Ever wondered why Clark Kent’s glasses somehow prevent him from being recognized as Superman, despite just being… glasses? It’s a fun question that often comes up whenever a new Superman comes around, and this month’s release of the DC Universe kickstarter is no different. Indeed, official social media posts for the movie have played on this idea, with Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane) and Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen) expressing their confusion when Superman actor David Corenswet takes his glasses off.

@superman

Seriously though, where’d Clark go?

♬ original sound - Superman

But why exactly do the glasses work in this Superman movie? DC Universe steward James Gunn told ComicBook that he has an explanation that is comic book canon: they’re hypno glasses.

“That’s canon in the comics,” Gunn said. “It’s kind of been forgotten but that’s from the comics. I was sitting with Tom King, the comic book writer, and I was like, ‘You know the thing that I just don’t really know how to reconcile in myself is the glasses because the glasses always bothered me as a kid.’ They bothered me because I just don’t have that much suspension of disbelief to believe that.”

Gunn went on to insist that Corenswet did a great job making Clark Kent and Superman look like different people, “even more so” than Christopher Reeve. Reeve’s performance as Superman is often praised for the subtle changes he made to posture and mannerisms as he shifts from playing the tentative reporter and the world’s most powerful superhero.

“You know, they’re two different people even though I think out of all the actors that have played Superman, Corenswet looks the most different as Clark Kent to Superman, even more so than Chris Reeve,” Gunn said. “But he [King] said, ‘You know, there’s an answer for that in the comics, it’s canon that they hypnotize people.’”

The somewhat goofy explanation is in keeping with the tone Gunn’s new Superman is shooting for. Teaser trailers have revealed a number of fun one-liners from Superman, as well as the use of his freeze breath to blow a dog to safety. And, of course, there’s all sorts of co-op punching shenanigans with Krypto the Superdog.

The inevitable next question is, what does Clark Kent look like when he's wearing his hypno glasses? In the same interview, Gunn said the glasses make Kent look like he has a fuller face: "He looks a little bit blockier in my mind when he's got the hypno glasses on."

IGN’s new feature, How James Gunn's Superman Reinvents the Look and Feel of Kal-El's World, touched on the design of Clark Kent’s glasses in the new movie.

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.

The Tuscaloosa Police Department have issued a request for help to unmask a Scooby-Doo costume-wearing criminal who stole cash from a convenience store.

The thief, who struck at the Quick Stop on Highway 82 last weekend, was caught on CCTV cameras emptying coins from gaming machines while dressed as the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon character.

At one point the suspect removed his Scooby-Doo hood — but unlike in the show, the thief had come prepared: he was also wearing a balaclava obscuring his face underneath. Zoinks.

Police say the suspect appears to be a white male, around 5'9, and have appealed for information on the villain's true identity. (Isn't it always an old guy in a disguise?)

Images posted to the Tuscaloosa Police Department Facebook page show the criminal stomping around the convenience store at 3.45am in the morning. Cops stated he "took cash and coins, but no snacks." What, no munchies?

In a follow-up comment, the department posted a photo of the Scooby gang's infamous Mystery Machine van parked outside their headquarters, and jokingly stated: "We’ve questioned the owners of the vehicle, but no solid leads yet. Continue to be on the lookout for shady caretakers and don’t meddle if you see the suspect."

Borderlands 4 includes a slider that lets you decrease the volume of — or mute entirely — your beloved (or love-to-hate) companion, Claptrap.

The robot companion has been in the Borderlands franchise since it began way back in 2009, and you can even play as him in 2014's Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. He essentially acts as your guide and mascot, and can make you laugh/cringe in equal measure. For some, however, he can be annoying, which is likely why the developers at Gearbox have introduced a setting to let you lower the volume of his voice or simply mute him completely.

"I wrote some lines just for this feature and it includes maybe the dumbest most niche reference to a certain terrible accent in a certain classic immersive sim," teased Borderlands 4 narrative director, Sam Winkler, in a social media post responding to streamer and 2K partner, Chadly, who revealed there's an audio slider dedicated to Claptrap's voice.

When a fan suggested Gearbox shouldn't have "caved to Claptrap haters," he added: "I pitched that you should be able to put him from 0% to 200% but I think the government said no."

ICYMI:#Borderlands4 features an audio slider purely for Claptrap's voice💀 pic.twitter.com/APAtqUQu1p

— Chadly (@Chadly_99) June 30, 2025

Borderlands 4 is a looter shooter packed with billions of weapons, outrageous enemies, and intense co-op action where you'll break free from a dangerous hidden planet as one of four new Vault Hunters.

We had a good time with what we've played so far, writing in IGN's Borderlands 4 preview: "After several hours dipping my toes into what is sure to be a massive looter shooter, I’m much more optimistic about Borderlands 4’s odds of recapturing my affections after years apart."

