Xbox fans hoping to see a Halo or Gears of War sequel in 2017 will have to wait until next year for the return of their favorite franchises, as Microsoft’s Xbox division head Phil Spencer confirmed that neither series will see a fully fledged sequel this year.
“It’s going to be an interesting year for us because we don’t have Gears, (and) we don’t have a Halo first-person shooter game,” Spencer said on IGN’s Unfiltered podcast this week, leaving fans to speculate regarding potential spinoffs that could be revealed in the months ahead.
Halo and Gears of War have long remained cornerstones of Microsoft’s Xbox brand, and both franchises saw multiple sequels and spinoffs during the Xbox 360’s lifespan. Between both franchises, Microsoft appeals to both hardcore first-person shooter devotees and fans of cover-based third person shooters, ensuring a dedicated player base across multiple console generations.
The Halo series made its Xbox One debut in 2014 with the launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, a compilation that includes upgraded versions of Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4. The long-awaited Halo 5: Guardians later shipped in 2015, offering a single-player campaign in addition to a bevy of series-standard competitive and co-op multiplayer modes.
Gears of War fans, meanwhile, received an upgraded version of the first game in the series with 2015’s Gears of War: Ultimate Edition for the Xbox One. A sequel, Gears of War 4, launched for the Xbox One late last year, giving fans a new perspective on the series with a storyline that takes place 25 years after the events of Gears of War 3.
While the recently released RTS spinoff Halo Wars 2 may keep Halo fans occupied over the next several months, a full-fledged FPS sequel remains high in demand. Xbox head Spencer tempered expectations regarding Microsoft’s future plans for the Halo series during his appearance on IGN Unfiltered, noting that the publisher will instead focus on promoting upcoming Xbox One games like Sea of Thieves, State of Decay, and Crackdown 3 throughout 2017.
“Maybe there’s some things that we haven’t talked about yet,” Spencer added, suggesting that Gears of War and Halo fans might have sequel reveals and announcements to look forward to in the coming year.
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.