MMOGaming News

MMOGaming News


Million Arthur – Square Enix Shutting Down Mobile Game Early Next Year

Posted:

Million Arthur – Square Enix Shutting Down Mobile Game Early Next Year


Kaku-San-Sei, the first Million Arthur mobile game of Square Enix, will be shutting down on 30th March 2015 in Japan.

Final Fantasy XIV Prepares for A Sheep-filled Year

Posted:

Final Fantasy XIV Prepares for A Sheep-filled Year


Every year, Final Fantasy XIV rings in the new year with a new animal-themed kabuto, and this year is no exception.

Call of Duty Online – Tencent Nabs Chris Evans as Game Spokesperson

Posted:

Call of Duty Online – Tencent Nabs Chris Evans as Game Spokesperson


The no-limit test phase for Call of Duty Online is scheduled to start on 11th January 2015.

World of Warcraft: Poundfist

Posted:

World of Warcraft: Poundfist


This rare spawns in Gorgrond and unlike other rares it has a 100% chance to drop a mount for anybody that attacks him.

Bleach Online Special War Characters Explained and Displayed

Posted:

Bleach Online Special War Characters Explained and Displayed


I showcased these characters in a past video on the Chinese server. But I never explained them. Pretty much these characters can be obtained through the special war system.



General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article


Mining for Mods: Grand Theft Auto IV

Posted: 26 Dec 2014 01:45 PM PST

GTA IV CarICEnhancer is easy to install, and somewhat easy on the eyes

While Rockstar Games is taking its time with the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V, PC gamers still have Grand Theft Auto IV to fall back on. Although the game is almost six years old, released back in 2008, modders have updated the visuals in various ways to help it keep up with the times. In particular, ICEnhancer mod mod has continued to impress with its upgrades to the game's visuals.

Curious to see what our copy of GTA IV would look like with this mod, we decided to test it out using a PC equipped with an AMD Phenom II X4 965 processer, Nvidia GeForce GTX 780, and 8GB of RAM.

In order to compare both versions, we made sure that the game's settings were ramped up to the maximum and presented in 1080p, so that the original game could look as good as possible. But despite adjusting all the settings to their highest, GTA IV's age shows. 

GTA IV Comparison 001

Click image for an animated GIF

We then proceeded to download the ICEnhancer mod, created by Hayssam Keilany, and installed it. For those wishing to install it, you will need a program like WinRAR to extract the files. As a precaution, we recommend you back up the original game before installing ICEnhancer just in case something goes wrong. Once the files had been unzipped, we copied them into our Steam version of GTA IV,  located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Grand Theft Auto IV\GTAIV and made sure to replace the original files. 

There are two versions of ICEnhancer: 1.0.4.0 and 1.0.7.0. If you do not know which version you have, then locate the GTAIV.exe file, right-click it, and go to "Details" to see what version of the game you're running.

 

GTA IV Comparison 002

Click image for an animated GIF

Installing the mod was very simple but the results of the ICEnhancer mod was not what we expected. There is an improvement to GTA IV's look, but it is not as overwhelming as we thought or have seen before. 

While testing, we made sure to compare the original and modded versions under similar light conditions when possible. By doing this, we noticed a big difference when it came to lighting. With ICEnhancer installed, the modded game was much brighter when compared to the original.

GTA IV Comparison 003

Click image for an animated GIF

As a result, the sky's color was a bright blue, clouds looked more realistic, and it was easier to see everything around us in the immediate vicinity; in the distance, though, there was a slight blur or haze. Then we noticed smaller things such as the sidewalk's pavement having a bit more detail in the modded version. The same for the roads, ICEnhancer gives it a bit more definition with a gravelly look. We also saw that the vegetaion looks sharper and more defined in some cases.

GTA IV Comparison 004

Click image for an animated GIF

The cars, though, really shine thanks to the mod. They look better and smoother, and are more detailed compared to the original game. Car windows are more reflective and transparent as well, and there's a nice sheen to the car paint compared to the original version's, which looks dull in comparison.  

