Okay console game, but still very interesting to see. Get a peek behind the scenes of the new PS3 tech demo from Quantic Dream, the creators of PS3 classic Heavy Rain.
Quantic Dream has released a behind-the-scenes video which shows the motion capture process for the firm's KARA tech demo. In order to capture as much movement and emotional responses from the actors, the studio invested in 65 motion capture cameras:
Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi confirmed that the company is experimenting with Steam boxes for a Big Picture Mode user interface, but he added that Valve is a long way from shipping any sort of hardware.
"We're prepping the Steam Big Picture Mode UI and getting ready to ship that, so we're building boxes to test that on," Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said, referring to a new Steam interface that will make the online gaming service easily useable for people who want to play Steam games on a PC that's connected to their TV. "We're also doing a bunch of different experiments with biometric feedback and stuff like that, which we've talked about a fair amount.
"All of that is stuff that we're working on, but it's a long way from Valve shipping any sort of hardware."
DailyMail claims Microsoft's next-gen Xbox will no longer have a disc drive. The console, said to be slated for a 2013 launch date, will focus on digital distribution but will offer compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage.
The follow-up to the Xbox 360 is due out next year - and the machine will no longer have a disc drive, according to a source within Microsoft. Instead, games will download to the hi-tech new console - or gamers can carry them on a memory card.
Gaming industry trade magazine MCV reported the leak from an unnamed source, who claimed the information was covered by a strict non-disclosure agreement. 'Although the console will not include a disc drive, it will offer compatibility with some sort of interchangeable solid-state card storage, although it is not known whether this will be proprietary or a more standard format such as SD,' said MCV's Ben Parfitt.
More details are expected at the E3 show in Los Angeles in May.
Over the weekend this rumors already appeared in our forums but the Verge has the story that they're not only working on such hardware, but they plan to make Steam 'the center of an open gaming universe that mirrors what Google has done with Android.'
Valve head Gabe Newell recently told Penny Arcade 'Well, if we have to sell hardware we will' and followed that up with 'We'd rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do [hardware]. We think it's important enough that if that's what we end up having to do, then that's what we end up having to do.' Meaning they might have someone else build the box for them, but the system would run Steam, and if this all turns out to be true, it could change the entire industry.
"Apparently meetings were held during CES to demo a hand-built version of the device to potential partners. We're told that the basic specs of the Steam Box include a Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GPU. The devices will be able to run any standard PC titles, and will also allow for rival gaming services (like EA's Origin) to be loaded up.
Part of the goal of establishing a baseline for hardware, we're told, is that it will give developers a clear lifecycle for their products, with changes possibly coming every three to four years. Additionally, there won't be a required devkit, and there will be no licensing fees to create software for the platform.
We're hearing that a wide variety of USB peripherals will be compatible with the boxes, though it will likely ship with a proprietary controller. It's possible that the controller will even allow for swappable components, meaning that it can be reconfigured depending on the type of game you're playing. Think that sounds odd? Well Valve filed a patent for such a device last year. "
Times reports Huawei has revealed high-end smartphones and tablets based on a quad-core chip designed by the company's HiSilicon division. Huawei officials claim the 1.2-1.5GHz KV32 chip outperforms NVIDIA's Tegra 3 SoC by 30 to 50 percent across a range of benchmarks.
A 64-bit memory bus--twice the width of the tegra3--is one of the main factors in the performance of the KV32, said Jerry Su, chief architect of the chip. Built in a TSMC 40 nm low power process, the chip fits in a 12x12mm package
The KV32 uses four ARM Cortex A9 cores and a 16 core graphics chip co-developed with an unnamed U.S. chip designer. The two collaborated on the GPU
According to reports from Forbes, Sony will make use of AMD technology for next generation console (Playstation 4). The source of this Forbes report is former AMD employees.
Sony is working on an as-yet-unannounced new gaming console, former AMD employees say, and the processor designer may play a key role in the new product.
AMD's graphics technology is already used in Microsofts XBox 360 console. However, Sonys PlayStation 3 introduced in 2006 relies on graphics technology from Nvidia.
AMD declined to comment on the project. Sony Chief Transformation Officer George Bailey also declined to discuss Sony's new console, or even acknowledge its existence.
However, at AMD' analyst day last month, AMD Chief Financial Officer Thomas Seifert identified gaming as one of several trends that will drive revenue growth at AMD in 2012.
Engadget snagged a photo of Alienware's new X51 gaming PC, you can check it out over here. The system is about the size of the original PS3, and at $700-$1,000 it's surprisingly affordable for an Alienware rig.
The rub? Gameplay was smooth, with the same vibrant graphics you'd expect for a PC kitted out to last beyond the current crop of Sony and Microsoft hardware. Our efforts were more hampered by the Razer Onza controllers, on which which we struggled to unleash our hadoukens. We also had a brief stint on Portal, which, although no graphics powerhouse, also ran untroubled. The Core i3 X51 will set you back $699, with a GeForce GT545 graphics card. Anyone willing to pony up more cash for the Core i5 and i7 models, you can expect to pay somewhere between $700 and $1000, with a grand netting the top-drawer model. The chance for a strong debut entry into PC gaming, minus the toying-with-internals rigmarole, could tempt some previously console-only gamers to get their wallets out.
