As part of a general HP Days Sale Event, you can score an excellent deal on a 4K-capable gaming PC. Right now, the HP Omen 25L GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC has dropped to $1,399.99 shipped after you apply $50 off coupon code "HPDAYSPC50". This is quite easily the lowest price we've seen for a prebuilt RTX 4070 Ti Super gaming desktop.

HP Omen 25L RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC for $1399.99

Just a few months after the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D graced us with its presence, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D brings its 3D V-Cache technology to a 16-core, 32-thread gaming processor that’s absolutely overkill for most people, but will have no problem keeping up with powerful graphics cards like the Nvidia RTX 5090 or whatever comes next.

However, all of those cores come with a high $699 asking price and a 170W power budget, making this processor hard to recommend to anyone who isn’t already building an incredibly powerful (and expensive) gaming PC. For anyone else, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D just makes more sense.

Specs and Features

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D essentially takes the same Zen 5 cores behind the regular 9950X and pairs them with the new 2nd-generation 3D V-Cache found in the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. That means you still get excellent multi-core performance, but paired with better gaming performance thanks to a more capacious cache.

Unlike the Ryzen 9 7950X3D that preceded it, though, the 3D V-Cache is now physically located below the actual CPU cores, rather than above them. This seems like a minor change, to be sure, but it ends up making a major difference in thermal performance. Because the CCD, or Core Complex Die, is what produces most of the CPU’s heat, having it closer to the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS), means it’s able to dissipate heat more easily. And with AMD’s performance algorithm taking thermal headroom into account, those lower temperatures mean the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is able to run faster, longer.

The physical location of the cache is about more than just temperatures, though. Because it’s directly under the CPU cores, there is less distance for the data to travel, which cuts down on latency. Plus, because the cache gets more space, AMD was able to shove in a ton of it, with the 9950X3D having 144MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. That’s the same amount as in the last-generation Ryzen 9 7950X3D, but it’s still much more than you’re going to find in any non-X3D processor.

Both the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X and 9950X3D have the same 170W TDP, though the original 9950X has a higher potential PPT. Though, in my testing, I found that both processors ended up peaking at 200W. Though, the 9950X3D did have a lower peak temperature, only reaching 79°C during the test suite – though it was tested on a different cooler than the original 9950X.

Luckily, because the 9950X3D isn’t using a new chipset, it's compatible with any AM5 AMD motherboard. AMD has come out and said it would support this socket until at least 2027, so you won’t have to worry about getting locked into a dead platform.

Performance

Before I dive into performance results, I have to note that all CPUs were tested on the same hardware, with one exception: the Ryzen 9 9950X. That was tested on an Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Hero motherboard with a Corsair H170i 360mm AIO cooler. This difference in hardware will have an impact on performance, but it’s not likely to be a major difference, especially since everything is tested at stock settings.

This happened largely because one of the mounting screws for the Asus ROG Ryujin III 360mm cooler I was using snapped when swapping to the 9950X. I will retest the processors in the coming weeks, and if anything is significantly different I’ll be sure to update this section.

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread gaming processor with an absolutely ridiculous 144MB of cache, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that it’s incredibly powerful. Even in creative benchmarks, where the 9800X3D fell behind, the 9950X3D has no problem keeping up with the most powerful chips on the market.

What’s surprising is how well the 9950X3D holds up against 9800X3D in single-core workloads. For example, in Cinebench 1T, the 9950X3D gets 2,254 points, compared to 2,033 points, making for a 10% improvement. Then, in the 3DMark CPU Profile test, the 9950X3D scores 1,280 points, which comes in striking distance to the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K’s 1,351 points.

Of course, in multi-threaded workloads, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is really able to stretch its legs, scoring 40,747 points in Cinebench’s multi-core test. Just like the 9800X3D, the 9950X3D does lose some top-end performance in multi-threaded applications, falling short of the 41,123 points from the 9950X and 42,245 points from the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, but it's worth it for the boost in gaming performance.

In Total War: Warhammer 3 at 1080p with Ultra settings, the 9950X3D is able to get 274 fps when paired with the RTX 4090. Compared to 254 fps from the 9800X3D and 255 from the Core Ultra 9 285K, the 9950X3D easily takes the crown here. However, in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p with the Ultra preset and ray tracing disabled, the 9950X3D delivers 229 fps, down from 240 fps from the 9800X3D. That’s a disappointing result, but it’s still way faster than the 165 fps from the competing Intel processor.

Overkill?

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D might be the most powerful gaming processor on the market right now, but that doesn’t mean it has a de facto lead on every other chip on the market. Most people will have no problem getting by with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which just so happens to be much much more affordable at $479.

Instead, the 9950X3D is geared towards gamers that both play games and use creative apps like Photoshop and Premiere, the latter of which sees a 15% performance improvement over the 9800X3D. For a pure gaming PC build, though, you’re probably better off saving that extra $220 for a better graphics card.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

As part of its Spring Sale, SteelSeries is taking 40% off both PS5 and Xbox editions of its SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Destiny 2: The Final Shape Edition wireless gaming headsets. The Destiny Edition comes with a Booster Pack that includes Destiny themed speaker plates and headband, as well as exclusive Desinty 2 in-game items.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7P Gaming Headset Destiny Edition

If you're looking for an affordable power bank that will fast charge your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld, then check out today's deal. Amazon has the INIU 20,000mAh Power Bank with up to 65W of Power Delivery over USB Type-C for only $21.59 after you clip the 40% off coupon on the product page (if you don't see it, try applying promo code "WN9GQJRA"). INIU power banks have solid reviews and are less expensive than equivalent Anker models. This particular model has 2,600 reviews on Amazon with a 4.5 star average and a Fakespot "B" rating.

Iniu 20,000mAh 65W USB Power Bank for $21.59

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a series of deck-building card games that you can build and curate to your dark heart’s delight. It's a cooperative game, so you and your fellow players are working together to take on the horrors that await.

