General Gaming Article

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• Upcoming 7-inch Android Tablets Could Dip Below $100
• Newegg Daily Deals: All Corsair Edition
• Digital Storm Sees "Virtue" in Mid-Tower Computer Cases
• Omerta: City of Gangsters Review
• Dell Credits Stealth Bombers for Inspiring Redesigned Alienware Laptops
• AMD Wins Race to 5GHz with FX-9000 Series Processor
• E3 2013: Playstation 4 to Undercut Xbox One by $100

Upcoming 7-inch Android Tablets Could Dip Below $100 Posted: 11 Jun 2013 11:37 AM PDT Low cost tablets are fast becoming a reality. It took some time, but Google's hardware partners finally got the memo that consumers are interested in affordable Android tablets, and the lower the price the better. That's not to say Android can't compete with the iPad at the $499 tier and above, but by and large, consumers hoped Android would usher in affordable slates, and that's what we've been seeing this past year. Tablet makers may take it to a whole new level, however, by introducing $99 Android slates later this year. According to Digitimes, there's a "good chance" we'll see $99 Android tablets in the third quarter of 2013. Asus is credited with setting the wheels in motion by unveiling its new 7-inch Memo Pad HD, which carries an MSRP of just $129 for the 8GB model. The general consensus among those behind the scenes is that other brand vendors will follow in Asus' footsteps, and perhaps even undercut the Memo Pad HD. Before the Memo Pad HD, the lowest price 7-inch Android tablet from a name-brand manufacturer was the Acer iconia B1. It runs $149 and features a dual-core processor, 8GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: All Corsair Edition Posted: 11 Jun 2013 10:32 AM PDT Top Deal: With the barrage of recent video card announcements, you may be tempted to buy a new GPU. Is your power supply up to the task? If not, today's top deal is for a Corsair TX Series 650W 80 Plus Bronze Certified Active PFX PSU for $80 with free shipping (nromally $120; additional $20 mail-in-rebate). It's SLI certified and has an ultra-quiet 140mm double-ball bearing fan to keep things cool. Other Deals: Corsair Carbide Series 400R Graphite ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case for $90 with free shipping (normally $110; additional $20 mail-in rebate) Corsair Graphite Series 600T Graphite Grey Mid-Tower Gaming Case for $140 with free shipping (normally $170; additional $30 mail-in rebate) Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case for $120 with free shipping (normally $140; additional $20 mail-in rebate) Corsair Enthusiast Series 850W 80 Plus Bronze Certified Semi Modular High Performance Power Supply for $125 with free shipping (normally $150; additional $20 mail-in rebate)

