When Pokémon Legends: Z-A was first revealed, we all immediately got to work speculating on when it would take place in the Pokémon timeline. Not where, we knew that: it takes place entirely in Lumiose City from Pokémon X and Y's Kalos region. But given that Legends: Arceus was a time-traveling narrative going back hundreds of years into Sinnoh's past, we had every expectation based on trailers that Z-A would be many, many years in Lumiose City's future.

We were incorrect! We now know exactly when it takes place, and it's not nearly as big a leap as you'd think.

We've been playing Pokémon Legends: Z-A for review and the embargo has now lifted. So we can confirm, from first-hand experience talking to multiple characters (most of which we unfortunately can't directly cite or show due to the ongoing embargo restrictions), that Z-A takes place just five years after the events of X and Y. It's not a time traveling narrative, it's a direct sequel that offers a follow-up to many of the characters and situations introduced in X and Y.

For instance, we already know that you get to hang out with AZ, a 3,000-year-old man who plays a pivotal role in X and Y. We also know that Mable, a former member of Team Flare, takes on the role of Pokémon professor in this game and sends you out to catch Pokémon with various challenges. Other characters you'll remember from X and Y show up as well, some of them dramatically changed, but we can't and won't spoil them just yet.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A being a direct sequel is actually a pretty big deal. The Pokémon universe has been real hand-wavey with how the different games and regions relate to one another over the years. While there have been some direct sequels before (Gold and Silver after Red and Blue, Black and White 2 after Black and White, etc), later games have introduced time travel (Legends: Arceus), alternative universes (Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire), and basically every game has implied that all the other games' locations and monsters exist in the same world, but events taking place in those games may or may not be canon depending on which one you're playing. The Pokémon timeline, if drawn out, probably looks far more ridiculous than the Zelda one at this point.

But if you were wondering what happened to most of the main cast of X and Y five years after the events of the game, here you go: this is just a straightforward sequel! In hindsight, we should have seen this coming when they named it "Z-A" after X and Y.

My review-in-progress of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now live, if you want to check out my impressions of the first 24 hours, with a full review coming next week. I've also been writing about how the Nurse Joy job is now open to people who don't look exactly identical to the original Nurse Joy after 27 years in Z-A.

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.

Review codes for Pokémon Legends: Z-A were only sent out less than a week ago, but I’ve already put in around 24 hours or so in the last five days. Across that time I’ve been catching every new species of Pokémon I find, doing every side quest that pops up, and stopping every so often to completely change my outfit. I’ve currently got a full team all in the level 50s, and I can’t wait to stop writing this review-in-progress to go play more. It’s real good so far!

Ah, feels nice to say that after, uh… this.

There are a few reasons why I don’t feel comfortable scoring Z-A right now. Apart from simply not having beaten it yet, the embargo we’re publishing this under is pretty strict about what we can and can’t say or show. We always try to avoid spoilers (and recent leaks mean plenty are already in the wild), but here we can’t even talk about basic plot details that happen literally in the first 10 minutes. We can’t mention loads of the specific Pokémon in Z-A, despite the fact that any number of them might casually roam across our footage at any time. We can’t even show you the map of Lumiose City, where everything in Z-A takes place. It’s difficult to say exactly how close to the credits 24 hours puts me, but I’ll likely be back with my final, scored review shortly after launch.

We also haven’t had the chance to test it on Nintendo Switch 1 ahead of time, although I am at least so happy to report that Pokémon Legends: Z-A runs great on Nintendo Switch 2. It glides along at a smooth framerate with very, very few hitches or hiccups. There is occasionally still some sudden pop-in of NPCs, including ones positioned very close to the player, and here and there I’ve seen a character do that creepy thing where their head and neck suddenly snap into place as I get closer. But critically, unlike Scarlet and Violet, none of this is horribly distracting, nor does it really detract from the overall experience. Because of Scarlet and Violet, I spent the first 20 minutes or so paying close attention to whether or not Z-A ran well. But then, after that, I barely thought about it again, a state of mind which I consider ideal. Here’s hoping that’s still the case with the Switch 1 version, which I will take into consideration as part of my final review either way.

Running well doesn’t equate to a game being pretty, of course, and Z-A isn’t going to win any beauty contests. Lumiose City looks fine. Its buildings are covered with mostly flat images of the same couple of window and terrace patterns over and over again. Up close, the effect is pretty weird – like someone painted a Looney Tunes door on a wall so Roadrunner would crash into it. The samey buildings are broken up with occasional trees, battle courts, parks, and the same bench copy-pasted about 100 times. There’s a greyish sewer system with greyish water running through it, and rooftops occasionally interrupted by same-looking cafe set-ups.

That said, I do think that the reduced scale of the world has worked in Game Freak’s favor with Z-A when compared to, say, Arceus or Scarlet and Violet. The city is smaller, so it’s more densely packed with trainers, Pokémon, items, shops, and other actually interesting things to see and do. I’m not running for minutes on end through massive fields of flat, GameCube-style textures, with nary a point of interest in sight. As a result, similar to Z-A’s performance, it was easy to stop thinking about the low-quality building design fairly early on.

That’s also helped by the fact that building interiors and the character and Pokémon models themselves look pretty good, and the human characters in particular are more varied than ever before. While almost every NPC you meet in the city is categorized by trainer type and given an appearance to match, Game Freak is now experimenting not just with diverse facial features and skin tones, but also clothing items. We saw some of this in Scarlet and Violet, but almost everyone was wearing school uniforms, so it wasn’t nearly as noticeable. Now, you might see two athletic trainers wearing differently colored versions of the same athletic gear, or two artists with different colored aprons.

Small a touch as this sounds, combining that with facial differences does a lot to make Lumiose City feel inhabited by many different, diverse people instead of the same 10 trainer types repeated ad nauseum. That customizability extends to the protagonist, too. There are tons of hair, facial, and fashion choices to choose from, including new options to mix and match certain types of outfits (different undershirts with different jackets, for instance). It’s a massively refreshing improvement after spending most of Pokémon Violet expressing myself via the same four ugly purple uniforms and a variety of mismatched hats.

Another element that I think elevates Lumiose City far above the much larger overworld of Scarlet and Violet is that it’s dense with interesting landmarks, items, obstacle courses, stores, Wild Zones, shops, and people. Lumiose is round, with different streets running out from the center like wheel spokes, and the entirety of it is open to you within just a few hours of starting your journey. You can, if you want, scour the whole map very early on, though it won’t be especially interesting at first blush. But over time, you’ll gradually unlock new ways to get around and new things to see when you get there: a new travel method that lets you scale scaffolding to collect rare items at the top, new ways to get onto buildings and Assassin’s Creed your way to little nooks of the city you couldn’t quite reach before, and new Wild Areas teeming with new Pokémon to catch. That steady unlocking of a city you always had free reign of adds to the feeling of getting to know a new place you’ve just moved to.

Exploration is often rewarded, too. While I criticized Scarlet and Violet for just sort of slapping large quantities of Pokémon haphazardly over a big map, especially in later areas, every single spawn location in Lumiose City feels deliberate and well-considered. A line of trash bins might not have anything interesting to see when you pass by on one visit, but there could be a Trubbish on top the next. Flocks of Pidgey and Fletchling scatter as you dash into a courtyard. Spinarak regard you calmly while hanging from tree branches. If you really explore, you might encounter a rare dragon-type on a rooftop (the embargo forbids me from saying which one despite the fact that its evolutions have been confirmed for the game already); a Spritzee floating idly in a hidden cafe; once, I turned just in time to see an Eevee sprint past me into an alleyway, and I barely threw a PokeBall quickly enough to catch it.

I won’t (and can’t) spoil too much of the story, but what I can talk about is the interesting rhythm it establishes that feels, in practice, quite different from any other Pokémon game so far. Like Arceus, Z-A foregoes the traditional “gather eight badges” structure, though here you’ll divide their time between day and night – during the day, you’ll be catching Pokémon in Wild Zones, battling rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon, performing goofy side quest errands for individuals around the city, shopping, and exploring. At night, you have the option to visit Battle Zones where you take on trainers and complete challenges to raise your score and eventually collect a Challenger’s Ticket, which unlocks your promotion match for the next level of the “Z-A Royale.” There are 26 ranks total, one for each letter of the alphabet. I am currently at rank D, though I wish this was slightly more fleshed out as a proper competitive mode rather than just a story vehicle – for instance, you don’t exactly spend a meaningful amount of time at every single one of the 26 letter ranks.

I’ll have more to say on this in the final review, free from my embargo shackles, but I am really enjoying the story so far. Ditching the eight badge trainer journey like Arceus before it allows Game Freak to flesh out a deeper, more interesting cast of characters, both the heroes and the villains. There’s simply more reason for them to be where you are, doing things alongside you and participating in the world-changing events you’re experiencing. I’m also fascinated by how much Z-A appears to be inspired by the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series. The enclosed city setting, the absurd and silly tone of the side quests, the story’s concerns with community and civic issues, and the protagonist bopping around a metro area solving problems by being absurdly stronger than everyone else all lend Lumiose City big Kamurocho energy.

