Return to Silent Hill may have only released in theaters last week, but director Christophe Gans has already confirmed that a longer Director’s Cut exists.

According to a fan who attended a premiere and Q&A with the filmmaker last week and shared some highlights on Reddit, Gans described the alternate version "as longer and allowing [the story] more room to breathe." This includes the death scene of a prominent character from the game that only briefly appeared in the movie.

"Gans said he struggled to find the right place for it in the edit," the fan wrote. "It is unclear whether [the scene] would appear in the Director’s Cut, though he expressed a desire for audiences to see it someday." He also told attendees that he had been instructed by the producers to keep the movie under two hours long. There is no indication, however, that this Return to Silent Hill Director's Cut will ever be released.

Return to Silent Hill debuted to a dreadful reception last week, with just $3.2 million coming in from North American theaters. Despite Konami resurrecting its horror franchise with two well-received games, Silent Hill 2 Remake and Silent Hill f (as well as the divisive Silent Hill: Ascension and upcoming Silent Hill Townfall), the third Silent Hill movie had the lowest domestic box office opening of all three Silent Hill films; 2006's Silent Hill generated $20.2 million, and the painfully poor follow-up Silent Hill: Revelation just $8 million — which is still more than twice Return to Silent Hill's domestic opening.

IGN's Return to Silent Hill review returned a 5/10. We said: "Return to Silent Hill isn’t completely without merit. It’s certainly a better follow-up to Cristophe Gans’ original 2006 film than 2012’s Silent Hill: Revelation, one that finds some success drawing on the creepy imagery and sound design of the games. But it’s ultimately an adaptation that fails to improve upon the source material or do anything particularly new and interesting. Those craving a truly great psychological horror experience are better off booting up a version of Silent Hill 2."

Gans recently said that despite receiving death threats over adapting the horror series for the big screen, he would be open to bringing another instalment to life, insisting: "I will adapt another chapter because there are some that are extremely good, something very different from the first film, and now Return to Silent Hill. I like this world, and I can see that plenty of people are thinking I’m doing a pretty good job."

The question is, will he get the chance to make another Silent Hill movie? Perhaps working in Gans' favor is the fact Return to Silent Hill carries a modest production budget of $23 million.

You can find out more about what was and wasn't changed in the Silent Hill 2 movie adaptation right here. We also have a handy list of all the video game movies and TV shows coming in 2026 and beyond.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

James Gunn has defended The Brave and the Bold screenwriter Christina Hodson amid fan concern following news she will write the DC Universe’s Batman movie.

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Christina Hodson was writing The Brave and the Bold, which will be the first Batman movie in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe. Hodson is best known for writing 2018’s Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, 2020 DCEU movie Birds of Prey, and 2023’s ill-fated The Flash. She also wrote the infamous Batgirl movie Warner Bros. canceled after it was ready for release.

The backlash has a number of components to it, one of which is The Flash itself. 2023 superhero movie The Flash, starring Ezra Miller, was a critical and commercial flop, pulling in just $271 million worldwide during its theatrical run. Both it and the entire DCEU are now defunct.

Gunn responded to one person on social media who said Hodson was getting “unjust hatred,” suggesting The Flash fans saw in theaters wasn’t The Flash Hodson outlined in her screenplay.

“I will only say anyone maligning Christina Hodson's screenwriting skills has almost certainly never read an actual screenplay by Christina Hodson — she's one of the writers who was with us early in the DCU planning stages,” Gunn said. “I don't think you can judge my writing based on films others directed, as massive liberties are sometimes taken.”

In October, The Flash director Andy Muschietti defended his box office bomb, insisting people “like to talk s***” about films they haven’t seen. In an interview with The Playlist to promote IT prequel series Welcome To Derry, Muschietti insisted The Flash was a good movie, and some of the criticism it suffered came from people who hadn’t even seen it.

“A lot of people did not see it,” he said. “But you know how things are these days — people don’t see things, but they like to talk s*** about it, and they like to jump on bandwagons. They don’t really know. People are angry for reasons that are unrelated to these things.”

Muschietti then acknowledged the impact of Ezra Miller’s off-screen controversies on the movie. “Of course, we had a publicity crisis with Ezra that is undeniable,” he said. “And I’m not questioning that. But yeah, we love the movie. And actually, we really recommend it.”

He continued: “And again, we love the movie. We, you know, we gave it our blood, sweat, and tears all the way to the end. And I watched it, like a week ago, and loved it again.”

In January last year, Muschietti said The Flash failed at the box office because "a lot of people just don’t care about the Flash as a character."

Muschietti said the film failed to appeal to "the four quadrants" — a movie industry term meaning to appeal to everyone — enough to justify its $200 million budget.

"The Flash failed, among all the other reasons, because it wasn’t a movie that appealed to all four quadrants. It failed at that," Muschietti said. "When you spend $200 million making a movie, [Warner Bros.] wants to bring even your grandmother to the theaters.

"I’ve found in private conversations that a lot of people just don’t care about the Flash as a character. Particularly the two female quadrants. All of that is just the wind going against the film I’ve learned."

The four quadrants, as defined by Hollywood, are males under 25, males over 25, females under 25, and females over 25.

Woot has plenty to offer right now in its latest 'Video Game Mega Sale!', which is back with some truly excellent discounts, including on a wide variety of Nintendo Switch games.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder are just a few of the games on sale that are worth considering, but there are so many more to check out as well. Have a look through more of our favorite picks from Woot's sale below, and if you're curious to see everything that's discounted, head to the Mega Sale landing page here.

Nintendo recently confirmed a release date for Super Mario Bros. Wonder's expanded Switch 2 Edition, which makes it my top pick in the sale right now. The Switch 2 Edition will be available to purchase separately, or existing Switch owners of the game can alternatively purchase an upgrade pack, which costs $19.99.

So with the $46.99 cost, plus that extra $19.99 to upgrade, you're looking at $66.98 instead of $79.99, so around $13 savings in total, if you don't already own the game. This is the best and most affordable way to play on Switch 2 with the full upgrades and additional content.

Arriving on March 26, the upgraded release will include a suite of new minigames and the ability to play as Rosalina, ahead of her big screen debut in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

An important thing to keep in mind is that all Nintendo Switch games are region-free, so if you come across a game deal from Woot's sale that says it's the 'International Version', it will still work just fine on your console.

What's especially nice about these deals is that certain games, such as Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Breath of the Wild, can be upgraded to their Switch 2 versions for a small fee.

At these prices, you can buy the Switch 1 version and upgrade to the next-gen version for less than it costs to buy their Switch 2 editions. Even a game like Animal Crossing: New Horizons is worth buying now at this price, with its $5 upgrade pack now available, compared to dropping the $64.99 on its boxed Switch 2 edition.

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

This article contains contributions from Hannah Hoolihan.

Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has assured fans that he is "not going to abandon Haunted Chocolatier," saying: "it's taking a while to finish the game," and "that's okay."

In a new blog posted to the official Haunted Chocolatier website, Barone dispelled a number of myths and rumors that have popped up about him and his work on the upcoming game, admitting: "I know, I know, I shouldn't have announced the game so early. But I had my reasons." He added that Haunted Chocolatier will release "when it's done."

Responding to reports that the game will be abandoned entirely and possibly folded into Stardew Valley, Barone shut that down completely, writing: "No. First, I am not going to abandon Haunted Chocolatier. But even if I did, I am not going to add it to Stardew Valley. Stardew Valley and Haunted Chocolatier are separate games. It doesn’t even make sense from a technical perspective, as Haunted Chocolatier is written from scratch, it’s not the same 'engine' as Stardew Valley. You can’t just copy and paste Haunted Chocolatier into Stardew Valley."

Last summer, Barone admitted that he "didn't want to just be the Stardew Valley guy," explaining that was why he's currently working on Haunted Chocolatier. He's been clear that we shouldn't expect a release date anytime soon, though — there's "still a lot to be done," particularly as he feels it's "got to be better" than Stardew Valley. But that doesn't mean he's using Stardew to test ideas for Haunted Chocolatier, or vice-versa.

"When working on Stardew Valley, I’m not thinking about Haunted Chocolatier, and vice versa. I wouldn’t 'test something out' in Stardew Valley because that would be unfair to Stardew Valley, and also I don’t want to spoil ideas for Haunted Chocolatier by adding them first to Stardew Valley. Also, Stardew Valley is a different game, so you can’t really 'test something' for Haunted Chocolatier in it in an accurate way."

Barone also insisted that at no point did he intimate that the new game wouldn't be out until 2030, writing: "I was asked in 2025 if it would come out within the next five years, and I said 'I hope so.' This is very different than saying 'it’s coming out in 2030.' The bottom line is, I don’t want to give a release date. The game will come out when it’s done. Anyway, the only thing that really matters is that I keep making progress on the game and release it. So I’m gonna get back to doing that now.

"TLDR: I’m alive, the game is still in development, and it will come out when it’s ready. Thank you for your patience."

Talking of Stardew Valley: as fans continue to wait patiently for the previously announced 1.7 update, Barone dropped a couple of small, vague, yet exciting hints just before the holidays about what said mysterious update might entail, including a new farm type, and "more character/social stuff."

As for why Barone's working on a Stardew Valley update at the same time as Haunted Chocolatier? "I’m working on a new Stardew update because it’s a very popular game with a large, ever-growing playerbase, and I still have additional ideas for how to improve it."

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Nintendo has added health bars to Splatoon 3 more than three years after the game's release, prompting a mixed reaction from fans.

This week, Nintendo dropped an unexpected update to its inky shooter threequel, which originally launched for the original Switch back in September 2022. Alongside a new "Aura Flow" feature and other tweaks, the patch has notably added health bars — something which has come as a huge surprise to fans of the franchise.

In patch notes published alongside the game's 11.0.0 update, Nintendo announced that it would now be possible "to see an opponent's remaining health when they've been hit. Previously, you could only see how damaged an enemy was by looking closely at how much ink they were covered in – not so easy to do in the heat of battle!"

Apart from the surprise of such a major change being made so late in Splatoon 3's life, it's that latter sentence that has left fans with confusion. Splatoon has always featured a visual representation of damage without the need for health bars — how splattered in ink a character is — and health pools in general are typically quite low, with most weapons splatting foes in three or four hits.

Combat is an important part of Splatoon gameplay, of course, but only one component — as matches revolve around coating maps with ink to establish territory control.

"You'll also be able to see the health bars of your teammates if they've taken damage," Nintendo continued. "Keeping an eye on these health bars is a great way to support your allies or chase down weakened foes – even if you've teamed up with Inklings and Octolings you're not familiar with."

adding a health bar after the games update cycle finished like a year ago was certainly a choice https://t.co/glOvo4bme6 pic.twitter.com/P1ZMDIA022

— sunny 🍓 corbeau posting (@sunnydr0pdraws) January 27, 2026

"Health bars are even funnier when you consider Splatoon came up with a unique way to have health bars diegetically - by having the enemy getting covered in ink, that's the stuff that makes the game special," wrote one fan, EIectroDev. "Correct me if I'm wrong but it really took the Splatoon developers three games and over ten years to add visible health bars," noted Thinginator90. "The minds of Nintendo devs never cease to amaze."

"This health bar is so ugly im so sorry i hope we can toggle it off," added candy_draws_o_o, one of many fans to complain about how basic the health bar looks. (And no, you can't toggle it off.)

This week's update also added "Aura Flow," a gameplay feature that rewards competitive play — splatting multiple enemies in quick succession — with a burst of area-covering ink, plus a 30-second buff to speed and other stats.

"I hates this and the health bar update," said KidaToAsobou. "It just makes Splatoon a more aggressive/competitive game. [Splatoon 3] already did that by making the maps smaller forcing players to fight more but this only further incentivizes people to attack the enemy team rather then inking."

It's perhaps unsurprising to see a negative reaction to such changes from fans who have become used to playing Splatoon 3 a certain way for so long. But this only further begs the question of why Nintendo is adding these features now, years after launch. By way of an answer, several fans have suggested the possibility that Nintendo is now testing ideas it is experimenting with ahead of a new iteration of Splatoon, examining feedback and using Splatoon 3 as live gameplay environment to see how player behavior is impacted. "Testing splatoon 4 features I reckon," wrote pejic839, "like when they added online to Super Mario party as a test for Superstars."

Next up for the Splatoon franchise will be Switch 2 single-player spin-off Splatoon Raiders, which will expand the series with a more story-orientated entry. As for Splatoon 4, while another game in the franchise feels inevitable, there's no word on that yet.

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

Amazon is releasing Fallout Season 1 for free on YouTube ahead of next week’s Season 2 finale.

Fallout Season 1 episodes are dropping on the Prime Video YouTube channel daily, with Episode 1, called The End, and Episode 2, called The Target, live now.

It’s a welcome addition for non-Amazon Prime subscribers and a move that will surely build even more interest in the show, with Season 2, Episode 8 set for broadcast next week.

As someone who is up to date with the Fallout show, it was interesting to put Season 1, Episode 1 on YouTube for a few minutes, given recent comments from Cooper Howard / The Ghoul actor Walton Goggins.

Warning! Spoilers for Fallout follow:

In a recent interview, Goggins teased that Episode 8 will finally resolve one of the burning questions fans have had since Fallout hit Prime video back in 2024: how did his pre-war character, Cooper Howard, come to be at that birthday party with his daughter, right as the bombs fell?

