Lego Super Mario World: Mario and Yoshi (1,215 Pieces) $117.52 (was $130) See at Amazon See at Walmart ($130) See at Best Buy ($117 for members) Lego's awesome Super Mario World building set is available for a discounted price at Amazon. Normally $130, the 1,215-piece pixelated model of Mario and Yoshi is available for $117.52. The caveat here is that the set ships from Amazon Japan, which means it'll take longer to arrive. That said, it's the exact same kit, you'll get free shipping, and you can purchase it on Amazon's US storefront.Considering that Lego Mario & Yoshi released in October and has yet to receive a discount from a US-based retailer, Amazon's deal on an imported edition is definitely worth considering. Earlier this month, this same listing dropped to roughly $120 before shooting back up to full price, so we don't expect this offer to stick around for long. Amazon's regular US listing for Lego Mario & Yoshi is sold out. If you want the set sooner, Walmart and Best Buy have it in stock for full price. If you're a My Best Buy Plus/Total member, however, you'll only pay $117. Lego Super Mario World: Mario and Yoshi (1,215 Pieces) $117.52 (was $130) Lego Super Mario World: Mario and Yoshi is a 1,215-piece set that authentically captures the pixelated aesthetic from the Super Nintendo era. It's a fun build to piece together and a fitting display piece for all Super Mario fans, but especially those with a fondness for the 16-bit character designs.The completed model is 15.5 x 10 x 4 inches and features several interactive components. There's a dial behind Yoshi's head that extends his tongue. The crank on the side of the base creates a more elaborate animation. Yoshi's legs move to make it appear as if he is running. Adding to the illusion is the figure's quick bouncing motion. Yoshi's head inches forward and back, and Mario's cape sways gently, just as it does in the game.It also has an Action Tag, so if you own one of the Adventures with Lego Super Mario starter courses, the Interactive figures (Mario, Luigi, or Peach) will react.Lego did a wonderful job making the instructions easy to follow. I used a combination of the physical instruction booklet and the Lego Builder app on iPad. The square pieces used to create the "pixel art" are numbered in the booklet, which was extremely helpful for me as someone with colorblindness.Though technically part of Lego's 18-plus "for adults" line, kids who have put together sets in the 1,000-piece probably won't have any issues. See at Amazon See at Walmart ($130) See at Best Buy ($117 for members) Lego Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi is one of only six Lego Nintendo display models designed for adults, while the rest are interactive playsets. Five of the display models are themed around Mario, and Lego Great Deku Tree is based on The Legend of Zelda. The Great Deku Tree was a Lego Store exclusive when it launched last fall, but as of this month it's available at major retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy ($30 discount for My Best Buy Plus/Total members).Continue Reading at GameSpot

Xbox Kicks Off 2025 With One Big Surprise And Plenty Of Release DatesThe first half of 2025 just became loaded with first-party Xbox titles, as the publisher revealed new looks at some of its most anticipated games, a few surprises, and a significant amount of release dates. Whether you are looking forward to slaying your way through Doom: The Dark Ages or diving deep into a turn-based RPG inspired by the classics, there was a little something for everyone as part of Xbox's first developer direct of 2025. It gave fans a great look at some of the most-anticipated Xbox games of 2025 and set a high bar for what to expect from Microsoft for the rest of year. Read on for all the big announcements. Ninja Gaiden 4 AnnouncedKicking off the show was the surprise announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4 from Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja in conjunction with Platinum Games. Picking up after the story of Ninja Gaiden 3, the reveal trailer shows off a cyberpunk-esque Tokyo in chaos, as a new ninja protagonist named Yakumo takes center stage.But longtime fans need not worry: Franchise star Ryu Hayabusa is also a playable character, and will serve as a major figure in the story and as an obstacle for Yakumo to overcome. The action title is said to be influenced by the difficulty found in Ninja Gaiden 2, and is set to release this fall on Xbox and Game Pass (but will also be available for PlayStation 5 and PC.) Ninja Gaiden 2 Remake Is Out NowSpeaking of Ninja Gaiden 2, Koei Tecmo revealed Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, a remake of the 2008 original, is available now on Xbox, PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Game Pass. The game has been remade using the Unreal Engine, and incorporates additions found in previous remakes like Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 while still staying true to the over-the-top violence and the steep difficulty found in the original Xbox 360 version. South of Midnight Embraces Southern Folklore And Is Coming In AprilThe southern gothic action-adventure title South of Midnight, from Xbox's Compulsion Games, received a release date as part of the show alongside a new story trailer that shows hero Hazel searching for her mother in the wake of a powerful hurricane. As she searches for her mother and begins unraveling her family lineage, she learns she is a Weaver, one who can wield magic power and see the threads of fate that connect one another.Players will get the chance to confront the folktales and of the Deep South on April 8, when South of Midnight will become available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Puts A New Twist On Turn-Based RPGs In AprilRPG fans were treated to a new look at Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from Sandfall Interactive. The turn-based RPG is inspired by old-school JRPGs, but with some modern action-game mechanics like dodging and parrying. A new trailer showed off the game's combat and characters, while also emphasizing the game's unique, French Art Deco-inspired world and visuals.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will launch on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, and on Game Pass April 24. Doom: The Dark Ages Promises Bigger Action, More Exploration In MayLast but not least, Xbox's direct blew the doors off Doom: The Dark Ages, revealing tons of new details about id Software's upcoming prequel to Doom 2016, including a release date. From Pacific Rim-style mech battles against massive demons to a new emphasis on player freedom and exploration, melee weapons to dragon-riding, Doom: The Dark Ages is shaping up to be a rip-roaring crowd pleaser. Story is also taking center stage, as id is looking to bring the game's lore out of the codex more front and center in cutscenes.Doom: The Dark Ages will release on May 15 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC, and on Game Pass.

