Nintendo has issued a warning to its customers in Japan, saying a “significant” number will miss out on pre-ordering a Switch 2 direct from the company.

In a statement issued to X / Twitter, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company had seen 2.2 million people in Japan alone apply for a pre-order of the Switch 2 from the My Nintendo Store. This “extremely large number of applications… far exceeds our expectations, and far exceeds the number of Nintendo Switch 2 consoles that can be delivered from the My Nintendo Store on June 5,” Furukawa explained.

As a result, Nintendo expects a “significant” number of customers will not be selected when the winners of the My Nintendo Store lottery sale are announced tomorrow, April 24. Nintendo has so far not issued a similar warning to customers in the west.

Those who miss out will be carried over to the second lottery sale, but even here Nintendo can’t guarantee a pre-order. “We deeply apologize for not being able to meet your expectations despite our prior preparations.” Furukawa said.

Nintendo is now working to improve its production system, and from April 24, game retailers and online stores across Japan will begin accepting pre-orders or lottery sales for the Switch 2. The console will also continue to be sold at the My Nintendo Store after the release date. “With the cooperation of retailers, we will continue to ship the console and make efforts to get as many Nintendo Switch 2 consoles as possible into your hands,” Furukawa added.

“We plan to continue producing and shipping a considerable number of Nintendo Switch 2 units in the future. We apologize for the delay in our ability to meet your expectations, and we appreciate your understanding.”

While Furukawa’s statement is aimed at the Japan market, it raises the question of whether Nintendo will suffer similar issues in the west. According to a FAQ posted to Nintendo’s website, the first batch of invitations will go out starting May 8, 2025 for the My Nintendo Store in the U.S. Additional batches of invitation emails will then be sent “periodically” until purchasing on My Nintendo Store is opened to everyone.

Initial invitation emails will be delivered on a first-come, first-serve basis to “eligible registrants who meet the priority criteria.” Invitees will have 72 hours from the time when the email is sent to complete their purchase.

Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order invitation priority requirements:

• you must have been the one who purchased any Nintendo Switch Online membership
• you must have had any paid Nintendo Switch Online membership for a minimum of 12 months, and
• you must have opted in to share gameplay data and have at least 50 hours total gameplay hours.

Last week, Nintendo announced that Switch 2 pre-orders would begin in the U.S. on April 24, 2025, and that the original price of $449.99 and launch date of June 5 would remain the same. Alongside the base console price remaining the same, Nintendo confirmed the Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle will remain at $499.99 and pricing for both the physical and digital versions of Mario Kart World ($79.99) and Donkey Kong Bananza ($69.99) will not change at launch. But Nintendo raised the price of Switch 2 accessories amid the ongoing tariff turmoil.

Nintendo had originally planned on opening pre-orders for Switch 2 on April 9, but it made the decision to delay them as it needed time to “assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.”

If you’re looking to pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2, GameCube controller, or other accessories and games, make sure to keep an eye on our Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order hub, which will stay updated with news and info. You can also find out more about how to increase your chances of getting a new Nintendo Switch 2 console on day one.

Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write: there’s a live-action Toys “R” Us movie in the works.

According to Variety, Story Kitchen — the team behind pretty much every video game movie adaptation you’ve seen recently, including the Sonic the Hedgehog movies — hopes to “capture that childhood wonder in a modern, fast-paced adventure that taps into the Toys ‘R’ Us brand’s relevance across its more than 70 years in the toy industry.”

“Toys ‘R’ Us is a cultural touchstone that continues impacting the child in all of us today,” said Story Kitchen co-founders Dmitri M. Johnson and Mike Goldberg. “As ’80s kids who considered Toys ‘R’ Us one of the most magical places on Earth, we’re honored to partner to create a film that will capture the spirit of adventure, creativity and nostalgia that Toys ‘R’ Us represents.”

Nintendo has clarified compatibility concerns around its all-new GameCube controller, confirming there may be “issues” using it to play contemporary Nintendo Switch 2 games.

The GameCube controller was unveiled at the 60-minute Nintendo Direct earlier this month. At the time, we noticed the small-print warned the controller was “only compatible with Nintendo GameCube” games in the Nintendo Switch Online retro library, and not other Switch 2 games.

Nintendo has now clarified that small print, reiterating that the retro controller was designed to be used primarily with GameCube games. Players may be able use their GameCube controller for other Nintendo Switch 2 games, but there “may be some issues” doing so given the retro device will be missing “all the buttons and features” found in more modern controllers.

Nintendo also repeated its warning that the GameCube controller is only compatible with the Nintendo Switch 2 system.

