• Daily Deals: The Cheapest Prebuilt Quick-Ship RTX 30 Series Gaming PCs You Can Buy on Amazon and Newegg

    Posted on September 24, 2021 by Eric Song

    Here are a list of the least expensive pre-built RTX 30 series gaming PCs available at Amazon and Newegg. The benefit of these PCs is that they are already prebuilt, which means that they'll ship very quickly. Newegg's PCs, for example, should arrive by the end of September. The RTX 3060 Ti (comparable to RTX 2080 SUPER) is powerful enough to handle any game at up to 1440p resolution. The RTX 3070 is for those who want a little more oomph, for example, want to drive up to 165Hz refresh rates at 1440p. The RTX 3080 is highly recommend for those who game on 4K monitors. Check out these deals and more below.

    RTX 30 Series Gaming PCs on Amazon

    Amazon has RTX 3060 Ti gaming PCs starting at $1599, RTX 3070 PCs starting at $1999, and RTX 3080 PCs starting at $2499. All the configs listed ship either from Amazon or are drop shipped from the manufacturer and you'll receive them by October.

    RTX 30 Series Gaming PCs at Newegg

    Newegg has RTX 3060 Ti gaming PCs starting at $1349, RTX 3070 PCs starting at $1699, and RTX 3080 PCs starting at $2199. All configs listed ship directly from Newegg and you'll receive many of them by the end of September.

    HP OMEN 30L RTX 3080 Gaming PC

    This is a great price for a pretty decked out gaming PC. It's equipped with a fully 4K-capable RTX 3080 video card (up to 30% more powerful than the RTX 2080 SUPER) and an unlocked 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor.

    Buy an Oculus Quest 2, Get a 2nd for $100 Off

    The Oculus Quest 2 had always been an attractive purchase from a VR standpoint. At an MSRP of $299.99, it's far cheaper than the alternatives from HP, HTC, and Valve. Oculus also recently doubled the amount of storage on the base model (from 64GB to 128GB). Well if that wasn't enough, Oculus is throwing in yet another fantastic discount. From now until September 27, if you buy two Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets, you get $100 off. Split the deal with a friend! That's essentially paying $249.99 per headset.

    New PS5 Pulse Midnight Available Again

    The PS5 Pulse 3D headset is going to be re-released in an all-black color scheme on October 29. It has been so popular that it has remained out of stock on Amazon for a few weeks. Today, it's finally back in stock and available for preorder. This is identical to the original PS5 Pulse 3D headset aside from the midnight trappings.

    Tempo Studio Home Workout Coaching Station

    Tempo offers personalized workout guidance right at home. Packages start at $2495 and includes an all-in-one station that features a massive 42" HD touchscreen display, Tempo 3D sensor, AI Personal Coaching Engine, and over $1000 in accessories.

    Dell S2721DGF 27" 1440p GSYNC Gaming Monitor

    This is one of the best gaming monitors you can buy for under $500. The S2721DGF is a 27" monitor with an excellent IPS panel (better than the VA panel found on the popular S3220DGF model). It features wide viewing angles and excellent color rendition including 98% DCI-P3 color coverage. At the same time, it boasts a super fast 1ms response time and up to 165Hz refresh rate through the DisplayPort. It's also FreeSync Premium Pro and G-SYNC compatible.

    50% Off 6 Months of Ad-Free HBO Max

    HBO Max is taking 50% off your first 6 months of its ad-free streaming service. That drops the price to only $7.49/mo. HBO Max hosts some of the biggest recent releases like Malignant, Suicide Squad 2, Mortal Kombat, Godzilla vs Kong, Zack Snyder's Justice League, Tenet, and more. You'll look forward to watching Dune on October 22 and Matrix 4 on December 22 with your HBO Max subscription as well. You also have access to some great TV shows like Lovecraft Country, Friends, Rick & Morty, and South Park. This is one of the best streaming services around and at this price it's a steal.

    Back in Stock (Including 1TB Model): WD Black SN850 M.2 SSD with Heatsink

    The Western Digital official storefront has all models of the SN850 SSD with heatsink in stock right now, and that includes the extremely hard to find 1TB model. This is currently the most popular (and probably the best) SSD to get for your PS5 storage upgrade. It's blazing fast drive with transfer speeds rated at up to 7,000 MB/s and a PCIe Gen4 interface and it comes preinstalled with a heatsink. It's also confirmed by Western Digital themselves to be compatible with the PS5.

    Video Game Deals

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    Bayonetta 3 Director Explains the Game’s New Demonic Kaiju Ability

    Posted on September 24, 2021 by Jared Moore

    Following the gameplay reveal of Bayonetta 3 at the latest Nintendo Direct, director Yusuke Miyata has delved a little further into one of the trailer's newly featured mechanics, called Demon Slave.

    The new ability, which can be seen in the video below at around the two-and-a-half-minute mark, allows players to take control of demons and enter into kaiju-like battles that look likely to play a significant role in the game's combat.

    "Unlike the Climax Summons of previous games that automatically defeated enemies and returned to Inferno, this mechanic lets players control demons during gameplay and unleash a host of intuitive actions," says Miyata.

