The fact that you can, today, play Capcom’s Resident Evil Village natively on an Apple iPhone is undeniably impressive. But actually trying to play this popular horror game on Apple’s latest pocketable device doesn’t make for a great experience.
You can’t use ‘unauthorized’ Xbox controllers anymore — so get this one instead
Xbox has suddenly disallowed support for certain third-party accessories that previously worked just fine.
If you recently plugged in a third-party accessory to your Xbox Series X and got a weird error code, you’re not alone.
Xbox fans are a little miffed because their consoles are now warning them to stop using certain third-party controllers, according to The Verge. Specifically, people are receiving error code 0x82d60002, and according to Microsoft’s support website, it’s for connecting an “unauthorized accessory” to the console, regardless of how well the accessory may have worked previously.
If you get that error, you’ll allegedly have two weeks to keep using the accessory before it gets blocked by the console. After that, you’ll need to get an officially licensed product to replace it.
There are a couple of logical reasons why Microsoft would do this, even if it’s deeply inconvenient for many players. First is that it could be used to target cheating devices, which most people would probably agree is not a bad thing. Second, however, is that it can be an incentive for people to buy official Microsoft devices – or devices licensed by Microsoft. That’s less altruistic.
Brook Gaming, which manufactures adapters for steering wheels and fighting game sticks on Xbox, put out a statement saying its products might be affected by this. It’s just one example of how this new policy might mess with people’s ability to play games the way they want to play them.
Hopefully, Microsoft can expeditiously start authorizing some of these products so people don’t feel like they’ve wasted money on them going forward.
Which Xbox controller should you get instead?
Whether you have a defunct knock off, or you simply want to snag a supported controller, consider getting this Core Wireless Controller from Xbox itself. If you don’t mind splurging, you can also grab this Xbox Elite Series 2 controller.
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Kotaku’s 24 Most Anticipated Games Of 2024
Congratulations, gamers, you have successfully made it through another year of back-to-back big video game launches, disappointing cancellations and delays, and bizarre tribalistic discourse over which console is the best. Joking aside, 2023 was a very good year for video games, with bangers like The Legend of Zelda:…
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When Hi-Fi Rush shadow-dropped on January 25, it was a shockingly pleasant surprise. Beautiful, vibrant, playful, the rhythm action platformer quickly won players over. A day later, Hitman World of Assassination appeared, deploying clever roguelike mechanics to reinvent the best stealth game of 2021. A day after that, …
‘Alan Wake II’ review: A horror masterpiece
A review of Remedy Entertainment’s ‘Alan Wake II’ for PS5, Xbox, and PC.
There is nothing out there quite like Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake II. A tense, slow, and acid-induced horror journey through the eyes of its main protagonists, Alan Wake and Saga Anderson, Alan Wake II sits at the very pinnacle of the survival horror genre.
If that sounds like high praise, well, it is, because it’s a damn good game. Building upon not just its predecessor, Alan Wake, but on everything within the Remedy catalog — taking the old and creating a wholly unique gaming experience, unlike anything its contemporaries in the genre offer.
Alan Wake II launched on Oct. 27, and from the 14 hours I played — about 70 percent of the game — I was very impressed. In a month stacked with heavy hitters such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Alan Wake II is a stand-out that kept me hooked.
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You will never feel safe
Credit: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
Alan Wake II‘s inspirations reach across all genres and mediums, creating a game that both feels familiar and unique at the same time. From its Twin Peaks-inspired town to its grungy, dirty crime noir nightmare version of New York City, the games’ two worlds offer players a feast for the eyes.
The game, set 13 years after its predecessor, sees FBI Agent Saga Anderson travel to the fictional town of Bright Falls, Washington, to investigate several disappearances and murders that have taken place in town. Meanwhile, the titular Alan Wake tries to write himself out of the Dark Place — a surreal alternate reality outside space and time that can turn art into reality — which sits at the bottom of Bright Falls’ Cauldron Lake.
Players can at any time switch between the two protagonists, its two worlds offering a distinctive style and tone. The two areas are small, dense, and technical marvels to enjoy. As Saga, players are introduced to a methodical, investigatory slow-burn detective story, while Wake is trapped in a filthy art-deco neo-noir meets horror movie mashup. And it’s a clear choice by Remedy to make its story a slow, plodding build so as to invest players in its characters and mystery.
Essential to this detective story is the game’s central mechanic, the Plot Board, which Saga can access from her Mind Place — a sort of quasi-pause menu where players can piece together deductions made from their investigations of the main quest and the various side quests found around town and other areas. It’s a unique way of keeping track of character progression but also doesn’t require the player to use it in order to figure out how to progress the plot. This allows players to piece together the case themselves without the game holding their hands as they explore the surroundings on offer.