It's also part of the extensive world in the Arkham Horror Files family of board games, card games, and the newest, the nicely accessible Arkham Horror: The Role-Playing Game (see on Amazon) and subsequent newly released matching expansive rulebook.

The card deck-builder Arkham Horror card game has been around since 2016. It has seen multiple expansions and revisions since its original printing. Buying the game is also not entirely straightforward outside of the base deck and campaign, as there are multiple ways to build, curate, and personalize your experience.

Featured in this article

Here's a swipe-able, all-in-one carousel of everything discussed in the article, for those who feel confident enough about their Arkham Horror: The Card Game knowleged to skip the blurbs. For everyone else, keep on reading.

The Base Game

The Dunwich Legacy

The Path to Carcosa

The Forgotten Age

The Circle Undone

The Edge of the Earth

The Scarlet Keys

The Dream Eaters

The Innsmouth Conspiracy

The Feast of the Hemlock Vale

The Drowned City

Starter Decks

Interested in adding another character to your roster but aren’t sure if you’re ready to jump into a full expansion? You can buy a few starter investigator decks. These decks are less expensive and will give you more investigators to help you through your game.

That said, these characters may not be as great as the investigators that you’ll find in the larger boxes that are connected to campaigns (see above). There are five to choose from: Harvey Waters, Nathanial Cho, Jacqueline Fine, Winnifred Habbamock, and Stella Clark. All of them are $16.99 but can be found cheaper and on sale from time to time.

Scenario Packs

There are also several standalone scenario packs available to purchase. These offer a smaller dose of action than the full expansions above. They cost $21.99 each. Murder at the Excelsior Hotel has been regarded as one of their more entry-level scenarios, so if you’re looking for something smaller before committing to something bigger, like an expansion, you might want to check that one out.

Other scenario packs include Fortune and Folly, Machinations Through Time, War of the Outer Gods, Labyrinths of Lunacy, and The Blob That Ate Everything.

Return to Boxes

Return to boxes are revamps and additions to select campaigns. They require the base campaign set to play them, and while they are a bonus, they are best suited for folks who are serious about Arkham Horror: The Card Game. They are considered to be luxury items, essentially. And some of them are not the easiest to get a hold of. In fact, when going to create this list, I found that some were discontinued or not easily found through sites like Amazon or even Asmodee itself.

Five return-to-boxes are currently available: Night of the Zealot (the campaign in the original starter box), Dunwich Legacy, Circle of Carcosa, Circle Undone, and Forgotten Age. Some enthusiasts say that Forgotten Age fixes some of the complexities in the original expansion. As you can see, when you click the name of Night of the Zealot, these are out of print, so collectors may find them difficult to come by.

Parallel Investigator Packs

Parallel investigators are alternate versions of investigators that have abilities different from those of their original counterparts, including enhanced abilities and stats. Like Return to Boxes, these are not as easily found at big retailers. Collectors will have to look around for them to get them.

The Bottom Line

If you are a fan of Lovecraft mythos-themed games, Arkham Horror is a universe you’ll absolutely want to explore. One awesome thing about Arkham Horror: The Card Game is that you can play it as a solo game, as well as with friends. The universes and iterations of games make for lots of capacities for adventure, with seemingly endless replayability for several of them.

That said, like the board games, the card games absolutely veer on the more difficult side. They have quite a bit of chance, which can drastically increase replayability as well as frustration. Setup and learning time can also take a few minutes. You’ll find that the card games are easier to set up than the board games, even without expansions, which makes the journey through less painful.

Jennifer Stavros is a contributing freelancer for IGN, covering everything from comics, games, technology, and nerd culture. She has over 15 years of experience in the gaming industry, including testing and writing for Wired, Inverse, and more. Follow her on Twitter or watch her on Twitch under the handle @scandalous.

Drop opens in theaters Friday, April 11. This review is based on a screening at the 2025 SXSW Film and TV Festival.

Usually, the most harrowing thing that might happen if you fail to modify your AirDrop settings is a bunch of teenagers sending you random dick pics – a scenario that’s tweaked in the new Christopher Landon-directed techno-thriller Drop. Landon, who also made Happy Death Day and Freaky, loves a gimmick. And “What if phone, but scary?” sure seems like one. Fortunately, Drop is more interested in thrilling the audience than winking at us, and is a more entertaining film as a result.

Drop makes harassment-by-Bluetooth scary by pivoting away from the prankster angle early on. At first, Violet (Meghann Fahy) is annoyed when someone starts sending her random memes as she waits for her date to arrive at a swanky restaurant on the 38th floor of a Chicago skyscraper. Then the messages start getting more personalized, and Violet realizes that whoever is targeting her – she’s not sure who, but it has to be someone within 50 feet, given their weapon of choice – is watching her, setting a locked-room mystery plot into motion.

The obvious question here is, “Why doesn't she just switch off her phone and leave?” And that’s where the kid in peril comes in. Violet is a single mother, widowed in an incident that’s teased in the movie’s cold open but whose traumatizing details aren’t revealed until the very end. Violet has spent most of the five years since holed up at home with her son, Toby (Jacob Robinson), who was a baby when his dad died and is now a precocious kid with glasses and intense separation anxiety. When she pushes back, Violet’s mystery contact starts threatening Toby, and Drop is just mean enough that we can’t be certain that the little guy will make it out of this alive.

Violet isn’t handling her first time away from Toby since his infancy very well either, compounding her jitters about meeting Henry (Brandon Sklenar), the handsome photographer she’s been messaging on a dating app for the past three months. Henry is patient and understanding, and genuinely interested in building a relationship; without revealing too much, it’s very unlikely that he’s the one provoking Violet. And in a movie landscape choked with well-meaning but hacky takedowns of monstrous men hiding behind friendly façades, it’s kind of refreshing to have a movie where the nice guy is actually, well, nice.

It’s no secret that the latest Marvel film, Captain America: Brave New World, didn’t exactly light the world on fire in terms of critical response, fan response, or box office. In fact, on the latter front some folks have been doom-watching as Brave New World limps along, making money each weekend since its release, but not really making MCU money.

