When you’re a gamer, you’ve always got an eye out for good deals on your favorite titles. For hardware and accessories it’s a bit trickier though — they don’t go on sale as often, and it’s hard to tell what will serve your needs best. However, we’ve found a few intriguing picks worth checking out this Black Friday, either because you’re in the market to upgrade your battle station, or you just want to try something new but not spend a lot of money while doing so.

8Bitdo Sn30 Pro+

8Bitdo has a reputation for making comfortable, affordable game controllers, and we thought the Sn30 Pro+ was its best yet for the Nintendo Switch when it first came out. The wireless accessory has a design based on the iconic SNES controller with a plethora of buttons and handles that rival the comfort provided by Nintendo's own Switch Pro controller. On top of that, it comes with a removable battery pack and it supports AA batteries as well. Today only, you can pick up the Sn30 Pro+ for only $40, or 20 percent off its normal price and a new record-low.

Razer Blade 15 Advanced

The Razer Blade is one of our favorite gaming laptops thanks to its slick design, array of customization options and strong performance. Today only, you can grab the 2020 Razer Blade 15 Advanced for $1,400, or $1,200 off its normal price. This model has a Core i7 processor, RTX 2070 Super Max-Q graphics, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and a 1080p 300Hz display.

Razer Huntsman Mini

Engadget / Kris Naudus

60 percent keyboards are all the rage now, and the Huntsman Mini is one of the best. That’s all thanks to features like its super quick opto-mechanical keys, braided USB-C cord and brilliant RGB lighting. It’s great for people who don’t have a lot of space at their workstation, as well as anyone else who’d like to slim down their gaming space. Right now you can add this to your desk for only $80, so it won’t take up a lot of your space or money.

Corsair HS60 Haptic

Engadget / Kris Naudus

I wasn’t entirely sold on haptics at first, but the HS60 won me over. The vibration actually ended up being a big boon during the stress of the last year, and the large, comfortable cups meant I never needed to take it off. The only real drawback was that this is a wired set of cans — but for $90 it’s still a steal for a high-quality gaming headset.

Elgato Streamdeck

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

If you or someone who know wants to break into the game-streaming world, Elgato's Streamdeck is one of those gadgets that can make it much easier to do so. It's a small desktop controller with 15 LCD keys that you can customize to manage programs like OBS, Twitch and others. It makes multitasking while on stream much easier and it'll make your entire setup feel more professional, too. The Streamdeck is on sale right now for $100, or $50 off its normal price.

Blue Yeti microphone

Blue Microphones

Having a good microphone is essential if you're going to live stream, and Blue's Yeti is one of the best values out there. It's a USB mic, so you can simply plug it into your setup and start using it. It also has a special setting that's ideal for streaming. The mic's on sale for $90, or only a couple dollars shy of its all-time low, and the Blue Yeti Nano is also on sale for $80.

Razer Wolverine Ultimate

Razer

The controller that comes with your Xbox is pretty good, but sometimes you might need a little more features from your gamepad. The Wolverine Ultimate may be wired, but it also has interchangeable thumbtacks and d-pads, so you can actually tweak the controller’s layout according to the games you play and your own personal preferences. If you’re serious about your gaming it’s a good investment, made even easier by a price drop to $100.

Razer Kishi

Engadget / Nick Summers

Touchscreens are fine for casual games, but when you’re tackling something a little more hardcore like Fortnite the Kishi is just the thing you need. It adds d-pads and shoulder buttons to your gaming experience, and folds up nicely when not in use. Since it connects to your device directly via Lightning port or USB-C and not via Bluetooth you don’t have to worry about keeping it charged, though you do need to make sure you buy the right one for your device. Right now it’s an affordable $45, a 44 percent discount, while a bunch of other Razer peripherals are on sale, too.

Oculus Quest 2 + $50 gift card

Engadget / Devindra Hardawar

The high price of many headsets plus the need for a computer that can run the programs has kept VR out of a lot of people’s reach. The all-in-one Oculus Quest 2 only needs a phone to set up an account with, and can give you plenty of excellent VR experiences for only $299. This week it becomes a whole lot more tempting with the addition of a $50 gift card from Amazon, Best Buy and Target, which can be used toward any product you want, though we’d recommend the Oculus Link cable so you can connect your headset to a computer.

Google Stadia

Engadget / Jessica Conditt

Google’s Stadia service has seen a lot of upsand downs since its launch, but it still has a lot of promise. Right now you can grab yourself a Stadia Premiere Edition for only $22 over at the Google Store. The first month of the service is free so it’s not a lot of cash to drop to try it out, and even if you decide it’s not your cup of tea you’re still the proud owner of a Chromecast Ultra (normally $20 on its own), as well as a comfortable gamepad that can be used for PC games as well.

