National Video Game Day may have spawned right in the middle of the workweek, but these stars are still pressing start.
Skip the keyboard shortcuts and scroll through our gallery ... then Nintendo Switch your way off the clock, pick up your controller of choice, and get back to gaming.
Zoe Saldana might be considering switching her career from acting to gaming after a good run with her Nintendo.
Gaming content creator Alex Cimo is dead ... more than a year after going public with his battle with stage 4 colon cancer.
Alex's wife, Bryttni, announced his death in a social media post, revealing he died suddenly on June 2 ... and admitting she's still "very raw" as she processes the loss.
Bryttni also made it clear there was family friction over how Alex's death was announced ... this after his mother, Mary-Frances Alonzo, shared the news earlier this week in a LinkedIn post that was later deleted.
The "Madden NFL 27" cover was revealed on Wednesday ... and this year's athlete in the spotlight is Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams -- painted nails and all!!
The video game giant shared the standard and deluxe versions for its latest installment in the franchise ... and they both highlight the 2024 No. 1 overall pick's signature look.
In the standard copy, the cover shows Williams winding up a mid-air throw over the Windy City skyline ... and the deluxe option has him doing his "Iceman" celebration with custom nail art inspired by Chicago, the Bears, and EA Sports.
Not only is Williams the first Bears player to get the nod ... it's safe to say he's the first cover athlete to rock painted nails, too -- which is cool, considering the accessory choice has been criticized in the past for not being "masculine" enough for the leader of a football team.
Vincent Zampella died from burns and smoke inhalation after being trapped inside his burning car ... TMZ has learned.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner says the "Call of Duty" creator suffered thermal injuries and smoke inhalation, with blunt trauma also listed as a significant condition. His death was ruled accidental.
The cops were playing real-life "Pokémon Go" with King Harris this weekend, it seems ... he was arrested during a traffic stop in Georgia -- while wearing a Pikachu onesie.
A rep for the Gwinnett County Police Department tells TMZ ... cops clocked King doing 60 in a 45 around 1 AM Sunday and pulled him over. The cops say they noticed a firearm near the rapper and ordered him out of the car, but he refused ... so the officer arrested him. They also tell us an officer spotted a vape pen with 10 milligrams of THC inside.
According to docs obtained by TMZ ... T.I. and Tiny's son were booked on a felony charge for possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor charge of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, and hit with two traffic citations for a seatbelt violation and speeding.
King documented his legal trouble on his Instagram stories, sharing a selfie in the Pikachu suit after getting pulled over.
Charlie Day couldn't resist jumping on the Luigi Mangione bandwagon in a recent interview ... laughing out loud while ranking the accused murderer among his favorite Luigis.
The actor took a few questions alongside his 'Super Mario Galaxy Movie' costars Anya Taylor-Joy and Keegan-Michael Key in Tokyo for the comedy podcast "Tintoria" ... and he was asked specifically who his favorite Luigi is "in recent American history?"
❗During Super Mario Galaxy movie cast interview, actor Charlie Day (who plays Luigi) said that Luigi Mangione is one of his favorite Luigis in the recent American history. pic.twitter.com/6MwVQ1gdnU@LuigiArchive_
The trio of celebs immediately break into grins ... because it's clear what the hosts are fishing for here, and Day, who play's Mario's brother, Luigi, doesn't disappoint.
He says he's top of the Luigi game, but Mangione comes in second.
'Grand Theft Auto' has a big fan in Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, but he's real particular about the video game, saying he like being Black while committing crimes ... in the game.
You gotta see Fishback's appearance on "The Matan Show" podcast, where the host grills him about "GTA 5" ... and James offers, "I preferred playing the Black characters ... it felt more authentic."
"Halo" voice actor Steve Downes -- who plays Master Chief in the video game franchise -- wants to pull the plug on the White House using his voiceto promote their war in Iran.
Downes slammed Donald Trump's administration in a post on X, writing ... "It has come to my attention that there is at least one propaganda video circulating that was either produced or at the very least endorsed by the White House that uses images of Master Chief and uses my voice to support the war in Iran."
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He continued ... "Let me make this crystal clear: I did not participate in nor was I consulted, nor do I endorse the use of my voice in this video, or the message it conveys."
The White House is flexing its muscles in the escalating conflict with Iran ... sharing a highlight video of U.S. strikes that bizarrely opens with footage from the video game "Call of Duty."
