When I think of turn-based JRPGs where you explore vast worlds, Final Fantasy was once the first thing that came to mind. Yet for over two decades, Square Enix has deprived the Final Fantasy franchise of the gameplay style that made it a household name by taking it in an action-RPG direction with mixed degrees of success.

Over the years, I cynically grew to accept that Final Fantasy would never return to the classic turn-based gameplay style I loved and instead opted for Square Enix's other turn-based franchises like Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler.

That is, until this year, when Square Enix announced Final Fantasy Resonance. This game is the franchise's first HD-2D JRPG, and it aims to bring back the classic turn-based combat and open-world exploration gameplay that made retro fans like me love it in the first place.

It felt too good to be true at first, but after being impressed by Final Fantasy Resonance's playable demo, I decided to give the game a chance when I was given an opportunity to review it on Xbox Series X with a code provided by Square Enix.

After playing it for the past few weeks, I can confidently say that, despite some minor issues, Final Fantasy Resonance (available for $49.99 on the Xbox Store) is a heartwarming return to form that players who grew up on Final Fantasy's 16-bit and PlayStation One golden age should not miss out on.

Final Fantasy Resonance launches on October 22, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Windows and Steam.

This review was made possible thanks to an Xbox Series X code provided by Square Enix. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this review before publication.

Final Fantasy Resonance — Story, setting, art

Final Fantasy Resonance is a home console adaptation of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius’s first story arc, a 2015 free-to-play mobile game that was shut down in 2024.

Like its source material, Final Fantasy Resonance tells the story of Rain and Lasswell, two noble knights hailing from the kingdom of Grandshelt, and a mysterious girl with magical powers named Fina.

They're on a quest to save their world's life-giving crystals from being destroyed by a group of evil knights who call themselves the ‘Sworn Six’. These despicable knights have dark, vengeful goals that they seek to accomplish by any means, regardless of collateral damage or casualties.

The story of Final Fantasy Resonance is a fairly standard JRPG fantasy adventure laden with tropes and clichés that players experienced in the JRPG genre will see coming (although it did a couple of admittedly surprising twists).

The story also has a couple of annoying moments that disrupted the pacing, which could've been fixed if they played out as cutscenes instead of pointless boss fights, but I won't get too deep into that as it's very spoilery.

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However, these are minor quibbles, as Final Fantasy Resonance's story beats, lore, and action set pieces are well put together with satisfying dramatic payoffs. Not to mention, its story is refreshingly easy to understand and follow, which is a blessing because many modern Final Fantasy games tend to have needlessly convoluted plots.

Additionally, Final Fantasy Resonance does have moments where it actually managed to make me laugh as the game snuck in some cheeky jokes that will tickle the nostalgia funny bones of long-time Final Fantasy fans like me.

As for its characters, Final Fantasy Resonance does have a cast of interesting villains once you start to discover who they are underneath their armor. Its playable heroes are also competently written and likable, with some decent character development but nothing too thought-provoking.

What helps Final Fantasy Resonance's story and characters resonate with the player is its presentation. This is the first Final Fantasy game to use HD-2D graphics, and Square Enix spared no expense in making them look absolutely STUNNING.

The pixel-art character sprites and 3D models look so immaculately detailed and animated with their charming facial expressions and epic battle moves. The HD-2D art style gets even more lavishly detailed during cinematic cutscenes and in-game boss battles to create some magnificent works of digital art.

Final Fantasy Resonance's presentation elevates its story further with some respectable voice acting in both English and Japanese and an incredible soundtrack that's filled with extremely catchy tunes, epic battle themes, and emotional melodies.

Final Fantasy Resonance — Gameplay

The gameplay of Final Fantasy Resonance follows the classic formulae set by earlier Final Fantasy games. You travel across a world map, visiting towns for quests, gear, and lore, exploring dungeons to loot treasure, and fighting monsters and bosses in turn-based combat.

It starts very linear, but the game opens up fairly quickly with plenty of side-quests to complete, optional dungeons to explore, and hidden areas you can only find with a trusty airship.

You have no idea how much this game filled me with nostalgic joy riding in an airship and exploring a world map to find all its secrets again after being restricted to grounded corridors for decades in modern Final Fantasy games.

Its dungeons, however, are somewhat disappointing, as Final Fantasy Resonance took a quantity-over-quality approach. Many dungeons in this game are painfully short, as they feature two or three rooms with very basic puzzles to solve.

I would've liked these dungeons to be made in-depth, with more labyrinthine layouts so the player could get into more random encounters to stress-test their dungeon-crawling and resource-conservation skills like the older games.

Let's move to the main reason that made me want to play this game in the first place: turn-based combat.

Like the first ten mainline Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy Resonance's turn-based combat system has your party take turns to defeat enemies using weapons and magic, while keeping each other alive with healing magic and restorative items.

The turn-based combat is simple at first, but Final Fantasy Resonance quickly adds lots of fun mechanics to improve its complexity as you progress, keeping it from becoming stale.

These mechanics include Limit Bursts, which allow you to unleash a player character's ultimate attack if their Limit Gauge gets filled in battle by either getting hurt or stunning enemies; summoning Espers in battle to aid you for a few turns and also depleting an enemy’s Stagger Gauge by hitting their elemental weakness to stun them for a turn.

Once you stagger all enemies at once, you will be rewarded with a free round of turns to batter the stunned enemies for extra damage without fear of retaliation, culminating in a devastating super-move performed by your Visions.

What are Visions, you may ask? Visions are spiritual manifestations of heroes from previous Final Fantasy games and Final Fantasy Resonance-exclusive heroes who grant the player characters powerful abilities and passive traits to help them excel in battle.

Some of these abilities include being able to stagger enemies more easily, protect the entire party from incoming damage, prevent incoming status effects, perform multiple actions in a single turn, and so much more.

I love the Visions system because it offers so much character-building potential on par with Final Fantasy's classic Job System from previous games.

You can use it to double down on a player character's inherent skills (like turning the main hero Rain into an unstoppable tank) or turn a character into a jack-of-all-trades fighter (like giving a healer character a damage-dealing Vision so they can hurt enemies and heal allies).

Experimenting with Visions to create the ultimate party and using their newfound powers to stun-lock challenging bosses before they got a single turn was so empowering and cathartic.

Yet after playing the game for 75 hours, I still felt like I was scratching the surface of what the Visions system can do, so I can't imagine what will happen once pro JRPG players get their hands on it.

Granted, level-grinding the Visions to gain all their abilities can be pretty tedious and repetitive. But it's so worth it in the end, especially when you hit Final Fantasy Resonance's late-game and post-game bosses because they do not mess around.

They hit fast and hard, have tons of health, and are hard to stagger (especially on Expert Mode). Plus, these endgame bosses will often require you to change your Vision builds to defeat them due to their varying strategies and countermeasures that will punish players for being too aggressive or too passive.

They're extremely tough but so satisfying to beat once you figure out their gimmicks and get the right Vision abilities equipped.

Final Fantasy Resonance — Conclusion

Overall, I was thoroughly astonished and surprised by how good Final Fantasy Resonance was.

It's a loving tribute to Final Fantasy's classic turn-based era that's able to stand on its own merits with addictive combat, an in-depth Vision system, and an entertaining story with decently written characters. Not to mention it has a great wealth of side-quests and difficult optional bosses to take on even after finishing the main campaign as icing on the cake.

If you're an old-school Final Fantasy fan who doesn't like the action-RPG direction the mainline Final Fantasy games have been taking, or just love turn-based JRPGs you can play on go via Xbox Play Anywhere, then I highly recommend not sleeping on Final Fantasy Resonance.

If this game is just based on Final Fantasy Brave Exvius's first story arc, then I hope Square Enix makes more adaptations of this mobile game so I can see the rest of its story arcs in full HD-2D glory.

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Black Friday is right around the corner, but that doesn't mean you have to wait for a discount on laptops if you need one to clear last-minute deadlines at work or get caught up before heading to school.

For example, the HP Omnibook X Flip 2-in-1, with its crisp 16-inch display, all-day battery, and next-gen performance, is currently on sale with a 25% discount for $1,199.99 at Best Buy.

Why buy the HP Omnibook X Flip 16" laptop?

