With streaming prices going up and movies and TV shows hopping from one service to another without warning, it's a good time to own your favorites on physical media. Whether it's to ensure you can always watch them regardless of what streaming services you subscribe to, or you just enjoy the act of collecting, it's good to know when the newest releases are coming out on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. You know, as long as you have a good way to play them (see our list of the best Blu-ray players for help on that front). Below, you'll find a full rundown of release dates and buy links for all the upcoming home releases you're likely to care about.

Biggest New and Upcoming 4K UHD and Blu-ray Releases

If you want a TL;DR of the biggest upcoming home movie and TV show releases, look no further than the list above. We keep it updated and change out the featured items regularly. Below, you'll find all the notable upcoming release sorted by release date.

March 2025: 4K and Blu-ray Release Dates

March 4

• Akira (4K Steelbook) - Buy It
• The Count of Monte Cristo (2025) - Buy It
• Den of Thieves 2: Pantera - Buy It
• Kraven the Hunter - Steelbook | Standard
• Red One - Buy It

March 11

• Thief (4K Criterion) - Buy It

March 18

• Babygirl - Buy It
• Deep Blue Sea (4K) - Buy It
• The Last of Us: Season 1 Limited-Edition (4K Steelbook) - Buy It
• Middle-Earth 6-Film Collection (Extended & Theatrical) (4K Ultra HD + Digital) - Buy It
• Moana 2 - Buy It
• The Penguin: Season 1 - Buy It
• Wolf Man - Buy It

March 25

• Black Sheep (4K) - Buy It
• The Brutalist - Buy It
• Delicatessen (4K) - Buy It
• Desperado (4K) - Buy It
• Star Trek: The Lower Decks - Complete Series - Buy It
• Tommy Boy (4K) - Steelbook | Standard

April 2025: 4K and Blu-ray Release Dates

April 1

• A Complete Unknown - Buy It
• Companion - Buy It
• The Creep Tapes: Season One - Buy It
• Dog Man - Buy It
• Flight Risk - Buy It
• Mufasa: The Lion King - Buy It
• Renfield: Collector's Edition - Buy It
• Summer Wars: Limited Edition Steelbook - Buy It
• Superman & Lois: The Complete Series - Buy It
• Superman & Lois Lane: Season 4 - Buy It

April 8

• The Long Kiss Goodnight (4K) - Buy It
• Sorority House Massacre (4K) - Buy It

April 15

• Dirty Harry (4K) - Buy It
• Dune Prophecy: Season 1 - Buy It
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - Steelbook | Standard

April 22

• The Hunt (4K) - Buy It
• Sneakers (4K) - Buy It

April 29

• Anora - Buy It
• Gandhi (4K) - Buy It
• Star Trek: Section 31 - Buy It
• Stripes (4K) - Buy It
• Timecop (4K) - Buy It

May 2025: 4K and Blu-ray Release Dates

May 13

• The Andromeda Strain (4K) - Buy It
• Landman: Season One - Buy It

May 20

• Jason Goes to Hell (4K) - Buy It
• Jason X (4K) - Buy It

May 27

• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - Buy It

TBA 4K and Blu-Ray Releases

• Paddington in Peru - Buy It

Want more release dates? Check out our mega-post of all the biggest video game release dates to see what's coming to consoles and PC this year and beyond.

Best 4K TVs

If you're looking to buy a new TV that will make your 4K movies shine, you'll definitely want to take a look at our favorites. Our tech editors have selected the best 4K TVs for gaming, which will also work great for movie-watching. And since both the PS5 and Xbox Series X have 4K Blu-ray play-back built in, you'll probably be doing plenty of gaming on them as well.

LG C3 OLED Smart Gaming TV

The LG G4 is currently our top pick for a gaming TV, but since they're the top-of-the-line model, you might want to consider picking an LG C3, which costs significantly less for the same size TV. Get the one that best fits your needs and your budget.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

Call of Duty cheat provider, Phantom Overlay, is reportedly shutting down.

In a statement posted to Telegram, the cheat provider declined to comment on why it was closing down "immediately," adding: "This is not an exit scam and no external entity could ever compel me to exit scam my customers. I'll keep everything updated, safe, and online for 32 days longer."

The reason Phantom Overlay is committed to staying online for 32 days is to ensure people with a 30-day key "get their full money's worth." The cheat creator also said they would partially refund lifetime keys, too.

Crucially, many other cheat providers piggyback off Phantom Overlay's systems, so this shock closure could have a broader impact on the cheating ecosystem.

"I can't believe it!!" commented one gamer on X, formerly known as Twitter (thanks, Dexerto). "Does this mean the Season 3 cheat update is really gonna work?!"

Other commenters were less convinced, with one stating: "They're just rebranding. They have the same provider under multiple names/brands. The cheaters won't stop."

Activision recently admitted its Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 anti-cheat efforts "did not hit the mark" at the Launch of Season 1, particularly for Ranked Play after initially pledging to kick cheaters out of the game within one hour of them being in their first match.

It did, however, assure players it now routinely bans cheaters due to increased "velocity" from several Ricochet Anti-Cheat systems, in addition to the over 19,000 accounts it recently removed.

The apparent prevalence of cheaters is considered by some to be ruining competitive multiplayer, and Activision had come under fire for failing to address the problem. Things got so bad that last month, with the release of Season 2, Activision let console Ranked players disable crossplay with PC players.

Cheating is not unique to Call of Duty, of course, but it has become more problematic for Activision ever since it released free-to-download battle royale Warzone in 2020. But despite investing millions of dollars developing its anti-cheat technology — as well as pursuing cheat makers in the courts, with a number of recent high-profile successes — fans remain sceptical of the Ricochet system.

In related news, earlier today, we reported it looks like we'll finally find out more about the return of Call of Duty Warzone's much-loved Verdansk map on March 10.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Years ago, a mentor told me that the most important part of any story is surprise. A few years later, a writer I deeply respect wrote that perhaps the difference between good and great writing is technique, though even that was probably not as important as conviction. But what keeps us invested in a story is curiosity, the gap between what we know and what we want to know, the questions that drive us. Combine all three, and you tend to create something special. Each and every one of us has played a game that grabbed us from the jump, that connected with us in some unexpected way. A game that surprised us. Whose belief in itself was obvious from the first frame. That made us want to explore. I have played a lot of video games, friends, and that feeling is increasingly rare for me, especially in the AAA space. So when I tell you that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 grabbed me by the throat from the jump and didn’t let go for a single second of the three-and-a-half-hour demo I played, twice, believe me when I tell you that’s some powerful magic.

If you’re unfamiliar, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a pretty fascinating setup. See, there’s this being called the Paintress, and every year, she paints a new number. When she does, every person of that age dies. Poof. Vanishes. Turns to dust. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. And the thing is, she’s counting down. Every year, the people dying get younger. So every year, the people of Lumiére send a volunteer Expedition of people with one year left to live on a desperate, impossible, doomed mission: go to The Continent across the sea and kill the Paintress so she can never paint death again.

Expeditions have been going on for a while now; you’ll find journals from Expedition 84, so if you can do the math in your head, you’ll get how desperate this whole thing is and how young (but still older than the average RPG protagonist) your characters are.

Things get weirder once your crew lands on The Continent. They almost immediately run into an old man who nearly dispatches the whole Expedition single-handedly. You play as Gustave, one of the survivors: traumatized and alone, walking through countless corpses from other expeditions and his own. He’s about to shoot himself when he’s found by Lune, another member of the Expedition. She’s not blind to reality (they’re probably both going to die), but Expedition members swear an oath: “When one falls, we continue.” As long as one of them stands, their fight isn’t over.

Lune and Gustave clearly care about each other, but they don’t always get along. When they find an unsigned message indicating another member of Expedition 33, Maelle, might be alive, Gustave wants to drop everything and try to save her and then get out of Dodge; Lune is worried that the whole thing is a trap. Expedition members are always supposed to sign their messages. At one point, later on, Lune asks Gustave if he’s a coward because he just wants to get Maelle and get out. He’s not; he’s just dealing with watching almost everyone he knows die. And Lune? She’s the one that said they should land on that beach in the first place. Neither one of them has it easy. These characters are adults, and they’re written like it. They don’t always agree; they’re dealing with guilt and loss and trauma, and they’re not always kind to one another in the heat of the moment. But they care about each other. And at the end of that exchange, once they’ve calmed down, they share a laugh. Compelling characters are complex and flawed, and Expedition 33 seems to understand that.

Even if they weren’t, Expedition 33 could probably skate by on the world. My demo was fairly linear: there were branching paths with hidden grapple points, platforming, goodies and secrets to find, and tough optional enemies to take on, but this isn’t an open-world game. And it’s better for it. Expedition 33 reminds me of Final Fantasy X; these environments may be linear, but they’re gorgeous, whether you’re standing atop a hill looking at the Indigo Tree or both underwater and somehow not, Expedition 33 is a visual feast and I stopped in every environment I entered to marvel at the beauty and composition on display. There’s even a world map you traverse to get from place to place, like the RPGs of old.

What really hooked me, however, was the combat. Clair Obscur may be turn-based, but it’s not a DVD menu. There’s a lot of depth here. Every character has a melee and ranged attack, the latter of which must be aimed manually. Melee attacks build AP and ranged attacks spend it. You’ll also need AP for Skills, unique attacks that each character has in their arsenal. And on top of that, each character has a particular attribute. Gustave can use certain skills to build up stacks of Overcharge, which he can spend to cash out for a devastating attack; Lune’s spells grant elemental Stains that can supercharge her other spells for additional effects and damage; and my favorite, Maelle (you do rescue her; this is not a spoiler. She’s in Clair Obscur’s trailers), can switch between three different stances offering buffs to attack, AP generation, and defense. Managing your AP, setting up a big combo, and planning ahead matters; like FFX, the turn order is displayed on the left side of the screen, so you can plan every turn in advance, but strategy is only half the battle.

The other half is moment-to-moment execution. You don’t just choose an option and wait for a canned animation to play out. When an enemy attacks you, you can dodge, parry, or jump to avoid it. Dodging avoids attacks while parrying nets you a potentially huge counter-attack and awards AP, but has a tighter window. Sometimes, the only way out is to jump over something. Sure, you can engage in the time-honored tradition of blocking with your face, but the harder fights are gonna force you to engage with these defensive mechanics. And if you parry an attack that hits your whole squad? All of them strike back in a beautifully choreographed counterattack that never gets old.

Early on, I ran into a very powerful enemy who could kill my characters in a single hit. But the thing was, he had to hit me. If I could parry him, I could win. It took me a couple tries on my first run (he had a tricky attack that forced me to parry or dodge twice in a row), but once I figured out I could parry the first hit and dodge the second, I managed to take him down.

Then there’s the backend stuff called Pictos and Luminas. You can equip up to three Pictos to any character, which provide buffs like “shooting this enemy might light them on fire” or “attacks do more damage” or “killing an enemy grants more AP” as well as stat upgrades. Win enough battles with a Picto equipped, and you can have everyone equip its effects, minus the stat bonuses, provided they have the required points. And this is where you can do some really degenerate stuff. Sure, Maelle has a skill that puts her in Virtuose stance (where she does 200% damage) if she uses it while the enemy is burning. Normally, you’d have to have somebody use another skill to set this up, but what if you give Gustave and Lune a Lumina that means their ranged attacks are likely to set enemies on fire? Or maybe you equip a Picto that cranks up your Base Attack damage or that awards more AP for nailing a parry, allowing you to stay on the offensive longer than you’d normally be able to. Then you’re cooking with gas.

Combine all that and battles offer a lot of interesting choices. Does this character dodge or do you risk more to try to land that parry? If someone’s low on health, do you spend an item or AP to bring them back up, or do you bet it all on dodging or parrying the next attack? How do you level up your characters? Who gets what skill as a Picto so they can stack the right stats and they don’t have to spend Lumina points to get that effect? And on and on it goes.

And through it all, Expedition 33 is constantly finding new ways to make itself interesting. What’s a Gestral, and why is Lune obsessed with them? Who is the Paintress, and what does she want? Why is the world the way that it is? Are all these beings actually hostile? Some of them seem pretty friendly, and you have the option to fight them or leave them alone. What’s the deal with that old man? How does any of this stuff work? In my demo, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 didn’t stop to explain itself, and I appreciated that. It trusted me to figure stuff out, and I was more invested in what was going on as a result. Most importantly, I could never predict what would happen next. By the time “Thank you for playing” came up on my screen at the end of my demo, I was thoroughly hooked. On my second runthrough, I found even more hidden areas, and laid the smackdown on one of the optional fights that had flummoxed me the first time around.

