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Game Thread: We need a stopper

Nick Martinez can be that guy!

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Sep 4 • 7:45 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Game 142 Game Day Thread – Tampa Bay Rays @ Texas Rangers

Maybe Nick Martinez will do us a big solid

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Sep 4 • 7:05 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
15 discouraging hours with Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and 10 brilliant ones with He Who Watches

In the last few weeks, while playing some video games that I might review, I emailed two cries for help. I sent the first to a rep for Capcom, confessing that the company’s samurai game Onimusha Way of the Sword (out today for PC and console) was crushing me. “Feels like I’m playing ‘hard’ mode, not ‘normal,’” I wrote. “And I don’t want to have to knock it down to “story”. I’m exploring, trying to level my gear, but these two-phase boss fights with no mid-fight checkpoints are brutal.” I wagered I was only about halfway through the game, if that. I wasn’t sure I could keep up with the steepening difficulty curve. Was I missing something? Then, on Monday, I took some photos of some puzzles that were baffling me in the mind-bending He Who Watches (out now on PC), wrote out lengthy descriptions of how I’d been trying to solve them and asked Bobby Vanden, the game’s solo developer, for a nudge in the right direction. I told Vanden I’d spent hours on these puzzles. “I’m stuck in triplicate,” I told him. Could he tell me if the solutions I was attempting were even on the right track? I didn’t mention that the puzzles—coupled with major time pressures from other work—were stressing me out so much that playing the game was giving me headaches. This double dose of panic was unusual. I’m used to managing a workload full of reporting and reviewing, used to a crowded schedule and the need to stay calm amid the bustle. But I was stressed about these games. No one was forcing me to review them, nor even play them. I’d simply found them interesting enough to start, hoped they’d be interesting enough to write about and I’d sunk hours into them assuming I’d made the right call. Suddenly, however, I felt trapped. I was emailing for a way out. Above: This guy took me about an hour to beat. The feedback I got from Capcom confirmed my fears. They didn’t say it, but I will: Onimusha Way of the Sword is not for me. It’s a brutally hard game in need of a normal difficulty level. It’s a game that spikes so severely during its abundant boss fights—yet offers such flawed ways to improve when outside of them—that it feels like a bait-and-switch. In the new Onimusha, you play as famed samurai Musashi Miyamoto, aided by a magical soul-absorbing gauntlet that is possessed by a lady who offers advice. (Way of the Sword is a continuation of Capcom’s long-dormant Onimusha series, but that set-up had me wondering if the company was cribbing from their ill-fated Bionic Commando reboot; read about “wife-arm” when you get a chance). Way of the Sword is partially set in 17th century Kyoto, an explorable city where Miyamoto can fight demons, help civilians and eventually rescue ghostly dogs. The city evolves over time, with new mini adventures and obtainable loot on offer, all feeding into systems that promise to upgrade your gear and sword-fighting skills. Upgrades, however, are so incremental as to be imperceptible, causing the exploration of Kyoto to feel like inconsequential busywork. From that hub, players can go on linear missions into forests and old temples, where they will encounter many of the game’s tough bosses. Combat in Way of the Sword is akin to many modern melee games. Players are asked to mix attacks with dodges and parries. They’re encouraged to deplete an enemy’s stamina bar in order to do greater damage to its health bar. The old Onimusha games’ signature move was the issen, a counter-attack so sudden it’s all but pre-emptive. You strike just as they begin to strike toward you, beating them to the cut. By definition, the issen is a high risk move, leaving you wide open to pain. It feels risky in the game, especially against bosses, who can maul you in just a few blows. A game might train you to perform an issen well by offering a variety of lesser enemies who are not as tough as the boss but get close. Or it might offer a toehold against bosses by saving or checkpointing the player’s progress when a boss’ first health bar has been destroyed and before the second health bar appears. It might offer the less skilled player a chance to over-level their character, should the player simply commit to playing through its optional sidequests. Way of the Sword does none of this. Fighting its trivially easy grunt enemies and then its ferociously adept bosses is like playing a game of chess where I’ve got a rook, while the opposing side is all pawns and five queens. Bosses simply don’t checkpoint. You may be able to clear a boss’ first phase without taking much damage. Good for you. Do it again, every time you fail the second phase. As for the the central Kyoto hub, I kept pace with all of its added side activities and never felt like I was overpowered. Bosses could still easily buckle me. The new Onimusha, I concluded, is just too discouraging to keep playing. The advice I got from Capcom had been well-intentioned. They reminded me of the game’s various systems. They alerted me to an optional assist that flashes recommended button inputs (basically: counter this move; dodge that move). It was a little helpful. So was dropping down to “story mode,” which I tried last night. Story mode turns on those button prompts by default. It makes countering and dodging way too easy, nearly automatic. I don’t consider myself a master of action games like these, but I’ve cleared the likes of God of War, Stellar Blade, Star Wars Jedi and others of sub-Sekiro difficulty and had a fun time doing so. Not here. Not yet. Unless they patch Onimusha: Way of the Sword and add a middle difficulty or just checkpoint the damn bosses when they’re between health bars, my streak of loving Capcom games released in 2026 will likely end at two. It’s a shame, because I was having a good time finding those ghostly dogs. And then there’s He Who Watches, a phenomenal first person puzzle game with Portal vibes, except instead of a portal gun you’ve got a magical bow that shoots one arrow that can activate switches or be used to drag blocks. The twist is an actual twist: you can also walk on walls and the ceiling, reorienting gravity as you do, thereby placing blocks onto those other surfaces. Walking on walls and ceilings to solve problems is really the best thing. Would that I could in reality. He Who Watches consists of locked-room challenges, each brief enough to only require about a minute to actually solving, though it will take five, 10, eventually 30 minutes to figure out said solutions. They are not obvious! It’s a game of layered mechanics and shocking solutions. For example, see if you can follow this: You can drag a block to a wall. Then you can walk on the wall, which now feels like the floor, and drag that block across the wall. Later, back on the floor, you might realize you can look up. The block is still on the wall, stuck to it. You can shoot your magic arrow to its underside. Doing so creates a tether, so that you can yank the block off the wall and carry it, as if it were a balloon, into the spot where you need it to be to solve the puzzle. Here, watch Vanden explain some of the game’s basics in this launch trailer: As with any great puzzle game, the solutions to He Who Watches’ puzzles elicit relief and amazement. Oh my god, that worked! I didn’t even think that could be possible! Learning to solve the game’s puzzles feels like learning magic. But, oh, does the game get hard. Its Steam reviews, mostly glowing, are full of players remarking how quickly He Who Watches made them sweat. Wrote one: “loving this