PlayStation Plus

Engadget / Sony

If you like to play online multiplayer on your PS4 or PS5, a PlayStation Plus is non-negotiable, but even if you’d rather go solo a subscription can be a big bonus. You get cloud backup for your saves, discounts on games from the PlayStation store, built-in game assistance for select PS5 games. But the best part of all has to be the roster of free games doled out monthly — November has Knockout City, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning and First Class Trouble, while previous months have seen AAA titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Mortal Kombat X. Usually a yearly subscription is $60, but right now you can sign up (or extend an existing plan) for only $40.

Nintendo Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit

Nintendo

Toys that blend the real and virtual worlds are a dime a dozen lately, but this take on the legendary Mario Kart series is one that even adults can enjoy. You can build your own courses at home, and race against virtual opponents on the Switch. The normally high price point of $100 for a single cart has kept this out of a lot of gamers’ hands, but right now it’s a much friendlier $60 — so all you need to worry about having room for building your dream track.

Nintendo Ring Fit Adventure

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

If you want to feel a bit better about the amount of time you spend gaming, consider adding the Ring Fit Adventure to your repertoire. The game has you exercising in order to progress through the story while the Switch's Joy-Cons, attached to the provided leg straps and ring, track your movements. You might be surprised by how quickly you break a sweat while fighting fantasy creatures and exploring the game's world. The ring Fit Adventure sold out numerous times over the past year or so — likely thanks to many trying to make working out at home more fun — and it's an even better buy at this $54 sale price.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

For the past few decades it’s been de rigueur for science fiction stories to be set in virtual worlds, from the early neon-lined stylings of Tron to the hedonistic pop cultural temple of Ready Player One. The stories once treated these places like a fantasy world on par with Middle Earth or Hyrule, but as we’ve edged closer to them existing in reality they’ve gotten a lot more humdrum, maybe even ordinary. With this shift we’ve seen the real and virtual worlds increasingly collide, and it’s that interconnection between the two that forms the core of the new anime film Belle, arriving in US theaters in January.

Belle is the latest movie from Mamoru Hosoda, the director who brought us time-travel adventures like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Mirai. But he’s also known for Summer Wars, a movie that posited a world where everything is connected in the virtual sphere, not just for play but also work, finance and healthcare. Back in 2009, this seemed like a bit of a stretch, but as companies like Google, Apple and Amazon have expanded the concept has become eerily prescient. Now Hosoda is once again tackling the divide between the real and virtual worlds with Belle, a film that splits its time between rural Japan and the computerized world of “U.”

Belle is the story of Suzu Naito, a “country bumpkin” living alone with her dad and still dealing with the trauma of losing her mom several years before. When a friend sends her an invite to U she finds it to be an escape from her trauma, a place where she is beautiful and can sing. Her first performance quickly goes viral, with the clip spreading rapidly and her phone blowing up with notifications in a sappy Dear Evan Hansen sort of way. She becomes a sensation, but her newfound fame goes off the rails when one of her concerts is interrupted by a player known only as “The Dragon.” Suzu/Belle becomes intrigued by the Dragon and begins an investigation into his identity, even as self-appointed vigilantes are working to track and expel him from U.

Studio Chizu

The world and technology of U are interesting, with access gained via an app and a set of special earbuds. The earbuds can apparently overlay sight as well as sound, and they build a person’s avatar using their biometric data. It’s certainly a leap ahead of the bulky VR headsets seen in Ready Player One, or just the “theater of the imagination” that a lot of movies and TV employ, where the virtual as an actual “space” with rooms and buildings and so forth only exists in the minds of the user. Here, it’s more like entering the Metaverse of Persona 5, complete with avatars that reflect a person’s true self.

In U there’s no “if you die in the game you die in real life,” but the biggest threat is still treated as such: to be “unveiled” is to lose your anonymity and have your true form revealed to the world of U, upon which a user will literally fade away from the virtual arena. It’s weird to see this used as a plot hook when real-life social media is overly concerned with real names and verified accounts, but this is a fantasy story, after all.

Studio Chizu

As such, it takes influence from other fantasy works, most notably Disney’s classic animated feature Beauty and the Beast. Both main characters are named Belle, and the design and temperament of the Dragon is very similar to that of the Beast; the mix of animals blended into one hunched, brooding creature, the mysterious castle with a squad of cutesy servant-sidekicks. There’s even a damaged portrait over the fireplace mantle! After years of anime fans complaining about American films “stealing” from anime (Kimba the White Lion, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Perfect Blue), it’s funny to see an anime borrow so blatantly from the West. I can’t wait for the inevitable shot-by-shot comparison videos on YouTube; Belle even recreates the iconic ballroom dancing scene (notable at the time for its early use of CG).

