Our Guide to the Holiday Season’s Biggest Video Games and Consoles<br />“Not only does it have two of the best games released this year — The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey — it’s also an impressive piece of gaming tech<br />that works well both as a home console and a portable machine,” Mr. Ramsay of GameSpot said.<br />Super Mario Odyssey is the first main Mario platforming game — in which players must make well-timed, precise jumps across a series of platforms while collecting power-ups<br />and avoiding enemies and obstacles — for the Nintendo Switch.<br />EA is also starting a live service for the game so fans can get free content, including new playable characters, like Finn and Captain Phasma from the film“Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” as well as new multiplayer maps<br />that tie in with the release of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in December.<br />Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One<br />The last Star Wars Battlefront, in 2015, was criticized for a dearth of content, said Joost van<br />Dreunen, chief executive of SuperData Research, a video game data and market research firm.<br />The arrival this week of Microsoft’s new Xbox One X console — featuring more processing power<br />and 4K resolution, which means more defined picture quality — is also expected to make waves.<br />Odyssey is less linear than previous 3-D Mario games, rewarding exploration<br />and introducing players to new mechanics — for example, Mario can use his iconic cap to "possess” other characters or objects, allowing him more freedom to explore.
