USB Type-C has become the standard for charging and data cables alike, so it's good to have extra on hand. Here's a great back to school deal where you can get some quality cables at a throwaway price. Amazon is offering a two-pack of Lisen 6.6ft 240W USB Type-C cables for just $5.31 after you apply coupon code "JHCR87FA". That averages out to $2.66 per cable. USB Type-C cables typically go for about $10 per cable or more at your local big box store. These can charge nearly any device with a USB-C port, including your Nintendo Switch 2, iPhone 16, or even the new M4 MacBook.

2-Pack of Lisen 6.6ft 240W USB Type-C Cables for $5.31

The CEO of Electronic Arts is teasing the return of EA College Basketball, just one month after a cryptic EA Sports tweet put the idea back into the heads of video game basketball fans.

Bring the Madness. Let’s run it back. #CBB #ItsInTheGame pic.twitter.com/iBNhGxn2yj

— EA SPORTS (@EASPORTS) June 30, 2025

During today's Q1 earnings call, CEO Andrew Wilson was asked about the potential return of College Basketball, likely in response to the above tweet. Per reports back in June and the above clever tease, College Basketball is indeed slated to return from EA, though it will be a while yet before we see it - it's not expected until 2028.

Here's Wilson's vague, yet promising, response in full:

We can't say too much about it yet, but if I think about the opportunity, going back to where we are on College Football, college sport has one of the most vibrant fanbase in the world. And that trickles over to basketball certainly. We're seeing momentum of fandom in college basketball also continue to grow. Fans, athletes, universities pour their passion into these sports. And it is that passion that makes it special, that makes the games different.

But with that comes high expectations, and a demand for deeply authentic experiences: capturing the action on the field or the court, representing the energy, pagentry, the traditions, and celebrating the unique sights and sounds and stories of every school and rivalry. We feel like we deliver that incredibly well with College Football...we'd love to do the same for basketball. All 350 programs, men's and women's teams, the iconic traditions and rivalries, and of course, March Madness.

So for us, college sports broadly is an exciting opportunity. We feel like we've done a really strong job, and remain committed to doing that in the context of college football. We believe that with what we've done with the teams, the technology, and our commitment around College Football, we'd have a great ability to do the same for college basketball, and as we look to try and activate against that opportunity, we'll be able to share more.

Per reporting from The Athletic, EA Sports' proposal for a College Basketball game, which was recommended for acceptance by the Collegiate Licensing Company, would include all Division I men's and women's teams (730 in total). The games, of which there would be six in total with releases beginning in 2028, would have similar features to College Football such as Dynasty Mode, Team Builder, Road to Glory, and Ultimate Team.

EA last produced a College Basketball game back in 2009, but the series was discontinued amid disputes over its use of college athletes' likenesses, and declining sales compared to the College Football series. However, the success of College Football seems to have sparked a new interest in Basketball from EA...though it may be facing competition from 2K Sports, if this NBA 2K official Twitter/X post is any indication.

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.

I’ve always been hesitant to buy anything used or refurbished – the last thing I want is to spend thousands of dollars on a laptop only to learn that someone really doesn’t know how to take care of their things.

But how often do you buy something new, open it, and return it because it wasn’t what you expected? I’ve done that plenty of times. Is it really that used if you touch it for just a moment? Another person’s buyer’s remorse can easily save you hundreds of dollars. Of course, not every laptop will be “like new,” but laptops have higher refurbishing standards than your average sub-$20 Amazon gadget.

Is It Worth Buying a Used/Refurbished Laptop?

This is a case of risk versus reward.

The worst example would be this M4 MacBook Air 13 available for $849 at Amazon. It’s brand new, but you can buy the “like new” model for $840. Saving $10 is not worth the risk of whatever condition Amazon thinks “like new” is.

A good example would be this Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 16 for $851 at Best Buy that originalyl goes for $1,049 – this is in excellent condition, and you save $198. That’s quite the discount for a laptop that “works and looks like new,” according to Best Buy.

So, in theory, yes: It’s definitely worth buying a used or refurbished laptop. You just need to know how to navigate the wild judgements and rating systems each vendor has.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop at Best Buy

Best Buy has a few categories to explore in the refurbished space. You can choose between Open-Box, Refurbished, and Pre-Owned.

