You’d be nuts to march into March without a battle plan. You’re outnumbered, for starters. There’s an absolutely ridiculous amount of things to watch and practically no time in the month to see it all. So let’s get to maximising your blessed, precious free time with nothing but the greatest picks from a swathe of award-winning films, social calendar destroying TV series and original content gems.
Below are the litter picks from thousands of hours of content from Australia's six major streaming networks. Click your provider from the list below, grab some popcorn and kick back into some sweet, sweet escapism.
TV litter pick:The White Lotus S03 (continued) – 1 Mar :Dark secrets and twisted truths of the guests, the staff and the locale of a resort are unveiled over the course of a week that was supposed to be a relaxing vacation.
Movie litter pick:A Quiet Place: Day One – 15 Mar : Day One combines expertly done moments of terror and tension combined with a story about two people it’s easy to care for, as we watch them forge a relatable human connection while trying to evade freaky alien monsters with really strong hearing.
TV litter pick:Formula 1: Drive to Survive S07 – 7 Mar :Drivers, managers and team owners live life in the fast lane — both on and off the track — during each cutthroat season of Formula 1 racing.
Movie litter pick:Plankton: The Movie - 7 Mar : Sheldon J. Plankton is finally getting his close up. When Plankton’s latest evil scheme is thwarted, Bikini Bottom and the surface world become threatened by an unexpected danger. Now, before Plankton can take over the world, he’s going to have to save it.
TV litter pick:Daredevil: Born Again - Mar 5 :An all-new series sees Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities, fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York.
Movie litter pick:Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years - Mar 14 : Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years is the latest one-hour special from one of the greatest stand-up comedians working today. In what might be his most personal and introspective hour yet, Bill offers hilarious takes on everything from male sadness to dating advice.
TV litter pick:Dope Thief - 14 Mar :Follows long-time friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob a house in the countryside, but end up unintentionally revealing and unraveling the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard.
TV litter pick:The Wheel of Time S03 - 13 Mar :The Wheel of Time, which first premiered on Prime Video in 2021, is based on Robert Jordan's fantasy book series that follows Rand al'Thor, a farm boy who learns he's The Dragon Reborn, destined to either destroy the world or save it.
Movie litter pick:Holland - 27 Mar : Nicole Kidman is the meticulous Nancy Vandergroot, a teacher and homemaker whose picture-perfect life with her community pillar husband (Matthew Macfadyen) and son (Jude Hill) in tulip-filled Holland, Michigan tumbles into a twisted tale.
TV litter pick:Long Bright River: S01 - Mar 13 : A suspense thriller series that tells the story of Mickey (Amanda Seyfried), a police officer who patrols a Philadelphia neighborhood hard-hit by the opioid crisis.
Movie litter pick:Hereditary - Mar 7 : Our own Toni Collette gives a virtuoso performance in a terrifying horror drama that defies expectations.
Anime and sports have crossed paths more than once, and for good reason. Just in the past couple of years, sprinter Noah Lyles "Kamehameha-ed" after winning gold at the Paris Olympics, and tennis player Coco Gauff made headlines for watching My Hero Academia "to warm up" at the U.S. Open.
The fact is, anime is awesome, and part of what makes it so great is its motivational storylines. Few anime have made as much of an impact in that department as One Piece. Tonight, that anime is being featured by none other than the Los Angeles Lakers, headlined by Lebron James and Luka Doncic, in their NBA game against the L.A. Clippers.
Will the Straw Hat Pirates (and a pretty stacked team) bring the Lakers to victory? Predictions say… probably? Maybe? Either way, it's a solid game to watch.
If you’re wondering how to stream the Lakers vs. Clippers game online, check out the details below.
When Is the Lakers x One Piece Collaboration?
The Lakers x One Piece collaboration takes place during their game against the Clippers tonight, Friday, February 28, at 10pm EST/7pm CST. It’s a home game for the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com arena.
Where to Stream the Lakers vs. Clippers Game Online
The L.A. rivalry game is airing on ESPN, Sportsnet LA, and FDSSC. If you have those channels on cable, you’re good to go. Otherwise, there’s a couple of ways to stream the game live:
ESPN on fuboTV
fuboTV is a live TV subscription that includes ESPN. The service offers a 7-day free trial, with subscriptions starting at $84.99/month. While I wouldn’t recommend it just for this game, fuboTV does offer a pretty extensive network of sports channels if anyone’s looking for a long-term sport streaming service. Right now, fuboTV also has a special offer for the first month of any subscription plan, so your first month of either the Essential or Pro plan (the Pro plan includes regional sports coverage) would cost the same discounted price: $54.99.
NBA on DirectTV Stream
DirecTV is another live TV streaming subscription that includes ESPN in a number of its plans, including its cheapest one, the Entertainment Package, which starts at $74.99/month. NBA League Pass Premium, which offers “continuous in-arena coverage during breaks,” is included in the Choice package and is also available as an Add-On for other plans. DirecTV also offers a free trial, though a slightly shorter one at only five days.
How Is One Piece Involved?
This isn’t the first time One Piece has collaborated with a major sports team, and it won’t be the last. The Straw Hat Pirates made their way to Fenway Park for a Boston Red Sox game in 2024, and they’ll be returning to Fenway Park in May of 2025.
Ahead of the game, Crunchyroll unveiled new visuals highlighting the Straw Hat Pirates in Lakers attire. Tonight’s game will feature a new animation of the one and only Monkey D. Luffy shooting hoops, and attendees will receive the Lakers x One Piece T-shirt. Prizes will be handed out at the game itself, where there will also be a “One Piece Bounty Rush” photo booth.
When Is the One Piece Anime Returning?
The Lakers x One Piece collaboration is taking place while the One Piece anime is on a break. While series creator Eiichiro Oda continues to produce new chapters for the manga on his regular schedule, the anime has been off air for almost four months. The wait should be over soon, though: New episodes of One Piece will begin airing again in April, with the Spring/Summer anime season.
French crime drama Bastion 36 – or Squad 36, depending on where you’re logging into Netflix from – starts with a bang, but goes out with an extended whimper. Directed and co-written by Olivier Marchal, it has the look and feel of a mid-2000s Hollywood thriller (down to the frigid color palette), but its clunky cop-corruption plot overwhelms any sense of fun.
Led by Victor Belmondo, Squad 36 kicks off with a propulsive vehicular chase scene in the pouring rain, as the elite police unit of the movie’s title pursues a dangerous crime boss, Karim Mahmoudi (Jean-Michel Correia). This sequence ends in a thrilling stalemate, with undercover officer Antoine Cerda (Belmondo) holding Mahmoudi at gunpoint, but being forced to let him go rather than engaging in a public shootout. As the two part ways, it feels like a promise of more intrigue down the line.
Unfortunately, this turns out not to be the case. Mahmoudi, though he technically factors into the plot, remains absent for much of Squad 36’s runtime, as Cerda follows up on numerous leads surrounding the deaths and disappearances of several of his comrades one year and an unceremonious transfer to a different unit later. The key issue with this transition isn’t so much that Squad 36 shifts focus to a different, mostly invisible antagonist working in the shadows and pulling the strings, but that the way it tells its story grinds any sense of momentum to a halt.
Cerda, who’s involved with his coworker Hanna (Juliette Dol), also has a penchant for getting beaten up during underground, bare-knuckle fights. It’s an intriguing wrinkle to the character, but apart from giving him a consistently scarred and puffy appearance, it adds little to his psychology. The inner lives of the characters seem of little concern in Squad 36, despite much of the plot unfolding in the form of Cerda asking people questions whose answers lead him to even more people to mildly interrogate.
There’s little sense of mystery to the unfolding police saga, other than ballistic evidence pointing towards a cop being involved in a number of recent shootings. Cerda is of a one-track mind in his mission to find out more – the dead and disappeared were his closest allies, after all – but there’s little to actually challenge his sense of self, or his righteous morality, until very late into Squad 36’s two hours and change.
In the meantime, a who’s who of wonderful French actors (like Yvan Attal and Soufiane Guerrab) waltz in and out of scenes to deliver news to Cerda, ask him for updates, or simply assure the audience that things are moving elsewhere, far away from the investigation – all but promising these disparate parts will eventually meet. The further Cerda tumbles down the rabbit hole of corruption, the more he discovers information about what might actually be going on, though none of it is ever presented with subversion or surprise. At the very least, Belmondo (the grandson of iconic French New Wave lead Jean-Paul Belmondo) moves through this plateauing plot with a sense of control and reserve, leaving any potential emotional explosions for more significant moments.
Squad 36's resemblance to a thousand other cop procedurals is both its biggest strength and its ultimate undoing.
Without its superficial appearance – its cool tones, its slick handheld camera, and its editing that emphasizes information over emotion – Squad 36 wouldn’t move forward quite as neatly, given how flimsy it feels beneath the surface. Its resemblance to a thousand other cop procedurals is both its biggest strength and its ultimate undoing, since it leaves little room for delight or surprise. The one time it attempts to pivot (and to shock), the result is a climactic development that springs up out of the blue, introducing a completely unearned sense of cynicism. Then again, it’s hard to nail a thematic exclamation point when little else in the movie has much to say.
Left 4 Dead 2 fans, here is something special for you today. Modder ‘xoxor4d’ released a mod that allows you to play this classic FPS game with RTX Remix Path Tracing. Do note that this is a compatibility mod. As such, it just makes Left 4 Dead 2 compatible with RTX Remix. It does not … Continue reading Left 4 Dead 2 RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod Released→
Best Buy is offering a great deal on a well equipped RTX 4070 gaming laptop. Right now the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 RTX 4070 gaming laptop is on sale for just $1,079.99 shipped after a $570 off instant discount. This is an outstanding price for a gaming laptop that, despite its slim dimensions, boasts excellent build quality and powerful gaming capabilities.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 RTX 4070 Gaming Laptop for $1,080
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is one of the thinnest and lightest laptops in its class, weighing in at only 4.4 pounds and measuring 0.78" thin. It features a 16" 1080p display, Intel Core i7-13620H processor, GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. Because this is a slimmer laptop, Asus opted to use a low voltage Intel Core i7-13620H processor with a max turbo frequency of 4.9GHz and 10 cores (16 threads). This is still an excellent gaming chip, and gamers will find little reason to complain since nearly all games are limited by the GPU, not the CPU.
