Author: Trafficblast

Sometimes, you want to buy a device because it’s made to fit just how you play. Asus’ new gaming headset, the Strix Go 2.4, is a good, but flawed wireless headset with a single standout feature. Its 2.4 GHz wireless dongle plugs into a USB-C port, rather than the standard USB-A. This makes it one of the few wireless headsets – another one being the SteelSeries Arctis One Wireless – that pairs with the undocked Nintendo Switch console out of the box.

The convenience of a simple plug and play Switch headset makes the Strix Go an appealing prospect for the right person, even at the expense of some technical flaws. As a general multiplatform headset, that feature doesn’t bring much to the table and the novelty fades: In that light, the Strix Go 2.4’s good sound and sharp design still shine, but not nearly as bright.

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Design & Features

The Strix Go 2.4 looks pretty sleek – more like a pair of Bluetooth headphones for everyday use, than a gaming headset. The memory-foam-padded band and long, oval earcups are covered in matte black plastic, with shiny silver accents. The small silver logo and “ROG” stamps – short for Republic of Gamer – are a little more flashy than something you’d see on a pair of Bose or Sony headphones. Still, they’re more discreet than most gaming headsets, and wouldn’t grab more attention than any other nice pair of headphones on a bus or a train.

For a smaller pair of earcups, the Strix Go is surprisingly comfortable. With a slim profile and weighing in at 290 grams, it’s on the lighter side for a gaming headset. It isn’t so light that you’d forget you’re wearing it, but it doesn’t weigh you down, even after a long play session. The leatherette-coated cups and top band have a thick layer of memory foam padding, which keeps the cups from clamping too hard. Likewise, the cups, while relatively long and thin for headphone coverings, are roomy enough for my ears. (I find smaller, tighter earcups often pinch the corners of my ears, so I was pleasantly surprised.)

On the inside, the Strix Go uses Asus’ 40mm “Essence” Neodymium drivers. For a gaming headset, I found the sound to generally focus a bit more on mid-range sounds than bass, which is abnormal for gaming headset. (Most headset makers focus on bass because explosions and gunfire are the most common loud in-game sounds.) The fidelity, in general, is very high: With a mid-focus sound, the whole audio range of this headset tends to come in more clearly most of the time.

Your sound quality does vary, though. Technically, the Strix Go is rated for “Hi-Res Audio,” which means its frequency range is very wide, topping out at 40,000KHz. Here’s the catch: It only achieves that high range when you use a wired connection. When connecting via the wireless dongle, the headset reaches just 20,000 KHz, which is on par with most gaming headsets.

To be clear, frequency range is not an overall indicator of sound quality, so it isn’t as if cutting it half automatically means the sound is worse. In this case, however, I did find that there is more nuance in the sound when you’re plugged in. I’d say the wireless mode is great for most games, but you might consider plugging in if you’re planning to listen to music or otherwise want to listen to complex audio.

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The vast majority of the switches and ports on the Strix Go are on the left-hand cup. Facing directly down, you have a 3.5mm port for setting up a wired connection, which you’ll need in order to use it on PS4 and Xbox One. You’ll want to use the headset in wired mode when listening to music or generally want the best possible audio experience.

On the front of the cup, just above it, there are two microphones. First, there’s a small hole for a built-in mic, similar to the ones found in Bluetooth headphones. There’s also a detachable wire boom, similar to what you’ll find on most headsets. The built-in mic is useful for audio/video calls, but the boom mic provides additional noise-canceling features to prevent ambient noise from cluttering your chat when playing games.

Just above that, there’s a power switch that toggles between wired and wireless mode. Strangely, you need to turn wireless mode off to connect via the headphone jack. Many headsets make using the headphone jack completely seamless regardless of any other modes: Toggling a switch isn’t exactly a hardship, but it’s easy to forget if you switch from one mode to the other.

Lastly, there’s a single media control button that can play/pause and skip or go back a track in playlists. Finally, facing directly backward is a volume wheel, which doubles as a mic mute button.

There’s also a solitary USB-C charging port on the right earcup, which makes for cluttered cords if (read: when) you run out of power and switch to a wired connection while charging the headset. You also need to plug your headphones into a PC from time to time via USB-C to update its firmware.

Software

The Strix Go is one of a handful of new ASUS ROG products that supports the company’s new PC configuration app, Armoury Crate. Crate is a flashy, new app that lets you change your audio mix, both manually and using presets. You can also set and adjust a number of settings related to the headset’s virtual surround sound and the noise canceling in the boom mic.

There’s one issue: You have to connect wirelessly to sync the Strix Go with Crate. Given that the sound quality differs based on your connection, this winds up being a significant limitation for players looking to get the absolute best audio quality on PC. As far as I can tell, making changes in one mode carries over when you switch to the other, so it isn’t as if you can’t change the settings at all, but it’s far from ideal.

As one of the first devices transitioning to using Crate, the Strix Go also supports Asus’ legacy config app, ROG Armoury. Both apps offer all the same features, so technically you can use either one, Armoury definitely feels less polished, and forces you to sit through a long load on startup. That said, if you already use some ROG gear, you may want to stick with it until Asus adds Crate support for legacy devices.

