Category: Games

Today’s deals included an Amazon renewed 65″ LG OLED 4K TV for only $1599.99, a Lenovo ThinkPad 15″ 4K RTX 3080 laptop for only $2399 (possible price error), an ASUS ROG RTX 3080 gaming PC for only $1999, and 50% off 1 year of PS Plus. There’s also a new Harry Potter 4K Collector’s Edition contained in a really snazzy package that’s up for preorder. These deals and more below.

65″ LG CX 4K OLED Smart TV for $1599.99

Note that this is a refurbished model with a 90-day Amazon warranty. It’s shipped and sold by Woot (which is owned by Amazon). That said, The cheapest we’ve seen a brand new set go for is $1900. The CX-series is LG’s 2020 OLED TV. It’s considered by many to be the best looking TV of 2020. The OLED panel blows away any IPS, VA, or TN monitor in black levels, color rendition, response time, and HDR. The new 2021 C1-series model has very negligible improvements over the CX-series and in terms of image quality, they’re practically identical. The CX OLED TV is a perfect match for the PS5 console because it has HDMI 2.1 inputs which can output 4K at 120Hz.

Preorder the Harry Potter 8-Film 4K Collector’s Edition with Hogwarts Express Train Packaging

This upcoming Harry Potter Collector’s Edition includes a total of 17 discs, which features every Harry Potter film in both 4K UHD and Blu-ray. You also get plenty of extras like a Hogwarts Express Ticket replica, a 32-page anniversary booklet, and The Harry Potter Magical Movie Mode on its own Blu-ray disc. Everything is packaged in a finely detailed Hogwarts Express train made of heavy paper board. Amazon’s preorder price guarantee means that if the price ever drops before the set is released, Amazon will adjust your price to the lowest available. There’s no limit to how often this can happen.

$2,600 Off Lenovo ThinkPad 15″ 4K RTX 3080 Laptop

Lenovo ThinkPad laptops are known for their best-in-class ruggedness and reliability, and even if it ever breaks down, Lenovo offers the best customer service in the business. Unfortunately, that level of build quality and support usually comes at a steep price. Add an RTX 30 series video card to the mix and you’d expect a cost that most people would balk at. Take this laptop for example. It’s retail price is nearly $5,000. However, there is a coupon code today that drops the price way down to under $2400. That’s almost too good of a deal and we suspect that it could be a price error. Throw in the fact that the laptop probaby won’t ship for up to 4 months (because of COVID, according to the site), and it’s possible that your order might be cancelled. That said, if you’re looking to purchase a ThinkPad that’s got the power to do some serious gaming, you won’t find a price like this anytime soon.

ASUS ROG RTX 3080 Gaming Desktop PC

It’s back in stock! One of the least expensive pre-built RTX 3080 equipped gaming PCs on the market is back in stock today at Best Buy. The price is quite a surprise because ASUS ROG gaming PCs are generally considered to be well built with quality components and a slick gaming aeshetic. This particular model is equipped with an unlocked 11th generation Intel Core i7-11700KF processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and a 2TB HDD for extra storage.

1 Year of PS Plus for $29.99 (New Subscribers)

For those of you who aren’t PS Plus members, you can save 50% off a 1 year PS Plus subscription directly from the PlayStation Store. That’s a fantastic value for a membership that’s absolutely recommended. The PS Plus membership is necessary to play online, but it also offers perks like new free games every month, exclusive discounts at the PlayStation Store, and (for PS5 owners) access to the PS Plus Collection. The PS Plus Collection includes games like God of War, Persona 5, The Last of Us Remastered, Days Gone, Final Fantasy XV, Mortal Kombat, Ratchet & Clank, and more.

Amazon Prime Student Members Get 3 Months of Free Audible Premium Plus

If you’re an Amazon Prime Student member, you get a lot of pretty amazing perks like 6 months of free Amazon Prime membership followed by 50% off your Prime membership for up to 4 years, Amazon Music Unlimited for $0.99/mo, and more. Now, there’s yet another perk exclusive to Amazon Prime Student members; get 3 free months of Audible Premium Plus (normally $14.95/mo). If you’re a current student or faculty, you’re eligible for an Amazon Prime Student membership.

