Randy Pitchford has responded to complaints about the console version of Borderlands 4 lacking a field of view (FOV) slider, suggesting fairness may have something to do with it.
PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S players of Borderlands 4 were shocked to discover not only a lack of a FOV slider in-game, but no motion blur toggle, either. The PC version of Borderlands 4 has settings for both — in the case of FOV you can increase the value in degrees up to 110 for both first-person play and vehicle use, and for motion blur you can change the amount and the quality.
The lack of a FOV slider is the biggest issue right now with Borderlands 4 on console, if anecdotal evidence across the internet is anything to go by, with some complaining that not being able to tweak the FOV value is causing them motion sickness.
“Man, I've tried to play it twice today,” said redditor xInsaneAbilityx. “Both times I get that ‘car-sick’ feel after about 15 minutes and have to stop.” “Yeah I’m pretty sensitive to motion sickness and a narrow FOV in first-person makes me really dizzy. Combining that with motion blur just churns my stomach,” added Dallywack3r. “This game feels almost zoomed in, it‘s really not pleasant to play,” said christophlieber.
There are also suggestions the console version of Borderlands 4 lacks a FOV slider in order to maintain certain performance levels. By increasing the FOV, you’re putting the hardware under more strain and potentially impacting things like framerate.
But social media posts from Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford suggest one of the considerations is fairness.
“Quickie for console friends: FOV settings,” Pitchford began. “There's some dreams I have where an FOV setting might affect fairness. I can't really talk about it yet, but I see this is important to you so we're looking at it.”
Pitchford included a vote in his social media post, which, after nearly 25,000 votes, reveals just how important a FOV slider is to his followers. At the time of this article’s publication, the option “FOV slider or GTFO!” had 72% of the vote.
The outspoken Gearbox boss went on to say players “have no idea what the team and I were planning and how FOV slider might affect fairness with such a thing.”
He added: “That said, I've always want to commit to and prioritize what Borderlands should be versus try to turn it into something it should. My hope is for my/our ambitions to be additive, not subtractive.”
Quickie for console friends: FOV settings: There's some dreams I have where an FOV setting might affect fairness. I can't really talk about it yet, but I see this is important to you so we're looking at it. Vote here:
So, what is Pitchford actually saying here? The “fairness” quote has caused some confusion. Could it relate to an upcoming PvP mode? If so, why would the PC version have it? Right now, Borderlands 4 is a PvE co-op game, so the line about “fairness” has raised more than a few eyebrows.
Some are wondering if Pitchford is talking about fairness in terms of the performance of the game giving some players an advantage. The higher the FOV, the more the player can see, versus the lower the FOV the more stable the frames are. Perhaps both give some level of advantage?
“What does ‘fairness’ even mean?’ asked redditor buddachickentml. “Basically being impartial to all players without favoritism. Fairness to all,” suggested Wolf-O7. “Funny enough it's completely backwards though. Because console players aren't being treated fairly compared to their counterpart on PC. (Especially since this sort of sounds like a PVP mode the way he makes it seem).” Then, from Airaen: “Yeah, how is it fair that PC players can change the FoV and console players can't?” “Fairness in a PvE game? Will you ban ultrawide monitors?” said on social media user.
Borderlands 4 supports crossplay between all platforms at launch, so Pitchford’s comments are doubly confusing.
As for motion blur, in another social media post Pitchford told console players "we aren't down with motion blur and do not support it." He continued: “If you're seeing what seems to be motion blur, maybe check your television settings for whatever automatic BS it might be doing to your image? It's not us.”
But again, that comment is confusing given there are motion blur settings in Borderlands 4 on PC.
Whatever Pitchford means here, Borderlands 4 has got off to a big start on Steam. It’s approaching a peak concurrent player count of 300,000 on Valve’s platform, where it is one of the most-played games. No other Borderlands game has come close to that in terms of concurrent player numbers on Steam.
While Borderlands 4 is off to a big start in terms of player numbers, it’s not entirely plain sailing for Gearbox. The release was marred by complaints about PC performance that have resulted in a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Valve’s platform. The complaints revolve around poor performance even on high powered PCs, with some affected by crashing that makes the game difficult to even start.
In response, Gearbox posted a Borderlands 4 Nvidia Optimization guide on Steam, advising players how to optimize their graphics settings for “better performance and framerates” on PC with the Nvidia app.
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.
Super Mario’s 40 year history is a testament to all the different ways you can make a little guy run from left to right across a screen. Nintendo’s line of 2D Mario platformers has gone through three distinct eras since 1985 – the original game revived the video game industry and, for a while, the series was a pioneer in side-scrolling platforming. After laying dormant for a few years, the series returned in the 2000s with the New Super Mario Bros. series, games that were steady and safe but soon turned stale. Thankfully the triumphant age of the Switch brought with it Mario Wonder, where Nintendo reinvented what these games could be. Once again, side-scrolling Mario feels genuinely magical.
2D Mario games, when executed well, perfectly balance the limitations of Mario's moveset with building your confidence to make increasingly ambitious jumps. They also introduce power-ups that are difficult to master while still being fun to play around with. The very best ones are those that can completely change your approach to platforming without trivialising the challenge. But the most important aspect of a Mario platformer is the process of dying and trying again – the strongest games perfect this loop, ensuring you develop lifelong muscle memory and, by that final flag, feel like a true platforming god.
With the original Super Mario Bros. game turning 40 this year, it’s time to look back on which games nail those core tenants and which struggle to make it past the first goomba. Here’s every 2D Super Mario Bros. game, ranked.
13. Super Mario Bros. : The Lost Levels
Platformers are at their best when they strike a perfect balance between challenge and fun. With The Lost Levels, Nintendo frustratingly forgot about that second part. The sequel to Super Mario Bros. is straight up mean – so mean, in fact, that it was not released in the West until Super Mario All Stars on the SNES seven years later. Its poison mushrooms and spitefully placed enemies only serve to build frustration, never giving you the satisfying relief of finally beating a level, and making you want to lock your controller in a safe and throw it to the bottom of the ocean.
