Source: needforspeed.com
The newest music download portal SpiralFron.com has been launched.
"A new music download service is promising free legal tracks to users who agree to watch adverts.
SpiralFrog has teamed up with Universal Music Group, which publishes artists such as Elton John and Eminem, to offer ad-supported music to surfers in the US and Canada.
Under the agreement, SpiralFrog will have access to Universal's back catalogue. In exchange for viewing adverts, customers will be permitted to download tracks free of charge.
Downloaded tracks will still be protected by digital rights management technology, however, to prevent unauthorised copying."
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2163180/spiralfrog-offers-free-legal
Watcher
Source: vnunet.com
A new NPD chart detailing the best selling PC games in the USA for the week ending September 8:
1. The Sims 2 Bon Voyage - Electronic Arts
2. World Of Warcraft - Blizzard
3. Bioshock - 2K Games
4. Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms - Sega
5. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade - Blizzard
6. Guild Wars Eye Of The North- NCSoft
7. Age Of Mythology w/Titans - Microsoft
8. The Sims 2 Deluxe - Electronic Arts
9. Civilization IV: Beyond The Sword - 2K Games
10. StarCraft: Battle Chest - Blizzard
Source: Guru3D newsdesk
Intel has decided on rounding-up a few companies and getting together a new standard that would better serve the needs of future computer users. The recently-formed USB 3.0 Promoter Group includes Intel, HP, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, NEC and NXP Semiconductors and it set on bringing a USB standard that would be more than 10 times faster than USB 2.0 (480Mb/s) and more energy efficient.
The USB 3.0 standard would be compatible with 2.0 ports and will become the logical choice when transferring large files. The development of the USB 3.0 standard is in full swing and we should see the final specs in the first half of 2008.
Source: Guru3D newsdesk
The fan site Total Crysis has a new press release they state came from developer Crytek on their plans for multiplayer in their upcoming sci-fi first person shooter:
To shed some light into one of the most discussed topics regarding Crysis multiplayer I would like to explain you the differences between Crysis MP DX9 and DX10.
As for the DX9 version we won't have physics and day and night cycle in-game. That means you won't be able to shoot down trees and/or alter any other objects than vehicles on the map. Additionally the time of day setting doesn't change dynamically. This is caused due to the tremendous server load such physics might cause on crowded gaming servers. Still you will be able to experience maps with different time of day settings since the maps can be altered in the Sandbox2 Editor.
Rather than providing the community partially working features we limit this for the DX10 version only. Due to the strong hardware available with DX10, server load is less and performance is increased. This ensures the pure physics and day and night cycle experience without any limitation.
Gamers with a DX10 card are able to play on DX9 servers, but with the limitation of the respective server. Vice versa it is not possible for gamers with DX9 cards to play on DX10 servers due to the limited features.
Remember the Myvu? You know, those glasses that connect to an iPod with video and offer a viewing experience of a 27-inch screen from 6 feet away? Well, now there are 3-D glasses for your computer! Released today, the iWear VR920 ($399.95) from Vuzix is said to be the world's first fully immersive virtual reality video eyewear for PC gaming. And it very well maybe, since I've only seen video eyewear for MP3 and video devices. "From flight simulators and first-person shooters to online strategy and war games, the VR920 will revolutionize how games are played and developed," says Paul Travers, CEO of Vuzix Corporation. The 3.2-ounce VR920 is compatible with Windows XP/Vista apps and supports game titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator X, World of Warcraft, and the upcoming Bio-Shock. The glasses feature VGA progressive scan LCDs (1024 x 768 resolution), 32-degree field of view, built-in microphone for VoIP, adjustable headphones, 3-degree head tracker, and a switch to toggle between 2-D and 3-D. And the coolest feature of all: It provides a 62-inch virtual screen from 9 feet away. But here's the real question: are they comfortable?
