General Gaming Article |
- TigerDirect Would Still Like to Sell You a TouchPad
- New Facebook Timeline is Out Today
- The Game Boy: Games That Matter More Than the Games of the Year
- French Presidential Residence Found to Have Downloaded Illegal Torrents
- Floods, Flops and Failures: 21 Of Tech's Worst Disasters
- Browser Extension of the Week: Destroy The Web
- iPhone-Loving Robbers Leave Android Phones Unpilfered
- MSI Unveils X79A-GD45 (8D) Mobo With Support For 128GB Of Quad-Channel RAM
- Sony And Warner Smell Blood In The Water, Gearing Up To Sue Grooveshark
- Microsoft Releases AMD Bulldozer-Boosting Hotfix
| TigerDirect Would Still Like to Sell You a TouchPad Posted: 15 Dec 2011 02:36 PM PST
As of this posting, the remaining deal costs $249.99 and includes the 32GB TouchPad, a case, and Bluetooth speakers. Not a bad deal considering these little beauties are essentially all sold out after HP's last eBay sale. These units appear to be new, unlike the eBay tablets. The book has been closed on the TouchPad more than once since its untimely demise a few months ago. The price is higher than previous sales, but this could be your last chance to get a piece of webOS history. Anyone biting? |
| New Facebook Timeline is Out Today Posted: 15 Dec 2011 02:26 PM PST
This launch was supposed to coincide with the rollout of Facebook's new Open Graph APIs, for which developers have been designing apps. The idea is that the new apps will help users fill in that timeline more effectively. When asked what's going on with the Open Graph delay, Facebook only said that it would be launching in a few weeks. Some users are uncomfortable with the new design. While it does have the same data as always, it is laid out in a much more accessible way. Friends and gawkers alike can easily scroll through your life. Have you tried the new layout? |
| The Game Boy: Games That Matter More Than the Games of the Year Posted: 15 Dec 2011 02:13 PM PST It's the end of the year, and you know what that means: awards! Awards for everyone, from everyone! Best graphics, best game featuring Nolan North as a ruggedly handsome scoundrel, worst "arrow in the knee" joke (answer: all of them), etc, etc, etc. Honestly, though, most of the teary eyed, speech-blabbing winners are kind of boring. For example, Portal 2: An undeniably great, but ultimately safe update to a revered franchise. Arkham City: An undeniably great, but ultimately safe update to a revered franchise. Skyrim: An undeniably great, but blah blah blah. You get the point. The following, then, are games didn't land with such a huge splash -- perhaps because they weren't so great, or maybe because they're not even new -- but will almost certainly send out ripples for years to come. LA Noire
As a game, LA Noire did its best impression of the final scene from Titanic set to the tune of a thousand Rebecca Blacks. The difference between "doubt" and "lie" was often a total toss-up, and -- thanks to the game's straightforward structure -- you never really had a chance to learn how to avoid making the same mistake over and over again. It was, quite frankly, an exercise in spittle-soaked, hair-pulling frustration. But it was also a ridiculously big-budget production that tried to shift its main means of engaging players away from shamelessly 'splodey gun-fu, close-quarters face-punchery, and ordering troops to carry out shamelessly 'splodey gun-fu and/or face-punchery. Instead, it asked us to slow down and think. Granted, that didn't always work out so well, but LA Noire bet the farm on being different. Moreover, the sleuthing sim made its incredible facial tech a key gameplay aspect. Interrogations were all about reading people -- or at least, they were supposed to be. Sure, plenty of mistakes were made, but other developers can learn from them. LA Noire dared to give our brains a workout -- both thematically and mechanically -- while surrounded by games that leave only our trigger fingers achey and out of breath. And people ate it up. Nearly 4 million units sold don't lie. Gamers enjoy more than just long walks on the beach and short strolls down Generic Terrorist Alley. Sex, guns, and gore obviously sell. But so does intelligence. Dragon Age II
