Category: Techradar

Welcome to TechRadar’s updated review of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, on Nintendo Switch. 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate may already be the fastest-selling title on Nintendo’s fastest selling console. That’s fitting for a crossover fighting game that moves fast, and packs in a massive amount of action into even a small handheld screen.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate packs in more fighters, more stages, more gameplay modes, and more tactical elements of any game in the franchise. This is, for all intents and purposes, the definitive Super Smash Bros., with everything that entails.

We’ve sampled all of the Classic, Smash, Spirit, and World of Light game modes Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has to offer – including the crucial online competitive multiplayer, now that the game’s global servers have gone online. 

So what did we think of the latest iteration of Nintendo’s iconic brawler? Read on in our definitive review below.

The joy of Smash

The core experience of any Smash Bros. game is the multiplayer, whether that’s local co-op on the couch, or smashing heads in competitive matches online. 

Like its predecessors, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate looks to the tactical mechanics of traditional fighting games, and then chucks them into a sandpit of all your favorite toys – throwing together characters from Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Metroid, Animal Crossing, and countless other Nintendo or third-party IP. The result is a chaotic, joyous, maddening, sometimes incomprehensible mess of blows, items, assist trophies, and finishing moves. In short: it’s very, very fun.

As ever, each fighter comes with a variation on standard attacks (A button and directional pad), special attacks (B button and directional pad), grab attacks (L / R), and shields (ZL / ZR). That’s not to mention the seismic ‘smash attack’ that fighters earn from capturing a floating orb called the ‘Smash Ball’ that wanders onto the stage – a massive and over-the-top special move with the potential to brutally damage the other fighters onstage.

A smash attack might see a fighter jet fly into the fray (Fox McCloud) a ball of lightning knock players off the stage (Pikachu), or a vampire-slayer banish an opponent into a virtual coffin (Richter Belmont). Smash Bros. has a flair for the dramatic, and Ultimate is no exception.

Despite the huge amount of action going on onscreen, playing Ultimate remains surprisingly accessible, with enough luck thrown in that you never quite know how a match is going to turn out. Veteran gamers may have mastered the moveset of their top fighters, but a chance smash ball or couple of unlucky slips off the edge of the stage could swing a match either way. Jumping around and button-mashing remains a valid – and crucially, fun – way to start out, given how dynamic the stages and interfering items tend to be.

Local co-op can support up to eight individual players around one console, with either a Pro Controller, paired Joy-Con grip, or single Joy-Con. Sure, the single Joy-Con may feel a bit cramped for grown-up, adult hands, but it’s still somewhat incredible you still get all of the same button functionality and HD rumble features in such a small piece of hardware.

The chaos is part of the charm, of course, and Ultimate ramps up the overall speed for livelier, faster-paced combat. Other mechanical changes that prevent skidding, stop fighters from ‘phasing’ past each other, and make grabs bounce off each other, make this a game where you can’t as easily run or avoid attacks, and it’s all the stronger for it.

The ability to customize matches, though, means you can either ramp up the heat or strip the back the experience for something simpler.

You can cull all the items, or only allow banana peels and Pokeballs. You can pick your favorite stage to battle on – out of the immense 103 options available – allocate one at random, or set the game to jump to a different stage at an unspecified point in the match. You can vary the number of lives, turn off damage counters, restrict character selection, and too many other things to list here. 

There’s no shame in sticking to default settings, but if that sort of detail and customization interests you, you may spend as much time experimenting with small settings changes as you do actually brawling.

Online mess

But for all this, there have been rumblings of anger in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s matchmaking. While players with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription can battle in up to four-player matches online, there isn’t as much freedom as you’d like.

Players can set their ‘preferred rules’ regarding use of items, number of players, and style of match, but it’s just that: a preference. You’ll often find yourself playing in configurations you didn’t sign up for, just because that’s what the game found easier to match you up in. Recent patches seem to be improving this, though.

Players are also reporting numerous issues with lag and connection speed – crucial for high-speed competitive play where a few milliseconds could be the difference between dodging an attack or being thrown offscreen. 

