It's official: Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are taking legal action against Palworld's developer, Pocketpair.
The companies filed a lawsuit against the developer today, September 18, seeking "an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld, a game developed and released by the Defendant, infringes multiple patent rights."
We posted the News Release "Filing Lawsuit for Infringement of Patent Rights against Pocketpair, Inc."https://t.co/76ttENZXtv
"Nintendo will continue to take necessary actions against any infringement of its intellectual property rights including the Nintendo brand itself, to protect the intellectual properties it has worked hard to establish over the years," Nintendo's statement reads.
The filing is absolutely massive news and follows months of speculation that Nintendo would take legal action over the indie survival game that's been referred to as "Pokémon with guns." Nintendo previously released a statement about Palworld in January, vowing that intended "to investigate and take appropriate measures" against any potentially infringing content. A modder also claimed that "Nintendo has come for me" after posting a clip with Pokémon’s Ash Ketchum in Palworld.
But six months later, in June, Pocketpair insisted that Nintendo had yet to make a complaint in response to the "Pokémon rip-off" claims. "Nintendo and the Pokémon Company didn’t say anything to us," Pocketpair boss Takuro Mizobe told Game File at the time. "Of course I love Pokémon and respect it. I grew up with it, in my generation.”
Palworld launched in early access form in January 2024 on PC via Steam and on Xbox as a day-one Game Pass title and catapulted to tremendous overnight success, but also controversy. Pokémon fans were quick to call out the similarities in Palworld, although the indie developer insisted that Palworld is more akin to survival crafting games such as Ark Survival Evolved and Valheim than Pokémon. Pocketpair's community manager even said the team has received death threats over the backlash.
IGN has reached out to Pocketpair for comment.
In our early access review, we acknowledged that Palworld "may crib quite a bit from Pokémon’s homework, but deep survival mechanics and a hilarious attitude make it hard to put down."
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
AMC has canceled Orphan Black: Echoes after just one season.
The network has moved to cancel the Krysten Ritter-led sci-fi spinoff series following the conclusion of Season 1 on August 25, 2024 (via Deadline). It appears the show was unable to fill the shoes left behind by the original Orphan Black series, with Echoes sporting a less-than-favorable audience review score of 47% onRotten Tomatoes. Although critics found a bit more to enjoy in its story, the team behind the follow-up show will not be continuing its story with Season 2.
Orphan Black got its start in 2013 and starred Tatiana Maslany as a variety of different characters alongside actors Dylan Bruce, Kevin Hanchard, Maria Doyle Kennedy, and more. Its five-season story tackled the topic of clones, drawing in audiences until it concluded in 2017. Echoes sought to bring fresh faces like Ritter, Amanda Fix, and Keeley Hawes to the screen by pushing the plot into the near future. Setting it in 2052 gave viewers new storylines to follow while still keeping with some of the sights and sounds many had come to love the original show for.
Although Orphan Black: Echoes didn’t manage to draw the viewership needed to return for Season 2, we here at IGN enjoyed its first and only season. We gave its 10-episode run a 7/10 in our review, as we praised the performances from Ritter and her cast mates, Fix and Hawes. At the time, we said, “Some information is withheld for too long, but once the series hits its fourth episode, it gains momentum, and the second half of the season is much stronger.”
Echoes was created by Pieces of Her and Fear the Walking Dead alum Anna Fishko. Ritter also served as an executive producer. IGN revealed the show’s Season 1 June release date, along with its iconic pink poster, at IGN Fan Fest 2024 earlier this year. Its 10-episode run first arrived on AMC, AMC+, and BBC America.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
Playing Tiny Glade – the latest cozy game to offer us all an escape from the dumpster fire purgatory that is modern life – for the first time is like sitting down with some building blocks and falling into a hypnotic trance. One minute you’re just adding a tower and some windows to an old house, and suddenly you look up and you’ve spent two hours building a sprawling village with ponds and crooked paths, your screenshots folder is bursting with images of your little masterpiece at dusk and dawn, and your back hurts because you never did get a proper chair for your home office. Its biggest flaw is that, as the name implies, there just isn't enough of it.
To say I was “playing Tiny Glade” arguably isn’t even accurate. It’s more like I was playing with it. You could call it a building sim, but it’s more like a set of enchanted Lego bricks, or a much prettier Minecraft creative mode. You get a blank canvas of terrain and a small set of tools to build some houses, place water and plants, take photos, and… well, that’s it. So if building freely and setting your own goals are not enough to keep your attention, know that Tiny Glade is not going to throw any armies of orcs at your scenic battlements, and no one actually lives here.
It’s also a shallow pond rather than a deep ocean of content, but it does make the most of what it has. As someone who has built a million dysfunctional settlements for games, at first I cocked an eyebrow at the limited customization options on offer. Towers and buildings, plants, ponds, and paths didn't seem like enough to keep me busy, but as I experimented the limitations let my brain forget about building something specific because the tools take care of details thoughtfully and delightfully. Dragging a path right up to a building meant a door popped up on the front; Placing windows next to each other changed them from a simple pane to a wide bay window. Ducks arrived at the pond I had made and sheep wandered through the open areas and then, at night, the little lamps I had placed gave off a soft glow. It's almost meditative, seeing tiny changes in the environment affect your creation, safe in the knowledge there's no better or “best” way to do it, or anything you can put in place can't be taken away again with a quick click of the mouse. Doctors could probably prescribe it as part of anger management treatments - who can be mad when they're busy placing happy little trees?
That's the sweet spot for Tiny Glade: a small slice of flow state to pamper your brain and make the real world seem very far away.
Unfortunately, after a few building sessions, it felt like Tiny Glade had run out of surprises. The delightful procedurally generated details that were added as I built were feeling repetitive, and making a house blue or green or tall or small or built entirely over water – imagine the black mold – lost its charm. The same restrictions that allow everything to fit together so smoothly also mean that more creative types who want to experiment are going to have a very limited set of parameters to do that in. Building in different seasons, moving the clock forward to watch the lights come on in the windows, all of those tweaks can only maintain the thrill for so long. Covering a house all in lamps? Who cares, when you and your Steam screenshot folder are the only ones who will ever even notice, aside from the aforementioned sheep.
