Resident Evil: Requiem is just a couple of weeks away, and while the first few trailers definitely made it look like a beautiful game, the Switch 2 trailer that debuted earlier this week, well, didn't. But, the way I see it, that's excellent news, especially for anyone on a budget gaming PC.
Ever since the RE Engine came to prominence starting with Resident Evil: Biohazard, Capcom has been impressing me with just how good it can make games look, without making them too demanding. Now, obviously, I haven't had the chance to test Resident Evil: Requiem performance yet myself, but just looking at both the system requirements and the Switch 2 trailer, it seems like Capcom is continuing this trend.
Capcom hasn't revealed what resolution and settings either of these spec sheets are targeting, but even if that recommended build is just for 1080p Ultra at 60 fps, the Nvidia RTX 2060 Super and Radeon RX 6600 are very attainable graphics cards. That's not to mention only requiring a Core i7-8700 or Ryzen 5 5500 and 16GB of RAM, which is a very low bar to clear.
What Kind of Performance Can I Expect?
Again, because Capcom hasn't revealed any specific settings that the system requirements are targeting, I can't say for sure, but from my time testing Resident Evil Village for TechRadar when it came out, I was able to get nearly 60 fps at 4K with an RTX 3060 – and the 3060 is very much not a 4K graphics card.
However, it's important to note that the requirements for Requiem are a bit heavier than they were for Village. The biggest difference is that instead of asking for a Radeon RX 5700 or a GTX 1070 for Village, Requiem is asking for an RTX 2060 Super or a Radeon RX 6600. And while the performance gap between these graphics cards isn't huge on its own, the key difference is that Requiem is recommending a ray tracing-capable GPU – Village didn't.
That makes a lot of sense, given the visual quality of some of the trailers that have come out for the game, but it may leave some folks with older GPUs out in the cold. It's very likely that with an older non-RT GPU, the game will look a lot like the Nintendo Switch 2 footage. The bright side here, though, is that the GTX 1660 and Radeon RX 5500 XT sneak in the minimum specs, so you'll still be able to play the game, it just might not look too great.
The Nintendo Switch 2 Equivalent
It's important to highlight that the Nintendo Switch 2 is able to run Resident Evil: Requiem, even if it wouldn't quite meet the system requirements if it were a PC. The Tegra T239 SoC in the handheld is roughly the equivalent of a mobile RTX 3050 – which is weaker than the desktop-class GTX 1660 Capcom is requiring. I wouldn't get too caught up in this detail, though.
Primarily, that's because the Nintendo Switch 2 is a console and every single unit will be running the exact same hardware. That means when Capcom was porting Resident Evil: Requiem over to the Switch 2, it was able to fine-tune the build to the exact hardware, likely finding optimizations that wouldn't be there for the PC version.
Still, just going by the Switch 2 trailer earlier this week, it does seem like Capcom just barely managed to squeeze the game onto the handheld. But even if it is rough, I'm looking forward to seeing just how well it runs on the Nintendo console.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
B&H Photo has one of the best deals right now on a 4K-ready gaming PC. For a limited time, pick up a Lenovo Legion Tower 5 RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC for $1,899 with free delivery after a $700 discount. Most RTX 5070 Ti prebuilts cost above $2,000 these days, so this is one of the lowest prices I've seen. The RTX 5070 Ti is our best reviewed Nvidia GeForce Blackwell card and has the chops to run games in glorious 4K at 60+fps.
Lenovo Legion RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC for $1,899
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming PC is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F desktop processor, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, 32GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 2TB M.2 SSD. The Core Ultra 7 265F is part of Intel's newest Arrow Lake-S lineup released earlier this year and boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.3GHz with 20 cores and a 36MB L2 cache. This is a solid all-around CPU for gaming, multi-tasking, and general workstation performance. It doesn't have as many cores as a Core Ultra 9 processor, but that doesn't matter for gaming since the vast majority of games will not be able to utilize more than 20 cores.
The RTX 5070 Ti GPU offers great 4K performance without pricing gamers out
The RTX 5070 Ti offers the best bang for your buck in terms of 4K gaming performance. It performs neck-and-neck with the previous generation RTX 4080 Super and pulls ahead in any game that supports multi-frame generation, especially with the recent DLSS 4.5 update. It is fully capable of running any game in 4K at 60fps. It also has 16GB of VRAM like the RTX 5080, making it viable for AI work. Since RTX 5070 Ti GPUs are pretty much non-existent as a standalone card, the only way to get one without paying a ridiculous markup is by getting an equipped prebuilt computer.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Scarlet opens in IMAX on February 6 and in wide release on February 12.
Hamlet is one of the most adapted stories of all time, and for good reason; there is something deeply human about the tale of a young man destroyed by the need to avenge the gruesome death of his father. More than 400 years after Shakespeare wrote the tragedy, in a much changed world, there’s still something relatable about the young Prince of Denmark’s obsessive, grief-driven vengeance.
But what is an adaptation for if not reimagination, recontextualization, and the addition of titanic dragons that rain literal lightning judgement down on those below? Scarlet – an animé adaptation of Hamlet from Oscar-nominated auteur Mamoru Hosoda – is not afraid to get playful with its source material, and the film is the better for it. Here, Hamlet is a girl named Scarlet (voiced by Mana Ashida). Still a medieval princess growing up in Late Middle Ages Denmark, Scarlet spends her youth as all young people should – playing in the dirt, and basking in a parent’s love.
However, for those who know anything about the source material, this innocence cannot last. When Scarlet’s father, the King of Denmark, is coup-ed by his own brother, Claudius, with the help of Queen Gertrude, Scarlet goes full Arya Stark. She trains as a swordswoman, driven by a furious thirst for revenge. Her plot is interrupted by her uncle’s own machinations, who poisons his niece with little fanfare before she can take him out herself.
Unlike Hamlet, which stretches the above series of events (or some variation thereof) over four-plus hours,Scarlet speeds through the aforementioned plot in the first 20 minutes or so. The film has other ambitions – namely, the exploration of the beautiful and deadly Otherworld, a mysterious desert land where dead from across the ages go before they pass on to somewhere else. Scarlet wakes up in this liminal space after her poisoning, and is no less focused on revenge; when she hears Claudius is also in this place, she sets out to kill him once again.
But the Otherworld is populated with other souls on their own journeys. Scarlet almost immediately crosses paths with Hijiri (Masaki Okada), a present-day EMT who seems set on helping everyone he meets in the Otherworld, even when they are trying to kill him. The unlikely pair journeys across the unforgiving desert, crossing paths with bandits and musicians, children and elderly. A massive, mountain-like dragon sometimes descends from the atmosphere to strike the unworthy down with storms of lightning.
Hosoda has proven himself a master at making the mundane feel epic and the fantastical feel real.
If that last part sounds spectacular, it is, and this is a film that is worth seeing on a big screen if possible. From The Girl Who Leapt Through Time to the Oscar-nominated Mirai and Belle, Hosoda has proven himself a master at making the mundane feel epic and the fantastical feel real. The lightning giant is just one example of the visual grandeur of this animated world, which treats dynamic fight sequences, musical performances, and quiet, resilient moments trudging through a sandstorm as equally important.
Mamoru Hosoda doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the ambition of his themes. In its original form, Hamlet is a story with an intentionally claustrophobic court setting. The inward-looking nature of its powerful characters, most especially its youthful and actively grieving protagonist, places any of its observations about the nature of humanity on a very personal level. Even when we call it politics, it is about the interpersonal drama of the Danish court.
In Scarlet, our princess swordswoman is very much driven by the same toxic, murderous family dynamics as the film’s source material, but by expanding the setting to this Otherworld, Hosoda is also expanding its theme. When Scarlet is asked to reflect on the understandable selfishness of her suffering, it is done through interactions with people, communities, and civilizations from across time; dear Hamlet never had such a resource of scope. The result is a deeply personal story that, through the visual grandeur and texture of this land between life and death, resonates on a societal level too.
