Indie developer ConcernedApe’s hit PC farming sim Stardew Valley will make its console debut in December with the launch of ports for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Nintendo fans, however, will be disappointed to hear that a planned Wii U adaptation has since been put out to pasture.
Citing issues surrounding “the current gaming landscape,” developer ConcernedApe opted to shelve Stardew Valley‘s Wii U version in favor of an upcoming port for Nintendo’s successor console, the Nintendo Switch.
Released for PC platforms via Steam earlier in 2016, Stardew Valley is an overhead-view simulation game in which players attempt to restore a rustic farm to its former glory. Throughout the course of Stardew Valley‘s lengthy campaign, players raise crops, tend livestock, and manufacture products in order to turn a profit. Romance also plays a significant role in Stardew Valley‘s gameplay, and as the storyline progresses, players eventually pair up with one of several potential suitors.
Stardew Valley remained a PC exclusive since it launched in February, but December will mark its long-awaited console debut. A PS4 version will launch digitally on December 13, while an Xbox One port will be available via the Xbox Marketplace on December 14.
“Stardew Valley will not be coming to the Wii U,” creator Eric Barone revealed via the game’s official blog this week. “Looking at Wii U and the current gaming landscape, we made the difficult choice to shift our development efforts to creating a version for Nintendo Switch.”
Barone continued: “I am really looking forward to the Switch, and I believe that the Switch’s unique capabilities could create some exciting opportunities for Stardew Valley. I do want to emphasize that I am absolutely committed to seeing Stardew Valley on Nintendo platforms, and I really do appreciate your support and understanding in this.”
A release date for the Nintendo Switch version of Stardew Valley is not yet known.
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.