"I mean, the whole first seven minutes of this experience in Season 1 was about [Cooper being] a guy at a birthday party,” Goggins told Entertainment Weekly. “Well, how did he get to that birthday party? What happened? It's all leading somewhere."

Rewatching Episode 1, I also picked up on something that passed me by before: during the party we hear a radio news bulletin that tells us the White House still has no comment on the whereabouts of the U.S. president.

Why is that of interest now? This week’s episode revealed the President of the United States, played by Clancy Brown, in a Fallout franchise first (he’s been talked about in the video games before, briefly, but never turned up in the flesh until now). In Fallout lore, ‘The Last President of the United States’ is working for The Enclave, the faction fans suspect to be pulling the strings in the TV show’s overarching storyline. He ditches the White House and relocates to Control Station Enclave off of the coast of San Francisco (we see this in Fallout 2). Based on how things go in Season 2, Episode 7, Cooper Howard is about to find out just how dastardly the U.S. president is for himself.

If you are up to date, it's worth checking out the Fallout co-showrunner's tease about Season 2, Episode 8, which sounds like it will have a significant impact on The Ghoul, Lucy, and Maximus. After that, be sure to check out IGN’s Fallout Season 2, Episode 7 review.

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.

One of the showrunners of the Fallout TV series has discussed the fate of Mr. House as we approach the Season 2 finale, and explained how the show has still managed to avoid making a New Vegas ending canon.

Warning! Spoilers for Fallout Season 2 follow:

Last month, the creators of the Fallout TV show told IGN that Season 2 avoids making any New Vegas ending canon by taking what they call "the fog of war approach." Fans of the Fallout video games had wondered how Season 2 might reflect the various endings of Obsidian’s much-loved Fallout New Vegas, given the show is canon and is set 15 years after the game.

A quick reminder of where we’re at in the Fallout timeline: the Fallout TV show is set in 2296, nine years after the events of Fallout 4 and 15 years after the events of Fallout: New Vegas. We’ve already seen a debate about which Fallout 4 ending should be considered canon, if any. But what about New Vegas?

Depending on the choices the player, aka The Courier, makes throughout the course of the game, New Vegas can end with victory for the player during the Battle of Hoover Dam, which drives out all factions including Mr. House himself, a victory for Mr. House in which he remains in control of New Vegas and takes over Hoover Dam, a victory for Caesar's Legion, or a victory for the New California Republic.

In Episode 7 of Season 2, The Ghoul meets Maximus, and he uses the Cold Fusion diode that Maximus stole from the Brotherhood to power up the machine we saw back when Cooper met House in a flashback on the top floor of Lucky 38. The big terminal boots up, House appears on screen and says: "Well hello, old chum."

This led to a theory that New Vegas’ "The House Always Wins" ending was canon because that’s the only ending House survives. But in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, co-showrunner Geneva Robertson-Dworet said that’s not the case because what we’re seeing here is yet another version of House that needed the diode to exist.

"It did seem to us like a version of himself powered by cold fusion would be sort of the ultimate possible incarnation of Robert House," Robertson-Dworet explained. "And as someone who is interested in robotics and artificial non-biological versions of selves, it made a lot of sense to us that this would've been something that he would've developed and sort of be the ultimate version of him. I've always seen it as something that allows for many players' experiences to have happened, but still Robert House had this other version of himself, that he was always ready to create and what he needed was the diode."

Entertainment Weekly then asked if this is in fact House's final final form, and Robertson-Dworet declined to properly answer. "That's an interesting question,” she said, keeping her cards close to her chest. “I'm not answering that, but I'm very intrigued by the question.”

Robertson-Dworet did go on to tease The Ghoul’s bargain with House, which Episode 7 sets up, and its impact on the much-loved character’s future. "He's just given House what he wanted after 200 years,” she said. “He's finally given him the thing that he's most desired. And the question, of course, is what will he get in exchange? He obviously is looking for his wife and daughter, and what will he find?"

Meanwhile, Walton Goggins teased that Episode 8 will finally resolve one of the burning questions fans have had since Season 1, Episode 1: how did his pre-war character, Cooper Howard, come to be at that birthday party with his daughter, right as the bombs fell?

"I mean, the whole first seven minutes of this experience in Season 1 was about [Cooper being] a guy at a birthday party,” he said. “Well, how did he get to that birthday party? What happened? It's all leading somewhere."

All eyes are now on the final episode of Fallout Season 2, which, given Season 3 is already confirmed, will no doubt pose just as many questions as it answers. While you wait, be sure to check out IGN’s Fallout Season 2, Episode 7 review.

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.

DRM-free PC storefront GOG.com has come under fire for promoting a sale with a 'fully AI' image, sparking a backlash from customers and even a member of the company's staff.

A few days back, an eagle-eyed GOG user noticed that an image on the front page of the site's storefront contained many telltale signs of generative AI, including a weirdly old-fashioned TV and what appears to be something like a Super Nintendo console system melting onto a table, which is a strange image indeed for a website selling PC games. As one Redditor joked, "[This is] me after I blast my NES with a heat gun for six hours and settle in to look at the side profile of my 50 year-old-TV."

"Using AI art like this feels directly at odds with the whole reason I buy things from their storefront to begin with," wrote one unhappy commenter. "Deeply disappointing, and will probably hold off on buying from GOG for the foreseeable future because of it." Another added: "As long as GOG is using generative AI images or coding I will never buy another game from their site. This is extremely disappointing. It goes completely against my values and the value of human art preservation I care about GOG for. I'm not budging on this."

Ubisoft has finally acknowledged the never-ending deluge of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake leaks, after yet another slip-up.

Earlier this week, a collectible statue featuring the game's hero Edward Kenway bizarrely popped up for sale on used clothing app Vinted. The item appeared to be the under-wraps tie-in teased last year by merchandise maker Pure Arts — and now, Ubisoft has effectively confirmed that this is the case.

Writing on Twitter / X, Ubisoft used its official Assassin's Creed account to respond to the original post that shared photos of said statue, replying with the classic GTA San Andreas meme showing that game's protagonist Carl Johnson wearily stating: "Ah s***, here we go again."

pic.twitter.com/IRDhrgCPAp

— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) January 28, 2026

The statue's appearance online follows a hint by collectible company Pure Arts last year suggesting it had something in the works for Black Flag which would surface in the not-too-distant future as "there is something going on." Its Vinted listing gave no clue to its origins, though stated that it was due for release in 2026. A detailed close-up of the statue's base shown in photos displayed logos for Ubisoft and Pure Arts, with a copyright mark registered for 2026.

With this now out there, alongside everything else that has leaked about the game, it's perhaps unsurprising that Ubisoft has now given up pretending there's nothing going on. While clearly a humorous response, this also marks the first time Ubisoft has ever commented on anything to do with the Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake, despite a long, long string of reports and leaks surrounding its existance.