Smash Bros. Ultimate runs matches between each player’s hardware, rather than on a dedicated server, meaning that one player’s slow internet can be another player’s hell.

The promise of Smash Bros. competitive multiplayer will have sold a lot of Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions, so we’re hoping this continues to be addressed – but be warned that you’ll need a strong internet connection, and possibly some patience, to get the online experience you wanted.

The whole gang’s here

The sheer number of fighters on the roster – 74, at launch – may look daunting, and it is. To start, however, players will be starting with only eight: Mario, Pikachu, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Samus, Link, Kirby, and Fox. And yes, this is the starting roster from the original 1999 Super Smash Bros. (Boy, do Nintendo know how to do a throwback.)

You’ll then have the ability to unlock other fighters through the single-player modes, or in chance encounters that literally spring out at you when navigating the game’s menus.

The main point here is that near enough anyone sitting down the play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will know one of the characters on the roster. Whether you’re a veteran gamer who grew up playing Ice Climbers and Pac-Man, a long-time Metroid or Super Mario fan, or someone who bought a Nintendo Switch just to play Splatoon 2, you’ll recognize some of the faces, and likely have played some of the IP featured here.

While the mechanics are complex, and painstakingly tweaked to ensure balance between the huge number of characters – we couldn’t even guess how many hours of playtesting Nintendo needed – anyone can pick up a Joy-Con and start swinging their fists as Kirby or Donkey Kong. By going big with its character list, Nintendo have opened up the franchise far beyond any of the previous games.

You’ll see this with the 11 brand new fighters added for Ultimate. While the likes of Ridley and King K. Rule both offer small variations on ‘heavy’ fighters, and Daisy and Dark Samus copy the moveset of existing characters, others bring something far more experimental. The Inklings from Splatoon have an ink meter that needs to be recharged every few moves – literally by submerging yourself in paint – though this will leave you vulnerable to melee attacks. The Pokemon Incineroar too offers big offense, but has a tendency to launch itself offstage if you’re not careful about where you’re facing.

While we haven’t got to try out the incoming DLC characters – the first of which, Piranha Plant, will be free for anyone who buys the game by the end of January – the range of options is huge. There’s an immense feeling of community, of disparate faces and characters coming together, even if they do so to pummel each other into the air.

The remaining four DLC fighters are yet to be revealed, but we know for a fact they won’t be Echo Fighters. (Our money’s on Detective Pikachu making an appearance.)

• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Guide: how to unlock every character

A mode for every occasion

But there’s still so much more than just smashing. The recently revealed World of Light mode functions as a single-player campaign, based on a cataclysmic event that tears the entire world’s souls from their bodies. (Yup.)

Everyone except pink little Kirby, that is, who’s presumably too cute to be doomed with the others.

You set off as Kirby on a quest to fight the possessed bodies of your friends, who have been inhabited by ‘spirits’, in order to add other fighters to your roster and choose your route across the World of Light map as you make your way to the final boss, Galeem: some sort of feathery-light-serpent-god that’s to blame for messing with everyone’s souls.

These spirits offer the main departure from previous Smash Bros. games. Spirits are essentially a form of collectable sticker you can allocate to fighters to increase their stats, alter their weight and speed, or add special effects and items in battle.

Spirits replace the collectable trophies players would collect by battling and defeating characters in previous games, with a far more tactical element. The spirits also take the form of hundreds of other Nintendo and third-party characters that are likely to inspire joyous nostalgia and puzzled looks in equal measure.

That’s not to mention the Classic Mode, with a unique series of stages and opponents for each fighter. Or dedicated challenge modes and All-Star Smash stages (where you fight every single fighter on the roster). Or the camera mode for replaying battles and picking the perfect angle for your heat-of-battle stills. Or the new training mode that lets you test out the exact distance, power, and angle of each of your fighter’s moves on a literal giant graph.

But whether you’re here to hone your skills, take some fun snaps, or just smash that controller to high heaven, Ultimate has something for you, and enough fighters to offer near endless replay value – even if you’re only ever likely to stick with a handful that suit your play-style.

