I confess that I had never heard of 2020’s pixelated arcade shooter Huntdown, but after playing (and replaying) through the demo for its upcoming prequel, Huntdown: Overtime, I immediately went back and did so. That’s because I was so completely hooked by the hour or so of roguelike action that I was fiending for more. Playing the original was also a lot of fun, but this followup seeks to improve in just about every way, making it a bit hard to go back. The cheeky retro ‘80’s tone appeals to my thirst for nonsense, the run-and-gun sidescrolling action channels the likes of Contra or Metal Slug, and the roguelike system of upgrades and repeated failure against daunting odds made it extremely hard to put down. I went from this not being on my radar at all, to eagerly anticipating when it comes to Steam Early Access later this year, making this an early contender for my most anticipated indie game of 2026.

You can infer almost everything you need to know about Huntdown: Overtime’s absurd 80s pulp action vibe by its title alone. Taking place in the dystopian, crime-ridden city of Detroit in 2084, you play a cybernetic rogue robocop who battles against flamboyant street gangs like something out of every VHS action movie you’ve ever seen. You’ll go toe-to-toe against the likes of a shirtless bouncer who pummels you with his fists and climbs around on the ceiling like a monkey, to a six-fingered rockstar called Sammy Sixfingers who tries to kill you with an electric guitar while performing a guitar solo in front of a live audience. The whole thing is just incredibly over the top in the right kind of way, making it very easy to replay each section as you try and fail to get through levels in typical roguelike fashion.

It certainly helps that even when you’re replaying through the same series of levels, things are always a little different. For one, the bosses and levels you end up with on each run have a bit of randomness to them in terms of which you’ll get and in what order, which is aided by the fact that you’re given two routes to choose from if you’d like to avoid one you’ve seen more of than you’d like. The levels themselves seem to be procedurally generated as well, and kept me on my toes with slightly different layouts and enemies never appearing in the same order. This procedural component isn’t anything we haven’t seen before, and the level layouts and enemies you’ll find are similar enough playthrough-to-playthrough that you’ll figure out the patterns pretty quick and run out of things to be surprised by (at least in the short section I played).

Combat is also not anything new, modeled after the likes of Contra or Mega Man, where you’re running and jumping through 2D levels blasting everytc hing in sight as you avoid incoming bullets and environmental hazards. That said, though it doesn’t have many new tricks, the formula it apes is extremely polished here, even in this pre-release state. While initially I was dying a lot and felt destined to be outmaneuvered by the numerous gangsters coming after me, it took less than an hour before I was sliding around, flying through the air, and shooting my way through entire sections without taking a single hit. That’s the kind of rewarding mastery I look for in games like this. It actually sort of reminded me of Hotline Miami, reimagined from a sidescrolling perspective, because although you can take more than one hit, there’s something very pleasantly familiar about the crisp gunplay and melee combat, especially when you hit someone with a baseball bat and see their pink, pixelated giblets go soaring across the screen.

The highlight of each run is when you come into contact with the larger-than-life bosses that can be found in each level. Some of these appear in regular sidescrolling levels, whe re maybe someone named Frankie Starsimmon Sr. will attack you with a big ol’ shotgun and leave you with the option to damage her before taking her alive, or just killing her for a lesser bounty. The ability to take bounties alive for an added bonus to your reward is a particularly nice touch that I’m glad to see they added after the original. But things get especially crazy during the boss fights where you go up against someone with a dedicated boss health bar. The main fight in the demo was against a rockstar who used his stage’s pyrotechnics to try and burn you alive, and always had his stagehand nearby to hand him a new electric guitar after he lost the last one trying to hurl it through the back of your head. These fights can be really challenging, as roguelikes are wont to do, and nine times out of ten when I failed a run it was the fault of one of these deadly weirdos. But they were also some of my favorite moments, and made gearing up for the next big fight that much more exciting.

The retreaded ground you’ll encounter as part of the roguelike formula feels especially easy to get through because of the steady stream of unlockables, upgrades, and buildcrafting options that come with each new playthrough. In one playthrough, for example, you might decide to forgo guns for a pure melee weapon build, grabbing perks and upgrades that enhance your close-range combat skills, while in another you might get your hands on a new plasma rifle you just unlocked and blast your way through rows of thugs with ease. Like many of its genre peers, the joy is in having a build come together perfectly so you can bring it to bear against the string of challenging bosses that have been sending you back to the beginning again and again.

The impressive thing about Huntdown: Overtime is that, at least in the full region I played during the demo, I never started a new run without a ton of new stuff to level up and try out. Sometimes that meant I’d unlock a new weapon that could then be found and powered up during runs, while other times it meant buying a certain permanent upgrade that made my healing items more potent, made me move faster, or some other useful boon to give me an edge on my next run. The pace of unlocks and progression felt perfectly balanced so I never felt like I’d hit a wall or had nothing interesting and new to bring into battle next time. It was so easy to immediately go from one run to the next, that even though I originally sat down for a 20-minute session, I ended up playing until I beat every boss in the demo in a single sitting, completely unable to tear myself away when I was sure the next playthrough would bring me victory. And even after I had my first successful run, I then was returned to base to find even more stuff had unlocked that I just had to try, and found myself immediately going straight into my next run just to try out some new stuff. I can’t remember the last time I found myself so instantly hooked!

One thing that piqued my interest after I went back to play the original Huntdown is the fact that this prequel only has one playable character versus the numerous agents you could take on the role of in the first game. While it feels weird to go backwards with the number of playable characters, Overtime’s demo was so polished and finely tuned that I honestly didn’t feel like I was missing much. It seems to be their focusing in on one specific playstyle and trying to make that work extremely well vs. the buffet-style protagonists, each with their own bag of tricks, that was in the first Huntdown.

I wasn’t expecting to end up so completely won over by such a short glimpse into Huntdown: Overtime, especially after seeing its dorky story and retro art style, but you can count me among the believers. For any roguelike fans out there, this is absolutely one to watch.

This review is based on a screening from the Sundance Film Festival.

In Union County, writer and director Adam Meeks offers an intimate glimpse into America's opioid epidemic. His feature debut, adapted from his 2020 short of the same name, employs a blend of actors and non-actors. With permission, Meeks collaborates with the participants of the 2025 Adult Recovery Court in Bellefontaine, Ohio – his hometown. What's presented is an impressively understated portrayal of the highs and lows of battling addiction, noteworthy for its solemn authenticity.

