If you're lucky, you've got a bunch of free days going on right now, and they need to be filled with games. I've therefore sniffed through every online store in a search for the best gaming bargains of the day. They're new, they're old, but most importantly, they're quite a bit cheaper than their original asking price. So stop reading and get scrolling / saving!
In retro news, I'm celebrating the 37th birthday of the mighty Sega Master System. I somehow pleaded my way into one of these when this oversized oblong started to be bundled with two controllers, a light phaser, and two games (Hang On and Safari Hunt). Boasting newer, improved hardware compared to its worthy NES rival, Sega's 8-bit beast seized a significant market share lead in Oz (a feat not replicated in more important markets like Japan and North America). What is your easiest, cheapest, and most reasonably authentic way to experience the Master System vibe today? Buy the modern remaster of Alex Kidd in Miracle World. Everybody owned it.
We learned a lot of new information about Monster Hunter Wilds at Tokyo Game Show 2024 during the Capcom Online Program and extended Scarlet Forest gameplay stream, including the reveal of the foul Congala and fowl Yian Kut-Ku. Both monsters are returning to the series after a long absence. Here’s a quick breakdown of everything we’ve learned with comments from the developers.
The Fanged Beast Congalala, a Farting Pink Ape
Technically, we could’ve made an educated guess that Congalala would be returning to the series thanks to the distinctly pink armor the hunter was wearing in the official Dual Blades showcase. But it was finally officially confirmed during the Scarlet Forest gameplay stream, where the developers said fans have wanted Congalala to return for quite some time. Congalala is a Fanged Beast first introduced in Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for PSP (at least in the US).
Congalala resembles a gorilla, except it has striking pink fur and a tail that’s often holding a mushroom. Its main, disgusting way of attacking is through visible farts that throw brown debris into the air and belches that change depending on the food it most recently ate. In Wilds, before a certain move, Congalala will produce a special item called “Truffle de Conga” which can be stolen and used in your own cooking.
Congalala can also cover you in a “stench” so powerful you’re unable to consume anything, including health potions. Make sure to bring Deodorant out on hunts in the Scarlet Forest which is where you’ll encounter Congalala, at least for the first time. Luckily, recovering from such a stench is simple with Monster Hunter Wilds’ new Optimal Status Recovery option in the radial menu. With this, you’ll have quick access to whatever item is needed at the moment, so you won’t have to dig through the item pouch while it’s too stinky to think.
In an interview with IGN, Monster Hunter Wilds director Yuya Tokuda says this new feature is meant to be a quality of life improvement, but you may not find yourself using it as often as you think because the Palico will be “on it” trying to heal you. The same can be said about the Optimal Health Recovery option, which will not only use guild-issued healing items like Rations before dipping into your hard-earned stores of Potions but will use the item that will get you closest to full recovery without overdoing it.
The Bird Wyvern Yian Kut-Ku, the Original “Tutorial Monster”
Yian Kut-Ku is the very first flying monster Hunters faced in the original Monster Hunter for PS2, and has the honor of being the first returning monster to be revealed after Rathalos.
Like Congalala, Yian Kut-Ku is also pink, and resembles a goofy-looking, scaly bird monster. While Yian Kut-Ku moves around a lot and is fairly quick, it usually trips and falls when it charges. Kut-Ku’s other main attack is fireballs, making it an early resource for Flame Sacs.
Monster Hunter Wilds executive director and art director Kaname Fujioka says Yian Kut-Ku was given the honored spot of first properly revealed returning monster afer Rathalos not just because they love Yian Kut-Ku, but because he thinks it’s “a sort-of well-known, popular, and beloved monster among the fan base.” Fujioka adds, “This choice of the next reveal was something that I think showed that we love Monster Hunter just as much as you guys do, and we’re always thinking about what would be fun to bring back.”
As for why Yian Kut-Ku is being brought back for Wilds specifically, Fujioka says it would be great to see how Yian Kut-Ku appears in Wilds' pack system, where the same large monsters can appear in a group for the first time.
Customizable Seikrets
During the Scarlet Forest gameplay, we also saw the hunter riding a differently colored Seikret. The Seikret is the mount in Monster Hunter Wilds, and it was confirmed during this stream that we can customize its colors. Not much else is known about the depth of this customizability just yet!
Alongside the two monster reveals, the Scarlet Forest gameplay stream also showed a portion of a hunt with Uth Una, the Leviathan revealed during the most recent PlayStation State of Play. There were also details on how fishing in Monster Hunter Wilds will be a little more involved when reeling in a big fish.
Lastly, though unrelated to Monster Hunter Wilds specifically, there were more announcements for Monster Hunter’s 20th Anniversary, including a special Rathalos Fender Telecaster guitar. Capcom also revealed that Monster Hunter is getting special collaborations with both Transformers and Digimon. For Transformers, a Rathalos Prime Transformer figure; and for Digimon, two special V-Pets featuring monsters from Monster Hunter as well as special fusion monsters. RathalosGremon is a fusion of Greymon and Rathalos, and ZinoGarurumon a fusion of Garurumon and Zinogre. As of now, we’re unsure if these will be officially available outside of Japan.
Amazon's second Prime Day event of the year kicks off next week on October 8, but some deals have already gone live. Most notably, Fire TV Sticks, Kindles, Fire Tablets, and Echo smart devices have been discounted by up to 50% off starting today. These deals are very likely to last through Prime Day, however this is your chance to get them without a Prime membership. Starting October 8, you may be required to have a Prime membership to take advantage of these discounts. Unless you're eligible for a free trial, that's still an extra expense, especially if you don't plan on getting anything else.
Prime Day Fire TV Stick Deals
Save up to 50% off every Amazon Fire TV Stick. That includes the budget Fire TV Stick Lite, which is down to $17.99 (originally $30), to the powerful Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which is down to $35 (originally $60). Xbox gamers should find this deal very tempting, since you can now play Xbox games on compatible Fire TV devices. Players with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and a Fire TV Stick 4K or 4K Max can connect a wireless controller and access the Xbox Cloud Gaming library, which includes games like Palworld and Forza Horizon 5.
Need help deciding which model to get? We have a Fire TV Stick guide that breaks down the differences between each model and which one we'd recommend depending on your needs.
Prime Day Kindle Deal
Amazon Kindle deals were strangely absent during the first Prime Day Sale back in July. There's only one deal currently available today, but it's a very good one. Right now you can get the newest 11th generation Kindle Paperwhite Kids Bundle for only $114.99, a 32% price drop. This deal price makes it even cheaper than getting the standard Paperwhite, which is currently $150. The Kids Bundle includes the Paperwhite 16GB reader, 1 year of Amazon Kids+, a kid-friendly cover, and an extra year of warranty for a total of two years. The 11th gen Kindle Paperwhite improves upon its predecessor with a larger display, adjustable warm light, increased battery life, faster page turns, and a USB Type-C charging port.
Prime Day Fire Tablet Deals
All models of the Fire Tablet are on sale, from the compact and affordable Fire 7 tablet with its 7" touchscreen display and 10 hours of battery life for only $49.99 (originally $90) to the impressive flagship Fire Max 11 tablet with a sharp 11" 2000x1200 resolution, aluminum body, and included pen and keyboard case for $244.99 (originally $405). We picked the Fire Max 11 as the best Android tablet for families. The best deal for most people is probably the Fire HD 8; it has a massive 58% discount which brings the price down to only $5 more than the Fire 7 deal.
Prime Day Echo Smart Speaker Deals
Several Amazon Echo smart assistants have been discounted ahead of Prime Day. These include Echo speakers without a display and Echo Show speakers with display. The Echo is a great smart assistant thanks to its compatibility with a huge number of third party TVs, lights, home security systems, and home theater speakers on the market. There are also thousands of user-submitted Alexa skills for any device that isn't natively supported. Not only are most of these Echo devices heavily discounted by 40% or more, many of them also include a free TP-Link RGB LED smart light bulb at no extra cost. These freebie deals usually require a Prime membership, but not this time.
Prime Day Amazon Fire TV Deals
Amazon Fire TVs are some of the least expensive TVs you'll find, and that's doubly so during Prime Day. You'll be able to pick up a TV for as low as $73.99. They all have a built-in Fire TV smart interface so there's no need to buy a separate dongle for you to start streaming. Some models even come with a soundbar.
Prime Day All-New Echo Buds Deal
The second generation Amazon Echo Buds true wireless earphones drops to $24.99, a savings of 50% off the retail price. This is a bargain for a pair of true wireless earbuds, especially when you could easily pay upwards of $100+ from other brands. The Echo Buds features 12mm drivers, dual microphones, 5-hour battery (20 hours if you include the charging case), and multipoint Bluetooth pairing. Although the Echo Buds doesn't have ANC, it does feature a a semi-in-ear design that offers some level of passive noise isolation, while still being aware of your surroundings. Semi-in-ear earbuds are more comfortable than earbuds that completely seal off your ear as well.
Check out our definitive Prime Day article for current news on everything related to the upcoming October Prime Day Sales event, including what deals to expect and whether or not you should wait for Black Friday.
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.
Updated, Sept. 30, 5:50pm PT: Where is Gotham City located? While widely believed to be somewhere on the eastern seaboard of the United States, the exact state that Batman’s hometown is in has remained a matter of debate over the years through its various and often conflicting depictions in DC Comics, movies, TV shows, and video games.
“Gotham” was a nickname coined by author Washington Irving in 1807 to refer to New York City. Batman co-creator Bill Finger (not Bob Kane) is the one who named Batman’s base of operations Gotham City in Batman #4 (1940), with Gotham City said to have been inspired by New York City, gangland Chicago, and even London.
Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy used locations in Chicago, New York City and Pittsburgh for its Gotham City, while other Batman movie shooting locations over the years have included Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Liverpool and Glasgow. The 1960s Batman TV show was shot in the sunny Greater Los Angeles area, while the Joker movies starring Joaquin Phoenix were filmed in New York and New Jersey. (The more fantastical Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher’s Batman films largely shot their Gotham scenes on soundstages.) All of these filming locations contributed to the varied and ever-changing look of Gotham City on screen, which only added to the ambiguity of the fictional city’s exact real-world location.
In the Todd Phillips-directed movie, Arthur Fleck is on trial for the murders he committed in the original 2019 movie. As prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent, the case is called The State of New York vs. Arthur Fleck. License plates and other documentation depicted in the film also identify Gotham as being in New York State.
IGN was able to get Phillips to comment on this choice of setting: “Well, Gotham is often said to be in New Jersey. It was discussed. Not with anyone at DC, it was discussed amongst ourselves,” Phillips wrote to me this week. “We just kinda went with the ‘who are we kidding’ idea. Also cause it sounded weird ‘the state of New Jersey vs Arthur Fleck.’”