Digital Storm Sees "Virtue" in Mid-Tower Computer Cases Posted: 11 Jun 2013 10:21 AM PDT Brushed aluminum on the outside, gaming grade components on the inside. Boutique system builder Digital Storm doesn't believe the mid-tower form factor is getting its due as a viable option for high-end gaming. In order to change that perception, the company announced a new line of PCs called Virtue with the tagline, "A higher standard in PC gaming." The mid-tower case Digital Storm is using for these new PCs sports a brushed aluminum finish and steel exterior. "We noticed there are not many pc manufacturers designing mid-tower gaming systems with the same ardor and attention that ultra-tower PCs receive," said Rajeev Kuruppu, Digital Storm's Director of Product Development. "As its name suggests, Virtue represents a higher standard of PC gaming, both in terms of aesthetics and performance." Baseline configurations are broken up into four "Levels," as Digital Storm likes to do. A Level 1 system starts at $1,448 and includes an Intel Core i5 4570 processor, 8GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 graphics card, 120GB Corsair Neutron GTX solid state drive, 1TB hard drive, Asus Z87M-PLUS motherboard, Corsair H60 liquid CPU cooler, DVD burner, 600W Corsair power supply, and Windows 8 64-bit. Digital Storm will also overclock the CPU to anywhere from 4GHz to 4.4GHz. On the top shelf is the Level 4 configuration starting at $3,218. This one is equipped with an Intel Core i7 4770K processor, 16GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, GeForce GTX Titan graphics card, 256GB SSD 1TB hard drive, Asus Gryphon Z87 motherboard, Corsair H100i liquid CPU cooler, Blu-ray drive, 1050W Corsair Pro Silver PSu, and Windows 8 64-bit. The Virtue line is available to configure and order now. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Omerta: City of Gangsters Review Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:25 AM PDT Fails to execute as a simulation or strategic shooter When we see a gangster game come out—especially one that blends our love of building a true, bootleggy, 1930s-style criminal empire with our zest for shooting thugs with poorly executed Italian accents—we get a little anxious. It's true. Give us a game that looks like a cross between Theme Park and Mafia and we'll be set for quite a long while, cackling with glee as we outrun the cops in old-timey cars while trying to deliver our bootlegged booze to our various speakeasies. Omerta's black-market system is fairly easy to exploit, given the seemingly ludicrous offers you receive. Omerta: City of Gangsters tries to recreate our lovely gangster fantasies and succeeds admirably to a small extent. However, it's a bit tough to call this game a "game" in the traditional sense, as its main storyline feels more like a giant sandbox that you can exploit to maximum advantage before actually doing anything that requires effort in this half-simulation, half-Fallout hybrid. The gist of Omerta is simple. You, a fledgling crime lord, are tasked with running through various individual missions within the larger world of Atlantic City. The game follows all the standard archetypes of the genre: Each mission, you're given a set area to play within (which all look generally similar), and said area is filled with various buildings that you can rent, shoot up, bribe, or perform assorted other actions on depending on what the particular building actually is. You (rather quickly) unlock a ton of different buildings and actions that basically allow you to generate and spend resources. For example, if you're big into beer, you can build yourself an (illegal) brewery or two. While your sim-gangster-wannabes get to bootleggin', you can take the booze they're storing up and either sell it to a speakeasy yourself, sell it on the game's version of an ever-present worldwide black market, or sit back and watch it automatically funnel on over to any speakeasies (or other beer-selling buildings) that you happen to own. Get rich, get paid; wash, rinse, repeat. The game's buildings can get a bit more complicated. For example, you can throw down Boxing Arenas or Pawn Shops that automatically generate cash depending on the positivity (fame) or negativity (fear) your in-game actions generate. Running charity events and building soup kitchens is going to make your boxers shine, whereas being a jerk to all of your local businesses (and fellow Mafiosos) is going to make you the next Pawn Star/Don Corleone mashup. While it's definitely fun to build your little mob city and level up your (creatively named) gangsters, one of the core issues surrounding Omerta is that it's just too easy, simulation-wise. You can literally take all the time in the world to craft a super-cash-generating, top-of-the-line criminal empire without having much to fear from, well, anything. The game's only real motivator is a little element it calls "heat," which is analogous to the star ratings you receive in your favorite Grand Theft Auto title whenever you perform naughty actions. Stir up too much negativity and the cops will come a-running, and you'll have to bribe them or use another clever trick (like giving up one of your own hirable henchmen) to avoid losing the game. But, again, given just how easy it is to construct a fairly lucrative criminal empire without interference, it's not that hard to get the cops off your trail—especially when you can frequently use the aforementioned, ever-present "black market" jobs board to reduce these heat levels before they become a problem. The game's characters do have some RPG elements, and period-appropriate names. Would we pay half of the game's asking price ($40) for the sim parts? Eh. They're certainly fun—a good way to spend a solid afternoon. But, devoid of real urgency, the simulation element of the game devolves as a real attention-getter faster than we expected it to at first. As for the game's other half, the Fallout bits, we're referring to the turn-based tactical shooter that the game turns into whenever your business-friendly gangsters need to go, uh, take care of a little business (if you catch our drift). The comparisons to the recently released XCOM Enemy Unknown are easy to make, with a few caveats: The game can be a bit frustrating early on, until you start unlocking "Mobsters with Medkits," as we call them, because your small gang of fighters is going to go up against a decent number of other criminals without much of a reprieve. Zoom in and you'll actually be able to watch your mobsters carry out your assigned missions, including drive-bys. On the plus side, you can't die in the game. Your knocked-out gangsters suffer quasi-permanent injuries when they get riddled full of holes, which will impair their ability to be awesome for a bit of time in the future. You'll likely suffer some injuries yourself, as the gamer, when you're pounding your fist against the desk at the AI's idiotic, charge-on-in strategy that seems to leave your gangsters hurtin' no matter how much cover you think you've stuck them behind. While we do like the variety of abilities—and weapon modes—your gangsters bring to the table, it's safe to say that XCOM, this game ain't. The tactical battles aren't so much frustrating as they are uninteresting; we'd rather make our in-game cash and achieve our objectives by sitting back and letting our breweries churn than bothering with a more shoot-'em-up bank heist. Same reward, fewer annoyances (and less time spent). It's puzzling that developer Haemimont Games didn't decide to add in AI for the game's high-level business strategy. Going toe-to-toe against an AI that's also renting buildings, setting up rackets, and doing other sorts of nefarious activity would have made this one a lot more interesting. Instead of bribing the police to keep yourself alive, you could have sent the cops against your hapless fellow mob bosses—sounds like fun to us! Since the only thing keeping gamers interested in the criminal underworld of Atlantic City is the storyline—which reads more like an extended tutorial than Goodfellas—there's just not that much compelling about Omerta to keep fledgling gangsters addicted to their screens. Shoot, even the game's multiplayer is just its tactical shooter bit. Insert one Don Corleone–size yawn here. Omerta, like any upstart mob boss, arrived on the scene with so much potential, but this title feels like someone took a bat to its knees. $40, www.cityofgangsters.com, ESRB: T

