↩ Accueil

Vue lecture

Halo Co-Creator Marcus Lehto 'Disappointed' Ridgeline Staff 'Were Not Properly Credited' in Battlefield 6, Says They Built the 'Foundation' of the Game

Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto has expressed his disappointment that former staff of the now shuttered Ridgeline Games were not "properly" credited in Battlefield 6, despite building the "foundation" of the game.

Ridgeline Games, the studio co-founded by Lehto, was tasked with developing the narrative campaign in Battlefield 6. The studio was closed in February 2024 following Lehto’s departure — less than two years after it was set up — as part of a broader restructuring that saw EA lay off some 670 employees and shift away from future licensed IPs. At the time, EA said the work that was begun on the Battlefield single-player campaign would continue.

Fast forward to Battlefield 6’s record-breaking release, and Lehto has taken to LinkedIn to recognize the work done by his former staff at Ridgeline on the game.

“I’m disappointed to see that many of my former teammates from Ridgeline Games were not properly credited in the recent release of Battlefield 6,” he said in a post that included a list of names under the Ridgeline Games banner.

“These talented developers worked tirelessly for 1 to 2.5 years, building the foundation of the game, before I left voluntarily and the studio was subsequently shuttered. Despite their significant contributions, most who were laid off were relegated to a ‘Special Thanks’ section at the very end of the credits — and several were omitted entirely, including myself.

“Out of respect for my colleagues and the awesome work they poured into this project, I want to take a moment to properly recognize them — listing their names and roles as I would have preferred them to appear in the credits.

“Game development is a team effort, and every contributor deserves fair acknowledgment.”

IGN has asked EA for comment.

In an internal note issued at the time of Ridgeline’s closure, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele said that Criterion producer Danny Isaac and studio head of creative Darren White would replace Lehto to continue work on the planned narrative campaign, with some members of Ridgeline Games joining Ripple Effect to continue working on Battlefield.

EA would go on to announce Battlefield Studios, the four-strong developer collective working on the mega-publisher’s Battlefield franchise. It currently includes DICE, Ripple Effect, Motive, and Criterion.

Lehto is a Bungie veteran whose portfolio includes serving as creative director on Halo: Reach. He joined EA in the wake of criticism over Battlefield 2042's lack of a single-player narrative campaign.

While Battlefield 6 has enjoyed enormous sales success and won plaudits for its multiplayer, the campaign was poorly received. IGN’s Battlefield 6 campaign review returned a 5/10. We said: “A safe, dull reimagining of what Battlefield once was, rather than a bold reinvention of what it could be.”

For more on Battlefield 6, visit IGN's Battlefield 6 guide for a complete list and video of all campaign collectible locations, tips for getting an edge in multiplayer, and more.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

  •  

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy Responds to Emiru TwitchCon Assault, Says It's a 'Challenge in Today's Society,' and 'Not Limited to Twitch'

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has addressed last weekend's public assault of prolific streamer Emiru, saying he is "looking very closely at everything that happened there" and insisting creator safety is his "top priority."

At TwitchCon 2025, Emiru was assaulted by a man who crossed multiple barriers in San Diego Convention Center to grab the 27-year-old streamer and cosplayer's face and forcibly kiss her during a meet and greet. Emiru, real name Emily-Beth Schunk, has since urged fellow creators to "seriously consider not attending" future TwitchCon events, and confirmed she was pressing charges against the assailant. A viral video caught the interaction.

So some freak just assaulted Emiru at @TwitchCon . This behavior is fucking disgusting. I’m amazed that she still came back to finish the Meet and Greet line, honestly she deserves the utmost of respect. THIS HAS TO STOP!!!@EmiruUpdatess @emiru pic.twitter.com/pyO2QHQ9Pv

— BaconCrumbz 🥓 @TwitchCon SD (@BaconCrumbz) October 18, 2025

Emiru was shocked not only that the man was able to reach her without Twitch security intervening, but also disappointed in both Twitch's support of her immediately after the incident, and its statement that it quickly intervened and removed the assailant, which she called "a blatant lie."

Now, in an interview with journalist Taylor Lorenz, Clancy reflected on safety for creators and fans susceptible to parasocial relationships, saying: "The safety of our creators is our top priority. The challenge we face is a challenge in today’s society. It’s not limited to Twitch, it extends throughout our society.

"I do think that when you’re livestreaming, in many ways, since you control your community and you can ban people, you can make it so that those people that you don’t want engaging with you and participating with you, aren’t there," he added. "When I use other short-form content and people say all sorts of stuff, well I can't stop that. But when I livestream, they basically don't bother me.

"Now, what happened yesterday, obviously, was something that we care deeply about securing this environment. We’re looking very closely at everything that happened there, and I care deeply about Emi. She’s a friend of mine, and so I want to see how we can support her. This is just something we have to keep working on. I think everyone identifies our tools in terms of trust and safety as the leaders in the industry about helping creators, but that means there's always more work to be done, because that's the world we live in now."

Asked why streamers should continue to trust Twitch to keep them safe at TwitchCon after such a high-profile security breach, Clancy responded: "The reality is even as you do a lot in terms of security in today's world, there are challenges that can present themselves, especially when someone is putting themselves out there, right?

"And so, we try to work very closely with each creator about what they want to do, and what works for them. I don't want to get into any, you know, specifics or details, but part of that is working with creators. Right now, we're definitely ramping it up to make sure creators know that we have the resources there to help them figure out what's right for them."

Emiru has not responded to Clancy's comments, but in a livestream shortly after the assault, she described what had happened.

"I see out of the corner of my eye, there's a guy walking around the side of the Meet and Greet and he crosses in front of the Meet and Greet of the person to the left of me, which is a VTuber. So he's able to walk up and in front of another streamer's Meet and Greet, and then he walks up to me and he's walking with a purpose, you know what I mean? And then he leans in like he's going to tell me something, so maybe it's like he's TwitchCon staff or something, but I'm freaked out because he grabbed me. That's not normal. And then he grabs my face, and he leans in, lips puckered, and tries to kiss me and I start screaming. You can't hear it in the clip, but I'm f***ing screaming my head off.

"Twitch security is nowhere near me. I can see them, but they don't do anything. My security jumps up and shoves the guy away from me, and he's allowed to walk away and leave. No one in Twitch staff came up to me to see what was going on."