Where do you think Gotham City should be located? Vote in the poll below.
October is upon us, and it’s time to fill it with nothing but the best streaming content available in Australia. Don't get me wrong—I get that some of you like to menu hunt through the six major services. Sifting through seventeen pages of the same old thumbnails to find a gem can be a rewarding thing for some. But me? I like to zip right to the gold.
If you’re the same, let’s hook you up with every single critically acclaimed film, addictive TV series, and surprisingly awesome 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, home in on the must-sees, and set your eyes to square.
TV litter pick:Territory – Oct 24 : When the world's largest livestock farm in Australia is left without a successor, miners, landowners, and gangsters prepare for war.
Movie litter pick:Don’t Move – Oct 25 : When a killer injects her with a paralytic agent, a woman must run, fight, and hide before her body completely shuts down.
TV litter pick:Last Days of the Space Age – Oct 2 : In 1979, a power strike threatens Western Australia as it hosts a Miss Universe pageant and a surprise nearby landing of the US space station, Skylab.
Movie litter pick:LEGO Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition – Oct 18 : A young, aspiring hero and superhero fan inadvertently unleashes a powerful new villain looking to rid the world of the Avengers.
TV litter pick:Disclaimer – Oct 11: A mysterious delivery threatens to expose a celebrated journalist's past.
Movie litter pick:The Last of the Sea Women – Oct 11 : An extraordinary band of feisty grandmother warriors wage a spirited battle against vast oceanic threats.
TV litter pick:Like A Dragon: Yakuza: S1 – Oct 25 : Follows the lives of fierce yet passionate gangsters and people living in a huge entertainment district, Kamurochō.
Movie litter pick:Immaculate – Oct 20 : Sydney Sweeney stars as Cecilia, an American nun of devout faith, embarking on a new journey in a remote convent in the picturesque Italian countryside.
TV litter pick:Thou Shalt Not Steal: S1 – Oct 17 : A young delinquent breaks out of juvie, reluctantly teams up with an awkward teenager, and goes searching for the truth behind an old family secret.
.
Movie litter pick:Bad Boys For Life – Oct 18 : This throwback threequel delivers a film fans of the franchise will likely love while setting up a possible new era for the Bad Boys world.
What notable movies are coming to Stan?
Jumanji: The Next Level – Oct 4
Burnt – Oct 5
Going Clear: Scientology and The Prison of Belief – Oct 6
Lenovo just dropped the price of its Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 RTX 4070 Ti Super gaming PC to only $1,599.99 after coupon code: "CRAZYLEGION". This is an excellent price for a gaming PC that's powerful enough to run just about any game at high framerates even in 4K. It even comes with three months of Xbox Game Pass for PC. Check out our recent Lenovo Legion Tower 7i review for an in-depth overview.
Note: Originally I thought this was an air-cooled Legion 5 Tower. It is actually a liquid-cooled Legion 7 Tower with all the bells and whistles of the higher end model (like a bigger chassis, bigger power supply, liquid cooling, and more fans), so this deal is now even better than I had assumed it to be.
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC
The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 is equipped with an Intel Core i9-14900KF CPU, GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super GPU, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. The unlocked 14th gen Intel Core i9-14900KF Raptor Lake "Refresh" CPU boasts a max Turbo clock of 6GHz with 24 cores, 32 threads, and a 36MB cache. This is one of the most powerful consumer CPUs on the market right now with a high clock speed for gaming and a ton of cores for multi-tasking.
The Legion Tower 7i is Lenovo's highest end gaming chassis and thus it's equipped with a robust 360mm all-in-one liquid cooling system (a very good thing because Intel Raptor Lake chips run hot). The chassis uses a traditional airflow configuration with three 120mm RGB fans up front as intake (this is where the radiator is also positioned), two 120mm RGB fans up top as exhaust, and a single 120mm RGB fan in the rear. The system is powered by an 850W power supply.
The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Super is about 10% more powerful than the RTX 4070 Ti and 15-25% faster than the RTX 4070 Super. This is a great card for both 1440p and 4K gaming and can even run new demanding titles like Black Myth: Wukong and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. The VRAM count is upped to 16GB compared to the RTX 4070 Ti's 12GB, which means it's a good option for AI apps like Stable Diffusion.
Why Choose Lenovo?
People like the fact that Lenovo does not use very many proprietary components in their rigs, so Legion gaming PCs are generally DIY upgrade-friendly with easily obtainable off-the-shelf components. Lenovo gaming rigs generally also utilize solid cooling, especially for the CPU, even if you opt for the less expensive air cooled option.
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.
V/H/S/Beyond streams on Shudder beginning October 4. This review is based on a screening at Fantastic Fest 2024.
As the V/H/S franchise expands under Shudder's banner, the quality of its miniature found-footage shockers continues to reach new heights. The same goes for the characters of V/H/S/Beyond: The seventh film in the horror-anthology series keeps things fresh by connecting each of its segments with a science fiction theme, bringing spaceships and aliens (among other genre-appropriate threats) into the mix. More importantly, this is the most consistent and polished V/H/S installment to date, representing one giant leap from the solid steps forward of period-piece predecessors V/H/S/99 andV/H/S/85. The energetic compilation starts with a bang that resounds through the pacing, sequencing, and momentum of the remaining chapters. There’s room for debate over which is the best, but unlike other years, there's no glaringly weak link.
Jordan Downey kicks things off with "Stork," a monster hunt with heavy [REC] and Resident Evil influences. It's my favorite segment of the bunch, following a secretive police outfit dubbed W.A.R.D.E.N as they infiltrate a hideout filled with creatures from beyond. Downey's masterful command of small budgets (as previously seen in 2018’s The Head Hunter and 2008’s ThanksKilling) makes for an exhilarating siege in which we watch agents blast their way through waves of enemies from the perspective of cameras mounted to their helmets. It has the feel of a cinematic video game (that’s a compliment) and the boot-stomping gore and Majini-like alien foes are brought to life through some unsettling special effects. Downey starts V/H/S/Beyond by kicking the door in, and while nothing that follows “Stork” matches its welcoming adrenaline rush, that's never really an issue.
Virat Pal follows with "Dream Girl," an AI-gone-rogue nightmare about two paparazzi facing insane consequences after trying to snap dressing-room candids of Bollywood superstar Tara (Namrata Sheth). Sheth shines in the role, introduced during a smoldering musical number where she sings about being a goddess. Pal's inclusion of traditional Bollywood choreography and cinematography elevates his segment above V/H/S’ usual standards, almost like we've temporarily wandered away from the franchise – before we're brought back to the fundamentals when body parts start flying around and a film set is plunged into chaos. "Dream Girl" levels harsh commentary against parasitic photographers and our desires to command artificial intelligence, but not without buckets of gore – the V/H/S way.
Next, Justin Martinez stages a mid-air collision between a 30th-birthday skydiving trip and a UFO in "Live and Let Dive." The thrill of freefalling is mixed with an alien-attack sequence before the action crashes into an orange grove, where the surviving divers flee from their extraterrestrial pursuer. Martinez orchestrates magnificent kills as characters are maimed and decapitated while plummeting toward the ground – and that's before we get a glimpse of his Death Angel-meets-Splice invader. "Live and Let Dive" epitomizes hold-your-breath filmmaking with the way it blazes through frantic action. Most impressive of all is Martinez's filming of the group’s downward plunge. If you can stomach heights, you'll be howling with glee and clutching the nearest armrest.
V/H/S/Beyond’s strangest concoction is Christian and Justin Long's "Fur Babies," which feels influenced by the latter’s performance in Kevin Smith's underrated horror-comedy Tusk. Animal-rights activists plot to infiltrate the "Doggy Dream Home," a one-stop shop for canine daycare, grooming, and training. We meet the proprietor, lonely pet lady Becky Baxter (Libby Letlow), in a YouTube advertisement, where Letlow plasters a fake smile on the face of her chipper dog mama's not-all-there character. Afterward, two protesters smuggle a hidden camera into the Dream Home, and the Longs unleash an avalanche of uncanny weirdness. Becky's also a taxidermist, you see, and her hobby plays into the deranged surgeries and four-legged fantasies she carries out at her work-from-home business – all presented in a hilariously unhinged fashion that would be reminiscent of Michael Parks hacking Justin Long into a human/walrus hybrid even if Long weren’t behind the camera. Apparently, the Long brothers and I have the same sense of humor, because I found “Fur Babies” hilarious – this one's for the freakos out there.
Last on the agenda is Kate Siegel's directorial debut, "Stowaway," written by her husband Mike Flanagan. Alanah Pearce stars as Halle Halley, a mother desperate to document proof of extraterrestrial activity in the Mojave Desert. (Editor’s note: Pearce was an IGN staff member from 2015 to 2018. She did not work with the author of this review during her time at the site.) It's the movie’s most straightforward segment, and wholly reliant on Pearce's performance. Siegel embraces a headier sci-fi angle that slowly ushers us out of V/H/S/Beyond, staging a “be careful what you wish for” drama aboard a mysterious spacecraft. Flanagan's story ponders unknowns rather than thrusting bloodthirsty antagonists upon Halle, while Siegel's direction applies delicate coats of dread atop a stimulating examination of life on other planets. "Stowaway" almost feels out of place next to V/H/S/Beyond’s other, action-heavy segments. But its softer touch and more traditional take on sci-fi horror fits the closing-act role wonderfully.
There’s room for debate over which segment is the best, but unlike other years, there's no glaringly weak link.
While wraparound segments have sometimes diminished the cohesiveness of past V/H/S movies, Jay Cheel's "Abduction/Adduction" helps ground Beyond in the sci-fi mood. Two videos purporting to contain footage of real aliens are dissected in a faux-documentary whose talking heads include Corridor Digital, the real-life YouTubers behind popular VFX reaction videos. "Abduction/Adduction"’s methods are conversation-heavy with a brief payoff, but Cheel keeps us in the proper mindset as V/H/S/Beyond switches from one otherworldly terror to the next.
Check out today's best daily deals, which include an official price drop on the Meta Quest 3 VR headset, a 30% off discount on Nanoleaf's Matter-compatible light bulbs, the lowest price we've seen on the best TV for the PlayStation 5 console, early Amazon Prime Day deals on Kindles and Fire TV sticks, a big sale on Nintendo Switch games, and more.
Featured in this article
You can quickly browse through all of the listed products on sale above. For more information on each product and why they are worth your consideration, read through below.
