General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

MyBadOmen's Mass Effect 3 Case Mod Will Rock Your Intergalactic Socks

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 11:44 AM PDT

Usually, just tossing around the words "Mass Effect 3 mod" is enough to get you banned from Origin's multiplayer servers before you can blink a Batarian's eyes. Not in this case; rather than whipping together some modified code to gain XP at an advanced rate, David Lane (a.k.a. MyBadOmen) has instead whipped together a kick-ass ME3-inspired case mod that's sure to send a shiver down the robotic spines of Reapers galaxy-wide.

Lane based the ME3 mod around a NZXT Switch 810, and its craftsmanship earned him a shout out from company founder Johnny Hou in a blog post. A bevy of sponsors helped Lane build the Normandy SR2 homage from his fortress of solitude (aka an RV in the woods of New Hampshire), including Plextor, EK Waterblocks and NZXT itself.

The interior keeps up the red, white and black ME3 color scheme with a pair of Powercolor Radeon HD 6970s in Crossfire, red fans, and a red- and white-tinged Fatal1ty Professional Series mobo from ASRock. The liquid coursing through the cooling system is a nice red and white mix, too, while the exterior of the case is a mixture of hand-painting and di-noc carbon fiber sheets. There's even a little Normandy recreation on the liquid cooling reservoir.

Making this masterpiece took a lot of work. You can retrace David's steps in his epic 100 page-plus build log, which thankfully has an index for quickly jumping to specific updates. A few final touches should be posted soon. Like what you see? We've recently outlined all the tools you need to start modding yourself; David's ME3 build log shows you how to use them.

Windows 8 To Hit Store Shelves Late October, But Do People Care?

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 10:40 AM PDT

The mystery is over! Up until now, we'd had no idea when Windows 8 was actually going to launch, aside from the incredibly vague "second half of 2012." Does that mean now? Or the holiday season? Halloween, perhaps? Now we know: Windows 8 will be hitting store shelves in October.  However, that news breaks right as a report digs into the adoption rates of the various Windows 8 Previews and finds them far, far less used than their Windows 7 counterparts.

This morning, Microsoft CFO Tami Reller told a gathering of Microsoft Partners that the company is on track to see the gold version of Windows 8 released to manufacturing in about a month, during the first week of August. OEMs will than have a couple of months to lock in new hardware designs and load the OS onto PCs before the general launch takes places at the end of October, though no firm date was nailed down.

Will the public care when Windows 8 launches, however? PC World dug deeply into data from analytics firm NetApplications and found that in June, 0.18 percent of all PCs that visited the firm's network of websites were running some flavor of Windows 8. NetApplication's numbers show Windows 7's Previews had a 0.75 adoption rate at a similar point in its lifetime. 

Comparing those percentages against the estimated total PC installed base puts things into even harder numbers, assuming you're fine with assuming that NetApplication's numbers are representative of the whole: Windows 8 Previews account for roughly 2.9 million PCs worldwide, while around 9.4 million systems were running Windows 7 Previews four months after the final beta launch.

Why do you think there's such a big discrepancy there? Do you think that's a testament more to the public's poor perception of Windows 8, or of Windows 7's rock-solid reputation? People couldn't wait to get away from Vista, after all, while Windows 7 is widely viewed as near nirvana for a traditional desktop UI. Or are people just not as likely to play around with release previews as they used to?

CyberPower Unveils Power Mega II Graphics Workstation Series Starting at $999

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 07:08 AM PDT

Boutique system builder CyberPower seemingly has a million and one system configurations to choose from on its website, and that number grows by three today with the introduction of its new 'Power Mega II' series of graphics workstations. All three baseline configurations -- Power Mega II 1000, 2000, and 3000 -- sport various degrees of Nvidia Quadro graphics hardware, though differ in which processor platform they're built around.

On the entry level side is the Power Mega II 1000 starting at $1,000. It's built around Intel's Ivy Bridge platform and ships with a Core i5 3570K processor, 8GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, Asus Z77 motherboard, Nvidia Quadro 600 graphics card, 1TB SATA hard drive, 24X DVD burner, and Corsair Carbide 300R case.

The Power Mega II 2000 starts at $2,225 and represents Intel's Sandy Bridge platform with a Core i7 3930K processor. It also features 16GB of DDR3 1600 RAM, a Gigabyte X79 motherboard, Nvidia Quadro 2000 graphics card, 120GB solid state drive, 2TB hard drive, 14X Blu-ray burner, and Corsair Obsidian 650D case.

