CD Projekt RED recently confirmed that The Witcher 4, the next big entry in its acclaimed action RPG franchise, wont launch until after 2026. While this is somewhat expected since it entered full production last November, another high-profile release also shouldnt be expected next year: Naughty Dogs Intergalactic.Bloombergs Jason Schreier commented on ResetEra that its appearance at The Game Awards 2024 was a very early tease. He then outright stated that it would not launch next year.Though Naughty Dog has yet to provide a release window for Intergalactic, director Neil Druckmann indicated its still changing and evolving during development. Inspired by the likes of Akira and Cowboy Bebop while tackling themes of loneliness, the title promises the deepest gameplay in the developers history. Its also allegedly taking notes from Elden Rings player freedom.Intergalactic is in development for PS5. Stay tuned for more updates, and check out our feature for everything you should know.

The conveyer belt of Soulslike action RPGs isnt slowing down anytime soon. WithThe First Berserker: Khazan almost upon us, the next major Soulslike many will have their eyes on is Wuchang: Fallen Feathers,and we now have a firmer idea of when it will be releasing.Developer Leenzee Games and publisher 505 Games previously announced that Wuchang: Fallen Featherswould be out sometime in 2025. Taking to BlueSky, the two have now confirmed that the title will release this Summer, which means we should expect it somewhere between June and September. When exactly it arrives within that window remains to be seen, but hopefully it wont be too long before that information is officially revealed.Upon its launch,Wuchang: Fallen Featherswill be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It will also be available via Game Pass day and date. Check out a developer interview through here for more details on the games setting, combat, and more.WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers launches this Summer!Want the launch date? Share this post and show your support with a Wishlist: linktr.ee/wuchanggame WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers (@playwuchang.bsky.social) 2025-03-25T17:44:43.938Z

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse was a bridge collapse that occurred on March26, 2024, at 1:28a.m. Eastern Time, in the Baltimore metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Maryland. The main spans and the three nearest northeast approach spans of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, spanning the Patapsco River, collapsed after MVDali, a container ship, struck one of the bridge's piers. Six members of a maintenance crew working on the roadway were killed, and two more were rescued from the river. The collapse blocked most shipping to and from the Port of Baltimore for 11 weeks. Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, called the event a "global crisis" that affected more than 8,000 jobs. The economic impact of the closure of the waterway was estimated at $15million per day. This photograph, taken on the afternoon of March26 by a member of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, shows the aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, with Dali's bow damaged by and lying under a section of the bridge's collapsed truss.Photograph credit: David AdamsRecently featured: Kefermarkt altarpieceHyacinth macawStrawberryArchiveMore featured pictures

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn MoreA new framework called METASCALE enables large language models (LLMs) to dynamically adapt their reasoning mode at inference time. This framework addresses one of LLMs shortcomings, which is using the same reasoning strategy for all types of problems.Introduced in a paper by researchers at the University of California, Davis, the University of Southern California and Microsoft Research, METASCALE uses meta-thoughtsadaptive thinking strategies tailored to each taskto improve LLM performance and generalization across various tasks.This approach can offer enterprises a way to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of their LLM applications without changing models or engaging in expensive fine-tuning efforts.The limitations of fixed reasoning StrategiesOne of the main challenges of LLM applications is their fixed and inflexible reasoning behavior. Unlike humans, who can consciously choose different approaches to solve problems, LLMs often rely on pattern matching from their training data, which may not always align with sound reasoning principles that humans use.Current methods for adjusting the reasoning process of LLMs, such as chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting, self-verification and reverse thinking, are often designed for specific tasks, limiting their adaptability and effectiveness across diverse scenarios.The researchers point out that these approaches impose fixed thinking structures rather than enabling LLMs to adaptively determine the most effective task-specific strategy, potentially limiting their performance.To address this limitation, the researchers propose the concept of meta-thinking. This process allows LLMs to reflect on their approach before generating a response. Meta-thoughts guide the reasoning process through two components inspired by human cognition:Cognitive mindset: The perspective, expertise, or role the model adopts to approach the task.Problem-solving strategy: A structured pattern used to formulate a solution for the task based on the chosen mindset.Instead of directly tackling a problem, the LLM first determines how to think, selecting the most appropriate cognitive strategy. For example, when faced with a complex software problem, the LLM might first think about the kind of professional who would solve it (e.g., a software engineer) and choose a strategy to