gaming

Pokemon Character Guide: Deluxe Edition $60 | Releases August 30 Preorder at Amazon Pokemon Character Guide: Collector's Edition $200 | Releases August 30 Preorder at Amazon After 30 years, the world of Pokemon has grown massive with hundreds of pocket monsters and multiple regions to explore. Plenty of books have been published over the years, but Pikachu Press's upcoming Pokemon Character Guide is aiming to be a comprehensive and luxurious look at the franchise. Out on August 25, you can preorder this deluxe edition book for $60 through Amazon, or if you want to go all out, a feature-packed $200 Collector's Edition is also available. Pokemon Character Guide: Deluxe Edition $60 | Releases August 30 Clocking in at 336 pages, the Pokemon Character Guide features entries on over 1,000 Pokemon. Exploring every region in the franchise, the book also shines a light on the various Pokemon animation projects, the video games, Pokemon: The Trading Card Game, and much more. The book also includes a foreword written by The Pokemon Company president and CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, and it's enhanced with a ribbon bookmark, premium golden gilded edges, Pikachu endpapers, and a comprehensive index. As an added bonus, the Pokemon Character Guide also features a special chapter focused on Legendary and Mythical Pokemon. Preorder at Amazon Pokemon Character Guide: Collector's Edition $200 | Releases August 30 The Collector's Edition of the Pokemon Character Guide features the same content as the Deluxe Edition, but it comes packed with extras. The book itself is packaged inside a collector's box that features ornate designs, and it's accompanied by two collectible video game prints, two collectible animation prints, an exclusive Pokemon: TCG playmat, and a certificate of authenticity. Preorder at Amazon Another great option for budding Pokemon researchers is the Pokecology: An Illustrated Guide to Pokemon Ecology hardcover book that launched just a few weeks ago. This officially licensed 208-page volume explores the Pokemon universe's unique ecologies based on data from the official Pokedex entries throughout the series, alongside illustrations from illustrator and real-life animal behavior researcher Chihiro Kinoshita. The book is published by Pikachu Press, the same company behind the upcoming Pokemon Character Guide. It's available for $11 (was $15) at Amazon . Pokecology: An Illustrated Guide to Pokemon Ecology $11 (was $15) See at Amazon To complete your Pokemon library, you can also pair the Character Guide and Pokecology books with the official Pokemon Pocket Guide Box Set . This is a massive two-volume paperback box set that covers almost 900 Pokemon. Both entries combined offer over 1,100 pages of content, with details on Pokemon descriptions, stats, abilities, movies, and evolutions. Each Pokemon entry is also accompanied by an illustration, with the first volume covering Pokedex entries No. 1 through 442, and Volume 2 ranges from No. 443 through 898. Pokemon from the Paldean region are sadly excluded, but with Pokemon Winds and Waves coming out next year, this pocket-friendly set of books will come in very handy for when you catch legacy pocket monsters in the Switch 2 game. You can also purchase each volume on its own at decent discounts, but you'll save a few bucks more when you buy the box set edition , which is available for $20.29 (was $29). Continue Reading at GameSpot

Lego The Lord of the Rings: Minas Tirith (8,278 pieces) $650 | Releases June 4 Preorder at Lego Lego has officially revealed its newest--and biggest--Lord of the Rings set yet, a massive 8,278-piece recreation of the White City, Minas Tirith. Available now to preorder for $650, the set will release first on June 1 for members of Lego's free rewards program, Lego Insiders , and it will be followed by a global launch on June 4. As an added bonus, any purchases made between June 1 and Jun 7 will also receive the Lego Icons: Lord of the Rings Grond battering ram set as a Gift with Purchase. Lego The Lord of the Rings: Minas Tirith (8,278 pieces) $650 | Releases June 4 Based on the iconic location as seen in Peter Jackson's third Lord of the Rings movie, Return of the King, the Minas Tirith set is a diorama piece that combines an expansive cityscape with detailed interior scenes, including the citadel throne room. The assembled set measures over 23.5 inches high, 24.5 inches wide, and has a depth of 14.5 inches. Essentially, you're going to need a lot of room to display it in all its glory. It also comes with the following 10 minifigures: Aragorn (in King Elessar garb) Arwen Denethor (with tiny tomatoes) Faramir Gandalf the White Gondor Guards (four in total) Peregrin Took Preorder at Lego Gallery As mentioned above, this is Lego's largest LOTR set yet, dwarfing impressive past releases like the Rivendell and Barad-dûr Tower by a significant margin. All of these sets are still available to order in case you'd like to complete your collection, alongside smaller LOTR kits like Sauron's Helmet and the Balrog Book Nook . More Lego Lord of the Rings Sets Balrog Book Nook (1,201 pieces) -- $109 ( $130 ) Barad-dûr Tower (5,471 pieces) -- $459 Sauron's Helmet (538 pieces) -- $70 The Shire (2,017 pieces) -- $270 Sméagol & Déagol (181 pieces) -- $110 ( $120 ) Rivendell (6,167 pieces) -- $499 Moving to other realms beyond Middle-earth, you can also preorder several more upcoming Lego sets. The company is expanding its line of video game console replicas with a Sega Genesis set and it's also celebrating 25 years of Shrek with an absolutely cursed diorama set . Continue Reading at GameSpot

