Nintendo and Monolith Soft are finally fulfilling the wishes of long-time Xenoblade Chronicles X fans by bringing the Wii U classic to Nintendo Switch. Launching for Nintendo Switch on March 20th, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition features visual improvements alongside new content. Check out the latest gameplay trailer below.Much of the originals story and gameplay carries over with humanity escaping the destruction of Earth aboard the USS White Whale. Crash-landing on Mira, they establish a colony and seek to rescue any survivors from the White Whales Lifeholds. While there are wild creatures to encounter, an alien species native to Mira also appears, resulting in conflict.Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition offers new story elements, Skell mechs, and characters, but thats not all. Those who purchase the game by April 6th via the eShop, My Nintendo Store or GameStop will receive the Exploration Support Pack. It provides 100,000 Credits, starting armor and weapons, six weapon augments and five armor augments. These can be collected from the BLADE Barracks Customization Center after Chapter 3.

The Onodera Group,a Michelin-starred Japanese sushi restaurant chain, placed the winning bid for the massive fish. Onodera GroupTuna is big business in Japan, where highly skilled chefs transform the iridescent fish into mouth-watering sashimi, sushi and nigiri. Theyre willing to pay top dollar for the best and biggest fish at Tokyos Toyosu Market, which hosts live auctions before dawn. But the first one each year typically garners the most jaw-dropping bids.On Sunday, a Pacific bluefin tuna sold for $1.3 million (207 million yen) at the markets first auction of 2025. Thats the second-highest price recorded since the massive seafood wholesale market began keeping track in 1999. (The highest price on record was $3.1 million for a 612-pound tuna in 2019.)Weighing in at 608 pounds, the behemoth fish was about the same size as a motorcycle or an adult male grizzly bear. It was snapped up by the Onodera Group, a Michelin-starred Japanese sushi restaurant chain, in partnership with tuna wholesaler Yamayuki. The company says it plans to serve the fish at 13 of its restaurant locations, according to a statement.The first tuna [of the year] is something meant to bring in good fortune, Shinji Nagao, the president of the restaurant group, told reporters after the auction, per the Agence France-Presse (AFP). Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year.Onodera Group, which has eateries in Japan, China and the United States, says it has now won the prize tuna at Toyosu Markets first auction five years in a row, as well as in 2018.A 73-year-old fisherman named Masahiro Takeuchi caught the enormous fish on a longline on Saturday morning. He was fishing near the town of Oma in northern Japans Aomori prefecture, reports Kyodo News.It was as fat as a cow, Takeuchi told reporters in Oma, as reported by Kyodo News. Its like a dream. Im always worried about how many more years I can do this job, but Im incredibly happy.2 2Watch on Sushi chefs love tuna from Oma, because the combination of the fishes fatty diet and cold habitat give them the perfect taste and texture for sashimi, a dish featuring thin slices of raw fish, reports the Washington Posts Leo Sands. Oma tuna are also known as black diamonds, according to the Oma Tourism Association.Pacific bluefin tuna are large, migratory fish found throughout the biggest ocean on Earth. A typical Pacific bluefin weighs about 130 pounds, but occasionally, these iridescent swimmers can balloon in size, topping the scales at nearly 1,000 pounds. They feast on squid and various types of fish, including herring, anchovies, saury, sardines and mackerel.Unlike most other fish, bluefin tuna are warm-blooded. They have a unique blood vessel structure, known as a countercurrent exchanger, that allows them to retain body heat, even when theyre submerged in frigid waters. This adaptation allows them to inhabit cold areas and dive up to 1,800 feet deep. It also makes them fast and powerful swimmers: The fish are known to cross the Pacific Ocean in just 55 days.Because of their rich, buttery flavor, Pacific bluefin tuna were overfished for decades. But, in recent years, international conservation efforts and fishing limits have helped the species rebound, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.Their stock has now been rebuilt to the point that U.S. commercial fishers are gradually being allowed to harvest more Pacific bluefin tuna. In 2022, they reeled in more than 800,000 pounds of the fish, which earned them more than $2.2 million. The ceiling was raised during the two-year period covering 2023 and 2024, when they were capped at 2.2 million pounds. For the 2025 to 2026 season, its set to increase again.The rebuilding of the Pacific bluefin stock is not only a success from a biological perspective but is also a success for the fishing communities and consumers, leading to greater economic opportunity and more U.S. seafood available for U.S. plates, said Ryan Wulff, an assistant regional administrator for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Fisheries West Coast Region, in an October 2024 statement.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Auctions, Conservation, Fish, Fishing, Food, Japan, wildlife