Will Poulter stars as Cody Parsons, a drug addict since he was a teenager who enters a court-mandated rehabilitation program. The Adam Warlock actor tackles a largely internalized role, as Cody chokes down his demons while attempting to lead a sober lifestyle. In the same program is his brother Jack (a scruffily bearded Noah Centineo), whom Cody introduced to narcotics seven years prior. Together, Cody and Jack attend their Adult Recovery Court meetings in the hope of progressing to further levels…but there's no off switch for their cravings.

Meeks’ chameleon act of inserting Poulter and Centineo into actual Ohio addiction meetings pays mighty dividends. Like 2023’s Sing Sing, which cast real-life alums of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts group, Union County never feels like it’s pandering or out of touch. As participants take the podium to update the judge on their progress or struggles, we witness their genuine reactions. It's not hard to pick Poulter or Centineo from the lineup at first, but that's not the point; in these scenes, the actors fade into the background while real addicts bare their humble vulnerabilities to the audience. It's the kind of independent experimentation that's perfect for the Sundance Film Festival, and it would make Robert Redford proud.

Poulter is up for the challenge as Cody, thrown into a tumultuous role where every day and decision is monumental. From relapses to rebuilding, Poulter keeps a stoicism about Cody that reads like a man who's constantly at war with himself. There's a correlation between increased dialogue and Cody's upward trajectory, as Meeks uses his self-isolating protagonist to demonstrate the healing power of community. Union County does a beautiful job of capturing the compassion and dedication within Bellefontaine's Adult Recovery Court, from encouraging guardians to motivated graduates.

The Ohio-based production draws on the townsfolk’s spirits, which helps everything fall into place. Costume designs blend Poulter, Centineo, and the few other professional actors with the others while cinematography captures the midwestern vacancy of lumber plants and wavy, grassy fields. Nothing's Hollywoodized; drama is kept soft and quiet, despite the gravity of the consequences. As Cody gets a menial job, moves into a no-frills sober house, and crushes on a peer supporter at the neighboring woman's home (Anna, played by Elise Kibler), Meeks locks in on the prevailing silence, in which addicts can unfortunately suffer all too ofteen.

However, Meeks' low rumble of an addiction film might test the patience of specific viewers. It's extremely grounded, with a listlessness to its story progression. At times, Union County feels like it's settling into the too-familiar motions of the addiction subgenre, shuffling toward the next court appearance without much escalation. Meeks' intentions are plain, and he achieves the tone and pacing he deems appropriate, but the film almost hesitates at points before moving forward with a fairly evenhanded yet sporadically tepid consistency.

That said, what Meeks accomplishes by embracing environmental normalcy is a potent achievement. Poulter interacts with program members as if they're longtime acquaintances, while they reciprocate organic empathy when Cody shares his pain in group sessions. Everything rides on the believability of actors mingling with untrained program participants, and the film passes with flying colors. It's a compassionate, penetrating, bare-all snapshot of what people with a substance use disorder face throughout their lives, and a film that inspires excitement about the future of American independent filmmaking à la Kelly Reichardt or Derek Cianfrance.

Google has begun selling access to Project Genie, an interactive world creation tool that lets you generate playable environments from a prompt — including those featuring Nintendo characters.

The technology is certainly remarkable, as Google's Genie 3 models playable 3D spaces in real time based upon user inputs, and allows you to run, swim, fly, or ride in vehicles around its AI-generated worlds.

But the AI technology has also launched with a telling lack of restrictions around copyrighted material — which the model also appears to have been trained upon. A preview of the possibilities published by The Verge shows its reporter able to create playable 3D scenes that look a direct copy of Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Kingdom Hearts.

Step inside Project Genie: our experimental research prototype that lets you create, edit, and explore virtual worlds. 🌎 pic.twitter.com/HQr1FRNlpy

— Google DeepMind (@GoogleDeepMind) January 29, 2026

Footage published on social media shows gameplay clearly based on Nintendo's actual Breath of the Wild, where a knock-off Link runs around a world similar to Hyrule, and accurately deploys a glider as he leaps off a cliff. Other creations include a generated world with similarities to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto.

There is no map pre-loaded in memory. As your agent explores, Genie predicts and renders the path ahead instantly. Infinite exploration. pic.twitter.com/5lZzhFS6vo

— sammy (@sumiturkude007) January 30, 2026

Right now, Project Genie is limited to generating interactive experiences it can maintain for up to 60 seconds, with a resolution and frame rate capped at around 720p and 24fps. Still, Google is selling access as part of its Google AI Ultra subscription, its top level of access to AI features that costs $124.99 per month when signing up for a three-month package. (Also, Project Genie access is currently just for U.S. subscribers aged 18 or over.)

"Project Genie is an experimental research prototype designed to follow prompts a user provides," Google Deepmind product manager Diego Rivas told The Verge when asked why the the product generated material that was clearly based on Nintendo intellectual property. "As with all experiments, we are monitoring closely and listening to user feedback." The Verge noted that its ability to generate worlds based on Mario had subsequently been halted, with a warning message that blamed the "interests of third-party content providers."

IGN has contacted Nintendo for comment.

The situation feels reminiscent to the rollout of OpenAI's Sora 2 video model last October, which initially allowed users to generate clips featuring licensed Nintendo and Disney characters, including Mario, Darth Vader, Pikachu and an array of other Pokémon. Shortly after, OpenAI vowed to give copyright holders "more granular control" over the creation of what the company's boss Sam Altman dubbed "interactive fan fiction." Less than two months later, Disney said it was investing $1 billion into OpenAI to officially license 200 of its most popular characters for the AI model to use, in a move that the Mickey Mouse owner described as a way to "thoughtfully and responsibly extend" its storytelling.