Open-Box refers to products that were returned to Best Buy, were factory reset, and then judged to be either Excellent (like new), Good (minor scratches and/or missing items), or Fair (major dents and/or missing parts). Refurbished refers to products that were sent back to the manufacturer and repaired and then sent back to Best Buy, so ideally they’re like new. Meanwhile, Pre-Owned refers to a laptop that’s been owned for weeks or months before being returned to Best Buy.

So with Best Buy, if you’re trying to maximize quality while saving money, shoot for the Refurbished and Excellent Open-Box laptops. As I pointed out earlier, you can save hundreds of dollars just going this route. Under Best Buy’s return policy, you’ll have 15 days to return the laptop if it’s not up to snuff.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop at Amazon

Amazon has two categories: Renewed and Used. The latter simply refers to any seller posting a product as used, including Amazon itself. However, Amazon Renewed is a program that handles professionally refurbishing products, either through Amazon or third-party refurbishers.

Amazon Renewed dishes out four grades: Premium (like new), Excellent (like new with more than 80% of original battery life), Good (light scratches with more than 80% battery), and Acceptable (scratches on screen and body with more than 80% battery).

If you are shopping for refurbished laptops at Amazon, I recommend going for the Premium grade ones. They’re not just better – they’re the only ones with a one-year warranty from Amazon. You get only 90 days with the other grades.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop at Newegg

For better or worse, Newegg is simple. There’s Refurbished and Newegg Refreshed. The former was refurbished by any seller, whereas a Newegg Refreshed product is refurbished by Newegg or a vetted supplier.

It’s unclear what you’ll get with the generic Refurbished label, but Newegg Refreshed products feature at least 80% battery life, no dead pixels, and no heavy damage or wear. They’re also cleaned and repackaged with the original or equivalent accessories.

If it isn’t obvious, go for the Newegg Refreshed laptops. You can also return them within 90 days for a full refund.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop at Walmart

Yes, even Walmart has a refurbished program, called Walmart Restored.

There are four grades: Premium (light scratches with at least 90% of original battery life), Like New (light scratches with more than 80% battery), Good (slight wear and tear with more than 80% battery), and Fair (significant wear and tear with more than 80% battery). It’s very similar to Amazon’s standards. There’s a 90-day return policy barring Premium products, which offer 30 days of free returns and replacements. Premium products are sold specifically from manufacturers or manufacturer-authorized sellers, which is why the warranty is different.

There are also Open Box items, which defines items that are in excellent condition with no signs of use. Then there are Pre-Owned items, labeled Like New, Good, and Fair. They operate like the aforementioned grades except the battery life standard is dropped to 60%. More importantly, they don’t offer a 90-day return policy.

You’d be safer going with a Like New laptop from the Walmart Restored category – that way you get the full 90 days.

How to Buy a Used/Refurbished Laptop at Dell and Lenovo

You can also buy refurbished laptops directly from manufacturers like Dell and Lenovo.

Dell only has two grades: A and B. Simple yet weird. These grades refer to the cosmetic quality of the laptops and assumes that the refurbished products function like new. Grade A refurbished products are in good cosmetic condition, ranging from pristine to light scratches. Grade B refurbished products feature scratches, imperfections, or discolorations. The neat part is that these refurbished devices come with the same one-year limited warranty as new laptops do.

Lenovo doesn’t feature any grades but instead labels its laptops as Certified Refurbished. What does that mean? Honestly, I have no idea. Lenovo’s website answers that question with a relatively generic answer about ensuring the product meets “Lenovo’s high standards of quality, performance, and reliability.” Similar to Dell, Lenovo offers the same one-year limited warranty as its new laptops, which can be upgraded to three years.

Which Used/Refurbished Laptop Should You Buy?

I recommend looking for laptops that have recently launched, ones that didn’t even get enough time to earn the wear and tear you might expect from a used laptop. That’ll net you a nice discount and a like-new device.

I would advise against purchasing older refurbished laptops. You can still find new old laptops available that simply haven’t run out of their stock yet, especially on sites like Newegg. Those laptops will get significant discounts, so you don’t need to worry about saving money on that front.

If you want to know which are the best laptops, the Apple MacBook Air (M4, Early 2025) is currently at the top of our list. And you can technically get a discount on it at Best Buy for $35 off as refurbished. Like I said earlier, I wouldn’t jump for deals like that, but if you’re pinching pennies over a MacBook, then go for it. Meanwhile, the Asus Zenbook S 16, our best laptop for work, is $162 off at Best Buy in an Excellent Open-Box.

