After months of agonizing anticipation, Nvidia has finally announced the RTX 5080, along with the rest of the Blackwell lineup, including the RTX 5090, RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5070 at CES 2025. We'll finally be able to get our hands on the next-generation graphics card on January 30. Until then, Nvidia has revealed the full specs of the card so we can get a rough idea of what to expect when it makes its way into a gaming PC near you.
Nvidia RTX 5080 release date
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 launches January 30, 2025, along with its bigger sibling, the RTX 5090. Nvidia has also announced the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti, though those don't have a definite release date – though we can expect them by March.
As for the laptop version of the RTX 5080, Nvidia claims availability will 'start in March', though that is going to largely depend on the laptop manufacturers. it could be April before we see the likes of Alienware, MSI and Asus work the RTX 5080 into their next-generation laptops.
Nvidia RTX 5080 price
When Nvidia unveiled the RTX 5080, it revealed a starting price of $999 for the RTX 5080, with third party cards likely being much more expensive, depending on how fancy their coolers and features are.
While I don't know how likely it'll be to get an RTX 5080 for $999 when it hits the street, it is a significantly lower launch price than the RTX 4080, which launched for $1,199 back in 2022. That's surprising, when you consider the RTX 5090 saw a price jump from $1,599 to $1,99 – also a starting price.
As for the lower-tier cards, the RTX 5070 Ti will start at $749, with the RTX 5070 starting at $549.
Getting a gaming laptop with an RTX 5080 is going to be quite a bit more expensive, of course, as you're buying an entire system instead of a single component. During the keynote at CES, Nvidia claims systems will start at $2,199, with more premium systems likely getting a substantial price bump. With these gaming laptops, though, keep in mind that they'll be much less performant than the equivalent desktop GPU. My general rule of thumb, without seeing testing, is that the laptop GPU is the equivalent of two tiers down. So, for instance, the RTX 5090 mobile will likely perform at the level of the desktop RTX 5070, with the RTX 5080 likely matching a desktop RTX 5060 – even if that hasn't even been announced yet.
Nvidia RTX 5080 specs
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 is built on the Blackwell architecture that Nvidia's been using to power Supercomputers for the past year or so. While I'm not lucky enough to to test a data center GPU in Cyberpunk, Nvidia is making some lofty claims about the performance of this architecture, especially when it comes to AI performance, which is important for upscaling in modern PC games.
This graphics card sports 10,752 CUDA cores across 84 Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs). That's actually a raw increase over the RTX 4080, which only sported 9,728 shaders. Assuming each Blackwell-based CUDA core has a significant IPC improvement over their last-gen counterparts, this increase in cores could mean significantly better performance.
Of course, each SM has more than just CUDA cores. Nvidia hasn't released the chip layout, but assuming Blackwell has a similar layout to Ada Lovelace, each SM should have 4 Tensor Cores, which would make for a total of 336 Tensor Cores. Each SM also features a RT Core, which powers Ray Tracing. Nvidia is claiming a theoretical 1,801 TOPS of AI performance through the Tensor Cores and 171 Teraflops of ray tracing performance through the RT cores.
Finally, the RTX 5080 sports 16GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus. Because the RTX 5000 series are the first graphics cards to ever use GDDR7, I have no idea what impact this will have on performance, but it should be much faster than the GDDR6X on the RTX 4080 – though only time will tell.
Nvidia RTX 5080 performance
When Jensen Huang took the stage at CES 2025 with his flashy new jacket, he made some lofty claims about RTX 5090 performance, and even claimed that the RTX 5070 would match the RTX 4090. he supported these claims with benchmarks using the new DLSS 4, which coincidentally won't run on RTX 4000 cards, so you should take them with a grain of salt.
The truth of the matter is that I have no idea how fast these graphics cards are, and I won't have a clear picture until I get them in the lab to actually test them in a controlled setting. Nvidia also made really lofty claims of gen-on-gen performance when it launched the RTX 4080, and that didn't turn out so well for Team Green. Luckily, with the RTX 5080 launching on January 30, we won't have to wait long to see what they have in store.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
When Lenovo announced the Legion Go S earlier today at CES, I thought it was just a lightweight version of the existing behemoth of a gaming handheld, and in many ways, the Windows 11 version is exactly that. However, the Lenovo Legion Go S is also available with SteamOS, which makes it $100 cheaper and so much easier to use. It gives us a glimpse of SteamOS's future and how it could become a serious threat to Windows – especially for handheld gaming PCs and gaming laptops.
Design
From the images I saw in the press release, I thought the Lenovo Legion Go S would be much smaller than the original Legion Go. I was wrong. The Lenovo Legion Go S feels about the same in my hands as the Asus ROG Ally X, which is currently the best handheld gaming PC on the market right now. Even though it sports a big screen, it still feels comfortable, especially without the knobs and dials of the original device.
Instead, the sides of the Lenovo Legion Go S are smooth and rounded, contouring nicely in the hand, and the hatched texture on the grips of the device will probably help prevent accidental drops. The rear side of those grips hides the only "extra" buttons on the device, two paddle-like buttons, one on either side of the device. That's a stark contrast from the Lenovo Legion Go, which had a ton of extra buttons and dials, as the removable controllers were supposed to be used as a stand-in for a mouse.
Luckily, the Lenovo Legion Go S retains the touchpad on the front of the device, even if it shrinks it down considerably. On the Windows 11 version of the device, it allows you to navigate the OS easily, though it was disabled on the SteamOS version that I played around with. A Valve representitive told me that a fix is in the works, and the little trackpad should be functional when the handhelds make it to market later this month.
Also on the front of the device, of course, are the face buttons present on any handheld gaming PC. These all feel nice and tactile, and the analog sticks also have RGB lighting surrounding them – another thing Valve had to build support for in SteamOS for the Go S. But the menu buttons are surprisingly the star of the show. Like with any other handheld out there, there are four menu buttons in total, two on each side of the display. The top button on each side functions as the start button on the right and the 'select' button on the left. Beneath those are the menu buttons that call up either Steam or a quick settings panel. Unlike other handhelds, though, it was incredibly smooth and responsive, with the menus coming up immediately, where something like the ROG Ally might make me wait a second to bring up Armoury Crate – if it even opens Armoury Crate to begin with.
On the top of the device, you'll find an outtake vent that spits out hot air, that stretches between the two triggers. Luckily, the vent doesn't take up the entire height of the device, with half of that stretch being dedicated to the power button, headphone jack and two USB-C ports.
The Lenovo Legion Go S display is an 8" 1200p LCD panel with a 120Hz framerate, and it is gorgeous. It's big enough that you'll clearly see anything you're playing and bright enough to use at least in the brightly lit demo room at CES 2025. It marks probably the biggest improvement over the Steam Deck, as Valve's handheld is still limited to an 800p display.
Performance
Both the Windows 11 and SteamOS version of the device are powered either by the recently announced Z2 Go or the current-generation Z1 Extreme. Obviously, I'll need to test it through a suite of games to get a clear picture of its gaming performance, but the games I did play on it had a high frame rate (admittedly Lenovo didn't exactly stock the thing with the most demanding games).
