Zohran Mamdani, the newly minted mayor of New York City, has announced sweeping taxes on the ultra-rich to make what's often described as the most expensive city in the US a little more affordable. To describe the level of impact his tax plan will have, Mamdani took an unconventional approach: bringing up Mario Kart.

In a press briefing on April 16, Mamdani (D-NY) was joined by Elle Bisgaard-Church (D-NY) and other board members of the newly established Mayor's Fund to discuss what the fund will do, who could (philanthropist donors) and should (wealthy elites) contribute, and how this money pot will benefit every New Yorker in every borough. While breaking it down, Mamdani decided that Mario Kart would make a good metaphor to explain it all.

"I like to think of it this way. Government is driving the race car, and philanthropy is there to give it that turbo boost to cross the finish line," Mamdani said. "Or if you are a Mario Kart fan, government is Yoshi, and philanthropy is the golden mushroom--that edge we need to beat Bowser on the Rainbow Road. To belabor this metaphor even further, Bowser is corporate greed in this scenario."

It seems the rumors may be real after all: The Assassin's Creed 4 remake will reportedly launch on July 9. While details--like launch platforms--are unknown, we can revel in the fact that the best entry in Ubisoft's stab-and-dash franchise appears to be making a comeback, and it seems to be sooner than we all initially thought.

According to Insider Gaming, the AC IV: Black Flag remake was scheduled to be revealed on April 16, but Ubisoft reportedly postponed the announcement until sometime next week. However, content creators and games media already saw about 30 minutes of it and, as Insider Gaming noted, it's been "completely reworked" with a bunch of new content and "looks awesome."

The game is officially called Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced. It's a silly title--one that was accidentally revealed on a PEGI ratings board in December 2025.

While players are loving Crimson Desert, the community is in a fashion chokehold. Not unlike Fashion Souls of the souls-like fandom, fans have established a sort of Crimson Fashion (or Fashion Desert) group, where they're finding the best drip around Pywel to cosplay as some of their favorite characters from other franchises.

If you check out the game's subreddit, you'll find tons of players dressing the three playable characters--Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka--in all sorts of outfits. Now, after millions of folks have begun their quest to revive the Greymanes and thousands of others have reached the endgame, the community is looking to outfit their characters in clothes that resemble other characters.

Someone turned Kliff into Captain America and called him, wait for it, Captain Hernand. (Get it? The main city you start in is Hernand, and it's Captain America.) Another person dressed Damiane up as Link, as if it were called The Legend of Damiane: Crimson Desert. Two players made Dr. Doom cosplay, while two others brought Arthur Morgan over from Red Dead Redemption 2. Someone else dressed up as Persona 5's Aketchi, and another person donned Geralt of Rivia's typical garb.

You come across a ton of NPCs in Crimson Desert. So many that fans have determined which ones are perfect to be besties with. But there's one NPC that almost every single player can't stand because they always mess things up whenever they come around.

Yann is one of Crimson Desert's major characters and is closely tied to the revival of the Greymanes, Kliff's faction that fell apart in the early parts of the game. As you seek to reestablish your brotherhood, you encounter and save Yann multiple times throughout the game's 60-hour-long campaign, primarily because he's the kind of drunk who shoots first and asks questions later. This gets him into all sorts of unnecessary and avoidable trouble, which is why most of the community hates dealing with him.

Scrolling through the game's official subreddit pulls up all sorts of threads decrying how "awful" and "grating" a character he is. The consensus is the same: There are too many quests involving him, most of which require that you either rescue him from some peril he found himself in (probably because of gambling, drinking, or both) or listen to him complain as you slowly follow him on horseback. He's giving that one friend you roll your eyes at whenever they show up, because they somehow always need saving.

There are over 70 bosses for you to fight in Crimson Desert, and many of them will serve you a beating. One in particular has been terrorizing the community for a while now, igniting a conversation around boss design in Pearl Abyss' hottest action-adventure RPG. The consensus seems mixed, but the root appears to be the same: Maybe it's not the bosses, but the combat itself.

