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Get your gaming gear primed and wallets at the ready, because today’s lineup of stellar discounts is too good to miss. From adrenaline‑pumping races on Switch to monstrous PC conquests, there’s sweet, economical escapism for all. Nothing but games worth owning. Let's get to it.
In retro news, I've baked a cake with a big 16 on it for Pokémon Platinum. Part of the DS Gen IV series, this sprawling Sinnoh shenanigan served as a third version to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. My memories of it include a gleeful hunt for the 59 extra Pokémon added and dipping into the new M.C. Escher-esque Distortion World to bag a Giratina. It also had some of the best post-game content in the series, and, oh crap—I've just talked myself into a replay...
- Castlevania (N64) 1999. eBay
- R-Type Delta (PS) 1999. Sequel
- Ninja Gaiden (XB) 2004. Redux
- The Suffering (XB) 2004. Get
- Pokémon Platinum (DS) 2009. Sequel
- 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3) 2010. eBay
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Andor’s series finale is all about tying up loose ends. After an incredible crescendo on Ghorman in chapter 3, Tony Gilroy and company set out to get Andor’s affairs in order, with a last batch of episodes that feeds directly into Rogue One and only really leaves a single character behind.
There are TV shows that don’t know they’re getting cancelled when they end their runs, and then there are those that get to decide how they go out. And then there’s Andor, a show that knew its end point even before they decided to make it. I’ve talked in my reviews of this season about the absolute brilliance of telling a story that thematically aligns with that situation, that highlights the fact that these characters are on a course that was set for them nearly a decade ago. It should come as no surprise that the loose ends that Andor’s final chapter ties off are as integral to the onscreen story as they are baked into the proposition of doing a prequel in the first place – especially a prequel that feeds so directly into the established big screen lore of the franchise.
But that’s bigger picture stuff, and I’d rather start small when talking about chapter 4. There’s a conversation very early in episode 10 between Luthen and his double agent at the ISB, Lonni Jung, that is shot so pristinely that it kind of drives me nuts. This scene on the page is, I would argue, pretty straightforward spycraft stuff. It lives more in ’70s thriller territory with 3 Days of the Condor than it does with Star Wars. It’s just two guys talking on a bench next to a pond. That’s as stock as it gets. What sets this scene apart though is its visual language. The camera blocking that clearly asks and answers the question, “How do we make this interesting on screen?”
I’m going to slip into film-technique nerd mode for a second and just talk about the composition of the first wide shot. It’s a wide open space, underneath a set of bridges, not another soul to be seen. But the lines formed by the bricks on the ground draw your eyes up to the two men, who are dressed in dark wardrobe that stands out against the white concrete of their surroundings. The bridges overheard are looping, circuitous paths leading to different destinations off in the future somewhere while the skyline of Coruscant – where life proceeds completely unaware of Luthen and Lonni’s meeting – looms in the distance. It’s a beautiful shot and even if all of that meaning wasn’t intended, it’s meaning that can certainly be applied to it because of how gorgeous the composition is.
But then as they begin to talk the camera plays a role as well. Lonni wants assurances that he and his family will be safe, while Luthen wants to know what Lonni knows before he assures Lonni of anything. Episode director Alonso Ruizpalacios stages this part of the conversation with what are known as “French Overs,” or close-ups of the characters from behind their backs. This gives a slightly closed view of the actors’ faces and leaves the impression that they’re holding something back. As Lonni becomes more desperate, putting his cards on the table, the camera switches back to the front side of the actors and their intentions become clearer to us. Luthen even leans in like a predator waiting to pounce towards the end of the scene. And this is where camera blocking really becomes invaluable. The pair of them have not moved an inch from their spots on this park bench, but the camera has been actively telling us how to feel about it the whole time. It’s just a quiet scene on the park bench on the page, but on screen, it’s a thrilling game of chess.
This is not meant to be camera blocking 101, though. I’m only getting into gory detail on the technique of a scene to share just how impressive Andor is on a number of levels. The story the writers are telling on the page is interesting and dynamic and more grounded than sci-fi typically tries to be, but Andor is telling the same kind of story visually as well. The way every craftsman and trade on set is pulling in the same direction, the fact that a quiet scene on a park bench is worth breaking down with 300 words worth of film-school stuff, speaks volumes about the high quality of the show.
Meanwhile, the most important thing about Lonni Jung is that to me he is most representative of what this show has been doing right all along. I’ve mentioned it before, but the unsung heroes of the Star Wars universe – the untold stories at the roots of the Rebellion – they’re the whole point of Andor. Without Lonni Jung, Luke Skywalker does not blow up the Death Star. Full stop. Maybe they find another way, and “the chosen one” or whatever ends up bullseyeing a womprat anyway, but here’s this guy, a double agent middle manager in the Empire’s intelligence machine – a side character in this very show – alerting the Rebellion to the Death Star’s very existence, only to be tossed away for somebody’s dog to find dead on a park bench. It’s a reminder that many Lonnis died to bring us this information.
That is an incredible thing for Star Wars to do in this, the year 2025, or ABY 48 if you like. This is how you do a prequel. Not by adding a whole other canvas, but by filling in the details in the background.
But if you were worried about Luthen not getting all his details filled in, chapter 4 has you covered. As the series’ most enigmatic character, there’s something very romantic about him popping up out of nowhere to play a pivotal role in the Rebellion only to disappear as quickly. So, when we get a ton of his backstory via flashback, I honestly didn’t know how to feel about it.
On one hand, he becomes his own loose end to deal with as Dedra finally finds him – which, as a quick aside, is an incredible scene. Luthen is getting the only conclusion that ever made sense for him. It’s the one he knew was not only possible, but likely inevitable, and to have him cling to life for an origin-story-revealing amount of time makes sense. It also doubles as Kleya’s backstory as well, as she remembers her partner in crime in the empty safehouse. On the other hand, I don’t really like flashbacks.
As effusive as I’ve been about a double prequel as an entire series, I’ll admit it seems a little hypocritical to balk at a flashback, but more often than not, I don’t like how flashbacks are used. There’s a tendency for them to feel like they’re coming from the writer for our benefit as an audience. It’s easy for them to feel inorganic on screen, like the show is saying “I bet you want to know where Luthen and Kleya came from, so here you go!”
So unfairly or not, the first bits of the pair’s origins had me rolling my eyes a little. But at some point it becomes clear that the development of Luthen and Kleya’s relationship over the years is a surprisingly important thread in the history of the Rebellion and a bit of a microcosm of the whole point of Andor. Their story sneaks in right at the finish line and does all the things that the entire show has done so well.
Firstly, it gives personal and small, emotional stakes to the action on screen. Kleya has for the entire run of the show been a cold and callous, “This is what you signed up for, stop complaining” presence in the show. She's had to keep everybody in check. Her line to Vel in season 1 about needy faces at the door is great. She’s even had to slap Luthen’s hand a bit when he starts to waiver – we saw a lot of that in chapter 2 of this season. Giving her this deep connection to Luthen creates a completely new kind of presence for her. It’s a whole other emotional investment in the job that she is now stuck with, which is of course, to finish killing her father before he can be resuscitated and interrogated.
Kleya also becomes maybe the most important character in the entire Rebellion. If she weren’t around to cross paths with Luthen, if she hadn’t been there to inspire him to do something about the horrors he was witnessing, maybe there is no Rebellion at all, but certainly it starts somewhere else. Like Lonnie Jung, all of a sudden here’s this person who’s a side character in this show but proves to be a central figure in the fight against the Empire.
Meanwhile, that idea of fate that’s been tossed around so thoroughly in this series is present in the flashback as well. During the scene where Luthen and Kleya set off a bomb among a group of troops on a bridge they talk about making choices but does she get to? Luthen is kind of making the choice for her. It’s a scene with multiple reads, I think, on one hand there’s Luthen taking the choice out of Kleya’s hands, on the other there’s Kleya making the choice to do it, but Luthen ultimately sparing her the act of actually doing it. So is he a ruthless and cold father figure here, or is he protecting Kleya in a moment where she’s still very young? Either way, they’re both party to killing people, and there is nothing black-and-white about what’s happening in this scene. It’s one of the best in the final chapter and most emblematic of what the entire series is about and it’s all the more impressive that it does so in a flashback – which, again, is one of my least favorite filmmaking devices of all.
A lot of the back half of this final chapter is about setting up Rogue One more than anything else, however. This is the one pitfall of the prequel series Andor wasn’t able to entirely avoid. Because the other thing is that I've gotten through over 1,800 words of this review without mentioning the show's title character. To be fair, I am fine with that, because, as I've said with characters like Luthen, Lonnie, and Kleya, this is a series dedicated to the side characters. Dedra gets a wonderfully tragic, fitting end, and so does Partagaz. But Cassian’s relative unimportance to the finale is also a point worth scrutinizing.
The heavy lifting for Cassian in these final episodes comes when he, Melshi, and K-2SO get an inaugural onscreen mission to go and rescue Kleya from Coruscant – but it’s all very familiar, because we’ve seen that kind of thing from these guys before. There’s a slow motion, walk-and-nod shot at the tail end of the season that feels obligatory more than satisfying. In a way, though his absence makes sense because the final season of Andor is actually Rogue One. That’s the end of his story so as far as Andor the series is concerned. Andor the Rebel is not a loose end yet.
Krysten Ritter is officially returning as Jessica Jones for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2.
As reported by Variety, news of Ritter’s return as Marvel’s crime-fighting private investigator was revealed during the Disney Upfront presentation in New York today. The confirmation follows months of rumors that the Disney+ show could reunite more than a few of the Netflix Defenders as fans hope to see them make their Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut sooner rather than later.
Ritter took the stage alongside Daredevil and The Defenders co-star Charlie Cox to express her excitement about the return of Jessica Jones.
“It’s so great to be back, returning to Jessica after three seasons and The Defenders and now joining the MCU,” Ritter said. “I’m so excited to bring back this iconic character, and without giving too much away, there is much more in store for Jessica Jones. This is going to be an incredible season!”
Ritter first portrayed the New York-based Marvel hero when Jessica Jones Season 1 premiered on Netflix in 2015. Two more seasons eventually followed, as did The Defenders team-up series, but as Netflix’s time with original Marvel programming began to wind down, so too did hopes that Ritter would ever play the character again.
That was until 2021, when Disney regained ownership of the rights to certain characters, including Jessica Jones. As Cox was eventually brought back for a brief Spider-Man: No Way Home cameo as well as his own Disney+ show with Daredevil: Born Again, fans began to speculate about how the revival project could serve as a vehicle to reintroduce other Netflix heroes. With Punisher serving a pivotal role in Season 1, it makes sense to see Ritter returning for Season 2.
Ritter last played the character in Jessica Jones Season 3, which premiered in 2019. Her tease at the upfront presentation suggests the MCU may see more Jessica Jones in the future, but for now, we can at least expect to see her in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2. Disney has yet to announce a release date, but showrunner Dario Scardapane has told fans to expect more episodes in March 2026.
For more, you can read our 8/10 review of the Daredevil revival show’s first season as well as our reviews for Jessica Jones seasons 1, 2, and 3. You can also check out every street-level hero we could potentially see in Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 here.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Need a quick way to transfer files and images from your SD or Micro SD cards to your PC? Right now Amazon is offering the Sabrent USB 3.0 OTG Card Reader for just $6.98 after you apply coupon code "PL7MOA5Q" during checkout. This tiny little stick features both USB 3.0 Type C and USB Type-A ports for maximum compatibility and up to 5Gb/s bandwidth.
