The official Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom edition Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is available once again for right around retail price from Walmart’s online store. This is one of the few times we’ve seen the controller available for close to its original launch price this year–it’s $77, versus $75 MSRP–making this a great chance to pick one up if you missed out the first time. The controller is sold by a third-party seller but is shipped directly from Walmart, and all orders include free 30-day returns.

As an alternate solution, you can grab a pre-owned model of the controller for $65 at GameStop. GameStop Pro members can save a few bucks and get it for just $61.74.

The Tears of the Kingdom Edition Switch Pro Controller features a semi-translucent body with black and gold decals based on the Zonai ruins from the the game, and black and white colored handles. Aside from the unique looks, the pad is otherwise identical to the standard Switch Pro controller, including support for HD rumble, gyro controls, and amiibo scanning.

We’re not sure how long the Tears of the Kingdom Edition Switch Pro controller will be in stock at either store, so grab them while you can.

Nintendo Switch Pro Controller – Zelda Edition

Alternatively, you can pick up the standard Nintendo Switch Pro Controller for $63 at Walmart (was $70). It’s also worth noting that Amazon and Walmart have deals on Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers.

If you’re looking for more deals on officially licensed Zelda-themed Switch controllers, you can grab the Tears of the Kingdom edition of Hori’s Split Pad Pro at Amazon for $54 (was $60). You’ll find even more deals in our roundup of the best Nintendo Switch deals available ahead of Prime Day 2024. We also have a roundup of great controller deals for Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

From Software’s DLC for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, has been facing performance issues for PC since it launched last week. It appears that the issues may be due to external mouse-control software that players are using.

The official Japanese From Software Player Support X/Twitter account further explains how this may be the issue that PC players are running into. The tweet (machine-translated) reads:

“[ELDEN RING] In the PC version, the frame rate may not be stable when playing the game while running a mouse-control related app. In that case, please try playing the game after stopping the mouse-control related app.”

The day-one patch for Shadow of the Erdtree added various new features to the game. These included a new “Recent Items” tab that helped players easily find new items. In addition, players can now ride Torrent in the final boss fight of the base game. More recently, From Software added another patch, which made Shadow of the Erdtree a bit easier for those who may be stuck.

In our Shadow of the Erdtree review, Tamoor Hussain wrote, “Elden Ring was a masterful open-world game that I would describe as generation-defining–it will go down in history as one of the all-time greats. But, when the final blow was struck in the Land of Shadow and my journey came to an end, I couldn’t help but reflect on how it has made me feel and what has stuck with me.”

Much like its predecessor, the Sega Genesis Mini 2 is a stellar mini console. Unlike the Genesis Mini, the Mini 2 was not sold in stores. In fact, it was only available to purchase via Amazon Japan, and Sega manufactured significantly less quantities compared to the original. Those decisions at least partially contributed to the Genesis Mini 2 flying under the radar when it launched in Fall 2022. That’s a shame because the Genesis Mini 2 comes with a superior controller and has more built-in games, including some Sega CD gems, previously unreleased games, and a few new ports. If all of that is of interest to you now’s a good time to add the Genesis Mini 2 to your collection.

Amazon is selling the Sega Genesis Mini 2 for $88.56 plus shipping. Though you get to place your order on the Amazon US storefront, the mini console will actually ship from Amazon’s warehouses in Japan. As such, the shipping cost is fairly high at $22.30.

The Sega Genesis Mini is loaded with 61 Sega games, including both Genesis and Sega CD titles. Some of the standouts: Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic 3D Blast, The Revenge of Shinobi, Earthworm Jim 2, Golden Axe 2, Shining Force CD, and Super Street Fighter II – The New Challengers.

On the hardware side, the mini-console comes with a six-button Genesis controller and is compatible with the three-button controllers released with the original Genesis Mini.

You can check out the full Sega Genesis Mini 2 lineup below.

