General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Asus Rolls Out Overclocked and Custom Cooled Strix GTX 980 and GTX 970 Cards

Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:58 AM PDT

Asus Strix GTX 980Cooler and quieter than reference

Are you of the opinion that speed limits are more like suggestions than enforced rules? Do you believe reference designs are for suckers? If you answered yes to one or both questions, you might be interested in the new Strix GTX 980 and Strix GTX 970 graphics cards from Asus. Both of these Maxwell-powered parts sport factory overclocks and custom cooling solutions that are supposedly 30 percent quieter than Nvidia's reference cooler.

As Asus is prone to do, it outfitted its new cards with its Digi+ voltage-regulator module (VRM) technology and Super Alloy Power components -- fancy terms for higher end components intended to increase durability and cooling. Both cards also feature a DisplayPort interface to support gaming at up to 4K Ultra HD.

The Strix GTX 980 is overclocked to 1279MHz, up from 1126MHz, and the Strix GTX 970 is goosed to 1253MHz, up from 1050MHz. Both sport 4GB of GDDR5 memory that runs at boosted speeds of up to 7010MHz, which is essentially reference.

With regards to cooling, the cards use Asus' DirectCU II cooling technology that consists of 10mm heat pipes capable of transporting 40 percent more heat away from the GPU. The design also offers 220 percent more heat dissipation. According to Asus, the cards run 30 percent cooler and 3x quieter than reference.

Both cards should be available today. At the time of this writing, Newegg shows the Strix 970 as out of stock and priced at $340 (plus $6.31 shipping); there's no listing yet for the Strix 980.

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Turtle Beach Launches Ear Force Z60, Claims First PC Gaming Headset with DTS Headphone:X 7.1

Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:16 AM PDT

Turtle Beach Ear Force Z60Now available in stores

Turtle Beach hasn't forgotten about PC gamers. In fact, Turtle Beach just announced the availability of its Ear Force Z60 PC gaming headset that was first unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year in Las Vegas. According to Turtle Beach, the Ear Force Z60 is the first and only PC gaming headset to utilize the new DTS Headphone:X 7.1 surround sound.

DTS Headphone:X is supposed to make games, movies, and music sound better over headphones by enabling discrete control over speaker position and angles. Turtle Beach said it created audio presets using DTS Headphone:X for more realistic sound. How so?

"Most surround sound mixes put the center channel about eight feet in front of the listener perceptually, which is the default for TV and film because the dialogue is coming from the screen," Turtle Beach explains. "With a first person shooter and many other game genres, much of the center channel audio comes from the player's character for example the sound of the player's feet walking in the snow, their inbound radio, and the sound of spent cartridges being ejected from their gun. Using DTS Headphone:X, the audio engineers at Turtle Beach created gaming presets that pull the center channel in towards the players' midsection to make the placement of those sounds more realistic."

The Ear Force Z60 boasts large 60mm speakers. It also features an inline control unit to adjust chat and game audio individually, surround sound modes, and microphone mute.

You can purchase the Ear Force Z60 now for $120 MSRP.

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NFL TV Announcers Still Referring to Microsoft Surface Tablets as iPads

Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:57 AM PDT

Surface 2Microsoft has some coaching to do

Microsoft's arch rival Apple is receiving some free publicity for its iPad line during NFL games. That's because TV announcers can't seem to tell fathom that not all tablets are iPads. Take the Surface, for example. After paying the NFL $400 million for Surface to be the official tablet of the league, Microsoft is understandably ticked that its slate keeps being referred to as an iPad on national television.

It happened on more than one occasion through the end of last week, and then again this past Sunday when the San Diego Chargers played against the defending champions Seattle Seahawks. In that instance, it was a local TV announcer who was confused when told the teams were using Surface tablets.