The whole spirit conceit is slightly nonsensical, and rests on tenuous connections between little-known video game characters with the big names on the roster (Ultimate tries to match them together for the single-player mode, but even the whole thing can feel slightly baffling). Just labelling them collectables, or adding stat changes to trophies, might have been simpler.

But for the gamers who recognise Mega Man’s Skull Man boss, Advance Wars’ pilot Hawk, or the Slime from Dragon Quest, finding and collating those stickers is a treat unto itself, and will offer a whole other layer of tactical complexity to those who are looking for it.

Fan service

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is all about giving players what they want.

Say what you want about Smash Bros. on the home console Wii U or lower-spec handheld 3DS – few people bought into the hardware to play on the former, while it was never going to feel like a complete experience on the latter.

The line-up of games for the Nintendo Switch has had no shortage of Wii U ports, like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Pokken Tournement DX, or Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze – and we could well have got a port of the Super Smash Bros. entry that came to Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

But Nintendo went further. We got a brand new Smash Bros. game, built from the ground up for Nintendo Switch. We got every character ever featured in the series, along with a host of new faces, and a fully fleshed-out single-player mode.

That’s 74 fighters total, with another five coming in DLC (Piranha Plant and Persona 5’s Joker both being confirmed). For comparison, Street Fighter V has a roster of 34 characters, while the latest Tekken game lists 48.

We may never get to play as Waluigi (sadly relegated to an Assist Trophy) but there’s more than enough here to distract ourselves.

Our verdict: play it now

You may not use half the settings, or end up trying 80% of the roster, or bother about collecting every ‘spirit’ character throughout the game. And if there’s anything to criticize in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it’s that there’s almost too many fighters, modes, and convoluted options packed in.

As exciting and inclusive as the roster is, 74 or 79 fighters are a lot for players to keep track of, and the increasingly serious focus of Nintendo on competitive play / eSports – with the complexity and intensity that entails – may well mean drifting away from the casual nature of much of its intended fanbase. Even if the initial troubles with smooth online play aren’t going to please either camp.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate may try to do both – and do them well – and this ‘definitive’ Smash Bros. may feel to some like its soul is split down the middle. Whatever you’re playing for though, Ultimate is a lot of good fun.

• Best Nintendo Switch games 2018: must-have games at home and on-the-go

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The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is set to be the biggest, and most expensive of a trio of new smartphones from the South Korean firm in the first quarter of 2019.

Alongside the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Lite, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus could well be the biggest and possibly best of the range.

While it probably won’t land before late February, we’ve already heard a lot thanks to a swath of Galaxy S10 Plus leaks and rumors that have hit the web in recent months.

From what we can tell so far, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus could be very different to the Galaxy S9 Plus, with a new design and numerous new features.

Update: A new leak suggests the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus will have at taller, 19:9 aspect ratio display with thinner bezels.

You’ll find full details on all the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus rumors below, as well as information on the possible Galaxy S10 Plus release date and price. 

We’ll also be sure to update this article whenever credible information emerges, so be sure to check back here regularly if you want to keep up to date on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.

• There are plenty of rumors about the Samsung Galaxy S10 too

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Samsung’s next big screen flagship phone
• When is it out? Possibly late February
• What will it cost? Likely at least $840 / £869 / AU$1,349

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus release date and price

Hottest leaks:

• Could land at or just before MWC 2019 (February 25-28)

Our best guess for when we’ll see the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is at MWC 2019, which takes place from February 25-28.

An announcement there has been rumored more than once and on top of that the Samsung Galaxy S9 range landed at MWC 2018, so it seems likely. More specifically, it might land a day or so before the event formally kicks off, as Samsung often holds press events in advance of MWC.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that this is where we’ll see the S10 Plus, especially as Samsung doesn’t always use MWC to announce new entries in the range, although we couldn’t count on the one source that reckons the Galaxy S10 Plus could arrive at CES 2019 in January. It’s simply way too early.

But if not at MWC then certainly sometime within the first few months of the year, as there’s around a year between each model.

