After a decade of stale turn-based tactics, Menace is a breath of fresh air
Now is the time to retire that pedal-powered bike of yours and upgrade to electric. The price of electric assisted bikes has plummeted over the past year. Nowadays you can find a decent bike for well under $500. To kickstart the new year, AliExpress is offering the 5th Wheel AB17 500W 375Wh Electric Bike for a super low price of $279.41 after you apply $40 off coupon code "USSS40". This bike ships locally from a warehouse in the United States, with most orders being delivered within a week. That means you don't have to worry about tariffs, import fees, or egregiously long shipping times.
The 5th Wheel AB17 bike is an adult electric bike featuring a 500W (700W peak) motor that can get up to speeds of 23mph. The 36V 375Wh lithium battery provides up to 25 miles on electric only mode and up to 45 miles on pedal-assist mode. The actual distance is dependent on other factors like your speed, terrain, elevation, and so forth. The frame is made of carbon steel so it's on the heavier side at about 50 pounds, but it also has a generous weight capacity of 265 pounds. The bike comes 85% preassembled and includes a 1 year warranty. It's also UL 2849 certified for safety.
There are plenty of bikes out there that offer high-quality components, a more powerful motor, better upgradeability, and/or domestic customer support, but only if you're willing to shell out hundreds of dollars more. The 5th Wheel AB17 bike will stay within anybody's budget. It offers a perfectly respectable assisted ride that will satisfy most casual bikers.
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 have absolutely no business adding to my backlog, yet here we are. This week’s multi-platform drop is one of those quietly dangerous ones where the quality ceiling is high and the prices are suspiciously low. I have played most of these, paid full freight for a few, and can confidently say some of these discounts sting in retrospect.
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In retro celebrations, I’ve lit 21 stylus-themed candles for the original Nintendo DS. To say I was excited when I slapped down my A$199 at launch would be quite the understatement. This was, after all, Nintendo’s first bona fide step into something truly different and 3D-capable after 16 years of resizing Game Boy footprints while steadily beefing up their innards.
A bright frontier (that was actually well backlit) opened up to me when I lifted the two (!!) screen clamshell of this strange silver beast. The happy days that followed were punctuated by wireless PictoChat messages of questionable taste, circle strafing duels in the bundled Metroid: Prime Hunters: First Hunt demo, and mild RSI from doing so. In the fullness of time, the DS birthed the DS Lite, DSi, and DSi XL to the tune of 154M units sold. It also gave us iconic experiences like Mario Kart DS, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and New Super Mario Bros. to name but a few bangers in its insane 3,000+ games library. Make no mistake; I simply adore my DS.
Aussie birthdays for notable games.
- Nintendo DS launch, 2005. eBay
- Super Mario 64 DS (DS) 2005. eBay
- Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt (DS) 2005. eBay
- WarioWare: Touched! (DS) 2005. eBay
- Black (PS2,XB) 2006. eBay
- Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii) 2011. eBay
- Bulletstorm (PC,PS3,X360) 2011. Redux
Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.
Xbox One
Or just invest in an Xbox Card.
PS4
Or purchase a PS Store Card.
Or just get a Steam Wallet Card
Adam Mathew is a passionate connoisseur, a lifelong game critic, and an Aussie deals wrangler who genuinely wants to hook you up with stuff that's worth playing (but also cheap). He plays practically everything, sometimes on YouTube.
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.
If you're seeking the absolute best of the best in PC gaming performance, look no further. Dell unveiled the new Alienware Area-51 gaming PC at CES 2025. The product photos don't give it due justice; this is a big chassis that towers over the Aurora R16 model with superior build quality and a redesigned cooling system with even greater airflow. This is the only model that can be configured with the hot and power hungry GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card. The first wave of Area-51 systems featured Intel CPUs exclusively, with AMD X3D options only available since late November.
The Aurora R16 is Alienware's bread and butter gaming PC. It can be equipped with an Nvidia RTX 5060 graphics card all the way up to an RTX 5080 and the prices for Cyber Monday are extremely competitive with other brands. For example, currently Alienware has the least expensive prebuilt RTX 5080 gaming PC that I've found anywhere. Most of these systems are customizable, however it's not difficult to upgrade your own RAM and storage yourself.
