Taylor Bauer

Chicago

Games Industry Journalist at Phenixx Gaming

📍 Chicagoland / games industry and culture journalist @phenixxg / prev. @sbnation, @npr

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Articles

Audeze Maxwell Xbox Gaming Headphones Impressions

4 days ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

I can already hear the digital tomatoes being thrown at me, but I’m usually the type to throw on a podcast or music while playing games. I’ll always check out the soundtrack, voiceovers, and other audio-related content for a bit, and always during a review. Still, I’m just not someone who usually immerses themself in the non-visual parts of a game.
Xbox Games Showcase 2025 Rundown

2 weeks ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

Summer Game Fest hasn’t really had a wow moment this year, if you ask me. I’ve enjoyed a lot of the shows, but there aren’t a lot of reveals nowadays that really give me that old-school E3 feeling. With a slate of studios following billions of dollars spent acquiring teams from all over the globe, Xbox really is in a position to wow folks. Did they live up to the call? Here’s our rundown of Xbox Game Showcase 2025.
Day of the Devs Summer Game Fest Edition 2025 Rundown

2 weeks ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

Day of the Devs is a fun event where indie developers get their time to shine. This year’s event was packed with a ton of great games, sure to make everyone happy. Here’s our complete rundown of the Summer Game Fest Edition of Day of the Devs 2025. First up, Snap and Grab showed off a lead character with a double life. Not only is Nifty Nevada a photographer for the fashion industry, but she also runs a crime outfit that uses her photos for the heists.
Sony State of Play June 2025 Rundown

3 weeks ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

Predictions that we might see a Sony State of Play sometime around Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest came true. That means a recently quiet PlayStation company had a chance to prove naysayers wrong and show a slate of games worth building hype over. Was it enough to appease fans eager to see the latest and greatest available for their PlayStation 5? You’ll need to be the judge. It’s time to recap the Sony State of Play for June 2025.
IO Interactive Reveals New James Bond Game Title

3 weeks ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

IO Interactive is known to be working on a James Bond game, but up until this week, that’s just about all we knew. Everything from the title to the release date is weighing heavily on the minds of fans of the spy thriller series. Little conceptual breadcrumbs have been fed to us regarding this highly anticipated title from the Hitman studio. Now, we are likely days away from a big reveal, as IO Interactive has revealed the title of their upcoming release.
Nintendo Switch Mobile App Adds Key Features

4 weeks ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

If you want to get Nintendo Switch news, you have an app for that. If you want to access things like your favorite in-game soundtracks and sounds, there’s an app for that, too, but it’s separate from the news app. Managing parental controls? It is also possible from a mobile app, but an entirely different one than the News and Music apps. Then, there’s the Nintendo Switch app, focused on online services and a growing number of features for Nintendo’s hit console.
Switch 2 Needs a Pokémon Conquest Sequel

1 month ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

Pokémon Conquest isn’t the type of game you name-drop to your friends and begin a deep, long conversation about memorable moments like you would a mainline Pokémon game. Even the Pokémon Snap franchise gets more nostalgia-laced discourse going online than the 2012 tactical RPG.
Sugardew Island (Nintendo Switch) Review

1 month ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

The core appeal of games like Harvest Moon has persisted in countless farming and easy-going life sims for decades. Since the release of Stardew Valley, an entire new generation of gamers has fallen in love with the slower, more casual experience of these cozy adventures. Of course, Animal Crossing and the likes borrow quite a bit from one another, making it challenging for any new release in this space to stand out.
PNY Launching microSD Express Card Just In Time for Switch 2

1 month ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

In an increasingly digital age, storage space to store your digital downloads is less of a luxury and more of a necessity. When the Switch 2 reveal included details about the need for a MicroSD Express card for any external storage, gamers scrambled to figure out two things. First, what is a microSD Express card, and second, who makes them? While a few options were on the market, more are on the way from many companies ahead of the June 5th launch of the Nintendo Switch 2.
Switch 2 User Agreement Isn’t Anything New, But is Telling

1 month ago | web.phenixxgaming.com | Taylor Bauer

(Editor’s Note: The following article contains mention of ROMs or other legal “grey areas.” Phenixx Gaming is not encouraging such activities.)There’s a lot of chatter online this week about the Nintendo Switch 2 User Agreement. A specific section concerning what the company might exercise in terms of its ability to limit a user’s use of their console if they break the terms of the End User License Agreement (EULA) seems to have really set people off.