There aren’t any Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus price rumors yet, but given that the Galaxy S9 Plus launched for $840 / £869 / AU$1,349 we’d expect the S10 Plus will cost at least that much.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus design and display

Hottest leaks:

• A 6.4-inch 1440 x 3040 screen
• A pinhole camera and small bezels

Our latest real look at the possible design of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus comes from two leaked images, which oddly don’t match up.

As you can see below, they both show a phone with a triple-lens camera, but the color of the camera block differs and the size of the lenses possibly does as well, so it’s possible that only one or neither of these images is right, or that they show different phones – perhaps one shows the S10 while the other shows the Galaxy S10 Plus.

The images otherwise do line up, showing a slightly curved back, probably made of glass, and a frame that looks to be made of metal.

We’ve also seen an image possibly showing a prototype of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus from the front where you can see there’s a dual-lens camera in a corner notch (as opposed to it being cut into the screen as some leaks show). You can see this below.

Elsewhere, we’ve seen renders of the Galaxy S10 Plus in a case, complete with four cameras on the back (rather than the three pictured above).

There’s also a dual-lens camera on the front but it’s cut into the screen rather than extending from the top edge.

Previously we saw some leaked renders shared by OnLeaks (a reliable leaker), which gave a more complete look at the possible design of the Galaxy S10 Plus.

The renders, which you can see below, show a cut-out in the screen for a dual-lens front-facing camera, but the bezels are very slim.

The images also show a quad-lens camera on the back (check the camera section below for more information on this). An earlier version of these images showed three cameras and larger bezels, but this was apparently inaccurate, though was more in line with some of the photos above.

There’s also a 3.5mm headphone port on the bottom edge, a curved display and what looks to be a metal frame and glass back, shown in both black and ‘Ice Blue’.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is apparently 157.5 x 75.0 x 7.8mm, rising to 9mm at the camera bump, which makes it a similar size to the 158.1 x 73.8 x 8.5mm Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, despite apparently having a larger 6.4-inch screen.

That screen apparently has a QHD resolution, according to this source, which more or less lines up with a benchmark for one of the S10 models, which lists the phone as having a 1440 x 3040 resolution and a 19:9 aspect ratio. Further benchmarks, this time specific to the Galaxy S10 Plus, confirm the aspect ratio and resolution.

We’ve also heard more than once that the screen might be 6.4 inches, though at least one rumor puts it at 6.2 inches, so we’re not at all certain of the size yet.

As for the pinhole camera in the pictures above, there’s plenty of evidence for that. In fact, Samsung itself has announced a screen with a pinhole camera, dubbed the ‘Infinity-O’, though hasn’t said what devices this display would be used for. A patent filed by the company also shows such a design.

More recently we’ve seen mock-ups shared by renowned tipster Evan Blass that point to very small pinhole notches being cut out in the center of the display. At this stage it seems no one really knows where those holes are going to be.

The pictures show the comparative screen sizes of the three devices that Samsung might launch in its new range: the S10 Lite, the S10, and the S10 Plus.

Another source has also said that at least one of the S10 models will have a “punch hole” camera, along with three rear cameras and an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner. So there’s a high chance that the camera will indeed be built into the screen.

As for that ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint scanner, that’s another Galaxy S10 Plus rumor we’ve heard about plenty of times. Several phones such as the OnePlus 6T and Huawei Mate 20 Pro already have in-screen scanners, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Samsung stuck one on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.

More than just being in-screen though, this is rumored to be a third-generation ultrasonic scanner from Qualcomm, which should be more secure than most in-screen scanners, as many are optical, meaning they take a 2D scan of your print, while ultrasonic ones capture a 3D picture.

However, while it might gain an in-screen scanner, the Galaxy S10 Plus could lose the range’s iris scanner, according to multiple reports. Though face scanning is likely to remain.

And while the renders above are our best guess for the design of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus so far, there are some other possibilities.

Samsung has also announced a screen with seemingly no notch, no significant bezel and no pinhole for the camera, so there’s a chance that will be used.

You can see how that might look in the image below, though we’d take this picture with a huge side of salt – it’s one of the older Galaxy S10 leaks and another source has suggested it’s inaccurate.

