I'm sorry, Redditor JR_Masterson, but a sequel to the 2006 stealth-action game Sneak King will probably never happen because the mascot was creepy as hell.

In an interview with Restaurant Business (via IGN), the burger chain's chief marketing officer Joel Yashinsky said that because rivals like McDonald's were dominating with a more family-friendly mascot, the eerier "Creepy King" had to go to maintain profitability.

"There were a number of learnings we had from creepy king," Yashinsky said. "And we've moved away from creepy king because he had limited appeal."

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A Song of Ice and Fire: Leatherette Box Set

$36.12 (was $85)

Get deal at Amazon

A collectible box set of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series is on sale for cheap at Amazon. As part of the retailer's Prime Big Deal Days early book sale, the leather-cloth-bound editions of all five novels in the fantasy series is discounted to only $36.12 (was $85). The 58% discount is the biggest price cut in two years. You need to be a Prime member to take advantage of this deal, otherwise the set will cost you $45.

Amazon also has a 50% discount on the similar J.R.R. Tolkien box set featuring The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with leatherette covers and a display case.

A Song of Ice and Fire: Leatherette Box Set $36.12 (was $85)

Includes:

1. A Game of Thrones
2. A Clash of Kings
3. A Storm of Swords
4. A Feast for Crows
5. A Dance with Dragons

These handsome editions of Martin's best-selling novels are bound in leatherette. Each one is a different color, though all five share a unified, minimalist design. The front covers and spines feature the title in a decorative box and George R.R. Martin's logo in the center. The set comes with the display box shown above.

The leatherette editions of ASOIAF are roughly the same size as the mass market paperbacks, though they are understandably higher-quality books. Just keep in mind that these pocket-sized editions, which are roughly 4 x 6 inches, have small text. If you're reading Game of Thrones for the first time, we'd generally recommend the trade paperback or hardcover editions. But if you're used to reading mass market paperbacks, you probably won't be bothered by the size of the leatherette editions.

All told, you're getting 5,280 pages of superb fantasy fiction for only $36, which breaks down to roughly $7 per book.

Get deal at Amazon A Song of Ice and Fire Hardcover Editions (Random House)

A Dance with Dragons was published way back in 2011, and it remains unclear when The Winds of Winter will be published--if it releases at all. Not to mention the seventh and final book, A Dream of Spring. Even with the uncertainty surrounding future books, A Song of Ice and Fire is still worth reading. It's one of the best fantasy series of the last 30 years.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 arrives on November 14, but you can already go hands-on with the game during the BO7 beta. You'll want to adjust some of the game settings to improve your aim and movement, and there's also an intelligent movement setting to help with Black Ops 7's new wall jump mechanic. This guide covers recommended settings for controllers, graphics, and audio settings in the Black Ops 7 menus.

Optimal settings are always going to be subjective, but here we detail our preferred options for console players on PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Xbox Series X|S.

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Rockstar Games has announced plans for how Grand Theft Auto V will celebrate Halloween, and there is a lot of spooky content on tap.

To begin with, the Cayo Perico Survival and Ludendorff Cemetery Survival modes are back, but with a zombie twist for Halloween. Players will face off against "tides of zombies" in these locations, along with "hulking juggernauts, armored conquistadors, splitters, possessed animals and their trainers, zombie DJs, and more," Rockstar said.

Halloween comes to GTA Online.

The Cayo Perico Survival mode pays out double GTA$ and RP now through October 8, while the Ludendorff Cemetery Survival mode pays triple rewards October 23-November 5.

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Amazon has revealed the next batch of PC games that'll be coming to Prime Gaming in October, and this month, you can torment some souls, join the bite club of Vampire: the Masquerade, and journey back into the wasteland of Fallout.

Right now, you can grab the retro-inspired action game DragonStrike and check out some classic survival-horror with Tormented Souls. Later this month, you can continue the fight against alien invaders in the tactical-RPG XCOM 2 and prepare for the arrival of Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 with a visual-novel game set in the same universe, called Reckoning of New York.