Alienware's newest mainstream gaming laptop is dubbed the "Alienware Aurora" and it replaces the previous generation's x16 and m16 series of laptops. It comes in two models: the 16 and 16X. The 16 is the more economical model, but gamers should definitely opt for the higher-end 16X model. If you're looking for build quality and performance on par with the previous generation m16, then the 16X is its spiritual successor. It features an anodized aluminum lid and base, a higher quality display, a more powerful CPU, and a GPU that isn't throttled for maximum gaming performance.
The Area-51 is Alienware's new flagship gaming laptop for 2025. It features an anodized aluminum shell for both the lid and bottom chassis with a gorgeous iridescent finish. The frame is made of a durable and lightweight magnesium alloy. Cooling has been upgraded with generous amounts of copper and a new thermal interface material to better transfer heat away from your hottest components as well as more fans and bigger cutouts for greater airflow. Dell claims that the laptop can handle a higher power ceiling of up to 240W TDP without raising acoustics.
Design-wise, the Area 51 has a sleeker, more contoured shape compared to previous models, with rounded edges and soft corners replacing the traditional squared off design. The hinges are internally positioned so that they're near invisible. There's a transparent window on the undercarriage to show off the internal components. As befits an Alienware laptop, there's plenty of RGB illunimation, although most of it can be turned off if you want your laptop to be a bit more subtle.
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.
PlayStation’s Direct store is holding a sizeable sale on PS5 games, controllers, and even consoles, but there’s an added incentive for fans of Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.
The game is (for the time being), a PS5 exclusive, and marked one of 2025’s biggest releases on PS5, and you can snag its limited edition DualSense at a $20 discount right now.
The pad itself isn’t exactly subtle. It’s the classic black DualSense with a big Drawbridge logo on the touchpad and decals on the grips, but it’s pretty slick if we do say so. There’s also some detailing around the symbol buttons, which is a nice touch, making them look connected.
Elsewhere in the deals, you can save $100 on the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Collector’s Edition. It includes a digital version of the game, along with a 15-inch Magellan Man Statue and an adorable/creepy (depending on your point of view) 3-inch Dollman figure you can attach to your keys or backpack.
There are art cards and a letter from Hideo Kojima, as well as in-game items like patches and a machine gun unlock.
In our review, Simon Cardy said the game delivers on the promise of the divisive original, awarding it a 9 out of 10.
“It removes almost all of the friction that weighed down its rookie effort, delighting with a truly unpredictable story full of intrigue and malleable stealth-action playgrounds hidden in its vast, hauntingly beautiful version of Australia.”
If you’ve not checked out the game just yet, it’s coming to PC on March 19, 2026 with Ultrawide support.
Elsewhere, you can save on huge first-party titles like God of War: Ragnarok and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, as well as games like Stellar Blade.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
Forza Horizon 6 comes out in May for PC (later for PS5), so why not get ready with this excellent deal on a popular racing wheel? For a limited time, Amazon is offering the Logitech G29 Racing Wheel and Pedal Set for just $179.99 with free shipping after you clip the coupon on the product page. That's a hefty 45% off and the lowest price I've seen on a brand new Logitech racing wheel so far this year. The G29 is compatible with both PlayStation 5 and PC.
If you're a big fan of racing games like Gran Turismo or Forza Horizon 5 and you've been using a DualSense controller or gamepad this entire time, then this price drop might be the excuse for you to step up your immersion to the next level. The G29 was already one of the best racing wheels under $300, and definitely the best racing wheel under $200.
Standout features include a gorgeous hand-stitched leather steering wheel with 900 degrees of rotation, sturdy metal base, durable steel ball bearings in the shaft, gear-driven dual-force motor feedback, stainless shifter and pressure-sensitive pedals. The force feedback does an excellent job of simulating providing force and resistance.
If you're a PC user and wondering which model to get, PlayStation's G29 model is actually a bit nicer than Xbox's G920 variant. The G29 has LED shift lights located on the top of the wheel's spokes. These LEDs light up progressively as the car's RPMs rise in-game. The G29 also has a rotary knob on the wheel that can be customized to different functions, like traction control, brake bias, or split differential.