Beyond the APU at the core of the device, the Lenovo Legion Go S also sports 'up to' 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 'up to' a 1TB SSD – though I'm not sure how much memory or storage was on the device I actually used at the event. Again, another reason to wait for full reviews before you commit to this handheld.
While I don't yet have a clear picture of the real-world performance of Lenovo Legion Go S, I'm optimistic, especially given the affordable $599 price.
Price and Availability
As far as the Lenovo Legion Go S release date, right now there are two different launch windows: The high-end spec with the Z1 Extreme will be available later in January running Windows 11 for $729, and the version with the Z2 Go will be available in May, which will cost $599 for the Windows 11 version, and $499 for the SteamOS version.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
Valve will begin allowing third-party handhelds to license SteamOS starting with Lenovo's new Legion Go S.
At CES 2025, Lenovo announced that it will ship a version of its upcoming Legion Go S handheld called the "Powered by SteamOS" that will run, you guessed it, SteamOS. This is the same OS that powers Valve's Steam Deck, which is pretty good if you're primarily someone who owns all their PC games on Steam.
As part of the launch, Valve published a blog that confirmed that alongside the Legion Go S, Valve is working on "a beta of SteamOS which should improve the epxerience on other handhelds and users can download and thest this themselves." Meaning that SteamOS should be available on non-Steam Deck handheld gaming PCs as well.
The benefits of SteamOS, especially for those with massive Steam libraries, is that of the handheld PC interfaces, SteamOS is very smooth and easy to navigate. While not mandatory for handheld PC gaming, it has its fans and soon even non-Steam Deck owners can install it for their own handhelds.
IGN is at CES 2025 where we already previewed the Legion Go S, a lighter version of Lenovo's 2023 handheld the Legion Go. It comes in a lighter formfactor, but with some improvements under the hood. It is not, however, a next-gen handheld. That's the Lenovo Go 2, which will utilize the AMD Z2 Extreme APU and is currently in the prototype phase.
Be sure to stick around for all our updates from CES and let us know if you're excited to install SteamOS to your non-Steam Deck handheld.
Hopefully you're still holidaying and if you are, you'll need games. Cheap ones. Along with the headliner deals that describe themselves, I'd like to highlight a pretty great preorder price for FF7 Rebirth on PC. I for one can't wait to see how brilliant it can look (and run) on some beefy hardware. That being said, let's move along and save a bunch more Gil on today's bargains below!
In retro news, I’m ensuring we all Don’t Starve by baking a 10th birthday cake for said indie great. When I was famished for things to play on my newly acquired launch PS4, I was surprised when this out-of-nowhere roguelike nourished me for dozens of hours. Being a masochist, there was so much to love about this—the complete lack of farming direction, the Burtonesque atmosphere of a storybook gone bad, and that increasingly bunghole-puckering stress of keeping shadow beasts and stomach grumbles at bay. Holds up quite well today, and you really ought to play this with a mate in the Don’t Starve Together co-op variant.
Content Warning: The story contains details regarding physical and psychological abuse, as well as the death of a child.
A new report from People Make Games has unearthed deeply disturbing allegations of workplace abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian animation support studio that has worked on games such as Assassin's Creed Shadows, Age of Empires 4, and The Last of Us: Part I Remake.
Allegations of mistreatment at Brandoville Games were first reported by People Make Games back in 2021 as part of a broader story on how Western AAA studios effectively outsource crunch on major games to overseas developers, effectively sweeping it under the rug. However, People Make Games was urged to revisit its reporting on Brandoville more recently, after accusations went viral on Indonesia social media of continued crunch, as well as physical, verbal, and mental abuse.
TheGamer reported on the allegations in September of last year, pointing at CEO Ken Lai's wife, Cherry Lai, as the instigator of much of the studio's worst issues. Numerous screenshots and videos verified by TheGamer as well as shared publicly across social media told a story of Lai's abusive behavior, which included sending threatening and insulting messages to staff, verbally berating and insulting them, and in at least one case, repeatedly physically assaulting an employee and ordering them to physically hurt themselves as "punishment" for poor performance. That employee, Christa Sydney, has shared much of her story publicly, including claiming Lai once slapped her head so hard it caused tinnitus, and at other times choking her, pushing her down the stairs, and forcing her to bang her head on the wall until she had a concussion.
People Make Games' follow-up investigation goes further to verify and detail these claims, including sharing a video Sydney was allegedly forced to send to Lai of her slapping herself 100 times. In addition to Sydney, People Make Games' report details other accounts, including allegations that Lai pit employees against one another by verbally berating employees in the office or gossiping about them, forced employees to participate in Christian worship on a daily basis, and would insist on approving employee outfits every day before work. One former employee in the video claims Lai manipulated him into giving him a significant part of his salary.
Another former employee, Syifana Afiati, tells a story of being overworked while pregnant to the point of being asked to work while she was in the hospital. Afiati's child was born prematurely, and she was asked to return to work just one month after giving birth, despite her maternity leave being three months and her son still being treated in intensive care. Her son died four months later. Three days after he passed away, Lai sent a message to company HR, strategizing on how to avoid supporting Afiati and deprive her of benefits while she was on leave.
Ken Lai did not comment to People Make Games when asked, but Cherry Lai provided a statement to People Make Games: "To me, my part of the story is not important, as long as my team are good and safe now," but ghosted the outlet without much further commentary.
Brandoville Studios was shut down last year. While Ken and Cherry Lai attempted to spin up a new company with some of the former Brandoville employees, LaiLai Studios – it's unclear if the company is currently running or working on anything. As of September, Jakarta police were actively searching for Cherry Lai as part of an investigation into Brandoville. Lai suggested in an email to People Make Games that she may have fled to Hong Kong, but that has not yet been confirmed.
IGN has reached out to Naughty Dog, Xbox, and Ubisoft for comment on their partnerships with Brandoville in light of this story and will update if a response is received.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Looking for a desktop charging station that has enough ports and delivers enough power to satisfy your needs? Amazon is currently offering an Anker Prime 6-Port 200W USB Desktop Charging Station for only $59.49. This charger features both USB Type-A and Type-C ports and can deliver as much as 100W of power per port. Anker is also one of the most trusted brands on Amazon when it comes to reliability.
Anker Prime 6-Port 200W USB Desktop Charger
The Anker Prime charging station features six total ports: two USB Type-A ports and four USB Type-C ports. Each Type-C port can deliver up to 100W and each Type-A port can deliver up to 22.5W. All six ports can be used simultaneously, however charging caps at 200W. The 100W port is powerful enough to charge laptops, tablets, and power hungry gaming handhelds like the Asus ROG Ally X, Steam Deck, or Lenovo Legion Go. The 22.5W ports can handle gaming or PC peripherals like mice, headsets, controllers, and so forth. It can also charge the Nintendo Switch at its fastest rate, although you'll need to pick up a USB Type-A to Type-C adapter.
Other practical features include GaN technology (smaller footprint and increased energy efficiency), a heavyset base so that it won't slide around on your desk, and multiple protection protocols. It comes with a 24-month Anker 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.
OnePlus was so quick with its revision to its 2024 model that the OnePlus 13 found its way into my hands before the new year rolled around, but that doesn’t mean it’s a rush job. Quite the contrary: While this phone is a fairly simple-looking upgrade over the OnePlus 12, its beating heart (the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset) is basically a revolution in performance. For $900, the OnePlus 13 enters as a mighty competitor to the best Android phones on the market already, and if Samsung doesn’t pull out all the stops with a Galaxy S25 Ultra, one of 2025’s first phones might prove to be one of its most compelling.
