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Beyerdynamic is no stranger to the gaming community, as the company’s wired headsets are regularly seen at professional esports events and the like. However, it’s never released a wireless gaming headset, until now. The company just revealed the Beyerdynamic MMX 200 and this headset’s packed with modern features, all without frustrating wires to get in the way.

The company says the MMX 200 offers the “same competitive advantage” of its wired cousins, thanks to 40mm high-performance drivers that provide expanded detail across the entire frequency range. There’s also an integrated digital signal processor (DSP) that promises to add more oomph to the sound, helping to create the “ultimate gaming experience.”

Gaming is more than just listening, however, especially when you’re playing with friends. You also have to trash talk. The MMX 200 features a detachable boom mic with an integrated 9mm condenser capsule that Beyerdynamic says will make listeners think your voice is coming from a podcast studio. That’s quite a lofty promise, as the microphones that typically accompany gaming headsets are, in a word, trash.

Being a wireless headset, connectivity options are extremely important. To that end, the MMX 200 integrates with a wide variety of audio codecs and features Bluetooth 5.3, along with a low-latency wireless adapter. There’s even an interesting hybrid mode that allows the headphones to connect via an analog wired connection and Bluetooth at the same time.

The advertised battery life is certainly impressive, allowing for 35 to 50 hours of use per charge. This metric doesn’t even include idle periods, so the real-world battery life could creep even higher. You can also charge the headset during use, which is always a nice time-saver and a feature more companies should implement. As with most gaming headsets intended for prolonged use, there are some comfort-forward features here, like memory foam padding on the earpads and a light clamping force that shouldn’t squeeze your head like a grape.

All of the components have been designed for self-repair, with replacement parts available. Additionally, Beyerdynamic doesn’t really trade in gimmicks, so there’s no RGB lights or anything like that. The MMX 200 headphones are available today for $250 straight from the company or via Amazon.

While this is Beyerdynamic’s first wireless gaming headset, it’s not the company’s first foray into wireless audio. It released a pair of wireless earbuds last year, called Free Byrd.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/beyerdynamic-releases-its-first-ever-wireless-gaming-headset-172641714.html?src=rss 

Looks like Cities: Skylines II is truly going to be colossal. The console release of Cities: Skylines II has been delayed to spring 2024, and the game’s minimum and recommended PC specs are now slightly more demanding. The PC version of the game will still land on October 24, 2023, as originally planned.

Anyone who pre-ordered the game on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S should automatically receive a refund through those platforms. Developer Colossal Order is shutting down pre-orders of the console version for now. Cities: Skylines II is still coming to PC Game Pass on October 24, and it’ll hit Xbox Game Pass next spring, alongside the console release.

The new minimum and recommended PC specs aren’t wildly different than the original figures, but there are two notable changes. The recommended specs now call for an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor, rather than a Ryzen 5 5800X. The minimum specs start with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 graphics card (or AMD equivalent), an upgrade from the original GTX 780.

Colossal Order explained that the console delay and the PC update stem from the same root cause: This game is bigger and requires more optimization than they first thought. Here’s how the studio explained the adjustment to the game’s PC specs:

“Cities: Skylines II is a next-generation title and therefore has certain hardware requirements. The recommended specs were set when the game was still in development. After having done extensive testing with different hardware we made the decision to update the minimum/recommended specs for a better player experience.”

It’s been a rough year for PC games in general. The diversity baked into the PC market has always been a challenge for developers, but ninth-generation console hardware is now outstripping many common PC setups, leading to ambitious games with lots of bugs on PC. With today’s Cities: Skylines II news, it seems like Colossal Order is attempting to insulate itself from this phenomenon.

Developers have also had a tough time offering parity between the Xbox Series X — the most technically powerful console this generation — and the Series S, Microsoft’s cheaper and less powerful option. Microsoft requires all games to launch with the same features on both consoles, and this has led to a handful of delays, dropped features, and at least one accidental PS5 console exclusive. Microsoft recently allowed Baldur’s Gate 3 creator Larian Studios to bend these rules, but the requirement remains in place generally.

Colossal Order has an FAQ about the changes to Cities: Skylines II right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cities-skylines-ii-will-hit-ps5-and-xbox-series-xs-in-spring-2024-173416073.html?src=rss 

The Xbox Series X is once again on sale for $450 at Dell. That’s $50 off its usual going rate. We’ve seen this deal pop up before, but discounts on Microsoft’s highest-end game console have generally been rare since it arrived in late 2020, so this is another good opportunity to save.

Compared to the $300 Xbox Series S, Microsoft’s other current-gen Xbox, the Series X packs a stronger GPU and 6GB more RAM, which lets it more consistently play demanding games at higher frame rates and resolutions. It also has a disc drive and twice as much storage by default at 1TB. You can still play every Xbox game on either console, but the gulf in power between the two devices is starting to become more evident; the hit RPG Baldur’s Gate III, for instance, will come to the Series S without split-screen co-op — something that will be available on the Series X — after developer Larian Studios had issues achieving feature parity with the less powerful machine. Broadly speaking, the Series X is built to play games in 4K at 60fps (or higher), while the Series S is more for 1440p or 1080p displays. 

As for the games themselves, Microsoft has had some struggles producing first-party hits — we were lukewarm on its most recent blockbuster, the space RPG Starfield — but the Xbox library still has tons of titles we like, from blockbusters like Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite to smaller gems like Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment. If you like to sample a variety of games, an Xbox Game Pass subscription is still a decent value as well, though a recent price hike has made it a little less of a must-have.

The caveat to any Xbox deal right now is the trove of documents that accidentally leaked earlier this month as part of the FTC v. Microsoft court battle. That leak included details of an apparent Xbox Series X refresh that could arrive next year with a cylindrical design and 2TB of storage but no disc drive, which could make the current model more appealing for those who don’t want to go all-digital. As that info stems from older internal documents, however, it’s possible that those plans have changed over time. 

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-xbox-series-x-is-back-down-to-450-154534111.html?src=rss