Tech News
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Modern shooters and the atrophy of fun @ TR
Published: Friday, April 5, 2013 | By: DennisHere is an interesting look at how modern shooter games have changed. I call it the "Call of Duty Effect" where games guide you thru the story giving you a chance to do something at per-determined times.
And the reason? Well let's see, game consoles with their lack luster control structure make FPS games harder to play so the game devs take steps to make things easier. Plus, and this is really sad, the more complex the game is the more help "some" players need to figure out what to do. In doing so they create this "on rails" path system to make sure you can't break the game and get thru as quickly as possiable. I'm not saying game developers are lazy but making the perfect game takes time and the longer it takes the less money they make.
(*cough* Duke Nukem Forever anyone? (the first try, not the second) */cough*)
In the end the lack luster single player campaigns are just a pr0n fluffier for playing online anyway so who cares right?
Don't get me wrong. The exploration was great. Watching the story unfold was incredible. But the combat and looting got so repetitive—so downright boring—that I couldn't stand to play more than a couple hours at a time. I got sick of digging through trashcans inexplicably filled with silver coins and of fighting wave after wave of enemies, each one more indistinguishable than the last. The combat sequences blurred together, ran into one another, and I found myself praying for them to end, hoping that I could proceed without playing hi-fi wack-a-mole with steampunk guns and angry crows.
My comments may not mirror those of the TR staffers but that is why we call them opinions.
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Bitcoin isn’t illegal, it isn’t real money
Published: Thursday, April 4, 2013 | By: DennisThis is pretty good and something the bitcoin people will not like to hear. In fact I suspect most bitcoin zealots will simply say "just wait until I am rich, oh and by the way I have a VOIP phone service I can offer you that has been endorsed by Donald Trump!".
(People in the know are all ROFL right now)
As it falls in and out of public view, Bitcoin is once again all the rage. However, rather than just tech blogs and internet culture sites covering the cryptocurrency, more mainstream sites and esteemed financial analysts are now weighing in on the matter. Instead of just providing yet another explanation of what Bitcoin is, though, analysts are now wondering why the pseudo currency has caught on, and why it’s not illegal. As it turns out, it’s not illegal because of that “pseudo” moniker.
This is a pretty good read and if you need a time waster check out the bitcoin mining operations on Youtube. Some of those systems are to die for!.
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Leaked Slide Shows Ivy Brige-E Processor Names
Published: Thursday, April 4, 2013 | By: DennisLeaks like this are almost never on accident but, until there is an official release we'll have to consider that things can change. Following the current SB-E naming scheme we have 4000 series versions of the existing 3930K and 3960X processors with similar 130W TDP and speed profiles with all of the Ivy Bridge goodness.
According to the map we should see the following in the 3rd Quarter of 2013
Core i7 4960X Extreme Edition (unlocked)
Core i7 4930K (unlocked)
Core i7 4820K (unlocked)No word on pricing but I'm going to guess that X edition processors will be north of $900US followed by the K processors around $600US and $500US respectively.
In addition to the Core i7-4820K 4C8T the remaining two are 6C12T, three processors support DDR3 1866MHz and 1600MHz memory native. As for the TDP are 130W, and support for Intel VT-d technology.
As for the clock, the Core i7-4820K highest 3.70GHz (10MB Cache), Turbo Boost to 3.90GHz;'s top Core i7-4960X 3.60GHz (15MB Cache) Turbo Boost can reach 4GHz; Core i7 -4930K 3.40GHz (12MB Cache), Turbo Boost to 3.90GHz.
Translated Source - vr-zoneI made the mistake of going after the top dog when Sandy Bridge E was launched thinking that X edition was the place to be. As it turns out the K edition offered better overclocking and at a lower price point. With any luck the Ivy Bridge-E variant will follow the same precedent.
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Gigabyte S1082 Windows 8 Slate Tablet at Modders-Inc at Modders-Inc
Published: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 | By: DennisOhhh a new Slate!!
Overall I feel the Gigabyte S1082 Windows 8 Slate is a very solid device. For the usage testing I replaced my aging laptop with the S1082. It performed as well if not better than an older Core2 quad laptop in my daily tasks most of which include Internet browsing, email, and office applications such as Word and Excel.
This is a smaller Celeron based tablet computer so its not going to be as powerful as my Asus Slate but the 10.1" screen and x68 instruction set will easily replace an older netbook and will do more than Atom based tablets.
Sadly the system spec makes this more of a business tablet than laptop replacement so be sure to check specs before you buy.
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Borderlands 2: Ultimate Vault Hunters Wanted
Published: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 | By: DennisNEW DLC!!
As was announced at PAX East the makers of Borderlands 2 have released a game update that adds a 3rd play thru and 11 more levels to the game. The DLC is free for those who bought the Season Pass and 5 bux for anyone else. (Assuming you have the game)
Changes in 4/2 Software Update (Free)
- Adds new items to the Black Market:
- One additional ammo upgrade for each ammo type, at 50 Eridium each.
- Two more backpack storage space upgrades, at 50 and 100 Eridium respectively.
