Key Note Gaming

If you've been waiting for the right time to bulk up your gaming library, now's your chance. While we're still waiting on Nintendo's deals , Xbox and Amazon launched Black Friday sales earlier this week. Now PlayStation has entered the fray with a spread of discounts on games, accessories, and even PS5 consoles. While it's worth checking your wishlist and doing some scrolling, as a starting point, we're seeing great discounts for anyone looking to start or fill in the gaps on a Final Fantasy collection. Final Fantasy Games on Sale for Black Friday Overall, you’ve got options. The PlayStation Store offers the best discounts on the FF7 Remakes, but Amazon is actually offering physical copies. It really comes down to how much you care about having those games lined up on your shelf vs. sitting in your digital library. If you’re on the PC side, Steam is also running a PlayStation publisher sale that includes roughly the same discounts. The Final Fantasy P...

Note: This review specifically covers the Multiplayer modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. For our thoughts on the other modes, see our Zombies review or our campaign review . It's autumn, 2025, and I have played enough of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 multiplayer to settle into my annual camo grind. I have prestiged, both in character level and my assault rifle, and after about 20 hours I feel confident declaring that the multiplayer portion of Black Ops 7 is great. I've had an absolute blast thanks to solid maps, the awesome updated omnimove system, and the choice to play either skill-based or traditional matches. It’s not without flaws: mid-match leavers have been a real problem in the default matchmaking, and while all the guns feel really good, none of them are standout stars – but the things I like, and some parts I downright love, far outweigh the things I don't this year. Since skill-based matchmaking is the most contentious subject around this year's Call of...

Ubisoft has celebrated a fresh set of financial results that it says has been driven by a "strong performance" for its Assassin's Creed franchise. But while there's an update on sales figures for 2023's Mirage, there's no new figure for how this year's Shadows has sold. The French publisher's latest earnings report, published this morning, covers the company's performance over the first half of the current year: April through September. Last week, Ubisoft delayed the publication of these results at the last minute, prompting speculation that something had gone wrong with the company's big Tencent deal — though there's no suggestion of that today. Ubisoft has framed the results in a positive light, with net bookings for the past quarter "above expectations" and up 39% year-on-year. "The outperformance was driven by stronger-than-expected partnerships," Ubisoft noted, "and was supported by a robust back-catalog, b...

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are reportedly in for some shell shock of their own, with Paramount planning a live-action movie reboot series inspired by the Sonic film franchise. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Paramount has ditched the R-rated The Last Ronin , a live-action / animation hybrid (although it could return to it one day), and will now instead focus on a live-action movie. The sequel to Mutant Mayhem is still due out September 17, 2027. First released back in 2020, The Last Ronin features a dystopian world in which all but one of the Turtles have perished, drawing inspiration from God of War among other works. It written by original creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who said it was based on an outline from a story in 1987. The Last Ronin was a big success for the Turtles, earning the story a sequel featuring a new generation of turtles . A Last Ronin video game is also in development, although we haven't had an update on it for some time. The...

Developer Poncle says its newly announced Vampire Crawlers is more of a spinoff than a sequel, but it sounds like Vampire Survivors 2 may actually be in the works, too. Fans had their eyebrows raised when the studio behind the hit monster-slaying video game announced Vampire Crawlers as its new game during today’s Xbox Partner Preview. While the roguelike deck-builder might seem like a proper Vampire Survivors sequel at first glance, Poncle says in a new interview with Xbox Wire , this isn’t the case. “This is just a spin-off of Vampire Survivors – hopefully the first in a series of spin-offs!” studio founder and CEO Luca Galante said. “The idea is to take some of the core pillars behind the development of VS and to apply them to existing genres. I’m talking about accessibility, immediacy, affordability, replayability, and sparkly stuff. Tons of sparkly stuff!” It’s no doubt an idea a wide range of Vampire Survivors fans will gravitate to, especially as Poncle teases what coul...

Omelet You Cook, a roguelike cooking game on Steam, has been having a great early access it seems. It recently passed 500 player reviews, and every last one of them was positive, making it one of a rare few games on Steam to have 100% positive reviews. Until today. As pointed out to us by developer Dan Schumacher of SchuBox Games, the game received its first negative review today. And sure, negative reviews are just part of the deal when releasing a game on Steam. But what really bothered Schumacher is that according to the text of the review, the reviewer didn't actually dislike the game. They played for 0.8 hours total, 0.2 hours when they posted the review, and wrote the following: "Game is amazing. I just like to be different." IGN reached out to the reviewer for further comment ahead of this piece but didn't hear back. The community appears to have sprung to Omelet You Cook's defense, as the game has received almost 40 new positive reviews in the 14 h...

Epic Games is teasing an explosive return to Fortnite story content with a Chapter 6 Zero Hour Finale Live Event teaser trailer that packs in heavy-hitter cameos ahead of the inevitable launch of Chapter Seven. The description for the new Fortnite story video teases that some familiar faces will “assemble in the final endgame to save reality,” and the footage proves it. In just 30 seconds, we see Jonesy dodging giant tentacle monster attacks as Godzilla, King Kong, and Star Wars X-Wings battle overhead. Naturally, a giant, half-naked Homer Simpson then shows up before Uma Thurman’s Kill Bill character, The Bride, swoops in, with the trailer then finally telling players to expect the Fortnite Chapter 6 Zero Hour Finale event to take place November 29 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET. There’s a lot to unpack here, but the reveal most will pick up off the bat is that Kill Bill appearance. Fans have spent weeks speculating about how Quentin Tarantino’s legendary action series may soon find ...