And in case Randy Pitchford's controversial tweets had you thinking otherwise, publisher 2K Games has confirmed Borderlands 4 will cost $70, not $80, after all. Preorders are now live.

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.

With a new Wonder Woman movie confirmed to be in development, all eyes are on James Gunn to see who he picks to replace Gal Gadot as the world famous superhero in the rebooted DC Universe.

The attention on Gunn’s decision-making around the DCU has involved speculation sparked by who he follows on social media, and that speculation has extended to Adria Arjona, who fans believe may be the next Wonder Woman after they noticed Gunn followed the actress on Instagram.

But in a recent interview, Gunn downplayed the significance of his social media moves, although he left a tease dangling that has only fueled the rumors.

Cryptic teases from Minecraft's official social media accounts have hinted at something big coming soon to do with copper.

A post on the Minecraft X/Twitter account features a teasing message stating "C U in the mines!" while on Instagram, the inside of a cave with blocks spelling out "CU 29" can be seen alongside the message: "Teleported Steve to 29, 11, 63.54."

What does all this mean? Well, Cu is copper's chemical symbol, 29 is its number in the periodic table, 11 is its group in the period table, while 63.54 is its atomic mass. So it's definitely something to do with copper. But beyond that? Well, fans do have one big idea.

Copper has existed in Minecraft for some time, as one of the game's many ores you can harvest and smelt into blocks, ingots, stairs, doors and so forth. There are even exposed, weathered and oxidized versions of the material, so you can build using copper of various types.

Back in 2021, a concept for a copper golem was proposed by Minecraft developer Mojang as one of several potential mobs it was considering — though, sadly, the copper golem lost that year's Minecraft Live vote, and the concept was shelved.

C U in the mines! pic.twitter.com/2Pq0iG1gHl

— Minecraft (@Minecraft) June 30, 2025

The copper golem has remained something of a fan-favorite, however, popping up as an Easter egg in subsequent Mob Votes. The helpful creature would have acted as a regular golem, albeit with the ability to randomly press copper buttons.

One cool mechanic would have seen the golem slowly oxidize over time, eventually turning into a statue unless players remembered to chisel off the oxidization with an axe, or if the golem was struck by lightning.

"What is something important involving copper that Mojang has teased in the past?" one fan excitedly wrote on reddit. "I think it's pretty obvious we are getting a copper update, and I think it might be the copper golems introduction," wrote another.

Perhaps the best evidence of a return for the copper golem comes from yet another official tease, this time posted to the Minecraft YouTube channel. Here, Minecraft director Agnes Larsson is seen visiting an actual real-life mine after taking a break from playing Minecraft. As fans on reddit have pointed out, the brief snippet of gameplay shown at the beginning of the video shows a house clearly shaped like a copper golem, made out of copper blocks.

The next mainline Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon game is moving into internal alpha testing in the coming months.

That's according to Insider Gaming, which claimed the shooter, codenamed 'Over' internally, will commence alpha testing in the Fall (Q3). With testing thought to take around 12 months, IG estimated Ghost Recon may release Fall 2026.

News of a new Ghost Recon broke around the time the developer/publisher confirmed it was ceasing all new development on 2019's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. It has reportedly been in development at Ubisoft since then, although at the time, it was clear the series was undergoing a full reset, which would necessitate a lengthy development cycle.

In a statement to IGN, an Ubisoft representative said: "We do not comment on rumour or speculation."

IGN's Ghost Recon Breakpoint review returned a 6/10. We wrote: "Breakpoint offers initial fun following Ubisoft's open-world structure as gospel, but a lack of variety and conflicting pieces leave it devoid of personality."

Earlier this year, Ubisoft created a subsidiary company based on its Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six brands, with a €1.16 billion (approx. $1.25 billion) investment from Chinese megacorp Tencent.

The news came hot on the heels of the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which just passed the 3 million player mark. Ubisoft suffered a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations in the run up to Assassin's Creed Shadows' release, and there was enormous pressure on it to succeed after the company's share price hit an historic low.

In 2022, Ubisoft canceled development on Ghost Recon Frontline a year after it was announced. It was meant to be a free-to-play battle royale spin-off with 102-players, but never saw the light of day.

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.

Avatar director James Cameron has said Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was “a bit of a moral cop out,” while revealing his plans for his own movie, Ghosts of Hiroshima.

Last year it emerged that Cameron, the second-highest-grossing film director of all time, will take a break from making Avatar movies to direct a film based on Charles Pellegrino’s book Ghosts of Hiroshima.

The 70-year-old Terminator creator has called his adaptation an “uncompromising theatrical film” that focuses on the true story of a man who survived both bombs that dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.

