NetEase Games has finally pulled back the curtain on Marvel Rivals Season 3: The Abyss Awakens with a trailer, below, that features major comic book characters like the symbiote king, Knull, as well as Blade and Jean Grey.
The minute-and-a-half-long cinematic trailer was published today, revealing a first look at the upcoming season’s theme, its new playable characters, and even a few symbiote-themed skins. The Season 3 release date is set for July 11, though it remains unclear how some of the content shown in today’s video will roll out.
Where Season 2: Hellfire Gala introduced new Heroes, Ultron and Emma Frost, Season 3: The Abyss Awakens looks like it will finally allow players to control Blade and Jean Grey/The Phoenix. The former is an especially important addition, as Marvel Rivals fans have speculated about when the Daywalker would be added to the roster since teases began during the vampire-themed Season 1. Jean Grey’s inclusion, meanwhile, comes with the surprise that she’ll be able to harness the power of The Phoenix for her telekinetic abilities.
Knull will serve as the big bad this time around, with the Marvel Rivals Season 2 trailer teasing that he’ll be teaming up with Hela to take power.
“In the wake of the Timestream Entanglement, Knull stirs deep within Klyntar’s core, stretching his shadowed hands across the cosmos," an official description for Marvel Rivals Season 3 says. "Power promised by the dark symbiote god beckons the awakening of a new queen. The Phoenix arrives from across the stars to erase Klyntar before the darkness can rise again! However, she'll require unlikely aid from a warrior of two worlds who lives to fight against the tide of night. As the god of the symbiotes and the Phoenix Force collide, will you burn with the light of creation or embrace the darkness?”
Eagle-eyed Marvel Rivals players will also notice what is most likely a collection of new skins set to arrive at some point during Season 3. There is, of course, Hela’s symbiote skin, which Knull gives her early on in the footage, but it’s toward the end that we get a closer look at a few more. Wolverine can be seen sporting a Phoenix Force skin of his own, with Blade and Magik both sporting fiery outfits as well. It’s Jeff the Landshark symbiote skin that has most fans really freaking out, though.
Marvel Rivals Season 3: The Abyss Awakens will introduce at least two new playable Heroes, but it also marks the beginning of a new chapter for the popular Marvel hero shooter experience. Starting July 11, NetEase will begin rolling out new content at a much quicker pace following pressure it received on social media. While past seasons have been approximately three months long, Season 3 will see that schedule change to two-month-long seasons. That means major updates will drop much faster than before without sacrificing any content, as NetEase hopes to keep fans engaged.
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).
Days of Play may be over, but that doesn't mean there aren't still some great PlayStation deals to check out. From games to storage, we've searched the internet to find the best PS5 deals available at the moment. These include some great game deals, including discounts on Assassin's Creed Shadows, Monster Hunter Wilds, and more.
With Amazon Prime Day on the horizon, there are bound to be many more PS5 deals popping up once the sale event kicks off on July 8, too. For now, you can see our top picks for the best PlayStation deals today below.
Best PS5 Video Game Deals
If you're looking to fill up your library with some new PS5 games, there are plenty of great discounts available at the moment. One of our favorites is Assassin's Creed Shadows, which has dropped to its lowest price yet at Amazon as an early Prime Day treat.
Woot's 'Video Game Super Sale!' still has quite a few deals to explore as well, including discounts on Monster Hunter Wilds, Sniper Elite: Resistance, and more. These just scratch the surface of what's out there, though. You can see even more of our favorite video game deals above.
Best PS5 SSD Deals
PS5 games continue to grow in size, and with SSD prices climbing, finding the right storage at a great price is more important than ever. We've listed our favorite deals just here, but you should keep checking back here for more updates as often as possible, as new SSD deals pop up all the time.
Keep in mind that not all SSDs are compatible with the PS5. To ensure optimal performance on the best PS5 SSD, you'll need a PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 drive with a minimum read speed of 5,500MB/s to match the console's internal storage.
Where to Buy: PSVR 2 Horizon Call of The Mountain Bundle
The PSVR2 Horizon: Call of the Mountain bundle is available to buy for $399.99. This package is great value for everything you're getting (the PSVR2 headset and controllers alongside the Horizon: Call of The Mountain game), and pushes the PSVR2 as a strong contender against budget-friendly VR options like the Meta Quest, delivering a premium virtual reality experience without the eye-watering cost.
Sony also gave the PSVR2 a new lease of life by adding PC VR support, allowing owners of the second-generation headset to play PC VR games like Half-Life: Alyx, provided they have the Sony-made adapter.
Where to Buy: PlayStation Portal
The PlayStation Portal has come a long way since its launch. Initial skepticism surrounded the device, but over time it has proven itself as a handy companion for PS5 owners.
Despite stock challenges and surges in demand, a new feature is making the Portal even more appealing to potential buyers. Sony rolled out an update for the PlayStation Portal, currently in opt-in beta, allowing PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers to stream games from the cloud.
This means you can now enjoy a library of games on the go—even if you don’t own a PS5. The update adds another compelling reason to consider the PlayStation Portal.
How to Trade in Your Old PlayStation Consoles
If you're looking to trade in your old PlayStation consoles, you can do so at select retailers in-store and online. Often, the most widely available retailers are GameStop and Best Buy. However, you can also trade your used devices online at retailers such as Amazon and Microsoft.
Some retailers will offer you cash for your used goods, while others may provide you with a gift card that can be used in-store and online. This is a great way to offload your old gaming gear and get some money that you can put towards a newer console and games.
While trading devices in at retailers will often net you the lowest amount for your used consoles, there are also online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp that may fetch higher prices, but you'll often be responsible for packing and shipping costs, or be required to meet someone in person for the transaction. The latter of which poses its own risks.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
It’s a new month, so of course a new batch of LEGO sets is now available. This month has way fewer sets than some other months, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. We’ve got an adorable How to Train Your Dragon set, an awesome new prequel trilogy-era Star Wars set, a Nike collab, and more. Let’s dive in.
All New LEGO Sets Available Now
For the blurb averse, the side-scrolling catalog above has all the new sets, plus a batch of sets that are newly available on Amazon.
How to Train Your Dragon: Toothless (10375)
The live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie is burning it up at the box office at the moment, which makes it a great time to pick up this absolutely adorable Toothless set. With an 18+ age recommendation it’s technically a LEGO set for adults, but there’s no way kids wouldn’t appreciate this one. The instructions may contain parts that are tricky for kids to piece together, but that’s a good opportunity for some parent-child bonding time. Grab this one if you’re a fan of the movie.
Star Wars: Battle Droid with STAP (75428)
If you ask me, the coolest set for this month is a LEGO Star Wars set that depicts one of the B1-series battle droids that debuted in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace. It comes with a very large buildable droid on a flying STAP speeder, as well as an adorable minifigure version of the set. The droid is sturdy enough for kids to play with, but it also comes with a stand and placard to use it as a display piece.
Marvel - Miles Morales' Mask (76329)
The masks, helmets, heads, and busts LEGO has been making in recent years pretty much all look great. This is one of the coolest ones yet, because it lets you build the mask of one of the best Marvel characters around. Miles Morales has been in tons of awesome stuff lately, including the Spider-Verse movies and Sony-published video games. For more, check out our picks for the best LEGO Marvel sets.
Nike Dunk x LEGO Set (43008)
Nike Dunk is an iconic basketball sneaker that hit the market over 40 years ago. To celebrate the shoe, LEGO has teamed up with Nike to make this pretty awesome looking set. It features the Dunk logo, along with the sneaker itself, plus a brick-built basketball you can actually spin. It also comes with a B’Ball Head minifigure and secret stash compartments hidden in the set, where LEGO says you can store your “championship rings or other essentials.” It also includes extra laces, in case you want to customize the color of your Dunks.
Finally, this Shelby Cobra is available now for LEGO Insiders (sign up here for free), or July 4 for the general public. This is a gorgeous re-creation of an iconic 1960s sports car. It makes a great gift for any car enthusiast in your life, even if that car enthusiast is you. For more, check out the best LEGO car sets.
LEGO GWPs, Offers, and Insider Rewards for July 2025
The LEGO Insiders program, which again is free to join, gets you free stuff if you shop at the LEGO Store. Signing up makes you eligible for free, exclusive Gift with Purchase sets (GWPs) that you get for buying certain sets, as well as special discounts and rewards you can exchange Insider points to receive. Signing up is a no-brainer if you do any shopping at the LEGO Store.
This month’s new GWP is Friendly Snails (40788). It’s a cute li’l 264-piece set that has you build a couple of snails in a tiny garden area. It’s available with purchases of $160 and up between July 1-7. Also still available is the Celebration: Ferris Wheel with Fireworks (40758) set that is included with purchases of $85 and up. That one is available until July 6, and you can get both GWPs if you time your purchases right.
Also this month, Amazon has added listings for a number of sets that were previously exclusive to the LEGO Store. We're talking LEGO Mario Kart. We're talking LEGO Lord of the Rings: The Shire. These are big, awesome sets and now you can get them from Amazon.
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.
If you're a Marvel fan with an action figure collection, you might want to make some space for a brand-new figure. Juggernaut is getting a Marvel Legends Retro Series Gamerverseaction figure from Hasbro that's inspired by his appearance in the Marvel vs. Capcom games. The figure is currently available to preorder at GameStop for $64.99, after selling out pretty quick at Amazon, and is set to be released this year on October 1. If you've been hoping to add this figure to your collectible collection, now is your chance to get your preorder in before it's all sold out.
As mentioned before, this Juggernaut figure is inspired by the character's look from the Marvel vs. Capcom games. Standing at 8.9 inches tall, he comes with two alternate hands for posing in various fighting stances and a power effect attachment for showing off his skills in a fight, as seen below where Juggernaut smacks down Captain America with a powerful punch.
Juggernaut isn't the only Marvel Legends Gamerverse action figure worth keeping on your radar right now, either. Hasbro has a full lineup of Marvel Legends Gamerverse action figures inspired by Marvel vs. Capcom games that deserve a place in your collection once they're available, including Wolverine vs. Silver Samurai, Psylocke vs. Thanos, and a few more.
If you're hoping to add more action figures to your collectible collection, it's worth keeping Amazon Prime Day on your radar. The big summer sale event kicks off next week on July 8, and is a good opportunity to look around for discounted figures. It lasts four days this year, until July 11, so you'll have plenty of time to seek out some good collectible deals.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Red Dead Online is showing signs of life after Rockstar added new missions to the game, and as you’d expect fans are once again speculating that a next-gen update for Red Dead Redemption 2 is in the works.
Most fans had come to terms with the idea that Rockstar had moved on from Read Dead Online back in 2022, but the developer has unexpectedly released the new Strange Tales of the West update, which includes four new missions and a tease of more to come.
The new trailer, below, is the first Rockstar has released for Red Dead Online since 2021.
Here's the official blurb:
Author Theodore Levin can’t believe the rumors and missives he’s been receiving from the four corners of the American frontier. He’s working on an anthology of these unexplained and weird phenomena and he needs your help investigating the wildest claims that cross his desk.
Strange Tales of the West will require steely resolve and courage in the face of the odd, twisted, and downright supernatural. Embark upon these four new Telegram Missions by picking up Mr. Levin’s letter at any Post Office or from your Camp’s Lockbox, then opening it via your Satchel or launching Telegram Missions from your Player Menu.
The four new missions are Strange Tales of The Plague, Strange Tales of Modern Science, Strange Tales of The Bayou, and Strange Tales of The Wilderness. As reported by @videotechuk_ on X / Twitter, the update adds a new zombie infected mode, the first mission of which takes place in Armadillo.
Rockstar has launched a new zombie "infected" mode in Red Dead Online as part of the new Strange Tales of The West telegram missions
The first mission takes place in Armadillo and the main objective to kill infected and bring them to a wagon as a team.
But what does this mean for Red Dead Online and parent game Red Dead Redemption 2? Given the zombie nature of the update, some are wondering if Rockstar has prepared an Undead Nightmare-style expansion for Red Dead Redemption 2. That would come as a huge shock given the studio’s all-hands-on-deck focus on next year’s Grand Theft Auto VI, but perhaps more likely is a next-gen port.
In May, GameReactor reported that a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Rockstar's Wild West romp was on the way, along with a "next-gen upgrade patch" that would improve the game for current-gen systems (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S). Both could be released later in 2025, according to the site.
Fans have long called for an updated version of Red Dead Redemption 2, which is considered a masterpiece. IGN's Red Dead Redemption 2 review returned a 10/10. We said: "Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game of rare quality; a meticulously polished open-world ode to the outlaw era."
For now, Red Dead Online fans are enjoying digging into Strange Tales of the West, which is officially described as Vol.1. This suggests another content drop is coming. Whatever the future holds, it seems Red Dead Online is back from the dead.
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.
If the thermometer hasn't clued you in yet, it's officially July. And you know what that means: a new batch of PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and PC games is heading our way. This month sees the release of the next big Switch 2 game in the form of Donkey Kong Bananza, plus a Destiny 2 expansion, College Football 26, a new Tony Hawk remaster collection, and a bunch more games besides. Read on to see release dates for all the biggest games and expansions coming out soon (or soonish). Let's have a look.
If you're someone who likes to preorder your games, you can click the links on the platform of your choice to make sure it arrives on launch day.
July 2025 - Video Game Release Dates
July is a good month for anyone who picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 at launch, because Donkey Kong Bananza hits the hybrid system on July 17. (Nintendo also just confirmed it's made by the Super Mario Odyssey team). If you didn't buy the pricy new system, you may be interested in grabbing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4, Grounded 2, or Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound (which has a fantastic demo on Steam). Or, if you're more into relaxing games to chill out while playing, Tales of the Shire is out on the 29th.
