Battlefield 4 accessories: EA reveals full product list

July 17th, 2013, 16:42 Posted By: wraggster

Retailers will soon be able to stock a line of Battlefield 4 branded PC accessories and merchandise to complement sales of the upcoming game.
Publisher EA and developer DICE have struck deals with licensing partners to bring controllers, mice, bags and more to market around the launch of Battlefield 4 on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 on November 1st. The title will also arrive on upcoming consoles PS4 and Xbox One.
Razer is producing performance PC gaming peripherals and accessories, including mice, keyboards, headsets, messengers bags and iPhone cases, while PDP is developing Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers and Qpad is working on premium PC mouse mats.
BigBen Interactive will launch mobile device and tablet cases and Walls360 will sell Battlefield 4 wall graphics.
Jinx clothing is focusing on apparel and accessories including Battlefield 4 T-shirts, hoodies, hats, key chains and dog tags, plus Cook & Becker is launching Battlefield 4 artwork.
There will also be Battlefield 4 books: Prima Games has the rights to develop Standard and Collection Edition strategy guides, Orion Publishing Group is printing the Battlefield 4 novel written by Peter Grimsdale and Titan Books is working on a Battlefield 4 art book in Standard and Limited Edition guises.
"These category leaders give gamers a chance to engage with the Battlefield brand in new ways and further develop the profile of Battlefield in pop culture," read an EA statement. "With a range of Battlefield 4 items, players will be able to create a deeper connection with this award-winning title."

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...ct-list/031428

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Toshiba unveils new SD memory cards with world's fastest write speed

July 17th, 2013, 16:46 Posted By: wraggster

Toshiba’s new Exceria SD memory cards will offer the world’s fastest data write speed.
The Exceria memory cards are designed for users of high-end digital cameras and will launch worldwide, starting with Japan in October.
The Exceria Pro will offer photographers a data write speed of 240MB/sec, while the Exceria series will write at 120MB/sec. They will allow digital camera users to shoot still images continuously at high speed.
The cards are the first in the Exceria line-up to integrate a newly developed controller compliant with UHS-II the ultra high speed serial bus interface defined in SD Memory Card Standard Ver. 4.10, and they achieve significantly higher data transfer speeds than earlier UHS-I compliant cards.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...e-speed/031423

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Ultra Street Fighter IV hits PC in 2014

July 17th, 2013, 16:49 Posted By: wraggster

Ultra Street Fighter IV - the next instalment in Capcom's popular Street Fighter game series - will arrive on PC early next year.
This follows on from 2009 hit Street Fighter IV, 2010's Super Street Fighter IV and 2011's Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.
The new Ultra game features five new characters, six new stages and a few more modes and features announced at a later date, reports MCV.
New characters include Poison, Hugo, Elena, Rolento, and an all-new unannounced character, bringing the current roster count to 44. The fresh stages are as follows: Pitstop 109, Mad Gear Hideout, Cosmic Elevator, Blast Furnace, Half Pipe and Jurassic Era Research Facility.
For owners of Super Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, they will have access to a cheaper digital upgrade version of Ultra Street Fighter IV.
But for retailers, there is a full physical release, too.
The game is due for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...in-2014/031416

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Fez sells 100,000 on Steam

July 17th, 2013, 22:05 Posted By: wraggster

Polytron ships more copies in 48 hours than in first month on Xbox

Fez sold over 100,000 copies in 48 hours in this year's Steam summer sale.
The multiple award-winning title first appeared last year on Xbox Live, and did fairly well for itself before news of a save destroying bug spread.

The game's creator, Phil Fish, released the game on Steam a few months ago, but sales were mediocre until Valve's quarterly mega-sale.
“Ok, so our first Steam summer sale is over and it was BANANERS,” said Fish in a Twitter post.
"We sold more copies in the first 24 hours of the sale than we had on Steam in the first three months since release.”

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...00000-on-Steam

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Direct3D 9 Comes To Linux, Implemented Over Mesa/Gallium3D

July 17th, 2013, 22:13 Posted By: wraggster

Picking up the code from a failed Direct3D 10/11 implementation for Linux, a working Direct3D 9 state tracker has been implemented for Linux. The Direct3D 9 support works with open-source Linux GPU hardware drivers via Mesa's Gallium3D and can run games for the open-source Radeon and Nouveau drivers without simply converting the Direct3D commands into OpenGL. Unlike the experimental D3D10/11 code from the past, this D3D9 state tracker is already running games like Skyrim, Civilization 5, Anno 1404, and StarCraft 2. With Linux games not natively targeting D3D, Wine was modified for using this native Direct3D implementation."

http://games.slashdot.org/story/13/0...-mesagallium3d

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Kernel Dev Tells Linus Torvalds To Stop Using Abusive Language

July 17th, 2013, 22:20 Posted By: wraggster

The Linux Kernel Development Mailing List can be a hostile place for anyone. Now Intel developer Sarah Sharp is taking a stand and she wants the LKML to become a more civil place. Quoting her first message: 'Seriously, guys? Is this what we need in order to get improve -stable? Linus Torvalds is advocating for physical intimidation and violence. Ingo Molnar and Linus are advocating for verbal abuse. ... Violence, whether it be physical intimidation, verbal threats or verbal abuse is not acceptable. Keep it professional on the mailing lists.'"The entire thread is worth a read, but Linus isn't buying it: "Because if you want me to 'act professional', I can tell you that I'm not interested. I'm sitting in my home office wearing a bathrobe. The same way I'm not going to start wearing ties, I'm *also* not going to buy into the fake politeness, the lying, the office politics and backstabbing, the passive aggressiveness, and the buzzwords. Because THAT is what 'acting professionally' results in: people resort to all kinds of really nasty things because they are forced to act out their normal urges in unnatural ways.' He also offered cookies in exchange for joining the dark side. An earlier reply by Linus further explains why he thinks it is OK to be mean: most of the time, he's only yelling at people who should know better (cultivating a crew of lead developers bound to him by Stockholm Syndrome?).