GTA IV Car

Click image for an animated GIF

Unfortunately, the mod, like the game itself, is a resource hog. While trying to capture footage with FRAPs, our framerates dropped to around 15fps (as you'll see that in the final segment of the video we recorded, below). These drastic drops occurred in areas with a lot of traffic or large bodies of water. We also experienced flickering from objects in the distance. 

So, we would advise you, obviously, to have a PC that can hold its own when running the ICEnhancer mod.

What do you think of the changes? Have you tried out the ICEnhancer mod? Let us know in the comments.

Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: All Storage Edition!

Posted: 26 Dec 2014 12:33 PM PST

Toshiba 3TB HDD Boxnewegg logo

Top Deal:

Did you score a digital camera for the holiday? What about a video camera? Already own or the other? Well, you're going to need a place to store all those photos and videos you take in the coming year, and if you want to be prepared, check out today's top deal for a Toshiba 3TB Internal Hard Drive Retail Kit for $100 with free shipping (normally $115 - use coupon code: [ESCWHHD25]). This capacious drive is also a high performance one with a 7200 RPM spindle, 64MB cache, and SATA 6Gbps interface.

WD Green 2TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache 3.5-inch Hard Drive for $75 with free shipping (normally $80 - use coupon code: [ESCWHHD27])

Intel 530 Series 120GB Solid State Drive for $70 with $1 shipping (normally $150)

Toshiba 1TB 5400 RPM 2.5-inch Notebook Hard Drive for $50 with free shipping (normally $65 - use coupon code: [ESCWHHD25])

Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM 3.5-inch Hard Drive for $45 with free shipping (normally $50 - use coupon code: [ESCWHHD24])

Intel Plans to Spend $550 Million Upgrading Chip Manufacturing Plant in Israel

Posted: 26 Dec 2014 08:02 AM PST

Intel SignIntel's making a major investment into Fab 28 in Kyryat Gat

Intel, the world's largest semiconductor company, will invest a further $550 million into its Fab 28 facility in Kiryat Gat, one of the most advanced chip manufacturing plants on the planet. The investment is the result of a reciprocal purchasing agreement Intel inked with the Israeli Ministry of Economy. This latest deal brings Intel's total investments in Israel to over $6 billion since 2006.

"This new reciprocal purchasing relationship is expected to have a significant economic impact on hundreds of small and medium-sized suppliers in Israel," said Ziva Eger, newly appointed Director of the Division for Foreign Investments and Industrial Cooperation at the Israeli Ministry of Economy. "A reciprocal purchasing agreement is a platform leveraging public-sector spending for the benefit of the Israeli economy, both to cultivate local suppliers to compete both locally and internationally, and to brand Israel as an attractive destination for foreign investments."

The new deal runs through 2020 and its the fourth of its kind, according to Israel21c.org. It's also expected to created to thousands of jobs while bolstering Israel's position as a world-leader in technology.

Fab 28 is a high-volume manufacturing plant. It began the production of wafers on a 22nm process technology in 2012 and is expected to make next-generation 10nm chips as part of this and past investments. If everything goes perfectly, parts built on a 10nm process technology (codenamed Cannonlake) could see the light of day in 2016, followed by 7nm CPUs in 2018.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

MMORPG News

MMORPG News


General: The Skies: Developing the Game Step-by-Step - Where to Start?

Posted: 25 Dec 2014 03:02 PM PST

The Skies: Developing the Game Step-by-Step - Where to Start?

When it comes to the question "Where do you start in developing the game world?", I have a rather standard answer: everything begins with the idea and then thinking over the game world in detail. In contrast, when I was writing the book, "The Skies", I wasn't thinking of the game in detail. The world and the storyline were appearing while I was writing and I actually didn't know what it would be fully until the end, so the story revealed itself over time.

General: 5 Best In-Game Gifts from Developers

Posted: 24 Dec 2014 03:38 PM PST

5 Best In-Game Gifts from Developers

One of the best ways to spread holiday cheer is to give presents to other people, but let's be honest: getting a gift that you want (or one that you didn't know you wanted) is sure to make you feel just as warm and tingly inside. Last week, David Jagneaux shared 5 Awesome Gift Ideas for the MMO Gamer, and I'd be just as happy buying one of those items for myself as I would be getting it for one of my guildmates.

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