IGN

Streaming has gone from being a cheaper alternative to cable, to an actually worse version of cable. The price of streaming services has skyrocketed since the early days, and content has been haphazardly strewn across different subscriptions. Not only that, each of the streaming services are continually raising prices on consumers. If you find yourself subscribed to Netflix, Max, Hulu, Paramount+, and Disney+ all at once you’re probably paying way too much for streaming right now.

Thankfully there are some options to cut down on your budget without just canceling your access to everything. There are ways to bundle services together, free trials, and streaming alternatives out there you can take advantage of. Below I’ve gathered a quick list of ways I’ve found to save money and still watch an endless stream of quality entertainment on the daily.

Bundle Services Where You Can

Rejoice, fellow Nintendo fans. On Wednesday, the clouds parted, the sun rose, and the divine spectra; hand of Miyamoto reached down from the sky to grace us with Nintendo’s newest handheld carnival of joy, the Switch 2. After years of speculation, we finally have a clear look at the mysterious console hybrid.

Sadly, while sleek, compact, and powerful, the rumours are untrue. The Switch 2 does not in fact pack a tiny little Reggie into every GPU. But after we spent an hour during the Direct glued to every word: dissecting it, screenshotting every image, poring over captured video for tiny clues to its form and function, we can finally apply something besides guesswork and give you some solid facts, including all the ways it leaves its beloved predecessor in the dust.

1. Switch 2 packs in a lot more raw graphical power than Switch

This is probably the least-surprising revelation as practically every next-gen Nintendo console has been significantly improved over its predecessor (yes, even the Wii). Still, when released in 2017, Switch was hardly a cutting-edge powerhouse in comparison to Sony and Xbox consoles, and eight years later it noticeably struggles under demanding games. Nintendo and its partners were increasingly running up against the limitations of the hardware.

This week we saw elements on display promising us a vastly improved experience: handheld resolutions up to 1080p, docked up to 4K, both with HDR, and framerates extending up to 120 fps. It’s a welcome upgrade that should allow a wider variety of games to come to Switch 2. We may already see some of the fruit in EA’s decision to host soccer and football games on Switch 2, and 2K’s intention to do the same with wrestling and basketball.

Third parties revealed all manner of current-gen games to give us some idea of the Switch 2’s increased capabilities, and what we saw was encouraging: a console/handheld capable of handling Elden Ring, Street Fighter 6, and other demanding software. And what Nintendo showed of their new first-party offerings was simply gorgeous.

2. Switch plays GameCube games. Switch doesn’t

The little purple lunchbox that could finally comes to Nintendo Switch Online, exclusively available on Switch 2. Nintendo has effectively drawn a fence between online experiences on Switch and Switch 2, and that means that from this point forward those who want to play some of Nintendo’s best retro games are going to have to shell out for better hardware. Sure, it’s only three games right now, but those three games are absolute bangers: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, and, holy crap, Soul Calibur 2, complete with Link.

Okay, seriously. Soul Calibur 2 is incredible. If you’ve never played it with a friend you are in for such a treat.

3. Switch 2 recognizes the existence of the Internet

When humanity later reviews and catalogues the glorious day in video game history, the opening chapter won’t be about how Mario Kart is now like Forza Horizon, or about Donkey Kong’s return in Bananza, or even about the announcement of the until-now secret project called Duskblood. Instead, the book will open and perhaps also close with the most significantly un-Nintendo thing to happen this week: easy integration of online features commonly available on other platforms.

The company that brought us Friend Codes now graces us with GameChat, a feature-rich communication and visual sharing feature set for Switch 2. A noise-cancelling mic picks up your voice and shares it with friends. An optional desktop camera allows you to share your face, both in window-corners and in compatible games like Mario Party. You can also share screens across consoles remotely. It’s much of what we gave up on asking Nintendo for years ago… a simple, straightforward tool for playing with friends. I’m looking forward to seeing how it actually plays out.

