You head down to the pet shelter in Fortnite. It’s full. Woof, says one invincible banana dog, I barely see my owner because they wanted me to be a banana dog who regularly changes colour. Alas, this cannot be, so they’ve had to spend their V-Bucks on a small army of invincible banana dogs in a variety of hues. You try to cheer up this Sidekick by telling them that their owner can at least change their name and hat at any time. It provides little comfort.
Fortnite‘s Sidekicks, the adorable little pets that accompany you on your Fortnite adventures, have caused quite a stir with Fortnite fans — and not necessarily for all the right reasons.
As described by Epic Games, Sidekicks are new pals in Fortnite that join your adventures in Battle Royale, Fortnite Save the World, Fortnite Festival (your Sidekick will stay backstage), LEGO Fortnite, and developer-made experiences (Sidekicks can only tag along with you if the Island Developer has enabled Sidekicks in their island). They let you “enjoy their company as they react to the world around you.” You can design them yourself, including their personality and physical traits, all of which will be locked in as “permanent” details, but you’ll be able to change their name and accessories — think hats, hoodies, that kind of thing — at any time. And no, they do not offer a gameplay advantage of any kind, nor can be hurt or killed in combat. (Phew!)
The first is Peels, the super sweet pup made of bananas, who’ll unlock with tomorrow’s (November 1) Battle Pass. More, including Bonesy, Spike, and Lil’ Raptor, are set to drop on November 7, with something for cat lovers coming “not long after.” Bonesy will be granted to players who own the Bonesy Back Bling on the same date.
So far, so cute, right? The bit that’s really raising eyebrows, however, is the cost. As shared on the Fortnite subreddit, prices will differ, with Lil’ Raptor and Spike costing 1,200 V-Bucks, and Flopsticks and Cuddle Team Jr. a little more expensive at 1,500. As some are pointing out, this is a pretty steep price for the new feature, with the Fishstick-themed Sidekick, Flopstick, costing more than the original 1,200 skin.
Bro… The Sidekick costs more than the original skin. pic.twitter.com/HUi9oqa9N4
— Fortnite Leaks | Pluto V2 (@FortnitePV2) October 31, 2025
It gets even worse, though. Epic has cofirmed you can customize the appearance of your Sidekick one time and it’s permanent (you can unlock clothes for them, though and can change those whenever you want). This means that if you want to change your pet’s colors after making that initial, permanent one-time change, you have to buy the same pet again.
“You can customize the Appearance of your Sidekick one time after obtaining it,” Epic said. “You can purchase a Sidekick multiple times and give them different Appearances; however, each Sidekick customization you own in your Locker must be unique. Duplicate Appearances are not allowed.”
“The fact they locked customization behind needing to buy the same pet multiple times is probably the greediest thing Epig [sic] has ever done. Which honestly is a huge accomplishment for this company,” said one unhappy player.
“[This is] the death of reasonable microtransactions in Fortnite,” replied another. “Remember when they released Wraps, and unlike most games where you needed to unlock skins for each gun individually, wraps could be used on anything? Now we’re getting customization locked on bought items. No reason for this, except greed.”
“Either make them this price and have all styles selectable or lock the styles and put them at 500-600,” suggested someone else. “If you do both nobody is gonna bother.”
Don’t forget that Homer, Marge and co. are coming to Fortnite on November 1, 2025, with a mini-season that brings Springfield to the battle royale. Not much is known about it, other than the villainous alien duo, Kang and Kodos, will be wreaking havoc on the Fortnite map once Fortnitemares 2025 comes to an end, but here’s everything we know so far, including including start times in your local area, current teasers, and what to expect.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Looking for Grow a Garden codes? Plenty of Roblox experiences have codes, and Grow a Garden is no exception. Way back during the Lunar Glow Event, a code redemption system was added. Since then, however, we hadn’t seen a new code until the Zen Update. Even if they’re few and far between, every time there’s a new code in GaG, IGN will have you covered.