Video games from the NES era are known for their difficulty, as increasing the challenge somewhat artificially extracted hours and hours of play from games that were inherently limited in scope because of the technology of the time. And there is merit to the idea of a Mario sequel that picks up the difficulty of the first game’s final levels and only ramps up from there, especially compared to today’s relatively easy Mario projects. If you squint hard enough, this is a fun novelty in the Mario library… but one that nobody ever wants to play, unless you really want to be ragebaited by Miyamoto.
12. New Super Mario Bros. 2
If the main gimmick in each Mario game is supposed to aid or increase the difficulty of the platforming, then New Super Mario Bros. 2 is one of the series’ biggest failures. The oddly named third entry in the New Super Mario Bros. franchise marks the moment when the series became dull. Lacking ideas and unwilling to take any big risks, Nintendo landed upon coins as the big gimmick for this one. The coins themselves are no different from the coins we’ve had in Mario since 1985, there’s just a lot of them this time. And that’s it.
Putting so many coins into a level trivialises their single use. If you collect 100 coins, you get a life, and losing all your lives means you get kicked back to the start of a level and your checkpoints disappear. By making 100 coins so easy to collect, New Super Mario Bros. 2 removes that vital bit of jeopardy and adds little else to make up for it, with the only new power-up being the coin-farming Golden Flower. Then there’s the overall goal to collect a million coins, which is just tedious. Mario controls beautifully, as is standard for these games, but the feel of the platforming is no different to any other game in the series. So why chase that frustrating goal when you could get what New Super Mario Bros. 2 is good at in any of the game’s better siblings?
11. Super Mario Land
If this was a list of the ugliest Mario games, Super Mario Land would be first with a bullet. The characters, the items, the backgrounds... they’re all so unpleasant. Even modern emulation technology that can elevate the scruffy visuals of the GameBoy can’t quite rescue Mario Land from its ugliness. And this isn’t just a retro tech thing – just compare Mario Land to its sequel on the same console, a game where mushrooms look like mushrooms, Koopas look like Koopas, and Mario doesn’t look like a weird little alien.
Despite those visual blemishes, the gameplay is still pretty solid and fairly recognisable as what a Mario game should feel like. You don’t get the same sense of speed you can achieve when you master the levels of stronger Mario games, but there’s still a good sense of flow when you hit the highest gear the GameBoy is capable of. Mario Land is a serviceable platformer if you’re really in a pinch, but everything it does is done better elsewhere.
10. New Super Luigi U
The Year of Luigi ended up being a financial disaster for Nintendo, but at least we got a fun little Luigi game out of it. This is a stripped down version of New Super Mario Bros. U starring Luigi, complete with his trademark slippier running style and higher jumping abilities. It’s super cool to experience the game through a character with a slightly different moveset, and redesigned levels that provide a bigger challenge.
The fact that the game is more streamlined also has appeal, balancing out the higher difficulty and giving you the satisfaction of making quick progress through the levels. There’s not much else to Luigi U, though. There’s little spectacular about it, nor is there anything it does gravely wrong. It’s a fun addition to an era of Mario platformers that were growing stale and a bit dull, and this doesn’t do quite enough to differentiate itself from that unfortunate trend.
9. Super Mario Bros. 2
Even if you come to it with no knowledge of its background, Mario 2 feels like an odd sequel to the original game. Deeming the actual Mario 2 too difficult for Western audiences, Nintendo basically reskinned the game Doki Doki Panic with Mushroom Kingdom paraphernalia, and the North American and European version of Super Mario Bros. 2 was born. While Mario 1 focuses on sidescrolling platforming, Mario 2 introduces more verticality – a great idea that doesn’t always hold up in execution. Having to find a way to climb and fall through levels means you don’t develop that smooth, flowing muscle memory which makes the best Mario games so great.
Another mechanic introduced in this odd sequel is being able to pull plants out of the ground and throw them at enemies. Some enemies can even be picked up and thrown themselves, rather than the classic Mario move of squishing them. This works really well to make the world feel less like a flat background you’re running through and more like a living ecosystem, but again it just doesn’t feel very Mario. There are great ideas here, but they work against the core of what the first game established. It is, however, a preferable experience to the original, super-difficult version of Mario 2, which finally arrived in the West as the aforementioned Lost Levels.
8. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
You can look at the second entry in the New Super Mario Bros. series in two ways. On one hand, it was a solid evolution of what the first game did, introducing multiplayer and a couple of neat power-ups. On the other hand, later games in the series would do that exact thing better, leaving this one without a unique flavour among the 2D Mario catalogue.
To its credit, there was no better console to introduce four-person multiplayer to the franchise than the Wii, a system that captured the imagination of the whole family. NSMB Wii also introduced the Propeller Mushroom power-up that added some more strategy to the platforming, as well as the Penguin Suit whose sliding ability made the timing of jumps even more important. There’s more here to appreciate today than with New Super Mario Bros. 2, but the latest release in the series (more on that later) overwrites a lot of what the previous entries contributed with better ideas.
7. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Compared to its predecessor, Super Mario Land 2 feels like a miracle. Graphically, it’s way beyond anything you’d expect the original GameBoy to muster, with character sprites that appear enjoyably cartoonish and expressive despite very minimal animations. The structure of the game also gives it a sense of scope that handheld titles typically lacked at the time. Instead of travelling from one world to the next, all levels are located on the overworld, which feels like a single town. Whether you’re at the Tree Zone, the Space Zone or the Pumpkin Zone, their individual themes are expressed so well by the limited graphics available to them. On top of that, the fact that you can tackle these zones in any order just makes the world feel a bit more of a genuine place that you can explore.
In terms of the actual platforming, it's a definite improvement on its predecessor in terms of flow and speed, with far more interesting level design to boot, but it just doesn’t feel quite as good as the main console games of the time, or future handheld titles. The new Carrot power up is fun, but is really just an alternate Tanuki suit from Mario 3. Still, the spirit of what makes Mario great is definitely present here, and it more than justifies itself as a unique entry in the series.