This Sabrent OTG card reader is no bigger than a standard USB flash drive. One end has a USB 3.0 Type-C port and the other end has a USB 3.0 Type A port. Both sides include caps so they're protected when not being used. The USB 3.0 interface boasts theoretical speeds of up to 5Gb/s or 625MB/s (actual performance is determined by the speed of your card). The card reader has slots for both Micro SD/SDXC and full-sized SD/SDXC cards.
Using the card reader is as simple as inserting it into one of your spare USB ports. It requires no new drivers, so it's literally plug and play. Because it can plug into both USB Type-A and Type-C ports, it will work with pretty much any laptop or PC built in the past decade. I've owned this exact card reader for a few years now and often transfer images and videos from my DSLR to my PC, and I've never experienced any issues with it. Sabrent card readers collectively have over 13,000 positive reviews with a decent Fakespot "B" rating, and for what it's worth, Amazon even states on the page that "this product has fewer returns than average compared to similar products."
USB Type-C might be the new standard, but what if your PC or laptop simply doesn't have enough of those ports? Here's a cheap and easy solution as long as you have older USB Type-A legacy ports. For a limited time, Amazon is offering a 4-pack of Elebase USB Type-A to USB Type-C Adapters for only $3.99 after you apply a $5 off coupon code "KLIMVVIG". That comes out to only $1 per adapter. The Elebase USB adapters collectively have nearly 55,000 reviews on Amazon with a 4.6/5 star rating and a respectable Fakespot "A" grade.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
© Bethesda
© Blizzard
If you're in the market for a smartwatch but Apple Watch models just don't quite fit your needs, you're in luck: Plenty of fantastic alternatives are out there. Maybe you don't own an iPhone, or you're looking for something a bit more budget-friendly. Whatever your reason, it's good to know that there are plenty of top smartwatches that offer great features and performance without the Apple design – or price tag.
Given that an Apple Watch doesn't play nicely with Android systems, anyone who doesn't buy into the Apple ecosystem should look at the loads of other smartwatches that can integrate seamlessly with alternative platforms, giving you access to your notifications, fitness tracking, and contactless payments. Or, if you’re mainly interested in health and fitness metrics, some wearables are designed specifically to help you monitor your workouts, sleep, and overall wellness.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is easily the best Android smartwatch, offering comfort, style, and functionality. The latest generation rocks a minimalist band with a sharp, circular, and responsive AMOLED touch display nearly identical to previous models for more of a classic timepiece look. A new gesture feature adds more one-handed functionality, so you won’t constantly be tapping the display.
A wide range of advanced sensors monitor skin temperature, ECG, and blood oxygen saturation, along with reliable automatic exercise detection and solid sleep tracking. A new BioActive sensor improves the accuracy of metrics. Samsung upped this watch’s abilities further, offering ways to detect sleep apnea, like the Apple Watch Series 10. Other AI health tools, including an Energy Score, can offer even more helpful health insights. Unfortunately, the AI features are limited to Galaxy phones like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Those features, plus the ability to send messages, answer calls, and make payments are all thanks to a reliable and snappy 3-nanometer Exynos chip. Performance is smooth across the board, and when paired with Google’s Wear OS and Samsung One UI skin, the experience seamlessly accesses just about any app you'd want. However, this model’s battery life remains virtually unchanged, lasting an average of about 24 hours with typical usage. It’s not great, but still better than the Apple Watch Series 10.
With various color options, 40mm and 44mm sizes, and swappable watch bands and faces, the Galaxy Watch 7 is highly customizable. It’s possible to connect with your phone via Bluetooth and the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app, or you can use cellular connectivity.
The Google Pixel Watch 3 is a game-changer in the world of smartwatches, combining a sleek design with cutting-edge features to help you stay on top of your fitness goals and daily routine. With a 45mm screen that's twice as bright and 40% larger than its predecessor, the Pixel Watch 3 makes it easier than ever to see your stats and information at a glance, whether you're on a run or just checking your messages.
For runners, the Pixel Watch 3 is packed with features to help you maximize your workouts. You can build custom runs, get real-time guidance, and even track your form with advanced metrics. With Fitbit Premium, Google AI takes your goals, past runs, and fitness readiness into account to offer personalized recommendations, making every run more effective and tailored to your needs. Plus, the readiness feature helps you understand what your body can handle each day, attuning to whether it’s time to push hard or focus on recovery.
Beyond fitness, the Pixel Watch 3 is designed to seamlessly integrate with your life. It offers 24 hours of battery life with an always-on display, and up to 36 hours in Battery Saver mode. You can access Google Maps offline, use Google Wallet for payments, and even control your Pixel camera right from your wrist. Whether you’re listening to music with Pixel Buds or checking your Nest Cam feed, this watch makes it simple and convenient to stay connected.
Equipped with a sharp AMOLED display and impressive battery life, the Garmin Venu 3 is a fantastic pick for iPhone users (or anyone, really) who want more robust fitness options and a circular watch design.
It comes with the features you’ve come to expect from a smartwatch — including accurate GPS, phone notifications, music, fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, and much more. The Venu 3 has upgraded the unique Body Battery tool that gives insight into when you should work out and even added nap detection, sleep coaching, and wheelchair tracking. That’s just scratching the surface of its fitness functionality.
The smartwatch is versatile and even does things the Apple Watch just can’t do. However, it doesn’t offer cellular connectivity, so you’ll need to pair it with a smartphone to get the most out of the Venu 3.
For the physically fit, the Fitbit Sense 2 (by Google) is the smartwatch of choice and one of the best Fitbits overall. It’s loaded with useful fitness sensors, including GPS to track activities with more than 40 exercise modes, a skin temperature sensor to monitor body heat, and continuous ElectroDermal Activity (cEDA) to track stress. The smartwatch is water-resistant too, so you can wear it while swimming laps in a pool.
The Fitbit Sense 2, which can last a very impressive six days per battery charge, also works with the Amazon Alexa voice assistant for real-time updates and Google Wallet for contactless and quick payment.
For under $100, the Amazfit Active 2 offers tons of sensors, over 160 sports modes, and a GPS to cover every health and fitness tracking need. A unique strength training mode automatically recognizes different moves, while an AI coach can guide workouts. Downloadable maps add more functionality, providing turn-by-turn directions without needing to be connected to a smartphone. Admittedly, not all tracking and sensors will be as accurate and precise as an Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch, but for the price, it can’t be beat.
Rather than Google’s Wear OS or Apple’s watchOS, the Amazfit Active 2 runs on Zepp. This lesser-known software still offers a range of apps and faces. It’s fairly simple to master, and an AI assistant, similar to Siri, is built-in to adjust settings, reply to messages, and more. Unfortunately, it will cost extra to add NFC support. There’s no cellular, but the watch shouldn’t have a problem connecting to iPhones or Androids via Bluetooth.
The Amazfit Active 2 keeps the design sleek and simple with a circular, stainless steel body. It feels surprisingly premium, and the 1.32-inch AMOLED display is responsive and easy to see in just about any lighting conditions. The lightweight build ensures it remains comfortable on wrist, and you won’t need to worry about taking it off often, as the watch can last up to 10 days depending on usage. It's really one of the best budget fitness trackers out there.
Smartwatches bring tons of capability to your wrist, but most are lucky to last 24 hours. The Apple Watch Series 10 averages about 18 hours, and that number can tank when you add in constant GPS tracking. The Garmin Enduro 3 is one of the few watches ready to survive weeks or even months on a single charge depending on usage. Plus, with a unique Power Sapphire lens for solar power-saving, it's possible to squeeze 90 days of charge in smartwatch mode or 320 hours in GPS mode with proper lighting conditions. Even without garnering energy from the sun, the Enduro 3 significantly outlasts other smartwatches.
Beyond battery life, this smartwatch is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to GPS tracking and running features. From topo maps and grade-adjusted pace to a new dynamic round-trip routing feature that adapts your route to stay on schedule, it’s ready to go the distance. Updated sensors provide more accurate insights into your health and wellness journey, and of course, you get all the tracking and sports modes you could need. Other smarts like app notifications, calls, and music playback are slightly limited, as this watch is more fitness-focused.
It’s clear that the Garmin Enduro 3 was built for adventurers. A titanium body and bezel can handle tons of wear and tear, while the 100m water resistance is ideal for divers and swimmers. Its touch display isn’t as flashy as other smartwatches, but it's still reliable and provides easy viewing. Several buttons surrounding the watch make navigating all the features easier, especially if you’re wearing gloves. Garmin even includes a tiny LED flashlight for when you get stuck on a trail later than expected. Just be prepared for this featuref-rich watch to feel a little clunky on smaller wrists.
Instead of the Apple Watch Ultra, go with the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro we reviewed and gave high marks, especially for rugged outdoor use. At 45mm, the Android smartwatch is designed for adventure and the great outdoors with a wide range of features, such as GPS map support and Samsung’s “Track Back” for finding your way if you’re lost in the wilderness.
The smartwatch is made from durable Titanium and Sapphire crystal glass, while its long-lasting battery life will get you up to 80 hours of use per charge. Starting at $450, the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is also nearly 45 percent less expensive than the Apple Watch Ultra or Apple Watch Ultra 2.
If money is no object, TAG Heuer makes a brilliant smartwatch that passes for a stunning classic timepiece. The Connected Calibre E4 offers up a crisp, clear touch display set behind sapphire crystal, while the watch’s body is made of durable steel or titanium and ceramic. It’s obvious more attention to detail was paid in the creation of this watch over the Apple Watch, as both sandblasted and polished elements on the frame deliver a truly premium feel. TAG Heuer’s collection of watch faces are equally stunning. A sturdy rubber crown also makes it easy to scroll menus and additional buttons ensure you don’t always need to rely on the touchscreen.
While looks make the Connected Calibre E4 a standout, it’s also full of all the smartwatch features you’d expect. Fitness tracking and workouts are all available via the TAG Heuer Sports app. TAG Heuer is also known for its brilliant golf app, which offers maps, distance, and other tools for out on the green if that's your thing. However, this watch is a little light on the sensors compared to others; only a heart rate monitor, compass, and barometer are included. Still, a GPS can map walks, runs, and more.
Using the watch should be butter smooth, consistent, and simple thanks to a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100+ processor and Google WearOS. It seamlessly connects to Android devices but works pretty well with the best iPhones too. Though the Connected Calibre E4 can receive notifications, it can't answer calls. Battery life is similar to the Apple Watch Series 10, lasting around a day depending on usage. While the smarts may be more subdued on this option, if you’re after luxury, it’s hard to beat.
The Apple Watch might be the most popular smartwatch in the world, but plenty of people might want something more than what the wearable device can offer. For some, the Apple Watch is limited in function and style, or its price might be out of reach.
Meanwhile, a lot of tAndroid smartphone users can’t use the Apple Watch altogether because the two are just not compatible. With the wide range of Apple Watch alternatives, it might be intimidating to find the best smartwatch for you. IGN experts have put together a guide to make the selection process a little easier.
Although Apple Watch alternatives run different operating systems, the most popular one is Google WearOS. For the most part, it’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices via smartphone app and Bluetooth, but some manufacturers like Samsung and even Google itself restrict their watches to just Android smartphones. Make sure your smartphone is compatible with your smartwatch of choice.
What’s the difference between a fitness tracker and a smartwatch? These days, the line between them has blurred. However, this doesn’t mean they’re interchangeable, but rather just getting better at adapting features from one to the other.
A fitness tracker is smaller and primarily for tracking health goals, including heart rate monitoring, counting steps, calories burned, blood oxygen levels, and more. It might even include workout specific modes, like running, swimming, cycling, and others. For example: The Fitbit Sense 2 is a fitness tracker that has some features of a smartwatch, like smartphone notifications, and contactless payments, but its main use is for fitness and health.