approach the problem (e.g., using design patterns to break down the problem or using a micro-services approach to simplify the deployment).By incorporating this meta-thinking step, LLMs can dynamically adapt their reasoning process to different tasks, rather than relying on rigid, predefined heuristics, the researchers write.Building upon meta-thoughts, the researchers introduce METASCALE, a test-time framework that can be applied to any model through prompt engineering.The goal is to enable LLMs to explore different thinking strategies, and generate the most effective response for a given input, they state.METASCALE operates in three phases:Initialization: METASCALE generates a diverse pool of reasoning strategies based on the input prompt. It does this by prompting the LLM to self-compose strategies and leveraging instruction-tuning datasets containing reasoning templates for different types of problems. This combination creates a rich initial pool of meta-thoughts.Selection: A Multi-Armed Bandit (MAB) algorithm selects the most promising meta-thought for each iteration. MAB is a problem framework where an agent must repeatedly choose between multiple options, or arms, each with unknown reward distributions. The core challenge lies in balancing exploration (e.g., trying different reasoning strategies) and exploitation (consistently selecting the reasoning strategy that previously provided the best responses). In METASCALE, each meta-thought is treated as an arm, and the goal is to maximize the reward (response quality) based on the selected meta-thought.Evolution: A genetic algorithm refines and expands the pool of cognitive strategies iteratively. METASCALE uses high-performing meta-thoughts as parents to produce new child meta-thoughts. The LLM is prompted to develop refined meta-thoughts that integrate and improve upon the selected parents. To remain efficient, METASCALE operates within a fixed sampling budget when generating meta-thoughts.The researchers evaluated METASCALE on mathematical reasoning benchmarks (GSM8K), knowledge and language understanding (MMLU-Pro), and Arena-Hard, comparing it to four baseline inference methods: direct responses (single-pass inference), CoT, Best-of-N (sampling multiple responses and choosing the best one), and Best-of-N with CoT. They used GPT-4o and Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct as the backbone models for their experiments.The results show that METASCALE significantly enhances LLM problem-solving capabilities across diverse tasks, consistently outperforming baseline methods. METASCALE achieved equal or superior performance compared to all baselines, regardless of whether they used CoT prompting. Notably, GPT-4o with METASCALE outperformed o1-mini under style control.These results demonstrate that integrating meta-thoughts enables LLMs to scale more effectively during test time as the number of samples increases, the researchers state.As the number of candidate solutions increased, METASCALE showed significantly higher gains than other baselines, indicating that it is a more effective scaling strategy.Implications for the enterpriseAs a test-time technique, METASCALE can help enterprises improve the quality of LLM reasoning through smart prompt engineering without the need to fine-tune or switch models. It also doesnt require building complex software scaffolding on top of models, as the logic is completely provided by the LLM itself.By dynamically adjusting the reasoning strategies of LLMs, METASCALE is also practical for real-world applications that handle various reasoning tasks. It is also a black-box method, which can be applied to open-source models running on the enterprise cloud or closed models running behind third-party APIs. It shows promising capabilities of test-time scaling techniques for reasoning tasks.Daily insights on business use cases with VB DailyIf you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI.Read our Privacy PolicyThanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here.An error occured.

Chatbot service Character.AI is adding a new Parental Insights feature, which lets teens send a weekly report of their chatbot usage to a parents email address. As outlined in an announcement from the company, this report includes the daily average time spent across web and mobile, the characters that a user most frequently interacted with, and how much time they spent talking to each character. Its part of a series of updates designed to address concerns about minors spending too much time with chatbots and encountering inappropriate content during chats.The report, which doesnt require parents to have an account, is optional and can be set up by minor users in Character.AIs settings. The company notes that its an overview of teens activity, not a complete log so the contents of chatbot conversations wont be shared. The platform bars kids under 13 years of age in most locations and under 16 in Europe.Character.AI has been introducing new features for underage users since last year, coinciding with concerns and even legal complaints about its service. The platform, which is popular with teenagers, allows users to create and customize chatbots that they interact with or share publicly. But multiple lawsuits allege that these bots have offered inappropriately sexualized content or material that promoted self-harm. It also reportedly received warnings from Apple and Google (which hired Character.AIs founders last year) about its apps content.The company says that its system has since been redesigned; among other changes, it moved under-18 users to a model trained to avoid sensitive output and added more prominent notifications reminding users that the bots werent real people. But with enthusiasm for AI regulation and child safety laws booming, this likely wont be the last step the company is called to take.