one already although my brain is hurting!” Wrote another: “As you get further in the game it feels like you need an IQ level of at least 120+.” Vanden has shown some mercy. Each locked room puzzle includes an optional junior version of the puzzle, meant to teach you. Difficulty nevertheless ramps severely. By the time I was emailing Vanden for help, I was struggling to even clear one of the hint puzzles. When I messaged him, my stress was exacerbated by strange things I’d found in the game’s various hubs: suspicious passageways, odd blocks and some intriguing locked doors. These were hints of secrets, I realized, yet I sensed I needed to play further into the game to understand them. I was stuck, but I wanted to see the rest. Vanden offered to give me the exact solutions, to solve those three puzzles for me, but first he gave four nudges. Three were for the specific puzzles, but his best hint was for all and ultimately proved to be a terrific life lesson: go back a bit, he suggested. Do the puzzles right before those. They were teaching you something. Focus on what their lesson was. Don’t rush, in other words. Recognize what you’ve accomplished. Build off of that. I did so. I absorbed the lessons. I saw those three tough puzzles in a new light. I solved one the night after he wrote back, another the morning after. I left a third for another time. I didn’t need it and I wanted to plunge deeper into the game, closer to the moment when I was sure I could start unlocking those secret doors. My head stopped hurting, too. He Who Watches feels special. It’s got more challenges, and I’m undeterred. It’s also nice that its puzzles don’t have a surprise second health bar. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Item 2: In brief… 🎮 Ilari Kuittinen, co-founder of Helsinki-based Housemarque (Super Stardust HD, Resogun, Returnal) has stepped down from his studio, after a 31-year run, saying he’s “ taking a rare and well-deserved breather.” Sony purchased Housemarque in 2021, and the studio released its newest game, Saros, earlier this year. Trend-watch: Sony-owned Insomniac saw its founder Ted Price retire in early 2025, after a 30-year run. Sony-owned Sucker Punch saw its co-founder Brian Fleming step down in late 2025, after a 28-year run. 👀 Savvy Games Group chief Brian Ward is stepping down from the Saudi-government-backed games conglomerate, Bloomberg reports. No word on a long-term successor yet, nor if this augurs any closer integration between Savvy and Electronic Arts. EA was purchased by a consortium led by Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, in early August. 💿 Square Enix has denied a Japanese media report that the company was planning to go private. In very different Square Enix news, the company revealed that the physical version of Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, the April 2027 finale of its radical remakes of FFVII, will include just one disc in its case, requiring a download for the rest. The first two FFVII remakes in the trilogy shipped on two discs apiece. While Square hasn’t commented on the reason why, a feature here in Game File last month broke down the processes and costs for physical games. The expense of a second disc comes out of the game publisher’s cut of each copy. Square could be saving in excess of a dollar a copy with this move. 🟥 Grand Theft Auto IV’s 26-minute ’‘extended look” gameplay showcase that premiered on Netflix last week—and was exclusive to the platform for six hours—drew 31.1 million views in its first four days, the streamer announced. (Netflix calculates views as total viewed hours divided by runtime; excludes replays). Compared to YouTube: The version that later premiered on Rockstar Games’ YouTube channel is sitting at 22.6 million views after seven days (YouTube’s more liberal counting system tallies anyone who viewed even just the first few second.) Compared to other Netflix mega-events: Last year, Stranger Things season 5’s first four episodes, which debuted together, drew a record 59.6 million views in their first few days on Netflix. For more of a live event type of comparison, in 2024, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match drew 65 million concurrent streams as it happened; Netflix didn’t release live numbers for the GTA premiere. ☁️ Microsoft is changing the way it charges for cloud gaming, from an all-you-can-play offer for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, to caps for the subscription’s tiers (15 hours per month at the Ultimate tier), with the option to buy more hours in bulk beyond that. The company also said it will sell batches of cloud gaming time to non-Game Pass subscribers, details TBA. Microsoft does not release figures for cloud game usage, but said its changes would impact 4% of Game Pass subscribers. That implies a small portion of its subscribers exceed the 15-hour monthly mark. Cloud gaming offers the promise of playing games without the need for console or PC hardware, as the graphics, sound and controls are all transmitted via a streaming connection. Microsoft notes that its cloud gaming service can be used for a range of things, including Xbox One players using it to play newer-gen Xbox Series games via streaming; and people playing games via streaming, sans any console, “in markets where consoles are less available or affordable.” (That latter use case could even be relevant in Xbox’s home market soon, as console prices keep rising.) Take Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick recently told investors he expects game-streaming tech, which has been only lightly adopted by gamers for over a decade, to be widely used within three years. 🇺🇸 The Trump administration has published multiple agenda-driven web video games to the White House’s website. One called Build The Wall partially clones Tetris as it asks players to build a wall to stop a “zombie border siege.” While actual Tetris involves clearing lines and basically not building a wall, the Trump-backed game omits the line-clearing aspect (and omits the fun as well). On Instagram, Tetris’ official license holders reacted by stating: “At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them. To our fans everywhere: we love you, we see you, and we’re grateful to have you in our community. P.S. The Tetris Company was not involved in the creation of ‘Build the Wall.’ P.P.S.: We take copyright infringement very seriously.” Item 3: The week ahead: Tuesday, September 8 Game releases: Mewgenics (consoles; already out on PC) is an engrossing tactical combat game (with cats). It is getting its console port right after the release of a Star Wars tactics game and ahead of the late September launch of a Fire Emblem–a bumper crop for the genre. Wanderburg (PC) is an auto-shooting game like Vampire Survivors, but you’re a castle on wheels Event: Nintendo airs a 30-minute Nintendo Direct (10am ET) focused on The Legend of Zelda’s 40th Anniversary. A full unveiling of the upcoming remake of The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time is expected. Will they also show footage from next year’s live action movie? Tease the next big 3D Zelda? Add Link to Mario Kart World? Shadow-drop a new Tingle game? Wednesday, September 9 Event: Nintendo again! On this day, they’re planning to air a 45-minute Nintendo Direct (10am ET) focused on games heading to Switch 2 this winter. Followed by about an hour of gameplay demoed by the company’s Treehouse team. The September Nintendo Directs are always some of the year’s biggest. The 2025 edition included announcements of several major 2026 Switch/Switch 2 games: Pokémon Pokopia, Mario Tennis Fever, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Fire Emblem Fortune’s Weave. Plus the return of the Virtual Boy. Friday, September 11 Game release: EA Sports NHL 27 (PlayStation, Xbox) is a hockey game. There are so few that an indie studio that had been making wacky sci-fi first-person shooters just announced that, hey, we’re going to fill a void and make a hockey game for PC.

