Not just Switch 2: ESA warns Trump’s tariffs will hurt the entire game industry
"[It's] hard to imagine a world where tariffs like these don’t impact pricing."
Kyle Orland
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Kyle Orland
Senior Gaming Editor
kyle.orland@arstechnica.com
Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, covering topics ranging from retro games to new gaming hardware, business and legal developments in the industry, fan communities, gaming mods and hacks, virtual reality, and much more. More recently, he has also been helping to cover the rise of generative AI and other artificial intelligence topics for Ars.
Based in the Washington DC area, Kyle got his start writing about games back in 1997 when he set up fan site Super Mario Bros. HQ on his parents’ America Online subscription. Since then, Kyle has gone on to obtain journalism and computer science degrees from the University of Maryland and write for dozens of outlets ranging from NPR and MSNBC to Electronic Gaming Monthly and Paste Magazine.
Kyle is the author of Minesweeper from Boss Fight Books as well as two collections of contemporary journalism—The Game Beat and Save Point. You can find his irregular musings on BlueSky: @kyleor.land.
Recent stories by
Kyle Orland
Switch 2 preorders delayed over Trump tariff uncertainty
Nintendo will "assess" market conditions; planned June 5 launch date still set for now.
Kyle Orland
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Hands-on with the Switch 2: It’s the Switch, too
It's bigger, it's more powerful, and it has some weird Nintendo control gimmicks.
Kyle Orland
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Nintendo unveils Switch 2 ahead of June 5 launch
$449 buys easier multiplayer, mouse mode, and a chance to upgrade older titles.
Kyle Orland
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What we’re expecting from Nintendo’s Switch 2 announcement Wednesday
We take some wild stabs ahead of the big "Nintendo Direct" presentation.
Kyle Orland
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Why do LLMs make stuff up? New research peers under the hood.
Claude's faulty "known entity" neurons sometimes override its "don't answer" circuitry.
Kyle Orland
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What to make of Nintendo’s mention of new “Switch 2 Edition games”
Fine print suggests visual upgrades for original Switch games on new hardware.
Kyle Orland
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Nintendo’s new system for sharing digital Switch games, explained
"Virtual game cards" don't require an Internet check-in after the initial loan.
Kyle Orland
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Most Read
After DDOS attacks, Blizzard rolls back Hardcore WoW deaths for the first time
New policy comes as OnlyFangs streaming guild planned to quit over DDOS disruptions.
Kyle Orland
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How a nephew’s CD burner inspired early Valve to embrace DRM
Valve's Harrington: Unchecked CD duplication "put our entire business model at risk."
Kyle Orland
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Why Anthropic’s Claude still hasn’t beaten Pokémon
Weeks later, Sonnet's "reasoning" model is struggling with a game designed for children.
Kyle Orland
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234
Developer’s GDC billboard pokes at despised former Google Stadia exec
Satirical San Francisco billboard asks: "Has a Harrison fired you lately?"
Kyle Orland
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New Portal pinball table may be the closest we’re gonna get to Portal 3
Officially licensed spin-off features familiar voice talent; starts at $11,620.
Kyle Orland
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57
Why SNES hardware is running faster than expected—and why it’s a problem
Cheap, unreliable ceramic APU resonators lead to "constant, pervasive, unavoidable" issues.
Kyle Orland
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102
Microsoft’s new AI “Copilot for Gaming” struggles to justify its existence
We're still a ways off from the conversational AI "partner" teased last year.
Kyle Orland
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71
Six ways Microsoft’s portable Xbox could be a Steam Deck killer
It needs to be more than just stock Windows with a coat of paint.
Kyle Orland
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162
Blood Typers is a terrifically tense, terror-filled typing tutor
Explore a haunted house, destroy some zombies, and hone your touch typing at the same time.
Kyle Orland
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68
“Literally just a copy”—hit iOS game accused of unauthorized HTML5 code theft
Web game illicitly "wrapped in a mobile shell" climbed the paid App Store charts.
Kyle Orland
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79
Due to new tariffs, many more physical game discs may “simply not get made”
Analysts also warn that tariffs could increase prices for game software and hardware.
Kyle Orland
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160
George Orwell’s 1984 as a ’90s PC game has to be seen to be believed
A "zero gravity training sphere" makes an appearance, obviously.
Kyle Orland
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58
Half-Life 3 is just the hot exclusive Valve needs to propel SteamOS past Windows
Opinion: Just as Half-Life 2 helped launch Steam, a sequel could help establish non-Windows PC gaming.
Kyle Orland
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306
Portal Randomized feels like playing Portal again for the first time
Small gameplay tweaks make for a completely fresh take on old challenges.
Kyle Orland
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Fresh leaks suggest Half-Life 3 development may be nearing completion
Data-mined engine updates suggest long-awaited sequel is in "polish and optimization" phase.
Kyle Orland
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158
11 standouts from Steam Next Fest’s thousands of free game demos
Let Ars help you find some needles in Steam's massive haystack of game trials.
Kyle Orland and Kevin Purdy
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DeepSeek goes beyond “open weights” AI with plans for source code release
Chinese AI firm says daily releases will reveal "code that moved our tiny moonshot forward."
Kyle Orland
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38
Twitch’s new storage limits will purge huge swaths of Internet gaming history
Amazon-owned platform says "costly" historical archives don't drive "engagement."
Kyle Orland
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113
Microsoft shows progress toward real-time AI-generated game worlds
Despite improvements, Microsoft's new model is still mainly useful for low-res prototypes.
Kyle Orland
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50
Streamer completes hitless run of seven FromSoft Soulslikes without leveling up
So, what's your excuse?
Kyle Orland
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88
How Diablo hackers uncovered a speedrun scandal
Investigators decompiled the game to search through 2.2 billion random dungeon seeds.
Kyle Orland
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140
Over half of LLM-written news summaries have “significant issues”—BBC analysis
Frequent problems include mangled quotes, editorializing, and outdated info.
Kyle Orland
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110
Avowed review: Wait, are we the baddies?
Obsidian's new fantasy RPG asks you to be the unwelcome face of a hated occupying force.
Kyle Orland
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149
Dragonsweeper is my favorite game of 2025 (so far)
The quick-hit Minesweeper-style RPG has just the right mix of logic and luck.
Kyle Orland
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Punch-Out’s Mike Tyson has been defeated in under two minutes for the first time
After 75K attempts over 5 years, Summoning Salt is hanging up the virtual gloves.
Kyle Orland
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Donkey Kong’s famed kill screen has been cleared for the first time
New method exploits a ladder-climbing glitch, emulator tools, and a bit of luck.
Kyle Orland
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37
Nintendo patent explains Switch 2 Joy-Cons’ “mouse operation” mode
Users can access thumbsticks, shoulder buttons while sliding Joy-Cons on a flat surface.
Kyle Orland
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Not Gouda-nough: Google removes AI-generated cheese error from Super Bowl ad
Unlike Google search, AI writing assistant doesn't even cite its sources.
Kyle Orland
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