Game Informer is back, and so is its entire staff. On Tuesday, editor-in-chief Matt Miller announced that Gunzilla Games has acquired the rights to the gaming magazine, helping to bring the site and its archives back online.GameStop, which previously owned Game Informer, shut down the beloved magazine last August and laid off its entire staff after a more than 30-year run. The team teased a comeback last week, and has already published a series of new reviews for titles released during the magazines hiatus, along with a belated list of the best games of 2024.Its new owners, Gunzilla Games, is a game developer based in Europe thats currently working on a battle royale title called Off the Grid. Miller says the magazine will continue operating as an independent editorial outlet under a new entity called Game Informer, Inc. Our intent is to continue to focus on highlighting the coolest games, celebrating the history and legacy of the gaming industry, and shining a spotlight on the creators and players who are charting its future, Miller says.In addition to bringing back its website, Game Informer plans to resurrect its print magazine, too, with new membership and subscription benefits. Though Game Informer currently isnt offering a subscription just yet, you can sign up for an account on its website to receive updates, as well as gain access to the magazines archive. Game Informer will continue updating its site with news, reviews, previews, features, event coverage, and more starting today.

In the evolving field of artificial intelligence, a significant challenge has been developing models that can effectively reason through complex problems, generate accurate code, and process multiple forms of data. Traditional AI systems often excel in specific tasks but struggle to generalize across diverse domains, limiting their practical applications. This fragmentation underscores the need for more integrated and versatile AI solutions.Addressing this, Google has introduced Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental, an advanced AI model designed to enhance reasoning, coding, and multimodal capabilities. Building upon its predecessors, Gemini 2.5 Pro is engineered to tackle complex challenges in fields such as coding, science, and mathematics. Its multimodal design enables it to interpret and generate text, audio, images, video, and code, broadening its applicability across various sectors. From a technical standpoint, Gemini 2.5 Pro incorporates advanced reasoning capabilities, allowing the model to process tasks methodically and make informed decisions. It features a substantial context window, currently supporting up to 1 million tokens, with plans to expand to 2 million tokens. This extensive context window enables the model to comprehend large datasets and address intricate problems that require synthesizing information from multiple sources. In coding applications, Gemini 2.5 Pro demonstrates proficiency by creating visually compelling web applications and efficiently performing code transformation and editing tasks.https://blog.google/technology/google-deepmind/gemini-model-thinking-updates-march-2025/#advanced-codingEmpirical evaluations highlight Gemini 2.5 Pros strong performance. It leads in benchmarks related to mathematics and science, such as GPQA and AIME 2025, reflecting its robust reasoning capabilities. Notably, it achieved a score of 18.8% on Humanitys Last Exam, a dataset designed to assess advanced knowledge and reasoning. In coding benchmarks, Gemini 2.5 Pro scored 63.8% on SWE-Bench Verified, indicating its competence in agentic code evaluations. Furthermore, it topped the LMArena leaderboard by a significant margin, underscoring its advanced capabilities in multimodal reasoning, coding, and STEM fields.In conclusion, Gemini 2.5 Pro Experimental represents a notable advancement in AI, reflecting Googles commitment to developing more intelligent and versatile models. By integrating reasoning capabilities directly into its architecture, Gemini 2.5 Pro addresses previous limitations, offering enhanced performance and improved accuracy. Its ability to handle complex problems across coding, science, and mathematics, coupled with its multimodal proficiency, positions it as a valuable tool in the AI landscape. As AI continues to evolve, models like Gemini 2.5 Pro pave the way for more sophisticated and context-aware