Scarlet has a deep empathy for its world, which is to say that it has a deep empathy for our world. This kind of gentleness can often be mistaken for a lack of realism, but Hosoda’s script is not unaware of humanity’s many cruelties. Rather, it suggests that we must fight anyway, in the small ways that we can, and that – maybe – across generations and centuries, something might come of it. Some viewers might find that thesis depressing, but I think there’s something hopeful about it; judging by the way Hosoda balances the film’s bloodshed with humanity’s potential for culture, caring, and community, I think the filmmaker might think so too.
There was a moment while watching The Strangers - Chapter 3 that I realized there really was just nothing going on under the hood. Not only in terms of this movie, but of this entire Renny Harlin-directed trilogy. Despite comprising over four hours worth of story over three installments following the same protagonist, very little has been narratively accomplished, and no core ideas have been thematically clarified. This realization came to me during a scene where Maya, our hero played by Madelaine Petsch, witnesses the main antagonist viciously murder someone she should theoretically care about. But she has zero reaction whatsoever. No tears, no anguished screams of “No!” or “How could you?”, just a blank stare as yet another one-note character is snuffed out in this exasperating excuse for a trilogy.
At the end of Chapter 2, Maya managed to kill Pin-Up Girl, one of the three main villains. Those villains would be the Strangers in question, a group of masked serial killers who like to knock on doors and chop up people with axes. Scarecrow, the leader and only male of the group, ended the last movie looking pretty upset about this turn of events, so you would think this movie would involve Maya and him speeding towards a thrilling battle to the death, right? Well, no, actually, that’s not what happens at all.
In fact, the first meeting between Maya and her main enemy involves him finally being unmasked, as they have a surprisingly calm conversation inside a chapel and acknowledge that they’ve each killed someone the other one cared for (Maya’s fiancé Ryan bit the dust at the end of Chapter 1). Scarecrow tells Maya to leave town, but this is a horror movie, so instead of doing the sensible thing, Maya sticks around for one more go-around with the bad guys before we’re finally free of this nonsense.
Setting aside that Maya has a perfectly good escape vehicle that she unceremoniously wrecks by not paying attention while she’s driving (really), or that the body count across three movies has gotten so high that you would think this town would warrant being declared a national emergency, there is simply nothing left to do with these characters within the scenario they’ve been established in. But Harlin and screenwriters Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland seem to know this, which is why The Strangers - Chapter 3 does involve a fresh conceit, that being that Maya is recaptured almost immediately after leaving the chapel since Scarecrow and Dollface have plans to turn Maya into the new Pin-Up Girl. You know, because when you kill a serial killer, you become a serial killer. That’s how it works, right?
This is the worst installment in a trilogy of movies that I sincerely have nothing substantially positive to say about.
At the very least, it’s the first novel spin this trilogy has had on the Strangers premise, but it doesn’t register because the characters involved are too thin to support it. In my review of Chapter 2, I remarked that Maya had become somewhat more textured by her experiences in the first two films, but Chapter 3 goes out of its way to give her nothing to do. She has virtually no dialogue outside of her first and final scenes, and while Madelaine Petsch felt engaged in the middle film when she was fighting and fleeing from her tormentors, here she spends almost the entire movie with a vacant expression that’s not informed by what’s going on around her. It’s as if everyone involved had grown tired of the whole deal after filming three films back-to-back, and while that’s certainly understandable, it doesn’t excuse the movie being as boring to watch as it appears to have been to make.
That lack of creative investment spills into every aspect of the production. New characters are introduced and promptly dispatched before we learn anything about them. Characters from the first two films who had Obviously Evil signposts over their heads are revealed to be obviously evil. There are more backstory scenes showing us the origins of Scarecrow and Dollface that don’t have any real bearing on the present day events. Even the kills in this one feel marred by fatigue. If you’re not going to bother getting us emotionally invested in your characters before killing them, at least make the kills appreciably gory so they can be enjoyed on a popcorn entertainment level. But this movie is weirdly low on blood despite having an absurd number of deaths; you’ll find much more blood (and a much better movie) if you check out Sam Raimi’s Send Help this weekend instead.
I don’t like slamming movies this way. I go into every one hoping it’s something I can enjoy on some level, and I'm an avid fan of the horror genre. But this is the worst installment in a trilogy of movies that I sincerely have nothing substantially positive to say about. While I was expecting a movie lacking in ambition or nuance based on its predecessors, Harlin and company have turned in a finale that is bereft of urgency, tension, or even baseline thrills. The Strangers - Chapter 3 may not be the worst horror movie I’ve seen in a theater, but it might be the laziest.
The director of Yakuza 3 Kiwami + Dark Ties has broken his silence on Ryo Ga Gotoku Studio's controversial hiring of Teruyuki Kagawa to play Goh Hamazaki, saying they needed someone who would make audiences think, "This guy's a creep."
This comes from an interview with Horii conducted by Japanese outlet GAME Watch, and independently translated by IGN. In the interview, Horii is asked directly about the decision to recast certain characters in Kiwami from their original Japanese actors. His general response as to why he recast both Hamazaki and Rikiya Shimabukuro is that while it would "certainly be safer not to recast them and avoid online criticism," the studio "felt there was no use being afraid."
Horii goes on to say that they based their decision on who they most wanted to see perform. When asked directly about Kagawa playing Hamazaki, this is what Horii had to say:
Hamazaki is a sleazy, persistent, and militant yakuza, right? Since he isn't an explosive character like Kanda, when we tried to think of someone who makes you go, "This guy's a creep," naturally it was Kagawa – that was the main factor. Kagawa's acting is fun to watch. Even when he's chopping a pig's feet off with a chef's knife, it has a slimy feel. That feeling permeates his performance, so it brings a freshness to the scene and made it feel really fun.
Following the announcement of Kagawa's casting, Yakuza fans reacted in anger on social media, getting #REMOVEKAGAWA trending on multiple networks and creating a Change.org petition that at the time of this writing has nearly 10,000 signatures. Fans have accused RGG Studio of suppressing the #REMOVEKAGAWA hashtag and deleting comments referencing the issue on its official Instagram page. And a number of them have pointed out that Sega has recast actors for offenses in the past - Pierre Taki was recast in Judgment back in 2019 after he was arrested for cocaine possesssion.
Up to this point, neither RGG Studio nor Sega has offered official comment on Kagawa's casting, nor the accusations - Horii's answer is the first statement that's been offered on the subject. However, Sega did publish a trailer on its official YouTube after the wave of criticism, which introduced the Japanese voice cast and opened on a longer clip of Hamazaki. IGN reached out to Sega for additional comment ahead of this story, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
First Preorder Price Drop for MTG X Marvel Super Heroes Play Booster Box
We got the first price drop of the MTG X Marvel Super Heroes preorder on Amazon. The Play Booster Box dropped down to $189.99 from $209.70 for nearly $20 in savings. With this bundle, you’ll get 30 Play Booster packs, bringing the price to about $6.33 each. With each pack, you will get at least 1 shiny Traditional Foil card along with 1 to 4 cards of rarity. The MTG X Marvel Super Heroes Play Booster Box drops on June 26, and Amazon offers a nice preorder savings guarantee if the price decreases further.
Be sure to check out these other new Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond preorders for TMNT and Marvel Super Heroes:
Persona 3 Reload for PS5 Hits New Low Price
Persona 3 Reload for PS5 has dropped to its lowest price ever on Amazon. You can get it for just $15.50 for a limited time. This RPG remake, released in 2024, features the original game’s cast of characters and plot twists, with a few improvements. In our Persona 3 Reload review, it even scored a 9/10, with Michael Higham noting its “stellar visual overhaul and countless small but impactful changes.”
4K UHD Movies Drop To Lowest Prices Ever
Skip going out and cozy up on the couch with your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day. A whole bunch of popular 4K UHD movies are down to their lowest prices ever on Amazon. You could do a proper marathon with the 7-film A Nightmare On Elm Street Collection or the 5 Purge movies. Otherwise, for something a *bit* lighter, grab Death Becomes Her or the RoboCop 2 Steelbook, while the whole family will love The Emperor's New Groove or Babe.
