Microsoft has released a free, mandatory update to the Xbox 360 gaming console via its Xbox Live service. The software patch does not offer new features, but instead corrects a number of minor issues with the Xbox and closes a potential security opening being investigated by the so-called “modder” community as a possible way to circumvent the Xbox 360’s copy protection technology.
The update now enables users to choose to retain saved games when deleting a user profile and improved synchronization of games between the Web and the console itself. The update also includes unspecified improvements to the Xbox Guide, network configuration improvements for Xbox Live users in the Netherlands, and more detailed error messages when the system encounters a disk that is unreadable or produces a region error.
The update also seems to close a mechanism being investigated by the so-called “modder” community which may have pointed a way around the (as yet uncompromised) Xbox 360’s copy-protection technologies. A demo disk originally produced for Xbox 360 retail kiosks was found in mid-December to be copyable
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 One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it.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.