Design and Features
On the outside, the OnePlus 13 isn’t a major redesign of its predecessor. It carries similar looks to what OnePlus introduced with the OnePlus 11, albeit with minor revisions. One key change is to the screen, which still features rounded edges but doesn’t incorporate the display itself into that curvature. Where the OnePlus 12 saw its display bend slightly at the edges, the OnePlus 13’s display is completely flat, with only a bit of glass over the bezels curving. This makes for easier usability, as curved screen edges aren’t as easily viewable as flat ones. OnePlus also trimmed the bezels slightly, with the bottom bezel being notably smaller.
Beyond this, the visible design changes appear largely aesthetic. The OnePlus 13 has flatter metal edges with a matte finish, shifting away from the shiny metals of the OnePlus 12. The camera ring on the back also rises up directly from the rear glass rather than from a section of metal frame that curves around from the of the phone. I suspect this simplifies construction, and perhaps repairs as well. My test unit included a subtle wood grain in the frosted glass back, which feels velvety smooth to the touch, just as the OnePlus 12 before it did, albeit sans wood grain. There’s also a white color with smooth glass and a blue version with a microfiber vegan leather back. It’s an altogether gorgeous phone, though not an exciting reimagination.
The OnePlus 13 is still quite large at 6.41 x 3.01 x 0.33 inches (162.9 x 76.5 x 8.5 mm), which can make it a bit difficult to wield effectively with a single hand, especially with gesture-based navigation. It’s not unreasonable weighty for a phone its size though, at 0.47 pounds, and proves marginally easier to wield than Apple’s wider iPhone 16 Pro Max. Still, most of these big phone models are separated by just a few tenths of an inch in size.
OnePlus has a few less noticeable upgrades for the design, such as an IP68 and an IP69 rating, up from IP65 for the OnePlus 12. This is a serious degree of ingress protection against both submersion (1.5 meters for 30 minutes) and even scalding-hot water jets (for 30 seconds). I’m not saying I’d put this into the dishwasher, but if you really wanted to clean your dirty phone that way, it might survive. The display, meanwhile, is covered with a new “Ceramic Guard,” making a marked shift away from Corning’s various blends of Gorilla Glass. It comes with a pre-applied screen protector though, and this blemished lightly in my testing but prevented me from seeing any wear and tear on the actual display glass.
The LTPO OLED display on the OnePlus 13 is excellent, but it’s barely changed from the OnePlus 12. It offers the same 3,168x1,440 resolution, 6.82-inch size, 1-120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and even the same 4,500-nit peak brightness, though you’re unlikely to see that level in practice. I had few complaints about the OnePlus 12 display, though I didn't always love the curved edge, and that’s perhaps the biggest adjustment the OnePlus 13 makes. It also introduces a higher 2160Hz PWM dimming, though I’m not sensitive to this and haven’t noticed the difference. While gaming, watching HDR movies, or playing back HDR videos recorded on the OnePlus 13’s cameras, the display is simply gorgeous, with vibrant colors and deep contrast. Some others may have even faster refresh rates, like the 185Hz of the Asus ROG Phone 9, but haven’t seen any other phone displays that stood out as anything other than marginally better. Phone displays are probably about at their peak, and the OnePlus 13 is riding that peak.
OnePlus also tucked an upgrade underneath the display glass with its upgrade to an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Compared to the optical scanner in the prior model, this proved very quick to register my fingerprint and did a better job if my fingers were damp or chalked and freshly abused from time on a rock climbing wall. There’s also quite snappy facial recognition available.
The display pairs with impactful speakers. These pumped out considerable volume for a phone – loud enough to listen to a podcast while taking a shower. One speaker fires out the bottom of the phone while the other is in a slit in the earpiece, with a couple small ports along the top edge. These provide effective stereo sound that helps bring games and movies to life that little bit more compared to mono speakers. The sound is crisp and rich for music, though there’s little improvement year-over-year from the OnePlus 12.
While Google and Apple have introduced satellite connectivity for emergencies on their latest phones, OnePlus misses out on that feature. Instead, it offers a feature called BeaconLink, which doesn’t get to beam into space but can make a direct Bluetooth connection to other phones within roughly 650 feet when a cellular connection isn’t available. Unfortunately, it won’t work with just any other phone – it’ll likely need to be calling another supported OnePlus or Oppo phone, and good luck finding one of those in the US.
For wireless connectivity, you’ll find a dual SIM tray as well as support for eSIM, giving you plenty of ways to connect to mobile networks. The OnePlus 13 also supports Wi-Fi 7 with the 6GHz band, giving it extremely fast Wi-Fi as well.
Software
Despite Android 15’s relative newness — even the Pixel 9 lineup didn’t launch with it — the OnePlus 13 comes with this new OS running out of the box. It gets a fairly clean setup, with plenty of customization options to tailor the look and feel to your liking. Though OnePlus is still not keeping up with Samsung or Google in terms of long-term support, the company has promised four years of software updates and six years of security updates, which is respectable.
Gaming and Performance
2024 saw a big shakeup in the performance paradigm between Android phones and iPhones, with more than a few Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 devices catching up to the latest iPhones in graphics performance. That’s shifting even further with the OnePlus 13 and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip inside, which offers simply incredible performance.
Everyday operation is trivial on the OnePlus 13, as it easily keeps up. Even when I enabled the battery saver mode it continued to run smoothly, with the only noticeable difference being that it limits its display refresh rate to conserve power.
Running Geekbench 6, I saw a stunning 3,075.5-point average for single-core performance and 9,383 points for multi-core performance. To put that in perspective, that’s just 8.87% shy of the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s single-core score while zipping past its multi-core score by 13.98%. And the OnePlus 13 takes the graphics torch and carries it even further ahead in 3DMark, where it scores 6,722 points in Wildlife Extreme (62.2% ahead of the iPhone), 2,536 in Steel Nomad Light (43.8% ahead of the iPhone), and 11,724 points in Solar Bay (63.8% ahead of the iPhone). These are staggering levels of performance for a smartphone, and the OnePlus 13 isn’t even a gaming-specific device. Across the board, it offers an almost 50% uptick in performance over the OnePlus 12 for a gobsmacking single-generation leap.
It almost goes without saying, but that performance translates well to real-world gaming. Playing Wuthering Waves for an hour with maxed out setting, the OnePlus 13 held up a steady 60fps while seeing internal temps peak at a reasonable 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit (with a heat-insulating case on, no less), which is nowhere near as hot as the OnePlus 13 and its competitors can get running benchmarks.
Heat can be a problem, though, but only when it’s running all-out. Running 3DMark’s Steel Nomad Light Stress Test, which repeats the benchmark 20 times in a row, the OnePlus 13 saw performance drop by 34% as internal temps rose from 86 to 113 degrees Fahrenheit over the course of the test. But even when it’s hot and throttled, it has enough of a performance advantage that it can still rival other devices. Its lowest score in that 20-run stress test was 1,662 points, which is only 5.8% below the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s single-run average in my testing.
