I am less interested in how big the discount looks and more interested in whether a game earns the hours it asks for. This list is about friction, not hype, and the quiet relief of buying something that does not immediately slide into the backlog. I have played enough of these to know where the fun sticks and where the regret usually starts.
In retro news, I'm placing 33 heart-hiding candles on a birthday cake baked for Super Castlevania IV. A bit of an oddity, SCIV technically recycles the original NES adventure's plight of Simon Belmont as he "Devos" problems that come along in Drac's castle. However, said whip was instead being (8-way) cracked into entirely new enemies haunting new levels as we tapped our toes to an original soundtrack. I adored this at launch and have vivid memories of being wowed by its use of Mode 7 to twist levels in quasi-3D fashion. Also, chortling at the Dancing Spectre enemies named "Paula Abghoul" and "Fred Askare." Konami, what were you smoking?
- Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii) 2010.eBay
- Castlevania [Circle of the Moon] (GBA) 2015.eBay
Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch
Dredge Del. (-60%) A$15.10 Quietly one of the best horror games on Switch. Relaxing fishing wrapped around creeping dread, with smart pacing and a tone that never overstays its welcome. Still eerie, still clever.
Dead by Daylight (-65%) A$15.70 Messy, uneven, but unmatched if you like multiplayer tension. Runs rougher than other platforms, but the mind games and licensed killers still do the heavy lifting.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Def. (-64%) A$29 Three classics with rough edges sanded inconsistently. Still unbeatable for sheer nostalgia and open world mischief if you accept the compromises.
Children of Morta (-85%) A$4.90 A generous action RPG with real heart. Co-op friendly, story focused, and surprisingly tough when it wants to be. Ridiculous value at this price.
Yoku's Island Express (-80%) A$5.40 Pinball platforming that somehow works. Charming, relaxed, and smartly paced. Not for score chasers, but perfect if you want something genuinely different.
Forza Horizon 6 (-10%) A$99 Could be good. Fingers crossed. Horizon games (in my humble opinion) usually deliver. My kingdom for a new-gen update of the Aussie one (FH3).
Fallout 76 (-80%) A$10.90 Quiet redemption arc. It finally plays like a Fallout game should, just shared with others. Rough launch baggage remains, but the world is worth revisiting.
Ori and the Blind Forest Def. (-75%) A$7.40 Still one of the tightest platformers ever made. Gorgeous, emotional, and occasionally cruel. Demands precision, but always feels fair.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (-25%) A$28.10 Old school difficulty with modern smoothing. Combat sings, but patience is required. Not welcoming, yet deeply satisfying if you commit.
Fable Ann. (-67%) A$16.40 Nostalgia doing most of the work here. Still charming, still odd, but age shows in combat. Worth it for the humour alone.
Xbox One
The Callisto Protocol (-62%) A$32.30 Gorgeous presentation carrying uneven design. Combat can frustrate, but atmosphere and sound design do heavy lifting if you like slow burn horror.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (-55%) A$31.20 A near perfect remake. Feels exactly right, respects muscle memory, and wastes no time. Even better if you grew up with these parks.
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (-67%) A$29.50 Loud, busy, and packed with fan service. The usual LEGO chaos applies, but the roster is massive and co-op friendly.
Ghost of Yotei (-21%) A$99 Striking world design and deliberate pacing. Combat rewards patience, not flash. Expensive still, but memorable if you like thoughtful exploration.
Dead Space (-59%) A$44.90 A textbook remake. Familiar beats, sharper systems, and oppressive atmosphere intact. Still stressful, still brilliant, still not a relaxing evening.
Stranger of Paradise: FF Origin (-62%) A$38 Combat carries known nonsense storytelling. Surprisingly deep systems if you push past the memes. Uneven tone, strong action.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (-63%) A$33.50 Huge, funny, and occasionally bloated. Best enjoyed in short bursts. The scope impresses even when the jokes dont land.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (-55%) A$44.90 Fast, aggressive mech combat with real mechanical depth. Missions are tight, bosses hit hard, and build tinkering is half the joy.