Meta Quest 3 512GB VR Headset
Hot on the heels of the new Meta Quest 3S announcement, the Quest 3 has officially been marked down by a not insignificant amount. The 512GB model, which previously retailed for $649.99, is now priced at $499.99. The Quest 3 is a superior headset to the new Quest 3S. It has much better optics, with a higher resolution, higher FOV, and a thinner pancake lens design, and it boasts a higher maximum storage capacity.
Nanoleaf Matter A19 E26 RGB LED Smart Bulbs
Save 30% off Nanoleaf's Matter-compatible A19 LED light bulbs. A three-pack will run you $34.99, or only $11.66 per bulb. These bulbs can connect via Bluetooth or Matter over Thread and are controllable and customizable via the Nanoleaf app on your mobile device. The bulbs are composed of RGBCW LEDS with a max brightness of 1,100 lumens. The RGB LEDs can be tuned to over 16 million colors, and the white LEDs can be adjusted from 2700K-6500K.
Meta Quest 3S 128GB VR Headset
The new Meta Quest 3S 128GBe VR headset is up for preorder and ships out on October 15. That's up to $200 less expensive than the Quest 3 128GB VR headset and definitely a more attractive price for anyone planning to jump aboard the VR bandwagon. The Quest 3S has the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor, Touch Plus controllers, and mixed reality capabilities as the Quest 3.
55" LG Evo C4 4K OLED Smart TV
Ahead of the holiday season, Walmart has dropped the price of the 2024 55" LG Evo C4 4K OLED TV to only $1,069, which is easily the lowest price we've seen thus far for this particular size and model. The LG Evo C4 is an outstanding TV that has won top spots in several of our buying guides, including best 4K TV, best TV for gaming, and best TV for the PlayStation 5. This is an especially good buy if you picked up the new PS5 Pro, since the updated hardware will be able to run more games at a consistent 4K @ 120fps.
Amazon Prime Day Device Deals Start Today
Prime Day starts early with these deals on Amazon devices. They include Fire TV sticks, Kindles, tablets, and more. These prices will very likely be matched on Prime Day itself; however, the benefit of getting them early is that no Prime membership is required. It's quite possible that these deals will be exclusive to Amazon Prime members starting October 8.
Arzopa 15.6" 1080p USB Portable Monitor
Amazon is offering an excellent deal on this Arzopa 15" 1080p USB Type-C portable monitor. It's normally $129.99, but right now you can get it for only $59.98 shipped. That's the best price we've ever seen for this particular model, and a much lower price compared to 15" USB Type-C monitors from major brands like LG or Samsung. This is a great portable display for your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld.
Flexispot Electric Standing Desk with Bamboo Top
Amazon is offering this Flexispot 55"x24" Electric Standing Desk for only $197.99 shipped after a combined savings of a $40 coupon that you clip and a 30% off coupon that is automatically applied during checkout. For under $200 you're getting some pretty nice upgrades, like a one-piece solid bamboo desktop surface with pre-drilled grommets, your choice of gray or white metal legs, a pullout drawer, clamp-mount power outlet, and more.
PowerBlock (5 to 50lbs) Adjustable Dumbbell Set
Bowflex isn't the only option when it comes to adjustable dumbbell sets. PowerBlock is another trusted brand at a much lower price point. Right now Woot! (owned by Amazon) is offering the PowerBlock EXP Stage 1 (5 to 50lb) adjustable dumbbell set for only $199.99, which is less than half the cost of a comparable set of Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells.
Xbox Wireless Controller
Lenovo is currently offering the Microsoft Xbox Series X wireless controller in Carbon Black for only $39 shipped. That's about 30% off its original $55 MSRP. You won't find a better price on a brand new official controller at the moment. This is the same controller as the one that's bundled with the Xbox Series X console and it's compatible with both Xbox and PC.
SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless Gaming Headset
Woot! has brand new units of the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Destiny Limited Edition wireless gaming headset for only $119.99 (normally $180). Note that although these are brand new, you get a 90-day Woot! warranty instead of a manufacturer's warranty. Both PS5 and Xbox models are available. This is a great price for the best wireless PS5 gaming headset of 2024 and the most comfortable Xbox gaming headset of 2024. The Destiny Edition Limited Edition is clad in a black, teal, and burnt sienna color theme with the Destiny logo adorning the earcups. For our hands-on impressions, check out our SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 review.
Logitech G29 Racing Wheel and Pedals for PS5
The Logitech G29 is one of the most popular racing wheels for under $300. This model is specifically designed for the PS5, PS4, and PS3 consoles, which means it supports Gran Turismo 7 for PS5/PS4 and Forza Horizon 5 for PC. The G29 has some really great features like a gorgeous hand-stitched leather racing wheel with 900 degrees of rotation, a 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 adds a lot to the immersion; if you want something better than this, you'd have to shell out a lot more money for a belt-driven wheel.
Baseus 20,000mAh 65W Power Bank
Although not as well known as Anker, Baseus power banks are getting very popular on Amazon with plenty of positive reviews. They're also a lot less expensive than Anker power banks. Today, Amazon is offering the Baseus 20,000mAh 65W Power Bank for only $33.59 after triple savings: a $20 instant discount, a 30% off clippable coupon, and a 14% off coupon code 88SG7TC4 that you apply during checkout. This is a great price for a power bank that features a spacious 20,000mAh capacity and a hefty 65W of charging output. It can fast charge the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and Asus ROG Ally all at their maximum charging rates.
Nintendo Switch Video Game Sale at Woot!
Woot! (owned by Amazon) is kicking off its Wootoberfest sale with some great deals on Nintendo Switch games. Amazon Prime members get free shipping, otherwise add on a flat $6 shipping cost. You can add multiple games to your order and the shipping fee will remain the same. These games are all physical copies and come with a 90-day Woot! warranty. Some copies may be imports, but the Nintendo Switch is region-free and will play any game regardless. It will also keep your language, since the setting is determined by your Switch console, not the game itself.
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's been a wild few days for Magic: The Gathering fans. Last week, the Commander Rules Committee announced that it was banning several major cards, throwing Magic's most popular format into disarray. Now Wizards of the Coast is stepping in.
Acknowledging in an official statement that it's been a "tumultuous" week for Commander fans, Wizards of the Coast said it plans to run the format in-house going forward after previously leaving it in the care of part-time volunteers. It's a huge shakeup — one that figures to have far-reaching implications for the future of the game.
"This week has also demonstrated the truly monumental task that faced the Commander Rules Committee. The Commander RC is made up of five talented, caring individuals, all with other jobs and lives which they must balance with managing the most popular format in Magic," Wizards of the Coast said. "It results in incredible amounts of work, time spent deliberating, and exposure to the public. Nobody deserves to feel unsafe for supporting the game they love. Unfortunately, the task of managing Commander has far outgrown the scope and safety of being attached to any five people."
The decision was read in some corners as a rebuke of the rules committee in the wake of the ban decision, which has had a very mixed reception since it was first announced. But a statement by committee member Jim Lapage suggests that the committee instigated the change.
Unfortunately, the task of managing Commander has far outgrown the scope and safety of being attached to any five people
"What's become clear to me is that fulfilling my commitment requires a level of global connectedness, proactive and reactive communication, research, and skill beyond what I am capable of providing. I don't think it's possible for a group of part-time volunteers to rise to this task," Lapage wrote on X/Twitter.
Lapage said that he reached out to Wizards of the Coast last week and that the committee will be transitioning all management responsibilities, including its roadmap, contacts, and documentation.
"It's extremely important to me that the format's new leadership remains faithful to [format godfather Sheldon Menery's] vision of a vibrant global community with a strong focus on the people who play it," Lapage says.
The rules committee also said on its official account, "As a result of the threats last week against RC members, it has become impossible for us to continue operating as an independent entity. Given that, we have asked WotC to assume responsibility for Commander and they will be making decisions and announcements going forward."
As a result of the threats last week against RC members, it has become impossible for us to continue operating as an independent entity. Given that, we have asked WotC to assume responsibility for Commander and they will be making decisions and announcements going forward.
Wizards of the Coast, for its part, says that the rules committee will "continue to be involved" and that there have been preliminary conversations about the path forward. They include a "more objective approach to deck power level" as well as "additional guidance and shared language for players to find games that match the type of game they're trying to play."
Wizards of the Coast went on to outline a potential vision for what this might look like, suggesting that there may be power brackets going forward to help better define play within the format.
One way or another, the changes are a major milestone in Commander history, which originally began as a community-driven format and has grown into arguably the biggest and most influential way to play Wizards of the Coast's card game. It distinguishes itself from typical formats by letting players choose a creature as their "Commander," with decks comprised of 100 unique cards. Instead of one-on-one, Commander is a free-for-all usually played with four players.
As Commander has grown, Wizards of the Coast has embraced the format, even introducing cards specifically tailored to its rules. However, until now, it has remained governed by the community. Last week, the rules committee banned four popular cards — Dockside Extortionist, Jeweled Lotus, Mana Crypt, and Nadu, Winged Wisdom. The ban, the first in three years, sparked massive backlash among fans. Now it appears they have changed the course of Commander — and Magic: The Gathering — history.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Nekokima is a Japanese term that translates as “cat island”, which is potentially something of a problem if you’re trying to wire up an electricity network in the area. That’s the premise for this curious and spectacular-looking dexterity board game from the wonderfully named Unfriendly Games in which you’ve not only got to stack up a crisscross of wires without them touching, but deal with an infestation of frisky felines who want to hang from the cat’s cradle you’ve inadvertently created.
What’s in the Box
Dexterity games often come packed with all sorts of unexpected objects, and Nekojima is no exception. The bulk of the box space is filled up with thick wooden dowels of various lengths, paired together with stiff bits of cord, from one of three different potential colors. Each color has two or three possible pairings of different-length dowels. They’re meant to represent pylons, with the cords as power cables.
The remainder of the contents are circumspect in comparison. There’s a thick, circular plastic board, divided into four quadrants, and a sheet of counters which include some sinuous, chunky cardboard cats. There are also two custom wooden dice and a collection of wooden cubes in the same three colors as the cords plus black, to match the cats. The cubes go into a supplied linen draw bag.
It’s not the most attractive game at first glance – the only art is on the board and it, alongside the dice icons, are more about function than form. But, as is often the case, the visual kicks in Nekokima come from what you do with the components rather than the pieces themselves.
Rules and How It Plays
Again, like many of the best dexterity games, this is a pretty simple affair. On your turn you’ll roll the two dice which will indicate two quadrants of the board. Sometimes you might get to choose, sometimes an opponent will get to pick instead. You then draw a cube from the bag, pick a pair of dowels - they’re called Denchuu, which is Japanese for “power pole” – and you place one dowel in one of the specified board quadrants, and the other in the other. Occasionally, both poles need to go in the same quadrant. Simple!