When Should You Buy New?

You should buy new laptops when the refurbished game for the product you're looking for is questionable. If there’s a particular accessory or state that you need the product to be in, then I wouldn’t risk buying anything used.

Buying used still probably isn’t for me, though. While I can see the benefits of buying refurbished products, even ones that were opened for a moment and then tossed, there is still an inherent risk. All of these grading systems sound fine in theory, but we don’t really know what kind of testing goes into ensuring these products are refurbished. Maybe that’s just my mistrust in the industry, and maybe I’m falling into the trap of spending more to buy new. But I’d rather wait for a sale.

For those stronger of will, I recommend shopping used when you can and abusing return policies to ensure you’re getting as close to a new product as you can.

Rami Tabari is a contributing writer at IGN with over 9 years of experience in the tech and gaming industry. You can find his bylines at Laptop Mag and Tom's Guide (and on a random Predator review at Space.com). When Rami isn't wading through a sea of the latest gaming tech, he's agonizing over the worldbuilding in his upcoming novella.

As Nintendo takes the first step toward selling full-priced, AAA games at $80 and Xbox starts to follow suit but backs off, EA has now also made its position clear: no $80 games...for now.

"We're not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage," said CEO Andrew Wilson during today's Q1 earnings call. He said this in response to an investor question regarding publishing competitors beginning to release $80 games, and where EA sees itself in relation to them.

Wilson continued:

That's in the construct of, we already offer a fairly broad pricing scheme across our various products. When you think about everything from free-to-play through to our premium products and deluxe editions, our orientation is always to capture the full spectrum of pricing so that we can serve players in the best way possible and offer them the greatest value. We'll continue to look at opportunities to deliver great value to our players thorugh various pricing schemes over the course of time, but no dramatic changes planned yet.

EA also confirmed on the call that it hadn't factored in any changes to its existing pricing schemes to its expectations for the current fiscal year earnings guidance. The current fiscal year ends in March of 2026, so don't expect any $80 EA games between now and then. That means games like Madden NFL 26, EA Sports FC 26, and seemingly Battlefield 6 won't be $80, despite one leaker suggesting the contrary.

EA isn't the only publisher who isn't quite ready to follow suit with Nintendo's Mario Kart World on $80 games. Xbox recently announced The Outer Worlds 2 would be $80 alongside some other unknown holiday game releases, only to reverse that decision after it sparked criticism. And while Randy Pitchford defended a potential $80 price point for Borderlands 4, it turned out to only be $70 after all. Apart from that, it's unclear what other games will aim for that higher number in the future, though one likely contender that many are watching is Grand Theft Auto 6.

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.

After last week’s explosive Season 27 premiere, South Park will skip this week — but according to a new trailer, when the show returns next week it will take on President Trump once again.

The trailer confirms Season 27 continues with a new episode on Wednesday, August 6 on Comedy Central and the next day on Paramount+, which means South Park unexpectedly skips this week.

South Park's epic season continues on Wednesday, August 6 at 10/9c on Comedy Central and next day on Paramount+. pic.twitter.com/zLMHM9J4aP

— South Park (@SouthPark) July 29, 2025

Neither Comedy Central nor South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have explained the skip, but it’s worth noting that during their San Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel last week, which took place the day after the Trump-skewering episode aired, Parker said they were unsure what the next episode would be, revealing the decision was “super stressful.”

Parker and Stone create each episode of South Park week by week, which makes for a chaotic production, but topical shows.

It’s also worth noting that the creators recently admitted that the Season 27 trailer that came out in April included footage made just for that trailer, and not from the episodes. “You seriously think we went and made a bunch of shows ahead of time and we’re banking them for later?” they said. “We just made something up and we’re like, this is what we’re doing! And we’re not doing any of that.”

South Park creators reveal that none of the footage in the season 27 teaser were from real episodes:

"You seriously think we went and made a bunch of shows ahead of time?"#SDCC pic.twitter.com/GAVIsnmTl2

— IGN (@IGN) July 26, 2025

All eyes are on South Park after its Season 27 premiere went so hard on Trump that the White House issued a statement in response.

The teaser shows Trump groping Satan’s leg under a table during a public dinner event. Satan doesn’t look like he’s having a great time. The Season 27 premiere showed Trump lying in bed with Satan, so it looks like their relationship will be a running theme during the show.

