Konami has introduced a number of big combat changes to Silent Hill f, including a new casual action difficulty and a reduction in the number of unskippable combat encounters.

As part of patch 1.10, which rolls out across all platforms today (November 13), Hinako will also take "slightly less damage" on Hard action difficulty, have her stamina replenish "slightly faster," and you should see fewer enemies "across multiple sections," too.

There will also be an "optional skip feature" for some areas in New Game+, although you should note that any items you miss in skipped sections will not be collected, and you may miss the opportunity to unlock some trophies/achievements.

This will be welcomed news for many horror fans, not least because Silent Hill f requires multiple playthroughs to unlock its numerous endings (including the "true" one). Given the game's reliance on combat — and melee combat, at that — repeated playthroughs can feel a little stale, so easing the difficulty and making combat sequences less punishing should make NG+ runs more enjoyable, particularly in those end-game gauntlets.

The full patch notes are detailed below. Be cautious, though, as there may be a couple of spoiler-y details…

Silent Hill f Update 1.10 patch notes:

New Features

• Added Action Difficulty: Casual
  • The Casual action difficulty will be playable when starting a game from “New Game” on the main menu or from a New Game+ save file.
  • For players on the Story action difficulty or higher, the Casual action difficulty will be selectable upon reaching the Game Over screen multiple times.
• Added Optional Skip Feature for Select Sections of New Game+
  • Upon completing the “Go through the door” objective after solving the mural puzzle on New Game+, the game will display the option to skip. The game will resume at the scene where Hinako awakens at the corridor of the Dark Shrine for the second time with the “Proceed” objective if skipped.
  • Items from the skipped sections will not be collected.
  • “Thankful to Be Here,” “Grateful for a Worthy Foe,” and “Clear Skies” do not unlock on a playthrough that uses the skip feature.
  • The skip feature does not impact branching paths or endings.

System Changes

• Hinako’s stamina replenishes slightly faster
• Unskippable combat encounters are reduced across multiple sections
• Fewer enemies are placed across multiple sections
• Hinako’s line when an enemy is defeated plays at a slightly later time
• Hinako takes slightly less damage on the Hard action difficulty

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug where Shu duplicates in the cutscene that plays when heading from Sennensugi Shrine to Rinko’s house during the “Head to Rinko’s house” objective
• Fixed bug where interaction icons do not display on the hall leading to the room with the naginata during the “Enter the inner room” objective
• Fixed bug where the Sakuko-like entity stops moving in combat during the “Defeat the Sakuko-like entity” objective
• Fixed bug where the Fog Monster stops moving and halts progress during the “Chase after the Fog Monster” objective
• Fixed bugs across multiple levels where events do not progress despite meeting the required conditions
• Fixed bugs across multiple levels where specific enemies remain outside of the combat area and cannot be defeated
• Fixed bugs across multiple levels where clumps of flesh do not spawn
• Fixed bug where some notes from “Sakuko’s Diary” could not be obtained on New Game+
• Fixed bug where Hinako may become unresponsive to player input after dodging
• Fixed bug where Hinako dies upon loading an autosave file if Hinako died during an autosave
• Fixed bug where the “View Endings” option does not display on the title screen after finishing the first playthrough (may require loading New Game+ data to fix)
• Fixed bug where Indirect Lighting and Reflections revert to On during cutscenes even when set to Off in the Graphics menu
• Fixed bug where the cursor moves without player input when playing on the controller
• Various other minor bugs have been fixed, including bugs related to audio, hitboxes, text errors, loading, and graphics.

To ensure you're playing the latest version, check that the version number in the lower right corner of the main menu is displayed as v1.2.381918.

Silent Hill f takes us not to the titular town but instead to 1960s Japan, where we follow Hinako Shimizu, a teenager struggling under the pressure of expectations from her friends, family, and society. It's out now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S and has sold 1 million copies since its debut at the end of September. Our Silent Hill f review returned a 7/10. We said: "Silent Hill f presents a fresh new setting to explore and a fascinatingly dark story to unravel, but its melee-focussed combat takes a big swing that doesn’t quite land."

Last month, series producer Motoi Okamoto opened up on why Konami revealed three new Silent Hill games at once after a full decade of silence, saying the publisher was keen to stress to old fans and new that it was "serious" about resurrecting the flailing horror series.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Death Stranding and Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has issued a statement distancing himself from an Italian cartoonist after deleting a photo of the pair meeting at the Lucca Comics And Games 2025 convention earlier in November.

In the now-deleted image, below, Kojima posed alongside Michele "Zerocalcare" Rech, author of the graphic novels Kobane Calling (2015) and No Sleep Till Shengal (2022), while the legendary developer held up a copy of the former. Both novels document the struggles of war, but sympathize with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, accused by some humanitarian groups of using child soldiers.

The U.S. does not classify the YPG as a terrorist organization. Instead, the U.S. has partnered with the YPG and the broader Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as an ally in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

However, the U.S. position is in contrast to that of Turkey, a NATO ally, which views the YPG as a terrorist group due to its close ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the U.S., the European Union, and Turkey.