There is nothing particularly groundbreaking about the animation in Belle, though it is certainly a gorgeous film. The world of U is shown as a city of sweeping towers populated by flying avatars. Animation allows the filmmakers to give each character a unique avatar, of whatever size or shape fits that person best. Suzu becomes a beautiful woman, but others are depicted as babies, fairies and cute animals. The Dragon stands out for being such a dark character, with bruises spread across his back like a fungus.

Where Belle really differentiates itself is how it melds our current internet reality with its future fantasy visions. In early depictions of virtual worlds they were always treated as a separate place that never interacted much with the real world, a “secret life” that users had so very different from their actual existence. As technology moves forward, we’ve largely found that to not be true; our virtual existence is dominated by social media and live-streaming and parasocial relationships, and all of these are generally accepted as part of our “real” lives these days.

So it is that social media is heavily entwined with spectacle in the world of U, with messages flying as fast and furious as their avatars fly through the computer-generated cities. It isn’t just a thing that “the kids” are into; the residents of U are seen to be an incredibly diverse mix of ages and races, as seen from their messages and videos. But there is still a sense that this space matters more to a particular generation: Context clues reveal that Suzu’s village is a victim of the demographic crisis in Japan, where the populace is aging up with not enough children being born to replace them. Suzu is very much alone a lot of the time in her village, with various chat rooms and the world of U serving as her one constant connection to other people.

Studio Chizu

In the end, it will be the other people in her real life that will push her to do what she needs to do to save the Dragon.The fantasy elements take a back seat to the fact that there are real people behind each avatar, and just as the service creates a look for them based on their personality, so are their problems in U are just reflections of their real life situations. And in that case, it won’t be Belle who can save the day, but an ordinary girl named Suzu Naito.

We all know that Nintendo doesn’t discount its games often, so Black Friday ends up being one of the few times you can snag a great deal on its consoles and first party games. This year we’re looking at a nice bundle for the Nintendo Switch itself nearly identical to the one it offered last year, which packages a Switch with a digital copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and three months of Nintendo Switch Online. 

Nintendo

Those two freebies will normally cost you $68 by themselves, but they come included in this package for the standard Switch console price of $300. Take note that this is the regular Switch and not the OLED edition, which still costs $50 more (if you can find one) and doesn’t come with a free game.

Also on sale are a slew of first-party titles from Nintendo, including the recent classic Breath of the Wild alongside other great titles like New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Maker 2, Paper Mario: The Origami King and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Also included? Engadget staff faves like Astral Chain and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which both made our year-end best-of list back in 2019.

However, the two heavy-hitters to look out for are Ring Fit Adventure and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. Engadget senior editor Devindra Hardawar and editor-in-chief Dana Wollman had pretty nice things to say about the former, which was perennially out of stock in 2020 as players stuck at home used it to stay in shape.

Nintendo

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, essentially a remote control vehicle that lets you turn your home into a real-life Mario Kart course, gets the biggest discount of all: Normally it’s a $100 game, but this week it’s down to a tidy $60 at selected retailers.

Get the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers by visiting our deals homepage and following @EngadgetDeals on Twitter.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The following only contains slight spoilers for the first episode of season four of 'Star Trek: Discovery.'

Since its debut back in 2017 (and even before then, really), Star Trek: Discovery has been a divisive show. There was a long laundry list of complaints: the series is too dark, everyone is mean, everyone cries too much, the Klingon designs suck, it shouldn’t be set before the original series, Michael Burnham is an unlikeable main character. While some changes have been made to the show over the years to smooth these rough edges, the elevation of Michael Burnham to the captain’s chair for season four has made it clear that Discovery is still largely going to do its own thing, regardless of what the fandom thinks.

In the past, season four for Star Trek series has always been a turning point, the moment when a show finally figures out what it wants to be. Season four of The Next Generation started with the riveting “The Best of Both Worlds,” and produced a number of classic episodes like “Family,” “Clues” and “The Drumhead.” Deep Space Nine added Worf to its crew in its fourth year, while Voyager got Seven of Nine. Enterprise’s final season is generally considered its best. So fans were curious to see if the pattern would continue in the Kurtzman era of Trek.

Things certainly looked promising at the end of last season. The crew of Discovery had jumped 900 years into the future, to a galaxy where dilithium fuel for space travel was in short supply and the Federation was in tatters thanks to an event known as “The Burn.” Burnham and the rest of the Discovery crew figured out the source of the disaster and solved the problem in last year’s finale, opening the doors to a show dedicated to rebuilding the Federation and its ideals. After three seasons of war, it finally looked like the USS Discovery could finally get down to Starfleet’s long-stated mandates of science and exploration.