This configuration of the HP Omnibook X Flip 2-in-1 is the total package when it comes to casual use and productivity efficiency thanks to its AMD Ryzen AI 7 445 CPU, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD, offering fast performance when running programs, transferring files, or simply booting up.

It also features a 16" 2K OLED Touchscreen that delivers vibrant colors with 100% DCI-P3 coverage for accurate colors and 120Hz adaptive refresh rates to deliver smooth visuals.

On top of that, the HP Omnibook X Flip features an NPU with 50 TOPS to help perform local AI tasks, a smart hybrid build that can swap between laptop, tent, reverse, and tablet modes, and a massive battery life of 15 hours before needing a recharge.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is almost ready to leave early access as its October 23, 2026 full release rapidly approaches.

However, as with most AAA Xbox titles these days, it's going to take up a huge chunk of your console's storage space, as its campaign mode alone requires 137GB to install.

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While this isn't as extreme as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)'s 219GB requirement (without Warzone), it's still a massive number that will only get larger once Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 adds its multiplayer modes after leaving early access.

So, we've scoured the web for the best Xbox Series X|S storage expansion devices to help you fit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 onto your Xbox Series X|S while leaving more for upcoming Xbox blockbusters like Grand Theft Auto 6.

Also note that when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 launches, you will be able to uninstall what you want to reclaim space. For example, you can uninstall the single-player campaign once you're done with it and still be able to play the game's multiplayer modes.

External hard drives

External hard drives allow you to store Xbox games and other forms of media like music and movies (depending on how you format) and transfer them to other platforms with ease via USB connections.

They can come in a variety of storage sizes (ranging from 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB), and they're more readily available compared to Xbox storage expansion cards.

Plus, they're cheaper than Xbox storage expansion cards. However, considering the constantly rising prices of tech thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis, there's no telling how long those external hard drives will be affordable.

Do note that you can’t play Xbox games directly from an external hard drive. You need to manually transfer games from the external hard drive onto an Xbox’s internal hard drive to play them.

Plug & Play expansion cards

Plug & Play expansion cards fit into an Xbox’s dedicated expansion card slot, so they can not only store games and play them directly from the card without the need for shuffling files onto the console's internal SSD.

They're also extremely compact, so they don't take up too much desk space compared to regular external hard drives.

However, Plug & Play expansion cards are rarer and more expensive than external hard drives. Plus, you can't reformat them to store and run other forms of media, as these Plug & Play expansion cards were designed only for Xbox consoles.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Our die-hard Call of Duty expert, Cole Martin, reviewed the campaign mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and judging by her reaction, it's shaping up to be a massive return to form for the series.

She calls the campaign a cinematic masterpiece for its stunning, cinematic presentation, captivating story, and thrilling gameplay filled with intense action set pieces and dramatic moments.

As for the quality of its multiplayer game modes like the much-anticipated DMZ, you will have to wait until the game launches later this week to find out, as it was unavailable during Cole Martin's review.

Needless to say, though, Call of Duty fans are about to eat good this holiday season just from the campaign alone.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 is scheduled to launch on Xbox Series X|S (with Xbox Play Anywhere support), Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Windows and Steam on October 23, 2026.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's campaign mode is currently available to play in early access for players who pre-order the game's Standard or Vault Editions.

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NVIDIA's RTX Spark has arrived, and tons of laptops are quickly equipping themselves with this superchip to take advantage of its NVIDIA AI, RTX graphics, and unified memory to improve their productivity and gaming performance.

Antonline is getting in on the launch-day action by offering Microsoft Surface and Lenovo laptops packed with the RTX Spark, and we've rounded up Antonline's available RTX Spark offers for your perusal.

Do note that some of Antonline's RTX Spark laptop offers are only up for pre-order, while others are not in stock yet, so check back on its website frequently for stock updates.

What is the RTX Spark?

The RTX Spark is a brand-new ARM-based superchip platform designed by NVIDIA to make a PC more efficient when running high-end PC games and local AI-workflow tasks securely without compromising its performance.

The RTX Spark has an NVIDIA Grace CPU that can support up to 20 cores for boosted performance efficiency, and its Blackwell-generation RTX GPU has gaming performance rates on par with the RTX 5070 graphics card,

Additionally, the RTX Spark can support up to 128GB of unified RAM between its CPU and GPU, and it can generate up to 1,000 TOPS to boost its power when running local AI workflows.

One of our tech experts, Zac Bowden, recently benchmark-tested the RTX Spark and concluded that, and I quote, "RTX Spark is a super interesting chipset. It's forward leaning in a lot of ways, built on the Arm64 architecture that delivers serious performance and great efficiency. While its N1X CPU is just okay, its Blackwell RTX GPU really shines.

This is the first time we've seen RTX 4070-5070 level performance in an SoC that is this small and efficient. It's optimized for AI workloads, which is its strongest workflow by far. Quantized AI models run great, and with up to 128GB of unified memory, most mainstream models will fit entirely on the GPU without a hitch."

Zac also mentions that while it's great for content creators and gamers, the RTX Spark is best recommended for workers who run AI models locally all day, develop software, crunch complex data, and manage source code using thin laptops.

So, If you're one of those hard-working data crunchers in need of a powerful productivity laptop, then laptops built with the RTX Spark are for you.

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If you're wondering why your favorite PC games don't look their best despite running on a monstrously powerful PC, it's probably down to an outdated monitor that can't keep up with the graphical luxuries of modern games.

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Fortunately, Dell is offering two of its high-quality Alienware gaming monitors to satisfy your gaming standards with limited-time discounts. They include the Alienware 32 4K QD-OLED (AW3225QF) at $749.99 at Dell (was $999.99) and the Alienware 500Hz IPS (AW2524HF) at $449.99 at Dell (was $549.99).

Why buy these gaming monitors?

If you're the kind of gamer who wants to play at 4K for the most detailed graphics possible, the Alienware 32 4K QD-OLED (AW3225QF) that's now on sale for $749.99 at Dell is for you.

It can render images and videos with broad contrast and rich colors thanks to its OLED panel, and its Dolby Vision integration allows it to automatically optimize brightness and shadow details via HDR tone mapping when watching movies or streaming videos.

Plus, the Alienware AW3225QF supports a 240Hz refresh rate at full 4K resolution (as tested by our sister site Tom's Hardware), so it can achieve extremely detailed images and razor-sharp motion without compromising visual fidelity or inducing much input lag.

On top of that, it has a solid and attractively designed build, and its 1700R screen curve adds wrap-around immersion to games while keeping text and geometric layouts untouched to make them easier to read.

However, if you're more interested in giving your games the smoothest performance rates possible for frame-perfect gameplay, then you're better off with the Alienware 500Hz (AW2524HF) that's now on sale for $449.99 at Dell.

This monitor features an overclockable refresh rate of 500Hz. This destroys any trace of standard motion blur and sample-and-hold limitations in a game to create perfect-motion resolution, as our friends at Tom's Hardware similarly found.

Add on top sub-millisecond response times, and you've got a gaming monitor that can ensure you suffer absolutely zero perceptible input lag while playing games. That way, you will be able to enjoy skill-based action games at their best and not have to worry about input lag costing you a match in esports competitions.

It's also no slouch in the visuals department, as the Alienware 500Hz Gaming Monitor (AW2524HF) offers excellent color saturation and contrast. Plus, it has solid build quality, so you won't have to worry about it falling to bits anytime soon.

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2026 is coming to an end, so it's that time again for the long-running Golden Joystick Awards show to celebrate the best games of the year we've played.

On September 25, 2026, the Golden Joystick Awards announced all the shortlist nominees for 21 game-of-the-year categories, including PC Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, Best Indie Game, and more.

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However, time for voting for the winners is running out, as it closes next week on October 23, 2026 at 4:00pm PT / 7:00pm ET / 12:00am BST.

Here is the full list of nominees for all the Golden Joystick Awards' shortlist categories, which you can vote for on GamesRadar.com, to see if your favorite games of 2026 made the cut.

