Starfield Dates, Mario Movie Madness, and Gaming Chaos

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[excited] Hey hey, welcome back to Under The Washer, I am dustball, your favorite washed-up handheld mascot livin' in the lint and talkin' too much. And today, man, GameSpot is all over the place in the best way. You got sales, fancy headphones, giant RPG stuff, zombie drama, space updates, weird little industry teases, like, it is one of those days where the news feed looks like somebody spilled a whole toy box onto the floor. I kinda love that. There is serious stuff, frustrating stuff, and also that very gamer-specific energy of, “please stop making my inventory miserable.” Which, honestly, same. My closet works exactly like that. [chuckles]

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Let’s start in space, because Starfield has a release date locked in for Free Lanes and Terran Armada, and the big thing there is not just, oh cool, more Starfield, but that players actually have a clear time to point at now. That matters, man. When a game like that gets a concrete release date and release times confirmed, the whole community changes mood. Suddenly people stop doing the “maybe soon, maybe not” dance and start planning builds, reinstalling the game, checking saves, texting their one friend who always says they’re done with Starfield and then comes right back. You know the guy. Maybe it is you. No judgment, compadre.

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And with Starfield, every new drop feels like a little test of momentum too. Can it pull players back in? Can it make the galaxy feel fresh again? I think just having something named and dated helps a lot. Free Lanes and Terran Armada also sounds pretty big, pretty military, pretty space-politics-y, so even without going full deep dive, it gives off that “new chapter” vibe instead of just a tiny patch note vibe.

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Then you got State of Decay 3, and this one is funny because part of the surprise is basically, “hey, remember that trailer?” Apparently that announcement trailer was not actually the game. Which, whew, that opens up a whole conversation right there. Because gamers, we all know cinematic trailers can be slippery little dudes, but when people hear that after the fact, it always lands like a mini betrayal. Not a giant scandal necessarily, but definitely a raised eyebrow situation. And now the mood around State of Decay 3 seems way more active again, especially with that sense that it’s back from the dead and maybe people could play it soon. That is a strong comeback sentence for a zombie game, by the way. Back from the dead is basically perfect branding.

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I’m curious about that one, because State of Decay has always had a cool hook. Surviving is one thing. Managing the whole messy collapse with your people, your base, your bad decisions, that is where the juice is. If the game really is re-emerging in a meaningful way, then yeah, folks are gonna pay attention.

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Speaking of paying attention for slightly more painful reasons, Crimson Desert players are apparently begging people not to take items too early, and there is also a patch trying to make storage less frustrating. That is such a specific kind of game problem, man. It tells you two things immediately: one, players care enough to be yelling instructions at each other already, and two, the systems are rubbing people the wrong way. Inventory and storage issues can absolutely turn a cool-looking adventure into a part-time warehouse job. You log in wanting to be a hero and next thing you know you are doing shelf management. No gracias.

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So a patch focused on storage? Good. That means somebody noticed. But the fact players are also saying don’t grab items too early makes me think there is some progression weirdness there, maybe some “oops, I broke my own flow” energy. Those are the kinds of rough edges that people remember fast, so it’s smart to address them early.

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And then there’s that new game that might scratch the GTA 6 itch, except the warning label is basically, “relax, this is not GTA-sized, and it’s not GTA-priced either.” I actually like that framing. Not every open-world crime-flavored game needs to arrive as a billion-dollar planetary event. Sometimes people just want the vibe. Give me some chaos, some driving, some criminal shenanigans, maybe a city with attitude, and keep it moving. Smaller scope is not automatically bad. Smaller scope can mean tighter, weirder, more focused. Like a street taco, you know? You don’t need a buffet if the taco is good. That’s a terrible analogy. No, actually, that one works.

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So yeah, big picture right now: GameSpot’s feed feels like the full gamer diet. Space expansion dates, zombie resurrection question marks, fantasy-world storage headaches, and one little underdog trying to wave at the giant shadow of GTA 6 without getting crushed by it. Pretty healthy mix, man.

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Now let’s get into the weirder, shinier side of the day, because this part is delightful. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is apparently smashing it already, with the box office going past 370 million dollars globally after just five days, and on top of that it helped break a 106-year record. One hundred and six years, man. That is older than basically every console argument on Earth. That kind of number is not just “nice opening weekend,” that is “okay, everybody in the boardroom is suddenly talking way louder” territory.

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And around that movie, the little side stories are almost as funny as the big number. There’s the note that Anya Taylor-Joy did not actually barf when voicing Peach for the first time, which is one of those headlines where you stop and go, wait, why was that even a rumor? But it’s charming. Then Nintendo wants you to bring your phone to the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which sounds like either interactive marketing, some audience participation thing, or at minimum Nintendo really wants your attention on two screens at once. Bold move. Risky move. Very modern move. Also there was that deal headline saying it’s not a Switch 2 Mario Galaxy bundle, but it’s the next best thing, which is basically the retail version of “close enough, primo.”

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And if that was not enough fantasy nonsense for one day, the Zelda movie is filming at the same locations as The Lord of the Rings, and people are excited. Of course they are excited. You say Zelda and Lord of the Rings in the same sentence and the internet immediately puts on a little elf hat and starts making mood boards.

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Meanwhile, over in MMO chaos land, the WoW race to world first got thrown into confusion after a secret boss phase got revealed. See, this is why I love competitive MMO stories even when I do not fully understand every spreadsheet involved. Because they are always one hidden mechanic away from total emotional collapse. Secret phase! Chaos! Guilds panicking! That stuff rules. It is like watching Olympic-level homework suddenly catch fire.

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Then there’s Magic: The Gathering doing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the claim is this is the most video gamey set ever. That is a strong statement, but I kinda get it immediately. TMNT already has that arcade DNA, that brawler energy, that pizza-and-power-ups flavor. So if a Magic set leans hard into that, yeah, it probably does feel less like dusty wizard tomes and more like somebody hit start on a couch co-op campaign in 1992. Very fun crossover energy.

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Before I crawl back under the washer, quick little deal sweep, because there’s some cozy and useful stuff floating around too. Fanatical has a new Wholesome Collection with up to 18 cozy PC games, which is excellent if your brain is tired and you wanna digitally pet a dog or organize a village or whatever peaceful magic those games do. There’s also a Humble Bundle offering 15 PC games for 15 bucks while supporting charity, and I always like those because the pitch is so clean. Games, cheap, and for a good cause. Boom.

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Hardware-wise, Sony’s premium noise-canceling headphones are discounted by more than 150 dollars, in four colors no less, which is the kind of deal that makes you briefly imagine becoming a person who appreciates premium audio instead of listening to everything through one rattly earbud. Multiple Kindle models are also steeply discounted, and if you wanna get super practical, there’s that Genki Covert Dock 3 that supposedly helps with Switch 2 clutter in one plug. I respect anti-clutter technology, man. My whole life is clutter.

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So that’s the vibe today: gigantic Mario movie numbers, bizarre Mario-adjacent side stories, secret WoW boss drama, ninja turtles invading Magic, and enough game bundles and gadget deals to wreck your budget very politely. I’m dustball, this has been Under The Washer, and I’ll be back soon with more game talk, more chaos, and probably at least one take I regret five minutes later. Later, amigos.