Sega has reignited its old rivalry against Nintendo in a spicy trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds that doesn't hold back on its comparisons with Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World.
In a voiceover for CrossWorlds' "Come Race on Our Level" trailer, Sega highlights the differences between the two games, hyping up its game's multiverse-spanning racetracks and cross-platform gameplay. The same voiceover then noticeably sounds bored when referencing the other game's ability to "roam around on the open world" — a clear nod to Mario Kart World, whose open-world gameplay has garnered a mixed response from fans.
What looks to be actual footage of Mario Kart World is even featured in the trailer — although Sega has pixellated the video, presumably to avoid getting sued.
The excitement levels from both games are represented visually with a sleek and speedy racecar for Crossworlds, compared to a dusty, old-fashioned RV for Mario Kart World. One shot shows it stall next to a cow (a likely nod to the game's breakout Cow character) and a tortoise — an animal not known for its speed.
"We all know that kart racing game," the trailer's voiceover states. "It's great, we don't need to show it to you. But what if you could blast through and race on a whole other level? What if you could warp across different dimensions, fully customise and build out your machine and compete head-to-head across different platforms?
"Or, er, what if you want to... roam around on the open road..."
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds launches for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on September 25, just six months after the arrival of Mario Kart World on Switch 2.
A Switch 2 version of CrossWorlds is also on the way, but curiously not this month. Could this be Sega knowing it would do better to leave more of a gap between CrossWorlds and Mario Kart World on Switch 2, or has Nintendo suggested it would rather Sega not release a direct competitor so soon?
Whichever is the case, here's hoping Nintendo still has a sense of humor when it sees this.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Pocketpair has said it’s now heads down getting Palworld ready to leave early access and officially release its 1.0 update at some point in 2026.
In a video message, communications director and publishing manager John “Bucky” Buckley said Palworld will officially exit early access and release the Ver 1.0 update in 2026, making a significant milestone for the game. Palworld will launch proper alongside what sounds like a huge update, which Pocketpair is now focusing on.
This, Bucky said, means the rest of this year will be a little quieter for Palworld, although a winter update is still planned.
📢About Palworld Ver. 1.0
Hello everyone. Palworld will officially release (Ver. 1.0) in 2026.
We are currently developing a massive amount of content for this milestone, and also planning some surprises for the rest of 2025.
“It’s no secret that Palworld has a lot of quirks and jank, and we want to take the time to properly address those before releasing the game,” Bucky explained. This “cleanup” starts this year, with 1.0 coming next year.
“We think taking the time now to fix those problems will ultimately lead to a better game,” Bucky continued. “It means things will be a little quiet from us for the rest of this year.” Related, the upcoming winter update won’t be as big as December 2024’s Feybreak update, although Bucky teased “a few surprises.”
1.0 will be a “major milestone," Bucky continued, “and we have a truly massive amount of content planned for the 1.0 update.”
Meanwhile, Pocketpair is “experimenting with other ideas for games,” although Bucky insisted “most of the company’s focus is on Palworld.” We will hear about these smaller teams and their ideas soon, he said.
Of course, the Palworld news comes as Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s high-profile patent lawsuit against Pocketpair soldiers on. Nintendo has been busy obtaining patents — some of which IP lawyers said should never have been granted — as it develops its case. Meanwhile, Pocketpair has vowed to defend itself in court, and continue to update Palworld along the way.
The case involves three patents granted by the Japan Patent Office: two related to monster capture and release, and one related to riding characters. All three patents were filed in 2024, after Palworld came out. However, they are actually derived from earlier Nintendo patents dating from 2021. In other words, it seems that once Palworld came on the scene, Nintendo filed divisional patents that were geared to fight specifically against Palworld’s alleged infringement of the original patents.
Since then, Pocketpair has made changes to Palworld’s disputed mechanics. The November 2024 patch removed the ability to summon Pals by throwing Pokéball-like Pal Spheres (now Pals just materialize next to you when summoned). In May this year, another Palworld update changed how you can glide in the game — instead of directly grabbing onto Glider Pals, now you just simply use Pal-buffed Glider equipment. Then, in July, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company reworded one of the patents in the case.
At GDC in March, IGN sat down for an extended conversation with Bucky following his talk at the conference, 'Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop.' During that talk, Buckley went into candid detail about a number of Palworld’s struggles, especially the accusations of it using generative AI (which Pocketpair has since debunked pretty soundly) and stealing Pokemon’s models for its own Pals. He even commented a bit on Nintendo’s patent infringement lawsuit against the studio, saying it “came as a shock” to the studio and was “something that no one even considered.”
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.
Amazon has officially locked in the dates for its second Prime exclusive shopping spree of the year, Prime Big Deal Days, also known as "October Prime Day", will run from October 7 to 8.
Unlike July’s marathon four-day blowout (because apparently 48 hours wasn’t enough chaos), this one’s dialing things back to the “classic”, but still misnomered, two-day format.
These days, October Prime Day sits comfortably in the shopping event big leagues, right behind July’s extravaganza and Black Friday in both size and hype. And, true to form, it’s still members-only; if you don’t have Prime, you’re not getting in the club.
Many of the discounts won’t reappear until Black Friday, so if you’ve got your eye on something shiny, this could be your first (and possibly best) shot at snagging it.
Here's What to Expect from Amazon's Next Prime Exclusive Sale
October Prime Day has turned into the perfect warm-up act before Black Friday brings full-on deal-induced carnage. Amazon loves to throw out discounts in October that mysteriously vanish come November, which makes this sale more than just a filler, it’s basically a cheat day for bargain hunters.
And Amazon’s not the only one itching for your wallet. Best Buy, Walmart, and Target will almost certainly roll out their own “totally coincidental” sales the week of October 6, all designed to one-up each other and prove they, too, can sell you an air fryer for half off. In short, there’ll be no shortage of places to impulse-buy stuff you didn’t know you needed.
There's also exclusive member benefits like $15 off a purchase of $55+ when shopping in-store at Amazon Fresh, $150 Amazon Gift Card instantly upon approval for Prime Visa, and even free McDonald’s 10-piece Chicken McNuggets Meal once per day between September 15 and October 5. Holy diabetes, Batman!
But the real fun begins once October Prime Day officially kicks off. Sure, you’ll get the usual boring-but-practical discounts on batteries and cat food, but the real treasures are the highly anticipated (but not yet confirmed) 3-for-2 offers on 4K Blu-rays, books, and other physical media. Yes, physical media is alive and well, and Prime Day is one of the best times of the year to pad out that collection.
On the tech side, keep an eye out for AirPods Pro 2 price drops now that the AirPods Pro 3 are stealing the spotlight. And don’t sleep on refurbished and “Used - Like New” gaming gear either, last time around, the PlayStation Portal plunged to $125 and the PS5 Pro dipped to around $500. If history repeats itself, those kinds of deals could be back on the table, and well worth feasting on ASAP.
Amazon Prime Day Freebies To Look Out For
Amazon also has a habit of dangling free memberships and perks during Prime Day, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for deals on subscriptions like Audible, Kindle Unlimited, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Prime Gaming.
For September 2025, Prime Gaming members can already grab free PC games including Sid Meier's Civilization IV: The Complete Edition, the Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft series, and Into the Breach, but we'll let you know about any incoming updates for October soon as well.
But the best freebie of all? That’s reserved for younger shoppers. Amazon’s “Prime for Young Adults” deal is basically a cheat code if you’re between 18 and 24, or a student.
You get a six-month trial for $0, then a half-price subscription at just $7.49 per month or $69 per year. No stripped-down version either, this is the full Prime experience.
That means Prime Video with upcoming tentpoles like Fallout Season 2 (December 17) and Gen V Season 2 (September 17), all the usual fast shipping perks, and Prime Gaming bonuses like monthly freebies, in-game loot, and a Twitch sub for whichever streamer you’ve irrationally decided to support this month.
Do the math and that free trial alone saves you almost $90. Honestly, it’s one of the best Prime deals Amazon ever offers. And yeah, I’m bitter I aged out of it.
But also, be smart about signing up for any subscriptions: Turn off auto-renew, set a reminder if you need to, and make sure you’re not paying a penny more than required.
Shop October Prime Day or Wait for Black Friday?
Black Friday might still seem like the king of sales, but which is actually better: Prime Day or Black Friday? There's only one way to find out, FIGHT!!! (While I hate explaining a joke, that was a Harry Hill's TV Burp reference, for those too young or too American to understand my sense of humor).
Er, yeah so October Prime Day! Amazon, Target, Walmart, and the rest of the retail Avengers are lining up right now to swing the discount hammer before November even arrives. But here’s the big question: are these “Prime” deals actually worth it, or is Black Friday still the heavyweight champ?
Both sales events love dangling shiny big-ticket temptations, think Apple Watches, iPads, and 4K TVs, and it’s not always obvious which one cuts deeper. Tariffs bouncing back into play this August haven’t exactly helped either, making deal-hunting feel like a contact sport.
Black Friday, meanwhile, simply wins out on scale. Everyone piles in, from mega-retailers to random shops desperate to clear stock, which means fierce competition and sweeter prices on big-ticket tech like gaming consoles and laptops. That’s why Black Friday still tends to edge out Prime Day in that department, even if rival sales have started muscling in on Amazon’s turf.
On the flip side, Prime Day is laser-focused on Amazon, which makes it perfect for grabbing the retail giant's own toys. Fire TVs, Echo speakers, Kindles, and they’re typically discounted ahead of time as well. So if you’re already paying for Prime (or you’re happy to burn that free trial), you can bag some hefty savings without waiting for Black Friday chaos.
Prime Video’s 2025 Champions League Fixtures Confirmed
Only for the UK, or access via a VPN
Amazon has also nailed down its UEFA Champions League broadcast schedule for the rest of the year in the UK, just ahead of the opening round of fixtures:
September 16 - Tottenham Hotspur vs Villarreal
September 30 - Galatasaray vs Liverpool
October 21 - Arsenal vs Atlético de Madrid
November 4 - Liverpool vs Real Madrid
November 25 - Chelsea vs Barcelona
December 9 - Inter Milan vs Liverpool
As with previous seasons, one match will air exclusively on Prime Video every Tuesday of a Champions League gameweeks, with Prime members getting access at no extra cost.
