Nintendo is definitely going to debut its next console at E3 this year, says Game Informer. The gaming mag believes that the new system will support HD resolutions, but stops short of saying whether it will be more powerful or less powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360, but it will be competitive. Nintendo is already showing off the system to publishers, trying to get them developing new titles for its “late 2012” launch.
“Nintendo is doing this one right,” an anonymous source told GI. “[It’s] not a gimmick like the Wii.”
While we can’t pretend to know exactly what that vague statement implies, this news comes just as rumors are heating up about a potential May 15 price drop that would bring the Wii into the $150 price bracket. If Nintendo does plan to unveil its next console on June 6 (the likely date of its E3 pre-conference), a premature price cut wouldn’t be out of character. Past Nintendo systems have all cost less than $150 by the time newer systems are announced or getting ready to hit the market. Due to its success, the Wii has staved off price cuts longer than the company’s previous consoles.
We speculate that the Wii 2 will be backward compatible with the Wii for both disc-based software and download-able titles, and come with more internal storage for games and applications. GI indicates that Nintendo may cater the system toward the North American market and launch the console with a new brand. While most Nintendo systems tend to launch with a Mario game or another major Nintendo franchise of some kind (3DS launched with PilotWings and Nintendogs + Cats), Nintendo did launch the Wii with Wii Sports, which could be considered a new brand.
We hope Nintendo will have a playable Wii 2 demo at E3, but it will likely wait a year to show the system in playable form.
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.