If you’re getting an Xbox One for Christmas — or if you’re planning to give the console to a loved one — Microsoft is providing the perfect chance to bulk up your game library at greatly reduced prices. The Xbox Countdown sale runs through January 3, and includes savings on many of the year’s top games. If you’re an Xbox Live Gold member, you’ll get an additional 10 percent off on many of the games, as well.
Xbox One console exclusive Forza Horizon 4 is currently on sale for just $39, down from the $60 it typically goes for on the Xbox digital store. It’s one of the best racing games ever made, and recent expansions have only made it better since it launched during the fall.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 has been put on sale for $45, and it’s one of the most surprising games to come out of 2018. Despite ditching the campaign mode, Black Ops 4 shines with fantastic competitive multiplayer, plenty of Zombies content, and the new Blackout battle royale mode.
The extremely underrated Shadow of the Tomb Raider is available for just $36. The conclusion to Lara Croft’s Trinity saga is an action-packed thrill ride that still manages to excel in its quieter character-focused moments. Its gorgeous environments show off the power of the Xbox One X with HDR.
Other games on sale for Xbox One include:
A number of Xbox 360 games are also available during the sale, and they are backward compatible, so those with new Xbox One consoles can still enjoy them. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is on sale for $18, while the original Gears of War is only $5. The list of games on sale is huge, so check it out in full to find what you’re looking for.
If you’re still looking to get the Xbox One, Microsoft is offering several bundles through its own store as well. The 1TB Xbox One X Forza Horizon 4 bundle is down to $400, and three other Xbox One S bundles are priced at $199. In addition to either Battlefield V or Forza Horizon 4, two of the bundles also include a free digital copy of Gears of War 4.
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.