The Ghosts of Hiroshima book is due out August 5, and there’s no release window yet for the adaptation. But Cameron detailed the project in an interview with Deadline, where he was asked about Ghosts of Hiroshima’s potential in the context of Oppenheimer’s $1 billion box office and seven-Oscar haul.

“Yeah… it’s interesting what he stayed away from,” Cameron replied, before suggesting Ghosts of Hiroshima may not have the kind of mainstream breakthrough appeal Oppenheimer managed. “Look, I love the filmmaking, but I did feel that it was a bit of a moral cop out.”

Cameron continued: “Because it’s not like Oppenheimer didn’t know the effects. He’s got one brief scene in the film where we see — and I don’t like to criticize another filmmaker’s film — but there’s only one brief moment where he sees some charred bodies in the audience and then the film goes on to show how it deeply moved him. But I felt that it dodged the subject. I don’t know whether the studio or Chris felt that that was a third rail that they didn’t want to touch, but I want to go straight at the third rail. I’m just stupid that way.”

Nolan has responded to this criticism of Oppenheimer before, specifically that the biopic does not meaningfully depict the true horror unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Director Spike Lee said in October 2023: “If it’s three hours, I would like to add some more minutes about what happened to the Japanese people. People got vaporized. Many years later, people are radioactive. It’s not like he didn’t have power. He tells studios what to do. I would have loved to have the end of the film maybe show what it did, dropping those two nuclear bombs on Japan.”

Nolan has countered to insist Oppenheimer is about Oppenheimer himself, and so focuses on his reactions to the events.

"The film presents Oppenheimer's experience subjectively," Nolan told Variety in November 2023. "It was always my intention to rigidly stick to that. Oppenheimer heard about the bombing at the same time that the rest of the world did. I wanted to show somebody who is starting to gain a clearer picture of the unintended consequences of his actions. It was as much about what I don't show as what I show."

Deadline suggested Nolan hopes someone tells that sort of story one day, and Cameron responded to say he’s the director to do it.

“Okay, I’ll put up my hand,” he said. “I’ll do it, Chris. No problem. You come to my premiere and say nice things…”

Ghosts of Hiroshima sounds like it will be a very different movie than Oppenheimer, then, and it also sounds like it will be some time before it’s made. Cameron clarified he has yet to write a word of the script, saying: “I’m not in that head space right now.”

Nintendo has announced an imminent "pricing update" for the original Switch in Canada, leaving fans north of the border expecting the aging console to increase in price — more than eight years after it launched.

An advisory warning issued by Nintendo of Canada states that the changes will be fully detailed later today, July 1, as prices are publicly adjusted on the official Nintendo Canada online store.

Explaining the changes, Nintendo's note simply states the move is "based on market conditions," without going into further detail.

Nintendo has said that the newly-launched Switch 2 will not be impacted by the impending price adjustment, though all models of the original Switch (the OG Switch, Switch Lite and Switch OLED) will be impacted.

Physical and digital Switch games and accessories will also see price changes, Nintendo continued — something which of course will impact Switch 2 owners, as most games and many peripherals are cross-compatible.

The sweeping changes will also hit Nintendo Switch Online memberships, the company stated, as well as amiibo figurines. If you're in Canada and need to top-up your online subscription before prices change, now might be a good time.

Canada, like many other countries, has been caught up in the ongoing financial uncertainty provoked by the introduction of US tariffs. Prior to the Switch 2 launch, Nintendo paused the rollout of pre-orders in the US and Canada as it gauged the potential impact of tariffs, before announcing price rises on some Switch 2 peripherals.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa previously suggested the impact of tariffs could impact the company's profits by "tens of billions of yen," though cautioned that increasing the Switch 2's price to compensate would likely "decrease demand."

Fans have suggested that these price rises, aimed at the original Switch, and on Nintendo Online Memberships, are likely Nintendo's workaround — without attracting the headlines of raising the Switch 2's price so soon after launch.

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

What’s next for Halo? It looks like fans will get a further tease this October at the Halo World Championship 2025.

In a blog post, Tahir “Tashi” Hasandjekic, Esports Lead for the Halo franchise, suggested fans attend the event October 24-26 in Seattle to find out what Halo Studios has been working on.

During the same event last October, Halo developer 343 Industries announced it had changed its name to Halo Studios and confirmed multiple projects were in the works. In the same breath, Halo Studios said all its future games would be developed on Unreal Engine, leaving behind the Slipspace Engine utilized by Halo Infinite.

The announcements were unveiled in a seven-minute video shown ahead of the Halo World Championship's grand finals. This showcased the results of Project Foundry — an experimental project designed to show a Halo game built using the Unreal Engine — and offered a glimpse at a fresh beginning for Xbox's flagship franchise in the wake of 2021's Halo Infinite.

In the blog post, Tashi referenced last year’s announcements and teased more to come this October.