We’ve also seen multiple images of a screen protector supposedly for the Galaxy S10. This is likely for the standard model rather than the Galaxy S10 Plus, but the two phones will probably have a similar design and you can see here too that there’s seemingly a bezel-free look.

Though in the case of these screen protectors it’s always possible that they just didn’t bother making a cut-out for the camera, since the protector is transparent anyway.

Whatever the look of the phone, it’s sure to be different to the S9 range, as Samsung’s mobile division CEO has said to expect a “very significant” makeover.

There could also be some different colors on offer. As well as the ones pictured above, we’ve also heard rumors of grey, blue, red, green and yellow shades, while Samsung itself may have hinted at silver, green, black, blue and red shades in a presentation.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus camera

Hottest leaks:

• Three lenses on the back, two on the front
• Could include a 16MP wide-angle, 13MP telephoto and 12MP standard lens
• One lens might have a variable aperture
• Could have up to six cameras

Multiple sources have claimed that the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus will have a triple-lens rear camera. More specifically, a report has said that the phone will have a 12MP f/1.5-f/2.4 variable aperture lens, a 16MP f/1.9 aperture lens with a 123-degree field of view, and a 13MP f/2.4 aperture lens.

Those specs have come up more than once, with another source saying the phone will have a 12MP wide-angle lens, a 16MP super wide-angle lens and a 13MP telephoto lens. Similarly, leaker Evan Blass has said that at least one S10 model will have a wide-angle lens, a standard lens and a telephoto lens.

The Galaxy S10 Plus is also thought to have a dual-lens front-facing camera. That’s a claim we’ve heard more than once.

That would make for five cameras total, but one of these reports even talks about a Samsung phone with six cameras, and the renders above also show four rear cameras (along with two on the front).

It sounds like this might be an even higher end model though, and a source has tried to clear up the confusion, saying that the Galaxy S10 Plus will have three rear cameras, as will the standard Galaxy S10, with the S10 Lite having two.

They don’t mention a four lens camera here, but in a later tweet the same leaker talks about the ‘top’ Galaxy S10 model having a 6.7-inch screen, an extra Time of Flight sensor on the front and back and 5G support, so it sounds like that might have four rear lenses.

However, it might not be widely available, as they also say it’s coming to the US and South Korea, with no other countries mentioned.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus power

Hottest leaks:

• A Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820 chipset
• Possibly up to 12GB of RAM and 1TB of storage

The exact specs of the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus will probably depend on what country you’re in, as Samsung typically gives US buyers a Snapdragon-powered handset and those in most other countries an Exynos one.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is thought to be no exception, and Samsung has announced the Exynos chip likely to be powering it in much of the world. Dubbed the Exynos 9820, this is an octa-core chipset built on an 8nm process, making it smaller than its 10nm predecessor.

It’s said to offer up to 20% better single-core performance, up to 15% better multi-core performance and up to 40% better power efficiency than the Exynos 9810 powering the Samsung Galaxy S9 range.

It also apparently delivers 10% less power consumption, and the GPU is said to provide up to 40% better performance or up to 35% better power efficiency.

Those are some impressive numbers and they don’t end there. The Exynos 9820 also supports mobile download speeds of up to 2Gbps, 8K video recording at up to 30fps and displays of up to 3840 x 2400 or 4096 x 2160. It also has a NPU (neural processing unit), which can apparently carry out AI tasks up to seven times faster than the previous Exynos chip.

Good as all that sounds though an early benchmark for the chip, seemingly running in a Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, revealed a score that’s lower than the iPhone XS and the rest of Apple’s latest handsets, though it was still higher than any current Android phone.

Those in the US might get a better chipset, as the recently announced Snapdragon 855 is almost certainly going to be used, and this is 7nm, making it even smaller and likely more efficient than the Exynos 9820.

This has also been subject to an early benchmark, and it scores not just higher than the Exynos 9820 but higher than any other handset, including Apple’s.

Qualcomm has said that the chipset will offer twice the performance of an unnamed 7nm rival – likely meaning Apple’s chip, but possibly referring to Huawei’s Kirin 980.

The Snapdragon 855 is also confirmed to support 5G and to have the world’s first computer vision image signal processor, which is a chip dedicated to processing photos and videos.