Dragon Age II was -- by most accounts -- a dragon-sized disappointment. Its battles were as over-long and redundant as Sandal the dwarf's vocabulary. Its character progression was far too simple. Its repeat trips to the Free Marches' most luxurious lifeless caves paled in comparison to DA:O's sprawling field trip through Ferelden. Without a doubt, DAII suffered from a rushed development cycle. The resulting limitations, however, forced BioWare to craft an incredibly interesting game structure. DAII's plot barely budged in terms of location, but that lack of an epic quest to save all mankind from a series of inconveniently located evils gave the city of Kirkwall a real identity. On top of that, your party members weren't simply lock-step drones that worshipped at your feet as you walked to the ends of the earth. They lived in the city too. They had lives and problems and jobs. In a landscape littered with globe-trotting fantasy epics, DAII focused on the mundane. Call it an anti-epic, but there's value in that. The game prioritized character relationships and subtly brilliant (not to mention incredibly daring) themes like religion, sexuality, and terrorism over jaw-dropping sights and superficial sounds. Every other fantasy RPG will tell you that size matters -- possibly more than anything else. Dragon Age II might just make them reconsider. Duke Nukem Forever
Before you summon the full fury of the Internet to strike me down right where I stand, know that I'm not praising DNF for its quality. Hell, I'm not praising it at all. The game was a Frankenstein's monster made up of equal parts old-enough-to-be-fossilized game mechanics and despicable humor, sown together by a thick thread of overt sexism. The resulting discussion surrounding it, however, showed just how far gaming's come since Duke's last testosterone-fueled trip through male power fantasyland. Critics and gamers alike dragged The King under a guillotine for rusty mechanics, archaic level design, and "jokes" that regularly crossed the line between edgy and hateful. The game's profitability in spite of all that, however, shows just how far gaming still has to go. Minecraft
Yes, I know Minecraft's technically been available since 2009, but it led the charge on so many of 2011's biggest steps forward that I had to include it. (Also, it didn't officially leave beta until last month, so take that, calendars.) Foremost, Minecraft gave the indie movement a recognizable face, helping it grow to the point where, say, Terraria could go toe-to-combat-boot with Modern Warfare 3 for a top spot on Steam. Further, it validated an open development model by involving players every step of the way. With games now growing increasingly reliant upon post-release patches and DLC, Minecraft's mindset is the next logical step. Is it right for all games? Of course not. But it's a very appetizing proposition, especially given the newfound popularity of things like Kickstarter funding. Overall, this has been an absolutely incredible year for indie games, and Minecraft deserves a big, pixelated pat on the back for lending a hand. From Dust
From Dust was a great idea wrapped in a mediocre game. But that's not why it's here. Somewhat incredibly, it managed to be nearly everything that's currently wrong with PC gaming all at once. It kicked off its freefall dive into a canyon populated exclusively by cacti and woodchippers with one of Ubisoft's trademark month-long delays. Why? No real reason was given -- but obviously, it was an attempted middle finger to pirates. Unfortunately, waving said finger in pirates' faces only made them angry, causing them to bite back with more piracy. Next up, dishonesty. Ubisoft initially promised that From Dust would kick the publisher's reviled "always on" DRM to the curb. Then it didn't, and Ubisoft tried to hide its red hands by deleting all evidence of its previous promise. Eventually, however, it was forced to patch out the draconian menace due to overwhelming outrage. Even then, though, From Dust's PC port was horrendous. Among other things, it was locked at 30 FPS, lacked anti-aliasing, and was generally unstable. Ultimately, Steam was forced to offer refunds. Other developers, of course, employ each of those practices separately, but From Dust made the freaking planets align. Which is just another strike against it, honestly. Maybe I liked my planets all disorganized and un-apocalypse-causing. League of Legends
Yes, yes, LoL's been around since the days when it was still clever to turn Internet acronyms for laughter into videogame names. And no, I don't have a Minecraft-style loophole for this one. You caught me. In penance, I'll put my lie-spewing hands in a waffle iron. I won't turn it on, of course. Why, that'd be silly. Anyway, 2011's almost certain to go down in history as the year free-to-play went from foreign novelty to ultra-successful business model, and few games have benefitted more than LoL. Further, unlike potential flashes in the pan like DC Universe and every other MMO ever, LoL's a bonafide long-term success story. The game's been free-to-play since day one, and it hasn't stumbled since. LoL's also a big name in the eSports scene, which has grown tremendously in the past year. Along with national-sport-sized hits like StarCraft II, Riot's massive MOBA has helped propel pro gaming to new heights, offering multi-million dollar prize pools each season. Bulletstorm/Saints Row 3
