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‘Rocket League’ jets its way onto the Nintendo Switch this November

Special to the Switch version of Rocket League are exclusive Battle-Cars and customization items as special unlockables. The two Battle-Cars that have already been announced include the Mario and Luigi NSR and Samus' Gunship.

When Nintendo first revealed that the popular multiplayer game Rocket League was Buy Now , fans grew excited about competitive matches on the go. With the holiday season right around the corner, players can start boosting before Black Friday.

According to Psyonix, the Nintendo Switch port of Rocket League launches November 14 for $2o on the Nintendo eShop. Right out of the gate, Switch owners receive all the previous game modes and features that are found in other versions of the game. This includes Hockey, Dropshot, and a number of rotating modes. Like other versions of Rocket League, it will also support cross-network play. Although the launch is only weeks away, these supported systems have yet to be announced.

Special to the Switch version are exclusive Battle-Cars and customization items as special unlockables. The two Battle-Cars that have already been announced include the Mario and Luigi NSR and Samus’ Gunship. Both vehicles have variant skins depending on which team players choose before a match. Each car comes with a special boost. Representing the Mario Bros. is the Super Star trail while Samus’ Gunship uses a Wave Beam. Other Nintendo-themed items, including Mario and Luigi hats, are also available.

In addition to bringing portability to Rocket League, Nintendo’s flagship console also allows for local wireless multiplayer. Without using Wi-Fi, players can gather in a circle and compete.

Rocket League first release in 2015 for the PlayStation 4 and Windows PC. It was a spiritual successor to Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars. After starting a craze, it wasn’t long before the game found its way onto the Xbox One. Before the game’s official announcement during Nintendo’s Treehouse presentation at E3 2017, Psyonix has been teasing the possibility of a port for a while.

In the current Switch library, multiplayer games are few and far between. Nintendo has Mario Kart 8, Arms, and Splatoon, but there are not a lot of followers outside of that. Rocket League adds a level of precision to the competitive game scene that feels right at home on the Switch. With both Psyonix and Nintendo already having large followings, Rocket League on Switch smells like a recipe for success.

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.