If you have a Nintendo Switch (or plan to get a Nintendo Switch 2), you’re probably familiar with Nintendo Switch Online. Beyond being essential for accessing multiplayer features and playing online with friends in popular games, it’s also one of the best ways to enjoy over four decades of classic Nintendo games, including titles from the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and (with the upcoming launch of the Nintendo Switch 2) the new GameCube libraries.

If you haven’t tried Nintendo Switch Online yet, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ll walk you through how to activate the free trial, explain the different subscription tiers, share pricing details, and more.

Does Nintendo Switch Online Have a Free Trial?

Yes, Nintendo offers a seven-day free trial for Nintendo Switch Online, giving you access to online play for your Nintendo Switch (and eventually Nintendo Switch 2 games), cloud backup for your save data, select game soundtracks on Nintendo Music, and a library of over 100 NES, SNES, and Game Boy games.

825 Forest Road is now streaming on Shudder.

Writer and director Stephen Cognetti is ready to be known as more than the “Hell House LLC Guy.” Unfortunately, his latest movie won’t help him accomplish that goal. 825 Forest Road ditches the found-footage Halloween scares of Cognetti’s directorial debut and its sequels for a more traditional approach to horror. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near as engaging or inventive as those four (and counting) trips to the cursed Abaddon Hotel. 825 Forest Road is a tangle of feeble lore, jumbled storytelling jumps, and an upsetting mannequin who’s scary, but can’t quite escape the shadow of the terrifyingly mobile clown dummies that stalk the Hell House movies.

The ingredients of his past success are all in place: 825 Forest Road brings a malevolent force and unsuspecting victims to the central location of the title. Chuck Wilson (Joe Falcone), his seamstress wife Maria (Elizabeth Vermilyea), and his artistic younger sister Isabelle (Kathryn Miller) leave tragedy behind to make a fresh start in the small town of Ashland Falls. But Ashland’s darkest supernatural secret eventrually comes a-knocking at Chuck’s front door: Her name is Helen Foster (Diomira Keane), and untimely deaths are her calling card. Cue the stock possession-horror thrills as the trio’s spacious yet surprisingly affordable home is infested by a vengeful spirit that Helen eventually channels into Maria’s disturbing antique mannequin, “Martha.”

There’s no visual imagination to be found in 825 Forest Road. Ashland Falls is portrayed like any other humble American community, no different from the settings of the 50 other scrappy little haunted-house movies you’ll see this year. The character Cognetti brought to Hell House LLC’s monstrous attraction doesn’t extend to 825 Forest Road, either – with its architectural stuffiness and generic production design, the house might as well be an unoccupied model in the middle of a new housing development. And without the found-footage hook, the filmmaking lacks pop, sucking the life out of Chuck’s residential nightmare.

Cognetti also miscalculates the durability of his storytelling, splitting 825 Forest Road into three repetitive chapters focused on a different member of the family. We follow Chuck, Irene, and Maria as they interact with Helen throughout the same sorta-spooky events, but the momentum is choppy at best – nothing revealed along the way is thunderous enough to be rewound multiple times. Cognetti struggles to bring his concept to life, whether it’s Helen’s underbaked backstory or the counterintuitive motivations that peg Chuck’s crew as mindless cannon fodder. A few valiant efforts are made to prop up the exposition – like introducing the town’s underground paranormal discussion group – but if the devil’s in the details, he’s on vacation.

I’ll admit: Martha the mannequin – with her crackly, papier-mâché complexion and habit of turning up where you least expect her – makes an effective antagonist. As Helen taunts the befuddled residents of 825 Forest Road by puppeting Martha around the house, Cognetti calls back to his nerve-shredding usage of Hell House LLC’s bald-and-painted clown prop. The ghastly figure makes a good jump scare (when she’s not a shoddy digital effect), but 825 Forest Road is never scarier than when Martha gains mobility, scampering about like one of Donna Beneviento’s Resident Evil Village minions. So much of 825 Forest Road is a struggle, but not when Cognetti reminds us why Hell House LLC garnered a ravenous following addicted to blood-pumping terrors. If only the Martha material had a more powerful, lingering effect.

