PlayStation Plus is ending 2024 with a bang, adding a meaty batch of compelling PS4 and PS5 games to its PS Plus Premium and Extra catalogs just before the holiday break. Of all the new games added, the most significant title included in the batch is Forspoken, a PS5-exclusive action RPG with roots going back to the first PlayStation Showcase for the PS5.
Forspoken was revealed in June 2020 under the codename Project Athia. When it finally did come out, Forspoken proved divisive because it had exhilarating magic-driven traversal and combat, but snarky dialogue that annoyed many players. Square Enix was ultimately disappointed by Forspoken‘s performance and disbanded the developer who worked on it. That said, I think this game is underrated and worth checking out for PS5 players now that they don’t have to go out of the way to purchase it themselves. Forspoken is technically a Christmas game too, which makes its December addition to PS Plus Extra’s game catalog perfect timing.
Forspoken isn’t the only notable game to hit PS Plus this month. Sonic Frontiers is also coming to this service. While I did not like this game at all, many others did. Ubisoft is also adding its enjoyable party game Rabbids: Party of Legends, while Toge Productions is bringing its Coffee Talk games and A Space for the Unbound to Sony’s subscription service. On the VR front, Premium subscribers can anticipate the addition of Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, a Star Wars first-person shooter that launched alongside the headset.
Here’s the full list of games coming to PS Plus Premium and Extra’s Game Catalog on December 17:
Be aware that some games will leave PS Plus Extra’s game catalog the same day these titles arrive. Notable games leaving PS Plus soon include Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Judgment, and Mega Man 11.
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.