It’s additionally rumored to have three sets of cores – four 1.78GHz power-saving cores, three 2.42GHz high-end cores and one 2.84GHz ‘gold’ core. It also apparently has a dedicated NPU for AI tasks and offers all-round performance boosts, with a particular focus on gaming, augmented reality and photography.

As for RAM, one report puts that at up to 12GB, along with up to 1TB of storage, but in both cases that would be more than any other phone, so we’re not at all sure of that.

What we might get is an 8GB RAM chip that Samsung itself has announced and which can reduce power consumption by up to 30% and has a data rate that’s apparently 1.5 times as fast as current flagship RAM chips. Though notably this RAM hasn’t been linked specifically to the Galaxy S10 range just yet.

Storage could be faster too, as Samsung is set to start using UFS 3.0 storage early in 2019. This both takes up less space than current storage in phones and is up to two times faster.

If Samsung does use that then presumably the smallest storage size of the Galaxy S10 Plus will be 128GB or higher, up from 64GB in the Galaxy S9 Plus, as this UFS 3.0 storage starts at 128GB.

We have a good idea of the software that the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus will run too. It will use Android of course, almost certainly Android 9 Pie, but Samsung has announced a new One UI which is likely to be laid on top of that.

One UI is particularly focused on making it more comfortable to interact with large phones using one hand, which should be useful on Samsung’s plus-sized flagship.

• The foldable Samsung Galaxy X could also land soon

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A special Christmas promotion is still happening right now meaning there’s never been a better time to get a cheap Xbox Game Pass price for you or someone else this Christmas. So if you’ve been waiting for a super deal on a 12-month pass to the Netflix of gaming-style service you won’t want to miss this.

In both the US and UK we’ve dug out some drastic discounts on the download service what many are calling the ‘Netflix of games’ service. And because you download the games, rather than stream them, there’s no need to worry about connectivity issues once the game is downloaded (we are getting close to broadband being reliable for this one day soon though). Once they’re downloaded, you can play them as much as you want while your membership is active.

Microsoft hasn’t been shy with collecting lots of big name games for the list (Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has been added just this week!), but what has us especially keen on the service is the way the publisher puts its own big titles on the service on the day of release. So as soon as Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 4 came out, subscribers could enjoy them in full. And yes, Crackdown 3 will be available on day one when it comes out next year. 

All this for essentially the cost of a single brand new Triple-A game today thanks to these huge reductions on a 12-month subscription. If you’re not sure what game to pick up for yourself or a loved one, this service is a great option given the huge variety on offer and will save you lots of money over buying many of the games you end up trying.

• Xbox Game Pass 12-months $119 $59.99 at Walmart – USA
• Xbox Game Pass 12-months £95.88 £47.99 at Amazon – UK

What games are on Xbox Game Pass?

There are some stunning titles available on the service already. Highlights we’ve just spotted include Doom, Quantum Break, Hellblade, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, Rocket League, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Hitman, Halo: Master Chief Collection and many more.

Do I need Xbox Live Gold to use Xbox Game Pass

Short version: no. You’ll only need an Xbox Live Gold sub to play the online multiplayer side of Xbox Game Pass titles, just as you would if you bought them as individual games. On the plus side, you can also get some seriously cheap prices on the Xbox Live Gold subs today as shown below too.

• Xbox Live Gold 12 months – $59.99 $44.99 at CDKeys.com – USA
• Xbox Live Gold 12 months – £39.99 £33.99 at CDKeys.com – UK

If you’re still looking for more gift ideas before Christmas (maybe a cheap Xbox One X price?), be sure to check out our full range of cheap deals features. We’ve rounded up the best offers on a huge range of items including gaming consoles, TVs, laptops, mobile phones, broadband, digital TV subs, smart speakers and much more.

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Virtual reality (VR) may be commonly used for gaming and watching videos, but there are actually plenty of ways in which it can used to educate.

In fact, many suggest that VR could absolutely transform education altogether, largely by making education much more immersive for students – which could help make lessons more interesting.

You don’t actually have to wait around for VR to change education, though: there are plenty of education-focused VR apps that are already available.