Fallout fans can also download two of the best games in the series--Fallout 3 and New Vegas--when they arrive later this month.

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Developers at independent studio ZA/UM, the team behind the critically acclaimed RPG Disco Elysium, have formed a union that was recognized by the United Kingdom's games industry, marking a first in the country.

In an October 2 blog post on the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) Game Workers website, chairperson Spring McParlin-Jones and organizing officer Eugenia Peruzzo expressed excitement about this development. It's a big deal, after all, particularly because ZA/UM's recognized union could provide hope for other developers in the UK looking to gain collective power.

As the blog post noted, this is an "exciting milestone for workers industry-wide" that will give employees and management the appropriate means to negotiate workplace-related matters revolving around mental health, financial stability, and social livelihoods. ZA/UM will elect a committee of workplace representatives--with the IWGB support--to discuss the team's concerns. In essence, ZA/UM developers will now have the power.

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Fortnite's upcoming Halloween event will have some additional star power behind it, with celebrity singer Doja Cat joining the fray as a boss for Fortnitemares.

Doja Cat appeared on Wednesday's episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, during which she was quizzed on the names of apparent Fortnite skins to guess whether they were real or fake. The last skin named in the challenge directly led to the reveal of Doja Cat's Fortnite character, which features her likeness: The Mother of Thorns, described as a "trickster, enchantress, and sorceress."

The Tonight Show segment ended with Doja Cat sitting on a real-life replica of The Mother of Thorns' throne. Along with being an NPC boss in Fortnitemares 2025, which is expected to kick off on October 9, Fortnite leaker NotPaloleaks reports on X that Doja Cat cosmetics, including two skins and two emotes, will be on the Fortnite Shop.

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Borderlands 4 just received a major update on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S that buffs the game's four Vault Hunters to make their many builds more viable.

Developer Gearbox Software took to the game's official website on October 2 to detail the latest update. In the blog post, the studio said the focus was to create "greater build diversity by adjusting underperforming skills." This includes tweaks like buffing the Forgeknight Amon in general so he's as strong as the other Vault Hunters, increasing the Exo-Soldier Rafa's summons and the Siren Vex's melee power to make those builds better in the endgame, and adjusting the Gravitar Harlowe's Stasis ability to ensure it's "getting value" for you.

While sending the Vault Hunters to the gym for strength training is the main highlight of this new update, Gearbox Software also made some other changes to the looter-shooter. This includes buffing the weekly Big Encore boss, moving Maurice’s Black Market Vending Machine and altering its available offerings, and adding an auto-clearing of Borderlands 4's stale shaders to prevent performance degradation on some PCs.

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The Halo TV series didn't work out and was canceled after two seasons, but if you're curious and have a Netflix subscription, you're in luck. Both seasons of the sci-fi series are out now on Netflix.

The debut of the Halo series on Netflix seems to be proving popular, as the show has reached No. 4 on the most-popular TV show chart in the US today, October 2. The Top 10 list is ranked by views, and you can read more about how the data is calculated on Netflix's blog.

Season 1 had nine episodes, with Season 2 delivering eight, for a total of 17. The show stars Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief, Natascha McElhone as Halsey, and Jen Taylor as Cortana.

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Minority Report Limited Edition Steelbook (4K Blu-ray)

$37 | Releases December 9

Preorder at Amazon

Minority Report (4K Blu-ray)

$31 | Releases December 9

Preorder at Amazon

Minority Report is one of the more interesting films that Steven Spielberg directed, and soon Spielberg, Tom Cruise, and Philip K. Dick fans will be able to watch the 2002 dark sci-fi film on 4K Blu-ray. Slated for December 9, the 4K restoration is available to preorder now at Amazon. Minority Report Limited Edition Steelbook is listed for $37, while the standard 4K Blu-ray edition is $31.