There is at least a theme of the day that offers the gentlest of suggestions, setting a vibe and starting you off with a small hamlet for you to adapt. However, you're not getting graded on your work, so after a while the novelty of direction erodes like bad masonry. That said, after a few days’ break I was back again, using it as the equivalent of a cerebral fidget toy in between cutting Tyranids in half. That's the sweet spot for Tiny Glade: a small slice of flow state to pamper your brain and make the real world seem very far away.
Of course, on the internet the rule for anything is “pics or it didn't happen,” and Tiny Glade has met that challenge with a peachy-keen screenshot mode. It even has a first-person mode so you can explore your creation on foot, and see just how wrong you got the angles on that particular bit of garden wall from the perspective of a flying ghostly architect. I can absolutely see a world where hardcore fans trade screenshots, gently compete to out-cute each other, but I'll be keeping my adorable creations to myself, thank you very much. Still, having a way to preserve and play in the little sets I created is a nice touch, and I hope other games steal the screenshot toolset immediately for its clever mix of control and simplicity.
Everything that's in Tiny Glade is a little spoonful of joy, from sheep to walled-in gardens to creating tall towers with a Rapunzel vibe, but it's a gaming snack. Go in expecting dozens of hours of gameplay and you'll burn through it after a few hours and call it a day. See it as an art package that you'll bring up when a creative mood strikes and you'll find a magical little toolset to get lost in. It may be small in stature, but Tiny Glade will live forever in my Steam library, ready to use its coziness to quell the darkness that lurks within my very soul.
The Bachelor and Bachelorette are some of the most followed reality TV shows every year. The concept of one person trying to find love among a sea of potential suitors has sparked many different spinoffs. One direct spinoff that garnered a lot of attention last year was The Golden Bachelor, which was essentially just The Bachelor for the older generation.
The success of that first season has naturally brought along its inevitable counterpart, The Golden Bachelorette. Season 1 will be following 61-year-old Joan Vassos as she searches for love.
When Can You Watch The Golden Bachelorette
The first episode of The Golden Bachelorette premieres today, September 18 at 8pm ET / PT on ABC. The first episode will be two hours long. All episodes will be available to stream on Hulu the day after they air live.
Where to Stream Live Online
If you have access to live TV channels, perhaps with the help of a TV antenna, you can simply tune in to ABC to watch the first episode live. If you're hoping to watch the series online, you can also watch it live at ABC.com. Having access to a live TV streaming service like Hulu + Live TV, Sling, or fuboTV will also allow you to tune in directly from those streaming services without the need for cable or an antenna.
How to Watch From Anywhere
If you are trying to watch The Golden Bachelorette from another country, you may find that you can't access the show from the usual places. If you're in the UK or Australia, it doesn't look like an official service available will have the episodes available. You can always make use of one of the best VPNs for streaming to access the series through usual streaming services. Our top pick for this is ExpressVPN, which we've tested and reviewed for Hulu.
Who Is Joan Vassos?
You may recognize Joan from her appearance on Gerry's season of The Golden Bachelor last year. She had to leave after the first few episodes to be with her daughter, who had just recently had a baby. Now she is coming back as the Golden Bachelorette and everyone is taking a closer look at the life she's lead so far.
Vassos was previously married for 32 years to her husband John, who passed away back in 2021 after battling cancer. She is a mother to four kids and grandmother to three grandchildren. At 61, Joan is still working as a private school administrator in Rockville, Maryland.
There's this idea that a gaming PC is inherently this giant tower of metal and plastic that takes up so much space that you need to have a dedicated desk to handle it. These days, though, you don't need a giant tower to get incredible gaming performance, instead the best mini PCs can take up as little space as a cable box.
There are inevitably some downsides when going with a mini gaming PC instead of a full tower, however. For one, the smaller form factor means there's simply less space for high-end graphics cards and CPU coolers. As such, you probably won't find many mini gaming PCs out there with an RTX 4090 and an Intel Core i9-14900K, at least not at a price that doesn't rival a down payment on your house.
Different PC manufacturers deal with the space constraints in different ways. For instance, Asus recently bought out the NUC (next unit of computing) brand from Intel – desktop PCs that use mobile hardware to fit into extremely small cases. Other companies, like Zotac, will find a way to shove powerful desktop-class hardware into a tiny chassis. They'll be inherently harder to service or upgrade than other towers, and also much more expensive, but hey, at least they're tiny.
When I first opened up the Asus ROG NUC, I was surprised by how small and light it was. Sure, it's using all mobile-class hardware, but for something I'm hooking into my TV, it has surprisingly little heft to it. Couple that with the fact it looks exactly like a cable box, and this is a mini gaming PC that's perfect for blending into a living room. This makes it perfect for a media center PC already, but the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 means it's no slouch when it comes to gaming. Up to a point at least.
The wall I kept running into again and again when I reviewed the Asus ROG NUC is that the mobile-class hardware is always a limiting factor, especially when it's connected to a 4K TV. Don't get me wrong, the ROG NUC absolutely can power through any PC game on the market, including demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong – at 1080p. If you connect this to a 4K TV, though, you will have to turn down some settings in some of the flashiest games if you want to maintain a solid framerate.
It is still quite a bit more powerful than the PS5, even with its limitations, however, and the Nvidia graphics do allow it to use DLSS to narrow the gap at 4K. Just keep in mind that you're not going to be maxing out Black Myth: Wukong with full ray tracing or anything, and you should be fine. To be clear, with how tiny the Asus ROG NUC is, there's no way a full desktop-class graphics card would even fit inside.
The Asus ROG NUC is probably one of the best mini gaming PCs you're going to find anywhere, but just like any mini gaming PC, you'll have to do some calculus about whether or not it's worth just going with one of the best gaming laptops instead.
