Booking News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Netflix's new sci-fi show 3 Body Problem has had its fair share of positive reviews, but now it's got the seal of approval from The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. 

There are a growing number of anime stores around the world to feed the continually growing trend of anime love, but Japan still has the most stores. And as the birthplace of anime, it probably always will. Some neighborhoods in Tokyo are almost entirely dedicated to anime and anime sales, including the famous Akihabara, as well as Ikebukuro. It is in the latter that a newly renovated anime store has re-opened, and it is huge — record-breakingly huge.

We now know that Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios is closing the book on Dungeons & Dragons, with no plans to return for an expansion or sequel. Studio head Swen Vincke knows what's coming next, and it's a step toward a plan he's been concocting for years to make what sounds like the ultimate RPG.

Everybody seems to be talking about 3 Body Problem, the new Netflix series based on Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past book trilogy. Fewer people are talking about the two series’ namesake: The unsolvable physics problem of the same name.

Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke dropped the bombshell today that the developer doesn't plan on releasing any Baldur's Gate 3 expansions or DLC, nor a Baldur's Gate 4, but he also made the point that there's already a lot of content in their Game of the Year-winning RPG.

House of the Dragon promised all-out war between its two Targaryen factions, and so far, promo for season 2 is delivering — literally — with trailers for the dueling branches of the family going head to head.

New Game Plus is a strange thing when you think about it: You can rewatch a movie or reread a book, but only a video game can internalize that you’re replaying it. A good NG+ system can be a victory lap, and it can let you recontextualize your experience.

Netflix’s sci-fi epic, 3 Body Problem has arrived with plenty of math problems, giant boats, and encoded radio messages to keep its viewers busy for a while. But with season 1 ending on a bit of a cliffhanger, it’s only natural to start thinking about season 2.

Books are not completely new to Stardew Valley. Prior to the 1.6 update, you could find lost books that gave some background details about Pelican Town but didn’t give you any in-game benefit. Now, there is a new collection of books that grant your character some nice buffs or abilities. You can find a few of these new books hidden in the world, like the new Powdermelon seeds, but there are some exclusive ones you need to buy from a new bookseller NPC. Despite not making any business sense, they are only open for brief windows of time in a specific place. Here’s when and where to find the bookseller.

High on Life is one of the most memorably absurd first-person shooters to come along in years, and it's a game that's practically tailor-made to work in other media. Thankfully, that's just what's happening, as Squanch Games and Titan Comics join forces for a new High on Life comic book series.

The creators of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem know there’s a lot riding on their adaptation. There’s the fact that the books it’s adapted from are a beloved sci-fi series popular around the world. It’s science fiction that gets not only heady but wondrous, often thought to be unadaptable. There’s also the fact that two-thirds of the showrunning team is coming to this from Game of Thrones, another big-budget TV epic, and one that left something of a bad taste in people’s mouths.

Dungeons & Dragons turns 50 this year, and more and more crossovers are being announced to mark the occasion. We already know the iconic roleplaying game will get its first Lego set next month, and now we know D&D will be crossing over with Converse too. The collection includes sneakers, t-shirts, and trucker hats, and D&D elements will even be added to Converse By You meaning you can use them to make your very own D&D-themed footwear.

Disney Plus' Loki streaming series has offered up variant takes on numerous Marvel Comics characters who differ significantly from their original incarnations, but Ke Huy Quan's Ouroboros/OB is one of a few who had never appeared in a comic book - until now.

After much anticipation, X-Men ’97, a direct continuation to X-Men: The Animated Series from the 1990s, hits Disney Plus this week. But it’s not the first time Marvel has dusted off the old series and revived it for a nostalgic new millennium.

Lego has been teasing a team-up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons for the past month, starting with its gelatinous cube teaser with various D&D items turned into Lego inside it. Now we know exactly what the first collaboration between the two massive brands is going to look like. Lego has revealed its Red Dragon's Tale set, and there's not long to wait until you can center your very own game night around it, particularly if you're a Lego Insider.

