Category: Video Games

Daily Deals: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, AirPods 4, Mario Vs. Donkey Kong, and More

The weekend is officially here, and we’ve rounded up the best deals you can find! Discover the best deals for Sunday, March 9, below:

Apple AirPods 4 for $99.99

Amazon has the Apple AirPods 4 on sale for $99.99 today. These earbuds feature Spatial Audio, up to five hours of listening time per charge, and so much more. Apple AirPods 5 likely won’t be out for a good bit, so now is the perfect time to pick up a pair of new AirPods if your old ones are giving out.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury for $39.99

Super Mario 3D World is one of the Wii U’s most fun games, with the enhanced Nintendo Switch release also packing in Bowser’s Fury, an action-packed new take on 3D Mario. There are 82 different courses to master, which you can do with up to three friends together. At $39.99, this is a great deal on one of the best Mario games on Nintendo Switch.

Apple AirPods Pro for $169.99

Apple’s best earbuds are on sale today. Amazon is offering the second generation Apple AirPods Pro wireless noise-canceling earbuds for only $169.99 shipped, a savings of 32% and the best AirPods deal so far this year. That’s the same price currently as the Apple AirPods 4 with ANC, which is usually $70 cheaper. Between the two, the AirPods Pro is still the superior earbuds because it offers better sound quality and noise cancelation.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder for $41.88

Super Mario Bros. Wonder is the first original Mario game from Nintendo since Odyssey. This is a side-scrolling platformer that takes place in a brand new world (Flower Kingdom). You have acess to new power ups, new enemies, and new gameplay mechanics all wrapped up in a visually gorgeous game with tons of personality. Check out our IGN Super Mario Wonder review and you’ll see why it’s so great.

Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy Starter Kit

Magic: The Gathering is one of the biggest card games in the world, and it’s set to collaborate with the beloved Final Fantasy series this June. This collaboration has been incredibly popular online, which has led to almost every booster pack being sold out at the moment. Luckily, you can still pre-order the Starter Kit today. This is the perfect entry point for new players, as this set includes two ready-to-play 60-card decks and much more.

NieR Replicant – 10+1 Years 4xLP Vinyl for $74.40

This NieR Replicant box set includes 4 LPs with music from the game. Included are the Nier, Kainé, Emil, and Devola & Popola LPs, which were all released separately. The cover of the box set was illustrated by Shirow Miwa, who has contributed designs to titles like Fate/Grand Order. Additionally, an original paper stand is included in the box set.

Super Mario Odyssey for $39.99

Super Mario Odyssey is still one of the best games available on Nintendo Switch. From the stunning Kingdoms to the numerous new gameplay elements, this is a game any Switch owner should have in their collection. Odyssey is best known for its Capture mechanic, which allows Mario to use Cappy and take over different enemies and objects in the environment. This game doesn’t go on sale too often, so pick up a physical copy at a discount this week!

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $37.99

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is $37.99 at Woot right now. The massive adventure across the planet to track Sephiroth was one of the biggest games of 2024, and it’s absolutely a must-play game. A 40+ hour main story awaits, with over 35 side quests available after you clear the story.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for $19.97

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is on sale this weekend for $19.97 at Walmart. As the second chapter of Cal’s story, Survivor opens up with massive new planets to explore, in addition to dozens of additions and tweaks to the combat system. If you’ve yet to play this second game from Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi series, there has never been a better time.

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance for $24.99

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is back at its all-time low price this weekend! Vengeance is an enhanced version of the former Nintendo Switch exclusive SMT V, launched in 2019. The biggest feature available in this upgraded re-release is the all new Canon of Vengeance route, which is essentially 40 hours of new story content. At $24.99, this is a steal for what many considered one of the best RPGs of 2024.

Apple Watch Series 10 for $299

Amazon is offering an Apple Watch Series 10 42mm model for only $299 and the bigger 46mm model for $329. This is even lower than the best deal during Black Friday. If you own an iPhone, the Apple Watch is indisputably the best smartwatch for you. The Apple Watch Series 10 is the newest generation mainstream model. Improvements over the Apple Watch Series 9 include a bigger OLED Retina display, a new S10 processor (that isn’t faster but it’s thinner, which allows the watch itself to have a slimmer profile), and a slightly larger base model size (42mm vs. 41mm).