“The Nintendo GameCube controller is designed for use with the Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics collection of games and is an optional way to play those games,” Nintendo confirmed in a statement to Nintendo Life.

“Since it doesn’t have all the buttons and features found in other controllers that can be used with the Nintendo Switch 2 system, there may be some issues when playing other games. The Nintendo GameCube controller can only be used on Nintendo Switch 2 and is not compatible with Nintendo Switch.”

The GameCube collection is a major update to the Nintendo Switch Online library, and grants subscribers access to a laundry list of classic 2000s-era titles, including The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, and Soulcalibur 2, which will all be available at launch this summer. Of course, this library will be expanded in the years to come, with some teased titles including Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario Strikers, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, and more.

If you’re looking to pre-order a Nintendo Switch 2, GameCube controller, or other accessories and games, make sure to keep an eye on our Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order hub, which will stay updated with news and info. You can also find out more about how to increase your chances of getting a new Nintendo Switch 2 console on day one.

Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

It’s one thing to wear your influences on your sleeve, and it’s another to wield those influences to create something that can confidently stand on its own merits. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is explicitly built on many of the ideas of great modern and classic Japanese RPGs, and French developer Sandfall isn’t shy about it – nor should it be. From the bold stylings within its magnificent turn-based combat to the melodramatic but genuine storytelling tropes it largely embraces, so much of Clair Obscur feels familiar yet refreshing. Its superb execution on those ideas puts its own stamp on them for one of the more somber but hopeful journeys I won’t soon forget.

In Clair Obscur, the people of Lumiere live in a fractured reality: Every year, a godlike figure they call The Paintress marks a number on a tower far off in the distance, counting down the age at which people will perish into nothingness. You lead the survivors of the latest in a series of annual expeditions that set sail in hopes of destroying The Paintress, none of which have ever come back despite decades of attempts. It’s a harrowing premise that hangs a heavy layer of melancholy over the entire story. Knowing that your people are fighting against their own extinction by signing up for a death march, facing unknown dangers and picking up the pieces left behind by expeditions long gone, it’s easy to become invested in their fate and the mysteries that dictate their world.

I finished the main story and a decent amount of side content in about 35 hours, and that length speaks to how Clair Obscur doesn’t waste a moment – there isn’t really any filler along the critical path and it doesn’t get bogged down in drawn-out exposition. It makes a strong first impression, then naturally tells you more about its characters through their interactions, conversations, and expressions. While some of my favorite moments in RPGs come from the downtime that offers a chance to breathe and take in the world, there’s an embedded urgency here that cuts to the chase in a way that mostly works in its favor. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good 80+ hour RPG, but this is a nice change of pace.

Because of that shorter length (relatively speaking), the sharpness of the combat system never dulls. At a glance, you’ll get unmistakable Persona vibes from its slick battle menu and stylish flourishes. More prominent is its active element, with real-time button inputs that boost potency in spellcasting and let you avoid attacks, which keeps you engaged during enemy turns as much as your own. It’s reminiscent of the Mario RPGs or, more recently, Like A Dragon RPGs, and it works wonders for making turn-based combat thrilling – especially when so much of your survival hangs in the balance of being able to dodge and parry.

Against bosses and tougher enemies, you don’t really stand a chance unless you’re paying close attention to the audio and visual cues to establish a rhythm. When it comes to combos that have a varied cadence between hits, I’m locked in like it’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, staving off a flurry of attacks to certain beats. It can be frustrating at times, especially in first attempts since there’s some trial and error in learning these attack patterns. But when I’m trying to nail down the timing, it instills an intensity I don’t think I’ve ever felt in turn-based combat. While dodging offers a wider window for execution, parrying demands more precision, and there’s nothing quite like the rewarding slow-motion camera cut and emphatic counterattack of a precisely timed parry, flipping the enemy turn to deal big damage off a free hit.

Every party member has their own specific mechanics that typically revolve around building up their unique resource in battle and managing action points (AP) to execute the more heavy-hitting skills. For example, Gustave gains charges for every hit he lands then uses those charges to increase the output of his Overcharge skill. In contrast, Lune is a mage who gains elemental stains from casting specific spells, dealing higher damage and getting access to bigger spells by stacking the right elements. Meanwhile, Maelle is all about going into different stances and has the potential to do the most damage, but the conditions in which she enters those stances can depend on status effects or the properties of the weapon she has equipped.