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/13/0...usive-language

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State of Decay PC confirmed to be coming in 2013

July 17th, 2013, 22:24 Posted By: wraggster

In a forum post, Undead Labs has announced that State of Decay will coming to PC sometime in 2013 and will be bringing a few PC-specific features with it.Along with the standard PC options like enhanced graphics options and better frame rates, Undead Labs team members Sanya Weathers and Jeff Strain teased the upcoming sandbox mode, saying in a forum post, “The goal of sandbox is to provide an unbounded experience, one with no victory condition that ends the game. The way we do that is to continue to have a world with finite resources, but find out ‘how long can I stay alive.’“Without going into too much detail (although details are coming within a week), you start in the world, build your community, clean the valley out – and when it runs dry, you can leave with some portion of your community and go to ‘the next valley.’ The next valley is the same map, repopulated with resources…but harder. More zombies. More difficulty. Just…more.”There is no word when exactly the PC version will be coming, but it will be participating in the Steam Early Access program once it’s ready to be tested by the public.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/stat...oming-in-2013/

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Half-Life co-op mod coming to Steam for free

July 17th, 2013, 22:25 Posted By: wraggster

Sven Co-op, a Half-Life mod that adds two-player co-op to the classic shooter, will be released on Steam in the coming months and will be available for free.Not only has Valve approved the mod for standalone release (meaning purchasing the original Half-Life isn’t required to play Sven Co-op), they’ve also given the development team access to the new update delivery system SteamPipe and full access to the original Half-Life engine. According to the team, this will allow them to create “much larger and more detailed worlds,” as well as make the game much more stable for everyone involved.“We are grateful beyond expression to Valve for their generosity and efforts put forth to make this possible. We’re looking forward to working with one of the greatest game engines ever made, and we can assure everyone that there are many, many more updates to come,” says a statement on the Sven Co-op forums.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/half...team-for-free/

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Microsoft cuts Surface price by £120

July 17th, 2013, 23:50 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft has slashed the price of its struggling Surface tablet computers.
The 32GB Surface RT is down from £400 to £279, while the 64GB model is down to £359.
The Surface tablet was part of Microsoft's ambitious Windows 8 launch, but the tablets have struggled to gain traction despite an expensive and high profile marketing campaign.
"We've been seeing great success with pricing and cover promotions over the past several months on Surface RT in the U.S. and other markets," said a Microsoft spokesperson.
"People who buy Surface love Surface, and we're excited about all those additional people out sharing their excitement for Surface with other people."

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...ctID.275275300

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Microsoft: We're 18 months behind with Surface tablets

July 18th, 2013, 21:59 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft has admitted that the Surface, along with other Windows 8 and 8.1 tablets are behind where the firm wants them to be.
Janet Gibbons, Microsoft UK and Ireland director of partner strategy and programmes, told Channel Register that the ‘OEM ecosystem is still 18 months behind where we want to be but is catching up fast’.
Talking about the iPad, Gibbons believe that its success is only down to the fact that it was early to market, and that its lack of expansion will enable Windows devices to catch up with Apple in the near future.
"In many ways as the expansion of touch devices happens, the iPad device will kind of feel somewhat marginalised, because it is what it is and does what it does, but its been a bit leapfrogged by the possibilities of other devices on the Windows platform."
Microsoft seems to be confident in the array of form factors that are coming to the market and Gibbons believes it’s the different options and the ability to print that will make Windows 8 and 8.1 tablets popular with the BYOD trend, saying people want to be ‘productive at work, to be able to print and have a keyboard.’
It was recently reported that Microsoft is planning to introduce new Surface tablets and drop the price of existing models in the US. The firm’s rumoured smart watch has also been in the news this week, the product will likely go head-to-head with Apple’s own rumoured iWatch in 2014.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...tablets/031441

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Samsung unveils new SSD 840 EVO

July 18th, 2013, 21:59 Posted By: wraggster

Samsung has announced the arrival of its new solid state drive, the Samsung SSD 840 EVO.
The new line-up makes use of the industry’s most compact 10-namometer class 128GB high-performance NAND flash memory.
After accelerating the growth of the SSD market by last year’s launch of entry-level, high-performance SSDs we are introducing a much faster SSDs with up to 1TB capacities offering consumers a wider range of choices,” said Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics.
“Samsung continues to enhance its SSD brand image by delivering the industry’s highest quality solutions and continuously increasing its SSD market share by expanding the adoption of higher density SSDs especially in client PC segments.”
Compared with the 250GB 840 Series SSD, the highest selling capacity of the 840 lineup, the new 250GB 840 EVO now delivers 520MB/s sequential write speed – making it more than 2 times faster than last generation. In the case of 120GB model, the 840 EVO achieves 410MB/s sequential write speed, which is approximately three times as fast as that of the 120GB 840 Series SSD. For the 1TB 840 EVO SSD, the sequential read/write performance has reached 540MB/s and 520MB/s.
With SSDs growing in popularity and replacing the HDD market, Samsung plans to introduce the SSD 840 EVO to major global markets in early August.
In addition to the 840 EVO, Samsung has developed the XS1715, the industry’s first 2.5-inch NVMe SSD line-up. This device will expand Samsung’s market base for enterprise SSDs, and the company will make them available in the second half of this year.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...840-evo/031439

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End of Nations now a 'MOBA RTS'

July 18th, 2013, 22:04 Posted By: wraggster

Trion Worlds changes tacks as MMO aspects of game fail to wow testers

Trion World's troubled End of Nations has come out of hiding, but the new alpha test is a very different game than that of a few months ago.
End of Nations has been under a shroud since last December, when the project was pulled from its original studio – Petroglyph.

Originally an MMO boasting a blend of several genres, End of Nations is now firmly placed in the same category as League of Legends, Defense of the Ancients, and Heroes of Newerth.
“We just nudged - well maybe shoved - it more in that direction and focused in on the core aspects of the game that were proving the most fun for people playing it," executive producer Scot Lane told Shacknews.
"We let the gameplay drive us naturally rather than making decisions and changing what felt 'right' in order to fit it in the MMO pigeon hole.”

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...now-a-MOBA-RTS

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Wine 1.6 Released With 10,000 Changes

July 18th, 2013, 22:05 Posted By: wraggster

"Wine 1.6 has been released for running Windows applications on Linux and OS X. Wine 1.6 ships with 10,000 changes in the past year and has many new user features like a Mac graphics driver, Direct3D improvements, and 64-bit ARM support."

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/07...-10000-changes

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Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut heads to PC

July 18th, 2013, 22:16 Posted By: wraggster

Hidetaka “SWERY” Suehiro‘s Deadly Premonition is coming to PC in improved form, through Steam.Rising Star Games is attempting to bring the updated version via Steam Greenlight, a decision it has put down to its lack of experience with Steam games.The Director’s Cut includes new scenarios, enhanced HD graphics and textures, a better control system, exclusive DLC, and Steam-exclusive trading cards and achievements.The announcement follows the reveal of Suehiro’s latest game, the Xbox One exclusive D4, which deals with similar concepts of time travel and death.We awarded the Xbox 360 version of Deadly Premonition an Edge 7, praising its ideas and ambition, but bemoaning clunky combat and a lack of polish. You can read our most recent interview with Swery here.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/dead...t-heads-to-pc/

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$900 million charge related to Surface RT inventory adjustment

July 18th, 2013, 23:00 Posted By: wraggster

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Microsoft Research turns Kinect into canny sign language reader