Season four begins five months after the previous episode, with the Federation now in high gear reaching out to old members and allies. That’s where we join the USS Discovery, as Burnham and Cleveland Booker are attempting to give a shipment of dilithium to a species new to the Star Trek audience. The mission quickly goes awry, strongly reminiscent of the madcap opening of Star Trek Into Darkness.

CBS

The parallels to the weakest of the three Abrams-era films are not entirely an accident or even a homage: both Into Darkness and this week’s season premiere were co-penned by Star Trek head Alex Kurtzman. They exhibit some of the excesses of modern Trek like an emphasis on frantic action and quippy dialogue — at least there’s less lens flare this time around. And everyone seems to be in a good mood, a contrast to when everyone was just worn down in the 23rd century by years of war and secret experiments. 

The season opener is largely dedicated to showing off a new optimistic status quo, with Starfleet Academy being reestablished, Booker traveling to attend his nephew’s coming-of-age ritual and a new Federation president getting sworn in. It all seems rather staid, but Star Trek has always had its share of pomp and circumstance so it was actually a nice change of pace for the program. But things do go awry when the Discovery is tasked with rescuing a station crew and have to make a few hard choices, thus the title of the episode: “Kobayashi Maru.”

CBS

For those unfamiliar with Star Trek lore, the Kobayashi Maru is a test that all command-track cadets must take at Starfleet Academy. In the simulation, the cadets are faced with the choice of rescuing a ship stranded in enemy territory. To cross the border to rescue the craft is to risk war, but to preserve peace means to consign that crew to death. It’s been called a “no win” scenario,” and the Academy is interested in how a cadet reacts to it rather than the actual outcome. Kirk is known as the only person to have actually beaten it, because he reprogrammed the scenario; he cheated.

Like Kirk, Michael Burnham also doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario. She always does what she feels is best, and it’s made her crew unfailingly loyal to her over the past few seasons. But it’s earned her a share of detractors off-screen, because Burnham often disobeys orders and ignores good advice. She’s the rebel cop who plays by their own rules. Except this is Star Trek, a franchise about teamwork. Michael’s actions — and the fact that they always succeed — often undermine her superiors and even her own crewmates.

CBS

Placing her in the captain’s chair should have alleviated some of this issue, since Burnham is now the one her crew has to listen to. But even then the show felt it needed some sort of conflict, bringing the Federation president along to question Michael’s judgment in front of her crew. I couldn’t help but be reminded of how before the show aired, the producers and writers were bragging about how they were going to break one of Gene Roddenberry’s key rules for the series: No inter-crew conflict. Watching that in action in this episode, however, was mildly uncomfortable and even a little embarrassing to see.

Not everything is rosy by the end of the adventure, but it’s still a better outcome than we’ve seen at the end of many Star Trek outings. But the new “happy” status quo is thrown out the door by an anomaly at the end of the episode. As seen in previews, this anomaly will be an ongoing concern for the USS Discovery and the entire Federation — not just as a threat to life, but as a threat to the Federation’s efforts to pull itself back together.

CBS

Unfortunately, this also means that Discovery won’t be doing a lot of discovering in its fourth season. Fans who love “planet of the week” adventures and were hoping for the show to embrace that format will come away disappointed for now. However, while episodes one and two are involved in setup for the ongoing anomaly plot line, episodes three and four still make room for some vaguely one-shot adventures, albeit ones designed to further character development.

But while Discovery doesn’t seem all that interested in changing how it does things, the environment around it has changed. It’s no longer the only Star Trek show on TV, thanks to the premieres of Picard and Lower Decks in 2020, last month’s kid-oriented Prodigy and the debut of Strange New Worlds next year. All of these shows tackle the Star Trek universe in their own way, and are not required viewing to understand what’s happening in other shows (though there are some references to Picard in the first episodes of Discovery). Viewers can choose the Trek that suits them best, removing the pressure from Discovery to be all things to all fans and making it even easier to just do its own thing.

New streaming services are a dime a dozen. By now, their debuts are met with an eye roll. Viewers might wonder what beloved shows or movies are now leaving Netflix to be siloed off in some walled garden of a service. But the hype around Disney+ was a bit different when it launched two years ago today, mostly because it started off with a sizable library of well-loved content, much of which had never been available on streaming before. Add in some buzzworthy new shows from big-name franchises and 116 million subscribers, and it’s safe to say that Disney+ has become a must-have channel for your streaming lineup.

