USB Type-C has become the standard for charging and data cables alike, so it's good to have extra on hand. Here's a great back to school deal where you can get some quality cables at a throwaway price. Amazon is offering a two-pack of Lisen 6.6ft 240W USB Type-C cables for just $5.30 after you apply coupon code "YK4MDIC5". That averages out to $2.80 per cable. USB Type-C cables typically go for about $10 per cable or more at your local big box store. These can charge nearly any device with a USB-C port, including your Nintendo Switch 2, iPhone 16, or even the new M4 MacBook.

2-Pack of Lisen 6.6ft 240W USB Type-C Cables for $5.30

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has opened up about the state of his streaming career, including how “the internet and trolls” make sure to point out his decline in livestream viewers “every day.”

The content creator spoke about the ups and downs of his time online during an interview with the BBC. He’s dabbled in other popular multiplayer titles like Call of Duty and Marvel Rivals but is undeniably best known for his relationship with Epic Games’ battle royale hit, Fortnite. Ninja’s time with the building-centered shooter saw him become the first Twitch streamer to reach 10 million followers, and he even appeared in-game as a skin for fans to pick up and wear during matches.

The Susanto-X is part of Pulsar's Pro series, which collaborates with professional players to design mice. It has the high-end specs you'd expect from a competitive gaming mouse, including an 8000Hz polling rate – and a matching $130 price tag. This lightweight mouse is designed for the Susanto brothers, Valorant pros f0rsakeN and Xccurate, and Pulsar says it's "meticulously tailored to their individual hand sizes and grip styles." But will it work for me and you?

Pulsar Susanto-X – Design and Shape

I have to start by mentioning the Susanto-X's hot pink color scheme. I personally want manufacturers to take big swings on design and for me, the pink accents on the side buttons, the text on the right mouse button, and the zig-zag on the scroll wheel work. It's distinctive and fun, and keeping black as the base color means it never looks too loud. I don't follow the Susanto brothers so I could do without their signatures, one on each side of the mouse, but they're subtle enough to ignore.

The USB dongle and accompanying cable are louder. The dongle is translucent so you can see the outline of its guts, and the packaged cable is pink all the way down. I hated seeing it on my desk at first, but my stance softened over time – the color differentiates it from all the black leads I have plugged in, which is handy when switching devices. And while I wouldn't be taking this particular mouse on the go, it is a competitive gaming mouse to use at home or tournaments, not for a casual workday at the cafe.

I also like its customizable DPI indicator light, which not every mouse has. The light, next to the side buttons, will change color when you switch DPI, but you can also run it constantly. That's useful if you switch DPI often between gaming and working or if, like me, you just want an extra pink LED to match the color scheme.

The Sustano-X's symmetrical shape feels like a crowd-pleaser. It's not quite as miniature as the HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Mini I recently reviewed (currently my favorite compact gaming mouse), but it's definitely smaller, flatter, and lighter than the average mouse, and it glided effortlessly across my mousepad, requiring very little effort to flick or whip in a wide arc. The wider rear tapers as you move forward, fitting the curve of my fingers, and there are no unusual bumps or grooves to worry about.

If you have larger hands, this is not a mouse for palm gripping: when I tried, I could press all of the buttons but my ring and pinky fingers drooped off the side, hitting my mousemat. I had a similar problem with the Haste 2 Mini, and like that mouse, I could modify my palm grip with the Susanto-X to make it work, but it wasn't ideal.

Pulsar says this is designed specifically for claw grip. It took me some time to get used to: when I claw grip, my thumb usually slants ever-so-slightly downwards, and the shallow sides of the mouse meant my thumb tip sometimes grazed my mouse pad, which was distracting. I could, however, easily correct it by flattening my thumb and when I got used to it, I found it comfortable for long sessions.

Fingertip grip was equally comfy: the concave left and right mouse buttons kept my fingers in the right place. It helps that the mouse's smooth coating is incredibly sticky, so you can move it with very little pressure, and there is no chance of it slipping from your grip. The downside is that it attracts fingerprints and grime more than other mice I've tested recently, – it's easy to clean by occasionally wiping it down, and it didn't bother me, but if your hands are particularly sweaty it's at least worth keeping in mind.

The mouse buttons are all sturdy and tactile and I liked the crispness and curve of the side buttons in particular. The main left and right clicks, running on optical switches, had some pre-travel – the distance you can press them without registering a click – but that was only noticeable when I was purposefully pushing lightly. During gameplay, they always clicked when I wanted, and I could spam them easily. They sound relatively quiet, but still clean and snappy.

The scroll wheel is less impressive, however. The actual scroll is fine, though I would've liked clearer, more defined increments between scrolls, but that's nitpicking. My main problem is that the wheel shifts left to right with a light push, and it would actually stay off-centre after I pushed it to the right. There are no left and right scroll wheel presses, just the regular central click, but bizarrely, pushing the wheel to the right also registered as a click, but not to the left. None of this seemed to matter for the wheel's core function, and it scrolled reliably, but it doesn't fill me with confidence. It is, thankfully, the only misstep in the mouse's design, and it's a relatively small one.

Pulsar Susanto-X – Performance, Gaming, and Battery Life

I have zero complaints about how the Susanto-X performed – Pulsar's XS-1 sensor is fast, responsive and accurate. I tested it in Fortnite for third-person movement, Counter-Strike 2 for precise snaps, and the new puzzle game Strange Antiquities for slower point-and-clicks. It moved exactly as I wanted in every situation; I had no hiccups or stutters, no errors or dropped connections, and I felt confident that my input was being matched precisely on screen.

One of the big selling points of the Susanto-X as a competitive gaming mouse is that its polling rate goes up to 8000Hz: this means the mouse is reporting its position to your computer 8000 times a second, and in theory giving you more responsive, more accurate movement by virtue of tracking at a higher frequency. Most gaming mice are 1000Hz by default, but 8000Hz has slowly become the benchmark for high-end competitive mice.

As I've said in other reviews – including for the excellent Razer Deathadder V4 Pro – 1000Hz is fine for most people. To take advantage of higher polling rates you'll need a high refresh rate monitor of at least 120Hz, but ideally 240Hz or above, and a beefy GPU and CPU to ensure a high in-game frame rate. With those boxes ticked, you might feel a difference as you nudge the polling rate up to 2000Hz or 4000Hz, although perception will come down to the user.

I personally struggle to tell a difference above 1000Hz – but then again, I'm not a professional FPS player. With the Susanto-X, I usually played at 2000Hz, just in case I was getting a benefit I couldn’t definitively calculate. One thing I can say is that with the Deathadder V4 Pro, my frame rate dropped in some games, including Fortnite, when I played at 8000Hz, presumably because it was taxing my CPU. (I didn't get that with the Susanto-X, although it's hard to attribute that to the mouse alone because of updates to the game, GPU drivers, and more – just be aware that this could happen.)

Not every gaming mouse gives you 4000Hz or 8000Hz polling rate and if that's something you need then the Sustanto-X is worth considering. It has a few other tricks that set it apart, namely a toggle for both "motion sync" and "turbo mode." Motion sync, which Razer mice include by default, matches the timing of your sensor data and your USB polling, giving you a smoother aim that better matches your mouse movements on paper. I didn't notice a difference with it on – but I also didn't notice the downsides you sometimes get with motion sync, which would be a slight input delay.

Pulsar states turbo mode gives you a "consistent 20,000 FPS sensor scanning rate for smoother, more responsive, and precise aiming." This refers to the way the mouse's optical sensor scans the surface it's on, and has nothing to do with polling rate. It usually varies depending on DPI, polling rate and movement speed. Locking it to 20,000 could, theoretically, improve performance, but I noticed no difference other than my battery draining slightly faster. Some dismiss it as a marketing gimmick, and it's unlikely to be the limiting factor in performance.

