Our first look at HBO's new Harry Potter actor in costume has been released, as filming begins on the series.
A behind-the-scenes production photo, published today, shows 11-year-old actor Dominic McLaughlin dressed in familiar Hogwarts attire, scar visible on his foreheard.
The young actor can be seen holding the first slate for the Harry Potter HBO series that also lists the show's director Mark Mylod and director of photography Adriano Goldman, alongside today's date: July 14, 2025.
Today's announcement by HBO also brings with it a cluster of additional casting details, including young actors Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom and Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley.
Sherlock actress Louise Brealey is the series' new quidditch teacher Madam Rolanda Hooch, while Game of Thrones' Anton Lesser will portray legendary wandmaker Garrick Ollivander. In Sherlock, Brealey played morgue doctor Molly Hooper. In Game of Thrones, Lesser played the villainous Qyburn.
The beginning of filming today marks the start of a mammoth production that will run through the rest of this decade and beyond, as HBO plots to turn each of the seven Harry Potter books into an individual season of television.
Last week, Harry Potter film star Jason Isaacs hit out at "rude" criticism surrounding the casting of Black actor Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape in HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV adaptation.
If you're still on the hunt for a Switch 2 console, here's an opportunity you might want to consider. AliExpress has the Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World Tour Console Bundle available for $498.95 after you apply a $100 off coupon code "AEUS100" in your shopping cart. This console ships free. At this price, you're not paying any additional markup.
This is a genuine gaming console that has been imported from another country (usually Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, or Mexico). Region locking is determined by your account, not by console, so all of these systems will play in the US without any problems. You'll also be able to select English as your default language just like any console you buy here. Although the console itself is region unlocked, the Mario Kart World Tour game voucher is region locked. In order to redeem the download voucher on a US-based Nintendo account, one of the reviews mentions a workaround:
AliExpress offers a return window but the length varies depending on the item. These consoles all ship locally from the United States and usually arrive within one week.
Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World Tour Bundle for $499
The Nintendo Switch 2 was released on June 5 and is currently sold out everywhere. We expect more units to trickle out from participating retailers throughout the year, but that won't necessarily make it easy to get one. In his IGN review, Tom Marks sums up the Switch 2 as "a vital but unexciting upgrade to a console I already love." The biggest Switch 2 video game release is Mario Kart World Tour. It retails for $79.99, but buying it as part of the launch bundle means you'll effectively pay just $50. Logan Plant recently reviewed the game and wrote that "Mario Kart World may not make the most convincing case that going open-world was the boost the series needed, but excellent multiplayer racing, incredible polish, and the thrilling new Knockout Tour mode still more than live up to its legacy."
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.
Scarlet and Violet base set prices have been anything but steady lately, with some Illustration Rares climbing fast while SIRs cool off just as quickly. I’ve been tracking a handful of cards that stood out this month, with some pulling in surprising gains and others dropping harder than expected. Here’s a quick look at which Pokémon TCG cards are crashing and climbing ahead of the final Scarlet and Violet sets release in Black Bolt and White Flare.
Pokémon TCG Crashers
I've been keeping an eye on Scarlet and Violet base set prices lately, and the Psychic-type Illustration Rares seem to be the ones pulling ahead. Ralts 211/198 has been quietly climbing. It's sitting around $38.99 now, which is up about 28% this month. For a Basic card with simple art and a single Psyshot attack, that's not something I saw coming. Same goes for Kirlia 212/198. It's up to $27.99, mirroring Ralts's percentage jump. That evolution line seems to be gaining popularity as a set, more than just individual play value.
Speaking of evolutions, Gardevoir ex 245/198 is definitely riding that same wave. It’s hit $54.99 recently, up from $41.19 just a month back. I don’t play Gardevoir myself, but the Psychic Embrace ability keeps showing up in deck lists, so the price hike makes sense when you look at both collector and competitive demand feeding into each other. Miraidon ex 244/198 and Koraidon ex 247/198 are seeing their own upticks, both sitting around $23.99 now. Not massive jumps compared to Gardevoir, but steady enough to notice if you’ve been following these since launch. Miraidon especially, thanks to that Tandem Unit ability, looks like it’s still holding value in Lightning-heavy builds.