“Over the past few weeks, there’s been a fair amount of speculation about when and where more details might emerge about any of the multiple projects Halo Studios is actively working on,” Tashi said. “We don’t usually comment on such matters, but this time we want to enter the chat and share a little more perspective for Halo fans who might be on the fence about whether to attend this year’s event.

“Last year at HaloWC, we premiered ‘A New Dawn’ where we talked about the switch to Unreal Engine, gave you a behind the scenes look at Project Foundry, and debuted our evolution to Halo Studios as we enter a new chapter for Halo. For us, ‘A New Dawn’ was just the beginning — at this year’s HaloWC, we look forward to continuing the conversation.

“Speculation is always fun, but if you want the official scoop on what Halo Studios has been working on, you won’t want to miss this year’s Halo World Championship. We really hope you’ll join us in Seattle this October!”

So, what could Halo Studios have up its sleeve for the announcement? It seems unlikely we’ll get a full-blown gameplay reveal for the next big Halo title, but we may get a more detailed tech demo showing Halo running in Unreal Engine. Earlier this month, Microsoft was reported to be readying a Halo: Combat Evolved remaster for release in 2026. Perhaps we will get a look at that. The so-far unannounced remaster is apparently under consideration for release on rival platforms including PlayStation 5.

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.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is set for a second year of DLC, and we have the first details on its huge 10.0 update.

Breakout hit Space Marine 2 has sold 7 million copies, so it’s no surprise to see Year 2 support confirmed by publisher Focus Entertainment and developer Saber Interactive. In a community update, the companies said Year 2 will bring new PvE missions, enemies, weapons, and more unannounced content.

Space Marine 2 came out in September 2024, and as part of its first anniversary, a “large-scale” update is planned to release in September. Patch 10.0 sounds like a big one for Space Marine 2, but it’s worth noting that Patch 9.0 is due out beforehand. 9.0 was meant to add a new PvP mode, but that’s now delayed to 10.0, which means 9.0 will add only balance changes.

We do know a little about this new PvP mode, however. The twist here is it’s Chaos vs Chaos set on a new map, and, most interesting of all, you’ll be able to take control of the Helbrute. The Helbrute, for the uninitiated, is a variant of the Chaos Dreadnought, an evil death-dealer piloted by a Chaos Space Marine trapped within its plated metal chest. You might remember the Helbrute from the Space Marine 2 campaign, where it came off worse in a scrap with the Ultramarines’ Brother Valtus. Alongside this new Chaos-themed PvP mode are new Chaos armours, which are much-requested by fans.

Meanwhile, 10.0 adds the new Power Axe melee weapon, which has its own moveset and execution animations. We have a first look below:

If you're looking for the best TV series and movies to watch right here in Australia, we've got you covered. Because hey—why torment yourself by aimlessly hunting around the six odd streaming services? You could be wasting your precious free time watching a grade B piece of entertainment instead of something mind-blowing that's tucked away in some other library. Also, we can give you a heads-up on the hottest new things coming down the pipe, too. Don't ever be the person around the water cooler who hasn't seen the thing yet.

So, let’s get to maximising your hard-fought free time with the best award-winning films, social calendar-destroying TV series, and original content available. Below are the top picks from thousands of hours of content from Australia's six major streaming networks. Click your provider from the list, select some content, unplug the doorbell, and get some stream therapy for an hour. Or twelve.

Table of Contents

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

New in July on Foxtel and Binge

TV litter pick: Nosferatu – 24 Jul : Robert Eggers' finest work, given how it both boldly stands on its own as a gothic vampire drama and astutely taps into the original texts — F.W. Murnau's silent classic and Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.

Movie litter pick: Arrested Development S1–5 – 29 Jul : Oldie but a goodie. This revolves around Michael Bluth, the "normal" one in a family of crazies, who get thrown together when their head of household gets sent to prison for shifty practices.

What notable movies are coming to Binge?

• Rear Window – 1 Jul
• The Game – 1 Jul
• Vertigo – 1 Jul
• Emelia Pérez – 4 Jul
• Nosferatu – 24 Jul

What notable series are coming to Binge?

• Suits Seasons 1–9 – 17 Jul
• Botched Season 4 – 28 Jul
• The Great Australian Bake Off S8 – 29 Jul
• Arrested Development S1–5 – 29 Jul

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New in July on Netflix

TV litter pick: The Sandman S2 – 3 Jul (S02) : After a fateful reunion with his family, Dream of the Endless must face one impossible decision after another as he attempts to save himself, his kingdom, and the waking world from the epic fallout of his past misdeeds.

Movie litter pick: Happy Gilmore 2 – 25 Jul : Adam Sandler returns to power-drive the everloving crap out of golf balls alongside original Happy Gilmore stars Julie Bowen, Ben Stiller, and Christopher McDonald, the latter of whom once again plays nemesis shooter McGavin.

