Mattel has revealed three new exclusive toys being sold at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and there’s a definite theme to this year’s lineup. It’s all about girl power, whether you prefer the high-speed antics of Mario Kart’s Pauline or the dark energy of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.
Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at all three SDCC exclusives, and then scroll down to find out how you can acquire them for your collection:
Joining Mattel’s growing lineup of Mario Kart toys, Pauline depicts the iconic mayor of New Donk City riding her pink Badwagon kart. The toy comes packaged inside a special display box.
Elvira, meanwhile, is the latest addition to Mattel’s popular Monster High line of dolls. The Monster High Skullector Elvira comes with a faux-leather dress and is based on the likeness of actress Cassandra Peterson. You can even see Peterson posing with the doll in the gallery above.
Finally, also joining the Monster High line is Sweet Screams Twyla. This doll includes an appropriately cotton candy-themed outfit and even comes with a cotton candy-scented bunny companion.
“This lineup of collectibles salutes the fearless, fashion-forward and cherished female characters that continue to break boundaries,” said Nick Karamanos, senior vice president, Mattel Creations & Entertainment Partnerships at Mattel, in a statement. “From gothic glam to gaming icons, these collectibles honor the fan-favorite heroines from the franchises our fans know and love.”
All three items will be sold at SDCC 2025, which runs from July 24-27. Mattel will have an exhibit at Booth #3029, though the toys themselves can be purchased at Mattel merchandise booth (#2945). Select quantities of Pauline and Twyla will also be made available on the Mattel Creations website after the show, but Elvira will strictly be sold in-person at SDCC.
The best thing about Steam’s Next Fests nowadays is that there are so many games. The most terrifying thing about Steam’s Next Fests nowadays is that there are so damn many games. It’s no surprise then, that according to calculations by developer Chris Hanney and the GameDiscoverCo newsletter, the latest summer Next Fest continued a trend of substantial year-on-year demo number growth.
Hanney, a dev on Space Pirate Trainer and Shredders among others, has had a go at pulling the numbers on the numbers of demos uploaded to Steam during each next fest running back to 2019’s Game Awards-adjacent first edition.
If you’re making a Terminator video game, you ideally want to be able to include Arnold Schwarzenegger in all his glory. That, however, isn’t always possible. Why? The developer of an upcoming Terminator video game has offered an explanation.
Terminator 2D: No Fate, due out this September, is a retro game based on 1991 action masterpiece Terminator 2: Judgment Day. It features iconic characters from the movie, such as John and Sarah Connor, the T-1000 and the T-800. Check out gameplay and comments from the developers at Bitmap Bureau in the video below.
But while Terminator 2D: No Fate does feature the T-1000 and the T-800 characters, it does not feature Arnie’s likeness. Speaking to IGN, publisher Reef Entertainment explained why, and in the process lifted the lid on how licenses like these tend to work for video games.
Reef, with the Terminator 2 license to play with, has the rights to use the characters from the movie such as Sarah and John Connor, and on top of that, it has image rights for certain actors who have provided those rights to Studio Canal, which owns the rights to the first two Terminator films, as part of the agreement.
But the rights to use the Terminator itself does not include the rights to use Arnie’s likeness. That’s why Terminator 2D: No Fate uses the endoskeleton for character artwork, rather than Arnie’s likeness.
As well as all that, Reef got in touch with Michael Edwards, the actor who played General John Connor in the iconic opening of Terminator 2, to do a likeness deal for the video game. Terminator 2D: No Fate includes gameplay that sees the player control future war John Connor in a fight against the machines, fleshing out that brief opening scene in the movie into an entire section of the video game.
In the movie, you only see Edwards’ John Connor for a few seconds, but those seconds are memorable indeed; his heavily scarred face and steely gaze looking out over the battlefield tell us he’s seen and done all sorts in humanity’s desperate struggle for survival against the machines. So Reef reached out separately to the 80-year-old actor to do a deal.