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

The Legend of Zelda. The Witcher. Dragon’s Dogma. Monster Hunter. Street Fighter. And now, GTA 5? Every time South Korean studio Pearl Abyss shows off a new slice of its upcoming open-world, action-adventure Crimson Desert, I feel like I see a new line of influence. Over the six years since its reveal, we’ve seen a fantasy land akin to one Geralt would explore, puzzle shrines in the sky that could easily hover above Hyrule, and a complex combat system rooted in Capcom classics. But in the developer’s latest lengthy video detailing the world of Pywel, a new surprise awaited us: the addition of two new playable characters to join Scottish Jon Snow-alike main protagonist, Kliff Macduff. With whole skillsets of their own for us to now anticipate getting our heads around, I can’t help but be excited, but also cautiously wary. By trying to do so much, does Crimson Desert risk achieving nothing?

I say this as someone who has had the benefit of seeing and playing Crimson Desert more than pretty much anyone outside of Pearl Abyss’ walls, having visited the studio a few months back for our IGN First. Despite playing a good few hours of it, and having quite a lot of fun with its dynamic systems and satisfyingly flexible action, I still left feeling like I’d only scratched the surface of what Crimson Desert has in store. And I don’t mean that entirely positively – while it’s good to leave a preview knowing there’s plenty more to see, it’s not often you conclude a studio visit still unsure of a game’s big picture. If all those hours of hands-on haven’t successfully communicated what the game is, is something off?

We now know that Crimson Desert’s open world is twice the size of Skyrim’s and larger than Red Dead Redemption 2’s. I’ve put over 200 hours into Rockstar’s Western masterpiece and feel like I still haven’t seen everything, so it’s anyone’s guess how much awaits in this world. Crimson Desert’s Pywel is a gorgeous piece of geography, too, with streets filled with life and rivers running with glistening water. That water is also systemically linked to the gameplay options, conducting lightning magic to electrocute those who stand in it, and is transformed into blocks of ice when struck by freezing spells.

It’s all very impressive on a technical level, but leaves me wondering if this is all part of a “we can put it in the game, so why shouldn’t we?” mentality. From what I played, and from talking to the team, the ability to manipulate the elements won’t necessarily have puzzles or challenges built around them to make it a system you’d legitimately find worthwhile. In Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, for example, you know that if you’re taught how to make giant ice cubes, a puzzle shrine will likely follow asking you to put that lesson into action. Nintendo is a developer that has been making games like this for decades now, though, whereas Pearl Abyss is a studio in its relative infancy, having only released MMORPG Black Desert Online so far. By trying to fit everything it can think a player would like to do in a fantasy open world into Crimson Desert, I fear it may be shooting straight for the moon without learning how to get into orbit first.

It all loops back to this latest revelation that not only will we be playing through Kliff’s story, but stepping into the shoes of two new protagonists along the way. The as-yet-unnamed characters with their own (presumably) complex fighting systems look very fun to play as, don’t get me wrong — I’m particularly drawn to the quick dodging, magic-shifting, pistol-wielding woman who appears at first glance to better fit my more rogue-ish tendencies — but it's yet another layer added on top of an already ambitious cake. I like cake, you can probably tell from a quick look at my face that that would be the case, but when it's stacked so high that even Bruce Bogtrotter would take a pass on it, I worry it's a sign that Crimson Desert should not be trying to have and eat it.

The other new playable hero is a hulking, giant axe-wielding brute with a machine gun attached to his wrist. If you’ve been keeping up with Crimson Desert, you’ll know that this isn’t your typical fantasy world, but one where dragons, steam trains, and mechs also roam around. It’s all very exciting in isolation, and genuinely fun to play as your giant metal monsters come face-to-face with helpless medieval soldiers holding only a shield. The power trip is there; I just worry about the rest of the journey.

Story and questing are incredibly important to me when it comes to open-world games. The Witcher’s twisting tales and many memorable side stories are what make The Wild Hunt an all-timer in my eyes. The cast of characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 and the way they weave seamlessly in and out of its world are what make it my favourite game ever. Crimson Desert has a lot going for it — the combat is exciting, the world is diverse and beautiful, and its systems are impressively reactive — but I can’t help but feel wary. Most of the missions I’ve played so far, at several different events, have been castle sieges, often ending in admittedly impressive boss battles. But, they’ve all been relatively thin narrative-wise, aside from an interesting detour to a mad inventor’s lair where he’d built a golden mechanical dragon, as you do. I’ve seen little of what’s going to be the thrust story-wise in Crimson Desert as a whole to get me hyped in that regard, nor met any characters that I feel will get close to my heart. And I can’t help but worry that there’s a reason we’ve seen so little of this world’s story.

Now, with the surprise addition of two extra playable protagonists to get to know on this adventure that is less than two months away, I worry that Kliff and his friends may well be fun to play as stylistically, but contain little substance within them. I’d be very happy to be wrong, though. I’ve been looking forward to Crimson Desert for a long time now, and have had a genuinely fun time whenever I’ve managed to get hands-on with it. I just wonder how all of these well-constructed building blocks will, in turn, create a greater whole. Will its gameplay systems overlap in interesting ways and be built into mission design? Will authorial intent come to the fore, or will I ultimately feel like a kid being dropped into a sandbox of possibilities with direction? I’m excited, just also a little afraid that by trying to be everything, it may end up achieving nothing.

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.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 creative director Fawzi Mesmar has responded to Ubisoft's sweeping company reshuffle that resulted in the cancellation or delay of a swathe of game projects, as well as studio closures and layoffs — including a further 200 job losses proposed at the company's Paris headquarters this week.

Writing on LinkedIn, former DICE veteran Mesmar assured fans of Ubisoft's long-in-development Beyond Good & Evil 2 that the project had not been impacted in the restructure, as had previously been expected. Still, the developer said he was "saddened" by the reorganization's effects on his colleagues across the wider company.

With an on-again, off-again development stretching back almost two decades, Beyond Good & Evil 2 remains an ongoing project within Ubisoft, led by its French team based in Montpellier.

"Thank you for everyone who has reached out to me over the past few days in regards to recent news at Ubisoft," Mesmar wrote. "Myself, my team and our project Beyond Good and Evil 2 are unaffected by the recent changes. I would direct you to the official press release for more information around the latest organisational structure."

This press release was the one which laid out Ubisoft leadership's vision for the company to be split into five "Creative Houses" that lump the publisher's many franchises into groups loosely based around their genre and audience.