Of course, if you’re outside the UK, this is where a VPN comes in handy. Got one? You’re sorted. Don’t? Then check out our top VPNs for streaming in 2025.
Amazon’s first live game of the League Phase will see Thomas Frank make his European debut with Europa League champions Tottenham Hotspur facing Villarreal on September 16. Liverpool follows on September 30 in their opener against Galatasaray.
And if you’re in the US, you also can catch Champions League action on Paramount+, which is currently running a limited-time deal: 50% off an annual subscription until September 18, available to both new and existing subscribers.
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN's resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.
I keep telling myself I'll resist but these discounts are like a siren song. Four platforms, four dangerous rabbit holes, and more ways to sink my free time than I have hours. Still, I'd rather be broke and happy than miss out on the awesome bundled gems in today's haul.
In retro news, I'm asking the Human Torch to light 15 candles on a cake baked for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, the action-RPG brawler I adored playing in 4P co-op. This was a full-blown superhero buffet, letting you smash through enemies with a roster that felt like it had leapt right off the comic shop shelves with a Civil War storyline front and centre.
The fusion system was the big add here (pairing up heroes for devastating combo moves that were both flashy and strategic). Beyond that, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 didn't reinvent the wheel, but it gave fans the superhero team-up game we always wanted. Also, its bonus skin selections remain superior to the meh recolourings we got in 2019's MUA3.
On Switch, Tears of the Kingdom is still the gold standard for player creativity. I spent hours building functional mechs out of wood and Zonai parts, and then immediately crashed them into rivers. Meanwhile, Metroid Prime Remastered proves how ahead of its time Retro Studios was. Back in 2002, they actually taped a GameCube controller to a camera rig to test immersion.
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (-23%) - A$69 A genre-defining open world adventure with sky islands and subterranean mysteries. Nintendo polished every corner of this sequel so hard it gleams.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (-12%) - A$79 Retro Studios finally continues Samus's saga with modern visuals and atmospheric exploration. If Prime Rem. whetted your appetite, this is the main course.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (-27%) - A$58 Island life at its most chilled. Build, befriend, and sink hundreds of hours into customising your perfect escape. Timeless, endlessly replayable comfort gaming.
It Takes Two (-27%) - A$44 One of the best co-op experiences ever made. Switch offers portable chaos for Josef Fares's madcap mini-games and heartfelt story of a couple finding common ground.
Metroid Prime Rem. (-30%) - A$41.90 Samus’s GameCube classic shines with updated visuals and slick controls. It’s a masterclass in atmosphere and isolation, and a perfect refresher ahead of Prime 4.
Over on Series X, Resident Evil 4 is survival horror perfection. Fun fact: Leon's hair physics were so tricky that Capcom had to dedicate an entire internal memo to "strand discipline." Farming Simulator 25 also deserves mention, not only for its meditative gameplay but because the devs modelled actual tractor engines in a sound studio for authenticity.
Borderlands 4 (-17%) - A$99 Loot, shoot, and banter with a fresh cast and bigger planets. Gearbox isn’t reinventing the wheel, but fans will want to strap in for the chaos.
Resident Evil 4 (-46%) - A$32.50 Leon Kennedy’s European holiday from hell polished up into one of Capcom’s best remakes. Over-the-shoulder shooting perfected, tension unrelenting.
Farming Simulator 25 (-32%) - A$68 Harvest fields, raise livestock, and grow your agribusiness empire. Realistic tractors and mods galore make this more addictive than expected.
Undisputed (-47%) - A$44.90 Authentic boxing simulation with licensed fighters and tactical stamina-based bouts. Finally, the sweet science gets the video game it deserves.
Turtle Beach Stealth Pivot controller (-33%) - A$167.70 Premium wireless pad with haptic feedback and modular sticks. A pricey accessory, but built like a tank for competitive edge seekers.
Xbox One
NieR Replicant ver.1.22 (-60%) - A$35.90 Square Enix revisits Yoko Taro’s cult classic with prettier visuals and tighter combat. It’s melancholy, weird, and worth every cent.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (-50%) - A$49.90 FromSoftware’s shinobi action masterpiece rewards precision and patience. Brutally tough, but that first boss you topple is unforgettable.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Gal. Ed. (-80%) - A$22.90 The entire Star Wars saga rebuilt in charming brick form. Loads of ships, laughs, and content. Galactic indeed.
PS5-wise, Dead Space is an all-timer for sci-fi horror. The zero-G sections alone felt revolutionary back in 2008. On the opposite side of tone, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is joy distilled into web-swinging. Insomniac actually sent animators to Harlem to nail its vibe.
Dead Space (-55%) - A$49 Isaac Clarke’s nightmare returns scarier and sharper than ever. Motive nails the atmosphere and terror, making this remake feel definitive.
The Last of Us Part I (-50%) - A$62.40 Naughty Dog’s modern retelling of Joel and Ellie’s first trek is visually jaw-dropping. If you missed it on PS3 or PS4, this is the one.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (-50%) - A$47.40 Shorter than Peter’s adventure, but packed with flair and heart. Swinging through snowy Harlem never gets old.
Ghost of Tsushima Dir. (-34%) - A$62.70 Sucker Punch’s samurai epic expanded with Iki Island and Legends multiplayer. A stunning love letter to Kurosawa films.
Battlefield 6 (-19%) - A$89 EA’s modern shooter spectacle. Explosive battles, big maps, and squad tactics. Not groundbreaking, but reliable online chaos.
PS4
Sea of Stars (-34%) - A$34.90 Retro RPG vibes powered by modern design. Gorgeous pixel art, turn-based combat with timing mechanics, and a soundtrack to swoon over.
GTA Trilogy (-77%) - A$23 Three open-world crime classics in one package. Visual updates are hit-and-miss, but Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas remain essential.
Sniper Elite 4 (-90%) - A$9.90 Long-range kills in WW2 Italy never get old. Slow-mo X-ray shots of Nazis exploding are as gruesome and satisfying as ever.
PC players should grab Metaphor: ReFantazio, which brings together the Persona dream team. Its announcement caused Atlus's site to crash under fan traffic. And Streets of Rage 4 kept the beat-'em-up flame alive with hand-drawn art so detailed you can see enemies sweat.
Metaphor: ReFantazio (-50%) - A$57.40 Atlus channels Persona magic into a medieval fantasy RPG with surreal designs and slick combat. Expect deep systems and style galore.
Doom The Dark Ages (-37%) - A$75.50 Slayer trades Mars labs for medieval castles. Still fast, still brutal, but this time it’s demons in armour catching buckshot.
Humble "Phunky Physics" 9 Game Bndl (-92%) - A$21.90 Nine indie physics puzzlers in one dirt-cheap pack. Hours of brain-twisting experimentation for the price of a pub lunch.
Logitech G502 X Plus Mouse (-45%) - A$165 Legendary gaming mouse with customisable buttons, crisp sensor, and wireless chops. A safe upgrade choice for competitive players.
Streets of Rage 4 (-65%) - A$12.50 Side-scrolling brawler royalty returns with hand-drawn animation and a kicking soundtrack. Co-op friendly and endlessly replayable.
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.
OnePlus is best known for making killer mid-range smartphones, but it's also sneakily had some of the best earbuds around. They're moderately priced and jammed with extra features – and last year's Buds Pro 3 fixed some audio issues for clean, booming sound. The new OnePlus Buds 4 try to follow that same trend. They have lots of party tricks – specifically tuned sound profiles, 3D spatial audio, adaptive switching between noise cancelling and transparency mode – for a reasonable price. They're $129.99/£119.99 on paper but you may find them around $100/£100 if you buy them directly from OnePlus. So has OnePlus done it again, or are the Buds 4 a rare misstep?
OnePlus Buds 4 – Design and Battery Life
The OnePlus Buds 4 look disappointingly generic with its pebble-shaped. From end to end, it's larger than most cases but it is, at least, thin enough that I could slip it into my pocket without it bulging out from my clothes. The lid shuts with a loud, satisfying snap, but it will creak and wiggle from side to side if you push it. After my few weeks of testing I noticed some minor scuffs and scratches on the surface: it's certainly not flimsy, but it doesn't feel premium.
The earbuds have a lick more personality, with a curved indented touch area on the side and metal-effect circle near the bottom of the stems. More importantly, they’re light yet they have a snug fit so they don’t dislodge, even when I was running. They come with rubberized tips of varying sizes for your ears, but the default ones felt comfortable – I wore them for hours without needing to take a break. IP55 certification shows they're water and dust resistant (although not waterproof). Not every set of mid-range earbuds can say that, and I wore the Buds 4 in the rain and during sweaty workouts without worrying.
The touch controls mostly work well, consistently recognizing my gestures. Furthermore, the customization of single, double, and triple taps is generous, like all of the customization for the Buds 4. (I'll talk about the OnePlus HeyMelody app later in this review in more detail). Sliding your finger up and down for volume control feels intuitive, but it was fiddly at first. It was too easy for my finger to slip off the stem of the bud or to midjudge the angle, which often registered as a tap, pausing my music. It was fine once I got used to it, though.
Battery life is about average and I got between five and a half and six hours of continuous use from a full charge while using active noise cancellation (ANC), which is perfectly acceptable at this price. The case will recharge your buds three times before you need to plug it in, which adds up to somewhere between 22 and 24 hours of play with ANC enabled between plug-ins, or about 45 hours without ANC. While not particularly spectacular, these are good numbers.
It lacks wireless charging, however: I can't ding it too hard for that but some similarly priced buds have it, such as the JBL Live Pro 2 TWS. It does, however, charge quickly, and 10 minutes was enough for several hours of juice. More importantly, the audio quality, and the flood of customization available, is where the Buds 4 starts to shine.
OnePlus Buds 4 – Audio Quality and Noise Cancellation
For the price, the Buds 4 sound excellent. I tested them on a variety of music genres as well as podcasts, films, audio books, and live sports, and they sounded loud, balanced, and natural. They are slightly bass heavy, and in some songs it nearly drowned out other elements, but it never ruined anything for me (and it’s quite easy to adjust the EQ in its software to tune it to your liking). Remember that these are mid-range earbuds, so audiophiles looking for the absolute best sound quality will need to spend more money – but you can still feel the thump on bassy songs, the crisp splash of cymbals or snare drums. Vocals, whether sung or spoken, sound rich and true to life.