Dell Credits Stealth Bombers for Inspiring Redesigned Alienware Laptops Posted: 11 Jun 2013 09:19 AM PDT New looks, better performance. Dell was on hand at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) to, among other things, introduce planet Earth to its line of redesigned Alienware laptops that it hopes will abduct gamers into the fold. The OEM unveiled three models, including the Alienware 14, Alienware 17, and Alienware 18, each one rocking Intel's Haswell architecture and Nvidia 700M Series discrete graphics. Alienware has always been known for other-worldly designs, and this latest batch of laptops feature a new angular motif apparently inspired by "jet engines and stealth bombers," according to Dell. Each model is constructed with an anodized aluminum shell and magnesium alloy body, with over 60 percent of the main mechanical components made from various metals. Let's talk specs. The Alienware 14 starts at $1,199 and includes a 14-inch LED display (1366x768), Intel Core i7 4700MQ processor, Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics, 8GB of DDR3L-1600 memory, 750GB hard drive, slot-loading DVD burner, Killer NIC, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The 17.3-inch Alienware 17 starts at $1,499 and features a 1600x900 resolution, GeForce GTX 765M GPU, and 5G Wi-Fi Broadcom 4352 802.11n/ac and Bluetooth 4.0 combo card. Other features are the same as the Alienware 14. Finally, the massive Alienware 18 steps things up with an 18.4-inch IPS display with a Full HD 1080 resolution. It starts at $2,099 and has the same specs as the Alienware 17. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

AMD Wins Race to 5GHz with FX-9000 Series Processor Posted: 11 Jun 2013 08:51 AM PDT In your face, Netburst! AMD has a knack for reaching milestones before the competition. The Sunnyvale chip designer is generally credited as being the first to reach 1GHz with its Athlon chip (a claim Intel disputes, by the way, as it was also shipping 1GHz Pentium III parts), and just like it's the year 2000 all over again, AMD is again touting a speed victory by unveiling the world's first 5GHz processor for consumers. The processor in question is AMD's newly minted FX-9590, an 8-core Piledriver part, though there are a couple of points worth mentioning. First is the fact that we've since moved on from the time when clockspeed was king. It still matters, but of more importance these days is the architecture that's driving the silicon. And secondly, the 5GHz claim is the processor's maximum Turbo speed, not the default clockspeed. AMD isn't letting these tidbits get in the way of its bragging rights. "At E3 this week, AMD demonstrated why it is at the core of gaming," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Products Division at AMD. "The new FX 5GHz processor is an emphatic performance statement to the most demanding gamers seeking ultra-high resolution experiences including AMD Eyefinity technology. This is another proud innovation for AMD in delivering the world's first commercially available 5 GHz processor." AMD also announced a slightly slower version, the FX-9370 clocked at 4.7GHz (Turbo). Both of these 9000 Series processors are 8-core parts, and both feature unlocked multipliers. Look for these chips to be available later this summer. No word yet on price. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

E3 2013: Playstation 4 to Undercut Xbox One by $100 Posted: 11 Jun 2013 12:00 AM PDT As many as 140 titles are in the works for the next-gen console Two things that gamers around the world were most interested in prior to the start of Sony's E3 press conference were the PS4's design and the next-gen console's price. The Japanese company did not disappoint, revealing both and much more at the nearly three-hour event. The design of the Playstation 4 can be best described as resembling a parallelogram with sharp edges and a two-tone matte/glossy color scheme. Just like its x86 innards, the latter is something that the PS4 shares with the Xbox One. One reason the Playstation 3 was slow out of the blocks was the fact that it was heavily weighed down by its price tag, with the cheapest SKU costing $499 in the U.S at the time of its launch. But thanks to the presence of much less exotic innards this time, the price of the PS4 was expected to be a lot more reasonable. And Sony didn't disappoint on that front either, announcing that the console will cost $399 in the U.S. when it makes its debut during the holiday season later this year. While not tiny, the PS4 does seem slightly smaller than the Xbox One Its more affordable price tag is not the only thing that the PS3 has going for it. Interestingly, the moment that drew the biggest cheer during the event was when Sony, taking a dig at the Xbox One, made it amply clear that it has no intention of restricting the sale of used games or of requiring gamers to connect their consoles to the Internet every 24 hours. The company also showcased a wide variety of titles at the event, with everything from indie games to the Bungie- and Activision-developed MMO Destiny being featured. Here's an excerpt from a Sony Japan press release: "The upcoming software lineup for PS4 from software developers and publishers will include Destiny from Bungie, Inc., in partnership with Activision Publishers, Inc., Diablo III from Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., KINGDOM HEARTS III and FINAL FANTASY XV from SQUARE ENIX, Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag and Watch_Dogs from Ubisoft Entertainment, NBA 2K14 from 2K Sports, The Elder Scrolls Online from Bethesda Games Studios and Mad Max from Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, totaling more than 110 titles." "Furthermore, from SCE Worldwide Studios, more than 30 titles, including 12 brand new IP, are under development, including Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack, inFAMOUS: Second Son, #DRIVECLUB and The Order: 1886. Out of over the 30 titles under development, 20 titles will be available within a year from the PS4 launch." Until today, all Sony was willing to tell us about the upcoming console's built-in hard drive was that it is "very large." But we now know exactly how large. The 6-lb console packs a 500GB hard drive, according to the press release. Follow Pulkit on Google+

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