Perhaps the most notable confirmation of the project came from Edward Kenway's own voice actor, who initially teased the project before later suggesting he'd been told by Ubisoft in no uncertain terms to stop talking. Finally, last month, the game popped up on the PEGI European ratings board website revealing what looks to be its final title: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.

Officially, Ubisoft has only referred to the game's impending launch by acknowledging it had an unannounced game due to arrive before the end of its current financial year on March 31. Last week, however, this game was then delayed into the coming financial year (ending March 31, 2027) due to the company's major recent reshuffle of teams, projects and studios.

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

The Pokémon Company has officially delayed the Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution - Ascended Heroes Erika/Larry two-pack blisters from its original release date of January 30, 2026, to February 20 in the US and Canada.

Ascended Heroes is the latest Pokémon TCG set from the new Mega Evolution series. But, with the latest delay, this means that just a single sealed product will now be available to fans during its release week.

pic.twitter.com/oSpnpZgEKl

— Pokémon TCG (@PokemonTCG) January 28, 2026

The new set is already getting a fairly staggered release, with the majority of products now releasing between February 20 and April 24. That includes some of the most popular items from a new Pokémon card set, such as the Elite Trainer Box, Booster Bundles, and more.

The delayed booster set features a promo card with either Erika’s Tangela or Larry’s Komala, a metallic coin featuring the chosen Gym Leader, and two booster packs from the Mega Evolution - Ascended Heroes expansion.

The only new booster set available in release week will be the Ascended Heroes Tech Sticker Collection, featuring Charmander and Ghastly as a foil promo card, plus a sheet of tech stickers featuring Mega Charizard Y and Mega Gengar, plus three Ascended Heroes boosters.

It's already been hard to come by Ascended Heroes preorders, and undoubtedly this delay won't make it any easier for fans after release day. Ascended Heroes ETBs, for example, are currently averaging around $115-120 on resale markets - around a 135% markup from its MSRP of $49.99.

Ascended Heroes' Booster Bundles are also looking a little steep right now, and sit at $79.10 market price. That's a fair lot more than its $26.94 list price, roughly a 194% markup, and almost triple the cost for what accounts for just six boosters.

It's a similar story across the board, with fans likely to find it tough to find boosters from the new expansion outside of retailers like TCGplayer. That's also consistent with the follow up expansion for Mega Evolution, Perfect Order.

Ascended Heroes being hard to come by won't be surprising for most fans. The scarcity of the Mega Evolution series isn't exactly an outlier for Pokémon TCG, with stock issues, lack of common availibility, and delays plaguing the world's most popular trading card game for the past couple of years, at least, and stretches back through its Scarlet and Violet series as well.

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

There Will Be Blood and The Batman actor Paul Dano has expressed his gratitude for the support he received after Quentin Tarantino insulted him on a podcast.

Tarantino, who became a household name for writing and directing the likes of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, appeared on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast last year to reveal his 20 favorite films of the 21st century. He picked Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down at number one, but his comments around his number five pick, There Will Be Blood, set the internet on fire. Tarantino said There Will Be Blood might have been his top pick if it weren’t for Paul Dano, who he described as the film’s “giant flaw.” Dano was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for playing identical twins Paul and Eli Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 period drama.

Here’s Tarantino’s quote in full:

“Daniel Day-Lewis. The old-style craftsmanship quality to the film. It had an old Hollywood craftsmanship without trying to be like that. It was the only film he’s ever done, and I brought it up to him, that doesn’t have a set piece. The fire is the closest to a set piece. This was about dealing with the narrative, dealing with the story, and he did it f***ing amazingly. There Will Be Blood would stand a good chance at being number one or number two if it didn’t have a big, giant flaw in it … and the flaw is Paul Dano. Obviously, it’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. [Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister. Austin Butler would have been wonderful in that role. He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy. The weakest f***ing actor in SAG [laughs].”

Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote 1991 novel American Psycho, suggested Dano faced an impossible task keeping up with Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar-winning performance. "Daniel Day-Lewis also makes it impossible to make it a two-hander because there are aspects of that performance that are so gargantuan," he offered.

Tarantino countered: "So you put him with the weakest male actor in SAG? The limpest dick in the world?" Later, he clarified his position, insisting: "I'm not saying he's giving a terrible performance. I'm saying he's giving a non-entity performance." But Tarantino’s feelings on Dano were made clear: "I don't care for him," he said. "I don't care for him, I don't care for Owen Wilson, and I don't care for Matthew Lillard."

This week, Variety asked Dano about Tarantino’s comments at a 20th anniversary screening of Little Miss Sunshine at the Sundance Film Festival. “That was really nice,” Dano said of the support he received. “I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke up for me so I didn’t have to.”

Variety reported that Little Miss Sunshine directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris also commented, with Dayton calling Tarantino’s remarks an “embarrassment.” He added: “I can only think that his rawness of his performance made Tarantino uncomfortable. He couldn’t be easily filed.”

After Tarantino’s comments hit the internet, fans moved to defend Dano’s performance in There Will Be Blood, pointing out the context surrounding his role. Dano, who was only 23 years old when he was cast in the film, was originally only set to play the brother Paul, but took over both the twin roles two weeks after filming began when the actor originally cast as Eli, Kel O’Neill, was fired because Paul Thomas Anderson decided he “wasn’t the right fit.”

After There Will Be Blood came out, Dano spoke about the difficulty he faced adding this extra role with very little time to prepare. "On There Will Be Blood I was cast at the last minute," he said in an interview with Indiewire. "I had 3 1/2 to 4 days to get ready for the first day. That was just guts and instinct, not a lot of preparation." Dano went on to receive critical acclaim for his roles in 12 Years a Slave and Prisoners, and won plaudits for his portrayal of supervillain Riddler in 2022’s The Batman.

Meanwhile, Matthew Lillard also commented on his experience, having been the subject of Tarantino’s criticism alongside Dano. The Scream and Five Nights at Freddy's star told Entertainment Weekly that receiving tributes from his peers on social media “was like living through your own wake.”

He continued: “All those R.I.P. emails or tweets and Instagram posts and TikToks, all of the things we see after somebody passes are so sweet. And the reality is I just got to live through all of it firsthand — alive and kicking! I can't imagine a more lovely reaction to what happened.”

Last month, Lillard admitted "it f***ing sucks" to be on the receiving end of an insult from Tarantino. Lillard reacted to the drive-by insult at GalaxyCon in Columbus, Ohio, in December, and addressed the audience of fans by bringing Tarantino’s insult up.

"Quentin Tarantino this week said he didn't like me as an actor," Lillard said. "Eh, whatever. Who gives a s**t?"

Magic: The Gathering just kicked off its schedule for 2026 with Lorwyn Eclipsed, but it won’t be long until we’re teaming up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for their own set in March.