When my time Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was up, I wasn’t ready to stop. I wanted to fight more battles, learn more about the world, and spend more time with these characters. Sandfall Interactive is a new studio, but you’d never know this was their first game from playing it. Surprise. Conviction. Curiosity. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 nails all three. It had my interest before I played it; now it has my undivided attention. If Sandfall can stick the landing, they’ll have put together something remarkable.

Rockstar has acquired Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition developer Video Games Deluxe and renamed it Rockstar Australia.

Video Games Deluxe has a history of working with Rockstar on a number of games, including the 2017 re-releases of L.A. Noire, L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, and most recently on upgrades to Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition for iOS and Android, Netflix, and modern consoles.

It’s not to be confused with Grove Street Games, which came under fire for the poor quality of the original Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition in 2021, and whose boss said it was a “d**k move” to have been removed from the game’s credits after the recent, long-awaited update fixed the issues. Video Games Deluxe developed that update.

“After working together closely over many years, we are excited to have Video Games Deluxe join the team as Rockstar Australia,” said Rockstar Games Head of Publishing, Jennifer Kolbe.

Video Games Deluxe was founded by Brendan McNamara, the founder of L.A. Noire developer Team Bondi. Back in 2011, allegations of horrendous working conditions at Team Bondi during the development of L.A. Noire hit the internet. The studio later closed down, and McNamara kept a relatively low profile ever since.

“It’s been an honor to work closely with Rockstar Games this past decade,” McNamara said in a comment issued as part of the acquisition announcement.

“We are thrilled to be a part of Rockstar Games and to continue our efforts to make the best games possible.”

The establishment of Rockstar Australia comes ahead of the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6, which is still set for release fall 2025.

In December 2023, a former developer at Rockstar attempted to explain why GTA 6 is coming to PC after it hits PS5 and Xbox Series X and S, and called on PC gamers to give the studio the “benefit of the doubt” over its controversial launch plans.

We’ve got plenty more on GTA 6, including Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick’s response to concern about the fate of GTA Online once GTA 6 comes out.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Brand new images of Sony's canceled Twisted Metal game have popped up online, hinting that developer Firesprite was making a live service that blended the series' signature vehicular combat with battle royale mechanics.

A former UI developer at Sony-owned Firesprite uploaded a handful of screenshots to their online portfolio, and while the images are intentionally blurred and labeled "Under NDA," they are included under the codename Project Copper, which is believed to have been the internal name for the unannounced live-service Twisted Metal game.

Although Twisted Metal is a vehicle combat video game franchise that began life on the PSone and hasn't seen a new entry since the PlayStation 3 generation, the developer stated Project Copper was a "third-person vehicular action combat game based on a classic IP owned by PlayStation and developed by Firesprite."

They added: "It had third-person shooter mechanics wrapped with third-person vehicle combat with the objective of being the last one standing" (thanks, MP1st).

Sony reportedly canceled Twisted Metal as part of mass layoffs announced in February 2024. At the time, the game "wasn't yet greenlit" but had been in development at UK studio Firesprite, which Sony confirmed was impacted by the cuts.

Twisted Metal fell by the wayside amid a pull back from live service games at Sony following a huge internal push to make more of these types of games. Naughty Dog stopped development on The Last of Us Online in December 2023, saying it would have needed to put all its resources into post-launch content for years to come — an approach that would have severely impacted its ability to develop future single-player games.

While Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2 was a breakout hit, becoming the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time with 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks, Sony’s live service hero shooter Concord was one of the biggest video game disasters in PlayStation history, lasting just a couple of weeks before it was brought offline amid eye-wateringly low player numbers. Sony later decided to kill the game entirely and shut its developer.

And in January, Sony canceled two unannounced live service games, one a God of War title in development at Bluepoint, the other in the works at Days Gone developer Bend.

While it looks like we won't be getting another Twisted Metal game any time soon, the Twisted Metal TV series starring Anthony Mackie is set to continue with Season 2 on Peacock. IGN's Twisted Metal Season 1 review returned an 8/10. We said: "Though overloaded with jokes at times, Twisted Metal is a miraculously enjoyable blend of comedy, violence, and thoughtfulness."

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

It looks like we'll finally find out more about the return of Call of Duty Warzone's much-loved Verdansk map on March 10.

Activision first confirmed Verdansk would be making a return to Warzone last August, but at the time the publisher would only commit to a vague "spring 2025" window and not a specific date.

Now, however, players visiting the Call of Duty shop get a pop-up that reads: "The Verdansk Collection," and a countdown that looks set to explore a week today, on March 10, 2025 (thanks, InsiderGaming).

Xbox 360 recompilation has begun with an unofficial PC port of Sonic Unleashed.

Sonic Team’s 2008 platformer launched on Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo Wii, before a PlayStation 3 version released in 2009. Sega never released a PC version.

Now, 17 years later, fans have taken it upon themselves to make a PC port of the Xbox 360 version of their own, dubbed Sonic Unleashed Recompiled. There’s even a trailer.

This is not a simple port or the game running on PC via emulation. Rather, it’s a ‘from the ground up’ PC version of Sonic Unleashed, which even includes enhancements such as high-resolution support, high framerate support, and mod support. It also runs on Steam Deck.

It’s worth noting that to play Sonic Unleashed Recompiled on PC, you need to own a copy of the original Xbox 360 game. This is because the port recompiles the original Xbox 360 version game files into a playable PC version through the process of static recompilation.

It’s a big moment for console recompilation. 2024 saw a number of classic Nintendo 64 games recompiled to work on PC, and now it looks like the Xbox 360 floodgates are open.

“That's it, Sega just lost the easiest 40-60 bucks ever,” one YouTube commenter said. “All we just wanted was a native PC port of Sonic Unleashed. Now we have, and it is 100% free and open source.

“Years of modding Unleashed's assets to Generations, and improving Xbox 360 emulation led to this breakthrough.”

“This is genuinely a huge moment for Sonic fan projects,” said another. “We now have an incredible native port of an incredible 17 year old game. Sonic Unleashed is the game that made me a Sonic fan and now I get to experience it in native HD 60fps with mod support. I'm really thankful for this.”

Added another commenter: “Genuinely one of the biggest moments in the Sonic the Hedgehog fan base ever. One of the most beloved games finally being available on PC. Whether official or not, I'm happy that it's here, and I'm happy that more people can play this legendary game.

“Thank you to all who were involved in the development of this, you are parts of history now.”

While enthusiasts point to fan work like this breathing new life into games thought consigned to history or unsupported on modern platforms, publishers may take a dim view as recompiled PC ports threaten official PC ports that may be in the works. The question now is, how will Sega react?

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

You know your video game has made it when it gets a Thomas the Tank engine mod. Skyrim, Resident Evil 2, Fallout 4, Elden Ring… the list of blockbuster games blessed with the terrifying sight and sound of Thomas is legend. Now, add Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 to the list.

It’s the latest work of Tom, aka Warhammer Workshop, the modder behind Space Marine 2’s excellent Astartes Overhaul. He’s added Thomas the Tank engine to the Ballistic Engine PvE mission, which is a perfect fit given it features an Imperial train station in which the Space Marines must escort a fusion battery that comes under attack from waves of Tyranids.

Space Marine 2's Thomas the Tank Engine mod is a work-in-progress, and still needs the audio effects fans have grown to love, but it's available to download from the Space Marine 2 Modding Hub Discord now if you fancy giving it a shot.

Check out how it looks in-game in the clip below:

Tom created some very Warhammer 40,000 flavor text to go along with the release of this mod, which fans of the franchise will enjoy:

Many of you are aware of the tribulations that have beset our sacred modding efforts.

In the face of these trials, I — reckless and desperate — made certain unwise vows to the dark and unknowable Saber Gods.

For a time, I faltered, my obligations left unmet, my soul teetering on the brink of damnation.

But no longer.

Through toil and sacrifice, through the wailing of machine spirits and the lamentations of my own sanity,

I have done what must be done.

THOMAS. HAS. COME.

A daemon-engine of unspeakable horror, an abomination of iron and heresy, a thing that should not be, and yet — here it is.

The warp has opened, and it has delivered unto us something far worse than any Black Crusade.

🔥🚂 THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE IS READY FOR WAR. 🚂🔥

His whistle drowns out the cries of the fallen.

His smile is an unblinking omen of annihilation.

The Emperor weeps. The Omnissiah recoils.

And yet, it is we who must bear witness.

Steel yourselves, warriors. Once you see him, you can never unsee him.

This train has no brakes.

Speaking to IGN (as a human from this reality), Tom said he’s also got a few other fun mods in the works, hinting at “a certain green ogre and a particularly mischievous goose.”

“As far as Thomas goes, while Saber obviously loves Warhammer, I think they were also excited to see some of the more meme-worthy mods — the kind of thing that’s fun to share around the office,” Tom added.

“There may or may not have been an unofficial understanding that modding tools wouldn’t be released until Thomas made his grand arrival.”

Saber has had an up and down relationship with Space Marine 2 modders ever since the game’s massive launch last year, but official tools are set to be released to the community further down the line, and the developer has shown a willingness to work with modders and enable them in-game in certain situations.

Meanwhile, Saber has released early Update 7 patch notes, teased Horde mode, and stamped out live service game talk amid a backlash to 'FOMO' Community Events. Earlier this year, Saber addressed growing frustration over a lack of content and outlined what players can expect from Space Marine 2 in the coming months.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Spider-Man is officially web-slinging his way into Magic: The Gathering on September 26, 2025 and I couldn’t be more hyped. This is Magic’s first complete Marvel-themed Standard set, which means it’s not just a one-off Secret Lair drop.

It’s a fully draftable, deck-buildable, and collectible release featuring Spider-Heroes, villains, and iconic moments from Marvel history. Want to dig more into MTG Spidey? Our first look digs into the new set alongside some WOTC takes from executive producer Max McCall and head designer Mark Rosewater. Preorders are available right now from Amazon, (or Amazon UK), and here's what you can pick up.

Unlike past Universes Beyond sets, which have mostly focused on Commander, this one is playable in Standard, Commander, Legacy, and Vintage formats. Whether you’re looking to crack packs, build a Spidey-themed deck, or just collect some killer art, there’s a product for you.

Magic: The Gathering | Marvel's Spider-Man - Scene Box

UK Preorders: MTG - Marvel's Spider-Man

Stock availability is still pretty decent in the UK, with single play boosters still available. Here's what's available to preorder today.

• MTG Marvel's Spider-Man - Bundle: £60.99
• MTG Marvel's Spider-Man Collector Booster: £34.99
• MTG Marvel's Spider-Man - Play Booster: £5.99
• MTG Marvel's Spider-Man - Play Booster Box: £174.99
• MTG Marvel's Spider-Man - Scene Box: £34.99

When Will Spider-Man Welcome Decks Be Available?

These decks will be available at WPN (Wizards Play Network) game stores and used for new-player events. Fancy bringing someone into the Magic world? This is the perfect opportunity. Not sure where to find your local store? Here's the Wizard store and events locator.

Marvel's Spider-Man Welcome Decks take away the steep learning curve of MTG, making it easy to get friends and family involved in the Spidey launch events come September. These beginner-friendly decks come with two 30-card half-decks, allowing new players to mix and match different playstyles. One of the half-decks will always match the theme of the box.

The other is randomly selected from five different mono-color options, keeping things fresh for those who grab multiple decks. Each Welcome Deck also includes two reference cards and a deck box, making it an easy, low-pressure way to learn the game.

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.

Overcoming an obstacle far larger than oneself, quite literally in the case of Monster Hunter: Wilds with its towering wyverns and hostile leviathans, has been a popular trope since David and Goliath. I, however, am no David – I have not toppled a foe far stronger than myself alone. That was, until I went into Wilds as my first ever solo Monster Hunter experience and discovered a whole new world to enjoy.

I had my first encounter with the Monster Hunter series over a decade ago, drawn in by its exciting gameplay and impressive beasts each with their own unique biology. But my younger self quickly discovered that my fear of these virtual monsters felt all too real. It took me hours just to best the first, and weakest, monster in the game and if that didn’t finish me off the quest time limit would. Years later, I returned to the franchise after a friend offered to ‘carry me’ (do all the hard and scary work) through the game until I felt more comfortable holding my own. I’m forever indebted to said friend, as I may have never truly enjoyed Monster Hunter without their help. The series became a staple game experience for me with each new title, though significantly always a cooperative experience with friends, partners, and occasionally strangers online. With the latest installment, Monster Hunter: Wilds, adding a new follower system and integrating its story and characters heavily into the main campaign gameplay, I was determined to enjoy it on my own.

