Today there are some brand new deals as well as some deals carried over from Amazon Prime Day. This is the first time we've seen a sizeable discount on a Lenovo gaming laptop with the new Alder Lake CPU and RTX 30 series GPU. It's available at Walmart right now. You can also get a free Nintendo Switch Online membership when you pick up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Animal Crossing, both of which are discounted. As for carryover Amazon Prime Day deals, the AirPods Pro is $169.99 and the EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra GPU is $779.99.

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro 16" Intel Core i7-12700H Alder Lake RTX 3070 Gaming Laptop for $1599

Walmart is offering an outstanding deal on the new Lenovo Legion 5 Pro laptop equipped with the 12th generation Intel Core i7 Alder Lake CPU and RTX 3070 GPU. The latest Alder Lake CPU is considerably more powerful than previous generation Core i7 variants, and the RTX 3070 GPU has TGP rating of 140W, which is the maximum TDP rating you'll find for a mobile RTX 3070 graphics card. Higher TDP means more power is supplied to the graphics card, and that directly equates to better performance in games.This means that this laptop is one of the most powerful RTX 3070 gaming laptops you'll find.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Free 12-Month Nintendo Switch Online Membership for $49.99 (or Animal Crossing: New Horizons for $50.99)

Nintendo Switch Online is automatically added to cart

Best Buy is offering a free Nintendo Switch Online 12-month individual membership when you purchase Super Mario Kart Deluxe 8 for $49.99. Alternatively, swap the game with Animal Crossing: New Horizons for $50.99. Nintendo Switch Online is required for online play in games like Super Mario Kart or Splatoon, downloading custom maps in Super Mario Maker 2, playing free retro SNES games, saving your game data to the cloud, and much more.

ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1660 Ti Gaming PC

Walmart is offering this AMD Ryzen 5 3600X GTX 1660 Ti equipped gaming PC for only $799. The GTX 1660 Ti is still a very capable video card that can handle just about any game at 1080p resolution. You certainly won't find a more powerful video card for this price.

New Apple AirPods Pro for $169.99

The current generation Apple AirPods Pro is one of the best sounding "truly wireless" earbuds you'll find, especially at this price point. "Truly wireless" earbuds have no wires whatsoever; even the earbuds aren't hardwired to each other. In addition to the excellent sound quality, the AirPods Pro is the only AirPods with active noise cancelling technology. That, combined with the inherent nature of in-ear earbuds, means that the AirPods Pro will provide better noise isolation than over-ear headphones like the Bose QuietComfort or the Sony WH1000XM5. If you're thinking of getting a pair of new AirPods, we highly recommend jumping on this particular model.

Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 SSD for $119.99

PS5 Compatible

Samsung SSDs need no introduction, and the EVO 980 PRO is the best of the best. It is fully PS5 compatible in terms of form factor and performance, with blistering speeds of up to 7,100MB/s. It goes toe to toe with other (more expensive) options like the WD Black SN850 and the Seagate Firecuda 530.

EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra GPU for $780

The GeForce RTX 3080 GPU really doesn't need any introduction. This is the de facto card to get if you plan to run current generation games at 4K, since it's up to 50% faster than the previous generation RTX 2080 SUPER and doesn't command the exorbitant price of the RTX 3080 Ti or RTX 3090 (both of which are a mere 3%-5% faster in real world performance). It has an HDMI 2.1 port for passing through 4K @ 120Hz, which it has the power to drive even in resource hungry games like Elden Ring, Battlefield 2042 or Cyberpunk 2077.

EVGA's FTW3 Ultra model comes equipped with a ridiculously large 2.7-slot heatsink with triple fan cooling and a protective metal backplate. This amount of dissipation allows the card to run cooler and quieter than the reference model RTX 3080 FE. This also enables the FTW3 Ultra model to have a modest 1800HZ Boost overclock compared to the stock 1710MHz Boost on the 3080 FE. Lastly and certainly the least important detail, let's not forget about the RGB lighting. There's enough there to make this card stand out in both traditional and vertical orientations.

Alienware Aurora R10 RTX 3080 Gaming PC for $1673

This wasn't actually an Amazon Prime Day, but it should have been marketed as such because it is technically a better deal than any gaming PC deal we saw on Prime Day. Amazon has the best price on this RTX 3080 equipped Alienware Aurora gaming PC. It's $150 cheaper than getting the same configuration from Dell directly even compared to Dell's sale price. In addition to the powerful RTX 3080 GPU, this PC boasts a liquid-cooled AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-core processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

1 Month Free Trial to Paramount Plus

For a limited time, Paramount is offering new and returning subscribers a one month free trial to the Paramount Plus streaming service (instead of the normal 7-day trial) when you enter code: "WALMART30". You can choose either the Essential or Premium plan for your trial. You'll be able to watch the Halo TV series that's now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus, as well as other popular shows and movies like Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Spongebob Squarepants Movie, Jackass Forever, Picard, Star Trek Discovery, Infinite starring Mark Wahlberg, and more.

