GTA 6 preload is officially underway, and in just a few hours your PS5 or Xbox Series X will know all of Vice City's secrets (it just can't tell you them until November 19). With a whopping 212GB file size, the latest instalment in Rockstar's blockbuster series is its heaviest yet, and that could spell disaster for your existing game library.

If you managed to upgrade your PS5 SSD ahead of 2026's price inflation, I tip my hat. If not, you've got some difficult decisions to make around which games to keep on your system to make way for that hefty GTA 6 preload. It's tempting to bite the bullet, pay for the storage upgrade, and keep all your favorites close by. If your library consists of a mixture of PS5 and PS4 titles, though, I'd urge you to consider another option instead.

Even on sale, fan-favorite PS5 SSDs can still run you $399.99 (that's a Samsung 9100 Pro down from a whopping $679.99 at Newegg) in 2TB configurations. If you split your library between old and new classics, though, the best PS5 external hard drives aren't seeing the same kind of price inflations.

The PS5 can run PS4 games directly from external hard drives like Seagate's, but it can only store PS5 games on them. That's not the end of the world though. Waited hours for that Call of Duty download and don't want to go through it again next time you feel the itch to play? It takes far less time to transfer your data between storage systems than it does to redownload and install everything all over again.

Right now, the average price for a 2TB SSD at Newegg (taken from the first ten results) sits at around $316. With the prices the way they are, I recommend anyone who needs to upgrade right now aims for a $250 - $300 price point for 2TB. That's a big emphasis on need, though. If there's any way to get around swapping out that drive to accommodate your GTA 6 preload, take it.

That means external hard drive prices are dramatically reduced by comparison, saving you roughly $200 on your storage upgrade. Waiting while your games transfer or keeping your PS4 library separate is a small price to pay for that kind of cash.

• See all external hard drives at Amazon

We're also rounding up all the best PS5 accessories to see you through the console generation, as well as the best PS5 controllers and best PS5 headsets for this holiday season.

Weeks after the Switch 2 was jailbroken for the first time, Nintendo's latest system update has reportedly patched the exploit that could have allowed users to mod and dump games, putting a stop to those activities… at least for now.

The initial jailbreak in question was always limited. Legitimate game-programming app SmileBASIC 4 – which could be downloaded straight from the Switch eShop prior to this whole debacle – could essentially serve as a gateway for exploits that could let folks access parts of the Switch 2 that the average user really isn't meant to reach.

There was a catch, though – as a tethered jailbreak, it relied on the software and on it staying open – if you were to turn your system off, you'd have to repeat the entire jailbreak process when you turned it back on.

Even so, hackers were still able to use this to dump Switch 2 games and their assets, as well as mod games like Mario Kart World – in fact, one of the jailbreak's first documented uses was putting Hatsune Miku, Peter Griffin, and Sanrio character Cinnamoroll into Nintendo's racing game. Now, though, according to modder and dataminer OatmealDome, that should no longer be the case thanks to Switch 2 system update 23.5.0, which rolled out a few hours ago.

"The OS exploit used in the recent jailbreak has been patched in version 23.5.0," OatmealDome writes on Twitter. "Dumping and modding games will be impossible again from this point forward, with the exception of some cartridge games (and maybe game updates) that are released in the near future."

They report that game exploits, like the aforementioned SmileBASIC 4 one as well as an exploit tied to physical copies of Civilization 7, still exist, but "it is no longer possible to 'escape' the game starting with 23.5.0. This effectively means that the capabilities of homebrew are locked to whatever the game can do already (i.e. not much)."

There's no doubt that as far as Nintendo is concerned, this patch couldn't come soon enough. Mere hours after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, the game was running on PC after being dumped from a Switch 2 copy, which I can't imagine the house of Mario was particularly pleased about.

But the question is, is Pandora's box now open? With exploits and the like, we often tend to see that striking down one thing just leads to another three appearing – just look at the literal thousands of clones of Switch emulator Yuzu that surfaced after Nintendo took down the original.

Some have also claimed that this update may not be as effective as you might think. According to Twitter account SwitchTools, it'll still be possible to dump new physical games on this firmware – though Game Key Cards will be immune. "Digital games, updates, and DLC cannot be downloaded and dumped without [Nintendo Switch Online]," they say.

Beyond that, multiple users online are expressing that they'll not be updating their system in order to keep access to the exploit, so it may not have been a perfect fix for Nintendo regardless.

Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 drove record sales for Nintendo as other consoles jump ahead of GTA 6, analyst says.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa says the house of Mario wants to keep the Switch 2 price as is despite surging hardware component prices. That said, there's only so long that can continue before a change of heart is considered.

Speaking to investors following an earnings report, the suits at Nintendo take a question regarding their thoughts on hardware and software pricing. Everything is getting more expensive, so at what point does Nintendo factor price increases into their planning?

When it comes to hardware, Furukawa says that Nintendo's reliance on various partners for different parts creates a greater sense of vulnerability when things beyond its control go wrong.

"Currently, manufacturing costs are trending upward due to various external factors," he says. "Our basic thinking is that if costs rise by a moderate amount, we will work to keep sales prices unchanged through measures like improving production efficiency to absorb those increased costs, and by bearing the remaining costs ourselves, to the extent possible.

"However, considering the overall profitability of the business, if the impact over the mid-to-long term is such that we cannot absorb the costs through our own efforts, and we determine that it would be difficult to maintain a healthy profit structure, we will need to consider price revisions."

When it comes to software, Furukawa says the impact is more limited. Regardless, rising component prices do impact game cards, and "the situation is not necessarily favorable either."

"Our basic policy for software is to set prices that reflect the value of each title," he adds. "Instead of setting a uniform price, we consider and determine the price on an individual basis, taking the content of each software product into account."

As we reported last week, the Switch 2 price seems safe for now, as Nintendo reports it has enough memory in stock to weather the storm. Additionally, the cost of buying Nintendo's latest console was increased just earlier this year, so I imagine there's little rush or desire to do so again. Switch 2 sales may be down 37% year over year, though it's still outpacing the OG Switch and PS5 quite nicely.

I can see why a more expensive Switch 2 might be attractive to investors and, in theory, the bottom line, though you also have to consider that a lofty barrier to entry turns purchase intent from "I'll buy this now" to "I'll buy this when the price eventually goes down." Whenever that is, at this rate. As former PlayStation Shawn Layden says, "true innovation" in the industry right now is making a console cheaper, not boosting frames by however much.

Zelda: Ocarina of Time beats Breath of the Wild and becomes the biggest physical launch of 2026 in the UK so far, analyst reports.

Sony has updated the PlayStation Portal in Japan, releasing a new handheld that maintains many of the same features as the original, with one key difference. The revised gaming handheld now includes internal storage.

That signals a big shift away from the brand's original vision for the device. The PS Portal we know in the US and UK functions as a remote player first and foremost, streaming PS5 games from a console (or separately via a PlayStation Plus Premium account). It's still one of the best PS5 accessories, but with the PS6 expected to launch alongside its own handheld device, there's one line in Sony's official announcement that brings this internal storage under the microscope.

"With an eye towards future functionality," the PlayStation Japan blog post states, "the new model includes additional internal storage."

It's that future functionality that has ears pricked across the industry this morning. Sony states that more information on this mysterious storage is incoming, with details surrounding the feature still to be "finalized." However, it's one of the first official statements we've had linking Sony's current lineup to its future handheld ambitions.

What that storage will be used for in the existing PS Portal remains a mystery. With no listed upgrades to the internals, it would be pretty difficult to consider Sony running games directly from the Portal handheld in its current state. We also don't know how much extra storage is under the hood.

Just after launch, it was discovered that the existing PlayStation Portal has 6GB of free space floating around. Including the storage upgrade within the announcement, and citing future features, makes it seem like there's a chunkier drive being added - rather than a few extra gigs to support a larger Android OS update.

The new PlayStation Portal launches in Japan only and, like the Midnight Black PS5 announced last month, it's pretty locked down to the region. It can only be set to Japanese language and requires a Japanese PSN account to run. That said, it will be available to pre-order in the region from November 13, at the same ¥39,980 price as the regular model.

• PlayStation Portal | $249 at Amazon

We're also getting you prepped for all this year's Black Friday PS5 deals and rounding up the best PS5 controllers and best PS5 headsets for your setup.

The best PS5 controllers have been a bit behind the times lately. While Xbox has been licensing all sorts of third parties to develop gamepads with built-in screens and fancy charging stands, Sony has only just been allowing a few of its favorite brands to create secondary controllers for the PS5 - and still isn't letting any of them have rumble, haptic feedback, or wake privileges - all so that the DualSense seems more special.

Nacon is the third brand to take a second crack at its PS5 controller after Razer and Scuf. The Nacon Revolution 5 Pro was a really great attempt, providing a robust product that was good, but not quite headline-stealing. Nacon then went to Xbox, improved its design, and launched the Revolution X Unlimited, maybe one of the only controllers to ever make me feel like it's worth every penny of its $200 price tag. Now, Nacon is back to PlayStation with an even more refined version, and it's nothing if not a showstopper.

The improved, TMR-wielding Nacon Revolution 5 Unlimited takes all of the excellent design, premium feel, and beautiful versatility of the RXU, and makes a renewed claim for the top of the controller market. This time, it argues its case even better than before. If you can afford a £179.99 / $229 controller, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one than this.

Design

Sometimes, when you go from a first-party controller to a licensed third-party one, things can feel a little foreign. No matter the price, because its design is a different spin on what you're used to, it can still feel like an unofficial knock-off. The Nacon R5U doesn't exactly feel like the DualSense or DualSense Edge, but it has an ability to make you feel like you're right at home.

The controller rests in my hands and fades into my subconscious, placing all of the buttons where I need them to be, and allowing me to focus on the game I'm playing. It doesn't feel like there's an adjustment to make or quirks to get used to; this is controller design at its best. Again, if you're familiar with the Xbox version, you're essentially getting the exact same gamepad design, just with PlayStation embellishments, but I'll give you a brief rundown of what that means.

The R5U has all the standard buttons you'll need to play games on PS5 or PC, along with six extra ones for you to do with what you choose. Four back buttons are on the grips of the controller, and two additional bumpers are up on the shoulders. All of these, barring the R1 and L1 buttons and their accompanying triggers, are microswitches; clicky buttons that provide a snappier feel and more tactile actuation.

The RXU and R5U do those a bit differently than other controllers though - they have a super light actuation with a shorter travel distance than you might be used to elsewhere.

The result is a controller that feels tactile and unique, while also providing depth and speed in equal measure - a combination which is almost impossible for other controllers to nail at once. It's easy to use and it all responds to your twitchy presses almost as quickly as you think about pushing them down. Every button and material used doesn't feel like an imitation either; this thing feels more premium than any controller by Sony or Microsoft I've held.

The grips are covered in a rubberized texture that has a softening and cooling effect. There's matte plastic paneling elsewhere, but your brain blurs it all into one, and the combination of the grip shapes, materials, and ergonomics at play adds up to a really expensive-feeling peripheral. In short, it's a bloody comfortable gamepad to hold.

What's a shame about the PlayStation version is that it doesn't make the same changes as Razer's Wolverine V3 Pro did when it ported over to the Razer Raiju V3 Pro. Thumbsticks here are asymmetrical, which is welcome for a load of gamers, but isn't exactly authentic to PlayStation. That's hardly a disaster, but I'd love to see a symmetrical version at some point, even if it isn't necessarily Nacon's go-to style.

Features

Nacon's R5U is the first PS5 controller to sport a built-in screen and menu system. In the Xbox and PC controller realm, this is hardly a new feature, but given PlayStation's licensing requires a touchpad to be present, I imagine it's been hard for any brand to really crack the code on Sony's console.

As it happens, Nacon has a clever workaround for this. The touchpad isn't present, but there are six extra buttons in play, and you can map the touchpad function to any of the others. It's hardly a perfect solution, and I wonder whether making the display touchscreen would have been too much of an expense, as it would really have solved the issue beautifully.

That's not the only licensing parameter Nacon has managed to sidestep, however. You may remember from the brand's previous Nacon Revolution 5 Pro controller for PS5 that vibration motors were, in fact, present, but were locked to working in the PC mode only. The same is true here, which again isn't a perfect solution, but does make it the only other PS5-licensed controller that actually has vibration motors in it. The rest of the pack can end up feeling lighter and less up to that $200 price tag as a result.

Speaking of weight, you can adjust the heft here just like with all other flagship Nacon controllers by putting tiny, provided dumbbells into the grips. Combine that with some swappable thumbstick tops, stick widths, and a charging stand, and you get a controller that feels very feature-rich. Would I say the Victrix Pro BFG does an even better job of providing swappable parts? Yes, absolutely, but I think for most gamers, your needs are going to be covered here.