And that’s a good thing because this game demands the player’s attention as they slowly walk through the beautiful town of Bright Falls and the surrounding areas of Watery and Cauldron Lake. Set in the Pacific Northwest, trekking through these areas as Saga is a treat as the environments feel natural and authentic, with Remedy playing into its strength with compelling environmental storytelling. Wading through the woods outside of town as your investigation furthers, the sound design and level of detail make sure you never feel safe. There is always a sense of foreboding doom the minute you leave your safe havens, and it makes for a tense journey as you progress through the game.
Credit: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
The stark contrast to the greenery and stunning views of Bright Falls is Alan Wake’s nightmare version of New York City. An unnatural, grimy place, this version of New York feels like being trapped in an art museum after hours. Each building was placed with careful consideration, as if the city was put on display for the mind of its imprisoned inhabitant. The area is detailed and dense, with everything from the street clutter to the graffiti on the wall having some message behind it. The ambiance of the city is filled with broken street lamps and dingy neon lights that guide Alan toward his next objective. Compared to the strange eeriness of Bright Falls, the world of Nightmare New York is more hard-boiled, its city inspired by right-wing vigilante fantasies like Death Wish and its ilk.
The world design, by far, is the best part of Alan Wake II. It’s small and intimate, and it tells a hundred stories before a word is even said. It’s atmospheric in a way that not even a lot of immersive sims are, and it allows Remedy to do some truly bizarre and meta things within the chosen genres and motifs of its world.
It’s hunting season
Credit: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
I spent a lot of time gushing about the world of Alan Wake II, but how’s the gameplay? It’s fine. If you’ve played any of the Resident Evil remakes, you’ve played Alan Wake II. Not to say the gameplay is bad–it’s quite solid, actually—but it’s clear that combat was not what Remedy was focused on here.
The shooting is good, with each gun having a decent weight to it when fired. The core gameplay loop doesn’t get tiring, with your character shining their light on enemies to get rid of their darkness shield before blasting away at them. This is complemented by an excellent sound design that makes for an auditory treat whenever you shoot enemies’ weak spots. However, the options of weapons are quite limited for both characters, and the enemy variety is sparse. There are 3-4 different variants of “Taken,” there’s the big variant, the melee variants, and the ranged variants. While the game says that there are different ways to approach each of these, in my experience in the game, this is very inconsistent, and most of the enemies tend to be bullet sponges.
The bosses are particular high points. While the bosses are still of the point-and-shoot variety, they do offer compelling visual and thematic areas not found in the game as players enter “Overlaps” between the real world and the Dark Place. With the way combat is designed, Remedy understood that too much can be a bad thing, and you’ll rarely ever engage in combat and seldom, if ever, face more than one or two enemies at a time.
Alan’s side of the game is a little tenser and less combat-focused. Instead of running into bog-standard enemies, Nightmare New York is littered with shadowed silhouettes that may or may not try to engage you. The game forces you to get up close and personal with them as they whisper and shout your name. Some shadows may grab you while others will full-on attack you, with Alan never knowing which is which until it’s too late. This makes for tense encounters as you progress through the plot, and it’s clear that Remedy is more focused on building a sense of dread as the player rummages through the world than just becoming another action-horror shooter. It’s a massive improvement compared to its predecessor, Alan Wake, with its floaty combat mechanics and stilted graphics making it the quintessential 2010s bargain bin action-horror title.
Credit: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
The bottom line
Credit: Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games
Often with these kinds of games, the story is secondary to the combat, but Alan Wake II takes a different approach, building upon its connected universe without getting too in the player’s face. In each of the games, Remedy has sought to combine gameplay with narrative. Alan Wake’s story within the story told you how everything would play out, Max Payne was heavy on reactive internal monologues, and Control was a lore-rich narrative that rewarded players for exploration. All these combined create what is essentially a magnum opus for Remedy, with Alan Wake II being the culmination of a decade’s worth of experience and game design. That’s without talking about its performance, which runs almost perfectly, bar the rare visual glitch.
With the review for this game, which was possible thanks to a review code from Remedy and Epic Games, I didn’t want to talk about the story too much beyond the bare-bones plot. That’s because it has to be experienced first, and anything I can say about it will undersell just how impressive it is. Video games have never been a bastion of good writing, except in rare cases, and that just comes with the territory. But Alan Wake II is a story that needs to be replayed a couple of times — it’s a unique blend of meta-commentary, live-action, and incorporation of music that creates a story that can’t be told in other any format, medium, or genre — and it needs more than one playthrough to truly, fully understand and appreciate it. Alan Wake II touches upon and references Remedy’s other games, but does so in a way that feels familiar to fans of these games while also allowing new players to feel welcomed into the world.