applications, fostering innovation across various sectors.Check outthe Technical details and Try it here.All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,feel free to follow us onTwitterand dont forget to join our85k+ ML SubReddit. Asif RazzaqWebsite| + postsBioAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences.Asif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/A Code Implementation for Advanced Human Pose Estimation Using MediaPipe, OpenCV and MatplotlibAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/A Coding Implementation of Extracting Structured Data Using LangSmith, Pydantic, LangChain, and Claude 3.7 SonnetAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Meet LocAgent: Graph-Based AI Agents Transforming Code Localization for Scalable Software MaintenanceAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/A Coding Implementation to Build a Conversational Research Assistant with FAISS, Langchain, Pypdf, and TinyLlama-1.1B-Chat-v1.0

If your game library is looking a little sparse, nows the perfect time to grab some absolute bangers at heavily discounted prices! Whether youre after high-speed action, epic RPG adventures, or deep strategy experiences, this weeks deals have something for every kind of gamer.This Day in Gaming In retro news, I'm celebrating the 21st birthday of a series black sheep that still sold many a GameCube, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. As a remake of the '98 PS classic, this was a pretty surreal (and, in parts, misguided) love letter. It was as if Snake had emerged from a time machine, equipped with the control scheme and acrobatics of MGS 2: Sons of Liberty. Helmed by Silicon Knights and injected with the "cinematic flair" of Hollywood action director Ryuhei Kitamura, the end result divided fans quicker than a cyber-ninja disarming Ocelot.Upgrades like first-person aiming and being able to hang/drop from ledges were a double-edged sword. While they made Snake more powerful and adaptable, they also turned sections of his Shadow Moses op into a cakewalk. The level design, originally built for the PS1s limitations, just wasnt fully rebalanced to accommodate these new mechanics, and some re-recorded voice performances weren't ideal. Be that as it Mei [Ling], I still recall loving this at launch and adore the copy I own.Silicon Knights Dev: "In a gag reel we made them kiss here!" Kojima, planning the end of this series: "Hmmm."Aussie bdays for notable games- Far Cry (PC) 2004. Get- R-Type Final (PS2) 2004. Sequel- MGS: The Twin Snakes (GC) 2004. eBay- Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (XB) 2004. eBay- MX Unleashed (PS2,XB) 2004. Get- MadWorld (Wii) 2009. eBayContentsNice Savings for Nintendo SwitchStarting with the Nintendo Switch, Sonic Frontiers ($50, down 51%) brings the Blue Blur into open-world gameplay for the first time, and fun fact. Meanwhile, Octopath Traveler ($39, down 56%) dazzles with its HD-2D aesthetic, a visual style so beloved that Square Enix adopted it for other games like Triangle Strategy and the Live A Live remake.Octopath TravelerOctopath Traveler is a JRPG dream come true. Both its battle system and aesthetic pay loving tribute to the Super NES era while moving the formula forward in exciting and novel ways. 9.3/10, amazing.Expiring Recent DealsNBA 2k25 (-73%) - A$23Suikoden I&II HD (-14%) - A$69Sonic X Shadow Generations (-14%) - A$69Sonic forces (-38%) - A$37Skater XL (-42%) - A$35Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.Switch Console PricesHow much to Switch it up?Switch OLED + Mario Wonder: $539 $499 | Switch Original: $499 $448 | Switch OLED Black: $539 $448 | Switch OLED White: $539 $445 | Switch Lite: $329 $294 | Switch Lite Hyrule: $339 $335See itBack to topExciting Bargains for XboxOver on Xbox Series X, magic and monsters await in Hogwarts Legacy ($59, down 40%). Originally, the developers planned to let players go full Dark Wizard, but this was pared back to keep things (somewhat) aligned with the Wizarding Worlds tone. Alternatively, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age ($40, down 50%) delivers the first game in the series where you could completely automate battles with the now-iconic Gambit system.Lords of the FallenLords of the Fallen is a great soulslike, and its killer new idea of swapping between two versions of the world to solve puzzles and slay enemies is an excellent twist to