Feeling as though she "could have literally been stabbed" and revealing the "global head of Amazon" flew out to TwitchCon to speak to her manager and security, Emiru has confirmed she is pressing charges against the assailant, adding: "As for anything else, I don't know yet, because I've been having my manager handle all of those side conversations. So I have no idea, but this is just not okay."

Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Amazon's Crown Channel.

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.

  •  

8BitDo Retro R8 review

A striking look, great charging stand, and even better price make for a great mouse. If a little niche.

  •  

Charlie Cox Insists Daredevil Is Not in Spider-Man: Brand New Day or Avengers: Doomsday, but Some Fans Think He’s Taking a Leaf Out of Andrew Garfield’s Book and Misdirecting Us

Marvel star Charlie Cox has insisted he will not play Daredevil in next year’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, although there are many fans who don’t believe him.

In an interview with Brandon Davis at New York Comic-Con, Cox acknowledged the fan speculation around Daredevil teaming up with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man for Brand New Day.

“I know that they all think I'm in Spider-Man because I'm filming something in London, which I'm not,” Cox said.

Then, definitively: “I'm not in Spider-Man.”

The natural follow-up question - is Daredevil in Avengers… either next year’s Doomsday or 2027’s Secret Wars? - also got a definitive answer: “No, I'm just concentrating on DD right now.”

Davis said he wasn’t sure if he believed Cox’s answers, to which Cox replied: “we’ll see.” But that scepticism is a running theme online, where some fans are comparing the Daredevil actor’s comments here to Andrew Garfield’s infamous lies whenever he was asked if he would appear in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Ahead of the release of No Way Home, Garfield repeatedly lied in interviews about his return. In a The Ellen DeGeneres Show interview, after his appearance in No Way Home was confirmed, Garfield said: "I lied to the internet for two years, and it felt great. It was fun to keep it secret! You know when you’re planning a surprise birthday party for someone and they’re like, ‘I hate surprises, tell me is the party happening’... it felt like I was part of organising a surprise birthday party for a bunch of people who I knew would appreciate it."

Garfield referenced his dishonesty in a subsequent GQ interview. “I’m gonna disappoint you,” he replied when asked if he was in Brand New Day. “Yeah, no. But I know no one’s gonna trust anything I say from now on.”

Fans had expected Cox to appear as Daredevil in Brand New Day, given Matt Murdock's cameo in No Way Home and confirmation that Jon Bernthal will reprise his role as Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, in the film. But Cox’s name was not among the many that appeared in Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal video, although we know more actors are set to be confirmed.

Here’s what we know about Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Mark Ruffalo, who plays The Hulk, is in it (we have the set photos now); Stranger Things star Sadie Sink is in it (set photos have sparked fresh speculation around who she's playing); and photos have revealed Jacob Batalon, who will return as sidekick Ned Leeds, and Zendaya, who is back as MJ. Set videos have also teased a return to practical web-swinging after relying on CGI for past MCU movies.

As for Cox and Daredevil, Marvel fans at New York Comic-Con got a first glimpse at Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 via a trailer that was meant to stay as an exclusive to those in the room. Part of the footage leaked online after none other than Jessica Jones herself, actress Krysten Ritter, posted (then deleted) a snippet on Instagram.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 is set to debut next spring with fresh episodes written from the ground up to reflect the series' mid-production reboot to be more of a continuation from the characters' Netflix era. That means fans should expect an expanded role for Deborah Ann Woll's Karen Page, more from Wilson Bethel's Bullseye, and some form of appearance by Elden Henson's Foggy — as well as Ritter's return.

Marvel recently showed confidence in Daredevil: Born Again's forthcoming second season by exclusively confirming to IGN that it had already greenlit Season 3, due to air in 2027. And, earlier this month, Daredevil: Born Again writer Jesse Wigutow said he was returning to the show's writers room to begin work on more new episodes.

Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Disney.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

  •  

Konami Revealed 3 New Silent Hill Games at Once So Fans Knew It Was 'Serious' About Resurrecting the Horror Franchise

Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto has opened up on why Konami revealed three new Silent Hill games after a full decade of silence, saying the publisher was keen to stress to old fans and new that it was "serious" about resurrecting the flailing horror series.

Reflecting on how the series has performed since Konami's inaugural Silent Hill Transmission back in October 2022, Okamoto explained how the impressive Silent Hill 2 Remake was designed with "half new, half old customers in mind" to ensure it could attract new fans to the franchise.

"Three years ago, in 2022, we announced three titles: Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill f, and Silent Hill: Townfall," Okamoto explained on Twitter / X, as transcribed by Automaton. "We didn’t want to just announce a single remake to 'test the waters.'

"We wanted people to feel how serious we were about reviving the series. Developing a remake and a new title simultaneously naturally involves risks, but we wanted to convey our commitment first and foremost. Only when a new game is announced can the future of a series be seen. Users won’t feel motivated to engage with an IP unless they can sense it has a future. If the company takes a wait-and-see approach, so will the players. The company needs to show how serious it is so that users can get genuinely excited. I think that’s only fair."

Of all the projects revealed since that 2022 showcase — Silent Hill: The Short Message, Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill f, Silent Hill: Townfall, and media projects Silent Hill: Ascension and the upcoming movie, Return to Silent Hill — the majority have been received well by critics, fans, and new players alike, suggesting it was a gamble worth taking for the Japanese publisher.

Silent Hill 2 Remake has sold 2.5 million worldwide, which pushes sales of the franchise overall to 10 million. Silent Hill f has sold 1 million copies. IGN's Silent Hill 2 Remake review returned an 8/10. We said: "Silent Hill 2 is a great way to visit – or revisit – one of the most dread-inducing destinations in the history of survival horror." Our Silent Hill f review also returned a 7/10. We said: "Silent Hill f presents a fresh new setting to explore and a fascinatingly dark story to unravel, but its melee-focussed combat takes a big swing that doesn’t quite land."

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.

  •  

Unreal RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod Fully Released

In August 2025, we informed you about a demo for the RTX Remix Mod for the first Unreal game. And today, I’m happy to report that the full version of this mod has been released. With this new version, you can play the entire single-player campaign with Path Tracing. Created by mstewart401, this mod adds … Continue reading Unreal RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod Fully Released

The post Unreal RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod Fully Released appeared first on DSOGaming.

  •  

'They Didn't See How Ben Solo Was Alive. And That Was That' — Adam Driver Reveals Disney Said No to a 'Really Cool' Kylo Ren Star Wars Movie

Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver has revealed he and director Steven Soderbergh spent two years developing a Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker follow-up called The Hunt for Ben Solo, but Disney said no to the proposal.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Driver said that because Disney had officially declined the movie, he was now able to talk about it.