6. Super Mario Bros.
The original game in Nintendo’s most important series still holds up after 40 years for one simple reason: because every Super Mario Bros. game since has been built off its back. The series hasn’t deviated from this basic structure because it still feels incredible to play. Mario is so dynamic as a character right from the off, even with the limited skillset of running, jumping and throwing the odd fireball. His ability to build momentum opens up the game beyond just being about getting from one end of a level to the other. A lot of joy can be found in discovering all the secret passages through the Mushroom Kingdom that can both lead you to the Princess in seconds, or make you prove your skills by dropping you head first into the toughest levels without a steady build up.
Over time, Mario’s movement has gotten significantly smoother and his arsenal of platforming tools has expanded, making it hard to place the original higher on this list. Also, being one of the first NES games ever made means it's not the prettiest thing you’ll ever lay your eyes on. However, Super Mario Bros. stands up as more than just a museum exhibit. It's a fun game that will always be worth booting up.
5. New Super Mario Bros.
New Super Mario Bros. had the task of reintroducing the world to 2D Mario after over a decade of focus on the 3D games. And despite kicking off an era of the franchise that's not always looked fondly upon, it does a great job of maintaining the core of what Mario was while making modernising additions. Mario can now triple jump, a move ripped from the 3D games that works so well even with one less dimension. It's the kind of evolution that brings out the best of what made Mario great to begin with, giving you a new tool to make more ambitious jumps and allowing the developers to make more well-hidden secrets and more expansive level designs.
New Super Mario Bros. also introduces the Blue Shell power up, which is sneakily one of the series’ best. It serves as both a tool for destroying blocks and enemies and is the only way to access secret passages which test your ability to control a very erratic power up. The other new additions, like the Mega Mushroom and the Mini Mushroom, aren’t so effective, even if the former made for some iconic box art. They both feel like gimmicks rather than offering a new skill to master.
4. New Super Mario Bros. U
New Super Mario Bros. U is sort of the inverse of New Super Mario Bros. Wii – a game that was harder to appreciate at the time of its release than it is now. The final game in the New Super Mario Bros. franchise carried the baggage of the three previous entries looking and playing almost identically, something that made Nintendo fans exhausted by anything with the word “New” attached to it. New Super Mario Bros. U doesn’t reinvent the formula, but exemplifies the best version of it.
Taken in isolation, it’s much easier to appreciate the game’s polish and its moments of genius level design. Its most famous level, Painted Swampland, inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night, is the exact kind of form-breaking inventiveness fans were crying out for (and eventually got more of through Mario Wonder.) With some really lovely visuals, smooth gameplay, and a couple of fun power ups, this is the definitive New Super Mario Bros. title.
3. Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Bros. 3 is a miracle of a game. It has no right looking as good as it does, especially when compared to the first Mario on the NES. Mario 3 is a textbook example of squeezing a console for every ounce of power it has, and is one of the great achievements of sprite art in gaming history. It also helps that it's heaps of fun to play, despite being really hard.
There are so many moments in Mario 3 where you’ll run into an enemy placed specifically to make you mad, but instead of throwing your controller at the wall, you’re only motivated to go again – to run through the level faster, to make that jump even cleaner, to get more air time in the Tanuki suit and sail right over that Boomerang Bro who killed you 20 times before. It's the true successor to Mario 1 on the NES, finding that perfect balance between frustration and satisfaction.
2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Everything about Mario Wonder is so darn joyful. The animation of Mario forgetting his hat as he jumps through a warp pipe is just one example of how much this game pops with personality. The exclamation of “wowie zowie!” when you transform into an elephant, the singing chorus of Piranha Plants... everything is so silly and so cartoonish, perfectly representing the inherent absurdity of Mario’s existence as a plumber beefing with a giant turtle. It’s impossible to play this without a smile on your face.
But it’s not just personality that Wonder boasts. There is a treasure trove of mechanics that are constantly thrown at you. Through the Wonder Flowers, the level design takes on a dynamism no existing Mario game can match, feeding you increasingly insane 2D platforming challenges built around a unique theme every time. The Badge system means Wonder has the biggest library of power-ups in a Mario game ever, allowing you to platform in a way that suits you, or equip something that purposefully hinders your abilities for that extra bit of challenge. Mario Wonder is a sugar rush of a platformer, and one of Nintendo’s crowning 2D achievements.
1. Super Mario World
Super Mario World is the best 2D Mario has ever felt to play. It inherits some of Mario 3’s difficulty, but instead of making it near impossible to beat a level on the first go, it eases up slightly, giving you enough room to fly through a level at top speed while still having the chance to dodge that final enemy. That’s why Mario World is the most satisfying game in the series – you’ll die again and again and again, until you hit that one level you nail on the first go and think to yourself “Wow, I’m really good at Mario.” The Cape power up is so difficult to master but stands as the best power up the series has ever had because the reward for getting it right is such a high. It’s something the modern games have yet to capture, thanks to the difficulty of these games having decreased over time.
Another thing World captures beautifully is the vibrancy and personality of Dinosaur Land, squeezing the SNES’ sprite-rendering abilities for everything it's got to produce astoundingly expressive characters. There’s still a strong case for World being the best looking Mario, as the game feels like running through a Saturday morning cartoon. Super Mario World is the peak of the Mario formula – challenge, fun, platforming flow, and personality all in perfect harmony.
What do you think of our ranking of 2D Mario platformers? Did your favourite rank highly? Let us know in the comments. And for more, check out our ranking of Nintendo's 3D platformers.
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This article contains spoilers for the Foundation Season 3 finale, “The Darkness.”
73 years ago, writer Isaac Asimov casually dropped one of the greatest twists of all time. First published as a novella titled “The Mule,” and subsequently in Foundation and Empire, the second book in Asimov’s landmark series, readers met a clown and troubadour named Magnifico Giganticus. He’s a loveable buffoon escaping the service of the titular Mule, an all-powerful telepathic “mentallic” and conqueror bent on destroying the Foundation – an organization dedicated to preserving galactic knowledge – as well as the Empire they’re fighting against. Alongside two Foundation members, Toran and Bayta, Magnifico traversed the galaxy, always staying one step ahead of the Mule while seeking the Second Foundation, a secret organization that could save everyone.
