With major VR makers scaling back or discontinuing headset lines, a small community of hobbyists is building their own headsets from a few hundred dollars worth of parts, requiring soldering, firmware flashing and 3D printing. One sim racing enthusiast, prompted by Microsoft ending support for its Windows Mixed Reality platform, documented the process and the many technical hurdles involved. Third-party drivers such as OASIS on Steam have also emerged to keep older WMR headsets functional after official support ended.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-19
Best Buy is selling the SteamOS version of Lenovo's Legion Go S handheld for $999.99, a discount off its original price. This configuration pairs the Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, running the same SteamOS as Valve's Steam Deck OLED but with an eight-inch 1080p, 120Hz display and two-stage triggers.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-18
Valve has launched a Steam Client beta for Linux that runs on 64-bit architecture inside a containerized Steam Runtime, though 32-bit libraries and graphics drivers are still required since fully 64-bit-only systems aren't supported. The beta requires Linux kernel 5.6 or newer and glibc 2.31 or newer, and also introduces Steam Achievement Sets, letting developers group achievements for base games, DLC and seasonal content without resetting players' prior completion progress.
linux.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-16
Google has introduced Googlebook, a new AI-focused laptop platform built on its Chromebook lineage, with a 16GB RAM requirement and starting prices of $999 (except for a limited-time $899 Acer offer). Models from Lenovo and Asus reach pricing comparable to the MacBook Air, and the platform's phone-pairing feature requires a device running Android 17, an OS released only four months ago on a small number of high-end phones.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-10-16
Steam has introduced a beta feature called Achievement Sets that groups achievements into defined collections, distinguishing base-game trophies from DLC-related ones. Base sets appear in blue and DLC sets in purple, with DLC achievements excluded from overall completion tracking until a player owns that content, and a game's 100 percent progress stays locked in even if developers add achievements later. The achievements page has also been redesigned to show set progress and let users compare stats with up to three friends.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-16
Valve has launched a new Steam feature called achievement sets, which lets developers organize a game's achievements into separate groups covering the base game, DLCs, or limited-time seasonal content. Each set gets its own progress bar and a 'set complete' trophy shown on a player's profile, and Valve has also redesigned the Steam Achievements page to summarize overall and per-set progress. The feature is currently available in the latest Steam client beta, with titles like Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, Forza Horizon 5 and Crusader Kings III already supporting it.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-15
Sega and Creative Assembly have withdrawn Total War: Shogun 2 — Complete Edition from sale after players reported bugs and distorted artwork that many believe resulted from AI-assisted upscaling. The remaster launched Tuesday with promised 4K support and modernized controls but quickly earned an 'Overwhelmingly Negative' rating on Steam before being removed. The companies say they will restore the original 2011 game and that existing buyers of the remaster will retain access.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-15
A day after Epic Games launched a preview of its new 'vibe-coded' launcher touting faster load times than Steam, Valve shipped a small Steam update that cut cold-boot time to about 5.23 seconds, edging out Epic's roughly 5.47 seconds. Epic's launcher still posts a slightly quicker tray-restore time, but Steam now leads on the core startup metric Epic had used to market its new client.
respawnfirst.com
· 2026-10-15
Valve has stopped making its original Index VR headset and is clearing remaining stock at a 20% discount, including accessories like the tether, base station and controller. A full set of individual components now totals $741, down from $926, though the bundled package is no longer sold. The move comes shortly after Valve launched the Index's successor, the Steam Frame, starting at $1,060.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-15
Epic Games has released a public preview of a rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, saying it was built largely through AI-assisted 'vibe coding' rather than traditional programming. Epic Games Store GM Martin Keely told press the team rewrote the launcher from scratch in a new tech stack, using AI to replicate existing functionality while adding Windows, Mac and upcoming Linux support. Epic and outlet testing found the new launcher starts up a few seconds faster than Steam, though a claimed 0.06-second advantage in restoring from the system tray was negligible.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-14
Epic Games has released a preview build of a new, AI-generated Games Launcher, citing third-party benchmarks showing it cold-starts in 5.47 seconds versus Steam's 10.07 seconds on Windows. The company also touts a revamped interface with title summary pages, custom top bars, library aggregation, and storage/download monitoring tools. Epic says Fortnite will eventually come to Linux through this client once Easy Anti-Cheat is rebuilt and kernel-level agreements are reached with major distros.
games.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-14
Epic Games has launched a redesigned version of its game launcher that the company says was built using AI, or "vibe coded." Epic claims the new launcher starts up 46% faster than Steam and offers a 30x faster library, along with new features like dedicated game pages, a unified downloads page, and collections for organizing titles. The launcher is in a preview/open beta phase, with some social and account management features still missing, and Epic advises Unreal developers and competitive Fortnite and Rocket League players to stick with the old version for now.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-10-14
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