Which leads me to the meat and potatoes of any Pokémon game: the battling. With Z-A, Pokémon has gone full action game. Not a turn-based battle in sight. While I don’t think I want Pokémon to fully depart from doing turn-based combat forever, this works pretty well as a detour. Game Freak did an admirable job translating its traditional battle system into one that works in an active-time environment, especially with moves seemingly so specific to the turn-based format. Protect and Detect now stop damage for a set period of time instead of one “turn.” Spikes dumps, well, spikes all over the floor in an area, forcing you to steer your Pokémon out of it. Long-range moves keep Pokémon out of harm’s way, but take longer to execute and recharge than more risky, short-range ones.

There are a lot of new tactics and strategies to mess around with, such as how movement and dodging works. You control your trainer directly, and can either hold ZL to open the move select menu to send your active Pokémon into the fray, or release it to have them follow you around, allowing you to guide them while dodging. This makes for an interesting combat flow as I strategize around calling my Pokémon back to me to dodge an attack, then positioning them ideally to set up their next move before the opponent can swing again. The system is a bit awkward at times, especially in enclosed areas, but I’m interested to see what a competitive meta looks like with this format.

These tactics grow even more critical and chaotic in boss battles with Rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon, of which Z-A has many. These battles all take place in uniform, wide, circular arenas, but the Pokémon themselves are far from ordinary. Rogue Mega Evolved Pokémon are essentially Z-A’s answer to Arceus’ Frenzied Noble Pokémon. In addition to their regular movesets, they each have additional unique abilities you’ll have to avoid, such as turning the arena into a bullet hell you have to dodge around, or suddenly appearing right in front of you for an attack. Like in Arceus, your trainer can get hit and even die (sorry, I mean “black out”) if they’re attacked too many times by an enemy Pokémon, and that becomes a legit concern as Rogue Megas will enrage partway through and try to attack you directly.

The best way to counter this is to Mega Evolve your own Pokémon or use “Plus” moves, which are superpowered versions of regular moves that also consume the energy you need to Mega Evolve. Unlike in Pokémon X and Y, where you could get away with fighting Mega Evolved Pokémon with regular monsters, you really do need to engage with the Mega mechanics in Z-A. Though it starts off pretty tame, Z-A quickly ramps up the difficulty – even doing every side quest, I’m still finding its boss battles will make me sweat a little.

Man, I was going to try and hold back a bit on this review-in-progress since I still have plenty to see before my final review, but I’m just so genuinely excited about what Game Freak has done here. I liked Arceus a fair amount and thought it showed promise, but have been broadly disappointed with the slow backslide I saw from the studio in its move to console game development, and worried the quality dip was a new trend for 3D Pokémon games that we’d never escape. Pokémon Legends: Z-A, at least across the first two-dozen hours, is putting a lot of my fears to rest. It’s not revolutionary by any stretch, but it’s really good! I’m having fun, I’m excited to keep playing, I feel rewarded for exploring every corner, the story’s got my attention, and I’m not distracted by my Pokémon falling through the floor while they battle or everything crashing when I try to climb a ladder. If the rest of my adventure holds up (and the Switch 1 performance isn’t a disaster), we could finally have a 3D game worthy of the Pokémon franchise on our hands. It’d be about dang time.

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has revealed it's putting a temporary pause on content updates while it works on improving performance.

In an interview on the official Helldivers YouTube channel, director Mikael Eriksson admitted the game's most recent big update, Into the Unjust, had "more issues than [the team] were comfortable with," which is why the studio has now decided "to push some of our content and feature updates a little bit into the future."

Recent reviews for Helldivers 2 on Steam are 'mixed,' with most of the complaints revolving around performance trouble. The 'most helpful review' penned over the last 30 days is a negative one from a player with over 500 hours in-game. They called Helldivers 2's performance "inexcusable," pointing to stuttering and freezing during gameplay and crashes.

"Arrowhead, Sony, PLEASE put less focus on new content and live service updates," they pleased. "PLEASE stop nerfing loadouts that are already underpowered or underused with the guise of 'realism' or 'balance.' It's a PvE game; no one cares if people are cheesing hulks with a flag. The game needs to be fun and PLAYABLE before you can rake in the cash with a new warbond.

"FIX THE GAME <3"

Now, Arrowhead has addressed those complaints. "After the last big update, Into the Unjust, we experienced more issues than what we were comfortable with," Eriksson said, as spotted by Eurogamer. "Players felt it, we felt it, and I would say the feedback that we've got has been very justified.

"We're taking this very seriously and we are focusing way more now on addressing these issues to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again," he added. "We have made the decision to push some of our content and feature updates a little bit into the future while we're addressing these things to make sure that we can get to a much more stable state that we can believe in.

"We are already making really big improvements and I'm confident that we will get there and we will be able to talk in more detail about this hopefully quite soon."

Last week, developer Arrowhead Studios said it still didn't have a solution for the shooter's groaning installation size on PC, but did confirm it was working on it. In an update posted to Steam, Arrowhead's deputy technical director, Brendan Armstrong, penned the first in a series of posts in which the engineering team talks about the "technical health" of the game, as well as the "technical challenges we're working through." Admitting that the installation size "seems to be a hot topic right now" — at 150GB, Helldivers 2 takes up three times the space on PC than it does on console — the developer revealed that one of the reasons the PC size is so much bigger is because of data duplication and mechanical hard drives.

Check out IGN's review of Helldivers 2 on Xbox Series X and S to see what we think of the game as it is today. Arrowhead has also revealed it has no plans for Helldivers 3 right now. Instead, it wants Helldivers 2 to keep going for years and years, like veteran MMO RuneScape.

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 Japanese government has made a formal request asking OpenAI to refrain from copyright infringement (as reported by ITMedia). This comes as a response to Sora 2’s ability to generate videos featuring the likenesses of copyrighted characters from anime and video games.

Sora 2, which OpenAI launched on October 1, is capable of generating 20-second long videos at 1080p resolution, complete with sound. Soon after its release, social media was flooded with videos generated by the app, many of which contained depictions of copyrighted characters including those from popular anime and game franchises such as One Piece, Demon Slayer, Pokémon, and Mario.

Speaking at the Japanese government’s Cabinet Office press conference on Friday, Minoru Kiuchi (the minister of state for IP and AI strategy) informed attendees about the government’s request, which called on the American organization to refrain from infringing on Japanese IPs. The request was reportedly made online by the Cabinet Office’s Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters. Kiuchi went on to describe manga and anime as “irreplaceable treasures” that Japan boasts to the world.

Fallout creator Tim Cain has continued his insightful video series on the development of the original Fallout game, this time focusing on lore with a number of fun reveals that have got fans talking.

Cain, the creator, producer, lead programmer and one of the main designers of Interplay’s 1997 post-apocalyptic role-playing game Fallout, released a video in which he talked about lore in the original Fallout that the team assumed was true but was never directly stated.

This “non-expository Fallout lore,” as Cain calls it, is lore from the first game only, lore the original team discussed among themselves and decided was true, and then made the game based on that. “None of this was written down” by any one of the 15 core people who developed Fallout, Cain said.

As a result, it is “not canon.”

“This is stuff that was true in the first game, but because it doesn’t exist in a design document anywhere, Bethesda is free to invent different reasons that the things that are in the game exist,” he prefaced. “I’m not canon, not anymore. You’re not canon just because you played the game or like it a lot. Bethesda’s canon. You don't have to like that. You don’t have to like that water’s wet. I don't like that white chocolate exists, but it does. So there we go.”

Why China nuked first

Top of the list is the explanation for why China nuked first. This is in reference to Fallout’s Great War, which took place on October 23, 2077 (Bethesda now hosts showcases on October 23 each year, aka Fallout Day). Cain had already said China nuked first in a previous video, putting to bed decades of fan speculation. But in this latest video he explained why China nuked first.

“This is not canon, but let me explain what I mean and why we thought that,” he began. “In the original game we had established FEV (Forced Evolutionary Virus) and that the U.S. was doing bio-weapons research. We weren’t supposed to. In fact, we had signed a UN treaty saying we wouldn’t do that, and I think you can find that out in the game. China discovered that we were doing it. How did they discover it? Espionage. But they found out we were doing it, and we went, ‘Oops our bad, we won’t do that anymore.’ But we kept right on doing it, we just moved the research to another base. It was the hidden base that’s in The Glow, where you eventually discover ZAX the supercomputer.

“When China found out we were still doing it and we had just moved, well they had already tried diplomacy and espionage and none of that was working, so they just nuked us. They nuked us. We nuked back. Other countries nuked because all we saw, all anyone saw, were missiles flying.

“China technically started it by firing the first nuke. But you could argue that the U.S. technically started it by doing illegal bioweapons research and then lying about it multiple times.”

And what of Russia’s involvement? Cain went on to explain that the development team assumed Russia in the ‘90s (and therefore in the ‘50s projected future in the Fallout alternate history timeline), had broken up to become “a bunch of little bickering states.” The EU had unified, and the U.S. had annexed Canada (a prediction not lost on Cain given current events). “But anyway, we were kind of on friendly relations with Russia in the Fallout universe,” he added.

This is why one of Fallout’s pre-made characters is Natalia, the granddaughter of a Russian diplomat. “Obviously, we were friendly enough with the Russian embassy that they got some of their diplomats into one of the vaults, the vault you're in,” Cain explained. “So, obviously, this wasn't a country we were at odds with.”

The Vault 13 lottery

So, that explains the unspoken lore behind why China nuked first. But Cain had a lot more lore to reveal. It turns out that the three pre-made characters the player could choose from were in fact selected via a lottery by the inhabitants of Vault 13 — a lottery that was rigged.