set it apart from the pack. 8/10, great.Xbox OneTiny Tina's Wonderlands (-61%) - A$40The Crew Motorfest (-47%) - A$54FIFA 23 (-85%) - A$15Expiring Recent DealsKingdom Come Deliverance 2 (-19%) - A$89Witcher 3: Complete (-48%) - A$42Red Dead Redemption 2 (-73%) - A$24Star Wars Outlaws (-50%) - A$56RoboCop: Rogue City (-22%) - A$71Armored Core VI (-57%) - A$45Assassin's Creed: Mirage Del. (-60%) - A$36The Evil Within 2 (-75%) - A$10Or just invest in an Xbox Card.Xbox Console PricesHow many bucks for a 'Box? Series X: $799 $749 | Series S Black: $549 $545 | Series S White:$499 $498 | Series S Starter: N/ASee itBack to topPure Scores for PlayStationPlayStation 5 players have plenty to sink their teeth into, with Persona 5 Royal ($59, down 39%) standing out as a must-play RPG. The games stylish menus were actually a personal project by an animator who wanted to push UI design to its limits. If youd rather hit the courts, TopSpin 2K25 ($24, down 77%) makes a racket with its hyper-realistic tennis mechanicspro players even consulted on how the ball should behave in different conditions.Monster Hunter WildsMonster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the rougher corners of the series in smart ways, making for some extremely fun fights but also lacking any real challenge. 8/10, great.Persona 5 Royal (-39%) - A$59Elden Ring: Nightreign (-16%) - A$59TopSpin 2K25 (-77%) - A$24Astro Bot (-19%) - A$89PS4Dead Island 2 (-73%) - A$20Catherine: Full Body (-38%) - A$34EA Sports FC 25 (-37%) - A$69NBA 2K25 (-67%) - A$40Expiring Recent DealsCoD: Black Ops 6 (-46%) - A$59Tales of Arise (-67%) - A$34Digimon World: N.O. (-54%) - A$39Red Dead Redemption (-44%) - A$39Resident Evil Village (-31%) - A$39The Callisto Protocol (-78%) - A$19Spidey: Miles Morales (-47%) - A$50Assassin's Creed Origins (-22%) - A$30PS+ Monthly FreebiesYours to keep from Mar 4 with this subscriptionDragon Age: Veilguard (PS5)Sonic Colours: Ultimate (PS4)TMNT: Cowabunga Col. (PS5/PS4)Or purchase a PS Store Card.What you'll pay to 'Station.PS5 + Astro Bot:$799 $679 | PS5 Slim Disc:$799 $798 | PS5 Slim Digital:679 $678 | PS5 Pro $1,199 | PS VR2: $649.95 | PS VR2 + Horizon: $1,099 | PS Portal: $329See itBack to topPurchase Cheap for PCPC gamers have some stellar choices today. Cyberpunk 2077 ($36, down 60%) is the comeback king of gaming, having gone from a rocky launch to one of the most critically praised RPGs of recent years. And if you prefer grand strategy, Stellaris ($16, down 77%) is a steal. Paradox originally pitched this as Crusader Kings in space, and true to that vision, you can create everything from benevolent galactic federations to nightmarish cybernetic hiveminds.Harry Potter SaleUp to 75% off here. My litter picks include Hogwarts Legacy ($24.98 / 75% off), Quidditch Champions ($16.48 / 67% off), and Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 or 5-7 ($5.99 / 80% off).See it at SteamExpiring Recent DealsSteamWorld Dig 2 (-86%) - A$5Guacamelee! 2 (-75%) - A$8Huntdown (-80%) - A$6System Shock: Enhanced (-80%) - A$3Lego the lord of the rings (-80%) - A$6Or just get a Steam Wallet CardPC Hardware PricesSlay your pile of shame.Official launch in NovSteam Deck 256GB LCD: $649 | Steam Deck 512GB OLED: $899 | Steam Deck 1TB OLED: $1,049See it at SteamLaptop DealsApple 2024 MacBook Air 15-inch (-12%) A$2,197HP Envy x360 16" 2-in-1 (-39%) A$1,399Lenovo ThinkPad E16 Gen 2 (-40%) A$1,129Desktop DealsHP OMEN 35L Gaming (-10%) A$2,799Lenovo ThinkCentre neo 50q (-35%) A$629Lenovo ThinkCentre neo 50s (-45%) A$1,018Monitor DealsDell G Series G2724D (-27%) A$398.60Samsung 57" Odyssey Neo Curved (-22%) A$2,499Component DealsAMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (-8%) A$885.70Corsair Vengeance 32GB (-35%) A$82Kingston FURY Beast 16GB (-30%) A$48Storage DealsBack to topLegit LEGO DealsResearch SubmarinePay a lot less for an...immersive experience.3in1 T. Rex (-35%) - A$39Research Submarine (-33%) - A$40Star Wars R2-D2 (-30%) - A$139Batmobile vs. Mr. Freeze (-27%) - A$22Expiring Recent DealsCity Electric Sports (-38%) - A$16Animal Crossing Nooks Cranny (-33%) - A$80Icons Fountain Garden (-28%) - A$129Back to topHot Headphones DealsAudiophilia for lessBack to topTerrific TV DealsDo right by your console, upgrade your tellyKogan 65" QLED (-50%) A$699 Kogan 55" QLED (-45%) A$549 LG 55" UT80 4K (-28%) A$869Back to top Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.