John Cena followed up his shock heel turn at WWE Elimination Chamber by posting a Grand Theft Auto 6 image on social media, showing he’s well aware of the meme.

For the uninitiated, the 12-year wait for Rockstar to release GTA 6 has spawned a meme in which people highlight the surprising things they got before GTA 6’s release date.

In this case, it was a John Cena heel turn — his first in 20 years and a narrative shift many thought would never happen. To put it in other words, Cena, the WWE's superstar ‘good guy,’ the Make-A-Wish world record holder and all-round much-loved wrestler and actor, became a WWE ‘bad guy’ before we got GTA 6.

Steam, the most popular digital game distributor for PC players, has once again broken its own concurrent user record, breaching 40 million players for the first time.

Over the weekend — which just so happened to coincide with Monster Hunter Wilds' launch on Friday, February 28 — Steam logged 40,270,997 simultaneous players, breaking its previous record of 39.9 million players set in February 2025.

In fact, according to SteamDB, Steam's concurrent record, seen by some as a way of measuring the success of Valve's digital platform, has been broken almost every single month since May 2024, with the concurrent peak rising from 35.5 million users to 40.2 million in a little more than six months.

And while that number includes idle players — that is, players with Steam open but not necessarily using it — the number of users actively in a game has hit a new record, too, jumping from 12.5 million to 12.8 million.

Steam saw a surge in player peaks across most of 2024, breaking its record twice in March and then again in July. This new peak is likely due to the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, which saw a 24-hour concurrent use peak of 1.38 million players, although 1.7 million also people logged onto Counter-Strike 2, too, with PUBG, Dota 2, and Marve Rivals also clocking up impressive 24-hour user peaks of 819,541, 657,780, and 268,283, respectively.

However, Monster Hunter Wilds has a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Steam, which has led to Capcom publishing official guidance for PC performance issues. Meanwhile, Capcom has announced early details for Monster Hunter Wilds Title Update 1, which is set to add an endgame social hub for players.

To help get your Monster Hunter Wilds adventure started, take a look at what Monster Hunter Wilds doesn’t tell you, and a guide to all 14 weapon types in the game. We’ve also got a detailed Monster Hunter Wilds walkthrough in progress, a Monster Hunter Wilds multiplayer guide to explain how to play with friends, and if you’ve played one of the open betas, here’s how to transfer your Monster Hunter Wilds Beta character over.

IGN’s Monster Hunter Wilds review returned an 8/10. We said: “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge.”

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Welcome back to another week and a visit from the discount fairy, who’s blessed us with a ton of deals. Let me get you up to speed with the best of that haul quick, fast, and in a hurry. The most obvious pick has got to be the colossal discount (and new price) of the PlayStation VR2 headset. I’m pretty obsessed with it myself and can point you in the direction of the games to get for it right now!

This Day in Gaming 🎂

The 97th Academy Awards, also known as the 2025 Oscars, took place on a very special night that celebrated the biggest movies from 2024 and the incredible people who brought them to the big screen.

There were 23 categories at this year's Oscars and no film won more than Anora. Alongside taking home the honor of Best Picture, Anora also won Best Director, Actress in a Leading Role, Writing (Original Screenplay), and Film Editing.

Close behind Anora was The Brutalist, as it won three awards, including Actor in a Leading Role, Cinematography, and Music (Original Score). Emilia Pérez, Wicked, and Dune: Part Two were the only other films to win multiple Academy Awards.

Other highlights from the night included a stunning opening performance by Wicked's Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Emilia Pérez's Zoe Saldaña winning the Oscar for Actress in a Supporting Role and being the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and Paul Tazewell becoming the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Costume Design.

What did you think of the 2025 Oscars? Let us know below and then check out which movie we said was the best of 2024!

Oscar Winners 2025

Best Picture

• Anora - WINNER
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• I’m Still Here
• Nickel Boys
• The Substance
• Wicked

Best Director

• Sean Baker (Anora) - WINNER
• Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)
• James Mangold (A Complete Unknown)
• Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)
• Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)

Actor in a Leading Role

• Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) - WINNER
• Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)
• Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)
• Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
• Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)

Actress in a Leading Role

• Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
• Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez)
• Mikey Madison (Anora) - WINNER
• Demi Moore (The Substance)
• Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here)

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Yura Borisov (Anora)
• Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) - WINNER
• Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)
• Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)
• Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown)
• Ariana Grande (Wicked)
• Felicity Jones (The Brutalist)
• Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)
• Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez) - WINNER

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave - WINNER
• Emilia Pérez
• Nickel Boys
• Sing Sing

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• Anora - WINNER
• The Brutalist
• A Real Pain
• September 5
• The Substance

Cinematography

• The Brutalist - WINNER
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Maria
• Nosferatu

Animated Feature Film

• Flow - WINNER
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir Of A Snail
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

Music (Original Score)

• The Brutalist - WINNER
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

Music (Original Song)

• El Mal (Emilia Pérez) - WINNER
• The Journey (The Six Triple Eight)
• Like A Bird (Sing Sing)
• Mi Camino (Emilia Pérez)
• Never Too Late (Elton John: Never Too Late)

Production Design

• The Brutalist
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Nosferatu
• Wicked - WINNER

Film Editing

• Anora - WINNER
• The Brutalist
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked

Documentary Feature Film

• Black Box Diaries
• No Other Land - WINNER
• Porcelain War
• Soundtrack To A Coup D’Etat
• Sugarcane

Documentary Short Film

• Death By Numbers
• I Am Ready, Warden
• Incident
• Instruments Of A Beating Heart
• The Only Girl In The Orchestra - WINNER

International Feature Film

• I’m Still Here (Brazil) - WINNER
• The Girl With The Needle (Denmark)
• Emilia Pérez (France)
• The Seed Of The Sacred Fig (Germany)
• Flow (Latvia)

Makeup and Hairstyling

• A Different Man
• Emilia Pérez
• Nosferatu
• The Substance - WINNER
• Wicked

Visual Effects

• Alien: Romulus
• Better Man
• Dune: Part Two - WINNER
• Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
• Wicked

Costume Design

• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Gladiator II
• Nosferatu
• Wicked - WINNER

Animated Short Film

• Beautiful Men
• In The Shadow Of The Cypress - WINNER
• Magic Candies
• Wander To Wonder
• Yuck!

Live-Action Short Film

• A Lien
• Anuja
• I’m Not A Robot - WINNER
• The Last Ranger
• The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

Sound

• A Complete Unknown
• Dune: Part Two - WINNER
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

Apple has a slew of products available beyond iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The tech giant has slowly begun to introduce various iPhone accessories over the last decade, such as Apple Watch, and these have proven to be a major success. Another major accessory we've seen from Apple is none other than AirPods. The market for wireless earbuds slowly began to grow popular in 2015, but nothing shook up the market more than the launch of AirPods. With many different models and product lines available, you might not remember each generation that Apple has released. Below, we've compiled every generation of Apple AirPods, so buckle up and prepare for a journey through this iconic device.

How Many Apple AirPods Generations Have There Been?

Apple has released a total of seven different Apple AirPods generations. The first model was released in 2016, with the latest arriving in 2024. We've included every AirPods release ever on this list, with the standard AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max all included.

Every Apple AirPods Generation in Order of Release

Apple AirPods (1st Generation) - December 13, 2016

The Apple AirPods (1st Generation) were the pair that started it all. Despite bundling in wired Apple EarPods with all iPhone models, this marked Apple's first jump into the wireless earbud space. The AirPods were brilliantly easy to use thanks to the Apple W1 Chip, which granted users the ability to flip open the AirPods and seamlessly connect them to any Apple device.

Apple AirPods (2nd Generation) - March 20, 2019

While Apple AirPods (2nd Generation) looked just like the original pair on the outside, numerous changes were made internally that paved the way for a significant upgrade. Apple first replaced the W1 chip with the H1, a chip that allowed for quicker connectivity overall. Additionally, while the battery life remained unchanged, Hey Siri functionality was added for users to quickly access Apple's AI assistant.

Apple AirPods Pro (1st Generation) - October 30, 2019

The AirPods Pro marked Apple's first foray into the premium wireless earbud market. Instead of an open-ear design, AirPods Pro has silicone tips that go inside your ear, which opened the door for both higher quality sound and Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). Apple offered two ANC modes on AirPods Pro: Active Noise Cancellation & Transparency Mode. The latter allows for voices to enter and mix with the sound while keeping all other noises cancelled out.

Apple AirPods Max - December 15, 2020

In 2020, Apple released the AirPods Max, a brand-new take on Apple AirPods. This model has a complete over-ear design, which looks much closer to the Sony WH-1000MX5 or Bose QuietComfort 45. AirPods Max still offers the best sound quality to date on any AirPods model, with a great balance and quality bass performance. Apple did release an updated version of the AirPods Max in 2024, but the only change was a USB-C port.

Apple AirPods (3rd Generation) - October 26, 2021

Apple AirPods (3rd Generation) was a major shakeup in design compared to the last generation. This time, the design was much closer to Apple AirPods Pro, with the case much more rectangular, and the AirPods themselves having shorter stems. This generation also improved the battery life in a big way, with over six hours of additional listening time on Apple AirPods (3rd Generation).

Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) - September 23, 2022

Three years after the release of AirPods Pro, Apple released AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) in 2022. This upgrade replaced the lightning port on the charging case with USB-C, increased water and dust resistance, and more. Sound quality was also much improved with this model, especially in regards to Active Noise Cancellation performance. Recently, Apple even added support for a clinically-validated hearing test to AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) that can gauge ear health and showcase listening habits to users.

Apple AirPods (4th Generation) - September 20, 2024

The most recent AirPods model, Apple AirPods (4th Generation) marked the first time that Apple offered multiple models for one AirPods gen. You can choose between either the standard model or a model equipped with Active Noise Cancellation. A new design was made specifically to fit in as many user's ears as possible, with a solid upgrade in sound quality offered as well.

The weekend is officially here, and we've rounded up the best deals you can find! Discover the best deals for Sunday, March 2, below:

Nintendo Switch OLED for $269.99

It’s that time of year. Whether you’ve logged every nominee on Letterboxd or are just tuning in for the performances, The Oscars have arrived. A celebration of 2024 in cinema, Emilia Pérez leads the charge with the most nominations, though predictions cite Anora, The Brutalist, and Conclave as top contenders. And yes, I do believe Challengers got snubbed, but this is The Academy, so we've seen worse.

This year’s Oscars come with a couple of “firsts.” It's Conan O’Brien's first time hosting, but it's also the first year the Oscars will be available to watch live on a streaming service. If you’re hoping to tune in, here’s everything we know about how to watch the 2025 Oscars online.

The Oscars 2025: Date and Start Time

The 97th Oscars ceremony is being hosted on Sunday, March 2. The Oscars officially start at 7pm EST/4pm PST, while the pre-ceremony red carpet show starts half an hour beforehand. The ceremony is always blocked out for three hours, though the full run-time can vary.

Where to Stream The Oscars Online

Prices on Sword & Shield — Astral Radiance and Silver Tempest booster packs are climbing, and it is not just because people want to complete their sets. Stock is running low, and demand for chase cards like Alternate-Art Lugia V and Machamp V has pushed prices higher. If you have been putting off buying these, now is the time before they become even more challenging to find.

Silver Tempest has been a fan favorite since its release, mostly due to its focus on Lugia VSTAR and its Alternate-Art Lugia V. The set features a mix of competitive staples and highly sought-after collector’s cards, making it one of the strongest releases in the Sword & Shield era.

Build & Battle Stadium includes 12 booster packs, a stack of Energy cards, dice, and markers. Some of the most valuable cards in the set include Regidrago V Alternate Art, Rainbow Rare Lugia VSTAR, and Serena Full Art, which has been a staple in competitive play. The Trainer Gallery also features Rayquaza VMAX, Blaziken VMAX, and the stunning Friends in Galar full art card. If you are looking for a set with high-value pulls, this is one of the best available options at a reasonable price.

Astral Radiance may not have the same level of hype as Silver Tempest, but it has some of the most unique alternate-art cards of the Sword & Shield era. This Build & Battle Stadium includes 12 booster packs, Energy cards, dice, and condition markers.

The most valuable card in the set is Alternate-Art Machamp V, which features a lively market scene. Origin Forme Dialga V Alternate Art and Origin Forme Palkia V Alternate Art have also held strong value due to their playability and striking artwork. Its Trainer Gallery is packed with top-tier cards, including Garchomp V featuring Cynthia, Starmie V with Misty, and Zacian V with Hop. If you are looking for Full Art Trainers, Irida and Adaman are some of the best in the set, with strong value in both competitive and collector markets.