They support Low Latency High-Definition Audio Codec (LHDC), a technology that can stream high-resolution audio over Bluetooth, which can give you more detailed sound. Most mid-range buds don't have this, so it feels like a bonus. You'll need a compatible Android device – the list is quite small, but includes OnePlus' phones – and a streaming service that supports hi-res audio, such as Tidal (Spotify doesn't), so whether you notice the benefit depends on other factors you may or may not have access to.
Fundamentally, these are solid earbuds that make music, podcasts, and films sound fantastic.
Noise cancellation is impressive. You can adjust its strength to block out more or less sound, or let it adjust automatically. I mostly left it on maximum because I only used it when I wanted to hear as little background noise as possible. My ultimate ANC test is a particularly screechy section of the London Underground, and while the Buds 4 couldn't drown out the squeal of the tracks completely, it cut more than most other earbuds I've used. At the gym, it blocked out all the public music so I could hear my own without having to crank the volume up, and when I was listening to an audiobook in a cafe, it drowned out all background conversations.
On the other end of noise control is transparency mode, which uses the built-in mics to boost external noise. This worked just as well as the noise cancelling: I used it for safety when walking on busy roads, or at home, when I was working but still wanted to hear people around me. It only amplified meaningful sounds, and the background fuzziness you sometimes get with transparency modes is absent here.
Between noise cancelling and transparency modes sits one of the Buds 4's flagship features: an adaptive mode which flicks between the two depending on your background noise. I love the idea of just choosing one setting and never having to think about it again, but it's just not good enough to do that. The change between the two can feel abrupt, but my bigger complaint is that it's too stingy with the noise cancelling. In my gym it resisted adapting to the blaring background music where ANC would’ve been the right switch: I could hear every line of every song, interfering with what I was listening to. I admire the ambition, and hopefully OnePlus can improve on it next time.
OnePlus Buds 4 – Software and Customization
All of the Buds 4's many tools and tricks are built into OnePlus phones, but for everyone else they're in the HeyMelody app. It failed to realize my buds were connected a couple of times, but the problem never lasted long and the app worked fine on the whole. It's simple, easy to navigate, and devoid of annoying pop-ups.
It's pleasingly packed with ways to tune the sound of the Buds to your taste. Dimming bass, for example, is simple with BassWave. It's a sliding scale that lets you remove bass or, if you want, crank it up to absurd levels. At maximum it sounds forced and unnatural, but if you're gentle it works well. One of the Buds 4's other signatures is the grandly titled Golden Sound which claims to test your ears and tune sounds specifically to your "ear canal structure." It seems futuristic but most of the testing is moving a slider until you can no longer hear a series of beeps. Based on my results, it told me it would amplify frequencies at the mid-range.
I was skeptical, but I must admit music did sound fuller and more vibrant afterwards. When I turned it off, it sounded flatter. If you don't like the results you can add a custom six-element equalizer, giving you precise control over the sound profile you want.
There's no denying that this is a generous toolset for mid-range buds.
And then there's OnePlus 3D audio, which I liked less. Turning this on should make you feel like you're surrounded by noise – for music, it sounded different with louder vocals, but I can't say it sounded more immersive. For podcasts, it sounded more like a studio with a little more reverb, which I liked but also had some strange artifacts and wonky noise levels. Ultimately, I left it off.
Whether you enjoy any of these options or not, there's no denying that this is a generous toolset for mid-range buds. Most people will, I think, like the default sound, but if you don't, you're almost guaranteed to find a combination of adjustments that work for you. And there are a few more peripheral extras, too. Dual connection lets you connect to two devices at once, so I could flip between watching YouTube on my laptop and my phone instantly without having to disconnect and/or reconnect. AI translation instantly translates foreign languages for you, but it's specific to OnePlus phones.
I wasn't impressed by Gaming Mode, which reduces latency when you're playing phone games. I tried it in PUBG Mobile, but the sound of gunshots still lagged behind the on-screen action, although some have reported it works better with OnePlus phones. If you want the best gaming earbuds, you're still going to need something specifically designed for it with proper low-latency modes whether it be a robust wireless protocol or a 2.4GHz receiver.
Ahead of the holiday season, Lenovo is offering the lowest price I've seen for one of its RTX 5070 Ti equipped gaming laptops. Right now you can get the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i Gen 10 gaming laptop, equipped with an OLED display and RTX 5070 Ti GPU, for just $1,764.99 after you apply coupon code: "EXTRAFIVE". That's a total of $705 off in combined savings. Lenovo Legion laptops are well-rated thanks to their excellent build quality, powerful components, and robust cooling.
Update: I recommend upgrading to 32GB of RAM for only $45 more.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Gen 10 RTX 5070 Ti Laptop for $1,765
This particular configuration is equipped with a 16" 2560x1600 165Hz OLED display, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 16GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The Legion Pro features an aluminum top lid and a sturdy plastic bottom chassis. The display is an absolute stunner thanks to the true OLED panel with a razor sharp 2.5K 189ppi resolution, 165Hz refresh rate, HDR 1000 True Black certification, and 100%DCI-P3 color space. This new 2025 model has also been updated with the Wi-Fi 7 standard. Connectivity options include a Thunderbolt 4 port with DisplayPort 2.1, a USB Type-C port with up to 100W of Power Delivery, an RJ45 ethernet port, and an HDMI 2.1 port. The 80Whr battery can charge to 80% in just 30 minutes.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a top performing CPU
The Legion Pro 5 is equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX Arrow Lake-HX processor, which boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with a whopping 24 cores and 40MB total L2 cache. According to Passmark, this is second most powerful Intel mobile CPU available right now and goes head to head with AMD's Ryzen 9 9955HX.
The GeForce RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU is better than the RTX 4080 mobile
The Legion Pro 5 laptop offers a more substantial cooling design than the Legion 5 (non-Pro) and is able to accomodate more powerful GPUs like the RTX 5070 Ti. That's important if you want to be able to play games comfortably on the display's enhanced 2560x1600 resolution. The RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU is a substantial upgrade over the 4070 Ti. In fact, it offers gaming performance on par with the RTX 4080 and takes the lead in any games that support DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation (the RTX 4080 only supports DLSS 3). You'd have to pay hundreds more to upgrade to an RTX 5080.
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 which took place at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will be released in select theaters on November 26 and on Netflix on December 12.
After a brief sojourn in a galaxy far, far away, acclaimed director Rian Johnson has spent the past eight years working on the macabre misadventures of Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc. As a Netflix film, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery will get a limited theatrical release, but it will ultimately be seen by most audiences on the small screen. That’s a shame, since it looks great and would likely go over well as a late autumn crowdpleaser. It’s also the first movie in the series that’s a straightforward murder mystery instead of a subversion of one, which winds up being the film’s best attribute.
The film starts off not with Blanc, but with our functional main character: Reverend Jud Duplencity (Josh O’Connor), a down-on-his-luck young priest assigned to aid a small, insular parish led by the domineering Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin). Wicks is an elder firebrand who keeps his small group of churchgoing regulars in check with rants and deceit, leading Jud to take no small umbrage with the man. But when, after a sermon, Wicks collapses with a blade in his back, there is no obvious way for someone to have killed him, even though all eyes fall on Jud for having the most obvious motive. Enter Craig’s Benoit Blanc, who finds what might just be his most perplexing case yet.
As a general supporter of Johnson’s films who was severely disappointed in the second film in this series, Glass Onion, it’s good to see the director back in strong form with Wake Up Dead Man. It doesn’t beat Knives Out for emotional resonance – O’Connor’s layered but understated turn as Jud doesn’t quite generate the same amount of pathos as Ana de Armas’ Marta did in the first film, but gets close – but it does wind up being the best mystery of the bunch. The answer here is not obvious and the method of how the killing and subsequent machinations were achieved is actually inventive. And while not every plot beat or line of dialogue is perfectly executed, Johnson’s command of his directorial style is as capable as it’s ever been.
Daniel Craig is as watchable as he’s ever been, but like with previous Blanc films, Rian Johnson stuffs his cast and then fails to give half of them anything to do.
This is especially true of the film’s visuals. Johnson’s films, all of which have been photographed by long-time collaborator Steve Yedlin, always look fantastic, and Wake Up Dead Man is no exception. Although the marketing may have oversold the film’s alleged “Gothic” influence, which amounts to no more than two or three standout moments, the earthy, green-brown color palette and use of lighting and framing conjures a genuinely cozy atmosphere in its early segments. This makes the darker turns later on feel like an invasion of a sanctified space, and since the film is about a small church unravelling after the death of their pastor, it’s a potent parallel.
Yet if Wake Up Dead Man is a stronger film than its predecessor in terms of plot, it shares the same weaknesses in terms of character. Craig is as watchable as he’s ever been and both O’Connor and Brolin do their jobs admirably, but like with previous Blanc films, Johnson stuffs his cast with capable performers and then fails to give half of them anything to do. Talented actors like Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott and Cailee Spaeny are technically in this movie, but they don’t leave an impression because the screenplay doesn’t afford them much room. This is doubly frustrating because every member of Wicks’ parish is given at least a hint of a motive, but the movie doesn’t develop many of them beyond a cursory setup, leaving these characters stranded as they search for a purpose the film never bothers to provide.
Also, Johnson hasn’t completely curbed his worst inclinations as a writer, sneaking in several cheeky references to things like Star Wars, his deal with Netflix, and discussing the tropes of classic murder mystery novels like John Dickson Carr’s The Hollow Man. Most of these gags feel like Johnson playing to the audience instead of the characters acting in-character, which hurts the movie’s verisimilitude. It’s not a dealbreaker by any means, but if Johnson intends to keep going with this series, it’s a tendency he’d be wise to drop. Still, the auteur filmmaker following up Knives Out’s novel inversion of the classic whodunnit formula and Glass Onion’s sadly leaden and poorly structured plot with a real-deal murder mystery without any gimmicks was exactly what the series needed.
reMarkable is well regarded for its best-in-class digital notebooks. The flagship tablet - the reMarkable Paper Pro - accurately mimics the sensation of writing on real paper thanks to a combination of a textured display, instantly responsive E-ink technology, and a custom-designed pressure-sensitive pen. However, with a spacious 12" screen size, the Paper Pro can be a bit cumbersome to carry around on a daily basis. Fortunately, reMarkable was aware of this and just released a smaller, more pocketable version, dubbed the reMarkable Paper Pro Move. It features all of the technologies that make the Paper Pro great and acts as the perfect paper replacement, but with a more compact 7" screen size.
