NEWS | Week beginning September 14th | Star Wars Battlefront Bundles, Star Wars Battlefront Beta & Xbox One Elite Controller Release Date Revealed

Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to this weeks video game news round-up! Enjoy!

Star Wars Battlefront Bundles

First up, EA have announced a new $130 bundle for Star Wars Battlefront. Seems a bit pricey right? However, not only does the bundle come with a copy of the game and a few extra in-game items such as weapons and emotes, it also comes with a mini-fridge!

Poor Han...

It seems like mini-fridges are the new thing to bundle in with games. Back in July, I wrote about Black Ops 3's pre-order bonuses, as they too are including a mini-fridge with their Collectors Edition of the game. The Black Ops 3 fridge resembles the Nazi Zombies Perk 'Juggernog', looking exactly like the dispenser that gives you the perk in-game. The Battlefront fridge however is a throwback to Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Episode 5), when Han Solo is frozen in Carbonite by Jabba the Hut. On the front of the fridge you can see the silhouette of a frozen Han Solo, much like how it looked in Episode 5. 

The fridge is a really mini mini-fridge, with it only being able to hold 6 cans of Coca-Cola (or any other brand), but hey, you can't really complain, it's a mini-fridge!

Unfortunately, for everyone that's not in the US, it seems like this bundle is only being offered by American retailer Walmart, meaning only you American readers can pre-order this cool bundle. 

In other Star Wars Battlefront bundle news, EA have announced a limited edition PS4 Battlefront system themed around Darth Vader, which will cost around £300-£350, so if you want a Darth Vader PS4, go pre-order it soon!

Star Wars Battlefront Beta

Next up, with more Battlefont news, EA have released some details for the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront Beta.

The Beta will be available to everyone, even if you haven't already pre-ordered the game yet, and will host both offline and online modes, including 'Drop Zone' on the map 'Sullust' and 'Walker Assault' on the map 'Hoth'. The Beta will also include a 'Survival Mode' on 'Tatooine', which will be available both for offline play and non-competitive online play.

What game-mode are you most excited
to play?

Although no official start date has been announced, it is expected that the Beta will begin during October sometime, with Community Manager Mathew Everett stating that "the final date will be announced as soon as we have the final details locked in". Exciting times!

He also went on to answer some Beta-related questions from the community:

Q.) Can I upgrade my vehicles in Star Wars Battlefront?
A.) Vehicles in Star Wars Battlefront come with their own weapons and abilities that make them authentic to the Star Wars universe.

Q.) What comes with the various editions, i.e. Deluxe vs. Standard?
A.) The Standard Edition of Star Wars Battlefront will include the base game. The Deluxe Edition will include the base game and have the Ion Grenade, Ion Torpedo, and DL-44 unlocked right away along with the exclusive Ion Shock and Victory emotes.

Q.) Can I buy the Deluxe Edition on disk in a retail store, or is it just digitally online?
A.) The Star Wars Battlefront Deluxe Edition is available as a physical item for Xbox One.

Q.) Will there be any AI bots in multiplayer in addition to other players?
A.) Yes! Our Fighter Squadron mode features AI units (10 on each side).

Q.) Will there be sidearms or only primary guns?
A.) We offer a primary blaster along with a hand of Star Cards. How you customize your Star Card hand will be up to you.

Star Wars Battlefront is set to be released November 17th on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Xbox One Elite Controller Release Date Revealed

Finally, the release date for the Xbox One Elite controller has been revealed, along with what will come within the box for the controller.

The Elite controller is set to release on October 27th, with a host of different retailers set to stock the £100 controller. 

For those of you avid Xbox users, you may know why the Elite Controller is set to be released on October 27th, if not, it's because that the much anticipated Halo 5: Guardians is also scheduled to release on the same day. Now I hardly believe that the two releasing on the day is just some fortunate coincidence

For around £100, you may be thinking that the Elite Controller is hugely overpriced. However, it is a major upgrade from the standard Xbox One console. 

Gamespot recently used and tested the new Elite Controller, and know exactly how the controller works and operates.

Will you be purchasing the Elite
Controller?

"The Xbox One Elite controller, which also works on PC, is more than twice as expensive as the standard unit. For the premium price, you get a first-of-its-kind Xbox controller that features interchangeable rear paddles and hair trigger locks. It also lets you adjust the trigger minimum and maximum values, thumbstick sensitivity, and button assignments. In short, you can assign any of the controller's 14 different inputs to the ABXY buttons, paddles, D-pad, triggers, and thumbstick clicks."

The Elite Controller also comes packaged with a bunch of different accessories for the controller:

• Xbox One Wireless Elite Controller (obviously)
• Carry Case
• Set of 6 thumbsticks (2 standard, 2 tall and 2 domed)
  
• Set of 4 paddles
• Set of 2 D-Pads
• USB Cable
• AA Batteries
• Setup guide and manual

Much like a gaming mouse, once you have finished attaching all the different attachments and are done adjusting the different button configurations, you can save them into seperate custom controller profiles into an app, and switch between the different custom configurations at will. Kinda cool!

This is definitely a very expensive investment. However, it does completely change gaming on the Xbox One. If I had an Xbox One I'd even consider getting one myself! Just make sure you have a spare £100 lying around...

That's it for this weeks video game news round-up! What did you think of this weeks news? Will be buying one of the many Star Wars Battlefront Bundles? Will you be taking part in the Battlefront Beta? Will you be investing in the Xbox One Elite Controller? 

Let me know in the comments down below!

As always, thanks for reading!!

Connor :)