Two words: dumb fun. Both of these games blasted and, er, dildo-smashed their way through all the slow-building, yawn-inducing epics and "srs bsns" multiplayer modes to remind us that, yes, games can be over-the-top, gleefully profane, and -- most importantly -- fun. Screw saving the world. I just want to remote-control a robot dinosaur with laser vision and go surfing on fighter jets. |
| French Presidential Residence Found to Have Downloaded Illegal Torrents Posted: 15 Dec 2011 02:05 PM PST
It was Sarkozy himself who pushed so hard for the aforementioned law. Under this system, anyone found to have downloaded copyrighted material three time would be kicked off the Internet, and their name added to a blacklist to keep them off. At present, the Presidential estate is at double that limit. Content downloaded includes pre-release copies of Tower Heist, Arthur Christmas, and music by The Beach Boys. There are roughly 60 French citizens on their last strike right now. If anything, this law, and Sarkozy's unruly guests just serve to remind us that BitTorrent is not private. Do you think they ought to cut off the Presidential Palace? Fair's fair, right? |
| Floods, Flops and Failures: 21 Of Tech's Worst Disasters Posted: 15 Dec 2011 12:41 PM PST When you work on a major project for an extended amount of time – be it an awesome new piece of software or some sort of newfangled gadget – you can't help but become emotionally attached to it. Some even go so far as to call their projects their babies. Well, let's be blunt: there are some ugly babies out there. And while you might not tell a proud new mother her newborn's a hideous freak, we're going to call out some of the worst tech "babies" of all time, be they simple disastrous flops or actual tech-related disasters. Somewhere, coders are covering their faces in shame. And hey, we're not just poking fun at these failures; we're also remembering them, lest they be forgotten and repeated. Because who wants a Virtual Boy 4S? |
| Browser Extension of the Week: Destroy The Web Posted: 15 Dec 2011 11:27 AM PST
Destroy The Web is a Firefox add-on that allows users to do some video game inspired damage to any website they can browse to. By clicking the Destroy the Web icon in your browser's navigation bar, any website you're viewing will become a viable target, ready to be shot apart. Simply aim the extension's crosshairs at a page element, click and watch the element shatter into a million pieces. To keep things interesting, the extension also offers a time limit, point system and a leader board that ranks users by how fast they're able to obliterate the websites they deem worth of their harmless, web-based wrath.
Best of all, when the shooting's done and your score's been realized, Destroy The Web sets things right by refreshing the website back to it's pre-rampage good looks, almost as if the carnage never took place at all. Be sure to check back with us every Thursday for another edition of Maximum PC's Browser Extension of the Week.
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| iPhone-Loving Robbers Leave Android Phones Unpilfered Posted: 15 Dec 2011 11:23 AM PST
The robbers still snatched the poor Droid owner's cash, the local NBC station reports, but at least he could call the cops on his black sheep phone afterwards. A second victim was thrown against a fence and searched after she said she didn't have an Apple handset, while a third separate victim had actually had an iPhone and was left unharmed after turning it over. The NBC team asked Columbia students what they thought of the snobbery robberies. "It's insulting they don't want my BlackBerry," one student responded, while another said that frankly, she didn't like her BlackBerry either and was pocketing her pennies to buy an iPhone herself. Image credit: theiloop.com |
| MSI Unveils X79A-GD45 (8D) Mobo With Support For 128GB Of Quad-Channel RAM Posted: 15 Dec 2011 10:56 AM PST The Maximum PC ethos can be summed up in two words: MORE POWER! (Harder, better, faster, stronger would work, too, but that's twice as many words – not exactly better.) MSI, it seems, heard our Tim Taylor-like grunting from afar. The company just released a modified version of its X79A-GD45 motherboard (which was only released a month ago, mind you) that includes twice the DIMM slots of the original. That means the X79A-GD45 (8D) includes a total of 8 DDR3 DIMM slots and can support up to a whopping 128GB of quad-channel RAM – because 64GB just isn't enough.