New Release: reMarkable Paper Pro Move Digital Notebook
The reMarkable Paper Pro Move was officially unveiled on September 3. It starts at $449 for the basic model with the standard Model Marker and no folio. Options include a more advanced Model Marker Plus and a slim folio made of your choice of mosaic weave, polymer weave, or premium leather. Since the Paper Pro Move is priced $130 less than its full-sized sibling, it's potentially a better option for anyone who hasn't owned a digital notebook and wants to test the waters.
The Paper Pro Move is a compact tablet that measures 7.7" long, 4.26" wide, and only 0.26" thin. As a comparison, it's very similar in size to the newest Apple iPad Mini. It's also lightweight at just over 8 ounces. The display is made of textured glass and the chassis is mostly aluminum. The 7.3" Canvas Color display is based off E-Ink Gallery 3 technology with a 1696x954 resolution. That averages out to a respectable pixel density of 264ppi, which is necessary to produce crisp and clear text. The display also features adjustable front-lit illumination for reading in dim conditions. The battery lasts up to two weeks, but if it ends up being depleted and you're in a rush, a 10 minute top-up will give you three days of power.
reMarkable's claim to fame is in its writing capabilities. The Paper Pro Move also does a superb job of mimicking the feel of pen on paper. The Model Marker stylus simulates nine different writing tools - including ballpoint pens, markers, and highlighters - for you to choose from. The Model Marker Plus adds on eraser functionality. Handwritten notes are accurately translated into typed text with a single tap. Unlike physical media, you'll never run out of paper and you'll be able to resize, undo, cut, copy, or create perfect lines and circles to your heart's content.
When you're done, reMarkable makes it easy to file your notes away in an efficient and legible manner. The Paper Pro Move comes pre-loaded with a variety of lined and dotted templates, to-do lists, and weekly planners to keep your thoughts organized. Your finished notes can be sorted into separate folders and tagged for easy search queries. Your notes are saved in the cloud and accessible from other devices through reMarkable's mobile and desktop apps. Both locally stored and cloud files are encrypted, but you can also set up an optional passcode if you need more security.
Is the reMarkable Paper Pro Move a good e-reader option?
Although reMarkable's digital notebooks are unsurpassed in their digital writing functionality, they're not really the best option if you're purely looking for a universally compatible digital reader. That's because you cannot easily view MOBI/AZW or DRM-protected EPUB content. That includes any eBooks available on Amazon Kindle as well as Libby, which is used by most public libraries. The reMarkable OS also doesn't support third party apps, so there's no way to download a Kindle or Libby app like you would on a standard tablet or mobile device. As we stated in our 2025 list of the best e-ink tablets, "The Remarkable Paper Pro is the perfect paper replacement with bold colors and best-in-class handwriting." However, if you're looking strictly for an e-reader, then you're best off sticking with a Kindle tablet, Apple iPad, or your smartphone.
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.
Alienware's new mainstream gaming laptop for 2025 is dubbed the "Alienware Aurora" and comes in two 16" models: the 16 and 16X. The 16X Aurora is far and away the laptop I would recommend for anyone who has a vested interest in gaming. It uses less plastic, boasts a higher quality display, and is equipped with a more powerful CPU and GPU. Naturally, it's usually considerably more expensive. Usually, it's also more expensive. However, right now there's an excellent deal that actually drops the price to below the price of an equivalently configured 16 (non-X) Aurora.
Alienware 16X Aurora RTX 5070 Gaming Laptop for $1,599.99
Gamers should go with the Alienware 16X Aurora model
The Alienware 16X Aurora is the model that serious gamers should consider over the 16 Aurora, especially right now when a comparable 16 Aurora is about the same price. There's little argument here; just look at all of the upgrades:
Better display (2560x1600 240Hz G-Sync vs 2560x1600 120Hz)
More powerful CPU (Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX vs Intel Core 9 270H)
Higher RTX 5070 TGP rating and thus better performance (115W TGP vs 85W TGP)
More premium materials (metal alloy lid and chassis vs lid only)
RGB keyboard vs white-only backlighting
Thunderbolt 4.0 port
Compared to other Alienware laptops, the 16X Aurora is designed to look less like a gamer's laptop. It boasts a sleek, understated design with the absence of extraneous visual-only embellishments or unnecessary RGB lighting outside of the keyboard illumination. This is a solidly built machine with a metal (magnesium alloy) chassis and anodized aluminum lid and bottom shell. Under the hood, the 16X Aurora still packs a punch with powerful gaming components and a robust Cryo Chamber cooling system. It's much more affordably than an equivalent Alienware 16 Area-51 laptop, which costs $1,200 more. The Alienware 16X Aurora also weighs 1.6 pounds less and has a 30% thinner profile.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a top performing CPU
The Alienware 16X Aurora laptop is also equipped with a very powerful CPU as well. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with a whopping 24 cores and 40MB total L2 cache. According to Passmark, this is the second most powerful Intel mobile CPU available right now and goes head to head with AMD's Ryzen 9 7945HX3D.
The GeForce RTX 5070 is 5%-10% better than the RTX 4070
The mobile RTX 5070 GPU performs about 5%-10% better than the RTX 4070 that it replaces. That's not a very big generational improvement, but the RTX 5070 also supports multi-frame generation, which means the margin will widen in games that support DLSS 4.0. If you want a significantly better performing Nvidia GPU, you'll have to pick up an RTX 5070 Ti or RTX 5080 laptop. Currently the Alienware 16X Aurora doesn't have an option to equip these GPUs, so you would have to pony up $900 more for the Area-51.
Check out more of the best Alienware deals
Check out our Best Alienware Deals article with all of Dell's currently ongoing deals on gaming laptops and desktop PCs. Not everyone is the DIY type. If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of the best brands we'd recommend. Alienware desktops and laptops feature solid build quality, top-of-the-line gaming performance, excellent cooling (further improved on the newer models), aggressive styling, and pricing that is very competitive with other pre-built options. Best of all, there are plenty of sales that happen throughout the year, so it's not difficult to grab one of these computers at considerably less than their retail price.
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 Nintendo Switch is going out in a blaze of glory, with some exciting games launching to make way for the console's successor, the Switch 2. Whether they’re exclusively developed for the Switch or ported over from other platforms, these upcoming Switch games will likely wrap up the Switch era while also being compatible with the Switch 2.
In the second half of 2025, we'll hopefully be getting our hands on well-known in-development titles as well as a host of new games announced at the most recent Nintendo Direct. Here are all of the new Switch games we can look forward to this year.
All Upcoming Switch Games With Release Dates
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (September 19, 2025)
The highly-anticipated Trails in the Sky remake officially has a release date. Well, at least the first chapter. The RPG from Nihon Falcon kicked off the Trails sub-series back in 2004, and the remake introduces quality of life improvements using the same engine as Trails of Daybreak.
Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree (September 19, 2025)
The evil Magatsu has thrown the kingdom into turmoil. You play as Towa, who must seek Guardian companions and push back Magatsu’s influence in this roguelite we called "twin-stick Hades" in our hands-on preview.
DreamWorks Gabby's Dollhouse: Ready to Party (September 19, 2025)
Gabby’s Dollhouse has been a hit with the kids, having just wrapped up its 11th season from DreamWorks Animation. The game adaptation has you working with Gabby and friends from across magical worlds to prep the best party ever.
Folly Of The Wizards (September 19, 2025)
There’s never enough roguelikes, in my opinion. Join a wacky wizard cult and explore procedurally generated dungeons in this sidescroller with a comedic edge.
Sonic Racing: Crossworlds (September 25, 2025)
Sonic's back, and he's bringing some friends along for the ride. Sonic Racing: Crossworlds seems to be an ultimate crossover game, blending chaotic kart racing mechanics with a pretty insane slate of characters. Look forward to vehicle customization and a variety of environments across each track (and universe).
Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile (September 25, 2025)
The Agatha Christie adventure game series goes all the way back to 2005. This new release adapts, as you can imagine, Death on the Nile, a detective novel the author originally published in 1937.
NBA Bounce (September 26, 2025)
A slightly cuter alternative to the annual 2K releases, NBA Bounce lets you join one of 30 NBA teams and work your way up from rookie to legend on the court.
Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (September 26, 2025)
Coming off the heels of Shadow Labyrinth's edgier take on the Pac-Man franchise, we're going back to basics. Pac-Man World 2: Re-Pac introduces enhanced graphics, expanded levels, and tons of quality of life improvements to the action platformer that originally released in 2002.
Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles (September 30, 2025)
The next Final Fantasy (adjacent) game to arrive on Switch, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles tells the story of a noble boy and his childhood friend who become entwined in the series' classic civil conflict: The War of the Lions. The game features over 20 jobs to try out, including plenty of Final Fantasy classics, and quality of life improvements like an autosave feature.
Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (October 2, 2025)
Any fans of the Wii generation will be pleased to learn both Super Mario Galaxy games are getting bundled into a new edition for Switch and Switch 2, now up for preorder. These are, in my opinion, some of the best games of all time. Our 10/10 review of Super Mario Galaxy 2 seems to agree, saying the 3D platformer "perfectly captures that classic video game charm, the reason why most of us got into gaming from the start."
Pokémon Legends: Z-A (October 16, 2025)
One of the most anticipated Nintendo releases is the next mainline Pokemon game, which comes after a rare "skip" year in the franchise. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set in Lumiose City, a town within the Kalos region that features "Wild Zones" for catching new Pokémon. Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile are your starter options, and while they may be familiar faces, expect battles to be a little more... dynamic.
Quit Today (October 22, 2025)
If you ever wanted to completely crash out at the office, Quit Today could help you let off some steam. The beat ‘em up, which released on PC earlier this year, is focused on the workplace as you kick your coworkers’ butts to submit your resignation.
Plants vs. Zombies Replanted (October 23, 2025)
You read that right. Plants vs. Zombies is back with a new game PopCap describes as a "chance to reacknowledge the series' roots." With new HD character models and a multiplayer feature, I think this one's well worth checking out for anyone who enjoyed (or, in my case, got slightly addicted to) the original garden defense game.