Apple's just-announced iPhone Pocket accessory has been mocked over its $230 price point and threadbare nature — which has been described as simply being a ribbed fabric "sock."

The high-fashion holder is described by Apple as a "beautiful way to wear and carry iPhone," born out of a collaboration with designer Issey Miyake — who previously created some of late Apple leader Steve Jobs' famous turtleneck sweaters.

But the response to iPhone Pocket has not been kind, with the overwhelming amount of feedback online suggesting that the accessory is emblematic of Apple's ability to create products that fans will pay over-the-odds for — even those made out of fabric.

DC All In's Absolute series is currently some of the best work the comic book giant has released in a long, long time. Featuring an absolutely tanked-out Dark Knight, the Absolute Batman comics are a particular highlight for me, and I can't recommend them enough to anyone remotely interested in the world's greatest detective.

You've probably heard some of the hype already, even if you haven't picked anything up yet. And that brings me to Amazon's latest "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" sale in the run-up to Black Friday. As part of this new promotion, you can score three books/comics for the price of two, and it really is the perfect excuse to start reading DC's Absolute comics.

Volume 1 of Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman, and Absolute Wonder Woman are all included, which makes it a perfect trinity, and the perfect example for what to pick up for yourself, or as a gift for any comic-mad loved ones over the holidays. If you opt for my recommendation, it's $33.54 in total, instead of $50.27.

If you've already dabbled in the Absolute series, there's plenty more to consider in the sale as well, including a whole lot more from DC. There's a massive list of books and comics eligible; all you need to do is place any three in your cart, and the price of the cheapest one will be discounted at checkout.

There's also plenty from the other side of the comic aisle as well, with a healthy selection from Marvel's wonderful Ultimate series, among other classic comics, also included as options.

While it's not in the 3 for 2 sale, you can also preorder Absolute Batman: Vol. 2: Abomination at a slight discount at Amazon right now, down to $18.69, and releasing early next year on February 6, 2026.

If you love Volume 1, The Zoo, just like me, then Volume 2 should definitely be on your radar as well.

Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN's resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.

FX has detailed its plans for the second season of hit feudal Japan series Shogun, including a list of new cast members and several hints at its plot.

Pre-production on the second season has already begun, with shooting set to take place in Vancouver beginning in January 2026. As yet, there's no word on when the new season will air.

Set a decade after the first season's finale, the next run of episodes will continue the story of returning lead characters Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) and John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) as "two men from different worlds whose fates are inextricably entwined."

Speaking to Variety, co-creator and executive producer Justin Marks said the next season would offer an "entirely unexpected love story" while also being "a story of war and the cost of war" — which all sounds familiar.

Still, Marks was keen to make clear how large an undertaking the new production would be — suggesting it would be impressive, though also take some time to make. "There are battle sequences that we're putting together now in part two," he teased. "I don't think you've ever seen anything like this kind of scale, this kind of tragedy and this kind of humanity.

"This show is going to take us a little while to produce," Marks continued, explaining that this had informed the decision to move its narrative forward in time. "It's not coming out one year later, and there’s this thing that drives me crazy when you watch a show that ended three years ago, and you get into season two and it's like five minutes later. We're trying to use this jump as a way to come back to our characters again for the very first time, to see them, to see what's changed in their lives over the course of the last 10 years, and to rediscover them."

Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer has welcomed Valve’s next-gen Steam machine in a congratulatory message to Valve.

Yesterday, Valve unveiled its next-gen hardware plans by announcing a new Steam Machine, a new Steam Controller, and its Steam Frame virtual reality headset.

The Steam Machine is a gaming-focused PC designed to be more accessible than a standard desktop PC, with a sleek, cube-like design and SteamOS on-board. It’s a clear play for the PC in the living room space, and comes ahead of Microsoft’s own reported next-gen console ambitions.

“Gaming moves forward when players and developers have more ways to play and create, especially across open platforms,” Spencer tweeted. “Expanding access across PC, console, and handheld devices reflects a future built on choice, core values that have guided Xbox's vision from the start. As one of the largest publishers on Steam, we welcome new options for players to access games everywhere. Congrats on today's announce.”

A recent report claimed the next Xbox is a console / PC hybrid that will play PlayStation games released on PC via Steam. That means the likes of Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, and Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima and pretty much all other PC games will all be playable on the next-gen Xbox in an industry first.

Windows Central reported that while users of the next-gen Xbox can remain inside the Xbox ecosystem if they want, they can exit to Windows, where the console acts like a traditional Windows PC. That means having access to PlayStation games on Steam, and mouse and keyboard games from Blizzard's launcher, Battle.net (World of Warcraft), and Riot's launcher (League of Legends).

Following that report, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella dropped yet another hint that the next-gen Xbox is basically a PC. In an interview with TBPN, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella responded to questions about the evolution of the company’s gaming business, and in doing so dropped a clear hint at where the company is going.