Gaming

Though the quality of the sound coming out of the Strix Go varies, depending on how you connect it, it works well with games across the board. I used it while playing a variety of games on the Nintendo Switch and my gaming PC, including Modern Warfare, Doom Eternal, Gears Tactics, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and Ape Out.

Across platforms and connection types, the Strix Go delivers quality sound. As I discussed, the sounds tend to be more mid-forward than the average headset, which makes it great for games with a lot of dialogue and pop/rock music (or Jazz, like in Ape Out.) The only times I really noticed the increased frequency range of the wired connection was when listening to synthy, electronic music on Spotify.

While the sound comes through clear, the virtual 7.1 surround sound doesn’t really deliver. Though it is capable of giving you some spatial awareness, you have to listen very closely to hear the difference between sounds coming to the side versus something behind you. You don’t ever really get the feeling that you’re surrounded by the sound. Simulated surround sound almost never compares to the real thing, but often seems at least moderately useful in headsets: This version, unfortunately, misses that lowered bar.

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On the plus side, though, you don’t have to worry about charging it too much. The Strix Go gets an estimated 25 hours of power on a single charge. Anecdotally, I found that I needed to charge about once a week with the sleep timer set to five minutes. It also supports USB-C quick-charging, so with the right cord and power source, you can get the battery back to an acceptable level quickly.

That said, It has some annoying “habits” around monitoring battery life. The Strix Go uses audio cues to let you know when it’s going to sleep, waking up, and hitting various battery milestone. Those pings interrupt the sound of whatever you’re listening to, watching, or playing.

Even though the disruption is momentary, it’s annoying and it can’t be turned off. Likewise, the headset defaults to turning off after five minutes of silence: This can be adjusted using the Armoury apps on PC, though that will feel like a chore for Switch-first players.

Purchasing Guide

The Asus ROG Strix Go 2.4 is available for $199 at Amazon and other major retailers starting.

Netflix has revealed the top 10 biggest opening months for their original movies with Extraction and Bird Box leading the way.

Bloomberg released the list of the top 10 movies that received the most views over their first four weeks. The Bloomberg article doesn’t say, but it’s assumed these are worldwide numbers as Netflix has 182.8 million subscribers worldwide, including 69.9 million in the USA as of April 2020, according to The New York Times.

It’s also worth mentioning that a view for Netflix is only two minutes because that’s “long enough to indicate the choice was intentional.”

Here are Netflix’s Top 10 biggest debuts for their original movies:

• 1. Extraction – 99 million
• 2. Bird Box – 89 million
• 3. Spenser Confidential – 85 million
• 4. 6 Underground – 83 million
• 5. Murder Mystery – 73 million
• 6. The Irishman – 64 million
• 7. Triple Frontier – 63 million
• 8. The Wrong Missy – 59 million
• 9. The Platform – 56 million
• 10. The Perfect Date – 48 million

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Every movie on the list was released in the past two years. The Sandra Bullock thriller Bird Box is the oldest movie having launched in December 2018 while the David Spade comedy, The Wrong Missy, is the most recent movie on the list, having debuted in May 2020. This is probably due to Netflix’s consistent growth over the years, including a recent coronavirus boom in subscribers. That could be why four of the movies on this list were released on Netflix in just the past few months.

Scott Stuber, the head of Netflix’s original film division, said he wants big movies to debut every couple of weeks.

“We want an impactful movie every two weeks,” Stuber said to Bloomberg. “For one person, that’s Extraction. For another, it’s The Wrong Missy.”

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Extraction has a sequel on the way with Joe Russo currently writing the script. Meanwhile, Bird Box author Josh Malerman is currently promoting his sequel novel which will hit stores this month. Malerman recently said a movie sequel is also in the works. The Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston comedy, Murder Mystery, also has a sequel in the works.

Click here for a list of everything coming to Netflix in July. One of those movies, The Old Guard, has been the number one movie on Netflix in the USA since its debut Friday. In our The Old Guard review, we said the movie “rises above its generic trappings thanks to its cool cast & world-building.”

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Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who saw The Irishman in an overpriced, overheated, crowded, talkative movie theater and really wishes he just waited for Netflix instead.

Microsoft is set to host its next Xbox Games Showcase next week, on July 23, which the company has now detailed a little further in a new blog post.

The message for the stream is clear: games. Microsoft says viewers can expect their first look at Halo Infinite’s campaign during the event, as well as updates on already announced titles and brand-new world premieres. Unlike the company’s previous stream in May, this showcase is centered on first-party titles which will come to Xbox and PC.

Responding to rumors surrounding the event, Xbox’s Aaron Greenberg clarified further on Twitter that the event will be just about games and nothing else, squashing hopes of a surprise console reveal for the heavily rumored Xbox Lockhart or talk of a price for the Xbox Series X.

The stream will be an hour long and streamed across YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and Twitter. Like Sony’s PS5 reveal stream, the event will cap out at 1080p/60fps during the live broadcast, but Microsoft has promised full 4K trailer uploads after it has concluded.