The coffin was found in a small Roman cemetery. Headland ArchaeologyConstruction crews working on a highway in Britain have unearthed an ancient, hand-carved stone coffin that weighs as much as a large malepolar bearsome 1,650 pounds. According to astatement from Englands motorway maintenance company National Highways, the coffin dates back more than 1,500 years to Britains Roman era.Workers made the discovery just outside the eastern city ofPeterborough while upgrading a section of amajor highwaythe A47that was once a Roman road, as Chris Griffin, National Highways program leader, says in the statement.Its been extremely satisfying to play a part in uncovering such an usual archaeological find, says Griffin. At National Highways, we take great care in recording and safeguarding the countrys heritage that is uncovered by our works. Grave goods likethis glass vessel were found buried near the coffin. Headland ArchaeologyAfter the construction workers discovered the coffin, a team of researchers fromHeadland Archaeology began safely excavating itand they found something strange inside: According to the BBC, which will feature the find on its archaeology program Digging for Britain, the coffin was filled with white plaster.Similar burials from Roman Britain have been found in the past. In 2023, researchers in York studied several 1,700-year-old Roman coffins that contained hardenedgypsum, which is often a component of plaster. Per astatement from the University of York, For reasons archaeologists do not entirely understand, the Romans sometimes poured liquid gypsum over the clothed bodies of adults and children in lead or stone coffins before burying them. Over the centuries, the decomposing bodies left cavities inside the hardened mineral casings. At least 45 such burials have been found near York since the late 1800s.The recently discovered coffin triggered an excavation of the surrounding area. AsBBC News Shariqua Ahmed reports, 52 archaeologists and 20 civil engineers worked for seven months to excavate this section of the A47, supported by several heritage, archaeology and conservation organizations. According to the BBC, The stone sarcophagus was the centerpiece of an entire Roman cemetery, surrounded by a remarkable collection of other burials. In another grave in the cemetery, archaeologists found silver earrings, nine copper alloy bracelets and three copper alloy rings. Headland ArchaeologyThe team thinks this particular burial held an individual of high status, as the coffin was finely crafted and the gypsum would have been expensive, per a statement from Headland Archaeology. It contained no grave goods, though researchers uncovered a glass vessel, pottery, pieces of animal bone and fragments of leather nearby.The Roman Empire began its conquest of Britain under the leadership of the emperorClaudius in 43 C.E. The Romans controlled the province, known as Britannia, through the early fifth century, influencing development of towns and civic life.Researchers have found countless Roman artifacts and sites in Britain. Recent discoveries includeroads, a decoratedhelmet and anentire villa. The stone sarcophagus and its surrounding small cemetery will help historians learn more about the lives of the regions inhabitants under Roman influence.The coffin is a fascinating discovery which is quite unique to this region, says David Harrison, project manager at Headland Archaeology, in National Highways statement. Its careful excavation and recording, both in the field and the laboratory, allows us to continue to learn how our Roman ancestors lived and died.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Ancient Rome, Archaeology, Artifacts, British History, Cemetery, Cool Finds, England, History, Rituals and Traditions, Roman Empire

Will Rogers' Western Ranch House was on the National Register of Historic Places. California State ParksThe raging wildfires in the Los Angeles area have so far killed five people, spreading over almost 30 square miles. The fires are the citys most destructive to date: More than 2,000 structures have burnt down, including homes, businesses and historic buildings.According to a Wednesday statement by California State Parks, fires that spread through Will Rogers State Historic Park engulfed the eponymous 1930s actors ranch house. And blazes that swept through Topanga State Park destroyed the iconic Topanga Ranch Motelonce owned by 20th-century newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst. State park employee residences at Topanga and Will Rogers parks were also razed by these blazes belonging to the Palisades Fire, which ripped through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, west of downtown Los Angeles.California State Parks mourns the loss of these treasured natural and cultural resources, and our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area, says State Parks director Armando Quintero in the statement. We are directing all available resources into the emergency response effort and working to secure and protect as much as we can at affected nearby state parks.Rogers was a cherished renaissance entertainer: movie star, radio personality, writer, philanthropist, aviation enthusiast and cowboy philosopher; the parks department referred to him as Americas most beloved citizen. Born in 1879 as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in territory that later became Oklahoma, Rogers traveled the world before purchasing land in the Palisades in the 1920s. By the time Roger died in 1935, hed developed a sprawling ranch on his 359-acre property. The estate included a 31-room mansion, houses for guests, stables and corrals, a golf course and horse-riding trails. In 1944, Rogers wife, Betty, donated the property to California, and it became a historic park. The estate included a mansion, stables and horse corrals. California State ParksState park employees were able to evacuate the ranchs horses and some artifacts, including pieces of art, from Rogers ranch. But the fires destroyed the entire building, save some stone chimneys and walls. As Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. says in a statement, Rogers is among our most beloved Cherokees and a legacy of our people. He lauded the protectors of the Will Rogers ranch, who have preserved history over the