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Rangers Need Langford to Turn Recent Spark Into Late Surge
After injuries derailed his breakout campaign, Wyatt Langford’s recent power display offers a glimmer of hope for a Texas Rangers lineup chasing a critical postseason berth.
Vault: Credit card politics on the trail
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti is vowing to crack down on credit card fees as part of her campaign to flip Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s seat in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Florida HC Jon Sumrall Has Several Worries Before Auburn Game
Despite a dominant 2-0 start, Coach Sumrall warns of a potential SEC embarrassment as undisciplined penalties and inconsistent execution threaten to derail the Gators' looming clash at Auburn.
Trump suggests AI doesn’t need any more guardrails, only a ‘STRONG AND SMART’ president
President Donald Trump on Monday all but rejected calls from AI industry leaders for more government regulation on their cutting-edge models, making clear he considers outpacing China a higher priority than addressing growing public concerns.
UC Berkeley welcomes rising stars in math and physics
UC Berkeley is welcoming a powerhouse lineup of trailblazing scientists to advance its research enterprise.The Division of Mathematical
Trump says AI doesn’t need guardrails, only a ‘high IQ’ president
He also alleged a ‘sick conspiracy’ against AI and data centers, at a time when Americans are increasingly concerned about the technology.
Trump downplays need for AI guardrails as industry leaders call for regulation
President Trump is downplaying the need for new guardrails on AI, pushing back against some of the technology’s most prominent leaders who are calling for greater government oversight.
Trump says the only AI guardrails the U.S. needs is him as president
He's opposed such efforts and claims doing so could cause China to eclipse America on AI development.
What comes after Lies of P? It looks like it might be Wonders of O, according to a new trademark
The new name for a game from Neowiz is a bit on the nose.
Main Street Ledger: Rising Healthcare Costs Are Just One Piece of the Affordability Puzzle
Affordability continues to be at the center of conversations at kitchen tables across America, and on the campaign trail — with interventions in the credit card market once again being floated as a potential solution to ease financial pressures. While families are still feeling the pinch from the rising cost…
Rip City's History of The Backcourt
From Terry Porter’s gritty playmaking to the electrifying arrival of Ja Morant, trace the elite guard pairings that have fueled Portland’s championship dreams and iconic postseason runs.
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Gets A Seven-Minute Overview Trailer
Ready for this week's launch
'Big Ludo' - trailblazing keeper who became West Ham cult figure
Ludek Miklosko, who has died aged 64, was a cult figure with West Ham supporters after his move to London in 1990.
NASCAR Chase Standings Are Tight Heading Into Bristol
Two races are down. Eight remain. And the NASCAR Cup Series Chase suddenly has Kyle Larson breathing down Denny Hamlin’s neck. Larson won Sunday at Gateway and jumped from seventh to second. He now trails Hamlin by only nine points. That is a massive swing after one race. Larson Just Changed Everything Kyle Larson entered…
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave ‘Overview’ trailer
Publisher Nintendo and developer Intelligent Systems have released a seven-minute overview trailer for Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave.
K-Air purification technology heads to India’s railway market to tackle extremely high fine-dust levels
A research team at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) – including Principal Researchers Dr. Sang Bok Kim and Dr. Inyong Park and Senior Researcher Dr. Younghun Kim of the Department of Urban Environment Research, Eco-friendly Energy & Environment Research Division – has begun developing a compact electrostatic precipitator-based air purification module for use in Indian trains. The project is a collaborative effort with THN Co., Ltd., a KIMM Family Company (partner firm), as part of KIMM’s flagship air purification brand, Air Five.
RailRiders fall two games behind in loss to Red Wings
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK (WBRE/WYOU) — The RailRiders lose Sunday’s game against the Red Wings 6-4, falling two games behind Rochester entering the final week of the regular season. Early on, Oswaldo Cabrera was a majority of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s offense. Early in the second inning, Cabrera hit his 18th homerun to take a 2-1 lead. During his […]
Texas Republicans call out railroad commissioner candidate over racist social media post
Texas Republicans criticized Bo French over a post about Asian students at the University of Texas.
RNC convention leaves town. Home stretch of election begins.
Labor Day weekend is usually the kick-off to the last two months of the election where candidates really hone their message and hit the campaign trail. Lone Star Politics breaks down the highlights of the first ever midterm Republican National Convention in Dallas and speak to Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate and State Rep. James Talarico.
Top Lawmakers Agree AI’s Risks Are Rising but Say They Have No Quick Fix
As warnings rapidly mount over the pace and potential dangers of artificial intelligence development, the top Republican and Democrat in the House agreed on Sunday that Congress should put guardrails in place.
Trump warns against slowing down AI but he is not against some guardrails
President Trump said there were "negative forces" predicting things that he says won't happen.