LG's most popular current generation OLED TV has been discounted starting today. Right now Amazon has dropped the price of the 65" LG Evo C4 4K OLED TV to $1,396.99. The LG Evo C-series of TVs - including this model - have consistently been our favorite high-end 4K TVs for HDR movie watching and current generation console gaming.65" LG Evo C4 4K OLED Smart TV for $139765" LG Evo C4 4K OLED Smart TVThe C4 is the 2024 model in LG's C-series OLED lineup. The LG Evo C5 hasn't yet been released, but it was showcased during CES 2025. At least on paper, the improvements of the C5 seem to be incremental, with no major ground breaking updates that would make you want to hold off until its launch. More importantly, the C5 will probably release at a very high retail price which will take months to get down to a level that's competitive with other TV deals.The C4 uses LG's Evo panel, which offers higher brightness levels than traditional OLED TVs. Compared to a standard LED LCD TV, an OLED TV offers superior image quality, near-infinite blacks, near-infinite contrast ratio, and near-instantaneous response times. Because of these advantages, the Evo OLED TV excels at displaying 4K HDR content in all of its intended glory. LG OLED TVs particular have been out for years and benefit from several generations of optimizations.The LG C4 also has all the features you'd want in a gaming TV as well. It has a native 120Hz panel that can be pushed to as high as 144Hz and all four HDMI ports are 2.1 spec for running games in 4K at up to 120fps on a PS5 or Xbox Series X without any tearing. The C4 also supports variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM). The C4 is also easier to install than its predecessors; the rear cabinet housing is made of a composite fiber that weighs 36 pounds. The LG Evo C-series TV is our favorite high-end 4K TV of 2025 because of the brilliance of its OLED display along with a host of quality features that don't quite push it to the point of an excessively high price. This model brings better contrast and clarity than the previous year's already luminous LG C2. Its a sight to behold, especially when you add in the deep blacks and well-balanced colors on the crisp 4K screen. Once you choose OLED, it's hard to go back to anything else.Need a good soundbar to pair it with?Bose Smart Soundbar 550 with Dolby AtmosIf you bought a brand new TV over the holidays and you're looking for a good audio solution at an excellent price, then one of the best Black Friday deals is back. Walmart is currently offering the Bose Smart Soundbar 550 for just $199 with free shipping after a massive $300 off instant discount. At this price, it's certainly one of the best soundbars you can get, especially if you're looking for an affordable soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos.More Excellent OLED TV Deals Going on Right Now65" LG Evo C3 4K OLED Smart TVIf you don't mind going a generation back, you can pick up a 2023 65" LG Evo C3 4K OLED TV for just $1,196.99 with free shipping on Amazon. This is a better deal than what I saw during Black Friday. The 2024 C4 has minimal incremental upgrades over the 2023 C3, with the most noticeable improvements being an upgraded processor, newer WebOS smart interface, support for DTS audio, and a higher 144Hz refresh rate.55" Sony Bravia XR A75L 4K OLED Google TV65" Sony Bravia XR A75L 4K OLED Google TVIf you prefer Sony as your TV brand, then Best Buy has some great deals for this week. The Sony Bravia XR A75L 4K OLED smart TVs are on sale right now with the 55" model priced at $999.99 and the 65" model for $1,299.99. Although the A75L is an older generation (2023) TV, it's still one of the best TVs out there in terms of image quality and gaming performance. Especially for the 55" model, you won't find a better TV for under $1,000.Looking for more options? Check out all of the best TVs of 2025.Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest Presidents' Day deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Its broad daylight. A towering woman dressed in all black, her face covered in an ominous black veil, stands in the yard of a farmhouse. Acres upon acres of land sit empty in the distance. This is the first clip we are shown on the studios monitors of Blumhouse Productions new horror The Woman in the Yard when we visited the Athens, Georgia set last year.Those chilling few seconds of footage set the tone for the tour. It was also, intriguingly, the closest we came to meeting the titular character of the movie (at least in costume). While the presence of the literal Woman in the Yard lurks over every creative choice of the film production, likewise remained the desire to keep the press in the dark. Fortunately, producer Stephanie Allain (Dear White People, Hustle & Flow) stepped up as a tour guide into that mystery.Allain filled us in on the basics: The film follows Ramona, played by Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven, Till) a woman stricken with intense emotional distress following the death of her husband from a car crash that also left her seriously injured. Ramona is left to care for her two children (Peyton Jackson and Estella Kahiha) in a remote farmhouse. Then a mysterious woman veiled in all black (Okwui Okpokwasili) appears sitting in a chair in the front yard.The who, what, how of this woman appearing in the front yard will be revealed in due time. The why of this project stems from the