(It turns out that in 2021, Edwards reprised the role of John Connor in a fan-made Terminator film called Skynet.)
In short: there’s a difference between signing the Terminator 2 license and having the agreement to use the characters, compared to the actor’s likeness, which is separate.
This isn’t to say it is impossible to get Arnie’s likeness for use in video games. After all, Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm has managed it multiple times, most recently for Mortal Kombat 1’s DLC character Conan the Barbarian. Before that, NetherRealm managed to get Arnie for the Terminator T-800 DLC character in Mortal Kombat 11. But there’s a gulf between the scope of a game like Terminator 2D: No Fate and the Warner Bros.-backed Mortal Kombat series.
And it’s worth noting that while NetherRealm’s Arnie likeness is in, a soundalike voice actor (Chris Cox) was used for his lines. It doesn’t look like the 77-year-old Schwarzenegger is in the business of doing video game voice work.
Here’s Reed Entertainment’s comment to IGN on how all this works in full:
Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t in the game it’s just a T800. We didn’t have his license, unfortunately. But for the rest, you have to ask each actor individually to use his portrait.
What we have is the right to use the characters. So like Sarah, John, T1000, T800, and then certain actors will also provide image rights to Studio Canal, which is included in the agreement. For example; Linda Hamilton is Sarah Connor, which is why you can see Linda at the beginning of the trailer. Whereas our right to use the Terminator itself, it doesn’t include Arnold. When you see the character artwork for that, you’ll see it’s like the Terminator itself rather than Arnold. It’s basically the endoskeleton that we have the right to use.
Michael Edwards played the future war version of John in the opening of T2. You see him, he lowers his binoculars, he’s looking over the battlefield. Someone like that, we reached out separately to him to include his likeness. There’s a definite difference between signing the T2 license and having the agreement to use the characters compared to the actor’s likeness, which is separate.
Photo by CBS via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
There is no option in bus conducting sim Troleu to warn fake pass holders or ask them to leave. You simply exit the conversation and immediately start booting them unconscious, then open the nearest door and either toss or kick them out, at which point they fly off down the street like a crisp packet in a gale. Here’s a link to a Steam page with the demo. Have a great day.
Sometimes, passengers enter the bus with the sole goal of assaulting you. You do a little punching minigame, and boot them off down the street too.
Relics are the potent items that can give your Nightfarer an extra boost on every run of Elden Ring Nightreign. There is also, as it turns out, a limit on just how many you can have stored up in your hideaway.
One user on the r/Nightreign subreddit posted an image from their Elden Ring Nightreign game today, with a special message appearing over their attempts to start an expedition. “Cannot launch expedition: Too many relics in possession,” read the message. “Please use the relic rite menu to sell off spares.”
The user u/Scufozzover1 didn’t specify exactly how many they had, only ball-parking an estimate of “upwards of 1000 maybe.” It’s easy to theorize this might be related to a general 999 item limit, but unless you’d like to grind out that many relics, it’s unclear where the limit actually is.
There are plenty of reasons to clear out your relic storage, mostly for resources. Though if you’re just playing run after run of Elden Ring Nightreign I could see losing track of just how many you’ve accrued.
Comments in the thread have brought up an old critique of Elden Ring Nightreign: the need for relic management. As more relics flood in, it can become a little difficult to keep track of what’s what, or adding additional filters that could better sift through the pile.
It’s already a bit of a hassle for me now, as I’ve built up a decent stockpile of basic relics, so I can’t imagine what it’s like for this Redditor and their apparent hundreds upon hundreds of relics. Maybe this won’t be an issue for most players now, but as the weeks and months of Nightreign roll on, it might be worth keeping an eye on. At the very least, it’s a good reminder to clean out your unused relics every now and then.