Last week, Beyond Good & Evil was announced as being part of Creative House 4, a group dedicated to narrative driven and fantasy-orientated series that also includes Anno, Might & Magic, Rayman and Prince of Persia (though not the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake, which was canned).

"Needless to say, I am saddened by the cancellations that has affected my colleagues in other parts of Ubisoft and the industry," Mesmar continued. "I urge everyone — myself included — to offer support whenever and however they can during these times.

"We remain committed and focused on delivering a remarkable game for our players to enjoy," he concluded.

Beyond Good & Evil 2 originally begun early development in 2007, with series creator and Rayman mastermind Michel Ancel on board alongside the majority of the Montpellier team behind the first Beyond Good & Evil game. Development was put on the back burner while Ancel's team worked on other projects, but Ubisoft re-announced the game with fanfare in 2017 and showed off an in-engine concept featuring space flight and designs to feature multiple solar systems and planets.

Again, however, development struggled — and the project was further impacted by Ancel's departure from Ubisoft and the sad death of its subsequent creative lead Emil Morel. But the last couple of years have seen work coalesce once more, with the sequel's characters given intriguing cameos in the new Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition, and the hiring of Mesmar as creative director to steady the ship. That said, 20 years on from the original, there remains no word on when its follow-up will launch.

Earlier this week, an actress believed to have been working on the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake said that she had lost three years' worth of work and discovered her project had been canceled after her brother read about Ubisoft's shock decision online.

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

If you’ve seen Crimson Desert’s impressive 15-minute gameplay video, you might be wincing at the thought of it running smoothly on your console or PC. Well, right now, the developers at Pearl Abyss are focusing on optimization to help ensure a “smooth” experience when the game comes out in March.

Crimson Desert is set in a huge and seamless open world packed with enemies, NPCs, and all sorts of things to do. It’s dense with detail, and you can zip around quickly on the back of a dragon. Based on the video, below, Crimson Desert will be a demanding beast — it will be interesting in particular to see how it runs on the Xbox Series S.

According to Will Powers, director of public relations at Pearl Abyss America, the developers are doubling down on the "optimization phase” as we speak, telling former IGN video extraordinaire Destin Legarie in a new interview that this is the focus ahead of Crimson Desert’s March 19 release date.

“We have gone gold. Now comes further, further optimization to make the game run as good as it possibly can,” Powers said. “And that’s as important of a part. So that's the phase we're currently in between now and launch to make sure that the experience when players eventually get their hands on the game, is as smooth as possible.”

Powers wouldn’t go into specifics on the graphics settings that will be available on consoles, but did confirm Crimson Desert has PS5 Pro enhancement. You can also turn off the particle effects in settings, although Powers said they do convey important information during fights.

Pearl Abyss built a new engine for Crimson Desert, and Powers explained that it’s capable of providing a 4K60 native presentation, complete with ray tracing, without the aid of graphics technology such as DLSS or FSR. But of course you’ll need powerful hardware to enable it.

“Yeah, we'll show 4K 60 native, sure, with ray tracing on, that's not done through DLSS or FSR, that's done natively in-engine,” Powers said. “And then if you want to further optimize then you can tweak all the settings and do all the things, but we want to show that you don't have to… like the game itself should be able to stand on its own.”

And on that decision to go with a proprietary engine:

“I'm not going to say that the game is absolutely perfectly optimized, but within the engine it's using every single thing. So it's as optimized as it can be within that space. That's not possible otherwise. And so rendering thousands of trees within draw distance, it does those things better than an off-the-shelf engine could because of that.

“Off-the-shelf engines weren't able to deliver the uncompromised vision that the developers set forth to create with this game. So, they needed to create their own engine in order to deliver on that vision.”

Crimson Desert’s huge open world has been a topic of debate recently. Pywel is divided into five distinct regions: Hernand; Pailune; Demeniss; Delesyia; and the Crimson Desert itself. The main quest revolves around protagonist Kliff’s journey, but you’re free to explore the world in any order, taking faction-driven quests, large-scale battles, fortress sieges and smaller, character-focused missions.

Pearl Abyss confirmed that as the story progresses, two additional playable characters become available, each with unique combat styles, skills and weapons. Exploration is a big part of the game — you travel on horseback, climb terrain, glide across distances, and later access advanced traversal options such as a missile-firing mech and a dragon. Pearl Abyss said the world is filled with hidden treasures, ancient mechanisms, puzzles and points of interest “designed to reward curiosity and discovery.” As for combat, expect to face enemy soldiers, sorcerers, beasts and machines.

Earlier this month, Powers called Crimson Desert’s open world “absolutely massive,” bigger even than that of Bethesda’s Skyrim and Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2.

Speaking on the Gaming Interviews YouTube channel, Powers said that describing the size of Crimson Desert’s world in terms of numbers doesn’t do it justice, because doing so fails to capture the scope and scale of the game. But he did go as far as to compare it to two of the biggest open-world games around.

"I don't think numbers really do it justice because, how big is that in terms of scope and scale?” he said. “But what we can say is that the world's at least twice as big as the open world, the playable area, of Skyrim. It's larger than the map of Red Dead Redemption 2."

Powers went on to insist that the size of Crimson Desert’s open world wouldn't determine its quality. Rather, what you actually do in it is the key factor.

"The continent of Pywel is absolutely massive, but size doesn't really matter if there's nothing to do,” he said. “Open-world games are about doing things, having activities, having distractions. So we wanted to create a world that's not only massive, but is also incredibly interactive."

Image credit: Pearl Abyss.

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.

Following the revelation that hit superhero game Dispatch features enforced censorship on Switch platforms, Nintendo has responded to address the situation.

Earlier this week, copies of the game's Switch version were discovered to have Dispatch's pre-existing 'Visual Censorship' setting enabled by default, with no option to toggle it on/off as seen on other platforms.

Dispatch developer AdHoc Studio acknowledged the change in a statement that noted how "different platforms have different content criteria" and that the company has "worked with Nintendo to adapt certain elements so Dispatch could be on their platform." Now, Nintendo itself has chimed in to try and explain the matter further.

"Nintendo requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organizations and to meet our established content and platform guidelines," a Nintendo spokesperson told IGN.

"While we inform partners when their titles don’t meet our guidelines, Nintendo does not make changes to partner content. We also do not discuss specific content or the criteria used in making these determinations."