Mecha Break - July 1 - (PS5, Xbox, PC)
Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley & Skytree Village - July 3 - (Switch)
College Football 26 - July 7 - 10 (depending on edition) - (PS5, XSX)
Every Day We Fight - July 10 - (PC)
Everdeep Aurora - July 10 - (PC)
Islanders: New Shores - July 10 - (PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC)
Microsoft has announced Wave 1 of the Xbox Game Pass July 2025 lineup, which includes Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, the return of High On Life, and more.
As revealed in a post on Xbox Wire, out today, July 1, is Little Nightmares 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) across Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard, and the return of Rise of the Tomb Raider (Cloud, Console, and PC), also across Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard.
Tomorrow, July 2, Legend of Mana (Console) and Trials of Mana (Console) enter Game Pass Standard. On July 3, Ultimate Chicken Horse (Cloud, Console, and PC) hits Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard.
Cool cyberpunk action RPG The Ascent (Cloud, Console, and PC) returns to Game Pass on July 8 via Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. A day later, on July 9, Minami Lane (Cloud, Console, and PC) enters Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Here’s the big one: on July 11 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC) launches day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Members can get up to three days early access starting July 8, including the Doom Slayer and The Revenant playable skaters, with the Deluxe Edition Upgrade.
Moving on to July 15 and we have the return of High On Life (Cloud, Console, and PC) to Game Pass via Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Game Pass Standard. The comedy first-person shooter was a smash hit on Game Pass back in 2022, and a sequel is on the way.
Xbox Game Pass Wave 1 July 2025 lineup:
Legend of Mana (Console) – July 2 Now with Game Pass Standard
Trials of Mana (Console) – July 2 Now with Game Pass Standard
Ultimate Chicken Horse(Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 3 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
The Ascent(Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 8 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
Minami Lane(Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 9 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
High On Life(Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 15 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard
And finally, Retro Classics has a new batch of games for subscribers. This is Microsoft's collaboration with Antstream Arcade to bring Activision games from the 80s and 90s to Game Pass members.
Cosmic Commuter
Heart of China
Skiing
Solar Storm
Subterranea
As always, a number of games are set to leave Game Pass this month. Members can get a 20% discount to keep the games in their library.
Games leaving Xbox Game Pass on July 15:
Flock (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Mafia Definitive Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Magical Delicacy (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Tchia (Cloud, Console, and PC)
The Callisto Protocol (Cloud, Console, and PC)
The Case of the Golden Idol (Cloud, Console, and PC)
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.
Nintendo has finally confirmed the development team behind Donkey Kong Bananza — and as many fans had suspected, the upcoming Switch 2 blockbuster is being made by the team who previously worked on Super Mario Odyssey.
In a presentation attended by IGN ahead of a new Donkey Kong Bananza hands-on preview, Nintendo said that the same staff who worked on Odyssey also developed this new DK title.
The confirmation comes after Nintendo previously held off from stating which of its teams were behind the game, even after Bananza was playable publicly at the Switch 2's global launch tour.
Still, the news will likely come as no surprise. Fans had suspected Odyssey's talented developers were likely working on DK's impressive-looking turn in the spotlight, and had pointed to various links between the two titles — not least their shared focus on the character Pauline — as clues to their creators.
Odyssey, released for Switch in October 2017, was helmed by Super Mario 3D World director Kenta Motokura, and produced by both Super Mario Galaxy director Yoshiaki Koizumi and Super Mario Galaxy 2 director Koichi Hayashida.
Nintendo did not state specifically whether all or only some of the Odyssey team were back for Donkey Kong Bananza — and fans will likely be keen to know about Koizumi's involvement here in particular.
A key figure involved in the creation and promotion of the original Nintendo Switch, Koizumi was surprisingly absent from the announcement of Switch 2. A Nintendo veteran with more than three decades of experience at the company, Koizumi began his career as an illustrator, before rising through the ranks to serve as director on the GameCube's flagship platformer Super Mario Sunshine. Koizumi has continued to work as a key figure on every subsequent 3D Mario game, including as director of Super Mario Galaxy, and then producer for Galaxy 2, 3D Land, 3D World and Odyssey.
Odyssey remains Nintendo's most recent 3D Mario effort, with no suggestion as yet on when the company plans to launch another. Confirmation that Odyssey team members have been busy building Bananza will inevitably spark questions over whether a new 3D Mario game for Switch 2 is also being developed in parallel, or is still further off than some had expected. A closer look at Bananza's staff list and their roles, once the game launches, may provide further clues.
For now, it's simply interesting to note that Nintendo's blockbuster Mario team have built a Donkey Kong game for Switch 2's launch year — a slot that's often reserved for Mario platformers.
As for Bananza's links to Odyssey, the Switch platformer notably reintroduced Pauline as a major Mario character for the first time in years, and cast her as the music-loving mayor of New Donk City who performs the game's toe-tapping Jump Up Super Star! track.
Donkey Kong Bananza launches on July 17, 2025 as this summer's key Switch 2 title from Nintendo, before the arrival Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokémon Legends Z-A later this year.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
The first trailer for The Running Man is here, and it shows Glen Powell in a more faithful adaptation of the Stephen King novel than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1987 sci-fi classic.
The trailer, below, shows Glen Powell’s downtrodden Ben Richards enter The Running Man — the biggest TV show in this dystopian America — out of a desperate need for money to help his sick daughter amid a medical crisis. Powell’s employment status is declared “blacklisted” so he’s unable to work. In the Arnie version, Richards is forced into The Running Man as a framed cop.
The nature of the show itself is different, too. Powell’s Richards is hunted by the entire country as he clings desperately to survival and a chance at the huge cash prize. His every move is watched, and indeed we see this in action in the trailer. All Richards needs to do is survive for 30 days and he’s won. Of course, it’s not quite that easy.
This new The Running Man is directed by Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver fame, and you can feel his signature, fast-paced style in the trailer. Wright has spoken of his desire to more faithfully adapt King’s novel, and as a result we have Josh Brolin as Killian, the show’s executive producer, and a separate character (Colman Domingo’s Bobby Thompson) hosting the show itself. Richards has a few choice words for Killian before setting out to participate in The Running Man, and he vows to take his revenge.
The scope of this new The Running Man is different compared to the 1987 film. Powell’s Richards is on the run across the entire country, whereas Arnie’s Richard’s was confined to a closed off play area (packed with fondly remembered boss fights). The trailer teases a fun sequence where Richards runs out an apartment into a corridor while dodging bullets, then slide into an elevator to escape.
Richards is hunted throughout by a singular masked character whose identity remains a mystery, but Entertainment Weekly reported the character's name is McCone and is played by Foundation star Lee Pace.
What we are sure of is The Running Man will see Glen Powell running. A lot. And yes, he takes his shirt off. We eventually see Michael Cera, who played Scott Pilgrim in Wright’s 2010 movie, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, help Richards out by spraying water on an electrified floor. All very video games.
EW reports Cera plays Elton Parrakis from the book. "I think what he does in the movie is a little surprising, maybe from his previous performances," Wright added. "It was such a thrill to be with him and also just to see him and Glen Powell together. They're a very unlikely duo that it was really fun to witness."
The Running Man launches November 7, 2025.
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.
During a presentation right before my roughly two hours worth of hands-on time with Donkey Kong Bananza, Nintendo confirmed what many people suspected since first laying eyes on the upcoming 3D platformer: That it was in fact being developed by the same team that worked on Super Mario Odyssey. And that tracks, because my main takeaway after playing Bananza was that this is the Odyssey formula to a T. The giant open fields with tons of hidden Moon… I mean Bananas to collect, NPCs offering clues on where to find said bananas, the simple puzzles strewn all around that reward exploration and curiosity, the deep moveset with a ton of different mobility options… Odyssey’s fingerprints are all over Bananza.
But while the formula is largely the same, I never got the sense that Bananza was retreading old ground. It turns out that swapping out a mustachioed plumber for a tumbling hairy gorilla is appropriately transformative. Even in just those two hours, I was absolutely enamored with Donkey Kong’s personality, his sheer sense of strength and power, juxtaposed with his surprisingly speedy movement, and the satisfying destructibility of everything around him. As far as first impressions go, this is everything a 3D Donkey Kong game should be.
My demo had me jumping around to several different save files – the first covering the very beginning of the game with DK working in the mines of Ingot Isle. This served as a very basic tutorial covering the multiple ways DK could punch and smash both objects and the environment. It’s a unique but intuitive control scheme: the A button jumps, but then the rest of the face buttons are all punches in different directions. X punches up, Y punches straight ahead, and B punches straight down. This allows you to carve paths through the walls and create tunnels however you wish, with the only restriction being the material that you’re trying to break through. DK is pretty strong on his own, and can smash through dirt and crystal with ease, but sturdier rocks and stones will require him to grab a harder material out of the ground and use as an impromptu pickaxe.
It’s all as fun to perform with a controller as it is to look at. There’s a greatly satisfying and appropriate sense of power as DK is able to just plow through walls, send weaker enemies absolutely careening backwards with a single punch, and slam the ground with devastating impact, leaving craters in his wake. And he’s fast too! Between his already swift running speed, his roll, and his ability to surf on the objects he rips from the ground, DK’s moveset is the perfect blend of power and agility. It’s a super fun set of tools to play around with that feels like a mix of traditional Donkey Kong, plus The Incredible Hulk.
It's a super fun set of tools to play around with that feels like a mix of traditional Donkey Kong, plus The Incredible Hulk.
After finishing up the tutorial in the mines, the next save that I jumped to was set in the Lagoon Layer, which seemed to be the first real level of Bananza. Like Mario Odyssey, there’s a sort of main throughline in each level that takes you through a series of objectives that essentially tells the story of that layer. In the Lagoon Layer, its denizens were suffering from a water shortage thanks to some nasty invaders plugging up their water supply. So the main objective in this area was to essentially get the water flowing again in a very classic “raise the water level” style of platforming stage.
You could simply mainline it by following the exclamation point markers that are easily visible with a simple press of the L button, but much of the joy in DK Bananza is venturing off the level’s beaten path (and literally beating your own path through it.) There’s just a ridiculous amount of stuff to discover even in just the very first level. Bananas are the main collectible, much like Moons in Odyssey, and are generally tied to some sort of minor puzzle or challenge. Like for example, there was one that was in plain sight, but underwater where DK can’t dive down to reach, so I had to instead jump up and crash down with a ground pound to nab it. Others are more complex and have you completing lengthy obstacle courses, and others still were locked behind special hidden platforming or combat-related challenges.
Then there are multiple different types of fossils, which are used as a currency to purchase a variety of cosmetic upgrades, much like the different clothes and hats Mario could buy in Mario Odyssey. There are so many of these hidden all throughout the walls and caves that it honestly was a little bit overwhelming to even think about trying to collect them all, but needless to say, if you’re the type that enjoys collectibles and spending a ton of extra time in a level trying to 100% it, Donkey Kong Bananza will have you covered.
The levels themselves aren't quite as vast as Odyssey's but that's mainly because they're structured very differently.
The levels themselves aren’t quite as vast as Odyssey’s, but that’s mainly because they’re structured very differently. They’re layered on top of each other, with each individual sublayer feeling roughly like the size of a Super Mario Sunshine level. Once you reach the end of that sublayer’s so-called “main quest,” you’ll be able to drop down to the next sublayer, which is still essentially part of the same level. One particular challenge even had me going back up to a previous sublayer so that I could traverse a path that would let me get down to an otherwise inaccessible part of the sublayer I was currently on. As someone who has always preferred the smaller-scale levels of games like Mario 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy, but also still really loved the exploration and sense of discovery in the Kingdoms of Odyssey, this felt like a really great compromise between the two styles of level design. You can also very easily fast-travel between checkpoints of each sublayer, just like you could in Odyssey.
The next two sections were from a fair bit deeper (again, literally) into the game. The first had me exploring a mining town with plenty of minecart rides and lots of opportunities to throw explosive rocks and make things go boom, while the final level was jungle-themed with familiar purple poison lakes all throughout. The big thing that I got to check out in these two final areas, though, were the Bananza transformations. By collecting gold, I could fill a meter in the bottom left of the screen and press R and L together to activate a limited-time Bananza transformation. The Kong Bananza transformation basically just feels like DK on Steroids. He’s bigger, faster, and stronger too, and can pound through walls and enemies that would normally be too tough for normal DK.
The Ostrich Bananza transformation, on the other hand, gives DK the ability to flutter through the air and cross gaps that he normally wouldn't be able to. It’s worth mentioning at this point also that there’s a skill tree, with the player getting a skill point for every five bananas they find. It’s not the most exciting skill tree in the world, with a majority of the skills seeming to just make DK’s already existing skills and stats slightly better, but there are a couple that add new abilities to his repertoire, like double jumping while holding a rock, or being able to drop eggs on enemies from above while in Ostrich form.
I also got to check out Bananza’s two player mode, which amusingly has the second player controlling Pauline in a way very similar to how Mario Galaxy’s Co-Star mode worked. Much like in Galaxy’s coop mode, the second player is able to fire projectiles at enemies, only this time in the form of literal words that she belts out. You can change the power and properties of these words by hovering your cursor over a particular type of material and holding a button to absorb that material. And as you might have guessed, you can make use of the Switch 2 joycon’s unique mouse pointer feature to add some precision to your shots. It’s a mode that seems clearly intended for a parent to play with their young child, or to get someone who’s not into video games to participate, and in that way I think it succeeds, but it’s not a mode that I would ever engage with in any other sort of capacity.