The next set will get its own Draft Night boxed set for players to enjoy right out of the box, and it’s now back in stock at Amazon for the first time in a good while. Here’s what’s included, and how you can save almost $30 as well.

If you have a Nintendo Switch 2 and are looking to shake up your library with a little something new to play this year, why not take this time to journey to a galaxy far, far away? The Gold Edition of Star Wars Outlaws for Switch 2 has dropped to $30 at Amazon (a return to its lowest price so far, according to price tracker camelcamelcamel). This is a 50% drop from its usual price of $59.99, so no better time to swoop in and grab it.

Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition for Switch 2 Down to $30

This Gold Edition will keep you plenty busy over the months to come, too. Alongside the base game, you'll also be set up with the season pass, which includes the Wild Card story pack and A Pirate's Fortune story pack, Jabba's Gambit exclusive mission, The Kessel Runner character pack, The Hunter's Legacy bundle, and The Cartel Ronin bundle.

While IGN's Tristan Ogilvie said in his review of Star Wars Outlaws that "there’s actually not a whole lot of ideas in Star Wars Outlaws that haven’t been done before in other action and open-world adventures" he remarked that "at its best it’s more than capable of jolting your pleasure centres into Star Wars fan hyperspace." If you've been on the hunt for a new adventure to be absorbed in during these early months of the year, it's a game well worth considering while it's down to this low price.

If you're curious what new releases are coming out on Nintendo Switch 2 this year instead, it's worth having a look through our breakdown of video game release dates. Here, we have a list of what we're expecting to see (so far) in 2026 across each platform, so you can plan ahead on more options worth adding to your digital Switch 2 library this year.

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

Nintendo is giving UK Mario fans plenty to get excited about this week. Not only are pre-orders now live for Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, but the full collection has dropped and is now available to pre-order My Nintendo Store with a fresh wave of brand-new amiibo.

The headliner is of course Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park, which expands the colourful Flower Kingdom adventure with a new area and additional content built specifically for Switch 2.

Physical copies are available for £66.99, but a physical version or download code of the original Nintendo Switch version is available for £49.99. Then, if you already own the original game, there’s also a Switch 2 Upgrade Pack priced at £16.99, which is also great if you plan on upgrading to the new Nintendo console when the new version of the game releases on March 26. 2026.

What’s more, though, Nintendo has rolled out a full lineup of Super Mario Bros. Wonder amiibo, all priced at £16.99 each. That includes Elephant Mario, Captain Toad, and Poplin & Prince Florian. There’s also a standalone Talking Flower figure that literally talks, available for £24.99, perfect if you want one of Wonder’s most memorable characters on your shelf.

For fans still on the original Switch, the My Nintendo Store is offering bonus bundles too. The Talking Flower Bundle comes in at £55.99, while the Mega Bundle — which also includes the Talking Flower, 2D Diorama and Magnets — is priced at £63.49. Nintendo has also made a point to note that the version of the Talking Flower available in these bundles does not talk.

By ordering anything from this Super Mario Bros. Wonder range from My Nintendo Store, the site has mentioned you’ll get a free bonus item, which appears to be the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Pin Set: including three pins: of the Wonder Flower, Elephant Fruit, and Talking Flower.

Apple TV has closed a deal for the rights to Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The first adaptations being considered are the Mistborn series for film and The Stormlight Archive for TV.

According to that report, Sanderson will "write, produce and consult; and will have approvals" over the adaptations. A recent example of where this lack of control can cause tension is with George R.R. Martin and the House of the Dragon showrunner. Martin said in a recent interview with THR that he "would give notes, and nothing would happen."

Brandon Sanderson himself has a massive audience, with over 50 million books sold since he first started writing. The Cosmere series makes up a large chunk of his published works, with 24 books attached to the shared universe. There are a total of seven books across different eras for Mistborn, and five total in The Stormlight Archive series.

According to THR, The Stormlight Archive already has a production company attached to the adaptation: Blue Marble. The media company is run by Theresa Kang, who has also produced the popular Apple TV series book-to-screen adaptation Pachinko.

What Is The Cosmere?

For those not already intimately familiar with The Cosmere, Brandon Sanderson has a brief explainer you can check out on his website. To quickly summarize, The Cosmere is the galaxy in which a large portion of his stories take place. The books that fit into this shared universe often take place on different worlds with completey different societies. The Mistborn series, for example, takes place on a world called Scadriel while the Stormlight Archive series takes place on Roshar.

Sanderson's Cosmere universe is known for having a wide variety of entry points that audiences can jump right into. So even though Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive take place in the same universe, they remain separate from each other with independent plot lines. Some characters do appear across multiple stories, but generally you can read them independently without missing any key details.

Although The Cosmere has never been adapted for the screen, it has seen various tabletop adaptations over the last few years. Just last year The Cosmere TTRPG was released with adventures pulled directly from The Stormlight Archive. Prior to that, Brandon Sanderson collaborated on a Mistborn board game that saw some success. Sanderson is still expanding his sprawling fantasy universe as of 2026 with plans for Mistborn Era 3 and additional Elantris novels.

After the Apple TV news broke, Sanderson himself took to the Cosmere subreddit to add a comment of his own. He said that in May he flew to Hollywood to start looking for a new partner on the Cosmere, something he had done before but not since 2016.

"This time, I got to meet the real decision makers," he explained. "Not just producers or low level executives. And this led to some really tough choices. I got the red carpet treatment, and liked everyone I met.

"The decision to pick Apple was due to two factors. First, the level of approvals and control. Apple wants to be a true partner with me, and they feel like they really get what I want to do. Second, their track record. Apple does fewer things, but with higher quality, than some other studios. I find virtually every thing of theirs I watch is excellent and creator driven."

Sanderson said he will write the Mistborn screenplay himself over the next five months "as my full time work." The goal is for a theatrical Mistborn, then a Stormlight show after. "Focus on doing it carefully and right," he added.

"I promise not to get too distracted to do books. However, if I want this done right, I need to give some real attention and heart to it now."

Sanderson will be hoping The Cosmere adaptations fare better than Amazon's The Wheel of Time Prime Video series, which was canceled after three seasons. Last year Sanderson, who finished author Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time saga, had some choice words for the people making the decisions on the TV show.

Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Audience Development Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor's degree in communication and over 8 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different pop culture topics -- from TV series to indie games and books.

Full spoilers below for all four episodes of Bridgerton Season 4, Part 1. Episodes are streaming now on Netflix.

Dearest Gentle Reader,

A new season of Bridgerton is upon us. Romance is in the air. Mystery abounds. And enchantment is sure to appear around every corner. This season, one Benedict Bridgerton – the second son of his esteemed family – takes center stage. A notorious rake, Mr. Bridgerton is a man of contradictions. A bachelor in his prime, he is infamously averse to marriage and enraptured with nothing more than merriment and frivolity. Will the roguish gentleman ever settle down? Or is he destined to a vapid life of purely carnal pleasure? If a new mystery lady has anything to say about it, Mr. Bridgerton’s lifelong bachelorhood may not long for this world. And this author is intrigued as to what will happen next.

