Another year, another Forza, but this time it will take place in scenic Australia.
At Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference, the company unveiled the next entry to the Forza franchise in Forza Horizon 3.
Since this is an even-numbered year, we’re getting a Horizon variant of the series as opposed to its more sim racing-focused older brother, Motorsport. This year’s Horizon will take place in an open world Australia, featuring cities, outbacks, deserts, canyons, and forests. It will feature over 350 cars, including the McLaren P1, Ferrari La Ferrari, the Ford GT, and the new Lamborghini Centenario.
Because Horizon has always been a more arcade-focused experience, it will include new challenges like Danger Sign Jumps, Convoys, and Drift Zones. There will also be new showcase events. In Forza Horizon 2, this meant racing against crop dusters or trains. In Horizon 3 gamers will be able to race against zeppelins and powerboats.
Microsoft will also be integrating its Groove Music platform to Forza Horizon 3. This means that gamers will be able to listen to their own music along with races.
A new feature coming for Forza Horizon 3 will be four-player co-op. Players will be able to quickly invite friends to their party and set out on various challenges. Leaderboards will also be returning, featuring your own challenges called Bucket Lists, or beating your friends in speed challenges.
Forza Horizon 3 will also be a part of Microsoft’s Play Anywhere program. It’s a new initiative where if gamers buy a game on Xbox One, it will also be available on PC via the Windows 10 store, and vice versa.
Microsoft will release Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One and PC on September 23 for those that purchase the Ultimate Edition, and September 27 for everyone else.
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.