Mar 07
The corporate narrative around WhatsApp’s
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Dec 01
The last Gears of War title that was released was back in 2013 with the Gears of War: Judgment game, and if you were looking forward to the next title, you might want to sit back and get comfortable because it does not appear as though a new title is in development right now. That’s not to say that the franchise will be discontinued, but according to Microsoft’s Phil Spencer, it seems that at the moment they are currently having discussions about the future of the franchise, which sounds as though there might not be anything in development for now.
Speaking to the folks at Kotaku, Spencer was quoted as saying, “I’m a huge fan of the franchise […] I want to continue to work with Gears. I think there’s a lot of life left in that franchise. We had an internal discussion on it even yesterday. It’s something that’s active in discussion about what we can do with Gears.” He went on to confirm that there was nothing in the cards at the moment, stating that “there’s nothing even pending that I’m holding to announce.” As it stands the Gears of War franchise has been more or less exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox and Windows platform, but the semi-good news is that future titles might not necessarily hold onto that exclusivity, with Spencer deferring to Epic games to make that call.
Microsoft Having Active Discussions About Gears Of War’s Future original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Jun 26
Maingear launches liquid-cooled Epic series with 4th-gen Intel Core-i7 CPUs
Posted in: Today's Chili
Liquid-cooled rigs are de rigeur for serious PC gamers, but Maingear knows there are plenty who’d rather crowbar headcrabs than fiddle with plumbing. To that end, the company’s just buttressed its water-chilled desktop lineup with the Epic Series, consisting of the full-tower Force and mid-sized Rush models. Each pack a “BiTurbo” pump design that keeps things cool in the event of a single pump failure, along with the latest Intel 4th-generation Core i7 or AMD FX processors. As for graphics, you’ll get four-way SLI NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan or Radeon HD 7970 GPUs if you opt for the Force model, while the Rush offers two-way GeForce GTX Titan SLI or dual Radeon HD 7990 graphics. There are also numerous memory, storage and static pressure fans using Corsair parts, and custom touches like lighting and Glasurit paint with an “automotive finish.” Prices start at $3,259 for the Force and $3,059 for the Rush and go way up from there — if that doesn’t phase you, check the source for more.
Source: Maingear
Jun 06
Unreal Engine 4 now supports Oculus Rift, introduces ‘Integrated Partners Program’
Posted in: Today's Chili
Unreal Engine 4 now supports the Oculus Rift VR headset, Epic Games announced this morning. The move comes as part of an “Integrated Partners Program,” which also adds support from a variety of other middleware companies (Autodesk, IDV, and NVIDIA to name just a few). Licensees have access to the entire list of middleware software, and can implement functionality in their UE4-powered projects starting today. Epic Games VP Mark Rein told us at GDC 2013 that Unreal Engine 4 support for Oculus Rift was in the works, but we didn’t think it’d arrive this soon!
May 03
Mozilla shows off Epic Citadel web version ported with Unreal Engine 3 (video)
Posted in: Today's Chili
Mozilla wants to quell any doubt that its Unreal Engine 3 Firefox port works well, so it’s just released a demo browser version of Epic Citadel so you can see for yourself. The game was ported to Javascript using the technology, and will run in HTML5 on most browsers without any plugins — though using the latest nightly build of Firefox is recommended. Epic says that the performance of such games “rivals native” with “stunning” visuals, and in a short test, we managed to get about 16fps on a reasonably equipped PC. Mozilla wants to recruit more developers to the new platform as part of its Emscripten project (see More Coverage link), but meanwhile you can grab the game at the source or see the video after the jump — just don’t count on wreaking any havoc, as the demo’s strictly a scenic tour.
Source: Mozilla (blog)
Apr 21
Best Warhammer 40K Costume Ever
Posted in: Today's ChiliI’ll be honest- I haven’t played Warhammer 40K myself, but I do know the soldiers in the game can be pretty bad-ass. Though no tiny game figurine or polygons on my computer screen could possibly compare to this:
I spotted this ginormous Warhammer 40K costume over on Dezilith’s DeviantArt page, and it is truly epic. It was made by Daniel Høgh (Boltshells) and Justina Šniukštaitė (Roses) over at Roses and Boltshells, who make custom props and cosplay accessories, and it truly shows off how amazingly skilled they are at their trade.