Driver played Ben Solo / Kylo Ren in each of the three films in Lucasfilm’s Sequel Trilogy, with his final appearance in 2019’s divisive The Rise of Skywalker. “I always was interested in doing another Star Wars,” Driver said. He revealed he had been in talks about another Star Wars movie since 2021, and that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy had “reached out.”

“I always said: with a great director and a great story, I’d be there in a second,” Driver commented. “I loved that character and loved playing him.”

The idea was The Hunt for Ben Solo, a movie directed by Soderbergh set after The Rise of Skywalker. Of course, it’s hard to imagine Ben Solo in any future Star Wars film after his heroic death at the end of the movie (a fatally wounded Ben uses his remaining Force power to revive Rey and they kiss before he dies). But apparently Driver felt there was unfinished business for his character — and there’s an interesting line in the article that touches on how Driver felt the Sequel Trilogy played out for Kylo Ren:

Driver had undertaken the trilogy with an arc in mind for Ren that inverted the journey of Darth Vader. As the trilogy evolved, it didn’t play out that way.

The movie was pitched to Kennedy, Lucasfilm vice president Cary Beck, and Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni, and they were apparently interested. Scott Z. Burns was drafted in to write a script, which Driver described as “one of the coolest (expletive) scripts I had ever been a part of.” Driver said Lucasfilm “loved the idea” and “totally understood our angle and why we were doing it.”

However, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney co-chairman Alan Bergman said no. "They didn’t see how Ben Solo was alive. And that was that,” he said. Soderbergh told AP: “I really enjoyed making the movie in my head. I’m just sorry the fans won’t get to see it.” Disney and Lucasfilm declined to comment.

Driver was described as feeling mystified by the decision, insisting the plan was to “be judicial about how to spend money and be economical with it, and do it for less than most but in the same spirit of what those movies are, which is handmade and character-driven.” He pointed to the much-loved Empire Strikes Back as being “the standard of what those movies were.”

Alas, Disney and Lucasfilm have gone on to take a very different direction. 2026’s The Mandalorian and Grogu will be the first Star Wars movie to hit theaters since The Rise of Skywalker came out in 2019. 2027 will see Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars: Starfighter. A number of other Star Wars movies are announced, but based on Lucasfilm’s track record, fans aren’t sure which, if any, will actually come out.

Last week, Star Wars creator George Lucas said he had let go of his instinct to manage the franchise, 13 years after selling the sci-fi universe to Disney. Lucas, now 81, sold Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion back in 2012, handing over everything from Industrial Light & Magic to Skywalker Sound as part of the deal. Since then, Disney has released the Sequel Trilogy, two A Star Wars Story films, and a number of TV shows set in the Star Wars universe, including The Mandalorian, Andor, and Ahsoka.

Last year, Lucas suggested Star Wars’ new bosses got a lot wrong with the Sequel Trilogy. “I was the one who really knew what Star Wars was,” he said, “... who actually knew this world, because there’s a lot to it. The Force, for example, nobody understood the Force. When they started other ones after I sold the company, a lot of the ideas that were in [the original] sort of got lost. But that’s the way it is. You give it up, you give it up.”

In February, current Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy responded to reports that she was set to retire later in 2025 after it was indicated that the veteran film producer was looking to move on at the end of her contract this year.

Deadline reported that Kennedy was working with Bob Iger on a succession plan 13 years into the job, with Star Wars Rebels creator and current Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni apparently in a “strong position” to take on the role. However, she insisted: “The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring.”

"I will never retire from movies," she continued. "I will die making movies. That is the first thing that’s important to say. I am not retiring."

As for Adam Driver, clearly he’s now done with Star Wars — despite Daisy Ridley's character Rey Skywalker in-line to appear in several upcoming Star Wars films. Ridley is already confirmed to be returning in one: the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy-directed sequel to The Rise of Skywalker. It will tell the story of Rey as she looks to rebuild the Jedi Order roughly 15 years after the events of that film.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

  •  

Soarin' Across America Arriving at Walt Disney World and Disneyland for Disney's Celebration of the United States' 250th Anniversary

In celebration of the United States' 250th anniversary next year, Walt Disney World and Disneyland's Soarin' will be transformed into Soarin' Across America in Summer 2026. This new "bi-coastal offering will showcase the United States - from sea to shining sea - highlighting some of the country's natural beauty and iconic cityscapes."

As detailed by Disney Parks Blog and a wonderful video that sees Patrick Warburton once again acting as our chief flight attendant for this experience, Soarin' Across America will be the new show to see at both Disney World's EPCOT and Disneyland's Disney California Adventure for a limited time.

As with other versions of Soarin', Soarin' Across America will feature everything that makes this attraction so beloved, including "the flight, the sights and score, even the scents!" Disney also shared that Walt Disney Imagineering is currently hard at work capturing more than a "dozen breathtaking locations for the new flight."

“Our goal was to offer guests a sampling of the diversity of America’s beauty and urban wonders with the hope it would paint an emotional portrait for the nation’s Semi-quincentennial celebration,” Tom Fitzgerald, Portfolio Executive Creative Director and Chief Storytelling Executive, Walt Disney Imagineering, said.

“Contrasting shots of different American locales — scenic wonders, amazing cities, and the beauty of the coasts. The use of the physical landscape of the United States as a unifying element,” Bernice Howes, Executive Creative Media Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, added. “Then, using continuous camera movement to smoothly transition between these scenes, linking them together to show the geographical ‘whole’ of the nation, from natural locations to large cities to national monuments that represent America the beautiful.”

Soarin' Across America is just one of the many ways The Walt Disney Company will be celebrating the United States' 250th anniversary and will be part of its new initiative called "Disney Celebrates America." This initiative will kick off on Veterans Day (November 11) and will run through the July 4, 2026, weekend.

“At its heart, America’s story is one of imagination, ambition, and possibility – the same ideals that have guided Disney since the beginning,” said Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “This celebration honors both a nation and a spirit that never stops dreaming about what’s next.”

'Disney Celebrates America' will culminate with a 24-hour, multi-platform broadcast of the same name, "highlighting America’s 250th anniversary events nationwide across Disney’s linear networks and streaming platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ABC, Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX and National Geographic, ending with a special evening fireworks broadcast from Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort."

