If you’ve been eagerly waiting for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Sagato fulfill the incredible promise of its stirring trailer from last August (see above), I have some bittersweet news: the game’s been delayed again. Developer TT Games tweeted on Friday that “we won’t be able to make our intended Spring release date,” which itself was a delay from the game’s original 2020 launch window.
Bittersweet, because the delay does comes with the promise that it’ll be the company’s “biggest and best-ever LEGO game,” which is exactly what that trailer looked like last fall.
It’s been sixteen years since the first Lego Star Wars, and I can certainly wait a bit longer if there’s a chance of achieving that goal. We’ve seen far too many games shoved out before they were ready, and I can think of at least one notable reason any developer might need a bit more time now.
It may mean one fewer game for new PS5 and Xbox Series X / S buyers to take advantage of their new consoles in the short term, though. (It’s coming to Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC as well.)
There’s no new release date for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga yet.
Remember the full-sized Xbox Series X fridge Microsoft sent out to a few celebrities as a marketing stunt back in October? Well, now it seems like you’ll soon be able to buy a miniature version of that same fridge, assuming that we haven’t been taken in by an especially cruel April Fools’ joke.
Ok…here goes. Help @Xbox win this and we’ll put into production this year REAL XBOX SERIES X MINI FRIDGES! Yep, you read that right. Not an April Fools joke. Not clickbait. #Xbox #BestofTweets https://t.co/vm5B0kZht1 pic.twitter.com/A28hWBP3DbApril 2, 2021
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Yesterday, on April 1st, the Twitter Marketing account held a poll asking viewers to vote for which branded accounts makes the best tweets. This was the finals for its “Best of Tweets” competition, meaning it was the culmination of a whole month of polls. The vote was between Skittles and Xbox, and Xbox Games Marketing GM tweeted out that if Xbox won, the company would produce a line of “real Xbox Series X mini fridges.”
I know what you’re thinking. That’s gotta be a joke, right? April Fools’? Well, at least according to Greenberg’s post, it was not.
Thanks to everyone who voted, this was down to the wire and thrilling to follow. Now that @Xbox won, we will move forward on our promise to make those Xbox Series X Mini Fridges. First one off the line will be filled with games & headed to our friends @Skittles of course! 💚🌈 https://t.co/xeeN8yLGV8April 2, 2021
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And now that it’s April 2nd and we’re all seeing a bit more clearly, Greenberg is promising to go through with mini-fridge production. Xbox won the Twitter poll by a narrow 0.6% margin, leading the GM to state that “we will move forward on our promise to make those Xbox Series X mini fridges.” He also said that the first unit produced would be filled with games and sent to Skittles as a show of good sportsmanship.
Obviously, there’s a lot of brand stuntwork at play here, but it’s still cool to think that you might soon be able to buy a version of an item that was only meant for influencers before. We don’t know any other details about the mini-fridges yet, but maybe in a decade, Microsoft and KFC will have switched places when it comes to food and games.
If you missed your chance to win the actual Xbox Series X refrigerator born from memes making fun of the console’s fridge-like look, I have some good news for you: there may be another way to get your hands on a Series X-shaped cooling appliance in the future.
Last night, to help Xbox defeat Skittles in the final round of Twitter’s inaugural #BestOfTweets Brand Bracket (yes, you read that right), Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg promised that if Xbox won, Microsoft would make actual Xbox Series X mini fridges. That promise seems to have been enough to give Xbox the edge because Xbox indeed defeated Skittles on Friday morning with 50.5 percent of the vote.
It seems like Microsoft is going to make good on its promise, as Greenberg said that “we will move forward on our promise to make those Xbox Series X Mini Fridges” in a tweet just three minutes after the poll results came through. Skittles will get the first one, he said.
Thanks to everyone who voted, this was down to the wire and thrilling to follow. Now that @Xbox won, we will move forward on our promise to make those Xbox Series X Mini Fridges. First one off the line will be filled with games & headed to our friends @Skittles of course! https://t.co/xeeN8yLGV8
— Aaron Greenberg ♂️ U (@aarongreenberg) April 2, 2021
And if you were wondering if this is all some elaborate April Fools’ prank, that’s apparently not the case. Greenberg said the mini fridge promise was “Not an April Fools joke” and “Not clickbait” on Thursday evening. It seems like he’s serious.
Granted, all we know in the immediate aftermath of Xbox’s win is that Microsoft intends to put the fridges “into production” sometime this year. Greenberg hasn’t specified how many fridges the company will make, when you might be able to buy one, or if you’ll even be able to buy one for yourself at all. (Perhaps they will be giveaways, like the full-size fridge.) We’ve asked Microsoft if it can share any specific details, and if it does, we’ll let you know.
Skittles also had put down stakes in a victory, pledging to bring back the lime flavor if it won the competition. The candy brand also assured fans that the promise was “Not an April Fools joke” and “Not clickbait.” I’m really hoping Skittles brings back the lime flavor anyway.
We already knew MLB The Show 21 would be the first entry in the Sony-published series to arrive on Xbox consoles. And today, Microsoft revealed the next entry in the long-running baseball franchise will also be available on Xbox Game Pass for consoles when the game releases on April 20th.
According to the blog post, the Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S versions will be playable on Microsoft’s video game subscription service. The game will also be available on Android devices via xCloud, which is available at no additional cost if you are subscribed to the pricier Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier.
MLB The Show 21 is a huge win for Xbox owners. In the past, the series has been exclusive to PlayStation platforms, while competitors released for Xbox have never quite become true contenders to The Show. Game Pass is already home to a handful of longtime sports franchises and now includes the latest entries in the NBA 2K, FIFA, Madden, and NHL series.
VideoCardz reports, citing local media as the source that Gigabyte’s Aorus division has demonstrated the company’s upcoming 43-inch monitor that features 144Hz refresh rate as well as 1ms MPRT response time. Gigabyte’s Aorus FV43U will be the industry’s third 43-inch display that boasts a combination of a large 43-inch size, a 4K resolution, accurate colors, and a 144Hz refresh rate.
At a rare showcase in Vietnam, Gigabyte demonstrated its upcoming Aorus FV43U 43-incher that uses a 43-inch 10-bit panel featuring a 3840 x 2160 resolution, 1000 nits brightness in HDR mode, a 1 ms motion picture response time (MPRT), 178º / 178º viewing angles, and a 144 Hz refresh rate.
While there is no word whether the new FV43U unit supports any kind of variable refresh rate technology, VESA’s Adaptive-Sync is present on many gaming LCDs, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to expect the Aorus FV43U to support this capability. There is also no word on whether the FV43U has an HDMI 2.1 input, which in the case of this product would be logical as it is positioned as a console gaming monitor for Microsoft’s Xbox Series X as well as Sony’s PlayStation 5.
