Hasta La Gadget!

NVIDIA has released its latest WHQL-certified GeForce drivers, this time bumping it up to version 314.07. These new drivers are pretty much based on previously-released beta drivers, and the new 314.07 update brings a slew of performance improvements to Crysis 3, as well as a handful of other games.

Specifically, the new 314.07 WHQL drivers improves single-GPU and multi-GPU performance in Crysis 3 by up to 65%, which is quite a jump if you ask us. Plus, other games get a slight boost as well, such as Assassin’s Creed III with a 27% boost, a 19% bost in Civilization V, 14% boost in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, 14% boost in DiRT 3, 11% boost in Just Cause 2, 10% boost in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, 10% boost in F1 2012, and a 10% boost in Far Cry 3.

Crysis 3 just released today actually, so NVIDIA’s timing was perfect on this one, allowing gamers to give their video card a quick boost when it comes to graphic-intensive gameplay. NVIDIA points out in the release notes that EA recomends a GTX 560 or higher for Crysis 3 in order to play it smoothly, or a Geforce GTX 680 if you want the full effect. Of course, the GTX 690 will get you the best performance, with an increase of almost half over the GTX 680.

The new drivers also come with an “Excellent” 3D Vision profile for Crysis 3, as well as a SLI profile for Devil May Cry. You can also grab an updated SLI profile for Warframe, the free-to-play, third-person co-op shooter. All in all, the new 314.07 drivers should be a recommended download for anyone planning to tackle Crysis 3 or any of the other new games that have recently released.

NVIDIA GeForce 314.07 drivers bring Crysis 3 optimizations is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Remember the classic 1993 first-person shooter Doom? Of course you do. It’s only one of the greatest games of all time, and its graphics and 320×240 resolution set the bar for other games to eventually try to surpass. Today, though, the game certainly doesn’t stand a chance against modern first-person shooters, but one DeviantArt user recreated a screenshot from the classic game and turned it into an ultra high-res, remastered screenshot.

The remastered version looks absolutely incredible, and when comparing it to the original 320×240 version (below), it’s almost like putting on your glasses. The recreated screenshot includes all of the elements in the original version, but the new one includes textures, lighting, and 3D effects, all of which were done in Adobe Photoshop.

The person behind the remastered screenshot, who goes by the handle Elemental79 on DeviantArt, put together a video showing off he recreated the original Doom screenshot. Essentially, the image itself spans across seven different PSD files and has a resolution of 9600×7211 pixels. In all, the project took 35 hours to complete over the course of just over a week.

This isn’t the only screenshot that Elemental79 recreated from classic games. He also remastered screenshots from Contra and Killer Instinct, both of which are classic games from the late 80s and 90s, respectively. You can view the full size of the Doom screenshot on his DeviantArt page, and from there you can see the massive amounts of detail that he put into the image.

[via Gizmodo]

Photoshopper recreates 320×240 Doom screenshot into high-res image is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today is 1st US president George Washington’s birthday, which also marks President’s Day in the US. To celebrate, Electronic Arts is discounting over 55 of its games, some of which you can grab for as much as 90% off their normal price. This means that every single one of their games on sale is only $0.99, even their iPad games.

Some workers have today off, since President’s Day is a national holiday, so if you’re one of those people, it seems like EA is giving you something to do on your day off. Games like Mass Effect Infiltrator, Dead Space 3, and a handful of Need for Speed titles are only $0.99 on the iPhone, while Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Mirror’s Edge, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 are on sale as well on the iPad.

Other iPhone that are receiving heavy discounts include Madden NFL 12, Monopoly Millionaire, Risk, The Sims 3 series, Shift 2 Unleashed, and a couple of Yahtzee titles. As for the iPad, many of the iPhone games are also on sale for the iOS tablet, but there are also a few exclusives, including Battleship, Command & Conquer Red Alert, NBA Jam, and SimCity Deluxe.

The sale ends today, so if you’ve been thinking about getting one of these games, be sure to hurry your way home from work (if you don’t happen to have the day off) and take advantage of these deals while they last. Electronic Arts didn’t say exactly when the sale will end, but we’re guessing that when the clock strikes midnight tonight, the sale will vanish into thin air.

EA discounting iOS Games for up to 90% off during President’s Day sale is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’re just a weekend and a couple days away from Sony’s big PlayStation event on February 20, and we have a guess at what the company might unveil. Yes, a PlayStation 4 could be in the cards, and we’ve already seen a leaked photo of the prototype controller, complete with a touchpad. However, there’s now a second photo that provides a bit more detail.

A member on the GameTrailers forum posted up a high-resolution image of the controller, where he claims he was the one that snapped the photo, although that has yet to be proven, so we remain skeptical as far as the goes. However, the controller looks to be the same one (or at least the same model) as the one we saw yesterday.

Thanks to the photo, we can see that there’s apparently a 3.5mm audio jack situated on the side of the controller, right below the “PS” logo/button. We’re guessing this for headsets, similar to how the Xbox 360 controller has its proprietary connector in the same location as well. The grips also appear to be longer as well.

The controller looks like it has concave analog sticks, and the same kind of buttons on previous PlayStation controllers. There’s also the small touchpad towards the top that may even be a small LCD touchscreen, but that is yet to be discovered. We’re keeping the salt nearby, and since this is simply just a prototype, it may not be the final version, so don’t get your hopes up if you like the look of this controller.

PlayStation 4 prototype controller makes a second appearance is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The streak continues once again. Microsoft has announced that their Xbox 360 gaming console has been the highest-selling console for the 25th straight month, beating out the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii U for the month of January. The Redmond-based company sold 281,000 consoles last month, with gamers spending a combined total of $338 million on Xbox consoles, games, and accessories in January alone.

Overall, Microsoft maintains 44% of the marketshare when it comes to current-generation console sales. If you count all gaming consoles, games, and accessories, the NPD says that people spent a collective $834.7 million on all that alone during the month of January, with Call of Duty: Black Ops II being the best-selling game last month.

Rounding out the top five highest-selling games in January include Far Cry 3, Just Dance 4, NBA 2K13, and Madden NFL 13. What’s perhaps most interesting is that Far Cry 3 ranked second-highest in terms of sales, which marks the first time since January 2002 (with Final Fantasy X) that a December launch has ranked second in the following January.

As far as specific sales for the PlayStation 3 and the Wii U, Sony and Nintendo have yet to announce their sales figures. The Wii U released three months ago, and while a just-released console should technically be receiving all of the sales glory, it hasn’t beaten the Xbox 360 yet in sales. However, according to Gamasutra, Wii U sales for January are “well under” 100,000.

Xbox 360 best-selling gaming console for 25th straight month is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.