The most notable upgrade from the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited is that the thumbsticks here are TMR, not Hall effect. That gives it a bit more futureproofing, precision, and speed, and means that, for PC players, I'd default to the PS5 version, seeing as they're likely going to work out at the same price for the next little while. That said, both models have a max polling rate of 1,000Hz on PC, which is more than enough for most gamers. It's a shame the ceiling hasn't been raised slightly for the upgraded model to complement its TMR thumbsticks though. Both the RXU and R5U will be locked to 250Hz on their respective consoles anyway, sadly.

Interestingly, Nacon hasn't made a PC companion app this time around; it's opted to make a mobile-only version. I'm not sure what's caused this - perhaps there have been cost limitations, staff changes due to Nacon's current financial troubles, or Nacon really is basing it on feedback from customers.

I can see the usefulness of a mobile app for PS5 players, especially seeing as not all of them will have a PC they can easily connect to. Still, for a controller with a built-in menu system, I feel like any need for additional companion software would probably be for more in-depth things that PC players would like to deep-dive into. Would it really be impossible to make an app for mobile and PC? Or to make the R5U compatible with Nacon's existing PC software for the Xbox model?

Onboard Display

I've compared the onboard controls 1:1 to the Xbox version of the controller, and they're exactly the same. A quick tap of the menu button will bring you to options on audio, joysticks, mapping, and settings. Audio is where you can control the R5U's nifty Bluetooth, because these controllers are capable of being paired as separate devices in their own right to channel audio directly through the gamepad. That allows you to adjust mic gain right from the controller's menu.

In "Joysticks", you'll get a sub-menu for the left and right thumbsticks where you can choose input curves, set deadzone levels, and access special settings like the shooter mode and sensitivity plus option. You can even invert the sticks if that's your thing. The last section in this menu is for the gyro controls. Again, these aren't my thing, but that need is covered if it's your preferred way to play.

Button mapping is a fairly obvious one; you can set all of the extra buttons up via shortcuts, but options for mapping PC controls aren't there, so maybe check out the Steam Controller if that sort of thing means a lot to you. I set the touchpad shortcut up to be mapped to the share button, so if you can do without that functionality on PS5, I'd recommend it so you don't lose out on an extra button for in-game stuff.

In "Settings", you can see Bluetooth, pairing, vibration, and battery savings menus.

So, from my assessment, what you can't do on the controller itself and will need the app for is changing the RGB lighting ring on the right stick, diving deeper into profiles, stick response curves, and the rather confusing advanced and custom modes. All in all, it's a pretty handy menu onboard, and one that'll probably prevent most users from needing the mobile app.

Performance

To get this out of the way quickly, I've only had one bizarre tech problem with the R5U, and it may be a result of mine being an early sample for reviews. I paired it with its wireless USB dongle out of the box, but I'm not sure the two communicate all that well with one another. If I leave the dongle plugged into the same PC I was connected to last time, boot up the computer, and then the controller, it won't pair with the dongle. I'll need to take out and re-insert the dongle for it to pair with the R5U. That's a bit of an annoyance, and not ideal. It's not an issue I've had with the two different RXU models I've tested though, so I wonder if this might be a quirk of firmware or the early model I received for testing. Other than that, I've had absolutely no problems with the controller.

If I'm brutally honest, besides the charging stand and built-in display, the Nacon R5U isn't offering loads of stuff that other PS5 Pro controllers on the shelves are, so people might struggle to see why the R5U is the undisputed king of the market in my eyes.

I don't think Nacon is offering masses of things you can't get elsewhere, but I do think its version of those things is better than what else is out there. Naturally, a lot of this stuff is going to come down to subjective preferences, right? I review a new controller every week or so and have done so for about four years now, but I accept that I have my own likes and dislikes and yours will be different. All I can tell you is why the R5U has been outshining all the others for me.

Personally, it's because I compare it to other controllers I previously considered the best in certain categories, and it takes the fight to pretty much all of them. There are versatile, jack-of-all-trades peripherals out there, but few do everything this well.

For example, the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro has probably the best microswitch responsiveness of any controller I've come across. If someone was asking me for a controller recommendation based solely on clicky buttons, the V3 Pro, and by proxy, the Raiju V3 Pro, are the ones that spring to mind immediately. They just feel incredibly speedy when playing a fighting game like Dragon Ball Sparking Zero. The RXU and R5U manage to match that responsiveness with equally clicky buttons, and I'd argue they go a step beyond because their actuation is so much friendlier on your thumbs. The buttons here are more cushioned; they have a lighter pressing force requirement, and they opt for a wider, flatter shape. The Asus ROG Raikiri II has a very similar feel to the Wolverine V3 Pro, but its buttons, having more of a domed shape, result in them feeling like they dig into your thumbs more when you press them.

If someone asked me what controller was best for game feel and haptic feedback, I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend the DualSense Edge. The R5U sadly doesn't have access to Sony's homegrown tech in a game like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on PC, and it for sure lacks the subtlety and detail of proper haptic feedback. Sadly, the R5U's vibration is either on or off, but at the same time, I'd argue there's more to game feel than just feedback through rumble and haptics. Part of game feel is how it mechanically feels to push a button and experience the result of your in-game action on screen (there's a great book called Game Feel by Steve Swink I'd recommend reading if you're a sicko and you're interested in this sort of thing). The R5U's buttons feel better to press than the DualSense's, so while the detail of feedback might not be so strong, you get added extras in the comfort area that I'd argue add up to an interesting match.

If someone asked me for a controller to use purely for driving games, I'd probably point them toward the Thrustmaster eSwap series. That brand treats racing games like a religion, and even if there are other controllers that feel good for driving, it's hard not to think of Thrustmaster as the go-to. The triggers on the R5U are bold, wide, and feel great to accelerate and brake with through the Japanese roads of Forza Horizon 6. I'd hardly say the R5U is a sim racing alternative, but I imagine it would feel great to use driving around the streets of GTA 6.

For competitive FPS games, I'd go to war any day with the FlyDigi Apex 5 thanks to its excellent thumbstick tension and really well-designed back buttons. Now, if I were heading into a virtual gunfight, the R5U would be coming with me. The TMR thumbsticks and extra shooter and sensitivity+ modes on the R5U are unparalleled. I've tested TMR controllers at 8,000Hz polling rates in my favorite shooter, Hunt: Showdown. I've tested the Apex 5; I've tested all sorts of other Hall and TMR controllers in it. I've never experienced mouse-like tracking as I have with the 8K options like the GameSir G7 Pro 8K, and I've not experienced the satisfying flicky tension of the Apex 5. But with the R5U, everything about the controller comes together to form a precision nightmare for any target in my crosshair. I can track well thanks to TMR tech, I can access loads of in-game functions thanks to six extra buttons, and I can make tiny micro adjustments or go for bold flicks and not feel like the controller is the thing letting me down.

I almost always swap for the taller thumbstick option when getting to this part of testing, but in all honesty, I didn't feel I needed it here, and that should tell you everything you need to know about how good this gamepad is in FPS games. And okay, the R5U isn't a match for the modular design of the Victrix Pro BFGs, but letting you adjust weights in the grips, letting you swap thumbstick tops, and offering a carry case with a charging stand and six extra buttons to make use of gives it almost all of the versatility you'll need.

I was actually using the FlyDigi Apex 5, my previous favorite controller for PC gaming, before testing this one. I've been playing my way through Control Resonant, and having six extra buttons is a massive help for its often repetitive combat. But I actually found that the harder actuation force of the Apex 5's buttons was starting to cause fatigue and a bit of strain. Switching to the lighter and easier-to-press buttons of the R5U was so much better. The back buttons are exactly where I need them to be to press easily, but they click with this degree of forgivingness to your hands that makes them actually feel worth the money you've spent. All the while, unlike the SteelSeries Aeon Pro, they don't massively intrude on the design language of the controller - they blend in really nicely.

There's a chance that because these ones are easier to press, you might get more accidental mis-presses, but that hasn't happened to me yet. Remember, you can always map them to be blank if they bother you.

Even battery life has been absolutely stellar. I've tested the R5U for about two or three weeks now, and despite all the use I've gotten out of it, it's only just started signalling that its battery is low.

Should you buy the Nacon Revolution 5 Unlimited?

A week or two ago, I saw people in the Controller sub-Reddit saying that you shouldn't give your hard-earned cash to big companies like Razer, Nacon, SteelSeries, Sony, and Microsoft. "The GameSir G7 Pro gives you everything you need for less than half the price", they argued, "so why give all that money to brands who just don't care about the controllers they make."

The GameSir G7 Pro is a truly excellent controller, and one that I'd recommend to most people based on pure value alone. Without a $200 budget, it's certainly the one I'd be aiming for. But I fundamentally disagree with the sentiment that brands like Nacon just don't care about the gamepads they make because products like the Revolution 5 Unlimited and Revolution X Unlimited wouldn't be as good as they are without iteration, careful design, and years of expertise in their pedigree.

Coming from me, who struggles to justify any brand charging $200 for a controller, that should mean a lot. If you can afford this echelon of gamepad, there is no other controller I'd recommend more strongly. The longer I've spent with it through the RXU, and now its PlayStation sibling, the more I've come to appreciate what Nacon has made. With TMR improvements, the R5U has become the best controller on the shelves.

How I tested the Nacon Revolution 5 Unlimited

I've been using the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited for well over a year now, going back to it for comparisons to make in different bits of controller coverage, as well as for my own enjoyment of using it. I've got plenty of hands-on time and context with that gamepad, so I drew on that when it came time to test the R5U. I also compared it closely to the R5P, Nacon's previous PS5 controller. As you'll gather from the performance section of this review, I also used my hands-on time with lots of other gamepads to evaluate it.

All in all, I used the R5U in a slew of games and genres to try and see how versatile it is.

For more on how we test controllers, take a look at the GamesRadar+ hardware policy.

Check out the best TMR controllers, the best Xbox Series X controllers, and the best Switch 2 controllers.

Welcome back to Conformity Gate. With Stranger Things Day sending us all back to the Upside Down today, Sony has the headphones to pair with that world-saving Walkman. The brand has just announced a Stranger Things edition of the new MDR-3R wired headphones, now available with bold red cushions (and a black set included in the box). The $79 / £59 Stranger Things variant bumps up the price of the new release a little (the standard model starts at $59 / £49) but maintains a style fit for Hawkins.

The Sony MDR-3R headphones are being described as "Newtro" by the brand, combining more modern audio handling (and a USB-C connection) with the instantly recognizable retro aesthetic. Sony has faithfully reconstructed the MDR-3 design, with that skinny band, chunky silver driver plate, and simple design. If we ever needed another reason to start running up that hill, this is it.

So what does the Stranger Things edition bring to its higher price tag? It's a subtle one. The blue / orange cushion color options of the standard model are replaced with a deep Upside Down red and black pairing with a Stranger Things logo stamped at the top of the headband.

If you're going for the full '80s aesthetic, you'd be better off with the orange base option, saving yourself some cash in the process. If you're going like-for-like with Max herself, you'll need the limited edition to get access to those black pads.

The headphones themselves are constructed from a lightweight aluminum and stainless steel, powered by that USB-C connection for a charge-free experience, and still feature an inline remote with an integrated microphone for media control and calls.

Sony says it's kept the MDR-3R sound profile as close to the original as possible, while still elevating sound with some more modern features. That open-back design is still going to give your music plenty more breathing space, but the brand has extended both lower and upper ranges for a more dynamic quality.

While the absence of that ninth episode still continues to hurt, at least we've got some tunes to see us through. Plus, with Maya Hawke joining the Magic: The Gathering movie there's still plenty from the series stars in the works.

More Stranger Things:

• Stranger Things: The Complete Series 4K Blu-Ray | $269.95 $150.99 at Amazon
• Care Bears x Stranger Things | $12.97 at Amazon
• Stranger Things Upside Down Board Game | $54.99 at Amazon

If you'd prefer something a little more Steam focused, check out the best gaming headsets we've tested so far. Or take a look at the best gaming earbuds for more on-the-go options.

Despite the AI-driven component shortage continuing to drive memory prices through the roof, Nintendo isn't currently planning to increase the Switch 2 price. The console's price increased to $500 earlier this year, but it seems Nintendo believes it has the memory stockpiles necessary to weather the pricing storm for now.

Nintendo isn't considering additional changes to the price of the Switch 2, president Shuntaro Furukawa says in the company's latest financial report, according to Reuters. Furukawa adds that the company remains well positioned to secure the memory components it needs to continue meeting demand for the console.

