Wrestling superstar CM Punk has compared the online anger at the ending of Stranger Things to the backlash to John Cena's final WWE match, saying both fandoms sometimes display “a slight mental illness" when events don't go the way they had built them up in their heads.

CM Punk, regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, hit out at fans who “just seem to want to be angry about everything because it didn't happen the way they fantasy booked it in their head.”

Stranger Things Season 5’s finale, which left it up to the audience to decide whether Eleven was alive or dead, has proven so divisive that some fans have concocted stories about secret 'Snyder cuts' and theories about a ninth episode that would have revealed the show’s true ending. Both were proven to be fake. Still, a petition to release this supposed “unseen footage” gained nearly 400,000 signatures — despite being debunked by the cast. Some fans are even using generative AI to make alternative Stranger Things endings.

Speaking on My Mom's Basement with Robbie Fox, CM Punk noted parallels between the Stranger Things and wrestling fandoms, expressing concern about people who react with anger to events that don’t go the way they had hoped.

“I see it in wrestling. I see it with fandoms, with Stranger Things,” he said. “People just seem to want to be angry about everything because it didn't happen the way they fantasy booked it in their head. To me that’s a slight mental illness.

“Like, hey I bought tickets to go to this wrestling show and then I look on Twitter and wrestling journalist 345678910 reports that there's going to be a big surprise guest, and I go to this show and there's no big surprise guest, and I spend an unhealthy amount of time complaining about that online. And it's just like, well you weren't promised a big surprise guest. Somebody that probably knows less about what they're talking about than you do and is just a fan just like you, made some shit up on the internet and passed it off as a journalism, and you're getting mad at that.

“I see the same thing with the Stranger Things fandom. People just straight up mad about the way it ended, and I thought the 45 minute epilogue… Mind you, I'm not a feverish Stranger Things fan. I've watched the entire show and it's hard to remember what has happened because they spend way too much time in between seasons, which I feel is a valid criticism. But I thought it was so poetic the way they wrapped it up. At the heart of the movie, it's a nostalgia bomb, but it's about these kids that are bonding over playing Dungeons & Dragons. They're the outcasts, so they find each other and there's a sci-fi element to it. And the way they wrapped it up was just like a dungeon master.”

On Eleven’s ending, specifically, and the ambiguity around her fate, CM Punk added: “I was super happy about it, but people have their opinions. It's just like the John Cena / Gunther finish. I feel like it's the same thing. Some people... maybe I don't think you understand what you're watching. But if you didn't like it, I can also understand that. But to overnight make it your entire personality and spend an unhealthy amount of time talking about it… put it this way, if John won, they'd be mad about that, too. But we wouldn't be talking about it anymore. And we're still talking about that finish. The smile, the tap. ‘Oh my god, The guy who said don't give up just gave up.’

“Everybody's an expert. I thought it was beautiful.”

The John Cena / Gunther ending refers to John Cena's emotional final WWE match in December 2025, where he lost to Gunther via submission, officially concluding his legendary career with a symbolic "passing of the torch" to a dominant new champion, though fans had mixed reactions to Cena's "Never Give Up" persona tapping out.

Let me level with you folks right up top: Code Violet is a bad game. No judgement (some judgement) if you saw tasteful (and sometimes not) screenshots and trailers featuring its beautiful brunette protagonist mixing it up with dinosaurs and felt compelled to pick this up just to ogle. But if you want anything else from Code Violet, like a compelling story with interesting characters or an engrossing crucible of tense and savvy action horror to conquer, then you’ve come to the wrong raptor-infested space station. The best it can give you is terrible third-person shooting, boring level design, and technical blunders that make stalking through this futuristic bloodbath feel prehistoric.

Code Violet’s story is unapologetically tropey science fiction, mixing far future space colonization, genetic modification, and more to make this final girl survival story as impenetrable as possible. Bits and pieces of the tale are interesting, though that’s mostly limited to side stories and lore found in the journal entries of victims scattered among the wreckage. But almost everything you play through and watch in cutscene form is derivative, awkwardly animated and acted, and forgettable. Avoiding spoilers, even when things get truly bonkers towards the end (in a similar fashion to developer TeamKill Media’s Quantum Error from 2023), all the new and drastic revelations that should be monumental to the story at hand instead feel rushed and full of twists and turns that are either undercooked or entirely too convoluted. The very few other characters you meet are barely more than one-note exposition dispensers who you’ll watch your hero, Violet, worry and cry over and never really understand why.

Violet herself is a hollow shell with no motivations outside of doing what others tell her to do, as well as being incredulous and weepy when weird and sometimes difficult events arise. She’s meant to fill a sort of Jill Valentine or Lara Croft archetype of tough gals that can think their way through most challenges, and shoot their way through the rest. But while those two video game legends have agency and capability developed through their laundry lists of heroic feats, snappy dialogue, and sometimes dense inner monologues, Violet’s own thoughts about the happenings around her seem absent from most interactions. She only feels particularly good at anything when I’m in the driver’s seat, tip toeing down hallways and filling dinosaurs full of lead.

This is doubly damning. Outside of being a missed opportunity to introduce a good new character into the greater video game lexicon, it also makes Code Violet’s leering, pervy camera work and extensive dress up options feel like it's crossing the line from fun into creepy. There are tons of characters in games who successfully make being sexy or flirty a major part of their schtick, and the best ones are those that come across as completely in control of their own image while they do so. So its an unfortunate irony that in a post-Baldur’s Gate 3/Stellar Blade world, one where people have never been more ready to accept hunky himbos and skimpy seductresses, Code Violet found one of the few ways to do it wrong.

I played on a regular PlayStation 5 rather than a Pro, and at mid-to-far distances, a few parts of Code Violet really do look good. That’s especially true in the more creatively designed areas, like when you’re outside looking up as islands float in the purplish void of the sky. When you get up close, however, textures can get muddied and metallic surfaces reflect light in gaudy ways that seem off putting for the grunge and grime that sometimes smears them. And most of the heavy metal halls you’ll skulk down are uninspired sci-fi staples that don’t feel any different than any other game that asks players to escape from a locked down hellhole of a science facility. Doom 3 pulled this aesthetic off far more effectively over 20 years ago.

There’s occasional flair, some statues that would look more at home in a medieval castle than a space base, for instance. There’s no real explanation for them, though you can make inferences based on some late-game happenings, but at the moment they come off largely as “it’s here just because.” One curious thing I did always stop to look at were the soda machines and various oil paintings that stick out like a sore thumb in this setting. Not because I found them to be particularly riveting (some were admittedly cool-looking), but mostly because I couldn’t stop trying to determine if they were AI generated or not – I’m no expert, so the jury is still out on that, but they certainly give off that vibe.

Those cool outdoor skyscapes hang over the rote and bland grasslands you’ll have to trudge through to get from one building to another almost mockingly. The limited time you spend in these zones is transitory. They basically serve as long hallways with bundles of tall grass to crouch behind when enemies are on patrol. You don’t even get a map to use, and you won’t need one as it will be very obvious where you need to go next, with very little opportunity to diverge from this critical path. Maybe these sections were meant to serve as some reprieve from the dark, claustrophobic halls of the various facilities on this planet, but other than having a brighter color palette, they feel exactly the same to navigate through.

Back indoors, rooms that might have something to investigate or shoot are separated by long hallways with nothing to spice up the transition from one action zone to another. This almost never changes across the handful of maps you’ll explore, creating a predictable, slogging pace between rooms. Part of what makes games like Dead Space so tense is that any and every room feels like one you could be maimed in. In Code Violet, you can be reasonably sure that most of its rooms exist just to be walked through by you and nothing else. Scoping out extra upgrade materials to strengthen your weapons or finding hidden keys or combinations to open certain lockers are the only good reasons to stray off the path, and even then I learned to go without these things pretty early on because the effort often wasn't worth the prize – they usually meant enduring the crumbling fossil of Code Violet’s combat system for longer than necessary.