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Sep 4 • 6:23 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news
Packers GM Shares True Feelings on Dolphins Quarterback

Green Bay South has become a popular nickname for the Miami Dolphins this offseason. That originated after the Dolphins hired Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as their new head coach and Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan as their new general manager.Miami did not stop there, as they then signed former Green Bay […] The post Packers GM Shares True Feelings on Dolphins Quarterback appeared first on HEAVY.

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Sep 4 • 3:59 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Congressman Langworthy Announces $76.2 Million Investment to Strengthen Rural Health Care

Southern Tier and Finger Lakes healthcare to benefit from “Rural Health Transformation Program” From the office of Congressman Langworthy, Congressman Nick Langworthy today announced a $76.2 million investment through New […]

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Sep 4 • 1:27 PM EDT • Health • wellsvillesun.com
BrownWinick promotes Kasey Vogel to chief growth officer

BrownWinick Law Firm has promoted Kasey Vogel to chief growth officer, an executive leadership role in which she will guide the Des Moines-based firm’s growth strategy. Vogel joined BrownWinick in September 2023 as director of marketing and business development. In her new role, she will work with the firm’s executive committee to strengthen its growth…

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Sep 4 • 12:23 PM EDT • Business • businessrecord.com
How MSU’s WR Room Has Changed Without a Star

No superstar, no problem, says Courtney Hawkins. With Nick Marsh at Indiana and eight freshmen in the room, Michigan State's receivers will go seven or eight deep, and the rule is simple: no block, no rock.

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Sep 4 • 9:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Nick Bolton praises the development of defensive rookies since camp

During Thursday's press conference, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton praised the development of defensive rookies since camp | @EdEastonJr

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Sep 4 • 8:01 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Juventus switch 'could play to Woltemade's strengths'

Football journalist Julien Laurens believes playing in Serie A "could work and play to Nick Woltemade strengths", with the Newcastle forward having joined Juventus on a season-long loan deal. Germany international Woltemade joined the Magpies last summer but has struggled to bed into the Premier League. Juventus will pay Newcastle a £3.5m loan fee for Woltemade, but do not have the option to buy the 24-year-old.

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Sep 4 • 2:44 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Nick Kyrgios cleared for immediate tennis return after stunning drug ban reversal

Just weeks after facing the prospect of years away from tennis, Nick Kyrgios has been handed a stunning lifeline following a major suspension ruling.

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Sep 3 • 9:09 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Entertainment Quality Control: 'Animal Control' on Netflix, 'Community' on Peacock, and more

In this week's Entertainment Quality Control, Nick and Janette talk about a "furiously good" season finale along with several other "palate cleanser" shows.

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Sep 3 • 5:28 PM EDT • Entertainment • wndu.com
Nick Todisco, Brad Pence Join Linden Entertainment

Nick Todisco and Brad Pence have landed at Linden Entertainment following their exit from Atlas Artists, Deadline has learned.

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Sep 3 • 2:15 PM EDT • Entertainment • deadline.com
Nick Saban stars in new TV ad advocating for Cruz, Cantwell NCAA bill

Former college football coach Nick Saban is staring in a new advertisement advocating for the Protect College Sports Act, the bipartisan bill that would regulate college sports backed by Sens. Ted …

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Sep 3 • 12:59 PM EDT • Sports • thehill.com
Carney claps back at Lutnick, says Canada will resume trade talks 'when the Americans are ready'

Canada has retaliated against President Donald Trump's 50% tariffs with "dollar for dollar" duties on U.S. goods, which are set to take effect next week.

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Sep 3 • 12:06 PM EDT • Politics • cnbc.com
Iowa Athletics changing some sports schedules due to heat

This will not impact Saturday’s football game at Kinnick stadium.

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Sep 3 • 12:06 PM EDT • Sports • kcrg.com
Nick Wright Criticizes Dan Orlovsky's 'Unacceptable' Matthew Stafford Claim

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky gave a take on Rams QB Matthew Stafford that was so egregious that Nick Wright had to call him out for it.

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Sep 2 • 5:40 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Palace Theatre supporters celebrate 100 years as entertainment venue

Like many kids growing up in Greensburg over the past 100 years, The Palace Theatre has meant a lot to Mayor Robb Bell. He and a group of friends from the Northmont neighborhood would walk over to the theater on Saturday mornings. They’d pay a nickel to watch cartoons in

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Sep 2 • 5:09 PM EDT • Entertainment • triblive.com
Options traders buy Robinhood calls as prediction markets business gains steam

CNBC's Oliver Renick reports on the latest action in options markets.

