MMO and SEO News from Gameforumer.com |
- Preview: MechWarrior Online
- Nintendo: Wii U offers deeper, asymmetrical multiplayer
- Find out why New Little King's Story isn't on the Wii
- PSU insurers to take up pricing directive issue with govt
- Nod for Govinda, Ganesh fete medical insurance
- Facebook Stock Hits New Low, Keeps Sinking
- Bid Farewell to Intel's Atom D2700 Processor
- RIM to Launch 4G LTE PlayBook August 9 in Canada; U.S. and Other Territories in Coming Months
- Apple, Judge Both Ticked at Samsung for Leaking Rejected Evidence to Press
- Commodore 64 Turns 30 Years Old, Still the Best Selling PC of All Time
| Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT The MechWarrior property is an oldie. Perhaps even unrecognizable to some, as there hasn’t been a proper entry in like ten years; I know it in name and concept only, having seen box art or occasional screens. Accordingly, I was not quite prepared for what I was getting myself into with MechWarrior Online. These robots are decidedly measured and deliberate in their actions. I’m used to fleetfooted, humanoid mechs the likes of Gundam, Evangelion, Gurren Lagann; anime, in short. MechWarrior’s machines are much more like frighteningly advanced tanks and you feel like the operator, heightened by the in cockpit view, in what is much more of a simulation experience than a crazy robot shoot-‘em-up. These death machines feels like the sort of thing you would oppress a people with. MechWarrior Online (PC) More and more titles are embracing the free-to-play market and MechWarrior Online is among them. With recent, praised releases like Blacklight Retribution and Tribes: Ascend, as well as the upcoming, mech-based Hawken, visual fidelity up to current standards is basically expected of Western free-to-play games. As such, MWO boasts some high-fidelity visuals and DirectX11 support. That being said, the art direction largely leans towards a dank and war-torn direction. The levels I played felt rather similar, despite changes in color tone. There was a snow-blindingly white locale, a rainy, mountainous evening, a level with a sickening greenish industrial flair and smoke stacks, a washed out, crumbling urban environment, and so on. Everything feels quite desolate and the levels are mostly open outdoor environments -- these battle mechs need room to strut their stuff -- so there is an air of familiarity about them, despite the changes in terrain and lighting. However, I’m sure these subtle stage differences are going to be important factors to consider for someone who knows the game well and isn’t in their equivalent of a first day behind the wheel. The devil’s in the details and there are details here for days, to the point of intimidation. It’s not the most accessible title around. It took me a while just to get acclimated to the vehicular piloting of the mechs and it wasn’t until I was just about ready to call it a night that I claimed my first victim. Giants robots are hard to destroy, even if you have your own giant robot. Who would’ve thunk it? For the uninitiated, as I was, down (s) and up (w) control your throttle forward and backward, setting your mech to a constant speed. Right (d) and left (a) point the mech in the direction you want it heading, while your pilot looks around freely relative to where your mouse is pointing, though you can no longer look around a full 360 degrees (at least not in the ones I used) like an inquisitive owl. Otherwise, the scheme is familiar. Click the mouse to fire your lasers (or, sometimes, other weapons), space to jump for mechs outfitted with such an ability, and so on. Oh, and a super neat controller is in the works, too, though I didn’t get to use it. Simulation! These lumbering hulks can absorb a lot of punishment and your lasers overheat with quickness when overused, which causes a temporary system-wide shutdown, leaving you vulnerable. Again, it’s a slow-moving affair. Teamwork, restraint and thoughtful piloting seemed imperative, giving confrontations a dogfight sort of volley as you trade strangely whimsical red and green pew pews of laser. Mechs are armored differently and will take a lot of damage to different portions before finally sustaining critical damage, rendering you a scrap heap for the remainder of the present match. In addition to the combat, there is an extensive warehouse for playing robot dress up, as well as selecting pilot perks. BattleMechs can be outfitted with different armor, weapons and color schemes. Also in this depot, you can choose between your available battle bots, which come in light, medium and heavy varieties. During my hands-on time, there were about a dozen available, all of which had dull names like HBK-46 or the slightly more colorful Ranger, instead of cool ones like Deathscythe, but I guess you can’t fault them for that. These are heavily industrialized, realistic death machines, after all. Once you begin to swap out parts, the possibilities are rather staggering. Each individual piece -- head, torso, arms, legs -- has applicable weapons or armor to change and more still to buy. It remains to be seen how viable all of the possible builds will be, but, for the time being, they’re possible, and should work towards giving your mechano-man a distinct feel that conforms to your play