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Pokemon fight on the streets at night.
Game Reviews

Z-A Has Apparently Leaked, Beware Of Spoilers

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Pokémon Legends: Z-A is nearly upon us. The RPG is coming to Switch and Switch 2 on October 16, and that means copies are going to ship out to stores any day now. It also means that it’s entirely possible for people to get their hands on the game early, and it appears someone has broken the seal on that, as Pokémon leaker accounts are scrambling after what seems to be an early copy has been seen on 4chan.

While it’s not out of the question that this could be an elaborate hoax, a 4chan user posted an image of what appears to be Legends: Z-A’s character customization screen running on a Switch. The screen shows eight default character appearances and tells the player to pick which one will act as their base to customize later. A leaker who goes by the username BallGuy has posted confirmed information about Legends: Z-A before and has corroborated the customization screen’s authenticity, saying it matches one they have seen.

🚨🚨🚨WARNING🚨🚨🚨

A Picture has surfaced on 4chan alleging they have Pokémon Legends ZA running on Nintendo Switch on the character select screen pic.twitter.com/AyBL44CgOl

— Pory (@pory_leeks) October 1, 2025

 

The Pokémon community is tenacious when it comes to leaks and while they’re also often good about keeping them in designated channels, if you’re at all worried about Legends: Z-A spoilers, you might want to start muting some key terms on social media or just logging off. Descriptions of several new Mega Evolutions that are coming to the RPG have been circulating for months, so we’ll likely see images of them sprouting up online in the coming days or weeks as early players seek them out. It’s also possible that there might still be some surprises in store, even for those of us who have seen the list of supposed new Megas. The Mega Dimension DLC is adding two Mega Raichu forms that weren’t leaked ahead of time, so there’s probably more coming that we don’t know about yet.





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Nvidia and Intel’s $5 billion deal is apparently about eating AMD’s lunch
Gaming Gear

Nvidia and Intel’s $5 billion deal is apparently about eating AMD’s lunch

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Today, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan held a joint webcast to explain just why the world’s most valuable company (Nvidia’s at $4.28 trillion) is throwing a $5 billion lifeline to a struggling competitor.

Nvidia quickly shut down several possible explanations. Huang claimed it had nothing to do with Trump, who famously shook down Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan for the United States’ own 10 percent stake of Intel, shortly after shaking down Nvidia for 15 percent of its revenue selling chips to China. (China may have just ended that.)

And, Huang insisted, it’s not a strategic shift away from the newer Arm architecture towards the venerable x86, which has driven PCs and servers for decades. “We’re fully committed to the Arm roadmap, we have lots and lots of customers for Arm,” he said, adding later that “this doesn’t affect any of that.” Nor is it a shift from TSMC to Intel as manufacturing partner for Nvidia’s chips — Huang quickly turned to effuse praise for TSMC as soon as a reporter asked — or about manufacturing in the US.

Instead, over the course of the 40-minute call, Nvidia and Intel basically said they were going to eat AMD’s lunch.

CEOs of both companies on the webcast. Image: Nvidia and Intel

AMD is the one chipmaker that competes with both Intel and Nvidia, and it’s long been competitive in one hugely important way: while Intel has always specialized in CPUs, and Nvidia has always specialized in GPUs, AMD does both, and it’s become very good at putting both into the same chip.

That’s why Sony put AMD into the PS4, PS5 and reportedly the PS6; why Microsoft put them in the Xbox One, Xbox Series and the next Xbox, and why almost every handheld gaming PC since the Steam Deck uses an AMD chip. It’s why AMD is finally a reason to buy a laptop, instead of consigning it to budget status like it used to.

“There’s an entire segment of the market where the CPU and GPU are integrated, and it’s for form-factor reasons, or cost reasons, or battery life reasons, all kinds of reasons, and that segment has been largely unaddressed by Nvidia today,” Nvidia’s CEO just admitted on the call.

We’re creating an SoC that fuses two processors. It fuses the CPU and Nvidia’s RTX GPU using NVLink, and it fuses these dies into one essentially virtual giant SoC, and that would become essentially a new class of integrated graphics laptops that the world’s never seen before. That entire segment of the market is really quite rich, and it’s really quite large, and it’s underserved today.