Even with all that power, the OnePlus 13 isn’t the most powerful smartphone to land, but it’s still doing a mighty fine job. It puts on a strong showing against even the $999 Asus ROG Phone 9, beating it in most tests in terms of single-run performance, but stress tests are where the advanced cooling of the ROG Phone 9 help it pull ahead. Given the performance leads the OnePlus 13 is able to land, I wouldn’t be surprised if it could show better sustained numbers if it throttled its own performance down to a lower level right from the start. Still, neither ROG Phone 9 or the OnePlus 13 can keep up with the actively cooled gaming beast that is the $650 RedMagic 10 Pro. The fact that the OnePlus 13 even comes close to a gaming-focused device, though, is a testament to its might.
It may lag behind the leaders in sprints, but the OnePlus 13 is a solid marathon runner. It never once struggled to make it through a full day, even if I squeezed in a handful of benchmarks and enabled the always-on display. With modest use, two full days of operation are well within reason. That’s in part thanks to the 6,000mAh battery, which is quite a bit of juice for a phone that’s actually thinner than its predecessor. Even if the battery gets low, there’s support for 80-watt wired charging and 50-watt wireless charging, providing very speedy options for getting back to 100%. For comparison, the iPhone 16 Pro Max tops out at around 30 watts.
Cameras
While I’m used to seeing phones with great gaming performance make sacrifices in the camera department, the OnePlus 13 isn’t one of those. It aims to provide photographic quality that can rival even Samsung, Google, and Apple, and it certainly comes close. Here are the stats on the cameras the OnePlus 13 packs:
50MP Wide, f/1.6, 1.12-micron (binned to 2.25-micron), 1/1.4”, OIS, Laser AF
The camera system is nearly seamless as you transition between them. Punching in from the ultra-wide through the main to the telephoto, the cameras provide a consistent look and feel that’s wonderful to see. With all three sensors offering a 50MP resolution, there’s no major drop in sharpness when switching between them either. And the system is powered by laser autofocus for quick and snappy focusing, albeit with better results on closer subjects.
I’m a big fan of the colors on the OnePlus 13’s images. There’s ample vibrancy in photos without leaning into an oversaturated look. In other words, pictures pop but don’t look artificial. The main sensor captures simply beautiful, richly detailed shots with strong low-light performance thanks to a wide f/1.6 aperture and large pixels. The ultra-wide sees only a minimal falloff in quality that’s largely the fault of its lower light-gathering capabilities, but it looks much closer in quality to the main sensor in broad daylight.
The telephoto sensor is quite powerful. It zooms in effectively, and though it can appear a little bit soft, it does so while avoiding the artifact-laden looks of an over-sharpened image. It also better preserves contrast and texture for a more natural look. The result may not be the most precise images when zoomed far in, but the photos end up looking half decent. Next to even the Pixel 9 Pro’s zoom at 10x, I preferred the feel of the OnePlus 13. If you’re looking to glean information from a distant zoom, the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro are more accurate, though. While the OnePlus 13 allows for 30x and even 100x digital zoom levels, these are practically useless as the autofocus struggles and the visuals in the viewfinder make it hard to anticipate the final product, plus OnePlus applies some very unusual enhancement at these levels that basically ruins the image.
The selfie camera rounds out the bunch quite well. It’s similarly vibrant, capturing lifelike colors with excellent detail. Whether it’s the fuzz of my hat or the scruff of my beard, it’s presented well. There’s a bit of softness noticeable when zooming way into the photos the selfie camera captures, but with the large pictures coming from the 32MP sensor, there’s little reason to actually zoom in that far.
Video is also fairly impressive on the OnePlus 13. I recorded a bit of 4K/60 Dolby Vision footage strolling around at night, and while it struggled with darker areas, the video looked stunning for brighter subjects, like a Christmas tree. Even at that high recording setting, the camera continued to work with stabilization, allowing me to capture very smooth panning and tracking shots. Slow-mo options are available, but only at 1080p/240 or 720p/480, leaving no option for the sort of slowed-down 4K visuals the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers.
Netmarble has released a new gameplay trailer for Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, the upcoming action-adventure RPG for iOS, Android, and Windows PC (via Windows Launcher). A closed beta test will also be happening from January 16-22 in the U.S., Canada, and select parts of Europe. Watch the new gameplay trailer above.
Announced at The Game Awards last month, Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is a class-based game where you can play as a longsword-wielding Knight, the Sellsword that takes inspiration from the Wildlings and Dothraki and promises "raw, aggressive, and destructive" combat, or the Faceless Man-inspired, dual-dagger-wielding Assassin. Gameplay will have "fully manual" controls – no doubt a nod to Kingsroad's mobile game roots.
Story-wise, Netmarble describes the setup for Kingsroad as follows: "Players will experience a brand-new story as they take on the role of a new character, who, through a quirk of fate, becomes the heir to House Tyre, a small noble house in the North."
Finally, Netmarble says, "Players can sign up for the Regional Closed Beta now through January 12 on the official game website to play the game on Android devices and through Windows launcher on PC." The full game release will occur later this year.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
Woot! (owned by Amazon) is kicking off 2025 with the best price we've seen for a new, warrantied Logitech G29 Driving Force Racing Wheel and Pedal Set for PS5, PS4, and PC. Right now, you can get it for only $169.99, a savings of 43%. Amazon Prime members get free shipping, everyone else pays $6. Note that you'll be receiving a brand new, unused unit, most likely in retail packaging, with the full two-year Logitech warranty.
Logitech G29 Driving Force Racing Wheel and Pedal Set
The G29 was already one of the best racing wheels under $300, and definitely the best under $200. It works with both the PlayStation 5 and PC, which means most people will probably use this for Gran Turismo 7 on PS5 and Forza Horizon 5 for PC. Standout features include a gorgeous hand-stitched leather racing wheel with 900 degrees of rotation, sturdy metal base, durable steel ball bearings in the shaft, gear-driven dual-force motor feedback, stainless shifter and pressure sensitive pedals. The force feedback does an excellent job of simulating providing force and resistance and certain adds to the immersion; if you want something better than this, you'd have to shell out a lot more money for a direct-drive or belt-driven wheel, like Logitech's own $1,000 G Pro direct-drive racing wheel we reviewed.
The G29 is actually a bit nicer than the Xbox's G920 variant. The G29 has LED shift lights located on the top of the wheel's spokes. These LEDs light up progressively as the car's RPMs rise in-game. The G29 also has a rotary knob on the wheel that can be customized to different functions, like traction control, brake bias, or split differential.
If you're a big fan of racing games like Gran Turismo or Forza Horizon 5 and you've been using a DualSense controller or gamepad this entire time, then this price drop might be the excuse for you to step up your immersion to the next level. For more discounts on games and other PS5 peripherals, check out the best PS5 deals going on today.
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.
This year’s first IGN First “cover story” belongs to Monster Hunter Wilds, and we’re kicking off our exclusive coverage with two brand new videos featuring gameplay of Ajarakan and Rompopolo on the Oilwell Basin map. We visited Capcom’s offices in Japan, where we played the first five hours or so of Monster Hunter Wilds, and exclusively faced a few Oilwell Basin local monsters. Look out for more gameplay throughout January, along with in-depth interviews, fun details, and a final preview for Monster Hunter Wilds.
