Best Buy’s deals of the day usually focus on various tech, appliances, and occasionally games, but it’s rare that we see gaming furniture like desks or chairs on sale as part of the daily mix. Today is one of those days, however: A selection of Arozzi gaming desks and chairs have gotten steep discounts as part of Best Buy’s deals of the day. The one-day sale features one of our picks for the best gaming desk, the Arozzi Arena, which is a fantastic ultrawide. And, to no one’s surprise, Amazon is price-matching this deal as well, so you can order from whichever retailer you prefer. The Arozzi deals are available through the rest of today, so be sure to check them out along with the rest of today’s daily deals.
The highlight of the Arozzi sale is the Arena desk, our pick for the best ultrawide gaming desk. First off, it’s available in multiple colors, so if you’re not crazy about the red pattern shown above, you can also pick up the desk in plain black or black with different colored legs, like green or blue. The Arozzi Arena is 63 inches wide and provides 14 square feet of space for all of your equipment, including enough room for up to three monitors. The desk also comes with a full-sized custom mouse pad as well, converting the entire surface into a usable pad, and it’s hefty at 7 pounds so you don’t have to worry about it sliding around. The open back of the desk means there are no annoying bars for legs or feet to bump up again, and the desk has a built-in cable management system underneath as well. If you’ve been looking for a larger desk, you really can’t go wrong with the Arozzi Arena.
You can pick up a new gaming chair for less today as well. Arozzi’s Verona Pro V2 is on sale for $300 and supports up to 330 pounds of weight. It’s covered in thick upholstery with PU leather for the seat and back, and both its armrests and the height can be adjusted. Notably, it comes with lower back support that’s both attached and adjustable, which is a plus. It has five lockable rocking positions, so whether you like to lean or sit straight up, you’ll find a comfortable position to be in.
Gaming chairs aren’t known for being particularly soft, but for those who don’t love the feel of artificial leather, the Arozzi Toretta soft fabric chair is a nice alternative. It’s completely covered in durable upholstery furniture fabric, and it comes with not just one but two supportive pillows: one for your head/neck, and a larger one for your lower back that can be adjusted. It also features 3D armrests, allowing you to move them forward/back, up/down, and rotated inward/outward, which further enhances the chair’s ergonomics and ability to fit underneath any desk. The Toretta supports up to 220 pounds of weight, and it can be leaned back at four lockable increments up to 165 degrees.
The new challenges for Fortnite’s Season 2, Week 12 are live, and they vary pretty wildly compared to the Valentine’s Day theme of last week. One of these tasks you to destroy inflatable llamas near gas stations, and it can be tricky if you don’t know where to look. If you do know where they are, however, you can land right on top of them and get the challenge completed quickly.
Where To Destroy Inflatable Llamas
Destroy llamas in both of these spots and you’ll complete the challenge
The easiest spot to go in order to destroy inflatable llamas is Salty Towers, located near the middle of the map. Just glide down there directly from the battle bus and you’ll see two inflatable tubeman llamas located just next to the gas station. If you die, you can very easily return to this location again and finish the job. You can also head over to Sweaty Sands next, where you’ll find another llama on the western edge. However, there are several other gas stations on the map, some of which have llamas.
You’ll see the llamas right next to the gas station at Salty Towers
And that’s all there is to it! Once you’ve destroyed three of them, you will get 20,000 XP as your reward. It’s one of several new challenges available this week, which also include damaging other players with your harpoon and finding a portrait in a shipwreck.
Netflix has renewed Fate: The Winx Saga for a second season, which will begin production in Ireland later this year. The first season debuted on the streaming service on January 22, so it’s safe to say that the teen drama has quickly proven popular.