That sounds great! But also, that “underserved” market is also the same exact market that AMD has served and is trying to freshly serve with its Strix Halo, aka Ryzen AI Max, which… fuses AMD’s most powerful laptop CPU with the most powerful integrated graphics AMD has ever made, plus so much shared memory (128GB) you can run a big AI model locally. It all fits into a laptop I can lift with one hand. Or a big tablet. Or this thing.

1/3An AMD Strix Halo laptop with 128GB of memory and the most powerful integrated graphics in a laptop. Photos by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Not to say that Nvidia is copying AMD or anything like that. It sounds like competition, and competition is good. I can’t wait for more powerful, efficient Intel+Nvidia parts; remember that one time we got a one-off Intel+AMD part and it was really quite good? Besides, it’s an open secret that AMD’s Strix Halo is pricey; Huang says wants to address the larger 150 million notebook market, not just the premium segment where it already sells discrete GPUs for laptops. Maybe we can get less expensive game consoles and handhelds if Nvidia has suitable chips for them, too.

Of course, competition would be better if it were among three companies rather than two — like how Intel, Nvidia, and AMD were all competing in graphics (at least they were until this deal happened, and until the exec who insisted Intel would stay in graphics abruptly left the company).

Nvidia says the other reason to tie up with Intel is server CPUs, targeting another segment where AMD has been racking up wins: AMD was reportedly approaching 40 percent server processor market share this summer. (Its desktop CPU market share also hit a historic high in August, particularly among gamers.)

Huang said twice that Nvidia will become a “major customer” of Intel CPUs, buying them to put into its rackscale servers. That’s a bit of a surprise, as Nvidia’s spent many years building its own Arm CPUs for its servers and said MediaTek might even sell that CPU to a wider desktop market, but again Nvidia says it will continue to do that. “We have exciting CPUs that we’re building based on Arm,” Huang says.

There’s a lot of big questions that Nvidia and Intel wouldn’t answer on the call. If you’re hoping this move ensures Intel keeps making chips, and making them in the United States, both companies were very non-committal. Asked if Taiwan’s TSMC would be fabricating the majority of the Intel+Nvidia chips, as it already does for Nvidia’s GPUs, Tan says: “Clearly we want to qualify and then, you know, we’re going to decide whether this is the right one for doing at our foundry.”

“Jensen and I will review that, but overall I think we’re going to continue to drive our success on the process side and then win customer confidence and trust, and then one step at a time,” he adds.

Huang did step in at that point to suggest that Intel’s Foveros 3D chip stacking technology might be a good candidate for the collaboration, but even then Tan wouldn’t fully bite, suggesting merely that they would “explore the collaboration opportunity.” Nvidia also suggested it was too early to say what silicon process the new chips might use.

Asked about building chips in the United States later in the call, Tan suggested its responsibility there was separate from its Nvidia collaboration. “Clearly we like President Trump’s focus on manufacturing in the US. But you know, I think it’s important to address that, and then the opportunity we have in front of us.”

He suggested that Nvidia should have “the flexibility which is best suitable for them.”

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Still getting dunked on in Dota 2? Don't worry, even Gabe Newell gets called a noob once a week, apparently
Game Updates

Still getting dunked on in Dota 2? Don’t worry, even Gabe Newell gets called a noob once a week, apparently

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I don’t play online games particularly often, mostly the only ones that I do enjoy are the kind of games I can play with just my friends. People are mean, you see, and I have a sensitive soul, and also I often find them deeply boring conceptually and in practice. Take of that what you will in relation to this story about Dota 2! Moving on swiftly to a topic that I promise connects to this intro, Gabe Newell! He is a co-founder of Valve, and a noted Dota 2 lover. He also, apparently, is someone who is often subjected to ridicule while playing the very same game his company makes.


The man himself made a pre-recorded experience at this year’s Dota 2 International, opening exactly how you’d expect him to: “Hi, I’m Gabe Newell.” After clearing that up, he waxes not quite poetically about how he fell in love with the MOBA quite deeply thanks to the first International. But, he says says, “It’s not just the game I love, but the community.

Watch on YouTube


“Sure, people talk s**t at me in chat, and about once a week people say, hey noob, uninstall the game and [censor blip]. But that’s really about their enthusiasm, and the energy that they bring, and that’s why, after all these years, I still play Dota every day.”


