With the so many different reasons to celebrate Star Wars sprinkled throughout the year, there's never a wrong time to shop for Star Wars merch. If you're a fan of the franchise or know someone else that is, we’re here to make your Star Wars gift shopping a lot easier in 2025.

We’ve assembled a list of some of the best Star Wars gifts we’ve found online, from books and Blu-rays to video games, shirts, and LEGO gift sets. So, without further ado, here are some of the best ways to bring a galaxy far, far away into your home.

Top Star Wars Gift Ideas for 2025

Star Wars Gifts for Gamers

There’s an absolute ton of great Star Wars video games available right now on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC, whether that’s Star Wars Jedi Survivor or LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. But if you’re looking to get a friend or family member the most recent major Star Wars game on the market, you’ll want to look into Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws. Offering a sprawling open-world adventure with hours of content, It’s a gift that’s sure to give any Star Wars fan plenty to do over the holiday break. There are also quite a few great Star Wars games for the Nintendo Switch if you're looking to play there.

Best Gifts for Fans of the Books

When it comes to Star Wars novels, there are plenty of great choices out there, both from the current canon continuity and the non-canon Star Wars Legends books timeline. If you’re buying for a current fan wanting to keep up with the latest Star Wars lore though, there’s no better place to look than the High Republic series, which has been a key focus for Disney as they establish the latest new notch on the franchise’s timeline. If you’re gifting for a reader who’s new to the High Republic era, check out the High Republic: Light of the Jedi trilogy boxed set, which contains all three novels from the first phase of the series. If you don't mind placing a preorder, there's also a Revenge of the Sith deluxe edition coming out in October that's worth checking out as well as Star Wars: The Last Order which explores a post-Rise of the Skywalker universe.

For Comic Book Fans

Classic recommendations for Star Wars comics include the following (as found in our best Star Wars comics shopping list).

Gifts for Fans of the Movies and TV Shows

Want to grab the cinephiles in your life a shiny new Star Wars collection? There are a lot of good options out there, with the most premium of the bunch being the Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Complete Collection. This absolute unit of a boxset comes with all nine movies in Blu-ray format as well as 26 hours of bonus content and special features. In short, it's the collection to end all collections, and a great pick-up for any diehard fans of the Star Wars movies.

You can also pick up more recent seasons of the live-action Star Wars TV shows in 4K and Blu-ray. With Andor season 2 now available on Disney+ right now, picking up the first season in 4K is an excellent option.

Gifts for Adult LEGO Fans

When it comes to buying a Star Wars LEGO set, you’re absolutely spoiled for choice, with this last year alone bringing us incredibly popular builds like Jabba’s Barge and the TIE Interceptor. However, if you’re looking for a fun set to pick up without breaking into the much pricier line of UCS builds that LEGO dropped last year a great option is the Imperial Star Destroyer play set. Retailing at $159.99, it offers a full star destroyer with a buildable interior, as well as the very first official Cal Kestis mini-figure, making it a great choice for young and veteran LEGO fans alike.

The brick-built Star Wars Logo set looks great on shelves and home office setups, while the Grogu and Hover Pram set has been constantly on sale during Amazon's Black Friday sales.

Star Wars Gifts For Board Game Fans

For those on the hunt for a fun Star Wars board game, you can’t go wrong with Star Wars: Outer Rim. Casting you and three other players as intergalactic outlaws, your mission is to venture across the galaxy and strategically build your reputation by smuggling cargo, hunting bounties and meeting various iconic Star Wars characters. If you reckon your friends or family would jump at the chance to become a legendary scoundrel, Outer Rim is a safe bet. But it’s far from the only option on offer, with other great board games like Star Wars Rebellion and Star Wars Imperial Assault sure to bring hours of intergalactic entertainment.

Gifts for Puzzlers

If you or someone you know just so happens to be a chronic puzzler on top of being a Star Wars fan, there are quite a few options. Our overall top pick for the best Star Wars puzzle for adults is this 2,000-piece jigsaw we've featured above. It depicts numerous different characters from episodes 1-6 along with a variety of machines, ships, and the Death Star looming in the background. It is a pretty big puzzle, however, so you may want to be sure whoever you're giving it to has a decent puzzle table or board that can hold it.

Alongside this puzzle, there are quite a few other options. There are even model kits that act as 3D puzzles you can check out,

Apparel and Accessory Gifts

If you’re looking for clothing-related gifts, Star Wars has a nigh-on endless range of wearable merch that make for great presents. Whether you’re searching for Star-Wars-inspired Hawaiian shirts, tees sporting iconic poster graphics or a funny festive jumper that will stand out from the crowd, here are some of our favorites.

Gifts For The Home

Much like with shirts, Star Wars has plenty of novelty homeware that make for great gifts. Whether you’re on the hunt for a Darth Vader Waffle Maker or an R2-D2 lava lamp, we’ve assembled some fun kitchenware, lights, mugs, and other homeware that are sure to put a smile on any Star Wars fan’s face.

Gifts for Toy Collectors

There are a lot of different Star Wars toys you can buy. There are lightsaber replicas, plushies, and even Nerf blasters. But if you're a collector of Star Wars toys, then you're probably most interested in Star Wars action figures. Our overall top pick is from the Black Series line of toys, but there are quite a few other great options from other brands to check out as well. There are even new Jedi: Survivor figures that were just recently announced for fans of the video game series.

Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.

Sonos doesn't discount its popular speakers very often, so it's a wise investment to jump on a good sale when you see one. The Sonos Arc was discontinued last year to make way for its successor, the Arc Ultra. It's no longer available new at Sonos direct, however for Black Friday you can pick up a certified refurbished model for just $399. That's $500 less than its original retail price of $900. It's a heck of a better value than picking up the Arc Ultra, currently "on sale" for $879.

Sonos refurbished products go through rigorous testing; they come with all accessories, manuals, and documentation and are reshipped in "pristine" packaging. Most importantly, Sonos includes the same 1-year warranty as buying new. I like when retailers offer the same warranty as new because that means they have faith in the reliability of their refurbs.

Sonos Arc Soundbar (Refurbished)

PlayStation Direct UK is killing it in their early Black Friday deals right now, even the 30th Anniversary PS5 Digital (Slim), DualSense controller and PS Portal are back with a Black Friday discount. There's also up to 33% off PlayStation + depending on which tier you pick, but all of them get an extra 5% off with PlayStation Direct.

PlayStation Direct Black Friday Sale

All of the deals I've picked out are the Black Friday price and doesn't include the PS Plus discounts, so expect so save some more if you're a member. I'm not going to waste anytime here, let's jump straight into these epic deals on consoles, accessories, games and more:

30th Anniversary PS5 Deals

I can't believe the 30th Anniversary Edition gear is back, I'm proper chuffed. And £49.99 for the DualSense alone is a steal, and you know you want the full set with the PS5 Slim and PS Portal to go with it, again all discounted. Don't forget that cheeky 5% PS Plus discount, which will add up if you're buying all this in one go.

