Although virtual reality hasn’t quite become the worldwide sensation that many predicted it would when the Oculus Rift came onto the scene, the VR market continues to grow steadily as this new technology continues to find its legs and more developers become increasingly familiar with the hardware.
In 2016, Sony unexpectedly threw its hat in the virtual reality ring with its own headset offering: The PlayStation VR. The PSVR launched with a steep price tag of $400, coming in at just a bit cheaper than other high-end virtual reality headsets. This seemed a bit much to some observers considering that Sony’s VR offering had yet to prove itself against the competition and that it was designed to work solely with the PlayStation console rather than a PC.
The PlayStation VR has nonetheless proved itself to be a winner, and even better still, the price has dropped considerably in recent months, making it a seriously enticing option for those looking to jump into the world of virtual reality without having to shell out $400 or more. Gamers seem to agree: In 2017, the PSVR completely overwhelmed the competition, outselling the Oculus Rift by a margin of more than two to one.
If you’re still on the fence about jumping onto the virtual reality bandwagon, then now may be the time to finally pull the trigger: Since the PlayStation VR headset hit the market, the PS4 has built up a great library of virtual reality games for you to enjoy. The beautiful and charming Moss may be our favorite of these, proving not only that the PS4 has great VR chops, but also that virtual reality gaming isn’t limited to first-person ping pong.
At its new low price of $199 from Amazon and Walmart, this is the best deal you’re going to find right now on a name-brand virtual reality headset. You can also grab the Buy Now for just $40 (34 percent off) if you don’t have one yet.
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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.