Golden Joystick Awards — Shortlist nominees

Best Audio Design

• Big Walk
• Marathon
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• Rhythm Heaven Groove
• SAROS
• STAR WARS: Galactic Racer

Best Early Access Game

• Dead as Disco
• MENACE
• skate.
• Slay the Spire 2
• Subnautica 2
• WARDOGS

Best Game Adaptation

• Devil May Cry (Season 2)
• Exit 8
• Fallout (Season 2)
• Iron Lung
• Mortal Kombat II
• Resident Evil

Best Game Expansion

• Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven
• DAVE THE DIVER - In the Jungle Content Pack
• DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations
• Quake: Dawn of the Machine
• The Alters: Last Variable
• World of Warcraft: Midnight

Best Game Trailer

• Battlefield 6 x Top Gun: Carrier Strike Cinematic Trailer
• Big Walk - Release Date Announcement
• Cairn - Launch Trailer
• MOUSE: P.I. For Hire | Official Launch Trailer
• Prove You're Human - Announcement Trailer
• Resident Evil Requiem - Evil Has Always Had A Name

Best Gaming Hardware

• Logitech G PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE
• Razer Viper V4 Pro
• Secretlab ATLAS
• Sony INZONE M10S II
• Steam Controller
• Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II

Best Indie Game

• Big Walk
• Denshattack!
• Esoteric Ebb
• Mixtape
• Mouse: P.I. for Hire
• Order of the Sinking Star
• REANIMAL
• Sovereign Tower
• Titanium Court
• Valheim

Best Indie Game - Self-published

• Cairn
• Fields of Mistria
• MECCHA CHAMELEON
• Mewgenics
• Mina the Hollower
• Perfect Tides: Station to Station
• Phonopolis
• Rhythm Doctor
• The Incident at Galley House
• Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors

Best Lead Performer

• Aaron Paul - Robert Robertson III, Dispatch
• Angela Sant'Albano - Grace Ashcroft, Resident Evil Requiem
• Anna Demetriou - Sophia, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
• Liam McIntyre - Wolverine, Marvel's Wolverine
• Patrick Gibson - James Bond, 007 First Light
• Will de Renzy-Martin - Coen, The Blood of Dawnwalker

Best Supporting Performer

• Frankie Kevich - Zoe de Vera, CONTROL Resonant
• Grace Saif - Diana, PRAGMATA
• Lennie James - John Greenway, 007 First Light
• Terry O'Quinn - Richard, SILENT HILL: Townfall
• Troy Baker - Nathaniel Essex, Marvel's Wolverine
• Vic Michaelis - Runa Blask, STAR WARS: Zero Company

Best Multiplayer Game

• ARC Raiders
• Big Walk
• Marathon
• MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls
• MECCHA CHAMELEON
• Valheim

Best Remake / Remaster

• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced
• Gothic 1 Remake
• METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.2
• Star Fox
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered
• Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter

Best Soundtrack

• 007 First Light
• Crimson Desert
• Dispatch
• Lumines Arise
• Mewgenics
• Mixtape

Best Storytelling

• 007 First Light
• Dispatch
• Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
• SILENT HILL: Townfall
• The Blood of Dawnwalker
• ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies

Best Visual Design

• CONTROL Resonant
• Forza Horizon 6
• Orbitals
• Phonopolis
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
• SAROS

Most Wanted Game

• Alien: Isolation 2
• ANANTA
• Black Myth: Zhong Kui
• EXODUS
• Fable
• FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION
• God of War Laufey
• Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
• KINGDOM HEARTS IV
• METRO 2039
• NO LAW
• Persona 6
• Resident Evil Veronica
• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN
• Stuntman: Hollywood
• The Expanse: Osiris Reborn
• The Witcher 4
• Tides of Annihilation
• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
• Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000

Still Playing - Mobile

• Balatro
• Genshin Impact
• Honkai: Star Rail
• MARVEL SNAP
• MONOPOLY GO!
• NTE: Neverness to Everness
• Old School RuneScape
• Pokémon GO
• Roblox
• Sky: Children of the Light
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile
• Wuthering Waves

Still Playing - PC & Console

• Apex Legends
• Fortnite
• GTA Online
• HELLDIVERS 2
• HITMAN World of Assassination
• Minecraft
• No Man's Sky
• Palworld
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• Warframe
• World of Warcraft
• Call of Duty: Warzone

Studio of the Year

• CAPCOM
• Frogwares
• House House
• IO Interactive
• Nintendo EPD
• SQUARE ENIX

PC Game of the Year

• Big Walk
• Crimson Desert
• Escape from Tarkov
• Esoteric Ebb
• MECCHA CHAMELEON
• Mewgenics
• Order of the Sinking Star
• STAR WARS: Zero Company
• The Blood of Dawnwalker
• Valheim

Console Game of the Year

• 007 First Light
• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
• Forza Horizon 6
• LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
• Nioh 3
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• Pokémon Pokopia
• PRAGMATA
• Resident Evil Requiem
• SAROS

Golden Joystick Awards — Ultimate Game of the Year

On October 26, 2026, the Golden Joystick Awards will reveal nominees for its Ultimate of the Gear award, and voting for the winner will open that day.

Additionally, journalists from GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, Future Games Show, Edge magazine, Knowledge, Retro Gamer, and Future's trusted network of freelance writers and content creators will select winners in other categories.

The winners for the following awards will be selected on the night:

• Streamers’ Choice Award
• Breakthrough Award
• Critics’ Choice Award

Golden Joystick Awards — Where can we watch the show?

All of the winners will be announced during the Golden Joystick Awards ceremony on November 11, 2026, and will be hosted at Troxy, London, United Kingdom.

No start times or streaming platforms have been announced as of yet, but it is likely the show will be broadcast on major streaming platforms like YouTube, as it did last year.

Who will sweep this year's Golden Joystick Awards?

Last year, the critically acclaimed RPG, Clair Obsur: Expedition 33, completely swept almost every major category at the Golden Joystick Awards, picking up seven awards (including the Ultimate Game of the Year award).

This year, it seems the only games that have a chance to sweep awards are Resident Evil: Requiem and 007: First Light, as they've been nominated in five categories thus far.

Both of these are games incredible in their own right, but will they be nominated for the Golden Joystick Awards' Ultimate Game of the Year? Even if they do, will Resident Evil Requiem or 007: First Light be able to win it, or will an unexpected, underdog entry take home the gold?

Tune in on November 11, 2026, to find out when the Golden Joystick Awards announce its winners.

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Microsoft announced (via on Xbox Wire) a brand new Xbox controller called the Xbox Nano Controller, and it will be released in November 2026 for Xbox consoles, Windows PC, iOS and Android mobile devices, and select Smart TVs.

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The Xbox Nano Controller is an extremely small gamepad (5 inches long and 3.5 ounces in weight) that can fit into your pocket for easier portability while still packing the form factor and standard 18-button layout of regular Xbox controllers.

Additionally, its smaller size makes the Xbox Nano Controller easier for players with smaller hands to use who struggle to use larger controllers.

The Xbox Nano Controller also includes a rechargeable battery, an extra reprogrammable Action Button, and Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth support.

Plus, it's designed for Xbox Cloud Gaming and casual use. It mimics a TV remote in form factor and weight, so it can sit on the sofa or coffee table without taking up space.

You can pre-order the Xbox Nano Controller right now on the Xbox website for $49.99.

It will be made available in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czechia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Trinidad & Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with additional markets to follow.

For a limited time, Xbox is partnering with Samsung to offer a special Xbox Nano Controller with two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership (for new users) in the US for anyone who purchases select Samsung TVs during the holiday season.

Additionally, Xbox is partnering with Meta to offer an Xbox Nano Controller with two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership (for new users) in the US for anyone purchasing a Meta Quest.

The Xbox Nano Controller has a cool nostalgic design, but some of its spec choices and price leave it to be desired

Upon first impressions of this controller, I got a wave of nostalgia, as its design reminds me a lot of the Super Nintendo controller I used as a kid. However, my interest in the Xbox Nano controller suddenly dropped upon looking at its MSRP and specs.

$49.99 is a lot of money for a controller these days. For that price, it better have some advanced tech like Hall Effect or TMR thumbsticks to justify such a cost.

Sadly, the Xbox Nano Controller does not have any such tech. On top of that, the Xbox Nano Controller has no direct WiFi connection for Xbox Cloud Gaming and instead relies on Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth connections, which are more laggy and unresponsive by comparison.

So on paper, the Xbox Nano Controller doesn't sound like a good controller at that price point. However, that won't stop us from reviewing the gamepad in the future to see if its performance, design, and ergonomics can make up for the Xbox Nano Controller's omissions of advanced tech and its steep price.