The new video, posted on the White House's official X account Wednesday, kicks off with animation that appears to be from “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III” -- showing a player activating a “killstreak” -- before cutting to real footage of U.S. missiles hitting targets in Iran.
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For those unfamiliar ... a “killstreak” in the popular video game is triggered when a player racks up a string of eliminations -- or kills -- without dying. The “COD” animation used by the White House specifically depicts the moment a player reaches 30 straight kills without dying ... unlocking a massive missile strike designed to wipe out the opposing team.
Howie Mandel is the current celebrity elder of the Global Gaming League ... but maybe not for long -- because the comedian just called out Judge Judy Sheindlin to join the fray!
To catch you up ... the Global Gaming League is the first-ever, multi-title, live-action celebrity gaming competition. According to Howie, 70, there's no age limit to compete ... so why not get 83-year-old Judge Judy in there?
Howie told us at a GGL event last night, "There's no gender, there's no age, there's no language ... everybody games."
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Sophie Turner's jumping into making the new "Tomb Raider" series ... and, we mean that quite literally -- just watch as she parachutes into a scene using movie magic!
The actress is shooting scenes for the upcoming show near Surrey -- just south of London -- with crew members hooking her up to a rig with a parachute splayed out behind her.
When the scene begins, ST's propelled forward by the rigging ... and the parachute catches the wind -- making it look like Turner's landing on the beach after leaping from a plane.
A Roblox user has created an in-game version of Jeffrey Epstein's private island, Little St. James ... and the attention to detail is disturbing.
The game, titled "Saint Silverlemon Isle," includes several cabanas, a yacht, and a secret underground temple, as well as a villa complete with a massage table.
A Roblox player spent weeks re-creating every aspect of Jeffery Epistein's child sex island to exact hyper-realistic detail directly within the platform. Super disturbing pic.twitter.com/2FNN8nGhbI
A description for the game tells players to "survive Jeffery the Killer and Donald on the island" in a not-so-subtle reference to the one-time friendship between convicted pedophile Jeffery Epstein and President Donald Trump.
FYI ... Epstein purchased Little St. James, located in the U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1998, and he owned the island for more than two decades prior to his death by suicide in jail in 2019.
Numerous high-profile international figures in politics, business, academia and entertainment -- including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Stephen Hawking -- reportedly visited the island, where Epstein allegedly trafficked several victims.
In December, the Congressional House Oversight Committee released numerous photos taken on the island by investigators, and there was plenty of troubling stuff on the island ... including a room set up to resemble a dentist's office with creepy masks of old men lining the walls.
Billionaire investor Stephen Deckoff bought Little St. James, as well as neighboring Great St. James, which was also owned by Epstein, for $60 million in 2023 ... and he's planning to build a resort on the land, reports The New York Times.
Sophie Turner just dropped a first look at her take on the classic video game heroine Lara Croft in the live-action "Tomb Raider" series.
And it got us wondering -- with the previous franchise hotties Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander playing the character ... who'd be the most fun of this sexy trio to explore with?
Fans of the "God of War" game series, put down your controllers and pick up your remotes, you finally have your Kratos ... because Ryan Hurst's been tapped to portray the antihero in the game's TV adaptation.
Plus, the long-running video game series' fans are gonna see a whole lot of the character over the next few years ... because the show received a two-season order from Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios, Deadlinereports.
The upcoming show's going to follow Kratos and his son as they head out on a presumably blood-soaked journey to spread the ashes of Kratos' wife, the son's mother ... no word on who's gonna play Kratos' kid yet.
FYI ... the most recent two games in the series focused on Kratos' relationship with his son, so it'll be interesting to see how the show deals with their connection.
Oh, and speaking of the games, this'll mark Hurst's return to the series ... because he voiced and portrayed Thor via motion capture in "God of War: Ragnarök," which was released in 2022.
Hurst should be a natural fit for the series, too ... he's played more than a few burly, imposing dudes in shows like "Sons of Anarchy" and "The Walking Dead."
The show's already in pre-production, but a proper release date hasn't been announced yet.
Charlie Kirk's assassination inspired some sick users to create online missions depicting the tragic shooting in "Grand Theft Auto Online" ... but, the game's parent company says the scenarios are now banned.
Here's the deal ... videos surfaced on social media recently showing a mission titled "We Are Charlie Kirk" where the player grabs a sniper rifle and shoots an NPC standing under a canopy on the University of San Andreas, Los Santos campus.
It's meant to parody Charlie's appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem, UT, back in September ... when he was shot and killed.