Sega Genesis Mini 2 games list

Bonus Games

We know that Doom can run on almost anything these days, but it seems that one ambitious coder has tried his best to get Super Mario 64 running on Game Boy Advance hardware. And while it’s far from the smoothest experience, it’s a pretty impressive feat of engineering.

Programmer Joshua Barretto showed off a video of the build in action. The swimming textures and basic Mario model take some getting used to, but the overall effect is clearly recognizable as Super Mario 64. Barretto notes in the video description that the build uses “real” 3D, rather than the fixed 2.5D-perspective tricks of games like Doom. When you consider that then-contemporary GBA games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 had to rely on zoomed-out isometric camera angles to achieve the illusion of 3D, you can see how far this build is pushing the GBA hardware.

While the project is still in early stages, Barretto says there’s no timeline for its completion, or if it’ll continue to be worked on. Regardless, it’s unlikely to ever be released in a playable state, given Nintendo’s litigious reputation. For example, Nintendo recently shut down the popular Switch emulator Yuzu and 3DS emulator Citra by winning a judgment against the developer group Tropic Haze.

The last couple of years have seen several remakes of Resident Evil games, but for anyone looking to experience the franchise in its original low-polygon glory, the classic games are making a comeback as part of a joint effort between Capcom and GOG. Now accessible through GOG, the first Resident Evil is available to purchase and will be followed by Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis soon. A bundle with all three that saves you 17% overall is available to purchase for $25.

Like other GOG releases, these are all DRM-free versions of the survival-horror games, and they’ve been upgraded with quality-of-life improvements and enhanced compatibility for modern PCs. GOG says this version of Resident Evil is the uncut edition and contains even more blood, graphic violence, and gory scenes than the PlayStation original.

Speaking to Suzi “SphereHunter” Hunterr, GOG detailed some of the challenges in resurrecting the classic Resident Evil games. Technical issues and bugs had to be addressed so that Capcom’s high standards could be met, and by the time the QA process had been completed, GOG had submitted dozens of builds for approval. Some of the enhancements for the games include improved DirectX rendering, new rendering options, and full support for modern controllers.

Other changes are focused on improved timing in cutscenes, better save-game managers, and the option to switch between different localizations of the games. Reports of a Resident Evil re-release picked up steam last week when an age rating for the game was spotted online, making this GOG version the first time Resident Evil has been available on PC digitally.

Meanwhile, Resident Evil Zero is reportedly one of two more remakes in development, and rumors about the still-unannounced Resident Evil 9 claim that it could be an open-world game.

When it launches on July 2, The First Descendant will enter a genre that, lately, has had more failures than successes. High-profile games like Anthem, Redfall, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and Marvel’s Avengers all operated in the same space that the upcoming loot shooter is hoping to enter, and all struggled to make lasting positive impressions. Even the king of loot shooters, Destiny 2, has struggled–though developer Bungie just put out an acclaimed expansion, the game might have been at its lowest point ever just a year ago. Loot shooter players can be a tough crowd.

I recently played about an hour of The First Descendant at Summer Game Fest 2024’s Play Days event, which wasn’t enough to get a full sense of whether developer Nexon will avoid the pitfalls that seem to doom so many of these games. It did, however, give a sense of moment-to-moment gameplay that seems to change significantly depending on which of the 14 characters you play throughout the game. The huge amount of customizations that come with guns, characters, and modifications you can make to your loadout suggest that The First Descendant will offer a whole variety in ways to play it. That, coupled with what sounds like a large amount of content at release, including for its endgame, has me cautiously optimistic that The First Descendant can succeed where so many other recent games have failed.

I played as Eseimo in the demo, one of the three new “Descendants” that Nexon is adding to the game at launch, who focuses on using high explosives and tanky, overwhelming force. The demo also included some new content coming at launch, and I was able to jump into one of the game’s dungeons on my own and fight through it. The mission sends you into a snowy facility overrun by enemies, culminating with a boss fight at the end. It gave a pretty good sense of Eseimo’s high-damage, crowd-controlling capabilities, and how he might contribute in a group.

