Cobra Kai’s Newest Video Will Make You Hate Daniel LaRusso

Is there anything worse than a sleazy used car salesman with a bad gimmick? Based on this piece of viral marketing from the upcoming YouTube Red series Cobra Kai–which follows the events of Karate Kid–the answer is a clear no.

Instead of a trailer, viewers are treated to a 30-second commercial for Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) car dealership. In the short clip, he literally karate chops prices and promises a free bonsai tree to every customer that buys a car.

That’s sort of ridiculous on a couple of levels. Firstly, if you’re going to reward your customers for spending $20,000, maybe have something a little more substantial than a tree you can buy for as little as 10 bucks. The alternative is to not give them a gift, which would be fine. More importantly, though, is that Daniel has taken everything he learned from Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), including the care and treatment of bonsai trees, and turned it into a marketing tactic. This isn’t why Miyagi took him on as a student in Karate Kid.

It’s understandable that Daniel would take the things in his life to craft a persona around when running his business, but this just feels kind of dirty. Couple that with how mean he is to Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) in an earlier trailer for Cobra Kai, and it certainly seems like Daniel is the villain of this story.

Then again, this is Johnny and the returning Cobra Kai dojo we’re talking about. Perhaps neither of them is the hero or villain, but instead, they have to save each other. Whatever the case, if Cobra Kai was trying to put Daniel in a bad light ahead of the series premiere, they’re doing a fantastic job. And, honestly, that makes the prospect of this series all the more exciting.

Cobra Kai premieres May 2 on YouTube Red. If you can’t wait that long, the first two episodes will be screened on April 25 along with the original Karate Kid movie as part of a Fathom Event.

Nintendo Switch AC Adapter On Sale Now On Amazon

Whether you need a replacement for your Nintendo Switch‘s AC adapter or just want to pick up a second one to keep in a different location, Amazon has a good deal on them now. For a limited time, you can buy a official Switch AC adapter for $24.97, 17% off its normal price of $30.

As Switch players will know, this AC adapter lets you charge the system in portable mode (even while playing) and also powers the dock from any 120-volt outlet. While you’re at it, you might want to pick up a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, which is also on sale on Amazon, for $59 (normal price $70).

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In other Switch news, the system continues to be a huge sales success for Nintendo. The Switch just celebrated its one year anniversary, and as you can see in the video above, it’s the best-selling console ever in the US. It also has a huge roster of great games, as well. Check out our gallery of all the Nintendo Switch games that have received an 8/10 or higher since its release.

There’s much more on the way from Nintendo this year, as well. For all the news, including the latest details on upcoming releases like Super Smash Bros. for Switch, Pokemon for Switch, and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, check out our full coverage.

PS4 God Of War: “Why Keep Kratos?” Some Wondered

Kratos is the hero of God of War, but his role in the franchise was at some point put into question, however briefly or non-seriously it might have been. In a new interview, creative director Cory Barlog said Kratos has always been important to him personally, but some inside Sony–and some fans–questioned if it might be time to leave Kratos behind.

“A lot of people, throughout the development process, [in the public] and in the studio, were like: ‘Why keep Kratos?'” Barlog told IGN. But when asked directly if Sony ever seriously considered dropping the character, Barlog said, “No.” However, there was a point in development that Barlog was apparently being pushed to drop Kratos’ son, Atreus, but he pushed back.

“There was a point where I was almost forced to get rid of Atreus, because everyone was panicked about how complicated it was going to be,” Barlog said. “But Kratos, no; I was pretty adamant right from the beginning in saying: I wanted the challenge of taking a character that some people loathed. They’re like, ‘Look, I don’t like this character. He’s just reprehensible at times.’ We wrote him that way. We made him the anti-hero intentionally.”

In the new God of War, Kratos is not going to be an all-around good guy. He will still have some rough edges, but the overall goal is to make Kratos more relatable. Barlog said he wants players to come away from God of War feeling bad for Kratos, rooting for him, or relating to his experiences.

From what we’ve seen and learned of God of War so far, we are seeing a softer side of Kratos who is still firm with his son, Atreus, but also more understanding. Of course, Kratos is still a brutal killer who eviscerates enemies with savagery. So it will be interesting to see how the game balances this. We’ll find out relatively soon, as God of War, a Nordic adventure set in Scandinavia, arrives for PS4 on April 20.

For more on God of War, check out GameSpot’s new opinion piece, “God Of War Finally Fixes The Series’ Boring Combat.”