While I didn’t experience a tangible benefit from either setting, I can't begrudge them being there as options. Some users claim motion sync makes their aim smoother, others say turbo mode feels snappier, especially at lower DPIs. Not every manufacturer gives you the flexibility with these kinds of performance-based options, so it at least makes the Susanto-X stand out in a crowded field.

As for battery, Pulsar claims it'll last 100 hours at 1000Hz polling rate, which was in line with my testing, and solid for a mouse in this price range. You will find longer-lasting mice, such as that Deathadder V4 Pro, but for me 100 hours is more than enough juice for two weeks between charges. The battery life falls noticeably at higher polling rates, dropping to 20 hours at 8000Hz, but that comes with the territory.

Looking to upgrade your keyboard, too?

While Apple’s iPad might be the most well-known tablet out there, it’s not always the best choice if you’re prone to eyestrain, distractions, or just plain prefer a more paper-like reading or writing experience. If that sounds familiar, then an e-ink tablet might be exactly what you’re looking for. With their low-distraction designs, easy readability, and frequently excellent handwriting experience, they’re a standout alternative for students, professionals, and anyone who craves a bit more focus in their life.

E-Ink tablets have been on the rise for years and there’s no shortage of options to choose from these days. I’ve done the testing and am a verified lover of all things e-ink, so if you’re on the hunt for anything from a paper replacement, to a “second brain,” to a simple e-reader, I’ve got something in mind.

TL;DR – These Are the Best E-Ink Tablets

E-Ink first came into the mainstream with the Amazon Kindle. Like many people, it was my first experience with it, and I’ve been a fan ever since. Compared to traditional tablet LCD displays which use bright backlights and quickly flashing images to display motion, e-ink displays don’t have lights behind the screen to shine into your eyes and only refresh the image as much as necessary to display the content – even if that’s only one time to change the page you’re reading.

Modern e-ink tablets have evolved from simple e-readers into feature-rich alternatives to normal tablets. Many run on modified versions of Android for their operating system and some even offer Google Play Store access. Most offer an array of reading, writing, planning, and productivity apps to support your needs through the day, even if you can’t freely download any app you’d like. The handwriting experience is often much better too, as the screens most often utilize Wacom EMR technology and micro-textured surfaces to deliver a more paper-like writing experience.

Even with these advancements, the limited nature of the display technology makes them much less likely to distract you while you read or take notes. While you can browse the web or load a video on some models (not all), the experience isn’t as fast, seamless, or tempting, allowing you to focus and accomplish more.

How to Choose the Best E-Ink Tablet

E-Ink tablets aren’t new anymore and as the technology has advanced, there are more factors to weigh when it comes to best meeting your needs. I’ve done the research and testing to find the best picks for most people, but if you’d rather consider options on your own, these are the things to look out for.

Stylus Support

Just like with traditional tablets and tablet PCs, stylus support can vary between brands and models. The most common stylus technology for e-ink tablets is Wacom EMR (electromagnetic resonance). Wacom styluses are a popular choice for their natural and responsive writing experience and exceptional palm rejection, and they don't actually need to be recharged since they don't run on batteries. Any EMR stylus will work with any EMR tablet, but the same can’t be said for capacitive styluses, which are the second option.

Capacitive styluses are commonly found on traditional tablets. But, just like that world, there are multiple standards applied between brands. You'll need to do research to ensure any aftermarket option you consider is compatible. Right now, the leading options are Bluetooth, USI, and USI 2.0. USI 2.0 is backward compatible with USI, but the opposite isn't true. As you can see, things can get confusing if you’re not careful. In general, however, if the tablet you’re considering offers stylus support, go for Wacom if possible.

Tablet Size

From the smartphone-like Boox Palma to the paper-sized Boox Note Max to middle-ground options like the Viwoods AI Paper at 10.3 inches or the Remarkable Paper Pro at just over 11 inches, there is a wide range of size options. If you're looking for a simple e-reader, a smaller tablet may be a better choice for its increased portability. If you read a lot of large PDFs or want to write on a sheet that's nearly the same as physical paper, a 13.3-inch option would be a good fit. In my experience, if you're not sure, opting for something in the middle is the safest bet, such as one of the 10.3-inch options in this list.

Color or Monochrome

Do you want color on your screen, or will black and white suffice? Color can be an important feature if you read files with color imagery or highlighters, download apps, or spend a lot of time browsing the web. If you'll mainly be using your tablet for reading, writing, or sketching, then monochrome is a fine choice and often comes with benefits, such as a lower price. One important thing to remember is that color e-ink is significantly less vibrant than color on an LCD tablet. Think of it more like color newsprint, and you'll be on the right track.

OS and App Support

As you consider what you would like to do with the tablet, one of the most important aspects to think about is whether you want access to an app store or if you'll be content with the features and functions provided by the manufacturer. While many e-ink tablets are deliberately designed to avoid downloadable apps for their propensity to distract, others, like those from Boox, aim to offer a full Android experience in an e-ink format. Just because a tablet runs on Android doesn’t mean that it will offer Google Play support, though. Be sure to verify that the tablet you’re considering offers access to the tools you’ll need to make it through your day.

Screen and Resolution

As you look into different tablets, you'll surely notice different screens highlights in feature and specification lists. Unless you’re shopping the used market and are considering a tablet more than 2 or 3 years old, you don’t need to get too hung up on this. For e-reading and writing, most displays will work similarly. Instead, I recommend paying closer attention to the resolution of the display and its pixel density (measured in Pixels Per Inch or PPI). As of this writing, the gold standard is 300 PPI, which offers a crisp reading experience with enough resolution to fully enjoy illustrations and photos.

As with most things, doing your research is still important. In the world of color e-ink, panel technology is advancing quickly, so a newer screen may offer more vivid colors and less ghosting. As always, take a gander at user reviews before pulling the trigger if you’re shopping for prior years’ models.

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews

I can't stress this enough: Even if you feel totally confident in a certain tablet being a great fit for you, take the time to read and watch different reviews to get a better idea of its strengths and weaknesses. Ghosting performance, app performance, update cadence, and battery life are all qualities with an element of subjectivity to them and aren’t things you can typically clean from product listings. Depending on your preferences, any of these qualities could turn a tablet that’s popular among others into a frustration for you. Do yourself a favor and do your research before pulling the trigger. You'll be glad you did.

1. Boox Tab X C / Boox Note Max

Best E-Ink Tablet

2. Viwoods AI Paper

Best for Students

3. Boox Note Air 4C

Best Color E-Ink Tablet

There is no e-reader as well-known as the Amazon Kindle, and with its latest release, the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft has slid into the top spot for anyone that doesn't mind purchasing their e-books from Amazon's vast library. Of course, if you don’t care about color, the Kindle Paperwhite is the next best, but either way, Amazon continues to have the e-reader market on lock.

The Kindle Colorsoft is the latest version of the Kindle to come to market, and it’s a welcome one. The original Kindle Colorsoft was plagued by yellow banding issues distorting colors along its bottom edge. With this release, it appears that Amazon has officially solved those issues, making it one of the most cost-effective and easy to use e-ink tablets out there.

Unlike most of the other devices in this list, the Colorsoft isn’t trying to be your do-it-all tablet. Instead, this is a purpose-driven device, designed to provide you with easy access to your ebook library anywhere you might be. You’ll need to be in the Amazon ecosystem or use a tool like Calibre to add non-Amazon ebooks, but if you are, you’ll find that this is the hands-down easiest way to access your entire library.