Whether you’re a teacher, a student, or simply interested in learning more about the world, here are the best VR apps for education.

Titans of Space

Interested in learning about the vast expanse of space? Titans of space offers an in-depth tour of a number of the planets, stars and other objects in the galaxy. Plus, it does so with beautiful visuals and a well-designed overall experience. Safe to say, this app definitely makes learning about space a little more exciting than it otherwise would be.

To help show the sheer scale of objects in space, Titans of Space does things like shrink down planets to a millionth of their actual size. For example, the Earth could appear to be the size of a house. In the app, you’ll find a variety of options, including the ability to customize the tour of space for you or your students. The app is available on a variety of platforms, including the Oculus Go and the Samsung Gear VR.

Discovery VR

Turns out, the Discovery Channel isn’t only about learning on the TV. The network has also put together a VR app called Discovery VR, in which you’ll be able to experience a variety of different settings as if you were actually there. In the app, you can enjoy content from shows like Discovery Atlas, Discover Presents, DNews Labs and more in VR.

Perhaps one of the best things about Discovery VR is that the content on it is free. You don’t necessarily need a cable subscription to make use of the app. Discovery VR is available on a number of platforms, including the Oculus Rift, Gear VR and HTC Vive.

InMind VR 2

It’s fun to learn about space and the Earth, but it’s also important enough to learn about the human brain. InMind VR 2 is set inside the brain of John, a teenager, and is inspired by Inside Out, the much-loved Pixar movie. In the app, you’ll have control over John’s emotions, but to control them, you’ll need to catch the right neurons by shaking John’s head. Get the right neurons, and the molecules will help John react to certain situations, helping shape his future.

The game is both educational and interesting to play, and it’s available on a few different platforms, including Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard and HTC Vive.

VirtualSpeech VR

This one’s perfect for those who have a fear of public speaking. As the name suggests, in the app you’ll find yourself in a variety of different situations in which you have to speak in front of others. You’ll be able to practice for things like job interviews, speaking in front of groups of people and more. You’ll be graded on things like the amount of eye contact you give, the number of filler words you use and more. Even if it doesn’t truly feel like you’re in front of a group of people, it’s a great way to improve your overall speaking skills.

VirtualSpeech VR is available in a few platforms, including Oculus Go, Gear VR, Google Cardboard and more.

Tilt Brush

Tilt Brush is an excellent choice for the artists out there. Imagine if you could take the concept of painting and apply it to 3D environments. That’s exactly what Tilt Brush aims to do. In the app, students can create their own artwork in a 3D environment, through using a variety of different brushes and colors. Students can also share their artworks in the form of animated GIFs. This app is especially good for those looking to learn more about colors and how they mix.

Tilt Brush is available on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

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Virtual reality (VR) can sometimes make us feel isolated, cut off from your friends and familiar surroundings with only AI companions and enemies for company. 

That can make the experience more powerful and immersive – but also lonely. 

But, don’t despair and yank off that headset just yet! VR has a ton of multiplayer games available across most headsets, many with cross-platform support, so you’ll be able to play and chat with fellow VR enthusiasts around the world.

Even family and friends who don’t own their own headsets can sometimes get in on the fun!

Here are our current favorites for local and online multiplayer across a variety of genres.

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

Gear VR / Oculus Rift / Playstation VR / HTC Vive, $15

The perfect game to play with your non-gamer family and friends, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is all about frantic communication and teamwork. One person isolated in a VR bubble must disarm a bomb; that person describes the bomb’s circuitry, and his or her teammates must find the solution and describe it back before time runs out.

Each level gets more and more tricky, with things like confusing homonym passwords, mazes and Morse code, until your friendships will either dissolve into hatred or become stronger through shared struggle.

The Playroom VR

PSVR, Free

Imagine Mario Party, but if every mini game was an asynchronous Bowser mini game, with one super-powered enemy fighting four plucky heroes. This free bundled PlayStation VR game basically makes the VR headset wearer Bowser, facing off against – or sometimes joining up with – everyone else staring at the TV sans headsets.