In other words, yes, Nintendo does require content on Switch to meet certain requirements, and will flag when it decides that something has fallen foul of these. However, Nintendo does not change the game itself — meaning that the manner of how an issue might be remedied is up to the developer.

Shaun of the Dead star Nick Frost has revealed how he manifested himself getting the part of Hagrid in HBO's new Harry Potter TV series: by writing the name "Hagrid" down 7,000 times while binging the franchise's movies.

Frost will take on the role of Hagrid in HBO's ambitious TV project that's set to adapt all seven Harry Potter books over the coming decade. The star of Spaced, Hot Fuzz and Paul was announced as playing Hagrid last year, taking on the baton from the late Robbie Coltrane, who played the Hogwarts groundskeeper throughout the previous film series.

Speaking to The Guardian, Frost said he was already familiar with the Harry Potter universe as his family watches all eight movies as a regular ritual each Christmas. It was during Christmas 2024's rewatch, however, that he also attempted to get himself cast.

Inevitably, the New California Republic Power Armor that made such a dramatic appearance in the latest episode of the Fallout TV show is now in Fallout 76. But rather than sell it via the in-game shop and thus allow players to buy it with Atoms, Fallout 76’s virtual currency, it is only available as part of a standalone DLC bundle priced $30.

In lieu of a brand new Fallout video game, Bethesda has leaned heavily on Fallout 76 to capitalize on boosted interest in all things Fallout following the breakout success of the Prime Video TV show. Fallout 76 has Walton Goggins’ character The Ghoul dishing out quests, for example. There is a New Vegas-style expansion (Season 2 is set in New Vegas — or what’s left of it). And now Fallout 76 has the NCR Power Armor that Maximus uses to fight a pack of Deathclaws in Episode 7.

Never underestimate the power of brand recognition. pic.twitter.com/vuHbfcQ6EB

— FALLOUT⚡️ (@falloutonprime) January 28, 2026

That NCR Power Armor is a big talking point among Fallout fans for a number of reasons. It’s brand new — we’ve not seen its type in the video games before — and it sparks all sorts of questions about the Fallout lore and what we thought the NCR was capable of. Setting aside the fact that an NCR Power Armor appearance in Fallout 76, which is set before all the other Fallout video games, makes little sense lore wise because the NCR didn’t exist yet, its price has become the big talking point.

The NCR Power Armor is available in Fallout 76 via the Mojave Bundle, which includes the following:

• Ranger Power Armor Paint
• NCR Flag
• New Vegas Neon Sign
• Ad Victoriam (Super Sledge)
• Legion Legate Outfit
• Player Title Prefix – “Advictoriam”
• Player Title Prefix & Suffix – “Tribune”

Magic: The Gathering feels like it’s more popular than ever, and with no fewer than seven sets on the roadmap, here’s hoping there’s something for everyone.

The first set of the year is Lorwyn Eclipsed, and it’s pretty darn great, actually. It’s also causing some big changes to card value as players rush to upgrade its precons, particularly the Blight Curse one. Thanks to our friends at TCGplayer, we’ve got a rundown of the movers and shakers kicking off the latest set.

Climbers

Warning: This review contains full spoilers for The Pitt Season 2, Episode 4!

The ending to last week’s episode of The Pitt suggested the good times are just about over and everything is about to turn very bleak again for the men and women of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. That said, Episode 4 doesn’t end up delivering quite the tonal upheaval I was expecting. The tension is mounting, to be sure, but it’s clear the series is still operating under a slow-burn approach. And so far, that approach is working just fine.

There’s definitely an increased sense of urgency in Episode 4 as more patients start rolling in, including a pretty gnarly case of parkour gone awry. But again, the writers clearly aren’t turning the dial up to 11. There’s still ample time for the situation to really spiral out of control. Instead, we get a sense that the day is starting to heat up even as this episode manages to cling to the humor and heart that have defined Season 2 so far.

Ernest Harden Jr.’s Louie is probably the best example of that balance in action. We get some nice, heartfelt scenes between Louie and his caretakers, including further bonding with Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball). But as charming as Louie is, underneath it all, there’s a nagging and growing sense that something is about to go wrong. Is Louie’s luck about to run out? Is there some unforeseen complication that’s about to rear its head? I fear the answers to both questions are a definite yes. That, along with a handful of other cases like the ongoing mystery of Jackson Davis (Zack Morris), provides this episode with all the drama it needs.

If it seemed that Episode 3 wasn’t giving enough focus to the doctors, that’s not an issue this time around. This installment manages to keep a great many plates spinning and gives us valuable time with most of the big players. In particular, we get some solid scenes involving the newbies, Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), Kwon (Irene Choi), and Nurse Nolan (Laëtitia Hollard). Ogilvie has quickly become the guy we all love to hate, so it’s nice to see him knocked down a peg when his overeagerness endangers a patient’s life. Meanwhile, Kwon’s minor injury and Nolan’s bungled attempt to draw blood remind us that this series really does have a sly sense of humor when it wants.

And if it feels like Langdon still isn’t receiving quite as much focus as he deserves, at least Episode 4 makes it clear that this is by design. Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) is purposely (and perhaps foolishly) keeping him at arm’s length, pushing off that inevitable reconciliation scene we all know is coming. Gotta clear the air before the big sabbatical.

Some other, more lighthearted moments really stood out this week. It’s fun seeing Dr. McKay (Fiona Dourif) catch a break after some of the drama she endured in Season 1, fending off one flirtatious charmer of a patient and forming a connection with another. It’s also hilarious to learn that Javadi (Shabana Azeez) has been moonlighting as a YouTube advisor named “Dr. J.” Hopefully, we get to see a clip or two of her show before the season is up. Finally, it’s interesting to watch the shift in the tenor of the relationship between Drs. Whitaker (Gerran Howell) and Santos (Isa Briones), now that the former’s stock is on the rise and the latter can’t seem to catch a break. Is Santos next up for an on-the-job emotional breakdown?

Sony Pictures has unveiled the first look at director Sam Mendes’ The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event through postcard drops at various Beatles landmarks and music enthusiast locations in Liverpool (the Beatles’ hometown), New York City, Tokyo, and Hamburg.