Violet herself is agile and swift in line with most third person games of this ilk, and even has a Resident Evil-style back stepping dodge, which you will use a lot to create space between yourself and incoming dinosaurs. In a straight up skirmish with these scaly foes, a well-timed dash back can really befuddle the raptors, shattering their simple gameplan of running at you, taking a big swing, pausing, and doing it again. There’s limited space before you hit a wall or a door that might have automatically closed behind you, though, so you can only backdash so much before making yourself a much easier snack to catch. The camera will collide with these barriers far sooner than Violet will, rendering any encounter that doesn’t take place in the dead center of the room a completely unintelligible mess for as long as it takes you to get the camera refocused. Indoors, this was a frequent headache, and lingered like a second, scarier jump scare waiting to pounce after a raptor bursts out of the wall.

The variety of these jurassic jerks is a let down, with large or small velociraptors and poison-spitting dilophosauruses making up the bulk of the non-boss foes. Each type has its own behaviors, but they are shallow and predictable. Big raptors just run and swipe at you until either you or it are dead. Small raptors are usually in packs and make a conga line toward you, taking a swipe before running away, only to immediately turn around and do it all over again. The spitters just stand in one place and shoot, opting to close the distance only when you do so first. You’ll encounter some gator-like creatures in the last third of the approximately six hour campaign, but they barely bother to deal with you so long as you don’t enter their waters, making them extremely easy targets.

Any challenge I got from these mouthy menaces came from how erratic and stupid they could be, often getting caught in the environment while attempting to reach me or disengaging once I simply walked the other direction. Their bullet spongy, stun resistant nature also means that they can just run up and take a bite out of you before they die, not quite becoming a danger, but definitely becoming an annoyance since any hit from them could potentially cause you to bleed, which can kill you if you don’t treat it in time. This is all true for the remarkably few boss fights as well – you may be facing a scaly man-dino hybrid now, but almost nothing about the strategy of walking backwards, dodging on time, and then countering with a face full of lead has to change.

At the same time, all these lazy lizards have a sort of supernatural omniscience. Even when you make your best attempts to sneak into or around a room, there's a great chance that they already know where you are and are on their way to kill you. On top of that, so many encounters involve you opening a door to see dinosaurs staring directly at you or are scripted events where they have the drop on you, so there aren’t many attempts to stay quiet to begin with. Unless you’re using the GlassVeil function of Violet’s suit, which can render you sometimes comically invisible for a short period, stealth is a large waste of time in most areas. I say comically because you can use it mid-fight with a dinosaur, and there’s a good chance they will simply give up any attempt to find you and return to milling around aimlessly when you do. Hilariously, this strategy even works on bosses, who will completely stop and wait for you to reveal yourself, usually with gunfire, and then make a half-assed attempt to follow up until you reappear.

The real enemy are the myriad bugs that can’t wait to bite and peck at your progress. Sometimes the sound mix will run off the rails or a very important skybox, one that might hold valuable information about a puzzle, simply won’t load. Weapons sometimes display the wrong ammo counts, or just disappear from your inventory all together – which I guess is a fair trade for the fact that every item I used directly out of my storage box didn’t actually expend it in the review build we were provided, meaning I could always heal to full at any safe room I made it to. (TeamKill Media tells us it’s already aware and working on fixes for some of these bugs, such as the infinite storage item issue, but didn't say when those might arrive.)

Warning: This review contains full spoilers for The Pitt Season 2, Episode 1!

The Pitt is certainly a refreshing blast from the past in today’s streaming TV landscape. Not only does the relatively long, 15-episode structure hearken back to a simpler time, but it’s a series that doesn’t leave us hanging for years in between new seasons. The Pitt is already back for Season 2, almost a year to the day that the first season debuted, and it doesn’t miss a beat in the process.

Clearly, creator/showrunner R. Scott Gemmill has no intention of reinventing the wheel with Season 2. Once again, we connect with Noah Wyle’s Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch at the start of what promises to be another grueling day shift at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. The real-time format that worked so well last time around is still in full effect.

Things do seem to be looking up a bit for Robby compared to where we last saw him at the end of Season 1. As far as we can tell, he’s no longer plagued by PTSD-laden memories of the COVID pandemic, and he’s even gearing up for a badly needed three-month sabbatical. Something tells me he’ll be desperate for that escape by the end of the season…

The one real notable change from Season 1 is that Tracy Ifeachor’s Dr. Collins is gone, with Sepideh Moafi stepping in as new attending physician Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi. This is a bit of a disappointment, as Ifeachor was one of the highlights among Season 1’s uniformly strong cast. Moreover, it didn’t feel as though her story was finished after Season 1, despite whatever creative decisions led to this shake-up. That’s definitely a sore spot heading into the new season.

Not that Moafi struggles to float among that strong cast. She immediately makes a strong impression as a stern, methodical force trying to instill order in a sea of chaos. And as much as Robby and Collins butted heads at times in Season 1, it’s clear that Baran is meant to be a much more antagonistic presence in his life. If anything, this episode probably goes a little too hard on that front. It’s hard to react to the character as anything other than an annoying interloper, given her prickly demeanor and the way she’s so blatantly out of step with Robby’s managerial style.

Clearly, that’s the intent with her character. Robby is the closest thing we have to a focal point on the show, and we’re meant to mistrust this Gloria-approved rule stickler as much as he does. But, hopefully, over the course of this season, we’ll see different shades of Baran and come to appreciate her medical philosophy a bit more.

Easily the highlight of Episode 1 is reconnecting with Patrick Ball’s Dr. Frank Langdon. Not only is this Robby’s last day on the job before vacation, but it’s also Langdon’s first day back after completing drug rehab. He’s the character who’s grown and changed the most in the months since Season 1’s shift from Hell, and you get a great sense of that in Ball’s performance. The confidence and bravado are diminished, replaced by a man who’s unsure of himself and trying to regain some semblance of order in his life. Ball is great here, particularly during his touching reunion with Ernest Harden Jr.’s Louie (whose story I can only assume is going to take a dark turn this season).

Other than that, it’s mostly business as usual for the Pitt crew. The rest of the main cast returns, even Katherine LaNasa’s Dana Evans, the one character I would have thought was being retired after Season 1 (not that more Dana is a bad thing by any stretch). The various residents and interns have had the better part of a year to gain some experience, and it’s fun watching that evolution play out in the various subplots. Gerran Howell’s Dennis Whitaker in particular comes across as a whole new man compared to Season 1, and it’s fun watching him exercise a little authority for a change. The jury is still out on the new batch of trainees, however, and I’m sure it’ll once again take several episodes to even memorize their names.

It’s definitely the start of a slow burn for Season 2, and it’s going to take several episodes to build toward the sheer chaos and life-or-death stakes we eventually got with Season 1. If anything, this episode feels a bit more light-hearted, finding ample moments for humor and reminding us with Charles Baker’s Troy that compassion is often the best medicine. Things will get darker soon enough, and I’m very much looking forward to it.

I'm actually seeing more deals on prebuilt gaming PCs and solid laptops than usual, which is very strange considering we're in the middle of a chip shortage where RAM, DRAM, and solid-state storage are concerned. Whilst component prices are shooting up, products already on the market are dropping, and I've got some cracking examples in today's Daily Deals to build on from yesterday's finds.

TL;DR: Deals for Today

Laptops and PCs focused on gamers are currently available for every kind of budget, and with people looking at older GPUs and RAM to put into their builds to save money, this is the time to push the button on a new build or laptop before newer models come in with that AI-fuelled price increase. I've never known a time like this in the PC gaming space; it's like buying a Pokémon card whilst the price is low but you know it's about to skyrocket.

I've also found even more deals on gaming accessories, CPUs, gaming monitors, gaming TVs, and some hot Apple MacBook and iPad deals. Let's get into it:

More Gaming Laptop Deals

The best gaming laptop for the money here is the MSI Vector 16 HX AI for $1,648. Granted, the processor isn't as good as the $2,099.00 ROG Strix, but it's still more than capable at backing up the packed-in RTX 5070 Ti laptop GPU and rocks 16GB DDR5, which is plenty for solid high-frame 1440p gaming. The 512GB SSD isn't ideal, but it's an easy upgrade down the line. You could, of course, double your RAM, get a better CPU, and get a 2TB M.2 SSD with the ROG Strix G16, but I don't personally think it's worth the extra $450 to get there.

More Gaming PC Deals

The Alienware Aurora is the cheapest build here, but it's only got an RTX 5060 Ti. That's fine if you just want a 1080p gaming machine for Fortnite, but frankly, you're paying some brand tax even after a cheeky discount.