Kliff battles a mechanical fire-spewing Beyblade called Storm Crusher in Chapter 11. This spinning tank deals extremely serious damage at close range, often killing you in one hit by ramming its mechabody into you. And it targets you at long range with homing projectiles that can stunlock you. It's a nuisance of a boss, according to a number of players frustrated by the fight.

Now that millions of players have begun exploring Pywell across consoles and PC, new players are encountering the Storm Crusher, too, and they're getting crushed.

Police had to get involved at a Costco in Mississauga, Ontario after a chaotic scene unfolded following an early morning release of highly anticipated Pokemon cards.

As IGN reported, an Instagram video posted by PokeStreetz showed a crowd of people groaning over soiled and trampled Pokemon cards on April 10. Local news outlet 905Hub shared the video on X on April 13, detailing the messy situation as police intervened.

"A crowd of 30–40 people had lined up for a Prismatic Evolutions drop around 6:45 a.m. when someone threw coffee on a cart full of boxes, a car struck the cart sending packs flying, then drove over them before speeding off," according to 905Hub. "Police were already on site and reportedly towed the vehicle."

There are a lot of abilities in Crimson Desert--maybe too many, actually. One of the early ones you'd want to unlock, though, is the double jump, which is great for getting some extra airtime while traversing Pywell. However, getting the skill to trigger is an exercise in frustration, but it might actually be your (and partly the game's) fault that you're bad at double jumping.

As spotted by PC Gamer, the description for the double jump ability is difficult to understand. "Press [Jump] twice in mid-air before landing on the ground to perform an extra jump." You'd be remiss for thinking you're supposed to press the jump button twice in the air to do a second jump, but the operative word here is "before." Read it again: "Before landing on the ground." That's the part that you're probably missing when it comes to executing the double jump. Kliff must be close to or pretty much touching the ground to jump again.

It doesn't help that the double jump and the glide ability--both found within Kliff's Spirit skill tree--are tied to the same button. So, when you go to double jump, you're likely gliding instead and vice versa. At least, I can say that's always been my experience.

Developer Battlefield Studios has announced some impactful changes coming to its military shooter, Battlefield 6. This includes new content like an additional limited-time mode and weapon, as well as adjustments to how revives work so you can't spam them anymore.

In an update post on the official Battlefield 6 website, the developer outlined all the changes coming to the game on April 14. There are quite a few additions and adjustments in the works, but the one that's catching the most eyes within the patch notes is a tweak to Defibrillators. When Battlefield 6 launched, you could essentially spam the Defibrillator to revive your teammates without any risk. When Update 1.2.3.0 lands next week, this revive mechanic will be reverted to how it worked in previous Battlefield titles.

With Update 1.2.3.0, instead of unlimited Defibrillator charges, you'll start with three for quick revives before recharging the device. Depending on how long you charge your Defibrillator determines how much health is restored, with 50% giving you about half your health and 100% replenishing your entire health bar. There will be a UI indicator letting you know your charge progress, too; that way, you aren't just guessing or using it too early.

Pearl Abyss has teased some new features coming to Crimson Desert, its super-popular open-world action-adventure RPG. Alongside summonable mounts, the South Korean studio is working on adding difficulty settings to the game; that way, you can tailor your experience--and your death--to your skill level.

In a lengthy developer blog on the studio's official website, posted on April 9, Pearl Abyss outlined "some of the new features and content currently in development"--all of which have been shaped by community feedback. In the "New Content and Features" section, the developer shared that it's working on adding three difficulty options "so that everyone--from new Greymanes to the more advanced--can enjoy the adventure at the level that suits them best." Once added, you'll be able to select easy, normal, or hard options to tune Crimson Desert to your preferred playstyle.

While it's unclear if you'll be able to switch between these three difficulty options freely, Pearl Abyss said it's also working on "new combat-focused content." Maybe this will help alleviate just how punishing "hard" may be, while making "easy" as flashy as a Devil May Cry game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has just introduced some new controller options for disabled gamers that provide a greater level of customization in the military shooter. This is a boon for accessibility in a series that continues to cater to players of all skills and abilities.

