When Nintendo revealed the SNES Classic Edition, all eyes were on the surprise release of the previously unreleased Starfox 2. People lept at the chance to play a part of gaming history. Analogue, a modern manufacturer of retro gaming consoles, is making similar history with the release of the Super NT.
The Super NT is a high-definition SNES that runs original, physical game cartridges without software emulation. With a new trailer, Analogue has announced (via The Verge) that each console will include an unreleased copy of Super Turrican: Director’s Cut built right in. The sequel, Super Turrican 2, will also come packed in.
When Super Turrican first released in 1993, it was celebrated for its intense action. While fans were pleased, the version gamers got to play was not the complete version. In order for the game to fit on an SNES cartridge, developer Factor 5 had to trim some fat. Approximately 33 percent had to be cut to get down to 4 megabits.
Re-releasing Super Turrican came about after Analogue’s Chris Taber pitched the idea six years ago to former Factor 4 creative director Julian Eggebrecht. The newly complete version features a new level, new graphics and sounds, and a “new way to use the beam weapon.”
“Julian loves our idea of preserving video game history, and including the unreleased Super Turrican helps push it that much further,” said Taber. “It has nothing to do with loading up games on the Super NT — it’s explicitly to preserve a piece of Super Nintendo history.”
The Super NT bridges the gap between the authenticity of an original SNES and the convenience of the newer SNES Classic Edition. Using an extra bit of hardware, the Super NT plays the original cartridges while outputting them to HDMI. It uses the original controllers as well, making it compatible with Mario Paint and its mouse peripheral.
Past consoles from Analogue were even more retro, choosing instead to focus on the original NES library of games. For true diehard fans, there was even a 24-karat gold-plated version that costs a measly $5,000.
Pre-orders for the Super NT are available now for $190. Shipments begin in February 2018. They are available in four different color variants including black, transparent, and two modeled after the original SNES design in Europe and America.
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.