Whilst I'd love for everyone to have $2.6k to spend on a liquid-cooled Radeon RX 9070 XT build, I'd go with the HP OMEN 45L for $2,284.99. 32GB DDR5 RAM is going to be relevant for years to come, and that also means your motherboard is good for any DDR5 or Intel CPU upgrades down the line (check that socket type before you do!). With DLSS 4.5 and 6x Frame Generation either just dropping or coming later this Spring, an RTX 5070 Ti is going to be plenty of power for a solid 1440p experience. You could even try and push to 4K with some lower settings, but 1440p is 100% the sweet spot for PC gaming with ridiculous frame rates.

Apple iPad and Macbook Deals

If you're more about the Apple ecosystem, hats have to go off to their unified memory and M4/M5 SoCs. They're bloody rapid and perfect for all kinds of productivity and creative work, but gaming not so much. Any opportunity to shave off some Apple brand tax is a good deal, and I personally love iPad Pro M5s combined with an Apple Pencil for 3D sculpting, drawing, and painting. It's a seamless and smooth experience that rivals dedicated drawing tablets.

AMD Threadripper Sale

If you're wanting to put a Threadripper into your gaming setup, then you're wasting your money. But if you need some of the fastest rendering times, run complex simulations, manage engineering workloads, or run compile farms (and yes, fine-tuning, inference, and data pre-processing AI/machine learning), this is the CPU to get. It will also unlock support for large Gen 5 PCIe lanes, ECC DDR5 support, and AVX-512 acceleration. If none of this makes sense to you, this likely isn't an investment you need to make. But for the right person, all of these Threadripper deals are a steal.

Gaming Monitor and TV Deals

PC gaming belongs on gaming monitors, mostly due to them supporting far higher frame rates, G-SYNC/FreeSync support, and low latency. You won't be playing Fortnite at 170 FPS on any TV in 2026, sadly, but a gaming monitor will get you there depending on your budget.

That's not to say TVs aren't getting close. TCL is knocking out 120–140Hz on some of their latest panels up to 98 inches. They're more than capable of handling PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2, and PCs too. It just depends on how you want your setup to look and how you want to play.

Game Controller and Keyboard Deals

It's the most expensive on this list, but SteelSeries gear really is quality. Every keyboard and mouse I've tried from them felt amazing and purpose-made for my fat sausage fingers. In all honesty, every product listed is fantastic, but I personally would always go for SteelSeries. You've got their magical HyperMagnetic switches, which feel super responsive with a lovely bounce-back, and my Apex Pro TKL Wired Gen 3 handles absolutely everything from writing the words you're reading to Diablo IV to Fortnite.

Gaming PC and Laptop Deals

If you want a prebuilt gaming PC with legs and room for larger GPU upgrades down the line with ample cooling, I'd go with the Skytech Shadow Gaming PC. It's a good entry point for 1080p, high frame-rate gaming. Unlike the Storm and Crystal models, you're getting DDR5 RAM and an RTX 5060 Ti, which boasts higher performance over the standard 5060 and 5050 GPUs. Plus, the cheaper models only have a DDR4 RAM motherboard. If you're looking for a cheap build before RAM, GPU and SSD prices skyrocket, Skytech Shadow is a fair price by parts comparison and sets you up for future GPU upgrades without the worry of also replacing RAM and the motherboard.

If you'd prefer a gaming laptop, I'd 100% pay the extra $120 to get the Ryzen AI 9 270 CPU and RTX 5070 Mobile GPU. Yes, you're getting the same 32GB DDR5 RAM and 1TB SSD, but you're getting far better performance from the CPU and GPU.

Gaming Keyboard Deals

Gaming keyboards all do the same job more or less; it mostly comes down to the different type of switches and keycaps you prefer. If you like a low-profile laptop keyboard, Razer Joro is a good pick. If you want clicky button presses, wireless functionality and all the bells and whistles you could possibly want on a keyboard, ASUS ROG Azoth Extreme Wireless is $100 off right now.

A solid mid-range pick would be the Razer BlackWidow V4 Mini HyperSpeed Wireless. It has a massive 200-hour battery with quiet orange switches and pudding keycaps. For a budget gaming keyboard, I'd highly recommend Glorious GMMK for a cheeky 10% off right now. It has brown mechanical switches, which serve as a great hybrid for work and gaming. Plus, it's modular, making it a great modding platform.

Gaming Mice Deals

Again, it really comes down to preference when it comes to gaming mice. I prefer having something I can grip with some curves built into the sides. When it comes to a cheap wired option that's built well and has some RGB to make me game faster, I'd go for Glorious Model D (Minus) at a reasonable $28.68.

If we're talking wireless, I'd shell out $99.99 for ASUS ROG Keris II. The battery life is a respectable 127 hours, has up to 42K DPI alongside tri-mode connectivity. It's a versatile and responsive bit of kit with the ergonomics I look for in gaming mice.

Home Workout Deals

Half the challenge of going to the gym is getting into the mindset to get in there and put some graft in; it's intimidating for a lot of people. Luckily, there are a couple of ways to get a fantastic workout at home. The first route is equipment with a service, specifically Peloton. The deal is you can either pick a treadmill or exercise bike, grab a subscription and get that personal trainer experience in the comfort of your own home with all the bells and whistles of the latest high-tech, gym-quality equipment.

If you just want to go at your own pace whilst having quality gym equipment at home, EVKRun’s treadmill is $180 off right now at $399.98. It supports up to 400lbs, has 3.5HP and reaches speeds of up to 8.5MPH. If you're more interested in toning up over cardio, Pooboo's Power Cage is a squat rack, lateral pull-down system backed by a dual pulley cable configuration. It also includes various strength training attachments at a tidy $400 discount down to $1,199.99.

Portable Power Station Deals

Even if you're just looking for a power backup that you can charge at the wall, Portable Power Stations are products that you think you don't need until you get a power cut or you need some electricity whilst camping for a number of reasons.

I use an Anker SOLIX Power Station as a fail-safe for my office and gaming setup. If I have a power cut or surge, I have absolutely nothing to fear. Not only do I have that added protection of the Power Station keeping the electricity flowing as it should to my PC, but it gives me backup power to save my work or game progress before using it for something really important, like keeping my kids warm.

Picking a solar panel option makes sure you can stay powered on when camping or sitting in a field doing nothing whilst ignoring nature and gaming. Perfection.

MTG: Cheapest at Amazon

Amazon is putting out some decent pricing, with my favorite pick here being the "Game Edition" of Cloud Strife-themed Limit Break Commander Deck. It's around the same price as TCGPlayer, making it market value, with the artwork being based on in-game moments instead of the traditional MTG artwork.

The same can be said for the Marvel's Spider-Man Play Booster Box containing 30 booster packs with the following:
• 14 Magic: The Gathering cards
• 1–4 cards of rarity Rare or higher
• 3–6 Uncommon cards
• 6–9 Common cards
• 1 Land card (Traditional Foil Land replaces a Land in 20% of boosters)
• 1 card of any rarity is Traditional Foil; Foil Showcase Mythic Rare in 1% of boosters

MTG: Cheapest at TCGPlayer

Meanwhile, TCGPlayer is the place to go for MTG preorders. It's the cheapest for the Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box and Bundle, with the next Universes Beyond entry Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Play Booster Box, Turtle Power! Commander Deck and Bundle, the latter being over $15 cheaper than Amazon.

There's some gorgeous Final Fantasy scene boxes coming in cheaper than Amazon too, not to mention the standard Limit Break Commander Deck being just under $5 cheaper on TCGPlayer. It pays to shop around for sure.

Alienware Area-51 RTX 5090

2 Lisen 6.6ft 240W USB Type-C Cables

JVSCAM Cordless Electric Air Duster

Pokémon TCG: Market Value at Amazon

Well, the good news is you can get the Phantasmal Flames Elite Trainer Box with Prime delivery without getting stung. It has nine booster packs, a gorgeous Charcadet Illustration Rare promo, Mega Charizard X–themed sleeves, card dividers, a tournament-legal coin, alongside some nice-looking dice.