longstanding relationship Allain has with Blumhouse mastermind Jason Blum.After first teaming up on The Exorcist: Believer, which Allain executive produced, she turned down six different scripts sent her way via Blumhouse. Yet when she received the treatment for The Woman in the Yard and saw Deadwyler attached to the project, she jumped at the opportunity. After a brief pause due to the labor strikes of 2023, the movie revved into gear as director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax, Orphan) agreed to direct a script written by Sam Stefanek. For a producer who has worked with first and second-time directors for much of her career, Allain raved about how Collet-Serra is advanced in his technological and storytelling talents coming off big budget blockbusters like Jungle Cruise and Black Adam, and now is back to a more intimate picture that harkens back to his horror roots.It makes my job so much easier when all the departments are firing at the highest level. I dont do horror. I dont do slashers. I dont do violence against women. My [production company] is about dispelling stereotypes that have been tropes since Birth of a Nation.Allain had to stop there before we asked too much about the tightly kept plot, or why she broke her no horror rule. She quickly diverts our attention instead to a behind-the-scenes tour. We stopped in a spooky farmhouse attic. We watched the monitors as Collet-Serra, in his return to the genre after a detour into the action world, worked with his actors to craft a pivotal, bone-chilling scene. We noticed the artwork around the farmhouse set. It turned out that Deadwyler, the films lead, was also the artist of these pieces.She says her art digs into the darkness of life and the timing of her recent art shows coincided with their development of the script and her character.The thematic interest that I have as a personal artist, delving into motherhood, the types of transformative practices that are influential in my work, leaned well into the [character] of Ramona. And then we kind of just flowed with it. Sometimes things come to just congruence, Deadwyler says.Another aspect of the project that helped Deadwyler sink deeper into the role was the trust factor shes built with Collet-Serra. Its her second collaboration with Collet-Serra after essentially working back to back following Netflixs Christmas actioner Carry-On last year.I trust [Collet-Serra]. He knows what I could do. I call him the master of the dark, Deadwyler says. He gets happy and joyous about the most difficult things. Weve got a rapport at this point. Thats cool and its beautiful to play with it, she adds.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Inhabiting the headspace of Ramona and accessing the characters inner and outer trauma has been a process already happening for years.Its a different kind of motherhood story, a different kind of family story, she says. Those are things that I think we inherently know. I have a child whos a teenager, the same age as [Peytons character]. That work has been with me for years. The [problems] she is dealing with, those things are coalescing in a way thats just like, Oh, okay, I know this. I know this fully already. Its just tapping into this grief-driven aspect of it. It made it much more visceral.If we follow the tea leaves, Okpokwasilis role evokes the visceral and psychological horror elements that drew the cast and creatives to this project. The performer and choreographer gave us one of the more charismatic interviews weve had in recent memory, made all the more impressive by the clearly strict orders to be coy and tight-lipped about the character.Shes great. Shes very much like myself. Shes a bit of a mystery, Okpokwasili says with a sinister laugh of her character. I cant tell you anything!Eventually Okpokwasili cryptically teases, Shes where shes supposed to be. She is called to be where she needs to be, and shes always there What stood out to me was the grief. What is the extreme of grief, right? And also centering a Black family around a moment of devastation and a Black woman whos at the helm of this family, who is not performing the way Black women are supposed to perform. Theyre supposed to sort of handle every violence, every rupture, with an incredible amount of power and resourcefulness and resilience. And this woman has none of that. And so that was very compelling to me.(from left) Taylor (Peyton Jackson), Annie (Estella Kahiha) and Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) in The Woman in the Yard, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.Okpokwasilis take on the material is in conversation with Allains vision of the project, and how it can buck preconceived racial and gender norms.People are always talking about Black women and how they are so strong. They have the weight of the world on their shoulders and they can persevere through anything. This movie undoes that stereotype. [Ramona] is a real person with some heavy shit going on. Shes very vulnerable and naked and trying to carry all that weight.Allain might not have been seeking out a chance to produce alongside Blumhouse or enter the horror space. Now that shes here seeing the production benefits of being inside of that tight-knit ecosystem, she hopes the polished final product will give audiences something deeper to take away.Genre is helpful, she says, People can go to genre thinking they get one thing, and get something else.