There’s even a card-dealing Scythe wielder in Sciel, who manages light-dark phases and card stacks to use her skills properly, almost like a combination of the Astrologian and Reaper Jobs from Final Fantasy XIV. And if that wasn’t enough, two late-game characters I won’t spoil take things even further, with one using a Devil May Cry-style grading system with attacks and dodges while the other takes spells from fallen enemies in the style of a Blue Mage. All of this gives each character a distinct identity and function that makes every turn in battle an exciting endeavor no matter who’s in your party

Their skill trees are also concise, letting Clair Obscur stay approachable since you’re only given a handful of tools and then asked to have a strong grasp of how they work. With an emphasis on meeting certain conditions and inflicting specific knock-on effects when lining up attacks, it reminds me of mechanics you’d see in a CRPG like Baldur’s Gate 3, but fine-tuned for a classic-style Japanese RPG. The way these skillsets are able to synergize and play off other party members shows an understanding of what makes a turn-based system sing. You may fall into a routine opener, but as a fight goes on, it becomes more about adapting to the myriad variables thrown at you and earning the satisfying moments of pulling off your most powerful attacks.

Then there’s another layer called Pictos, which are attachments that offer game-changing stat boosts and perks to drastically affect how you gain AP, the bonuses from dodging and parrying, the way status effects work, and more. Using Pictos for long enough eventually allows you to stack their perks in what are called Lumina, letting you build a character in ways their skill tree cannot. Navigating these menus is kind of a pain since things get messy once you’re sifting through 50+ options packed into a tight screen, but it’s something I learned to deal with and sort through once I grasped the nomenclature – and when it all clicked, taking the time to configure my party was well worth the hassle. At first I thought I’d be far too overpowered (and I was in some cases), but setting the right loadout elevated my party members in ways that were crucial for the most challenging fights.

In fact, my biggest worry early on was that Clair Obscur was going to be too easy, as I steamrolled almost every enemy in roughly the first-third of the main path – aside from a handful of optional bosses that tested my mastery of the combat system (or one-shotted me, telling me to come back in the endgame). It definitely ramps up as it goes on, however, weaving in more creative enemy attack patterns and adding layers that sometimes tease out new approaches to constructing your party and skill loadouts. It eventually struck a good balance as bosses evolved in interesting ways, either by doing more with status effects and enemy shields, or by mixing up attacks that also ask you to time a jump or hit a special “Gradient Counter” alongside the usual parries and dodges, which could make my survival in combat feel like a rhythm game.

That gives Clair Obscur enough depth without feeling unwieldy, and just enough complexity while still staying focused. And if you’re clever enough, you’re allowed to “break the game,” so to speak, as its systems let you scale up in a way that’s rewarding rather than exploitative. I’ve played these kinds of RPGs my entire life, and so I’m confident when I say Clair Obscur has one of my favorite turn-based combat systems, ever – even if it has room to grow in a potential sequel, it’s already brilliant.

There’s something very old-school about Clair Obscur, and its overworld is one of clearest ways in which it harkens back to classic RPGs. You have oversized models of your characters navigating a map filled with optional locations and secrets, many of which aren’t accessible until you unlock new travel methods, similar to getting chocobos and airships in the Final Fantasy games of yore. It’s actually really charming, embracing its video game-y aspects and knowing that it doesn’t always have to take itself so seriously. Floating islands, far off shores, or massive creatures in the distance create a sense of wonder, and eventually you can go visit them to fight superbosses, play silly minigames for unique weapons and Pictos, or uncover a bit more of the story you wouldn’t see otherwise – and that side content can account for roughly 20 hours of gameplay on top of the main story. There’s no real quest log, so there isn’t an elegant way to track what you stumble upon. But rather than feeling obtuse, it gives the impression that these secrets are yours to discover in true throwback fashion.

The main locations you visit function like dungeons where you fight your way along a fairly direct track, with extra items tucked in nooks and crannies off the beaten path. For as linear as these places can be, a minimap would have been handy, as you’ll often get lost in the winding paths that blend in with the environment. (If nothing else, I’d like one just to keep track of where I had already been.) You approach enemies to initiate combat, and they respawn if you decide to replenish your health and items at flags planted by previous expeditions that function like checkpoints. Exploration is limited in this regard, but it helps each main story sequence stay focused and consistently paced. It’s also a consolation that every place you visit is visually striking, whether it’s thanks to an ethereal whimsy and natural beauty, or the brutality of the trenches and battlefields where bodies of past expeditioners are piled high – regardless, I was often in awe of Clair Obscur’s world.

