| Condition One Releases Zero Point, a 3D VR Documentary Shot for the Oculus Rift Posted: 28 Oct 2014 07:47 PM PDT  A VR documentary about the VR device
When Facebook acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg talked about how the Oculus Rift could "change the way we work, play, and communicate." One of the ways VR is currently being used is to record movies and documentaries. Sir Richard Attenborough, for example, is shooting a documentary series for the Oculus with a special eight-camera rig. But the first such film is now out and that is the Zero Point documentary film about virtual reality and shot for the Oculus Rift. Zero Point, which was created by Condition One, is a 3D 360-degree short film that requires either the Oculus Rift DK1 or DK2 in order to properly view it. The 15-minute documentary was directed by Danfung Dennis and follows the "pioneers of virtual reality" with Oculus VR co-founder Palmer Luckey and VR researchers Jeremy Bailenson and Mark Bolas appearing in it. The short film was shot with custom-built VR camera equipment capable of capturing 360-degree video and audio in places such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and several other locations. So if you have an Oculus Rift, then head on over to Steam where Zero Point is currently on sale for $11.99 until November 3, at which point it will go back up to $14.99. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Star Wars Games X-Wing and Tie Fighter Lands on GOG.com Posted: 28 Oct 2014 05:57 PM PDT  Time to go back and relive some classic gaming moments
Back in October 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm from George Lucas for $4.05 billion which was met with some enthusiasm. Then in April 2013, five months after the acquisition, Disney announced that it had shut down LucasArts, leaving many to wonder what would happen to the developer's backlog of classic games. Today, we now know what is happening. Disney Interactive has teamed-up with GOG.com and will bring over 20 classic LucasArts titles in the coming months. However, we don't have to wait a while for all of them. Six classic titles are now available on the digital distribution platform and are DRM-free. Gamers are able to purchase and play Star Wars: X-Wing Special Edition, Star Wars: Tie Fighter Special Edition, Sam & Max Hit the Road, The Secret of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This is the first time that X-Wing and Tie Fighter are available on any digital distribution platform and will cost $9.99 each. Star Wars: X-Wing Special Edition will include the Star Wars: X-Wing Collector's CD-ROM and all of the Tour of Duty expansions while Star Wars: TIE Fighter Special Edition will come with the Defender of the Empire expansion. But the ride isn't going to stop with these six titles. According to the press release, more games will be on the way in the coming months though no specific names have been provided. What games are you hoping will be released on GOG.com over the coming months? Sound off in the comments below! Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Western Digital Pushes Capacity of Purple Hard Drive Line to 6TB Posted: 28 Oct 2014 12:12 PM PDT  More storage for video surveillance
Western Digital this week announced the expansion of its WD Purple line of 3.5-inch hard drives to include a 6TB capacity model. The Purple family of HDDs are intended for video surveillance chores and include some exclusive technologies that make them better suited than competing drives, including AllFrame (reduces video frame loss, improves playback, and increases the number of drive bays supported) and IntelliSeek (calculates the optimum seek speeds for system workloads to lower power consumption and reduce noise and vibration). "Video surveillance has long been a pioneering Internet-of-Things application. Driven by machine-to-machine interaction between high-resolution, high-bit-rate video cameras and high-capacity surveillance video recorders, IoT applications bring access and big data analytics to improve user's security," said Matt Rutledge, senior vice president and general manager of WD's Storage Technology group. "WD Purple 6 TB drives enable innovation in this fast growing market." Western Digital claims its WD Purple line perform better under surveillance situations than competing HDDs, which the company says is proven by a set of proprietary benchmarks it developed in close cooperation with surveillance partners. The new 6TB model features a SATA 6Gbps interface, has 64MB of cache, and is rated for up to 175MB/s of sustained file transfers, which is the fastest of any WD Purple drive. WD says the 6TB model is available now for $330 MSRP. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Razer Announces Leviathan 5.1 Channel Surround Sound Bar for Gamers Posted: 28 Oct 2014 11:07 AM PDT  Finally, a new speaker option for PCs