A smartwatch is typically a bit bigger, looks more like a traditional watch compared to a fitness tracker, and can handle additional tasks, like notifications, emails, messaging, maps, and more. Smartwatches can track fitness and health goals too, but most likely can’t track and record more detailed and workout-specific data.
If you want a wearable device for the gym, then go with a dedicated fitness tracker. For that plus everything else, go with a smartwatch.
One of the biggest drawbacks of the Apple Watch is its price with its least expensive model being the Apple Watch SE, which starts at $249. However, you can get a decent alternative for as little as $100 with the Amazfit Active 2. There are a lot of alternatives that can do just about everything an Apple Watch can do, but at a lower price. The closest comparison to the Apple Watch is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7.
Let’s face it, most people looking for an Apple Watch alternative aren’t happy with Apple’s rounded-corners square design. Tech manufacturers like Samsung, Google, Garmin, and others have seized this design “flaw” and introduced smartwatches with circular designs, like traditional watches. Simply put, there are a wide range of smartwatches that just look like a watch — which is very appealing to a lot of people.
If you’re looking for a smartwatch with a circular design, go with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 or Google Pixel Watch 3. At first glance, they look like traditional watches, but can do just about everything the Apple Watch can do. If you’re an iPhone user, but want a completely round design in your smartwatch, then go with the Garmin Venu 3 or TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4. Both are compatible with the iPhone and look pretty slick, too.
Both smartwatches and fitness trackers focus on tracking your health and fitness, offering a range of sensors for better insights. Smartwatches take things further by providing additional smarts, like app notifications, phone call support, and even music playback. They also feature larger screens and tend to offer GPS support. Some even come with cellular connectivity for an additional charge on your phone bill. Fitness trackers usually pull ahead in battery life due to their smaller size and more limited feature set. Still, there is a good deal of overlap between smartwatches and fitness trackers.
While you can get an Apple Watch with support for cellular service, not all smartwatches will offer this feature. The Google Pixel Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch are two alternatives that have the option to add this feature. However, it costs more to purchase a watch with cellular support, and then there’s another monthly fee added to your phone bill to support it.
Even without cellular, many smartwatches can perform typical features of the best smartphones, like receiving notifications, responding to texts, and answering calls when connected to a phone via Bluetooth or on a Wi-Fi network. If you don’t have any way to access the internet, then a smartwatch won’t be the most useful.
While a smartphone isn’t always necessary to use a smartwatch, it’s certainly recommended. Some smartwatches support cellular and can function like tiny smartphones. However, if you don’t have that connectivity, the majority of smartwatch features won’t be accessible or as useful without a phone.
Rudie Obias is a tech freelance writer and editor who is also interested in cinema, pop culture, music, the NBA, and science fiction. His work can be found at Fandom, TV Guide, Metacritic, Yahoo!, Mashable, Mental Floss, and of course, IGN. Follow him @RudieObias on Twitter & IG.
Danielle Abraham is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.
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© Tyler C. / NetEase Games
Disney has spent the past few years going all-in on live-action remakes of the studio's animated classics. Some of these releases were hits at the box office, notably 2019’s The Lion King and 2017’s Beauty and the Beast, but it's safe to say that none have achieved the same level of cultural impact as the original films.
While almost all of these releases have been mired in at least some pushback or controversy, Snow White seemed to be a tipping point. Though Siddhant Adlakha's Snow White review describes star Rachel Zegler as "remarkable," the film as a whole didn't recieved much praise. (Gal Gadot's acting even became a meme over on TikTok.)
After a relatively unsuccessful theatrical run, Disney’s live-action Snow White is now available on digital. While the movie hasn’t made it to Disney+ quite yet, that does mean families (or anyone curious) can watch the movie at home.
Snow White arrives on digital less than two months after the movie’s initial release in theaters. Though $200 million in global box office revenue is nothing to scoff at, it’s still a ways away from the $250 million Variety reports Disney invested in the project.
This gap comes as no surprise; Snow White had struggled at the box office since its opening weekend. The movie appeared to be quickly forgotten in family night movie discourse in the wake of another live-action adaptation: A Minecraft Movie.
For whatever reason, Disney later decided to pull a Morbius and re-release the movie in theaters for Mother's Day weekend in May. The movie's performance at this stage was even more grim, achieving just $330,000 in revenue across almost 2,000 theaters.
Does this spell the beginning of the end for Disney’s live-action remakes? Who knows. We can never predict what lesson film execs will decide to take away from this kind of financial disappointment. In the wake of Snow White, Disney has put a "pause" on its recently-announced Tangled remake. Meanwhile, the live-action Lilo & Stitch movie is still set to hit theaters on May 23.
What I do know for sure is that box office flops like this tend to foster a decent amount of curiosity. If you’re someone who couldn’t quite justify a trip to the theater but ultimately needs to witness Gal Gadot’s performance as the Evil Queen, you're in luck.
Preorders have also gone live for the physical release of Snow White, which includes a DVD, Blu-ray, and a Collector’s Edition 4K steelbook, all of which are set to release on June 24. We've also rounded up tons of upcoming Blu-rays if you're in the middle of building your collection.
The original 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been streaming on the Disney-owned service since its inception in 2019, and the live-action version will certainly be joining it at some point. Recent Disney releases, like Mufasa: The Lion King and Moana 2, landed on Disney+ around three months after their initial release in theaters. Assuming a similar timeline for the fairest of them all, we should see Snow White on Disney+ by the end of June.
Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who spends way too much time in character customization screens and tracking down collectibles.
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card is still night impossible to find a standalone GPU, and your best bet is to get it pre-installed in a ready-made gaming computer. HP is currently the only online retailer I've found that has an RTX 5090 prebuilt gaming PC priced under $5,000. You'll need to follow my directions to configure the options, and HP's estimated June 3 delivery seems pretty optimistic, but if you're bent on getting one of these cards then you have to put in the effort.
Follow the directions below to properly configure this PC:
The Nvidia 50-series GPUs were officially announced at CES 2025. Although this time around Nvidia has prioritized adding AI features and DLSS 4 technology to improve gameplay performance over the previous generation GPUs, the RTX 5090 has still emerged as the most powerful consumer GPU on the market even if you only factor hardware-based raster performance. This card boasts a 25%-30% uplift over the RTX 4090 and with 32GB of GDDR7 VRAM.
The Omen 45L is HP's flagship gaming PC and, in our opinion, one of the best prebuilt gaming PCs. This is HP's roomiest chassis with plenty of cooling in the form of four 120mm fans for system airflow and an additional 240mm to 360mm all-in-one liquid cooling solution for the CPU. This PC is equipped with a generous 1,200W 80Plus Gold power supply and current-gen components like an Intel Z790 motherboard, Kingston FURY DDR5 RGB memory modules, and a WD Black M.2 SSD. The chassis itself looks great with its blend of steel and tempered glass and RGB lighting. Although it certainly exudes a very premium feel, it doesn't scream "gamer" like some other PC cases.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
There’s something uniquely satisfying about putting down roots in a sleepy town in games like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, or Disney Dreamlight Valley. Palia evolves this tradition to great effect, injecting large-scale multiplayer into that tried-and-true formula. After 50 hours of chopping down trees, hunting woodland critters, decorating my home, and hanging out with my fellow Palians, I’ve had a fantastic time catching up on all I’ve missed since the early days of the beta. I still have to dive into the new content and loads of updates that arrived today with its console launch and first major expansion, Elderwood, but I am eager to do so ahead of my final review.=
Palia is a cozy life sim with one major tweak: you’re in an online world that occasionally compels you to come out of your shell and interact with other humans – a sometimes Herculean task for the introverts often drawn to this genre. As you explore, you’ll encounter others out in the shared world going about their business, and are encouraged (or sometimes required) to cooperate with them. For example, you’ll get a buff for fishing with others and will find magical trees that can only be chopped down with the help of one or more friends. This has led to a community that’s astoundingly positive and helpful, with the vast majority of the public chat being PSAs from players who have found a valuable resource they’d like to share with strangers, then waiting for minutes on end for everyone to assemble before collecting it as a group. I spend a lot of time playing multiplayer games defined by the community’s potent toxicity and savage greed, so this kind of culture has truly been a shock to my system that I’m still adjusting to.
Although multiplayer is its signature twist, you can still do the vast majority of Palia’s activities by yourself. There’s also just a whole heck of a lot for you to do however you decide to tackle it, all in service of building up your home and improving your relationships with the NPC townsfolk. The usual zen-like staples like cooking and catching bugs are all here and actually quite good – the fishing minigame, for example, is less mindless than you usually find in the genre, having you tug and pull on your rod as the fish leaps into the air and puts up a fight. There’s even a few less common options like hunting, where you’ll pick off poor critters who burrow into the ground and leap into trees as you pepper them with arrows. While an absence of stress is an intentional focus of Palia’s design, it sometimes tries a bit too hard to accomplish that goal, like in how your arrows will magically home in on your target incredibly aggressive, sometimes turning corners to aid your aim. I’m all for a laid back experience, but it can be a bit obnoxious when you’re trying to line up a shot and the magnetism training wheels curve your arrow toward a different creature altogether, frustrating what’s supposed to be a chill activity.
Palia has a surprisingly full-featured main story as well. It has you exploring ancient ruins to uncover the truth about a world which was once populated by humans who are curiously gone now, and the dark history of magic that seemingly caused the collapse of society. This adventure is much more light-hearted than that might sound though, and you’re mostly just given opportunities to learn about the world and hang out with the characters who accompany you on quests while you platform around and solve simple puzzles. Per Palia’s adherence to cozy virtues, none of this is particularly demanding, and the mainline quests can be completed in a matter of hours if you focus on them, but I enjoyed diving just a tad deeper into the world and the break from grinding for iron ore to craft the next piece of furniture I just couldn’t live without. The story was quite incomplete ahead of the Elderwood expansion though, so I’m intrigued to see where it picks up after that abrupt end.
Then there’s other minigames that further mix things up, like a hotpot-themed card game I spent way too much time playing, or a surprisingly intricate platforming puzzle that took me hours to master. Sometimes these experiments exceed Palia’s grasp, like the platforming puzzles in particular, which are held back by clunky controls that don’t seem like they were designed with precision in mind. Climbing can be a quite irritating experience as your character will let go of surfaces inconsistently, sending you plummeting to your death. Thankfully the stakes in taking these spills are always very low, so there’s not much to lose aside from a bit of your time wasted, but it can definitely make some of the quests feel a bit tacked on. Other times, you’ll find yourself doing a sliding picture puzzle and think “y’know, this is pretty nice,” so I mostly found myself happy they took these shots nonetheless.
Of course, the purpose behind all these various undertakings is to gain as much gold as you can to upgrade and decorate your home, and Palia has one of the better home building systems I’ve seen. Rather than giving you no control over the blueprint of your house like in Animal Crossing or Disney Dreamlight Valley, or making you monkey around with a building mode that has you placing individual walls like The Sims, Palia favors a modular system: You unlock schematics for pieces of a home that you can freely snap onto various parts of your building, making it easy to design the general layout without having to get lost in the weeds. Then, once you’ve built your place, you can decorate it down to the most minute detail, dragging furniture, dolls, and cups around on a grid to make it just so. I could probably spend dozens of hours on this part of Palia alone, were it not for my insatiable need for cold hard cash to fund my homestead expansion. But that desire to make your place exactly as awesome as you want it to be is a serious motivator that sent me out in search of lumber and iron ore time and time again.