Except of course, it isn’t. The poles have a specific orientation with the cords at the top and, once placed, the cords are not allowed to touch any poles, or any other cords, nor to hang over the board edge. The first couple of placements are very straightforward, but very soon a web of cords will be threading across the board, necessitating much more imaginative and nimble placements. To make matters worse, you’re not allowed to tweak the cord position with your fingers: you can only adjust it by manipulating the two poles themselves. The cord is stiff, but still has a tendency to misbehave just when you think you’ve wrangled it into position.
If you finish placing the poles and the cords break this rule, you have to extract them and try again, which a sweaty-palmed ordeal in and of itself. But even when you succeed, your job may not be done. If you were unlucky enough to draw any black cubes on your turn, you have to keep drawing until you get a color, and then hang black cats on matching cords without, again, the cats or cords touching each other, the poles or the ground. There are a selection of such death-defying feline shapes, some of which are much easier to hang than others.
Naturally, the ground space on the board fills up very quickly, and players must then start to stack the poles atop one another. This is where the different heights of the poles on each denchuu become interesting, as, with a bit of thought, they allow you to make both easier and more interesting placements. You have no way of knowing what your opponents are going to roll, but you can certainly try to cramp their style by throwing a cord across an open area. This opens up all sorts of interesting risk versus reward decisions as regards how hard you want to make life for yourself in the quest to make life harder for your opponents, which all contributes toward forcing the tower higher.
As it turns out, the poles are thick enough to stack with a fairly high degree of stability, which is kind of both a blessing and a curse. The problem is that it can make the early game feel too easy as you pile poles atop each other and up into the stratosphere. The upsides are that it both makes the game look spectacular on the table as your man-made forest ascends to head-height, festooned with cats and bright-colored wires, and that it ensures an exciting endgame as the foundations finally begin to wobble. Hanging cats also has the potential to cause instant chaos, even on a relatively low tower.
If piling the poles competitively isn’t your thing, the game plays well both cooperatively and solitaire with a very simple rules change. Drawn cubes all slot into a level board that runs up to level seven, with four cubes per level. Your challenge, either solo or working in a group, is simply to beat the highest level you can. The interesting thing about playing this way is that it reverses the calculations needed to rope off areas and block them from other players: rather, you want to stack and twist in places that will make it easier to follow on. There are also a number of variants included to try, extending the game’s replay value by doing things like limiting the stack height, or playing in pairs with each player taking one of a denchuu.
Dell has just dropped the price on this Dell G16 RTX 4070 gaming laptop to only $1299.99 after a $650 off instant discount. The Dell G15 and G16 are seriously good laptops for budget gamers. They offer excellent gaming performance equal to a comparably equipped Alienware laptop but at a much lower price point. They also have better build quality than Dell's consumer-oriented Inspiron lineup, with nicer materials that include anodized aluminum, and an aggressive cooling design borrowed from Alienware laptops to properly manage temperatures.
Dell G16 GeForce RTX 4070 Gaming Laptop
This Dell G16 gaming laptop features a 16" 2560x1600 240Hz G-SYNC display, Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU, GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, a generous 32GB of DDR5-4800MHz of RAM, and a 1TB M.2 SSD. The Intel Core i9-13900HX processor boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz and a whopping 24 cores and 32 threads. This is a fully powered (not "low voltage") chip and - despite being one generation older - is still one of the most powerful mobile CPUs you can get.
Although the G16 is a "budget" gaming laptop, it is equipped with a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with the maximum TGP wattage of 140W (115W + 25W dynamic) supplied to it. That is the same GPU configuration you'll find in an Alienware m16 laptop that currently costs $300 more. Performance-wise, the RTX 4070 mobile is on par with the RTX 3080 but with support for newer features like DLSS 3.0. This is a very capable GPU that should be able to run any game at playable framerates on the G16's 2560x1600 QHD+ display.
The Dell G16 is also equipped with plenty of ports, like a Thunderbolt 4 port with DisplayPort compatibility, an HDMI 2.1 port, three USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and a hard-wired ethernet port. It also comes with a standard 1 year warranty.
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 next mainline installment in the Monster Hunter series is coming soon. Monster Hunter Wilds is set to release for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on February 28. It brings a gorgeous open-world setting like Monster Hunter World and introduces some of the fast traversal of Monster Hunter Rise to create what should be the best of both worlds. Monster Hunter Wilds is now available to preorder in a variety of editions (see it at Amazon). Below, we break down what comes in each one, how much they cost, and more. Let’s dive in.
Those seeking a physical copy of Monster Hunter Wilds have two options: with a steelbook case or without. The steelbook case looks pretty rad, and it only costs $5 more than the non-steelbook edition. It’s your call.
Anyone who just wants the game by itself, either in digital or physical format, can preorder it at their retailer of choice using the links above.
Monster Hunter Wilds Digital-Only Editions
Two editions of Monster Hunter Wilds are only avaialble in digital format across platforms. There's the $89.99 deluxe edition, and the $109.99 premium deluxe edition. Read on for links and to see what each one comes with.
The digital-only premium deluxe edition comes with the game itself, all the items in the deluxe edition, plus a premium bonus and two planned DLC cosmetic packs. Here’s everything all laid out:
Deluxe Pack
Hunter Layered Armor Set: Feudal Soldier
Hunter Layered Armor: Fencer's Eyepatch, Oni Horns Wig
Makeup/Face Paint: Hunter's Kumadori, Special Bloom
Sticker Set: Avis Unit, Monsters of the Windward Plains
Nameplate: Extra Frame — Russet Dawn
Monster Hunter Wilds Cosmetic DLC Pack 1 (Planned for release in Spring 2025)
Hunter layered armor: 1 series (5 pieces), and 1 piece
Seikret decorations: 2
Pendants: 6 (Color variation)
Pose Sets: 1
Makeup/Facepaint: 1
Sticker set: 1
BGM Set: 1
Pop-up camp customization contents: 2
Monster Hunter Wilds Cosmetic DLC Pack 2 (Planned for release in Summer 2025)
Hunter layered armor: 1 series (5 pieces)
Pendants: 6 (Color variation)
Gesture sets: 2
Hairstyles: 2
Makeup/Facepaint: 2
Sticker set: 1
Premium Bonus (Planned for release when the main game releases)
Hunter Layered Armor: Wyverian Ears
Premium Bonus Hunter Profile Set
BGM: Proof of a Hero (2025 Recording)
Monster Hunter Wilds Preorder Bonus
Preorder any edition of Monster Hunter Wilds, and you'll receive the Gilded Knight set of layered armor, shown above. How about that.
What Is Monster Hunter Wilds?
Monster Hunter Wilds is the latest installment in the long-running series. Based on its graphically intensive nature, it’s more a follow-up to Monster Hunter Worlds than Rise. And as such, it won’t be available on Nintendo systems.
Once again, you play as a Hunter in a world filled with dangerous beasts. Your job is to pick a weapon type/play style and use it to hunt sizable monsters roaming the land. Then you use their various parts to create better gear that lets you go out and hunt bigger and more dangerous monsters. This time around, you have the mobility of Monster Hunter Rise, with the gorgeous beasts and environments of World, creating what just might be the best of both worlds.
Rumors of a Final Fantasy IX remake have been echoing around RPG circles for at least year now, with series fans hopeful that they may soon get to revisit one of the most beloved entries in the series. But if a Final Fantasy IX remake does materialize, it may face some big challenges.
Speaking with the website Video Games, Final Fantasy XIV producer Naoki Yoshida talked a bit about what a remake might look like. He warns that it may not all fit in one game.
"Of course, I do know there are requests for Final Fantasy IX to be made, but when you think about Final Fantasy IX, it’s a game with huge volume," Yoshida says. "When you think about all of that volume, I wonder if it’s possible to remake that as a single title. It’s a difficult one. It is a tough question."
Yoshida seems to be suggesting that a potential remake could go the direction of Final Fantasy VII Remake, which is in the middle of a planned trilogy. Fans have long had mixed feelings about splitting it into multiple parts, which offers the opportunity to add plenty of new elements, but also slows the pacing. As it stands, the third part of the trilogy doesn't figure to be out until 2026 at the earliest.
Yoshida is right about Final Fantasy IX being a big game. It's absolutely loaded with sidequests, minigames, and other content, and it's set in a very large world. Reproducing all of that material won't be easy for any development team that takes on a remake.
As for Yoshida himself, he's interested in remaking a different game in the series. "The one that I would like to make myself would be Final Fantasy III, I think."
For longtime fans of the series, Yoshida is referring to the version released on the Famicom, not the Americanized Final Fantasy VI. It's a deep cut as Final Fantasy releases go, but very much in keeping with Yoshida's attitude as Final Fantasy XIV's producer.
Yoshida touches on a handful of other details in the interview, including his favorite Final Fantasy VII minigame (snowboarding), an Xbox release of Final Fantasy XVI ("we do want to release it on Xbox"), and more. In the meantime, the wait for a Final Fantasy IX remake continues.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Amazon is offering an excellent deal on this Arzopa 15" 1080p USB Type-C portable monitor. It's normally $129.99, but right now you can get it for only $59.98 shipped. That's the best price we've ever seen for this particular model, and a much lower price compared to 15" USB Type-C monitors from major brands like LG or Samsung. This is a great portable display for your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld.
Arzopa S1 15" 1080p USB-C Portable Monitor for $59.98
This 15" 1080p monitor works as a secondary display for your laptop, tablet, phone, gaming console, or pretty much any device that has either a USB or HDMI output. The S1 has one HDMI and two USB Type-C ports. If your device has a USB Type-C output with Power Delivery, than you only need a single USB Type-C cable for both power and data. Otherwise, you'll need to use two ports: one for data (USB Type-C or HDMI) and one for power (USB Type-C). The S1 comes with one USB Type-C cable and one USB Type A to Type C cable, but you'll need to supply your own wall charger.
The monitor is designed to be portable. It weighs only 1.3 pounds and measures 0.3" thin. It sports a sturdy metal frame and includes a smart cover that doubles as a stand. The 15" display features a 1080p resolution with 60Hz refresh rate, an IPS panel with great viewing angles, and an anti-glare matte surface. It even has built in speakers. It's definitely worth the price if you want an inexpensive second screen to boost your productivity without weighing you down.