More and more details are slowly forming the products that are to be released in November from both ATI and NVIDIA. It seems that NVIDIA is prepping a G92_290 chip with the card to be called GeForce 8700 GT/GTS. Obviously as always there will be two models, the fastest G92 board will likely retail for 249 and cheapest variants will go for roughly 199 USD. The G92 silicon seems to be 65nm manufactured product with quite some punch. It's rumored to compete with the 8800 GTS which would be staggering for the money. Both chips will likely be equipped with 512MB GDDR3 memory (256-bit) as delivered by the guys from Qimonda. Part number for reference boards on both sides call for 1.0ns ones which would translate into a 2x1000 MHZ memory frequency. The Inquirer on it's end rumors that the NVIDIA products will have a S/PDIF connector on the reference boards, meaning DVI Audio or HDMI adapter is quite a valuable feature to have. The specs haven't been confirmed by NVIDIA, but if this info is right we are looking at a very lovely new product range Guru's. Good times.
Microsoft announces new mice and webcams
Today Microsoft has announced a pair of new LifeCam webcams and a trio of new mice aimed at notebook users. The new webcams include the LifeCam VX-7000, which is intended for desktop use with its universal attachment base.
The design of the clamp allows the camera to sit closer to the display for a more integrated look. The VX-7000 has a 2.0 megapixel sensor that allows it to shoot high quality video and uses an all glass element lens.
The camera can also shoot still images at 7.6-megapixels interpolated and uses a 71-degree wide-angle lens. The VX-7000 also automatically adjusts for low-light conditions and will retail for $99.95 in September. Microsoft also announced the LifeCam NX-3000, which is for mobile use with notebook computers. The NX-3000 has a max resolution of 640 x 480 and can shoot still images at 1.3-megapixels. The lens swivels to allow notebook users to adjust the camera for ideal shooting conditions. Microsoft also included video effects for video calls and included a carry case. The NX-3000 will be available in September as well for $59.95.
The trio of new mice Microsoft announced starts with the Mobile Memory Mouse 8000. Microsoft is billing the mouse as the industry’s first notebook mouse to include 1GB of flash-based storage. The flash memory is inside the USB wireless transceiver. The mouse uses a magnetic recharging cable that connects to the end of the USB adapter and to the mouse allowing for charging without the need for a dock.
The 8000 gives you the option of using the wireless adapter or with the flip of a switch, turning the mouse into a Bluetooth device for use sans USB adapter on notebooks equipped with internal Bluetooth. The mobile Memory Mouse 8000 will be available in October 2007 for $99.95.
Other new mice from Microsoft include the Wireless Notebook Mouse 7000 and Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000. Both these mice will retail for $49.99 each with the 5000 available in October and the 7000 available in September. The 7000 uses 2.4GHz wireless technology, connects via a USB adapter to your PC, and has built-in Vista shortcuts. The 5000 is a Bluetooth mouse requiring no transceiver for use with notebooks that have Bluetooth built-in.
While Nvidia remains quite dominant in the high-end segment, a much larger battle has taken place to offer the best mainstream graphics product. Currently the two leading mainstream cards are the Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS and the ATI Radeon HD 2600XT, both of which are priced well under $200.
As you may recall, we reviewed the first GeForce 8600 GTS cards back in May, while the Radeon HD 2600XT did not hit shelves until late July. This gave the GeForce plenty of time to establish itself before the Radeon HD arrived. However, unlike many expected, the 8600 GTS did not exactly hit the ground running, as the retail price was quite steep at $200-230, giving existing GeForce 7 cards an edge as they were actually cheaper and in many cases faster.
Furthermore, the fact that the GeForce 8600 GTS brought DirectX 10 support to the table was somewhat pointless given that there were no games that took advantage of it at the time.
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How the cards match up...
The Radeon HD 2600XT is built around ATI's RV630 architecture, while the GeForce 8600 GTS is based on the Nvidia G84 design. Both are built predominantly for use with the PCI Express x16 bus, though the Radeon HD 2600XT also supports the older AGP interface - Nvidia just recently expressed interest in releasing the GeForce 8 series for those still using AGP through the use of a bridge chip.
Officially the GeForce 8600 GTS is designed to only support 256MB of on-board memory, but that has not stopped a few select manufacturers from doubling that number. At this point we do not believe the extra 256MB really helps the performance of the GeForce 8600 GTS and for the price premium the GeForce 8800 GTS (320MB) would become a much smarter option. The Radeon HD 2600XT can come with either 256MB or 512MB of memory and there is no real serious price premium if you go for the latter.