The thing about Hollywood movie budgets is it’s always difficult to track how much money actually went into a film. Yes, budgets will be cited by “studio insiders” and the like, but there’s no real way to know how accurate those figures are unless you’re a number-cruncher on the inside - in this case at Disney or Marvel. And sometimes damage control and image perception will impact the budgets that are reported. Damage control and image perception? In Hollywood? Who knew!

Captain America: Brave New World Box Office Numbers

In the case of Captain America: Brave New World, which as of this writing has been out for four weekends and earned $371 million worldwide (according to Box Office Mojo), there was definitely damage control to do. Amid increasing doom-and-gloom reports surrounding the MCU overall, there’s also the apparently troubled production history of the film to consider, which was said to include difficult test screenings, expensive reshoots, and even the addition of a new villain character (Giancarlo Esposito’s Sidewinder) to the plot.

The Brave New World budget that has been reported by trade outlets like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter is $180 million, but that seems low considering the reported (at least) 22 days of reshoots, and indeed, some well-sourced industry observers indicate that the final budget was significantly higher. According to The Hot Mic, the budget was in the range of $300 million, while Joanna Robinson and Dave Gonzalez, who wrote the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, have said their sources peg the movie as costing closer to $380 million. Bear in mind there’s also the matter of P&A (prints and advertising) costs, which would be in the tens of millions at the very least if not higher for an MCU blockbuster (Variety pegs P&A for Brave New World at $100 million). And then there’s the revenue split that the studio has to share with theater owners!

When Marvel Movie Budgets Stop Mattering

So take the $300 million figure as an example. If that was the total cost for Marvel, then the common wisdom in Hollywood bookkeeping is that the film would need to make $600 million before the studio has even broken even. That clearly will not happen in theaters as the film is slowing down substantially and nearing the end of its theatrical run.

Now all this said, things get much hazier when it comes to the value of having, say, Captain America: Brave New World always available as one of the titles on your streaming service. Or when you can keep selling merchandise based on these characters. Or when you’re setting them up for their next big Avengers movie, which is likely to make way more money than Brave New World has.

This is Hollywood magic, folks, only not the good kind. As underwhelming as the bulk of the post-Endgame MCU has been, there’s a safety net component to being part of a shared universe. It’s also why budgets vs. box office comparisons are both unknowable and not the real issue. While an MCU movie can tank, it still serves the purpose of keeping the series moving and hence is easier to excuse in the grand scheme of things. A standalone movie with no franchise ties, however, has to stand on its own two feet. This is why things are that much harder for the Mickey 17s of the world these days.

Is releasing a stinker like Brave New World the cost of doing business for a shared universe mega-franchise these days? You gotta keep the factory line running, as Lucille Ball learned all those years ago. And if that means every now and then stuffing your face full of chocolate that you don’t really even want, at least you know it comes out in the wash in the end.

O’Dessa streams on Hulu beginning Thursday, March 20. This review is based on a screening at the 2025 SXSW Film and Television Festival.

What happens when you mix Streets of Fire and O Brother, Where Art Thou? with the look and vibes of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon? You get a bold, vibrant, catchy, romantic cyberpunk rock opera with memorable performances and rocking musical numbers seemingly destined for infinite fan edits once it drops on Hulu. One of the best scenes in all of Stranger Things involves Sadie Sink and a great song, but that doesn’t prepare you for just how great her singing voice is in O'Dessa. Director Geremy Jasper tasks Sink with carrying his follow-up to 2017’s Patti Cake$ – and fortunately, she (and the considerable shoulder pads of her retro-cool wardrobe) are more than up for it.

Sink plays O’Dessa’s title character with a stoicism that hides raw vulnerability: She’s a girl who acts tough, moves and dresses like Elvis, and sings like Hank Williams. In her mother’s words, she’s a "dirt farmer," and the last in a long line of "ramblers" – troubadours who once traveled around a now-ravaged landscape lifting spirits and providing hope through song. All O'Dessa wants is to fulfill her dreams of going to the dystopian metropolis of Satylite City to experience all its chaos and grandeur, accompanied only by Willa, a legendary guitar made from a tree that was struck by lightning.

It’s a story that’s powered by an alluring grab bag of mythology: What initially appears to be a grimy Americana take on Homer’s Odyssey – with its long shots of countryside, train-hopping, and colorful side characters – quickly gives way to a cyberpunk retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice once O'Dessa reaches Satylite City and meets the beautiful dancer Euri Dervish (an electrifying Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Sink and Harrison have ample chemistry, and they truly sell this doomed romance drenched in neon and set in opposition to the dictatorial rule of a TV host named Plutonovich (Murray Bartlett).

Read what you will into Jasper creating a villain who’s a media-savvy tyrant running a high-stakes televised talent show, but any commentary in his script is less overt than this implied Trump analogy. The filmmaker prefers to make O’Dessa’s most powerful statements with its dazzling visuals and loaded costume choices. The central romance is one big middle finger to gender norms, with Sink playing humanity’s prophesied savior as an androgynous pop star with slicked-back hair and white tuxedo, opposite Harrison as her tender, graceful, gown-wearing lover.

There’s gusto in the songs, too, a soundtrack of 16 original numbers by Jasper and co-writer Jason Binnick that map O'Dessa's journey onto the evolution of American popular music. Bluesy ballads with personal lyrics eventually give way to rockabilly and even acid-rock psychedelia. Sink finally gets to show off her Broadway-honed pipes on screen; it’s a shame it took this long for her to find this kind of role, because her vocals are simply enchanting. At a time when studios are still making musicals but appear hesitant to sell them as such (who puts together a trailer for Wicked with barely any footage of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande singing?), here’s one that boldly proclaims what it is, with little time to rest in between music numbers. It joyfully goes from one song to the next, with the music keeping the story aloft.