Patch 6.2 is out now for Total War: Warhammer 3, and it continues the trend we’ve seen recently of pairing substantial and useful fixes for the strategy game with seemingly niche and (to me) incredibly interesting things, and also has vampire knights with swords in it. Stop trying to make me excited about your videogame again, you dastards. Took me months to wean myself off of it in preparation for the very sweaty week I’ve got planned when Tides Of Torment releases.
As you might recall, earlier this year Mojang lifted the lid on a new visual graphics upgrade for Minecraft known as ‘Vibrant Visuals’.
It’s now officially released this update alongside its new ‘Chase the Skies’ drop, but as many Nintendo players have noted, there’s no sign of the new visual refresh in the Switch trailer.
Alongside the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom on the Switch 2, Nintendo added a special service to its mobile app called Zelda Notes – giving players multiple features to enhance their time in Hyrule.
This service includes navigation assistance, voice memories, autobuild sharing, item sharing, and much more. In our review here on Nintendo Life, we couldn’t help but feel a lot of these useful features should have been implemented in-game, but it’s now got us wondering how everyone else is finding this optional extra a few weeks later.
The patch for this Switch 2 exclusive is now live.
We’re now well into the first month of the Switch 2 and Nintendo has today released a new software update for the system-exclusive Mario Kart World.
On face value, this patch includes multiple fixes tied to “issues” with items, game crashes, online play problems and more. Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of Nintendo’s official support page:
Mark the (near) halfway point of 2025 by picking a new adventure (or several) from an assortment of titles discounted for a limited time on PlayStation Store! The Mid-Year Deals promotion collects third-person combat in the form of Black Myth: Wukong (save 20%), first-person thrills in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Vault Edition reduced by 35%) and on the pitch action with EA Sports FC 25 (60% off the Ultimate Edition). These reductions, and many more, commence tomorrow, June 18 and are available until July 2*.
Browse a selection of games on offer below, then when the promotion goes live, head to PlayStation Store to discover the full range and your regional discount.
Browse a selection of games on offer below, then when the promotion goes live, head to PlayStation Store to discover the full range and your regional discount.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead
ACE COMBAT™7: SKIES UNKNOWN
ACE COMBAT™7: SKIES UNKNOWN – TOP GUN: Maverick Ultimate Edition
ACE COMBAT™7: SKIES UNKNOWN Season Pass
AEW: Fight Forever
AEW: Fight Forever – All Season Pass Bundle
Age of Empires II + Age of Mythology Premium Edition Bundle
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Standard Edition
Age of Mythology: Retold – Premium Upgrade
Age of Mythology: Retold Premium Edition
Airplane Flight Simulator : EVO
Alien: Rogue Incursion VR
Among Us
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
Anno 1800™ Console Edition – Standard
Anthem™ Standard Edition
Arizona Sunshine® – Freddy’s Bundle
Arizona Sunshine® 2
ARK Animated Series 109-Costumes Pack
ARK Fantastic Tames – Dreadmare
ARK Fantastic Tames – Pyromane
ARK: Astraeos
ARK: Bob’s Tall Tales
ARK: Survival Ascended
Assassin’s Creed Legendary Collection
Assassin’s Creed Mirage Master Assassin Edition
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Season Pass
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – Complete Edition
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – Season Pass
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök
Assassin’s Creed® Mirage
Assassin’s Creed® Mirage Deluxe Pack
Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey
Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey Ultimate Edition