Cynthia’s Garchomp ex Premium Collection has four Journey Together and two Destined Rivals booster packs, so if Trainer Pokémon cards are your thing, you’re good to go.

Pokémon TCG: Cheapest at TCGPlayer

If it were me making a choice from the TCGPlayer selection here, I’d go for the Destined Rivals Booster Bundle. It’s $13 cheaper than Amazon right now and works out at $4.66 per booster pack, which is one of the best prices I’ve seen for Destined Rivals booster packs recently.

If you want a decent Mega ex card for your Grass-type deck, I’d recommend the Mega Venusaur ex Premium Collection. If you run Meganium alongside it from Mega Evolution, you can double your Grass Energy value while being able to move a Grass Energy from one Pokémon to another thanks to their abilities. That means you can set up and use Mega Venusaur ex’s “Jungle Dump” attack for 240 damage in one turn (it costs four Grass Energy).

You’ll also get the following booster packs:

• 2 × Mega Evolution
• 2 × Destined Rivals
• 4 × Journey Together

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

I went in intending to bookmark one or two deals and came out with a full-blown identity crisis about my free time. This list is stacked with more than a few all-timers, some are deeply silly, and a few are dangerously cheap for how much of your soul they will consume. Consider yourself warned.

Contents

• Retro
• Nintendo
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• PC
• PC Gear
• LEGO

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I’m celebrating the 22nd birthday of Street Fighter Alpha 3 on GBA, a near impossibly good take of the PS One version. Though the BGMs and voice SFX weren’t always authentic, and the fighters had fewer animation frames, Crawfish Interactive otherwise shoryukened this shoehorned-down port out of the park. I got much RSI of the thumbs playing this on the go (especially using the “portable only” fighter additions of Yun, Eagle, Ingrid, and Maki). That progressed to early-onset arthritis when a mate got his own cart and a Ryu/Ken rivalry ensued via Game Link Cable.

The Dungeon Crawler Carl series is getting a new entry this year and you can already preorder yourself a copy. The popular LitRPG series has been seeing an explosion in sales over the last few years, but for those of us who have been reading since the very beginning, the wait for book eight has been the longest yet. The new book from Matt Dinniman is officially titled "Parade of Horribles" and is set to release on May 12, 2026.

Preorders for this book are now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and pretty much every other online bookstore available. Cover art has yet to be revealed for the hardcover edition.

A Parade of Horribles Is Now Up for Preorder

Kathryn Hahn (Agatha All Along, The Studio) is reportedly in talks to play Mother Gothel in Disney’s live-action Tangled remake.

Information about a popular fancast potentially coming true originates from a Deadline report. The site says Hahn hasn’t yet locked down the role of the villain for the reimagining of the Disney animated classic, but if she does, it will make a lot of fans online very happy.

Avowed is the latest Xbox Game Studios creation to head to PlayStation, developer Obsidian announced today.

This news came as part of an interview on the New Game+ Showcase, where Obsidian developers shared that the February 17 launch on PS5 would coincide with the game's promised anniversary update on all platforms.

The anniversary update contains a number of long-requested features, including a New Game Plus mode, a Photo Mode, the ability to play three new races (Aumaua, Orlan, and Dwarves), a new weapon type, the ability to change appearance in the overworld, and a number of other asked-for upgrades.

Pre-orders for the PS5 version will go live today, and the update will be available for free for those who already own it on other platforms.

Avowed came out almost a year ago (hence the anniversary update), and we gave it a 7/10 at the time. While we said it has "awesome worldbuilding and stellar character writing", it also "plays it quite safe with a by-the-numbers fantasy adventure."

Avowed's move to PlayStation is part of a larger trend of Xbox releasing its first-party games on its competitor platform, including recently Forza Horizon 5, Doom: The Dark Ages, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and even Halo.. It's a strategy that seems to be working for them okay in some respects - in one quarter of last year, six of the ten best-selling games on PlayStation were Xbox-published. And its leadership has publicly embraced the idea that consumers find platform exclusivity to be "antiquated."

Will this strategy serve them well as hardware prices skyrocket and players gravitate more toward forever games? We took a stab at guessing how Xbox's 2026 will go, and you can read those predictions here.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Embark Studios says it ‘should do a lot more’ with trading in Arc Raiders, but some players are worried about how a potential in-game market might affect the experience.

CEO Patrick Söderlund expressed interest in a more robust trade feature for the popular extraction shooter during a recent interview with GamesBeat. The chat, which took place during an Arc Raiders session that lasted nearly two hours, saw the studio head touch on everything from movie deals to aggression-based matchmaking, but it’s the topic of trading that managed to get the community riled up.

keep it out. there’s no need for trading. All it will encourage is RMT or cheater services. leave out any type of player developed economy. Pls

— 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖜𝖓 (@shawnsafk) November 3, 2025

“We’re going to want to do more [with trading] because it’s fun. It’s a good part of the game,” Söderlund teased. “I agree: We should do a lot more of the trading component in the game, and also allow people to trade amongst each other, etc. I think it’s fun. It’s something that we absolutely have to look at long term.”

Although some players have found their own ways to swap weapons and other rare loot between each other, proper trading support is largely absent from Arc Raiders. While Embark is interested in changing that, portions of the community aren’t thrilled about how something like an in-game marketplace, or even auctions, could impact the sci-fi shooter.

As Söderlund’s comments made their way to the internet, so, too, did posts from users concerned that trading could take away from the thrill of extracting. For these players, it’s a matter of keeping the fundamental Arc Raiders gameplay loop intact.

“The entire point of this game is to find loot and extract safely with it,” one Reddit user explained. “If you add a system where people can stockpile coins and then purchase everything without any risk, what is the point? Where will be that moment where you find something you're looking for and rush to an extract on the edge of your seat?”

“I hope they won’t add a player to player trading system,” another added. “There is no need for that. All we need is nice events, new content/maps once in a while and a fix for micro stutters. Love the game.”

Fear of a fleshed-out trade system for Arc Raiders also seems to stem from those who believe players will simply be able to purchase any weapon or item they want. Some Escape from Tarkov fans have also stepped in to warn of how they feel trading affected that game, with one player saying, “Once trading is added, everything turns into a dollar value and that’s all that matters.” Others question how additional trade support would even work in Arc Raiders in its current form.

“What the hell am I supposed to trade with people?” another post asks. “Reset was 3 weeks ago and I have pretty much everything again. There's not nearly enough loot in this game for a trading system to work. Unless they introduce items with random attributes, like in Warframe or Diablo, which would destroy balance.”

There is a section of the Arc Raiders player base concerned about trading, but there are also those who believe slight changes for player-to-player exchanges could actually improve the experience. Some have already organized trading services outside of the game itself, with others believing that an in-game system, if done right, could encourage the more casual fans to stick around.

Either way, players should note Embark has far from confirmed that official Arc Raiders trading additions are on the way, nor has it explained what shape something like that could take.

“There’s nothing that we’ve decided yet, but that’s the fun part of building something like this: This is really the start of something,” Söderlund added. “We believe that there’s so many things that we can look into and do and add to the game. It’s fun.”

Now that the holidays have come to an end, Arc Raiders is gearing up for 2026. Today, Embark outlined its plan to tackle cheaters after fans and streamers began publicly voicing their concerns online. The studio is also looking into balance updates, with a new patch set to roll out soon, but don’t expect any leaderboards to make their way into the game.

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

Greenland 2: Migration arrives in theaters on Friday, January 9.

Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin are back as the extinction-surviving Garritys in Greenland 2: Migration, now joined by Roman Griffin Davis as their son, Nathan. In this above-average sequel to 2020's Greenland, our first family of of the apocalypse must find a new home after their quaint, claustrophobic years of living in a bunker get dangerously disrupted by moving tectonic plates.

There are about as many crazed, unbelievable moments here as one can expect from a global disaster flick, but Migration moves fast, and like the first movie, focuses on the three main characters, relying on our investment in their safety and well-being to pull us through the wreckage and suspend our discerning, doubting tendencies. The horrors and hazards in Migration are found in the ravaged post-apocalyptic world itself, from violent natural threats to the evils of desperate humans, and the story does a nice job of staggering, varying, and escalating these obstacles. It should be mentioned though that Nathan's diabetes, which was a major part of the first film, only gets lip service here, presumedly so that new complications can be explored.