The core of The First Descendant is third-person shooting, the kind where you do a lot of running around and dodge-rolling as you fight. The shooting felt solid generally, capturing the same vibes as something like Outriders, with punchy guns that can easily mow down smaller enemies but require a little extra effort against beefier opponents. I mostly used an assault rifle that kept the bullets flying as much as possible, but The First Descendant includes 11 firearm classes that give some variety to players and their loadouts.

As you might expect, Eseimo’s abilities include whipping grenades into crowds–these came in clutch in the dungeon, where tougher opponents joined a flood of enemies. The trek through the facility included a portion in which I had to defend a large room that had a big dome forcefield in the center while waiting for a door to unlock. The room flooded with enemies, including heavy units carrying large medieval-like shields and even larger, tougher enemies that took a lot of fire to bring down.

You get both a recharging shield and a health bar in The First Descendant, with the latter becoming vulnerable while the former is broken. The recharge on my shields took quite a while, however, which meant that tactical repositioning (running away) is often extremely important to keeping alive as a solo player. It made for a fast and frenetic experience throughout the dungeon, and one that I had a pretty good time with.

During that fight, success required keeping clear of smaller melee troops while focusing on the shield-bearing troopers to thin out the numbers of tougher, more dangerous enemies, all while being conscious of positioning because characters could pass through the big forcefield, but it would block bullets and other attacks. When things really got tough, I could activate Eseimo’s most powerful active ability, which essentially turned him into a truck. You charge forward with a dash move that lets you smash through enemies, but you’re unable to stop until you trigger the ability again to let loose a powerful explosion all around you. It was great for cutting through tons of enemies and putting massive hurt on some of the tough-to-kill variants.

The dungeon culminated in a boss fight that gave me some sense of what mechanical elements The First Descendant will employ to make its gunfights a little more interesting. The seven-foot-tall, minigun-wielding fighter was tough to take head-on and, to make matters worse, was flanked by snipers, more of the roving melee troopers, and enemies carrying shields, which required a lot of running around the arena.

That arena was also oddly shaped, making the already tough fight even tougher. The boss came up an elevator attached to a cliff face, its path winding around along the side of a mountain. Staying put wasn’t an option, as the boss would continuously launch mortars that would stun and pummel you if you didn’t clear out before they landed. Yet venture too far to one side and it was a deadly fall. However, if you followed the snaking path upward, you’d reach a position where you could clear out enemies and shoot down at the boss and his minions as they flooded up the path.

The toughest part of the fight came about halfway through, when the boss summoned a set of drones that shielded him from damage. This was where things got a bit more technical; to destroy the shield, I had to shoot the drones, yet only one was vulnerable at a time and only briefly. Zooming in for a quick sniper shot or two was enough to bring the drones down, but with the constant reinforcements of enemy troops and the mortar and minigun attacks from the boss, a lot of coordination was required just to stay alive. As a team, the boss fight might have been easier, given they used careful coordination to keep everyone alive and fighting. For a single player, however, it could get pretty challenging. However, after two rounds of destroying drones, and several close calls, I finally toppled the boss.

The hour-long demo gave me enough time to mess with one character and complete one mission. What I played felt good, if a little fleeting and hard to pin down. From the sounds of things, though, The First Descendant will offer a lot of different content. A presentation during the demo noted that Nexon has expanded and deepened the story content in the game from what was previously shown in its beta tests, and will be adding specific stories for each of its 14 characters as well.

For loot shooters like this, endgame is a major consideration–it’s the content that will keep players coming back long-term. The dungeon I saw is one of the game’s higher-level areas, and Nexon said there will be 16 of those dungeons available at launch. They’ll include normal and hard difficulty levels, with the tougher versions dishing out better loot. There are also Void Intercept missions, which are The First Descendant’s real claim to fame. These are battles against absolutely massive creatures and look like they have the ability to create some intense, memorable moments that’ll help keep The First Descendant interesting over the long term.