“Remember, the biggest gaming business is the Windows business,” Nadella began. “To us, gaming on Windows… and of course, Steam has built a massive marketplace on top of it, and they’ve done a very successful job. Now, we’re the largest publisher after the Activision [deal]. Therefore we want to be a fantastic publisher. Similar approach to what we did with Office. We want to be everywhere, in every platform. So we want to make sure, whether it’s consoles, whether it’s the PC, whether it’s mobile, whether it’s cloud gaming, or the TV, we just want to make sure the games are being enjoyed by gamers everywhere.

“Second, we also wanted to do innovative work in the system side on the console and on the PC. It’s kind of funny that people think about the console-PC as two different things. We built the console because we wanted to build a better PC which could then perform for gaming. I kind of want to revisit some of that conventional wisdom.

“But at the end of the day, console has an experience that is unparalleled. It delivers performance that is unparalleled, that pushes I think the system forward. So I’m really looking forward to the next console, the next PC gaming.”

Fast forward to this week, and Valve appears to have gazumped Microsoft by returning to the Steam Machine. In an interview with IGN ahead of the reveal, we asked Valve software engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais and hardware engineer Yazan Aldehayyat whether they saw gaming PCs being the natural evolution of the console, given both Microsoft and Valve’s efforts here.

Here’s how they responded:

Pierre-Loup Griffais: When we think about what to work on next and working on things like Steam Machine and stuff, we're typically not looking at consoles or other products in that direction. Everything we do is informed by what's happening on the PC gaming side of things. Of course there ends up being quite a bit of overlap because we’re doing a bunch of stuff that helps PC gaming work better in the living room and that's traditionally where consoles have been. But really I would say that most of our thinking is not informed by what's happening on the console side, and so I don't know if we have many theories as to where that might be headed. But in general it seems like people seem to be recognizing that there's quite a bit of value in a more PC-like experience and the customizability and all that, and so we're happy to see more of these elements being embraced by platforms in general.

Yazan Aldehayyat: As far as we're concerned the Steam Machine is a PC, so that delineation is not there. In our view, the Steam Machine is just one option in the ecosystem of gaming PCs out there. If you're already happy with your PC gaming experience, that's great. We love that. We are a PC gaming company. We're just trying to give you more options. And that's how we view it. It's just something that we think is a really great addition to a living room or a desktop, but it's just one other option that people can have available to them to play their Steam games basically.

Full Spoilers follow for all episodes of Netflix’s The Beast in Me. All eight episodes of the series debut November 13.

There’s a scene in the premiere episode of Netflix’s The Beast in Me in which raw sewage erupts through the pipes of the protagonist’s home plumbing. Gross? Yes. But apt. The show, a new mystery/thriller starring Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys, is all about keeping repulsive secrets hidden away and what, if any, consequences arise when those secrets see the light of day.

Danes, reteaming here with Homeland co-creator Howard Gordon (who serves as showrunner and executive producer along with fellow EPs Gabe Rotter, Jodie Foster and Conan O’Brien) stars as Agatha (Aggie) Wiggs, a once-successful writer who’s been stuck in a spiral of grief and unproductivity since the death of her young son. Aggie spends her days in a stately, run-down home on Long Island, pretending to be excited about completing her next book, an uninspired tome about the friendship between Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Aggie’s personal life is a mess, her work has stalled, and she’s generally struggling to make it through each day.

Enter: Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys), an uber-rich real estate developer who may or may not have killed his wife. Attempting to escape the media glare that followed his wife’s disappearance, Nile moves in next door to Aggie and the two strike up a slow-burning not-quite-friends but not-quite-enemies relationship. Aggie convinces Nile to be the subject of her next book, a story she’s truly excited about, and Nile eventually agrees. From there, the series accelerates into a hodgepodge game of cat-and-mouse with both jaw-dropping thrills and eye-rolling story choices that are frequently frustrating.

A brand new Horizon game has been announced, but it’s not the sequel to Forbidden West that you may have been expecting. It’s not a single-player game, nor is it even a PlayStation game. Horizon Steel Frontiers is a MMORPG developed by NCSoft for mobile and PC. Confused? Don’t worry, we’re here to break down everything revealed in the debut trailer.

If the idea of an online multiplayer Horizon game sounds familiar, then you’ve likely been paying attention to the rumours that began as far back as 2022. At first glance, it’s clear that this is very much a Horizon game you can play with a team of co-op buddies. The world looks very similar to what we’ve explored before, however this time we’ll be headed to the Deadlands, a brand new region inspired by Arizona and New Mexico. Within that location are plenty of recognisable elements, from destroyed remains of humanity’s past, to the real stars of Horizon: its giant mechanical beasts.

But let's start with something less familiar. It’s clear that Steel Frontiers has a different approach to combat compared to its predecessors. Where the single-player games largely focus on ranged combat, using weapons like bows to shoot enemy weakpoints, this new take on the universe seems to be predominantly focused on melee. The trailer’s focal character uses a huge sword, while other characters can be seen using dual blades to slice and dice their way through machine armour. That’s not to say archery has been eliminated – a bow still features throughout the trailer – but blade combat appears to be front and center.