Finally, the Power Mega II 3000 brings the most workstation DNA to the table with an Intel Xeon E5-2630 processor, Nvidia Quadro 4000 graphics card, 32GB DDR3-1333 ECC RAM, Asus X79 motherboard, two 120GB SSDs in RAID 0, 2TB hard drive, 14X Blu-ray writer, and Corsair Obsidian 800D case. Pricing starts at $3,535.

All three systems are customizable, though as configured, CyberPower pegs the Power Mega II 1000 as an optimal solution for digital photo and video editing, the Power Mega II 2000 for visual design and CAD work, and the Power Mega II 3000 for 3D artists.

Image Credit: CyberPower

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Intel Pushes Ultrabook Makers to Adopt 3D Displays, HD Resolution

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 06:49 AM PDT

It's fairly easy to find capable Ultrabooks priced below Intel's recommended $1,000 ceiling, something that was a bit of a challenge when the form factor first emerged. Pricing has trended downwards for the past several months, but don't be surprised if some next generation Ultrabook models reverse that trend due to higher quality displays with touchscreen functionality and 3D support.

Touchscreen capabilities are a given, with Microsoft's Windows 8 right around the corner, but apparently Intel is also pushing for 3D displays. According to Digitimes, this is one of several suggestions Intel is making to Ultrabook makers in preparation for refreshed models built around the chip maker's upcoming Haswell platform in 2013.

Intel would also like to see tomorrow's Ultrabooks boast high definition screen resolutions. For the most part, Ultrabook makers have appeared hesitant to venture above 1366x768 up to this point, even though the hardware is is plenty capable of driving Full HD 1920x1080 displays.

Other ways in which Intel would like to see Ultrabooks evolve include better security measures, improved chassis design, longer battery life, and the return of solid state drives (SSDs) as a primary storage option.

Image Credit: Intel

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Google Champions LGBT Rights in Homophobic Nations with 'Legalize Love' Campaign

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 06:28 AM PDT

Google's new "Legalize Love" campaign isn't about trying to legalize gay marriage, as has been erroneously reported across the Web over the weekend. Rather, Google's intent is to decriminalize homosexuality in countries where a particular sexual preference might be against the law, as well as to "eliminate homophobia around the world." Safer working conditions for Google employees is also a goal.

"We want our employees who are gay or lesbian or transgender to have the same experience outside the office as they do in the office," Google's Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe stated at the Global LGBT Workplace Summit in London today, according to Dot429.com. "It is obviously a very ambitious piece of work."

That same site appears to also be the source of confusion, stating incorrectly that Google's intention is to "legalize marriage for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people around the world." Google dismissed that notion, telling The Washington Post that it's goal is to "promote safer conditions for gay and lesbian people inside and outside the office in countries with anti-gay laws on the books," a sentiment that's echoed on Google's Legalize Love website.

Google has been supporting gay rights for some time now, dating back to at least 2008 when company co-founder Sergey Brin posted a statement in opposition to California's Prop 9 ban on same-sex marriage.

"Google has a long history of support for Pride Celebrations around the world. In 2011, over one thousand Googlers participated in Pride celebrations in a dozen cities to support equality," the sultan of search points out. "To date in 2012, 1,500+ Googlers have marched in Pride Celebrations, including Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Tel Aviv and Warsaw."

Image Credit: Google

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U.K. Judge Sides with Samsung in Apple Patent Dispute

Posted: 09 Jul 2012 05:50 AM PDT

Samsung hasn't had much to celebrate lately in the legal arena, and the fact that a U.K. judge deemed the company's Galaxy Tab "not as cool" as Apple's iPad seems like it would only rub salt in the wound. However, it's for that very reason that Judge Colin Birss sided with Samsung, ruling that Apple's patent infringement claim, which has been successful in the U.S., is bogus.

According to a Bloomberg report, the judge ruled that Galaxy tablets "do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool." In other words, nobody's going to mistake a Galaxy Tab for an iPad based on the look and feel, as Apple has argued in court, because Samsung's tablet looks and feels like an inferior device.

Samsung's okay with that assessment so long as it keeps translating into legal victories.

"Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited," Samsung said in an email to Bloomberg.

Apple has three weeks to appeal the decision, and considering the company's successful track record when appealing a verdict, Samsung would be wise to prepare for another legal bout.

Image Credit: Samsung

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