Gigabyte enhanced the backlighting of the Aorus FV43U with quantum dots, so the the LCD can reproduce 97% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Also, the Aorus FV43U is DisplayHDR 1000 certified, so expect it to support at least HDR10 transport for HDR content.
To date, only Acer and Asus have introduced 43-inch gaming monitors with a 144Hz refresh rate, so Gigabyte’s Aorus FV43U will be in a good company.
Some retailers in Asia are reportedly taking preorders on the Aorus FV43U, so expect the product to hit the market shortly to compete with the best 4K gaming monitors. At present the unit reportedly costs around $1,500, which is in line with pricing of competing LCDs with the same features, but we have no idea about its MSRP in the U.S. and Europe.
Analogue’s Pocket is the latest gadget to be negatively impacted by the global shortage of chips and electronic components. The sleek and modern device that allows you to play Game Boy cartridges will now launch in October, an additional five-month delay, the company announced today.
“The current global state of affairs continues to create supply chain challenges outside of our control,” Analogue said in a blog post today. “There have been sudden and severe electrical component shortages as well as logistical issues leading to a domino effect of challenges for nearly everyone in the industry.”
Super Nt will be restocked in April. Mega Sg and DAC shortly after.
— Analogue (@analogue) March 31, 2021
This is not the first time Analogue had to delay the Pocket. last July, the company announced it would not hit its 2020 release window and pushed back the release date to May 2021.
Analgoue is among many companies affected by the component shortages, which have slowed down the production of many electronics, ranging from smartphones to cars, while also making it near-impossible to buy next-gen gaming hardware, including desktop graphics cards, the PS5, and the Xbox Series X.
Microsoft has started testing a new version of its Edge browser on Xbox consoles. The software giant provided access to the Chromium version of Edge to Xbox Insiders earlier this month, offering an early look at the improved browsing capabilities coming to the Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S. I’ve had a chance to try out this early version over the past few days, and I’ve been able to test Discord, Stadia, and other web services running inside Edge on the Xbox. It’s like having the full version of Edge from PC running on your TV.
The Xbox version of Edge looks almost identical to the one you can find on PC or Mac right now. It even includes features like vertical tabs and Collections. Like Edge on PC and mobile, the Xbox version also syncs all your settings, favorites, tabs, and web history.
The new Microsoft Edge Chromium browser running on Xbox.
Extension support is the only big feature that’s really missing right now. I’m not sure if this is a general restriction with the Xbox version, or whether Microsoft might implement it once this Chromium version is ready to release. Either way, if you try to add a Chrome or Edge extension it will fail.
The big reason you might want to use this new version of Edge on the Xbox is for the greatly improved web compatibility. This allows services like Discord, Skype, or even Google Stadia to run on the Xbox version of Edge. Discord will let you join voice calls and participate in text channel chats, but microphone support isn’t there just yet. This is a really early version, so it’s likely that it will be supported eventually. Likewise, if you switch to another game or app, Discord calls in the Edge browser do not continue in the background. This may also change before this Edge update is broadly available, too.
Google Stadia runs well on Edge for Xbox.
Google Stadia works really smoothly. I’ve been able to stream multiple games using the service, and the Xbox controller is automatically detected and supported in games. I’ve also tried to use Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming service, but Nvidia appears to be blocking the Edge user agent string, and there are no developer tools or extensions that will allow me to spoof the Chrome user agent.
Elsewhere, I’ve also tested out Office web apps in this Xbox version of Edge. They work as reliably as you’d expect, and you can even hook up a keyboard to the Xbox and type away. Unfortunately, mouse support isn’t available in this Edge browser yet. That appears to be part of a broader restriction on Xbox apps accessing a mouse on Microsoft’s consoles, so it’s not clear if this will be fully supported in the future.
Edge on Xbox is currently based on Chromium 91, which is expected to debut on desktop versions of Edge in May. Microsoft hasn’t revealed when it plans to release this Xbox version, though.
This Edge browser is already a big improvement over the legacy version that exists on Xbox today. Full sync support, web compatibility, and just the general interface is greatly improved. While Xbox typically gets dedicated streaming apps for most services, this Edge update will be useful for many who want to access everything the web has to offer.
Great news for high-end audio lovers and gamers alike: Bang & Olufsen has just announced its first-ever wireless gaming headphones, the Beoplay Portal. The high-end Danish firm promises that the Beoplay Portal brings the hallmarks of its design to a gaming headset.
Whether you plan on using them for gameplay, watching movies or enjoying music, Beoplay Portal offers an impressive set of features, including low-latency surround sound, Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency Mode, Dolby Atmos for Headphones support, and on-ear touch controls (for volume, ANC, transparency, playback and call-handling).
Beoplay Portal was developed as part of the ‘Designed for Xbox’program, and it’s not the first time a collaboration between B&O and Microsoft has been touted. As such, the headphones connect seamlessly to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles via Xbox Wireless protocol for a high-bandwidth, low-latency connection. The Beoplay Portal headphones are also compatible with PC and mobile devices via Bluetooth 5.1, aptX Adaptive, and USB-C, allowing gamers to take their immersive audio experience on the go.
They sport two custom-designed 40mm drivers with neodynium magnets, with support for Dolby Atmos for Headphones processing adding virtual surround sound and texture to compatible games, movies and music.
There’s a new generation of the company’s adaptive active noise cancellation technology, plus something B&O is calling Own Voice. Thanks to the four voice mics and four mics for ANC (two per earcup), users should be able to hear their own voices while simultaneously cancelling out extraneous sounds.
(Image credit: Bang & Olufsen)
In terms of design, the earcups feature touch-sensitive aluminium discs; the jaw-supporting earpads are crafted from lambskin-wrapped memory foam; and there is a subtle protrusion on the rear of each cushion that conforms to the shape of the user’s head and promises to minimise sound leakage. The inner headband features offset padding designed to relieve pressure on the top of the head and it is covered with a high-quality bamboo fibre textile, chosen for its durability and breathability.
And at 282g, the Beoplay Portal headphones are quite light for the category, helped no doubt by a feature B&O calls an “all-new virtual boom arm”, which the company claims eliminates the need for the traditional (read: actual) boom arm found on most gaming headsets. Using Directional Beamforming technology, the array of microphones promises to isolate and amplify the user’s voice while eliminating background noise, allowing for clear conversations – whether calling out objectives to teammates or talking on the phone to friends.
The claimed battery life is strong, too, at up to 24 hours of continuous playtime using Bluetooth and ANC, or 12 hours of playtime using Xbox Wireless, Bluetooth and active noise cancellation.