If you're in the market for a racing wheel and pedal combo, grab this G29 at the heavy discount while you can.
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.
Amid the official statements and many tweets that followed one of the biggest shakeups ever at Xbox, one of its creators believes Microsoft’s true plan is to bring its gaming business to an end.
Seamus Blackley co-created Xbox at Microsoft, bringing to life Microsoft’s console hardware in 2001 before leaving just a year later. He has watched his former company hit the headlines as Phil Spencer and would-be successor Sarah Bond announced their exit. And in a new interview, he revealed what he believes to be new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma's actual mission — which sounds like nothing good for Xbox fans.
Speaking to GamesBeat, Blackley said that Xbox is not a core part of Microsoft’s all-encompassing AI push, and so “is being sunsetted.” Drafting in Sharma, who Blackley points out came from Microsoft’s AI team with no gaming background, is further evidence of the company’s true strategy, he claimed. “They don’t say that, but that’s what’s happening,” he went on. “I expect that the new CEO, Asha Sharma, her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night.”
Part of the problem here, according to Blackley, is that Microsoft head honcho Satya Nadella believes that AI will “subsume” games “like it will subsume everything,” and that spells the end for the traditional video games business, much of which Microsoft owns.
“The job of all these people is to just gently usher all of these business units into the new world of AI,” Blackley said. “That’s what you’re seeing here. Whether or not you agree with it, whether you agree with AI having the potential to do that, whether AI will be successful, is a separate matter. But that’s what we’re seeing. That is in no way surprising. It would have been shocking if they had somebody in there in a meaningful role who was passionate about games, passionate about the creator-driven business of games, because it would be in direct conflict with everything else Microsoft is doing. Microsoft is a company that is now about enabling its customers by enabling AI to drive things. That’s at odds with the auteur model of any art, but specifically of games. Microsoft doesn’t have the problem that Apple does, or that Netflix does, where they have an auteur-driven content model to manage. Games are the only place where they have a content business.”
It’s worth pointing out that Blackley's comments go against the statements released by Microsoft in its announcement of the Xbox shakeup. Sharma has promised to deliver “the return of Xbox,” and, as part of that, has vowed to reengage with core Xbox fans. There was even a promise to commit to console, which is certainly a crowd-pleasing comment at a time when so many Xbox fans feel disenfranchised with Microsoft’s shifting strategy. As for Satya Nadella, he has said he was “long on gaming and its role at the center of our consumer ambition,” which doesn’t sound like Xbox is sunsetting any time soon.
As it stands, Microsoft has a long list of video games due out this year and beyond, and the promise of a new Xbox console in the coming years. One of the big questions around recent events is whether Sharma will tear up those plans. Of course, the likes of Fable and Halo and Call of Duty will release this year, as announced. But will the next-gen Xbox fall by the wayside? Will any plans former Xbox boss Phil Spencer had for an Xbox handheld come to fruition?
And while Sharma has said she has "no tolerance for bad AI," and promised to "not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop," it seems unlikely that gaming will escape Microsoft's big AI push entirely.
IGN has much more on Sharma's arrival and the departure of Spencer, including the many farewells to him from veteran developers, Spencer's personal words to the Xbox community following his departure, and Sharma's own responses to initial concerns around her recent AI work and lack of gaming industry job experience.
Photo by David McNew/Getty Images.
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.
Ryan Coogler’s The X-Files reboot is moving forward at Hulu with Danielle Deadwyler (Carry-On, Till) as one of its two stars.
Deadline reports the sci-fi revival from the mastermind behind last year’s Sinners has finally received a pilot order at the streamer after word of its existence emerged in 2023. In addition to gaining a co-lead in Deadwyler, the site says that See, The Copenhagen Test, and Dexter writer Jennifer Yale has been brought on as showrunner.
Deadwyler will play one half of the show’s leading duo and is bringing more than 15 years of experience in movies and TV with her. In addition to appearances in shows like Atlanta and Watchmen throughout the 2010s, recent years have seen her play prominent roles in films like 2022’s Till, as well as 2024’s I Saw the TV Glow and Carry-On. Last year, she led Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Woman in the Yard.