I didn’t really get a sense of the loot system in my limited play time, but I was impressed by the level of customization and build-crafting that The First Descendant seems to make available. In addition to all the guns and the many characters with their own special abilities, there are “modules.” The First Descendant has something like 560 of these, which you can equip in different combinations to further customize how you play with a series of passive bonuses and alterations to your guns and abilities.

On paper, all of that sounds very strong, and I enjoyed my short time with the game and the one mission I was able to play. If nothing else, the demo left me with the impression that The First Descendant is launching with a lot to do, solid third-person shooter gunplay, and character-specific elements that mix things up pretty significantly.

The First Descendant launches on July 2 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PS4.

Vanillaware’s latest tactical RPG, Unicorn Overlord, released earlier this year and is already on sale for 50% off at Amazon. Walmart was offering this deal, too, but has since raised the price back to $40. Only the Nintendo Switch version is eligible for this massive discount, but you can get the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions for $40 each at multiple retailers. That said, Unicorn Overlord feels right at home on Switch, as it’s a great game for portable play–especially at its all-time low price of $30. Deals on the Switch version of Unicorn Overlord have routinely sold out faster than Xbox and PlayStation deals, and Amazon could change the price at any time.

Unicorn Overlord for Nintendo Switch — $30 ($60)

Unicorn Overlord for PS5 and Xbox Series X

Vanillaware is known for creating unique experiences that combine elements from multiple genres. The studio’s previous games include critical hits such as 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Dragon’s Crown, Odin Sphere, and Muramasa: The Demon Sphere.

Unicorn Overlord might have a quirky name, but it pulled in great reviews due to its strong strategy-RPG elements and gorgeous graphics (despite a lackluster narrative). Our Unicorn Overlord review gave it an 8/10 for those exact reasons.

“The visuals in Unicorn Overlord dazzle right from the opening cutscene, with Vanillaware’s well-loved 2D art bringing a detailed fantasy realm to life,” wrote critic Heidi Kemps. “There’s so much satisfaction and gameplay depth here to sink your teeth into that you may find yourself thinking deeply about the game’s team dynamics even when you’re not playing. When the primary feeling a game leaves you with is wanting to play more of it, you know you have a gem on your hands.”

It’s also worth noting that the collector’s edition is available for $90 (was $130) for Xbox Series X at Woot. Officially called the Monarch Edition, this version is pretty darn cool, as it comes with an original Unicorn Overlord card with over 250 cards, an art boo, music album, and DLC voucher. Amazon has the collector’s edition in stock for retail price for PS5 and Xbox Series X. The Nintendo Switch version is difficult to find in stock.

It’s also worth noting that the collector’s edition is back in stock for PS5 and Xbox Series X at Amazon. It clocks in at $130, but it includes tons of goodies such as an art book, music album, DLC voucher, and even an original Unicorn Overlord card game with over 250 cards.

We’re not sure how long this deal will stick around (or how long the collector’s edition will remain in stock), so head over to the retailers soon if you want to cash in on the offers.

Backbone has announced a new limited-edition version of its controller, designed in collaboration with award-winning musician–and noted Lord of the Rings fan–Post Malone. This $200 version of the Backbone One sports a translucent green design, a glow-in-the-dark logo, and several hardware upgrades like an aluminum D-pad and laser-etched aluminum face buttons. These will be very limited, as only 500 of them are being produced. You can try your luck at buying one now. Backbone started taking orders on June 25 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET.

When it inevitably sells out, you can still pick up a regular Backbone for your phone, although you’ll have to settle for a PlayStation white or an Xbox-esque carbon black finish.

With games like Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Death Stranding on newer iPhone models, Netflix’s underrated library, and even anime streaming service Crunchyroll offering a great selection of games, it’s worth investing in one of these devices for some quick gaming when you’re on the go.