OK, enough of that. As you may have heard, Bridgerton, the mega Netflix romance series from Shonda Rhimes, returns for Season 4, and it’s as sumptuous and quivering as ever. The first four episodes, available now on Netflix (you’ll have to wait until February 26 for the rest), focus on Benedict (Luke Thompson), who’s constantly hounded by his mother (and nearly everyone else) to settle down and find a wife. That is, until he meets a mysterious masked woman (Yerin Ha) at a masquerade ball and falls head over heels for her.

The rest of what follows is a literal Cinderella story (seriously, many of the plot points are a beat for beat rehash of the classic story or Disney movie; take your pick). The masked woman is in fact a maid named Sophie, whose noble father died leaving her to fend for herself with a wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Benedict, her “prince,” searches for her using nothing more than a memory of the lower half of her face and a left-behind piece of clothing (in this case, a glove). Cases of mistaken identity, stolen glances, and copious dancing ensue. You’ve seen it all before. And that’s the main problem with this season of Bridgerton.

While the performances are as sharp as ever and the chemistry between the leads simmers to the point of boiling in scene after scene, there’s not much here that hasn’t been done already (and better) in previous seasons of the Netflix drama. Boy meets girl. Girl fancies boy. But they can’t be together (at least not yet) for insert your reason here.

Bridgerton, once a mile-a-minute feast of mystery and smut, seems somewhat blunted now that most of the breakout characters have either left, having been coupled off in their own seasons, or had their screen time severely diminished. It’s somewhat understandable as these departures are mainly a function of the plot – this is Benedict and Sophie’s season, after all. But you can’t help but feel the loss of Anthony and Kate’s (Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley) smoldering will-they-or-won’t-they love/hate relationship or Penelope Featherington’s (Nicola Coughlan) double life as Lady Whistledown. (The all-seeing scribe still factors into the new season, but her bite and influence has been severely diminished by her public unveiling in Season 3.)

Season 4 does its best to try and fill these gaps with new subplots. Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) has an almost falling out with Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) over the former’s desire to move on to a life away from the Royal Court, leading to a series of surprisingly intense scenes that show two actresses at the top of their game. Matriarch Lady Violet Bridgerton’s (Ruth Gemmell) secret relationship with Lady Danbury’s brother (Daniel Francis) is another. Seeing how the crushing weight of societal expectations affects multiple generations of Bridgertons is both saddening and (by the end of the fourth episode at least) titillating all at once. These storylines try to make up for the absence of the previously featured Bridgerton siblings and their now-spouses. But those are big shoes to fill. And these subplots, interesting as they are, are little more than slight decorations at a fairly drab party.

The main storyline is where Season 4 fails to meet the height of the preceding iterations of the show. Thompson and Ha are great, both individually and together. However, the increasingly ludicrous plot holds them back from reaching true “relationship goals.”

Look, I realize this show is not trying to be much more than frothy romance. But Benedict’s inability to realize the woman he’s falling in love with is the same woman he ALREADY fell in love with (albeit behind a mask) borders on the absurd. There’s only so much disbelief a viewer can suspend before getting distracted by the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

That’s not to say that Season 4, Part 1 of Bridgerton isn’t worth a watch. If you’ve followed the lives and tribulations of the Bridgerton siblings with a passion until now, you’ll still want to check in with what’s going on in Regency-era Mayfair. The performances are still fun. The sets, costumes, music (string covers of pop songs still abound), and scenery are as lavish and opulent as ever. But if you’re looking for the latest batch of Bridgerton episodes to kick the show into a new gear, you’ll be left out in the cold - like Cinderella's carriage stuck in the mud.

Time will tell, dear reader, if part 2 of Bridgerton’s fourth season provides the much-needed heat that fans of the show have come to expect (but the newest episodes decidedly lack). Until then, we’re left with a story this author considers not exactly cold but certainly not a piping hot cup of English tea either.

I am less interested in how big the discount looks and more interested in whether a game earns the hours it asks for. This list is about friction, not hype, and the quiet relief of buying something that does not immediately slide into the backlog. I have played enough of these to know where the fun sticks and where the regret usually starts.

Contents

• Retro
• Nintendo
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• PC
• LEGO

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm placing 33 heart-hiding candles on a birthday cake baked for Super Castlevania IV. A bit of an oddity, SCIV technically recycles the original NES adventure's plight of Simon Belmont as he "Devos" problems that come along in Drac's castle. However, said whip was instead being (8-way) cracked into entirely new enemies haunting new levels as we tapped our toes to an original soundtrack. I adored this at launch and have vivid memories of being wowed by its use of Mode 7 to twist levels in quasi-3D fashion. Also, chortling at the Dancing Spectre enemies named "Paula Abghoul" and "Fred Askare." Konami, what were you smoking?

Aussie birthdays for notable games.

- Super Castlevania IV (SNES) 1993. Get

- Harvest Moon (SNES) 1998. eBay

- Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii) 2010. eBay

- Castlevania [Circle of the Moon] (GBA) 2015. eBay

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

• Dredge Del. (-60%) A$15.10 Quietly one of the best horror games on Switch. Relaxing fishing wrapped around creeping dread, with smart pacing and a tone that never overstays its welcome. Still eerie, still clever.
• Dead by Daylight (-65%) A$15.70 Messy, uneven, but unmatched if you like multiplayer tension. Runs rougher than other platforms, but the mind games and licensed killers still do the heavy lifting.
• Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Def. (-64%) A$29 Three classics with rough edges sanded inconsistently. Still unbeatable for sheer nostalgia and open world mischief if you accept the compromises.
• Children of Morta (-85%) A$4.90 A generous action RPG with real heart. Co-op friendly, story focused, and surprisingly tough when it wants to be. Ridiculous value at this price.
• Yoku's Island Express (-80%) A$5.40 Pinball platforming that somehow works. Charming, relaxed, and smartly paced. Not for score chasers, but perfect if you want something genuinely different.

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

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Exciting Bargains for Xbox

• Forza Horizon 6 (-10%) A$99 Could be good. Fingers crossed. Horizon games (in my humble opinion) usually deliver. My kingdom for a new-gen update of the Aussie one (FH3).
• Fallout 76 (-80%) A$10.90 Quiet redemption arc. It finally plays like a Fallout game should, just shared with others. Rough launch baggage remains, but the world is worth revisiting.
• Ori and the Blind Forest Def. (-75%) A$7.40 Still one of the tightest platformers ever made. Gorgeous, emotional, and occasionally cruel. Demands precision, but always feels fair.
• Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (-25%) A$28.10 Old school difficulty with modern smoothing. Combat sings, but patience is required. Not welcoming, yet deeply satisfying if you commit.
• Fable Ann. (-67%) A$16.40 Nostalgia doing most of the work here. Still charming, still odd, but age shows in combat. Worth it for the humour alone.