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Three years ago, we were graced with the release of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, a first-person shooter inspired by classics like DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3D, set in the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000.

It was a simple yet immensely cathartic boomer-shooter with fast-paced gunplay, satisfying weapons, and charming yet grim retro-style graphics that I gave 4/5 stars.

Fast-forward to today, and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun's sequel is here with more heretics to slay and a new, second playable character with more weapons to purge them with.

Is it as fun as, or more fun than, the first game? Let's find out as we ready our Bolter rifles and review Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 launches on October 14, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Windows and Steam. This review was made possible thanks to an Xbox Series X code provided by Devolver Digital. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this review before publication.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 — Story, setting, art

The story goes that the forces of Chaos, led by the towering Greater Daemon, Vashtorr, are wreaking havoc across worlds controlled by the Imperium of Man.

In response, the righteous Space Marine, Malum Caedo, has returned from the first Boltgun game to purge the heretical daemons out of existence. Except this time, Malum Caedo is joined by the equally zealous Sister of Battle, Nyra Veyrath, who hopes to torch the daemons to cinders in the name of the God Emperor.

Just like the first Boltgun game, the story serves as a simple excuse to go blasting Chaos cultists, Chaos Space Marines, and daemons into red mist. That's cool by me, as I was in the mood for an action game without being bogged down by endless cutscenes.

However, if you're looking for an FPS with a complex narrative and character development, you're better off looking elsewhere.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 continues to embody the series ' retro throwback art style of being a long-lost 1990s PlayStation 1 game (with 2D sprites set against 3D backgrounds and models), and it's beautifully well done.

The jagged, grotesque, and gothic scenery of Warhammer 40,000's war-torn fortresses, temples devoted to the Chaos gods, and environments slowly being corrupted into daemonic blemishes are a sight to behold at times in this game.

The 2D sprites (and sometimes 3D models) of enemies are crisp, detailed, and faithful to their Warhammer 40,000 tabletop counterparts, which makes them all the more satisfying to chop up as they explode in showers of gratifying pixelated blood and guts when you kill them.

On top of that, the performance is rock solid. The game ran at a consistent 60fps at 1080p resolution with absolutely no framerate drops, even when all kinds of chaotic explosions, gunfire, and combusting bodies were happening on-screen.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 — Gameplay

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2's gameplay structure has you running across multiple planets via chapter-based missions where you must reach the end of massive levels while eradicating any heretic and daemon standing in your way.

Along the way, you will come across a wide variety of weapons, hidden collectibles, and secret power-ups to give you an edge when taking on some of the game's tougher enemies.

The first thing I like about Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is that its level design is more varied than its predecessor.

Some of this game's levels will have you clearing out space ships and Imperium facilities of daemons; exploring dank swamplands mutated by the Chaos god Nurgle; storming daemonic fortresses dedicated to the Chaos God Khorne; and escaping collapsing, burning buildings before being melted by rising magma, just to name a few.

It helped keep the gameplay fresh, so it didn't feel like I was constantly running and gunning through linear hallways. Plus, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 has alternating chapters you can only select once per playthrough, which sometimes unlocks secret optional chapters where you can find more hidden collectibles, increasing its replay value.

On a side note, Boltgun 2 manages to fix my biggest problems with the first Boltgun game (at last on the Xbox version): remappable controls. You can now keybind all your actions to any button you want to fit your playstyle instead of its default layout, making its controls feel more natural and enjoyable.

Anyway, it's time to talk about the meat and bones of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2: its combat. Combat is just as chaotic, gory, and satisfying as its predecessor while offering more variety with two playable characters with their own unique weapon loadouts and gameplay styles.

Malum Caedo is a slow-but-durable walking tank who can endure tons of gunfire while retaliating twice as hard with Bolters, Shotguns, and heavy ordnance. Malum can smash enemies to paste with a shoulder-tackle charge, lunge at enemies with homing Chainsword attacks, and throw grenades that will blow weaker enemies in an instant.

Meanwhile, Nyra Veyrath is a squishy but extremely mobile warrior who cuts down enemies with a sword while annihilating them with Bolters, Flamers, and Meltas. Nyra can also perform slide moves to dodge certain attacks while piercing enemies with her sword, and chuck slow-detonating but devastating Melta Bombs that even the heaviest armored daemon won't be able to survive,

While they're both fun to use, I ended up enjoying Nyra the most. Her fast, hit-and-run playstyle is so fitting for the boomer-shooter sub-genre; her chargeable melee attack is useful for knocking back aggressive melee fighters, and I love seeing heretics screaming in agony as I burn them to pixelated ashes with Nyra's flamethrowers and Meltas (which shoot scorching laser beams the size of cars).

Nyra's abilities and weapons proved very helpful for the enemies ahead because Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 has a greater rogues' gallery of enemies to fight this time. You will be fighting heretical cultists, iconic Chaos Space Marines devoted to every Chaos God (Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Slaanesh), daemon hordes, massive Greater Daemons, and other hidden surprises.

They're all fun to fight, and especially challenging on harder difficulty modes where you must keep on running to survive getting shredded in a few hits. However, I did notice some enemies and bosses had some really dumb AI where they would get stuck in the terrain, leaving them helpless for me to gun them in an unsatisfying manner.

It didn't happen too often, but often enough for it to be noticeable, and it's probably the only major gripe I have with this game. The only other issue I have is the lack of Xbox Play Anywhere support, as this game would've been a killer app to play on the go with an Xbox Ally.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 — Conclusion

Once again, the Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun series provides sweet catharsis to players yearning for arcade shooters light on story and heavy on pure video game violence. Compared to the first game, Boltgun 2's gameplay was more fun and varied thanks to its multiple playable characters and weapons, improved level design, and a wider bestiary of enemies and bosses.

Not to mention, it has plenty of easter eggs and cheeky references to the vast lore of the Warhammer 40,000 universe for hardcore fans like me to geek out over.

An average playthrough on Normal difficulty will take you around 6-10 hours depending on if you're looking for collectibles, and possibly more if you try to beat it on harder difficulty modes.

So, if you have some spare time to kill over the weekend as we await the next DOOM game, then I recommend giving Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 a go for all your boomer-shooter FPS lovers out there.

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Elgato, the tech company that prides itself on high-quality accessories for streaming, content creation, and gaming, has launched its first wireless microphone called the Elgato Wave Go.

This extension of Elgato's 'Wave ecosystem' is a combined clip-on and handheld microphone system that allows its users to record audio any time, anywhere, on their terms, with studio-level quality, processing, and routing.

Here's everything you need to know about how the Elgato Wave Go works, which you can buy right now on Elgato's official store for $99.99.

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The Elgato Wave Go has a convertible design that allows users to record audio in two ways while being connected to a phone via a USB-C receiver.

While in Clip-on Mode (which is a 7g transmitter the size of a coin), it can mount magnetically onto clothing with custom tuning that restores clarity and audio presence quality at chest distance.

In Handheld mode, Elgato Wave Go's transmitter fits inside a Smart Handle to become a full-sized interview mic with integrated controls, charging, and a sound profile that's been tuned for warmth and presence audio levels when used close up.

This microphone also features toggleable noise cancellation to block out annoying background noise, automatic EQ Shift and Auto Gain systems to apply different sound profiles and audio gain levels depending on its position and mode (without needing to mess around with its settings), and compatibility with the free Wave Go app on iOS and Android for users to customize these aforementioned features to their preference.

On top of that, the Elgato Wave Go will last you for a good long session, as its transmitter can run for up to 8 hours on a single charge or a full day while recording audio.

Its Smart Handle can be recharged alongside the transmitters when it's docked inside (even while recording), and it can store up to 5 full recharges so it can operate for at most 48 hours. The Elgato Wave Go can have all its components recharged while inside its carrying case, which can connect to USB-C chargers.

Its USB-C receiver also has pass-through charging, so you can recharge the Elgato Wave Go while connected to your phone.

Lastly, the Elgato Wave Go can integrate with Elgato's free mixing software called Wave Link. When this mic is used in tandem with the app, users can route audio, apply effects, control its settings via Stream Deck, and unlock Voice Focus, which cleans up reverb and background noise while recording audio indoors.