But that scene wasn’t the main talking point coming out of the premiere. Rather, it was a scene showing a live-action Trump shuffling through the desert before removing all of his clothes. “His penis is teeny tiny, but his love for us is large,” a “South Park Pro-Trump” PSA voiceover says.

During the Comic-Con panel, Parker revealed the creative duo insisted Trump’s penis was shown in all its glory, even though they received a note from the network asking for it to be blurred. “They were like, okay, but we're gonna blur the penis. And I'm like, no, you’re not going to blur it."

Parker and Stone dodged blurring Trump's penis by adding little eyes and turning it into a character. But even doing that "was a whole conversation with a lot of grown up people for about four f***ing days. It's a character!"

Parker and Stone were then jokingly warned that there was a subpoena waiting for them among the cards containing panel questions. The response: "That's fine man, I'm ready."

In a new tweet, below, South Park revealed behind-the-scenes photos of the Trump desert scene, which confirms it was filmed on location rather than generated with AI, as some had thought.

A little behind the scenes. pic.twitter.com/M25RjoRooE

— South Park (@SouthPark) July 29, 2025

The F.C.C. recently approved Skydance’s $8 billion merger with Paramount, which had needed Trump administration approval. Neither Parker nor Stone addressed the merger, which they had criticized for delaying South Park Season 27's release date, during the panel, nor did they respond to the White House's statement.

However, Parker and Stone have a big-money deal of their own: a reported $1.5 billion contract to make 50 episodes of South Park over five years for Paramount.

Image credit: Comedy Central / YouTube.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Dell just launched one of the best laptop deals I've seen for students, road warriors, or pretty much anyone who's looking for a mobile workhorse. As part of the Dell Back to School Sale, the new-for-2025 Dell Plus 16 laptop is on sale for $999.99 after a $450 instant discount. Free shipping is included. This laptop is chock full of high-end upgrades you wouldn't expect to find in a laptop at this price point, including mostly metal construction, a gorgeous display, the newest Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, and a generous amount of memory and high-speed storage.

Save $450 Off the Dell 16 Plus Laptop, Now Just $999.99

Bose just activated a 10% off coupon code "REFURB10" that works on select refurbished products from its official eBay store. One of the best deals currently running is on its flagship Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar, it's biggest and most impressive soundbar speaker with Dolby Atmos and Bose TrueSpace Technology. You can get it on sale for just $501.30 after coupon. That's 50% off the $999 retail price and it even comes with an extended 2 year AllState warranty.

Bose Smart Ultra Soundbar for $501.30 (was $999)

Certified Refurbished

For all you students, road warriors, and people who have to work on the move, here's a fantastic deal on one of the nicest ultra-portable laptops out there. As part of the Dell Back to School Sale, the Dell XPS 13 13" Snapdragon X Elite laptop is on clearance for just $749.99 with free delivery. For 2025, Dell discontinued most of its named laptop models - including the Inspiron, XPS, and G-series (gaming) - which means this is a perfect opportunity to pick one up at a huge discount.

Dell XPS 13 Ultraportable Laptop for $750

28 Years Later is now available to watch online through digital marketplaces like Prime Video. If you missed this one in theaters, now’s your chance to get spooked in the comfort of your own home.

Set (you guessed it) 28 years after the original outbreak, 28 Years Later features a new cast, including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who travels with his son to mainland Britain, where the Rage Virus has continued to thrive since being quarantined from the rest of Europe. Tom Jorgenson’s review of the movie for IGN says it's “as potent and timely an exploration of cultural strife as the original, and Danny Boyle and Alex Garland tug at the heartstrings with bloody, deadly skill.”

28 Years Later Now Available on Digital, Up for Preorder on Blu-ray

The Winds of Winter, the long, long-awaited sixth book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, is among the most-anticipated works of fiction. The next entry in the fantasy saga on which HBO’s Game of Thrones was based has been in the works since Book 5, A Dance with Dragons, which was released back in 2011. In the 14 years since, HBO aired Seasons 2-8 of Game of Thrones and Season 1 and 2 of its first GoT spinoff series, House of the Dragon. There's even the upcoming Knight of the Seven Kingdoms spinoff joining the pile in 20226.

