HP has the best deal around on an RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop as reported earlier, but you can also make this deal work with an upgraded RTX 5080 GPU as well. Right now HP is offering the OMEN MAX 16 RTX 5080 gaming laptop for just $1,929.99 when you add any HyperX accessory to the same order. You also get free shipping. The RTX 5080 is an absolute monster of a mobile GPU that surpasses the previous generation's top performer, the RTX 4090.
Final price should be $1,929.99 for the laptop plus the cost of the accessory
* Note that I'd recommend upgrading to the 2560x1600 OLED display for +$130.
You can add any HyperX accessory and get the $150 discount. It doesn't have to be the item I selected, which I only chose because it was the cheapest item I could find. There are dozens to choose from.
The OMEN MAX 16 is an upgrade to the OMEN both in terms of build quality and cooling potential. The OMEN MAX 16 is almost entirely constructed of aluminum, including both the top lid and chassis. The exception is the palm rest, which is still plastic so that it doesn't get too toasty for your hands. The OMEN MAX 16 also features a new Tempest Cooling Pro design that combines vapor chamber cooling, redesigned fan configuration, and an improved thermal interface material to maximize heat transfer. Not only does this keep the laptop cooler during gaming marathons, it also allows for the current-generation graphics cards to perform optimally without throttling.
The GeForce RTX 5080 mobile GPU is better than the RTX 4090 mobile
The OMEN MAX 16 offers a robust cooling design that allows it to accomodate a more powerful GPU like the RTX 5080 without throttling it. The RTX 5080 mobile GPU is roughly 15%-20% more powerful than the RTX 4080 mobile GPU that it replaces. In fact, it's slightly more powerful than the RTX 4090, which was the previous generation's flagship card. You should be able to run any game out there at consistent 60+ fps framerates even if you decide to upgrade to the higher resolution 2560x1600 OLED display.
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.
Anime is awesome. Board games are also awesome. Put the two together, and you get tabletop fun that not only shows off some of the hottest anime series out there, but can also capture the wild nature of the animated media and their associated tropes.
While there are plenty of games that have animed-themed versions like Naruto Monopoly or Dragonball Z Yahtzee, this list instead focuses on games that use the IPs they feature as a theme rather than simply being an anime reskin, and games that do a great job in replicating the look, feel, or tropes of this beloved art form.
Featured in this article
Just as a side note before we get into the list itself, this will only feature board games and won’t go into the plethora of solid anime TCGs that exist, like Digimon and One Piece, or TTRPGs either. Those are out there, and I recommend seeking those out, too, if that is more your style.
Re;ACT - The Arts of War
Fast-paced matches with hot-looking anime characters, each with dynamic and unique mechanics? Sign me up! Re;Act from Brother Ming Games puts players in the roles of artists who've been granted powers based on their respective art forms and are pitted against one another in a 1v1 showdown. Described as “Yugioh meets chess” by the creator Ming Yang Lu, where the importance of positioning from chess crosses over with the interrupts and actions of Yugioh, where you will declare your intentions by playing a card before allowing the opponent to play a reaction, acting akin to a trap card. From super-powered Calligraphers to Dancers, Animators, and Painters, Re;Act: The Arts of War is shonen anime in a box and a blast to play.
Millennium Blades
Crack packs, build decks, and outfit yourself with the coolest deckbox out there in Millennium Blades – a board game about competing in a card game. Players are pro TCG players who are all vying to win the most points by doing well in the game’s three tournaments. Outside of the actual tournaments, which see you playing cards to score points, there are real-time trading and buying phases where you will trade cards with other players or the store, and buy packs of cards using Monopoly-esque money.
Just like the real world, the meta of the game will change as the game progresses and force you to adjust your approach and swap out cards. There are so many clever nods and homages to other games and anime that give Millennium Blades a wonderful identity, but don’t let its silliness fool you – it's a tense and highly strategic game with plenty of content, so you'll never play the same game twice.
Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid
This may be splitting hairs a bit since TECHNICALLY, Power Rangers, aka Super Sentai, isn’t anime, but their motif and idea can be found in plenty of anime, and Super Sentai and its sibling Kamen Rider are just as much a part of Japan's entertainment history as anime, and so Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid is on this list.