2. MinisForum Venus Series UM773
Best Budget Mini PC for Gaming
If you're on the hunt for a wallet-friendly mini PC that doesn't skimp on performance, then the MINISFORUM Venus Series UM773 is worth considering. Despite its budget-friendly price tag, the UM773 packs a punch with an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, with dedicated AMD graphics. And, yeah, there isn't a discrete GPU, but the integrated AMD Radeon 680M GPU can rival some lower-end dedicated graphics cards, especially in esports titles.
Stepping into the next generation, the UM773 features 16GB of speedy DDR5 RAM and a generous 512GB SSD. You may need to consider an upgrade later down the line, but for now, it will definitely serve you well for the price.
The best part? All of this gaming goodness comes with a price tag of just $450. So, if you're looking to build a gaming setup on a budget without compromising on performance, the MINISFORUM Venus Series UM773 is definitely worth considering.
3. Zotac ZBox Magnus One
Best Mini PC with Desktop Graphics
The Zotac Magnus One doesn't look like much, but the tiny chassis is hiding a beefy RTX 3070 GPU. This graphics card is a powerhouse, delivering solid 1440p gaming performance that'll let you dive into most modern titles with ease. While the CPU is quite old, it’s still a solid performer that won't bottleneck the GPU, ensuring you get the best gaming experience possible. While the 16GB of RAM might seem a bit modest compared to some other mini PCs on the market, it's more than enough for gaming and general use.
In terms of pricing, the Zotac Magnus One is on the pricier side. You could arguably get a more powerful full-sized gaming PC for the same amount of money. However, if you're looking for a compact, space-saving solution without sacrificing gaming performance, the Magnus One is worth every penny. Its sleek design, impressive specs, and solid gaming performance make it one of the best mini PCs for gaming enthusiasts who value form factor and functionality.
4. Mac mini M2
Best Mini PC for Mac
You might not think of gaming when you think of the Mac mini M2, but it delivers surprisingly good performance, allowing you to play a wide range of games at a decent frame rate. And given its cost, it’s hard not to consider the Mac mini M2 as a capable gaming mini PC. With a noticeable performance increase over the M1 chip, the M2 chip comes with eight CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, supporting strong performance, whether you're playing games or getting work done.
Thanks to the plethora of ports, the Mac mini M2 supports up to two 4K displays at 120Hz, and because the M2 natively supports Thunderbolt, you can even back it up with an external GPU later down the line. It also comes with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, so if you plan to game online, you won’t be disappointed. Yes, for pure gaming performance, a Windows PC is a better option, but if you want a Mac and want to dabble with playing games here and there, it’s an affordable option. See our round up on the best monitors for Mac Mini when you're ready to pick a display to pair it with.
How to Pick The Best Mini PC for Gaming
Just like with any gaming PC, finding the best mini PC for gaming is all about what games you're looking to play, and at what resolution. Mini PCs are much smaller compared to desktop PCs, and even some laptops, and size constraints naturally limit the components included.
If you want to play the latest titles without any hiccups, you'll want to aim for a mini PC with a solid GPU. Look for models that come equipped with modern graphics like the NVIDIA RTX series or AMD Radeon cards, rather than integrated graphics. However, if you’re on a budget and you’re not fussed about playing games that have just been released, you could get away with something less powerful.
A good CPU is crucial for gaming performance and overall system responsiveness. Aim for mini PCs with mid-to-high-end CPUs, ideally with around 4 cores, 8 threads and a high clockspeed - around 4.0GHz or higher - just so your computer doesn't grind to a hault when you're trying to multitask. Similarly, you’ll need a decent amount of RAM (at least 16GB) and storage (at least 512GB SSD) to run and store your games smoothly.
Once you’ve nailed down the specs, make sure the mini PC has enough ports for your peripherals, as well as HDMI or DisplayPort outputs for connecting to external monitors or TVs. Thunderbolt ports are also a nice bonus if you plan on connecting high-speed external storage or other devices.
FAQ
Are Mini PCs Good for Gaming?
Mini PCs are capable enough of offering gamers decent performance in a small and compact package. However, due to their size, mini PCs will never be capable of achieving the same levels of performance as a full-sized desktop PC.
What is Better, Mini PC or PC?
Full-sized PCs tend to be more powerful, allow more room for upgrades, and often are more future-proof. However, mini PCs take up much less room, can still offer plenty of power, and can be upgraded.
What Are The Downsides to a Mini PC?
Because mini PCs are smaller, upgradability can sometimes be a problem. Depending on the CPU and GPU you want to run, you might not be able to fit it all into a mini PC. They are designed to be compact, meaning there’s less room overall.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
While it’s not yet known which villains will appear in The Batman 2 – save for the return of Colin Farrell’s Penguin, but more on that in a bit – the makeup designer who brought both Penguin and Barry Keoghan’s Joker to the big screen in The Batman shared his thoughts with IGN about how realistic versions of “weird” characters like Clayface or Two-Face could be brought to life within Matt Reeves’ Batman Epic Crime Saga.
While there have been several incarnations of Clayface (who IGN ranked 73rd on its list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains), the character’s clay-like, grotesque physical appearance and ability to shapeshift have largely remained consistent since the first Clayface, Basil Karlo, appeared in 1940. While such a fantastical ability and countenance may not seem to lend itself to the more grounded approach taken by The Batman and HBO’s The Penguin, Mike Marino, the artist who transformed Colin Farrell into the wholly different-looking Oz Cobb, has some ideas of how to do it citing natural occurring elements.
“Since I collect all this stuff, there are so many strange things that happen in nature,” Marino said. "There's so many people that have really weird things that happen to them, to their skin, to their appearance, and their faces swell and they're missing pieces of their face and all of these things that happen, which you would think, if you really saw, what a real dead body looked like, you wouldn't believe that it's real. You'd be like, that looks fake. That's wrong. But it's real.”