Heads up: At the time of writing, Minority Report's Steelbook Edition is the No. 1 best-selling movie on Amazon, so you may want to secure your preorder sooner rather later. The Steelbook Edition of Catch Me If You Can, another Spielberg movie releasing on 4K Blu-ray December 9, is the No. 2 best-selling movie on Amazon.

Minority Report Limited Edition Steelbook (4K Blu-ray) $37 | Releases December 9

The Steelbook Edition features the same front cover as the standard Blu-ray release from 2010. On the back, you'll find the emblem of the Precrime department, while the interior art is a screenshot of Tom Cruise as he works on his case via his gesture-controlled PC. This is a two-disc set consisting of the film on a 4K Blu-ray and special features on a standard Blu-ray disc. A voucher for the digital edition is also included.

The 4K version of the film supports Dolby Vision and HDR10, and it has enhanced sound with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The special features are all inherited from the previous Blu-ray release, and they include a look at how Spielberg imagined the future, the props used in the film, pre-visualization sequences, storyboards, and more.

Preorder at Amazon Minority Report (4K Blu-ray) $31 | Releases December 9

The standard 4K Blu-ray is identical to the steelbook edition, save for the cover. This one utilizes one of the Minority Report posters from its theatrical run for the cover, but otherwise, you're getting the same special featureson the included standard Blu-ray disc, and a digital streaming code.

Preorder at Amazon Minority Report Limited Edition SteelbookMinority Report Special Features

• Minority Report: Future realized
• Minority Report: Props of the future
• Inside the world of precrime
• Philip K. Dick, Steven Spielberg, and Minority Report
• The Future according to Steven Spielberg
• Deconstructing Minority Report
• The stunts of Minority Report
• Highlights from Minority Report: From the set featurette
• Minority Report: Commercials of the Future featurette
• Pre-visualization sequences
• From story to screen
• ILM and Minority Report
• Final Report featurette
• Production concepts
• Storyboard sequences
• Original trailers

Set in the year 2054, Minority Report follows Sprezzatura, a detective working for the "Precrime" special unit of the Washington DC police department. Thanks to a trio of precognitive siblings, the Precrime division has been able to stop murders before they take place, arresting the would-be killers in the process. After Anderton is identified as the future killer of a man he's never met before, he goes on the run to uncover the identity behind his potential victim,

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's multiplayer beta begins today, October 2, and if you're looking for an edge on the battlefield, we've got something that might interest you.

The game's top directors have shared their loadouts, and given they're the ones who made the game, they might know a thing or two about what a solid loadout might look like. Matt Scronce, Black Ops 7's design director, is running with the Peacekeeper MK1 and pinpoint grenades, along with the Ninja, Assassin, and Dexterity perks and Active Camo as a field upgrade.

Associate design director Lawrence Metten, meanwhile, is playing with M8A1 as a primary weapon, with Psyche grenades and the Ninja, Hunter's Instinct, and Dexterity perks. Metten is also using the Overkill wildcard to get a second main weapon, and they chose the Echo 12 shotgun.

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The KPop Demon Hunters Fortnite takeover is underway, and it's pretty thorough! This blockbuster collab brings back the old Horde Rush mode with a KPop Demon Hunters flavor, adds four new items to the Battle Royale and Blitz loot pools, and--of course--all three members of HUNTR/X are available in the item shop. That's a lot for a collab that Epic kept completely under wraps until less than a week ago, and given the surge in popularity for the Netflix movie, it's possible it all came together quickly.

The item shop cosmetics include skins for Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, along with a pickaxe and a ramyeon back bling for each--and the set is rounded out by the Zoey's Thumbs Up emote. The skins cost 1,500 V-Bucks each, and a bundle with everything will run you 3,500, saving you a lot if you plan to get everything anyway.

As you might expect from a collab like this, though, there are also some free KPop Demon Hunters cosmetics that you can earn for free by playing Fortnite. There are two sets of free KPop Demon Hunters items--ones you earn by gaining levels in any mode, and ones you earn by completing quests that are specific to the Demon Rush limited-time mode.

