All articles
Twenty-two pieces, grouped by what they're for. Newest first within each section. Every one is written by me, from scratch, after actually spending the time.
Comparisons
Head-to-heads that end with an actual recommendation, including who should pick the other one — or neither.
SSD vs HDD for Gaming in 2026 — Does Storage Still Matter?
The big jump is mechanical to flash, and it's transformative. Every step after that delivers shrinking returns for growing prices — and the 2026 squeeze changed exactly one thing.
Game Pass vs PlayStation Plus — Which Subscription Is Worth It?
Both raised prices, and only one feature genuinely changes the maths versus buying games. The break-even arithmetic the marketing skips, and why most subscribers never reach it.
Steam Deck vs Nintendo Switch 2 — Which Portable Should You Pick?
One machine's greatest strength is that you can change anything. The other's is that you can't, so nothing breaks. Two opposite philosophies in the same shape.
NordVPN vs ExpressVPN for Gaming — Which One Actually Helps?
Two big names, meaningfully different prices, and each better at different things. Which to pick for PC, which for routing a console, and how to know what you'll gain.
Steam vs Epic Games Store — Who's Actually Winning in 2026?
Steam holds 74% of revenue, Epic 3% — but Epic has 59% of Steam's users. Why the storefront war was decided by unglamorous plumbing rather than exclusives.
PC Gaming vs Console in 2026 — The Honest Verdict
Steam hit $11.1B while console hardware sales fell 19.5%. Both numbers get misread. The real five-year cost comparison, and the one question that beats every technical argument.
EA FC 27 vs FC 26 — Is It Worth the Upgrade?
The Career Mode transfer rework is the most interesting thing EA has done in years. The commercial packaging around it is worse than the game — and I won't defend either part of it.
Reviews & Previews
Games I've played, with the hours behind the verdict. Where I've only had an early build, the article says so up front.
Palworld 1.0 Is Finally Here — What You Need to Know
I called it a flash in the pan in 2024 and I was wrong. What the full release actually changes, why the creature-as-workforce idea worked when nothing else had, and whether it's worth going back in.
Fogpiercer — Surviving a Nuclear Winter on Rails
I have chronic roguelike fatigue and I've still put thirty hours into this one. The trick: your base and your battlefield are the same object, so every efficiency decision is also a defensive one.
Arena Breakout: Infinite — The Tactical Shooter to Watch
Most shooters ask you to be good at aiming. Extraction shooters ask you to be good at deciding when to leave. The most approachable serious entry into a genuinely brutal genre.
Project Entropy: The RTS Game 2026 Has Been Waiting For
The genre's problem was never complexity — it was that the complexity lived in your fingers instead of your head. The first strategy game in years that seems to have diagnosed this correctly.
Halo: Campaign Evolved — The UE5 Remake That Changes Everything
The most encouraging thing to happen to this franchise since 2010, and I did not expect to write that sentence. Hands-on impressions, the PlayStation shock, and the two things that still worry me.
Buying Guides
Written to save you money. That includes the times the honest recommendation is to buy nothing at all.
Free-to-Play vs Pay-to-Win — How to Spot an Honest Game
A definition that actually works, the three tiers every free game sits in, and an eight-point checklist you can run in ten minutes before sinking a hundred hours into something.
5 Best VPNs for Gamers in 2026
Every advert leads with the one benefit a VPN can't deliver and skips the five it genuinely can. What the tool actually fixes, how to test your own connection, and five providers worth the money.
How to Choose a Gaming PC in 2026 Without Breaking the Bank
Almost everyone who overspends makes the same mistake: buying an expensive part for games that don't use it. Budget allocation by genre, three build shapes, and the upgrade nobody budgets for.
Industry Analysis
Pricing, technology, and where the money comes from — the parts of the business that quietly decide what you get to play.
GTA 6 at $80 — Are Video Games Getting Too Expensive?
The inflation argument is completely correct and almost entirely beside the point. What the publishers' maths leaves out, and what eighty dollars would have to buy for me to pay it happily.
Esports Is Moving to the Middle East — What It Means
Competitive gaming's business model collapsed, then a sovereign wealth fund bought the sector. What the money genuinely fixed, what it didn't, and the part I find difficult.
The HDD Shortage Is Hitting PC Gaming — How to Adapt
You're not competing with other gamers for drives — you're competing with datacenters whose storage budget dwarfs the entire consumer market. Eight things that actually help.
Is AI Revolutionizing Gaming? What 2026 Actually Tells Us
The revolution happened in the tooling, where players can't see it. The flagship promises ran into problems that turned out to be about design and money rather than capability.
GTA 6 Launches November 19 — Everything We Know
A clean separation between what Rockstar has confirmed, what's been credibly reported, and what people are simply inventing. Roughly 10% of what you've read falls into the first category.
Lists & Roundups
Recommendations sorted by what they'll actually demand from you, rather than by what ranks well.
Nintendo Switch 2 — The Games Worth Checking Out
One year in, the hardware argument is settled. The launch titles that held up, the best game on the system that most people skipped, and the one purchase you should avoid.
7 Best Space Strategy Games to Play in 2026
These games are cheap. What they cost is time, in quantities that will make you reconsider your relationship with sleep. Seven picks, ranked by what they actually demand.
Read the policy behind all of this
How recommendations get made, how affiliate links are handled, and the topics this site won't cover at any price.
About Mike & GameKyn