Disney has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to finding new ways to distribute its content. In 1983 it launched The Disney Channel, a premium network that showcased Disney-owned and other family-friendly content. (The channel would later make the shift to basic cable starting in 1990.) Other corporate-content-specific cable networks like Turner Classic Movies and Cartoon Network wouldn’t debut until a decade later. Disney was also well-known for how it would re-release classic animated films in theaters every seven years or so and, once home video was a thing, would consign those same movies to the “Disney Vault” until that period of time had passed. With the advent of DVD and later Blu-ray, Disney would loosen its grip on content, making movies available through subscription services like the Disney Movie Club, and adding free digital copies with every physical media purchase.

The launch of Disney+ promised an end to the Disney Vault, with every Disney animated film available to stream. Well, almost — Song of the South is still not available on Disney+ due to its racist content, and other shows and films have been held due to licensing restrictions. But it’s still an impressive lineup. If you wanted to give yourself a crash course in animation history Disney+ is a good service to have, home to some of the earliest Walt Disney Animation Studio films like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio and Fantasia, all the way to recent releases like Ralph Breaks the Internet and Frozen II. Plenty of shorts are available on the service, too, allowing kids and adults to check out all-time classics like Steamboat Willie and The Brave Little Tailor.

But while parents were happy to have a streaming service they didn’t need to put on parental lock with their kids, Disney was making a play for older folks with two franchises it had acquired over the previous decade: Marvel and Star Wars. Right out of the gate the company promised fresh content from both, with The Mandalorian debuting only weeks after the service’s launch. Alongside later Marvel Cinematic Universe shows like WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki, Disney could lay claim to having “water cooler” shows, ones that would light up social media and hopefully win a few awards in the process. Though the company hasn’t been entirely successful in the latter category and subscriber numbers have stalled, it at least has programs that generate as much excitement as Netflix’s Stranger Things or Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

So what’s next for Disney+? The service continues to add more programming from its big franchises, with shows like The Book of Boba Fett and Hawkeye not far over the horizon. I’ve talked before about how Disney+ can facilitate franchise world-building thanks to the ability to have all its content in one place, though both Star Wars and Marvel risk growing to the point where audiences may not be able to keep up with it all. The new shows and service definitely benefited from people having a lot of free time in 2020 and 2021 — it’ll be interesting to see if Disney+ can maintain its cachet as more businesses open back up. After gettingmixed results with offering new movies on “Premier Access” streaming for $30 a pop, Disney has switched to offering films “only in theaters” again, with even a divisive film like Eternals pulling in over $70 million on its opening weekend.

Disney+’s biggest strength today is its back catalog of content, namely the shows and movies that are still missing from the service. Some programs were held back to promote future releases. One easy example I can think of is how the Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King showed up a week or two shy of the release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The short film was the last appearance of the character Trevor Slattery, who would go on to play a part in Shang-Chi. One can hope this means the other One-Shots will make their way to Disney+ as their characters reappear in the Marvel films.

The same, however, cannot be said for the Hulk, whose film rights are still tangled up with Universal, making 2008’s The Incredible Hulk the only MCU movie still missing from Disney+ — even with a She-Hulk series on deck for 2022. But if Marvel could patch things up with Sony over the rights to Spider-Man to the point where the new film seems to be bringing back previous actors and introducing the older films as part of a multiverse, there’s certainly room to be surprised over on Planet Hulk.

Other odd omissions: Disney+ has the original animated Aladdin film and its two direct-to-VHS sequels, but not the TV show that the two latter films bookended. At this point we don’t know if it’s a rights issue, an indication of future plans or someone just forgot the show existed. And you can only watch five episodes of the Mickey Mouse Club right now, from its classic black-and-white ‘50s period and nothing from the ‘90s reboot that launched the careers of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. The service may just be holding those in reserve for a potential relaunch, or just something to promote if and when the content dries up.

But right now, things are strong for Disney+. It’s got five new MCU shows on the horizon, while also planning a second season for Loki. Star Wars has a whopping seven live-action shows on deck, along with more of the animated The Bad Batch for the kids. It’s plenty to keep subscribers on the hook week after week and, alongside its massive back catalog, those things have catapulted Disney+ into the top tier of streaming services only two years after launch.

It may have been another long year, but the holidays are finally approaching — and, with supply chain issues plaguing retail, it’s best to get your shopping done sooner rather than later. This year we’re all a little burnt out on screens, so the best gifts for kids are things they can hold. But, since this is Engadget, we’re always looking for that tech angle. This year’s crop of tech toys for kids is mostly grounded in the real world, with a few electronic twists to surprise and delight.

Miles Morales in Winter Suit Funko Pop

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget / Funko

It’s always good to grab a few stocking stuffers, and Funko makes figures from what feels like every pop culture property on earth. Around here we’re partial to the video game ones, of course, and what’s more festive than this adorable Spider-Man all dressed up for the cold weather? It’ll look great while also adding a bit of geeky holiday cheer to someone’s bookshelf or desk.