The discrete graphics is a slightly throttled GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with 100W TGP, or 120W with dynamic boost. An unthrottled mobile 4070 is supplied with 120W TGP, or 140W with dynamic boost. The difference here is minimal, and that's still more than enough power to drive any game on the display's 1920x1080 native resolution. In fact, you could probably push framerates of 144Hz and beyond in many games, especially if the game supports DLSS 3.0.
Best Buy is an authorized Asus reseller, so you'll be getting the same 1 year warranty as buying from Asus direct. This laptop is also currently in stock and will be delivered to you within a week.
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.
Of all the things one might expect from a brand new Gundam series, an opening episode dedicated to recreating and revising the events and aesthetics of 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam isn’t necessarily one of them. Though perhaps it’s no surprise that a series led by a team that includes former Gainax collaborators Kazuya Tsurumaki, Yôji Enokido, and Hideaki Anno – a trio of names best known for shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and Revolutionary Girl Utena – would be so interested in rooting their own unique vision in the past of the mecha-anime franchise’s.
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX – a mouthful that even its characters joke is confusing to pronounce, but boils down to “quacks” – kicks off by throwing us back to the very first episode of MSG, “Gundam Rising!!!,” with an intriguing, “what if?” twist: Instead of Amuro Ray becoming the Gundam’s pilot for the Earth Federation, Char Aznable from the Principality of Zeon steals the robot for himself, landing a victory via truce in the One Year War.
The first act of this theatrical release, which is edited together from footage we’ll eventually see after the full series premieres in April, is entirely designed for fans of Mobile Suite Gundam. Shots from that series are lovingly remade with a fresh coat of paint (à la the Evangelion rebuilds) and exact musical cues are reused and recontextualized. It’s fascinating to see how every part of the show that started it all is framed or sped up when Char is the protagonist instead of the antagonist. Char’s sheer drive and skill allowing him to sidestep all of Amuro’s insecurities and stumbles is particularly interesting.
Think of this first act like a speedrun of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, though one that undoubtedly requires a certain level of context to fully appreciate, down to an almost immediate introduction of Newtypes and seeing how one-off characters from MSG, like Challia Bull, become full-fledged protagonists themselves. Fortunately, gestures toward larger repercussions (particularly with Char) blessedly prevent the playful references from turning into a shallow easter egg hunt. The intro is ultimately a loose history lesson that preps the uninitiated viewer with just enough information about the One Year War to anticipate the new world that GQuuuuuuX seems to be diving into.
And what a world it is. The attempts at relative fidelity toward the classic UC79 designs are contrasted with colorful characterization and design work by take that recalls their work on Pokémon but also boasts personality and flourishes that point to the influence of Gainax classics like FLCL, Gurren Lagann, and DieBuster. Not once do these aesthetic shifts feel out of place, instead emphasizing the way life and culture has progressed in the years since the war ended (GQuuuuuuX takes place in UC85) and the fact that this is a world in which the Zeon have the luxury of enacting fascistic rule and continue to harm refugees.
Within this world are a trio of fresh faces: Nyaan, a refugee of the war who smuggles illegal goods to survive; Shuji Ito, a mysterious graffiti artist who also happens to pilot Char’s own Gundam, which disappeared half a decade prior; and Amate Yuzuriha (who goes by MACHU), a high schooler whose longing for more than what life has given her leads her to piloting the gundam GQuuuuuuX in Clan Battles. These battles are seemingly no more than illegal (but live streamed) street fights for quick cash, but they’re where GQuuuuuuX indulges in the spectacle it rightfully deserves. That many of Evangelion Rebuilds’ 3D-based animators are at work here is clear the second we see how these giant machines move and the way their fights are choreographed.
Such fun being offered this early on makes me wonder what’s to come from GQuuuuuuX.
Even their mere slenderness and speed – as opposed to the beautifully clunky fights of the classic series – could be considered something of an Eva-ification of these bots. (It could be considered blasphemy, but I found it engrossing.) When it comes to the current era of Gundam (and Japan’s Reiwa era), it’s a stark contrast to the 2D animation and fight scenes of The Witch from Mercury. There’s a real fluidity to the way action unfolds, whether in or out of a gundam, and such fun being offered this early on makes me wonder what’s to come.
For all the intrigue and fun that Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Beginning has to offer, it’s still ultimately just a teaser for a series and not anything that can stand on its own two, gigantic, heavily armored feet. If this first segment is any indication though, GQuuuuuux promises to be a series that’s as playful as it is intriguing, the ideal bridge between the past and the future of what Gundam can look like.
The Sony PSVR2 Headset is the best VR headset for PS5 owners, but it has always been an expensive purchase. Thankfully, Sony announced just yesterday that the company would be dropping the recommended retail price of the headset down to $399.99. This price cut brings it more in line with the Meta Quest 3 competitor, which is currently $499 for the Quest 3 and $299 for the Quest 3S.
If you're hoping to pick up the PlayStation VR2 headset for yourself at this new price, now you can! Retailers have already started adopting the price cut and you can purchase the PSVR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle for just $399.99 at Target. The bundle has already sold out at Amazon, so Target is your best option.
The Best PlayStation VR2 Deal Today
Along with the headset, this bundle also comes with a copy of Horizon Call of the Mountain which we gave a 7 out of 10 in our review. This game is exclusive to PlayStation, but that doesn't mean you can only use the headset with your PS5. Sony released a PSVR2 PC adapter just last year that allows you to connect the headset to your PC and play SteamVR games. This has elevated the PlayStation VR2 headset to be one of the best VR headsets for PC gamers. You can check out our guide on how to connect it to PC for more info.
Welcome to Beyond! Game Club, a new segment for podcast Beyond! where each month we will be picking games to play as a group and talking about our experiences as we progress through them. The games will range from various classics to quintessential PlayStation games we consider must plays, and even revisiting some recent favorites to prepare for upcoming sequels (looking at you Ghost of Tsushima and Yotei)! However, for March we decided it would be a great time to revisit one of our favorite superhero games of all time: Batman: Arkham Asylum.
It's been at least 10 years since many of us dove into 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum and now feels like the perfect time to revisit the game that almost singlehandedly revitalized the superhero genre. Whether it was the excellent freeform combat of snapping back and forth between enemies with precision, to unleashing devastating kicks or takedowns, or the way it trained our detective skills to solve the numerous riddles by the Riddler – Arkham Asylum gave us the best depiction (for its time) of Batman and what it would be like to wear the cowl.
The Beyond! team is eager to dive back into this amazing game, and over the month of March we will be talking about it weekly on each episode of the podcast as well as updating this column with our thoughts and hope that you will all do the same in the comments below.
You Must Take Part in Revolution made IGN's list of the most anticipated graphic novels of 2025, and for good reason. It's ideal reading material in a very politically tumultuous year, exploring the lengths three friends will go in their efforts to resist a techno-fascist dictatorship.
With You Must Take Part in Revolution releasing in March, IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of this timely graphic novel. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:
You Must Take Part in Revolution is written by Melissa Chan, an Emmy-nominated foreign correspondent based in Los Angeles and Berlin. The book is illustrated by activist artist Badiucao, who is often referred to as "China's Banksy." Both creators are making their comic book debut with You Must Take Part in Revolution.
Here's the official description for the book:
From Emmy-nominated journalist Melissa Chan and esteemed activist artist Badiucao comes a near-future dystopian graphic novel about technology, authoritarian government, and the lengths that one will go to in the fight for freedom.
It's 2035. The US and China are at war. America is a proto-fascist state. Taiwan is divided into two. As conflict escalates between nuclear powers, three idealistic youths who first met in Hong Kong develop diverging beliefs about how best to navigate this techno-authoritarian landscape. Andy, Maggie, and Olivia travel different paths toward transformative change, each confronting to what extent they will fight for freedom, and who they will become in doing so.
A powerful and important book about global totalitarian futures, and the costs of resistance.
You Must Take Part in Revolution will be released on March 4, 2025. You can preorder a copy on Amazon.
Dragonite and the Special Delivery is free to watch on YouTube.
Dragonite and the Special Delivery feels truer to the initial spirit of Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri's vision than just about all of the franchise's recent output combined. The short, released as part of this year's Pokémon Day festivities, commemorates the unassuming whimsy, joy, and earnestness of Tajiri’s creation – and looks incredible while doing so.
The plot is predictably slight for a 14-minute animated short, but no less fun because of it: Hana, whose childhood encounter with a Dragonite mail carrier inspired her to join the postal service, struggles to keep up with the steady bustle of her chosen field. After receiving a mysterious envelope, she finds herself on an urgent errand with youngster Rio, who wants to send a birthday present to his father but is worried it won't reach him. It's all very light, fluffy stuff, perfect for a low-commitment romp through familiar (to us) locales. Even better, its stunning visuals lend it an almost otherworldly sheen, an ethereal glow that instantly makes this world and its characters even more enchanting.
Pokémon comes by its appetite for wonder honestly, rooting it in Tajiri’s childhood bug-collecting hobby. Dragonite and the Special Delivery reclaims some of the spark and magic the franchise has lost through years of frantic output and repetitive storytelling – not by adhering to Pokémon’s “Gotta catch ‘em all!” conceit, but by spotlighting other manifestations of passion in its mythos. Hana’s drive to use the mail to connect people is as obsessive and singular as Ash Ketchum’s ever was, and everything from the opening shot of young Hana opening an envelope to her breathless quest to deliver Rio’s present illustrates her devotion.
We don't learn much about Hana beyond her aspirations, but that's really all we need to know . This feels strange to write, but it's true: Dragonite and the Special Delivery isn't trying to tell a story as much as it's attempting to honor a franchise, which means I can’t fault it for coming up short narratively. However, it does seem to be shooting for emotional resonance it doesn’t fully achieve. Hana’s story isn’t hollow. It just won’t linger. Instead, the special focuses heavily on its visual appeal (and with animation from Your Name studio CoMix Wave, why wouldn’t it?), treating us to welcome yet unexpected appearances of certain Legendary Pokémon and using its casual splendor to counter the monotony of delivering the mail.
Its most stirring scene – Dragonite, carrying Hana and Rio, zipping across the ocean, the music swelling around them – is Pokemon at its purest. It’s in this simple, beautiful moment that the franchise regains its clarity.
In Mickey 17, Parasite writer-director Bong Joon-Ho travels to the future – and outer space – to tell the story of Robert Pattinson’s title character… or rather, to tell the story of Robert Pattinson’s at least 17 title characters. Because, see, Mickey is a clone.