Unfortunately, these codes have now expired:
Now that there’s a code redemption system in the Roblox experience, here are the steps you need to follow to use Grow a Garden codes:
Code not working? There are usually two reasons why this happens. It’s either because:
If a code has been entered incorrectly or is expired, it will say the “code is invalid.” To stop this from happening, we’d recommend copying and pasting the code directly from this article. We check and test each of the codes before we add them to our articles. However, when copying them, you can sometimes accidentally include an extra space somewhere, so always double check there’s no additional spaces!
If new codes are added to the game, we’ll update this article, so you can always check back here and keep up-to-date with the latest codes. Grow a Garden has its own dedicated Discord server where codes will be announced, as well as game updates.
Grow a Garden is a new Roblox experience that’s become incredibly popular since it launched. The gardening simulator allows players to show off their green fingers, as you buy seeds and plant a variety of crops from basic carrots to exotic dragon fruit trees.
As fruit and vegetables finally sprout, you’ll be able to harvest them to sell for Sheckles. To go from a beginner gardener to a pro worthy of awards, you’ll want your crops to experience mutations that increase their value. This can happen randomly, with Gold and Big mutations being down to chance, while weather events like snow can increase your luck of a Frozen mutation. There’s also gear, and even pets now, that can affect how fast your crops grow, their value, and more.
Grow a Garden hosts new events each weekend, where players can come together and try out the fresh content for the ever-expanding game. The next update is planned for Saturday November 1, 2025.
There isn’t any known information about this update yet. Events now typically run for two weeks, with the first week being the time they’re introduced, and the second week when additional rewards are added to the event.
As always, to stay up to date with everything in the new event, visit our Grow a Garden guide. We put out new content as soon as the event goes live, and keep it updated all through the week.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
Existing PC vampires of Seattle, you should now have access to the expanded wardrobe Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 devs Paradox and The Chinese Room have rolled out for Halloween. The free update’s fresh hairstyles, makeup styles, and eye colours were only on offer to folks who started fresh saves initially, something that it turns out wasn’t intentional.
Battlefield 6 players are trading theories about Easter Eggs and future updates after one fan discovered a mysterious hidden room in the firing range.
Speculation about EA and Battlefield Studios’ secret room began after Reddit user Mobile_Cyberdemon_as shared footage of their character clipping into a previously undiscovered, hidden area. The unlit space is tucked behind the cramped weapon testing room, with only a sealed door — which features a red “keep door closed” sign — hinting at its existence.
After a few minutes of trying (and lots of awkward crouching) on PlayStation 5, we were able to recreate the moment seen in the clip and confirm the hidden Battlefield 6 room exists. We can also confirm this mysterious hiding spot is, unfortunately, pretty boring, as it only features little more than a workbench and an empty gun rack.
It’s easy enough to see areas like this and assume they are simply unfinished assets left on the cutting room floor, but fans have other ideas.
Battlefield 6 launched just weeks ago, so there’s no telling what BF Studios could have had planned for this room when sneaking it behind the firing range. However, some details have given players more than enough ammunition to start crafting theories about what the hidden room was — and what it could be.
“Judging by the gates, it’s a vehicle hangar in the works,” one fan theorized. “I hope they eventually add a real shooting range, not just one room.”
Other Battlefield 6 fans have also proposed theories related to a firing range expansion, hoping that, if the hidden room wasn’t an official vehicle testing area, it could become one in the future. It’s an add-on the community has shown interest in for some time, as players spent the weeks since launch using precious helicopter and jet spawns just learning how to leave the ground.
Another popular theory suggests the room could could have served as a slightly smaller firing range upgrade that allows players to quickly experiment with different weapons and attachments. Commenters have even toyed with the idea of bringing the flashlight attachment into the hidden room to look for any Battlefield Easter Eggs BF Studios might have secretly placed.
Many of the ideas related to the Battlefield 6 mystery stem from desires players would like to see fulfilled. The firing range enigma could absolutely be an Easter Egg, unfinished feature, or future content update, but there’s also the possibility that players have been looking at the room long before Mobile_Cyberdemon_as made their discovery.
“You can see that stripey background in that customize weapon screen,” one popular fan theory said. “I guess that’s why the firing range loads so fast, because you’re actually in it the whole time.”
