System

You can't keep a good deal down. Walmart and Amazon both have the Xbox Series X down to $349. That's $150 off the MSRP of a phenomenal current-gen video game console complete with a 4K Blu-ray compatible disc drive. This is a better deal than what we saw during Black Friday or Cyber Monday. It even arrives before Christmas, and this would make an amazing Christmas gift. Amazon is currently showing in stock and delivery by Christmas. For Walmart, note that this Xbox is in stock in select areas. If you see it for $349, then it's in stock and ready for delivery in your zip code. However, if you see the price at $399.99, then it's out of stock and likely sold by a Walmart marketplace vendor. Best Xbox Series X Deal: $349 For the record, this is a far better deal than the $439 price we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Sometimes it pays to wait, apparently, even during the biggest sale event of the year. But it probably doesn't pay to wait right now, as stock will likely be limited, and the price could go up any time. The Xbox Series X is a current generation system able to drive 4K games at up to a glorious 120fps. It is technically a more powerful system than the PS5 and games that are compatible with both consoles usually perform better on the Xbox console. Compared to the $300 Xbox Series S, the X features more powerful hardware to enable it to run games in 4K (the Xbox Series S runs games at 1440p). The Xbox Series X also has a disc drive that can play 4K Blu-ray movies and physical game media and 1TB of internal storage. Best Xbox Series S Deal: $229.99 This is the Starter Bundle that includes 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The Xbox Series S is normally priced $200 less than the Xbox Series X but can still play all of the same games. It doesn't have the power of the Series X, so games are displayed at 1440p resolution instead of 4K in order to maintain the consistent 60fps-120fps graphics you'll find in most games. If you don't have a 4K TV or feel like the $200 could be better spent elsewhere (or in this case, $300), then the Xbox Series S might be a smarter purchase. Xbox Core Wireless Controller for $34.99 This Black Friday deal is back. Lenovo has the official Microsoft Xbox Core Wireless Controller for for Xbox Series X|S consoles for only $34.99 after you apply a $5 off coupon code "MXBOXWH" in your shopping cart. Only the Robot White color is available at this price, so if you want a fancier color you'll have to look elsewhere. This is the lowest price we've seen for the Xbox controller for Black Friday. Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 for $95.99 Target recently dropped the price of the professional-grade Xbox Series X Elite Series 2 Core Wireless Controller in Red/Black to $95.99. It's less expensive than the Black/White and Blue/Black variants. This controller wasn't discounted at all during Black Friday and Cyber Monday and would make for an awesome holiday gift for any Xbox gamer who appreciates pro gaming features like adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wrap-around rubberized grip, and shorter hair trigger locks. View the full article