My Summer Car not only requires the players to look after their cars but also includes other life simulation mechanics that provide a more immersive survival gameplay experience. Players must manage several stats like fatigue and dirtiness throughout their gameplay.

One Piece has been going on more frequent breaks lately. Luckily, however, One Piece fans are getting 3 chapters for the first time in months, which is unusual, despite Oda's usual schedule.

Is it still January? Barely, but yes. Is it still dry? Well, that all depends on how you look at it. Maybe youre interested in incorporating a teensy bit of alcohol back into your life, or maybe youve never enjoyed an overly potent drink regardless of the month. I think the answer in both of these scenarios is the same: Switch to low ABV (alcohol by volume) cocktails. Theyre light, easy-going, and there is a wide world of options to suit your preference. I've got three recommendations to get you started.What is a low ABV cocktail?First of all, lets get our terminology straight. Again, ABV stands for alcohol by volume. This is usually understood as what percent of a drink is alcohol. Straight vodka can be 30% or 40% alcohol. So a vodka martini, after being stirred with ice and some added vermouth, might be 25%-35% alcohol. That is decidedly not low ABV.Wines can vary greatly but typically theyre around 13% to 18% ABV, and beers can range from 4% to 12%. While there is no precise ABV that defines a low ABV cocktail, I usually prefer them around 5% and below. Its nothing that will make me feel wobbly, but enough to add a touch of spice to the occasion. If youre at a bar or restaurant, they might have a different opinion of what fits into low ABV territory, so be sure to ask (or check the menu for the ABV) if youre wondering.How to make a low ABV cocktail at homeAside from buying a mocktail cookbook and adding a splash of gin to any of those concoctions (which you can totally dotry The Mocktail Club, an excellent recipe book that I recently reviewed) you can pore over your home bar and do some light experimentation. Personally, I like to think of low ABV drinks as giving the supporting characters a bit of shine. Its a chance to highlight aperitifs, vermouths, bitters, juices, shrubs, syrups, tonics, and sodas. Thats where many of the biggest, boldest flavors are anyway.If youre starting from scratch, start simple and try some juicy spritzes. A loose ratio could be 1:3:3: one part "supporting character" alcohol, three parts juice, and three parts bubbly, non-alcoholic liquid. Choose an aperitif, liqueur, or cordial that you like, and add equal parts of a complementary juice and soda water. Serve in a glass with plenty of ice.If youre starting from a classic cocktail recipe, try replacing the high-proof alcohol with a heavy pour of seltzer, or even a sparkling wine. The ABV for the latter would be higher than with using seltzer of course, but sometimes you just want to take it down a few notches. For example, proseccos 12% is much lower in alcohol content than gins 40%. In fact, thats what the negroni sbagliato doesswaps the gin for prosecco. Both are delicious cocktails, but the classic negroni is about twice as alcoholic.Three of my go-to low ABV cocktailsIve always enjoyed the activity of sipping socially, but not the inevitable headache of stiff drinks. Here are three I lean on when Im in the mood to take it easy. Dont try to reinvent the wheel here, folks: Simple is often best.Low ABV bellinisBellinis are light, flirty sparkling cocktails that are classically made by mixing a bit of white peach pure with a lot of prosecco. To bring down the ABV, cut the prosecco in half and replace it with a bit of seltzer water. Alternatively, you can use fruit juice instead of seltzer for a bigger dose of fruit flavor. (By the way, you can use any fruit pure you like; it doesnt have to be peach.)Negroni Sbagliato or AmericanoAs I noted above, the Sbagliato is a lower ABV version of the classic Negroni, and the Americano is the next step down. To make a Sbagliato, mix equal parts Campari, sweet vermouth, and prosecco (pour this last as a topper). Serve in a glass with plenty of ice. For an Americano, simply replace the prosecco with plenty of soda water. If I'm making it at home, I'll add a splash of simple syrup. Juicy Aperol SpritzThe classic Aperol Spritz uses three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol, and one part soda water. To make it less alcoholic, I knock out the prosecco and opt for a splash of juice. To make a Juicy Aperol Spritz, mix two parts Aperol, and one part orange juice in a glass half-filled with ice. Top it with three parts soda water.