Save up to 33% on PlayStation + 12m Subscriptions

PS5 Console Deals

We've got everything from the 2 TB PlayStation 5 Pro to the Ghost of Yotei Black Limited Edition that isn't black. By the way, The PS Pro deal is the same price as a standard price Xbox Series X, so I'll just let that deal sink in (What the hell is happening!?).

The Fortnite bundle is great for anyone who plays it, which is a lot. You'll get 8 exclusive cosmetic items, including a skin and 1,000 V Bucks, which is "epic" if you're in the loop (Nope, not sorry and I miss Unreal Tournament).

The winner for me (again) is the Digital 30th Anniversary Slim console. £334.99 for such a unique bit of kit that takes me back to buying three preowned games for £10 from Game when I was a kid and having my mind blown by the original PlayStation graphics. Tell me you don't want to turn on your PS5 and see the original boot screen and audio if you're over 30. Exactly.

DualSense Controller Deals

These Black Friday deals make me either want to buy every single controller and put them on a cool shelf or re-shell my Dualsense once a week. Getting controllers like the Chroma Indigo for less than a standard black or white Dualsense on a normal day is a great deal to me.

Dualsense Edge has also dropped to £169.99, a cheeky £30 off and it's worth it. I love a heavy controller, it feels like you've bought something worthwhile. It has adjustable triggers, swappable thumbsticks and caps, full re-map functionality and all the bells and whistles of the original Dualsense with a better battery life.

PS:VR 2 and Accessory Deals

If you fancy trying out PS VR2, now is a great time to get stuck in, just make sure you get the bundle with Horizon Call of the Mountain instead of the solo hardware. It's the same price and you get a great game for free, so it's a no-brainer Black Friday deal.

The Pulse Elite headset is also £20 off, and includes a hanging charger to boot. It rocks 30 hours of battery life, cracking audio that you'd expect from Sony and a decent mic setup that can noise-rejection technology.

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.

The season of savings has officially kicked off. A few different retailers have started up their Black Friday sales, including Amazon. If you're on the hunt for video game deals in particular, we've already found quite a few that are worth your time and money at the retailer, including a whopping 50% off Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (see it here for PS5 and Xbox Series X).

This discount has dropped the price of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 down to just $30 on both platforms. What makes it even better, though, is it marks its lowest price to date on both PS5 and Xbox Series X, according to price tracker camelcamelcamel. No better time to grab it if you've had your eye on it.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Drops to $30

If you're hoping to find a deal on an unlocked Google Pixel phone for Black Friday, I've got some good news: Both Amazon and Best Buy has already started slashing prices on all of the latest models from the Pixel lineup. The Google Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL, and 10 Pro Fold have all dropped to their lowest prices ever ahead of Thanksgiving weekend, with a whopping 25% savings. These deals launched earlier this month and have come back just in time for Amazon's official Black Friday sale.

Google's line of smartphones is mostly known for its high-quality camera and helpful AI features, both of which make them great iPhone alternatives. As someone who has owned a Pixel for well over a year now, I have no problem recommending them to anyone looking for a smartphone upgrade at a reasonable price.

The Best Google Pixel Phone Deals at Amazon Today

The only exception to the 25% discount is the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold, which is only getting 17% off the retail price. But even that is still substantial when you consider that this is the best discount we've seen on Google's latest foldable phone since it was released in October. With these price drops, right now is the best time we've seen all year to pick up an unlocked Google Pixel phone at a discount. None of these price drops are attached to a carrier plan, so you don't need to sign any sort of contract before you buy. You can currently find these savings at Amazon or at Best Buy as part of its Black Friday sale.

Which phone should you buy?

Pixel 10 Pro vs. Pixel 10

Deciding which Google phone to buy really comes down to what features you want and how much you're willing to pay. My Google Pixel 8 is a few generations old at this point, but I decided to grab the Pro because of the increased screen size and bigger battery. I'd highly recommend picking up either the Pro or Pro XL if you plan on using your phone to watch videos or play games at all. Otherwise the cheaper Pixel 10 is probably your best bet at this price.

We reviewed the Google Pixel 10 Pro earlier this year and found that it didn't offer that many improvements of the Pixel 9 Pro. However, with the discount right now, the latest model is definitely the one worth buying over the previous generation.

The Google Pixel 9 deal is the best value option

The latest Apple iPad just dropped to the lowest price of the year for Black Friday. Amazon is offering the 11th generation Apple iPad, featuring the A16 processor, for just $279 with free shipping after a $70 off instant discount. This is the first time I've seen this particular model drop below $299 since its release back in March of 2025.

Apple iPad 11th Gen for $279 (Originally $349)

The Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution - Phantasmal Flames set was just released on Nov. 11, 2025, and with it, an elusive Pokémon TCG: Mega Charizard X ex Ultra-Premium Collection. As a huge Charizard fan, I had to have it, even with its pretty high $119.99 USD MSRP (or a lot higher on resale sites!)

I’ve always collected Pokémon trading cards, but I only just started playing using the official format in the last two years. A few decks have crossed my playmats, but variations of a Charizard ex deck have continued to be my main.

I knew I’d need the Phantasmal Flames’ Mega Charizard X ex and Oricorio ex cards to experiment with new deck builds, so that was a good enough excuse as any to try and grab this collection… even if I might try and get the non promo-art versions to play with instead.

Click through the slide show above to see everything included in the Pokémon TCG: Mega Charizard X ex Ultra-Premium Collection, plus some of the cards I pulled from the booster packs.

Here’s a complete list of what’s included in the Pokémon TCG: Mega Charizard X ex Ultra-Premium Collection:

• 1 foil full-art promo card featuring Mega Charizard X ex
• 1 foil full-art promo card featuring Oricorio ex
• 65 card sleeves featuring Mega Charizard X
• 1 playmat featuring Mega Charizard X
• 1 deck box featuring Mega Charizard X
• 1 metal coin featuring Mega Charizard X
• 6 damage-counter dice
• 18 Pokémon TCG booster packs:
  • 2 Surging Sparks TCG booster packs
  • 4 Journey Together TCG booster packs
  • 4 Destined Rivals TCG booster packs
  • 4 Mega Evolution TCG booster packs
  • 4 Phantasmal Flames TCG booster packs
• A code card for Pokémon TCG Live

I pulled a few playables from the Phantasmal Flames and Mega Evolution booster packs (still searching for more Lillie’s Determinations), but I didn’t get any Phantasmal Flames “chase” cards, like any of the rare cards listed on this Phantasmal Flames most expensive cards list.

My favorite random pull is absolutely the Destined Rivals illustration rare Team Rocket’s Houndoom, another one of my favorite Pokémon of all time. Fire and Dark-type Pokémon are my favorites, so I’m stoked for the Charizard X and Houndoom cards and Charizard-themed TCG accessories, what can I say.