Accompanying the catchy tunes is a strong visual aesthetic that makes O'Dessa stand out in a sea of indistinguishable cyberpunk stories. A sense of naturalism in the early scenes mingles with the look of a lost video-store favorite from the 1980s in Satylite City. There’s an environmental message in there, too, via the constant sight of oil pipelines in the countryside and the iridescent look of the oil that powers Plutonovich's empire.

Hazelight's latest co-op adventure, Split Fiction, has officially surpassed one million copies sold in the first 48 hours, setting a new record for the studio.

This news was announced on BlueSky, with the official account saying, "The love you all show for our game is overwhelming! 😍 Everyone here at Hazelight are beyond happy - and we can’t stop enjoying your amazing reactions! 🤩"

Notably this is one million copies sold, which means it's possible that far more than that are playing Split Fiction. Every copy of the game comes with a Friend's Pass that lets a friend play the entire game in co-op with the purchaser for free. While not everyone will take advantage of that option (some will play local co-op, some may play with someone who already owns the game, etc), that's still a whole lot of people playing Split Fiction.

This is a huge sales jump from Hazelight's last game, It Takes Two, which didn't reach the one million milestone until a month after launch. But that in and of itself was deemed an impressive milestone, with studio head Josef Fares saying at the time that it proved players want co-op games.

We really dug Split Fiction, calling it "a rollercoaster of constantly refreshed gameplay ideas and styles – and one that’s very hard to walk away from" in our 9/10 review.

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

Lenovo has just dropped the price of the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller to slightly lower than what we saw on Black Friday. Right now you can choose Sterling Silver, Volcanic Red, or Cobalt Blue for only $54 plus free shipping after you apply coupon code "PLAY5" in cart. This is probably going to be your last chance to get a DualSense controller at this price for quite a while, especially one that's decked out in a eye-catching metallic colorway.

Sony PS5 DualSense Controller for $54

Warning: This piece contains spoilers for The Last of Us Part II game.

The second season of The Last of Us is premiering on April 13, 2025, and we just got another look at the series in a new trailer over the weekend. But amidst all the excitement for the acclaimed game adaptation’s next entry, something stood out to us in the latest trailer: the confirmation that spores will be included. This might seem like a small detail to the uninitiated, but it was actually one of the show’s biggest deviations from the source material. Instead of spores, the first season primarily used tendrils emerging from infected individuals as the way the cordyceps infection spreads. When asked by Variety (during Season 1’s run) about the shift to tendrils, series creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said they wanted to try new things with the show’s version of events. So why the change of heart?

Well, there are several important scenes in The Last of Us Part II game that hinge on the spores, and perhaps the writing team didn’t anticipate how much they’d need that story element eventually before making the change for the first season. Let’s take a look at why the spores are so important to Part II and how this speaks to the care creators need to take when making sweeping changes in adaptations.

What Are Spores in The Last of Us?

If you’ve only seen the show and not played the games, a quick refresher: the cordyceps infection in the games is primarily transmitted through bites or scratches from infected, but can also be transmitted via fungal spores, typically in underground areas where the fungus can fester unabated. Many sections of the games feature the characters moving through such areas while wearing gas masks to prevent breathing in the deadly spores. This was purely for story and not gameplay (you can’t lose your gas mask and die, for example), but the spores were an important atmospheric element, serving as a visual metaphor for how the fungus was changing and taking over the world right from the root, if you’ll pardon the pun.

In The Last of Us Season 1, the spores were omitted, with the creators recycling the tendril idea from concept art for the first game. Not that there’s anything wrong with making changes in adaptations (we’ve previously made the case for that about The Last of Us here at IGN), but such changes should be purposeful. Getting rid of the spores felt like an arbitrary choice, especially since it raises multiple questions about the world-building now that they’re being included in Season 2. To be fair, Mazin said in the Variety interview that “to say that our world is devoid of them would not be accurate. We don’t quite know yet.” But that doesn’t change that the world as presented in Season 1 doesn’t have them, so Season 2 including them feels odd.

So much of daily life as a survivor in the world of the Last of Us games revolves around doing everything possible to avoid infection, including being aware of how to detect and avoid spores, that their never coming up in the last season is a bit jarring. The case could be made that the show’s fungus recently evolved the spores, but that’s hard to justify when we’re dealing with such a short period of time (a small handful of years at most) passing between seasons. Regarding the inclusion of spores in Season 2, Druckmann claimed at SXSW that there is a “dramatic reason” why the spores are returning. We won’t know exactly what he means until we see the new season, but looking at the second game, there are multiple big scenes where not having the spores would be a serious obstacle to try to write around.

The Biggest Spore Scenes That Could Appear in The Last of Us Season 2

With Season 2 jumping right into adapting The Last of Us Part II, it’s worth examining the ways the spores are likely to be used in telling that game’s story. We already know Part II will take multiple seasons to adapt, so we might not see all of these scenes in the upcoming season, but they’re good to keep in mind either way.

Ellie and Dina’s Subway System Attack

The earliest is when Dina, Ellie’s companion and love interest in Part II who will be played by Isabela Merced in the show, learns that Ellie is immune to infection. While being attacked by infected in the remains of the spore-filled Seattle subway system, Ellie’s mask is damaged, leading her to take it off in front of a shocked Dina. Once they’re out of danger, Ellie tells Dina that she is immune, which is a massive turn in their relationship. This would not be easy to replace with a bite or tendril scene because a huge part of it is Dina saying she can share her mask with Ellie (proving how much she cares for Ellie), which is what prompts Ellie to take her own mask off and save Dina’s life.

Nora’s Infection and Ellie’s Quest for Vengeance for Joel

Later on, Ellie confronts Nora, one of Abby’s friends and a target on Ellie’s hit list. While holding Nora at gunpoint in a confrontation with Washington Liberation Front soldiers, Ellie purposefully tosses herself and Nora into the spore-filled basement, knowing that it will make it difficult for the WLF to chase her. With Nora infected by spores, Ellie corners her in the basement and demands to know Abby’s location. When Nora asks why she should give Abby up when she’s effectively already dead, Ellie says she can make Nora’s death quick or make her final moments as tortuous as possible. Again, the spores are what makes the scene function on an in-universe level, but this is also a crucial moment dramatically because it cements how hardened Ellie has become from Joel’s death and how dark she’s willing to go in her quest to avenge him.

