Last year, the team over at Six One Indie debuted The Indie Game Awards, and it was a lovingly put-together award show that celebrated the achievements of indie developers around the world, from the big hits that you probably played to games you might not have even heard of (but should have). The Indie Game Awards return this year on December 18, and Game Informer is honored and thrilled to be an official judge in this year's show alongside various other outlets and individuals. 

The official website for the show is now live, which is where you can see the other judges and, more importantly, the nominations, including the 2025 Game of the Year. 

"Once again, the IGAs will bring the indie scene together to honor outstanding achievements in categories such as innovation, storytelling, artistry, and more, all celebrating the creativity of independent developers," a press release reads. "The countdown to the ceremony officially begins today with the reveal of this year's judges, presenters, and of course, nominees." 

One new thing with this year's show is the Indie Vanguard Class, which Six One Indie describes as a selection of five developers who represent the future of the industry and stand among those paving the way forward for the indie scene. "New regional and showcase-specific categories, curated by showcases such as Latin American Games Showcase, Women-Led Games, and Black Voices in Gaming, have been added to better celebrate diverse voices from around the globe. And finally, players can now submit their favorite indies across a variety of genres for the highly requested Community Picks segment." 

This year's awards-only ceremony – you won't find any new game trailers or reveals in the show – will feature 28 presenters from all around the industry, including Chandana Ekanayake, Lena Raine, Remy Siu, and Chipzel, alongside a panel of judges that includes, well, us here at Game Informer, The Indie Informer, Giant Bomb, GameSpot, NoClip, and others, including Women-Led Games, Wholesome Games, The MIX, Black Voices in Gaming, and more. 

Game Of The Year Nominations

Below, we'll list all the nominations for the 2025 Game of the Year award, but you can find the complete list of nominees, presenters, and judges at the official awards site here. 

• Absolum – Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, and Supamonks
• and Roger – TearyHand Studio
• Blue Prince – Dogubomb
• Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector – Jump Over the Age
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive
• Consume Me – Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, and Ken "coda" Snyder
• Hades II – Supergiant Games
• Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry
• Keep Driving – YCJY Games
• Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo – Pocket Trap

The Indie Game Awards will premiere on December 18 at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET via Six One Indie's YouTube and Twitch channels, as well as IGN and GameSpot. 

Players can submit their favorite indies for Community Picks until November 24, and you can follow The Indie Game Awards on Bluesky here for additional updates and more information about the ceremony. 

Valve has revealed the Steam Machine, a cubical device that's six times more powerful than the Steam Deck and lets you play your entire Steam Library with ease on a TV in your living room. There's no price or release date yet, but Valve says it will be released in early 2026. 

Alongside the Steam Machine, Valve also revealed the Steam Frame, a new streaming-first, wireless VR headset (with controllers) that lets you play your entire Steam VR and non-VR catalog. And finally, Valve unveiled the Steam Controller, which looks a lot like a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller, but with the touchpads seen on the Steam Deck. Alongside the Steam Machine, Valve says the Frame and Controller will be released in early 2026. 

Steam Machine

Valve says the Steam Machine is over six times more powerful than the Steam Deck, and can play all of your Steam library – just sign in with your Steam account via the device and you're set. It features SteamOS, an "OS optimized for gaming, with fast suspend/resume, and cloud saves," and it's all packed into a small form factor roughly the size of a 6-inch cube. The company says it keeps itself cool, is whisper-quiet, and can handle any peripherals you attach to it thanks to a 1 Gigabit Ethernet port, DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0, one USB-C port, and four USB-A ports. 

As for what's happening inside the Machine, Valve says you can expect 4K gaming at 60 FPS with FSR, thanks to a semi-custom AMD desktop-class CPU and GPU, and it will come in either a 512GB or 2TB storage capacity. However, both can be expanded via a microSD. In terms of connectivity, the Steam Machine has 2x2 Wi-Fi 6E plus Bluetooth 5.3 with a dedicated antenna. The Steam Controller's wireless adapter is built right into the cube, too, which Valve says makes for easy pairing. And finally, the Steam Machine's power supply is built in, so there's no large power brick. 

 

An LED strip along the bottom of the cube lets you keep an eye on system status, such as download progress, even when the screen is off. You can change the colors and animations, too. 