Like the other color tablets on this list, the Colorsoft’s plentiful assortment of hues adds a new dimension to anything with color pictures or illustrations. It makes a strong first impression, too, rendering all of your book covers in full color. As is the case with all e-ink screens right now, they won’t be as vibrant as an LCD reader can produce, but the few other places benefit from a paperlike screen than good, old-fashioned reading.

The new Kindle Colorsoft goes for $250 but tends to go on sale whenever there’s a major shopping event. If you don’t need color, the Kindle Paperwhite is only $160.

The Supernote Manta from Ratta is one of the most popular digital notebooks out there. It has a dedicated fan base, which is true of many options on this list, but few are as enthusiastic as the Manta's. Thanks to an existing customer-first approach to business and a design that emphasizes interconnecting your thoughts in a way that few others do, it's as close to a "second brain" as e-ink tablets have been able to deliver so far.

Here's the thing: While many, if not most, of the leading e-ink tablets on the market allow you to organize your notes and add tags, the Manta allows you to link between ideas more deeply and easily than anything else out there I'm aware of. You can add links to previous notes, categorize them with keywords, and search handwritten text. Notes can be linked to documents, images, and web pages. It’s also smart enough to create outlines for your documents on the fly, so even mid-note, it puts organization at the forefront.

In addition, it highly emphasizes the quality of the writing experience. The Supernote Manta uses a soft surface with a proprietary screen protector to give a gel pen-like writing experience. It comes with lots of purpose-built templates you can use to create your notebooks and allows you to sort everything into your choice of custom or pre-made folders, including subfolders, to really personalize your workflow.

Ratta has also implemented its own dedicated art application called Atelier. While basic note-taking still has a relatively limited pen selection, there are significantly more options built into Atelier, including different pencil hardnesses to shade with just gradients.

It never ceases to impress me what actual artists can create using the Manta. While I would never classify myself as an actual artist, I've still had a lot of fun using it for impromptu drawing and practicing new handwriting techniques. If you’re an art major, though, or just enjoy sketching, the Manta provides a lifelike drawing experience with an easy ability to move your draws off of the device into the cloud or directly to your PC.

While some people will find its lack of Google Play Store support limiting, it's one of the few devices that allows you to create a Wikipedia-like web of connection between your thoughts, which impressed me in my review. It should be on your radar if you’re looking for a digital notebook that can become integral to your day and be genuinely helpful to supplement your memory and planning.

In the e-ink space, Remarkable is probably the most well-known brand out there. The original Remarkable and its successor, the Remarkable 2, were very highly regarded and brought the idea of digital notebooks to a large mainstream audience in a way that shook the industry and made many of these other tablets possible. The Remarkable Paper Pro continues its legacy of delivering a class-leading writing experience and feels the most premium of any e-ink tablet I've used thus far. As far as paper replacements go, it’s great.

One of my hands-down favorite qualities about it is its excellent handwriting experience. Not only does the screen feel great to write on with its subtly textured surface, Remarkable is pulling some software magic behind the scenes to make your handwriting look better than anywhere else. Impressively, the changes are small enough that your handwriting still looks like your own, but looking back at it, it's satisfyingly refined in a way that will leave you wishing other tablets did the same.

There's also something about the way colors render on the screen, initially black and then chased by a colored line that's oddly satisfying. Its color presentation is quite good and is one of the more vibrant options out there today. It's perfect for reading PDFs and color coding within your own notebooks and templates.

Remarkable has never hid the fact that it is a handwriting-first device. Over the years, its "first to the mainstream" bona fides have allowed the company to occupy a somewhat luxurious space. That's evident in the weighty, metallic build of the Paper Pro, and, it must be said, its comparatively high price.

Whether or not this is a good fit for you will depend entirely on whether you are looking for a pure paper replacement. While there are lots of downloadable templates and resources to aid in your writing and organization, there are no outside apps, no dedicated art functions, and there's not even an ability to access Kindle, so your e-reading needs are limited to PDFs and ePubs. You can view Microsoft Word and Powerpoint files, too, so you can still access and review those files.

Overall, the Remarkable Paper Pro is limited in comparison to many other e-ink tablets but is a good example of choosing one thing, replacing paper, and doing it well.

Apple just debuted its latest iPhones that are now finally out in the world, and they’re not all the iPhone 17 this time; the slender new iPhone Air is also in the mix. If you’re buying one – and if you’re here, you probably are – you’ll need a case to protect that new glass-covered slab of yours.

This year’s crop won’t use last year’s cases, and a lot of that comes down with a totally redesigned chassis on the 17 Pro phones, now featuring a phone-spanning camera bump. Of course, there’s also the very first iPhone Air, which also has a radically different design than previous iPhones. Thankfully, a lot of the most well-regarded phone case makers have rushed to get their options ready in time for this launch, so you’ve got options.

TL;DR: These Are the Best iPhone 17 Cases

1. Apple TechWoven Case

Best iPhone 17 Pro Case

Swiped is now available to stream on Hulu in the United States.

As an installment in her filmography, Swiped represents a major leap forward for director Rachel Lee Goldenberg. Coming up from direct-to-video entries for The Asylum and made-for-TV Lifetime movies, Goldenberg launched two more prominent features in 2020 with Valley Girl and Unpregnant, only for their rollouts to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Five years later, she now has Disney money to spend (although under the 20th Century Studios name) with Swiped, certainly her most high profile project yet, garnering a Toronto Film Festival premiere before launching on Hulu and Disney+ worldwide. However, the end result is a decent film that could have been stronger if it were willing to take as many risks as its subject.

Swiped tells the story of Whitney Wolfe (she took the name Herd after marrying Michael Herd in 2017), famous for her integral role in Tinder’s rise and also for being the founder and CEO of Bumble. As a key player in the creation of two of the biggest dating apps in existence, it’s not unfair to say that Wolfe has had an astronomical impact on worldwide culture, especially with a younger generation who have had their entire dating life filtered through the presence of such apps. Yet you might not get the full sense of that impact by watching Swiped, which focuses more on the micro consequences in regards to Wolfe’s personal history with the companies, in particular her sexual harassment suit against her former colleagues at Tinder and her subsequent reemergence as the head of Bumble.

The dramatic arc of Wolfe’s rise, downfall and eventual return to prominence certainly makes for an easy enough three act structure, but it also makes Swiped into a movie too basic to do its subject justice. It’s an interesting story on its own merits, and certainly reflects the toxic and misogynistic tendencies of technology company culture. Yet if Wolfe is made undoubtedly sympathetic because of the way her cohorts treat her as she fights to make a name for herself in a male-dominated workspace, the movie never turns enough of a critical eye on Wolfe herself to make her three-dimensional. Swiped’s Whitney Wolfe is a relatable figure because of her struggles, but she never becomes a rounded figure because of her choices.

That's not for lack of trying on the acting front, though. Lily James, of Cinderella and Baby Driver fame, has been an underappreciated actor for years, and turns in a performance that’s better than the script deserves. James’ most compelling attribute, present both on screen and stage (shout-out to her excellent work as Eve Harrington in Ivo van Hove’s 2019 production of All About Eve), is her ability to stealthily take over a scene with small gestures that eventually coalesce into a bigger moment later on. That ability to disarm the audience to produce pathos is what makes her so charming to watch, yet the depth she tries to add to her take on Wolfe isn’t always backed up by the writing. We understand by watching her why she’s good at persuading people to try her products, but charm can only take a character so far when there are reasons to treat her with skepticism.