The playmat included in this set features nice stitching around the edges that many other official playmats lack, too, so I see it lasting quite a while, and the Mega Charizard X coin is beautiful.

This should go without saying, but I don’t think this collection is worth it unless you aim to use the exclusive TCG accessories that come with it.

I would have preferred some variety between the playmat, deck box, and card sleeves, but at least the art they chose for the set is sick.

The coin brilliantly shines in an array of rainbow colors, and it makes for a neat easter egg balanced on top of my Charizard figure by First 4 Figures.

Though this absolutely is not new as far as Pokémon TCG collections go, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed by the dated array of included booster packs. I would have loved to see more Phantasmal Flames, and even Mega Evolution, booster packs.

But maybe I’m just salty about this because one Mega Charizard X ex Ultra-Premium Collection was the only Phantasmal Flames product my partner and I could purchase between the two of us. I'm lucky I was also sent a press copy of this particular collection so I didn't have to share! For reference, we succeeded in buying one at The Pokémon Center website, but failed everywhere else for everything else.

But, that’s an entirely different conversation. Even with the $119.99 price tag, I’m happy with the Mega Charizard X ex Ultra-Premium Collection as both a huge fan of Charizard and the TCG.

Best Phantasmal Flames Cards Chase Cards

According to marketplaces like TCGPlayer, certain Phantasmal Flames cards have already skyrocketed further in price, and, following up from our Mega Evolution round-up, we’ve ranked the ten most expensive cards so far just above. From aggressive Mega attackers to powerful evolution support, Phantasmal Flames brings a fiery mix of competitive threats and high-demand pulls.

Casey DeFreitas is the Deputy Editor of Guides at IGN and loves all things Pokémon. Catch her on all socials as @ShinyCaseyD

HavThe holidays are here, which means it’s time to find gifts for all your loved ones. That can be easier said than done, so we’re here to help. If someone on your list is a big fan of games of the non-video variety (like board games and card games), then Game Nerdz has a bunch of options to choose from.

If you’re not already familiar with Game Nerdz, it’s a site that specializes in tabletop games, TCGs, miniatures, and collectibles. It has a huge selection of more than 50,000 in-stock items, including games set in the worlds of massive franchises.

That’s a lot to choose from, and we know it can be a little intimidating trying to find the right game for someone. So we curated a list of just some of the many games you can find on Game Nerdz, along with some info about them and what kinds of people they might be right for. We've also included some general tips to think about to help you figure out what type of game your loved one might like.

Arcs

• Game type: Board game
• Number of players: 2–4
• Challenge level: Moderate to high
• Who it’s right for: Strategy enthusiasts, experienced gamers, sci-fi fans

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Trick-Taking Game

• Game type: Co-op card game
• Number of players: 1–4
• Challenge level: Low
• Who it’s right for: Lord of the Rings fans/collectors, gamers who want to work together, fans of narrative-focused games

Dune: War for Arrakis

• Game type: Board game with miniatures
• Number of players: 2
• Challenge level: Low to moderate
• Who it’s right for: Dune fans, strategy enthusiasts, those who like having lots of thematic miniatures

Gwent: The Legendary Card Game

• Game type: Card game
• Number of players: 1–5
• Challenge level: Low
• Who it’s right for: The Witcher fans, those who want a game that's quick and replayable, those who like games that are easy to grasp but harder to master

Unmatched Adventure: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• Game type: Co-op board game / card game
• Number of players: 1–4
• Challenge level: Low
• Who it’s right for: Fans of other Unmatched games, TMNT fans, those who want a game that can be played with their kids (ages 9+)

Slay the Spire: The Board Game

• Game type: Co-op board game / deck builder
• Number of players: 1–4
• Challenge level: Moderate
• Who it’s right for: People interested in the structure of a roguelike in board game form, those who want a game with multiple possible ending points, those who like evolving their deck over time

Star Wars: Battle of Hoth

• Game type: Board game with miniatures
• Number of players: 2–4 (best suited for 2)
• Challenge level: Moderate
• Who it’s right for: Star Wars fans, those who enjoy tactical games, those who enjoy games with movable miniatures

Stardew Valley: The Board Game

• Game type: Co-op board game
• Number of players: 1–4
• Challenge level: Low
• Who it’s right for: Stardew Valley fans, those open to longer game times (up to 3 hours), fans of cozy vibes

The Last of Us: Escape the Dark

• Game type: Board game
• Number of players: 1–5
• Challenge level: Moderate
• Who it’s right for: Fans of The Last of Us and its characters, narrative game lovers, those who like games with dynamically changing goals

Dorfromantik: The Board Game

• Game type: Co-op board game
• Number of players: 1–6
• Challenge level: Low
• Who it’s right for: Families, those who want to build something together, those who like games that evolve with each playthrough

This is just a small selection of the many games you can find on Game Nerdz. There are also a bunch of popular trading card games available, from Magic: The Gathering to Pokémon to Yu-Gi-Oh! and beyond. And there are Forged gaming accessories for TTRPG players, including dice, arenas, and this detailed Call of Cthulhu Idol Dice Tower. And there’s an extensive collection of miniatures and collectibles too. It’s a one-stop shop to find something for the gamer in your life who wants to unplug.

Police in Japan have accused a man of unauthorized reproduction of an AI-generated image. This is believed to be the first ever legal case in Japan where an AI-generated image has been treated as a copyrighted work under the country’s Copyright Act.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun and spotted by Dexerto, the case relates to an AI-generated image created using Stable Diffusion back in 2024 by a man in his 20s from Japan’s Chiba prefecture. This image was then allegedly reused without permission by a 27-year-old man (also from Chiba) for the cover of his commercially-available book.

The original creator of the image told the Yomiuri Shimbun that he had used over 20,000 prompts to generate the final picture. The police allege that the creator had sufficient involvement in the AI image’s creation, and the matter has been referred to the Chiba District Public Prosecutors Office.

Japan’s Copyright Act defines a copyrighted work as a “creatively produced expression of thoughts or sentiments that falls within the literary, academic, artistic, or musical domain.” In regard to whether an AI-generated image can be copyrighted or not, the Agency of Cultural Affairs has stated that an AI image generated with no instructions or very basic instructions from a human is not a “creatively produced expression of thoughts or sentiments” and therefore not considered to meet the requirements to be copyrighted work.

However, if a person has used AI as a tool to creatively express thoughts or feelings, the AI-generated output might be considered a copyrighted work. This is to be decided on a case-by-case basis. The process behind the creation of the specific AI-generated image has to be looked at in order to determine whether it can be considered to be creative enough to be termed a copyrighted work. Key criteria are the amount of detailed prompts, the refining of instructions over repeated generation attempts, and creative selections or changes to outputs.

