Gaming

The accessory maker launched a new Kickstarter today for Genki Grips: a modular grip system for Nintendo’s latest console. A $99 pledge gets you get a kit with solid and split shells (that lets the Joy-Cons detach) plus multiple sets of grips with various designs you can regularly swap to improve your hold on the handheld based on the game you’re playing.

Last year, Heart Machine told me it was experimenting with Patreon because “money is tough to come by.” But in a late December post, Heart Machine said it’s pausing the Patreon because “our current projects are too nascent for us to provide updates or ongoing material that would make this Patreon feel meaningful or worthwhile.” (I have the post in email; the Patreon is now inaccessible.)

You can play 2XKO on PS5 and Xbox Series X / S beginning January 20th. It’s already available on PC, and the game will support crossplay and cross-progression.

Amazon MGM Studios has revealed the cast of its Tomb Raider live action adaptation. Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paterson, Jason Isaacs, and more will star alongside Sophie Turner’s Lara Croft. It’s great (sometimes) when a cast reveal gives away the plot of the show. Showrunner Phoebe Waller-Bridge knew exactly what she was doing casting Sigourney Weaver and I’m excited to see her in action.

Microsoft is adding Star Wars Outlaws to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on January 13th, followed by Resident Evil Village for Ultimate, Premium, and PC Game Pass subscribers a week later on January 20th. Other titles coming to Game Pass this month include Brews & Bastards, Little Nightmares Enhanced Edition, Final Fantasy, My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery, and Mio: Memories in Orbit.

I had a blast with the OhSnap MCON viral sliding gamepad, save for one teensy thing — it’s incredibly impractical to keep your phone attached to it because it’s thick and blocks the cameras. The upcoming ~$100 MCON Slim and ~$60 MCON Lite might fix that, but they don’t have the spring loaded action. The Lite uses 3DS-style Circle Pads, the Slim has touchpads. Tentatively coming September.

Acer is announcing a new Nitro V 16 AI entry-level gaming laptop with AMD’s new Gorgon Point chips. Announced at CES with a handful of other Acer laptops, the Nitro is meant to offer a budget-friendly-ish price for AMD’s new chip and Nvidia GPUs — from the RTX 5050 to RTX 5070. It’s expected in Q2, but pricing isn’t finalized.

Afeela cars will get themes featuring Sony franchises like Gran Turismo and Astro Bot, including custom wallpapers and e-motor sounds. Driving with the delightful sounds of Astro Bot does feel like it could be fun.

Asus’ latest gaming PC, unveiled at CES today, glimmers with the new ROG AniMe Holo, a full-color holographic display that projects 340 x 340 animated images on the PC’s chassis.

Microsoft’s first Xbox announcement of 2026 is the launch of Xbox Cloud Gaming on select Hisense and V homeOS-powered smart TVs. The Xbox app first launched on Samsung TVs, followed Amazon Fire TV devices, then select LG TVs, and now Hisense TVs. We don’t have an exact date for when the Xbox app will be available on Hisense and V homeOS-powered TVs, but Microsoft says it’s coming at some point in 2026.

The team formerly at Boss Fight Entertainment, which worked on Netflix’s Squid Game mobile game before being shut down last year, has formed a new studio called Sunwise Games. The studio is working on a new, original game.

Nvidia won’t be announcing its rumored RTX 50 Super GPUs at CES today, but it still has some “features, games, apps, and partner products” to unveil. A GeForce On Twitch stream will start at 9PM PT / 12AM ET tonight, and if leaks are anything to go by it sounds like DLSS 4.5 could be on the menu.

The Chicago company’s still keeping the dream alive, year after year, after year, and it’s a joy to see their playable art grace the halls of CES. No rumored Pokémon Pinball machine yet, but these pricy Walking Dead and Star Wars machines look great.

The short teaser video shared through the company’s official X account is light on details, but the folding FlipPad will connect to iOS and Android smartphones through their USB-C port. There’s no analog thumbsticks, but it’s got a D-pad and a total of 12 face buttons. It’s expected to launch in the summer this year.