Game Testing 2GB versus 4GB of Memory on Vista 64-bit 
Legit Reviews :: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
“Our average frame rate increase of 1.6% in nine games was slightly higher than the 1.1% shown by Corsair in the three games they tested, but our test system was a little newer and we were running Vista SP1. Something else that we noted while running the benchmarks is that game loading times were also significantly enhanced by installing 4GB of system memory. While load times was not the focus of this article we noted that Crysis v1.21 loaded 54.1% faster (14.28s versus 22.00s) on the initial level load. After the level was loaded and then restarted (as if one died and started over) the load times were within a hundredth of a second…”
GTA IV: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
XS Reviews :: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
“As good as GTA IV is, in some areas, this reviewer has found it quite a let down in many others, so much so that I may not even finish the game; I haven’t decided if I can soldier through or not. While some of the issues I raise might be just personal gripes of my own, many others have complained about the very same issues I’m commenting on. This isn’t just an angry reviewer, taking a pot shot, these are legitimate problems.”
Watch Netflix Downloads On Your Xbox 360
Xbox Scene :: Monday, May 12, 2008
From gizmodo.com : [QUOTE] By installing the vmcNetflix plug-in to a Vista Premium Media Center computer, you can watch streamed Netflix content on an Xbox 360. It’s buggy, but it’s a lot better than watching Netflix on a laptop screen. [/QUOTE]
Full Story: gizmodo.com (http://gizmodo.com/389185/watch-netflix-downloads-on-your-xbox-360 )
MS: Sony Has Failed to Deliver on Promises
Xbox Scene :: Monday, May 12, 2008
From next-gen.biz : [QUOTE] Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg says “the days of Sony snowing the consumers and the press are over,” that the company has failed to deliver on numerous promises, and challenges Sony’s latest European PS3 sales figures.
“We have been fighting Sony’s promises from the day we entered the market,” Greenberg told Destructoid. “Three years ago at E3 they showed what PS3 games would supposedly look like with the Killzone 2 video, that we are now learning will ship four years later. That means that we will have shipped Gears of War and Gears of War 2 before they can even get Killzone out the door.
“Think back to GDC 2007 when Sony promised to leap ahead in online with the Sony Home unveil. Here we are two years later and multiple delays for a product that appears to have little to no buzz. Where are the achievements? The friends list integration across all games? Where is the long-promised video store? Where are all the other products using and networking with their CELL chip? How come Blu-ray did not result in better games? What happened with Sixaxis and rumble? Where is the complete 1080p game library we were promised? If Blu-ray as they said would be such a catalyst to PS3 console sales, then why have PS3 sales over the past couple of months not seen any lift since the format victory?” [/QUOTE]
Full Story: next-gen.biz (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10388&Itemid=2 )
Valhalla Xbox360 Will Come in New Slim Case?
Xbox Scene :: Monday, May 12, 2008
From tgdaily.com : [QUOTE] A more dramatic and perhaps visible change will happen next year: TSMC plans to begin producing the Valhalla chip, which will be the foundation of the mid-cycle refresh of the Xbox 360, thus called ‘Xbox 2.5’ or simply ‘Xbox 540’ (360+180), in fall of 2009. We learned that this new chip is apparently much more than a die-shrink and end up as a system-on-a-chip design. This change is likely to enable to redesign the Xbox 360 casing and go towards a slim-design, much like what Sony did with the Gen1 and Gen2 PS2. We believe that TSMC will use a 45 nm process for this Multi-Chip-Module package (CPU+GPU+eDRAM).
There are also some interesting pieces of information that Microsoft is shopping for a more efficient cooling solution – efficient in more ways than just one: Several people close to the cooling industry told us that Microsoft approached them and asked for better and cheaper cooling than what is used in the Xbox 360 right now. Some may claim that the current Xbox 360 cooler design is already as cheap as it gets, but we have no doubts that Microsoft will find a way to drop the cost once again. [/QUOTE]
Full Story: tgdaily.com (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/37376/135/ )
Microsoft Appeals 899 Million Euro Fine to EU Court
Xbox Scene :: Monday, May 12, 2008
From bloomberg.com : [QUOTE] Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, asked a court to overturn or reduce a record 899 million-euro ($1.4 billion) European Union fine for failing to comply with an antitrust ruling.
The appeal was filed today at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, Microsoft spokesman Jesse Verstraete said in an e-mailed statement. The company is attempting to seek clarity from the court, he said.
The European Commission, the EU’s antitrust authority, fined the company on Feb. 27 for failing to comply with a 2004 antitrust order. Under that decision, in which Microsoft was fined 497 million euros, the EU ordered the software maker to provide data to rivals to allow servers to connect to the Windows platform. Microsoft was required to charge reasonable royalties for the network data technology. [/QUOTE]
Full Story: bloomberg.com (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFpXl7.5U_a4&refer=home )
Microsoft surpasses 2 million Zunes sold
Xbox Scene :: Monday, May 12, 2008
From thestandard.com : [QUOTE] It has been known for a while that Microsoft’s Zune is the number two digital music player in the United States. However, just how far behind the number one device, Apple iPod, has not always clear since Microsoft has been slow to release its sales numbers. Now we have some.