Ultimately, in wasteland adventure like this, it doesn't matter if it's comet fragments or radiation storms or zombies (there are no zombies, to be clear). The message is simple: Outside is bad and shelter is good. The goal for John and Allison Garrity is to get their son to a possible paradise so that he can actually live and not just survive. Yes, the ginormous Clarke comet crater itself could contain a viable, thriving environment free of toxins and disasters, but it will mean getting all the way to Southern France.

Migration doesn't forge new ground or break any molds, but it is a mindful continuation that hits the right emotional notes and provides some solid jumps. Butler has played cops and soldiers, but he's even better as an "everyman," using his warm gravely voice and charisma to carry the weight of the (destroyed) world as he and his family squeak through cursed crucibles, sidestepping perils left and right. Butler knows his cinematic lane, and because of this, he's become one of the most stealthily successful B-movie bankabilities in the business. In fact, he and Jason Statham are probably the only two dudes getting theatrical releases for their mid-budget action movies right now; if they ever star in a film together, there might be a multiversal incursion.

With that said, Greenland is the latest of Butler's better-than-expected projects to get a sequel after his Has Fallen series, Den of Thieves, and 2023's Plane (though that's continuing as a Mike Colter vehicle). And Greenland worked in the first place both because of Butler's anchoring presence and the fact that the story focused on the Garrity family instead of just treating the story like a one-man show. Morena Baccarin is a big reason why the first movie resonated, with Allison sharing the spotlight as a full character during the global turmoil. Migration recognizes the importance of its three principal leads, and especially John and Ali's bond. It's a lean dystopian machine, swiftly taking our heroes through moments of brief chaos and briefer calm as they take a huge risk in betting on the crater containing some sort of natural utopia.

Migration isn't as ferocious as, say, a 28 Days Later, but it's also not cornball like most Roland Emmerich End Times movies. It resides in a safe, enjoyable middle that's both violent and bloodless. Director Ric Roman Waugh (who, yes, does have a Jason Statham movie coming out at the end of the month) keeps a confident hand on the wheel, providing only the necessary and delivering some cool, harrowing set pieces (like the gorge/ladder moment shown above). For those wondering if there was actually a story to tell after the first Greenland, the answer is yes, especially if you felt the first film was possibly leading up to a big character moment that never happened. Migration puts the Garritys through it again while also closing the Clarke comet hellscape book in a satisfying manner.

Primate arrives in theaters on Friday, January 9.

Primate is an inarguably silly movie and yet it leans into that silliness in just the right way. Though it never actually turns into meta commentary or self-parody, you still get the feeling that all involved, starting with director and co-writer Johannes Roberts, knew this should be a goofy good time. And crucially, Roberts also knew it would be best served as a goofy gory good time, delivering a movie far more brutal and graphic than the trailers have indicated, which helps make it an even more satisfyingly over-the-top experience. Seriously, they really should have gone with a redband trailer for this one to more properly sell what it has to offer!

Roberts sets the bar with the film’s in medias res opening, which includes a rather fantastic and attention-getting moment of killer chimp violence that elicited unexpected early applause from the audience I saw it with. I wouldn’t be shocked if the decision to begin with this flash-forward was done in the editing room, because the actual story set-up that follows feels a bit too drawn out for this type of movie. And yet the promise of that opening lingers over everything, as an assurance that we shouldn’t worry; the reason we’re all here is on its way and it’s going to deliver.

The eventual killer in question in the story is Ben, a domesticated chimp living alongside popular author Adam (Troy Kotsur) and his daughters, Lucy (Johnny Sequoyah) and Erin (Gia Hunter), in their beautiful cliffside Hawaiian home. Lucy is just returning home after a long absence in the wake of her mother’s death, with a bit of backstory about her mom being a linguistics expert to explain how Ben came to live with them. If Primate is trying to suggest why you shouldn’t domesticate an animal like Ben, it’s only there as background rather than anything overt or meaningful, but that’s fine for this type of movie. Ben is a loving part of the family until he’s not, and though we get a quick glimpse of the chimp as the sweet-natured guy he always was until now, the movie’s tone ultimately goes to extremes that don’t ask us to cry about the tragedy of what’s happening so much as cheer on the mayhem like we would in a slasher film. If you sometimes end up still feeling Team Ben, well, that makes sense too, because he’s just giving the crowd what they want.

Once we get through the family drama backstory and the unnecessary inclusion of a brewing competition between Lucy and her pseudo-friend Hannah (Jessica Alexander) over the affections of Lucy's longtime crush, Nick (Benjamin Cheng), Primate is commendably lean and mean. The story takes place over one long night as Lucy, her sister, and her friends try to fend off Ben after he snaps and begins brutally killing anyone who crosses his path. At that point, it thankfully concentrates on delivering the goods in terms of tension and exciting kills vs. too many unnecessary elements for a story of this nature. My only big distraction? Trying to figure out why the book signing Adam has traveled to seems to be happening pretty damn late at night for such an event.

This story streamlining (Ernest Riera wrote the script with Roberts) includes skipping past some of the specifics for the how and why of what’s happened to Ben. We know from the start that it’s an oldie but goodie horror set-up – rabies – that will make Ben turn homicidal, as Primate kicks off with a helpful block of text to give us some rabies history. At one point, one character incredulously notes rabies isn’t found in Hawaii, but that line simply serves the purpose of acknowledging this fact rather than leading to a bigger reveal. We never get the expected scenes showing how, say, someone smuggled an animal they shouldn’t into Hawaii that turned out to be carrying rabies…and yet we really don’t need to get that. It’s enough to know that somehow rabies got to Hawaii, a mongoose with rabies bit Ben, and now we’re enjoying the bloody results.

Roberts, whose previous credits include The Strangers: Prey at Night and 47 Meters Down, does a very good job of mixing the straightforward, visceral thrills of his gruesome kill scenes with some genuine moments of tension. He probably has Ben suddenly appear right next to someone a couple times too many, but it works like a charm more often than not. You can also often feel that Roberts is in on the joke, most especially when two horny, drunken douchebag bros (Tienne Simon and Charlie Mann) who are absolutely begging to be massacred by a killer chimp turn up for just that purpose.

The cast, including Sequoyah and Victoria Wyant (as Lucy’s best friend), do solid work in the midst of this innately wacky scenario. Yes, it’s funny to see the charming Kotsur in this type of popcorn movie just a few years after winning an Oscar for CODA, but hey, that’s life in Hollywood. Roberts incorporates the deafness of both Kotsur and his character, Adam, into the story using effective cinematic methods we’ve certainly seen before, including moments of full silence when we cut to Adam’s perspective. Also providing a crucial element is composer Adrian Johnston, who gives the film a 1980s-style synth score that has a cool and creepy vibe.

As for Ben himself, huge kudos to everyone involved in the creation of this character. Rather than using CGI like you might expect these days, Ben was brought to life using an impressively complex animatronic suit created by Millennium FX, with actor and movement specialist Miguel Torres Umba actually wearing the costume and playing Ben. The end result of the partnership between Millenium FX and Umba is that Ben truly looks great; you can easily buy into him as a full-fledged and increasingly angry and deranged character, as he first hunts his prey and then bashes, smashes, and tears them apart in various ways.

Hey, fellow Undertale and Deltarune fan. Did you know there was a Deltarune ARG going on? Did you know it's technically been going on for three years now? Yeah, neither did I!

I first learned about the Deltarune ARG (Alternate Reality Game) earlier this week, when a video about it surfaced in my YouTube recommendations. I started out just mildly curious, but I quickly fell down a rabbit hole that had me digging through massive spreadsheets, scouring Reddit threads, and pouring over weird corners of the official Deltarune website. And now, I'm going to infect you with it too.

In order to fully unpack the entire ARG in a way that covers every little bit of what's happened and what it could mean, I would have to spoil all four chapters of Deltarune, probably some bits of Undertale, and dive into a deep, deep, deep pit of Deltarune fan theories. So I'm going to try to keep the explanation as high level as is possible while still making sense. But as a warning ahead of time: this will contain spoilers for Chapters 1 and 2 of Deltarune, especially the "Weird Route", and some very light allusions to characters and events in Chapters 3 and 4. Read on at your own risk:

The Deltarune ARG actually began in September 2022, during an event called the Spamton Sweepstakes celebrating Undertale's seventh anniversary, which raised money for the charity Child's Play. Most of the event was fun, silly, and non-ARG-related, themed around the eccentric Chapter 2 character Spamton and including a lot of fun new merchandise courtesy of Fangamer.

