Although Firaxis already shared information about Egypt this week (which we experienced second-hand in our demo), 2K Japan has since released details about how the land of the rising sun will handle itself in Civilization VI. Taking the reins from Oda Nobunaga in Civ V, Hōjō Tokimune will lead the nation of Japan in VI. An iron-fisted ruler from the 13th century, Tokimune is best known for successfully leading Japan against the Mongol invasion and spreading Zen Buddhism among the Japanese nobility and warrior class.
Japan’s special ability in Civilization VI is called Meiji Restoration, which encourages denser cities by providing adjacency bonuses for districts built next to each other. The actual Meiji Restoration was a late 19th century consolidation of imperial power under Emperor Meiji, which allowed the pre-industrial, feudal kingdom to emerge in the 20th century as a powerful and modern nation-state. The in-game ability reflects the urbanization that always follows a transition from an agricultural to an industrial society. It’s also the first ability we’ve seen thus far that utilizes the new unstacked city-building, and it seems both potent and flexible.
Like the other civilizations announced so far, Tokimune also has a special ability — Divine Wind. Reflecting both Japan’s strong martial tradition and its archipelago composition, land units receive a bonus while fighting next to the coast and by naval units while in shallow waters. Although Firaxis has not announced anything to this effect yet, there is an apparent distinction between a general special ability for the civ and one that more specifically relates to the leader. It suggests that additional leaders that tweak how a given civ plays could be released in future expansions, as was the case in Civ IV.
Samurai of course make a return as Japan’s unique unit, unlocked with the Military Tactics technology. Maintaining the Bushido ability that applied to all of Japan’s units in Civ V, samurai in VI keep up their full fighting strength as their health diminishes, which makes them incredibly dangerous on the battlefield. The electronics factory is Japan’s unique building, replacing regular factories, adding greater production and a culture boost that applies to nearby cities in addition to its own.
While Japan was more purely militaristic in previous entries, here its abilities are a bit more flexible. Samurai and Divine Wind still make it a formidable fighting force, particularly in the mid-game, but Meiji Restoration and the electronics factory are more broadly useful, and can help accelerate any kind of strategy.
Civilization VI comes out for PC on October 21. We’ve loved our limited time with it so far and look forward to sharing more impressions in the coming months.
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.