However, this case is the first of its kind, with no legal precedent. Speaking to Yomiuri Shimbun, a legal expert in AI and copyright from the Fukui Bar Association said that if prompts are detailed and specific enough, then an AI-generated output might be considered a copyrighted work. Basically, the resulting final image is evaluated on how closely it is deemed to match the creator’s original vision, which is determined by how detailed and specific the prompts and their revisions are. “It is vital to determine whether or not the person provided prompts to reach a specific, predicted outcome,” said the attorney.

On the flipside, AI-generated content that closely resembles existing copyrighted works has prompted much furore in Japan lately. This is especially the case with Sora 2 generated video clips that have featured well-known Japanese characters. The Japanese government and an organization representing major creative powerhouses like Bandai Namco, Studio Ghibli and Square Enix have demanded that OpenAI cease unauthorized training on Japanese IPs.

Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for IT: Welcome to Derry Episodes 1-4!

Fans of Stephen King’s novels will know that these tales of small-town terror and tortured souls aren’t simply standalone stories. They’re all part of a larger storytelling multiverse, and crossovers can and do frequently happen. That’s certainly true for IT: Welcome to Derry – not only is this series a prequel to the It movies, it also includes nods to other King characters and storylines.

With the first two episodes having premiered on HBO Max, we figured now is a great time to break down the key Stephen King easter eggs in Welcome to Derry and explore how the series is taking advantage of the King multiverse. Keep checking back, as we’ll update this piece as more episodes air.

What Is Bill Skarsgård’s Villain Pennywise?

With Welcome to Derry taking place 27 years before the events of 2017’s It, it should come as no surprise that there aren’t many returning actors for this prequel. In fact, the only confirmed veteran of the series is Bill Skarsgård, who is once again playing the demonic, shapeshifting villain, It (whose favorite form is Pennywise the Dancing Clown). We don’t actually see Skarsgård in the first four episodes, but the character’s nefarious influence is certainly felt. If there’s any takeaway from the pilot, it’s that Derry was a cursed place long before the Losers Club clashed with Pennywise for the first time.

With Pennywise being such an important part of the series, it’s worth taking a step back to explore what exactly this character is and how he fits into King’s monster multiverse. The It novel establishes that It is an alien entity created in the void outside the universe. It eventually crashed on Earth via an asteroid millions of years ago, at which point it took up residence in the area that would become Derry, Maine. We see this origin story play out during Episode 4's flashback sequence.

Ever since people began to settle in Derry, It has shown a pattern of emerging for a year or two to seek victims and feast on their fear; it is essentially a psychic vampire. After gorging itself, It then goes into hibernation for 27 years before reawakening and starting the cycle all over again. It tends to target children because their fears are more primal and easier to exploit.

It/Pennywise is easily one of the most terrifying creatures in King’s massive library, but it’s not necessarily unique. King’s Dark Tower novels establish that the multiverse was once bathed in a mystical energy source called the Prim. When the Prim receded like an ocean tide, it left behind a great many supernatural creatures embedded in the worlds of creation; Pennywise is just one of many of those monsters. One of the Dark Tower books even introduces a cousin of sorts – a similar psychic vampire who feeds on laughter rather than fear.

The Hanlon Family

Welcome to Derry may not feature many returning characters, but it does feature one family that should be very familiar to fans of the films. The first episode introduces Jovan Adepo’s Leroy Hanlon; Leroy is the grandfather of Mike Hanlon, who was played in the films as a child by Chosen Jacobs and as an adult by Isaiah Mustafa.

Welcome to Derry shows us how the Hanlon family first came to settle in Derry in 1962. Leroy is a decorated and well-respected Air Force major who is recruited by General Shaw (James Remar) to work on a top-secret program. Little by little, Leroy is becoming exposed to the darkness lurking beneath the idyllic facade of Derry and the racism still rampant in the ranks of the military. In Episode 2, Leroy learns that Shaw is working to harness a weapon that can instill absolute fear in America's enemies. Apparently, Shaw wants to weaponize It.

Episode 2 introduces Taylour Paige as Leroy’s wife, Charlotte, and Blake Cameron James as his son, Will, neither of whom seem particularly enamored with their new home. But however bad things get this season, it’s not going to drive this family out of Derry.

The Shining’s Dick Hallorann

Welcome to Derry is going to draw on more than just the It movies and novel; that much has been apparent ever since an earlier trailer included a shot of a Shawshank Prison bus. But in what is easily the most significant King easter egg so far, the series’ cast includes a major character from The Shining: Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk).

Fans of The Shining and its sequel, Doctor Sleep, will remember that Dick is the head chef at the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. Because he has the psychic aptitude known as “the shine,” Dick is more sensitive than most to the many ghosts haunting the Overlook’s halls. Dick becomes rightfully concerned when he senses that young Danny Torrance, the son of winter caretaker Jack Torrance, shines especially brightly, and is therefore a ripe target for those ghosts. Eventually, Dick is forced to brave the harsh Colorado winter in order to rescue Danny and his mother from the hotel’s wrath.

Welcome to Derry takes place nearly two decades before The Shining; at this stage, Dick is serving on the same Derry air force base as Leroy Hanlon. We only catch a brief glimpse of Dick in Episode 1, but he seems intently interested in Leroy, as if he can sense something is supernaturally amiss with the major.

Episode 2 provides more context for Dick's presence in Derry and his interest in Leroy. Dick is using his psychic abilities to help the Air Force dig up and harness the slumbering It. Dick seems to sense that Leroy is special in his own way. A bullet to his brain has robbed Leroy of the ability to feel fear, which may make him the only person capable of standing up to It. And by Episode 4, Leroy is starting to come to terms with the fact that Dick truly does have supernatural abilities.

We fully expect Dick to play a central role in battling It in this series. Just as at the Overlook, Dick’s powers will make him more aware than most adults of the danger lurking underneath the town. It may even target Dick specifically, hoping to draw extra sustenance from his psychic abilities, much like the vampires in Doctor Sleep.

The Shining's Calumet Baking Powder

Episode 2 incldues another fun The Shining Easter egg, as we see a stack of Calumet Baking Powder cans in the grocery store, all displaying that iconic logo of an Indian chief. These cans were also seen in Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of The Shining, part of the Overlook Hotel's extensive larder.

The exact significance of the cans and the Indian logo has been the source of much debate over the years, with some arguing (like in the documentary Room 237) that Kubrick was trying to include subtle commentary about American imperialism and the genocide of Native Americans. The Indian chief image may also speak to the ancient history of the supernatural terrors in this world. Again, It has been in Derry for a very long time.

Juniper Hill Asylum

Episode 2 also introduces another iconic King landmark in Juniper Hill Asylum. We learn that Susie (Matilda Legault) was previously committed there after the death of her father, and she's forced to return at the end of the episode after suffering through another of It's terrifying hallucinations. That means we'll surely see inside its dark halls as the season unfolds.

Juniper Hill appears in the original IT novel as well as numerous other King works, from Insomnia to Needful Things to The Dark Half. It's a place every bit as twisted as you'd expect from a mental institution in Stephen King's multiverse.