Gameforge has announced update 2.7, “Rise of the Revenant” for Aion Classic Europe. Bringing a new starting region of Telos, and a new class, the Soldier (and the Revenants they become). The packed update adds new systems, new instances, and a series of updates and improvements.

Last year’s controversy surrounding the Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License not only damaged Wizards of the Coast’s relationship with its biggest fans, but also helped to turbocharge the sales of competing game systems. Chief among them was Paizo’s Pathfinder, which sold through nearly a years’ worth of stock in just a matter of weeks. Now the Washington state-based publisher is throwing some serious funding behind its marquee fantasy role-playing franchise. It’s next effort, Pathfinder Lost Omens: Tian Xia World Guide, boasts a team of more than 40 authors. Polygon sat down with senior designer James Case to learn more.

This week’s TV is a sort of choose-your-IP-adaptation adventure: The X-Men of the ’90s returns, complete with nostalgic animation vibes, in X-Men ’97. If you’re looking for an alternate-timeline version of a classic video game (and a kind of silly one at that), there’s the finale of Halo season 2.

There's been plenty of excitement building around the Lego and D&D historic collaboration, and this Lego Dungeons & Dragons leak is only further building hype. Over the roleplaying game's 50-year run, players have been able to play through exciting adventures across some of the best D&D books. Part of what makes these experiences so memorable is the characters and creatures that inhabit the world. 

A short while after Qualcomm had officially unveiled the Snapdragon X Elite, the company claimed that its latest ARM-based silicon is up to 21 percent faster than Apple’s M3 in multi-core performance. When it comes to being the fastest SoC between the two, Qualcomm was correct in its claims, but not that much regarding accuracy, as you will find out shortly after we take a deeper dive into the latest performance comparison.

Spring is upon us at last, and that means it's time for the Steam Spring Sale of 2024! With all of the Spring rains that are coming to rain out our days, it's a perfect time to play games.

Masters of the Air tells the story of the Eighth Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group, also known as the Bloody Hundredth, which used its fleet of B-17 heavy bombers to cut a swathe of destruction from the English Channel to Berlin during World War II. The nine-part Apple TV Plus miniseries, which airs its final episode Friday, is basically everything that baby Charlie — his nose pressed against the pages of obscure history books all throughout middle school — could’ve ever hoped for. But, now that it’s over, I think I’ve found a way to extend the experience just a little further thanks to B-17 Flying Fortress Leader, an excellent solitaire board game from Dan Verssen Games.

With Netflix’s 3 Body Problem imminent, you might naturally be intrigued by The Three-Body Problem, the science fiction novel by Cixin Liu.

You can now register a time to go spend money at the hugely-popular Pokémon Center pop-up store, which returns to ExCeL London in April.

Blizzard re-released the first two books from the «Diablo: Book of» series, Book of Cain and Book of Tyrael, on March 12. These decade-old books have finally made their return, just in time to potentially give us a refresher on key bits of lore in the Diablo universe. Preorder Diablo: Book of Cain Preorder Diablo: Book of Tyrael At the time of publication, the price is $29.95 USD for the Book of Cain and $27.87 USD for the Book of Tyrael.Diablo: Book of Cain was originally published on December 13, 2011, while Diablo: Book of Tyrael was published on October 1, 2013.

Connections is the latest puzzle game from the New York Times. The game tasks you with categorizing a pool of 16 words into four secret (for now) groups by figuring out how the words relate to each other. The puzzle resets every night at midnight and each new puzzle has a varying degree of difficulty. Just like Wordle, you can keep track of your winning streak and compare your scores with friends.

As a big fan of romantic comedies, both in movie and book form, I have a shortlist of beloved tropes. Enemies to lovers? Sunshine and grumpy? Second chances after a missed connection? Love, love, love.

"Mutants are hated and feared… More than ever!"