PowerBlock Adjustable Dumbbells From $129.99

Currently Woot, which is owned by Amazon, is offering up to 40% off PowerBlock Sport adjustable dumbbells. The 25lb (per dumbbell) set is only $129.99 and the 50lb (per dumbbell) set is $239.99. They are as well built as the Bowflex and the specs are similar. The 25lb set can be adjusted in 3lb increments and the 50lb set can be adjusted in 5lb increments.. These sell out very quickly at Woot so if you've been eyeing a pair, you better not hesitate. Woot is owned by Amazon, so you can sign in with your Amazon Prime account to get free shipping.

Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda

Score a rare 20% off this popular little Zelda collectible. The Game & Watch is a miniature retro handheld game system that comes preloaded with The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. It's very well designed with a vibrant full color 2.36" LCD screen and intuitive control buttons, all in a tiny footprint that can even fit in your pocket.

Dell S2721DGF 27" 1440p GSYNC Gaming Monitor

This excellent monitor has hit a new price low for Black Friday. It's one of the best 27" gaming monitors you can buy for under $500. The S2721DGF boasts a high quality IPS panel (better than the VA panel found on the popular S3220DGF model). It features wide viewing angles and excellent color rendition including 98% DCI-P3 color coverage, a super fast 1ms response time and up to 165Hz refresh rate through the DisplayPort. It's also FreeSync Premium Pro and G-SYNC compatible.

LEGO and Nintendo are unveiling a colossal 14-foot tall Bowser statue at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, bringing the Super Mario baddie to life with almost 700,000 bricks.

Fans attending Comic-Con (which takes place from July 21 to 24) will be able to see the LEGO Bowser up close. The model also has mechanised parts which allow his arms, hands, head, eyes, and eyebrows to move, and is also installed with a mighty roar. All in all, the statues is made up of 663,900 pieces.

It goes without saying that this truly massive LEGO set will not be for sale, and was built to celebrate an upcoming 2,807 piece Bowser set (which seems measly in comparison but is still pretty big under normal circumstances) and the success of the LEGO Super Mario range overall.

The normal Mighty Bowser is officially still the biggest Mario set to be released so far, eclipsing the Bowser's Airship set that previously took the prize at $99.99 and 1,152 pieces. Not part of the automated Mario LEGO line – but still very much a Mario LEGO set – a Super Mario 64 set was also released last year.

This is just LEGO's latest foray into the gaming world, having previously released sets based on Sonic the Hedgehog (with the Green Hill Zone), Horizon: Forbidden West (with the Tallneck), and more.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Six US lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, have asked the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy to crack down on cryptomining.

In a letter also signed by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Edward Markey, and Jeffrey Merkley alongside Members of Congress Jared Huffman and Rashida Tlaib, the lawmakers requested that cryptomining companies in the U.S. report their energy usage and carbon emissions.

Cryptomining is the process of using power-intensive computers to solve increasingly difficult mathematical puzzles to earn new tokens for currencies such as Bitcoin. While the US is seeing an influx of cryptomining operations, the report makes clear that there is, "no national or state reporting requirement or compilation of the locations of cryptomining facilities in the United States, and no federal regulations specifically governing cryptomining."

Given the power needs of these companies, concerns have been raised about energy usage driving up costs for regular consumers, and environmental damage. Citing their own research, the lawmakers claimed that between seven companies investigated – which includes Greenidge, Riot, Bitdeer, Stronghold, Marathon, Bit Digital, and Bitfury – together they have almost utilized enough energy to power every residence in Houston, Texas, coming in at around 1,045 megawatts.

Additionally, despite a number of the companies claiming that their cryptomining was environmentally friendly – Greenidge says it used a "clean burning natural gas facility", for example – the company still reported 273,326 tons of CO2 equivalent emitted in the 12 months prior to November 2021, equivalent to 60,000 cars.

Bit Digital estimated 92,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2020, but projected 1.075 million metric tons in 2022, rising to 1.2 million in 2023, the annual equivalent of 260,000 cars. The lawmakers also said the amount of energy used "could be used for other priority end uses that contribute to our electrification and climate goals, such as replacing home furnaces with heat pumps".

Making all of this information fully available to the government, the letter said, would "enable valuable public policy activities, including better monitoring of energy use and trends, better evidence basis for policy making, improved data for national mitigation analyses, better abilities for evaluating technology policies for the sector, and better modelling of national and regional grid loads and transitions, among other purposes."

Warren has been vocal about a number of other tech industry issues, including the transition to universal chargers for smartphones and raising concern over Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Thumbnail Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Sylvester Stallone has taken to social media to call out Rocky producer Irwin Winkler as part of an ongoing dispute over ownership rights to the long-running boxing franchise.

As reported by Deadline, Stallone pulled no punches on Sunday morning when he shared an illustrated image depicting Winkler as a knife-tongued serpent on Instagram. In the caption of the post, he addressed Winkler directly, calling for a "fair gesture" from the 93-year-old producer, who he says is withholding ownership of the franchise and its sequel series Creed.