PS4
Persona 5 Strikers (-58%) A$45 Musou combat with Persona style and heart. Better written than expected, though repetition creeps in late.
Dead Island 2 (-63%) A$25.90 Goofy, gory, and surprisingly polished. Story is disposable, but the combat feedback is excellent if you like splattery melee.
Moonlighter (-90%) A$2.40 Shopkeeping by day, dungeon crawling by night. Simple loop, gentle challenge, and absurd value for the hours you will sink in.
Half-Life: Alyx (-70%) A$26.30 Still the VR benchmark. Thoughtful design, tactile combat, and pacing that never wastes your time. Requires headset hardware commitment, rewards it fully.
Wild Hearts (-93%) A$6.90 Ambitious monster hunting with rough performance. Systems are clever, but optimisation issues linger. Worth it cheap if youre curious.
Red Dead Redemption 2 (-75%) A$22.40 Slow, deliberate, and stunning. Still unmatched world detail, but demands patience. Best enjoyed when you let it breathe.
Mass Effect Leg. Ed. (-85%) A$13.40 Three classic RPGs, cleaned up and cohesive. Combat improves over time, writing carries throughout (but peaks in 2). Absurd value for the scope.
A Way Out (-90%) A$3.90 Built purely for co-op storytelling. Uneven gameplay, but memorable moments land if you commit with a friend.
One Piece Buggy's Tent (-34%) A$52.90 Colourful, character heavy build. More about display flair than complexity. Built this recently myself. Very happy I did.
Creator 3 in 1 Turtle (-33%) A$10 Simple, charming, and flexible. A quick build with decent variety for the price.
Minecraft The Pale Garden (-27%) A$22 Familiar blocks and biomes. Not adventurous, but safe and recognisable for fans.
Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet (-25%) A$75 Display first, play second. Looks great on a shelf, less exciting to build. Worth it if aesthetics are the goal.
Adam Mathew is a passionate connoisseur, a lifelong game critic, and an Aussie deals wrangler who genuinely wants to hook you up with stuff that's worth playing (but also cheap). He plays practically everything, sometimes on YouTube.
The MEGA brand carries several officially licensed Pokemon building block sets at a more attractive price than LEGO. Today, one of its most popular sets has dropped to an even lower price. Amazon currently has the MEGA Pokémon Motion Pikachu Set for just $58.20 after a 44% discount (it's normally $105). This is a great looking build with a neat interactive gimmick to keep kids (and adults) entertained well after the build has been completed.
44% Off MEGA Pokémon Motion Pikachu Set
The MEGA Motion Pikachu set is a reasonably sized set measuring about 9"x9"x5" and consisting of 1,092 pieces. That averages out to 5.3 cents per brick. Compare that to a themed LEGO set, which I consider to be a good deal once they hit the 10 cents per brick threshold. The finished piece is presented as a three dimensional diorama, with the iconic Pikachu running over a small section of meadow.
The fun doesn't end, however, once you've finished the build. Pikachu's legs and tail are articulated and you can turn a hand crank to watch the electric-type mouse frantically run in place like a hamster on a wheel. The meadow elements move in the reverse direction on a mini-treadmill to simulate the motion. These are deceptively simple yet nonetheless enjoyable interactive elements that add to the overall value of the set.
LEGO has its own alternatives, if you've got the budget for them
If you're intent on getting a LEGO version, you're in luck because the brand recently opened up preorders for its own official Pikachu set. It doesn't have any moving elements, but it is a bigger, more challenging build with a higher 2,050 piece brick count. It also comes in at hefty price tag of $200. If you're feeling even more ambitious, check out LEGO's upcoming Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise combo figure, which boasts nearly 7,000 brick pieces and comes with an eye watering price tag of $649.99 (although it's currently sold 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.
The nostalgia-packed The Disney Afternoon Collection finally has a Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 release date, and it’s bringing two more games for patient fans.