Switch 2 sales are down 37% compared to last year, though the numbers still compare favorably to the original Switch and PS5. Nintendo has worked to keep the average Switch 2 price fairly steady by changing its bundle structure after the price hike, and it's been doing what it can to insulate itself from the broader economic factors driving up the cost of electronics.

With all that being said, Furukawa has never entirely ruled out the possibility of further Switch 2 price increases. "While uncertainties remain regarding future trends in component prices, we recognize that they could have an impact not only this year but next year as well," he told investors this past May. "As for what comes after that, we will make necessary preparations to ensure that we can respond flexibly to whatever situation arises."

One of Nintendo's major manufacturing partners is changing its business in response to the AI-driven memory demand, as Macronix recently announced that it's ditching the cartridge-making business in order to focus on supplying memory to data centers. Macronix builds the parts for Switch 1 cartridges, not Switch 2 games, so the news is unlikely to affect Nintendo's current console, but it shows how big an effect the AI boom is having on the business of selling electronics.

We've got you covered with the latest updates on Legend of Zelda Switch 2 restocks.

The Steam Controller is one of the coolest bits of gaming hardware I've tested this year, and it's made a real name for itself. With the Holiday season coming up, that means it's nearly deals o'clock, and people who have been waiting for discounts on the games and accessories that have launched throughout the year will be able to benefit. The Steam Controller isn't one of the most expensive PC controllers out there, but it's hardly the cheapest either, so is it one you should think about this Black Friday?

To be completely honest, Valve has had a difficult enough year with its hardware stock, pricing, and even a few data leaks for good measure, so I'd be very, very surprised if the Steam Controller saw a discount this Black Friday. On the other hand, plenty of other gamepads for Xbox, PS5, PC, and Switch 2 will almost certainly get the deal treatment over the next few weeks. With that in mind, if it's good value and lower prices you're holding out for, maybe the Steam Controller isn't for you.

The TLDR here is that, as someone who has tested the Steam Controller as well as countless other gamepads, the Steam Controller is an amazing accessory to have if you play games on a PC away from a desk. Since it's essentially a mouse and keyboard you can hold in your hand, it acts as a remote control for couch setups and for any game that doesn't have controller support on PC.

If you're doing those things, the Valve's gamepad should be on your shortlist just for the ease of using your PC for gaming like a console and not a desktop computer. But if you're looking for a pro-level gamepad for a specific genre or you want the last word in comfort and features, there are other options to shop for that will get you better deals this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

You should buy the Steam Controller if:

You play on PC, away from a desk:

If you're building a couch setup, or you have a mini PC to play less technically demanding games away from a desk, the Steam Controller is going to be an absolute godsend for navigating your PC. Having to get up off the couch to grab a mouse or keyboard defeats the entire point of a comfy couch PC setup, so why wouldn't you go for the Steam Controller in this instance?

The right trackpad of the Steam Controller works like one would on a laptop. Trace your finger around it, and the cursor will move with it. The left trackpad can scroll up and down a page, the right trigger clicks on something, and handy shortcuts can bring up a keyboard or other functions you want to use.

All the while, it doubles as a pretty capable controller. There are TMR thumbsticks, four back buttons, and great haptic feedback at work. For users like this, Valve's gamepad is going to kill two or three birds with one stone by cutting the number of peripherals you need down to one.

It's honestly the best way to navigate a PC from the couch, so I recommend it strongly to these people.

You want to play games designed for a mouse and keyboard, but with a controller:

If you're a fan of city builders, Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, or an RTS game that isn't designed with controllers in mind on PC, the Steam Controller is what you need. This thing is excellent for using the Steam Input system to naturally map control schemes from mouse and keyboard to a gamepad when the developers of that game haven't catered to one.

This can also help with certain older games too - I was playing Assassin's Creed 2 before writing this, and its lack of controller support on Steam meant it was particularly tricky to get working. The Steam Controller managed it though, and that was thanks to awesome control schemes made by the wider Steam community that you can download and install in a heartbeat.

Shop around for a different controller if:

You want to specialise in a certain genre:

If you're shopping for a new gamepad because you want great features and comfort that lend a peripheral to one specific type of game or a competitive title, I wouldn't really opt for the Steam Controller.

For starters, its polling rate leaves a lot to be desired against other modern gamepads like the GameSir G7 Pro 8K, the GameSir Tarantula 8K, or even officially licensed wireless controllers for Xbox like the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited that have a 1,000Hz polling rate. Compared to that, the Steam Controller's 250Hz makes it feel pretty sluggish if you're looking for absolutely no latency or the last word in responsiveness.

You like clicky buttons:

A big must-have for a lot of gamers when it comes to pro controllers today is microswitch buttons. Personally, I can take or leave them, but for a lot of folks, traditional membrane buttons just don't cut it and don't offer the same sort of snappy feel.

Maybe the most responsive alternatives with super clicky face buttons are the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro and the Asus ROG Raikiri II, so take a gander at those if this sort of thing matters to you. Personally, the best buttons I've ever come across that blend comfort with responsive clickiness is the Nacon RXU.

You don't like the faff of setting up controller profiles for the games you play:

I have to admit, one of the factors about the Steam Controller that fatigues me when using it full-time is that you have to create back button assignments for each new game you play. There's no onboard memory that saves profiles for all games, it's a case of selecting a new profile for every game you play, and assigning buttons you want.

It's a total pain, and something that gets tiresome quickly, especially if you're like me and you end up using the same back button assignments in 90% of the games you play. The good news is that pretty much all of the pro controllers on the shelves today have some sort of profile system whereby you can create a few that stick to the button mappings you want regardless of the game you're playing. Take a look at the window below to see some I'd recommend.

The Steam Controller isn't the only one with TMR sticks. Check out the best TMR controllers out there, the best PS5 controllers, and the best Switch 2 controllers.

GameSir is probably the most prolific brand in the controller space, but as gamepads with screens have emerged from almost every corner in the last few years, GameSir has stayed silent. It's a surprise, then, that GameSir has revealed the Nova Vision today, a Switch 2 controller that's got a screen and menu system integrated into it.

Not only is it the first GameSir controller with a screen, but it's also the first with adjustable thumbstick tension. This is another emerging trend in the controller space in 2026, with FlyDigi's Vader 5S leading the charge, but being flanked by the 8BitDo Ultimate 3 and the Nacon Revolution Pro X. Usually, with this feature, you twist the thumbstick gates to either increase or decrease the physical tension in each one. On the Nova Vision, however, you twist the thumbsticks themselves.

The integrated menu system, like the ones in its rival controllers, will help you adjust back button assignments, stick settings, profiles, connections, and more. It seems pretty conclusive, although it's called VisionOS - the same name as the OS used for Apple's Vision Pro headset. Hopefully that doesn't end in tears... or a lawsuit.

The Nova Vision follows on from the Nova product line, which has always been supportive of the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 ecosystems. We just reviewed the Super Nova, which has become one of our go-to budget gamepad recommendations. Of course, like all Nova products, it'll also work as a PC controller.

This time around, GameSir hasn't stuck to TMR sticks, which have become the norm for all of the company's products in recent times. There are still Hall effect ones, which will prevent drift on the Nova Vision.

The Nova Vision will also feature two back buttons, although these aren't the usual individualized buttons you'll find on most GameSir products; they're the slightly longer plastic levers built into the controller's back. In my experience, these aren't quite as good, but they'll still give you a degree of extra functionality.

The Nova Vision comes with a charging stand and wireless play with a 1,000mAh battery. Like the Nova Lite, it's also broadcasting wake functionality for the Switch 2; in this instance, it's lift-to-wake, meaning that when you lift the gamepad from its stand, it'll wake the console. When we tested this feature on the Super Nova, it didn't work as advertised, so that might be one to give a wide berth.

See also: the best TMR controllers, the best PS5 controllers, and the best Xbox Series X controllers.

Sony says that work on its "next-generation platform" – AKA the PS6 – is "progressing as scheduled," while sales of the PS5 keep on trucking, but at a pace that's lagging behind the PS4 at the same point in its own lifecycle amid the ongoing RAM crisis.

During the company's FY2026 Q2 earnings call today, chief financial officer Lin Tao makes multiple references to the company's next console and its plans going forward.

"Looking ahead to next fiscal year, we aim to continue to enhance user engagement and further strengthen monetization through the release of strong titles and the expansion of our service. We also intend to make solid progress in preparing for the next generation platform," she says in comments transcribed by Sony.

But that's not to say that progress isn't already being made. During the Q&A section of the earnings call – transcribed by Seeking Alpha – Tao says "we are progressing as scheduled" on research and development of the next-generation platform, reiterating: "The development itself is on schedule."

She elaborates on future plans in a later question, noting that there will be "investment for the new platform" starting in the next fiscal year and continuing beyond. "For future growth, we have to attach great importance to our new platform," she continues. "We have to make the necessary investments for that. But we have to support this soundness of our platform and try to think how rationally we can invest in our platform."

This is something that Sony will announce at an "appropriate" time in the future.

But how about those PS5 sales? Tao acknowledges that they're "gradually declining as expected in this stage of the console life cycle," but "the PS platform continues to expand and grow in a stable manner."

To get into the numbers, 2.6 million additional PS5 units were sold in the last quarter, bringing the total to 97.9 million. However, that also means it's not selling as well as the PS4 did at the same point in its lifecycle – the previous-gen console had already surpassed 100 million sales by then.

Perhaps that's unsurprising amid ongoing challenges for the PS5, though. Beyond the uproar Sony itself caused by announcing the end of physical PlayStation game production, the ongoing RAM shortage has been having a major impact on hardware prices. During the call, Tao notes that in regard to the PS5 specifically, "we have been able to offset the rise in memory prices through adjustments to promotions and pricing, as well as additional cost-reduction, and we expect hardware profitability for the current fiscal year to remain on par with the previous fiscal year."

Furthermore, she reveals: "Regarding memory procurement for next fiscal year, based on discussions held so far with various suppliers, we have aligned on the quantity of memory needed for our projected hardware unit sales."

Here's hoping, then, that we won't see any more nasty price increases for the PS5 in the months to come – let's face it, they've shot up enough as is.

Fans might not "pull out $1,000" for PS6 and Project Helix if all they can offer is marginal improvements, says ex-PlayStation boss.

This week, PlayStation has removed PSVR 2 from its own virtual stores in the US and in Japan, which follows on from months of stock shortages in the US and UK for the VR headset. The news also comes just a month after it was found that Sony has sold all of its mixed-reality patents to one of its biggest rivals in the space, Meta.

Just three years on from its arrival, the headset seems to be reaching the end of its supported life. Sony's second headset received countless glowing reviews from critics and fans, but its lack of support has led it to an even shorter lifespan than the first PSVR.

To be completely clear, there's been no official word from Sony about it discontinuing PSVR 2, but even for an optimist and massive VR apologist like me, the writing's on the wall.

Immediate reception from fans was cold because of PSVR 2's launch price. Its lack of support for PC until halfway through its life almost certainly cut it off from a big chunk of this comparably small gaming market. A price drop definitely restored some good faith, but by the time it arrived, Sony had already made its lack of support on the games side a big red flag.

Since reviewing PSVR 2, I've held the strong belief that this is the best option for gaming that people can buy - even after testing newer rivals. Meta has produced affordable, mixed-reality excellence with the Quest 3 headsets. Pimax and HTC have proven visually lossless will always be unmatched, but PSVR 2's all round features, its jaw-dropping displays, and its gaming-centric design have always given it an edge I haven't found elsewhere on the shelves.

Which is why I'm now scratching my head.

Sony made something that, although had a lofty price tag, was far beyond the competition in terms of its specs, features, and user experience. It knew from its first VR rodeo, and countless game console generations, that dedicated software support is the name of the game, and yet, it chose to sit idly by and let the idea of PSVR 2 gather dust just as the headset itself did on people's shelves.

If you ask a lot of gamers, the fate of PSVR 2 was sealed long before its gradual withdrawal from stores. In 2024, Sony shuttered or repurposed all of the VR studios it had spent so much money to acquire during the PS4 lifecycle. Sony London, the developer of PlayStation VR Worlds, was closed. Firesprite made Horizon Call of the Mountain, but has since seen downsizing. Guerilla Cambridge was closed despite making PSVR's well-received RIGS. Team Asobi made an Astro Bot VR title for PSVR, but it was repurposed for flat-screen Astro titles that admittedly went on to win GOTY.

Even if that was all unavoidable for business reasons I'm not privy to, it didn't need to be the death knell for PSVR 2.