However, at the time, the ever-vigilant Deltarune community stumbled upon some unusual hidden content within the pages on the Deltarune website dedicated to the sweepstakes. At the time, most of it consisted of fun Easter Eggs, and I don't want to get into it all, but it was the first major sign that something was up. It wasn't until May of 2025 (two and a half years later) that things really kicked off. Fans suddenly noticed that there were even more secrets on the Deltarune website dedicated to the sweepstakes. There were a number of new hidden pages, all of which made reference to the game's deeply eerie and hidden "Weird Route", but the one that matters most to the ARG was deltarune.com/chapter4/thankyou. At the time, the website consisted of two very small blanks where users could input text, and a blank button that allowed them to submit it. There were no clues as to what needed to go into the blanks, save for a single question:

"How long did it take her to smile?"

Deltarune fans very quickly guessed that the "her" being referenced was Noelle, a beloved character and the childhood best friend of Deltarune protagonist Kris. She's also the focal point of the aforementioned Weird Route, in which the player (a separate character from Kris) manipulates Noelle into doing something terrible in the interest of becoming stronger. Fans also figured out that the first blank was looking for an email address, with the second blank being for the actual "answer" to the question. Unfortunately, the form was only open for a day, before being replaced with text that just said "Thank You." Those who had submitted their email in the form began receiving effectively a confirmation email that just contained "You answered [THEIR ANSWER]." No further explanation. Nothing! For months!

Notably, when all this happened, Chapters 3 and 4 weren't out yet. Those released earlier this year, and with them, more Weird Route content and a couple of horrifying, hidden scenes focused on Noelle in particular. Then two weeks ago, those who had received the confirmation email the first time received a new email that just said, "Second chance," and found that the form had been reopened. The community efforts were more coordinated this time, with people experimenting with different combinations of time amounts in days, seconds, years, as well as other textual responses they felt made sense. A number of community members tried to document submissions to avoid duplications, though given the short notice and short time period the form was open, this was once again difficult to do.

The form closed again, and once again, participants received emails. But this time, they were different. Individuals were getting one of a collection of different responses that seemed to be based on what they submitted. For instance, those who said "1 Day" received back "Then, 'The next day you'll see her smile.'" People who inputted very small numbers, such as 4 seconds, got back, "So, 'she never stopped smiling'". There are a bunch of other creepy answers, like "Do you think that means she still can?" and "Then, 'It was the first time she ever smiled in her life.'"

Many emails ended with another sentence: "Move forward with this answer," seemingly indicating the submission was on the right track.

Embark Studios has outlined its plan to deal with Arc Raiders cheaters after they became a hot topic in the community earlier this week.

Cheaters are a concern for nearly all multiplayer games, but they’ve become an especially controversial subject amongst players recently. Reports of cheaters seem to be increasing in recent weeks, as players share clips and stories of others shooting them through walls and from unreachable areas. The conversation then reached a boiling point when popular streamers like Ninja, Nadeshot, and Shroud began publicly voicing their concerns.

"This might be my last day playing for a very long time... Embark has zero control over their game right now"

Shroud says he might quit ARC Raiders due to how bad cheaters have gotten pic.twitter.com/zJfXO4xAg0

— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) January 7, 2026

Embark confirmed it is taking action against the cheating problem in a message posted in its official Discord server. The note comes with an acknowledgement of the discussion surrounding cheaters in the community, promising that the studio is “taking this issue very seriously” as it awaits further feedback.

“Over the next few weeks, we are implementing significant changes to our rulesets and deploying new detection mechanisms to identify and remove cheaters,” Embark said. “This includes updating our Anti-Cheat systems for improved detection and bans, as well as applying client-side fixes specifically addressing the ‘out of map’ glitch.”

It’s unclear if Embark’s efforts will be enough to deter the most problematic Arc Raiders offenders, but it’s at least a sign the studio will take action through January. The message also comes with a promise specifically for streamers, saying the team is “introducing tools for streamers to help mitigate stream sniping.”

“Thank you for your valuable feedback and for helping us make ARC Raiders a fair and fun experience for everyone,” the message concludes.

Arc Raiders launched for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S October 30, 2025. While we wait to see how Embark’s anti-cheat effort play out, you can read up on some of the other updates the studio has planned for the future. You can also learn about why some of the more aggressive players may find themselves in lobbies with others who favor PvP.

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

2013's Batman: Arkham Origins may not be the most critically beloved entry in the series, but many fans would argue it's the game with the best Batman costume design. Now Hot Toys is finally giving that costume its due with a truly stunning 1/6 scale figure.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for an early look at Hot Toys' Batman: Arkham Origins figure:

This figure stands an impressive 12.7 inches tall and features a detailed recreation of the character model from the game. The head boasts individually rotating eyeballs and interchangeable faceplates that allow for different expressions.

The figure also includes various other accessories you'd expect, including Batman's various gadgets and weapons, electric gauntlets, and interchangeable hands.

This is hardly Hot Toys' first time exploring the Arkham universe. In the past, they've released figures based on Batman's Arkham City and Arkham Knight designs, along with several of the alternate suits from those games and villains like Joker and Harley Quinn. As for Arkham Origins specifically, Hot Toys previously tackled Deathstroke (who makes a cameo appearance in the photos above) and Batman's armored XE Suit.

The Batman: Arkham Origins figure is priced at $300 and is available to preorder on Sideshow Collectibles. The figure is expected to release between January and June of 2027.

For more Hot Toys fun, check out their Killing Joke-inspired Joker figure and their massive The Fantastic Four: First Steps Galactus figure.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Warning: Spoilers follow for various TV finales from years past...

There have been many series finales that have split fandom over the years, whether they involved visits to the Iron Throne, the afterlife, or even Holsten's (and maybe the afterlife, too, in that case?). It's often clear when it comes to ending a favorite TV series that it's hard to keep everyone happy, and frequently viewers are left steaming, even if some others are satisfied.

Stranger Things has become the latest series to divide the fan community with its long-awaited and very controversial series finale. There's even a term for this particular phenomenon - "Conformity Gate" - with some fans clinging to the hope that Netflix would drop a secret real finale episode. Needless to say, that theory didn't pan out.

So with the furor over Stranger Things still raging, let's take a look at some of the more outrageous, divisive series finales in TV history. These aren't bad finales, just ones that made bold creative choices that didn't sit right with a large portion of the audience. Read on for the full list...

Game of Thrones: "The Iron Throne"

After the penultimate episode, "The Bells," left so many fans furious, leading to an online petition to "remake" Season 8, "The Iron Throne" had one hell of an uphill climb. Not only to win people back, but also end the entire 10-year story.

In the end, many felt let down by the fates of most characters, along with the nice and neat epilogue that crowned a new ruler of the realm. Even those who didn't hate the finale would readily admit it wasn't exactly the best ending possible. Yes, this particular Song of Ice and Fire saga split the kingdoms and sent Westeros to war one final time.

Lost: "The End"

Lost chose to deliver an emotional finale - based more on the feelings, desires, and ultimate happiness of the characters - over one that answered lingering questions fans had stockpiled over the years. Many liked the focus on the heartstrings while others were frustrated with the lack of specifics.

And no, they weren't "dead the whole time." Well, except for those in the flash-sideways scenes during the final season. They were in a type of purgatory. But the others weren't. Some lived on after the island and died from natural causes. It was then that they all joined up in the limbo church for a final farewell. The fact that none of this was abundantly clear though probably means the episode, and season, didn't do a bang up job exactly.

Battlestar Galactica: "Daybreak"

BSG's three-part mega close-out also wrapped things up with quiet emotion, as the notes from "All Along the Watchtower" created coordinates that led our heroes to a habitable planet filled with primitive humans. Our Earth.
Sure, the stripping away of all technology rubbed a few fans the wrong way, but it was the crazy 150,000-year time jump, and the "humanity is doomed to make machines too sentient again" messaging, that split the viewers. It's always going to be risky to leap that far ahead, to the point where every character you cared about is a fossil, for a moral that many fans already understood.