"What? I thought it was an iPad," the announcer said, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

In addition to paying the NFL a reported $400 million to feature its Surface as the official tablet of the league, it also provided the NFL with hundreds of Surface 2 systems. Each team received 13 Surface tablets to use on the sideline and 12 to use in the coaches' booth. They're not connected to the Internet and teams are only allowed to view photos, not videos. The NFL then collects them after each game to prevent tampering.

"Despite the majority of our friends in the booth correctly identifying the Surface on NFL sidelines, we're working with the league to coach up a select few," a Microsoft spokesman said.

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Qualcomm's Awesome Vuforia SDK Brings Augmented Reality to Eyewear

Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:00 AM PDT

Vuforia EyewearSome exciting things are happening in the world of virtual reality, and we're not just talking about the Oculus Rift. Multiple companies are jumping on board with the VR movement, including chip maker Qualcomm, which unveiled its Vuforia mobile vision platform that developers can use to build augmented reality (AR) applications for a new generation of digital hardware.

The Vuforia Software Development Kit (SDK) for Digital Eyewear offers a "major advance in user experience," Qualcomm says. Using the SDK, developers can program apps with interactive 3D content that's visually aligned with the underlying world. This has all kinds of potential uses -- everything from gaming to shopping and education, etc.

"The promise of digital eyewear is to create a heads-up display for our daily lives. While the realization of this promise remains in the future, Vuforia is taking a big step in the right direction by enabling a first generation of applications for consumer and enterprise use," said Jay Wright, vice president of product management for Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Inc. "Developers will now have the tools required to build experiences that will drive the adoption of the digital eyewear category. We look forward to seeing what developers make possible."

Two new features of the Vuforia SDK include Smart Terrain and HD Camera View. Short and to the point, these technologies allow users to build their own gaming environment using everyday objects. Smart Terrain then creates a 3D map of the environment you created in real-time, which in turn gives apps the ability to interact with those objects. In the video above, you can see various McDonald's objects -- cola cup, fry box, burger box -- placed on a table. A soccer app then maps the objects and allows you to make trick shots off of those items.

As it pertains to wearable headsets, a lot of neat things are possible with the Vuforia SDK, and not just for gaming. For example, you could be staring at an object like a water pump through a digital headset and see how to tear it down, step-by-step. Or an engine or any other object.

The Vuforia SDK for Digital Eyewear will be available this fall in beta form for a select group of developers.

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Newegg Daily Deals: PNY Optima 240GB SSD, AMD A8-5600K Trinity Quad-Core APU, and More!

Posted: 19 Sep 2014 06:14 AM PDT

PNY Optima 240GBnewegg logo

Top Deal:

Say it with us now: "Fast is better than slow. Fast is better than slow. Fast is better than slow." It's true, right? Of course it is! That's why solid state drives exist. Don't you wish you had one to replace that aging and slow hard drive? A wish and a few pieces of eight is all it takes. Just wait until you take a gander at today's top deal for a PNY Optima 2.5-inch 240GB SATA III SSD for $100 with free shippping (additional $20 mail-in-rebate available). That's just $80 after rebate!

Other Deals:

AMD A8-5600K Trinity Quad-Core 3.6GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Desktop APU for $80 with free shipping (normally $100 - use coupon code: [EMCPAWB32])

G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory for $144 with free shipping (normally $160 - use coupon code: [EMCPAWB36])

Acer H6 Series H236HLbid Black 23-inch 5ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LED Backlit LCD Monitor for $130 with free shipping (normally $160 - use coupon code: [EMCPAWB224])

WD 2TB WD Elements Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive Storage for $90 with free shipping (normally $100 - use coupon code: [EMCPAWB54])
Posted by Shri Krishna

MMORPG News

MMORPG News

Wasteland 2: It's All About the Nostalgia

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 04:47 PM PDT

It

The year was 1988. I was 12 years old and I lived on my Commodore 64. A handful of groundbreaking games were released that year, including King's Quest IV, Bard's Tale III, Ultima V, and Pool of Radiance. It was an important time for the RPG genre, but no single game meant more to me than Interplay's Wasteland.