Disney will also continue to support U.S. military service members, veterans, and their families, and it will expand its long-standing partnership with the nonprofit Blue Star Families with a $2.5 million donation to "strengthen military and veteran families across the country."

Military families will also be offered special movie screenings of new releases on military bases and in key markets, live coverage of celebrations and activations featuring veterans and active military service members, special offers to Disney World, Disneyland, and Disney Cruise Line, and support for veterans entering the civilian workforce.

For more, check out all the biggest reveals from Destination D23, all the details on Disney World and Disneyland's ticket price increases, and our exclusive chat with Disneyland president Thomas Mazloum on the park's past, present, and great big beautiful DisneylandForward.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.

  •  

The 13 Most Terrifying Junji Ito Manga Stories

There is no storyteller on Earth like Junji Ito. Since his professional manga debut in 1987, he's been terrifying readers with his macabre tales and chillingly iconic creations. The brilliantly talented mangaka has rightfully become one of the most well known horror storytellers of his generation, and for good reason. Junji Ito's beautifully illustrated comics hide deep, devastating secrets, and each tale he weaves haunts and horrifies in the most unique way.

Junji Ito Collections Available Now

To narrow down Junji Ito's massive oeuvre to just 13 of his most bone-chilling offerings was no easy feat. While most of the scariest Junji Ito's short stories can be found as scans online, his short stories are also compiled into physical collections. Some collections, like Tomie and Uzumaki, contain stories that follow a specific narrative, while others, like Shiver and Smashed, include standalone stories collected by theme.

The Scariest Junji Ito Stories

From ominous ghost stories, heart-twisting gothic horror, and grotesquely bizarre modern fables, here are the 13 most terrifying stories from one of the masters of horror manga, Junji Ito.

13. The Beautiful Boy at the Crossroads

Ito often writes of love and how it can curse us. The first—and throughline—story from his Lovesickness collection is a great example of just that. We meet Ryusuke on a train. The teen boy is moving back to his hometown after years away, but the simple notion of it haunts him.

The devastating reason for that will soon be revealed, but in the meantime, his arrival coincides with a trend of young women seeking out "crossroads fortunes." Soon the bodies of school girls who ask strangers for their fortunes begin to turn up brutally murdered; but who is to blame? How does it connect with Ryusuke's pass? This wonderfully chilly mystery is one of the most memorable of Ito's tales and introduces one of his scariest creations.

12. Village of the Siren

Turning his hand to folk horror, Ito crafts another bleak homecoming in Village of the Siren. In the wake of a strange phone call from his parents and an ominous apparition at his window, Kyochi decides it's time for a family reunion. Alas, when he returns he finds that the once lively—though rural—village has turned into a ghost town.

Life now revolves around a strange factory of unknown origin, and even weirder are the all-consuming sirens that emanate from it each night. If you love a story about strange rituals, unusual cults, and the occult then this is the sort of story you'll gobble right up. If you enjoy horror that breaks taboos, then you'll certainly be satisfied as the death count here is huge and features a rarely seen demographic of victims.

11. I Don't Want to Be a Ghost

When Shigeru kindly picks up a beautiful wandering woman from the side of a road, his life is changed. Although Shigeru worries at first about her bloodied and disoriented state, she explains it away. Days later, the two begin a secretive affair despite the fact that Shigeru is married and expecting a baby. Blinded by his new acquaintance's beauty, he's willing to overlook how often his lover appears covered in blood and the fact that she claims to "love his ghosts." Her real desires are darker than anyone could have foreseen and Shigeru of course doesn't realize until too late.

10. The Strange Hikizuri Siblings

One of the funniest of Ito's creations, this bleakly humorous slice of life story follows an unhinged set of siblings who take great pleasure in tormenting and terrorizing each other and unsuspecting victims. Over two tales collected in Lovesickness, we meet some of the unlucky people who come into their path including an old school friend of their most beautiful member and a photographer. While their schemes can have deadly consequences, the Hikizuri siblings are generally rather hapless, though you wouldn't want to be invited to their table for dinner.

9. The Mystery of the Haunted House

The arrival of a haunted house turns a town upside down when derision turns to terror as each new visitor enters its doors. Two young boys become entangled in the proprietor's twisted games after they try to sneak in for free. Upon exploring the ghoulish halls they discover a true house of horrors, one filled with victims who claim to be the owner's family.

There's a dark comedy to this one, which comes from another of Ito's recurring characters, the scheming creeper Souichi Tsujii. But there's nothing funny about his heinous crimes. The Mystery of the Haunted House is a wild ride that will delight fans of haunt culture.

8. Honored Ancestors

Family often comes up in Ito's tale, and Honored Ancestors might feature his most psychedelically deranged yet. On a seemingly normal evening Risa is brought home by her close friend Makata who claims that the young girl is suffering from amnesia and couldn't remember where she lived. According to doctors, her amnesia has been caused by immense emotional stress.

Risa becomes more and more distressed as she becomes haunted by visions of a giant caterpillar... but what does it all mean? The truth revolves around Makata and his family's strange traditions which are revealed in Ito's dementedly awful fashion as the tale comes to a close. It's one family reunion that you'll never forget, though you'll wish you could.

7. Uzumaki

Likely the most famous of Ito's many works, Uzumaki has been deemed a classic for a reason. Weaving a supernatural curse into a ghost story that centers around a small town, Kurouzu-cho, which is haunted not by spirits but instead by spirals, this is a uniquely spooky tale. It also helps that Ito's distinctive linework does an epic job of making the usually unassuming shapes into something utterly terrifying.

Uzumaki features many of Ito's favorite themes like obsession, paranoia, and the mundane becoming utterly bizarre. The impact of Uzumaki cannot be overstated, with multiple video game and film adaptations and a highly-anticipated anime adaptation in development. Unfortunately, the most recent Uzumaki TV adaptation fell flat, scoring very low marks in IGN's own review.

6. Fashion Model

While many of Ito's stories are slow burn haunters, this is a more in your face horror tale that reveals its monster from the earliest pages. Like our next entry, Tomie, Fashion Model has become one of Ito's most popular long-running tales. When a young man sees a bizarre model in a magazine whose mouth is filled with dagger-like teeth, he becomes consumed by her image. He can't stop thinking about her, about why she was hired, and why she fills him with an all-consuming existential terror.

Life moves on, and he and some friends begin casting for a student film. It's here that the model reemerges back to the forefront of his life in brutal and all too real fashion. This is a great entry into both the Ito and monster horror canon.