Mario vs. Donkey Kong for $29.99

Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a remake of the Game Boy Advance game bringing the classic up to date with new visuals for Nintendo Switch. This is the lowest we’ve seen this one yet, so don’t miss your chance to score and pick this game up at a discount.

What’s on your bookshelf?: Last Call, Tacoma, and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage’s Nina Freeman

Hello reader who is also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week – our regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool industry folks about books! I’m starting to regret phrasing it like that, to be honest. The word “selection” evokes either bureaucracy or crap small versions of chocolate bars. I’m now imagining “guy who travels to Europe because he heard the chocolate is better but can only find stale Curly Wurlys“. That’d suck so bad.

This week, it’s Last Call, Tacoma, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, and loads more‘s Nina Freeman! Cheers Nina! Mind if we have a nose at your bookshelf?

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Poll: Box Art Brawl – Duel: Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship Of Doom (NES)

Hyaaah!

Hello chums, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl!

Last time, we looked at Pokémon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color, and the result was pretty definitive. The Western design won with 69% of the vote, with some of you noting that the Japanese variant didn’t even look like it belonged to the Pokémon franchise. User Kienda said “If someone showed me the Japanese case out of context, I wouldn’t even twig it was a Pokémon game”. Yep, fair comment!

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Pokémon Almost Became A “Gritty” Baseball-Themed RPG In The West

“Could we make it that they’re all baseball players in a baseball league?”.

Gail Tilden, former Nintendo of America’s marketing boss, recently spoke to The Video Game History Foundation’s Frank Cifaldi at the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, and one of the topics she touched upon was the small matter of launching Pokémon in the West.

As you’ll probably be aware, Pokémon—or Pocket Monsters, as it’s known in Japan—was already something of a phenomenon in its homeland before it reached North America and Europe, and it was Tilden’s job to repackage it for Western tastes.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The Future of World-Building at Disney Panel From SXSW: Everything Announced

SXSW’s The Future of World-building at Disney Panel was filled with exciting details and teases of the future of Disney Parks, including how The Mandalorian and Grogu will be joining a new mission aboard Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, that Imagineers will need to create a new type of ride vehicle with emotion for Magic Kingdom’s Cars ride, and a tease of what the load area and lift off will look like for the new Monsters, Inc. attraction.

Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman led the festivities and discussed what their teams are working on and how beneficial it is when they collaborate for exciting new experiences at Disney Parks.

There was a ton discussed, and we’ve gathered all the biggest announcements and reveals below!

The Mandalorian and Grogu Will Join Smuggler’s Run in a New Mission at the Launch of The Mandalorian & Grogu Film

While we knew The Mandalorian and Grogu would be part of a new story on Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, Disney confirmed the new experience would debut alongside The Mandalorian & Grogu movie on May 22, 2026.

The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau and Imagineers Leslie Evans and Asa Kalama shared a bit more about the upcoming new story and revealed some concept art of locations that should excite fans of that galaxy far, far away. The images, which you can see below, include a Jawa’s Sandcrawler on Tatooine, the Millennium Falcon and Mando’s Razor Crest flying toward Cloud City on Bespin, and even a tease of visit to the wreckage of the second Death Star above Endor.

“This isn’t going to retell what happens in the movie – it’s more like participating in something that’s happening just off-camera from what you see in the film,” Favreau explained.

Imagineers captured scenes for this new story from the set of The Mandalorian & Grogu, meaning it should feel very authentic when it goes live.

In addition, it was also revealed that the wonderful BDX droids that have been seen at Disneyland will soon be making their way to Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. There will even be a new variant as an Anzellan (like Babu Frik!) named Otto will sometimes appear on a BDX that needs a little tune up.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough BDX goodness for you, the team shared these droids will be making an appearance in The Mandalorian & Grogu.

Here’s a Sneak Peak at the Load Area and Lift Off of the New Monsters, Inc. Attraction at Disney World

Monsters, Inc. Land is coming soon to Disney World’s Hollywood Studios and it will include an exciting new themed roller coaster that will be Disney Park’s first-ever suspended coaster and its first with a vertical lift.

This new attraction aims to give guests the dream-come-true moment of soaring through Monsters, Inc.’s door vault and Disney shared a first look at the load area and how it should set the tone very well of what’s to come.