What notable movies are coming to Netflix?

• The Old Guard 2 – 2 Jul
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – 8 Jul
• Brick – 10 Jul
• Almost Cops – 11 Jul
• The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – 12 Jul
• Happy Gilmore 2 – 25 Jul
• Nosferatu – 26 Jul

What notable series are coming to Netflix?

• The Sandman S2 – 3 Jul (S02)
• Quarterback – 8 Jul (S02)
• Too Much – 10 Jul (S02)
• The Rookie – 15 Jul (S06)
• Untamed – 17 Jul
• Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 – 29 Jul
• Glass Heart – 31 Jul

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New in July on Disney+

TV litter pick: Ironheart – 2 Jul (3 eps incl. Finale) : Dominique Thorne stars as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armour since Iron Man. It’s “science and magic collide in Chicago” stuff that’s good but not great.

Movie litter pick: Jaws @ 50: The Inside Story – 11 Jul : It’s a tribute to Jaws (1975), the movie that sparked a lasting fascination with the ocean's most misunderstood predator and featured one of the most spine-chilling monologues in movie history.

What notable movies are coming to Disney+?

• ZOMBIES (Sing-Along) – 2 Jul
• ZOMBIES 2 (Sing-Along) – 2 Jul
• ZOMBIES 3 (Sing-Along) – 2 Jul
• Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest – 5 Jul
• ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires – 11 Jul
• Jaws @ 50: The Inside Story – 11 Jul
• Transformers – 16 Jul
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – 16 Jul
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon – 16 Jul
• Transformers: Age of Extinction – 16 Jul
• Transformers: The Last Knight – 16 Jul
• Bumblebee – 16 Jul

What notable series are coming to Disney+?

• Bob's Burgers – Every Wed (S15)
• Ironheart – 2 Jul (3 eps incl. Finale)
• The Rookie – 15 Jul (S06)
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia – 16 Jul (S17)
• Washington Black – 23 Jul (Series Premiere)

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New in July on Apple TV+

TV litter pick: Foundation S3 – 11 Jul : Based off an Isaac Asimov classic, Foundation chronicles a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire.

What notable series are coming to Apple TV+?

• Foundation S3 – 11 Jul
• The Wild Ones – 11 Jul
• Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical – 18 Jul
• Acapulco S4 – 23 Jul

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New in July on Amazon Prime Video

TV litter pick: Ballard – 9 Jul : Detective Renée Ballard plunges into a web of murder and corruption as she hunts a ruthless serial killer and uncovers a sinister police conspiracy. Also, Bosch cameos!

Movie litter pick: Warfare – 1 Jul : The harrowing true story of a US Navy Seal platoon surveillance mission gone dangerously wrong. Warfare captures the intensity of combat like never before.

What notable movies are coming to Prime Video?

• Warfare – 1 Jul
• Heads of State – 2 Jul
• Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crown – 8 Jul
• One Night in Idaho: The College Murders – 11 Jul
• Better Man – 26 Jul

What notable series are coming to Prime Video?

• Ballard – 9 Jul
• One Night in Idaho: The College Murders – 11 Jul
• The Chosen: Last Supper Season 5 – 13 Jul
• Romcon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter? – 13 Jul
• The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 – 16 Jul
• Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War Season 2 – 23 Jul

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New in July on Stan

TV litter pick: Twisted Metal S2 – 31 Jul (S02) : The mysterious Calypso invites all the killers, vigilantes, and joyriders of the Divided States of America to participate in a demolition derby tournament with the promise of making the winner’s greatest wish come true.

Movie litter pick: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – 12 Jul : A return to the YA dystopia in which kids are forced to hunt and kill each other for the entertainment of a privileged ruling class. Works well as a faithful adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel.

What notable movies are coming to Stan?

• Spider-Man: No Way Home – 1 Jul
• Morbius – 1 Jul
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage – 1 Jul
• The Patriot (2000) – 4 Jul
• Black Swan (2010) – 5 Jul
• Uncharted – 9 Jul
• Looper – 10 Jul
• The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – 12 Jul
• S.W.A.T. (2003) – 16 Jul
• Ghostbusters: Afterlife – 17 Jul
• The Last Showgirl – 20 Jul
• American Sniper – 22 Jul
• Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City – 27 Jul
• The 355 – 31 Jul

What notable series are coming to Stan?