If this lightweight, convertible microphone with expert sound quality, portability, and customization sounds appealing for your content creation needs, you can buy the Elgato Wave Go on Elgato.com for the MSRP of $99.99 (other retailers will sell it shortly after). The Elgato Wave Go will be available in 40 countries and regions.

Elgato is also offering a Sky Blue variant of the Elgato Wave Go for a limited time on its website. Plus, the microphone will have a second transmitter sold separately for an MSRP of $29.99 (or $14.99 when bought together with the Elgato Wave Go).

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Just a week after releasing a cinematic trailer of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV's Space Marines, Deep Silvers has uploaded a new gameplay trailer showing this iconic playable faction in action.

Unlike past Dawn of War games, which primarily featured the Blood Raven Space Marines, this time the Space Marines playable faction will be split into two sub-factions: the Blood Ravens and the Dark Angels.

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The Space Marines faction features a wide variety of units to command in battle.

These include Intercessor Squads that shoot enemies at a distance, Assault Intercessor Squads that charge directly into the front lines with chainswords and jetpacks, Infiltrator Squads to sneak up behind enemy lines to snipe key targets, Bladeguard Veterans to draw enemy ire and protect squishier allies, Eradicator Squads to blast buildings and vehicles with heavy artillery, and Terminator Squads to destroy the heaviest enemy units while wearing impenetrable armor.

As for vehicles, Space Marines can ride Outrider motorcycles to perform hit-and-run tactics, ride in Drop Pods when reinforcements are needed, or mow down enemy squads using plasma-firing Repulsor Executioner tanks and heavily armed mechanical monstrosities known as Redemptor Dreadnaughts.

Each sub faction of the Space Marines faction have two unique commander units to lead the infantry in battle. The Blood Ravens get a stealthly marksman named Captain Cyrus and an Warp-conjuring Librarian called Jonah Orian, while the Dark Angels get a Terminator-clad master named Astoran and motorcyle-riding Chaplin named Ezrael.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV continues to march towards its release date

To close things out, Space Marines get access to uniques they can build on top of Control Points to protect their resources, summon fortified strongholds from orbit to summon more units, and order Thunderhawk ships to commence bombing runs on enemies via limited-use Strategems.

Overall, this gameplay trailer shows that the Space Marine faction has a wide variety of powerful units suited for offensive and defensive strategies while being simple enough for newcomers to learn how to play and having new tricks for veterans to play with.

This is great for me, as I haven't played a real-time strategy game in decades, so the Space Marines will serve as an excellent way to relearn how to play when Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV launches on December 3, 2026, on PC.

Do note that if you purchase Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV's Commander Edition, you will gain 3 days of early access starting November 30, 2026.

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Owlcat Games has announced it will delay the release of its upcoming CRPG, Shadow of the Road, from November 12, 2026, to March 10, 2027, on PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store, and GOG.

Owlcat Games made this decision so that Shadow of the Road's developers, Another Angler Games, will have more time to polish its tactical, turn-based combat system and character progression and iron out any remaining technical issues before release.

In the meantime, Owlcat Games will be releasing more videos and gameplay updates to keep players occupied as they wait.

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I'm perfectly happy waiting for this intriguing CRPG until it's refined at it's best

Normally, I'd be sad having to wait longer for a game I'm interested in due to delays. However, considering Shadow of the Road's prior release date of November 12. 2026, puts it right in the middle of hotly anticipated titles like World of Warcraft: Forever and Grand Theft Auto 6, I believe Owlcat Games is making the right call here.

It would be a shame to see Shadow of the Road get buried by the presence of AAA titles because it is an incredibly intriguing game that I, after playing and loving its Alpha Test, believe has the potential to be a great hit among CRPG fans.

It has an interesting setting where you travel across a war-torn, alternate 1860s Japan, fighting demons and steampunk mecha in turn-based battles, recruit a squad of fascinating samurai characters and gifted mystics, and engage with compelling dialogue choices that alter the story based on which party members you elect to speak during conversations.

Sadly, there's still no announcement of Shadow of the Road releasing on Xbox or Xbox on PC with Xbox Play Anywhere. Here's hoping that if it sells well next year when it launches on March 10, 2026, it will convince Owlcat Games to release it on Xbox platforms, as this game would be one heck of a good title to play on the go with the Xbox Ally.

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One of my favorite Xbox games this year has been, without a doubt, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Reflection, the latest entry in Capcom's JRPG series that combines the monster-capture gameplay of Pokémon with the action-hunting thrills and awesome beasts of Monster Hunter.

However, when Monster Hunter Stories 3: Reflection launched earlier this year on Xbox Series X|S, many of my Xbox friends (including Jez Corden) were sad it didn't have Xbox Play Anywhere support, as this game was made for gaming on the go due to it being on Nintendo Switch 2 and Steam.

However, Microsoft has come forward to rectify that missed opportunity by announcing via Xbox Wire that Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection will finally receive Xbox Play Anywhere support and also launch on 'Xbox on PC' on November 18, 2026.

With this, Xbox players will be able to play Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on Xbox consoles, Windows 11 PCs, and compatible gaming handhelds like the Xbox Ally with just one purchase on Xbox digital storefronts at no additional cost.

Plus, Xbox players can carry over their save data, achievements, and DLC content seamlessly across all the aforementioned platforms, so they won't have to worry about losing progress.

Here's hoping Monster Hunter Stories 3 gets a DLC expansion in the future

As a longtime fan of turn-based JRPGs, Pokémon-likes, and Monster Hunter, I loved Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

It has an intriguing plot with charming characters, beautiful anime-style graphics that performed amazingly at launch, a fun turn-based combat system that isn't afraid to put the player in danger early on, and an incredibly addictive Habitat Restoration system that puts a unique twist on the monster-taming genre.

However, I was extremely annoyed that this game didn't come with a proper High Rank post-game like previous titles, and its post-launch support has been middling at best, with just cosmetics, beefier versions of regular monsters called Royal Monsters, and a single DLC quest chain.

I'm hoping that this game gets a proper DLC expansion like the mainline Monster Hunter games because Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's base game has an extremely solid foundation that deserves to be expanded upon with more areas, challenges, gear, and playable Monsties.

So, if you've been holding out on Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's Xbox version because of a lack of Xbox Play Anywhere support, you'll have no more excuses to sleep on one of my personal Game of the Year contenders when it receives it on November 18, 2026.

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After the double-whammy launch of Gears of War: E-Day and Minecraft Dungeons 2, things are quietening down for Xbox Game Pass as its next batch of new titles includes a mixture of older AAA titles like Battlefield 6 and intriguing new IP like the soulslike FPS, Valor Mortis.

Here's the full list of Xbox games coming and leaving Xbox Game Pass for the second half of October 2026.

Games leaving Xbox Game Pass (October 15)

• A Plague Tale: Requiem (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Crime Scene Cleaner (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Donut County (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Evil West (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Nova Roma (Game Preview) (PC)
• Pacific Drive (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Superball (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• The Casting of Frank Stone (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Windows Central's take

The biggest game on this list is Battlefield 6, the latest entry in EA's long-running military FPS series. The game has received generally favorable reviews, with critics praising its tight gunplay and multiplayer, but felt the single-player was lacking in the character writing and plot departments.

Battlefield 6 will arrive on Xbox Game Pass on October 13, 2026, which will be the same time the game launches its fifth season.

This season will have players battle in Las Vegas with several new maps, weapons, and vehicles, a new Operation, a Halloween event, a Server Browser, a #REDSEC: Rapid Royale mode, Platoons, and more.

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However, I'm not sure players will have time to play this game because three days after Battlefield 6's induction into Xbox Game Pass...will mark the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, one of the most anticipated Xbox titles of 2026.

Will Battlefield 6 manage to capture player retention away from its biggest rival in the military shooter genre with its Xbox Game Pass inclusion and Season 5 content? Will Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 sweep Battlefield 6 under the rug with its massive campaign mode, intense PVP modes, and new DMZ extraction mode?

Only time will tell next week.

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We all love gaming, but like all pleasures in life, excessive indulgence can lead to damaging your health. For instance, staring too long at computer or TV screens that project blue HEV light can strain your eyes or even ruin your sleep cycle by disrupting your brain.

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Fortunately, apparel brand GUNNAR is here to save your eyes with its Fallout-themed Vault 33 Glasses, which are now on sale for $62.99 at Amazon (was $99.00) courtesy of Amazon Prime Big Deal Days.