What really etches an RPG into the pantheon of greats, however, is always going to be its story. My heart was all-in on Clair Obscur’s themes of facing mortality, making sacrifices for future generations, and the different ways we handle grief. I’ve written a lot about the latter, especially in relation to the stories many recent RPGs tell, and this is another harrowing exploration of it – for the way it contextualizes time and age, but also for its portrayal of grief becoming destructive to those around you, should it consume you. Final Fantasy X is one of its main influences, and it shows, but Clair Obscur also separates itself by how it tells its story. Massive credit is due to the impeccable acting and voice performances from an A-list cast, as well as script writing and scene direction that has dialogue playing out like natural, real-life conversations – small gestures, subtle expressions, and the cadence of the line deliveries are qualities that ground its story in something that feels as real as it is fantastical.

Its brevity does work against it at times as the story shifts in sudden directions later on that somewhat undermine the initial premise. I wish it dedicated a little more time and attention to fleshing out the parts that went a bit underdeveloped, but what’s here is still powerful – especially as it relates to the ugliness that comes from processing loss, and with a certain focus on the complicated impact it has on families. There’s a thematic coherence in showing how we use art and fiction as a coping mechanism and the dangers of getting lost in it.

Despite its deeply sad premise, Clair Obscur also manages to inject some levity that is largely charming rather than forced. Silly wooden guys called Gestrals occupy most of The Continent, working as both comic relief and a lens to help understand unknown parts of the world. Your party will goof with each other and share pieces of their personal lives at camp, and while not all of it is riveting stuff necessarily, those brief moments are vital for rounding out the human element that this story channels. Admittedly, there are moments in which Clair Obscur embellishes in its sorrow a bit too much, getting a little overdramatic at times. But it’s always able to find its footing by evoking a very specific tone – one that leans heavier into what you’d expect from a theatre production than a Hollywood blockbuster. And from that perspective, playing out like a classical tragedy is an integral part of its identity.

Clair Obscur often feels like an expression of French art history, using its culture as an enticing artistic foundation (and even poking fun at itself with mime bosses and a fun accordion jig). That’s not just in the distinct Belle Epoque aesthetic or the French phrases characters use casually in conversation, but also in motifs that invoke theatre, painting, dance, and music which are woven into the very fabric of this fictional world – with music in particular being the most powerful one. Like every great RPG, an evocative soundtrack can uplift it to become a truly memorable experience, and Sandfall understood the assignment here. There’s almost too much good music, in that certain tracks didn’t even get enough time to stick in my head, but at every turn are amazing songs that hype you up for battle or set a wistful mood. With a multifaceted approach that includes string quartets, symphonic rock, moving opera vocals, and atmospheric synths, Clair Obscur’s soundtrack is stunning, and will be one of the reasons I won’t forget this game.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered launched big launch on Steam, where it enjoyed a peak concurrent player count of over 180,000 on release day.

After Bethesda shadow-dropped Oblivion Remastered yesterday, April 22, the game climbed to the top of Steam’s global top-selling games list, which is sorted by revenue. It’s ahead of the likes of Valve’s own Counter-Strike 2, viral hit Schedule I, and Blizzard’s Overwatch 2, which itself received a significant new update.

Oblivion remastered was also the fourth most-played game on Steam yesterday, behind only Counter-Strike 2, PUBG, and Dota 2. It’s currently the most-played single-player RPG on Steam, ahead of the resurgent Baldur’s Gate 3, and has a ‘very positive’ user review rating.

Steam stats do not tell the whole story, of course, and when it comes to Oblivion Remastered, there’s much more to its success. As a Microsoft-owned game (Microsoft owns Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media), Oblivion Remastered launched straight into Xbox Game Pass for Ultimate subscribers. It seems likely the game will have many players through the subscription service alone.

And then there’s the PlayStation 5 and standard Xbox Series X and S release to add in. So, while neither Microsoft nor Sony make player numbers public, Oblivion Remastered’s true peak concurrent player count on launch day will be much higher than 180,000.

It seems like a big success already, although Bethesda is yet to announce a total player or sales number. And player numbers will surely get bigger as Oblivion Remastered heads into its first weekend on sale.

Oblivion Remastered, developed by remake specialist Virtuos using Unreal Engine 5, has a long list of visual and feature improvements. It runs at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, as you’d expect, but other changes are more meaningful. Everything from the leveling systems to character creation, and combat animations to in-game menus have been improved. Meanwhile, there’s lots of new dialogue, a proper third-person view, and new lip sync technology. The changes are going down well with fans, some of whom believe Oblivion Remastered would be more accurately described as a remake. Bethesda, however, has explained why it went down the remaster route.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion launched in 2006 as a follow-up to fan-favorite Morrowind on PC and Xbox 360, with a PlayStation 3 release following in 2007. It’s set in the fictional province of Cyrodiil, and revolves around the player character’s bid to defeat a fanatical cult that wants to open portal games to the demonic realm known as Oblivion.