Marino added, “There's so many outstanding colors that come out of nature and strange textures and bubbles and all this crazy stuff that there's so much room to base a weird character like Clayface or Two-Face, and keep it super real and reference that's out there. It could be completely based in reality. So there's so many things to draw from. So I think that there's really an opportunity to do something new and unique for other characters.”
“I do believe as of now, Colin is in the next Batman [movie], so I think that we will be seeing Penguin in that. I can't guarantee you. Don't take my word for it. I would ask Matt Reeves, but I think there's room for other things,” Marino said. “That's a Matt question. I'm here for it. If he wants me to do that and to be involved, I'm game.”
Reeves, who directed The Batman and is co-writing and directing its 2026 sequel, confirmed to IGN that Farrell’s Penguin will indeed be back albeit as the version he evolves into in his HBO spin-off.
“He'll be entering into the film, and it's going to be another detective story. It's going to be another crime mystery,” Reeves said. “And (Penguin) is a piece of it, for sure, but there is more to it, which we can't reveal to you, of course, because then we would have to kill you.”
Oz’s self-consciousness about his place within society and the criminal underworld will still factor into his characterization in his future screen appearances. As Reeves put it, “I think the thing about Oz is that he's status conscious, even in the first movie. He wants to be revered. And then that was what was so beautiful about what Lauren [LeFranc, the showrunner of The Penguin] did in kind of letting you into the lens of that. When he talks to Alberto [Falcone] about Rex Calabrese, that's him at his most vulnerable. He's saying, ‘Yeah, I want people to look at me like I'm somebody.’ And he's never going to quite get what he wants, because nothing will fill that. He'll never feel like he's somebody. He'll always feel like he's this broken person. And so, that, of course, is going to continue as we move forward with his character.”
“I would say that the difference is that he's been able to claw at some of it. He has achieved some status, and we see people in real life who are like that, who somehow have taken on the cloak of being, I don't know, if not more respectable, at least getting the respect that comes with the fact that they've achieved some success. And you look at them, and you go, God, look at that person. And you realize that there's something about the drive that gets them there. It wasn't that they got there through some sort of quality of character, but it had to do with an obsessive need. And that need will continue, and it's going to play out in the next movie, for sure, as a component.”
But would an ambitious gangster like Oz Cobb ever ally himself with someone like Paul Dano’s Riddler, whom he referred to as as a “madman” in the trailer for The Penguin?
As producer Dylan Clark sees it, “I think (Oz’s) wants and needs [are] in that blind ambition way, to be revered. I think he does look at other characters like the Riddler, and he looks down on people like that. Those guys' needs are different. That's a psychological need and a compulsion. He just has to do this thing that he's not in charge of. And it starts because of the arrival of Batman.”
While it doesn’t seem like there will be a Batman ‘66-style villains team-up in the cards, Reeves explained that “if there were ever a way for them to team up, it would be for some completely mercenary reason. If he thought there was a way to, I would say, spin something. Oz is very aware of the spin. He's super smart. That's one of the things he does nicely that Lauren wrote so nicely. He's like going, this is what it looks like. And you're like, it actually isn't what it looks like, but you're saying it can be what it looks like. Got it. And he's very wily that way. So any kind of team up, which I'm not confirming at all, or any kind of use of that or those kind of crosses would come through that lens. Oz is going to remain Oz. Let's put it that way.”
On Tuesday, Electronic Arts (EA) held its annual Investor Day — a three-hour presentation intended for its investors to learn more about the company's direction and promises to make them money in the coming year. But you'd be forgiven if you thought this was some sort of AI tech conference given how effusively the technology was brought up and touted as a key component of EA's future.
While we've known for a while that EA and a number of other gaming companies are experimenting with and investing heavily in AI, it was nonetheless a bit overwhelming just how often AI came up throughout the entire presentation. It was mentioned it just about every single segment in some capacity, had its own dedicated segment near the end, and was described during CEO Andrew Wilson's introductory speech as "the very core of our business" — a rather shocking new mission statement for a company that ostensibly makes and publishes video games.
We watched the entirety of the three-hour Investor Day presentation, and did our best to round up all the AI "highlights" in an effort to paint a picture of what, exactly, EA is doing with AI and what we can expect to see in the coming years if its investments and interest in the tech pan out.
Core of the Business
The first mention of AI in the presentation took place right at the top, in Andrew Wilson's opening speech. In addition to referring to AI as "the very core of our business" and "not merely a buzzword," he announced that EA apparently has over 100 active "novel AI projects" in the works right now, ranging from the practical to the very experimental. Wilson divvied these up into three categories: efficiency, expansion, and transformation.
Wilson describes the "efficiency" projects as not just cost-saving, but related to doing things faster, cheaper, and at "higher quality." Specifically, he cites College Football 25, saying the developers could not have made the game's 150 different stadiums and over 11,000 player likenesses without AI.
Wilson elaborated by saying he believes AI can give developers "richer colors" to paint "more brilliant worlds" and make characters with "more depth and intelligence" while offering "more authenticity and deeper immersion" to the company's sports games. And for transformation, Wilson describes this as looking into the future and finding entirely new kinds of experiences that don't currently exist in games, especially around user-generated content.
Chief strategy officer Mihir Vaidya went into more depth about what the "transformation" element will mean for EA in a later section, but Wilson's opener made it clear that he's more than bullish on the technology.
AI Examples
In the talks that followed, a number of EA leads highlighted ways in which EA was already working with AI tech in its existing games. Laura Miele, president of EA entertainment, technology, and central development, talked about something called The Sims Hub, the first AI features coming to The Sims universe. EA plans to release a platform with "supercharged discovery tools" that use AI to allow players to find user-generated content more easily. She showed off an AI application that uses a photo search feature, allowing users to drop in photos of real life houses and then find user-generated houses that look similar to them. Miele also highlighted how the AI can be used for character creation, with users able to drop in an image of a celebrity or person in a certain outfit and then generate a Sim that matches up. Miele says The Sims Hub will be released "soon."