These postcard images revealed each member of the Fab Four – Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr – and were first documented in an Instagram post by the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.

“We’ve been given exclusive postcards promoting the new Beatles movies!,” LIPA posted. “We’ve hidden them around LIPA, and we want students to find them.”

First peek at the cast for the 4 ‘BEATLES’ biopics

• Harris Dickinson as John Lennon
• Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney
• Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr
• Joseph Quinn as George Harrison

(Source: lipaliverpool/IG) pic.twitter.com/4y4dco34nl

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 29, 2026

In addition to LIPA, fans can postcards at John Lennon’s childhood home in Liverpool. IGN has learned that limited edition numbered postcards (some autographed by the cast) have also been distributed in New York, Tokyo, and Hamburg. Beatles fans will know each of these cities have an importance to the Beatles as a band and to them individually.

The Hamburg locations include The Beatles Monument as well as the Cavern Club, the Kaiserkeller, and The Star-Club, all clubs the Beatles played at before making it big internationally.

In New York City, postcards can be found at Strawberry Field in Central Park, New York University, Columbia University, and, we’re told, at various record stores, vintage clothing shops, cafes and bars.

Tokyo locations include Abbey Road Live, Tower Records in Shibuya, Broadway Diner in Yoyogi, Tsutaya, and The Capital Hotel Tokyo.

All four Beatles films will be released on April 7, 2028.

You might want to jump on a PC upgrade sooner than later. Prices of prebuilts are expected to go up this year because of the inflated demand for DDR5 RAM and production cuts on Nvidia's graphics cards.

For this week only, Best Buy just dropped the price on the HP OMEN 35L gaming PC, equipped with a GeForce RTX 5080 16GB graphics card, to just $2,219.99 shipped after a $480 off instant discount. This is currently one of the least expensive RTX 5080 prebuilts available.

HP OMEN 35L RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,220

I've spent more time than is healthy staring at storefronts, convincing myself restraint is a virtue. It is not. This week’s spread is the rare kind that justifies the lapse, stacked with games that respect your time, your intelligence, and your wallet in roughly that order.

A good sale is not about volume. It is about confidence. These are games I have played, finished, or at least bounced off hard enough to know exactly who they are for. If something is here, it earned the slot.

Contents

• Retro
• Nintendo
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• PC
• LEGO

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I've baked a large America-shaped birthday cake for Cruis'n USA, an early N64 arcade racer that's turned 28. This was uncomplicated wannabe 3D Outrun stuff. Just select one of seven muscle cars and then race against time through the checkpoints of 14 different courses. Simple. Fun.

For me, Cruisn' was only really memorable for its rockin' soundtrack, some decent 2P split racing, and a bunch of censorship decisions enforced by Nintendo. Seems they weren't fans of the ability to roadkill wildlife, including a bikini-clad pornstar handing over trophies (a shirt was Photoshopped in), and they also ditched this weird secret ending with Bill and Hillary Clinton partying in a hot tub. Different time, folks.

Aussie birthdays for notable games.

- Cruis'n USA (N64) 1998. eBay

- Arc: Twilight of the Spirits (PS2) 2004. eBay

- Octodad: Dadliest Catch (PC) 2014. Get

- Life is Strange (PC,PS3/4,X360) 2015. Redux

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

This review is based on a screening from the Sundance Film Festival.

Padraic McKinley’s first feature, a Depression-era heist western led by Ethan Hawke, is an absolute delight. At turns nerve-wracking and gradually riveting, The Weight is incredibly self-assured in its straightforward plot, following a group of prisoners tasked with stealing gold in exchange for their freedom. It boasts an entertaining ensemble – among them, a scenery-chewing Russell Crowe – each of whom play fully fleshed-out people as much as they portray unexpected symbols of American history, resulting in the kind of slick, sophisticated dramatic thriller that comes about once every so often.

The year is 1933. It’s been four years since the Great Depression thrust single Oregonian father Samuel Murphy (Hawke) and his young daughter Penny (Avy Berry) into poverty, but he keeps her amused by speeding their rickety Ford through open fields, pretending to be an outlaw of the Old West. “I ain’t never been caught!” he playfully boasts, drawing innocent laughter. The film’s introduction is intentionally saccharine and, it turns out, quite ironic, since Murphy is indeed locked up soon after a violent misunderstanding. Sentenced to labor in a prison camp under the watchful eye of the stringent, hard-nosed Warden Clancy (Crowe), Murphy uses his skills as a handyman and mechanic to expedite his roadway building in the hopes of having days or weeks knocked off his six-month sentence. He’s up against a ticking clock: Within 30 days, Penny will be made a ward of the state and put up for adoption.

Impressed with Murphy’s workmanship and sympathetic to his predicament, Clancy presents him with an opportunity. If he and three prisoners of his choosing can help one of Clancy’s associates out of a bind, he’ll sign their release papers early, reuniting Murphy with his child. The catch? As prisoners, they’re considered disposable. Their task is to make a dangerous trek at gunpoint, transporting gold stolen by its own mining overseer before it’s reclaimed by the Franklin D. Roosevelt government – a real executive order forbidding the hoarding of bullion in an effort to inject money back into the US economy. These are the beginnings of not only the movie’s larger plot but the streamlined political backdrop against which the characters wrestle. Some are content to live under the bootheels of capitalism, transporting other people’s gold for a pittance; others, especially those dealing with racial animus, are less enthused, leading to a mood of fomenting rebellion.

Risking life and limb over treacherous terrain, and under fire from bandits, Murphy’s quest takes the form of breathtaking set-pieces interspersed with quiet character moments, which help flesh out the story just as much as the interpersonal banter. The men he chooses to accompany him are his sharp-tongued bunkmates, who, despite their wildly different backgrounds and dispositions, at least get along while playing poker. There’s Rankin (Austin Amelio), a boorish WASP loudmouth; Olson (Lucas Lynggaad Tonnesen), a kindly, trusting Swede; and Singh (Avi Nash), a restless Indian-American socialist lumped in with the trio instead of in the “colored” bunks, since Indians were legally considered “Caucasian” at the time. A pair of armed security guards – the terse Amis (Sam Hazeldine) and the burly Letender (George Burgess) – guides them on their journey, keeping their eyes and crosshairs trained on the prisoners. Along the way, the ragtag bunch also picks up a Native American straggler – the dexterous, headstrong Anna (Julia Jones), who bargains her way into the group and matches Murphy’s penchant for MacGyver-ing his way out of sticky situations.