Fate: The Winx Saga follows the coming-of-age journey of five fairies attending Alfea, a magical boarding school where they, according to the official synopsis, “must learn to master their powers while navigating love, rivalries, and the monsters that threaten their very existence.” The cast set to reprise their roles include Abigail Cowen as Bloom, Hannah van der Westhuysen as Stella, Precious Mustapha as Aisha, Eliot Salt as Terra, and Elisha Applebaum as Musa. Additional casting news for season two will be announced at a later date.
The Netflix version is a live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon animated series which ran for 208 episodes and four hour-long specials since starting in 2004 until 2009 and later being revived in 2011 and is still going strong. The Netflix version is just getting going–its first season spanned six episodes, and Season 2 will, according to a release, will consist of eight one-hour episodes.
One of the big announcements from the February Nintendo Direct on Wednesday was the reveal of Splatoon 3, the latest sequel in Nintendo’s colorful shooter series. Some people were surprised that Nintendo is pushing ahead with a third entry despite the franchise not dominating headlines in the way that Mario Kart, Zelda, and Smash often do. The surprise, in the eyes of some, may also stem from the fact that Nintendo chose to announce a sequel to Splatoon as opposed to its other franchises.
Follow The Money
But it’s really no big shock that Splatoon 3 is happening. As with most entertainment products, following the money is a good place to start. The original Splatoon for Wii U sold an impressive 4.95 million copies. That’s a big number by itself, and it’s more impressive when you consider the Wii U itself only sold 13.5 million systems over its lifetime.
Splatoon 2 for the Nintendo Switch was an even bigger hit, selling 11.90 million copies as of December 31, 2020. Combined, the two games have reached 16.85 million units sold, which is a massive result that demonstrates there is a clear business opportunity to make a third one.
Do you have a Demon Slayer-sized hole in your heart while you patiently wait for the movie to come out? Or maybe you’re just on the hunt for the next gloriously gory yet strangely heartwarming anime to add to your queue? Then now’s the time to get in on Jujutsu Kaisen! You might think you’ve seen this story before, but we’re here to tell you why this increasingly popular action-packed shonen anime deserves your attention.
Just how popular is Jujutsu Kaisen? “At launch, the series was trending on Twitter across four countries,” a Crunchyroll representative tells IGN. “[It] is one of the most popular series on Crunchyroll and has remained as one of the top titles over the last two anime seasons.”
A series of infographics released by Crunchyroll in January, 2021, indicates that Jujutsu Kaisen was a top anime in North America in 2020, alongside My Hero Academia S4. It also made the list of “frequently favorite” anime for the service in 71 counties and territories.
Read on for a breakdown of what the series is about, where you can watch it, and more…
What Is the Jujutsu Kaisen Anime?
Literally translated as “Sorcery Fight,” Jujutsu Kaisen started in Japan as a hugely popular shonen manga series by Gege Akutami. Its first season as a highly anticipated anime kicked off in Japan in 2020. The story might sound familiar… at first. A charismatic young man finds a new home in a secret school dedicated to studying sorcery. He becomes a part of this supernatural world after he eats a finger belonging to a cursed spirit.
Yes, you read that right.
Jujutsu Kaisen is the story of Yuji Itadori, an easygoing high school student who joins the occult club at school. When they accidentally summon grotesque creatures by messing with a cursed object, Itadori fights to save his friends’ lives. A sorcerer, drawn to the school by the dangerous object, reveals that it grants powerful cursed energy when swallowed. Desperate to save everyone, Itadori swallows the talisman—a decomposed finger. As a result, he’s possessed by Sukuna, the king of curses, and his life changes forever.
Curses are monstrosities formed by an overwhelming amount of negative emotions, like shame or regret. The curses are drawn to places where those feelings are strongest. Unsuspecting humans are frequently attacked and killed by these horrors, and it’s up to brave and powerful sorcerers to destroy them before they cause more harm.
As the new vessel for the malevolent spirit, Itadori shares his body with one of the most powerful curses of all. He’s sentenced to death by the curse-fighting sorcerers, who deem him too dangerous to leave alive, but an unconventional teacher at the sorcery school has an idea to postpone the execution.