“We had three pre-made characters in Fallout,” he went on. “There was Max, who was the big dumb idiot combat guy. There was Natalia, who was the dextrous thief kind of character. And then there was Albert, who was the smooth talking manipulator talkie guy.

“If you look at those three characters, you may go, that's the best the vault had to offer? No, the vault did a lottery. They basically drew straws. They knew they had to send someone out. So they had people draw straws and whoever drew the short straw had to go out into what was presumed to be a radioactive wilderness that would kill them. But hopefully they would get back before the radiation killed them with a water chip replacement.

“This was just assumed. The pre-made characters support it. I believe there's some dialogue here and here that kind of supports that no-one chose, especially if you play Max, no-one chose for that character to go. That wasn't their first choice. That wasn't even their best choice. That wouldn't even been anywhere near the choice.

“Except one thing we also talked about and laughed about as also possibly being true was that the entire lottery for who leaves the vault was rigged. And that would explain those three characters. You have this guy who's an idiot. Why would you send him out? Well, gets him out of the genepool. Then you have Natalia who's stealing everything. Probably had pissed people off because she had stolen other people's stuff. She's gone. Albert was always trying to manipulate everybody because he's such a smooth talker. He's gone. So getting rid of these characters was probably high on someone's list.”

The lead designer of Skyrim is "eternally shocked" at not just the RPG's success, but its enduring appeal, suggesting it's the game's open world and "quirkiness" that keeps players coming back 14 years after its debut.

Skyrim released way back in 2011. An open-world RPG, it puts players on the precipice of determining the future of Skyrim as the Empire waits for the prophesied Dragonborn to come, a hero born with the power of The Voice, and the only one who can stand among the dragons. IGN's Skyrim review returned a 9.5/10. We called it "a rare kind of intensely personal, deeply rewarding experience, and one of the best role-playing games yet produced."

Now, speaking on the FRVR Podcast, lead designer Bruce Nesmith offered his thoughts on why so many people continue to play and enjoy Skyrim so many years later. "I think Skyrim did the open world in a way that nobody had ever done before and very few people have really tried to do since," he said, adding: "By all rights, a year later, some other game should have eclipsed it. And then two years later, three years later, five, 10. It’s like ‘what the hell is going on here?’

"Todd [Howard, Bethesda boss] would even go to these meetings and show us information, which I can’t give you the details of, about how many people are playing it. It’s like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’ Seriously, still, 10 years later."

Exploring the game's legacy and lasting community, he added: "I think Skyrim did the open world in a way that nobody had ever done before and very few people have really tried to do since. And one of those things that we accepted, which a lot of developers struggle to accept, is that this means you’re going to have quirkiness. You’re going to have weird stuff happen. And if you say that’s okay, you can get this diamond."

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, Nesmith believes that if a developer tries to "smooth everything out" to prevent that aforementioned "weird stuff," "you’re going to lose some of that magic" that makes some games so special.

"And we didn’t make that as a conscious decision," he added. "It just sort of happened. You know, we kind of prioritize functionally and 'well, okay, that bug’s acceptable. This behaviour is less than ideal, but we can live with it because look what we’re getting over here.'

“We didn’t put anything off limits. We didn’t try to manage the experience. We let it be your experience, it was a player-driven experience. And very, very few games have mastered that because open world is now almost a cliché statement... ‘Oh yeah, we have open world.’"

Bethesda is of course working on its hotly anticipated Skyrim follow-up, The Elder Scrolls 6. Bethesda has said next to nothing about it, but we do know it will include a character designed in memory of a much-missed fan, after a remarkable charity campaign that raised more than $85,000 for Make-A-Wish.

Meanwhile, one of Skyrim's best-known players, Shirley Curry — known to fans as Skyrim Grandma — recently announced her retirement from uploading The Elder Scrolls videos ahead of her 90th birthday.

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.

Battlefield boss Vince Zampella has said that Activision's best-selling Call of Duty franchise only exists "because EA were dicks."

It's an eye-opening but typically frank statement from Zampella, who is of course now an EA employee himself once again.

Over his career, Zampella has ping-ponged between rival publishers EA and Activision, working first on EA's Medal of Honor series, then founding Infinity Ward and helping create Call of Duty — specifically so it could be Activision's Medal of Honor "killer" — before returning back to EA after helping create Titanfall and Apex Legends at Respawn.

"The only reason that Call of Duty exists is because EA were dicks," Zampella told GQ, reflecting on his career.

Zampella initially worked on EA's Medal of Honor franchise from 1999 to 2002, and served as lead designer on the celebrated Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. After this, Zampella co-founded his own studio, Infinity Ward, with initial plans to continue working on Medal of Honor left up in the air when EA decided to take development of its franchise in-house.

"For legal reasons I will say things didn't go as planned with it," former Infinity Ward artist Justin Thomas previously revealed of the situation in an MCV interview, back in 2013. "We were left in a situation of unpaid milestones that were delivered and no finances to operate on."

It was at this point that Activision answered a last-ditch call by Infinity Ward, intrigued by the potential of working with the team behind Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, and driven by the idea of creating a new franchise that could topple EA's own.

The rest, as they say, is history. Call of Duty became a behemoth, though Activision and Zampella parted ways following the launch of 2009's Modern Warfare 2, prompting a bitter legal feud over unpaid bonuses and royalties that dragged on for years (until Zampella ultimately earned a sizable payout).

That situation then led to Zampella co-founding Titanfall and Apex Legends developer Respawn, which EA partnered with then ultimately acquired. Zampella was then repeatedly promoted to look after more of EA's gaming portfolio, ultimately becoming boss of the embattled Battlefield franchise, turning its fortunes around to deliver this month's successful release of Battlefield 6.

GQ's interview also includes a snippet on the now-distant plans for Alien director Ridley Scott to direct a Call of Duty movie, something which ultimately never came to pass.

"Ridley Scott came in one time – who's a hero of mine – but he's not connected to games, so he'd ask these questions like, ‘How do you script what happens?’" Zampella recalled. "There was a bit of a talk around him doing a Call of Duty film, but we never really took it seriously. Video game movies at that point were never really that good."

Battlefield 6 launched last week and earned EA its best-ever game launch on Steam, beating that of Apex Legends. For more, check out IGN's Battlefield 6 multiplayer review in progress, our Battlefield 6 campaign review, and what to expect from Battlefield Season 1.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for EA Entertainment.

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

Pokémon Go's new level cap requirements have leaked, and some fans say the fresh XP total required, as well as the some of the extra tasks involved, are too easy.

This week, Pokémon Go will raise its current level 50 cap for the first time in five years, and allow players to reach level 80 for the first time. But this change will come alongside an overall rebalancing of XP — meaning many players will find themselves transported to a much higher level, and potentially far beyond the XP needed to instantly hit level 80.

Of course, players won't simply log on and find themselves at the finish line. As is the case currently, a fresh set of additional tasks will need to be completed to progress through the game's final tier of levels (from 70 to 80, replacing similar tasks required to move from 40 to 50). But even these — which have been datamined by fans — have been dubbed as rather straightforward.

Last night, a post on the official Pokémon Go blog listed out the new XP requirements needed after the game's level cap increases tomorrow, October 15.

Pokémon Go rebalanced XP requirements:

• Level 10: 48,000 total XP
• Level 20: 258,000 total XP
• Level 30: 1,083,000 total XP
• Level 40: 3,953,000 total XP
• Level 50: 12,753,000 total XP
• Level 60: 34,353,000 total XP
• Level 70: 85,853,000 total XP
• Level 80: 203,353,000 total XP

It's interesting to compare these fresh totals with the amounts of XP needed to hit the game's level 50 cap now. Currently, hitting level 50 requires a lifetime total of 176 million XP. (This week, following the game's rebalance, level 50 will require just 12.75 million XP.) This means the new level 80 cap requires just 27 million more XP than the current level 50.

While it's been clear for a while that Pokémon Go's new level cap will come alongside an overall smoothing of the game's overall XP requirements, hardcore fans have still been surprised to discover that many of them will once again be in Pokémon Go's new endgame, with little to no actual XP grinding required.

Moving on to those level up tasks, fans examining a datamined list of what will be needed have judged the requirements as rather straightforward. Each level requires players hold an increasing number of platinum in-game medals, though these can be earned in a way that reflects your playstyle. Some will take time — Purifying 100 Shadow Pokémon — but with planning there's nothing here which should hold up hardcore players for too long.

Indeed, there is also palpable relief among fans at the lack of any artificial timegating here — such as requiring a Pokémon be caught on 30 days, holding progress back a month — something which has been found in other challenges previously.