A Switch version of the bundle of ‘90s Disney video games was announced today after first launching for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One back in 2017. Retro remaster developer Digital Eclipse has the original collection – which includes DuckTales, DuckTales 2, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Darkwing Duck, and TaleSpin – set with a digital Switch release date of February 26, 2026, with Goof Troop and Bonkers packed in, too.
Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 announcement trailer for The Disney Afternoon Collection. Eight games total: DuckTales, DuckTales 2, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin and they're adding Goof Troop and Bonkers. pic.twitter.com/BHXAClWaiD
Both are Capcom games that made their way to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the ‘90s, and both will only be available on the Switch and Switch 2 versions of The Disney Afternoon Collection. Goof Troop sees Goofy and his son, Max, go on a swashbuckling co-op adventure to save Pete and PJ, while Bonkers follows Bonkers D. Bobcat as he solves crimes in Toontown.
It’s a bundle fit for the biggest fans of classic gaming from the House of Mouse, with the total game count now reaching eight. The February re-release will finally bring the bundle to Nintendo’s hybrid consoles, with access to soundtracks, a behind-the-scenes gallery, and rewind features, available, too. There are also Time Attack and Boss Rush modes for those looking to shake up that classic gameplay.
A Disney Afternoon Collection physical edition is also confirmed to be in development for those willing to wait until after the February digital release. Disney says the physical Switch release – which comes with the game cartridge, two sticker sheets, eight retro milk caps, and three collectible cards – is now available for pre-order and will ship “at a later date.”
The Disney Afternoon Collection launches digitally next month. For more, you can check out our 7/10 review from 2017.
“With three hits and three duds from Capcom/Disney years that you might remember with varying levels of fondness,” we said at the time, “the Disney Afternoon Collection is clearly aimed at children of the 90s. I have trouble seeing its appeal to anyone else. But if vintage duck-based platformers are your thing, grab a Capri Sun and a handful of Gushers and invite your friends over to play.”
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).
The set, which is getting its own prequel novel and includes a whopping five preconstructed Commander Decks and two Theme Decks, can be found on Amazon right now.
Here’s everything you can preorder right now, including Collector Boosters.
As we mentioned, there is not one, not two, but five Commander decks for this set - the most since Tarkir Dragonstorm last year.
Silverquill Influence (White/Black)
Prismari Artistry (Blue/Red)
Winterbloom Pestilence (Black/Green)
Lorehold Spirit (Red/White)
Quandrix Unlimited (Green/Blue)
Whichever one you grab will include a 100-card deck to play right out of the box, and they cost £43.99 each. They might end up being put in a bundle, too, but there’s nothing live for that just yet.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
Magic: The Gathering is collaborating with Marvel again for a cardboard showdown between classic heroes and villains, and now the set is up for preorder at Amazon.
Now, to clarify, these listings have just gone live as yours truly was scouring to see what news there was on them, so they’re about as fresh from the oven as you can get - but there’s still some placeholder text there.
In any case, here’s what you can preorder right now.
There are two new Scene Boxes for £34.99 each, which include three Play Boosters, an art card display setup, and playable versions of the art cards. This time around, we’re getting a heroes one and a villains one.
Finally, Commander players are well catered to. There are four preconstructed decks in this set:
Avengers Assemble (Captain America and Nick Fury - Red/White/Blue)
Wakanda Forever (Black Panther - Green/White)
The Fantastic Four (The titular team - Red/Green/White/Blue)
Doom Prevails (Doctor Doom and Loki - Blue/Black/Red)
Each includes a 100-card deck to play right out of the box for £64.45, but you can also get yourself a Collector's edition with all cards in foil for a whopping £141.45 each.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a tabletop RPG adaptation from Group SNE, the same team behind the tabletop RPG versions of Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Armored Core 6.