There seems to not just be a change in distance between you and your foe, but a dramatic re-think of combat fundamentals. The trailer demonstrates a charged blade ability that can be used to deflect an incoming attack, a type of defensive strategy that’s brand new to Horizon. When it comes to the offensive, you can now, after destroying a specific part of a machine, use the Pullcaster grapple hook to climb onto your target and place a status-inflicting trap on the damaged part. NCSoft has said that elements like this are part of a new approach that tailors Horizon’s existing ideas to suit an MMORPG.

It’s clear that lots of Horizon’s combat DNA still remains – we can see machine parts detach in every fight, such as when the main character shoots off a Blaze canister in the trailer’s opening battle. And later, we can see that destroyed machines leave behind resources to pick up. But from what’s shown in this trailer, it seems like Steel Frontiers may feel more like Monster Hunter than traditional Horizon. Executive producer Sung-Gu Lee explains that at the core of the experience is “cooperation and strategy”, and that “players must take on their roles,” ideas that form the basis of Monster Hunter’s multiplayer expeditions. Furthermore, we even see some characters cooking a meal in a cutscene that resembles the chef montages from Monster Hunter’s own meal prep system. Perhaps all this shouldn’t come as a surprise, though: there’s certainly more than a little of Capcom’s series in Horizon already.

Other combat additions we can see in the trailer include some kind of sticky bomb that can be used to deal massive damage to machines – perhaps this is one of those aforementioned traps? You also now have the ability to pack machine weapons on your mount, allowing you to transport heavy artillery from one battle to another.

Talking of mounts, we see almost all of the tameable machines from Forbidden West being used in this trailer. It opens with a Bristleback being Overridden and claimed as a mount, and later we see characters riding Sunwings and Chargers. We also see confirmation of a brand new mount: the trailer’s protagonist rides on the back of a Stalker, the stealth camo-equipped, Panther-like machine. Considering Forbidden West expanded the number of mounts available, and MMORPGs are typically known for their range of mounts, it seems likely that even more machines will be available for taming. With any luck, this is the game where we can finally pilot a Thunderjaw.

We don’t actually see Horizon’s iconic, metallic T-Rex in this trailer, but there are over a dozen other machines on display here, from the tiny all the way up to the gigantic. The most impressive fight sees a group take on a Slaughterspine, which uses many of the abilities it did in Forbidden West, including its rain of munitions. Other examples of “Oh god please don’t kill me” machines include the fearsome Fireclaw, a napalm-spewing robo-bear, and a huge snake-like machine that looks like a Slitherfang crossed with a Rockbreaker, which is very likely our first glimpse of a new variety of metal monster.

The biggest creature, though, is the Tallneck, and we can see a group of machine hunters attempting to bring one down in the desert. Once again, these look like they’ll be large climbing puzzles, judged on the way the characters climb its neck.

On the smaller side, we can spot a Watcher, some Grazers, a Plowhorn, a Trampler, a Ravager, and a Shellwalker… whose shell is whisked away into the sky by a Glinthawk. It seems like NCSoft understands the mission when it comes to enemy variety.

As previously mentioned, the world looks suitably like Horizon’s signature vision of the future. Lush green foliage has overtaken the ruins of human skyscrapers, people live in villages that take inspiration from Native American tribes, and below the ground lie giant vaults filled with advanced technology . These “Cauldrons” return from the single-player Horizon games, but can now be explored with a team of allied players. It seems sensible to guess that these Cauldrons may be Steel Frontiers’ equivalent to the classic MMORPG dungeon.

So far, a great deal of what we’ve seen looks very close to what we’d expect of a Horizon game. Steel Frontiers has been developed in collaboration with original developer Guerrilla, and so no doubt many efforts have been made to keep the visual style and many gameplay ideas consistent. However, with the Korean-based NCSoft being the lead developer, you can also see some more Eastern elements finding their place in this universe. All the characters have an anime-like aesthetic, looking more like folks from Final Fantasy or NCSoft’s own Lineage games, rather than the characters from the original Horizon series. There’s even a bit of a cutesy thing going on with a character’s wearing metal cat ears – something we’d never see the serious Aloy wear in a thousand years.

Of course, if you're a Horizon purist, you may be able to create a character that’s more in-line with the original games’ aesthetic in the character creator. This being an MMORPG, you won’t be playing as Aloy or any other pre-written protagonist, but a character of your own design. The character creator seems reasonably in-depth, and also allows you to choose which tribe you’ll join: the Nora, Tenakth, Utaru, or Oseram – all groups previously established in Horizon lore. The trailer’s narration hints at competitive PvP as well as co-op machine hunting, so it may be that your tribe also acts as your “team” in such scenarios.