Pokémon Go Level 71-80 level up tasks

• Level 71
  Earn 15 platinum medals
  Power up Legendary or Mythical Pokémon 20 times
  Make 999 Nice Throws
  Catch 100 Pokémon in a single day
• Level 72
  Earn 20 platinum medals
  Complete a Route 7 days in a row
  Use 200 supereffective Charged Attacks
  Earn 1,000,000 Stardust
• Level 73
  Earn 25 platinum medals
  Purify 100 Shadow Pokémon
  Power up 3 Pokémon to their max CP
  Win 30 Raids
• Level 74
  Earn 30 platinum medals
  Level up a Max Move 20 times
  Explore 200 km
  Complete 250 Field Research tasks

• Level 75
  Earn 34 platinum medals
  Make 999 Great Throws
  Hatch 75 Eggs
  Send 500 Gifts to friends
• Level 76
  Earn 38 platinum medals
  Defeat 100 Team GO Rocket Grunts
  Explore 300 km
  Catch 200 Pokémon in a single day
• Level 77
  Earn 41 platinum medals
  Win 100 Max Battles
  Power up 7 Pokémon to their max CP
  Make 10 trades with Pokémon caught at least 300 km apart
• Level 78
  Earn 44 platinum medals
  Earn 400 hearts with your buddy
  Explore 400 km
  Complete 500 Field Research tasks
• Level 79
  Earn 47 platinum medals
  Defeat a Team GO Rocket Leader 30 times
  Obtain 50 Lucky Pokémon in trades
  Hatch 100 Eggs
• Level 80
  Earn 50 platinum medals
  Win 80 Trainer Battles in the GO Battle League
  Make 999 Excellent Throws
  Win 80 Raids

With these tasks, and with Pokémon Go's new XP rebalance, it feels clear that the game is adjusting itself for newer players, and leveling the playing field somewhat so there's a chance for newcomers to catch up with those who have been playing for almost a decade. As the game approaches its 10-year anniversary next year, its developers will likely want to ensure Pokémon Go continues to welcome fresh blood to its userbase, without giving them too steep an XP mountain to climb. But some veterans are less impressed.

"These are all so easy," wrote Old_Indication_4379 on top Pokémon Go fan reddit TheSilphRoad.

"I'm disappointed beyond disappointment," added another fan, avaible17. "I'm sitting at 352M xp and I doubt that it is very impressive number for most of the old players. I hoped for a challenge and motivation to play, I've got easy and repetitive tasks, that most of them can be done in a day (except walking ofc).

"I was hoping for introduction of new type of medals, that would make my grind beyond capabilities of human flesh," they continued. "Now I'm writing this and thinking, that they just make it easier for beginners, not more challenging for old dogs."

Batman & Robin is considered the worst Batman movie ever released, but Alicia Silverstone and Chris O'Donnell, who played Batgirl and Robin respectively, are philosophical about it now, nearly 30 years later.

1997’s Batman & Robin, directed by the late Joel Schumacher, saw George Clooney’s Batman go up against Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze, with Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy thrown into the mix. It was panned by critics for the performances of its actors and ultra camp tone, and underperformed at the box office.

Now, 28 years after the movie came out, Alicia Silverstone and Chris O'Donnell have recounted their experience working on the movie and having to promote it knowing it was being savaged by critics. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the pair described the difficulty they had filming scenes without knowing how special effects would factor in, then having to go on a press tour with journalists who were out for blood.

"All of a sudden, you were starting to get the feedback, and you realize it was just going sideways," O'Donnell said. "There was so much hatred of the film when it came out. It was like, 'Oh my God.' And you want to do your job and promote the movie... I remember at one point Joel Schumacher just threw up the flag. He's like, 'I'm out. I can't do it anymore.' He was so heartbroken and kind of bummed out about it."

O'Donnell went on to say "it was a tough one for us to all to digest," but now feels "we were lucky to be in the movie, and it was fun to be a part of it. It is what it is. Some work out and some don't."

Silverstone won a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress following her performance at Batgirl, but now says sentiment has shifted.

Rapper Skrilla says his viral hit Doot Doot (6 7) is in Grand Theft Auto 6.

The soundtrack and radio listings in GTA games have long been something of a cultural phenomenon, boosting plenty of musical careers. In this instance, however, the song in question is already a mega hit that has inspired a global meme.

Skrilla's 6 7 blew up earlier this year on TikTok and Instagram. It's a slang term referring to gun violence but became popular when it began appearing in clips about basketball players like LaMelo Ball, who is 6ft 7 inches tall. It then went viral when a boy known as the 67 Kid used it in a meme, and now kids the world over are saying it.

A swathe of upcoming Pokémon game projects have seemingly been detailed online, via the latest release of material originating from the so-called "Teraleak" of data hacked from the servers of series developer Game Freak.

The cache of information, which includes development plans, concept art and early screenshots, was revealed overnight following the disclosure yesterday of data obtained in the hack that pertained to Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which launches this week.

As IGN reported yesterday, the suggestion is that the hacker behind last year's Game Freak breach has sat on this latest cache of data for almost a year, until Pokémon Legends: Z-A's launch. But now, it seems, the floodgates are open for everything else obtained from Game Freak detailing the franchise's future — and its product roadmap for the rest of the decade.

The largest cache of information relates to the franchise's highly-anticipated "Gen 10" games that are expected to launch next year, in time for Pokémon's 30th anniversary. Details now being shared online include the titles' planned name, early animation tests, in-engine footage and word of several planned gameplay ideas.

Beyond this, there's information relating to a separate, ambitious-sounding Pokémon MMO project, as well as concept art for a third Pokémon Legends spin-off title. And beyond that, there's the suggestion that Pokémon's Gen 11 will follow at the start of the next decade.

It's a frankly astonishing leak of information, seemingly from the same source which yesterday revealed details derived from beta builds of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and last year leaked a vast treasure trove of development data on pretty much every previous Pokémon project launched to date.

Pokémon fans are already poring over the purported plans and discussing several eye-opening gameplay mechanics. There's even early fan art for a new Pokémon species spotted in one of the new pieces of conceprt art. But it's worth pointing out that some or indeed much of what has been shared may not ultimately come to pass.

As yesterday's Pokémon Legends: Z-A beta build leak showed, gameplay features get cut in development. And nothing in the Teraleak can be relied upon as reflecting Game Freak's current plans — as the hack itself took place back in August 2024.

Nintendo previously attempted to track down the culprit behind the Teraleak, and launched a legal bid to subpoena Discord to divulge the hackers' identity back in April this year. IGN has contacted Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for comment.

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

Post-launch support for Hollow Knight: Silksong continues, this time with patch version 1.0.28891 out now.

The update makes a number of improvements and fixes, and some light balance changes. The game now pauses when the controller disconnects, which is an important safety net for such an intense game. Indeed, there are controller support improvements across the board.

On the balance side of things, there’s a slight increase to Sharp Dart and Cross Stitch damage, updated damage scaling on Rune Rage to match other Silk Skills, and a slight decrease to Thread Storm damage at higher needle levels. It’s also worth noting that the patch changes Fine Pins wish drops from 50% chance to 100%, but raises the required quantity.

Developer Team Cherry had signalled its first priority remains to improve Silksong’s Simplified Chinese translation. This was in response to high-profile criticism of the translation, which had led to Chinese players leaving negative Steam reviews. These improvements are expected in the coming weeks.

Silksong remains one of the most-played games on Steam following its huge September 4 release. Here are some essential guides for your journey upwards: the Silksong Interactive Map, how to grind for Rosary Beads, our ever-expanding Walkthrough with boss videos and guides, how to get your first life bar upgrade (first four mask shards), and a great guide to the Simple Keys and the doors they open.

The patch notes, courtesy of Steam, are below.

Hollow Knight: Silksong update 1.0.28891 patch notes:

• Added support for Dualsense Edge controllers.
• Improved support for various controllers on Mac.
• Game now pauses when the controller disconnects.
• Fixed various smaller controller issues (more fixes to come in future).
• Fixed remaining instance of certain players getting stuck cursed while in the late game.
• Fixed Curveclaw not reacting to Hunter down-stab.
• Fixed rare instances of being able to air dash and double jump when not intended.
• Fixed several out of bounds situations.
• Fixed Pharlid Divers sometimes sliding on roofs after ambushing in certain scenes.
• Fixed Eva Hunter Crest upgrades unintentionally clearing tool equips.
• Fixed rare instances of Harpoon sometimes granting 2 Silk instead of 1.
• Fixed Cogflies sometimes appearing from odd locations after scene transition and, in rare cases, having their active quantity reduced by 1.
• Fixed Crafting Kits not increasing the damage of offensive blue tools (eg Sawtooth Circlet).
• Slight increase to Sharp Dart and Cross Stitch damage.
• Updated damage scaling on Rune Rage to match other Silk Skills.
• Slight decrease to Thread Storm damage at higher needle levels.
• Fixed Surgeon enemies sometimes pulling the hero out of bounds.
• Fixed instances of some Spool Fragments being permanently missable if a player immediately quit after collecting the item.
• Fixed Crust King Khann sometimes falling out of bounds during entry, when fought on low-end systems.
• Fixed rare instance of Second Sentinel becoming rotated when defeated.
• Fixed additional case of Seth sometimes getting out of bounds and not returning.
• Fixed Seth sometimes remaining invincible for a moment at the start of a refight.
• Fixed Vaults slide blocks incorrectly responding to damage sources other than the needle.
• Changed Fine Pins wish drops from 50% chance to 100%, but raised required quantity.
• Fixed issues when consuming a Silkeater while in water.
• Fixed Scuttlebrace sometimes allowing a wall jump when not intended.
• Fixed a soft-lock during the Grand Gate opening sequence, if the Citadel had been visited and some bellshrines remained inactive.
• Various smaller fixes and tweaks.

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.

For people who decide to give Splinter Cell: Deathwatch a try on Netflix that are unfamiliar with Sam Fisher’s long and incredible run in the 2000’s as the stealth video game genre’s Pepsi to Metal Gear Solid’s Coke, they’re going to find a violent, slightly over the top, yet pretty captivating eight-episode spy show. But for those of us who have loved Splinter Cell for over 20 years and waited more than half of that time for a new game, Deathwatch will be all of those things but also a bit bittersweet.