Assetto Corsa Competizione
Assetto Corsa Season Pass
Atomic Heart – Annihilation Instinct
Atomic Heart – Gold Edition (PS4 & PS5)
Atomic Heart – Trapped in Limbo
Avatar The Last Airbender: Quest for Balance
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Season Pass
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora™
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora™ Ultimate Edition
Batman™: Arkham Knight
Batman™: Arkham Knight Season Pass
Battlefield 4™ Premium Edition
Battlefield™ 1
Battlefield™ 2042 Elite Edition PS4 & PS5
Battlefield™ V
Big Rumble Boxing: Creed Champions
Biomutant PS4 & PS5
BioShock Remastered
Black Myth: Wukong
Black Myth: Wukong Deluxe Edition Upgrade
Black Myth: Wukong Digital Deluxe Edition
BLEACH Rebirth of Souls PS4 & PS5
BLEACH Rebirth of Souls Ultimate Edition PS4 & PS5
Bloodborne™ Complete Edition Bundle
Borderlands 3 Next Level Bundle PS4™ & PS5™
Borderlands 3 Season Pass PS4™ & PS5™
Borderlands 3: Season Pass 2 PS4™ & PS5™
Borderlands 3: Ultimate Edition PS4™ & PS5™
Borderlands Legendary Collection
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake
Bully (Canis Canem Edit)
Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare Gold Edition
Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6 – Vault Edition
Call of Duty®: Black Ops Cold War – Cross-Gen Bundle PS4® & PS5®
Call of Duty®: Ghosts Gold Edition
Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare
Call of Duty®: Infinite Warfare – Legacy Edition
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II – Cross-Gen Bundle
Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III – Cross-Gen Bundle
Call of Duty®: Vanguard – Standard Edition
Call of Duty®: WWII – Gold Edition
Captain Blood
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions Character Pass
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions Ultimate Edition
Car Mechanic Simulator
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021
Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 DLC MegaPack
Cat From Hell – Cat Simulator
Core Keeper
Crash Bandicoot™ – Crashiversary Bundle
Crash Bandicoot™ – Quadrilogy Bundle
Crash Bandicoot™ 4: It’s About Time
Crash Team Rumble™ – Standard Edition
Crash™ Team Racing Nitro-Fueled – Nitros Oxide Edition
Creed: Rise to Glory – Championship Edition™
CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION PS4 & PS5
Cubic Odyssey
Cuphead & The Delicious Last Course
cyubeVR
Darksiders III
Darksiders III Blades & Whip Edition
Darksiders III Digital Deluxe Edition
Darksiders III Season Pass
Dead by Daylight – Gold Edition
Dead by Daylight: A Nightmare on Elm Street™ Chapter
Dead by Daylight: Alan Wake Chapter
Dead by Daylight: Alien Chapter Pack
Dead by Daylight: All Things Wicked Chapter
Dead by Daylight: Ash vs Evil Dead
Dead by Daylight: Castlevania
Dead by Daylight: Doomed Course
Dead by Daylight: Dungeons & Dragons
Dead by Daylight: End Transmission Chapter
Dead by Daylight: Endless Hunt Pack
Dead by Daylight: Ghost Face®
Dead by Daylight: Leatherface™ PS4™ & PS5™
Dead by Daylight: Resident Evil Chapter
Dead by Daylight: Resident Evil: PROJECT W Chapter
Dead by Daylight: Steady Pulse
Dead by Daylight: The Halloween® Chapter PS4™ & PS5™
Dead by Daylight: Tomb Raider
Dead Cells: Medley of Pain Bundle
Dead Island 2 – Haus
Dead Island 2 – SoLA
Dead Island 2 Ultimate Edition
Dead Space Digital Deluxe Edition
Deep Rock Galactic – Ultimate Edition PS4 & PS5
Deep Rock Galactic – Ultimate Upgrade
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles Character Pass PS4&PS5…
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles Deluxe Edition PS4 & PS5…
Detective Reborn Bundle
Diablo III: Eternal Collection
Digimon World: Next Order
Digital Deluxe Upgrade featuring LEGO®
DiRT Rally 2.0
DiRT Rally 2.0 – Year One Pass
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Disney Dreamlight Valley – Enchanted Edition
Disney Dreamlight Valley: The Storybook Vale – Magical Edition
Dragon Age™: Inquisition – Game of the Year Edition