Sukuna’s 20 fingers are scattered around the world. If Itadori can track down and ingest every finger, he’ll absorb even more of the curse into his body. If Itadori is then killed, the curse will be completely destroyed along with him. The young student accepts the mission to put an end to Sukuna once and for all. He enrolls in Jujutsu Tech High School to learn sorcery techniques to aid in the search for the remaining fingers.
You’ve never seen a “magic school” like this. Sure, the mainstays are all here: a likeable protagonist, close friends, unusual allies, and quirky teachers. There’s even a multi-episode arc featuring a battle against a rival school. But there are also elements that break the mold and indicate the stakes are very high in this world. Without spoiling too much, fans of Jujutsu Kaisen find out quickly that consequences matter in this story and no character is safe from them.
That intensity, combined with flashy punches and kicks and disturbing imagery, could be overwhelming in any other series. But Jujutsu Kaisen flawlessly balances horror and action with humor and heart. Itadori is instantly charming. He can be naïve, thoughtful, and adorable, all while being possessed by an ancient evil. His mentor, Satoru Gojo, shares that same balance: awe-inspiring power paired with a playful personality. Gojo is already a fan favorite.
On the flip side of those lighthearted moments are gorgeous visuals that elicit a visceral reaction. Unsettling body horror, gore, and grotesque creatures ramp up the action even more and stick with you long after each episode is over. These moments ooze with dark energy that’s almost palpable. When—or if—the evil is defeated, there’s a real sense of relief that something horrifying is over.
How to Watch Jujutsu Kaisen
When you’re ready to give the first episode a try, you’ll find it right now on Crunchyroll. The first 13-episode arc recently wrapped up and the next arc only just began in January. Crunchyroll releases subtitled episodes the same day they air in Japan, so you’ll always be up to date. The series is available dubbed in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German, and you can also find the English dub streaming now on HBO Max.
If you can’t wait week to week to find out what happens next, over 100 chapters of the currently running manga are at your fingertips thanks to Viz and Shonen Jump.
As we mentioned earlier, the anime is increasingly popular these days. Of course, nothing is definite in the world of entertainment, so it could be that the series loses steam. But the numbers certainly seem to be on its side for now.
So if you love horror and humor, don’t miss your chance to jump on the Jujutsu Kaisen hype train now.
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Kelly Knox is a freelance entertainment writer who also contributes to StarWars.com, DCComics.com, Nerdist, and more. Follow her on Twitter at @kelly_knox to talk Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons, and comics.
The first trailer for the Mortal Kombat movie reboot features iconic characters from the hit fighting game franchise duking it out in live-action. The action-packed teaser is filled with all sorts of hints for what’s to come for Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sonya Blade and the rest, so IGN interviewed director Simon McQuoid about everything in store for audiences.
McQuoid offers plenty of behind-the-scenes trivia, explains some notable differences between the movie and the games, and shares how this Mortal Kombat movie lives up to its ultraviolet roots by making good use of its R rating.
If you haven’t already, check out the red band trailer below:
Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) demonstrates his icy powers. (Image credit: Warner Bros.)
The trailer opens with Major Jackson “Jax” Briggs (Mehcad Brooks) investigating a building with an interior bizarrely coated in ice, but any Mortal Kombat fan knows that means Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) is nearby.
“This is really the first time [Jax has] encountered Sub-Zero,” McQuoid said of the scene. “So he’s starting to learn stuff about what this character and this creature can do.”
Jax gets introduced to the blue-clad ninja in a way he will never forget, as Sub-Zero uses his ice powers to effortlessly, impossibly stop a shotgun blast fired in his face at point-blank range. McQuoid emphasized how it was important to introduce the revered and well-known fighters of Mortal Kombat in a way that left a strong impression of their character while also demonstrating their unique abilities.
