In a recent episode of Post Games, host Chris Plante explores how video games can help players understand death. He’s interviewing Kaitlin Tremblay, who is working on Ambrosia Sky, a game about death.
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Why the former editor of Polygon is making a podcast for old gamers
“What is it about games that is so useful for exploring the topic?” Plante asks.
“I think there’s something really lovely about the way in which games invite players in,” Tremblay says. There is “something quite lovely about asking a person to cooperate and to be a part of the story, and to move through the space.”
It’s a tone, and a substance of conversation, unlike any I’ve heard on a gaming podcast before. And it underscores what’s so unique about Post Games — and how it might stand out from other gaming media, by acting a lot more like a slower and more cerebral NPR show.
Within weeks of leaving Polygon, where he was the editor-in-chief, Plante started Post Games, which he describes as “a weekly podcast about how and why we love video games.” He’s targeting an older demographic and models Post Games after an NPR-like format with tightly-edited segments and weekly episodes that last for about an hour. And he’s asking fans for support via Patreon to help keep it going.
“Practically everything in games media targets young people”
Many other video game podcasts are “almost entirely for people under the age of 30 who can afford to listen to multiple shows that are four hours long this week,” Plante tells The Verge. “Practically everything in games media targets young people — both because it’s being produced by young people and because it’s the demographic sales teams believe they have the best shot at selling.” But players over 35, he says, have “very different interests and expectations.” There are a lot of people that fall in that category, with the Entertainment Software Association reporting that more than half of the 205.1 million Americans playing video games are older than 35.
“It’s really basic supply and demand shit,” he says. “And yet very few places want to meet this demand. The publications older audiences turn to for information — newspapers, magazines, and audio — have given gaming culture scraps at best, and worst, ignored it entirely.”
Before I go any further, I should make a few disclosures. Plante, until May, was the editor-in-chief of Polygon, formerly The Verge’s sister site dedicated to gaming and entertainment. He was a co-founder of Polygon when it launched in 2012, and he later worked at The Verge from September 2014 to July 2017. I never worked with him directly, but I met Plante for the first time in person earlier this year over dinner at the Game Developers Conference.
This is all to say that when Vox Media announced on May 1st that it sold Polygon to Game Rant owner Valnet, and Plante said that he wouldn’t be part of the site moving forward, I was bummed for him. But by the end of the month, he had published the first episode of Post Games, and he’s posted a new episode every week since. It’s a great podcast.
Each episode is about an hour long and split into three acts. Much of the show revolves around interviews on a certain topic, and a third act features Plante discussing the news of the week. But the broader topics of the episodes don’t always align with the current big thing in gaming.
The first episode was about the history of the Independent Games Festival’s Seamus McNally Grand Prize, for example. The second was about sexy games. When the episodes do tackle topics of the moment, Plante tries to put his own spin on things; when Death Stranding 2: On the Beach came out, Plante scored a rare interview with YouTuber videogamedunkey, who initially hated the first Death Stranding but revisited it two years later.
The show is available for free with ads, but people who pay a $5 per month subscription on Patreon get early access to ad-free episodes with a bonus segment and access to an exclusive video every month. While planning out what Post Games would be “my logic was, if I wasn’t willing to spend $5 on it, then why would anybody else?” Plante says. The show just hit 1,000 paid subscribers, and even if things flatten from there, “that would be enough to cover my family’s health insurance.” If the show gets 2,000 by the end of the year, “I’ll feel confident about this being my future.”
Game journalists who leave or were laid off from traditional gaming publications are increasingly doing their own thing, such as the worker-owned Aftermath from former Kotaku writers and Patrick Klepek’s parent-focused Crossplay Substack publication. And while publications everywhere are facing pressure from things like AI search engines and Google Zero, Plante argues there are a lot of audiences that are underserved by more traditional business models because of their reliance on scale.
“As somebody in the media, you hear a lot about how great independent media is because of its benefits for the people who make the media, but I think there’s a larger conversation that needs to be had about the benefits that it has for the audience, for the readers,” Plante says. “I think if you focus on the readers and the audience, you will find more business opportunities for more independent creators or more just smaller funded creators.” He also says that if mainstream publications don’t want to serve the “humongous and growing audience” of older gamers, “I’m happy to.”