The Sopranos: "Made in America"

Like the BSG closer, The Sopranos' finale really lost people right at the very end. Right when the music stopped and the screen turned to black and a lot of fans thought their TVs went out.

The creative swerve got a ton of flak at the time, though now, years later, many fans and critics have come around on it as one of the more daring examples of "different" done right. And it certainly hasn't hurt The Sopranos in the annals of TV history as it's still considered one of the best series of all time.

Seinfeld: "The Finale"

Yes, it became abundantly clear over the years that Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer weren't great people. In fact, once the show leaned into their shallowness, it hit its creative stride. But sending the guys to prison? Because they weren't great people? It was just a bit too much for many Seinfeld loyalists.

None of this stopped the episode from being a ratings juggernaut though, or the series itself from going out as the number one show on TV. Like The Sopranos, the finale didn't make a dent in the show's legacy. What can we say? Sometimes it's the journey and sometimes it's the end.

St. Elsewhere: "The Last One"

What if there was a popular, long-running, acclaimed '80s medical drama that, right at the very end, told the audience that nothing they'd seen for 137 episodes was even real. And then that weird ending became the show's overall legacy, spoofed for decades by other shows.

This is the case of St. Elsewhere, which closed things out with the reveal that the entire hospital was inside the snow globe of an autistic boy named Tommy. Tommy had been dreaming that his father was the hospital's medical director when, in fact, as revealed in the final scene, he worked in construction. I guess the title St. Elsewhere should have clued people in, right? Anyhow, this final beat left many fans bewildered and belligerent.

Star Trek Enterprise: "These Are the Voyages..."

Though Star Trek Enterprise isn't really considered one of the top tier Trek series, it still had a ton of fans. Some of whom were left stunningly cold after the show's finale jumped six years into the future and split the narrative between the regular cast and a holodeck adventure featuring TNG's Will Riker and Deanna Troi.

This "valentine for the fans," that was meant to connect Enterprise to TNG, fell flat for many as Captain Archer's story wound up feeling like second-billing and under-rug-swept.

Felicity: "Back to the Future"

If you had to guess which TV show suddenly dove deep into time travel for its final installment, not many would have guessed "late '90s college love triangle dramedy" Felicity. Unless you thought it was possible for all J.J. Abrams shows.

Actually, the time travel stuff started a few episodes earlier (after the show had planned out its final episode and the WB Network ordered five more) and viewers got to experience an alternate timeline in which Keri Russell's Felicity got to go back (thanks to a spell from her goth roommate) and make different choices.

Regardless, many said the show just didn't feel like the show anymore by the time it ended. Including the cast. And that might be a recurring element here when it comes to divisive finales -- when, for whatever reason (pacing, tone, freakin' impromptu time travel), the story no longer feels like the one you've been following for years.

Which TV finales did you find to be the most outrageous and divisive? Vote in our poll and discuss in the comments!

Note: This story originally ran in May of 2019.

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA). Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

Nintendo Switch 2 sales over the holidays reportedly fell short of those recorded by the console's predecessor back in 2017, during its first end-of-year season.

As revealed by The Game Business, Switch 2 sales in the US and within key markets in Europe fell behind the equivalent pace of Switch 1 — something an unnamed senior Nintendo source blamed on a "complicated" economic climate today, and the "absence of a major Western game" during the year-end period.

That particular analysis will likely raise eyebrows among Nintendo fans, as the company launched the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4: Beyond during the period — albeit to a more muted critical response than the franchise's beloved original trilogy. Nintendo has so far made no announcement on how that game has fared.

The Game Business reports that US Switch 2 sales over the holiday period were down around 35% versus the Switch 1's sales performance back in 2017. In the UK, a similar comparison saw Switch 2 lagging Switch 1 by 16%. Even in Nintendo's homeland of Japan, Switch 2 holiday sales couldn't match Switch 1, and were down by 5.5% over the year's final nine weeks.

In France, 2025's final tally of Switch 2 sales was down by "over 30%" versus the amount Switch 1 notched up back in 2017, meanwhile.

While these numbers may take some of the shine off of a successful first year for Switch 2 overall, it's not all doom and gloom. Switch 2's lifetime sales in Japan are still above what Switch 1 managed in its first year, with less time on sale. And in the UK, Switch 1 continued to sell well enough that it made up Switch 2's holiday sales deficit.

Looking ahead, Nintendo has a smattering of first-party games already planned for 2026, including Mario Tennis Fever, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book and Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, as well as Switch 2 upgrades for Super Mario Wonder and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. There's also the FromSoftware exclusive The Duskbloods to look forward to, and the promising-looking Pokémon Pokopia life sim.

But as the Switch 2 prepares to celebrate its first anniversary in June, all eyes will be on Nintendo to roll out a truly new blockbuster entry in one of its biggest franchises. Back in 2017, Switch 1's first year was marked by the launch of both Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Nintendo has not released a major new 3D Mario platformer since, while it will soon be three years since the arrival of 2023's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Switch 1's other top-selling titles include Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Animal Crossing: New Horizons — and for now, there's no suggestion a big new entry in either franchise is forthcoming. Smash Bros. series boss Masahiro Sakurai has only just finished work on Kirby Air Riders, while Nintendo is opting to update New Horizons for Switch 2 this year, as previously mentioned.

Could we see a new 3D Mario in 2026? Nine years on from Super Mario Odyssey, now feels like the right time. And then there's Pokémon, which celebrates its 30th anniversary next month. Could we get a glimpse soon of the series' long-awaited 10th generation? The arrival of these titles would certainly help Switch 2 keep its momentum, following last year's explosive launch.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Predator: Badlands is making its physical media debut with its own steelbook release alongside a standard 4K and Blu-ray. For those who are dying to add this one to their library, it's thankfully not too long of a wait, as it's set to be released in just over a month on February 17.

Below, we've broken down where you can preorder the film right now, alongside information on the bonus features it comes with. For those who love a good behind-the-scenes breakdown, it seems like there will be plenty to enjoy.

Preorder Predator: Badlands 4K Steelbook

• 4K UHD (non-steelbook): Amazon | Walmart | Target
• Blu-ray: Amazon | Walmart | Target

The steelbook case for Predator: Badlands boasts quite the action shot on the front and comes with a 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and digital copy of the film. The 4K and Blu-ray covers are a bit busier and mainly feature the characters front and center, but the former also comes with a 4K, Blu-ray, and digital copy of the film. The Blu-ray release just comes with a Blu-ray and digital copy.

Predator: Badlands 4K/Blu-Ray Bonus Features

There's plenty of great bonus features to look through on the physical release of Predator: Badlands, whether you're itching to watch behind-the-scenes featurettes or deleted scenes. Here's everything you'll be able to watch:

• Embodying the Predator - Meet the artists as they bring one of the most terrifying creatures to life on screen.
• Authentic Synthetics - Join Elle Fanning as she describes crafting her two characters.
• Building the Badlands — Uncover how real locations were transformed into a threatening landscape.
• Dek of the Yautja — See the development of the Yautja's home world, spacecraft, and family dynamics.
• Audio Commentary by Director Dan Trachtenberg, Producer Ben Rosenblatt, Director of Photography Jeff Cutter and Stunt Coordinator Jacob Tomuri
• Deleted & Pre-Visualization Scenes with Audio Commentary by the Director and Filmmakers

We had a lot of fun with Predator: Badlands, giving it an 8/10 in our review. IGN's Clint Gage said that, "Badlands, in shifting the perspective to a Yautja main character, actually highlights what’s been great about this franchise in its better moments. Dek and Thia are an unexpectedly fun pairing that bring a new energy to the franchise and an altogether different kind of hunt. It might not be pulling the skull and spine out of us and screaming in bloody victory, but it gets close." If you're eager to join the hunt sooner rather than later, the movie has also arrived on digital.

If you're hoping to add more movies and shows to your library this January, check out our roundup of upcoming 4Ks and Blu-rays. Here, we've broken down what's coming out over the next few months, so you can plan ahead on what's worth adding to your library.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Corsair's Galleon 100 SD is the keyboard I've been asking for for years: a mechanical gaming keyboard with proper Stream Deck keys, complete with the built-in screens, wide Elgato ecosystem integration and customization that make them so useful.