For a more affordable way to open multiple sets, the 2022 Collector Chest is a great pick. It includes five booster packs, two from Astral Radiance, two from Silver Tempest, and one from Fusion Strike. The three foil promos feature Hisuian Voltorb, Hisuian Growlithe, and Hisuian Sneasel, making it a nice bonus for collectors.

Fusion Strike has some of the most expensive cards from the Sword & Shield era, including Alternate-Art Gengar VMAX, Espeon VMAX, and Mew VMAX Rainbow Rare. The Silver Tempest and Astral Radiance packs offer shots at Lugia, Machamp, and strong Trainer Gallery cards. For under £25, this is one of the best-value sealed products still available.

There's a brand new LEGO Harry Potter set that just arrived and I'm thinking about buying it myself. The Knight Bus Adventure set recreates the iconic triple-decker bus from the Harry Potter movies and looks like it would be really fun to build. Priced at $50, this set is a lot cheaper than the larger Hogwarts Castle set that was on sale last week and looks like it would more easily be displayed on my small desk. As far as Harry Potter gifts for yourself go, it's an enticing new option to consider.

The Knight Bus Adventure is just the latest addition to a long line of Harry Potter sets that already exist. If you're interested in getting it yourself, it is now available at Amazon, LEGO direct, and all of the other best places to buy LEGO.

LEGO Knight Bus Adventure Set - Where to Buy

There are very few young adult novels as successful as the Hunger Games books. Suzanne Collins released the first book in 2008 and has since released three more books and a total of five movies. And it doesn't stop there as just last year Collins announced yet another book in the series with a movie already in the works.

The next Hunger games book, titled Sunrise on the Reaping, is set to come out on March 18, 2025. Despite only being a preorder, the hardcover edition has already jumped into the second spot on Amazon's best-sellers list of books. It has officially surpassed Onyx Storm on this list, which had a wildly successful debut in January and topped last year's Amazon charts ahead of its release.

The hardcover edition of Sunrise on the Reaping is currently receiving a 30% discount on Amazon, dropping the price under $20. You can find a similar discount on the Kindle version of the book.

Sunrise on the Reaping Preorder Deal

IGN Plus members can score a free Steam key of EvilVEvil for PC! This cooperative shooter throws waves of enemies at players in a wide variety of environments, making for an action-packed experience that you don't want to miss. You can control numerous vampires and utilize their abilities to work together and stop the enemies before you. Keys for this reward are limited, so don't wait to claim yours!

Claim a Free EvilVEvil Key!

The first thing to know about this build is its size. It's 21 inches high and 16 inches wide – approximately 60% the size of the original painting and large enough to be unwieldy when picking it up.

It's of a size and scope that means to be taken seriously. Yes, this is a tribute to one of the most famous artworks in the world. But it also demands to be hung up in a dwelling space as art – an important distinction to make, as LEGO continues its slow evolution from adult curiosity to adult hobby.

Vincent van Gogh painted his most famous sequence of Sunflowers while he lived in Arles, France, a prolific period in his artistic life. Van Gogh had a strong emotional connection to the sunflower and associated it with gratitude. He approached it as an artistic muse of sorts, writing in a letter to a friend:

"If [Georges] Jeannin has the peony, [Ernest] Quost the hollyhock, I indeed, before others, have taken the sunflower."

In August 1888, van Gogh painted four versions of sunflowers in a vase. He revisited this motif in January 1889, when he painted a repetition of the third version and two different repetitions of the fourth version.

Of these seven paintings, the fourth version and its two repetitions are the most famous. The original fourth version (F454) is on display at the National Gallery in London, England. One repetition (F457) is on display at Sompo Museum of Art in Tokyo, Japan. And the other repetition (F458) – probably the most iconic due to its color composition and overall vividness – is on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Established in 1973, the Van Gogh Museum partnered with LEGO to release LEGO Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers, a tribute to the F458 repetition of the painting. It is rendered as a three-dimensional relief and uses abstract pieces to replicate van Gogh's thick brushstrokes.

When you open the box, you get 34 numbered bags and a printed instruction booklet with a QR code. Following this code will lead you to a podcast discussing van Gogh and the inspirations behind his work.

I appreciated the build's real-world practicality. First, you build the painting's frame, which I completed and subsequently leaned against the wall, where it waited. And second, you build the canvas with the painting on top of it.

You finish the build by mounting the canvas into the frame and fastening it with pins. It's a nice, personal touch to mimic a real-life process of staging and presentation, and it subliminally gives the completed set a sense of value and importance.

There is an awesome Easter egg buried in the canvas' construction. When art experts studied F458, they discovered that late into the painting process, Van Gogh extended the height of the canvas with a wooden strip at the top – likely to ensure that the sunflowers had space and didn't appear cramped.

LEGO humorously mirrored this imperfection in the build – first by having you build the canvas as a single entity, and then by having you affix a separate, corresponding strip at the top afterward with pins. You can see it circled in red in the photo below. The LEGO designers even used brown bricks to mimic the appearance of wood.

This is such a superfluous, unnecessary detail to the final product, and that's exactly why I love it so much. It's imperceptible to any onlooker; no one but the individual builder would even know it's there. But that's a feeling for the LEGO builder to experience – the trial and error that even a master experiences while creating a masterpiece. It also creates a feeling of exclusivity; the LEGO builder can decide whether to reveal the secret to onlookers when showing it off.

The process of building the full-bloom sunflowers is a bit tedious, if unavoidable. There's likely no "fun" way to create a sunflower that looks this convincing. And in a way, the repetitiveness is the point; van Gogh didn't cut corners, either. Just take breaks in between. This is not the sort of build that one 'speed runs' anyway. Savor it and get your money's worth.

What I especially enjoyed were the wilting flowers, and the ones represented in profile rather than head-on. When I first started building them, they seemed so abstract and random. But when you take a literal step back from the painting, they make sense. And what seemed random in closeup is a stem or a leaf in context.

The most frequent question I get from other adults is, "After you build a LEGO set, where do you put it?" This time, there's an easy, obvious answer: right on my dining room wall. And that might be the best way for potential builders to think about this set. You know exactly where it's going to go after you're finished it. You can look forward to that. And you'll be able to enjoy it long after you've finished it. It's been a week since I completed it, and I still enjoy looking at it, and seeing which three-dimensional details spring out to me this time. This is the first great LEGO set of 2025, and it comes highly recommended.

LEGO Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers, Set #31215, retails for $199.99, and it is composed of 2615 pieces. It is available exclusively at the LEGO Store.

See More LEGO Art Sets:

Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.

The weekend is officially here, and we've rounded up the best deals you can find! Discover the best deals for Saturday, March 1, below:

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $34.19

Fidget toys are more than a fad. From helping with job-related stress, calming nerves at social gatherings, or simply filling a need to keep your hands busy so your mind can focus better, fidget toys are great for all ages. When fidget toys reached the height of popularity, claims were made that they could help people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While there are debates on their effectiveness, there’s no question that fidget toys continue to bring relief and joy to millions who use them worldwide.

And now, there are more options than ever before– from the iconic fidget spinners to tangle toys and even sensory rings. Below we’ve collected some of the best-selling and highly-reviewed fidget toys to keep you focused during work, school, and any situations that might make you restless.

Top Fidget Toys for Adults

Our picks are on an unranked list, as the best overall pick will vary by each person's own needs and primary purpose, (such as to try to help with anxiety or ADHD). Some of these toys we have tried out first-hand, while others we have found to be highly rated by customers and mental health service websites, including wpsychservice.com.

Best Fidget Toys

ONO Roller Fidget Toy

This sleek-looking fidget toy is one of the more expensive offerings on this list, but this aluminum roller toy has a professional quality. While rolling the small device in your hand, it claims to provide stress relief, but should also relieve tension. The Ono Fidget Roller comes with a carrying case and can be discreetly used when needing something to keep your mind busy.

Speks Crags Ferrite Putty

This fidget toy is one of the best high-quality picks, hence the price tag. The slick and storable magnetic stones can offer stress relief for adults with the ability to stack, mold and design. This is one of the more versitile choices adults choose for its ASMR quality, sleek design, and durability.

Tom's Fidgets Original Flippy Chain Fidget Toy

This flippy chain fidget toy is perfect for those who are looking for a discreet way to relieve stress and anxiety. The little bike chain look-alike toy fits inside your hand and won’t cause a distraction for others like many of the other products listed here. It’s also quiet and usable with one hand– perfect for writing or studying.

Hexagon Push Pop Fidget Toy

There are thousands of different bubble sensory toys available for purchase. These offerings from Tommike come in vibrant and varied colors but are also a good size to travel with. While simple in their design, bubble sensory toys are incredibly gratifying for kids and adults.

WTYCD Original Fidget Toy Game

This best-selling fidget toy offers a lot of options in a small form factor. Shaped like a micro version of Nintendo’s SNES gamepad, the WTYCD fidget toy allows users to press, rotate, swap, scroll, and pick on the small device. Even better, it's so compact that it's easy to bring it with you wherever you need it.

BUNMO Magnetic Rings Fidget Toy

LEGO patented its signature "binding brick" in 1958. But it wasn't until nearly 50 years later, in 2005, that LEGO released its first official chess build.

I learned this fact while researching this article. And even as someone who spends most of his idle time building and learning about LEGO, it surprised me. Why had it taken so long? LEGO Chess seemed, at least in my mind, a given – an easy, marketable way to make bricks accessible to a wide audience.

But in 2005, LEGO's audience was primarily children. The company did not widely cater to its adult audience until 2007. And the idea of LEGO lifestyle branding – of integrating brick-built things into a non-brick living space – didn't truly take off until around 2020.

What we now take for granted in 2025 was unprecedented in 2005. when the first LEGO chess set debuted. And it was unheard of in the prior decades, when the majority of builds were miniature playsets, rather than depictions of real-life things.

Here's an ordered history of every LEGO Chess Set. There are 12 in all, including the only one that's currently available to buy in 2025. You can also check out our guide to the best overall chess sets for more options.

All LEGO Chess Sets In Order of Release

1. Knights’ Kingdom Chess Set - Retired

The first LEGO chess set was part of the Knight's Kingdom, an expansion of the LEGO Castle brand. It featured two Armies: the Shadow Knights, led by evil sorcerer Vladek, and the Kingdom of Morcia, led by King Matthias. The set included 24 minifigures with detailed armor and stylized shields.

2. Vikings Chess Set - Retired

Very similar to the Knight's Kingdom set from the prior year, the Vikings set also included 24 minifigures, this time wearing archetypal horned viking helmets along with spears and axes for weapons.

3. Castle Chess Set - Retired

Another Castle-themed set, the Castle set was a bit more generic than its Knight's Kingdom counterpart. It pitted an army of crown knights against an undead army of skeletons. The best part of the set was the Grim Reaper bishops, which had massive scythes for weapons.

4. Giant Chess Set - Retired

Still the largest, most ornate chess set that LEGO ever designed (by a considerable margin), the Giant Chess Set was bigger and better in every way. The board itself was two feet long on all sides, and it came with four miniature builds of the skeleton realm, the troll realm, the dwarf realm, and the castle realm.

The board was smooth rather than studded, which gave it a more elegant look. And the individual pieces were the best looking yet. The bishops were wizards. The knights were minifigures on horseback. And the rooks were heavily fortified siege towers.

5. Pirates Chess Set - Retired

The first pirates-themed set pitted a Royal Navy against a motley crew of pirates. I loved this set's variety; whereas every naval officer pawn looked mostly the same, every pirate pawn had a unique costume and accessory. And best of all, the pirate knight was a curly-tailed monkey, armed with a knife. It doesn't get more chaotic than that.

6. Multi Game Pack 9-in-1 - Retired

This was a travel-friendly, tiny set that allowed you to play nine different classic board games: Ludo, Chess, Checkers, Solitaire, Backgammon, Fireman Hoses and Ladders, and three different cards for Travel Bingo.

7. Kingdoms Chess Set - Retired

This Castle-themed set depicted a Green Dragon army versus a Red Lion army. The individual minifigures had a lot of character and detail. A definite highlight was the Red Lion knight, a Jester with a big, cartoonish smile. The board is mounted on a unique baseplate with a bastion in each corner.

This was the first LEGO chess set that didn't come with a carry case, nor did it have a separate storage compartment for its pieces. This set wasn't designed with travel in mind, and it's an early example of LEGO that's designed for display rather than play.

8. Pirates Chess Set #2 - Retired

The second Pirates-themed chess set had an outdoor beach theme, with sand on one side of the set and ocean on the other. This was the first LEGO chess board to have smooth squares with single studs in their centers, which was more aesthetically pleasing and functional than the baseplate boards that came prior.