This becomes a problem when the movie feels obligated to give Wolfe a “dark night of the soul” beat that isn't earned. Although one of Goldenberg’s best directorial touches is how she assembles a frantic montage of Wolfe’s life falling apart through her phone as she becomes the internet’s punching bag of the moment after the sexual harassment suit, this is followed up with Wolfe meeting with former work friend Tisha (Myha’la), who tells her that Wolfe didn’t do enough to help the other women in the office after she earned her co-founder status. James’ furious response to this (and the inherent racial dynamic of a white woman snapping at a Black woman who’s trying to hold her accountable for her actions) is one of the movie’s best moments because it feels emotionally honest about Wolfe’s failings while not taking away from the very real abuse that Wolfe suffered.

Henry Cavill has broken his silence after reports that he suffered an injury during pre-production for the new Highlander reboot.

The Man of Steel and former Witcher star took to his official Instagram to give fans a status update. It was unclear how exactly Cavill was hurt while training for the upcoming Highlander reboot, but judging by his post today, it looks like the injury is located around his left foot and ankle.

While Cavill rests his leg next to his dog and, of course, a neat stack of Warhammer books, how he sustained the injury remains unclear. Instead of explaining how the injury came to be, the ex-Superman star used his post as an opportunity to share some poetry. Specifically, the poem he posted in the caption for his 28.3 million Instagram followers is William Ernest Henley’s Invictus.

Cavill will be off his feet for quite a while longer, so don’t expect any Highlander updates anytime soon. THR reported last week that the Chad Stahelski-directed film was on track to go into production “in the coming weeks.” That has been pushed back, with production now expected to begin in early 2026.

There is still much we have yet to learn about how Highlander will bring the cult-classic story to modern audiences. However, in June, we did learn that Russell Crowe is set to reunite with his Man of Steel co-star for the project, with Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Marisa Abela, Djimon Hounsou, and Max Zhang all also attached. Stahelski has also teased that more Highlander could be in the cards.

“I’ll say it for you first, our story engages a lot of the same characters and stuff like that,” the John Wick director told Happy Sad Confused in 2023. “But we’ve also brought in elements of all the TV shows, and we’re trying to do a bit of a prequel, a setup to The Gathering, so we have room to grow the property.”

While Cavill rests, you can check out how his Warhammer studying might be helping him tackle the challenge of creating the Warhammer 40,000 cinematic universe. You can also check out what appears to be the star’s long-lost audition to play 007.

Photo by Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

The Nintendo Switch 2 console only has two high-profile original games that you can get right now: Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, with Kirby Air Riders coming later in November. Mario Kart World is great, but Donkey Kong Bananza has entrenched itself as one of the best games of the year and an absolute must-buy for anyone with a Switch 2.

It's unlikely that we will see any first party Nintendo Switch 2 games discounted at domestic retailers during Black Friday, but AliExpress is offering a great deal on an imported copy. Lucky Tech Store has it right now for $52.49 after $12 off coupon code "AEUS12". Delivery is free and the game is shipped from a local US warehouse. That means it arrives within a week and you don't have to worry about tariffs. All physical Switch 2 games are region unlocked, so you'll be able to play this game without any problems on a US-based Switch 2 console.

Donkey Kong Bananza for $52.49

Star Wars fans, don't miss out on this rare Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series bundle. Right now Walmart is offering the LEGO Star Wars AT-ST Walker (75417) and LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader Helmet (75304) together for just $210. Purchased separately you would have to pay $280, so you're saving about 25% off. This is sold and shipped exclusively from Walmart directly with free delivery. I posted this deal last week and it sold out in a few hours.

LEGO Star Wars Darth Vader and AT-ST Walker Bundle for $210

There's never been a better time to be a fan of anime, as over the last decade, the gorgeous and trailblazing Japanese animation scene has become a global phenomenon, with even casual viewers now able to access the best of what Japan has to offer. No longer do we have to order four episodes of Sailor Moon on VHS from the back of a catalog, or struggle to find simulcasts for our newest favorite series.

Now, thanks to the ever-growing fandom and their passionate love of anime, pretty much every streamer is making sure they have an impressive array of offerings. Netflix – which has become one of the go-to spaces for brilliant new anime like Sakamoto Days, classic series like One Piece, and everything in between – has ensured that it remains part of the anime-centric conversation. That's why each month I'm here to recommend the best of what Netflix has to offer when it comes to the genre. From gangster slices of life to alien invasions, and campaign fantasies to viking sagas, there's a reason that Netflix is known as one of the best streaming services for anime lovers.

Note: This list applies to U.S. Netflix subscribers. Some titles may not currently be available on international platforms (yet). This list will also be periodically amended to remove series no longer available on Netflix, as well as add new anime shows available for streaming on the service.

Dan Da Dan Season 2

Not long you you wouldn't be able to find an electric bike for under $1,000. Although there are still plenty of "premium" brands that still sell ebikes for well above this threshold, it's no longer an accurate blanket statement. At least today, an entry level ebike can be had for as low as $300. AliExpress has great deals on ebikes in general, but the three deals below stand out in particular for three reasons: (1) they're a lot less expensive than buying the exact same bike off Amazon, (2) they're all shipped from a local US warehouse so you don't need to worry about tariffs or shipping delays, and (3) they're sold by reputable vendors with plenty of reviews and sales to back them up.

Amyet V9-G60 1000W Electric Bike for $477.47

Xbox console prices are about to go up once again in the United States, after already rising back in May.

Announced today, Xbox will increase the retail pricing of Xbox Series S, Series X, Series X Digital, and Series X 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition Consoles beginning on October 3rd. Prices for controllers and headsets will not change, and there will be no pricing changes outside of the U.S. at this time.

Price increases will be as follows:

• Xbox Series S 512GB: $399.99 (up $20 from $379.99)
• Xbox Series S 1TB: $449.99 (up $20 from $429.99)
• Xbox Series X Digital: $599.99 (up $50 from $549.99)
• Xbox Series X: $649.99 (up $50 from $599.99)
• Xbox Series X 2TB Galaxy Special Edition: $799.99 (up $70 from $729.99)

Xbox says the price increases occurred "due to changes in the macroeconomic environment," and adds that in the future, it will "continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and providing value for Xbox players."

This move comes as many video game companies are raising prices on everything from consoles to accessories to games, with price increases affecting the U.S. in particular amid ongoing tariff fluctuation and uncertainty. Just last month, Sony implemented a price increase in the U.S. on its hardware, and after releasing its Nintendo Switch 2 at $450, Nintendo raised the price on its original Switch 1 and various accessories as well. Video games, too, are being impacted: Xbox raised its prices for Game Pass earlier this year, Mario Kart Tour launched at an unheard-of $80, and Xbox announced it would also introduce $80 games this holiday...though it backtracked on that decision shortly after (an Xbox spokesperson confirmed to IGN that this will remain the case, with no $80 games this holiday).

We've previously spoken to expert analysts about the rising prices of all gaming items, and they explained that all of these price increases are likely occurring due to a mixture of increased manufacturing costs, competition, and U.S. tariffs, with the latter particular relevant in cases where prices are climbing in the U.S. and nowhere else. Previously, the Entertainment Software Association has issued statements on the impact of tariffs in the U.S., with ESA spokesperson Aubrey Quinn telling me in April, "There's going to be a real impact regardless of company. This is company-agnostic, this is an entire industry. There's going to be an impact on the entire industry.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Full spoilers follow for Peacemaker Season 2, Episode 5 - “Back to the Suture.”