    "Each demon’s abilities vary and the kinds of abilities that are advantageous in a certain situation can change at any time. Just how many are there? What else can you do? Well, there’s a lot more I’d like to tell you, but I have to stop here for now. However, there’s a lot of info hidden in the trailer that I didn’t go into here, so please consider watching it again until the next announcement."

    During the trailer, the new ability allows Bayonetta to control a variety of different monsters that she uses to take down opposing kaiju. Bayonetta can be seen using the Demon Slave mechanic across a number of different areas in the game, including a tensely fought battle with a formidable spider. Trigger warning, this takes place around the three-minute mark of the clip above.

    Across the rest of the trailer, fans were provided a glimpse of Bayonetta 3's upcoming combat areas, which included an empty subway train and a colossal fight scene set across collapsing skyscrapers. The trailer's final shot also gave fans a brief look at a character that some believe to be Vergil from Devil May Cry. As speculation mounts around the fleeting cameo, it's certainly hard to ignore the character's resemblance to DMCs devil-human hybrid.

    Bayonetta 3 is slated for release on Nintendo Switch in 2022. For more on last night's Nintendo Direct, make sure to check out our full run-through of everything announced at the event.

    Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

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    The Internet (Including Chris Pratt) Reacts to Chris Pratt Being Cast as Mario

    Posted on September 24, 2021 by Adele Ankers

    Chris Pratt is voicing Mario in the new Super Mario Bros. animated film and the internet has a lot of opinions about it. Even Chris Pratt himself has weighed in.

    Soon after it was announced that Pratt had been cast as Mario, it became apparent that the red-clad, mustachioed plumber had his work cut out for him as the internet became flooded with reactions, memes, and jokes over the seemingly controversial casting choice. Some supported the decision whilst others sighed a subdued "mamma mia" in response to the news.

    A few people reflected on Pratt's previous acting roles and struggled to envision how the actor was going to embody the famous fictional plumber to deliver the character's signature Italian accent. Pratt, however, assured fans on Instagram that he's "working hard" at getting Mario's voice right because the role is a "dream come true" for him. However, he makes clear that "You’ll have to wait to hear the voice."

    During the casting announcement, you could say that the internet was doing what the internet does best, as Twitter users turned out various memes, jokes, and videos that would have people Luigi-hee-hee'ing for days:

    Of course, the responses were not solely limited to Pratt being cast as Mario:

    A lot of people were astounded by the fact that Charles Martinet, aka the person who has voiced Mario and several other related video game characters since the 90s, was featured in the star-studded lineup but had been assigned to a series of surprise cameos in the movie rather than the beloved characters he is famously associated with.

    Outside of Pratt and Martinet, the rest of the film's voice cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. Additionally, Kevin Michael Richardson will voice Kamek, Fred Armisen will voice Cranky Kong, and Sebastian Maniscalco will voice Foreman Spike.

    Casting director Kevin T. Porter seemingly responded to the reactions coming out of the trending hashtags, as he shared a tweet in the aftermath of the announcement going viral. "Hey it's me, the casting director of the new Mario movie," he wrote. "I'm really proud of the choices we made with the whole team and we're beyond excited to tell this story!"

    For a recap of everything that was announced at Nintendo Direct on Thursday, check out our complete rundown here. For more about Illumination's Super Mario Bros. movie read about how the upcoming film, due out December 2022, will incorporate Maniscalco's Foreman Spike, a character from the NES and arcade game Wrecking Crew.

    Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

    (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

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    Brilliant Mod Adds Photo Mode to Unreal Engine Games That Don’t Have It

    Posted on September 24, 2021 by Jared Moore

    Photo mode is a feature that has become common across modern open-world and narrative-driven games. The ability to snap protagonists mid-action and capture memories from your gameplay to treasure and share on social media has never been easier. However, a brilliant mod from the screenshotting community has pushed the boundaries of photo mode one step further as it opens up the option on hundreds of Unreal Engine 4 games.

    As reported by PC Gamer, the Universal Unreal Unlocker (UUU) mod even has a few tricks up its sleeve to outmatch most game's in-house photo modes. As created by software developer and game modder Frans Bouma (aka Otis_Inf), the UUU allows players to jump out of the action into a free camera perspective and explore over 300 different Unreal 4 games. That includes a number of titles that don't usually come with one, such as The Ascent, Crash Bandicoot 4 and The Outer Worlds.

    By using UUU, players are able to capture screenshots in a number of intuitive ways. As well as containing some relatively common features like the ability to disable HUDs and move freely throughout in-game environments, the mod also comes with a number of more specific photo mode elements, including but not limited to a frame skip function and the freedom to enter photo mode during cutscenes, which are often kept off-limits.

    Players using the mod can also gain access to a feature called hotsampling, which essentially helps you to take more detailed photos without completely frying your GPU. UUU community moderator Jim2point0 spoke further to PC Gamer about hotsampling. "The idea is that you compose a screenshot at a size you can see on your monitor in windowed mode. Say 1920×1080," says the moderator.