Heroes of the Grid is a cooperative boss battler in which the Ranger players attempt to take out the chosen monster of the week and big bad like Rita Repulsa before their forces overwhelm Angel Grove. Each Ranger has a unique deck and the respective zords they play with to get the job done, and with the plethora of expansions this game has, you can use your favorite ranger teams and villains. Heroes of the Grid is a great co-op board game with teamwork and strategy being front and center. It's sure to delight Power Ranger fans.
Guilty Gear -Strive- The Board Game
One of the most stylish anime fighting games of the modern video game generation is the Guilty Gear series by Arc System Works. The same anime flair carries over into the board game adaptation, Guilty Gear Strive: The Board Game, which was released last year.
This 1v1 dueling game features 20 characters from Strive, each with their own decks to play that highlight the styles and moves from the video game counterpart. It uses the Exceed card game system, so positioning of your character is crucial in Strive with attacks requiring different spacing to pull off and rewards keeping the momentum and pressure on. Set-up is fast and matches are over quickly, making this a great quick board game to act as a filler between bigger ones or playing a bunch of rounds. Like we said in our review, this game captures not only the look of the source material but also what we love about fighting games. Fans of Guilty Gear or of fast-paced card games will find something to like with Guilty Gear Strive: The Board Game.
One Piece: Luffy’s Bento Panic
Perfect for anime conventions or parties with friends, One Piece: Luffy’s Bento Panic is a silly party game based on the hit anime featuring Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Sanji, and the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates. In Bento Panic, players take on the role of their favorite Straw Hat and celebrate a recent victory in the best way they know how – with a feast! Sitting in a circle, using their hands, all at once, players show a different gesture to declare their action from their turn, either pulling food tokens from the blind bag, stealing food from a neighbor, blocking a steal, or eating food. Points are scored by eating sets of food tokens, with the game only ending when Luffy wakes from his food coma a third time. Luffy’s Bento Panic makes a great party board game, since everyone takes their turn at once. And like we mentioned in our review, even folks who aren’t necessarily fans of One Piece will have a good time with this one.
AEGIS Combining Robots: Second Ignition
For nearly as long as anime has existed, super robots and combining robots have been a part of it. AEGIS Combining Robots: Second Ignition lets players assemble teams, led by powerful Commanders with special abilities, of mecha from five different classes – Assault, Evasive, Guard, Intel and Support – and duke it out to try and be the team that comes out on top.
While the mechs are strong by themselves, things really heat up when they start combining, turning the game from a strategic tactics game into something reminiscent of the fights out of GunBuster or GaoGaiGear. Manage your energy and pick the right time to combine your bots and grasp victory. For folks who prefer a more cooperative approach, additional modes are included, letting you and a friend take on buffed boss bots that will put your teamwork to the test.
With 100+ mecha, each with its own skill loadout and standee, AEGIS gives you plenty of options for how to make your team, and Second Ignition is compatible with the first game, AEGIS: Combining Robot Strategy Game, which just saw a reprint, giving you even more options. Fans of mecha and tactic games should give AEGIS a look.
Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade
As crew members of the spaceship Bebop, in Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade, you play as bounty hunters racing to take down nefarious criminals, all based on the legendary anime Cowboy Bebop. Space Serenade is a semi-cooperative deck builder that's reminiscent of games like Star Realms, where you play cards for their resources and effects to buy new ones to add to your deck or to try and capture your targets.
Each of the four playable characters from the show – Spike, Ed, Faye, and Jet – comes with a set of cards special to them in addition to the generic ones that compose your starting hand. From there, it's a race to collect bounties and earn victory points to prove that you are the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. This game features plastic miniatures of your characters and cards depicting scenes from the anime, creating an authentic and fun deck builder for fans of the genre and source material.
Bullet Star Board Game
Adopting the shoot-’em-up genre of video games for the tabletop, the Bullet series puts you in the role of different anime-like heroes as you avoid quickly approaching bullets and survive long enough to be the last one standing. The Bullet series is a real-time, pattern-matching puzzle game, and instead of shooting at the other players, you frantically attempt to remove the incoming bullets from reaching their own life points.
Over the course of three-minute rounds, players blindly pull bullet tokens from their bags and spend action points to help rearrange the tokens on their boards into patterns that allow bullets to be destroyed. At the end off each round, the destroyed bullets are moved to the player on their left to be added to the mix, similar to dropping Tetris blocks on your opponent. Bullet is a fast-paced game whose real-time countdown component and puzzle-based gameplay make it a refreshing anime addition to your board game shelf.