Abby, Lev, and the WLF vs. the Seraphites

There’s also a spore-related scene that’s critical to Abby’s arc. While traveling with new character Lev on a search for surgical supplies, Abby (who will be played by Kaitlyn Dever in Season 2) has to find an extra mask for Lev so they can travel through a spore-filled section of a hotel. The fact that Lev doesn’t have a mask is a peek into the mentality of the island-dwelling Seraphite nation he comes from, where they have no need to worry about infection from “demons” (as they refer to the infected), but it’s also a moment where Abby takes significant risk to help both Lev with the mask and Lev’s sister Yara with the medical supplies. Abby softening towards Lev and Yara despite them coming from an enemy faction (Abby is a member of the WLF, which is at war with the Seraphites) gives her new dimension after the game initially establishes her as Joel’s cold-blooded killer.

Now, we don’t know for sure if the creative team on the series looked at Part II and thought “what have we done?” for not including spores. But the fact that they’re walking back a not-insignificant creative choice from the first season indicates that they realized the spores are a critical part of the game’s lore and narrative. Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with making changes in adaptation; different mediums have different priorities. But it’s also important to consider the long-term ramifications of making big changes to in-universe lore in case they become roadblocks down the line. At least for now, it looks like The Last of Us has folded on the spore front, but hopefully its creators and those of other adaptations think twice before throwing away such important world-building elements of the source material.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Bluesky.

Angry Miao is best known for its bespoke, and very expensive, mechanical keyboards. They’re great and usually packed with innovative features, but they’re so pricey that they’re out of reach for most people, which is what makes the Infinity gaming mouse so refreshing. Taking inspiration from the Logitech G Pro Wireless and the Razer Viper Mini, it’s lightweight and designed for competition with its high-performance sensor and 8,000Hz polling rate. Unlike those other mice, however, it’s able to ostensibly run forever without needing to be plugged in thanks to its swappable battery design, helping it stand out even among the best gaming mice today. It’s not perfect, but it's the exact kind of product that makes you wonder why no one thought of it sooner.

Angry Miao Infinity Mouse – Design and Features

Angry Miao isn't a household name, but if you have paid attention to the custom mechanical keyboard scene over the last several years, you may very well have seen some of its products. It made its name delivering premium boutique custom mechanical keyboards that blended art with functional peripherals. In fact, it refers to its community as a “future art” community, and it only takes a glance at the Infinity Mouse to see its design inspirations made manifest.

There's clearly Angry Miao DNA throughout, but its size and shape borrow equally from the Razer Viper Mini and Logitech G Pro Wireless – the company hasn't been shy about sharing which competitors it’s targeting either. And that makes a lot of sense because even though it looks very different, the feel and performance are very similar and the mouse has the added benefits of a lightweight, but exceptionally sturdy frame and practically unlimited battery life.

Like the Razer Viper Mini SE, it uses a frame made of skeletonized magnesium-aluminum alloy. There’s a surprising amount that has been removed for weight reduction, including the very bottom of the palm rest. This is a mouse that hides nothing. Unlike the Viper’s design language, however, the Infinity Mouse leans into contours more than aggressive angles, citing the Lotus Evanora Concept car as an inspiration.

Despite having so much removed, it's quite comfortable to use. It honestly surprised me because when I saw that the bottom of the palm rest was completely absent, I thought for sure that it would be distracting but it really wasn’t. The company has shared that it studied grip styles in the development of this mouse and that most people with average or large hands don’t contact this area very much, which is where I land. If you have very small hands, however, the company has suggested this cutout may become noticeable and that you might be better suited looking at other mice.

The use of magnesium aluminum alloy is smart. Angry Miao isn't the only company to have done that and neither is Razer. But this particular combination is naturally very light as well as being very strong. At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Infinity Mouse is going to feel cheap and likely to break. Nothing could be further from the truth. The cutouts can be a little unnerving for dust and spills, but the structural integrity is very strong, and there is no flex whatsoever. It’s as sturdy as gaming mice come – it's also very lightweight. My sample was an early prototype and weighed in at 49 grams. On the company's Kickstarter page, it shares that it's looking for ways to reduce this weight further and isn't prepared to share the final weight at this point. but even at 49 grams it's one of the lightest weight gaming mice available without paying significantly more and shrinking down in size. The Razer Viper Mini SE weighs the same so even shaving off a gram or two will allow Angry Miao to claim the advantage.

The company has outfitted it with a top-tier sensor and specs for competitive gaming. It uses a modern sensor in the PixArt 3950 which features a maximum DPI of 30,000, a top speed of 750 IPS, and 50G of acceleration. The tracking is also fantastic – it was reliably pixel-perfect accurate throughout my testing, which really comes as no surprise given PixArt’s track record.

Angry Miao has gone for TTC V2 micro switches, which are also great. They have a satisfying, just sharp enough click that competes well with Razer and Logitech. They are optical switches, so there are no mechanical contacts to cause the dreaded double-click issue over time and allows them to avoid debounce delay for faster performance. They’re rated for 100 million clicks each, so long-term durability shouldn’t be a concern.

The Infinity Mouse comes with tri-mode wireless connectivity. You can connect over Bluetooth, 2.4GHz, or use the included USB Type-C cable, though there’s usually no reason to. While Bluetooth is traditionally limited to its 125Hz polling rate, 2.4GHz can be set to 8K polling in perpetuity.

Which brings us to the Infinity Mouse's main party trick: hot-swappable batteries. The mouse comes with a polling dock that doubles as a battery charger. Every mouse will come with two 350mAh batteries, so when one runs low, you can pop it out and swap it with the other in just a few seconds. Both the dock and the mouse use strong magnets that draw the batteries into place. Because of the hole in the palm rest and another in the dock, ejecting each battery can be done with a finger and exchanged with the other in less time than it takes to respawn in a match of Call of Duty.