In the new sci-fi movie, which is based on the 2022 novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton and also stars Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo, Pattinson’s Mickey takes a job on a colony spaceship as an “expendable” worker. Basically, he’s onboard to do, as Harry Callahan once said, every dirty job in the book. Even if it kills him. Which it often does. Take, for example, what happens to Mickey in the exclusive clip from Mickey 17 that we just debuted at IGN Fan Fest:
So a deadly alien virus takes you out, what’re ya gonna do? Just print out a new Mickey, it’ll be fine!
That’s certainly the trick to much of Bong Joon-Ho’s work, which often straddles a line between sci-fi, satire, and social commentary: He somehow finds the humor in the tragic, and the tragedy in the humor too at times. I spoke to him recently about Mickey 17, how important it is to him to straddle that line between the funny and the messed-up, and more.
“There is a lot of humor in this film,” says Bong (through a translator), “but it doesn't roll with the singular goal of making the audience laugh as many times as they can. I think humor really strengthens sadness, and especially with those bitter laughs, you get a huge mixture of different emotions.”
Afterwards they're like, ‘Was that worth actually laughing about?’ You kind of feel guilty. -Bong Joon-Ho
It’s certainly a hoot seeing a not-quite-dead-yet Robert Pattinson being tossed to his molten grave even as he says “thank you” to the guys who are throwing him in, but as Bong’s films like Parasite, Snowpiercer and The Host have shown us, there’s more going on here than just goopy, sci-fi fun.
“When you're exploring social-political themes, instead of just going super hard on a serious tone, if you use humor to deliver that story, it leaves the audience with a longer-lasting impression,” the filmmaker continues. “Because the audience, they can laugh out loud at something, but then afterwards they're like, ‘Was that worth actually laughing about?’ You kind of feel guilty. You start ruminating on what it was that you were actually laughing at, and you slowly discover what was in that humor and what meanings it was trying to deliver.”
Obviously there’s a long tradition of using science fiction storytelling to talk about real-world issues and current events, masking hot topics beneath the guise of mutant monsters, alien cultures, and maybe even poor bastards who sign up to be expendable clones.
I asked Bong how much he’s inspired by real figures and events when telling his stories. In Mickey 17, for example, the leader of the planned space colony is Mark Ruffalo’s Kenneth Marshall, a politician and sorta cult leader who is portrayed as a lecherous, exaggerated weirdo. But the director demurred from naming any specific current lecherous, exaggerated weirdos in public life who he might be inspired by.
“Of course, Mickey 17 does have a clear political layer, and I think a huge appeal of sci-fi is that it lets you really excitedly jump into political satire,” he says. “Through a story about the future, you actually discuss more about the past. And Mark Ruffalo's character, he plays a dictator alongside his wife, Ylfa, played by Toni Collette, and those characters, it kind of reminds you of all the sort of political turmoil and bad politicians that we have experienced in the past. And I try to create sort of a mix of all the bad memories we have about politics with those two characters.”
Bong cites “so many, so many” when asked what his favorite sci-fi film is, but John Carpenter’s The Thing and Ridley Scott’s Alien are at the top of the pile. (He also shouts out a low-budget indie about giant insects called Infestation: “I love that film.”) As for the future of the genre, he’s optimistic.
“The masters of the sci-fi genre are getting old, and it would be great to see new up and coming sci-fi directors make a splash,” he says. “I definitely see directors continuing that lineage, like Alex Garland, and [Fede Álvarez’s] Alien: Romulus was great. There's a particular excitement that comes from sci-fi, and I would love to just see more of these traditional sci-fi films, because if you look at my films, I'm kind of an exception [as a] sci-fi filmmaker. It's sci-fi, but it doesn't really feel like sci-fi. I kind of like to pull down the genre to the realm of pit stains and sweat stains!”
Let’s hear it for pit stains and sweat stains in our sci-fi, then. Mickey 17 is in theaters on March 7.
Solving puzzles may happen in your daily life from various word puzzle games like Wordle, or through strategy-based games and puzzle books, but piecing together a physical puzzle is a great way to focus your brain, relax and unwind. As a hobby for all ages, there are hundreds of jigsaw puzzles to choose from these days. However, as avid puzzlers ourselves, we put together a list focuses on what we've found as the most challenging yet rewarding puzzles with adults in mind, and even included some 3D gems in the mix.
TLDR: These are the Best Puzzles for Adults
What’s even better is they come in a variety of different styles and designs once put together. Whether you want the finished product to reflect your favorite franchise, game, artwork, or a piece of beautiful scenery, there are puzzles for everyone to enjoy. The below list includes a nice range of sizes as well, from 1,000 pieces to a whopping 3,000 pieces, so you’ll still have quite the challenge when putting them together.
The Legend of Zelda Hyrule Map Jigsaw Puzzle
If The Legend of Zelda games are right up your alley, this is an excellent jigsaw puzzle to have in your collection. Coming in at 1,000 pieces, you can piece together a full map of Hyrule to have in your home. It has a fantastic antique style that’ll be great for showing off once it’s all put together. Frame it and keep it, or pass it on to the next puzzler in your life to do next.
If you do purchase this puzzle with the goal of framing it and displaying it on your wall, we recommend purchasing some puzzle glue to help you preserve the finished product. We recommend RoseArt Jigsaw Puzzle Glue, which works great and dries quickly.
The Mystic Maze Jigsaw Puzzle
Puzzles from the Magic Puzzle Company truly are magical, and one of the best puzzle brands. Not only does this puzzle, called The Mystic Maze, feature over 50 easter eggs for you to find, but it even has a surprise ending for after you’ve finished putting it together. It’s an exciting twist on the usual puzzle, and well worth picking up for your puzzle and games collection.
If you’re looking for another unique puzzle, this 3D puzzle of Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, is a great twist on a usual puzzle. This model kit comes with 8 sheets of 87 pieces for you to use in order to put this iconic hammer together. It even comes with a stand so you can set it up and show it off once it’s all done, making it a great addition to any superhero collection.
Marvel Infinity Gauntlet 3D Puzzle
This is another 3D puzzle from the same company listed above and features another memorable Marvel item: The Infinity Gauntlet. This puzzle comes with a few more pieces than Mjolnir - 14 sheets with 142 pieces - but comes with a stand as well so you can set it up for display afterward. If you’re a Marvel fan, this is a great investment to have, especially if you enjoy collectibles. Interested in other models? Check out our roundup of the 10 best LEGO alternatives or see more model kits for adults.
Star Wars: Galactic Child Jigsaw Puzzle
This jigsaw puzzle is absolutely worth picking up if you’re a Star Wars fan. Coming in at 1,000 pieces, it features Grogu front and center in his little pod with a gorgeous cosmic background behind him. It also comes with a full-color bonus poster to help you with piecing together this Grogu puzzle perfectly. Other Star Wars fans in your life will want to borrow this puzzle when you're done; unless of course, you want to keep it and frame it!
Marvel Spider-Verse Jigsaw Puzzle
Venture into the Spider-Verse with this excellent jigsaw puzzle from Buffalo Games. This 1,000 piece puzzle is a sight to behold, featuring Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Ham, and many more Spideys. It even features some of his greatest enemies lurking around if you take a closer look. This Silver Select puzzle also comes in a giftable box with silver foil accents.
Phoenix Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle
Not only does this wooden puzzle look great once it's all put together, but the pieces themselves also have unique shapes. You'll find shapes of animals and nature items which are fun to spot as you admire the final pieced-together product. Our pick for this Phoenix jigsaw puzzle above comes with 200 pieces, but you can also grab a large version (290 pieces) or x-large version (680 pieces).
Stained Glass Flower Puzzle
This is another puzzle that’s well worth displaying after you’ve put it together. With 1,000 pieces in the box, this puzzle features a vibrant stained glass design with flowers blooming at the center. It’s a great one to work at slowly and appreciate the beautiful result once you’re all finished.
'80s Game Room Pop Culture Jigsaw Puzzle
Feeling nostalgic? This puzzle is ready to transport you back to the '80s and '90s, thanks to its retro style and assortment of pop culture references that you’ll be just as busy pointing out even after you’ve pieced it all together. It also comes with 1,000 pieces, so you'll be able to spend plenty of time immersed in it.
Harry Potter Marauder's Map Puzzle
There are quite a few really cool Harry Potter jigsaw puzzles out there and all of them make for great gifts for Potter fans. Our overall top pick within this franchise is The Marauder's Map puzzle. From Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, this puzzle looks like the full map from the movies once it's been assembled. The puzzle itself is from The Noble Collection, which is known for making some of the highest quality officially licensed wand and Harry Potter prop replicas.
How to Choose a Jigsaw Puzzle
As an adult, choosing the right puzzle for you requires a bit more thought than it did as a kid. There's more to it than just finding a picture you like and making a purchase. If you're new to the puzzle game, here are some key things to consider before you buy:
How Many Pieces?
The difficulty of a puzzle can almost always be directly attributed to how many pieces there are. For most adults a 100-piece puzzle will likely be too easy, but a 1000-piece puzzle might cause you to get frustrated and lose interest. Because of this, you need to consider how much time you're willing to dedicate before you choose a piece count. If you want something you can finish in a single afternoon, a 500-piece puzzle is likely enough of a challenge.
How Big Is It?
Another thing to consider when purchasing a jigsaw puzzle is how big it is once its completed. If you purchase a massive 2000-piece puzzle that won't fit on your table, you may have trouble ever finishing it. Make sure you have enough room available that you'll be able to slowly piece your puzzle together over multiple days. You can also buy yourself a good puzzle table or board if you need extra space.
Do You Plan on Displaying It?
Perhaps the most important factor in your puzzle purchase is what you plan on doing with your puzzle once you're done. If you are looking for something that's just fun to put together, you will want to focus more on the number of pieces and how the colors fit together in the image. However, if you're looking for something to display when you're done, you'll want something that looks more like a work of art. You'll also likely need to purchase puzzle glue and a frame, depending on what type of puzzle it is.
IGN Live, a one-of-a-kind in-person fan event dedicated to the biggest names in games and entertainment, is returning to Los Angeles this June.
In its second year, IGN Live will welcome audiences of all ages to the MAGIC BOX @ THE REEF in downtown LA for a multi-day celebration of everything fans love in games, movies, TV, comics, collectibles, and more.
We’ll have an epic live stage show featuring new trailers, gameplay, advance clips, major interviews, and a live DJ making IGN Live a wall-to-wall party you won't forget. Ticket holders can expect exclusive reveals, celebrity panels, game demos, photo ops, exclusive merch, gaming stations, screenings, lounges, live episodes of IGN shows, food trucks, gaming tournaments and tons of prizes and giveaways.