Deadline reports the new take on a classic ‘90s program will follow “two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents” who “form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.” Coogler will write and direct The X-Files reboot’s pilot episode, while also serving as an executive producer with Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian via Proximity Media. Chris Carter, creator of the original show, is also involved as an executive producer, as is Yale.
Bloomberg reported on Disney’s interest in The X-Files a few years back, but Coogler has mostly kept quiet about the reboot while working on other projects. Aside from Sinners, which shook fans and critics (we gave it a 9/10) when it premiered last April and has continued to make headlines since, the Black Panther director returned to the Marvel universe as an executive producer for Ironheart last year. Now, however, it seems the wheels are fully in motion as the beloved sci-fi series attempts to bring in new and old fans.
The X-Files reboot currently has no release date, with the remainder of its cast and a potential episode count still a mystery. It’s also unclear if any of the original cast, such as David Duchovny as Fox Mulder, will play any sort of role, but Gillian Anderson, who played Dana Scully, has suggested she’s at least interested in seeing how things will shake out.
“There’s a chance [the show] will happen, whether I am involved in it is a whole other thing,” Anderson said of Coogler’s reboot in 2024. “But in his hands — I'm not saying no — because I think he is really cool. I think if he did it, it would probably be done incredibly well, and maybe I'll pop in for a little something something."
All 11 seasons of The X-Files recently started streaming and triggered a wave of new and updated rankings from fans across the internet. Viewers have been so hungry for new content that, when some mysterious black goo popped up in Ohio, they couldn’t help but wonder if it could lead to something ripped straight out of the show.
Photo by Sergi Alexander/Getty Images.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Here's a great opportunity to pick up a fully featured 3D printer for a supremely low price. AliExpress is currently offering the Anycubic Kobra 3 V2 3D Printer Combo - which also includes the Ace Pro multi-filament printing module - for just $199 with free delivery. You must sign in to see the $231 price drop to $199 (no coupon code is necessary). This is the first time I've seen this model sell for under $200. The exact same combo sells for $380 on Amazon.
You're buying it from Anycubic's official store on AliExpress. It ships free locally from the United States and arrives within 1 to 2 weeks. The Kobra 3 is an excellent option for any newcomer to 3D printing; it's easy to setup, it produces great 3D prints with minimal fiddling, there are plenty of mods available (that you can print yourself), all at a budget price.
Update: If you aren't seeing the price, try disabling any popup blockers. Don't forget to sign in.
Includes the Ace Pro Multi-Filament Printing Module (for multiple colors)
The Anycubic Kobra 3 is an open bed printer with a working space measuring approximately 10" cubed. It boasts a print speed of up to 600mm/s with 20,000mm/s² acceleration and can print a benchy in under 12 minutes. Other features include an accelerometer G-sensor that allows for auto-leveling and vibration compensation, a 200W dual PTC heating system to keep a stable temp for consistent filament drying, and easy to use touchscreen controls. Assembly is quick and easy and you should be able to make your first test print in a matter of minutes.
The Ace Pro multi-filament module fleshes out the 3D printing capabilities. It's also what makes this deal so good because it normally sells for $200 or more by itself. This add-on allows you to print using up to four different colored filaments simultaneously. It features intelligent identification filament sync, nozzle clog detection, and active heating for filament drying. It also stores the filament in a sealed container to avoid foreign contamination.
Note that this is the newer "V2" model that was released in mid 2025. Updates include:
There are plenty of other 3D printer options out there. I've personally enjoyed using a Bambu Lab 3D printer. Keep in mind, however, that none of them will offer similar features (especially the multi-color printing) for even close to the same 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.
Looking for a PS5 game deal in the PlayStation Direct Store sale that’s full of action? You could do a lot worse than Stellar Blade.
Shift Up’s popular 2024 title is just $39.99 right now, a clean $10 off of its Black Friday pricing from last year. That’s a great deal, and Target is even matching it if you prefer to buy from there, netting you 43% off whichever way you slice it (get it? Because it’s a blade? Never mind).
As far as technical showcases for the PlayStation 5 (or its pricier Pro sibling) go, Stellar Blade is certainly up there.
