Fallout and The Elder Scrolls publisher Bethesda Softworks is donating $1 million to international and local organizations that are providing coronavirus relief.
Bethesda is splitting the $1 million in aid three ways to help the wide range of people impacted by the pandemic. The largest amount, $500,000, is going to California-based charity Direct Relief, which provides health care workers with personal protective equipment, including masks, gloves, and respirators. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will get $250,000, which will help it feed children and keep families safe. The remaining $250,000 will be split between local charities chosen by individual Bethesda studios so that the development teams can give back to their communities.
Beyond providing workers with essential safety equipment, Direct Relief is also working on creating an intensive care unit medication model that will help hospitals deal with an influx of patients. The nonprofit is also looking to address chronic gaps in safety net facilities and is collaborating with experts and public agencies to aggregate mobility data regarding the pandemic. Along with helping the United States, Direct Relief is also working with the Pan American Health Organization to aid countries in the Caribbean and South America.
UNICEF is helping families stay safe by delivering health supplies to those in need, and by building water and hygiene facilities. Founded by the United Nations, the agency is teaming up with Microsoft to help children receive an education remotely through its Learning Passport website. UNICEF currently has workers in over 190 countries who are helping give guidance to parents and aiding the sick.
Beyond donating to charities, Bethesda has also launched an awareness campaign called Bethesda At Home. Through its Twitch channel, the publisher is regularly streaming titles from its publishing library and is sharing stories about development. Recent broadcasts include weekly Doom Eternal challenges and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind playing sessions that also delve into its history. Bethesda will give players a chance to give to the same charities it is donating to during these streams.
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.