The rest of 825 Forest Road stumbles through the motions. The performances are a serviceable crop, but the cast doesn’t give you anything that’ll stay seared in your memory. Cognetti recycles a few tricks from his Hell House LLC experiences, but they’re less impactful without the intimacy found-footage can provide. Then there’s the death blow of the final act, an anticlimax that fades to black at the worst possible moment. The kernel of an idea in 825 Forest Road never puffs into something tastier – it’s the hardened shell at the bottom of Cognetti’s bowl of savory found-footage frights. Perhaps the upcoming Hell House LLC: Lineage will prove a better method of closing the door on this chapter of his career.

LEGO has been rolling out new LEGO Lord of the Rings sets at a leisurely, hobbit-like pace of late. In 2023 we got a stunning Rivendell set. Last year, LEGO released a huge set of the Sauron’s iconic Dark Tower, aka Barad-dûr. And now, finally available for anyone to buy (exclusively at the LEGO Store), is a lovely, peaceful set based on The Shire – specifically, the hillside residence of Bilbo and Frodo in Bag-End.

LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Shire

You’d think pulling together a “best video game movies” list would be fairly easy given the meager amount of qualifying flicks… so we made it a bit more challenging with a Top 10! The question you should have now isn’t “Oooh, which movies made the cut?” but instead “Wow, there are actually 10 decent movies based on video games?”

Yes, effectively translating games to film has always been one of Hollywood’s biggest challenges, even as games became more and more story-focused, acting like long-form movies in their own right. It’s understandable why old school cabinet games and platformers, with scant narratives, would be tough to adapt but modern games come almost automatically assembled for the big screen. How hard is it to make an Uncharted movie when the Uncharted games feel like movies? As it turns out? Super gd difficult.

So games-to-movies is still a heck of a nut to crack, apparently, but in recent years we’ve been seeing some marked improvement. (And we didn’t even cheat by including all three Sonic the Hedgehog movies… though maybe we should have!)

And a note: This list is made up of movies that are based on real games. It does not include movies that are about video games (The Wizard, Pixels) or the many movies that feature a made-up game (Free Guy, Ready Player One, Wreck-It Ralph, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, etc.).

With A Minecraft Movie landing on our doorstep this week, here’s our Top 10 Video Game Movies of All Time!

10. Street Fighter (1994)

Our official crap entry here, since we have to admit that some video game movies are brilliant schlock, is the goofy guilty pleasure of 1994’s Street Fighter. Look, most video games at the time were either platformers or fighting games so… not a lot of narrative was unfolding. And Street Fighter was kind of exactly what you wanted from a Street Fighter movie.

Popping up right toward the end of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s heyday (he’d still have the underrated Peter Hyams’ movies Timecop and Sudden Death to unleash), Street Fighter has now meandered over into beloved cult movie territory, with a crazed cast that included Ming-Na Wen, Kylie Minogue, Wes Studi, and the late great Raul Julia (in what would be his final film role). Written and directed by screenwriter Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard, The Running Man, Richochet), Street Fighter was transformed into a Van Damme vehicle, making Colonel Guile the central character and guaranteeing a ton of roundhouse spin kicks.

9. Rampage (2018)

This is most definitely the best movie you could have whipped up based on the 1986 arcade game featuring Godzilla and Kong-esque monsters, and their best pal — a giant Werewolf — climbing buildings, eating people, swatting planes, and then reducing said buildings to rubble. For 2018’s Rampage, however, the battle lines were a little different. It was Lizard and Wolf vs. Ape and… Rock.

Yes, Dwayne Johnson re-teamed with director Brad Peyton (following Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and San Andreas) for a smash-em-up disaster flick all about mutant beasts tussling in, and subsequently leveling, Chicago.