It’s pretty common for me to walk away from a preview event hungry for more, but after my two hours were up with Bananza, I was left with the mightiest of cravings. As someone whose favorite Nintendo mascot is Donkey Kong, this seems to be shaping up to be the 3D Donkey Kong game that I’ve been waiting decades for. For Mario fans still waiting for Nintendo to announce the next major 3D Mario game, Bananza looks set to be a worthy substitute in the meantime.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit
The dinosaurs are loose again, because Jurassic World Rebirth is now arriving in theaters. The seventh entry in the long-running dino franchise comes to us from Godzilla and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards, whose trademark sense of scale and spectacle makes him a prime choice for this series. With the first Jurassic World trilogy complete, Rebirth is set to usher in a “new era” of Jurassic.
But today, we want to look back on the series’ history and rank all six previous films from worst to best. This list was based on a vote from IGN’s Jurassic experts, so if you have an issue with it, take it up with the democratic process. Let’s get into it.
6. Jurassic World Dominion
The most recent Jurassic film also has the ignominious honor of being rated the worst. There was a lot of potential for Dominion after the ending of Fallen Kingdom, which teased the human world being invaded by dinosaurs. Instead, Dominion squanders that setup and falls prey to many legacy sequel traps, trying to trade in nostalgia and fan service over storytelling. It also invokes more of the techno-thriller aspects of Michael Crichton’s original novel (good idea) with a subplot about genetically-engineered evil locusts (bad idea). It’s not a complete wash; the chase scene in Malta is fun and there is a surface-level pleasure in seeing the original Jurassic trio of Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler and Ian Malcolm together in the same room again, but overall, it’s just not a great movie. Shoutout to Bryce Dallas Howard for wearing some great plaid shirts, though!
5. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Fallen Kingdom is undoubtedly the most divisive entry in the series, with some of our team voting it among the best and others voting it the absolute worst. It evened out to the fifth spot, yet there’s still a lot to recommend here. The dinosaur haunted house gives the back half of the film a delightful Gothic sensibility, the volcano set piece is pretty good, and it at least tries to introduce some new ideas into what had become a stale series premise-wise. That said, the new characters are mostly one-dimensional, the dinosaur auction feels weird given how little money the dinosaurs cost and there not being much elaboration on what the bidders want them for, and many viewers simply couldn’t get behind Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) setting the dinosaurs free at the end, which is perfectly understandable. It’s a weird entry that seems to be a firmly “love it or hate it” affair.
4. Jurassic Park III
The least successful Jurassic film (at the box office, anyway) comes in fourth place, and it’s easy to see why. It’s not a terrible film or anything, but it’s decidedly unambitious, settling for “yet another go around” instead of anything new. Alan Grant and a bunch of new characters are given an excuse to go to the dinosaur island, and they get chased around the dinosaur island until they escape. The end. Still, the movie did include some solid set pieces like the Spinosaurus attack on the river and the pteranodon aviary sequence, both of which were inspired by scenes from the original Crichton novel that never made it into the first film. Plus, Joe Johnston turns in solid journeyman direction and moves things along at a brisk pace. That said, the series definitely needed a fresher take after this one.
3. Jurassic World
That fresher take arrived in Jurassic World, which had perhaps one of the best one-sentence setups of the 2010s: “The park is open.” After all of John Hammond’s failures, someone else took up the mantle and successfully created a Jurassic Park, only for that one to also come crumbling down because of a deep-rooted cynicism that had festered inside of the park’s managers. The Indominus Rex, manufactured to give the park a promotional boost it didn’t need, makes for a great monster that tears out of its cage, setting up a Rube Goldberg plot of toppling dominos that blows up the rest of the park in spectacular fashion. From trained velociraptors hunting alongside motorcycles, to the pteranodons laying siege to the park’s main strip, to the Indominus battling the classic T-Rex in the finale, Jurassic World was full of maximalist blockbuster action and successfully relaunched the franchise.
2. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The series’ first sequel is also the only one to be helmed by original director Steven Spielberg, who turns in one of the weirdest movies in his filmography. It has some excellent set pieces and plenty of dinosaurs, as well as the welcome return of Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm, Julianne Moore as new lead Sarah Harding, and the late, great Pete Postlethwaite as big-game hunter Roland Tembo. Despite all this,The Lost World never quite matches the original for sheer inventiveness or emotional resonance. This likely comes down to Spielberg not having the same level of enthusiasm as he did for the previous film, with the studio pressuring both him and Crichton to deliver a sequel to what was at the time the biggest box-office hit in history. Still, it can make for quality viewing, especially when it ends on the T-Rex rampaging through San Diego.
1. Jurassic Park
Did you really think it was going to be anything else? Jurassic Park was unanimously voted as the best film in the series by IGN’s team, and we doubt almost anyone will argue with us. Jurassic Park wasn’t just an excellent summer blockbuster and franchise starter; it was a brilliant science-fiction adventure film that balanced what was at the time cutting-edge visual technology, great character writing and performances, a classic John Williams score and a solid emotional core to deliver one of the most widely beloved movies ever made. It would be the crown jewel of nearly any filmmaker’s career, and yet it stands as one among several of Spielberg’s masterpieces. As much as we enjoy the subsequent entries for all their dino action, Jurassic Park remains a step above its sequels, and we suspect it will stay there for a very long time.
How would you rank the Jurassic Park movies? Vote in our poll and let us know in the comments!
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.
Steam has released a new in-game monitor to help players understand the causes of bad PC game performance.
In a blog post, developer Valve explained that the new performance overlay will show you framerate values, similar to the old FPS counter, "but it can also break out generated frames from DLSS or FSR vs actual game framerate." That's great timing given the new Steam Summer Sale is live.
"It can show you min/max single frame values and a graph of framerate over time," Valve continued. "Additionally, it will show you CPU performance information, GPU performance information, and system memory usage information. These pieces of data can be useful to understand the causes of bad game performance whether that be a slow CPU, GPU, or too high graphics settings that are over-subscribing your video or system RAM."
Here's a screenshot showing all four current options, although note you can only have one of these displaying at any one time — we've compiled them here to make it easier to see what the different settings — FPS Single Value, FPS Details, FPS Details, CPU & GPU Utilization, and FPS, CPU & Ram Full Details — offer:
To enable the new overlay or adjust its size or position, head to Settings->In Game and find the new Performance Overlay section.
Valve said this is "a first step" towards helping Steam users more easily understand their game and system performance, and we can expect additional pieces of data to be added to the overlay going forward.
Steam has since broken that record again logging 41,239,880 simultaneous players, breaking its previous record of 40.2 million players set the weekend before.
And while that number includes idle players — that is, players with Steam open but not necessarily using it — the number of users actively in a game has hit a new record, too, jumping to 13.2 million players.
Valve recently dismissed reports its Steam platform suffered a "major" data hack, confirming there was "NOT a breach" of Steam systems. Given the prolific rise in data breaches and the fact that over 89 million of us have a Steam account, users had good reason to be worried about a possible security compromise.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Ever wondered why Clark Kent’s glasses somehow prevent him from being recognized as Superman, despite just being… glasses? It’s a fun question that often comes up whenever a new Superman comes around, and this month’s release of the DC Universe kickstarter is no different. Indeed, official social media posts for the movie have played on this idea, with Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane) and Skyler Gisondo (Jimmy Olsen) expressing their confusion when Superman actor David Corenswet takes his glasses off.
But why exactly do the glasses work in this Superman movie? DC Universe steward James Gunn told ComicBook that he has an explanation that is comic book canon: they’re hypno glasses.
“That’s canon in the comics,” Gunn said. “It’s kind of been forgotten but that’s from the comics. I was sitting with Tom King, the comic book writer, and I was like, ‘You know the thing that I just don’t really know how to reconcile in myself is the glasses because the glasses always bothered me as a kid.’ They bothered me because I just don’t have that much suspension of disbelief to believe that.”
Gunn went on to insist that Corenswet did a great job making Clark Kent and Superman look like different people, “even more so” than Christopher Reeve. Reeve’s performance as Superman is often praised for the subtle changes he made to posture and mannerisms as he shifts from playing the tentative reporter and the world’s most powerful superhero.
“You know, they’re two different people even though I think out of all the actors that have played Superman, Corenswet looks the most different as Clark Kent to Superman, even more so than Chris Reeve,” Gunn said. “But he [King] said, ‘You know, there’s an answer for that in the comics, it’s canon that they hypnotize people.’”
The somewhat goofy explanation is in keeping with the tone Gunn’s new Superman is shooting for. Teaser trailers have revealed a number of fun one-liners from Superman, as well as the use of his freeze breath to blow a dog to safety. And, of course, there’s all sorts of co-op punching shenanigans with Krypto the Superdog.
The inevitable next question is, what does Clark Kent look like when he's wearing his hypno glasses? In the same interview, Gunn said the glasses make Kent look like he has a fuller face: "He looks a little bit blockier in my mind when he's got the hypno glasses on."
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.
The Tuscaloosa Police Department have issued a request for help to unmask a Scooby-Doo costume-wearing criminal who stole cash from a convenience store.
The thief, who struck at the Quick Stop on Highway 82 last weekend, was caught on CCTV cameras emptying coins from gaming machines while dressed as the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon character.
At one point the suspect removed his Scooby-Doo hood — but unlike in the show, the thief had come prepared: he was also wearing a balaclava obscuring his face underneath. Zoinks.
Police say the suspect appears to be a white male, around 5'9, and have appealed for information on the villain's true identity. (Isn't it always an old guy in a disguise?)
Images posted to the Tuscaloosa Police Department Facebook page show the criminal stomping around the convenience store at 3.45am in the morning. Cops stated he "took cash and coins, but no snacks." What, no munchies?
In a follow-up comment, the department posted a photo of the Scooby gang's infamous Mystery Machine van parked outside their headquarters, and jokingly stated: "We’ve questioned the owners of the vehicle, but no solid leads yet. Continue to be on the lookout for shady caretakers and don’t meddle if you see the suspect."
Earlier this year, the streamer confirmed that after three movies and a dozen cartoon series, Scooby-Doo would get a "modern reimagining" as a live-action series. The show will follow teens Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and Freddy (yes, Freddy) as they investigate a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp, with the help of their "very special dog."
Image credit: Tuscaloosa Police Department
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Borderlands 4 includes a slider that lets you decrease the volume of — or mute entirely — your beloved (or love-to-hate) companion, Claptrap.
The robot companion has been in the Borderlands franchise since it began way back in 2009, and you can even play as him in 2014's Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. He essentially acts as your guide and mascot, and can make you laugh/cringe in equal measure. For some, however, he can be annoying, which is likely why the developers at Gearbox have introduced a setting to let you lower the volume of his voice or simply mute him completely.
"I wrote some lines just for this feature and it includes maybe the dumbest most niche reference to a certain terrible accent in a certain classic immersive sim," teased Borderlands 4 narrative director, Sam Winkler, in a social media post responding to streamer and 2K partner, Chadly, who revealed there's an audio slider dedicated to Claptrap's voice.
When a fan suggested Gearbox shouldn't have "caved to Claptrap haters," he added: "I pitched that you should be able to put him from 0% to 200% but I think the government said no."
Borderlands 4 is a looter shooter packed with billions of weapons, outrageous enemies, and intense co-op action where you'll break free from a dangerous hidden planet as one of four new Vault Hunters.
We had a good time with what we've played so far, writing in IGN's Borderlands 4 preview: "After several hours dipping my toes into what is sure to be a massive looter shooter, I’m much more optimistic about Borderlands 4’s odds of recapturing my affections after years apart."
And in case Randy Pitchford's controversial tweets had you thinking otherwise, publisher 2K Games has confirmed Borderlands 4 will cost $70, not $80, after all. Preorders are now live.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
The attention on Gunn’s decision-making around the DCU has involved speculation sparked by who he follows on social media, and that speculation has extended to Adria Arjona, who fans believe may be the next Wonder Woman after they noticed Gunn followed the actress on Instagram.
But in a recent interview, Gunn downplayed the significance of his social media moves, although he left a tease dangling that has only fueled the rumors.
In an interview with Extra, Gunn was asked about the chances that a popular female actress will play Wonder Woman if he follows them on social media. He responded jokingly: "50%."
Gunn then name-dropped Adria Arjona, who Extra was clearly asking about. Adria Arjona, who played Dorothy Gale in the Oz book adaptation Emerald City, Anathema Device in Good Omens, and Bix Caleen in Andor, is currently the subject of intense speculation around the role of Wonder Woman after fans spotted Gunn had followed her on Instagram.
Gunn said he followed her after the pair worked together on 2016 thriller The Belko Experiment, so fans shouldn’t read anything into it. However, he also said Arjona would "be a great Wonder Woman," which is the kind of thing you’d say if Arjona was on your radar for the role, at least.
Here’s Gunn’s quote in full:
“I followed Adria Arjona on Instagram, but everybody came out, ‘He just followed her, that means she’s Wonder Woman! That means she’s Wonder Woman!’
“She’d be a great Wonder Woman, by the way. But she was in a movie that I made seven years ago. We’ve been friends and have known each other since that time. I followed her then, I didn’t just follow her. People just notice these things all the time.”
Does this mean Arjona is the next Wonder Woman? Gunn’s clarification has only fueled the rumors that she is, although it’s worth noting there is no confirmation from DC Studios at this time.
What we do know is that the new DCU kicks off in a big way with this month’s Superman, then we have Peacemaker Season 2 in August, and Supergirl and Clayface in 2026. Wonder Woman does not have a release window.