While Martin continues work on the next A Song of Ice and Fire novel, we’ve compiled an overview of everything we know about The Winds of Winter, from Martin’s comments on the book’s length and publishing timeline to the story’s characters and differences from the show.

Jump to:

• When will it come out?
• How long will it be?
• Story details
• Book vs. TV series

Winds of Winter Release Date

There is no release date or window for The Winds of Winter.

Martin and his publishers initially hoped to have the manuscript completed by the end of October 2015 in order to release Winds the following March ahead of Game of Thrones: Season 6, according to Martin. That soft deadline then turned to the end of 2015, which also came and went without a completed manuscript. In January 2017, he expressed optimism that it’d be out before that year’s end. In 2020, the author aimed to finish the project's initial work by 2021, though that timeline didn’t pan out. This seems to be the last time Martin made a public estimation for when Winds will be published.

In October 2022, Martin said he was about 75% done with the manuscript. Little progress was seemingly made over the next year, as Martin announced in November 2023 that 1,100 pages had been completed — the same amount he mentioned in a December 2022 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Martin mentioned the book in a December 2024 interview , in which he acknowledged that he may never finish The Winds of Winter in his lifetime.

Thankfully, there is still some hope left that the book will get finished as we recently got some good news about Winds of Winter progressing. In July 2025 Martin confirmed in a live stream interview with Penguin Random House that the book is moving forward and will be the longest in the series.

Winds of Winter Length

The Winds of Winter will be around 1,500 pages. Martin said, as of November 2023, he had written roughly 1,100 pages and had “hundreds more pages to go." The author has said the final two A Song of Ice and Fire books will collectively come in at over 3,000 pages.

Should The Winds of Winter come in at 1,500 pages, it’d be the longest A Song of Ice and Fire book so far. The current longest is the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons, which was just over 1,000 pages in its original hardcover release. Martin has confirmed that the upcoming book will be around this length.

Winds of Winter Story

There are no spoilers in this section, save for the names of characters who will appear in The Winds of Winter.

The Winds of Winter will continue the events of the fourth and fifth books: A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. (Books 4 and 5 followed different characters but narratively ran parallel to each other.) Martin, speaking with Smarter Travel in 2012, said Winds will start with a bang:

“There were a of cliffhangers at the end of A Dance with Dragons. Those will be resolved very early. I’m going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice [between the forces of Stannis Baratheon and Roose Bolton in and around Winterfell] and the battle at Meereen — the battle of Slaver’s Bay [between the forces of Daenerys Targaryen and the slavers of Yunkai across the Narrow Sea].”

Daenerys Targaryen’s and Tyrion Lannister’s paths will finally cross “in a way,” Martin told EW in 2014, “but for much of the book they’re still apart. They both have quite large roles to play here. Tyrion has decided that he actually would like to live, for one thing, which he wasn’t entirely sure of during the last book, and he’s now working toward that end — if he can survive the battle that’s breaking out all around him. And Dany has embraced her heritage as a Targaryen and embraced the Targaryen words. So they’re both coming home.”

In that same interview, Martin confirmed the Dothraki will return “in a big way” and, as the end of Book 5 suggests, “a lot of stuff is happening at The Wall.” On a more direct yet less consequential note, Martin has said Winds will introduce his “interesting take on unicorns,” according to Winter Is Coming.

Overall, Martin has said to expect things to “get worse before they get better.” “There are a lot of dark chapters right now in the book that I’m writing,” Martin said at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2016 (via EW). “It is called The Winds of Winter, and I’ve been telling you for 20 years that winter was coming. Winter is the time when things die, and cold and ice and darkness fill the world, so this is not going to be the happy feel-good that people may be hoping for. Some of the characters [are] in very dark places.”

Winds of Winter Characters

As of 2016, Martin was not planning to include any new point-of-view characters in Winds. Here’s a quick list of all the characters confirmed to have chapters told from their perspective, per Martin’s hitherto released preview chapters, blog posts, and public readings:

• Tyrion Lannister
• Cersei Lannister
• Jaime Lannister and/or Brienne of Tarth
• Arya Stark
• Sansa Stark
• Bran Stark
• Theon Greyjoy
• Asha Greyjoy
• Victarion Greyjoy
• Aeron Greyjoy/Damphair
• Barristan Selmy
• Arianne Martell
• Areo Hotah
• Jon Connington

While unconfirmed, it’s all but certain Daenerys Targaryen will again be a point-of-view character. Other potential POV characters include Davos Seaworth, Samwell Tarly, and Melisandre. We also know Robb Stark’s wife Jeyne Westerling (replaced in the TV series by a character named Talisa Maegyr) will appear in the prologue, according to Hypable, though Martin didn’t say the section would be written from her perspective.

