ENTERTAINMENT

I’m not saying today’s deals are going to ruin your budget, but I wouldn’t open your banking app until tomorrow. Stellar Crown is back in stock (finally), and Amazon also has the Terapagos ex Ultra-Premium Collection if you’re feeling like a true Tera master. Meanwhile, Lenovo quietly dropped Xbox Wireless Controllers to $39.99, and I’m just over here trying to convince myself I don’t need one in every color.

Stellar Crown Boxes and $25 off Xbox Series X/S Controllers

On top of that, there’s a new Humble Bundle that looks like someone dumped every neon-drenched game into one lineup, and somehow Fallout fans are getting a $200 Pip-Boy replica that actually works as a clock. It’s a chaotic mix of gaming greatness, and I’m into it.

Pokémon TCG: Terapagos ex Ultra-Premium Collection

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet Stellar Crown Elite Trainer Box

Neon Lights Game Bundle

Microsoft Xbox Wireless Controller – Various Colors

Fallout – Pip-Boy Die-Cast – Replica

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet Booster Display Box

Monster Energy Zero Ultra, Sugar Free Energy Drink, 16 Ounce (Pack of 15)

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet – Surging Sparks Booster Bundle

INIU 140W Power Bank

Fallout – Lucys Vault 33 – Backpack

INIU Power Bank, 20000mAh 65W

Humble Heroines Game Bundle

INIU Power Bank 100W

INIU Portable Charger, Slim 45W

ASUS ROG Cetra True Wireless Gaming Headphones

ASUS ROG Harpe Gaming Wireless Mouse

Vampire Hunter D Book Bundle

ASUS ROG Spatha X Wireless Gaming Mouse

Street Fighter Trading Cards

ASUS ROG Falchion NX 65% Wireless RGB Gaming Mechanical Keyboard

ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX TKL Wireless Deluxe

MainGear North RTX 5070

Pokemon TCG: Azure Legends Tin – 5 Packs

Humble Bundle: Earth Defense Force Collection

SanDisk 256GB microSD Express microSD Card

Pokémon TCG: Shining Fates Collection Pikachu V Box

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim – Dragonborn Helmet – Replica

Pokémon TCG: Scarlet and Violet Shrouded Fable Elite Trainer Box

Last summer, Palworld developer Pocketpair signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to produce merchandise, music, and other products around Palworld. Though the deal was simply a business agreement to expand the Palworld universe outside of games, a number of fans mistook it for a sign that an acquisition was on the horizon. Especially after rumors earlier in the year that Pocketpair was in talks with Microsoft for that very reason.

All that acquisition talk wasn’t true at the time, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe later confirmed, but it sure did get conversation started. Since then, a number of fans have speculated on a potential Pocketpair acquisition, especially in the wake of Microsoft seemingly acquiring half the AA industry in just a few years and allegedly courting Japanese developers, and Sony making several acquisitions of its own in response.

So will Pocketpair ever get acquired? Ultimately, it’s up to Mizobe, but when I asked communications director and publishing manager John ‘Bucky’ Buckley about it at the Game Developers Conference last month, he found the whole prospect of Pocketpair’s acquisition to be very, very unlikely.

“Our CEO would never allow it,” he said. “He’d never allow it. He’d never allow it. He would never, never allow it. He likes doing his own thing and he likes being his own boss. He doesn’t like people telling him what to do.”

That’s pretty emphatic. Buckley continued:

“So I would be shocked. Maybe when he’s old, and he might just sell it off for money. And that would be sad, but in my lifetime, I probably won’t see it. No, it’ll be interesting to see where the two paths go. We, Pocketpair, are obviously only involved in where the game path is going. Palworld as an IP, we are involved, but it’s very much in the hands of Aniplex and Sony Music who are steering that ship right now. We are just offering our advice and thoughts as they take that.”

Buckley and I also spoke about the possibility of Palworld coming to the Nintendo Switch 2, the studio’s reaction to the game being called “Pokemon with guns”, and much more in our interview. You can read the full discussion right here.

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.

The former boss of Sony Interactive Entertainment America has commented on the backlash to Nintendo’s Switch 2 pricing, saying the desire for exclusive Nintendo games “mitigates the sticker shock.”

Last week, Nintendo confirmed the Switch 2 price at $449.99, which is around $50 more than some analysts had predicted, and, more controversially, the $10 jump to $79.99 for some Switch 2 games, including Mario Kart World.

It’s worth pointing out that Nintendo is bundling Mario Kart World with a Nintendo Switch 2 for $499.99, cutting the cost of the game by a huge $30 in the process. However, Nintendo has indicated this bundle is a limited-time offer, and it remains to be seen if the bundle holds at $500, given the uncertainty surrounding the tariff situation and Nintendo’s pre-order delay in the U.S.

