| Battlefield 4 Launch Event Pictures Posted: 30 Oct 2013 03:15 PM PDT  We stepped out onto the battlefield, and lived to talk about it
To commemorate yesterday's release of Battlefield 4, EA held a BF4 launch party at its Redwood Shores campus. The event had jets flying over head, free beer/snacks, and even an old war plane you could hop into. We had the opportunity of going and brought along our camera. For pictures of the event, be sure to click through the gallery below. Have you been playing Battlefield 4 yourself? How are you liking the game? Let us know in the comments! |
| Scariest Video Game Moments Posted: 30 Oct 2013 12:22 PM PDT 
21 spooky gaming moments to spice up your Halloween We've all had moments during a particularly awesome scary PC game where we've been caught by surprise. We've had moments of sheer terror, when our hearts find their way into our throats and make a home there, and the sweaty, shaking hands to prove it. We keep going back though, because we want more. We can't wait to see what's coming up next. While there's a veritable cornucopia of examples of these moments, however, some stand above the rest as exemplary. We've rounded up twenty of those for you to peruse for Halloween, so in between candy breaks and horror-movie marathons, think back on these spine-tingling moments. Relive the fear. Take it all in, and remember -- they're just games. If you're interested in re-acting some of these scary moments, check out the Steam Halloween sale that's going on now. Do you have a favorite scary game moment? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Steam Halloween Sale Happening Now! Posted: 30 Oct 2013 11:17 AM PDT  Score up to 75% off on spooky titles until November 1st
Steam is rolling out holiday discounts on some of the spookiest titles available. If you missed Steam's summer sale, now is a great time to stock up in preparation for the holidays and to give the gift of terror to your friends. Choose from over 100 discounted titles. Some highlights include: - Outlast for $13.32 (33% off)
- Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs for $13.99 (30% off)
- Dead Space pack for $9.99 (75% off)
- Left 4 Dead pack for $7.49 (75% off)
- and more!
If you're dying to make this the spookiest Halloween yet, we highly recommend checking out the various Halloween bundle packs. What scary titles interest you the most? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Steam Platform Tops 65 Million Users, Sees Xbox Live in Rearview Mirror Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:14 AM PDT  It's official, Steam is more popular than Xbox Live
Valve today announced that its Steam digital distribution platform is experiencing tremendous growth and is now home to over 65 million accounts. Active accounts are up 30 percent during the trailing 12 months on Steam, which offers over 3,000 games and software titles. The achievement gives Steam bragging rights over Microsoft's Xbox Live service, which currently boasts 48 million members. "The main goal of Steam has always been to increase the quality of the user's experience by reducing the distance between content creators and their audience," said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. "As the platform grows, our job is to adapt to the changing needs of both the development and user communities. In the coming year, we plan to make perhaps our most significant collaborations with both communities through the Steam Dev Days and the Steam Machines beta." Steam's rapid growth is a testament to PC gaming. And though Steam just celebrated its 10th anniversary, this could be just the beginning. Valve has been pushing hard to promote gaming in the living room, first by creating a Big Picture mode for large screen TVs and then following that up by creating a Linux-based prototype game box called Steam Machine. Third-party manufacturers are free (and encouraged) to build their own Steam Machine systems running SteamOS, which would serve the dual-purpose of promoting Linux and getting PC gamers in the living room without having to swap out a PC for a traditional console. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Dell Solves Mystery of Smelly Latitude E6430u Laptops, Absolves Your Cat Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:40 AM PDT  Little Whiskers isn't the reason why your laptop may have smelled like cat urine
Well here's a problem you don't run into every day. A thread on Dell's support forum gained a bit of traction after a user complained that his brand new Latitude E6430u was giving off a foul scent. The poster said it smelled as though "it was assembled near a tomcat's litter box," calling it "truly awful." Other users chimed in with similar complaints, and one person suspected his cat might have been relieving itself on his laptop during the night. Following an investigation, Dell said cats are not to blame. According to Dell, the smell was related to a manufacturing process that has now been changed. Furthermore, Dell stressed that the smell was in no way related to biological contamination and was not a health hazard. Plus, anyone who orders an E6430u now will not have the issue. Credit has to be given to both Latitude E6430u owners and "SteveB," the Senior Technical Consultant who kept users up to date on the issue in the support forum. Both sides kept the situation mostly light and humorous, though at the same time, SteveB ensured that this was "being treated as a top priority." Those who own an affected model are encouraged to contact Dell's technical support, and if necessary, apologize to Whiskers for falsely accusing him of using your laptop as a litterbox. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Intel Gets Cold Feet, Wants to Dump Web TV Business on Verizon Posted: 30 Oct 2013 09:04 AM PDT  Intel's interest in TV may be waning
Chip maker Intel had big plans to bust into the TV business and offer a streaming solution to subscribers by the end of the year, but delays due to licensing negotiations may be wearing thin on the company. Intel already had to put its plans on pause and look to launch its service in 2014, but as more time has gone by, it appears Intel may want to jump ship before it leaves shore, and pass that captain's hat over to Verizon. Citing "people familiar with the talks," All Things D says Intel and Verizon are in "advanced negotiations" about having the wireless carrier take over all or part of Intel Media, the division in charge of building a web-based subscription TV service. It's not clear if Verizon is interested in taking over completely, or if Intel would retain a stake in the business. Intel and Verizon are both refusing to comment on the matter, but if we had to guess, we'd say Intel has probably grown tired of trying to hammer out programming deals from TV networks, the latter of which have been hesitant to embrace a transition to streaming. Up to this point, Intel has been gung ho about the project. Back in 2011, the company hired Erik Huggers, a former executive for BBC who was in charge of web video, to spearhead a streaming service using an Intel set-top box. Huggers went on to hire a team of 300 employees, built the box, and even gave the service a name (OnCue). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Western Digital Planning to Launch 7-Platter, Helium Filled Hard Drives Posted: 30 Oct 2013 07:55 AM PDT  Helium is the key to big capacity hard drives
As long as hard drive makers keep making technological advances, these mechanical devices will maintain a capacious advantage over their solid state brethren. Wondering what the next thing in HDD design is going to be? Try helium. Turns out that helium is useful for more than making funny sounding voices and filling up balloons -- it's also the key to building bigger capacity HDDs (and no, they don't float). The density of helium is seven times less than air. By replacing air with helium in sealed drive platforms, HGST (Western Digital's subsidiary) is able to reduce drag force on the spinning disk stack, which in turn significantly reduces the mechanical power necessary to drive the motor. It also reduces the fluid flow forces buffeting the disks and arms, thereby allowing disks to be placed closer together. That being the case, WD says the first helium filled hard drives will feature a 7-platter design, XBitLabs reports. These drives will come in enlarged capacities -- 5TB to 5.5TB -- to select customers by the end of the year. Mass production is still several quarters away. While roadmaps are still being worked out, 6TB and 7TB drives could debut as early as next year. What's not so clear at this point is whether helium-filled hard drives will solely be targeted at enterprise customers, or if home consumers will benefit, too. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Intel Core i5 4570 Haswell, Asus Maximus VI Hero Motherboard, and More! Posted: 30 Oct 2013 06:36 AM PDT |