Photo by PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images.
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.
Cryptic teases from Minecraft's official social media accounts have hinted at something big coming soon to do with copper.
A post on the MinecraftX/Twitter account features a teasing message stating "C U in the mines!" while on Instagram, the inside of a cave with blocks spelling out "CU 29" can be seen alongside the message: "Teleported Steve to 29, 11, 63.54."
What does all this mean? Well, Cu is copper's chemical symbol, 29 is its number in the periodic table, 11 is its group in the period table, while 63.54 is its atomic mass. So it's definitely something to do with copper. But beyond that? Well, fans do have one big idea.
Copper has existed in Minecraft for some time, as one of the game's many ores you can harvest and smelt into blocks, ingots, stairs, doors and so forth. There are even exposed, weathered and oxidized versions of the material, so you can build using copper of various types.
Back in 2021, a concept for a copper golem was proposed by Minecraft developer Mojang as one of several potential mobs it was considering — though, sadly, the copper golem lost that year's Minecraft Live vote, and the concept was shelved.
The copper golem has remained something of a fan-favorite, however, popping up as an Easter egg in subsequent Mob Votes. The helpful creature would have acted as a regular golem, albeit with the ability to randomly press copper buttons.
One cool mechanic would have seen the golem slowly oxidize over time, eventually turning into a statue unless players remembered to chisel off the oxidization with an axe, or if the golem was struck by lightning.
"What is something important involving copper that Mojang has teased in the past?" one fan excitedly wrote on reddit. "I think it's pretty obvious we are getting a copper update, and I think it might be the copper golems introduction," wrote another.
Perhaps the best evidence of a return for the copper golem comes from yet another official tease, this time posted to the Minecraft YouTube channel. Here, Minecraft director Agnes Larsson is seen visiting an actual real-life mine after taking a break from playing Minecraft. As fans on reddit have pointed out, the brief snippet of gameplay shown at the beginning of the video shows a house clearly shaped like a copper golem, made out of copper blocks.
Could the copper golem finally be getting his moment in the sun? Well, maybe. Both the teases also seem to be pointing more underground, where copper ore can actually be found. Exactly what Mojang is hinting at, however, players will have to wait and see.
The next mainline Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon game is moving into internal alpha testing in the coming months.
That's according to Insider Gaming, which claimed the shooter, codenamed 'Over' internally, will commence alpha testing in the Fall (Q3). With testing thought to take around 12 months, IG estimated Ghost Recon may release Fall 2026.
News of a new Ghost Recon broke around the time the developer/publisher confirmed it was ceasing all new development on 2019's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. It has reportedly been in development at Ubisoft since then, although at the time, it was clear the series was undergoing a full reset, which would necessitate a lengthy development cycle.
In a statement to IGN, an Ubisoft representative said: "We do not comment on rumour or speculation."
IGN's Ghost Recon Breakpoint review returned a 6/10. We wrote: "Breakpoint offers initial fun following Ubisoft's open-world structure as gospel, but a lack of variety and conflicting pieces leave it devoid of personality."
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Avatar director James Cameron has said Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was “a bit of a moral cop out,” while revealing his plans for his own movie, Ghosts of Hiroshima.
The 70-year-old Terminator creator has called his adaptation an “uncompromising theatrical film” that focuses on the true story of a man who survived both bombs that dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
The Ghosts of Hiroshima book is due out August 5, and there’s no release window yet for the adaptation. But Cameron detailed the project in an interview with Deadline, where he was asked about Ghosts of Hiroshima’s potential in the context of Oppenheimer’s $1 billion box office and seven-Oscar haul.
“Yeah… it’s interesting what he stayed away from,” Cameron replied, before suggesting Ghosts of Hiroshima may not have the kind of mainstream breakthrough appeal Oppenheimer managed. “Look, I love the filmmaking, but I did feel that it was a bit of a moral cop out.”
Cameron continued: “Because it’s not like Oppenheimer didn’t know the effects. He’s got one brief scene in the film where we see — and I don’t like to criticize another filmmaker’s film — but there’s only one brief moment where he sees some charred bodies in the audience and then the film goes on to show how it deeply moved him. But I felt that it dodged the subject. I don’t know whether the studio or Chris felt that that was a third rail that they didn’t want to touch, but I want to go straight at the third rail. I’m just stupid that way.”
Nolan has responded to this criticism of Oppenheimer before, specifically that the biopic does not meaningfully depict the true horror unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Director Spike Lee said in October 2023: “If it’s three hours, I would like to add some more minutes about what happened to the Japanese people. People got vaporized. Many years later, people are radioactive. It’s not like he didn’t have power. He tells studios what to do. I would have loved to have the end of the film maybe show what it did, dropping those two nuclear bombs on Japan.”
Nolan has countered to insist Oppenheimer is about Oppenheimer himself, and so focuses on his reactions to the events.
"The film presents Oppenheimer's experience subjectively," Nolan told Variety in November 2023. "It was always my intention to rigidly stick to that. Oppenheimer heard about the bombing at the same time that the rest of the world did. I wanted to show somebody who is starting to gain a clearer picture of the unintended consequences of his actions. It was as much about what I don't show as what I show."
Deadline suggested Nolan hopes someone tells that sort of story one day, and Cameron responded to say he’s the director to do it.
“Okay, I’ll put up my hand,” he said. “I’ll do it, Chris. No problem. You come to my premiere and say nice things…”
Ghosts of Hiroshima sounds like it will be a very different movie than Oppenheimer, then, and it also sounds like it will be some time before it’s made. Cameron clarified he has yet to write a word of the script, saying: “I’m not in that head space right now.”
But he did reveal his consideration for the audience in his thinking. “How much hell can an audience absorb and go on to absorb more?” he wondered.
“I think you’ve got to do it in glimpses, and you’ve got to contextualize it with people that you care about. There are a lot of challenges in telling this story. You can say, be uncompromising, but I don’t want to be so uncompromising that people walk out of the theater after 15 minutes. You’ve got to maintain a narrative flow that keeps it in a context. But like I said, I’m following Steven’s lead, which is to show what happened.”
That’s a nod to Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, which Cameron is taking inspiration from: “I want to do for what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, what Steven Spielberg did with the Holocaust and D-Day with Saving Private Ryan. He showed it the way it happened.”
Cameron added: “Look, this may be a movie that I make that makes the least of any movie I’ve ever made, because I’m not going to be sparing, I’m not going to be circumspect.”
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.
Nintendo has announced an imminent "pricing update" for the original Switch in Canada, leaving fans north of the border expecting the aging console to increase in price — more than eight years after it launched.
An advisory warning issued by Nintendo of Canada states that the changes will be fully detailed later today, July 1, as prices are publicly adjusted on the official Nintendo Canada online store.
Explaining the changes, Nintendo's note simply states the move is "based on market conditions," without going into further detail.
Nintendo has said that the newly-launched Switch 2 will not be impacted by the impending price adjustment, though all models of the original Switch (the OG Switch, Switch Lite and Switch OLED) will be impacted.
Physical and digital Switch games and accessories will also see price changes, Nintendo continued — something which of course will impact Switch 2 owners, as most games and many peripherals are cross-compatible.
The sweeping changes will also hit Nintendo Switch Online memberships, the company stated, as well as amiibo figurines. If you're in Canada and need to top-up your online subscription before prices change, now might be a good time.
Canada, like many other countries, has been caught up in the ongoing financial uncertainty provoked by the introduction of US tariffs. Prior to the Switch 2 launch, Nintendo paused the rollout of pre-orders in the US and Canada as it gauged the potential impact of tariffs, before announcing price rises on some Switch 2 peripherals.
Fans have suggested that these price rises, aimed at the original Switch, and on Nintendo Online Memberships, are likely Nintendo's workaround — without attracting the headlines of raising the Switch 2's price so soon after 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
What’s next for Halo? It looks like fans will get a further tease this October at the Halo World Championship 2025.
In a blog post, Tahir “Tashi” Hasandjekic, Esports Lead for the Halo franchise, suggested fans attend the event October 24-26 in Seattle to find out what Halo Studios has been working on.
The announcements were unveiled in a seven-minute video shown ahead of the Halo World Championship's grand finals. This showcased the results of Project Foundry — an experimental project designed to show a Halo game built using the Unreal Engine — and offered a glimpse at a fresh beginning for Xbox's flagship franchise in the wake of 2021's Halo Infinite.
In the blog post, Tashi referenced last year’s announcements and teased more to come this October.
“Over the past few weeks, there’s been a fair amount of speculation about when and where more details might emerge about any of the multiple projects Halo Studios is actively working on,” Tashi said. “We don’t usually comment on such matters, but this time we want to enter the chat and share a little more perspective for Halo fans who might be on the fence about whether to attend this year’s event.
“Last year at HaloWC, we premiered ‘A New Dawn’ where we talked about the switch to Unreal Engine, gave you a behind the scenes look at Project Foundry, and debuted our evolution to Halo Studios as we enter a new chapter for Halo. For us, ‘A New Dawn’ was just the beginning — at this year’s HaloWC, we look forward to continuing the conversation.
“Speculation is always fun, but if you want the official scoop on what Halo Studios has been working on, you won’t want to miss this year’s Halo World Championship. We really hope you’ll join us in Seattle this October!”
So, what could Halo Studios have up its sleeve for the announcement? It seems unlikely we’ll get a full-blown gameplay reveal for the next big Halo title, but we may get a more detailed tech demo showing Halo running in Unreal Engine. Earlier this month, Microsoft was reported to be readying a Halo: Combat Evolved remaster for release in 2026. Perhaps we will get a look at that. The so-far unannounced remaster is apparently under consideration for release on rival platforms including PlayStation 5.
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.
An image from the trailer showcasing the Slipspace Engine, which is the foundation of the upcoming Halo Infinite. These images are believed to be early production shots of what the developers hope to obtain in the final Halo Infinite game.
Breakout hit Space Marine 2 has sold 7 million copies, so it’s no surprise to see Year 2 support confirmed by publisher Focus Entertainment and developer Saber Interactive. In a community update, the companies said Year 2 will bring new PvE missions, enemies, weapons, and more unannounced content.
Space Marine 2 came out in September 2024, and as part of its first anniversary, a “large-scale” update is planned to release in September. Patch 10.0 sounds like a big one for Space Marine 2, but it’s worth noting that Patch 9.0 is due out beforehand. 9.0 was meant to add a new PvP mode, but that’s now delayed to 10.0, which means 9.0 will add only balance changes.
We do know a little about this new PvP mode, however. The twist here is it’s Chaos vs Chaos set on a new map, and, most interesting of all, you’ll be able to take control of the Helbrute. The Helbrute, for the uninitiated, is a variant of the Chaos Dreadnought, an evil death-dealer piloted by a Chaos Space Marine trapped within its plated metal chest. You might remember the Helbrute from the Space Marine 2 campaign, where it came off worse in a scrap with the Ultramarines’ Brother Valtus. Alongside this new Chaos-themed PvP mode are new Chaos armours, which are much-requested by fans.
Meanwhile, 10.0 adds the new Power Axe melee weapon, which has its own moveset and execution animations. We have a first look below:
THIS is why I’m a fan of Warhammer 40k! Hats off to @PrimeVideo for producing Secret Level: And They Shall Know No Fear. Watch it here: https://t.co/Gf0i2d0Rus
I highly recommend giving the entire 19 min episode a watch. It’s immersive and awesome. It’s a happy grim dark ray of… pic.twitter.com/iuYxprAo2J
And finally — and perhaps most exciting of all — we now know the new class for use across PvE and PvP: the Techmarine. We don’t have a first look yet, but it’s advanced enough in development to be announced. Expect more on the Techmarine in the next community updates.
The Techmarine perhaps doesn’t come as a huge surprise given it was also strongly hinted at in datamines (the files mentioned a perk called ‘shoulder gun bolter,’ which is a clear indication that Techmarines are finally in play). For the uninitiated, a Techmarine is a Space Marine engineer-type class who's a big fan of the Cult Mechanicus as well as their Chapter. They’re big on technology and specialize in fixing and maintaining vehicles and other big stuff, such as Dreadnoughts.
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.
If you're looking for the best TV series and movies to watch right here in Australia, we've got you covered. Because hey—why torment yourself by aimlessly hunting around the six odd streaming services? You could be wasting your precious free time watching a grade B piece of entertainment instead of something mind-blowing that's tucked away in some other library. Also, we can give you a heads-up on the hottest new things coming down the pipe, too. Don't ever be the person around the water cooler who hasn't seen the thing yet.
So, let’s get to maximising your hard-fought free time with the best award-winning films, social calendar-destroying TV series, and original content available. Below are the top picks from thousands of hours of content from Australia's six major streaming networks. Click your provider from the list, select some content, unplug the doorbell, and get some stream therapy for an hour. Or twelve.
TV litter pick:Nosferatu – 24 Jul : Robert Eggers' finest work, given how it both boldly stands on its own as a gothic vampire drama and astutely taps into the original texts — F.W. Murnau's silent classic and Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.
Movie litter pick:Arrested Development S1–5 – 29 Jul : Oldie but a goodie. This revolves around Michael Bluth, the "normal" one in a family of crazies, who get thrown together when their head of household gets sent to prison for shifty practices.
TV litter pick:The Sandman S2 – 3 Jul (S02) : After a fateful reunion with his family, Dream of the Endless must face one impossible decision after another as he attempts to save himself, his kingdom, and the waking world from the epic fallout of his past misdeeds.