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Battlefield 6 is arriving later this month, and Achievement and Trophy hunters now have an idea of what they need to do when it arrives.

Exophase has shared all 53 of the Xbox Achievements in Battlefield 6, which will show up as Trophies on PlayStation 5. On Xbox, the Achievements account for 1,185 Gamerscore points.

There are 11 secret tasks, including awards for playing 74 matches in any version of Battle Royale or winning seven matches in Battle Royale: Duos. Some of the awards appear to have random numbers chosen for their goals, including stunning enemies 316 times or reviving teammates 1988 times.

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The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta early access has arrived, and with the huge popularity of the franchise combined with the specific Black Ops 7 beta start time, you may face some connectivity issues. Some of those issues could be down to your own PC, specifically whether it meets Activision's requirements for anti-cheat protection. Luckily, we've got all of the information you need on how to turn on your PC's secure boot if you're struggling. However, there's also every chance that the servers are struggling to cope with the influx of players and are facing instability, or emergency maintenance is underway. Fear not, we've got the latest on the Black Ops 7 server status so you can get back into the mix during the limited-time beta.

Is Black Ops 7 down?

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 servers are currently active with no reported issues, as the beta has now started for early access players. They will go live on Sunday, October 5, 2025 at 10AM PT / 1PM ET / 6PM BST for everyone else.

While any notifications around the server status will be posted on the Activision Support X page, these could be delayed while the developer addresses any issues. Make sure to bookmark this page for up-to-date information.

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Early access for the Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 beta starts today, and Treyarch has released some new patch notes regarding changes and new additions to the beta content. Most notably, the beta will now include a Zombies training course for new players. The developer also warns about a few known bugs it's working to fix during the beta period.

For the first time ever, Call of Duty's Zombies mode is included in the beta. Players will have access to the Vandorn Farm Survival map. This isn't the full round-based map experience in Black Ops 7 Zombies, but instead it is a small Survival map, where players will have access to all the perks and equipment they need to try and survive for high rounds.

It's worth noting that this Zombies content will not be available for the entire length of the beta, and it will instead be featured during two days of early access and two days of the open beta. Zombies content unlocks on October 3 and ends on October 7.

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The Definitive Book of SNES RPGs Volume One

$48 | Releases October 15

Preorder at Bitmap Books

Bitmap Books has announced the next entry in its library, The Definitive Book of SNES RPGs. This is a deluxe tome designed to be a visual guide to an iconic era of video game history, and if that piques your interest, you can preorder it for $40 ahead of its shipping date later this month.

The Definitive Book of SNES RPGs Volume One $48 | Releases October 15

The first volume in this new series will cover games titled to A-K, and this 550-page book is written by game critic and researcher Moses Norton. The hardcover edition will focus on games like The 7th Saga, Eye of the Beholder, Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger, EarthBound, EVO, Final Fantasy 2, and many more, and it features detailed writing, developer quotes, and genre history.

Additionally, there's restored art and "lost knowledge", and Bitmap Books says it's "an uncompromising and exhaustive study of the artistry, ideology, and legacy of SNES RPGs" using a methodology that doesn't rely on picking favorites. The cover features striking art, provided by professional artist Stephen "Stumpyfongo" Sitton.

Preorder at Bitmap Books A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games $45

A great book to pair this with is A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games. A massive collection of reviews and essays on over 600 JRPGs, A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games explores the expansive history of this genre, from its early days on 8-bit microcomputers to modern entries on PC and console. It covers a variety of titles like Fire Emblem and Etrian Odyssey, and it's another high-quality print from Bitmap Books.

See at Amazon More from Bitmap Books

Other noteworthy books from the publisher include recent entries like From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror for a deep-dive into digital terror and The Art of the Box for a visual tour of how retro games grabbed your attention with stunning paintings and illustrations.