Let’s talk core and memory speeds as this really is where the two begin to show their differences. The GeForce 8600 GTS comes clocked at 675MHz with a memory frequency of 2000MHz. This allows for a theoretical memory bandwidth of 32.0GB/s which is still impressive for a mid-range contender (compare that to the GeForce 8800 Ultra's 103.7GB/s)
The Company of Heroes performance is somewhat similar on either card when using maximum quality settings although we always saw the Radeon HD trailing the GeForce by a few FPS. At 1024x768 the 8600 GTS was just 3fps faster, while a similar margin was also seen at 1920x1200. Using maximum visual settings both cards delivered perfectly playable performance at 1280x1024, while the 1600x1200 performance of the 8600 GTS was passable, the HD 2600XT performance was far more choppy.
F.E.A.R is one of those games that are not all that ATI friendly and we have even noticed that at the lower resolutions even the Radeon HD 2900XT cops a hiding when compared to the GeForce 8800 cards, for example. This being the case, we were not surprised to find the HD 2600XT trailing way behind the 8600 GTS at every tested resolution. The HD 2600XT really struggled to deliver playable performance when maxing out visual quality settings. Scoring some 37fps at 1024x768 was very weak, especially when the 8600 GTS produced 63fps.
Interestingly the Prey performance is almost identical when using either graphics card. This time the Radeon HD 2600XT was slightly faster at 1920x1200, while the GeForce 8600 GTS just managed to steal the lower resolution tests. Overall it is safe to say that the high quality Prey testing was a stalemate.
Test: Supreme Commander, S.T.A.L.K.E.R
The Supreme Commander results are much like those recorded in Prey with neither card pulling enough advantage. Using the high quality in-game settings limited both graphics cards to 1024x768 for playable frame rates.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R strongly favored the GeForce 8600 GTS, allowing it to deliver perfectly playable performance at 1600x1200 with maximum visual quality settings. At this resolution the 8600 GTS was about 60% faster than the Radeon HD 2600XT. A similar performance margin was also seen at 1280x1024 and 1024x768.
Test: World in Conflict, X3: Reunion
World in Conflict was yet another game that played much the same on either graphics card, though the GeForce 8600 GTS did show slightly better performance. Both delivered playable performance at 1024x768, while those that are not too picky could get away with medium quality settings at 1280x1024. Neither could deliver playable performance at 1600x1200 using medium quality visual settings.
The X3: Reunion results are quite interesting as this is the first game to show the Radeon HD 2600XT with a real performance advantage over the GeForce 8600 GTS. While the HD 2600XT was only slightly faster at 1920x1200, it started to pull away at 1600x1200 and then at the lower 1280x1024 and 1024x768 resolutions it really dominated.
Conclusion, an unusual one...
If we were presented with a 7900 GS and a 8600 GTS, and then told to pick one, we would most likely grab the 7900 GS every time. Given there is very little price difference between the two, we imagine most of you would do the same.
A similar scenario is presented with the Radeon HD 2600XT, which is also much slower than we had hoped for. Given that the 512MB version we used today does cost roughly the same amount as a Radeon X1950 Pro, we would also pick the latter over this new DX10 mid-range solution.
This is an interesting situation and not one we have ever encountered before. Almost a year ago we compared the GeForce 7900 GS and the Radeon X1950 Pro head to head to determine which would be the better buy. Back then we recommended the Radeon X1950 Pro over the GeForce, despite of the fact it cost considerably more. The Radeon X1950 Pro was an impressive performer and not only for its time, today we are still finding this graphics card to be an exceptional performer.
Just recently we published a Bioshock videocard performance article which showed the Radeon X1950 Pro polishing off the very two (new generation) graphics cards tested today. So given a $150 budget, we would still pick the Radeon X1950 Pro over all current offerings. From a gamer's point of view the only thing the X1950 Pro lacks is DirectX 10 support, which in my opinion works to be the same if we had it or not on the Radeon HD 2600XT and GeForce 8600 GTS anywayElaborating further on this subject, the problem becomes that these mid-range graphics cards are too slow to play DX10 games. Sure, you can use the GeForce 8600 GTS to play Bioshock in DX10 mode, but in order to achieve playable performance, the visual settings must be shut down a notch and things like shadows that actually look a bit better in DX10, must be turned off.