It’s become increasingly clear that the Halo TV show has a villain problem. This may seem impossible for a series that’s supposed to be about a hostile race of aliens led by liars who exploit religious fanaticism, but instead the show can’t stop focusing on human bickering, bizarrely relegating the galaxy-conquering aliens to an afterthought for both the characters in the show and the audience.

Dune: Part Twois the biggest movie of the year so far, and TikTok has latched onto every aspect — from Stilgar attributing everything as proof that Paul is the messiah to the appreciation for sandworms. The platform boasts a mix of explainers, jokes, and skits reinterpreting scenes from Dune: Part Two.But one final moment between Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides and Austin Butler’s Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen has surprisingly taken off.

Insight Editions has granted IGN an exclusive new look at the Morrowind chapter for The Elder Scrolls Online: The Official Survival Guide to Tamriel. Featuring vibrant, visceral artwork and advice on how to not get legally assassinated, this in-universe survival guide seems like it could be a must-own for any Elder Scrolls fans. Ja'dasha, the intradiegetic Khajiit author of the book, is your ever-constant guide throughout each of the nine provinces found in Tamriel: High Rock, Skyrim, Hammerfell, Cyrodiil, Valenwood, Summerset Isles, Morrowind, Black Marsh, and Elsweyr.

Chess was a major plot point in the first Harry Potter book and film, and is a natural fit for some puzzles in Hogwarts Legacy. This game is very deep, and potentially time-consuming as well, so instead of asking you to play full games, these puzzles simply present a set scenario for you to solve in a single move. However, not everyone is familiar enough with chess to know how to solve them and reach the end of these Treasure Vaults. Here's how you can solve all the chess puzzles in Hogwarts Legacy.

As a rule, things are never easy for the X-Men — something that seems to apply in real life as well as comic books. In a shocking update from The Hollywood Reporter, Beau DeMayo, creator and showrunner of the highly-anticipated X-Men ’97 animated series on Disney Plus, has been fired a week before the show’s March 20 premiere.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies can seem like a rebuke to Hollywood’s quip era. They are as far as you can get from the Marvel rule that no situation is so grave, no stakes so high that they can’t be punctuated by a smart, self-aware gag. These are solemn, earnest movies, modeled on classical cinematic epics like Lawrence of Arabia and intent on delivering the bizarre visions of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi books in as straight-faced a manner as possible.

Earlier today, Devsisters pulled back the curtain on CookieRun: Witch’s Castle with a showcase that gave players a glimpse of their upcoming sequel. During the stream on their official YouTube channel, we got a preview of the levels where you’ll be smashing through blocks and tiles in the castle.

With its distinctive art style, Cult of the Lamb is a natural fit to be adapted into other media. And that's exactly what's happening with Cult of the Lamb: The First Verse, a new graphic novel that serves as an adaptation and expansion of the original game's lore.

A new range of comics based on roguelike game Cult of the Lamb is on the way from Oni Press in association with publisher Devolver Digital and developer Massive Monster. The initial release, Cult of the Lamb: The First Verse, is a graphic novel designed to expand the mythology of the game. It's written by All Against All and Red Goblin's Alex Paknadel and drawn by Rick & Morty's Troy Little.

The newest release from the Marvel Multiverse Roleplaying Game is about to blend tabletop RPGs and comic books in a hands-on way with Deadpool Roleplays the Marvel Universe, a comic one-shot that's also a new standalone RPG adventure.

There’s plenty of genuinely good ongoing TV to watch this week: Shōgun continues apace (with new episodes dropping on Tuesdays), Abbott Elementary is still making its way through the school year (Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST), and The Gentlemen is all on Netflix, but hey, maybe you’re still working your way through it! But that doesn’t mean there’s not new TV coming this week — and more good TV coming fresh to a screen near you.

Connections is the latest puzzle game from the New York Times. The game tasks you with categorizing a pool of 16 words into four secret (for now) groups by figuring out how the words relate to each other. The puzzle resets every night at midnight and each new puzzle has a varying degree of difficulty. Just like Wordle, you can keep track of your winning streak and compare your scores with friends.

