a Rust-based emulator (1,514 lines) to boot CP/M-80 on the controller's internal processor, used the built-in USB for I/O streaming, and loaded Zork from a floppy via an external drive. The controller was temporarily bricked during the flashing process, underscoring the risk to the $99 device. The project proves the Steam Controller can run standalone software but involves a real risk of hardware failure for casual users.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy appears to have been cracked and shared online roughly one week before its scheduled release. Leaked copies and footage risk spoiling the game's story and content for players. Fans who want an unspoiled launch experience should avoid gameplay videos, streams, and articles that might contain spoilers.

Players have built the Galactic Hub Project in No Man's Sky, a thriving community that spans three galaxies and thousands of star systems. The project began 10 years ago and mixes scientific activity with social gatherings among players. It matters because it shows sustained, player-driven collaboration and positivity inside a game universe that is portrayed as perpetually 16 minutes from total destruction.

The Modern Warfare 4 Beta includes eight main rewards players can earn by increasing their Player Level. Rewards include an operator skin and a weapon blueprint. The first five rewards are available during the Early Access Beta, while the remaining three unlock during the Open Beta, so players must level up across both beta windows to collect all items.

FromSoftware closed today’s The Duskbloods network test early at 2PM BST due to connectivity issues. The shutdown halted the scheduled online test session and prevented participants from completing the planned network checks. The interruption affects players who were attempting to join the test and delays the collection of network test data.

Dave Bautista has been cast to play Kratos in Amazon's live-action adaptation of God of War. Bautista is best known for portraying Drax the Destroyer in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers films. This puts a mainstream Hollywood action star at the centre of Amazon's adaptation of a major PlayStation franchise, increasing attention on the series' scale and audience reach.

The Modern Warfare 4 Beta has launched and introduces major gameplay changes from developer Infinity Ward. The update overhauls player movement, the Gunsmith weapon-customization system, and how killstreaks function, and it includes a campaign mission plus multiple multiplayer maps and modes. PC players must enable TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot to access the beta.

After testing the Ryzen 7 7700X3D, the reviewer finds AMD's 3D V-Cache chips still deliver the best gaming frame rates but says the 7700X3D's real-world pricing and positioning weaken its case. The 7700X3D is essentially a lower-clocked 7800X3D with a $329 MSRP, yet many 7800X3D units are selling at similar or lower retail prices. That pricing dynamic makes Intel's Core Ultra 5 250K Plus — which combines low-end pricing with strong performance — a more attractive choice for people building new PCs.

Mortal Shell 2 delivers a standout opening that distills the game's core appeal into the first few minutes. The start matches the quality of the following roughly 30 hours of gameplay, promising consistent pacing and design. In a crowded Soulslike field, that strong opening gives players a clear, early impression of the game's strengths.

Actor Tramell Tillman did not disclose that he was part of Spider-Man: Brand New Day until the project's announcement in August 2025. He was repeatedly asked who he was playing and declined to reveal the role. The secrecy highlights strict casting confidentiality around the Spider-Man project and increases fan curiosity about his character.

Five classic anime are identified as unsuitable for remakes. Paranoia Agent (2004), Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997) and FLCL season one (2000) are singled out for having one‑of‑a‑kind qualities and creative contexts that cannot be replicated. FLCL’s first season is noted for its eccentric, avant‑garde animation that later sequels failed to recapture, and remaking these shows risks diluting their original messaging.

Sixty-five years after it ran, a Linus line from Charles Schulz's Peanuts still stands as a defining comic-strip moment. Linus is drawn with theologian-level knowledge of the Bible and delivers the notable Bible monologue in A Charlie Brown Christmas. The strip and later cartoon adaptations gradually softened his intellectual persona, but his mix of theology and philosophy helped shape later portrayals of precocious children in Western fiction.

Metal Gear Solid 4 includes a monologue from Big Mama that portrays free first-person shooters as virtual combat training. The dialogue warns that players absorbed by these war games can end up joining private military companies and fighting proxy wars unrelated to their lives. That stark critique of gaming culture and modern warfare keeps MGS4 thematically distinct and culturally significant.

Anne Hathaway’s psychological thriller from 2026 — widely praised but overlooked by audiences — is now officially streaming on HBO Max. Hathaway spent 2026 starring in a major sequel, playing a key role in Christopher Nolan’s film, and leading a new dinosaur movie while also delivering this standout thriller performance. The streaming release gives viewers direct access to an acclaimed, underseen role that highlights her range across blockbusters and smaller-scale dramatic work.

Steam is making two PC games free to play until Aug. 4, giving players temporary access without purchase. The promotion is part of Steam’s regular free-to-play trials and occasional permanent giveaways. This provides a low-risk way for players to sample lesser-known titles and for multiplayer communities to grow.

Netflix announced at Anime NYC that Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 will arrive in a few months, and released a new trailer and teaser images. Studio Trigger is producing the follow-up to the 2022 animated sci-fi tragedy, and the new footage emphasizes a brutal, violent tone. The series will stream on Netflix when it premieres.

Netflix released a new trailer for Lego One Piece, a two-part special that retells the events of its live-action One Piece series in a brickified style. The special uses the same voice cast as the live-action show. The Lego special is one of several Netflix One Piece projects alongside a third live-action season and a WIT Studio anime remake.

Netflix revealed at Anime NYC on Aug. 20, 2026 that Blue Eye Samurai will return for a third season. The animated revenge series premiered on Netflix in November 2023 and was renewed soon after release. The show follows Mizu (voiced by Maya Erskine) on her quest to find and kill her father, and the new season will continue that storyline.

Dave Bautista will portray Kratos in Amazon’s live-action God of War series, replacing Ryan Hurst. Hurst tore a bicep performing a stunt in June and required surgery that would have kept him out of production until 2027, prompting Amazon and Sony to recast rather than pause filming. All scenes shot with Hurst will be reshot and Bautista’s casting followed weeks of negotiations.

This week mixed big gameplay reveals and high-profile casting changes with worrying market data. From long gameplay for Black Myth: Zhong Kui and FromSoftware's tabletop-inspired systems to a major God of War recast and a sharp drop in U.S. hardware spending, the industry is balancing creative momentum against financial pressure.