Well, not really, because in an absolute jaw-dropper that has thrilled readers for generations and set the tone for nearly every fictional rug pull to come, Magnifico is the Mule. It’s a perfect twist, brilliantly executed by Asimov’s prose, as he describes the simple physical changes in Magnifico’s stance and demeanor that “transform” him into the Mule.
73 years later, Apple TV+’s Foundation has finally arrived at this iconic moment, thanks to the Season 3 finale. Back in the second episode of Season 2, Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobel) sent her consciousness 150 years in the future and discovered the Mule (Mikael Persbrandt in Season 2, Pilou Asbæk in Season 3) laying waste to the galaxy, desperate to discover the location of the Second Foundation. Gaal has spent nearly the entirety of the last two seasons trying to prevent this seeming inevitability, even going so far as to create the Second Foundation and put herself in cryosleep, only waking briefly every few years to make sure the plan to stop the Mule was in place.
Gaal does manage to kill the Mule in one-on-one combat in a weird montage that tries to twist the scene of their final battle (which we’ve seen multiple times) into something coherent, as they battle each other both physically and mentally. It’s all a little confusing, and points to how the Foundation TV series has never been afraid of tweaking how the plot of the books is executed on screen.
Still, it’s a thrill watching it happen, confusingly staged action and all, because you know the other shoe is going to drop. The series has also introduced Magnifico (Tómas Lemarquis) and spent most of the season tipping their hand towards a variation on the twist that book readers know is imminent. Heck, they even went inside Magnifico’s mind at one point and found the Mule with his arms wrapped around him. Gaal took the implication that, like many others, the Mule was controlling Magnifico. It was clear to this viewer at least that Magnifico was being embraced by the Mule; a frequent refrain from those controlled by the conqueror is “I’ve never felt such love.” And if you know, you know: The Mule is showing that love to Magnifico.
Then there’s the fact that in nearly every scene where the Mule has been using “his” mentallic powers, Magnifico has been seen, blurry or otherwise, in the background. We’re also told that Magnifico’s instrument, called a Visi-Sonor, can amplify the Mule’s abilities, and even the AI of the all-knowing Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) pointedly stated that something didn’t add up in the Mule’s backstory but didn’t know what it was. Magnifico is the key to everything, and as Asbæk’s character dies in a pool of his own blood, it’s clear that despite Gaal thinking her multiple-centuries mission is over, Magnifico is about to step out of the shadows and reveal himself as the mastermind behind everything.
Psyche! In a wildly insane twist on a twist that one could generously call “overthinking things,” Magnifico is not the Mule. Magnifico, it turns out, is Magnifico Giganticus, a dumb but sweet troubador who lurks menacingly in the background for no particular reason. Don’t worry, there is still a secret real Mule, and that is…Bayta Mallow (Synnøve Karlsen)! If there was any confusion about this particular plot point, while Gaal writhes on the floor in mental agony, confused how someone could be poking around in her head if the Mule is already dead, Bayta enters and literally says, “I am The Mule.”
The TV version of Bayta is introduced as a social influencer, and what the Mule is doing is social influence on a galactic scale.
It’s unfortunate that after 73 years (not to mention 19 episodes) of build-up, this lands with such a thud. Mind you, it doesn’t come out of nowhere; there has been some evidence for Bayta’s true identity running throughout the season. On a purely surface level, the TV version of Bayta is introduced as a social influencer, and what the Mule is doing is social influence on a galactic scale. There’s also the fact that Bayta has always seemed to be in the same locations the Mule attacks, though we only get to see this on a pleasure planet called Kalgan.
There has been other evidence as well. In one scene, Bayta told the Mule to leave a room, which he did immediately. We’ve seen the otherwise maniacal Mule have some humanity to him, but this immediate acquiescence to Bayta definitely seemed odd, even if you could write it off as him leaving a convalescing Bayta and former (and potential future) emperor Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton) rather than mental control on her part. She also calmed and won over Randu Mallow (Darren Pettie), a rebellious uncle of her husband Toran (Cody Fern) that she had never met before, pretty quickly. Magnifico bonded with Bayta pretty quickly as well, freely explaining that he loved her, though he never said the key “I’ve never felt such love” phrase.
Probably the biggest piece of evidence for Bayta being the Mule, however, are two relatively deep cut changes from the books. In the Foundation novel series, Bayta is from Terminus, the home of the Foundation. On the show, she’s from somewhere else – a backwater planet, which is what the Mule explained to Hari Seldon a few episodes back. And in the books, Bayta is a descendant of a Foundation family; on TV, that’s Toran, not Bayta.
Basically, the pieces have been in place since the beginning to allow Bayta, a key character from the books, to step up and reveal herself to be the Mule. We even get the final nail in the coffin to drive it home that there’s not a triple twist here, and Magnifico is controlling Bayta who was controlling the Mule, thanks to reshot scenes of the Mule’s backstory. That featured “his” parents trying to drown him on their home planet of Rossem after the Foundation told them to limit their resources. The reshot scenes show they were trying to drown a girl, not a boy – Bayta.
Let’s be clear: The reason this twist doesn’t work isn’t because you can’t change things. As mentioned earlier, the Foundation TV series has successfully tweaked and riffed on plot points from the books throughout, down to the entire concept of the “Genetic Dynasty,” which is key to the Empire side of the story in the series. The very idea that the Mule is two people instead of one is a smart way of getting around something you can do in a book, but not as effectively on TV: having one character secretly be another character, Usual Suspects style. It’s possible, but having Asbæk play a vicious pirate and physical threat as the Mule while hiding the more cerebral maneuvering of the real Mule is a smart way of executing this twist on screen.