8. Uncharted (2022)

Asked in the intro: How hard could it be to make a good Uncharted movie? Putting aside, of course, how hard it is to make any movie, in general.

The Uncharted games not only play like action movies, with eye-popping interactive cutscenes that are basically stunt spectaculars (one of which even wound up kinda/sorta in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning), but the games themselves were also influenced by classic action-adventure flicks like the Indiana Jones films.

The choice to have stars Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg played aged-down versions (that’s Hollywood, baby!) of hero Nathan Drake and mentor Victor “Sully” Sullivan soured some fans of the game franchise while also robbing the film of Uncharted’s heart and lived-in appeal, but the action was decent (particularly the third act set piece) and there was enough charisma on set to allow this mixtape of Uncharted characters and lore to persevere.

7. Resident Evil (2002)

With overall quality up for spirited debate, the single most resilient video game movie franchise is the Paul W. S. Anderson Resident Evil series. Spanning two decades, with six movies, Resident Evil became the little Umbrella Corporation engine that could with its own brand of cheese-tastic action and horror.

Representing the entire run — and even the more recent Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City reboot in 2021 and the separate Netflix series in 2022 — is the 2002 original, featuring The Fifth Element’s Milla Jovovich as amnesiac heroine Alice, who joins up with a band of warriors to battle the sinister Umbrella Corporation and the scourge of the zombie-creating T-virus.

Mixing up various parts of the first two Resident Evil games, this first movie nicely set the stage for 25 more years of RE films. With 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead reboot helping popularize zombie horror at the start of this century, Resident Evil found itself in a sweet spot being able to pull from games filled with undead monsters and tons of dystopian lore.

Oh, and the franchise isn’t done reinventing itself either, as a brand new version from Barbarian’s Zach Cregger is slated for 2026.

6. Mortal Kombat (2021)

With this list we’re trying to strike a balance between old and new when it comes to video game movies, honoring old adaptation attempts and previous big swings while also saluting the newer grittier and grounded reboots. 2021’s Mortal Kombat, which gets a much-buzzed-about sequel in 2025, hit all the right notes when it came to world building, bone-crunching action, and occasional wit. It took the iconic, pivotal fighting game and gave it a new sheen, showcasing our heroes’ quest to save Earth from Outworld hostiles while using the revenge story between Scorpion and Sub-Zero as the film’s… er, spine.

But we’ll also throw some love to Paul W. S. Anderson’s original 1995 adaptation. Yes, before he cracked the Resident Evil code, Anderson had a nice ’90s hit with the first Mortal Kombat movie – a fun, campy crash course in throwing a fighting game up on the big screen.

5. Tomb Raider (2018)

And here’s another legendary game franchise that has been running for so long we’ve gotten into reboot territory. So much so that the Tomb Raider movie from 2018 was based on an entirely different rebooted game series — the Survivor Trilogy — than the previous two Angelina Jolie films, which had big action directors at the helm in the form of Simon West and Jan de Bont.

The new Tomb Raider, starring Ex Machina’s Alicia Vikander, was a thoughtful, exciting reworking of the 2013 game, the first of the new trilogy, and included the island of Yamatai adventure that helps transform young Lara Croft from an aimless heiress into globe-trotting adventurer. Or, survivor, if you will, as this origin story portrays Lara as a scrappy, skin-of-her-teeth type more than a confident action hero.

A sequel was in the works for a while until COVID delays stalled everything up so much that MGM wound up losing the film rights to the game franchise in 2022. Such a pity. Trinity’s definitely behind this.

4. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

The less said about the original Super Mario Bros. film from 1993 the better, though it is a fascinating study from a blockbuster disaster standpoint. And the film’s now wandered into “so bad it’s good… but it’s still bad” territory. Overall, it was a live-action miscalculation of epic proportions.