In other words, because the older Radeon X1950 Pro is actually faster, it can deliver more playable rates using higher quality visual settings and therefore will look better in DX9 when compared to a GeForce 8600 GTS running in DX10.
Arguably as more titles are released to take advantage of DirectX 10, this scenario might change. But then if you think that DX10 is Vista exclusive, and any game developer on its right mind will release games that are backward compatible with Windows XP at least for the next 18 months, there is a narrower possibility of regretting our decision.
Therefore, in our comparison between the Radeon HD 2600XT and the GeForce 8600 GTS, we have found the Radeon X1950 Pro to be the winner, go figure.
Thanks go to Visiontek for sending us the Radeon HD 2600XT board we tested today. They make good products including Radeon X1950 Pro boards in both PCIe and AGP flavors, so check them out.
Powercolor has set a pair of HD 2600 XT GPUs onto a single card. The new model is called the HD 2600 X2.
The HD 2600 X2 is clocked at the same speeds as the 'regular' Powercolor HD 2600 XT -- 800 MHz for the engine clock, and a 700 MHz (x2) memory clock for the 256 MB of GDDR3. Both GPUs are fed by a 128-bit memory interface, in conjunction with a 256-bit internal Ring Bus Memory Controller.
Judging from the photo, the HD 2600 X2 looks to be as wide as a HD 2900 XT, but somewhat shorter. The card also sports 4 DVI ports.
Powercolor is third company to offer dual-HD 2600 XT GPU cards. Sapphire has announced a forthcoming 1GB of GDDR3 HD2600 X2 card, and GeCube has announced their own Gemini series HD2600XT X2, with 1 GB of GDDR2 memory.
The 80GB price drop isn't that shocking, but a new $400 40GB system would be huge news. Would people be willing to part with 40GB to save $100? I think so, and having a $400 PlayStation 3 option would be a great weapon this holiday season. If they get to show off the Blu-ray capabilities of the system with Spider-Man 3 bundled? That's a nice package.
The $99.99 PlayStation 2 would ensure that the venerable system will continue to sell well. This is rumor for now, but when Sony makes some announcements at the Tokyo Game Show, I would not be shocked if these were among them. You heard it here first.
Source: ars technica
The good: It's as fast and as fully featured as systems that cost $500 to $1,500 more; new cooling hardware makes this system nearly silent; it's Dell's first system with an overclocked (and under warranty) CPU out of the box; black case looks bad (in the good way).
The bad: Limited memory bandwidth; no Blu-ray burner option.
The bottom line: Thanks to its market muscle, Dell's XPS 710 H2C delivers state-of-the-art gaming power for significantly less than its boutique competition--and with (basically) identical performance. That fact and the near-silent operation granted by its brand-new cooling hardware make this desktop a CNET Editors' Choice winner.
Thanks to dual-graphics-card technologies and the expensive, high-wattage power supplies required to run them, the average price tag of a best-of-the-best PC has ballooned to well over the $7,000 mark. That's why, despite running a still-ridiculous $5,759, the Dell XPS 710 H2C looks like a downright bargain. Dell remains tied to a slightly older motherboard chipset than its competitors, which limits the system's memory bandwidth and gives you a small downtick in performance. Our testing didn't show that to be a dramatic loss, though, and considering Dell's price advantage and its new cooling technology, the XPS 710 H2C is our Editors' Choice winner for high-end gaming PCs.
The main reason we're giving the XPS 710 H2C an Editors' Choice award is because of what you get for the price. For $5,759, you get an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 quad-core processor overclocked to 3.2GHz out of the box--a first for Dell. You also get 4GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, two 768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX graphics cards, and 1TB of hard drive storage between two 10,000rpm 150GB drives and a single 750GB 7,200rpm unit. Virtually every boutique vendor would charge you at least $500 more for a similar configuration.