But Mario Kart World isn’t the only Nintendo Switch 2 game to cost $80 — some of the Switch 2 Edition games announced during the Nintendo Direct also cost $79.99, such as Kirby and The Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star Crossed World, Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition.

IGN has plenty of reaction to Nintendo’s jump to $80 for the Switch 2 generation, including from analysts who have helped us understand why this has happened. Now, Shawn Layden, who used to run PlayStation in the U.S., has offered his thoughts, pointing to the fear of missing out on Nintendo exclusives as justifying price hikes.

Speaking on the PlayerDriven YouTube channel and podcast, Layden highlighted the contrasting strategies of Sony and Microsoft, and Nintendo, where Sony and Microsoft are downplaying exclusive games as they move to PC and rival consoles, but Nintendo is keeping its games on its own consoles.

“But right here you see, ‘wow, that’s kind of a hefty price hike from Switch 1 to Switch 2 and, wow, 80 bucks for a game?’ ” Layden said.

“But if it’s the only place where you can play Mario, then you get your wallet out and you buy into it… and Donkey Kong and Zelda. That first-party exclusivity kind of mitigates the sticker shock, if you will, of these price hikes, because you want that content so bad.”

Nintendo Switch 2 pricing in the U.S.:

• Nintendo Switch 2 by itself: $449.99
• Nintendo Switch 2 with Mario Kart World bundled in: $499.99
• Mario Kart World by itself: $79.99
• Donkey Kong Bananza: $69.99
• Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller: $79.99
• Nintendo Switch 2 Camera: $49.99
• Joy-Con 2 Controller pair: $89.99
• Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip: $34.99
• Joy-Con 2 Strap: $12.99
• Joy-Con 2 Wheel pair: $19.99
• Nintendo Switch 2 Dock Set: $109.99
• Nintendo Switch 2 Carrying Case and Screen Protector: $34.99
• Nintendo Switch 2 All-In-One Carrying Case: $79.99
• Nintendo Switch 2 AC Adapter: $29.99

Layden also talked about the price of video games generally, which, he insisted, have actually gone down over the years when you take into account inflation. Layden said console manufacturers should have hiked the price of games by $5 with each new console generation so that they would cost around $90 now.

“In 2025 dollars, $59.99 in 1999 is equivalent to $100. Your purchasing power compared to your cost of living, it’s much smaller now than it was before, but still companies have been reluctant to push that price up.

“I was in it at the time — probably every generation they should have baked in a $5 software price hike, and make that the typical, ‘well every generation it’s another five bucks.’ And you would have been up to $90 already by now.”

This week, IGN published its interview with Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Product and Player Experience, Bill Trinen, conducted at a recent Switch 2 preview event in New York, but before Nintendo announced the delay to pre-orders due to Trump’s tariffs.

In the interview, Trinen insisted Mario Kart World justifies its $80 price tag, and pointed to the upcoming dedicated Mario Kart World Nintendo Direct where fans will learn more about the game and what it has to offer.

“I would say it’s less about the strategy of pricing Mario Kart World, it’s more just whenever we look at a given game, we just look at what is the experience, and what’s the content, and what’s the value?” Trinen said.

“Mario Kart World, I think especially as you see from the Nintendo Direct, not to give you any hints or anything, but I did read your article this morning and I think you had mentioned that you didn’t find a lot to discover when roaming around. So I would say tune into our Mario Kart Direct to see what, maybe you’ll be able to find out about that.

“But honestly, this is a game that is so big and so vast and you will find so many little things in it to discover. And there’s still some other secrets remaining that I think as people end up buying and playing the game, they’re going to find this to be probably the richest Mario Kart experience they’ve ever had.”

We also asked Trinen about the $80 cost of some of the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games. While there is a $10 upgrade path for existing owners of these games on the Switch, and both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ($69.99) and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition ($79.99) are available as part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, Nintendo is not offering any sort of discount to newcomers on Switch 2.

Trinen’s answer here echoed his Mario Kart World response, pointing to the value Nintendo sees in its games.

“Well, again, what I would say is that we just look at each individual game and we look at the content and the value of that game, and then we say, ‘what is the right price for the value of this entertainment?’ ” he said.

“What I would probably counter to some of that is that really what you’re looking at is for the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, that’s the physical price for somebody that has not bought the base game. For somebody who has bought Tears of the Kingdom or Breath of the Wild, the upgrade packs for those are $9.99. And if you happen to be a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack member, both of the Zelda upgrade packs are inclusive within that membership. So there’s no additional charge for those.

“But I think overall, our general approach is really just focus on what’s the content, what’s the value, and what’s an appropriate price based on that.”

As for the current $450 price tag of the Switch 2 itself, Trinen again pointed to value, but also highlighted the increasing costs associated with releasing a video game console.

