The Nintendo Switch is getting big-name exclusive games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokémon: Let’s Go later this year, but another Switch title we’re looking forward to is Blizzard’s Diablo III. The Switch port of the 2012 action-role-playing game will let us experience its dungeon-crawling goodness on the go for the first time, and it hits the system this November.
Nintendo revealed the game’s final release date — November 2 — through its Twitter page Thursday, September 13. Diablo III: Eternal Collection will cost $60 and includes the base game as well as its expansions, such as Reaper of Souls. This means you’ll have access to the extra necromancer and crusader classes, as well as Adventure mode.
Though the price is a little high for a game that released on PC more than six years ago, Blizzard has provided dedicated players with a ton of post-launch content via its season structure. There are always new challenges to complete and loot to acquire, and the main story campaign is engaging enough to warrant several replays, as well.
The Nintendo Switch version includes four-player cooperative multiplayer. The local version can be played with either one system or four of them, and can use a mix of handheld and docked setups. Starting on September 18, you need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to access online multiplayer, so those not willing to pay will have to get their friends together in person.
If you already played Diablo III on another platform, you might still want to check out the game on Switch. It includes a few console-exclusive features, including cosmetic items from the Zelda franchise like Ganondorf’s armor and a Triforce portrait frame. You’re free to use either the Joy-Con controller or the Pro Controller, as well, so you can pick a style that best suits your preference.
In order to play Diablo III: Eternal Collection as soon as it’s available on Switch, you can pre-purchase the game digitally right now on the Nintendo eShop. You can easily blaze through the campaign in a weekend, and we’ll probably do just that when it launches November 2. In the meantime, the game is available on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3.
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.