Standardization vs. bleeding edge
We've called out Dell in the past for not moving quickly enough to the latest hardware, and that problem remains in the XPS 710 H2C, but the value Dell offers in this system makes up for it. Most current PCs with two graphics cards will have a motherboard based on Nvidia's Nforce 680i SLI for Intel chipset. Dell, however, uses its own version of Nvidia's last-gen circuitry, the Nforce 590 SLI. We say "its own version" because Dell has made some changes to it, perhaps most importantly, eliminating support for 800MHz and faster system memory (and this info is finally spelled out on Dell's Web site). Dell says it made this decision, among other reasons, to help standardize customer support calls. Whether or not you appreciate that benefit, our performance tests show that the Dell doesn't lose much because of its slower memory.
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On all of CNET Labs' tests, the Dell XPS 710 H2C performed right alongside others in its category that had similarly overclocked Intel quad-core chips. The WidowPC IX2 SLI has a slight edge on CPU clock speed-bound tests, such as CineBench, and the Velocity Micro Raptor Signature Edition ekes out a win on our multitasking test, thanks to a dedicated PCI Express RAID controller for its hard drives. Those systems both cost $1,500 more than this Dell. We'd rather have a decent second computer or a 30-inch LCD than a six-second boost to Photoshop performance.
| 2,048x1,536 (4x AA, 8x AF) | | | 1,600x1,200 (4x AA, 8xAF) | | | 1,280x1,024 (4x AA, 8x AF) | |
| 2,048x1,536 (4x AA, 8x AF) | | | 1,600x1,200 (4x AA, 8xAF) | | | 1,280x1,024 (4x AA, 8x AF) | |
On our gaming tests, the task for which the XPS 710 H2C is presumably primarily intended, its Quake 4 performance lagged a bit more noticeably but not across the board; it still hit 114 frames per second at 2,048x1,536. The Dell was also a little slower on F.E.A.R. at 1,280x1,024, but its scores at the higher resolutions were on a par with those of the other gaming PCs. With all of these scores through the roof for current-generation titles, it's hard to say that the Dell's somewhat slower frame rates on Quake 4 have any real meaning today. And it's certainly possible that the other systems' faster frame rates might have an impact on future Doom 3 engine-based titles (the software Quake 4 was built with). But unless those games come with sweeping changes to the engine, we doubt they would slow down the Dell to the point it would give you a poor gaming experience.
A quiet kind of cool
There's more to the XPS 710 H2C than simply speed, though. The "H2C" in its name refers to a specially designed CPU cooling unit inside the PC that helps keep it superquiet. The H2C cooler uses a combination of liquid and Peltier cooling to chill the processor. The major benefit is that it doesn't involve any fans for CPU cooling, which in turn makes this system exceedingly quiet. Compared to the noisy Velocity Micro Raptor Signature Edition and the WidowPC IX2 SLI, with its annoying side-panel fans, Dell's system stands out for its low noise level.
The rest of the system gives you about what you'd expect from a high-end gaming PC. A Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Music sound card, a DVD burner, and a standard DVD/CD-RW combo drive lend multimedia punch. We're surprised that Dell doesn't even offer a Blu-ray burner as an option in this model, though, since it has already extended the next-gen movie hardware to its XPS lapto
ps. You'll also find a media card reader and a floppy disk drive behind a front panel door. Dell also throws in a Razer Tarantula gaming keyboard (not pictured) and a Razer Copperhead mouse, although you can dial down those options to save a little more money. With the sound card, three hard drives, and four memory sticks, expansion in our review unit was limited. You get only one standard PCI slot, a single hard drive bay, and no available memory slots. Still, it's not exactly surprising to find a system in this price range crammed nearly full with hardware. We'll also add that we continue to admire the XPS 700-series case and the 710 H2C's black model in particular. The combination of the black plastic, thefront-panel lighting and the inward slope of the front of the system creates a dramatic depth-perception effect that we expect you'll find as cool as we did.
Visions of Vista
We should mention Windows Vista briefly, as the current ship date for this system is two weeks away, which puts it out after Windows Vista becomes available. You can order it today with Windows XP Home, which will net you a free (excluding shipping and handling) coupon for the 32-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium. We understand why Dell isn't waiting for Vista, as Nvidia hasn't finished its Vista graphics drivers for the GeForce 8800 cards yet. Furthermore, while we believe that the 4GB of memory that comes standard with the XPS 710 H2C will serve you well should you move to Windows Vista, Windows XP will recognize only 2.75GB of RAM.
