Fri. Apr 26th, 2024


Tom Cruise has another hit on his hands with Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to his classic high-flying adventure from the ’80s. Critics have been raving about this revival, and the general public will be able to see it for themselves starting on May 24. As part of the release celebration, Xbox has come out with a unique console/controller combo themed after the film that one lucky Twitter user will take home.

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The console itself is a black Xbox Series S with a flight helmet layered on top of the system’s speaker-esque cooling vent. The film’s logo and Tom Cruise’s name adorn the bottom and a metallic detail wraps around the whole box below that. The controller that comes along with the filmic Xbox attempts to recreate all the fun of climbing into a cockpit and not knowing what any of the buttons do. The gauges and switches are decorative and don’t bleed into any of the normal controls, but it’s an appropriate theme for the prize. The winner will also receive a pair of Christopher Bates Aviator Sunglasses and three free months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Not only does the latest in a long line of promotional Xbox consoles celebrate the release of Top Gun: Maverick, but it also heralds the release of the Top Gun expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Delayed alongside the film last year, this free DLC for Microsoft’s excellent return to the skies introduces the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the original film into the game. While community creators have released similarly speedy aircraft into the game in the time it took the DLC to finally premiere, Top Gun fans will no doubt be ecstatic to jet around the game’s realistic environment in Maverick’s signature vehicle.

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2019’s Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is also getting in on the cross-promotional action with their own Top Gun: Maverick expansion. The Aircraft Set will bring the same iconic fighter jet to Bandai Namco’s more arcadey experience and add in the F14A Tomcat and an as of yet unnamed third plane presumably from the new film. In either case, fans psyched from the latest Tom Cruise blockbuster can have their pick of friendly skies to fly into once they get home.



By Dave Jenks

Dave Jenks is an American novelist and Veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Between those careers, he’s worked as a deckhand, commercial fisherman, divemaster, taxi driver, construction manager, and over the road truck driver, among many other things. He now lives on a sea island, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, with his wife and youngest daughter. They also have three grown children, five grand children, three dogs and a whole flock of parakeets. Stinnett grew up in Melbourne, Florida and has also lived in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Cozumel, Mexico. His next dream is to one day visit and dive Cuba.