We’ve got a comprehensive guide to everything you’ll find in Oblivion Remastered, including an expansive Interactive Map, complete Walkthroughs for the Main Questline and every Guild Quest, How to Build the Perfect Character, Things to Do First, and much more.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

If there’s one thing Lucasfilm has accomplished with shows like Star Wars: Andor and Star Wars Rebels, it’s in showing us the many heroes and worlds that played a key role in fighting and eventually overthrowing the Empire. We know Yavin-IV and Hoth and Endor from the movies. But what about Lothal and Ferrix? And thanks to the first three episodes of Andor Season 2, there’s another world that’s entered the Star Wars zeitgeist – Ghorman.

What is Ghorman, and why is this world so important to the conflict that is the Galactic Civil War? Why does the situation on Ghoman develop into a watershed moment for the Rebel Alliance? Here’s what you need to know about this little-known but surprisingly important corner of the Star Wars universe.

Ghorman in Star Wars: Andor

Star Wars: Andor first alluded to the planet Ghorman in the Season 1 episode “Narkina 5.” In a meeting between Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera and Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael, Saw references the doomed anti-Imperial group known as the Ghorman Front. To Saw, the Ghorman Front is a cautionary tale when it comes to discussing how best to fight the Empire.

Now this world is playing a much more direct role in Season 2. In the premiere episode, we see Ben Mendelsohn’s Director Krennic speaking to a group of assembled ISB agents about a delicate problem involving the planet. He shows them a cheesy documentary reel extolling the virtues of Ghorman’s textile industry. Their silk fabric, harvested from a special breed of spider, is Ghorman’s chief galactic export.

The problem, as Krennic explains, is that the Empire is more interested in another of Ghorman’s natural resources. The Emperor himself covets Ghorman’s vast supply of calcite. Krennic claims that this calcite is needed to help the Empire’s research into renewable, unlimited energy. However, given what we know about Krennic from Rogue One, we can probably assume he’s lying. More likely, Krennic needs vast stores of calcite to complete construction of the Death Star. Like Kyber crystal, calcite is one of the limiting factors in Project: Stardust, and one of the reasons completing that terrible battlestation is taking so long.

As Krennic and his underlings discuss, the challenge with calcite is that extracting it in the quantities the Empire needs will likely leave Ghorman a barren, uninhabitable wasteland. That raises concerns about what to do about the native Ghor population. Palpatine’s grip on the galaxy isn’t quite so ironclad that he can just lay waste to an entire world and its people with impunity. That’s precisely why he wants a Death Star in the first place. At that point, there will be no contesting his Empire, no matter what war crimes it commits.

Krennic’s solution is to turn public sentiment against Ghorman so that the Empire becomes justified in taking control of the planet and displacing its people. This is a world with a history of anti-Imperial leanings, after all. But while his propaganda ministers believe that this process can be handled through social manipulation alone, Denise Gough’s Dedra Meero understands the reality. The Empire needs to install its own band of radical rebels who can be relied on to further the narrative that Ghorman is a dangerous, lawless place. Only then can the Empire swoop in and claim its calcite under the guise of restoring law and order.

All of this looks to be setting up an ongoing storyline in Season 2. No doubt Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma, and others will be drawn to Ghorman as the political situation deteriorates and this planet becomes a renewed battleground in the Galactic Civil War. Based on what we know about Ghorman already, it’s bound to end in both tragedy and a pivotal moment for the Rebel Alliance.

What Is the Ghorman Massacre?

In short, Andor Season 2 is gearing up to showcase an event known as the Ghorman Massacre. While this event has only been alluded to in Disney-era Star Wars media, it’s actually one of the most important developments leading to the creation of a true, unified Rebel Alliance.

The Ghorman Massacre has its roots in the pre-Disney Star Wars Legends universe. In that version of events, set in the year 18 BBY, Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin was the instigating offender. When Tarkin traveled to Ghorman in the midst of a peaceful protest against illegal Imperial taxation, he made the characteristically ruthless choice to land his ship directly on top of the protesters. Hundreds were killed or injured as a result.

The Ghorman Massacre quickly came to be seen as a glaring example of Imperial cruelty. It not only sparked public outcry, but it also led Senators like Mon Mothma and Jimmy Smits/Benjamin Bratt’s Bail Organa to begin fomenting and supporting the growing rebel movement. There’s a direct line between the Ghorman Massacre and the formation of the Rebel Alliance.