An Excellent Portable Monitor for Your Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck
This monitor works quite well with both the Steam Deck or Switch consoles. I'd recommend using the wall charger to power the monitor, otherwise you'll be draining the gaming system pretty quickly (you can use the one provided with your Steam Deck or Switch console). The 1080p and 60Hz specs on the monitor is more than good enough for the Switch since it doesn't support anything higher. The Steam Deck can support high resolutions and refresh rate, but at that point you're really taxing your system, and 1080p/60Hz is an ideal balance between visual fidelity and playability.
Upgrade to the Arzopa Z1FC 16" 144Hz Monitor for $119.99
Amazon Prime member exclusive
The higher end Arzopa Z1FC is also on sale at Amazon. The Z1FC's upgrades include a larger display (16.1" vs 15.6"), a higher refresh rate (144Hz vs 60Hz), and 100% sRGB color gamut, and a metal chassis. The larger display and better color reproduction makes it a nice upgrade for Switch and Steam Deck gamers. However, because the Z1 uses a bit more power than the S1, you'll need to keep the Z1 plugged into a wall charger since neither gaming system can power the monitor by itself. This monitor is a perfect complement for PC and laptop gamers who will be able to take advantage of the 144Hz refresh rate. I have this monitor and can confirm that the image quality is great.
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.
PS5-exclusive 3D platformer Astro Bot features 173 bot cameos from PlayStation games past and present (check out IGN’s feature, Astro Bot: Every PlayStation Character - Easter Eggs, for more). Iconic Final Fantasy characters are conspicuous by their absence, however — an omission fans were quick to pick up on in the context of Final Fantasy's long-standing association with PlayStation. That means no Cloud from Final Fantasy 7, or any other character from the famous role-playing franchise.
So why did Final Fantasy characters fail to make it into Astro Bot? Neither Sony nor Square Enix has properly commented yet, and in a new interview, the chief developer of the game itself danced around the question.
Game File asked Nicolas Doucet, the head of the game’s Tokyo-based studio, Team Asobi, about Cloud’s absence from Astro Bot. According to Doucet, Team Asobi had hoped to get Cloud in the game, but didn’t manage to for some reason.
“It's difficult to comment on that,” Doucet said, before adding: “We really respect the choice of each publisher.”
That comment suggests it was Square Enix’s call to keep Cloud from Astro Bot (IGN has asked Square Enix for comment), which fans are already calling an odd call, especially when you consider the PlayStation exclusivity Final Fantasy has signed on for in recent years. Final Fantasy 7 Remake launched as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in 2020 before hitting PS5 in 2021, then PC later that year. It has yet to launch on Xbox.
Similarly, Final Fantasy 16 launched as a PS5 exclusive in June 2023, with its PC version launching only this month. It has yet to launch on Xbox. And finally, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launched in February this year as a PS5 exclusive. It has yet to be announced for other platforms.
Despite all this, no Final Fantasy for Astro Bot. Last month, Final Fantasy 16 producer and 14 director Naoki Yoshida said Square Enix is looking to double down on Xbox releases, after its focus on PlayStation exclusivity led to a financial dip.
"With Final Fantasy 14's release on Xbox, [Microsoft Gaming CEO] Phil Spencer spent a lot of his time and a lot of effort and put in a lot of hard work into making it a reality," Yoshida said. "So we would like to make the best of that and further deepen the relationship with Xbox gamers moving forward."
As for Astro Bot, its DLC features five new online speedrunning levels and 10 new bots to rescue, including Stellar Blade's Eve and a Helldivers 2 Helldiver.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The Shattered Space expansion for Starfield is now available and Bethesda has released update 1.14.70 to get its space role-playing game ready.
The patch notes were shared on X/Twitter and cover the main Starfield and not just its expansion. While some points are fairly standard, covering the likes of "general performance and stability improvements," others are more fun. "Autumn Macmillan no longer repeats herself when asking about her sister," for example.
Myriad quest bugs have also been addressed, in missions such as Brownout, Due In Full, Eye Witness, Hostile Intelligence, In Memoriam, and many more. Bethesda has also applied many changes to specific areas of the game by enhancing textures and more.
The Shattered Space expansion arrived today, September 30, and adds a chunk of new story to the science fiction RPG. Players can "travel to the home world of House Va’ruun for the first time, explore the handcrafted new location, and uncover the mysteries surrounding the followers of the Great Serpent," according to the official synopsis.
For those frustrated by the thousand plus, mostly desolate planets of the base game will also be relieved to hear Shattered Space never sends players off-planet. “You’re free to leave at any time, but the story is fully centered around life on the Va’ruun home world," lead creative producer Tim Lamb said earlier in September.
Creation Kit: The automated process used to create models for Distant LOD is now available
General
General performance and stability improvements
Resolved an issue that limited the number of loaded creations to 255
Lighting changes and enhancements have been made throughout the game
Made several visual improvements and bug fixes for weapon models
Improved player headtracking when exiting dialogue
The player's camera should no longer be jostled when jumping
Gameplay
The Annihilator Particle Beam damage-over-time effect no longer affects Companions
Robots and Turrets will now take damage from EM weapons
Crafting: Addressed an issue with The Boom Pop! Dynamite recipe
Elite Crew: Autumn Macmillan no longer repeats herself when asking about her sister
Addressed an issue with Crowd behavior near The Well elevator in the New Atlantis Spaceport when combat is initiated
Quests
Brownout: Addressed an issue with progression after speaking with Joyce Osaka in New Homestead
Due In Full: Addressed a rare issue with The Delinquent Space Ship appearing
Eye Witness: Player can no longer enter the destroyed ship on the spaceport landing pad
Hostile Intelligence: Addressed an issue that could cause the door to the Security Office to be inaccessible if they fast travel away and wait during this quest objective
In Memoriam: Addressed an issue that could prevent progression during the "Speak with Sarah" objective that takes place near the waterfall
In Memoriam: Fixed an issue that could prevent the objective "Proceed to Cassiopeia I" from completing if the planet had been visited previously
Leader of the Pack: Addressed an issue that could prevent the Ashta Alpha from being aggressive
Legacy's End: Addressed an issue that could prevent interaction with Delgado if siding with SysDef
Legacy's End: Released Crimson Fleet prisoners will no longer target Ikande after obtaining weapons
Managing Assets: Addressed a rare issue that could prevent Tomo from appearing at Paradiso
One Giant Leap: Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect music to play during the Unity Scene
One Giant Leap: Addressed an issue with Audio that could occur during the credits
One Small Step: Resolved a rare camera issue that could occur if the first Crimson Fleet ship in the tutorial is boarded
Revelation: Addressed an issue with Quest Target consistency in the final encounter
Rook Meets King: Dmitri Moldavski will now respond as intended if Austin Rake is killed during the encounter
Rook Meets King: Addressed an issue where one of the Ragana crew was using the incorrect weapon animations
Rough Landings: Fixed a rare issue with Milena Axelrod's ship to appearing
The Best There Is: Addressed an issue that could prevent Huan from moving to the Jade Swan after the first meeting
The Best There Is: The Jade Swan is now accessible if the player still has the "Search and Seizure" quest active
The Best There Is: Addressed an issue that could make the UC Vigilance difficult to locate because it was very far away
The Showdown: Resolved an issue that could cause the door to the Strikers Hangout to remain locked
Locations
Akila: Updated some textures in the Slums
Akila: Resolved a collision issue with bunk beds
Deserted Biotics Lab: Fixed missing panels on the exterior floor
Lair of the Mantis: Resolved a minor texture issue that could appear on some panels
Londinion Steam Tunnels: Fixed collision in an area that could allow players to get out of bounds
Maheo I: Closed an open gap on the roof of Sonny Di Falco's Mansion
Neon: Nyx's Apartment: Fixed an issue with collision in the area
Neon: Addressed a collision issue with grated panels in Ebbside
New Atlantis: Addressed small areas where water in the lake North of New Atlantis could appear to intersect terrain
Stroud-Eklund Staryard: Addressed collision in an area
The Clinic: Addressed a visual issue that could appear in Dr. Cassidy's office
The Red Mile: Addressed a collision issue under the platforms in the final area
Ships
Ship Builder: A new option has been added to the game settings to allow for toggling Flip Merge behavior use
Ship Builder: Fixed an audio issue that could occur when deleting a hab
Ship Builder: Fixed a crash that could occur when modifying a ship that contained a live mine
Addressed an issue that could allow non-sellable ships to be sold to vendors
Vehicle
Addressed an issue with Set Active in the Vehicle menu when using a gamepad
Fixed an issue with the position of Wheel VFX
Addressed an issue with opening the Favorites menu while entering the vehicle
Name plates and health bars will now display consistently while in a vehicle
Settings for look sensitivity will now affect the vehicle camera
Kaiser and Vasco will no longer both sit in the Rev-8 when following the player
The vehicle icon will no longer display in interior maps
The vehicle lights will no longer be automatically on when loading a save
The fast travel distance for the vehicle is now in-line with other POIs and landed ships
UI
Xbox Display Settings: Resolved an issue where setting the frame rate target to 60 would automatically revert the priority back to performance
Removed a debug string that would display when uploading saves on Xbox to Customer Service
Updated the Skills menu to resolve an issue in Large Font Mode for certain languages
Resources with long names are now truncated for Large Font Mode when scanning
Resolved an issue with Large Font Mode in the Barter Menu when selling higher quantities of items
Temporary text will no longer display if you quickly select the "Continue" option from the Main Menu
Ship registration costs will now display the accurate amount both on vendors and the hangar menu
Addressed Mass display when selling items from ship cargo
Skill Challenge pop-ups will now have truncated text instead of shrunken text where applicable
Resolved an issue with gravity wells appearing on the Missions Menu when opening it from the Starmap
Location names and quest objectives will now truncate properly on the planet map
Creations store title displays fully in all languages
A message prompt will appear when trying to load a save where a Creation is unavailable on the current platform
Weapons will default to their original skin in menus if a weapon skin creation is disabled
Addressed an issue with sorting for Best Results in Creations menu
Addressed an incorrect notification of insufficient credits when an exceptionally large number of credits are available
Ammo counts should now display correctly for values over 100,000
The damage popup can now display numbers larger than 4 digits
Addressed an issue caused by aiming down sights while pickpocketing a character
Crew menu will now correctly display when someone is assigned to the player's home
The repair button is no longer visible in the hangar inspect menu
Resolved an issue with waiting that could briefly cause unintended text to appear
Healing items now preview the amount of health restored
Storage containers will now have their weight updated when all items are cleared from them
The ship marker in the scanner will display at the correct location when docked at a space station
Crafting completion confirmation prompt will now be spaced correctly for longer titles
Tunneling creatures will no longer show their nameplates or quest targets when tunneling
Scanner Anomalies can now be a landing target while piloting a ship in orbit
Audio
Increased center channel audio usage for surround sound setups
Addressed an issue that could cause power allocation audio to play repeatedly while the engine system is damaged with one power allocated
Ecliptic Mercenary voices now use the same filtering in all languages
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Anticipation was running high within BioWare when Andrew Wilson and Laura Miele, two of EA’s top executives, visited the studio in 2023. They were there to see the latest Dragon Age, which had been in development in one form or another for nearly a decade. It was a chance to show that after struggling through the releases of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, BioWare was finally back on the right track.