First, the sweet part of ‘bittersweet’ is that the show is quite good! The characters are all fun and have important roles to play in moving the story forward, Liev Schreiber is an outstanding understudy to Michael Ironside from the games as the voice of Fisher, and the show is paced well enough that I kept eagerly pressing “Next Episode” until I finished all eight parts – both times I watched it. The “bitter” comes from the realization that not only are we still no closer to a new Splinter Cell game, but this show is so far along in the timeline that we might not have much more time with my favorite sardonic super spy.

Yes, Deathwatch picks up decades after Splinter Cell Blacklist, the most recent game. Anna “Grim” Grímsdóttir is running shadow-ops US government agency Fourth Echelon, and Sam Fisher is living a quiet, night-vision-goggle-free life on a farm in Poland. In fact, Sam has all of two lines of dialogue in the entire first episode. That’s because Deathwatch begins by tracking young agent Zinnia McKenna (voiced by Kirby Howell-Baptiste) in the middle of an op gone bad; the fellow agent she’s been sent to Lithuania to extract is quite dead – the victim of torture, in fact. Her youthful rage leads her to make a mistake Fisher wouldn’t, and before long all hell has broken loose, with Fisher being very unwillingly roped into the whole mess and back to the life he thought he’d left behind.

By the end of the first episode, I was intrigued and ready for the rest of the series – not to mention relieved that Sam was clearly going to be a central part of Deathwatch, and that showrunner Derek Kolstad (whose action resume includes creating John Wick) wasn’t simply resurrecting Fisher to try and hand off the Splinter Cell brand to McKenna and a new generation of Fourth Echelon agents. No, no; by the end of the second episode, Sam is very much the star of the show, and season one is better for it.

As someone to whom Splinter Cell means a lot – I’ve completed every single game in the series (even Splinter Cell Essentials on PSP!) – the great Michael Ironside will always be my Sam Fisher. And it would’ve been particularly fitting for Ironside to get the role here, since Deathwatch’s Fisher is advanced in age, and Ironside himself is 75. But whatever the reason, Schreiber got the call, and he does a phenomenal job bringing Sam’s dry humor, wry toughness, and human compassion to life in his exchanges with his teammates, his enemies, and his dog, Kaiju. He lends Sam a toughness and gruffness that’s critical for Fisher’s character. I love him in the role and I look forward to more of his Sam Fisher if we’re lucky enough to get a Season 2.

It’s also worth noting how violent this show is – far more so than the games. Sure, you could kill everyone when playing, but Deathwatch is not shy about showing the grisly details. You’ll see scalpels (and fingers) driven into eyeballs, knives jammed into the sides of skulls, bullets fired into heads, knives rammed into guts, and worse. This isn’t a complaint, though; I liked what the violence= brought to Deathwatch, because it helped illustrate how life-or-death each encounter is for these lone-wolf spies slinking around the shadows.

And speaking of the shadows, yes, there is plenty of spywork done in this incarnation of Splinter Cell. Though if this was Blacklist, McKenna would be doing a Ghost playthrough and Sam would be playing Panther-style. He racks up quite the body count across the eight episodes – which I could only chuckle at because it’s the exact opposite of the way I typically play the games. But anyway, yes, these agents do cool ninja stuff in darkness, they do choke people out, and they do use gadgets here and there – though sadly there are no sightings of Splinter Cell classics like the Sticky Shocker or the Sticky Camera (or the SC-20k gun, for that matter).

Getting back to Sam’s supporting cast, I enjoyed what each of them brought to the team: Grim has neither patience nor F’s to give, Jo brings the steadiness Grim can’t while holding down the fort at Fourth Echelon HQ in Copenhagen, Thunder is a recruited Canadian hacker who quickly ingratiates himself to the team, and McKenna is a skilled agent for whom the mission gets personal. And on the bad guy side, Deathwatch resurrects a name familiar to Splinter Cell fans: Douglas Shetland. Though featured in flashbacks, Shetland is long dead, but the show’s story revolves around his daughter Diana Shetl nd’s dedication to turning Doug’s company Displace International from a private military contractor into a cleantech company whose imminent Xanadu project could power the world with renewable energy.

Does the plot get a bit nonsensical towards the end? Sure, but then again, so did the games. On a related note, I did appreciate that, whether it was intentional or not (and I’d lean towards it being on purpose), Deathwatch does allude to a couple of missions from the best of all the games, Chaos Theory, without outright retreading them. In fact, the final two episodes are titled “Chaos Theory: Part 1” and “Part 2.” Other Easter eggs from the past include not one but two very familiar sound effects: there’s the classic tri-lens night vision goggles turning on, of course, but I particularly appreciated the radio/comms activation noise being ripped straight from the original Xbox days of the franchise.

Circling back to the bittersweetness of this series, while there’s certainly nothing stopping Ubisoft (who produced this show) and Netflix from keeping animated Splinter Cell alive for many years to come by simply doing flashback seasons that take us back to Sam Fisher’s prime super-spy days, the more likely reality is that this Old Man Sam isn’t going to be around for the long haul by nature of where this show starts us in Fisher’s life. If that proves to be the case, it either means this show itself will be with us all too briefly, or Schreiber’s Fisher will hand the reins to Howell-Baptiste’s McKenna, which audiences might resist, as it’d be like killing off Batman and turning it into a Robin show. I find the former to be more likely – after all, Netflix only gave The Legend of Lara Croft (which, in fairness, was not a good show) two seasons, and even the stellar Castlevania only got four seasons. Plus, historically speaking, Sam Fisher is Splinter Cell.

But for the time being, I’m just going to enjoy the fact that we’ve got Splinter Cell back in our lives, the show is a great (if all-too-brief) ultraviolent romp for just over three total hours across eight 22-27 minute episodes, and maybe, just maybe, it might convince Ubisoft to get its ass in gear on that Splinter Cell remake that got announced four years ago and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

Alienware's new mainstream gaming laptop for 2025 is dubbed the "Alienware Aurora" and it replaces the previous generation's x16 and m16 series of laptops. It comes in two models: the 16 and 16X. Of the two, the 16X Aurora is the model I would unequivocally recommend. It features a fully aluminum body, a higher quality display, and more powerful CPU and GPU. It's also more expensive, however right now there's an excellent deal that actually drops the price to just $50 more than an equivalently configured 16 (non-X) Aurora.

Alienware 16X Aurora RTX 5070 Gaming Laptop for $1,599.99

I've seen enough sales to know when the stars align, and right now the savings galaxy is sparkling mighty nice. Between long-awaited sequels, slick remasters and a few certified time vampires, this is one of those weeks where our backlogs are going to expand. Here's what caught my attention across the big four platforms, plus some LEGO fun to keep your shelf from looking too tidy.

Contents

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

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm waxing up a cake to mark 23 years since Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer first dropped in. For Illawarra South Coast groms like me and my mates, this game was basically a pipeline to paradise. We frothingly repped the Aussie spots like Bells and Kirra, legends like Curren and Carroll, and that slick combo system that felt like Tony Hawk had swapped his deck for a board.

Still, not everyone was amped on the game’s floaty physics and mid-air kickflips that’d make even Poseidon raise a brow. Some of us paddled past this to Transworld Surf or Sunny Garcia’s for a bit more realism.

Aussie birthdays for notable games.

- Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (PC) 1996. Redux

- Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer (GC. PS2, XB) 2002. eBay

- Spartan: Total Warrior (GC,PS2,XB) 2005. eBay

- Just Dance 2 (Wii) 2010. Sequels

- NBA Jam (Wii) 2010. eBay

Nice Savings for Nintendo Switch

• Pokémon Scarlet (-37%) - A$49.90 A bold step into Paldea with three story paths, full co-op, and open-world exploration that finally makes Pokémon feel fresh again. A must-own at this price.
• Pokémon Legends: Z-A NS2 (-23%) - A$85.00 The follow-up to Legends: Arceus is shaping up to be another bold experiment. Expect open-world action and mysterious new evolutions when it lands on Switch 2.
• Donkey Kong Bananza (-20%) - A$88.00 The big ape returns for some destructible platforming fun, discreet co-op, and collectible bananas galore. Perfect for family controller-swap sessions or retro-loving speedrunners.
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (-17%) - A$75.00 Samus is back with next-gen visuals, first-person exploration, and a return to her sci-fi roots. One of Switch 2’s most anticipated adventures.
• It Takes Two (-35%) - A$39.00 One of the best co-op games ever made. A clever, heartfelt romp that constantly reinvents itself with new mechanics and wild imagination. Perfect for pairs.

What's Big on the Radar?
Current hotcakes selling

• Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2 - $69
• Pokémon Legends: Z-A - $69
• Super Mario Party Jamboree - $64

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

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Exciting Bargains for Xbox

• Hogwarts Legacy (-57%) - A$47.10 Live your wizarding dream in a richly detailed open world set in the 1800s. Explore Hogwarts, brew potions, and sling spells in this magical best-seller.
• Assassin's Creed Mirage (-69%) - A$25.00 A back-to-basics stealth adventure that recaptures the spirit of classic Assassin’s Creed. Set in bustling Baghdad, it’s sharp, compact, and stylishly deadly.
• Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (-43%) - A$28.00 A stunning side-scrolling revival mixing parkour, time powers, and Metroidvania exploration. A return to form for the long-sleeping series.
• Darksiders III (-73%) - A$14.80 Fury’s whip-cracking crusade delivers stylish combat and apocalyptic flair. A great pickup for fans of Souls-lite brawlers and gothic world-building.
• No More Heroes 3 (-57%) - A$31.90 The world’s most eccentric assassin is back. Expect aliens, absurd boss fights, and meta madness in Suda51’s most chaotic sandbox yet.