Sometimes it feels like speaker makers have forgotten about PC gamers. Long gone are the days when multimedia speaker announcements were fairly common, but don't despair, not all companies have hightailed it out of the PC gaming space in a Klipsch-like fashion. Gaming peripheral maker Razer has been dabbling in audio and its newest product announcement is the Leviathan, a 5.1 channel Dolby surround sound bar for gaming and movies. Razer says it's easy to reposition the Leviathan for any situation, be it under a desktop monitor or in the living room where you might be rocking a PC gaming console. Wherever you place it, the Leviathan brings two 2.5-inch full range drivers and a pair of 0.74-inch tweeters to the party, plus a 5.25-inch downward firing subwoofer. "The opportunity to produce a precision-engineered surround sound solution for high-performance gaming, movie watching and music listening, and make it versatile to use in any setting, was a very exciting proposition for us," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO. "The Razer Leviathan delivers what music aficionados, movie buffs and gamers alike are looking for to improve their entertainment setup." Razer's Leviathan is available to pre-order now for $199 and will ship in November. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Writers Wanted Posted: 28 Oct 2014 10:58 AM PDT 
Freelance for Maximum PC Do you write well and know PC hardware like the back of your hand? If you've been building PCs before you can walk and would like to contribute to Maximum PC, we would love to have you on board. We're currently looking for experts who specialize in the following categories: - CPU
- GPU
- Motherboards
- SSDs
- Software (Windows/Linux/Multimedia Production/Editing)
- Cases
- Cooling
- Overclocking
- Monitors
- Laptops
- Peripherals (headset, keyboards, mice)
- Routers
Basically, if you write well and consider yourself an expert in any of the aforementioned categories, we would love to hear from you. Writers will be able to write a variety of content that could include news, reviews, and features. To be considered, please send resumes/written samples to mpcfreelance@gmail.com and let us know what hardware beats you'd like to cover! |
| Tickets to ‘Intel Extreme Masters San Jose’ Now Available Posted: 28 Oct 2014 10:41 AM PDT  Up to 12,000 seats are available
Intel dropped us a line today to let us know that tickets for the Intel Extreme Masters San Jose e-sports event are now available. The tournament will play out in the SAP Center (home of the San Jose Sharks NHL team) from December 6-7 and will feature white-knuckle action from League of Legends and StarCraft II. Ahead of the event, members of the community will be allowed to vote for the League of Legends LCS teams they want to see compete. There will be six teams representing three regions competing in the League of Legends tournament. They include North American LCS champions Team SoloMid along with a community-voted North American LCS team, European LCS champions Alliance along with a community-voted European team, and two teams from South American qualifiers. Fan voting wil be begin tomorrow at the Intel Extreme Masters website. StarCraft II gaming will also be featured. That tournament will include a mix of veterans and rising star players from around the world, Intel says. "We are proud to be delivering an e-sports event in a major US arena. With our stage layout we are looking at a capacity of about 12,000 seats. If we sell out, this will be one of the largest Western e-sports events of all time," said Michal Blicharz, Director of Pro Gaming at ESL. Tickets go on sale today starting at $36 for StarCraft II and $40 for League of Legends; premium seating is available for $150 and $250, respectively. See Ticketmaster for more information. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Nimble Sense Launches on Kickstarter Posted: 28 Oct 2014 09:02 AM PDT  Control VR with your hands