5. Tomie

Probably Ito's most famous creation, the stunningly beautiful Tomie was murdered by her classmates only to reappear the next day. Since then she's been terrorizing readers and lovestruck men for years. There's a collected edition of Tomie tales where you can read her story from her earliest to most recent appearances, and each one is more delightfully dark than the last. Her ever shifting true face is the thing of nightmares, but Ito's striking illustration style has also made her a perennial pop culture figure.

Even if you've never read an Ito story, you've likely already seen Tomie as a sticker, tattoo, or t-shirt. Ironically, in her stories it's near impossible to catch her beauty in an image unless you want to see her true face too.

4. House of the Marionettes

Puppets have always held a particularly creepy place in horror and Ito uses that to his advantage here in this ghastly story about a strange family obsessed with marionettes. It all begins when a young girl named Kinuko befriends the son of a family of puppeteers. Becoming close with one of the two sons, Haruhiko, she visits the home immediately becoming wary of a large marionette named Jean-Pierre.

Years later Haruhiko and Kinuko reconnect and get married. But when they're called back to the former's family home, they make an awful discovery. This is one of the most classical of Ito's stories, but it will still shock and surprise at every turn.

3. Used Record

Eerie and atmospheric, Used Record tells the story of an odd record which hypnotizes and entices the listener. When Ogawa buys the vinyl, she quickly becomes obsessed as does her friend Nakayama when she hears it. Soon, all the pair can do is listen to the song again and again. But there's only one copy, which means that the girls are on a tragic path.

The thing that makes this story so terrifying is the relatable fact that we've all had that one song that we can't stop listening to. Ito just takes it to the next, supernaturally nightmarish level. And for that reason, this wonderfully drawn tale ends up being just as addictive as the song at its center.

2. Greased

Growing up above her family's barbeque restaurant by Mount Fuji, Yui is sick of the grease that has slowly but surely accumulated, coating their home. While she worries abouts its effects, her violent and abusive brother Goro embraces the cooking oil that creates it, drinking it from the bottle until his face becomes covered in large, grotesque pustules.

Goro's obsession with the grease and his sister's hopes of surviving it are deeply entangled in this, one of Ito's most stomach-churning tales which will threaten both your lunch and your sleep cycle. Truly, this is the kind of story you have to mentally prepare to read, so don't take checking this one out lightly.

1. The Hanging Balloons

What makes The Hanging Balloons Ito's scariest story? Well, it's one of his most bizarre—which is where the mangaka excels—and it also manages to feel utterly claustrophobic and inescapable in the best way. After the unexpected suicide of a celebrity school girl inspires a spate of copycat deaths, people begin to report seeing imposing balloons in the sky.

But these are no ordinary balloons. In fact, reports claim it's the giant inflated head of the woman who died. Many more of the balloons soon appear, chasing those whose faces they wear. Instead of strings, metal nooses swing beneath them. What is their purpose? If they catch up with those who they resemble, they catch and hang them... This is a psychedelic night terror come to life.

What's Next for Junji Ito?

As of right now, there no upcoming Junji Ito stories in the works, according to the official page at Viz.com. The most recent new release is the Moan: Junji Ito Story Collection that just came out in early October. It features six new stories from the legendary author. Here's a quick synopsis of what to expect from the product page:

"A dark evil lurks in the unreachable depths of a pipe, groaning out moans that echo through the house of a germophobe mother and her daughters. In another tale, flowers blooming in the shape of eyeballs are only the beginning of the strange phenomena surrounding a mysterious transfer student. Could he have supernatural abilities? Also, a man in a village deep in the mountains shares memories of his wife. What happened to her after she said she would give freely of her blood?"

Outside of the manga, a Junji Ito Crimson TV anime was announced during Japan Expo 2025. There aren't yet any details about cast or an official release date, though.

Rosie Knight is an Eisner-winning journalist, author and comics writer. She co-hosts Crooked Media’s X-Ray Vision podcast, discussing pop culture from superhero movies to prestige television to the best fantasy novels and, of course, comics.

  •  

One Punch Man: Season 3, Episode 2 Review

Full spoilers follow for Season 3, Episode 2, "Monster Traits."

Last week's One Punch Man Season 3 premiere saw heroes and villains alike sit around indoors engaging in a cornucopia of exposition. It was far from a triumphant return to the engaging blend of humour and action fans were waiting for. But now that the table's been set, there's a lot more to dig into this week in Episode 2, “Monster Traits.”

The city is divided. The monster threat looms large, and the citizens don't all have our heroes' backs. Protest signs on the streets wielded by the “Monster Worship Party” read “Obey the monsters” and “Cooperate with the monsters.” Their proposed solution to the monster problem? To offer up sacrifices at regular intervals to the monsters to appease and satiate them. Call it portion control.

Into this scene strolls Garou – increasingly likeable in his brooding internal conflict – who finds himself unimpressed and frustrated by the protestors' attempts at sucking up to their oppressors. If they're already grovelling like this, what hope does he have of making a serious impact?

Well, the serious impact can wait. Like the Yakuza series’ Kazuma Kiryu, Garou decides to pass up a streetside scrap in favour of a meal, taking a seat in a restaurant for a nice steak. And another steak. And a salad. And a drink. Turns out hunting heroes works up quite an appetite.

Saitama is at his most unhinged in his expressions in this episode, and it finally feels like J.C.Staff has remembered the appeal of the series’ characters.

Also enjoying a hearty meal out is Saitama, who appears to have misplaced his wallet. Did he leave it in the grocery store earlier? No clue. Well, he could call his friends. Nope, they're broke too. Here we’re served up prime One Punch Man situation comedy, as our hero finds himself desperate to avoid turning to criminal ends to escape his predicament.

Saitama is at his most unhinged in his expressions in this episode, and it finally feels like J.C.Staff has remembered the appeal of the series’ characters, as everyone internally monologues, forgets what they were meant to be doing, and crosses paths at the most individually inopportune moments. It’s all a lot of fun.

After successfully outrunning his bill, Garou's food hits his stomach and he finally remembers what he's meant to be doing — bringing back a hero's head for the Monster Association to prove himself as their new leader. However, instead of proving himself as a villain, he manages to make himself an everyday hero to a bullied young boy who he's crossed paths with before. Saitama is determined to prove his heroism too. In their fated first encounter, Saitama unwittingly engages Garou for dine and dashing – without realising who he is. Swiftly knocking him out with his titular move, these hijinks return us to what makes One Punch Man special, applying the presence of hero battles and organisations to an everyday Japan and seeing how the two interact and clash.

