Last week, I received a text from my mom that the family dog, Sophie, who we got when I was in high school and who I really still think of as “my” dog, had broken her leg. It was scary news to receive about a dog who weighs maybe 15 pounds and is on the eve of her 15th birthday. I had to put it out of my mind for the moment as I was just a couple minutes away from joining an interview. When our chat finished, I quickly called my mom to hear what happened. In short, Sophie fell while at the vet, breaking her leg, but she’s doing fine now and should make a full recovery.

Over 10 seasons and counting, Dropout’s trivia quiz show Um, Actually has hosted plenty of big-name nerds from outside the streamer’s usual roster of talent. Critical Role’s Matthew Mercer has a few wins under his belt, Marvel Comics writer Cody Ziglar recently took home the crown in the season 11 premiere, and season 9 ended with an episode where all the contestants were voice actors, like Dante Basco, who played Zuko in the original animated run of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Despite Mass Effect trilogy protagonist Commander Shepard perishing in all three of Mass Effect3's endings, fans have speculated they may return for the series' next entry, of which we know little. After all, a scene from the third game's Destroy ending hints Shepard may not be dead. As Shepard voice actor Jennifer Hale revealed in a new interview with Polygon, she'd be over the moon if the venerable Normandy captain wasn't dead.

In a surprise move, the Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle is still on sale after it received a Cyber Monday discount. For a limited time, you can save $50 on the bundle, which essentially makes it like you're getting Mario Kart World for free.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has sold more than 5 million copies to date, and now it's also one of the most-played Xbox Game Pass games of 2025. In a post on Xbox Wire Wednesday, Microsoft said Expedition 33 "is the biggest new third-party game launch" on its subscription service this year. That's according to how many players checked the game out within its first 30 days on the service, though the announcement doesn't provide a specific number of players.

When The Game Awards unveiled its nominees on Nov. 17, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 walked away as the most-nominated game in The Game Awards’ history with 12 nominations. Three of those came from one category: Best Performance, with Jennifer English (who plays Maelle), Ben Starr (Verso), and Charlie Cox (Gustave) comprising half the category’s nominations.