Starting next week, Microsoft will include a download code for Turn 10 Studios’ Forza Motorsport 5 with all purchases of an Xbox One console, Major Nelson confirms. The studio’s latest racer was a launch title for the new console, and a not-too-shabby one either. This freebie helps to offset the $100 price difference between the $500 Xbox One and Sony’s competing PlayStation 4.
The latest Microsoft console didn’t launch with any pack-in games, but this Forza offer isn’t the first. Microsoft is also selling a limited number of Xbox Ones with a download code for Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall, which is out on March 11. Much like the Titanfall offer, the Forza 5 freebie is a limited time thing – though there’s no end date set. It’s entirely possible we’ll see more offers like this for first-party titles. The cost to Microsoft of offering up a free download code is relatively low, and the added value a free game offers could certainly help to move more Xbox One machines off of store shelves.
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.