The third of three binding announcements has been made this week surrounding Valve’s big move toward living room gaming: SteamOS, Steam Machines, and now the Steam Controller. This machine is a next-generation solution to the relatively stagnant state of gaming controllers in the market today, working with two large trackpads, haptic feedback, and a touchscreen […]
The PC gaming market will be gaining a new system starting next month (October 16, to be precise), with HP rolling out the introductory carpet for its HP Envy Phoenix 810 Gaming PC. If the computer looks familiar, it should: last year we got our hands on the HP Pavilion HPE h9 Phoenix gaming unit, […]
Razer has announced the latest soon-to-be-available Razer Blade and Razer Blade Pro laptops, both of them aimed at gamers and offering their own variety of high-end mobile PC hardware. The Blade is the smaller of the two, offering a 14-inch display, while the Blade Pro is larger with a 17-inch screen. We’ve got a large gallery of both machines available after the jump.
First up is the Razer Blade, which features a 14-inch LED HD+ display, a custom-designed trackpad, and a backlit keyboard. The chassis is made entirely of dark aluminum, with the laptop measuring in at 0.66-inches thick. According to Razer, this makes it the most powerful laptop based on power-per-cubic-inch of any other gaming laptop available.
Inside, users will find a 4th generation Intel Core processor, an unspecified SSD that Razer says offers a boot speed 4x faster than the average 5400rpm hard drive, and graphics are delivered via an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M GPU. Display resolution sits at 1600 x 900, while the trackpad supports multi-touch. Battery life is rated at up to 6 hours.
The Razer Blade Pro is similar, but with more power under the hood, as is expected. The display is a larger 17-inch LED HD display, and there the Switchblade User Interface, SBUI for short. The machine itself measures in at 0.88-inches and weighs 6.5lbs, which Razer says makes it the most portable in its class among gaming laptops. There’s an LCD trackpad, as well as ten keys and SBUI including Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro, Maya, and others, all free of charge.
As far as hardware internals go, there’s an Intel Quad Core i7 processor, an NVIDIA GTX 765M GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB SSD, which can be upgraded to up to 512GB. The keyboard is backlit, with the lighting being user-adjustable. The trackpad can also be adjusted with various sensitivities.
Both the Razer Blade and the Razer Blade Pro will be available for pre-order on June 3, with the former starting at $1,799, and the latter at $2,299.
Razer unveils latest Blade and Blade Pro gaming laptops is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Online gaming and ESports is starting to gain some significant popularity in China, which is said to be potentially one of the biggest markets for pro gaming, online gaming, and mobile gaming. According to the research firm Niko Partners, the online games market in China will reach $11.9 billion this year in revenue, and it will continue to tack on $2 billion more each following year for the next 5 years.
The online games industry in China has grown from a $100 million industry in 2001 to a $9 billion industry as of 2012. Many gamers in China are currently addicted to League of Legends, with many of them going to their nearest I-cafes to play. With the expanding popularity of online gaming and competitive gaming, many companies are investing their resources into China in order to take advantage of the future goldmine.
Riot Games, the creator of the vastly popular League of Legends game, will be holding its LCS All-Stars tournament in Shanghai from May 24th to May 26th. It’s the first time Riot will be holding an international event in China, and its expected to be the biggest all-start event “in gaming history”. Activision is also looking to get its foot into the Chinese market. It teamed up with Tencent, a Chinese investment holding company with 37% of the Chinese PC online games market share, to test out Call of Duty Online in the country. The game recently underwent Alpha testing, and it will be available free to all players in China.
Online games have huge potential in China, and many developers are planning on bringing their games over. However, Niko Partners advises game developers to only launch free-to-play games in the country. Niko Partners told Forbes that the current F2P model, where gamers can play the game for free, but can also purchase in-game items with real money, has been working well for China. The research firm says,
“It is the business model that makes sense for that culture, and in my opinion for the rest of the world too. Pay for a service to access a digital product, not the easily-copied digital product itself. Pay to be part of an experience, and pay for as much of that experience as you want to pay for.”
[via Forbes]
ESports and online gaming gain significant popularity in China is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jagex, the developers of the infamous web-browser MMORPG RuneScape, has decided that it’s time to put Java away and welcome in HTML5. The game developer knew that in order for the next sequel of RuneScape, RuneScape 3, to be successful, it needed to transition into a new engine. It considered Adobe Flash, but Flash didn’t enough power to run the game, and it thought of Microsoft Silverlight, but Silverlight is limited only to Internet Explorer.
The only other option for Jagex to choose was HTML5. While HTML5 is still deemed “unready” by many developers, Jagex viewed it as the only viable option to launch their next biggest game. According to Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard, “there were no easy answers”, and HTML5 began to look more and more appealing. Gerhard knows that HTML5 isn’t ready yet, and that early adopters of RuneScape 3 may suffer, but as the game’s developers worked more and more with HTML5, they began to grow fond of it.
Jagex got in touch with both Google and Mozilla to work on HTML5, and both companies were helpful in working with the developer to optimize RuneScape for HTML5. Google provided a couple of HTML5 releases to guide Jagex along the way, and Mozilla worked with Jagex to “company proof Firefox” and make it more capable of handling the game. However, development on Internet Explorer has yet to begin.
According to Gerhard, high-end machines are capable of handling RuneScape 3, and currently, 70% of all RuneScape players will be able to handle the new game. While 70% is a good number, Jagex is looking to make the game capable of running smoothly at at least 30 FPS for all players when it officially launches over the summer. Also on the plus side of working with HTML5, there is a possibility that RuneScape 3 could be brought to mobile devices in the future, however, we’ll have to wait and see.