Lucasfilm is taking a somewhat different approach to the Ghorman Massacre in this new Disney era, and with Andor Season 2 in progress, we’re still making sense of the revised timeline. But the basic idea remains the same. The Ghorman Massacre is an incident where the Empire overplays its hand and inspires a renewed wave of rebel backlash.

Warning: the remainder of this article contains possible spoilers for upcoming episodes of Andor Season 2!

Most of what we know about the Ghorman Massacre in the Disney timeline is established in Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire and other reference books. In this version, the massacre takes place in 2 BBY. Once again, the Empire is guilty of slaughtering innocent protesters on Ghorman, sparking immediate and deep backlash.

We also know that the Ghorman Massacre serves as the critical dividing line in Mon Mothma’s political career. Up to that point, Mon is committed to working within the Imperial Senate system to oppose and resist Palpatine’s agenda wherever she can. But after the Ghorman Massacre, Mon finally throws caution to the wind and speaks publicly against the Emperor, labeling him “a lying executioner.” At that point, Mon is considered a traitor to the Empire, forcing her to go into hiding and become the full-time leader of the Rebel Alliance.

We’ve actually seen the immediate aftermath of the Ghorman Massacre play out already, thanks to the animated series Star Wars Rebels. In the Season 3 episode “Secret Cargo,” the Spectres rescue Mon and escort her to the Rebel Alliance high command. From there, Mon delivers a speech known as the Declaration of the Rebel Alliance, and the Galactic Civil War officially begins.

The following contains major spoilers from Episodes 1-3 of Andor Season 2.

After nearly three years, the long-awaited second season of Andor has arrived on Disney+. Taking place in the lead-up to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (which itself leads directly into Episode IV – A New Hope), Andor follows a cast of characters – both Rebel and Imperial – as they fight for control of the Galaxy.

The first three episodes of Season 2 were filled with action, drama, heartbreak, and some of the funniest scenes of the show so far. Talking exclusively with IGN at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, the cast spoke in depth about some of the most jaw-dropping moments from Episodes 1-3.

Cassian Andor struggles to fly a TIE Avenger.

In the opening scene of Episode 1, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) works with a nervous undercover spy to steal a TIE fighter (specifically a TIE Avenger first seen in 1994’s Star Wars: TIE fighter PC game) from an Imperial test facility on the planet Sienar. And instead of expertly maneuvering the ship out of the building and off-planet, Cassian sneaks into the cockpit and has no idea how to fly it. This leads to a comical sequence in which he awkwardly lurches the Interceptor around a flight hanger before blasting through doors and nearly flying off a cliff. Luna explains there was a deeper meaning to the comedy in the sequence.

“The fun is over after minute four!” Luna jokes. “No, I think there’s a lot of humor in this season. Not that we were looking or searching for it, but it’s just implicit. For that (scene), we were not planning to do a comedic moment, but it is this man battling his ignorance, which makes it very fun. He’s against the Empire and the big problem is himself. He doesn’t know what to do with the equipment he’s trying to fly. I think it’s a very cool action sequence and action is much better when there’s humor around.”

Modern streaming platforms like Netflix and Max have changed our content diets dramatically, allowing reality TV lovers and Letterboxd sickos to beam the latest movies and shows directly into their homes. In lieu of heading out to a theater and getting caught in a ‘Chicken Jockey’ related incident, you may be wondering — how can I summon a cinematic level of fidelity from the comfort of my couch? Well never fear, dear reader, as our guide to streaming Netflix in 4K will explain everything you need to know.

How to Stream Netflix in 4K

Before we get started, it’s worth checking which Netflix plan you’re on — as not all of them allow for 4K streaming. The Streaming (with Ads) and Standard plans only allow for streaming at resolutions up to 1080p. The only plan that supports 4K streaming at this time is the highest-tier Premium Plan.

Here are the current Netflix US plans and their prices:

• Standard with ads: $7.99 per month (No 4K)
• Standard: $17.99 per month (No 4K)
• Premium: $24.99 per month (4K streaming)

Do you have the right equipment for 4K?

The next step in your 4K streaming journey is making sure all of your hardware can support streaming Netflix content in 4K. If you’re using a monitor or smart TV for streaming, it needs to be capable of outputting a 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution. If you’re using an external streaming device like a Fire Stick or an Apple TV, then this also needs to support 4K streaming. And, if you are using external devices to stream Netflix, then the cables connecting the device to the TV will need to be good enough to support the signal. Netflix suggests users should use a Premium High Speed HDMI or Ultra High Speed HDMI cable to stream Netflix in 4K.