December 25 is less than two weeks away. If you haven't yet caught up on your holiday shopping last month, then time is ticking. The holiday rush pretty much starts now and soon the most popular items will either go out of stock or go back up to retail price. This is your best opportunity to get ahead of the masses, get the products you really want, and still score a great deal along the way. Here are some of the best tech and gaming deals that are available right now, and will be delivered to you before Christmas. Xbox Series X for $339.99 You can't keep a good deal down. Walmart still has the Xbox Series X down to $349. That's $150 off the MSRP of a phenomenal current-gen video game console complete with a 4K Blu-ray compatible disc drive. This is a better deal than what we saw during Black Friday or Cyber Monday. It even arrives before Christmas, and this would make an amazing Christmas gift. Note that this Xbox is in stock in select areas. If you see it for $349, then it's in stock and ready for delivery in your zip code. However, if you see the price at $399.99, then it's out of stock and likely sold by a Walmart marketplace vendor (not Walmart direct). Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 4060 Ti Gaming PC for $1199.99 Right now Dell has the 2023 Alienware Aurora R16 Intel Core i7 RTX 4060 Ti gaming PC for only $1199.99. This is actually $100 less than the best price we saw for this exact config on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It's equipped with an Intel Core i7-13700F CPU, GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8GB GPU, 16GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. The i7 processor is cooled by a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler. The RTX 4060 Ti 8GB video card is the perfect GPU for 1080p gaming, although it's also capable of handling 1440p gaming. It's about 5%-10% faster than the RTX 3060 Ti at 1080p and supports the newer DLSS 3.0 and 3.5 technology. It's also about 20%-25% faster than the RTX 4060 in 1080p gaming. 2021 Apple iPad 10.2" 64GB for $249 Amazon is offering a brand new 2021 Apple iPad 10.2" Wi-Fi 64GB tablet for only $249. This iPad normally retails for $329, so you're saving about 25%. This is the lowest price we've seen for what is already the most affordable iPad you can get. These are brand new and include a 1 year Apple warranty. Note that the iPad may come a few days after Christmas. Although if it's intended to be a gift, I'm sure the recipient will forgive you for such an awesome present. Xbox Series S for $229.99 This is the Starter Bundle that includes 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The Xbox Series S is normally priced $200 less than the Xbox Series X but can still play all of the same games. It doesn't have the power of the Series X, so games are displayed at 1440p resolution instead of 4K in order to maintain the consistent 60fps-120fps graphics you'll find in most games. If you don't have a 4K TV or feel like the $200 could be better spent elsewhere (or in this case, $300), then the Xbox Series S might be a smarter purchase. The Complete Calvin and Hobbes Box Set for $58.91 Amazon has the Complete Calvin and Hobbes Paperback Box Set for only $58.91 after you clip the coupon on the product page. This is a pretty huge price drop from its $135 MSRP and matches the best price we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The complete paperback box set includes four full-color paperback volumes (1,440 total pages) in a sturdy slipcase and includes all Calvin and Hobbes cartoons that ever appeared in syndication, from its initial publication in 1985 to Bill Watterson's retirement in 1995. Apple AirPods Pro with USB Type-C for $199.99 There's no better holiday gift than a new pair of AirPods. Amazon has dropped the price of the 2nd gen Apple AirPods Pro truly wireless noise cancelling earbuds with the universal USB Type-C connector by $50, now only $199.99. Best of all, it can be delivered to you well before Christmas, December 25 without paying any additional shipping fee. With this current gen AirPods Pro, Apple has replaced the proprietary Lightning port with the more universal USB Type-C. For people who want to bring along a single charging cable for all of their mobile devices, this is a godsend. 49" Samsung Odyssey OLED G9: The Best Ultra-Wide Gaming Monitor This popular Black Friday deal is back! Amazon has the 49" Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC gaming monitor for only $1199.99. That's $600 less than MSRP and matches what we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Odyssey OLED G9 replaces the Neo G9 as Samsung's highest end Odyssey G-series gaming monitor. Unlike the Neo G9, which uses a Mini-LED panel, the OLED G9 uses a quantum dot OLED panel. OLED panels boast individual self-lit OLEDs that can turn on and off independently of each other, which allows for true blacks and incredible contrast ratios. The image quality, especially in HDR, is far better than what you'll see with traditional IPS, VA, or TN panels. Samsung's quantum dot (or QD) OLED panels are even better because they are brighter and support a wide color range than regular OLED panels. 85" TCL QM8 4K Mini LED QLED Smart TV for $1799.99 Amazon is offering some amazing prices on the 2023 TCL QM8 4K Mini-LED Smart TVs. The 85" model is currently $1799.99, the 75" model is $1299.99, and the 65" model is $899.99. The 65" TV matches the same deal we saw during Black Friday, but the 85" and 75" TVs are the lowest prices we've ever seen by a significant amount. The QM8 is TCL's flagship TV for 2023 and has all the features you'd expect in a premium gaming TV including a gorgeous quantum dot Mini-LED panel and 4K@120Hz support for PS5 and Xbox. Squishmallow Pikachu 14" Holiday Plush for $24.99Eligible for $10 off $50+ toys promo Stuffies make the premier Christmas gift for people of all ages. This particular Squishmallow Pikachu 14" Holiday Plush is especially appropriate because everyone's favorite rodent sports a cute Santa hat on his noggin. It's currently avaialble at Target for $24.99 (it's sold out at most other vendors including Amazon and Walmart). Even better, this plush is eligible for Target's $10 off $50+ toy promotion. Buy two of these, add on something cheap, and you can get $10 off your order. Baseus 10,000mAh USB Type-C Power Bank for $12.99 Right now Amazon is offering a Baseus 10,000mAh USB Type-C power bank with USB Power Delivery for only $12.99 after applying promo code "86GMCNKJ". That's a great price for a 10K mAh power bank that's equipped with a USB Type-C output with Power Delivery. At this price it would make a great stocking stuffer: it's inexpensive, compact and makes a super practical gift. PS5 Slim Spider-Man 2 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for $499 For those of you who have been holding out on the newer, more compact PlayStation 5 gaming console, well your wait is over. Amazon currently has your choice of either the PS5 Slim Disc Edition Spider-Man 2 console bundle or the PS5 Slim Disc Edition Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 console bundle for only $499.99 each. Not only are you getting a brand new console that's 30% smaller in volume and 18% lighter than the original, you're also getting a free and recently released AAA title while you're at it. Beats Studio Pro Headphones for $179.99 Target has brought back this Black Friday Deal just in time for Christmas. You can get the Beats Studio Pro wireless noise-cancelling headphones for only $179.99. That's almost 50% off the $350 MSRP and matches the best deal we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Studio Pro is the highest end Beats headphone currently available and is comparable in features and quality to the pricier Bose Quietcomfort 35/45 and Sony WH-1000XM4/5 headphones at a lower price point. Nintendo Switch OLED Super Smash Bros Ultimate Bundle for $349 The best Switch deal of Black Friday is still available. Amazon is offering a Nintendo Switch OLED console packaged with a digital download of the incredible Super Smash Bros Ultimate game for $349.99. That basically means you get the game (which normally retails for $60) for free. This is the first time the Switch OLED has officially gone on sale for Black Friday or the holiday season, and in my opinion worth getting over the rather stale Switch (non-OLED) holiday console bundle. $50 Off Meta Quest 2 VR Headset and Get Free $50 Amazon Digital Credit The best Quest 2 deal on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is back! Amazon is offering $50 off the Meta Quest 2 , bringing the price down to $249 for the 128GB model and $299 for the 256GB model. Additionally, you get a bonus $50 Amazon digital credit when you apply promo code: "META50", essentially increasing your savings to $100. This is the same deal we saw on Black Frida carried over, and we don't think we'll see a better Cyber Monday deal than this. For first time VR gamers, this is undoubtedly the best headset to get. Xbox Core Wireless Controller for $34.99 This Black Friday deal is back. Lenovo has the official Microsoft Xbox Core Wireless Controller for for Xbox Series X|S consoles for only $34.99 after you apply a $5 off coupon code "MXBOXWH" in your shopping cart. Only the Robot White color is available at this price, so if you want a fancier color you'll have to look elsewhere. This is the lowest price we've seen for the Xbox controller for Black Friday. Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 for $95.99 Target recently dropped the price of the professional-grade Xbox Series X Elite Series 2 Core Wireless Controller in Red/Black to $95.99. It's less expensive than the Black/White and Blue/Black variants. This controller wasn't discounted at all during Black Friday and Cyber Monday and would make for an awesome holiday gift for any Xbox gamer who appreciates pro gaming features like adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wrap-around rubberized grip, and shorter hair trigger locks. 4-Pack Apple AirTags for $79.98 One of the best holiday gift ideas is back on sale right now. Amazon is offering a 4-pack of Apple AirTags keyfinders for $ 79.98. That's 20% off MSRP and matches the best price we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You're essentially paying about $20 per AirTag. This would make an inexpensive but very practical gift for anyone who owns an iPhone and tends to lose small wearables like wallets, keys, or remotes. Even better, your order will arrive well before Christmas, December 25. Arcade1Up Video Game Cabinets Starting at $299.99 For those of you who want to recreate retro arcade gaming at home but don't have the time, expertise, or money to set up your own MAME cabinet, Arcade1Up cabinets offer an easy-to-assemble, slick-looking package at a reasonable price. These cabinets are 3:4 scale replicas of the original product, complete with officially licensed artwork and preloaded with multiple games. Some games even support Live WiFi, which means you can play co-op online with other Arcade1Up gamers. 30% Off the LEGO UCS Star Wars The Razor Crest 75331 This Cyber Monday deal is back! Amazon has the LEGO UCS Star Wars The Razor Crest 75331 for only $419.99. That's 30% off the original $600 MSRP and the best price we've ever seen for this set by a considerable margin. This deal only lasted a few hours on Cyber Monday before it went kaput..The Razor Crest 75331 is a UCS, or Ultimate Collector Series, kit. It consists of 6,187 pieces, which makes it the third largest Star Wars set in brick count. The resulting build is impressively large at 20" long, 29" wide, and 10" high. According to LEGO, "the LEGO Ultimate Collector Series represents the very best in collectible LEGO sets. Featuring hard to find, exclusive, and impressively-large LEGO sets, made especially with adult collectors in mind." Refurb Sonos Arc Soundbar for $509 Sonos is offering a factory refurbished Sony Arc SL soundbar for only $509.00. That's a $170 price drop from the normal refurb MSRP of $679.99 (a new Sonos Arc sells for $900). The Arc is Sonos' flagship product. This is a premium 45" soundbar with awesome sound quality thanks to the eleven precisely engineered internal speakers, including two dedicated height channels. The Sonos Arc can be wirelessly paired up with other Sonos speakers and subs to add even more sound distribution. This modularity is one of the main reasons why Sonos is so popular. The "SL" in the Sonos Arc SL means "silence", and that's because it's not Google Assistant or Alex voice compatible. Sonos refurb products go through pretty rigorous testing (probably more so than new). They come with all accessories, manuals, and documentation and are reshipped in "pristine" packaging. Most importantly of all, Sonos stands by their refurbs enough to grant them the same 1 year warranty as buying new. Google Pixel Buds Pro for $118.99Best earbuds for Android Google's fourth generation wireless true wireless earbuds are a huge improvement over previous models. For Android phone users, this might actually be a best earbuds to get! They're on par with the AirPods Pro in terms of sound quality, noise cancellation, and features at a price that is, as of now, $100 cheaper. Features include 11mm drivers (the same size as AirPods Pro), built-in Google Assistant, a whopping 11 hours of battery life, a USB Type-C charging case that's also Qi wireless compatible, multi-point Bluetooth technology with fast pairing between Android devices, and a "Transparency Mode". Sony WH1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphones for $228 Amazon is offering the popular Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones to only $228. This is easily one of the best noise cancelling headphones you can get. Sony's WH-1000XM series of headphones have shaken Bose's longstanding reputation for having the best noise cancelling headphones on the market. The WH-1000XM4 offers the coveted combination of outstanding sound quality and effective noise cancellation. They're also very comfortable to wear with ample amounts of padding in the earcups and the headband. The WH-1000XM4 also boasts up to 30 hours of battery life on a single charge. If you run out, charging for just 10 minutes will give you another 5 hours of playback. It charges via the newer universeal USB Type-C input, which is a welcome upgrade over the legacy Micro USB from previous models. LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Express Collectors' Edition 76405 for $349.99 Looking for an amazing gift idea for a LEGO fanatic. Amazon currently has the LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Express train set for $349.99. That's $150, or 30%, off the original $500 MSRP. The LEGO Hogwarts Express is one of the most impressive Harry Potter sets out there. This 1:32 scale model of the Hogwarts Express train from the movie series measures 47" long, 8" wide, and 11' tall. The set includes the train's engine and two cars, plus platform 9 3/4. The three train compartments each depict a scene from the movie: Harry, Ron, and Hermione's very first encounter, Professor Lupin saving Harry from the Dementor in the third movie. and Luna saving Harry from Draco's spell in the sixth movie. The set also includes 20 minifigures including multiple versions of the main characters, Ron, Hermione, Remus, Ginny, Draco, and a Dementor. 2022 10th Gen Apple iPad 10.9" 64GB WiFi for $349.99Sold Out Amazon just dropped the price on the newest Apple iPad. The 10th gen Apple iPad 64GB WiFi is down to $349.99 after you clip a $49.01 coupon on the product page. That's a 23% price drop from its original $450 MSRP. This is matches the best price we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you're an Amazon Prime member, Amazon still expects to have it delivered by Christmas, December 25. If you're not an Amazon Prime member, then the estimated delivery is on December 27, a few days later. 2021 Apple iPad Pro 11" 512GB WiFi for $769.99Sold Out One of the most powerful tablets you can get is still heavily discounted for the holiday shopping season. Woot has the 2021 iPad Pro 11" 512GB WiFi for only $769.99. A 2022 iPad Pro with the equivalent specs would run $1100. This Woot deal even includes a genuine Apple Smart Folio cover in Cyprus Green. This iPad is brand new with a full 1 year Apple warranty and is AppleCare eligible. Woot is owned by Amazon. 40% Off the Bose QuietComfort 45 Wireless Noise Cancelling HeadphonesExpired For today only, Target has the Bose QuietComfort 45 wireless active noise cancelling over-ear headphones for only $199.99 after you activate the Target Circle coupon. That matches the best headphone deal we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you've been eyeing a quality pair of noise cancelling headphones, I don't think you'll find a better deal than this by the end of the year (other than the one listed right below). These headphones can still be delivered by December 25 even if you choose free shipping. Save Up to 40% Off Govee RGB LED Floor LampsExpired Amazon has two popular Govee LED floor lamps on sale. The Govee RGBIC Floor Lamp normally sells for $99.99, but today it's only $59.99. Likewise, the more premium Govee Lyra RGBIC Floor Lamp normally sells for $149.99, but today it's $99.99 after you clip the $10 coupon on the product page. The Govee RGBIC floor lamp is essentially a 25W LED light strip that's embedded into a vertical metal column. You direct it towards the wall for ambient lighting. The Govee Lyra RGBIC floor lamp features some several upgrades. It's better built with a nicer looking satin aluminum finish compared to the painted finish on the standard floor lamp. It also has RGBICWW LEDs instead of just RGBIC, which offers a better range of warm white color temps for those days where RGB lighting just doesn't appeal to you. It's also brighter, with a 1500 lumen rating compared to 1000 lumens on the standard floor lamp. Buy the LEGO Star Wars Death Star Trench Run, Get $10 Target Gift CardSold Out Looking for an affordable gift that scratches both the LEGO and Star Wars itch? Right now Target has the popular LEGO Star Wars Death Star Trench Run 75329 Diorama for $56.99. That's $10 off MSRP and $3 cheaper than everywhere else. However, Target does even better by offering a bonus $10 Target gift card with your order. Here's your chance to rebuild one of the most iconic scenes from the very first Star Wars movie. This diorama recaptures the climactic trench scene in Star Wars: A New Hope where Luke Skywalker is tasked with destroying the Death Star in his X-wing. View the full article

