General Gaming Article |
- Developer of The Crew has Confidence in the Game’s Stability
- Windows 10 Will Feature FLAC and MKV Support
- Black Friday Deals 2014 Round Up
- Newegg Daily Deals: Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Code, Kingston SSDNow V300 480GB SSD, and More!
Developer of The Crew has Confidence in the Game’s Stability Posted: 28 Nov 2014 05:40 PM PST Ubisoft's recent record and actions might give a different impressionIt has been a rough year for Ubisoft when it comes to the games that have been released. Earlier this year the PC version of Watch Dogs suffered from a number of issues while the recent launch of Assassin's Creed Unity resulted in free DLC and Far Cry 4 receiving a patch for a variety of issues. However, The Crew's lead game designer Serkan Hasan has "confidence in the stability of the game and its performance," according to an interview he had with The Metropolist. "For The Crew, we've reaped the benefits of a long term beta program, designed specifically to push our infrastructure as far as possible in real world situations, with thousands of players from all over the world playing the game at the same time," said Hasan. According to Ubisoft, The Crew has had four closed betas though Hasan admits that, "The launch of any online game these days has potential issues, but I hope that players will be encouraged by our open approach. If you had any doubts that we could pull this off, I hope that the betas proved our credentials and the game's stability." The Crew is an online racing video game that takes place in an open world environment and is being developed by Ivory Tower and Ubisoft Reflections. But given the launch woes of Assassin's Creed Unity and Far Cry 4, both of which launched this month, it wouldn't be surprising if consumers are reluctant to purchase The Crew day one. But while Hasan might be confident in the product his team has developed, Ubisoft's recent action regarding review copies could be misinterpreted as a sign that it is not so confident. Earlier this week Ubisoft announced that there would be no early review copies of the game. "The Crew was built from the beginning to be a living playground full of driving fans, so it's only possible to assess our game in its entirety with other real players in the world," Ubisoft posted on its official blog. "And by other, we mean thousands and thousands and thousands of players – something that can't be simulated with a handful of devs playing alongside the press." "For this very reason," the post continues. "The Crew will be available to media to begin their reviews when the game launches on December 2." Are you planning to purchase The Crew or will you wait this time to see what happens on launch day? |
Windows 10 Will Feature FLAC and MKV Support Posted: 28 Nov 2014 04:16 PM PST Third-party programs no longer neededWhen it comes to Microsoft's upcoming successor to Windows 8/8.1, the company seems to be hitting the right notes in many ways. So the latest bit of news should excite audiophiles everywhere now that it has been revealed that Windows 10 is going to support FLAC straight out of the box, according to Gabriel Aul who is the head of Microsoft's Operating Systems Group's Data and Fundamentals Team. "Keen eyed #WindowsInsiders will notice something cool about this pic," said Aul in a tweet that was accompanied by a pitcure. "Something to look forward to in the new year!" A brief glance at the picture was all it took to realize that Microsft's Windows Media Player was playing FLAC files. FLAC, which stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, is an audio format for those who prefer to listen to high-quality music. Its algorithm is able to reduce digital audio by about 50-60 percent of its original size and decompress into an identical copy of the original audio data. The drawback of FLAC, however, is the size of the files when compared to the more popular MP3 format. Currently, the only way to listen to FLAC files is to download a third-party program, such as VLC Media Player. FLAC joins MKV (Matrsoka Video), another format that hasn't been supported by WMP, which will also run on Windows 10 which and was confirmed by Aul on his Twitter account last month. What do you think about the upcoming OS finally supporting both FLAC and MKV files? Will you start using WMP to play these files or continue to rely on your third-party program of choice? |