While Steel Frontiers looks to contain much of what we’d expect from Horizon, from RPG dialogue sequences to giant metal monster fights, this is certainly set to be a new and different take on the universe we’ve come to love over the last couple of PlayStation generations. Not to mention, it’s a Horizon game we’ll be playing on our phones, not our PS5s. But did you spot anything new and interesting in the trailer that we missed? Let us know your sharp observations in the comments below, as well as what you think of this new MMO direction.

Matt Purslow is IGN's Executive Editor of Features.

NCSoft and Sony have announced Horizon Steel Frontiers, a new MMORPG set in Guerrilla’s Horizon universe designed specifically for mobile.

South Korean video game company NCSoft, best known for MMOs such as Guild Wars and Lineage, has finally confirmed its long-rumored partnership with Sony and Guerrilla to build a Horizon MMO, and revealed the game via a 10-minute development diary and gameplay video, below.

Horizon Steel Frontiers is a massively multiplayer take on Horizon, complete with character customization, social features, and raid-style boss fights. It looks like it has taken inspiration from Capcom’s Monster Hunter in terms of the PvE gameplay, although with Horizon’s trademark robot dinosaur enemies.

You play a machine hunter in the Deadlands and work with and against other players to defeat enemies and compete for resources. It’s not clear yet where Horizon Steel Frontiers takes place in the overarching Horizon timeline, if at all, nor is there clarity on whether we’ll see any familiar faces in the game, such as series protagonist Aloy.

There’s no release date either, but we do know Horizon Steel Frontiers is primarily built for mobile devices (Guerrilla Games studio head Jan-Bart van Beek says as much in the video). It will also be playable on PC via Purple, NCSoft’s proprietary game platform. There’s no mention of a PlayStation release or a wider console launch. Check out IGN’s Horizon Steel Frontiers trailer breakdown to find out what we could gather from the video.

The announcement of Horizon Steel Frontiers comes as Guerrilla is reportedly working on a multiplayer live service Horizon game of its own, although this is expected to launch on PlayStation 5 and, perhaps, PC. Guerrilla confirmed the existence of this long-rumored multiplayer game in December 2022, revealing through a job listing that it would feature a brand new cast of characters and a new art style.

Meanwhile, a full-blown sequel to 2022’s Horizon: Forbidden West is also said to be in development at the studio, as "Aloy's next adventure" was mentioned in April 2023. This will eventually join the first two games alongside PlayStation VR2 spin-off Horizon: Call of the Mountain as mainline entries in the franchise.

Horizon is one of the biggest PlayStation franchises around, with 32.7 million units sold across all titles as of April 16, 2023. Sony announced the live-action Horizon movie back in January during Sony's CES 2025 press conference. Last month, it was reported that Sony hoped to start filming in 2026 with a release at some point in 2027.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

It's smart to have a light source on hand for emergencies, especially since everyday carry flashlights can be had for a throwaway price. As part of its early Black Friday Sale, Aliexpress is offering an outstanding deal on the powerful yet compact Sofirn SP36 Pro 8,000-Lumen Rechargeable LED Flashlight, now just $28.99 after you apply $6 off coupon code "AEUS06". This exact flashlight sells for $70 on Amazon.

The flashlight is sold through Sofirn's official AliExpress store and ships (free) from a local US warehouse, which means no hidden tariffs or obnoxious shipping times.

Sofirn SP36 Pro 8,000-Lumen LED Flashlight for $28.99

Corsair is the latest company to enter the fighting game controller space and they have certainly come out of the gate strong with the Novablade Pro. This is one of most feature packed leverless controllers on the market, complete with wireless functionality right out of the box, and eight customizable buttons (three on the surface of the controller and five on the side). It’s also a looker with a bunch of really cool lighting modes to play around with, and an easily removable and customizable faceplate to round out the highlights. At a very competitive and reasonable price of $250, it makes the question of the best leverless controller a bit more difficult to answer.

Let’s start with how the controller actually feels – in terms of size and weight, it's most immediately comparable to the Victrix Pro KO with the exact same size at 13.35” x 9.23” x 0.80”, but it is about double the weight at around 4.0 lbs. Of course, it’s not a huge difference, and even if it is the heaviest leverless controller I’ve used, it still felt super convenient to carry around in my backpack as I walked over to my local tournament and carried it around as I waited to play.

There are a total of 15 buttons on the face of the controller, which is three more than a standard leverless controller, giving you three buttons on the face to map however you see fit. You might want to put the L3 button above the left, down, and right buttons to give you a quick reset or record button in training mode; or maybe map L2 to one of the buttons next to your either of your thumbs and give yourself an easily reachable button for parries in Street Fighter 6, just as a few examples. It’s easy to map them to whatever you need in case, like me, you find yourself accidentally hitting them in a pinch.