Since its launch in November 2006, the Zune has sold 2 million units. For comparison, Apple sold 10.6 million iPods last quarter. That equates to right around 2.65 million iPods sold a month. Since its launch in 2001, the iPod has sold, get ready: 140 million units. For the Zune, the phrase “distant second” comes to mind. [/QUOTE]
Full Story: thestandard.com (http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/05/09/microsoft-surpasses-2-million-zunes-sold-apple-sells-2-65-million-ipods-month )
Release This: Narnia Sequel Premieres Stateside, Luminous Arc 2 Hits Japan
Gamasutra Columns :: Monday, May 12, 2008
Gamasutra’s latest “Release This!” examines a week that brings the U.S. release of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Castle of Shikigami III, while Japan prepares for Luminous Arc 2: Will and its localized version of Battalion Wars 2.
Gears of War 2 Trailer
Xbox Scene :: Monday, May 12, 2008
The first Gears of War 2 trailer has been released: “Get your first glimpse into Gears of War 2’s stunning campaign in this clip with introduction by lead designer Cliff Bleszinski”
uxrip360 0.2a
Xbox Scene :: Monday, May 12, 2008
Klewan released a new version of uxrip360 – a Linux based Xbox 360 game dumper. What’s new/fixed: + tested on an exploitable kernel xbox using a H934A drive (thx zouzzz) *http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=zzTxfes5fDo *also verify that H934A drive work’s :) + read errors from disc will get retried, and after 10 fail’s you have the choice + detects now max blocks per IO automaticly (again a fix for another USB enclosure) + now most USB encluseres should work, as my cheap and my expensive one work now ;) + splitVid Conversion (-a convert-splitvid) + extract/inject stealth files from/to an iso: DMI, PFI, SS + ETA and MB/s are displayed on all progressbar’s + -a test display’s a few parts of Kreon’s Feature List (if kreon drive) + major code housekeeping, split up clean up etc…… + auto discover drive if “-D” is not specified (requires libHAL, on ubuntu atleast its standard) *initial by klewan *more asskicking version by f0rk + verify function: *gives you CRC of following components: SS-CRC, SS-RAW-CRC, PFI-CRC, Video/L0/L1 – CRC, DMI-CRC, GAME-CRC, XEX-Hash, Region-Flags, XEXMediaID, checks if image is splitvid (if splitvid verif’s CRC of L1 part is same as expected part of L0, if not present displays fat warning that only IX14 should be used), Checks if DMI matches SS, Checks if MediaID matches DMI, Checks PFI start LBA is correct, Checks if XBOX (string) is in DMI + progressbar from hell ™ + f0rk all-around cleanup 1001 patches ;) + PFI decode by f0rk based on redline + wolfieNUKE code on Xboxhacker + f0rk tried hard to explain me the difference between “long” and “long long” – atleast mine is the largest ;) + alot a code cleanup and small patches by “f0rk” Official Site: n/a (IRC: #uxrip360 on EFNET) Download (fixed version): here (http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/xbox360pc/isotools/uxrip360-0.2.tar.bz2 ) Full NFO/Readme: xbins.org (http://www.xbins.org/nfo.php?file=xboxnfo1664.nfo )
Age of Conan Beta Review Part 3
BiTT Daily :: Saturday, May 10, 2008
Your basic initial attack is fire, sound familiar? It’s not. I was thinking “big deal, another fire mage” … nope. First of all, when you torch an enemy and they grab their head, visually write in pain, audibly scream in agony… omigod… adrenaline rush. I’m sorry to my fellow healers, but there was joy…
Trials 2: Second Edition review
YouGamers :: Saturday, May 10, 2008
“The achievements reflect the whole design idea of Trials 2 – it’s almost laughably easy to pick up, but if you give it your little finger, it will bite hard and won’t let you go. It’s a truly “oldschool” game – always absolutely fair and predictable, yet devilishly difficult to master, rewarding pure skill. While these days most games can be completed with a walkthrough or cheat codes on hand, Trials 2 laughs at such things – it shows you exactly what you need to do in the form of high score replays, complete with the needed key presses displayed on-screen, and then taunts you to dare try pull the same thing off – and the only way to do it is to practice, practice and practice. ”
Iron Man (PC)
Gaming Heaven :: Saturday, May 10, 2008
One of this year’s biggest movies is set to be Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. and of course with a blockbuster this size comes the obligatory game tie in. Unfortunately while the film is entertaining and fun, the game ends up a mish-mash of instantly forgettable proportions.
You are cast as Shellhead and there are around 14 levels containing characters which were not in the movie such as Controller and Whiplash. Equally so, the game plot has very few similarities with the movie and when you combine this with the appalling audio quality it is a less than satisfying escapade.
Ubisoft comments on Assassin’s Creed DX10.1 controversy
Tech Report :: Saturday, May 10, 2008
We have been following a brewing controversy over the PC version of Assassin’s Creed and its support for AMD Radeon graphics cards with DirectX 10.1 for some time now, and we were perplexed by some of the issues involved. Fortunately, the tech lead for the Assassin’s Creed development team was kind enough to answer our questions about the nature of the game’s DX10.1 performance increases, what they mean for image quality, and what the future for DX10.1 support in the game might be.
Valve’s Source Engine Coming To Linux
Phoronix :: Friday, May 09, 2008
“There have been rumors since last year that Valve may be serious about porting Source games to Linux after Valve Software began seeking a senior software engineer with the responsibility of porting Windows-based games to the Linux platform. Valve Software has yet to officially announce Linux clients for any of its software, but at Phoronix we have received information confirming that Valve is indeed porting its very popular Source engine to the Linux platform.”