• Kevin Costner's The West – 1 Jul (Finale)
• The Carters: Hurts to Love You – 2 Jul (S01)
• Such Brave Girls – 4 Jul (S02)
• The Institute – 14 Jul (S01, E01 & E02)
• Sin City Gigolo: A Murder in Las Vegas – 20 Jul (S01)
• Twisted Metal S2 – 31 Jul (S02)

Score your free 30–day trial of Stan

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Time to warm up your wishlist, because this week’s gaming deals bring serious heat across every platform. Whether you're chasing cosy comfort, bold experimentation or big-ticket RPGs at slashed prices, there’s gold to be found here. From reimagined classics to cult favourites and bombastic new entries, it’s a great chance to fill those library gaps.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm celebrating the 38th birthday of a true great, Super Mario Bros., on the Nintendo Entertainment System. My first life-for-life playthrough at a friend's place blew me away. Every stage we conquered in the "back 4" worlds of this save-less odyssey felt like a murder gauntlet survived. Every secret pipe or warp room we found—unaided by the non-existent Internet—was a cave of wonders unearthed.

To this day, the infectious melodies and subtle physics of this 2D platformer still feel apex to me, and I can honestly say nearly four decades have done nothing to dilute my hatred of that spike-slinging Lakitu. Or, as my friend called him for some reason, Pompous Cloud.

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons (-20%) - A$64
• Super Mario RPG (-20%) - A$64
• Gang Beasts (-60%) - A$15.90
• Dragon Ball Fighterz (-45%) - A$49.80
• Valkyria Chronicles 4 (-80%) - A$12.70

Expiring Recent Deals

• Lego Horizon Adventures (-55%) – A$48.50
• EA Sports FC 25 (-43%) – A$34
• Persona 5 Royal (-65%) – A$34.90
• West of Loathing (-69%) – A$4.90
• Unicorn Overlord (-50%) – A$47.40
• Sonic Forces (-32%) – A$40.90

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

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Alienware released a new flagship gaming laptop this year - the Area-51 - and it brings to the table a host of upgrades over the m-series laptops including a sleeker redesign, current generation components, and better cooling potential. As part of the Alienware Black Friday in July Sale that kicks off now, select Area-51 gaming laptops have dropped to the lowest prices I've seen this year. They're all equipped with the newest Intel Core Ultra 9 processors and Nvidia RTX 5000 series Blackwell graphics cards. Check out all of the deals below.

Alienware Area-51 Laptops on Sale for 4th of July

The Area-51: New Style, More Power, Better Cooling

New for 2025, the Alienware Area-51 gaming laptop features a magnesium alloy chassis with upgraded cooling to tackle the latest and greatest heat generating components. This includes more fans and bigger cutouts enabling greater airflow, more generous use of copper, and a new thermal interface material to better transfer heat away from the core components. Dell claims that the laptop can handle a higher power ceiling of up to 240W TDP without raising acoustics.

Design-wise, the Area 51 accentuates its smooth contours, with rounded edges and soft corners replacing the squared off design you'd see in most other laptops. The hinges are also mostly internally positioned so that they're near invisible. As befits an Alienware laptop, there are ample customization options for RGB LED lighting.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a top performing CPU

The Area-51 laptop is also equipped with a very powerful CPU as well. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with a whopping 24 cores and 40MB total L2 cache. According to Passmark, this is the second most powerful Intel mobile CPU available right now and goes head to head with AMD's Ryzen 9 7945HX3D.

The RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 mobile offer the best performance for your dollar

As expensive as these laptops are, you don't want to spend even more on trivial upgrades. The RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU boasts performance on par with the RTX 4080 but with the added benefit of faster GDDR7 RAM and DLSS 4.0. The RTX 5080 mobile GPU represents a healthy improvement over the RTX 5070 Ti for a nominal price bump; it's about 15%-20% more powerful than the RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 4080 that it replaces. It also happens to be about 5% more powerful than the RTX 4090 and has the same amount of memory (16GB). Unfortunately, the RTX 5090 only appears to be just 5% more powerful than the RTX 5080, and its only real benefit is the 24GB of memory, which isn't that useful for gaming (but is an attraction option for professionals who work with AI applications).

Check Out More Alienware Black Friday in July Deals

Check out our Best Alienware Deals article with all of Dell's currently ongoing deals on gaming laptops and desktop PCs. Not everyone is the DIY type. If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of the best brands we'd recommend. Alienware desktops and laptops feature solid build quality, top-of-the-line gaming performance, excellent cooling (further improved on the newer models), aggressive styling, and pricing that is very competitive with other pre-built options. Best of all, there are plenty of sales that happen throughout the year, so it's not difficult to grab one of these computers at considerably less than their retail price.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

I’ve been keeping a close eye on the Pokémon TCG market this month, and we’re seeing two very different stories unfold. On one side, Surging Sparks cards are going through a steep correction.

On the other hand, Crown Zenith cards are showing early signs of what could be a long-term value surge. The bottom line? If you're a collector or investor, now is the time to buy into both.