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Sep 2 • 4:01 PM EDT • Business • cnbc.com
Niners Reveal Plans for Star Edge Nick Bosa in 2026
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Sep 2 • 1:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Nick Bosa's availability remains mystery ahead of 49ers' trip to Australia

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa hasn't played since tearing his right ACL last September. Whether he will be ready for the team's Sept. 10 opener versus the Rams in Australia is unclear.

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Sep 1 • 8:48 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?

(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.

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Sep 1 • 6:15 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com
Nicki Minaj joins Trump administration’s small business pitch competition as judge

The rapper will serve on the panel for the SBA’s “Million Dollar Pitch Competition” alongside business executives and other celebrities.

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Sep 1 • 1:50 PM EDT • Business • yahoo.com
Politics & Power: AI data centers spark backlash over costs, environment, security

Nick Allard, Dean of the Jacksonville University School of Law, joins News4JAX anchor Bruce Hamilton on this week's episode of "Politics & Power" to discuss AI's growth and rising concerns about utility costs, environmental impact, and data security.

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Sep 1 • 7:00 AM EDT • Politics • news4jax.com
☹️ Negative (-16%)
sad
100%
Ex-NFL star Colin Kaepernick’s unfinished business

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, the former quarterback opens up about the NFL, racism, politics and the 10 years since he took a knee.

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Sep 1 • 5:03 AM EDT • Business • nbcnews.com
High-Signal Publisher
Myles Garrett on Nick Chubb retirement: 'That hit me hard

Myles Garrett had one last feeling he wanted to share regarding a former teammate that retired.

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Aug 31 • 9:55 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
☹️ Negative (-29%)
Trump admin revives ‘Apprentice’-era energy with $1M business battle in DC

Nicki Minaj, Grant Cardone, and Joe Gebbia will judge the SBA's Patriot Pitch as five entrepreneur finalists compete for $1 million in cash.

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Aug 31 • 2:58 PM EDT • Business • foxnews.com
Nebraska's season-opening opponent announces starting quarterback

Ohio has named Nick Poulos as the starting quarterback for the season opener against Nebraska this Saturday in Lincoln.

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Aug 31 • 5:09 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Trump trade war with Canada is war on U.S. businesses

Having dynamited trade talks with Canada — in part due to the intervention of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick — Donald Trump has now imposed 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods, with Canada immediately retaliating. This will be good for…

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Aug 31 • 4:00 AM EDT • Business • nydailynews.com
Moussa Diabate gets a reality check from former Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau

Moussa Diabate might have missed an opportunity, but he is already thriving after taking the hardest path.

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Aug 30 • 11:32 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Packers Get Intriguing Josh Sweat Take Amid 49ers Speculation

As the San Francisco 49ers are making final roster decisions on Aug. 30, they could also be exploring the trade market. One area of concern for the Niners heading into the 2026 NFL season is their pass rush.Nick Bosa has dealt with tendinitis during training camp and the preseason. Moreover, Bosa looks to be the […] The post Packers Get Intriguing Josh Sweat Take Amid 49ers Speculation appeared first on HEAVY.

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Aug 30 • 6:25 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Former Vikings starting QB released by the Jaguars

Former Vikings QB Nick Mullens was released by the Jaguars after they acquired Quinn Ewers.

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Aug 30 • 2:25 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
😐 Neutral (0%)
Washington to receive $227M in Meta settlement to protect children’s mental health

Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown said the harm done by platforms like Instagram and Facebook has taken away things that used to be normal for kids.

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Aug 30 • 1:28 PM EDT • Health • opb.org
Rest for a priest not a luxury but a necessity for mental health, Nigerian Vatican official says

As part of a formation program, the secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization urged priests to take time away from ministry to sustain their physical and mental health.

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Aug 30 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • ewtnnews.com
Jaguars Bolster Quarterback Depth With Trade with Dolphins

The Jacksonville Jaguars bolster their quarterback depth behind Trevor Lawrence and Nick Mullens with the trade for Miami Dolphins backup, Quinn Ewers

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Aug 29 • 6:25 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Stars Who Permanently Left The U.S.
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Aug 29 • 8:15 AM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com
Boston Mayor Wu-aligned Super PAC spent $84K on challengers to senators she opposes

A Super PAC with ties to Wu has spent $84K+ supporting candidates challenging Nick Collins and William Brownsberger, two state senators she’s trying to knock off in Tuesday’s primary election.

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Aug 29 • 5:44 AM EDT • Politics • bostonherald.com
Miles McBride brings NBA championship trophy to Moeller football game

New York Knicks guard Miles "Deuce" McBride brought the Larry O'Brien championship trophy to the Moeller Crusaders football team's 45-7 win.

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Aug 29 • 12:07 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
☹️ Negative (-40%)
Three Knicks With Something to Prove in 2026-27 Season

Even a championship roster has players chasing something, and in New York three names stand out heading into camp.

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Aug 28 • 9:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Why Michigan startups are finding success

Nick Joe Kelley, owner and founder of Elite Paint Home Renovations, at a customer’s home in New Baltimore, Aug. 25, 2026.

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Aug 28 • 12:02 AM EDT • Business • detroitnews.com
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Longtime local sports reporter to be added to Kinnick Media Wall of Fame

Steve Batterson will be inducted posthumously alongside Gary Dolphin, Mike Hlas and Steve Roe the weekend of Sept. 18 - 19.

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Aug 27 • 2:14 PM EDT • Sports • kwqc.com
Jake Reiner gives first interview after parents Rob and Michele’s murders, Nick’s arrest

Rob and Michele Reiner’s eldest son, Jake Reiner, spoke about their deaths in his first sit-down interview and declines to answer questions about his brother Nick Reiner’s arrest.