Check out the videos featuring the fierce Fanged Wyvern, Ajarakan, the abhorrent Brute Wyvern, Rompopolo, and a variety of weapons in the Rompopolo video at the top of this page and in the Ajarakan video below.
This is also our first good, extended look of the Oilwell Basin locale, where “oil wells up from the ground and accumulates in deep pools of oilsilt,” as the name implies. In the new gameplay, you can see the Oilwell Basin transition between its three “weather” cycles: the barren Fallow, the burning inclemency, the Firespring; and the peaceful Plenty. Can you tell which is which?
During our visit, the Monster Hunter developers revealed that some of the Oilwell Basin was inspired by the deep sea, which you can see more apparently in the exclusive new image of one of the caves in the depths of the Oilwell Basin below.
We also learned the mucky Oilsilt isn’t all bad news for us hunters–you can ignite Oilsilt Spouts with Torch Pods to cause explosions. Keep an eye out for Chillmantle Bugs, too, to offset the effects of the scorching heat during the Firespring, and to counter some monsters that are just too hot to handle, too.
Monster Hunter Wilds is set to be released on February 28, 2025 globally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and will feature cross-platform multiplayer at launch. Don’t miss our first hands-on preview, and keep it locked here for the month of January for even more Monster Hunter Wilds!
Casey DeFreitas is deputy guides editor at IGN and has been hunting monsters since the PS2 era. Catch her on X @ShinyCaseyD.
Walmart (via Antonline) is currently offering the Lenovo LOQ 16" RTX 4070 gaming laptop for only $899.99. This is an excellent price for a gaming laptop equipped with an RTX 4070 GPU with 115W TGP (which means the GPU isn't throttled in any way). The LOQ is Lenovo's lineup of budget-oriented gaming laptops. Despite the lower cost compared to the Lenovo Legion, the LOQ is equipped with great internal components and boasts excellent gaming performance.
Lenovo LOQ 15" RTX 4070 Gaming Laptop
This Lenovo LOQ model features a 15" 1080p display, a low-voltage AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS CPU, GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The RTX 4070 has a maximum TGP rating of 115W (140W with dynamic boost), which is quite impressive for such an affordable gaming laptop. That is the maximum amount of power alotted to the RTX 4070 mobile, so expect this laptop to perform equal to or better than other RTX 4070 laptops that cost hundreds more. Since the display has a 1080p resolution, you should be able to run even the newest games smoothly.
This laptop is sold by Antonline through Walmart's marketplace. Antonline is an established, reputable company and an authorized Lenovo reseller, which means your one-year manufacturer's warranty will be valid.
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.
AMD just teased the Radeon RX 9070 yesterday at CES 2025 with very little in the way of specs or even a release date. However, because Team Red was demoing the Radeon RX 9070 at its booth with Call of Duty Black Ops 6 – which has a built-in Benchmark tool – I was able to get a quick peek how this next-gen GPU performs.
All told, at 4K Extreme settings without upscaling or frame generation, the Radeon RX 9070 was capable of an impressive 99fps average, even if it had the same visual bug as the Intel Arc B580 when I benchmarked it. Now, to be clear, this graphics card is running on very early alpha drivers, and that bug will more than likely be resolved by the time the card comes to market. But even on those early drivers, a solid 99fps is incredibly impressive.
Because I ran the benchmark without upscaling, rather than the vendor appropriate upscaling method that I use when I usually benchmark this game for graphics card reviews, I don't have a direct comparison I can make. However, even with DLSS on the 'Quality' setting, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super gets around 129fps on the same graphics preset at 4K. Given that DLSS adds about a 30% performance jump at the Quality setting, that may place the Radeon RX 9070 on equal footing with the 4080 Super – though I'd need to test the 4080 Super without DLSS to know for sure.
Some of the amazing performance of this benchmark is likely due to the CPU as well – the rig was running on an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D, a high-end gaming CPU that was also announced yesterday. But if this is the level of performance we can expect when the Radeon RX 9070 launches later this year, it's going to be an awesome card for anyone looking for a mid-range solution.
The benchmark also gives a bit of insight to the specs of the graphics card, though it is limited. The Radeon RX 9070 has 16GB of VRAM, though we still don't know how many graphics cores or at what clock speed the card is running at.
This is just one test, though, and I won't have a clear picture of how this graphics card will perform across a variety of games until I get it in the lab to put it through the full testing suite. But the sneak peek is definitely exciting.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
One of the best premium phone controllers is on sale today at Best Buy. Right now you can get a Backbone One USB Type-C mobile gaming controller, compatible with Android and iPhone 16 smartphones, for only $49.99 after a savings of 50%. This is the lowest price we've seen for a Backbone controller and as a bonus, if you play Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, you'll appreciate the 30-minute 2XP token that's included. This is the black color variant with Xbox style buttons.
50% Off the Backbone One Controller (USB-C)
The Backbone One turns your iPhone into a gaming handheld with an integrated gamepad much like the ones found on the Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, or ASUS ROG Ally. You simply snap your phone into the controller and you're ready to go. Instead of using your phone's touchscreen, you can now use actual physical controls which includes dual joysticks, a D-pad, and programmable buttons. It makes for a more intuitive, more precise, and more enjoyable gaming experience.
In our Backbone One review, Matthew Adler wrote that "the Backbone One’s unique expanding controller connects directly to your iPhone for a low-latency gaming experience that feels great to use. Despite some lackluster buttons on the controller itself, it manages to create a seamless experience that blurs the lines between console and mobile gaming by producing a true “home screen” experience in the Backbone app. The tight integration between hardware and software makes it feel like a real platform, and one that will only continue to evolve through updates as time goes on."
The Backbone One is compatible with hundreds games (including Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, of course) from Apple Arcade, Xbox Cloud, PlayStation Remote Play, and Steam Remote Play, as well as any mobile game that already supports other standalone controllers. Not every game is compatible, however, so if you have a particular game that you play religiously, you'll want to confirm that it's supported before you jump on this deal.
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.
In a rather unusual merging of two completely separate reported stories from last year, the former staff of Annapurna Interactive are seemingly preparing to take over the portfolio of shuttered indie label Private Division. At least some of the remaining Private Division employees are expected to be laid off in the process.
The portfolio includes both current and upcoming Private Division titles, such as Tales of the Shire, which releases March 25. It also includes Project Bloom, a AAA action-adventure game developed by Game Freak that was announced back in 2023 with nothing more than a concept art teaser.
As Bloomberg reports, Haveli's purchase of Private Division included not just the portfolio, but 20 employees who remained with the label following Take-Two-implemented layoffs last spring. Remaining employees have reportedly been told to explore other employment options, with the expectation that at least some of them will be laid off as part of the deal with the unnamed new publisher.
Private Division was formerly Take-Two's publishing label, which the company founded back in 2017. It was intended to support independent games that were smaller than the fare typically supported by the Grand Theft Auto publisher. Over the years, Private Division produced titles such as The Outer Worlds, OlliOlli World, and Kerbal Space Program 2, but game sales repeatedly fell short of Take-Two expectations. Early last year, we reported that Take-Two was slowly shuttering operations at Private Division, first by winding down operations at its supported studios and then by selling off the label.
