Business Articles

Takashi Tezuka, the longtime Nintendo designer and director behind major entries in Mario, Zelda, Yoshi, and other landmark franchises, will retire on June 26, 2026, after 42 years with the company. His departure marks the close of a defining chapter in Nintendo history, highlighting the legacy of a key creative partner who helped turn some of gaming’s most influential ideas into enduring classics.

The FCC has extended a waiver allowing software and firmware updates for existing foreign-made routers and drones, including TP-Link routers and DJI drones, until January 1, 2029. The decision, framed as a public safety measure, preserves security patches and bug fixes for millions of devices while broader national security restrictions and legal challenges continue.

Exclusive Hitoshi Sakimoto settles a 29-year debate exclusively with Notebookcheck: Final Fantasy Tactics is a rock record. We also got a chance to discuss his London Game Music Festival 2026 debut, made possible by the Game Music Foundation's efforts.

The Nintendo Switch 2 price hike in Japan has produced a surge in console sales. Reminiscent of its launch, jam-packed retailers are again waging war against scalpers. The changes take effect much sooner than in other regions, with buyers suffering a higher percentage increase.

OpenAI has launched GPT-Realtime-2, GPT-Realtime-Translate, and GPT-Realtime-Whisper through its Realtime API, now generally available for production voice agents.

(Update: Restrictions lifted) GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen’s attempt to buy eBay took an unusual turn after his newly created seller account, used to auction personal memorabilia and promote the bid, was temporarily suspended for suspicious activity.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says he is “deeply disappointed” by BioShock 4’s prolonged delay, citing years lost to creative directions that failed to work. The troubled Cloud Chamber project has since undergone an internal review, layoffs, and leadership changes as 2K attempts to refocus the long-awaited sequel.

CCP Games is independent again, but it has also ceased to exist. The developer of the single-shard MMO Eve Online has changed its name as part of its separation from South Korea's Pearl Abyss. At the same time, Eve Online is set to be used in a controlled way for AI research by Google.

Anyone currently shopping for a discounted ZimaCube system could easily fall for a tempting offer. The website zimaproducts.com lists several Zima systems at prices far below market value — but according to manufacturer IceWhale, the site is a scam. What makes it especially concerning: the fake store apparently uses real product images and familiar Zima branding.

A fake Claude AI website is pushing the Beagle Windows backdoor through Google sponsored search results using a trojanized Claude-Pro Relay installer that silently deploys a remote access tool.

Genesis AI demonstrates robotic hands cracking an egg one-handed, slicing tomatoes and playing the piano. Although success rates for difficult tasks are only around 60 to 70%, the demonstration is still remarkable for humanoid robotics.

The consumer PC and laptop market is in absolute shambles. A new report out of Taiwan has now revealed that major motherboard makers like Asus and MSI have revised their shipment targets by quite a bit for 2026. This development is reportedly in response to the detereorating RAM and CPU supply and price situations that have collapsed the consumer tech market.

Instagram removes end-to-end encryption from DMs on May 8, 2026. Here is why Meta made the decision, what it means for your privacy, and how to download your chats today.

Intel shares surged to a record high after a Bloomberg report said Apple is in early talks with Intel and Samsung to produce key chips in the U.S., potentially reducing its reliance on TSMC. The prospect of Apple using Intel’s foundry services for future A-series and M-series processors fueled investor enthusiasm, extending a dramatic yearlong rally in the chipmaker’s stock.

AMD reported strong Q1 2026 results, but warned that rising memory and component costs driven by AI demand could weaken PC and gaming hardware sales in the second half of the year. Executives expect gaming revenue to fall more than 20% compared with the first half, even as Ryzen CPU and Radeon GPU demand continues to support year-over-year growth.

Individuals with large stakes in Nintendo stock are asking for a Switch 2 price increase. Investors believe that the memory shortage will hurt the console’s profitability. Other analysts warn that still early in its lifecycle, gamers would reject higher costs and avoid upgrading to the handheld.