Marvel has released the full list of episode titles for What If…? Season 2, teasing multiversal consequences for some of pop culture's most famous heroes and villains. The rundown of upcoming animated episodes was shared on X/Twitter. Unlike episode titles for most other shows, these names essentially tell viewers what they can expect each outing to cover. The nine-episode season looks to continue the trend of bringing interesting twists on Marvel Cinematic Universe stories while still offering more playful one-offs, too. One of the episodes that seems like it will take itself more seriously is Episode 5, “What If…Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper,” which will likely carry on from a Season 1 plotline. Meanwhile, Marvel fans can probably expect somewhat lighter tones from “What If…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” The full list of What If…? Season 2 episodes and their release dates can be seen below: · December 22 - What If…Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? · December 23 - What If…Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? · December 24 - What If…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas? · December 25 - What If…Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster? · December 26 - What If…Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper? · December 27 - What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World? · December 28 - What If…Hel Found the Ten Rings? · December 29 - What If…The Avengers Assembled in 1602? · December 30 - What If…Strange Supreme Intervened? At the What If…? Season 2 premiere, Marvel Studios shared more about what superhero fans can expect from the upcoming animated series' new season. In addition to promises that the show would resolve Season 1’s big cliffhanger, the comic book company said viewers can look forward to seeing familiar villains return, and new heroes make their debut. As we stated in our What If…? Season 1 review, we came away a bit let down by the spinoff Disney+ show’s first batch of episodes. While its highlights flesh out MCU with new perspectives, we found that “the show attempts to be both an anthology and a serial and, in trying to do so, suffers from some disappointing structural oddities.” Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx. Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe. View the full article

