Nintendo’s next console, the Switch launches in just over a week. It’s time to start getting excited. We’ve already been putting the console through its paces, so we can give you the full scoop in our review next week. In the meantime, we took to Facebook Live on Thursday to show off the console and some of it’s features. You may have missed it — it was kind of a casual, impromptu affair — but that’s ok. We held onto the video so you can take a look too.
There’s a lot going on with the Switch hardware. With so many control schemes and components right out of the box, there are million things that could go right (or wrong). We talked about everything that’s in the box — the Switch console, the joy-cons, the dock, the joy-con grip, the joy-con straps — as well as what isn’t in the box, like access to the eShop, Nintendo’s digital storefront, and a micro SDXC card.
Also, we should let you know that we don’t talk about any games in this video. That will come in another video on another day. If you want to know more about games coming to the Switch, you can check out our rundown of all the games that have been announced for the console. For now, we are totally, one-hundred-percent focused on the Switch itself. You want to know how the joy-cons feel in your hands? We talk about it. How’s the build quality? We’ll let you know about that too.
Still have some questions for us about the Switch? Ask away in the comments and we’ll let you know as much as we can.
The Nintendo Switch hits stores March 3. Keep an eye out for Digital Trends’ review of the console, coming soon.
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.