The issue is that everything has been pointing to Magnifico as the brains of the operation, not Bayta – clues above aside. And while we’ll likely find out more about what she wants in Season 4 (the show was renewed with new showrunners Ian Goldberg and David Kob), having Lemarquis step up from the background of the shot where he’s lurking, between Gaal and The Mule, to reveal himself seems to be what the show is heading towards. Instead, it’s entirely unclear how to gel Karlsen’s performance as Bayta with the atrocities the pirate version of the Mule has committed. Lemarquis has played Magnifico as a disturbed weirdo with a strange, magical instrument; Karlsen has played Bayta as a pretty nice lady, and that continues when she reveals herself to be a universal conqueror. The joy of the Mule reveal is the contrast between who the Mule presents himself as initially (a buffoon) and who he reveals himself to be (a tyrant). We would have likely gotten that with Magnifico, but you can almost hear the writer’s room thinking themselves in circles here, knowing that book readers will be expecting it, and adding layers on layers to defy expectations, when the, er, expected expectation would likely have provided the most satisfying outcome.
Again, there are ways to make this work, and the show has written itself into weird corners before only to make it out stronger and weirder. But in comparison to the original source material and the Mule reveal there, Asimov still takes the cake.
There’s so much more that happens in the episode, though, so let’s break down some of the bigger, non-Mule points.
Empire’s End
Remember that whole “Genetic Dynasty” thing we mentioned earlier? Well, forget about it; it’s done. Unlike the Mule reveal, the end of the Genetic Dynasty has been properly set up throughout this season, thanks to Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann). Dusk is the oldest of three clones of Emperor Cleon; the other two are the aforementioned Dawn, the youngest, and Day, played by Lee Pace. As Day ages into Dusk, and Dawn into Day, Dusk is disintegrated to make way for a new, fresh Dawn clone. However, this particular iteration of Dusk doesn’t want to die.
On the cusp of his “retirement,” this Dusk instead heads to the clone banks and proceeds to blow them all up, leading to an absolutely disgusting rain of body parts from the tower of backup clones. He saves one, a baby, and heads to the disintegration chamber. Meanwhile, Day has returned to Demerzel (Laura Birn), who is the majordomo of the Genetic Dynasty and also a nearly immortal robot, to reveal to her that she’s not the last of her kind. Through circumstances we won’t get into here, Day has recovered another robot’s head, and if they can turn it on, Demerzel can not just sync with the other robot and rejoin her hivemind but gain independence from the slavery the Genetic Dynasty put her into centuries prior.
As Day struggles to turn the robot head back on, Demerzel becomes aware of what Dawn is doing in the clone banks and is compelled to leave to protect them. In a very meta-moment, Demerzel, who is aware not just of the clone banks incident and Day activating a second robot head, but also likely what’s transpiring with Gaal and the Mule, is asked what is happening. She replies: “Too many things at once.”
And just to keep piling on the insanity, Dusk threatens to disintegrate the baby Cleon if Demerzel doesn’t protect him. She’s compelled to – if she had waited to activate the other robot, remember, she would have been able to prevent what happens next – and ends up getting melted mostly to slag, while the baby is disintegrated anyway.
Oh, and then Dusk kills Day and takes sole control of the Empire. So all the clones are gone, Demerzel is gone, and there’s only Dusk, reigning supreme. He also has the Radiant, the mathematical construct created by Hari Seldon which (sort of) allows you to predict the future.
There is one hitch though, in case you were concerned about Lee Pace being done with Foundation. Dawn was with Bayta before her Mule reveal. We don’t know if he’s been turned to her side yet, but Dawn ages into Day. Depending on when Foundation Season 4 picks up – the show has liberally jumped into the future every season so far – it’s likely that Dawn will have become Day, meaning Pace would be back. It’s also likely he’ll want some vengeance on Dusk for killing all their brothers.
But wait, there’s more!
Welcome To Earth
Remember that robot head? Well, before Day was beaten to death by Dusk on the throne room floor, he was, in fact, able to activate it. It turns on and initiates a handshake signal, then a “clasp” with another galaxy. Those in the know may be able to identify which milky galaxy this is, but in case you weren’t sure, we head over to check in with Kalle (Rowena King), a mysterious being who took the form of the woman with whom Hari Seldon built the Radiant, and later resurrected him. Kalle realizes the clasp isn’t from Demerzel, but “perhaps someone is seeking to embroil us in the struggle.”
“Someone must have succeeded,” says a figure that is clearly a robot.
“Then all the pieces are in place,” says Kalle.
And then the camera zooms out to show they are on a moon base, and not just any moon base: It’s our Moon. Earth’s Moon. To quote the equally highly regarded science fiction property Independence Day: Welcome to Earth!
Before you throw up your hands with the “it was Earth the whole time” reveal, just know that the existence of Earth, robots on the Moon – all of it does indeed come from Asimov’s books. We’re getting into potential future spoilers here, but after the conflict with the Mule is settled and the main conflict shifts to the Foundation versus the Second Foundation, a search for Earth begins. There, we discover that a robot named R. Daneel Olivaw has been manipulating things the whole time, including giving Hari Seldon the idea for psychohistory, which is represented by the Radiant on the show.
There are literally millennia of events that can be tackled, from the rise of robots and the Galactic Empire to the search for Earth.
Is it possible the mysterious robot behind Kalle is Olivaw? Maybe. Complicating things a bit is that Demerzel revealed earlier in the season that she has been called Daneel among other names. But there are ways around that, including the fact that robots are a hivemind, so they’re all sort of each other…or something. Whatever.
This also opens up a world of possibilities for Foundation when it continues on Apple TV+, as Asimov’s Foundation series is just one part of the story. Nearly every novel and short story Asimov wrote fits into a cohesive tapestry of history, including the Foundation books. The Foundation series is more explicitly linked to two other series: the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series. While it’s unknown whether the show’s producers have the rights to those books as well, if they’re so inclined to jump away from the main conflict of Foundation, there are literally millennia of events that can be tackled, from the rise of robots and the Galactic Empire to that search for Earth we mentioned earlier.