This system completely sidesteps the usual limitation on 8K wireless mice, where setting such a high polling rate usually chews through the battery much faster than 1K, 2K, or even 4K polling. While you might get upwards of a week with a 1kHz polling rate, 8K might limit you to a single day depending on how much you play. Here, you can swap batteries on the fly, and even though the mouse turns off while this happens, it turns on and reconnects immediately after the new battery is inserted. That makes this the only gaming mouse that you can leave on 8K 24/7 without worrying about plugging it in. Unless you're taking it on the go and don't have the extra battery with you, it's just not necessary.

Each battery lasts for around 15 hours in my experience and is rated for 17 hours. Even with this system, I didn't have to swap more than a couple times a week with my usual gaming schedule. The hot-swap battery feature does require that you have the charger out on your desk at all times. It's not that different from other 8K polling dongles, but it is a bit bigger to accommodate the charging slot. It lights up with an RGB glow, which looks good, but if your goal is to avoid extra things on your desk, it’s still not going to be the best fit.

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The final thing to consider is software. This is an area where I unfortunately couldn't do much testing. The mouse does support software and I was able to take a tour of its settings — DPI and polling rate settings, RGB controls for the light, and other simple but necessary features — but on my early sample, settings wouldn’t save yet. It is still being actively developed, however, and a representative for the company assured me that it will be ready by the time people receive their units. Given where it’s at in development now, that seems reasonable, but again, it isn’t something I was able to test myself.

Angry Miao Infinity Mouse – Performance

The Angry Miao Infinity Mouse is more comfortable than it has any right to be. All of the cutouts in its frame make it look like it would be distracting and even a bit uncomfortable to use, but that's just not the case. In fact, when you're actually using it, those cutouts aren't noticeable at all. It's quite comfortable, in fact, despite looking like something out of a sci-fi movie.

I can see the inspiration from the Razer Viper Mini here, and the fact that it's more gently curved definitely harkens back to the Logitech G Pro Wireless. The blend of those two design styles as well as Angry Miao's unique chassis design make it at once familiar while also feeling fresh. I like it and how it allows you to see every component that makes it tick. You’d better believe I keep liquids far away from it, though – one spill and there’s no going back.

It’s an impressive peripheral on multiple levels.

That trade-off is worth it for its light weight, however. It's so light that without a magnesium shell, it would almost certainly feel cheap. As it is, you can almost forget it's there, allowing it to become an extension of your arm. Its PTFE glide feet allow it to move effortlessly across soft or hard surfaces, but I especially liked it on my hard Razer Firefly mouse pad. It feels downright rapid with how fast it is, which is a perfect fit for an ultralight design such as this.

As I alluded to earlier, tracking was stellar with a sensor such as the PixArt 3950 driving the experience; a high-performance sensor if ever there was one. I wasn't able to get it to spin out or feel less than pixel-perfect, even as I scaled DPI and sensitivity settings, integrating these configurations sensibly. Even side by side with my different generations of Razer Viper, the Infinity lacked absolutely nothing.

The battery system is easily the best thing to come to gaming mice since the Logitech PowerPlay charging mousepad. The batteries are so lightweight that they don't detract from the experience at all, and swapping them out is so quick that you essentially never have to worry about plugging in again. You could be in the middle of a match – in the middle of a firefight, even – and if the low battery indicator came on, you could be swapped and back to full battery before running from cover.

For competitive gaming, this is excellent. With the Infinity Mouse, you don't need to choose between battery life and the mouse at its full responsiveness (that 8,000Hz polling rate), allowing you to focus on the game consistently. And if you're paying this much for a mouse, no longer needing to consider that trade-off is a pretty big perk.

Frankly, there's just not a lot to criticize about this mouse. You can tell that a lot of attention and iteration went into its design, and that Angry Miao understands the target audience. You'll either love or hate the skeletonized spaceship-like design, and it may not be suited for those with smaller hands, but it’s an impressive peripheral on multiple levels.

Here are the best deals for Tuesday, March 11. HIghlights include rare discounts on PS5 Dualsense controllers from Lenovo, an Asus Chromebook for just over $100 from Best Buy, the coveted AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D back in stock on Amazon at a non marked-up price, big savings on speedy Samsung SSDs, power banks for your handheld gaming PCs, and more.

Sony PS5 DualSense Controller for $54

Chromebooks aren't exactly gaming-minded PCs, but they're compact, lightweight, great for productivity on the go, and in this case, a bargain. As part of Best Buy's Deal of the Day, you can pick up this Asus 14" Chromebook for just $118 shipped after a $180 off instant discount, although I'd say the MSRP is a tad inflated. Even so, that's still a fantastic deal for a chromebook that features a relatively recent 8-core MediaTek processor which pairs well with Google Chrome OS.

Best Buy Deal of the Day: Asus 14" Chromebook for $118

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) veteran Scarlett Johansson says Black Widow is "dead" and doesn’t seem interested in returning to the character anytime soon.

The star touched on the Avenger's future in the MCU during an interview with InStyle. While she looks ahead at leaving her mark on another big-budget franchise with this summer’s Jurassic World Rebirth, Marvel fans have speculated about what it might take to see her revisit Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow no doubt played an important role in Johansson’s career, but it doesn’t seem like she has much interest in returning to the character anytime soon.

“Natasha is dead. She is dead. She's dead. Okay?” Johansson said in response to fans calling for her return.

Although Johansson last portrayed the character in 2021’s Black Widow standalone film, the assassin actually met her in-universe demise in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame when sacrificing herself to save Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye. It was about as unambiguous a death as Marvel could possibly cook up, but that hasn’t stopped fans from theorizing about how she — and others — may return.

“They just don't want to believe it," Johansson added. "They’re like, ‘But she could come back!’ Look, I think the balance of the entire universe is held in her hand. We’re going to have to let it go. She saved the world. Let her have her hero moment.”