The new owners of Private Division's portfolio are a group of former employees of Annapurna Interactive that collectively resigned last year following a leadership dispute at Annapurna. We reported last fall on the messy circumstances, which left Annapurna seeking to restaff an entire publishing team to cover its numerous obligations and roughly 25 individuals seeking new employment.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Sony has debuted conceptual technology at CES 2025 that would essentially allow gamers to enter the worlds of PlayStation games such as The Last of Us and see, shoot, and even smell the baddies.
Footage of the Future Immersive Entertainment Concept was shared in the video below, and shows a giant cube players enter similar to the multi-person virtual reality experiences currently available. This isn't VR, however, as the cube is instead made of incredibly high definition screens that present the game world around the player.
Looking to boost the immersion further, players are also delivered "engaging audio" and even "scent and atmospherics with interactive PlayStation game content." The players in the video also had imitation weapons and would shoot at the screens as clickers appeared, presumably getting a whiff of rotten fungus and other offenses as they did so.
The demo was made using gameplay pulled from The Last of Us but obviously adapted to work for the Future Immersive Entertainment Concept, so unfortunately for fans is not a further look into the beloved world.
Even if it was, of course, this technology is still years away and presumably incredibly expensive, so there are myriad limitations to actually getting it into the public's hands (or getting the public into it). Sony may showcase it with other franchises in the future too, such as God of War, Horizon, and so on.
A couple years ago, LEGO released Lord of the Rings Rivendell – a 6,000-piece tribute to Peter Jackson's vision of Middle-Earth and the J.R.R. Tolkien-written books that inspired it. You can check it out on Amazon. I reviewed the set for IGN and interviewed the designer in a follow-up feature. It is one of the best, most detail-oriented builds of the past five years.
In 2024, LEGO released another massive Lord of the Rings set, this time of Barad-dûr, the massive tower in Mordor that's topped with the Eye of Sauron. Similar to Rivendell, it is laden with numerous, movie-accurate details.
But aside from these two sets and a handful of Brickheadz models, there are no other Lord of the Rings sets on sale. This wasn't always the case. LEGO and Lord of the Rings first partnered in June 2012, and between June 2012 and October 2014, LEGO released numerous sets that celebrated both the original Lord of the Rings film trilogy and the subsequent Hobbit trilogy. The last of these went out of print in July 2015; the only way to obtain them now would be to go on the expensive secondary market.
Here is a showcase of the major LEGO Lord of the Rings sets over the past decade plus: what was released and subsequently retired; what is currently on sale; and what we might expect to see in the future.
Attack on Weathertop (Retired)
This set captured the moment when Aragorn defended Frodo and the Hobbits from the Ringwraiths. It included the key details, such as the spiral stone staircase that led to the top of the watchpoint, as well as the black horses that the Ringwraiths rode as they searched the realm for the One True Ring. This was part of the first wave of LEGO Lord of the Rings sets in June 2012, along with the second entry on this list.
The Mines of Moria (Retired)
This Mines of Moria sequence is one of the coolest parts of the Lord of the Ring movies. The set based on it included a massive cave troll and several freestanding elements to represent Balin's Tomb. The LEGO designers rigged the tomb to fall apart at the press of a lever, and you could also recreate the scene where Pippin knocked the skeleton into the well (via a trap door), thereby alerting everyone to the Fellowship's presence.
The Orc Forge (Retired)
A small but richly detailed build, the Orc Forge was a blacksmith forge with fanciful elements, with a chain lift and bucket to transport ore, and a chute that fed into a cauldron to melt the ore down. It also included an anvil and a light brick to make the fire glow.
The Battle of Helm’s Deep (Retired)
Based on the climactic siege that concluded The Two Towers, this was a massive castle set. It had the Horn of Helm Hammerhand at the top of its tallest tower, and its signature, curved outer wall, including a breakaway portion so you could recreate the moment when the orcs breached the defenses.
An Unexpected Gathering (Retired)
A charming build of Bilbo's home, An Unexpected Gathering included Gandalf, Bilbo, and 4 of the 12 dwarves who imposed themselves on his hospitality. Green was the predominant color of the set's exterior, which gave it the fertile, bountiful atmosphere that we associate with the Shire.
Battle at the Black Gate (Retired)
Obviously, the Battle of Black Gate, which was the climax to the entire LOTR trilogy, was much grander than what could be accomplished with 656 LEGO pieces. This is the exact sort of build that would most benefit from a modern reimagining. Can you picture what the LEGO designers could do with 3000 or even 4000 pieces? Still, there was lots to appreciate about this set, especially the Mouth of Sauron Minifigure, the Great Eagle, and the angular severity of the Gate itself.
Tower of Orthanc (Retired)
This model of Saruman's massive tower was two-and-a-half feet tall, and it was as imposing as the LEGO designers had hoped. But as intimidating as the exterior was, the interior was equally impressive and included a throne room (where Gandalf and Saruman had their wizard duel), a dungeon, a library, and an alchemy room. It also comes with a massive Ent and a Great Eagle, so that Gandalf can hitch a ride off the roof.
The Lonely Mountain (Retired)
This was Bilbo's big moment, when he discovered the entrance to the Lonely Mountain on Durin's Day. And this set includes the secret door, Smaug's lair, the mountain of gold, and a number of play mechanisms the dwarves' battle with Smaug, when they try to submerge him in liquid gold. This set was part of the last wave of Lord of the Rings sets from 2012-2014. We wouldn't get another set in the series until January 2023.
Gandalf the Grey & Balrog (Current)
In January 2023, LEGO released several LOTR-themed pairings as part of their collectible Blockheadz line. There are four different sets available for purchase, each for $20: Gandalf the Grey & Balrog, Aragorn & Arwen, and Frodo & Gollum.
Lord of the Rings Rivendell (Current)
And that brings us to the present day. On sale now exclusively at the LEGO Store, Rivendell sets a bar for the level of delicate detail that can exist in a single set. It is beautiful, but it is fragile, with some elements hanging on by single connections. Other details, like the leaves on the trees and the patterning of the roofs, create a cumulative intricacy. And many more details are enclosed, meant to be cast in shadow by the exterior elements. This is a set that you admire with your eyes and not with your hands, and is one of our picks for the best LEGO sets for adults.
Lord of the Rings Barad-dûr (Current)
We built this at launch. The most recently released set on this list, the LEGO rendition of Barad-dûr is nearly three feet tall and covered with menacing, black spikes. The interior includes a dungeon, Saruman's throne room, and a armory for the orcs and goblins to gird themselves for battle. On top is the glowing Eye of Sauron, which is backlit with a red light brick.
How Many LEGO Lord of the Rings Sets are There?
According to the official LEGO Store, there are six Lord of the Rings sets available for purchase as of January 2025. But based on the past two years, one can assume that more massive sets, on the scale of Rivenedell and Barad-dûr, will be on their own way – likely at the current rate of one massive setpiece per year.
So what's next? There is nothing officially confirmed. But the most reliable rumors are that the next Lord of the Rings set will be Bag's End – the Hobbit dwelling of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins – and it will be composed of 2017 pieces. Expect a launch in April 2025.
Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon Netflix franchise is getting a virtual reality game adaptation at Sandbox VR locations around the world.