In the world of Pokemon, the trainers travel around the world battling one another, catching wild Pokemon, and earning gym badges. Pokemon Champions like Ash Ketchum even travel to other regions and continents in search of new Pokemon and new opponents to face. And now, when you are traveling both domestically and abroad, you can look like you are a Pokemon Master, too!

Rockstar Games has once again surprised its fan base, and this time, it's not within the virtual confines of the Wild West. While the anticipation for GTA 6 and the rumoured Red Dead Redemption 3 continues, fans were caught off guard by the unexpected return of Red Dead Redemption 2's protagonist, Arthur Morgan.

The books in DC Comics’ Black Label imprint are defined by top-of-their-game writers and artists telling standalone stories too big for continuity at a high production value. And Zatanna: Bring Down the House, coming this summer from Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodríguez, checks all of those boxes with a big marker.

Poor Things is a pretty odd movie. The film, now available to stream on Hulu, and up for 11 Oscars, fits the expectations for a project from Yorgos Lanthimos, the absurdist director of such curiosities as The Lobster and The Favourite. But the movie isn’t half as odd as the 1992 novel it’s based on, by eccentric Scottish writer and artist Alasdair Gray.

Helldivers 2 mechs are finally here, people. Just one day after galactic game master Joel added factory planet Tien Kwan to the war front in a surprise twist that delayed the mecha mayhem, hundreds of thousands of Helldivers have successfully liberated the joint and unlocked the new mech Stratagem for everyone. 

Developer Mighty Koi Studio announces The Night Wanderer, a new sci-fi/fantasy soulslike with RPG elements based on the Polish book series "Lord of the Ice Garden" by Jarosław Grzędowicz.

Dune: Awakening's developer says religion will have a reduced role in the upcoming open-world survival MMO compared to its source material.

It’s hard to know where to start in describing how bad Imaginary is. The new horror movie from Blumhouse and director Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) starts with the simple but promising premise of a haunted stuffed animal and a malicious imaginary friend, but its bland characters, muddy storytelling, and lack of scares leave behind a movie more lifeless than a teddy bear with no stuffing.

The story of My Adventures With Superman will continue at DC Comics, with a miniseries bridging the gap between its first and upcoming second season, written by show producer and writer Josie Campbell.

Marvel Snap’s latest season is now live and it features one of Marvel Comics’ most iconic story arcs: Avengers vs. X-Men. Comic book fans always love a good superhero vs. superhero fight and what could be a more high profile conflict than pitting the Avengers and X-Men against each other?

Netflix has released the final trailer for its upcoming mind-bending sci-fi show 3 Body Problem, and according to the streamer, something big is coming. 

Pre-orders for an unannounced PS4 collection of beloved post-apocalyptic PC S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are currently live in Japan, indicating that the atmospheric shooters could be headed to console for the very first time. Spotted by the ever-watchful Gematsu, pre-orders are currently available at Japanese retailers like Biccamera, Neowing, and Rakuten Book.

Hot on the heels of yesterday's gameplay reveal, we've learned more about Funcom's upcoming MMO, Dune: Awakening, which remains shrouded in mystery. Crucially, we knew the story would take place in an alternate universe set a few years before the events of the Frank Herbert books or Dennis Villeneuve films and would ignore one of the most critical aspects of its universe, religion, for undisclosed spoiler reasons. Now you've got our attention!

Visually, looks like it's set in the world of Denis Villeneuve's movie adaptations, with the studio behind these films, Legendary, having shared assets with the development team at Funcom, as well as inviting them on set. Despite this, the game's story has made at least one massive change from the book and the movies that could have major consequences going forward.

Jeff Wadlow, writer and director of the new Blumhouse horror movie Imaginary, has revealed that classic works of fantasy were a big influence on the film, especially the creation of the Never-Ever, an otherworldly universe and kingdom of imagination that our characters are plunged into as the film continues.