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians concludes its 8-episode second season on Disney+ tomorrow. And now, the show’s composer is revealing that he took inspiration from one of the most legendary names in movie music: John Williams.
Bear McCreary, who’s also scored major series like Battlestar Galactica, Outlander, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D along with video games God of War, Forspoken, and Call of Duty, Vanguard, says his work on Percy Jackson follows in the footsteps of the “big and orchestral” music created by Williams.
I spoke with McCreary about his work on Percy Jackson and the Olympians and asked if he was trying to innovate when creating music for the series.
“Innovative is not what I was going for,” McCreary says. “I'm writing in this sort of traditional John Williams kind of style. John Williams wrote Star Wars when he was 44 and he was not trying to innovate. He was trying to reference what he grew up with. So he wanted to share with the world the music that he and George Lucas loved when they were kids. It was big orchestral thematic music. That was 50 years ago."
“When I am writing music that is big and orchestral, I'm writing the music of my childhood so that kids who are tuning into Percy Jackson at age between 5 and 10 who don't know Indiana Jones musically - they aren't as familiar with these sounds as we are. And so I realized enough time has passed [and] I would love to share with kids today how much I love the music I grew up on, as John Williams shared with kids in the '70s how much he loved the music he grew up on. So oddly, innovation was the last thing on my mind.”
McCreary, who also composes the score for the Prime Video series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, says that writing themes for Percy Jackson was not quite as difficult as creating music for Middle-earth.
“There was a lot of ideating [with Percy Jackson],” McCreary says. “Not as much in comparison to Rings of Power simply because of the scale of the show. In the case of Percy, I had to write fewer themes out of the gate, but that doesn't mean there was less pressure on each theme to carry its weight. And the big question was whether it should sound like Greek instruments, because these are gods known from Greek mythology. I'm glad I had time to play with that.”
McCreary says that even though the music from Percy Jackson and the Olympians has roots in epic cinema, he still wanted to make sure the show’s themes resonated with modern audiences.
“We were very much telling a modern story about modern kids,” McCreary says. “And there's a lot of modern sounds. But fundamentally, it's a very thematic, old school score. And I would say the trifecta of the three main character themes - Percy, Grover, and Annabeth - are all delightful in a way. Percy is this classical hero theme. Grover is the classic comedic sidekick character theme, and Annabeth is like this ‘lyrical potential love interest down the line’ theme. It’s delightful for me to get to play around with those tropes.”
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is streaming on Disney+.
Michael Peyton is the Senior Editorial Director of Events & Entertainment at IGN, leading entertainment content and coverage of tentpole events including IGN Live, San Diego Comic Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He's spent 20 years working in the games and entertainment industry, and his adventures have taken him everywhere from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton
If you're in need of at-home printing but you don't want to deal with the upfront cost of buying a printer or the hassle of purchasing ink cartridges when they run out, then HP is offering a plan that might be perfect for you.
HP's All-In Plan is a convenient service that leases you a printer for a low monthly fee. Never run out of ink or printing supplies. You’re always ready to print with ink and optional paper delivery before you need it. There are several plans to choose from, with each offering a different printer and print allotment depending on your needs. The monthly print allotment is flexible, rolls over and can easily be updated on a monthly basis if needed.
The four recommended plan tiers are as follows:
Basic - HP Envy inkjet printer with 20 pages of printing for $7.99/mo
Versatile - HP Envy Photo inkjet printer with 20 pages of printing for $9.99/mo
High-Volume - HP Smart Tank with 100 pages of printing for $12.99/mo
Professional - HP OfficeJet Pro with 50 pages of printing for $14.99/mo
The "High Volume" plan is marketed as the best value. It includes the HP Smart Tank 7602 all-in-one printer (retails for $470) and up to 100 pages of monthly printing. At $12.99 per month, it's not much more expensive than the "Basic" and "Versatile" plans. The one caveat is that it requires a three year commitment compared to two years for the other plans. Fortunately, HP offers a 30-day trial period during which you have the option to return your printer.
Is the HP All-in-One Plan worth it?
The big question is whether or not HP's All-in-One Plan is worth it in the first place. We can first break this out monetarily. The "High Volume" plan will run you $12.99 per month for 3 years, or a grand total of $467.64. As mentioned above, the printer you get retails for $469.99. That's about the same cost, but there are other factors to consider.