Xbox One

• Dishonored 2 (-77%) - A$9.10 Arkane’s stealth-action masterpiece offers creative assassinations, supernatural powers, and endless replayability. An absolute steal for immersive sim fans.
• PGA Tour 2K25 (-62%) - A$45.00 The latest golf sim lands with smoother swings, licensed courses, and online tours. Ideal for fairway fanatics chasing realism.
• NBA 2K22 (-81%) - A$19.00 Dunk through the MyCareer story, build dream teams, and test your skills online. Elderly, but still one of the deepest sports games out there.

What's Big on the Radar?
Headed out the door quick

• Battlefield 6 - A$79
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds - A$89
• Borderlands 4 - A$99

Or just invest in an Xbox Card.

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Pure Scores for PlayStation

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (-36%) - A$79.90 Kojima’s cinematic odyssey continues with haunting vistas, eerie mysteries, and surreal traversal. Expect more emotion, more cargo, and more weirdness.
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (-74%) - A$29.00 Soar through lush jungles and fight RDA invaders in Ubisoft’s open-world take on James Cameron’s blue epic. A visual spectacle at a bargain.
• DualSense Edge (-12%) - A$299.00 Sony’s premium controller offers custom sticks, back buttons, and elite ergonomics. Pricey, yes, but precision comes at a cost.
• Rise of the Ronin (-36%) - A$79.90 Team Ninja’s open-world samurai RPG blends fast-paced swordplay and historical drama. A must-play for fans of Ghost of Tsushima and Nioh.
• Lego Horizon Adventures (-33%) - A$39.90 A charming Lego retelling of Aloy’s story that trades gritty realism for colourful bricks and slapstick humour. Family-friendly post-apocalyptic fun.
• Stellar Blade (-31%) - A$85.90 A sleek, stylish action game with razor-sharp combat and PS5 showpiece visuals. Eve’s battle to reclaim Earth is brutal, beautiful, and brilliantly cinematic.

PS4

• Assassin's Creed Mirage (-69%) - A$25.00 Classic stealth, modern polish. Mirage shrinks Assassin’s Creed back to its sneaky roots, and this version still looks and runs solid on PS4.
• God of War Ragnarok (-45%) - A$59.90 Kratos and Atreus deliver a thunderous finale to the Norse saga. Epic combat, emotional storytelling, and top-tier direction.
• Riders Republic (-57%) - A$42.90 Extreme sports paradise. Race, trick, and crash your way across mountains in this huge multiplayer playground. Think Forza Horizon, but on a snowboard.

What's Big on the Radar?
Fast movers shifting

• COD Black Ops 7 - A$89
• Battlefield 6 - A$84
• Borderlands 4 - A$94

Or purchase a PS Store Card.

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Purchase Cheap for PC

• Red Dead Redemption 2 (-75%) - A$22.40 Rockstar’s wild west epic delivers jaw-dropping visuals, gut-punch storytelling, and unmatched immersion. One of the best PC ports ever made.
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (-85%) - A$13.40 Witty, heartfelt, and full of 80s rock. A surprise single-player gem that’s more fun than most Marvel blockbusters.
• Disco Elysium - The Final Cut (-91%) - A$5.10 A surreal detective RPG where dialogue is your weapon. Deeply written and darkly hilarious. A modern classic for thinkers.
• Doom Eternal (-78%) - A$12.00 Rip and tear through demons in blistering fashion. Fast, fluid, and metal as hell. FPS perfection at a ridiculous discount.
• Lego Bricktales (-88%) - A$5.00 Solve puzzles and rebuild worlds brick by brick in this cozy, creative adventure. A relaxing change of pace for Lego fans.

Or just get a Steam Wallet Card

Legit LEGO Deals

• City Go-Karts (-47%) - A$8.00
• Maleficent's and Cruella De Vil (-37%) - A$69.00
• 2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan (-36%) - A$159.00
• Mario Kart Donkey Kong (-35%) - A$39.00

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Lenovo's most powerful Legion gaming PC just dropped to a new price low for a few days only. The Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10 gaming PC equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor and RTX 5090 graphics card is marked down to $4,079.99 after two stackable coupon codes "EXTRAFIVE" and "BUYMORELENOVO". That's over $1,000 off in combined savings. This configuration is exclusive to Lenovo direct and you won't be able to find it at traditional retailer sites like Amazon, Newegg, or Best Buy. If you order it now, you should receive it by late September.

Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 10 RTX 5090 Gaming PC for $4,080

Amazon is having another one of its "Buy 2 Get 1 50% Off" sales and it is absolutely filled to the brim with puzzles this time around. There are hundreds of options included in this sale from some of the best puzzle brands out there. If you're on the hunt for your next puzzle, or are just looking to grab a nice gift for the puzzler in your life, this promotion makes it a great time to save some money.

To take advantage of the promotion, you'll just need to add two eligible jigsaw puzzles to your Amazon cart and the 50% discount will be applied to whichever one is the least expensive. And since it isn't just puzzles included (there are board games as well), you can also mix and match with other items to still get that discount. I've gathered some of my top picks from this sale below, but there's a ton of other options available if you want to browse the sale yourself.

Jigsaw Puzzle Sale on Amazon Today

Like I mentioned above, there are a ton of puzzles included in this sale. I couldn't possibly include them all, so I've only highlighted a few top picks that I think best represent what is included here. There's a fairly wide variety of piece counts, from 300 to 3000, but I mostly stuck to 1000-piece puzzles here as they are the most popular whenever I've covered a puzzle sale.

If you are looking for some suggestions for what to buy, the Spider-Verse puzzle from Buffalo games has been on our list of the best puzzles for adults for over a year now. It's got a ton of different Spideys and is consistently one of the most popular marvel puzzles out there. There's also the Disney & Pixar Shop puzzle from Ravensburger that offers something similar for fans of Disney instead of Marvel. There's a bunch of characters and easter eggs hidden in each one.

I'd also recommend checking out The Drippy Trip puzzle. It's the latest puzzle made by The Magic Puzzle Company and actually features a few fun secrets from the popular cartoon Adventure Time. If you aren't familiar with Magic Puzzle Company Puzzles, they are a mix between jigsaw puzzle and magic kit and are generally very popular with families. There have been five different series of these types of puzzles and Amazon has a bunch of them featured in this sale right now.

Board Games Are Also Included

A House of Dynamite is enjoying a limited theatrical release and will soon make its Netflix premiere on October 24.

Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow's first movie in nearly a decade is a paranoid sandbox of doomsday porn featuring a talented ensemble sweating and fretting their way through a global game of nuclear chicken. For a movie mostly featuring characters prattling and panicking in enclosed government spaces, it has a swiftness of energy and a lively urgency. Ultimately though, it's feckless and aimless in its efforts to deliver unto us a new harrowing thing to intrusively keep us up at night.

When a single nuclear missile is launched at America from an unknown perpetrator, folks like a White House Situation Room Captain (Rebecca Ferguson), a Deputy National Security Advisor (Gabriel Basso), a STRATCOM General (Tracy Letts), the Secretary of Defense (Jared Harris), and the current President (Idris Elba) -- and many more -- must run through every scenario of possible response while the movie layers one hypothetical nightmare on top of another.

A House of Dynamite is basically a big "what if?" crucible that keeps unspooling new Russian nesting dolls of f**kery. Okay, yes, WHAT IF this happens? There's a mysterious lone strike against the U.S. that could be an accident (or a provocation): What would we do? Well, not only does A House of Dynamite take us through that dramatized simulation, but it also adds several more layers of "gotcha" torment that feel like flat-out manipulations, since the film massively fumbles in the end zone, almost proclaiming that it merely exists to throw us all into a existential tizzy with no release one way or the other. It actually loses a whole ass point because of the finish, by the way.

Nuclear armageddon horror -- usually cinematically juiced up as a "political thriller" -- has been around since the advent of the bomb itself, from 1964's Fail Safe or Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove to Tony Scott's Crimson Tide (1995) to this year's Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning and Hulu's Paradise. The idea is that once the world starts to unravel in any serious way, everyone will launch everything everywhere, because preemptively striking is the only way to ensure a small percent of your people will survive. On an even more basic level, it's the idea that action is inherently seen as a virtue while passivity is equated with cowardice, even at the expense of all humanity. A House of Dynamite brings this up, but doesn't offer up its own resolution...or any decision, really. So not only is this well-traversed territory, but it's a half-measure compared to its peers.

Some positives here are Bigelow's direction -- which takes a claustrophobic narrative and gives it a fast pulse and humanity -- and the script's structure, which splits up the story's crucial 20-minute window of chaos and alarm into three chapters, each one showing us a different segment of the ensemble and how they're dealing with the crisis at hand. Of course, after seeing the same events play out three different ways, you can't really see it as anything other than a build up. And so the movie builds. To something big. That never happens. That's the F-minus portion of the film. It's almost as if A House of Dynamite tries to shuck its B-movie qualities -- because, at its crux, that's what it is (Bigelow and pedigreed cast aside) -- and don a sheen of Oscar bait nonsense.