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Aug 27 • 11:12 AM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Connor Bedard Predicted to Be Named Next Blackhawks Captain

Chicago Blackhawks superstar Connor Bedard is being predicted to be named the next captain of the historic NHL franchise.Chicago has been without a captain since Nick Foligno was traded to the Minnesota Wild at this past season’s trade deadline.With the 2026-27 NHL season set to start in about a month, the Blackhawks will need to […] The post Connor Bedard Predicted to Be Named Next Blackhawks Captain appeared first on HEAVY.

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Aug 27 • 10:39 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Raquel Lee Bolleau reportedly reached settlement in 2015 with Mark Curry, who played her dad in Disney Channel movie

Raquel Lee Bolleau reportedly settled with former movie dad Mark Curry years before suing Disney on negligence in relation to alleged on-set sexual abuse.

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Aug 26 • 6:24 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski names Nick Chubb his favorite player

Kevin Stefanski says Nick Chubb, was his favorite player during time with Browns

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Aug 26 • 2:15 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Mapping North Carolina’s Climate Health Risks

From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Atlantic coast, North Carolina's geography does more than shape its landscape. It may also influence the health risks people face.At Duke University School of Medicine, researchers are combining climate data, geographic information, and real-world health records to better understand how environmental conditions affect health and why some communities face greater risks than others.

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Aug 26 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • medschool.duke.edu
Kyle Shanahan hoping Nick Bosa will practice next week
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Aug 25 • 3:23 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Saints RB Depth Takes Another Hit With Ty Chandler Injury

The New Orleans Saints‘ running back situation continues to get thinner.Saints running back Ty Chandler suffered a knee injury during Saturday’s preseason matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, and the injury is now feared to be more serious than initially expected, according to a report from Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football.Chandler’s injury is a significant concern […] The post Saints RB Depth Takes Another Hit With Ty Chandler Injury appeared first on HEAVY.

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Aug 25 • 1:06 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Nick Saban on Protect College Sports Act: ‘It’s certainly 100 times better than what we have now’

As the 2026 season nears, the Protect College Sports Act is one of the bigger issues hanging over college football. The act was co-authored by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), only to be opposed by conferences like the Big Ten and SEC. There are supporters, though, and one of the bigger […]

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Aug 24 • 8:55 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES: BerkShares Business of the Month is Bistro Box in Great Barrington

Bistro Box co-owners/co-chefs Birdie and Nick Joseph kindly gave me some of their precious prep time to talk about local food, community, and their abiding love of New England seafood.

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Aug 24 • 12:06 AM EDT • Business • theberkshireedge.com
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Should Tsai’s Comments on Knicks Title Motivate Nets?

As Brooklyn navigates a grueling rebuild, Joe Tsai’s reaction to a crosstown championship raises the stakes for a roster bolstered by veteran star power and potential.

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Aug 23 • 8:35 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni explains why he values joint practices

Nick Sirianni described two joint Eagles practice sessions with the Patriots as a "great connector."

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Aug 23 • 7:24 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
How long can Knicks keep their core together?
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Aug 23 • 10:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Cleveland Browns legend has 'no regrets' upon retirement from NFL

Cleveland Browns legend Nick Chubb officially announced his retirement from the NFL after eight seasons. Chubb played seven of his eight seasons in Cleveland, where he compiled the third-most rushing yards (6,843) and rushing touchdowns (51) in franchise history.

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Aug 22 • 12:29 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
😐 Neutral (5%)
Nick Chubb fantasy legacy upon his NFL retirement

In the context of the offenses he played in, Nick Chubb was one of the greatest fantasy RBs of this era.

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Aug 22 • 10:50 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Kylie Kelce reveals Taylor Swift's surprising family nickname

Taylor Swift is officially part of the Kelce family, and she's got the title to prove it.

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Aug 21 • 10:30 AM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com
NJBIA to Honor 6 Rising Stars at NJ Women Business Leaders Forum

The winners of the NJBIA 2026 Rising Star awards are (L-R) Olivia Ivy Altidor, Erin Bolger Elizabeth, Melissa “Mel” Josephson, Jocelyn Kranicka, Zack Metzger and Monserrat Miranda. NJBIA will honor six standout students with “Rising Star” awards when more than 400 business leaders, entrepreneurs and students gather for the 12th Annual New Jersey Women Business Leaders Forum at Bally’s in Atlantic City on Sept. 23-24. “NJBIA’s[...]

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Aug 21 • 8:25 AM EDT • Business • insidernj.com
How the bipartisan data center backlash could reshape politics nationwide

Bipartisan backlash to data centers is spreading nationwide. How could the panicked political response carry lasting consequences? Plus, Democratic socialist Angie Nixon’s upset in the Florida Demo…

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Aug 21 • 8:15 AM EDT • Politics • thehill.com
Jaguars Set to Take on Panthers in Second Preseason Game

Roster spots hang in the balance as Jacksonville returns home for its second preseason game. Roster spots are on the line, and all eyes will be focused on whether backup QB Nick Mullens can rebound after last week's poor outing.

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Aug 21 • 1:49 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
☹️ Negative (-20%)
Exclusive: PANICK Entertainment & IllFonic Announce New HALLOWEEN Comic Book Inspired By The Upcoming Video Game

Exciting news for Halloween fans! Not only is the new video game only weeks away from launching, but the game's developer, IllFonic, has teamed up with PANICK Entertainment (alongside partners Compass International Pictures and Further Front) for a brand-new Halloween comic book series set within the world of the video game! Written by Hans Rodionoff […]

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Aug 20 • 1:55 PM EDT • Entertainment • dailydead.com
Ruiz, Scutari Legislation Shielding Reproductive Health Care Access Signed into Law

TRENTON – Today, Governor Mikie Sherrill signed legislation sponsored by Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz and Senate President Nick Scutari that strengthens protections for patients and prov

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Aug 20 • 1:21 PM EDT • Health • njsendems.org
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Kyrgios suspended after positive cocaine test

Nick Kyrgios is provisionally suspended from tennis after testing positive for cocaine.

