Destiny 2 launches in a matter of days, and it’s fair to say that hype is reaching peak levels as gamers prepare for one of the biggest releases of the year. U.K. internet service provider Virgin Media is getting in on the excitement with some exclusive in-game content for its customers.
Guardians who receive their internet connection via Virgin Fibre will be rewarded with an exclusive Sparrow when the game is released next week. Sparrows are single-seater floating vehicles used to speed up long journeys, not unlike the speeder bikes seen in the Star Wars franchise.
Virgin Media’s exclusive Sparrow is dubbed Athena Victorious, and is decked out in the company’s red and white color scheme. The ISP pledges that it will allow Guardians to explore the various worlds included in Destiny 2 at “lightning speed” in a blog post published earlier today.
Destiny was a huge hit when it launched back in 2014. Players did complain about a lack of content, but that only goes to show how much demand there was for more of what was on offer. There’s a huge amount of anticipation for the sequel, and Virgin Media isn’t the only company looking to profit from the hype.
The first game ran a promotion in collaboration with Red Bull, offering players an extra quest obtained via codes printed on cans of the energy drink. This time around, Bungie has partnered with Monster and, bizarrely, Pop-Tarts, to ensure that Guardians exceed their recommended daily intake of sugar as they defend the earth.
The biggest video game releases have become increasingly reliant on this kind of advertising in recent years. Television ad campaigns and extended beta tests certainly play important roles in publicizing major titles, but now the offensive continues on supermarket shelves and in corner stores — and, apparently, in the form of freebies offered up by ISPs. Just last week, it was announced that subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity internet service will get free access to the Call of Duty: WWII beta without the need for a pre-order.
Virgin Media customers will be able to get their hands on the Sparrow freebie on September 6, when Destiny 2 launches for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
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.