9. Iconic Chess Set - Retired

This was the first time that LEGO released a chess set with no gimmicks and no minifigures — just a regular chess set with blocky, traditional pieces, and space beneath the board to store them all. This set had longevity; it stayed on shelves for seven years before LEGO retired it at the end of 2022.

10. Steampunk Mini Chess - Retired

Designed by user CorvusA, this tiny set was a collaboration between LEGO and LEGO fansite BrickLink. The BrickLink AFOL (Adult Fans of LEGO) Designer Program launched 13 fan-designed sets, including this one, in 2019.

11. Hogwarts Wizard’s Chess Set - Retired

This set recreated the iconic scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, when Harry, Hermione, and Ron faced the chess trial, and Ron sacrificed himself to checkmate the King. This LEGO Harry Potter set came with three minifigures to represent the "Trio."

12. Traditional Chess Set

We reviewed LEGO's most recent chess set when it launched in 2024, and it's the only one that's still available in stores. Its dark brown and beige squares give the impression of polished wood, which adds a bit of classic flair. It's simple, appealing, and functional – a far cry from the lavish yet impractical builds from years ago.

If you're searching for Volleyball Legends codes (previously Haikyuu Legends), IGN has you covered! In this article, you'll find the latest active and working Volleyball Legends codes in March 2025 that can be redeemed for free rewards in Roblox, including Spins and Yen.

Active Volleyball Legends Codes (March 2025)

Below, you'll find all of the currently active and working Volleyball Legends codes in March 2025:

• FAST_MODE: 1x Lucky Spin (NEW!)
• 100M_VISITS - 1x Lucky Style Spin
• 350K_MEMBERS - 1x Lucky Ability Spin
• PRACTICE_AREA - 1x Lucky Style Spin
• NEW_NAME - 1x Lucky Style Spin
• 80M_VISITS - 10x Style Spins
• BIGGESTEVER - 5x Ability Spins
• RANKED - 2x Lucky Ability Spins
• NOTONTIME - 2x Lucky Spins
• UPDATE6 - 1x Lucky Spin
• PROTORIONTWITTER - 100x Yen

All Expired Volleyball Legends Codes

The following Volleyball Legends codes are expired and can't be redeemed anymore as of March 2025:

• MADNESS
• 40M_VISITS
• 250K_MEMBERS
• 50M_VISITS
• UPDATE5
• UPDATE4
• LAUNCH
• 200K_LIKES
• 180K_FAVS
• 15M_PLAYS
• 100KMEMBERS
• UPDATE1
• UPDATE2
• UPDATE3

How to Redeem Volleyball Legends Codes

Follow the steps below to redeem Volleyball Legends codes and claim your free rewards:

1. Open the Volleyball Legends Roblox experience.
2. In the Lobby, click on the Shop icon in the bottom toolbar to open the Shop.
3. Click on Codes on the bottom left of the Shop menu.
4. Input your Volleyball Legends code into the "Type code here" box.
5. Click "USE CODE." If successful, green text will appear informing you what your free reward is.

Why Isn't My Volleyball Legends Code Working?

If your Volleyball Legends code isn't working when you're trying to redeem it in Roblox, it's likely down to one of these two reasons:

• The Volleyball Legends code is expired and no longer able to be redeemed.
• The code is spelled wrong.

When inputting an Volleyball Legends code into Roblox, ensure it's spelled correctly, there are no accidental spaces either before or after the code, and that it's in the correct case (some codes are case sensitive). If a code is spelled wrong, you'll get a red message that says "Invalid Code."

All the codes on this page have been tested by IGN and work at the time of submission, so we'd recommend copying and pasting any codes directly from this article to avoid any errors. If the code still doesn't work, it's expired and can no longer be redeemed.

How to Get More Volleyball Legends Codes

Outside of checking this article, the best way to get more Volleyball Legends codes is to join the official Volleyball Legends Discord server. That way, you can be notified as soon as new codes drop.

If you're looking for DTI codes, IGN's got you covered! In this article, you'll find a list of all the active and working Dress to Impress codes in March 2025 that you can redeem for free rewards and bonuses in DTI, including outfits and accessories like hats, bags, and jewelry.

Active Dress to Impress Codes (March 2025)

Here are all the active Dress to Impress codes in March 2025 and the free rewards you get for redeeming them:

• ELLA - Skirt
• 1CON1CF4TMA - Sweater dress
• B3APL4YS_D0L1E - Doll accessory
• MEGANPLAYSBOOTS - Boots
• CH00P1E_1S_B4CK: Streetwear outfit set
• S3M_0W3N_Y4Y: Axe
• UMOYAE: Blue dress
• KREEK: Bear hat
• FASHION: Black and white dress
• LANA: White shorts, shirt, and legwarmers
• LANABOW: White bow
• BELALASLAY: Black jacket with pink halter top
• LANATUTU: White dress
• IBELLASLAY: Red, green, and blonde hairstyle
• M3RM4ID: Orange mermaid set
• TEKKYOOZ: White handbag
• M0T0PRINCESSWAV: Gold crown
• LABOOTS: Black boots
• ITSJUSTNICHOLAS: Black jacket
• ASHLEYBUNNI: Bunny slippers
• LEAHASHE: Sweatshirt and sweatpants
• KITTYUUHH: Black cat
• C4LLMEHH4LEY: Puffy dress and bear headband
• SUBM15CY: Necklace and eyelashes
• D1ORST4R: Bag and bow

All Expired Dress to Impress Codes

Below, you'll find a list of expired DTI codes that no longer work and can't be redeemed as of March 2025:

• CUPIDSCLOUD
• SWEETHEART (was only redeemable between February 15 and February 16, 2025 at 8AM PT)
• LNY2025
• YEAROFTHESNAKE
• HAPPYNEWYEAR
• NY2025
• WINTERUPDATE (was only redeemable between 8 AM - 11 AM PT on Saturday, 14 December!)
• 4BILLION
• CHOOPIE10K
• THEGAMES
• EYELASHES
• REWARD4CLASS1C

How to Redeem Dress to Impress Codes

Follow the steps below to redeem Dress to Impress codes and claim free rewards in DTI:

1. Open the Dress to Impress Roblox Experience.
2. Click on the handbag icon on the left-hand side to open the DTI Codes menu.
3. Enter your code in the "Type here..." field.
4. Check for any spelling mistakes or errors.
5. Click the checkmark icon to redeem the code.

Why Isn't My Dress to Impress Code Working?

If the code you're trying to redeem in DTI isn't working, it's likely because of one of two reasons:

• The Dress to Impress code is expired
• There's a spelling mistake in the code

When inputting a DTI code in Roblox, make sure it's spelled correctly (for example, a capital I isn't a lowercase l, 0 and not O, and vice versa) and that there are no spaces before or after the code. We'd recommend copying and pasting codes straight from our article to ensure they're correct as we've tested and verified that the codes on this page are working ourselves.

If your DTI code still isn't working after checking for typos, it's more than likely expired and can no longer be redeemed in Dress to Impress.

How to Get More DTI Codes

To get more Dress to Impress codes, the best way is to join the official DTI Discord server. While we check for new codes daily, the quickest way to know about new Dress to Impress codes is to follow the Roblox experience's official Discord server where updates are posted in real time.

You can also check the Dress to Impress X account and the official DTI Roblox Group page.

Are There Any Upcoming DTI Codes?

Now that the Sweetheart Dress rework code has been released, we don't know of any other upcoming Dress to Impress codes. It's possible we could see a new code when Style Showdown is released on March 1, 2025, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

What is Dress to Impress in Roblox?

Dress to Impress is a popular dress-up Roblox Experience available on PC, console, and iOS and Android mobile devices. In it, you put on your best outfit to complete a specific theme and walk the runway in a bid to earn votes from other players and become a top model. As you gain votes, you gain ranks and can access more clothing and accessories, so make sure you're truly dressed to impress!

If you're looking for Ninja Time codes, IGN has you covered! In this article, you'll find the latest active and working Ninja Time codes in March 2025 that can be redeemed for free rewards in Roblox, such as Clan Tokens and Element Tokens.

Active Ninja Time Codes (March 2025)

You'll find all of the currently active and working Ninja Time codes in March 2025 below:

• SORRYFORTERRAIN - 6x Clan Tokens, 6x Family Tokens, 6x Element Tokens (NEW!)
• 85KLIKES - 6x Clan Tokens, 6x Family Tokens, 6x Element Tokens (NEW!)
• 20MVISITS - 6x Clan Tokens, 6x Family Tokens, 6x Element Tokens (NEW!)
• 77KLIKES - 6x Clan Tokens, 6x Family Tokens, 6x Element Tokens
• 15MVISITS - 6x Clan Tokens, 6x Family Tokens, 6x Element Tokens
• 150KFAVS - 6x Clan Tokens, 6x Family Tokens, 6x Element Tokens
• 70KLIKES - 6x Clan Tokens, 6x Family Tokens, 6x Element Tokens

All Expired Ninja Time Codes

The following Ninja Time codes have expired and no longer work:

• 60KLIKES
• MAYBEPERFORMANCE
• MORENPCFIXES
• 55KLIKES
• BYTE1K
• BYTE2K
• 10M
• 9M
• 8M
• MOBILEMOUNTS
• SORRYFORTROUBLE
• DATARECONCILE
• ILOVEMOBILES
• MOREMOBILESFIX!
• STFIX
• THX100KDISC
• THX100KFAV
• RELEASE

How to Redeem Ninja Time Codes

Follow the steps below to redeem Ninja Time codes and claim your free rewards in Roblox:

1. Open Ninja Time via the Roblox Player.
2. If it's your first time playing, you'll need to select a village and create a character.
3. Once on the main menu, select "PLAY" to enter the game.
4. After loading in, select the "Menu" button in the top left.
5. Click on "Extra Menu."
6. Select "Codes" to open the codes menu.
7. Input your code into the "..." field and then hit the orange "Redeem" button.
8. If successful, your Ninja Time code will be redeemed.

Why Isn't My Ninja Time Code Working?

If your Ninja Time code isn't working when you're trying to redeem it in Roblox, it's likely due to one of two reasons:

• The Ninja Time code is expired and can no longer be redeemed.
• The code is spelled wrong.

When inputting a Ninja Time code into Roblox, make sure it's spelled correctly, there are no accidental spaces either before or after the code, and that it's in the correct case (some codes are case sensitive).

All the codes on this page have been tested by IGN and work at the time of submission, so we recommend copying and pasting codes directly from this article to avoid any errors. If the code still doesn't work, it's expired and no longer works.

How to Get More Roblox Ninja Time Codes

The fastest way to get more Ninja Time codes is to join the official Ninja Time Discord server, where you'll be notified as soon as they go live. Alternatively, bookmark this article as we update it with new codes regularly.

Meg Koepp is a Guides Editor on the IGN Guides team, with a focus on trends. When she's not working, you can find her playing an RPG or making miniatures.

As Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio get ready to return to action for Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+, the question has come up once again about how Matt Murdock’s time hanging out with Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk fits into the overall chronology of the Man Without Fear.

Cox guest-starred on the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law in 2022, but the tone of that show was much more fun and light as compared to the heaviness of Netflix’s Daredevil and the upcoming Born Again. Plus, Matt Murdock had a different costume in She-Hulk! This is the kind of thing that drives comics fans crazy, but the actor thinks it all makes perfect sense.

First off, he acknowledges that those episodes take place before Born Again. “I think it's a case of whatever was going on with Matt in that period of time,” Cox tells IGN. “He was able to leave that in JFK when he got on the plane.” He also jokes that “what happens in L.A. stays in L.A.”

The actor is very aware of the polarizing response Daredevil’s time on She-Hulk received. “It's funny how many opinions I've heard about this little moment in She-Hulk,” he continues. “There's the Walk of Shame, which was a last-minute idea where they set up a big green screen and just had me walk across it carrying my shoes. And a lot of people don't like it, and a lot of people love it.”

Still, essentially the version of Matt seen in She-Hulk wouldn’t really work in his own show. But that’s kind of how it’s always gone with superhero stories.

“If you take the Matt Murdock from our show and you put him in She-Hulk as-is, he's probably overly serious and becomes the butt of all jokes,” says Cox. “So he's got to adapt to the tone. And there's precedent within the comics. There are many runs of the comics where there's a lot of levity, there's a lot of tongue-in-cheek, a lot of fun.”

“Hawkeye was the same for me,” adds D'Onofrio, who returned as Wilson Fisk for that MCU series.

