Hasta La Gadget!

When the PlayStation 4 was announced last month, you might have noticed that the console’s processing power was all AMD, with the 8-core Jaguar CPU and Radeon graphics. Since NVIDIA was the chip maker behind the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, what happened with the PS4? It turns out that NVIDIA wasn’t willing to do business with Sony “at the price those guys were willing to pay.”

Senior Vice President of Content and Technology at NVIDIA Tony Tamasi told GameSpot that the company “came to the conclusion” that they “didn’t want to do the business at the price those guys were willing to pay,” referring to Sony and the amount of money they were willing to dish out to NVIDIA to allow the console maker to use their chips.

AMD ended up getting a deal with Sony to use its chips in the PlayStation 4, and it’s rumored that the next-generation Xbox will also be running AMD components, but it seems NVIDIA isn’t phased by all that. Tamasi says that the company is “building a whole bunch of stuff,” including Project SHIELD that we took a look at during CES back in January.

Overall, NVIDIA looks at the console business as an “opportunity cost.” Essentially, NVIDIA had to weigh the pros and cons of developing their own products versus implementing their technology into other products. In the end, the company decided not to pursue the PS4 and instead focus on their own products.

[via GameSpot]

NVIDIA passed on PS4 due to financial disagreement is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A year ago we saw a set of awesome military-style pins for console gamers. But what if you’re not just a gaming nerd? Many of us also love other geeky things like science fiction shows, tabletop gaming and the like. If you’re a dork of all trades, you’ll love the Decorated Nerd T-shirt.

Designed by our pals at Nerd Approved, the shirt’s graphic is filled with references to various technological and recreational endeavors, many of which were bound to have your butt kicked in school just a couple of decades ago. Now practically everyone is a gamer. Come to think of it, if you’re under 20 years old you don’t deserve to wear this shirt. Just kidding.

Brave and anonymous young warriors can order the Decorated Nerd t-shirt from SplitReason for $19 (USD). No, it doesn’t come in any colors other than poop green. Stop complaining, Private! Why don’t you earn your stripes by fighting against oppressive DRM, lazy DLC and all the other acronyms that us old folks don’t care for or understand anymore! Use your 3D-printing, Kickstarting, motion-controlling powers and make your elders proud. Don’t use petitions though. That’s just lame. Your enemies react to numbers, not letters, if you know what I mean.

[via Fashionably Geek]

Even today, NES aka Famicom games are still popular with gamers. We’ve seen people come up with a variety of alternative ways of getting their NES fix. You can run an emulator, buy a third party portable or even hack one yourself. Nintendo Age forum member Silius chose the latter. But instead of portability or a modern design, he chose to preserve his console’s original beauty. Behold!

As you can see, Silius’ custom console looks just like any other NES when “closed”. It even loads cartridges the old way. But then the console can be opened up to reveal an LCD screen inside. Silius console also has built-in speakers so it really needs is a power outlet. Silius did make it so its screen can be turned off, which would come in handy if he ever wants to connect the NES to a TV. Here’s a brief demo of the console:

It’s not as ambitious as Ben Heck’s ultimate console hack, but it’s a nice homage to one of the best gaming systems ever made.

[via Nintendo Age via Hack A Day]

In typical fashion, the latest Humble Bundle tacked on a few more games after the bundle’s initial launch a few days ago. Humble Bundle with Android 5 now includes Crayon Physics Deluxe, Splice, and Swords of Sworcery EP, as well as each game’s respective soundtracks. All of the games are DRM-free and come with Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux versions.

However, those who already purchased the latest Humble Bundle also have access to the new games now, and they can be found on the download page where you accessed the original games that you bought. If you haven’t yet bought this Humble Bundle, there’s still time to take advantage of it, and you’ll get all nine games if you pay above the average contribution, which is now $6.66.

That’s not a bad price to pay considering that everything included in the bundle would cost $170 total if you paid full price for everything. If you pay at least $1, you’ll open up Steam access to the games on top of the DRM-free direct download links. From there you can access Steam leaderboards and achievements.

Currently, the Humble Bundle with Android 5 has raised over $1 million from more than 150,000 people. The highest contribution was from WrapBootStrap (a company that specializes in premium Twitter themes), who donated $1,256 to the fundraiser. We’re not sure how much money has gone to charity so far, but we’re guessing a large amount of it will see that fate.

Crayon Physics Deluxe, Splice, and Swords of Sworcery added to Humble Bundle is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that an expansion pack for StarCraft II is now available. The expansion pack is called StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. The expansion pack follows the arrival of Kerrigan and her brood as she aims to destroy Arcturus Mengsk.

The expansion pack is available in retail stores around the U.S., Canada, Europe, and a number of other countries. Blizzard says that the expansion pack will launch in mainland China at a later date. The expansion pack is available for Windows and Macintosh computers for $39.99(USD). A download version is also available for the same price.

A Digital Deluxe version is also available for download for $59.99(USD) and includes a StarCraft II Torrasque, portraits and decals, a World of Warcraft in-game pet, and Diablo III Blade Wings and Banner Sigil. In retail stores, a Collector’s Edition that includes digital and physical bonus items is available for $79.99. The physical bonus items include a hardcover art book, behind-the-scenes DVD, and a soundtrack.