There aren't any further details as to what this campaign will entail, but as a Nightreign lover, I don't find it too hard to imagine. Nightreign already has a wonderfully clear-cut class system, and the potential for different DMs to shuffle abilities, monsters, bosses, hazards, events, points of interest is extremely strong. Like the game itself, such a campaign could be extremely replayable as well.
Group SNE is responsible for a number of tabletop campaigns, board and card games, and light novels, including the aforementioned tabletop games based on FromSoftware properties, as well as the entire Record of Lodoss War campaign setting and Sword World RPG, a tabletop game first published in '89 that has since gone on to become a phenomenon in Japan.
I hope we see the Nightreign campaign make it to the USA, because Nightreign rips, dude. It's probably one of the most addictive 7/10 games I've played in years, and the recent DLC has only managed to get its hooks in me even deeper. Sure, the new map is confounding, but once you've fallen off it 10 or 20 or 30 times, you really do get the hang of it.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
With prices of imported goods on the rise, you don't see many 20,000mAh power banks priced under $20 anymore. Fortunately, there's one deal today. Amazon has the Iniu 20,000mAh 22.5W Power Bank for just $15.29 after an automatic 49% coupon is applied. Better yet, you don't need to be an Amazon Prime member to get in on this deal.
The 22.5W power output makes it an ideal power bank for your Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 console, and the bigger 20,000mAh capacity is perfect for longer airplane flights or when you're away from an outlet for an extended time.
Iniu 20,000mAh 22.5W USB Power Bank for $15.29
This Iniu power bank boasts a generous 20,000mAh, or 74Whr battery capacity. If you factor in 80% power efficiency, here are the approximate number of times you can fully recharge each gaming handheld:
Nintendo Switch (16Whr) about 3.7 times
Steam Deck (40Whr) about 1.9 times
Apple iPhone 16 (14Whr) about 4.2 times
Apple iPhone 16 Plus (18Whr) about 3.3 times
The Iniu power bank has three total ports: two USB Type-C and one USB Type-A. The 22.5W of Power Delivery is enough to charge the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 even while you're playing games (both use less than 20W on average in handheld mode). It's also one of the smaller 20,000mAh power banks I've seen, measuring 4.8" long and 2.8" wide (it's pretty chunky though at 1.2" thick) and weighing in at about 11 ounces. The built-in cable is a popular feature on newer power banks because you no longer have to bring along your own USB Type-C cable.
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.
Dispatch, the superhero workplace comedy made by Telltale veterans at AdHoc Studio, is out now on Nintendo Switch. But a number of excited new and returning players aren't super happy about the release, as it turns out the game has been pretty aggressively censored on the system.
It's been well-known since its release on other platforms that Dispatch is a game with signficant adult content. Some characters are fully or partially naked in various scenes, with their full anatomy on display. There are some sex scenes where characters make sounds associated with sex. Sometimes characters flip the bird at one another. For those who don't want to see all this, there's a censorship toggle in the settings that covers up the nudity and the middle fingers, and silences any unwanted sex noises. On most platforms, this is entirely optional and up to the player to turn on.
But not on Nintendo Switch. Earlier today, reports began to drop from reviewers of the Switch version that Dispatch's censorship toggle is missing from the options on the platform. That's because it's permanently turned on (no pun intended). So all the censor bars and silence are just stuck that way, with no way to turn on the more mature version of the game.
Why? According to AdHoc, it's because of Nintendo policies. "Different platforms have different content criteria, and submissions are evaluated individually," the studio said in a statement shared with Eurogamer. "We worked with Nintendo to ensure the content within the title met the criteria to release on their platforms, but the core narrative and gameplay experience remains identical to the original release."
This has understandably frustrated some people. A number of members of Dispatch online communities in places like Reddit and other social platforms have alternatingly expressed frustration with Nintendo for its policies, and AdHoc for bending to them so readily. While it's true that other games in the past such as, notably, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and Fire Emblem Fates, have also been censored in various ways. But by comparison, Dispatch's censorship is extremely blunt and distracting. Who wants giant black bars across the screen? Especially if you can't turn them off?