That’s enough fooling around; time to up the ante. In walks King the Ripper – an urban legend of a monster that Garou’s young companion immediately recognises. King the Ripper is a compelling presence, capping every sentence with ghostly (and insincere) whispers of apology. And here comes the animation budget too! It’s a production tempo that’s starting to have a charmingly amusing effect now that we’re two weeks in – winking at the audience knowingly, acknowledging what we’re after and what to place the emphasis on. It’s a meta gag reminiscent of adultswim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force for example, and fits well with the show’s overall humour.

The episode closes with some revelations, proclaimed verbally by Gyoro-Gyoro from atop his puffy throne. Like Garou, Lord Orochi was once human – and he was created by Gyoro-Gyoro. The master plan is to train Garou to be a second Orochi. King the Ripper will be the test of whether Garou has what it takes. He tasks Garou with killing the kid, and their personal philosophies clash. Their ensuing scuffle is the first proper fight scene we’ve had this season, all flashy close-ups and flowing particles. The battle commences. And credits.

After a clunky slow start, One Punch Man Season 3 is beginning to find its groove. All it needed was to get some meat on its bones.

  •  

Amazon Is Having a Massive Manga Sale Disguised as a Coupon Code

If you've been looking for some new manga to add to your shelf, the latest Amazon sale is actually quite tempting. For a limited time you can get 50% off select manga when you buy another at full price on Amazon. Only certain editions and volumes apply for popular manga like Berserk and One Piece, but there are some really good collections and deluxe editions included in this promotion as well. You can check out the full list of manga included in this sale for yourself or dive into some of the best things I managed to find below.

One thing to note about this sale is that it's a little bit different from how Amazon has handled BOGO promotions in the past. You will need to manually clip the coupon before you can get access to the discount, rather than simply adding two eligible items to your cart. You can do this by clicking the giant 'apply promotion' button at the top of the sale page or redeeming the coupon code on one of the sales pages.

Amazon Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off Manga Sale

One of the major downsides of this sale is that there aren't that many first volumes available. The One Piece series, for example, only has volume 35, 26, and 20 included in the sale. So you can't realistically get started with that manga at a discount. And for the manga that does include a volume 1 in the sale, the second volume is almost never included. The only exception to this is the Elden Ring manga titled The Road to the Erdtree.

If you're a fan of Elden Ring, both volume 1 and 2 of the official manga are included in this promotion. The story follows Aseo, a Tarnished who begins his journey through the Lands Between as he tries to become the next Elden Lord. There are a total of five volumes available in the series, but only the first two are included in the sale. With the 50% discount applied, you can currently get copies of volume 1 and 2 for only $16.55.

Another manga based on video games that's worth picking up in this sale is the Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask / Link to the Past Legendary Edition. It contains two full volumes of the Legend of Zelda manga that follows the story of Link that appeared in each of those games. This is the only volume included in this sale, however, so you'll need to find something else to buy with to get the full discount.

With Halloween just around the corner, I also wanted to highlight some of the Junji Ito collections featured in here. Ito crafts some of the most horrific manga stories imaginable in the best way and these collections are a great way to enjoy them. Included in this sale is the most recent release: Moan, which just came out earlier in October.

Do You Need to Be a Prime Member?

The good thing about Amazon's buy one, get one sales is that you do not need to have an Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of the savings. You do need to be signed into an Amazon account to actually claim the coupon, but a Prime membership is not required after that. If you don't have Prime, however, you will be subject to the usual $35 minimum order for free shipping.

  •  

Ninja Gaiden 4 Review

In so many ways, Ninja Gaiden 4 is exactly what I wanted it to be. It’s a collaborative effort between Team Ninja and Platinum Games, two of my all time favorite developers; it builds off the combat from Ninja Gaiden 2, which has the best action of the series in my eyes; and it comes packed with small touches that make it a bit more approachable without sacrificing the tough-as-nails difficulty that longtime fans like me expect. But while I’d even go so far as to say this combat system is among the very best I’ve ever seen, Ninja Gaiden 4 stumbles in many other areas – from its bland new lead character, to its uninspired level design, to its predictable story that falls completely flat. The action is still so good that a lot of those shortcomings get deflected like bullets against Ryu Hayabusa’s sword, but others slip through that defense and wound what is otherwise an incredible revival for the Master Ninja.

Story has never been a selling point of the Ninja Gaiden series, so it didn’t come as a surprise to me that Ninja Gaiden 4’s plot was one of its weakest elements. It introduces us to our new protagonist, Yakumo, a skilled ninja of the Raven Clan whose initial goal to kill a priestess of the Dark Dragon instead quickly turns into a mission to escort her to a handful of magic seals in an effort to really for realsies kill the Dark Dragon for good this time.

What follows is an extremely predictable 10-hour campaign with attempts at big emotional moments that fall flat because the legwork to make you care about these characters is never done. There is some banter that happens between Yakumo, his handler, and the other members of his little Raven Clan squad, but it’s never charming or endearing, and certainly never develops to a point where I ever got a real sense that these characters were actually close. Yakumo primarily communicates with grunts, growls, acknowledgements of the mission objectives, and angry threats, and as a result just comes off as a lame edgelord most of the time.

You do get to play a couple of chapters as Ryu toward the end, and while these are a welcome reprieve, they also feel like a huge missed opportunity. His levels have him retracing Yakumo’s steps, fighting through the same environments, mostly the same enemies, and the same bosses, but this time with fewer combat options since Ryu only has access to one weapon, a far less interesting Gleam Form to replace Yakumo’s Bloodraven Form, and just four returning Ninpo super attacks. Imagine Dante’s missions from Devil May Cry 4, except he doesn’t get any new weapons, his playstyle is almost exactly the same as Nero, and there’s none of the cool Dante trash talk.

Ninja Gaiden 4's combat isn't just good, it's phenomenal.

I am willing to forgive an action game for a lot if the action itself is good, and fortunately Ninja Gaiden 4’s combat isn’t just good, it’s phenomenal. It’s incredibly fast, the enemies are intelligent and won’t let you do the same thing over and over again, there’s a great deal of flexibility that allows you to change up your approach to each fight, it looks slick as hell, and it has that trademark Team Ninja fluidity mixed with the over-the-top craziness that Platinum Games is renowned for. It just checks every single box.