It's been a long time coming for a variety of reasons, but by the end of 2024, Stalker 2 will almost certainly be here. The sequel was first announced in 2012, canceled, rebooted in 2018, and has since had its release date pushed back a few times, most notably when development at Ukrainian studio GSC Game World was disrupted by the Russian invasion. With six months to go until Stalker 2, console players may finally get the chance to play the series' original trilogy.

Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two film wormed its way through theaters over the weekend, and if you’ve still got sand in the brain, there’s plenty more where that came from. Namely, Funcom shared a closer look at the upcoming Dune: Awakening survival game, which is in the works for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Rocksteady has confirmed that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Season 1 will get started on 28th March, bringing The Joker into the game as a playable character. Meanwhile, the Epic Games Store version of the game has been delayed again, now coming out on 26th March.

The recently revealed Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is out on PS5 and PS4 this June, when PlayStation players will get a chance to experience the demonic RPG, once exclusive to Nintendo Switch. Along with an extended cut trailer, Atlus has revealed the fancy physical editions fans can now pre-order for PS5 (PS4 pre-orders will be digital only).

Arthur Morgan actor Roger Clark will narrate an upcoming audiobook called Red Dead's History, written by historian Tore Olsson, which looks at the history of the American West through the lens of Rockstar's masterful Red Dead Redemption series. Clark will narrate the book as the character of Arthur Morgan, which sounds fantastic.

Destiny 2 players, we've got another unintended farm for the record books, and this one's a doozy. Following today's Guardian Games update, featured Lost Sectors would auto-complete the second you'd load in, spitting out enhancement materials and even Exotics immediately after starting the activity. Sadly, Bungie was quick on the draw here: it's been patched. 

Developer Funcom has confirmed that Dune Awakening will let you join guilds under two factions, along with a third that is yet to be revealed. 

DreamWorks revealed the first trailer for its upcoming animated movie The Wild Robot on March 5, and it teases a pretty gorgeous movie, full of vibrantly colorful wildlife and vivid, stylized takes on natural settings. And smack in the middle of it is a robot that seems mighty familiar — but familiar in different ways in practically every shot.

Moomin is one those shows that just sticks in the mind, and is a source of nostalgia. For some that will be due to the books by Tove Jansson,  and for others the animated series that was based on those stories. It’s a series that is wholesome and full of little adventures, with Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley carrying the torch of the books, comics, TV and films into video game form.

NASA has released a free, original tabletop role-playing game, and it’s one part educational experience and another part sci-fi/fantasy epic with magic and dragons.

Developers at Funcom, the studio behind upcoming massively multiplayer online game Dune: Awakening, "sort of sidestep religion" in their take on the beloved science fiction universe.

Rocksteady has confirmed that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Season 1 will get started on 28th March, bringing The Joker into the game as a playable character. Meanwhile, the Epic Games Store version of the game has been delayed again, now coming out on 26th March.

Dune Awakening had to make some changes to its source material, and the developers needed express permission to make that happen.

With Season 2 Reloaded just around the corner for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, new cosmetics and other content are on the horizon. One significant collaboration coming to MW3 and Warzone is Warhammer 40K. You’re probably familiar with the ultra-popular franchise; it’s made its way from books and tabletop games to video games and more. Soon, WH40K will be appearing in Call of Duty.

Roger Clark, the actor who plays Arthur Morgan in , is set to reprise his role for a new project. Rockstar's western series starts in the 1860s with, although the events of this game were interpreted more as folklore in the two titles. The games cover the end of the Wild West, with the prequel starting in 1899, and the epilogue of taking place in 1914.

The Bene Gesserit are masters of intrigue in the Dune novels, executing millennia-long schemes that involve manipulating the Emperor and Great Houses, seeding prophecies, and breeding a chosen one. Writer-director Denis Villeneuve shows off their mysterious power and the scope of their influence in his movie adaptations of theDunebooks, but author Frank Herbert spent a lot more time exploring and explaining how the organization actually works — particularly in his last two novels, which are unlikely to ever be adapted for the screen.