Point being, while the Genetic Dynasty seems to be done, Demerzel also seems to be done, and The Mule is ascendant, ready to destroy what remains of the Empire – and perhaps the Foundations – there’s so much more Foundation, the TV series, can do when it picks up in Season 4. We’ve never felt such love.
Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford says it’s impossible to break the Borderlands 4 servers this weekend through sheer weight of player numbers alone — and he’s so confident he’s publicly promised that Borderlands 4 won’t join the long list of big AAA games whose online systems fail at launch.
For context, Borderlands 2 set a Steam peak concurrent player count of 124,678 13 years ago, with Borderlands 3 hitting a peak of 93,820 five-and-a-half years ago, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel reaching 68,238 10 years ago. Borderlands Game of the Year Edition has a peak of 23,655.
Pitchford took to X / Twitter to address concern about Borderlands 4’s ability to hold up over this weekend, making a promise gamers aren’t used to hearing from developers.
“So here's the thing with this... We are VERY confident in our backend on-line infrastructure and systems. And we're off to an insane start — record breaking,” he said.
“But we know from past experience that peak numbers will start really hitting over this weekend. You're going to be hammering our on-line infrastructure and some people are nervous if our on-line systems can handle the numbers you will be throwing at us.
“But here's the thing: our on-line team rules.”
Pitchford is taking the opportunity to encourage as many people as possible to play Borderlands 4 this weekend, and so Gearbox is offering the Break Free Pack to all who play the game from September 12-14. This includes 1 Vault Hunter Skin usable by Vex, Rafa, Amon, and Harlowe, and 1 Legendary Ripper Shield, which scales to your Vault Hunter level when redeemed (with a minimum of Lvl 25).
Pitchford said he “wanted to see if we could motivate everyone to log in this weekend to see how far we can stress the system,” which is why the free pack was created.
He continued in typically confident fashion:
“Listen — I'm telling you that it's going to be VERY unlikely you guys can be enough people to break the backend and take our game down. I know there have been some high profile backend on-line systems failing around big AAA game launches, but not this one.
“I am THAT confident.
“That said, IF concurrency *does* break our systems, I'll find a way somehow to reward everyone and to make it up to everyone for showing me that it can break. And, you'll have helped expose something that we will need to make stronger, so... win-win.
“So here it is... I'm throwing down the gauntlet: you cannot break our on-line infrastructure through too many players. You can't. Hacking doesn't count, btw. Just concurrent players in the game is what we're looking for. Play cooperatively; jump into random people's games; log in and out a bunch of times at peak hours... Whatever you can fairly and reasonably do within the game to add pressure to the system, do it!”
While Borderlands 4 is off to a big start in terms of player numbers, it’s not entirely plain sailing for Gearbox. The release was marred by complaints about PC performance that have resulted in a ‘mixed’ user review rating on Valve’s platform. The complaints revolve around poor performance even on high powered PCs, with some affected by crashing that makes the game difficult to even start.
In response, Gearbox posted a Borderlands 4 Nvidia Optimization guide on Steam, advising players how to optimize their graphics settings for “better performance and framerates” on PC with the Nvidia app.
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.
For this weekend only, Lenovo is offering a massive $1,700 discount on the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10 gaming PC equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K processor and RTX 5080 graphics card, now just $2,149 shipped after coupon code "WEEKENDPOWERUP". This is easily the best deal I've seen for a Legion Tower RTX 5080 gaming PC and over $500 less than the previous lowest price. The RTX 5080 graphics card will play even the latest games at 4K resolution with high settings and ray tracing enabled.
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,149
The Legion Tower 7 is Lenovo's top-end desktop computer, boasting a well-ventilated chassis with a mesh front panel housing six total 120mm fans (including three fans for the 360mm liquid cooling system) and an 850W 80Plus Gold power supply. This particular configuration features an Intel Core Ultra 7 265K processor, GeForce RTX 5080 16GB graphics card, 32GB of DDR5-5600MHz of RAM, and a 2TB PCIe Gen 4 M.2 SSD. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor has a max turbo frequency of 5.7GHz with 24 cores and a 40MB L2 cache. According to Passmark, the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a better gaming chip than the previous generation's Intel Core i9-14900K.
The RTX 5080 is the second best Blackwell graphics card, surpassed only by the $2,000 RTX 5090. It's about 5%-10% faster than the previous generation RTX 4080 Super, which is discontinued and no longer available. In games that support DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation exclusive to Blackwell cards, the gap widens. This is an outstanding card for playing even the latest games at 4K resolution with high settings and ray tracing enabled.
Why Choose Lenovo?
Lenovo Legion gaming PCs and laptops generally feature better build quality than what you'd find from other prebuilt PCs. For desktop PCs in particular, people like the fact that Lenovo does not use proprietary components in its computer systems, so they're easier to upgrade with off-the-shelf parts. Although we haven't yet reviewed the new 2025 models, we have reviewed last year's Legion 7 desktop and really liked its build quality and performance.
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.
For this weekend only, Lenovo is offering this outstanding deal on a Legion gaming PC deal. Right now you can order a pre-configured Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D GeForce RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC for just $1,699 after coupon code: "WEEKENDPOWERUP". Free delivery is included. This CPU/GPU duo can run even the latest and most demanding games with high framerates at up to 4K resolution.
Lenovo Legion RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC for $1,699
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming PC is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, 32GB of DDR5-5200MHz RAM, and a 1TB M.2 SSD. The processor is (air)cooled by a robust 120mm tower heatsink and fan combo. A total of six 120mm RGB fans and a sensibly designed 30L midtower chassis keeps your components quiet and cool. An 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply provides plenty of power. The case offers toolless entry and most of the components are non-proprietary, so they are easy to swap out or upgrade yourself down the road.
The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is still an outstanding gaming CPU
The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D has an established reputation of being one of the best gaming CPUs available. It's a slightly older model that has been replaced by the newer Ryzen 9 98000X3D, but it is still one of the best gaming CPUs you can get today. According to Passmark, the 7800X3D's gaming performance surpasses that of the latest generation Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. The 7800X3D is also more efficient than the 9800X3D, which means it will consume less power and produce less heat (and thus less noise because your fans don't need to spin as fast).