The first season of the anime adaptation of Devil May Cry on Netflix was a refreshing remix of the Capcom intellectual property, and its second season wastes no time in using the momentum from its cliffhanger ending to leap straight into action. As subtle as a sledgehammer to the face, Devil May Cry Season 2 is a sharper and bolder follow-up, expanding its ensemble cast and amplifying the action in this video game adaptation. Kicking off in the midst of the US's new war on demonic terror, spearheaded by a literal cowboy president--and orchestrated by sinister forces in the background--Season 2 is firmly in its numetal phase of action and storytelling. With Dante still on ice and Lady grappling with her guilt over her role in the slaughter of innocent demons, it's the introduction of Vergil that steals the show. Dante's twin brother brings his signature stoic attitude to the screen as he finds himself on a destined collision course with his sibling. Johnny Yong Bosch and Robbie Daymond have a commanding presence whenever they appear as Dante and Vergil, respectively. But when they share the stage? It's a jackpot moment as we see more of Vergil’s past, his motivations, and the forces manipulating him. Continue Reading at GameSpot

After years of development and behind-the-scenes controversy, Subnautica 2 from developer Unknown Worlds is out now in early access. If you're curious about the game but don't have an Xbox or a PC powerful enough, there is another way to play it--by streaming it to a device you already own via Nvidia GeForce now or Microsoft's cloud gaming service. For GeForce Now, you still have to buy the game and then subscribe to the service to play it. There is a free tier of the service, but it limits you to one-hour sessions, has ads, caps you at 1080p/60fps, and streams from a "basic" rig. Alternatively, you can pay $10/month for no ads and streaming from a GeForce RTX rig with six-hour sessions and up to 1440p/60fps. There is also an Ultimate tier of GeForce Now ($20/month) that has no ads, eight-hour sessions, and up to 5K/360fps. Go to the GeForce Now website to learn more. Continue Reading at GameSpot

Rockstar Games owner Take-Two saw its stock price jump by over 6% today after news broke that preorders for GTA 6 could start on Monday, May 18 . Reading between the lines here, it appears investors are excited about the idea that Rockstar is finally going to start taking people's money. Investors may also see this report as more of an indication that GTA 6 will not be delayed again and will actually come out on November 19, thus signaling strength and confidence in the stock. With Take-Two's share value climbing today--it's at $242 as of publish time--the company has added $2 billion+ in market cap. Even with the growth, Take-Two's share price so far in 2026 has fallen by about 4%, however. The company's stock value took a beating in February when Google announced Project Genie , a new AI system that it said was capable of creating video game worlds. Continue Reading at GameSpot

It's been more than a decade since the original Subnautica dove into early access. The deep sea survival game spent four years there as developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment added new features, biomes, and polished the whole thing up with the game's players. It may be difficult to remember just how incomplete it was in 2014. As Subnautica 2 releases into early access today, its developers are very aware that players may be expecting a game much closer to completion than they'll get their diver's gloves on. Read more

Filming for the third season of HBO's The Last of Us adaptation is currently underway, with recent footage showing Kaitlyn Dever's Abby and newcomer Kyriana Kratter as Lev , and now showrunner Craig Mazin has shared more about what viewers can expect from it. Read more

Fortnite's big Overwatch update is here, bringing Tracer, Genji and the gang to Epic Games' battle royale Island. But the changes only begin there — with a major shakeup to gameplay, in Zero Build mode in particular.