Rebel Moon: The Descent is not an adaptation of Snyder's films but an expansion of the universe, which so far amounts to two critically panned films released on Netflix. "The Rebel Moon experience allows you to enter the thrilling sci-fi franchise that’s taken the world by storm," Sandbox VR said on its website.
Sandbox VR offers virtual reality experiences where multiple players can enter a space and play through games together with motion tracking and imitation guns and such.
"Explore the world of Daggus and descend through towering skyscrapers, gritty urban streets, and a subterranean mine as you battle against enemy soldiers, spacecraft, and more," reads the synopsis. "Choose which Rebel Fighter best represents your style, equip yourself with futuristic weaponry, and face off against the tyrannical Motherworld."
Momentum ceased somewhat upon the release of Rebel Moon Part 1: A Child of Fire, however, when it earned poor reviews including a 4/10 from IGN. "Zack Snyder's space opera is let down by a derivative patchwork script, mediocre action sequences and a superficial story," we said.
Its sequel received the same rating. "The second part of Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon space opera, The Scargiver, delivers a half-baked conclusion to a well-trodden story with flimsy character studies and lacklustre action."
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
If you’re looking to bulk up your 4K UHD Blu-ray collection, here’s a deal for you. Amazon is running a sale on a ton of awesome 4K UHD Blu-ray movies that gets you three for $33. I’m no mathematician, but my calculator says that works out to $11 a pop, which is basically a Black Friday-level discount.
Among the movies that qualify for the sale are new ones like Dune: Part Two, Twisters, Oppenheimer, and The Wild Robot. But don’t worry if you’re more of a classics person, because a mountain of stone-cold classics also qualify. We’re talking movies like Goodfellas, Scott Pilgrim, The Thing, North By Northwest, Mad Max: Fury Road, Jaws, Jurassic Park, and on and on. This is a terrific sale, so feel free to peruse the full sale here, or grab a few of our picks above.
In other deal news, you can preorder a gorgeous Metaphor: ReFantazio official strategy guide, on sale at Amazon. PC gamers looking to upgrade their rig can now order the brand-new AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, in stock now. And if you want discounts on console games, Best Buy is running a massive Ubisoft sale that drops prices on games like Star Wars: Outlaws, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and more.
Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Bluesky @chrislreed.com.
The Lenovo Legion Go was already one of the best handheld gaming PCs since it came out in 2023, but at CES Lenovo has unveiled two more handhelds at CES 2025, a lightweight Legion Go S, and a prototype of the much-awaited Lenovo Legion Go 2. It's available to preorder now at Best Buy.
The most noticable difference between the Legion Go S and the plain-old Legion Go is that this new, lighter model doesn't have the removable controllers of the original. Instead, the Legion Go S has a form factor that's more reminiscient of the Asus ROG Ally X or Steam Deck. Luckily, though, the new handheld retains the handy little trackpad beneath the face buttons that makes navigating Windows 11 much easier.
While everything would seem to point to the Lenovo Legion Go S being less powerful than the original handheld, Lenovo has actually improved some of the specs on offer. The Legion Go S will have up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory, along with an improved 55.5WHr battery, which should lead to slightly longer battery life. The Legion Go S is also available with either an AMD Ryzen Z2 Go or Z1 Extreme processor.
If you'd rather avoid using Windows 11 altogether, though, you're in luck, as Lenovo is launching a version of the Legion Go S that'll be running SteamOS as well, making for the first non-Valve handheld to use the custom Linux operating system. That does mean the Lenovo Legion Go S running on SteamOS would be subject to the same restrictions as the Valve handheld, namely only being able to run games through Steam unless you bypass the installed operating system.
If you want to get your hands on the Lenovo Legion Go S, the Windows 11 version with an Z2 Go and 32GB of RAM will launch in January 2025, starting at $729. However, a more affordable version is launching in May 2025, with the same Z2 Go chip, but with 16GB of RAM and your choice of Windows 11 or SteamOS for $599.
Stay Tuned for the Sequel
While the Lenovo Legion Go S is coming out in the next few months, Lenovo also gave a quick glimpse of the Lenovo Legion Go 2, powered by the recently announced AMD Z2 Extreme SoC (System on a Chip). While the Legion Go sequel is still in its prototype phase, Lenovo has teased a number of improvements that should make it a much more comfortable device to use over long gaming sessions.
Namely, while the device looks to be about the same size as the original Legion Go, Lenovo has rounded the edges of the detachable controllers, which should make them more comfortable to hold over long gaming sessions. When I reviewed the original Legion Go, I found that the biggest issue with the thing was how my hands felt after holding the hulking device for an hour or two, and hopefully these rounded edges alleviate that.
The internals are also seeing an improvement, though I'd expect this is the thing that's most likely to change from its prototype version. It of course features a next-gen AMD Z2 Extreme processor, but the memory has also been beefed up to 32GB of LPDDR5X, clocked at 7,500MHz. That's twice the memory as the original Legion Go, but clocked at the same speed. Lenovo is also beefing up the battery, including a 74WHr battery, up from the 49WHr of the original device.
Only time will tell how much of a performance bump this next-generation handheld will actually provide, but at least with a 50% increase to battery capacity, it should last more than an hour before dying. I'll just have to wait and see how it performs in the lab when (and if) it actually comes out.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
The folks at Future Press have crafted another (presumably gorgeous) strategy guide for gamers, this time for IGN's Game of the Year 2024, Metaphor: ReFantazio. The hardcover Metaphor: ReFantazio Official Strategy Guide (see here at Amazon) is set to release on February 28 this year with a price tag of $49.49 at Amazon, a nice little 10% discount from its $54.99 list price. Preorders are officially live, so give it a look at the link below.
Preorder Metaphor: ReFantazio Official Strategy Guide
Featuring 592 pages, the Metaphor: ReFantazio strategy guide comes complete with a walkthrough and full breakdowns of enemies, items, skills, and conversations so you can master the entire game. It even comes with a bonus poster that's a full map of the world of Euchronia, which is perfect for plotting your playthrough.
As mentioned earlier, Metaphor: ReFantazio was IGN's pick for 2024 Game of the Year, if you've yet to play it and are interested. In our Metaphor: ReFantazio review, IGN's Michael Higham said "There’s a certain familiarity in Metaphor: ReFantazio, but Atlus takes the principles of its already excellent RPGs and refines them in a way that effortlessly ushers you through its brutal, and sometimes beautiful, new fantasy world."
Outside of preorders, there are some great gaming deals worth checking out right now, too. If you're looking to pick up some new games to start out the year, it's worth having a look at Best Buy. The retailer currently has a sale on Ubisoft games right now, so you can save on everything from Star Wars Outlaws to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown to Far Cry 6. In our Daily Deals roundup you can see even more gaming discounts, including deals on Space Marine 2 and Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Microsoft has announced wave one of its January 2025 Xbox Game Pass lineup.
First up, today, January 7, Road 96 (Cloud, Console, and PC) returns to Game Pass via Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard. “Road 96 is a crazy, beautiful road-trip,” reads the official blurb. “On this risky road trip to the border, you’ll meet incredible characters and discover their intertwined stories and secrets in an ever-evolving adventure. But every mile opens a choice to make. Your decisions will change your adventure, change the people you meet, and maybe even change the world.”
