General Gaming Article

---

• Gartner: Tablet Adoption Peaked, Consumers Going Back to PC Purchases
• ECS Adds Z97I-Drone Motherboard to L337 Gaming Series
• Lenovo Refreshes Yoga Line, Unveils Yoga Tablet 2 and Yoga 3 Pro Laptop
• Newegg Daily Deals: Corsair AX Series 760W PSU, AMD A4-6300 Richland, and More!

Gartner: Tablet Adoption Peaked, Consumers Going Back to PC Purchases Posted: 10 Oct 2014 09:04 AM PDT "The transition from PCs to tablets has faded..." - Gartner People are fickle creatures, and if you need proof of this, just turn your attention to the technology sector. Remember when netbooks were red hot? You couldn't go more than a couple of days without seeing a new netbook announcement. They've since disappeared (and arguably returned in the form of Chromebooks), and now tablets are the hot item. Or, they used to be. According to Gartner, the tablet market is showing signs of saturation, causing consumers to fall in love with traditional PCs all over again. "Consumers' attention is slowly going back to PC purchases as tablet adoption peaked with mainstream consumers. The transition from PCs to tablets has faded as tablet penetration has reached the 40-50 percent range," said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. Gartner's PC shipment numbers are pretty much in line with what IDC noted earlier this week. According to Gartner, worldwide PC shipments reached 79.4 million units in the third quarter of 2014, a 0.5 percent drop from the same period a year ago. The firm also saw positive results in Western Europe and North America, which it took as a sign of a gradual recovery in the PC industry. Gartner also has Lenovo leading the way as the top PC supplier, with a 19.8 percent share of the market. HP is in second place with a 17.9 percent share of the market, followed by Dell (12.8 percent), Acer (8.6 percent), and Asus (7.3 percent). Unlike IDC, Gartner didn't have Apple overtaking Asus for the fifth spot. "For the first time, the sum of the top five vendors' share reached two-thirds of the worldwide PC shipments. All top 5 vendors showed stronger growth compared to the industry average," Gartner said. Image Credit: Flickr (JD Hancock) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

ECS Adds Z97I-Drone Motherboard to L337 Gaming Series Posted: 10 Oct 2014 08:12 AM PDT ECS wanders into high-end territory You'd be surprised at how many OEM motherboards in pre-built systems come from ECS, but be that as it may, it still isn't a company most would associate with high-end computing. ECS appears to want to change that perception, hence the creation of its "L337 Gaming" high-end gaming motherboard series. The latest addition to the L337 Gaming line is the ECS Z97I-Drone, which is essentially a mini-ITX version of the company's Z97-Machine. The Z97I-Drone is a socket LGA 1150 board based on Intel's Z97 chipset. It has two DDR3-3000+ (OC) DIMM slots with support for up to 16GB of RAM, a single PCI-Express x16 3.0 slot, a M.2 slot, onboard audio, and a few other goodies. ECS built the board using a 5-phase power design with high-end components designed to make the board more reliable and perhaps overclocking friendly. Some of the features include a dual advanced MOSFET, hybrid digital PWM, ICY chokes, solid capacitors, and so forth. No word yet on when the Z97I-Drone will be available or for how much. In the meantime, you can find more details on the board's product page. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Lenovo Refreshes Yoga Line, Unveils Yoga Tablet 2 and Yoga 3 Pro Laptop Posted: 10 Oct 2014 05:32 AM PDT Hey look, it's Ashton Kutcher Why's Ashton Kutcher hanging around Lenovo, you ask? The short answer, quite simply, is marketing. But the longer answer is that he joined Lenovo as a product engineer a year ago and purportedly helped develop the Yoga Tablet 2 Pro, one of three new products Lenovo just rolled out. The other two are the non-pro version of the Yoga Tablet and the Yoga 3 Pro, an ultraslim convertible. Both the Yoga Tablet 2 and Yoga Tablet 2 Pro can run either Windows or Android. The Pro model sports a 13.3-inch QHD display with a 2560x1440 resolution powered by a 4th generation Intel Atom Z3745 processor (Bay Trail) and 2GB of RAM. It has a built-in pico projector, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.6-megapixel front camera, 32GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, optional 4G, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 8W sound system with a subwoofer, and up to 15 hours of battery life. Lenovo plans to make the Tablet 2 Pro available this month starting at $499. As for the non-Pro models, they're available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch form factors with choice of Windows 8.1 or Android 4.4 KitKat. Both feature a 1920x1200 IPS display powered by the same Atom Z3745 processor and 2GB of RAM. Other specs are similar to the Pro except that onboard storage is cut in half to 16GB. The smaller version will start at $250 and the larger model at $300 later this month. Finally, the Yoga 3 Pro is a thin and light convertible with a new watchband hinge design. It boasts a 13.3-inch QHD+ touchscreen display with a 3200x1800 resolution powered by an Intel Core M-70 processor (Broadwell), 8GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, two USB 3.0 ports, micro HDMI, microSD card slot, and various other odds and ends. The Yoga 3 Pro will ship at the end of October starting at $1,350. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Corsair AX Series 760W PSU, AMD A4-6300 Richland, and More! Posted: 10 Oct 2014 03:37 AM PDT Top Deal: Platinum! Say it with us - "Platinum!" It's like, better than gold, man. And of course more expensive, but not necessarily pricey. How so? Well it just so happens that today's top deal features a Corsair AX Series 760W 80 Plus Platinum PSU for $140 with free shipping (normally $160 - use coupon code: [EMCWPPA23]; additional $20 mail-in-rebate). In addition to being 80 Plus Platinum certified, this 760W model is modular and ready for 4th generation Haswell setups. Other Deals: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory for $72 with free shipping (normally $80 - use coupon code: [EMCWPPA35]) Transcend 2.5-inch 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive for $60 with free shipping AMD A4-6300 Richland Dual-Core 3.7GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 65W Desktop Processor for $38 with free shipping (normally $48 - use coupon code: [EMCWPPA24]) Dell 23.8-inch 8ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor IPS 250 for $240 with free shipping (normally $250 - use coupon code: [EMCWWPPA53])