Check your playback settings

Once you’ve made sure you’re on the right plan and have all the correct equipment, it’s time to check your playback settings. To do this you’ll need to log into your account on your PC. From here you’ll need to click on your profile icon and select ‘Manage Profiles’. It should automatically show the menu bar for your account, however if it hasn’t, select the specific account you wish to stream 4K content from. Now, scroll down and select the Playback Settings option and set it to ‘High’. From here, when using that profile, you should stream in 4K when watching content that supports that resolution.

There are few caveats to this selection worth considering. By selecting High, you may be subject to more buffering and freezing if your internet isn’t up to the job. Additionally, if you’re using mobile data to watch your favourite films or shows be aware that streaming in 4K uses more data and so you might hit your limit quicker than you might expect.

Are There Other Ways to Watch Netflix Movies and Shows in 4K?

Physical media may seem like a thing of the past. However, a Blu-Ray revival has meant a handful of popular titles have broken free of their digital prisons. Blu-Ray editions of original shows like Daredevil, Arcane, The Crown, Stranger Things, and Wednesday are available for fans to buy (though sometimes hard to find). In a world where a show can be dropped from a platform overnight, owning physical copies is often the only way to ensure you can watch your favorite shows for all eternity – or at least until disc drives completely disappear.

Season 2 of Andor’s first of four chapters, episodes 1 through 3, picks up a year after the events of season 1 and starts sprinting. It’s a funnier-than-I-expected opening to season 2 as well. Like the first season did so well, Andor is still focusing on the small things. While the big picture of the rebellion is never far out of mind, this first chapter takes great pains to highlight the personal costs of taking on the Empire with great characters, some truly impressive filmmaking, and one of the best dance parties Star Wars has ever seen.

There’s a scene almost right off the bat between Andor and an Imperial technician who’s helping him steal an experimental new TIE fighter. She’s nervous, scared, wondering if the risk she’s taking is even worth it, but Cassian is there to help talk her through it. He says all the right things, clearly drawing on experience he’s had in the year since we last saw him. It’s a perfect way to immediately show his growth.

But the most important part of this conversation is when the tech talks about how she’d had an okay life at this facility. She had fun. It’s like she feels guilty about ever being happy as a part of the Empire and she’s not sure how to deal with it. This is a small conversation about a very small thing, but it says so much about this first chapter of Andor season 2, and it’s really quite something that they were able to do so much so efficiently in these opening moments.

There’s a feeling throughout these first 3 episodes that any sense of normalcy or comfort is going away. The way the team behind Andor sets out to accomplish that is really savvy. This season is written and edited so well, and particularly in these first 3 episodes, Andor is built in such a way that very directly contrasts the realities of managing a rebellion with continuing to live in the Empire while you do it. It’s a fascinating little tight rope act, and one that the writers and directors almost flawlessly pull off. Even in the opening sequence, we see him very capably tending to this would-be rebel helping him, but immediately he’s back in over his head when he narrowly escapes in a ship he can barely fly.

Another great example of this arrives in episode 1. While Cassian is stuck on a forest planet with a group of rebels that don’t trust him and can’t even get on the same page with each other, we’re taken to a secret meeting of top Empire brass in a snowy, mountain top fortress. The way the episode jumps back and forth between these two scenes connects them in a really sneaky way. It’s edited quickly, almost like a montage, but these are two seemingly unrelated scenes being drawn together.

On the one hand, you see the uphill battle that the rebellion is facing, with factions fighting for the same cause but killing each other because of distrust. This crew holding Andor hostage is just a bunch of selfish idiots – but, meanwhile, the Empire is quite casually plotting the destruction of an entire planet over coffee and canapes at a corporate retreat. These moments get lumped together as effectively one scene, and that one scene isn’t about what the rebellion or the Empire are up to separately. It’s a scene about how far apart the two sides are in their plans and how they get executed. While the Empire can get the ISB and the smear-campaign-pitching Ministry of Enlightenment douchebags marching in lockstep, the rebellion is literally starving in the mud, fighting each other while stranded on a planet full of beasts. They are not playing on the same level.

It’s also a scene that proves just how well Andor is put together. Smart and efficient filmmaking like this pops up throughout this series to subtly drive home the themes while you’re not even looking.

I will say though, episode 2 gets a little long where Cassian’s part of the plot is concerned. This band of misfits in the jungle are just too meatheaded to be interesting for as much time as we spend with them. They did their job very well in episode 1, but I don’t know that I needed the Star Wars version of rock, paper, scissors to play such a big role in Andor’s escape. It’s another vote in favor of the release schedule for season 2, though. I would’ve been a little more critical of episode 2 if I had to wait a whole week to see episode 3.