“[Sub-Zero] has no problem freezing the gun, he’s in total control,” McQuoid said. “This was a whole setup to educate what Sub-Zero is doing here and show he, literally in the face of danger, has no problem.”
And then comes the first of many violent delights in the trailer: Sub-Zero sends a surge of ice down Jax’s arms, causing them to instantly freeze and shatter. Again, Mortal Kombat diehards know that something bad will usually happen to Jax’s arms–in one take on his origin they are damaged beyond repair by Prince Goro, while in another Ermac uses telekinesis to rip them clean off–all so he can wind up with his signature robotic arms, as seen later in the trailer.
“In this film we needed to drive a few certain characters and narratives, and so given that [Jax losing his arms] had been done a couple of different ways in the past, we felt we had a bit of license to do that again here,” McQuoid said. “We’ve really tried to be very truthful and true to the canon where we can be, but every now and again, we might deviate slightly where we felt that it was okay to do so.”
Sub-Zero is a character with a lot of history in Mortal Kombat lore. The mantle has been held by two different brothers, each with their own agenda and moral alignment. McQuoid says the movie version is inspired by the original Sub-Zero named Bi-Han, and given how we watched him maim a hero in merciless fashion, it won’t surprise you to hear he’s a bad guy. In fact, McQuoid described Sub-Zero as the key villain of the film.
Adding Some New Blood
Cole Young (Lewis Tan) has an air of mystery about him. (Image credit: Warner Bros.)
While this new Mortal Kombat movie has plenty of familiar characters and story beats, even those who have been fans since the first video game debuted back in 1992 and can name every colored ninja from memory will have some surprises waiting for them. The film will introduce an original character named Cole Young (Lewis Tan) who bears a mysterious dragon marking on his chest.
“We felt it was okay to bring in a new character given that Mortal Kombat has over the years introduced new characters quite a bit,” McQuoid said. And he’s right–what started as a lineup of seven fighters in the first game has grown into a roster of almost 100, with new faces being added in each installment.
Cole finds an ally in Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee), and she educates Cole on what will become the main conflict of the film: the Mortal Kombat tournament, which a select group of human warriors must win to prevent Earth from being invaded by the evil forces of Outworld.
McQuoid was tight-lipped when it came to discussing Cole and the dragon symbol, preferring to preserve the mystery until fans get to watch the movie themselves, but he did share that Cole is an underground MMA fighter before he’s swept up into the supernatural contest. Intriguingly, we watch as Cole is startled by a vision in the mirror of a fiery, yellow-clad warrior–we’ll learn why that particular character appears to him when we watch the movie, McQuoid promised.
Dressed to Kill
Scorpion (Hiroyuki Sanada) prepares his signature weapon. (Image credit: Warner Bros.)
That yellow-clad warrior is of course Scorpion, by far the most popular Mortal Kombat fighter, played by Hiroyuki Sanada in the film. McQuoid explained how Scorpion is traditionally depicted as a sleek ninja but for the film they turned to Japanese history to inspire a new look.
“Hiroyuki Sanada was really incredibly helpful in getting the Japanese history right on this character,” McQuoid said. “We really wanted to be very true to his heritage and make it feel very genuine. That’s really why it was born out of this touch of samurai about it. Obviously there’s been many, many versions of Scorpion’s costume and how he looks, but out of authenticity came this version of Scorpion that kind of felt real, but also felt very powerful.”
Making such a bold change to a beloved character’s appearance was not done without careful consideration. Bringing Scorpion and the other fighters of Mortal Kombat to life in authentic fashion challenged McQuoid and his team to find practical purpose in every element of their design.
“The costumes needed a lot of detail in them, they needed a lot of texture and layering, so that they felt they had purpose rather than just being a costume,” McQuoid said. “[Scorpion’s costume] needed to have the armor plating with the detail in it and had a sort of dignity and elegance about it, which matched his character from the beginning.”