Movie litter pick:Happy Gilmore 2 – 25 Jul : Adam Sandler returns to power-drive the everloving crap out of golf balls alongside original Happy Gilmore stars Julie Bowen, Ben Stiller, and Christopher McDonald, the latter of whom once again plays nemesis shooter McGavin.
What notable movies are coming to Netflix?
The Old Guard 2 – 2 Jul
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – 8 Jul
Brick – 10 Jul
Almost Cops – 11 Jul
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – 12 Jul
TV litter pick:Ironheart – 2 Jul (3 eps incl. Finale) : Dominique Thorne stars as Riri Williams, a genius inventor who creates the most advanced suit of armour since Iron Man. It’s “science and magic collide in Chicago” stuff that’s good but not great.
Movie litter pick:Jaws @ 50: The Inside Story – 11 Jul : It’s a tribute to Jaws (1975), the movie that sparked a lasting fascination with the ocean's most misunderstood predator and featured one of the most spine-chilling monologues in movie history.
TV litter pick:Foundation S3 – 11 Jul : Based off an Isaac Asimov classic, Foundation chronicles a band of exiles on their monumental journey to save humanity and rebuild civilization amid the fall of the Galactic Empire.
TV litter pick:Ballard – 9 Jul : Detective Renée Ballard plunges into a web of murder and corruption as she hunts a ruthless serial killer and uncovers a sinister police conspiracy. Also, Bosch cameos!
Movie litter pick:Warfare – 1 Jul : The harrowing true story of a US Navy Seal platoon surveillance mission gone dangerously wrong. Warfare captures the intensity of combat like never before.
What notable movies are coming to Prime Video?
Warfare – 1 Jul
Heads of State – 2 Jul
Simple Plan: The Kids in the Crown – 8 Jul
One Night in Idaho: The College Murders – 11 Jul
Better Man – 26 Jul
What notable series are coming to Prime Video?
Ballard – 9 Jul
One Night in Idaho: The College Murders – 11 Jul
The Chosen: Last Supper Season 5 – 13 Jul
Romcon: Who the F**k is Jason Porter? – 13 Jul
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 – 16 Jul
Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War Season 2 – 23 Jul
TV litter pick:Twisted Metal S2 – 31 Jul (S02) : The mysterious Calypso invites all the killers, vigilantes, and joyriders of the Divided States of America to participate in a demolition derby tournament with the promise of making the winner’s greatest wish come true.
Movie litter pick:The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – 12 Jul : A return to the YA dystopia in which kids are forced to hunt and kill each other for the entertainment of a privileged ruling class. Works well as a faithful adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel.
What notable movies are coming to Stan?
Spider-Man: No Way Home – 1 Jul
Morbius – 1 Jul
Venom: Let There Be Carnage – 1 Jul
The Patriot (2000) – 4 Jul
Black Swan (2010) – 5 Jul
Uncharted – 9 Jul
Looper – 10 Jul
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – 12 Jul
S.W.A.T. (2003) – 16 Jul
Ghostbusters: Afterlife – 17 Jul
The Last Showgirl – 20 Jul
American Sniper – 22 Jul
Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City – 27 Jul
The 355 – 31 Jul
What notable series are coming to Stan?
Kevin Costner's The West – 1 Jul (Finale)
The Carters: Hurts to Love You – 2 Jul (S01)
Such Brave Girls – 4 Jul (S02)
The Institute – 14 Jul (S01, E01 & E02)
Sin City Gigolo: A Murder in Las Vegas – 20 Jul (S01)
Time to warm up your wishlist, because this week’s gaming deals bring serious heat across every platform. Whether you're chasing cosy comfort, bold experimentation or big-ticket RPGs at slashed prices, there’s gold to be found here. From reimagined classics to cult favourites and bombastic new entries, it’s a great chance to fill those library gaps.
This Day in Gaming 🎂
In retro news, I'm celebrating the 38th birthday of a true great, Super Mario Bros., on the Nintendo Entertainment System. My first life-for-life playthrough at a friend's place blew me away. Every stage we conquered in the "back 4" worlds of this save-less odyssey felt like a murder gauntlet survived. Every secret pipe or warp room we found—unaided by the non-existent Internet—was a cave of wonders unearthed.
To this day, the infectious melodies and subtle physics of this 2D platformer still feel apex to me, and I can honestly say nearly four decades have done nothing to dilute my hatred of that spike-slinging Lakitu. Or, as my friend called him for some reason, Pompous Cloud.
This Day in Gaming
Aussie birthdays for notable games.
- Nintendo Entertainment System launch, 1987. eBay
Nintendo Switch gets nostalgic with Super Mario RPG, a lovingly crafted remake that lets you control Bowser as an ally. That twist originally shocked fans in 1996. Alongside it is Valkyria Chronicles 4, a tactical RPG praised for its permadeath mechanic and anime-infused drama. Fun fact: SEGA initially considered setting this entry during the Cold War before returning to alt-Europe.
On Xbox Series X, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II builds on the no-magic realism of its predecessor. Historical consultant Jirí Rýdl helped lock down period-accurate swordplay and Czech geography. Also featured is Hot Wheels Unleashed, a title known for arcade chaos in miniature. At one point, a dev-made track was so convoluted it caused internal testing to fail.
PS5 gets wild with Dragon’s Dogma 2, where your AI companions, called Pawns, memorise dungeon layouts and monster weaknesses based on your playstyle. There's also Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, a technical showcase that proved the PS5’s SSD could load entire levels almost instantly. That breakthrough inspired internal benchmarks at other Sony studios.
Finally, on PC, Mass Effect Legendary Ed. drops to pocket change. BioWare even referenced community-made mods while rebuilding the trilogy. Elden Ring rounds it out, with creator Hidetaka Miyazaki revealing he wrote key lore sections while listening to Wagner. Naturally.
Alienware released a new flagship gaming laptop this year - the Area-51 - and it brings to the table a host of upgrades over the m-series laptops including a sleeker redesign, current generation components, and better cooling potential. As part of the Alienware Black Friday in July Sale that kicks off now, select Area-51 gaming laptops have dropped to the lowest prices I've seen this year. They're all equipped with the newest Intel Core Ultra 9 processors and Nvidia RTX 5000 series Blackwell graphics cards. Check out all of the deals below.
Alienware Area-51 Laptops on Sale for 4th of July
The Area-51: New Style, More Power, Better Cooling
New for 2025, the Alienware Area-51 gaming laptop features a magnesium alloy chassis with upgraded cooling to tackle the latest and greatest heat generating components. This includes more fans and bigger cutouts enabling greater airflow, more generous use of copper, and a new thermal interface material to better transfer heat away from the core components. Dell claims that the laptop can handle a higher power ceiling of up to 240W TDP without raising acoustics.
Design-wise, the Area 51 accentuates its smooth contours, with rounded edges and soft corners replacing the squared off design you'd see in most other laptops. The hinges are also mostly internally positioned so that they're near invisible. As befits an Alienware laptop, there are ample customization options for RGB LED lighting.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a top performing CPU
The Area-51 laptop is also equipped with a very powerful CPU as well. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with a whopping 24 cores and 40MB total L2 cache. According to Passmark, this is the second most powerful Intel mobile CPU available right now and goes head to head with AMD's Ryzen 9 7945HX3D.
The RTX 5070 Ti and RTX 5080 mobile offer the best performance for your dollar
As expensive as these laptops are, you don't want to spend even more on trivial upgrades. The RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU boasts performance on par with the RTX 4080 but with the added benefit of faster GDDR7 RAM and DLSS 4.0. The RTX 5080 mobile GPU represents a healthy improvement over the RTX 5070 Ti for a nominal price bump; it's about 15%-20% more powerful than the RTX 5070 Ti and the RTX 4080 that it replaces. It also happens to be about 5% more powerful than the RTX 4090 and has the same amount of memory (16GB). Unfortunately, the RTX 5090 only appears to be just 5% more powerful than the RTX 5080, and its only real benefit is the 24GB of memory, which isn't that useful for gaming (but is an attraction option for professionals who work with AI applications).
Check Out More Alienware Black Friday in July Deals
Check out our Best Alienware Deals article with all of Dell's currently ongoing deals on gaming laptops and desktop PCs. Not everyone is the DIY type. If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of the best brands we'd recommend. Alienware desktops and laptops feature solid build quality, top-of-the-line gaming performance, excellent cooling (further improved on the newer models), aggressive styling, and pricing that is very competitive with other pre-built options. Best of all, there are plenty of sales that happen throughout the year, so it's not difficult to grab one of these computers at considerably less than their retail price.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
I’ve been keeping a close eye on the Pokémon TCG market this month, and we’re seeing two very different stories unfold. On one side, Surging Sparks cards are going through a steep correction.
On the other hand, Crown Zenith cards are showing early signs of what could be a long-term value surge. The bottom line? If you're a collector or investor, now is the time to buy into both.
I’m picking up what I can from both sets. The current dip in Sparks is a glimmer of hope for long-suffering 2024-2025 collectors. And Crown Zenith is a train I want to be on before it leaves the station. Let's go into more detail:
Pokémon Card Crashers
Let’s start with Surging Sparks. A handful of top cards have taken noticeable hits in the last few weeks. Pikachu ex - 247/191, for example, has dropped a whopping 51% since early April, falling from $113.38 to just $56. That’s a steep decline, no doubt, but it's important to put it in context.
We’re seeing more sealed product become available every week, and as supply rises, prices are naturally correcting. Hydreigon ex - 240/191has also taken a 34% hit, now sitting at $49.60, while Milotic ex - 237/191 is down 26% to $99. Even the alternate-art Pikachu ex - 238/191 is feeling the pressure, dropping 22% to $294.99, and Latias ex - 239/191 has slipped 23% to $193.99.
But this isn’t panic selling or lost interest in Surging Sparks, it’s the result of increased availability. Collectors and resellers aren’t willing to overpay for cards that are easier to find. If anything, that creates opportunity.
These aren’t bad cards; they’re just correcting from an inflated early market. For anyone who missed the initial wave or hesitated at launch prices, this correction is your window.
Pokémon Card Climbers
Crown Zenith is telling a very different story. Cards from this set, particularly the stunning Secret Rare VSTARs, are starting to heat up. Giratina VSTAR (Secret) GG69/GG70 has jumped 24% this month, climbing from $152.78 to $199.99.
We're at a pivotal moment in the Pokémon TCG timeline. The Scarlet and Violet era is drawing to a close, and with the Mega Evolution era moving in after Black Bolt and White Flare sets later this year, we’re about to enter the next generation.
That transition turns Sword and Shield-era sets like Crown Zenith into the odd category of not-so modern Pokémon cards. If historic price climbs tells us anything, cards become more valuable two generations out. We’ve seen this pattern with XY and early Sun & Moon sets, and I expect Sword and Shield to follow suit alongside old Mega Evolution Pokémon.
Sealed Product Price Comparison
Some of the pricing here by Amazon is insane, but there's some deals to be had when comparing these products to TCG Player. For example, Prismatic Evolutions Super-Premium Collection is a massive 56% below market value, so go with Amazon on that one.
On the other end of the scale, TCG Player has Cynthia’s Garchomp ex Premium Collection at a massive 48% below Amazon's current price, which is very close to MSRP. I've compared all the prices in the carousel above, but another pro tip is clicking through to eBay to see if there's any new bargains to be had.
Last Weeks Crashers and Climbers
As the Scarlet & Violet era winds down with the upcoming Black Bolt and White Flare sets, collectors are already looking backward in anticipation of what’s next—namely, the long-awaited return of Mega Evolutions. Following the reveal of Mega Symphonia and Mega Brave for Japan’s August launch, classic Mega cards are seeing renewed interest.
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.
A lot of people don't know what the deal is with Amazon's Prime Student membership. Does it offer everything regular Prime members get? Does it cost less? Is it only for college students? As it turns out, Prime Student is an almost absurdly good deal, even if you only use the free trial. To that end, let's dig in and answer all of your Prime Student questions.
How to Sign Up for an Amazon Prime Student Free Trial
First things first. New members can try out Prime Student for 6 months for free. That's way longer than most free trials, so there's really no reason not to do it. If you like it, keep it going after the trial ends. If not, cancel before your first paid month, and you won't owe anyone a dime.
Who Can Sign Up for Prime Student?
Prime Student is available for anyone attending a college or university.
What is Prime Student?
Prime Student is a discounted Amazon Prime membership that also gets you deals on a bunch of things students would be likely to enjoy.
The Prime membership portion of it includes all the same benefits of a regular Prime membership. That means you get free two-day shipping on millions of items, full access to Prime Video, Amazon Music Prime, Amazon Photos, and Prime Gaming.
What Extra Deals Come with Prime Student?
As for the extra deals on top of the standard Prime benefits, quite a few things are included. Here are some of them:
Grubhub - You get unlimited free food delivery through Grubhub (as long as the order is $12 or more)
Premium Channels - Get a year of premium channels like Showtime, Epix, and Shudder for $1 each per month
Calm - You can try the Calm app for free for three months, then get a big discount on a subscription
More - There are lots of other benefits, including access to special deals, early access to lightning deals, discounts on flights, hotels, and homework help. You can find full details here.
How Much Does Amazon Prime Student Cost?
After your free trial ends, the normal price of $7.49 per month kicks in. That's half the price of a regular Prime membership. And remember, Prime Student includes all the benefits of a Prime membership, plus a bunch more.
Do I Need a .edu Email Address?
Yes. While you can continue to use your standard email address for your Amazon account, Amazon does send a verification email to your .edu address.
What Happens to Your Prime Student Membership When You Graduate?
When your school days come to an end -- or four years after your Prime Student membership begins, whichever comes first -- your Prime Student membership turns into a regular Prime membership.