There's plenty that PlayStation could have tried to do to keep interest alive. The VR category on the PlayStation Plus catalog has gotten smaller and smaller by the month. Free games as part of the service almost never included a VR game, which incentivized absolutely none of the PS5's user base to adopt the hardware. A lack of VR games in the wider market is a larger chicken-and-egg problem at the moment, but there are plenty on SteamVR that PlayStation could have made a bigger deal of securing.

Despite even the first PSVR headset having a multitude of bundles and demos to support its sales on the shelves, PSVR 2 still only has one: the Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle it launched alongside.

State of Plays have made it clear that VR is no longer a priority to the PlayStation ecosystem for people who spent their hard-earned cash on a VR headset. The last time a VR game featured was back in the middle of 2025 when Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow was announced.

While I find it difficult to fault the design of PSVR 2, I can't condone its lack of a PC lifeline, namely, any anticipatory support for PC when it launched.

In the end, the lack of an intuitive linking system to PC cut the legs out from under PSVR 2 from the first. The PC adaptor was such a welcome addition that gave the headset a bit more momentum, but almost every review from customers and critics found it was clunky, complicated, and a very imperfect fix for a device that should have been able to link to a PC much more simply.

A $50 add-on that went out of stock almost immediately and was then imitated by unlicensed third-party brands was not the most appealing to begin with, but the fact that even when it worked, foveated rendering and headband haptic feedback didn't carry over from PS5 probably didn't add much appeal.

Fair enough, today, PlayStation has pulled back from any and all PC support, but back in 2023 its experiment with PC hardware and software releases was in full swing. It seems both incredibly arrogant and even more short-sighted of the folks at Sony not to make such a pricey bit of hardware compatible with the biggest segment of the VR market. A DisplayPort or HDMI port on the headset, or even a natural Windows USB connection from the get-go that lined up with Sony's Inzone hardware, could have given PSVR 2 a failsafe if the PS5 player base didn't adopt it.

Sony's mishandling of what is still a top-class bit of hardware will puzzle me for years to come. Like I say, I'm a massive VR fan, so my biases are clear, but I believe PSVR 2 could have survived a lack of support on the software side, or a lack of wider (and easier) PC support.

It didn't stand a chance against both of those things at once.

If you're interested in buying a different VR headset, check out our review of the Steam Frame, the Meta Quest 3, or the Pimax Dream Air.

Razer is launching a Signature Edition of its Raiju V3 Pro PS5 controller, but you'll need to act fast if you want one. Razer only has 1,337 units of the gamepad in a limited, individually serialized drop of stock, and there's no promise that it'll come back after the initial batch is all gone.

I hope you're ready for this pricing though, because if you think the regular cost of $200/£200 is bad for an officially licensed PS5 pro controller, this is going to hurt. Holding onto something? Okay. The Signature Edition of the Raiju V3 Pro will set you back $349.99 / £349.99, and will be available exclusively from Razer on November 10.

As expensive as that is, it's hard not to gawk at the design of the peripheral, in fairness. It's got an exoskeleton design, almost similar to a few ultra-light gaming mice that try to cut as much weight as possible by relying on a honeycomb form factor. It also comes in a premium leatherette carrying case that will hold all of the Raiju's regular add-ons and accessories.

The semi-transparent touchpad is glass with laser-etching, the chassis is magnesium alloy, the grips are wrapped in a TPU, the buttons have been molded in a double-shot PBT process which will, in theory, give them a longer life that's more resistant to oil buildup.

“With the Raiju V3 Pro Signature Edition, we set out to illustrate what happens when Razer’s engineering and design capabilities are pushed to their absolute limits,” says Charlie Bolton, Global Head of Design at Razer.

“It draws on years of experience in high-performance controllers, delivering tournament-grade responsiveness in a design that feels like a statement piece in hand.”

As a reminder, the Razer Raiju V3 Pro launched late last year, translating a lot of the brand's Wolverine V3 Pro design and features over to PlayStation. It sports TMR thumbsticks, extremely responsive microswitch buttons, a 2,000Hz polling rate on PC, four back buttons, and two additional bumpers.

The Razer Raiju V3 Pro Signature Edition will be made available in regionalized drops starting on November 10, with more information to come on November 6. Razer says it'll be on a first-come, first-served basis, but hopefully there's some degree of coordination and a limitation to one per customer so that resellers don't benefit.

I see this going one of two ways. Either it'll sell out immediately in each region (to resellers or otherwise), or that pricing is going to be hard for any gamer to afford in this day and age, and, like the Asus ROG 20th anniversary Harpe II and Azoth anniversary editions I reviewed earlier in the year, it'll struggle to sell as well as its maker thinks.

For more, take a gander at the best PC controllers, the best Xbox Series X controllers, and the best TMR controllers.

You might have seen headlines all over the place saying that DLSS 5 is working in all sorts of video games and applications, but it's important to remember that while modding and workarounds have allowed for that, "official" DLSS 5 support is still only limited to one game: NBA 2K27. Now, Nvidia has announced that support is expanding, so folks with 40 or 50 Series graphics cards should take note.

DLSS 5 support is arriving this month for Hogwarts Legacy, War Thunder, and Where Winds Meet. Hogwarts Legacy will receive support on November 5 as HBO's Harry Potter series waits in the wings for its December 26 release date. War Thunder will see the feature added in "mid-November", and Where Winds Meet will get the upgrade on November 23 in the US and November 24 in other territories.

Most of the conversation surrounding DLSS 5 since its official launch, surprisingly, hasn't been about the AI image quality or yassification of characters under it. In fact, talk of the town seems to have been the fact that using DLSS 5 cripples frame rates in games, even on high-end Nvidia hardware. I found this while doing my own testing with DLSS 5 in NBA 2K27, but Nvidia has since updated the AI model to reportedly deliver 2x the speed.

Official DLSS 5 support will mean that the developers of these supported games will have had their say in the way it influences their art. Any game that's seen unofficial support will have just had the upscaler applied as a blanket over the artwork, but this next batch of games could go a long way to showing how versatile DLSS 5 can or can't be when developers have had a chance to steer it in (slightly) different directions. These include choices between different AI models and sliders to enhance individual things within environments.

So far, we've only seen that at work in one sports game that's targeting a photorealistic, broadcast look, and it'll be interesting to see how that will translate to the upcoming trio of supported games.

When I spoke to DLSS 5 engineers at Gamescom, they told me this technology was only being targeted at games striving for photorealism. I can absolutely see that in something like War Thunder, but Hogwarts Legacy and Where Winds Meet have more stylized, video game-y takes on what photorealism means for their character models, so I'll be intrigued to see if that all holds true.

Thankfully, from the Hogwarts Legacy trailer above, it looks as though a lot of the yassificaiton of the game's characters from the initial DLSS 5 reveal has been abandoned, with most of the upscaling work going toward extremely lifelike environments and lighting.

Ironically, the performance stats displayed in that trailer from Nvidia show how DLSS 5 runs in 4K with an RTX 5090. Currently, it's near impossible to find stock of the RTX 5090 or 5080 in the US as rumors swirl that both GPUs have been discontinued, and that a 24GB RTX 5080 could be replacing both in the months to come. With massive inflation in the cost of Nvidia graphics cards due to the RAM shortage, that would likely be as expensive as you suspect.

For more on PC gaming, check out the best CPU for gaming, the best RAM for gaming, and the best gaming PC.

Back at the beginning of summer, I rebuilt my PC for the umpteenth time. Since it had started its life in a small form factor ITX case, it was still using a tiny ITX motherboard that, although wasn't giving me any performance problems, was stuck with Raptor Lake processors. As a CPU reviewer, I needed to move on. But there was a problem with the new board I picked. I thought something had gone wrong when I rebuilt everything because when I had all of my USB devices plugged in, the entire gaming PC kept shorting.

It made me question everything. I was troubleshooting in every direction, trying to find the problem. Was it a screw I had wrongly used to secure the new motherboard to the case? Was it a faulty motherboard? Was it some other tiny mistake I had made with the rebuild?

Actually, it turns out it was a very, very niche problem with one of my bits of content creation gear, and one that any owner of the Rodecaster Duo could run into depending on how they use it.

From the beginning, having all of my USB devices plugged in was causing issues - that includes a mouse, keyboard, a few controllers, a Stream Deck+, and the RodeCaster Duo (twice, since it has dual USB connections you can use to separate audio channels). Shorting the board would cause the PC to crash, trap in a boot cycle, or even clear the CMOS and reset all of my BIOS settings.

To avoid the problem, I was ensuring that I was clearing any residual power from the board every time I shut down, which was a giant pain in the ass. That meant turning off the PSU switch after shutdown, holding down the button, and waiting until all the inner lights turned back on, then went off. It also meant shutting down the Rodecaster Duo before the PC so there wasn't this weird power cycle going on, leaving more inside the PC for the next time I came to boot it up.

Oddly, if I turned the Rodecaster on before my PC, it would be less prone to shorting.

It was inconvenient, but seeing as I literally could not work out what I had done wrong in the building process, and the Rodecaster Duo hadn't given me any trouble before this on an older, less powerful motherboard, I figured it was happenstance that the Duo was triggering something - it must be the PC itself, I thought.

But then the Duo started acting up. It got trapped in a boot cycle where its loading bar you see everytime you power it up, got stuck near the end. It wouldn't turn on, so off to Rode's brilliant customer support team I went.

See, the Rodecaster Duo is a really clever bit of kit. Remember I mentioned those dual USB outputs you can plug into one PC to separate audio sources onto different faders? Well, one of those has a very rare power-giving-and-receiving feature - something that the folks at Rode aren't sure exists in any other USB-C product. Essentially, so it can power a USB mic or a storage drive, it has the ability to send power out to a device, but it can also just receive data and be treated like an external device itself.

As Isabella, a very helpful Rode customer service agent, explained to me: "When plugged into a USB port, the interface will negotiate over USB in order to ascertain what it is connected to. This process includes sending 5V power output with a view to powering up an external device if one is connected," she told me.

"Some motherboards can struggle with this USB power negotiation process, which may lead to issues such as the computer failing to boot correctly, shutting down unexpectedly, or other connected components drawing power from the USB connection."

It suddenly all added up - it wasn't my perfect PC building skills failing me; Gigabyte's motherboard couldn't work out whether to power the RodeCaster, or somehow let a USB device... power.. it? I know which of those things a motherboard of a desktop PC should only be doing, but seeing as this is such a niche issue with one device, I'm not going to judge too harshly.

So, what was the solution?

"A potential workaround is to use an external USB hub as an intermediary," said Isabella. This was news to me, especially seeing as, when I had so much as thrown the USB-C connections into the wrong USB ports on my motherboard before, the Rodecaster would be very stroppy and not work correctly due to speed discrepancies.

But as it turns out, connecting to a fast enough USB hub, everything works just great. By connecting the Duo through a USB hub, it effectively isolates the 5V output from the computer's detection process. As a test, Rode sent me its own very speedy USB hub, and plugging both USB-C connections from the Duo into it solved my motherboard shorting issues. As for the Duo, despite trying a few troubleshooting and reset methods, leaving the device completely unplugged for 24 hours fixed its booting issues.

This was a really complicated and bizarre mismatch of motherboard and USB device, so I'm aware it's going to take some very small chances for anyone to run into my exact issues. But in writing this, I hope someone doing a frantic Google search to figure out problems with pricey technology is met with something that they can relate to - I know when I was troubleshooting, I was at a loss as to what I could do.

So, next time your motherboard is shorting due to USB devices being plugged in, trust that it's almost never a faulty board, and it's not so likely to be an issue with your building. USB hubs can actually come in handy, and one may just solve your tech problems.

For more PC building talk, take a look at the best CPU for gaming, the best RAM for gaming, or the best computer speakers.

Sam Altman made headlines over the weekend by ruffling the feathers of the very consumer market he's already been pissing off for the last year: PC gamers. In an interview, the CEO of OpenAI seemed to be pleading for sympathy as he said it was "quite terrible" that RAM for gaming exists, and suggested that we as humans should all be for funneling more supply toward training AI models in data centers.

For full context, Altman said: "From a global allocation perspective, actually, it's quite terrible to have everybody, like, have a bunch of the world's limited supply of DRAMs sitting in their own computer and being used 5% of the time.

"Like, you want maximum utilization in a cloud if you're trying to deal with a very supply-constrained environment," he said.

I've been covering this year's global RAM shortages from the get-go, so as you can imagine, I have some thoughts. But perhaps more alarming than anything is the fact that Altman, one of the foremost names in AI and tech, seems to suggests that consumers who buy and install RAM in their personal computers are only making use of it 5% of the time? I don't know how many gaming PCs he's tried to build, but if he's only used RAM in 5% of them, I don't think he'll have been very successful.