“That’s my assumption is when you’re in the menus you’re actually just in that room with your view locked to a UI and with different walls or areas serving as backdrops for certain screens in the menu system,” another player added.
i think i did wrong pic.twitter.com/RCoynmuMoM
— Twenty (@TwentyFPS1) October 30, 2025
For now, the hidden firing range room doesn’t seem to be much more than an extra space to run around in. While Battlefield 6 fans inevitably search every dark corner for Easter Eggs, you can see how the the online community feels about the first Season 1 map, Blackwell Fields. You can also check out everything you need to know about Battlefield REDSEC and battle royale, and you can learn about why some Battlefield 6 fans are far from happy with EA’s new standalone experience.
Meanwhile, check out our full list of all currently available Battlefield 6 multiplayer maps. Those looking to brush up on their online skills can also read our multiplayer tips and tricks guide.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Just in time for Halloween.
Bandai Namco and Supermassive Games have announced a new “October Update” for the horror-themed puzzle-platformer, Little Nightmares III.
This title was released earlier this month and the upcoming patch, due out on Nintendo’s devices on 31st October 2025, will include improvements to the gameplay, online, graphics, UI & UX. Here’s the full rundown (via Bandai Namco):
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Go on, tell us.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting a Switch 2 Edition next January, and alongside this, Nintendo will be releasing the next major update for the game, bumping it up to Version 3.0.0.
Now that everyone has had time to absorb all of the news, it’s got us wondering what you’re most excited for – is it the Switch 2 upgrade in general, or are you excited about a particular update that’s on the way to your island? So, tell us, by voting in our poll and leaving a comment below.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
The timing…
Hello Kitty Island Adventure made its debut on the Switch 2 earlier this year, and if you’ve been hanging out for a Switch 2 Edition, it seems you might be in luck.
A new classification for Hello Kitty Island Adventure Nintendo Switch 2 Edition has been recently spotted on the Entertainment Software Rating Board. It’s received ‘E’ for ‘Everyone’ and comes with the attached rating summary:
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is getting an update that will make rewards from Ranked Battles, specifically a desirable set of Mega Stones, much easier to obtain.
In an official news post, The Pokemon Company revealed that at the start of Season 2 of its online Ranked Battle mode, players will be able to receive Greninjite at Rank Y, and Delphoxite at Rank S. Previously, in Season 1, players had to achieve Rank K to receive Greninjite (Delphoxite was not yet available).
This is a pretty big deal, as the difficulty of obtaining these Mega Stones has been a point of criticism from the community ever since they were first announced as rewards. The trio of original Kalos starter Pokemon: Fennekin, Froakie, and Chespin, are available fairly early on in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and all three of them have new Mega Evolutions. However, those Mega Evolutions can only be unlocked via the items obtained as rewards from online Ranked Battles, and aren’t available in the story campaign at all. This was frustrating for many players, as plenty of people don’t touch online play at all and would rather just play through the story only.
This update doesn’t make it possible to obtain the rewards without engaging in the online component of Z-A, but it does make them much easier to obtain. With Season 2, you’ll basically be able to get a Greninjite with a single Ranked Battle, even if you lose, as you can get rank points for actions taken in battle as well as actually winning. And you can move up multiple ranks in one go if you play well enough, making it pretty fast to go from Z to S for that Delphoxite. And it looks like Game Freak is updating how points are distributed to make it even easier to gain ranks.
Additionally, if trends continue this way, it sounds like the Season 3 update will introduce Chesnaughtite at a similar rank to Rank S, and lower the rank requirement for Delphoxite to something even easier as well. Per the announcement, “Mega Stones will continue to be reissued frequently in future seasons.”
Overall, this is a pretty good change for folks wanting to collect all the Mega Stones. A couple of Ranked Battles in Season 2 and 3 will net you all three stones with very little effort, and then if you prefer you never have to play Ranked again.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Season 2 starts on Wednesday, November 5.
I reviewed Pokemon Legends: Z-A and gave it an 8/10, saying that it “finally feels like Game Freak hitting its stride in Pokemon’s 3D era, with a fun setting to explore, a well-written story, and a total battle system overhaul that works surprisingly well.” The game sold almost six million copies in its opening week.
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.