Is Amazon Prime Student Free?
New members can sign up for a 6-month free trial. After the free trial ends, the regular price is $6.49 per month, which is half the price of a normal Prime membership.
Is Amazon Prime Student Worth It?
This is subjective, of course, but I'd say Prime Student is absolutely worth it for anyone who orders items from Amazon or wants to watch Prime Video, or even orders food regularly from Grubhub. Even if you consider the standard price of $6.49 per month to be too much, there's no reason not to do the free 6-month trial.
Both PS5 and PC gamers looking to supplement their storage should check out this early Amazon Prime Day Deal. For a limited time, Amazon has dropped the price on the Crucial T500 2TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe solid state drive to just $124.99 with free shipping. The Crucial T500 is one of the top performing PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the market. Besides its high transfer speeds, this SSD has onboard DRAM (rare at this price point) and includes a pre-installed heatsink, making it an excellent drop-in ready solution for your PlayStation 5 console.
2TB Crucial T500 SSD (PS5 Compatible) for $124.99
The T500 is Crucial's premium PCIe 4.0 solid state drive and is equipped with a Phison E25 controller with 232-layer Micron TLC NAND flash memory. It has proven to be one of the fastest SSDs on the market with sequential speeds of 7,300/6,800MB/s and random speeds of 1.15M/1.44M IOPs. It's on par with other top-tier SSDs like the WD Black SN850X, the Samsung 990 Pro, and the SK Hynix P41 Platinum and it's currently the least expensive of the bunch. The Crucial T500 also has a dedicated LDDR4 DRAM cache. Pretty much every other SSD at this price point is DRAM-less and rely on HMB, or system memory, as a less expensive alternative. Crucial backs this SSD with a 5-year warranty.
The Crucial T500 makes for an excellent replacement SSD for your PlayStation 5 console. It fulfills all of Sony's requirements, like a minimum read speed of 5,500MB/s and a PCI-Express Gen4x4 interface. A robust aluminum heatsink is also already pre-installed, so you don't need to spend time and money installing one yourself.
The best PS5 SSDs you can buy in 2025
Over the past few console generations with built-in storage, gamers were typically stuck with however much storage that came with the console. With the PS5, Sony made a surprising move by including an internal M.2 PCIe slot to install an off-the-shelf SSD to supplement the internal storage. Given that this is the same company that paired the PS Vita and PSP with ludicrously expensive memory cards, this was a welcoming change of pace, especially given the paltry 825GB of storage you have to work with. Now, you can install high-end PC SSDs like the Corsair MP600 Pro LPX, our number one pick, to load even more games nearly as fast as the extra-special drive that's built into the console itself.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
We just found a great early Amazon Prime Day deal for anyone looking for an inexpensive pair of earbuds that is a perfect fit (pun intended) for sports, exercise, or fitness activities. Right now Amazon is offering the Baseus Bowie MC1 Pro Open Ear Clip-On Earbuds for just $53.79 with free shipping after you clip a $20 off coupon on the product page and apply a $16.20 off coupon code "T6A3PAYT" during checkout. All three color options are on sale. The on-ear design is the best option if you need to be aware of your surroundings while listening to your music.
Baseus Bowie MC1 Pro Open Ear Sports Earbuds for $53.79
The Bowie MC1 Pro employs a unique U-shaped design that clips your earbuds securely in place even when you're moving around. It sits right above instead of inside your ear canal. This open-ear design allows you to hear your immediate surroundings, which is ideal if you're running or biking on streets, listening to an instructor, or carrying a conversation while working out. The earbuds are IP67 rated for water and dust protection and there are on-button controls, although you can also use the mobile app if you don't want to fiddle around with the buds once they're on your ear.
My favorite sport earbuds are the Shokz OpenRuns, but they are currently selling for $130, or more than double the price of the Bowie MC1 Pros. Another popular "budget" earbuds are the AirPods 4. However, they're not specifically designed to be used during active workouts, they're only ideal for iPhone users, and they're still a lot more expensive than the Bowies. At its current price point, it's hard to find anything that can compete. You can check out our 2025 picks for the best running headphones and earbuds but be forewarned that they are all also much pricier than the Bowies.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Although Amazon has become the biggest online retailer for just about everything, it has consistently been one of the best places to buy new books. In addition to some of the lowest prices on hardcovers and paperbacks, the Amazon-owned services are also some of the best ways to read (or listen) to books in 2025. I myself have had a Kindle Unlimited subscription for over a year now and don't really see how I could go back to reading any other way.
With the official Prime Day deals coming next week, Amazon has already started dropping its best deals of the year on select books and services. Right now is a great time to try Audible or Kindle Unlimited for free, but you can also find deals on various physical books and box sets for popular series. I've gathered some of the best early Prime Day deals I've found on such things below.
The Best Early Prime Day Book Deals
Overall, Amazon has a ton of early book deals to choose from. If you're specifically looking for the biggest savings possible, I've gathered up my top picks that are definitely worth buying right now at these prices. Most of these deals, similar to Prime Day as a whole, are only available for those with an Amazon Prime membership.
My first go-to recommendations here are the Lord of the Rings books. The Silmarillion Collector's Edition has dropped to its lowest price ever and is absolutely worth buying if you're a fan of Tolkien's work. It may not be the easiest thing to just sit down and actually read, but it's a great gift for Lord of the Rings fans who want a nice copy of the book to put on their shelf. Along those same lines, the deluxe illustrated edition of The Hobbit has officially dropped to its lowest-ever price as well. This special edition features drawings from Tolkien himself.
Other notable book deals in this sale are on popular fiction box sets. The Inheritance Cycle, which you may know as the Eragon series, has dropped to a new low price for 2025. This is one of my overall favorite fantasy series and I'd recommend it for any young adult readers who just can't get enough dragons. There's also a pretty nice discount on the latest Hunger Games book bundle, which includes the newest title Sunrise on the Reaping. If you don't already have all of those books, it's a great time to pick up the full box set before the movie comes out in 2026.
Last but not least, some of the best early Prime Day deals are on Amazon's own services. The Audible promotion running right now offers three full months of the audiobook service for free if you're a Prime member. This will also include one credit per month to purchase an audibook free of charge. So you essentially get three free audibooks and the service for free for months before having to pay anything. The same goes for Kindle Unlimited, which will give you access to a ton of digital Kindle books for free for three months as long as you're a new subscriber. I highly recommend trying this service if you are into LitRPG books at all as this is what I primarily use it for.
Should you wait to buy books until Prime Day starts?
One of the main questions that arise while browsing early Prime Day deals is whether or not you should actually buy now or wait until the sale officially kicks off. While it is true that some early price cuts aren't as good as Prime Day discounts during the peak sale days, that generally isn't the case. If Amazon is advertising something as "Prime Deal" that basically means that it is a Prime Day deal and will be at that same price when the full sale kicks off. So basically, all of the books we've featured above are most likely at the lowest prices they'll be right now.
That being said, it is possible that Amazon could offer a special promotion on books and that some of these items could be included in that. Last year the retailer had a buy two, get one free sale that was incredibly popular. Amazon has had a few of these promotions throughout 2025 so far, but we haven't seen any sign of this same sale for Prime Day this year just yet.
PUBG: Blindspot is a cheeky little PUBG: Battlegrounds spin off that's currently in development, and was playable on the show floor at IGN Live. It's a 5v5 top-down tactical shooter that has a classic team deathmatch mode - one we got hooked on even in the chaos of the gaming show floor - and a Demolition mode, that will see teams using traps and obstacles to outwit the enemy. It's been compared to a top-down Rainbow Six Siege and with good reason: to rack up the kills you're going to need to use your brain as well as your trigger finger.
1. Think 'Peekaboo with bullets'
Forget all your FPS muscle memory, this is a top-down strategic PvP game where your cunning is as important as your reaction times. You're dropped into a map full of corners, windows, doorways - basically anything you can think of to make line of sight a key part of gameplay - and you have to hunt down your opponents before they pop one in your back. You can see the whole map, but you'll only see enemies if they're in your cone of vision or your teammates, which sounds simple until someone snipes you through a window while you're focused on the doorway at the end of a corridor.
2. Demolition Mode is on the way
While we didn't get to play the Demolition Mode, it sounds like a step up in complexity from the 5v5 deathmatch, adding a greater need for planning and teamwork. Production Director Seungmyeong Yang explained more about it at IGN Live. "Demolition Mode can commonly be found in other games such as Counter Strike or Valorant," he said. "In this Demolition Mode there is an attacking team and a defending team, and the defense team basically tries to block the attacking team from coming in and the attacking team tries to breach the building. It was really fun to see how the gamers react, they seem to really enjoy the game!" Demolition Mode is the inspiration for those Rainbow Six Siege comparisons, albeit it from a whole new top-down perspective.
3. Start your WASD warmups
The keyboard and mouse controls are more like a twin-stick shooter set up, and it's going to take your brain a second to catch up to how they work. You control movement with WASD and your cone of vision with the mouse, while to aim and fire weapons you hold down the right mouse button. That will slow your movement, though, so it's always a balance between moving quickly to avoid enemy detection and choosing when to take your shots. Once you've mastered that you can focus on being more accurate, using the mouse wheel and keyboard to go for head shots, body shots, or aiming specifically at any crouched enemies.
4. Character choice is key
Like any team game, who you have in your five-person kill crew is going to matter. The build I played had 10 characters to choose from, each with pleasingly distinct looks and loadouts to keep things interesting. I'm not exactly a subtle operative, so I gravitated towards those with weapons that could cause carnage up close and personal, like bearded cowboy Collision, who packs a Winchester 1300 shotgun and booby traps; or Kayak, who has a semi-automatic O12 combat shotgun and a remote sticky bomb. Support players can go for Fanatic with her P90 and First Aid Kid, or sniper Buddy with her scanning drones. Some you might want to play just because of their character designs - I'm not usually one for Toxic Gas Grenades, but Dropdown has a sort of Dystopian Harley Quinn vibe that's hard to resist.
5. You can play it in August
There's no official release date for the full game, but there is a PC beta planned for August. Keep an eye on the game's official Steam page for updates.
Rachel Weber is the Senior Editorial Director of Games at IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, and French Bulldogs. Those extra wrinkles on her face are thanks to going time blind and staying up too late finishing every sidequest in RPGs like Fallout and Witcher 3.
As part of its 4th of July Sale, HP is offering its newest and most powerful gaming laptop at a pretty hefty discount. The Omen Max 16 RTX 5090 Gaming Laptop drops to just $2,319.99 with free shipping when you apply 20% off coupon code "LEVELUP20". That is easily best price for an RTX 5090 gaming laptop anywhere by well over $1,000. In fact, I would place this deal squarely in the too good to be true territory and I'd be surprised if your order even gets shipped out. That said, fortune favors the bold, and worst case scenario your order will just be cancelled. The RTX 5090 is currently the most powerful mobile GPU available with tons of VRAM and DLSS 4 support.
HP Omen Max 16" RTX 5090 Gaming Laptop for $2,319.99
This HP Omen Max 16 laptop is configured with a 16" 1920x1200 display, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, GeForce RTX 5090 graphics, 21GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. I would strongly recommend upgrading to the 16" 2560x1600 OLED display for an additional $190 (minus 20% off with code). The GPU can easily handle the increased resolution and the OLED panel makes for a much better looking display that complements the other premium hardware.
The Core Ultra 9 275HX boasts a max turbo frequency of 5.4GHz with 24 cores and 40MB total L2 cache. According to Passmark, this is one of the fastest laptop processor on the market, going toe to toe with the AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX3D. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 is likewise the most powerful mobile graphics card on the market. In terms of raw performance, it's actually only about a 10% improvement over the RTX 5080. However, it does have considerably more VRAM (24GB vs 16GB), which is useful for creative professionals and anyone who uses generative AI.
The Omen Max is new for 2025
The Omen Max is essentially a "premium" Omen 16 with better materials - like an aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis and lid - and a beefier cooling system to accommodate current generation hardware.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Some Nintendo Switch 2 owners are reporting that their Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons are disconnecting over and over again. However, they've also found an easy fix: just use the Nintendo Switch 2 official HDMI cable.
This comes from a number of Reddit posts, where users are reporting Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons disconnecting randomly, sometimes every few minutes. Our own tech editor, Bo Moore, has also suffered from this issue beginning immediately after unboxing and hooking up his brand new Nintendo Switch 2, saying his console would lose connection with the Joy-Cons every few seconds.
But it turns out, the solution was a simple one: just use the HDMI cable that comes with the Nintendo Switch 2, rather than whatever other HDMI cable you happen to have lying around.
For some this might be obvious, but it sounds like a number of users have been unhooking their old Nintendo Switch 1's from their TVs, but not swapping out the cables under the assumption that the old ones would work. Plugging in the Nintendo Switch 2 to the old Nintendo Switch 1 cables seems like it should be fine, but it turns out that it's not. This is because the Nintendo Switch 1 HDMI is not an "ultra high speed" HDMI cable, while the Nintendo Switch 2 cable is. So if for some reason you don't want to use the cable that came with your Switch 2, any other ultra high speed HDMI should work instead.
Our tech editor confirmed that using the new Nintendo Switch 2 HDMI cable solved the problem for him, as it seems to have solved it for several other users online.
Confirm that you're using an "Ultra High Speed" HDMI cable to connect the dock to the TV. If it's not Ultra High Speed, your console won't perform as expected when docked.
If you're using a different cable than the one that came with the console, it should have printed on the cable that it's "Ultra High Speed."
The HDMI cable that came with the Nintendo Switch is not "Ultra High Speed" and should not be used with the Nintendo Switch 2 dock.