Not only is Reiner Knizia certainly the most prolific designer in hobby board games, but The Hobbit: There And Back Again isn’t even his first (or second, or third) game based on Tolkien's book for children. First was a 2010 game where players were the hobbit’s dwarf companions, helping on his adventure and trying to escape with as much gold as possible. Then came two 2013 cooperative games. None were particularly well-received, especially when you consider how many Knizia titles could count among the best games of all time. So now he’s back for a fourth bite at the hobbit’s ample table, with an all-new design. What’s in the Box The actual box contents are very straightforward. There are four big flip-books of dry-wipe pages and an accompanying marker, one for each player. The books are a fantastic idea, sturdily bound and much more convenient than the mess of loose playsheets that dominate in dry-wipe games. You also get a standard 12-sided die and five custom printed six-s...

EA has today announced that the 2026 Formula One World Championship will be coming as a paid expansion for the existing F1 25. The content update is set to reflect all the sport’s upcoming changes next year, with new cars, new drivers, and the new regulations. The next full game in the series will be delivered in 2027. It will be “reimagined into a more expansive experience with new ways to play for fans around the world,” according to today’s statement. EA explained this plan comes as part of a “multi-year strategic investment” in the publisher’s F1 franchise. “F1 25 has been an incredible success, fueled by the passion of fans and the energy of the sport,” said Lee Mather, Senior Creative Director at Codemasters. “With Formula 1’s momentum on and off the track, now is the perfect time for us to look ahead and build for the future. We’re fully committed to the EA Sports F1 franchise. Our multi-year plan extends this year’s excitement with the 2026 expansion and reimagines the F1 ...

Magic: The Gathering (MTG) , the world's premier trading card game, is as popular as it's ever been. Aside from the cards themselves, longtime Magic players know that there are countless accessories and other goodies to enhance your experience. With Black Friday coming up soon (November 28), I've compiled a list of great MTG gifts, from playmats and card sleeves to dice and merch, for that special Magic player in your life. As a competitive player of 10+ years, these are products I've had and would buy for my personal use, so rest easy knowing that these suggestions aren't without extensive trial and error. Top Magic: The Gathering Gifts Magic has been around for over 30 years, but thanks to the recent crossover sets with other IPs, what Wizards of the Coast (WoTC) has dubbed Universes Beyond , its audience has grown monumentally. Properties like The Lord of the Rings, Fallout , Assassin's Creed, and more have all received the MTG treatment, with the Ava...

It's a trading card game kind of day today, with deals so good that I couldn't help but focus in on them. Specifically, I'm talking about Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering | Avatar: The Last Air Bender. Not only are there some exciting restocks, but the potential savings today are literally ridiculous. TL;DR: Deals for Today Collector Booster Boxes for Avatar have been restocked at Amazon, with Phastasmal Flames and Mega Evolution restocks coming in heavy too. I've included where's the best to buy at face value alone in today's article, but the heavy hitting discounts on Amazon come from applying for an Amazon Visa card and using AMEX or Discover to pay $1 on your order to get over 50% off. This means free Booster Bundles, Blisters, Premium Collections and Boosters with just the gift card alone. But when considering Booster Boxes, such as Phantasmal Flames or Avatar Collector Booster Box, you'll halve the price left to pay. Let's get into it and i...

There are a lot of different jigsaw puzzle brands out there, but one of my overall favorites is The Magic Puzzle Company . What really makes them stand out is how unique their approach to puzzling is. Each piece is odd and interesting, and the puzzles themselves feature a secret ending you can only uncover once you've fully completed it. True to its name, these puzzles feel like a mix of magic and puzzling as you're making your way through them. Although they usually cost $25 each, Amazon is currently running a buy 1, get 1 50% off sale that includes quite a few of them. If you've been looking for a good gift to buy the puzzle fanatic in your life, I'd definitely recommend checking these out while the sale lasts. Magic Puzzle Company Sale at Amazon (Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off) How to activate the discount : To get the 50% discount on one puzzle, you'll need to add atleast two of the eligible puzzles to your cart. Amazon will apply the discount to your order as yo...

Spoiler note: This review avoids any of the specific twists and turns of the story, but it does mention some unlockables and characters in case you want to go in totally fresh. I spent the last week embodying Wade Wilson in Marvel's Deadpool VR, slicing and shooting my way through Mojo's twisted interdimensional reality show, and I can confidently say the fast-paced parkour combat on offer here is nothing short of a blast. This is the first Deadpool VR game, built exclusively for Meta Quest 3 and 3S , and it's way more comprehensive than I expected from what could have easily been a shallow licensed tie-in. It didn’t get old to see Deadpool's head roll off his shoulders (my shoulders) mid-battle or watch my severed arms flop around on the ground to the backdrop of a comedic one-liner delivered by Lady Deathstrike. This is a relentlessly witty, often fourth-wall-breaking, and highly replayable single-player campaign that stands out as the best superhero VR game on M...

Somehow, the end of the year has returned, and it's time once again for a parade of award nominations and shows, including this year's The Game Awards. Ahead of its early December show, The Game Awards has released a list of this year's nominees, revealing that everyone really, really, really liked Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Expedition 33 has gathered up a whopping 12 nominations, the most ever collected by a single game in The Game Awards' history. In addition to Game of the Year, it's also up for Best Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Audio, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Independent Game, Best RPG, and three of its actors are nominated for Best Performance. A number of other games also have earned quite a few nominations, such as Death Stranding 2 (seven nominations) Hades II (six), Hollow Knight: Silksong (five), and Ghost of Yōtei (seven). The Game Awards ceremony will be broadcast digitally on December 11, 20...