In an industry littered with unfinished, high-budget triple-A video games, it is refreshing to see a near-perfect and polished game released on day one. Remedy’s Alan Wake II is not only the studio’s best game to date, but it’s one of the best games of its genre and perhaps of the year.
Best laptop deals ahead of Black Friday: MacBooks, Dell Inspiron, Alienware, and more
Here’s a running list of the best laptop deals from top brands like Apple, Alienware, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Razer, and more as of Oct. 28.
UPDATE: Oct. 28, 2023, 5:00 a.m. EDT This story has been updated with the latest laptop deals, pricing, and availability.
Dell Inspiron 15 3520 (Intel Core i3-1215U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
(save $80)
Dell Inspiron 16 5635 (AMD Ryzen 7 7730U, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD)
(save $400)
Apple MacBook Air, 13.3-inch (Apple M1, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD)
(save $249.01)
Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch (Apple M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD)
(save $250)
Alienware x14 R2 (Intel Core i7-13620H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD)
(save $300)
The only thing better than a great laptop is a great laptop that’s on sale. To help Mashable readers find their next computer, we’re compiling a running list of the best laptop deals across major retailers right here every week. From the latest Apple MacBooks to cheap Chromebooks for homework, versatile 2-in-1s for streaming and drawing, and premium gaming machines with a ton of horsepower, read on for our top picks as of Oct. 28 (categorized by price) — including a handful of early Black Friday laptop deals at Best Buy and Dell.
Best laptop deals under $300
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Why we like it
This Dell Inspiron 15 features a 12th-generation Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 15.6-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s a spec sheet we rarely see at this price point: Most cheap, entry-level PCs under $300 have dinky Intel Celeron N Series CPUs, 4GB of RAM, pokier eMMC flash storage, and 60Hz refresh rates. It’s down to $299.99 on Dell’s website (normally $379.99) during its Black Friday Sneak Peek sale — that’s a fantastic price for these specs.
More laptop deals under $300
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ASUS Chromebook C223 (Intel Celeron N3350, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC) — $199.99
$249.99(save $50) -
ASUS Chromebook C424 (Intel Celeron N4020, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC) — $249
$349(save $100) -
ASUS VivoBook Flip 14 TP401 (Intel Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 128GB eMMC) — $299
$399(save $100) -
HP Laptop 17z-cp200 (AMD Athlon Gold 7220U, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) — $299.99
$499.99(save $200) -
Lenovo IdeaPad 1, 15-inch (AMD Athlon Gold 7220U, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD) — $299.99
$399.99(save $100)
Best laptop deals under $600
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Why we like it
Dell’s 16-inch Inspiron laptop also punches above its current price point with 16GB of RAM (up from the 8GB we typically encounter in models under $600), a whole terabyte of storage, and a peppy AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor — it’s stellar for multitasking. We spotted it on sale for just $599.99 on Dell.com, which is 40% off its suggested retail price of $999.99.
More laptop deals under $600
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Acer Aspire 3 (Intel Core i3-N305, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $349.99
$499.99(save $150) -
Acer Aspire 7 (AMD Ryzen 5 5500U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $549.99
$799.99(save $250) -
ASUS Vivobook Go 15 OLED (Intel Core i3-N305, 8GB, 256GB SSD) — $339
$379(save $40) -
Dell Inspiron 14 7430 2-in-1 (Intel Core i3-1315U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $499.99
$649.99(save $250) -
Dell XPS 13 9315 (Intel Core i5-1230U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $599
$799(save $200) -
HP Laptop 15t-fd000 (Intel Core i5-1335U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $449.99
$819.99(save $370) -
HP Pavilion Laptop 15t-eg300 (Intel Core i5-1335U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $469.99
$899.99(save $430) -
Lenovo Ideapad 3i, 15-inch (Intel Core i5-1155G7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $399.99
$629.99(save $230) + free one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription
Best laptop deals under $900
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Why we like it
The 13-inch MacBook Air from late 2020 nabbed a Mashable Choice Award upon release for its zippy M1 chip, quiet fanless design, and 18-hour battery life. We’re still recommending it three years later as the best budget MacBook, and right now you can buy its 256GB base model for $749.99 (normally $999) via Amazon and Best Buy. That matches its record-low Prime Day price from July, which has been holding relatively steady ever since.
