Final Fantasy fans were treated to a new trailer for Final Fantasy 7 Remake after listening to orchestral performances of music from the franchise on Sunday, June 9. That trailer closed with the long-awaited reveal of the game’s release date: March 3, 2020. It will launch on PlayStation 4 before any other platforms
The producers of Final Fantasy 7 Remake stated in the past that the game would be released in multiple parts and, in 2016, clarified that Final Fantasy 13, 13-2, and Lightning Returns were being used as the blueprint. The trailer makes no mention of multiple parts and here’s the story synopsis from the latest press release:
“Rebuilding and expanding upon the legendary RPG for today, Final Fantasy 7 Remake tells the story of a world fallen under the control of the Shinra Electric Power Company, a shadowy corporation controlling the planet’s very life force as mako energy. In the sprawling city of Midgar, an anti-Shinra organization calling themselves Avalanche have stepped up their resistance. Cloud Strife, a former member of Shinra’s elite Soldier unit now turned mercenary, lends his aid to the group, unaware of the epic adventures that await him.”
There’s not a lot to discern from the summary from the press release and, while the description of the game sounds like a tiny chunk of the full Final Fantasy 7 experience, it’s not very different from the synopsis for the original game. Here’s the story summary from the PC port of FF7 on Steam:
“In Midgar, a city controlled by the mega-conglomerate Shinra Inc., the No. 1 Mako Reactor has been blown up by a rebel group, Avalanche. Avalanche was secretly formed to wage a rebellion against Shinra Inc., an organization which is absorbing Mako energy, destroying the natural resources of the planet. Cloud, a former member of Shinra’s elite combat force, Soldier, was involved with the bombing of the Mako Reactor. Can Cloud and Avalanche protect the planet from the huge, formidable enemy, Shinra Inc.?”
A pre-order for Final Fantasy 7 Remake is live on retailer websites as well, but there’s no additional information included in the listings. Square Enix hosts its annual E3 conference later on Monday, and with the release date official, the studio likely has some other bits of new information to share.
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.