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The Sound BlasterX H5s are an affordable option for uncomfortable gamers

Who said you need to have all the bells and whistles when simply trying to upgrade your gaming audio setup? With most premium options from Turtle Beach to Astro asking for wads of cash, gamers on a budget are looking for a more pocket-friendly option. The Sound BlasterX H5s are the latest headset from Creative Labs, promising comfort along with premium audio quality and functionality in one headset for just $100. Is that even possible?

Related: Creative iRoar review

In this video avid gamer Joshua Smith goes hands-on with the H5s to see if they can really deliver for the price. With an “old-school” analog connection, will gamers be ok doing without the convenience of Bluetooth? Though light-weight, will the make of the H5s please those looking for a little extra style? Find out what’s what with the latest from Creative Labs in this quick video review.

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Microsoft won’t increase the Xbox’s price in wake of PS5 price hike
Xbox Series X and S

Microsoft issued a response to the news this morning of Sony increasing the price of the PlayStation 5 console in markets outside of the U.S.

In a statement to Windows Central, a Microsoft spokesperson says, “We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options. Our Xbox Series S suggested retail price remains at $299 (250 British pounds, 300 euros) the Xbox Series X is $499 (450 pounds, 500 euros).”

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Sony reveals customizable PS5 DualSense Edge controller
sony reveals customizable ps5 dualsense edge controller front and back

Sony has revealed a totally brand new controller for the PS5 at Gamescom: DualSense Edge. It's the very first high-performance, highly customizable controller in PlayStation history.

As Sony wrote in the PlayStation Blog, the DualSense Edge controller allows players to fine-tune the controls that tailor to their unique play style. The ability to customize control maps makes it stand out from the original DualSense controller, and it's something PlayStation's art director Daisuke Kurihara is very proud of.

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The Lords of the Fallen revives a long-dead Soulslike sequel
Key Art for The Lords of the Fallen shows the worlds of the living and the dead.

During Gamescom Opening Night Live, CI Games' Soulslike sequel Lord of the Fallen 2 finally reemerged with a cinematic trailer narrated by Stranger Things' Joseph Quinn. It confirms that the game is now called The Lords of the Fallen and is in active development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
The Lords of the Fallen - Announcement Trailer | Wishlist on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S #DareToHope
While the trailer doesn't show any gameplay, a press release gives more context for what players can expect from this Soulslike RPG. The Lords of the Fallen is set 1,000 years after its 2014 predecessor and will have players exploring the realms of the living and the dead, completing quests for NPCs and slaying tough enemies along the way. This game's world is five times larger than that of the original Lords of the Fallen, it features online co-op, and everything is being enabled by Unreal Engine 5. 
Although The Lords of the Fallen looks like a promising Soulslike RPG on its own, the most interesting thing about this game is its journey to release. Developers CI Games and Deck13 launched the original Lords of the Fallen in 2014 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. While reviews for it were middling, a sequel was announced soon after with a 2017 release window, although Deck 13 was not involved. Its development was rife with issues, and CI Games made little progress internally before the team was significantly downsized. In 2018, CI Games announced a partnership with a developer called Defiant Studios to finish the game. Unfortunately, that collaboration ended a year later, and Lord of the Fallen 2 fell back into development limbo.
After that, development moved to Hexworks, an internal development team of over 75 people at CI Games. It has reinvented this project as The Lords of the Fallen, more of a successor than a direct sequel, and that's the version of the game we'll get if all goes well. That's certainly a much more complicated development process than you'd expect from a sequel to a mediocre Soulslike from the mid-2010s, and it's what makes it one of the more exciting announcements from Gamescom Opening Night Live.
While CI Games previously suggested that this game will come out in 2023, no release window accompanied this announcement. We do know The Lords of the Fallen will be available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S if it finally launches, though. 

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