Shawshank State Prison

Alongside Juniper Hill, the series is also introducing another very recognizable facility in the form of Shawshank State Prison. The wrongfully imprisoned Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) looks doomed to be imprisoned there, even as Charlotte fights to clear his name.

Shawshank was most famously featured in King's 1982 novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption," which was later adapted into the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption. Both versions of the story follow the pliught of Andy Dufresne, a man imprisoned for decades at the hellish prison after being convicted of murdering his wife. Shashank was also heavily featured in Castle Rock, another series notable for bringing together pieces of the King multiverse.

The Importance of the Turtle

Welcome to Derry’s first episode includes another important, albeit more subtle, easter egg in the form of a charm on Susie’s bracelet – a turtle, a creature with deep significance in King lore. We see another turtle reference in Episode 4, when the Indian tribe buries one of the pieces of the meteorite inside a turtle shell.

Getting back to It’s cosmic origins, this demon was created at the same time as a benevolent turtle entity; the Turtle is It’s polar opposite and a sign of strength to the members of the Losers Club. The Turtle is also one of the 12 animals featured in the Dark Tower books who guard “The Beams,” invisible energy forces that lead directly to the titular tower at the center of existence.

We’d expect to see multiple turtle references in this series, all meant to serve as reminders that there are other forces at work in Derry beyond It/Pennywise…and not all of them are so sinister.

The 12 Pillars

Episode 4 reveals a lot about the history of It in Derry and how this demonic entity was clashing with the local Native American tribe long before white settlers came to the area. We even learn that the tribe has a legend about the heroic warrior who imprisoned It centuries ago. According to the story, the tribe buried 13 pieces of the meteorite that originally carried It to Earth. 12 of these pieces form a ring around It's woodland territory, while the 13th is located at the center of the ring. As long as that circle remains unbroken, It's evil is contained to the Derry area.

This circular structure is almost definitely meant to be a reference to King's Dark Tower novels. In Mid-World, the place where heroic gunslinger Roland Deschain carries out his long quest to find the titular tower, there are 12 portals forming a great ring around the planet. The beams mentioned above start at these portals and move inward, converging on the Dark Tower in the center. Each of the 12 portals is protected by a Guardian of the Beam, like Maturin the Turtle and Shardik the Bear. It's prison is clearly mimicking the structure of the Dark Tower itself.

We probably won't see any more overt references to the Dark Tower books than this, as Warner Bros. doesn't hold the rights to those stories. Instead, The Haunting of Hill House's Mike Flanagan is currently developing a Dark Tower TV series for Amazon. Still, it's a fun nod for hardcore King fans.

The Second Hand Rose

Episode 2 establishes a key throwback to 2019's IT: Chapter Two with the scene at the Second Hand Rose thrift shop. In the movie, that shop is run by Stephen King's character (that same character cameos as a younger man here), and it's where Bill Denbrough buys his beloved Schwinn bicycle. Back in 1962, it's where Leroy purchases a telescope for his son Will.

Like the turtle, the rose is an image with special significance in King's work, and it also ties back to the Dark Tower books and their central protagonist, Roland Deschain. The rose is a symbol of goodness and purity, though we definitely get a slightly creepy vibe from the shop in this series. If anything, we can't help but be reminded of Needful Things and its infamous shop of horrors.

On the other hand, the shop's current owner, Kimberly Norris Guerrero's Rose, has become a major focus of the series, and she seems to be one of the few genuinely good people in Derry. We'll see if Rose survives the entire season.

For more on IT: Welcome to Derry, check out our review of the series premiere and see director Andy Muschietti break down the shocking ending to Episode 1.

Note: This article was originally published on 10/27/2025 and updated on 11/21/2025 with the latest information about IT: Welcome to Derry.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

We're in the seemingly endless saga that is Black Friday season. The Crunchyroll Store has been having Black Friday sales all month long, discounting its spread of DVDs, figures, and anime merch. However, the service has now announced an incredibly rare deal on what I think most people actually use it for: anime streaming. Right now, you can get $20 off annual Mega Fan subscriptions, which already offer some savings over the monthly price.

Get $20 Off 12 Months of Mega Fan Crunchyroll

Nintendo has done the unthinkable: they've put Nintendo Switch 2 in their UK Black Friday deals.

Not only that, but Ninty-heads will get a free Yoshi Holiday Ornament with orders over £70 alongside discounts on games, accessories, plushies, LEGO, and free Amiibo or Plushies with select Nintendo Switch 2 games.

Nintendo UK Black Friday Sale

So there's three bundles available for Nintendo Switch 2 this Black Friday. The first saves £25.98 on the base Switch 2 console and a 12 months Nintendo Switch Online Membership for £395.99.

Next up is the Mario Kart World Switch 2 bundle with a Switch Online 12 month sub, saving a total of £58.97 at £429.99.

Finally there'ss a £546.96 with is the Mario Kart World Switch 2 bundle, 12 months NSO, Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 edition + TV and an official Switch 2 camera.

If you already have a Nintendo Switch 2, it's also a great time to get your backlog built up.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remaster are down to $37.49 for a digital code from $49.99.

Fancy a Echoes of Wisdom box art wall scroll with your digital code? Upgrade to this bundle instead to £48.49.

You can also pickup Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and it's expansion pass for £33.29 and £17.99 respectfully.

Need more Nintendo official plushies in your life? Correct, you do. There's a ridiculously cute Bokoblin and Korok with Backpack from the Wild timeline of LoZ games for £13.64, not to mention a Vending Machine Kirby and Champion form Kirby going for £20.99 and £9.79.

There's also a ridiculous amount of Animal Crossing and Mario Kart LEGO sets knocked down by 30% too. Finally, 30% off controllers, Nintendo Switch memory cards and cases is deffinately worth a look.

All in all, it's a great Black Friday event over on My Nintendo Store right now, and it's kicked off early like other retailers this Black Friday.

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.

PlayStation's 2025 Black Friday sale is already underway, running right through to December 1. Every DualSense is at least $20 off, and the cheapest right now is the Gray Camo model at $53.99 on Amazon.

No surprises there, Black Friday always kicks off early now, so even though the date itself is Nov. 28, the PlayStation accessory discounts are already out in full force.

To save you the hassle of digging around, the full lineup of discounted DualSense controllers is laid out below, broken into the limited edition designs and everything else in the sale.

DualSense Controllers Score Surprisingly Good Price Cuts for Black Friday

Limited edition PS5 controllers, in particular, are getting some eye-catching cuts this year, and the standout designs are finally priced a little more affordably.

Big hitters like the Ghost of Yotei and the 20th anniversary God of War gamepads are sitting at $64.99, which is about as affordable as these collectible models will ever get.

Even Walmart has jumped in by restocking its sought-after Icon Blue edition exclusive at $64 for Black Friday ($20 off), and that one is almost guaranteed to sell out before next week.