Now, to be as fair as I can be, I'm sure he wasn't talking about active PC gamers like you and me. It's far more likely he was talking about inactive computers or older ones that aren't in use anymore but still have RAM in them that data centers could make use of. Either way, what a bold and dangerously inaccurate statement for someone in his position to make, especially considering how much of the global tech market his company's relentless development of AI has disrupted in 2026.

In case you don't know, there's a global RAM and storage shortage going on right now, specifically because of AI companies building data centers and training their models, all of which need a ridiculous amount of compute in order to learn. For example, Samsung is one of the three biggest manufacturers of RAM on planet Earth, and it signed a supply deal with Altman's company late last year to supply OpenAI with 900,000 DRAM/HBM wafers per month - which counts as roughly 40% of the entire world's RAM manufacturing output. Only yesterday, it was reported by Tom's Hardware that Altman has negotiated a further deal with Samsung amidst RAM shortages.

Remember too, that this is only one of the big AI companies we're talking about here. Anthropic, Google, Meta, XAI, and more will all need their own massive stores of RAM as well.

And yet, in his viral interview from a few days ago, Altman seemed to think it's terrible that we as consumers are stealing up the world's supply of RAM - interesting. Especially when, only last month, IDC reported that PC hardware shipments fell 20.1% in Q3 2026.

From where I'm sat, Altman's thoughts only go to show just how out of touch AI companies are with the ways consumers use technology.

Anyone investing enough money in a gaming PC to buy RAM right now is going to put it to very good use - especially when they'll likely settle for less of it than they planned because of budget constraints. As someone who isn't a fan of AI in the slightest, Altman's flippant attitudes certainly support the argument that most AI companies have an insular, full-steam-ahead attitude to development that doesn't consider the consequences of doing so.

Is Altman suggesting that we build gaming PCs just to leave them sitting idle most of the time? Is he suggesting that RAM isn't used in most computing tasks, because that couldn't be further from the truth. Try booting a PC without memory and let me know how you get on.

Is Altman asking us to donate our RAM and go without any sort of personal computing until AI Jesus has been born anew, ready to atone for our sins?

The prices of PC hardware have gone through the roof this year, leaving entire companies and segments of the market in a scramble. That's forgetting the even worse issues of massive pollution that's happening due to AI data centers. Or, indeed, the unfathomable amounts of water being used to cool them, or the potential risks to humanity from unchecked and unregulated AI arms races. It's no real surprise that Altman doesn't consider all of those things, but you'd expect the CEO of a massive tech company like Altman to be wise to the impacts AI training is having on consumer markets.

The global RAM shortage is set to continue for at least a few years yet, and even if it doesn't, RAM companies are already finding ways to secure profits for themselves long after a supply shortage is done. Micron has signed agreements with some of its clients that all but secure this year's pricing until at least 2030. VRAM, used in the best graphics cards, is now so expensive that there are questions around whether Nvidia and AMD will even launch a new generation in 2027, and prices on existing cards are going through the roof.

The reason for all of that isn't that consumers are buying up so much RAM supply that there's now massive inflation and shortages. AI companies are to blame, so next time you use that RAM in your laptop or computer, take joy in the fact you're keeping it from them.

For more, take a look at the best gaming PCs, the best CPU for gaming, and the best computer speakers.

Anyone who’s followed Formula 1 in the last few years knows that a lot of the most interesting action happens in the midfield. There may not be as much attention or fanfare given to it, but look away from the leader, and there’s fierce battling going on all over the place. Sim racing has a similar situation brewing. Direct drive racing wheels for PC were previously reserved for the championship leaders, but in the last couple of years we’ve seen that technology filter quickly down the field.

PXN is one of the more recent names to take a run at that space. Best known for more budget wheels at the cheaper end of the grid, it launched a direct drive range of its own last year, with the VD4, VD6, and VD10 bases covering 4Nm, 6Nm, and 10Nm of torque respectively. The PXN VD6 Bundle in the middle comes in at a reasonable $379/£409 and includes a 6Nm wheelbase, a 280mm round wheel, a two-pedal set, and a desk clamp.

That lineup and price tag put the VD6 squarely up against the MOZA R5 and Logitech G RS50, both of which I've spent plenty of time with in the past. I've now been racing with the VD6 Bundle for a couple of weeks to see if PXN's hardware should have the leaders looking in their mirrors

Design

Don’t tell my editor, but the design section of sim racing reviews almost writes itself at this stage. I could probably copy and paste a lot of my MOZA R3 words here and call it a day. The PXN VD6 follows the pack when it comes to design. It’s a pretty plain black cube with some go-faster fins down each side, inputs around the back, and a quick-release on the front. It’s a method that works for everyone else, and it’s equally as successful here.

I was also braced for the usual compromises of sim racing gear at this price, though in fairness I don't have any real complaints about the VD6 base itself. It’s weighty and solid, with an aluminium shell that both feels premium and assists with thermal management. The rest of the bundle is a step down. The round wheel that’s included in the box is fine, but it's not in the same class as the wheelbase, and the same goes for the pedals. They both do the job but certainly feel much more like an entry-level pair.

That’s where the PXN GT ONE wheel comes in. It’s a standalone 300mm GT-style wheel that’s $219/£219 on its own, or $469/£469 bundled with the VD6 base (if you want pedals, they’re another $89/£89 on top). I’ve been testing it alongside the bundled wheel and found myself not wanting to switch back. This is much more like it. The quality difference is apparent as soon as you open the box. It feels like a proper piece of kit and fully in line with the self-assured quality the wheelbase gives off. The rubber on the grips is comfortable and has a more grown-up vibe than the textured faux leather of the default wheel. There's a good weight and solidity to the rim, and I much prefer the feel of the GT ONE's buttons, all of which are fully backlit.

Features

The VD6 sits in what I consider to be the direct drive sweet spot, delivering 6Nm of constant torque with peaks of 7Nm and a 24-bit encoder for precision. That's plenty for most amateur sim racers, particularly anyone new or stepping up from a gear or belt-driven wheel like the staple Logitech G923. The included W AS wheel has a modest yet reasonable 12 buttons laid out around the rim, along with a simple D-pad, two rotary encoders, and RPM lights. The shifter and clutch paddles on the back are aluminium and use Hall Effect sensors, which was a pleasant surprise.

The GT ONE is in a different league entirely. There are still 12 buttons, though here they’re larger, backlit, and laid out in a more authentic way than on the W AS, which leans more like an arcade controller than a simulation tool. PXN includes a sticker sheet in the box, too, so you can customize each button with a clear label. These sit alongside three rotary encoders on the main face, two thumb encoders, and two directional sticks, with magnetic shift paddles, Hall effect clutch paddles, and a row of RPM LEDs along the top. The brass-colored thumb encoders are great, though it's a shame they only twist and don't push too for a bonus input.

I’m less fond of the three rotary encoders on the front. They're too light for my liking, and I found them easy to overshoot the setting you wanted, particularly if only looking to turn them a single step.

The PD HM pedals are a pretty simple two-pedal set, though you can add a separate clutch pedal at a later date if you so wish. Both pedals use Hall effect sensors, meaning no load cell braking, and the resistance feels relatively light on both. They connect to the wheelbase via an onboard USB hub on the back, which also has a couple of spare ports for additional accessories like a shifter or button box. Like so much sim racing gear, the PXN VD6 Bundle is PC only with no console support whatsoever.

Performance

Rather than use the included desk mount, I bolted the VD6 to my Playseat Trophy Logitech G Edition, which has taken a bunch of other direct drive wheelbases without complaint. Here, however, I couldn't find a set of holes in the mounting plate that simultaneously lined up with the four bolt holes on the bottom of the PXN. I could only get a couple in any position I tried, and while this did hold firm enough, it isn't ideal. The pedals were the same, and arguably worse. There was always a little bit of play, particularly in heavy braking zones. Oh, and one tip: make sure to plug in all of your pedal cables before you mount them to a rig. Doing it afterwards without unbolting everything is incredibly fiddly, and no, I won't be taking questions on how I know that.

Getting racing also took far longer than it should have and is an area where it becomes apparent you’ve strayed away from a market-leading brand. Updating firmware across all parts of the bundle turned into a solid hour of faff, with the pedals going from recognized to not recognized and the GT ONE refusing to show up at all until the wheelbase was updated. Update one thing, and the app would tell me another component had rolled back. I had to roll back and start over multiple times before it finally seemed to stick. Things are fine now, mercifully, and the most recent wheelbase update went through smoothly, so fingers crossed PXN has got things in order.

I spent most of my time in the EA SPORTS F1 25: 2026 Season Pack, Forza Horizon 6, and EA WRC, all of which are listed as compatible in PXN’s documentation. Sadly, as is so often the case, every one needed manual configuration and button mapping, even when I'd used the PXN app to supposedly set things up first. It's irritating. The brighter news is that with buttons mapped, everything worked reliably and force feedback came through in every game. I did need to spend a while tinkering in Forza Horizon 6 to dial in the driving experience, and it was a case of trial and error. This isn’t an isolated PXN issue; I’ve found it tricky to get the balance right on other wheels in the past, but don’t expect to immediately hit the streets of Tokyo.

On track, 6Nm never felt short at my level and offered plenty of resistance to lean on around long corners. Truth be told, I only ever crank a stronger wheel like the Logitech G Pro up to maximum oomph for a laugh when someone new sits down, and I fancy freaking them out. You won’t need more than 6Nm for casual day-to-day racing. The force feedback is respectable and gets better the rougher the surface is. Riding a kerb or dipping a wheel into the gravel is always obvious, and there's enough detail to know what the car is doing. On the smooth parts, where you're meant to be in F1 25: 2026 Season Pack, there's less going on, though there's some sensation on standard tarmac, which is more than I got from the Turtle Beach KD3. It isn't best in class. The Logitech RS50 and G Pro are still the best I've used thanks to TRUEFORCE, but there's enough difference between surfaces to leave me feeling dialed in and immersed.

Should you buy the PXN VD6?

For what it delivers, it has to be said that the VD6 Bundle is good value. At $379/£409 for the full wheel, wheelbase, and pedal set, it's going wheel to wheel with the MOZA R5 and comfortably undercuts the likes of the Nacon Revosim RS Pure. I’d say the wheelbase is better than that price suggests, though the wheel and pedals don't quite reach that same level.

The GT ONE is a clear upgrade and one I highly recommend for track racers, though it skews the value proposition pretty dramatically. The VD6 and GT ONE bundle is $469/£469 without pedals, and the PD HM pedals add another $89/£89, so a full setup comes to somewhere near $560/£560. In the UK, that puts it level with a Logitech RS50 bundle including the track wheel and pedals, which is £550 in Logitech's configurator. The US doesn’t see as good a deal; the same set comes to $750 there. The GT ONE is a nicer wheel than the one in that bundle, but the RS50 has a load cell brake, a smoother app experience and game compatibility, and the best force feedback I've tested with TRUEFORCE.

If you're a PC racer after a direct drive bundle on a budget, and you're prepared to spend time on firmware and button mapping, the VD6 Bundle is easy to recommend. The overall experience is ultimately good; you’ll just have to take the scenic route to get there.

How we tested the PXN VD6 + GT One racing wheel

I tested the PXN VD6 Bundle and PXN GT ONE wheel on PC, mounted to a Playseat Trophy Logitech G Edition. I used both the included wheel and the GT ONE, alongside the PD HM pedals, across EA SPORTS F1 25: 2026 Season Pack, Forza Horizon 6, and EA WRC. Everything was set up and configured through the PXN SimRacing app, updating the firmware as prompted and required.

For more on how we test controllers, check out the full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

We review conventional gamepads too - take a look at the best PC controllers, the best TMR controllers, and the best Xbox Series X controllers.

1

2

3

4

Shop the collection

Shop the collection

• 

  1

  Amazon

  Evercade Nexus and Banjo-Kazooie Double Pack

  $199.99
• 

  2

  Valve

  Steam Frame

  $1059
• 

  3

  Corsair

  Corsair Skiff 100 Plus

  $59.99$69.99
• 

  4

  Amazon

  Steelseries Aeon Pro

  $259.99

The Fall months are now rolling in, but thankfully we've got more than a few ideas for how you could spend your time hunkering down. This month we've had headsets, controllers, handhelds, keyboards, and mini PCs on the test bench, but only the cream of the crop deserve their stars.

From the Evercade Nexus taking on the best retro handhelds with its own 4.5-star review score, to the cheaper Corsair Skiff 100 Plus showing the best gaming keyboards what a budget membrane deck can do these days, there's plenty to celebrate from this month's release roster. Of course, the Steam Frame took most of our time this month, looking to challenge the best VR headsets with its convenience and comfort.

