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After months of hype, the Steam Machine is finally in people's hands. The rollout, though, has been anything but smooth. The first wave of units began shipping on June 30th, going out to a randomized batch of reservation holders. Everyone else got dropped onto a waitlist that reportedly stretches into 2027. And because this is 2026, scalpers were listing units for $3,000 and up almost immediately, as GamesRadar noted when the first boxes hit doorsteps.

Pokemon's big birthday party is turning into a lesson in checking prices before you buy. According to Kotaku, GameStop is charging around $130 for the 30th Celebration Elite Trainer Box, a product that typically retails closer to $50. That's nearly three times the going rate for the exact same sealed box you'd grab off a shelf elsewhere. It fits a pattern the retailer has leaned into lately.

Ratings boards have a habit of spoiling Nintendo's surprises, and it looks like it just happened again. As Nintendo Life reports, an unannounced game titled Metroid Ravenous briefly surfaced on Brazil's classification database before being pulled. The listing reportedly included around 41 minutes of submitted gameplay footage, which is the kind of detail that suggests this isn't vaporware sitting on a whiteboard somewhere. It's far enough along that someone was ready to have it rated.

It's official, and it comes straight from Sony. Physical PlayStation discs are going away. In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony confirmed it will end physical disc production for new PlayStation games starting in January 2028. After that date, new releases will arrive on digital-only through the PlayStation Store and other digital storefronts. Games that already shipped on disc, or that hit retailers before the cutoff, won't be affected. But the message going forward is blunt: no more new discs.

One of the people most qualified to make Baldur's Gate 4 was asked to do exactly that, and he turned it down flat. James Ohlen, co-lead designer on the legendary Baldur's Gate 2, says Hasbro's boss called him personally to pitch the sequel, and his answer was a firm no. The story broke on June 30th via an interview with PC Gamer.

Pokemon is going big for its birthday. The Pokemon Company has revealed the full English product lineup for Pokemon TCG: 30th Celebration, the set built to mark 30 years of the trading card game, and it launches worldwide on September 16th. That worldwide date is itself a first. According to the official Pokemon press site, this is the first-ever simultaneous global release in the trading card game's history, with more product waves following later in the year.

Xbox looks set for a brutal week. Multiple reports point to a major round of Microsoft Gaming layoffs landing right after the company's fiscal year wrapped on June 30th, and some of its most recognizable studios are reportedly on the line. Let's be clear up front about what's confirmed and what isn't. As of this writing, Microsoft has NOT officially announced the layoffs, the studios affected, or a headcount. Much of what follows is reporting, so we'll label it as such.

The Avengers have officially assembled in Magic: The Gathering. Magic: The Gathering | Marvel Super Heroes hit shelves on June 26th, and it's one of the biggest releases in the game's history, both in size and in the chaos it kicked off. This is a Universes Beyond set, the line where Wizards of the Coast drops outside franchises into Magic.

Sony has hit Destiny studio Bungie with another major round of layoffs, and this one cuts deep. The cuts were made public on June 25th, and they land as Destiny 2 closes out its live-service run. In a statement posted to the PlayStation Blog, SIE Studio Business Group CEO Hermen Hulst said the reduction affects "a significant number of employees, including most of the Destiny team and some Marathon team members." Sony framed it as aligning the studio's resources with its current priorities.

Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders are now live, but many gamers are unhappy with Rockstar Games' decision to release the long-awaited title without a disc version at launch. There will be a physical copy, but it's going to be an empty case with a digital code inside. The other option is to simply purchase the game directly from the PlayStation and Xbox online stores.