By buying the printer outright, you could probably find a discount. For example, it's currently on sale at Amazon for $349.99, saving you $120 right off the bat. Also, after 3 years, you'll still own the printer so that you can use it for many years after. If you subscribe to the plan, then you're out of a printer after 3 years unless you re-enroll.
However, by signing up for the plan, you avoid having to pay $400+ instantly, which is replaced by a more manageable monthly fee. You also essentially get three years of 24/7 live support and warranty service, as opposed to just one year if you bought the printer outright. You don't need to pay for ink during the life of the subscription. This is important because ink refills can get pricey very quickly to the point where it's often cheaper to just buy a new printer. You're also not stuck with the same printer forever. After the term ends, you can either choose to continue using your current printer or upgrade to a newer, current generation model.
All things considered, it really depends on your situation. If you can justify the upfront cost, you plan to keep the same printer for more than three years, and you feel comfortable enough sourcing your own ink, then just buy your own printer. If you'd rather stick with the convenience of letting HP worry about the printer along with its refills and maintenance, and you know that you can stay within the monthly printing allotment, then it's worth checking it out.
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.
Whether you’re looking to jazz up your home lighting with some spectacular smart light bulbs or want a new board game to try out at your next game night, there are plenty of deals worth checking out today. Maybe you need a new Xbox or PC controller? Well, Hyperkin’s The Competitor is now available at a new low price. Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe Edition for PS5 has also dropped to a new low. Plus, if you’re sick of recipes from this galaxy, make some from far, far away with a discounted Star Wars cookbook inspired by Galaxy's Edge from the Disney theme parks.
Hyperkin The Competitor Hits Lowest Price Ever
A great budget controller for Xbox Series X|S just got even cheaper. Hyperkin’s The Competitor is marked down to its lowest price ever on Amazon. You can save $9 on the controller that was only released in the fall of last year. This wired controller looks nearly identical to the PS5’s DualSense, bringing symmetrical sticks to Xbox and PC users who prefer that layout. We had the opportunity to conduct hands-on testing of the Hyperkin The Competitor, with the reviewer noting that the “Smooth Hall Effect sticks and triggers and great programmable back buttons complement the well-executed basics.”
Borderlands 4 Super Deluxe Edition Drops To New Low Price
If you’ve been waiting to buy the Super Deluxe Edition of Borderlands 4 for PS5, now’s the time to jump. It’s only $90 on Amazon, which is one of the lowest prices it’s ever gone, beating Black Friday savings.
With the Super Deluxe version, you’ll get the base Borderlands 4 game along with a boatload of extras, including Firehawk's Fury Weapons Skin, the Ornate Order Pack, the Bounty Pack Bundle, and the Vault Hunter Pack. The latter two packs bring more DLC content and playable characters, and it’s the main reason you’ll want the Super Deluxe edition. As for the game itself, in our review of Borderlands 4, Travis Northup had this to say about the game: “Borderlands 4 gives the series the massive kick in the pants it has needed, with a fantastic open world and greatly improved combat.”
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Cookbook Is 46% Off
Create a bit of that Disney magic at home with a cookbook inspired by the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land found at Disney World and Disneyland. From Spicy Mandalorian Stew and Braised Shaak Roast to Moogan Tea and Glo Blue Noodles, enjoy beloved Batuu snacks and beverages from the comfort of your home. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge: The Official Black Spire Outpost Cookbook is 46% off on Amazon, so you can get it for just $18.75. It makes a great gift for any Star Wars or Disney theme park fan, but you’ll probably just want to keep it for yourself.
Get Govee 1,200-Lumen RGBWW A19 Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulbs 4-Pack for $43
Add some color to your home lighting with Govee’s 1,200-Lumen RGBWW A19 Wi-Fi Smart LED Light Bulbs. This 4-pack of incredibly bright bulbs features RGBWW LEDs, which means in addition to offering stunning color changes, you also get warm white LEDs for a similar look to incandescent bulbs. Given these are smart lights, the Govee app makes for easy adjustments via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
TESSERACT Cooperative Strategy Board Game Hits Low Price
Switch up your usual game night rotation with a fun cooperative board game. TESSERACT by Smirk & Dagger is a bit more niche one-to-four-player dice-manipulation game that uses a 64-die cube. In it, you must work together (or solo) to fill a containment matrix without causing too many breaches or emptying the cube. With 4.9 stars on Amazon, those who’ve played seem to love it, and right now you can grab it for just $37.20. That’s 32% off the list price of this unique strategy puzzle game.
