Are you the proud new owner of an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S? Well then, you’re ready to experience the full power of your brand-new gaming console—and that means you should be looking for video games that can do things that simply weren’t possible on previous Xbox systems. Unfortunately, that isn’t an easy ask. Unlike the transition from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One, the step-up to the Xbox Series X|S is much smaller and more akin to upgrading your PC than going up an entire tier....

Sometimes, the most memorable games are the most difficult. They’re the type of games that induce controller-whipping, excessive screaming, and make you never want to play another video game again. Let’s revisit the games that you love to hate. Here are some of the most notably challenging video games of all time. 10. Ninja Gaiden Black Ninja Gaiden Black turns up the difficulty on the original Ninja Gaiden games. Take control of Ryu Hayabusa, a supple ninja on a mission to find a stolen sword and take revenge....

As a huge fan of racing games, I’ve always felt blessed by the number of solid racing games available to play on Xbox Game Pass. Racing games are great because they offer a sense of speed that’s unparalleled by most other genres and they often have beautiful graphics that really show off the console’s graphical capabilities. Don’t believe me? Two words: wet pavement. More recently, racing games have also grown more adventurous and creative, mixing in all kinds of new gaming mechanics that deepen the overall racing gameplay....

Humanity seems to have a pretty dismal view of the future, even though it’s entirely in our own hands. Storytellers love to warn us of the dangers of technology, politics, and social divide. There’s an entire genre dedicated to it: dystopian movies , often delivered with a futuristic sci-fi angle that paints a grim outcome of what’s ahead, allowing us to see that bleak reality unfold right before our eyes....

Holidays and vacations can produce some of our most vivid memories, both good and bad. Things can go picture-perfect and according to plan, or everything can fall apart in the worst ways. In cinema, family vacations are always destined to go wrong. Whether it’s due to a flat tire, nosy tourists, or family dysfunction, family vacation movies are so beloved because of all that drama. For this list, we’re counting family vacation movies as those with a core family at its center, consisting of two members or more—and if it leaves us with poignant memories and stirring lessons, all the better....

Black-and-white isn’t just for old movies from decades ago. It can be an aesthetic choice that serves all kinds of purposes: mirroring historical settings, conveying flashbacks, or even just to look cool (like in Yorgos Lanthimos’s recent comedy Poor Things ). Indeed, there are lots of modern movies released in or after 2000 that incorporate monochrome visuals in various ways, and some have proven to be stunning examples of how the black-and-white look can enrich stories in ways that go beyond just cosmetic....

Calling all film buffs and old movie fans! The 1940s was a great decade for all things film noir and B-movie. Moving away from the theater-like melodramatics of earlier cinema, the 1940s were a pivotal time that introduced innovations to filmic language and established the foundation of what we know as cinema today. From war dramas to festive classics, the 1940s gave us several enduring movies. Here are my picks for the best movies of the 1940s that are still popular and worth watching!...

It can be tough getting friends together for a game night. If you don’t know many people who are into board games, you might even have a tough time finding someone who stays interested long enough to play through a two-player game. The good news is, there are plenty of excellent board games out there that are fantastic for their single-player experiences. Even better, most of them can scale up to more players for when you’re able to have a game night....

While many real-world places have been featured in anime series, often the most intriguing settings are the ones that are completely fictional. You know, fantastical places we can only dream of visiting. Imagine being able to touch down on the mystical forests, lush valleys, brilliant coasts, and towering mountains of your favorite anime, with vivid colors brought to life. And if you’re adventurous, you might even head out to explore the uncharted areas of your favorite anime worlds....

Female characters don’t always dominate when it comes to badass moments in anime, but when a female character does prove their badassery, it’s always a moment that blows us away. Most viewers erroneously believe that female anime characters are just vehicles for fan service, but every great anime series knows that its female characters are vital to the story—not just for romance or comedy, but in ways that twist and advance the narrative....

Both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden comprise one of the longest-running anime series of all time, which ended with almost 700 episodes—and continues on with its sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations . Over the course of airing, both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden both had several films produced that feature their respective main cast of characters thrown into different plots (which may or may not tie in with the plotlines from actual episodes)....

Every horror director has their own established quirks and identity that set them apart from other horror directors. It’s most apparent when you compare directors who specialize in horror. John Carpenter, for example, devoted his filmmaking career to horrors about unknown threats. George A. Romero loves zombie movies. Wes Craven built his filmography on slasher flicks and meta movies that critique the very genre he pioneered. But there’s one horror movie director who raised the bar with a culture-shattering plot twist, which turned into a frequent technique that gained him notoriety in the film community....

The Metroidvania genre got its start on consoles, with both Metroid and Castlevania released on the NES. Since then, the genre evolved towards PC gaming thanks to the prevalence of Metroidvania indie games. Metroidvanias are platformer games that encourage wide-scale exploration across a large world via interconnected screens. Along the way, you can acquire new equipment and abilities that grant access to areas that you couldn’t reach before, thus opening up more of the world....

When sat alone or with friends, searching desperately for something good to watch, you can always rely on the most heartwarming of movie genres: the romantic comedy. From Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan to the grand old days of Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, there isn’t another movie genre that can make one feel warmer inside than a grand old rom-com. 7.50/50(2011) 50/50 is the story of a man named Adam and his fight against cancer, and it’s one of the most surprising romantic comedies one can watch—because it takes such an awful disease and shows the audience the “funny” side of being sick with cancer....

Can’t get enough Dungeons & Dragons ? We totally get it. We’re in the same boat. Personally, I try to play D&D a few times a week, but it never quite feels like enough. As such, I try to consume as much content related to the game as possible. I listen to some awesome actual play D&D podcasts , information-based D&D podcasts , and just about anything else. If you feel the same way, we’re about to give you seven different websites to bookmark....

If you haven’t played a visual novel before, it probably makes you think of a children’s book. You might even stay away from visual novels because you think they all have perverted artwork and storylines. Both of these perceptions are false—they don’t at all read like a children’s storybook, and some of the best visual novels have no trace of oversexualized garbage. Gamers who aren’t familiar with the genre automatically dismiss it as boring....

I don’t care too much for reality TV beyond some reality competition shows because they seem a bit pointless. So imagine my surprise the first time I actually cried while watching reality TV. I’ve come close to tears in a few episodes of MasterChef and The Genius , but that’s about it. Outside of reality competitions, I’m usually either cringing or rolling my eyes with reality TV. Related: The Genius is a thrilling reality game show for gamers...

Tom Cruise feels like a man who belongs on the big screen. Million of people queue up for his movies, and his movies are the kind that showcase the best of an actor’s dedication to his craft. Ever since his breakout role in Risky Business , Tom Cruise has topped the A-list and never surrendered his position. He tries his absolute hardest at all times to deliver films that make cinema audiences sit tight and grip the edges of their seats in excitement....

You either love or hate dating simulators—it’s hard to fall in between. The cheesy, cringeworthy circumstances of a dating sim are enough to make some players stop playing immediately. But still, that very same ridiculous content is what fuels so many to love dating sim games and why they find them so addictive. Even if you aren’t interested in the romance aspects of dating simulators, you can still find plenty of entertainment in the intentional (or unintentional) humor throughout these games....

Anime is one of the most innovative and most unique storytelling mediums ever conceived. Animated series that come from the East (primarily Japan) have a storied history, if you’re into that. It’s said that the seeds of anime actually sprouted several years before the Second World War, where animated shorts were used by the Japanese government to educate and propagandize the public. Anime has come a long way since then, exploding in popularity during the 90s when it arrived in the West, and continuing to grow even more popular all around the world to this day....