The Stream Deck keyboard looks exactly as you'd expect given the concept, with the usual number pad on the right-hand side of a full-size keyboard excised for a grid of 12 Stream Deck keys. You might not have anticipated the other inclusions though, including a surprisingly expansive 5-inch LCD display above the key grid and two knobbly dials above that.

The Galleon represents a trade-off, as you lose out on the satisfying key feel of a proper mechanical switches for that number pad area, but the flexibility that you get in return from this number of customisable keys, the display and the knobs feels fair.

Artist Dan Dos Santos has left a big mark on the Marvel Universe in recent years, as he's the painter responsible for the 2022 Marvel Masterpieces trading card series. Dos Santos' gorgeous oil paintings for that series and other works will now form the basis of Clover Press' newest Marvel art book.

With the crowdfunding campaign for The Marvel Art of Dan Dos Santos now live, IGN can exclusively debut a new preview of the Spider-Verse-themed portfolio set that will be included as an optional extra. Get a closer look in the slideshow gallery below:

The Marvel Art of Dan Dos Santos is a 9" x 12" hardcover that clocks in at over 200 pages. The book features many of Dos Santos' published paintings alongside rare and unseen artwork. The Kickstarter campaign includes optional bonuses like the aforementioned portfolio, stickers, a slipcased edition, and even original art sketches.

“I’m incredibly excited about this new collection of my Marvel artwork,” said Dos Santos in a statement. “Over 30 years ago, as a young teen, it was my exposure to a similar collection of Marvel art that set me on the path of wanting to be a professional artist in the first place. So it is incredibly apt, and really thrilling, to see it all come full-circle in this new collection of my own. This book represents years of work, and contains hundreds of paintings that I feel are my finest work to date. I labored tirelessly to breathe as much life and backstory into each of these modern mythological heroes as I could. It is my hope the next generation of young artists and fans will find these characters as inspiring as I found them so many years ago.”

The Kickstarter campaign for The Marvel Art of Dan Dos Santos is live now.

In other comic book news, find out which series was selected as IGN's best comic book of 2025, and see which comics we're most excited for in 2026.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Sometimes it's fun to match wits in a board game with other players in competitive matches. But many of the best board games go the other way and embrace the spirit of cooperation. Co-op board games come in a wide variety of themes, with varying levels of complexity so you can find one for players of all ages. Below, we've selected our favorites on the market. For more game night ideas, check out our other roundups, including the best board games for kids and the best two-player board games.

TLDR: The Best Co-op Board Games

• Sky Team
• Slay the Spire
• The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick Taking Game
• Nemesis: Lockdown
• Sleeping Gods
• Marvel Champions: The Card Game
• Frosthaven
• Paleo
• Pandemic Legacy
• Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island
• Just One
• The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
• Return to Dark Tower
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game
• Spirit Island

Sky Team: Prepare for Landing

Slay the Spire: The Board Game

The Fellowship of The Ring: Trick-Taking Game

Nemesis: Lockdown

Sleeping Gods

Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Frosthaven

Paleo

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 (Blue Version)

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 (Red Version)

Robinson Crusoe – Collector’s Edition

Just One

The Crew: Mission Deep Sea

Return to Dark Tower

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Spirit Island

Matt Damon took getting in shape for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey seriously — and that included slimming down to his high school weight for the role.

"I had a beard like yours for like a year," he told Jason and Travis Kelce on a recent episode of their podcast New Heights. "I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight. [Nolan] wanted me lean but strong."

He also noted that a specific change in diet helped him get there. "Just because of this other thing that I did with my doctor, I stopped eating gluten,” Damon explained. “I used to walk around at between 185 and 200, and I did that whole movie at 167. And I haven't been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet."

The Ocean’s Eleven star also told the hosts how training so intensely for the role felt playing a season of professional sports. "I imagine what that feels like for you guys, where you're preparing," Damon said to the Kelces. "It's just part of your day, it's part of your job, and you get really routinized about it and kinda build your day around all that stuff."

Damon also revealed that he has yet to reintegrate gluten into his routine post-shooting The Odyssey. "I'm done. I'm gluten-free everything," the Good Will Hunting actor declared. "I found a gluten-free beer. It's been so long since I've had gluten, I can't tell if it's good or not. So that's a good sign."

The Odyssey was written and directed by Nolan and stars Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlie Theron, and more alongside Damon. It’s the first of Nolan’s movies to be shot on IMAX 70mm film.

The adaptation of Homer’s epic poem from ancient Greece is only a few short months away — the film premieres in theaters on July 17 — so fans will get to see Damon’s slim frame in action very soon. In fact, it’s probably going to be the highlight of the summer if you ask me.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

Mission Impossible legend Tom Cruise dropped in on the set of Star Wars: Starfighter via helicopter and ended up filming a lightsaber duel.

Starfighter director Shawn Levy, who also helmed 2024's Marvel hit Deadpool & Wolverine, revealed Cruise's set visit as part of an interview with The New York Times, and said that viewers will be able to watch the actor's work behind the camera when the upcoming Star Wars movie arrives in theaters next year.

"Last week Steven Spielberg was here," Levy recalled. "And now Tom Cruise is wielding a camera, ruining his very nice shoes." The director recalled welcoming Cruise to the set — which he landed on in his own helicopter — by playing the Mission Impossible theme via loudspeakers.

Levy joked that Cruise, who had said he just wanted to visit and watch the filming, should jump behind a camera. But Cruise took Levy's offer seriously, and splashed out into a "muddy pond" to film a lightsaber battle between several unrevealed characters.

Aside from the fact that Tom Cruise helped film some of a major upcoming Star Wars movie — something that is, quite frankly, notable enough — many fans have expressed surprise at this anecdote confirming that lightsaber battles will be a part of Levy's project.

Now, yes, lightsaber battles in a Star Wars movie may not sound like much of a surprise. (Next we'll find out the movie has aliens!) But this confirmation has still raised a few eyebrows among fans today, as Starfighter has — so far at least — been pitched as something unconnected to the wider Skywalker Saga's Jedi shenanigans, and rather more down to earth.

Admittedly, much of Starfighter's plot remains under wraps, but we know that the movie will focus on a scruffy-looking scoundrel-type character played by Ryan Gosling, as well as his young nephew. Production images released by Levy so far have seen the pair next to a speeder and on some kind of sci-fi raft, with a vibe that seems far removed from the franchise's usual galaxy-defining space conflicts.

That said, both Matt Smith and Mia Goth have also been cast on the project, with rumors and fan speculation around their mystery roles suggesting they could be playing members of the Sith. Could the pair fight each other, or does Starfighter also include Jedi that the Doctor Who and Dracula actors both fight together? Time, and also now possibly Tom Cruise, will tell.

"This is a standalone. It’s not a prequel, not a sequel," Levy previously said at Star Wars Celebration 2025 in April. "It’s a new adventure. It’s set in a period of time that we haven’t seen explored yet." Star Wars: Starfighter is currently due to launch on May 28, 2027.

Image credit: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Whether you’ve set yourself a reading goal for the upcoming year or are on the lookout for a great new book or series to get stuck into, there are plenty of fantastic releases to get excited about in January 2026.

From fantasy and romantasy to psychological thrillers, contemporary fiction, and a modern retelling, we’ve included a mix of standalones and continuations of ongoing series to take all the hard work and hassle out of picking your next read - or reads.

There's also a brand new Audible deal that absolutely must be brought to attention, as it matches the recent Black Friday discount ($0.99 per month / £0.99 per month). But, for now, here they are, the best new books to pick up this month!

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

Release date: January 20

Searchlight has found a new star for its upcoming film Behemoth! in none other than Will Arnett, who Deadline reports will now join the project and star alongside Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, and Matthew Lillard.

The movie, which will be directed by The Bourne Identity writer Tony Gilroy, was originally set to star Stranger Things alum David Harbour, before his recent departure from the project. The actor had already filmed some scenes, as production began in late October, but according to the outlet, Harbour’s involvement so far had been minimal enough that reshoots won’t be a big part of the process.