On the internal tech side, Miele talked about EA's asset library, which she described as "like the Smithsonian of game assets." Essentially, EA has a massive database of assets from all of its games and work behind the scenes over the years, and it's using it to train its machine learning capabilities and large language models. Those capabilities are then being used by the company's "SEED" innovation lab, aka "Search for Extraordinary Experiences Division", for things like EA's "Script to Scene" tool.
Script to Scene lets developers "create characters, direct performances, and define worlds all from text." Miele shows an example on screen, prompting an AI chat assistant to "build me a Parisian-style residential building." She then asks to make it taller, changes it to a modern high rise, and expands it into a larger neighborhood. With Script to Scene, Miele claims EA developers could eventually make an entire scene in a game using simple text prompts.
After Miele, president of EA Sports Cam Weber took the stage to talk about, well, EA Sports. He showed off the already announced FC IQ, which uses "tactical AI" and real-world data to more accurately simulate how players and teams play together in EA Sports FC 25. And he highlighted Wilson's prior statements about using AI in College Football 25, noting that the stadium creator AI tools in particular reduced creation time "by about 70%" and allowed developers to focus on building the "pageantry" and unique traditions of each school instead. "The investment in these tools and tech will benefit the rest of our portfolio in the months and years ahead," he said.
And finally, chief experience officer David Tinson briefly talked about an early prototype of a predictive simulation tool EA is working on. He claims the tool will combine EA game data, AI, and IQ ratings to allow users to run more accurate simulations and answer questions of which team would win in a match, who would have won in a hypothetical match, and which team is the best.
Cardboard boxes and AI soccer stars
If all that somehow wasn't enough AI chatter for you, chief strategy officer Mihir Vaidya took the stage next to talk about AI and nothing but. He opened by comparing the technology to the advent of makeup tutorial videos and cat videos, which he says people initially dismissed as trivial or niche, but now are ubiquitous and wildly popular. He says EA's experimental AI efforts should be viewed the same way as "early YouTube videos", and that while what he shows might feel rudimentary, it will naturally get better as AI improves.
Vaidya was specifically brought onstage to talk about the "transformation" portion of AI that Wilson mentioned earlier. He says the experiences he shows onstage are "not intended to replace AAA games, but instead unlock new and adjacent categories that add as opposed to take away from the existing gaming market."
Those "new and adjacent categories" Vaidya wanted to show off largely seem to involve apps of some sort that let people use AI to shuffle around EA proprietary assets and spit out minigames of a sort. One example he shows involves two people asking an AI to "make a maze out of cardboard boxes." They then ask the AI to make it more complex, then multi-level. Then they ask the AI to "make two characters with weapons," allowing them to select from a gallery of existing EA characters before settling on two that purport to be community-designed, then equip them with guns from a library of weapons. They then select from a handful of game modes and start chasing each other around the cardboard maze. The video ends with one of them asking the AI to "make it more epic," resulting in a giant cardboard box pyramid seemingly appearing in real-time to the astonishment of the two players.
In a second demonstration, Vaidya wants to demonstrate how AI can be used to create "more believable characters" that players care about even more. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of that in action, as Vaidya encourages investors to check out the demo at the investor event after the presentation is over. But we do see a few seconds of what he's talking about: an AI version of soccer star Jude Bellingham is apparently available to answer questions posed by investors using AI to simulate his likeness, voice, and likely responses. Vaidya demonstrates by asking him what it was like to play at Bernabéu "in front of millions of screaming fans." Bellingham briefly explains the indescribable thrill of the experience in a flat monotone, expressionless.
Finally, Vaidya demonstrates how EA wants to use AI for "social ecosystems", specifically something codenamed Project AIR. Project AIR seems to be a way to use short text prompts to generate characters, have text-based interactions with them, and then share those conversations with friends. In his example, he creates a "legendary investor" character using the prompt, "A high-stakes VC who swims in the deep waters of innovation."
He then decides the "game" will be to pitch business ideas to him. In an interface that looks suspiciously like Tik-Tok, the user pitches "self-tying shoes" only to be slapped down. He then invites a friend to help him pitch, but lost for any ideas on how to make self-tying shoes more interesting, he uses an AI co-pilot to write the pitch for him, which ultimately succeeds.
What does it all mean?
That's a lot of noise about AI, almost an astonishing amount even from a company we knew was pushing the tech hard. And it's a lot of noise specifically about generative AI. Artificial intelligence, broadly, has been used in games for decades. But generative AI, which is involved in most of the things EA shared yesterday, is different. Generative AI effectively spits out brand new images, text, sound, or other content based on data it's fed, which has led to numerous ethical questions regarding its use. Some of those EA has managed to answer effectively. For instance, EA is training its AI on its own proprietary material, so there's seemingly no concern about it stealing copyrighted work (we've reached out to EA for comment).
But other concerns remain. There's the environmental impact, for one, which we've also asked EA about. And then there's issues of using personal likenesses. EA says Jude Bellingham agreed to let EA train an AI on his likeness and voice for the model we saw yesterday, but will EA ensure it has permission from every single individual it uses in the future? What about voice actors for beloved characters, who are still at this moment on strike from companies including AI over these exact protections? We've asked EA for comment on all this, too.
On the game development side, how does this implementation of AI impact individual creatives at the company? It's easy to say that tools such as Script to Scene are intended to free up developers to work on other things. But it's a practical reality that the games industry has seen two years of unprecedented layoffs just as AI is beginning to creep into the mainstream, and EA has been a part of that. There are no guarantees that this tech might not eventually be used to replace developers eventually. Developers have said over and over that they are rightfully nervous about this possibility, but neither EA nor its investors seem to be especially interested in addressing that. Nor does it seem apparent to them the difference between the intentional, creative work of designers assembling a thoughtful map for a shoorter, and anyone at all prompting an AI to spit out a random array of cardboard boxes. It's all content to be sold in the end.
