Entertainment & Media

Polaris, Ohio – September 07, 2026 -- Supercharged Entertainment broke ground on its fourth U.S. location at 9300 Lyra Drive in Polaris, Ohio, with the 125,000-square-foot venue set to open in Summer 2027.

The complex spans 16 acres near Topgolf and Smash Park

Supercharged Entertainment Polaris will mirror the design of the company's New Jersey location, which opened in Edison in December 2022. The site sits within the Polaris Centers of Commerce, alongside existing shopping and dining destinations.

Two karting tracks combine into an 80,000-square-foot Supertrack

The venue will house what the company calls the world's largest indoor, multi-level, temperature-controlled karting track, featuring 25 total elevation changes across two designs. The all-electric karts produce zero emissions on the climate-controlled course.

Mainz – September 07, 2026 -- German broadcaster 3sat will air "Das Ich-Zeitalter: Zwischen Selbstverwirklichung und Selbstoptimierung," a documentary examining the booming self-optimization trend, on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at 8:15 p.m. The film, directed by Isabella Purkart, will remain available in the 3sat Mediathek for 90 days after broadcast.

The documentary follows several people who have built their lives around the pursuit of a "better self," a movement heavily promoted by influencers on social media.

A 26-year-old plans to be cryogenically frozen after death

In Frankfurt am Main, filmmaker Lena Hager meets Vimal Kamaraj, 26, who has arranged to have his body frozen after he dies. He hopes future medical advances will one day revive him, and he already structures his daily routine around longevity practices.

Munich -- German broadcaster ARD is marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks with three new productions: a primetime documentary, a special broadcast, and an investigative podcast series.

A 90-minute documentary revisits New York's last carefree summer before the attacks

"SEPTEMBER," directed by Johan von Mirbach and produced by WDR, contrasts the everyday lives of New Yorkers during the summer of 2001 -- shaped by Fashion Week and the US Open -- with the parallel preparations of the 19 hijackers. The film combines personal testimonies with previously unpublished archive footage and interviews with voices from politics, media, and security agencies. It is streaming now on ARD Mediathek and airs on Das Erste on September 11 at 8:15 p.m.

Hamburg – September 7, 2026 -- Casio Computer Co., Ltd. unveiled the European premiere of its digital sound source "Akiko's Piano" at the Martha Argerich Festival 2026, held in Hamburg, Germany, from June 20 to 30, 2026.

The original piano survived the Hiroshima bombing

The upright piano at the center of the project was built in 1926 and damaged in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Restored in 2005, it has since been played by musicians including Martha Argerich and has carried a message of peace through its sound.

Casio recorded all 88 keys to preserve the instrument digitally

To carry the piano's historic tone into the future, Casio's European subsidiary, CASIO Europe GmbH, led a project that meticulously recorded the sound of each of the piano's 88 keys and rebuilt it as a digital sound source.

Cologne – September 07, 2026 -- German telecom provider congstar and the Gaming Ohne Grenzen initiative handed out the fourth annual Gaming ohne Grenzen Award at gamescom on August 26, expanding the ceremony to nine categories for the first time.

Three new prizes -- the Get Together Award, Best Feature, and Best Mobile Game -- joined the lineup this year, reflecting the growing range of accessibility tools built into modern games. Host Stefanie Langer led the ceremony at the Jugendforum NRW booth, with winners selected by a jury of gaming, inclusion, e-sports, and education experts, plus one community-voted prize.

Tiny Bookshop wins both the National and Community Choice awards

The relaxed bookstore simulation Tiny Bookshop took the National category for its point-and-click controls and lack of time pressure, then repeated the win in the Community Choice Award, edging out Forza Horizon 6 and Rhythm Doctor in the public vote.

Seoul – September 07, 2026 -- Netmarble has opened pre-registration for ZERO, a new fresh start server for its dark fantasy MMORPG RAVEN2, ahead of its grand opening on September 15 at UTC+0.

Pre-registration unlocks a special starter package

Players who sign up through the dedicated website receive the [ZERO] Special Starter Package. The bundle includes a Heroic Holy Garment Summon Scroll, a Heroic Familiar Summon Scroll, an Elite Spec. C Member's Accessory Selection Chest, four types of +2 Dazzling Relic Chests, 200 Spec. C Enhancement Stone Chests, and 5 million Gold.

Morton Grove – – September 7, 2026 -- U.S. spending on new physical video games fell to $1.5 billion in calendar year 2025, the lowest annual total since tracking firm Circana began measuring the category in 1995, according to data shared by Circana analyst Mat Piscatella and cited by The Old School Game Vault.

The figure marks a steep drop from the category's peak of $11.6 billion in 2008. A separate rolling 12-month measurement from Circana, covering the period ending May 2026, put spending at approximately $1.6 billion -- down from a peak of roughly $11.5 billion for the 12 months ending May 2009.

Cologne – September 7, 2026 -- Roughly 170,000 children in North Rhine-Westphalia are starting school this year, and German broadcaster WDR is rolling out a package of free educational content through its long-running children's brand "Die Maus" to help them adjust.

The Maus website offers school-starter materials in six languages

Parents and teachers can access craft activities, puzzles, coloring pages, and ABC letter-learning films on the Maus website in German, Turkish, Polish, Ukrainian, Arabic, and Russian. A feature called "Maus-Schul-Weltreise" shows how children attend school in other countries, while a series of factual segments answers everyday questions about school life.

Hamburg -- The Elbphilharmonie Hamburg marks its tenth anniversary on January 11, 2027, and the concert hall has released figures showing its impact on the city's cultural life. Annual attendance at classical concerts in Hamburg has tripled since the venue opened.

7.4 million visitors have attended 6,400 concerts and events inside the hall.

A further 29.5 million people have visited the Plaza, the public viewing platform positioned 37 meters above the ground. Ten years after opening, the Grand Hall is currently running at 96 percent capacity.

The venue has hosted 130 world premieres over the past decade.

Programming spans classical repertoire alongside jazz, non-European musical traditions, pop, electronic music and contemporary composition. What was once a construction project criticized during its build-out has become a fixture for international orchestras, artists and visitors.

September 07, 2026 – Mainz -- German broadcaster ZDF has revised its programming for the week of September 6 to 11, with the biggest shift coming on Sunday, September 6, when live coverage of the Saxony-Anhalt state election takes over the 7:25 p.m. slot. The change bumps the documentary series "Terra X: Weltstädte" from that evening's lineup, though the rest of the night's schedule from 8:20 p.m. onward proceeds as planned.

A cast credit gets corrected in a 9/11 documentary

ZDF also flagged a casting correction for "9/11 - Die Geiseln des Terrors," airing Tuesday, September 8 at 8:15 p.m. The actress previously listed as "Kathrin Jelinek" is credited under the correct spelling, Katrin Jelinek. The fix carries over to the program's repeat broadcast early Wednesday, September 9 at 1:45 a.m.