We open this week’s episode with another Rick Flag Jr. flashback, albeit one where he’s dead and Jennifer Holland’s Harcourt is attending his wake. It’s a pretty sad affair by the looks of it, and not just because Rick Jr. (Joel Kinnaman) has passed; the place is full of empty chairs and, as Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) says to Harcourt, the people who are in attendance are “assholes who Ricky couldn’t fucking stand.” There but for the grace of God…

As announced previously, IGN is the official stream partner for Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions' 10th Anniversary livestream, Beyond the Strand, which will share future projects that are in development at Kojima Productions. Below is everything you need to know on how to watch the stream live next week.

When is Beyond the Strand Livestream?

Kojima Productions' Beyond the Strand livestream will take place at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills, Tokyo, Japan, on September 23, 2025, at 1pm JST. For those in the United States, the timing is September 22 at 9pm PT / September 23 at 12am ET / 5:00am BST.

What to Expect from Beyond the Strand?

Hideo Kojima will be hosting the event live, and fans can expect a look into upcoming projects at Kojima Productions. It's unknown which projects will be focused on, but fans are curious if he'll share details on his upcoming horror project with Microsoft, titled OD, or Physint, a PlayStation-exclusive, action-espionage game. The stream will also include some special guests to appear with Kojima.

How to Watch Beyond the Strand

Here’s the full list of places you can watch Beyond the Strand livestream:

• IGN.com (homepage)
• IGN's Twitch Channel
• IGN's YouTube Channel
• IGN's iOS App
• IGN's Android App
• Eurogamer.com (homepage)
• VG247.com (homepage)

The tech experts at Digital Foundry have completed their analysis of Borderlands 4 on console, and confirmed a gradual worsening of framerate with continuous playtime, even on PlayStation 5 Pro and Xbox Series X.

As revealed in a new video published to YouTube, Digital Foundry found performance starts dipping after around 30 minutes to an hour, which it called "too intrusive on the overall experience, too regular an interruption." Even after a completely fresh boot, the game is still prone to framerate drops.

Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford has acknowledged the problem on social media, promising incoming improvements. As a workaround, Pitchford suggested console players quit Borderlands 4 and restart. Digital Foundry’s Tom Morgan confirmed this does restore performance, but criticized the situation, saying “resetting the game every hour should really not be an expected solution for players.”

"Each console is prone to sizeable, sub-60fps lurches given enough time on the clock, and it's just a matter of how long you're willing to keep playing before deciding to reset," Morgan added.

Morgan also called for an emergency patch. Gearbox has promised more fixes are on the way, after yesterday’s patch tackled PC crashes.

“Borderlands 4 justifies the six-year wait since the last entry with some big technical upgrades via Unreal Engine 5,” Morgan said. “Despite the team's huge ambition here, though, the game's performance at launch is struggling on console if 60fps is the goal, and a patch cannot come soon enough. The gradually worsening framerates on PS5, Pro, and Series X lead to some dire mid-30fps passages of play after a while. And resetting the game every hour should really not be an expected solution for players.

“This lack in polish at launch also shows in its bugs where broken NPC pathfinding and flickering lighting are just a couple of issues I've experienced. The promise of Borderlands 4 is compelling, but following on from MGS Delta and Oblivion Remastered, we're once again looking at a major UE5 release with framerate issues on every format. And once again, we're having to hang tight for an update to save the day.”

So, what's causing the problem? As Morgan points out, the situation with Borderlands 4 rekindles memories of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, another Unreal Engine 5 title where performance degraded over time on console and also improved with a fresh boot. It's unconfirmed for now, but the leading theory for Borderlands 4, as with Oblivion, is there's some form of memory leak at play, or, as Morgan put it, "a cache of data not being flushed from system memory that eventually catches up on the player."

What about the PC version? Borderlands 4 is currently on a mixed Steam review rating, with most of the negative comments revolving around PC performance. Digital Foundry has said its initial analysis of Borderlands 4 on PC shows significant stutter problems, and have advised against running the game on its ‘Badass’ graphics setting, which suggests there are indeed problems with the Unreal Engine 5 title.

Gearbox has said addressing PC performance is a “top priority” for the studio. In the meantime, the studio pointed to a Borderlands 4 Nvidia Optimization guide on Steam, advising players how to optimize their graphics settings for “better performance and framerates” on PC with the Nvidia app, although users report mixed results.

Gearbox has also issued a piece of advice to PC gamers that to me reads like an effort to prevent players from making knee-jerk reactions to the game's performance as soon as they’ve changed their settings: “Please note that any time you change any of your graphics settings, your shaders will need to recompile. Please keep playing for at least 15 minutes to see how your PC's performance has changed.”

All eyes are on Gearbox right now amid an internet backlash to the performance of Borderlands 4 — which has come despite huge player numbers on Steam. Pitchford himself has set his sights on winning angry Borderlands 4 players over on social media. Since Borderlands 4’s huge Steam launch last week, Pitchford has issued confusing comments on why the console version of Borderlands 4 lacks a field of view (FOV) slider, promised that it would have been impossible to break the Borderlands 4 servers through sheer weight of player numbers alone, told people to “code your own engine and show us how it’s done, please,” and declared Borderlands 4 “a premium game made for premium gamers.” He's even started telling Borderlands 4 players to refund the game on Steam if they're that upset.

If you are delving into Borderlands 4, don't go without updated hourly SHiFT codes list. We've also got a huge interactive map ready to go and a badass Borderlands 4 planner tool courtesy of our buds at Maxroll. Plus check out our expert players' choices for which character to choose (no one agreed).

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

More leaked Battlefield 6 battle royale gameplay footage appears to have made its way online.

Video of this early version of the upcoming battle royale mode poured onto X/Twitter overnight and seems to have been captured from recent BF Labs playtests hosted by the four-studio team at BF Studios. It’s a lengthy look that comes from user @BobNetworkUK, who reports that they have already managed to secure a new Labs account after their previous account was disabled by EA.

pic.twitter.com/lrWKhc8NS0

— bob. (@BobNetworkUK) September 19, 2025

The main leaked Battlefield 6 gameplay making its way around social media is relatively straightforward and not unlike what we’ve seen in other, similar battle royale experiences like Warzone. The player can be seen running around a warehouse, dodging bullets from enemy players as they collect weapons, armor plates, and other tools from nearby loot chests.

Other clips have also spilled onto platforms like X, including footage of how things like upgrade kits and custom weapon drops work. It’s important to note that none of what we’ve seen so far is final.

Battlefield 6 itself still has a few weeks to go before its October 10 release date for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S arrives. BF Studios hasn’t officially announced when exactly the Battlefield 6 battle royale mode will launch, though ModernWarzone reported earlier this week that its sources expect its release date to be October 28, 2025.

EA and BF Studios are no strangers to leaks, especially when it comes to Battlefield 6. That’s mostly thanks to BF Labs, which has allowed a large number of players to experience in-development content as the developers look for fan feedback.

It’s a topic we made sure to ask Ripple Effect about when interviewing the team earlier this month. Most gamers have known that Battlefield 6 is under pressure to deliver for EA. BF Studios told us it knows next month’s new entry marks a particularly important moment for the long-running FPS franchise, too, which is why it doubled down on fan feedback – even if it means it’s sprung a few leaks along the way.

“I remember, at one point, making a big presentation that said, 'What will leak? Everything.' Like, we just started with that assumption that things would leak,” technical director Christian Buhl told us. “Now, to be clear, we didn't want things to leak. We weren't seeking leaks, but we knew that the most important thing was to get the game in front of players, get real feedback from players, get real telemetry, real data, and that had to come at any cost, including the fact that things would leak.”

For more on Battlefield 6 ahead of its October 10 release date, you can read up on another leak from earlier this month. You can also check out our new hands-on preview, where we got to take a closer look at some of the new maps and modes not present in the August beta tests.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Nintendo of America has made the decision to outsource its customer support services, resulting in hundreds of contractors losing their jobs amid concerns Nintendo’s customer support will suffer as the Nintendo Switch 2 enters its first holiday season.

