Niantic struck absolute gold with Pokémon Go, ushering gamers out into the streets to mingle with one another while capturing the legendary creatures. The studio’s next project is Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and the game recently entered the beta stage in Australia and New Zealand. Part of the initial rollout is getting a snapshot at what microtransactions will look like in the game as budding wizards attempt to keep the wizarding world a secret.
Kotaku Australia reports that the Gringotts gold in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite come in six forms to start: $1.50 for 80 gold, $8 for 425, $15 for 875, $31 for 1,850, $78 for 4,750, and $160 for 10,000. Considering this is the beta phase, that number could change before the global rollout. Currently, the gold can be spent on potions and elixirs, which help with fighting against the creatures that players encounter while roaming. Specifically, the items help you trace the spells you wish to cast.
There are also loot crates, dark detectors, energy boosts, and boxes that contain a collection of potions. One, called Baruffio’s Brain Elixir, offers an XP bonus for half an hour. Pokémon Go featured a collection of microtransactions as well but provided players with plenty of options to earn items while playing. We won’t really have a better idea of how Harry Potter: Wizards Unite compares until release and the beta phase serves as an opportunity for Niantic to tinker away at the game’s balance as well.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will use Niantic’s map database around the world like Pokémon Go does, using landmarks, stores, and more as important points in the game. Players play the role of wizards and witches that have joined the Statute of Secrecy Task Force and will use their abilities to handle magical disorders. The attraction for collectors is a key to Pokemon Go’s success and it remains to be seen how or if Wizards Unite will replicate this. The official website does tease that a Niffler, made popular in the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, has gotten loose. That could be a clue related to some of the collection quests the game will contain. The full game was delayed in 2018 but should release sometime in 2019.
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.