The promised Enhanced Edition of Larian Studios’ excellent RPG Divinity: Original Sin has received a release date, and will be coming for the first time to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on Oct. 27, 2015. Owners of the original PC version of the game will also receive the Enhanced Edition for free as a reward for helping to make the game the unexpected success it was.
The most substantial new feature in the Enhanced Edition is the addition of split-screen co-op. The game was designed from the ground up with dual protagonists that could be played either solo with an AI or with a friend online or through LAN. Much of the game’s coverage focused on that feature as one of its most innovative elements, and the enhanced edition leans into it further, enabling split-screen couch co-op, which is practically unheard-of in modern console RPGs. The developer released a video recently explaining the feature more fully:
The Enhanced Edition also includes fully voiced dialogue, new quests, enhancements to the combat and crafting systems, improved graphics, and a reworked story. If, like me, this game has been on your radar for the last year, this update seems like the perfect opportunity to dive in, particularly if you have a friend that would go on the adventure with you.
Divinity: Original Sin is a top-down, turn-based, PC-style RPG that has been widely praised as part of that genre’s recent revival alongside other games like Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2. Like those titles, Original Sin took a foundation of old-school role-playing and infused it with clever, modern touches, such as the cooperative gameplay and a flexible system of elements that encouraged creative combinations of spells and parts of the environment, such as blowing open a barrel full of water in order to electrocute enemies in the ensuing puddle with magical lightning. A sequel is currently in development following a highly successful Kickstarter campaign that beat its $500,000 goal four times over.
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.