What's more, as some have pointed out, both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 are on Switch too. Both of those games have nudity, and neither has been censored in such a way, leading to questions about what makes Dispatch different. We're reached out to Nintendo for comment.
Dispatch is amazing, as we determined in our 9/10 review of the game, calling it "a sharp-witted workplace comedy that charms with its smart dialogue choices, great writing, and lovably aggravating cast." You can play it without big black censor bars on PC or PlayStation 5, but no Xbox version yet.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Enjoy Half Off The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Illustrated by Alan Lee Box Set
Any Tolkien fan will want this four-book box set illustrated by Alan Lee in their collection. With it, you’ll get hardcover editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy that feature the stunning watercolor work of Lee, the conceptual designer on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Typically priced at $150, you can grab this beautiful box set for half off on Amazon. It makes a wonderful addition to any collection.
Score $10.99 Off The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch 2 Edition
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch 2 Edition received a nice $10.99 markdown on Woot, bringing the game down to just $59. That’s one of the lowest prices I’ve seen it go for, and Amazon Prime Members even get free shipping to sweeten the deal. The Switch 2 Edition of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild features a few enhancements to the 2017 game, including upgraded visuals, faster load times, and support for the Zelda Notes service. It’s the best way to play this epic adventure game.
My Arcade Atari Gamestation Go Hits Low Price
Bring on the nostalgia with the My Arcade Atari Gamestation Go. Rather than new stuff, this gaming handheld is packed with classics. From PAC-MAN and Asteroids to Centipede and Crystal Castles, there are over 200 retro games on this officially licensed Atari console. With a 7-inch display, integrated paddle, D-pad, trackball, and more, it’s ready to play these games with the controls they were designed for. Plus, you can always plug it into your TV via an HDMI for big-screen fun. If you’ve been considering grabbing the My Arcade Atari Gamestation Go, now’s the time, as it’s down to its lowest price ever on Amazon today.
Get Mario Kart World - Switch 2 Edition for $69
Sure, Mario Kart World often comes bundled with the Switch 2, but if you didn’t get that deal, you can grab the game at a discount right now. Woot has the rarely-on-sale Mario Kart World - Switch 2 Edition for $69 with free shipping for Amazon Prime Members. In our review of Mario Kart World, Logan Plant noted that the “excellent multiplayer racing, incredible polish, and the thrilling new Knockout Tour mode still more than live up to its legacy.”
Magic: The Gathering TMNT Booster Box (30 Packs) Preorder is Down to $124.99
If you’ve been waiting for the prices to drop on the MTG x TMNT, now is the time to jump on that pre-order. The booster box is down to $124.99 on Amazon. In the box are 30 packs, which means each one comes out to about $4.17. Amazon even has a nice preorder price guarantee, so whether the price goes up or down, you’re paying the lowest amount. This is the first “Universe Beyond” release of the year, and it’s set to drop on March 6th.
Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed just dropped last Friday, and the Play Booster Box has dropped in price by 16% on Amazon. For just $138.95, you’ll get 30 Play Booster packs, making each about $4.63, which is a solid deal. Each pack even guarantees a foil. Now, MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed is a nice departure from Spider-Man, Avatar, and Final Fantasy. Instead, you just get fantasy creatures throwing spells.
20% Off FED Fitness DB1 Adjustable Dumbbells
Need top-tier adjustable dumbbells without the ridiculous price tag? FED Fitness has a set of DB1 Adjustable Dumbbells for just $311.99 with the coupon code NEWYEARSSP20. Shipping is even included with this hefty pair of weights, which weigh 52.5 pounds each. By just turning a dial, that weight can be adjusted in 2.5- or 5-pound increments for ultimate versatility. At the same time, the compact design and almost all-metal build put the dumbbells on the level of the much pricier Bowflex SelectTech.