You can also pick up the DualSense Edge in white or black for $169. It's $30 off MSRP, not as sharp as the brief $159.99 drop the other day, but if you missed that window, this is still a solid saving.

Standard DualSense controllers are also sitting at around $54-$55 for the usual colors, and the special editions, including the Chroma line, are at just under $60.

Other standout offers in the PlayStation 2025 Black Friday sale include up to 60% off games, $100 off PS5 consoles and PlayStation VR2 bundles, $20 off PlayStation Portal, and up to 33% off PlayStation Plus memberships.

There are plenty more on sale that we haven't mentioned either, so be sure to check out the full PS5 sales pages at retailers like Amazon as well.

Are you planning to pick up anything in PlayStation's Black Friday sale?

Let us know in the comments, and stick with IGN as we continue to update you daily on the best Black Friday deals for 2025.

Should You Wait for Black Friday on November 28?

The Electric State may have been one of the more disappointing film releases of 2025 (IGN scored the Russo Bros.' latest a 4 out of 10), but the novel on which that film is based is widely regarded as a modern classic. Author Simon Stålenhag is back with a new illustrated novel called Sunset at Zero Point, and IGN has an exclusive look inside.

Check out the slideshow gallery below to see some of Stålenhag's stunning painted art for this starkly beautiful sci-fi tale:

Sunset at Zero Point is written and illustrated by Stålenhag and published by Saga Press. Here's the official description of the book:

Beginning in 2024, yet set largely during the early 2000s, Sunset at Zero Point unfolds on a secluded Swedish island, home to a secret weapon lab that has been off-limits for years, evoking the bestselling works of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven.

Stålenhag’s masterful storytelling and hyper-realistic art transports you to an alternate history revealing his most intimate work to date, delving into themes of masculinity, friendship, and sexuality through the lens of a queer science fiction tale. The story spans decades following two young men, stuck in the past and each other’s orbit, as fleeting moments become defining memories as they set out to explore the forbidden zone together.

Set against the backdrop of Stålenhag’s native Sweden and based on the alternate version of Mälaröarna outside of Stockholm, Sunset at Zero Point juxtaposes giant futuristic machines with the inner turmoil of its characters facing a social dystopia, crafting a narrative that is both visually stunning and emotionally resonant.

Sunset at Zero Point will be released on December 9, 2025. You can preorder a copy on Amazon.

For more exclusive previews, check out our first look at Image Comics' White Sky and Dark Horse's ongoing He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Several more Game of Thrones spinoff projects remain in development, creator George R.R. Martin has teased, including "some sequels."

Yesterday, HBO laid out a Marvel-style slate for the future of the Game of Thrones universe, and confirmed multiple upcoming seasons for both House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms due for release over the next three years.

Beyond those two shows, however, Martin has confirmed he's helping develop even more projects that are officially "in development" — including plans for multiple series set after Game of Thrones' controversial finale.

"Aside from The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon, there are other Game of Thrones spinoff projects in development," Martin said at an event attended by Los Siete Reinos. "Most are prequels. There are several in development, five or six series; and I'm not developing them alone, I'm working with other people. Yes, there are some sequels."

Of course, both of HBO's current Game of Thrones spinoffs are prequels, with House of the Dragon set two centuries before the events of its parent show. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set roughly within the middle of the two, taking place around 100 years before.

Martin has previously discussed other potential spinoff ideas, including an Aegon the Conqueror show (around 300 years pre-Game of Thrones), a scrapped series centering on warrior queen Nymeria (who lived 1,000 years in the past), and yet another abandoned idea, entitled 10,000 Ships, which would have focused on a sea-faring city.

At the same time, the author has been more coy over plans for anything set after Game of Thrones' end — something he's still two books away from reaching himself.

Warning! Spoilers for Game of Thrones follow:

While Game of Thrones' final season is something of a bloodbath, numerous fan-favorite characters remain alive at its end — leaving the door open to several potential follow-ups. Indeed, Jon Snow actor Kit Harington previously confirmed he'd had discussions about returning for his own spinoff, though the idea was shelved after "a couple of years back and forth developing it."

PlayStation's big Black Friday sale has officially kicked off. If you've been hoping to grab some deals on PS5 games, hardware, or accessories, there's already plenty to look through. The company is even offering a $20 discount on the PlayStation Portal right now as part of its sale, which is a nice little treat for those who have had it on their wish list or have been looking to pick it up as a gift for someone else over the holidays.

This deal is available across a wide variety of retailers as well, from Amazon to Walmart to Best Buy to Target and, of course, at PlayStation Direct. No matter if you've had your eyes on the sleek Midnight Black model or the classic White version, now's a great time to make a move on it.

PlayStation Portal - Midnight Black

What's going on with the live-action Naruto movie? We've heard nothing about it since its director was confirmed and its script was said to be done. You'd think that the writer of that script, The Mighty Nein showrunner Tasha Huo, would have an update, but alas, it sounds like she's waiting to find out more just like the rest of us.

In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Huo explained that she had “no new updates” on the progress of producing the film and that “I wish I did” have more news on that front. That said, she was still positive and said, alongside the fans, “I also can’t wait to see” what the adaptation has in store.

Huo, who is the showrunner for Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, mainly cited Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton’s Marvel schedule as the biggest issue here, but there’s no further updates on the status of the project as a result.

In 2024, Huo completed her latest draft of the script for the film, around the same time The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey left the project to make way for Cretton.

Cretton is attached to a Shang-Chi sequel, and he cocreated and executive produced the upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man. At the moment, he’s shooting Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is set to be released in July 2026.

As of last year, the live-action Naruto movie was set to tell a “nuanced and special” story about the Hidden Leaf Village’s yellow-haired ninja in training. At the time, having handed the completed script to Cretton, Huo expressed confidence in the director, saying that his “very personal and relatable” style was one element of his films she enjoys.

Huo added that she felt Cretton would take Naruto’s story in a direction that avoids the franchise’s already large world.

“I think that’s such a cool choice because he’s going to be able to capture how nuanced and special Naruto is without getting distracted by the big world that it is, which I think could easily be done by someone who’s not a fan or someone who’s coming in for a cash payday," she said. "This is definitely a movie that comes at it from a love of who Naruto is and that character and his relationships."

Naruto had humble beginnings, starting as a manga series by Masashi Kishimoto in 1999. Its popularity has ballooned since then, as the series has gone on to not only receive its anime adaptation of the same name but sequel shows like Naruto: Shippuden and Baruto, too. It’s also spawned a number of video games such as the Ultimate Ninja Storm series.

The franchise is considered one of the Big Three in the world of anime, meaning expectations for a film adaptation were high the moment it got off the ground. Kishimoto did at least give his blessing to see the Shang-Chi director bring Naruto to the big screen, going as far as to release a statement on the matter when the filmmaker’s involvement was revealed.