Apple Watch Series 6 44m GPS Smartwatch

Currently only the Pink color is available at this price (normally retails for $429). The 44mm is the larger size and boasts a bigger display that can fit more pixels/text than the 40mm. It’s better for people who have larger wrists or just want a larger profile watch.

Razer Hammerhead Truly Wireless Earbuds

The Razer Hammerhead truly wireless earbuds is over 60% off today at Amazon. These gaming-centric earbuds feature 13mm drivers with ample amounts of bass, low latency, IPX4 rating for sweat and water resistance, up to 15 hours of battery life. These earbuds had some stiff competition at its original $100 price point, but now, it’s definitely one of the best earbuds you can buy for the price.

Apple AirPods Pro Noise-Cancelling Earbuds

If you regret not picking the Airpods Pro up on Amazon Prime Day, here’s your chance to get it today for an even lower price. Today the price of the AirPods Pro has dropped $70, or 28% off. This is the lowest price we’ve seen, ever, for these highly rated earbuds. The AirPods Pro is considered by many to be the best truly wireless noise-cancelling in-ear headphones you can get, and a very big step up in quality from the standard AirPods.

2021 LG C1 4K OLED TVs with Free Newegg Credit

Newegg is offering a bonus gift card and extended 3 year warranty on top of the best price you’ll find on the new 2021 LG OLED TV. The LG C1-series OLED TV improves upon last year’s highly-rated CX model with an upgraded A9 Gen 4 processor that delivers slightly better image quality, better 4K scaling, and improved audio handling as well as a new webOS smart TV redesign. The C1 OLED TV (especially the 48″ model) works well with an RTX 30 series equipped gaming PC because it has HDMI 2.1 inputs that support 4K at 120Hz, G-SYNC, and chroma 4:4:4. It’s easily one of the best (if not the best) TVs on the market right now.

Arcade1Up Ms Pac-Man Arcade Cabinet

The price of the Arcade1Up Ms Pac-Man cabinet dropped again today; now you’re saving over 33% off and getting free shipping from Walmart. The Ms Pac-Man arcade cabinet is a 3:4 scale replica that measures 4 feet tall. A themed riser is also included that raises the cabinet by an additional 1 foot, so you can choose to play comfortably while sitting or standing. There are multiple games preinstalled, including Ms Pac-Man, Pac-Mania, Pac-Man Plus, and Galaxian. The entire package comes flat packed, but it is very easy to assemble and should take you less than one hour.

Arcade1Up The Simpsons Arcade Cabinet

Arcade1Up just recently announced their Simpsons arcade cabinet in all of its 4-player glory. It’s going to be released on November 8, but it’s up for preorder right now. Unfortunately, if you were to buy it directly from Arcade1Up, it would cost you a whopping $700. Fortunately, Walmart just released their “version” today. The arcade cabinet is identical, and it even comes with riser, but you don’t get the stool and the tin wall sign, but you also pay $171 less. We think that is a fair tradeoff. Another perk: Walmart offers free shipping. Getting it shipped from Arcade1Up directly will cost you around $60.

Extra 12% Off Alienware Aurora R12 RTX 30 Series Gaming PCs with New Coupon Code

Dell launched a new coupon code yesterday that takes 12% off select desktop and laptop PCs. Unfortunately many configs aren’t eligible, including all the PCs currently on Dell’s Deals page. Fortunately, specific Alienware Aurora R12 desktop models are eligible, and they can be upgraded all the way up to an RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 3090. With the coupon applied, you won’t be able to find a cheaper prebuilt RTX 30 series PC on the market.

The 12% coupon is eligible with the Alienware Aurora R12 models below. These all have starting specs: Intel Core i5-11400F CPU, 8GB RAM, and 1TB HDD. You can upgrade to an 11th generation Intel Core i7 processor for an additional $150 (minus 12% off discount with code). I’d recommend upgrading your RAM and storage on your own because you’ll probably save money and you won’t be voiding the warranty.