- Two more bank storage space upgrades, at 50 and 100 Eridium respectively.
- Increases the maximum amount of Eridium players can hold from 99 to 500.
- Adds a new playthrough balanced for top-tier play: Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
- Various bug fixes.
Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack
(Free with Season Pass, $4.99 / 400 Microsoft Points separately)- Raises level cap to 61, allowing characters to gain 11 additional levels.
- Characters gain a skill point with every level from 51 to 61, for a total of 11 more skill points.
- Powerful new "Ancient" E-Tech relics and rare Pearlescent-grade weapons can be picked up in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
There is also a new SHIFT code worth 5 golden keys so be sure to check out the post
So far I am most excited about the new gear such as Pearlescent weapons and Ancicent E-Tech relics. I never played must of the first Borderlands so it is good to see some of the old game being brought forward.
Though I am NOT looking forward to killing Jack for a 6th+ time, with any luck they changed the story slightly so different stuff happens in UVHM.
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Killing Your Internet with Killer Ethernet @ Techgage
Published: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 | By: DennisIt really does suck when your network card goes out. More so when the card is a custom onboard solution designed to enhance game play by offloading expensive network calculations from the CPU to the NPU.
I never knew that moving packets could cause so much CPU overhead, than again have you ever tried moving data to a Atom powered NAS over a gigabit connection? Ya SLOOOOOWWW.
We’re PC enthusiasts. We buy bigger graphics cards to improve our gaming, better audio cards to improve our immersion, and feature-richier gaming peripherals to improve our skill. Is it so unreasonable, then, to purchase an Ethernet card that promises to deliver the best-possible net experience for gamers? It’s an oft-debated topic, and one that doesn’t have a clear conclusion.
The Killer NIC has a benefit but most users will never see it.
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Unreal Engine 4 Infiltrator Demo Shown at GDC
Published: Monday, April 1, 2013 | By: DennisI have a soft spot for game demos since they do a really good job at getting people excited about the game. Some of the most famous ones include...
Ummm, Ya, I can't think of any. Well, Duke Nukem Forever comes to mind but those demos were just teasers to keep the hype alive. As it would turn out the only way it would become a game is if Gearbox was to buy up the project and actually put people on the project.
(Oh wait that happened
) Well, the Unreal Engine developers have been busy showing off what the Unreal Engine 4 can do, and if these videos are any indication on what next gen consoles can do then it might be a stocking stuffer for sure.
Or these demos are just fluff to make headlines out of GDC, Time will tell.
Just in case you missed it last night buried in our interview with Epic Games VP Mark Rein, the company showed off a new real-time demo at GDC 2013 this week, titled "Infiltrator." The nearly four-minute clip, showcases a sci-fi shootout created with its Unreal Engine 4, and remarkably powered by a single GeForce GTX 680.
I am impressed they are using top end hardware to show the game rendering, now switch the view from "Movie" to FPS and lets see how it really looks.
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iXBT Labs Review: Gigabyte GeForce GTX Titan Graphics Card
Published: Monday, April 1, 2013 | By: DennisNow this seems legit
The capability rating compares each graphics card with GeForce GT 630, which is considered a baseline, or 100%. The rating is based on both synthetic and gaming results and shows, as the name implies, what a product is capable of.
The usability rating is obtained by dividing each card's capability rating by its price. It basically shows whether a given product is over or underpriced, considering what it can do, and thus how reasonable it is to buy it.Somehow I think matching a GTX Titan up against a GT 630 seems a little unfair, both to the 630 and the respecting public looking to drop a grand on a special edition video card made wholly by nVidia and sent (as a standard package) to their retail partners.
Please keep in mind that video cards are made up of chips and the configuration of those chips can determine performance. For instance the GTX 690 is a DUAL GPU video card and the GTX Titan is a larger version of the GTX 680.
Who knows what the GT 630 is but it is needless to say, the Titan is not in the same league.
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Why we listen to a Stereo
Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013 | By: DennisA friend of mine sent this in.
Normal people use their stereo to listen to music.
Audiophiles use music to listen to their stereo.Man that is deep.
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Egyptian navy captures divers trying to cut undersea internet cables
Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013 | By: DennisSeems they finally caught them. Often these stories claim some boat cut the cable dragging their anchor but, it would seem the real problem is vandals.
Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said on his Facebook page that the three men had been caught diving from an inflatable dinghy as they worked underwater to try and cut the cable at a point just north of the port city of Alexandria, AP reports. Alexandria is the main entry point for the multiple submarine cables that bring internet connectivity to Egypt.
Egyptian internet users have been suffering patchy speeds for the last week, but telecoms officials had been blaming this on damage to the cable caused by shipping. It now seems that accidental damage may not have been the cause.My guess is that stuff like this has been going on for years, heck I'm sure it happened quite often during the cold war. Not to sever service but rather to listen in. One of these days the region wil finally grow up, and until then we'll have stories like this cloggin the infoNet while more pressing matters, like the latest meme photo on reddit, continue to dominate our stationary lives.
