It seems that sales were strong enough for the original Knack for Sony to justify making a sequel.
At the PlayStation Experience in Anaheim, California, Sony unveiled the trailer to Knack 2, and with it came co-op multiplayer.
Knack was released in 2013 as a launch title to the PlayStation 4. It was written and directed by PS4 architect Mark Cerny and developed by SCE Japan Studio. Because Knack was a brand new IP with promising visuals, PlayStation fans were eager to try out a brand new game. In many ways, Knack wasn’t just an original concept, but a demo to show off the power potential of the PS4. Because Knack, as a character, was made up of multiple moving objects, the game demonstrated that the PS4 could deal with hundreds of small objects at once.
While pretty, the game unfortunately received average reviews, and failed to capture audiences. The game currently sits at a 54 on Metacritic.
But criticisms have not deterred Sony. The company feels that with a second try it can do right by gamers.
Knack was meant to be a callback to puzzle-platformers of the PlayStation 2 generation. Games like Spyro and Jak and Daxter were commonly referenced in regards to Knack. It also had a 2.5D perspective, similar to the God of War franchise. That still seems to be the case with Knack 2. The game also introduces a second player, allowing on-screen co-op multiplayer. Gamers can work together to solve puzzles, beat up bad guys, and take charge of a mech to take down foes.
Overall, the game looks promising and hopefully SCE Japan Studio went back to the drawing board to rework some of the original’s shortcomings. Unfortunately, a release date was not given, but it wouldn’t be too surprising if the game is released sometime in 2017.
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.