Trump warns against slowing down AI but he is not against some guardrails
President Trump said there were "negative forces" predicting things that he says won't happen.
Political debate over AI intensifies amid warnings about ‘catastrophic risk’
(CNN) — The debate around artificial intelligence is ramping up in Washington, with Democratic lawmakers sounding alarms on the dangers they say the technology poses and Republican leaders suggesting those concerns are inflated and secondary to winning the AI race with China.Some Democratic lawmakers last week pressured House Speaker Mike Johnson to reconvene the chamber immediately to work on AI regulation, citing what they describe as the “catastrophic risk posed by advanced artificial intelligence.” But the Louisiana Republican on Sunday resisted those calls, instead saying industry leaders should meet with lawmakers to find “balance” in any potential guardrails.“If Congress just races in and does some sort of emergency session to try to regulate AI, we will lose the race to China, and that is a threat to every single American,” Johnson said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama told Democrats to make artificial intelligence regulation a central part of their agenda during a private fundraiser Thursday, warning that the technology could be dangerous “if we don’t get on top of it.”In a fireside chat with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Obama said whoever runs in the 2028 presidential election should have a “very clear plan” on AI, adding that he saw the need for a “blueprint” on AI guardrails even at the end of his presidency a decade ago.“Certainly, if I were running for president next year, this would be one of my central agendas, and I would have a very clear plan, and I would talk about this, and I would say, ‘Here’s our plan for safety, here’s our plan for making sure our kids are not corrupted by this,’” he said, per excerpts of the remarks provided to CNN by his office. Obama’s remarks were first reported by the New York Times.Concerns over the rapid acceleration of AI reached a fever pitch after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in a 3,800-word essay Saturday that the race to develop artificial intelligence is in dire need of a slowdown. The call to action came after an OpenAI test model breached the Hugging Face online platform, deepening concerns about cybersecurity.In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Saturday, Amodei called on industry leaders to work together to avoid “the wrong paths” and the possibility of AI harming humanity.One Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, resigned from the firm over worries that the industry wasn’t doing enough to prevent AI from destroying humanity by the end of the decade.Obama said Democrats need a plan to get their agenda on AI underway should they win the House majority in this year’s midterms.Speaking to Jeffries, who is presumed to be speaker of the House should Democrats prevail in November, Obama said, “Once you are speaker, I would strongly urge that the Democrats put together a framework for a very public conversation, and you can break it out into three or four or five issues.”Obama stressed that the framework should be centered on the reality that the technology can’t be stuffed “back into a box.”“This is something that is moving very fast in private hands, and if we don’t get on top of it, I think can be dangerous. If we do get on top of it, I do think it’s beneficial,” Obama said, laying out examples of AI’s potential use in drug development and finding pathways to a clean energy future.“We don’t want to shut off those opportunities, but we have to understand that this is a tool,” he said.Jeffries agreed with the former president in a statement provided to CNN on Sunday.“President Obama is correct that decisive action must be taken on Artificial Intelligence,” he said, adding, “In the majority, we will move urgently on this issue with a legislative response that recognizes the importance of American companies continuing to lead in the Artificial Intelligence area, while putting in place meaningful guardrails that protect the American people from bad actors and the very real damage that can be done to humanity.”Jeffries also accused Republicans of having “abdicated their responsibility to govern” and said Democrats “will not repeat their error.”A source familiar with Obama’s thinking said the former president sees Amodei’s letter and similar reaction from other tech moguls as an encouraging development.But President Donald Trump waved off their concerns, saying he is not worried about any existential threat posed by AI, focusing instead on the US winning in its development of the technology over China.“We’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to keep it that way,” Trump said to reporters at the Amgen Irish Open on Sunday.About the concerns expressed by Democrats and others over the technology, the president said, “I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up, and they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”One of Trump’s top economic advisers, Kevin Hassett, also rejected the calls for slowing the technology down, saying on Sunday the bigger concern is a scenario in which a “malevolent actor has access to an AI that’s better than the one we have that can protect us.”Hassett, the National Economic Council director, said on “State of the Union” the White House may hold meetings this week about addressing Amodei’s concerns, but he did not specify whether Trump had floated greater safeguards.“I have concerns that if we don’t win AI, we’re going to be put in a very bad position,” Hassett said. “We are leading China right now.”CNN’s Alison Main and Molly English contributed to this report.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.THE-CNN-WIRE (TM) & © 2026 CABLE NEWS NETWORK, INC., A TIME WARNER COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CBS News political panel on what voters can expect to see on the midterm campaign trail
First Known Trail Of Adult T Rex Footprints Found, Reveals How Fast The Dinosaur Moved
T. rex lived around 66 to 68 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period and was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to roam Earth before the mass extinction that ended the age of the dinosaurs.