“Obviously the cost of everything goes up over time, and I personally would love if the cost of things didn’t go up over time,” he told IGN.

“But I think any time you’re building a new system that’s got new features and new tech, there’s costs associated with that. So again, we look at what is the experience on Nintendo Switch? What’s the experience on Nintendo Switch 2? What are the new features that it offers? And certainly there’s the cost of goods and things that factor into that, but we try to find the right appropriate price for a product based on that.”

As IGN has reported, some Nintendo fans have expressed concern that they may be priced out of the next-generation if the company goes even higher than the already controversial prices for the Switch 2 and its games such as Mario Kart World due to the tariff situation.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

After years of diminishing returns, Black Mirror returns to form in season 7 with one of its best outings yet. The anthology series demonstrates its range and flexibility by getting back to its most dystopian roots, delivering an extremely fun sequel to a fan favorite episode, and tapping Paul Giamatti for a beautifully melancholy story about dealing with painful memories. Some of the episodes are a bit predictable or too focused on recapturing Black Mirror’s past glories, but for once, there isn’t a single dud in the mix.

Series creator and writer Charlie Brooker said people can get enough dystopia just looking out their windows these days, so the season 7 leans towards lighter and more optimistic stories. But the premiere, “Common People,” is as dark and bleak as anything he’s penned since season 1. Rashida Jones and Chris O’Dowd are immediately charming as Amanda and Mike, a working-class couple trying to start a family, but there are few things scarier than seemingly normal, happy people in an episode of Black Mirror. When a health crisis lands Amanda in the hospital, an experimental treatment seems like a miracle – but puts her very mind at the mercy of a greedy corporation.

The episode is a perfect crystallization of Black Mirror’s original mission to explore the dark intersection of technology and human nature. It’s a thorough rebuke of the United States’ cruel healthcare system, where people with chronic illness and lower incomes are made to suffer pointlessly while the wealthy enjoy the best treatment for both necessary and elective care. Beyond condemning corporate greed, “Common People” is also a scathing rebuke of people who find desperation entertaining, imagining an all too realistic livestream that’s a fusion of GoFundMe and MrBeast where people debase themselves for small donations. It’s a deeply tragic episode that evokes a feeling of powerlessness as potent as season 1’s “Fifteen Million Merits.”

Equally tearjerking is “Eulogy,” the rare Black Mirror episode where the novel technology is purely used for good. Here the disc used to play video games in “USS Callister” and “Striking Vipers” allows Phillip (Giamatti) to share his memories of his late ex, so they can be used in her funeral service. The journey through old pictures is gorgeously directed by Chris Barrett and Luke Taylor, with images coming into focus or even blossoming into color as Phillip reconnects to moments he thought he would rather forget and reconciles with his own role in the breakup. This is a classic Giamatti role – an isolated crank who might just have a good heart – and he unsurprisingly nails every aspect of the emotional journey.

“Bete Noire” is a quirkier tale, following confectionary developer Maria (Siena Kelly) as her world starts to unravel when Verity (Rosy McEwen), a former classmate, appears at the taste test for Maria’s latest creation. The discordant tone is set early by the ominous music that marks each passing day in Maria’s life: It feels totally at odds with the beginning of the story, where the biggest problem at the confectionary seems to be a staffer who’s annoyed that someone else is drinking her almond milk. McEwen does a great job alternating between the meek, helpful Verity all of Maria’s colleagues see to a gleeful, gaslighting villain. The plot is a bit too obvious, given frequently the high-tech way Verity is messing with Maria has been used in other, recent science fiction, but the episode still delivers a solid mix of psychodrama and comedy.

The nostalgic, queer love story of “Hotel Reverie” aims for the magic of season 3’s “San Junipero” – but in premise and execution, it’s an example of how remakes rarely live up to the original. This time, the sparks fly between Brandy Friday (Issa Rae) – an A-lister who steps into the lead role in a new version of a beloved film – and the AI recreation of the original’s star, Dorothy (Emma Corin). Corin and Rae have great chemistry, and Awkwafina adds plenty of comedy by leading the film crew trying to keep the slapdash production going as things quickly go off the rails. But “Hotel Reverie” ultimately feels more like a Star Trek holodeck episode than the second coming of Black Mirror’s romantic masterpiece.

Black Mirror often uses Easter eggs to connect its episodes into a shared universe, but season 7 draws the most direct connections. “Plaything” is effectively a dual-timeline spinoff of the interactive film “Bandersnatch,” following video game journalist Cameron Walker (played by Lewis Gribben in 1994 and Peter Capaldi in the present of 2034), whose life was transformed by the latest project from star developer Colin Ritman (Will Poulter), who served as the enigmatic mentor for the protagonist of Bandersnatch. Director David Slade seems to be emulating The Usual Suspects and Se7en in terms of structure and tone, with the story told in flashbacks presented by Cameron in an interrogation room. Unfortunately, the twist is predictable and the overblown good cop/bad cop dynamic doesn’t give Capaldi enough to work with.