You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

MMORPG News

---

• Lego Minifigures Online: Development & Marketing Argreement Signed with Intel
• WildStar: State of the Game: New Content, New Lore, New Features
• ArcheAge: Review in Progress #4 – A Hard Lesson in Safe Trade
• The Secret World: Golden Weekend Announced
• General: Final Fantasy XIII Arrives For PC
• Lord of the Rings Online: Update 15 to Arrive on Bullroarer on Friday
• Dark Age of Camelot: Come Back to Camelot Celebrates the Game's 13th Anniversary
• World of Warcraft: 'The Iron Tide', Patch 6.0.2, to Arrive October 14th
• Star Trek Online: Delta Rising Expansion Preview
• World of Warcraft: Garrison Preview Details Followers
• Elder Scrolls Online: ESO Live to Return Tomorrow
• Elder Scrolls Online: The Justice System Revealed
• Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: Rogue and Ninja Previewed
• Dragon Age: Inquisition: Today's Twitch Stream to Feature More Customization
• Swordsman: Gilded Wasteland Celebrated with New Trailer
• Wind of Luck: Arena: Hireable Specialists Enter the Game
• World of Tanks: Fury Tank Bundles Coming Soon
• Star Citizen: State of the Game: Can Star Citizen Live Up to Expectations?

Lego Minifigures Online: Development & Marketing Argreement Signed with Intel Posted: 10 Oct 2014 08:06 AM PDT Funcom has announced that it has signed a development and marketing agreement with Intel for LEGO Minifigures Online. The agreement will see the two companies working together to provide gamers on a variety of Intel-based platforms with optimization options and a smooth gaming experience.

WildStar: State of the Game: New Content, New Lore, New Features Posted: 08 Oct 2014 06:57 PM PDT The latest WildStar State of the Game letter has been published on the official site. The letter gives players some insight into what the future holds for the game that has suffered some setbacks in the past month. Included in the letter is information about two new chapters of content for 50+ players, new lore to be discovered along the way, the addition of new features and some big time bug squashing.

ArcheAge: Review in Progress #4 – A Hard Lesson in Safe Trade Posted: 08 Oct 2014 05:36 PM PDT As you might recall last week, I obtained my first real seafaring ship: the clipper. One of ArcheAge's biggest selling points, at least in my eyes, is the crafting and trade game. There are two ways to go about it too: the safe way where you don't have to worry about danger (but get less reward), or the dangerous way where you have to go into enemy territory (but the payoff is significantly larger). This past week, I learned the difference between the two the hard way.

The Secret World: Golden Weekend Announced Posted: 08 Oct 2014 06:34 PM PDT Funcom has announced that this upcoming weekend is a special one for The Secret World players. Called the "Golden Weekend", players will be able to take part in the Gilded Rage event, take advantage of double ability points, get some great deals on Funcom Points and more.

General: Final Fantasy XIII Arrives For PC Posted: 08 Oct 2014 06:40 PM PDT Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIII has arrived on both Steam and for download directly from SE. FFXIII's other two episodes will be released prior to March 2015.