The buttons have a really nice feel to them as well – they sound quieter than standard arcade buttons, but still loud enough to be able to hear the rhythm of a combo as you tap it out. If you really want to get into the weeds, the Novablade Pro also lets you customize the actuation points of the buttons as well. So if you want a move to come out the instant you come in contact with a button, you can set it to a 0.1 mm actuation point. Or if you find that too sensitive, you can set it higher, all the way up to the full 4.0mm, which will make it less likely to accidentally press a button if your finger lightly brushes against one.

Along with that, there’s a rapid fire switch that resets a button’s input to neutral as soon as it starts traveling upwards, allowing for even faster presses of a button than what would normally be possible. If I’m being completely honest, these features weren’t super noticeable for me in games like Street Fighter 6 or Tekken 8, but for other games that reward you with extra damage the more you mash on a button, I could see it giving a bit of an advantage.

One of the cooler features of the Novablade Pro is that it allows you to very quickly customize how the controller handles simultaneous opposite cardinal direction button presses, otherwise known as SOCD. Being able to press and hold up and down or left and right at the same time is a unique feature of a leverless controller, and there are a number of different ways those inputs can be sent to the game you’re playing. The Novablade Pro allows you to easily cycle through all of those options; from the default method of having no input sent when SOCD buttons are pressed. Inputs like “giving up” the priority so you can hold down and back to block low but also press up to leap backwards if there’s an opening in your opponents pressure; giving the first button pressed the priority; giving the last button pressed the priority; or just sending both inputs and let the game’s own programming decide what to do with the two simultaneous button inputs – these are the unique advantages afforded by this type of controller.

There are use cases for all of these, and the option to be able to easily switch between them depending on what game you’re playing is pretty sweet. Some of these, however, are genuine cheats in competitive play and will get you disqualified in an actual tournament if you’re caught using them. Fortunately there is a Game Mode toggle that immediately sets the controller to a default tournament-legal setting.

All of these features are very easily navigated thanks to the five buttons on the right side of the controller, which themselves are mappable as well. It can be easy to accidentally hit these buttons when picking up or passing the controller along, thus inadvertently messing up your settings, but the convenience of being able to easily adjust these functions is certainly worth the occasional and easily fixable button press.

The Novablade also has some of the best lighting effects of any leverless controller I’ve played. There are six onboard lighting effects to toggle between, with my favorite being the one that lights up both the individual button and the color ring around the controller whenever you press a button.

The big competitive advantage of the Novablade Pro though is its wireless functionality, something that most of its competitors lack. By popping off the aluminum faceplate, you can set the controller to bluetooth mode for PCs, or you can set it to low latency wireless mode and connect the included dongle to either a PS4, PS5, or PC.

Looking for an excellent deal on Bose's flagship noise canceling headphones ahead of Black Friday? Amazon has already dropped the price of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Noise Canceling Wireless Headphones from $429 all the way down to $299. Only two colorways are available at this price: Lunar Blue and Deep Plum. The QuietComfort Ultra is Bose's latest and greatest noise cancelling headphone and goes toe-to-toe with Sony's $450 WH-1000XM6 headphones.

Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones for $299

I'll be the first to admit that I own too many books. My shelves are full and I have absolutely no room for anything else. And yet whenever Amazon has one of its buy 2, get 1 free book sales, I can't help but browse the full selection. With the latest sale including all of the deluxe illustrated Lord of the Rings books, I find myself looking to clear some space.

There are actually quite a few different illustrated versions of Tolkien's works, but the ones I'm referring to are the deluxe versions that look like the kind of hefty tomes you'd need to blow dust off of before reading. Amazon usually includes one or two of these in these types of promotions, but this is the first time I've seen all three of them available at once. It's a great time to pick up the full collection for a pretty substantial discount.

Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Editions Sale

For those who haven't partaken in Amazon's "3 for 2" sales before, I'll give you a quick rundown of how it works. All you need to do is add all three of the items to your cart and the price of the least expensive one will be removed at checkout. So in the case of these illustrated editions, you'd end up saving $107.35 by purchasing them all together as The Hobbit would be what gets the discount. If you don't want to buy all three of these books, you can also choose to mix and match with other items within the sale, but I'd recommend looking for things at a similar price point so you can maximize your savings.

What comes with the deluxe edition

The biggest (and most expensive) special edition of the bunch is The Lord of the Rings: Deluxe Illustrated Edition. This is a single-volume hardbound book that includes all three of The Lord of the Rings books (Fellowship, Two Towers, Return of the King) and comes in a single eye-catching, intricately etched slipcase. It features a striking red-and-black design that’s meant to evoke the novel's first edition. The book itself is 1,248 pages and includes the entire fantasy epic and appendices. The text is “corrected and reset,” and printed in red and black ink. Interspersed throughout this massive tome are 30 illustrations hand-drawn by Tolkien himself. These include maps, color illustrations, and sketches. Also included in the package are two fold-out maps of Middle-earth drawn by Christopher Tolkien.

The Hobbit and Silmarillion Deluxe Illustrated editions aren't nearly as massive, but they too include illustrations and notes from Tolkien himself. They also include the same etched slipcases to match the design of the big red tome.