The development of the Oculus Rift has helped to create a focus on virtual reality. While there are many new VR devices being developed, new controllers and input methods are being created to work in conjunction with VR machines. One of these devices, which will enable consumers to use their hands in virtual reality, is the Nimble Sense which has just launched on Kickstarter. Maximum PC editor Jimmy Thang had the opportunity to see the Nimble Sense, developed by Nimbus VR, in action and learn more about the depth-sensing camera. The camera itself captures a 3D point cloud over a 110 degree field of view and is combined with skeletal hand tracking software to deliver low-latency and accurate hand input. While it is currently optimized for the Oculus Rift, the development team says the Nimble Sense will be able to work with other VR devices, or can simply be placed on top of a user's desktop. The Nimble Sense Kickstarter project has a goal of $62,500 that will go into the production and manufacturing costs of the device. There are five reward tiers, each with a limit of 500 backers. Early backers will be able to get the camera and Oculus Rift DK2 mount for $99 (limited to 500), $104 will provide the camera and desktop mount, $129 will include mounts for the desktop, Oculus Rift DK1, and DK2 while $154 will also include a 14-foot USB cable. The final reward tier is $299 or more and includes two Nimble Sense cameras, six mounts, and the 14-foot USB cable. Nimble VR is also releasing its own VR application demos – a Lightning Demo, Hotwiring Demo, Living Room/Dice Demo, and theater Demo which will be open source. Kickstarter backer units of the Nimble Sense are expected to be shipped in June 2015. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Maingear's X-Cube PC Gets a Facelift and Upgraded Guts Posted: 28 Oct 2014 08:58 AM PDT  Better looking and faster
Boutique system builder Maingear today announced a new look and upgraded components for its X-Cube, a small form factor gaming PC with a micro ATX foundation. The chassis features expanded customizable storage and lighting options while maintaining a low-profile design that's portable for traveling, and on the inside, you'll find the latest CPU options from Intel and AMD, along with support for for up to two top-shelf graphics cards, such as Nvidia's GeForce GTX 980 or AMD's Radeon R9 290X. Model's start at $799, though if you bring a bigger budget to the table, you can fill the X-Cube with up to an Intel Core i7 5960X processor, Epic 240 CPU cooler, dual-graphics cards, up to 32GB of RAM, up to three 1TB SSDs and three mechanical hard drives, up to 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and up to a Corsair 1200i power supply. "The Maingear X-Cube packs the same high end performance of our full sized desktops into a sleek new compact design," said Wallace Santos, CEO and Founder of Maingear. "X-Cube's small form factor allows it to unobtrusively and quietly fit into even the tightest home and office settings, while providing the latest hardware and performance options without compromise." Maingear's X-Cube measures 10 inches (W) by 12.5 inches (H) by 15.5 inches (D) and weighs 20 pounds, give or take depending on what you stuff inside. The case itself comes in black or white color options. You can configure and order a Maingear X-Cube now. As with all of Maingear's systems, the X-Cube includes lifetime free labor and phone support, with hardware warranties that range from 1-3 years. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Alienware and Roccat Become BFFs, Will Light Up the PC Gaming Community Posted: 28 Oct 2014 07:49 AM PDT  Two gaming brands join forces
We don't know if Alienware and Roccat go together like peanut butter and jelly or rum and Coke, but we're going to find out in relatively short order. How so? Peripheral maker Roccat Studios announced an exclusive partnership with Dell's Alienware gaming PC brand, and to kick off the new relationship, the two plan to incorporate support for Alienware's AlienFX lightning into Roccat's Kone XTD and Tyon gaming mice, and its Isku FX keyboard. Roccat says it plans to release driver updates for the above mentioned products that will add AlienFX support by the end of November at the latest. "Having pioneered some of the most vibrantly striking, highly customizable lighting systems in the market, Roccat's Kone family of mice were the first in industry sporting multicolor LEDs. Additionally, Roccat's TalkFX was the first software system to provide lighting effects attuned to in-game events for many of our keyboards. Thus, it was only natural to sit down with the minds at Alienware to join in expanding these features," Roccat says. Incorporating AlienFX support will bring lighting event interactions for games like Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, League of Legends, Gauntlet, Guild Wars 2, Payday 2, and 81 other games to Roccat brand peripherals, the company says. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Crucial MX100 512GB SSD, Intel Core i5 4690K Devil's Canyon, and More! Posted: 28 Oct 2014 06:07 AM PDT |
