Nintendo canceled U.S. preorders for the Switch 2 after President Trump announced sweeping global tariffs. We discuss the challenges facing the console release with Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser.

We played hours of Nintendo Switch 2 games the same day President Trump announced new global tariffs. Despite the hefty price tag, it's a solid evolution of one of the world's most popular consoles.

At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, indie studios showed off ambitious games made by small development teams.

Assassin's Creed Shadows, out Thursday, might be big enough to reverse Ubisoft's crumbling fortunes. But the game faces headwinds.

Game studios have cranked out surprising hits ranging from cooperative platformers to historical epics. NPR staff and contributors round up the latest from a promising 2025.

Critic Linda Holmes has been playing The Sims since the early 2000s. Twenty five years in, she says she still finds the game charming but puzzling.

Each week, guests and hosts on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour share what's bringing them joy. This week: Chef John Mitzewich, Star Trek, the return of baseball and the videogame Teardown.

Developer Gareth Damian Martin tackles gig work, trauma and communities in crisis in the follow up to the acclaimed game Citizen Sleeper.

Pop culture critic Linda Holmes doesn't want battles or competition in her games — but she loves a satisfying puzzle she can figure out at her own pace. Sound like you, too? Here are recommendations.

The Nintendo Music app lets you listen to dozens of hours of music from games like Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong.

The success of Silent Hill 2, and the announcement of several other projects, begs the question: How serious is Konami about revitalizing its most beloved franchises?

We've all been there: You sit down for one episode of a reality TV show, and six hours later you're sitting guiltily on the couch, blinking the screen-induced crust off your eyeballs.

Okay. Maybe you haven't been there like our team has. But it's likely you have at least one guilty pleasure, whether it's playing video games, reading romance novels or getting swept into obscure corners of TikTok. It turns out that experiencing – and studying – pleasure is not as straightforward as it might seem. And yet, pleasure is quite literally key to the survival of humanity. So today on the show, we explore the pleasure cycle: What it is, where it lives in the brain and how to have a healthier relationship with the things that make us feel good.

Want more on the brain? Email us the neuroscience you want us to talk about at shortwave@npr.org! (Also please email us if you would like to gush about any of the books you've been loving — romantasy or otherwise!)

Is the future of artificial intelligence in video games playing out in a cyberpunk ramen bar? Tech companies would like you to think so, but game writers aren't so sure.

Before last month, no human had ever been known to beat the original Nintendo version of Tetris. Artificial intelligence had done so, but then came Willis Gibson, who only needed 39 minutes.

When a video game store closed in 1998, hundreds of sealed Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis cartridges were stored and forgotten. Now, a collection of the top-graded items has been appraised.