Wasteland 2: Release Day Arrives

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 08:25 PM PDT

Release Day Arrives

Fans of "old school" RPGs will want to check out today's official release of Wasteland 2. The Wasteland series is the predecessor to the Fallout series. Wasteland 2 was one of the first successfully crowd-sourced games made.

Pathfinder Online: Alpha Stress Test Announced

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 06:29 PM PDT

Alpha Stress Test Announced

Open, Explorer, Early and Alpha access patrons (and anyone who already has an alpha invite) for Pathfinder Online will get a chance to see the game first hand thanks to the just-announced alpha stress test that is supposed to take place on Monday, September 22nd.

ArcheAge: Scott Hartsman on the State of the Game - Week 1

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 05:46 PM PDT

Scott Hartsman on the State of the Game - Week 1

Trion CEO Scott Hartsman has taken to the ArcheAge forums to talk about the state of the game a mere two days after the game opened up for all players. In the letter, he discusses server capacity, the addition of more hardware, how the team is taking proactive steps agains AFKers, the need for more and better communication and how customer service will be taking it up a notch.

Champions Online: Steel Crusade Launches

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 01:06 PM PDT

Steel Crusade Launches

Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic Studios have announced that the latest content update for Champions Online has been released. Called "Steel Crusade", players will find Millennium City under attack by Mechanon.

General: World of Diving: Hands-On with the Scuba

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:45 PM PDT

World of Diving: Hands-On with the Scuba

World of Diving aims to unite the peaceful exploration of ocean depths with entertaining group play. But its secret sauce is Oculus Rift support, transforming this from an interesting diversion to an immersive adventure. Columnist Gareth Harmer went hands-on to find out more.

DUST 514: A Million Skill Points? Yes, Please!

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 01:01 PM PDT

A Million Skill Points? Yes, Please!

The DUST 514 Million Clone Challenge has returned! From today through September 22nd, players are taking on an epic task to kill a million clones. Doing so successfully will earn each player a million skill points!

Destiny: Game On #54: Should You Buy Destiny?

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 12:56 PM PDT

Game On #54: Should You Buy Destiny?

Welcome to another episode of Game On with MMORPG.com! Liore is out this week, so Chris is joined by return guests Casey and Jacob to talk about their experiences in Bungie's new MMOFPS, Destiny. Together, they represent all three types of players, the newbie, the leveler, and the endgamer. What do they think? Give it a listen to find out!

General: Final Fantasy XIII Series Announced for PC

Posted: 18 Sep 2014 11:59 AM PDT

Final Fantasy XIII Series Announced for PC

Square Enix has announced that it will be bringing the Final Fantasy XIII series to PC via its own proprietary digital system and via Steam. The announcement was made at this week's Tokyo Games Show. The first in the series will be available on October 9th.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Forged Alliances Finale Spoilers and a Teaser for the Future

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:36 PM PDT

Forged Alliances Finale Spoilers and a Teaser for the Future

The Rakata Prime Flashpoint teased at the PAX Prime Cantina Tour Stop does indeed complete the trilogy of Flashpoints that lead directly into the as-yet-unrevealed next expansion for Star Wars: the Old Republic. This past Tuesday, Community Manager Eric Musco and Lead Writer Charles Boyd took to the game's official Twitch channel to run through the Flashpoint and revealed who the big bad of that expansion might very well be.

WildStar: 5 Things Carbine Should Add

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 04:07 PM PDT

5 Things Carbine Should Add

Since WildStar's launch in early June, Carbine Studios has been focusing heavily on quality of life updates and bug fixes. As a result, Drop 3 looks like the biggest update yet, with a number of changes in the works. But what happens when it's time to start on shiny new stuff? Columnist Gareth Harmer details what he'd like to see arrive on Nexus.
Posted by Shri Krishna
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