Beoplay Portal will be available in three colourways – Black Anthracite, Grey Mist and Navy – from 29th April, priced at £449 (€499, $499, 3749 DKK), however a Black Anthracite finish is launching in the United States and Canada from today (30th March) exclusively at Bang & Olufsen, Best Buy and the Microsoft Store for a limited time.
MORE:
See our Sony PlayStation Pulse 3D Wireless Headset review
Read up on the best wireless noise-cancelling headphones 2021
Looking for a PlayStation 5? See PS5 stock and where to buy: latest PS5 restock details
Despite still being in its relative infancy, Sony’s PlayStation 5 games console is already serving up some stunning gaming experiences. The shift up to more consistent true 4K graphics at both 60Hz and, remarkably, 120Hz is joining forces with wider, better use of high dynamic range and the impressive efforts of Sony’s new 3D Audio sound system to make gaming worlds more immersive and beautiful than ever before.
However, getting the most out of this next-gen console isn’t just a case of plugging the PS5 into your TV and expecting everything to just turn out fine. In fact, between the secondary kit you might need and some of the PS5 set-up tricks you need to familiarise yourself with, getting the maximum impact out of your new console is anything but straightforward.
With this in mind, we’ve put together a comprehensive checklist of everything you need to do if you want to be sure you’re getting the full value from Sony’s new gaming beast. Starting with potentially the most expensive…
Get the right television
The single biggest source of trouble when it comes to the PS5’s new graphics capabilities is the currently messy television market – or more precisely, the confusing world of HDMI connections.
Getting the best picture quality (4K resolution at 120Hz refresh rates with HDR and, following an upcoming update, support for variable refresh rates) out of the PS5 requires a TV’s HDMI ports to support data rates of at least 32Mbps, and that’s something the vast majority of current TVs cannot do.
What’s more, there’s currently no easy labelling system to help you spot TVs that might be compatible with all of the latest gaming features. Even if a TV claims to be compatible with the latest 2.1 version of the HDMI input, that doesn’t guarantee 4K/120Hz/VRR compatibility. All you can do is try and trawl through a TV’s small print/detailed specs to see if 4K/120/VRR are included.
We can get the ball rolling, though, with some sets we already know support all the latest gaming features. For starters, all of LG’s OLED CX, GX, WX, ZX and upcoming C1, G1 and Z1 models feature four HDMIs with full PS5 compatibility. Samsung’s QLED models from 2020 and QLED and Neo QLED TVs for 2021 all have one or two HDMI ports that support all the PS5 features, with 2021 models from the Q95A series upwards carrying four PS5-friendly HDMIs.
At the time of writing, Samsung’s 2020 TVs aren’t able to play PS5 games in 4K 120Hz while retaining HDR. Samsung has stated, though, that this apparent ‘bug’ will be fixed by a PS5 firmware update.
Sony, ironically, has just one series in its 2020 range, the XH9005s, that support all of the PS5’s graphics features, via a single HDMI port. Thankfully, more Sony models will carry the requisite HDMI support in 2021.
Philips and Panasonic haven’t so far launched any TVs with next-gen gaming features, but both brands are set to do so in 2021. Cheaper TVs (and brands) in the UK have so far not embraced next-gen gaming features, but hopefully some will do so this year.
One final point here is that, in theory, the PS5 can support 8K. So if you want to be ready for that, you will need an 8K TV. These are relatively expensive right now, and it doesn’t seem as though 8K PlayStation content is going to become common any time soon.
For more guidance here, check out our rundown of the best gaming TVs you can currently buy.
Make sure you use the right input on your TV
(Image credit: Future)
As noted in the previous section, on some TVs only one or two HDMIs have enough bandwidth to support all of the PS5’s graphics features. So make sure you have your PS5 connected to one that does.
Some TVs help with this by labelling the relevant HDMI(s) as Game or 4K/120, but otherwise, you will need to refer to your TV’s manual.
Use the provided PS5 HDMI cable (or pick a replacement carefully)
(Image credit: HDMI Licensing Administrator, Inc)
It’s not just HDMI sockets that need to be able to handle enough data to unlock all of the PS5’s features. HDMI cables also vary in how much data they can carry. So you should stick with the HDMI cable provided with the PS5 where possible, as this is designed to carry all the data the console needs for its maximum performance.
If you really must use a different cable – because the official cable isn’t long enough, for example – look for one that carries the official Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable certification that you can see in the image above.
Make sure your TV HDMI port is set up for high data rates
Most TVs now will automatically switch their HDMI ports to so-called ‘enhanced’ modes for high data rates when a 4K HDR source is detected. There are still some budget brands, though (Hisense, for instance) where you need to manually switch HDMIs from Standard to Enhanced in the TV’s menus. It’s certainly worth checking the settings on your TV for the HDMI that your PS5 is connected to.
Set your TV to Game mode
Almost all TVs have a special Game mode setting that reduces the time a TV takes to produce its images. This can make as much as 100ms of difference, which could be a lifetime, literally, in gaming terms. Your TV might automatically switch into Game mode when the PS5 is detected, but if response times matter with the game you’re playing, you should check that it has.
Note that Game mode settings can reduce some aspects of picture quality with some TVs. So if you’re playing a less reaction-based title, such as an RPG, you may prefer the overall picture quality with Game mode turned off.
Check your PS5’s Video Output screen
In the System Software section of the PS5’s System menu, there’s an option called Video Output Information. This brings up a screen telling you what graphics capabilities the console thinks your TV is capable of handling, based on its ‘handshake’ with your TV’s HDMI port. This screen is handy for checking that your console and TV are talking to each other as you’d expect.
This Video Output Info can be particularly useful if you’re trying to feed your PS5 through an intermediary audio device, such as a soundbar or an AV receiver, and on from that to your TV. Many people forget that the PS5 will read the capabilities of the intermediary device’s HDMIs and determine supported graphics output based on that, rather than reading what your TV is capable of. So unless your audio device has full HDMI 2.1 4K/120/VRR pass-through support (which is currently very rare), it could limit the graphics you experience.
The best way around this is to connect your PS5 directly to your TV, and then use your TV’s ARC/eARC HDMI jack (if it has one) to output digital sound from the TV to your audio equipment.
Setting up your PS5
(Image credit: Sony)
The PS5 is proactive about HDR, prompting you to run through a trio of simple HDR set-up screens whenever you attach it to a new TV. The way the screens work, though, is rather questionable.
Before going through this HDR set-up, it’s worth checking whether your TV has a menu option called HGIG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) – if so, turn it on. This will make sure that your TV doesn’t try and apply its own automatic HDR optimisation (dynamic tone mapping) processes to pictures that you have already optimised via the PS5’s HDR set up system.