Generally it's a pretty good idea to use the included cables and accessories with any piece of technology, but it's a good reminder too that if for some reason you need to replace the Nintendo Switch 2 HDMI cable, you'll need a special one if you want to play with functioning Joy-Con controllers.
For all the accessories not included in the box with the Nintendo Switch 2, check out our guide to the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories available now, or take a look at our in-depth guides to the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers and headsets.
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.
Dinosaurs captivate all ages. The creatures that dominated Earth ages ago, populating our world for 165 million years, will always be fascinating. And, on screen, as part of movie history, dinosaurs have always been a go-to genre for incredible spectacle and chilling thrills - whether you're into t-rexes, pterodactyls, raptors, or gentle giant brontosauruses.
Dinosaur movies transport us back in time to the era of these wondrous reptiles, while other instances show dinosaurs living among us, either on a secluded island lost to history or as cloned beings brought back by science for our amusement (and dismemberment).
The Jurassic Park/World franchise has raked in over $6 billion in box office bucks over the past 30 years, proving that these glorious beasts can bring home the bacon. But which dinosaur films are the best?
Here are our picks of the 10 best dinosaur movies, from trampled theme parks to warring prehistoric titans.
Um, duh. Yup, not only is Spielberg's Jurassic Park one of the best "dinosaur movies ever," it easily doubles as one of the "best movies ever." Adapted from Michael Crichton's novel (and second story about a futuristic amusement park gone lethally haywire), Jurassic Park is endlessly entertaining and infinitely quotable, providing equal parts laughter and horror. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum star in this tyrannosaurus-sized tale about scientists evaluating a - er - unique family attraction before it opens to the public. Hold onto your butts, because this appraisal winds up with a body count.
More than 20 years after the original Jurassic Park (which wound up becoming a trilogy), Jurassic World kicked off a new segment of the franchise, with greedy corporations and opportunistic scientists learning nothing from previous tragedies and opening "Jurassic World" to patrons everywhere. Naturally, things go horribly awry and carnage ensues and Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard anchor a budding dino-apocalypse. The films would eventually bring back the original three stars but the first World installment stands tall as a formulaic but fun feast for the senses.
The Land Before Time (1988)
From George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, this Don Bluth animated classic blossomed into a decades-spanning franchise featuring 13 sequels, several video games, and a TV series. The story of a young orphaned dinosaur named Littlefoot, who embarks on a great journey to find a paradise called the Great Valley, The Land Before Time is a beautifully animated '80s staple. The saga teaches kids about the importance of friendship, the dangers of prejudice, and the power of hope.
Dinosaur (2000)
Disney's Dinosaur, the company's 39th animated feature, finds a lot in common with The Land Before Time as it also follows a young orphaned dino, this time on a trek to discover to the idyllic Nesting Grounds after a meteor shower devastates their island. A mix of live-action, many of the backgrounds were filmed on location while the dinos themselves were computer-generated, making it the most expensive computer-animated film at the time. Voiced by D.B. Sweeney, Julianna Margulies, Alfre Woodard, Ossie Davis, Joan Plowright, and Hayden Panettiere.
The Good Dinosaur (2015)
Though it's technically the first Pixar film to not quite meet profitable expectations, The Good Dinosaur is wacky, charming family entertainment, supplemented by the voices of Sam Elliott, Anna Paquin, Jeffrey Wright, and three-time Oscar-winner Frances McDormand. Like most animated dino films, the story involves a thrilling, meaningful journey, though this time it's within an alternate history where reptilian dinosaurs never went extinct. In The Good Dinosaur, a shy Apatosaurus, Arlo, meets an unlikely human friend while traveling through a dangerous and mysterious landscape in order to return home.
King Kong (1933)
Most King Kong films are good for a ravenous dino or two, so why not revisit the 1933 original and watch humans discover Skull Island, home of not only Kong but prehistoric life of all kinds: including the Tyrannosaurus-rex, the Stegosaurus, the Pteranodon, and more. King Kong is a classic, famous for being a true spectacle at the time with game-changing special effects, from stop-motion pioneer Willis O'Brien. Kong is still thriving today, as part of Legendary's MonsterVerse, with the latest entry, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, worth checking out too.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
King Kong's MonsterVerse reboot began with Kong: Skull Island, a rollicking Vietnam War-era adventure starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, and John Goodman as a part of a mix of scientists, soldiers, and scholars trapped on Kong's dreaded isle of terrifying creatures. In a twist though, the island's usual dinosaurs have been beaten and eaten by new giant monsters, unique to the film and the MonsterVerse itself. And it totally works. Separating itself from the Jurassic Park/World franchise, Kong: Skull Island gave viewers a fresh batch of nightmare fuel to fawn over.
One Million Years BC (1966)
This '60s British fantasy-adventure, from Hammer Films, starred Raquel Welch as a cavewoman struggling to survive in a fictional past where humans and dinosaurs coexisted. A remake of a film from 1940, One Million Years BC is a largely enjoyable, kitschy featuring dinosaurs (and giant sea-turtles) roaming a scortched Earth, brought to life by stop-motion genius, and Willis H. O'Brien apprentice, Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans).
The Valley Of Gwangi (1969)
Another Harryhausen home run was cult dino-Western, The Valley Of Gwangi, as the stop-motion pro took over the project from mentor Willis O'Brien after O'Brien passed away before production. The story itself was conceived by O'Brien and combined cowboys and dinosaurs as a rodeo horse is revealed to be a fifty million-year-old, prompting members of a Wild West show to venture into Mexico's Forbidden Valley in search of fame and untold wealth. There, however, they confront prehistoric monsters, including "Gwangi," a giant dinosaur that decimates their ranks.
Land of the Lost (2009)
Will Ferrell and Danny McBride turn a 1970s Sid and Marty Krofft TV series (which itself got a short-lived '90s revival) into a comedic romp in Land of the Lost, where a mysterious vortex sucks a disgraced scientist (Ferrell), his assistant (Anna Friel), and a survivalist Will (McBride) into a world populated by marauding dinosaurs and fantastically bizarre creatures.
And that's it for our pick of the best dinosaur movies of all time. Did you favorite make the cut? Let us know in the comments.
Upcoming Dinosaur Movies
Two new dinosaur movies are in the works and are worth keeping an eye on. The first is the next installment in the Jurassic World series, Jurassic World Rebirth, due to release July 2, 2025. The second is a bit more of a mystery. It Follows director David Robert Mitchell is working on a dinosaur movie, set to release in 2026, which will feature Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor. According to rumors, the film has been titled Flowervale Street and is rumored to be about dinosaurs and set in the 80s.
We have our first look at Project Hail Mary, the upcoming sci-fi movie starring Ryan Gosling and directed by The Lego Movie’s Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and already one of our biggest burning questions has been answered: when are we going to get our first look at Rocky?
With the release of the movie’s first trailer we now know: right now.
Based on the 2021 novel by The Martian’s Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary follows the story of Ryland Grace, a reluctant astronaut tasked with traveling to a distant star in the hopes of saving humanity from a dying sun. Grace wakes up alone and panicked, with no idea where he is or how to complete his mission.
Enter Rocky, a five-legged space spider who Grace eventually befriends and works alongside in an effort to save both of their home planets from a near-certain apocalypse. He’s equal parts Chewbacca (a loveable alien who helps the roguish hero navigate the treacheries of outer space) and Mr. Spock (a scientific genius whose knowledge is essential to the hero’s survival).
The New Project Hail Mary Trailer Gives Us a Look a Rocky, a Fan-Favorite Character from The Book
Rocky shows up a ways into Weir’s novel and his appearance (and subsequent friendship with Grace) comes as a bit of a surprise. What seemed to be another Martian-esque solo quest for a human protagonist quickly pivots into a high-stakes buddy adventure comedy.
And that’s what makes the glimpses we see of Rocky in the movie version’s trailer a shocker. While we don’t get a full view of Rocky, we do see multiple shots of his arms and hands (feet?) along with indications that Rocky is a friendly extraterrestrial. And that’s probably for the best.
Not only are fans of Rocky (yes - there are many, if the cottage industry of fan-made Rocky t-shirts, art, and merch is any indication) given a first look at the one of the book’s central characters, but general audiences who don’t know the book get a reason to believe Project Hail Mary is more than just The Martian reloaded.
Project Hail Mary does share a lot of similarities with The Martian, Weir’s prior bestseller (and subsequent blockbuster starring Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain): solitary protagonists who undertake life-or-death missions far from Earth, complex (and entertaining!) scientific concepts, and lots and lots of space drama.
But Rocky is the main differentiator here. While The Martian’s Mark Watney is left solo (that’s kind of the point of the story) to, in his words, “science the shit” out of his desperate situation, the bond formed by Rocky and Grace in Project Hail Mary gives the story an added layer of poignancy, comedy, and drama.
As the story unfolds, the two characters use their complementary knowledge and skills as they face seemingly insurmountable odds - all leading to a conclusion that is at once shocking and completely appropriate. And while the trailer leaves just enough of Rocky hidden to allow for a little bit of surprise and wonder for when the movie releases, it reveals the perfect amount to get newcomers and diehard fans excited for next year.
As part of its 4th of July Sale, Best Buy has discounted both Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS gaming PC handheld models for the first time ever. The more powerful Lenovo Legion Go S AMD Z1 Extreme SteamOS model is down to $779.99 (normally $830) and the Legion Go S AMD Ryzen Z2 Go SteamOS model is down to $549.99 (normally $600). I strongly recommend you opt for the Z1 Extreme edition; it's hands down the best gaming handheld PC so far in 2025. The new Lenovo Legion Go S was released in February of 2025, but only the Windows edition; the Steam OS edition was released later in May. This is the first SteamOS gaming handheld that isn't made by Valve.
Lenovo Legion Go S Steam OS Gaming Handheld PC
If you can afford the $230 price premium, I would strongly recommend going with the $780 model. The AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme is a significantly more powerful processor than the Ryzen Z2 Go (which we didn't like very much at all) and also includes double the RAM and double the storage. The Ryzen Z1 Extreme model is also more powerful than the Steam Deck. Since it runs on the same SteamOS client it outperforms the Steam Deck in most games. Games look better with more fluid movement as well, thanks to a bigger 8" screen with a higher 120Hz refresh rate. Battery life remains roughly equivalent, however the Legion Go S has the benefit of a much faster maximum charging rate.
The SteamOS model is better than the Windows model
There's a third Legion Go S model on sale. This model has the same specs as the more powerful SteamOS variant, but it runs off Windows 11. The optimized SteamOS client is more user intuitive and better performing than Windows, which is a general purpose operating system that wasn't inherently built to focus on controller-based gaming by default.
If you end up getting this deal, we'd recommend picking up a portable power bank for extended travels and a Micro SD card. We've compared the Steam Deck to the ROG Ally and although the Legion Go S isn't mentioned, the article gives you a good idea of the major differences between a Steam-based and Windows-based gaming handheld.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Everyone loves free games, especially when they are bundled in with something you were already planning to buy. Today is the last day that you can score Doom: The Dark Ages on PC via Steam for free with the purchase of an ASUS ROG accessory. If you've been on the lookout for a new gaming keyboard, mouse, or monitor, you can score both new tech and one of 2025's biggest games to go with it.
Although Amazon Prime Day doesn't start until next week, this offer is pretty tempting if you're in the market for PC gaming accessories and don't already own the game.
Get a Free Copy of Doom: The Dark Ages with ASUS ROG Accessories at Amazon
Doom: The Dark Ages took Doom to the world of dark sci-fi fantasy. The legendary Doom Slayer returns with a Shield in tow, and he's even able to fly a dragon. This game brought what is arguably the best story in a Doom game thus far, with humans and villains more important than ever. In our 9/10 review, we wrote, "Doom: The Dark Ages may strip away the mobility focus of Doom Eternal, but replaces it with a very weighty and powerful style of play that is different from anything the series has done before, and still immensely satisfying in its own way."
The game launched just recently on May 15, and if you haven't played it yet, this offer on Amazon is the perfect excuse. Over 20 Asus ROG accessories are included in this promotion, but you only have until the end of today, June 30, to claim this offer. Keys are delivered alongside order confirmation, and you can enter the order into Gamesplanet to claim your free copy of Doom: The Dark Ages on Steam.
One of our favorite items in this sale is the 49-inch ROG Swift QD-OLED Curved Monitor. This 1440p ultrawide monitor has numerous excellent features that complement its gorgeous OLED panel. Asus has a custom heatsink inside the monitor to ensure no damage is done to the display, so no need to worry about overheating. Additionally, you also have a refresh rate of 144Hz here, which is essential for playing games in a smooth environment. The Swift monitor is priced at $899 right now, marking the lowest price we've seen yet.
If you're just looking for the cheapest item, the Asus ROG Keris II Ace Wireless Gaming Mouse is your best bet. This mouse features a 42K optical sensor, ensuring precision across any game, and it only weighs 54g! Priced at $144.99, this is the cheapest ROG accessory on Amazon that includes a free copy of Doom.
Finally, another great accessory on sale is the ROG Azoth 75 Wireless Gaming Keyboard. This keyboard is equipped with an OLED display that you can customize to showcase audio visualizations, animations, settings, or even system temperatures. The Azroth 75 can be used via Bluetooth, wired, or via RF 2.4 GHz, with over 2,000+ hours of battery life with RGB lighting off.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium.