LEGO Vincent Van Gogh The Starry Night and Sunflowers Drops to New Low Price
Need a cool Valentine’s gift idea? This LEGO Art of Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers just dropped to a new low price on Amazon. Yes, it's even lower than yesterday's deal! This kit is truly stunning, as you’ll be recreating Van Gogh’s iconic 1889 masterpiece. In total, there are 16 sunflowers on this 3D buildable art model with a removable frame for displaying. But given this set has 2,615 pieces, it’s best for adults.
It's not just Sunflowers that's on sale. Van Gogh's most famous painting, The Starry Night, got the LEGO treatment, and it’s nearly $20 off. This awesome 2,316 piece set features awesome 3D wall art and even a little Van Gogh minifigure. It’s backordered on the LEGO site, but you can get LEGO’s The Starry Night from Amazon and Walmart for $150.
Grab a Razer Kitsune Arcade Controller for 39% Off
Our favorite fight stick is nicely discounted on the Amazon-owned Woot during its Video Game Mega Sale. The Razer Kitsune for PS5 and PC has a leverless design for speedier inputs and improved accuracy, with its buttons that move in a full range of directions and feature optical switches. Those buttons are even hot swappable. Scoring a 9/10 in our review, it’s got a lot going for it, including a sturdy build that remains light and compact enough for portability.
You can grab the 2XKO Edition of the fight stick for just $199 on Woot, and Prime members receive free shipping. It’s the same as the original Razer Kitsune except for the fun 2XKO skin. This exact controller is currently going for $319 on Amazon, making for one heck of a deal.
Score a 20,000mAh 100W Slim Power Bank for Just $39.99
If you want a power bank that can quickly top up the best handheld gaming PCs, get the Baseus Blade 20,000mAh 100W Slim Power Bank. It’s ultra-thin at just 0.7 inches, but delivers some serious 100W power from its two USB-C ports for fast charging. Two 30W USB-A ports are also available. The best part is, this power bank is 60% off when you apply the coupon code “YBKEIAQE” at checkout on Amazon. The deal isn’t exclusive to Amazon Prime members either.
EXIT: The Game - Adventures on Catan Is Only $11.10
Catan collaborated with EXIT to create this awesome cooperative escape room game for 1-4 players. In this game, you’ll solve puzzles, use mystery objects, and collect resources to complete a story and build out Catan. Trading is even involved. If you’re looking to switch up your typical Catan game night, EXIT: The Game - Adventures on Catan is a great way to do it. It’s on sale at Amazon and Walmart, dropping the price down to $11.10 for 44% savings.
Pokémon Mega Evolution Phantasmal Flames Booster Bundle Hits New Low
The Pokémon Mega Evolution Phantasmal Flames Booster Bundle is back under $45. It’s shipped and sold by Amazon, too. After the delay of most Ascended Heroes Booster sets, it’s nice that this bundle, which includes six booster packs, is available for just $43.13. That’s well below the current market value, making it a good deal.
MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander Deck Bundle is $120.67
The MTG: Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander Deck Bundle is back in stock on Amazon and just $120.67. It’s shipped and sold by Amazon, too. With this bundle, you’ll receive two Dance of the Elements and two Blight Curse Commander Decks. Each contains 100 cards, including 12 new cards (including 2 foil Mythics), a deck box, 10 double-sided token cards, a strategy insert, and a reference card. Given that these Commander Decks are selling for $37 to $50+ each right now, it’s a pretty solid deal.
Disney Afternoon Collection for Switch Preorder
The Disney Afternoon Collection for Switch 2 and Switch preorder is finally up on Amazon. Anyone who grew up watching classic 90s afternoon programs, like DuckTales, Goof Troop, Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, or Bonkers, will want this collection of retro Disney NES and SNES games. And two new games have been added from the first iteration back in 2017. In total, 8 games bring on nostalgia. A few extras also come with the physical edition of the game, including milk caps, cards, and stickers. The Disney Afternoon Collection drops on May 29.
Octopath Traveler 0 Hits New Low On Amazon
Octopath Traveler 0 is $10 off on Amazon right now. While we’ve seen this RPG cheaper for Xbox Series X recently, it’s a great deal for Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5 users. You’re getting a lot out of this game with its 100-plus-hour runtime and retro 2D characters in a stunning 3D world. We reviewed Octopath Traveler 0, and gave it a 9/10 rating. Reviewer Michael Higham said, “It rewards you with the kinds of moments only lengthy RPGs can pull off with its overarching story, an intricate turn-based combat system, and a soundtrack that'll leave you absolutely floored.”
Danielle is a Tech freelance writer based in Los Angeles who spends her free time creating videos and geeking out over music history.
It's not easy being The Sentry. Bob Reynolds may be the most powerful hero in the Marvel Universe, but he's also got a dark side that cancels out every good deed The Sentry does. To make matters worse, Bob has spent more time dead than alive over the past 15 years. But things are finally looking up for the Golden Guardian of Good in 2026. Not only is he returning to the big screen in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, The Sentry is also starring in a brand new series written by none other than co-creator Paul Jenkins.
IGN had the chance to speak with Jenkins via email to learn more about the new book and his thoughts on The Sentry's MCU debut. First, check out an exclusive preview of the first issue in the slideshow gallery below, then read on to learn more:
The new volume of The Sentry is significant not just because it revives the popular hero after his death in 2020's King in Black, but because it's Jenkins' first Marvel project in well over a decade. In fact, one of his last Marvel assignments was exploring the fallout of The Sentry's first death in 2010's Sentry: Fallen Sun. We asked the writer what made now the right time to finally return to the Marvel fold.
"Well, there’s certainly never a bad time to return," Jenkins tells IGN. "But in all seriousness, I had consulted on the Thunderbolts* movie, and that led directly to me reconnecting with C.B. [Cebulski] and some of the folks at Marvel. Sentry was gaining an entirely new set of fans, and it seemed like a good time to explore a new series. It feels wonderful to be back working with a publisher who has meant so much to my career. I love to write comics, and I really missed working with so many of my friends in this business. While I’m here, I should definitely give a shout-out to our editors, Mark Paniccia and Lauren Amaro - people don’t realize just how difficult this job really is. I was an editor for maybe five or so years before I became a freelance writer. So, huge thanks to those guys for being amazing. It’s great to be back."
As for Thunderbolts*, we were curious how Jenkins felt about seeing one of his most famous creations come to life on the big screen. Jenkins reveals that the film captured the most important element of the character - his vulnerability.
"I was lucky enough to interact with the director and actor, and I was so thrilled by the way Jake Schreier and Lewis Pullman handled the character," Jenkins says. "Jake truly understood the point of Sentry - it has never been about how powerful he is, it has always been about how vulnerable he is. Jake was very gracious to chat with me at the premiere’s after party, and I had a chance to talk with Lewis as well. He’s so perfect for this role because he brings the right amount of vulnerability to Bob. In both cases, Lewis and Jake knew this was all about Bob, and the Sentry and Void are sort of side-effects."
The announcement of this new series is a bit of a surprise, given that Marvel seemed to be moving in a different direction with the character post-King in Black. 2024's The Sentry dealt with a new group of characters inheriting Bob's powers, ultimately ending with the creation of a new heroine called Solarus. But with this latest series from Jenkins and artist Christian Rosado, Marvel is shifting back to a more familiar status quo for The Sentry.
"We’re not tying into that story," Jenkins reveals. "When we began the project, C.B. suggested that I go back to the approach that I had used previously. Not to cast that story aside, but more to play to my strengths with Sentry. I think that’s the right approach - it allows us to tell a more focused, evergreen story (as opposed to trying to tie up pieces of existing continuity). If we are successful and people want Sentry books, then hopefully we can look at that stuff in future."
Instead, the new series digs directly into the core dilemma of the character. How can Bob Reynolds be a hero when he knows that every act of good he carries out as The Sentry is matched by a corresponding act of evil from The Void? Jenkins teases a very emotionally charged story here, to the point that many readers may be in tears before the end.