July 18th, 2013, 23:22 Posted By: wraggster

Though early Kinect patents showed its potential for sign language translation, Microsoft quashed any notion early on that this would become a proper feature. However, that hasn't stopped Redmond from continuing development of the idea. Microsoft Research Asia recently showed off software that allows the Kinect to read almost every American Sign Language gesture via hand tracking, even at conversational speeds. In addition to converting signs to text or speech, the software can also let a hearing person input text and "sign" it using an on-screen avatar. All of this is still confined to a lab so far, but the researchers hope that one day it'll open up new lines of communication between the hearing and deaf -- a patent development we could actually get behind. See its alacrity in the video after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/18/m...nguage-reader/

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HP Split x2 Windows 8 hybrid now available on Best Buy for $750

July 18th, 2013, 23:42 Posted By: wraggster

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Microsoft drops Surface RT to $349 following global price cuts

July 18th, 2013, 23:57 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft's Surface RT is hardly the world's most popular tablet, but the software giant clearly wants to create some momentum for its aging Windows 8 slate. MS just dropped the device's price to $349, representing a $150 decrease for the 32GB model. Staples was the first reported retailer with slashed pricing -- the tablet went on sale there yesterday -- and Microsoft's UK and Australian online stores have followed up with pricing of £279 and AU$389, respectively. The new MSRP appears to be live on at least three continents, and you can take advantage at our source links just below.

US Store, UK Store, AU Store

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Microsoft: We're seeing increased demand for Office 365

July 20th, 2013, 00:57 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft has released its fourth quarter results, revealing the firm has made a quarterly revenue of $19.90 billion and saw a increase in demand for services.
Along with an increase in consumer demand for Office 365, Outlook.com, Skype and Xbox Live, Microsoft also saw its Business Division revenue grow 14 per cent in the fourth quarter.
"We continue to see strong demand for our enterprise products and services, with more and more customers making long-term commitments to the Microsoft platform," said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. "The growing adoption of our cloud services, including Office 365, Windows Azure and Dynamics CRM, continues to demonstrate our leadership position in the cloud."
Yesterday, PCR reported that Microsoft admitted it was 18 months behind where it wanted to be with its Windows 8 and 8.1 tablets. In today’s financial report, Steve Ballmer touches on what the firm has in store for the devices.
"We are working hard to deliver compelling new devices and high value experiences from Microsoft and our partners in the coming months, including new Windows 8.1 tablets and PCs," he said.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...ice-365/031447

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"Tablets aren't killing the PC market"

July 20th, 2013, 00:58 Posted By: wraggster

Tablets aren't to blame for the decline of PC hardware sales, says industry veteran Bob Snyder.
Channel Media Europe's director was speaking at the 2013 Synaxon UK National Conference and we caught up with him after the talk.
"I'm upset market research firms pull tablets from sales data," he told PCR. "If tablets were included [the market] wouldn't be generating negative coverage. We'd only be down slightly if tablets were included.
"The PC market is going through a change and is under pressure, but as long as there's work there's going to be a need for computers. You don't use tablets to work.
"Tablets aren't killing the PC. It's combination of the internet, mobiles, social media, wireless [technology].
Snyder added: "Look at Google and Chromebooks. If hardware is such a bad thing, why does one of the world's biggest companies want in on it?"
Snyder also said that investor Carl Icahn is one of the biggest defenders of PCs at the moment. Icahn is currently against Michael Dell taking the Dell business private.
"Why would Dell want to take the business private if the PC business was dying?" said Snyder.
"The PC business is not disappearing, it's just changing."

http://www.pcr-online.biz/index.php/...-market/031445

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Microsoft's Surface RT Was Doomed From Day One

July 20th, 2013, 15:06 Posted By: wraggster

Last fall, Microsoft launched its Surface RT tablet with high hopes. The sleek touch-screen ran Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 designed for hardware powered by the ARM architecture, which dominates the mobile-device market; it also included a flexible keyboard that doubled as a screen cover. Microsoft executives told any journalist who would listen that Surface RT would position their company as a major player in the tablet arena, ready to battle toe-to-toe with Apple and various Android device manufacturers. Fast-forward to this week, and Microsoft announcing its financial results for the quarter ended June 30. Amidst metrics such as operating income and diluted earnings per share, one number stood out: a $900 million charge (the equivalent of $0.07 per share) related to what Microsoft called 'Surface RT inventory adjustments.' Microsoft had already slashed Surface RT prices by $150, so that nearly-billion-dollar charge wasn't a total surprise — but it did underscore that Surface RT is a bomb. From the outset, Surface RT had an issue with the potential to mightily trip up Microsoft: While Windows RT looks exactly like Windows 8, it can't run legacy Windows programs built for x86 processors, limiting users to what they can download from the built-in Windows Store app hub. While the Windows Store launched with 10,000 apps, that seemed paltry in comparison to the well-developed Android and iOS ecosystems. There's likely nothing that Microsoft could have done about this—every platform has to start somewhere, after all—but the relative lack of apps put Surface RT between the proverbial rock and the hard place: it couldn't rely on Windows' extensive legacy, and it didn't have enough content to make it a true contender from the outset against the iPad and Android tablets. Then there was the matter of price. Microsoft could have taken the Amazon route and sold Surface RT at a relative pittance in order to drive adoption—something that made the Kindle Fire a sizable hit. However, that sort of pricing scheme isn't in Microsoft's corporate DNA: it only cut Surface RT's price several months after release, as a defensive maneuver, when it's likely to do much less good."

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/07...d-from-day-one

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Microsoft Is Sitting On Six Million Unsold Surface Tablets

July 20th, 2013, 15:07 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft took everyone by surprise last year with the Surface tablet. It was something completely new from the company everyone knew as a software company. However nine months later and the sheen has worn off the Surface tablet and Microsoft's financial results on Thursday revealed it has taken a $900 million write down on the Surface RT tablets, leading David Gilbert in IBTimes to estimate it is sitting on a stockpile of six million unsold tablets

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/1...urface-tablets

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Dota 2 launches on Linux, OS X

July 20th, 2013, 15:08 Posted By: wraggster

Valve has launched a new patch for Dota 2 that makes the MOBA available on two new platforms: Linux and Mac OS X. Through Dota 2′s beta phase, it was only available on Windows.The update also includes a slew of visual updates, gameplay and balance fixes, and tweaks to the way that matchmaking works. Notably, games will now end once the GG (good game) call has been made by one team or the other. Previously, there was no ability to end a game before one team had destroyed the other’s base.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/dota...on-linux-os-x/

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Job-hunting 19 year-old spends 2,000 hours creating epic Skyrim mod