Pokémon TCG Climbers
On the other end of things, some cards are definitely cooling off. Fidough 213/198 took a 15% hit, now hovering around $13.74. Cute card, but it doesn’t exactly have a standout ability or attack, so this feels more like a natural correction. Armarouge 203/198 dipped too, though only about 11%. I could see it regaining some ground later if Fire decks make a comeback, but for now, it’s sliding. Pachirisu 208/198’s price drop caught my attention more, which is currently down 19%. I feel like that’s tied to Lightning deck meta shifting around; its no-Paralysis ability isn’t moving the needle price-wise anymore.
Dondozo 207/198 and Starly 221/198 both saw the sharpest drops, each now at $9.99. Dondozo lost 30% this month, and Starly even more at 37%. I never really saw much hype for either of these beyond early Scarlet and Violet excitement, so the fall-off doesn’t surprise me. It feels like folks are figuring out what’s actually playable or collectible long-term.
Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Preorders
This is it, the beggining of a new expansion for Pokémon TCG. Best Buy have gone live with their preorder allocation for Mega Evolutions today, which mean Target and Walmart won't be far behind. Here's all the links you need and good luck trainers!
Pokémon TCG Price Updates
I can't believe I'm writing this, but Amazon has quite a bit of sealed Pokémon TCG product for under market value. Whilst that unfortunately means it's still way above MSRP, some of these sets are at the best prices they've been in the last month.
Last Weeks Crashers and Climbers
As newer Pokémon TCG sets grab the spotlight, Paradox Rift is seeing its high-rarity SIR ex cards drop in value while several Illustration Rares quietly climb due to shifting collector interest and low inventory. Cards like Altaria ex, Gholdengo ex, and Steelix have dropped between 16% and 25%, while Illustration Rares including Morpeko, Plusle, Minun, Groudon, and Iron Valiant ex are climbing fast, with Morpeko leading at a 43% increase. This mirrors earlier trends where less flashy cards gain traction as availability tightens.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
The best 4K-ready gaming PC deal during Prime Day wasn't from Amazon, and it has been extended for a few more days. Right now, Walmart is offering this iBuypower Element Pro prebuilt gaming PC equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU for only $1499 with free delivery. The Radeon RX 9070 XT is an outstanding graphics card that can stand toe-to-toe with the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti or RTX 4080. If you are keeping your budget to $1,500 or less, you won't find a more powerful gaming PC.
iBuypower Element Pro Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming PC $1499
The iBuypower gaming PC is generously equipped across the board. It features an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU, Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and 2TB M.2 SSD. The Ryzen 9 7900X processor has a max boost clock of 5.6GHz with 12 cores and 24 threads. This is an excellent CPU for both gaming and multi-tasking and you won't need to upgrade from it for a long time. It's cooled by a very robust 360mm all-in-one liquid cooling system and run off an 850W power supply.
The Radeon RX 9070 XT Received a 10/10 at IGN
We rated the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT a "perfect" 10/10. Even though it costs $150 less than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, the 9070 XT beats it out in several of the games we tested. In a few benchmarks, the results aren't even close. The 9070 XT is also comparable in performance to the older $1,000 RX 7900 XTX but with better ray tracing and upscaling performance than its predecessor. It does lose out on VRAM (16GB vs 24GB), but that isn't really an issue for gaming. By "4K ready" I mean that this gaming PC can run pretty much any game at 4K resolution and at framerates of 60fps or higher. Any video card that's weaker and you'll have to compromise in order to get playable framerates.
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.
Magic: The Gathering's Secret Lair crossover with Sonic the Hedgehog went live this morning, and it was predictably quite popular. Within minutes, people trying to get the special run of cards were met with long queue times and uncertainty.
Secret Lair is Magic's special line of cards, often taking artistic liberties or fresh approaches to classic cards. In the past, these have ranged from re-envisionings and experimental card layouts to full-on franchise crossovers. Final Fantasy, which had its own wildly popular crossover main set, also got its own Secret Lair run that sold out fairly fast.
One would assume that Sonic the Hedgehog, the Blue Blur himself, would garner quite a bit of interest. And as it turns out, he did; those eager to buy the Secret Lair set featuring Sonic and pals flooded in this morning, and queue times shot up.