Co-developers Treyarch and Raven Software took to the official Call of Duty blog on April 9 to announce a new collaboration with the AI software platform Cephable. According to the website, the software "enables players to control games using alternative inputs such as voice commands, face expressions or head movement, and customized buttons" through the company's desktop and mobile apps. Once you download Cephable, you will have a plethora of new customization options for the in-game controls across Black Ops 7's Campaign, Zombies, Dead Ops Arcade, and Firing Range modes.

Specifically, Cephable--which is a free download--lets you use voice commands and other mobility-friendly options to play Black Ops 7. The developers noted in the blog post that, although these new input options will function the same way as a controller or keyboard and mouse, there may be some latency because Cephable controls pass through additional processing and an external service before reaching the game.

Crimson Desert has a variety of denizens for you to meet, from food and equipment vendors to armor and hair stylists. There are some you'll want to make best friends with sooner rather than later, and fans of Pearl Abyss' open-world action-adventure game have determined which NPCs you may want to make your BFF--and why.

On the game's official subreddit, user Flomag posted a list on April 8 of the NPCs you should make fast friends with. Many of these denizens can be found within Hernand, so they aren't that difficult to track down, but the benefits they provide could help make your journey in Pywell a little easier or, at least, a bit more convenient.

For example, becoming besties with the grocer, innkeeper, or tailor unlocks their supply contracts, which increases the number of items they sell to you while providing a bit of a discount. The same is true of other shops you'll likely frequent, too, such as the equipment and furniture vendors. Specific NPCs, though, like Ben (in the Greymane camp) and Willian (found around Hernand), unlock pigs and sheep, respectively. You can use these animals for resources like cotton and food, which are good materials for crafting and sustenance.

Crimson Desert is one of those games where, if you see it, you can likely go to it, living up to the Bethesda-ism that Skyrim was built on. Unfortunately, with great freedom comes great regret, as players warn that you could break quests by exploring too soon.

Fans took to the game's official subreddit to decry the dilemma. Specifically, Great-Remove-844 posted on April 6 that, after taking the Fruit of Life key item during the Passage of Malice Abyss puzzle, the corresponding Fragment of Life mission breaks. Because the mission sends you to collect the Fruit of Life, if you already have it in your inventory, the game registers it as unusable, essentially softlocking you from completing this questline. This has been a contentious point for days, with Redditors posting about the Fragment of Life mission breaking since at least March 29.

This isn't the only questline that can break if you collect or sell certain items before their intended use. In the comments of Great-Remove-844's post, user No-Goal-3634 explained that, after selling a specific flower basket before the Surprise Gift mission, the questline was no longer completable. Elsewhere in the comments, Redditor grindgrindwilli said that collecting a certain note before turning in a bounty will brick a treasure hunt quest tied to that bounty. There's an order of operations, it seems.

Crimson Desert has received another patch that brings several important and welcome changes to the open-world action-adventure RPG. This includes addressing the game's biggest headache: storage space. However, there's a caveat this time.

As part of Patch Version 1.02.00, which is available now on all platforms (with the Mac App Store version currently "in progress"), South Korean developer Pearl Abyss has expanded the number of storage slots you have access to in Crimson Desert. These storage slots, though, are found in Kliff's private storage chest in the Greymane's camp, which you unlock at the start of Chapter 3. You previously started with 240 slots in this lockbox, but now, depending on how much you build upon the camp, you can increase the number of storage slots to a maximum of 1,000.

This is a welcome addition, particularly considering how frustrating storage has been since the game's March 19 launch on consoles and PC. Across reviews, including GameSpot's 7/10 Crimson Desert review, the common refrain has been that inventory management is "aggravating" and "tedious" due to item abundance and space limitations. Pearl Abyss released a patch on March 29 that increased the number of storage slots on Kliff, but players still found the inventory-management system irksome. While this patch doesn't add more slots to Kliff's personal bag, the additional space to his private chest should help assuage some of the concerns regarding the amount of storage you have access to.