Home ownership is a key goal for many Americans despite the financial and environmental challenges posed in today's real estate marketand the transition from renting an apartment to owning a house is, in itself, a challenge in many ways. One of those challenges is adjusting your approach to furnishing and decorating your living spaces, especially if youre going from a small rental to a large house. Decking out a house you own can be a different experience from making a rental into a comfortable space because the scale is different: Budgets have to be bigger because youre usually filling more space, purchases tend to be more long-term because youre not sweating the end of a lease, and suddenly, that couch youve been moving from place to place since college is no longer socially acceptable. Heres how to approach decorating a house when youve only ever lived in an apartment.Pause and planStep one is to take a moment and slow down, resisting the urge to be moved in as quickly as possible. Moving into an apartment is often an exercise in making your existing furniture somehow work in the new space, which encourages a haphazard approach and a utilitarian feel. The key to decorating a house, though, is to embrace whats known as slow decorating:Instead of just dragging all your existing furniture in and filling rooms with stuff, be thoughtful about what you plan to use the room for.Measure each space so you can pick and arrange your furniture thoughtfully.Choose furniture and accents that fit that plan. If an existing piece works in that plan, great! Otherwise, consider whether it fits elsewhere or if it needs to be replaced with something different.Think in terms of roomsMoving from a small rental to a sprawling house poses another psychological challenge: scale. Going from a modest and maybe even crowded place to a home with a lot more square footage can be overwhelming. Going from a small space you didnt have a stake into a more permanent place that requires a lot more stuff can be overwhelming.Instead of trying to come up with a comprehensive plan (and budget) to furnish and decorate the entire new space, take it room by room:Start with the rooms you will use immediately and all the time: the primary bedroom, the kitchen, bathroom, and living room. Narrowing down your decisions to a specific room at a time will make the whole process more psychologically and financially manageable.You can create a sense of cohesion by using the same pop color in each space and repeating decorative elements like vases or other decorative objects. Wall art thats part of a series, for example, can link rooms even if youre approaching them individually.Once you have the main rooms set up, you can tackle the remaining rooms one at a time.Another reason this works is the fact that small apartments often require you to make rooms multi-functional, but houses often have dedicated spacesdining rooms, offices, living rooms, etc. If youre going from a space where one room was your office, living room, and exercise space, taking each room individually will help you envision what your ideal version of that space would be instead of what you can fit or what can easily be stashed out of sight.Embrace spaceIn smaller rental spaces, we often make decisions around furniture that solve apartment-related problems, like a lack of a guest bedroom (resulting in a heavy, bulky sleeper sofa) or a lack of useful storage (resulting in buying everything with extra storage space, like an Admiral bed). But a house may not present those same challenges, so its time to ask yourself if that sleeper sofa or other storage piece still makes sense.The size of the rooms also has to be taken into consideration. In an apartment, for example, cramming a couch and a coffee table into a room is all it takes to make a living room, but a larger room in a house might feel empty, requiring more thought about how youre going to use the room. Will it mainly be a viewing experience, with lots of comfortable seating arranged in front of a screen? Or do you want to foster more of a conversation space, with seating facing each other? Or, if you have the space, will it be both?Finally, a house with more space can benefit from larger statement-type pieces of furnitureoversized furniture, or large artwork on the walls. Remind yourself that you can go big and go home in a house.