Waiting yet another hour to find out I can’t buy the sonic secret lair because I was .01 seconds too slow to checkout
(And I once again do not receive an email notification that it’s going live despite signing up to be “notified” about 12 times now)
Complaints flooded social media, as patient Magic and Sonic fans alike waited for their chance to pick up the cards. While some of these are reprints of classic Magic cards—like Unexpected Windfall, Sol Ring, and Lightning Greaves—others are new cards, and potential Commanders for those looking to build a deck around their favorite Sonic character.
Not long after the set went live, the Secret Lair account posted a message saying the pre-order site is currently experiencing "extremely high traffic" and wait times might be longer than usual. Later updates confirmed the team was aware of issues affecting queue times and is working to resolve them.
The Secret Lair website is currently experiencing extremely high traffic and wait times may be longer than usual. Please monitor the queue page for real-time updates, including product availability in your region.
In my own anecdotal experience, I went to load up a cart and put some cards in around half an hour after the set went live, and have been watching a queue page sit here with "more than an hour" as the expected wait time. I've been talking to people who have been able to get through, gradually, but it does seem like there's quite a bit of patience necessary to get this set.
While I've heard a few stories of frustrated waiting, I've also heard from several people who were patient and managed to get the cards they were after. We'll learn over the coming days how scarce the set winds up being, especially as some product moves onto third-party seller sites.
Meanwhile, the next Magic: The Gathering set Edge of Eternities will drop on August 1, with pre-release beginning on July 25.
The LEGO Insiders Days Sale just got extended a few more days to July 17, which means one of the best exclusive LEGO Shop deals that I saw during Amazon Prime Day is still available. Right now you can save 20% off the massive LEGO Spider-Man Daily Bugle 76178 set, now only $279.99 (was $350). At this price, you're only paying about 7 cents per brick, which is an outstanding value for an official Marvel themed LEGO build. You'll need to be a LEGO Insiders member to take advantage of this deal, but fortunately signing up is free. The Daily Bugle is LEGO's third-largest Marvel set ever and includes 25 iconic mini-figures from the Spider-Man universe.
20% Off LEGO Marvel Spider-Man Daily Bugle 76178
The LEGO Spider-Man Daily Bugle 76178 is an impressively sized build measuring 32" tall, 10" wide, and 10" deep with a brick count of 3,789 pieces. This is a four-story rendition of the famous newspaper building, including the offices of demanding editor J. Jonah Jameson and budding photographer Peter Parker. The collection of mini-figures includes Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man, Venom, Miles Morales, Spider-Ham, Green Goblin, Peter Parker, Spider-Gwen, Mysterio, Sandman, Robbie Robertson, and even some characters unique to this set like Blade the vampire hunter, J. Jonah Jameson, Black Cat, Daredevil, and Punisher.
This more complex set is catered to ages 18+. Normally these types of builds are meant for display and feature very little room for personal creativity, but the Daily Bugle is different. Characters and building design elements can be moved around so that you can recreate your own mini-stories and customize the action in and around the Daily Bugle. It complements the LEGO Avengers Tower, which is very similar in scale, although currently it's far more expensive.
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.
Danny Elfman, one of the most prominent composers in Hollywood, says that perhaps his most famous work is something he never expected anyone to hear. Having created the scores of blockbusters including Batman, Beetlejuice, and the Fable video game series, Elfman is maybe best known for composing the theme music to The Simpsons.
Speaking exclusively to IGN about his new series Bullet Time, an upcoming animated show from Creator / Director Eddie Alcazar (think Beavis and Butthead but with video games instead of music videos), Elfman says he had no idea The Simpsons would catch on and become the longest running sitcom in American history. “I did that purely for the pleasure and never expected anybody to see it,” Elfman says. “So obviously that wasn't the case, but you never know.”
It’s the same type of sentiment that attracted him to Bullet Time. “I met Eddie and liked him and he sent me this. Every year I try to do a couple of projects that are for love rather than money, and sometimes they pay off in unexpected ways,” Elfman says. “The style was great. The industry has been good to me and provided me with a really good living for four decades. About 20 or 25 years ago, I felt like I had to start giving back a little bit. And so I'd start looking for little things or a documentary or a short project or a strange little film that has a $12 budget. And often those are the most fun things I'll do that year. And so it was just kind of like, yeah, this will just be for the pleasure rather than for the commercial aspect.”