Dell's service and support for the XPS 710 H2C remains on a par with that of most high-end desktop vendors, which is to say that it's thorough, if stingy: one year parts and labor, which covers the overclocked CPU, by the way; 24/7 toll-free phone support; and a year of onsite service. That's the deal. Every time we mention to Dell (and most other vendors, for that matter) that we find the duration of this coverage to be insufficient, the response is usually, "So wait, do you want the price with three years of coverage?" No. What we want is this price--this very, very high price--to include three years of support. The way it used to be. It appears we'll have to keep waiting for Dell and most of the rest of the industry to come back around. In the meantime, we will give Dell an extra point for its Dell Connect service, the remote-control tech support feature that gives a Dell tech direct control over your PC. Along with HP and Gateway, who have similar features, Dell Connect continues to distinguish the large vendors from their smaller competition in terms of support. Dell's Web site has plenty of self-help resources as well.
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.System configurations:
Alienware Area-51 7500 Polywell Poly i680SLI
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX; (2) 150GB Western Digital 10,000rpm Serial ATA/150 hard drives (RAID 0)
Velocity Micro Raptor Signature Edition (Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700)
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (overclocked to 3.2GHz); 2,048MB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; (2) 768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX; (4) 150GB Western Digital 10,000rpm Serial ATA/150 hard drives (RAID 0)
We haven't yet seen any official confirmation of the news, but it's been reported that the 51GB triple-layer single-sided HD DVD Toshiba first announced at CES has been approved by the DVD Forum. (The last we heard about this, the new format had been submitted for approval.) Of course, this might mean consumers will need new players to read 51GB HD DVDs, which could potentially damage the format more than help it; the last thing either HD DVD or Blu-ray need right now is to fork hardware compatibility with their own embattled formats, so we'll hope what we've heard about 2nd and 3rd gen HD DVD players being able to read 51GB discs via firmware upgrade is true. Also up to bat: the "twin" dual-layer DVD / HD DVD combo-disc was also approved, with one 5GB DVD layer and two 17GB HD DVD layers. We'll let you know when the DVD forum officially confirms (or denies) the news.
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| Intel Viiv Technology | |
 | Maximize Your Home Entertainment Experience. } Viiv PC Requirements |
Anyone who has ever touched a computer a with 10-foot pole (or shorter) knows that the price of computational power falls fast. And this has once again been proven this weekend by a grad student and professor from Calvin College: together, they built a desktop sized supercomputer from off-the-shelf parts, for just under $2,500.
The design is somewhat reminsecent of a clubhouse sandwich:
The supercomputer's name is Microwulf. It is a variety of 'Beowulf cluster.' Cluster meaning a networked computers running in parallel; and Beowul denoting a cluster that is a "homemade, cost-effective" solution that "liberates researchers from expensive commercial options for super-computing, much like Beowulf of the Old English poem liberated the Danes from the tyrannical rule of Grendel."
The hardware involved includes four MSI K6N6PGM-F motherboards, four Athlon 64 X2 3800+ AM2 CPUs, 8 sticks of Kingston DDR2-667 RAM, four PCI-E Intel network adaptors, and some Zalman case fans and a single 250 GB Seagate SATA HD.
As for the software: They chose open-source distro-darling, Ubuntu Linux.
For a price-tag of $2,470 USD, the Microwulf's performance is rated at 26.25 Gflops ( [10^9] floating-point-operations-per-second). In comparison, only 10 years ago, IBM's chess Grand Master-squashing Deep Blue supercomputer was built, at a cost of somewhere around the neighborhood of $5 million dollars, and its performance was rated at 11.38 Gflops.
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Some gamers have a mixed impression of the Call of Duty series, mainly because the original was supported through Infinity Ward and focused on some very impressive mechanics, that lasted in gaming and benchmarking as quite a standard, for a good deal of time the WW2 genre was huge for gaming. As time passed and games like BF2 entered, things moved on. In that Infinity Ward moved on as well, passing the duty of 3 to the hands of another developer and going into long term development of what is now Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
The playtest we're currently participating in was provided by Infinity Ward earlier this week, the demo of course taking place on the Xbox 360.