When I reviewed Granblue Fantasy Versus back in February of 2020, I said it stood out as a great fundamentals-driven and uniquely approachable anime fighter that was held back by just a few key issues: An overly convoluted and dull RPG mode, only 11 playable characters, and dated delay-based netcode. I don’t know if the developers used that as a checklist for things to improve in Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising, but they may as well have because I’m thrilled to see that they’ve corrected all of those issues, and then some. Let’s run down the new stuff and improvements: The newly renamed Story Mode is now a much brisker version of the base game’s campaign that trims all of the fat and while also adding a new chapter; the fighting system has been completely overhauled for the better, adding several exciting new mechanics; there’s better learning tools; rollback netcode; and even a Granblue-themed Fall Guys-esque mode included in the online lobby. It all amounts to one of the most feature-packed “definitive edition”-style updates to a fighting game I’ve ever seen, and is a fantastic re-entry point into the grand world of Granblue Fantasy Versus. I’m not going to go in depth on every single mechanical change made to the core fighting of Rising – because there are quite a lot – but the biggest ones are the removal of universal techniques added after launch like Overdrive and Tactical Move, a brand-new variation of special moves called Ultimate Skills, a resource called Bravery Points, and then a handful of powerful abilities that use those Bravery Points. Ultimate Skills add a ton of utility to every character, which stacks another layer onto the meter management game. I personally didn’t keep up with Granblue when Overdrive and Tactical Move were added, so I can’t quite comment on how their absence feels, but I can say that the new additions all feel great. Ultimate Skills are new variations of special moves that add all sorts of powerful new properties to existing moves at the cost of 50% of your special meter, with 25% getting refunded if the skill hits. As an example, the Ultimate version of Katalina’s Frozen Blade shoots out a massive blade from full-screen distance that goes through most projectiles and can crumple the opponent and allow her to get a combo if she’s positioned well enough, forcing you to think twice before throwing a projectile at her when she’s got 50 meter. Other characters, like Siegfried, can use the ultimate version of his down special to just straight up carry his opponent from one end of the stage to the other. In addition to that, these moves can also uniquely be used even while on cooldown. It’s just a ton of utility added to every character; there’s a lot of freedom to create new combo routes depending on whether you want big damage, a hard knockdown, or added corner carry; and stacks another layer onto the meter management game, which improves the thoughtful decision making that’s central to any great fighting game. What We Said About Granblue Fantasy VersusFollowing in the footsteps of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, Granblue Fantasy: Versus is one of Arc System Works’ most approachable fighting games yet. It smartly balances considerations for more casual fighting game players without ever stepping on the toes of its hardcore audience. The result is a more grounded and neutral-heavy ArcSys alternative with all of the usual ArcSys flair, which is a fantastic breath of fresh air. Its RPG mode is dull, and its 11 character roster feels way too light, but all things considered, Granblue Fantasy: Versus feels like it could be the start of another special 2D fighting franchise. - Mitchell Saltzman. February 11, 2020. Score: 9 Read our full Granblue Fantasy Versus Review Bravery Points, meanwhile, are a resource that’s tied specifically to two new abilities: Raging Strikes and Brave Counters. Brave Counters are simple: You press two buttons simultaneously while blocking to push an opponent off of you at the cost of one BP. Raging Strikes, however, are massively powerful attacks that can be used during a blockstring to crush an opponent’s guard if they just sit there blocking. That allows you to follow up with a Raging Chain attack, which in turn enables you to convert that hit into a full combo, even though the opponent blocked the attack. Not only that, but Raging Strike can also be used to continue combos off of far-reaching attacks that wouldn’t typically be comboable. On paper, that may sound busted, but Raging Strikes are very smartly balanced, much like Drive Impacts are in Street Fighter 6. For one, they’re super slow, and if they’re being used predictably you can either just interrupt them with a jab or use a spot dodge that causes a cool looking slowdown effect, giving you plenty of time to do a big punish. The other important wrinkle in all of this is that Bravery Points also dramatically increase your defense if you bank them, so every point you spend means you’ll take more damage from your enemy going forward. So you really have to make sure that you’re using those points to seal out rounds as opposed to using them haphazardly. (or, you might experience something like this.) Sky ScrappersPretty much everything else is what I remember from playing Granblue back in 2020. Which is to say, it’s a uniquely beginner-friendly fighting game thanks to features like auto combos, easy one-button special move inputs (which also no longer incur added skill-cooldown penalties), and a very measured pace to the action that’s far more akin to Street Fighter than most other ArcSys anime games. What is new for me, as someone who only played Granblue at launch, is the vast majority of the roster: it’s shot up from a paltry 11 to a very respectable cast of 28 thanks to Rising including all of the DLC over the last three years, plus four entirely new characters. Even as someone who didn’t play the mobile Gacha game and didn’t watch much of the anime, the playable roster in Granblue is stellar. Every character is just bursting with personality, there’s a great spread of different archetypes, the super moves are gorgeous, there are a ton of fun and unique intro exchanges between characters when a match begins, and the character designs themselves are just spectacular. The four brand-new characters – Nier, Grimm, Anilla, and Siegfried – all live up to that standard as well. My personal favorite is Siegfried, who is a Dragon Knight infused with dragon blood, and fights with a giant sword that hits like a truck. He’s also able to sacrifice some of his health for a power buff that increases his damage up to three times, boosting his already-insane damage output even higher. Both Nier and Grimmnir are pretty technical characters, with Nier being a puppet character that relies on the position of both herself and her puppet, and Grimmnir being an extremely mobile character who can place down sigils that he can dash through, making for some absolutely wild and flashy-looking combos and set ups. Rounding out the newcomers is Anilla, who is much more straightforward, but still packs her own uniquely quirky charm by fighting with a spear that’s bigger than she is, along with an army of sheep that she sends careening into her opponents. She’s adorable. The new characters are at the forefront of Rising’s new Story Mode chapter, which thankfully removes all of the extraneous RPG systems, weapon collecting, and so on. Instead, now you just earn skills that you can equip to your character for some sort of temporary boost or buff. Not that I ever really needed it – it’s still ridiculously easy – with even the late-game bosses barely putting up any sort of fight. Ultimately, Story Mode is an improvement over GBFV's RPG Mode, but mostly because its much faster and less arduous to get through it.The fighting is secondary to the story though, and as far as the story goes, it’s… fine. There are definitely some funny moments, mostly involving the Lowain trio, but the overarching plot is largely uninteresting and didn’t quite have that big satisfying payoff that I was hoping for, given the buildup to the final few chapters. Ultimately, it’s an improvement over the vanilla GBFV’s RPG Mode, but mostly just because it’s much faster and less arduous to get through it. It took me just about two or three hours to beat the new chapter, which felt like the exact amount of time I wanted to spend with it. . Rising to the TopRising improves just about every other area of Granblue Fantasy Versus as well. Its training mode and learning tools are all far more fully featured, with a more detailed frame data display; quick character guides that give you an overview of what a character excels at and what buttons you should press at different ranges; and practical combo trials that give you combos for every situation, from anti-airs to counter-hit anti-airs, corners, and combos for when you hit your opponent with a raging strike. I never felt like I needed to search elsewhere to get a baseline level of competency with a new character, which is how a modern fighting game should be. Rising improves just about every other area of Granblue Fantasy Versus. The charming chibi avatar lobby system also returns from the base game, though this time it’s been greatly expanded to be an actual virtual social hub where you can play soccer, go to the arcade and play a crane game for collectibles, queue up for ranked and casual matchmaking, or park next to one of the seemingly hundreds of arcade cabinets to play with other people in the lobby. It’s not quite as impressive as Street Fighter 6’s Battle Hub, and the performance is a little chuggy once you enter, but it’s still a fun way to meet new players and experience online play in a way that goes beyond just endlessly queuing for matches. Of course, if that is what you want to do, you can still do that too. You don’t have to engage in the lobby at all if you don’t want to. The best thing, though, is the addition of rollback netcode, which at this point should virtually be a requirement for fighting games going forward. Online play feels as smooth as can be, on par with bar-setters like Street Fighter 6, Guilty Gear Strive, and Killer Instinct. Then there’s Grand Bruise, which is – as crazy as it sounds – a Fall Guys-inspired game within a game that uses the lobby’s chibi anime avatars in a platforming battle royale mode. And you know what? It’s pretty fun! It combines Mario Kart-style item pickups with frantic platforming footraces, resulting in an absolutely chaotic mode that had me shouting and hollering in exactly the same ways that Fall Guys does. It’s very obvious that Bruise is not meant to be a main attraction – there’s no ability to create a custom lobby, there’s only a paltry number of minigames to play right now, and some of those – like this wave survival game – go on for a bit too long. Still, it’s a fun diversion, and is especially a nice addition for those who opt for the free version of Rising, which includes Grand Bruise and a rotating selection of three playable characters, plus Gran. View the full article

Wonka stars Timothée Chalamet as a younger version of the eccentric candy maker previously played by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp. IGN's Wonka review awarded this new, musical take on the classic character a 7, saying "Chalamet brings [Wonka] to life with a gleeful abandon that makes him easy to root for." If you're wondering how and where to watch Wonka this weekend, take a look at the info below for showtimes and more. Where to Watch Wonka – Showtimes and StreamingWonka is now in theaters everywhere. To find when and where you can watch the movie near you, check the local showtime listings at the main theater sites below: FandangoAMC TheatersCinemark TheatersRegal TheatersWonka Streaming Release DateWonka is not currently available to stream, and there's been no word from distributor Warner Bros. on when it will eventually be released. However, given it's a Warner Bros. movie, we know Wonka will eventually be released on Max, rather than Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+. Warner Bros. doesn't have a standard window of time between theatrical and streaming releases; its last four films came to Max 49 days (The Nun 2), 91 days (Blue Beetle), 56 days (Meg 2), and 147 days (Barbie) after their theatrical debuts. Barbie's massive theatrical success makes it an outlier here, so our best guess puts Wonka on Max two to three months after it hits theaters, between February and March 2024. What Is Wonka About?Wonka tells the origin story of Roald Dahl's eccentric candy maker, Willy Wonka. Here's the officialy synopsis from Warner Bros.: Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, Wonka tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today. How to Watch Previous Willy Wonka MoviesPrior to Wonka, there have been two notable films based on Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: the 1971 original starring Gene Wilder and the 2005 adaptation starring Johnny Depp. Both films can be streamed on Max or rented from various digital storefronts. Here's everywhere you can watch the Willy Wonka movies online right now: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) Max (Stream)Prime Video (Rent/Buy)YouTube (Rent/Buy)Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Max (Stream)Prime Video (Rent/Buy)YouTube (Rent/Buy)Wonka CastWonka was written by Paul King and Simon Farnaby. It was directed by Paul King and stars the following actors: Timothée Chalamet as Willy WonkaOlivia Colman as Mrs. ScrubbitHugh Grant as Oompa-LoompaKeegan-Michael Key as Chief of PoliceCalah Lane as NoodleSally Hawkins as Willy Wonka's MotherRowan Atkinson as Father JuliusWonka Rating and RuntimeWonka is Rated PG for some violence, mild language, and thematic elements. The film runs for a total of 1 hour and 56 minutes including credits. Looking for more movie coverage from IGN? Check out our updated list of the movies still to come in 2023. Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN. View the full article

