Microsoft issued a response to the news this morning of Sony increasing the price of the PlayStation 5 console in markets outside of the U.S.
In a statement to Windows Central, a Microsoft spokesperson says, “We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options. Our Xbox Series S suggested retail price remains at $299 (250 British pounds, 300 euros) the Xbox Series X is $499 (450 pounds, 500 euros).”
It looks like, as of right now, Microsoft will not be raising the prices for either of the newest-generation consoles in any region, which is a good thing considering that consumers have been upset about Sony’s decision. That doesn’t necessarily mean Microsoft won’t consider such a thing in the future, but the company made it very clear that it’s not happening anytime soon.
When one console manufacturer makes a misstep, others tend to call them out. The situation is reminiscent of E3 2013, when Sony issued a scathing response to Microsoft’s initial DRM policies with the Xbox One. Sony created a video on how to share games on PlayStation 4, with two executives just handing over a video game. The Xbox One’s reveal back in 2013 drew the ire of gamers when Microsoft said that it would restrict the sharing of pre-owned games on the console and would require an online system authentication every 24 hours. Due to the backlash, Microsoft walked back those policies, but the damage was already done and Sony looked like the hero, eventually selling over 117 million PlayStation 4 units in its lifetime and beating the Xbox One at a 2:1 ratio.
However, it’s unlikely that Sony will renege on the PlayStation 5 price increase, as the company is the leader in the console space and the increase doesn’t affect the North American market. With upcoming blockbuster exclusives like God of War: Ragnarok and The Last of Us Part I, the console will likely still be in hot demand despite the higher price.
For years, Call of Duty’s campaign mode has used big, scripted set pieces to tell the overarching story amid all the adrenaline-pumping action. The 2023 Modern Warfare 3 tried to shake up the established formula by introducing a handful of short open combat missions, and I genuinely liked the idea, but the game's overall negative reception seeped into how those missions were received.
I feared the next iteration might abandon the idea because of the backlash, but I am glad it didn't. MW4’s “Stranded” mission uses the same approach, but instead of fragmenting it across the campaign, it puts it all in a single large-scale open-world mission.
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.