SpaceX gets the bulk of its rocket and satellite launch money from its commercial endeavor Starlink and is trying to keep its customers happy. The FCC's defunding of SpaceX as a rural Internet provider increasingly looks like an ill-advised move.

The bumpy Steam Controller sales launch has raised concerns among fans about the upcoming Steam Machine. Without a proper queue system, many interested buyers could end up missing out.

SnailMail is a new business model in which creators send physical mail to paying subscribers. As artificial intelligence makes digital content increasingly generic, the idea seems attractive to many. How lucrative the business really is, however, remains questionable.

In a move that could see Apple diversify its supply chains, Apple is reportedly evaluating Intel and Samsung to manufacture its upcoming processors. So far, TSMC has been the sole producer for Apple's iPhone and MacBook chips. Apple's reliance on TSMC is so big that it is TSMC's second-largest customer, second only to Nvidia.

Sony has raised prices on its Certified Refurbished PS5 Slim consoles by $100, pushing the Digital Edition to $499.99 and the disc-drive model to $549.99. With the $399 PS5 Fortnite bundle sold out and new PS5 models already more expensive, sub-$400 options are rapidly disappearing, leaving the older “Fat” refurbished PS5 at $399 as one of the last budget alternatives.

Lego and Sega’s newly revealed Sega Genesis set (40926) launches June 1, 2026, for $39.99 with 479 pieces, detachable controllers, and a plug-in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 cartridge, but its compact size and sticker-heavy build have drawn immediate criticism. Fans online say it lacks the detail and premium feel of Lego’s larger retro console kits, particularly the 2,646-piece NES set, and some argue even the earlier Genesis Controller gift-with-purchase model looks more faithful.

GameStop wants to take over one of the largest online marketplaces in the world. With a purchase price of $55.5 billion, GameStop would pay around 15 times as much for ebay as the company generated in turnover in 2025, but synergies between the companies are supposed to justify the takeover.

Tesla is being forced to walk back its major Full Self-Driving (FSD) promise: Older models with Hardware 3 apparently cannot achieve fully autonomous driving through software updates alone. Tesla customers feel misled and have clear demands: a free retrofit or a refund.

LEGO is bringing back another retro console: the SEGA Mega Drive launches on June 1 and, at $39.99, is relatively affordable for a set in this category. With 479 pieces, however, it is also much smaller than the NES or Atari sets.

Takuya “Tom” Shiraiwa was Capcom’s de facto one-man localization operation in 1990, translating game text while simultaneously managing overseas arcade board sales and serving as the main conduit between Japan and Capcom’s U.S. offices. His recent interview highlights both his growing influence and the workload and compensation pressures that ultimately pushed him to leave for Square Enix in 2004.

Newly unsealed emails from 2018, disclosed amid the Elon Musk–Sam Altman lawsuit, show Valve cofounder Gabe Newell offering to connect game director Hideo Kojima with OpenAI and asking Musk to host him for a SpaceX tour after Kojima expressed interest in AI and a lifelong desire to go to space. Musk replied that Kojima was welcome to visit the rocket factory and provided an email contact, corroborating Kojima’s later public recollections and underscoring how spaceflight has remained a recurring theme in his work and public statements.

Spiders, the studio behind Greedfall and Steelrising, has shut down and entered liquidation weeks after releasing Greedfall II prequel Greedfall: The Dying World, becoming the first major casualty of parent company Nacon’s insolvency. The French union STJV condemned the closure as a deliberate management choice, as Nacon’s financial crisis, sparked by a failed €43 million bond repayment and an unsuccessful effort to sell subsidiaries, raises fears that more studios could follow.

Palit has confirmed that Galax is not exiting the GPU market, clarifying that a now-deleted regional post about redirecting RMA and warranty claims fueled incorrect shutdown reports. The company says operations and product development will continue as normal, with Galax, KFA2, and Hall of Fame brand management being centralized under Palit’s Taiwan headquarters as part of an efficiency-driven restructuring.