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Aug 19 • 11:26 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Nick Kyrgios tests positive for cocaine and is provisionally suspended: Australian tennis player admits to 'huge mistake'

Nick Kyrgios has been provisionally suspended after failing a doping test, the International Tennis Integrity Agency has announced.

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Aug 19 • 5:42 AM EDT • Sports • skysports.com
😐 Neutral (0%)
49ers Land Perfect Running Mate for Nick Bosa in 2027 Mock Draft

The 49ers could be in the market for another edge rusher in the 2027 NFL Draft.

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Aug 18 • 11:31 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Should Jaguars Trade For Steelers' QB Mason Rudolph?

With Nick Mullens struggling, Jacksonville must decide if trading for a backup like Mason Rudolph is the insurance policy the team needs for any potential Trevor Lawrence injury.

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Aug 17 • 8:04 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Jameson Williams injury update: Detroit Lions WR dealing with shoulder

As Detroit Lions WR Jameson Williams sits, CB Nick Whiteside also will miss his second straight practice Monday, with a minor hamstring injury.

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Aug 17 • 6:06 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
🙂 Positive (40%)
Pirates beat Red Sox 8-3 after 2 1/2-hour delay

Bryan Reynolds, Brandon Lowe, and Nick Yorke each had two RBIs to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Boston Red Sox 8-3 after a 2 1/2-hour rain delay.

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Aug 17 • 8:19 AM EDT • Sports • spectrumlocalnews.com
Webb’s mysterious little red dots may be hiding entire galaxies

Astronomers may finally have a clue to what happens to the mysterious “little red dots” that crowded the early universe. By studying a spiral galaxy nicknamed the “Saguaro,” researchers found a compact, bright red center that closely resembles these distant objects—but with something Webb usually can’t see around them: a full galaxy. When the team simulated what the Saguaro would look like much farther away, its spiral structure essentially vanished, leaving only the bright red core.

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Aug 17 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
NAMI-SELA's Nick Richard honored for mental-health advocacy

Just more than two years ago, the St. Tammany chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness officially assumed duties of the NAMI group in New Orleans. Merging the groups

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Aug 17 • 7:15 AM EDT • Health • nola.com
😐 Neutral (0%)
Travis Kalanick wouldn't do 'anything different' about Uber-Lyft deal

The former Uber CEO said the two companies were culturally just too different.

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Aug 17 • 1:21 AM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com
MSG Sports plans Rangers spinoff from Knicks business

MSG Sports has filed a registration statement with regulators for a new company to manage the Rangers business separately from its Knicks operations.

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Aug 16 • 12:39 PM EDT • Business • sportsbusinessjournal.com
Major political transformation is underway in Hungary after Victor Orban was ousted

NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben speaks with journalist Nick Thorpe about the changes made by the Hungarian government since Victor Orban's Fidesz party lost power following elections in April.

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Aug 16 • 7:46 AM EDT • Politics • npr.org
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Bexar County health department at risk as ARPA money runs out

Just four years in, Bexar County's public health department faces an uncertain future as the pandemic-era funding it relied on dries up.

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Aug 16 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • sanantonioreport.org
A black hole shredded a “super sun” — but something strange may have survived

Astronomers have witnessed a black hole violently shredding a massive star, creating one of the most energetic stellar explosions ever observed. The event, nicknamed “the Whippet,” briefly released about 400 billion times the Sun’s energy and sent a shock wave racing outward at one-fifth the speed of light. Months later, scientists spotted unexpectedly fast-moving helium, suggesting that some structure may have survived the destruction.

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Aug 15 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com
Curiosity stumbles upon a gigantic Martian “honeycomb” that has scientists intrigued - Futura-Sciences

In a 360-degree panorama captured by the rover on June 19 and 20, the 4,930th and 4,931st Martian days, or sols, of the mission, the polygonal shapes stretch in every direction as far as the rover can see. They even extend around the sides of a nearby butte nicknamed “Miraflores,”...

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Aug 15 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com
NICK STROBEL: Lunar eclipse on tap for Aug. 27

Venus now begins its slow descent back toward the sun as it catches up to Earth in its faster inner orbit. Because Venus' orbit is so close to Earth's, Venus'

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Aug 15 • 3:15 AM EDT • Entertainment • bakersfield.com
Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman return for 'Zootopia 3' at D23

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Crimefighting duo Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are back on the case.

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Aug 14 • 7:52 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com
'Zootopia 3' confirmed with Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman returning

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Crimefighting duo Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are back on the case.

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Aug 14 • 7:52 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com
Mamdani’s ‘Bro’ Culture in City Hall: Sports, Memes, Nicknames for All

As much as Zohran Mamdani’s team runs on leftist idealism and social media hits, its style of governing also relies on humor, sports references and pop culture.

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Aug 14 • 3:00 AM EDT • Sports • nytimes.com
Christy Knowings, 'All That' star, dies at 46 after hospitalization

Christy Knowings, best known for her work as a child actor on the Nickelodeon show "All That," has reportedly died. She was 46.

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Aug 13 • 7:52 PM EDT • Entertainment • centraloregondaily.com
Kalshi ordered to shut down sports and election prediction markets in Washington state by Sept. 2

A Seattle judge ordered Kalshi to geofence Washington users out of its sports, elections and entertainment markets by Sept. 2, and threatened the prediction market platform with $120,000-a-day penalties for missing the deadline. Kalshi's motion to pause the order while it appeals was denied at both the trial court and the Washington Court of Appeals.

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Aug 13 • 5:45 PM EDT • Sports • geekwire.com
Lakers again have most nationally televised games on their schedule

The NBA released full schedules for each team on Thursday, and only the Knicks, Spurs and 76ers have as many national TV games (34) as the Lakers.