years.The Topanga Ranch Motel also possessed a long history marked by a significant American figure. Hearst built the bungalow-style building in 1929, just across the street from Topanga Beach. By that time, he owned newspapers and magazines across the country. Hearst was a political influencer and pioneer of yellow journalismdishonest and sensationalized reporting, which some historians believe contributed to the Spanish-American War of 1898. A native of San Francisco, Hearst spent much of his life in California and developed several properties in the statemost notably, the opulent Hearst Castle in San Simeon, 300 miles up the Pacific coast from Los Angeles. The 30-room Topanga Ranch Motel was built in 1929 by William Randolph Hearst. California State ParksThe Topanga Ranch Motel had 30 rooms, which once hosted construction workers who built the Pacific Coast Highway. In its heyday, the place provided an inexpensive seaside holiday vacation retreat for families and writers and was a popular film and television location, according to State Parks, which acquired the property in 2001. The department had been planning to restore 20 of the old motels cabins for public use.The Palisades Fire also brushed the grounds of the Getty Villaan art museum founded by oil tycoon J. Paul Getty in 1974 to house his massive collection of Classical and Renaissance works. The building itself has escaped damage so far.Fortunately, Getty had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year, as Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, says in a statement. These efforts included irrigating the grounds and sealing the building to keep out smoke. Some trees and vegetation on site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe, Fleming says.Northeast of the Palisades, the Eaton Fire consumed Altadena, an unincorporated region inside Los Angeles County, up in the Verdugo Mountains near the Eaton Canyon Falls nature reserve. Among the many buildings destroyed is the Bunny Museumthe worlds only museum about everything bunny. As CBS News Dean Fioresi reports, the museum was a beloved staple of Altadena for nearly three decades, and possessed almost 50,000 bunny-related items.All of the Old Town, the iconic Altadena Old Town, is gone, as Steve Lubanski, co-owner of the Bunny Museum, tells CBS News. Our museum is gone. That'll hit me in a while. Lubanksi says he and his wife spent nearly 40 years building their collection. They were only able to save their pets and a few items.As of Thursday afternoon, first responders have made gains battling the Sunset Fire, which forced residents of the Hollywood Hills to evacuate, per the Los Angeles Times. Extreme wind speeds have contributed to the fires spreading. As Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said at a Wednesday press conference, We are absolutely not out of danger yet.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Art, California, Cultural Heritage, Cultural Preservation, Fire, Museums, Natural Disasters, Wildfire

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IO Interactive's Hitman: World of Assassination has topped over 75 million worldwide players. In its announcement, the Danish developer further revealed the stealth game reached 1 million players in December 2024, and "remains as popular as ever" since the new Hitman launched in 2016.After the episodic release of that title, IO put out Hitman 2 as a full package, and made the first game playable within the sequel. It repeated this process with 2021's Hitman 3, and later folded the entire reboot trilogy into a single live-service entity.According to IO, Assassination is "the most successful Hitman game of all time." For some comparison, Hitman's 2016 reboot had over 13 million players within two years, and the entire trilogy had accrued 50 million players months after Hitman 3's launch.The studio has often touted the three games' player count over sales. But in the instances where it has talked about sales, it's simply said the games have been a big revenue driver for the company, and helped spark interest in the other entries of the trilogy.Hitman is not enough for IO InteractiveLooking ahead, IO said 2025 would see more post-launch content come to World of Assassination. The title is being ported over to PlayStation VR2 in March.Outside of Hitman, the studio is currently at work on a James Bond game and an online RPG codenamed 'Project Fantasy.' It's also tapped to publish a proof of concept action game for Build a Rocket Boy's upcoming MMO, Everywhere.

Freejam, the studio behind the two Robocraft games and CardLife, is closing its doors. In a statement on its Discord server (spotted by TechRaptor), it attributed the closure to "current market conditions" and the server costs to keep making Robocraft 2, which launched as an Early Access title in November 2023."We're simply unable to launch or sustain development," Freejam explained. In the coming weeks, both Robocraft titles and CardLife will be sunset. RoboCraft 2 has already been delisted on Steam, while at time of writing, the original game and CardLife are still available on the platform.The week in industry layoffsThis marks the first studio closure of 2025. Earlier this week, layoffs were reported to have hit Rocksteady at the end of last year, and cuts are expected at Splash Damage, which recently canceled Transformers Reactivate. Jar of Sparks, a NetEase studio founded in 2022, paused operations to find a new publisher for its debut project."Freejam has been a family to all of us, and [the players] have been a part of that," wrote the studio. "Your feedback and thoughts have always driven us forward, but beyond this, the community's passion is a massive part of what's made working [here] such a pleasure.""From all of us here, thank you so much for joining us on this journey."