With the iX3 Flow Edition, BMW is showcasing a hood that can display animated patterns using E-Ink technology. According to the German automaker, the technology is production-ready. However, pricing and a potential market launch have not yet been announced.

Warhorse Studios addressed backlash over alleged AI-driven translation practices during a Reddit AMA, following outrage sparked by the departure of a Czech-to-English translator who said his role was being replaced by AI. The studio insisted AI is only used in early production, not in final game content, and said it is hiring human English translators while teasing a “huge immersive RPG” without confirming its identity.

Reggie Fils-Aimé claims that Amazon made illegal requests to gain a competitive edge. The former Nintendo of America President says he refused the demands, which led to one of several disagreements. Later, Amazon didn’t list Switch 2 games or the console at launch due to rumored pricing disputes.

Despite its struggles, publishing Xbox games on the PS5 has benefited Microsoft. However, multiplayer and live-service ports generated the most revenue, according to new sales data. If the company pivots back to Xbox exclusive games, it could become more strategic with its ports.

Anyone waiting for the prices of gaming PCs, laptops, smartphones and SSDs to fall again will probably have to wait years. Samsung, one of the world's largest memory manufacturers, expects the crisis to worsen in 2027.

OpenAI is reportedly working on its own smartphone that would rely far more on AI agents than on traditional apps. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the device could enter mass production in 2028. However, none of this has been officially confirmed.

A Cursor agent running Claude Opus 4.6 deleted PocketOS's production database and all backups in 9 seconds, then admitted to breaking every safety rule it was given.

Garmin is highly successful, as new official figures from the company also illustrate. Interestingly, there are significant differences between the individual business segments. In the fitness segment, Garmin reported very strong numbers.

When Lenovo replaced the ThinkPad P15 and ThinkPad P17 with the ThinkPad P16, the promise was: Same performance as the old 17-inch workstation, similar size to the 15-inch. But the new Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 breaks this promise. So, Lenovo: Where is the 18-inch successor to the P17?

South Korea once invested heavily in maglev research and built a public-transit maglev system, the Incheon Airport Maglev, which offered everything that German projects have so far failed to deliver. Although the Ecobee is back in operation, it now runs very infrequently and remains closed one day a week.

The Unitree R1 is set to launch internationally via AliExpress soon and costs the equivalent of around $4,000 in China. While the humanoid robot is hardly suited to household chores or everyday assistance, it could be an interesting option for robotics fans and developers.

No big NPU, no problem: While the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3 may not be a Copilot+ PC, with a strong dGPU, up to 192 GB RAM and three 4 TB SSDs, this device can be used to run AI locally.

Nvidia offers two different GPU series: Nvidia GeForce RTX, the consumer brand that everyone knows, and Nvidia RTX Pro, the ISV certified GPUs for professional customers. The review of the Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3, a mobile workstation, shows why the RTX Pro GPUs are worth it for some customers.

Atari has acquired emulation specialist Implicit Conversions, adding the studio’s proprietary Syrup engine to accelerate the revival of 32-bit-era games, starting with PlayStation support and early PlayStation 2 work, on modern platforms. The deal bolsters Atari’s retro-focused strategy alongside Digital Eclipse, expanding its in-house tooling and talent to re-release titles from its own catalog and partner IP back catalogs.

For a few years, Lenovo used soldered Wi-Fi in all enterprise ThinkPad laptops. With the new Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen 3, Lenovo increases modularity by bringing socketed Wi-Fi back.

Sony’s AI division has developed a table tennis robot called Ace that can beat elite players. In a Nature study, the system is described as a milestone for physical AI. However, comparisons with human players are not entirely without controversy, as Ace is not a humanoid robot.

SK Hynix is making billions from the AI-driven memory boom. While RAM and SSDs could become more expensive for consumers, employees could receive extremely high bonuses through a profit-sharing model.

Xpeng plans to start series production of a two-part “flying car” system from 2027, consisting of a carrier vehicle and an eVTOL. According to the company, more than 7,000 orders have already been placed. Whether this ambitious timeline can be met, however, will depend largely on approval from China’s aviation authorities.