July 20th, 2013, 15:12 Posted By: wraggster

It’s certainly true that in today’s competitive jobs market you need to make yourself stand out if you wish to succeed.
So taking a year out of your life and devoting in the region of 2,000 hours to create a hugely ambitious and well-received mod for the popular The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is probably the right way of going about it.
The mod is called Falskaar and offers around 25 hours of additional content for the game, adds around a third to the size of the game’s already huge game map, offers new music and even original voice work from 29 volunteer actors and actresses.
It’s all the work of 19 year-old Alexander Velicky who took a year out after graduating from high school to focus solely on creating the mod using Bethesda’s Creation kit.
Why do this? Simple – Velicky wants a job.
“The best way to show Bethesda Game Studios that I want a job there and should be hired is to create content that meets the standards of their incredible development team,” he told PC Gamer.
“[My dad] was incredibly supportive and allowed me to live here, paying for living expenses and charging no rent. I was able to not go to school and not have a day job. Meaning, more or less, that Falskaar was my day job.
“I organized everyone involved, but the voice actors themselves recorded all the dialogue and submitted it to me. I had some people help me out with a few models and textures, someone wrote a book or two for me… But otherwise all content was implemented, written and developed by me.
“Falskaar isn’t perfect. I’m not an expert who’s been crafting game experiences for the last 20 years, so I certainly still have a lot to learn, and I always will. I’m always looking to learn and improve, and Falskaar was a huge chance for me to do this.”
Falskaar is available to download on Skyrim Nexus.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/job-h...im-mod/0118878

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Microsoft: "We know we have to do better"

July 20th, 2013, 15:20 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft took a $900 million write-down on its fourth-quarter financial results due to unsold Surface RT tablets. The message from the company's executives was clear: "We have to do better."
The price of the Surface RT was slashed at the start of this week: by $150 in North America, and by £120 in the U.K.. In a call with investors following the publication of Microsoft's financial results, newly installed CFO Amy Hood claimed that the price-cut would "accelerate adoption" of the device, even as it pummelled the company's bottom-line.
"As a result of this price change as well as inventory adjustments for related parts and accessories we recorded a $900 million charge to our income statement," Hood said.
Microsoft certainly isn't abandoning Surface: in the last quarter it significantly increased its retail presence, with more than 10,000 outlets now stocking the Surface range. More importantly, the company's executives repeatedly referred to the declining market for PCs, with tablets and smartphones the obvious destination for its core Windows business.
And that Windows business is beginning to struggle. While still a big earner for the company, the division's revenue declined by 5 per cent in the quarter, which, coupled with the impact of the Surface RT's poor performance, elicited some humbling statements from Hood.
"This quarter our Windows business declined as the device market continued to evolve beyond the traditional PC," she said. "We are working to transition the business into this modern era of computing taking advantage of the new scenarios enabled by Windows 8. As we said before, given the complexity of the ecosystem this journey will take but we continue to make incremental progress.
"We are working hard with our partners to gain share in the evolving and growing device markets. I want to be very clear, we know we have to do better and that's one reason we made a strategic and organizational changes we made last week. With over 1.5 billion Windows users around the world, a transition of this magnitude takes time. We are confident we are moving in the right direction."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...e-to-do-better

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Chrome OS beta update brings 'immersive' mode, smarter app search

July 21st, 2013, 00:17 Posted By: wraggster

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InXile delays Wasteland 2

July 21st, 2013, 00:52 Posted By: wraggster

InXile has announced that its Kickstarter-funded RPG Wasteland 2 will not be released in October as originally planned.
As InExile lead Brian Fargo explained in a statement: "One of the unique aspects to our crowd funding campaign is that we greatly overfunded which is wonderful in allowing us to create a larger experience, one that is in fact quite epic in size. It could well be the largest RPG I have worked on to date."
While the game won't make its October release in finished form, backers will still get their hands on it that month in the form of a beta test.
"You have helped make this game a reality and you will be with us to the end in shaping the final piece through your comments," said Fargo of the beta.
"Once the beta testing begins in October and once we have enough feedback from testing, we can evaluate where we're at and set a new release date," he went on. "By that stage, over ten thousand of our backers will have gotten to play the game with us. In the end, quality comes before everything and fortunately the backers have been in line with us to make sure we get it right."
Read Fargo's full statement via the game's Kickstarter page.
Wasteland 2 is based in the same universe as its 1988 predecessor, which is credited as a spiritual successor to the Fallout series.
The sequel's Kickstarter campaign raised more than $3 million dollars last year. Wasteland 2 will include the original Wasteland, which was widely credited with kick starting the post apocalyptic RPG genre.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...s-wasteland-2/

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Age of Wonders 3 delayed to Q1 2014

July 21st, 2013, 01:11 Posted By: wraggster

Triumph Studios has delayed turn-based fantasy strategy game Age of Wonders 3 from this autumn to Q1 2014.The Dutch developer said it took the decision to improve the quality of the game."When announcing the game earlier in the year we listed a projected release date of fall 2013," community manager Jimmy van der Have wrote on the Age of Wonders forum."We immediately got questions on this, whether this would be fall in the southern or northern hemisphere, and when pre-orders would start."We've made great progress developing the game and feel now is the time to give you heads up that we will take a bit more time creating all the features and content. Age of Wonders 3 is the largest game in the series and with the additional polish we hope we can give you an even better experience."Back in March Triumph told Eurogamer it had aimed to launch Age of Wonders 3 in the autumn, but said it was unafraid to delay the game to early 2014. And so it proved.Age of Wonders 3 is the long-awaited follow-up to 2003's Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. There's a Civilization-style tiled map system for empire building and a turn-based combat system with a free-roaming 3D camera for battles. You switch between the two modes as you grow your empire and conquer new lands.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...yed-to-q1-2014

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Homeworld 1/2 HD remakes confirmed for digital release

July 21st, 2013, 22:54 Posted By: wraggster

While few details were given, the developer confirmed at PAX Australia (via Polygon) that the remakes are in the works for modern Windows PCs and will be released via digital distribution channels.
It's unclear if the developer intends to enhance in-game assets and effects, or if the remakes will simply comprise of optimisations to make them run on modern PC hardware.
Gearbox acquired the rights to the Homeworld franchise during the THQ IP auctions in April for $1.35 million. Brian Martel, Gearbox Software's Chief Creative Officer, was said to have "personally spearheaded the acquisition" out of his "great love and respect" for the Relic-developed games, which were launch in 1999 and 2003 respectively.
"Brian intends as first priority to direct Gearbox's interest to preserve and assemble the purest form of the original acclaimed and beloved games, Homeworld and Homeworld 2, with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms," said Gearbox at the time of the acquisition.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...gital-release/

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PC Player 4 - march 1994 (UK)

July 22nd, 2013, 01:22 Posted By: wraggster

We delve back into the officially sanctioned archive of PC Player with the fourth issue from March 1994. As the front cover emphasises, the magazine's main focus is simulation, strategy and adventure, and there was some fine examples of all these genres this issue... With the recent reboot causing problems with its online features, we look back at the classic Sim City 2000. From there we jump over to Alone in the Dark 2, the eagerly awaited sequel to the survival horror adventure classic. we then take in a bit of police action with the fourth installment of the Police Quest series: Police Quest: Open Season. And rounding off the adventuring articles, we step into the world of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father.

http://www.outofprintarchive.com/cat...PCPlayer4.html

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Jennifer [pc version]

July 22nd, 2013, 14:28 Posted By: wraggster

New beats of rage mod released:




"-Cinematic sound effects and music
Ft-Original music theme made only for Jennifer game.
-Play as a demonic and evil character.
-Strong, controversy, deep and psychological story.
-Thematic episodes with environments puzzles.
-Perform fatalities, combos,especial and super moves.
-Several weapons to splat your enemies"


Trailer;




Download Link;
http://www.chronocrash.com/forum/ind...pmod;dl=item75

http://www.chronocrash.com/forum/ind...s1&topic=333.0

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OpenTTD 1.3.2-RC2

July 22nd, 2013, 15:34 Posted By: wraggster

via http://www.aep-emu.de/

A second release candidate of the upcoming version 1.3.2 of OpenTTD has been published.