From this point we're looking at the MP gaming experience which has been hit and miss for the series. We're also checking out how far the game has evolved since COD2.
The primary content right now rests in video clips, we're going to be shoving a lot more content out in this form to help get the experience down since really in a game like this it's all about the experience. The screens can be tricky to judge from. I will note that for anyone getting in on the beta, ATI's PVR and live play don't go well.
The assortment of weaponry so far in the beta is impressive, kits are powerful and pretty well set, gamers familiar with Counter-Strike and Battlefield will be able to recognize many of the basic features for each pack. One of the interesting changes is the rank system, players will be starting out at the bottom of the field and working their way up through combat, each mode of MP allows for players to gain XP at various rates, also depending on the speed of the match and the point gap there is the chance to get even more points at the end of the round. Right now even in a losing situation there are still some points to be had.
What the ranks mean at this point? There's a series of skills or specialities waiting to be picked up in the game as you develop your abilities, kill history and so fourth. What this means for gamers? In a fighting scenario damage impacts can go up, endurance can kick in and the most famous right now is the last stand ability, even in death there's the ability to take out the side-arm and try to go out in a blaze of glory shooting at your killer, while this isn't a god mode, it's a brief chance to stand out at the end, a few shots in and last stand is null, so if you're going against a full clip don't get your hopes up.
Right now the custom class options are pretty simple, picking a custom kit that suits your tastes, through primary weapons of all available classes (unlocked weapons of course) picking any additional mods to that gun, customizing your scheme for it, then picking your sidearms, your kit accessories, frag grenades, smoke, flashes and of course your actual behavior mods. In the behavior mods right now, it looks like there's a lot going on to balance the system, increased damage can be countered by a last stand or a medical bonus, the game is becoming very tactical for the MP perspective, a bit moreso than normal online gaming since even with mass respawn there is the ability to wait out situations and move against the opposition, it's not just a massive frag fest where K/D ratio means nothing.
Right now the system is moving in stages, I've seen as high as rank 55 as a possible unlock though at this point which means they've really gone ahead and strung this through for players to climb up over months / years.
Action in game is simple, your squads generally end up going 6 on 6 this means there's a lot of teamwork to go on here, if you see your squad taking fire from the other end of the map, then it's time ot consider breaking through the line via alternate routes and coming up on them giving enough time to generate a rebound for them. If they're running an M249 SAW on the opposite end of a street and you come close with a kill or even a few grenades it's going to provide a moment for your team to setup a sniper or just rush the zone. While chances are whoever makes the blitz is going to get full fire at them, it's part of the team element to bring as many points as possible without running out the clock and being cornered.
The balance is pretty well done right now, I like where it is generally going, in this case the weapons aren't overpowering, if something is a powerful weapon in action it will be in game as well. If it has a scope or whatnot, it'll have it in game, trust me, while the locations are pretty low setting, there's pleanty of spaces for snipers to hang out and help control and environment if they have proper support from their team. In a few instances playing right now I've seen that siege like scenario where they occupy a key structure and let the bullets fly on the opposition. That alone really changes the dynamic as well, people are working to maximize their class choice and searching out the map to figure out just how to break a team since a 6 man rush is generally suicide, do teams go 2,2,2 or 3,3? Do you setup a sniper as well and send bait to lure them out? The game gets tricky and while it seems fast at times, there's a lot of consideration going on.
The spawn system follows COD standards, using random drops based on the team focus, if you're trying to hold out on a target with little support expect to get run over, teams spawn close to their masses it seems like, and as a result those few encounters can get messy very fast. With the exception of grenade spam it's generally a given that kills wont be too high in a case like that.
Overall the gameplay is solid, it moves fast, the response speed is good and for the most part the lag isn't really heavy, although there have been some server nukes and some lag plays where it feels like everyone is playing in the past. Thankfully those instances are really low.