Those gearing up for GTA 6 will be interested in the noise-cancellation of the new Razer Barracuda V2 Pro, while Zelda fans might be more excited by the CRKD Nitro Deck 2 joining some of the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers on the market.

This month's heavy hitters are all below, but you can look back on the year's top tech with the full GamesRadar+ Hardware digest as well.

4.5-Star gaming gadgets

4-Star gaming gadgets

3.5-Star gaming gadgets

What didn't make the cut?

For a look back on last month's picks, check out the best gaming tech we reviewed in September 2026.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is the talk of the town this week, not just because stock hunters are ready and waiting for its first special edition release but also while we count down the final days until its biggest release of the year so far.

Ocarina of Time remake is going to send everyone back to the '90s on November 5, but if you're not holding out for more Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch 2 stock, Woot's getting upgraders there for $30 less this week. The Nintendo Switch 2 has dropped from $499 to $469 at the Amazon-owned retailer, but this one's going to move fast. I've previously only ever seen discounted refurbished units on these shelves and even they typically sell out before the day is done.

Woot has sold Nintendo Switch 2 handhelds cheaper than this in the past, but rarely in new condition and this is the first time I've seen it here since the September 1 price increase.

• Join GamesRadar+ Deals on WhatsApp for our top daily discounts

Refurbished handhelds swallow up this shelf space every now and then, with the most recent offering landing back in October. Combining an on-screen discount with an additional discount tied to its gaming event, customers could grab renewed devices for as little as $409.

That was a perfect storm of savings we see typically once or twice a year. If you're upgrading your handheld ahead of Ocarina of Time (while still spending as little as possible), Woot's current Nintendo Switch deal will get you there for $50 less than the hard-to-find special edition release.

The discount is our GamesRadar+ Deal of the Day for November 2, but judging by the speed at which renewed offers have flown off the shelves at Woot it's not expected to last much longer. Unless you're holding out to roll the dice on Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals, time is of the essence here.

Unfortunately, there's a sad side to this story. While previously enjoying a $10 discount on physical pre-orders, both Amazon and Walmart have now run out of stock on the textured foil Ocarina of Time remake cart. If you want that physical case, you're now looking at the full $69.99 at Best Buy.

• Ocarina of Time Remake (Digital) | $59.99 at Amazon

Taking Woot up on their offer? Check out the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories to get started with, as well as the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers and best Nintendo Switch headsets.

Before I review the Steam Frame, I feel it's only fair that I give you some important context. I'm a big supporter of VR gaming; I'm an enthusiast of the technology that's used for it, and I've been waiting for the arrival of the Steam Frame for so long now that I find it difficult to believe it's actually on my face at times. In my role as a Hardware Editor here at GamesRadar+, keeping tabs on the best VR headsets is one of my absolute joys.

I don't say all of that to immediately undermine how useful this review will be, but because I feel it's important for you to know where I stand. It feels like when it comes to VR, you're on one of two sides as a gamer these days. You either read every headline about it with a patronising shake of the head, thinking, "When will this die already?", or you're like me, and you appreciate that this is a different genre of gaming that just hasn't found its own sustainable way to thrive yet. It'll never be truly mainstream in my opinion, but companies like Valve are trying to make it work in its own niche way, and I want them to succeed. That doesn't mean I'm going to give this headset a pass where I shouldn't, just that I'm not going to write it off for the tiniest flaw like others might.

Unfortunately, the Steam Frame arrives in a market that seems to be collapsing in on itself. Meta has finally yielded that its affordable Quest 3 headsets aren't sustainable; it's closed down its gaming studios, laid off large swathes of its VR workforce, and is course-correcting to smart glasses. Meanwhile, PlayStation has just sold all of its VR patents to Meta, signalling Sony's departure from the market. And pretty much every other brand seems to be chasing the Apple Vision Pro's high-end, unaffordable aura. Valve feels like one of the only companies left actually trying to harness this technology for the benefit of gamers, but due to the RAM and storage crisis, it's had to price it above $1,000/£800. Does the Frame do enough to succeed in these trying times? Let's find out.

Design

Don't expect a straight-shooting sequel to the Valve Index here. Where that somewhat rigid and bulky headset made a lossless connection to your gaming PC the priority, the Steam Frame is lightweight, portable, and is all about freeing you from cables. In fact, there isn't a way to wire this headset up to your PC, so if lossless connections were what you were hoping for, look elsewhere at something like the Pimax Dream Air.

In my opinion, this is the first major weakness of the Frame. I don't see a reason why the Frame couldn't have put a DisplayPort connection somewhere on the headset for those PC gamers who want that sort of experience. You don't need to make the displays any more high-end, but the option for a wired connection to a GPU would have given this thing more scope.

Without it, the Steam Frame is a standalone device that comes with a wireless dongle that creates a dedicated path in your home network for streaming games from your PC. Think of SteamLink from a Quest 3 or other third-party device, but turned up to Super Sayain 2.

It can't be denied that the Steam Frame looks really quite high-end. It's got a highly reflective face that trounces the design of the Meta Quest 3 and 3S in the class department. Then, there are classic Valve design flavours with graphite touches and a dotty, textured facial interface cushion.

The headband isn't fixed like it is on Meta's headsets either, and tightens to your face via two clever sliders that push and pull the elasticated material of the band. The headset as a whole is very, very lightweight at only 440g. Maybe that's thanks to clever trickery of putting the battery on the back of the headstrap to distribute that weight well, but overall, it's a very easy headset to wear for extended periods of time. Meta might be gunning for a full glasses design at the moment, but a headset this lightweight will be more secure on your face if you're playing VR games that involve a lot of head movement. Both for wearing and carrying around in a bag of some sort, this is one of Steam Frame's big design wins.

There's yet more convenience baked into this device. The facial interface is magnetic and clicks on and off with absolute ease - sometimes too much ease, but I'm choosing to respect the innovation here. Mostly, because the Quest devices have plastic clips you always feel are snapping something when you try to remove their interface. Everything about the Frame's design is really easy to click on and off if you need, and it all just feels to me like it's screaming out for third-party brands to create accessories for it to really bring it to the next level. I hope that happens.

A lightweight design and some very plush cushioning add up to a headset that's super comfortable to wear.

What isn't great design is that the inside of the headset (the bit you put your face into) is quite narrow. Valve includes a glasses spacer that allows a little more room for your specs if you need them, but testing both of my sets of glasses frames, which have larger lenses but certainly aren't close to being bulky by today's fashions, I can't fit them and my face in the headset.

It's a painful irony, but I can't get my frames inside the Frame. This is not a headset I'd recommend if you have a strong prescription you can't see detail without. Thankfully, I've been just fine wearing the headset and using it extensively without glasses, but prescription lenses might be the best best for you.

On the outside of the headset you'll find a couple of handy controls. First up, there's an IPD adjustment scroller which you can lock into a set position. Then, there's a power button, an interaction button in case your controllers run out of battery, and then a volume up and down key. Up on top, you'll find a vent to exhaust some of the internal heat. I'm not sure what kind of airflow trickery is going on, but sometimes I feel a flow of air hitting my face when I'm wearing the headset - I don't know if it's intentional, ambient air getting in from the outside, or I'm imagining things, but the Frame feels cooler on the face than any other VR headset I've tested.

That's not the entire Steam Frame package, however, because there are some accessories sold separately that are important to evaluate because they somewhat alter its design. I think it's a sin these aren't included in the price of the inflated and much delayed Steam Frame, especially given the accessory pack is what you need to fork out extra for if you want a power adapter.

That's right, the charging cable you'd use to plug this thing into the wall is not included in your cost of entry - utterly ludicrous for any piece of technology in 2026, but even worse when you consider the battery life issues this one has.

The accessory pack includes an extended light blocker for folks with differently sized noses, some hand wraps for the controllers to secure them with a bit more insurance, and a top band for the headstrap. On top of the power adapter, I really struggle to see why this should warrant an additional cost of $59/£59.

Features

I think the natural first point of comparison for the Steam Frame is Meta's Quest 3 and 3S visors. All three are standalone devices that can run games natively, but when it comes to gaming, a lot of emphasis for all of them has been put on streaming from a PC or laptop.

Now, all three of these headsets use a Snapdragon ARM processor, but Valve's is newer and more powerful. Moreover, Frame has a bit more freedom thanks to a compatibility layer that can, in theory, let it run any x86 Windows or Linux game. The Quest 3 ecosystem is locked to Meta's Horizon OS, whereas Steam Frame runs via SteamOS with the same sort of Linux freedoms as any other device harnessing that platform.

Like the Pico 4 Ultra, the Steam Frame also features more RAM than the Quest 3, and a larger ceiling on storage options. Its dual LCD displays have a higher resolution and match the Quest's refresh rate options. Both the Quest 3 and Steam Frame go toe-to-toe with 110-degree FOVs and Pancake lenses, but Valve has tried to push the envelope by including eye-tracking and foveated streaming - a version of foveated rendering tilted toward streaming the detail that you're looking directly at in clearer fidelity.

All in all, the features of these headsets are pretty similar - the reason the spec table above will draw a lot of attention is because of how much the prices differ.

It's been known for a while that Meta has been selling the Quest headsets at a loss, and Reality Labs just isn't pulling in profit from its affordable pricing. Valve was always going to charge more than Meta here, but because of the global RAM shortages and massive price inflation on a slew of technology, that's likely come back to bite the Steam Frame more than was ever intended.

The Quest 3 now sits at $599, but the Steam Frame's most affordable configuration costs $1,049 / £889. If you opt for the 1TB model, you're talking $1,089 / £1,299, and although you get Half-Life: Alyx included in all of those costs, it's a dramatically more substantial price tag than the mainstream option that's been on the shelves for three years.

That's where the Steam Frame goes beyond the spec tables and more into user philosophy. The Quest devices were designed with gaming in mind, but their main goal was to get mixed-reality hardware on the faces of as many social media users as possible as Meta planned to take over the internet with its Metaverse. Its passthrough cameras are full color and otherwise unmatched in the industry - they're still the only headsets I've worn where you can read text on other screens.

Valve's monochrome passthrough cameras don't live up to that, and that's because mixed-reality is so far from the goal of the Steam Frame. Its aim as a bit of hardware is, in my eyes, to provide an alternative to a Steam Deck for those who don't like handheld play or who also want access to VR games. I wouldn't recommend buying a Steam Deck or Steam Frame as your sole platform for gaming if this is your favorite hobby, only because their processors aren't the strongest - you'd be limiting the types of games you'd have access to.

Expensive as they are, the Steam Deck and Steam Frame feel like Valve's second platform offerings for people who want to take their library of PC games on the go, or who want to experience them in a different way. This is also true of the Steam Machine, which isn't going to give you a desktop experience, but will let you play less demanding titles in a more comfortable environment than at a desk. The Steam Frame has the capability to play plenty of non-VR games, as I'll come onto shortly.

In essence, the Steam Frame's features outmatch the Quest 3 in only a few areas. If that isn't enough to justify the massive price disparity between the two products, maybe think about how you'd use either device. For PC gamers with a big Steam library who want to be able to run some games natively on the go, the Steam Frame actually compares directly to the price of the current generation of handheld PCs.

Controllers

What must be applauded is that Valve has taken a revolutionary approach to VR controller design. Gone is the annoyance of having two face buttons on each hand now - these are honestly pointless because they never end up being used by most VR games, and makes VR controllers in general feel totally foreign to most gamers who have held a normal gamepad before.

On the Steam Frame's controllers, Valve has taken the sensible decision to cut a regular controller in half. There are four face buttons on the right controller, a D-pad on the left, and one TMR thumbstick for each hand. There's also still a grip button and trigger on each, but a bumper button that means translating the headset to something that can play flat-screen games is a very easy and intuitive experience.

Before you have concerns, Steam's VR Input will automatically detect disparities for the games you play if there are any, and the D-pad acts as buttons for the VR games that need left-hand functions. It all works just fine, and I, for one, prefer the familiarity of this layout over the other VR controllers I've tried.

I would argue that what doesn't work so well is that the grip buttons don't feel quite as robust as the ones on Meta's VR controllers, and they have an additional click at the end of their actuation. This helps navigate menus by activating pointer mode, but it causes a bit of confusion when you're in the middle of a VR game. Do you need to hear this click for the button press to register? Does it have an additional function when you're in a game? Any communication on that when you're setting up a new game or initialising the headset would be really appreciated. The menus for the controllers don't live up to the ones for the Steam Controller, and I think those would be really useful things to have on Frame.

Other than that, I don't have many complaints about the Steam Frame controllers. They give a decent amount of feedback; they're comfortable, well-weighted, and, despite not having tracking rings, only suffer the occasional placement glitch when I'm in a game. Overall, these are the best VR controllers I think I've used.