According to unnamed sources gathered by Kotaku, the next-gen Xbox will support Blu-Ray discs as well as DVDs, will be up to eight times as powerful as the current Xbox 360, will feature smaller controllers, and will launch with a new version of the Kinect. That's the good news. The bad news: The console will supposedly not allow gamers to play used games.
Sony's PlayStation 3 currently supports Blu-Ray, which can contain 25 or 50GB of data compared to DVD's 9GB.
But that disc detail could be far less impactful to the next generation of game consoles than the assertion I've heard from one reliable industry source that Microsoft intends to incorporate some sort of anti-used game system as part of their so-called Xbox 720.
It's not clear if that means that the system wouldn't play used games or how such a set-up would work. Obvious approaches I'm theorizing here like linking a copy of a game to a specific Xbox Live account could seemingly be foiled by used-game owners who would keep their system offline. My source wasn't sure how Microsoft intended to implement any anti-used game system in the new machine.
A push in any way by Microsoft against used games would likely be cheered from publishers sick of seeing retailers like GameStop crow about their revenues from the sale of used games. But it could potentially anger consumers who rely on buying cheaply-sold used games or even pass games to relatives or friends.
One source familiar with Microsoft's plans for the new Xbox said Microsoft plans to ship their new Xbox with a new version of its red-hot Kinect hands-free sensor system. The new Kinect would contain an on-board processor, a feature originally intended for the first Kinect. That processor would enable a new Kinect to more effectively detect users' motions.
Kotaku heard several rumors about Microsoft's next-gen console. The first one is that the new console will adopt Blu-ray, and the second one is that Microsoft is devising a plan to incorporate some sort of anti-used game system. Additionally, Kotaku also reports that the next Xbox will offer a new version of Kinect with an onboard processor.
It's not clear if that means that the system wouldn't play used games or how such a set-up would work. Obvious approaches
Develop is reporting that the Wii U will be roughly twice as powerful as the Xbox 360. Nintendo's next generation hardware will be roughly twice as powerful as Microsoft's current system, the Xbox 360, according to a studio source speaking to Develop.
The person, communicating anonymously from a studio currently building a Wii U title, said the new Nintendo console could achieve roughly twice the processing and graphical potential of Microsofts current generation machine.
While twice the power of an Xbox 360 is broadly above market expectations, Develop's source claimed this is in fact less than some studios had expected. "I've heard [a project designer] complain it's underpowered compared to what Nintendo announced, resulting in people having to de-scale their plans," the source added.
Nintendos persistence with non-disclosure agreements means that it has been difficult for Develop to cross-examine the sources claim, which was made late last year.
However, yesterday a separate insider source told IGN that the next generation Xbox will be "six times as powerful" as its predecessor the key addition being that this will mean it yields a "200 per cent greater performance than Wii U".
That unverified calculation, if true, echoes claims from the Develop source who claims the Wii U is far more powerful than current expectations.
The next-gen Xbox will ship to retailers in late October or early November of next year with six times the processing power of the Xbox 360, sources close to the project have told the lads from IGN:
Following initial reports sources have confirmed that mass production of the system's GPU will indeed begin by the end of 2012 but will not, however, be based on AMD's 7000 series Southern Islands GPU. Instead, the processor will be derived from the 6000 series, which was introduced last year. More specifically, it will be akin to the Radeon HD 6670, which offers support for DirectX11, multidisplay output, 3D and 1080p HD output. The chip currently has a market price of upwards of $79.99.
In real terms, the Xbox 720's raw graphics processing power is expected to be six times that of the Xbox 360 and will yield 20-percent greater performance than Nintendo's forthcoming console, the Wii U.
Developers are likely to receive development kits based on the system's final configuration in August. Projected pricing for the console was not provided.
Microsoft apparently ordered the production of the chip that will go inside the company
What if your gaming PC comfortably fits alongside those game consoles? That's what it sounds like Dell's banking on with the Alienware X51, launching today starting at $699. At 13.5 inches high, 12.5 inches deep and 3.7 inches wide, it's not much bigger than an original Xbox 360, and yet the company's calling it a PC gaming machine. We don't know which particular processors are on tap yet, but you're looking at a dual-core Intel Core i3 processor, backed up by a Nvidia GeForce GT 545 graphics card, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 1TB 7200RPM hard drive, a dual-layer DVD burner, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and loads of ports to start, and upgrades include Core i5 and Core i7 processors, a GeForce GTX 555 GPU, and a slot-loading Blu-ray drive. It seems to be upgradable, but we're not sure how by how much: the system comes with a 240W power supply, with a 330W option.
