Microsoft has announced price drops for its Xbox 360 systems in Europe, ratcheting up competition with Nintendo and Sony and, of course, engendering all sorts of speculation about when similar price cuts might reach the North American market.
Microsoft’s new European prices for Xbox 360 systems:
"Xbox 360 is now mass market in Europe," said Microsoft’s VP of interactive entertainment in Europe Chris Lewis, in a statement. "History shows that €199/£159 is the price point where a console’s audience begins to expand, and with these new ERPs in place we’re ready to bring more consumers into the Xbox 360 world."
The price changes mean the Xbox 360 Arcade edition is about half the price of the 40 GB PlayStation 3 in Europe, a factor that may influence some buying decisions. Microsoft claims the Xbox 360 is the dominant gaming console in the Europe/Middle East/Africa market, accounting for 42 percent of life-to-date revenue since it was launched over two years ago (which is a year longer than either the Wii or PS3). Microsoft also says the Xbox 360 has the highest "attach rate" of any game console, with an average of over seven games sold for every console.
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.