Now, I do feel I have to say that this is a pretty subtly horrendous way to endorse quite toxic behaviours that many people are often subjected to in online games. I don’t care if you’re enthusiastic! We’re all here to have fun, right? Try a friendly word of advice before you make your way to the arcade’s basketball machine for some easy dunks.


On the other hand, I find it quite an amusing, if brief, anecdote about the ways in which we don’t know who we’re playing with online. I fully believe that Newell regularly gets lambasted by strangers online, and it tickles me to imagine how they might change their behaviour if they had the relevant context.


Not to say that it’s good many of them would likely be kinder with said context, I just think there’s a lesson to be had here in how we encourage certain kinds of communication in game spaces. One that Valve, even now, still should probably learn how to do better.



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Two young women look dubious
Product Reviews

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, which is apparently the good one, is getting remade and coming to PC

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FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE Announcement Trailer – YouTube

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There’s one more bit of PC-relevant news to come out of Nintendo’s latest blunderbuss of Mario guff, following the Hades 2 release date and Danganronpa 2×2 announcement. It’s that Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is getting a remake, and it’ll be available on PC next year.

“This title has undergone a complete overhaul,” the Steam page says, “with improvements to everything from visuals and audio to the core gameplay systems and controls. The signature Camera Obscura mechanic, used to capture and fend off spirits, remains a key feature, now offering richer and more engaging gameplay in both exploration and combat. In addition, the new ‘Holding Hands with Mayu’ mechanic adds a heartfelt touch, letting you experience the deep bond between the sisters like never before.”

While two later games in the series, Maiden of Black Water and Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, have made it to PC previously, this is the first time one of the well-received original trilogy will be officially represented on our platform of choice. It’s reportedly the scariest one in the whole series too.


Related articles

Fatal Frame, known as Project Zero in some territories, is about ghosts who can be hurt by taking photos of them. Keeping them in focus while they’re trying to murder you, and taking shots at the precise moment they attack—the “fatal frame” of the title—provides the challenge. As does the fact you have to stare at creeps and spectres in first-person through your viewfinder the whole time.

Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is another 2026 release, though the trailer does end on “early 2026” so maybe we won’t have too long to wait.



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Gaming Gear

‘No Tax on Tips’ apparently also applies to your favorite streamer

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Streamers, YouTubers and other content creators are eligible for the new “No Tax on Tips” policy in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2024. “Digital Content Creators” are included in a preliminary list of occupations that are eligible for the new tax deduction on tips the US Treasury Department released last week. That means a podcaster could receive the same tax relief as a waiter or bartender.

Under that guidance, the “Bits” received during a Twitch stream or the “Super Thanks” a YouTuber receives for a great upload could go untaxed when next year’s tax season rolls around. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, though, there are limits to how much of that tipped income will be deducted — up to $25,000 per year and it’s phased out for single filers who make more than $150,000 per year — and language that suggests not every tipping scenario content creators face might apply.

According to the Treasury, tips won’t qualify for the deduction “if they are received in the course of certain specified trades or businesses,” which includes “the fields of health, performing arts, and athletics.” Does that mean this is a much narrower carve out for content creators than it appears? Possibly, but these classifications will need to be finalized before anyone will be able to say for sure. Ultimately, content creators have multiple possible sources of income: direct subscriptions, ad revenue, paid partnerships, direct sales and digital tips. How much a new tax deduction changes their calculus will vary.

Making tips tax deductible was one of several campaign promises Trump made leading up to his reelection in November 2024. The idea was eventually folded into the One Big Beautiful Bill, which is perhaps better known for the catastrophic cuts it made to social welfare and clean energy spending. As it turns out, the bill might also reshape the creator economy, too.



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The White House Apparently Ordered Federal Workers to Roll Out Grok ‘ASAP’
Product Reviews

The White House Apparently Ordered Federal Workers to Roll Out Grok ‘ASAP’

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The White House appears to have instructed leaders at the General Services Administration (GSA) to add xAI’s Grok chatbot to a list of approved vendors “ASAP,” according to an email sent by agency leadership earlier this week, which WIRED obtained.

“Team: Grok/xAI needs to go back on the schedule ASAP per the WH,” states the email, sent by Josh Gruenbaum, the commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service. “Can someone get with Carahsoft on this immediately and please confirm?” Carahsoft is a major government contractor that resells technology from third-party firms.