Those resource grinds each have their own progression systems as well, as you level up by repeatedly going out into the world and bringing back your haul of raw materials and collectibles to sell. I played dozens of hours of Palia as part of an early preview way back before it was even in its current open beta (and had my save file from that time tragically deleted), and the biggest change has been that its progression systems for these activities are much more streamlined and feel less grindy. Now, as you plant trees and craft furniture, you’ll unlock new equipment like a loom for creating fabric or a furnace for creating glass. You’ll also get better tools to perform cozy chores with, like a hoe that lets you till land faster or a bow and arrows that will let you take down prey in fewer shots, each of which feels like a handy upgrade that shows up at exactly the right moment you start feeling a need for it. The timegating that sometimes boxes you out of marathoning through everything in other life sims is mercifully absent here for the most part, so you can move as fast or as slow as you care to.
The other major pursuit in Palia is in getting to know and develop relationships with its 25 NPC residents, most of whom are really well-written and have a lot more to them than meets the eye upon first glance. I quite enjoyed hanging out with the sarcastic and moody daughter of the mayor, Kenyatta, who worked the front desk with all the enthusiasm of April from Parks and Recreation – but after helping her down the extremely chaotic path of discovering what she’s passionate about in life, I grew to appreciate her in a less superficial way. Even characters I really didn't jive with, like the cryptid-obsessed hippy who annoyed me to no end, Elouisa, was at least entertainingly irritating and I’ve learned to appreciate how much her personality bothers me over time. (We’ve all got a friend like that, don’t we?) Most characters have an arc that takes place over several quests where they let you see a bit more of their personality as you forge a friendship. And, of course, if you’re looking for more than friendship you can partake in Palia’s quite strong dating mechanics to get yourself a girlfriend or boyfriend, or several of them – no judging here.
Unfortunately, this is one area where timegating gets in the way of a good time, and is one of the only places Palia boxes you out. You’re only allowed to chat with each character once per in-game day (a 30-minute period of real time), which improves your social links a very small amount, and you can only give each character a gift once per real world day. So if you’re trying to finish a particular character’s story, you’ll have to log on with regularity and be subjected to the same rotation of brief banter before you’re able to make any real progress. This is especially painful early on when your citizenship in Kilima Village is dependent on having someone in town to vouch for you – a task that’s made impossible to do in a short span of time by timegating. When every other area of Palia lets you play to your heart’s content, it’s pretty annoying to see such an essential part of this slice of life block you from progressing at your own pace.
Palia has come a long way since I played it over a year ago, but one thing that remained true ahead of this latest update is that it’s still missing quite a bit. The two maps I’ve explored are fairly small, and though they’ve got nooks and crannies to run around, you can more-or-less see most of what’s available in a few hours. Social features, though awesome when they happen, still feel quite slim for a game where the killer feature is supposed to be its online functionality, and there aren’t enough activities that encourage group play. And although there are quite a few options for decorating your house, surprisingly little of it can be interacted with once placed. You can’t lie in bed, turn on the sink, or really do much of anything with most objects, which sometimes made me feel like I was building a museum rather than a home. They did add the ability to flick the light switches on and off, which is at least something, but there’s a lot missing. These are all issues likely to be built out in the future, and I’m interested to see if Elderwood helps at all, but I’m a bit surprised that some of these aren’t farther along all the same.
The other major issue with Palia has been its bugs and performance issues on PC, which have gotten remarkably better since I last played, but are still pretty common. I quite frequently see NPCs sink into the floor, sometimes altogether hidden underground to the point where I can’t interact with them, there’s a bunch of very visible pop-in that happens while you’re running around, and loading times when traveling between each section of the map feel far longer than they should. Playing on the Nintendo Switch is especially eyebrow raising, as everything looks pretty awful and runs significantly worse, to the point where I really can’t recommend it on that platform in the same way I enthusiastically would elsewhere.
I’ve put quite a bit of time into Palia over the past week and have had a hard time putting it down, even as I’ve completed all the major activities available before the Elderwood expansion arrives. I’m looking forward to seeing how it runs on the PS5 and Xbox, checking out the new area and quality of life improvements, and continuing my chase for unlimited money to flex on my friends with my meticulously decorated estate.
After a press tour that featured Jack Quaid looking progressively more beat up at a Clippers game, Novocaine arrived in theaters. The R-rated action comedy stars Quaid as a man who feels no pain, so it's starting to seem like 'The Boys' veteran goes out of his way to get covered in fake blood.
In her review for IGN, critic Lena Wilson states that “Novocaine offers more depth than its gimmicky 'man who feels no pain' premise may lead you to believe," with "clever storytelling and character writing that reminds us of a time when seeing movies in theaters was just plain fun.”
If you're planning to watch Novocaine at home, check out the details below.
Novocaine is streaming on Paramount+ instead of Netflix or Hulu. The action movie also became available to rent or buy from digital marketplaces like Prime Video less than a month after arriving in theaters.
The details surrounding the physical release for Novocaine were announced at the same time the movie arrived on digital platforms. DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K editions of the movie are now up for preorder and set for release on June 24. At $34.99, the Amazon-exclusive steelbook is one of the more reasonably-priced Blu-ray releases.
Novocaine is an original action comedy movie about a man who can't feel pain. Here’s the movie’s official synopsis:
Novocaine was written by Lars Jacobson and directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen. The movie stars the following actors:
Novocaine is Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, and language throughout. The movie runs for a total of one hour and 50 minutes.
Samsung has announced a new ultra-slim flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S25 Edge. It’s a lot like the Galaxy S25 that came out earlier this year, but it’s thinner – just 5.8mm thick. That’s thin, man. It’s light, too, weighing in at 163 grams. The phone releases May 30 and costs $1099.99. Preorders are live now (see it at Amazon, where it comes with a free $50 gift card), and you even get double the storage for free if you preorder.
Spec-wise, the Galaxy S25 Edge is pretty close to the S25 Plus. It runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip. It has a 6.7-inch OLED display and Galaxy AI. However, it doesn’t have the telephoto camera lens — just a 12MP selfie camera, a 12MP ultra wide AF, and a 200MP wide-angle 2x optical-quality zoom lens. And because of the thin form factor, the battery doesn’t last as long (the official site says it has up to 24 hours of video playback).
You have three color options for this bad boy: titanium black, titanium icyblue, and titanium silver. They all look suitably classy, in my opinion, with nice coloring that adds to the sleek form factor. Even the selfie camera is just a tiny dot at the top of the display.
The Galaxy AI features include the ability to summarize notes and touch up the photos you take. If you’ve been looking for a thing, light phone that doesn’t skimp on power, this is probably your best bet. It’s the thinnest S-series phone Samsung has ever made.
Some previous ultra-thin phones, it should be noted, have had issues with bending in people’s pockets. That shouldn’t be a problem here, thanks to the titanium used in the casing, and the Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 face. Will the Galaxy S25 Edge be crowned the best smartphone on the market? We'll have to wait and see.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
It might not be the most glamorous PS5 accessory, but when it comes to getting the most out of your console, having the right HDMI cable is more important than you may realize. The PlayStation 5 and the more powerful PlayStation 5 Pro are built for stunning graphics and ultra-smooth gameplay, and to fully experience that, you need an HDMI cable that can handle it. Fortunately, there are some great options that will ensure you're getting the best possible performance in 2025.
The PS5 supports 8K@60Hz or 4K@120Hz, so you’ll want to choose an HDMI cable that’s designed to support, or even future-proof for, the latest features. While an improved connection is a great start, you'll also want to upgrade to a good PS5 TV or one of the best monitors for the PS5 to get the best-possible experience.
An officially licensed HDMI cable for your PS5, the PowerA Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable is a sure bet. Yes, it comes with a premium price tag, but if you want the best of the best, you’ll have to part with a bit of cash. Supporting HDMI 2.1, this HDMI cable can output 4K@120Hz, and even 8K@60Hz (though it's not true 8K – not yet, anyway).
Matching the console’s simple, clean aesthetics, the PowerA Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable is equally minimalist, durable, and sports gold-plated connectors. At 10ft long, you’ll have plenty of wiggle room between your console and your display should you need it.
The Belkin HDMI 2.1 Ultra High Speed is one of the priciest HDMI cables for PS5, but that’s because you’re paying to future-proof your setup. With HDMI 2.1, the cable can handle speeds of up to 48Gbps, more than your PS5 or PS5 Pro will ever output.
With slim profile connectors, this HDMI cable fits nicely into the back of your PS5 and your TV. Everything here is high quality. Knowing you can game in 4K@120Hz with a compatible display, or watch videos in 8K@60Hz (if your TV or monitor can handle it) warrants the higher price tag. It's likely you'll even be able to use this for the PlayStation 6 when it eventually arrives, making this a worthwhile long-term investment.
If your TV is mounted to the wall or you’re limited on space, sometimes a standard HDMI cable won’t fit. Enter the Cable Matters 8K Right Angle HDMI Cable. Instead of taking a risk and bending the HDMI cable or blocking ports, why not invest in a right-angle cable from the outset?
Since it's HDMI 2.1, the cable can handle the 4K/120Hz refresh rate on your PS5 like any other HDMI. The cable is only available at 6.6ft long, but at least it comes in two colorways: black or gray.
Beyond being angled to prevent bending, this HDMI cable is braided to resist breakage or fraying and the connectors are gold-plated to prevent corrosion. Even the connector housing is metal to further improve longevity, so it should last well until we get a PS6 (that might actually support 8K gaming).
If you’re on a budget and need an HDMI cable that’s going to allow you to make the most of the PS5 and PS5 Pro's 4K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, you simply can’t go wrong here. The Amazon Basics HDMI Cable does what it says on the box – there are no fancy features, braided cable, or right angles – but it costs a little over $7 and is capable of speeds of up to 48Gbps.
While the standard length could pose a problem for some, this HDMI cable is also available in 6ft and 10ft options. It’s incredibly affordable and can easily be a suitable replacement for the included HDMI cable you get with the PS5 if you have lost it, broken it, or need a spare.
Anker is a well-known brand; it’s reliable, and that’s what you need when you invest in a HDMI cable for gaming. The Anker 8K HDMI Cable supports 8K@60Hz and 4K@120Hz, making it the perfect PS5 console companion. Since it’s HDMI 2.1, you could use it to connect your monitor to your PC, too, should you need.
While there are definitely more affordable HDMI cables available, if you want a solid cable that’s going to last a long time, Anker’s is a no-brainer. Anker claims it has a "1,000 bend lifespan" based on lab testing; based on our experience so far and with other Anker products like power banks, it sounds absolutely plausible.
Braided HDMI cables are a better choice if you tend to move your HDMI cables from one device to another, have kids, or perhaps aren’t as gentle with your cables. The Cable Matters Premium Braided HDMI Cable supports up to 8K – you can comfortably play your PS5 on your TV at 4K@120Hz, and enjoy Dolby Atmos when you’re setting up for movie night.
Despite being high quality, the Cable Matters Premium Braided HDMI Cable is actually very affordable and comes in three different lengths and two different colors, black or a silvery gray.
Long-lasting cables at an affordable price are hard to come by, but that’s exactly what the Snowkids 8K HDMI cable is. Featuring a double-fiber nylon braid, this cable is incredibly durable. It’s another great option if you move your HDMI cable around between devices, or take it with you on a commute or for events.
The 24K gold-plated connector is nice to have, too, ensuring your signal is transmitted accurately at all times. Snowkids claims the cable can withstand up to 25,000 bends – while we weren’t going to test it to that extreme, there’s no doubt the Snowkids 8K HDMI Cable is going to last a long time.