MCU fans have mused about bringing back dead fictional characters long before Black Widow made her sacrifice for the Soul Stone. Event movies like the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars have been propped up not only as the next chapter for the MCU but as potentially cameo-filled blockbusters, too.

We already know Robert Downey Jr. will hang up his Iron Man suit to play the first new live-action Doctor Doom in more than a decade, but there are also rumors that other recognizable faces will appear. In December, The Wrap reported that Chris Evans would return as Captain America. It's a claim he later denied, but it’s also sent Marvel fans spinning as they wonder how he may play a part in a future MCU film.

Meanwhile, Hayley Atwell’s Agent Carter has died in MCU movies not once but twice and is still rumored to show up in next year’s Doomsday project. With so many names in the running to reappear, it’s hard to blame fans for speculating about potential inclusions even with Johansson outright denying that Black Widow has another shot at life. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until May 1, 2026 for Avengers: Doomsday and May 7, 2027 for Avengers: Secret Wars to see who, living or dead, makes the cut.

For more on the MCU, you can check out our list of every upcoming movie and show Marvel has in the works. You can also catch up with the comic book company’s most recent project, Daredevil: Born Again, which will premiere its third episode tonight.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

With all the trailers, showcases, and dev diaries that often lead up to a game’s launch nowadays, it’s harder than ever for one to be a real surprise – and that’s especially true of a multiplayer first-person shooter when, like me, you are a Certified Old Gamer™ who’s been playing them since the genre began. Yet FragPunk has done just that. What I worried might end up being a Valorant clone with a card gimmick and a big list of other buzzword features has instead impressed me with how fresh it all feels. It's still early, and I'm far from ready to say if this is a definite winner, but so far, I’m having a hard time putting FragPunk down.

In many ways, FragPunk reminds me of a reverse Ship of Theseus. If every component of a game came from somewhere else, does it eventually become something original? It’s hard to say, but the result is at least a lot of fun. Like Overwatch, it has very distinct characters with big personalities and unique tools to match them. Like Valorant or Counter-Strike, the primary game mode, called Shard Clash, revolves around teams of five competing to plant or defuse a Converter (aka bomb) or eliminate one another across multiple rounds. And like Fortnite, it has a deep bag of cosmetic items like costumes, weapon skins, stickers, and emotes to entice you to spend some money on this otherwise free-to-play shooter.

FragPunk’s playable characters are called Lancers, and so far this is a fun group to choose from. Some are relatively typical archetypes, like a sniper named Hollowpoint with her abilities that help reveal enemies. Others are way out there, like the punk rocker Axon, who shoots lightning from his guitar. Unlike Valorant, where abilities can give you an edge but are rarely what win a fight outright, Fragpunk places a much bigger emphasis on using them to dominate the map, which I like. When abilities like Broker’s rocket launcher can instantly erase enemies, it feels good to use it yourself or devise a counter on the fly as you see it coming, like throwing down a wall of Fungi as Pathojen to provide cover and then returning fire from a remote controlled combat drone.

Naturally, Fragpunk isn’t all lightning guitars and rockets. Your standard assortment of shotguns, SMGs, assault rifles, and more forms the backbone of combat. I don’t mind that the guns really aren’t the star of the show here, but I do wish there was more variety to choose from. There are two options in each category you can select as your primary weapon, and they all shoot pretty much exactly how you’d expect. Most of the maps seem to favor medium-range engagements, so I’ve been gravitating toward the SMGs. The gunplay is smooth and responsive, and the fast time-to-kill does a good job of emphasizing the importance of positioning over raw gun skill.

The other aspect of shooting that stands out is how little movement affects your aim. Unlike Valorant, where stopping and popping is often essential if you want to be accurate, Fragpunk fully embraces running and gunning. I found myself repeatedly lagging behind my squad in kill count until a teammate pointed out that I’m better off treating gunfights like Call of Duty with powers, advice that put me right at the top of the next match’s leaderboard. That style of shooting isn’t necessarily better than the more deliberate action of other games, but it does stick out as atypical for an objective-based tactical shooter in a way that seems like a perfect fit with the general FragPunk vibe.

The star of the show, however, is the Shard Card system. Before every round, each team has three random cards pulled that players can then put Shard Points into, effectively voting on which ones will be active. The costs of effects vary, and you earn more Shard Points by either getting kills or picking them up off the ground mid-round. Some Shard Cards are simple, like one that increases your movement speed, while others are extremely powerful, like another that forces the next round to play out as a melee battle – or one called Big Heads, which (as advertised) gives the entire enemy team overgrown, easy-to-hit craniums. A few are even downright weird, like Egg King, which causes you to lay an egg after crouching for ten seconds, which you can then eat to regain health. It’s hilarious, utterly bizarre, and unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a shooter before.

I’m surprised by how much I enjoy the card-collecting aspect of FragPunk. You start with less than a third of the 169 total Shard Cards in your inventory and can earn more after completing matches. Getting more matters, as the cards that are randomly selected before each round are based on what each team member has unlocked. It’s pretty exciting getting a new card and reading what weirdness it’s going to introduce. I also appreciate that you can easily see your collection, read the effect, and, in some cases, watch a quick video showing you exactly what it does.

Rounds of Shard Clash go by fast – possibly too fast. In theory, one team is trying to plant the Converter on one of two objective points, which the other team would then need to defuse… but in practice, the overwhelming majority of rounds end when one team wipes out the other, often in just a few minutes. That means that matches rarely have the same sort of strategic back and forth that makes hard-fought games of Valorant so engaging. It also means that Lancers with abilities that have more of a nuanced, tactical focus have seemed less viable overall so far. I’d love to hunker down with Nito’s turrets and drone to hold a point, but that’s just a recipe to have all the action happen elsewhere. Hopefully some balance tweaks will arrive to make the objectives a more relevant part of the action.