You have to hand it to Cherry – she is tough. From the moment you meet, and she's dragging what's left of her beaten, broken android body across the ground in vengeful pursuit of the guy who ran off with her girl, everything about who Cherry is – strong, sassy, principled, and gloriously self-aware – becomes instantly clear. Not only does it nicely set the stage for one of 2023's more unforgettable video game heroes, it leaves you with no doubt what metroidvania Cookie Cutter is all about. It's about violence. The gorier and the bloodier the better. Unlike other recent games pressed from the same mold, though, Cookie Cutter isn't about innovating the metroidvania template or incorporating ideas inspired by other genres, such as Hollow Knight's soulslike influences. As old-school a metroidvania as it comes, Cookie Cutter blends a memorable cast with a sprawling, interconnected world and striking hand-drawn graphics. And although it does occasionally frustrate as much as it entertains, it's nonetheless one of the more approachable entries to the genre. If you like blood, of course. Lots and lots of blood. I've spent a lot of time with metroidvanias over the last few years, and as most have been grim, gothic, oh-so-serious affairs, Cookie Cutter's unabashed, over-the-top presentation and celebration of color are refreshing. I also cared about Cherry and her quest, and was intrigued by the way she's able to augment herself to adapt to the challenges of The Megastructure you’ll explore with her. Accompanied by her friend Regina – a disembodied robotic head that closely resembles the part of the female anatomy that rhymes with her name (yes, really) – Cherry lets her fists do the talking as she punches, smacks, and flattens anything stupid enough to get in her way. Cookie Cutter's world is rich in detail, and each biome of the map is home to a unique selection of critters – say, the Denzel Factory's droids, or the Bloody Den's maddeningly electrified eel things. You’ll attack them with a combination of light and hard attacks – the former builds up VOID power; the latter uses it up – and there are countless combos to perfect as you kick and punch your way through the world. One-on-one, most enemies aren't too difficult to defeat, but even if you're better than me at parrying (which wouldn't be difficult), very easy enemies can be overwhelming if there are enough of them. The over-the-top presentation and celebration of color are refreshing.How you play will change over time, though, particularly as you unlock new abilities and find components that help you tweak Cherry's skillset to better suit your playstyle, such as focussing on offensive skills or making it quicker to self-heal. But it doesn't matter how bombastic the animations are when Cherry wipes out a boss with a motorbike or beats something to death with an electric guitar – sometimes, you'll just never feel quite powerful enough to take on the sheer number of enemies around you (especially the ones that can shoot through walls). Because it takes a while for you to unlock Cherry’s full potential, the first half of Cookie Cutter’s 20-ish hour run-time has a couple of surprisingly challenging boss fights, as well as some particularly difficult horde-like auto-lock rooms where you have to take on waves of increasingly tougher enemies to continue. Part of the appeal of a metroidvania is that whenever you accidentally stumble into a boss lair and get your face kicked in, you can make a swift exit, find some upgrades or secrets along other paths, and then come back buffed up and ready for a fight. But although Cookie Cutter ostensibly offers a nonlinear approach, on a couple of occasions, I discovered that the next thing I needed to level up was just past the enemies in that room, which meant I had to tackle them in order to progress the story, which can be frustratingly limiting. And yes, there are secrets for those prepared to seek them out. In true metroidvania style, there are plenty of hidden materials, weapons, and abilities for Cherry to find if you're the curious sort who always has to punch a wall before you leave just in case it's breakable. Sometimes your curiosity will be rewarded. Sometimes it will not. The glee of discovering a secret, off-the-map room never gets old, though. The best part about Cookie Cutter is how it constantly reinvents itself. Just as you start to feel a little tired of bashing things with your fists, you'll unlock a guitar that you can smash on enemy heads. And as soon as you think you've exhausted every cave and corridor, you'll unlock a new ability that will let you ground stomp, or quick dash, or grapple, which opens up previously inaccessible areas. You'll learn how to whack not only interactive objects around the map – say, giant spheres which act as locks – but also enemies to send them flying into environmental hazards, too, so the electrified floors and steam vents that made getting around for Cherry so difficult can now be used to her advantage. Sometimes Cherry can get lost in a cloud of fists and blood.That said, it can get a little tricky to see what's going on, especially as the camera occasionally zooms out when I'd prefer it was closer and vice versa, with no way to change it manually. This is particularly frustrating when you're locked in a room with dozens of enemies and can't quite see where you are, let alone where you're going, causing me to sometimes lose sight of Cherry completely in a cloud of fists and blood and dismembered body parts. Thankfully, she moves around quite well. Despite the frenzied action, Cherry is responsive, moving with purpose and fluidity as she fights, and you'll unlock enough save points that death rarely feels overly punishing (apart from a couple of cruelly distant checkpoints before boss rooms). Fast traveling is tougher but not agonisingly so, as each area of the map only has one or two Denzel Stations with teleporters that let you nope out of an area completely. Energy Cells, the collectible slots Cherry uses to equip passive buffs, are at least in plentiful supply, letting you extend your health bar, improve your "ass-kicking," or add an additional uppercut during a multi-hit combo. The main issue, really, is Cherry's self-healing ability. Her offensive skills use VOID power, which you build up by landing light attacks, but you can also use this power to self-heal simply by hitting down on the D-pad. Let there be no doubt – I am very, very grateful it exists, and suspect my experience would've been a more frustrating one without it. However, it takes so long for Cherry to pull it off – once again, especially in high-octane rooms where you're locked in and the enemies just keep on spawning. You're eventually able to upgrade it to be a bit faster, but it makes the early hours just that much more challenging. And if you do find Cookie Cutter too tough, there's nothing you can do about that, either. Although it's undoubtedly one of the easier Metroidvanias I've enjoyed, it has almost no customizable options beyond key rebinding, and no ability to tweak the difficulty – be that to make it harder or easier – to better suit your skill level. View the full article

Sonos doesn't discount its popular speakers very often, so it's a wise investment to jump on a good sale whenever you see one. Right now Sonos is offering a factory refurbished Sonos Arc SL soundbar for $509.00. That's $170 less than the normal retail price of a refurb Sonos Arc SL (a brand new Sonos Arc sells for $899). If you're looking for an easy solution to add great sound to your home, then you've probably already heard of Sonos. Sonos speakers are very easy to set up, don't take a large amount of space, and most importantly, offer distortion-free room-filling audio. We picked Sonos as our best soundbar of 2023 . Refurb Sonos Arc Soundbar for $509 The Arc is Sonos' flagship product. This is a premium soundbar and it shows. You can't get much better in terms of sound quality from a soundbar, and that's thanks to its chunkier 45" length. There's enough space in there to contain eleven precisely engineered internal speakers, including two dedicated height channels. It's Dolby Atmos ready, and there's enough power here that you can probably get away without a subwoofer. However, the Sonos Arc can be wirelessly paired up with other Sonos speakers and subs to add even more sound distribution. This modularity is one of the main reasons why Sonos is so popular. It has other nifty features, like an ambient light sensor, HDMI eARC, capacitive touch controls, WiFi, and more. The "SL" in the Sonos Arc SL means "silence", and that's because the only difference is the lack of a microphone. Because of that, SL is not Google Assistant or Alex voice compatible. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; in fact people who are worried about Alexa or Google Assistant inadvertantly listening in on conversation will probably see this as a bonus. Sonos refurb products go through pretty rigorous testing (probably more so than new). They come with all accessories, manuals, and documentation and are reshipped in "pristine" packaging. Most importantly of all, Sonos stands by their refurbs enough to grant them the same 1 year warranty as buying new. View the full article