Valve says it is expanding its Verified program (for Steam Deck) to include ratings for Steam Machine "so customers can understand how their games will run." Also, despite functioning like a plug-and-play console, it's still a PC, so you can install your own apps or a completely different operating system, if you want. 

Steam Controller

The new Steam Controller has been built for Steam and is configurable with Steam Input, allowing you to use it on a PC, a laptop, the Steam Deck, the Steam Machine, and even the Steam Frame. It comes with the Steam Controller Puck, which is both a wireless transmitter that "provides a fast, stable connection for your Steam Controller" and is also a charging station that connects to the controller magnetically. You can still use Bluetooth or USB, if you prefer, though. 

Valve says the Steam Controller features magnetic thumbsticks with TMR technology, "designed for improved feel, responsiveness, and long-term reliability." Plus, they support capacitive touch for motion controls, and the entire controller features high-definition rumble and a grip-enabled gyro. 

It features all the other usual controller features like thumbsticks, buttons, bumpers, and triggers designed for comfort, motion controls, grip buttons, the Steam button, a quick menu access button, and even trackpads like those seen on the Steam Deck. It's due out sometime in early 2026, though Valve didn't reveal a specific release date or the device's cost. 

Steam Frame

The final new piece of Steam hardware Valve revealed today is the Steam Frame, a "VR and non-VR" gaming device. Valve calls it a streaming-first, wireless VR headset that includes unique controllers, and the entire package "can handle your whole Steam library. 

"Step into immersive VR, or lean back and enjoy your non-VR catalog," Valve writes on the announcement page. "And it supports stand-alone, too. The Steam Frame headset is lightweight and compact, with the weight balanced front-to-rear for a comfortable experience. It's also easy to just slip on and play, with no wires and no setup." 

With the included plug-and-play 6GHz wireless adapter, you can play both VR and non-VR games via streaming, and the device includes something Valve calls "Foveated Streaming," which optimizes details based on where your eyes are looking. Like the Steam Deck and Steam Machine, Valve is expanding its Verified program to include Steam Frame as well. 

It's due out sometime in early 2026, though Valve didn't reveal any specific release date or price. 

What are your thoughts on all this new hardware? Let us know in the comments below!

Nintendo held a special Direct for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ahead of its release in theaters next year on April 3, 2026. Though the Direct clocked in at less than eight minutes long, it was still jam-packed with information. We've rounded up everything you need to know in one place – this article here – for easy viewing. 

Everything We Learned In Today's Direct For The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

To kick things off, Super Mario Bros. creator and movie executive producer Shigeru Miyamoto introduced himself and Chris Meledandri, the CEO of Illumination, the studio behind The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The duo wasted no time, though, immediately kicking to the first full trailer for the film. In it, we get a look at returning characters like Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, and Toad, alongside our first looks at new additions in the form of Rosalina and Bowser Jr. 

Check out the new trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie below: 

As you can see, the trailer begins on a stormy night. Inside a castle, we see Bowser painting something, and just after placing the finishing touches, he's jump-scared by Luigi. In case you forgot, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which hit theaters in 2023, ended with Bowser consuming a Mini Mushroom, shrinking him significantly. Since the events of that movie, it seems Mario and Luigi have been keeping a close eye on Bowser by letting him live in his shrunken-down castle within the confines of Peach's castle. 

In this scene, Bowser showcases his latest masterpiece, and of course, it's a totally-accurate-and-not-at-all-exaggerated buff version of himself holding Peach on canvas. We also see that Bowser is working on his anger issues here, but is still struggling with them from time to time. 

From here, the scene with Bowser, Mario, and Luigi ends and we cut forward to Peach and Mario on a balcony of Peach's castle in the Mushroom Kingdom, watching a strange phenomenon happen in the sky. Dozens of stars burst through the night sky above them as the duo watches in awe (and maybe a bit of fear ) at what's happening. At this point, the Mario Bros. theme from The Super Mario Bros. Movie begins blasting, and we see Peach and Toad jumping through star-shaped portals, blasting through space, diving through watery planets, and more. 

In this montage, we see Mario and Luigi on a sandy planet, riding motorbikes, towards a familiar desert pyramid, while Peach is busy kicking some butt on a different planet. After this, we get a look at a seemingly powered-up version of Bowser Jr. before cutting away to Rosalina using her special powers to take down a massive mechanized enemy. 