In some games you’re a big cat hunting robot mice, or a massive sea creature throwing projectiles at fleeing bots. In another mini game everyone teams up to hunt down and vacuum up ghosts, Luigi’s Mansion-style. Whoever’s wearing the headset, though, everyone in the room will be cracking up together.

Rec Room

Rift / PSVR / Vive, Free

Currently the most popular social VR app, Rec Room combines casual social hangout rooms with a variety of mini games – laser tag, dodge-ball, paintball, charades, etc. – and 3D creation tools for making your own games or social rooms. 

At its best Rec Room will let you meet and make new friends; at its worst, like any online forum, you’ll run into jerks and creeps. So, get the mute and block buttons ready, keep your kids and teenagers off of it unless you’re ready to constantly supervise, and consider more curated experiences like Facebook Spaces if you only want to hang out with friends you already know.

Tabletop Simulator

Rift / Vive, $20

As someone who lives across the country from his old board gaming get-togethers, Tabletop Simulator in VR provides a pleasant way to hang out and compete with friends (or strangers) thousands of miles away.

It officially only ships with 15 straightforward games, like chess and poker, but since the game released in 2014, community members have created thousands of digital versions of more modern favorites, like Settlers of Catan, Spirit Island Deluxe, Star Wars Armada, Gloomhaven, Betrayal on Haunted Hill, Secret Hitler, Munchkin and truly so many more.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew

Rift / PSVR / Vive, $20

Ubisoft’s four-player cooperative VR game set in the Original Star Trek universe (or Next Generation if you buy the latest DLC) really gets to the heart of Star Trek’s mantra: working together to overcome any obstacle.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew isn’t for the socially awkward, as you’ll need to communicate clearly and quickly with your three fellow Trekkies to beat back the Klingons and Borg or save the Kobayashi Maru crew. Ubisoft’s cross-play means you can play with friends on other types of headsets than yours, but even without VR-owning friends you’ll hopefully find a solid crew of strangers to boldly go together.

Echo Arena (+ Echo Combat)

Oculus, $10

A free spin-off of the amazing Oculus-exclusive space adventure Lone Echo, Echo Arena throws players into zero-G with only rocket boosters and their fists, and tasks them with throwing a disc into the opposing goal. You’ll love coming up with tactics to outsmart or outmaneuver opponents – or just charging forward for a no-gravity boxing match with your Touch controls.

Last month, developer Ready at Dawn will also released Echo Combat, which will ditch punching and frisbees for lasers and a payload to drag into the opposing base. It’s basically Ender’s Game brought into VR and looks amazing. Plus, anyone interested in starting up an eSports career should try building up their Echo skills, because Oculus will host tournaments in 2019.

Onward

Rift / Vive, $25

Some people prefer ultra-precise realism in their tactical shooters to cartoonish or sci-fi action. For those people, 5v5 Mii-Sim tactical shooter Onward is truly the best option available. 

Whether you’re in a multiplayer match or a co-op skirmish against bots, constant communication with your squad is vital to success. With a dedicated fan base, you’ll never have to wait long to hop into a match. 

DiRT Rally

Rift / PSVR / Vive, $40

Picking just one racing VR game is nearly impossible, and mostly up to personal preference. Assetto Corvo may be the most realistic-feeling sim for true car enthusiasts. Wipeout Omega Collection is a great F-Zero-esque choice for PS VR users, iRacing provides the best head-to-head online multiplayer for skilled racers, and the Tron-like endless racing arcade game Distance is a fast-paced good time.

But DiRT Rally arguably takes the cake for overall most enjoyable experience, with the most exciting race courses and user experience. You can race directly against opponents in rally cross mode or compete against leader boards and friends’ times. 

Other great games to check out:

• Altspace VR (Social)
• Cloudlands: VR Minigolf (Sports)
• Creed: Rise to Glory (Sports)
• Elite: Dangerous (Space simulator)
• Minecraft VR (Survival/ exploration)
• Pavlov VR (Shooter)
• Payday 2 VR (Heist shooter)
• Sports Bar VR (Social/minigames)
• Raw Data (sci-fi shooter)
• Robo Recall (sci-fi shooter)

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