And for those who can’t make it to Los Angeles this June, don’t fret. We’ll be streaming IGN Live all IGN Entertainment around the globe so viewers at home don’t miss a moment.
McFarlane Toys, the company founded by comic book creator Todd McFarlane, is ready to play havoc with your financial planning once again. As well as turning up to IGN Fan Fest for an exclusive unboxing of the new limited edition Spawn: Black, White & Red All Over statue, it also gave IGN a look at its new upcoming lines Mortal Kombat Klassic and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
"We love the more modern games like MK1 that came out just this past year and Mortal Kombat 11 which we made many figures from including Spawn, but we've seen the more nostalgic games resonate with collector fans way more," says Brian Walters, Director, Brand Creative at McFarlane Toys.
"We didn't think those character designs had ever been given the proper justice in 22 points of articulation, 3D sculpting, all the production advances that have occurred over the last 30 years that collector and action figures have been made. So we wanted to go back and start from the beginning and go from there."
The Mortal Kombat Klassic line will be released as single figures and deluxe two packs starting this summer, and Walters says the company hopes to launch four to 12 figures a year.
If your tastes lean more towards the amphibious, there are the 5 inch scale Page Puncher Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures based on the IDW comic book line. Every 5 inch scale figure comes with an IDW TMNT book with that character as its cover star.
"You're going to have the source material right there," says Walter.
"Ultra-articulated on par with what we've done with DC and Mortal Kombat. There's going to be great posability and we've really honed in on the IDW look which has been established by so many great artists."
Todd McFarlane is best known as Spawn's daddy, and the special boy isn't getting left out of the Fan Fest celebrations. Not only did we get an unboxing of the Spawn: Black, White & Red All Over resin statue which was inspired by Spawn Issue #1.
The Spawn: Black, White & Red All Over statue has been produced in a limited edition run of just 930, but MacFarlane Toys has agreed to give IGN Fan Fest viewers the chance to win one, signed by Todd McFarlane himself. Head over to IGN Rewards now for your chance to win.
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY to enter the Win a Spawn #1 Statue Signed by Todd McFarlane Giveaway. Open to legal U.S. residents in the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18+ yrs of age. Other restrictions apply. Begins 2/28/25 at 12:00pm PST and ends 3/28/25 at 12:00pm PST. Void where prohibited. Subject to Official Rules: https://www.ign.com/rewards/win-a-spawn-1-statue-signed-by-todd-mcfarlane. Sponsor: IGN Entertainment, Inc.
The LG UltraGear 27GX790A-B gaming monitor was released at the tail end of 2024. This was LG's first ever OLED monitor with an incredible 480Hz refresh rate. It launched at a starting price of $999.99, which hadn't been discounted at all - until now. For a few days only, the LG online store is offering a 25% off coupon code "MONITOR25" that drops the price by to $749.99 shipped. This is one of the best 27" QHD gaming monitors you can get right now, especially if you're aiming for the highest frame rates possible in your FPS games.
$250 Off 27" LG UltraGear 480Hz OLED Gaming Monitor
The LG UltraGear GX790 is a 27" monitor with a 2560x1440 resolution (109ppi), 480Hz refresh rate, and G-Sync compatibility. This monitor uses LG's latest generation WOLED panel, which offers near instantaneous response times (0.03ms) and true black levels that can't be matched by any other panel type, including Mini-LED. The GX790 also boasts a 98.5% DCI-P3 color range, HDR True Black 400 certification, and is factory calibrated. Connectivity wise, the GX790 includes one DisplayPort 2.1 port (which you will need to use to get 480Hz), two HDMI 1.4 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports.
Because the GX790 combines an OLED panel with a super high refresh rate, it excels at games with a lot of fast or twitchy motion like shooters. To achieve framerates of up to 480fps at 2560x1440, you'll need to make sure your PC is equipped with the appropriate video card. Depending on the game, you'll probably need at least a graphics card like the GeForce RTX 4070. Games like Counter-Strike or Fortnite have less demanding needs than Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
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.
As part of IGN Fan Fest 2025, we had a chance to speak with both Aaron and TMNT x Naruto writer Caleb Goellner to find out what’s next for their respective books. How do these stories grow with time? What’s the mission statement for the TMNT line? And will Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo ever learn to get along again? Here’s what we learned.
The Mission Statement of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Again, IDW has launched a lot of new TMNT series in a short span of time, including their flagship monthly series. The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 was certainly a hit, selling around 300,000 copies and ranking among the top-selling comics of 2024. We were curious if IDW had a guiding vision or mission statement for the TMNT line that Aaron was seeking to execute. As he explains, it’s all about getting back in touch with the classic Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird TMNT comics from the Mirage days.
“For me, on this book, the guiding principle was just looking back at that original series, the original Mirage Studios book,” Aaron tells IGN. “Last year was the 40th anniversary of that series, kicking off and introducing the Turtles, and that was my expert first experience with those characters. Before the films or the cartoons or anything, it was that original black and white Mirage Studios book. So I wanted to try to recapture some of the grittiness and griminess and the big double-page spreads and action scenes of grimy turtles fighting ninjas in New York City alleyways.”
Aaron continues, “That's kind of the spirit we were going for, but also to tell a story that felt new and felt like it was taking these characters forward after all the stuff they'd been through in the previous 150 issues of the IDW series, to see how they've kind of grown up a little bit and reached a turning point in their lives where they're going in four different directions and trying to figure out how do they come back together and be the heroes they used to be that they need to be to win this fight.”
As mentioned, TMNT #1 was among the best-selling comics of last year, alongside other major successes like Marvel’s Ultimate Universe line, DC’s Absolute line, and Skybound’s Energon Universe. There seems to be a common thread there, with audiences responding very strongly to comics that seek to reboot and/or streamline major franchises. Is there a pent-up demand for books that offer easy jumping-on points for these big properties?
“It certainly seems like it after last year, and I'm very happy to have been a part of a couple of those, even though I've been doing this for 20 years and I've written, wrote a whole bunch of stuff for Marvel in the last few years, I've written for what feels like every company in comics. I still don't really even think about that stuff,” Aaron says. “I sit down to do my job here at my desk, in an empty basement by myself, and I'm just trying to make up stories that get me excited. And I knew as soon as I got the call about doing Turtles, which was not really a job I'd ever imagined would come my way when I got that call, I was excited for that opportunity and realized I think I can do something kind of cool.”
Aaron continues, “And then got to work with an incredible, ridiculous cavalcade of artists over the course of those first six issues. So I just knew we were doing a book that made me really, really excited. As someone who grew up a Turtles fan and as someone who just loves good comic book stories, I think this is a story for you if you've loved The Turtles for 40 years, if you've never heard of them until this moment in time. And so, thankfully, that excitement seems to have translated to other people.”
A TMNT Family Reunion
Aaron’s TMNT run started off with a very unusual status quo. As issue #1 opens, the four Turtles are scattered to the four corners of the globe. Raph is in prison. Mike is a TV star in Japan. Leo is a brooding monk. And Don? Let’s just say he’s the worst off of the bunch. Only by the end of that first storyline does Aaron bring the family back together in their old stomping grounds in New York City. We were curious if Aaron feels a certain sense of satisfaction in bringing the brothers back together (even if it’s clear most of them would rather be anywhere else).
“Those first four issues were really fun to write when you're seeing each of the brothers kind of in a different situation around the globe,” Aaron says. “I had a lot of fun with those - what kind of trouble they had gotten into and then what starts to bring them back together. But the real fun is what happens once they are all together, seeing how those four characters bounce off each other. At this point in time in the book, things aren't great. They’re not really happy to see each other, and they're not reliving old times. They're very much rubbing each other the wrong way.”
Aaron adds, “None of them really want to be there, the pieces don't fit together anymore like they used to. And then in issue #6, when they finally make their way back to New York City, we see that the city has changed as well. The entire city of New York City has been weaponized against them by this new villain who's a part of the Foot Clan. So the Turtles find themselves the most hated entities in the Five Boroughs, the Six Boroughs, I guess, including Mutant Town. So the odds are stacked against them in a huge way, and again, they can't even stand to be around each, it seems like. So how are they going to come together and win this fight?”
Apart from the Turtles being back together, the biggest change beginning with issue #6 is the fact that Juan Ferreyra has become the new regular artist on the series. Aaron makes it clear he’s thrilled to be working with Ferreyra and to have a more consistent visual style going forward.
“Again, it made sense to use different artists for those first five issues because we focused on the different Turtles, and then issue #5 focused on our new bad guy who's the District Attorney of New York City,” Aaron says. “But having Juan come on with issue #6 made sense when the main bulk of the plot picks up. And Juan, even though he was following this group of titans on this book, artistic Titans, he's doing incredible work. I think anybody who sees issues #6 and #7 realized this guy was born to draw the Turtles. He was born to draw this kind of Turtle story again, jumping through alleyways, running across the rooftops of Manhattan. Juan's work on this has been absolutely killer. So I think even though he's following all those legends, he's really making this book his own, I think, in a huge way.”
Merging the TMNT and Naruto Universes
It’s no easy challenge combining two franchises as iconic as TMNT and Naruto, but that’s what Goellner and artist Hendry Prasetya have managed with their crossover series. The first two issues of TMNT x Naruto introduce a universe where the Turtles and the Uzumaki Clan coexist in the same world, though they’re only just now encountering one another for the first time. Goellner gives Prasetya all the credit for redesigning the Turtles and making them feel like a cohesive part of the Naruto universe.
“I couldn't be happier,” Goellner tells IGN. “I only had a few basic little suggestions about how to do that. I can't take any credit for the Turtles’ awesome redesigns. I was like, ‘I don't know, put them in masks in the first issue, like in Naruto,’ and what they came back with was, it's unreal. I hope they get made into toys. I don't have any say. I don't have any insight, but that's my wish, just so I can put them up on my shelf with my collection.”
As with so many comic book crossovers, half the fun of TMNT x Naruto is seeing the various personalities clash and the interactions between the gathered heroes. We were curious if Goellner had any favorite character pairings in these first few chapters of the series.
“The job for me is sort of to make sure all of the characters have a moment together through the course of the book, because you don't want to leave anybody hanging,” Goellner says. “I really like seeing Kakashi with anyone because now that I'm a dad, Kakashi is my viewpoint character to the Naruto world. I'm like, ‘How do you manage all these kids?’ Splinter, you know, I'm not as wise and strong and as good at fighting as Splinter, so I love him, too, but Kakashi is doing a lot of internal face-palming, but he's staying profesh and he's keeping the trains moving for the youth. I'm going to cheat and just say all of them.”