I’m picking up what I can from both sets. The current dip in Sparks is a glimmer of hope for long-suffering 2024-2025 collectors. And Crown Zenith is a train I want to be on before it leaves the station. Let's go into more detail:

Pokémon Card Crashers

A lot of people don't know what the deal is with Amazon's Prime Student membership. Does it offer everything regular Prime members get? Does it cost less? Is it only for college students? As it turns out, Prime Student is an almost absurdly good deal, even if you only use the free trial. To that end, let's dig in and answer all of your Prime Student questions.

How to Sign Up for an Amazon Prime Student Free Trial

First things first. New members can try out Prime Student for 6 months for free. That's way longer than most free trials, so there's really no reason not to do it. If you like it, keep it going after the trial ends. If not, cancel before your first paid month, and you won't owe anyone a dime.

Who Can Sign Up for Prime Student?

Prime Student is available for anyone attending a college or university.

What is Prime Student?

Prime Student is a discounted Amazon Prime membership that also gets you deals on a bunch of things students would be likely to enjoy.

The Prime membership portion of it includes all the same benefits of a regular Prime membership. That means you get free two-day shipping on millions of items, full access to Prime Video, Amazon Music Prime, Amazon Photos, and Prime Gaming.

What Extra Deals Come with Prime Student?

As for the extra deals on top of the standard Prime benefits, quite a few things are included. Here are some of them:

• Grubhub - You get unlimited free food delivery through Grubhub (as long as the order is $12 or more)
• Premium Channels - Get a year of premium channels like Showtime, Epix, and Shudder for $1 each per month
• Amazon Music Unlimited - Get a year for $1 a month
• Kindle Unlimited - Get two months free
• Calm - You can try the Calm app for free for three months, then get a big discount on a subscription
• More - There are lots of other benefits, including access to special deals, early access to lightning deals, discounts on flights, hotels, and homework help. You can find full details here.

How Much Does Amazon Prime Student Cost?

After your free trial ends, the normal price of $7.49 per month kicks in. That's half the price of a regular Prime membership. And remember, Prime Student includes all the benefits of a Prime membership, plus a bunch more.

Do I Need a .edu Email Address?

Yes. While you can continue to use your standard email address for your Amazon account, Amazon does send a verification email to your .edu address.

What Happens to Your Prime Student Membership When You Graduate?

When your school days come to an end -- or four years after your Prime Student membership begins, whichever comes first -- your Prime Student membership turns into a regular Prime membership.

Is Amazon Prime Student Free?

New members can sign up for a 6-month free trial. After the free trial ends, the regular price is $6.49 per month, which is half the price of a normal Prime membership.

Is Amazon Prime Student Worth It?

This is subjective, of course, but I'd say Prime Student is absolutely worth it for anyone who orders items from Amazon or wants to watch Prime Video, or even orders food regularly from Grubhub. Even if you consider the standard price of $6.49 per month to be too much, there's no reason not to do the free 6-month trial.

Both PS5 and PC gamers looking to supplement their storage should check out this early Amazon Prime Day Deal. For a limited time, Amazon has dropped the price on the Crucial T500 2TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive to just $124.99 with free shipping. The Crucial T500 is one of the top performing PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the market. Besides its high transfer speeds, this SSD has onboard DRAM (rare at this price point) and includes a pre-installed heatsink, making it an excellent drop-in ready solution for your PlayStation 5 console.

2TB Crucial T500 SSD (PS5 Compatible) for $124.99

We just found a great early Amazon Prime Day deal for anyone looking for an inexpensive pair of earbuds that is a perfect fit (pun intended) for sports, exercise, or fitness activities. Right now Amazon is offering the Baseus Bowie MC1 Pro Open Ear Clip-On Earbuds for just $53.79 with free shipping after you clip a $20 off coupon on the product page and apply a $16.20 off coupon code "T6A3PAYT" during checkout. All three color options are on sale. The on-ear design is the best option if you need to be aware of your surroundings while listening to your music.

Baseus Bowie MC1 Pro Open Ear Sports Earbuds for $53.79

Although Amazon has become the biggest online retailer for just about everything, it has consistently been one of the best places to buy new books. In addition to some of the lowest prices on hardcovers and paperbacks, the Amazon-owned services are also some of the best ways to read (or listen) to books in 2025. I myself have had a Kindle Unlimited subscription for over a year now and don't really see how I could go back to reading any other way.

With the official Prime Day deals coming next week, Amazon has already started dropping its best deals of the year on select books and services. Right now is a great time to try Audible or Kindle Unlimited for free, but you can also find deals on various physical books and box sets for popular series. I've gathered some of the best early Prime Day deals I've found on such things below.

The Best Early Prime Day Book Deals

Overall, Amazon has a ton of early book deals to choose from. If you're specifically looking for the biggest savings possible, I've gathered up my top picks that are definitely worth buying right now at these prices. Most of these deals, similar to Prime Day as a whole, are only available for those with an Amazon Prime membership.