Quote:
1.3.2-RC2 (2013-07-13)

• Fix: [Admin] End-of-rcon data could not be determined reliably for any rcon command [FS#5643] (r25598, r25588, r25587)
• Fix: [Content] When the server closed the connection, the client would for eternity try to read a packet and never timeout making it impossible to reconnect [FS#5635] (r25597)
• Fix: [Script] Changing the script difficulty level in-game would also change the settings using the default even though they were not allowed to change in-game [FS#5644] (r25592)
• Fix: [Admin] Ensure that sent and received length of json strings are the same [FS#5646] (r25590, r25589)
• Fix: [Squirrel] Stack overflow did not show an error, due to the stack to throw the error already being full [FS#5320] (r25585)
• Fix: [Script] Documentation implied that XXList::AddItem has a default for value if it isn´t filled in [FS#5638] (r25579, r25577)
• Fix: Layouter caused significant slowdown with text heavy windows, cache it to make it managable (r25574, r25570, r25569, r25567, r25564)
• Fix: Make content list appear faster (r25573)
• Fix: Non-ICU layouter started new lines with the space which triggered the linebreak (r25568)
• Fix: If the next order cannot be resolved, reset the current order property instead of leaving it in an intermediate state [FS#5633] (r25562)
• Fix: [Squirrel] Infinite recursion loop in freeing data via a looping set of references [FS#5568] (r25558)
• Fix: One could build bridges over owned land of another company [FS#5524] (r25557)
• Fix: [Script] Texts from scripts were not validated before they were shown, causing an assertion to trigger [FS#5632] (r25555)
• Fix: Provide a warning when no vehicles are available, and tell what to do in that case [FS#5530] (r25553)
• Fix: Possible reading of uninitialised memory due to undefined execution order (r25551)
• Fix: [Windows] Race condition between two drawing threads could crash OpenTTD [FS#5571] (r25550)
• Fix: ICU returns the width of the visual run as if the trailing space was added (in case a newline was added). This caused the width to be more than the requested width, but it would still be drawn correctly [FS#5626] (r25547)
• Fix: Small memory leaks (r25546)
• Fix: [GS] The checks and validations for setting the extra text in the town window became too stringent [FS#5625] (r25544)

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Marvel Heroes attracts 1.5m registered players

July 22nd, 2013, 23:54 Posted By: wraggster

Gazillion’s free-to-play Marvel MMO has racked up 1.5m registered users since its launch on June 4^th.
“We are honoured by this incredible one and a half million registered user milestone and thank everyone who has played Marvel Heroes,” Gazillion CEO said David Brevik said.
“As the Marvel Heroes community continues to grow and expand, we’re working hard to make the game play experience even better and add new content to the game. This is just the beginning for Marvel Heroes. We’re very excited about the future.”
The company has also announced its first significant update to the game due this month that will offer a host of tweaks and additions including a new currency, new items and a Human Torch suit.
A new play zone, Asgard, will be launched this autumn.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/marve...layers/0118950

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Steam to be taken to court over pre-owned later this year

July 23rd, 2013, 00:00 Posted By: wraggster

The Federation of German Consumer Organisations hopes to have Steam in court by the end of the year.
The body is challenging Steam’s refusal to alter its terms of service following last year’s ruling from the European Court of Justice that European consumers should have the right to re-sell their digital software purchases.
"Unfortunately a date of the trial is not fixed – we hope it will take place this year,” representative Eva Hoffschulte said, as reported by Gaming Blend. “Until then, it is not realistic that Valve will change their policy. But our chance to win the process is very good and that will be really an improvement for consumers: then they can sell their games to others.
"We have not checked the current directives, because first we have to finish our lawsuit against valve. Over and above that we are not able to take action against Valve, because of our financial and personnel situation."
Steam has said very little about the subject, simply confirming that it has no plans to offer re-sell options to its users.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/steam...s-year/0118941

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Steam top ten sellers chart: July 14-20

July 23rd, 2013, 00:03 Posted By: wraggster

The Steam Summer Sale’s deep discounts on Skyrim, Dishonored and other past chart-toppers have opened the door for the aging hits to make another run up the top sellers list.
Note that, unlike the week before, the promotion ran for the duration of the seven-day sales period this time around. With the sale not ending until Monday, next week’s results will be affected as well – though not nearly as much as they has this week.
Behind Skyrim and Dishonored, Civilization V followed up on its dominant performance last week. The Gold Edition of the title finished in third and its Brave New World expansion – the only full price product to make the list – grabbed the sixth spot.
Other previous chart regulars reemerging this past week include Fallout: New Vegas, Tomb Raider and Torchlight II.

1. Skyrim - Legendary Edition
2. Dishonored
3. Civilization V: Gold Edition
4. Torchlight II
5. Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition
6. Civilization V: Brave New World
7. Borderlands 2
8. Kerbal Space Program
9. Tomb Raider
10. Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

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Grand Theft Auto 5 PC petition gains over 200,000 signatures

July 23rd, 2013, 23:56 Posted By: wraggster

A Change.org campaign to persuade Rockstar Games to release a PC port of Grand Theft Auto 5 has amassed over 200,000 signatures so far.While the game is due out on September 17th, so far the studio has only confirmed its release on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.Although there isn’t a PC release date yet, recent rumours suggest that Grand Theft Auto 5 may be playable on PC at this year's Gamescom, also a new job advert at Rockstar suggests the port is on the way.“Rockstar Leeds are currently looking for a talented graphics programmer to help bring our latest titles to the PC platform. Working together with the other Rockstar studios, you will be responsible for maintaining the studio’s uncompromising quality bar, delivering the highest quality PC experience possible.”The petition needs fewer than 100,000 more people to pledge their support before an official request is mailed to the studio.http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...natures/031465

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UK PC sales dip as consumers keep old computers for longer