Embracer Group has once again conducted a round of layoffs, with Duke Nukem creator 3D Realms and Ghostrunner co-developer Slipgate Ironworks being hit, per posts on social media by former employees. Employees at both studios took to X/Twitter to reveal that they had been laid off from their jobs, including Michael Markie, a lead composer at both studios, and Patrick Hewitt, a 3D artist. Scott Miller, the founder of 3D Realms, said in a post that he had "several sources" tell him that layoffs were happening, particularly at the 3D Realms headquarters in Denmark. "This one hits me hard because I worked with the new 3DR from 2014 up until when they were bought out by Embracer 2.5 yrs ago," Miller wrote. It's currently unclear how many people were affected, but Miller wrote that he heard "half the company" had been laid off. In a statement sent to IGN, an Embracer Group spokesperson said the company does "not comment on rumors or speculation" when asked about the recent layoffs at 3D Realms and Slipgate Ironworks. They added that they're in the midst of a "comprehensive restructuring program" which could include "the closing of studios and termination of projects." You can read the full statement below. Regarding your question, we do not comment on rumors or speculation. For your information, on the 13th of June, Embracer announced a comprehensive restructuring program for FY 23/24, running until end of March 2024. The program includes a series of initiatives that will focus on cost savings, capital allocation and operational and financial efficiency measures. Part of those initiatives could be the closing of studios and termination of projects. Each process will be managed locally on operative group level with focus on informing affected employees first, and on group level we will not comment on specific studios. Embracer will update the market on restructuring program progress on a regular basis, in connection with quarterly reports or otherwise as required by applicable legislation. Our next quarterly report will be published on the 15th of February. - An Embracer Group spokesperson The studio was founded in 1987 by Miller as Apogee Software before being renamed a few years later. It's best known for creating the Duke Nukem series. The studio was acquired by Embracer Group subsidiary Saber Interactive in 2021. While Slipgate Ironworks was founded in 2010, some games the studio worked on include 2020's Ghostrunner, which it co-developed with One More Level. And Graven, an early access fantasy-themed first-person game, is set to receive a full release early next year. Like 3D Realms, Embracer acquired the studio in 2021. These layoffs are only the latest for Embracer Group this year alone after a deal worth $2 billion fell through. Last month, Embracer revealed that over 900 staff were laid off as part of the restructure. Other Embracer-owned studios that faced layoffs this year include Campfire Cabal, Frontier Developments, and Free Radical Design. In the case of Free Radical Design, the creator behind Timesplitters, the studio closed its doors earlier this week. Embracer-owned studio Deep Silver revived Free Radical in 2021 after it initially went defunct in the late 2000s; the revived Free Radical Design was tasked with creating a new installment in the Timesplitters franchise. Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster. View the full article

Why are so many people finding satisfaction in simulation games about manual labor? Farming, building, power washing - there’s some deep psychological study to be done on creating the illusion of productivity, but I couldn’t care less. All I know is that if I can’t make sure this garage extension has perfect ebony paneling, I will have brought shame to the good name of my ancestors. House Flipper 2 has reawakened my dormant obsession with wallpaper and trash collection, building on the success of the first cult game with a new coat of paint and some noticeable gameplay improvements. Like in the original House Flipper, you spend your time in House Flipper 2 renovating houses, which involves everything from cleaning to demolition to picking out new furniture. There are requests from characters that you can fulfill and houses you can buy, fix up, and sell for a profit. The changes to the meat and potatoes of House Flipper are minimal – a quality-of-life addition here, and an extra mode like Sandbox there – which feels like the right balance for fans of a slice-of-life sim like this. If you’re someone who spent hours perfecting their tiling techniques or real estate profit strategies, the last thing you want is to grab a sequel and find yourself in unfamiliar territory. Just the same way you don’t want to buy the new Sims game and find out you have to solve a sudoku puzzle when you want them to woohoo and you have to do their taxes now. And thus the campaign is back, and it’s a similar story mode that serves as a breezy ride through the various tools and tasks. It’s a good refresher for the veteran foreman, and a solid education for the new kids. The missions arrive by email and vary in their brief: a new room for a baby; renovating a flood-damaged designer home; turning a dilapidated cabin with real “and they could only identify the body with dental records” vibes into a movie set. I’m not talking about Alan Wake 2 levels of plot detail here, but you can only take so much literary gymnastics on the weekend. It’s less about giving you some sort of emotional moment through the power of wardrobe placement, and more about delivering some sense of progression to the soothing repetition of clean, paint, fix, and furnish. If you want to just keep hitting “buy” and piling that stuff up in the corner to complete a room, that’s between you and your god.To work your magic there’s a radial menu of tools from cleaning to demolition, a store where you buy materials like wallpaper, furniture, and plants, all equipping you to go through the house ticking off tasks in each room. It keeps track of what you need to paint, what furniture needs to go in that room, and house many stains are left to scrub, but it’s a gentle master. It might tell you how many chairs and lamps a room needs, and what kind, but it’s not marking you on your feng shui or anything. If you want to just keep hitting “buy” and piling that stuff up in the corner to complete a room, that’s between you and your god. The same goes for painting and wallpapering – it needs you to hit a certain amount on a certain wall, but should you get reckless and freehand the paint roller over the wrong area, feel free to start whistling in a jolly fashion and backing gently away. As a little pat on the back, you earn perks as you use each skill. They sound small, such as being able to get more paint on a roller or faster cleaning, but when you’re restoring a desolate villa you’ll be really happy you earned them. If you’re trying to speed-run a level you can complete a job with just one star, and move on to the next story quest. Like the original, House Flipper 2 only penalizes you in the payout you get, so don't worry about getting in-game calls from teary old grannies who want to know why you sold her toilet and then downed tools. Don't worry about getting in-game calls from teary old grannies who want to know why you sold her toilet and then downed tools.One tool on the radial menu did remain a mystery to me through the story quests, and I've yet to need it in any of the fixer-uppers I've bought at auction. It’s a wiring tool that lets you link sockets and appliances throughout the house, but I can’t make heads or tails of it. Either it's designed for more serious builders who live in sandbox mode, or every house I've worked on and sold to families is an electrical death trap. (Or perhaps both.) And people think this type of game offers no adrenaline rushes! A minor change that pays off in House Flipper 2 is the new visual style, a big step up from the basic, “Haven’t I seen that exact same chair in 12 other indie games?” look of the past. It's one of the stranger quirks of this type of simulation game, whether you're clearing out old barns or renovating a train station, a lot of the objects start to look familiar. It comes from developers being able to buy pre-made game items from other companies, but in House Flipper 2 there's definitely an improvement with an in-game furniture store full of decor and oddities that make everything feel a little fresher. However, the biggest change that adds bang to the house price buck is the addition of House Flipper 2’s sandbox mode, a chance to start a house from scratch instead of mopping up after a bunch of reprobates and then adhering to their questionable design choices. It’s a nice addition, but after spending some time with it I found I didn’t enjoy actually having to figure out whole floor plans as much as I did messing with ones that were already there. The community is going to build some crazy stuff with it, though, so I look forward to leaving it alone and lazily admiring the Palace of Versailles as rebuilt in House Flipper 2 by a 47-year-old woman from Iowa. The community is going to build some crazy stuff with sandbox mode.I should also mention the new Assembly Mode, which brings back an element that’s been removed from the main game in House Flipper 2. In House Flipper: Origins (or whatever we’re calling the first one now) every time you had to install a shower or a sink you could look forward to a slowly animated process of screwing and unscrewing various components; now you can just whack those things into a room without even thinking about a screwdriver. I can imagine a building purist feeling cheated, but I won't miss having to deal with urinal plumbing systems unless I want to. If I ever do, that laborious process is still available – just tucked away in this mode where you have the chance to install raw plugs and get rewarded with store discounts. For me, House Flipper 2 absolutely nails the flow state that makes this type of sim game such an all-encompassing way to spend your gaming time. The dopamine hits come in little waves, you’d have to be trying very hard to fail, and the stakes are so low that worms tease them about their height. You can decide to get really pissed that some dude is trying to lowball you on your latest flipping project at auction, but that’s an issue between you and your therapist, not something House Flipper 2 does anything to inflict on you. After finishing the story quests in around ten hours or so - you can do it in less if you're not obsessed about getting mugs on shelves in meticulous formation - I’m working my way through the properties I can flip at auction, and with plenty of houses to cover with pink shag rugs and yellow zebra wallpaper, this will be on my regular gaming rotation whenever I need a break from murdering aggressive alien life or trying to have sex with bears. It’s not the most exciting game out there, but they don’t all have to be. View the full article