Hasbro Lightsaber Forge

Hasbro

For kids who aren’t old enough to build their own lightsaber at Disney’s Galaxy Edge, this kit from Hasbro might be the next best thing. Not only is it way more affordable, but it’s also quite durable, allowing kids and adults alike to reenact their favorite Jedi versus Sith battles with gusto. Best of all, a child can rebuild their lightsaber again and again using different parts, so they can have a customized weapon that fits their mood each day.

R2-D2 Tamagotchi

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Maybe taking care of a small creature was just too stressful for your kid, and you’ve had to console them many a time when the little ghost floating above a tombstone appears. Well, now Tamagotchi has a special astromech droid they can take care of instead, one they have to clean and play a variety of mini-games with. If they don’t take care of little R2, the Jawas will take him away which might still be a bummer but hey, maybe they’ll sell him off to a local moisture farmer with a thirst for adventure.

Spin Master Purse Pets

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget / Spin Master

Kids are cute, but also weird and quirky, so why not get the child in your life something that reflects the more wild side of their personality? Purse Pets are basically living bags that can hold stuff but also blink, purr and even blow kisses at a child when it’s happy. It’s a real eye-catching accessory, one that will have them feeling like they’re on the runway — especially when you activate the Purse Pet’s runway music.

Mattel Samantha Cristoforetti Barbie Doll

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Barbie first went to space way back in 1965 and, while she’s had plenty of spacesuits over the decades, none have been as realistic as this one. That’s because this one is based on real-life space explorer Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian astronaut who was once the record holder for the longest space flight by a woman. Your kids can reenact her various scientific experiments in space with the doll, then cheer on the real-life Cristoforetti next year as she commands ISS Expedition 68.

Smart Tech Sound Action Tunnel

Brio

It feels like an unwritten rule that every child has to have one of those wooden train and track sets. Why not spice things up a bit by adding in this tech-enabled station that signals the included train to stop and flash its lights, just like the real thing. If your kid is a railfan you can even use the free Smart Tech Sound app to change the sounds to those from famous systems like London, Paris or Berlin.

Enchanting Hedwig

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

We were all super jealous of Harry Potter when Hagrid presented him with a lovely snowy owl who would become his mail carrier and friend. However, in real life owls can be pretty messy and aren’t as affectionate. So why not get your loved ones this interactive, life-sized replica instead? She loves to be petted and while she can’t fly, she can safeguard letters for you, only releasing them to people who have the secret code.

Got2Glow Fairy Finder

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

The Got2Glow Fairy Finder may look like a slightly fancier mason jar, but it has a special electronic twist. When you open the lid, a fairy will “fly” inside and show up on the front screen. What kind of fairy? It depends on how a child holds the jar and how bright the room is. There are 100 different magical creatures to collect and trade with their friends, so it should keep your kids active and busy for a while.

Hot Wheels Mario Kart Vehicle Pack

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget / Mattel

Your child may not be old enough to drive a real car, but chances are they’ve taken a few spins around Rainbow Road in Nintendo’s Mario Kart video games. And even if they haven’t, they’ll still enjoy playing with the whimsical vehicles from the series, recreated in 1/64-scale so they can fit in the palm of a kid’s hand. All the favorites are here, from Mario to Yoshi and even the often-forgotten Waluigi. Some of the karts even include gliders so kids can simulate some of the more treacherous jumps like Peach’s Castle.

LEGO Adventures with Luigi Starter Course

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

We’ve been a big fan of the Mario LEGO sets since their launch, but now it’s time for his brother to have a little time in the sun. It’s just like having a Super Mario game you can physically build and hold in your hand, complete with platforms, a see-saw and blocks. Luigi will even react to the course thanks to a small LCD screen embedded in his chest, and he’s fully compatible with the other sets so you can build a whole world for him to explore.

LEGO Boba Fett’s Starship

LEGO

You can still call it the Slave I if you want, but the most important thing about this Firespray-31-class spacecraft is who it belongs to: the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, Boba Fett. He even has his own show coming out at the end of December. We know that’s a long time to wait, but your family can at least spend part of that time putting together this 593-piece kit that even includes a tiny minifig Boba and Din Djarin from the Mandalorian.

Peek-a-Roo

Spin Master

There are toys that laugh, eat, burp and even poop, but there aren’t a lot that give birth. That’s probably because it’s pretty weird, but Spin Master’s Peek-a-Roo also makes it pretty adorable. This plush panda will react to being petted and spoken to by a child and, if the toy is treated well, it produces a tiny baby from the pouch in its stomach. The baby toy will continue to live there once born, popping up whenever its mama is happy.

LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar

LEGO

Advent calendars are a great way to get your kid excited for the holidays, but sometimes the little gifts inside aren’t so great. Why not go full-on nerdy with this Star Wars calendar, which has a smattering of tiny sets your kid has to build alongside minifigs of characters like Rey, Luke Skywalker and a holiday-themed Poe Dameron? The kits will hopefully keep them busy so they’re not asking you how many days are left until the big gift-giving occasion.

VTech KidiZoom PrintCam

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Kids love cameras but, with everything digital these days, there’s a little less tactility, which kids also love. Printcams tend to be too expensive for many adults, never mind children, which makes them a no-go — until now. The VTech KidiZoom prints photos for as little as a penny, so it’s not a big financial deal when your child takes 100 photos of their feet. Just make sure you keep them stocked up with fresh paper.

This post contains moderate spoilers for the first episode and slight spoilers for episode two of ‘Star Trek: Prodigy.’

How do you make a series that can draw in newcomers while still appealing to long-time fans? In the case of Star Trek: Prodigy, you set it in a place where the United Federation of Planets has little to no presence — the Delta Quadrant — and make your cast a bunch of misfit kids who have never heard of the Federation or Starfleet. That puts them on the same level as the children this show hopes to draw in, while offering up just enough tidbits to intrigue their Trekkie parents.

The pilot, ‘Lost and Found,’ is a feature-length episode that debuted today on Paramount+ (that means it’s technically two parts). It was originally planned to air on Nickelodeon first, but it was changed to a streaming-exclusive for 2021 with the cable channel airing it later at a still-unknown date. The animated show fills in the content gap between the end of Lower Decks earlier this month and the premiere of Discoveryseason four in November — which in turn, should carry fans through to the start of season two of Picardin February. The idea is to keep Star Trek fans from dropping their subscriptions to Paramount+ during the downtime, something that was fairly common during Discovery’s first three seasons.

Nickelodeon

That assumes, however, that Prodigy has something to offer those adult fans. And that’s where the deeper ties to Trek lore come in. Though Voyager spent seven years in the Delta Quadrant, the ship’s mission to get back to Federation space meant it couldn’t stick around in any one place too long, or return to previous locales. There’s a ton left to explore — as well as plenty of room for Prodigy’s creators, Dan and Kevin Hageman, to populate their own corner of the universe.

First, they have to introduce their main characters, and that’s what ‘Lost and Found’ is largely dedicated to doing. Our cast of misfits, led by Dal (voiced by Brett Gray), lives on a mining colony populated by prisoners and orphans. It’s the last place anyone would want to be, especially a Star Trek character, which is why the main drive is to just get off this bleak rock. But right away the series makes its point about being far from Federation space and technology, as the inhabitants can’t even talk to each other due to a lack of universal translators. That system has been how, for over 55 years, Star Trek has managed to populate its cast with aliens who all speak English. It’s the future! Different languages aren’t a problem!

Except here, they are. It keeps the characters from even knowing each other’s names, which makes the discovery of the USS Protostar and its built-in translator the perfect opportunity for everyone to re-introduce themselves to each other and thus, to the audience. And, when Dal and Rocktok discover a lost Starfleet ship buried under the surface of the planet, the ship itself may fill them with awe, but it’s the translator that truly elicits the most enthusiastic reaction: Rocktok calls it “magic.” It’s a rather fitting introduction to a franchise with a goal to “seek out new life and new civilizations,” in how it puts the connection between these disparate aliens up front.

When I saw the pilot at New York Comic Con a few weeks ago, I compared it to shows like Clone Wars and Rebels. The Star Wars influence that J.J. Abrams brought to the Star Trek franchise is still present in Prodigy, notably in its action sequences and score, the latter composed by frequent Michael Giacchino collaborator Nami Melumad. Giacchino is best known for his work on various Pixar and Star Trek films, and he also supplies the main theme for Prodigy. You can hear his influence on Melumad’s score, which does a great job of blending a quirky style with the signature Trek leitmotifs.

The final action sequence feels like pure Star Wars, as the USS Protostar makes its way off the planet and Dal is trapped on its hull, battling the villainous Drednok. The bad guy’s insect-like cyborg body reminds me of General Grievous — if the general could turn into a giant gun, that is. It’s the kind of thing that works best in CG and, like Lower Decks before it, Prodigy seems more than willing to embrace the extra freedom offered by animation as a medium. We’re long past the clunky microfiche displays and cosplaying dogs of the original series.

That freedom is probably best illustrated in the character of hologram Captain Janeway, voiced by Kate Mulgrew (of course). It’s been over 20 years since Voyager last graced the small screen, and Mulgrew has kept busy on shows like Warehouse 13 and Orange is the New Black. But in the Star Trek universe, it’s only been six years (though an exact date is never given on-screen in Prodigy). Animation means they can easily erase the decades from Janeway without resorting to the creepy live-action simulacrums seen in Rogue One of Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia.