“When I heard of Destin’s attachment, it happened to be right after watching a blockbuster action film of his, and I thought he would be the perfect director for Naruto,” Kishimoto said at the time. “After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people, I became convinced that there is no other director for Naruto. In actually meeting Destin, I also found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input, and felt strongly that we would be able to cooperate together in the production process. To put it simply, the live-action Naruto is bound to be a film with spectacular action and profound drama. I can’t help but be excited for it.”

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Modern game consoles and handhelds just don’t offer the nostalgia that a great arcade cabinet can bring. From mashable buttons and a responsive joystick to a big display and a familiar form factor, they bring retro and even modern titles to life in a way that can’t be replicated. Whether an arcade machine lives in a game room, your living room, or even a break room at the office, it’ll be the focal point of any space, sure to bring countless hours of joy to kids of all ages.

If you’ve been considering an arcade machine, Dream Arcades has 22 years of experience and a reputation that you want when building the cabinet of your dreams. All your favorite classic arcade titles, from Pac-Man and Street Fighter II to Mortal Kombat and Dragon’s Lair, are available. In total, over 300 games are included with a Dream Arcades cabinet, and over 100,000 titles can be accessed using its Retro Reload software.

Save $100 and Get 75 Games Free for Black Friday

A former Xbox executive has called on Valve to allow third-parties to use SteamOS to make their own Steam Machines, amid concern over the price of the next-gen living room PC.

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. We here at IGN have offered our thoughts on how much the Steam Machine will cost, suggesting it’ll probably be higher than people think. Chatter about pricing recently ramped up after Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips suggested it wouldn’t follow a “console pricing model” of $500, after mentioning the figure in a meeting with Valve staff.

Now, Mike Ybarra, former President of Blizzard Entertainment and executive on Microsoft’s Windows and Xbox team, has urged Valve to open the door to next-gen Steam Machines from third-party companies, which, he said, would only increase Steam store revenue.

"Dear @valvesoftware," he said in a tweet, "please just let 3rd parties use SteamOS and make the HW with many different configurations. SteamOS will take off and your Store revenue will only go up.”

Ybarra’s comment was in response to the suggestion that Valve’s Steam Machine will likely cost above $750. We’ve suggested Steam Machine will cost $700-$800. To put that into perspective, the base PS5 with a disc drive currently costs $549.99, while the PS5 Digital Edition costs $499.99. The PS5 Pro, meanwhile, costs $749.99.

Presumably, if third-parties were able to get in on the action they might release cheaper alternatives. At least, that's what Ybarra is suggesting here. But it’s worth remembering that third-parties already can use SteamOS — just look at the Lenovo Legion Go S. Indeed, in an interview with IGN on Steam Machine, Valve sounded open to other hardware running SteamOS. It just comes down to other manufacturers investing in building the hardware.

And let's not forget that what Ybarra is asking Valve to do is exactly what it did do with the first iteration of Steam Machine a decade ago: third-party boxes running Valve's operating system. So, in theory anyone could have made a Steam Machine at any time over the last 10 years, but they... didn't.

Ybarra went on to urge Microsoft to get in on the SteamOS action, too, although admitted this is unlikely. “This is what Xbox should do, btw,” he said. “But they will likely be forced to push Windows with AI, co-pilot, teams, and more. They could do GREAT if they embraced SteamOS on HW.”

Microsoft, as everyone knows, has PC / console hybrid plans of its own. A recent report claimed the next Xbox 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).

We’ve got plenty more on all Valve’s recent hardware announcements, and have a handy roundup so you don’t miss a thing. We went hands-on with Steam Machine and Steam Controller, and if you’re wondering about Steam Deck 2, we asked Valve about that as well.

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.

Recently, IGN teamed up with Nintendo Life to rank the Top 100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time. But this celebration wasn't just about what we think: we also wanted to know what your list would be, too. This was calculated through our Face Off tool, which pits two games against each other until you’ve run through all of the permutations, and then places the games in order of their win percentage. So, following a face-off in which thousands of you voted — with your number one pick being involved in 21,405 duels — we’ve got a Top 25 based on the IGN audience’s opinion.

The games that appear in this list actually aren’t too different from the ones that make up our own top positions, albeit with quite a different order. You favour Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series over most others. So much, in fact, that the top 10 is dominated entirely by these two Miyamoto creations.

What follows is the Top 25 as voted by IGN readers, with a handy comparison below that shows your picks alongside the IGN and Nintendo Life’s list.

25. Mario Kart 64 – 59.0% Win Rate

24. Super Mario Bros. – 59.2% Win Rate

23. Pokemon Yellow (Red/Blue) – 59.4% Win Rate

22. Donkey Kong Bananza – 61.2% Win Rate

21. Chrono Trigger – 61.2% Win Rate

20. GoldenEye 007 – 61.9% Win Rate

19. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – 62.7% Win Rate

18. Super Metroid – 62.7% Win Rate

17. Super Smash Bros. Melee – 63.4% Win Rate

16. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – 65.3% Win Rate

15. Metroid Prime (+ Remastered) – 65.6% Win Rate

14. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask – 66.1% Win Rate

13. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 66.1% Win Rate

12. Super Mario Galaxy 2 – 66.8% Win Rate

11. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 66.9% Win Rate

10. Super Mario. Bros 3 – 67.9% Win Rate

9. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – 68.4% Win Rate

8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – 69.0% Win Rate

7. Super Mario Galaxy – 69.6% Win Rate

6. Super Mario World – 70.5% Win Rate

5. Super Mario 64 – 70.5% Win Rate

4. Super Mario Odyssey – 71.3% Win Rate

3. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – 73.2% Win Rate

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 77.1% Win Rate

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – 77.5% Win Rate

So, that's what you voted as the 25 best Nintendo games ever, but how does it compare to IGN and Nintendo Life’s version? Well, there are a few notable differences. The IGN readers picked Mario Kart 64 as number 25 — a game that didn’t even make our Top 100 as one of our two Mario Kart entries. On the flip side, we had Tetris placed at 5, but it was all the way down at 33 in the public vote.

You can check out the table below to get a direct comparison between the top 25s. Which do you ultimately agree with more? Let us know in the comments below!

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

A Star Wars fan filmmaker has accused Disney of directly copying a fight sequence he created, and re-using it shot-for-shot within an episode of Star Wars: Visions.

The sequence, including its fight choreography and camera angles, appears identical in a 12-second video posted to Instagram by fan Lorenz Hideyoshi, showing his unofficial work side-by-side with a clip from the Disney+ animated show.

"When Disney blatantly steals your action design," reads a caption on the video, which contrasts Visions' 2023 episode The Bandits of Golak with Hideyoshi's own Dark Jedi: A Star Wars Story, a short film he released in December 1999 via YouTube.

"I mean they already had a different weapons setup, but still managed to brute force (push) my choreo onto that action," Hideyoshi wrote. "Didn’t even change the camera angles."