Plante sees Post Games as his thing for the next long while. “My only dream for the future of the show is that I’m doing this in 10 years,” he says.
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Things are looking bright for those who want to nab a great TV in 2025 at a substantial discount. There’s usually a great deal happening on a mid- or high-end TV from LG, Sony, TCL, Hisense, or Amazon’s own Fire TV brand — even if the biggest discounts remain reserved for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Amazon Prime Day, and during the lead-up to the Super Bowl.
Right now, there are a number of discounted 4K TVs to choose from, spanning a wide variety of prices, sizes, and feature sets. Whether you want a secondary screen for the bedroom or a high-end OLED that’s built to provide the ultimate gaming or cinematic experience, we’ve picked out the best TV deals.
The best 4K TV deals for most people
Samsung’s Q8F is available for an all-time low of $599.99 ($150 off) at Amazon and Best Buy for the 55-inch model, which is a solid value for a QLED 4K TV. Its quantum dot LED panel boasts great contrast (especially in HDR content). The Q8F has a 120Hz panel and four HDMI 2.0 ports. This means you can play in 4K at up to 60Hz with a Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series S/X, or a PlayStation 5 Pro, or at a faster 120Hz refresh rate bumped down to 1440p resolution. Samsung is also including two free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with purchase, which will allow you to stream games directly to your TV through the cloud, eliminating the need for a console.
The TV is powered by Samsung’s Q4 AI processor, which is used to upscale HD video to 4K when necessary, to optimize the picture in real-time, and make navigating its interface feel snappy. Samsung also touts the Q8F’s audio system, which adjusts the EQ and boost dialogue volume when needed. If you’ve cut the cord with cable, you can watch over 2,700 free channels of TV (over 400 of which are exclusive to Samsung TVs) in addition to streaming services. You can save $402 by jumping up to the 85-inch model, which is on sale for around $1,597.99 at Amazon and Best Buy.
If you’re looking for a 65-inch TV for watching sports, TV shows, movies, or playing video games, Hisense’s U65QF is a great choice, one you can currently purchase at Amazon and Best Buy for an all-time low of around $596.99 ($403 off). The TV features a native 144Hz refresh rate and two HDMI 2.1 ports, both of which can take full advantage of the high-speed display. It also sports a pair of HDMI 2.0 ports — which can carry a 4K signal at up to 60Hz — and a port assortment that makes it a good choice for current-gen consoles, 4K Blu-ray players, and streaming devices. If you connect a gaming PC with an AMD graphics card, you can even take advantage of the TV’s support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, which reduces graphical glitches such as screen tearing.
The U65QF has an LED screen, which means it can’t match the black levels or per-pixel brightness control you’d get with an OLED display. However, its full array lighting panel offers 300 local dimming zones. The TV can control the brightness of each zone to reduce blooming, which is what happens when the area around a bright object (think a lit torch in a cave) looks unnaturally bright. Additionally, the TV has a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits, so the image it produces should look good even in a room with some light interference. The U65QF also supports Dolby Vision, HLG, and HDR10 Plus for better color reproduction, and it features a Hi-View AI chip that automatically processes the image on screen so that it appears sharper.
As for its operating system, Hisense’s U65QF runs on Amazon’s Fire OS and features Amazon Alexa built in. You can use the smart assistant to control the TV’s many functions, search for content, control compatible smart home accessories, and look up answers to various questions with your voice. If you want an even larger screen, you can also pick up a 75-inch model for around $797.99 ($502 off) at Amazon and Best Buy.
The best 4K TV deals for those on a budget
Amazon’s Fire TV 4-Series is an affordable option if you want to upgrade a smaller HDTV to a 4K model. The 50-inch model is currently on sale for $289.99 ($110 off) at Amazon. The TV features an LED panel with a 60Hz refresh rate and support for HDR10 / HLG, which is totally sufficient for casual TV viewing or watching movies and TV shows. It runs Fire OS, and comes with a remote that allows you to summon Amazon Alexa with the push of a button for a query or command. You can step up to a 55-inch model for $359.99 ($100 off) if you like its modest feature set but want a slightly larger screen.