Thankfully this first batch of episodes also features the galaxy’s most intriguing character, Mon Mothma. The fact that a major plot point of season 1 involved the senator agreeing to arrange the marriage of her daughter to a mobster’s son in order to finance the rebellion was one of the reasons I fell so hard for this show.

Season 2 uses that wedding on Chandrila to do a couple of very cool things. It’s already incredible that Mon sending her daughter to marry into a shady financier’s family plays such an enormous role in the organization of this rebellion. But now her childhood friend and banking guru Tay has lost some money and gotten divorced, which in turn is causing him to make uncomfortable waves for Mon and Luthen Rael’s plans.

Just to say that again, because it’s wild: A dude’s wife leaving him has enormous implications for the future of the rebellion. Forget teaching a kid in the desert how to use a light saber, this is the kind of fascinating butterfly-effect stuff that the second season of Andor is doubling down on in all the right ways. That something as tiny and personal as a marriage falling apart is a real threat to these early days of the rebellion is such a fun thread to pull on.

More than Chandrillan divorce – and there’s always one guy who just got divorced at a wedding – the four-day extravaganza at the Mothma estate highlights that contrast that’s painted so well early in this season. Mon Mothma has always been obliged to play nice in the Senate and at home, while secretly funding the rebellion. Placing all of her anxiety around the rebellion, including the unexpected arrival of Stellan Skarsgaard’s Luthen Rael, against the backdrop of such a traditional event shows how determined the rest of her world is to carry on as though nothing is amiss and the Empire isn’t capable of blowing up a whole planet for a mineral.

By the time the wedding is over, Tay’s been dealt with in the only way Luthen knows how to deal with loose ends, and Mon is doing shots – shots that she has very much earned, and dance-partying her way through some pretty boss EDM. Her tragedy is juxtaposed with a fresh and terrible loss for Cassian. Not only does Mon have to grin and bear it through an upper-class tradition, that contrast is used to invade Cassian’s life as well. It’s another sequence like cross-cutting the jungle meatheads and the Empire planning to strip-mine Ghorman. It creates a single story out of two otherwise unconnected threads.

The real craft of Andor season 2 is in these moments, because they corral disparate parts of the rebellion into the whole. Mon Mothma and Cassian Andor have not met. Their only connection is that they both know Luthen Rael, but quite independently of each other. Here at the end of episode 3 though, they’re in the same place thanks to the absurdly clever editing of that house music.

Meanwhile, on the antagonist’s side of the spectrum, the two main villains from season 1 are embroiled in a domestic chamber piece. Dedra Meero and Syril Karn squaring off against Syril’s mother, who, by the way, I believe to be the second or third best character in this entire show, is an incredible scene. It’s written with some of the most passive-aggressive dialogue humankind has ever seen. The three performances have at least a few layers of awkward subtext at play and, beyond any of that, we get more of what makes this first chapter great – the attempt at normalcy in the midst of rebellion.

Taking a relationship to the “meet the parent” phase is a big and stupidly normal step for two ambitious, true-believer imperial agents like Dedra and Syril. There’s an incongruity to it that’s both really funny and really creepy. Seeing Syril more or less trade one mom for another is a wild place for this series to go, but at the same time, it’s exactly the kind of thing that made the first season so intriguing – and that season 2 is highlighting even more effectively.

And while I was happy to see Bix again, her peaceful bit of respite harvesting grain with Brasso and Wilmon interrupted by an imperial audit is the most on-the-nose part of chapter 1. The officers are so blatantly slimy and their tactics so familiar, the storyline just didn’t have nearly as much to offer as the others. I certainly preferred the farmers on that planet to the meatheads in the jungle, but to be fair that’s a pretty low bar to clear.

There’s never been a better time to start building a big ol’ pile of shame, my fellow patient gamer. Whether you’re keen to pick up a cult favourite or just want to marvel at how cheap Mass Effect is going for, today’s best gaming deals are a tidy mix of crowd-pleasers and critical darlings. And now, without much more ado, here are my favourite deals on The Citadel.

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I’m celebrating the 32nd birthday of the Sega Mega Drive II, a beast I still own and adore. Bristling with 16-bits of power (and blast processing technology), this bit of kit arrived on my birthday, with a copy of Streets of Rage from a MegaZone subscription deal, and basically made my year. I was to eat well with Sonics 1 through 3, Bonanza Bros., RoboCop vs. Terminator, Disney’s Aladdin / Lion King, Streeties, MK, Golden Axe, Earthworm Jim, a bunch of Shinobis, and more. Absolute peak Sega era.