The secret sauce here is enemy aggression. Enemies are absolutely ruthless in Ninja Gaiden 4. They don’t politely wait their turn as they attack from off screen, hit you with unblockables, grab you if you try to turtle up, armor through your regular attacks, and overwhelm you with sheer numbers. It’s a style of combat that is totally unique to this series, and that suffocating pressure from enemies is what makes every combat encounter such a thrilling fight for survival.

All of that may sound brutal, but Yakumo’s own toolset is extremely powerful as well. You have the iconic Flying Swallow technique that allows you to zip towards an enemy, potentially slicing their head off in just a single hit; the Izuna Drop air combo that ends in a flying piledriver that will instantly kill most enemies in a single blow; the plethora of powerful unlockable attacks for each weapon; and most importantly, ultimate techniques that let you absorb essence from defeated enemies to charge up a flashy combo that is completely invulnerable, can hit multiple enemies, and does extremely high damage.

None of this is new to Ninja Gaiden 4, and in fact is just a basic overview of what’s always been great about the combat in this series. But it’s important to talk about because my biggest concern coming into Ninja Gaiden 4 was that it would feel less like Ninja Gaiden and more like a Platinum Games game – not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not what I’d want out of a return I’ve been waiting 13 years for. Fortunately, that’s not the case. This is a Ninja Gaiden game through and through with a light touch of Platinum flavor to enhance it even further.

This is Ninja Gaiden through and through with a light touch of Platinum flavor.

That flavor mostly comes in the form of one big addition to the combat system: Yakumo’s Bloodraven Form. By holding down the left trigger, Yakumo will transform his weapon into a slower, more extravagant version with a completely new set of moves and the ability to break an enemy’s guard or interrupt their super attacks. These attacks are sick as hell, and definitely bring to mind some of Bayonetta’s Wicked Weave heavy attacks, especially the Rapier that turns into a huge drill, or the staff that turns into a giant hammer.

But more than being cool to look at, they add a new dimension to combat that forces you to be reactive to how the enemies are dealing with your offense. If you go into autopilot and spam light attacks, enemies will block your strikes and deliver a damaging counter of their own. But if you notice that they’re flashing white and shrugging off your attacks, you can hit them with a Bloodraven Form attack to not only deal big damage, but also open them up to even more punishment after breaking their guard.

Bloodraven Form moves are tied to a meter that drains pretty quickly, adding an extra layer of resource management I enjoyed. These blood infused attacks are also generally pretty slow, which makes them a bit risky to try and interrupt a faster armored attack. So you need to decide whether to risk wasting your meter by pre-emptively using a blood attack to try and catch an armored move during its initial animation, whether to risk your health by trying to wait and react to one of their slower and more telegraphed armored moves, or or whether to use the meter defensively instead to try and perfectly block otherwise unblockable techniques. Whatever the case, having multiple different options to deal with a challenging combat encounter is crucial in a game like this, and Ninja Gaiden 4 is stacked with options to play around with.

One departure from previous games is that instead of individually upgrading your weapons and having each improvement come with new moves and increased power, this time around you must buy all of your upgrades a la carte. Universal upgrades that affect every weapon cost Ninja Coin, which is a currency gained primarily from completing side missions, optional Purgatory challenges, and as a reward for completing a chapter. Weapon specific techniques on the other hand must be purchased with Weapon EXP, which is gained simply by fighting enemies. The better you perform, the more Weapon EXP you get. I enjoyed always having something new to unlock the whole way through, even though I do think Ninja Gaiden 4 is a little stingy with your starting set of upgrades.

You’re not even able to absorb essence to instantly charge your ultimate technique, quickly charge it after landing from a jump, or even charge it up to level two by default. All of those techniques have to be purchased, along with staples like the aforementioned Flying Swallow and Izuna Drop. And that same currency is also used to purchase consumable items, leading to a brutal economy in the early going. Especially if you didn’t purchase the Deluxe Edition, which gifts players with a whopping 50,000 Ninja Coins right from the start. That’s enough to buy virtually every starting upgrade and fill up your inventory. If you only have the standard edition, the first couple of hours can be pretty rough as you slowly build up the arsenal of techniques that bring Ninja Gaiden 4’s combat to life.

The final new combat wrinkle is the addition of a Berserk Meter that fills up as you deal or take damage, as well as when you defeat delimbed enemies with Obliteration Techniques. When the Berserk Meter is full, your charged-up Bloodraven Form attacks will trigger Bloodbath Kills, which are basically cinematic one-hit kills. It’s another fun element of resource management that gave me a way to satisfyingly clear a whole screen of tough enemies in just a few seconds, if I managed to survive long enough to be able to build up the meter.

The Berserk Meter adds another fun element of resource management.

Platinum also injects a healthy dose of style and creative expression into the combat by giving Yakumo the ability to hot swap between his weapons with just the press of a button. So you can do cool things like launch an enemy with the dual swords, hit them twice in the air, switch to another weapon, hit them twice again, switch to a third weapon, max out that air combo, and then send them crashing down with an Izuna Drop. We’re not talking Devil May Cry levels of potential for combo creativity, but there’s still a lot of fancy stuff you can do between the many techniques that you’ll unlock for each weapon, and there’s even a training mode so you can practice optimizing your damage and stylish combos. Variety like this goes a long way for me in terms of making combat feel fresh and exciting throughout the entire campaign.

I did my first playthrough of Ninja Gaiden 4 on Hard, and while that was the sweet spot in terms of difficulty for me, it’s worth noting that you can change this setting at any point (except in Master Ninja mode), which is a great feature for anyone struggling with its demanding challenges. Hero mode has been added as well which allows you to enable auto-block and auto-dodge at low health, along with an auto-assist that allows you to do damaging combos with just single button presses. It’s not for me, but I appreciate its inclusion nonetheless as a way to let more people enjoy the spectacle and action of the Ninja Gaiden series.

While the action is pristine and the combat arenas themselves have some great interactable elements that give you the freedom to zip around from point to point, cutting up enemies along the way, the actual level design is pretty uninspired. There are occasional splashes of interesting architecture across the futuristic version of Tokyo that’s been twisted by the evil power of the Dark Dragon’s husk, but far more often you’ll just be wandering around very bland rooftops, identical looking corridors, and boring city streets. It doesn’t get much better once you’re out of Tokyo, either. You just trade those drab streets for foggy cliffsides, ugly sewers, and samey looking military bases.

There are a couple of fun travel sequences that break up all of the limb liberating sword slashing, like Sonic-esque rail grinding sections, bits where you have to glide on wind currents to soar over a mountain range, and some sewer surfing, but they’re repeated throughout the campaign with little to no variation or evolution. As a result, they end up feeling more like filler than anything else.