Roger Goodell reiterates NFL’s ‘patient’ approach to prediction market partnerships
The NFL has been noticeably slow to hitch its wagon to the prediction market business, and that is intentional. Late last year, the NFL submitted written testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, which oversaw a hearing on prediction markets. The league noted the lack of “guardrails” on prediction markets, and called out so-called…
168 Away: Lillard's Has His Sights on Assist Record
Returning to Portland after a devastating injury, the legendary point guard chases Terry Porter’s long-standing mark to cement his status as the greatest playmaker in franchise history.
This Week in Pokémon GO: September 14-20, 2026
Pokémon GO’s September 14-20 2026 week has us enter the second week of the season of Twilight Trails! We welcome the new season with the end of the Mega Squads event, celebrate Pokémon Horizons with a new event, and Super Mega Staraptor Raid Day. Plus the weekly rotating Raid Hours, Spotlight Hour, Dynamax Battles and […]
POLICE: Rail car derailed, no public health concern
WCAX Saturday 11 p.m. News
School politics class: Republicans fear Trump has turned toxic on the campaign trail
US Presidency
Texas business says record diesel prices are 'derailing' projects, and could raise food costs
"Every single thing we projected in January is no longer the case today."
Charlotte Hornets’ Brandon Miller hosts basketball camp in Indian Trail
Hundreds of kids got a basketball lesson from Charlotte Hornets star Brandon Miller.
Bummer in the Big House: Michigan Upsets Oklahoma 17-10
Self-inflicted turnovers and a stagnant offense derailed the Sooners in Ann Arbor, as the Wolverines stifled a late comeback to secure a gritty defensive victory
POLICE: Rail car derailed, no public health concern
Vermont State Police say the tank, carrying liquefied propane, derailed and rolled over Friday evening.
Scientists Spot Rare Bigfin Squid More Than 10,000 Feet Deep Off California Coast
The squid was seen moving with two large fins, eight trailing arms, and two tentacles.
Could Utah Jazz Have Center Problem?
Despite boasting elite height and frontcourt versatility, the loss of Walker Kessler leaves a void in the middle that could derail Utah’s promising postseason ambitions.
The Prescription for Better Health Insurance? Competition.
Anticompetitive behavior, such as consolidation, in the health-insurance industry has allowed a small group of insurers to dominate the market. One of the main drivers of this behavior is “adverse selection,” where individuals know more about how sick they are than insurance companies do. To mitigate the risk of paying out more claims than they can cover, insurers often raise their premiums. Kellogg’s Amanda Starc and her colleague argue that, to create a truly healthy health-insurance marketplace, regulators and policymakers need a framework for rethinking the complex interactions between adverse selection and regulatory guardrails.
Meet Samaras, the man who could derail Mitsotakis’ bid for a majority
The former conservative prime minister is the 'big elephant in the room'
Albany County Flock case fuels push for ALPR guardrails
An Albany County sheriff's investigator is accused of conducting more than 4,000 unauthorized Flock camera searches. The case is renewing debate over privacy, police oversight, and proposed statewide rules for license plate readers.
The Best Star Wars Game in Years is Now on Amazon Prime
You can also claim 11 more free games
Here’s PS5’s First ‘Fairgames’ Trailer In 3 Years, Which Still Seems Doomed
Fairgames, the mythical live-service game that's been in development for 3 years, now has a new trailer that is actually pretty good.
Japan’s science-security convergence needs guardrails
The connection between science and technology policy and security, however, is not new.
The stunning rise of David Morales, Providence’s next mayor
The 27-year-old democratic socialist promised to shake up Providence on the campaign trail.
Michigan State Defensive and Special Teams Report Card: Week One
Dominant line play and linebacker heroics propelled the Spartans against Toledo, but glaring lapses in the secondary nearly derailed a physical, high-energy defensive debut in East Lansing.
Kamala Harris to campaign with Sen. Jon Ossoff as part of midterm campaign swing
Kamala Harris will keynote a Fulton County Democrats dinner and stump with Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff at the end of October, capping off a spate of appearances on the trail for a select group of candidates on the midterms ballot this year.
Drink up: Centreville raises a glass to successful community, business engagement events
CENTREVILLE — A bigger win than the bottom line, Economic Development Manager Gaye Adams said the recent Sip and Savor Trail and Maryland Crafted: Centreville event success lies deeper than
Céline Dion making a comeback after years away from the stage over health
Céline Dion is preparing to return to the stage following a health crisis that nearly derailed her career.
Brightline Announces New Flex Fares for Florida Rail Travel
Product promises to offer more flexibility and choice
Davie County based business, Grail Card Promotions specializes in sports and Pokémon card shows
A Davie County based business specializes in sports and Pokémon card shows. Grail Card Promotions is hosting several upcoming shows and giving back to local high schools.