Otherwise, the board is pretty much the same as the base X79A-GD45, which means it's made from military grade components, can accommodate LGA2011 Sandy Bridge-E chips, and has three PCI-E 3.0 and two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots, a PCI-E x1 slot, a pair of 6 Gbps SATA slots, four 3 Gbps SATA slots, and four USB 3.0 ports, amongst other things. CrossfireX and SLI are both supported, too. You can check out the full list of specs on the X79A-GD45 (8D)'s product page. While MSI may have pulled the veil off of this mobo, it didn't disclose any pricing or availability details. The standard X79A-45GD costs $235 at Newegg, so don't expect the upgraded version to come cheap. |
| Sony And Warner Smell Blood In The Water, Gearing Up To Sue Grooveshark Posted: 15 Dec 2011 10:16 AM PST
The news comes courtesy of the New York Times, who spoke to four people with knowledge of Sony and Warner's plans. The lawsuits are expected to be filed by Thursday. Grooveshark released the following statement when presented with the info: We respect the intellectual property of all artists, and our strict policies are designed to ensure that our users only upload content to which they are entitled. This is a policy which we vigorously enforce within D.M.C.A. requirements. However, a refresher course from our article about Grooveshark's CEO's emails is in order: in order to qualify for the Safe Harbor provision, a service provider can't profit from or even knowingly host infringing material, and it must take down violations it knows of. The following quote from one of CEO Sina Simantob's emails puts all three of those requirements into doubt with Grooveshark – a fact that Sony and Warner probably took into consideration. In our case, we use the label's songs till we get a 100 (million) uniques (visitors), by which time we can tell the labels who is listening to their music, where, and then turn around and charge them for the very data we got from them, ensuring that what we pay them in total for streaming is less than what they pay us for data mining. Let's keep this (quiet) for as long as we can. Did Grooveshark bit off more than it can chew with this one, or do you think the company's TOS and flagging systems will actually earn it Safe Harbor in the eyes of the court? |
| Microsoft Releases AMD Bulldozer-Boosting Hotfix Posted: 15 Dec 2011 09:51 AM PST
From the hotfix page: This article introduces an update that optimizes the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs that are used by Windows 7-based or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computers. Currently, the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs is slower than expected. This behavior occurs because the threading logic in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2 is not optimized to use the Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) scheduling feature. This feature was introduced in the Bulldozer family of AMD CPUs. So what will the hotfix improve? Again, the web page provides the answer. After you install this hotfix, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 fully support AMD Bulldozer CPUs. Therefore, the CPUs operate at the expected performance level. So, if you have a Bulldozer CPU and a Windows 7 machine, what are you waiting for? Head over to the hotfix page and download the update now! |
If you've been beaten out at getting a cheap HP TouchPad, you might have one last shot. 
The new Facebook is here a little later than expected, but still too soon for some. The 
Well, this is embarrassing. The famously anti-piracy French President Nicholas Sarkozy is learning today that occupants of the Presidential Palace have been very naughty torrent-users. According to everyone's favorite new tattletale, YouHaveDownloaded.com, six separate 
Even when things work as they should, surfing the interwebz can still be a painful experience--especially when you're stuck doing an online task that you despise with a burning passion. Filing your taxes, paying your bills or having your eyes scorched out by a site that looks like it was designed back in 1995 have a tendency to send people's stress levels into the red over time. Instead of ripping your office apart in a fit of searing rage, Why not vent all that anger in a healthy manner that even your anger management counsellor would approve of? 
Want to avoid getting mugged? Buy an Android phone – or even better yet, a Blackberry. No, they don't have any crazy criminal-prevention apps or burglar whistles built in; thieves just don't want them. Or at least one pair of thieves in Manhattan don't want them. Apparently, two robbers have been accosting Columbia University students for their iPhones. No other phone will do! The crooks even let one victim keep a perfectly good Droid, police say.
It sucks to be Grooveshark right now. Universal Music recently filed a lawsuit alleging that Grooveshark's employees illegally upload hundreds of thousands of copyrighted songs to the service to boost its usefulness. Universal Music produced emails from Grooveshark's CEO in which he basically admitted that they were growing a tremendous user base "without paying a dime to any of the labels" – which doesn't prove employees upload songs, but could throw a big dent in Grooveshark's DMCA Safe Harbor claims. Oh yeah, as if that wasn't bad enough, the emails apparently pissed off Sony and Warner, too, and now they're likely gearing up to sue Grooveshark, too. 
Hey, Bulldozer fans: if you're regular readers of the site you may remember that we told you a few months back that | You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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