More and more details are slowly forming the products that are to be released in November from both ATI and NVIDIA. It seems that NVIDIA is prepping a G92_290 chip with the card to be called GeForce 8700 GT/GTS. Obviously as always there will be two models, the fastest G92 board will likely retail for 249 and cheapest variants will go for roughly 199 USD. The G92 silicon seems to be 65nm manufactured product with quite some punch. It's rumored to compete with the 8800 GTS which would be staggering for the money. Both chips will likely be equipped with 512MB GDDR3 memory (256-bit) as delivered by the guys from Qimonda. Part number for reference boards on both sides call for 1.0ns ones which would translate into a 2x1000 MHZ memory frequency. The Inquirer on it's end rumors that the NVIDIA products will have a S/PDIF connector on the reference boards, meaning DVI Audio or HDMI adapter is quite a valuable feature to have. The specs haven't been confirmed by NVIDIA, but if this info is right we are looking at a very lovely new product range Guru's. Good times.
Softwarehouse Valve has issued a new video of a map called Dust Bowl for their upcoming game Team Fortress 2. The video displays all the classes in the game, and really displays how well the art direction works.
Apple has announced the new iPod Touch. The new iPod looks like a thinner version of the iPhone and has the same user interface. It boasts the same design as the iPhone, the same interface, and Wi-Fi support, but with a a reduced price tag and increased storage capacity. For $299, the cheapest iPod touch packs 8GB of flash memory, while the pricier $399 model delivers 16GB. Both models are on track to ship this month, and they'll offer one perk not yet available to iPhone users: the ability to purchase music from iTunes via Wi-Fi straight from the device.
Next up is the new video iPod, which Apple has dubbed the iPod classic. This model sports a look similar to that of its fifth-generation predecessor, but it offers storage capacities of 80GB and 160GB for the same $249 and $349 price tags as the previous 30GB and 60GB variants. Better yet is the classic's battery life, which clocks in at 40 hours for audio and seven hours for video, according to Steve Jobs. Last, but not least, is the new iPod nano. The new nano sports a wider enclosure to make room for a 2" 320x240 screen, and its capacity has gone up to 4GB for the $149 model and 8GB for the $199 one. Like the iPod classic, the new nano also boasts a redesigned user interface with the same "cover flow" feature as the iPhone.
Along with introducing new iPods, Apple has slashed the price of its flagship 8GB iPhone from $599 to a much more reasonable $399. The company is also doing away with the 4GB iPhone model, which previously sold for $499.
Source: forbes.com
Samsung unleashed a bevy of new home entertainment products at the IFA 2007 conference, currently underway in Berlin, Germany, including new HD LCD TVs, a player supporting both HD DVD and Blu-Ray disc playback, and a new line of portable audio players. The new Blu-ray/HD DVD players, the BD-UP5000, shares most functionality with its Blu-ray-only siblings, the BD-P1400 and BD-P2400. The players offer full compatibility with 24 movie frames per second playback and 60Fs for enhanced compatibility with many of today's HDTVs. The BD-P2400 works with Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD while BD-P1400 works with Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, The duo HD BD-UP5000 will be available in the fourth quarter of 2007, the BD-P2400 in October, and the BD-P1400 in September.
The new F9 series TVs (52", 70") use LED Smart lighting technology, known as 'local dimming,' which senses the TV signal and adjusts the brightness level by turning on and off the right combination of the backlight units to produce a stunning dynamic contrast ratio of 500,000 to 1. The F9 line also comes with Wiselin USB 2.0 for connections to digital cameras and MP3 players, and 3 HDMI connections
Samsung also debuted three new MP3 players the YP-P2, YP-S5 and YP-T10. The YP-P2 offers music, video, FM radio and voice recording, and file storage. The high-resolution screen displays 30 frames per second in DVD movie format and 16:9 screen ratio. It also features up to 35 hours of music playback, 5 hours of movie playback and is available with 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB NAND flash memory. The P2 is available in black, white and purple colors. The YP-S5 offers 1.5 W stereo speakers, MPEG4 video playback, text viewer, photo viewer, flash games, FM radio and alarm clock with 24 hours of playtime using earphones, and 5.5 hours with its slide-and-tilt speaker. It is available in black or white with 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB memory. The YP-T10 has a 2" screen, Bluetooth 1.2 support, and is available in 2 GB, 4 GB and 8 GB memory versions. Only the YP-S5 offers AAC playback.
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