Grab this Cordless Rechargeable Electric Air Duster for 50% Off
Skip the air canisters and grab a cordless electric air duster instead. Amazon has a great deal on the JVSCAM Cordless Rechargeable Electric Air Duster, bringing its price down to just $19.98 using the code 4OIDBVTT at checkout. It’s not exclusive to Prime Members either. With a fan delivering 130,000 RPM and a variety of nozzles, you should have no problem removing all the dust from your computer’s components. Plus, when it’s time to recharge, which won’t be too often thanks to the up to 240-minute battery life, a USB-C cable makes it simple.
$50 Off Apple AirPods Pro 3
Best Buy dropped the AirPods Pro 3 back to its lowest price last week, and Amazon and Walmart have matched it this week. You can grab Apple's latest earbuds for $50 off, bringing the price down to $199. The AirPods Pro 3 makes some solid improvements on its predecessor, offering better noise cancellation, improved sound quality, a longer battery life, and higher waterproofing. A new heart rate sensing feature is even built into the earbuds for added functionality.
Score 42% Off Godzilla: The First 70 Years: The Official Illustrated History of the Japanese Productions
Godzilla fans grab Godzilla: The First 70 Years: The Official Illustrated History of the Japanese Productions for 42% off on Amazon. This stunning coffee table book is only $43.70 and features awesome behind-the-scenes photos and tons of history on Japan’s king of monsters, including the creation, design, and evolution. You’ll also find production materials, posters, lobby cards, and more on the city-trashing, kaiju-smashing mayhem of Godzilla.
Danielle is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.
If you were to purchase a standalone Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card today, you'd be paying $3,000 or more. Instead, why not just get a complete RTX 5090 prebuilt gaming PC with a top-of-the-line CPU for not that much more? HP is currently offering its flagship OMEN 45L RTX 5090 gaming PC starting at $4,029.99 with free delivery, making it the least expensive 5090 prebuilt I can find right now. It even includes 64GB of DDR5 RAM, which alone probably costs close to $700 in today's outrageous DRAM market.
HP Omen 45L RTX 5090 Gaming PC From $4,030
Choose between either the Intel or AMD edition. The Intel variant, which is currently on sale for $4,030, is equipped with Intel's best CPU, the Core Ultra 9 285K, along with 64GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 2TB SSD. The AMD variant is up for preorder for $4,450 and features the outstanding AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D CPU, 64GB of DDR5-6000MHz RAM, and a generous 4TB SSD. Although the AMD variant does cost about $400 more, it's worth it if you can afford it. You get a better gaming CPU, faster RAM, and most importantly, double the SSD storage. It ships in February.
The RTX 5090 is the most powerful graphics card ever
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is the most powerful consumer GPU on the market. There's no debate here because no other GPU comes even close. Although Nvidia has prioritized software updates, AI features, and DLSS 4 technology with this generation, the 5090 still boasts an impressive 25%-30% uplift over the RTX 4090 in hardware-based raster performance. Also, the new DLSS 4.5 is miles better than AMD's FSR upscaling technology. If you want the absolute best performance for your gaming PC, there is literally no other option from any other brand.
The Omen 45L is HP's Flagship Gaming Chassis
The OMEN 45L is HP's roomiest chassis with plenty of cooling in the form of four 120mm fans for system airflow and an additional 240mm or 360mm all-in-one liquid cooling solution for the CPU enclosed in its own "Cryo Chamber" at the top of the case. This PC is equipped with a generous 1,200W 80Plus Gold power supply and current-gen components like an Intel Z790 motherboard, Kingston FURY DDR5-6000MHz RGB memory modules, and a WD Black M.2 SSD. The chassis itself looks great with its blend of steel and tempered glass and RGB lighting. Although it certainly exudes a very premium feel, it doesn't scream "gamer" like some other PC cases.
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.
This review is based on a screening from the Sundance Film Festival. The Moment will be released on January 30.