Winds of Winter: Book vs. TV Show

Given the larger cast and overall scope of the book series, Winds of Winter will differ from what viewers experienced in Game of Thrones. Martin has said characters who died in the series won’t die in the books, and characters who survived in Game of Thrones won’t survive in the books. New characters will be introduced; characters who never appeared on-screen will have important roles to play in the story to come.

Martin wrote about the topic in length in a 2022 blog post:

What I have noticed more and more of late, however, is my gardening is taking me further and further away from the television series. Yes, some of the things you saw on HBO in Game of Thrones you will also see in The Winds of Winter (though maybe not in quite the same ways)… but much of the rest will be quite different.

And really, when you think about it, this was inevitable. The novels are much bigger and much much more complex than the series. Certain things that happened on HBO will not happen in the books. And vice versa. I have viewpoint characters in the books never seen on the show: Victarion Greyjoy, Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah, Jon Connington, Aeron Damphair. They will all have chapters, and the things they do and say will impact the story and the major characters who were on the show. I have legions of secondary characters, not POVs but nonetheless important to the plot, who also figure in the story: Lady Stoneheart, Young Griff, the Tattered Prince, Penny, Brown Ben Plumm, the Shavepate, Marwyn the Mage, Darkstar, Jeyne Westerling. Some characters you saw in the show are quite different than the versions in the novels. Yarra Greyjoy is not Asha Greyjoy, and HBO’s Euron Greyjoy is way, way, way, way different from mine. Quaithe still has a part to play. So does Rickon Stark. And poor Jeyne Poole. And… well, the list is long. (And all this is part of why Winds is taking so long. This is hard, guys).

Oh, and there will be new characters as well. No new viewpoints, I promise you that, but with all these journeys and battles and scheming to come, inevitably our major players will be encountering new people in lands far and near.

One thing I can say, in general enough terms that I will not be spoiling anything: not all of the characters who survived until the end of Game of Thrones will survive until the end of A Song of Ice & Fire, and not all of the characters who died on Game of Thrones will die in A Song of Ice & Fire. (Some will, sure. Of course. Maybe most. But definitely not all.) ((Of course, I could change my mind again next week, with the next chapter I write. That’s gardening)).

And the ending? You will need to wait until I get there. Some things will be the same. A lot will not.

Martin’s comments should be good news for the many fans who felt the quickened pace of Game of Thrones’ final season diluted the character arcs and overarching narratives that came before it.

One last tease: Martin told IGN in 2016 that The Winds of Winter will feature a major twist that couldn’t be done in the show. “It’s something that involves a couple characters,” said Martin, “one of whom is dead in the show [by the end of Season 5] but not dead in the books.”

A Dream of Spring and Other Future Works

A Dream of Spring is the seventh and final book Martin has planned for A Song of Ice and Fire. It, too, is expected to be 1,500 pages or more, according to Martin. As for the story, Martin offered this during the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2016: “I’m not going to tell you how I’m going to end my book, but I suspect the overall flavor is going to be as much bittersweet as it is happy.” There is no timetable for its release.

In addition to finishing Winds and preparing for A Dream of Spring, Martin is authoring a second volume of his Targaryen history, potentially titled Blood & Fire, and additional stories in his Tales of Dunk and Egg series of novellas, which serves as the basis for HBO’s upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms releasing in 2026. Martin continues to serve as an editor of Wild Cards, a shared-universe sci-fi book series he created in 1987. He’s also a producer for two active TV series: House of the Dragon and AMC’s Dark Winds.

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

Nintendo Switch 2 has been out and in the hands of all the early adopters for nearly two months now. If you haven’t pulled the trigger yet on Nintendo’s new hybrid console, you might be wondering if you should pick one up now that the stock shortage appears to be over, or if you should wait for Black Friday. As someone who has written about sales and deals for the past eight years or so, I have some thoughts!

Reasons to Buy Now

Reasons to Wait

It’s Expensive

Look, $450 is a lot. It’s $150 more than the original Switch, which is hard to swallow even when you consider the sizable power increase. But on top of that up-front cost, you’ll also need to buy games and probably some Switch 2 accessories as well — all of which are also more expensive than their counterparts in the last generation. If you can put off spending that much cash until later, when there will be more games to choose from, that’s hard to resist.