“It's an opportunity,” continues Cox. “It's a whole different [kind of] fun with that. And maybe at some point we'll get to see the favor returned.”

Another question that’s in the air once again is regarding how exactly the previous Netflix adventures of Murdock and Fisk fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Cox says that both shows are “for sure, 100%” set in the same universe, and D'Onofrio adds that he considers Born Again “a fourth season” of the old show.

The reason why this was ever even a question is because the Netflix series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher), while very interconnected themselves, were never quite acknowledged by the movie side of the MCU. The Netflix Marvel shows debuted in 2015 with Daredevil and continued until 2019, but in all that time they were basically cordoned off from the Avengers side of things. This, we have learned over the years, was in part due to behind-the-scenes jockeying between Marvel and Disney execs who didn’t want to share their toys, basically.

But the Netflix/Marvel deal eventually ended and the House of Ideas was able to fully incorporate the characters into the MCU proper. Cox appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, and then later in She-Hulk and Echo, while D’Onofrio popped up in Hawkeye and Echo too.

When their Netflix show ended in 2018, Cox and D’Onofrio actually had very different takes on their chances of ever continuing as, respectively, the Man Without Fear and the Kingpin of Crime.

“I was convinced we were done,” says Cox of returning as Matt Murdock at that point. “And when we got that [cancellation] phone call in 2018, I moved on emotionally, obviously, being quite sad about the whole thing. But Vince and I would talk occasionally, and he was convinced that at some point we would get a phone call, and we'd be back. And I would get off the phone and think that he was crazy! So when I heard from Kevin Feige in 2020, I was shocked, blown away.”

D’Onofrio figured that they had “knocked it out the park” with the Netflix show, and his instincts proved to be correct. It would’ve been tough for fans to accept new actors as Daredevil and Kingpin, despite the fact that they took a break from playing those characters. That also carried over to Cox and D’Onofrio’s castmates, Deborah Ann Woll who plays Karen Page and Elden Henson who plays Foggy Nelson.

In fact, as originally conceived, Born Again was not going to include those versions of Karen and Foggy. But about halfway through production on the show, Marvel execs decided to make some changes. New writers and directors were brought in to revamp what had already been shot with an idea to re-centering the series on the Netflix version where it had all started.

“That was tough for me to swallow,” says D’Onofrio. “I know we felt emotional about not having the others back. … Because our success in that show, we believe, is not just because of us and the writing. We believe it's because of the whole cast and the writing. … Elden and Deborah, those characters are theirs now. Nobody will ever play those characters as well as they did, as far as I'm concerned. And they needed to be part of the family.”

All that said, the actors are also aware that tonally the Netflix show and Born Again tend to skew a bit darker than the more family-friendly MCU.

“We're put in these positions all the time,” says D’Onofrio. “But I will just say, because it's my favorite thing to say, our job is to service a story. And when it's put in front of us from a company like Marvel, you’re like, ‘O.K., I'll service that story to the best of my ability.’ That's what our job is.”

For more on Daredevil: Born Again, keep checking back at IGN in the lead-up to the premiere!

Did you see our reveal of Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy crossover last week and think to yourself, “video games are all well and good, but where are the superheroes?” Well then do I have great news for you: Today we’ve got a first look at six new cards from Magic’s upcoming Spider-Man set, as well as all the products and packaging that will accompany it. You can preorder the cards at Amazon.

Click through the image gallery below to see all the Spider-Man cards from its Commander-focused Scene Box, booster packs, Welcome Decks, and more, and read on to hear about the set from Wizards of the Coast.

Arriving September 26, Marvel’s Spider-Man will be the second fully draftable, Standard-legal set in Magic’s Universes Beyond line of products after Final Fantasy, and the third overall after 2023's Modern-legal Lord of the Rings set. It won’t have any preconstructed Commander decks like you might expect, but the cards in the Scene Box shown above won’t be Standard-legal, and are instead designed with Commander in mind.

Preorder Marvel's Spider-Man x Magic: The Gathering Cards

While a Secret Lair with Wolverine, Captain America, and more was the first step Magic took into the Marvel universe last year, Spider-Man will also be the first full set inspired by the comics so far. Wizards of the Coast Executive Producer Max McCall says that’s because they just wouldn’t have had room for all of the characters and moments they wanted to include from Spider-Man if they had made a smaller product instead.

“Spider-Man needs a full set to do justice to the character, and incorporate the many villains he’s come across over the years,” McCall explains. “Picking characters from the Spider-Man canon as part of a wider set would leave far too many characters on the cutting room floor. We could probably have found room for Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales in a non-Spider-Man specific set, but there wouldn’t have been room for Aunt May.”

McCall says that designing for a Universes Beyond set “flips the worldbuilding on its head,” in that a typical Magic set needs its cards to lay the groundwork of its location and setting while also being fun to play with in order to get players on board, whereas most people already have some familiarity with a character like Spider-Man. “When we make a card that speaks to great power bearing great responsibility, there’s room to add mechanical complexity because folks understand the story the card is telling. We don’t have to make Universes Beyond cards that are ‘simple’ - we just have to pick moments that are recognizable, and they’ll be easy for fans to understand.”

As for how exactly they translate those moments and the world around them into a Magic set, Head Designer Mark Rosewater tells me Magic’s color pie “is robust enough that we have the ability to show heroism and villainy in all five colors.” As an example, Rosewater says Spider-Man would be white, blue, and green (although the specific version in the Scene Box above is only those first two).

“Spider-Man feeling obligated to use his power to help people is core to him being part of the white color pie. Spider-Man is also the product of science, being bitten by a radioactive spider. This, and Peter’s aptitude for science and invention (like his web-slingers) is very blue. Finally, Spider-Man's powers are based on an animal, and the comics have shown that there is a certain destiny to his connection to both spiders and the Spider-Man universe, which is all core green.”

In addition to the Scene Box, the set will have the usual Play Boosters, Collector Boosters, Bundles, and Prerelease Packs, all of which can also be seen in the gallery above with more details. And while there won’t be any preconstructed Commander decks, this will mark the return of Welcome Decks – those are themed introductory decks typically given out by game stores for free so that new players can have a low-pressure way to learn the game.

In addition to this year’s Final Fantasy set, Wizards of the Coast also recently announced a set themed around Avatar: The Last Airbender. There will also be two more in-universe sets before that in Tarkir: Dragontsorm and the space-themed Edge of Eternities.

Read on for the full, unedited interview with Wizards of the Coast’s Max McCall and Mark Rosewater:

IGN: Wizards of the Coast obviously has big long-term plans for Magic: The Gathering’s collaboration with Marvel, but why did you start with Spider-Man when it comes to the first full set in that universe?

Max McCall, Executive Producer: Spider-Man needs a full set to do justice to the character, and incorporate the many villains he’s come across over the years. Picking characters from the Spider-Man canon as part of a wider set would leave far too many characters on the cutting room floor. We could probably have found room for Gwen Stacy and Miles Morales in a non-Spider-Man specific set, but there wouldn’t have been room for Aunt May. We could include Green Goblin, but not the full Sinister Six. Spider-Man has so many iconic moments and characters that we wanted to make sure we got as many as possible onto the cards, and a Spider-Man set was the best way to do that.

You’ve spoken previously about how you see Universes Beyond as a great way to introduce new players to Magic, and Spider-Man seems primed to be an especially good example of that. With that new player experience in mind, did you approach this set differently than you would a Universes Within set in any ways?

MM: Designing Universes Beyond sets is an interesting challenge because it flips the worldbuilding on its head. Cards designed for a new world like Bloomburrow have to introduce folks to the world in addition to being fun game pieces. Cards designed for Spider-Man don’t have to introduce people to Spider-Man – everyone's familiar with Spider-Man at some level – but they do have to pay off folks’ conception of the characters and the big canon moments.

That is a huge opportunity when designing for an acquisition audience – new players are going to recognize the story moments we put on cards. So, when we make a card that speaks to great power bearing great responsibility, there’s room to add mechanical complexity because folks understand the story the card is telling. We don’t have to make Universes Beyond cards that are ‘simple’ - we just have to pick moments that are recognizable, and they’ll be easy for fans to understand.

Can you talk a bit about how you fit Spider-Man’s characters or themes into Magic’s color pie?

Mark Rosewater, Head Designer: In terms of Magic’s color pie, Spider-Man is white, blue and green. Spider-Man feeling obligated to use his power to help people is core to him being part of the white color pie. Spider-Man is also the product of science, being bitten by a radioactive spider. This, and Peter’s aptitude for science and invention (like his web-slingers) is very blue. Finally, Spider-Man's powers are based on an animal, and the comics have shown that there is a certain destiny to his connection to both spiders and the Spider-Man universe, which is all core green.

Are there any challenges to keeping those colors both interesting and accurate in a Super Hero universe?

MR: The color pie is robust enough that we have the ability to show heroism and villainy in all five colors. Every color has positive and negative qualities allowing us to have a lot of nuances to how we use them.

I imagine “spider typal” Commander decks are about to get some unexpected new toys across this set - do you take any special considerations into account when a common Magic creature type holds a very different meaning in the context of a Universes Beyond setting?

MM: Specifics matter a lot with issues like this. Often, we’re playing in the same trope space as our Universes Beyond partners – things like ‘assassins’ are rarely an issue. Spider-Man will of course contain many Spiders, but a lot of the deckbuilding hooks for those characters will key more into the Hero creature type.

The Final Fantasy set is going to stretch across many different games and stories, but should we expect this set to have a specific Spider-Man story, or are you treating it as a showcase of popular characters, events, and locations from the comics?

MM: Spider-Man features characters and stories from across its history – we're not limiting ourselves to any one run or series.

Marvel comics are beloved by a huge audience, but there’s no denying that the MCU has dominated the public perception of these characters in recent years. Was it tricky to design around the comic book versions with that in mind, or did you enjoy getting back to some of their roots instead?

MR: The Marvel expansions are based on the comics, but we’re always aware of the movies’ impact, so we find overlap when we can. Luckily, the vast majority of the movie material was based on the comics.

With the Spider-Man scene box, why did you go the route of including four legendary creatures this time rather than building a box around a single character as a little Commander starter pack of sorts like the previous ones were?

MM: Scene boxes tell visual stories. Spider-Man's storytelling is very character-driven and has a great rogue’s gallery, so we wanted to include as many characters as possible. You’re generally not going to have Spider-Man and villains in the same Commander deck, so once we committed to lots of characters, we knew that meant you wouldn’t be putting them all in the same deck, and so that made for a great opportunity to make each villain more distinct and emphasize their different goals and methods in the card designs.

Spider-Man is going to be included, of course, but how did you land on the other three characters for this debut?

MM: Doc Ock, Venom, and Green Goblin are of course way up there when you’re making a list of iconic Spider-Man villains, but the nature of those characters makes it easier to draw a scene where they all get equal visual weight. Green Goblin on his glider doesn’t get in the way of Doc Ock’s tentacles, and Venom can be lurking anywhere for a chance to strike – they all have their own space in the scene to shine.

Is it freeing to design cards for a product like this since they don’t have to fit into the context of a larger set or preconstructed deck?

MM: Yes – the goal is exciting, appealing cards, preferably light enough on text that the art can really shine throughout the scene. Not having mechanical constraints makes this much easier – they don’t have to pay off the rest of the set’s themes or mechanics, and that gives them room to be made charming and delightful of their own accord.

Tom Marks is IGN's Executive Reviews Editor. He loves card games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more.

LEGO announced earlier this year that we'd be getting new Minecraft Movie sets, and the time has finally come for them to be released into the world. There are four new Minecraft sets that you can now buy, with two of them featuring scenes from the upcoming film. These new sets are added to an ever-growing list of LEGO Minecraft sets that have been accumulating over the years.

Each of the new Minecraft sets features minifigure mobs, but only two of the sets offer up a tiny Jack Black as Steve. You can currently purchase all of these sets from Amazon, LEGO direct, or any of the other best places to buy LEGO.

New LEGO Minecraft Sets Available Now

Although there are four new LEGO Minecraft sets coming out, the two that are associated with the movie are The Ghast Balloon Village Attack and Woodland Mansion Fighting Ring. Both sets give us an idea of what to expect from the upcoming film. The Woodland Mansion Fighting Ring depicts some sort of gladiator style battle with Jason Momoa fighting a baby zombie on a chicken. Meanwhile the Ghast Balloon Village Attack set reveals a marshamallow-like villain from the Nether.

The other two Minecraft sets that are releasing are The Parrot Houses and The Trial Chamber. For more like these, you can check out more of our favorite LEGO Minecraft sets.