From first-time feature film director Aidan Zamiri – known for his music videos with Charli XCX – The Moment captures the fictitious aftermath of the British pop singer’s monumental success in 2024 with her smash-hit album, Brat. The film has an alluring energy and numerous wryly funny moments as it circles the malformed question of what comes next for the music megastar with an anxiety that fuels its aesthetic approach. The resultant story is one of a celebrity fearing her own oversaturation – a surprisingly vulnerable and self-critical starting point. Unfortunately, despite its occasional strengths, The Moment ironically overstays its welcome.
Brat Summer, with its now-iconic neon green, was everywhere all at once, a rocket ship to stardom that The Moment recaps via news montage for anyone unfamiliar. Once fans and outsiders alike are up to speed, numerous cameras follow XCX and her entourage in close quarters in the weeks leading up to her Brat tour in 2025, and the fictionalized creative skirmishes therein. It’s a mockumentary only in the most technical sense; i.e., its characters acknowledge the cameras once or twice. However, the film is much better served if thought of as a straightforward drama shot with a handheld, voyeuristic gaze, or else you might go mad trying to figure out the logistics of each camera’s placement, and the “how” and “why” of it all (to say nothing of its lack of sit-down interviews). Either way, its raison d'etre is farcical at first, which is when the film is at its strongest. When it pivots towards more saccharine themes, told through traditional melodrama in its closing act, it’s much harder to stomach.
Early into the 103-minute runtime, it’s hard to shake the sense that Zamiri and XCX might be fans of the Safdie Brothers and Enter The Void director Gaspar Noé, whose respective claustrophobic conversations andstrobing on-screen captions are deployed as primary tools. The movie’s texture is unrelenting, though its content seldom lives up. It takes a while for its awkward rhythms to finally settle, but after the umpteenth montage that establishes – or rather re-establishes – the premise, we’re off to the races. Boardroom executives make decisions on XCX’s behalf without her input, while her hilariously straitlaced manager Tim (Jamie Demetriou) tries to talk her into harebrained promotional schemes, including a ripped-from-Twitter gag about a Brat-themedqueer credit card. It’s all wonderfully silly, and it comes wrapped in the chaos of XCX being ushered between events around London practically against her will.
The dry humor à la The Office (the UK original, that is) serves Zamiri’s style to a tee, while XCX slips effortlessly into a frayed and haggard version of herself, bringing her inmost insecurities to the surface amidst scenes of partying through the night. It’s a wonderful performance showcase at times, granting dramatic detours to supporting characters like XCX’s friend and creative director, Celeste (Safdie regular Hailey Benton Gates), whose nightclub vision for the tour is challenged by the ludicrous, faux-polite concert film director, Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård). A label hire, Johannes is hell-bent on sanding down the pop star’s image, making it more colorful and family-friendly, which leads to some comical butting of heads.
XCX slips effortlessly into a frayed and haggard version of herself, bringing her inmost insecurities to the surface.
Celebrities show up in spades – Kylie Jenner and Rachel Sennott play exaggerated versions of themselves – so the verisimilitude of the project is never in question. Unfortunately, what remains questionable is its artistic point of view. In a sea of caricatures, XCX is practically the only three-dimensional human being, a person battling for agency while fighting off hordes of idiots at every turn. It verges on misanthropic, especially when she actually meets her fans; the mental health struggles of one of them are made the butt of an especially cruel joke. On the one hand, it’s commendable to see XCX – on whose idea the film was based – let the air out of her own celebrity image in the form of cinema; on the other hand, the result often feels like a distasteful act of brand management, despite its insistence that beneath all the glitz and glamor, XCX is ultimately human. She’s not too human, though; don’t forget, she’s still a creative genius, as The Moment insists, so any compromises she makes in a state of distress are secretly a five-dimensional chess scheme. If you can get on board with that conclusion, great; you’ve drunk the lime green Kool-Aid.
Zamiri’s visual approach may be a patchwork of other filmmakers, but in the most superficial sense, he knows exactly who to pull from, even if it doesn’t always cohere. The movie’s use of color is also remarkable, from the intense high-contrast and saturated palette that gives even the most luxurious spaces a grungy sensation, to the use of green in the color timing to induce a sickly feel as the film goes on, à la The Matrix or a Saw sequel. It’s as though XCX were being psychologically consumed, and even harmed, by her own success.