"Void and Sentry are an essential part of Bob Reynolds," Jenkins says. "This time, we are exploring the internal conflict that Bob faces, how he cannot become the Sentry and save 100 people from a plane crash without the Void equaling things out and killing 100 people in return. The central question for Bob is going to be, 'How can I get past that? What good am I if I can’t help people?'"
Jenkins continues, "However, the main teaser I am going to give is this: readers are going to be mad with me because I’m almost certain we are going to make a lot of people cry. This story is very, very emotional - it hits right in the heart, and it hurts. I’ve now seen the art for issue #3 and I can tell you, people are going to be very moved by what happens in this story. It’s about how and why Bob wants to save everybody - there is a core reason that goes back to his childhood. For me, it is personal. When I was a little boy, I was affected greatly by this one thing in my life, and we’re bringing that story to life. I’m not kidding; I expect to meet a lot of fans at conventions who will be very emotional about this story. And if that happens to be the case, then we have done our job."
"Readers are going to be mad with me because I’m almost certain we are going to make a lot of people cry."
Part of the fun with The Sentry is that, despite debuting in 2000, he's a character who's been retconned into the fabric of the Marvel Universe. He's been there from the beginning; the world just doesn't remember.
The original series and subsequent stories have explored how Bob has developed relationships with many key Marvel characters. He's BFFs with Reed Richards and Hulk. He helped Peter Parker win a photography Pulitzer. Jenkins confirms that the new series will continue to flesh out those relationships, particularly Bob's connections to Hulk and the Fantastic Four.
"For me, it has always been the Hulk and the Fantastic Four," Jenkins says. "Our scenes with the Hulk are some of the most emotional ones. I will admit that when I got the art, I was a little choked up by it. And Bob’s dynamic with Reed as his best friend means a lot to me. Reed knows that Bob struggles, and he’s there, trying to help Bob. For what it's worth, I think the payoff with Hulk in issue #4 is going to be absolutely worth it."
"Christian has been just brilliant - a true collaborator," Jenkins adds about the art. "Christian gets it. He understand the way the smaller, quieter moments frame the bigger action scenes. And he is absolutely nailing it. I could not be more pleased."
The Sentry #1 will be released on March 18. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.
Mobile games have existed for decades, but the market has grown immensely in recent years. So we decided it’s time to figure out which mobile game you think is the best of all time with a March Madness–style bracket, presented by our friends at McDonald’s and their limited-time Hot Honey sauce, which will make your faves more perfect.
The bracket is made up of 32 entries divided into two categories. On one side are classics like Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Doodle Jump, and Candy Crush. On the other are modern hits like Genshin Impact, Balatro, Fortnite, and Roblox. But which game deserves to be crowned as the GOAT? Only you can tell us that.
The bracket will pit games against each other 1v1, with the winner of each matchup moving on to the next round. All the matchups in each round will be done at the same time, with voting conducted through polls on the bottom of the page you’re currently on as well as IGN’s Instagram stories. If you come back to this page on the dates listed below, the polls will be updated to the latest round and you can vote again.
Isometric open-world zombie survival sandbox game HumanitZ first entered Steam Early Access in September 2023. In the more than two years since then, it’s gotten 18 major updates and countless patches. And now, it’s reached a new milestone: It’s out of Early Access, and Version 1.0 includes a visual and structural overhaul on top of all the previous improvements.
HumanitZ takes place in a zombie-ravaged world with an emphasis on long-term progression and player choice. You can scavenge ruined cities, build bases, and try to outlast the zombies (known as Zeeks) and potentially other survivors (if you so choose). The whole game can be played solo, but there are also optional co-op, PvE, and PvP modes available on dedicated and player-hosted servers.
There’s a variety of environments across the open world, including big city streets, suburbs, farms, and forests. And you can mold those environments to suit your needs and help you survive, with several options available to you.
For example, you can raid a city, clear out the Zeeks, and claim an abandoned building to then turn into a fortified base using the building and crafting systems. Or you can stay away from the city and use farming, hunting, fishing, and foraging to create a self-sustaining homestead. Or you can constantly stay on the move, surviving off the resources you gather and never putting down roots.
These choices are all viable, but come with different levels of risk. Cities tend to be packed with necessary resources but are also crawling with Zeeks, leaving you with very little room for error. While building up your farmstead will see fewer Zeeks but runs the risk of sapping you of resources before it becomes self-sustaining. And you’ll never be able to completely avoid danger. Zombies and other hostile NPCs are constantly roaming the open world, so even if you choose to stay away from the city, you have to remain vigilant.
This focus on player choice has always been at the core of HumanitZ, with extensive updates and fine-tuning during Early Access. Version 1.0 has continued to build on those ideas with a broad round of refinements, upgrades, and new content. The most obvious example is its graphical overhaul, with fully remastered maps, upgraded lighting, new character models, and updated environments. There are also several gameplay improvements, including new skill trees, the ability to multiclass, more diverse zombie types, special ammo, new equipment, new vehicles, and countless other new additions.
And while HumanitZ will always be an open-world sandbox, there are optional quests that can provide guidance to those of us who like a bit more structure. These quests will lead you to new areas (some of which were previously undiscoverable), where you can learn the lore behind the zombie outbreak and the horrors it’s inflicted. These quests won’t force you down a linear path, they’re just there to give you some guide rails if you want them, and they can be ignored or done at whatever pace you want.
You can choose how hard the experience is, too. Difficulty can be tuned across everything from season length and day-night cycles to Zeek respawn rates, companion health and damage, airdrops, and dynamic AI events. You can also turn on permadeath, meaning that if you die once, your game is over and you’ll have to start over again from the beginning. And for you masochists out there, you can opt into the new afflictions that add a persistent debuff and long-term consequences on top of all those modifiers, cranking the difficulty up as far as you dare
And while Version 1.0 signals a major milestone in HumanitZ’s development, it’s far from the end. The dev team has made it clear that you can expect post-launch support, with patches and updates to add new content and address player feedback. You can find HumanitZ on Steam now, where you can also read the patch notes and see all the details of everything that was added and refined in the Version 1.0 release. To keep up with the latest news and updates, you can also follow the game on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Discord.
The development team behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have been given the status of Knight under the French Order of Arts and Letters, in recognition of their significant contribution to the country's art and culture.
French studio Sandfall Interactive revealed the news this week via a post on LinkedIn, which included photos of the proud team wearing medals bestowed upon them by the French Ministry of Culture.
While somewhat similar to a British knighthood, the French Order of Arts and Letters does not allow holders to add a "Sir" to their names. Still, it is prestigious form of recognition awarded to just 200 people worldwide each year, for their work creating something of outstanding cultural significance.
"From Expeditioners to Knights!" the team wrote in celebration of their latest prize. "We were received yesterday at the Ministry of Culture to celebrate our game, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. As such, the members of Sandfall Interactive were awarded the Order of Arts and Letters.
"This distinction honors us, and our deepest thanks go especially to our team who shaped this world and to the millions of players who have brought it to life. We hope that our journey will inspire all those who wish to take the plunge and create their own work."
Recognition by the French Ministry of Culture for work in the field of video games is rare, and for an entire studio of people to be recognized is completely unique.
The honor of Knight status was first bestowed upon a game creator back in 2006, when Rayman, Rabbids and Beyond Good & Evil designer Michel Ancel received the honor alongside Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto and Alone in the Dark creator Frederick Raynal. Nintendo's veteran Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma was similarly honored in 2023, meanwhile.
"Wearing its inspirations on its sleeve, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 paints itself into the pantheon of great RPGs with a brilliant combat system and a gripping, harrowing story," IGN wrote in our Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 review, dubbing it a "modern RPG classic."
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Gaming in 2026 feels like a mad scramble to get what you need and not much else, lest you have to pay over the odds for it. The Lenovo LOQ 15 AMD Gen 10 feels like an entry-level gaming laptop very much of its time. Its modest processor and GPU aren’t going to blow you away, but its hardware and overall design might just be what you need to get gaming at 1080p, without breaking the bank.