The story of their visit came up more than once in our visit to BioWare for September’s IGN First. Director Corinne Busche, who was conducting the demo, remembers rehearsing for “hours and hours” to make sure she got everything right.
“I knew the content like the back of my hand and everything was going so well. But of course we get to the live demo with Andrew Wilson and Laura Miele in the room, and as soon as I fight a Pride Demon I get walloped right off the edge and down into a pit and die,” Busche laughs. “And he turns and looks at me and goes, ‘Well, at least your load times are great.’”
It was an embarrassing moment for Busche, but in its own way, a victory. At that time, the game that would become Dragon Age: The Veilguard was less than three years removed from a major reset, shifting from the skeleton of a multiplayer game with repeatable quests, a tech base, and the outline of a story, to a full-blown single-player RPG. In that time, BioWare had effectively torn Dragon Age down to the studs, implementing a brand-new battle system along with a host of new content. It was a striking turnaround for a game that at one point looked like it might never release at all.
To cap off our IGN First coverage for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we’re going to take you inside BioWare on the eve of a major milestone in its history. In the course of reporting on this story, I spent two days at BioWare, played hours of Dragon Age, and had a lengthy sitdown interview with Studio General Manager Gary McKay. Here’s what I found.
BioWare GM Gary McKay is unassuming when you first meet him. He’s older than the average game developer, favors plaid button-ups, and likes to talk about hockey. Hockey comes up a lot around BioWare, actually – it is based in Canada, after all. The studio resides in one of the handful of high-rises overlooking Edmonton’s downtown core, which is dominated by the arena that serves as the home of the Edmonton Oilers. It's appropriate — hockey fans can tell you all about how the Oilers, who enjoyed a dominating stretch in the 1980s, and are now haunted by ghosts of their own.
McKay is the one to give a tour around the current studio space, which opened in late 2019 – just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic to upend onsite work. Like so many other studios, BioWare is a clean, minimalist space identifiable as a game studio mainly by the various trinkets from its past – a Javelin suit from Anthem in the lobby, a Morrigan statue in the window looking down on the Oilers arena, replicas of weapons and helmets from Mass Effect and Dragon Age – with meeting rooms with names like “Jade Empire.”
In a studio so steeped in history, McKay is a relative newcomer. He took over as BioWare General Manager in the wake of Casey Hudson’s second departure after stops at Disney, Marvel, and numerous other studios; in his 25 years career, he worked on Def Jam Vendetta, Turok, and an RPG that was apparently based on the metal group Iron Maiden. He preaches order and a commitment to quality in a studio that at times has been compared to a pirate ship and has experienced a worrying amount of crunch in its history.
“I certainly read a lot of the same stories you did,” McKay says. “I feel like we've brought a little order to the chaos without stifling any creativity.”
McKay inherited a studio that in many respects was not in great shape. In the span between 2017 and 2020, BioWare cycled between multiple GMs as several of its most prominent creators departed. Lead writer David Gaider exited in 2016. Mike Laidlaw, one of Dragon Age’s chief architects, left BioWare in 2017. Former GM Aaryn Flynn left to start his own studio and released Nightingale. Casey Hudson left, came back, and then left again.
I certainly read a lot of the same stories you did. I feel like we've brought a little order to the chaos without stifling any creativity
In 2020, Dragon Age had yet to enter alpha and was coming out of a period of experimenting with its implementation of multiplayer. Since the release of Inquisition in 2014, BioWare's Dragon Age team had been pulled away multiple times to try and save different projects that were in trouble, canceled at least one version of the sequel, and pivoted to multiplayer. It was the type of development hell that has killed many other projects, or at least badly damaged their quality. In the meantime, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, upending the entire games industry.
It was in this period that BioWare began laying the foundation that would shape its course for the next several years.
“[Dragon Age] was really focused on some pretty clear decisions we needed to make, such as multiplayer, which we decided not to pursue for all the good reasons. And when I think about the state, I think about, ‘What is it that we wanted to do with this game?’ And it was really about going back to our roots and what we're great at, which is single-player hero fantasy games, obviously set in the world of Dragon Age around incredible storytelling. Characters that just jump out at you in the game,” McKay says.
“I mean, the characters in this game… you're filled with love and loss and complex choices, and so, we really wanted to make sure that we are coming back to the heart. So it's not a multiplayer game, it's not micro-transactions, it's an offline game. These are all the things that we really wanted to return to what we feel would be a successful game.”
“Of course, as a multiplayer concept, the battle system at that time was oriented around, ‘What is it like to play with other players?’ And as you can imagine, things like companions weren't nearly as at the forefront as they are now. Your coordination was around other players. So when we went back to our roots, we looked at what worked really well around teamwork, companions, the deep, rich RPG strategies,” she says.
Was it a complete reboot? McKay says no. “No, I don't see it as a reboot. No, I don't see it that way at all. I saw it more about making sure that we are laser-focused on leveraging and leaning into the things that we see as success, things we've had success in, and learning from those things that we saw some challenges in. And just making sure that we obviously learn from them, we grow from them, and then lean into our successes. So, I never personally saw it as a reboot, no.”
Busche largely agrees, " In game development, a large part of your initial efforts are your tech stack, the underlying foundations that drive the game. We'd also learned a lot about how to work within Frostbite, so the nice thing about doing a pivot like this is you're not coming in from square one, and our wonderful narrative writing team had an outline in place of what this story was going to be already. We'd done some of the voice casting already. So those bones still exist today, but from the structure of the game, going to an offline RPG, combat system complete rework, the progression systems are so rich now. That was all from the ground up."
So even if The Veilguard wasn’t a reboot, it was at least a reset – not just for Dragon Age, but for the studio itself. McKay acknowledges the challenge of pivoting from multiplayer to single-player, saying that this was the moment that the “rubber really hit the road” for the studio. It had spent years trying to make multiplayer games. Now it was getting back to what it was good at.
Reminders of BioWare’s early days are everywhere. Darrah, who returned to consult on The Veilguard in 2023, has been around in one capacity or another since the late 1990s. He remembers having to build his own desk after joining BioWare work on Baldur’s Gate as a programmer.
“It was definitely a time of a lot of people who didn't know any better making games,” Darrah says. “And I think there's a power in that because honestly at the time, RPGs, at least Western RPGs, were kind of considered to be a dead genre or a dying genre, and so a team that didn't know any better was able to make something that otherwise a more experienced team might've not even tried to make.”
Over the span of almost 20 years, BioWare went on a remarkable run in which it created a succession of RPGs that are now considered stone cold classics: Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age. In that time, BioWare became known for its distinctive house style – a mix of romance and humor, deep world-building and memorable characters. It built BioWare a devoted fanbase that it retains to this day.
“What BioWare does best is telling stories through characters,” Darrah says. ”That's always been a strength. But I don't think that we really said it out loud to ourselves and really focused on that kind of storytelling. And when we forgot about it, sometimes we got it anyway, but sometimes we didn't, and that's when our storytelling didn't live up to expectations."
Darrah is one of several longtime BioWare veterans who have had a say in The Veilguard’s development. Creative Director John Epler, meanwhile, got his start on Sonic Chronicles and the Dark Brotherhood and has worked on every Dragon Age since Origins. Working as a cinematic designer on Inquisition, Epler remembers Gaider telling him, “‘[Dragon Age] is a story about people. It's a series about people.’ And for us that's always kind of been the north star that we've kept to. It's about the characters more than anything else. That's the most interesting part of the games of the stories that we tell.”
Even when we were still more multiplayer-focused, we did still want to tell a story about Solas
Storytelling comes up again and again at BioWare, which is home to some of gaming’s most beloved tales. But as BioWare started to shift toward multiplayer, it got away from this core strength. In 2023, Gaider went as far as to claim that writers had become “quietly resented at BioWare” up until the point that he had left in 2016. Hudson assured worried fans that the multiplayer version of Dragon Age would have a story in 2019, but behind the scenes, it wasn’t much more than an outline
“It definitely would have had its challenges,” Epler says. “One thing that always comes up is world state. How do I know if I'm playing with my friend? Do I need to wait for them to catch up? Are they making their own decisions? But even when we were still more multiplayer-focused, we did still want to tell a story about Solas. It just became a lot more challenging because, again, multiplayer games and single-player games have different pressures, have different needs as a project, as a story. And once you add other people's perspectives into it, it becomes even more challenging.”
In the wake of the reset, BioWare set about fleshing out The Veilguard’s story, layering in reams of lore while building out each companion’s arc. As the keeper of the various reference docs containing Dragon Age’s dense history, Epler says he has no shortage of material. “If you told me to write spec for five more Dragon Age games, I could probably come up with that in a couple of weeks because I'm always thinking about Dragon Age,” he says.
The Veilguard has been compared against Dragon Age: Origins, which tends to be seen as the game that bridges BioWare’s CRPG past with its present. Epler, who worked on Origins himself, acknowledges that its darkness and tragedy has “always been part of Dragon Age’s DNA” but also says that wasn’t all that it was. “Something that I think we occasionally lose sight of is Dragon Age: Origins also had moments of levity. You have Alistair kind of comes across as a goofball. There's a lot of funny moments with Dog. And I think it's that contrast that Origins did that we really lean into in the Veilguard. There are characters who are a little bit lighter. But even they have tragedy. They have moments of personal despair.
“Because I think if you just, again, lean super hard into everything being grim all the time, nothing good ever happens, it becomes fatiguing. You kind of lose the sense of impact. You need that contrast between the higher moments, the lighter moments, and dark moments. Because that’s life. Life is not just a series of unending tragedies or a series of unending triumphs. It's a contrast of both and that's how the despair, how the tragedies hit harder.”
I think Baldur's Gate 3 silenced some of the naysayers
But while fans tend to focus on the ways they're different, there are some unexpected ways in which they are the same. Stylized as it is, The Veilguard is also plenty violent, even if its characters aren't constantly spattered in blood like Origins. That's at least partly down to McKay, who half-jokingly says that he wants that "visceral, emotional response when you see some blood."
Within BioWare, McKay has apparently become known as the "more blood guy," periodically leaning in and wondering why one scene or another isn't just a bit more violent. Busche laughs, "I'll never forget when we got the medical triage center stood up, Gary says, 'Wow, this looks really great, but could you zoom in on that cot there – shouldn't this guy be bleeding a lot more.'"