Patriots news: Mike Vrabel sums up doomed Drake Maye-led drive vs. Seahawks
The New England Patriots had a chance to avenge their Super Bowl loss in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks. They were driving down the field while trailing by three. With seconds remaining in the game, Drake Maye attempted to throw a touchdown. That is when disaster struck. Maye’s pass was intercepted by Josh Jobe in the end zone. The Seahawks […] The post Patriots news: Mike Vrabel sums up doomed Drake Maye-led drive vs. Seahawks appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Memorial completes the comeback to beat North
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — After trailing 1-0 through the first half, Memorial boy’s soccer team scored two in the second half to beat North on the road. Next, the Tigers will host Castle on Wednesday, September 16th. While the Huskies face Washington at home on Saturday, September 12th.
Blazers’ Underrated Signing Could Pay Dividends
The NBL champion and Davidson sharpshooter heads to training camp on an Exhibit 10 deal, aiming to secure his NBA dream through Portland’s growing international pipeline.
Is Joby Stock Priced For The Wrong Business?
Joby Aviation (JOBY) stock has fallen 49.2% over the trailing twelve months to about $6.84, about 65% below its 52-week high. The shares change hands at 57.0 times sales, against 3.2 for the S&P 500. That multiple is accurate.
North Carolina RB Addresses Major Offensive Concern
After a stagnant ground game nearly derailed North Carolina’s season opener, Benjamin Hall vows the Bobby Petrino rushing attack will find its rhythm before a looming showdown with Clemson.
🤝 Van Persie heritage continues in the Champions League
Despite Feyenoord's struggles in Barcelona this evening, one special moment added a shine to the event. The Dutch side trailed the LaLiga giants 3-0 heading into the final stages at the Camp Nou on a ...
Kirby and the World Beyond, which seemingly includes a Legend of Zelda crossover, coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in Spring 2027
A new reveal trailer Kirby and the World Beyond ended today's Nintendo Direct, showing off a large open world and lots of Zelda tie-ins.
Blizzard union workers ratify contract covering 1,900 employees
Union members have secured guardrails around generative AI usage, layoff protections, remote and hybrid work benefits, and more.
Trail Blazers Must Make the Remix Their International Advantage
By transforming the Rip City Remix into a premier developmental laboratory, Portland can bypass traditional scouting hurdles to secure elite, overlooked global talent before their rivals do.
Persona 6, Kingdom Hearts 4 spoilers may have emerged online amid massive achievements leak for unreleased games
An apparent Steam leak has resulted in a large number of achievement details for upcoming games appearing online.
Slime mould has no brain, no neurons and no central control, yet when scientists placed food at 36 locations matching cities around Tokyo, it grew a network strikingly similar to the rail system — with comparable efficiency, cost and resilience
A single-celled organism with no brain solved a transportation puzzle that took human engineers decades to perfect.
Jacks look to continue playing ‘fresh’ in Week 3
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — SDSU fell to 1-1 on the season after a 34-18 loss at Northwestern over the weekend. The Jacks struggled to convert in the red zone but otherwise hung around with the Wildcats for the majority of the night, only trailing by two with eight minutes to go in the fourth. […]
One Area Trail Blazers Must Win On-Court This Season
High-flying highlights won't save Portland if transition defense lags. The Blazers must match their offensive electricity with disciplined back-pedaling to transform from a highlight reel into contenders.
The trail of clues that our planet might be heating faster than we realised
A curious online row over this summer's heatwaves points to a wider - and worrying - shift in climate science.
The trail of clues that our planet might be heating faster than we realised
A curious online row over this summer's heatwaves points to a wider - and worrying - shift in climate science.
Why Brandon Marsh's slump will derail Phillies' NL East chances
The Philadelphia Phillies are looking to surpass the Atlanta Braves in the National League East standings. They will need players to step up over the next few weeks amid their pursuit of winning the division. Of course, Philadelphia is hoping its stars can lead the way. Starting pitching is a strength for this Phillies ball club. Zack Wheeler has […] The post Why Brandon Marsh's slump will derail Phillies' NL East chances appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Travel information for the Champions League opener v Villarreal
Rail servicesGetting thereThe RE 57 from Sauerland will make unscheduled stops at Signal Iduna Park station at 6:15 pm, 7:15 pm and 8:15 pm, and at Dortmund Central Station five minutes later each tim...
Jake Gyllenhaal sees a spooky Phoebe Dynevor in first look at M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks’ ‘Remain’
Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor star in the trailer for ‘Remain,’ based on the supernatural romance co-written by M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks.