There May Be a Black Friday Deal

I wouldn’t plan on seeing a discount on the Switch 2 during Black Friday. What Nintendo has done in the past with the original Switch is include a pack-in game at no additional cost (it was Mario Kart 8 Deluxe every single year). Since the Mario Kart World bundle currently costs $50 more than the Switch 2 console without a bundled game, that would save you some cash – assuming the base price of the console doesn’t get pushed up due to tariffs prior to Black Friday, that is.

There Aren't Many Exclusive Games Yet

As fun as Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza are, that's about it for exciting exclusives at the moment. Sure, you can play Cyberpunk 2077 and Split Fiction on Switch 2, but you can also play them on other platforms. If you can hold off on playing the currently available exclusives, it may make sense to wait until more exclusives are available, especially if you don't have a spare $500 burning a hole in your pocket.

Nintendo Will Likely Release a New Model at Some Point

Nintendo does it every console generation without fail: it releases a new model of the console that’s better in every way than the original hardware. The caveat here is that the new model could take a long time to arrive. The Switch OLED was released in 2021, over four years after the original Switch came out. So waiting that long for a potential Switch 2 upgrade probably isn't the wisest choice.

In Conclusion

In the end, of course, you have to make the decision that's right for you. I weighed all of the above issues myself when Nintendo announced the Switch 2. In the end, I decided to preorder one. I had some extra justification because writing about video games is my job, but even so, it was hard to part with $500 for the bundle.

However, I don’t regret the decision at all. I have lots of fun playing Mario Kart World with my kids, and I’m having an absolute blast with Donkey Kong Bananza now. Plus, I have a backlog of original Switch games I never got around to playing, and they all look phenomenal on the vibrant 8-inch Switch 2 screen.

If you choose to hold off on purchasing one for a possible Black Friday bundle discount, I won’t blame you at all. Spending $500+ is no small thing, and there's no one right choice for everybody. But making the purchase now means you'll have more time to play the awesome games that are already available, and we know plenty more are coming in the future.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN's board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.

Dan Brown returns to his popular character, Robert Langdon, in his brand new novel, The Secret of Secrets, due out in early September.

Right now, fans in the US and UK can take advantage of some great discounts, with savings of 40% for US readers and 50% for those in the UK.

Baseus recently released a new "ultra mini" variant of its Picogo MagSafe power banks, and it certainly lives up to its name. Right now you can save nearly 60% off the 5,000mAh Qi2-certified model when you apply coupon code "RT8XQSCG" in cart, dropping the price to just $28.79 with free shipping. Baseus makes solid power banks and I recommend them as a less expensive alternative to Anker.

Baseus Picogo Ultra Mini 5,000mAh MagSafe Power Bank

The Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set is drawing to a close (at least until Spider-Man’s arrival), with Edge of Eternities debuting in just a few days.

The new sci-fi set will take us to space, and there are new synergies emerging already. This week’s movers and shakers include cards with spaceships and aliens in mind, thanks to data from TCGPlayer.

Climbers: Return of The Gaffer

Players have already spotted a lot of potential in The Gaffer, a three-cost white card who turns lifegain into card advantage.

This card from The Lord of the Rings is seeing a climb ahead of Edge of Eternities, reaching $9 and up, thanks to synergies with Ragost, Deft Gastronaut. It was just $2 not long ago.

Next up, we mentioned Thrumming Hivepool last week, and Hatchery Sliver is another shoo-in for Sliver decks with Edge of Eternities. It’s slithered its way to over $10 pretty quickly.

Sticking with Slivers, The First Sliver from Modern Horizons saw a steep drop but has now started to pick up. Giving your Sliver spells Cascade, and offering a 7/7 body in its own right, it’s likely to be a nuisance to play against, and it’s now $30.

The last Edge of Eternities synergy this week is Sylvan Safekeeper, which plays on the land sacrificing theme of the World Shaper Commander precon. It’s up to $8 and climbing.

Finally, it wouldn’t be a Crashers and Climbers without something to do with the Tidus deck, and this week it’s Wave Goodbye, which sends a board’s worth of cards back to an owner’s hand if their cards don’t have a counter on them.