Once done, you can crack on with the console’s calibration, but you shouldn’t do exactly as you’re told. Two of the screens ask you to increase the console’s brightness/peak light levels to a point where you can only just see a relatively dark symbol against a white background. The other one asks you to adjust the console’s black level to a point where a lighter symbol against a dark background remains only just visible. In fact, you should adjust each of these screens to the point where the visible symbol just disappears. In other words, the points at which the first square goes completely white and the second completely black is where you want to set the console.
Even then, not all games are designed to work with the PS5 console’s HDR set-up system, preferring instead to use their own internal HDR calibration screens. Examples of these titles include Dirt 5 and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. You should absolutely go through these game-specific calibration processes and it’s worth checking in these cases whether your TV’s HGIG setting (if it has one) is better switched on or off.
Another key aspect of gaming performance that requires care is frame rates. As with HDR, the PS5’s process for adjusting the frame rate a game uses varies from title to title. So with Dirt 5, the game’s own internal graphics options allow you to select whether you prefer to prioritise resolution or frame rates (there’s always a graphical trade off associated with switching from 60Hz to 120Hz). With Call Of Duty: Black Ops – Cold War, however, you have to choose in the console’s menus whether you want to prioritise ‘Resolution’ or ‘Performance’ (frame rates) before booting the game if you want to get 120Hz.
This ‘Performance Mode or Resolution Mode’ option, confusingly, is found in the Game Presets section of the Saved Data and Game/App Settings submenu of the PS5 itself.
A further refresh rate option of some sort will likely be added when the PS5 is finally enabled for variable refresh rates.
Choose the right audio options
(Image credit: Sony)
We’ll discuss the PS5’s 3D Audio gaming system shortly. First, though, we should note the mess concerning the PS5’s Dolby Atmos activation options. Specifically the fact that there are two of them: one for streaming apps, and a separate one for the built-in Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray player. The PS5 does not support Dolby Atmos for games.
The first Dolby Atmos option appears in the System/Sound menu, under Audio output. Scroll right to the bottom of this page and you’ll see an Audio Format (Priority) option, that will be set to Linear PCM by default. There’s an option to choose Bitstream (Dolby) or Bitstream (DTS) if you prefer that.
However, when you try and play a 4K or HD Blu-ray disc with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, the console still does not output Dolby Atmos. To make it work you need to press the Options button on your PS5 joystick while playing a film disc, then click the ‘three dots’ icon and choose the Bitstream option under Audio Format.
Unlike Microsoft with its latest Xbox consoles, Sony has decided not to use Dolby Atmos for its premium game audio experience. Instead, it has developed its own new ‘Tempest’ 3D Audio system. It’s up to individual developers whether and how they deploy 3D Audio, but notable titles to use ‘full-on’ versions of it include Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demons Souls.
At the time of writing, the new 3D Audio system can’t be output to any external multi-channel home theatre speaker/AVR system. Currently, it only works via headphones, though Sony has suggested that this will change at some point in the future.
To try out 3D Audio with headphones, first make sure that you have the Enable 3D Audio option in the Audio Output part of the Sound menu activated. Also, when you first use headphones with the PS5, be sure to check out the Adjust 3D Audio Profile option. This plays a ‘babbling brook’ test signal and asks you to pick which of five settings makes the sound feel most at ear level.
You don’t need special headphones to experience the 3D Audio effect – any wired pair will do the job once connected to the DualSense controller – but the quality of the headphones you use certainly impacts how effective 3D Audio sounds.
As you might expect, Sony’s own Pulse 3D wireless gaming headset, which has been designed for the PS5, is particularly effective – though at £90 ($100, AU$150) it certainly isn’t cheap. However, once you start using it that price actually starts to sound more than fair.
For starters, it’s able to deliver the 3D audio effect wirelessly; you don’t need to be tethered to the DualSense controller. It also carries nifty high-sensitivity microphones complete with noise-cancelling technology built into the main headset, rather than in the usual mic ‘arm’, as well as providing buttons for mixing the game sound and chat sound, and for monitoring your own voice.
The Pulse 3D is lightweight and reasonably comfortable, and it does an excellent job of getting both a precise and strikingly large sense of space from the 3D Audio system.
If you want a more luxuriously built wireless headphone option and you’d prefer a dedicated mic arm, Turtle Beach’s Stealth 700 Gen 2 (£130, $150, AU$250) could be up your street. Just bear in mind that while good-looking, great for chatting and more comfortable to wear for epic gaming sessions, they don’t sound quite as punchy as the Sony Pulse 3D models. They can’t be jacked into the DualSense controller when they run out of juice, either, but with an impressive 20 hours of battery life, that shouldn’t be a big problem. Plus you can use them while they’re charging.
If you’re on a tight budget, meanwhile, and don’t mind a wired rather than wireless headset, then the Xiberia V20D (£30) are good value.
For a few other possibilities, check out our Best Gaming Headsets 2021 feature.
Brace yourself
The number of things you need to think about and potentially invest in if you want to unlock the full capabilities of your PS5 is pretty intimidating. Rest assured, though, that Sony’s new console is more than capable of rewarding your effort and expense with truly next-gen thrills. Once you’ve experienced it in full, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
MORE:
Read our full PlayStation 5 review
Considering your next-gen options? Here’s our Xbox Series X review
Check out our list of the best gaming TVs you can currently buy
Pretty much the only wireless headset you should consider if you’re a PS5 gamer
For
Punchy and exciting sound
Convincing 3D audio
Comfortable over long sessions
Against
Mic picks up background noise
Extravagant design
One of the best features of the Sony PlayStation 5 is its support for 3D audio. Sony’s so-called Tempest Engine does all of the hard work so that any standard pair of wired headphones can deliver immersive 3D sound when plugged into the DualSense controller.
But what if you want to go fully wireless? Currently, the only wireless headset compatible with the PS5’s 3D audio feature is this, the official PlayStation Pulse 3D Wireless Headset.
Having just one option is rarely a good thing, but the Pulse 3D headset comes from good stock – its predecessor on the PS4 combined excellent core sound quality, excellent comfort and (limited) 3D audio to the tune of a five-star rating.
Comfort
(Image credit: Sony)
Sony has decided to visually tie the Pulse 3D headset to the controversial design of the PS5, opting for the same white finish for the headband as on the faceplates of the console. It is instantly clear that the two products are related, but the headset’s design may be too attention-grabbing to consider using it as a standard pair of headphones when out of the house.
The plastic band also feels a bit cheaper than the brushed metal of the Platinum Wireless Headset, but that can be forgiven because the Pulse 3D headset genuinely is cheaper by some margin. Besides, having now used the headset for several months, there’s no sign of the slightly cheap feel translating into flimsiness. We have no reason to believe that the headset won’t last for many years.