Read Mashable’s review of the Apple MacBook Air (2020).
More laptop deals under $900
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Acer Aspire 5 (Intel Core i7-1255U, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $699.99
$849.99(save $150) -
Dell G16 (Intel Core i7-12700H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $799.99
$1,249.99(save $450) -
Dell Inspiron 16 7630 2-in-1 (Intel Core i5-1335U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $699.99
$899.99(save $200) -
Dell Vostro 15 (Intel Core i5-1335U, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $649
$849(save $200) -
HP ENVY x360 2-in-1 Laptop 15t-fe000 (Intel® Core i7-1355U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $799.99
$1,099.99(save $300) -
Lenovo LOQ, 16-inch (Intel Core i5-13500H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $797.99
$1,199.99(save $402) -
Lenovo Slim Pro 7, 14-inch (AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $899.99
$1,199.99(save $300) + free one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription -
Lenovo Yoga 6, 13-inch with Aluminum Top Cover (AMD Ryzen 7 7730U, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $799.99
$1,099.99(save $300) -
Lenovo Yoga 7i, 16-inch (Intel Core i5-1335U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $679.99
$799.99(save $120) -
LG gram 17 (Intel Core i7-1260P, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $999.99
$1,799.99(save $800) + free one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription -
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, 13.5-inch (AMD Ryzen 5 4680U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $699.99
$999.99(save $300) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription
Laptop deals under $1,200
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Our pick: Apple MacBook Air, 15-inch
Why we like it
This year’s 15-inch version of the M2 MacBook Air upgrades it with a slightly larger (but just as pretty) Liquid Retina display and two extra speakers (six instead of four). Best of all, it still only weighs about three pounds. Best Buy and Amazon both have the 256GB model marked down to its all-time low of $1,049 (normally $1,299), though the former shaves an additional $50 off for paid My Best Buy members as part of its Black Friday Early Access sale.
Read Mashable’s review of the 15-inch Apple MacBook Air.
More laptop deals under $1,200
-
Apple MacBook Pro, 13.3-inch (Apple M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) — $1,049
$1,299(save $250) -
Dell Inspiron 16 Plus 7630 (Intel Core i7-13620H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $999.99
$1,449.99(save $450) -
Dell XPS 13 9315 2-in-1 (Intel Core i7-1250U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,199
$1,449(save $250) -
Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8, 16-inch (AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $949.99
$1,299.99(save $350) -
Samsung Galaxy Book3 360, 15.6-inch (Intel Core i7-1360P, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $999.99
$1,549.99(save $550); extra $50 off for My Best Buy members
Laptop deals over $1,200
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Why we like it
The Alienware x14 R2 earned an Editor’s Choice Award from the experts at PCMag (which is owned by Mashable’s publisher, ZiffDavis), who deemed it “a near-flawless compact gaming laptop.” This especially beefy configuration comes equipped with a 14-inch QHD+ 165Hz display, a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 H-Series processor, 32GB of RAM, and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics; it should be able to plow through demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Starfield. You can snag it for $1,699.99 (down 15% from its $1,999.99 MSRP) when you order it directly through Dell’s website.
More laptop deals over $1,200
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Acer Nitro 5 (AMD Ryzen 7 6800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,349.99
$1,799.99(save $450) -
Alienware m18 (Intel Core i7-13700HX, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,699.99
$1,949.99(save $250) -
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 (Intel Core i7-1360P, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) — $1,249
$1,449(save $250) -
Lenovo Legion Slim 7 Gen 8, 16-inch (AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,339.99
$1,679.99(save $340) -
LG gram SuperSlim 15.6 (Intel Core i7-1360P, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,499.99
$1,799.99(save $300) + free one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription -
MSI Summit E14 Flip Evo (Intel Core i7-1260P, Intel Iris Xe, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,399.99
$1,599.99(save $200) -
Razer Blade 15 (Intel Core i7-12700K, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,999.99
$2,999.99(save $1,000) + free 1-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription -
Razer Blade 17 (Intel Core i7-12800H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) — $1,999.99
$3,199.99(save $1,200); extra $100 off for paid My Best Buy members
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Disney Dreamlight Valley Won’t Be F2P After All
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23 Years Ago, PlayStation 2 Changed Video Games Forever
It’s been 23 years since Sony launched the PlayStation 2, and a whole lot has changed in that time. While console warriors clash on social media over the merits of Starfield and Spider-Man 2, the PS5 and Series X|S generation has gotten off to a relatively sluggish start. Although Sony has managed to sell a whopping…