Once Upon A KATAMARI (October 25, 2025)
I was a big fan of Bandai Namzo’s puzzling Katamari games on the PS2, so it’s great to see the series returning with a new entry almost 15 years later. Use your katamari, essentially a magic ball, to collect objects and recreate the universe in this journey across time.
A spread of Mortal Kombat games from across the arcade, Game Boy, and PS1 generations. We’re talking Ultimate Mortal Kombat, Sub-Zero, Tournament Edition, and plenty more (feel free to check out the full line-up). Unlock secret characters at the touch of a button and beat up your friends in online play. The collection also includes an “interactive documentary” about the franchise’s development history.
Move aside, Sonic, because the PAW Patrol is also getting a racing game. Play as the iconic Pup Pals, each with their own unique skills, to win races or just cause some mayhem in Adventure Bay.
Terminator 2D: NO FATE (October 31, 2025)
Experience the original Terminator 2 movie, arcade style. The run-and-gun adaptation takes its inspiration from the likes of Contra and Metal Slug.
Goodnight Universe (November 11, 2025)
Goodnight Universe puts you in the position of being a six-month-old baby with psychic powers. I know, living the dream. While all you want is your parents' love, a tech corporation has other plans.
Octopath Traveler 0 (December 4, 2025)
The "final announcement" from the most recent Nintendo Direct was a new Octopath Traveler game from Square Enix. For the first time in the series, you'll be able to customize your own character, who is tasked with rebuilding the town of Wishvale while also seeking vengeance against its destroyers. Of course, you'll have plenty of party members to recruit for help.
Dragon Quest is really going at it with the remakes. It started with HD-2D remakes of the first three games, and now we’re skipping a few installments to go straight to Fragments of the Past. This next ‘revamp’ goes for “Reimagined,” and features a pretty substantial overhaul of the graphics and gameplay from the original JRPG released in 2001.
Upcoming Switch Games With Unknown Release Dates
There are plenty more Nintendo Switch games in development that don’t have a solid release date yet. Here are some more Switch games we know are on the way:
Most upcoming Switch games will be supported on the Switch 2, but we're already seeing announcements of Switch 2-exclusive games. You can check out our full guide on Switch 2 games, but in the meantime, here's some highlights of what you have to look forward to on the new console:
Today’s roundup is stacked with some of the biggest Nintendo Switch 2 releases of 2025, covering every confirmed first-party game and amiibo on the calendar.
On top of that, Kirby fans can look forward to Kirby Air Riders and a fresh wave of themed amiibo arriving in November. It’s rare to see such a complete slate of first-party releases lined up this early, which makes today’s deals list worth bookmarking if you plan on building out a Switch 2 library.
TL;DR: Deals For Today
But that’s not all, today’s roundup also features Pokémon TCG deals that fall below market value. In several cases, Amazon’s pricing has dipped under TCGPlayer’s, which is usually the lowest benchmark for sealed product.
AliExpress is offering an outstanding deal on a popular entry level electric bike. Right now the Amyet V9-G60 Electric Bike with 1,000W (1,500W peak) motor and 48V 20AH battery is on sale for just $477.47 after you apply $100 off coupon code "USDEAL100" during checkout. You're buying it from Amyet's official store on AliExpress. It ships free locally from the United States and arrives within 1 to 2 weeks. You'd be hard pressed to find a new electric bike for under $500 stateside, especially one that has a 1,000W motor (the least expensive bikes cost more and are usually rated for 750W). The same bike is priced at $500 plus $165 shipping on Amazon, so you'd paying nearly $200 more buying it from there.
Pokémon TCG Price Watch
If you’re looking to stock up on sealed Pokémon TCG product, TCGPlayer remains the most reliable place for market-low pricing across the board. The vast majority of booster packs, tins, and trainer boxes are sitting cheaper there than on Amazon, often by $5-$15.
Bundles like the White Flare Binder Collection and the Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V Box are up to $40 off, deals that everyone should be snapping up right now. It’s worth keeping an eye on these dips, since Amazon tends to fluctuate prices more often than dedicated TCG retailers.
Silver Tempest has proven to be one of the most collector-driven sets of the Sword and Shield era, with prices pulled between nostalgia, competitive play, and limited supply. The clear winner is Lugia V (Alternate Full Art) 186/195, which has surged 68% since July to $427, cementing itself as the set’s chase card.
Trainer Gallery standouts like Rayquaza VMAX TG20/TG30 and Blaziken VMAX TG15/TG30 have also doubled or tripled in value thanks to strong artwork and nostalgia, while even Lugia VSTAR continues climbing on competitive strength. At the same time, cards like Regidrago V (Alternate Art) and Alolan Vulpix VSTAR have cooled as the meta shifted away from them, with values slipping back toward the $12–$14 range.
Snag Classic Mega Evolution Cards Before Market Rise
The market for XY-era Mega Evolution Pokémon cards is heating up fast ahead of Pokémon Legends: Z-A and the upcoming Mega Evolution TCG set. Collectors aren’t waiting for modern reprints, they’re chasing the originals, and prices are showing it. Some cards have exploded in value, while others have steadied after sharp climbs, creating both momentum plays and entry points for buyers. Leading the surge is M Rayquaza EX (Shiny Full Art - Ancient Origins), which has skyrocketed over 426% this year, from $275 in January to $1,450 today.
M Gengar EX (Secret Rare - Phantom Forces) isn’t far behind, up nearly fivefold to $415, cementing its place as one of the most sought-after Megas. Other heavy-hitters include M Rayquaza EX (Full Art - Roaring Skies), now at $656, M Charizard EX (X - Flashfire) climbing past $349, and Primal Groudon EX (Shiny Full Art), which has more than doubled to $349. These climbers show how nostalgia, unique mechanics, and iconic artwork are driving a collector frenzy.
But not every Mega Evolution is running away in price. Some cards have plateaued after strong early-year gains, leaving a rare buying window before the next spike. M Mewtwo EX (Full Art - BREAKthrough) climbed from $37 to $145 but has leveled off in recent weeks, while M Alakazam EX (Full Art - Fates Collide) sits steady just under $100 after jumping from $28 earlier this year.
Even Charizard is showing signs of cooling, M Charizard EX (Generations) and M Charizard EX (Full Art - Evolutions) have tripled since January but are holding in the $190-$200 range for now. These pauses don’t signal weakness; rather, they reflect consolidation before the broader Mega Evolution wave hits with new set releases. For collectors and investors, the message is clear: the grails are climbing fast, but the plateaued cards may be the smarter pickups before Mega hype takes over the market again.
Crown Zenith Prices Are Rising
The Crown Zenith market has been showing two very different stories this month. On one hand, several Galarian Gallery Ultra Rares are slipping as hype fades, with fan-favorites like Leafeon VSTAR and Suicune V dropping more than 20% from their peaks.
On the other hand, the gold Secret Rares are climbing steadily, led by Giratina VSTAR and Arceus VSTAR, as collectors chase the scarce, high-end pieces of the set. This split reflects a maturing market: casual collectors are less interested in mid-tier Eeveelutions and V cards, while serious players and investors are doubling down on the big four golds.
Among the crashers, Leafeon VSTAR has fallen from nearly $50 to the $43 range, and Glaceon VSTAR is down 26% since February, hovering in the mid-$30s. Deoxys VMAX has slipped under $37, while Suicune V and Raikou V both lost more than a quarter of their value since spring. These are still striking artworks, but set fatigue and limited competitive relevance are pushing prices down.
Meanwhile, the climbers are commanding all the attention. Giratina VSTAR (Secret) has surged nearly 20% since July to $180, making it the definitive chase of Crown Zenith. Mewtwo VSTAR is also up more than 30% this summer, with its Charizard battle artwork driving collector demand. Rounding out the gains, Arceus VSTAR, Origin Forme Dialga VSTAR, and Origin Forme Palkia VSTAR are all trending higher as well, thanks to their powerful abilities and limited supply. Taken together, the set still holds broad collector appeal, but it’s clear the market is consolidating around the golden Secret Rares as the safest long-term holds.
First Party Nintendo Switch 2 Preorders
Nintendo’s 2025 first-party lineup is shaping up to be one of its strongest in years. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set to arrive in October, followed closely by Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 bundled together for Switch 2.
Then in December, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond lands with its own set of new amiibo figures, alongside Kirby’s big return in Kirby Air Riders. Between new entries in cornerstone franchises and fresh collectible amiibo launches, fans will have plenty to keep their Switch 2 libraries stocked through the holidays.
Third Party Switch 2 Preorders
The third-party slate for Switch 2 is just as impressive, with several big franchises making the jump to the new hardware. Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection launches in December with a full set of classic fighters, while Borderlands 4 and Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake hit this fall.
Beyond that, titles like Hades II, Octopath Traveler 0, and Cronos round out the lineup for RPG fans. Whether you’re into fighters, shooters, or sprawling JRPGs, the Switch 2’s preorder catalog already feels packed, and today’s deals cover every one of them.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
AliExpress is offering an outstanding deal on a popular entry level electric bike. Right now the Amyet V9-G60 Electric Bike with 1,000W (1,500W peak) motor and 48V 20AH battery is on sale for just $477.47 after you apply $100 off coupon code "USDEAL100" during checkout. You're buying it from Amyet's official store on AliExpress. It ships free locally from the United States and arrives within 1 to 2 weeks. You'd be hard pressed to find a new electric bike for under $500 stateside, especially one that has a 1,000W motor (the least expensive bikes cost more and are usually rated for 750W). The same bike is priced at $500 plus $165 shipping on Amazon, so you'd paying nearly $200 more buying it from there.
Amyet V9-G60 Electric Bike for $477.47
The Amyet V9-G60 electric bike has a 1,000W (1,500W peak) brushless motor that can push the bike at speeds up to 32MPH. It's powered off a large 48V 20AH (960Whr) battery that provides between 30 to 70 miles on a single charge. An LCD display provides real-time information on your speed, battery level, and more.