OECD: Heavy AI Use Linked to Lower Science Scores
New PISA data shows students who use AI daily score 28 points lower in science; OECD urges using AI to support, not replace, learning.
Watch the epic new trailer for ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’
The new trailer for ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ sets up the sequel to 2023’s ‘Godzilla Minus One,’ which broke box office records.
See Mark Harmon's return as Gibbs in 'NCIS: Origins' trailer
Mark Harmon is back in action as Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
Street Fighter 6 gets a new gameplay trailer for Arjun, a new Indian brawler with a love for Bollywood
Capcom has released a gameplay trailer for Arjun, a brand-new character coming to the fighting game on the 13th October as part of the season 4 character pass.
11 politicians changing their positions on AI data centers
As public backlash to AI data centers grows, 11 politicians are rethinking incentives, backing new guardrails, or calling for pauses on development.
11 politicians changing their positions on AI data centers
As public backlash to AI data centers grows, 11 politicians are rethinking incentives, backing new guardrails, or calling for pauses on development.
What’s Next for the MCU? Every Upcoming Phase 6 Movie and TV Show Release Date
With Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe set to wrap up in 2028 with Avengers: Secret Wars, fans are already looking to what lies beyond the horizon. Marvel Studios ...
Arjun's gameplay trailer for Street Fighter 6, releases in October
Just yesterday, Capcom announced that Arjun's gameplay trailer was set to go live today at 4:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. ET. He's the second DLC representative of Season 4 after Yasmine.When Arjun was ...
Ohio Democrat Amy Acton reflects on a ‘rough day’ as witnesses recall ‘frightening’ confrontation
The Democratic nominee for governor in Ohio was back on the campaign trail Monday, a day after law enforcement officials said an armed man charged toward her at a public event.
Rangers Still Believe as Postseason Race Reaches Critical Stage
Trailing rivals by two games, the Texas Rangers enter a high-stakes road trip fueled by a must-win mentality in a desperate postseason push.
Trail Blazers Can Win Games Before the Fourth Quarter
By weaponizing Ja Morant’s speed and relentless rim pressure, Portland can dismantle defensive structures early, forcing opponents into foul trouble and building insurmountable leads before the final whistle.
Nathan Fielder drops trailer for mind-bending Elizabeth Holmes documentary filmed in secret over 3 years
“To this day, I don’t quite know what I went through,” Fielder said of filming “You Can See Everything.”
West Valley light rail extension raises business concerns along Indian School Road corridor
Business owners along Indian School Road are raising alarms about a proposed West Valley light rail extension, saying years of construction could threaten their livelihoods.
Plans presented for new White Sox ballpark
Justin Ishbia, the prospective owner of Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox, has revealed renderings for a proposed mixed-use district that would include a new ballpark for the team. The development, dubbed The Railyards, would be located in the South Loop neighbourhood of the city. It emerged earlier this year that Ishbia was in the
Jake Burger homers twice as Rangers beat Rays 8-6 to split 4-game series
Texas trails by two games in the race for the AL West lead and the league’s final wild card.
On campaign trail, Gavin Newsom leans into his California roots
The perception that California is a bad place to live is the result of lies, Gov. Gavin Newsom contends, peddled by right-wing media outlets.
Aurizon continues to grow Containerised Freight business
September 7, 2026 -- Aurizon, Australia’s largest rail freight company, is continuing to grow its containerised freight business delivering the ...
The new issue threatening to derail Man United’s season
The United defence, which has conceded twice in every game so far this season, suddenly looks hugely suspect and after ignoring that area in the recent transfer window, Michael Carrick faces a huge problem
CoComandering?
At 8 a.m., Friday morning, Aug. 28, 70 or 80 mostly bleary-eyed visitors to the Transportation Technology Center outside Pueblo packed a conference room to attend the Front Range Passenger Rail District’s (FRPRD) Board meeting. With the exception of those on a public or contractor payroll, who made their trips Thursday afternoon to overnight at […]
A's Look to Spoil Blue Jays' AL Wild Card Push
The Blue Jays swept the A's in the first series of the season. This week the A's will look to derail Toronto's Wild Card hopes.
Chicago Cubs Announce Starting Pitchers for Pivotal Series Against Brewers
The Chicago Cubs are coming off a 10-3 loss to the Miami Marlins on Sunday, but they still won two of three games in the series.They’ll have to turn the page quickly, though, as they prepare to take on the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday afternoon in a pivotal NL Central series.The Cubs still trail the […] The post Chicago Cubs Announce Starting Pitchers for Pivotal Series Against Brewers appeared first on HEAVY.