Fortunately, Black Mirror shines in its first true sequel, “USS Callister: Into Infinity.” The crew of digitally cloned Infinity coworkers may have escaped from being tortured on Robert Daly’s (Jesse Plemons) private server, but now they’re struggling to survive and gather resources as CEO James Walton (Jimmi Simpson) aggressively monetizes the MMO they fled to. Like the original, this is a love letter to Star Trek, combining aspects of The Search for Spock and The Final Frontier with the goofy bumbling of Lower Decks. It evokes the franchise in its music, visuals, and structure – and captures the signature Trek charm of unlikely comrades taking big risks together.

“Into Infinity” also delves into some of the same philosophical questions as Severance, with technology creating multiple versions of the same person. Cristin Milioti does excellent work transitioning between the Nanette Cole who is still an insecure programmer and the one who’s become a hardened starship captain. But the real star is Simpson, who is hilarious both as Walton’s callous real world self and his pathetic in-game clone.

Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé has pointed to the story of Wii pack-in game Wii Sports in thinly-veiled tweets addressing the controversy surrounding Nintendo’s decision to charge for Switch 2 tutorial game Welcome Tour.

Amid the furore around the $449.99 price of the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World’s $79.99 price tag, there was also shock at Nintendo’s decision to charge for interactive instruction manual, Welcome Tour.

Nintendo revealed Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour during its Nintendo Direct last week. It’s a game set to launch alongside the Switch 2 in June that offers a guided tour of the console itself in video game form.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is described as a “virtual exhibition” of the new hardware. Per Nintendo: “through tech demos, minigames and other interactions, players will get to know the new system inside and out in ways they may never have known about otherwise.”

The Nintendo Direct showed footage of a small player avatar exploring a super-sized Switch 2, reading about the different features and facts about the console. It also includes mini-games such as Speed Golf, Dodge the Spiked Balls, and a Maracas Physics Demo.

IGN has confirmed that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour costs $9.99 and is a digital-only product. That’s significantly cheaper than other Switch 2 games, but IGN has already reported to the complaints from some Nintendo fans that Welcome Tour costs money at all, with many saying it should be a Switch 2 pack-in, as DualSense tech demo game Astro’s Playroom was for PlayStation 5.

Now, Fils-Aimé has tweeted three clips from IGN’s two-year-old interview with the former Nintendo executive in which he discussed the internal battle he had with legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto to get Wii Sports as a free pack-in for the hugely successful Wii console.

In the first clip, Fils-Aimé says “it is an understatement to say that Mr. Miyamoto pushed back” on the call to make Wii Sports a Wii console pack-in. As we know, this is a battle Fils-Aimé won to a degree, with Wii Sports bundled with the Wii everywhere except Japan.

The story of Wii Sports pack in …https://t.co/LhflSFWaL3

— Reggie Fils-Aimé (@Reggie) April 9, 2025

The second interview clip Fils-Aimé tweeted pointed to a similar battle to bundle Wii Play with the Wii Remote. In the clip from our interview, Fils-Aimé revealed he “pissed off” Miyamoto once again with the suggestion. “He was not happy about that either.”

And finally, tweeting “and the results,” Fils-Aimé clipped out the section from our interview in which he reveals that all this was, ultimately, the right call.

“In the Americas and in Europe Wii Sports was packed in with the Wii proposition. It was not in Japan, which created a bit of a test market. It was obvious that in the markets where Wii Sports was packed in that we became much more of a phenomenon. Wii Sports itself became much more of a phenomenon.

“We did pack the Remote with Wii Play. And it became the fifth best-selling piece of software in the history of the Wii.”

And the results.https://t.co/xrFTDeJMQf

— Reggie Fils-Aimé (@Reggie) April 9, 2025

It’s clear to see what Fils-Aimé is doing here. Although he’s not directly commenting on Nintendo’s Switch 2 strategy, he is making the point that free pack-ins have worked in the past for Nintendo consoles,so it stands to reason that it would do so again for Switch 2.

Fans know what’s up, too. “Hahaha, guys I think Reggie is watching our comments about the Switch 2,” said one X / Twitter user. “We know you would have packed in Welcome Tour,” said another.

This week, IGN published its interview with Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Product and Player Experience, Bill Trinen, conducted at a recent Switch 2 preview event in New York, but before Nintendo announced the delay to pre-orders due to Trump’s tariffs.

Trinen said there’s more to Welcome Tour than it appears based on the showing during the Nintendo Direct and even during recent hands-on opportunities the media had access to. Based on what’s actually in the game, Nintendo decided $9.99 “is not an exorbitant price,” he continued.