Save Over $1,240 on an Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 RTX 5090 Gaming Laptop
If you’re after a top-tier gaming laptop with serious capabilities, Best Buy has a killer deal on an open-box Asus ROG Strix Scar RTX 5090. It’s just 3,257.99 for an "excellent condition" unit. That’s more than $1,200 off the typical price. Inside this laptop is an incredibly powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 mobile graphics card, paired with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor. 32GB of DDR5 RAM, 2TB of SSD storage, and a stunning 18" 2.5K 240Hz Nebula HDR (Mini-LED) display round out this beast of a machine.
The Blue Yeti USB Mic Is Only $83
Kick your streaming game up a level with a great streaming microphone. The Blue Yeti USB Microphone remains a solid choice, even if it still utilizes a slightly archaic microUSB for connectivity. In our review of the Blue Yeti, our reviewer found its sound quality and pick up to be top tier, and that’s coupled with “its solid build, ease of set-up, and versatility.” Currently, you can score this microphone for only $83 at Walmart, and shipping is included. That’s about $46 in savings.
Save 23% on Magic: The Gathering Avatar: The Last Airbender Beginner Box
Magic: The Gathering Avatar: The Last Airbender Beginner Box has dropped in price to just $26.99. That’s 23% savings. With this set, you’ll get two 20-card tutorial decks along with a step-by-step guide booklet, playboards, Spindown Life Counters, and five double-sided tokens. After you’ve mastered what you’re doing, you can combine any of the additional eight 20-card half-decks for some serious play.
Get a 100W GaN USB-C Charger for Only $15
With GaN power efficiency and 100W speedy charging, you can top up all the top handheld gaming PCs and laptops with this USB-C charger for only $15. It’s a sleek and simple option from Satechi, featuring a foldable prong for improved portability. Right now, the charger is available at a nice price cut on Woot, and Amazon Prime Members even get free shipping. The same charger is selling for over $22 on Amazon and even more from other retailers, so it’s a solid deal to grab while you still can.
Developer Embark Studios says Arc Raiders update 1.12.0 patched some infamous out-of-bounds exploits – but players say "rats" still live in the walls of Stella Montis.
Community lead Ossen took to the official website to publish full patch notes for the January 20 adjustments, revealing a smaller set of targeted fixes for the massively popular extraction shooter. Exploits are in the line of fire this time, with the update said to fix glitches related to item and ammo duplication, the ability to damage other players from behind certain geometry, and a bug that let players reach out-of-bounds locations – specifically on Stella Montis.
The cold, labyrinthian halls of Stella Montis have already garnered a reputation for being perhaps the most cutthroat topside area Arc Raiders has to offer, and its abundance of cheaters isn’t helping. Streamers and everyday Raiders alike have reported dying to cheaters on the high-difficulty map for some time, with the out-of-bounds exploit proving to be especially problematic for months. The clip (above) showcases how the glitch has been used to steal some of the best Arc Raiders loot from players who are looking to extract back to Speranza or even just play some music.
Finally, update 1.12.0 is here to take care of what is maybe Embark’s most infamous exploit, but it sounds like it’s more of a speed bump than a stop sign. Just as the patch made its way to players across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S, Discord users began to report they were still losing runs to Raiders behind walls in Stella Montis. The developer’s patch notes do say that “various” – and not necessarily all – out-of-bounds map locations had been addressed, but that isn’t stopping fans from expressing their disappointment.
“There is still a wall glitch in Stella (somewhere in the lobby area),” one Discord user said. “Embark is incapable of fixing their game.”
“So, I guess they didn’t fix wall glitches because I just got killed by 3 people inside the seed vault extract in Stella Montis,” another added.
“This patch notes seems like it only attracted rats into walls on Stella,” another player said.
Disattisfaction with the update seems to stem from a December 11 patch, which was said to have tackled an out-of-bounds glitch related to zipline use on Stella Montis, only for players to find themselves still dealing with cheaters weeks later. Players have also shared reports of wall exploits at Dam Battlegrounds and Spaceport, with an ongoing issue related to an unopenable door in Stella Montis adding to the pile of glitches riling up the community.