Dragon Age™: Inquisition DLC Bundle
Dragon Age™: The Veilguard Deluxe Edition
DRAGON BALL FighterZ – FighterZ Edition PS4 & PS5
DRAGON BALL FighterZ – FighterZ Pass 3
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 – Conton City Vote Pack
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 – Legend Patrol
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 – Legendary Pack Set (for PS5)
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 – Super Pass
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 – Ultra Pack 1
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE 2 Special Edition
DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE Super Bundle
Dragon’s Dogma 2
DreamWorks All-Star Kart Racing Rally Edition
Dying Light Definitive Edition
DYSMANTLE
DYSMANTLE: Pets & Dungeons
EA SPORTS FC™ 25 Ultimate Edition PS4 & PS5
EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR™ Deluxe Edition
eFootball™: Neymar Jr Edition 2025
eFootball™: Neymar Jr Edition 2025 [Deluxe]
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes – Digital Deluxe Edition
Empyreal
ESCAPE – BACKROOMS HORROR
Evil West
F1® Manager 2024 Deluxe Edition PS4 & PS5
Far Cry® 3 Classic Edition
Far Cry® 5 Gold Edition
Far Cry® Primal – Digital Apex Edition
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Digital Deluxe Edition
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE Digital Deluxe Edition
FINAL FANTASY XVI
FINAL FANTASY XVI COMPLETE EDITION
FINAL FANTASY XVI Expansion Pass
Firewatch
Firewatch Dynamic Theme Bundle
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Flintlock – Deluxe Edition Upgrade
Flintlock × Pacific Drive Bundle
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
Forspoken
Forspoken Digital Deluxe Upgrade
Forspoken: In Tanta We Trust
Forza Horizon 5 Deluxe Edition
Gas Station Simulator
Gas Station Simulator – Airstrip DLC
Gas Station Simulator – Can Touch This DLC
Ghosts of Tabor
Goat Simulator 3 – Multiversal Traveler’s Edition
God of War
Gotham Knights: Deluxe
Grand Theft Auto Online (PlayStation®5)
Grand Theft Auto V (PS4™ & PS5™)
Grand Theft Auto V: Premium Edition & Great White Shark Card Bundle
The Sims™ 4 Star Wars™: Journey to Batuu Game Pack
The Sims™ 4 StrangerVille
The Sims™ 4 Vintage Glamour Stuff
The Sinking City
The Sinking City Remastered
The Walking Dead: Destinies
The Warriors®
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition
Thief Simulator
Thief Simulator 2
TIEBREAK+ Ace Edition
Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands: Next-Level Edition
Titanfall® 2 Standard Edition
Tokyo Racer X
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands Ultimate Edition
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Wildlands Year 2 Pass
TopSpin 2K25 Deluxe Edition
Trailmakers Booster Edition
Trailmakers Deluxe Edition
Trailmakers Ultimate Edition
Transport Fever 2: Console Edition
Truck Simulator 25 – American Driver
Truck Simulator 25: Euro Driver
Two Point Museum: Explorer Edition
UFC® 5 Ultimate Edition
Ultimate Chicken Horse
Undertale
Undisputed WBC Edition
Unknown 9: Awakening Deluxe Edition
Unravel Yarny Bundle
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – Gold Edition
Watch Dogs 2 – Deluxe Edition
Watch Dogs: Legion – Deluxe Edition
Watch Dogs: Legion – Gold Edition PS4 & PS5
Watch Dogs: Legion – Standard Edition PS4 & PS5
Watch Dogs: Legion – Ultimate Edition PS4 & PS5
Watch Dogs®: Legion – Season Pass
Watch Dogs®: Legion PS4 & PS5
World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing 24
World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing 24 Gold Edition
WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship
XCOM® 2
XCOM® 2 Digital Deluxe Edition
XCOM® 2 Reinforcement Pack
XCOM® 2 Resistance Warrior Pack
XCOM® 2: War of the Chosen
*The Mid-Year Deals promotion is available on PlayStation Store from 00:00 AM PDT/BST/JST June 18 through to 00:00 AM PDT/BST/JST July 2. Game list may vary by region, check PlayStation Store for more details.