Gary nods, "When you play it and see the blood, you'll think, 'That's the thing Gary was all over.'"
In the meantime, there are also the comparisons that Dragon Age is drawing against Baldur’s Gate 3 – a defiantly old-school RPG that suddenly emerged to become a massive hit en route to winning multiple Game of the Year awards. The histories of Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age are intertwined, with the latter originally starting as a modernized version of BioWare's formative hit. BioWare even tried to create Baldur’s Gate 3 itself back in the 2000s, only for it to be canceled due to an accounting error in one of gaming history’s stranger what-ifs.
BioWare’s reaction is to treat Baldur’s Gate 3’s emergence as a net positive. To The Veilguard’s team, it’s more proof that getting back to the studio’s original strengths was the right move. “Yeah, I didn't really feel that earthquake in terms of people being worried about it. I think what I really saw last year more than anything was a renaissance in the RPG genre,” Darrah says. “Last year was arguably the strongest year we've ever seen in terms of RPGs. Not only do we have [Baldur’s Gate 3], we also had Hogwarts, we also had Starfield, we had tons of RPGs come out last year that covered a really wide swath of what an RPG can be.”
He adds, optimistically, “I think it silenced some of the naysayers. It didn't cause a massive shift in the way The Veilguard was being developed, but I think it made some people who maybe were thinking, ‘Well, we should really be making action games because action games sell 10 million copies and RPGs sell 6 million copies,’ and silenced those voices.”
In Dragon Age lore, the Crossroads is a dimension between the Fade and Thedas that is filled with magical mirrors called Eluvians. Along its paths are reflections and glimpses into the past. It’s only appropriate that this shimmering world in-between should feature so heavily in The Veilguard, as BioWare is at its own version of a crossroads.
Everyone knew what was at stake when EA’s top executives flew up to Edmonton in 2023. Dragon Age was finally making progress, but BioWare had a lot to prove. The development team set up four televisions with demos featuring different areas of the game in a small room called Neverwinter Nights and collectively held its breath.
McKay’s frames the response to the demo this way: “Unbelievable excitement…We spent a full day with him and Laura. And the excitement in Andrew's eyes. The excitement that he was portraying in the meetings was infectious. I know this seems – maybe it doesn't seem so weird – but he inspired us in how he was excited about what he saw, what he thought this is going to unlock for BioWare…again, getting us back to the success that we've had in the past.”
One way or another, the sense of relief within the studio after the demo was palpable. But hard times were still to come. The same month that Baldur’s Gate 3 released, BioWare laid off around 50 workers, including longtime veterans like narrative designer Mary Kirby, who had been with BioWare since Dragon Age’s inception and was, in the words of Gaider, “Varric’s creator, Mistress of the Qunari, Writer of the Chant.” It was Kirby who wrote Lucanis, The Veilguard’s resident assassin.
At a higher level, the layoffs came amid an internal shakeup at EA that effectively resulted in it being split into sports and everything else. That summer, rumors spread within BioWare that it was about to be acquired. Star Wars: The Old Republic was allowed to go third-party, ostensibly so that BioWare could focus on Mass Effect and Dragon Age (McKay won’t comment on the status of Mass Effect, but most rumors suggest that it’s still early in development).
BioWare, it should be said, has long had an interesting relationship with parent company EA. Kotaku’s 2019 report about the state of Dragon Age mentions the sense within BioWare that they are the “weirdos” within a publisher known for its sports games and shooters. EA Sports FC and Madden are what fuel EA, adding billions of dollars to its bottomline. They bring in the kind of revenue that can make even very successful games look like rounding errors.
McKay, for his part, waves away suggestions that BioWare is a mismatch for EA’s portfolio, saying that it “couldn’t be further from the truth” and that EA has been supportive of the studio’s efforts. “I feel that we've had the full support and when you think about the support in terms of giving us the time to deliver on the creative promise of what we wanted to do, we've had 100% support from EA. And we don't even look at it as EA and BioWare necessarily. We've got that support, and there's other titles that are making interesting RPGs as well, and so I don't see it as something separate or something that we're carrying the torch. I just see it as having an incredible support group to allow us to deliver on the promise of what we want to do.”
There's a lot at stake, at least, in meeting the expectations of fans
BioWare’s rollercoaster ride continued through Dragon Age’s reveal in 2024. Reactions to the initial reveal trailer were negative, sending the studio scrambling to release an early gameplay tease just days later to placate fans. The name change from Dreadwolf to The Veilguard wasn’t particularly well-received either. After that, though, impressions were generally very positive. My colleague Alex Stedman wrote in her first hands-on preview, “After hours of hands-on time spread across two days, I’m pleased to say I walked away with excitement and curiosity, but mostly, relief to wave many of my concerns goodbye.” These sentiments were echoed elsewhere, with many critics praising its polish – a miracle given the state of Dragon Age in late 2020.
When I ask Ampere analyst Anna Kerr her expectations, she says she doesn’t have specific data for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but that overall interest in the series has spiked since its reveal. She notes that June saw about 480K MAUs across Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation, which she rates as positive for a series that saw its last release in 2014. She also says RPGs have been the second most popular genre across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam in 2024.
As for how important Dragon Age: The Veilguard is for BioWare, she says, “I can't really say without knowing other factors that are only internal, I assume, but obviously there's a lot of passion and love for the Dragon Age series and for BioWare. Fans have high expectations around really any product they deliver. And so it's a question of whether they deliver that with the length of development time and this being another major entry in a beloved franchise. There's a lot at stake, at least, in meeting the expectations of fans.”
No matter how it turns out, BioWare is lucky to be putting out a game at all. History is littered with games that get mired in conflicting visions, get rebooted, and sometimes never make it out at all. Now, McKay says hopefully, "I think we're on the doorstep of something pretty amazing."
When Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases on October 31, one quest will finally end. Another may be about to begin.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Lenovo is offering some outstanding deals on their Legion gaming PCs and laptops with coupon codes that take up to $1,300 off MSRP. Each code only works on a very specific configuration, but all of these models are gaming-worthy computers that would typically cost you hundreds of dollars more. The only caveat is that these coupons are set to expire tonight at midnight. Lenovo might extend the sale, but given how good these deals are, the chances are slim.
Update: These codes was supposed to end already, but they're still available. They may expire soon.
Featured in this article
You can quickly browse through all of the listed products on sale above. For more information on each product and why they are worth your consideration, read through below.
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i RTX 4070 Ti Super Gaming PC
Lenovo just dropped the price of its Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 RTX 4070 Ti Super gaming PC to only $1,599.99 after coupon code: "CRAZYLEGION". This is an excellent price for a gaming PC that's powerful enough to run just about any game at high framerates even in 4K. It even comes with three months of Xbox Game Pass for PC. Check out our recent Lenovo Legion Tower 7i review for an in-depth overview.
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 RTX 4080 Super Gaming PC
Are you looking for something even more powerful? Lenovo has also dropped the price of its Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 RTX 4080 Super gaming PC to only $1999.99 after coupon code: "CRAZYLEGION2". This is an even better deal when you consider the fact that it's equipped with a liquid-cooled 14th gen Intel Core i9 processor and 32GB of DDR5 RAM.
Lenovo Legion Tower 5i RTX 4070 Super Gaming PC
Here's a great deal for anyone who wants to dip into 4K gaming without the inflated price tag. Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 gaming PC equipped with a GeForce RTX 4070 Super GPU for only $1,349.99 after coupon code: "CRAZYLEGION1". That's a $950 price drop from its original $2,300. The RTX 4070 Super GPU is one of NVIDIA's most popular graphics cards; it performs admirably at 1080p and 1440p gaming, but has the chops to run games in 4K as well. I personally gamed on a 4K monitor with a RTX 3080 GPU (which is less powerful than the RTX 4070 Super) before I finally upgraded.
Lenovo Legion Tower 5i RTX 4060 Gaming PC
If you're on a tight budget, then check out this Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 RTX 4060 gaming PC for only $769.99 shipped after coupon code "CRAZYLEGION5". The Lenovo Legon Tower 5i Gen 8 is equipped with an Intel Core i7-14700F CPU and GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. The RTX 4060 is considerably more powerful than the RTX 3060 and almost nearly matches the RTX 3060 Ti. This is a great budget card for 1080p gaming. You could also run games at 1440p with relaxed graphic settings, but at that point I'd recommend upgrading to an RTX 4060 Ti or higher.
Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 RTX 4090 Gaming Laptop
Lenovo is offering an extremely powerful Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 RTX 4090 gaming laptop for only $2299.99 after coupon code: "CRAZYLEGION4090". The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 is equipped with an Intel Core i9-14900HX CPU and GeForce RTX 4090 mobile GPU. The RTX 4090 is still the most powerful mobile GPU on the market, and by a very substantial margin. It's roughly equivalent to a desktop RTX 3090 GPU. It has more than enough power to run most games at well over 60fps on the 2560x1600 display. In fact, it could probably hit 240fps (the display has a 240Hz refresh rate).
Why Choose Lenovo?
Lenovo Legion gaming PCs and laptops generally feature better and more rugged build quality than what you'd find from most other prebuilt PCs. For desktop PCs in particular, people like the fact that Lenovo does not use many proprietary components in their rigs, so the PCs are much easier to upgrade with easiy obtainable, off-the-shelf parts. For laptops, Lenovo generally does not throttle the GPU on most of their Legion laptops, so you should expect maximum performance from a given GPU. Lenovo generally includes a solid 1 year warranty with the option to extend.
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.
At a 90-minute stage event on the final day of Tokyo Game Show over the weekend, Hideo Kojima revealed key details surrounding several characters in the upcoming sequel Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, along with an engaging and overhauled photo mode. The game's release date, slated for 2025, remains unknown.
The crowd welcomed Kojima back to TGS for the first time in five years, with his last major appearance coming in 2019 in the lead-up to the debut of the original Death Stranding. Joining him on stage today were singer/songwriter Daichi Miura and voice actors Kenjiro Tsuda, Nana Mizuki, Tomokazu Sugita and Shion Wakayama. Danish film director Nicolas Winding Refn also made a brief in-person appearance.
Most of the announcements concerned the Japanese voice cast for Death Stranding 2. Tsuda and Mizuki will reprise their roles as Sam and Fragile from the first game. Sugita, a performer known for his boisterous delivery, will play the diminutive Dollman, a miniature living being. Footage showed Sam carrying Dollman attached to his body like one might clip a keychain or pendant to their backpack.