July 23rd, 2013, 23:57 Posted By: wraggster

PC shipments in the UK fell by 13.9 per cent during Q2 - a drop that was to be expected claims research firm IDC.
Comparatively, worldwide PC shipments reached 75.6 million units during the period, down 11.4 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2012.
IDC says tablet sales continued to grow, while consumers are keeping their current PCs for longer than usual.
"PC shipments in the UK for Q2 2013 were in line with expectations," read a statement from IDC sent to PCR.
"The home segment remained constrained with a decline of 22.2 per cent due to some inventory in the channel that needed to clear and weak consumer demand for the portable PC in favour of tablet devices.
"There was some uptake in the enterprise space from previous quarters and some companies are now making investments to upgrade their systems. Desktops declined year on year by 3.6 per cent and notebook volumes dropped by 19 per cent."
IDC also mentioned that while Ultrabooks and Convertible notebooks continued to gain interest, high price points and stronger traction for tablets continued to divert consumers’ budgets, with many simply opting to keep their PC a bit longer.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...-longer/031466

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Apache OpenOffice 4.0 Released With Major New Features

July 24th, 2013, 00:09 Posted By: wraggster

Still the most popular open source office suite, Apache OpenOffice 4 has been released, with many new enhancements and a new sidebar, based on IBM Symphony's implementation but with many improvements. The code still has comments in German but as long as real new features keep coming and can be shared with other office suites no one is complaining."The sidebar mentioned brings frequently used controls down and beside the actual area of a word-processing doc, say, which makes some sense given how wide many displays have become. This release comes with some major improvements to graphics handling, too; anti-aliasing makes for smoother bitmaps. In conjunction with this release, SourceForge (also under the Slashdot Media umbrella) hasannounced the launch of an extensions collection for OO. Extensions mean that Open Office can gain capabilities from outside contributors, rather than being wrapped up in large, all-or-nothing updates. You can download the latest version of Apache OpenOfficehere.

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/07...r-new-features

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A Radical Plan For Saving Microsoft's Surface RT

July 24th, 2013, 00:19 Posted By: wraggster

"Last week, Microsoft announced that it would take a $900 million write-off on its Surface RT tablets. Although launched with high hopes in the fall of 2012, the sleek devices—which run Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 designed for hardware powered by the mobile-friendly ARM architecture—have suffered from middling sales and fading buzz. But if Microsoft decides to continue with Surface, there's one surefire way to restart its (metaphorical) heart: make it the ultimate bargain. The company's already halfway there, having knocked $150 off the sticker price, but that's not enough. Imagine Microsoft pricing the Surface at a mere pittance, say $50 or $75 — even in this era of cheaper tablets, the devices would fly off the shelves so fast, the sales rate would make the iPad look like the Zune. There's a historical precedent for such a maneuver. In 2011, Hewlett-Packard decided to terminate its TouchPad tablet after a few weeks of poor sales. In a bid to clear its inventory, the company dropped the TouchPad's starting price to $99, which sent people rushing into stores in a way they hadn't when the device was priced at $499. Demand for the suddenly ultra-cheap tablet reached the point that HP needed weeks to fulfill backorders. (Despite that sales spike, HP decided to kill the TouchPad; the margins on $99 obviously didn't work out to everyone's satisfaction.) In the wake of Microsoft announcing that it would take that $900 million write-down on Surface RT, reports surfaced that the company could have as many as six million units sitting around, gathering dust. Whether that figure is accurate—it seems more based on back-of-napkin calculations than anything else—it's almost certainly the case that Microsoft has a lot of unsold Surface RTs in a bunch of warehouses all around the world. Why not clear them out by knocking a couple hundred dollars off the price? It's not as if they're going anywhere, anyway

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/1...fts-surface-rt

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Intel previews 4.5W Y-series Core chips for fanless tablets

July 24th, 2013, 00:53 Posted By: wraggster

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Nvidia Quadro K6000: Fastest GPU ever launches

July 24th, 2013, 23:33 Posted By: wraggster

Nvidia has unveiled its latest flagship Quadro GPU, the K6000, claiming it’s the fastest GPU ever built.
The Quadro K6000 has double the graphics capability of its predecessor, the Quadro 6000. It also comes with 12GB of DDR5 graphics memory and 2,880 streaming multiprocessor cores.
Nvidia is aiming the GPU at graphics professionals such as car manufacturers and animators.
Other specs include ultra-quiet active fansink, four simultaneous displays and PCI Express 3.0 x16 system interface.
The Quadro K6000 is set to hit the market in autumn and will be available through vendors such as HP, Dell and Lenovo, as well as system integrators and partners like PNY.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...aunches/031472

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The Sims 3 Into the Future Expansion Pack unveiled

July 24th, 2013, 23:34 Posted By: wraggster

The Sims 3 Into the Future Expansion Pack has been announced by EA.
The Sims Studio has unveiled a trailer and a bunch of screenshots for the new Expansion Pack, which gives gamers the ability to send their Sims hundreds of years into the future.
Sims will be able to explore the world of tomorrow, meet their descendants, and master the technology of the future.
Along with Into the Future, EA also revealed The Sims 3 Movie Stuff Pack, where gamers will be able to play with movie themes including 'Western' and 'Comic Book Blockbuster'.
The Sims 3 Into the Future Expansion Pack will be released on October 25th, and the Movie Stuff Pack arrives on September 13th.
Previous Expansion Packs for The Sims 3 include Island Paradise and University Life.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...nveiled/031471

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EA Q1: Origin surpasses 50m users, Battlefield 3 Premium subs over 4m

July 25th, 2013, 00:18 Posted By: wraggster

EA has confirmed Battlefield 3 Premium subscriber and Origin user numbers are still on the rise.
As part of its quarterly earnings report announced earlier today, the company revealed recent milestones for both its digital content service and Battlefield 3’s paid subscription model.
Battlefield 3 Premium surpassed 4m total subs, scoring around 500k new signups in the past three months.
EA announced in May that BF3 Premium had reached 3.5m subscriptions and $120m in revenue. The firm did not provide the new revenue total with the updated subscriber figure this time around, so it’s unclear how much it has made from the service with the half-million player boost factored in.
Meanwhile, Origin has gone beyond 50m registered users, an increase of 10m accounts since the previous update in March.
EA VP Andrew Wilson recently claimed the outlet was in the midst of evolving away from a service for driving transactions, and into a service to gamers.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/ea-q1...ver-4m/0119060

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SimCity sells 2 million

July 25th, 2013, 00:24 Posted By: wraggster

Frank Gibeau dubs always-online urban planning game a success, talks about growth of digital, says EA won't repeat mistakes of last console transition
[h=3]Electronic Arts[/h]ea.com