Tomorrow, January 8, Lightyear Frontier (Game Preview) (Xbox Series X|S) launches into Game Pass Standard. “Start your interstellar homestead in this peaceful open-world farming adventure! Build your sustainable exofarm, grow alien crops, customize your mech, and explore a new world full of mystery with up to three friends!”
Also on January 8, My Time at Sandrock (Console) is available on Game Pass Standard. “Just like My Time at Portia, My Time at Sandrock takes place in a wholesome post-apocalyptic world 300 years after the Day of Calamity destroyed most modern technologies. Gather resources to build machines, befriend locals, and defend Sandrock from monsters — all while saving the town from economic ruin!”
Sticking with January 8, Robin Hood – Sherwood Builders (Xbox Series X|S) hits Game Pass Standard. “Join Robin Hood and his unwavering band of outlaws in 12th-century England on their mission to free Nottingham. Travel across various regions, build up a secret hideout village and help the denizens of the surrounding lands. Complete quests, construct various builds, craft a broad range of items, and freely explore locations inspired by both myth and history in this open-world RPG with base-building features.”
Rounding out a packed January 8 is Rolling Hills (Console) on Game Pass Standard. “Serve sushi as a robot chef in Rolling Hills, a life sim about running your own restaurant in a cozy village. Make new friends, purchase ingredients, enhance your shop, and improve the lives of your neighbors as you perfect your craft!”
Moving on to January 14, Game Pass Ultimate subscribers get EA Sports UFC 5 (Cloud and Xbox Series X|S) via EA Play. “Unleash your fury and get unlimited access to EA Sports UFC 5, coming to Game Pass Ultimate via EA Play. Plus, members can score the Bruce Lee Bundle and play as alter egos of the father of mixed martial arts, available at no additional cost in the Perks section from January 14 to February 11.”
Here’s a big one: Blizzard action RPG classic Diablo (PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on January 14. “Return to the legendary town of Tristram in Diablo, the groundbreaking action-RPG that defined the genre, coming to Game Pass on January 14! With its satisfying progression, deep character customization, and intense battles, Diablo delivers an unforgettable journey through a dark gothic fantasy world.”
Xbox Game Pass Wave 1 January 2025 lineup:
Road 96 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – January 7 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
Lightyear Frontier (Game Preview) (Xbox Series X|S) – January 8 Now with Game Pass Standard
Rolling Hills (Console) – January 8 Now with Game Pass Standard
EA Sports UFC 5 (Cloud and Xbox Series X|S) EA Play – January 14 Game Pass Ultimate
Diablo (PC) – January 14 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
As always, a number of games leave Game Pass as new games arrive.
Leaving Xbox Game Pass on January 15:
Common’Hood (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Escape Academy (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Exoprimal (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Figment (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Insurgency Sandstorm (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Those Who Remain (Cloud, Console, and PC)
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.
Spider-Man and Deadpool have quite a colorful history together. Their alliance was the foundation of the ongoing Spider-Man/Deadpool series a few years ago, and Spidey tends to be one of the few heroes Wade Wilson looks up to (even if the feeling is anything but mutual). But that's Peter Parker. What happens when Deadpool crosses paths with Miles Morales instead? That's the premise behind Pools of Blood, a crossover linking writer Cody Ziglar's monthly Deadpool and Miles Morales: Spider-Man comics.
Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive look at interior art from the first two chapters of Pools of Blood, then read on to learn more about the crossover from Ziglar himself:
Unsurprisingly, this crossover has been in the works since it first became clear Ziglar would be writing both books in 2024. As he explains, the similarities between Miles and Wade's daughter Ellie (who replaced her father upon his death and now shares the Deadpool mantle with him), were too intriguing not to explore in more depth.
"I knew from the beginning that I wanted to expand Ellie’s role in Wade’s life and eventually have her meet Miles," Ziglar tells IGN. "They seemed like a fun 'opposite sides of the coin' dynamic with them both being Afro-Latino mantle holders. It’s why we had Agent Gao appear in a cameo in the first issue. I also thought it’d be fun to have Wade interact with Miles since they’ve only had a brief run-in before with Pete."
Ziglar promises a very different and more antagonistic dynamic between Wade and this younger Spider-Man. That's in part because Deadpool has reluctantly accepted a contract to kill Miles, a contract he hopes will help provide some much-needed capital in his ongoing feud with the villain Death Grip.
"I think entering into this, Wade is very much a fan of Pete’s Spider-Man - he respects him and dare I say looks up to him?" Ziglar says. "It’s partly why he has such reservations about taking the job to kill Miles’ Spider-Man. He’s really only in this position because he felt he had no other option if he wanted to get the funds and materials to take out Death Grip. However, it’s really Ellie who doesn’t sit right with this mission and it becomes the driving emotional force for this crossover."
This sudden conflict with the two Deadpools comes at a bad time for Miles, who is still reeling from the events of 2024's Blood Hunt crossover and the trauma of becoming a vampire. Expect the fallout of that crossover and other recent ordeals in Miles' life to directly fuel the conflict in Pools of Blood.
"Miles has really been through the wringer for the past few arcs and this is the first time in a while he’s felt a sense of normalcy and peace. Life is finally starting to get back to normal while also juggling bringing a new sibling (Shift) into the Morales family and also taking him under his wings as a fellow Spider-Man," Ziglar says. "The conflict in 'Pools of Blood' brings up some things for Miles like maybe every decisions he’s made post-Vampire wasn’t the most responsible move to make. And maybe just because he’s trying to do good doesn’t mean he’s necessary thought out how his actions would impact those around him."
The same goes for both Deadpools, as both father and daughter are still coming to terms with their respective deaths and the ongoing threat posed by Death Grip. For Wade, this job represents a distasteful but necessary opportunity to level the playing field.
"Wade and Ellie’s death is the main driving motivation behind Wade for this arc," Ziglar says. "Wade’s emotional journey for this run as been: 1) Thinking he’s doing right by Ellie by pushing her away and keeping her from his life, 2) Realizing that that wasn’t the best move and accepting Ellie into his life while wrestling with the fear that something could happen to her, and 3) having his biggest fear realized when he was killed by Death Grip. So for Wade this is an 'any means necessary' type of job where he knows he’s doing a bad thing but, in his mind, it’s worth it if he uses the money from the job to buy a weapon strong enough to take out the biggest threat in his life (Death Grip)."
Ziglar continues, "In terms of Ellie, she has some serious reservations about being hired to kill Spider-Man but she promised her dad that she’s ready to fully be a part of his life, warts and all. And part of being a professional super-mercenary is taking jobs where good people get hurt. Still, even with that in mind, Ellie much like Wade just wants to find a way to take out Death Grip but she’s a little more reasonable as far as talking things out goes."
Finally, with so much of the Marvel Universe being swept up in the upcoming One World Under Doom crossover, we were curious how Pools of Blood might inform the events of that crossover. Will we see the impact of Doom's rise to power felt in Deadpool and Miles Morales: Spider-Man? Ziglar is keeping coy on that subject, teasing only, "I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll say it’ll be felt."
Pools of Blood kicks off in Deadpool #11, which hits stores on February 12, and continues in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #30, which hits on February 19.
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