Xbox One

• The Callisto Protocol (-62%) A$32.30 Gorgeous presentation carrying uneven design. Combat can frustrate, but atmosphere and sound design do heavy lifting if you like slow burn horror.
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 (-55%) A$31.20 A near perfect remake. Feels exactly right, respects muscle memory, and wastes no time. Even better if you grew up with these parks.
• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (-67%) A$29.50 Loud, busy, and packed with fan service. The usual LEGO chaos applies, but the roster is massive and co-op friendly.

Or just invest in an Xbox Card.

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Pure Scores for PlayStation

• Ghost of Yotei (-21%) A$99 Striking world design and deliberate pacing. Combat rewards patience, not flash. Expensive still, but memorable if you like thoughtful exploration.
• Dead Space (-59%) A$44.90 A textbook remake. Familiar beats, sharper systems, and oppressive atmosphere intact. Still stressful, still brilliant, still not a relaxing evening.
• Stranger of Paradise: FF Origin (-62%) A$38 Combat carries known nonsense storytelling. Surprisingly deep systems if you push past the memes. Uneven tone, strong action.
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (-63%) A$33.50 Huge, funny, and occasionally bloated. Best enjoyed in short bursts. The scope impresses even when the jokes dont land.
• Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (-55%) A$44.90 Fast, aggressive mech combat with real mechanical depth. Missions are tight, bosses hit hard, and build tinkering is half the joy.

PS4

• Persona 5 Strikers (-58%) A$45 Musou combat with Persona style and heart. Better written than expected, though repetition creeps in late.
• Dead Island 2 (-63%) A$25.90 Goofy, gory, and surprisingly polished. Story is disposable, but the combat feedback is excellent if you like splattery melee.
• Moonlighter (-90%) A$2.40 Shopkeeping by day, dungeon crawling by night. Simple loop, gentle challenge, and absurd value for the hours you will sink in.

Or purchase a PS Store Card.

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Purchase Cheap for PC

• Half-Life: Alyx (-70%) A$26.30 Still the VR benchmark. Thoughtful design, tactile combat, and pacing that never wastes your time. Requires headset hardware commitment, rewards it fully.
• Wild Hearts (-93%) A$6.90 Ambitious monster hunting with rough performance. Systems are clever, but optimisation issues linger. Worth it cheap if youre curious.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (-75%) A$22.40 Slow, deliberate, and stunning. Still unmatched world detail, but demands patience. Best enjoyed when you let it breathe.
• Mass Effect Leg. Ed. (-85%) A$13.40 Three classic RPGs, cleaned up and cohesive. Combat improves over time, writing carries throughout (but peaks in 2). Absurd value for the scope.
• A Way Out (-90%) A$3.90 Built purely for co-op storytelling. Uneven gameplay, but memorable moments land if you commit with a friend.

Or just get a Steam Wallet Card

Legit LEGO Deals

• One Piece Buggy's Tent (-34%) A$52.90 Colourful, character heavy build. More about display flair than complexity. Built this recently myself. Very happy I did.
• Creator 3 in 1 Turtle (-33%) A$10 Simple, charming, and flexible. A quick build with decent variety for the price.
• Minecraft The Pale Garden (-27%) A$22 Familiar blocks and biomes. Not adventurous, but safe and recognisable for fans.
• Pretty Pink Flower Bouquet (-25%) A$75 Display first, play second. Looks great on a shelf, less exciting to build. Worth it if aesthetics are the goal.

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The MEGA brand carries several officially licensed Pokemon building block sets at a more attractive price than LEGO. Today, one of its most popular sets has dropped to an even lower price. Amazon currently has the MEGA Pokémon Motion Pikachu Set for just $58.20 after a 44% discount (it's normally $105). This is a great looking build with a neat interactive gimmick to keep kids (and adults) entertained well after the build has been completed.

44% Off MEGA Pokémon Motion Pikachu Set

The nostalgia-packed The Disney Afternoon Collection finally has a Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 release date, and it’s bringing two more games for patient fans.

A Switch version of the bundle of ‘90s Disney video games was announced today after first launching for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One back in 2017. Retro remaster developer Digital Eclipse has the original collection – which includes DuckTales, DuckTales 2, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Darkwing Duck, and TaleSpin – set with a digital Switch release date of February 26, 2026, with Goof Troop and Bonkers packed in, too.

Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 announcement trailer for The Disney Afternoon Collection. Eight games total: DuckTales, DuckTales 2, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2, Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin and they're adding Goof Troop and Bonkers. pic.twitter.com/BHXAClWaiD

— IGN Deals (@IGNDeals) January 28, 2026

Both are Capcom games that made their way to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the ‘90s, and both will only be available on the Switch and Switch 2 versions of The Disney Afternoon Collection. Goof Troop sees Goofy and his son, Max, go on a swashbuckling co-op adventure to save Pete and PJ, while Bonkers follows Bonkers D. Bobcat as he solves crimes in Toontown.

It’s a bundle fit for the biggest fans of classic gaming from the House of Mouse, with the total game count now reaching eight. The February re-release will finally bring the bundle to Nintendo’s hybrid consoles, with access to soundtracks, a behind-the-scenes gallery, and rewind features, available, too. There are also Time Attack and Boss Rush modes for those looking to shake up that classic gameplay.

A Disney Afternoon Collection physical edition is also confirmed to be in development for those willing to wait until after the February digital release. Disney says the physical Switch release – which comes with the game cartridge, two sticker sheets, eight retro milk caps, and three collectible cards – is now available for pre-order and will ship “at a later date.”

The Disney Afternoon Collection launches digitally next month. For more, you can check out our 7/10 review from 2017.

“With three hits and three duds from Capcom/Disney years that you might remember with varying levels of fondness,” we said at the time, “the Disney Afternoon Collection is clearly aimed at children of the 90s. I have trouble seeing its appeal to anyone else. But if vintage duck-based platformers are your thing, grab a Capri Sun and a handful of Gushers and invite your friends over to play.”

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

Magic: The Gathering is all over the place in 2026, from Turtles to Star Trek, but Secrets of Strixhaven preorders are now live in the UK.

The set, which is getting its own prequel novel and includes a whopping five preconstructed Commander Decks and two Theme Decks, can be found on Amazon right now.

Here’s everything you can preorder right now, including Collector Boosters.

Grab Magic’s Secrets of Strixhaven Set In The UK

As with any MTG set, the Play Booster Pack is the cheapest way to open some cards. It’ll cost you £4.45 to preorder one, but there’s a nine-pack bundle for £48.45 or a box of 30 for £141.45.