Many Crimson Desert players are getting lost in the world of Pywell, doing things like watching NPCs or managing inventories, all while killing bosses and recruiting allies to revive the Greymanes. You need a good outfit to go along with your adventuring in Pearl Abyss' action-adventure RPG, and Redditors are out here posting the drippiest fits around for everyone to consume and copy.

There are likely hundreds of pieces of equipment for you to collect in Pywell. From unique swords and legendary shields to iconic chestplates to rare helmets, Crimson Desert players on Reddit are finding and sharing it all. And in the process, they're swagging out the playable characters in idiosyncratic garb and familiar cosplay. Redditor frankiexile posted a Jon Snow cosplay, with their Kliff donning what appears to be an archetypal Night's Watch uniform, replete with an all-black ensemble and a big sword to match. Meanwhile, user Jaycoon335 dressed all three characters--Damiane, Kliff, and Oongka--in more East Asian-inspired outfits with ornate adornments, expensive plating, and gold accents.

Elsewhere in the official Crimson Desert subreddit, users DrGreenThumb117 and MrSkits94 shared Kliffs who look like a human boss you'd see roaming around The Lands Between in Elden Ring. Redditor xehparr posted a red-clad Kliff who'd fit perfectly as a Red Mage in a, say, Final Fantasy XIV party. And posters Agreeable-Wall-9781, ovingzz, and Hor-Re-Behedeti put their Kliffs on display, all of which wouldn't look out of place inside the fantasy settings of Skyrim and Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon.

Crimson Desert has loads of systems for you to engage with, like fishing, bounty hunting, armor dying, and cooking. There's even a point where you'll start recruiting NPCs to join your camp, and players are enamored by watching Pywell's many denizens get to work in real time, as they're replete with schedules and everything.

Over on the game's official subreddit are three separate posts of three redditors requesting the same construction: a stone statue. After unlocking the Greymane Camp at the start of Chapter 3, you can begin to recruit and dispatch workers to complete activities. This ranges from lumbering and mining to building and guarding, and some redditors have captured the activity in real time. Users lakitu76, TopSeaworthiness1679, and Responsible-Wind1788 shared posts of a time-lapse of workers hammering away at a statue, fiddling with and sticking on pieces of stone as Kliff just stood idly by. Meanwhile, user Vinjulmik posted a screenshot of their entire camp working on a bridge as Kliff watched them sweat.

When you send your recruits to do some work, they actually leave, too. According to users in the game's subreddit, your hires will head to the location you send them to and stay there until the job is finished; once they're gone, they'll be greyed out in your Comrades tab, indicating that they've not yet returned from their duties.

Crimson Desert is the hottest game around right now, selling over 4 million copies worldwide and breaking its own concurrent player records since its March 19 release. While everyone appears to be loving it, some are still finding it quite frustrating and unwieldy, particularly when dealing with the stuff you loot and carry in Pywell.

Inventory management has been a sore spot for developer Pearl Abyss' open-world action-adventure game. Critics dragged inventory management for its tedium, with reviewer Richard Wakeling calling it "aggravating" and a "prickly source of frustration" in GameSpot's 7/10 Crimson Desert review. The South Korean studio has somewhat addressed the issues surrounding fiddling with your stuff by introducing more inventory slots in a March 29 update, but the headaches are still pounding all over the game's official subreddit.

Players took to the Crimson Desert subreddit to air out even more of their grievances with Pearl Abyss' inventory management system. The hottest post right now, created on March 30, is a discussion about how "key" items--typically something purple in your bag, such as those Deluxe Edition bonuses--shouldn't take up any inventory space. They don't add any weight to Kliff, and they don't technically impede the now 240 available slots in your inventory. But while they don't fill up your inventory in the same way a bug or a flower or a sword might, these "key" items--bounty notices, quest items, treasure maps, etc.--do sit in your inventory, cannot be discarded, and contribute to the overall clutter you'll accumulate as you explore the world of Pywell.