Hologram Janeway makes her debut at the end of today’s pilot episode, but she’ll make a much fuller appearance in next week’s ‘Starstruck.’ That’s where the new “cadets” get to explore the ship and learn more about the distant “Federation.” While there’s still plenty of banter and conflict between the characters, the real star of the second episode is the ship itself — what it looks like, and what it’s capable of. While there is a plot — which I won’t divulge details of — it serves as a showcase for all the different features of this new prototype ship. You can almost imagine Janeway as a car salesman, slapping the hood of the Protostar and saying “this baby’s warp core can travel to so many planets.”

Star Trek has always been a humanist franchise, devoted to exploring social themes and dilemmas. It also has a tendency to take its technology and the “post-scarcity utopia” for granted. Prodigy goes against the grain by showing from the start how technology can change lives.

In the past decade we’ve seen the tag “gamer” used increasingly as a lifestyle sales pitch. Sure, you can buy gaming headsets and gaming mice and gaming keyboards, but there are also gamer hoodies and gamer drinks and even gamer furniture. Chairs made especially for playing have been proliferating over the past few years and until now, they’ve tended to be overpriced and ostentatious. Razer’s new Enki chair is still a bit over the top, but at least it’s a more affordable over the top, starting at $299.

To build the Enki, Razer called in ergonomics experts, paying attention not just to lumbar support, but also to how test subjects sat on the bottom cushion. The 21-inch-wide seat is shaped to distribute your weight more evenly, so you can sit for hours without getting a sore ass. They even considered the needs of those who like to sit in more unusual positions, like a half- or full-lotus. As someone who often sits cross-legged in my chair, I am grateful for the extra space and support.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the chair is how far back it can lean. It’s not quite 180 degrees, but 152 degrees is still pretty good — the kind of angle you might only see on an airliner’s international business class. It’s the kind of chair you can fall asleep in. It seems precarious but in use, the chair held my weight well when I opened it to its max. It didn’t feel too top heavy, like it would fall backward, but it felt a bit unnatural due to the lack of a footrest. But let’s be honest, you really should just retire to your couch or bed when you need a proper snooze. This is good for when you need a bit of a stretch between Overwatch matches or Zoom meetings.

Kris Naudus / Engadget

My one nitpick besides the lack of a footrest is the head pillow, which is only included with a more expensive $399 package. It’s a nice shape and the fabric feels good to the touch, but it’s also not very adjustable. It has to be strapped on around the moon-shaped cut out toward the top of the seat, which means the height is non-negotiable. I found it ended up in that limbo between my head and neck, where it just jutted out and supported neither of them. I found it incredibly uncomfortable and ended up tearing it off. However, it also felt weird to not have something supporting my head in this chair. I can only hope that Razer ends up offering more options for users of different heights.

Kris Naudus / Engadget

Aside from that, it’s a very good chair offered at a very good price — other chairs from Secretlab or Logitech might cost hundreds more, and a good non-gaming office chair can easily go above $1,000. And, while some might find it silly to buy a “gaming” chair, there’s no rule this has to be used only for gaming. You can use the chair for work, meetings and anything else. It’s not gaudy in any way that would draw attention on a video call, as Razer eschewed its usual use of lime green highlights.

In the end, it’s just a chair. A nice, comfortable chair that you can buy directly from Razer or various retailers starting today, for $299 for the Enki X or the $399 Enki that includes the head pillow, a more reactive seat tilt and an armrest adjustable in four directions. With all the time you’ve been spending in front of the computer lately, you should make it a little nicer.

Last year's Pixel came and went with only one screen size available, and for this year's flagship Google's giving you two options again. But instead of dubbing it the "XL" the bigger phone now carries the "Pro" moniker. The company says it's because it offers more professional features like a telephoto lens, but it also means it's named similarly to rival handsets from Apple and OnePlus. Check out the specs of some of the competition in the table below, and be sure to check out our hands-on with this fancy new phone while you wait for the full review later this month.

Last year's Pixel phone might have been unambitious, but this year's looks to be a real treat. Google's finally got its own chip, the Tensor, alongside the Titan M2 coprocessor for better security. (Given the Pegasus spyware incident this summer, it's a welcome and well-timed addition.) There's plenty of new software features, like Live Translate and Material You, the latter of which will allow you to customize your home screen's look even more. But this past year has been a pretty decent year for phones, and below you can see how the Pixel 6's new gussied-up insides compare to some of the other stellar flagships we've seen in 2021. And be sure to check out our hands-on, as well as our full review later this fall.