Embark shared earlier this month that out-of-bounds glitches had been added to a list of anti-cheat fixes it hoped to implement “over the next few weeks,” suggesting update 1.12.0 may be just one step in a larger plan. While players have waited weeks for exploit fixes, and Stella Montis may have a few holes to fill yet, some say they’re willing to give the studio more time to get Arc Raiders into shape.
“I don’t know much about game design, but I’m sure it takes a while to find and fix problems within coding,” one Reddit user argues. “So I think people should be happy that they’ve fixed the exploits that have been such a source of complaints for so long.”
Arc Raiders launched October 30, 2025, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X | S. Recent content updates include the introduction of Stella Montis November 13, as well as the limited-time Cold Snap event December 16. While streamers and PvP fans both battle cheaters on and off stream, two contentcreators have (temporarily) found themselves caught in the line of fire of Embark’s anti-cheat efforts. We'll have to wait and see just how long it takes for the studio to get wall exploits – and cheaters as a whole – under control.
Arc Raiders Update 1.12.0 Patch Notes
Hey, Raiders!
The store rotation is going live now and with it a few fixes:
Fixed an item duplication exploit.
Fixed an ammo duplication exploit.
Fixed some cases where players were able to damage others from behind geometry.
Fixed various out of bounds map locations on Stella Montis.
Restart your client to download.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Don't miss out on this rare headset deal direct from Steelseries. For a limited time, you can pick up the popular Steelseries Arctis Nova 7X Destiny 2: The Final Shape Limited Edition wireless gaming headset for just $118.99 when you apply a 10% off coupon code "EXTRA10". The Nova 7 is still one of the best headsets you can get at this price.
Note that the Nova 7X is compatible with the Xbox, PS5, and PC platforms.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Gaming Headset Destiny Edition
The Nova 7 is Steelseries' best selling headset because it has great build quality and gaming features without the egregious price tag of the Arctis Pro or Elite. The Nova 7 features a comfortable suspension-style headband with a steel core for durability and breathable AirWeave earpad cushions which, in my opinion, are more comfortable than the Arctis Pro's faux leather. The Nova 7 produces great gamer-focused sound thanks to big 40mm drivers with support for 360-degree spatial audio. Other features include dual simultaneous wireless connectivity (2.4GHz WiFi and Bluetooth), 38 hour battery life with USB Type-C charging, and a retractable boom microphone.
PC gamers also have access to the SteelSeries GG app, which opens up a whole suite of customization for your audio. You can tailor your audio settings independently for each game or use presets that were configured by actual game developers. The Nova 7 is also compatible with the PS5's Tempest 3D Audio.
In his SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 review, Matthew Adler wrote that "SteelSeries continues to push the boundaries of what a headset is capable of. With the addition of simultaneous Bluetooth audio, you can enjoy music, podcasts, or just chat with your friends without losing your game audio – all with a single pair of headphones. The Arctis Nova 7’s new design is sleek, lightweight, and still remains one of the most comfortable headsets I’ve ever used."
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.
Newly-released sandbox adventure game Hytale originated as a Minecraft mod, Hypixel, only to eventually be spun off and transformed into the early access, standalone game we now know. But even so, I don't think anyone had "Minecraft x Hytale crossplay" on their Bingo card.
This wizardry comes from modder u/ssquadteam, also known as iamcxv7, a 15-year-old modder who has also managed to get things like Windows 95 running in Hytale and, separate from the guy who did it pre-launch, Doom. iamcxv7 has managed to figure out how to get Hytale and Minecraft to talk to one another so that players in one can play alongside players in the other, seeing one another's characters rendered in their own game's style, interact, build, chat, and even fight one another.
What. On. Earth. How? I'm not savvy enough to parse the technicalities behind this, but here's iamcxv7's explanation for it: "It's all just Packet Trickery. You could say I am running a Minecraft Server in the Hytale JVM which uses the Coordinate System of the Hytale World (As its the same) As well as takes a Snapshot of the Hytale World and reconstructs it and then send it to to the Client via Packets"
But a bit more simply, what's cool here is that Hytale and Minecraft are so similar in how their worlds are constructed and what kinds of things they invite players to do that gameplay in one can easily map to the other. There's still some work to do: the mod isn't public yet, as iamcxv7 says it's still "really unstable" and there are some features, such as world generation and how to render certain blocks that exist in Hytale but not Minecraft, still missing. Given that Hytale is only a week old, this feels extremely reasonable! The fact that this is going to be possible at all is brain-breaking enough.