Microsoft’s first big stream for the Xbox Series X took place in May with a host of third-party reveals and console exclusives. The stream was criticized for not featuring much gameplay, with Greenberg apologizing the day afterwards. Microsoft also recently announced that xCloud will be included in Game Pass Ultimate starting this September.

Necrobarista, a long-awaited visual novel with a lot of style and an anime-inspired aesthetic, has finally confirmed a PC release date–and it’s close. The game will release for Steam and GOG on July 22, while console players will have to wait a bit longer–a Switch and PS4 release is planned for 2021.

The game is set in Melbourne, Australia, and features full 3D environments and characters to explore in first-person, and it’s aiming for a cinematic feel. It’s set in a cafe where the dead are able to return and interact with the living–but only for one night.

The soundtrack has been composed by Kevin Penkin, who previously worked on Florence.

In 2019, the game made GameSpot’s round-up of the best games of PAX Australia. It is being translated into thirteen languages beyond English, too, including Korean, Arabic, and Russian.

The game’s Steam page also promises an appearance from Australian bushranger and icon Ned Kelly, which should be interesting.

Composer Sarah Schachner is returning to the Assassin’s Creed series for Valhalla this year, working alongside another Assassin’s Creed veteran, Jesper Kyd, for the game’s music.

Schachner has now shared one of her songs from the soon-to-release Valhalla EP, Out of the North. The track, “The Sceptred Isle,” is slow and brooding, featuring harmonizing vocals and leaving you with a feeling of both dread and awe. Or at least that’s what I hear. It sounds like something out of Game of Thrones or The Lord of the Rings.

Schachner told Collider of her music for Valhalla, “My score for Valhalla portrays the different cultures of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons but also merges the two together, reflecting the Vikings’ evolution as they invade and conquer, then integrate into Anglo-Scandinavian society and even convert to Christianity.”

For The Sceptred Isle specifically, Schachner said she was attempting to blend both cultures and foreshadow their violent history. The lyrics, meanwhile, come from an old Norse runestone.

Have a listen for yourself:

“The Sceptred Isle” is one of seven songs from the Valhalla EP, Out of the North, which also features compositions from Kyd and Einar Selvik. The album releases on July 17.

Schachner also composed music for Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Origins; more recently, she composed the score for 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. As for Jesper Kyd, he composed the music for the original Assassin’s Creed game, along with Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations. Einar Selvik, meanwhile, is the former drummer of the metal band Gorgoroth and the current singer of Norse band Wardruna.

For lots more on Valhalla, check out GameSpot’s new hands-on impressions in the video above. You can also read Jordan’s interview with narrative director Darby McDevitt and assistant level design director Laurence Letalien about Eivor’s mysterious identity, the interwoven story, and more.

One of the big changes for EA Sports UFC 4 is that the game has dropped the Ultimate Team mode that featured in some previous entries. It was a seemingly surprising move, given Ultimate Team was featured in UFC 2 and UFC 3, and, across EA’s wider sports catalog, Ultimate Team mode is a lucrative money-maker that brings in millions of dollars from microtransactions every year. In a blog post, creative director Brian Hayes explained EA’s reasoning for the change in more depth.

Hayes acknowledged that it might be surprising to learn there won’t be an Ultimate Team mode in UFC 4, and it’s a decision that EA Sports took care to consider before making a call.

Starting off, the sport of MMA does not involve a team, but instead one fighter. Fighters have coaches and trainers, but only two people step into the octagon to compete. “So Ultimate Team, as a concept, has struggled to fit and resonate in the context of MMA,” Hayes said. “We spent lots of time and resources in UFC 2 and UFC 3 to make it fun and engaging, but the feedback we received directly and through player data was that it still isn’t as engaging as we intended for it to be.”

Hayes also shared that EA’s own player data shows that UFC players generally didn’t have much interest in the UFC Ultimate Team modes from UFC 2 and UFC 3 compared to EA’s other sports games. “Lots of people played it and some still do–but the large majority of our fans prefer to spend their time elsewhere. That fact is loud and clear through our game data and couldn’t be ignored,” Hayes said.

The math “just doesn’t make sense” to support Ultimate Team mode in UFC 4 when looking at the number of people who play it and the amount of time and resources it takes to support it.

“Even to port it from UFC 3 to UFC 4 without any material changes or improvements required significant time and effort, let alone revamping the mode to make it more fun and engaging,” Hayes said.

“So we made the decision to refocus those resources toward new features and updates we hope all our players will enjoy,” Hayes said.

EA has made a series of gameplay improvements for UFC 4–like dynamic striking and updated takedowns and grapples–along with changes to make progression more unified across modes. Still, Hayes said he feels for the people who enjoyed Ultimate Team modes in UFC games from the past.

“If you were, or are, an avid UFC Ultimate Team player we understand that this isn’t good news, and if you’re disappointed, I apologize,” Hayes said. “Even though it’s a smaller group of fans, we know that those fans enjoy the mode and it is not easy to take that away.”

UFC 4 launches on August 14 for PS4 and Xbox One. Everyone who pre-orders gets exclusive fighters Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, along with customization packs for the Backyard and Kumite. EA Access subscribers can start playing on August 7.