My first go-to recommendations here are the Lord of the Rings books. The Silmarillion Collector's Edition has dropped to its lowest price ever and is absolutely worth buying if you're a fan of Tolkien's work. It may not be the easiest thing to just sit down and actually read, but it's a great gift for Lord of the Rings fans who want a nice copy of the book to put on their shelf. Along those same lines, the deluxe illustrated edition of The Hobbit has officially dropped to its lowest-ever price as well. This special edition features drawings from Tolkien himself.

Other notable book deals in this sale are on popular fiction box sets. The Inheritance Cycle, which you may know as the Eragon series, has dropped to a new low price for 2025. This is one of my overall favorite fantasy series and I'd recommend it for any young adult readers who just can't get enough dragons. There's also a pretty nice discount on the latest Hunger Games book bundle, which includes the newest title Sunrise on the Reaping. If you don't already have all of those books, it's a great time to pick up the full box set before the movie comes out in 2026.

Last but not least, some of the best early Prime Day deals are on Amazon's own services. The Audible promotion running right now offers three full months of the audiobook service for free if you're a Prime member. This will also include one credit per month to purchase an audibook free of charge. So you essentially get three free audibooks and the service for free for months before having to pay anything. The same goes for Kindle Unlimited, which will give you access to a ton of digital Kindle books for free for three months as long as you're a new subscriber. I highly recommend trying this service if you are into LitRPG books at all as this is what I primarily use it for.

Should you wait to buy books until Prime Day starts?

PUBG: Blindspot is a cheeky little PUBG: Battlegrounds spin off that's currently in development, and was playable on the show floor at IGN Live. It's a 5v5 top-down tactical shooter that has a classic team deathmatch mode - one we got hooked on even in the chaos of the gaming show floor - and a Demolition mode, that will see teams using traps and obstacles to outwit the enemy. It's been compared to a top-down Rainbow Six Siege and with good reason: to rack up the kills you're going to need to use your brain as well as your trigger finger.

1. Think 'Peekaboo with bullets'

Forget all your FPS muscle memory, this is a top-down strategic PvP game where your cunning is as important as your reaction times. You're dropped into a map full of corners, windows, doorways - basically anything you can think of to make line of sight a key part of gameplay - and you have to hunt down your opponents before they pop one in your back. You can see the whole map, but you'll only see enemies if they're in your cone of vision or your teammates, which sounds simple until someone snipes you through a window while you're focused on the doorway at the end of a corridor.

2. Demolition Mode is on the way

While we didn't get to play the Demolition Mode, it sounds like a step up in complexity from the 5v5 deathmatch, adding a greater need for planning and teamwork. Production Director Seungmyeong Yang explained more about it at IGN Live. "Demolition Mode can commonly be found in other games such as Counter Strike or Valorant," he said. "In this Demolition Mode there is an attacking team and a defending team, and the defense team basically tries to block the attacking team from coming in and the attacking team tries to breach the building. It was really fun to see how the gamers react, they seem to really enjoy the game!" Demolition Mode is the inspiration for those Rainbow Six Siege comparisons, albeit it from a whole new top-down perspective.

3. Start your WASD warmups

The keyboard and mouse controls are more like a twin-stick shooter set up, and it's going to take your brain a second to catch up to how they work. You control movement with WASD and your cone of vision with the mouse, while to aim and fire weapons you hold down the right mouse button. That will slow your movement, though, so it's always a balance between moving quickly to avoid enemy detection and choosing when to take your shots. Once you've mastered that you can focus on being more accurate, using the mouse wheel and keyboard to go for head shots, body shots, or aiming specifically at any crouched enemies.

4. Character choice is key

Like any team game, who you have in your five-person kill crew is going to matter. The build I played had 10 characters to choose from, each with pleasingly distinct looks and loadouts to keep things interesting. I'm not exactly a subtle operative, so I gravitated towards those with weapons that could cause carnage up close and personal, like bearded cowboy Collision, who packs a Winchester 1300 shotgun and booby traps; or Kayak, who has a semi-automatic O12 combat shotgun and a remote sticky bomb. Support players can go for Fanatic with her P90 and First Aid Kid, or sniper Buddy with her scanning drones. Some you might want to play just because of their character designs - I'm not usually one for Toxic Gas Grenades, but Dropdown has a sort of Dystopian Harley Quinn vibe that's hard to resist.

5. You can play it in August

There's no official release date for the full game, but there is a PC beta planned for August. Keep an eye on the game's official Steam page for updates.

Rachel Weber is the Senior Editorial Director of Games at IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, and French Bulldogs. Those extra wrinkles on her face are thanks to going time blind and staying up too late finishing every sidequest in RPGs like Fallout and Witcher 3.