Goellner adds, “I mean, it's funny. I write this stuff and I just kind of forget what I even did. You are trying to do a good job, and all of it's a surprise. It comes back. I'm like, ‘I wrote that? That's pretty good. That's pretty funny.’ Mikey's being funny with the group. I really like the heavies. I like Raph and Sakura. I like the way they bounce off each other, both kind of like the tanks of the teams, but I'm super excited to keep going. I think there'll be some even more cool surprises once the fighting with the adversary of the story heats up in #3.”
Finally, Goellner teased what fans can expect from the series as the two ninja clans make their way into Big Apple Village. It all centers around a major TMNT villain who was specifically requested by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto.
“He had one request for this crossover. It was to have a certain villain appear and for the Naruto characters to fight that certain villain,” Goellner says. “I'm not going to say who, but I think everybody's going to be pretty stoked. I know I am, and I can't wait to see how folks react because so far the vibe on the book's super positive, and I really appreciate everybody coming on this journey.”
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7 just hit stores on February 26, while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto #3 releases on March 26. Also, be sure to check out IGN’s exclusive preview of the final chapter of TMNT: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution.
IDW may have just recently relaunched its flagship Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic, but there's also a big finale looming on the horizon. This April, IDW will publish the fifth and final chapter of TMNT: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution, as a new generation of Turtles make their final stand in a dystopian future version of New York.
As part of IGN Fan Fest 2025, we can exclusively debut a new preview of The Last Ronin II #5. Get a closer look in the slideshow gallery below:
TMNT: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution #5 is written by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz, with art by Ben Bishop, Isaac Escorza, and Esau Escorza.
Here's IDW's official description of issue #5:
The second installment in the legendary Last Ronin saga comes to its fiery and climactic conclusion! The streets of New York have erupted in an all-out war and no one is safe. Casey, April, Odyn, Yi, Moja, and Uno are all in the crosshairs. Will everyone make it out alive? Their fate is in the hands of legendary writers Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz as curtains close on this chapter of The Last Ronin!
"One of the things that we did want to do was really update the characters. There's two male, two female Turtle characters, and me and Tom trying to write what teenagers might think and say and do," Eastman told IGN in 2024. "There's a nice cross section of different personalities, much like the original Turtles. You want to have them always love their family, but not always like them. And so they might argue. They might spat. They might have disagreements, but when they need to work together as a team, it's the heart and soul of the family that always keeps them together. And that's always going to be the foundation of anything we do with Turtles."
For years and years, the Dragon Ball fandom has been mainlining hype – for whatever power up, fusion, super-fusion, or sick moves that will take down the baddie of the moment. So if the wildly destructive battles between stupidly powerful beings have always been the indisputable best parts of Dragon Ball, then the franchise’s latest TV series does itself a disservice by stuffing its blowout fight into the back end of its run. Don’t get me wrong: The third act of Dragon Ball Daima delivers – Goku achieving Super Saiyan 4 being the highlight, obviously – but the pace of the action zooms forward so exponentially from its kickoff to the final blows that any feelings about the relatively ordinary first two-thirds of the episodes are instantly overwritten.
That’s not to say that the front chunk of Daima is bad. For one thing, Dragon Ball has probably never looked better, even with the majority of the cast chibi-fied. The animation is crisp, wisely using techniques like 3D modeling to naturally enhance spaceships and other orbs that add a fun Y3K sci-fi twist. It brings gorgeous color to its alien world that seems inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha. But it also treats this new dimension as a stage set to tear down once an area is all clear. The three Demon Realms themselves, each full of otherworldly ecology, are fascinating, and I could have happily watched several Scavengers Reign-style montages about the strange plants, creatures, food, bugs, even air that made each distinct.
But the fights, the fights! Of course they’re great; they’ve been Dragon Ball’s bread and butter for basically 40 years. Even though the first real tete-a-tete doesn’t happen until episode 8, the confident direction keeps the action in every bout crystal clear – which, shockingly, is a huge compliment in 2025 when one too many series abandon intelligible fisticuffs for a muddled VFX mess. The last few episodes especially, with Goku at full adult strength in Super Saiyan 4 form, are a dazzling spectacle, some of Dragon Ball’s coolest battle choreography and glowiest beams of energy from opening to closing credits.
A new batch of characters also brings some fresh life into a huge but largely stagnant cast whose personalities, for better or worse, are set in stone. Vegeta always has been and will be a surly wife guy and Goku a food-and-fighting-obsessed maniac. Daima still reliably wrings humor out of these kinds of truths, largely through the perspectives of new core crew members Glorio and Panzy, who both expand the scope of the adventure with their own Demon Realm connections and motivations. Daima gives every character their own brief moment of glory, but some are practically cameos within the limited screen time of a 20-episode season. (For comparison: Six of Dragon Ball Z's nine seasons ran for more than 30 episodes.)
The main big bad, the Demon King Gomah, meanwhile, is baffling to me. Many times throughout Daima, different characters warn that he’s “not to be underestimated.” But there was never any evidence that he was anything other than a twerpy screen addict, obsessed with studying the tapes of the Majin Buu fight and watching Goku and company go after the three Demon Realm Dragon Balls, until he just happens to get his hands on a legendary item that turns him into a ’roided-out, seemingly indestructible giant who can be bested by Nintendo-boss logic. Of all the Dragon Ball evil guys, Gomah ranks toward the bottom for me.
Even after the finale, there’s a lot that Daima failed to follow through on: the seeds of foreshadowing that didn’t really germinate, and the glossed-over plot points. (Take, for example, the odd employee-employer-savior relationship of Glorio and Supreme Kai’s sister Arinsu that is little show and mostly tell.) I found that, for my own joy, it was better not to focus on this while I was watching, and instead got swept up in the hype of the next Kamehameha, the tides of battle, the journey to the end. Dragon Ball Daima is like a fireworks show: The tedium of sitting around beforehand and the small morsels of flashiness at the beginning are mostly forgotten and forgiven by the time spent staring at the biggest sparkles in the sky.
Here are the best deals for Friday, February 28. Highlights include a 75" TV for $400, 25% off the fastest ever OLED gaming monitor, a 2-pack of Anker wall chargers for $15, the lowest price we've seen for a four pack of Apple AirTags, a new Harry Potter Illustrated Edition book up for preorder, $300 off the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL smartphone, and more.
Check out "the best deals under $30" for any impulse buys on items that you never knew you needed until you visited this page. Read on lower for some great deals that cost over $30 and may require a bit more involved decision-making.
Preorder Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Interactive Illustrated Edition on Amazon and Barnes & Noble
There is a new interactive edition of the Goblet of Fire arriving in October that you can preorder right now at bost Amazon and Best Buy. Not to be confused with the books illustrated by Jim Kay, the interactive editions of Harry Potter feature wonderful illustrations as well as paper-engineered elements that pop off the page. This illustrated edition features 150 full-color illustrations and elements similar to a pop-up book. The new book is illustrated by Karl James Mountford and the papercraft designs were made by Jess Tice-Gilbert. This is a different group of creatives that worked on this book after the previous interactive illustrated editions from MinaLima were discontinued after The Prisoner of Azkaban.
75" Insignia 75" 4K Fire TV for $399.99
It's hard to argue with a 75" TV for under $400. Besides the wall-filling screen size, the Insignia F50 features native 4K resolution, 60Hz refresh rate, and the Amazon Fire TV smart interface. Fire TV is intuitive to use and pairs well with the Alexa ecosystem, including Echo smart devices and Alexa voice assistant. Hurry though, because this deal ends today.
$250 Off 27" LG 480Hz OLED Gaming Monitor
The LG 27GX790A-B was released in the tail end of 2024 and currently boasts the highest refresh rate of any OLED monitor. Aside from its incredible 480Hz refresh rate, this 27" display features a 2560x1440 QHD resolution, sub 0.03ms response time, and G-Sync compatibility. The OLED panel offers true blacks and a near infinite contrast ratio that can't be achieved with any other panel type. Every retailer has this monitor for $1,000 except curiously for LG itself, where you can get it for $749.99 after a 25% off coupon code "MONITOR25".
2-Pack Anker 20W USB-C Nano Wall Charger for $14.99
Here's a great deal on a compact wall charger that's a perfect match for the Nintendo Switch. Amazon is offering a two-pack of the Anker Nano Pro 20W USB Type-C wall charger for only $14.99 after you apply coupon code "0UD8TFST". That's 50% off the original $30 list price and comes out to only $7.50 per charging cube. The set even comes with two 6-feet USB-C cables. Each cube can deliver up to 20W of Power Delivery from its single USB Type-C port, which is enough to max out the charging rate on a Nintendo Switch, which caps out at 18W.
4-Pack Apple AirTags for $64.49
Amazon and Best Buy are both offering a four-pack of Apple AirTags keyfinders for only $64.49. That's over $35 off the retail price and only $16.10 for each AirTag. This is a very practical accessory for anyone who owns an iPhone and tends to lose small wearables like wallets, keys, or remotes.
SanDisk Extreme 256GB Micro SDXC Card for $18.91
The SanDisk Extreme Micro SDHXC card is fully compatible with your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld, but it's really designed for devices that require its super fast transfer rates like DSLR cameras, action cams, quadcopter cams, or smartphones. It is U3 A2 rated with speeds of up to 190MB/s read and 130MB/s write.
Wurkkos WK03 Pocket LED Flashlight
The Wurkkos WK03 EDC flashlight is down to $19.99 after a combined 30% off clippable coupon and 20% off promo code "UXNT5EVS" is applied during checkout. This flashlight measures less than 6" long but packs in a powerful 519A LED bulb that delivers up to 1,200 lumens of light with a beam reach of 194 meters. It has five different intensity settings and a strobe mode. The flashlight lasts up to 2 hours on the highest setting and can be recharged via USB Type-C cable.
$200 Off the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
If you're in the market for a new phone, Amazon has currently dropped the price of the Pixel 9 Pro XL lower than ever before. The price of the best overall phone from the latest generation has officially dropped below the lowest-ever price we saw on the standard Pixel 9 Pro earlier this year. The main difference between the Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 9 Pro XL is the size of the phone. When it comes to Android, the Google Pixel line has some of the best phones on the market. The Pixel 9 series that was released just last year has one of the greatest cameras on any smartphone currently on the market and AI features that are really quite fun to play around with.
Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,400
Starting today, Dell is offering an Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC equipped with the new GeForce RTX 5080 GPU for just $2,399.99 shipped. This is one of the best prices you can get right now for an RTX 5080 equipped prebuilt, especially since most other brands seem to be jacking up prices steadily since the RTX 50 series launch in January. The only other prebuilt you can get at Dell with an RTX 5080 GPU costs over $4,000. Good luck trying to find a standalone GPU to build out your own DIY PC; you'll probably spend as much for the GPU as you would this entire system.
Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for $129.99
Samsung's newest SSD - the Samsung 990 Evo Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive - is on sale today for $129.99, which is actually lower than what I saw during Black Friday. This is an excellent drive for both your gaming PC and your PlayStation 5 console, with speeds of up to 7,250 read and 6,300MB/s write. This is a much faster drive than the 990 Evo non-Pro but not quite as fast as the 990 Pro. The main difference between this drive and the more expensive 990 Pro is that this is a DRAM-less drive. Because it is a single-sided SSD, it is power efficient and doesn't generate much heat, so you probably don't need to stick a heatsink on it, although you certainly could for peace of mind.
If you're searching for your next new game to play, Humble Choice February is now live, and this is the perfect bundle to discover something new! This month, Immortals of Aveum headlines the bundle, with seven other games like Total War: Pharoah Dynasties, Fabledom, and more included. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to grab these games individually, you can get all eight games for just $11.99 at Humble Bundle for this month only.
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.
Universal Studios Hollywood is cooking up a new experience for theme park enthusiasts called Fan Fest Nights where guests will be able to enjoy immersive experiences from Star Trek, Back to the Future, Dungeons & Dragons, One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Harry Potter, Nintendo, and so much more.
Universal Fan Fest Nights will take place from April 25 - May 18 and, as part of IGN Fan Fest, we had the chance to chat with Stephen Siercks, the Senior Director of Entertainment at Universal Studios Hollywood, all about what fans can expect from this brand-new, one-of-a-kind event you won’t want to miss.
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IGN: So, Stephen, first off, I want to welcome you to IGN Fan Fest. Obviously, it has no relation to Universal Studios Hollywood's Fan Fest Nights. I really want to talk about what Fan Fest Nights is. I believe someone once said that it’s as if San Diego Comic-Con gave birth to a baby with Halloween Horror Nights.
Stephen Siercks: Exactly. We're really excited to be bringing the fandoms of sci-fi, gaming, anime, and fantasy to Universal Studios Hollywood this spring for Fan Fest Nights. And that's really what this is. It’s bringing all of those fandoms and genres to life just like we do with Halloween Horror Nights, and we’re excited to continue that storied legacy of dropping our guests into these environments, letting them explore it, and further tell the stories of each of these different brands.
What sparked the idea to bring in these other properties for fans to enjoy in the evening? Was it as simple as let’s take what we’re doing with Halloween Horror Nights and see if we can adapt it to some of our other properties?
Siercks: That's exactly it. We wanted to build from the legacy that has been built around Halloween Horror Nights for the last several decades and be able to bring that to these other fandoms. Our fans were asking for more and we certainly wanted to deliver more in terms of these immersive in-world experiences and the celebrations that go around them.
And you’ve got quite an impressive list of brands and IP, including Star Trek, Back to the Future, Dungeons & Dragons, One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Harry Potter, and Nintendo. So, I’d love it if you could walk us through what we can expect from each one of those properties, starting with Star Trek.
Siercks: Sure. We’re going to have Star Trek Red Alert, which is a story-based walkthrough attraction where guests are invited to board the Enterprise D and take an exclusive tour of the ship. However, in typical fashion, something goes horribly wrong and you're immediately thrust into the action. During your journey through the Enterprise D, you’ll get to visit iconic environments like the sickbay, the engineering room, turbo lifts, and, of course, the bridge.
Oh, and it’s not just any bridge of the Enterprise D, it's an actual screen-used version that was first built for Picard. Through a great partnership with Paramount, we’re able to make something that is truly authentic.
That's one of the things that I love about what you all do, you have access to these incredible items that you can bring into the theme park for fans to actually experience. With that being said, I'm guessing there’s going to be DeLorean there with the Back to the Future experience?
Siercks: Oh, yes, for sure. And to talk about something that is so uniquely Universal, we’re going to be able to bring our guests to Courthouse Square. Guests will get off the tram tour and experience the sets where the magic happened 40 years ago for the original filming of Back to the Future. We're bringing it back to life through light set dressing, characters, and photo opportunities. And yes, the time machine will be there.
What about Enchantment of the Sea?
Siercks: We couldn't do Back to the Future without doing a recreation of the Enchantment Under the Sea prom. It will be as though the prom spilled out into Courthouse Square, and we'll have a band onstage and Marty will actually get up there every once in a while and rock out on guitar for our guests.
Are we going to see anyone go back to the future in the time machine?
Siercks: Oh, oh, yes.
Are we going to see that be recreated?
Siercks: We’re doing an environmental recreation of the epic finale. So, everything from the lightning strike all the way to when the time machine goes back to the future for the last time will be celebrated several times throughout the night down at Courthouse Square.
So, should I dress the part though? Should I find my grandparents' old, 1950s suits and whatnot?
Siercks: Yes, yes. So, cosplay is a huge part of Fan Fest Nights. And we’re really encouraging our guests to come dressed up and celebrate alongside each other. We know that those who have an affinity for these genres have such a strong community around them, so, we’re also creating space for us to celebrate the fans throughout Fan Fest Nights too.
To do that, we’ll have a block party festival at our Universal Plaza where we'll have cosplay, celebrations, trivia contests, fan meetups, and more.
Now, let's talk about some fantasy. I want to know about Dungeons & Dragons.
Siercks: Dungeons and Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep. This one is very exciting. Similar to Star Trek, it's a story-based attraction that will send groups of people on a traditional quest. So, for a casual D&D fan, something has been stolen and we're there to help find it. For those who are a bit deeper into the Dungeons & Dragons lore, you're going to find iconic characters, environments, and some of the setups that will really make you appreciate the experience that much more.
We're members of the Waterdeep clan and Xanathar the Beholder, one of the big bads of D&D, has stolen a Dragonstaff and we're being recruited to help find it. Along the way, we encounter dragons, we get to solve a puzzle, and ultimately, we get face-to-face with Xanathar the Beholder. This will be really special because we actually partnered with Jim Henson's Creature Shop to build this 12-foot puppeted character that our guests are going to be able to meet as they work to resolve the conflict, steal that Dragonstaff back, and return the town of Waterdeep back to normal.
Now, for our anime fans, you have One Piece and Jujutsu Kaisen. I’d love to know what we can expect from those?
Siercks: For One Piece, we're developing a fan zone concept. Where Halloween Horror Nights has scare zones, fan Fest Nights has fan zones. It's going to be taking over a street and there will be character meet and greets, scenic photo opportunities, and more throughout the night.
Jujutsu Kaisen, on the other hand, is taking residence in our DreamWorks Theatre space where we're able to bring some content from Cool Japan and Universal Studios Japan and debut it here in Hollywood for Fan Fest Nights. It's going to be a multisensory media-based experience for our guests based on the lore and story of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Ooh, it's going to be exciting. Now, let's talk about two properties that already have a presence at Universal Studios Hollywood - Harry Potter and Nintendo. Let's start with Harry Potter. What can we anticipate from that magical world?
Siercks: Well, you nailed it on the head. What we want to do with Wizarding World of Harry Potter is that as soon as you cross through the town gate of Hogsmeade, you immediately feel as if something new, unique, and different is happening.
To accomplish that, we're bringing two new experiences for Fan Fest Nights. The first one is the debut of Hogwarts Always, which is the latest projection mapping experience on Hogwarts Castle that debuted at Universal Orlando last year and will now happen at Universal Studios Hollywood for Fan Fest Nights.
The second one is taking an experience that was developed first for Universal Studios Japan - the Magical Creatures - and bringing them here to Hollywood as well. So, guests will be able to meet their favorite magical creatures like the Niffler and a baby dragon. We're also debuting a brand new magical creature, the Occamy, which is developed exclusively for Universal Studios Hollywood.
Oh, wow. That sounds amazing. The Niffler in particular excites me a lot. Okay, next. What can we anticipate from Nintendo?
Siercks: Gaming's a big part of Fan Fest Nights and, as you know, Super Nintendo World is something that we've been able to debut and have our guests experience on a day-to-day basis. So, in a similar fashion to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we want something new, unique, and exclusive to be happening as soon as you walk through the Warp Pipe. So, we're very excited to debut Yoshi as a brand new meet-and-greet character for our guests at Fan Fest Nights.
And to help introduce and celebrate Yoshi, we're creating a few different activations throughout the night, including a fun scavenger hunt activity. Guests will be invited to find five hidden eggs throughout the land and, once they find them all, they’ll get exclusive access to a multicolored Yoshi meet and greet.
Additionally, guests can look forward to some drone moments that will be taken to the skies above Super Nintendo World as well.
So, how close should we get to Yoshi? Because you know what happens if you get too close… I really don't want to get eaten and turned into an egg.
Siercks: No. He's lovable. He's playful. He's a fan favorite.
Now, onto exclusive merch! Can you talk to us about the items that you’ll have at Universal Fan Fest Nights?
Siercks: So, we’ve got some great offerings here from an assortment of our different brands. We've got some merch around Yoshi, Jujutsu Kaisen, Back to the Future, and so much more.
Speaking of which, Back to the Future is celebrating its 40th anniversary, so what better time and place and moment to celebrate this film with a Destination Hill Valley experience at Courthouse Square?
When I attended the press day, some people thought different experiences would happen on different nights. However, I think you can enjoy each and every one no matter what night you go, right?
Siercks: It's a really important point that all of our guests will be able to experience everything we talked about each and every single night. So, all of the different genres, all of the different brands, and all of the different fandoms will be celebrated each and every night of Fan Fest Nights.
Amazing. And what are the dates one more time?
Siercks: Universal Fan Fest Nights opens April 25th and runs for 12 nights through the middle of May.
Yes. And you’ve got your anime, your sci-fi, your fantasy, your video games, and so much more.
Stephen, thank you so much for telling us a little bit more about Fan Fest Nights right here on IGN's Fan Fest. No relation, please don't sue us.
Siercks: Fan Fest meets Fan Fest Nights. We love it and we look forward to seeing you at Universal Studios Hollywood this spring.
Reuniting after their sleeper hit The Beekeeper, director David Ayer and action star Jason Statham are back with A Working Man. The Amazon MGM Studios release, which opens in theaters on March 28, is an adaptation of Chuck Dixon’s book Levon’s Trade.