Lenovo LOQ 15 – Design and Features
The LOQ 15 isn’t about to win design awards. Just like its predecessor, the Lenovo LOQ 15 has a clean design without the extra frills that more expensive gaming laptops seem to require these days. . It’s functional, with a solid feel to it and the ability to smoothly and easily close the lid one-handed.
The port selection includes a USB-A, USB-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, on the right-hand side, and a couple of extra USB-A ports and an HDMI output on the rear. There’s also an Ethernet port if you want to play games where stable Wi-Fi isn’t readily available. There’s no high-speed USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 or 5, but unless you’re planning on transferring RAW image files or UHD video from an external device, that’s not likely to be something you’ll miss. Three USB-A ports are plenty for a keyboard, mouse, and webcam, or other external device, and the USB-C port is great for recharging your phone or connecting external storage devices. Keeping the majority of the connections on the back ensures the cables are tucked out of the way too.
Though the onboard Wi-Fi 6 is hardly cutting-edge, it’s plenty fast for everyday office work and gaming.
At just over 5 pounds, the LOQ 15 isn’t the most portable laptop, but it’s lighter than most gaming laptops and it’s not a chore to carry around – I can’t see it causing much strain being carried around in a backpack either. It’s big enough that I probably wouldn’t want to game on my actual lap, but it’s portable enough that gaming on a train or plain table isn’t outside the realm of possibility.
Lenovo cites RAM and storage upgradeability as a benefit for this laptop, and indeed it is. It’s just a shame RAM is so expensive that actually doing so anytime soon in a budget gaming laptop seems unlikely. The 16GB is fine for most games, but there are some AAA games that demand 32GB for anything beyond low settings, so you may find some experiences limited until you can upgrade.
The model I reviewed comes with a 512GB SSD, which is fine for indie libraries, but while testing a handful of AAA games I often found myself having to uninstall something just to install the next game – though that’s something most people won’t have to deal with. The 1TB model isn’t a big cost upgrade, just adding an extra $100 if you customize the build yourself, so before AI-inspired shortages send that northwards, grab the larger model while you can.
The display is reasonably bright at 300 nits, and its 144 Hz refresh rate is welcome for more casual games and esports – though don’t expect this laptop’s entry-level GPU to be putting out triple digit frame rates in AAA games.
The keyboard is a real contender for one of my favorites in recent memory, with a solid feel and satisfying light click-clack as you type away. There’s 1.5mm of travel, and none of the keys feel crammed together. One of the advantages of a laptop this size is you can let your fingers roam a little more, and Lenovo takes full advantage of this with its keyboard design. There’s only white backlighting, but as long as I can see the keys in the dark, I’m not too concerned with what color they are.
Audio is what you would expect from a more affordable gaming laptop with a mere pair of 2W speakers. There’s basically no bass to speak of and at higher volumes there’s a distinct drop in clarity. The support for Dolby Atmos is a welcome addition if you’re movie watching, but you are 100% better off listening through headphones as you’ll find the experience much improved.
The Lenovo Legion Space software the laptop ships with is somewhat useful, in that it can help you manage power profiles for the laptop’s various components, and it gives you an insight into their utilization, temperature, etc. It’s a handy tool but one that likes to radiate from the taskbar with notifications aplenty every time you boot it up. I don’t need it, I doubt most users do, but it’s there.
What I really wish wasn’t, was the McAffee antivirus trial which had almost expired by the time I got the laptop up and running. I feel like I’ve been haunted by trials of this antivirus for 30 years and they’re still coming. Windows Defender is plenty for most - and anyone who wants more, will want to choose their own. “Free trials,” like this, are more annoying than anything else.
Lenovo Loq 15 – Performance
As much as looks are important for a gaming laptop, performance is still king. That’s not to say that I went into this expecting the Lenovo Loq 15 to be the kind of gaming laptop that dominates the competition; It’s an entry level gaming laptop, after all. But for an affordable device with entry-level components, it was perfectly capable of playing everything I threw at it.
All tests were conducted at 1080p resolution, with maximum settings, and where available, with DLSS set to quality.
In synthetic tests the Lenovo LOQ 15 put out perfectly serviceable numbers. It’s around 30% slower than the Alienware Aurora 16X we reviewed recently, but costs 40% less, and its real-world gaming results are even more impressive.
In Call of Duty Black Ops 7, the Lenovo laptop managed 78 frames per second which looks buttery smooth on the 144Hz high refresh rate display. Cyberpunk 2077 was naturally more demanding, but we still managed to get 49 fps with ray tracing at Ultra settings. We were even able to achieve a playable 32 fps when using RT overdrive, which for an entry-level mobile GPU like the RTX 5050 feels like an impressive achievement.
Unfortunately we couldn’t get the benchmark to finish with Frame Generation enabled - it just crashed towards the end of the benchmark every time I tried running it. Hopefully, it’s just a weird anomaly on our test system, it remains an option for improving performance even further despite the sky-high detail settings.
Metro Exodus: Enhanced continues to be a demanding game for even modern GPUs and the Lenovo LOQ 15 was only able to manage 37 fps there. Very playable, but not the smoothest of experiences when the action picks up. Total War: Warhammer III was much more playable, though, with 84 fps on average for a very smooth gaming experience, despite using Ultra settings.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is one of the newest games in our benchmark list and it shows: The game looks utterly gorgeous. Even on an RTX 5050 we were able to manage 38 fps without frame generation, and 66 fps average with it enabled. I did encounter a strange blocky artifact in the benchmark for this game during testing, but it wasn’t present in the main game itself, so I’m taking that as a weird quirk of the benchmark than any real issue – one worth mentioning just in case, though.
All of that gaming power does come at the slight cost to noise levels. When plugged in and on high performance mode, this laptop does get rather loud and I wouldn’t want to game on it without headphones. But that’s hardly a huge ask. And if you don’t mind taking a slight hit to performance and playing in more balanced power modes, the noise levels are no way near as distinct.
General performance in Procyon was decent – comparable to some other AMD laptops we've reviewed recently like the Razer Blade 16, despite its newer and higher-end CPU. However it’s very clear Intel holds an advantage in these kinds of benchmarks, so consider that carefully if you’re primarily interested in this laptop for general office work.
Battery life, unfortunately, wasn’t amazing. It’s not terrible, lasting just over five hours in our Procyon battery test. But that’s more comparable to high-end gaming PCs with more powerful processors and big, hefty GPUs. The Lenovo LOQ 15 has a small battery, and that helps keep weight and size down, but it’s not the kind of machine you’ll use on the go for a full day of work or play.
I found the Lenovo LOQ 15 AMD a pleasure to use day-to-day. It’s light enough, and I particularly appreciated that despite being an entry-level laptop when it comes to gaming, it’s far from entry-level in style and design. The lid opens and closes easily with one hand, the design is sleek whilst still giving little nods to its gaming chops, like the honeycomb air intake grills on the underside.
The somewhat limited battery life wasn’t an annoyance day to day, but getting a little battery anxiety around a full work day on a brand new laptop isn’t ideal. This is one laptop you’ll want to keep the charging brick handy if you’re planning a long session.
Video game adaptations are all the rage these days — so why not add another cool one to the list? The Last of Us and Alien: Romulus star Isabela Merced is set to star in an upcoming film adaptation of the hit Sega franchise The House of the Dead.
The adaptation was previously announced with Paul W.S. Anderson at the helm, which is definitely a good sign for any video game adaptation. Anderson is responsible for the original Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil films, as well as the fourth, fifth, and sixth installments in the Resident Evil franchise — so it makes a lot of sense that he would want to delve into the 1997 game and bring it to life on screen.
“The House of the Dead is a game I have loved for many years, and I’m beyond thrilled to be bringing this to the big screen with such an exciting talent as Isabela at its heart,” Anderson said in a statement. “We envisage this as the start of a tentpole franchise which can explore the rich world and lore that Sega has created over a whole series of films.”