The core anti-Pangram constituency is phony writers
Welcome to The Closing Argument, our verdict on the news, plus everything The Argument published and appeared in this week. The Verdict, by Kelsey Piper A lot of people hate AI for drowning the internet in slop and displacing human creatives. You might think that these people would be thrilled by a program that can identify and flag AI-generated work. But many people who hate AI also hate Pangram, an impressively accurate AI detector that produces very few false positives, according to high-quality independent research. This loathing found its most recent expression in a bizarre Wired article that amplifies a wide range of false arguments from Pangram skeptics: that AI detectors are racist (they’re not) or ableist (they’re not)1 or don’t work (this one does)2. Rather than starting from the premise that it would be really valuable to have a working AI detector and scrutinizing Pangram to make sure it lives up to that promise, the article starts from the premise that Pangram obviously has bad vibes and sets out to discover why. (One answer: The CEO microwaved lunch during an interview!) Why aren’t writers who resent Pangram more eager to distinguish themselves from posters who are having ChatGPT ghostwrite all their work? There are a few different things at play, but I think one key dynamic is this: These are often the same people. A core constituency for arguments like Wired’s is “writers” who are using AI to write their posts but resent this fact being made public. They stand to lose from AI detectors because AI detectors call them out. Share When Substack announced a partnership with Pangram, a sizable fraction of the platform’s authors rose up in outrage. Some people had experience with other AI detectors that didn’t work, and some felt that AI writing ought to be encouraged — both of which are fair enough. But the fury was fueled by authors passionately insisting that Pangram kept wrongly accusing them on almost every post they published. Pangram can be wrong, especially on short passages. But in the overwhelming majority of cases where Pangram looked at a whole blog post rather than a single paragraph, the program correctly detected work as AI. Even if we can’t be 100% sure in any individual case, we can notice the trend in the aggregate. Wired quotes Sam Illingworth, a professor of critical AI literacy at Edinburgh Napier University, who said, “I don’t think [AI detectors] work. … I think that detectors are prejudiced against certain people.” This spring, he said that he used AI for research and editing; this summer he acknowledged that in addition to research and editing, he also uses it “now and then for a turn of phrase I keep.” Pangram informs us that most of his posts are 100% AI-written (some are mixed AI-and-human) and that 100% AI-written posts started appearing last year. The favorable interpretation is that, as someone whose recent work Pangram consistently mistakes for AI, Illingworth sees Pangram’s flaws firsthand. The unfavorable interpretation is that the tool’s credibility trades off against his own, because its account of who writes his posts is not consistent with his. Illingworth is not alone in insisting the detector does not work. “It’s a Monday night in late July, and I’m pasting my own Substack draft into an AI detector for the first time. Not because I’m worried. Because I’m curious. I wrote every word of it myself, the way I write everything, out loud in my head first, in a rhythm that still carries the accent of a language I learned to think in before I learned to write in this one,” begins one Substack post by an author indignant that Pangram flags her writing as AI. “That’s the part I had to sit with before I could write this.” If you, like me, have worked with AIs a lot, you won’t even need Pangram there. The author of that piece is AI. It is obviously AI! I checked 10 other posts on the blog, and they were also obviously AI! “I have spent 22 years as an award-winning author and essayist. And now this bullshit tool that learned from MY writing is going to accuse me of plagiarism,” popular Substack writer Carlyn Beccia wrote in an anti-Pangram post. “For the last and final time, AI DETECTORS DO NOT WORK.” Here’s what her writing sounded like in 2020: “Most success stories revolve around one person who believed enough in you to say — give it a try. We call these people muses, but they are so much more than that. They are the strong man giants whose shoulders we stand on so we can see the horizon. Throughout the editing process, I am sure my editor felt less like a giant of greatness and more like Atlas with the world on her shoulders.” Pangram says it was 100% human-written. (So were other articles of hers in 2020.) And here’s what it sounds like now: “And then there is the reshuffling, which sounds like paperwork until you remember that empires have always loved paperwork. The Trump regime recently moved special education oversight from the Education Department to HHS. That is not a minor bureaucratic transfer. It changes the frame.”3 Pangram says this is mostly AI. I am not convinced that Pangram is wrong. In my own experience, Pangram is very effective on long texts — if it marks a long essay as AI, the essay was either written by AI or deliberately written to sound like AI. On tweet-length or paragraph-length texts, it’s not perfectly reliable. It seems to work just as well for non-native English speakers as for native speakers. While I have seen dozens of claims of pre-2022 text returning a positive result on Pangram, I have tried repeatedly to corroborate those and have never once succeeded. To be clear, I’m absolutely not saying that complaining about Pangram suggests a writer is a cheat. There are plenty of other concerns. Most are mistakenly premised, such as the false claim that Pangram trains on work you put into it, but others are reasonable: It’s unreliable on sufficiently short text segments; it creates an internet witch-hunt mentality when there are defensible uses of AI; people who are open about their AI use are sometimes blamed, when the only people really doing something wrong are the ones who hide it; and it isn’t perfect, so a single positive result shouldn’t be taken as decisive proof of misconduct. I’m happy to concede that Pangram is imperfect and possible to over-rely on. If an author’s posts are mostly non-AI and one scans as partially AI, this could be a mistake. It’s also possible to defeat Pangram with intentional effort. If you think we need something more robust and more reliable, fine! But if you don’t like AI and don’t like Pangram, your attitude really ought to be that it’s a shame that our existing tools for AI detection are imperfect, and it’s important to invent better ones. If your stance is instead that AI is evil and so is looking for AI, then ultimately you’re contributing to the sloppification of the internet. You’re making it harder for people who write their own text to distinguish themselves, and providing cover for authors who are definitely not writing their own text. Subscribe Top stories this week, by Kobe Yank-Jacobs Commentators often worry that the decline of reading could mean the decline of liberal democracy — but deliberative governance actually predated widespread literacy. This week, Maibritt Henkel pointed out that many liberal cultures thrive on a culture of raucous, interactive debate, which can happen in-person as easily, if not more so, than in text. Read on, dear reader, to learn more. It may actually cheer you up: [ ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/reading-wont-save-liberalism) [ Reading won’t save liberalism ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/reading-wont-save-liberalism) Maibritt Henkel · Sep 1 [ Read full story ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/reading-wont-save-liberalism) It used to be bad to downplay climate change (if we mean denying its reality). Today, it’s actually good to downplay climate change (if we mean keeping the issue out of political fights so we can make real progress). This counterintuitive view is called “climate hushing,” and contributor Alex Trembath argued that it’s the key to enacting good policy going forward. Get up to speed on the latest in climate politics: [ ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/we-wont-stop-climate-change-by-talking) [ We won’t stop climate change by talking about it ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/we-wont-stop-climate-change-by-talking) Alex Trembath · Sep 2 [ Read full story ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/we-wont-stop-climate-change-by-talking) Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney is standing up for the forces of liberalism against Donald Trump’s assault on our closest ally. So, why is one prominent left-wing commenter attacking Carney? Columnist Matthew Yglesias explains: [ ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/when-economic-liberty-means-central) [ When "economic liberty" means central planning ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/when-economic-liberty-means-central) Matthew Yglesias · Aug 31 [ Read full story ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/when-economic-liberty-means-central) 🌟Abundance Wins of the Week🌟 Shout out to my home state of California, whose legislature passed two housing bills this week. One requires a housing density minimum in transit-oriented areas of the state’s most transit-rich cities (Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, San Diego, and Long Beach). Another bill closes two common loopholes used by third parties to delay housing projects, including an opportunity to challenge maps of a given lot created by the developer after a project has been approved. Shout out to our big-state rival, Texas, where pro-housing SB 785 took effect this week. The new state law requires municipalities to have at least one district permitted for manufactured housing without a special permit. This will promote zoning changes in 44% of municipalities. The company Fervo Energy signed a deal with Google for what is set to be the world’s largest enhanced geothermal facility, proving a technology can work at a scale that could be crucial to a decarbonized, energy-abundant economy. Share Worth watching… This week, forecasting legend Nate Silver joined Jerusalem, Matt, and Jeremiah on a crowded episode of the pod. It was a party. And speaking of parties, our round table debated the factional lines within the Democratic Party: Is it possible to be center-left and also anti-establishment? Watch or listen to find out: The Rio Grande Valley in Texas is one of the areas that swung hardest toward Trump in 2024, but musician Bobby Pulido is running to flip it back. Right now, The Argument/Split Ticket’s model has him running 1.1 points behind his Republican opponent in a district Trump won by 18 points. Tune in to find out how he differs from national Democrats and what he thinks he can to do win this seat. On Thursday, Bernie Sanders was among the first politicians to call for a ban on superintelligence. My guest this week, Andrea Miotti, has been lobbying to ban superintelligence for several years, most recently in the U.K., U.S., and Canada. I asked him how he gets legislators to take speculative risks seriously, and we dug into what plans might look like to actually pass a ban. Listen to learn more: What’s News with The Argument The Argument recommends, by Kobe Yank-Jacobs If we ever lose track of Justin Zuckerman, I’ll have the team split up and check all the movie theaters in the city. I’m shocked (and a little jealous) at how often he gets out to see good cinema. This week, he brings us It Ends, a “horror-ish movie,” which he described as a “Gen Z Waiting for