That first attempt to bring Mario and Luigi was so abysmal that it basically stamped out all future tries. Nintendo essentially stopped licensing its characters for movies. Almost 30 years later, the Super Mario curse was broken with a vibrant, delightful animated film that basically printed money at the box office. The Mario Bros. world was just too ridiculous and disjointed — plumbers, princesses, mushrooms, Bowsers — for live-action and needed to thrive in a cartoon environment. This fantastical story needed a fantastical presentation. And while the casting of Chris Pratt as Mario became a sticking point for the internet, no one ultimately gave a s***. Everything worked here.

3. Detective Pikachu (2019)

The live-action/animation hybrid Detective Pikachu was a clever, heartfelt dive into the vast world of Pokemon, with Ryan Reynolds voicing a smart, sleuthing Pikachu who teams with Justice Smith’s forlorn former Pokemon trainer, Tim, who’s the only person who can hear this particular Pikachu talk. Together they investigate the death of Tim’s estranged father in Ryme City. This energetic, offbeat take on the unique game world led to box office gold, making Detective Pikachu the highest-grossing video game movie of all time (at the time). Great character arcs, surprising story twists — the film clearly understood the assignment. As of now, a sequel is supposedly still “in the works.”

2. Werewolves Within (2021)

The least-watched film on this list for sure, and based on the least-known game on the list (a VR game for Oculus Rift from 2016), Josh Ruben’s Werewolves Within is a hilarious, freaky monster mystery starring Sam Richardson (Veep, The Detroiters) as a new park ranger in a small town full of feuding citizens who are either being bumped off by their own neighborly rivals or… a gruesome beast stalking from the woods. Filled with funny, accentuated by co-stars Milana Vayntrub (our lost Squirrel Girl), Michaela Watkins (Heart Eyes), and George Basil (Severance), Werewolves Within is a great watch and a must-add to all Spooky Seasons marathons.

1. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)

We already told you that the Sonic movies weren’t taking up three spots, so here stands Sonic the Hedgehog 3 — the best of the three movies to date and also the rep for the new Sonic franchise as a whole. The Sonic the Hedgehog movies have gotten better with each installment, with the series as a whole having truly perfected the way to bring Sega’s bonkers console-launching speedy platformer to life with animation and live-action.

It’s high-octane family fun that managed to find the perfect voice for Sonic in Ben Schwartz, balancing snarky and sweet. It’s also responsible for bringing Jim Carrey out of blockbuster retirement, gifting a whole new generation with his incomparable comedic antics. It feels like a modern cinematic miracle that we’ve now managed to get Sonic and Mario up in movie theaters in big, successful ways. And Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was the deepest, most effective movie so far. The chemistry between Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in the film is spot-on and Keanu Reeves voicing Shadow was impeccable casting.

So what are your favorite video game movies? What would you have liked to have seen represented here? Vote in our poll and let us know below!

And if you’re looking for all the Upcoming Video Game Movies and TV Shows, follow the link. Or, if you’re in the mood for something a little more analytical, check out our Dream Video Game Movies and TV Shows Wishlist, and also this op-ed about why it might be so dang hard to make a good video game movie.

Originally launched as a free service to rival Xbox Live in 2010, PlayStation Plus has evolved significantly since its humble beginnings in 2010. The current iteration of PlayStation Plus is a subscription-based service for PS5 and PS4 users that is mandatory for online play, but also features additional tiers that add benefits such as a catalog of downloadable games, cloud streaming, and more.

While Sony used to offer free trials for new users to its online service, PlayStation Plus does not currently offer any free trials.

Can You Get PS Plus For Free in Other Ways?

Although PlayStation Plus doesn’t offer free trials to everyone, certain countries or regions may occasionally have access to a limited-time free trial according to Sony’s website. Unfortunately, Sony doesn’t reveal exactly who these free trials are for or when they are available, so you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled. PlayStation also occasionally has free multiplayer events with no PS Plus subscription required, although these are often unpredictable.