The House of the Dead is particularly noteworthy as a horror shooter game because of one special detail: it basically pioneered the concept of zombies running fast in video games, which obviously continued to inspire other games and films alike over the years.
There are no exact details on Merced’s character just yet, but considering players would take on the role of AMS agents, employees of an agency that handles world-ending conspiracies, it appears she might be playing one of those folks. That said, time will tell.
Anderson is also producing this “fresh take” on the series alongside Sega exec and producer Toru Nakahara, and Dmitri M. Johnson, Michael Lawrence Goldberg, and Timothy I. Stevenson of Story Kitchen. Jeremy Bolt, one of the producers on Anderson’s first Resident Evil film, will also produce, with Merced herself serving as an executive producer. The project is set to go up for international sale at the upcoming European Film Market.
“Working with Isabela is a thrilling opportunity as she embodies the heroine character perfectly, bringing dynamic energy to the production,” Nakahara also noted in a statement. “We’re dedicated to crafting a visually striking and immersive experience by introducing compelling actors and terrifying creatures that will bring the House of the Dead universe to life on the big screen. With our deep understanding of video game adaptations, we’re eager to deliver an electrifying cinematic journey for the franchise’s fans.”
Image credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
Free-to-play open-world RPG Neverness to Everness (NTE) just launched a new closed beta test, called the Co-Ex Test, that’s playable on PC, PlayStation 5, and mobile. It showcases the improvements developer Hotta Studio has made in the months since the last closed beta, including vehicle updates, new minigames, and gameplay tweaks. And alongside the beta, they announced that pre-registration is available now on the App Store and Google Play.
The Containment Test beta in July added a requisition system that allows you to commandeer vehicles across Hethereau, the giant metropolis where NTE takes place. And now, that system has been refined. New types of vehicles have been added, including muscle cars, supercars, and sportbikes, and the physics of all vehicles have been improved. Handling is tighter, while collisions and the exterior damage they cause are more realistic.
There are also a lot more ways to interact with vehicles. Characters can join you as passengers, and they’ve gotten new riding animations. And you can honk the horn and jump out of a vehicle before it’s come to a stop. You can also pop tires, knock out windows, and damage vehicles to the point where they explode.
You can requisition vehicles whenever you want, but causing excessive damage or disturbing public order will activate NTE’s multi-level wanted system, which has also seen some changes. As your wanted level rises, there will be escalating consequences. Police officers and bots will pursue you, and they’ll get more aggressive as your wanted level increases.
Previously, if you were apprehended by police officers, you simply paid a fine and were immediately let out. Now, you’ll be sent to a detention facility, where you have more options for how to get out. You can still pay the fine to leave immediately, but now you also can try to stage a jail break, which obviously comes with some risk. Or you can work off what you owe, which basically amounts to cleaning up the facility. It’s the slowest option, but it costs no money and comes with no danger. So you’ll need to weigh what’s most important to you: speed, danger, or cost.
Hethereau is almost constantly plagued by reality-defying anomalies, and the main story will see you working as an unlicensed Anomaly Hunter to investigate these weird occurrences and figure out how to stop them. But in between these story beats, you’ll be able to take part in leisure activities and hobbies.
You can buy a home to return to after a long day, or you can buy and customize a car and race against street crews or against other players in multiplayer. The Co-Ex Test added new activities and hobbies too, including fishing, games of Mahjong, a musical rhythm game called Super Sound (which you can see below), and a shop management sim mode.
Fishing is the most in-depth addition, with a total of 76 different types of fish spread across designated fishing spots in the city. Each district of Hethereau has its own spots, and different fish are located in different bodies of water. So you’ll need to venture across the city if you want to catch them all. Whatever you catch can be sold for tokens, which can then be traded for fishing-related items or fons (the in-game currency). And as you catch different fish, you’ll earn additional rewards for filling up your fishing log.
If you like being able to take over a shop and manage its day-to-day operations to improve it, then Owner’s Selection is the mode for you. You can find shops in the open world available for purchase. Once you buy one, you’re in charge of improving its popularity and business level. You do this by hiring staff, decorating the shop, and stocking products. As the shop’s popularity grows, its level will rise and you’ll earn increased profits.
There’s also a new dungeon-style extraction mode called Pink Paws Heist that you can access at any time once you’ve unlocked it at Tycoon Level 18. In it, you’ll gather resources and either fight or avoid patrolling anomalies to find your way to an exit. You’ll get points based on which resources you successfully extract with, and those points can be traded for currency, upgrade materials, and other goodies.
The Co-Ex Test will last until February 20, and public signups are closed, but you still have the chance to win access. Go to this site before February 13 and link your PWG account, then tune in for Twitch Drops livestreams that will run until February 13 at 10:59 p.m. Eastern. During the livestream, you’ll have the chance to directly receive access to the beta. Good luck!
Once the beta test ends, Hotta Studio will take player feedback and implement it into later versions. A final release date for the full version of NTE has not been announced yet, but we do know it will be available for free on PC, console, iOS, and Android with cross-progression across all platforms. For the latest news and info, you can follow NTE on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or Discord.
Magic: The Gathering has begun showcasing its Marvel Super Heroes set, and while it’s a way off just yet (launching in June), the Marvel Super Heroes Gift Bundle is likely to be popular.
The box follows on from prior gift bundles, but is it worth the MSRP of $89.99? Why is it already spiking in price in some secondary markets? All will be revealed below.
Is the MTG Marvel Super Heroes Gift Bundle Worth It?
Let’s start with the real reason this boxed product exists: It includes a Collector Booster. These packs offer functionally the same cards as those found in Play Boosters, but are much harder to find and command a sizeable fee because they include rarer art treatments.
In fact, if you’re looking for valuable cards, you’re highly unlikely to find them in the more common (and affordable) Play Boosters, meaning Collector Boosters are almost always in demand just about everywhere.
Assuming the packs will be the same price as the $37.99 Avatar Collector Boosters, and that Play Boosters will be $6.99, the inclusion of one of the former and nine of the latter means there’s (at least in theory) $100 of value in this Gift Bundle.
That’s nice to know, but means you’re getting diminishing returns on your investment if you start paying more for the bundle, which is tricky because it’s being marked up.
For context, you can get a box of nine Play Boosters for $69.99, so if you consider this as being the same except you’re getting a Collector Booster on top for another $20, that’s not too shabby.
Really, it’ll all come down to just how much you want that Collector Booster. You can get more than three times the Play Boosters for around $200, which might be a better pickup if you can split the cost with a friend or two.
I’m not your adoptive, purple, Infinity Stone-collecting Dad, though, so only you can decide what’s worth it.
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.
In case building your own rig is too much work right now or simply not a priority for you, you can always opt for a top-tier prebuilt gaming PCs. You'll miss out on the satisfaction of building your PC from the ground up, but all that time you saved skipping research, waiting for components to arrive, building your machine, and inevitably troubleshooting when something goes awry can be spent actually playing PC games.
The half-baked prebuilt systems of yesteryear are no more, cutting far fewer corners for a long-lasting gaming PC that can take on all the action you throw its way. With the latest and greatest graphics cards and processors becoming pricier than ever, you may even save money by opting for something from Alienware, MSI, or HP. Plus, most options are easy enough to open up to upgrade components down the road, including our favorite gaming PC, the Legion Tower 7i.
TL;DR – These Are the Best Gaming PCs:
Buying a gaming PC is a bit more involved than a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S. You’ll need to determine the types of games you want to play and how you want to play them – even great budget gaming PCs won’t be running Cyberpunk 2077 at the highest settings. Finding the proper processors, storage, memory, cooling, and other hardware and ensuring all the components work well together can make or break the rig. Luckily, many manufacturers take care of a good chunk of that guesswork so you don’t bottleneck the system.
One thing to keep in mind is that RAM prices are extremely high right now. This is thanks in large part to AI data centers scooping all of it up, according to a post from Bontech Labs, which has led to prices of memory going up significantly. This hasn't significantly impacted the price of prebuilt gaming PCs yet, but as PC builders start working through their existing inventory, I'd expect that to change.