style. Equally up in the air is how purchasable content, like parts, will affect stat differences, or how viable a completely (real-world) purchase-free build will be; balance, in short. I’m quite interested to see how the well traveled MechWarrior property adapts to this free-to-play model, especially with sexy up and comer Hawken right on its tail. There’s definitely a learning curve to it, which could keep new players from investing the time it takes to learn its nuanced, restrained combat, without the impetus of making the most use of their money spent. Given its niche, the steady influx of newbies could also frustrate those who are deeply invested in its sim-like style, upsetting match balance. In the mean time, you can head over to the MechWarrior Online site to reserve your pilot name, lest some cretin swoop in and filch your moniker.  |
| Nintendo: Wii U offers deeper, asymmetrical multiplayer Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT Nintendo president and unconfirmed soap-eater Satoru Iwata has declared that the Wii U shall host unique and deep multiplayer experiences. According to Nintendo, the differences between the Wii U and Wii controllers open the floor for "asymmetrical" gameplay. Huh. "We plan to release the Wii U system, the successor of Wii, in the year-end sales season of 2012," said Iwata in Nintendo's financial report. "Wii U has a new controller named the Wii U GamePad with a 6.2 inch touchscreen. With the combination of the Wii U GamePad and a TV screen, players can enjoy gameplay that takes advantage of two screens whose positional relationship is not fixed. "Also, for multi-player games, Wii U makes asymmetric gameplay possible, which means the role of a player using the Wii U GamePad is different from the other players using the conventional Wii Remote controllers." Of course, this is all true in theory. Whether publishers take advantage of this potential (clue: they won't) is another matter entirely. Nintendo Wii U will offer deeper gaming experiences - Iwata [Wii U]  |
| Find out why New Little King's Story isn't on the Wii Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT I loved Little King's Story on the Wii, if only for the fact that it abandoned useless waggle in favor of a streamlined, simple control system. It seems as if a lot of other people did too, but that raw excitement isn't enough to warrant a Wii sequel, as the next title is slated exclusively for the Playstation Vita.  |
| PSU insurers to take up pricing directive issue with govt Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT Worried over the finance ministry's latest directive on pricing of the risks, the chief executives of four public sector general insurance companies that control 60 per cent of the market share  |
| Nod for Govinda, Ganesh fete medical insurance Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT The BMC standing committee on Wednesday approved a proposal to medically insure all participants of Govinda and Ganesh immersion celebrations in view of the accidents that take place during the festive season.  |
| Facebook Stock Hits New Low, Keeps Sinking Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT
The falling stock price is in reaction to Facebook's quarterly earnings report last week. Investors weren't all that keen on the results, even though revenue was a third higher than a year prior. Analysts and investors are skeptical of Facebook's ability to grow its business long-term, and the market is reacting to those concerns. As of this writing, Facebook's stock has dipped another 2.71 percent to $20.32. Equally concerning to the falling share price is the loss of top level talent, as noted by AllThingsD. It's hard enough to right a ship that appears to be sinking, but even tougher when those manning the ship start jumping overboard. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| Bid Farewell to Intel's Atom D2700 Processor Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT
Plain and simple, Intel's Atom architecture feels a little long in the tooth. One could argue that Intel's Atom line has always felt that way, and we wouldn't begrudge them for it. The Atom D2700 is a 10W dual-core processor clocked at 2.13GHz with 1MB of L2 cache and support for up to 4GB of DDR3-1066 memory. The integrated graphics core is clocked at 640MHz. That's fine for low-power applications, but at $52, it was a rather expensive slice of netbook silicon. With much more powerful Ultrabooks (Intel) and ultra thins (AMD) coming down in price, it's hard to shed a tear about anything netbook related. For those of you who don't agree, not to worry, the D2700 hasn't been completely phased out yet. Shipments will continue until the end of September, and parts will likely linger in the market place for some time after. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| RIM to Launch 4G LTE PlayBook August 9 in Canada; U.S. and Other Territories in Coming Months Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT
"We're excited to bring customers the first BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with support for 4G LTE networks," said David J. Smith, Executive Vice President, Mobile Computing at Research In Motion. "The new 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook offers a broad range of premium features, including a stunning 7 inch display, front and rear facing HD video cameras, HDMI out and stereo speakers, and it also offers premium performance on high speed cellular networks, helping customers to be more productive than ever and to make the most of their time on the go." The 4G LTE version of RIM's PlayBook is the same as the current version, except of course the new model supports wireless 4G LTE networks. It will ship with the latest BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2 software and come pre-loaded with various apps and tools. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| Apple, Judge Both Ticked at Samsung for Leaking Rejected Evidence to Press Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT
According to InformationWeek, the slides cite comments from an interview with Apple designer Shin Nishibori in which he said he conceived the iPhone design by studying Sony's Walkman design concepts. Judge Koh refused to allow them as evidence, much to the chagrin of Samsung's legal team. "In 36 years of trial work, I have never begged the court for anything. I'm begging the court now to reconsider," John Quinn, one of Samsung's lead attorneys, implored the court. Judge Koh at one point threatened to sanction Quinn for talking over her response. Plain and simple, the slides were rejected as evidence, so Samsung shared them with the press, which are posted at AllThingsD. Naturally, this didn't sit well with either Apple or Judge Koh. Apple has asked Judge Koh to issue sanctions against Samsung for tampering with the jury, according to Arstechnica, calling it a "deliberate attempt to influence the trial." Samsung contends it never issued a press release, just "a brief statement" to select members of the press, and did so after the jury was already selected. Buckle your seat belts, folks, this ride's just getting started. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| Commodore 64 Turns 30 Years Old, Still the Best Selling PC of All Time Posted: 02 Aug 2012 05:01 AM PDT
The first Commodore 64 system was released in August 1982 for $595. As its name suggests, the C64 had 64K of RAM. More importantly, it had decent sound and graphics (16 colors!) for its era, along with TV output. The NTSC version shipped with an 8-bit MOS Technology 6510 processor clocked at 1.023MHz. That's all less than pedestrian by today's standards, but in 1982, it was quite the machine. Sales estimates range from over 12 million units up to 17 million units during the course of its life. So, what has become of Commodore since then? The original company filed for bankruptcy in 1994, and while you can no longer purchase real Commodore systems, a company called Commodore USA has licensed the trademark and sells PC clones. These systems are essentially mini-ITX nettops dressed up in C64 digs and come with Commodore 64 emulation software. What was your first PC? Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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Facebook's much anticipated initial public offering (IPO) turned out to be a pretty big disappointment, and things have only gotten worse since then. The social network's share price fell to $20.88 by the end of Wednesday's trading session, which is 45 percent below its IPO price of $38 and a new low price, dipping below the previous low of $21.61, which occurred a day earlier.
It's not always easy to say goodbye, but in some cases, well, it just plain feels good. Intel's discontinuation of its Atom D2700 processor is one of those moments. With the third quarter now well underway, Intel killing off its fastest Atom processor, as the D2700 is has been 
Our readers who live north of the border will be the first to get their hands on Research In Motion's (RIM's) upcoming 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet when it launches in Canada on August 9, 2012, RIM announced today. Customers living in the U.S., Europe, South Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean will have access to the updated device "in the coming months," though no specific time frame was given.
The patent dispute between Apple and Samsung isn't just an ugly affair, it's turning downright fugly. Samsung managed to tick off both Apple and U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh by sharing evidence with the press that was ruled inadmissible, specifically a set of PowerPoint slides showing Apple did to Sony what the company claims Samsung has done to them -- copying designs.
Like many 30-somethings, the Commodore 64 provided me with my first glimpse into the world of PC gaming. I remember giggling when enemies would kill themselves out of shame if I managed to hop past them in The Last Ninja, and being delightfully frustrated with the puzzles in Maniac Mansion. Karnov, WWF WrestleMania, and Jordon vs Bird: One on One were three other titles that were frequently loaded. As primitive as each of those games are compared to today, it's still hard to believe that the Commodore 64 platform is 30 years old. What's even more mind boggling is that it's still the greatest selling single PC model ever.| You are subscribed to email updates from Home To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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