Square Enix has just announced the next part in the Life is Strange series, Life is Strange: Reunion. Moreover, its official Steam store page confirms that on PC, the publisher will use the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. In Life is Strange: Reunion, you will play as both Max and Chloe in an all-new story that will … Continue reading Life is Strange: Reunion Announced & It Will Have Denuvo on PC→
Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin has reacted to the poop scene in HBO spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which has quickly become the main talking point following the release of Episode 1.
Warning! Spoilers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1, Episode 1 follow:
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms adapts George R. R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novella trilogy, itself a prequel to Game of Thrones set 100 years before the events of the main books. Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell play Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg, respectively.
Season 1 (Season 2 is already confirmed) kicks off with wandering knight, Ser Duncan grieving the death of his lord, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb). We hear the iconic Game of Thrones theme song before it is rudely interrupted by a shot of Duncan letting rip in a rather violent fashion, while clinging on to a tree for dear life.
It turns out that this shock poop scene came as something of a surprise to George R.R. Martin, who told The Hollywood Reporter: “Not to say that my characters don’t take shits, but I normally don’t write about them at any length. When I saw the rough cut, I wrote, ‘What is this? Where did this come from? I don’t know if we really need the shit.’ But [showrunner Ira Parker] liked it for whatever reason.”
So, what are those reasons? Parker told The Hollywood Reporter that the poop scene and the way it interrupts the Game of Thrones theme song isn’t meant to be disrespectful to the original show. Rather, it’s meant to highlight reality kicking in as Ser Duncan realizes just how scared he truly is at the prospect of becoming a hero, which “turns his guts to water.”
“Because he’s not a hero yet, you know?” Parker continued. “All we’re trying to say here is that Dunk is not a hero yet. He’s just a nervy kid with a nervous stomach — just like me. And as badly as you want to do something great, as soon as you actually have to go off and do it, it becomes trickier. And that’s what the whole season is for him.”
Despite not being sure about the poop scene, George R. R. Martin has expressed his enthusiasm about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in the past. Indeed, Martin teased last year that he couldn’t wait to see Dunk and Egg’s story come to TV screens.
“I’ve seen all six episodes now (the last two in rough cuts, admittedly), and I loved them," Martin said in a blog post in January. "Dunk and Egg have always been favorites of mine, and the actors we found to portray them are just incredible. The rest of the cast are terrific as well. Wait until you guys meet the Laughing Storm and Tanselle Too-Tall.”
Martin continued to celebrate A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, adding: “It’s as faithful an adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for (and you all know how incredibly reasonable I am on that particular subject).” Check out IGN’s review of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 for 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.
After a decade of storytelling, Square Enix has decided to wrap up the story of Max Caulfield and Chloe Price in the newly-revealed Life is Strange: Reunion, which is set for launch on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 26, 2026.
A direct sequel to 2024's Life is Strange: Double Exposure, featuring many of the same secondary characters, Reunion will also finally answer fan wishes by bringing back both beloved faces from the franchise's original 2015 game.
Max, who returned as the protagonist of Double Exposure, will reunite with her former lover/best friend Chloe for one final adventure — and for the first time in the same game, both characters will be playable.
Once again, there's a sci-fi mystery to solve and limited time to do so — this time, Max's Caledon University must be saved from a deadly fire — and once again, Max can rewind time to remake decisions, while Chloe can use her risk/reward "Backtalk" ability from 2017's Life is Strange: Before the Storm to provoke further responses from others.
How is Chloe back, if players previously saw her demise? The story here seems to be that Chloe is now alive regardless after Max merged a pair of disparate timelines in Double Exposure's finale. Returned to life with memories of a past she never lived, Chloe is prompted to seek out Max for answers.
"This game builds on all the character-led, grounded storytelling for which the Life is Strange series is known, with meaningful choices that affect the outcome of a dramatic and surprising narrative – all culminating in an epic climax that serves as a finale to the Max and Chloe saga," Square Enix wrote today.
Fans may be surprised to learn that Max and Chloe's stories will end here, but after a lengthy and often bumpy development road for the franchise, now perhaps feels a good point to ensure their tale gets a definitive ending, with both characters together one final time.