Statham portrays Levon Cade, a decorated military black ops soldier who now lives quietly as a construction worker. That is until his boss’s (Michael Peña) daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers. Now Levon is going to call upon his old skill set to bring her home while uncovering a vast network of corruption.
As part of this week’s IGN Fan Fest, David Ayer shared an exclusive clip from A Working Man with us, which you can watch via the player above or the embed below. In it, Levon confronts some bad guys and, well, what the hell do you think happens when a bunch of goons get on the wrong side of The Stath?!
Ayer was also generous enough to answer some of our questions about A Working Man via e-mail while shooting his next project overseas.
IGN: What makes Jason Statham such a relatable everyman (despite his characters always possessing a badass skill set precious few could)?
David Ayer: Jason is a guy that has worked his way up in life, started humbly-so he has that working man mindset. He is that man next door-incredibly gracious and respectful of everyone-there's a truth to what the audience sees.
IGN: Sylvester Stallone shares screenplay credit on A Working Man. What can you say about his involvement in the development and writing of the script?
David Ayer: Sly (Stallone) gave me an amazing starting point and was incredibly collaborative. He managed to find a cinematic arc within Chuck Dixon’s book. It was a pleasure to collaborate with such a lauded writer.
IGN: How faithful is the script to Chuck Dixon's source material Levon's Trade?
David Ayer: The character Levon is ripped directly from the novel. The circumstances are similar but we wanted to have some fun with Jenny’s character.
IGN: You've worked with Michael Peña a few times now. Would you say that he’s your lucky charm?
David Ayer: He’s definitely my lucky charm, he brings a truth to every role he plays, in this case the family that Levon is a part of. Every time I work with Michael I'm surprised by his depth and range.
In addition to Jason Statham and Michael Peña, the cast of A Working Man includes David Harbour, Jason Flemyng, Merab Ninidze, Maximilian Osinski, Cokey Falkow, Noemi Gonzalez, Arianna Rivas, Emmett J. Scanlan, and Eve Mauro.
True Keanu Reeves fans know that The Matrix and Cyberpunk 2077 star is a man of many talents, and his latest project sees him co-hosting a show about human creativity with Gard Hollinger, his cofounder in the company ARCH Motorcycle. The pair spoke at IGN Fan Fest 2025 to take viewers behind the scenes of their new docuseries and to explain that Visionaries, a new series airing on Roku in March, isn't just about their passion for creating bikes.
"We're two people that are curious, that are interested in storytelling and creating and so this is not a motorcycle show," says Reeves.
"If you see a cooking show and you have someone who loves food and they go to meet great chefs of the world, we love creativity and people who are creating and innovating. And so we're your hosts to this meal of innovation and creativity."
Along with giving an inside look of their new show to IGN Fan Fest, Reeves and Hollinger also provided an exclusive clip from the upcoming series.
"I think the show really takes us on this hopefully inspiring journey of the intimate and the grand, the way it kind of grows out," Reeves says of the show's exploration of creativity.
"Here's someone thinking personally about creativity and what they create and how that turns into a collaborative act and how it touches other people."
Reeves picked out flying and arriving at the Roden Crater, the remains of an extinct volcano, as one of his favorite moments of the series, while Hollinger highlighted meeting Mattie Rodrigue, the head of Science Operations at oceanic exploration initiative OceanX.
"This realization that there's this whole huge world that we take for granted and don't know about when we're so focused on what's up there," Hollinger says of OceanX's deep sea missions.
Asked what they'd like to tackle for a second season of Visionaries, Reeves and Hollinger suggested AI, music, more form the world of art, and even medicine.
"We'd like to see who's on the forefront of what will eventually impact and change our lives," says Reeves.
Visionaries is just one part of IGN Fan Fest, and if you've missed any of it you can catch up with
Clone Hero streamer and content creator CarnyJared has completed a full combo (FC) for DragonForce’s infamous Guitar Hero 3 song Through the Fire and Flames — at 200% speed.
The streamer's description of the event says it all: “IT. IS. OVER.” Posted yesterday, February 27, is recorded evidence of the unbelievable feat and world record CarnyJared managed to pull off while streaming. As he launches into his final, successful attempt at hitting all 3,722 notes without missing a beat, on-screen text reminds viewers that this grand finale is the result of nine months of practicing.
“I am rightfully thankful for everybody that has supported me throughout this ridiculous grind. I have the best supporters on the entire platform of Twitch and YouTube,” CarnyJared explains in the video’s description.
“We all spent an unfathomable amount of time staring at the same 3,722 notes, figuring out any possible way to hit them more efficiently. Somehow it worked out, and somehow I am able to sit in front of this computer which you have all cumulatively provided to me, and make a living playing Clone Hero.”
Through the Fire and Flames running at regular speed can be a lot to process for the untrained eye, so watching CarnyJared blaze through the song at 200% speed feels completely incomprehensible. There’s not much else to say; FCing a seven-and-a-half-minute song in just over three minutes is extremely impressive.
Achieving an FC on the open-source Guitar Hero-like known as Clone Hero requires playing a song in its entirety without missing a single note. On-screen stats in the streamer’s video reveal that he’s reached nearly 2,000 FC runs past the song's first bridge, only 662 past its second bridge, and 227 to its solo section. The Through the Fire and Flames 200% FC you see today marks only the fourth time CarnyJared has managed to pass the solo.
This is a moment that will live with me forever.
“I am blessed every single day to wake up and have food in the kitchen, and a place to sleep because of you amazing group of people,” CarnyJared adds. “And I also thank my family, who has not only supported me my whole life, but they all specifically watched and supported this entire grind at my lowest and highest points. This is a moment that will live with me forever.”
He called the Through the Fire and Flames 200% FC the “hardest thing” he’s ever done in his life, so the celebration that follows his successful run tracks with the effort he’s put into completing it throughout the last nine months. For those interested in seeing how such an inhuman achievement can be accomplished in the world of Guitar Hero and Clone Hero, CarnyJared teased that fans can expect a “1 hour+” documentary in the next few months.
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).
Hulu has been around for a while and, for our money, it's one of the absolute best streaming services available. From great movies like Anatomy of a Fall and Prey to excellent television series like the Golden Globe-winningShogun, Abbott Elementary, and The Bear there is always something awesome to watch.
Below, we've detailed all of the best Hulu deals and bundles so you can get started on your streaming adventures with its library right away. This includes the brand-new Hulu, Disney+, and Max streaming bundle, which starts at just $16.99/month and is currently the best value available for the streaming services following the Disney Plus and Hulu price hikes. To see even more streaming and bundle deals, make sure to check out our roundups of the best Disney Plus deals and the best Max deals.
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.
Hulu deal for students — Get Hulu (With Ads) for just $1.99/month
If you're a student enrolled in a university (a US Title IV accredited college or university, per Hulu's website), you can sign up for Hulu (With Ads) for $1.99 a month. That's an excellent deal if you're a student, saving you $8 on the usual monthly price.
Hulu subscription tiers
Hulu is available in a couple of different tiers. The least expensive option is the ad-supported tier, which comes in at $9.99/month. This gives you access to everything exclusive, tons of movies, Hulu Originals, children's programming, and more. If you want to ditch the ads, the ad-free plan is $18.99/month.
Hulu: Bundle to Best
If you want a more affordable option when it comes to a Hulu subscription, you can't go wrong with a bundle, and Hulu has several to choose from:
Hulu + Live TV (With Ads) —Hulu + Live TV (With Ads) is $82.99/month and includes Disney+ and ESPN+. It also gives you access to more than 75 channels with live TV and unlimited DVR functionality.
Hulu + Live TV (Ad-Free) —The ad-free version of Hulu+Live TV is $95.99/month and comes with ad-free versions of Hulu and Disney Plus, although ESPN still shows ads.
Disney Bundle Duo Basic —This is the most economic bundle. It will set you back $10.99/month and comes with subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu. Duo Basic lets you stream on multiple devices at once and comes with ad-supported versions of both Disney+ and Hulu.
Disney Bundle Trio Basic —The Trio Basic bundle builds on the Duo Basic by adding ESPN+ into the mix, bumping up the price to $16.99/month. You can also download and watch select content on ESPN+ at this level.
Disney Bundle Trio Premium — The Trio Premium bundle is $26.99/month and comes with ESPN+ (with ads) and ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu. You can also download select content across all three streaming services.
What can you watch on Hulu?
There is a bonkers amount of shows and movies you can watch on Hulu. Let's start at the top and simply talk about the verticals on offer with the base subscription, because if we also talk about what is available via Disney+, ESPN+, or live TV, we'll be here forever. (You can also sync up Hulu with HBO to gain access to things like Succession and House of the Dragon.)
Here's what you get:
Network and Hulu Original television shows (AMC, Adult Swim, ABC, A&E, FX, etc.)
Movies (HBO, Hulu Originals, anime films, etc.)
Sports (NHL, Soccer, MLB, Auto Racing, NFL, College Football, PGA, Tennis, etc.)
News (ABC News Live, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, 20/20, The View, etc.)
Hulu television
Hulu has some amazing shows, both those that are finished and many which are ongoing. For comedy, there are plenty of options to choose from, including New Girl, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, What We Do In The Shadows, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Broad City, Abbott Elementary, and so much more.
There are also some big Hulu originals to watch, including The Bear, The Old Man, The Handmaid's Tale, and Only Murders In The Building.
As far as animated fare, there are modern adult classics like Rick and Morty and Bob's Burgers, as well as Futurama, Family Guy, and King of the Hill. Anime staples like Cowboy Bebop are also available. And if you want to bring more youth-friendly fun, Gravity Falls, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, and Curious George are just a small sample of what Hulu has available.
Monster Hunter Wilds is out and millions of players are making their hunters. It might be worth spending some extra time in the character creator though, as frequent extensive edits can run up a tab.
Character Edit Vouchers make a return in Monster Hunter Wilds (as pointed out by VGC), adding a microtransaction for returning to the creator screen. While smaller edits to your character — say, hair color or voice pitch — won't consume a voucher, more extensive edits will require a voucher.
"You can edit hair, eyebrow color, facial hair, makeup and clothing from the Appearance Menu in tent without using a voucher," the description on the Steam page states. More extensive edits, anywhere from changing the actual voice to swapping from a male to female hunter, will however eat up one voucher.
Capcom is handing out one free voucher for players, but anything beyond that will require purchasing a new one. The same rules apply to your Palico, which will also need a voucher for any extensive edits. The vouchers are sold in various denominations, including three-packs for character edits at $6.99 and a bundled Character & Palico Edit Voucher three-pack for $9.99.