On July 24 at 10am PT, 1pm ET, IGN will exclusively debut the first episode of Bullet Time on IGN.com and IGN’s YouTube channel along with an interview about the series with Elfman, Alcaraz, and voice actor Eric Bauza.
The Simpsons, which has been on the air since 1989 recently wrapped its 36th season with a shocking storyline involving the death of a core family member. Bullet Time premieres to a live audience at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 23.
Amazon's Prime Day sale this year was pretty good overall for casual board game and puzzle enthusiasts. There were discounts on quite a few popular games and many popular jigsaw puzzle brands had all-time low prices. But if you happened to have miss all of those deals, Woot is currently having a small sale of its own that gives you a second chance at savings.
There aren't a ton of options in this sale, but there are enough to make it noteworthy. Some of the best deals available here are on 3D puzzles and some lesser known board games, so I'd suggest checking those out first. The popular LEGO board game that was on sale during Prime Day was also included, but has already sold out.
Puzzles and Board Games on Sale Today
Woot has a landing page for all of the discounts currently offered in its sale, and I recommend you just peruse it yourself to see if there's anything of interest to you. Like I mentioned above, there aren't that many things available in this sale. The board game side of the discounts are especially lacking in some of our favorite options, but there are still some family games worth picking up in here. The overall best deals are on 3D puzzle builds that are collaborations with popular franchises like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Marvel, and Star Wars. These types of puzzles are excellent LEGO alternatives that were already fairly affordable before getting extra discounted here.
What is Woot?
If you aren't familiar with Woot, the easiest way to learn more about it is through the about page on its website. In a nutshell, Woot is a daily deals site that was founded back in 2004 and later purchased by Amazon. They offer deals on just about everything that many other retailers don't often have. The products themselves are always high-quality and backed by Amazon, so it's legit. Prime members even get free standard shipping on anything they buy on Woot, so you don't need to worry about hitting a minimum price or total shipping costs if you already have Prime.
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 Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max streaming bundle, which starts at just $16.99/month and is currently the best value available for the streaming services. To see even more streaming deals, make sure to check out our roundups of the best Disney Plus deals and the best HBO Max deals.
How to Get The Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Max Streaming Bundle
The Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO 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 per month - 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. The Hulu + Live TV plan also has a three-day free trialto test out the service.
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+, Hulu Bundle Basic —This is the most economic bundle. It will set you back $10.99/month and comes with subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu. It lets you stream on multiple devices at once and comes with ad-supported versions of both Disney+ and Hulu.
Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Basic —This bundle adds ESPN+ into the mix alongside Disney+ and Hulu, bumping up the price to $16.99/month. You can also download and watch select content on ESPN+ at this level.
Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Bundle Premium — This 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 Max to gain access to things like The Last of Us 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. With an FX partnership, Hulu is also home to those shows, including Shogun and the upcoming Alien: Earth series.
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.
The future of Hulu
Hulu isn't going anywhere. Beyond it being awarded the best streaming service by us, it also received a 9/10 in our updated Hulu review. Writer Rosie Knight said, "Hulu's ease of use, solid UI, and ever- expanding catalog has moved it ahead of top competitor Netflix to secure our highest score for a streaming service."
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
Not everyone is the DIY type. If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of the best brands we'd recommend. Alienware desktops and laptops feature solid build quality, top-of-the-line gaming performance, excellent cooling (further improved on the newer models), aggressive styling, and pricing that is very competitive with other pre-built options. Best of all, there are plenty of sales that happen throughout the year, so it's not difficult to grab one of these computers at considerably less than their retail price. This page includes all of the best deals that are currently available.
Dell and Alienware Coupons
Alienware Gaming PC Deals
Alienware Gaming Laptop Deals
You can quickly browse through all of the listed products on sale above. See below for our favorite picks.
Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC
Alienware's Black Friday in July Sale has officially kicked off, and one of the best deals I've seen so far is this Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 gaming PC for just $1,999.99 shipped. This is $250 less than the previous best deal I've seen on the same configuration, and one of the best prices you can get for any prebuilt RTX 5080 gaming PC. If you were to try to find a 5080 GPU for your do-it-yourself PC build, you'll probably spend $1,400 for the graphics card alone.
Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC
Dell is offering a competitive price on an Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC equipped with the excellent GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. Right now you can get a base configuration paired with the latest Intel Core Ultra 7 processor for just $1,749.99. This CPU/GPU duo can comfortably handle even the latest and most demanding games in 4K resolution like Black Myth Wukong, Clair Obscur, or Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and it's $250 cheaper than jumping to the 5080.
Alienware Area-51 RTX 5090 Gaming PC
If you're seeking the absolute best of the best in PC gaming performance, look no further. Dell has just dropped the price of its flagship Alienware Area-51 prebuilt gaming PC, equipped with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card starting at $4,449.99 with free shipping. The RTX 5090 is undisputedly the most powerful graphics card on the market. It's the best consumer card for both high-resolution gaming and AI work thanks to its whopping 32GB of GDDR7 VRAM. It's also pretty much impossible to find a standalone graphics card for your diy build for under $3,000.
New Alienware Aurora 16 Laptop
Alienware's new mainstream gaming laptop for 2025 is dubbed the "Alienware Aurora" and comes in two 16" models: the 16 and 16X. As part of its Black Friday in July Sale, Dell has dropped the price of the Alienware Aurora 16 gaming laptop equipped with an GeForce RTX 5060 mobile GPU for just $1,099.99 with free delivery. That is a big $400 discount from its official launch price and currently the best deal I can find on an RTX 5060 equipped laptop from any brand and any retailer.
New Alienware Aurora 16X Laptop
Area-51 Gaming Laptops: New Style, More Power, Better Cooling
New for 2025, the Alienware Area-51 gaming laptop features a magnesium alloy chassis with upgraded cooling to tackle the latest and greatest heat generating components. This includes more fans and bigger cutouts enabling greater airflow, more generous use of copper, and a new thermal interface material to better transfer heat away from the core components. Dell claims that the laptop can handle a higher power ceiling of up to 240W TDP without raising acoustics.
Design-wise, the Area 51 accentuates its smooth contours, with rounded edges and soft corners replacing the squared off design you'd see in most other laptops. The hinges are also mostly internally positioned so that they're near invisible. As befits an Alienware laptop, there are ample customization options for RGB LED lighting.
27" Alienware AW2725DF 360Hz QHD OLED Monitor
The Alienware AW2725DF 27" QD OLED gaming monitor normally retails for $899.99, but right now you can get it at Dell for just $599.99. The AW2725DF is Dell's first (and only) monitor with both an OLED panel and blazing fast 360Hz refresh rate. This is easily 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.
34" Alienware AW3425DW QD OLED Gaming Monitor
Right now you can pick up an Alienware AW3425DW 34" QD-OLED gaming monitor for $769.99. The Alienware AW3425DW is a curved 34" with a 3440x1440 WQHD resolution, 0.03ms response time, and 165Hz refresh rate. It also uses a Samsung quantum dot OLED panel. If you're not looking for a true 4K monitor, this is one of the best monitors out there. The ultrawide WQHD resolution of this monitor measures out to a respectable 109ppi. You can get something like an RTX 4060 Ti or RTX 4070 GPU and achieve perfectly playable framerates. A true 4K monitor, on the other hand, would require a more powerful and pricier GPU.
Why pick a Dell or Alienware gaming PC?
If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of best gaming brands we'd recommend. The Alienware gaming desktops offer a staggering array of options, all built into a custom chassis that's both easy on the eyes and easy on the wallet. Alienware gaming laptops in recent years have been redesigned to be thinner and lighter while still offering the same immense power under the hood. Consistent build quality, available inventory, frequent sales, and solid customer service are the main reasons why Dell is at the top of our buying list for gaming laptops and PCs.
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.