Whether you're looking for something more affordable for indie games, want a compact option to save space in your studio apartment, or are after a top-tier rig to tackle the action in 4K, we’ve got you covered. One of the five pre-built gaming PCs we’ve selected will align perfectly with your needs.
What's Going on With Gaming PCs Right Now?
Gaming PCs, and the parts that make them, have been steadily increasing in price for the last few years. However, in the last few months, RAM has been particularly affected due to the increased demand from datacenters, thanks to the AI boom going on right now. It's at the point where 32GB of DDR5 RAM will set you back around $450–$500, as opposed to just $90 six months ago.
That'd be bad on its own, but the exponential price increases aren't ending at more expensive memory. SSDs have also doubled in price, and high-end graphics cards like the RTX 5090 are more expensive than they've ever been. And we can't count on Nvidia releasing its mid-generation RTX 5000 Super cards to breathe new life into that market.
For the most part, pre-built gaming PCs have been insulated from these price increases, but I don't think that's going to last much longer. It's only a matter of time before major PC manufacturers like Lenovo have to restock and memory, and when that happens, you can bet the prices are going to go up accordingly. This is also the reason the Steam Machine was recently delayed. If you've been in the market for a gaming PC, I'd suggest either pulling the trigger on a pre-built soon before things get any worse, or waiting for prices to stabilize. You might be waiting a while for the latter, though.
1. Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10
Best Gaming PC
Prebuilt gaming PCs have always had a problem with proprietary hardware, and the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i really does show we're through those dark ages. It used to be that if you bought a gaming PC from Lenovo or Dell, you'd get a tower that was plenty powerful for the time, but because it was using some bespoke motherboard or power supply, you were limited when it came to upgrading your system.
The tower has been updated with new hardware, now with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and an RTX 5080, but when we reviewed it we were surprised by how much more it costs this time – even if it has genuinely excellent gaming performance. Not much other than the price and the components have changed, though.
You still get a straightforward mid-tower case housing industry-standard hardware, making it incredibly easy to fix it if something breaks or upgrade once new hardware comes out. Don't get me wrong: The Tower 7i does fall into some of the same pitfalls of any prebuilt system these days – Lenovo cheaped out a bit on the memory and the motherboard – but because all the components are the standard size, you can just swap both of those components out for better stuff when you can afford it.
This results in a gaming PC that's not just great because it plays games well, but because it serves as an entry point to customizing your own system. Building an entire system from the ground up can be an intimidating and time-consuming thing; upgrading one or two parts of your PC is way more approachable.
2. Asus ROG G700 Gaming PC
Best Gaming PC for the RGB Lover
When you're getting a prebuilt gaming PC, you're generally looking for something that works but also looks amazing. To be honest, there aren't a lot of PC manufacturers that really nail the latter – especially among big names. But the Asus ROG G700 genuinely looks amazing, even if it leans a little further toward its "gamer" influences than some people may prefer.
This gaming PC has RGB-lit panels in several areas, bedecked with ROG logos. This is something the company likes to do with its motherboards, but now extends to the case itself. To be fair, part of this is because Asus didn't include an expensive motherboard like the ROG Maximus Z890 Extreme. But it still kind of looks like a high-end motherboard is in there, as long as you don't look too closely. Asus also hid the power supply and all the cables under a PSU shroud. That's relatively common, but what sets this one apart is a bit of prose about "being unconventional" that's backlit by RGB. Never change, ROG.
As for the system itself, the model we reviewed is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, 32GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. That's more than powerful enough to handle most games at 4K, with only Black Myth: Wukong falling below 60fps with everything cranked. If that build is a little too much for you, you can get it with an RTX 4060 for much less, but I would advise getting at least an RTX 5060, especially for the premium Asus charges for putting this rig togther.
3. iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh Gaming Desktop
Best Budget Gaming PC
Not all gaming PCs are either prohibitively expensive or lack power with dated hardware, and the iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh Gaming Desktop is proof. With it comes the latest 14th-generation Intel Core i7 processor for speedy performance in everyday tasks and games. When paired with the best budget GPU, Nvidia’s RTX 4060, this rig has enough processing headroom to sail through games in 1080p at high frame rates. Looking to play in 1440p? It shouldn’t have a problem cruising through non-ray-traced games like Total War: Warhammer 3.
The iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh Gaming Desktop is even a viable option for those ready to dip their toes in game streaming, as its current-gen processors partner perfectly with the 32GB of high-bandwidth DDR5 RAM. So, running Twitch along with a game shouldn’t slow things down too much. Storage wasn't overlooked: A 1TB SSD is baked in for speedy app launches and saves.
Even if this gaming PC isn’t as powerful as some premium options, it still gets hot. Luckily, the case is roomy with mesh at the front and top panels for proper airflow and ventilation. Three ARGB fans at the front and one at the back aid in keeping things frosty. However, better cooling options couldn't hurt. Luckily, iBuyPower has made things relatively easy to upgrade. With Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series and 15th-gen Intel Arrow Lake processors dropping sometime in the not-too-distant future, it’s nice to have the option to update hardware rather than starting from scratch. Just be sure the B760 D5 motherboard and 600W PSU can handle those newer components.
Given all that's on offer for less than $1,500, the iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh Gaming Desktop is a great value. What helps elevate this budget gaming PC even further is the inclusion of a gaming keyboard and mouse with some flashy RGB lighting. These aren’t the best peripherals out there, but perfect for those just beginning their gaming journey.
4. Asus ROG NUC
Best Mini Gaming PC
Shopping for a mini gaming PC is an exercise in compromise. You can get an extremely small gaming PC like the Asus ROG NUC, but in order for the chassis to get down to that size, there are major losses in performance. Asus handles this by equipping the ROG NUC with a mobile-class RTX 5080 and an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, the latter of which is typically found in Ultrabooks. This is more than enough horsepower to power most games at 1080p, but you will run into issues at higher resolutions, especially in demanding games like Black Myth: Wukong.
Now, I haven't reviewed this year's model of the Asus ROG NUC. However, I did review last year's Asus ROG NUC with this in mind, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled games at 1080p. At that resolution, I was able to run pretty much any game under the sun at maxed-out settings while maintaining 60fps. That's impressive, given that the PC is basically the size of a cable box and can fit pretty much anywhere. And now that it's been updated with Blackwell graphics, that performance should be a bit better – though Nvidia's RTX 5000 series hasn't had quite the glow-up some folks were hoping for.
All of this makes it an excellent home theater PC that can also play PC games. And if you're comfortable tweaking game graphics settings, this mini gaming PC would make a perfect companion for a 4K TV. You can store your media library there and have instant access to your movies and TV shows, while also being able to boot up Steam and play your games when you want to. Just keep in mind that you can likely get similar performance from a gaming laptop most of the time.
5. Maingear Rush Artist Series
Best Boutique Gaming PC
For about as long as I've been playing PC games, Maingear has been around making some of the most gorgeous gaming PCs on the planet. The company has always had a great eye for detail and backs it up with one of the best warranties in the business. The downside? They're super expensive.
Even with that in mind, I was impressed by just how pretty the Maingear Rush Artist Series was when I reviewed it. Essentially, Maingear took the Lian Li O11 case and airbrushed art onto it, and you really need to see it in person to grasp just how gorgeous it is. Every inch of this gaming PC oozes with detail, and it's one of the few times where I can't look away from it, even though I'm pretty burned out on flashy RGB lighting at this point.
A good gaming PC is more than just how it looks on your desk, though, it needs to perform. Luckily, you can configure the Maingear Rush basically however you want to. Maingear's website will let you build anything from a entry-level model with an RTX 5050 and a Ryzen 5 processor to the configuration I reviewed, with its RTX 5090 and Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Just keep in mind that the more power you pump into this thing, the more expensive it's going to be – and it doesn't exactly start cheap.
