In the most immediately exciting revelation of its E3 presentation, EA has announced that the beta for its upcoming cops vs. robbers shooter, Battlefield: Hardline is live now for PS4 and PC gamers. You can sign up for the closed beta now on the Hardline website. The site notes that there are limited spots available, so try to get on the list quickly if you want to ensure a beta key.
To satiate Xbox One, 360, and PS3 players, selecting one of those platforms on the beta site will grant access to some exclusive goodies when the game officially launches in the fall, including additional content and gear in Battlefield: Hardline and a unique dogtag for Battlefield 4.
Battlefield: Hardline was leaked last month and is the first entry in the series not developed by DICE, but instead by Dead Space creators Visceral Games. EA has promised that support will continue for Battlefield 4 in the foreseeable future. Hardline launches on Xbox One, 360, PS3, PS4, and PC on October 21, 2014.
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.