This character action title puts players in the cyber-shoes of EVE, pitting her against waves of foes and challenging boss fights, but giving her some of the flashiest combat skills in this console generation.
Our reviewer Mitchell Saltzman gave the game 7 out of 10 in his review for IGN, saying “Stellar Blade is great in all of the most important ways for an action game, but dull characters, a lackluster story, and several frustrating elements of its RPG mechanics prevent it from soaring along with the best of the genre.”
If you’re here for the action, though, this saving is well worth a look. A sequel, unsurprisingly titled Stellar Blade 2, is in development at the time of writing.
For more sale items, the PlayStation Direct sale is well worth a look for Death Stranding fans. The Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Collector’s Edition is discounted, as well as the limited edition controller commemorating the game’s 2025 launch.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.
Nowadays it's quite difficult to find an RTX 5070 Ti prebuilt for under $2,000, but not impossible. Lenovo currently has a Legion Tower 5 RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC for just $1,859.99 after you apply two stackable coupon codes "EXTRAFIVE" and "BUYMORELENOVO". It's paired with an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and 32GB of DDR5 RAM.
Thinking of saving money by building your own DIY RTX 5070 Ti system? Think again. With the rising prices of GPUs, the RTX 5070 Ti graphics card is currently selling for at least $250 over MSRP. Other comparable options, such as the Radeon RX 9070 XT or RTX 5080, also have a steep markup.
Use stackable coupons "EXTRAFIVE" and "BUYMORELENOVO"
This Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 configuration is equipped with a liquid-cooled Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB GPU, 32GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
Something to note is that 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 CPU, and laptop CPUs are permanently soldered onto the motherboard. That means you won't be able to swap out the CPU for a better one in the future. If you don't intend on swapping the CPU (and let's face it, most of us who buy prebuilts probably never will), then you'll get excellent performance out of this chip.
The RTX 5070 Ti offers the best bang for your buck amongst the new Nvidia Blackwell cards in terms of 4K gaming performance. It performs neck-and-neck with the previous generation RTX 4080 Super and pulls ahead in any game that supports multi-frame generation, especially with the recent DLSS 4.5 update.
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.
The ever-reliable PlayStation Plus leaker billbil-kun has revealed the headline game for March 2026.
As reported on dealabs, PGA Tour 2K25 will be available to download from March 3 to April 7 free for all PS Plus subscribers (Essential, Extra, and Premium). Expect an announcement from Sony this Wednesday, February 25.
PS Plus is a regular stomping ground for old 2K sports games (indeed previous PGA Tour games have hit PS Plus), so the addition of PGA Tour 2K25 comes as little surprise. The golf sim launched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC in February 2025, so it hits PS Plus just over a year later. A Nintendo Switch 2 version came out earlier this month.
IGN’s PGA Tour 2K25 review returned an 8/10. We said: “PGA Tour 2K25 comes back strong, with substantial changes to how it looks and plays bringing it within striking distance of the competition.”
The rest of March’s PS Plus lineup remains under wraps for now (expect the additional games to be confirmed alongside PGA Tour 2K25 on Wednesday). You’ve got until March 3 to grab February’s games before they’re rotated out of the subscription service.
While you wait, check out which game we crowned the best PlayStation game of 2025 alongside all of our other big winners of the year. And for more on what PlayStation has in store for 2026 and beyond, check out our roundup of this month's State of Play showcase.
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.
Nothing posted an image of the Nothing Phone 4a on X today, showing off the upcoming clear-backed phone. The 4a has an updated rear design, including a new "Glyph Bar," an evolution of the Glyph notification lights feature on past Nothing Phones. Its one of a few teasing posts the company has published in recent days, ahead of a fuller reveal at 2:30AM PT on March 5th.
The Glyph Bar will be one of the most noticeable differences versus the Nothing Phone 3a. The company teased the new feature in a post last week, writing that it would feature nine individually-controllable squares of LED lights instead of the curved lightstrips that the phones have had in the past. The company says they'll be 40% brighter than its older a-series phones, and will feature "a more natural, neutral, bleed-free glow." Visually, the phone otherwise looks a lot like its predecessor.