A Rivalry of Ice and Fire
Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) prepares for battle. (Image Credit: Warner Bros.)
The rivalry between Scorpion and Sub-Zero is one of the most enduring and iconic in all of video games, and it’s going to be a key component of the new movie. The film starts by showing how the rivalry began, with Hanzo Hasashi (the man who becomes Scorpion) defending his Shirai Ryu village from an attack by Bi-Han’s clan, the Lin Kuei.
“It’s really about seeing [Scorpion’s] evolution on the screen and the ingredients, both emotional and physical as to why he becomes Scorpion. And so that is explained across the opening of our film. And it’s a pretty brutal, nasty fight,” McQuoid teased.
The trailer shows how a moment of improvisation during that heated battle leads to the creation of Scorpion’s signature “spear” weapon, made from a kunai attached to a rope.
“We did a bit of research into what a kunai actually is, and it was originally, not exclusively, but it was often used as a gardening tool in 14th century, Japan,” McQuoid explained. “That’s why [Scorpion] has the kunai on the end of that rope, because that’s all he has at the time. You’ll see how he sort of adapts and turns that rope and that gardening tool into a pretty lethal weapon that really does the job.”
When it came to depicting Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s abilities, McQuoid wanted to emphasize their elemental nature, showing a battle of fire against ice.
“I wanted it to feel real and I wanted to feel very elemental, not silly or too shiny. It’s always got to have some mongrel about it, so it feels completely real and believable,” McQuoid said, highlighting the shot of Sub-Zero slowly creating a crude ice dagger.
Even when the fighters weren’t using their powers, it was important to McQuoid for the characters to evoke a strong physical presence.
“Joe Taslim did an amazing job [as Sub-Zero.] He represented Indonesia for judo, so the guy is an athlete and he shows it, and the presence he brought to that character was just extraordinary,” McQuoid praised. “And [Scorpion actor] Hiroyuki Sanada is a very, very gifted swordsman and athlete in his own ways. Physicality between these two guys was quite extraordinary to watch. Just years and years of experience and ability to do these moves was kind of all baked into them. … That level of brutality and physicality is what I wanted to bring to the film, and those guys certainly delivered.”
Fan Service and Fatalities
Kano (Josh Lawson) wins! (Image Credit: Warner Bros.)
The Mortal Kombat games are known for their over-the-top violence and brutal beatdowns as much as their sense of humor and signature phrases.
No character glimpsed in the trailer seems to embody all of those elements more than Kano, played by Josh Lawson. Kano is shown executing his signature Fatality by viciously ripping the still-beating heart out of his enemy and gleefully declaring, “Kano wins!”
“The Fatalities were always in from the get-go, there was never any question from anyone at all. There was no resistance from the studio. They wanted them, I wanted them,” McQuoid said. “There’s a fatality from Kano, he ripped someone’s heart out. But what was important to me was that even when the Fatalities arrived, we couldn’t just do a Fatality and have it mean nothing. … It actually becomes an important ingredient in the rhythm of the action scene.”
Well, consider that one heck of a bloody exclamation point on the first Mortal Kombat trailer. Mortal Kombat is set to release in theaters and on HBO Max on April 16 in the US.
Joshua is a Senior Editor and Producer of Features at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Star Wars are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.
After Jan Willem Nijman and Kitty Calis launched their saw blade dodging game Disc Room last year, the conversation (as it does) turned to what project they would move onto next. Both Disc Room and their previous project, Minit, had been well-received, affording the independent duo a bit of freedom to pursue something a bit less structured…or in this case, explicitly dedicated to making money.
Today, the pair have launched Minit Fun Racer (Get it? Minit Fun(d) Racer? Like fundraiser?) in collaboration with their former Minit development colleagues Jukio Kallio and Dominik Johann. The game is out today on Steam and itch.io, published by Devolver Digital, and all proceeds from the game are going to charity.