Other Fallout Gunnar Glasses are also on sale on GUNNAR's website (discounts are applied during checkout).

Why buy these glasses for gaming?

These gaming glasses are more than novelty items meant to cater to Fallout fans; they're all useful for protecting the wearer's eyes during long hours of gaming or work staring at computer screens that project blue light all day.

For those unaware, prolonged exposure to blue light (which can be emitted from modern monitors and phone screens) can cause annoying eye strain, headaches, migraines, and even disrupt your sleep pattern. This is because blue light can trick the brain into stopping the production of melatonin, a crucial hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle.

With GUNNAR's Fallout Gaming glasses, you won't have to worry about that anymore, as they can block blue light from monitors. Additionally, they're also equipped with 100% UV protection, so they can double as stylish sunglasses.

I wear Gunnar glasses every day

I saw Alex covering these Gunnar glasses and knew I had to jump in. I wear a pair of Gunnar glasses every day at my desk, and I often wear them outside as well.

I was sent a pair of Gunnar Novata Onyx glasses to try out and was surprised by how much of a difference they made. They reduce glare and adjust the contrast of what I see, which helps my eyes feel less strained throughout the day.

I've used screen filters and built-in device settings in the past, but they weren't as effective because they only changed the output of a specific display. Gunnar glasses, by contrast, affect everything I'm looking at and help reduce the impact of harsh ambient light as well.

As someone who spends most of the day staring at monitors, I've found the glasses help reduce the tired, dry-eye feeling I sometimes get after long work sessions. — Sean Endicott

Alternate gaming glasses also on sale

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Amazon's Prime Big Day Deals are here to give gaming laptops a much-needed price-drop reprieve after prices were inflated by this year's ongoing RAM crisis.

One line-up getting this treatment is Acer's Nitro gaming laptops, which feature dedicated GPUs, crisp displays, plenty of RAM to keep them running, and upgradeable storage space.

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However, these Acer gaming laptop deals, like the mid-range Acer Nitro V 16S (ANV16S-61-R9TR-US) for $1,231.99 or the entry-level Acer Nitro V (ANV16-I31-54PT) for $1,119.99, are only available to shoppers who are subscribed to Amazon Prime.

Which of these discounted Acer gaming laptops offer the best value?

Out of all these laptop deals, I'd say the Nitro V 16S (ANV16S-61-R9TR-US) offers the best value for money.

While it's slightly cheaper than its initial launch MSRP of $1,299.99 in 2025, its discounted price of $1,231.99 at Amazon is a much better proposition compared to its current MSRP of $1,449.99, caused by the market-disrupting RAM Crisis this year.

As for Acer Nitro V 16S's specs, our colleagues at Tom's Hardware praised the Acer Nitro V 16S for performing in all the same categories that are important to us at Windows Central.

These categories include a crisp and vibrant 16-inch IPS display with a 1920x1200 resolution with 180Hz refresh rates, high-performance rates for 1080p and 60fps+ gaming and productivity tasks thanks to its 16GB RAM and RTX 5060 GPU, a wide variety of HMDI, microSD, and USB ports, and a long-lasting battery life of 10+ hours under heavy workloads.

On top of that, the Acer Nitro V 16S's specs not only perform reliably well for 1080p gaming but they're also good at helping it complete productivity tasks efficiently on the side, making it a decent jack-of-all-trades laptop.

Alternate Acer gaming laptops on sale

As a reminder, alternate configurations of this laptop and other Acer Nitro gaming laptops are also on sale for Amazon Prime Big Deals Day at the following prices:

• Acer Nitro V 16S AI Copilot+ PC Gaming Laptop (ANV16S-61-R3Z0) (AMD Ryzen 7 350 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SDD) — $248 off $1,649.99 for $1,401.99 at Amazon.
• Acer Nitro 16S AI Gaming Laptop (AN16S-61-R7YL) (AMD Ryzen 7 350 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SDD) — $225 off $1499.99 for $1,274.99 at Amazon.
• Acer Nitro 16S AI Copilot+ PC Gaming Laptop (AN16S-61-R5FY) (AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti GPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD) — $200 off $1,849.99 for $1649.99 at Amazon. 
• Acer Nitro V Gaming Laptop (AN16S-61-R5FY) (Intel Core 5 CPU 210H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 GPU, 8GB DDR5, 512GB SSD) — $180 off $1,299.99 for $1,119.99 at Amazon.

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Geekom is serving up a bountiful buffet of its reliable mini PCs for Amazon Prime's Big Deal Days for hardworking keyboard warriors looking to get work done efficiently while saving desk space at lower prices.

Some of these mini PCs are on sale at Amazon itself, while others are being discounted on Geekom's own store to give PC users a wide variety of options depending on their budget and needs.

Do note that some of these deals will require entering discount codes during checkout to apply the price drop, as provided below. The codes are valid from October 1, to October 7, 2026.

• You can find more deals on Geekom's entire lineup at Amazon from everyday computing solutions to high-performing mini-PCs between October 6, to October 7, 2026.

Amazon deals

Geekom deals

Which of these deals are worth your money?

With the RAM crisis driving the prices of regular PCs and laptops to cost hundreds or thousands of dollars even with discounts, mini PCs have become a hot commodity for folks looking to get work done without breaking the bank.

These Geekom deals are fine examples of mini PCs, and the best value for money among them is the Geekom A5 Pro, which is available for $499.00 at Geekom when bought with the discount codes "TYT3XDFB" or "WCT3XDFB".

Our sister site TechRadar gave it a glowing 4/5 review, praising its performance thanks to its AMD Ryzen 5 7430U CPU and 16GB of DDR4 RAM, its versatile range of USB, HDMI, and LAN ports, and 'IceBlast 2.0' cooling system to keep it from overheating during extensive workflow tasks. It's all the same kind of quality we look for when we test Geekom mini PCs ourselves.

On top of that, it has a compact yet durable aluminum build, an SD card reader that can download images and videos reasonably fast, and a three-year warranty so you can replace it if it suffers any accidental damage.

• As a reminder, you can find more discounted Geekom mini PCs and other Geekom desktops on sale at Amazon's Prime Day sale from October 6, to October 7, 2026.

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After much waiting, Gears of War: E-Day has fully launched for all players to enjoy on Xbox and PC, yet its base game's 115GB install requirement is going to take a big chunk out of your preferred platform's storage.

Fortunately for PC players, Prime Big Deal Days has cut down the insufferably inflated price of the Samsung 9100 Pro 2TB SSD from "$679.97" to $349.99 at Amazon, so they can more easily fit Gears of War: E-Day and other games into their gaming PCs.

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While it's still higher than its original launch MSRP of $299.99, it's still a relatively decent price, considering the current state of tech thanks to the ongoing RAM crisis — just take that previous '$600+' listing with a pinch of salt. $349.99 for 2TB is more like the new normal these days.

Why buy the Samsung 9100 SSD?

The Samsung 9100 Pro comes in multiple storage sizes, including 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB. It also features 14,700/13,400 MB/s sequential read/write speeds, and random read/write speeds of up to 1,850K/2,600K IOPS.

With these advanced technological features combined, you have a powerful PC storage hard drive capable of storing tons of important work files, 4K videos and images, and video games while being able to transfer data with blazing speeds.

The only major criticism of this SSD is that its current MSRP on Amazon is a whopping $679.97 (while the highest detected price on Amazon was $505.46 according to CamelCamelCamel), which is ridiculous considering it originally launched with an MSRP of $299.99.

However, this isn't necessarily this SSD's fault because this price hike was mainly caused by the ongoing RAM crisis this year, driving the market price of all tech-related products to unaffordable levels every single day to offset the memory demands of AI.

Frankly, I'm surprised we're seeing a price drop on the Samsung 9100 Pro or any SSD at all during this crisis, as the way things are going, I fear there may come a point where we might never see a decent price drop on ANY SSD or any tech product ever again.

So, if you're looking for a long-term solution for your gaming PC's storage woes before its MSRP gets permanently untenable, then Amazon's Big Deal Days discount on the 2TB variant of the Samsung 9100 Pro SSD couldn't have come at a better time because it's now on sale at the same time as Gears of War: E-Day's public launch.