The film veers deftly between reflective silence and cheer-worthy pandemonium, yielding numerous heart-in-mouth moments. The rotten planks of a steadily-collapsing bridge snap off with the thundering echoes of gunshots – the movie’s sound design is impeccable, enhancing the motion of people and objects – while logs floating down a treacherous river practically assault the motley fellowship like a swarm of sharks. It’s maddeningly intense, and often just as funny.

All the while, Hawke – as usual – puts on a clinic of performance that feels like the polar opposite of his meek, shallow, wordy (and recently Oscar-nominated) Blue Moon character. His conception of Murphy is gruff but never caricatured. He serves the plot precisely, calculating each decision and motive with lucid clarity, and yet he embodies each scene in completely organic ways that create worlds of wordless backstory. Despite keeping largely to himself and to his mission, you know exactly who Murphy is, as though he were Jesse James or some other American outlaw who had risen to the ranks of folklore; perhaps the movie’s opening wasn’t so ironic after all. Would you believe Murphy’s skills behind the wheel turn out to be relevant too?

Cinematographer Matteo Cocco makes tremendous use of space and light, framing forest thickets as labyrinths and hiding sinister intentions behind bonfires and deep shadows. A particularly inventive scene uses the alternating flashes and pitch-blackness of a lightning storm to ratchet up the tension, while the movie’s violence is filthy and raw. Some viewers might miss the expanse of action scenes depicted in their entirety, but McKinley places a rewarding amount of trust in his audience, creating momentum through implication and, on occasion, propelling the film forward by interweaving several moments from adjacent scenes, as though each new sequence were being imagined by the last, and the movie were persistently creating itself anew. If the filmmakers couldn’t shoot enough footage for a traditional presentation, they’ve certainly made the most of it.

The Weight moves with furious focus and rollicking intensity. It never wavers from its characters or their political and historical purviews, and makes its unlikely heroes look phenomenally cool.

Audible's first sale of 2026 ends today, January 29. New and returning Audible subscribers can sign up for three months of Audible Premium Plus for just $0.99 per month, or £0.99 in the UK. This time around it doesn't look like you need to be an Amazon Prime member either. After the three months is up, your subscription will convert to the standard $14.95/mo, so make sure to cancel beforehand if you don't want to continue with the service. You also get a free audiobook of your choice for each of those three months that you get to keep indefinitely.

Note that if you recently signed up for an Audible Premium Plus promotion, you may not be eligible even if your subscription has ended. There's usually a wait period (about 3-6 months) before you are re-eligible.

3 Free Months of Audible Premium Plus

Spoilers follow for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 4, “Vox in Excelso,” which is available on Paramount Plus now.

So we finally know what’s been going on with the Klingons in the era of The Burn.

The status of Star Trek’s classic villains/frenemies has been a big question mark ever since Michael Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery jumped 900 years into the future of the 32nd century back in Discovery Season 3’s premiere. That future would prove to be filled with a lot of familiar alien races, and a bunch of characters who were of mixed race as well – like Laira Rillak, the president of the Federation who was of human, Bajoran and Cardassian descent. It made sense that, almost a thousand years after the era of Captain Kirk, many of the people of the Federation would have diverse racial heritages.

And yet, one question that remained unanswered was what happened to the Klingons in the nine centuries since that era. Disco seemed to purposely avoid the issue altogether, after leaning heavily on the warrior aliens in its first two seasons. But Starfleet Academy is diving into the matter bumpy-head first with the introduction of main cast member Karim Diané, who plays the Klingon cadet Jay-Den Kraag, and now with the reveal that the Klingons have become galactic refugees as a result of the cataclysmic Burn.

That’s a long way around to saying that “Vox in Excelso” finally gives us our 32nd century Klingon episode, and it’s a good one where we get not just an update on where the Klingons have been (and where they’re going), but also a focus on Jay-Den and the events that led him to the Academy. And it’s all interwoven into another “school activity” plot involving… debate club!

The Klingons have always run the risk of being one-note, which is why Michael Dorn’s performance as Worf has stood the test of time. Worf was never simply a warrior or a bad-ass, but a complicated character with layers and textures who loved, feared, and learned with the best of them. And Jay-Den now looks to be continuing in that tradition, as he is a Klingon who not only doesn’t want to be a warrior, but who is haunted by his choice to pursue a different life.

So when he has his first shot at debating Caleb (Sandro Rosta) in The Doctor’s (Robert Picardo) class, the fact that he basically has a panic attack is quite telling. “Arguing, standing up for what I believe, makes sweat flood down my face,” he says. (I hear you, Jay-Den.) As “Vox in Excelso” proceeds, we see in flashbacks how Jay-Den’s father constantly pressured him to join the warrior’s way. It’s difficult for him to even say out loud to his family that he does not want to be a warrior, and that pressure and fear of letting them down – and of speaking his mind and talking about his true feelings – takes a toll.

The situation is further complicated when his family is revealed to have been onboard a ship that has recently crashed; whether or not they’ve survived is currently unknown. Meanwhile, the Federation has found a planet that would make a perfect new home for the displaced Klingons, but the Klingons themselves have spent the past century refusing hand-outs. As this news becomes a hot topic of discussion – the crash, the new homeworld potential – it bleeds onto the debate stage where Jay-Den has to work out some issues.

The episode’s flashing back and forth from present to the past is handled in an interesting way by regular Trek director Doug Aarniokoski, as we get bits of introspective voiceover from Jay-Den accompanying flashes of memory and a melancholy score. It actually reminds me a bit of how Battlestar Galactica handled such moments at times (particularly Kara Thrace’s remembrances in the all-time great episode “Scar”). Also notable is Jay-Den’s anger at Caleb, who after all is just trying to be a good friend. But it’s those memories, particularly of his fallen brother, that makes Jay-Den react so strongly to Caleb. The performances across the board are excellent here, particularly with these two.