Use code “SAVE12” to get the prices below:

Herman Miller Gaming Sale: 15% Off Gaming Chairs, Including the Herman Miller x Logitech G Embody

Herman Miller makes the best ergonomic chairs in the industry. They’re also not cheap, with several of their models easily topping over $1000 in price. Penny pinchers might find it a waste of money, but honestly, in this case you get what you pay for. Many of us could spend a majority of our lives stuck to our chair, it makes sense that this would be one of the most important purchases we make. Today, Herman Miller is offering 15% off their top-of-the-line gaming collaborations with Logitech. This is the first time we’ve seen a substantial discount on these outside of Sample Sales and employee-only offers. If you’ve got deep pockets, then you’ll save on what is probably the best gaming chair on the market.

Video Game Deals

More Daily Deals for August 20

This year’s installment of the perennial bestselling series is Call of Duty: Vanguard — or COD Vanguard, if you’re into the whole brevity thing. It’s set to release for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on November 5. It brings players back to the well-trodden battlefields of WWII.

You don’t have to wait until November to lock in a copy for yourself. Call of Duty: Vanguard is up for preorder now at all the usual retailers. Here’s where you can preorder it.

Preorder Call of Duty: Vanguard

PS5

• Get it at Amazon – $69.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $69.99
• Get it at GameStop – $69.99
• Get it at Walmart – $69.99
• Get it at PS Store (digital) – $69.99

PS4

• Get it at Amazon – $59.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $59.99
• Get it at GameStop – $59.99
• Get it at Walmart – $59.99
• Get it at PS Store (digital) – $59.99

Xbox Series X

• Get it at Amazon – $69.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $69.99
• Get it at GameStop – $69.99
• Get it at Walmart – $69.99
• Get it at Microsoft Store (digital) – $69.99

Xbox One

• Get it at Amazon – $59.99
• Get it at Best Buy – $59.99
• Get it at GameStop – $59.99
• Get it at Walmart – $59.99
• Get it at Microsoft Store (digital) – $59.99

PC

• Get it on Battle.net – $59.99

The physical version of COD Vanguard is not cross-generation, with the exception of the Xbox Series X version (it includes the Xbox One version as well). The digital versions for Xbox Series X and PS5 are cross-gen, however. Bit confusing, but that’s life.

Call of Duty: Vanguard Ultimate Edition (Digital Only)

• Get it for PlayStation – $99.99
• Get it for Xbox – $99.99
• Get it for PC – $99.99

The digital-only ultimate edition includes you the following digital extras:

• Battle Pass Bundle (1 Season Battle Pass + 20 Tier Skips)
• Task Force One Pack (3 Operator Skins and 3 Weapon Blueprints with Tracer Rounds)
• 5 hours of 2XP

Call of Duty: Vanguard Preorder Bonus

Preorder any digital version of the game, and you’ll get early access to the open beta.

Other Preorder Guides

343 Industries has announced that it is delaying campaign co-op and Forge for Halo Infinite until after launch as the developers focus on getting the single-player campaign and multiplayer done in time for its holiday release.

In an August video update from the official Halo YouTube channel, Halo Infinite head of creative Joseph Staten confirmed that neither campaign co-op nor Forge will be in Halo Infinite at launch. 343 confirmed that Halo Infinite is “100 percent committed” to release the anticipated shooter this holiday.

Campaign Co-Op has been a fixture of the Halo franchise, being able to play through the single-player campaign with a friend. Meanwhile, Forge is a unique experience where players can design their own game modes by creating custom maps, rules, and more. Forge is where some of the most creative player-generated modes have come from, some of which have gone on to become official Halo online modes.

“Unfortunately, as we focused the team for shut down, and really focused on a quality experience for launch, we made the really tough decision to delay shipping campaign co-op for launch. And we also made the tough call to delay shipping Forge past launch as well,” Staten said during the video update.

Staten confirmed that the team is taking a seasonal release schedule for the campaign co-op and Forge. While Halo Infinite will launch with the single-player mode and season 1 of multiplayer, Staten says the team is aiming to release campaign co-op in season 2 and Forge in season 3.

Staten clarified that a new season will ship every three months, meaning campaign co-op will not be released until 2022, most likely (if assuming the holiday season begins in November).