The costume is based on a Imperial Fists Terminator Captain, Tancred, but since I’m not too familiar with the game, I’ll just have to take their word for it. All I know is that I wouldn’t want to run into this guy in a dark alley – or in broad daylight for that matter.
It’s made from foam and can be walked in. It took them about 2 months and $2,000 (USD) of parts to build, and it looks like it was worth every penny. Its creators say there are still a few kinks to be worked out (like rivets coming off while walking), but fully expect to resolve these minor quirks.
Check out the full gallery over on Roses and Boltshell’s Facebook page. I wish I could click their “Like” button 1,000 times for this.
Update: Just found a video clip of this awesome costume in action. It’s even more amazing when it’s moving…
Apr 18
While the Tesla Roadster did a great job of satisfying our jones for an electric vehicle with great performance and no roof, it was a bit pricey and is now out of production. Into that void steps the three-wheeled Torq Roadster from Epic EV, a team also responsible for that electric-engined DeLorean prototype we saw a couple of years ago. This video shows Translogic’s Bradley Hasemeyer behind the wheel of the track-friendly (but also street legal, licensed as a motorcyle) vehicle and talking to the people who built it. It’s not quite as fast as the Tesla Roadster, but it’s still capable of 0 – 60 in about four seconds and a top speed of 110mph.
You’ll notice a Samsung tablet mounted on the dash, and many of the components are sourced from Volkswagen. Unlike most of the daily driver-aimed electric vehicles we’re familiar with that are very locked down, founder Chris Anthony claims its design allows owners to tweak and tune many features. Its DC motor means there’s no regenerative braking, but he claims it’s cheaper and allows owners to rewind the armature or upgrade the brushes. The first Torq Roadster was delivered earlier this month to a former Tesla exec and you can read about his experiences on BoostedGroup. Those of us who haven’t paid the $65,000 base price can check it out in the video, which is embedded after the break.
Filed under: Transportation
Via: Autoblog
Source: Translogic, TorqEV
Apr 08
Red unveils the Motion mount for Epic and Scarlet cameras to eliminate CMOS rolling shutter
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Red has just announced the Red Motion lens mounting system for Epic and Scarlet motion camera systems that’ll eliminate one of their chief snags: the dreaded CMOS rolling shutter. Though details are scant, it seems it’ll do that in a similar manner to the Tessive system (see More Coverage), where a second liquid crystal shutter is placed in front of the main sensor and timed to engage only when the camera’s CMOS is fully “open.” That’ll help eliminate artifacts like skew / judder in pans, repeating motion artifacts (think distorted propellers) and flicker from lights or displays, among others. The mount also brings an 8x electronic ND filter adjustable to 1/100th of an f-stop, partially negating the need for a matte-box in bright lighting situations. The Red Motion’s drawback is that it’ll cost you a stop of speed even when the ND is off, meaning you may have to change to a classic mount in low-light situations. Red’s showing it now at its NAB booth-cum-factory and it’ll ship out this fall in PL-mount form (with a Canon mount arriving later) for $4,500. Check the source for more discussion.
Filed under: Cameras
Source: Red
Apr 08
Red has announced that Dragon sensor updates will start tomorrow for Epic-M and Epic-X owners and, interestingly, is letting owners (and the public) see the operation for themselves at its NAB booth. The new sensor will bring 6K resolution, 120 fps at 5K and 15+ stops of dynamic range in a slightly larger format, according to Red. Early adopters will be able to pre-order now for $8,500, while Epic owners who wait until Thursday or later will be able to grab the update for $9,500. Filmmakers hoping for a new Epic-M with the Dragon instead of the Mysterium-X sensor will be able to pre-order tomorrow for $29,000 or so. Meanwhile, there’s good news for those with the more budget-minded Scarlet — they’ll be able to upgrade to the Epic directly or get a 6k Dragon sensor and ASICs, with pricing details coming tomorrow and pre-orders launching on Thursday. Red may have a tough row to hoe with recent NAB news from the likes of BlackMagic Design and Vision Systems, but how many companies will actually let you watch your camera get operated on? Check the source for more.
Filed under: Cameras
Source: Red
Jan 13
Faith No More: Epic
Posted in: Today's Chili
Say what you will about rap-metal, but the genre has a few stand-out classics. And while Faith No More can hardly be tied down to one genre, their 1989 classic “Epic” is a self-awarely ridiculous—and awesome—staple of the form. More »
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