Holly Hunter also gets a B-story, and fortunately I was able to understand her words much better than I could in last week’s episode, as Chancellor Ake reunites with her old Klingon flame General Obel Wochak (David Keeley). The plan is to get Obel to grease the wheels of a Federation/Klingon agreement to give the Klingons the newly discovered world, Faan Alpha. Hunter and Keeley have fun in their scenes together, and the relationship is also used to explore the long history that Ake has as a 400-year-old Lanthanite.

Unfortunately, while the emotional culmination of Jay-Den’s story is effective as he makes the case in the debate for the Klingon way of life to be respected, even if most members of the Federation can’t understand it, the plan to get the Klingons to accept the gift they cannot accept – Faan Alpha – rings false. A bloodless battle where some ships shoot at each other for a few minutes and then everyone says “Yay, the Klingons won”? Nope, doesn't work.

Seeking chart-topping performance from a prebuilt desktop? The Alienware Area-51 with RTX 5090 GPU should definitely be on your radar. Currently, you can pick up an Alienware Area-51 RTX 5090 gaming PC starting at $5,049.99 after a $600 discount. Starting today, Dell is also throwing in a free AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU upgrade. This new CPU was released on January 29 and is a 400MHz increase in boost clock over the 9800X3D.

$600 Off Alienware Area-51 9850X3D RTX 5090 Gaming PC

The Alienware Area-51 is Dell's flagship gaming PC. Unveiled during last year's CES, the Area-51 is a super-sized upgrade to the mainstream Aurora R16 system. The significantly larger chassis features more premium build quality and a redesigned cooling system with greater net airflow. In fact, this is the only model that Dell feels comfortable enough to equip with the hot and power hungry GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. The first wave of Area-51 systems featured Intel CPUs exclusively, with AMD X3D options only available since late November.

This particular configuration is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU, GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, 32GB or DDR5-6400MHz RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Additional system details include a 360mm all-in-one liquid cooling system for the CPU and a massive 1,500W 80Plus Platinum power supply that allows plenty of headroom for future upgrades.

AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is the best gaming CPU for most people

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is considered to be one of the best gaming processors currently on the market and outperforms any Intel or AMD non-X3D chip in games thanks to AMD's 3D-V-Cache technology. The 9850X3D replaces the 9800X3D as the best value for most gamers. Both chips are mostly identical but the 9850X3D has a 400Mhz faster boost clock (up to 5.6GHz), making it about 1%-5% faster in games. Dell is throwing this in for free, so why not?

Although the 9850X3D is an absolute speed demon for gaming, it only has eight cores. If you regularly use your PC for non-gaming applications that benefit from as many cores as possible, then you can upgrade to an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 16-core processor, which doubles the core count while offering similar gaming performance, for an additional $200.

The RTX 5090 is the most powerful graphics card ever

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has emerged as the most powerful consumer GPU on the market. Although with this generation Nvidia has prioritized software updates, AI features, and DLSS 4 technology to improve gameplay performance, the 5090 still boasts an impressive 25%-30% uplift over the RTX 4090 in hardware-based raster performance. If you want the absolute best performance for your gaming PC, there is literally no other option from any other brand.

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.

OLED TVs are considered the best TVs for gaming. They're usually quite expensive, but B&H Photo is hosting a limited time deal that bucks the trend. For today only, you can get a 55" Sansui S55VOUG 4K OLED Smart TV for just $499.99 with free delivery. I don't think I've seen a less expensive OLED TV, ever. Sansui may not be the biggest name in the industry, but this TV does use an LG OLED panel, so you know it's going to be pretty good.

55" Sansui S55VOUG 4K Smart TV for $499.99

January 29 only

It's no secret that AliExpress consistently has the lowest prices on popular and well-reviewed 3D printers. Some of the most popular 3D printer brands, including Creality, Anycubic, and Flashforge, have official storefronts on AliExpress, and the prices there are usually much lower than on Amazon. Because they're sold by the manufacturers themselves, you get a genuine product with the full warranty, as well as AliExpress' own protections including a 90 day free! return policy.

The AliExpress marketplace itself has recently evolved as well. Most of these brands now stock their printers in warehouses based in the United States. That means they ship locally, with most printers being delivered within a week. They aren't affected by tariffs, import fees, or egregiously long shipping times.

3D Printer Deals at AliExpress

Flashforge Adventurer 5M CoreXY 3D Printer

LEGO first released its line of book nook sets back in June of 2025 and they've been very well received. There are currently only three book nook builds available (from Lord of the Rings, Sherlock Holmes, and Harry Potter) and there have been little to no discounts on them until recently. The Lord of the Rings book nook was the first to drop in price earlier this month and now the Harry Potter edition has followed suit.

While the price cut isn't particularly steep, it's still the best price we've ever seen on this set. The Hogwarts Express book nook was already the most affordable of the three builds. If you're looking for a good Valentine's Day gift for the Potter fan in your life, it's definitely worth considering at this price.

The Hogwarts Express Book Nook Drops in Price on Amazon

In an age where digital platforms can pull culturally beloved content from their sites and kick films and TV series between each other seemingly at random, there’s never been a better time to commit to physical media. Not only does owning your content ensure you’ll have access no matter what the business papers say that day, but it also means you can tune out and enjoy a viewing without worrying about buffering, system outages, or connectivity issues. So, with a Blu-ray comeback on the menu, and every online retailer vying for your previous dollars, we’ve rounded up a list of the best places to buy Blu-rays online.

The Criterion Collection

Extend the battery life on your Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck, or Apple iPhone 17 for a rock bottom price. Amazon is currently offering the Joyroom 10,000mAh 22.5W Power Bank for just $10.49 after you apply coupon code "ZWCBR9JW". This is the great price for a 10,000mAh power bank, especially since it's equipped with some quality of life features like a big digital display and retractable cable. This particular item doesn't have very many user reviews, but Joyroom the brand is quite popular, even amongst the IGN audience.

Joyroom 10,000mAh 22.5W Power Bank for $10.49

Casting for the live-action God of War show is in full swing, as just moments after announcing the actor for Thor, Amazon and Sony have confirmed that Mandy Patinkin will play his father, Odin.

It’s another major addition to the cast of the next Prime Video video game adaptation, confirming that many of the series’ biggest roles have now been filled. Patinkin joins Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, as well as Ryan Hurst as Kratos.