"Why Disney?" he continued. "Is it because we made a non-profit tribute fan film of one of your IPs and now you feel justified in stealing from this pool of creative output? Maybe either a) pay your animators more or b) hire an action designer."

While Disney owns Star Wars maker LucasFilm, Visions is the work of numerous animation studios spread across the world, with this particular episode in particular made by Indian outlet 88 Pictures. IGN has contacted Disney for comment.

Last month, a third season of Star Wars: Visions was released on Disney+, adding a further nine stories to the anthology series. Each episode contains its own self-contained story set somewhere in the Star Wars universe, though the series is not treated as official canon.

"As a whole, Star Wars Visions Volume 3 is the animated series’ most uneven outing to date," IGN wrote in its review of the latest season, awarding it a 6/10.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Resident Evil Requiem will feature classic characters connected to the Raccoon City incident, Capcom has now acknowledged — while stopping short of confirming exactly who.

Speculation is rife that floppy-haired fan-favorite Leon S. Kennedy will be back for Requiem, revisiting the city where he spent a fateful first day as a rookie police officer back in Resident Evil 2.

But, to date, Capcom has refused to discuss whether fans will reconnect with any familiar faces in Requiem, choosing instead to focus its marketing efforts on new protagonist Grace Ashcroft, daughter of Resident Evil Outbreak's Alyssa Ashcroft.

Now, in an interview with Well-Played, producer Masato Kumazawa has finally confirmed that "yes, there are going to be some characters from the past series to come in."

It's worth stating that Kumazawa is responding here to a question which asked specifically whether other Outbreak characters, as well as Alyssa, will show up in Requiem. But Kumazawa does then go on to mention characters "involved in the Raccoon City incident" generally will appear. Here's the full quote:

"I would say that yes, there are going to be some characters from the past series to come in, but don’t over-expect or hype it," Kumazawa teased. "We can’t promise you anything about that, but the only thing I can say is that there will be characters that have been involved in the Raccoon City incident involved in the game."

The debate around whether other characters — and specifically Leon — are in Requiem has dominated discussion of the game to date, though Capcom seems happy to keep the speculation going. While focusing on Grace Ashcroft in trailers and early gameplay previews, the publisher has never explicitly stated that she is the sole playable character.

In a separate interview published online this week, Kumazawa branded a specific fan image of Leon with an eyepatch as "fake news," and suggested it was the work of AI. But again, the producer stopped short of simply saying Leon isn't in the game — which, at this point, you'd think developers would simply state in order to manage expectations.

Resident Evil Requiem launches on February 27, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S. There's still plenty of time for more reveals.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Remember when David Zaslav and Warner Bros. Discovery just completely cancelled and shelved the nearly completed Batgirl back in 2022? Oh, you can’t forget? Us neither. Now, The Mummy star Brendan Fraser has opened up about what he thinks the film’s cancellation means for the state of the industry.

Fraser played villain Firefly in the unreleased Batgirl film, a role he has said in the past was "great fun." Unfortunately, fans will never see it.

“A whole movie,” he remarked to Associated Press in a recent interview. “I mean, there were four floors of production in Glasgow. I was sneaking into the art department just to geek out.”

Fraser added: “The tragedy of that is that there’s a generation of little girls who don’t have a heroine to look up to and go, ‘She looks like me.’ I mean, Michael Keaton came back as Batman. The Batman! The product — I’m sorry, ‘content’ — is being commodified to the extent that it’s more valuable to burn it down and get the insurance on it than to give it a shot in the marketplace. I mean, with respect, we could blight itself.”

When Warner Bros. scrapped the film in 2022 as a tax write-off, it claimed the decision was due to cost-cutting measures enacted to protect the company’s bottom line. Naturally, this unprecedented choice caused major backlash in the industry, with gutted reactions from directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, and star Leslie Grace. DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran went on to claim in 2023 that the movie “was not releasable” and “would have hurt DC.”

The company went on to shelve Coyote vs. Acme the following year, but ultimately allowed the picture to be shopped around for new distribution, which will be handled by Ketchup Entertainment for a 2026 worldwide theatrical release.

"I got the chance to watch it, and it was a phenomenal film,” Jacob Scipio, one of the film’s stars, told The Direct last month. “Man, I'm really sad the world never got to see it. But you know, you never know. You never know.”

In August, Michael Keaton, who as Fraser mentioned reprised his role as Batman in Batgirl, admitted he was not all that bothered when the movie fell by the wayside. GQ asked Keaton whether he found the fate of Batgirl disappointing. The short answer was "no." He was unfazed by the cancellation but did admit to feeling bad for the movie's directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

"No, I didn't care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check," Keaton said while, according to the outlet, rubbing his fingers together in a money gesture resembling the act of clutching dollar bills.

"I like those boys. They're nice guys," he added about Batgirl's directing duo. "I pull for them. I want them to succeed, and I think they felt very badly, and that made me feel bad. Me? I'm good."

Keaton, who many regard as the best live-action Batman, starred as the Dark Knight in Tim Burton's 1989 movie of the same name before returning for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns. He then dipped out of the franchise because Joel Schumacher had a new creative vision for the third film, leaving the role open for Val Kilmer.

However, Keaton didn't hang up the cape and cowl for good, as he returned to the role again in 2022's The Flash. Batgirl would have been next on the DCEU slate if Warner Bros. hadn't cancelled it, coming out ahead of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Joker: Folie à Deux.

A set photo showed Grace and Keaton standing face-to-face in full costume in a scene that presumably played during the film's funeral screening, acting as a send-off for the movie before it got locked in the vault.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

The name “Disney” has been showing up in quite a lot of gaming-related headlines as of late. As part of its arms race with Netflix, the conglomerate announced plans to add AI-powered user-generated content and “game-like features” to Disney+. Last year, it acquired a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games, adding yet another cash cow to its portfolio. That deal paved the way for Disneyland Game Rush, a Fortnite island released earlier this month to celebrate the theme park’s 70th birthday that features well-received minigames based on Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and other iconic rides.

These developments are more than a little surprising, not least because it’s been close to a decade since Disney pulled the plug on its own, in-house gaming initiatives. Disney Interactive Studios, lovingly remembered for its work with Square on Kingdom Hearts and that 1989 NES DuckTales platformer that inspired the bounce mechanic in Shovel Knight, closed down in 2016 following the cancellation of its flagship project, Disney Infinity. Asked why, Bob Iger – who was then nearing the end of his first stint as CEO – told shareholders that while the company was great at making movies and building theme parks, they weren’t nearly as skilled at designing games.

Others would beg to differ. While it’s true that Disney has never managed to compete with Nintendo, Ubisoft, or Electronic Arts, its influence on games as a medium might well be greater than all of these three companies combined. To understand how the company was able to leave a mark on the one part of the entertainment industry it couldn’t conquer, you need to go where Fortnite has gone: to Disneyland.