If your budget is under $500, the 55-inch Hisense QD7 has a lot to offer, especially now that it’s on sale for an all-time low of around $357.99 ($132 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. It features a QLED panel that can deliver more contrast and brightness than a typical LED TV, with support for HDR10 Plus and Dolby Vision, with a peak brightness of 600 nits. The 4K set features a processor capable of AI upscaling and full array local dimming with 160 local dimming zones. A panel with full array local dimming offers better control of brightness and contrast than direct- or edge-lit LED panels (this video from LG shows how it works), providing a more consistent picture across the entire screen. The QD7’s obvious weak point is gaming, due to its 60Hz refresh rate, but if that’s not important to you, it remains a superb value. If you want a larger TV, you can get a 65-inch model for around $467.99 ($132 off) at Amazon and Best Buy.
The best deals on high-end 4K TVs
If you want a TV that produces reference-quality images, Sony’s Bravia 8 II (K65XR80M2) is the best choice. It was recently selected as the top TV in Valve Electronics’ 10th annual TV Shootout based on objective and subjective tests conducted by a panel of experts comparing each set to the image on a $43,000 reference monitor. Disclosure: Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel was one of the judges. The 55-inch model also recently received a substantial price cut, dropping it to $2,198.99 ($801 off) at Amazon.
Sony’s premium set has a 120Hz refresh rate panel, with two HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K at 120Hz, and two HDMI 2.0 ports that top out at 4K / 60Hz. It doesn’t support Nvidia’s G-Sync or AMD’s FreeSync Pro, so there aren’t any specific features on this TV that PC gamers can take advantage of. Sony calls the Bravia 8 II its brightest OLED screen yet, and testing conducted by Hometheaterreview found its maximum brightness was 1,880 nits when viewing HDR content. Its predecessor topped out at 1,300 nits HDR video, or roughly 44 percent dimmer.
The TV runs on Sony’s XR processor, which uses AI to adjust the color, contrast, and clarity of whatever you’re watching in real time to look better. The judges in the aforementioned TV Shootout chose Sony’s set as the best model for SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) processing, but third of four models compared for HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing. Any OLED TV can show true black, but judges agreed that the Bravia 8 II pulled ahead in grayscale and contrast when viewing SDR video.
Sony says its TV has modes calibrated for Netflix, Prime Video, and its own Sony Pictures Core streaming services, too. Sony Picture Core is a streaming service that’s available on select Bravia TVs and Sony gaming consoles, and allows you to stream or download 4K movies at far higher bitrates than competing services. The Bravia 8 II comes with 10 credits, which you can use to download movies for offline viewing, and two years of unlimited streaming for films in its catalogue.
If you want this TV in a larger size, Amazon and B&H Photo are offering the 65-inch model for around $2,998 ($501 off).
The last-gen LG C4 remains one of the best OLED TVs you can buy, and the 65-inch model is currently on sale for around $1,396.99 ($1,303 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy. Like LG’s newer C5 OLED, it has a 120Hz panel with support for VRR, Nvidia G-Sync, and AMD FreeSync Premium (the option exists to enable a 144Hz mode if you dig in the TV’s options). Its embedded A9 AI Processor Gen7 offers higher-quality video upscaling and image optimization compared to the C3. The biggest difference between the C4 and C5 is their maximum brightness. The C4 tops out at an advertised 1,000 nits, while the C5 tops out at around 1,165 according to tests conducted by Tom’s Guide.
Additionally, the C4 features a three-channel audio system, which might sound impressive compared to other TVs, but still can’t compete with a soundbar. When you’re not watching videos or playing games, you can also enable the C4’s Gallery Mode to display art. Basically, the LG C4 offers many of the same features as the C5, but retails for nearly $400 less. You can also save on the 77-inch model, which is on sale for around $1,799.96 ($1,900 off) at Best Buy and Amazon.
Sony’s 42-inch A90K is a premium OLED TV that it claims is specially optimized with features for gaming on a PlayStation 5, but realistically, all of the TVs in this list work great with the PS5 — not to mention all other modern consoles. It’s currently on sale for around $1,198 ($102 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy. The TV has a 120Hz panel, with two HDMI 2.0 ports and HDMI 2.1 ports.