While the action is pristine, the actual level design is pretty uninspired.

There’s a new sidequest system that allows you to gain some extra currency by completing optional tasks, like finding and defeating secret minibosses, capturing hidden collectible monsters called Gourdies, or just simply defeating a certain number of enemies in a specific area. It’s a nice addition that gives extra incentive to be thorough and not just run past optional fights, even though the drab and exceptionally linear level design doesn’t make it very exciting to actually explore.

My favorite thing to find hidden in a level though are the Purgatory Gates. These are optional challenge rooms with the cool twist of letting you decide how much health you want to attempt them with. The greater the health handicap, the greater the reward. These fights are by far the most intense and most fun challenges available, and I loved pushing myself to try and get through the hardest difficulty and then being handsomely rewarded for the effort.

Bosses have never been a strong suit for the Ninja Gaiden series but, funny enough, have always been a strength of Platinum Games. The mixture of the two seems to have gone about how you would expect, as the bosses in Ninja Gaiden 4 vary wildly in quality. There are a couple of truly great scraps against tough enemies with adrenaline pumping soundtracks that brought to mind some of Metal Gear Rising’s best fights. Meanwhile, others are just underwhelming battles against giant monsters with too much health and some frustrating gimmicks – from bosses that obnoxiously teleport around a large arena whenever you get close, to giant fiends that spawn annoying fodder enemies to distract from their own extremely dangerous attacks.

After beating the campaign, you unlock the Master Ninja difficulty, the ability to replay any stage, boss, or unlocked Purgatory Gate as either Yakumo or Ryu, and most substantially, 18 combat trials that feature unique modifiers and even a few enemies that I never encountered in the main game. These combat trials might have you clearing waves of enemies without using your Bloodraven Form or cause your health to tick down continuously, forcing you to balance using your ultimate technique to clear out enemies while also making sure to occasionally pick up the life-restoring orbs that are used to quickly charge it – or a trial might just prevent you from healing all together. I haven’t beaten all of these yet, but I am having a blast going through each of them and look forward to challenging my friends to top my scores on the leaderboards.

  •  

Save 40% Off the Exceptionally Tiny Baseus Picogo Ultra Mini Qi2 MagSafe Power Bank

Baseus recently released a new "ultra mini" variant of its Picogo MagSafe power banks, and it certainly lives up to its name. Right now you can save 40% off the 5,000mAh Qi2-certified model when you apply coupon code "NCC6Q5A5" in cart, dropping the price to just $29.99 with free shipping. Baseus makes solid power banks and I recommend them as a less expensive alternative to Anker.

Baseus Picogo Ultra Mini 5,000mAh Qi2 MagSafe Power Bank

The Baseus Picogo Ultra Mini 5,000mAh power bank measures 3.4" by 2.3", about the size of a standard credit card. It's about 0.5" thick making it one of the thinnest MagSafe chargers out there, however it will still add noticeably to the overall dimensions of your phone. It's also very lightweight, coming in at just under 5 ounches. There's also a handy little kickstand so you can properly angle your phone while setting it down to watch videos.

This model has been updated with the newer Qi2/MagSafe standard, which means it can deliver up to 15W of wireless charging, double the rate of the first generation's 7.5W of inductive charging. When you need even faster charging, a USB Type-C port offers up to 20W of Power Delivery.

The previous generation model is even cheaper

If you're looking for something less expensive, the previous generation Picogo is also on sale for $14.99 after coupon code "NE6FGGPA". It's also very compact and holds the same 5,000mAh battery capacity. The main difference is that this model uses the older Q1 wireless charging standard with up to 7.5W of inductive charging.

How many times can you charge your phone?

Macworld lists these power consumption specs (in Whr) for the iPhone 16:

  • iPhone 16: 3,561mAh 13.7Whr
  • iPhone 16 Plus: 4,674mAh 18Whr
  • iPhone 16 Pro: 3,582mAh 13.8Whr
  • iPhone 16 Pro Max: 4,685mAh 18Whr

A 5,000mAh power bank carries an 18.5Whr capacity. An 80% power efficiency rating (which is about standard for power banks) gives you about 15Whr of available charge. That means this power bank will extend your iPhone 16 Plus or Pro Max battery life by up to 80% and the iPhone 16/Pro by over 100%.

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.

  •  

Best Buy Reveals Its Black Friday Sale Dates for 2025 With Deals Starting on Halloween

Black Friday deals are arriving at Best Buy sooner than you'd think. The tech retailer put out a press release this week to announce a new Halloween savings event as well as the rest of its holiday shopping calendar for 2025.

According to the schedule, early Black Friday deals will begin at Best Buy on October 31 and will run through November 19. Following that, the full Best Buy Black Friday sale will kick off Thursday, November 20 — one full week before Thanksgiving.

It isn't that surprising that Best Buy has decided to start Black Friday deals before November this year, but it is quite a bit earlier than last year. Alongside those early Black Friday deals, there will also be the launch of weekly doorbuster deals on select tech every Friday starting on October 31. Best Buy has not provided any information about what will be on sale just yet.

What Early Deals to Expect

Despite the lack of details, we can look at last year's Best Buy Black Friday ad to get an idea of what to expect in 2025. Last year, some of the best early deals were on popular Apple devices, headphones, TVs, and major appliances. You can likely expect something similar this year with Best Buy offering similar discounts, likely on previous generation tech in those categories. This will probably include the Apple Watch Series 10 and the 10th generation iPad, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

Early deals are generally a good time to find deals on older tech at Best Buy, with many of the best discounts saved for the official Black Friday sale down the line. This makes it a surprisingly good time to buy a TV if you aren't looking for the latest model. Best Buy will usually have some great deals on TCL and Hisense TVs before Black Friday.

  •  

BLACKWOOD Is A New Third-Person John Wick-like Action Thriller

AttritoM7 Productions is working on a new gritty third-person action thriller that is heavily inspired by John Wick, called BLACKWOOD. BLACKWOOD targets a Q3 2026 release date, and below you can find its debut gameplay trailer. BLACKWOOD is a game from a small team. Moreover, this trailer packs footage from its alpha build. As such, … Continue reading BLACKWOOD Is A New Third-Person John Wick-like Action Thriller

The post BLACKWOOD Is A New Third-Person John Wick-like Action Thriller appeared first on DSOGaming.

  •