The bike's lightweight aluminum frame keeps the weight down to about 77 pounds, which is respectable considering the oversized battery (a 960Whr battery is heavy). The weight limit for this bike is 330 pounds. It uses Shimano components for its 7-speed gear shift system and dual suspension. The 20" wheels are equipped with 4" fat tires, which are versatile on soft or rough terrain and they cushion against imperfections in the road for a more comfortable ruide. Safety features include mechanical dual disc brakes, electric horn, headlights, turn signals, and brake lights.
The bike comes 90% preassembled so you can take it out for a spin in a matter of minutes. It's also pretty mod friendly in case you wanted to do your own upgrades (like swapping to hydraulic brakes). It's covered by a 12 month warranty. The Amyet G60 is an entry level bike that doesn't quite measure up to the build quality or features of other (far) more expensive e-bikes, but it's an amazing value and a great way for newcomers to try out an assisted bike at home without having to invest thousands of dollars. Just a year ago you'd be paying $700-$1,000 for the same bike.
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.
Good news, movie fans: LEGO Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is now available in early access for LEGO Insiders. If you’re not an insider, you can sign up here for free and purchase it early. It’s a big, fun, candy-colored set that re-creates the most iconic scene in the movie. Buy it before Wednesday, September 17, and you’ll also get the LEGO SEGA Genesis Controller set for free. That set is a Gift With Purchase, and is not available to buy separately.
LEGO Ideas Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Another good reason to pick up the Wonka set now, if you want it, is because it may go out of stock. The LEGO Captain Jack Sparrow’s Pirate Ship set just came out of early access today, and it’s already back-ordered to next month. These sought-after sets don’t always stay readily available past the Insiders’ early access window.
But back to Wonka. It’s a marvelous 2,025-piece set that has you build the main room in the Chocolate Factory. It has a bridge over the chocolate river, the Wonkatania boat, a chocolate waterfall that moves when you turn a dial, Wonka’s office, candy flowers, and more.
It also comes with nine minifigures, including Willy Wonka, Charlie Bucket, Grandpa Joe, Augusutus Gloop, Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and two Oompa Loompa figures. The $219.99 price tag isn’t too steep for a licensed set, either. It breaks down to about $0.11 per piece, which is right in line with most other sets.
Jumping back to the Genesis Controller GWP that comes free with this set, it’s a pretty great little build in its own right. It’s nearly a 1:1 scale re-creation of the classic, original three-button controller. It even has an adorable little Sonic the Hedgehog scene from the Green Hill Zoe hidden inside of it as an easter egg. You can do an alternate build that puts that scene on the back of the controller, making it viewable from the display stand.
It's worth noting that the Genesis controller isn't specifically tied to the Wonka set; it comes for free with any purchase of $129.99 or more at LEGO Store.
If you're looking for an Anker power bank that can handle the demands of power hungry electronics like the Steam Deck or ROG Ally X, or even a laptop, the model that I use myself has dropped in price. Amazon is offering the Anker PowerCore 737 24,000mAh Power Bank with 140W of Power Delivery for $87.99 with free delivery. I bought this power bank nearly two years ago and still use it today; it has been on multiple flights and road trips and works like new.
Anker 737 24,000mAh 140W Power Bank for $87.99
The Anker 737 is still one of our favorite Steam Deck chargers. This is a relatively hefty power bank, measuring 4.6"x2.2"x2" and weighing in at 1.4lbs. It's something you'd put in your travel bag or backpack instead of your pocket. It's equipped with two USB Type-C ports and one USB Type-A port. The USB Type-C ports support a maximum of 140W of power delivery. That means a single port could deliver 140W, or both ports will deliver a combination of 140W depending on which devices are plugged in (for example, 70W + 70W or 100W + 40W).
In terms of gaming handhelds, the Steam Deck supports up to 45W of charging, the Asus ROG Ally up to 65W, the Asus ROG Ally X and Legion Go up to 100W, and the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 between 20W and 30W. That means the Anker Prime can play and charge all of these gaming handhelds simultaneously.
A 24,000mAh battery equates to a 89Whr capacity. An 80% power efficiency rating (which is about standard for power banks) gives you about 71Whr of available charge. That means this power bank will charge a Steam Deck (40Whr) or Asus ROG Ally (40Whr) from empty to completely full 1.8 times, an Asus ROG Ally X (80Whr) 0.9 times, and a Nintendo Switch 2 (20Whr) about 3.6 times. You can see why a 10,000mAh power bank is too small for the more power hungry handhelds.
The Anker 737 is TSA-approved
TSA states that power banks must be under 100Whr in capacity for carry-on (check-in is not allowed under any circumstances). This Anker Prime is safely under that at 74Whr. You might get checked simply because the Anker 737 is a chunky power bank, but you shouldn't have any problems getting it cleared. I've gone through plenty of airport checkpoints and have only been checked once – at Tokyo NRT - and cleared without much hassle.
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 2007 horror anthology cult classic Trick ‘r Treat has been restored in 4K and will be released in North American theaters nationwide in time for Halloween.
Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Saga Arts have partnered with Fathom Entertainment to release Trick ‘r Treat in theaters for two nights only: October 14 and 16, 2025. Tickets can be purchased at Fathom Entertainment.
Trick ‘r Treat’s most iconic character is Sam, a trick-or-treater in orange footie pajamas who wears a burlap sack over his head. Fathom’s official press release describes Sam as “the mischievous spirit who punishes anyone who dares to break the rules.”
The official plot synopsis for the film follows: “Trick ‘r Treat weaves together sinister stories set on Halloween night: a high school principal, Dylan Baker (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3) moonlights as a serial killer; a young virgin’s, Anna Paquin (X-Men franchise) search for the right man turns horrific; “Emma” Leslie Bibb (“The White Lotus”) and her husband discover the cost of ignoring holiday rituals; and a cantankerous old man, Brian Cox (“Succession”) faces Sam in a terrifying showdown. Darkly funny, gruesome, and endlessly rewatchable, Trick ’r Treat secures Sam’s place as the true spirit of Halloween.
The re-release will be accompanied by a featurette on the development of the film, which was the feature directing debut of writer-director Michael Dougherty. Dougherty’s 1996 animated short, Season’s Greetings, which introduced Sam, will also be screened before the film. Season’s Greetings has also been restored in 4K.
We can finally confirm that Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is set to release for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 on December 4. This time Samus is dispatched to Planet Viewros, where she discovers some interesting psychic abilities in addition to her standard ones. She also goes up against Sylux, another bounty hunter who isn’t happy with the Galactic Federation, or Samus. The game is now available to preorder in physical and digital editions (see it at Amazon). You can also preorder some awesome looking amiibo to go along with it. Let’s dive in.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is available to preorder on the original Switch and in an enhanced version on Switch 2. It’s available in physical or digital format, and if you buy on Switch but get a Switch 2 later, you can purchase an upgrade pack, just like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
Preorder Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Amiibo
Launching alongside the game are a trio of ridiculously awesome looking Metroid Prime 4: Beyond amiibo. There’s Samus solo, aiming her blaster arm. There’s Samus on the extremely cool Vi-O-La motorcycle you get to ride in the game. And there’s the villainous Sylux. Nintendo hasn’t announced what in-game functionality scanning the amiibo will offer, but they’re sure to do something.
Let’s say you buy the game for the original Switch, and then you get a Switch 2 later. In that case, you can purchase the upgrade pack for $9.99 on the Nintendo eShop. This turns a standard Switch version (even a physical copy) into the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game.
The benefits of the upgrade include enhanced resolution, frame rate, and load times, plus the ability to aim by using a Joy-Con 2 controller as a mouse. Here’s Nintendo’s official description of the specifics of the upgrade:
“Two display modes let you choose how to experience the adventure. Enjoy more detail in Quality Mode, which runs at 60 frames per second in 4k while docked and in 1080p while in handheld, or prioritize super-smooth action with a higher frame rate in Performance Mode, which runs at 120 frames per second in 1080p while docked and 720p in while in handheld. Both choices are HDR compatible.”
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Preorder Bonus?
At the time of this writing, there are no preorder bonuses for buying the game. If that changes, I’ll update this section.
What Is Metroid Prime 4: Beyond?
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a long-in-the-works sequel to the 2007 Wii game Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. It’s had something of a troubled development cycle; after being announced at E3 2017, Nintendo announced in 2019 that development was being restarted. But here it is, six years later, finally coming out.
This game puts you in the boots of the bounty hunter Samus and sends you to planet Viewros. There, you’re equipped with a very cool-looking motorcycle called Vi-O-La that lets you zip around large areas quickly. You can jump off ramps and fight aliens while riding, skidding into them as a form of attack.
As with previous Metroid Prime games, exploration plays a big role. You can scan the alien flora and fauna to find out more about them. You also gain psychic abilities. If you buy the Switch 2 version, you get improved graphics and load times. You can also use the Joy-Con 2 controller as a mouse for aiming, which may offer more precision than the sticks.
The Magic: The Gathering Crashers and Climbers are here as we tiptoe closer to prerelease for Spider-Man this week, with one card from the new set already worth over $130.
Elsewhere, there’s big news for Vivi, some Tarkir: Dragonstorm fluctuation, and yet another card that pairs with Toph from the upcoming Avatar set.
Climbing
Those clever clogs at Wargamer have spotted a fun one this week. Equinox, which dates back to 1994 (I was 4, in case you were wondering, and didn’t know my Mana from my Modern Horizons), has seen a price hike.
The reason, as is often the case in recent weeks, is the upcoming Magic: The Gathering Avatar crossover set. This card protects your lands, which is lovely, and despite a lack of land removal in recent years (I did manage to pull off a very enjoyable Planetary Annihilation in a recent Commander session), it pairs nicely with the upcoming Toph, the First Metalbender, since it makes everything into lands.
It’s going for $20, but the market value is around $5. Considering it was just $1.50 not long ago, it could climb higher for formats where it’s still legal.
It’s not even here yet, but Magic’s hunt for the Infinity Stones has well and truly kicked off with The Soul Stone.
The card taps for mana, which is neat, but by exiling a creature, you can ‘Harness’ the stone to pull a creature from your graveyard to your side of the field each turn. It’s up to $130 market value and isn’t even here yet.
Tarkir Dragonstorm’s Elspeth, Storm Slayer is on the rise again. This Planeswalker can create tokens (and double them), add counters and flying, and offer targeted removal of big threats.
She’s now over $30, having dipped to $24 in late June, and she’s not the only White spell from the set to see a climb.