The X51 starts with a 3.3GHz Core i3-2120, if Google Shopping listings are correct, gains a 3.0GHz Core i5-2320 at the $899 mark, and ranges up to a Core i7-2600, according to reports.
DigiTimes heard x86 tablets with Windows 8 may be priced from $599 to $899.
Wintel-based tablet PCs may see their prices go as high as US$599-899 due to Intel and Microsoft both being unwilling to drop their related hardware and software quotes, and as a result, it could push consumers from wanting to purchase the devices, according to sources from notebook vendors.
As for Intel and Microsoft, the sources pointed out that Intel and Microsoft are also struggling since if Microsoft drops its Windows 8 and Intel drops its Clover Trail-W prices, although the strategy could help raise Wintel-based tablet PC's market share, it could also seriously damage pricing in the PC market and bring down their gross margin performance.
ZiiLABS, a pioneering media processor and platforms company (subsidiary of Creative Technology Ltd), today unveiled its 100-core ZMS-40 StemCell Media processor optimized for Android. The ZMS-40 combines 96 of ZiiLABS' StemCell media processing cores with four 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A9 CPUs to deliver stunning multi-tasking application and media processing performance.
By doubling the number of StemCell Media processors compared to the previous ZMS-20, the ZMS-40 delivers twice the peak media performance, while running the larger array at lower clock speeds to achieve the same performance leads to greater energy efficiency and a reduction in power consumption of up to 50 percent. With 2X the performance and 2X the power efficiency, the ZMS-40 delivers ground-breaking media capabilities to handheld devices such as tablets, including ultra-high-resolution H.264 HP decoding of up to 3840x1080 for true 1080p 3D stereo, a rich and interactive desktop browsing experience, 2560x1600 (WQXGA) display resolution support, higher-quality video encoding and immersive OpenGL ES graphics and future support for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC).
The up-and-coming HEVC standard (also known as H.265), besides other qualitative benefits, can also increase data compression ratio by up to 2X as compared to H.264. These technology wizardries are achieved by requiring many more times the computational complexity. HEVC claims to target the next generation Hi-Def TV market which can support scalable resolutions from 320x240 to 1080p with improved picture quality in terms of noise level, color and dynamic range, and all the way up to an incredible resolution of 7680x4320. Being fully programmable and with their massive parallelism, the 96 cores of StemCell Media processors can easily handle the onerous computational requirements of this new CODEC and support higher resolutions that are beyond today's display systems.
The ZMS-40 supports ZiiLABS' enhanced Android 4.0 implementation that complements the standard Android offering with a rich suite of software to exploit the massive computing power of the ZMS processor and includes support for:
Android 4.0 (ICS) tablets and associated design-kits based on the ZMS-40 will be showcased at the ZiiLABS suite (Venetian) in Las Vegas between 10
After some availability issues faced by the Transformer Prime in North America, the tablet has now received a series of new complaints regarding battery life, GPS problems and the locked bootloader which were recently addressed in a statement made by Asus officials, softpedia reports:
The first complaints about battery life made their appearance a short while ago, when reviewers have found out that in some tests the Transformer Prime lags behind the original Transformer tablet in this regard.
Soon after this discovery was made, it was also uncovered that the built-in GPS had a series of difficulties when it came to finding and maintaining the connection with navigation satellites.
The Verge actually conducted a test in this regard in which in compared the Transformer Prime with a Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone, both with data connectivity turned off.
Asus
So you have an old Atari 2600 and you're tired of playing the same old 8-bit titles over and over. Why not turn it into a rockin' electronic guitar that will be a huge hit at the next rave? As seen in the video below, the 'guitar' uses an EQ pedal, a flanger pedal, and another pedal for whammy, holding notes and more. The joystick is used to switch tracks already programmed onto a custom EPROM-mounted daughter board thats jammed into the cartridge slot.
Hey is that an Amiga 500 in the background ?
Over at Kotaku they heard Microsoft is working on two Xbox 720 consoles. One model will focus on being as cheap as possible, it will be positioned more along the lines of a set-top box and may be targeted as a Kinect-themed gaming portal, while a more fully-featured Xbox 720 is expected to deliver an optical drive, a HDD and backward compatibility with the 360.
"It's...believed that Microsoft will continue its successful two SKU strategy", the story claimed, "and indeed take it much further with its new platform: a pared down machine is to be released as cheaply as possible, and positioned more along the lines of a set-top box (the use of 360 as a Netflix viewing platform in the US is colossal) and perhaps as a Kinect-themed gaming portal, while a more fully-featured machine with optical drive, hard disk and backward compatibility aimed at the hardcore would be released at a higher price-point."
Sony announced hackers have breached about 60,000 PlayStation Network accounts as well as 33,000 Sony Entertainment accounts. According to details released by Sony Chief Information Security Officer Philip Reitinger, hackers obtained a large amount of user data from other companies or websites, and used a brute-force attack to hack the Sony accounts:
According to Sony, the hackers obtained a large amount of user data from other companies or websites. The hackers were attempting to sign-in to numerous accounts using ID and password pairs, and while the
