New Xbox One Ad Calls It the "Best-Selling Console in America," With a Catch

The Xbox One has outsold the rival PlayStation 4 in the US for three months running, according to the NPD Group. Less than a week after the NPD confirmed the Xbox One came out on top in September, Microsoft today released a new commercial for the Xbox One S titled "Xbox One: The Best-Selling Console in America." The major caveat here is that Microsoft is saying the Xbox One is the best-selling console in America from July-September 2016, not all year or life-to-date.

The video also boasts that the Xbox One is the only console with nearly 1,000 games available (this figure may count Xbox One backwards compatibility titles), including more than 100 exclusives. Additionally, it makes mention of the Xbox One S's 4K Blu-ray player, something that Sony's PlayStation 4 Slim and PlayStation 4 Pro do not have. Here's the video:

Also in the video, Microsoft says Xbox Live is the "fastest, most reliable" gaming network. This is likely a reference to the independent study that found Xbox Live was faster and more dependable than PlayStation Network.

Sony has sold more than 40 million PS4s and projects to sell another 20 million by April 2017. For its part, Microsoft does not share Xbox sales figures, making direct comparisons difficult. It is expected that the PS4 is the global sales leader in the new-generation console sales race.

Sony's new PlayStation 4 Pro comes out in November, priced at $400. It's possible that people are holding out for that system, which could be depressing PS4 sales right now.

A year ago this month, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said the PS4 had such a large sales advantage over Xbox One that he was unsure if his company's console could ever catch up. Whether or not he still feels that way, after Microsoft's three-month streak, remains to be seen.

Heroes of the Storm Imports Overwatch's Brawl Mode for Some Crazy Match Types

One will make everyone play as a permanently speed-boosted Sgt. Hammer.

Heroes of the Storm is again drawing inspiration from fellow Blizzard game Overwatch. After bringing over its post-game accomplishments screen, HotS will soon feature a weekly Brawl mode that messes around with the game's rules in different ways.

Each week's Heroes Brawl changes things up in one of several ways. There can be special rules about which characters can be played, such as giving everyone the same character or randomizing who you end up as. Hammer Time is one example: everyone plays at Sgt. Hammer, but with her thrusters permanently engaged (letting you speed around the map). Others may put everyone in Nova's shoes and make it so her Snipe ability instantly kills enemies.

Maps can be adjusted so that your goal is no longer to destroy the enemy's core (or to do so in a specific way). Blizzard described the Punisher Arena where you earn points by killing enemy heroes and punishers, with teams racing to get to 100 points. Sky Temple Arena sounds as if you can only damage the core by capturing temples around the map. Garden Arena asks teams to be the first to collect 100 seeds, obtained by killing Garden Terrors and Shamblers. The aforementioned Hammer Time asks you to capture towers to win. There's also a one-lane map, the previously announced Lost Cavern, that will show up.

Blizzard said there are "a substantial number" of mutators that can be modified, though it didn't want to spoil the the surprises. "Suffice to say, expect these gameplay modifiers to add completely new and unexpected quirks to drastically change how you play Heroes of the Storm," it said.

Special rewards will be available for playing Brawls. These include new portraits and 1,000 gold for playing three in any given week.

Heroes Brawls will debut with the public test realm on October 10, followed by a launch in the live game on October 17.

This is an evolution of Arena mode, which was first revealed last year. We recently spoke with Blizzard about how that turned into Heroes Brawl and learned some additional deals about how it will work.