The RTX 5070 Ti GPU Has Excellent 4K Gaming Performance
Of all the Blackwell cards released thus far, the RTX 5070 Ti offers the best bang for your buck, especially when pitted against the previous generation GPUs. It performs neck-and-neck with the RTX 4080 Super and marginalizes the RTX 5080, which is only about 10%-15% faster but costs 33% more. Like all Blackwell cards, the RTX 5070 Ti supports DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation. It also has 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM same as the RTX 5080, making it suitable for AI.
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.
It might not have the audience of football, baseball, or soccer, but to its proud fans there’s something truly special about hockey. It’s the cold air of the arena, the weight of the puck against your stick, and the feel as your skate glides across the surface of the ice. To their credit, the developers at EA Vancouver seem to get all of that, and it’s led them to create an enjoyable NHL simulation that has earned a dedicated audience. That dedication, however, has increasingly been tested in recent years as the series has failed to truly move forward in any meaningful way. EA Sports NHL 26 continues this dynamic with a game that nails most of the elements that make hockey special, but it never feels like the kind of significant jump over what’s come before that might make buying yet another version exciting rather than obligatory.
If you’ve played a hockey game from EA at any point over the last few years, you have a good idea of what to expect from NHL 26. The lynchpin of the series is Franchise mode, which allows you to take the team of your choosing on a season-long quest to hoist the Stanley Cup. It’s basically the default mode, showcasing what the series is best known for and it still does that all pretty well. Individual games are fast, the controls are intuitive, and EA Vancouver has spent years refining a formula that mostly works. Granted, there are very few other hockey games available right now, and those that do exist don’t have the official NHL players or teams; that lack of competition might be what leads the developers to play things so safe and leave so much unchanged year to year. To be fair, it’s hard to fault them too much for not fixing what isn’t broken.
However, this situation has created an unfortunate trend for the series that’s made each year’s version feel like baby steps, and NHL 26 continues to focus more on smaller tweaks than on substantial changes. As a result, it’s easy to miss adjustments made beyond mirroring the big roster changes we’ve seen over the offseason, such as Mitch Marner being on the Golden Knights after leaving the Leafs, and Matt Dumba appearing on the Penguins following his Dallas departure. As of this writing, EA Vancouver seems to have done a pretty good job making sure everything is up to date, including representing the Utah Mammoth with their new name, uniforms, and arena (following a season under the temporary “Utah Hockey Club” label). Lastly, PWHL has been updated to add the women’s league’s two new teams from the 2025-2026 season, though that mode feels completely unchanged beyond that.
It’s easy to miss adjustments made beyond mirroring the big roster changes.
Though Franchise mode seems to be the most popular single-player mode in EA’s yearly NHL games, I really enjoy the customization options and the general approach to the sport found in the narrowed focus of Be a Pro. As someone that grew up playing hockey, there’s something that feels really authentic about focusing on controlling an individual player. There’s a greater need to consider line changes, playing in position, and setting up CPU-controlled characters.
So I was pleased to find that some of the bigger changes this year can be found here, but I’ve found that they aren’t all positive. Some of the biggest improvements come from cutting out what hasn’t worked: NHL 26 has finally dropped the often-mocked and frequently repeated “pricey pond hockey” opening scene that appeared across multiple games. You’ll no longer see the same repeated cinematic sequence with an agent talking about how you’re so passionate about hockey that you’re playing pond pick-up with a bunch of kids. Instead, you’re dropped right into the player maker. And mercifully, EA has also scaled back on the frequent coach meetings from past Be a Pro modes, but the catch is that the replacement might be even more monotonous: press conferences.
NHL 26 has finally dropped the often-mocked and frequently repeated “pricey pond hockey” opening.
The idea of taking part in press conferences is actually kind of neat, and the initial questions help to shape your on-ice personality. The hockey press will ask questions like your approach to free agency, and choosing one option will improve your likeability with teammates, while the other helps your brand. However, the execution gets dull fast once you’ve taken part in several in a row. That might be a little too real: I’ve attended real-life NHL press conferences, and the questions from sports journalists really can be as groan-inducing as they are here sometimes. How do I feel about not winning the division? How do you think?
On top of that, the impact from press conference responses on player stats often feels unfair. At one press conference, I was asked about modeling my career around a specific player, with multiple options to choose from. I apparently picked the wrong one, and it immediately led to a decrease in my brand stat. Even worse, NHL 26 doesn’t always make it clear what answers will have a negative impact on your brand or the feelings of management, so a seemingly innocuous response can have an unforeseeable consequence.
A smart change, though, has made NHL’s most intimidating mode more approachable for me. Putting together a team built out of NHL greats in Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) takes a lot of time and effort. It can also take some real currency, though you are awarded with daily freebies that can help shape a decent team without paying extra. I still don’t necessarily want to take my team up against the passionate players who dominate online with a combination of skill and large wallets, though; sometimes you want to play without the pressure of competing with real people. So it’s a welcome change that for NHL 26, EA has replaced last year’s HUT Squad Battles with a new offline Cup Chase mode that offers a chance to build up a team and try them out in a full single-player campaign with multiple difficulty levels. I was grateful to have the chance to jump into games using my custom team without having to worry about getting schooled by people fiercely protecting their online rankings. And anybody that wants to do so can take that team online just as they normally would in HUT.
I was grateful to have the chance to jump into games using my custom team without having to worry about getting schooled by people fiercely protecting their online rankings.
Online or off, though, NHL is feeling increasingly behind the annual sports game pack graphically. That’s despite the fact that last year, NHL 25 marked the first game in the series to abandon PS4 and Xbox One and shift focus to current platforms. But NHL 26 still doesn’t feel like it’s really pushing PS5 and Xbox Series X|S to the fullest. The ice itself pops on the screen nicely, and there are lots of impressive details, including wear to the surface as a game progresses, but just about everywhere else is a letdown. The character models are rough, with players, coaches, and fans often looking pretty ugly relative to what we’ve seen in other recent sports games. There are also some weird choices and oversights that are holdovers from past games, like team logos getting cut off on specific screens. Crowd reactions also feel stuck in the past, with awkward celebrations that would be right at home on PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii.