“Should be all of their products we had previously (3 & 4),” the email continued, seemingly referring to Grok 3 and Grok 4. The subject line of the email was “xAI add Grok-4.”

Sources say Carahsoft’s contract was modified to include xAI earlier this week. Grok 3 and Grok 4 both currently appear on GSA Advantage (an online marketplace for government agencies to buy products and services) as of Friday morning. Now, following some internal reviews, any government agency can roll Grok out to federal workers.

The White House and GSA did not respond to a request for comment from WIRED.

The email comes after a planned partnership with xAI fell apart earlier this summer following Grok’s widespread praise for Hitler and the spouting of other antisemitic beliefs on X, WIRED previously reported.

In June, employees from xAI met with GSA leadership for a two-hour brainstorming session to discuss how xAI’s Grok chatbot could be used by the government. Federal workers were surprised to see their leaders press for a contract with a company marketing an uncensored chatbot with a history of erratic behavior. In early July, Grok, which is integrated into Elon Musk’s social platform X, seemingly went off the rails and started praising Hitler. GSA leadership took Grok off the Multiple Award Schedule, which is GSA’s long-term government contracting platform, according to sources at the agency. When GSA announced buzzy partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google earlier this month, xAI wasn’t mentioned at all.

xAI is Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup. Musk, who also helms the social network X in addition to a number of other companies, played a crucial role in President Donald Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He stepped back from his public-facing role at DOGE this spring, following a massive fight with the president. A number of his associates continue to work in government pushing DOGE’s cost-cutting and AI-first agenda.



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Kanye West Said Memecoins ‘Prey On Fans.’ Then He Apparently Launched One
Gaming Gear

Kanye West Said Memecoins ‘Prey On Fans.’ Then He Apparently Launched One

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Kanye West, the hip-hop artist who goes by Ye, appears to have launched his own cryptocurrency, YZY, sparking a riot of trading activity.

In February, West rejected the idea that he might launch a crypto coin. “I’M NOT DOING A COIN,” he wrote, in a since-deleted post on X. “COINS PREY ON THE FANS WITH HYPE.” He seems to have changed his mind.

On Wednesday evening, West’s X account announced the YZY coin in two posts. “The official Yeezy token just dropped,” said West, in a strangely deadpan video clip that some X users speculated was AI-generated.

As traders piled in, the coin’s paper value surged to $3 billion, then plummeted by two-thirds in the span of three hours as early investors cashed out. Since the start of trading, investors have placed more than $740 million worth of trades. The majority of traders have recorded losses, collectively losing more than $20 million, says blockchain analytics company Nansen.

Winner of more than 20 Grammy Awards, West has become increasingly unmoored and erratic in his behavior in recent years. Most infamously, West made a series of antisemitic remarks in 2022 that drew widespread condemnation and led Adidas to abandon a lucrative partnership with his design label. In May, he released a music video entitled “Heil Hitler.”

The YZY coin is supposedly part of a grander constellation of products called YZY Money, which also purports to include a crypto payments service and debit card. “YZY Money is a concept to put you in control, free from centralized authority,” the website claims.

According to the website, 20 percent of the YZY supply has been released, 10 percent has been pooled on exchanges to allow for smooth trading, while the remaining 70 percent is held by Yeezy Investments LLC. The company cannot gain access to those coins for at least three months, a common practice meant to prevent issuers from dumping their holdings and sinking the price of a coin.

It is unclear who controls Yeezy Investments, which is registered in Delaware and therefore not required to disclose its ownership structure. Yeezy Investments operates the YZY Money website under a licence granted by Ox Paha Inc., a company through which West manages his intellectual property, the terms and conditions state.

Typically, rookie crypto traders are warned away from coins whose supply is concentrated in the hands of a small number of parties, for fear they might sell off their holdings en masse, driving down the price of the coin.

“You have to consider longer down the line,” says Nicolai Søndergaard, research analyst at Nansen. “Let’s say all tokens unlock in two years, you might not want to be in a token at that point. You could fairly assume there would be a sell-off.”

Patterns in the trading activity in the minutes after the YZY coin announcement have led to further questions about the integrity of the launch.



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