“For a long time I wanted to make a game for charity,” Calis says, speaking in an interview with IGN. “I think it was just a matter of getting the band back together and the right situation. And it was really fun to do.”
Nijman and Calis aren’t able to specify exactly which charity the money would be going to just yet, but they did confirm that multiple charities would be supported. Calis says that their plan is to publish a monthly update to let people know how much money was donated to where during each period of the game’s sales, and the intention is to keep the game up on sale indefinitely and continue donating for as long as it keeps making money.
Minit Fun Racer is a small, timed racing game in the same visual style and world as Minit, where the player must dodge traffic and obstacles, collect coins to add more time to the clock, and try to get as far as they can through a busy street and desert in order to watch a sunset in a scenic spot.
“Especially nowadays, one of the things I’m really enjoying is the sunset,” Calis says of the game’s small but simple end goal. “It sounds super silly, but it’s there every day. Before COVID, I didn’t always take the time to enjoy the little things in life.”
Minit Fun Racer’s collected coins can be spent on buffs in a small in-game shop, and there are plenty of goofy little easter eggs and achievements scattered throughout to keep the game interesting for several hours of play.
“A lot of the game is actually about, like Minit, these little details,” Nijman says. “You can complete goals to get your driver’s license, and we really wanted that stuff to reflect something interesting in the world, so it’s not just ‘Play ten games,’ it’s more like, ‘Hit two cop cars,’ and you don’t just get an achievement, but a helicopter starts chasing you.”
Calis adds that players who open the game at a certain time of night might even find their races haunted by ghosts.
Minit Fun Racer is short and sweet, and Nijman says it only took the group a few months to make. The timing was perfect, he said, as he and Calis had just come off of working on Disc Room, Kallio had wrapped up Fall Guys, and Johann was done with Stanley Parable. The cards simply aligned for the group, and their collective experience with making Minit had been so positive they all were happy to take some time to work on the charity racer.
The idea for the game stemmed from an illustration Calis made for The New York Times last year, but Nijman and Calis say they always wanted to return to the world of Minit one way or another. The two have been vocal in the past about their belief in healthy work habits, crediting individuals for their work, and making games without crunch. Nijman quips that the two “crunched so little [on Disc Room] we had two months spare to make a game for charity.”
And their previous publishing partner Devolver is on board too, and has also agreed not to take any profit on the game so that its proceeds can be donated.
“We love this entire team and have a long history with each of them across a myriad of different projects,” says Devolver marketing manager Robbie Paterson. “It’s a great game and a great way to do some good, so we were honored to come on board as part of this project.”
Nijman emphasizes that he wants Minit Fun Racer to be a game that people buy because they think it will be fun to play — not just because they want to donate to a cause.
“We want to encourage people to do good, but this game should also stand by itself,” he says. “If you just buy it because you want to have a good time and accidentally help out a charity, that’s also good for us. It needed to be able to stand on its own.”
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Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Destiny developer Bungie has big plans for the future. The company has re-confirmed its plans to launch its mysterious new IP by 2025, while the company is expanding the physical size of its Bellevue, Washington office and opening a brand-new publishing outfit in Amsterdam. Additionally, Bungie has teased plans to extend the Destiny franchise beyond games, while there has been a leadership shakeup on the development team as well.
New IP
Bungie said it plans to launch a new IP before 2025, but nothing is known about this game. In 2018, the Chinese internet company invested $100 million into Bungie to help the company make non-Destiny games, so this new IP might be one of them.
Jujutsu Kaisen is the story of Yuji Itadori, an easygoing high school student who joins the occult club at school. When they accidentally summon grotesque creatures by messing with a cursed object, Itadori fights to save his friends’ lives. A sorcerer, drawn to the school by the dangerous object, reveals that it grants powerful cursed energy when swallowed. Desperate to save everyone, Itadori swallows the talisman—a decomposed finger. As a result, he’s possessed by Sukuna, the king of curses, and his life changes forever.