Black Friday Deals 2014 Round Up Posted: 28 Nov 2014 10:13 AM PST We love this time of the year, as it affords us an excuse to stuff mounds of moist turkey and other delicious fixings down our gullets (while only feeling semi-guilty about it), houses and neighborhoods are dressed up with decorative lights and lawn ornaments, kids are suddenly on their best behavior in hopes of earning heaps of toys, and the sales -- oh, the sales! It starts with Black Friday and continues with Cyber Monday. If you're like us, you don't have any intention of heading into the city on Black Friday only be shoved, stepped on, and perhaps even punched in the jejunum by rapid shoppers making a mad dash toward the electronics section to score a discount on what little stock might be available. Why go through all that nonsense when you can shop deals from home? Note: We focused mostly on PC hardware deals. For more gadget-oriented deals, visit our sister site TechRadar for more Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
As we've done for the past several years, we're scouring the web for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on PC parts and other electronics we think might be of interest. Just scroll to the category that interests you and click your way through to an awesome deal on that upgrade you've been waiting to make. The format will be the same as last year -- Black Friday deals will be labeled with "(BF)" next to the link and we'll tag Cyber Monday deals with "(CM)" in the same manner. As deals expire, we'll cross them out but leave them clickable (it never hurts to double check, right?). For the most part, we'll focus on deals that don't require a mail-in-rebate, though we won't omit them entirely. The ones we include will have an asterisk next to them. Finally, we will be continually updating our list of links, so check back often, especially as some deals have a tendency to sell out fast. Also, if you know of a deal that should be included, feel free to share it in the comments section below. AmazonWe're giving Amazon it's own category because from Monday, November 24 through Black Friday weekend, the online retailer will be running new deals as often as every 10 minutes. Prices will be valid at select times and while supplies last. You'll find these deals at www.amazon.com/blackfriday. CPU/ProcessorsAMD FX-6350 Vishera 6-Core 3.9GHZ Socket AM3+ 125W Desktop Processor: $110, Newegg (BF) RAM and Digital MediaMushkin Enhanced Blackline 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1600: $152, Newegg (BF) StorageSeagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive Black: $79.88, Newegg (BF) Click the next page for graphics cards, motherboards, PSU deals, and more! Video CardsSapphire Tri-X OC Radeon R9 290: $270 ($250 after $20 MIR), Newegg (BF)* MotherboardsASRock Z97 Extreme4 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 Intel Motherboard: $108.79, Newegg (BF) Cases, Power Supplies, and AccessoriesAntec NeoECO C 620W: $60 ($35 after $25 MIR), Newegg (BF)* Desktop SystemsCyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme H710 Desktop PC Intel Core i7 4790K, 8GB DDR3, 2TB HDD: $800, Newegg (BF) Click the next page for laptop, tablet, game deals, and more! Notebooks/Utrabooks/Ultrathins/ConvertiblesAsus C300MA-DB01 Chromebook Intel Celeron N2830, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 16GB eMMC, 13.3-inch: $200, Newegg (BF) Mobile Handheld DevicesHP Stream 7 Signature Edition Tablet: $99, Microsoft Store (BF) MonitorsDell P2314H 23-inch IPS: $190, Newegg (BF) Games and SoftwareMinecraft for Xbox 360: $21, Kohls (BF) Printers and RoutersD-Link Wireless N300 Gigabit Cloud Router: $20, Kmart (BF) MISCSceptre X325BF-FMDR 32-inch LED 1080p HDTV: $189, Walmart (BF) |
Newegg Daily Deals: Xbox Live 12 Month Gold Code, Kingston SSDNow V300 480GB SSD, and More! Posted: 28 Nov 2014 10:00 AM PST Top Deal: Do you know what we're thankful for this holiday season? Our console gaming brethren who have an interest in PCs. Hey, it's better to arrive late to the party than never show up at all, and to show there's no hard feelings for those years of neglecting the superior gaming platform, we're throwing our console readers a bone with today's top deal. It's for a Microsoft Xbox Live Gold 12-Month Digital Code for $40 with free shipping (or no shipping, as it were). Yes, we can all just get along. So enjoy your savings, and be sure to check out our Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals Roundup to enjoy even more savings as you build your first gaming PC. Other Deals: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 480G 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive for $180 with free shipping Acer 24-inch 6ms HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor 250 for $110 with free shipping (normally $200 - use coupon code: [EMCWWHB28]) Samsung UD590 Series 28-inch UHD Monitor with Metallic Easel Stand 1ms 4K HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight for $460 with free shipping (normally $480 - use coupon code: [EMCWWHB37]) |
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., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States |