IGN has spoken to multiple sources impacted by the decision, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal. All of them painted a picture of a formerly rigorous structure for training and maintaining customer support services in the U.S. that was suffering significantly due to language barriers, poor communication, and Nintendo’s overall decision-making on how to handle the transition from U.S.-based support to outsourced support from South America.

Sources say that historically, Nintendo of America has contracted with primarily two U.S.-based agencies to fill roles in back office customer support. That includes, according to one source I spoke to and verified by others, “back office teams, fraud, financials, chargebacks, customer services, chatlogs, customer phone and email support, refunds, account bans, remote data transfers, repair support, everything customer support. There are a few people remaining on-site overseeing it, but essentially it’s all going away.”

Though the people in these roles were contract employees, those we spoke to say many workers had been there for years. In order to skirt laws that would have required them to hire workers full time, Nintendo of America would contract them for 11 months at a time. At the end of the contract, they’d be “let go” for two months, during which they could draw unemployment, before having their contract consistently renewed, often at a higher pay rate each time. Contractors received some health benefits through the agency, with the only Nintendo-provided benefits being occasional free or discounted games. “Everyone that I have worked with has worked here for years,” said one contractor.

As a result, IGN understands many of these contractors were highly skilled and experienced, specifically in working with Nintendo of America’s systems and procedures. However, in March, workers were told their contracts were being cut, to be phased out entirely this month. Those I spoke to were unsure of the total number of individuals impacted, but estimated in the ballpark of 200 workers total. Contractors were informed through their respective agencies; sources tell me contractors never received any direct communication from Nintendo of America on this subject. “Not a thank you, not an I’m sorry, nothing,” said one. Because they are contract employees, they do not receive severance pay, even if their contracts are ending early.

Contractors whose contracts run through September are still working their usual jobs, but with a new duty added: they now have to help train their replacements.

Those we spoke to shared that Nintendo of America appears to have cut contracts in the U.S. only to outsource the jobs to workers in South America, primarily Brazil but also other countries such as Argentina and Nicaragua. While Nintendo of America has previously employed support staff in these countries, in the past, they were limited to first-line contacts, who would then pass information to departments in the U.S. for cases to be handled in full. But now, these workers are more fully taking on customer support cases. While they are receiving assistance from the U.S. workers, those I spoke to say this process has been challenging and frustrating for everyone involved, and there are concerns that customer support quality will suffer long-term.

For one, U.S. contractors tell me that Nintendo of America has previously had rigorous standards it held customer support workers to. However, they say those standards seem to be different – less rigorous – for the new hires, and the U.S. contractors report often being called in to resolve issues on their behalf. One U.S. contractor also told me that feedback provided to supervisors of the new group of contractors did not seem to be making it to the agents.

“The training of our replacements by existing agents is something that has never been done with new hires before,” they said. “New hires were previously brought on in large groups and whittled down to the best three to seven agents. While help was always available to new agents, there was always an expectation to see a contact through to the end (unless something urgent or sensitive was found) in order to ensure that every agent knew how to do everything. Now we are expected to finish contacts that are deemed ‘too difficult’ for new agents.”

Another issue is the language barrier. While the new contract employees speak English, those I spoke to say their skills are often understandably weaker than those of a native speaker. This has caused a number of communication issues internally, but also has resulted in a noticeable increase in customers becoming irate, belligerent, and even racially abusive toward agents. One person specifically recalled seeing customers using racial slurs toward the new agents on multiple occasions.

Everyone we spoke to expressed concern that this change would result in, at least in the immediate term, a noticeable drop in support quality for Nintendo of America customers, especially once the trained U.S. agents were no longer around to support. As they pointed out, this is coming at a time when Nintendo might be keen to have strong customer support, with the Nintendo Switch 2 having just launched and preparing to head into its first holiday season. But instead, Nintendo seems to be prioritizing cost saving. As one former employee put it:

We feel pretty cheated by the whole process -- Nintendo just released a highly popular console and they're making plenty of money, yet the minimum wage in the areas they are hiring from equates to about $1/hr in USD [Author’s note: The general minimum wage in Brazil is R$1,518.00 per month, which equates to $245 USD per month or approximately $1.53 an hour. Minimum wage in the state of Washington is $16.66 per hour.] They are basically sacrificing the quality of well trained agents to save a bunch of money, and it's left us all feeling very… Vulnerable? Crappy? Obviously we knew taking contract jobs that this could happen and there was no guarantee to return after contract breaks, but I personally feel as though Nintendo could have easily hired on a bunch of the contractors as FTE and had better results while still saving money from having to use the agencies (which obviously take a cut of the money) -- so I guess it's made us feel worthless. It's also such a volatile economy to be dumping all of us out into.

When asked about the claims in this article, Nintendo provided the following statement to IGN:

While we have nothing to announce about our internal business activities, the claims shared with IGN include inaccurate information. At Nintendo of America, we are extremely thankful to have partnered with several companies and their talented contractors over the years to deliver high-quality customer service experiences. We continue to evolve and expand our customer service model with external partners that have deep experience in all the markets we serve across the Americas. This approach allows us to support the full scope of our customer service mission in both North America and our growing Latin American markets, and better scale to seasonal needs for consistent support. As always, our top priority is to provide excellent customer support, and we are pleased that customer satisfaction with the service provided by all our partners remains positive.

I asked Nintendo to specify which claims in this article were inaccurate, but the company did not respond. I also reached out to the contract agencies mentioned by my sources for this piece. Neither responded to my digital inquiries, one didn’t answer the phone nor return my voicemail, and the other answered the phone but was unable to connect me with anyone who could answer my questions.

The individuals I spoke to also expressed concern and fear about the job market they were about to enter, especially given the growing use of generative AI in customer support industry-wide. They pointed out that due to a rise in generative AI replacing human workers in their industry, it could be extremely challenging for those impacted by this to find work. That same source added that Nintendo's customer support environment had been, by and large, a positive working environment for employees who are members of the LGBTQ community, and attracted a diverse workforce over time. But consequentially, they say, those diverse individuals are now especially struggling with the impact of these reductions due to the current political climate in the U.S. “You’re putting us all back out on a market that makes it clear we are not welcome,” they said. “A lot of us are feeling betrayed, empty, like almost led-on in a way. Who knows what the next couple years will look like?”

“It’s hard to see a post from Doug Bowser thanking his direct team for how much this has impacted him,” they added. “You’re thanking the wrong team.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

The launch of Taylor Swift's highly-anticipated new album The Life of a Showgirl will be accompanied by an 89-minute "release party" movie.

Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl will be shown in theaters on October 3 and through the rest of the launch weekend at all 540 AMC Theaters across the U.S., and internationally within Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and much of mainland Europe.

Such is the excitement expected, that AMC has already said it will relax the chain's usual guest ettiquette rules for showings, with dancing, singing and shaking it all off "welcomed." However, AMC said in a statement, per Variety, "to help ensure everyone's enjoyment of the show, guests may not stand on seats or block any aisles or stairs."

Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl will include a first look at the album's lead single "The Fate of Ophelia" and a behind-the-scenes peek at its filming. Swifties will also get to see lyric videos for other songs and Swift's "never-before-seen personal reflections" on her latest material.

Swift is no stranger to the big screen, of course (just don't mention Cats). Previous documentaries gave a glimpse at the singer recording a session version of her beloved Folklore album, for example, while millions of Swifties also packed theaters to see The Eras Tour's filmed version.