The trailer ends here, reminding viewers that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters on April 3, 2026. 

New Cast

As you probably predicted, given the movie's title, it's no surprise that Rosalina appears in the trailer. She's the galactic protector after all, and one of the main stars in the Super Mario Galaxy series of games. Meledandri and Miyamoto used this segment of the Direct to debut a new scene of Rosalina reading a special book to her star-shaped friends, the Lumas. After this, Meledandri reveals that none other than Brie Larson (Captain Marvel, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), noted Nintendo superfan, is voicing Rosalina. 

 

Alongside that new casting announcement, Meledandri attempted to reveal the voice of Bowser Jr., but Bowser's voice actor, Jack Black, crashed the Direct to do it himself. And the voice of Bowser Jr. is none other than Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer, The Curse, and director of Uncut Gems). We got a quick scene of Bowser Jr. here showing the beloved/infamous Koopa throne heir-to-be donning a more traditional look (versus the purple-glowing, powered-up version in the trailer). 

 

After that, the Direct ended with Miyamoto and Meledandri expressing their excitement for the film, with the latter noting Illumination is weeks away from putting the final touches on the movie. Miyamoto closed out the Direct by urging viewers to check out the Nintendo Today app for more information, but at the time of this writing, only the Direct has been posted there. 

New Poster

Outside of the Direct, Nintendo and Illumination revealed a new poster for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie that you can see below: 

And that's everything we learned about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie during today's special Nintendo Direct. For more, check out the reveal trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and if you're in the mood for more galactic adventuring, check out the recently released Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 bundle available on Switch and Switch 2. After that, read Game Informer's review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. 

Nintendo aired a special Direct for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie today and released a brand-new trailer for the upcoming film, set to hit theaters in April. In the trailer, we get new looks at returning characters like Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach, and Toad, alongside our first look at Rosalina and Bowser Jr. 

During the Direct, Nintendo and Illumination, which is creating the movie, revealed that Brie Larson will voice Rosalina and Benny Safdie will voice Bowser Jr. In the trailer, we get to see and hear both of these new (to the movie franchise) characters in action. As the galactic protector, Rosalina is quite adept at tackling any challenge before her with her special wand and star friends known as the Lumas – we get to see her use that wand against a strange mechanical enemy and read a special book to her Lumas. As for Safdie's Bowser Jr., we see the character's more traditional look alongside a seemingly powered-up (perhaps mechanical) version of Bowser's child. 

Check it out in the new trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie below: 

As you can see, alongside looks at returning and new characters, this trailer also shows us glimpses of the planet-hopping adventure the Mario Bros. crew will go on in the movie, highlighting that even Peach and Toad will do some galactic travel. Eagle-eyed watchers might even notice a familiar planet or two in the quick scenes, too. 

Here are some additional screenshots from the trailer: 

 

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters on April 3, 2026. 

In the meantime, read about the movie's latest casting news, and then check out the reveal trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. After that, read Game Informer's review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. 

What do you think of this latest trailer? Let us know in the comments below!

Nintendo held a special Direct for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and alongside a new trailer for the film, revealed the voices behind galactic protector Rosalina and Koopa throne heir-to-be Bowser Jr. Brie Larson (Captain Marvel, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) will voice Rosalina and Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer, The Curse, and director of Uncut Gems) will voice Bowser Jr. 

Like The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023, Illumination is creating this movie with Nintendo, and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri joined Super Mario Bros. creator Shigeru Miyamoto during the Direct to make this casting announcement. However, after revealing Larson as the voice of Rosalina, Bowser voice actor Jack Black crashed the Direct to take over and announce Safdie's involvement himself. In case you're unfamiliar, here's a look at Larson and Safdie and the characters they're voicing: 

 

During the Direct, Nintendo not only released a brand new trailer for the film, but it also released two quick scenes showcasing Larson as Rosalina and Safdie as Bowser Jr. You can check out both in the final minutes of the Direct below: 

As you can see, both Larson and Safdie sound great in their roles, and fortunately, we don't have to wait too long to hear more, as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters on April 3. 

In the meantime, check out the reveal trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and then read Game Informer's review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. 

What do you think of these new casting announcements? Let us know in the comments below!