Should You Wait for Amazon's Black Friday Sale?

It's worth noting that the Amazon Black Friday sale will be kicking off next week and one or more of these deluxe editions will likely get a steeper price cut. Amazon has stated that print books will be up to 65% off during its sale and I have actually seen a bigger discount on The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Edition in the past. However, it's unclear if Amazon will continue its buy 2, get 1 free book sale into Black Friday.

So with that in mind, I'd suggest taking advantage of this deal if you're looking to buy the full collection and waiting for Black Friday if you only want to buy a single volume. I'm guessing the big Lord of the Rings Deluxe Illustrated Edition will drop below $100 during Black Friday sales, which is a much better deal if you're only buying that one.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior SEO Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and over 8 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different topics -- from TV series to indie games and popular book series.

There are always good TV deals throughout the year if you look hard enough, but everyone knows that the absolute best time of year to upgrade your TV is around Black Friday. There will be so many TV deals crawling out of the woodwork during the latter half of November that you won't need to do any heavy lifting to find the deal you want. This year I expect the status quo to remain the same. The landscape is a bit different - 65" is the new 55" and OLED is actually affordable - but make no mistake that there will be some excellent price drops worth jumping on in the next few weeks.

Size Matters, Get the Biggest TV You Can Afford

This year, shoppers are trending towards bigger TVs. Everyone who's purchased a 55" TV in the past is probably now looking to upgrade to a 65" TV, and even 77" TVs are becoming increasingly more common. Manufacturers are aware of this trend and I expect the biggest price drops to happen in the 60" to 77" size range.

If you're looking to upgrade, my advice is to get the biggest TV that can still fit in your intended space and is within your budget. One of the main reasons why people choose to upgrade is to get a bigger TV, and a larger TV will be more future-proof down the road. TV technology moves at a relatively slow pace and chances are if you're happy with the image quality of your TV right now, you'll probably also be fine with it for the long haul. But size is a different matter.

If You're Looking for a High-end TV, Go With OLED

Without a doubt OLED technology offers the best image quality you can find in a consumer TV. Compared to any other type of TV, OLED TVs boast superior image quality thanks to their near-infinite black levels, near-infinite contrast ratio, and near-instantaneous response times. This is easily the best type of TV for streaming 4K HDR content in its intended glory. OLED TVs have also been our favorite TVs for console gaming because nearly all of them feature a native 120Hz refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 inputs for running PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X games in 4K at up to 120fps.

OLED TV prices have dropped significantly in 2025 and I expect to see the lowest prices of the year during Black Friday. That means brand-name OLED TVs from LG, Samsung, and Sony will probably drop to as low as $1,199.99 (or less) for a 65" model and $1,799.99 (or less) for a 77" model. Higher end models with advanced features like LG's Evo or Samsung's quantum dot technology will very likely be heavily discounted as well.

If You're on a Budget, Consider Hisense or TCL

If you're looking for a 65" or 77" TV priced under $1,000, I would strongly recommend looking at more value-conscious brands like Hisense and TCL. Within the budget to mid-range lineups, Hisense and TCL TVs are every bit as good as - and in many cases better - than a similarly priced Samsung, Sony, or LG TV. During Black Friday, a 65" Hisense or TCL 4K TV with a quantum dot mini-LED panel and 120Hz refresh rate (perfect for 4K HDR streaming or playing PlayStation 5 games) might drop to as low as $499.99. A 75" variant could drop to $699.99. Prices we haven't seen earlier this year.

Gamers Should Look for TVs With These Features

If you have a current generation console like a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, you'll want to make sure that your new TV has both a native 120Hz refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 inputs. These are necessary to run games in 4K at up to 120fps. Even in 2025, there are quite a few budget TVs that don't have these features, so make sure you do your due research. If you're a gamer, it is definitely worth it to splurge a little more on a TV that can run your games to their fullest potential.

Despite being a current generation console, the Nintendo Switch 2 has lax TV requirements compared to the PS5 or Xbox Series X. When the Switch is connected to its dock and a television, it is only capable of outputting a 4K resolution signal at up to 60 frames per second. It can go up to 120fps if the resolution drops to 1080p, but the data rate required for both these options is pretty much the same, and you would much rather play any game in 4K.

Manufacturers Will be Hosting Their Own Black Friday Sales

Common sense would dictate that the first sites you would check for Black Friday TV deals would be Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. That hasn't changed, however you should also check in on Black Friday deals hosted on manufacturer sites like LG.com and Samsung.com. For the past few years, these storefronts have been offering the same deals as the reseller sites, but with extra incentives such as a free soundbar or wall mount with purchase, free white glove delivery, and bonus coupon codes (often simply by leaving your items in your shopping cart for a little while). The deal gets even better if you are eligible for an EPP (employer) or EDU (teacher/student) discount, which is usually exclusive to the manufacturer's storefront. In the end, these deals might actually be much, much better than the "standard" Black Friday deals you might find anywhere else.