As some have pointed out online, EA is no stranger to pushing hard on new tech before immediately backing off the second the wind changed. But this feels different. EA leadership made it abundantly clear at the Investor Day that the company is already very, very deep in on AI even if the experiments themselves are still in their infancy. Investors might be kept happy by these experiments, but perhaps fans of EA's 40-year history as a video game company ought to be asking why AI, not games, has suddenly become the "core" of its business.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Amazon is currently offering a Baseus 10,000mAh USB Type-C power bank with 20W USB Power Delivery for a mere $10.44 after you clip a 20% off coupon and apply 25% off code "HM8WNMGD". That's a great price for a 10K power bank that's equipped with a USB Type-C output with up to 20W of Power Delivery. It's an excellent battery backup for your Nintendo Switch since it can charge the console at its maximum rate of 18W.
Baseus 10,000mAh 20W Power Bank for Just Over $10
The 10,000mAH power bank is the perfect compromise between battery capacity and size, especially if you're looking for a battery backup for something as small as the Nintendo Switch. This Baseus model measures 6" long and 2.7" wide, about the same size as an iPhone 14 Pro, and only 0.7" thin. It weighs in at about 9 ounces. The 10,000mAh capacity is no slouch either. Factoring in charging inefficiencies, you should still expect this power bank to charge a Switch about 1.5 times. If we go by Nintendo's official claim of 4.5-9 hours from the battery, you're essentially extending that to 11-22 hours.
There are three ports for versatility: a USB Type-C port, USB Type-A port, and Micro USB port. The USB Type-C port is both output and input, which means you can charge the power bank OR charge your devices from that same port. This is the port you want to use to get the 20W charging rate. Since the Nintendo Switch can charge at a cap of 18W, the Type-C port will max out the Switch's charging speed.
The Baseus power bank is UL certified and comes with built-in safety protections you'd expect from a decent quality power bank. It also has an LED battery indicator that you can check with a press of a button. Although not as well known as Anker, Baseus is still a popular brand on Amazon and has plenty of positive reviews. I have a Baseus power bank myself and it hasn't given me any problems.
The Baseus Power Bank is TSA-Approved
Spare lithium ion and lithium metal batteries, including power banks and cell phone battery charging cases, must be carried in carry-on baggage only. Power banks must be under either 27,000mAh or 100Whr in capacity. This Baseus power bank's 10,000mAh battery capacity is well below TSA's 27,000mAh limit, so it can be brought onto airplanes without worry. This power bank is small and discreet enough that it's hard to imagine TSA even noticing the power bank in the first place.
Here's an interesting deal on a seemingly useful desk lamp. Right now LumiCharge is offering its flagship Lumicharge IIl Desk Lamp for $64.99. That's 50% off its original $130 MSRP but it gets even better. There's also a 25% off coupon code "LUMI25" floating around that drops the price even further to only $48.75. Shipping is only $2.99. As a comparison, this exact desk lamp currently sells for $69 from Amazon.
Lumicharge III LED Desk Lamp + Wireless/Wired Charger + Bluetooth Speaker + Digital Clock
The Lumicharge III has a bunch of features beyond its main role as a desk lamp. It's like the swiss army knife of desk lamps. At its core, it's a dimmable LED desk lamp with several different color temperature and light intensity settings. There's a mobile app you can connect to (if you don't mind yet another app on your phone) that allows you to change the settings without having to fiddle with the buttons. It also easy to swivel and adjust for proper light placement that won't blind you.
But that's definitely not all. At its base is a 10W inductive charger for your smartphone. If for some reason it doesn't work for your phone, there's also a USB Type-C / Lightning connector as well as another USB Type-A port for wired charging. There's even a pop up stand for your phone so that you can still use the screen if you need to. Is that all? Absolutely not. There's also a digital screen built into the arm that displays the date, time, and indoor temperature. If that's not enough to sate your appetite, the lamp can even play music with its built-in Bluetooth speaker.
At its retail price of $129.99, I would say that this desk lamp is overpriced even with all of these buzzworthy features. But at over 60% off, it's a good value compared to other options out there, especially if you're already looking for a do-it-all desk lamp on steroids. It'd probably make a pretty awesome holiday gift idea as well, if you want to kickstart that early.
Looking for desk lamp options? We've picked out a few affordable options we like ourselves, although none of these are nearly as multi-functional as the desk lamp listed here.
Here are today's best daily deals, including a discount on a Mario Red Nintendo Switch OLED, new Switch holiday bundles from Gamestop, a $10 power bank that's perfect for the Switch console, Disney+ for only $1.99/month, the new Ecoflow River 3 power station with discounts and freebies, huge discounts on Lenovo gaming PCs, 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.
Nintendo Switch OLED
Update: Currently out of stock, but may come back in stock later
Amazon has discounted the limited edition Mario Red Nintendo Switch OLED console by $50 to $299. Like its namesake suggests, this is one very red Switch. The Joy-Cons are red, the back of the Switch OLED case is red, and the dock is red. If you can afford the small price premium of the Switch OLED over the non-OLED model, it's worth the upgrade. The Nintendo Switch OLED features an OLED display that offers better image quality than the original LCD display. That includes deeper blacks, more vibrant colors, and a better color gradient. The text is sharper and easier to read as well. The screen isn't that much bigger (7" on the OLED vs 6.2" on the non-OLED), but it does feel a lot bigger thanks to a thinner bezel. Other upgrades worth mentioning are a new and improved kickstand, and a hard-wired ethernet port on the dock.
Nintendo Switch Mario Kart 8 Holiday Bundles on Sale
For the past few years, Nintendo has been putting out Switch holiday bundles that almost always include a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This year is no different. Gamestop is the first retailer to make these available to the public. The Switch OLED bundle is priced at $349.99 and the Switch bundle is $299.99. You're essentially getting the game for free.
Baseus 10,000mAh 20W Portable Charger
Amazon is currently offering a Baseus 10,000mAh USB Type-C Power Bank with up to 20W of Power Delivery for only $10.44 after you clip a 20% off coupon and apply coupon code: "HM8WNMGD". That's a great price for a 10K power bank that's equipped with a USB Type-C output with up to 20W of Power Delivery. It's an excellent battery backup for your Nintendo Switch since it can charge the console at its maximum rate of 18W.