Remember that Don't Nod, the series' original developer, never planned for the characters' stories to continue beyond its initial hit game. Remember also that both Don't Nod and current maker Deck Nine have experienced mixed fortunes with the series since, with the original game's emotional climax still considered by many fans to be the franchise's high point. Finally, there are likely narrative advantages to letting players decide on a final outcome for the pair — something that doesn't need to be unpicked or worked around in any continuation.
Will Life is Strange continue without Max and Chloe? Square Enix doesn't go as far as stating that Reunion is the last Life is Strange game ever — though this feels an ending, for now.
"We couldn’t dismiss the tragedy at the heart of Max and Chloe," Life is Strange senior brand manager Andrew James said in an Xbox Wire blog post today. "Their reunion could be no quick fix.
"Max and Chloe’s relationship is at the core of the story," James continued, "a relationship that YOU will choose how to develop over the course of the game. Whether Chloe lived or died in Arcadia Bay, and whether she and Max were friends or lovers — these choices are key not just to the past you’ll confirm as you play, but to the future you’ll fight for the chance to build."
Upon launch, Life is Strange: Reunion will be available for $40. There's also a $50 Deluxe edition featuring a digital soundtrack, art book and comic, and access to a behind-the-scenes documentary with returning Max Caulfield actress Hannah Telle, and Rhianna DeVries, Deck Nine's actress for Chloe Price. (Yes, thankfully there's no cat content sold separately this time around.)
If you're yet to play Double Exposure, a double pack of both games will be available for $60. (It's a solid entry in the series that sets up a new cast of characters we'll see more of in Reunion — and one which Chloe fans may now enjoy more in retrospect.) Finally, a $100 Collector's Edition of Reunion will be available for die-hard fans, featuring a range of physical goods such as a 12" vinyl soundtrack.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
HP is offering one of the lowest prices I can find right now on a gaming laptop that can run games just as well as a desktop PC. The OMEN MAX 16 RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop drops to just $1,449.99 when you add any HyperX accessory to the same order. You also get free shipping. The RTX 5070 Ti is a powerful mobile GPU that should easily handle the newest and most demanding games, even if you decide to upgrade to the higher resolution OLED display.
Final price should be $1,449.99 for the laptop plus the cost of the accessory
* Note that I'd recommend upgrading to the 2560x1600 OLED display for +$130.
You can add any HyperX accessory and get the $150 discount. It doesn't have to be the item I selected, which I only chose because it was the cheapest item I could find. There are dozens to choose from.
The OMEN MAX 16 is an upgrade to the OMEN both in terms of build quality and cooling potential. The OMEN MAX 16 is almost entirely constructed of aluminum, including both the top lid and chassis. The exception is the palm rest, which is still plastic so that it doesn't get too toasty for your hands. The OMEN MAX 16 also features a new Tempest Cooling Pro design that combines vapor chamber cooling, redesigned fan configuration, and an improved thermal interface material to maximize heat transfer. Not only does this keep the laptop cooler during gaming marathons, it also allows for the current-generation graphics cards to perform optimally without throttling.
The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU can handle the most demanding games
The RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU is comparable in performance to the previous generation's RTX 4080 and pulls ahead of it in games that support DLSS 4. It should be able to handle even the newest and most demanding games like Ghost of Yotei, Battlefield 6, and Borderlands 4 on the native 1920x1200 resolution. It can also run the same games at 2560x1600 if you opt for the OLED upgrade, although you may have to minimally tweak some graphics settings to maintain 60fps.
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.
Conceptual designer and comic book creator Ricardo Delgado made his mark on Dracula with 2021's Dracula of Transylvania, a book that re-imagined Bram Stoker's iconic villain as "a complete horror." Now Delgado has a follow-up to that terrifying book, one that blends fact and fiction to create Vampyre: A Costa Rican Folktale.
Vampyre: A Costa Rican Folktale is a 200-page illustrated novel that features a mix of historical maps, Delgado's illustrations, and photos of real-world locations. The book is published in a mix of English and Spanish. The book tells a story set in the same world as Dracula of Transylvania, in this case in 1940s Costa Rica.
“Part folktale. Part autobiography. This gruesome novel is a captivating celebration of urban legends, horror stories and the power they hold over us,” said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz in a statement. “Inspired by elements of the classic 1980's illustrated novella Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King and Berni Wrightson, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Costa Rican folklore, Delgado weaves his family history into an ambitious new multi-media mythology that must be seen and read to be believed.”
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