About the special PS5 features, if you connect the console to the A90K, the TV will automatically enable Auto HDR Tone Mapping for more accurate colors, along with an Auto Genre Picture Mode that will adjust its settings based on the game you’re playing. Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR automatically adjusts the TV’s contrast, brightness, and colors.
The A90K can access Sony Pictures Core, a movie streaming platform exclusive to higher-end Sony TVs that allows you to watch uncompressed 4K movies. Sony includes 10 credits to build your Sony Pictures Core library, plus 24 months of streaming access. The aforementioned library is more limited than other streaming services, but it’s the closest you’ll get to watching a 4K Blu-ray without having to pop in a disc. Sony also offers the A90K in a 48-inch size, and you can pick one up at Amazon and Best Buy for around $1,298 ($102 off).
Sony’s 55-inch A95L is a premium TV with features that should appeal to gamers and cinephiles alike, and you can get it for around $2,198 ($601 off) at Amazon, B&H Photo, and Best Buy. The TV has a 120Hz panel and two HDMI 2.1 ports (four HDMI ports total), so you can play games in 4K at up to 120 frames per second. Its two HDMI 2.0 ports are fine for last-gen consoles like the original Nintendo Switch. If you connect a PS5, the TV will adjust its video settings based on the genre of game you’re playing, which is a nice touch, but games on that console will look incredible on any OLED set.
Sony’s Cognitive Processor XR powers the A95L, which enables better motion processing so sports and games look less blurry. It also claims to improve the contrast and colors compared to previous generation Sony TVs. It has a peak brightness of 1,300 nits according to lab tests by Tom’s Guide, which is higher than most of the other OLED TVs we found on sale.
The A95L is a Bravia-series TV, which means it can access Sony’s Picture Core. This video on demand service has the highest-bitrate (aka video quality) of any streaming platform, which means what you watch will look closer to an uncompressed 4K Blu-ray than a 4K stream from Netflix. Its library is limited, but Sony includes 10 credits with A95L, so you can download movies to keep forever, and a 24-month subscription that lets you stream videos from the library.
If you want a higher-end OLED TV, Sony’s A95L is a great choice and has features you won’t find on non-Sony TVs. You can also get the 65-inch model on sale for around $2,898 ($601 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo.
Update, September 3rd: Updated pricing / availability and added newer deals for Samsung’s Q8F and Hisense’s U65QF.
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Amazon will now let you shop for products by pointing your camera at them. On Thursday, the company announced Lens Live, a new feature that uses your camera to scan things in the environment around you, while surfacing matching product listings.
This feature, which is only rolling out to the Amazon Shopping app on iOS for now, lets you pan your camera around a room or focus on a specific product. Amazon says Lens Live will use an object detection model to identify the products shown on your camera in real-time, and then compare them against the billions of products on its marketplace.
Once it finds similar items, Lens Live will display them in a swipeable carousel, where it will also show options to add products to your cart or wishlist. It sounds like Amazon’s take on Google’s Gemini Live, an AI-powered assistant that similarly lets you scan things in your environment and ask questions about them. The difference is that Amazon’s AI tool puts a big “buy” button on everything you see.
Lens Live also integrates Amazon’s AI assistant Rufus to summarize product descriptions and answer questions about them. The feature builds upon the existing capabilities of Amazon’s visual search features, which let you search for products by uploading an image, scanning a barcode, or snapping a picture in the Amazon Shopping app. Amazon plans on bringing Lens Live to more customers in the “coming weeks.”
Labor Day has finally arrived, and after a week of early discounts trickling in, the sales are now in full swing. We’ve put together an expansive guide detailing nearly 100 deals we think are worth the money — including everything from big-screen OLED TVs to back-to-school essentials like the latest MacBook Air — but we also recognize that spending a couple a hundred dollars on a new gadget isn’t always feasible in these inflationary, tariff-riddled times.
Update, September 1st: Adjusted pricing / availability and added several new deals, including those for Anker’s Laptop Power Bank and the original Logitech G Pro X Superlight.
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