Everyone's really good here, of course, with the likes of Ferguson, Elba, Harris, and Anthony Ramos carrying us through this diabolical WarGames riff. Even the characters who only exist in their job roles, and don't get that tiny smidgeon of home life to share, are terrific. They all feel full of internal life as everyone bandies about solutions to the problem of America possibly losing 10 million people without knowing who to seek revenge on. You'll even see the likes of Greta Lee, Willa Fitzgerald, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Kaitlyn Dever. All the while, the movie unwittingly reveals its scariest element, which is making us think about who's in charge right now and how all of humankind is immensely borked if anything even slightly resembling this even happens.

There are a lot of daily horrors to deal with in this country right now, so it's very understandable if some might want to avoid apocalyptic fiction, or even films that hit "too close to the bone." A House of Dynamite accidentally wanders into this terrain, but it's also too timid to go the full mile. Maybe this is how it earns its "streaming movie" badge of dishonor. There weren't too many people in the theater with me watching this, but every single one of us proclaimed "What!?" when the credits rolled.

While just about every phone you can get your hands on nowadays will be able to play some games, several key features distinguish a fine gaming phone from a great one. Powerful processing is one piece of the puzzle. Being able to sustain high performance levels is also a must – you don’t want to deal with a phone that can only run smoothly for a few minutes before it slows down and scorches your hands. Extra memory and storage are also clutch for gaming phones, providing a means for multitasking even while you have a game running and giving you plenty of space for games. Some gaming phones, like the RedMagic 10 Pro, even offer extra upgrades for gaming, like additional shoulder buttons and enhanced touch sampling rates. (Though you could also just pick up a dedicated phone controller.)

Of course, the display is also a big piece of the puzzle. If you can’t see your games, you’re going to have a hard time playing them. A bigger, brighter display helps, as does a boost in refresh rate for smooth motion. An added benefit of a bigger phone is that your thumbs won’t cover as much of the display when you’re using touch controls. I've been testing and reviewing gaming phones for years now, so with all these details in mind, here’s a look at the best smartphones that also excel when it comes to gaming anywhere, anytime.

TL;DR – These Are the Best Gaming Phones:

1. RedMagic 10 Pro

Best Gaming Phone

2. OnePlus 13

Best Everyday Phone for Gaming

3. iPhone 17 Pro Max

Best iPhone for Gaming

4. iPhone 16e

Best Budget iPhone for Gaming

5. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7

Best Foldable Gaming Phone

6. OnePlus 12R

Best Budget Android for Gaming

What We’re Looking Forward to:

The RedMagic 10 Pro is truly an excellent gaming phone. But with all the performance it pumps out of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip inside, it got me wondering just what the kind of performance could do if it were funneled into the same kind of games we all play on PC. When I’m not testing phones, I’m often testing laptops, and I’ve tested the MSI Claw 8 AI+ for Lifehacker. What’s been interesting to see is how the divide between the PC and phone hardware has been narrowing, both because the phone chips are speeding up considerably and because Windows has made a push toward ARM (the same architecture used by phone processors) alongside the introduction of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite SoCs for Windows systems.

With that narrowing divide, I’m constantly checking to see where there’s the closest overlap. For instance, the RedMagic 10 Pro actually performed quite close to the MSI Claw 8 AI+ in Geekbench 6’s single-core and multi-core test. It falls a bit further behind in raw GPU performance, though with just 78% of the performance in Steel Nomad Light. But bear in mind that the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is a powerful handheld that outstrips the Steam Deck considerably in 3DMark, by even more than it beats the RedMagic 10 Pro in Steel Nomad Light (one of the more demanding tests). All that is to say, the RedMagic 10 Pro could make a viable handheld when paired with a phone controller.

Now, there are certainly plenty of great games for Android, but there’s a whole world of PC games that it would be wonderful to throw all of the RedMagic 10 Pro’s horsepower at. But you can’t. And that’s where the upcoming RedMagic 10S Pro gets exciting. As reported by TechSpot, the RedMagic 10S Pro may support some form of Windows emulation to run PC games. While I’d expect there to be some performance penalty as a result, I don’t think even a 25% penalty would be enough to stop the phone from offering excellent performance in games like Hades or Dead Cells – the kind of indie titles that excel on gaming handhelds. And since the new RedMagic 10S Pro is packing a Snapdragon 8 Elite Leading Version chip, it should offer a slight bump in performance over its predecessor.

While this currently remains in the realm of conjecture, as I don’t have my hands on the new phone (yet) and can’t be certain it will even offer the sort of emulation suggested, it’s still an exciting prospect. Even better would be if someone (like Valve) would adapt Steam OS to support some of this mobile hardware. Heck, it might not be long before Windows can run natively on these phone SoCs.

What to Look for in a Gaming Phone

Once you're certain you're a prime candidate for a gaming phone, here's exactly what to consider when you're on the hunt for one. While the best smartphones on the market tend to have some of what it takes to be a decent gaming phone, proper gaming phones tend to have some considerable advantages. You’ll find unseen benefits under the hood, upgrades to the screen and battery, and even extra controls to help give you the edge while gaming.

• Processors: This is a key area for gaming phones as they effectively define how well a phone can run a game. Top-tier chips like those from the Snapdragon 8 family (e.g., Elite, Gen 1/2/3) tend to be strong performers in games, and the recent Snapdragon 8 Elite has shown itself an absolute beast when it comes to gaming. Apple’s iPhones also tend to have pretty high-performance chips, with any model within the last year or two often providing more than enough speed for the latest games.

• Cooling and heat management: While a fast processor is a good start, running games is demanding and generates heat. Gaming phones generally make a point of managing that. Paying attention to sustained performance is a key part of how we test phones’ gaming potential. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra may have great performance in a short benchmark, but it slows down considerably as it heats up. Meanwhile, a top-notch gaming phone like the RedMagic 10 can lag behind Samsung in some benchmarks, but proves itself capable of sustaining its performance for the long haul thanks to powerful heat management in the form of an active cooling phone — something most everyday phones won’t have.

• Power: Sometimes it’s not about hardware when it comes to smartly managing heat. You should be on the lookout for pass-through power when shopping for a gaming phone. This feature lets you plug in your phone and have the chipset draw power directly from the outlet, skipping the battery and avoiding the extra heat this would create while also letting you game nonstop without worrying about running out of charge. But again, this isn’t something you can count on every phone offering.

• Display: Most gaming phones will give you a solid display for gaming. This will include a high resolution and refresh rates ranging from 120Hz to 165Hz or above. Most often, these will be OLED displays, giving you rich contrast and limited motion blur. While many games have framerate caps at 60fps, not all do, and the extra frames can make a world of difference in the perceived smoothness of a game. Quite a few gaming phones also offer high touch sampling rates, ensuring your inputs are registered quickly, and with games often calling for split-second reaction times, this can make a difference.

• Gaming-specific features: Finally, good gaming phones often find ways to make themselves extra useful in games. This often comes in the form of extra software that’s not always pleasing or easy to use, or extra buttons on the phone that let you use more than just your thumbs as inputs. Even with just a pair of shoulder buttons on a gaming phone, you end up with double the input methods you’d have otherwise, and the ability to move, aim, jump and fire all with separate fingers in online FPS games, for instance, makes a big difference.

Gaming Handhelds vs. Gaming Phones

Deciding on a portable gaming device truly depends on your lifestyle, the type of games you want to play, and how you want to play them.

A gaming phone is ultra-portable and easily pocketed. However, it’s still a highly capable machine that does more than game, offering all your typical smartphone features, including quality cameras, navigation, and communication. Gaming phones also better support cloud streaming for Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox games. Many gaming phones even have cooling solutions to prevent thermal throttling and some handy triggers. If you’re not a fan of touch controls, you can always grab a phone controller and get an experience much closer to a gaming handheld.

Gaming handhelds, like the Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch, are substantially bulkier but still easy to toss in a bag and take on the go. Unlike gaming phones, they are pretty much used solely for gaming, so you get responsive joysticks, triggers, and buttons with these options.

As for actual games, there’s a considerable rift. Android and iOS get plenty of games, and it’s becoming increasingly common to find the same titles on mobile and PC, though the mobile versions are often scaled back in some ways. Gaming handhelds get access to pretty much all of the PC games out there because they are, in fact, gaming PCs (except the Nintendo Switch, of course). Some PC games won’t run well (or run at all) on the low-powered hardware of the gaming handheld, though.

Both gaming handhelds and gaming phones can tap into cloud gaming platforms like Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass. In these, the performance of the phone and handheld don’t matter nearly as much as the quality of their internet connection. In that sense, phones can get an advantage as they offer both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity (though a very good 5G connection is all but essential to try game streaming).

Battery life can be a tossup. Gaming phones tend to have sizable batteries, run efficiently, and can easily last through the day even with a bit of gaming sprinkled in – otherwise, what use is it as a phone? Gaming handhelds tend to last just a few hours, with the Steam Deck offering pretty poor battery life as an example. And topping up the battery on the go will be easier for the phone, which won’t require a high-wattage charger.

Cost is a big question. The Steam Deck starts at $400 and the original Nintendo Switch is even less than that. Most gaming phones cost more. But some gaming handhelds are landing with prices closer to $1,000, and that far outpaces some of our favorite gaming phones. Plus, most of us need a phone whether we get a gaming handheld or not. The fact a gaming phone can pull double duty should weigh into its value.