Today's announcement follows weeks of speculation that Swift was planning some form of movie component to launch alongside The Life of a Showgirl, though fans had hoped for more of a documentary on the star's record-breaking Eras Tour. Here's hoping there's no Bad Blood.

The Life of a Showgirl, Swift's 12th studio album, was largely written while on the road (and while in the air) on her years-long tour, with its lyrical contents expected to hint at what life was like performing its 149 concerts across two years. (Is It Over Now? Yes it is.)

Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

As much as I love the high-end options I recommend in my best gaming headsets guide, you don't necessarily need to spend upwards of $200 to get solid audio. They often come with state of the art features and a ton of versatility along with top-notch sound quality, but if you simply need something that sounds great and is comfortable, you don't have to make too many compromises. At the same time, if you don't do your research, you could end up pretty disappointed even if you didn't ball out on a cheap headset. I have first-hand experience with a ton of these things, so whether you're on PC, PS5, Xbox, or Switch, all of my recommendations will suit multiple platforms.

For this particular guide, I've sorted the categories by general price range. Many headsets fluctuate in cost, often hovering below their initial retail price, and having monitored the sale price of several products, oftentimes those discounts remain active for extended periods of time or throughout the product's lifecycle. Such is the case with something like the HyperX Cloud III – the wired version retails for $100, but has been around $80 for a long while now; and that's a bargain for what you get in return. It's been my top pick among sub-$100 gaming headsets, due in part to the value it offers at that discounted price. However, if your budget is a bit tighter, you can go with the simple Corsair HS65. Or if you need something wireless, Turtle Beach has you covered with the Stealth 500. And if you're looking for the best bang for your buck, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1 makes an incredible case for itself.

TL; DR – These Are the Best Budget Gaming Headsets:

While all my picks are outlined above, below I have in-depth breakdowns of what makes each budget gaming headset special. From the specs sheet to my first-hand accounts, I'm here to make sure you know what you're getting into when you decide to take the plunge on any of these. Small details like how they fit, what materials they use, their sound profile, to their customization options, these are the kinds of features that can make or break your purchase – so, I got your back with my top budget gaming headset picks!

If you're looking at upgrading other peripherals, check out my roundups of the best gaming mice and best gaming keyboards.

Contributions by Danielle Abraham, Georgie Peru, Michelle Rae Uy and Adam Mathew.

1. Razer BlackShark V3 X

Best Gaming Headset at $100

2. HyperX Cloud III

Best Gaming Headset Under $100

3. Turtle Beach Stealth 500

Best Gaming Headset Under $80

4. Corsair HS65 Surround

Best Gaming Headset Under $70

5. SteelSeries Arctis Nova 1

Best Gaming Headset Under $50

Budget Gaming Headset FAQ

Are gaming headsets good for listening to music?

The short answer to this question is no, but there’s far more to it than that. When comparing similarly priced headphones and gaming headsets, the sound on the headphones is usually clear, well-balanced, and warm, while headsets lean more bass-heavy and can get muddied, especially cheaper ones. That’s often due to the extra technology and features loaded into headsets affecting cost, whether it be mics, added controls, or more connectivity – it makes headsets bulkier too.

It’s also important to note that most gaming headsets focus on a wide soundstage and surround sound to immerse you in the action and provide in-game audio cues, but stereo sound is better suited to music. With all that said, high-end gaming headsets, like the Audeze Maxwell, offer a decent music listening experience thanks to better drivers, a wide frequency range, the ability to adjust equalizer settings, and support of high-res sound. Still, in most cases, you’ll be better off with wireless headphones or even earbuds when vibing to your favorite tracks.

Do expensive gaming headsets really make a difference?

Up to a point. As with any gaming peripheral, if you're willing and able to spend a bit more cash, you get access to better quality audio drivers and other features. Things like wireless connections, 3D audio and surround sound are all typically found in more expensive gaming headsets. But while these features are nice to have, they're by no means essential. If you just need a gaming headset to hear the game you're playing and chat with your friends, any $50 gaming headset will get the job done.

Are budget gaming headsets good for live game streaming?

Not really. The microphones on gaming headsets tend to be a hit or miss, and unfortunately, many budget options fall into the latter category. These mics will work fine when you’re communicating with teammates, especially options with boom mics that go just below your mouth to avoid picking up unwanted noises. But if you’re streaming to a larger audience, grabbing a stand-alone streaming microphone can make a world of difference with its wide frequency response, high sample rate, bit-depth, and extensive software. The last thing you want to do if you’re getting into game streaming is turn off viewers because of terrible sound.

When do gaming headsets go on sale?

If you're hoping to pick up a cheap gaming headset for even less than normal, there are a few good times to buy headphones at a discount every year. The first option is Amazon Prime Day, which takes place in July every year and usually results in price cuts on many of the budget gaming headset brands like Logitech and Turtle Beach. After that, your best bet is Black Friday and Cyber Monday season, which is the overall best time to buy just about any type of tech, gaming headsets included.

Over the last few decades, soccer (or football, if you’re not from the US like me) hasn’t changed much. Sure, there are new rules, improved tactics, and so much more money involved in the modern game – but at its heart, it's still all about kicking a ball into a goal more than the other team. So how does a series like EA Sports FC improve each year when the sport it’s emulating isn’t introducing massive changes? For me, it’s about quality-of-life updates, and FC 26 has those in spades. You’ve heard the phrase “death by a thousand cuts,” but this is more like “fixed by a thousand pieces of tape.” It’s not that every problem has been solved, and many of the micro issues like confusing player-switching and weird tackle animations have returned from FC 25 – but at least in my early time with it, FC 26 is inching in the right direction in nearly every aspect.

A phenomenal example of this is the new gameplay presets. In the past, everyone was using the same gameplay style, whether diving into competitive games in Ultimate Team or trying to win the league against CPU opponents in Manager Mode. This year, EA has split things between two different presets: Competitive and Authentic. With the Competitive preset, you can expect the fast-paced action and smarter AI teammates that you might be used to from previous FC/FIFA games. Meanwhile, Authentic will feel more realistic to what you see on the real-life pitch every weekend. Players are slower, and you need to use your tactical intelligence to get into scoring position.

The most important part of this change is that these two options do not impact each other. That means EA can tune Competitive mode however is needed without changing the balance of Authentic mode, something they couldn’t do in previous versions of FC. I’ve only played about a dozen games with each preset so far, but they already feel distinct in a way that is valuable. Players come to FC 26’s various modes for different reasons: Career Mode players want a game that plays as close to real-life a possible, while Ultimate Team and Clubs players want fair and balanced online competition. Those two ideals have sometimes worked against each other in the past, so giving us two totally separate gameplay styles lets EA serve both communities.

What’s strange about the implementation is that the Authentic preset is restricted to offline modes only. That means you can’t even use it in your Squad Battles matches despite them being the only single-player content in Ultimate Team. It’s something I hope is added in the future, as it feels strange not to include all of the single-player content by default, especially when it does exactly that with the new version of the Season Pass.

Before diving into some of the other positive changes, let's go over that Season Pass, as it’s one of the biggest points of contention for me. Last year, EA introduced a paid Season Pass into FC 25 toward the end of the cycle, so we knew this was coming, but seeing it drop on day one does sting. You can ignore it and stick with the free version of the pass, or even earn enough in-game currency to buy it without spending real-world money, but I would argue that this might be the worst version of a Season Pass we’ve seen in a sports game yet.