• A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games -- $45
• The Art of the Box -- $38 ($45)
• Game Boy: The Box Art Collection -- $43.50
• SNES/Super Famicom: A Visual Compendium -- $66.30
• I'm Too Young To Die: The Ultimate Guide to First-Person Shooters 1992–2002 -- $42.49
• The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games -- $43.50
• From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror -- $36.11 ($42.49)
• PC Engine: The Box Art Collection -- $40
• NEOGEO: A Visual History -- $66.24
• NES/Famicom: A Visual Compendium -- $63
• The SNES Pixel Book -- $73.57
• The Secret History of Mac Gaming: Expanded Edition -- $55.82
• The CRPG Book - Expanded Edition -- $61.24
• Run 'n' Gun: A Guide to On-Foot Shooters -- $38.86
• 50 World-Changing Indie Games -- $58
• Commodore Amiga: A Visual Compendium -- $49.31
• Artcade: The Book Of Classic Arcade Game Art -- $65
• Metal Slug: The Ultimate History -- $102.71
• Sinclair ZX Spectrum A Visual Compendium -- $50.75
• The Games That Weren't -- $68.41
• Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection -- $50.75

Another video game history book you can add to your collection is PlayStation: The First 30 Years. Scheduled to ship out in 2026, the book is now available to preorder and is priced at $125.

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In a shocking development, Electronic Arts announced on September 29 that it will go private as part of a $55 billion leveraged buyout. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, and private equity company Silver Lake are taking 100% ownership of the company behind franchises like Battlefield, Mass Effect, Madden, and many others.

Industries tend to consolidate over time as they mature, and EA going private is just the latest example of such a move in the video game space. Prior to this, Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard, Take-Two acquired Zynga, Sony purchased Bungie, and the list goes on from there.

There are a number of particulars pertaining to EA's sale that make it unique, however, and the setup has led to numerous questions from industry-observers about what happens next. No one knows the answers for certain, but here are some of the key things to know and unanswered questions about the EA deal to a private consortium.

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Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 finally made their way to the Switch, and they've never looked better. Before now, you could only play them on the old Wii or through the limited-time Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection on Switch--which didn't even include Galaxy 2. Now, both games are available on the regular Switch and Switch 2.

There are a lot of things to appreciate with the new remasters, and Digital Foundry took a deep dive into the biggest differences and the mild downgrades. The biggest difference is that the original Switch runs the games at up to 1080p, while the Switch 2 boosts the visuals all the way to 4K resolution, making everything look much sharper and cleaner, especially on modern TVs. You can check out the full breakdown below.

Basically, most of the menus, cutscenes, and controls are the same as the 2020 3D All-Stars version, including things like touchscreen and motion controls. The pre-rendered cutscenes still run at 1080p, even on Switch 2, and haven't been upgraded to 4K. That's a bit of a letdown, especially since those scenes also show some compression issues and color problems. Still, the improved resolution and sharper gameplay visuals on Switch 2 do a lot to make up for it. Shadows now show from farther away, and character models look better at a distance, too.

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Stack Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Prepaid Codes

1 month for $20 / 3 months for $60

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Microsoft has announced a price hike for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, raising the price by 50% from $20 to $30 per month. You do not have to pay that much everywhere, however. GameStop, for example, has announced that it will not raise the price of Game Pass Ultimate for in-store and online shoppers, at least not yet.

The retailer continues to sell one-month Game Pass Ultimate memberships for $20 or three-month memberships for $60. This appears to be a promotion, so it's not likely to last forever, meaning you may want to snap it up now before it's too late. The price comes down to $19 for one month or $57 for a three-month subscription if you're a GameStop Pro member ($25/year).

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Microsoft is raising the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and the company has now attempted to defend the hikes.

Speaking to The Verge, Microsoft director of gaming and platform communications Dustin Blackwell said, "We understand price increases are never fun for anybody, but we're trying to reinforce by adding more value to these plans as well."

He added: "It's something we don't take lightly, and we're listening to the feedback of players and the community to try to provide them with more of what they’re asking for."

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