It feels comfortable, too. The earcups are firmer than some headphones, but they create a good seal around the ears and the headband provides just the right amount of pressure. There’s no obvious heat generated around the ears in use, either.
Build
(Image credit: Sony)
The Pulse 3D headset’s controls are located around the edge of the left cup. They include a rocker to adjust the balance between game audio and chat, a switch for turning monitor mode on or off (useful for ensuring you don’t speak too loudly), volume, mute and power on/off. Most button presses are accompanied by an on-screen notification, something you won’t get from third-party headsets.
Sony PS5 Pulse 3D Wireless Headset tech specs
(Image credit: Sony)
Compatibility PS5, PS4 and PC (wireless), Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S (wired)
Wired Yes
Wireless Yes
Surround sound Yes
Battery life 12 hours
Weight 295g
There’s no button to enable or disable the 3D audio feature as there was with the Platinum Wireless Headset, but that’s because the tech is built in more at a system level.
Using the headset wirelessly involves plugging a dongle-like USB transmitter into your PS5 (you can use the socket on the front or rear) and from that point, the console will automatically output sound to the headset whenever you switch it on. Battery life is 12 hours, which isn’t huge by Bluetooth headphone standards but should cover even the longest of gaming sessions. Charging is via USB-C.
As well as the PS5, you can also use the Pulse 3D headset wirelessly with a PC or PS4, and there’s also an included 3.5mm cable for when you run out of batteries or want to use the headset with an Xbox, phone or tablet. The microphone works in wired mode, too, but you only get 3D audio when wirelessly connected to a PS5 or PS4.
The microphone picks up and projects your voice clearly, but it’s also prone to picking up background noise more than most, which will be of concern to anyone who plays online while there are others in the room. We understand why Sony would opt for a slick and minimalist appearance, but an optional stalk mic would be a nice touch.
Sound
(Image credit: Sony)
While you probably won’t be using the Pulse 3D headset primarily as a standard pair of wired stereo headphones, there’s value in benchmarking against models in this class to get a sense of the core sound quality of the headset.
Surprisingly, despite all of the additional tech on board, the Pulse 3D headset more than stands its ground against sub-£100 wired headphones in most areas. There’s energy, enthusiasm and a crispness to the delivery that’s foot-tappingly enjoyable. While some go deeper, there’s still more than enough bass here and it’s punchy and tuneful.
The treble, meanwhile, has a sparkle and zing that never veers into brightness, and the midrange is textured and clear, with vocals delivered directly. Dynamics are decent, too, with the headset able to convey subtle shifts as well as epic crescendos, and there’s more than enough detail for a pair of headphones costing this much.
But they fall down slightly on timing. When music tracks become particularly busy, the Pulse 3D headset struggles to maintain a complete grip on each strand, and that can make these sections a little hard to follow. Luckily, though, this timing issue isn’t apparent when gaming and the generally strong core sound quality translates well when you use the Pulse 3D headset for its intended purpose.
(Image credit: Sony)
Of course, the quality of the 3D effect depends on the way it has been implemented into the game, but opt for Spider-Man: Miles Morales or even PS4 game Ghost Of Tsushima and you get not only a sense of the direction that each sound is coming from, but also how far away it is. The sonic presentation becomes all-enveloping and it’s easy to audibly pinpoint effects.
Switch to Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and the 3D audio gives a real sense of the cavernous nature of the CIA safehouse, the distance of each character as they speak and the echo as their voices hit the interior walls of the warehouse. You get none of this when listening in standard stereo.
Though you can get 3D audio by plugging a pair of standard wired headphones into the DualSense controller, the crispness and precision of the Pulse 3D headset makes for a more engaging and exciting experience than is offered by most similarly-priced wired headphones. It feels as though the 3D audio delivery has been tailored for the official headset – there’s every chance that in some cases it has been – which is a benefit of having just one product on the market.
That’s not to say that the Pulse 3D headset is an adequate replacement for your surround sound speaker package. The Pulse headset is surprisingly accomplished at creating a 3D soundfield, but the placement of effects is even better with a properly calibrated home cinema system. Effects placed directly in front of or behind the listening position are a particular struggle for 3D audio via headphones, which is no issue with physical speakers in those positions.
Verdict
The Pulse 3D Wireless Headset is really the only option here, but it’s also particularly good at what it does. Those slight timing issues aside, it boasts an accomplished core audio performance that can take your gaming to new levels when combined with the PS5’s 3D audio processing.
If you don’t have the money, space or circumstances for a home cinema system, this is pretty much the next best thing as far as PS5 gaming is concerned, and that makes it a great buy.
SCORES
Sound 5
Comfort 5
Build 4
MORE:
Read our guide to the best gaming headsets
Read our Sony PlayStation Platinum Wireless Headset review
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I built a new gaming PC in September to play new games like Microsoft Flight Simulator, Cyberpunk 2077, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. I figured that picking Intel’s Core i9-10900K and Nvidia’s RTX 3090 would make this machine last for years and offer top tier performance in demanding titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator. I was wrong. Microsoft Flight Simulator is a notorious beast of a game and is quickly becoming the new Crysis test for PCs.
It has struggled to run smoothly above 30fps with all settings maxed out at 1440p on my PC, and even AMD’s Intel-beating Ryzen 9 5950X only improved the situation slightly for some.
Intel’s latest 11th Gen processor arrives with a big promise of up to 19 percent IPC (instructions per cycle) improvements over the existing i9-10900K, and more specifically the lure of 14 percent more performance at 1080p in Microsoft Flight Simulator with high settings. This piqued my curiosity, so I’ve been testing the i9-11900K over the past few days to see what it can offer for Microsoft Flight Simulator specifically.
It’s less than a year after the i9-10900K release, and I’m already considering upgrading to Intel’s new i9-11900K because I’ve found it boosts Microsoft Flight Simulator by 20 percent.
Intel’s Core i9-11900K processor.
The Verge doesn’t typically review processors, so we don’t own dedicated hardware testing rigs or multiple CPUs and systems to offer all of the benchmarks and comparisons you’d typically find in CPU reviews. For those, we’re going to recommend you visit the excellent folks at Tom’s Hardware, KitGuru, or Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry.
Intel’s new Core i9-11900K ships with eight cores, 16 threads, and boosted clock speeds up to 5.3GHz. On paper, that sounds like it would be less powerful than the 10900K with its 10 cores, 20 threads, and boosted clock speeds up to 5.3GHz, but the reality is far more complicated thanks to how games and apps are designed. Most of Flight Simulator currently runs in a main thread that’s often limited by how well your CPU can run single-threaded applications and games.