While the new DCU is still very young, it’s abundantly clear that this shared universe is drawing more heavily from DC’s comic book library than any before it. Some upcoming projects, like the Supergirl movie, Batman: the Brave and the Bold, and the Mister Miracle animated series, are directly based on specific comic book storylines. And even in the case of James Gunn’s Superman, which is telling a more original story, the comic book DNA is clear. Gunn’s Superman owes a clear debt to Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s seminal graphic novel All-Star Superman.
That fact was reinforced when IGN visited the Superman set in Summer 2024. Several cast and crew members pointed to All-Star Superman as a clear and direct source of inspiration on the project. But what exactly is All-Star Superman, and how is it influencing the Man of Steel’s newest cinematic adventure? Here’s what you need to know.
What Is All-Star Superman?
DC’s All-Star line was an early, short-lived attempt at recreating the success of Marvel’s Ultimate imprint in the mid-’00s. The general idea was similar - bring together some of DC’s top creators to reinvent iconic heroes, free from the constraints of the company’s mainline continuity.
DC only wound up publishing two comics under the All-Star banner before the line was shelved, but both certainly made a lasting impression. Frank Miller and Jim Lee’s All-Star Batman & Robin: The Boy Wonder serves as a prequel to Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, revealing how the Dynamic Duo came together and hinting at why their partnership deteriorated over time.
As for All-Star Superman, that book proved to be Morrison and Quitely’s superhero magnum opus. The series is set in a standalone Superman universe, one as much inspired by the contemporary Superman comics as the classic Silver Age stories and the Richard Donner movies.
All-Star Superman opens with the Man of Steel literally flying too close to the sun, as he rescues a group of astronauts and subsequently overloads his body with solar radiation. Even as he experiences newfound levels of strength, Kal-El finds his body is slowly dying, exploding one turbocharged cell at a time.
This discovery prompts Superman to start putting his affairs in order, starting with finally revealing his secret identity to a befuddled Lois Lane. He then embarks on the Kryptonian equivalent of the 12 Labors of Hercules, doing all he can to leave the universe a better place before he goes. And, of course, the incarcerated Lex Luthor is only too happy to take advantage of his nemesis’ impending death.
All-Star Superman is widely regarded as one of the greatest Superman comics ever published (see where it ranks on IGN’s Top 25 Superman Graphic Novels list). It’s also been adapted as both a 2011 animated movie and a 2025 full-cast audiobook. Unlike those projects, Gunn’s Superman isn’t a direct adaptation. As far as we know, this movie doesn’t deal with Superman confronting his impending death. But visually, tonally, and especially in terms of the Superman/Lex Luthor dynamic, there’s a lot of All-Star in Gunn’s Superman. Both place Superman and his supporting cast in a timeless setting and embrace many of the campier trappings of the Silver Age, like Krypto and the wonders inside the Fortress of Solitude.
All-Star Superman’s Influence on the James Gunn Movie
To get an idea of just how heavily All-Star Superman inspired the new movie, just know that Gunn assigned it to his cast and crew as required reading. Production designer Beth Mickle revealed as much during an interview with journalists on the Superman set.
“All-Star Superman is, by far and away, our guiding light for this,” Mickle said. “What a magnificent guiding light it's been. A lot of the color palette notes that I had, early on, really came from that.
Mickle added, “When I first started, James said, ‘This is the one I'd like everybody to look at,’ just to start to understand where his head was, and I spent three weeks devouring it, then screenshotting it, then grouping colors together, grouping the lines and the shapes together. And there really is the most beautiful, vivid, but also simple design language in it, and upbeat, bright, but again, simple and not overworked, not stuffed with color, not stuffed with layers. So, that really became our main source, and then you'll see throughout.”
Gunn himself pointed to All-Star as a huge inspiration for the movie, above and beyond other DC comics and animated projects. Gunn particularly connected with the idea of Lex Luthor as a supernaturally gifted scientist and inventor.
“There's a lot of ways in which the DC animated universe [influenced us] and then there's a lot of stuff from the comic books, but above and beyond anything else, it’s All-Star Superman. That influenced me more than anything,” Gunn said. “I mean, being able to take that sort of Silver Age feel, that sort of science fiction approach to it with the gadgets, and Lex is really a sort of sorcerer in a way. He's a scientist, but he's so good at science that I think of him as a sorcerer.”
Luthor actor Nicholas Hoult elaborated on Gunn’s vision of the character, revealing that this Lex, like the All-Star version is fueled by his hatred of Superman and his belief that humanity should be the master of its own destiny. As far as Lex is concerned, he’s the good guy here.
“It was this idea that when you're playing a villain, it's easy to be like, ‘I'm the bad guy.’” Hoult said. “But, actually, if you stand back and look at this, it's his beliefs and almost his love of humanity and protection, and belief in this idea that they should be masters of their own fate and destiny is important to him. And the rest of society has kind of fallen into this path of trusting Superman, believing in Superman and giving him, what Lex would view as kind of all power and freedom. And so it's like, where does jurisdiction and law and protection of humanity come into that, I suppose.”
Superman actor David Corenswet revealed that reading All-Star helped him understand Gunn’s take on the Man of Steel and better wrap his head around the script.
"I love seeing when he goes into his Fortress of Solitude that he's got a man cave, not in the way that... It's not a Bat Cave."
“I was frankly a little bit confused by James's script the first time I read it, and we didn't get to talk about it very much because of the strikes, until we got close to filming,” Corenswet said. “So the fact that he had told me even before I was cast that All-Star Superman was one of his guiding lights was super helpful, because the thing that I found in that was, I guess, the kind of gentle nerdiness of Superman. I love seeing when he goes into his Fortress of Solitude that he's got a man cave, not in the way that... It's not a Bat Cave. He's got his technology and stuff, but it's mostly all of these relics and fun things that he's gotten to collect because he does what he does, and he wants to show them off to Lois because he can't show them off to many people because he's not supposed to.”
Corenswet continued, “And sort of the gentle loneliness of that, but without any sense of dark brooding. Just really brimming with excitement about the things that he gets to do and collect, and wanting to bring other people into that and just not being able to. I really like Superman as a very hopeful character, both as a symbol of hope, but also as a person who just happens to have a somewhat rosy outlook on the world and think that things can be good, things can get better. But obviously that can be a constraint on him as a dramatic character because he can't always be happy and optimistic.
For Corenswet, both the All-Star version of Superman and Gunn’s Superman are united by a simple, understandable emotion - longing.
“The comic let me in, gave me this sense of the longing that he has, to share what he gets to do and to have other people enjoy what he gets to enjoy,” Corenswet said. “And the fact that he has to control that, because he can't be too open, he can't reveal who he is, that was the biggest thing that I [connected with]. And that sort of comes back to what I'm hoping there'll be a flavor of in this movie, is that longing.”
The LEGO Architecture line of sets recreate some of the most iconic real-world structures, like the Trevi Fountain in Rome or Statue of Liberty in New York City. The next Architecture set that was just announced is the Bavarian castle Neuschwanstein, one of the inspirations for Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland (and on the logo). It's available for preorder now and will cost $279.99, releasing August 1 of this year.
Preorder the LEGO Architecture Neuschwanstein Now
The Neuschwantstein castle is made up of a whopping 3,455 pieces, so you might want to split this up into a couple of build sessions. It stands 12" tall, is 18" wide, and 8" deep, making it one of the larger Architecture sets. It's packed with details and is a pretty faithful recreation of its real German counterpart. The bricks that make up the mountainside are always a cool build technique, and the castle itself is extremely intricate. You can also change the foliage pieces out to reflect the different seasons, and comes with a brick with the name printed on it, making it a great bookshelf addition.
There are eight other LEGO Architecture sets (some have been retired), and they're just as intricate. The Notre-Dame de Paris is a beautiful scaled down version of the French cathedral, and the LEGO Eiffel Tower makes a great companion to it. Then there's the Himeji Castle set, another impressive recreation that shows off the imposing nature of the 14th century fortress. Personally, I'm still waiting on a Seattle skyline LEGO Architecture set. Make it happen, LEGO.
What Is Amazon's Preorder Price Guarantee?
If you've never actually preordered anything from Amazon before, it's worth noting that if you purchase this LEGO set at Amazon, it includes a preorder price guarantee. According to Amazon's own help page, this means that if the price decreases between now and when the item ships, you'll pay the lowest price.
Alienware's Black Friday in July Sale has officially commenced. So far it's the best sale I've seen from Dell this year, and that's great news for gamers looking to upgrade their rigs. What many people might not realize is that traditionally the Black Friday in July deals are as good as or better than the deals we see on Black Friday proper. Score some outstanding deals on Alienware's gaming PCs, laptops, monitors, electronics, and accessories, including 2025 releases like the new flagship Area-51 systems. I'll keep updating the page with new deals as they come in.
Alienware Black Friday in July Gaming PC Deals
Alienware Black Friday in July Gaming Laptop Deals
You can quickly browse through all of the listed products on sale above. See below for our favorite picks.
Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC
Alienware's Black Friday in July Sale has officially kicked off, and one of the best deals I've seen so far is this Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 gaming PC for just $2,099.99 shipped. This is $250 less than the previous best deal I've seen on the same configuration, and one of the best prices you can get for any prebuilt RTX 5080 gaming PC. If you were to try to find a 5080 GPU for your do-it-yourself PC build, you'll probably spend $1,400 for the graphics card alone.
Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC
Dell is offering a competitive price on an Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC equipped with the excellent GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. Right now you can get a base configuration paired with the latest Intel Core Ultra 7 processor for just $1,849.99. This CPU/GPU duo can comfortably handle even the latest and most demanding games in 4K resolution like Black Myth Wukong, Clair Obscur, or Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and it's $250 cheaper than jumping to the 5080.
Alienware Area-51 RTX 5090 Gaming PC
If you're seeking the absolute best of the best in PC gaming performance, look no further. Dell has just dropped the price of its flagship Alienware Area-51 prebuilt gaming PC, equipped with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card starting at $4,574.99 with free shipping. The RTX 5090 is undisputedly the most powerful graphics card on the market. It's the best consumer card for both high-resolution gaming and AI work thanks to its whopping 32GB of GDDR7 VRAM. It's also pretty much impossible to find a standalone graphics card for your diy build for under $3,000.
New Alienware Aurora 16X and 16 Gaming Laptops
Alienware's new mainstream gaming laptop for 2025 is dubbed the "Alienware Aurora" and comes in two 16" models: the 16 and 16X. The 16X is the superior of the two variants and it is on sale right now. For its Black Friday in July Sale, Dell is offering the best prices I've seen on both models.
Area-51 Gaming Laptops: New Style, More Power, Better Cooling
New for 2025, the Alienware Area-51 gaming laptop features a magnesium alloy chassis with upgraded cooling to tackle the latest and greatest heat generating components. This includes more fans and bigger cutouts enabling greater airflow, more generous use of copper, and a new thermal interface material to better transfer heat away from the core components. Dell claims that the laptop can handle a higher power ceiling of up to 240W TDP without raising acoustics.
Design-wise, the Area 51 accentuates its smooth contours, with rounded edges and soft corners replacing the squared off design you'd see in most other laptops. The hinges are also mostly internally positioned so that they're near invisible. As befits an Alienware laptop, there are ample customization options for RGB LED lighting.
32" Alienware AW3225QF 4K OLED Monitor
The best Alienware high-end gaming monitor deal is also on sale for Black Friday in July. The 32" Alienware AW3225QF 4K QD OLED gaming monitor has just dropped to $849.99 with free shipping after a $300 off instant discount. If you're looking for the best 4K gaming monitor, this should definitely be on your short list. This is a rare monitor that combines a native 4K resolution with an OLED panel. This monitor incorporates Samsung's QD OLED technology; QD OLED panels are brighter than traditional OLED panels while maintaining near infinite response time, contrast ratio, and black levels that OLEDs are generally known for. The Alienware AW3225QF is HDR True Black 400 certified with up to 1,000 nits of peak brightness. It also boasts a factory calibrated 99.3% DCI-P3 color range, 1700R curve, 240Hz refresh rate, and G-Sync certification. Dell backs this monitor up with a three-year warranty that includes burn-in protection.
27" Alienware AW2725DF 360Hz QHD OLED Monitor
The Alienware AW2725DF 27" QD OLED gaming monitor normally retails for $899.99, but right now you can get it at Dell for just $619.99. The AW2725DF is Dell's first (and only) monitor with both an OLED panel and blazing fast 360Hz refresh rate. This is easily one of the best 27" QHD gaming monitors you can get right now, especially if you're aiming for the highest frame rates possible in your FPS games.
34" Alienware AW3425DW QD OLED Gaming Monitor
Right now you can pick up an Alienware AW3425DW 34" QD-OLED gaming monitor for $769.99. The Alienware AW3425DW is a curved 34" with a 3440x1440 WQHD resolution, 0.03ms response time, and 165Hz refresh rate. It also uses a Samsung quantum dot OLED panel. If you're not looking for a true 4K monitor, this is one of the best monitors out there. The ultrawide WQHD resolution of this monitor measures out to a respectable 109ppi. You can get something like an RTX 4060 Ti or RTX 4070 GPU and achieve perfectly playable framerates. A true 4K monitor, on the other hand, would require a more powerful and pricier GPU.
Why pick a Dell or Alienware gaming PC?
If you're in the market for a prebuilt gaming PC, Dell is one of best gaming brands we'd recommend. The Alienware gaming desktops offer a staggering array of options, all built into a custom chassis that's both easy on the eyes and easy on the wallet. Alienware gaming laptops in recent years have been redesigned to be thinner and lighter while still offering the same immense power under the hood. Consistent build quality, available inventory, frequent sales, and solid customer service are the main reasons why Dell is at the top of our buying list for gaming laptops and PCs.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
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