[via Gamasutra]
RuneScape 3 drops Java in favor of HTML5 is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
If you’re a fan of science fiction and Star Trek, I bet you’re really looking forward to the new movie hitting theaters in the next month or so. To go along with the video game, Paramount has announced that the Star Trek: The Video Game for console and PC gamers is now available at retail outlets. The game was designed in conjunction with NAMCO BANDAI Games America.
The game promises cooperative gameplay as players take the role of Star Trek heroes Captain Kirk and Spock. Players will fight and explore the universe aboard the USS enterprise as you fight the enemy Gorn. The video game uses voices from the movie including the voices of Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock.
To succeed in the game players will have to work together and the developers behind the game say that this is the most expensive and authentic Star Trek experience ever developed for the video game platform. The video game uses costumes and set designs from the previous film and a musical score performed by a 100-piece orchestra. The game is based on an original story written by Marianne Krawczyk.
Other actors from the movie are also lending their voice talents the videogame including Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, and Karl Urban as bones. The game is available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 for $59.99. Computer gamers can purchase the game as a digital download through Steam and other locations for $49.99. The game is rated T for teen.
[via Star Trek: The Video Game]
Star Trek: The Video Game hits Xbox 360 and PS3 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
SimCity is just about a month away, arriving on PC March 5 in the US, with a Europe release on March 8. However, this is Windows only, but developer Maxis announced that the release date for Mac is planned for sometime this spring. The company also notes that both Mac and Windows players will be able play co-op together on the same maps.
The reason for the delay, according to Maxis, is that the Mac port isn’t a port at all, but a “full native version” specifically for OS X. This means that the team will be making sure that Mac players get the same experience as Windows players. However, one of the key differences is that the Mac version will be a digital download only.
As far as minimum spec requirements are concerned, Maxis didn’t give any concrete details on how much power is required out of your Mac, but the company says that they “are aiming to make the game as accessible as possible,” so any user with Snow Leopard and a Core 2 processor should be able to play the game without any problems.
SimCity will be a complete overhaul from past installments. Just from the nine-minute gameplay video that we saw a few months, the new game will include much more detail and better graphics this time around, making the city-building experience more realistic for the players. We definitely can’t wait to get our hands on it.
SimCity for Mac arriving in spring 2013 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Ubuntu is known for many things: ease of use, regular updates, widespread community support, and more. One thing it is not known for is gaming. This is changing, however, with Steam heading to Linux in the near future. System76′s new Bonobo Extreme is Ubuntu-powered and aimed at gamers, boasting some impressive hardware and a hefty price tag.
According to System76′s CEO Carl Richell, the new Bonobo Extreme is the fastest Ubuntu laptop available. The base model runs an Intel i7 quad-core 2.6GHz processor. If that’s not powerful enough, users can spend approximately another $500 to get an i7-3940XM Extreme 3GHz CPU. This is accompanied by 8GB of DDR3 RAM.
As far as graphics go, the Bonobo Extreme boasts an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX with 3GB of RAM and 960 CUDA cores. As with the processor, you can shell out $134 more for an upgrade, bumping the system to a GeForce GTX 680M with 4GB of RAM and 1344 CUDA cores. Other hardware includes a DVD drive, a 500GB 7,200rpm hard drive, and an 8-cell battery.
The display measures in at 17.3-inches with a full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. Ports include HDMI, Display Port, Ethernet, a media card reader, and 5 USB ports. There’s a Kensington lock for security, and the entire system weighs in at a hefty 8.6lbs. You can pick one up now for $1,499, saving you $100 via a Christmas discount.
[via OMG Ubuntu]
System76 unveils 17.3-inch Bonobo Extreme Ubuntu-powered laptop for gamers is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Attempts to create truly small gaming desktops usually involve at least some kind of performance hit. Even HP’s category-bending Firebird, one of the few stand-out examples, had to use toned-down graphics to succeed in a tiny enclosure. Digital Storm might have broken the trend towards sacrifice with its new Bolt desktop: although it’s just 3.6 inches wide and 14 inches tall, the Bolt can cram in as much as a GeForce GTX 680 and will even let gamers upgrade the graphics like they would in a full-size PC. The seemingly logic-defying (if also finger-defying) case still allows room for as much as an overclocked 4.6GHz Core i7, 16GB of RAM and storage options that meld a spinning hard drive with up to two SSDs and a DVD burner. Digital Storm isn’t even setting an absurd base price, but it’s in the cost that we finally see the catch to the miniaturization tricks. The $999 entry-level Bolt carries a modest 3.1GHz Core i3, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive and GeForce GTX 650 Ti, while it takes a staggering $1,949 to get a fully decked-out Core i7 system with a GTX 680. Those prices might be worthwhile for anyone who has ever strained while lugging a traditional tower to a game tourney.
Gallery: Digital Storm Bolt
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, NVIDIA
Digital Storm Bolt stuffs full-power graphics into a mini gaming desktop, stretches laws of physics originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 05:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Razer has been big on Star Wars gaming gear, but never quite like this. Enter a free contest and there’s a chance to win a completely unique Star Wars: The Old Republic version of Razer’s Blade gaming laptop. The winner sees the system’s normally black shell replaced with a matte, laser-etched aluminum gray and the green backlighting dropped in favor of a subtler yellow matched to the MMORPG logo. Anyone who brings out this portable at a bring-your-own-computer gaming party is inevitably going to be the center of attention, although we have a feeling some would almost prefer the second-place bundle of peripherals — at an estimated worth of $15,000, the Star Wars Blade might be too precious to carry for all but the most well-heeled of fans.
Razer gives away custom Star Wars-themed Blade, may turn friends Imperial Guard red with envy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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