When Does the New Minecraft Movie Come Out?

LEGO tends to release new sets tied to movie releases about a month before the actual release of the film. The new Minecraft sets are following the same timeline by coming out on March 1 seeing as A Minecraft movie is hitting theaters on April 4, 2025.

Will There Be More Minecraft Movie Sets?

So far the two sets we've featured above are the only ones set to release alongside the film. It's possible this could change if the live-action Minecraft movie is a success. Either way, there are new LEGO Minecraft sets released fairly consistently and we can likely expect more to release later this year, even if it isn't directly tied to the movie.

Looking for more new LEGO sets based on movies? Check out the new LEGO Harry Potter Knight Bus set that also just came out.

If you’re still looking to get your hands on Sword & Shield-era booster packs, these tins are worth checking out. The sets featured in them include some of the strongest cards from the generation, including alternate art chase cards to competitive staples.

UK Deals: Sword and Shield Pokémon TCG Booster Packs Are Drying Up, Grab These Tins Now

Each tin includes a foil promo card and a selection of packs that vary in value. Brilliant Stars and Lost Origins have decent pull rates and well-loved cards. Other sets like Fusion Strike and Vivid Voltage can be hit or miss depending on what you are after. If you fancy picking one up, here is what each tin offers.

Pokémon TCG: Pikachu V Showcase Box (1 Foil Promo Card and 3 Booster Packs)

Pokémon TCG: Divergent Powers Tin - Hisuian Samurott V

Pokémon Hidden Potential Tin – Rotom V

Pokémon TCG: Divergent Powers Tin – Hisuian Typhlosion V

Pokémon TCG: V Heroes Tin Espeon

The 1970s was a decade of much upheaval for Marvel Comics. Although plenty of great characters and storylines were introduced in that period, such as “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” or Doctor Strange meeting God, the beginning of the 1980s saw many of Marvel’s all-time greatest creators turning in landmark runs on their most popular books. This is the time of Frank Miller’s Daredevil, John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, David Michelinie’s Iron Man and the height of Chris Claremont’s X-Men, with Roger Stern’s Amazing Spider-Man and Walt Simonson’s Thor right around the corner. If you want to know how these characters have endured to the current day, those names are major reasons why.

When looking at the full history of the Marvel Universe, the 1980s may very well be the company’s true golden age. Join us for Part 7 of our look at the essential issues of Marvel!

The Dark Phoenix Saga and Other All-Time X-Men Stories

Chris Claremont’s franchise-defining run on X-Men started in 1975, but perhaps its three greatest stories were all published during the early ‘80s. The first is the Dark Phoenix Saga in X-Men #129-137, assuredly the most well-known X-Men story of all time, and for good reason. After years of Jean Grey being the Phoenix, the cosmic entity corrupts her personality (alongside some help from the villainous Hellfire Club), temporarily turning her into the Dark Phoenix and one of the X-Men’s greatest enemies. This cosmic space opera, pencilled and co-plotted by John Byrne, isn’t just an incredible story, but it also features the first appearances of Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat, Emma Frost, and even Dazzler (really). The sacrifice of Jean Grey after she regains her faculties is one of the most heartbreaking moments in the X-Men pantheon, even if you’re aware she will eventually return. The story has been adapted numerous times, including in X-Men: The Last Stand and Dark Phoenix, although most fans would agree neither film did the tale justice. Cartoons have done a better job, with the saga appearing in full in X-Men: The Animated Series and in an abridged version in Wolverine & the X-Men.

The next iconic story was only a few issues later, with Days of Future Past in X-Men #141-142. The most famous story involving the Sentinels, the mutant-hunting robots first introduced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1965, features an adult Kitty Pryde going back in time to prevent the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly by Mystique and her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, an event that triggers an apocalyptic future where Sentinels rule North America. Despite being only two issues, this arc is one of the X-Men’s most famous, and the Days of Future Past reality has been revisited by other creators down the line. The story was adapted in the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past, and was also used as the basis for the season arc of Wolverine & the X-Men.

Rounding out the best X-Men stories from this period is X-Men #150, where a battle between the X-Men and Magneto that nearly leads to Kitty Pryde’s death causes the villain to reveal that he’s a Holocaust survivor. This backstory has been set in stone ever since, and is the foundational plot turn that would trigger his later development into a more morally ambiguous figure.

Buried like some kind of cursed treasure at the bottom of this week’s episode of the official Xbox Podcast was news about Playground Games’ long-awaited Fable. I call it “treasure” because it included a rare glimpse at gameplay, but “cursed” because it came with that dreaded caveat that accompanies so many development updates: a delay. Once planned to launch this year, Fable is now set for a 2026 release.

Delays, of course, are generally not harbingers of doom, despite the agonising wait they inflict. In Fable’s case, hopefully this is the sign of a richly detailed world that just needs more time to bloom. But that extra year of waiting can be put to good use: there’s no better time to play the Fable games. Specifically, I’d urge you to try Fable 2, the series’ highpoint, and (re)discover just what a strange and unique RPG Lionhead Studios’ 2008 classic is.

By today’s role-playing game standards, Fable 2 is really quite unusual. But even compared to its 2008 contemporaries, which includes the likes of Fallout 3 (released just days later) and BioWare’s early 3D games, it is practically singular in its vision. While Fable 2 features a fairly traditional campaign structure, with a linear main story and an esoteric collection of optional side quests, its RPG systems are a far cry from the crunchy stat blocks of Oblivion and Neverwinter Nights. It completely smooths out those aspects to create something incredibly approachable, even for those who find a D&D character sheet indistinguishable from hieroglyphics.

Just six main skills govern the likes of your health pool, strength, and speed. There’s only a single damage stat to consider when it comes to weapons, and nothing of the sort when it comes to armour or buff-providing accessories. Combat, despite being prevalent throughout most quests, is incredibly surface swashbuckling, spiced up only through the use of some genuinely creative spellcasting (including the wonderful Chaos, which forces enemies to dance and scrub the floors.) You’re even imperious to death – losing all your hitpoints is punished with nothing more than a minor XP penalty.

In short, Fable 2 is the RPG for people who have never played RPGs before. Back in 2008, when Oblivion’s open world Cyrodiil may have felt overwhelmingly huge and imposingly freeform for role-playing newbies, Fable 2’s Albion offered a more manageable chain of small, easy-to-navigate maps. You can freely go back and forth between these areas and, with the aid of your faithful canine companion who barks at the merest sign of adventure, you can tread beyond the beaten path to discover secrets like buried treasure, sunken caves, and the puzzle-posing Demon Doors. All this lends the world a sense of scale and opportunity grander than its actual footprint. But Albion’s geography is restrictive, largely forcing you down linear pathways from one landmark to another. This isn’t a world to get lost in, at least not in the traditional sense of the word.

Albion as a physical entity pales in comparison to the incredible worlds of BioWare’s Infinity Engine games and Bethesda’s wonderfully weird Morrowind. But to judge it on both modern and contemporary expectations of RPGs is to do it a disservice. Fable 2’s priorities lie not in climbing far-off mountains or spelunking through dungeons with a myriad of routes, but in a world that is bustling with life. Look at Fable 2 through the lens of a very different game – Maxis’ similarly singular The Sims – and you’ll find a truly remarkable simulation of society.

You’d be nuts to march into March without a battle plan. You’re outnumbered, for starters. There’s an absolutely ridiculous amount of things to watch and practically no time in the month to see it all. So let’s get to maximising your blessed, precious free time with nothing but the greatest picks from a swathe of award-winning films, social calendar destroying TV series and original content gems.

Below are the litter picks from thousands of hours of content from Australia's six major streaming networks. Click your provider from the list below, grab some popcorn and kick back into some sweet, sweet escapism.

Table of Contents

• Foxtel/Binge
• Netflix
• Disney+
• Apple TV+
• Amazon Prime Video
• Stan

New in March on Foxtel and Binge

TV litter pick: The White Lotus S03 (continued) – 1 Mar :Dark secrets and twisted truths of the guests, the staff and the locale of a resort are unveiled over the course of a week that was supposed to be a relaxing vacation.

Movie litter pick: A Quiet Place: Day One – 15 Mar : Day One combines expertly done moments of terror and tension combined with a story about two people it’s easy to care for, as we watch them forge a relatable human connection while trying to evade freaky alien monsters with really strong hearing.

What notable movies are coming to Binge?

• Death Race: Beyond Anarchy – 1 Mar
• Wyatt Earp – 1 Mar
• Innerspace – 1 Mar
• Jarhead: Law Of Return – 1 Mar
• Sound Of Metal – 3 Mar
• Kelly’s Heroes – 3 Mar
• Mercury Rising – 3 Mar
• The Watchers – 4 Mar
• Touch – 6 Mar
• It Ends With Us – 6 Mar
• This Time Next Year – 15 Mar
• A Quiet Place: Day One – 15 Mar
• Venom: The Last Dance – 22 Mar

What notable series are coming to Binge?

• Call Me Kate – 1 Mar
• The White Lotus S03 – 1 Mar
• S.W.A.T. S08 – 2 Mar
• Walking Through History S01 – 3 Mar
• The Chelsea Detective – 3 Mar
• Eyes on the Prize Prize III – 3 Mar
• Curious Case of Natalia Grace – 3 Mar
• The Madame Blanc Mysteries – 3 Mar
• The Righteous Gemstones S04 – 10 Mar
• The Cleaning Lady – 26 Mar

Sign up for a free 14–day Binge trial

Back to top

New in March on Netflix

TV litter pick: Formula 1: Drive to Survive S07 – 7 Mar :Drivers, managers and team owners live life in the fast lane — both on and off the track — during each cutthroat season of Formula 1 racing.

Movie litter pick: Plankton: The Movie - 7 Mar : Sheldon J. Plankton is finally getting his close up. When Plankton’s latest evil scheme is thwarted, Bikini Bottom and the surface world become threatened by an unexpected danger. Now, before Plankton can take over the world, he’s going to have to save it.

What notable movies are coming to Netflix?

• A Man Called Otto – 2 Mar
• With Love, Meghan – 4 Mar
• The Watchers – 4 Mar
• Chaos: The Manson Murders – 7 Mar
• Plankton: The Movie - 7 Mar
• Delicious – 7 Mar
• American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden – 10 Mar
• The Electric State – 14 Mar
• Twister: Caught in the Storm – 19 Mar
• The Residence – 20 Mar
• Revelations – 21 Mar
• Chelsea Handler: The Feeling - 25 Mar
• The Life List – 28 Mar

What notable series are coming to Netflix?

• Halo S01 – 1 Mar
• Tyler Perry's Beauty in Black S01 Part 2 – 6 Mar
• Formula 1: Drive to Survive S07 – 7 Mar
• Love is Blind: Sweden S02 - 13 Mar
• Below Deck S08 – 15 Mar
• Survival of the Thickest S02 – 27 Mar

Secure your subscription to Netflix

Back to top

New in March on Disney+

TV litter pick: Daredevil: Born Again - Mar 5 :An all-new series sees Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox), a blind lawyer with heightened abilities, fighting for justice through his bustling law firm, while former mob boss Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) pursues his own political endeavors in New York.

Movie litter pick: Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years - Mar 14 : Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years is the latest one-hour special from one of the greatest stand-up comedians working today. In what might be his most personal and introspective hour yet, Bill offers hilarious takes on everything from male sadness to dating advice.

What notable movies are coming to Disney+?

• Another You - Mar 7
• Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years - Mar 14
• Memes and Nightmares - Mar 15
• O’Dessa - Mar 20

What notable series are coming to Disney+?

• Daredevil: Born Again - Mar 5
• Bob's Burgers: S15 - Mar 5
• Deli Boys - Mar 6
• Good American Family - Mar 19
• David Blaine: Do Not Attempt - Mar 24

Sign up for Disney Plus

Back to top

New in March on Apple TV+

TV litter pick: Dope Thief - 14 Mar :Follows long-time friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob a house in the countryside, but end up unintentionally revealing and unraveling the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard.

What notable series are coming to Apple TV+?

• Dope Thief - 14 Mar
• BE@RBRICK - 21 Mar
• The Studio - 26 Mar
• Side Quest - 26 Mar

Sign up for a free 7–day trial of Apple TV+

Back to top

New in March on Amazon Prime Video

TV litter pick: The Wheel of Time S03 - 13 Mar :The Wheel of Time, which first premiered on Prime Video in 2021, is based on Robert Jordan's fantasy book series that follows Rand al'Thor, a farm boy who learns he's The Dragon Reborn, destined to either destroy the world or save it.