Performance

There are two parts of the Steam Frame's gaming performance to review here. Firstly, as a VR headset, and secondly, as an on-the-go option for flat-screen games.

I'll say that the biggest issue facing either is the battery life, which has received improvements throughout my testing period, but is still pretty lacklustre. I ran Big Walk natively on it, and the headset lasted an hour before telling me I needed to plug in or go away. With an improved firmware patch and some game streaming as opposed to using native processing power, I've pushed that further toward 90 minutes, but it's still not great for a headset that makes freedom from cables such a pillar of its design.

For context, the Quest 3's battery life has always been considered dire, and even it can last around two hours.

As a standalone VR headset, the Steam Frame can run your VR games just fine, but this isn't the experience I'd recommend to get the most out of the headset. It'll run the VR games in your Steam library, with even the most demanding ones like Half-Life: Alyx now having improvements for eye-tracking, performance, and generally just running natively on an ARM processor. Similarly to Blade & Sorcery and Walkabout Mini Golf, these games run fine and are certainly playable, but they're not quite as polished yet as I'd want them to be for this kind of price. Meta's native games, even with a less powerful processor, run really well, and I've never had an issue with performance when I'm playing something on the Quest store, probably because games are running on a dedicated version for HorizonOS. Steam Frame doesn't have that luxury, and you can tell it's working harder to make it all happen.

I'm talking about more jaggy lines, strange visual noise in the backgrounds of games, motion where there shouldn't be, even when you play with the appropriate motion smoothing and refresh rate settings. Like I say, these games will run, and you can play them just fine, but you'll likely know from looking at them that they're running natively.

The situation changes when you stream from a gaming PC, as detail suddenly sees a marked improvement, any visual noise is gone, and actually, VR games stream from a PC far better than they do to a Quest 3 using Steam Link.

One of the reasons for that is the wireless dongle creating a streamlined connection, but the other is that with the Steam Frame you have access to a whole menu of visual and graphical settings that you won't see on Steam Link on a Quest device. There's a whole Remote Settings menu that doesn't exist on Quest 3's Steam Link interface, and it allows you to more finely tune the graphics and the way you want to run your PC game on your headset.

Moreover, Foveated Streaming really kicks into play here, and it does an excellent job of applying more detail to the thing you're actually focusing on. While testing Blade & Sorcery and Walkabout Mini Golf directly streamed to both the Quest 3 and Steam Frame, I found I was having much smoother, higher-detail sessions on the Frame, and everything about the hardware was enhancing my time on Valve's headset - especially the controllers. It's a much better VR headset for gaming than Meta's when you use it in this way.

That said, the Quest 3 still has a win to its name. Its LCD displays have slightly more exciting colors, with scenes in games like Walkabout Mini Golf and Tiny Flock popping and really giving them a wow factor. On the other hand, details are conveyed more accurately on the Frame as the resolution is higher, and I noticed Valve's pancake lenses giving me a wider area of focus, so it's a real toss-up. If Valve would allow us to play around with contrast, saturation, and other image settings, it could likely match Meta on colors.

Similarly, there's no avoiding the fact that the Quest 3's speakers are far superior. The bass quality they have just isn't present on the Steam Frame, where music and sounds are a bit more treble-heavy and less optimised. Valve's speakers still do the trick, but I expect Valve Index owners will be pining for a headstrap design with that headset's audio prowess.

Then, there's the flat-screen side of things. Thanks to really easy Bluetooth settings, you can pair up one of the best PC controllers to the Steam Frame and play with no latency in probably under a minute. You can use the included VR controllers too, but I have noticed a bit of latency from them when streaming flat-screen games from a PC.

What games you can run will be a continual game of trial and error for the forseeable. I've managed to play Big Walk, Hades, Sable, Towerfall Ascension, and Eastward natively on the Frame, and they run seamlessly. In that pile, Hades is the only one with official "great on Frame" accreditation, so there's a solid, undiscovered stockpile of games that will run well on the headset.

I think the key is not expecting too much from this thing. In the same way you wouldn't go to a Steam Deck to play brand new, technically demanding titles like Control Resonant, don't expect them to run well on a device like this. For context, I tried to play Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, and while it ran in 1080p, it was in slow motion because its frame rate was so low. There are games that will work, games that won't work, and games that will improve with time, just as the entire Steam Deck library has over the years.

Don't forget there's also the ability to stream flatscreen games too, and this works well for the most part. Interestingly, I've had mixed results with games that my PC is using upscaling for. In Hunt: Showdown, Control Resonant, and Crimson Desert, I think the combination of flat-screen games being locked to 60fps when they're streamed to the Frame, and the latency with DLSS, the connection to the headset, and then your controller, is a bit of a recipe for disaster.

I'd hope to see this patched out, but right now it means that any demanding game is harder to rate as playable, and I'm working with an RTX 5080 machine and a really strong internet connection. Personally, I'd be surprised if we didn't see more improvements to this with updates to DLSS and the Steam Frame's firmware. Thankfully, a few games like Dishonored streamed seamlessly.

Should you buy the Steam Frame?

As a fan of VR, I have no trouble recommending the Steam Frame. One of its biggest problems is poor battery life, and that's already seen improvements through updates, which shows that this device is only on the up and up from here. Running VR games natively is more than playable, and streaming them from a more capable PC gives as close to a lossless level of detail as I've found with a wireless VR headset. The controllers especially deserve credit, and the fact that it's all running within Steam makes it a perfect match for PC gamers who have built their gaming library in that ecosystem.

The Steam Frame isn't the most affordable VR device out there, but it still lands comfortably in the mid-range of the market. For its convenience, comfort, and strong design, it's pushing for that best overall spot on our buying guide. I wish there was an option for wired play somewhere, because that could really bolster it further.

However, the fact that the Frame can also act like a Steam Deck you wear on your face gives this thing a whole new lease of life. I hope to see plenty of support from Valve and game developers on the software side to ensure there's plenty to play on it.

Overall, the Steam Frame might not be the VR salvation I was hoping it would be, but it's a great device that shows us there's still a point to prove when it comes to this genre of gaming.

How I tested the Steam Frame

I put the Steam Frame to work in my gaming setup for a number of weeks before this review. I've used it for VR gaming, portable gaming, and at-home gaming plenty in that time, testing its various use cases and features. I've tested VR and flat-screen games both running natively and streamed from various PCs to check how they run. I've also performed like-for-like tests with the Meta Quest 3 to compare how both headsets feel and appear from a user standpoint.

For more on our testing methods, take a look at the GamesRadar+ hardware policy.

To see the sorts of add-ons I hope you can get for the Steam Frame someday, check out the best Meta Quest accessories and the best early Black Friday Meta Quest deals.

Blaze's latest cartridge-running machine, the Evercade Nexus, officially launches today. It's a retro handheld that's been years in the making, building on the company's formula that made the OG portable, the Super Pocket, and even arcade cabinets like the Evercade Alpha, which absolutely won't fit in your pocket. That might sound like a gadget that brings nothing new to the table, but actually, it could become a precedent for keeping physical gaming alive.

Those of you who want to cut to the retro console chase can grab the Evercade Nexus for $199.99 at Amazon. My one-liner as someone who's spent hours with the handheld so far is that it's a fantastic offline solution for playing well over 700 games, and the fact that it comes with both Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie is a selling point in its own right.

If I know my readers, though, you'll want to know exactly what the deal with the Evercade Nexus is and whether it holds up against the many Linux and Android alternatives out there. It might surprise you to hear that the latter is no - it doesn't - but that's because the latter is a trick question that distracts from the fact that this is a fully fledged console platform that runs its own library of physical cartridges, including native ports, and has zero reliance on the internet in the big 2026, and that's worth supporting.

I could easily split the players who are most likely to vibe with the Evercade Nexus into three camps. The first is simply those of you who love old games but don't actually own any original copies. Let's just say you're looking for a rundown on how to play N64 games today on something like a Retroid Pocket 5; you're going to, at the very least, need to back up your own games and turn them into ROMs that emulators can use, and let's be real, not many of you will do that.

That's where Blaze's handheld ecosystem comes into play, as rather than risking ending up sailing the seas of video game piracy, you'll be able to buy a whole library of Evercade cartridges for the Nexus and legally own the games within forever. No, publishers won't be able to do a Sony and come take them away from you due to weird licensing agreements you didn't sign up to when parting with your cash, and while you'd traditionally have to buy second-hand classics to achieve that, these brand-new carts make the process simpler.

The second camp that will be drawn to the Nexus, or in fact the Evercade family as a whole, is collectors. Each release comes with a numbered clamshell case containing a full-color manual, meaning you'll be able to slowly build a collection that isn't just codes in a box or a bunch of tat linked to a certain open-world sandbox crime caper. I know not everyone cares for things cluttering their house, so you'll really need to be a shelf filler to see the appeal in this one, but I feel like more players than ever can vibe with owning things that are real and not just data hanging out on a hard drive or in the cloud.

Of course, there are also those of you who, for the moment, just want a neat way to revisit Banjo-Kazooie, and that's absolutely valid. Is the Evercade Nexus the absolute best handheld to dive back into the collectathon on? From a performance standpoint, absolutely, as it's good to go at 60fps, 840 x 512 without any mods or tweaks. Plus, this is a ground-up duo of ports specifically for the handheld, so you'll be able to play using the Nexus' shiny new dual thumbstick setup and embrace modern controls.

I should note that it's my job as a hardware tester and tinkerer to be objective with my reviews, so there are some sore points with the Nexus to consider. The first ties back to its price tag, as while it comes in at $200, it skips some features you'd normally get at that price range, like an AMOLED screen and hall-effect thumbsticks for keeping drift at bay. Its core custom operating system could be doing with a touch-up too, since it's currently missing basics like a sleep function, but Blaze says a patch will resolve that soon.

Here's the thing, though: other handheld makers aren't trying to build an entire modern physical ecosystem from scratch. Sure, I might be salty about the fact that the Nexus also lacks HDMI output, or the fact that it doesn't dive too deep into detailed CRT scanlines or try to include boons like save states. However, the latest handheld is still a milestone in the platform's evolution, venturing boldly into 3D gaming and providing a fully licensed way to play classics that don't have the caveat of subscriptions or downloads attached.

I am well aware that for many of you proper retro enthusiasts with existing collections, the better option for $200 is an Android or Linux portable that can run your library. But the Evercade Nexus gets a lot right while holding onto the conquest of ensuring physical gaming is here to stay, and if you really care about resisting the wider industry's push for an all-digital future, you can indeed put your money where your mouth is while also running around as a bear with a bird in his backpack.

Swing by the best retro controllers if you're seeking a gamepad that'll add wireless and more to your OG consoles.

8BitDo has joined forces with Microsoft to produce a gaming keyboard and mouse in full Gears of War: E-Day garb. The red and black designs of its R8 gaming mouse and Retro Mechanical Keyboard (though not so retro in this iteration) are both officially licensed, sloshing that blood-red aesthetic all over your desk. That's perfect for PC Xbox players, especially considering analysts have recently suggested an Xbox launch hasn't helped the franchise.

The R8 mouse is a little more refined in its aesthetic, whereas the TKL gaming keyboard goes all out with translucent keycaps, a Gears logo banner up top, and various juicy blood spatters. You're also getting two extra giant macro buttons in the box as well, kitted out with Crimson Omen and Locust Horde emblems.

Both the keyboard and mouse are now available for $119.99 / $59.99 respectively at Amazon after a lengthy pre-order period, with shipping currently set for November 4. It's unclear why these gadgets are launching nearly a month after Gears of War: E-Day officially hit the shelves.

It's those macro buttons I'm most interested in.

I've had the original NES-styled 8BitDo retro mechanical keyboard on and off my desk for a few years now, and it's always these giant clackers that keep me coming back. Think of these as huge slappable inputs that can be a little tricky to hit during faster moments but still remain incredibly satisfying.

Personally, I like the keep them as map and quest log shortcuts in most of my games. It's a luxury, but saving time hopping between different menu options while also being able to whack a giant button just hits different.

Elsewhere, though, both the 8BitDo retro keyboard and mouse still offer solid value for money from a technical standpoint. Wireless gaming tech usually carries a hefty premium and, while you're spending more here than you would a lesser known Amazon brand, 8BitDo steers its tech well clear of the kinds of rates we often see from Razer, Corsair, and Logitech.

It's no surprise 8BitDo got the official go-ahead from Microsoft for this one either. The brand has recently collaborated with Xbox on its 25th Anniversary kit, producing a separate translucent green colorway of its retro keyboard and R8 gaming mouse as well as a number of gamepads and controller accessories to boot.

