The Nintendo Switch is getting a new look with some help from Epic Games. Nintendo and Epic Games unveiled a new Fortnite-themed Nintendo Switch on Thursday.
The console comes with a redesigned dock that features different Fortnite elements, including outlined depictions of various characters from the game, and the Joy-Con controller sports yellow and blue finishes.
The Fortnite Switch console goes on sale on October 30 in Europe, and in early November in Australia and New Zealand. Nintendo hasn’t said whether a version will come to the U.S., however, or when a possible launch might happen. Nintendo did not immediately respond to a Digital Trends’ request for comment on U.S. availability.
Nintendo’s new Fortnite Switch joins a growing number of consoles with game themes. Most recently, Nintendo offered a console design centering on the popular Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The company has also designed a console focused on Super Mario Odyssey. Like the others, Nintendo’s Fortnite model will be available in limited quantities.
In a statement, Nintendo said that Fortnite is the most-downloaded game to have ever launched in Europe, though it didn’t provide download figures for the U.S. and other markets. Fortnite released on the Nintendo Switch in 2018, nearly a year after the game launched on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The Switch bundle will also ship with Fortnite, so players can immediately start playing out of the box. When they do, they’ll get 2,000 V-Bucks, the in-game Fortnite currency, and some extra loot courtesy of Epic, including a download code for Fortnite‘s Wildcat bundle that offers new character skins.
The launch comes as Epic continues its bitter fight with Apple over the cut the iPhone maker takes on all in-app transactions. While the companies continue to battle, Fortnite has been removed from Apple’s App Store and the Google Play marketplace.
Nintendo, meanwhile, is rumored to be working on a new, higher-end Switch console that, if real, could launch in early 2021. While the company hasn’t announced any plans, reports suggest the console could come with improved specs to boost graphics quality in games, as well as native 4K support. The console could launch in early 2021, reports say.
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.