This long-awaited prequel to Xbox's iconic Gears of War franchise has a huge 115GB install requirement for the base game alone, a number that will no doubt grow with post-launch updates.

With this discounted 2TB SSD, you will be able to more easily fit Gears of War: E-Day and prep your PC for all its future updates and other upcoming games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.

Alternative models and SSDs

Additionally, the 1TB model of the Samsung 9100 Pro is also on sale for $206.99 at Amazon (MSRP is currently $339.99) if you just want its solid performance at a lower price. Plus, the 4TB model of the Samsung 9100 Pro is on sale for $699.00 at Amazon (MSRP is currently $1,359.99) if you're willing to break the bank for the most storage possible.

However, if you're looking for an even cheaper SSD on the Samsung Pro line, the Samsung 990 1TB SSD with 7,150/6,450 MB/s sequential read/write speeds (which we gave a glowing 4.5/5 review to) is also on sale right now for $189.99 at Amazon (MSRP is currently $228.95).

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Acclaimed gaming journalist Destin Legarie recently spoke with the developers of Gears of War: E-Day about behind-the-scenes development, story elements, audience expectations, and more.

During this conversation, Destin asked the developers how they felt about Gears of War: E-Day being an Xbox console exclusive title.

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The developers responded by saying that they were "proud" to be one of Xbox's pillar titles, "We feel great that they feel great because Gears is like part of Xbox's DNA. It's woven into it. And at The Coalition, we feel honored to have Gears and be the ones bringing that legacy forward."

The developers mentioned they know Xbox means so much to a lot of people and that they're proud to be one of Xbox's main console-exclusive titles, filling that role again with Gears of War: E-Day.

RELATED: Gears of War: E-Day review

Of course, this isn't full exclusivity, as the game is still available on Steam for PC, as has been tradition for Xbox for many years now. As of writing, Gears of War: E-Day has achieved its highest franchise concurrency figures on Steam at around 20,000 users in the early access period, and has become the top-selling Steam game in the United States ahead of its official October 6, 2026 launch. The game is also of course available on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, where I suspect many will be opting to play over an out-right purchase.

Will Xbox exclusivity pay off for Gears of War: E-Day?

Personally, while I prefer games being available on any platform (especially these days when people can't afford to buy every console at once), I can't deny the power exclusivity brings to a console and a game series' brand.

For example, I bought a Nintendo Switch many years ago just to play Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, simply because I knew it wasn't going to be made available on any other console.

So I'm guessing at least some will have the same sentiment for Gears of War: E-Day, which will ultimately be beneficial for Xbox in the long run. Having exclusives will give Xbox its own unique identity and entice console players to play their games not found anywhere else (besides Windows PC, which is also a part of the Xbox ecosystem).

But this is all speculation on my end. Only time will tell if this console-exclusivity strategy pays off financially for Gears of War: E-Day when it leaves early access and launches for the general public on October 6, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Windows PC (all with Xbox Play Anywhere support).

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Gears of War: E-Day has finally launched on Xbox Series X|S and PC via early access for players who pre-ordered the Premium Edition.

While the rest of the world waits for its public release on October 6, 2026, players can look up whether Gears of War: E-Day is up their alley by checking the mountain of critic reviews now available online.

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Sure enough, critics are absolutely adoring this epic prequel to the iconic Gears of War series, as it's scoring high ratings of 88 on Metacritic and 87 on OpenCritic.

Here's what some of the top reviews had to say about this new entry in Xbox's flagship shooter franchise.

Note that all these reviews only cover the single-player campaign, as the multiplayer modes were unavailable to test during the review period.

Gears of War: E-Day Reviews

• IGN (9/10): "E-Day pulls off the tightrope act of giving us a heartfelt prequel with strong characters even when we know how it ends. On a more mechanical level, it also evolves the enemies, weapons, and combat you’d expect to deliver a Gears of War campaign that stands toe-to-toe with any of the others."
• GameSpot (7/10): "For better or worse, E-Day is distinctly Gears, and I had a good time with it, even if the story is disappointing and the open areas are fairly dull. But that’s all it is: a good game, propped up by combat that hasn’t changed all that much over the past 20 years. That’s enough to skate by, but I wish Gears of War would dig deeper."
• VGC (4/5): "Gears of War E-Day's campaign offers balls-to-the-wall action and rarely lets up, but that means the story takes more of a back seat than I'd like. It's good that time is given to the backstories of new protagonists Mags and Lucas, but given that the game is literally the playable Marcus and Dom backstory fans have been waiting decades to see, more time could have been spent on their relationship. In terms of pure gunplay, however, very little beats it this year."
• GamingBolt (9/10): "It stumbles sometimes with its story, but thanks to new and improved movement mechanics, Gears of War: E-Day ends up delivering some of the tightest combat and one of the series’ most excellently paced campaigns in a long, long time."
• Voxel (90/100): "Gears of War: E-Day hits the mark by getting the basics right: embracing its identity as a Gears of War game and elevating the strengths inherent to the series. The game doesn't revolutionize the genre, but it delivers a fun gameplay experience featuring a cinematic narrative and local multiplayer support."

Gears of War: E-Day returns to the series' roots while having some odd, out-of-place open-world elements.

Overall, it seems the general sentiment around Gears of War: E-Day is that it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, but returns to the series' roots with a solid, harrowing war story while refining the core gameplay loop that made Gears of War the household name it is today to great effect.

However, our own Jez Corden was more critical in his review-in-progress article on Gears of War: E-Day. While Jez praised the game's gorgeous visuals, stunning performance, and solid gunplay, he felt like let down by the game's poorly designed open-world-lite elements that break the game's pacing and uninteresting, damage-spongy boss fights.

The real make-or-break point for Gears of War: E-Day, to me, will be its PvP Versus Modes and its much-anticipated PvE Horde Siege mode, where you will be pitted against dozens of Locust enemies and boss monsters at once with 12 players.

If The Coalition can nail the gameplay of its multiplayer modes and its post-launch content, people will be sticking around for Gears of War: E-Day long after they beat the campaign. I know I'll be playing Gears of War: E-Day's Horde Siege mode over Grand Theft Auto 6 any day.

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Today's the day: Gears of War: E-Day, the most anticipated Xbox exclusive in years, has launched in early access for players who pre-ordered the Premium Edition of the game. Earlier, Jez Corden called it "gorgeous but undeniably messy" in our review-in-progress, looking forward to future content additions.

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Still, to celebrate this momentous occasion, Gears of War: E-Day's developers, The Coalition, have released an extensive blog post detailing their plans for updating the game's multiplayer content, balance changes, and more.

Here's what you can expect from Gears of War: E-Day's post-launch updates.

Gears of War: E-Day Season 1

First off, The Coalition states that Season 1 of Gears of War: E-Day's multiplayer content, titled Season 1: Emergence, will be running from today all the way up to December 1, 2026.

Season 1 will include all the game's launch maps, games, cosmetics, and three limited-time events called Halloween, 20 Years of Gears, and Thanksgibbing. Each event will last for two weeks and will feature a Versus Event mode, a Horde Siege Event mission, and exclusive, limited-time rewards.

Additionally, Season 1 will include:

• Ranked: Versus Ranked will officially launch one week after launch on October 13, giving players crucial time to get up-to-speed with all our maps, modes and sandbox before jumping into competitive.  
• Weekly Challenges: The weekly challenges Premium Edition owners receive on October 1 are the same challenges all players will receive at launch on October 6, weekly challenges will then refresh on October 13.
• Shop: Shop offers will rotate every Tuesday. Be sure to check every week for free featured gifts.
• Never Fight Alone Charity Bundle: 100% of net revenue of the Never Fight Alone Year 5 bundle, which includes an exclusive skin and weapon skin set, and the Never Fight Alone Legacy set, goes to our partner Crisis Text Line in our mission to prevent suicide.
• Promotional Items: Cosmetic items available exclusively through limited time partnerships will become available in the Barracks for Coins and Iron after the partnership exclusivity term lapses. 
• Gears of War: Reloaded Rewards: To celebrate the release of the original Gears of War 20 years ago, we’re offering exclusive rewards to commemorate players’ engagement with Gears of War: Reloaded. 
• Fire and Fenix Pose: Complete the “Prison Breakout” XBOX Achievement in Gears of War: Reloaded.
• Old Guard Medal & “Locked n’ Reloaded” Title: Complete the “Re-Up” XBOX Achievement in Gears of War: Reloaded.