The PC handheld space continues to grow, and the biggest of all isNitro Blaze 11. As soon as I saw it announced at CES, I knew I had to try and get it in my hands, at least for the sheer curiosity of Will this thing even fit in my hands? The answer is yes though kind of just barely.RelatedI brought a Steam Deck OLED with me for a quick size and feel comparison.While the Blaze 11 isnt as heavy as I feared, the Steam Deck OLEDs 1.41 pounds feel like a featherweight in comparison. The Deck also feels a little more solidly built. Acers handheld isnt flimsy, but it did seem cheaper.But credit where credits due: playing games on such a big screen in your hands is a treat, and the kickstand felt solid for propping it up in tablet mode with detached controllers, which the Steam Deck cant do. Acer also gets points for using Hall effect sticks and triggers. Well have to wait and see how this jumbo $1,099 handheld fares when it launches in Q2 2025, as the competition heats up with the impending arrival of the Lenovo Legion Go S and the constantly leaking Nintendo Switch 2. In the meantime, here are a bunch of pictures of the Blaze 11 and the Steam Deck OLED.Maybe if we one day get 13- or 14-inch handhelds, a Steam Deck will be able to fit within the screen itself.The Steam Deck OLEDs screen is 7.4 inches, compared to the 10.95 inches of the Blaze 11.I only held the Blaze 11 for a short time, but I can say I did find the Steam Deck more ergonomic.Acers launcher looks and feels a bit spartan. It sits atop Windows, while Valves SteamOS is Linux-based.I dont know what these pins on the bottom of the Blaze 11 are, but Ive reached out to Acer to find out.The top of the Blaze 11 has dual USB 4 ports, a USB-A 3.2 port, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm headset jack.Dont talk to me or my son ever again.The rear feels like a wall of black plastic.The Blaze 11 has detachable controllers and a kickstand, which the Steam Deck does not.The Blaze 11s tablet mode. With a screen this big, it actually seems fairly usable in this configuration.A handheld this big isnt likely to be something you take on the road very much.Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Xbox gamers have a growing list of options among the best Xbox controllers, but even expensive ones like the Xbox Elite Series 2 can develop stick drift and other issues. RelatedIf youre tired of shelling out for unreliable controllers, 8Bitdos latest wired Xbox models with Hall effect analog sticks and triggers can offer affordable relief, as you can get them for 33 percent off right now. That includes the 8BitDo Ultimate controller, which has dropped to a record low $29.99 ($15 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and 8BitDo. The DualShock-like 8BitDo Pro 2 is also on saleAmazon and 8BitDo starting at $29.99 (about $15 off), which is only $2 more than the lowest price to date.8BitDo Ultimate Wired Controller for Xbox$30$4533% off$30$30$4533% offThe newest 8BitDo Ultimate Wired Controller for Xbox includes Hall effect analog sticks and triggers, plus two rear buttons, customizable mapping and sensitivity, and is also compatible with PC and mobile devices.8BitDo Pro 2 Wired Controller for Xbox$30$4533% off$30$30$4533% offThe latest 8Bitdo Pro 2 wired controller for Xbox and Windows offers a DualShock-like shape and layout with Hall effect triggers and sensors, software customization, and two mappable rear buttons.8BitDos wired Xbox controllers have been on the market for a few years now, so even if you already have one, you may have missed the refreshed Hall effect models. The older ones have ALPS-based sticks, which are commonly used in the standard controllers that ship with major consoles. They use mechanically moving parts and sensors to read the sticks positioning, which can eventually degrade and cause misreads to the point that your in-game characters can move even when youre not touching the controller.Hall effect sticks, instead, use magnetism and the sensors dont have moving parts, and while they arent completely immune to eventually getting stick drift, they should last much longer. That doesnt mean you cant still break a controller from excessive sweaty rounds of Marvel Rivals. The triggers on both controllers benefit from similar technology and also include dedicated vibration motors.The 8BitDo Ultimate and 8BitDo Pro 2 offer other perks that are nice to have at this price point, too, like dual rear buttons, software-based remapping (the 8BitDo Ultimate supports on-the-fly switching between three profiles using a dedicated button), and configurable sensitivity and vibration settings. In addition to Xbox One, Series X, and Series S, you can also use the controllers on Windows PCs, Android, and iOS devices by plugging them in using the detachable USB-C cable.