Matches end when one team wins four total rounds, but if both teams reach three wins before that happens, it activates one of my favorite twists: Duels. This has each team face off in a series of 1v1 fights in a small arena, and whoever survives sticks around to face the other team’s next champion until every member of one has been eliminated. Health and abilities don’t regenerate round to round, which makes it tough for one great player to run the table. The action is as exciting as it is tense, and spectating while you root on your teammate and wait for your own turn is thrilling, especially when you get the win that clinches the Duel and, by extension, the entire match for your team.

So far, I am really enjoying FragPunk, though there are still some unanswered questions before I can render a final verdict. I’m still a few levels short of being able to compete in ranked competition, which is an important mode for this sort of game. Likewise, as much as I’m enjoying both the action and the hilariously mad Shard Cards, I wonder if that novelty could wear off sooner rather than later. There are still more matches to be fought, Lancers to unlock, cards to collect, and quite a few in-game currencies to figure out. For now, I can say that FragPunk is very fun, and while it is pulling a lot from games that came before, it goes against the grain and mixes in twists in a way that feels original, which has me looking forward to playing more.

Max is home to some incredibly high-quality films and shows, including House of the Dragon, Succession, The Penguin, The White Lotus, and The Last of Us, which has season 2 coming this year on Sunday, April 13. If you've been hoping to start up an account to dig into that library, we're here to help. We're keeping track of the best price right now for Max subscriptions, along with any deals as they appear.

This includes bundle deals like the Max, Hulu, and Disney+ bundle, which is one you absolutely don't want to miss out on. This mega bundle starts at just $16.99/month, which is an astonishing price to have three very popular streaming services right in the palm of your hand. You can learn more about that bundle deal and Max's subscription plans below.

How to Get the Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max Streaming Bundle

The Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max streaming bundle can be purchased on any of the three streaming services and starts at $16.99/month for the ad-supported tier or $29.99/month for ad-free access across all three platforms. If you're looking to cut down on streaming costs and currently own all three of these, this is an excellent bundle to invest in. It'll save you quite a bit compared to what you'd pay for the three of them separately – 43% on the ad-supported plan and 42% on the ad-free plan.

To learn more about how to get started with this bundle as a new or existing subscriber, head to our guide on how to get (or switch over to) the Disney+/Hulu/Max streaming bundle. It's worth signing up for this right now as well, given Hulu and Disney Plus have increased their prices, so you'll ultimately be saving money with this bundle.

Students Get 50% off Max Basic With Ads

Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive is suing online marketplace PlayerAuctions, alleging it contains "thousands of listings for unauthorized, infringing GTA V content – including heavily modified player accounts, in-game assets, and virtual currency – all gained by using hacking software, cheats, and technical exploits."

The lawsuit was filed last week in the U.S. Central District Court of California against the Chinese company that owns the website, Paiao Network Technology. It accuses PlayerAuctions of operating "with full knowledge that its sellers are engaged in rampant infringement and other unauthorized conduct," while it "reaps millions in revenue by taking a cut of every transaction on its marketplace."

Specifically, Take-Two alleges that PlayerAuctions hosts listings of modded accounts that have been manipulated to give high game levels and in-game currency, or to unlock content normally unlocked through playing or purchases. Take-Two also claims PlayerAuctions sells money drop services that work using hacking software to give purchasing players large amounts of in-game money, and account boosting services where sellers use hacking software or glitches to inflate a purchasing player's in-game level or currency total.

Take-Two further argues that PlayerAuctions goes out of its way to "lull its users into buying illegitimate GTA V content from its sellers" by offering refunds if the hacked accounts purchased are caught and banned post-purchase. According to the complaint, Take-Two has "repeatedly confronted PlayerAuctions with evidence of infringement" and has issued a cease and desist, but PlayerAuction has refused to shut down these listings.

The GTA publisher is claiming relief for multiple different types and levels of copyright infringement, as well as intentional interference with contract. Take-Two is seeking a permanent enjoinment on PlayerAuctions from continuing to directly or indirectly sell accounts, currency, or items in any Take-Two game, or participating in or assisting hacking efforts, or infringing the GTA trademarks. It's also seeing damages for trademark infringement, costs and attorney fees, damages, and restitution.

Take-Two isn't the only company going after PlayerAuctions. Early last month, Roblox filed a similar suit in the Northern District of California Court covering roughly the same accusations, attempts at a cease and desist, claims, and prayer for relief. Notably, PlayerAuctions offers similar sales and services across many other games, including World of Warcraft, Genshin Impact, Valorant, Path of Exile, Final Fantasy 14, Call of Duty, and Fortnite. In total, PlayerAuctions claims to sell various boosts, items, and benefits for over 200 games.

While the Take-Two suit is still early in the process, the Roblox case has its first hearing set for March 20 in Oakland, California, where Roblox is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop PlayerAuctions from selling Roblox-related products and services while the case proceeds.

The lawsuit comes ahead of the fall 2025 launch of GTA 6, which Take-Two recently reaffirmed. The hope is of course that any new version of GTA Online that launches alongside GTA 6 will be as free from cheaters as is possible, and the lawsuit may go some way to helping.

We’ve got plenty more on GTA 6, including Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick’s response to concern about the fate of GTA Online once GTA 6 comes out.

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

Samsung's newest SSD - the Samsung 990 Evo Plus PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive - is on sale today. Pick up the 2TB model for $129.99 or, if you can swing it, the 4TB model is an even better deal at $249.99. It's currently $40-$70 cheaper than the Samsung 990 Pro and most (if not all) gamers won't notice the difference in performance.

Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for $129.99

4TB for $259.99

Last year the 9th generation iPad was the least expensive iPad you could get brand new and with warranty. It was regularly priced at $179, but it went out of stock pretty much everywhere starting from Black Friday. Fortunately, it's back for one final harrah; right now, Walmart has it available for delivery for only $179 shipped. Seriously though, this deal probably won't last much longer so don't hesitate.

2021 9th Gen Apple iPad 10.2" 64GB for $179