Gears of War: E-Day Season 2 and beyond

Season 2: Legacy will begin at a later date after Season 1 and will feature content themed around the Gears of War franchise's 20th anniversary. The Coalition has also prepared a birthday gift for players to open on November 7, the day when the original Gears of War launched two decades ago.

Additionally, The Coalition has announced that Season 2 will include a Dead Serious Achievement. Any players who obtain it will be rewarded with exclusive cosmetics like a Medal, a Player Title, a Banner, an Emblem, an Icon, and a Legendary Character skin.

Lastly, Gears of War: E-Day has been confirmed to receive at least five post-launch seasons. The names of future seasons after Season 2 are:

• Season 3: Infiltration
• Season 4: Pendulum
• Season 5: Devotion

Gears of War: E-Day Multiplayer Balance changes

Moving on from seasonal content, The Coalition then lays out its plan for updating Gears of War: E-Day's gameplay based on feedback from the multiplayer betas.

Their first move is to change the Gnasher, Gears of War's iconic shotgun that is regarded as one of the best weapons to use in PvP and PvE content throughout the whole franchise.

The developers noticed that during Gears 2 to 5, firing the Gnasher from the hip has often resulted in some shots missing when they clearly should've hit the target. So, The Coalition has decided to finally fix that by introducing a new hybrid muzzle and camera-oriented shooting mechanic.

This means that when you fire the Gnasher, the game will check both the camera and muzzle shots and apply whichever angle is better suited for the shot, which should (hopefully) result in more accurate hits.

Next up, The Coalition states that iconic gameplay features from past Gears of War titles, like Meat Shields, Chainsaw Duels, select fan-favorite weapons, Private Lobbies, and Leaderboards, are being considered to be added to Gears of War: E-Day in post-launch updates or the next game.

Right now, the developers are focusing on making sure Gears of War: E-Day has the most stable launch experience possible.

Finally, The Coalition has laid out a series of patch notes for Gears of War: E-Day's early access launch, which include bug fixes, balance adjustments, Quality-of-life improvements, and more:

• Tuning:
  • Weapon Tuning: 
    • Adjusted Prototype Lancer damage to a value in-between Beta weekend 1 and 2
    • Reduced Lancer Mk1 damage
    • Reduced Vulcan damage
    • Increased Hammerburst damage 
    • Increased damage of the Gnasher while ADS at range
    • Improved Gnasher hipfire consistency
    • Reduced rate of fire for the Snub
    • Reduced the Gut-Puncher spare ammo amount
  • Movement & Cover Tuning: 
    • Improved strafe movement responsiveness
    • Adjustments to cover enter speed and distance of cover-enter cancel
    • Reduced Cover Slip speed
    • Reduced Slide distance
  • Horde Siege Tuning:
    • Adjustment of brightness and opacity of Energy icons
    • Adjusted the difficulty of Repair objectives 
    • Decreased the health threshold at which a Boomer, Flayer, or Grinder can be executed with a Prototype Lancer
    • Reduced Weapon Part Rewards for participation in invasions
    • Reduced Weapon Part Rewards for Weapon Part Stockpiles
    • Increased the difficulty of all Invasions
    • Increased the difficulty of Commander and Allfather difficulties
    • Adjusted the Medic’s stim duration
    • Increased equipment costs
    • Reduced the impact of some Squad Perks
    • Increased the Energy cost of Squad Perks
  • Versus Tuning: 
    • Reduced the wave respawn time
    • Reduced frequency of trading to feel more fair and consistent
    • Adjusted Scoring in Demolition 
    • Adjusted Scoring in Crucible
• Bug Fixes: 
  • Across PC, XBOX and handhelds, we made numerous improvements to stability, performance and optimization across applicable hardware configurations
  • On PC, we addressed a bug causing graphics settings to reset between launches
  • Made adjustments to prevent macro abuse of semi-automatic weapons
  • On PC, we addressed an issue causing missing VFX on explosions when set to Low quality settings
  • On “Legacy” control settings, fixed an issue causing an inconsistent Sprint release delay
  • On PC, fixed an issue causing additional input delay when playing on mouse and keyboard
  • On PC, fixed an issue causing mouse & keyboard lighting effects to not display properly
  • In Horde Siege, fixed an issue causing Tickers not to be properly flung when kicked
  • In Horde Siege, fixed an issue causing blast charges delivered during the Corpser Invasion Event to not register
  • Fixed an issue allowing players to shoot enemies not in front of their barrel when aiming down sights
  • Fixed an issue causing versus ranked or social players to get stuck at the “Waiting for Other Players” screen
  • Fixed an issue causing destructible assets to ‘stick’ to players
  • Fixed an issue where Marksman UAV visual effect might persist
  • Improved the reliability of starting objectives in Horde Siege
  • Improved the reliability of switching which squadmate you are spectating when cog tagged in Horde Siege
  • Fixed an issue where Tickers were immune to Gorehooks
  • Fixed an issue allowing more than four squad members in Versus
  • Fixed an issue where abandoned turrets could not be interacted with
  • Fixed visual issues with ranking up from Onyx 3
  • Fixed an issue where boss health bars and locators could scale incorrectly
  • Fixed multiple issues where specific enemies may not be able to path at certain objectives
  • Fixed multiple issues that would prevent objectives from completing in Horde Siege
  • Fixed multiple inconsistencies and interaction errors in the Horde Siege lobby and Barracks
  • Fixed multiple scoring inconsistencies and errors
  • Fixed multiple matchmaking errors and timeouts
  • Fixed an issue where Mortar strike vfx could appear without cause
  • Fixed an issue where TDM matches would end too early
• QoL & Feedback: 
  • On all platforms, we added an FOV slider 
  • On all platforms, we improved HDR calibration, made UI paper-white adjustment independent
  • On all platforms, we added the ability to disable Chromatic Aberration
  • On all platforms, we added the ability to disable Film Grain 
  • On PC, Max FPS can be set to 30, 60, 90, 120, 144, 240, or Unlimited 
  • On PC, setting Max FPS to “Unlimited” will not cap your framerate
  • On PC, multi frame generation is now optionally supported
  • On PC, we added a setting to allow players to enable or disable Lamp device support for mouse and keyboard lighting  
  • On XBOX, “The Lucky Ones Died on E-Day” achievement has been removed in order to support the upcoming Mythic Achievements feature. Players will still earn the “I AM A GEAR” Player Title upon completing all other achievements and the achievement remains on Steam
  • In multiplayer, adjusted Player XP to better align the rate of progression across Horde Siege and Versus
  • Made improvement to Backfill AI bot behavior 
• Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD): 
  • On PC, Advanced Shader Delivery (ASD) is a new feature that significantly reduces the time spent compiling shaders across different PC hardware configurations. It benefits Gears of War: E-Day and other supported games across the Xbox PC app
  • For launch, ASD will be supported on AMD hardware, with NVIDIA support coming later in October
  • Playing E-Day outside the Xbox PC app? You may still benefit from ASD if the Xbox PC app is installed on your Windows 11 PC, allowing the required shaders to be pre-installed
• LAUNCH KNOWN ISSUES:
  • Playing through the entire length of the game without reloading checkpoints or restarting may cause memory issues. Please reload a checkpoint if you get blocked at an encounter or objective
  • Performance Overlay in Benchmark mode does not include generated frames, and can report a lower than accurate FPS 
  • Game process may continue to run after closing, can be viewed and shut down from task manager 
  • New clients joining a lobby working through an existing save will receive all prior secondary objective and hardcase progress in the War Journal and all relevant Forge rewards 
  • On PC, offline play is unavailable until October 6

Are you ready for Gears of War: E-Day?

If you're a fan of Gears of War or third-person shooters, then you won't want to miss out on Gears of War: E-Day when it leaves early access and launches for the general public on October 6, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S and PC.

It's turning out to be one of the best games in the series just from the campaign alone, and judging from these long-term plans for its exciting multiplayer modes, Gears of War: E-Day is going to satiate your craving for video game violence for a long time.

Before heading off to buy a copy, I'd recommend upgrading your Xbox Series X's storage to fit Gears of War: E-Day, as the base game's 115GB install requirement is going to take a huge chunk out of it long before its post-launch updates arrive.

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