So in recent years Intel has managed to stay on top with its single-threaded performance, despite AMD offering more cores. That was until AMD’s Ryzen 9 5950X managed to beat the final Intel performance advantage late last year. Intel’s new 11th Gen chips are trying to reclaim its traditional advantage.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a good example of where Intel typically has an advantage. It’s also an increasingly rare example of a game that’s very sensitive to your entire system components and not just how good your GPU is at rendering games.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a demanding title on PC.
Intel’s Core i9-11900K does its job well enough here to boost performance by around 20 percent depending on resolution. I’ve tested a variety of flights taking off from different airports and flying over some of the world’s most beautiful locations and the most demanding cities the game has to offer. Everything feels smoother with Intel’s latest chips, but the results aren’t dramatic enough to get me beyond 60fps without stepping some settings down. A flight over Seattle with all the settings maxed out shows a 24-percent performance improvement with the new 11th Gen Core i9 at 1080p and an 18-percent increase at 1440p.
On my i9-10900K PC, I saw average frame rates of 38fps at 1440p and 33fps at 1080p. The Core i9-11900K managed to bump these to 45fps average at 1440p and 41fps average at 1080p. Averages during a particular benchmark don’t always tell the whole story, though. Over the hours I’ve been playing Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’ve noticed the game dip and stutter less than before. It’s still not perfect, but it’s certainly smoother overall.
If I dial the game back to high settings, it immediately jumps to a 66fps average at 1440p — demonstrating just how much the ultra settings hit frame rates. I can personally barely notice the difference between high and ultra settings in Microsoft Flight Simulator,so the boost here is noticeable thanks to the smoother gameplay.
I also tested Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 5 benchmarks. Shadow of the Tomb Raider saw a tiny bump of around 3 percent at both 1080p and 1440p, while the i9-11900K managed some impressive single core performance gains in both Cinebench and Geekbench.
Intel Core i9-11900K benchmarks
Benchmark
Intel Core i9-10900K
Intel Core i9-11900K
% change
Benchmark
Intel Core i9-10900K
Intel Core i9-11900K
% change
Microsoft Flight Simulator (1080p)
33fps
41fps
up 24.2%
Microsoft Flight Simulator (1440p)
38fps
45fps
up 18.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p)
176fps
181fps
up 2.8%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1440p)
154fps
159fps
up 3.2%
Cinebench R23 single-thread
1281
1623
up 26.6%
Cinebench R23 multi-thread
14,968
14,826
down 0.94%
Geekbench 5 single-thread
1336
1766
up 32.1%
Geekbench 5 multi-thread
10,709
11,148
up 4%
I should note I was also hoping to do most of my testing with my existing Z490 motherboard, but that didn’t go to plan. I swapped the chip in with the latest BIOS update for 11th Gen processors and found that the system rebooted a few minutes into games without even a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). I wasn’t able to troubleshoot it fully in time for review, but the Asus Maximus XIII Hero (Z590) board supplied by Intel worked just fine.
You should be able to easily use 11th Gen processors with Z490 motherboards, as most manufacturers have already issued BIOS updates to support Intel’s latest processors. Some will even support M.2 NVMe storage using PCIe 4.0 with these latest chips, while others like Asus only support PCIe 4.0 on the Primary PCIe x16 slot with 11th Gen processors.
Intel’s 11th Gen processors finally deliver PCIe 4.0 support, and that’s good news for storage. Manufacturers have started to fully support PCIe 4.0 drives in recent months, with Western Digital, Samsung, GigaByte, and MSI all launching high-speed drives. If you have a compatible PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive, the upgrade to 11th Gen processors will certainly be worth it. I’ve managed read speeds of 6729MB/s and write speeds of 5206MB/s using Western Digital’s new SN850 1TB drive. Corsair’s MP600 also manages 4987MB/s read and 4259MB/s write speeds. Using Intel’s older 10th Gen chip, the Corsair drive managed 3484MB/s reads and 3235MB/s writes, so an 11th Gen upgrade improved speeds by more than 40 percent. If you work with a lot of files every day, the upgrade to 11th Gen processors will be worth it for PCIe 4.0 alone.
Western Digital’s SN850 has super fast PCIe 4.0 speeds with Intel’s 11th Gen processors.
I don’t think the Core i9-11900K does enough for me personally to upgrade from a 10900K, but the PCIe 4.0 support would tempt me more if I needed the speeds there. At $550 (if you can find it at this retail price), the Core i9-11900K sits in between AMD’s offerings, being less expensive than the top 5950X and 5900X Ryzen 9 chips and $90 more than the 5800X.
There’s some solid single-thread performance here, and the 11900K and AMD’s 5900X and 5950X all trade blows depending on the games. Intel’s performance improvement will come at a cost of energy efficiency, though. Tom’s Hardware found that the 11900K “sets the new high power mark” in several of its power tests, drawing over 200 watts in the same test that AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900X drew 116 watts. If you even need a new CPU, it’s worth considering just how much Intel’s latest chips will influence your energy bills and the games you play.
Whether you decide to upgrade to Intel’s 11th Gen or one of AMD’s chips will probably depend on the games you play and stock availability. A lot of games do a bad job of utilizing multiple cores on CPUs, mostly because console gaming hardware hasn’t offered solid CPU performance and spreading multiple rendering and physics threads across different cores can complicate game design. Intel’s new chips do a better job of handling these single threads to improve performance, but it’s very game-dependent.
For Microsoft Flight Simulator, the general consensus is that the game desperately needs to be moved to DirectX 12 for improvements to multi-core CPU performance. But Intel’s IPC improvements have managed to help until the Direct X 12 update arrives with the Xbox Series X release this summer.
Where Intel might have an advantage over AMD here is availability of chips. It has been increasingly difficult to find AMD’s latest Ryzen processors in recent months, thanks to a global chip shortage. Intel partners have already been accidentally selling some 11th Gen desktop CPUs, which may indicate it will have a steadier supply in the coming weeks.
The winner between Intel and AMD will be the company that can get these chips into the hands of PC gamers eager to upgrade. Much like the GPU market right now, benchmarks don’t matter when the best chip is often the only one you can actually buy.
Bang & Olufsen has announced Beoplay Portal, its first wireless gaming headset. The product maintains the company’s signature sophisticated look, and it has more features than your average headset.
These were created with the Xbox ecosystem in mind, and with a push of its pairing button, they can connect to the Series X, Series S, Xbox One, or to a PC that has the Xbox Wireless adapter plugged into it. Additionally, they support a concurrent connection via Bluetooth 5.1 for other devices (including other consoles if you supply the Bluetooth adapter). This way, you can take calls without totally detaching from game audio.