• Xbox X25 Edition keyboard: $119.99 at Amazon
• Xbox X25 R8 mouse: $59.99 at Amazon

We're also rounding up all the best Xbox gifts for this holiday season, as well as the best Xbox Series X accessories and the best Xbox Series X controllers for more kit.

The Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless doesn't want to be the fastest on the battlefield or the most nimble in the hand. In a market dominated by rodents trying to convince you you'll climb leaderboards faster with their premium tech, that's a breath of fresh air.

In an almost nostalgic return to the thumb-rest design, the brand's latest pointer pairs a large palm-focused form factor with its own virtual Stream Deck button to form a home for the more casual player still looking for quality under the fingertips.

Its $129.99 / £119.99 price point might be a sticking point, though. We're only $30 off the price of some of the most expensive gaming mice on the market here, and yet the Nightsword V2 has a few missteps to answer for.

Sometimes awkward button positioning, an underwhelming scroll wheel, and hollow-feeling main clicks are making that upper mid-range price feel a little squeaky in today's market. Still, Corsair's secret weapon isn't FPS mastery, it's the ability to draw on Elgato's wealth of Stream Deck macros and plugins for more unique functionality than you'll find in many of the best gaming mouse models.

Speedsters can click away now, you're much better off with a Razer DeathAdder V4 Pro or one of Logitech's ambidextrous pill Superlight models. Anyone looking for a comfortable palm grip with a wealth of additional controls, read on.

Design

It's been a good few years since we had our hands on the Corsair Nightsword RGB, and the rodent's predecessor seems to have grown up during that time.

The shape itself has been smoothed out, with a less aggressive middle hump and a longer taper towards the rear. It's a form factor that begs for a palm grip - despite naturally favoring a claw hold, I found myself instead opting for a more relaxed position on this wide, fairly flat base. It's the extension of that tail that really stands out the most, though. While the previous generation (like most gaming mice I've had my hands on over the years) features a drop-off as it nears the base of the palm, the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless extends its plastic - sitting almost flush with the desk or mouse pad underneath.

That nestles neatly into the bottom of the hand, making for excellent comfort in a palm grip but less control for claw users. Without that wiggle room to the rear, I was unable to finely tune my aim as I often rely on smaller tweaks in direction via my thumb and pinky.

Gone too is the textured surface running along the main body of the mouse, though a similar design still sits along the thumb rest. In its place, a soft matte finish keeps palm temperatures cooler under pressure though I've already noticed this material picking up a decent amount of shine. It clings to oil like a government and isn't particularly forgiving about fingerprints either.

Still, the actual construction is fairly solid - as you'd expect from a $100+ gaming mouse. There's a little creaking when pushing the sides of the device together but the top and bottom panels hold out well with no flex. You won't hear any internal rattles here either.

The whole thing weighs 89g. If you're coming to the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless from a more FPS-oriented background that might sound like a rough deal. While mouse brands have been tunnelling to the bottom of the weight goldmine for a few years now, larger devices focusing more on comfort and a wide range of controls have been less focused on this aspect.

That means 89g is actually pretty light in the grand scheme of this market. The newly released Razer Basilisk V4 Pro targets a similar design with a 100g form factor and the Logitech G502 X Plus comes in at 106g. Corsair has, however, removed the adjustable weights that came with its predecessor.

Underneath all that you've got a set of standard PTFE skates. These are certainly serviceable, but they're not the smoothest on the market. They drag compared to the PTFE feet of the Razer Basilisk V4 Pro I've been testing alongside, with greater resistance behind every pan and zip.

Features

The main draw stealing the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless's headlines is that dedicated virtual Stream Deck button. You'll need to download Elgato's Stream Deck software to get it all configured (and straight out the box it'll be pushing you towards the website every time you accidentally nudge the clicker), but once there it opens the Nightsword up to a massive amount of customization.

That's going to appeal to streamers mostly, with a huge supply of tools to take advantage of while live. However, anyone doubling up their setup between work and play will still find a roster of productivity uses for this floating Stream Deck. Corsair's ownership of Elgato means this one's a Nightword V2 Wireless exclusive.

Elsewhere, you've got eleven buttons to play with in total. The two main clackers use speedier optical tech rather than the omron mechanical snappers of yore, while the scroll wheel offers not just standard click function but also side-to-side tilt buttons as well. The left side of the Nightsword is home to the aforementioned Stream Deck button, as well as two regular side clackers, with two additional inputs running alongside the left main click.

You'll be running either Web Hub or iCue to customize these inputs, though I'd recommend sticking to the browser-based software. I've said it before and I'll say it again, iCue is my least favorite customization tool. A program that hides its download button behind a subscription is pretty heavily signaling what its user experience is going to be like. That said, you will still need to keep the Stream Deck app on your PC to get the full wash of Elgato features.

With both 2.4GHz and Bluetooth you're covered for versatile wireless connections here, with an 8,000Hz polling rate to boot. This isn't a must-have feature - especially not for the playstyle this gaming mouse is designed for. Considering the size and shape of the mouse it's been placed in it's likely an unnecessary cost factored into the final price.

Performance

Ultimately, the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless provides a zippy, responsive experience with enough tracking speed to keep up with faster movements and the comfort to withstand longer sessions. I'm just disappointed that it falls at a few more sensory hurdles.

The main clicks feel smooth and actuate precisely, but have a hollow affect that makes them feel a little looser than tighter switches you'll find elsewhere. Their quiet sound profile is going to come in handy if you're doubling up for productivity in an office setting, but there isn't the snap you'd expect from a $100+ device here.

Similarly, the scroll wheel feels a little... limp, for lack of a better word. Softer notches make individual movements feel less precise than alternative models. While those steps are still firmly felt in use (swapping between weapons in Doom: The Dark Ages remains smooth and accurate), they don't feel as solidly reliable as the tactile clacks of the Razer Basilisk line. They don't let me down too often, but I still can't fully trust them.

Thankfully, side buttons are perfectly tightened with just the right amount of tension for each press. While the position of the Stream Deck button can get in the way of some faster forward motion, causing unwanted inputs, I came to appreciate the slightly cramped cluster of left controls. Positioning my thumb right in the center meant I could still maintain full control of the main body and sensor, but also roll my finger across all three inputs for a much faster interaction. While other rodents often require me to physically pick up and move my thumb to hit these side clackers, this is a particularly frictionless design.

It also packs a pretty sturdy battery life, beating others in its price class with up to 170 hours of juice on a 2.4GHz connection. Granted, that's with RGB switched off and the polling rate set to 1,000Hz - but those are easily achievable sacrifices. In testing, I never once had to plug this bad boy in - and I've been using it non-stop for work and play over two weeks.

Should you buy the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless?

The Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless isn't the most expensive mouse on the market, but it's far from the cheapest. Softer main clicks, a slightly wimpy scroller, and grittier skates are all drawbacks I wouldn't expect to see at this price point. If you're not fussed about that Stream Deck functionality, I'd recommend waiting for something like the Razer BlackShark V4 Pro to go on sale, or holding out for a discount on the older Logitech G502 X Plus or Razer Basilisk V3 Pro.

Anyone looking for a speedster controlled with a fingertip grip will be looking at more compact, lighter models anyway.

It's that Stream Deck functionality that's going to save the day for the Nightsword V2 Wireless in some use-cases, though. If you're a productivity wizard or a macro-heavy player / streamer, the additional customization options here are worth serious consideration. Whether or not Corsair's latest rodent is right for you depends on how often, and how deeply, you'll be making use of that specific ecosystem. If a lot, it's a no-brainer. If you're on the fence, there are better value options out there.

How I tested the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless

I used the Corsair Nightsword V2 Wireless as my daily driver for both work and evening gaming for a period of two weeks, with an additional week spent testing alongside the Razer Basilisk V4 Pro. The rodent was put through its paces in Doom: The Dark Ages as well as a few mouse and keyboard runs of Control: Resonant and plenty of Planet Coaster 2 action. I also performed more stringent tests in CS2 alongside Razer's iteration. For more information on how we test gaming mice, check out the full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

We're also rounding up the best wireless gaming mouse models and the best gaming keyboards for more options.

PlayStation has announced a new range of DualSense colorways and PS5 console faceplates, and if you've been enjoying the recent trend of transparent gaming tech, you're in luck. The Prism collection gives you the chance to stylize your setup with some colorful translucence in your PS5 controller or console aesthetic in either black, red, or green.

This niche of gaming hardware has been seeing a resurgence of late as Xbox revived it to celebrate the anniversary of the original Microsoft console. That's led to quite a few third-party Xbox controllers coming out with new retro-styled aesthetics to join the celebrations, but PS5 players have been feeling left out until now.

The brand's product designers are even alluding to the 90s-led inspiration:

"We know how much our fans have been looking forward to the return of transparent controllers," said Leo Cardoso from PlayStation's Color, Material, and Finish design team. "We wanted to bring back the iconic see-through trend of the late ’90s in a fresh, modern way that complements the PS5’s industrial design.”

Sony will launch pre-orders for the new color range on November 10, 2026, with the actual products shipping for a release date of February 4, 2027. They'll set you back the same as other limited edition DualSense and faceplates: $84.99 / £74.99 and $74.99 / £64.99, respectively.

The new console covers and DualSenses can be had in their official color names, Graphite Gray, Flare Orange, and Emerald Green.

The faceplates for the console aren't without a lovely touch of irony, since the transparent panelling ends when you get halfway down the machine. That means the Blu-ray drive, should you have one, will be covered by solid paneling and not visible from the outside. Okay, no one wants to look at the disc drive of a console, but pretty funny considering the dominating topic of conversation surrounding this brand since the start of summer has been its decision to kill physical media on its platforms.

Whether this is intentional or not, it is pretty funny to observe, particularly since PlayStation's socials have been flooded with "no disc no buy" comments for months. As you might expect, the PlayStation Blog post that announced the news makes no mention of it, with all of the promotional material being for the digital version of the console. It's certainly ironic considering physical media was a pretty fundamental part of the 90s tech the Prism collection is harkening back to.

"The high-gloss clear finish extends across the back of the controller, offering a look at the technology that powers the DualSense controller while maintaining a sleek, monochromatic look", says Satoshi Aoyagi, also of the design team at PlayStation.

"The metallic finish on the middle cover brings the contrasting surfaces together for a premium appearance that feels consistent with the PS5 generation."

For more, take a gander at some of the best PC controllers, the best TMR controllers, and the best Switch 2 controllers.

As we're now less than a month out from the launch of GTA 6, you may have noticed that a number of controller brands are selling you peripherals that are adorned with palm trees and quietly purple colorways. You might also notice that not many of these PS5 controllers and Xbox controllers will officially state anything about Grand Theft Auto. The second they do, they'll have Rockstar knocking on the door asking for licensing fees.

Thankfully, it's easy to make something look Vice City-inspired without actually approaching the GTA studio for a partnership - a purple sunset and palm trees are in the public domain.

I have to admit though, of all the subtle GTA 6 controller designs I've seen, GameSir might have made the best ones yet. It's launching two new versions of the GameSir G7 Pro, and both look worth buying even if GTA wasn't launching in the next 30 days. First of all, there's the Sunset Boulevard (the street, not the musical) Edition, which features a brighter pink face. Then the Ocean Breeze Edition gives off a lighter, brushed steel kind of vibe.

What I love about these controllers is that they cost the same as any other rendition of the GameSir G7 Pro, despite having a metallic, pearlescent finish to them that looks more premium than the other colorways. Not to mention, the entire games industry is trying to squeeze every last penny out of GTA 6's release, so it's nice to see a brand like this not price-gouging.

Naturally, these are going to be controllers for the Xbox players among us, until such times as Rockstar launches GTA 6 on PC as well as consoles. The G7 Pro is one of the most popular controllers on the market right now for good reason, but it isn't compatible with PS5, and GameSir, as a brand, is yet to make its move over to the officially licensed world of Sony.

To give you a reminder, the G7 Pro has earned its reputation with fans and critics by offering a really impressive feature list at a sub-$100 price. It has TMR sticks, wireless capability, a charging stand, two back buttons, and two additional bumpers, as well as excellent-feeling microswitch buttons that feel nice and responsive. There's solid versatility to be had in multiplayer and singleplayer games, so it's one of the pound-for-pounders on the controller shelves right now.

Both new versions of the controller are available for pre-order via GameSir's website now, and both will ship in November 2026, although there isn't a more specific date for when it will arrive on your doorstep. I would imagine the goal for this type of product will be to make it readily available in time for the game's launch on November 19, but just be prepared for it to be later than that since this is a new release and GameSir isn't being very specific.

If you're hunting for a new controller on another platform, check out the best TMR controllers, the best PC controllers, and the best Switch 2 controllers.