It's worth noting that this is not the first time Monster Hunter has had this particular microtransaction. Both Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise had their own Character Edit Vouchers. That's not to say they're a particularly beloved facet of the series, though.
A Monster Hunter subreddit thread from three years ago lamented the Vouchers in Monster Hunter Rise, for example. "Worst part of gen 5 for sure," one user replied at the time. "I hate the introduction of completely unnecessary [microtransactions]."
Even in the days leading up to Monster Hunter Wilds' launch, players voiced disdain for this system. As some in a recent thread noted, other games like Elden Ring offer character edits for free, and an unlimited amount. With Capcom's current system, there's a hard cap to how many times a player can return to the creator and edit their hunter.
"On top of having to pay in MH, there's a hard limit where you can never customise that character again once you've used all the available vouchers. What purpose does this serve?" one player asked. "When I return to a game I haven't played for a while I like to change my character's looks to keep it fresh, but I just don't bother in Monster Hunter and whack a helmet on lmao."
The system itself is fairly reminiscent of some MMOs where making a "new character" might require an additional sub or added cost. Yet the Voucher system has been a routine point of frustration, to the point that some PC players have found ways to get around it with mods.
Users also left negative feedback in the Steam reviews for Character Edit Vouchers for both Monster Hunter World and Rise. Even the Character Edit Voucher - Free Trial Version for Monster Hunter Wilds has garnered nearly 200 reviews as of the time of writing, sitting at a "Mixed" overall rating. On the negative side, the complaints seem clear: "It's not ideal, but I can live with cosmetics 'DLC', but limiting character edits is a bit much, should be free and unlimited."
As for the rebuttal, the positive reviews stress how little the Vouchers impact the game itself: "The amount of people that will never actually read, or actually use the in-game feature that allows this shocks me. But then again, it's the internet here we're talking about."
It remains to be seen how the community will react to this, long-term. Monster Hunter Wilds is only just now getting into many, many people's hands, and I do think that other concerns like difficulty and PC performance will take precedence over microtransactions, especially since these aren't a new problem. Whether they remain a problem, or players learn to live with — or work around — the Voucher limit, we'll see in the coming weeks and months.
IGN’s Monster Hunter Wilds review returned an 8/10. We said: “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge.”
Yesterday's Pokémon Legends: Z-A gameplay reveal flooded us with new information about the upcoming Pokémon games set in a futuristic Lumiose City, including looks at dozens of Pokémon we should expect to see there. But one trio of monsters that fans were really hoping to see did NOT appear: the elemental monkeys Panpour, Pansage, and Pansear.
Why are fans so hung up on the monkey trio? It's a bit complicated. The three monkeys and their evolutions have been a part of an increasingly shrinking list of Pokémon that are currently unavailable in any Nintendo Switch game. If you want to truly catch 'em all, you still can, by transferring them from other Pokémon games pre-Switch to Pokémon Home. But at the moment, the following Pokémon are unavailable for capture natively in any Nintendo Switch Pokémon game:
Panpour
Pansage
Pansear
Simipour
Simisage
Simisear
Patrat
Watchog
Furfrou
This list used to be much longer, but Game Freak added a ton of new Pokémon in the DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet that culled the list down to these nine. What's more, the trailer we saw yesterday showed both Patrat and Furfrou, confirming these two at least will be available in Legends: Arceus. And since Watchog evolves from Patrat, it's a safe bet it will be in the game too. So that just leaves the three monkeys.
The elemental monkey trio was first introduced in Pokémon Black and White, and are somewhat beloved by fans due to the unique way the player obtains them. In Black and White, the first Gym the player encounters will use a typing that the player's starter Pokémon is weak against. However, if the player visits a certain person in the Dreamyard, they'll receive the monkey that has an advantage against that Gym, making it easier to tackle. Their designs are also memorable for being based on the "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" wise monkeys of Japanese folklore.
Realistically, the odds of the monkey trio showing up in Legends: Z-A are actually pretty good. It would be very surprising for Game Freak to leave them out of what could possibly be the last major Pokémon game on Nintendo Switch, and given that they appeared in the Kalos region PokéDex back in the day, it only makes sense for them to still be there in Z-A.
Even if the monkeys are included, there's still one other problem Game Freak needs to solve: Spinda. Spinda is catchable on Nintendo Switch in Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, but due to an error in how the game reads its spot patterns, it cannot be transferred to Pokémon Home. You can still get a Spinda from pre-Switch games transferred to Home, but the weird stuck nature of Spindas on Switch means that the dizzy little bear could probably use a functional Z-A appearance too, if Game Freak feels amenable.
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.
No matter which platform you prefer, there's an excellent variety of video game deals to check out right now. Whether you're gaming on PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PC, we've rounded up the best offers to help you get more for your money. And while not a deal, we've also included where you can preorder Elden Ring Nightreign, in case you're itching to return to The Lands Between. Best Buy's also offering a free $10 gift card with your purchase. What can be better than that?
Preorder Elden Ring Nightreign
FromSoftware isn't done with Elden Ring yet. Elden Ring Nightreign is now available to preorder, and as a nice little treat Best Buy's also offering a free $10 gift card with your purchase. By preordering any version of the game you'll also get the “It’s Raining” gesture, which you can show off with your co-op buddies on your adventure in The Lands Between.
Best PC Game Deals
There are plenty of excellent deals for PC players to enjoy right now, including a nice little discount on Monster Hunter Wilds at Fanatical. Metaphor: ReFantazio is also discounted right now and you can even build your own Capcom bundle over at Fanatical. There's only a couple days left on the latter so you'll want to act fast to take advantage of it. You can check out even more of our favorite PC game deals below.
If you're looking to save on physical games right now, there are plenty of deals worth checking out across PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. We've included just a few of our favorites above, but if you'd like to see more game deals for each platform, check out our individual roundups for these consoles: the best PlayStation deals, the best Xbox deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals.
Best PS5 SSD Deals
PS5 games continue to grow in size, and with SSD prices climbing, finding the right storage at a great price is more important than ever. We've listed our favorite deals just here, but you should ensure you're checking back here for more updates as often as possible, as new SSD deals pop up all the time.
Keep in mind that not all SSDs are compatible with the PS5. To ensure optimal performance on the best PS5 SSD, you'll need a PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 drive with a minimum read speed of 5,500MB/s to match the console's internal storage.
Best Xbox Accessory Deals
Outside of games, there are plenty of Xbox accessory deals that are worth your time and money as well. At the moment, some of our favorites are on the Turtle Beach Stealth 700 Gen 3 gaming headset, which has dropped 15% at Amazon, and if you're looking for more storage, the WD Black C50 1TB Expansion Card has gotten a very nice 30% discount.
Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme Gaming Handheld for $449.99
If you're looking to pick up a gaming handheld to play your favorite games on the go, look no further than Best Buy. The retailer is offering a very nice $200 discount on the Asus ROG Ally Z1 Extreme gaming handheld right now, dropping its price from $649.99 to $449.99.
HP Omen 45L RTX 4080 Gaming PC for $2,199.99
Do you prefer to play on a dedicated PC tower? Navigating the options online can be quite the ordeal. Desk space, portability, and price point are often factors in the decision. However, there are some great PC deals that pop up every now and again that are worth jumping on. One of our favorite deals at the moment is on this HP Omen 45L RTX 4080 gaming PC for $2,199.99. To see even more PC deals, check out our roundup of the best gaming PC deals.
More PC Deals:
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
Yellowjackets is back, just in time for Valentine's Day. What's more romantic than cannibalism and betrayal? With looming threats in both timelines, Season 3 might finally offer some answers about the Man With No Eyes and certain people's accountability for their actions. The new season also introduces even more cast members, so get ready to take notes on who's who. Before you dive into Season 3, I’d recommend a solid rewatch, or at least checking out a recap of the Yellowjackets story so far.
If you’re wondering where to stream Yellowjackets online, we've collected everything we know about the new season below.
Where to Stream Yellowjackets Season 3
Yellowjackets Season 3 is available to stream with a Paramount+ and Showtime subscription. The streaming bundle (Showtime isn't available as a standalone subscription) starts at $12.99/month. You can also subscribe to Paramount+ and Showtime channels through Prime Video or Hulu. Season 1 of Yellowjackets ended up on US Netflix about two years after it aired, so there’s a chance Seasons 2 and 3 make it there some day.
If you're sticking to cable, episodes of Season 3 will also air live on Showtime every Sunday.
Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode Release Schedule
The first two episodes of Yellowjackets Season 3 premiered on February 14. One episode will be released weekly for the rest of the season, for a total run of 10 episodes.
Here’s the full episode release schedule for Yellowjackets Season 3:
Episode 1: "It Girl" - February 14
Episode 2: "Dislocation" - February 14
Episode 3: "Them’s the Breaks" - February 21
Episode 4: "12 Angry Girls and 1 Drunk Travis" - February 28
Episode 5: TBA - March 7
Episode 6: TBA - March 14
Episode 7: TBA - March 21
Episode 8: TBA - March 28
Episode 9: TBA - April 4
Episode 10: TBA - April 11
What Is Yellowjackets About?
Yellowjackets is about an elite all-girls soccer team who survive a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness. The show follows two separate timelines: one as the teenage girls work together (and against each other) to survive, and the other 25 years later, as the now-adult women reckon with their past. While Yellowjackets itself isn't a true story, the show takes inspiration from a number of real events, particularly the 1972 Andes mountain plane crash (which Netflix released an Oscar-nominated movie about called Society of the Snow last year).
Where to Stream Previous Seasons of Yellowjackets
Previous seasons of Yellowjackets are all available to stream on Paramount+ with Showtime, while the first season is additionally available on US Netflix. Both seasons of the show are also available as physical releases.
Yellowjackets was created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson and features a pretty large ensemble cast across its two timelines. Here are some of the main actors that star in the show:
Melanie Lynskey and Sophie Nélisse as Shauna
Tawny Cypress and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Taissa
Christina Ricci and Samantha Hanratty as Misty
Simone Kessell and Courtney Eaton as Lottie
Lauren Ambrose and Liv Hewson as Van
Sophie Thatcher as Nat
Kevin Alves as Travis
Steven Kreuger as Ben
Warren Kole as Jeff
Sarah Desjardins as Callie
Elijah Wood as Walter
Ella Purnell as Jackie
It's also been reported by Rolling Stone that Hilary Swank and Joel McHale will be joining the cast of Season 3.
Connexion