The limited access to games may be the deciding factor, as even with cloud gaming as an option, some games simply won’t be available for gaming phones. If everything you want to play is available on mobile or cloud gaming, then it’s worth testing the waters of cloud gaming with your current phone and then, if you like the experience, considering a gaming phone as your next device. If you can’t play the games you want the way you want, then a handheld may fit the bill.

Mark Knapp is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything electronics and gaming hardware. He has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry with bylines at PCMag, Reviewed, CNET, and more. Find Mark on Twitter @Techn0Mark or BlueSky at @Techn0Mark.

If you've been waiting for one of the more affordable Blackwell cards to come back in stock at a reputable retailer, here's a shocker: the RTX 5070 graphics card has dropped to below launch pricing. Amazon is currently offering Amazon Prime members a chance to pick up the MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 5070 12GB Graphics Card for just $499.99 with free shipping. Launch price was $550. The RTX 5070 is an excellent GPU for gaming at up to 1440p with high framerates, especially with DLSS 4 enabled. The Asus Prime uses a triple fan cooler, which is preferred over dual slot solutions for its better cooling potential and lower noise, as long as your PC case has the proper clearance.

MSI GeForce RTX 5070 12GB Graphics Card for $499.99

The holidays are once again right around the corner, and what better way to celebrate both the Winter break and Star Wars than with this new Keepsake ornament from Hallmark. Depicting the fun and iconic "let the Wookie win" scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope where Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO are in a tense game of Dejarik, or holo-chess. It's available to preorder now at Amazon for $99.99 and it releases on October 20. Most notably (and very questionably), it does not include the Keepsake power cord needed to power the lights and sounds, which is sold separately.

Star Wars Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Is out Next Week

Frankenstein will receive a limited release in theaters on October 17 followed by a Netflix release on November 7.

Stories about generational trauma are nothing new – chronicles of the pain that is handed down from parent to child and, in time, right on down the line to the next child, never breaking the cycle. It’s, as Mrs. Potts once said, a tale as old as time. From Kronos eating his own lil’ ones, only to suffer the eventual wrath of those children under the leadership of Zeus – who would pass down his own messed-up issues to his myriad children – all the way to Michael Corleone’s fall into the very underworld that his father hoped he would rise above, the pain is real.

It’s also a great avenue for telling compelling stories. Which brings us to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.

Pretty much everyone knows the story of Frankenstein, and del Toro – who’s been trying to get a movie based on the iconic novel made for at least 20 years – doesn’t deviate from Mary Shelley’s work in any way that anyone but fans of the OG would notice. Some characters are missing, others are added, but the bones of the story remain intact: Man makes monster, man rejects monster, monster gets pissed off. But more than just intact, these bones are also seemingly pulled from (carved out of?) Dr. Frankenstein’s choicest picks, his finest specimens, because this iteration of Frankenstein is, like its Creature, a beautiful, haunting thing through which classic themes are made to feel fresh and new.

Not only is Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) a monster for much of the film’s runtime – cue everyone’s favorite “who’s the real monster?” line – but he’s a monster who was spawned by a monster, his stringent and abusive father Leopold (played by Charles Dance, who at this point in his career is destined to play the same miserable asshole over and over again). So of course that generational pain continues to rear its ugly head – or perhaps in this case not so ugly – when Victor brings life to his creature, played by a scarred yet still movie-star-handsome Jacob Elordi.

Elordi is a marvel here (and his Creature exhibits Marvel-esque superhuman powers, which is fun), belying his turns as bad guys or unsympathetic characters in titles like Euphoria, Priscilla, and Saltburn. No, while the Creature in GDT’s Frankenstein will mess you up if need be – and does in fact mess up man and beast alike in spectacular fashion – del Toro writes him and Elordi plays him in the finest Karloffian vein, a sympathetic, sad-sack SOB who just wants a friend. That the actor also seems to be channeling the body work of GDT regular and creature-player extraordinaire Doug Jones only accentuates how different Elordi’s Creature is from past incarnations. He pivots his body, twists his waist, leans in and back, and cocks his head in such a way as to always remind us that, after all, the Creature’s body is actually a series of bodies that are still getting used to each other.

Isaac as Victor, on the other hand, runs the risk of becoming too unlikable at times. When his Creature is born, there are genuine moments of affection between the two. But the newborn’s apparent inability to evolve and grow – in terms of speech, he can’t get any further than saying “Vict-or” over and over again – frustrates the genius, and frankly, dickish doctor. Just as his father did before him, Victor punishes his child rather than nurtures him. And so the cycle continues, with the Creature never even having a chance at normalcy, his appearance notwithstanding. But the result is that Isaac’s Victor very nearly becomes the film’s villain, which perhaps isn’t a new concept in the Frankenstein mythos, but occasionally works against the film in the character’s darkest moments. (Colin Clive, who played the mad doctor opposite Boris Karloff’s monster, was always sympathetic, mind you, even when he was operating at peak Looney Tunes.)

And then there’s Mia Goth, who brings to the Elizabeth Harlander character an otherworldliness that has sort of become a trademark for the MaXXXine and Suspiria actress. Named Elizabeth Lavenza in the book, the character is adopted into the Frankenstein household and eventually marries Victor, but in this version she’s engaged to Victor’s brother William (All Quiet on the Western Front’s Felix Kammerer). William usually doesn’t make it to adulthood when he’s present in a Frankenstein story, falling victim to the Creature in a savage act of revenge. But again, del Toro tweaks and twists these plot elements, with William in the way of Victor’s traditional love interest while also giving Elizabeth an uncle in the person of Christoph Waltz’s Heinrich Harlander. And while Waltz is typically a welcome addition to any film, his character – a benefactor who pays for Victor’s experiments – ultimately doesn’t add much at all here beyond helping to make the film slightly longer than it needs to be.

Frankenstein is full of blood and gore and dismembered limbs and ripped-off jaws and crunched skulls, but it’s not a horror movie. Like the director’s 2015 Gothic romance Crimson Peak, this is a film that feels big, engulfing the viewer in a world where a sad wife’s deep-red gown is set against the stark backdrop of a foreboding castle. It’s a place where the city streets run red with slaughterhouse blood, where a frozen battlefield is marked by a horse covered in ice, still in mid-gallop with its rider astride. And yet at the same time, the beauty of creation itself is infectious, as when Elordi’s Creature first experiences the sun. As Vict-or tells him, “Sun is life.”

Amazon's October Prime Day has ended, but the online retailer is already offering a new "Buy 2, Get 1 50% Off" sale this week. There's a little bit of everything for everyone in here, from classic family games to modern party games. If you've been hoping to add some more board games to your tabletop collection, right now is a great time to do so.

The sale itself is fairly straightforward: Amazon has a big list of items that are included in the promotion and all you need to do is add two in your cart and the 50% discount will be applied to whatever the cheaper one is. That means if you want to take full advantage of the savings, you'll want to buy two similarly priced items. I've gathered some of the best board game options in the sale here, which are based off of IGN's own board game reviews and recommendations. There are also jigsaw puzzles included in the sale if you want to mix and match for the full discount.

Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off Board Games

The amount of options to choose from in this sale is truly staggering, and it's difficult to choose only a few recommendations to highlight. Are you looking for intriguing murder mystery games to play during a Halloween party? Do you need a fun family board game you can break out on weekends? Are you hoping to find a great strategy game that will take all night to play? There are tabletop options for all of those scenarios right here.

For those working with a smaller budget, I'd recommend checking out Flip 7. We reviewed it earlier this year and absolutely loved it. It's a fairly easy push-you-luck card game that can be played in under 20 minutes. At only $8, it's already cheap, and this promotion will end up dropping that price down to just $4 when you buy something else (that's at least $8) with it. All-in-all, it's an easy recommendation to make for anyone who just wants a fun game that has a shallow learning curve.

If you're looking for something a bit heartier that's still family friendly, Ticket to Ride – both the original U.S. and some of the European versions – is also included here. This game is a modern classic that does a great job of combining simple gameplay with stimulating turn-based strategy.

Once you find a game you like, the next step is picking out a good second option to take full advantage of the discount. I'd recommend browsing through some of the classic board games here that are essential for any collection, stuff like Clue, Catan, Sorry!, and multiple versions of Monopoly. If you don't already have those, now is a great time to pick one or more up for a substantial discount.

Is Now a Good Time to Buy Board Games?

Last week we saw some pretty great board game deals for October Prime Day, but with that sale over and Black Friday on the horizon, you may be wondering if you should be making a purchase right now. While it's true that Amazon will likely have better board game deals for Black Friday this year, this buy 1, get 1 50% off sale is still a great way to save money right now. If you are looking to grab some stocking stuffers or a family game to play before the holidays, then this sale makes it a good time to do so.

With that in mind, you'll still want to wait for better discounts if you're planning on making bigger purchases. Some of the bigger campaign board games that are $100 or more are not included in this sale and aren't likely to be discounted until November.

Fresh off the heels of October Prime Day, Lenovo has discounted the new lineup of Xbox Breaker Edition wireless controllers for the first time ever. All three controllers: Storm Breaker, Ice Breaker, and Heart Breaker are on sale right now for just $53.99 after you apply coupon code: "TEAMGREEN" in your shopping cart. All controllers ship free. At this price, they're even less expensive than the standard white and black controllers.

33% Off Xbox Breaker Edition Wireless Controllers