Doom: The Dark Ages is set to come out on May 15 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Its a single-player sandbox experience with an emphasis on exploration, bloodshed and upgrading skill trees, introducing massive mech battles and a ridable cyber dragon that spits fire on command.Doom: The Dark Ages is the largest Doom game id Software has ever made, but to be perfectly clear and possibly assuage some fears, its not open-world. In fact, the directive for developers was to edit down everything controls, levels, menus, upgrade paths in order to emulate the reactive rush that made the original Doom games so addictive. According to executive producer Marty Stratton and game director Hugo Martin, Doom: The Dark Ages is a refined and thoughtful return to the series classic loop, set in the medieval wastelands of Hell and starring a super tanky Doom Slayer.In The Dark Ages, the Slayer has three basic inputs: shield saw, melee and gun. The shield saw is a critical tool, allowing players to parry and block incoming attacks, and also acting as a boomerang-style projectile that can embed itself into enemies to rip through their demonic flesh. Parrying is a massive factor in the new game, and its also one of many aspects that players can customize in the difficulty settings. Youll be able to change the size of the parry window, adjust the actual game speed and fine-tune a dozen other factors to make each run feel just right.The Slayer has a choice of three melee weapons and he carries just one at a time. Theres an iron flame, an electrified gauntlet and a spiked mace, and each one can be upgraded as you make your way through Hell. The final main input is the trigger, which controls all of the gruesome guns. Theres a wondrous array of weapon-based brutality on display in The Dark Ages, including the Skullcrusher, a gun that eats the bones of murdered enemies and uses the shards as ammo.Certain levels will support skyscraper-sized Atlan battles and allow the Slayer to ride on the back of a cybernetic dragon, spraying flames on the gathered demons. These abilities wont be available at will, and are instead contained to specific regions of the map. There are also swimming levels which, speaking as someone with a phobia of deep water, is possibly the scariest thing in the new game.id SoftwareThe Slayer in Doom: The Dark Ages is beefy. Hes thick, heavy and armor-plated, and as he hunts demons through the medieval wastelands of Hell, hes going to feel different than the Slayers in 2016s Doom and its 2020 follow-up, Doom: Eternal. In terms of development mottos, Doom was run and gun, Eternal was jump and shoot, and The Dark Ages is, stand and fight. Strafing and twitchy teleportation-like abilities are still on the menu, but the emphasis this time around is on holding your ground and strategizing while shooting.What people didn't like in 2016 was that it was too repetitive, Martin said in a media Q&A before Thursdays Xbox Developer Direct, where id showed off new bits of the game. And in Eternal, some people said it was too hard. I actually think it's too complex. I think that the complexity of the control scheme led to unnecessary difficulties. You really want to be fighting the demons, the bad guys, not your controls.Martin and Stratton emphasized the importance of streamlining the core loop in The Dark Ages, while also building the largest, most adventure-feeling Doom game that id has ever made. There are skill trees, currency and more secrets to find than ever before, but theres not a lot of filler everything has a purpose and there are no unnecessary frills in the actual mechanics of combat, resource-collecting and upgrade paths.id SoftwareThere is a lot of exploration in this game, and it's for power, Stratton said. That's one of the things that is really important. You're finding resources and other things that allow you to improve yourself, upgrade your guns, upgrade your shield, your melee. So it isn't just the secrets, just the toys, that kind of thing. It really is an exploration for power.Martin added, I want to feel strong. It's got to be a good amount of speed and exploration and power, but I'm okay with you changing what that power fantasy is, especially if the change you make brings it back closer to classic Doom. I'm super down for that.The points of inspiration for Doom: The Dark Ages include Batman: Year One, Frank Millers The Dark Knight, and the film 300, specifically that iconic tracking shot of Leonidas slamming and stabbing his way through hordes of Persian warriors at the Hot Gates. Miller's The Dark Knight was a particularly poignant source for Martin.He drew an older, more powerful, thicker Batman, he said. And I just love that comic so much. And I always thought it would be so interesting to just, instead of a Ferrari, you'd be more of a monster truck. And that's what were working on, we've been talking about that for years and years.Doom: The Dark Ages is due out on May 15 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, including Game Pass.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/doom-the-dark-ages-hits-pc-ps5-and-xbox-on-may-15-190015221.html?src=rss

Today's Xbox Developer Direct kicked off with the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4. Aside from the news of Ragebound, the series has been quiet for the past 13 years, and there's a mix of new and old in the latest entry.The protagonist is a new character named Yakumo, a member of the Raven clan, who will battle his way through a dystopian Tokyo. Longtime fans of the games will be glad to see that Ryu Hayabusa is returning and will play a central role.The new game is being co-developed by Team Ninja and Japanese action game specialists PlatinumGames (known for Bayonetta and NeiR:Automata). Ninja Gaiden 4's trailer shows all the flashy slashing you'd expect from a 3D action game, with aerial combat and lots of big power moves. Yakumo will also have traversal skills such as riding on rails, slinging across gaps and wall-running.The game is due out in fall 2025, and will be available on Xbox Game Pass at day one. It will also launch on Xbox Series X|S, PC and PlayStation 5.As an extra treat, Team Ninja has also dropped a surprise remaster of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. This new version of the 2008 game is available today on Xbox and PC.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/ninja-gaiden-4-is-coming-out-this-fall-184041420.html?src=rss

Assassin's Creed Shadows won't hold your hand the entire time