You could spend a lot of money on a HDMI cable for your PS5 when you don’t have to. With lots of marketing jargon, it’s easy to get lost and spend over and above for what you need.
The PS5 can output 4K@120Hz or 8K@60Hz, and while many PS5 games aren't capable of reaching those high frame rates, it's still a good idea to have a proper cable for when they can. HDMI 2.1 is the standard that supports this, so if you have a TV or monitor capable of this resolution, you should look for an HDMI 2.1 cable.
The PS5 Pro takes things a step further with its support for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), an AI-enhanced feature that boosts games up to 4K while maintaining a higher frame rate. Given that AI-upscaling is a major selling point of the PS5 Pro, it makes sense to grab an HDMI 2.1 cable ready to make the most of its abilities. Just be sure you’ve also got a gaming TV that can handle it, too!
If you’re on a tight budget, don’t have a compatible TV, or just need a spare cable, you could get away with a HDMI 2.0 cable – but this can only reach 4K@60Hz. HDMI 2.1 cables are usually just a couple of bucks more than HDMI 2.0 cables, so it might be a better idea to grab a durable HDMI 2.1 cable to future-proof your setup anyway.
Beyond the HDMI specification, basics like length, durability, and other design features should be taken into account. You need to assess the distance between your PS5 and TV to give yourself enough slack. This is especially true if you don't have a good TV stand with holes in the back for cords to slip through. The standard sizes are around 3ft, 6ft, and 10ft, but you can find cables shorter or longer depending on needs. Right angle cables are ideal for wall-mounted TVs or TVs that are just super close to the wall, helping to prevent kinks or fraying.
When it comes to build quality, you’ll quickly discover that some HDMI cables are built better than others. If you just plan on plugging the cable into your TV and console once and leaving it there, durability shouldn’t be a major issue. However, if you’ll be shuffling the cable between TVs and devices, stronger nylon braided cables or others tested to last thousands of bends are good choices. Finding an option with a secure connector that won’t break when pulled on is also essential.
If you have a modern 4K or 8K TV, you shouldn’t get sticker shock when looking for an HDMI cable. At these high resolutions, the amount of data the PS5 is pushing to your PC is massive, and cheaper cables run the risk of corrupting that data by using lackluster materials. However, if you’re playing your PS5 on an older display, you might want to consider either upgrading your TV, or opting for a cheaper HDMI cable.
To get the most out of your PS5 and PS5 Pro, you should use a HDMI 2.1 cable. This supports 4K@120Hz, or 8K@60Hz, providing the best gaming experience.
Yes, the PS5 does come with a HDMI 2.1 cable. You don’t need to buy any additional cables unless you want a longer cable, one with features like braiding, or you need a spare.
Yes, HDMI 2.1 is backward compatible. If you plug a HDMI 2.1 cable into a HDMI 2.0 port, it will still work. If you plug a HDMI 2.0 cable into your PS5, it will still work, but it won’t offer support for the same video output.
Yes, the PS5 and PS5 Pro support older standard HDMI cables, including 2.0 and 1.4. The only downfall is you’ll be missing out on the full capabilities of the console. HDMI 2.0 can only hit 4K@120Hz while HDMI 1.4 maxes out at 4K@30Hz.
Danielle is a tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.
© Bethesda
© Warner Bros
It's all well and good to buy up the latest sealed Pokémon card boosters and move in on single cards when the market is crashing (like what we're currently seeing with Journey Together and Surging Sparks). However, if you don't have the accessories to look after all those cards, well, it's bad news.
There's nothing wrong with cheap deck boxes and relying on penny sleeves for bulk and budget decks; we all have to start somewhere. But as soon as trainers start putting more money behind chase cards, pulling gem mint cards, or investing in new sets like Destined Rivals, Black Bolt, and White Flare, they must protect what they have.
Here are some great products I've found to do just that. From pre-grading your cards to affordable play mats for trainers, I've got you covered with decent products that will protect your collection for years to come.
All of these deck boxes are felt lined and made of solid materials to protect your decks. If you're like me and double sleeve your cards, all of these deck boxes have the room to fit a full 60 card deck and change.
Some even hold multiple decks and dice, which is very cool for someone like me who looks way too much into these things. The one I use holds three double-sleeved decks, has a dice drawer with felt lining and even features a faux leather Pokéball design. Perfection.
It can cost upwards of $20 to get a single card graded, which is worth it if the Pokémon card is in awesome condition and worth a lot. But grading companies look at your cards down to a microscopic level to check for dints, scratches and other imperfections. You'll also need to penny sleeve then pop cards in a semi rigid sleeve or they won't accept them. If you're looking to get your cards graded, these are some of the accessories we'd recommend.
Magnetic card holders are a cheap way to display Pokémon cards on a shelf or stand without forking out a fortune to have all of your cards graded.
I personally use acrylic shelving and LED strips to really make my collection pop. If you want your card holders to stand up straight there's also a couple of options for acrylic stands too. It really doesn't have to break the bank to make those illustration rares shine.
Going to a card show with some trades? They'll be something here for you. Want to display your grails in a nice looking cabinet? I've got you covered there too.
Ripping packs is awesome, but storing all that bulk for a deck-building session isn't. Our recommendations include everything from basic cardboard boxes with rows and dividers to foam-padded storage boxes with enough room for graded and top-loaded cards.
It's no good buying these cases, binders and deckboxes without card sleeves. If you like a card or pull anything holo, sleeve it. I personally like the "Perfect Fit" sleeves as they still fit in magnetic card holders, standard and penny sleeves. Double the protection, infinite peace of mind.
I can't build a deck without double sleeving cards. It's just a good habit to get into, especially if you're rocking all shiny energies and higher-end ex cards.
Binders are one of the cheapest ways to store your Pokémon cards, and it beats any art or coffee table book for casual browsing. All of these binders are double-sided with nine pockets on each side. One even has four front windows to showcase those banger chase cards.
Just don't forget to sleeve your cards before putting them in. I'm a big fan of good binder behaviour and will 100% judge you otherwise.
I recently found my original Pokémon TCG playmat from when the base set released. It's literally a bit of fabric so I put a playmat underneath anyway, but how retro is this!? God bless that broken Professor Oak trainer card.
If you're playing Pokémon TCG, you need a playmat, end of story. You can double-sleeve your all-shiny deck and have a felt-lined deck box all day long, but slamming cards onto hard surfaces is going to deck your deck.
You might notice that some of these playmats are actually mouse pads; that's because they're pretty much the same thing. Just do what I do: Pick a cool design and roll with it.
If you've dedicated your life to pulling chase cards yourself, here's what we can find in stock right now. Just watch out for pricing over MSRP, as we Pokémon trainers are in a weird spot right now, so don't pay more than what you have to, or consider buying single cards instead of gambling on overpriced ETBs.
Whatever you decide, make sure you're having fun! For more, consider checking out our guide on the full Pokémon release schedule in 2025.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
Amazon is currently offering the lowest price I've seen so far in 2025 for a SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless gaming headset. Right now you can pick up the PlayStation version for $243.99 shipped, a savings of 30% off the $350 list price. The PlayStation version is compatible with the PS5, PS4, and PC, however it is not compatible with the Xbox (you need a separate Xbox dongle). The Nova Pro is our top rated gaming headset of 2025; I've personally use headset on a daily basis for the past few years and love it.
The Arctis Nova Pro is the highest-end gaming headset in SteelSeries' repertoire. It combines excellent sound quality with comfortable ergonomics, a high-performance mic, and unique yet extremely practical features. One of the biggest standout features of the SteelSeries Nova Pro wireless headset is the ingenious hot-swappable battery system. SteelSeries was generous enough to includes two batteries: one that's in use in your headset and the other that's charging in the separate DAC controller. This way, you get wireless freedom with no waiting to recharge. Each battery lasts for up to 22 hours of continued use, so you won't be constantly swapping them out either.
Other great features include an OLED base station with volume control knob, active noise cancellation (rare in a gaming headset), retractable boom microphone, all-day comfort thanks to the suspension headband and leatherette ear cushions, simultaneous 2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth pairing, onboard audio presets, and the versatile Sonar software for creating your own custom sound profiles (for PC gamers).
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
For a limited time, Amazon is offering the new Crucial T500 2TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive with pre-installed heatsink for just $132.99 with free shipping. The Crucial T500 was released in October of 2023 and it is currently one of the top performing PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the market. This solid state drive works equally well as a replacement for your PS5 console (because of the preintalled heatsink) or as a boot drive for your gaming rig (because of the DRAM cache).
The T500 is Crucial's premium PCIe 4.0 solid state drive and is equipped with a Phison E25 controller with 232-layer Micron TLC NAND flash memory. It has proven to be one of the fastest SSDs on the market with sequential speeds of 7,300/6,800MB/s and random speeds of 1.15M/1.44M IOPs. It's on par with other top-tier SSDs like the WD Black SN850X, the Samsung 990 Pro, and the SK Hynix P41 Platinum and it's currently the least expensive of the bunch. The Crucial T500 also has a dedicated LDDR4 DRAM cache. Pretty much every other SSD at this price point is DRAM-less and rely on HMB, or system memory, as a less expensive alternative. Crucial backs this SSD with a 5-year warranty.
The Crucial T500 makes for an excellent replacement SSD for your PlayStation 5 console. It fulfills all of Sony's requirements, like a minimum read speed of 5,500MB/s and a PCI-Express Gen4x4 interface. A robust aluminum heatsink is also already pre-installed, so you don't need to spend time and money installing one yourself.
Over the past few console generations with built-in storage, gamers were typically stuck with however much storage that came with the console. With the PS5, Sony made a surprising move by including an internal M.2 PCIe slot to install an off-the-shelf SSD to supplement the internal storage. Given that this is the same company that paired the PS Vita and PSP with ludicrously expensive memory cards, this was a welcoming change of pace, especially given the paltry 825GB of storage you have to work with. Now, you can install high-end PC SSDs like the Corsair MP600 Pro LPX, our number one pick, to load even more games nearly as fast as the extra-special drive that's built into the console itself.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Wizards of the Coast has been gradually rolling out what it's got in store for Magic: The Gathering and its big Final Fantasy crossover this summer. Over the weekend, the team debuted a significant chunk of cards, from both the main set and the Commander decks, and fans are enjoying some of the fun and even surprising cuts from their favorite Final Fantasy games.
The Universes Beyond collaboration with Final Fantasy is getting both the usual Commander treatment and a booster-driven series, so there are a lot of cards to go over. The main set tinkers with the entirety of Final Fantasy's mainline, numbered games, running from Final Fantasy 1 to Final Fantasy 16. The Commander Decks, meanwhile, focus on four specific games: Final Fantasy 6, 7, 10, and 14, with their respective Commanders of Terra, Cloud, Tidus, and Y'shtola.
Some of the cards shown at last Saturday's Magic: The Gathering panel at PAX East captured the journey of individual characters throughout their games. Final Fantasy IV's Cecil, for example, has an entire mechanic around transforming from a Dark Knight into a Paladin. The summons of Final Fantasy utilize a "Saga Creature" set-up, to act as powerful but temporary forces on the field, melding Magic and Final Fantasy concepts in the process.
Then you have cards like Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER, with artwork from Square's Tetsuya Nomura. The transformation along the card illustrates Sephiroth's various forms throughout the FF7 universe, from a young fighter into, eventually, Safer Sephiroth on the card Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel.
[FIN] Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel (Debut Showcase)
byu/mweepinc inmagicTCG
And what would a Final Fantasy be without some Cids? The Final Fantasy set will include a Cid from each of the numbered Final Fantasy games, though Wizards is opting for the older Cid from Final Fantasy XV over his daughter, Cindy.
