Bethesda and Tango Gameworks announced an update to Hi-Fi Rush coming on July 5, 2023. The update, titled Hi-Fi Rush – Arcade Challenge, features two new game modes: Power Up! Tower Up! and BPM Rush. It also includes many cosmetic updates, including over 800 new accessories to help spice up your everyday look and playstyle.
Power Up! Tower Up! starts Chai in a downgraded state and challenges the player to upgrade him with its roguelike elements. As you make your way through the challenge tower, you can strengthen him with the random powerups that you find between battles. Meanwhile, BPM Rush pushes you to keep up with the quickening beat, which speeds up as you defeat enemies.
Hi-Fi Rush debuted at the Xbox and Bethesda Developer Direct Showcase in January 2023. It reached critical acclaim shortly after its announcement, which also happened to be its release date. The rhythm-based action game is one of the most successful shadow drops in recent history, enough that it caused an industry-wide discussion about the effectiveness of surprise releases.
Some fans weren’t sure what to think of the suddenly available indie rhythm game. However, for many of them that were gutsy enough to give it a try, they found a unique action game with rhythm-based gameplay. Digital Trends gave it a 9 out of 10 for its style and substance, which only seems to be expanding with Arcade Challenge.
Hi-Fi Rush – Arcade Challenge will launch for Xbox Series X|S and PC on July 5. The game and this update will be available via Xbox Game Pass as well.
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.