Thankfully, I found the audio much more enjoyable. The menus have some great new songs this year, including tracks from groups like Wet Leg and The Hives. I never would have thought of “Catch These Fists” as a hockey song, but it fits undeniably well. In the games themselves, EA Vancouver continues to replicate the authentic sounds of each rink, with team-specific cheers and organ sounds. The commentary is also pretty faithful to the current NHL viewing experience; it feels like watching a nationally televised game, offering the same chatty play-by-play that you’d expect to hear on TNT. That said, I was grateful for the option to toggle it off when it got repetitive.
Possibly the worst audio in NHL 26 belongs to Macklin Celebrini, though. The San Jose Sharks forward can be heard offering career advice in Be a Pro mode, and it’s clear not all hockey players are cut out for acting.
Lenovo just dropped the price on a Legion Tower gaming PC to lower than what I saw during the Labor Day sale. The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC is down to just $1,659 after you apply coupon code: "WEEKENDPOWERUP". Free delivery is included. Curiously, this gaming PC is equipped with a laptop processor. This CPU/GPU duo can run even the even most demanding games in 4K resolution at 60fps and beyond.
Lenovo Legion RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC for $1,659
The Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming PC is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card, 32GB of DDR5-5200MHz RAM, and a 1TB M.2 SSD. The processor is equipped with a 240mm liquid cooler, which is a rare upgrade for a Legion Tower 5 series PC. An 850W 80PLUS Gold power supply provides plenty of power. The case offers toolless entry and most of the components are non-proprietary, so they are easy to swap out or upgrade yourself down the road. The exception in this particular case is the CPU and motherboard.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is normally a laptop CPU
According to Lenovo's spec sheet, this PC is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU on a customized Intel HM870 mATX motherboard. The 275HX is traditionally a laptop-class CPU, and it's important to note that laptop CPUs are (permanently) soldered onto the motherboard. Unlike a desktop CPU, a laptop CPU cannot be upgraded. If you do plan on swapping the CPU for something better in the future, then you'll have to stick with a gaming PC equipped with a traditional desktop CPU. If you don't intend on swapping the CPU, then you'll get excellent performance out of this chip. According to Passmark, the Ultra 9 275HX is roughly comparable in gaming performance to the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF. It also has more cores (24 vs 20) for better multi-core performance.
The RTX 5070 Ti GPU has excellent 4K gaming performance
Despite the fact that the CPU is a mobile chip, the RTX 5070 Ti is a desktop-class graphics card with 16GB of RAM and 1,406 AI TOPS. Unlike the CPU, the GPU can be user upgraded.
Of all the Blackwell cards released thus far, the RTX 5070 Ti offers the best bang for your buck, especially when pitted against the previous generation GPUs. It performs neck-and-neck with the RTX 4080 Super and marginalizes the RTX 5080, which is only about 10%-15% faster but costs 33% more. Like all Blackwell cards, the RTX 5070 Ti supports DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation. It also has 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM same as the RTX 5080, making it suitable for AI.
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.
KOEI Tecmo has just announced an official remake of FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly. This game will come out on PC in early 2026, and below you can find its debut trailer. FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE is a full remake of the second game in the famous horror series. This Japanese horror classic, … Continue reading FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly REMAKE is coming to PC in 2026→
Max is officially back to being HBO Max. Even though the name has changed (returned?), the library is still full of great films and shows to watch. HBO Max is home to some incredibly high-quality watches, including House of the Dragon, The White Lotus, The Last of Us, and Sinners. You can tune in to Season 2 of Peacemaker, which will of course be joined by the new Superman later this year.
If you've been hoping to start up an account to dig into that library, we're here to help. We're keeping track of the best price for HBO Max subscriptions, along with any deals as they appear. Let's get into what's available right now.
Our Top Pick: The Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max Streaming Bundle
There are no active discounts available for HBO Max, so your best bet for savings (assuming you're already on the hook for more than one subscription) is by checking out some bundles.
Our favorite streaming bundle includes Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Max. The deal can be purchased through any of the three streaming services and starts at $16.99/month for the ad-supported tier or $29.99/month for ad-free access across all three platforms. It'll save you quite a bit compared to what you'd pay for the three of them separately per month – 43% on the ad-supported plan and 42% on the ad-free plan.
If you're a student, you can score the HBO Max Basic With Ads plan for just $4.99/month. That's 50% off the usual price, which is a very nice deal to take advantage of. In order to get the discount, you'll need to verify your student status with UNiDAYS, then you'll get a unique code that you can use to redeem the discounted plan.
Subscribe to HBO Max
If you're just looking to sign up for a HBO Max subscription, there are a few different options to choose from:
Both tiers allow up to two concurrent streams and offer Full HD resolution. The Standard tier allows users to download shows and movies to watch on the go, too.
HBO Max also has an additional Premium tier, which offers 4K UHD resolution and Dolby Atmos sound alongside four concurrent streams. The details are as follows:
$20.99/month, ad-free with four concurrent streams
$209.99/year, ad-free with four concurrent streams
There is currently no HBO Max free trial available as of July 2025, so you'll need to be a paying subscriber to access the service.
Otherwise, the service includes shows from brands like HGTV, Food Network, TLC, and the Magnolia Network. Of course, one of the big draws of HBO Max is HBO Originals like The Last of Us, Succession, Barry, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The White Lotus, House of the Dragon, and more. It also includes DC's slate of movies and shows like The Batman and Peacemaker, as well as other popular Warner Bros. films like Mickey 17 and Sinners. Plus, HBO Max continues to house popular streaming series like Friends, Full House, and the Harry Potter movie collection.
Back when it was still called 'Max', we gave the streaming service an 8/10 in our review, stating that, "For all its problems and an app that still runs a little too heavy, the extensive selection of well-curated choices make Max a worthwhile investment for cinema and TV lovers."
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
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