Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack tier membership just got some legendary Sega Genesis games for its final June 2022 update. One of those titles happens to be Zero Wing: a game many have seen without even knowing, thanks to the very iconic, “All your base are belong to us,” meme.
Zero Wing is a classic side-scrolling arcade shooter developed by Toaplan. The game not only was a success in arcades but enjoyed positive reception on the Sega Genesis as well. While those gave the game a name, it gained a whole new following in the early 2000s due to a roughly translated cutscene that used the phrase “All your base are belong to us.” It became one of the internet’s first major memes.
A meme isn’t the only reason to get excited about these new Sega Expansion Pack additions. Joining Zero Wing is Comix Zone, yet another classic game the Genesis is known for. This beat em’ up puts you in control of comic artist, Sketch Turner, and throws you into the world of his comic creations. Using his move set, pet rat, dynamite, and other weapons that can be found along the way, you’re tasked with kicking comic butt and escaping the paperback world.
Next is Mega Man: The Wily Wars, another game that’s earned an iconic status due to its place in gaming culture. This compilation combines Genesis remakes of Mega Man 1-3, but it originally never gained a North American release. This addition marks the second time it’s been officially released in the States with the first being its feature on the Genesis Mini.
The final Genesis game that’s been added to Nintendo Switch Online is Target Earth, originally released as Assault Suit Leynos in Japan. This run-and-gun pseudo platformer is the first in the Assault Suit series.
All four games are available now if you’re subscribed to Switch Online’s Expansion Pack.
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.