Backbone One controllers

• Backbone One (2nd Gen, USB-C, White)
• Backbone One (2nd Gen, USB-C, Black)
• Backbone One (2nd Gen, Lightning, White)
• Backbone One (2nd Gen, Lightning, Black)
• Backbone One (1st Gen, Lightning, White)
• Backbone One (1st Gen, Lightning, Black)

The second-gen models are the best as they use a USB-C connection to pair with your phone and they support phone cases. This makes them more appealing as you won’t need to strip the protective cover off of your phone every time you want to do a fresh run in Hades. You’re also getting passthrough charging, a 2.5mm headphone jack, premium buttons and triggers, and support for most iPhones and Android devices.

Our Backbone One review praised it for being a “combination of solid hardware and smart app design,” and it has only gotten better with its second-generation update. For more options you can check our list of the best controllers for Android and iPhone.

Nostalgic Atari fans can add the recently released Atari 400 Mini to their collection for only $102 for a limited time. This is the lowest price yet for the recreation of the 8-bit home computer from 1979, but it’s also an Amazon Lightning Deal with limited quantities. The Atari 400 Mini emulates all Atari 8-bit software from the 400 through the 800XL.

Beyond the new Atari 400 Mini, there are plenty of other Atari consoles to consider. This includes the Atari 2600+ that launched last year and plays original cartridges. It costs $130, but it’s a great option if you still have a bunch of your old Atari games lurking in the basement or stashed away in a closet–or if you want to buy some new games, including the wonderful Mr. Run and Jump. A cheaper alternative is the My Arcade Atari Game Station Pro, which is on sale for $74 (down from $100) and is loaded with over 200 Atari games and comes with two joysticks.

If you want to bring your games on the road, the budget-friendly Atari Pocket Player Pro is worth a closer look. Along with a decidedly retro design, the $29 (was $40 handheld comes with 100 games, including Asteroids, Centipede, Tempest, and Breakout. And for something a bit off the beaten path, you’ll find the Tiny Arcade Atari 2600, which is a tiny desktop arcade game that features a 1.5-inch retro monitor and 10 games.

The Atari 400 Mini isn’t the only classic home computer that has received the miniaturized treatment in recent years. You should also check out the Commodore 64 Mini, which contains 64 preloaded games, for only $45, and the A500 Mini. Better known today as simply Amiga, this small-scale revival of Commodore’s 16-bit PC comes with 25 built-in games. Like the Atari 400 Mini, you can sideload games on these retro computers with a USB stick.

Elden Ring’s new Shadow of the Erdtree expansion requires fast reflexes, a well-equipped character, and plenty of patience if you’re looking to conquer it. Or if you want to show off, you could find a novel way to play it, just like Twitch streamer Perrikaryal has done by using the power of her mind to make progress.

Working her way through the Elden Ring DLC–which is quickly earning a reputation for being incredibly challenging–Perrikaryal has already managed to beat several of the early bosses with pure brain power, like those two guys in a Chinese dragon costume. How does the hands-free setup work? According to Kotaku, Perrikaryal’s rig uses motion sensors to track her head and eye movements alongside an electroencephalogram (EEG) device to record the electrical activity of her brain.

It’s not a perfect system and there are times when the code behind it requires fine-tuning, but when it works, it really works. If you’re interested, you can see more on Perrikaryal’s Twitch channel, where she has several highlights of challenging the tough new bosses. If you’re not quite ready to build your own Cerebro in your quest to be the top Tarnished in Shadow of the Erdtree, you can check out GameSpot’s Elden Ring DLC guides hub for some helpful tips and tricks, or you can check out our rundown of 14 things to know before jumping in.

Shadow of the Erdtree has been a critical success since it launched, scoring a perfect 10 in GameSpot’s review. On GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic, it has become the highest-rated expansion for a role-playing game ever, a feat that was previously held for several years by The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine DLC.