PlayStation does have occasional deals on PlayStation Plus subscriptions, however, they are often only available for new or expired members. Come on, Sony, share the love!

What PS Plus Alternatives Have Free Trials?

There really isn’t a direct replacement for PS Plus as it’s required for online play on PS5 and PS4, but there are some alternatives with free (or close to free) trials that offer a catalog of games to stream, if you so desire. However, most (if not all) of these alternatives require either a different console, a PC, or a mobile device to use the service.

1. PC Game Pass (14 Days for $1 – $11.99/month

Many of the best gaming keyboards I’ve reviewed in recent years are tenkeyless – ones that lop off the number pad to save desk space that also deliver high performance and fancy features. But I still want full-sized functionality on my keyboard, which is why I love the 96% layout where you still get all of the essentials with all of it crammed into a slightly more compact board with no gaps between keys or wasted space. They are tougher to find, however. And for that, I rode out the original Keychron K4 as my main until I spilled a drink over it and destroyed its mechanical switches. It was a solid keyboard that had everything I wanted at the time, but now it’s been updated with Hall Effect magnetic switches, and the results are fantastic.

The Keychron K4 HE has been outfitted with Gateron double-rail magnetic Nebula switches and the frame has a slightly different trim, but it’s still the simple and sleek keyboard I’ve always loved. While it doesn’t have anything like an OLED control screen on the likes of a SteelSeries Apex Pro or Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75, I don’t mind because sometimes it’s about getting the basics right, and offering that at a reasonable price.

Keychron K4 HE – Design and Features

I received the special edition of the Keychron K4 HE that comes in a cream white color scheme with wood grain along the side of the aluminum frame and a couple of gold keycaps for a pleasing accent. The OSA profile double-shot PBT keycaps are nice to the touch and have rounded edges for a softer overall look. There is RGB backlighting and a dedicated RGB key at the top-right to cycle through built-in RGB effects like breathing, waves, ripples, wheel, or just a single static color. But since the keycaps on the special edition don’t have transparent legends, it only really seeps through between the keys (the standard edition does have transparent keycaps so I would recommend going with that model if it matters to you). It’s bright enough to come through vividly even if it doesn’t light up the key lettering.

The 96% layout tickles a certain part of my brain and I like how neat everything looks despite being crammed together. There’s no wasted space, but that does mean I reach for the wrong key sometimes, like hitting home key instead of delete when working. Because it’s truncated in the way it is, you save a lot of deskspace without sacrificing the full suite of keys – side-by-side with my tenkeyless SteelSeries Apex Pro, there’s only a one-inch difference in width. The functionality I get back in return is very much worth it, and I find myself using the number pad often again for work or mapping additional actions/macros in games like the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV.

There aren’t going to be groundbreaking high-tech features here, or even simple things like easily accessible dedicated media keys, which are things I find useful, but at least you don’t necessarily lose that functionality since those are combined with other keys via the FN key. It is nice, however, to have 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity to give it a little extra versatility. The connection toggle is on the left side of the frame along with a Windows/Android-MacOS input toggle – the buttons are smaller than I would prefer, but it’s one of those set-it-and-forget-it kind of situations.

Keychron K4 HE – Software and Customization

There’s still a decent amount of customization on account of having magnetic switches, and they’re very easy to tinker with. Boutique manufacturers like Keychron have moved toward having web-based configurators as opposed to downloadable suites that bigger manufacturers use. (I get that Razer, Logitech, Asus, etc. do that to get you in their ecosystems.) You simply go to the Keychron launcher site, select your keyboard from the Connect menu, and you immediately have access to a full set of customization options.

From here, you can set the actuation point on a per-key basis anywhere between 0.2mm and 3.8mm and in increments of 0.1mm – and having a short actuation point is crucial for competitive gaming performance. You also have more nuanced features like one-key multi-command, which lets you map different inputs to various distances along the keystroke. And there’s the analog gamepad feature that allows you to simulate specific sensitivities of controller inputs on a keystroke. Hall Effect switches are great for performance alone, but it’s this kind of versatility enabled by magnetic technology.