The new phone will be powered by a Snapdragon chip, as the company posted last week, though it didn't say which one. Rumors are pointing to a Snapdragon 7 chip, as Engadget notes. That should make it a fine phone, though it won't compete with the best Android phones out there, which have generally moved on to Snapdragon 8 chipsets. Other details, like RAM, storage, display, pricing, and more remain a mystery.
Wes is a freelance writer (Freelance Wes, they call him) who has covered technology, gaming, and entertainment steadily since 2020 at Gizmodo, Tom's Hardware, Hardcore Gamer, and most recently, The Verge. Inside of him there are two wolves: one that thinks it wouldn't be so bad to start collecting game consoles again, and the other who also thinks this, but more strongly.
For this week only, Best Buy is offering an excellent deal on the 65" LG Evo C5 4K OLED TV exclusively for My Best Buy Plus and Total members. The price drops to just $1,171.99 with membership, compared to $1,399.99 for non-members. If you don't have a membership, you're luck because also for this weekly only, Best Buy is offering 50% off its Plus membership, dropping the price to only $25 for one year. Aside from exclusive discounts, the Plus membership offers free expedited 2-day shipping on thousands of items with no minimum requirement and an extended 60-day return policy.
My Best Buy Plus member exclusive
The C5 is LG's most popular OLED TV, sitting right in between the super pricey Gallery Series (G5) and the budget B5. The C5 boasts the near-infinite black levels, near-infinite contrast ratio, and near-instantaneous response times you'd expect from any OLED TV. It's also equipped with LG's proprietary Evo panel, which is significantly brighter and offers a wider color gamut than traditional W-OLED TVs. This is the best TV for streaming 4K HDR content in its intended glory.
LG's OLED TVs have also been our favorite TVs for console gaming for three years running thanks to their outstanding image quality, low input lag, and high refresh rate. The C5 is equipped with modern gaming features, including a native 120Hz panel that can be pushed to as high as 144Hz, HDMI 2.1 inputs for running PS5 games in 4K at up to 120fps, variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode.
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.
Bungie has issued a warning to anything thinking of cheating in Marathon: you will be permanently banned from the game, and there are no second chances.
In a blog post, the Sony-owned studio said anyone found to be cheating in its extraction shooter will be permabanned from playing Marathon forever, “no second chances.”
However, Bungie acknowledged there may be flaws in its system, as there are in all systems, and so will have an appeals process in place to help with detection issues.
“Tau Ceti IV is a dangerous world where death is certain,” Bungie began. “That said, we want you to know your deaths are due to your own mistakes or enemy outplays — not because your run was compromised by network issues, cheaters, or the hardware hosting your connection to the world.
“No network or security model can guarantee perfection, but we are committed to protecting the Marathon competitive experience and ensuring everyone has their fair chance at exfiltrating with a backpack full of sweet loot.”
To that end, Marathon dedicated servers are “fully authoritative” on key combat and looting actions, Bungie explained, which should help prevent cheating. Meanwhile, the ‘Fog of War’ system limits the regions of a map that individual player clients have knowledge of, hopefully limiting the effectiveness of wall hacks, ESP cheats, and loot revealers “Product security is never fully solved and we’ll continue to invest in our game security systems," Bungie stressed.
On the crucial subject of client security, Bungie said it includes both user-mode and kernel-mode components, but kept things vague — deliberately. “Game security is a never-ending arms war with bad actors,” Bungie said. “This means sharing details about methodologies for protecting our games can inform those bad actors how to defeat them. With that in mind, we hope this high-level snapshot gives you an idea of how we are addressing client security.” There is no mention of Bungie employing Secure Boot (along with TPM 2.0), which is officially required to play the latest Call of Duty games and last year’s Battlefield 6 on PC.
Marathon will launch its ‘Server Slam’ event on February 26, during which all of Bungie’s security tools will be online. Bungie called on players to report cheaters if they encounter them. Marathon launches proper on March 5 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S.
Bungie’s blog post on security comes as fellow extraction shooter Arc Raiders is embroiled with a war on cheaters itself — and developer Embark Studios has issued some strongly-worded statements of its own.
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.