DC’s Metal Finale Is Epic But Flawed

Dark Nights: Metal has certainly lived up to its name, cramming in all sorts of heavy metal-worthy imagery and crazy situations. That doesn’t change one bit in the finale. The downside is that the series continues to be too overstuffed for its own good in its final chapter. As good a job as it does hyping up what’s to come for the DCU, it doesn’t quite carry the same weight as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s best Batman stories.

Not for the first time, I found myself wondering in this issue if Metal simply became too big for its own good. There are a lot of characters crammed into these pages, with the cast spanning the breadth and width of the DCU. But too often, it feels like this issue is unable to do individual characters the justice they deserve. I imagine the payoff (or lack thereof) with issue #1’s big Sandman twist is going to annoy a number of readers. That twist did as much as anything else to build excitement for Metal as a whole, but in the end Dream and his compatriots barely factor into this conflict. Was it worth including them in the first place?

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Introducing IGN Shorts

Starting today, on the front page of IGN you’ll find our new Shorts section, which highlights short video features from our social media feeds. While we hope you follow IGN on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc.— we know not everyone does. So if you’ve ever wanted to watch some of our best social content on our website, now you can.

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Check our Shorts daily for featurettes such as behind-the-scenes video, comedy skits, and highlights from the socialverse like impressive cosplays and multiplayer killstreaks. We built it to be fast: Click in, watch, and pop out back to the homepage, right where you left off.

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State of Decay 2’s Juggernauts Can Wipe Out Your Whole Group

State of Decay 2 throws a lot of mayhem your way in the simulated zombie apocalypse. From general run-of-the-mill zombies, zombies in full body armor, zombies in clown attire (which adds a whole new level of creepy issues to work through), and the apex predators of the zombie horde – the Freaks.

Chief among those monstrosities are the Juggernauts, towering mountains of flesh and hunger that Undead Labs’ CEO Jeff Strain calls, “community enders.” To put that into context, in State of Decay 2, you don’t play a single character, but rather a collective of survivors. When one person dies, you can swap into another survivor and carry on. And that’s why a Juggernaut is so terrifying – it can kill everyone if you’re not careful.

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Power Rangers: Shattered Grid Packs a Punch

Never let it be said that event comics are limited to Marvel and DC. BOOM! Studios kicks off its most ambitious Power Rangers story to date with “Shattered Grid,” a crossover that unites the original Mighty Morphin crew with half a dozen other Ranger teams. This story promises plenty of scope and spectacle, but it’s refreshing to see that writer Ryan Higgins and artist Daniele Di Nicuolo are more concerned with establishing the emotional stakes of this story first.

Readers coming in cold with this storyline might not notice anything particularly amiss right away. The opening prologue offers some sense of the conflict to come, but for the most part, this issue is devoted more to team drama than anything else. Higgins writes his characters as restless and furtive after Lord Drakkon’s escape, simultaneously gearing up for another major battle and also trying to find a sense of normalcy in their personal lives. Higgins even devotes a significant portion of this issue to Tommy and Kimberly’s awkward, fledgling romance. Between that and the fun banter between Billy and Trini, there’s a low-key, charming quality to this issue. And as someone who’s experience with the non-MMPR shows is very limited, I appreciate the creators not bludgeoning readers over the head with a giant cast of characters right away.

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Witcher 3’s PS4 Pro HDR Patch Is Definitely Still On The Way, Dev Confirms

CD Projekt Red has been working on an HDR update to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for PS4 Pro for months now, having announced it way back in December. In February, the developer reassured fans that the patch was still on its way, but since then there’s been little further news. This week, though, CD Projekt Red confirmed again that the patch is coming, and explained that its delay has to do with various bugs that need to be fixed.

Community Lead Marcin Momot reaffirmed on Twitter that the studio is still actively developing the HDR update, and he explained that it has taken a long time because CDPR has found additional and unexpected issues that need to be addressed. Further, he urged players to be patient.

Momot also confirmed that the base PS4 version of the game will also support HDR once the patch launches. However, the patch is also expected add several “technical tweaks improving the overall experience” on PS4 Pro specifically. No other specifics have been given; Momot said that CDPR will “share the full changelog with the release of the patch.”

In other news from CD Projekt Red, its mysterious next game, Cyberpunk 2077, has received a few tiny pieces of news over the past couple of months. Specifically, Cyberpunk’s Twitter account came alive in January after being silent for four years, and CDPR has said its single-player will be “immense” but won’t rule out multiplayer. In addition, be sure to read our article on why Cyberpunk 2077 is so important to RPGs and modern society.