Back in 2020, Blaze Entertainment made a splash in the retro gaming market with the introduction of the cartridge-based Evercade platform. Ever since, the platform has grown to include a variety of handhelds, consoles, and bartop arcades, along with more than 650 games across 78 – and counting – cartridges.
In late 2023, the company created the new brand HyperMegaTech to release a series of simpler GameBoy-like handhelds with built-in games, which also happen to accept Evercade cartridges. As with the growing number of other Evercade-compatible devices and cartridges, the Super Pocket series is already up to a half-dozen variations. Although the Super Pocket series may not have the best screen size and resolution, or the most ideal controls for every game, it’s still a value-packed portable companion, filling a completely different market than a handheld gaming PC. However, depending upon your gaming preferences, certain models may prove better values than others.
Other than aesthetic themes and associated colorways, every Super Pocket edition features exactly the same hardware. The only other differentiator between models is the types and number of built-in games, which are themed to a specific publisher like Taito, Capcom, Atari, Technos, NeoGeo (SNK), or Data East. Sometimes limited editions will feature an additional cosmetic variation, like with the Atari Edition or NeoGeo Edition, with a woodgrain look for the former and MVS styling for the latter.
As a plug-and-play device, each Super Pocket package comes with the handheld, USB-C to USB-A charging cable, and quick start guide. You just need to charge, then power on.
When first powering on, you are prompted to answer a few questions, including your language and preferred difficulty (Easy or Normal) across all included games. Naturally, these and other settings are available to change after the fact by pressing the Game Menu button and choosing Settings.
At 3.07 x 4.92 x 0.98 inches and 0.36lbs, the Super Pocket is slightly smaller and lighter than the original Game Boy that clocked in at 3.5 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches. The sleeker body does support a slightly larger display at 2.8 inches (2cm larger than the Game Boy’s), although that’s still rather small for modern handhelds.
The IPS screen has a resolution of 320×240, a 4:3 aspect ratio. Overall, the display is colorful with good brightness and viewing angles, although the small screen size and low resolution do mean loss of detail in some places, particularly with text or games that don’t have a native 4:3 aspect ratio. While good close-up vision always helps when it comes to handheld displays, just keep in mind that certain games on the Super Pocket will not have an optimized viewing experience.
Display options include Original, Pixel Perfect, or Full Screen aspect ratios, as well as Shaders/Scanlines. Original aspect ratio ensures the original game’s graphics are not stretched or distorted, but may result in black bars on the sides or top of the screen. Pixel Perfect aspect ratio maps the original pixels to a “perfect” square of pixels, but may result in an even smaller active display than Original. Full Screen aspect ratio stretches a game’s image to fit the entire screen, which eliminates any black bars or dead space on the display, but also stretches or distorts in-game objects. Shaders/Scanlines include None, Subtle, or Strong, the latter two of which are meant to mimic how classic CRT displays processed pixel graphics. Subtle adds thin scanlines with minimal screen darkening, while Strong adds thick scanlines with more prominent screen darkening.
Below the display is the Game Menu button, direction pad, front speaker, Select/Insert Credit button, Start Game button, and the A, B, X, and Y face buttons. Both the direction pad and face buttons use standard membranes, so they have a softer feel and no real click but are still responsive enough for most games.
Each Super Pocket comes with a blank dummy cartridge to protect the rear slot. Also on the rear of the unit is a volume control, and R1, L1, R2, and L2 buttons, the latter two of which are used to fast scroll in menus. Below the buttons is a rear speaker, which provides clear, distortion-free sound output even at maximum volume when combined with the front speaker, although you’ll still want to use a good pair of wired headphones for the best possible audio. (Like other Evercade-compatible hardware, Bluetooth audio isn’t supported.
At the bottom of the Super Pocket is the USB-C charging port, power switch next to an indicator light that’s blue when on, and 3.5mm headphone jack. Between the power switch and charging port is a charging indicator light, which shows red when charging and green when fully charged.
With its modest 3000mAh battery, you’ll only get up to four hours or so of run time depending on play volume and game type. On the plus side, the battery does a tremendous job of holding a charge. I’ve gone many months without using some of my charged Super Pockets and they’re still ready to play with 100% capacity when I do grab them again.