We still have much to learn about this new attraction and the land it will live in, but this is an exciting tease nonetheless.

Pixar and Imagineering Reveal a New Type of Ride Vehicle Had to Be Made for Magic Kingdom’s Upcoming Cars Attraction

Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter and Imagineer Michael Hundgen shared new details about the upcoming Cars attraction that will be part of the new Cars-themed land that is currently in development at Magic Kingdom.

“Our primary goal is creating an emotional experience for our guests,” Hundgen said. “For this Cars attraction, we need to invent a new type of ride vehicle. No one builds these in a factory because it has to do so much more than just carrying you from one place to another. We have to create a car that conveys a feeling when you ride in it.”

The team needed some real-world data to help in their research so they went to the Arizona desert to ride in an off-road vehicle and take off over rocky terrain. This new ride doesn’t take place in Radiator Springs, but instead it will be a thrilling rally race through the mountains, so they want it to feel just right.

From there, they worked with a motocross company to build a dirt track of their own to race around and used that to develop what will eventually be the ride vehicle.

“We’re using a customized production vehicle,” Hundgen continued. “It has sensors all over it, and we’re taking it for test drives on our dirt track to gather data on how the vehicle responds to different terrain. This is where we turn that feeling we want into real-world engineering.”

These vehicles will also get some Disney and Pixar magic thrown in as each car will have its own personality, name, and number.

Robert Downey Jr. Stops by Disney’s SXSW Panel to Help Share More About the New Avengers Campus Attractions

Disneyland’s Avengers Campus is getting two new attractions, including one called Avengers Infinity Defense where guests will team up with members of the Avengers to take on King Thanos across multiple worlds. However, the second one was the star of Disney’s SXSW panel as Robert Downey Jr. himself stopped by to share new details about it.

It’s been previously revealed that Downey Jr. would be returning as Tony Stark for Avengers Campus’ Stark Flight Lab, an attraction that will take guests into Tony’s workshop and allow them to experience some of the new tech he’s been working on.

Downey Jr. said these new experiences are “the living embodiment of the Stark Enterprises mission statement.”

“The curiosity, the passion, the inventiveness, the occasional flair for the dramatic, most of all a drive to put something good out into the world to make life better, at the minimum more fun by a mile, ” Downey continued. “It’s the privilege of a lifetime to be invited to participate.”

As for the ride itself, guests will sit in “gyro-kinetic pods” and will eventually be grabbed by a giant robot arm who will help them make “several high-speed maneuvers inspired by Iron Man and some other Avengers.”

“Transferring from a track to a robot arm and then back again – nothing like this has ever been done before in a theme park, and we’re so excited about it,” Chief Creative Officer for Walt Disney Imagineering Bruce Vaughn explained. “Usually, we hide all the tech behind the scenes so you can focus on the story. Here, the tech IS the story, so we’re putting it front and center.”

One of they ways Imagineering is making the tech the star of this attraction is the focus on that robotic arm, which actually takes heavy inspiration from Tony Stark’s little robotic friend, DUM-E. The team enlisted the help of dancers and motion capture to help make these robots feel as real as possible.

For more from the world of Disney, check out our 75th Anniversary Retrospective for Cinderella, how Disneyland will be celebrating its 70th anniversary, and everything else announced at D23’s big Disney Experiences Showcase.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

Opinion: The Best Tony Hawk Game Is Grinding Back, And I Can Only Hold My Breath

Not the same?

When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 launched, I only had one thought on my mind: “This is awesome, but can we please get 3 + 4?”

I had dabbled with the first two entries back in the day, but it was only when Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 launched in 2001 that I properly got hooked on the series. It felt perfect, and despite classics like Metroid Prime and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker sitting higher on my ‘best GameCube’ list, there’s no other game I sunk more hours into than THPS 3.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (8th March)

No luck Hunting them Monsters then?

The weekend has rolled around once more so it’s time for another edition of What Are You Playing!

After last week’s Poké-fest, it’s been a slightly quieter one in Nintendo land over recent days. The Game Boy NSO library was treated to a duo of new titles, Nintendo started slashing some prices ahead of MAR10 Day and we finally got the official announcement of the worst-kept secret in the biz, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com