Godot.” I was intrigued before he added that it was “funny, dark and existential” — at which point I was fully locked in. I guess I also had existential themes on the mind this week. One morning, a single line from a poem I read long ago just came to me: “Is death a stretch of time in which a life is just a flash?” The poem is called “From 20,000 Feet” by Heather McHugh. I suggest the version in The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry, which, by tradition, my best friend and I always bring backpacking, extra weight be damned. We’ll stay thematically dark for just one more rec from senior editor John Robert Thomason, whose upcoming trip to Baltimore reminded him to suggest Michael Clune’s memoir White Out (about being addicted to heroin in Baltimore in the 1990s). Ben Lerner’s blurb called it _“_Disturbing, brilliant, hilarious—it’s as if Proust had written Jesus’ Son.” John told me this “seems accurate, with the caveat that I’ve never read Proust.” I, personally, have also shelved Proust until retirement. At this point, I was a little concerned for the team since all of us tossed out such psychologically grim material — maybe we’re all down about the end of summer — but thankfully, at least a few of us were into more upbeat selections. Milan Singh recommended Made In’s 5-quart stainless clad saucier, suggesting he had some fun in the kitchen. Jeremiah Johnson asked if he could recommend yet more Carly Rae Jepsen. Once denied, he offered up Game Changer instead_,_ calling it “the most wildly creative game show, maybe in the entire history of the genre.” Eli Richman mentioned _Lucky, “_a B-tier show with an A-tier cast and an S-tier theme song.” I suppose he was recommending the song, Horns of a Bull. Still, despite these cheerier recs, I couldn’t help but be concerned that we were subconsciously worried about racing toward summer’s end — the end of swim trunks and splashing around. Then a message landed reminding me of the three-day weekend to come. A whole extra day for sunshine. One more swim in the lake. I was grateful this called to mind yet another line from a poem, one by Mary Oliver, the patron saint of every gorgeous summer day (and about whom a documentary is now out). Speaking to God in the poem “Thirst,” she wrote: grant me, in your mercy,a little more time. Love for the earthand love for you are having such a longconversation in my heart. We have merch! We have quarter-zips, keychains, hats, and stickers. Each one is a great conversation starter in its own way. Buy them here. Subscribe More to read: [ The Opening Argument ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/seeing-like-an-elite)[ Seeing like an elite ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/seeing-like-an-elite) Kobe Yank-Jacobs · Sep 4 What do Americans hear when they watch Sen. Bernie Sanders or Vice President JD Vance rail against the elite? Are they thinking of right-wing tech billionaires? Imperious college professors? Liberal magazine writers? [ Read full story ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/seeing-like-an-elite) [ The Weekly Scroll ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/god-is-back-on-the-timeline)[ God is back on the timeline ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/god-is-back-on-the-timeline) Jeremiah Johnson · Sep 5 This week, we’re talking about Substack’s new religious debates, the continuing MAGA influencer scandal, how to retire from YouTube, and aura battles. [ Read full story ](https://www.theargumentmag.com/p/god-is-back-on-the-timeline) 1 This was a legitimate thing to worry about, but doesn’t seem to be a problem given the actual technology: Marijke Van Vlasselaer, Filip Van Droogenbroeck, and Bram Spruyt’s 2026 paper looks at whether Pangram is less accurate when evaluating the work of non-native speakers of English. It isn’t. That’s because Pangram isn’t really looking at how “unusual” a piece of writing is but whether it has the characteristic patterns of LLMs. The Wired article makes an odd gesture at a different Pangram-is-racist argument. There were several controversies this summer during which upcoming books were canceled after being discovered to be AI-written: “The three novels mentioned earlier — Shy Girl, Daggermouth, and Call Me, easily publishing’s biggest AI-detection scandals — were all written by writers of color.” But come on! As Zvi Mowshowitz put it: “They were not primarily written by people of color. They were primarily written by AIs.” That’s the whole problem! And as my colleague Jeremiah Johnson recently observed with respect to Cambridge’s Arday scandal, a community being unwilling to call out fraud if it’s perpetuated by people of color is not an anti-racist tendency; it is ultimately quite racist. 2 Many non-Pangram detectors don’t work, but many possible airplane designs also don’t work, and no one considers this a general argument against aviation; the thing that matters is whether any detection works. 3 The phrase “empires have always loved” mysteriously became all the rage in the last few years. See here, here, here, here and here. Before 2025, the only use of that phrase I have been able to find is a single Tweet. The logic of the sentence, too, is incoherent in an AI-characteristic way. “...sounds like paperwork, until you remember that empires have always loved paperwork”? Does remembering that make it sound less like paperwork? It’s a craft-ful sentence, but what is it actually saying??
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Cougar fans — It’s time! BYU Football kicks off the 2026-27 season at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday night against the Utah Tech Trailblazers. Saturday will be just the second time the in-state teams have met, with the first coming back in 2022, also in Provo. BYU defeated Utah Tech by a final score of […]
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.