Blaze has a history of working around certain licensing restrictions on how certain games can be sold by building them into both their Evercade and HyperMegaTech hardware. While some of these restrictions have loosened of late – meaning, you’re starting to see some previously built-in only games coming to cartridge – a product like the Super Pocket is still one of the more reliable ways to guarantee access to games not yet, or may never be, on an Evercade cartridge. You can read the full lineup that comes preloaded on each edition in this sheet.
Each Super Pocket features the original games from their original platforms, so they’re not scaled to or optimized for the display. This is not an issue for many of the games, but for some – especially arcade games with a vertical/portrait (aka TATE) display – the active area can be quite small unless you choose to purposely distort the image with the Full Screen aspect ratio option. Examples of portrait display arcade games include Kiki Kaikai on the Taito Edition Super Pocket and BurgerTime on the Data East Edition Super Pocket, the latter of which highlights how difficult it can also sometimes be to make out text. In general, though, there are always enough games, even on the 12-game Capcom Edition, that work just fine within the display’s constraints.
You also have to consider that the direction pad and four face buttons are not the best way to control every game. For example, Operation Wolf included on the Taito Edition is a light gun game in the arcade, so using the direction pad to drag the targeting cursor across the screen is less than ideal. Similarly, a game like Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting on the Capcom Edition is controlled with six buttons. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but the rear buttons on the Super Pocket are not ideally positioned to both hold the handheld and easily and consistently press those buttons, particularly in the heat of battle. Games that need four or fewer buttons, which is admittedly most of what’s included, are not a problem.
On the plus side, when you’re in any game, you can press the Game Menu button to Save or Load your place in one of six slots, as well as reference the controls. You can also change the Display settings, reset the game, or quit back to the main menu.
Between the six current editions, the Atari Edition features the most games at 50, and also the most games from (five!) different platforms. While some of the arcade games like Super Breakout or Crystal Castles have portrait displays or native controls that don’t map well to a digital direction pad, for the most part, the other games work quite well on the Super Pocket thanks to the modest controls and resolutions of the original consoles and handheld. Of course, older arcade and 8-bit console games may have less appeal to some people than what’s featured on something like the Capcom Edition Super Pocket, even with just 12 games.
If you want a slightly newer mix of arcade and console games, the Technos Edition might be more for you, though it only features 15 games with a good amount of overlap. For a little better variety, the 18-game Data East Edition might be more desirable, although that also features a few games not particularly optimized for the display. Finally, there’s the NeoGeo Edition with 14 games, but each are well-optimized for both the controls and display as the Super Pocket’s setup closely matches what the MVS arcade machine offered, making it arguably the best choice if you can choose only one.
The HyperMegaTech Super Pocket’s ace in the hole is its cartridge slot, which provides access to hundreds of additional games from nearly every genre across dozens of cartridges. There’s some overlap, like with Taito Arcade 1, but in general, these games are only found outside of what’s built into any of Blaze’s hardware.
Every cartridge is compatible, but not every game included on them is optimized for the Super Pocket’s display or controls. They are, however, tuned or tunable for the mainline Evercade hardware; the Evercade EXP-R handheld, for example, has an 800×400 resolution 4.3-inch IPS screen, and can also enter TATE mode to better display portrait-oriented arcade titles. The two pairs of shoulder buttons are also far easier to reach and press in the heat of action.
The other functionality missing from the Super Pocket that the mainline Evercade hardware gets is online connectivity. That means that the Super Pockets don’t get access to firmware updates or free games of the month, nor can they apply any updates to cartridges. On the rare chance a cartridge needs an update to run properly, it needs to be done on a mainline Evercade console, handheld, or bartop before it can be used in a Super Pocket.
In general, if you want the full Evercade experience, you’re better off with the EXP-R handheld, the VS-R console, or the Alpha bartop. Fortunately, this is not a zero-sum game as the Evercade platform is designed to expand as your wants and needs evolve. To put it another way, investing in one or more cartridges (and one or more pieces of hardware) allows you to play a particular game or games however you want. The Super Pocket, in mimicking the general Game Boy design, certainly has its appeal, as does its ability to simultaneously host both its internal games and a cartridge that can nearly double its available content on the go.