It’s pretty much expected for magnetic keyboards to have features like Rapid Trigger and LKP (last keystroke prioritization), the latter of which is the contentious SOCD (simultaneous opposite cardinal direction) input. We cover this with each magnetic keyboard since it’s becoming more commonplace and different companies call it something different. It certainly has its uses cases, but if you’re not aware, SOCD (or LKP in this case) lets you hold one key and register an opposite direction every time you hit it, and re-register the key you’re holding every time you let go of the other. You can counter-strafe (or jiggle strafe) at inhuman speed, making you a much harder target. Be aware that you will get kicked from Counter-Strike 2 matches, for example, if you exploit SOCD like LKP.

Looking to upgrade your mouse, too?

Here’s your best opportunity to sign up for an Audible membership at a stellar price. Starting now and running through April 30, you can sign up for three months of Audible Premium Plus for just $0.99 per month. Premium Plus is Audible’s highest tier plan and normally costs $14.95/mo. As a additional subscription perk, you get a free audiobook of your choice for each of those three months and you get to keep them indefinitely.

Both new and currently expired Audible customers are eligible

Anyone who doesn’t currently have an active Audible membership should be eligible. That includes new subscribers as well as existing members whose subscriptions have since expired. There’s always a small your-mileage-may-vary disclaimer with these types of promotions, but fortunately it’s easy to check if you qualify: log into your account, and if you see the $0.99/mo banner right on Amazon’s Audible page then you’re eligible for this promotion.

3 Months of Audible Premium Plus for $0.99 per Month

I feel like we’ve earned a reprieve today from the news chaos of tariffs and Nintendo Switch 2 pricing, so here’s something fun (?) for your Friday: IGN played Mario Kart World at a Nintendo event in New York this week, and confirmed that yes, the new Cow character can in fact eat burgers and steak (and many others things as well).

If you’re wondering what on earth we could possibly be talking about, allow me to point you to the recent announcement of Mario Kart World, which included the introduction of the Moo Moo Meadows Cow as a playable racer. The Internet, of course, is thrilled about this, already coming up with dozens of memes and fanart of the adorable Cow that, until recently, was nothing more prominent than a fun background character in a single Mario Kart track.

However, as news of Cow spread throughout the land, fans began pointing out a potential, erm, problem, with another element of the Mario Kart World reveal. In the Nintendo Direct 2 trailer from Wednesday, Mario eats a burger. Burgers are (typically) made of beef. Would Cow, whose people are ostensibly a source of beef, consume beef herself? Fans really wanted to know.

Well at the Nintendo preview event, we found out. You see, the food items we saw in the trailer are obtainable in Mario Kart World at Yoshi’s diner locations scattered across courses. They function like a drive-thru, allowing racers to drive up and grab a bag of take-out just like they would an item box. There are a lot of different food items that can be inside, including burgers, steak kebabs, pizza, and donuts.

And yes, Cow can eat them all.

Yes, Cow CAN eat steak in Mario Kart World. pic.twitter.com/qN5PZ9IIM4

— IGN (@IGN) April 4, 2025

During our session we also saw Cow eat a number of other items, including the burger. We’re still a little hazy on what these items are actually doing for Cow — other racers change costumes when consuming them, but Cow doesn’t seem to experience any effects. Could she be eating beef just because she enjoys it? Is there a secret power-up she gets from burger consumption that we just don’t know about yet because Nintendo hasn’t revealed it? Or perhaps are these veggie burgers and Beyond meat kebabs?

IGN reached out to Nintendo to try and clear all this up, but we haven’t heard back yet. I’m sure it’s because they’re busy at their New York event, and not because this is an unhinged question to ask their PR about. Yeah, that’s probably it.

Anyway go check out our preview of Mario Kart World, the video version of which features an appearance by our friend Cow.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.