After Saturday's panel, though, Wizards of the Coast released the decklist for the four aforementioned Commander decks, and fans started poring over the art and additions to see how the team adapted those four Final Fantasy games into Magic. Pretty well, it turns out.
Reprints, or new versions of existing Magic cards, get some clever crossovers with Final Fantasy lore. Skullclamp, for instance, draws on the Jenova project in Final Fantasy 7 for its art.
Together, Forever also takes an emotional stab at the Final Fantasy 10 fans out there. It shouldn't be surprising that Final Fantasy 10 has some emotional wellsprings to draw from, with its central protagonists' journey through a ruined land, on a somber pilgrimage. Several decks' cards reference some notable character moments, by the way, so you might want to go into these decklists aware that there will be some story spoilers for each respective game.
But to lighten things up, one of Final Fantasy 10's more iconic, and frequently memed, moments also made the cut with Inspiring Call.
In fact, Wizards found more than a few ways to incorporate Final Fantasy's less-serious moments into cards. Clever Concealment puts a spin on the Wall Market scene with Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa in dresses, heading to Don Corneo's, and even has a mechanic that seems fitting for the occassion. I'm a big fan of the Secret Rendezvous card, which has four different versions of the Golden Saucer date scene from Final Fantasy 7 with each potential date: Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, and Barret.
Even still, fans have been discovering the tiny details that show how much homage is being paid to the source material. The Final Fantasy 14 set, in particular, has quite a few references to the critically acclaimed MMORPG. The Hildibrand Manderville card mimics the infamous gentleman's habit of disappearing and returning, making for quite an interesting White/Black card in the process.
One user on the FFXIV subreddit noted that the Archaeomancer's Map card uses a real possible location found in a Gaganaskin Treasure Map, for instance.
In turn, Final Fantasy 14 players have been having fun with the cards. There are some jokes about wondering who the Thancred card represents, referencing the "This is Thancred" meme. And there's the alternative flavor text a user added to the Rite of Replication card, commemorating everyone's favorite speech from A Realm Reborn:
Even the Tome of Legends card depicts a Wondrous Tails book, with all the little details you see in-game when a player picks up their Tails and, of course, several missed four-in-a-row connections.
There's some clear attention to detail put into these cards, and it's certainly got me intrigued to see the full set. While the Commander games got a lot of love in these cards, a few reveals from Saturday's panel like Commune With Beavers have me eager to see how some of the other Final Fantasy games got adapated into the full Magic set.
Magic: The Gathering's Final Fantasy set is out on June 13, 2025, with pre-release weekend one week prior.
Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.
Looking to get into virtual reality? Meta Quest 3 represents a significant step forward in virtual reality (VR) and a great starting point for everyone. It's available in two versions, the fully-featured Quest 3 and the more affordable Meta Quest 3S, which means there's a good option to get into VR no matter the restrictions posed by your wallet. The Meta Quest system is the best way to get into VR, and even offers exciting exclusive games like the Batman Arkham Shadow game, which requires a Meta Quest 3 or 3S to play.
We're keeping an eye out on any Meta Quest discounts as they appear. Unfortunately, there aren't any major discounts available at the moment, but we've listed where you can buy a Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S below. You'll also get a copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow and a three-month trial of Meta Quest+ for free with your purchase, which is a great bonus.
The Meta Quest 3S comes in two models: 128GB and 256GB. These are listed for $299.99 and $399.99, respectively, at various retailers. On top of the headset you'll also get Batman: Arkham Shadow and a three-month trial of Meta Quest+ for free with your purchase.
You can get a Meta Quest 3S with those freebies at the following retailers:
The Meta Quest 3 (512GB) headset is currently available at various retailers for $499.99. Similar to the Meta Quest 3S, your purchase also comes with Batman: Arkham Shadow and a three-month trial of Meta Quest+ for free.
We gave this VR headset a 9/10 in our Meta Quest 3 review. Writer Eric Song stated that, "The Quest 3 continues Meta’s legacy of offering a cost-effective headset that doesn’t require an expensive gaming PC, but can still benefit from one if you have it." He continued on to say that, "The Quest 3 goes even further by offering us a ticket to mixed-reality gaming with a full-color passthrough mode that’s sharp enough to read things in the world around you, the lightest and most precisely tracked controllers available, and more."
In addition to the hardware itself, there are some great Meta Quest 3 accessory deals at the moment. You'll get the most bang for your buck with a battery-equipped head strap that adds both comfort and playtime to your VR experience.
Eight years after Batman: Arkham Knight, Warner Bros. announced the newest installment in the series: Batman: Arkham Shadow. This VR game is exclusive to the Meta Quest 3 and is developed by Camouflaj - the creator of the Iron Man VR game - and Oculus Studios, in collaboration with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC. It's arguably the headset's best game, and a must for fans of the caped crusader.
Beyond a virtual reality trip to Gotham, there are many, many other games to play on the Meta Quest. We have a handy list of all the available games on the VR headset via IGN Playlist. Highlights include Asgard’s Wrath 2, Assassin's Creed Nexus, Metal Hellsinger VR, and Metro Awakening.
In case you're wondering whether a new Batman: Arkham game works in VR, the answer is "yes." While it was develped by Camouflaj rather than series creator Rocksteady, it offers almost all of what fans of the core series appreciate about it.
Our Batman: Arkham Shadow review explains: "Batman: Arkham Shadow does an admirable job of adapting almost everything I love about the Arkham series to work in a full-fledged VR game, and it’s impressive looking for a game that’s exclusive to the standalone Meta Quest 3 headset. There are a few hitches and aggravating bugs that mean some parts don’t work quite as well as others, but its vigorous brawling, exploration, tricky puzzle solving, and stealth are all in full effect as you sneak and punch your way through Blackgate prison in a twisting undercover pursuit of a mysterious cult leader where just about everybody’s a suspect. It’s certainly smaller in scale than any full game since Arkham Asylum, but it’s far larger and more built-out than you might expect after Batman: Arkham VR, and a return to an enclosed prison setting makes it feel dense and intricate."
Meta Quest offers usually fall into three kinds of discounts. Events such as the holiday season, Prime Day, Black Friday and announcements of newer models tend to push prices down, alongside:
Unfortunately, virtual reality isn't for everyone. Those with severe eye health issues or those who suffer from motion sickness might have problems using this particular bit of kit. Here are some more points to consider:
We're keeping track of all things VR on the dedicated IGN VR hub, including the latest game releases. We're also keeping the VR hardware market on lockdown with our best VR headsets guide, which is worth a look for those who want to shell out on the latest VR tech.
Christian Wait is a UK-based freelancer for IGN, you can follow him @ChrisReggieWait on Twitter/X.
Includes contributions from Robert Anderson and Hannah Hoolihan.
The new Minecraft movie became a box office success almost immediately after its release in theaters. Minecraft is one of the best-selling video games of all time that has infiltrated pretty much every medium, so its jump to a feature film was all but a matter of time. In our review of A Minecraft Movie, we found it to be surprisingly funny despite its contraints. Audience reactions have made it a theater-going experience for the ages. All in all, it's not too surprising that it currently holds the top spot as the highest-grossing movie in the U.S. so far this year.
If you're still hoping to watch A Minecraft Movie in theaters, don't worry, you still have time. For those of you waiting to watch the movie at home, I'm happy to report that A Minecraft Movie is now available on digital.
A Minecraft Movie released on digital on May 13, 2025, around five weeks after the movie's initial release in theaters. The Bonus X-Ray Edition available on Prime Video is available to rent for $19.99 or buy for $24.99, which, for what it's worth, is the same pricing as the physical release.
If you're interested in the in-person Chickey Jockey experience, A Minecraft Movie is still available in theaters. To find when and where you can watch the film near you, check the listings featured below for local showtimes.
We don't yet have a streaming release date for A Minecraft Movie, but we know that it will land on Max when it does hit streaming because it's a Warner Bros. project. There is no clear time period when we can expect the movie to make the jump to a streaming service since it depends on how the film does in the box office, but we can make an educated guess based on past Warner Bros. movies. Theatrical windows have shrunk in the last few years, some as short as 14 days before hitting VOD. For a movie with such crossover appeal like this one, we'd bet that it has a longer life in theaters and won't hit streaming for three to four months. That would place the potential streaming release date sometime in June or July 2025.
A limited edition steelbook is available for preorder, set to release on June 24, 2025. The marketing team has already pushed Minecraft Movie LEGO sets and a McDonald's collaboration, and we'll likely see even more merchandise over the coming weeks.
If you haven't been keeping up with the latest trailers for A Minecraft Movie, here's a quick synopsis of the film directly from the Warner Bros. website:
A Minecraft Movie is directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) and stars:
A Minecraft Movie is rated PG for some violence, language, suggestive humor, and occassionally scary images. It has a total runtime of 1 hour and 41 minutes including credits. There is a mid-credits and post-credits scene you'll want to stick around for as well.
Trading card marketplace TCGplayer is holding a special Mayhem promotion soon, where all purchases on the site will earn you at least 10% back as store credit. The offer will be available only from 9 a.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET on May 16, so you’ll need to plan ahead to take advantage.
If you’ve never used TCGplayer before, it’s an online marketplace where sellers can post listings for all kinds of trading cards. You can buy specific cards or sealed products like bundles and booster packs, so there are options for established collectors or newcomers looking to build their first deck. Plus, you can preorder upcoming releases, including the anticipated collaboration between Magic: The Gathering and Final Fantasy (more on that in a bit).
There are thousands of sellers on the platform with listings across an expansive list of games. That includes Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon (in both English and Japanese), Yu-Gi-Oh!, Digimon, Flesh and Blood, Disney Lorcana, One Piece, Dragon Ball Super, and lots more. There are dozens in all, with a detailed filtering system that lets you specifically search for what you’re looking for.
For example, let’s say you’re looking for Magic: The Gathering cards. You can select that as your product line, then further filters open up based on that line. So if you’re only interested in a particular color, you can specify that. Or if you want to see what’s available from a particular set, you can do that too. You can also filter by card type (like creature, sorcery, instant, etc.).
Every product line has its own unique filters. So for Pokémon cards, you can see holofoil listings. For Yu-Gi-Oh!, you can see 1st Editions and Unlimited cards. For Disney Lorcana, you can see cold foils. You get the idea. Or if you’re on the hunt for a specific card, you can bypass all those filters and just type the card’s name in the search bar.
For every card or pack in the shop, you’ll see how much the cheapest listing costs, how many total listings there are of that item, and the current market price of it. The market price is based on the history of completed transactions for that item. When you click on the item, you can see more information about the history of its market price and look at the prices and card quality of every available listing.
All products on TCGplayer (other than gift cards) will be eligible for the store credit promotion from 9 a.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET on May 16. There are no limitations based on price, card type, or anything else. The timing might seem a little restrictive, but you can prepare beforehand by putting items in your cart and waiting to check out during the promotional period. That still counts.
Everybody who checks out during that 14-hour period will get a base return of 10% of the purchase price. Existing TCGplayer subscribers — or anyone who subscribes before they make a qualified purchase during the Mayhem promotion — will get a base return of 12% plus an additional return based on how long they’ve been subscribed. This means if you subscribe during the promo, you can get 13% back.
As we mentioned earlier, there are preorder listings for upcoming releases, and they’re also eligible for the store credit promotion. That includes:
If you’re wary of buying from a marketplace, TCGplayer Safeguard offers protections to help make sure you get the item you’re looking for. If a product doesn’t arrive by its estimated delivery date or isn’t in the expected condition, TCGplayer will work with you and the seller to deliver a replacement. If that’s not possible, then you can get a partial or full refund. If you suspect an item you received is counterfeit, you can submit a claim with the customer service team and receive a full refund if your item is deemed to be counterfeit.