The issue with FC 26’s Season Pass is that you’re not just earning rewards for Ultimate Team, where people are already (unfortunately) conditioned to spend money. You’re also earning a ton of rewards for Clubs, Player Career, and Manager Career. The latter is where things really get icky, because one of the big draws for FC 26 is that Icons and Heroes are finally available in Manager Mode. For the first time ever, you can take classic players like Luis Figo, Toni Kroos, and Julie Foudy and put them into your Manager Mode saves. It should be a revelation, but instead, EA made the strange decision to lock many of these players behind the Season Pass.

There are several reasons this is frustrating. The first is that you probably won’t be able to acquire enough XP for them by playing Manager Mode alone. EA might implement more ways for non-Ultimate Team players to earn XP, but with how things are currently constructed, you’ll need to dive into that lootbox opening simulator if you want to finish enough of the pass to claim all of the Career Mode rewards. Even as someone who primarily plays Ultimate Team, this change sucks. I already know how bad FC’s monetization can get, and I hate seeing it expanded to more of the playerbase in a way that feels scummy.

As if that weren’t frustrating enough, Career Mode players aren’t likely to earn enough Ultimate Team-specific currency to purchase the Season Pass in that mode alone. That means you’ll need to spend real money to unlock players like Gianfranco Zola, Miroslav Klose, and Park Ji-Sung. Keep in mind, this is only the first Season Pass. If FC 26 continues to lock Icons and Heroes behind future passes, we’ll likely see desirable players like Ronaldinho, Ruud Gullit, and Johan Cruyff tucked behind a paywall as well.

It’s an unfortunate situation that reeks of EA trying to get even more money out of its playerbase than usual. It’s bad enough that Ultimate Team players are being milked dry, but now you can’t even enjoy your offline Career Mode without feeling the pull to spend money.

What makes this even more painful is that most of the modes feature fun updates to their tried and true formulas this year. For example, the new Manager Live Hub lets you dive into specific challenges and earn new jerseys for your club. These feel like the next step toward a historical mode like the Negro Leagues option in MLB The Show, as you’ll be challenged to recreate moments like Jamal Musiala’s double with Bayern Munich or take a mid-level club like SK Rapid or Strasbourg to European glory. The classic version of Career Mode is still there, but Manager Live gives you a rotating list of challenges that will test your skill on and off the pitch.

Even Ultimate Team is home to several small yet meaningful changes. Everything from the return of tournaments to the ability to choose the cosmetics on your Evolutions feels carefully crafted to deliver the improvements fans have been asking after for years. We’ll have to wait a month or two to see the impact of the slower Ultimate Team power curve, and I’m hesitant to judge the stability of the servers until they are live for everyone, but my early experience is positive.

While I’m not much of a Clubs player, the new Archetypes have certainly piqued my interest. Without a dedicated group, it’s unlikely I will spend too much time in Clubs, but the Archteype system seems like an improved way to handle progression to my untrained eye. While a meta will surely settle over the mode in the coming weeks, having this clear sense of forward momentum makes me wish I had a group of 10 friends to play with.

I have more to play this weekend, but so far FC 26 seems to provide enough quality-of-life changes that I feel more positive about the on-pitch product after a few years of stagnation. However, I can’t help but be annoyed by how heavily monetized every mode is becoming. I’ve always felt it was relatively easy to ignore the pull to spend extra money unless you wanted to compete at the very top of Ultimate Team, but that’s much less true this year. Now, not even the Career Mode players are safe. FC 26 is EA at its most money-hungry yet, and I can’t help but worry where we’re going next.

It's been just over three months since the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, and Amazon's latest move to remove its invite requirement has finally closed the book on any lingering Switch 2 scarcity anxieties.

It's a change that was long overdue. Up until recently, Amazon was the last major online retailer in the US with any kind of roadblock in place for the average consumer. Walmart, Best Buy, and Target have all been successfully stocking the console online and in stores for well over a couple of months.

Going into the rapidly approaching holiday season with your brand new console overwhelmingly in stock, and for the right reasons, is great news for Nintendo. But, it's even better news for those looking to pick up the console for themselves or loved ones as part of the festivities.

That being said, I'm not anticipating any discounts on the Nintendo Switch 2 as part of Black Friday, or any other kind of sale during the final few months of year. If you were holding out in hope of a special offer to come, personally I would save yourself the headache and just buy it now.

You've got the option of a Nintendo Switch 2 for $449, or either of the bundle options currently available for $499. That includes the Mario Kart World bundle, which is already available, or preordering the Pokemon Legends: Z-A bundle that's set to release on October 16.

Both include a built in discount as well compared to buying the console and game seperately, with a $30 saving for Mario Kart, and $20 saving for Pokemon.

But, if you did want the best deal possible on a Switch 2, then this early October Prime Day offering at Amazon might be just what you're looking for.

So what's the deal? Amazon is currently giving away up to $150 worth of gift card credit to every Prime member who signs up for its Prime Visa Card, which also includes 5% cashback on all purchases at online retail mogul (Note: $50 for non-Prime members, and 3% cashback).

That works out at a total of $167.49 off either of the Switch 2 bundles, post cashback of course, and costing you $332.50 instead of almost $500.

But, while I love a good discount, I'm no financial advisor, so consider this suggestion carefully, and with your head royally screwed on. Happy gaming, readers.

Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN's resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.

There's no shortage of podcast series dealing with comic books these days. Even Batman has a podcast of his very own. But the newly launched Superfan Podcast has an interesting angle. It's a comic book-centric podcast that's not actually about comics.

The idea behind the Superfan Podcast is that hosts Christian Gossett (Eyes of Wakanda), Kristen Simon (Executive Editor at Mad Cave Studios’ Nakama Press), and Superfan Promotions founder David Hyde invite a different personality from the industry to join them in each episode and discuss a topic that doesn't involve comics. For instance, the series premiere features Killadelphia's Rodney Barnes talking about his love of Stephen King novels at a time when multiple King adaptations are hitting the big screen.

Superman, the first theatrical release for James Gunn’s DCU that seemed to inspire a new wave of hope and punk rock, hit theaters in July. Several months later, we can confirm the movie is now streaming on HBO Max. So, if you’re looking for something to watch at home this weekend, I'd recommend checking out the palpable chemistry between David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan (and, honestly, Nicholas Hoult).

Superman Now Streaming on HBO Max

With its sequel set to be released on December 5, there's no better time to revisit Five Nights at Freddy's. If you've been looking to do a rewatch and haven't picked it up in a physical format yet, Amazon's about to drop an exclusive Five Nights at Freddy's Ultimate Collector's Edition on October 7 that's a perfect pick-up for fans of the FNAF games and movies alike. Not only does it come with the film in a 4K steelbook, but there are a few fun bonuses to enjoy alongside it.

The Five Nights at Freddy's Ultimate Collector's Edition is now available to preorder for $74.99 (see here at Amazon). Below you can learn more about what comes with this collector's set and bonus features.

Preorder Five Nights at Freddy’s Ultimate Collector’s Edition IconArt With SteelBook

Alongside the Five Nights at Freddy's steelbook – which comes with the film on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and digital – the Ultimate Collector's Edition also includes an IconArt metal poster with a magnet wall mount and a numbered certificate of authenticity, all packaged inside a fun pizza box from Freddy Fazbear's.

Five Nights at Freddy's Ultimate Collector's Edition Bonus Features

• Five Nights at Freddy's: From Game to Big Screen
• Killer Animatronics
• Five Nights in Three Dimensions

October is packed with plenty of exciting releases alongside this Five Nights at Freddy's Ultimate Collector's Edition. To see what else is set to come out, have a look at our breakdown of upcoming 4K UHD and Blu-rays. Not only can you see what next month has to offer, but you can see a selection of movies and TV shows set to be released throughout the rest of the year. It's a good way to plan ahead on what's worth picking up for your physical media collection.

More New 4K Blu-rays

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.