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Aug 13 • 3:55 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
‘Cause we (still) rock! The Jonas Brothers introduce a new generation in nostalgia-filled Camp Rock 3

Get behind-the-scenes details of ‘Camp Rock 3’ with Joe, Kevin, and Nick Jonas — including what it was like to reunite with Demi Lovato — and meet the new cast of stars in EW’s exclusive cover story.

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Aug 13 • 12:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Poll: Are the Eagles Messing With Jalen Hurts?

The headaches have started early for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Super Bowl LIX champions have won 50 games in the last four seasons, yet it always seems like there’s a problem. Head coach Nick Sirianni is on the hot seat… Until he got traded, wide receiver A.J. Brown was a distraction… Every year, there’s a new offensive coordinator… And then there’s quarterback Jalen Hurts.

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Aug 13 • 8:29 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
NBA Reveals Full Knicks’ 2026 NBA Cup Schedule

The NBA released the full schedule for the 2026 NBA Cup, with the defending champions forced to navigate the Group of Death.

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Aug 13 • 2:57 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
NFL Tiers: Which Teams Are Title Contenders Entering 2026?

Here’s how Nick Wright breaks down the league tiers entering Week 1 of the preseason.

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Aug 12 • 9:42 PM EDT • Sports • foxsports.com
Nick Martinez Throws Complete Game as Rays Win Eighth Straight

The Tampa Bay Rays extended their winning streak to eight games with a 12-4 victory over the Athletics. Nick Martinez threw a complete game, while Tampa Bay blasted six home runs as Junior Caminero continued his AL MVP-caliber season.

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Aug 12 • 3:46 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Nick Kurtz's Season with A's May Be Over

In an A's season filled with injuries, All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz may be the latest season-long domino to fall.

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Aug 12 • 2:13 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
😐 Neutral (0%)
Astros Waste Early Opportunities in 4-1 Loss to Giants

It was a costly night in the bay. Not only would Houston lose by a score of 4-1, but they’d also witness an early exit from Jose Altuve who was hit in the left foot on an errant pitch from Carson Whisenhunt during his first AB. Nick Allen would replace Altuve as a result. […]

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Aug 12 • 12:40 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
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Knicks championship opener vs LeBron's 76ers draws huge ticket prices

Ticket prices are expected to skyrocket when the world champion New York Knicks open their season against the new-look Philadelphia 76ers.

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Aug 11 • 2:46 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Nick Emmanwori passes physical after beginning camp on PUP list
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Aug 11 • 12:18 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Lakers hosting 76ers, LeBron James in marquee Christmas Day matchup

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers in action during a game against the New York Knicks on Sunday, February 1, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in New York City....

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Aug 11 • 8:08 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
NBA reveals loaded three-game slate for 2026 opening night

The NBA officially announced three games for opening night, including Celtics-Pistons, 76ers-Knicks and Thunder-Spurs on Oct. 20.

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Aug 11 • 7:54 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Lions sign pair of defenders, waive TE Nick Muse

In its Sunday roster moves, the Detroit Lions signed a pair of defenders.

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Aug 10 • 7:45 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Saber's newest game trailer takes a shot at Gearbox's CEO, if you look closely