"SimCity is a success."
That's the assessment of EA Labels president Frank Gibeau, speaking to VentureBeat about the always-online city simulation game. Gibeau said that despite the high-profile difficulties the game had at launch, it has gone on to sell 2 million copies.
"In retrospect, our biggest takeaway is that we are lucky that SimCity has an enormous number of loyal fans," Gibeau said. "That first week after launch was really rough - an experience nobody wants to live through again."
The executive later added that fan feedback on SimCity convinced EA that The Sims 4 should avoid the always-online approach, and is instead being developed as a single-player, offline game.
Gibeau also talked about the company's growing digital business and its plan for the next-generation consoles. On digital, he noted that for the first time in EA's history, its most lucrative retail partner in the first quarter was not Best Buy or GameStop, but Apple. As for the console transition, Gibeau said EA had learned from a mistake it made the last time around.
"The idea was that RenderWare would power all of our games in the last transition," Gibeau said. "The problem was that it wasn't ready for prime time. It hadn't shipped any games. The tools, the pipelines, the tech just weren't mature or complete. Then I took that learning because in my role as the head of the studios, I had to make sure we understood how we were going to manage the technology...We blew the last transition because we relied on RenderWare. It didn't work. It set us back for multiple years. I was not going to repeat that mistake."
Gibeau said this time around the company has been banking on two engines, DICE's Frostbite and EA Sports' Ignite, and invested in them earlier to get them up to speed so the developers building games on them were working on more polished technology.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ells-2-million

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Rayman Legends is coming to PC in August

July 26th, 2013, 00:21 Posted By: wraggster

Ubisoft has confirmed that former Wii U exclusive Rayman Legends will now also be arriving on PC.The publisher revealed it would be releasing Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the latest Rayman platformer in February, and then confirmed the game’s release on Vita in May.The PC version will now be released alongside the Wii U, 360, PS3 and Vita versions on August 30. PC owners pre-ordering the game through Ubisoft’s online store will also receive Rayman Origins for free, the publisher added.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/raym...-pc-in-august/

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Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 11 developer preview for Windows 7

July 26th, 2013, 00:53 Posted By: wraggster

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Another 300,000 gamers abandon World of Warcraft

July 26th, 2013, 23:50 Posted By: wraggster

The number of monthly subscribers still enjoying Blizzard's MMO phenomenon World of Warcraft has dropped to 7.7m.
It was last reported at 8m back in April, having dropped by 1.3m since February. The game's population has been gradually dropping since it peaked at 12m subscribers in October 2010.
This is the first time the time the subscription base has been lower than 8m since 2007, before the launch of first expansion The Burning Crusade, according to Eurogamer.
Of course, that's not to say all 300,000 have quit Azeroth altogether. WoW is one of many MMOs that has gone free-to-play in recent years.
Activision Blizzard recently announced plans to bring microtransactions to the game in the hopes of opening up new revenue streams.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/anoth...rcraft/0119243

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Windows NT Turns 20

July 28th, 2013, 00:33 Posted By: wraggster

An anonymous reader writes with a link to the observation from ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley of Windows NT's 20th birthday (it came out on July 27th, 1993):""In 1993, Microsoft launched Windows NT 3.1. It was followed up by NT 3.5, 3.51 and 4.0. Microsoft's Windows releases still rely on NT-inspired numbering conventions. Windows 7's build numbers commenced with 6.1; Windows 8's with 6.2; and Windows 8.1 with 6.3." The article also reminds us that "NT's not ancient history, in spite of its age. The NT 'core' is what's inside Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows Phone 8, Windows Azure and the Xbox One.""

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/07...ws-nt-turns-20

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X-Arcade's rugged Solo Joystick: supports PC, Mac, Linux and nine gaming consoles

July 28th, 2013, 21:57 Posted By: wraggster

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Steam Weekend Sales include Darksiders, Command & Conquer, Flatout

July 28th, 2013, 22:05 Posted By: wraggster

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EVE Online sees 4,070 ships fight in record-breaking video game battle

July 29th, 2013, 20:16 Posted By: wraggster

Massive multiplayer space game EVE Online has played host to the largest-ever video game battle, with 4,070 pilots taking part.
The news came from the Software Director at CCP (the company that develops EVE Online), who tweeted about the record-breaking battle.
The huge swarm of ships, which were from two massive player alliances, CFC and TEST Alliance Please Ignore, caused the game to slow down to around 10 per cent of its normal speed.
CFC won the epic battle, although TEST later posted on its forum that it never really cared about winning, it just wanted to ‘go out with a bang’. Yeah, Yeah…

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...-battle/031509

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Microsoft creates ultimate PC gaming rig, 'pushes 12K boundary'

July 29th, 2013, 20:21 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft has explored the possibility of playing PC games in 11,520 x 2,160 resolution using three 4K ultra-HD monitors.
A post on the Windows Blog details the process of using Windows 8 to play Dirt 3 on three Sharp PN-K321 4K Ultra HD displays, with some 1.5 billion pixels per second. In total some $15,000 of gear was used to play in 11,520 x 2,160 resolution - or 24,883,200 pixels overall.
Microsoft used an ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II card to connect the monitors, which is equipped with four full-size DisplayPort outputs.
"Settling on medium to high overall settings I was able to hold an average frame rate of about 35fps," said blogger Gavin Gear. "Because I was not dropping frames with this setup the overall gameplay experience was awesome, and the sheer quantity of pixels was truly like nothing I’ve experienced before."
The blog also details how Microsoft managed to support a 60Hz refresh rate across the three monitors.
With all settings on 'High' except shadow detail and particles, the monitors were able to maintain around 62 to 67 frames per second on average, peaking at over 70 frames per second.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...oundary/031506

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Entatech excited by Windows 8.1 launch opportunities

July 29th, 2013, 20:22 Posted By: wraggster

IT distributor Entatech is excited by Microsoft's latest operating system update Windows 8.1 which launches later this year.
Microsoft confirmed earlier this month that development on Windows 8.1 would be completed by August, with all Windows based devices being pre-loaded with the update in time for Christmas, such as the range of Fujitsu Stylistic tablets which are supplied by Entatech.
Windows 8.1 boasts new features and functions and is optimised to work effectively on small devices like tablet PCs. A new search function brings a combined list of results from the user's PC, apps and the web, while a slide-show function allows users to personalise their lock screen with their own images.
Windows 8.1 also provides the consumer with the ability to multitask - it has a side loading function where two applications can sit side by side on the same screen. Furthermore, a built-in SkyDrive storage system provides on-the-go file access – even when offline. A SkyDrive app also allows users to manage local and SkyDrive files in one location.
For a Windows 8.1 preview, view the official demo video here: Entaonline.com/vendor-shop/microsoft-office/windows8.htm.
Jon Atherton, Entatech Vice President, said: “This is going to be an exciting time for both Microsoft and Entatech. With Windows 8.1 launching, we will not only have the means on which to offer our resellers with a new, improved and highly innovative product, but it will also provide a fantastic attachment opportunity, which will allow us to further build on other areas of the business.”
Entatech says it's one of the top selling distributors of Microsoft OEM in the UK.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...unities/031503