Movie litter pick: Holland - 27 Mar : Nicole Kidman is the meticulous Nancy Vandergroot, a teacher and homemaker whose picture-perfect life with her community pillar husband (Matthew Macfadyen) and son (Jude Hill) in tulip-filled Holland, Michigan tumbles into a twisted tale.

What notable movies are coming to Prime Video?

• Picture This - 6 Mar
• It Ends With Us - 6 Mar
• F*** Marry Kill - 14 Mar
• Venom: The Last Dance - 22 Mar
• Holland - 27 Mar
• The Crow - 27 Mar

What notable series are coming to Prime Video?

• The Wheel of Time S03 - 13 Mar
• Knuckles S01 - TBA
• Bosch: Legacy S03 - 27 Mar
• The Divorce Insurance - 31 Mar

Sign up for a free 30–day Prime Video trial

Back to top

New in March on Stan

TV litter pick: Long Bright River: S01 - Mar 13 : A suspense thriller series that tells the story of Mickey (Amanda Seyfried), a police officer who patrols a Philadelphia neighborhood hard-hit by the opioid crisis.

Movie litter pick: Hereditary - Mar 7 : Our own Toni Collette gives a virtuoso performance in a terrifying horror drama that defies expectations.

What notable movies are coming to Stan?

• Hereditary - Mar 7
• Me Before You - Mar 8
• Meet Dave - Mar 9
• Only The Brave - Mar 14
• Beau Is Afraid - Mar 15
• Mississippi Burning - Mar 18
• Teen Wolf - Mar 20
• Tremors - Mar 21
• Overboard - Mar 27
• When Harry Met Sally - Mar 29
• Spider-Man: Homecoming - Mar 31

What notable series are coming to Stan?

• Thelma & Louise - Mar 1
• The Secret Garden - Mar 1
• Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue: S01 - Mar 2
• Power Book III: Raising Kanan: S04 - Mar 7
• Long Bright River: S01 - Mar 13
• Happy Valley: S03 - Mar 16
• Gangs of London: S03 - Mar 20
• The Good Doctor: S07 - Mar 31

Score your free 30–day trial of Stan

Back to top

Anime and sports have crossed paths more than once, and for good reason. Just in the past couple of years, sprinter Noah Lyles "Kamehameha-ed" after winning gold at the Paris Olympics, and tennis player Coco Gauff made headlines for watching My Hero Academia "to warm up" at the U.S. Open.

The fact is, anime is awesome, and part of what makes it so great is its motivational storylines. Few anime have made as much of an impact in that department as One Piece. Tonight, that anime is being featured by none other than the Los Angeles Lakers, headlined by Lebron James and Luka Doncic, in their NBA game against the L.A. Clippers.

Will the Straw Hat Pirates (and a pretty stacked team) bring the Lakers to victory? Predictions say… probably? Maybe? Either way, it's a solid game to watch.

If you’re wondering how to stream the Lakers vs. Clippers game online, check out the details below.

When Is the Lakers x One Piece Collaboration?

The Lakers x One Piece collaboration takes place during their game against the Clippers tonight, Friday, February 28, at 10pm EST/7pm CST. It’s a home game for the Los Angeles Lakers at the Crypto.com arena.

Where to Stream the Lakers vs. Clippers Game Online

The L.A. rivalry game is airing on ESPN, Sportsnet LA, and FDSSC. If you have those channels on cable, you’re good to go. Otherwise, there’s a couple of ways to stream the game live:

ESPN on fuboTV

DirecTV is another live TV streaming subscription that includes ESPN in a number of its plans, including its cheapest one, the Entertainment Package, which starts at $74.99/month. NBA League Pass Premium, which offers “continuous in-arena coverage during breaks,” is included in the Choice package and is also available as an Add-On for other plans. DirecTV also offers a free trial, though a slightly shorter one at only five days.

How Is One Piece Involved?

This isn’t the first time One Piece has collaborated with a major sports team, and it won’t be the last. The Straw Hat Pirates made their way to Fenway Park for a Boston Red Sox game in 2024, and they’ll be returning to Fenway Park in May of 2025.

Ahead of the game, Crunchyroll unveiled new visuals highlighting the Straw Hat Pirates in Lakers attire. Tonight’s game will feature a new animation of the one and only Monkey D. Luffy shooting hoops, and attendees will receive the Lakers x One Piece T-shirt. Prizes will be handed out at the game itself, where there will also be a “One Piece Bounty Rush” photo booth.

When Is the One Piece Anime Returning?

The Lakers x One Piece collaboration is taking place while the One Piece anime is on a break. While series creator Eiichiro Oda continues to produce new chapters for the manga on his regular schedule, the anime has been off air for almost four months. The wait should be over soon, though: New episodes of One Piece will begin airing again in April, with the Spring/Summer anime season.

French crime drama Bastion 36 – or Squad 36, depending on where you’re logging into Netflix from – starts with a bang, but goes out with an extended whimper. Directed and co-written by Olivier Marchal, it has the look and feel of a mid-2000s Hollywood thriller (down to the frigid color palette), but its clunky cop-corruption plot overwhelms any sense of fun.

Led by Victor Belmondo, Squad 36 kicks off with a propulsive vehicular chase scene in the pouring rain, as the elite police unit of the movie’s title pursues a dangerous crime boss, Karim Mahmoudi (Jean-Michel Correia). This sequence ends in a thrilling stalemate, with undercover officer Antoine Cerda (Belmondo) holding Mahmoudi at gunpoint, but being forced to let him go rather than engaging in a public shootout. As the two part ways, it feels like a promise of more intrigue down the line.

Unfortunately, this turns out not to be the case. Mahmoudi, though he technically factors into the plot, remains absent for much of Squad 36’s runtime, as Cerda follows up on numerous leads surrounding the deaths and disappearances of several of his comrades one year and an unceremonious transfer to a different unit later. The key issue with this transition isn’t so much that Squad 36 shifts focus to a different, mostly invisible antagonist working in the shadows and pulling the strings, but that the way it tells its story grinds any sense of momentum to a halt.

Cerda, who’s involved with his coworker Hanna (Juliette Dol), also has a penchant for getting beaten up during underground, bare-knuckle fights. It’s an intriguing wrinkle to the character, but apart from giving him a consistently scarred and puffy appearance, it adds little to his psychology. The inner lives of the characters seem of little concern in Squad 36, despite much of the plot unfolding in the form of Cerda asking people questions whose answers lead him to even more people to mildly interrogate.

There’s little sense of mystery to the unfolding police saga, other than ballistic evidence pointing towards a cop being involved in a number of recent shootings. Cerda is of a one-track mind in his mission to find out more – the dead and disappeared were his closest allies, after all – but there’s little to actually challenge his sense of self, or his righteous morality, until very late into Squad 36’s two hours and change.

In the meantime, a who’s who of wonderful French actors (like Yvan Attal and Soufiane Guerrab) waltz in and out of scenes to deliver news to Cerda, ask him for updates, or simply assure the audience that things are moving elsewhere, far away from the investigation – all but promising these disparate parts will eventually meet. The further Cerda tumbles down the rabbit hole of corruption, the more he discovers information about what might actually be going on, though none of it is ever presented with subversion or surprise. At the very least, Belmondo (the grandson of iconic French New Wave lead Jean-Paul Belmondo) moves through this plateauing plot with a sense of control and reserve, leaving any potential emotional explosions for more significant moments.

Without its superficial appearance – its cool tones, its slick handheld camera, and its editing that emphasizes information over emotion – Squad 36 wouldn’t move forward quite as neatly, given how flimsy it feels beneath the surface. Its resemblance to a thousand other cop procedurals is both its biggest strength and its ultimate undoing, since it leaves little room for delight or surprise. The one time it attempts to pivot (and to shock), the result is a climactic development that springs up out of the blue, introducing a completely unearned sense of cynicism. Then again, it’s hard to nail a thematic exclamation point when little else in the movie has much to say.

Best Buy is offering a great deal on a well equipped RTX 4070 gaming laptop. Right now the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 RTX 4070 gaming laptop is on sale for just $1,079.99 shipped after a $570 off instant discount. This is an outstanding price for a gaming laptop that, despite its slim dimensions, boasts excellent build quality and powerful gaming capabilities.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 RTX 4070 Gaming Laptop for $1,080

Of all the things one might expect from a brand new Gundam series, an opening episode dedicated to recreating and revising the events and aesthetics of 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam isn’t necessarily one of them. Though perhaps it’s no surprise that a series led by a team that includes former Gainax collaborators Kazuya Tsurumaki, Yôji Enokido, and Hideaki Anno – a trio of names best known for shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL, and Revolutionary Girl Utena – would be so interested in rooting their own unique vision in the past of the mecha-anime franchise’s.

Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX – a mouthful that even its characters joke is confusing to pronounce, but boils down to “quacks” – kicks off by throwing us back to the very first episode of MSG, “Gundam Rising!!!,” with an intriguing, “what if?” twist: Instead of Amuro Ray becoming the Gundam’s pilot for the Earth Federation, Char Aznable from the Principality of Zeon steals the robot for himself, landing a victory via truce in the One Year War.

The first act of this theatrical release, which is edited together from footage we’ll eventually see after the full series premieres in April, is entirely designed for fans of Mobile Suite Gundam. Shots from that series are lovingly remade with a fresh coat of paint (à la the Evangelion rebuilds) and exact musical cues are reused and recontextualized. It’s fascinating to see how every part of the show that started it all is framed or sped up when Char is the protagonist instead of the antagonist. Char’s sheer drive and skill allowing him to sidestep all of Amuro’s insecurities and stumbles is particularly interesting.

Think of this first act like a speedrun of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, though one that undoubtedly requires a certain level of context to fully appreciate, down to an almost immediate introduction of Newtypes and seeing how one-off characters from MSG, like Challia Bull, become full-fledged protagonists themselves. Fortunately, gestures toward larger repercussions (particularly with Char) blessedly prevent the playful references from turning into a shallow easter egg hunt. The intro is ultimately a loose history lesson that preps the uninitiated viewer with just enough information about the One Year War to anticipate the new world that GQuuuuuuX seems to be diving into.

And what a world it is. The attempts at relative fidelity toward the classic UC79 designs are contrasted with colorful characterization and design work by take that recalls their work on Pokémon but also boasts personality and flourishes that point to the influence of Gainax classics like FLCL, Gurren Lagann, and DieBuster. Not once do these aesthetic shifts feel out of place, instead emphasizing the way life and culture has progressed in the years since the war ended (GQuuuuuuX takes place in UC85) and the fact that this is a world in which the Zeon have the luxury of enacting fascistic rule and continue to harm refugees.

Within this world are a trio of fresh faces: Nyaan, a refugee of the war who smuggles illegal goods to survive; Shuji Ito, a mysterious graffiti artist who also happens to pilot Char’s own Gundam, which disappeared half a decade prior; and Amate Yuzuriha (who goes by MACHU), a high schooler whose longing for more than what life has given her leads her to piloting the gundam GQuuuuuuX in Clan Battles. These battles are seemingly no more than illegal (but live streamed) street fights for quick cash, but they’re where GQuuuuuuX indulges in the spectacle it rightfully deserves. That many of Evangelion Rebuilds’ 3D-based animators are at work here is clear the second we see how these giant machines move and the way their fights are choreographed.

Even their mere slenderness and speed – as opposed to the beautifully clunky fights of the classic series – could be considered something of an Eva-ification of these bots. (It could be considered blasphemy, but I found it engrossing.) When it comes to the current era of Gundam (and Japan’s Reiwa era), it’s a stark contrast to the 2D animation and fight scenes of The Witch from Mercury. There’s a real fluidity to the way action unfolds, whether in or out of a gundam, and such fun being offered this early on makes me wonder what’s to come.

For all the intrigue and fun that Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Beginning has to offer, it’s still ultimately just a teaser for a series and not anything that can stand on its own two, gigantic, heavily armored feet. If this first segment is any indication though, GQuuuuuux promises to be a series that’s as playful as it is intriguing, the ideal bridge between the past and the future of what Gundam can look like.

The Sony PSVR2 Headset is the best VR headset for PS5 owners, but it has always been an expensive purchase. Thankfully, Sony announced just yesterday that the company would be dropping the recommended retail price of the headset down to $399.99. This price cut brings it more in line with the Meta Quest 3 competitor, which is currently $499 for the Quest 3 and $299 for the Quest 3S.

If you're hoping to pick up the PlayStation VR2 headset for yourself at this new price, now you can! Retailers have already started adopting the price cut and you can purchase the PSVR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain Bundle for just $399.99 at Target. The bundle has already sold out at Amazon, so Target is your best option.

The Best PlayStation VR2 Deal Today