Staten says the delay is a result of the complexities involved with game development, particularly with campaign co-op. “On the co-op side, we have the opportunity to play the campaign all the time, it’s this wonderful, open, non-linear take on the Halo campaign. It’s going to offer so much more flexibility to take down Banished bases from all different angles, to progress through the game in your own way,” Staten revealed.

“At the same time though, that’s complicated. When you think about save systems and all the technology that needs to drive this more non-linear experience, and in the co-op experience that’s even more complicated.”

Halo Infinite still doesn’t have a firm release date, though community manager Brian Jarrard says the team is basically almost ready to confirm a firm date. Xbox boss Phil Spencer earlier confirmed that the studio is readying Halo Infinite for a holiday 2021 launch and it’s basically about narrowing the window to a specific date.

In the meantime, Halo Infinite will continue to roll out more test flights for multiplayer in the lead-up to launch.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor.

The team behind the James Bond movies have shot directly down the gun barrel to dispel rumors of a spinoff TV series at Amazon.

In an interview with Total Flim for the latest issue of the magazine, longtime James Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli discussed their creative stewardship of the 007 character and the future of the iconic spy franchise, particularly in regards to whether Amazon’s $8.45 billion acquisition of MGM would stir up any potential TV spinoffs.

“We make films. We make films for the cinema. That’s what we do,” Broccoli asserted when she was quizzed over the possibility of the franchise heading to the small screen following Amazon’s takeover of the film studio, plus 50% of the James Bond IP. Wilson backed Broccoli, saying they’ve “resisted [calls for a Bond television series] for 60 years.”

While Amazon will share rights to the Bond IP after the deal is approved, Broccoli and Wilson’s Eon Productions will retain creative control over all decisions related to franchise, including everything from casting choices to the distribution of any future projects, though Broccoli admits that it’s “tough to think about the future” until No Time to Die has had its moment.

“I think we just really want to celebrate this and celebrate Daniel [Craig], and then when the dust settles, then look at the landscape and figure out what the future is,” Broccoli said, adding that “one thing we’ve certainly learned in the last 18 months is you never know what the future is. So we have to sit down and think about it.”

Daniel Craig made his Bond debut in 2006’s Casino Royale. He reprised the role in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, 2012’s Skyfall and 2015’s Spectre, which collectively grossed more than $3.1 billion at the worldwide box office. His final outing as the secret agent will come in Cary Fukunaga’s No Time to Die, arriving in U.S. theaters this October.

The film will see Bond coming out of retirement to confront Rami Malik’s Safin, a hyper-intelligent terrorist out for revenge. Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, and Jeffrey Wright return while Léa Seydoux reprises her role as Madeleine Swann. Lashana Lynch joins the franchise as a new “OO” agent and Ana de Armas plays CIA agent Paloma.

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

A new report has shed further light on the decisions taken by Sony to close its AAA VR studio, Sony Manchester five years after its creation.

According to a report published by Polygon, the studio’s closure back in 2020 came off the back of a restructure in key positions of Sony’s hierarchy that triggered a review of the company’s portfolio. Following the appointment of Hermen Hulst as PlayStation’s new head of Worldwide Studios and Shuhei Yoshida’s transition into a new position as head of independent developer initiatives, Sony’s Manchester-based studio reportedly found itself under more scrutiny to show progress with its work, before being closed shortly afterwards.

Founded almost five years prior, Sony Manchester started out as a small development studio poised to create Sony’s next big entry into the VR space. Despite the studio’s secretive development processes and lack of published titles, sources revealed to Polygon that Sony Manchester had been working on a Helicopter-based VR title named CSAR: Combat, Search, and Rescue.

Within the game, players would fly around a map rescuing people from the cockpit of their helicopter whilst gunning down enemies that posed a threat to their mission. Within the cockpit, players would be joined by a co-pilot as they flew between different locales and a central base in the form of an aircraft carrier, which would double up as a mission select hub.

Sony Manchester’s progress on the title was reportedly hindered by a number of aspects. Issues on the game varied from concerns around its art style to gameplay factors based on how the title’s combat and rescue missions would actually work. Multiple former employees told Polygon that a number of the issues surrounding progress on the title were tied to higher-ups within the project.