"After Irwin controlling Rocky for over 47 years, and now Creed, I really would like have at least a little of what's left of my rights back, before passing it on to only your children," Stallone wrote. "I believe that would be a fair gesture from this 93 year old gentleman? This is a painful subject that eats at my soul because I wanted to leave something of Rocky for my children."

Stallone portrayed Rocky Balboa in eight films, directed four of them, and served as a writer or co-writer on all the Rocky films and Creed II. He then announced in 2018 that he would be officially hanging up his gloves and retiring from the role, meaning that he would not return for Creed III, the next entry in the Michael B. Jordan-starring Rocky spin-off series.

In recent years, Stallone has voiced his frustrations over his lack of ownership of Rocky considering his involvement in the franchise. According to Variety, Stallone was paid $75K plus 10 net points, which equated to at least $2.5m for the first movie. Another source claimed the actor had made more than $10m on Creed and in the mid-teens on Creed II.

However, Stallone told the outlet in 2019 that he had "zero ownership" of the lucractive franchise. "When I finally confronted them, I said, 'Does it bother you guys that I've written every word, I've choreographed it, I've been loyal to you, I've promoted it, directed it and I don't have 1% that I could leave for my children?' And the quote was, 'You got paid.'"

Creed III, starring Michael B. Jordan as Apollo Creed, is due to hit cinemas on November 23, just over a year after the release of the ultimate director's cut of Rocky IV. IGN's review of Rocky Vs. Drago praised Stallone for managing to "wonderfully fine-tune Rocky IV with The Ultimate Director's Cut, chopping out what didn't work and keeping what did."

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Another new AAA studio has joined the gaming scene, this one founded by Jerry Hook, one of the architects of the original Xbox who most recently worked on Halo Infinite.

The new studio's mission is to "create a new generation of narrative-driven action games" with "immersive worlds." Its founding members include Paul Crocker, who served as lead narrative director on the Batman: Arkham trilogy; Greg Stone, who produced DOOM (2016), and Steve Dyck, who worked on SSX, NBA Street, and the Halo series. Hook's new venture follows his departure from 343 Industries, where he served head of design on Halo Infinite. Hook also helped launch Xbox Live and worked on Halo 4, Halo 5, and Destiny in various capacities.

Speaking with IGN in an interview ahead of the announcement, Hook says that the collective decision to leave 343 Industries was part of the natural cycle of departures that follows the release of a major project.

"I took a step back and really wanted to take a look at what is the impact I wanted to have moving forward; what is the impact I wanted to have not just with games or the next big idea, but really taking a look at teams and how could I build a home for creators and content creators who could really flourish and specifically help them grow so that they can put their entire passion against a project," Hook says. "And so on top of creative ideas and new game ideas and all the innovation that goes into games, I realized that probably my biggest challenge was we haven't really, in the game development space, spent a lot of time trying to innovate with teams and studios and studio structures."

Jar of Sparks is currently in the early stages of forming its core team, which the studio hopes will provide ideas for its first project. Hook estimates that the studio's first game is three to four years away.

One thing that's for certain is that it won't be a live service game. Even with Hook's experience working on projects like Xbox Live and Destiny, he deems live service to be too much of a risk for a fledgling studio like Jar of Sparks.

"[O]ne of the main challenges we all seem to struggle with is there's only so much risk you can take on within a new studio. You're forming a complete team with people who don't know each other, have never worked with each other or brand new IP. Live service adds more complexity on top of that and I really think from my own experience for service driven games, the amount of work you need to do to make a live service work is pretty tremendous. And I think the first game that Jar Sparks is going to go do isn't going to have that component to allow the team to flourish first and be able to put their creative energy first without having to worry about the continual pressure of server driven models," Hook explains.

And despite the studio's status as a "AAA developer," Hook isn't thinking in terms of massive budgets and even bigger sales.

"One of the challenges I think the industry has gotten itself into, where if everyone is always shooting for the 300 million mark or 10 million mark, I'm just like, okay, how about you build a team with the right budget that allows you to be successful with just a couple million or just a million? And you can be successful that way," Hook says, citing smaller-scale successes like V Rising and Valheim. "So my goal or at least our goal that we've talked about with the founder is — we don't want to go after God of War, we want to create our own space. It has a good dedicated following and it is a great title that people want to sink their teeth into, that's it."

As for NetEase, Hook sees the Chinese publishing giant as a backstop against the difficulties that can arrise from the volatile games industry.

"If you go and innovate and you need to slip something, your publisher of those people financing, you have to be clear that you can slip," Hook says. "And that was one of the key conversations I had with NetEase, which is, you need to prepare for slipping if we're going to go and innovate; if you're onboard with us innovating, you know the risks, and they were very clear with me."

Jar of Sparks joins a host of other studios that have formed amid the glut of financing in the games industry, among them Nightingale developer Inflexion Games, Callisto Protocol developer Striking Distance Studios, and Stormgate developer Frost Giant Studios. The surge of of studios helmed by experienced industry veterans is only now beginning to see results.

NetEase, for its part, calls Jar of Sparks a "new first party studio that will enjoy full creative freedom." Its other holdings including Grasshopper Manufacture and the new studio formed by Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.