The visual pieces are all there; unfortunately, The Moment seldom assembles them in ways that make emotional sense. Important beats that define XCX’s character and creative trajectory feel entirely skipped, and vital information concerning a major third-act turn is presented in such an opaque fashion that the story becomes confounding. Eventually, it zips forward to an exhausting series of explanatory dramatic monologues to close things out, which neither gel with the preceding film nor serve XCX’s talents as a comedic actress. This zigzag ensures that The Moment ends on a bummer note when it ought to be at its most satirically sure-footed. It’s not terrible by any stretch, but you wouldn’t be blamed for questioning the point of it all once the credits finally roll.
Henry Cavill has posted a first look at his character in the Highlander reboot.
The former Superman actor took to Instagram to reveal two images, below, of himself in character. As you’d expect from a Highlander movie, Cavill carries a sword. It looks like he’s in Hong Kong in the first photo, and New York in the second. His coat is giving me Blade Runner vibes.
And yes, that’s Henry Cavill looking all moody while weilding a sword, which rekindles memories of his role as Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s The Witcher. Cavill left the show to reprise his role as Superman in James Gunn’s rebooted DC Universe, but it turned out the actor had been messed about by prior leadership at the studio, and the role went to David Corenswet.
“Happy First Look for Highlander!” Cavill said alongside the photos. “This has been quite the journey for me, which I'll tell you all about when the time is right, but it's a special moment to be able to share this. I hope you enjoy.”
The Highlander films and TV series revolve around an age-old war between immortal warriors who can only be killed via beheading. The cult classic 1986 debut film starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, who is trained by Sean Connery’s Ramírez. It fuses past and present-day storylines, switching from 16th century Scottish Highlands to 80s New York.
Stahelski has offered a vague story setup: "We're bringing it forward from the early 1500s in the highlands to the beyond present-day New York and Hong Kong, and seeing how it goes. There's big opportunity for action. There's a chance to play a character that not a lot of people get to play. And it's a bit of a love story, but not how you think. On John Wick, I learned a lot on how to bend the storytelling a little... another kind of myth."
And on Cavill’s character, Stahelski added: "My selling point was, to [Henry Cavill], look, you've got a guy that's been alive for over 500 years. He's the last person in the world that wanted to be in this situation. So you get to cover quite a broad spread of a character arc there. And you get to experience someone that's trained over 500 years and sort of played [with many types of] martial arts..."
In September, Deadline reported that WWE star Drew McIntyre, who hails from Ayrshire, Scotland, will play Angus MacLeod, brother to Cavill’s MacLeod. He joins Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Dave Bautista, Marisa Abela, and Max Zhang in the reboot.
In August last year, Stahelski suggested the Highlander reboot could be the start of something big. “I think we have some very good elements now,” he said. “The trick is when you have the tagline ‘there can only be one,' you can’t just kill everybody the first time.”
He continued: “Our story engages a lot of the same characters and stuff like that,” Stahelski continued. “But we’ve also brought in elements of all the TV shows, and we’re trying to do a bit of a prequel, a setup to The Gathering, so we have room to grow the property.”
In Highlander, The Gathering is a summoning that forces the immortal warriors to face each other in what's called the Game.
“I've been a fan of Highlander since I was a lad,” said Cavill on Instagram when the film was announced in 2021. “From the movies in all of their 80s, Queen slathered glory to the TV show with an actor who looked remarkably like one of my brothers. Being not shy with swords, and having a director as talented as Chad Stahelski at the helm, this is an opportunity like no other.”
In April 2024, Cavill bigged-up his training for the Highlander movie, promising even more impressive sword skills than he demonstrated in Netflix’s The Witcher. "If you thought you’d seen me do swordwork before, you haven't seen anything yet," Cavill said.
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.
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