Wakayama, an up-and-coming performer who won the Best New Actor at the 2023 Seiyu Awards, will voice Tomorrow, a character modeled after actor Elle Fanning. A short scene showed Tomorrow chatting with a visibly-pregnant young woman named Rainy, played by Shioli Kutsuna.
Kutsuna, best known for her recurring role of Yukio in the recent Deadpool films, originally performed all her scenes in English with the rest of the star-studded Hollywood cast, but will provide her own voice for the Japanese dub. She addressed the crowd via a prerecorded video letter and praised Kojima for his uniqueness, saying that she had "never experienced a shoot like this before."
Kojima showed off two flashy means to enjoy viewing the characters of Death Stranding 2. A new photo mode lets players virtually hang out with the Drawbridge crew in-game. As seen on a screen above the TGS stage, Fragile, Tomorrow and Sunny casually goofed around, posing and dancing for the camera. Clicking the shutter produces a Polaroid-like image, adding to the verisimilitude of the experience.
Another sequence showed Dollman dancing on a small table for Sam; the player can pitch and rotate the camera in real-time. Initially alone, identical doubles (Dollmen, perhaps) joined him as part of a fully coordinated and choreographed routine. A virtual Daichi Miura also beamed in, taking the lead and singing vocals. This new single, "Horizon Dreamer" will hit various music streaming services at midnight (Japan time) on Monday, September 30th.
With the focus on Japan, Kojima revealed a couple of upcoming merchandise opportunities for local fans to enjoy new Death Stranding gear. Designer Errolson Hugh came onto the stage bearing new jackets which he said he designed along with Kojima and artist Yoji Shinkawa for both the in-game characters and real-life fans. Kojima Productions already offers the jackets for sale online for 248,600 yen apiece ($1,749 at current exchange rates).
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of Death Standing's launch, Kojima Productions will open a pop-up shop at retailer PARCO Shibuya in Tokyo starting on November 8. Subsequent events will take place at PARCO branches in Nagoya and Osaka in early 2025.
Kojima left the crowd waiting as far as details concerning Death Stranding 2's upcoming release. While previously announcing that principal photography of the performers finished in May of this year, Kojima said that much work remains, including re-recording all the dialogue in Japanese with the aforementioned actors.
He estimated that development is only "30 - 40%" complete at this time but reiterated a 2025 launch target for the game. Internally they have a date in mind, he said, but he declined to share that information with the assembled crowd.
Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio revealed on X/Twitter that Nakaya Kazuhiro — who also played Nishikiyama Akira in Yakuza, Yakuza 0, and Yakuza Kiwami — is playing the role of a tiger cub in the new game.
The tiger is called Goro, presumably (or perhaps coincidentally) named after Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii protagonist Majima Goro. It's owned by Noah, the child who finds Majima washed up on the beach with no memory in the beginning of the Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag meets Like a Dragon looking entry.
It is, dare we say, a less important role than Nakaya's previous ones in the franchise. Nishikiyama was the primary antagonist of Yakuza and Yakuza Kiwami while Ichiban is the new series lead as of 2020. Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a side story, however similar to 2023's Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, instead of the fully fledged next mainline game.
Players will be able to explore the Hawaii map from Infinite Wealth alongside new areas and even ships. Majima has two fighting modes too, including his classic Mad Dog Style and the new Sea Dog Style. Players can also jump during combat for the first time in a Yakuza game.
In our first preview of the game, IGN said: "Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is ship-shaping up to be a seaworthy spin-off with a fin-favorite at its helm."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
Now that there are hundreds of noise-canceling earbuds out there, it’s easy to scoff at the Sony WF-1000XM5’s $299 price tag – I certainly did at first. But while these earbuds are expensive, they offer some of the best noise canceling I’ve experienced in an earbud, paired with incredible sound quality. I’ve been using these earbuds every day for nearly a year now, and in that time they’ve earned a permanent spot in my purse whenever I leave the house.
Design and Features
Like any other wireless earbud, the Sony WF-1000XM5s come in a little charging case, but what sets these apart is how small it is. Standing upright, the case is just 1.57 inches tall and 2.54 inches long, making it extremely easy to fit in any pocket or bag. The case is also covered in this nice rubbery material that feels soft and smooth.
The small size hides some nifty features, though. The Sony WF-1000XM5 case is compatible with Qi wireless charging. At first glance, this seems like an awkward feature, given the round shape of the case. However, the bottom edge of the case is flat, and you can stand it up vertically on a wireless charger to get the juice flowing.
The earbuds themselves look like little black beans, adorned with little bronze circles on the outer corner. The side of the earbud that, well, goes into your ear, has a little stem with a foam tip attached. Luckily, the WF-1000XM5s come with several pairs of tips in different sizes (and materials), so you can find the ones that fit your ear just right. Beyond the tip, though, the small bean-like shape of the WF-1000XM5s are comfortable and fit snugly in my ears.
And unlike a lot of other earbuds out there – namely Apple’s AirPods Pro – that start to get uncomfortable after a while, I can wear the Sony WF-1000XM5s for hours without feeling the need to give my ears a rest, even if that’s not necessarily a healthy choice.
But even with how small these beans are, they have some impressive noise cancelation running under the surface. Sony claims that the noise cancelation tech is ‘AI-based’, and while that was probably true when the algorithm was first created, keep in mind that these earbuds won’t get any better at canceling out noise over time.
Sony also included a bone conduction sensor, to work with the microphone, to more clearly pick up your voice in noisy environments. I’m not sure that was necessary for just the microphone, but the Sony WF-1000XM5s are the best earbuds in my collection when it comes to actually talking on the phone, so clearly Sony is on to something.
The drivers themselves are 8.4mm dynamic drivers, which are technically less capable than the two different drivers found in the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, but these earbuds are still capable of 96kHz sampling. And because Sony owns LDAC, it’s no real surprise that these earbuds also support that lossless codec for high-res audio.
Through the Sony Headphone Connect app, you can enable all the WF-1000XM5’s little software goodies. Adaptive Sound Control, for instance, will change the intensity of noise canceling depending on where you are or what you’re doing. After all, when I’m at home listening to music and writing, I don’t need the earbuds to filter out as much noise as when I’m riding the train to the office.
In the app you can also enable ‘Speak to Chat’. When this feature is turned on, you can start talking and your earbuds will pause your music and turn on ambient noise so you can have a conversation without needing to fuss with your earbuds. Then, when you’re done talking, your previous settings will come back after a few seconds.
The Speak to Chat feature works largely thanks to the bone conduction sensor built into the microphone. This makes the earbuds more able to tell when it’s you talking, rather than someone who’s around you. This stops the feature from interrupting your groove when some stranger on the train starts having a loud phone conversation.
Performance
At $299, the Sony WF-1000XM5s have to sound good, no matter how many fancy features the company worked into the buds. And regardless of whether noise canceling is enabled or not, the earbuds sound fantastic, even if they lean a little bass-heavy from time to time. Luckily, the Headphone Connect app has an excellent equalizer that can dial the sound in closer to your personal taste.
The app also has a wizard that lets you play a song and navigate through some settings in real time to help you find your sound, without needing to spend an hour messing with individual levers. I eventually found myself using an equalizer setting that keeps the strong bass of the default sound, but further highlighting mids and highs for a more full sound.
And over the last year, I’ve listened to everything from Rob Zombie to TLC, and I haven’t found any music that doesn’t sound good. Thanks to the inherent noise isolation that comes from using the included foam tips, too, audio is clear and balanced without having to keep the volume at unhealthy levels – even if I ultimately do that anyway.
The drivers are a bit less advanced than the Samsung Galaxy 3 Buds Pro, which at $249 are cheaper and also have a supplemental planar magnetic driver to balance out its soundstage. I’ve used both earbuds a lot, especially when I was reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6. And while they do sound great, I still found myself going back to the Sony WF-1000XM5s, mostly on the back of the better noise cancellation.
As someone that gets extremely overwhelmed in loud environments, I am especially sensitive to the quality of noise cancellation. The Sony WF-1000XM5s have become indispensable as a tool to deal with my anxiety issues, especially when I’m out in the city doing errands or running to events. Anyone who’s ever visited New York City can tell you how loud the streets and the subway can get, especially during rush hour, and the WF-1000XM5s can essentially put it all on mute. No other earbuds I’ve used, from the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro to the AirPods Pro, have been able to match the WF-1000XM5’s ability to shut out the outside world.
But again, because of the earbuds’ ability to change noise cancelation depending on where you are or what you’re doing, I’m able to just start up a conversation when I need to without needing to pull out my earbuds. You can even set the earbuds to turn up ambient noise when you’re commuting, in the interest of safety. I, for one, would rather be hit by a car than have to hear the outside world, but you do you.
Battery
Sony claims that the WF-1000XM5s can get up to 8 hours of listening time, which is extended to 24 hours if you charge the earbuds in their cases in between listening sessions. Listen, I’ve worn these earbuds almost every day for almost a year and I’ve never had to worry about whether the battery is going to die before I’m done listening to music.
Even flying from New York to LA, I’m able to listen to the earbuds through security, get on the plane, then land without even needing to pause my music. The long battery life has even been a hassle sometimes, because I’ll forget to charge it – my default assumption is that it has battery left, as it usually does.
When it’s dead it doesn’t even take that long to charge. I can plug the case into my desktop to charge while I’m working, and it’ll be done charging in around an hour. Plug it into a wall with a decent charging brick and it’ll cut the time down to around 30 minutes.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
With the Rings of Power Season 2 finale fast approaching, Amazon has released a spoiler-filled promo that teases much of what to expect from Episode 8.
Warning! Rings of Power Season 2 spoilers follow.
In the promo, which you can view in the video below, we see Galadriel on a mission to destroy Sauron, now fully revealed as The Lord of Gifts. We see Sauron’s crown used in the sword fight (we know this ends up on Sauron’s head rather than through his black heart).
Other teases of note include the miraculous recovery of Arondir after what looked like his death at the hands of Adar in Episode 7, the Balrog in the caverns beneath the Dwarven city of Khazad-dûm, the mysterious Dark Wizard using his staff to threaten Nori and Poppy with the Stranger poised to rescue them, Sauron wielding what looks like a spear or pole, which fans are already speculating will be used to bring poor Celebrimbor’s head out onto the battlefield in a graphic display of dominance, and, crucially, Elendil looking in wonderment at Narsil.
Narsil was the longsword wielded by King Elendil during the War of the Last Alliance, and used by his son, Isildur, to cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand. This is a momentous moment in The Lord of the Rings backstory, made famous by the opening battle scene in Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring. The expectation is Rings of Power eventually ends its run with this scene, which leads straight into The Lord of the Rings.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Connexion