Similar to the Bose QC35 gaming headset that released last year, the Beoplay Portal look like high-end wireless headphones (and in many ways, act like them, too), and come with a high-end price. These cost $499 and are available now in the black colorway at Best Buy, the Microsoft Store, and through Bang & Olufsen’s site. Two other colors, gray and navy, will be available starting April 29th.
Made for the contemplative gamer.Image: Bang & Olufsen
This model has adaptive active noise cancellation (ANC) and a gaming audio mode that automatically activates when connected wirelessly to a console or when wired via USB-C to a PC (the port through which the headset also gets its charge). These also have a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Bang & Olufsen app for iOS and Android has some new features that the Beoplay Portal benefits from, like microphone optimization and a game / chat audio balance. The company reports that its “Own Voice” feature allows for voice monitoring while keeping out extraneous noises thanks to its adaptive ANC. These have 40mm drivers with Dolby Atmos support for virtualized surround sound.
A peek at the Bang & Olufsen app’s controls for the Beoplay Portal.Image: Bang & Olufsen
Build quality is another area where Bang & Olufsen is trying to distinguish itself from other gaming headsets. The memory foam ear pads are wrapped in lambskin leather, and it uses bamboo fiber textile to cover the headband padding. Elsewhere, there are a few anodized aluminum details on the Portal, like the touch-sensitive discs on the outside of each ear cup that are used to control them. Impressively, the company says the headphones weigh 282 grams, which is lighter than the mostly plastic Xbox Wireless Headset that, until now, I considered to be lightweight at 312g.
This gaming headset can last up to 12 hours per charge when you’re connected through both Bluetooth and Xbox Wireless protocol, and using the active noise cancellation feature. If you’re just using Bluetooth and noise cancellation, Bang & Olufsen says you can expect up to 24 hours of use.
Given the high asking price, I’m skeptical that these will be worth the cost for most people — especially those who intend to use them exclusively for gaming. It seems like a better value if you want to use them as your everyday headphones, too.
The gray colorway shown here won’t release until late April.Image: Bang & Olufsen
I’m also skeptical about the “virtual boom arm” the Beoplay Portal employs instead of a traditional articulating boom mic. It says its beamforming microphones allow for “crystal clear” conversations, and help to amplify your voice while filtering out sounds in the background. This is something I’ll need to test to see if it’s as good as Bang & Olufsen claims.
Do you need a $500 gaming headset? Probably not. While there are plenty of differences in terms of features and build quality, most people should be suited well by Microsoft’s $100 Xbox Wireless headset. But I’ll be reviewing these to see for myself what five times that amount can get you in a gaming peripheral.
If you are looking to buy Microsoft’s most powerful console to date, the Xbox Series X, you can try your luck again right now at Best Buy. The retailer also has the more affordable, all-digital Series S available for $299.99.
Due to the high demand, we expect the supply to run out very quickly, so don’t hesitate if you’re hoping to score one.
Xbox Series X
$500
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The Xbox Series X is Microsoft’s flagship console, serving as its most powerful (and biggest) option that costs $499.99. While the Series S is aimed at smooth 1440p performance, the Series X is focused on fast 4K gameplay.
$500
at Best Buy
Xbox Series S
$300
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The Xbox Series S costs $299.99. Compared to the Series X, it’s far smaller, less powerful, and it has half the amount of SSD storage built in. It also lacks a disc drive.
$300
at Best Buy
Once you’ve secured your next-gen Xbox, you might want to buy some additional items, such as games to play on your new console. I strongly recommend picking up a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes a wide array of first- and third-party titles, including a slew of Bethesda games following Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax.
Of course, if you plan to share this console with a loved one, I also recommend buying an extra controller, as the console only comes with one controller.
While on the topic of buying new stuff, it’s not a bad idea to get a TV that will take advantage of next-gen hardware. If you have money to spend, Best Buy is currently selling a Vizio 65-inch 4K OLED TV for $1,500 — that is $500 off its usual price.
Vizio 4K OLED TV
$1,200
$1,300
8% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Vizio is a newcomer to the OLED TV space, but it’s using the same beautiful LG panel as everyone else — and pricing it for much less. The Vizio OLED should be a perfect fit for either the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, thanks to its fluid 120Hz 4K gaming capabilities, and the perfect blacks will make your Netflix content look great, too.
You’ve probably seen the acronym “DLSS” appearing in more gaming and tech stories recently. You might know that it’s an Nvidia graphics thing, and that it might be coming to the new Nintendo Switch console that’s rumored to release later in 2021, according to a report from Bloomberg. But, really, what is it, and why does it matter?
DLSS stands for deep learning super sampling, and it’s a way for Nvidia’s RTX graphics cards to work smarter, not necessarily harder, by running games at a lower resolution, then using dedicated AI cores to improve visual quality with less of the usual performance cost. The deep learning component works on the fly to make your game look as if you haven’t lowered its resolution at all. This feature only works with supported PC games, of which there are over 20 at the time of publishing, including Cyberpunk 2077, Fortnite, Monster Hunter World, Control, and others.
On PC, the technique has proven itself to yield a sizable performance boost. Especially with the advent of ray tracing tech, DLSS has been a boon for letting gamers experience all of the latest visual effects on high-resolution displays without having to shell out an exorbitant amount for a GPU. It’s available for GPUs that (nominally) cost just a few hundred dollars, like the RTX 3060, as well as the previous-gen RTX 20-series cards (not that you can find any of them available right now). For a device like the Nintendo Switch that can’t cram in that much horsepower to begin with, you can imagine why it might be an amazing fit.
Nintendo’s current Switch uses a shrunken-down version of Nvidia’s Tegra X1 system-on-a-chip from 2015. Most games run at sub-1080p resolution when docked and usually less than the 720p resolution of the Switch’s display when in portable mode. Developers for the Switch are already used to making some sizable compromises to get their games working well on the portable console.
Doom Eternal running on the Switch.
Panic Button’s porting work on Doomand Doom Eternal, for instance, heavily rely on visual tricks like dynamic resolution, motion blur, and lower-fidelity textures to mask the Switch’s inherent weaknesses compared to other consoles — and to get them running at a playable 30 frames per second even on the Switch’s 720p screen, much less 4K. Other games struggle to come close to rendering at that resolution — Wolfenstein: Youngblood usually runs at a 540p resolution in portable mode, according to Digital Foundry — and even Nintendo’s own The Legend of Zelda:Breath of the Wild has notable slowdown, though the company has a few other shining examples that manage 60 frame-per-second gameplay.