There's no better holiday gift than a new pair of AirPods. Amazon has dropped the price of the 2nd gen Apple AirPods Pro truly wireless noise cancelling earbuds with the universal USB Type-C connector by $50, now only $199.99. Best of all, it can be delivered to you well before Christmas, December 25 without paying any additional shipping fee. Apple AirPods Pro with USB Type-C for $199.99 With this current gen AirPods Pro, Apple has replaced the proprietary Lightning port with the more universal USB Type-C. For people who want to bring along a single charging cable for all of their mobile devices, this is a godsend. Other small upgrades include dust resistance and lossless audio support when paired with Apple’s upcoming and massively expensive Vision Pro headset. The Apple AirPods Pro is one of the best sounding "truly wireless" earbuds you'll find, especially at this price point. Aside from the more expensive and bulkier Max, the Pro is the only Airpods with active noise cancelling technology. If there are moments where noise cancellation might be a hindrance, the AirPods Pro features an "Adaptive Transparency Mode" to pick up ambient noises so you can hear your surroundings. Compared to the standard AirPods, the AirPods Pro features a more refined low distortion driver and amp as well as a more powerful Apple H2 chip. More importantly, the AirPods Pro has customized ear tips that do a much better job of sealing your ears properly. Note only do they stay in place better and are instrumental in isolating ambient noise, but the seal helps improve sound quality tremendously. That makes it easily worth the mere $25 price premium over the 3rd gen AirPods. View the full article

Discovery+ has become the latest streaming service to raise the price of its ad-free tier, with the previously $6.99 subscription rising to $8.99 per month. The price increase goes into effect today, October 3, although the ad-lite tier will remain at $4.99. Users in Canada don't have the same luck, as alongside the same $6.99 to $8.99 ad-free tier increase, the ad-lite tier is also increasing from $4.99 to $5.99. Customers will see their monthly bill increase on their next billing cycle on or after November 2, though this is the first time Discovery+ has raised its prices since launching in January 2021. In our 8/10 review of the service from November 2022, IGN said: "Discovery+ is the ultimate streaming platform for foodies, nature lovers, and home repair aficionados." Disney+ and Hulu are both increasing their prices too, with U.S. customers facing a $3 price increase for both ad-free services on October 12. Already having undergone a price a hike from $7.99 in December 2022, Disney+ will have almost doubled in price to $13.99 in less than a year. Needless to say, customers aren't happy. Apple TV+ upped its price from $4.99 to $6.99 in October 2022, while a price shake-up from Netflix saw it remove its cheapest ad-free plan altogether in the U.S. and UK. Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day. View the full article

Microsoft has revealed a sexy Gold Shadow special edition Xbox Wireless Controller, reminiscent of the Shadow range released for the Xbox One. Revealed on the Xbox Store, the controller features a base gold colour that gradually fades into metallic black and is available October 17 for $69.99 / £64.99. This is the first Shadow controller released since 2017 and the first under the new Xbox Series design, which has the improved directional pad, dedicated share button, and more. The popular line for Xbox One began with Copper Shadow before Microsoft also released Dusk Shadow (blue), Dawn Shadow (pink), Ocean Shadow (inverted blue), and Volcano Shadow (red). This is therefore the first Gold Shadow controller period. Outside of wild special and incredibly limited edition controllers, like fluffy Sonic the Hedgehog ones or one made from actual Jade, Microsoft has mostly stuck to more traditional solid colour gamepads in the Xbox Series era. There have been a few exceptions though, isuch as the cosmic Stellar Shift, dusty Stormcloud Vapor, and even an Earth Day one made partly from recycled CDs, water jugs, and other Xbox controller parts. Image Credit: Xbox Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day. View the full article

