Adventure gaming studio Telltale Games confirmed that the second episode of Batman: The Telltale Series will be out by the end of this month, continuing the dramatic, choice-driven narrative introduced in August’s premiere episode Realm of Shadows.
Batman fans can get an early look at the upcoming Children of Arkham at PAX West in Seattle this weekend as part of a panel presentation showcasing the game’s Crowd Play feature.
Taking place immediately after the events of last month’s Realm of Shadows, Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 2: Children of Arkham challenges players to unravel an ongoing mystery that involves Gotham City’s criminal underworld. Gameplay unfolds across a series of interrogations and investigative sequences, and the game’s overarching narrative will change depending on choices made throughout.
PAX West attendees can experience Children of Arkham in its entirety at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the Wyvern Theatre at the Westin Seattle hotel. Once the event kicks off, Telltale will enable a PAX-specific Crowd Play session, allowing panel attendees to vote for in-game dialogue options and choices at key decision points. After the episode concludes, Telltale will share its collected Crowd Play data, breaking down the metrics behind player decisions.
Telltale’s newly launched Crowd Play feature allows spectators to join an episode in progress and vote for a number of possible outcomes. Hosts can then override crowd decisions or let their audience assume complete control of the narrative. Telltale notes that the feature is designed as a local multiplayer experience that can accommodate “thousands of players,” though an audience of 6 to 12 people is recommended for player-directed sessions.
Batman: The Telltale Series – Episode 2: Children of Arkham launches digitally on September 20 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC platforms. Telltale is also releasing a Season Pass Disc at retail on September 13 that grants access to all current and future episodes.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.