Disney+ Basic for $1.99/mo for 3 Months
For a limited time, Disney+ is offering its Basic Plan for only $1.99 per month for the first 3 months. Afterwards, the price goes up to the regular $9.99 rate. Disney+ Basic gives you access to the entire library of movies and TV shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and more. The only caveat is that the Basic plan is ad-supported.
Ecoflow River 3 245Wh LiFePO4 Power Station
The recently released Ecoflow River 3 245Wh LiFePO4 Power Station is already on sale on Amazon. Right now it's $169. An even better deal is if you choose the bundle with a Ecoflow 45W foldable solar panel. It drops to $199, which means you're only paying an extra $30 for the solar panel. The River 3 is lightweight, compact in size, and is equipped with safe and reliable LiFEPO4 batteries.
Update: You can get a FREE Ecoflow Travel Bag with the purchase of either the Ecoflow River 3 or River 3 with Solar Panel Bundle. All you need to do is add it to your cart along with the power station and a $79 discount will automatically be deducted during checkout.
Lenovo LOQ i5 RTX 4060 Gaming PC
Lenovo has discounted its Lenovo LOQ Intel Core i5 RTX 4060 gaming PC to only $759.99 after coupon code "CrazyLegion" is applied. That is easily the best deal we've seen on an RTX 4060 equipped gaming PC from Lenovo. The LOQ is Lenovo's budget line of gaming PCs for those of you who don't want to pay more for a Legion. Despite the lower price, the LOQ offers similar performance, a compact chassis with good airflow, an efficient 500W power supply, and modern-day conveniences like Wi-Fi 6 and front panel USB Type-C. It's backed by a 1 year Lenovo warranty.
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 i9 RTX 4070 Ti SUPER Gaming PC
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.
85-Inch Hisense 85UX 4K Mini-LED Smart TV
Walmart is offering the massive 85" Hisense UX 4K Mini-LED Smart TV on clearance for only $1598.72. Add $50 shipping. This was Hisense' best TV in 2023, with a gorgeous QLED Mini-LED panel with 5000 zones, 2500 nits of peak HDR brightness, and 120Hz native refresh rate with HDMI 2.1 inputs. Because this is a limited edition TV that wasn't mass produced in large numbers, the Hisense UX was hard to find even during its model year.
Xbox Wireless Controller
Lenovo is currently offering the Microsoft Xbox Series X wireless controller in Carbon Black for only $39.00 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 Pro Wireless Gaming Headset
Amazon is currently offering the flagship SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless gaming headset for PC and PlayStation 5 for only $267.99. That's about 25% off the original $350 MSRP. This is the best price we've seen for a brand new model. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro is rated the best gaming headset of 2024, and as someone who owns and uses this headset on a daily basis, I wholeheartedly agree.
Seagate FireCuda 530R 2TB PS5 SSD with Heatsink
The Seagate Firecuda 530R is very rarely discounted, but right now you can get the 2TB model with pre-installed heatsink for a very competitive price of $139.99 shipped. The 530R is an updated version of the 530R with faster IOPS (random read/write speeds) and a longer endurance rating. It boasts sustained speeds of up to 7,400MBps read and 6,800MBps write and is an excellent candidate for PS5 storage expansion.
Transformers One isn't in theaters until later this week, but franchise producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is already looking toward the series' next moves.
Di Bonaventura provided a few updates in a recent interview with Collider, teasing his plans for the series in both live action and animation. As for the latter, di Bonaventura says they're planning on a sequel to Transformers One, depending on its success at the box office, and it will "exist completely separately to whatever we do live-action." The first animated Transformers movie in more than 40 years is currently tracking for a decent debut in the $30 million range domestically, according to Deadline.
On the live-action front, di Bonaventura confirmed that the next live-action Transformers film, following Rise of the Beasts, will be the G.I. Joe crossover that was officially revealed at CinemaCon earlier this year. At the time, Paramount said that movie would hit theaters in 2025 or 2026. Di Bonaventura cautioned that it's still in early development, but also teased how the emotional story in Transformers One might affect the series' future in live-action.
"Where it will be particularly affected is the fact that we now know what these robots are capable of emotionally in a way," he told the outlet. "So we're going to have to figure out how to create that room, that we can afford that, and create a story that you can take more advantage of that. So one of the things that I'm particularly interested in doing, and we're still in the development phase, so nothing is by any means written in stone, but I think we need to do more now from the robot point of view in the live-action because that's the only way you're really going to get inside them."
Di Bonaventura continued to discuss how the series might balance the human story vs. the robot story. Due to its place very early in the franchise's timeline, Transformers One has no human characters, instead largely focusing on the origins of Optimus Prime and Megatron. Moving forward, the producer said the robots' own drives, rather than their reactions to the human plot, "has to be part of that story now."
"I think we need to do more now from the robot point of view in the live-action because that's the only way you're really going to get inside them."
He also noted that the sheer amount of characters will make the story more "complicated," a common problem in franchise films.
"You kind of got to keep going, keep it smaller, keep it smaller," he explained. "So we'll be in that process for a while where we'll start with a bunch of Joes and a bunch of Transformers and I'll say, regular humans, and then you're going to do this. That's kind of where we are right now, is trying to put the larger thing in place. The trick in this one, like we were talking about here, in trying to find that tone and balance is like, 'Well, how much of the Joes do you want? And how much of the Transformers do you want?'"
We don't know too much else about the Transformers/G.I. Joe crossover yet, although it was reported in May that Chris Hemsworth is in talks to star. It would mark his second Transformers project, as Hemsworth voices Optimus Prime/Orion Pax in Transformers One.
We gave Transformers One a 5/10 in our review, writing, "Transformers One’s strong central friendship – and a great Brian Tyree Henry performance – aside, this animated origin story could have used some major transforming before rolling out."