Lord of the Rings Online: Update 15 to Arrive on Bullroarer on Friday Posted: 08 Oct 2014 05:11 PM PDT Lord of the Rings Online players anxious to give Update 15 a look will have the opportunity to do so on Friday, October 10th when the content goes live on the Bullroarer test server. Players will be able to try out the new Beorning class as well as explore new areas of Gondor.

Dark Age of Camelot: Come Back to Camelot Celebrates the Game's 13th Anniversary Posted: 08 Oct 2014 05:01 PM PDT Former Dark Age of Camelot players are being invited back for a special thirteenth anniversary event that will allow them thirteen days of free game time and a chance to participate in a special anniversary RvR event. Any account active prior to September 24, 2014 is eligible to return for the event.

World of Warcraft: 'The Iron Tide', Patch 6.0.2, to Arrive October 14th Posted: 09 Oct 2014 01:29 PM PDT Blizzard has a new post that indicates that the 'bridge' patch preceding the Warlords of Draenor expansion to World of Warcraft will drop on Tuesday, October 14th. The patch will bring in the new class skills and updates, as well as quality of life improvements such as the Toy Box, dedicated bags, the ability to make a 'favorite mounts' list and more.

Star Trek Online: Delta Rising Expansion Preview Posted: 09 Oct 2014 12:06 AM PDT Delta Rising will expand Star Trek Online into the Delta Quadrant where the TV show Star Trek Voyager took place. It's been 30 years since the events of Voyager and the Voyager crew made a ton of friends and enemies on its return home. In the intervening years, a new threat has emerged and no one knows who it is just yet.

World of Warcraft: Garrison Preview Details Followers Posted: 09 Oct 2014 11:39 AM PDT The third in a series of articles to provide information about garrisons has appeared on the World of Warcraft site. Garrisons will arrive with the Warlords of Draenor expansion due out next month and followers will play a major role in the game.

Elder Scrolls Online: ESO Live to Return Tomorrow Posted: 09 Oct 2014 11:28 AM PDT The weekly Elder Scrolls Online live stream, ESO Live, will be back on Twitch tomorrow, Friday, October 10th. The event will feature an interview with Audio Director Brad Derrick, as well as a preview of Update 5. The stream begins at 4:00 p.m EDT / 1:00 p.m. PDT.

Elder Scrolls Online: The Justice System Revealed Posted: 07 Oct 2014 05:52 PM PDT "By order of the Jarl, stop right there!" Even though I have not logged nearly as many hours as a lot of people, that phrase is one I know all too well. Anytime I've tried to be a sneaky thief, there was always a guard right near me ready to confiscate my stolen good. From what I saw at the Guild Summit, this phrase (or variations of it) will be playing a lot through my speakers as I play The Elder Scrolls Online.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: Rogue and Ninja Previewed Posted: 09 Oct 2014 10:59 AM PDT As part of the ongoing preview for the Final Fantasy XIV 2.4 update, Square Enix has a fresh look at the new job and class that will be included. Players can learn more about the Rogue and the Ninja in this informative post.

Dragon Age: Inquisition: Today's Twitch Stream to Feature More Customization Posted: 09 Oct 2014 10:17 AM PDT Bioware and the Dragon Age: Inquisition team have been heavily touting the forthcoming title's customization options and will be taking to the airwaves today via Twitch.tv to show off even more. The stream will run for an hour.

Swordsman: Gilded Wasteland Celebrated with New Trailer Posted: 07 Oct 2014 06:09 PM PDT Swordsman Online will be growing on October 23rd when the Gilded Wasteland expansion hits live service. To celebrate the big news, Perfect World Entertainment put together a brand new trailer to show off some of the expansion's locations and more. Check it out!

Wind of Luck: Arena: Hireable Specialists Enter the Game Posted: 09 Oct 2014 09:52 AM PDT The latest Wind of Luck update has been deployed that most notably brings in eighteen hireable specialists that can make a captain's ship more dangerous on the high seas. Harpoon cannons have also been added.

World of Tanks: Fury Tank Bundles Coming Soon Posted: 09 Oct 2014 09:44 AM PDT To celebrate the forthcoming release of the motion picture, Fury, Wargaming has announced that special Fury packages will be available for purchase in World of Tanks. The packages will include the M4 Sherman Tank commanded by the film's lead character, Wardaddy, and will be available from October 9th to 29th.

Star Citizen: State of the Game: Can Star Citizen Live Up to Expectations? Posted: 07 Oct 2014 06:24 PM PDT Earlier this month, it was announced that Chris Roberts' Star Citizen had broken a Guinness World Record for the top crowdfunding project of all time with $55 million being raised to help develop the game. While $55 million is far from the biggest game budget of all time, it's still an impressive amount of money to be raised by little more than word-of-mouth and a Kickstarter campaign.

You are subscribed to email updates from MMORPG.COM News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610