With all of this context in mind, the recent rumors that the next Switch will tap DLSS to help it avoid those compromises has me excited. We don’t know whether Nvidia truly plans to stick an RTX-style graphics chip with Tensor Core AI processors into a Switch just to achieve DLSS, but doing so would make the next generation of Switch games (and perhaps preexisting games) look and run much better, whether in portable mode or displaying a higher resolution while docked.
Of course, games on the Nintendo Switch would likely need to be individually patched to support DLSS, like the fairly small amount of games on PC have been. If games that have DLSS support on PC get a Switch port, will that DLSS work carry over, I wonder? Or, unlikely as it seems, can Nintendo and Nvidia work together to make every game compatible with DLSS in some way to ensure boosted performance across the board?
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
DLSS 2.0 is the current version that’s available on PC, and it brought better performance and efficiency of RTX AI cores versus the first iteration. TweakTowncites a YouTube video from channel Moore’s Law is Dead claiming that a newer DLSS 3.0 version could be in development for GPUs built with the latest Ampere architecture. It’s said to automatically deliver AI enhancements to any game with temporal anti-aliasing (a technique that removes the flickering aliased edges of textures — especially when the camera is in motion), not just the games that have been patched for support. If true, it could make Nintendo’s job a lot easier bringing DLSS features to more games.
To get a sense of how the next Switch could benefit from DLSS without requiring immensely powerful hardware, check out this informative video below that the folks at Digital Foundry put together. It focuses on the game Control running with DLSS enabled at different resolutions. The bit that really stood out to me was when it showed just how good DLSS can make a 540p rendering of the game look when reconstructed into a 1080p image with ray tracing effects and everything set to ultra settings. I’ve time-stamped the video to that exact location.
If that’s what a PC can do with 540p, a Switch with DLSS might not need a huge overhaul to make its own collection of sub-720p games look a lot better than they do today, particularly on the Switch’s relatively small screen where DLSS’s minor wrinkles might be even easier to forgive than they are on a PC monitor. If it gets additional graphical muscle, it’s not a stretch to imagine today’s games competently running at a simulated 4K when docked to a TV as well. This kind of thing would be perfect to showcase at the launch of the sequel to Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 3, or Metroid Prime 4.
Since the original Nintendo Switch launched, 4K TVs have become more widely adopted. So, it’ll make sense if Nintendo wants to use hardware that’ll look better on modern televisions. And whatever the company chooses to put in its next Switch, it’ll ultimately still be a mobile processor with limitations compared to what the likes of the Xbox Series X and PS5 can do. Though, hopefully, it will be enough to ensure that future Switch games look far better than they currently do for years to come.
Josef Fares has strong opinions. The director of Hazelight Studio — whose latest co-op game, It Takes Two, is out today — rocketed into the spotlight at The Game Awards in 2017 with an off-the-cuff, impassioned speech about the joys of interactive video games that culminated in his meme-worthy “Fuck the Oscars!” line.
Years later, Fares (who, ironically enough, started off as a filmmaker) is still standing firm on his pro-game stance. “Look, my background is a filmmaker. The whole thing with ‘fuck the Oscars’ was actually kind of special,” he tells The Verge. “One, you have to remember when I was there on the set, everybody was talking, ‘Oh this like the Oscars, it’s like the Oscars.’ And I was like ‘Fuck the Oscars!’ because I was actually saying ‘Fuck the Oscars — because we should celebrate gaming now.’ It’s not that I have anything personal about the Oscars.”
It Takes Two is Fares’ third game, following Brothers:A Tale of Two Sons and A Way Out. Hazelight’s latest game takes a similar tack to A Way Out, in particular: it’s an exclusively co-op game that you can’t experience at all unless you’re willing to play with a friend or partner (either next to you on a couch or over the internet). According to Fares, the studio never even considered adding any sort of AI companion.
“They are designed from the beginning like that, so you have to communicate with someone,” he says. “It’s not possible to play with a random [person]. It’s not a matchmaking game where you are just randomly connected. If you want to play with someone you don’t know at all, you must have the ability to talk because if you’re not talking, you can’t progress.”
Communication is a fitting foundation for It Takes Two, which sees a husband and wife on the verge of divorce who are then magically transformed into a pair of Pixar-esque dolls and forced by a magical talking book to work out their differences.
A Way Out offered a thematically compelling narrative pulled out of a crime novel that was let down by dull gameplay that didn’t actually do much to take advantage of the cooperative nature of the game. It Takes Two flips the script: it offers a bizarre, almost nonsensical story lifted up by clever cooperative mechanics. Each of the two characters tends to split up their abilities between levels. For example, an early level gives players a pair of guns — one character can fire sap, while the other ignites it.
The more diverse gameplay isn’t an accident. “We’ve become better at finding cold co-op mechanics that can be combined,” says Fares. “So you really feel the need of co-oping. Also, I talked a lot about marrying the story and the gameplay… we tried to connect the abilities to the character as well. With May, for instance — it’s her toolbox, so she has the hammer.”
The result, though, is that It Takes Two is a much more complex game than A Way Out. To start, it’s a platformer. And while it won’t demand the kind of pixel-perfect skills as something like Celeste or Spelunky, it’s a harder game to get into than the relatively simple A Way Out. Add in the (admittedly more interesting) new mechanics that change from level to level, and the game runs the risk of overwhelming newer or less experienced players.
Still, the resulting game is a unique one, despite the uneven storytelling. As Fares rightly comments, there’s almost no one else out there making these kinds of games. “Of course there are co-op games out there that have your campaign and your add-on co-op campaign and so on, but none are actually designing, writing everything from the beginning as we do at Hazelight.”
“I think that opens up… both creatively, but also the dynamics between the characters that you’re playing, that you’re using different abilities, how you can cooperate, and also what’s going on on the couch,” says Fares. “I think there’s so much stuff to explore there.” He views the experience as similar to watching a movie or a TV show: it’s something you do together. “So why not enjoy a story together in a game?”
And it’s that level of interaction that helps games stand out to Fares from film. “The whole idea is understanding that making the interactive experience [for a game is] totally different than a passive experience as a movie,” he says. “So I sometimes hear when they talk about ‘We should bring on more movie people [to make games].’ Sure, we can be inspired on how they tell stories and so on, but we need to find our own way to tell stories in an interactive way.”
And while Fares won’t give too many details on what Hazelight’s next project will look like or if it’ll be another co-op experience, he definitely thinks there’s more room for other developers to join in — and not just with optional cooperative experiences, like with survival games or shooters like Borderlands or Halo.
“We should have our single-player narratives; I love those. But I think there’s a market here, and I think people really appreciate this type of game, you know. To play something with someone that you love or a friend or a father or a mother or whatever — just experience something together and not just a shooter game, you know what I mean?”
It Takes Two is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S.
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