The first hint that something might be up with the recent debut trailer for Saber Interactive’s Rideshare Stimulator is an unusual choice of words—aside from that second one in the game’s title. “Don’t take your passengers too seriously,” the trailer’s narrator says, as he describes this upcoming game. It a car game about the gig work of driving eccentric people to their destinations, a riff on Crazy Taxi. And then, he says: “When I think I’ve met the randiest of passengers, someone even stranger gets in.” “Randiest”? That suggests “randy,” which usually means having strong sexual desire. Yet none of the oddball backseat occupants featured in the trailer seem particularly lustful. One is an old man who considers his grandson a failure, another shares the theory that birds might control traffic lights, another says he’s banned from an aquarium. A little later, there’s a license plate, shown 63 seconds into the trailer, on the front of an SUV: USB DRV It’s a Texas plate. The symbol between those letters is a cog wheel. If you know, you know. That’s a reference to Texas-based Borderlands game development studio Gearbox Software (their logo features a cog wheel). More specifically, it’s a reference to Gearbox’s CEO Randy Pitchford, who in 2018 found himself explaining the nature of video he’d saved on a USB drive that was found at a Medieval Times restaurant before being returned to the studio: “It was ‘barely legal’ porn. This girl’s handle was ‘Only 18.’” The “girl” in the video had committed a solo sex act that Pitchford, an avid practitioner of magic, found remarkable. “I realized, this is not a sex worker…This is a fucking magician.” Back then, the USB drive was central to competing lawsuits against Gearbox by the studio’s former lawyer and by Gearbox against him. A settlement in late 2019 “exonerated” Pitchford, per the Hollywood Reporter. The USB story has resurfaced at times, now in a trailer from a company that not long ago was corporate brethren with Gearbox. Saber vs. Gearbox The head of Saber told Game File that the reference is payback. “The dig is because Randy took shots at Embracer in Borderlands 4,” Saber CEO Matt Karch told me when I asked him about the license plate. “Without Embracer, Randy is performing magic tricks at birthday parties for a living.” Having interviewed Karch during a cross-country flight in late 2024, I can confirm that Karch was unimpressed with Pitchford during their time both working in the Embracer group. I’d approached him not out of surprise that there was animosity but that it was manifesting publicly now. Gearbox was founded in 1999, worked on a port of Halo early on, and developed hit series such as the loot-based sci-fi shooter Borderlands before it was purchased by The Embracer Group in early 2021 for $363 million (with a possible earn-out of over $1 billion, if certain targets were hit by 2027). Saber was founded in 2001, worked on a remaster of Halo early on, had a big hit with zombie shooter World War Z and was purchased by Embracer in early 2020 for $150 million, with a potential earn-out of up to $375 million. For a few years, the Embracer group was a voracious acquirer of game studios. Then, as investment dried up, it choked. In March 2024, Embracer sold Saber to an investment company controlled by Saber CEO Matt Karch, and it sold Gearbox in an all-stock deal to long-time Borderlands publisher Take Two Interactive. Other studios were shut down. Hundreds of developers were laid off. Gearbox didn’t say much about their Embracer experience, nothing too direct, at least. In the summer 2024, Pitchford told reporter and occasional Game File contributor Nicole Carpenter that Borderlands 4’s story was in some way thematically connected to Gearbox’s experience at Embracer: “There’s this cultural and emotional shift in me, personally, and at the studio. What does it mean to trade some autonomy for organization?” When Borderlands 4 came out, there was something stranger: the matter of “Embracer’s Bluff,” a location in the game featuring an AI-powered toilet and a large trash dump, according to a detailed Kotaku account of the place. Gearbox never commented on it; Take Two never got back to me about it when I asked them last year. By contrast, since Saber exited Embracer, Karch has been one of Embracer’s biggest defenders, casting their management as well-meaning and supportive despite the layoffs and studio closures that resulted from their excessive expansion. Like others, Saber’s Karch saw Embracer’s as a shot. With Rideshare Stimulator’s trailer, he’s returned fire. “It’s amazing to me how fast people forget those who went above and beyond for them,” Karch told Game File. A rep for Gearbox did not comment by press time. Game File is a reader-supported publication. Your backing makes my reporting—including any coverage of trailer-based beefs—possible. Good news! I’m currently running Game File’s first big sale of 2026. You can get a one-year subscription for 23% off. Click here to take advantage of the limited-time offer. And thank you for your support! Item 2: In brief… 🚫 Wal-Mart has laid off the staff of Restart, a games media outlet launched in 2024, Aftermath reports. 🟥 A GTA VI preview is on the way, at last, via an “extended look” that will premiere, unusually, on Netflix at 3pm ET on August 27, then officially go live elsewhere six hours later. Last week, Game File noted that Take Two label Rockstar Games is overdue for showing off GTA VI, based on the timing of the initial hands-off previews of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. During a call with investors, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said pre-orders for GTA VI were “unprecedented and astonishing,” but added the company can’t predict how many of those pre-orders represent bonus sales vs. sales that otherwise would have been made at launch. During the same call, Zelnick was noticeably bullish on the future of playing games over streaming cloud connections (predicting wider adoption in three or so years). He sounded unbothered by Sony’s plans to stop making discs for new games (he said the business is 90% digital already and predicted that there could still be limited edition physical editions of games “in the same way there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business.”) 👀 Take Two wrote off $43 million in their spring quarter after deciding “not to proceed with further development of an unannounced title in its pipeline from a third-party developer.” 🤔 Some rare age-demographics from a big publisher: Capcom recently told investors that “users in their 20s account for approximately half of the users of both Pragamata and Resident Evil Requiem.” Item 3: The week ahead Tuesday, August 11 Game releases: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (Switch 2; already out for PC, PS5, Xbox) continues the Bethesda strategy of putting Elder Scrolls games on everything; Royalty Free-For-All is a Smash Bros.-style fighting game featuring public domain characters such as Mother Goose brawling with Oliver Twist in a stage based on the original Little Shop of Horrors movie. Wednesday, August 12 Game release: Pro Jank Footy (PC, console) is an arcade-style Australian Rules Football game with increasingly ridiculous rules, the more you play (I enjoyed the Steam demo) Thursday, August 13 Game release: Super Mario Sunshine (Switch 2, originally released in 2002 on the GameCube) is released for Switch 2’s Nintendo Switch Online service. This game is the black sheep of 3D Mario games. It’s the successor to the breakthrough Super Mario 64 and the rare Mario game built around a single (vacation resort) theme. Mario’s got a water-spraying backpack, a Yoshi pal and a lot of blue coins to collect.

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Aug 10 • 4:27 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news
Lion Nebula Roars to Life With NASA’s Webb

Observing across the starry “plains” of space, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has taken new images of NGC 2392, nicknamed the Lion Nebula. NASA’s Hubble

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Aug 10 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • science.nasa.gov
'We're Totally Supporting It' — Take-Two Boss Says Borderlands 4 Performance 'Has Not Affected Our Plans at All' as Fans Await Year 2 Roadmap

Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has insisted publisher 2K remains committed to Borderlands 4, and that the looter shooter's commercial performance hasn’t affected plans to support the game.

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Aug 10 • 7:45 AM EDT • Technology • ign.com
3 Undrafted Free Agents with Best Chance to Make 49ers Roster

The San Francisco 49ers have one of the most talented rosters in the league. The roster is loaded with proven veterans like Christian McCaffrey, Mike Evans, and Nick Bosa, among many others. The 49ers signed many fewer undrafted free agents than other teams did, and the ones that they did sign have a tough path.

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Aug 9 • 11:48 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Robert Carradine’s family accuses UCLA of wrongful death and elder abuse in lawsuit

Robert Carradine’s family has filed a lawsuit against UCLA alleging wrongful death and elder abuse, claiming several points of protocol were broken during his stay at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

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Aug 9 • 10:40 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com
Bleacher Report Questions Nick Sirianni's Future Despite Eagles' Sustained Success

According to Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni may be on the hot seat depending on the result of this season. "If the Eagles falter because Sirianni fails to get his team back on track, the organization should consider a quick hook to take full advantage of the window with its current core." Philadelphia hired Sirianni ahead of the 2021 NFL season, after firing Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Peterson.

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Aug 9 • 4:00 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com
Documentary celebrating Miami University’s ‘Cradle of Coaches’ coming to Peacock

Some college football programs are known as Linebacker U or Wide Receiver U for consistently producing great players at those positions. When it comes to Miami University RedHawks football, the program is best known for the people who roam the sidelines. Hence, the “Cradle of Coaches” nickname. That nickname and the school’s decorated history of…

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Aug 9 • 10:00 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com