Voice of Victory is up to a market value of $13.70, a 64% increase in a few weeks.
Crashing
Vivi Ornitier has been dropping for some time, but he’s likely to tumble now. Why? Well, it seems Wizards of the Coast will follow through with the community’s request to ban the diminutive spellcaster from Standard.
He’ll likely be gone in November 10’s next banwave, so have your fun while you can, Standard spellslingers.
Sticking with Final Fantasy, Summon: Bahamut is on the way down, too. This powerful Saga Dragon is a 9/9 with removal, card draw, and a big ol’ potential game-ending attack all wrapped into one.
It’s now just over $20, and I can see it being fun to pop into a dragon-themed deck.
I love Craterhoof Behemoth, and the big ol’ beast has seen another drop. It’s now sitting at a market value of around $11.50, a dollar or so below where it was just a couple of weeks ago. As a potential match-ender, it has plenty of utility in any deck with green.
Finally, two Edge of Eternities cards are plummeting, despite still being very useful. The first, Exalted Sunborn, is down to $18, having been $27 when the set launched. It offers a flying 4/5 with Lifelink that can double your tokens.
Moonlit Meditation is now just a dollar or so, and also doubles tokens once per turn, but turns them into copies of a chosen artifact or creature. It’s the kind of fun card that could lead to utter chaos, and it’s super cheap.
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.
Bambu Lab is widely considered one of the better consumer 3D printer brands on the market and, starting from earlier this year, they're available at your local Best Buy. Although Bambu does ship to the United States and even has domestic warehouses, you'll get your order faster from Best Buy (as early as next day depending on your location). Customer service, including dealing with returns, is also easier at Best Buy than dealing with an overseas company.
Bambu has a few types of 3D printers to choose from, but one of their most popular and well-reviewed 3D printers, the Bambu X1C Combo 3D Printer, is currently on sale for $999.99 with free delivery after a $250 off instant discount. Free delivery is included with as fast as next day arrival. This is Bambu's flagship CoreXY 3D printer and the combo bundle include the automatic material system (AMS) for multi-filament or multi-color printing.
Bambu X1C Combo 3D Printer for $999.99
The Bambu X1C (X1 Carbon) is Bambu's most popular CoreXY printer. In a CoreXY printer, only the print head moves while the motors are permanently fixed. Since the motors are generally the heaviest component, this improves print speed and precision. The X1C is full assembled and factory calibrated, which means you can set it up and print your first piece in minutes. The chamber is fully enclosed, which allows for a more controlled environment (and thus a more consistent product) compared to an open chamber. It boasts an acceleration speed of up to 20,000 mm/s² and can print a benchy in about 16 minute and 30 seconds. A camera monitors the printing process and records timelapse photos. Other features include dual auto bed leveling, spaghetti failure detection, vibration compensation, and AI inspected first layer.
The X1C Combo includes the AMS module. The Automatic Material System (AMS) manages up to 16 different filament spools so you can change materials or colors on the fly. It normally retails for $350, so it's best to get it in this bundle especially if you plan on getting it anyway in the long run.
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.
Supergiant's Hades 2 is officially set to release on September 25, 2025, for Nintendo Switch 2, and will surely consume my life just as much as the first game did all those years ago.
Look, I know this release schedule is going to confuse somebody, so let me break it down bit by bit for you. Hades 2 will release digitally, as I mentioned, in September 2025, and again later as a physical edition on November 20, 2025.
Now, let's discuss both and what your options are for preordering each edition.
Hades 2 - Physical Edition
Hades 2 is now available to preorder in physical format via Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for $49.99. You won't have to pay anything until release, as each retailer charges on dispatch, not order date.
The physical Nintendo Switch 2 edition will include the full game on a card, so it's not a digital game key like many other third-party Switch 2 games.
It also comes in that bright red Switch 2 case, but surprisingly,the game card will also work on an original Switch, Switch OLED, and Switch Lite. This is because both versions of the game are packed on the cartridge, with no cost for upgrading the game from Switch to Switch 2 either.
It's also worth noting for any savvy shoppers out there that the physical Switch 2 edition of the game costs $49.99, and is $20 more than the standard digital copy at $29.99.
And finally, it's also worth noting that it's a timed console exclusive, with currently no word on when we can expect the game beyond Switch platforms, and release on PlayStation and Xbox (but if I'd wager a guess, it'll be late 2026 to early 2027).
Hades 2 - Digital Edition
Like I mentioned, Hades 2 is set to release on September 25, 2025, digitally for Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PC on Steam.
If you already bought the game on Steam in its early access form, you won't need to purchase again, as the game will simply need be updated to 1.0. You can buy it in early access now to get your download sorted, and even check out the start of the game, or just wait for the 1.0 patch.
For those on Switch looking to play the game ASAP, and don't fancy hanging around until late November, you can also preorder the game digitally via the Nintendo eShop today for $29.99.
Plus, if you already have an save file from early access on PC, you'll also be able to transfer it to your Nintendo console if that's where you'd prefer to play going forward.
Should You Play Hades 2?
It's a reasonding yes, at least from me, but the game also sits at an Overwhelmingly Positive review rating on Steam. Like many, I've already checked the game out in early access and spent a lot of my time breaking into the Underworld on Steam Deck. Now, with 1.0 set to release in just a couple of weeks, let me tell you that this is yet again the perfect game to play on the go.
It'll suit Switch 2 so well, and as revealed during Nintendo Direct September 2025, Hades 2 runs at 120 frames per second in TV mode on the console. Hot damn! It's well worth picking it up on PC or your friendly Nintendo console for release day, or preordering for the physical coming later this year.
If you need any more convincing, consider reading IGN's early access review for the game, of which I'll leave a little snippet of just below as well.
Other Preorder Guides
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN's resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.
Tech experts say Borderlands 4 on PC has significant stutter problems, and have advised against running the game on its ‘Badass’ graphics setting.
Borderlands 4 launched big on Steam but it’s currently sat on a ‘mixed’ user review rating, mostly due to complaints about how the game runs on PC — even on high-end rigs with which PC gamers aren’t getting the graphics performance they’d expect.
Now, the tech experts at Digital Foundry have taken a look at Borderlands 4 on PC, and their initial analysis shows stutter problems that will be familiar to anyone who’s followed the discourse around Unreal Engine game performance in the last few years.
According to DF’s Alex Battaglia, shader compilation stutter (you’ve probably noticed Borderlands 4 spends time compiling shaders as you wait to load the game) can cause stutter when the engine does something for the first time in a new area, like your character picking up a new type of weapon or having an enemy perform a new death animation.
Whoever’s to blame, for Borderlands 4, the stutter issue “makes the experience feel less polished,” Battaglia said.
He also noted that vegetation starts to animate as you get closer, and it does “this very obvious flip when it does it and it looks like an LOD is changing.”
“I have no idea why they did it this way,” Battaglia said. “When you’re walking through the world and there’s a lot of grass on the ground you’ll see a lot of what looks like pop-in occurring. That’s actually just the animation turning on. So if you do see pop-in, it’s probably not pop-in in the traditional sense, but just the vegetation turning on to animate. It’s a little weird looking.”
Meanwhile, real-time cutscenes are limited to 30fps, which is a “bit bizarre” because you can abruptly crash to 30 from a higher framerate in gameplay, “which seems a little out of place in a first-person game.”
DF chief Rich Leadbetter pointed out that Battaglia experienced stutter “on the fastest gaming CPU that money can buy” during the team’s testing, suggesting there's a significant issue here.
Meanwhile, DF commented on the ongoing complaints from PC players about the performance of the game, even on powerful PCs. Battaglia warned against running Borderlands 4 on what’s called the 'Badass' graphics preset, even if your PC should be able to handle it, because what you get from Badass doesn't justify using it over 'Very High.'
“On the higher levels, I definitely don’t think you should be turning this game up to Badass,” Battaglia said. “It is woefully inefficient on the Epic setting. It is not good to use. That’s really placebo level stuff, usually. There’s probably some middle ground there that’ll give you a better visual experience.”
DF’s John Linneman added: “This one does seem to be running worse than usual for an Unreal Engine 5 game. It is below where it seems like it should be given how other games using this engine perform.”
According to DF, the recently released PC update — the one with no patch notes — does not appear to have improved matters. Gearbox has said it will continue to update the game, but PC players will be hoping meaningful patches arrive sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, Gearbox has posted a Borderlands 4 Nvidia Optimization guide on Steam, advising players how to optimize their graphics settings for “better performance and framerates” on PC with the Nvidia app. Gearbox has also issued a piece of advice to PC gamers that to me reads like an effort to prevent players from making knee-jerk reactions to the game's performance as soon as they’ve changed their settings: “Please note that any time you change any of your graphics settings, your shaders will need to recompile. Please keep playing for at least 15 minutes to see how your PC's performance has changed.”
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.
Rockstar has some particularly grand hopes for Grand Theft Auto 6, with the developer referring to its upcoming project as "the largest game launch in history."
The company's claim — which few are likely to argue with — was published as part of a job advertisment viewable via Rockstar's website. In it, the developer says it is seeking a lead software engineer to ensure everything goes smoothly when GTA 6 finally arrives next year.
Rockstar's lucky candidate will work with "some of the most talented people in the industry", the company said, to help develop the data platform behind the upcoming behemoth.
"With the continued growth of Grand Theft Auto Online and the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto 6, the successful candidate will lead both the evolution and operation of the data platform supporting what will be the largest game launch in history," Rockstar wrote, "ensuring it scales to deliver an exceptional experience for millions of players worldwide."
At the time of writing, the most recent version of the job ad (first spotted on social media by TheGTABase) no longer includes this paragraph, though IGN was able to view an older, archived version of the page to verify it was previously present.
It's unclear whether Rockstar is referring to GTA 6 as being the largest game launch in terms of how lucrative it will be, or how many players are likely to be flocking into the game during its first few days. Analyst firm Ampere previously estimated that GTA 6's likely impact on the gaming industry will be worth $2.7 billion.
Currently set to launch in just eight months' time, GTA 6 will mark the first new entry in Rockstar's best-selling series in over a decade. There's plenty of pent up demand for a fresh Grand Theft Auto, then, since GTA 5 originally launched back for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013.