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BioShock Infinite announcement on Tuesday morning

July 30th, 2013, 01:35 Posted By: wraggster

An announcement from BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games will be made Tuesday morning, says studio head Ken Levine.
The announcement - expected to relate to BioShock Infinite DLC - will be made around 8am EST (5am PST, 1pm UK time), according to Levine.
The announcement was expected today following a vague teaser via Levine's Twitter feed over the weekend, but new posts today clarify that news will break tomorrow.
"Check the internets tuesday at around 8AM est to see what I'm up to tomw," said Levine in an update today. "News will be out on tues," he went on to assert.
The mystery reveal would appear to tie in with a BioShock Infinite expansion DLC announcement previously teased for a 'late July' unveiling.
Irrational has confirmed plans to release three BioShock Infinite DLC packs, adding "hours of additional gameplay and continue the player's journey in the sky-city of Columbia with new stories, characters, abilities and weapons".
It is rumoured that the first DLC expansion will add a new AI companion to the game, following an apparent leak on a developer CV.
Update: In related news, a game update titled 'Patch 6' has been released for BioShock Infinite on PC, which has "added features necessary to support upcoming DLC", according to the Steam patch notes.
There's no further detail on what this means specifically, but it lends further weight to the expectation that a DLC announcement is looming.
The update is also said to "fix issue where the navigation assist / nav aid arrow was not showing the path of jumping from the deck of the barge to the sky-line above when viewing it from the barge after the town lottery".

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...esday-morning/

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Microsoft asks Google to remove its own site from searches

July 30th, 2013, 15:19 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft has mistakenly asked Google to remove certain links to its own website from searches, reports suggest.
Online content protection firm LeakID is said to have sent Google a takedown request on behalf of Microsoft, to stop tracking parts of Microsoft.com, reports Torrentfreak.
These kind of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) requests are usually made to report infringing links, which Google inspects and potentially removes from its search engine, but it appears this Microsoft one was sent in error.
The links listed include older Microsoft product and support pages, including a page on Microsoft Office 2003.
However, it seems Google noticed Microsoft's apparent mistake and has not removed the Microsoft.com pages from its search results.
Google has received takedown requests for over 100 million links this year alone.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/...earches/031519

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Microsoft raked in $853 million in Surface revenue, spent more on advertising

July 31st, 2013, 00:42 Posted By: wraggster

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Grand Theft Auto 4 mod allows you to switch characters ala GTA 5

July 31st, 2013, 01:17 Posted By: wraggster

Rockstar's upcoming Grand Theft Auto 5 will shake the studio's best-selling open-world template up a great deal by introducing the option to switch between three characters on the fly while the two unpossessed members will continue going about their business. Now, some clever modders have created a way to implement this into Grand Theft Auto 4.With the mod installed, you'll be able to hop between roles as GTA 4 protagonist Niko Bellic, The Lost and Damned's Johnny Klebitz, and The Ballad of Gay Tony's Luis Fernando Lopez. Whoever you're not playing as will wander the streets on their own or attempt to evade the cops if they have a wanted level greater than zero. Each character has their own health, armour, ammo and vehicle which are saved every time you swap roles.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ters-ala-gta-5

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A Year of Linux Desktop At Westcliff High School

July 31st, 2013, 21:02 Posted By: wraggster

"Around a year ago, a school in the southeast of England, Westcliff High School for Girls Academy (WHSG), began switching itsstudent-facing computers to Linux, with KDE providing the desktop software. The school's Network Manager, Malcolm Moore, contacted us at the time. Now, a year on, he got in touch again to let us know how he and the students find life in a world without Windows."And they didn't even meet much resistance: "Younger students accept it as normal. Older students can be a little less flexible. There are still a few that are of the view that I can get rid of Microsoft Word when I can pry it from them. Staff are the same (although it is surprisingly not age-related). Some are OK and some hate it. Having said that, an equal number hate Windows 7 and nobody liked Windows 8. I think the basic problem is that Windows XP is a victim of its own success. It works fairly well from a user point of view, it's been around practically forever, and people don't like change, even some students, oddly

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/13/0...ff-high-school

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Asus CEO On Windows RT: "We're Out."

July 31st, 2013, 21:06 Posted By: wraggster

AllThingsD's intrepid reporter Ina Fried has an interview up where Asus chairman and CEO Jonney Shih says they will not make any more Windows RT devices until Microsoft proves demand for the product. This leaves Dell as the only OEM who has not sworn off Windows RT. Dell is seeking to take itself private, relying on a $2 billion loan from Microsoft."Turns out people want things that are the size of a laptop to work as well as a laptop.

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/13/07...ws-rt-were-out

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Blizzard press conference confirmed for August 21

August 1st, 2013, 00:51 Posted By: wraggster

Blizzard will host a press conference at Germany's Gamescom on August 21.
The company confirmed in an invite to Destructoid that the event will take place from 11:30am CET (10:30am UK, 2:30am Pacific), but offered no further specifics.
The invite only teased that the event is "sure to capture the attention of the Heavens, Burning Hells and all the shadowed places that lie between", which could possibly relate to Diablo 3, which is due for release on consoles just over a week after the event.
Blizzard has confirmed a Diablo 3 release date of September 3 on PS3 and Xbox 360. Customers who pre-order will receive an exclusive in-game item, the Infernal Helm, which grants an experience point boost to any character who wears it.
The game is also in development for PS4 which is out later this year, but the developer has said it will not be a PS4 launch title. The next-gen version will use the touchpad on the new DualShock 4 controller to make UI and inventory navigation more intuitive.
You can check out a Diablo 3 PS3 gameplay video here.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...for-august-21/

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Company of Heroes 2 sells 380k in 5 days

August 1st, 2013, 01:11 Posted By: wraggster

PC exclusive Company of Heroes 2 sold 380,000 copies in Europe and the US in its five days of availability during Sega's first financial quarter ended June 30.
During the three months in question, Sega's consumer business segment, which houses video games, generated net sales of 18.9 billion yen (£127m / $193m), up from 15.1 billion yen for the same period a year earlier.
The segment also made a small profit of 39 million yen (£262,000 / $399,000), compared to a 1.6 billion yen (£10.7m / $16.4m) loss a year earlier.
First quarter packaged software sales declined from 2.76 million units a year earlier to 1.21 million, with 570,000 boxed games sold in Europe, 370,000 in the US and 250,000 in Japan.
In contrast, Sega said digital software sales "remained favourable". Combined digital and packaged sales of online RPG Phantasy Star Online 2 hit 500,000 units in the quarter.
Parent company Sega Sammy reported a healthy set of results for the business as a whole. First quarter net sales grew 29.6 per cent 90.7 billion yen (£609m / $928m), while net income rocketed 408.8 per cent to 12.95 billion yen (£87m / $133m).

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...80k-in-5-days/

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