October is always an exciting month for comic book fans, as publishers roll out another round of spooky horror comics. This year is no exception, with everything from Clementine: Book Two to Marvel Zombies: Black, White & Red due out in the coming weeks. But this month is also home to some of the biggest launches of 2023, including the long-awaited G.O.D.S. from Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti and a truly epic new Transformers series from superstar creator Daniel Warren Johnson. Read on to see these and the rest of the biggest comic books hitting the stands in October 2023, and be sure to let us know what you’ll be reading in the comments below. Clementine: Book TwoCreator: Tillie Walden Publisher: Skybound Comet Release Date: October 4 The Walking Dead comics may have made its surprise end a few years ago, but there are still stories being told in this zombie-infested universe. That includes a trilogy of graphic novels focused on the Telltale heroine Clementine. This sequel follows Clem and her friends as they find a new refuge in a remote island community. But as is always the case in this world, there’s more to this safe haven than meets the eye. Clementine: Book One was a real winner, earning a nomination for both IGN’s Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2022 award and a 2023 Eisner Award. That’s a testament to the power of writer/artist Tillie Walden and the enduring appeal of Clem herself. We have little doubt this sequel will live up to the original and take its place among the best graphic novels of the year. G.O.D.S.Creators: Jonathan Hickman & Valerio Schiti Publisher: Marvel Release Date: October 4 Writer Jonathan Hickman may have stepped back from the X-Men franchise, but that hardly means he hasn’t been busy crafting new Marvel storylines. Hickman himself has said that when he returned to Marvel in 2019, he brought along two detailed story bibles outlining his plans for the future of the Marvel Universe. One was House of X/Powers of X, and the other was G.O.D.S. The time has finally come for that second story to be told. If House of X changed the way we look at mutants and their place in the world, G.O.D.S. promises to do the same for the many abstract entities that make up the Marvel cosmos. This series chronicles a massive conflict between The-Powers-That-Be and The-Natural-Order-of-Things, and it all centers around an original cast of characters. Hickman and artist Valerio Schiti are adding something brand new to the Marvel tapestry, and we couldn’t be more excited to see what’s in store. TransformersCreator: Daniel Warren Johnson Publisher: Image/Skybound Release Date: October 4 2023 has been a good year for Transformers and G.I. Joe fans. Not only did Rise of the Beasts tee up a crossover movie featuring both the Transformers and G.I. Joe franchises, Robert Kirkman’s new series Void Rivals turned out to be a stealth launching pad for a new Transformers/G.I. Joe shared universe. That setup pays off in a brand new, monthly Transformers comic from writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson. Frankly, Johnson’s name alone is reason to be psyched for this new series. As one of the best and most stylish artists in the industry today, Johnson promises to bring a whole new level of visual flourish to this iconic property. And if the rumors are to be believed, the first issue features a twist as big as the reveal in Void Rivals #1. If you’ve always wanted to dive into reading the Transformers comics, there may never be a better time than right now. Superior Spider-Man ReturnsCreators: Dan Slott & Various Artists Publisher: Marvel Release Date: October 11 Dan Slott is one of the most prolific Spider-Man writers ever. But for many, Slott’s long Spider-Man saga reached its pinnacle in 2013’s The Superior Spider-Man, a series that saw Doctor Octopus’ mind take over Peter Parker’s body and attempt to prove himself as the better hero. The Superior Spidey’s original story may have ended, but now Marvel is revisiting that controversial status quo on its tenth anniversary. There are still plenty of questions surrounding the how and why of the Superior Spider-Man’s return, but we’re excited to see Otto back in action regardless. This one-shot special lays the groundwork for a new monthly series and welcomes back many of the artists who helped bring the original series to life. Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. KongCreators: Brian Buccellato & Christian Duce Publisher: DC Release Date: October 17 We’re suckers for a good crossover comic, and crossovers don’t get much bigger than this. Literally. Who else but the Justice League could hope to intervene in a titanic showdown between Godzilla and King Kong? Jim Lee’s cover art even suggests we’ll get to see Batman suit up in a gigantic armored mech and punch these massive beasts right in the face. This series has a strong hook, and we have faith in writer Brian Buccellato and artist Christian Duce to make the most of it. Superman #850Creators: Joshua Williamson & Various Artists Publisher: DC Release Date: October 17 Much like the recent Batman #900, DC is reaching a key milestone with the monthly Superman series. Superman #7 happens to be the 850th issue overall of this long, long-running title, so expect another oversized celebration with multiple artists pitching in. Of course, that’s not to say writer Joshua Williamson won’t be continuing his ongoing storyline involving the new villain known as The Chained. In this issue, Superman continues to discover just how many skeletons the incarcerated Lex Luthor has in his closet. Consider the anniversary celebration a good excuse to hop aboard what is easily one of DC’s best ongoing comics right now. Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War - Scorched EarthCreators: Chip Zdarsky, Tini Howard, Mike Hawthorne & Adriano Di Benedetto Publisher: DC Release Date: October 31 One of the selling points of DC’s The Gotham War crossover is that it’s briskly paced. The all-out conflict between Batman and Catwoman started in September, and it’s wrapping up on the final day of October. This finale issue will reveal who ultimately triumphs in this battle between the former lovers, and whether there’s still going to be a Bat-family when the dust settles. We’re expecting this crossover to have a major and lasting impact on both the monthly Batman and Catwoman comics going forward. Batman is already at a low ebb thanks to his recent trials, and losing some of his closest friends and allies is only going to push him closer to the edge. 2024 isn’t shaping up to be an easy year for either character. Other Books to WatchAbbott: 1979We’ve been big fans of Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivelä’s supernatural noir series Abbott since its original debut. Abbott 1979 kicks off the final act in the trilogy, as the beleaguered Elena Abbott confronts a new decade and a new threat in the struggling city of Detroit. (Oct. 4) The Amazing Spider-ManThe Amazing Spider-Man has taken an even darker turn of late, with Peter Parker becoming infected with the disembodied sins of Norman Osborn and making Kraven the Hunter his prey. Issue #35 and #36 will explore the ramifications of that transformation, with #35 in particular said to lay the foundation for the next year’s worth of Amazing Spider-Man stories. (Oct. 11 & 25) Beneath the Trees Where Nobody SeesWriter/artist Patric Horvath has crafted one of the most intriguing horror comics to come along in a while. This series is set in a seemingly idyllic little town full of anthropomorphic animals, where a talking bear carries out a series of brutal, ritualistic murders. A perfect Halloween read, in other words. (Oct. 18) Captain MarvelWith Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers returning to the big screen soon, it should come as no surprise that Captain Marvel is getting a new monthly comic book. This new volume boasts an updated costume for Carol and a promising creative team in writer Alyssa Wong and artist Jan Bazaldua. (Oct. 25) Giant Robot Hellboy A new Hellboy comic written by Mike Mignola and drawn by Duncan Fegredo is always a welcome treat, but this new series has an extra trick up its sleeve. Giant Robot Hellboy is inspired by some of Mignola’s sketches from Mike Mignola: The Quarantine Sketchbook, meaning we’ll get to see our hero strap into a giant mech and punch some much bigger monsters for a change. (Oct. 25) Marvel Zombies: Black, White & BloodWith Halloween right around the corner, it only makes sense to give the Marvel Zombies the Black, White & Blood treatment. This anthology series features a variety of new tales featuring these undead ex-heroes, including a new story by none other than Garth Ennis. (Oct. 25) Universal Monsters: DraculaSkybound continues to focus on quality over quantity when it comes to licensed comics. This series aims to reinvent the classic tale of Dracula, and with a creative team like James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds on board, this book stands a real chance of rising above the crowded sea of vampire comics. (Oct. 25) Return of Superman 30th Anniversary SpecialIt’s been 30 years since DC revived Clark Kent following his fateful duel with Doomsday, and this one-shot special aims to mark the occasion. The real appeal here is that DC has reunited many of the original creators from the Return of Superman storyline, promising a hefty blast of nostalgia and a story that may just have ramifications for the present-day Superman line. (Oct. 31) The Biggest Comics of Recent MonthsIf you're a little behind on your new comics, here's a refresher on the biggest releases of the past several months: The Biggest Comics of July 2023The Biggest Comics of August 2023The Biggest Comics of September 2023Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter. View the full article

It's October 3rd, which means social media is abuzz with all things Mean Girls. Paramount Pictures is celebrating by making the 2004 teen comedy free to watch on TikTok (across 23 parts). It's the one day of the year you shouldn't have to question what day it is because social media users are here to remind you: it's Mean Girls Day. In celebration of the occasion, Paramount launched an official account for Mean Girls on TikTok, then proceeded to share the entire 1 hour and 37-minute movie, split into 23 posts. The first post, which is less than three minutes long, is captioned: "Get in, loser. We're watching the full #MeanGirls movie. Part 1." The video accompanying the text shares the opening scenes of Mean Girls, with the rest of the movie playing out in 22 additional posts - including the iconic October 3rd exchange in Part 7. Paramount is obviously out to prove that it's not like a regular studio; it's a cool studio, as the official Paramount TikTok account has also lined up a live watch party for Mean Girls, kicking off on the page on Tuesday (October 3rd) at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT. If you prefer to watch Mean Girls in a more traditional way, other than 23 parts on TikTok, the movie is on Paramount+ and YouTube. It is also available to purchase via digital retailers like Prime Video, and you can pick it up on DVD and Blu-ray. Fans celebrate Mean Girls Day on October 3rd every year in rememberance of the classic scene from the movie where teen heartthrob Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) turns to high school new girl Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) during class and asks her what day it is, to which she replies: "It's October 3rd." As it turns out, it wasn't just a memorable moment for Cady. The brief exchange between the two characters seemed to stick in the minds of those watching, with people acknowledging the distinctive date by sharing annual GIFs, memes, videos, and quotes from the aforementioned scene online on the third day of October. Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter. View the full article

Netflix is reportedly planning to raise its prices once the ongoing actors’ strike is over. According to the Wall Street Journal, the online streamer is planning to hike the price of its ad-free plans a few months after the Hollywood actors’ strike comes to an end. Although it’s unclear how much prices will increase, Netflix has already seen several recent price hikes, as well as removing its cheapest ad-free plan in the U.S. and U.K. as well as in Canada. It’s also unclear exactly when the new prices will come into effect, as well as whether other online streaming services will follow suit. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has been on strike since July 14, and it remains unclear when it will end. Actors resumed negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Monday, and will continue tomorrow. One media work stoppage, though, has come to an end, with the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) having reached an agreement after months of strike action last week. Meanwhile, Netflix has reached the end of an era – posting the last ever physical DVDs to customers last week. Since the news broke of the upcoming price hikes, Netflix’s shares have gone up almost 3%. This seems to be a common trend – when Netflix began cracking down on password sharing, the company saw a huge influx of subscribers with nearly 100,000 per day on May 26 and May 27. In fact, Netflix recently confirmed that it saw 5.9 million new subscribers as a direct result of its new password sharing crackdown. Want to read more about Netflix? Check out all the details of Netflix’s current plans as well as the best horror movies you can find on Netflix right now. Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter. View the full article