    "Then [you] use software to resize the window to 7680×4320 (8K or whatever you want), let the game resize, grab a quick screenshot, then resize again before your GPU explodes. The full window won't fit on your screen, but most capture software will still grab the full framebuffer. So long as you resize to a resolution of the same aspect ratio, the screenshot should be the same as the one you composed, just much higher resolution."

    Bouma recently updated the UUU, adding a new lighting system to the capture software. The developer shared images of the system in action featuring the bold-looking Spirit Guide Kena from Bridge of Spirits as a model for his showcase.

    As well as featuring as one of a number of games compatible with the Universal Unreal Unlocker, Kena: Bridge of Spirits also recently announced its own intuitive photo mode. Aside from including a number of common capture tools, Kena's own photo mode comes with a CHEESE function, which, when enabled, allows players to prompt characters within their frame to pull off a number of poses.

    Kena: Bridge of Spirits launched earlier this week. For more on the breakthrough game from developer Ember Labs, make sure to check out our review of Kena: Bridge of Spirits where we gave it an 8/10.

    Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

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    Foundation Premiere Review — “The Emperor’s Peace” and “Preparing to Live”

    Posted on September 24, 2021 by Alex Stedman

    Foundation premieres with two episodes on Friday, Sept. 24. Below is a spoiler-free review.

    If you told an '80s sci-fi fan that 2021 would not only see an epic TV show based on Isaac Asimov's Foundation books, but it would come out just a month before we got a good Dune adaptation, you'd blow their mind. Apple TV+’s adaptation of Foundation, however, is in many ways even more ambitious than Dune. While the latter is more of a space opera adventure with a clear protagonist, Foundation is a truly grand series with dozens of characters in as many planets, with a story spanning decades (if not centuries). If Apple was aiming to find the next big show to match Game of Thrones, they've succeeded. This is a true visual marvel, with production design that rivals any big-budget blockbuster, a fantastic cast that manages to sell the complex subjects handled with grounded performances, and a story that may take a while to become clear, but in just its first two episodes, it’s already a must-see.

    Foundation is set in a far-off future where the known galaxy is ruled by the mighty Galactic Empire, which is led by three clones of the same emperor. Though the Empire shows no sign of stopping their expansion, one scientist, Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), developed a science that allows him to calculate the probability of mass events and says the Empire is actually on the verge of an unavoidable collapse, and that collapse will give way to a 30,000 years-long dark age. Though the Empire isn't happy about this, Seldon offers a solution to preserve all human knowledge into an Encyclopedia Galactica that would allow future generations to rebuild civilization and reduce the dark age to a single millennium.

    In terms of scope, it's hard to beat what Foundation is trying to do, even if its first two episodes make it hard to grasp how it will go about it within the TV medium. From the very first scene, we are thrown into a fully formed and lived-in galaxy with distinct worlds, each with a different texture and feel. Basically, it’s not as if they just slapped a different climate on each of them and called it a day. The production design is absolutely striking, with the lavish costumes of the Empire, the unique designs of the spaceships, and the different architectural styles for the different planets (Star Wars fans may want to pay extra attention to the world of Tranton, the city-planet that bears a resemblance to Coruscant). If The Mandalorian and Game of Thrones helped blur the lines between what looks good on TV and what looks good on film, Foundation shatters that distinction.

    Asimov may have created a fascinating future history, but he didn't exactly write the most memorable of characters, and women were basically non-existent in the first book. Foundation tries to make the story work on serialized TV by placing a bigger focus on the characters compared to the plot. Creators David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman slow down the story significantly, taking the time to make us care about the characters, their motivations, and their predicaments. The two-part premiere tries to juggle too many things and threatens to appear inaccessible at times, but there are still glimpses of a show that balances grounded human stories and grander ideas about science, politics, and free will.

    This approach to the characters and the themes is best exemplified in the character of Gaal Dornick, who is gender-flipped in the show. Lou Llobell gives the best performance in an already stacked cast, selling the character's enthusiasm and devotion to the Foundation, and the pain of coming from a planet that wants to kill her for daring to choose knowledge and science over blind faith, trying to save her people from rising tides rather than letting them drown.

    Another big change made from the book is the addition of clones, a concept that was foreign to Asimov when his first book was published, as the DNA structure hadn’t even been discovered at that point. The idea of three clone emperors, Brother Day (Lee Pace), Brother Dusk (Terrence Mann), and Brother Dawn (Cassian Bilton), is arguably the most fascinating addition to the show, which helps it stand out from the rest of the sci-fi landscape. Though the first two episodes don't dive too deeply into the ramifications of Psychohistory and what it means for free will, it still explores those ideas via the emperors. Unlike, say, the clones in Clone Wars, the emperors all have different ages and literally grow up seeing exactly what they will become, so they rebel against it. Each of the three men is desperate to prove they are different from their brothers and all those who came before, but struggle with seeing that they may not be different at all.

    Foundation could easily have become an overwhelming mess of confusing concepts and names, but it finds the right balance between visual spectacle, epic plots, and human drama. Though the first two episodes suffer a bit from having to do many things at once, the premiere shows a lot of promise as the next must-see TV event.

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