Overseeing the project was the then-vice president of Sony Worldwide Studios Eric Matthews (who was also a co-founder of Bitmap Brothers) and Sony research director Mark Green. The acting co-lead designers were based 200 miles away in London and would apparently visit the studio roughly once per week.

The former employees pointed to the pair’s apparent micro-management approach to the project, which some staff felt bottlenecked its development. Matthews and Green are also said to have taken a “particularly hands-on” approach during their weekly visits to the studio, during which they would allegedly alter a range of factors on the project and encourage programmers to leave certain elements of the title exposed for further tweaking at a later date, slowing down development repeatedly.

A former employee spoke to Polygon about the problems they felt the studio faced. “Communication was an issue,” said the staff member. “Eric and Mark were not open to it at all. People tried to offer small ideas on how to do the tasks they had on their plates, but [they] often got rejected, unless it was done exactly how they wanted. […] We had a producer but she couldn’t really do her job as they didn’t like any detailed plans. I’m sure that this infinite tweaking and iteration worked fine for the Bitmap Brothers games in the 80s, but it was a bit out of place here. New enemy types would take months — and we’re talking blocky tanks. It was all just a pre-production concept. It was just a graybox for years.”

After a number of staffing changes within the VR studio, Matthews and Green moved its design team to London in the hopes to try and speed up progress on the title. Despite the team allegedly making some late progress on the title, Sony announced in February 2020 that it was closing Sony Manchester. Since then, a number of its members have moved on to work for other studios in the northwest region of England.

In other Sony news, we recently reported that Epic Games offered Sony a fee in the region of $200 million to bring first-party PlayStation titles onto PC. The documents unearthed in a legal battle between Epic Games and Apple noted the Fortnite developer’s offer was made to get Sony to put at least four first-party games to PC.

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

PlayStation Plus is currently down to just $30 for new subscribers. That’s 12-months of the online subscription service, now available at 50% of the cost. This is perfect for anyone who has only just picked up a PS5 or is joining the PlayStation ecosystem for the first time. This is a limited time offer and will expire on August 30.

PS5 PS Plus users also get access to the PS Plus Collection, including free games such as God of War, Bloodborne, Days Gone, Fallout 4, Batman: Arkham Knight, and more.

PS Plus 12-Months Now $30 (New Subscribers Only)

PlayStation Plus includes benefits such as free games every month, 100GB of Cloud Storage, PS Plus Collection (PS5), online multiplayer access, and exclusive member discounts.

PS Plus games for August 2021 include Hunter’s Arena: Legends, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, and Tennis World Tour 2. All are available until September 6.

PS5 Games and Accessories on Sale

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. Send him awesome gaming screenshots @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Discovering an incredible documentary is an amazing experience – the best documentaries can be inspiring and uplifting, tell powerful stories that stick with you for years to come, and can even totally change your view on life.

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Whether you want to broaden your perspectives, be entertained, or have your mind blown, CuriosityStream HD has a documentary for that, thanks to its library of thousands of the world’s very best documentaries in nature, history, science, and more, as well as exclusive originals, from the world’s leading experts, including David Attenborough, Michio Kaku, and Brian Greene for starters.

With your lifetime subscription, you’ll be able to stream or download documentaries to watch offline, anywhere, in HD and 4K on your TV, desktop, mobile, tablet, and more devices. Simply, if you love documentaries – or being the person with all the interesting facts and winning trivia knowledge – you’ll love CuriosityStream’s programming.

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CuriosityStream has earned a ton of awards since its launch – which is probably to be expected, considering it comes from media legend John Hendricks, the founder of Discovery Inc. It’s been rated an impressive 4.7/5 stars on the Apple App Store, and 4.3/5 stars on Google Play, and was given a 4/5 star review score by the tech experts at PC Mag.

Start streaming unlimited documentaries for life with a CuriosityStream HD Plan: Lifetime Subscription, on sale now for $149.25 when you enter the coupon code STREAM25 at checkout (reg. $250).