There is this idea that, for a long-running series to remain as consistently popular as Forza Horizon has been, it needs to diminish itself somewhat with each new entry, gradually losing more and more of its edge in a bid to appeal to the widest possible audience. Read more

I blast out of Tokyo, off into the countryside. At first, the roads run alongside waterlogged rice paddies, through flat and open country. Soon, though, I hit the coastal highway which winds its way over deep blue sea and past fishing villages. Carving north, I navigate snaking passes straight out of Initial D and slide upwards through their narrow switchbacks. Then, as I climb, everything opens up again. Wide alpine roads sweep past green hills offering a spectacular view of Tokyo far to the south, the snow-capped peaks to the north, and Mount Fuji sitting stoically to the west. For a moment, it reminds me of the fabled alpine spaghetti you can find if you tour central Europe’s most breathtaking regions. Continuing my ascent, I soon hit snowy ski trails, steep stretches encased in permafrost and banked by looming snowdrifts. Read more

With just a day or two to go till Subnautica 2 's early access launch, "unofficial builds" of the ocean survival game have leaked onto the internet. Picture a punctured Cyclops submarine slowly filling with illicit video files and screenshots, while Unknown Worlds staff wade around with their repair tools, shrieking "Nothing to see here". Read more

The success of Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata have helped Capcom earn record profit for the ninth year in a row. Read more

Nintendo has promised to provide "a robust software line-up to enhance the Switch 2 ownership value" following the Switch 2 price increase (from $449.99 to $499.99) announced last week. Read more

Wordle. A lot of people play it. In turn, a lot of guides writers at sites across the internet have to play it as part of their jobs, so that they can provide that big bunch of players with answers and helpful hints. It's relentless work that's invaluable in helping keep the likes of us full-time newsers and critics in jobs and one that might now end up leading these talented folks to have to bravely do something you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy - watching a TV show about regular people solving word puzzles that's being made in partnership with Jimmy Fallon’s production company. Read more

I can still clearly remember the first time I watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark with my brothers. I was young and nestled between them, and I felt safe in the knowledge they would protect me from anything too scary for five-year-old me. I also had my teddy just in case. I needn't have worried, though. Within moments, I was transfixed, partly by the sweltering Peruvian jungle but mostly by the handsome man in a fedora with a whip. I wanted to be just like him. I wanted his confidence, his strength, his sense of adventure, and I wanted his wardrobe too. Read more

The Gunstar Scimitar, one of the few battleships to escape the Cylon attack on Caprica, has a problem. Yes, it is the only military vessel standing between a pursuing robot army intent on wiping out the last of humanity and an unarmed civilian fleet, but the safety of the civvie ships that cluster around the Scimitar like pilot fish to a whale shark isn't the immediate worry. Nor is it the imposter robot hiding among the command crew, planting bombs across the fleet and sewing seeds of discontent at every opportunity. It's STDs. The colonial marines crewing the gunship are riddled with them. Charitably, you could say the soldiers saw it as their duty to restart the human race. Whatever the case, as the commander of the Scimitar, I have to choose whether to spare the marines their blushes and let the infections continue to spread or step in with some prophylactics and a lecture on safe sex. If you choose to avoid embarrassment, the healthcare level of the entire fleet will drop, as infection spreads unabated through the amorous crew. Step in with condoms and talk of birds and bees and your relationship with the now-chastened military will deteriorate. Not every decision in Battlestar Galactica : Scattered Hopes, the roguelike FTL take on the sci-fi TV series, is to do with the nighttime antics of your crew, but they do all carry consequences. Read more

Leon S. Kennedy might be pushing 50 in the world of Resident Evil, but that doesn't seem to be slowing him down, if his action hero hijinks in this year's Resident Evil Requiem - including that motorcycle scene - are anything to go by. And Requiem game director Koshi Nakanishi reckons Leon would still make a compelling addition to the series as a 70-year-old. Read more

Resident Evil Requiem has a new game mode, which is out now for free for all those who have made it through the main story and want to keep flexing their survival muscles. Read more