Monthly Archives: November 2018
Best Xbox Gifts of 2018
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The Xbox One has come into its own over the last few years. With 4K Blu-ray and HDR support on both the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X, as well as gorgeous native 4K on the Xbox One X, it's the best possible way to enjoy 4K movies and games right now. But Microsoft's console also plays Xbox 360 and even some original Xbox games, making it great gift for anyone who still has a stack of great, older games on the shelf.
If you want to give the best Xbox gifts this holiday season, we've put together this guide to help you out.
Best Xbox Gifts of 2018
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
The Xbox One has come into its own over the last few years. With 4K Blu-ray and HDR support on both the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X, as well as gorgeous native 4K on the Xbox One X, it's the best possible way to enjoy 4K movies and games right now. But Microsoft's console also plays Xbox 360 and even some original Xbox games, making it great gift for anyone who still has a stack of great, older games on the shelf.
If you want to give the best Xbox gifts this holiday season, we've put together this guide to help you out.
Take Your PC Gaming on the Road With These Powerful Gaming Laptops
Gaming laptops aren't the neutered boat anchors from the days of yore. Thanks to CPU and GPU advancements, modern-day gaming notebooks can be as capable as their gaming PC counterparts. Some even can overclock their components, feature desktop-grade gaming keyboards, and employ unique form factors to make them even more effective.
These days the best gaming laptops are thin and powerful, thanks to some of the most powerful mobile processors from Intel's Core and AMD's Ryzen series. Don't think mobile GPUs are a joke either, Nvidia's Turing line has enabled gaming laptops to play games at 4K with a respectable frame rate for the first time.
The Best Gaming Laptop
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Updated: November 2018
Gaming laptops are no longer the neutered boat anchors from the days of yore thanks to advancements in CPU and GPU technology, along with the addition of solid state drives. These days the best gaming laptops are thin and powerful, whereas not too long ago you could have one or the other, but not both. And although a laptop still can't hold a candle to a full blown gaming PC, they're a darn fine alternative in a much more portable package. Though we haven't seen any new mobile GPUs in some time, Intel recently released its six-core Coffee Lake CPUs for mobile, so they've added two more cores to the recipe, and could be a boon for anyone who uses their laptop for video encoding, rendering, and other CPU intensive tasks.
Crackdown 3’s Cloud-Powered Multiplayer Is Real and We Finally Played It
Dropping an entire building on my enemies while leaping up in the skies and going through the windows of a building has never been so colorful until I did it in the multiplayer mode of Crackdown 3. At this past weekend’s X018 event, Microsoft gave a new, earlier release date for their next big first-party exclusive (February 15) and formally presented its multiplayer mode. It’s called Wrecking Zone, it puts the “power of the cloud” to work, in real time, and we got to play it.
The mode we tried is called Agent Hunter. This is a 5v5 match where both teams have to face each other in a 10-minute round. The objective is to kill and obtain the greatest number of Badges that the enemies drop when they die. The twist in this mode is that what counts is not the kills, but the Badges obtained. These disappear after 10 seconds, so you must be fast or have been close to the enemy to get them, otherwise your effort will have been in vain. Considering that enemies can be over or below you, you have to think twice when and where you make that final shot.
Crackdown 3’s Cloud-Powered Multiplayer Is Real and We Finally Played It
Dropping an entire building on my enemies while leaping up in the skies and going through the windows of a building has never been so colorful until I did it in the multiplayer mode of Crackdown 3. At this past weekend’s X018 event, Microsoft gave a new, earlier release date for their next big first-party exclusive (February 15) and formally presented its multiplayer mode. It’s called Wrecking Zone, it puts the “power of the cloud” to work, in real time, and we got to play it.
The mode we tried is called Agent Hunter. This is a 5v5 match where both teams have to face each other in a 10-minute round. The objective is to kill and obtain the greatest number of Badges that the enemies drop when they die. The twist in this mode is that what counts is not the kills, but the Badges obtained. These disappear after 10 seconds, so you must be fast or have been close to the enemy to get them, otherwise your effort will have been in vain. Considering that enemies can be over or below you, you have to think twice when and where you make that final shot.
Stan Lee Dead at 95
Stan Lee, the Marvel Comics legend who co-created some of its most famous heroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four, died Monday in Los Angeles at the age of 95. Lee was reportedly rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he later died, according to TMZ. The cause of death has not been immediately released.
Lee’s legacy is defined by his numerous popular comic book character creations for Marvel Comics, where he began working in 1939 when the company was called Timely Comics. The company changed its name to Marvel Comics in 1961 when Lee and artist Jack Kirby co-created the Fantastic Four and saw it go on to become a hit.
Stan Lee Dead at 95
Stan Lee, the Marvel Comics legend who co-created some of its most famous heroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Fantastic Four, died Monday in Los Angeles at the age of 95. Lee was reportedly rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he later died, according to TMZ. The cause of death has not been immediately released.
Lee’s legacy is defined by his numerous popular comic book character creations for Marvel Comics, where he began working in 1939 when the company was called Timely Comics. The company changed its name to Marvel Comics in 1961 when Lee and artist Jack Kirby co-created the Fantastic Four and saw it go on to become a hit.
PlayStation Black Friday Deals Include PS Plus Exclusive Deals
Sony officially announced its PlayStation 4 Black Friday week deals today.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony confirmed its biggest Black Friday sales, with offers running from Nov. 18-26 in the U.S. and Nov. 22-30 in Canada. Unsurprisingly, the highlight of Sony's deals revolves around one of PlayStation's biggest exclusive games this year, Marvel's Spider-Man.
A new Marvel's Spider-Man PlayStation 4 bundle will be sold for $199.99 USD ($259.99 CAN). The bundle includes a standard PlayStation 4 console and Insomniac Games' Spider-Man, which was launched in September to critical and commercial success.
PlayStation Black Friday Deals Include PS Plus Exclusive Deals
Sony officially announced its PlayStation 4 Black Friday week deals today.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Sony confirmed its biggest Black Friday sales, with offers running from Nov. 18-26 in the U.S. and Nov. 22-30 in Canada. Unsurprisingly, the highlight of Sony's deals revolves around one of PlayStation's biggest exclusive games this year, Marvel's Spider-Man.
A new Marvel's Spider-Man PlayStation 4 bundle will be sold for $199.99 USD ($259.99 CAN). The bundle includes a standard PlayStation 4 console and Insomniac Games' Spider-Man, which was launched in September to critical and commercial success.