Crashers: Big Beasts and Baddies

This week’s crashers are well worth a look for just about anyone. First up, Summon: Primal Odin from Final Fantasy is now under $2. Given you can manipulate his lore counters with the right setup, you can keep Zantetsuken primed to deal game-ending damage to players.

One more Final Fantasy one, and it’s Ultima, Origin of Oblivion. This 4/4 could be an ideal inclusion in colorless decks since it gets you double colorless mana, but it also ‘blights’ an opponent’s land. It’s just a dollar.

Next up, we switch our focus to Dragons. Tarkir: Dragonstorm remains one of my favorite sets of this year, and Betor, Kin to All was arguably a better inclusion in the Abzan Armor deck than Betor, Ancestor’s Voice. Now you can right that wrong for under $4.

Sticking with alternative versions of Commanders from the set’s precons, Ureni, the Song Unending is down to under $3 and could be devastating if you can pull enough lands before introducing it.

Finally, Craterhoof Behemoth’s Showcase Halo Foil version is one of the priciest cards in the set, but you can get this big bad beast for around $12-$15 in its standard printing.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.

The best Alienware high-end gaming monitor just went on sale. As part of the Dell Back to School Sale, the 32" Alienware AW3225QF 4K QD OLED gaming monitor has just dropped to $849.99 with free shipping after a $350 off instant discount. If you're looking for the best 4K gaming monitor, this should definitely be on your short list.

Update: You might be eligible for an additional 10% off if sign up for a free Dell account. Log in, heard over to Dell Rewards under the Benefits section, and see if a 10% off monitors coupon is available for you.

32" Alienware AW3225QF 4K OLED Monitor

DC Studios co-CEO and Superman Director James Gunn has pulled back the curtain on the backstory behind Lex Luthor’s elusive henchman, Mr. Handsome.

The comic book bigwig spilled the beans, alongside a gallery of behind-the-scenes pictures, in a post shared on social media. It comes with more details about one of Superman’s more mysterious characters as fans continue to dig into every easter egg packed into the first major DCU movie.

pic.twitter.com/GHV8XjcKmv

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 29, 2025

Of the many, many characters filling the new Man of Steel movie’s two-hour runtime, Gunn says Mr. Handsome just might be his favorite. That’s not because of the Lex Luthor sidekick’s memorable expression or his quiet demeanor but because of his touching beginnings.

“Lex created Mr. Handsome in a Petri dish when he was 12 - he was trying to make a human. He didn't come out so well, but he just might be the only one in the world Lex has any true sentiment for, as evidenced by the photo on his desk.”

Warning! Light spoilers for Superman follow.

Viewers took a liking to Mr. Handsome when he first appeared as Lex Luthor’s personal, pocket-dimension chauffeur a good chunk of the way into the film. He’s a grey, fleshy creature that doesn’t mutter so much as a word throughout the film, and he’s also impossible not to notice thanks to his name and look. In the weeks since the film’s premiere, he’s broken away as one of the characters audiences have most hoped to see more from.

As Gunn clarifies, Mr. Handsome is played by Trevor Newlin, who is known for showing up in films as other strange creatures. His resume includes the likes of Smile 2’s hideous Monstrosity, for example, as well as Alien: Romulus’ Xenomorph.

Lex keeping a picture of Mr. Handsome on his desk (and not his girlfriend) is killing me 😭 https://t.co/kXWxQO6g5q

— The Green Kasey 🎃 (@RawbertBeef) July 29, 2025

Fans have speculated that this Mr. Handsome may have some ties to another Mister Handsome seen in previous DC storylines, but Gunn’s comments all but confirm that the Superman ferryman stands alone as a unique entity in the DCU. At the very least, we’re not sure Lex has ever kept such an endearing photo of another being on his desk quite like this until now.

Mr. Handsome was no doubt the standout for fans and the Superman crew behind the scenes, but DC die-hards are far from done when it comes to finding other details hidden in the new DC movie. Last week, Gunn shared an unobscured look at the History of Metahumans mural tucked away inside Superman’s Hall of Justice. It includes a first look at many of the classic DC heroes who might play a role in the DCU.

For more, you can read our 8/10 Superman review. The David Corenswet-led superhero movie has managed to tower above competition at the box office since its premiere July 11. You can also learn more about every last hero included in that Hall of Justice mural.

Image courtesy of James Gunn.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).