Scams Will Be Running Rampant

Black Friday is the one time of year where a deal that might normally be too good to be true actually isn't. Scammers are aware of this and there will be plenty of traps you'll need to avoid. To be safe, make sure you always buy from an authorized reseller for that particular brand of TV. "Buying from Amazon" simply isn't good enough; there are plenty of marketplace resellers that aren't trustworthy. You'll want to confirm that the item is either "sold and shipped by Amazon" or from a third party reseller that you recognize. The same is true for other sites like Walmart, Best Buy, and especially eBay. Some common authorized resellers that you might run into are Buydig, Electronic Express, Walt's TVs, B&H Photo, Beach Camera, and more. These are reputable storefronts with established histories and I would recommend them.

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.

Amazon recently announced that its Black Friday sale will be kicking off on November 20 this year, but if you're looking to save on some books you can start shopping right now. Amazon's popular "3 for 2" sale on books and box sets has returned and it's one of the best versions of this sale we've seen all year. If you're looking to buy some actual physical books for yourself or as a gift for the reader in your life, this sale is a great way to save.

If you're not familiar with Amazon's "3 for 2" promotion, it's essentially just a buy 2, get 1 free sale. There's a massive list of books eligible for the sale and all you need to do is place any three in your cart and the price of the cheapest one will be discounted at checkout. To make the most of the sale, you'll want to buy three things that are all similar in price. You can also buy multiples and still receive the discount.

Amazon Buy 2, Get 1 Free Book Sale

Amazon has offered this promotion for pretty much every major sale this year, but this is the most robust list of books I've seen since Prime Day back in July. There's a little bit of everything included here, from classics to coffee table books and new releases. If there's a specific book you're looking for, just use the search bar to see if it's included. Some of the most popular books and box sets included in this sale are buried so far down the list that you'll only be able to locate them by searching by name. And with that in mind, I've gone ahead and pulled out some of the best books I could find from the sale below.

New releases

Some of the most popular new book releases of 2025 are included in this sale. For fans of the Hunger Game series, you can grab the latest sequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, which is also pretty heavily discounted. There's also The Secret of Secrets, Dan Brown's latest Robert Langdon Novel that came out back in September. Onyx Storm is included alongside all of the other Fourthwing books in the Empyrean series, which is a great option for any romantasy fans out there. And finally, the recently released dark romance book, Alchemised, is also eligible for this discount.

Box sets

Arguably the best discounts in this promotion are the box sets. These are higher-priced items that already have discounts, so buying three of them at once could get you a full book collection for relatively cheap. This sale has pretty much all of the major box sets included within it. There are multiple Wheel of Time books sets, the Game of Thrones books, The Witcher books, Frank Herbert's Dune books, and a few different Harry Potter book collections. For young adults there's also popular options like the Percy Jackson series and The Chronicles of Narnia.

Illustrated editions

If you're specifically looking for books to give as gifts, I highly recommend looking into illustrated editions. These are collector's editions that include beautiful art alongside a story and are usually pretty pricey compared to standard hardcovers. There are multiple versions of the illustrated Lord of the Rings books currently included this sale, both of which include illustrations from J.R.R Tolkien himself. There's also the interactive illustrated Harry Potter books (all of which are included) that include a mix of art, story, and papercraft. And while it's more of a coffee table book than an illustrated edition, the Hyrule Historia is also a great option for anyone interested in The Legend of Zelda books.

Book Deals to Expect During Amazon Black Friday

While this promotion is likely better than any individual book sale Amazon will offer during Black Friday, it is worth noting that the retailer has offered up a sneak peek of what book discounts you can expect this year. The biggest price drops will be on Kindle books, which Amazon has stated will be discounted up to 80% during the sale. Print books are also expected to receive discounts of up to 65%, but we don't yet know which books will be getting those discounts. It's possible Amazon will decide to end the buy 2, get 1 free promotion before it kicks off its official sale next week, so it's worth taking advantage of the promotion while it lasts. These types of promotions are really the best time to buy books for cheap.

For more information about the upcoming discounts, you can check out our guide to Amazon's Black Friday sale or dive into our larger Black Friday guide for 2025.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior SEO Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and over 7 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different topics -- from TV series to indie games and popular book series.

Chadwick Boseman, the multi-award-winning actor best known for portraying T'Challa in the MCU, will receive a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 20, according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

This news comes via Variety, which reports that the unveiling will take place at 11:30am PT that day. Previously, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce had announced that Boseman would receive a star as part of 2024's class of honorees.

Boseman tragically passed away in 2020 at the age of 43 from colon cancer, which he battled privately while continuing to perform. He is best known as T'Challa in Black Panther and several other MCU films, a portrayal he continued before his death in the MCU series What If...?, earning a posthumous Primetime Emmy Award for his performance.

He also starred in numerous other productions over his 27-year career, including playing Jackie Robinson in 42 and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. His final film role was as Levee Green in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, for which he received a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for best actor, as well as an Oscar nomination.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.