The Nintendo Switch Lite system isn’t scheduled to release until September 20, but you can make sure you get the system you want on launch day by pre-ordering it in advance. Pre-orders are currently available at multiple retailers, but we don’t know how long they’ll be in stock.
On Amazon, you can currently pre-order the Nintendo Switch Lite in all four of its available styles — gray, turquoise, yellow, and the Zacian and Zamazenta Pokémon edition. Aside from the color and visual design differences, the four consoles are otherwise identical and are all priced at $200.
If you prefer to shop at another retailer, you can also find the Switch Lite available for pre-order at Target and Best Buy, as well as GameStop. Regardless of your choice, it should be obtainable at the same price, and retailers with brick-and-mortar locations should also allow you to pick it up in the store on launch day.
The Zacian and Zamazenta Pokémon console is being released to celebrate the upcoming games Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. They will be the first full-fledged Pokémon role-playing games on the Switch. The simpler adventure games Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! were released in 2018, and blended elements of Pokémon Yellow with those from Pokémon Go.
The Nintendo Switch Lite launches just a few months before Black Friday, but don’t count on its price being slashed during the holiday shopping event. Nintendo is notoriously stingy with its console sales, so you are risking very little by purchasing the system at launch.
Just prior to the launch of Switch Lite, Nintendo is also releasing an updated version of the original Switch system. It isn’t more powerful and doesn’t include any unique features, but its battery life has been improved to a maximum of nine hours. The system that launched in 2017 could only manage around six hours. For those who want to dock their system, this is the preferable purchase, but younger kids will appreciate the smaller size of the Switch Lite. On top of that, its fixed controls mean that the directional pad has replaced the buttons found on the standard left Joy-Con.
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.