If you want to check out everything on offer, you can head over to TCGplayer right now to get started. Remember, you can add things to your cart now, but wait to check out until the promotional period on May 16 is happening.
If you are planning a PC build and have been waiting patiently to get ahold of one of the new Nvidia Blackwell graphics cards, here's an opportunity that's as good as you're going to get. Right now Amazon has Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming graphics cards in stock starting at $899.99 shipped. Inventory is reserved for Amazon Prime members only.
Also for a limited time, you'll get a free voucher for the upcoming Doom: The Dark Ages game with purchase. According to Nvidia, the version you'll receive is the Premium edition that retails for $99.99.
Amazon Prime members only for some models
Although the MSRP for these cards range from $899.99 to $999.99, a reference GeForce RTX 5070 Ti card is actually supposed to sell for $750. More advanced cooling designs, a more uncommon colorway, or overclocking out of the box add to the cost, but even then, admittedly, these cards are still priced higher than what Nvidia originally advertised.
The reality is that even third party manufacturers like Gigabyte, MSI, Asus (and pretty much everyone else) are also taking advantage of the high demand by marking prices up from the get-go. Unfortunately, you'd be hard pressed to find another RTX 5070 Ti GPU for this price or less. RTX 5070 Ti GPUs are generally selling for over $1,000 on eBay.
Of all the Blackwell cards released thus far, the RTX 5070 Ti offers the best bang for your buck, especially when pitted against the previous generation GPUs. It performs neck-and-neck with the RTX 4080 Super and already marginalizes the RTX 5080, which is only about 10%-15% faster but costs 33% more. This GPU is capable of high framerates in nearly all games, even at 4K resolution with ray tracing enabled. Heck, even if you plan on using this card for AI, the RTX 5070 Ti might be the better value than the RTX 50870 since both are equipped with the same 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
DC Studios has released a teaser for tomorrow’s Superman trailer, and with it revealed a brand new villain: The Hammer of Boravia.
Eyes up here. Trailer Tomorrow. #Lookup #Superman pic.twitter.com/htyAfiXvDW
— Superman (@Superman) May 13, 2025
Warning! Potential spoilers for Superman follow:
The teaser shows Superman fighting a heavily armored villain, The Hammer of Boravia, who can fly and use an ocular laser attack. This character, an original character created by James Gunn for the film, was actually first seen on the front page of the Daily Planet in promotional material released last year.
High res "Grodd" News Paper and everything it says (Details found by FoxAteMySushi)
byu/M00r3C inDCU_
According to the newspaper story, The Hammer of Boravia attacked Downtown Metropolis in "retribution for the recent political interventions in Boravia by Superman." The attack resulted in over $20 million in property damage and sent 22 Metropolis citizens to the hospital. It looks like today’s teaser, and tomorrow’s full trailer, will show Superman fighting this "superpowered mystery man."
The newspaper article, written by Clark Kent himself, continues: "Boravia has been the source of numerous headlines worldwide in recent weeks as it invaded its neighboring country Jarhanpur, only for the brief war to be swiftly ended by the Superman. The President of Boravia, Vasil Glarkos, maintains the Hammer of Boravia is not a representative of the national government, but rather an independent vigilante…"
There’s a lot of speculation about the true identity of The Hammer of Boravia (Ultraman in the prevailing theory). But we are getting a better sense of the villains Superman will go up against in the film. Apart from Lex Luthor himself (there’s a new shot of Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor in the teaser), there’s the aforementioned Ultraman and The Hammer of Boravia, and The Engineer, played by María Gabriela de Faría.
Superman stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Milly Alcock as Supergirl, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. The film was written and directed by James Gunn, and is set to fly into theaters on July 11, 2025.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is set to release for Nintendo Switch, PS5, and PC on September 19. A remake of the 2004 JRPG The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, this new version follows the same adventure led by Joshua and Estelle, but with 3D graphics, new gameplay mechanics, and more quality of life improvements. You can preorder the game now at a variety of retailers (see it at Amazon). Read on for buy links, pricing info, and more.
Switch
PS5
PC
There are no special, deluxe, or collector’s editions available for Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter. So if you want it, the standard edition is your only option.
The original game, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, first released in Japan in 2004. It didn’t make its way to the West until 2011, when it came out here for PlayStation Portable. The game has two direct sequels, Trails in the Sky SC and Trails in the Sky the 3rd. The overarching Legend of Heroes series spans much more time, with entries releasing between the 1980s and now.
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a remake of the first entry in this sub-series. In it, you play as Estelle and Joshua, two Bracers-in-training who travel around the world, helping people in order to earn full Bracer status. The main overarching storyline revolves around the mystery of what happened to Estelle’s father, who has gone missing. The game is known for its many characters and many lines of dialogue. It’s sort of a relaxed, slow moving, hang-out game that verges on visual novel territory at times. It’s great.
Instead of the PS1-style sprite-based graphics of the original, this remake features full 3D anime-style graphics that look basically like the Tales or Dragon Quest games. It looks pretty great, especially since the story of the original is so good. It will be nice to experience it with a more modern presentation. The original game is still available on Steam.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.
Final Destination: Bloodlines opens in theaters Friday, May 16.
Final Destination: Bloodlines is late to the party. Its predecessor, Final Destination 5, was released 14 years ago – a veritable eon in filmgoing terms, especially when you consider it was shot and released in 3D. Body-count horror still has its audience, but it hasn’t been the genre’s bread and butter in a very long time. It must also be said that Bloodlines isn’t even 2025’s first horror movie about the disembodied specter of death creating cartoonishly brutal tableaux of murder: Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey both excelled in and elevated that space. But as it turns out, Bloodlines is only late because it was stopping at the store to pick up beer and fireworks, and boy, did it come ready to irresponsibly mix those two things. From the moment it kicks the door down with its stellar opening sequence, the newest addition to the Final Destination family maintains a laser focus on making sure everyone goes home with good stories to tell.
There’s a real sense of homecoming in Bloodlines’ extended 1960s-set intro, which follows lovebirds Iris and Paul on the way to the top of the Skyview (basically the Space Needle) for a night out. Fate pulls Iris’ attention to seemingly disconnected images throughout the evening: an over-crowded elevator, a creepy problem child in a bowtie, a cook working with an open flame, a glass dance floor suspended hundreds of feet in the air. Co-directors Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky use Iris’ growing paranoia to set the stage for disaster right out in the open: Each domino they line up is highlighted with such tongue-in-cheek attention that by the time the band’s playing the Isley Brothers’ “Shout” and all those dominos start to fall, it’s clear that Bloodlines is going to be leaning into comedy harder than any Final Destination before it. It’s a tonal shift that pays off spectacularly with clear reverence not just for the deathtraps at the franchise’s heart, but for the way the component parts of those traps fit together and build off each other in increasingly ridiculous ways.
Death’s scythe never falls quite the way you expect it to in Bloodlines, with pieces of the killer puzzles coming into play in consistently surprising ways. It’s a shell game that Bloodlines plays not just with its causes of death, but with who’s actually the target of any given trap – and these carefully constructed moments rarely miss. By the end of the prologue, Stein and Lipovsky have treated us to an entire movie’s worth of over-the-top kills, and we haven’t even met our lead character yet. The directors are singing from the Sam Raimi hymnbook, with a kinetic style that succeeds on both the horror and comedy fronts and comes across clearly in the cinematography and editing. Special mention has to go to the effects here, which blend practical and VFX elements extremely well as bodies are slashed, smashed, smushed, and stuffed. Some of these sequences feel a little less effective than the others – one at a tattoo parlor comes to mind, but even that one sets up a pretty hilarious joke for the next scene. As if acknowledging that we’re all running on borrowed time (horrifying accidental deaths or no), Bloodlines wastes only a few of the precious 110 minutes we spend with it.
The tragedy at the Skyview spins out into the present day, as college student Stef Lewis (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) is plagued with visions of the event so disruptive, she’s been placed on academic probation. Final Destination movies have always been built around premonitions of tragedies which have yet to occur. By shaking up the formula with Stef investigating her relationship to a tragedy that happened before she was born, Bloodlines gets off to a pretty intriguing start. That intrigue doesn’t last long, though: The movie rushes to reveal why Stef is having these visions and how the Skyview tragedy connects to deaths happening in the present day.
Stef’s friends and family, who make up the majority of the supporting cast, aren’t the types to slow down for serious and broody monologues about mortality. They’re a little less complicated than that. A little… stupid. Lots of these characters are dumber than a box of rocks, but here, that feels appropriate given that they need to be just oblivious enough to not see the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. Stef’s extended family are like the Avengers of teen horror movie archetypes, and they know it: They’re in close conversation with the audience’s knowledge of not just the horror genre, but of the established rules of Final Destination. By comparison, Stef’s growing ability to see the code of this murder Matrix sets up some great moments – but outside of that, her characterization is rather thin. Kaitlyn Santa Juana deserves credit for keeping Bloodlines emotionally grounded, even in the face of a superfluous subplot about Stef’s estranged mom that kicks off a little too late to have any real impact.
Bloodlines very wisely positions itself as an entry point for newcomers, which makes sense given how sparsely connected the first five Final Destination films are, but the movie does take care to give love to some of the franchise’s most memorable imagery – references that are obvious, but unobtrusive to enjoying Bloodlines on its own terms. A little more effort is exerted to make space for the late Tony Todd’s swan song as the ominous Bludworth. The horror icon usually stops by Final Destination movies to muse on the nature of death, but here in Bloodlines, that moment takes on powerful symbolism: Todd’s scene was clearly devised with the intention of giving him a chance to bid farewell to his most ardent fans. The gravity that he is famous for hits like a freight train here, helped enormously by some wonderful camerawork that often frames Todd as if he’s talking directly to the audience. It’s a powerful final bow which few in this space are afforded, and that fewer still deserve more.
Writer/artist Stephan Franck has built up a sizable fan following thanks to his critically acclaimed Palomino graphic novels. Now Franck is taking to Kickstarter to release not only the next two volumes in the Palomino saga, but also a hauntingly topical sci-fi comic called Romance in the Age of the Space God. Who doesn't love a good dystopian story starring cutesy mice characters?
With the Kickstarter campaign for Romance in the Age of the Space God live now, IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of this epic graphic novel. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:
Romance in the Age of the Space God is written and illustrated by Franck and published through Dark Planet Comics. Here's the official description for the book:
Born in heavy times which have not gotten any lighter, ROMANCE IN THE AGE OF THE SPACE GOD is set in a world in erosion, in which the hallowed-out trappings of civil society remain in place, merely existing as a maze for people to stumble through. And then there is the Space God. What is it? What does it want? Is it here to Judge us? To Rule us? To end us? To enlighten all of us or maybe just a select few? Or does it want nothing at all—its inescapable presence an inscrutable void for people to project their existential struggles into?
“Romance in the Age of the Space God is a strange comic for and about strange times,” said Franck in a statement. “It is cute and funny, it is sci-fi and dystopian, it has political satire and the kind of slice-of-life that I love. It introduces Nate, Lydia, Anya, all looking for their place in a difficult world, all profoundly human — even though they are adorable little mice. It started as a webcomic, but the plan was for it to be released in print, in an oversized format like a magazine. We did a very, very limited run last year just before San Diego Comic Con and it immediately sold out. The time has come to pull out all the stops and bring this comic to a much wider audience. It’s a little weird gem of a comic, and I hope you will give it a shot!”
Romance in the Age of the Space God and Palomino Volumes 4 and 5 are all crowdfunding on Kickstarter now.