Collector Boosters can’t be purchased on their own just yet, but it looks as though the Collector Booster Box may have already sold out.

Elsewhere, there’s a Draft Night boxed product for £86.45 (which includes one Collector Booster), as well as a pair of themed decks for Standard play: Eerie and Lifegain. Those are £19.99 each.

As we mentioned, there is not one, not two, but five Commander decks for this set - the most since Tarkir Dragonstorm last year.

• Silverquill Influence (White/Black)
• Prismari Artistry (Blue/Red)
• Winterbloom Pestilence (Black/Green)
• Lorehold Spirit (Red/White)
• Quandrix Unlimited (Green/Blue)

Whichever one you grab will include a 100-card deck to play right out of the box, and they cost £43.99 each. They might end up being put in a bundle, too, but there’s nothing live for that just yet.

For more on Magic’s current set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, be sure to check out our list of the best chase cards in the set right now, as well as a look at all eight creature types in the new set.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.

Magic: The Gathering is collaborating with Marvel again for a cardboard showdown between classic heroes and villains, and now the set is up for preorder at Amazon.

Now, to clarify, these listings have just gone live as yours truly was scouring to see what news there was on them, so they’re about as fresh from the oven as you can get - but there’s still some placeholder text there.

In any case, here’s what you can preorder right now.

Marvel’s MTG Set Is Up For UK Preorder

The humble Play Booster Pack is available for £5.99 for a single one, a box of 30 for £174.99, or a bundle that contains nine of them for £60.99. A gift bundle is £77.45 and contains one Collector Booster.

Jumpstart Boosters are back for £10.99 each, or a box for £139.99. Collector Boosters are where the money is, but as yet, it’s just individual packs there. Those are £34.99 each.

If you’re new to Magic: The Gathering, there’s a new Beginner box available. Not only does this version of the boxed product star both Captain America and Iron Man, but it’s pretty affordable at £28.99.

There are two new Scene Boxes for £34.99 each, which include three Play Boosters, an art card display setup, and playable versions of the art cards. This time around, we’re getting a heroes one and a villains one.

Finally, Commander players are well catered to. There are four preconstructed decks in this set:

• Avengers Assemble (Captain America and Nick Fury - Red/White/Blue)
• Wakanda Forever (Black Panther - Green/White)
• The Fantastic Four (The titular team - Red/Green/White/Blue)
• Doom Prevails (Doctor Doom and Loki - Blue/Black/Red)

Each includes a 100-card deck to play right out of the box for £64.45, but you can also get yourself a Collector's edition with all cards in foil for a whopping £141.45 each.

For more on Magic’s current set, Lorwyn Eclipsed, be sure to check out our list of the best chase cards in the set right now, as well as a look at all eight creature types in the new set.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a tabletop RPG adaptation from Group SNE, the same team behind the tabletop RPG versions of Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Armored Core 6.

This news was first spotted by Polygon having been shared by Kadokawa's official Fujimi Dragon Book Editorial account on Twitter/X. According to the post, it's set to be published soon, in spring of 2026.

There aren't any further details as to what this campaign will entail, but as a Nightreign lover, I don't find it too hard to imagine. Nightreign already has a wonderfully clear-cut class system, and the potential for different DMs to shuffle abilities, monsters, bosses, hazards, events, points of interest is extremely strong. Like the game itself, such a campaign could be extremely replayable as well.

There is a sneak peek of the Nightreign campaign coming in GM Warlock magazine, but unless you can read Japanese, this probably isn't that useful to you. We also don't even know that it will get a localization into English.

Group SNE is responsible for a number of tabletop campaigns, board and card games, and light novels, including the aforementioned tabletop games based on FromSoftware properties, as well as the entire Record of Lodoss War campaign setting and Sword World RPG, a tabletop game first published in '89 that has since gone on to become a phenomenon in Japan.

I hope we see the Nightreign campaign make it to the USA, because Nightreign rips, dude. It's probably one of the most addictive 7/10 games I've played in years, and the recent DLC has only managed to get its hooks in me even deeper. Sure, the new map is confounding, but once you've fallen off it 10 or 20 or 30 times, you really do get the hang of it.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

With prices of imported goods on the rise, you don't see many 20,000mAh power banks priced under $20 anymore. Fortunately, there's one deal today. Amazon has the Iniu 20,000mAh 22.5W Power Bank for just $15.29 after an automatic 49% coupon is applied. Better yet, you don't need to be an Amazon Prime member to get in on this deal.

The 22.5W power output makes it an ideal power bank for your Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 console, and the bigger 20,000mAh capacity is perfect for longer airplane flights or when you're away from an outlet for an extended time.

Iniu 20,000mAh 22.5W USB Power Bank for $15.29

Dispatch, the superhero workplace comedy made by Telltale veterans at AdHoc Studio, is out now on Nintendo Switch. But a number of excited new and returning players aren't super happy about the release, as it turns out the game has been pretty aggressively censored on the system.

It's been well-known since its release on other platforms that Dispatch is a game with signficant adult content. Some characters are fully or partially naked in various scenes, with their full anatomy on display. There are some sex scenes where characters make sounds associated with sex. Sometimes characters flip the bird at one another. For those who don't want to see all this, there's a censorship toggle in the settings that covers up the nudity and the middle fingers, and silences any unwanted sex noises. On most platforms, this is entirely optional and up to the player to turn on.

But not on Nintendo Switch. Earlier today, reports began to drop from reviewers of the Switch version that Dispatch's censorship toggle is missing from the options on the platform. That's because it's permanently turned on (no pun intended). So all the censor bars and silence are just stuck that way, with no way to turn on the more mature version of the game.

Why? According to AdHoc, it's because of Nintendo policies. "Different platforms have different content criteria, and submissions are evaluated individually," the studio said in a statement shared with Eurogamer. "We worked with Nintendo to ensure the content within the title met the criteria to release on their platforms, but the core narrative and gameplay experience remains identical to the original release."

This has understandably frustrated some people. A number of members of Dispatch online communities in places like Reddit and other social platforms have alternatingly expressed frustration with Nintendo for its policies, and AdHoc for bending to them so readily. While it's true that other games in the past such as, notably, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and Fire Emblem Fates, have also been censored in various ways. But by comparison, Dispatch's censorship is extremely blunt and distracting. Who wants giant black bars across the screen? Especially if you can't turn them off?

What's more, as some have pointed out, both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 are on Switch too. Both of those games have nudity, and neither has been censored in such a way, leading to questions about what makes Dispatch different. We're reached out to Nintendo for comment.

Dispatch is amazing, as we determined in our 9/10 review of the game, calling it "a sharp-witted workplace comedy that charms with its smart dialogue choices, great writing, and lovably aggravating cast." You can play it without big black censor bars on PC or PlayStation 5, but no Xbox version yet.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.