You do get more than just the PC for your purchase, though. The computer comes with free tech support for life, which will follow the PC even if you sell it. Maingear's tech support will walk you through all kinds of troubleshooting and in the off chance something does need a repair, the company offers free labor on all repairs and upgrades; you just pay for shipping and new components if necessary. That's probably not enough to sell it to experienced PC builders who can definitely get a PC with similar specs for much less. But if you don't want to deal with servicing your rig, the extra money you pay for this Maingear system might just be worth it.
How to Choose a Gaming PC
Prebuilts are the most surefire way of getting into gaming and arguably the most cost-effective hardware you can buy. With a system, you’re not only getting the hardware inside, but time savings of having to track down the best processor to best RAM for your system and putting it all together yourself and praying it actually boots up correctly.
Prioritize the GPU
Just like building your own PC you want to make sure you’re spending your money where it’s needed most. Firstly, you should prioritize getting the graphics card you need for the gaming monitor or the gaming TV you’re gaming on. There’s no need for anything better than an Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti if you’re just playing games on a 1080p display.
Likewise, you should only need an Intel Core i5 or Ryzen 5 processor with at least four cores to play most modern games comfortably at any resolution.
Think about how comfortable you are with swapping out parts
System memory and solid-state drives can be the biggest money sink for any system. Those comfortable with upgrading their system after it arrives should choose a configuration with the smallest storage and RAM capacities possible, as buying these components yourself can often be more cost-effective.
If that last suggestion resonates, perhaps a barebones system is what you seek. Those can be much cheaper since they come with all the major hardware – such as the CPU, GPU, and power supply – installed, but they usually lack storage, memory, and an operating system as a trade-off.
Consider a boutique builder
Lastly, if you want more control over what exactly is going into your build, go with a boutique PC builder. Origin, Maingear, DigitalStorm, Falcon Northwest, PC Specialist, and many more companies offer excellent PC building services that let you pick exactly which components go into your gaming PC. From there, they build your system with the sort of cable management some can only dream of while ensuring it all works properly out of the box.
In case this all sounds a little overwhelming to you, NZXT has its own PC building service called BLD. Instead of picking every part that will go into your PC, you chose the games you’ll actually play and the service gives you several configuration options that will be able to run the games for a smooth experience.
Similarly, iBuyPower offers an Easy Builder service that operates in very much the same fashion. Users can select games that they play from a small pool that includes Fortnite, GTA V, Apex Legends, WoW, League of Legends, Overwatch, and Battlefield V. From there, users can select whether they play at a 1080p or 1440p resolution, as well as their budget, and the system will spit back a few configurations to choose from.
Prebuilt PCs also come with several features and pieces of software you might find convenient. Many gaming PCs in this category come with some sort of overclocking support and even a one-click button to boost your system's performance. Of course, it's easy enough to download a piece of overclocking software like MSI Afterburner or EVGA Precision X. Additionally, your machine may come with system monitoring software that makes downloading and updating drivers a breeze.
Gaming PC FAQ
Should you buy a gaming PC or a gaming laptop?
Unless you’re looking for an all-in-one portable package, a gaming PC is usually better than even the best gaming laptops. With a desktop, it’s much easier and less expensive to upgrade parts, and they tend to last longer before going obsolete. Read more about gaming PCs vs. gaming laptops.
Is it easy to upgrade your prebuilt gaming PC?
It depends. Most PC manufacturers have figured out users absolutely hate proprietary parts. While you might still find no-name motherboards installed into the heart of your PC, they should all at least fall in line with the standard size and layout of Mini ITX or Micro ATX motherboards. The best gaming PCs should allow you to easily swap out the CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage on your system with just a few simple tools or just a screwdriver.
Better yet, systems that tout tool-less upgradability don't require you to undo screws or anything to replace any of the major components. One of the things you'll likely find on most modern chassis are thumbscrews, which can be removed after a few quick twists with your fingers rather than a screwdriver. Additionally, tool-less SSD and hard drive caddies make expanding and replacing your storage just a little bit easier.
Should you buy a gaming PC or a console?
When comparing a gaming PC vs. console, there appear to be more similarities than differences these days, but one still comes out on top: the gaming PC.
Not every aspect of a gaming PC beats consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Consoles are much easier to use. You’ll also find that even the most expensive consoles are cheap compared to a quality gaming PC with a good graphics card, although there are good budget GPUs. There are some great handheld gaming PCs and mini PCs that are more affordable, but they’re better for indie games or older cross-platform console titles.
Where a gaming PC pulls ahead is in its gaming library, peripherals, upgradeability, and overall performance. There’s no denying that there are a massive amount of PC games, and of course, a gaming PC has cross-platform compatibility with popular console titles. Beyond gaming keyboards and gaming mice, you’ll find a wealth of other peripherals, from racing wheels to controllers, that all work seamlessly with a PC. You can also enjoy better visuals and a higher performance ceiling, and it’s easy to upgrade components. That makes a well-equipped PC the clear winner.
Can you find a good gaming PC for under $1,000?
Yes, it’s absolutely possible to find a great gaming PC for under $1,000. You just need to manage your expectations. Less powerful hardware will usually come in these ultra budget-friendly desktops, meaning gaming performance is more limited. Even still, you should have no problem running many of your favorite games in 1080p or sometimes even 1440p at respectable frame rates. Your PC may struggle during more graphically intensive games running at their top settings, but the savings you enjoy might be worth the trade-off.
Should you build your own gaming PC?
Building your own gaming PC has many benefits. First and foremost, you get to customize your PC to your own specifications, including only the components you want and need. Rather than purchasing a prebuilt desktop that may not be tailored to your requirements, you can select all of the individual parts that make up a gaming PC.
However, you will need some knowledge of how to build PCs, or at least be able to closely follow an in-depth YouTube video. This is where things get a little tricky. If you’ve never built a custom gaming PC before, you will need to do some research. From understanding how each component interacts with each other, to how to hold a stick of RAM or a CPU so you don’t damage it, there’s quite a large learning curve.
If you do decide to build your own gaming PC, you will likely find that you can save some money over the long run compared to buying a prebuilt machine. Choosing your own parts means you can keep an eye on sales and offers to get the best deal possible.
But building a gaming PC isn’t for everyone. If you aren’t rigid on the specifics and don’t have a particular build in mind, it can be less troublesome to let someone else do it for you. You also get the added reassurance that the PC will be professionally built, and there’s no chance your warranty can be void.
After you've scored an awesome gaming PC, be sure to grab the best gaming accessories for the ultimate PC battle station.
Jacqueline Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN. When she's not helping her friends and family buy computers, you can usually find her tinkering with her own PC.
Image Credit: Annalee Tsujino is a multi-disciplinary designer and illustrator. Check them out on Instagram @antsu_illustrations.
If you’ve been itching to jump into a racing game lately, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds can get you going fast on a track. What’s even better is it’s dropped below $40 at Amazon, with each of the deals on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch hitting their best price, so now is a great time to scoop it up.
To break down the specific deal prices, the PS5 version of the game is now on sale for $35.05, a 50% discount, and the Xbox Series X and Switch copies are both down to $39.99, making for savings of 43% and 33%, respectively. Check them out below before the deals are all gone.
Save on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds at Amazon
According to price tracker camelcamelcamel, each of these versions have hit their best prices at Amazon. For the PS5 release of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, this deal price marks a new all-time low, which makes it even more worth grabbing right now. And as for the Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch copies, this price marks a return to their lowest prices so far, which is just as nice.
If you’re wondering where we land on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, IGN’s Jada Griffin said it crossed “the finish line as my new favorite kart racing game of all time” in her review. Ultimately, she found that it “fires on all cylinders with a fantastic roster, excellent courses, and lengthy list of customization options.”
It’s certainly not the only game deal to catch our eye recently, either. If you’re looking for even more physical games to add to your library, Amazon also has a selection of JRPGs on sale right now, from Metaphor: ReFantazio to Octopath Traveler 0, which are worth scooping up while they’re still discounted. And if you prefer to play games on PC, the February Humble Choice lineup has also dropped and features plenty of exciting games to join your digital library, including Resident Evil Village.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Connexion
PC Gamer
IGN