11 bit studios just released the first big update for The Alters. This game is a sci-fi story with survival, adventure, and base-building all mixed together. It uses Unreal Engine 5, and has Very Positive reviews on Steam. Now, let’s see what this patch brings to the table. Patch 1.1.0 includes over 73 bug fixes. … Continue reading The Alters Gets Its First Update – Full Patch Notes Inside→
The UK's games industry body has distanced itself from an embarrassing BBC blunder, after an original NES Super Mario Bros. cartridge was shown jammed into an SNES console
In the breakfast TV segment broadcast this morning, UKIE boss Nick Poole introduced hosts Jon Kay and Sally Nugent to a selection of retro systems, including a ZX81, a Nintendo Wii, and an SNES. And despite Nugent's palpable disbelief that her co-host Kay had "spent hours — days" enjoying the original Donkey Kong, it was the incorrect set-up that really got people talking.
"Great to see this content on [a] mainstream channel, but a NES cart on a SNES? And where's the greatest, and UK's biggest selling 16-bit console, the SEGA Mega Drive?" asked one respondent in the comments, while another suggested on Reddit: "They should have gone full mental and added a GameCube controller."
"I want to report a crime," wrote another in a comment that has been upvoted hundreds of times."
This display was either set up by someone who knows nothing about games, or someone who knows a lot about games and wants to screw with this subreddit," posited another respondent, while another simply wrote: "*external screaming*"
In response, UKIE distanced itself from the mistake, telling VGC: "For transparency, the studio team set up the in-studio display independently and handled the placement of the consoles — unfortunately, we couldn’t adjust it whilst on air."
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Following a wave of mass layoffs that impacted an estimated 9,100 employees at Microsoft, many of whom were in its Xbox gaming division, the union of employees at Xbox subsidiary ZeniMax have responded with a statement explaining the current employment status of its members.
Today, ZeniMax Online Studios United (ZOSU), which represents employees on both The Elder Scrolls Online and the cancelled unannounced MMO, issued a lengthy statement addressing the layoffs and project cancellations. Critically, ZOSU confirmed that as of today, its members are all still employed by Microsoft and receiving pay and benefits, though this is likely not to be the case forever.
Per the statement, worker representatives of the union are currently bargaining with the company over how the workers will move forward following the shuttering of the MMO. While the union acknowledges that layoffs may be in the future for some members, "as a result of our organizing, we are able to ensure that those impacted will be able to depart with dignity."
ZOSU was formed just last December, consisting at the time of its organizing of 461 employees across ZeniMax Online Studios. This number included web developers, designers, engineers, and graphic artists at ZeniMax Online Studios working on The Elder Scrolls Online and the unannounced MMO. While ZOSU still has yet to reach a contract agreement with Microsoft, its sibling union ZeniMax Workers United, which represents ZeniMax QA workers, reached an agreement at the end of May.
ZOSU's statement is published in full below:
Earlier this month, Microsoft indefinitely shelved an unannounced MMORPG at ZeniMax Online Studios, a shock to the 222 ZOSU-CWA developers working on the project. It has been heartening and validating to see our game mentioned in the press and by players that would have loved to see the results of our work.
Undoubtedly, a future has been stolen from many of us and our community will never experience an amazing game. However, despite discussions regarding the status of our employment, the fact is: we have not yet been laid off.
While we understand that for most of us something like a layoff is inevitable, last December both the teams behind The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) and the unannounced project voted overwhelmingly to form a union and establish ZeniMax Online Studios United-CWA (ZOSU-CWA). Worker-volunteers elected to represent the interests of our union are currently bargaining with Microsoft for the benefit of our impacted teammates.
While Microsoft and ZOSU-CWA bargain over how we move forward following the project closure, the developers behind the unannounced project remain employees of ZeniMax Online Studios with full pay and benefits.
On July 2nd, our lives were upended without prior notice or communication from Microsoft leadership and without clear understanding about the status of our employment. In light of this, our union came together with urgency, gathering and distributing information and resources to our affected members.
Where Microsoft has failed to support the talented craftspeople who have generated billions in revenue, our union has stepped up to provide clarity and support.
It is true that a layoff may be in the future for some of our members. However, as a result of our organizing, we are able to ensure that those impacted will be able to depart with dignity.
More importantly, the work of ZOSU-CWA will continue so that our remaining teammates — the stalwart developers of ESO — can follow in the footsteps of our colleagues across other departments and studios at Microsoft, including our union siblings at ZeniMax Workers United (ZWU-CWA). We look forward to other units who will soon ratify fair contracts that will guarantee the rights we all deserve.
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.
Connexion