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
For a limited time, Walmart is offering the massive 85" Hisense UX 4K Mini-LED Smart TV on clearance for only $1598.72. Add $50 shipping. This was Hisense' best TV in 2023, with a gorgeous QLED Mini-LED panel with 5000 zones, 2500 nits of peak HDR brightness, and 120Hz native refresh rate with HDMI 2.1 inputs. Because this is a limited edition TV that wasn't mass produced in large numbers, the Hisense UX was hard to find even during its model year.
$170 Off 85" Hisense UX 4K Mini LED TV
The Hisense UX TV was a limited edition 2023 release that is even higher end than U8 models. It comes with all the premium features you'd expect from a flagship TV. The UX boasts a quantum dot (QLED) Mini-LED panel with wide color gamut (ULED). It utilizes full array LED backlighting with a whopping 5,000 independent zones for outstanding black levels and HDR performance, especially for a non-OLED TV. It also has a peak brightness of 2500nits, which is far higher than any OLED TV. Rtings points out that the UX8 also stands out for its incredibly wide viewing angles and excellent reflection handling. That means you can have a big audience in front of the TV and everyone can enjoy a great picture, and the TV will perform admirably in challenging situations like a very bright room with no light control.
The U8N makes for a solid gaming TV for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X gamers. That's because the panel natively supports up to 120Hz refresh rate with VRR and ALLM. It has HDMI 2.1 ports for connecting to your PS5 and Xbox Series X for true 4K gaming at 120fps. It's even equipped with a pretty decent 4.1.2 multi-channel audio system, with 80W of power driving 7 speakers (including rear overhead speakers and built-in sub).
Hisense is among our top TV picks of 2024 and unless you get another UX, you won't get anything better in Hisense's product lineup. This is a phenomenal deal considering an 85" OLED TV will run you well over $1000 more. If size matters for you, but you still desire top-shelf picture quality, the 85" Hisense UX should be on your shortlist.
Looking for more options? Here are some resources:
Lionsgate, the studio behind the John Wick and The Hunger Games franchises, has raised some eyebrows by signing a deal with a tech startup to “explore the use of AI in film production.”
The news was announced in a press release on Wednesday, with Lionsgate partnering with AI film Runaway to create a new AI model, trained on Lionsgate’s massive film and TV library. Initial details are scarce, although the announcement says the deal is “fundamentally designed to help Lionsgate Studios, its filmmakers, directors and other creative talent augment their work.”
“Several of our filmmakers are already excited about its potential applications to their pre-production and post-production process,” Lionsgate Vice Chair Michael Burns said in a statement with the announcement. “We view AI as a great tool for augmenting, enhancing and supplementing our current operations.”
Despite Burns’ assurances, the deal has already garnered backlash online, which isn’t too surprising given how much of hot-button topic artificial intelligence has been in the creative community. It was one of the key issues during last year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes, and just last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law two bills restricting the use of AI digital replicas of performers.
“I wonder how the directors and actors of their films feel about having their work fed into the AI to make a proprietary model,” film concept artist Reid Southen wrote on X/Twitter. “As an artist on The Hunger Games? I'm pissed. This is the first step in trying to replace artists and filmmakers.”
Some called out how vague the details were in Runway’s announcement. There were no details on if creative teams would be compensated if their work was used by the AI model, and other questions were raised in regards to how the model would actually be trained.
Runway & @Lionsgate are partnering on a new AI video model, "customized" on Lionsgate's catalog.
"Customized" is a notably vague term. IMO an important question for both is: will this *only* be trained on Lionsgate's catalog? Or will other videos be used in pre-training? https://t.co/QgICWjv7zYpic.twitter.com/RW0O87i2J4
And others simply called out what a major – and precedent-setting – deal it could be. “Am I correct to think this is the first major Hollywood studio to agree to give a generative AI company access to its entire library in exchange for its own AI model??,” wrote Wall Street Journal editor Jessica Toonkel. Another
Other reactions from the film and TV community were swift and critical:
Over a year ago, I told you that I assumed the studios were NOT sending lawyers to the #AI companies over their models injesting their copyrighted films, because they wanted their own custom versions. Well, here you go. https://t.co/t21mtqEGT8pic.twitter.com/eucJw709sK
Ok people, tell me generative AI won’t take filmmaking jobs again now Lionsgate has a deal with Runway AI. This isn’t going to stop and it is only going to speed up.
The backlash is only the latest in what’s been a rough year for Lionsgate, with two back-to-back box office flops in Borderlands and The Crow. It also recently saw controversy for a trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, pulling the trailer offline after it was discovered that the quotes it featured from famous film critics were completely fabricated.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Woot! (which is owned by Amazon) is offering the best deal on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Right now you can get a 3 month code for only $36.49. Earlier this year, Microsoft raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $19.99 per month, so now you're saving 40% off a 3 month membership. Note that you can purchase multiple codes and apply them to your account, up to a maximum of 36 months. If you're an Xbox gamer, this is a great way to save a lot of money in the long run since you won't have to buy new release games individually to play them.
Note: There is a new coupon "ULTIMATE" that takes $3 off one order, dropping the 3 month code price down to $33.49. If you purchase multiple codes, this coupon will only work on one code. The rest of the 3 month codes will be $36.49 each.
3 Months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $33.49
Use code: ULTIMATE
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gives you access to a library of hundreds of Xbox games, including day one releases. You can play them for the entirety of your membership without any restrictions. You do lose access to them once your membership is over, but if you ever decide to renew, all your past achievements and progress will be saved. You'll also have access to Xbox Game Pass for PC. Although there aren't nearly as many games as there are on Xbox, there are still plenty of AAA titles to keep you sated. Other perks include exclusive membership discounts, the ability to play your games across multiple devices with cloud gaming, free access to EA Play membership, as well as bonus in-game content and rewards. It is an exceptionally good - almost essential - membership for Xbox gamers. New release games are not cheap, and being able to play them without buying them will save you a lot of money and easily recoup the cost of the membership.
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