In other comic book news, Marvel's new Thunderbolts series is being rebranded as The New Avengers, mirroring the MCU.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
Repetition is part of the process when it comes to a certain type of action roguelike. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but Yasha: Legends of the Demon Blade commits the cardinal sin of not bolstering the droll byproduct of doing the same thing over and over again with compelling meta-progression or hiding it under an interesting story delivered by characters you can’t wait to hear from. Instead, its few attempts at drama and humor miss more than hit, and its decent combat and interesting weapons are let down by room after room of weak monsters and weaker level design.
The “legends” part of the title is literal, with the story of Yasha told and retold across three campaigns with different playable protagonists. Each tale remixes the roles of some key characters, almost akin to a theatre troupe that puts on multiple shows with the same small cast. Old man Gengo goes from village elder to adoptive father to benevolent king across the three stories, for example. This idea is maybe the most interesting thing about these stories, though. They are otherwise filled to the brim with some well-worn tropes, like the chosen one whose past is shrouded in mystery or the good soldier just looking to uphold the honor of their patron in the face of certain annihilation. The problem isn’t simply that they aren't super original – reused structure can still make for entertaining fiction. It's that all three are packed with just as much (or more) banal writing as they are with any compelling dialogue. Underwhelming moments of self reflection and bad attempts at humor quickly overstay their welcome in a trio of tales that try and fail to be moving and meaningful.
The structure of Yasha doesn't help deliver the story very well, either. It attempts the Hades-like approach of weaving conversations between boss fights at the end of each dungeon run’s three stages, but produces neither memorable moments between the chosen characters and their enemies nor good, or even coherent, reasons to continue down the path. Finishing a run changes the chapter, and everything is done all over again with almost no changes to the structure. In between trips through the gauntlet, the village full of people you are supposedly fighting to protect features a good amount of townsfolk to talk to and not a single one with anything interesting to say. The rinse and repeat nature of it all does the already mid story no favors.
For their own reasons, each hero takes off on a journey in pursuit of the dastardly Fox Demon, who's been spreading his dark influence and causing chaos throughout the land. These journeys take them chopping and shooting their way through the same three locations: a crab infested beach, a forest full of demons and angry wildlife, and a frigid castle stuffed with enemy soldiers, all with loot to collect along the way. Runs themselves are largely static and predictable as stage layouts, enemy variety, and spawn patterns remain largely the same for every trip through the dungeon. Monsters may be slightly stronger and rooms are shaped differently when you reach the next chapter, but that’s about it.
These areas are pretty, but aren’t very dynamic, and only the last castle region has features in it like destructible walls and floor traps that can hinder your progress outside of the monsters themselves. This does help you gain some muscle memory and learn the best way to handle challenges from run to run, but the majority of the battles felt trivial on standard difficulty. I only got consistently challenged by the last couple of bosses, who have such large health pools that you can’t kill them so aggressively fast that they don’t even have the chance to do damage to you.
Though Yasha is pretty easy, it can still be fun thanks to the snappy combat and how different each of the three playable characters control compared to one another. Every fighter combines light and heavy attacks to vanquish foes while using dashes and parries (successful ones can be turned to big damage counter attacks) to stay alive. Shigure’s sword swinging is capable of a balance between aggressive and defensive strategies that rely on those counters, which feels very different from Sara’s all-in dual wielding style that’s all about overwhelming enemies with naturally empowered dash attacks or Taketora’s patient ranged strategy of creating distance and clobbering enemies from afar, while also having strong melee options to make space if needed. It’s all pretty basic, but it's crisp and crunchy. Like a good, oni-flavored potato chip.
The weapon selection is plentiful at around seven options per character, of which you can take any two on a trip through the dungeon. They’re all pretty different from one another, with swords that light enemies on fire or get stronger every time you use certain types of attacks… but across characters, you’ll start to notice they don’t deviate much – for example, all three warriors have a version of that fire weapon or that one that gets stronger. And when most enemies are so easy that they don’t require much strategy to beat, there wasn’t much encouragement to experiment with the more interesting weapons anyway, like a fun looking bow that can mark enemies and make every subsequent shot home in on them.
The only real randomness in Yasha comes in the various soul orb buffs you can earn for your weapons after each room of enemies that empower and alter their abilities, as well as amulets that increase your stats that you can buy from a shopkeeper or loot from enemies. The former is where almost all my brainpower was spent, trying to guess how a new ability might work in tandem with ones I already have or if it’s good enough to abandon my original plan entirely for. I spent the majority of my runs across all three warriors focusing on one specific build simply to defeat the frustrating power spike of the last boss, since many of these abilities function similarly between like weapons in each character’s arsenal. As the saying goes: if it’s broken, don’t fix it.
After every run, win or lose, you can spend currency earned in battle on some passive abilities that strengthen your damage and health or give you bonuses when certain conditions are met, like bonus attack damage while at less than half HP. Whether you choose to invest in these talents or use those resources to upgrade your favorite weapons instead, I always felt significantly stronger the next time I went down the rabbit hole. None really changed the way I played significantly, but they made everything I planned to do work a bit better than last time.
When finishing a character’s story, you gain the ability to add modifiers to future runs that ostensibly make it more difficult. This does add more push back to any given run far earlier and gives you access to special items that let you upgrade your weapons even further, but I ran out of steam on pushing myself to this game’s limits pretty quickly after the main campaigns were buttoned up. At around 21 hours across three characters, seeing the exact same areas and enemies so many times, I just couldn’t be bothered to take any more trips though the demon gate.
With PS5 games getting bigger each year and SSD prices rising, we want to make sure you can find the best storage for the lowest price possible. Here, we'll point you in the direction of some of the greatest 2TB SSD deals we can find, including this deal on a Lexar 2TB NM790 SSD with Heatsink which is down to $130.99 (21% off).
It's worth noting that you can't use any old SSD and expect it to perform well on the PS5 console. You'll want to pick up a PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid-state drive with at least a 5,500MB/s read speed to match the PS5's internal drive. We've gathered up SSDs that match or exceed these specs in the list below to make your search easier.
Note that Sony recommends a heatsink attached to your SSD and not all SSDs listed here have pre-installed heatsinks. For the ones that do, we'll be sure to mention it. For the ones that don't, all you have to do is purchase your own heatsink (like this one for $10) and install it yourself. For our top recommended picks for 2025, check out our full breakdown for the Best PS5 SSDs.
Amazon has some very nice discounts on Lexar SSDs right now, including this discount on the 2TB NM790 SSD with a heatsink. This has received a 21% discount, dropping its price from $164.99 to $130.99. It also boasts great performance, with up to 7400MB/s read speeds and 6500MB/s write.
We've also included Lexar's 4TB NM790 SSD deal below, which is worth checking out if you've been hoping for even more storage. This SSD is 18% off at the moment, which has dropped its price from $304.99 to $250.99. It also has read speeds up to 7400MB/s and write speeds up to 6500MB/s.
Another great Lexar deal at Amazon is this discount on the Lexar 2TB Play SSD with heatsink. This has received a 28% discount, which has dropped its price from $209.99 to $149.99. This SSD will work quickly and efficiently as well, with read speeds up to 7400MB/s and up to 6500MB/s write speeds.
Another one of our favorite discounts at the moment is on the SAMSUNG 990 EVO Plus 2TB SSD, which has received a very nice price drop down to $139.99. Boasting sequential read/write speeds up to 7,250/6,300MB/s, this SSD is a powerful pickup. Also, because it is a single-sided SSD, it is power efficient and doesn't generate much heat, so you probably don't need to stick a heatsink on it, although you certainly could for peace of mind.
This is another excellent SSD deal that comes complete with a heatsink. Corsair's MP600 PRO LPX 2TB SSD with heatsink is discounted to $169.99 at Amazon, 15% off its list price of $199.99. It boasts 7,100MB/s sequential read and 6,800MB/s sequential write speeds. We even rank it as the best PS5 SSD to buy in 2025.
With incredible sequential read and write speeds up to 14,800/13,400 MB/s, this SSD is quite the performance powerhouse. It's currently enjoying a 10% discount at Amazon right now, which has dropped its price from $299.99 to $269.99 for a limited time.
Sony recommends you install an SSD that has an attached heatsink. If the SSD you purchase doesn't include one, it's simple enough to buy one for $10 on Amazon and add it yourself. Most of these heatsinks are just attached using an adhesive like thermal tape.
There may be other SSD deals out there, but these are the PS5 SSDs we've tried ourselves and highly recommend. They also double up as outstanding boot drives for your gaming PC, so they're useful for more than just those who need additional storage for their PS5 console.
It's extremely easy! Removing the case cover is completely toolless. In fact, the only screw you have to remove is the one that keeps the cover for the SSD bay in place. You don't even put it back when you're done. Sony has a quick and easy YouTube video guide.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
Original article by Eric Song.
Wednesday is about to be the cinephile’s new favorite day of the week — because AMC Theaters have announced they will be slashing their prices on Wednesdays by half in an effort to get more folks in for a movie during the mid-week slump. Yep, you read that right: by half.
According to a statement from the company via Bloomberg, the all-day discount will be based on the standard adult evening ticket price and will go into effect starting July 9. Perhaps the most exciting element of this discount is that premium showings, such as IMAX or 4DX, will also benefit from the 50% discount, which is a pretty sweet deal knowing how much an IMAX movie can run one moviegoer, let alone a family or group.
Moviegoing has been on shaky ground since the COVID-19 pandemic forced folks to leave the pasttime behind for quite a while, which caused the industry to see a big monetary shock in the lack of ticket sales. Things have slowly progressed upward since then, but it hasn’t been without struggles — and clearly isn’t still fully back to what it was. That said, AMC CEO Adam Aron is seeing the potential.
According to the exec, the first quarter did suffer low box office turn-out, but that issue — which Aron dubbed an “anomaly” — has seemingly “already corrected itself” with the immense performances of both A Minecraft Movie and Sinners.
He claimed that since April 1, ticket sales have been high. Considering how well both of those films have swept at the domestic box office thus far, that isn’t hard to believe. A Minecraft Movie has brought in a whopping $408 million at the time of this writing, while Sinners has $215 million and counting under its belt.
Plus, the summer blockbuster season is just beginning, with Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning and Disney’s live action Lilo and Stitch on the way. Then there's the new Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, both of which launch in July. That means a lot more potential for the box office, and AMC’s new initiative is sure to help bolster those numbers.
Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
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We're inching closer to the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, and if you've already secured your preorder of the console, or are looking to pick it up on launch day, now is a great time to grab some accessories to go along with it. There are quite a few up for preorder right now, too. In particular, Hori has a selection of brand new Switch 2 accessories that are available to preorder, including a wired controller, USB camera, travel bag, and more.
These items are all set to drop in June as well, with some dropping on June 16 and others on June 30, following the Switch 2's release. You can see the specific release dates for each item, as well as preorder pricing, below.
If you're still waiting to get your hands on the console itself, preorders are unfortunately out of stock at most major retailers right now. Don't let that get you down, though. It's worth it to keep an eye on our Switch 2 preorder guide for the latest stock updates as we get closer to its official release date.
While console preorders are up in the air, there are still plenty more Switch 2 items you can drop some cash on ahead of release. Looking for more of the official Switch 2 accessories? Quite a few are still up for preorder, including the Switch 2 Pro Controller, Switch 2 carrying case, the Switch 2 camera, and Switch 2-compatible microSD Express cards.
That's not all. Plenty of Switch 2 (and Switch 2 Edition) games are available to preorder as well, including Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Super Mario Party Jamboree Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch 2 Edition.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
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