A recent trailer showed off much more of GTA 6, including its dual protagonists Jason and Lucia, and finally set a May 26, 2026 release date. Still, though, there's much about the game that's being kept under wraps.
So far, Rockstar has not shared any details of GTA 6's version of GTA Online, which presumably this job applicant will be working on if they are leading development of its data platform. Whether the new version of GTA Online launches day and date with the main GTA 6 campaign remains to be seen, however — and that's if there are no further delays to the project overall.
Whenever GTA 6 does arrive, it's fair to say that no other game developer will want to launch their project anywhere near Rockstar's release. Indeed, earlier this month, Ghost of Yotei director Nate Fox said his team at Sucker Punch celebrated GTA 6's previous delay out of this year, giving their game a clear run at the holidays. "We're all still hungover, multi-month hangover," Fox said. "That was a great day."
Could GTA 6's launch slip again? Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two, previously told IGN that "historically when we set a specific date, generally speaking, we've been very good about reaching it." Here's hoping Rockstar fills that job fast.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Note: This is a spoiler-free review of Gen V Season 2. The first three episodes will premiere on Prime Video on September 17.
With Gen V Season 1, Prime Video proved there’s plenty of room to expand The Boys universe beyond the central conflict between Billy Butcher’s team and The Seven. Vought International has its multinational fingers in a great many pies, and that includes running a college for hedonistic young supes coming to terms with their powers. And with Season 2, we have confirmation that the concept has real staying power. There’s no sophomore slump for these super-powered students, just a series that continues to build effectively and meaningfully on the foundation of The Boys.
Granted, Season 2 does take a bit of time to find its footing. Season 1 promised a drastically different status quo in the aftermath of the violent massacre on the Godolkin University campus. Cate (Maddie Phillips) and Sam (Asa Germann) have conned their way into becoming the heroes of that little incident, while Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Emma (Lizzie Broadway), and Jordan (London Thor and Derek Luh) now rot inside a mysterious Vought facility.
Despite the way things were left, though, Season 2 doesn’t quite mark the profound change in formula fans might be expecting. The early episodes contrive a way to mostly return to the sexed-up, raunchy superhero college formula. Despite the dire straits our heroes find themselves in, class must go on. Granted, it’s a formula that still works, but some of the novelty has definitely worn off since Season 1. The series takes some time to rebuild its narrative momentum in the early episodes. Fortunately, the focus on classroom drama and school rankings gradually fades over the course of Season 2, with the stakes steadily building in the back half of this eight-episode season.
Particularly during Season 4, The Boys itself has often been guilty of biting off more than it can realistically chew. Gen V, by comparison, is more purposeful and efficient with its structure. While it would have been nice to see a little more focus on Sam and Cate in the early episodes, each main character does ultimately undergo a satisfying, cohesive arc in Season 2. This is a show about damaged, traumatized youth rebelling against a rotten system and discovering who they’re really meant to be. Each of the leads is allowed to appreciably grow and develop over the course of the season.
It doesn’t hurt that the series continues to bank on strong performances from each of the leads. Lizze Broadway’s Emma is the standout here, as she brings both an infectious, good-natured charm and a deep-seated sense of pathos to a character who can only shrink and grow based on her emotional state. But everyone gets their chance to shine. Jaz Sinclair has plenty to work with as the series explores Marie’s journey to truly understand her blood-based abilities and rise to the occasion. London Thor and Derek Luh are also great in their twin roles as Jordan, a character who feels entirely consistent regardless of which actor is playing them in any given scene.
Then there’s the elephant in the room in the form of Chance Perdomo, who tragically died while travelling to Toronto to film Season 2. Executive producer Eric Kripke already confirmed that the Andre role would not be recast, but that Andre would be written out of the series in a respectful manner. Perdomo’s absence is certainly felt, but the way in which his death is handled is about as elegant and respectful as could be hoped, given the situation. It forces the series to pivot to focusing on Sean Patrick Thomas’ Polarity, now a man grieving for his lost son as well as facing a terminal disease. Thomas makes the most of his material, delivering an emotionally rich portrayal of a man trying to find himself every bit as much as these aspiring superheroes.
As with any superhero project, Gen V is only as good as its villain. And that’s where Season 2 really excels. Midnight Mass and Legion’s Hamish Linklater joins the cast as Dean Cipher, who replaces the disgraced and thoroughly dead Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn) from Season 1. Cipher is only too happy to preside over a new era at God-U, one where humans are treated as second-class citizens and supe supremacy is on the rise. Here, the series continues to build meaningfully on the events of The Boys and dig deeper into the ever-darkening state of this universe. The series as it is now could only exist post-The Boys Season 4.
Like its parent series, Gen V is a show with plenty to say about our current political climate. As usual, it’s not remotely subtle in its use of allegory. Does it even count as allegory when it’s this obvious who and what is being satirized? Hashtag #MakeAmericaSuperAgain? But these are not exactly subtle times. Season 2 rages against the authoritarian machine in a way you’d hope for and expect from a show about rebellious, superhuman college students. Dean Cipher is just one more terrible face of the many-headed hydra that is Vought.
Plus, Linklater is just so much fun as the demented dean. From his first appearance, the series makes no secret of the fact that Cipher is a sociopathic master manipulator. He may well be Vought’s greatest monster this side of Antony Starr’s Homelander. Linklater knows how to chew scenery well, and he does so frequently and with great gusto. Cipher can be charming and affable in one moment and utterly unhinged and terrifying the next. Each time his careful composure breaks, it becomes more and more clear that this is not a well man. Linklater consistently makes the most of a truly meaty role.
True to his name, Cipher is also nothing if not enigmatic. Who is he, really? What are his powers? What motivates his intense hatred of those he deems as his inferiors? Those questions provide ample narrative thrust throughout the season, culminating in a truly memorable reveal late in the game. In short, Cipher is one of the best and most compelling characters this universe has yet produced. If you’re a The Boys fan who wasn’t won over by the initial premise of Gen V, it’s worth giving the series a second look for his sake.
In short, Cipher is one of the best and most compelling characters this universe has yet produced.
And again, the series really does play like an organic and natural extension of the core The Boys saga. It makes the most of the foreboding tone and climate established at the end of The Boys Season 4. It also draws in enough of the major players from The Boys that Gen V never feels walled off or trapped in its own little bubble. The guest shots range from goofy little cameos to substantial appearances. All help build connective tissue between the two shows without overwhelming the series or overshadowing the main cast of characters. If anything, Season 2 is even stronger than its predecessor in that regard. The cameos are very well done, particularly those that come in the final three episodes.
And for those that watch these shows for the extreme violence and black humor as much as the characters and storylines, know that Gen V Season 2 doesn’t disappoint on that front. There’s no shortage of goopy, disgusting gore to be had. Limbs, heads, and other body parts explode, and often. Oh yes, there’s more puppet fun to be had for sure. This season also gets a lot of mileage out of the idea that not all metahumans are created equal. Some of the powers on display, such as the God-U student with an inter-dimensional portal in their rectum, truly have to be seen to be believed. There’s rarely a dull moment in this blood-soaked, utterly profane superhero universe.
It remains to be seen what, if any, future this spinoff series has on Prime Video. That may depend entirely on what state this world is in by the end of The Boys’ fifth and final season. But if Season 2 is ultimately the end of the road for Gen V, the finale delivers a satisfying sendoff for Marie and the gang. It’s not a full-blown cliffhanger like Season 1’s finale, but rather the end of one chapter and the act of opening the door to another.
With Batman Day on the horizon, there's no better time than now to watch (or rewatch) some of the Caped Crusader's films and shows. Amazon's even jumping on the bandwagon, offering discounts on a wide variety of Batman 4Ks and Blu-rays for fans to stock up on.
There are some truly excellent discounts in this sale event. Batman: The Complete Animated Series is a whopping 63% off, so you can score it for under $30, as is the Batman 4K Film Collection (which features Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin). That's available for just $32.99 rather than its $89.99 list price.
You can even score The Batman on 4K for 63% off, which means the most recent Bat flick in UHD resolution has dropped below $15. Now that its sequel is officially underway, there's no better time to scoop that one up in a high-quality format and settle in for a rewatch.
If you're on the hunt for even more movies and shows to add to your physical media library outside of all of these Batman deals, it's worth looking at our breakdown of upcoming 4Ks and Blu-rays. This covers a wide variety of different shows and films getting a physical release over the next few months, so you can plan ahead for which ones you'd like to pick up. And if you're looking for even more Batman goodies to buy, check out LEGO's new Batman: Arkham Asylum set to piece together while you watch your new 4Ks and Blu-rays.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
With prices on Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards dropping back down to retail levels, prices on prebuilt gaming desktop computers have also been following suit. If you're still rocking an RTX 30 series GPU or older, now would be a good time to upgrade. For example, Dell is offering an Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC equipped with a powerful GeForce RTX 5080 GPU for just $2,099.99 with free delivery. Such a system would have cost closer to $3,000 earlier this year.
Alienware Aurora RTX 5080 Gaming PC From $2,099.99
This system is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F CPU, GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, 16GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 1TB M.2 SSD. This is a customizable system, so you can upgrade the CPU, RAM, and storage. The processor is cooled by a 240mm AIO liquid cooling system and powered by a 1,000W 80Plus Platinum power supply.
The Core Ultra 7 265F is part of Intel's newest Arrow Lake-S lineup released earlier this year and boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.3GHz with 20 cores and a 36MB L2 cache. This is a good all-around CPU for gaming, multi-tasking, and general workstation performance. For gaming, you won't see much of an improvement upgrading to a Core Ultra 9, especially if you plan to play at high resolutions where the GPU makes much more of an impact. However for multi-tasking and workstation and creator tasks, the Core Ultra 9 is superior because it has significantly more cores.
The GeForce RTX 5080 GPU will run any game in 4K
Performance-wise, the RTX 5080 is no slouch. It's one of the fastest cards on the market, bested only by the $2,000 RTX 5090 and the discontinued $1,600 RTX 4090. This is a phenomenal card for playing the latest, most demanding games in 4K resolution at high settings and ray tracing enabled. The RTX 5080 supports DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation, which means you can push even more frames out of games that support the technology with minimal visual compromise. Recent games that support it include Doom: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (after a recent update), Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Stellar Blade, and upcoming titles like Borderlands 4 and Battlefield 6.
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